I Heard You Only See Me as a Friend - Chapter 24.1

The dormitory fell silent. Ji Wan moved his chair back and began doing his homework.

Ten minutes later, Kong Liyan emerged from the bathroom, his face flushed red. He climbed onto his bed and pulled up the quilt, covering himself entirely as if pretending he didn’t exist.

Another twenty minutes passed. Ji Wan finished his chemistry homework, but Feng Jin still hadn’t returned.

…Could Feng Jin be too embarrassed? Does he feel like he can’t face me after what I saw, so he’s hiding outside?

In times like these, Ji Wan felt it was best not to meddle. It was better to let Feng Jin process his embarrassment outside and build up his mental defenses before coming back in.

After finishing his work, Ji Wan thought for a moment and sent Feng Jin a message: [I’m going to take a shower. Kong Liyan is already in bed. Remember to close the door when you get back.]

Feng Jin didn’t reply, but Ji Wan didn’t mind. He grabbed his clothes and headed into the bathroom, intentionally taking his time. He wanted to give Feng Jin plenty of time to return to the dorm, climb into bed, and bury himself under the covers just like Kong Liyan isolated from the world.

Feng Jin was so smart; even without being told explicitly, he should be able to grasp the hint and act on it immediately after seeing the text.

However, to Ji Wan’s surprise, when he finished showering, washed his clothes, and stepped back into the dormitory, Feng Jin was still nowhere to be found.

Ji Wan frowned, realizing the situation wasn’t that simple.

The heating hadn’t been turned on yet. The clothes Feng Jin wore when he went out weren’t thick. Judging by the outside temperature, being out there for this long meant Feng Jin was likely freezing into an ice sculpture.

What kind of tantrum is he throwing?

Ji Wan’s frown deepened. He put on his jacket and opened the dorm door.

Outside was a long hallway. Their dorm was located further inside, and Feng Jin wasn’t right outside the door. Ji Wan scanned the length of the corridor and finally spotted Feng Jin at the very end. He was standing in front of an open window, letting the wind blast him. His hair was flying in the breeze, yet Feng Jin didn’t seem to feel the cold at all.

Ji Wan walked over quickly and stood beside him.

“What are you dazed for? Go back.”

Feng Jin stood still. He turned his head, his handsome features casting a sharp shadow under the lights, making it impossible for Ji Wan to read his expression.

Ji Wan instinctively felt a shiver down his spine. None of the Alphas who had ever caused him trouble had given him this sense of dread. It was as if the person in front of him was the one he should be most wary of the wolf that lay hidden the deepest.

But that instinctive feeling was quickly dispelled by Feng Jin’s next move.

Feng Jin looked at his clothes with disdain. “What did you come out for? In this weather, do you think such thin clothes can keep you warm?”

Ji Wan: “…”

Feng Jin certainly had a lot to say about him, yet Ji Wan was dressed much more warmly than Feng Jin was.

Feng Jin genuinely seemed to think he wasn’t wearing enough. Ji Wan watched as Feng Jin took off his own jacket and reached out to drape it over him.

Ji Wan: “???”

Ji Wan blocked him, firmly refusing to let Feng Jin continue.

“Stop it, put it back on,” Ji Wan said seriously. “I’m not cold.”

“Liar. The temperature is so low today, how could you not be cold?” Feng Jin’s face was dark.

“So you know it’s cold,” Ji Wan said, half-amused and half-exasperated. “If it’s cold, why aren’t you back in the dorm? What are you standing here like an idiot for?”

“I…” Feng Jin paused. He held his jacket without moving and said in a deep voice, “I was thinking about something.”

Ji Wan indicated he was listening, only to hear Feng Jin explain the thing he had been standing there thinking about for so long.

“Those two Alphas from that day…” Feng Jin spoke slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. “If they hadn’t pretended to be uninterested, but instead took a different route slowly approaching you, becoming your friend, and then striking what would you do then?”

Ji Wan hadn’t expected Feng Jin to still be dwelling on this. He seemed even more bothered by it than Ji Wan himself. He comforted him, “What’s past is past. Don’t always think of the worst-case scenario.”

Feng Jin looked out the window. The leaves on the trees were almost all gone, looking quite bleak.

Feng Jin insisted on continuing the topic: “Forget them then; let’s talk about the future. If someone disguises themselves in the future, becomes your friend, and then tells you they want to date you, will you be soft-hearted? Should I still intervene?”

“If that really happens, I’ll be the first one to carry a high-speed train on my back and run away overnight,” Ji Wan joked, kicking Feng Jin’s shoe. “Let’s go. Are you cold or not?”

Feng Jin finally seemed satisfied. He hooked the corners of his mouth into a smile and turned to walk. Ji Wan walked ahead, relieved, and didn’t see the look in Feng Jin’s eyes behind him.

