On Monday, there was an 8 AM class. At 7 AM, Shiye got up with dark circles under his eyes to wash his face and brush his teeth. While drying his face, he caught a glimpse of something new on the shelf. Looking closer, he saw three red bottles: one tall, one short, and one canned, with letters printed on the bottle that matched those on the delivery box from yesterday.
At that moment, Jiang Chi Cheng also yawned and got up. He rarely woke up later than Shiye. Seeing what Shiye was examining, he opened the bathroom door and stepped in, closing it halfway. "The tall one is water, the short one is lotion, and the canned one is facial cream for your face. Want to try a bit?"
"Do I need three bottles just to apply some cream?" Shiye replied, a bit doubtful, shaking his head as he put them back. "This is so fussy. Why did you buy this?"
"My boyfriend bought it."
Shiye knew that he had an omega boyfriend.
As the sound of running water echoed, Shiye glanced at Jiang Chi Cheng's back while he stood in front of the toilet, raising his hand to firmly close the bathroom door.
Since no one was at home to make breakfast for him, and it happened to be Jiang Chi Cheng's meal time, he figured he might as well have a meal with him.
After Jiang Chi Cheng finished tidying up, he saw Shiye lounging on the sofa like a lord, resting his chin in his hand while fiddling with his phone. Jiang Chi Cheng wrapped an apron around himself and opened the fridge. "How about some bacon and fried eggs?"
"I'm not picky," Shiye paused before adding, "but I want soft-boiled eggs; they’re delicious. Add a bit of sugar."
Jiang Chi Cheng chuckled in a mix of annoyance and amusement. Just a few days ago, he had been very attentive to him, and last night he had just shared his contact information. The capybara stuffed in his bed hadn't even warmed up yet, and this morning he was acting like this.
Jiang Chi Cheng said, "You go toast some bread and heat up the milk."
Shiye responded with an "oh," put down his phone, and got up to boil water. Jiang Chi Cheng's expression relaxed, satisfied that he was being somewhat obedient.
After a while, he turned off the stove and came out with a plate, only to find the table completely empty, with the kettle steaming.
Jiang Chi Cheng slammed the plate down on the table. "Where's the toast and hot milk I asked you to prepare?"
Shiye froze for a moment. "I forgot!"
Jiang Chi Cheng stared at him, his smile bright yet strangely unsettling. "Shiye, how is it that at 22 years old, your memory is still so poor? Even kindergarten kids don’t need things repeated twice! Are you a wooden block that needs an adult to remind you?"
This was teasing him. Shiye felt embarrassed and got up to grab the bread from the fridge, quietly defending himself, "I was nervous all night and didn’t sleep well."
Jiang Chi Cheng poured the milk, resting his legs on the table. "Did you include my sister in your worries?"
"I..."
The bread finished toasting in just a few seconds. Shiye brought it to the table, nervously scratching his head. "I didn’t dare to."
He had spent all night looking for opening lines. Now, his browser was flooded with suggestions like "How to win an omega's favor instantly?" and "Five topics to quickly build rapport on a first date."
Jiang Chi Cheng simply replied, seemingly unsurprised.
During lunch, Shiye noticed the deep dark circles under Jiang Chi Cheng's eyes. "Why do you have such dark circles too? Didn’t sleep well last night?"
Jiang Chi Cheng gave him a mournful glance. "I stayed up late writing my thesis."
"Didn’t you publish two SCI papers already?"
"Just filler."
Shiye nodded, somewhat understanding. He didn’t really know much about the academic world but assumed it was similar to television dramas, where out of so many episodes, there were bound to be a few that were just filler.
With his lifelong matters weighing on his mind, Shiye ate slowly.
After finishing his meal, Jiang Chi Cheng placed his plate in the dishwasher and came out to say, "I have to go to the hospital these next two weeks. Sometimes I’ll be in surgery, and I might not be able to answer the phone. Just send me a message if something comes up."
Shiye nodded. Seeing him in such a hurry, he originally wanted to ask for his opinion, but with the morning being so rushed, he estimated it was impossible. He took a sip of milk. "What time will you be back tonight?"
