Pretending to Be an Alpha in an All-Alpha Boy Band - Chapter 7
Chapter 7 pocky game
“Unfortunately, you didn’t choose the same bus, so the challenge failed. As punishment, we’re canceling the banquet we promised you; you’ll have to cook your own lunch later.”
“For the next segment of the show, we’re going live and will open the live comments at random.”
The electronic screen ahead lit up and the comment stream flooded in at once, signaling the official start of the broadcast.
The six Alphas straightened, adjusted their poses, and greeted the camera: “Hello everyone, we are Scepter.”
[Princess Yuanyuan has arrived, everyone get out of the way!]
[Bo Jin, you’re handsome, but the one standing next to you is Yuan Shiyuan. ♥]
[Is Yuan Shiyuan really an S-rank alpha? Standing over there like a pretty little figurine.]
[Nobody told me the new member would be this hot!!! [watching closely][drooling]]
Because the previous livestream still had traction, the chat was lively, all focused on the new member. Only after a while did people start to notice the seasoned members standing near Yuan Shiyuan.
They interacted with the comments for a bit before a crew member reminded them: “Have you all picked your preferred roommates? We’re about to start the mutual-selection round.”
All the Alphas nodded; each already had someone in mind.
“Since everyone has someone they prefer, we’ll send you into the small room to vote one at a time. We’ll reveal the ballot results in front of you afterward.”
The voting order followed their seating order. The first to enter the small room to vote was Ying Mingche. Before standing, he suddenly turned and gave Yuan Shiyuan a smile.
The second was Ying Mingxi; he cast a restrained glance at Yuan Shiyuan.
The third was Jiang Heng…
Yuan Shiyuan smiled back in a friendly way.
Bo Jin tugged at his mouth in displeasure. What was this supposed to be?
Not long ago, Yuan Shiyuan said he wanted to be friends with him, and now he was exchanging flirting glances with other Alphas in front of him?
He put his body between Yuan Shiyuan and the others: “What are they looking at you for?”
“Are they looking at me?” Yuan Shiyuan feigned ignorance. “Maybe I’m just prettier?”
“……”
“Am I not?”
Bo Jin wanted to retort, stared at Yuan Shiyuan’s face, and finally gave up. “Yes.”
[Laughing out loud, Brother Huo can’t honestly call this face ugly, huh.]
[You can question anything else, but not this face!]
[○ No one dares to diss that face.]
At that moment the live comments were closed, so Bo Jin couldn’t see the viewers’ reactions and felt inexplicably restless. He looked at Yuan Shiyuan: “You’ll pick me, right?”
Bo Jin was perceptive; Yuan Shiyuan replied with a question: “Do you want to back out?”
Bo Jin had only said it casually, but Yuan Shiyuan’s sudden nervous lift of his head—afraid he would change his mind—gave Bo Jin an odd, satisfying thrill.
He actually wanted to live with him?
“I keep my promises.”
After all the cards were collected, the production team announced the choices.
A staff member holding a cardboard box sat at the center table and, like drawing a lottery, pulled out a card: “Bo Jin’s preferred roommate is… Yuan Shiyuan.”
Ying Mingche let out a scornful snort.
Go ahead and pick—only to be disappointed.
“Pei Yanbing’s preferred roommate is… Yuan Shiyuan.”
Bo Jin: ?
Why is this ice-cold guy joining the fun?
“Jiang Heng’s preferred roommate is… Yuan Shiyuan.”
“Ying Mingche’s preferred roommate is… Yuan Shiyuan.”
Wait, why did everyone pick Yuan Shiyuan?
The Alphas’ expressions turned strange; they began to sense something was off.
“Ying Mingxi…” the staff member said, trying not to laugh, “chose Yuan Shiyuan.”
“Not my brother! How could you…” Ying Mingche jumped up immediately, but when he heard what the staff member said next, he fell silent and sat back down.
“Yuan Shiyuan…”
Everyone’s gazes turned serious, waiting for the staff member to announce Yuan Shiyuan’s choice. All five Alphas had chosen Yuan Shiyuan; his pick would be the deciding one.
Although the Alphas were confident Yuan Shiyuan would pick one of them, it was natural to feel uneasy until the result came out.
The staff member drew out his words, teasing them to the edge of their patience, and then suddenly took a breath.
“Hurry up and say it,” Ying Mingche fretted, nearly dying of worry.
