Jiang Wei rubbed his eyes and locked the dormitory door before heading downstairs.
Tang Zihe was standing at the entrance of the building. Seeing him come down, he handed over a small package.
"What's this?" Jiang Wei asked, taking it. He felt a slight warmth against his palm, and the contents smelled incredibly savory.
"An egg-filled pancake, a new item from the cafeteria," Tang Zihe noticed that Jiang Wei still looked half-asleep and slowed his pace to match. "Give it a try."
Jiang Wei blew on it a few times to make sure it wasn't too hot before taking a bite. "Not bad."
"Starting next week, I’ll have to attend the school’s internal training camp every Wednesday during evening self-study," Tang Zihe said with a hint of helplessness, waving his phone. "Boss Shi just notified me."
"Oh, that’s fine," Jiang Wei said, his words slightly muffled by a large mouthful of pancake. "I’ll just wait for you in the classroom."
They usually went back together anyway; it had become a habit. If he had to go back alone, he’d probably feel out of place.
The corners of Tang Zihe’s mouth curled into a smile. "Alright."
He had been wondering how to ask Jiang Wei to wait for him in the evenings, but he hadn't expected the other boy to grant his wish so readily.
After two consecutive periods of physics in the morning, Xia Shan was practically melting into his chair.
"I can't take it anymore. This is pure torture," Xia Shan gasped for air as if he were about to suffocate. "I feel like throwing up just looking at a test paper now."
"Boss Shi’s teaching pace isn't even that fast. Hang in there," Shen Yannan remarked, glancing at the formulas and solutions left on the blackboard. He concluded that Boss Shi had only covered one practice paper in a whole period. "Think about it—it’s already the end of October. Half the semester is over. In another two months, we’ll be going home for the New Year."
"Two more months..." Xia Shan wailed.
"Next is PE. Anyone want to play ball?" Ding Banfan, on the other hand, was in a state of mind completely opposite to Xia Shan’s. He was practically buzzing with energy. After all, they only had two PE classes a week. As a sports prodigy and basketball fanatic, he cherished every second. "Jiang Wei, you coming?"
"Ah, sure." Jiang Wei put down his pen and habitually patted the shoulder of the person next to him. "Let’s go, time for PE."
Tang Zihe’s pen shook in his hand, causing the last digit he was writing to come out crooked. He crossed it out, rewrote it, and then stood up. "Let's go."
As expected, the PE teacher had them run two laps and do some warm-ups before letting them have free time.
Ding Banfan dribbled his basketball and dashed toward the nearest court.
Jiang Wei glanced at Tang Zihe, who clearly had no intention of exercising. He figured the other boy wouldn't want to play.
"Didn't the math representative give you two competition papers earlier? There’s a problem in there I’m interested in. I’ll come find you to look at it after I’m done playing," Jiang Wei said as he walked toward the court.
Tang Zihe gave a brief "Okay" and headed back toward the teaching building.
"Jiang Wei, you're too slow! What were you nagging Tang Zihe about?" Ding Banfan was practicing three-pointers. Seeing Jiang Wei walk over, he couldn't help but tease him.
"Why do you make me sound like a nagging mother?" Jiang Wei warmed up his wrists. "Let's go one-on-one. Just shooting around is boring."
"I see you've gotten quite cocky now that your hand is healed. Don't cry when you get wrecked." Ever since Ding Banfan had witnessed and personally experienced Jiang Wei’s basketball skills, he had decisively abandoned Xia Shan—a scrub who only made two or three shots out of ten.
He had been itching for a one-on-one with Jiang Wei for a long time, but Jiang Wei had never given him the chance. Now that the opportunity was being handed to him, how could he not take it?
...
Even though Jiang Wei knew he was no match for Ding Banfan, he didn't expect to actually get crushed this hard.
"Where did you learn all those flashy tricks?" Ding Banfan wiped the sweat from his forehead, his voice filled with the satisfaction of a good game. "I haven't even seen some of those before."
"Ever seen streetball?" Jiang Wei tugged at the collar of his school uniform. Though he wasn't sweating much, he had the illusion that he was drenched. "Back when no one was looking after me, I loved watching it. I thought it was incredibly cool, so I just picked it up."
"It is cool." Ding Banfan set the ball aside and sat down across from Jiang Wei. "There are a few moves I’d like to learn. Teach me when you have time."
"Sure. You're pretty cool yourself," Jiang Wei said, holding up a finger. "I almost didn't score a single point. You nearly shut me out."
"I'm playing with a brother; why would I hold back? I'm not worried about giving you psychological trauma."
"Hey, I'll buy you a drink, consider it an apology." Ding Banfan patted Jiang Wei’s shoulder. "The canteen is right there. Let's go."
Alphas who are sweating inevitably give off some pheromones. This happened often on the court, and Jiang Wei had never felt any strong discomfort before. After all, everyone wore scent blockers, and a pat on the back or a brush of the shoulder wouldn't leave enough pheromones to matter. Even if it did, the scent was usually so faint it could be ignored.
But now, because of the pheromones coming off Ding Banfan, Jiang Wei felt a sharp, rhythmic throbbing in his head. It was a sensation he knew all too well.
His Heat.
He had let his guard down lately and almost forgotten it was the end of the month.