The gaze was dark and illegible. Feng Jin lowered his eyelashes, masking the emotions in his eyes until they returned to normal.

The next day, Kong Liyan couldn’t get out of bed. Ji Wan and Feng Jin went to the cafeteria for breakfast first.

There weren’t many people in the morning, and since they arrived early, Ji Wan had the chance to slowly pick his meal at the window.

The school’s food was decent and there was a wide variety for breakfast. There were several dishes Ji Wan liked, but they usually didn’t appear at the same time. Usually, he just chose whichever one was available.

But today, two of his favorites appeared simultaneously.

As Ji Wan hesitated, he heard Feng Jin say lazily, “Just order them if you want. I want them too. We’ll each order one, then we’ll each eat half of each portion and share.”

That was a good method, but…

Ji Wan turned his head hesitantly and whispered, “They don’t give out extra bowls here.”

To prevent people from sharing a single order of noodles among several people, the school cafeteria had a strict rule that every student had to order their own portion.

“Oh,” Feng Jin nodded casually. “Then they don’t give them.”

Seeing that Feng Jin still didn’t understand his point, Ji Wan lowered his voice and explained in detail: “If they don’t give extra bowls, there’s no way to set aside a clean half-portion. We’d have to eat directly from each other’s bowls. You can’t avoid eating my saliva, understand?”

Feng Jin: “Mm, that is true.”

Ji Wan: “…You don’t mind?”

Sharing food half-and-half sounded unthinkable for someone like Feng Jin. Although Ji Wan was a Beta, he knew that an Alpha with a massive sense of territoriality would usually mind someone else touching their food. After all, it was an Alpha’s nature; it was difficult for them to lack possessiveness over their things.

Feng Jin arched an eyebrow. His dark eyes flickered over Ji Wan’s pale red lips before looking back at the breakfast window. His tone was calm: “Don’t you think it’s a bit late to ask if I mind? We… have already gone much further than that.”

Ji Wan froze. He realized in hindsight that their relationship had long since crossed the boundary of sharing food.

They had already experienced the “second method” of pheromone relief a harmonious, friendly relationship of mutual aid. Forget sharing food; they had practically shared saliva directly.

Mentioning it in this context made their “pure” act of mutual assistance seem to take on a different color.

“You’re a Beta, you don’t have pheromones, so it doesn’t matter,” Feng Jin said as if joking. “If you were an Alpha or an Omega, maybe I’d hesitate.”

Ji Wan relaxed. “In that case, let’s do as you said. We’ll each order one and mix them together.”

Ji Wan ordered a bowl of hand-wrapped wontons, while Feng Jin ordered the signature fried noodles. Once both orders were ready, they found a seat in a quiet corner.

Since one was soup-based and the other was dry, they couldn’t literally mix them into one bowl. They each ate their own for the first half, and when they were halfway through, they looked at each other.

Feng Jin’s fried noodles were eaten very neatly. The half he left for Ji Wan looked untouched a way of eating that even someone with a germaphobia could reluctantly accept.

Ji Wan looked at his wontons. As a breakfast full of soup and fragile skins, even though he had been careful, he couldn’t make it look as neat and aesthetic as Feng Jin’s.

“Maybe we should forget it,” Ji Wan said awkwardly. “I don’t think you’ll want to eat this, don’t force yourself…”

Before Ji Wan could finish, Feng Jin pushed his fried noodles over to him and, without any hesitation, pulled the wonton bowl toward himself and picked up his spoon.

Feng Jin’s lack of concern was definitely not an act. This allowed Ji Wan to breathe a sigh of relief and eat with peace of mind.

While Ji Wan ate seriously, Feng Jin ate thoughtfully.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered that his previous analysis might be wrong, that his reaction to Ji Wan was just a coincidence of timing and location. And his concern for Ji Wan could just be “brotherly love.”

To further verify this, he had made this choice.

Eating someone’s leftovers was a total “no-go” zone for him previously. Forget accepting it; just thinking about it would usually make him want to gag. Although he had told Ji Wan that they had used the second treatment method and not to mind such things, in reality, treating an illness was one thing, and eating food was another, they could be entirely separate.

But now…

Forget being disgusted; he practically wanted to drink every drop of the soup.

Someone had crossed his warning line and was playing in his forbidden zone, yet it didn’t spark even a hint of anger.

Why was this ever a ‘no-go’ zone for me?

The old me was truly nonsensical. Ill.

As Feng Jin was thinking and eating, he felt a hostile gaze fall on him. He looked up and saw an Alpha boy with single eyelids sitting diagonally behind them. His expression was thick with the scent of jealousy.

