A Straight Guy Stumbles into the Omegaverse - Chapter 2

He explained it in great detail. I nodded along, and once I understood, I thanked him. “That was really clear. Thanks.”

When I returned to my seat, my deskmate threw an arm around my neck.

“You little punk. You scared the breath out of me.”

Hearing his deliberately exaggerated tone, I said, “Why? He seems perfectly nice to me. Look how thoroughly he explained it.”

“That’s because you provoked him into it.”

“I baited him? Keep talking and I’ll take a bite out of you. Go inhale your cold noodles.” I shoved him away.

For once, my deskmate turned serious. “I’m not joking. Don’t you think he’s terrifying when he goes cold-faced? I’ve always thought he was a little… cold and unapproachable.”

I was speechless. “What’s he going to do, eat you? Knock it off. He seems like a decent guy to me.”

After that, I often discussed schoolwork with him. Of course, most of the time, I asked and he answered.

He didn’t like PE. I guessed he disliked sweating, and it seemed the teacher didn’t make him participate either.

Sometimes I came back a little early and brought him an ice pop.

“You really ought to go out and get some sun.” I sat in front of him and watched him work on problems while eating the ice pop, the veins in his wrist clearly visible. “Look how pale you are. You’re practically reflecting light.”

Out of nowhere, he asked me, “If I’m so difficult to get along with, why are you approaching me?

“Instead of trying to curry favor with me, you should try my dear little brother. What you’re doing now is nothing but a waste of time.”

He spoke without looking up, but I noticed that from the moment he started talking, his pen had stopped moving.

A brief silence settled over us.

“Jian Yu, how much did that ice pop in your hand cost?”

Our eyes met. For once, he looked bewildered.

I answered, “One yuan fifty. They’re even cheaper outside the school.”

Ice cream never quenched my thirst, so I usually bought these instead.

My meaning couldn’t have been clearer:

If one yuan fifty was enough to win you over, then you were pretty easy to please.

To be honest, I really had approached him with an ulterior motive at first.

But as I spent time with him, my image of him shattered.

What overpowered hero? He was just an ordinary kid, and a very introverted one at that.

After thinking for a moment, I added, “Jian Yu, don’t tell me you don’t have any friends.”

He pressed his lips together. I couldn’t tell whether he was annoyed or embarrassed.

“Hey, hey, it’s dripping!” Just as things turned awkward, I pointed at the ice pop in his hand and shouted.

Jian Yu froze, as though he hadn’t noticed either.

I hurriedly instructed him, “Slurp it from the bottom.”

He did as I said.

We finished the ice pop before our classmates returned.

After throwing away the stick, I said, “Jian Yu, you should come to PE too. You can pair up with me.

“Keep skipping, and pretty soon our PE teacher will be ‘too sickly’ to give us PE at all.”

I heard a soft “Mm” from him.

Jian Yu had never had a deskmate. During one seating change, the two of us happened to be placed together.

It seemed that from then on, we never sat apart again.