After Rebirth, My Archrival Omega Looks at Me Differently - Chapter 49

The sunlight shimmered slightly as a figure leaned in, casting a shadow over the side of Chi Yan’s face.

The sudden closeness caught her off guard. She stared at Yan Youqing, who had just kissed her cheek. From this close, she could clearly see her gently trembling eyelashes.

Yan Youqing’s lips were not at all like what Chi Yan had imagined in her dreams. They did not burn like strong alcohol. They were soft and gentle, like warm jade.

That familiar scent of sea salt and morning dew curled around her fingertips, making her heart race in confusion. Her whole body froze in place. She did not even blink.

Time seemed to stretch in that moment. The setting sunlight lingered on her lashes as if refusing to let the moment end.

Only when the light kiss on her cheek ended did time seem to resume its normal pace.

Yan Youqing slowly pulled back. Her lips were slightly red from the touch. She raised her eyes and looked at Chi Yan, who stood frozen as if her system had shut down.

She had just listed her own flaws, admitting how she had bent the rules for Chi Yan. And now she added softly, “I like you too.”

That was all she said. Her eyes were bright and clear, like a young deer’s, honest and pure under the golden afternoon sun.

A simple confession like “I like you” might not seem like much. On its own, it could feel like a one-sided hope with no promise of return.

But when she added the word “too,” it felt like two distant hearts had finally collided, blooming into fireworks in a quiet, empty sky.

Chi Yan looked at her in disbelief. “Then why were you still with that…”

“The Wu and Yan families were trying to match us,” Yan Youqing explained calmly. Her cool gaze settled on Chi Yan, mixed with quiet resignation. “But we both had feelings for someone else. So we agreed to work together.”

She paused for a beat, then added with a straight face, “I just didn’t expect the fool in my life to be the biggest fool of all. You really couldn’t tell the difference between liking someone and pheromone dependency.”

The word “my” in “my fool” made Chi Yan’s ears turn red. She blinked rapidly and muttered, “That’s because you misled me from the start.”

But midway through her complaint, Chi Yan suddenly realized something and stopped herself. She looked at Yan Youqing, hesitant.

“Yan Youqing, you…”

“Yes,” Yan Youqing nodded, giving her a silent but certain answer before Chi Yan could finish.

It was an answer Chi Yan had never dared to dream of.

Everything she once thought was coincidence or strange now turned out to be carefully planned by Yan Youqing.

“Chi Yan.”

“Happy birthday.”

In Chi Yan’s eyes, a rose bloomed where none should in the middle of winter, its petals carrying the dew of a summer morning, circling quietly around Yan Youqing.

Her voice, calm and mature, echoed from somewhere far away, traveling through time to reach Chi Yan once more.

Only now did Chi Yan realize that on that day, when Yan Youqing said happy birthday, she had truly meant it.

The feeling of having been cherished all along was so overwhelming, Chi Yan didn’t know how to respond.

In their last life, she had seen Yan Youqing as a rival. That feeling had only grown stronger once they both entered the biology department.

The wind stirred the sunlight, creating ripples of light. Chi Yan reached out and grabbed Yan Youqing’s wrist.

Yan Youqing had not expected it at all. Before she could react, Chi Yan had pulled her into a firm embrace.

“I’m sorry I only understand now.”

Her voice was low and steady, brushing gently against Yan Youqing’s ear like a quiet promise.

As she spoke, her hair swung forward from the motion, shielding the moment. Behind it, Yan Youqing’s calm eyes held a faint tremble.

She lowered her head, resting it gently on Chi Yan’s shoulder. Her voice was as soft as the breeze but carried a warmth far older than the present.

“Then don’t ever leave me again.”

“Okay,” Chi Yan replied, tightening her arms around her as if she could hold her forever.

She whispered, “You know what? My dad once said that when an Alpha has pheromone dependency and is separated from their Omega… they could die.”

Yan Youqing had originally planned to tease her for saying something so dramatic. But when she looked up and saw the way Chi Yan’s eyes curved with that bright smile meant only for her, she gave up.

She said nothing more. She simply let herself sink deeper into Chi Yan’s arms, inch by inch.

The early spring wind swept gently across the grove, but Yan Youqing felt warm.

The sunlight and the one she loved were both hers now.

That evening, the sunset was not as fiery as usual. The western sky held only a soft, peachy glow.

The students barely had time to enjoy the rare beauty before the bell rang, signaling the start of the last self-study session.

Everyone hurried back to their classrooms. Chi Yan and Yan Youqing blended into the crowd, not drawing too much attention.

Except from Zhong Yi.

Chi Yan followed behind Yan Youqing into the classroom. As soon as she sat down, a cup of milk tea was placed on her desk.

Zhong Yi handed it to her and said in a sweet, overly eager tone, “While you were gone, your milkshake turned into watered-down milk tea.”

Chi Yan gave her a look of mild annoyance but took the cup anyway. “Thanks.”

Zhong Yi was not ready to drop the subject. She glanced at Yan Youqing, who had calmly opened her workbook, then leaned closer and whispered, “Yan-jie, where did you go just now?”

Chi Yan ignored her not-so-subtle glances between her and Yan Youqing. She sipped her drink and played dumb.

“What do you mean, went where?”

Zhong Yi thought she hadn’t picked up on the hint, so she asked more directly. “I mean, Wu Zhuiyang asked me to call out Yan Youqing, and then you just took her away. What did you two do?”

Chi Yan listened to her hushed but eager voice, full of gossip, and slowly looked up.

She remembered.

Zhong Yi had spent the last few days constantly saying how well Yan Youqing and Wu Zhuiyang suited each other.

Chi Yan remembered every word.

Chi Yan had already decided—there was no way she was letting Zhong Yi find out about her and Yan Youqing this soon.

