Pretending to Be an Alpha in an All-Alpha Boy Band - Chapter 71
Chapter 71: Dream
Yuan Shiyuan jolted awake to the jarring sound of his alarm.
He sat up abruptly, his hair a tangled mess plastered against his cheeks. His eyes, still glazed with sleep, stared blankly ahead, struggling to shake off the lingering fog of sleep.
A large hand reached out from beside him and silenced the blaring alarm.
“Awake?” Bo Jin’s voice rumbled. “Perfect timing. Come have breakfast.”
Yuan Shiyuan rubbed his face vigorously with both hands, trying to rouse himself further. His gaze swept across the bedside table, noting his mobile phone plugged into a charging cable, its screen glowing with a full battery icon. Beside it lay a brand-new phone.
He hadn’t even remembered to charge his phone last night. Bo Jin must have plugged it in while he was sleeping.
Yuan Shiyuan instinctively grabbed his phone and swung his legs off the bed. But as he began his morning routine, he felt oddly uncomfortable.
An indescribable itch prickled his pigudrum.
Usually, only the deep-seated gland in my lower abdomen feels itchy. What’s going on now? Has it been… developed?
The mirror reflected his bewildered face. Yuan Shiyuan casually swept his damp, pink hair back with a wet hand, revealing his smooth forehead.
With a toothbrush clamped between his teeth, he tugged down his pajama pants with one hand while holding his phone in the other, aiming the camera.
He pried it open, snapped a photo.
In the photo, his “little guy” Xiao Xue still looked underdeveloped, just as he remembered. But something was different. Its color, once pale, had deepened, now tinged with a watery, vibrant crimson.
Could an Omega’s heat period, even after a temporary mark, cause Xiao Xue to change color?
Surely no one snuck into my room while I was asleep and… clipped him?
That’s just too perverted.
Yuan Shiyuan felt goosebumps rise as he lowered his gaze for another look.
He zoomed in on the photo, confirmed there were no abnormalities, and then deleted it.
As he spat out the toothpaste foam, Yuan Shiyuan used his free hand to reply to messages. He noticed in his chat history with Ying Mingxi—
Call disconnected at 35:68
Around 2:30 a.m.
That was… when Pei Yanbing had temporarily marked him!
A surge of heat flooded his face, Yuan Shiyuan was so embarrassed he nearly jumped.
He tapped Ying Mingxi’s profile picture without saying a word.
Ying Mingxi: Shiyuan, are you awake yet?
Ying Mingxi: How did you sleep last night?
His tone was as gentle as ever, as if he were completely unaware of the interrupted call.
Yuan Shiyuan instantly understood.
This phone call, and their accidental encounter this morning, weren’t as simple as he’d initially thought. But Ying Mingxi was playing dumb, so Yuan Shiyuan saw no need to call him out and make things awkward.
Besides, Yuan Shiyuan had long suspected Ying Mingxi wasn’t as simple as he appeared on the surface. He didn’t particularly care about Ying Mingxi’s true nature.
Everyone has two sides. As long as Ying Mingxi didn’t commit heinous acts or harbor any ill intent toward him, did it really matter whether he was as innocent and gentle as he seemed?
Yuan Shiyuan had originally intended to ignore Ying Mingxi, but then he remembered he would need Ying Mingxi’s temporary mark again in the future. He might as well put on a show.
He wiped his face with a towel, snapped a quick photo, and sent it to Ying Mingxi, immediately followed by a voice message:
“Just washed my face and about to eat. What about you, Brother Mingxi?”
“Did you sleep well?”
The voice message that played through his headphones carried the unique huskiness of someone newly awakened. When Yuan Shiyuan spoke close to the microphone, his breath, so close to the receiver, enveloped the words, sounding like whispers in his ear.
But in his other ear, the sound was completely different. Still Yuan Shiyuan’s voice, but now laced with choked sobs and sticky, gasping breaths.
Ying Mingxi tapped open the photo Yuan Shiyuan had sent, and an enlarged face materialized on the transparent display before him.