Jiang Chi Cheng changed his shoes and tied his hair in front of the mirror by the door, a hair tie clenched between his teeth. "After the hospital, I still need to go to school. Should be back around ten."
"Okay."
After Jiang Chi Cheng left, Shiye saw that he didn’t have much time left. He hurriedly stuffed food into his mouth and dashed out the door without tidying up.
The first class was college English, taught by a foreign teacher in complete English. Shiye couldn’t understand a single word.
He stared at his phone, repeatedly opening the recommended contacts, looking at the coal-black cat icon. His finger hovered over the add button, and he held his breath but ultimately didn’t press it.
Shiye took a deep breath, closed his phone, and buried his head in his jacket in frustration.
In the afternoon training, after warming up, they had eight laps of 1,000 meters.
Perhaps finally finding an outlet for his emotions, Shiye’s pace was too fast for the first six laps. The coach yelled at him several times to slow down, but he didn’t, resulting in him being too exhausted to keep up for the rest of the training. By the end, he lay on the track, unable to get up.
The coach angrily kicked him. "Don’t tell me you actually sprinted at the end!"
"I really did…"
"You didn’t complete a single one in the last group!"
After the coach yelled, he kicked him again. Shiye clutched his cramping thighs, too tired to even dodge. Not finishing training properly meant facing both beatings and scolding as a regular occurrence.
"What were you doing in the first few rounds? How many times do I have to tell you not to push? Everyone else was running at a three-minute pace; why did you stand out? Can’t you focus on training properly?!"
"I can, I can train properly…"
Shiye nodded vigorously. The coach finally let him go. "If you run like this again tomorrow, I won’t let you off the hook!"
Shiye lay on the ground, recovering for a long time before he finally felt better. The sky was completely dark now. After taking a shower, he opened that recommended contact again but still didn’t dare to press anything.
Dragging it out like this wasn’t a solution. He went back to the chat window.
ShiyeBBQ: Are you at school yet?
After waiting a few minutes without a reply, Shiye put his phone away and headed to the cafeteria. Jiang Chiqing only replied after he had eaten half his meal.
0.o: In the lab.
Upon seeing this, Shiye quickly wiped his hands and replied: Can I come to your lab?
0.o: ?
0.o: What can’t be said at home?
ShiyeBBQ: Lifelong matters!!!!!!
Just a few seconds after sending this, a location sharing popped up at the top of the interface. Shiye clicked on it and saw that the medical school's lab was in the southeast corner of the campus, several kilometers away.
He calculated the time and, just as he picked up his pancake to stand up, a new message popped up in the chat box.
0.o: Come after you finish eating.
0.o: No eating in the lab.
ShiyeBBQ: …
—
It's been almost a month since school started, and this is the first time Shiye has come to a place other than the teaching building and the gym. He needs to swipe his card to enter. After sending a message to Jiang Chi Cheng, he waits downstairs.
The entire laboratory building looks a bit old, with ivy almost covering the whole wall. When the wind blows, it rustles like waves, and the streetlights flicker on and off. Moths flutter against them, buzzing.
It didn't take long for Jiang Chi Cheng to come down. Shiye waved at him.
This is the first time he's seen Jiang Chi Cheng at work. The white lab coat outlines his broad figure, and his golden hair is all tied up, twisted into a bun at the back of his head. His handsome face is mostly covered by a mask, revealing only a pair of amber eyes that give off a somewhat distant and aloof vibe when he looks over.
As Jiang Chi Cheng walks over, Shiye sincerely exclaims, “You look like a fairy.”
The fairy raises an eyebrow and throws an arm around his shoulder: “If you can compliment me, go ahead and say more.”
Shiye: “…”
As he enters, a rush of cold air hits him, making him shiver. He looks around; the place is dim and eerie without any lights. Unconsciously, he moves a bit closer to Jiang Chi Cheng. “This lab building has a strange vibe, doesn’t it?”
“The first floor has the dissection room, freezer, and specimen storage room, so the air conditioning is always on, keeping the temperature low.”
Jiang Chi Cheng presses the button for the elevator. He glances at Shiye’s curled-up, hugging arms. It’s chilly in the evening, and Shiye is only wearing a thin sweatshirt.