He dodged Ding Banfan’s hand as the other boy reached out to help him up. Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, he said, "I... my stomach feels a bit off. I'll take a rain check on that drink. Can you help me ask the teacher for leave? I might need to go to the infirmary."
Ding Banfan was startled. Before he could figure out how someone could be fine one second and have a stomachache the next, Jiang Wei was already walking toward the infirmary, slightly hunched over.
He didn't look weak enough to need physical support.
So, Ding Banfan did as he was told. He turned, grabbed his basketball, and ran toward the teaching building.
Jiang Wei caught a glimpse of Ding Banfan running back out of the corner of his eye. He breathed a sigh of relief and changed direction.
He reached into his pockets, only to remember that he had left his jacket in the classroom before PE—and the suppressant he usually carried was right there in the jacket pocket!
*Sigh...*
Jiang Wei let out a breath. At least he still had his dorm key. He could go back to the dorm and get another one.
It was just a bit of a detour.
Jiang Wei brought his hand to his nose and sniffed. Only two or three minutes had passed since he noticed the onset, but he could already smell a faint floral scent coming from himself.
He couldn't help but frown. The cold sweat seemed to be pouring out faster, and his headache was intensifying.
He quickened his pace. The ground in front of him occasionally blurred into double vision, nearly causing him to trip on the stairs several times before he finally made it into the dormitory building.
Since classes were in session, the building was empty. He ran all the way to the fifth floor without obstruction and opened his door with trembling hands.
There wasn't much in the room. Because he had to go "home" every weekend, Jiang Wei habitually put most of his things back into his suitcase after using them.
The box of suppressants was at the very bottom of his suitcase.
————
"Banxian, didn't Jiang Wei come back with you?" Xia Shan looked at the sweat-drenched Ding Banfan and peered toward the door, but saw no one else.
"Jiang Wei suddenly said his stomach hurt. He asked me to come up and request leave for him," Ding Banfan replied, panting. "Where's Sister Liu? Hasn't she arrived yet?"
"Class hasn't started yet; she's probably still in the office," Shen Yannan frowned. Jiang Wei had been perfectly fine just a moment ago; why the sudden stomachache? "What exactly happened?"
"I don't know. He just clutched his stomach and said he was going to the infirmary. I'm going to go get his leave approved first. We'll talk later." After saying that, Ding Banfan rushed out of the classroom again.
Tang Zihe, who had been sitting silently in the back, suddenly stood up and walked out as well.
"Hey, Old Tang, where are you going? Class is about to start!" Xia Shan shouted at Tang Zihe’s retreating back.
Tang Zihe didn't turn back to answer. Instead, Shen Yannan, with a thoughtful expression, stopped Xia Shan from asking further.
"Can't you tell where he's going? Are you actually stupid or just pretending?" Shen Yannan gave Xia Shan a warning look before letting go. "The only thing you need to do now is think of another excuse for Tang Zihe. He definitely won't be back for this period."
"Huh?!" Xia Shan was about to cry out in shock but quickly covered his own mouth, stifling the sound.
Good heavens.
So these two definitely have something going on, right?!
Xia Shan muttered under his breath with a complex expression, "If they don't have something going on, then I don't have legs."
Shen Yannan arched an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn't expected his deskmate, who usually seemed a bit slow, to have such good intuition.
After leaving the teaching building, Tang Zihe went straight to the infirmary.
A stomachache?
It was probably that egg pancake from this morning.
When did the school cafeteria’s food safety standards become so poor?
He frowned, his pace quickening until he reached the infirmary door.
The door was open. The woman on duty was the same one from before, her hair pinned up as usual, a friendly smile on her face.
"Hello, teacher," Tang Zihe peered inside. The beds were all empty; no one was there. "Has a student from Class 1, Grade 12 been here?"
"Class 1, Grade 12? No." The woman shook her head slightly, giving a firm answer.
"Then could you give me some medicine for a stomachache? A friend of mine suddenly fell ill, and I want to bring him some."
"Sure, hold on," the woman stood up and walked to the medicine cabinet. "I remember you. Didn't you pick up cold medicine for a friend before?"
Tang Zihe paused, then nodded.
"My memory is still pretty good, then." The woman picked out two types of medicine and placed them on the desk. "If it's the same friend as last time, tell him to take better care of himself."
"Thank you, teacher." Tang Zihe picked up the two boxes, lost in thought.
He had never considered that Jiang Wei might have poor health.
In his memory, this person had always been bursting with energy. When they were kids, Jiang Wei got into trouble so often that Tang Zihe once suspected he was a hyperactive child who couldn't control his own limbs. That had improved as they grew up, but Jiang Wei was still constantly high-spirited, his daily activity level being two or three times that of a normal person. He seemed unable to sit still.
Could someone like that have a weak constitution?
Tang Zihe thought about it and felt it was unlikely—even if Jiang Wei’s physical strength had decreased after presenting as an Omega, his basic fitness couldn't be that bad. He would still be much stronger than the average Omega.
As he walked and pondered, he found himself unconsciously drifting toward the Alpha dormitory building.
If Jiang Wei wasn't at the infirmary but was still on campus, the most likely place he’d be was the dorm.
After all, no matter what happened, the dormitory was almost always the safest place.
The building was silent, and with no one to stop him, Tang Zihe easily reached the door to Jiang Wei’s room.
He raised his hand and knocked.
