ABMSI Chapter 6

“Duan-ge, I was wrong.”

Peng Yan, though still groggy after the inhibitor injection, was a lot clearer than before. The moment he woke up and saw the fresh scratch marks across Duan Wei’s neck, he nearly slid off his chair onto his knees.

It was now the break after the first evening self-study session. Duan Wei sat at his desk, completely ignoring Peng Yan’s endless chatter beside him.

His eyes were fixed on Fu Duqiu standing out in the corridor. With his brows furrowed in his usual way, he recalled their conversation outside the restroom and began to reflect.

Had he said too much? Been too obvious?

Maybe Fu Duqiu had just asked casually, the same way he’d asked Peng Yan earlier. Instead, Duan Wei had spilled so much information—it wasn’t great for Xu Jianian’s reputation.

Too much of anything backfires. Between men and women, relationships need that hazy push-and-pull, the slow unveiling of the thin veil of mystery.

At this thought, Duan Wei nodded to himself in realization. Good thing he’d caught on early and hadn’t revealed all of Xu Jianian’s secrets.

“Duan-ge? Duan-ge?”

Pulled back to reality by Peng Yan’s nagging, Duan Wei impatiently waved a hand and said, “Alright, alright, I’ll spare your life.”

Peng Yan grinned sheepishly, then pulled out his meal card. “Let me buy you a milk tea, Duan-ge. What flavor you want?”

The convenience store wasn’t far from the teaching building—just a few minutes’ walk. Without lifting his head from flipping through his book, Duan Wei muttered, “I don’t want it.”

Peng Yan pouted, then got up and knocked on the glass of the window beside Duan Wei.

At the sound, Fu Duqiu—who had been standing at the far end of the corridor—had somehow ended up right outside their window with his back turned. Hearing the knock, he slowly turned around and spotted Duan Wei and Peng Yan inside the classroom.

With a clatter, the window slid open. A cool breeze slipped into the room. Leaning against the sill, Peng Yan grinned at him: “Handsome, let me treat you to milk tea?”

Peng Yan hadn’t had the best impression of this new classmate at first. But after Duan Wei’s retelling of what had happened, he realized it was only thanks to Fu Duqiu’s intervention that he’d safely gotten through his susceptibility period.

And since Duan Wei seemed to have no objections to this aloof guy, as his loyal sidekick, Peng Yan naturally put on rose-tinted glasses too.

He smiled so brightly that, paired with his buzz cut, the effect was downright eerie. Fu Duqiu gave him a single look, shook his head, and said, “No need. I don’t want it.”

As if he had expected that answer, Peng Yan chuckled. “So, one roasted milk tea then, got it!”

With that, he turned and walked out of the classroom.

Watching his retreating figure, Fu Duqiu swallowed back whatever he had meant to say and instead shifted his gaze to Duan Wei.

Noticing Fu Duqiu’s eyes on him, Duan Wei grinned awkwardly, scratched his head, and pointed after Peng Yan. “That’s just how he is—overly enthusiastic.”

Fu Duqiu: “…”

Peng Yan returned quickly, carrying a chill from outside. With a sausage dangling from his mouth and two cups of milk tea—one pink, one blue—in his hands, he strode over.

Soon enough, two identical milk tea cups appeared on Duan Wei and Fu Duqiu’s desks. Each cup had half a heart drawn on it. Placed precisely as Peng Yan had arranged them, the two halves formed a complete heart when lined up.

“What the heck is this?” Duan Wei pointed at them. “Didn’t I say I didn’t want any?”

Rubbing his hands red from the cold, Peng Yan explained, “The shop’s doing a promotion. Couple’s set, buy one get one free. I figured, waste not want not.”

Although Duan Wei agreed with the logic of “never miss out on a bargain,” he found the couple-themed packaging far too awkward to drink from.

Meanwhile, Fu Duqiu had already sat down beside him. Looking at the cups, he asked, “Can we exchange these?”

“It’s done already, what’s there to change?” Peng Yan frowned at their awkwardness. “It’s just two cups of milk tea. Close your eyes and drink. It’s not like you’ll actually become a couple.”

The word couple sent a shiver down Duan Wei’s spine. He wanted to drink it even less now. Glancing at the cups, inspiration struck—he grabbed one and headed straight for Xu Jianian’s seat.

