He had assumed He Siheng would storm into the kitchen to protest at the second half of that, but after a while with no reaction, he turned to look. His son was staring at the floor, face unnaturally red.
“Heng Heng, why’s your face so red?” He Yunlang reached to feel his forehead. “You running a fever?”
“I-it’s too hot.” He Siheng dodged his hand, stood from the sofa, and fanned himself with his collar. “Coconut City’s winter is brutal.”
He Yunlang was baffled. Was it that hot today?
The auntie wasn’t cooking today and had already set the table in the dining room. To escape He Yunlang’s questions, He Siheng went to help out. But as he approached, Tan Jing emerged from the kitchen carrying a dish.
Their eyes met, and the other curved his eyes slightly. He Siheng paused, then awkwardly looked away.
Tan Jing set the plate on the table and lowered his voice. “Still mad?”
He Siheng avoided his gaze, pretending to focus intently on setting the bowls and chopsticks. “Mad about what?”
Tan Jing paused. “Yesterday…”
He Siheng instantly caught on, set down the unfinished chopsticks, and bolted. “Mom, is there more in the kitchen? I’ll grab it!”
Watching his hasty retreat, Tan Jing raised an eyebrow.
Shu Qiu was a kitchen enthusiast, always tinkering with new recipes—and a veteran at blowing up the kitchen. Her culinary magic was this: for anything but medicinal meals, the presentation and aroma were flawless, but the taste was deadly. One dish overcooked outside and raw inside, another sickeningly sweet. One bite, and half your taste buds were casualties.
Yet she had an invincible filter for her own creations, never tasting anything off. He Yunlang and He Siheng couldn’t give honest feedback either, or it’d be half a month of emotional floods in the He Family.
Luckily, Tan Jing was around this winter break. He had deftly diverted Shu Qiu’s whims to cook several times. On this front, even He Yunlang had no complaints, which softened his attitude toward the boy a bit.
Seeing Tan Jing thriving in his home like a fish in water, He Siheng felt something off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Heng Bro, bush! There’s someone in the bush!”
Zhou Yu shouted several times before He Siheng snapped back to attention and scrambled to recover. Luckily, they escaped unscathed.
Wang Yizhou teased over the headset, “Heng Bro, you’ve been spacing out a lot today. Missing that girl from last time?”
“…Piss off.” He Siheng truly wasn’t in the mood for gaming. He quit after that round.
Releasing the mouse, he picked up his phone from beside him and idly scrolled the Fan Support Group.
The chat was much quieter than on school days—no one really talking. Everyone was off doing their own thing on break. Some had @-ed Little Strawberry, begging for photos, but he’d ignored them.
He Siheng tapped into the group album. The photo of Tan Jing in his cast was gone. After that incident, Little Strawberry hadn’t posted any more pics or chatted with him.
Had he gotten scolded by Tan Jing during the apology and gone into hiding?
The image of Little Strawberry getting chewed out by Tan Jing inexplicably made him feel a bit satisfied.
No, no—besides liking Tan Jing, Little Strawberry was fun too. How could he think like that?
Wait—
He Siheng suddenly realized.
Besides… liking Tan Jing?
Why did he care if others liked Tan Jing?
For a moment, He Siheng was at a loss. He blinked slowly, and as realization dawned, he shook his head repeatedly.
No, no, no—he didn’t have those feelings for Tan Jing. He just couldn’t stand how popular Tan Jing was, that was all.
His phone buzzed suddenly, startling him. He looked down—Cao Cao arrived right on cue.
It was a message from Tan Jing.
Tan Jing: Wanna hit the Media Room for a movie?
He Siheng checked the time—past eleven. Tan Jing’s schedule should’ve had him asleep by now.
He Siheng: You’re staying up late too?
Tan Jing: Can’t sleep—unfamiliar bed.
He Siheng: …
He’d been staying at their house for a week—saying that now was a bit late, wasn’t it?
As if he couldn’t see through the lame excuse.
He Siheng: Nah.
He Siheng: Lone Alpha and lone Omega, alone in a room late at night—bad influence on me.
In the next room, Tan Jing read the reply, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
Fair enough. Shows his secondary gender awareness is getting stronger.
He Siheng glanced at Tan Jing’s goodnight message and politely replied, then kept scrolling his phone. Minutes later, his alt account got a ping from Little Strawberry.
More precisely, a photo.
Little Strawberry: Can I post this to the group? (=·ω·=)o
No contact for a week, and still so familiar, straight to the point.
He Siheng: ?
He Siheng, baffled: Why ask me?
Little Strawberry: Scared I’ll overstep again, so checking with you first >^<
Lesson learned, huh. He Siheng chuckled and teased on purpose: Wouldn’t asking Tan Jing himself be faster?
Little Strawberry: T^T
He Siheng stopped teasing: You apologized to him?
Little Strawberry: Yep! (0x0)
He Siheng was about to ask if Tan Jing had yelled at him when the next message popped up.
Little Strawberry: I confessed to him too! (＞U＜)
He Siheng froze: Confessed?
Tan Jing had been staying at his house these past few days with zero signs of it. Sure, plenty had confessed before, but Little Strawberry had been buddies with him in middle school—shouldn’t that have some impact?
Little Strawberry: But he turned me down QAQ
Little Strawberry: Told me to study hard and improve every day T^T
He Siheng: …
No wonder Tan Jing showed no reaction—that rejection treated him like a kid.
He felt it deeply because when he’d confessed to Tan Wan back then, he’d gotten the exact same brush-off. Those two really were siblings.
For some reason, He Siheng sympathized and comforted: Chin up. He’s not that great anyway—you’re way more fun, tons of Alphas must like you.
Little Strawberry usually replied instantly, but now there was silence.
Just as He Siheng thought he was too heartbroken to chat, another message came: What about you? ￣^￣
The topic jumped too fast. He Siheng: Me what?
Little Strawberry: When are you confessing to Tan Jing? <(·^·)>
He Siheng: ???
He Siheng: Confess? Why would I confess to him?
It felt as if an electric current surged through his entire body. He Siheng nearly jumped out of his chair, almost blurting out the truth in agitation.
Clearly, it was Tan Jing who liked him. So how had it turned into him* confessing to Tan Jing?
He Siheng typed furiously, painstakingly editing his words in the text box. He was just about to tell Little Strawberry to take good care of his mood and not get too heartbroken, lest he damage his brain.
When the message from the other side popped up, his fingers—which had been flying across the screen—suddenly halted. He froze in place.
Little Strawberry: Haven’t you noticed? You clearly like him too ο(=·ω＜=)q
![Bunny is Delicate, But He’s Everyone’s Crush! [Infinite]](https://i3.wp.com/dobynovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/bunn.jpg?resize=151,215 "Bunny is Delicate, But He’s Everyone’s Crush! [Infinite]")