What's Wrong with This Alpha? - Chapter 92

Chapter 92 – I’m Dead!

When Duan Yi returned to the classroom, the Old Class Teacher was organizing a movie screening. The film was Les Misérables, a fitting choice for his current rollercoaster of emotions.

The evening self-study session had been abruptly canceled due to the commotion he, Sheng Yunze, and Old He had caused at the Political Education Office. Old He made a last-minute announcement over the campus broadcast system, instructing each class to arrange their own activities for the evening.

At the strong insistence of Third Year Class 1—and likely because the Old Class Teacher knew her students wouldn’t be able to focus on studying after such a disruption—she relented and agreed to show a movie. However, she refused to let the students choose, selecting a more thought-provoking film herself.

Duan Yi surreptitiously grabbed a spare stool from the back of the classroom and sat down. He patted the seat beside him, signaling for Sheng Yunze to join him.

The chaotic scene at the Political Education Office entrance was still fresh in his mind.

Principal Xiao, his face flushed with fury, had nearly fainted from rage. Jiang Wangshu, looking utterly helpless, had dragged Duan Yi away, while Sheng Yunze calmly switched off the broadcast microphone.

The rest of the events felt like a dream. Duan Yi barely remembered hearing anything, only that Sheng Yunze had pulled him back. When he regained his senses, they were already standing at the back door of their classroom.

“I’m dead,” Duan Yi said, sitting down and meticulously reviewing his misdeeds. “I’m really dead!”

Sheng Yunze, who couldn’t bear to hear the word “dead” right now, clapped a hand over Duan Yi’s mouth like an old-fashioned man born in the 1970s. “Don’t say that.”

Tears streamed down Duan Yi’s face. “I’m finished! Old He will skin me alive…”

His thoughts spiraled. “It’s over, it’s over! He’ll definitely call my dad. If my dad finds out I pulled this stunt at school, I’ll be down to one leg by tomorrow…”

Duan Yi rambled on, but Sheng Yunze remained silent.

In the darkness, Sheng Yunze stared at him, belatedly feeling awkward. “What’s with you today? Are you mad?”

Something did seem off.

Duan Yi thought back carefully. After they parted at noon, he had no idea where Sheng Yunze had gone.

When Sheng Yunze returned that evening, he had clung to Duan Yi, even kissing him in front of Old He. At the time, it hadn’t seemed like much, but the more Duan Yi replayed the scene in his mind, the more embarrassed he felt.

In the darkness, the tips of Duan Yi’s ears burned crimson.

He decided to apologize first. “I wasn’t giving you the cold shoulder this afternoon. I texted you, but you didn’t reply.”

Sheng Yunze loved listening to him talk like this. He rested his chin in his hand, idly playing with Duan Yi’s hair.

It seemed like Duan Yi hadn’t had a haircut in a while; his hair was a bit long. Sheng Yunze’s fingers twirled through it, but couldn’t quite curl a full strand.

Duan Yi rescued his hair. “Hey, I’m being serious! Don’t ignore me! Why are you always playing with my hair?”

Sheng Yunze: “I don’t know.”

Duan Yi: “……Seriously? Can’t you at least pretend to be serious? We just made up after a cold war! Don’t make me start another one!”

Sheng Yunze paused, then smiled at him. “Oh.”

Duan Yi deflated, slumping onto the table. “I’m not talking to you anymore. We’re both doomed anyway. With this big of a mess, Old He will definitely make us give a public apology under the national flag. I practically grew up giving apologies under the flag—I’m as red-blooded and patriotic as they come. But you? You’ve never had to face this kind of humiliation, have you?”

Sheng Yunze switched tactics, hooking his fingers through the drawstring of Duan Yi’s hoodie, tying a knot, then idly untying it.

His eyes remained fixed on Duan Yi, never wavering.

Duan Yi was rendered speechless by his gaze. “Why are you staring at me like that?!”

Sheng Yunze replied with unwavering conviction, “Because I want to.”

Duan Yi deliberately covered his entire face with his compulsory textbook, Compulsory 1. “If you keep staring, I’m charging you.”

After a moment, realizing Sheng Yunze hadn’t moved, he peeked out with just his eyes.