“Next, we’ll reveal Yuan Shiyuan’s choice.” The staff member turned the card over so everyone could see the blank side. He said, “Yuan Shiyuan, you didn’t choose anyone.”
“……”
“Huh?”
Shock, blankness, confusion, disbelief… a mix of complicated emotions flashed across the five Alphas’ faces at once.
[?? Everyone’s got a one-way crush?!]
[Pei Yanbing actually picked a roommate? Doesn’t he have obsessive cleanliness?]
[Trending soon: #YuanShiyuanEveryonesUnrequitedLove# #ScepterLovePolygon#]
“Congratulations to Yuan Shiyuan for completing the hidden task!”
A celebratory cannon went off beside them. “Yuan Shiyuan has successfully completed the hidden task ‘everyone chooses you, but you don’t choose anyone.’ As a reward, he gets the attic single room all to himself.”
The streamers from the cannon spun and fluttered down; some fell to the floor, some draped through Yuan Shiyuan’s hair and across his clothes. A beam of light hit him; he tilted his chin up slightly, the pale tip of his tongue peeking out between his rose-colored lips as he put a strip of streamer against his mouth.
Bo Jin looked at that wet, laser-bright ribbon and blinked, then ground his teeth and snarled, “You lied to me?!”
Yuan Shiyuan blinked innocently. “Sorry, everyone. I really wanted the single room.”
[How can you blame ○? My baby just wanted to win too much.]
[LOL! The expressions on these Alphas—I could laugh about them forever.]
[Wait, am I watching a group variety show? Why does this segment feel so much like a dating show.]
[Group variety show turned dating show live.]
No wonder Yuan Shiyuan had been flirting with everyone—Bo Jin was so furious he almost laughed, “You’re something else.”
“Baby, you’re the first person to do this to me,” Ying Mingche hooked his arm over Yuan Shiyuan’s shoulder. “You better not end up in my hands.”
The remaining Alphas didn’t say anything, but their expressions made their complicated feelings obvious.
These S-rank Alphas were being toyed with like this for the first time.
Staff: “Next, you can go with Yuan Shiyuan to take a look at his luxurious single room.”
Seeing Yuan Shiyuan enjoy the fruits of his victory at this moment was pure torment. They followed the staff’s directions and came to the attic entrance.
Climbing the wooden ladder, the view suddenly opened up. The skylight above looked like a picture frame holding blue sky and white clouds. Inside, the bed was very large—big enough for three or four people to lie down at once. Beyond the glass doors the courtyard teemed with life; the windchimes on the swing swayed in the breeze with a tinkling, tinkling sound.
No wonder Yuan Shiyuan had tricked them—the attic was indeed nice and very tempting.
Ying Mingche said plaintively, “We’ve finished the tour. Shouldn’t we go now?”
“Go where?” Yuan Shiyuan asked, puzzled. “Everyone should stay and live here together. We’re a team, of course we should sleep together.”
[W-What, all sleeping together?!]
[This awkward turn of events…]
The Alphas all froze.
Yuan Shiyuan sat on the edge of the bed; the bedding dipped slightly under him, casting a small shadow. He propped his hands behind him and tilted his face up, his body leaning back a little—an angle that made his legs look even long and straight.
“The rules never said you couldn’t live in the attic with me,” he told the staff with a bright, dazzling smile. “Didn’t you all say—if I win, the attic belongs to me and I can do what I want with it.”
“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”
No one had the heart to say “no.”
The director instinctively made an “OK” gesture.
The attic was spacious; putting in a few extra folding beds wouldn’t be a problem. The folding beds and bedding were downstairs, and Yuan Shiyuan took charge of directing the Alphas to move the items.
“Put the beds there; they won’t block the sunlight.”
“Bo Jin’s strong—you handle the mattress.”
“…”
When Bo Jin was moving the mattress, Yuan Shiyuan tried to lend a hand but was stopped.
He said lightly, “Save those little arms for giving directions.”
Yuan Shiyuan: “…”
[Princess Yuanyuan commander online!]
[Bo Jin is actually so obedient? ysy tells him to do something and he does it?]
[Look at Brother Huo’s expression—you can tell he’s upset that ysy didn’t pick him as a roommate.]
[Grumpy face moving a mattress. (covering face emoji)]
Next came the lunch segment.
The fridge held very little food; what was there wouldn’t be enough for six grown Alphas.
Ying Mingche: “Director, this isn’t enough. Also, can you guys cook? I can’t.”
“I’m afraid we’ll starve.”
