The senior year of high school passed in a blur. Each day was a tightly scheduled routine. Teachers from every subject poured all their energy into explaining concepts, structures, and strategies.
Students would go through the textbook material once, then review it with supplementary exercises, and finally tackle the most challenging problems.
In the winter, they’d wake up to see stars and return home under the same night sky.
Day and night blurred together. Sometimes they’d forget what day of the week it was while asking each other questions.
It felt like senior year was a barrier trapping them, one that could only be broken on a certain day in June, granting them rebirth.
“Ugh, I’m done! I can’t study anymore!” Lin Xiaoxiao threw her book down during a self-study session and slumped over her desk.
Not long after, her shoulders began to shake, and she started crying quietly.
This happened to almost every student preparing for college entrance exams.
As the deadline loomed closer, more and more students broke down, overwhelmed by the pressure and uncertainty about their future.
Zhou Le had experienced this too.
He’d had moments of breakdown, when he couldn’t focus, when the future seemed bleak.
Each time, Lu Jingran would sense it immediately. But later, Zhou Le stopped answering his video calls, not wanting to burden Lu Jingran, who was already swamped with his studies abroad.
Eventually, Zhou Le learned to cope with his emotions on his own.
Chen Nan, however, struggled. He vented his frustrations on the exam questions themselves.
“What’s wrong with the test-makers? What’s the point of magnetic vectors? They’re so abstract! I can’t figure any of this out!”
In the midst of the intense studying atmosphere, even the spoiled young master began to take studying seriously.
But it only lasted a week before he couldn’t stand it anymore. He started rallying Zhou Le and the others to go out for some fun.
Chen Nan, of course, wasn’t lacking in friends, but ever since Sheng Qian left, he preferred hanging out with Zhou Le, Lin Xiaoxiao, and Xia Linchuan. He ignored his old circle of troublemakers, as if staying close to this group brought him closer to Sheng Qian.
Of course, Chen Nan would never admit this. He claimed he simply got bored of his old friends, which was why he stuck to them.
Initially, Zhou Le didn’t want to go out. The second semester of senior year was so packed that every moment of study time was precious.
But Lin Xiaoxiao wanted to go, and Xia Linchuan did too. Their enthusiasm eventually convinced Zhou Le to join them.
He thought they were just going out to eat and sing karaoke, but to his surprise, they ended up at a bar!
As soon as they walked in, Zhou Le covered his ears.
The deafening music felt like it could make his heart jump out of his chest.
Amid the dim lighting and pulsating bodies, Zhou Le and the others, unaccustomed to such a scene, instinctively turned to leave.
“Hey, hey, hey! Where are you going?!” Chen Nan grabbed the three of them.
“I still have a math test paper to finish. I need to go back and work on it. It’s going to be checked tomorrow,” Zhou Le explained.
In the past, Lu Jingran would check his practice test papers. Although Lu Jingran hadn’t contacted him recently, likely because he was busy, Zhou Le still felt compelled to keep up the habit.
Lin Xiaoxiao, on the other hand, didn’t dare open her eyes. The bar’s abundance of attractive men and women overwhelmed her. Xia Linchuan looked equally uncomfortable, sensing that the atmosphere wasn’t quite suited for high school students.
“Come on, Zhou Le, show some backbone! Can’t live without Lu Jingran, huh? They had the guts to leave us behind and go abroad, so why are we holding ourselves back?!” Chen Nan exclaimed. “Let me tell you, I booked a private room tonight. We’re partying until dawn!”
Though Chen Nan hadn’t drunk anything yet, he already sounded intoxicated. He dragged the three of them into the private room.
The bar owner even came over to greet Chen Nan personally, apparently familiar with him.
Inside the room, they played some games, and soon enough, Chen Nan had them all drinking.
Zhou Le, completely inexperienced, quickly finished a bottle and began to feel lightheaded.
Lin Xiaoxiao’s face turned red as she grabbed the microphone and yelled, “Why is the college entrance exam so hard?! Why do we even have to take it?! Forget it! I’m not taking it anymore! I’m going to Korea to meet my oppa—waaah!”
The room’s sound system amplified her wails perfectly.
Xia Linchuan took the mic next and joined in, shouting, “I’ve said it before—I’m going to join a training camp and play esports! I’m going to compete internationally! Nobody supported me, and now, fine, I’m not studying! I’m smart enough already! I don’t need college—whoever wants to go can go!”
Getting drunk seems to free you from caring about anything.
“Zhou Le, your turn. Say something,” someone urged.
Zhou Le clutched the microphone, his cheeks flushed, eyes unfocused. “Lu Jingran…”
“Lu Jingran, I miss you.”
“I miss you so much. Could you just, I don’t know, magically come back for a bit? I can’t… I can’t stop missing you, wuwuwu…”
Zhou Le’s little face scrunched up, and he started crying uncontrollably.
“You’re pathetic!” Chen Nan rolled his eyes in disdain. “Can’t survive without your Alpha, huh?”
He grabbed the microphone and yelled, “Sheng Qian! You b*stard, you’d better not come back for the rest of your life! Don’t even video call me anymore! Last time you called and then hung up—you think I’m that interested in looking at your abs? You think this young master is lacking your abs?”
Chen Nan got increasingly riled up as he spoke. He pressed the call button and summoned some companions.
A moment later, a few tall and handsome Alphas with visible abs arrived.
Chen Nan motioned for someone to start recording with their phone. Then, without hesitation, he began unbuttoning the shirt and pants of the Alpha nearest him. Shamelessly, he pawed and leaned against them.
The Alphas quickly realized the nature of their “invitation” and started engaging enthusiastically.