The collar of his pajamas hung open, revealing a dew-kissed collarbone. His face, framed by damp pink hair, was equally damp, his lips slightly parted as he lazily gazed at the camera, looking half-asleep.
The chaotic hum in his earphones overlapped with Yuan Shiyuan’s normal voice. The Alpha’s brow furrowed sharply, and a low groan, tinged with both pain and suppression, escaped his throat.
He stared at the enlarged face projected before him, his slightly unfocused gaze slowly shifting to the blurry mobile phone screen as he tilted his head.
Only when his breathing had somewhat steadied did Ying Mingxi pick up his phone, chuckling softly as he recorded a voice message. His voice was low and raspy: “Thank you, Shiyuan… I slept very well.”
When Yuan Shiyuan pushed open the restroom door, he saw Bo Jin fiddling with a new mobile phone.
“Did you buy a new phone?”
“It’s for you.”
“For me?”
“You said your phone’s been dying too quickly and that’s why you haven’t been replying to my messages,” Bo Jin said casually. “So I got you a new one.”
Under Yuan Shiyuan’s stunned gaze, Bo Jin brazenly tore open the phone’s plastic seal, leaving no room for refusal. “Now you have a new phone with excellent battery life,” he said. “After this, let’s see what excuses you’ll come up with for not replying to my messages.”
Yuan Shiyuan: “……”
He knew Bo Jin wasn’t short on cash, but even he couldn’t help but sigh at this occasional extravagance.
Yuan Shiyuan lazily leaned against Bo Jin’s shoulder, putting on a buddy-buddy act. “Brother, you really…”
“Just throw it away if you don’t want it. No need to tell me.”
“That’s not it.”
Yuan Shiyuan glanced at the Alpha’s domineering gesture, then surveyed the mountain of designer gift boxes piled in the dormitory and the bed overflowing with plush toys. His voice carried a wistful note as he said, “Brother, with you acting like this, it’s making me feel like some kept pretty boy.”
Bo Jin: “What?”
“You’re acting exactly like my sugar daddy, taking me shopping and buying me all sorts of things,” Yuan Shiyuan replied.
Bo Jin chuckled. “So I’m a pathetic sugar daddy who waited all night only to find you fooling around with someone else?”
“What fooling around? Brother Mingxi and I were just chatting—pure friendship!” Yuan Shiyuan shoved him awkwardly. “It was an accident, I told you! Let’s not talk about it.”
“Fine,” Bo Jin conceded, accepting his “weakling” status. He set out the tableware. “I’ll drive you to class after breakfast.”
The company had scheduled a packed curriculum for Yuan Shiyuan, including specialized training for handling constant camera flashes, expression management, and other essential idol training.
“The foundation of acting training is non-physical exercises. Stanislavski said that if actors practice this regularly, they can effectively master movements by understanding their component parts, logic, and sequence. Start with simple things in your daily life—find ways to train even in ordinary moments…”
Yuan Shiyuan was a diligent student. Knowing he had started late, he was particularly eager to learn. He meticulously recorded unfamiliar concepts and insights, discussed them with the teacher, and reviewed his notes after class.
After class, Yuan Shiyuan tucked his notes into his bag and saw his teacher off with a polite bow. “Thank you, Teacher.”
Then he headed straight for the dance studio.
The new album was in the final stages of preparation, and stage performances would follow immediately upon its release. Given Yuan Shiyuan’s current physical condition, maintaining peak performance throughout the entire show would be challenging.
Driven by his own high standards and a refusal to disappoint the audience, he pushed himself relentlessly, practicing late into the night to refine every move and eliminate any flaws.
The wall mirror reflected his silhouette, meticulously honing each gesture to perfection. Sweat soaked his bangs, damp strands of pale pink clinging to his temples, rendering his shirt translucent and plastered against his skin.
During a mid-session break, Yuan Shiyuan glanced at his empty water bottle. As he approached the vending machine, his gaze suddenly froze.