Director: “We’ll play a game. The winning members will earn extra dish-orders.”
The production team handed over a menu.
Yuan Shiyuan took it: “Poached prawns, sweet-and-sour ribs with shampoo (Translation note: 香波 here is a dish name literally ‘shampoo’—kept as a cultural dish name), deep-sea leopard coral grouper…”
Just looking at the items whetted the appetite.
The director said, “Only the winners can decide who gets to share the food with them.”
A staff member stepped forward to distribute heart-rate wristbands and asked everyone to put them on.
“The next game is the pocky game. Rules are simple: players are split into attackers and defenders. Defenders must bite and hold one end of the pocky; attackers try to bite the other end. Note: attackers may only attack; defenders cannot dodge.”
“During the match, players must keep their heart rates stable. Whoever’s heart rate rises the most loses.”
The staff plunged his hand into a cardboard box. “Let’s see who gets picked…”
“Yuan Shiyuan, Ying Mingche.”
They wheeled out a giant electronic screen that displayed each member’s heart rate. From the heart-rate fluctuations, it was clear the Alphas were more or less excited.
Games always spurred an Alpha’s competitive spirit the fastest.
“Before the game officially starts, you can have a little ‘friendly’ chat.”
This was the pre-game trash-talk segment—also called talking tough. Its purpose was to boost the show’s entertainment value and rattle the opponents’ nerves.
Ying Mingche looked at the pink-haired Alpha; he held grudges. “You really made me unhappy just now. This time I won’t let you win.”
Yuan Shiyuan raised an eyebrow. “What a coincidence—I don’t plan on losing either.”
“Is that so? You still don’t know me; I’m going to be very mean to you,” Ying Mingche leaned in. “Don’t cry if you lose.”
“You better be the one who makes me cry,” Yuan Shiyuan said, his tone provocatively challenging.
How strange—the Alpha standing before him was clearly half a head shorter than Ying Mingche, but his presence was in no way inferior. Yuan Shiyuan, who had seemed so fragile, now displayed the Alpha’s characteristic aggressiveness, a sharp edge that pierced the air and made it impossible to look away.
“I’m starting to look forward to this, Yuan Shiyuan.”
Ying Mingche’s canines tingled; his blood boiled with a thrilling tremor. This was the unique excitement an Alpha felt when facing an opponent of equal standing.
Staff: “Yuan Shiyuan is on offense; Ying Mingche is on defense. Again—attackers may only attack, defenders may only defend!”
“Watch your heart rates.”
“Game start—”
Ying Mingche bit down on his end of the pocky and looked at Yuan Shiyuan, pulling a smile that flashed his canines in the light.
He leaned in slightly, pressed his right hand onto Yuan Shiyuan’s shoulder, and, under Yuan Shiyuan’s gaze, arrogantly snapped the pocky.
The pocky suddenly became much shorter. Still not satisfied, Ying Mingche bit off another piece.
Then he sat back as if nothing had happened, chin lifted in a provocation.
Staring at the less-than-one-centimeter stump of pocky, Yuan Shiyuan looked stunned, unsure how to proceed.
Not going to kiss him?
[Isn’t it? Right?]
[Roasting iron, just go straight in and kiss him, skip the whole ritual. (cover face emoji)]
[ymc you really… did that so well. Remember to stick your tongue out later. (thumbs up)]
[Listen, 3-2-1 kiss. (lip emoji)(rose emoji)]
[Isn’t this mic-ing way too obvious???]
[So what? Give me the mic! Give me the fierce, unbridled, no-holds-barred mic-ing! It’s so good, I love it! (flirty emoji)]
The little pocky bit between Ying Mingche’s teeth was pitiful—less than a centimeter, fragile. Yuan Shiyuan studied it a moment, then smiled: “Are you raising the difficulty for me?”
The heart-rate monitor on the screen showed “+1,” then quickly fell back.
Ying Mingche smiled, half teasing, “You can still forfeit now and save face.”
“Funny you should say that.” Yuan Shiyuan suddenly grabbed Ying Mingche’s collar and tugged upward so their gazes collided across the space. He lifted his right brow very slightly. “Me—I”
“—just like challenging the hard modes.”
Author’s Note:
No update on Wednesday; the next chapter will be updated on Thursday!
Thank you, darlings, for the energy drinks and thunder (tips)! Extra chapter for those who support is posted after the v! See you Thursday, babies. (kisses)(kisses)(confetti)(confetti)