What's Wrong with This Alpha? - Chapter 26

Chapter 26 – Ge

“Wow…” Song Baiqiao put down the half-eaten cookie and quickly stood up. “What happened to you?”

In the infirmary, several teachers on duty rushed over to help Duan Yi sit down.

Duan Yi jumped out of Sheng Yunze’s arms, his ears still red. He could almost feel the lingering warmth of the other person’s body.

“I twisted my ankle. Can’t you tell?” He looked up and saw Song Baiqiao’s childhood friend was there, the Chinese language teacher for the first-year group, Wu Sinian. He was a refined man in his early thirties with thin-rimmed glasses. Duan Yi greeted him, “Hey, Sis-in-law.”

Wu Sinian had an even temper, maintaining a steel-like friendship with Song Baiqiao. He tolerated Duan Yi’s cheeky remarks and pulled out a few cookies from a bag on the table. “I baked these. Eat up.”

Duan Yi accepted gratefully. “You’re such a good sister-in-law.”

“Sister-in-law my ass,” Song Baiqiao retorted. “How did you twist your ankle? Good thing it’s not serious. I’ll get some ointment for you.”

Sheng Yunze suddenly spoke up, “Doesn’t he need a cast?”

Song Baiqiao: “No need. The infirmary doesn’t have space for casting. Just ice and some ointment will do. It’s not serious. Hey, kid’s sister-in-law, go get an ice pop.”

Wu Sinian, both angry and amused, retorted, “Go to hell.”

He went to the supermarket and bought ice pops, handing one to Sheng Yunze. Sheng Yunze refused it, but Duan Yi’s eyes lit up with envy. Seeing Sheng Yunze’s rejection, he snatched the pop, tore open the wrapper, and shoved it into his mouth.

The infirmary was busy, so Song Baiqiao didn’t let Duan Yi linger long before shooing him away.

With Sheng Yunze supporting him, Duan Yi hopped on one foot, ice pop in his mouth, making a cute little hopping motion.

For some reason, Sheng Yunze suddenly saw two bunny ears on Duan Yi’s head. He was momentarily charmed but quickly averted his gaze.

“You sure you can manage?” Sheng Yunze asked, noticing Duan Yi’s awkward hopping. “Want me to carry you?”

Duan Yi hastily replied, “A man never says he can’t!”

He was mostly afraid of being carried by Sheng Yunze.

Though this wasn’t their first time, being carried in public would make even the thickest-skinned person blush.

“No, this isn’t good…” Duan Yi couldn’t articulate why it felt wrong, but he blurted out, “It ruins my badass image…”

Sheng Yunze didn’t respond. Duan Yi’s popsicle was melting slowly, but his hand was already getting sticky.

The surroundings suddenly fell silent.

He asked, “Why did you pick me up like that?”

Duan Yi’s mind went blank.

When Sheng Yunze had lifted him in front of everyone, he couldn’t even hear the wind. His ears were ringing with the deafening sound of his own heartbeat.

He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion or what, but as he leaned against Sheng Yunze’s chest, he seemed to hear two heartbeats.

Sheng Yunze’s hand tightened on his shoulder. “How else could you get out?” he asked, pretending to be casual. “With so many people around, were you planning to crawl?”

Duan Yi felt torn. “You could’ve just helped me walk…”

“Was I not allowed to carry you?” Sheng Yunze countered.

Duan Yi: …

It wasn’t that he couldn’t be carried. He just couldn’t put his finger on why it felt so… off.

“Can you at least warn me next time?” he demanded. “Being lifted like a baby in front of everyone? What’s this, some kind of public humiliation?”

Sheng Yunze changed the subject. “I won. The bet stands.”

Duan Yi finally remembered their bet. “You’re actually going through with this?” he wailed.

Sheng Yunze gave him a look that said, “What did you expect, idiot?”

“Doesn’t this embarrass you?” Duan Yi asked.