Suddenly, he felt his actions were pointless and childish. Losing interest, he listlessly lowered the textbook. “Fine, stare all you want.”

Duan Yi added, “You’re acting really weird today.”

Sheng Yunze finally spoke, but his words were cryptic. “It’s like I woke up from a dream and realized I’d just fallen asleep in class during our third year. When I woke up, I saw the movie the Old Class Teacher was showing, and you were sitting next to me.”

He had returned to a youthful era where hard work still held the promise of hope, back to the age when he and Duan Yi first met.

Duan Yi was utterly confused. “But… aren’t we in our third year right now?”

Sheng Yunze fell silent again, but his hands remained restless, tugging at Duan Yi’s sleeve or fiddling with his buttons.

After several futile attempts to stop him, Duan Yi gave up and turned away, only to realize that the entire class had, at some point, fixed their gaze on the two of them.

Duan Yi: ……

He slowly lifted his review papers to shield his face.

When they had entered the classroom earlier, they had chosen seats at the back for convenience.

During the evening self-study movie session, the seating arrangements had become chaotic.

Girls who were close, like Hao Shanshan and Fang Yun, had moved their chairs to the front row to snack on sunflower seeds.

Guys like Pingtou and Abbot, uninterested in the movie, deliberately sat at the back, pretending to study while secretly playing King of Glory on their phones, the screens casting a dim glow.

Then there were diligent students like Xiaobudian, who used even movie time to memorize and review, playing “Chisel Light” with the faint light from the hallway.

Pingtou, who had been sitting in front of Duan Yi, had stopped gaming at some point and now declared mysteriously, “President Duan, you can’t run from your problems. A true warrior faces adversity head-on! O-li-gei!”

Duan Yi braced himself. “Don’t look at me…”

Xiaobang stammered, “Y-you’re really dating Secretary Sheng?”

Duan Yi: Isn’t that obvious?

Before he could answer, Jiang Wangshu intervened. “Hold on, hold on! Let’s watch the movie first. President Duan won’t be holding a press conference today. Any announcements will be made in the group chat later.”

Bookworm’s eyes, magnified behind glasses as thick as beer bottle bottoms, gleamed with gossip. “Seriously, President Duan? When did you two get together?”

Sheng Yunze spoke before Jiang Wangshu could. “Midterm exams.”

Pingtou exclaimed, “Holy crap, midterm exams? That’s ages ago! You’ve been holding out on us, President Duan! Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

Duan Yi forced a dry laugh. “Well, you know, this whole thing…”

Xiaobang interjected, “But aren’t you and Secretary Sheng both Alphas?”

Duan Yi nearly buried his face in the desk. Jiang Wangshu glanced at him, and Duan Yi suddenly straightened up, his face radiating forced composure. He squeezed out a smile. “Actually, I’m an Omega.”

“Oh…”

Xiaobang, Flat-Top Nerd, Bookworm, and Abbot all had a sudden realization.

“So President Duan is an Omega…”

Duan Yi nodded vigorously, like a chicken pecking at grain. “Mhm! Mhm!”

After a moment of silence, Flat-Top Nerd let out a bloodcurdling scream. “An Omega?!”

“An Omega!!!!” Xiaobang and Abbot joined in the horrified chorus.

Duan Yi rubbed his ears. “Keep it down! You’re going to make me deaf!”

“Is today April Fool’s Day?” Flat-Top Nerd glanced at the calendar in terror, but it was just an ordinary day.

Duan Yi: “It’s true… What, you discriminate against Omegas? Is it really that shocking?”

Flat-Top Nerd stared at Duan Yi, jaw agape, then snapped his mouth shut. “Actually, it’s not that surprising. No wonder President Duan sometimes acts so… coy.”

“You bastard! Who’s being coy?! Who’s being coy?!” Duan Yi exploded, leaping up and punching Flat-Top Nerd.

Xiaobang suddenly hugged himself tightly. “Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! I’ve been living with an Omega all this time?! Holy shit, I wouldn’t even dare dream of something this amazing! Holy shit, I even held an Omega’s hand! Oh my god! I’m so happy!”

Duan Yi made a face of disgust. “Act normal. Don’t make it sound like I’ve turned into a girl.”

