After Pretending to Be an Omega, I Got Reverse-Marked by a Beta - Chapter 1

H City was located in the south. April should be a warm spring season with grasses growing and orioles flying, but a light snow fell just a couple of days ago, and today the weather was still a bit chilly.

It was a little past 10 a.m., and No. 1 City High School was in the middle of its longer recess. As soon as you entered the campus, you could hear the familiar rhythm of the broadcast callisthenics.

“Stretching exercise, one two three four, two two three four…”

Shang Mu held a stack of workbooks in his arms, lazily following behind the grade director.

He transferred schools due to his father’s job relocation.

At that time, the incident happened suddenly, and his transfer paperwork was completed within a week, so he hurriedly arrived in H City. Right now, not to mention having a school uniform, he did not even have a warm piece of clothing; today he came to school dressed in just a thin, trendy sweatshirt.

The young boy gazed at the tall teaching building, blinking slowly as he cupped his hands around his lips and let out a couple of breaths.

Brr, it is really cold.

“Shang Mu, your results from last week’s entrance exam have come out. Based on your level, the school has placed you in Class 1 of the Rocket Class. I will take you over to meet your homeroom teacher. If you have any personal issues in the future, feel free to come to me; my office is on the third floor of the teaching building.”

The grade director walked ahead while giving instructions.

He turned around, saw Shang Mu’s small movements, and squinted his eyes with a smile. “It is understandable that a young guy wants to be fashionable, but you should not dress so lightly. Remember to wear more tomorrow.”

He had a somewhat plump figure, and his face was kind and gentle; when he smiled, he resembled a Maitreya Buddha.

Shang Mu touched his frozen, red ears and quietly complained, “It is all because of my dad! He said H City would be warm, so he only brought me a few pieces of spring clothing. But as soon as we got here, it started snowing! Now I am freezing!”

The boy had a fair complexion, and his bangs lay softly against his forehead. After being slightly chilled, his cheeks and the edges of his ears turned a delicate shade of rosy pink. The morning sunlight shone down on him, reminiscent of freshly peeled strawberry jelly.

The director stole a quick glance at him and could not help but inwardly marvel, “I have heard that this kid is an Alpha in terms of secondary sexual characteristics. Even now, he is this good-looking—I can only imagine how handsome he will be after maturing!”

“The school uniform in your size is currently out of stock and needs to be custom-made. However, we do have some larger sizes in inventory. I will have someone bring you one to wear. You are still young; do not let yourself get too cold,” he said.

The boy smiled and licked his lips, revealing two shallow dimples on his cheeks. “Okay, thank you! I will definitely pay for the two school uniforms. My dad said I cannot take anything from the public without contributing!”

The grade director gave a thumbs-up, his smile making his eyes nearly squint into a line. “As expected of a child raised by Mayor Shang—you are so thoughtful!”

Upon hearing the title Mayor Shang, Shang Mu squinted his eyes and quickly waved his hand, “Hey, you cannot just say that!”

The director was amused by his reaction and quickly replied, “I know, I know! Your dad and I have a good understanding, so there would not be any special treatment. Do not worry; no more than three people in the whole school know about this.”

　　—

As they spoke, the morning exercise ended, and a large group of students returned from the playground.

When Shang Mu met the homeroom teacher, the grade director had repeatedly urged them to take good care of him, leaving the teacher feeling rather puzzled. After seeing the grade director off and turning back to the boy, who stood there with a slouchy, careless posture, the teacher’s eyes showed a hint of displeasure.

“No. 1 City High is the top high school in H City, and the Rocket Class is the elite class. I do not care where you come from—you have to study hard and keep your feet on the ground. The Rocket Class is all about ability. It does not matter what kind of relationship you have with the grade director—if your scores are not high enough, you will be eliminated and moved to the regular class. No exceptions. Got it?”

Then he noticed the small earrings dangling from the boy’s ears, and his expression darkened even further.

“And what is that in your ears? Take them off. The No. 1 High School of H City does not allow earrings.”

Shang Mu shivered inwardly, “A bit strict, huh?”

This must be a show of authority to put him in his place.

He lazily let out a drawn-out “tssk”, and seeing that the homeroom teacher was about to lose it, quickly straightened up and replied in a deliberately long tone, “Got—iiit, teacher!”

Then he trailed behind the homeroom teacher into the classroom.

Though it was the Rocket Class, the atmosphere was not as dull as one might expect. The class was actually quite lively. Just after the morning exercises ended, the students were gathered in small groups, chatting and joking around.

The moment Shang Mu stepped into the room, the entire class fell silent, all eyes turning to the boy walking beside the homeroom teacher.

Soft whispers trickled into his ears, scattered and faint.

“Who is it? So amazing, coming straight into the elite class in the second semester of second year?”

“So… so handsome… Hey, he is wearing a monitoring wristband—do you think he is an A or an O?”

“Definitely an O. Which A looks this delicate?”

“But he is a bit tall—do Omegas usually get this tall? Feels like he is almost as tall as a Beta. Usually Omegas do not reach this height, right? There are plenty of undifferentiated Alphas, though.”

“He is an Alpha, definitely an Alpha! I will bet ten packs of spicy strips on it!”

“Alpha fan? I am in!”

“Why can he not be a wolf Omega? I would not mind being eaten either!”

“Can Betas go after Alphas? Do not mess with the cute, gentle Omega boys!”

Listening to his classmates’ chatter, Shang Mu showed no sign of discomfort or shyness. He had stood out since childhood, came from a good family, and was long immune to stares and compliments.

So he just lazily glanced around the class before planning to look away.

