Pretending to Be an Alpha in an All-Alpha Boy Band - Chapter 77
Chapter 77: Apology
Yuan Shiyuan and Nan Liujing had once been very close friends. Nan Liujing was the first good friend Yuan Shiyuan made at Ximi Entertainment. Through Nan Liujing, he met Su Luochen and the others—Nan Liujing’s childhood friends.
Although he found Nan Liujing’s childhood friends difficult to get along with and sensed they didn’t particularly like him, he didn’t dwell on it, preferring to let their interactions unfold naturally.
But then Nan Liujing inexplicably began distancing himself, avoiding Yuan Shiyuan, and subjecting him to a unilateral campaign of silent aggression that gradually eroded their friendship to nothing.
Yuan Shiyuan loathed such behavior.
If he had done something to upset a friend or inadvertently hurt them, he would prefer to sit down and communicate openly rather than resort to silent aggression. If he was in the wrong, he would apologize to his friend.
Yuan Shiyuan considered Nan Liujing a friend, so he made several attempts to initiate communication. But since Nan Liujing refused to engage, Yuan Shiyuan let it go.
He had never lacked for friends. Once he stopped caring, the other person became nothing to him.
“You said it yourself—that was in the past,” Yuan Shiyuan said, glancing at him indifferently. “Now, he’s a stranger to me, just like you.”
Even though they had once been very close.
As the final word hung in the air, a deathly silence fell over the cubicle.
Su Luochen’s pupils constricted sharply, the twisted emotions in his eyes threatening to spill over. He glared intently at Yuan Shiyuan, his pheromones swirling frantically within the cramped stall.
He suddenly let out a low, mocking laugh. “A stranger?”
“Yuan Shiyuan, you won’t get away with this!”
Yuan Shiyuan didn’t bother responding to Su Luochen, nor was he interested in his inner turmoil.
After using the restroom, he returned to the changing room to prepare to change into a new set of clothes.
Unexpectedly, he found Yue Xiao waiting there.
Yuan Shiyuan: “……”
Is this ever going to end?
“I’ve thoroughly investigated the incident. I’m sorry you had to bear so much,” Yue Xiao said, stepping forward and trying to appear sincere. “We genuinely didn’t know. We had no idea Chen Yan was engaged in such underhanded dealings, let alone that he would harass artists.”
“We’ve already filed a lawsuit against him. I’m sorry you were hurt.”
“If you’re willing, would you consider coming back? I’ll cover your breach of contract fees with Starry Night Entertainment…”
Yuan Shiyuan rubbed his temples and let out a dry, ironic chuckle.
He understood Yue Xiao all too well. Yue Xiao’s way of thinking was utterly different from ordinary people. His IQ was exceptionally high, but his EQ was abysmally low, making it impossible for him to comprehend the normal emotions, behaviors, and social cues that others took for granted.
Yue Xiao lived entirely within his own rigid logic. No matter how many times Yuan Shiyuan repeated himself, to Yue Xiao, it was like ineffective code.
Yuan Shiyuan grew weary of repeating himself, even more so of the frustrating feeling of talking to a brick wall.
He simply sat down on the sofa, ignoring the Alpha’s words as if they were nothing. Suddenly, he tilted his head slightly, raising an eyebrow ever so subtly, as if struck by a mischievous idea.
“Is this your apology?”
“If it’s an apology, you should at least show some sincerity.” Yuan Shiyuan’s lips curled into a smile as he looked up at the Alpha, his expression almost flirtatious. “Kneel down and apologize, then lick my feet.”
For a rare moment, a clear crack appeared on Yue Xiao’s usually composed and rigid face.
“The relentless online smear campaigns, the baseless accusations… How much have I endured for your sake? You didn’t know before, but now you do. You should understand better than anyone the damage I’ve suffered because of you.”
“Compared to all that, asking you to kneel and apologize, then lick my feet… it’s hardly anything, is it?”
Yuan Shiyuan’s smile widened as he leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between them.
Strands of his light pink hair swayed gently with the movement, his gaze innocent yet subtly provocative. “What do you say, Yue Xiao?”
Yue Xiao didn’t deny Yuan Shiyuan’s words; he was merely surprised.
The Yuan Shiyuan he remembered had a warm temperament, like the scorching summer sun, sharing his warmth without reservation. He was gentle, cheerful, and radiated goodwill to everyone.
Yue Xiao had never seen this side of Yuan Shiyuan before—the biting sarcasm, the callousness, the utter lack of empathy. It was almost cruel… cold-hearted?
Yet Yue Xiao didn’t fault Yuan Shiyuan. Instead, he realized his own mistakes more clearly than ever.
The Ximi Company’s higher-ups’ decision had unjustly saddled Yuan Shiyuan with a mountain of unwarranted blame.
“Very well,” Yue Xiao said evenly.
Now it was Yuan Shiyuan’s turn to freeze.
He let out a derisive laugh, dismissing Yue Xiao’s words as mere bravado. How could a pampered darling of heaven, accustomed to being worshiped, ever truly set aside his dignity?
“Fine by me,” Yuan Shiyuan shrugged nonchalantly, leaning back with languid ease and extending his sneaker-clad feet forward.
