72: No Marking Today
Qian Kun wore a solemn expression. He noticed the bicycle’s back seat had a thoughtful little cushion tied to it. One look told him it wasn’t for Shen Jin. It was probably prepared for Shen Xie’an.
Shen Xie’an had already differentiated. Shouldn’t that cushion come off too?
“The bus?”
Qian Kun was faintly puzzled, genuinely surprised by Shen Jin’s suggestion.
He’d shown up here because he simply wanted to see Shen Jin.
He wanted to see him, so he came.
As for what to do next, he hadn’t even started thinking about it.
“Yeah. How did you get here today?” Shen Jin thought this slightly blank Qian Kun was pretty interesting and glanced at him a few more times.
Qian Kun reacted instantly. This was an invitation to go to school together.
Without changing expression, Qian Kun lowered his head and sent the driver a message, telling him to disappear from the neighborhood gate within ten seconds.
Then sounding a little regretful, he said, “The car from home broke down halfway. I walked here.”
If you listened closely, you could even hear a trace of grievance in his tone.
Shen Jin wheeled the bike back to where it had been and said, “Then let’s take the bus together. It’s close. It’s only a five-minute walk to the stop.”
They walked side by side along a shaded path. Morning sunlight filtered through leaves onto them. Qian Kun watched their shoes, the way their steps matched in the same rhythm.
Qian Kun was wishing this path could be a little longer when, in less than five minutes, they had already reached the bus stop.
Quite a few students and office workers were waiting. The moment two tall, handsome boys appeared, they drew plenty of glances.
Shen Jin checked the electronic board. Route 71 would arrive in two minutes.
Buses came and went. Qian Kun’s mood stayed good all the way up until their 71 pulled in, completely forgetting he’d never taken a bus before.
The bus arrived. They lined up to board, near the back. Qian Kun had been planning to watch what the people ahead did and copy them, but those people moved so fast that in no time it was their turn.
Shen Jin pulled up his transit QR code and swiped it across the scanner.
Beep.
He went through.
Qian Kun remained calm on the surface. He’d memorized the steps. He’d opened subway payments not long ago. Bus should be similar, right?
He didn’t want to look out of touch in front of Shen Jin. With one hand, he brought up the interface and tried to activate it quickly.
Why was it so troublesome?
Face verification, SMS code, the whole thing.
Shen Jin glanced back at the young master scrambling to save himself. He lowered his head, holding back laughter, and swiped again.
Beep.
“Young master, let’s go.”
Qian Kun pressed his lips together and let out a quiet sound, his whole body warming at that “young master.”
Rarely, his eyes held a trace of embarrassment.
Maybe because he felt he hadn’t performed well, Qian Kun fell a little silent.
The two of them walked toward the rear door area and stood side by side, holding the overhead strap.
Outside the window, scenery blurred past. After that brief awkwardness, Qian Kun looked much more natural. He took out a pair of white earbuds, put one in his own ear, and tucked the other into Shen Jin’s.
“Music, wanna listen?”
“Sure.”
The Alpha’s fingertips brushed the soft rim of Shen Jin’s ear.
Shen Jin, ticklish, flinched aside. When he turned, he caught sight of the other’s phone wallpaper and froze.
It looked like him, napping, head resting on an arm, light falling across his face.
The person being photographed had no idea, yet the angle made you feel the photographer’s gentle gaze. It was something the camera silently revealed.
Qian Kun opened an app to pick a playlist, and the wallpaper was covered. Shen Jin looked away as if shocked, focusing only on the view outside the window.
With bright, light music in their ears, the bus headed toward the city center.
It was rush hour. After only a few stops, people packed in around them. When there were too many people, bumps were unavoidable.
Qian Kun let go of the strap and moved behind Shen Jin.
Shen Jin felt that familiar presence and looked up. Their eyes met.
Qian Kun said evenly, “I’m afraid someone will bump into you.”
The moment he finished speaking, the bus lurched. Shen Jin tilted and his head knocked into someone’s solid forearm.
Before Shen Jin could speak, Qian Kun stole his line. “I can take a hit.”
“So you’ve already said everything, good and bad.”
Even as he complained, Shen Jin didn’t move away.
Qian Kun was the kind of neat freak who had to shower after sweating from basketball. Being brushed by so many strangers on the bus made him uncomfortable the moment it got crowded.
Shen Jin noticed his discomfort too. “Do you want to get off here?”
“No. It’s not that bad.” Qian Kun glanced toward the window. “I just saw a stop. There’s a breakfast place near it. Didn’t you want to try it before? Let’s get off here.”
