Childhood Sweethearts (ABO) - Chapter 1

Top Student Older Brother x Superstar Younger Brother

At sunset, the sky was shrouded in a rosy glow, as if an orange gauze mist were drifting down, soaking every corner of Nanling No. 1 High School.

Students pushed their bicycles as they left the school, the atmosphere bustling and lively. Under the shade of the trees, however, the air seemed frozen into ice, as if isolated by an invisible barrier.

“Senior.”

An Omega kept his head lowered, his fingertips clutching a love letter tightly, his face flushed red. “Can you tell me… the reason you’re rejecting me?”

The youth who had been stopped took off his earphones. Both his appearance and height were exceptionally superior, carrying a natural sense of cold distance. Beneath that obsidian-colored hair, his features were deep and his nose bridge was straight; he possessed a type of handsome beauty that lacked any trace of aggression.

For some reason, he had been frequently misidentified by gender lately and had received confessions from Omegas more than once.

“Thank you for your love letter.”

Xi Zhiyu looked down, speaking with gentle politeness. “But you might have misunderstood. I am not an Alpha; I am an Omega, just like you.”

The junior summoned his courage to look up, catching sight of the handsome youth pursing his lips. His thick eyelashes cast a patch of shadow, looking so gentle it made one lose their focus.

“So… so that’s how it is. But I can also accept an O-O relationship. Would you be willing to consider it again, Senior?”

Had it been any other campus figure who received love letters year-round and was well-versed in such scenes, their methods of rejection would have long been practiced to the point of boredom or even annoyance.

Xi Zhiyu merely froze visibly. The words he wanted to say were swallowed in his throat, and he hesitated slightly: “I’m sorry.”

“I respect all sexual orientations, and my rejection of the letter doesn’t mean anything else. Please don’t misunderstand.”

“It’s just that I personally have no desire for a relationship. Thank you, and I wish you progress in your studies.”

He pursed his lips and nodded, forcing a polite smile. Explaining that he had urgent business, he quickly left the school grounds.

After crossing the street and confirming that the Omega hadn’t followed him, Xi Zhiyu finally let out a sigh of relief. Even though experiencing confessions was as common as eating three meals a day, every time he rejected someone, Xi Zhiyu always struggled to organize his words, like an old robot on the verge of breaking down.

But fortunately—

He hadn’t heard the question the person from the day before yesterday had asked: Is it because you have an arranged childhood marriage that you chose to refuse?

Otherwise, it would have made him even more at a loss.

The bus heading toward the north of the city arrived just in time. Xi Zhiyu boarded, swiped his student card, and walked all the way to the back row.

As he sat down, the youth instinctively glanced out the window. His slender index finger rose to rub the reddened skin of his back neck.

After passing about a dozen stops, the bus pulled up at the “Differentiation Clinic” station. He was the only one who pressed the bell to get off.

This was a private hospital with extremely high privacy. Even though his father’s generation had friends in the medical industry, there was no need to worry that his diagnosis would be known by his family.

As he pushed open the door, Xi Zhiyu habitually looked outside, confirming once again that no bodyguards were following him.

He took a number from the machine in the lobby and sat in a dim corner further inside. While waiting, he took out his phone, preparing to pass the time by working on practice problems.

This was undoubtedly a way to distract himself.

When he had been stopped by the Omega junior, Xi Zhiyu had been suppressing the pain in his scent gland. Accompanied by a needle-like burning sensation, his physical condition was actually quite wrong; it just hadn’t been noticed by others.

His phone was in a compartment of his backpack. As soon as he reached in to feel for it, Xi Zhiyu froze instantly, realizing that the paper-like object he had touched was.

A love letter.

He sighed, but still pulled out the phone and the love letter at the same time, just catching a message on the screen from a friend.

Sesame.

I say, as an Omega, why do Alphas, Betas, and even Omegas all give you love letters?

Seeing the message, Xi Zhiyu.

He didn’t quite understand it either. He had a quiet and dull personality with a very small social circle; he considered himself an uninteresting person and always felt he shouldn’t be so popular.

Just like his nickname a small, inconspicuous black grain, a tiny sesame seed.

Seeing this evaluation, his friend sent an ancient-style meme. It read: This humble one is truly out of tricks.

Xi Zhiyu was a fellow who lacked “internet sense.” Before he could even research the subtext, a new message popped up.

A top-tier student who gets national competition awards until his hands go soft, consistently ranking first in provincial joint exams, with modeling skills that are off the charts. Most importantly, your dad is the richest man in Nancheng. If that counts as being ordinary, I want to be that ordinary too.

By the way.

Lately, a lot of people have been saying you have a childhood arranged marriage partner. Honestly, who is it? Is it the person I’m thinking of?

The palm holding the phone melted into a thin layer of sweat, and the screen gradually dimmed. Outside the window, the twilight was like a ripe persimmon. Xi Zhiyu sat perfectly straight, clearly in deep thought, yet looking as if he were staring blankly into infinity.

After an unknown amount of time, his thoughts returned, and he prepared to put the love letter away. But when he looked down, his eyes fell on the crookedly written name. His fingertips tightened until they turned white, and the gland on his back neck felt inexplicably swollen and uncomfortable.

The youth parted his thin lips slightly, taking a few heavy breaths. Those were two characters he could no longer be familiar with.

“Xie Yun.”

Someone’s electronic device was playing a video out loud. An announcer’s voice, clear and resonant, read: “The undisputed choice for the most promising new-generation actor.”