But then, out of the corner of his eye, he accidentally caught sight of a tall, well-proportioned figure by the window. He could not help but pause for a moment and look over again.

He was an extremely calm guy but seemed a little lonely.

The guy looked a bit slender, but he could really pull off any outfit.

The oversized, shapeless school uniform looked anything but bulky on him; instead, it fit him perfectly and even added a touch of maturity that was not typical for his age.

At that moment, the guy was deeply focused on writing problems with a fountain pen, and the sunlight streamed through the window, casting a soft glow around him.

Even though he was in a lively classroom, there was an inexplicable sense of isolation, as if he were surrounded by a thousand mountains with no birds in sight.

Even from that far away, Shang Mu could almost hear the scratch of the pen on the paper.

That guy only had a plain white wristband on his left hand—no special AO monitoring bracelet—and looked like a Beta.

Shang Mu gently tapped a few times on the workbook with his fingers, then pressed his lips together.

Good-looking.

A cool and handsome Beta—tsk, I kind of like him.

He blinked and tried to get a better look but then suddenly heard the homeroom teacher say, “New student, introduce yourself.”

Only then did Shang Mu snap out of it. He gave a small smile to the classmates below, showing off his signature dimple.

“Hey everyone, I am Shang Mu. I am from Q City, but I lived here for a while when I was little, so I am kind of familiar with the place. The second year’s almost over, so I am looking forward to studying with you all and aiming for our dream universities together.”

As he spoke, his gaze subtly swept past the boy by the window, but the guy stayed cool and aloof, never even looking up.

He sighed inwardly, “Looks like he is not easy to approach… does not seem to care about the new kid at all.”

But just as the last word left his mouth, the boy suddenly looked up.

And just like that, a pair of deep, dark eyes met his without warning.

Those eyes carried a sharp, dangerous vibe—just one brief glance was enough to make him feel like he’d been locked onto by a hawk.

But that sharpness vanished in a flash, replaced by a cool and calm expression. The boy just gave him a brief, indifferent glance, then looked back down and continued writing.

Shang Mu froze for a second, unable to stop the sudden wave of goosebumps. Was that just my imagination?

Someone in the class suddenly shouted, “What is your gender?”

That got a bunch of people in the class agreeing, “Yeah, yeah, what is your gender, Shang Mu?”

Shang Mu snapped back, winked at the crowd, flashing two mischievous little tiger teeth, and said playfully, “Secret.”

In Country X, to protect Omega’s rights, they only put OA monitoring bracelets on them at birth to track pheromones and predict when they would go through their differentiation. But info about their secondary sexual characteristics usually was not made public.

Before differentiation, unless someone said otherwise, no one knew a person’s gender.

The classmates in the class all groaned loudly.

The homeroom teacher tapped the eraser on the desk and shouted out, “Quiet down!”

The chalk dust drifted slowly through the air, and just breathing it in smelt like calcium sulphate.

The world suddenly went as quiet as a chicken.

Just as the school bell rang, the students hurried back to their seats quietly.

But after everyone sat down, the homeroom teacher still did not say anything.

Shang Mu carefully glanced sideways and noticed their homeroom teacher was… lost in thought?

Uh, was the teacher really deep in thought or just totally ignoring him?

Did we not already get the warning? Why is there another one…

Shang Mu licked his lips, trying to look a bit more obedient, and asked, “Teacher, where should I sit?”

After looking around, he realised the only empty seat left in the whole classroom was right next to the boy by the window.

But the homeroom teacher still seemed to be thinking and had not decided to let him sit there.

Shang Mu had no idea what was going on, so he stepped forward and put his workbook on the teacher’s desk. Worried the teacher might get annoyed at him moving around, he quickly rubbed his aching hand and muttered quietly, “So heavy, my hand actually hurts from carrying it.”

He was naturally delicate and had not gone through much hardship growing up. His fingers were fair and soft. After holding the heavy books for so long, you could clearly see red marks pressed into his fingertips.

At this moment, he was carefully rubbing his fingers, inexplicably giving off a fragile and delicate vibe. Especially when he lowered his head, his bangs obediently draped over his forehead, while a large black backpack hung behind him. Standing alone on the podium, he looked utterly pitiful.

He had been playing the obedient, sweet kid in front of his dad and grandpa since he was little—he knew exactly what look could make people’s hearts soften.

Then, in his head, he started silently counting down. “Five, four, three, two…”

Before he even finished the countdown, a voice suddenly rang out in the classroom. “Sit next to me.”

The one who spoke up was the boy that Shang Mu had been watching all along.

His voice was cool and distant, carrying a sense of detachment.

Shang Mu looked up, following the voice, and saw that the Beta by the window was indeed looking at him. Or rather—looking at his fingers.

Shang Mu paused in the motion of rubbing his fingers and smiled.

The latter paid no attention, and with a proud swan-like curve of his neck, returned to his reading.

Ah, still a tough-talking but soft-hearted ice-cold type B.

Shang Mu thought to himself.

“Then, teacher, can I go sit there?” he asked.

Hearing Shang Mu’s question, the homeroom teacher snapped back to reality. “Ah? Oh, yeah, go ahead and sit there. Lu Fan is not really used to having someone sit next to him, so just try not to bother him.”

Shang Mu said, “Mm-hmm, okay, definitely!”

He turned around, stuffed his school bag under the desk, then tore off a sticky note. While the homeroom teacher was not paying attention, he scribbled a few quick words and quietly passed it to the boy next to him.

“Hello, classmate Lu Fan! May I ask how to write your name in Chinese? ^_^”

Signed: Shang Mu