“Embarrassment is for you, not me,” Sheng Yunze retorted. “You lose, you pay.”

“But it depends on the situation!” Duan Yi protested. “I can call you whatever, but not in front of the whole school!”

“Figure it out yourself,” Sheng Yunze said coldly.

After walking for a while, Sheng Yunze couldn’t resist asking, “What’s your demand?”

“Huh?” Duan Yi asked, too focused on his popsicle.

“If you win, what do you want?” Sheng Yunze repeated.

Duan Yi paused, then asked sheepishly, “You won’t hit me if I ask for something embarrassing, right?”

“Depends on the request,” Sheng Yunze replied.

“What if it’s really embarrassing?”

“Then yes, I’ll hit you.”

Seeing Duan Yi’s devastated expression, he added, “You can hit back if you want.”

Duan Yi finished his popsicle in record time, then licked each finger one by one.

Realizing his mistake, Duan Yi hurried to the sink to wash his hands, afraid he might disgust Sheng Yunze’s obsessive cleanliness. He looked at him with exaggerated seriousness, “I want to borrow some pheromones from you.”

There it was.

Sheng Yunze hadn’t expected this. His expression froze momentarily.

The words I’m screwed flashed through his mind like an electric current.

Duan Yi, fearing misunderstanding, quickly added, “Don’t get the wrong idea. I just need to borrow pheromones. It’s only for my final third year. Once I graduate, I won’t need them anymore.”

“Why me?” Sheng Yunze asked.

Duan Yi thought, If I had other ways, would I ask you? You’re the one who marked me, leaving me no choice.

But he couldn’t say that.

“It’s more convenient for you,” Duan Yi said. “Besides, not many people know I’m an Omega. It’s not that big of a deal—just once a month, and I only need a tiny bit of pheromones.”

The school sprayed suppressants three times a day anyway. Since it wasn’t a heat-induced estrus, a fully-marked Omega only needed Alpha pheromones to stay calm.

Realizing he might have said too much and upset Sheng Yunze, Duan Yi added, “If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I was just asking.”

“What if I don’t want to? Are you gonna ask someone else?” Sheng Yunze looked down at him, his expression cold.

Duan Yi froze. “…I don’t have anyone else to ask.”

Sheng Yunze’s gaze fell to the bite mark on Duan Yi’s neck.

His chest tightened painfully. He wanted to throw up his hands and let Duan Yi hop around however he pleased—if he couldn’t make it home, he could always call his Alpha to carry him.

Unaware of Sheng Yunze’s internal struggle, Duan Yi noticed the man’s darkening expression and sighed inwardly. Can’t even lend it? Do I really look that annoying?

Then he remembered—normally, he didn’t get along with this classmate. For Jiang Wangshu to suddenly ask to borrow his pheromones… it did make sense that it would be irritating. Duan Yi decided to keep quiet.

The whole way home, neither of them spoke a word.

“Xiaoduan! Let Mom check you over. Any injuries? Still in pain? I was so worried!” Jiang Wangshu examined him from head to toe.

“How come I didn’t see you worried before?” Duan Yi asked.

“The pain’s in your body, but it’s my heart that aches. I just put on a brave face.” Jiang Wangshu unzipped his school uniform jacket to reveal a wallet. “I just scored some easy cash thanks to you. Tonight, I’m treating you to a barbecue.”

“My ankle is sprained! I can’t eat that!” Duan Yi fumed.

He didn’t know what was getting him so mad. Turning to look at Sheng Yunze’s deadpan face, he found a quiet spot and started spacing out, putting on that “don’t bother me, mortal fools” chuunibyou act. The thought of someone handing him a yellow talisman and instantly turning him into an immortal made him want to punch something.

Jiang Wangshu nudged him. “Did you argue with Commander Sheng again? Weren’t you all lovey-dovey just now?”

“Watch your words! What do you mean ‘lovey-dovey’?” Duan Yi’s words came out like popping firecrackers.

