Chapter 6: Hush Money Part 1

After causing such an embarrassing incident, He Siheng dreamed that night about washing his neck clean and stretching it out in front of Tan Jing for him to bite.

In the dream, Tan Jing pushed him away with a shove and disdainfully rejected him: “Stop seducing me. I’m not interested in you.”

He didn’t sleep peacefully all night, and he didn’t even realize when the morning alarm was turned off. He slept until nearly ten o’clock.

Since he was already late anyway, He Siheng leisurely finished washing up. He fiddled with his hair in front of the mirror a couple of times, then decided to simply skip the morning classes and go to the hair salon to dye his golden retriever hair back to its original color.

With his freshly dyed chestnut hair, He Siheng walked into the classroom and, as expected, drew a wave of stares.

He was used to being watched, so he ignored them. His gaze swept over Zhou Yu, who was sprawled asleep on his desk, paused for a moment, then he walked over with the milk tea he’d just bought and knocked on the desk.

The guy sprawled on the desk didn’t move. He Siheng patiently knocked a couple more times.

Zhou Yu was already annoyed about his breakup and woke up ready to curse: “Who the hell is making noise—holy shit! Heng Bro?”

When he saw He Siheng’s brand-new chestnut hair, Zhou Yu instantly changed his tune: “W-What stimulated you?”

He Siheng glanced at his puffy eyes and said, “I broke up. I don’t want to follow trends anymore.”

Zhou Yu was stunned and confused: “You… got dumped too?”

He had suddenly received a breakup message from Du Ziteng last night. He’d cried buckets of tears all night, and his eyes were still swollen. Hearing He Siheng had suffered the same misfortune instantly halved his breakup misery with shared sympathy.

With teary eyes, Zhou Yu comforted him: “We’re really two unlucky bros in the same boat. No worries, scumbags are just out with the old before the new comes in. If no one can stand your temper, worst case, after you differentiate into an Alpha, I’ll be with you!”

His voice wasn’t too loud, but his seat wasn’t far from the one by the window. Tan Jing, who had been working on problems with his head down, paused his pen.

Tan Jing lifted his head and looked over with his pitch-black eyes.

The teen standing there had dyed his hair back to its original color. At first glance, he looked more well-behaved than during his golden-haired phase, but his pretty brows and eyes carried a roguish nonchalance. He exuded the air of a playboy young master from head to toe.

He Siheng looked disgusted: “Gross, who wants to O…” O-love…

He stopped midway through.

Zhou Yu was a good bro, but he was also a bigmouth. He decided not to tell him about differentiating into an Omega for now. Besides, he still needed to tell the other person in the know to keep his mouth shut.

As He Siheng thought about this, he habitually glanced over at that person’s seat—only to meet his gaze head-on.

Their eyes met, and in an instant, He Siheng thought of last night’s bolded “ABO Common Sense Manual.” His short-circuited brain looped endlessly: heat, heat, heat, heat, heat, heat, heat, heat, heat, heat, heat, heat, heat…

Heat rose to his ears. He Siheng awkwardly looked away and muttered a curse under his breath.

The oblivious bigmouth Zhou Yu asked, “What’d you say, Heng Bro?”

“Nothing,” He Siheng irritably tsked and set the milk tea he’d been holding on his desk. “Here, picked it up on the way.”

Zhou Yu was baffled. Why had Heng Bro suddenly bought—no, picked—him a milk tea? And it was his favorite kind?

Zhou Yu had an epiphany: “You aren’t so heartbroken from the breakup that you poisoned the milk tea for us to die together, right?”

He Siheng: “…Get lost.”

When he returned to his seat and his butt had just touched the chair, he heard Tan Jing speak: “You two get along pretty well.”

His usual calm, indifferent tone gave no hint of emotion.

The sudden comment felt oddly out of place.

He Siheng gave him a weird look: “We broke up on the same day, misery loves company, kindred spirits. So what?”

Tan Jing let out an ambiguous hum of laughter: “That doesn’t count as a breakup for you.”

He Siheng was about to ask what he meant when Tan Jing added: “You weren’t even in love. It’s more like failing before you even started.”

He Siheng: “…”

His fists clenched hard.

Remembering he had serious business, He Siheng swallowed his anger for the moment.

“About last night, I advise you not to breathe a word of it,” He Siheng paused, then added, “Especially not to my parents.”

Hearing his plan, Tan Jing frowned: “You don’t want to register?”

“Not for now,” He Siheng lifted his chin. “After Gaokao, when I claim the Science Top Scorer title.”

His tone carried a hint of provocation—after all, there was only one Science Top Scorer spot, so this was practically a declaration of war.

Seeing Tan Jing’s brows furrow deeper, He Siheng thought he’d fire back, but instead, he warned: “You should know only registered Omegas get protection.”

Not only were they rare in number, but Omegas had the weakest physical constitution compared to Alphas and Betas, so they received state protection and social security in many situations—but only after officially registering their gender.

He Siheng shrugged it off: “I’ve grown up fine for the past seventeen years without protection.”

Tan Jing fell silent.

Even guessing why He Siheng was doing this, he still thought it was too risky. But he knew He Siheng’s temperament all too well—once he decided something, not even ten oxen could drag him back.

Not getting an immediate reply, He Siheng impatiently asked: “Just say if you’re willing to keep quiet.”

“What if I say no?”

“Then I’ll make you willing another way.” He Siheng placed his fist on his desk.

Tan Jing laughed helplessly: “Fine, I can keep it secret for you.”

He paused, then changed tack: “But I’ll charge some hush money.”

He Siheng had figured he wouldn’t agree so easily. Anyway, he had double his allowance in his card today; even a few thousand or tens of thousands would be no issue.

He Siheng generously said: “Name your price.”

“Treat me to a milk tea.”

“?”

He Siheng thought he’d misheard and uncertainly asked: “Just one milk tea?”

Tan Jing hummed in affirmation.

He Siheng was baffled but agreed: “Deal. I’ll have Zhou Yu buy you one later.”

Tan Jing: “Not today. Saturday morning, bring it to me yourself.”

He Siheng didn’t get it: “Why wait until Saturday for a milk tea?”

Then he remembered Tan Jing had been sickly as a kid, with his family strictly controlling his diet—even soda required reporting. Maybe snacks outside meals were still off-limits for him.