Xiaobang’s eyes welled with tears. “President Duan, you don’t understand. You’re exactly like those ‘My brother turned into a woman—what should I do?’ scenarios.”

He glanced at Duan Yi. “Can I touch your hand?”

Duan Yi generously placed his hand on the table. Xiaobang reached out, but Sheng Yunze grabbed his wrist.

“No touching,” Sheng Yunze’s icy glare cut through the air.

Xiaobang quickly withdrew his hand, sitting up straight. “…I was just looking.”

Duan Yi laughed and scolded them, “You guys are crazy!”

After a moment, Duan Yi felt a pang of disappointment. “Why aren’t you more shocked that I’m an Omega? You accepted it so quickly! It’s embarrassing. Can we do it again?”

Xiaobang had already started sucking up to Sheng Yunze, mainly to borrow his notes later. He brushed off Duan Yi with a perfunctory, “President Duan, you don’t understand. That’s how it always goes in campus romance novels. School bullies like you are always Omegas pretending to be Alphas. We background characters have plenty of clinical experience with this trope. Trust me, we’ll nail it this time.”

Pingtou immediately adopted a “pale with shock” expression, dutifully playing his NPC role. “Holy shit, President Duan! You’re an A pretending to be an O? Does that mean your grades are fake too? Like, you’re actually a super genius who could get into Tsinghua, pretending to be an Academic Underachiever?”

Duan Yi remained expressionless. “Are you deliberately mocking my grades?”

“And why am I suddenly the School Bully?” Duan Yi warned them seriously. “Someone like me is called a School… Shit! I haven’t copied Sheng Yunze’s physics test yet. I’ll copy it first, then you can ask Fang Yun for hers…”

By the time the commotion died down, the movie was over.

Rain started falling during the last twenty minutes of Evening Self-Study, prompting a chorus of complaints from the class.

That’s the good thing about high school students—they’re always obsessing over trivial matters. Though the Sheng Yunze and Duan Yi scandal was still burning up the forums, few in the class still cared.

Especially Hao Shanshan and her group, who already knew the two were dating. After the initial shock, they sent Duan Yi a QQ Space gift of 999 roses, wishing him “99” (a Chinese pun for “forever”). Talk about being stingy!

Jiang Wangshu and Fang Yun stayed behind for cleaning duty. One weakly wiped the blackboard, while the other weakly mopped the floor.

When they spotted a male classmate leaving without flipping his chair, Fang Yun’s fiery temper flared. She planted her hands on her hips and barked, “Flat-Top Nerd, flip your chair up before you leave!”

Sheng Yunze listened to the familiar, bustling sounds of the classroom, yet it all felt strangely unreal.

Back in his high school days, he had never found this kind of life particularly remarkable. Now, every sound filled him with nostalgia.

He glanced at the heavy rain outside, then turned and headed to the adjacent classroom.

Duan Yi had been joking around with his classmates when he noticed Sheng Yunze was gone. He hurriedly stuffed his test papers into his backpack and bolted out of the classroom.

He collided with Sheng Yunze at the back door. Both gasped, and Duan Yi clutched his head. “Where did you go?”

“To borrow an umbrella,” Sheng Yunze replied. “How else would you get back?”

Only then did Duan Yi notice the umbrella in Sheng Yunze’s hand.

The final evening self-study session of their third year had been extended by twenty minutes.

Classes ended at 9:40 PM. The walk from their classroom to the dormitory usually took about ten minutes.

If Duan Yi woke up late, he could sprint from the dormitory to class in just three minutes—an 800-meter dash.

Walking back with Sheng Yunze, however, took a leisurely twenty minutes.

But today was different. As soon as Duan Yi stepped out of the dormitory, he felt an overwhelming number of eyes on him.

Normally, when he walked back with Sheng Yunze, only a few female students and male Omegas would pay attention to Sheng Yunze. Now, however, he was being scrutinized from all directions.

Duan Yi knew instantly this was because of the broadcast. He sighed softly, glancing at Sheng Yunze. “This is so annoying.”

And it was that kind of scrutiny—

You could feel countless eyes on you, but when you looked up, everyone would be acting nonchalant, pretending to be absorbed in their own business, their gazes drifting in every direction.

Duan Yi was speechless. “What’s so interesting? Haven’t you ever seen people in love before?”

