The corridors of the Science Building emptied out with the formal class bell. Qiu Sui gripped his phone as he headed downstairs.
He felt relieved that he could now maintain control when making eye contact with Shen Zhixiao, but a faint sense of unease lingered about this change.
It had been half a month since their last eye contact, and he could still vividly recall the crisis of being unable to react in Shen Zhixiao’s presence.
Lately, whenever he ran into Shen Zhixiao, he still dodged him like before, and nothing unusual had happened in between. It was hard to fathom why this shift had occurred.
But now, Qiu Sui no longer had to worry about locking eyes and slipping into that dreamlike state, nor did he jump at every potential encounter. His mindset had never been more relaxed.
He had planned to head straight back to the dorm, but midway, Xiao Mu messaged him to head out of campus.
Qiu Sui thought of how he’d turned down Xiao Mu’s invitations a few times before. With some free time now, he agreed.
But then Xiao Mu added that he’d also invited four other classmates, so they could go as a group to play escape rooms.
Qiu Sui had only seen them in the same classroom during lectures; he rarely interacted with other classmates outside of class. He was unfamiliar with all four, but since he’d already agreed—and he was a bit interested in escape rooms anyway—he didn’t show any reluctance.
Two of them were Betas, Xiao Mu’s dormmates, while the other two were the class committee head and vice head—one Alpha, one Omega.
From Xiao Mu’s hushed introduction to Qiu Sui, those two were currently in the ambiguous flirting stage.
Qiu Sui felt like he shouldn’t be hearing such intimate details, since he hardly knew them, but the group was incredibly friendly and self-assured. They sandwiched him and Xiao Mu in the middle as they walked, chatting and laughing boisterously.
Still, their outgoing energy felt entirely different from Qiao Keren’s playful exuberance—somehow more off-putting and uncomfortable to Qiu Sui.
Qiu Sui was slow to warm up. He couldn’t refuse enthusiastic people drawing close, but he struggled to build deep friendships quickly. Only after extended time together could someone enter his circle of true friends.
Qiao Keren had hung out with him in the competition class for nearly a year before gradually becoming a close confidant. His high school friends had followed a similar pattern.
Qiu Sui found it awkward to show his real personality to casual acquaintances, but with close, trusted friends, it felt comfortable and natural.
To many, Qiu Sui seemed as aloof as Qiu Shun—not the icy, high-cold type, but politely detached, radiating zero interest in further interaction.
But calling him purely socially anxious wasn’t quite right. He could maintain superficial chats with outgoing types, but he wasn’t extroverted or effortlessly sociable.
Take right now: hanging out with these unfamiliar classmates left him awkward and ill at ease, though still tolerable. He just had zero interest in socializing—except paying a bit more attention to the more familiar Xiao Mu.
The escape room they chose had stellar online ratings. The flirting Alpha and Omega wanted a horror-themed one, and since Qiu Sui wasn’t easily scared, he nodded along without objection.
Xiao Mu, however, was timid. Standing close to Qiu Sui, he freaked out at every horror NPC, clutching Qiu Sui’s clothes and burying his head in his shoulder, his hair tickling Qiu Sui’s neck.
Uncomfortable with directly pushing him away, Qiu Sui shrugged his stiff shoulders and said he’d take point to hunt for clues, telling Xiao Mu to stick with the two Beta dormmates behind them. But the next NPC demanded they split into groups, so Xiao Mu trailed after Qiu Sui anyway.
The air filled with shrieks from Xiao Mu’s dormmates and the ambiguous AO pair. Xiao Mu didn’t yelp jumpily, but he huddled behind Qiu Sui the whole time, ducking into his shoulder at anything scary.
Seeing how frightened he was, Qiu Sui sped up his clue-hunting, single-handedly solving all the puzzles and ushering the terrified group out ahead of schedule.
The two Betas emerged with them and, spotting Xiao Mu still clutching the hem of Qiu Sui’s shirt and leaning against his back, teased jokingly, “How come you’re out and still so reluctant to part!”
Qiu Sui had grown used to his clothes being tugged in the escape room, so he didn’t notice at first when they exited. He turned at their words.
Xiao Mu, still shaken, had slightly reddened eyes. He quickly let go, flashing a shy smile at Qiu Sui.
After leaving the escape room, the group discussed grabbing dinner at a nearby mall before heading back to school together.
With no one to debrief clues alongside, soloing the whole thing left Qiu Sui feeling a bit bored, even drained. Afterward, he trailed behind the group, absentmindedly scrolling his phone.
Xiao Mu noticed Qiu Sui’s demeanor and sidled up discreetly, murmuring apologetically, “My dormmates just love joking around. You didn’t feel uncomfortable, right?”
Qiu Sui was mid-chat with Qiao Keren and politely shook his head.
Xiao Mu’s eyes flicked unconsciously to Qiu Sui’s screen before he reined them back, smiling furtively as he leaned in. “If you don’t want hotpot, we could head back to school and eat together instead.”
Though Qiu Sui wasn’t keen on hotpot, he’d go along with the group. About to say he was fine, he heard one of Xiao Mu’s dormmates turn and tease, “You two whispering secrets behind our backs again? Treating us like outsiders, huh?”
Xiao Mu’s cheeks flushed instantly. He pressed his lips together, leaning his arm against Qiu Sui without a word.