“Then kneel and lick.”
“If you can’t do it, don’t bother apologizing. And don’t ever show your face before me again,” he emphasized.
Yue Xiao remained motionless, as if deciphering a complex algorithm.
When Yuan Shiyuan grew impatient and nudged his knee with the tip of his shoe—not too hard, not too gently—Yue Xiao finally glanced down at the faint footprint on his black trousers and slowly shifted his stance.
Yue Xiao slowly, step by step, approached Yuan Shiyuan.
Under Yuan Shiyuan’s openly mocking and distrustful gaze, he maintained his upward gaze, then slowly bent his legs and knelt on the velvet carpet.
The stark difference in their physiques created a strikingly powerful image.
The Alpha, with his superior proportions, remained expressionless even in this humiliating posture. Meanwhile, Yuan Shiyuan sat casually on the sofa, his slender, snow-white legs dangling naturally, his feet resting against the deep crimson velvet carpet.
His indolent, casual downward glance resembled the satisfaction of watching a defeated foe surrender.
Yuan Shiyuan was utterly astonished. He hadn’t expected Yue Xiao to actually kneel as he’d demanded!
Though his face betrayed no emotion, he maintained his air of cruel arrogance, saying flatly, “I said it wasn’t just about kneeling, didn’t I?”
“Do as I say, and if you please me, I’ll consider forgiving you.”
Yuan Shiyuan was certain Yue Xiao couldn’t go through with the final step.
No S-rank alpha could possibly endure such extreme humiliation.
Yet when Yue Xiao grasped his ankle with a large hand and began to remove his shoe, Yuan Shiyuan’s heart skipped a beat, and a sudden, ominous premonition rose within him.
An overwhelming sense of absurdity washed over him.
Yue Xiao couldn’t possibly be going to… actually do everything I said, could he?
A chill ran down Yuan Shiyuan’s spine, and he fought the urge to yank his foot away, though goosebumps involuntarily rose on his arms.
Having once been an Alpha himself, he understood their supreme pride better than anyone. Yue Xiao wouldn’t actually listen to me.
Yuan Shiyuan didn’t want to show any sign of backing down, nor did he want to linger with Yue Xiao any longer than necessary.
But the moment his sock was pulled off and warm breath brushed against the back of his foot, he couldn’t help but let out a small groan.
“Mngh!”
As if struck by an electric shock, Yuan Shiyuan jolted upright. He stared down in disbelief, meeting Yue Xiao’s upturned gaze.
The Alpha was also looking up at Yuan Shiyuan. Their eyes locked, and Yue Xiao tentatively touched the pale, translucent skin.
The touch was slippery, warm, and carried a strange electric current that instantly surged through Yuan Shiyuan’s entire body!
Yuan Shiyuan instinctively recoiled, trying to pull his foot away, but Yue Xiao’s large hand clamped down on his ankle, yanking him back forcefully! Under the brutal restraint, Yuan Shiyuan lost his balance and instinctively fell backward.
In the next instant, an even more intense sensation surged through him.
Yue Xiao abandoned his tentative probing and parted his thin lips, his expression a strange mix of stubbornness and focused intensity. He slowly, deliberately, took the smooth, full, seashell-like skin of Yuan Shiyuan’s foot into his mouth.
BANG—!
The changing room door burst open with a violent kick.
Several Alpha figures stormed in. The first to burst through moved like lightning, his foot slamming viciously into Yue Xiao’s shoulder blade!
Bo Jin and Ying Mingche swiftly reached Yuan Shiyuan’s side, supporting him by the shoulders, their eyes blazing with identical fury.
Yet even their reactions paled in comparison to Su Luochen’s.
This man, Yue Xiao’s bandmate and childhood friend, now stood with bloodshot eyes, like a wild beast enraged. Su Luochen seized Yue Xiao by the collar, raising his fist to strike Yue Xiao’s impassive face.
“What were you just doing to him?!”
Su Luochen’s furious roar carried the rage of betrayal, like a man whose trusted brother had stolen his wife, utterly disregarding the bond of childhood friendship.
The punch snapped Yue Xiao’s head to the side, a trickle of blood mingling with saliva at the corner of his mouth.
His face remained expressionless as he calmly wiped away the blood and spittle with the back of his hand.
Despite Su Luochen’s death grip on his collar, Yue Xiao’s attention wasn’t on his enraged childhood friend. Instead, he turned his head slightly to observe Yuan Shiyuan’s expression.
Yuan Shiyuan was shielded between two Alphas, his gaze complex, a mixture of intense disgust and disbelief.
But there was no forgiveness.
A flicker of confusion finally crossed Yue Xiao’s face, as if he couldn’t comprehend where he had gone wrong.
He had followed Yuan Shiyuan’s instructions to the letter.
Yuan Shiyuan had even promised that if he obeyed, he would be forgiven.
Why… had the outcome been so utterly different from what he expected?
Where had he gone wrong?
After a moment’s contemplation, Yue Xiao stared intently at Yuan Shiyuan and asked the question that silenced the entire room:
“Was I… supposed to lick the socks too?”