Sheng Yunze opened his umbrella. “What’s in your bag?”

Duan Yi hopped under the umbrella, landing with a splash. “Test papers. I didn’t finish them.”

It was no surprise that Duan Yi’s backpack was stuffed with test papers, crammed as tightly as dried mustard greens.

Every subject was crumpled together haphazardly, and his backpack probably still contained half-eaten cookies and snacks—it was a complete disaster.

Sheng Yunze couldn’t bear to think about it. He grabbed the backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

The rain was heavy outside. As they walked back to the dormitory, they passed the International Building, which had a ventilation shaft in the middle.

During his middle school phase, Duan Yi had loved to stand here and pretend to ride the wind. The moment they reached the shaft, his uniform and hair were whipped wildly by the strong northwest wind, creating a dramatic, windswept effect.

He immediately ran in front of Sheng Yunze to show off. “Look at me! Look at me!”

Duan Yi struck a cool pose. “Am I handsome?”

Sheng Yunze smiled and nodded perfunctorily. “Handsome, handsome, handsome…”

Energized, Duan Yi mimicked a move from an anime character. “Watch this! The ultimate move—Phantom Dragon Tornado!”

He unzipped his jacket to look even more dramatic, but Sheng Yunze immediately zipped it back up, annoyed. Duan Yi yelped as the zipper snagged his skin. “Hey! My ultimate move—it hurts! It’s been suppressed!”

“Stop messing around,” Sheng Yunze said. “Let’s hurry up.”

With nothing else to do, Duan Yi jumped onto Sheng Yunze’s back. “Carry me!”

Sheng Yunze instinctively lifted Duan Yi higher on his back. Duan Yi’s slender legs wrapped securely around his waist, clinging stubbornly and refusing to let go.

Duan Yi felt a little embarrassed. “I’ll hold the umbrella for you.”

Leaning against Sheng Yunze’s back, Duan Yi inhaled the familiar scent of Golden Fleece laundry detergent in lavender—a scent he had grown so accustomed to that even passing the laundry aisle in the supermarket now reminded him of Sheng Yunze.

With his hands draped across Sheng Yunze’s chest, Duan Yi suddenly asked, “Why haven’t you been teasing me today?”

Sheng Yunze replied calmly, “Looking for trouble?” He then pinched Duan Yi’s thigh.

Duan Yi yelped and immediately quieted down.

How did he get so good at that? Duan Yi wondered. If I acted this childish and melodramatic normally, Sheng Yunze’s sharp tongue would have… well, he wouldn’t have hesitated for a second.

Duan Yi tilted his head, studying Sheng Yunze’s profile.

Even though they had seen each other just that morning, there was something different about Sheng Yunze’s demeanor tonight.

Though reluctant to admit it, Duan Yi couldn’t shake the feeling that Sheng Yunze was becoming more and more like the “Professor Sheng” from that other world.

Just my imagination, right?

Duan Yi immediately denied himself, his legs swinging back and forth around Sheng Yunze’s waist.

The walk back to the dormitory wasn’t long, but Duan Yi simply didn’t want to get down, wanting Sheng Yunze to carry him a little longer.

He clung tightly to Sheng Yunze’s neck, whispering apologies into his ear, “I’m sorry.”

Sheng Yunze’s back stiffened.

Duan Yi murmured, “I didn’t mean to blame you. I was just so angry at the time. I was really sad when Sheng Ming and Sheng Xi left.”

Sheng Yunze hummed in acknowledgment. Duan Yi immediately perked up again, “But they’re my sons, so we’ll definitely see each other again someday, as long as you don’t break up with me.”

By the end of his sentence, he seemed a little embarrassed, scratching his cheek.

In a transparent attempt to change the subject, he blurted out, “I wasn’t being lewd!”

Sheng Yunze couldn’t help but laugh, making Duan Yi even more mortified. He punched Sheng Yunze’s shoulder, “Stop laughing!”

After a moment, he heard Sheng Yunze ask casually, “What if I disappeared too?”

There was a faint tremor in the young man’s voice.

Duan Yi leaned back down, replying as if it were nothing, “Then I wouldn’t want to live anymore either.”

Nonsense, he thought to himself.