I Heard You Only See Me as a Friend - Chapter 17

The second day of the school sports meet passed smoothly. Feng Jin easily secured the championship in the 5,000-meter long-distance race, earning three precious points for the class.

By the end, their class’s overall performance was quite good. Some students clamored for the head teacher to treat them to a meal, only to be playfully knocked on the head.

“The last time I took you out to eat, a few of you secretly drank beer and got drunk. After returning to school, you ended up… well, the principal personally warned me not to let you run wild again. However,” the teacher waved a hand grandly, “I can treat you all to drinks. Go choose what you want and let me know.”

The guilty students led the applause and went to tally everyone’s preferred flavors.

Ji Wan hesitated; there were two types of milk tea he wanted to try, and he found himself stuck in a dilemma. Ultimately, he chose one, only to find that Feng Jin had happened to choose the other.

After the milk tea was delivered, Ji Wan couldn’t help but steal a few glances at Feng Jin’s drink. Just as he was about to withdraw his gaze and focus on his own, his chair was kicked from behind.

“What are you doing? Want a sip?” Feng Jin asked.

“Yeah, I’ll try that one next time,” Ji Wan answered candidly.

Feng Jin let out a yawn. “I don’t want to drink it. Take it.”

Ji Wan shook his head. “I can’t finish two cups. Don’t let it go to waste.”

Feng Jin: “…”

“I’ll split it with you! Half for you, half for me you’ll be my ‘other half,'” Kong Liyan interjected enthusiastically. “If we just divide it… what’s wrong, Feng-ge?”

Kong Liyan trailed off, confused as he met Feng Jin’s gaze.

“I’m drinking it. He can’t have ‘half’ with you,” Feng Jin said, narrowing his eyes.

Kong Liyan watched as Feng Jin irritably stabbed the straw into the cup, scratching his head in bewilderment. Feng Jin’s temper seemed to be getting shorter by the day.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the mid-term examinations arrived.

Before the exams, the head teacher made a special emphasis: “After the exams are over and the rankings are out, the school will hold a parent-teacher meeting. If you want to have a peaceful time at home, work hard this time!”

The students began to wail. Below them, Ji Wan listened, lowering his eyes as he toyed with the tip of his pen.

…No one would come to his parent-teacher meeting. It had been this way since he was a child.

The official excuse was that he was a top student whose grades required no concern; his parents’ attention needed to be given to Ji Ke, whose scores were poor. He had long since grown used to it. Every time, he simply put in his best effort to achieve the highest possible score.

The examination dates arrived quickly. The papers this time were not easy; besides testing basic knowledge, there were many advanced application problems. After neatly finishing the final subject and handing it in, Ji Wan concluded the exam period.

The papers were graded rapidly, and the rankings were released.

Coincidentally, he and Feng Jin had the exact same score this time, tying for first place in the entire grade.

For some reason, Ji Wan felt a sense of relief. Unlike him, who was completely neglected, Feng Jin surely received a great deal of attention at home. Now that Feng Jin was also ranked first, his parents presumably wouldn’t scold him over his grades.

The parent-teacher meeting was held on a weekend. There were no classes, but the school required students to lead their parents into the classroom.

Kong Liyan dressed up neatly early in the morning to pick up his parents, leaving Feng Jin and Ji Wan staring at each other in the dorm.

Ji Wan checked the time; there were twenty minutes left before the meeting started. “Aren’t you going to the school gate to meet your parents?” he asked.

“What’s the rush?” Feng Jin didn’t even look up, saying indifferently, “It only takes five minutes to walk from the parking lot to the classroom. They won’t arrive even a minute early.”

People with a very precise sense of time, then, Ji Wan realized, no longer pressing the matter.

He estimated that his stepmother should also be arriving around now. Sure enough, a moment later, his phone chimed with a text from her.

It was the usual routine message: [Xiao Wan, your dad is busy with work and can’t make it, so only I could come. Since your grades are good and the teachers only ever praise you unlike Ji Ke, who gets criticized every time I’m going to Ji Ke’s meeting instead.]

Ji Wan didn’t reply. He watched as a few more minutes passed, until Feng Jin finally stood up and headed out.

Feng Jin met his mother in the parking lot. The expensive car looked utterly out of place in the small school lot. The woman who stepped out had exquisite features and impeccable hair and attire. Her eyes and brow bore a thirty-percent resemblance to Feng Jin’s, but one look was enough to see her rigor and shrewdness.

Upon seeing Feng Jin, Mother Feng nodded as a greeting. “How did you do this time?”

“First,” Feng Jin said lazily.

“Mm.” Mother Feng offered no excessive praise, as if Feng Jin taking first place was a basic requirement.

Feng Jin led her to the classroom. After showing her to his seat, he stepped outside to wait.