Jiang Wangshu pulled out his phone. “He carried you to the infirmary. The campus forum is buzzing about you two right now. Wow, those zodiac compatibility posts are flying in—already outnumbering the fanfic about me and you!”

Duan Yi covered his ears, face blank. “I don’t want to hear any of this. And what’s up with those fanfics about us anyway?”

“Xiaoduan, you don’t understand,” Jiang Wangshu said. “In those campus forum fanfics, you’re this all-powerful schoolyard Alpha, and I’m the gentle Omega pretending to be tough. You try to take me by force, and I cross my arms, swearing never to yield. After three years of brutal high school life filled with physical and emotional abuse, I finally opened my heart to you. Just as we’re about to get that happy ending, the school beauty had to come and ruin everything today!”

Duan Yi: “……”

“You’re fucking bored out of your mind! I’m gonna tell your mom—you’ll never outscore Sheng Yunze because you spend all day reading this trash!”

Jiang Wangshu took a sip of Mrs. Taitai Oral Solution. “What’s trash about it?” he asked, sounding wounded. “Look at this post—it’s from a big fan of our couple. She saw Sheng Yunze carrying you to the infirmary today. Now she’s ripping apart her own ship and reversing her own pairing. All the comments are saying she’s forcing herself into the dominant role. Can’t they wait until I deliver our son in seven months before I quit the fandom?”

“Get lost!” Duan Yi snapped.

Jiang Wangshu tossed the oral solution into the trash. “You don’t actually have something going with Commander Sheng, do you?”

“I told you, nothing’s happening,” Duan Yi said irritably. “Not now, anyway.”

Jiang Wangshu didn’t press the issue, patting his shoulder with exaggerated solemnity. “I just think our star signs are more compatible. Even though I’ve already claimed Yui Hatano as my top choice, you’ll always be my third.”

“Third? Not second?”

“Second is Maria Ozawa.”

This time, Duan Yi really told him to get lost!

With Jiang Wangshu’s antics, Duan Yi felt a little better.

After dealing with Sister Ma and others who came to ask about his ankle, and collecting a bunch of snacks from female colleagues, Duan Yi finally felt his sprained ankle hadn’t been a total waste.

He sat in the audience enjoying special treatment for disabled people, munching on snacks while scrolling Weibo under an umbrella. As expected, Duan Shaoheng was trending again, with rumors he’d bullied newcomers on a variety show. Duan Yi knew even with his toes that his brother wouldn’t use such a high IQ entertainment industry tactic. Most likely, it was just malicious editing.

In the parallel world, Sheng Yunze had a Weibo account with a name that was a string of random English characters, like it had been randomly generated when he signed up.

He jumped, recited the random string, and actually found a Weibo account.

Registered two years ago, the profile picture showed a 404 error, the background was a default Weibo image, location was Hang City, and education was Attached Middle School.

…Holy shit.

Duan Yi sat up in shock, “There’s actually this Weibo account?”

He’d just been searching on a whim, never expecting to actually find his husband’s Weibo account.

Is Sheng Yunze’s Weibo in the real world also like this?

Duan Yi was bewildered. He hurriedly clicked through, but found not a single post.

After secretly following Sheng Yunze’s Weibo, he exited the app and logged into Hang City’s school intranet.

The forum required non-anonymous login with student ID and ID number, verified by real-name authentication. Admins could instantly see which school, class, and student each account belonged to.

Duan Yi rarely used the school intranet. He found Jiang Wangshu’s usual watering hole forum, where posts flooded with their names. A quick scan revealed cries of “Today is the triumph of a forced pairing!”

“Hey.” Duan Yi hooked Jiang Wangshu’s foot with his own. “What’s a ‘forced pairing’?”

“You’re reading the forum?” Jiang Wangshu asked.

“Yeah.”

