Chapter 19: The Beta Who Hates Alphas

With that, the agent took the lead in clapping.

Even He Baiyan couldn’t keep the calm look on his face at that moment. To an Alpha—especially one like Yu Sui who hated Alphas—this “honor” felt more like a humiliation.

Sure enough, the young man’s expression darkened.

The agent had only come to deliver the news, without giving a thought to the artist’s feelings. After all, their company didn’t treat Alphas like people.

After a couple of compliments, Chen Qing left with a cheerful laugh.

“Bro…” Shen Anliu glanced carefully at Yu Sui.

“You guys happy now?” Yu Sui asked through gritted teeth. He was convinced this was payback from all of them ganging up on him.

They knew full well he hated men, and yet they’d gone and QueerbaitingPaired him with them anyway.

“Bro… I…” Shen Anliu tried to explain something.

But Yu Sui was already striding toward the exit.

“I’m so smart. Using this as an excuse to bail—now it doesn’t look like I’m the one chickening out.”

[As expected of you.] The system gave him a thumbs-up.

Back in the changing room, Yu Sui quickly changed clothes and left the building.

On the elevator ride back to the dorms, he ran into some Alphas from the other group. The way they looked at him was downright weird.

Yu Sui retreated to the corner of the elevator, pretending to stare at his phone.

“Is he the new guy from TYE they’re talking about?”

“He doesn’t even look like an Alpha.”

“I’m impressed he can stand having two Alphas that close.”

“I heard his mental power is 4S…”

They thought they were whispering, but Yu Sui heard every word.

His eyelid twitched nonstop. This was ridiculous.

Just because he’d gotten a little close to two guys, and now in their eyes, he was the manliest Alpha around.

Of course, someone else guessed that his teammates were ostracizing him and deliberately messing with him.

That guy had actually hit the nail on the head, but Yu Sui couldn’t exactly give him a like.

Ding—

The elevator doors opened, and Yu Sui stepped out through the crowd.

Back in the lounge, no one looked happy.

“What the hell is the company trying to turn him into…?” Lu Jinxia frowned. He didn’t buy that the agent had dropped by out of the blue for no reason.

The company loved tormenting Alphas, but if there was money to be made, they wouldn’t pass it up. Now that Yu Sui had shot to the Hot Searches with this, how could Star Sea Entertainment let it go?

“I…” Shen Anliu felt a pang of guilt. “I’ll go check on Bro.”

With that, he hurried out first.

He Baiyan pressed his lips together. He hadn’t even changed out of his clothes yet—he was planning to go talk to the agent.

That left just two people in the lounge.

Lu Jinxia stood. “I’m heading back too.”

Jiang Nianxing had been staring at his phone the whole time. At those words, his fingers twitched slightly. After a moment, he finally headed to the changing room.

Yu Sui was in a great mood. Knowing his teammates were willing to hurt themselves just to humiliate him made his straight-guy heart feel utterly at ease.

Fiddling with the plot, he sat up. “Next up is using the alt account to add Jiang Nianxing. But his plotline got stolen—should I switch targets?”

He had zero interest in dealing with He Baiyan right now.

[No need. They’re all tops anyway,] the system said.

“Got it.” Rubbing his hands eagerly, he switched to his alt account.

In the plot, the cannon fodder streamed a flop, spotted Jiang Nianxing sabotaging him through observation, but since he was in the wrong, he couldn’t confront him outright. So he planned to stir up some dirt on Jiang Nianxing behind his back.

After adding his teammate on the alt account, the cannon fodder tried to bait him into saying something inappropriate, then edit it out of context and post it. But the guy, who only had eyes for the protagonist shou, didn’t take the bait.

Not only that—he figured out who it was and screenshotted the cannon fodder’s messages right back at him.

Yu Sui reined in his thoughts and waited for approval.

Jiang Nianxing was the last to leave. He opened the changing room locker, pulled out the tattered clothes, snapped a photo, and sent it to Yu Sui with a question: What the hell was this about?

Why buy Shen Anliu something like this? And he’d gotten him underwear before too. He’d looked it up online in secret—this was the kind that…

If he didn’t like the guy, did he really need to get that intimate?

Slouched on the sofa, he stared at his phone screen, waiting for a reply.

Yu Sui had just switched accounts when the messages came flooding in. He jolted in surprise.

Clicking open Jiang Nianxing’s interrogation, he sighed. “Damn, he’s got it bad. Look at that jealousy.”

[Alphas are dominant, after all. Possessive as hell.]

