Chapter 3: The Beta Who Hates Alphas

Shen Anliu pushed open the door and immediately saw a phone lying on the ground. Yu Sui was clutching his hair, his face twisted in pain.

His heart skipped a beat. Had something gone wrong?

Shen Anliu released his suitcase and hurried over. “Yu Sui, are you okay?”

He gripped Yu Sui’s arm, hoping to calm him down.

But the young man reacted even more violently, shoving him away. “Don’t touch me!”

Shen Anliu staggered back, frozen in place. “Sorry.”

His voice came out dry and strained, his heart pounding with anxiety. Had he been found out?

Yu Sui heard the apology and finally calmed down. “I wasn’t mad at you. I just scrolled onto a creepy post and got spooked.”

The excuse was full of holes, but Shen Anliu bought it completely.

He let out a relieved breath and stepped closer. “It’s okay. That stuff’s all fake.”

Yu Sui nodded absently, then picked up his phone and set it on the bed.

The two finished unpacking their luggage, both breaking a sweat in the process.

“I’m gonna take a shower. You need the bathroom first?” Shen Anliu glanced at his sweaty clothes, asking awkwardly.

“Nah.” Yu Sui’s eyes brightened. Perfect timing to poke around.

Shen Anliu grabbed a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom.

Yu Sui strained his ears until he heard the lock click. Then he popped open the other’s suitcase.

Inside were nothing but books on musical instruments. This guy was really passionate about it.

Yu Sui stood and moved to the desk.

He had sneaked a peek at the young man’s passcode earlier, so unlocking the phone was a breeze.

The call log was spotless. WeChat had no junk messages. Even the Weibo follows were all industry veterans.

Yu Sui sighed to himself. Not surprising from the little angel.

He was about to set it down when the phone suddenly rang.

Yu Sui nearly jumped out of his skin.

He fumbled clumsily, slapping it onto the desk—his sharp ears had picked up the sound of water stopping inside. The guy was done showering.

Nerves made fools of everyone.

Yu Sui had never done anything shady before. Now his heart hammered like mad. As he stood, his leg snagged the chair leg.

It dragged across the floor with a harsh scrape, piercingly loud.

His toe banged against it too.

Yu Sui’s face burned with embarrassment.

Creak—

He had just freed his leg and was hobbling toward the bed when Shen Anliu swung the door open.

“What happened to you?”

Shen Anliu paused mid-towel on his damp hair, frowning as he approached. “You alright?”

“I’m fine.” Yu Sui thought grimly that karma moved fast for evildoers. He wanted off the topic. “Your phone’s been blowing up.”

Shen Anliu’s brow furrowed. He walked over and silenced it.

“Huh?” Yu Sui sat on the edge of the bed, staring puzzled.

“Some family drama.” Shen Anliu sighed, flipping the phone face down.

That simple motion sent cold sweat trickling down Yu Sui’s back. He had totally forgotten about that.

[No big deal. Anyway, you’ll be targeting him soon enough,] the System soothed.

Yu Sui’s emotions churned.

Shen Anliu crouched in front of him and gently grasped his ankle. “Let me see that toe.”

His voice was soft, laced with genuine concern.

Yu Sui didn’t register it at first.

Taking the lack of protest as permission, Shen Anliu slipped off the black leather shoe.

“What are you doing?” Yu Sui jolted back to reality, staring down at the hand on his foot. He yanked away in shock.

Shen Anliu wasn’t prepared and toppled backward onto the floor—but his grip on the young man’s ankle stayed firm.

The sudden pull sent Yu Sui pitching forward.

Pain flared through Shen Anliu, but before he could process it, a shadow fell over him. He scrambled to catch Yu Sui.

“Hiss.”

Landing on Shen Anliu still hurt like hell.

Worse, Yu Sui had bitten his own tongue. Tears sprang to his eyes.

Creak—

“You two…”

“What the hell are you doing?!” Jiang Nianxing had @’ed them in the group chat to head to the training room. No reply. The other two teammates were checked out—one didn’t care, the other distracted—so he came to fetch them himself.

But this? What was this?

Shen Anliu lay on the floor, cradling Yu Sui in his arms.

The stunning young man lifted his head at the noise, eyes brimming with tears, lips flushed and parted just enough to reveal a glimpse of tongue.

A silvery thread of saliva trailed from the corner of his mouth.

The sight was downright weird. How were two Alphas this close without throwing punches? And a 4S Alpha like Yu Sui looked downright wrecked.

Jiang Nianxing couldn’t put it into words. He strode over, brow creased, and hauled Yu Sui off.

“His foot’s hurt,” Shen Anliu said quickly, seeing the rough grab.

Jiang Nianxing froze, then shifted to support instead, his palm landing on the young man’s slender waist as he eased him onto the bed.

A 4S Alpha’s waist was that fine? And how’d the foot get injured?

Yu Sui sniffed, inwardly griping to the System. “Karma’s a bitch.”

[I’ll file for compensation upstairs.]

Yu Sui looked like he might be stifling sobs. Jiang Nianxing gawked like he’d seen a ghost. “You… you’re crying?”

Total shock. Alphas bled but never teared up. Were 4S Alphas just built different?

Yu Sui went rigid, then snapped wide-eyed through his tears. “You’re the one crying!”

