To say Xu Yan was devastated at seeing Shen Li walk out of Shi Wei's room would be an understatement. What was this? Yesterday they were "just childhood friends," and now they're sleeping together? Then was that beating I took yesterday for nothing?
Oh—good bros can totally sleep together. Fine. Sure.
Shen Li's expression was perfectly normal. He gave Xu Yan one flat glance, and the latter instantly sat up ramrod straight—while sneaking glances at his neck the whole time.
Shi Wei, following behind Shen Li, caught the scene, raised an eyebrow, stepped forward, and yanked Shen Li's collar down.
"Want a closer look?"
Xu Yan's eyes went wide for an instant. Boss Shen isn't even angry—did he get body-snatched? Don't tell me it's one-sided between these two? Hss. He got the feeling he was at risk of being silenced. He grabbed the bread off the table and bolted for the door, babbling as he went.
"No no no, I saw nothing! Qiu He needs me to help deliver piglets at the agricultural school next door—gotta run!"
The whole performance stunned even Shi Wei. He turned around—only to find Shen Li looking up at him, wronged as a puppy. Shi Wei released his collar and elbowed him.
"Yesterday you were insisting we're just childhood friends. What's this today? Making me look like some heartless breaker of hearts."
Shen Li looked even more aggrieved. "That's because you still haven't agreed to marry me."
"What?"
"I want you to choose me because you like me. Not because you were cornered into it."
As if burned by the heat in those eyes, Shi Wei moved to look away—but Shen Li was faster, catching the back of his head and forcing him to face him.
"When you first disappeared, I hated you. In the end, all that hating came down to one thing: you abandoned me. I hated you for leaving without a word, for vanishing off the face of the earth. I imagined our reunion a thousand times, but the moment I actually saw you again, I suddenly saw myself clearly. I'm just the one who loves and cannot have."
"I thought about it too—about just locking you beside me. But then we'd both be miserable, wouldn't we?"
His voice softened. "I don't want to force your hand. Give me the chance to win you. Please?"
Their breaths seemed to tangle together. This distance was far too intimate for two Alphas.
Kissing him right now would probably be a very entertaining sight. Some mischief surfaced in Shi Wei's head at the worst possible moment.
No sooner had he scattered those thoughts than he decided Shen Li, looking like this, was a stubborn little white flower if ever there was one. He pressed his lips together, then finally gave in, pressing Shen Li's head down onto his shoulder.
"You make it very hard to say no to you."
Shi Wei could feel the tension drain out of Shen Li's body at that moment. The next second he was wrapped in a crushing hug—as if, had Shen Li possessed a tail, it would already be wagging past the point of visibility.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing? You haven't even been hired for the position yet."
Shen Li paid him no mind. He had worked it out: as long as his skin was thick enough, there was nothing Shi Wei could do to him.
Shi Wei sighed inwardly. What now, Shen Li? I might just be a selfish bastard.
They didn't dawdle long, all the same, and made it to combat class on time.
Third-year combat classes were mostly about squad cohesion: roll call, then free training. Federal Military Academy students trained on their own initiative. Those who lacked initiative were already asleep. Physically asleep, that is.
As Shi Wei warmed up, watching his classmates spar, he suddenly noticed the suspicious emptiness around Shen Li.
"How come nobody's asking you to spar?"
Shen Li answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Because I'm the top cadet."
Shi Wei couldn't help himself. He grabbed Shen Li's head and ruffled it into ruin.
"All right, Kitty Shen, enough preening."
Shen Li's expression turned strange. Carefully, he tried out five words. "'Nickname policy violation'?"
The cover-blowing came without warning. Shi Wei blinked, attempting to charm his way out of it. "Top Cadet Shen, since when do you surf the forum that fast?"
At the mention of it, Shen Li's mouth twitched.
Time rewound to yesterday.
As squad members, sparring with each other was routine. Whether one occasionally used it as a pretext to settle private scores—that, that was only human nature.
It must be said: Xu Yan truly loved the forum. Even while being beaten half to death, on his way to the recovery pod, he was still refreshing his feed.
Suddenly he jabbed a finger at the screen and shrieked, "Holy shit, Boss Shen, look—someone here has never been beaten by you!"
Shen Li's interest was piqued. He leaned over to look—and memorized that ID.
Generally speaking, the Federal Military Academy had one top cadet per year. For Shen Li to be the top cadet recognized by the entire school—setting all other criteria aside—one important factor was that nearly everyone in the school had been beaten by him.
Only a man with no common sense whatsoever, like Shi Wei, would coin a nickname like "Kitty Shen"—and then wave it in his face.
Shen Li stroked his chin. "Maybe I should go change my forum handle to 'Cat Nanbei'?"
Shi Wei rolled his eyes. "What's next, matching couple names?"
He made as if to grab Shen Li's ear.
"Unbelievable, Shen Li. Now you've learned to insult people by implication."
Shen Li remained the picture of meekness.
"I mean it. I'm your dog."
Shi Wei laughed in sheer exasperation. And Shen Li still looked completely sincere. Shi Wei lifted his chin toward the ring.
"Fight me for it?"
However much Shen Li played the dog for Shi Wei in private, in the academy he was the pro-fighting faction. His eyes lit up.
"I won't go easy on you, mind."
Shi Wei felt like he was looking at a peacock in full display. He gave a soft snort and walked to the ring first.
"Who do you think you're looking down on?"
The two of them had already drawn a crowd with their earlier antics; the moment it became clear they were actually going to spar, the connoisseurs of drama gathered round.
Shen Li rolled his wrist, posture composed. Even so, the academy's imprint showed on him—in Shi Wei's words, he looked regulation. Most military academy graduates did.
Shi Wei, by contrast, looked loose and entirely unreadable.
The instant their eyes met, both moved.
Shen Li's straight punch drove straight for his face. Shi Wei tilted his head aside, the fist-wind grazing his ear—he could almost hear it cutting the air. One strike missed, and Shen Li was already transforming fist into palm, chopping down with the motion. Shi Wei slipped aside and kicked at his calf.
Fists and feet interlaced, all of it lethal.
Compared with Shen Li's textbook patterns, Shi Wei's moves were unmistakably street-learned. Normally, a military academy student with street-learned moves meant one thing: his school's resources were garbage, and he'd figured out real combat entirely on his own in simulation pods.
But Shi Wei was no ordinary street fighter either. He traded blows with Shen Li evenly, and looked like he still had room to spare.
The onlookers murmured.
"This transfer student is actually good."
"I thought the domineering top cadet had picked up a delicate little white flower. Turns out it's a man-eating flower."
"That interaction they had just now—was I the only one who got hardcore shipper vibes?"
"Cybersecurity Bureau warning."
"What kind of upstanding citizen leaves evidence online while chatting?"
"I recorded it."
"Hey!"