6: Food Chain Apex Player!
This was the first time Qian Kun had seen something close to panic in Shen Jin’s eyes. That abnormality was quickly covered over by snowy calm again, but he still found it interesting.
Shen Jin came with a built-in cooling effect. Most of the time, he barely seemed human at all. This rare hint of real “fireworks” in him was… flavorful.
The guess that had already taken shape in his mind stepped even closer to the truth.
Before Shen Jin could answer, Hou Ruixing’s face had already turned red. After being classmates for a whole year, this was the first time they’d been this close.
Shen Jin sensed the other boy’s pheromone fluctuations rising sharply, on the verge of spilling over. He instinctively leaned back, then forced himself to stop.
His expression grew grave.
Betas shouldn’t react to pheromones.
Yet in that small corner inside him that had been quiet so far, a tiny flame popped up, restless and unwilling to stay dead.
Shen Jin stood there for a moment, then decided to go to the teachers’ office and explain his situation.
The homeroom teacher was shocked. “How is it that differentiation is still giving you feelings like this?”
When Shen Jin left the office, he was carrying several teachers’ “generous donations,” forcefully stuffed into his hands: extra-strength suppressants and soothing spray.
He stared at one of the bottles, puzzled.
An alpha suppressant?
Did they think he might still differentiate into an alpha?
Oh wow.
That was… kind of tempting.
The PE rep announced the result of the teachers’ discussion. Shen Jin was temporarily removed from the swimming class roster.
Class 9: We reasonably suspect the person involved has caught onto our filthy thoughts!
Class 9 went to swim class with Class 8 with the feeling of wanting to cry and run away. Class 8 thought Class 9 was acting weird and quietly kept their distance.
The entrance to the swimming facility was packed with students, a sea of bodies, as loud and lively as a festival.
Everyone had shown up eager to watch Ice God’s debut. Then five minutes before the “opening,” they saw Shen Jin on the track teaching omegas how to shoot basketball.
Instant enlightenment struck.
They all drooped like eggplants hit by frost.
So that’s it. This really isn’t something we can casually see.
Still, they perked right back up.
Because the most eye-catching person by the pool, the one who looked like a luxury item come to life, had just appeared.
Who was that super handsome guy?
Were those legs even real?
What, you’re saying he’s a beta? Then why does he look more imposing than the alphas beside him? That’s not scientific at all.
“I… I think I can live again…”
“This is way too liveable!”
“He’s the private-school crown prince? No wonder he looks like something I can’t afford the second he walks out.”
The teacher was teaching the students who couldn’t swim. Rows of black heads floated on the surface, hair drifting this way and that.
Liu Qimai passed by and said to Zhou You, “Hahahaha, don’t they look like floating corpses?”
The students holding their breath: several nearly choked on water.
Which bastard said that?!
Do you know how to talk? If you don’t, then shut up!
Everyone glared, and the teacher started looking for the culprit.
Liu Qimai tried to hide, but Zhou You shoved him out instead, turning him into one of the “floating corpses” he’d just described.
Qian Kun swam a lap and came back, glancing at the faraway, aggrieved Liu Qimai.
“Bullied him again?”
Zhou You’s brow tightened. “He’s too loud.”
Zhou You complained, yet he was someone who cared deeply. He only messed with people once he was familiar with them.
Qian Kun didn’t plan to involve himself in their slapstick. He raked a hand through his wet hair. Droplets fell in a steady patter, revealing sharp, deep-set features.
Not far away, waves of shrieks rose, a group of omegas who’d come to watch Shen Jin.
Seeing that many omegas at once instantly excited the alphas present. They started showing off like peacocks, trying to display their charm.
Even though all attention was still being sucked away by the same person.
When Liu Qimai’s punishment ended, he came back fuming. “Zhou You, you bastard! You betrayed our pure friendship!”
Zhou You said flatly, “When did we ever have friendship?”
After some roughhousing, Liu Qimai spotted Qiao Yishan in the crowd of spectators and waggled his brows at Qian Kun. “Is that Qiao Yishan looking at you?”
Others noticed too.
“Holy crap, a top-tier beauty. Delicate, pitiful, and gorgeous. Brother Kun has to go for it!”