Shen Anliu had gotten up after Yu Sui did, washing his hands quickly.

He emerged just in time to hear and flashed an apologetic look. “Sorry. My bad.”

Jiang Nianxing gaped at Shen Anliu like a specter had appeared. “You… you’re apologizing to him?”

“It was my fault. I gripped too hard…” Shen Anliu moved to Yu Sui’s side. “You didn’t hit anything else, did you?”

Yu Sui shook his head, his face darkening.

Alphas sure were rough.

That had to be the plot-appropriate inner monologue.

“Should we get it looked at?” Shen Anliu pressed, uneasy. “Or let me check?”

Yu Sui went on full guard. “I’m good.”

“But you were limping,” Shen Anliu countered.

Jiang Nianxing kept sizing them up, his frown deepening. “You heading to the training room or what?”

“Huh?” Shen Anliu blinked in surprise, then remembered. “Oh, right. Senior, what’d you need?”

“To drag your asses to training.” Jiang Nianxing eyed his innocent act. Total faker— that arrogance grated even more.

His gaze shifted to Yu Sui. Pale face, red-rimmed eyes. Innocent. Pitiful.

Not Alpha-like at all. No wonder the guy hated the rest.

Sympathy stirred in Jiang Nianxing.

Yu Sui’s foot nixed training that day, so Shen Anliu and Jiang Nianxing ended up going without him.

Shen Anliu fretted over Yu Sui, rattling off instructions.

“You’re so annoying,” Yu Sui grumbled.

No more playing nice from here. Sharp words to their faces, dirty tricks behind their backs.

Shen Anliu’s eyes dimmed. “Sorry. Don’t be mad.”

Jiang Nianxing couldn’t wrap his head around the guy’s patience. Alpha pride, where?

Nah, had to be an act.

Playing the sweet guy, nagging a hurting Yu Sui instead of letting him rest—all “out of concern.” Undeniable.

Schemer as deep as Lu Jinxia.

Jiang Nianxing vented silently.

“Quit stalling.”

He swallowed his distaste and yanked Shen Anliu along.

Yu Sui eyed their touching arms. “Those two?”

[The protagonist gong can’t stomach the protagonist shou doting on you. Jealousy,] the System explained. [You know how Alphas repel each other here. What else could it be but love?]

“Wow, shipping it.” Yu Sui’s praise was flat, emotionless. This world was straight-up deranged.

Alphas dominated, sure—but these protagonists were puppets. Weak? Nah, their payback on tools like him was lightning-quick and brutal.

[Protagonists gotta shine brightest. But idols dating? Huge no-no. Unless the environment’s toxic,] the System shot back. [Scandals drop, truth outs: they were forced into it. Fans pity them, gloss over the rest.]

It clicked for Yu Sui.

In that warped world, a little romance was nothing next to the ones snapped and turning criminal.

Mind settled, he grabbed clothes and freshened up.

His foot hadn’t swelled, just reddened. Tongue was fine too.

In bed, Yu Sui pulled out his burner phone and fired off an Alpha-bashing post.

—Clumsy Alphas, all muscle no brain lugs. Brain for show? Oh wait, factory default: none installed.

Fearing the replies this time, Yu Sui didn’t tap in. But the crowd smelled blood in the water and @’ed him straight.

His thumb betrayed him. Click. Disaster.

The bombshells bloomed fresh on screen.

[Bet you’re loving it. Flaunt more why don’tcha?!]

[Binged your whole feed. Blogger’s an Alpha-hater deep in the closet—likes ’em without knowing. Real hate? Zero eye contact ever. But years of this? Feelings run deep.]

[Slagged by some dirtbag Alpha, hating all now. Reply confirms you’re Alpha too. AA romance doomed from jump. But how rough was he? Got you crying?]

Endless copy-pastes of those last lines below.

Yu Sui stared, stunned.

Why’d it swerve to bedroom talk again?

And how had he ended up deep in the closet like that? He was a straight guy!

Yu Sui turned off his phone and began to sulk in frustration.

[In a restricted novel world, whether it’s the protagonist or random side characters, they always lose themselves when talking about that stuff. It’s par for the course. This is nothing yet.] The System tried to console him.

“It can get even more explosive?” Yu Sui asked in shock.

[You can look forward to it.]

Who the hell wanted to look forward to that?!

Yu Sui roared inwardly, deciding to drop the topic.

He recalled his first task, and his expression grew serious.

He hated pristine Shen Anliu the most, so he’d secretly swapped the man’s clothes for a type that would burst open at the slightest tug.

In a normal world, that would’ve been a carefully arranged fan service moment. But in this world, Alphas cared deeply about their dignity. Selling your looks like that to gain fans was unacceptable, even for someone with Shen Anliu’s impeccable personality.

In the plot, Jiang Nianxing had overheard some words and stayed on guard against him. When he saw Yu Sui sneaking around to swap Shen Anliu’s clothes, Jiang Nianxing silently swapped them onto Yu Sui instead. The vicious Beta ended up making a huge fool of himself in the live stream chat.

Thanks to that, Jiang Nianxing gained +1 favor from the protagonist shou. There were tons more tasks like this one—ones that backfired spectacularly.

Still, when Yu Sui thought about how none of it involved any romance for him, he relaxed again.