Qiu Sui instinctively shifted away to create distance. He didn’t like the dormmate’s tone and figured eating alone would be more comfortable, so he said honestly, “I don’t want hotpot. I’ll head back to school first—you guys go ahead.”
The dormmate let out a stunned “Huh?” and opened his mouth to say more, but Xiao Mu cut in: “Then I’ll go back with you. I’m not hungry anyway.”
With that, he waved to the four friends, grinning. “You guys go eat—my treat.”
They protested politely while waving goodbye with keen awareness.
Qiu Sui assumed Xiao Mu really wasn’t hungry. At University A’s East Gate, he planned to split off and ride his scooter to a nearby cafeteria for takeout to enjoy back at the dorm.
But when Xiao Mu heard, he fidgeted and tugged Qiu Sui’s clothes, asking to tag along. Qiu Sui couldn’t refuse and agreed.
Along the way, Xiao Mu kept asking how he found the afternoon escape room, if he thought his dormmates were too boisterous.
Qiu Sui’s replies were measured and polite. Only when that soft voice faded upon reaching the dorm did he exhale in relief.
I have no resistance to enthusiastic people—it’s a real burden sometimes, Qiu Sui thought.
.
Since re-adding Shen Zhixiao on WeChat, the guy had kept his word: no messages unless necessary, no disturbances.
But Qiu Sui had been waiting two days for the dinner spot. It wasn’t until Thursday morning that nothing came.
Just as he figured Shen Zhixiao had forgotten the invite, after his last class that afternoon, a message finally arrived—thoughtfully asking if he needed to swing by the dorm first before heading out.
Qiu Sui, backpack slung over his shoulder in front of the elevator, typed back: No dorm for me. Should I wait for you in the first-floor lounge?
Shen Zhixiao: No need, I’m already here.
Shen Zhixiao: First-floor lounge.
This fast?
Qiu Sui checked the time—barely five minutes post-class. If memory served, Shen Zhixiao’s last lecture was in Building 1. Not too far from Building 2, but a normal walk took four or five minutes.
Yet he’d already reached the lounge downstairs. Damn, fast walker.
The elevator ahead would take several stops to reach his floor. Not wanting to keep Shen Zhixiao waiting, he ditched it for the stairs.
Xiao Mu beside him followed, smiling. “Not waiting?”
Plenty chose stairs too. Qiu Sui flowed with the crowd downward, replying amid the din, “Too slow.”
Xiao Mu griped in agreement, sticking close as usual. “Which cafeteria for dinner? I’ll join you.”
Qiu Sui glanced at the time. “Meeting someone off-campus. Next time.”
Xiao Mu eyed the Beta’s mild features, sighing regretfully. “Oh.”
A minute-plus later, they hit the first floor. Qiu Sui hurried to the main hall lounge.
Plenty of people waited there for dates or friends, but Qiu Sui spotted Shen Zhixiao almost instantly.
The guy’s facial features were too striking—even head-down reading, he drew the eye.
Passing Omegas snuck glances; some even sat nearby, mulling approaches.
Xiao Mu noticed Qiu Sui pause and followed his gaze to the lounge. No sign of the Qiao Keren or Qiu Shun he’d met before. Wary, he said, “Your friend’s already here waiting?”
Qiu Sui had no bandwidth to correct “friend.” He just nodded.
Walking straight up to Shen Zhixiao would be too awkward. He edged toward the exit, planning to message him to come out.
But before he could, Shen Zhixiao looked up from afar, scanned around sharply, and zeroed in on him.
Seeing Shen Zhixiao smile, close his book, and stride over—with those Omegas’ eyes tracking him—Qiu Sui’s social anxiety spiked. When Shen Zhixiao called his name, he bolted for the door.
Bewildered by the sudden move, Xiao Mu stuck right behind, joking, “What’s up? Your friend not inside?”
Qiu Sui had just stopped when Shen Zhixiao’s anxious call rang from behind.
“Qiu Sui.”
He’d caught up fast, brows knit with urgent concern. “Didn’t you see me?”
With Xiao Mu—who’d witnessed everything—still glued to his side, the blunt question left Qiu Sui frozen in embarrassment, unsure how to reply.
His gaze flicked tentatively to Shen Zhixiao’s face, briefly meeting his eyes.
No anomalies.
Relief washed over him. He started crafting a casual excuse.
Shen Zhixiao caught the glance. The irritation from seeing Xiao Mu with Qiu Sui eased; he self-soothed and added proactively, “My spot was probably too out of the way—you missed me. Good thing I spotted you.”
Qiu Sui scrapped his half-formed excuse, chuckling along with Shen Zhixiao’s words as his reply.
Xiao Mu stood by quietly watching. Qiu Sui just wanted to send him off first.
But before he could speak, Shen Zhixiao extended a hand to Xiao Mu, greeting amicably, “A friend of Qiu Sui’s? Hi, I’m Shen Zhixiao.”
Xiao Mu, positioned behind Qiu Sui’s shoulder, sized up the newcomer. From his build and aura alone, he sensed a high-rank Alpha.
His eyes swept the Pheromone Control Ring at the Alpha’s neck—unclear if it guarded against Susceptible Period outbursts for Omega safety or stemmed unstable emotions risking pheromone leaks.
No mention of his tie to Qiu Sui meant just a one-sided advanced Alpha, no special status.