“Our Brother Kun really does crush flowers with an iron fist. Even this one doesn’t satisfy him.”
“You don’t know? At our old school, Brother Kun earned the Hundred Kills achievement.”
Liu Qimai grinned as Qian Kun shot him a look.
“Wait. Is it the meaning I’m thinking of?”
“Damn, beast!”
“Truly, some die of drought while others drown in excess.”
When alphas gathered, they couldn’t help talking about omegas.
“Qiao Yishan’s as pretty as a Barbie doll. Who do you think looks better, her or Brother Jin?”
“That question is insulting Brother Jin. How could Brother Jin be compared to mortal women?”
“She looks so soft and fragile, it makes you want to protect her. Brother Jin, no matter what gender he is, all I want to do is offer the boss tea…”
“If you’re going to date, someone gentle and clingy seems more suitable, right?”
The debate raged on until a boy suddenly asked Qian Kun, who was about to start his second round.
“Brother Kun, who do you think is prettier?”
Liu Qimai sneered, ready to explain that in Brother Kun’s eyes, no one was pretty.
Back at their old school, someone had once made a Top Ten Beauties ranking. Their private school was loosely managed. The omegas were stylish, knew how to dress, and were good at socializing. Pretty really did mean pretty.
One girl, overflowing with confidence, blocked Qian Kun’s way and acted cute, demanding he vote for her.
Back then, Qian Kun had still been in that rebellious phase where everyone hated him and even dogs avoided him. He didn’t give her any face at all.
“They’re all the same.”
It infuriated her. The line sounded like some national pageant talk, except they hadn’t had plastic surgery. Qian Kun was simply mocking people.
After that, rumors spread that Qian Kun was asexual. No matter how gorgeous an omega was, in front of him, they might as well have had no gender at all.
Qian Kun glanced outside. Another commotion rose around Qiao Yishan.
“You’re blind.”
“…” Huh?
“She’s not it.”
Then he dove into the water with a splash that sprayed several loudmouthed boys right in the face.
“Qian Kun, you just made us drink your bathwater!”
“Brothers, get him!”
“Brother Kun glanced over there once, and he’s saying Qiao Yishan isn’t it?”
“If she isn’t pretty, then who’s blind?”
“Wait, so…”
“Shen Jin is it?”
Today’s omega training was basketball shooting. They counted it in five-minute blocks. Ten shots in was considered passing.
“Teacher, how can omegas do such rough training!”
“We want jump rope and shuttlecock kicking. If not that, then badminton is barely acceptable~~”
The teacher said, “I believe all beings are equal. I shouldn’t give you special treatment just because of gender. Go on. Look at Shen Jin, isn’t he doing great?”
As if Shen Jin were an ordinary omega.
No matter how much they acted cute and begged, the PE teacher stayed cold and forced them to continue.
Once the omegas who’d already met the standard got permission, they all ran off to the swimming facility to watch handsome guys.
Shen Jin had finished long ago. He stayed to teach the remaining omegas.
Shen Jin had always been extremely popular among omegas. Now that he’d differentiated, the eyes on him were even hotter.
Cheers erupted again and again near the swimming facility. By the time PE ended, most of the omegas on the basketball court had run over there.
The teacher had no choice but to tell Shen Jin to return the basketball to the equipment room.
As he passed the crowd, Shen Jin caught sight through a gap of a vigorous figure turning and slicing through the water.
The instant that person lifted his head from the water, it seemed like he looked toward Shen Jin’s direction.
Shen Jin put the basketball back. He was just about to leave when he heard a group talking, approaching from this way.
Alpha pheromones flared wild in the space, aggressive and baring fangs. Several alphas had gotten too hyped while playing, causing pheromone leakage.
They were heading back to the changing rooms to spray blocker mist. Along the way, they moved as if they’d claimed territory, with absolute control over omegas.
Those fierce scents hit him head-on, stabbing hard enough that Shen Jin’s skin hurt.
He nearly slammed the door shut right away.
That corner inside him that had finally calmed down showed signs of reigniting under the stimulation.
After a long while, the noise outside finally faded. Only then did he open the door and leave.