Pei Yanbing stood in the corridor’s shadows, his eyes fixed on the dance studio, as if he had been watching for an eternity.
When Scepter wasn’t engaged in group activities, each member pursued their individual endeavors: some stayed in the recording studio, others attended classes, or managed personal schedules.
Right now, Bo Jin was nearby, focusing on his physique. Pei Yanbing, by all rights, should have been in the music room…
Pei Yanbing must have been waiting outside for quite some time. His hair was meticulously styled, and his shirt was buttoned all the way up. Wearing gloves, he exuded an aura of ascetic restraint, keeping others at arm’s length.
Now, however, he exuded an unmistakable air of anxiety.
“Captain? Are you here to practice dancing too?” Yuan Shiyuan greeted him naturally.
Pei Yanbing automatically picked up Yuan Shiyuan’s scent, and his gloved fingertips trembled almost imperceptibly.
“No,” he said, looking at Yuan Shiyuan. “I came to find you.”
“To find me?” Yuan Shiyuan twirled the water bottle cap between his fingers. “What’s up?”
“Yesterday… I had a dream,” Pei Yanbing paused, then continued, “I dreamt that I marked you.”
Yuan Shiyuan started in surprise.
Pei Yanbing actually remembers?!
How much does he remember? Could he even recall the scene where I grabbed his face…?
That would be so embarrassing.
Choking on his water, Yuan Shiyuan’s face flushed crimson as he hastily wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Captain, are you joking?” he asked with a surprised raise of his eyebrow and a smile. “You marking me? How could that be possible? We’re both Alphas.”
“Since we’re both Alphas, why didn’t you dream about me marking you instead?”
Pei Yanbing fixed him with a stare. “I dreamt you marked me too.”
Yuan Shiyuan chuckled dryly. “Wow, you sure have bold dreams, Captain! Two Alphas marking each other? Talk about spicy!”
His teasing banter stood in stark contrast to Pei Yanbing’s serious, focused gaze.
Normally, Pei Yanbing would have dropped the subject here. But the dreamlike memories of last night lingered, refusing to fade.
Clinging to a sliver of hope, he whispered, “You… you really didn’t come to the music room last night?”
“Music room? So that’s where you dreamt we were, Captain?” Yuan Shiyuan feigned wide-eyed surprise as he tossed his empty water bottle into the trash. “And we were marking each other? Good heavens, that’s indecent! Captain, how could you dream something like that?” He grinned. “I was in the dormitory with Brother Bo Jin all night.”
At first, Pei Yanbing had dismissed it all as a hallucination. But the sudden mark on the back of his neck forced him to reconsider.
“You’re really sure you didn’t leave the dormitory at all?” he pressed, unwilling to let go.
Faced with Pei Yanbing’s cautious hints, Yuan Shiyuan feigned ignorance. “Captain, what do you mean? You think your dream was real, and I marked you?”
“I’m an Alpha. How could I possibly be marked by you?”
Yuan Shiyuan turned his back abruptly and bent down to examine Pei Yanbing’s nape. “Is there any mark here?”
“Your gland isn’t on your nape,” Pei Yanbing said, his gaze dropping to Yuan Shiyuan’s inner thigh. “It’s… there.”
Yuan Shiyuan chuckled. “Captain, your dream is getting absurd. How could a gland possibly grow there?”
“But there’s a bite mark on my gland…” The Alpha’s voice carried a hint of aggrieved stubbornness.
Yuan Shiyuan stepped closer and stood on tiptoe to get a better look. His warm fingertips brushed against the sensitive gland as he exhaled.
Pei Yanbing felt as if he were reliving the previous night.
Back then, Yuan Shiyuan had also stroked him with such tenderness, assuring him that Yuan Shiyuan would never leave.
“A bite mark? Doesn’t it look more like a scratch? Captain, did a mosquito bite you, and you scratched it open?”
A faint stinging sensation returned to Pei Yanbing’s nape. He touched the scabbed-over mark on his gland and murmured in bewilderment, “Could that be… it?”