Zhao Jiayi wasn’t actually very well known outside of the science departments. A few people had probably heard of him but they definitely didn’t know his face. No one looking at him would think that he was the head Biochemistry professor. They all just assumed he was a handsome student.

Yan Xing was surprisingly no exception. He said sorry and he spoke politely but not as politely as he would if he were talking to a teacher.

Zhao Jiayi smiled, “It’s alright.”

He was actually not as calm as he seemed, he had no clue how to get close to Yan Xing, especially not when he was like this. The Yan Xing who was momentarily in his arms was nothing like the Yan Xing he knew. The Yan Xing he knew was cheeky and seemed to always be smiling, it was as if everything was always going according to plan for him. His attitude was a big part of the reason why he was so easily villainized by people. If he had looked as pitiful as he did now, people probably wouldn't have hated him so much.

Yan Xing was sickly looking and had obvious dark circles under his eyes. He was still very attractive but he was pitiful to look at. Especially if you compared him to his Zombie version.

Zhao Jiayi sighed internally, he didn’t particularly like scheming but he had no idea where else he’d see Yan Xing. He had already confirmed that he still had his powers that he was supposed to gain later on so he decided to just go for it.

He discreetly stole some of Yan Xing’s energy with his power as he pretended to just let go of him. People were already on their way to their next class so no one was watching.

Yan Xing didn’t feel much, he mostly just felt really tired all of a sudden but he didn’t think too much of it and was about to continue on his way when his legs collapsed beneath him and he was about to fall. Zhao Jiayi quickly caught him once more.

“..are you alright?” Zhao Jiayi asked, he didn’t expect Yan Xing to suddenly become this weak from the amount of energy he took. He just expected him to stumble a little but Yan Xing’s legs completely gave out and he almost face-planted onto the floor.

“Should I bring you to the nurse—?”

“No!... I’m fine, it’s just low blood sugar…” Yan Xing suddenly exclaimed, his voice turning into a murmur after realizing he had just yelled at a stranger. He tried to get up but he couldn’t stand on his own at all.

Zhao Jiayi was surprised but he played along.

He held Yan Xing up and helped him walk to a bench near a vending machine. He set him down on the bench and went to the vending machine. He bought a random sugary drink and handed it to Yan Xing.

“...Um thank you...Here I’ll pay you back.” Yan Xing quickly said and took his wallet out of his pants pocket.

He quickly deadpanned upon realizing he had no small banknotes. All he had was hundred yuan bills and his credit card.

“You don’t have to pay me back. It’s just 3 Yuan.” Zhao Jiayi chuckled as he watched Yan Xing almost start to panic.

He had heard that Yan Xing was actually a rich young master but Jiayi didn’t think it’d be to the point that he didn’t carry small bills.

“Do you usually have low blood sugar?” Zhao Jiayi asked as he bought himself a soda as well. He knew he wouldn’t like the sugary beverage but it gave him something to do while he observed Yan Xing.

“...Yes.” Yan Xing answered after staring at Zhao Jiayi for a second. He had a blank expression on his face even when he was off guard or when he thought Zhao Jiayi wasn’t watching.

Zhao Jiayi paused. He was about to take a drink from his soda but when he heard Yan Xing’s answer he stopped and looked at him blankly for a second before grinning a bit.

“You’re lying.” Zhao Jiayi chuckled. Yan Xing was not as good of a manipulator as he was during the apocalypse.

Yan Xing was immediately flustered. He didn’t expect Zhao Jiayi to notice he was lying or even call him out on it.

“W-What—“

“I have a master’s in Psychology. I know a thing or two about lying.” Zhao Jiayi chuckled. Maybe Yan Xing had always been truthful to him in the past? Perhaps that’s why Yan Xing’s current lies were so easy to tell.

“We don’t really know each other so I don’t know why you need to lie to me about your blood sugar levels.” Zhao Jiayi smiled, “Do you just really not want to go to the nurse?”

Yan Xing looked down, he was a bit embarrassed but it didn’t really show.

“I won’t take you there but you should sit and wait until you’re alright to walk.” Zhao Jiayi said and started drinking his own soda.

“I have class...in like 5 minutes.” Yan Xing deadpanned after checking his walk.

“Okay? I can write a note to your teacher if you’re late.” Zhao Jiayi said and sat down beside Yan Xing.

“Professor Mu isn’t going to just excuse me because an upperclassman says something…” Yan Xing murmured, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Zhao Jiayi.

Zhao Jiayi tilted his head a little, still sipping his soda for a second before pausing to speak, “I’m a teacher though?”

“Eh?”

Zhao Jiayi smiled, “Nice to meet you. I’m Zhao Jiayi, Professor of Biochemical engineering.” He held out his hand to Yan Xing and chuckled a little at Yan Xing’s surprised expression.