It was something Shen Jin himself had forgotten. He dragged the memory out from some dusty corner.
“Okay, but… I’m pretty sure I posted that on Moments three years ago.” You didn’t read all of it, did you?
“Have you gone to eat there already?”
Qian Kun didn’t deny it. On the day they added each other, he’d analyzed Shen Jin’s posts one by one.
Back then, feelings were unclear and he had acted on instinct.
Shen Jin said, “No. That was third year of middle school. The pressure was high, and I was class monitor. I had to lead morning reading every day. I didn’t have time.”
Qian Kun smiled with pride. As expected, this young man had been outstanding since childhood.
“Then perfect timing.”
“Mm.”
Shen Jin’s eyes brightened slightly, his mood lifting.
After a bit, Qian Kun saw Shen Jin reply to a message, then frown, as if worried.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Xiao An.” Shen Jin seemed to think Qian Kun wouldn’t understand, so he explained in more detail. “He didn’t say much, but he just differentiated into an Alpha. It’s different from someone born an Alpha. I’m worried he’ll get bullied at school.”
Bullied?
You mean Shen Xie’an??
What a joke. It would be impressive if he didn’t bully others.
“Relax.” Qian Kun’s tone was firm. “He won’t be bullied.”
“You’re that sure?”
“An Alpha understands Alphas better.”
The overhead speaker announced the next stop. The cabin was noisy. Qian Kun had to lower his head and lean close to Shen Jin’s ear to speak. They didn’t touch, but from afar it looked like intimate whispering, close enough to make someone’s face heat.
At least, to Yu Pingling sitting in the back, that’s what it looked like.
He’d boarded at the starting point, and because he always took this route, he occasionally used to see Shen Jin on the bus during school days. When he first spotted him today, he’d wanted to say hello, until he noticed the Qian Kun behind Shen Jin and immediately abandoned the idea.
The bus was crowded, and these two young men were practically light sources themselves.
They didn’t deliberately cling to each other. They kept a proper distance. Yet the closeness was invisible, in a glance, in a smile, in the way their tacit understanding leaked out.
Yu Pingling rubbed his eyes several times, wondering if Shen Jin had been swapped out. He remembered once, during a school outdoor activity, Shen Jin got hurt while moving supplies. The injury was serious, that blood was flowing.
Ke Minghuai panicked then. He only wanted to apply medicine, yet he was politely refused. In the end, Shen Jin found the school nurse and bandaged himself.
Even his fiancé had been treated like that. For others, it wasn’t even worth mentioning. “Ice God” had always lived up to his name.
Now, with Qian Kun, this fierce hungry wolf, it looked like he was already carving Shen Jin into his territory.
Yu Pingling also noticed a girl sitting a few rows ahead, excitedly waving her hand, her movements animated enough to draw stares.
Luo Ying hadn’t expected that she’d only gone to her grandma’s for autumn break, yet on the bus she’d run into her OTP’s intimate moment.
It might be an angle issue, but considering who these two were, the sworn enemies topping Nanhu’s forum, bar, and giant group chats, from the first time they met it had been sparks and thunder.
And now, that phrase felt… oddly accurate here too.
She posted in The QianJin Shipping Society:
[You won’t believe what I just saw!]
[We might be eating real sugar! QianJin is real!]
[AHHHHH I want to turn into a screaming rubber chicken right now!]
Replies flooded in. Ever since the sports meet ended, the society’s membership had exploded and spread to other schools too:
[The president wants QianJin sugar so badly she’s gone feral.]
[There’s been too little QianJin sugar lately. The president has been working hard to dig crumbs. Please understand, everyone.]
[I’m not crazy, they’re really real!]
Luo Ying tried to take a photo, but those two had already moved to the back door to get off. This stop was the breakfast place Qian Kun mentioned.
In the short distance to the rear door, Qian Kun carefully shielded the person beside him, not letting the crowd bump him. That gentle attentiveness made Luo Ying feel like she was the one being pampered.
They definitely had something going on.
Why did nobody believe her?
After breakfast, they walked to school to digest.
Two classes later, Shen Jin went to the Academic Affairs Office to pick up a new school ID. It had been remade after his gender change. He happened to run into student council seniors coming out.
Since Shen Jin was the first-choice candidate for the next council president, they all knew each other well and greeted one another.
Ke Minghuai walked in front. His face was a bit pale, otherwise not much different from usual.
One senior girl asked, “President, who exactly is your fiancée? Everyone really wants to know. Just satisfy our curiosity, won’t you?”
Ke Minghuai replied, “Did you get full marks on every exam? If not, how do you have the nerve to ask.”