Following him into the lab, Shiye notices that it’s a bit empty, likely due to the mealtime. A few classmates across the room are playing games and greet Jiang Chi Cheng as he walks by.
Jiang Chi Cheng moves a chair and leads Shiye to sit at his workstation. He steps out for less than two minutes, then comes back and tosses Shiye a jacket—his own clothes.
Shiye puts it on like it’s a treasure and sits close to Jiang Chi Cheng.
As someone who isn’t academically inclined, he has never had the chance to enter such a “high-end” place. Everything he sees that he doesn’t understand is shrouded in a thick filter of scholarly superiority, making him feel that even his good roommate is unapproachable.
“What are you busy with?”
“Preparing reagents.”
“Can’t you just buy them?”
“Don’t have the money.”
“What’s this?”
“Reagent bottle.”
“And this one?”
“Pipette.”
“This one?”
“Microscope.”
“And this?”
“Water.”
He fires off questions one after another, and Jiang Chi Cheng answers each one without any hint of impatience, even when the questions are quite basic.
Suddenly, Shiye realizes that the noisy gaming has stopped, and everyone is looking at him with strange expressions.
Shiye finally understands: “Did I interrupt your reagent preparation?”
Jiang Chi Cheng slightly furrows his brow, glancing around to see that everyone who was just watching has disappeared.
“No,” he adds a few more drops of some liquid into the mix, seals the bottle, places it on the shelf, and removes his gloves. “It’s not as important as your lifelong affairs.”
Shiye slaps his forehead, suddenly remembering the purpose of his visit, and can't help but complain to him, adding, “It’s terrifying! It feels like it's turning me into a completely different person. You know, I never slept in English class before.”
Jiang Chi Cheng doesn’t dare to agree. He reaches out his hand: “Let me see.”
Shiye pulls out his phone to show him.
Jiang Chi Cheng: “Password.”
Shiye: “My birthday.”
After typing it in, Jiang Chi Cheng unlocks it and swipes his thumb across the screen a couple of times: “You haven’t added her yet?”
Shiye looking like a wilted eggplant, covers his face: “I didn’t know what to say to add her! Anything I say feels so awkward! And what if she’s busy and doesn’t see it? Or maybe she doesn’t even remember my name? Or what if she’s already forgotten me?”
Jiang Chi Cheng clicks a couple more times: “Done.”
He hands the phone back to him.
Shiye is bewildered: “? What’s done?”
When he checks his phone, he sees a new friend request in the “new friends” section, waiting for verification.
Shiye's eyes widen, and he jumps up: “Why did you apply for me?”
The classmates in the lab glance over at them in unison.
Jiang Chi Cheng pulls him back down by his shirt: “Aren’t you worried about this?”
Shiye is on the verge of tears: “I am worried! But I still don’t know what to say!”
Seeing his lips are a bit dry, Jiang Chi Cheng opens his thermos and hands it to him: “That’s something you should think about after you add her. It’s like worrying about a newborn baby running before it can even crawl.”
Feeling nervous, Shiye drinks a big gulp of water, calming his nerves. He thinks Jiang Chi Cheng makes a good point: “So, what should I do now?”
Jiang Chi Cheng screws the lid back on the thermos and places it at his feet: “What you should do now is take your phone to that empty little corner over there. Do you see it? The one with chocolate and chips? If you don’t want to play on your phone, you can come find me and borrow a book to read.”
Shiye looks over where he points. It seems like a leisure area with snacks and a small sofa: “Really? I can just play on my phone?”
Jiang Chi Cheng nods: “Trust me, I’ve dealt with more omegas than you’ve ever seen.”
At this moment, Shiye is quite obedient. He suddenly remembers something and half-stands again: “What if she doesn’t add me back?”
Jiang Chi Cheng supports his chin with one hand and moves his mouse around the touchpad of his laptop, the cursor landing on the title of a Word document: Love Assistance Teaching Agreement.
Facing Shiye’s question, Jiang Chiqing looks at him, his eyes crescent-shaped, smiling harmlessly: “You can always come find me again.”
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