“I-I’m Yan Xing...So-Sorry for bothering you si—“ Yan Xing murmured, politely shaking Yan Xing’s hand.

“I’m off duty so you’re not bothering me at all.” Zhao Jiayi said and cut off Yan Xing, “You don’t have to call me Sir or professor, by the way. This is my last week being a teacher.”

Yan Xing quickly finished his soda and tried to stand up after a while of silence and Jiayi decided to just help him out. He wasn’t sure how he’d end up meeting Yan Xing again since he’s on vacation now but he figured he’d find some way to do it. He gave Yan Xing some of his energy discreetly as he stood up but he quickly stopped when he heard Yan Xing hiss a little.

“Ow…” Yan Xing whined quietly and frowned, rubbing his neck a little.

What? Already? How?

Zhao Jiayi focused his eyes on Yan Xing’s neck and wrist and was shocked to see black marks around both. Only people with awakened powers could see the marks but they were signs that someone had been infected with the zombie virus. There was a week until the virus really spread all the way to normal people so why did Yan Xing already have it?

Would he fully transform before the outbreak? Is that why he’s the Zombie King?

Zombie transformation took a few minutes if you were bitten, 3-5 days if you ingested zombie blood, and up to 7 days if you were infected through an ability. The most likely cause was that Yan Xing somehow ingested Zombie blood but from what Jiayi knew, the Yan family had no ties to the government or medical facilities.

“ I can walk now so I should go…” Yan Xing murmured.

“Ah sure.” Zhao Jiayi said and stood up, pulling a pen from his pocket. Yan Xing was confused but then remembered about the note and took out a piece of paper for Zhao Jiayi to write on. Zhao Jiayi quickly wrote the note and handed it to Yan Xing.

“See you around.” Zhao Jiayi said and waved to Yan Xing who bowed his head a little before going off on his way to class.

‘...I’ll say I forgot something and come meet him here tomorrow … I need to see how the virus progresses.’ Zhao Jiayi thought to himself and walked off.

Yan Xing turned around at the end of the hall and watched Zhao Jiayi walk away.

“Biochemical engineering...” Yan Xing murmured to himself before turning around and leaving.

—-

“Zhao Jiayi, you’re so busy all the time but now you’re visiting me? Is the world ending?”

Zhao Jiayi almost laughed out loud as he heard that.

‘Fun fact…it is!’ He thought to himself and patted Yi Boqin’s back as they walked inside his house.

“I’m here to talk to ya. It’s important... so be serious.” Zhao Jiayi murmured.

Yi Boqin was surprised by Zhao Jiayi’s seriousness. He usually was pretty carefree so he knew something was up.

“What is it?” Yi Boqin asked, sitting down across from Zhao Jiayi in his living room.

“My father is gone. It’s been 10 days.” Zhao Jiayi murmured.

“Oh...I’m sorry…” Yi Boqin said and looked at Jiayi with a sympathetic expression.

Yi Boqin had been Zhao Jiayi’s best friend since high school. He even knew about the 10-day procedure that Jiayi and his father had. During the apocalypse, Zhao Jiayi deeply regretted not telling him to prepare for the worst as well. He didn’t know better back then and lost his best friend because of it.

“Boqin. You should prepare for the worst. For the next week be on guard, don’t stay out for too long, stock up on food and stuff, and meet me—actually no.” Zhao Jiayi said before coming to a realization.

“What is it? You’re scaring me even more now.” Yi Boqin asked, he had begun to bite his nails.

“My warehouse. The one with my lab equipment. Meet me there on Saturday afternoon. Take anything that’s absolutely essential. Your weapons, military tags, canned food, steel toe boots, stuff like that. I already got stuff for all of our friends but more wouldn’t do any harm. We have a lot of space in the warehouse since I’ve been using the university lab mostly.” Zhao Jiayi explained, he even started to write stuff down for Yi Boqin.

“W-What is going on? Do you know? Did your father tell you any details?”

“Something is going to break out. And it won’t be pretty, that’s my guess.” Zhao Jiayi murmured.

“Your parents are overseas...tell them to prepare stuff from that list and get a warehouse or some sturdy place to hide. No windows unless they’re at least bulletproof.” Zhao Jiayi said and handed Yi Boqin the list.

“Are they going to be safe that way?” Yi Boqin asked, shuddering.

“You know the safest place would be with us…” Zhao Jiayi murmured, “But they’ll probably be alright.”

The Yi family would probably be more than alright with his advice. He remembered the devastating moment when he met them during the apocalypse and they sobbed after finding out that Yi Boqin was gone.

“We’ll get through it all. Don’t worry.” Zhao Jiayi smiled.