“It’s about you and Commander Sheng. You weren’t in the same class before, but got matched up because you’re both hot. That’s a forced pairing. Before third year, we were Second High School’s undisputed official couple, get it?”

“Unbelievable.” Duan Yi scrolled through more posts, then changed his forum name from his student ID to ‘Duan Yi’. “Do you know Sheng Yunze’s forum ID?”

“Search his student ID. He hasn’t changed it.”

“What’s his ID?”

Jiang Wangshu gave him a string of numbers. Duan Yi searched and found the account instantly—with surprisingly many followers. Damn, has every high school student in Hang City followed him?

Duan Yi’s fingers danced across the screen, typing away. In seconds, he’d posted in the school’s gossip section.

This forum was a hotspot—a dozen high school students hung out here daily. They posted homework questions, shared daily updates, sought help, and even boasted about aiming for Peking University. It was truly the “face of the entire school community.”

Hang City BBS Campus Gossip:

Latest Post: @xx167x1 Ge.

Posted by: Duan Yi

After posting, Duan Yi didn’t bother checking replies. He turned off his phone and prepared to sleep.

Just as he lay down, Fang Yun waved from outside the railing. “President Duan, someone’s looking for you.”

Duan Yi opened his eyes. “Who?”

Fang Yun’s face flushed crimson with excitement. “A hot guy!”

Duan Yi: ?

Judging by Fang Yun’s flushed face and racing heartbeat, how hot could this guy be?

He jumped from the spectator seats to the field’s edge, where a small door led to a secluded area behind their class. As soon as he arrived, he spotted a tall, striking youth. With delicate features and luminous skin, his naturally wavy hair framed a face focused on kicking pebbles.

Duan Yi recognized him immediately. “Qin Shu?”

If there was anyone in Hang City’s high schools who could rival Sheng Yunze’s looks, it was this guy.

The talk of First High School—a celebrity’s son and Alpha. From freshman year to senior year, he’d been the center of attention everywhere he went.

Xiaoduan Dad’s business partner’s son. Duan Shaoheng was an artist at the entertainment company run by Qin Shu’s dad.

His dad lived in Beijing, while he studied in Hang City. He’d had some trouble in his first year of high school and started a semester late.

Xiaoduan Dad asked Duan Yi to look after Qin Shu. They’d met during the high school academic assessment exams, randomly assigned to the same class. Duan Yi had heard about Qin Shu before—his parents were both from Peking University. The moment Xiaoduan Dad mentioned this, Duan Yi’s attitude changed completely. He looked at Qin Shu like he was some kind of academic god, thinking, If his parents are geniuses, he must be one too.

Who knew the guy was actually a total academic disaster? What a waste of Duan Yi’s trust!

They both ended up failing miserably after a round of desperate copying. Eight out of nine subjects failed, forcing Duan Yi to spend the next two years retaking exams.

Later, Qin Shu told him, “The most unreliable thing in the world is the bragging of a middle-aged man who still watches anime in his thirties—especially when that man is your dad. When he talks about how amazing he was in his youth, nine times out of ten he’s full of shit. My dad went to Peking University, but that doesn’t mean he was a top student in high school, get it?”

The magic of genetics is full of unpredictable surprises.

He was spouting this whole spiel, even rhyming at the end.

Qin Shu turned to look at him, then said in surprise, “You didn’t die in that car crash?”

Duan Yi shot back, “I did. You’re talking to a ghost now.”

Qin Shu, usually outgoing, suddenly leaned in mysteriously. “Jiang Wangshu said you got brain damage from the crash?”

“You believe his nonsense?” Duan Yi asked.

“He said you started talking about transmigrating as soon as you woke up.”

“Then you believe my nonsense too?” Duan Yi countered.

Qin Shu ignored his retort, pulling out a stack of papers from his backpack. “Listen, I’ve actually done some serious research on transmigration. Why wouldn’t I believe you? The world’s full of weird stuff. When you can’t explain something, blame quantum mechanics. When that doesn’t work, blame time travel. When you run out of space, blame parallel universes. I’ve been there, bro. I get it.”