Though Xia Linchuan was drunk, some semblance of rationality remained. When another Alpha tried approaching, he immediately released his pheromones in warning. “Back off, or you’ll regret it!”
Lin Xiaoxiao clutched her companion, overwhelmed by the pheromones, and cried loudly, “Oppa! Oppa! I finally found you! Your concert tickets were so hard to get, wuwuwu!”
Zhou Le, meanwhile, was grabbed by an Alpha, who lifted his chin and leaned in for a kiss.
The recording stopped at this exact moment.
Chen Nan, satisfied, shooed away the Alphas and sent the video to the group chat he shared with Lu Jingran, Sheng Qian, and a few others. The group had been created for coordinating shared rides, but this wasn’t Chen Nan’s accidental motive. Not at all.
He smirked, wondering how long it would take Sheng Qian to call him.
However, just as he started thinking about this, the Alpha next to him grabbed his hand and tried placing it on his waist.
Chen Nan yanked his hand back and snapped, “Scram.”
The Alpha left, dejected.
Elsewhere, before anything could happen to Zhou Le, he suddenly let out a massive sneeze, spraying the Alpha right in the face.
“Sorry! Sorry!” Zhou Le stammered.
“…It’s fine,” the Alpha replied, clearly disgruntled.
Before things could escalate further, Zhou Le’s phone rang.
It was Lu Jingran!
Startled, Zhou Le fumbled the answer button but accidentally hung up instead. Obliviously, he held the phone to his ear and kept saying, “Hello?”
He frowned in confusion. “Lu Jingran, are you mute now? Did something happen to your throat? Are you not eating well?”
Chen Nan, who hadn’t yet received a call from Sheng Qian, picked up his own ringing phone instead. “Hello, Brother Lu, what’s up?”
“Do you have a death wish?” Lu Jingran’s voice was dangerously low, a rare tone reserved for extreme situations—like the time they first met in elementary school and he got his chair kicked out from under him.
Chen Nan sobered up instantly. “Brother Lu, what happened?”
“Get Zhou Le out of there and make sure that Alpha leaves him alone!” Lu Jingran growled. His restrained fury sent chills down Chen Nan’s spine.
“Right away!” Chen Nan barked orders to the Alphas in the room. “Scram! All of you!”
Reluctantly, the Alphas shuffled out. The one nearest Zhou Le lingered for a moment, clearly reluctant to part with the enticingly fresh scent of the Omega. His gaze lingered before he licked his lips and inhaled the faint, lingering aroma.
As the last Alpha left, Chen Nan muttered apologetically, “Brother Lu~”
“If you ever take Zhou Le to a place like that again, you’re dead,” Lu Jingran spat before hanging up.
“…”
Humiliated and frustrated, Chen Nan stewed in resentment. “All your fault, Sheng Qian! Don’t even think about me answering your calls from now on. I’m so mad!”
Despite his sour mood, he herded the drunken group home.
Heaven rewards those who persist—Lu Jingran finally responded, and not just with words. There was a video call this time.
“You’re back!” Zhou Le gleefully cradled his phone in both hands, holding it like a precious treasure. “I haven’t seen you in so long!”
“Muah!”
He smacked a few exaggerated kisses toward the screen.
He was drunk, and all his shyness had vanished, replaced with nothing but the desire to be close to this person. Yet all he could touch was the cold screen and the metallic chill of the phone.
Lu Jingran had been upset, but the moment Zhou Le sent those playful kisses, all his anger evaporated.
What was there to be mad about?
It wasn’t like Zhou Le had intentionally gone to such a place. If he had been by his side, he would never have let him go there.
But the problem now was that he *couldn’t* be by his side…
“Lu Jingran, why aren’t you saying anything? Are you mute again?”
In the car, Zhou Le rested his flushed face, tinged pink from the alcohol, against the car frame. His bright eyes glimmered as he held the phone, calling his Alpha’s name with sticky affection: “Lu Jingran, Jiran…”
Under the gaze of those emotional eyes, Lu Jingran’s dry throat tightened.
If he could, he’d pull him into his arms right now and hold him tightly.
But all he could do was stare at him through the screen, unable to do anything else.
Lu Jingran clenched his fingers.
All the way home, Lu Jingran remained silent. Zhou Le found it strange, but just being able to see him was enough to make him happy.
As they entered the house, Zhou Le nearly tripped.
“Careful,” Lu Jingran murmured.
The voice on the phone carried a hint of worry. Zhou Le chuckled, “You’re all better now?”
Lu Jingran stayed silent at first before asking, “Does your head hurt?”
Zhou Le shook his head, brimming with excitement. “Not at all, I feel great!”
His slightly tipsy state made his mind sluggish but carefree.
“Great?” Lu Jingran raised an eyebrow.
Was he really satisfied with this little bar outing?
“What’s great about it? Those Alphas?”
“…” Zhou Le, ever honest, licked his lips. “They were good-looking, smelled nice… kinda like you.”
“…”
When Zhou Le noticed Lu Jingran’s silence and his furrowed brows that hinted at anger, he hesitated.
“What’s wrong? Are you upset?”
Lu Jingran’s dark eyes locked onto him through the screen, as if he were trying to reach out and grab him. Zhou Le started feeling a little nervous for no reason.
“Is this your bedroom?”
“Mm…”
“Aunt’s not home?”
“She… she’s asleep.”
“…”
“Take off your clothes and lie on the bed. I want to see you.”
Hearing this, Zhou Le’s eyelids fluttered.
The Alpha’s cold voice delivered judgment. “Zhou Le, this is your punishment.”