He walked a few steps with his head down, a faint dizziness creeping in. He planned to find the nearest place and inject a suppressant to calm himself down.
That delay cost him. In the distance, the bell for fourth period rang.
Sure enough, the beta-only shower room was empty at this hour. Shen Jin slipped into a stall and locked the door.
When he reached for the suppressant, his grip slipped. The syringe rolled out into the outer area.
He was about to open the door and retrieve it when he heard movement outside.
Someone came in.
Shen Jin tensed instantly, then relaxed just as quickly.
This was the beta shower room.
Betas wouldn’t feel anything toward other genders, and they couldn’t smell anything either. The syringe was in the shadows. There was no need to worry… right?
Then a pair of long-fingered hands came into view, picking up the syringe he’d dropped.
There was a knock on the door.
“Hey, classmate. You dropped something.”
The voice carried a careless, playful edge. It also sounded familiar.
Shen Jin thought of someone, and his heart nearly leapt into his throat.
Qian Kun had swum a bit longer. By the time he strolled toward the classroom building, class had already started. At the door, he caught a whiff of something hidden.
An absolute temptation ordinary alphas couldn’t detect.
This scent was special. If it got any stronger, who knew if it would drive someone insane.
Following it, he saw a stall shut tight, with no sound of running water.
Crouching down, he could even see a pair of sneakers.
Shen Jin was wearing this exact pair today.
Shen Jin didn’t move.
“Classmate?” Qian Kun repeated on purpose.
A hand reached out from under the stall door, took the syringe, then withdrew.
Shen Jin didn’t know whether Qian Kun would ask why a beta needed suppressants.
Fortunately, Qian Kun asked nothing.
He seemed uninterested in other people’s privacy. He simply entered the stall beside Shen Jin’s, and the sound of running water followed.
“Classmate, you’re not washing?”
“…” Shen Jin had just opened the disposable needle pack.
“Classmate, why aren’t you talking?”
“…”
“Classmate, did you bring a change of clothes?”
“…”
Shen Jin was about to develop a trauma response to the word “classmate.”
He’d never realized this guy could be so annoying. Wasn’t he always the type who couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge anyone?
The old classroom building hadn’t been renovated in years. The shower room on this side was dim, and the water vapor and heat seeped out from below.
Shen Jin swallowed his anger and kept his mouth firmly shut, refusing to give Qian Kun any chance to run his mouth.
He injected himself, then changed to a new suppressor patch. Only then did he shove the door open and step out fast.
Right then…
As if fate were deliberately messing with him, the door beside him opened too.
Through the mist, a tall, model-like figure walked out.
The timing was too perfect. Shen Jin’s nose nearly collided with the other person’s collarbone, close enough to feel that blazing, fervent heat coming off him.
So close that Shen Jin stuttered for an instant, a soft weakness crawling up his spine.
The moment the other man turned his head, Shen Jin grabbed a towel from the dirty laundry basket and slapped it over Qian Kun’s head, blocking his line of sight.
It was one a different beta had used after showering.
Shen Jin: Enjoy that stink. I hope it fumigates you to death.
Qian Kun, who had mild cleanliness issues: “…”
When he yanked off the towel, Shen Jin was already gone.
Qian Kun took another shower. When he came out again, he saw the discarded suppressant packaging in the trash can.
The lazily lidded eyes that usually couldn’t be bothered gained a trace of interest. He gathered every last wisp of leaked pheromones back under control.
*
Qian Kun didn’t return until late afternoon dismissal.
Zhou You, his deskmate, asked, “Gone that long?”
Qian Kun shrugged and started a sudoku, bored. “Yeah. Went to absorb cat.”
Shen Jin’s hand slipped. His pen dragged an ugly long line across the page, but he calmly erased it.
It had nothing to do with him.
He hadn’t made a sound, and Qian Kun didn’t have X-ray vision.
If he did, then he’d be a pervert.
Liu Qimai asked curiously, “Where’d a cat come from? I wanna pet it too!”
The moment the words fell, a book slapped over his face from the front. Qian Kun’s voice followed, short and sharp: “Scram.”
Just as Liu Qimai angrily pulled the book off and prepared to “enforce justice,” the homeroom teacher walked in.