Leaning against the corridor railing, he watched as many parents inside crowded around his mother with eager, flattering smiles. Feng Jin was unfazed by the sight; his gaze drifted to the desk in front of his it was empty.

Did Ji Wan’s family not come?

Feng Jin recalled the stepmother and brother he had run into that day, and his brow furrowed slightly.

He didn’t wait outside the classroom for long. After a while, he went to the basketball court to play. Midway through a break, he received a call from his mother.

“Meet me at the parking lot,” Mother Feng’s voice was stern.

Feng Jin frowned, put down the basketball, and headed back. Shortly after, he saw his mother returning from the classroom.

“Your grades have slipped. Why didn’t you say anything?” she demanded.

“My grades slipped?” Feng Jin arched an eyebrow in surprise. “That’s news to me.”

“There is someone else in your class tied for first with you. That is a decline,” she said with clear, cold logic. “Feng Jin, you need to be excellent enough to leave everyone else far behind. Only then is it a true first place.”

Feng Jin stunned for a moment, then laughed as if he had heard a joke. “The total score is only so high. He’s not an idiot; how am I supposed to ‘leave him far behind’?”

Feng Jin didn’t pursue the topic, asking instead, “Why are you out so early? Is the meeting over?”

“No, but I need to rush back for a meeting.” Mother Feng glanced at her watch, the sapphire crystal reflecting a sharp glint of light. She looked at him again. “I don’t have much time, and your father has even less. Be sensible, study hard, and don’t make us worry.”

Feng Jin fell silent. He stared at the family car so clean that even the tires seemed dustless and asked softly, “Is rushing back that important? Is work more important than me?”

Mother Feng’s brow tightened into stern furrows. “Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Oh. Go on then, goodbye.” Feng Jin shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to leave when he heard her speak again from behind.

“Is there an Omega you like at school?” She tried to adjust her tone to sound softer.

Feng Jin stopped. “No.”

“When looking for an Omega, don’t just pick anyone. Find one with a high pheromone compatibility, do you understand?”

This time, Feng Jin turned around. He looked directly at his mother while the autumn wind rustled the leaves nearby.

“How do you know for sure that I’ll look for an Omega?” he asked.

The response was almost reflexive. “Nonsense! If not an Omega, what else would you look for?”

She recovered from her shock, her eyes widening. “You like Alphas?”

Feng Jin: “…No.”

Mother Feng breathed a sigh of relief, smoothing her hair which had been ruffled by the wind. “You’re still young; there are many things you don’t understand yet. You’ll understand when you grow up. You will like Omegas.”

“I don’t think so,” Feng Jin replied expressionlessly.

The conversation hit a stalemate. He watched the car drive away and then began walking toward the dormitory.

Besides Omegas and Alphas, there was a third gender. But that gender hadn’t even crossed his mother’s mind. Although he didn’t like anyone yet, this “differential treatment” made him very unhappy.

Irritability surged in his heart, and the excess pheromones churning in his body only fueled his anger.

Feng Jin strode back to the dorm. People he encountered along the way scurried out of his path in terror, unwilling to provoke someone who was so clearly in a foul mood.

He walked straight to the dormitory door without looking aside. Just before pushing it open, a thought flashed through his mind: When Ji Wan sees me like this, will he be afraid too? Will he flee in a panic like the others?

Feng Jin wanted to turn away, but his hands were faster than his brain; he pushed the door open before he could react.

Ji Wan was sitting at his desk working on an exam paper, his expression serene, as if nothing in the world could disturb him.

Feng Jin stared at him in silence. His emotional control was poor this time would Ji Wan be scared? Would he turn and leave?

If Ji Wan tries to run, I’ll…

Malice flickered in his mind. Feng Jin took a deep breath, preparing to suppress the thought, when he saw Ji Wan suddenly smile.

In that smile, there was none of the fear he dreaded seeing; instead, there was gentleness and tolerance.

“Have your pheromones gone untreated for three days?” Ji Wan said with a helpless laugh. “Let’s handle it. Maybe it’ll make you feel better.”

Feng Jin bit into the skin on the back of Ji Wan’s neck, injecting his pheromones. This wasn’t the first time he had done this, but this time felt different from before.

His anger all his negative emotions seemed to have been smoothed over even before the release.

As the pheromones flowed, Ji Wan’s entire essence seemed to merge with his own. Feng Jin’s eyes darkened, and the hand resting on Ji Wan’s shoulder tightened involuntarily.

If I bite deeper, will Ji Wan carry even more of my scent?

The idea of Ji Wan, from the inside out, smelling only of him…

It wasn’t until Ji Wan let out a muffled groan of pain, unable to endure it any longer, that Feng Jin snapped back to his senses as if waking from a dream. He let go.

“Sorry…”

Feng Jin’s voice trailed off. He looked at the back of Ji Wan’s neck and saw the deep teeth marks he had left behind.

That mark, he feared, wouldn’t fully heal for several days.