With that in mind, she answered in the most casual voice she could manage, “Oh, nothing really.”

Zhong Yi immediately took the bait.

She stared at Chi Yan, clearly intrigued by her forced nonchalance, and scratched her head like she couldn’t take it anymore. “Nothing? You marched out of here like you were going to start a fight. What, you didn’t want Yan Youqing getting close to that guy or something? Were you jealous?”

Chi Yan didn’t dodge. She nodded seriously and honestly. “Yes.”

Zhong Yi was stunned.

She had never seen Chi Yan give a straight answer so quickly when she was digging for gossip. Sharp as ever, Zhong Yi immediately narrowed her eyes. “You’re messing with me again.”

“Was it a teacher? Did they need you two for something? You just remembered, right?”

She looked at Chi Yan suspiciously, clearly not buying it, as if to say, don’t try to fool me.

Chi Yan couldn’t help it. Her eyes curved into a smile, and she nodded with a laugh. “Yes.”

Then she leaned back in her chair with her milk tea in hand and sighed like she was disappointed. “I was going to tease you a bit more.”

Zhong Yi sat up proudly. “Knew it.”

But just as she was basking in her own cleverness, something occurred to her, and she said with a knowing look, “Still, I think you really did help a lot this time.”

Chi Yan paused.

Wait, what was this? Had Zhong Yi been led onto the right track after all?

“What do you mean?”

“That Wu Zhuiyang guy doesn’t seem reliable,” Zhong Yi said, her voice rising slightly.

She glanced meaningfully toward Yan Youqing, who was quietly working on her homework, then continued, “When he saw you pulling Yan Youqing away, he left too. I thought he was going to follow you, but turns out he really just left.”

Chi Yan raised an eyebrow. “Really? I thought he seemed pretty decent.”

Zhong Yi looked at her like she had lost her mind. “Decent? You’re the last person I expected to say that. You dragged Yan Youqing off like that, and he didn’t even follow to ask why. That’s not decent.”

“We’ve been friends for half a year now, and I’m telling you, I do not feel comfortable handing her over to someone like that.”

She even said it like a protective family member.

Before Chi Yan could react, her words were answered—by Yan Youqing herself.

She set down her pen and replied softly, “I don’t like him.”

Zhong Yi’s next comment got stuck in her throat.

They had sat in front of and behind each other for over a semester, and this was the first time Yan Youqing had ever joined in on a conversation about her.

Zhong Yi’s curiosity spiked. She leaned in eagerly. “Then what kind of Alpha do you like? I can introduce you to someone.”

Chi Yan had planned to ignore Zhong Yi’s usual nonsense, but the moment she heard the words “introduce an Alpha,” she immediately sat up straighter.

Before she could chase her away, she heard Yan Youqing calmly reply, “Good grades.”

Zhong Yi nodded. “Of course.”

Yan Youqing continued, “A 99.9 percent pheromone compatibility with me.”

Chi Yan froze.

Zhong Yi frowned. “That might be a bit hard… Anything else? Something easier to recognize?”

Yan Youqing looked down, as if she was actually giving it serious thought.

Then her eyes shifted subtly to Chi Yan’s pen holder. After a pause, she added, “Likes lollipops. That’s all.”

“Lollipops…” Zhong Yi repeated, writing it down like she was taking notes. She let out a little laugh. “Didn’t expect you to have such a sweet side. Alright, got it.”

She spoke so confidently, like she had already taken the matchmaking job upon herself. Then she poked Chi Yan’s arm with her pen. “Chi Yan, help me look too.”

But Chi Yan didn’t look up.

Her bangs fell slightly over her face, and in the quiet corner of the classroom, she only replied with a soft, muffled, “Okay.”

The sunset outside the window painted everything in strawberry pink, adding a warm glow to the otherwise dull classroom.

Some students were buried in their books, not noticing the beauty outside. Some quietly pulled out their phones, trying to capture the moment.

And some had their ears turning red.

A simple geometry problem sat on Chi Yan’s desk, but after staring at it for a long time, she hadn’t written a single step.

The last self-study period ended as the sunset filled the sky with soft pink.

After school, students gathered along the corridors, looking up at the rare, beautiful clouds. Chi Yan glanced at the sky too but didn’t stay with Zhong Yi and Wang Chuning. She had something more important to do.

Plants are always the first to sense spring. The willow trees in the old alley had already sprouted a few fresh green buds, swaying gently in the breeze.

Yan Youqing still carried her white backpack. Her blue and white school uniform was perfectly neat without a single wrinkle.

Everything about her looked the same as before.

But to Chi Yan, something felt different now.

Because today, this girl had become her girlfriend.

Chi Yan didn’t know what being in a relationship felt like for other people. All she knew was that the girl standing there waiting for her now belonged to her.

And that thought made it impossible not to smile.

It felt like the pink sunset had not only colored the sky but also reached into her chest, turning twenty-eight years of quiet, faded life into something full of color.

The evening breeze brushed past their cheeks as the bike moved forward. Yan Youqing sat on the back seat as usual.

Fresh grass had sprouted along the road. Their two shadows stretched side by side on the ground, chasing the bike. Unlike before, when their outlines barely touched, this time their shadows leaned close together, and under the sunset, they looked like they had been painted with the same soft pink.

Maybe it was Chi Yan’s energy, or maybe the ride really was shorter than usual, but before long, they had reached the bridge.

And as luck would have it, Yan Youqing’s ride was running late.

Chi Yan parked the bike and looked up to see Yan Youqing leaning casually against the railing, looking at her.

The reflections on the river lit up her eyes like tiny stars.

She looked at Chi Yan quietly and asked in a gentle voice, “It’s the first day. Don’t you have something for me?”

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