He told the day students to stay for evening self-study tonight. Everyone’s results were out, and they should pick up their papers first.
The whole class perked up instantly.
This was their battle for honor.
The silent smoke of war had been hanging for days. It was time for a verdict.
Students from other classes kept peeking in to get the first live scoop, making Class 9 even more tense.
During evening self-study, the homeroom teacher stood at the podium and called names one by one, handing out papers. “Take them back and look them over first. We’ll go over them in class tomorrow.”
“Teacher, what about rankings?”
“Still being calculated. This time you’re being ranked together with the rocket classes. You’re in a hurry?”
“We are!” the class answered in unison.
“If you’re in a hurry, calculate it yourselves.”
Once the teacher left, Class 9 exploded.
They cleared out a few rows in the middle to make space for the dozen-plus participants to calculate scores.
Everyone crowded into a circle. It was probably the first time the two sides had sat together this calmly.
As each score came out, the atmosphere climbed higher and higher.
The totals were quickly tallied. Jiang Yifan wrote each person’s total score on scrap paper.
Seven on each side.
In the end, the combined totals were exactly the same.
What kind of damn sorcery was this.
Unbelievable. They actually couldn’t beat those bookworms/those fools!
That was the internal monologue on both sides.
Before this, neither side had ever truly taken the other seriously.
Now their feelings were… complicated.
“Your mental math has to be wrong. Use a calculator!”
Liu Qimai shoved Jiang Yifan aside, pulled out his phone, and recalculated.
Two minutes later.
Liu Qimai: “…”
Jiang Yifan: “Heh. Who’s the inaccurate one, Young Master Liu?”
Everyone turned as one to the back row, to the two big bosses who still hadn’t reported their scores.
Shen Jin kept spinning his pen. He lifted his eyelids slightly. “Seven twenty-five.”
Qian Kun leaned back lazily, his expression hard to read. Under Class 9’s eager, burning anticipation, he finally spoke slowly.
“Seven twenty-two.”
Three points was only the difference of a single multiple-choice question.
Yet at the peak, a hair’s breadth meant a thousand miles.
Some rejoiced. Some despaired.
Class 9 erupted, cheering as they swarmed Shen Jin.
“Ahhh! Food chain apex player!”
“Brother Jin, please accept my knees!!”
“The paper being hard is the paper’s business. It has nothing to do with our Brother Jin!”
Shen Jin still felt he hadn’t performed that well, thanks to his stomach pain.
He hadn’t expected Qian Kun to stumble too.
He shot an involuntary glance at his deskmate.
On the other side, Liu Qimai and the others couldn’t believe their Brother Kun, undefeated for years, had scored like this. The blow was too heavy. For a long while, no one could speak.
Liu Qimai slid to his knees right in front of Qian Kun’s desk and accused him dramatically. “Brother Kun, you’re not the all-powerful Brother Kun in my heart anymore!”
Qian Kun nearly laughed. He covered the corner of his mouth and had zero idol baggage. “This is great.”
“You can still laugh? Don’t forget, we lost. We have to agree to one of their conditions!”
Liu Qimai was truly regretting it now. Don’t ask. Ask and the answer is: if only I’d known earlier.
At the start, he shouldn’t have run his mouth so full.
This was all because Brother Kun didn’t fight for it. What kind of beta was he!
The other transfer students stared straight at Liu Qimai as he tried to retreat.
At this moment, he’d become the target of all criticism.
Who told him to shout “sing Conquer” so many times? Now his karma had arrived right on time.
Ah.
Let’s sacrifice him to the heavens.
Qian Kun shoved his textbook and papers into his backpack, then stood up with it slung over one shoulder.
He was nearly 1.87 meters tall. Standing beside Shen Jin’s desk, the pressure was intense.
He bent slightly, bracing one hand on Shen Jin’s desk.
Shen Jin stopped spinning his pen and looked up at him with cold eyes.
Qian Kun’s gaze held a playful edge. He let out a soft, mocking laugh.
“Class rep, tell me.”
“As long as it isn’t murder or arson, this big brother will agree.”
Author’s Note:
Liu Qimai: Brother Kun, what kind of beta are you?
Qian Kun: Oh. I’m not.
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