Her desk was across the aisle. A group of girls had been chatting there, but when they saw Duan Wei approaching, they all looked at each other in exaggerated alarm before scattering in a flurry, leaving the space wide open.

“Here, this is for you.” Duan Wei set the pink-packaged milk tea on her desk and spoke softly.

Back then, it wasn’t unusual for him to bring Xu Jianian bread or milk tea. She seemed used to it, smiling as she fished a piece of candy out of her desk and asked, “I heard you got an Alpha’s inhibitor today?”

Duan Wei sat down in front of her and pointed toward Peng Yan. “He helped me during my rut, so I got it for him.”

From the moment Duan Wei stood up, Fu Duqiu and Peng Yan’s eyes had been following him. Xu Jianian glanced over and accidentally locked eyes with both of them. Coupled with her girlfriends’ chatter earlier, she covered her mouth in excitement: “You and him?”

Without turning his head, Duan Wei said, “Mm.”

“Seriously…” Xu Jianian stifled a giggle, covering her mouth as if she wanted to say more but held back. Instead, she asked, “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

At that, Duan Wei frowned and pointed at the bruise on his neck. He hadn’t even spoken yet when Xu Jianian gasped sharply. Looking at her across the desk, he saw that instead of being distressed—as she usually was whenever he had even the slightest injury—she was staring at him with an expression that was… hard to describe.

Almost like she was thrilled??

“What’s with you?” Duan Wei asked, baffled.

“N-no, nothing.” Xu Jianian quickly forced her face back into seriousness, gazing at him with a mix of concern and tenderness. “Just… you have to take good care of yourself, alright?”

Seeing her cheeks faintly flushed, Duan Wei felt something was off, though he couldn’t quite place it. He just nodded in response.

In a few minutes, class was about to begin. After chatting briefly with Xu Jianian, Duan Wei went back to his seat. A casual glance showed the blue cup of milk tea still sitting on Fu Duqiu’s desk.

Then he remembered—he’d given his away. Which meant… Fu Duqiu and Xu Jianian were now sharing a couple’s milk tea.

Brilliant!

The thought made Duan Wei clench his fist in excitement, completely unaware of Fu Duqiu’s gaze from the side.

Fu Duqiu watched him for a moment, then picked up the milk tea, stood, and placed it on Peng Yan’s desk. “Thanks, but I don’t need it.”

Peng Yan, still scrambling to finish his English homework for the next class, looked up in confusion. “Huh? Why not drink it?”

“I’m allergic to cream.” Fu Duqiu sat back down and started working on his unfinished math paper.

Seeing him give the milk tea back, Duan Wei raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t this just made with powder? How could it even have cream in it?”

“…” Scholar Fu Duqiu looked at him with pity and said, “As long as it has milk, it has cream in it”

Duan Wei was struck speechless. He glanced at Peng Yan, whose expression suggested he had something to say but held back. That’s when it hit Duan Wei—he’d just asked an incredibly stupid question. After pausing for a moment, he tried to save face.

Putting on an air of calm, he nodded and said, “Then… that store owner’s really generous.”

Peng Yan’s expression grew even stranger.

For a fleeting moment, he actually found his fierce, intimidating boss kind of… cute. Just for a second. Just a little bit.

Meanwhile, Fu Duqiu suddenly let out a quiet laugh. He nodded slightly, not saying anything more. When he smiled, his normally composed face softened; though it was just a small curve of his lips, it was like ten miles of frozen glacier suddenly touched by a flowing stream—warmer than the steam rising from milk tea.

But Duan Wei, already embarrassed, glanced at him once before quickly looking away.

From an outsider’s perspective, though, their interaction had a very different flavor.

The group of gossip-loving classmates nearby all gasped dramatically, pulling out their phones to message each other.

[WTF???? Someone wake me up, I must still be dreaming.]
[Ahhhhh this ship is so good!!]
[Duan Wei works fast… finally we get a top-quality Alpha, and he swoops in 55555…]
[Wait what? What does this mean?? So I can chase Xu Jianian now, right? Hahahaha, the peasants have risen!!]

Meanwhile, Peng Yan—who had witnessed the entire thing—turned back around, bit savagely into his sausage, and stared at the half-finished exam paper in front of him.

He should be under the car, not sitting inside it.