Feng Jin frowned. He leaned closer toward Ji Wan and reached out, resting his hand on the back of Ji Wan’s chair. From behind, this posture looked as though he was pulling Ji Wan into an embrace.

The single-eyelid boy’s face grew even uglier. He silently mouthed something at Feng Jin.

Feng Jin couldn’t be bothered to analyze what the guy was saying. He turned back and took a bite of noodles from Ji Wan’s side.

Ji Wan: “?”

Feng Jin said without changing his expression: “Suddenly felt like eating a bit more.”

“Oh, then eat more,” Ji Wan pushed the noodles over. “I’m actually quite full.”

Feng Jin accepted it without politeness. Once both were full, they returned to the classroom.

After morning study and morning exercises, they had about fifteen minutes of break time.

Ji Wan usually used this time to memorize English vocabulary. As he was looking down, a commotion broke out at the door.

“Hey, which class are you from? Who are you looking for? I’ll call them for you.”

“Hey, wait! How can you just walk in like that!”

Ji Wan looked up and saw a single-eyelid boy in a school uniform walking straight toward him, eventually stopping in front of his desk.

The whole class’s eyes were gathered here. Worried that the boy from another class was looking for trouble with Ji Wan, several people had already rolled up their sleeves, ready to jump in if things went south.

Ji Wan sat still. “Is something wrong?”

“Student Ji Wan.” The single-eyelid boy leaned one hand on the desk. “I came because I want to ask you a question.”

Ji Wan: “Go ahead.”

The boy leaned down, closing the distance between him and Ji Wan, a smile still on his face. “I just wanted to ask… have you read all those love letters I stuffed for you?”

Being a matter of gossip, the classroom fell instantly silent.

Ji Wan: “…”

Ji Wan: “No.”

In fact, he hadn’t read a single love letter he had ever received.

“I actually guessed as much, but it doesn’t matter.” The boy nodded, reached into his pocket, and pulled out another letter. “I have one more here. Please read it in front of me this time. Thank you.”

It sounded polite, but was actually quite rude. The new love letter was placed right in the center of Ji Wan’s desk, waiting to be opened.

Kong Liyan instinctively looked at Feng Jin and, as expected, saw that Feng Jin’s face had darkened.

Ji Wan’s principle of not reading love letters hadn’t changed. He said calmly, “I’m sorry, I don’t want to read it. Your thing is pressing down on my English vocab book. Please move it.”

“Oh, good grades.” The boy didn’t take the letter. He drew out his words. “Then you can just give me some tutoring. That’s a perfect match.”

The bell rang for class. The boy tapped the letter with his index finger. “I’ll leave the letter here. I’m too lazy to wait anymore. I’ll be back after every class until you’ve read it and given me a response.”

With that, the boy swaggered away.

The English teacher came in to lecture, but messages were flying under the desks. Within half a class period, everyone knew the background of the single-eyelid boy.

His name was Jia Liu, a tenth-grader. His family was wealthy and had some influence. He was a well-known playboy in the school; he never lacked boyfriends or girlfriends. The number of people he had dated couldn’t be counted on two hands, and even the principal couldn’t control him.

This tenth-grade playboy usually had no intersection with them, but because of Ji Wan, everyone witnessed how terrifyingly persistent he could be.

Kong Liyan propped up his book to block the teacher’s view and whispered to Feng Jin, “That guy is so f*cking shameless. Let’s just go beat him up. He’s going to come harass Wanwan every single break?”

Feng Jin lowered his eyes, his voice carrying a chill: “Next class, you sit in Ji Wan’s seat. Let him sit over here.”

Kong Liyan understood. When the class ended, he immediately swapped seats with Ji Wan. Ji Wan didn’t hesitate; after thanking him, he sat in the inner seat.

They had recently moved seats; they were now on the inner side of the classroom. Feng Jin sat by the aisle, and Kong Liyan was in the innermost seat against the wall. With Ji Wan sitting inside, if that guy wanted to contact Ji Wan again, he would be blocked by Feng Jin—he wouldn’t even be able to touch Ji Wan.

With Feng Jin protecting him, the students finally felt relieved and in the mood for some nonsense.

“Their relationship has become so good, Mom I’m so moved.” The tall sports representative whispered to the life representative, even theatrically wiping away a fake tear. “Though I don’t know when they became so close, maybe this is just brotherhood.”

The life representative chuckled and took a secret photo with her phone. “Exactly. This is the great socialist brotherhood!”

The atmosphere in the class was lively, and as expected, Jia Liu returned after class. However, this time he couldn’t get near Ji Wan.

“Hey, move.” Jia Liu, who usually only messed around in the tenth grade, didn’t recognize Feng Jin and hadn’t experienced his wrath. He said arrogantly, “Don’t block the way.”