ROT CH 36

Chapter 36: How Did You Ace Your Secondary Gender Studies?

“I’m not Teacher Han’s Omega. This has nothing to do with him, so don’t make wild accusations!” Bai Chengyu anxiously refuted, his tone flustered. The image that flashed in his mind was from his second year of high school when his geography teacher was caught dating a senior. The students’ parents had stirred up a commotion, and in the end, that warm and approachable teacher, always serious yet witty in class, was quietly dismissed amid rumors and humiliating rebukes.

Before leaving, the geography teacher stood briefly by the school gate. Bai Chengyu, along with many other students inside the school, witnessed it. They all saw the teacher’s face through the fence—expressionless, yet carrying profound sadness.

Bai Chengyu couldn’t bear it. He didn’t want to see that same sorrowful expression on Han Junzhou’s face.

Hearing Bai Chengyu’s denial, Han Junzhou frowned slightly. He understood that Bai Chengyu was trying to draw a line to protect him. But how could he be willing to let Bai Chengyu shoulder everything alone?

He was Bai Chengyu’s Alpha, his older boyfriend. He had the ability, and the responsibility, to stand by him and face everything together—especially when Bai Chengyu, in his desperation, tried to bear it all by himself. And he did exactly that.

In the midst of Xue Bingsheng’s barrage of accusations, Han Junzhou calmly extended his hand and firmly held Bai Chengyu’s, gripping it tightly so he couldn’t pull away.

“You dare say you have nothing to do with Teacher Han?” Xue Bingsheng was still furious, too blinded by his anger to notice Han Junzhou’s subtle actions. He held up his phone, scrolling through photos as he continued his tirade. “Take a look at these! They say there are three things in life that cannot be concealed: a cough, poverty, and love.”

The usually composed Han Junzhou, the flustered Bai Chengyu, and the crowd surrounding them—whispering amongst themselves—all looked at the screen. One by one, photos appeared on the phone. There were no explicit physical contacts in the images, but the smiles on the protagonists’ faces and their gentle interactions overflowed with undeniable affection.

“These photos—are they the kind that a regular teacher and student would take?” Xue Bingsheng sneered as he noticed the crowd beginning to agree with him. The people seemed to think that the two in the photos looked less like teacher and student and more like lovers. His goal achieved, Xue Bingsheng let a malicious smile creep across his face. Turning to Bai Chengyu, he sneered, “I won’t ask anything else—just this: how did you ace your Secondary Gender Studies class?”

“Xue Bingsheng,” Han Junzhou finally spoke.

At first, when the students targeted Bai Chengyu’s secondary gender, Han Junzhou held back. He had no position to intervene. Those misunderstandings, deliberately fostered since Bai Chengyu’s freshmen year, were something Bai Chengyu had to face. Han Junzhou couldn’t speak for him before Bai Chengyu chose to explain for himself. The photos in question were nothing more than snapshots of them walking from the classroom to the basketball court. Taken in broad daylight, there wasn’t anything inappropriate or indecent in those moments. At most, they showed the two casually fooling around.

Besides, Han Junzhou didn’t mind their relationship being exposed. In fact, he’d prefer to announce it to the world. Bai Chengyu was an adult, and their relationship was built on mutual love. He had a clear conscience and no need to hide in the shadows. Originally, Han Junzhou had planned to slowly ease Bai Chengyu’s worries before formally informing Dean Li about their relationship. But now, Xue Bingsheng’s accusations questioning the fairness of Bai Chengyu’s grades were something he couldn’t tolerate.

“Xue Bingsheng,” Han Junzhou said sternly, “Bai Chengyu earned full marks in Secondary Gender Studies through his own ability. Stop making baseless assumptions.”

“Oh, baseless assumptions? Are you two just guilty as charged? A teacher lacking integrity, messing around with a student. He dares to lie and say there’s nothing between you two. Then, do you dare to deny that the bite mark on the back of his neck isn’t from you?”

Bai Chengyu, who was already panicking and struggling, felt utterly defeated when Han Junzhou calmly admitted, “I bit him.”

The surrounding crowd also heard this, followed by a collective gasp. When they noticed the two holding hands—somehow entwined during all this—whispers and discussions broke out among them.

