To Explain Or Not To Explain?

Su Yan lifted his hand to tug at Nie Chang's sleeve again but held back at the last moment. Ugh. He definitely couldn't interrupt him again. It hadn't been that long since the last time, after all. Ah, but he wanted to tell him! It was so obvious now that that Kang Lei was actually the male lead! Hadn't they discussed this before? He should tell him what he had figured out.

In the end, Su Yan was so occupied with his thoughts that he missed the next paragraphs. So he finally still tugged at Nie Chang's sleeve.

Nie Chang stopped reading and looked at his little darling that seemed less than happy. He had pursed his lips and furrowed his brows and was looking at him with reproach. Uh … It seemed he had done something horrible? Whatever it was? "What's the matter, darling?"

"You're too fast!"

"Too fast?" Nie Chang's brows raised. Hadn't he read at the same tempo the whole time? How come he was suddenly too fast?

"Yes. Start over from where Nangong Min grabbed Kang Lei's arm."

Nie Chang's lips curved in a knowing smile. "Oh, that part, yes?"

"Mn. What about it? You don't want to read again from there?"

"No, no. I just wanted to make sure I understood you right." Nie Chang looked back at his phone. He definitely wouldn't say out loud what he thought about that.

Su Yan had some doubts about the way Nie Chang grinned but since his boyfriend kept silent there was nothing he could do. He couldn't accuse him of thinking something mean without proof, right? Thus he just listened when Nie Chang started over from where his thoughts had trailed off.

[With Kang Lei in their team, they had no trouble attracting another seven teammates. After all, he was one of the best in their year. Actually, if one asked Nangong Min, then Kang Lei wasn't just one of the best but the best. Ah, his friend was so great!]

"Mn!" Su Yan gave a triumphant chuckle. Hah, he had known it would be like that! This novel was so predictable. Or maybe he was just that good?

Nie Chang grinned and patted his head but he didn't stop reading. If he always allowed Su Yan to interrupt him, he would never manage to read the whole story to him. So he had to set priorities.

[Looking at their group of nine Nangong Min winced. Ugh. It looked like he was the only Beta in this group?]

"Eh? What's a Beta?"

Despite his previous resolution, Nie Chang did pause this time. Now, what to do? Explain or not explain? Well, if he explained Beta, then he'd need to explain Alpha too and if he explained Alpha …

"I don't know. Maybe it's a cadet who isn't as good."

"Then why is he the protagonist?"

Nie Chang nudged Su Yan's nose. "Won't you find out if you let me continue to read?"

Su Yan pursed his lips. "Then read faster!"

Nie Chang couldn't help but chuckle. "And that from the person that just complained I was reading too fast for him to follow. I guess that means I'll have to work on my reading skills." He patted Su Yan's head again to stop him from erupting and went back to the story.

[The Alphas weren't too keen on working with him either but nobody dared to say anything. After all, it wasn't a secret how close he was to Kang Lei. Actually, there were some rumors —]

Nie Chang stopped and glanced at the sky. Did this already count as something that shouldn't be read aloud? Maybe he was supposed to skip this? But he had no idea how to do so without interrupting the flow of the story. In the end, he just adjusted the choice of words a little.

[— that they weren't just best friends but that there were some romantic feelings involved. Nobody knew whether that was true but it was better to be safe than sorry considering Kang Lei's status in their school and who his father was. They definitely didn't want to get into trouble with that kind of person.

Soon enough the other groups had also formed and the chosen captains stepped forward and were handed the identificators for their group. Kang Lei returned to the group and handed them out before sending their group's information to the base of Planet ABO.

"Alright. Everything is set. We all know each other so I don't think there will be any reason to stay back and discuss anything. We can do so when we've gotten over there and were able to get a clearer picture of the situation.

"Until then, be vigilant and don't let your guard down. This is also a test the Academy and the Military devised for us so it won't be as simple as they made it sound. Now, let's go!" He didn't wait for them to speak up and just directly turned around and walked in the direction of where their so-called means of transportation were being kept.

Nangong Min took another look around the square in the hope of seeing Major Yuan before he followed Kang Lei.

At the same time, Major Yuan was sitting at the desk in his study and staring grimly at a holographic screen in front of him that threw the image of a brightly smiling man back at him.

"Yuan Jing, I don't care what you think about the Dinlas Academy. Those cadets were sent to you and if I hear that you dared to slack off, I'll make sure to get you demoted for refusal to obey orders. You wouldn't want that. Not for something this trivial. It's just a few boys."

Yuan Jing didn't say anything but his usual grim expression seemed even colder and below the table where the smiling man couldn't see it, he had clenched his fists. Just a few boys, yes. But he still hated to see them. Well, he still couldn't let this get into the way of his career. After all, that was everything he had left.

"Understood, Colonel."

"Mn, very well. Then get back to work. I don't want any of those cadets injured more than they need to be."

The image collapsed and the light of the holographic screen faded out. Yuan Jing frowned but otherwise seemed to have no reaction. Well, if they wanted him to play the nanny to those boys, then he would do so. What else could he do?]