Duan Yi laughed. “You get my ass…”

Jiang Wangshu watched from above. “Hey, why didn’t you tell me you were coming, kid?”

Qin Shu looked up to see Jiang Wangshu grinning down at him. “What do you want with Duan Yi?”

“The organization sent me to give Comrade Duan some ‘humanistic care’!” Qin Shu grinned, his little canines peeking out adorably. He shoved the papers into Duan Yi’s arms. “Read this first. Come find me when you have questions.”

“Come find me when you’ve got some actual ideas.”

“You’re just here to deliver materials?” Duan Yi asked. “Since when did you become such a scholar?”

Qin Shu’s expression turned mysterious. “We’re now part of the High School Transmigrators’ Fate Alliance. I came specifically to discuss that parallel timeline thing you mentioned.” He leaned closer. “To be honest, I’ve transmigrated myself.”

Duan Yi nearly rolled his eyes out of his head. “Are you here just to mess with me?”

Qin Shu raised an eyebrow. “What’s in it for me to mess with you? I’m serious—my dad’s been researching this with some famous professor from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Don’t dismiss it! You should respect science!”

Hearing Qin Shu’s words, filled with genuine concern for the nation and people, left Duan Yi speechless.

“Fine,” Duan Yi said, playing along. “If there’s any new progress, I’ll let you know.”

Satisfied, Qin Shu chatted with him for a bit longer before gliding away on his skateboard with a whoosh, leaving Duan Yi with nothing but the retreating view of his cheddar-colored back.

Duan Yi glanced down at the materials Qin Shu had delivered. The first line in bold letters read: On the Practical Feasibility of Time Travel—A Personal Treatise by the World’s Handsomest High School Student, Qin Shiwu.

It was so ridiculous it made him laugh. Qin Shu was a weird kid with strange ideas; he didn’t seem reliable at all, so Duan Yi didn’t take this seriously.

Jiang Wangshu asked, “What did Qin Shiwu bring you?”

Qin Shiwu was Qin Shu’s nickname—only close friends called him that.

Like Duan Yi, Jiang Wangshu had also met Qin Shu in their first year of high school.

“He brought his masterpiece,” Duan Yi said, shoving the papers into his backpack. “Want a personally signed copy? He printed a thousand, gave away nine hundred.”

Jiang Wangshu half-heartedly chatted while scrolling through the school forum.

“Holy shit!” Jiang Wangshu shoved his phone in Duan Yi’s face. “Did you post something?”

The forum’s homepage was ablaze with red notifications. In just half an hour, sixteen pages of posts had flooded in—all because Duan Yi tagged Sheng Yunze and called him “Ge.”

Jiang Wangshu’s face was drenched in tears. “Duan-zai, you’re killing me! My seven-month-old unborn son hasn’t even been born yet, and you’re already raising your new flag outside!”

Though Duan Yi had posted the thread, Jiang Wangshu’s dramatic recitation still made him blush. He shoved Jiang Wangshu away. “Get lost.”

Jiang Wangshu kept up his fake sobbing while scrolling through the posts. Before he even reached the second page, he found out why this thread had gone viral so fast: Sheng Yunze had replied.

Hang City BBS Campus Gossip:

Latest Post: @xx167x1 Ge.

Posted by: Duan Yi

[ @xx167x1: Forum calls don’t count. Come here and call me. ]

When Duan Yi read this, he hesitated for a moment.

Sheng Yunze’s seat was above him. He turned his head, and their eyes met in mid-air.

Duan Yi called out, “Ge.”

Sheng Yunze lifted his eyelids, gazing at him with mild interest.

Duan Yi shouted again, “Ge!”

Like a stone thrown into a still lake, sending ripples across the surface, Sheng Yunze hummed in acknowledgment. Suddenly, he said, “Come here.”