Senior girl: “...”
You’re so heartless. No wonder your fiancée became your *ex-*fiancée.
The sports meet incident should’ve blown over, but Yu Pingling accidentally let something slip and they found out the fiancée was in this school. In this school and actually talked to people!
Ke Minghuai had topped the school heartthrob rankings multiple times. That was basically kicking a hornet’s nest.
He kept his mouth shut no matter what. The mystery had practically become one of Nanhu’s Ten Unsolved Cases.
When the senior girl saw he still wouldn’t talk, she noticed Shen Jin walking quietly beside them and teased, “Ice God, aren’t you childhood friends with this guy? Can you leak anything?”
Shen Jin was thinking how to answer when Ke Minghuai cut her off.
“Don’t make things hard for the junior. You don’t know my fiancée.”
“Isn’t there a rumor it’s Ice God?”
“Wait, if it’s Ice God, that actually feels kind of reasonable.”
Shen Jin’s expression cooled. Ke Minghuai looked at him deeply, then denied it. “It’s not him.”
After the others left, Ke Minghuai walked with Shen Jin for a short stretch.
Shen Jin let out a quiet breath. “Thanks.” For not spreading it everywhere.
Ke Minghuai said, “What are you thanking me for? From the start, you didn’t want anyone to know. I just… don’t want you to dislike me even more.”
Shen Jin shook his head. “I don’t dislike you.”
Ke Minghuai’s smile slowly bloomed, like a clear sky.
It was the first time Shen Jin had seen such a real Ke Minghuai.
Shen Jin was surprised. Then he heard someone yelling “Kun-ge!” from the direction of the field, and his attention was pulled away.
Ke Minghuai’s smile flickered out. He saw Shen Jin looking at the soccer game. Even from far away, the boy on the green field stood out.
Ke Minghuai’s gaze ached dully. “When you told me we were calling off the engagement on the day I returned, I still didn’t understand what it meant. I kept thinking you’d always be there. It wasn’t until that day downstairs at the hospital, when you said those things, that I finally realized… we really were separating.”
His voice was soft, stretched long.
He was used to Shen Jin’s presence. They’d been together for too long after all. So even a brief separation didn’t feel like separation to him.
In his mind, that concept didn’t exist.
On the day the storm blocked the roads, he laid all his secrets on the table, and Shen Jin still refused him.
In that moment, he realized what he’d lost.
His belated heartbreak had only just begun.
The two stood at the edge of the field. Students occasionally passed by, but they didn’t speak much.
Ke Minghuai spotted You Jia crossing along another path. Remembering what he’d once done in front of Shen Jin, he lowered his head quickly. He’d realized his mistake far too late.
So late that saying “we were just using each other as shields” as a way to get closer sounded painfully ironic.
Qian Kun came off the field, brushed Liu Qimai’s hand away, and stared at the two figures separating in the distance.
Shen Jin headed for the teaching building. He still needed to go to the office to see Old Hu. Ke Minghuai walked a few steps, then stopped, silently watching Shen Jin’s back.
That one simple action alone was different from before.
Compared to the seemingly flawless Ke Minghuai, this Ke Minghuai, who felt more human and real, felt more threatening.
Restlessness boiled up in Qian Kun again.
Liu Qimai still hadn’t noticed and laughed, trying to sling an arm over him. “Kun-ge, what’s with that face? We already suppressed the special-talents class so hard they don’t dare say a word—”
Zhou You tugged him, signaling him to look ahead.
Liu Qimai froze, nearly cursing out loud. Ice God, take it easy. Do you know what will happen if you make Kun-ge hold back too long?
In class, Shen Jin noticed Qian Kun actually had the scent of barrier spray on him.
Qian Kun had enough mental strength to freely control his pheromones, so he never used barrier spray. That was also how he could pass as a Beta without any tells.
Shen Jin: [Are you uncomfortable? Do you want to mark?]
Qian Kun felt his phone vibrate. Lazily, he lifted his head from the desk. Shen Jin’s heart skipped under that gaze.
Hates Rabbits: [Be good. No marking today. I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself.]
Control what?
Shen Jin’s fingers trembled. He didn’t dare look at his deskmate.
Author’s Note:
Qian: hungry for too long, eyes turning green.
Apparently some sweethearts asked about pickled-mustard-and-fresh-meat mooncakes. I always thought it was a standard flavor, turns out it isn’t? It’s tasty! I eat it every year. Especially when it’s hot from the oven. If it’s cold, you can microwave it a bit too, hehe~~~ slurp.
Randomly picking 60 sweethearts from the comments to send red envelopes~~~ mwah~~
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