“Xie Yun appeared at the Haishi Airport today at noon, departing for Germany to attend the Berlin Film Festival. Let us look forward to his new work together—”

Following the direction of the sound, Xi Zhiyu looked over. His gaze landed on an old tablet. On the screen, the high-cold youth surrounded by a crowd had a tall and slender build. He wore a duckbill cap and sunglasses, covering most of his face, as he was escorted into the VIP lane by bodyguards.

That silhouette was both familiar and strange, tugging at his heart and stirring a subtle quiver.

“Little darling, it’s just an injection. It won’t hurt much.”

The lady holding the tablet with one hand was cradling her teary-eyed daughter, coaxing her: “Mama knows you like Brother Xie Yun the most. After we finish the injection, we’ll go to the fan meeting, okay?”

The little girl was about six years old. She pouted, tears overflowing from her grape-like eyes.

“I don’t want Mama to waste money… I can never get the tickets, I can’t get Brother Xie Yun’s autograph, and the injection hurts, wahhh…”

The video was playing out loud, but the volume was kept very low. Had he not been sitting close, Xi Zhiyu might not have heard the conversation.

The patients received at this private hospital often had uncommon symptoms. This single mother, raising her daughter alone, had spent a lot of her savings on treatments. Because she had applied for special community subsidies, she had once borrowed a fountain pen from Xi Zhiyu to fill out forms, which left an impression on him.

Seeing the mother comfort the little girl, looking anxious and heartbroken with sweat soaking her bangs, Xi Zhiyu didn’t think much of it. He slowly turned his body, like a cloud drifting closer, carrying a gentleness that could embrace all things.

He asked softly: “Little friend.”

“You want Brother Xie Yun’s autograph, right?”

The youth’s voice was low and clear, like refreshing spring water after rain. His temperament was as bright as the moon and the wind; hearing him speak could soothe anxious emotions.

The little girl looked confused, blinking her moist eyes, and responded in a soft, waxy voice: “…I want it.”

Xi Zhiyu showed a warm smile: “If a certain little friend is brave during the injection and doesn’t make her mother worry, I can help ask Brother Xie Yun for an autograph.”

The little girl reached out her chubby palm to wipe her eyes, asking obediently: “Really?”

Xi Zhiyu curved his lips: “Of course it’s true.”

“…Th-thank you, Brother.”

The little girl stared at the big brother in front of her, mesmerized, and praised him in a milky voice: “Brother, you are very handsome too.”

Xi Zhiyu laughed: “Is that so?”

The little girl nodded vigorously: “Brother is as handsome as Brother Xie Yun, but, but it’s a different kind of handsome!”

“Brother.”

“Why do you have Brother Xie Yun’s autograph?”

The mother, acting as an observer, offered a grateful smile while her daughter wasn’t looking. She naturally assumed those words were just to coax the child into the injection. It was impossible for the other party to get Xie Yun’s autograph; after all, he was a phenomenal young actor famous worldwide.

Perhaps the helpful youth would make up another story like being a fan himself or having attended a meeting to get one.

However, Xi Zhiyu met the little girl’s eyes and ruffled her soft hair, appearing to deliberate over his explanation. His tone hid a faint, lingering regret:

“We are childhood friends. We’ve known each other since we were even smaller than you.”

“But he is very busy—”

“We only see each other once in a while.”

The flight from Haishi to Berlin cut through the layers of clouds and across the mountains and seas.

In the first-class cabin, a blonde youth leaned lazily in his seat, arms crossed, focused on a newly released movie on the screen. He wore a classic three-stripe black sports jacket, the zipper pulled strictly to the very top. His hair had been specially styled, swept back to reveal a full forehead, his features overflowing with the cold, arrogant rebellion unique to the young.

Even when interacting with fans or being photographed at the airport, Xie Yun who carried the title of “National Son” never hid his true personality.

Because he saw a thrilling action scene of a chase at a cliffside, Xie Yun knit his brows tightly, biting down hard on his juice straw, feeling frustrated: “So this is the scene where he fell. I was wondering why Aaron was limping for over half a month.”

The manager sitting beside him was used to this. She turned to look and saw her “money tree” again, sporting that face so handsome it could crack the heavens. This little guy’s every word was filled with regret for not caring enough for his friend, yet he failed to remember a city chase scene last year where he himself was knocked into the hospital which was much more serious than this.

Buzz.

The phone suddenly vibrated.

During flight, Xie Yun habitually switched to a custom silent mode. The manager knew this well and assumed it was a work partner providing feedback on progress.

“?”

However, the screen remained empty.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the “Little Overlord” pull out his phone. Upon seeing the message, his body instantly sat bolt upright, and his expression resembling an ice mountain frozen for ten thousand years began to melt.

It was an absolute reversal of his usual state.

The manager’s heart sank slightly, mistakenly thinking it was harassment from a sasaeng fan. She thought to herself that such nonsense usually only happened during the early days of debut.

“What’s wrong?”

But as soon as the words left her mouth, she saw Xie Yun’s expression and immediately realized she had gotten it wrong.

She watched as Xie Yun held his breath. From his earlobes spreading down to the skin of his back neck, a thin red flush appeared. This could never be the reaction of someone being harassed by a fan.

The manager paused for a moment, a certain youth’s silhouette appearing in her mind. Only he could make Xie Yun show such an expression.

She followed up: “Who is it? Your top-student older brother?”

Xie Yun propped his face up with one hand, his Adam’s apple sliding a few times, his gaze fixed on the screen in disbelief.

“Mhm.”

The youth turned his face away, his cheeks heating up slightly, as he murmured: “Zhiyu-ge sent me a message.”

Support Childhood Sweethearts (ABO)