I really enjoyed this. Will have to MTL the rest, sadly, because the translation is quite good.

This is a good mix of comedy, angst, and romantic tension. It's not like the overall premise is that special - tsundere school tyrant omega shou + devoted alpha gong. The prequel (Short Story of ShaoWang) has a similar CP. If you like this trope, then this might be for you. I read ShaoWang as well, but this is better. The characters are more fleshed out, especially the wide variety of side characters.

Characters: I enjoyed the CP (there's multiple POVs, so no distinct MC and ML). Neither Yin Che or Jiang Yao are very likable at first - YC is anti-social and quick to lash out, JY is arrogant and prejudiced. But... more>> they quickly grew on me as the novel revealed their personalities and they gradually grew closer and closer. JY is dense about his growing attraction, while YC surprisingly is the most vulnerable and falls first. But I love how JY treats YC despite being oblivious. Also they are high school kids experiencing their first love - it's perfectly natural to be slow at realizing your feelings.

The side characters are really great - the feminine alpha and tomboy omega are a riot, and I ship them hard. The author tries to subvert omegaverse gender tropes and address gender prejudice, as well as making consent an important part of the story.

I sometimes get enough of doting gongs - they often read like the writer's wish fulfillment without the feel of a three-dimensional character. I liked it in this one though, because the gong is a flawed individual despite his very high devotion to the shou. The shou is tsundere and bad with feelings, but he has a very good reason for it. I liked how the writer handles past trauma - making sure the reader understands how important it is, and that some things can't just be fixed quickly through the power of love, but leave very real, lasting emotional and psychological scars.

About the main arc and JY's actions:

Spoiler

I think the author handled it really well. Sure, the way JY saves YC is kind of cliché and would not work in real life (as the author points out in the notes. But it's subtle enough that you have to look for the clues as to how JY changes behavior. And while it's effective, it's also traumatizing for YC. Which he points out. It's not swept under the rug, JY isn't hailed as a hero who saved his love, and YC ponders whether being able to survive is actually worth the emotional scars. Which is something I've rarely seen stories with those kind of plots deal with.

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I enjoyed this story a lot. It's well-written and still easy to read, and I was surprised how much I was effected by the emotional parts.

Sadly this isn't fully translated - I hope either the current translator will come back to it, or someone else will take over, because this novel deserves more attention. The current translation does cover the main plot, so even if it's currently unfinished, you will still get the main story. <<less

Very sweet novel, the MC is a cold tyrant on the outside but super sweet on the inside. The ML really saved the MC from his trauma he experienced as a child. I loved the prequel and this one is no exception.