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Bai Chengyu, agitated, turned to Han Junzhou and shouted. Frustration consumed him; just when he was desperately trying to conceal things, his “teammate” decided to sabotage him. Han Junzhou was truly living up to the “pig” in his name! Bai Chengyu looked frantically at the crowd, trying to explain, “No, don’t listen to him. We—we have nothing to do with each other…” He couldn’t even see Han Junzhou’s calm smile anymore, only the haunting image of his geography teacher’s face replaced by Han Junzhou’s.

“Xiao Yu,” Han Junzhou, still holding Bai Chengyu’s hand tightly, gave it a slight shake to calm him down. He smiled gently, raising his other hand to brush past Bai Chengyu’s ear and press a warm palm against his neck, steadying him with a soft reassurance. “It’s okay, Xiao Yu. It’s okay.”

“How can it be okay…” Bai Chengyu finally calmed down a bit, looking at Han Junzhou’s ever-gentle smile. His dark emerald eyes brimmed with anxiety. He cursed his bad luck—after two years of no one discovering their secret, how did trouble arise on the very first day of their relationship?

“Admitted it, huh!” Xue Bingsheng sneered.

“There’s nothing to deny. Yes, Bai Chengyu and I are in a relationship,” Han Junzhou turned to Xue Bingsheng. His previously soft gaze became cold yet polite. “But this has nothing to do with your accusations against Bai Chengyu’s grades.”

“Hmph!” Xue Bingsheng let out a disdainful snort, expressing his disbelief.

“What are you snorting at?” Wang Ziheng couldn’t stand Xue Bingsheng’s smug attitude. “Our Young Master Bai is just that good—better than you, with better scores too. Jealous much?”

“Of course I’m not convinced…”

Before the students could erupt into another argument, Han Junzhou prepared to speak again when Yue Qi hurriedly returned, cutting in. “What’s going on here?” he asked Han Junzhou quietly, then looked around the scene. “You, you, and you…” He frowned, pointing at several students holding up their phones. “Put your phones away. Stop recording. Who gave you permission to stream this live? And the rest of you—disperse. There’s nothing to see here. It’s getting late; go eat dinner.”

The commotion on the basketball court had already been recorded and livestreamed on the campus network by some students. Yue Qi, who was casually browsing out of habit, saw that a trending headline was blowing up, and, out of curiosity, clicked on it. To his surprise, the protagonists of the livestream were none other than Han Junzhou and Bai Chengyu, whom he had just bid farewell to moments ago. Alarmed, he quickly rushed back.

While Yue Qi busied himself clearing the area, and Xue Bingsheng adamantly insisted on demanding an explanation, Han Junzhou’s phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, he picked up the call.

“Dean Li, yes, I’m sorry.” Noticing how tense Bai Chengyu had grown, Han Junzhou gently squeezed his hand, trying to comfort the anxious youth. “Alright, we’ll head over now.” He ended the call.

“What is it? What happened?” Bai Chengyu anxiously fired off questions. “Why is Dean Li looking for you? It—it’s not about us, is it?”

Han Junzhou spoke soothingly, “It’s alright, don’t worry. Dean Li just wants us to go over. Relax.” Then, turning to Xue Bingsheng, he said, “Come along. Whatever questions you have, feel free to raise them in front of Dean Li.”

With that, he held Bai Chengyu’s hand firmly and led him away from the basketball court, heading toward the office of the dean of the medical school. Xue Bingsheng followed closely behind.

Yue Qi, after dispersing the other unrelated students, turned around to see that Wang Ziheng and a few of his sophomore classmates had also tagged along toward the dean’s office. After some thought, Yue Qi, concerned that such a large group could lead to conflict, decided to follow as well.

Meanwhile, Hei Shier, who had been quietly observing the situation from a corner of the basketball court, quickly and stealthily trailed after them. At the same time, he pulled out his phone to report the developments to his boss, Black One. Although Young Master Bai had strictly forbidden the Shadow Team from interfering in his affairs at school, they still needed to stay fully informed of everything happening around him.

(To Be Continued…)

If you enjoy this translation,
consider giving it a high rating on Novel Updates! 😉
⸻⸻⸻✿⸻⸻⸻

-End of chapter-

NEW CHAPTER RELEASED DAILY/EVERY TWO DAYS.
ADVANCED CHAPTERS WILL BE UNLOCKED EVERY MONDAY.

Stay tuned, and happy reading! 📖✨