Hearing that, Yu Sui decided to fan the flames.

[Chat] Yu Sui: Isn’t it obvious? I can’t stand the sight of him.

The reply came quick.

[Chat] Jiang Nianxing: Then why not do the same to me? Don’t you hate me too?

Yu Sui blinked in surprise.

[His feelings for the protagonist shou run that deep?] The system sounded shocked too. [He’ll let you humiliate him just for that.]

“Touching stuff.” Yu Sui was practically shipping them hard.

[Private Message] Yu Sui: You’re not worth it.

Too bad he couldn’t play matchmaker.

Jiang Nianxing stared at the message, feeling a bit shaken. Why? Was he that much worse than Shen Anliu?

Yu Sui saw no reply and figured he’d pissed the guy off royally—enough to make him hate his guts and feel even sorrier for the protagonist shou. Hell, they were probably hugging it out right now.

He checked the alt account again. No approval yet.

Yu Sui wasn’t surprised.

Back in his room, Jiang Nianxing saw his roommate tapping away at the computer. He sidled over to the closet, stashed the clothes inside, then headed for the shower.

Lu Jinxia’s eyelid twitched. What was this sneaky bastard up to?

Hearing the water running in the bathroom, he got up, opened the closet, and rummaged around.

When he spotted the short-sleeved shirt, Lu Jinxia was stunned.

Since when was Jiang Nianxing this thirsty?

No, hold on.

This didn’t look like his size.

He studied it for a moment, then recalled what he’d overheard earlier.

Lu Jinxia’s expression turned grave.

The captain had shredded Yu Sui’s clothes and made him change into his own spares. Jiang Nianxing had swiped this shirt and gone to question Yu Sui about it—but Lu Jinxia had interrupted.

What the hell were his teammates up to?

Thinking back to He Baiyan’s line about eating Yu Sui’s leftovers, it was obvious now he had ulterior motives.

There’d been a signing session on the clothes after the stream, and Yu Sui’s had fit weird—he’d wondered about that at the time.

Now it all clicked.

But…

Yu Sui wasn’t the type to swallow his pride. Why hold back?

Remembering the young man’s injury from before, and how he himself didn’t mind him at all.

Lu Jinxia’s eyes narrowed. Maybe it was time to dig into his background.

Gazing down at the shirt, Lu Jinxia took it without a second thought—who knew what disgusting thing Jiang Nianxing might do with someone else’s stolen clothes.

When Jiang Nianxing emerged, his roommate was gone from the bedroom.

He didn’t think much of it. Sitting on the bed, he stewed over Yu Sui’s reply, refusing to let it go.

Shen Anliu was just a 3S—he’d checked with the agent on purpose. So why the double standard?

Unable to figure it out, he posted anonymously online for advice.

“I have a friend…”

[You mean the one who hates some guy so much he steals his undies, forces him to wear ones he bought—and the slutty kind at that?]

[Pretty sure that’s not hate.]

[No way in hell!]

Seeing that reply, Jiang Nianxing shot back immediately.

[Oh, right—what’s the gender of all three?]

Jiang Nianxing typed it out.

[If that’s the case, I think I get it.]

He glued his eyes to the screen.

[Everyone knows Alphas are super dominant. Your guy hates other Alphas, and now he pulls this? Answer’s obvious: he’s humiliating him. Hardcore style.]

Jiang Nianxing blinked in confusion. Humiliation? Why did it feel more like a reward?

[He wants to crush that other Alpha’s dignity, train him into his dog. Alphas love their pride, so I’d advise OP: don’t fall for this twisted Alpha.]

“I didn’t.” Jiang Nianxing muttered a reflexive denial, then realized he was overreacting—and anyway, no one could hear him.

He had no desire to reply anymore. His head was swimming with explanations for Yu Sui’s behavior.

If that was it, everything lined up.

Making the guy burst out of his clothes on stream for humiliation, stripping away his dignity bit by bit…

No way. For his teammate’s sake, he had to stop this—even if it meant sacrificing himself!

Jiang Nianxing clenched his fists, his face deadly serious as he fired up his computer and searched for psych analyses on this kind of person.

The more he read, the redder his cheeks got. Collars? Physiological control…?

This was too explosive…

Lu Jinxia leaned against the hallway window, flipping a coin in his hand. His expression was complicated.

So his own symptoms hadn’t improved—they’d just been triggered because Yu Sui wasn’t an Alpha, but a Beta.

That explained why his teammates were probably using their gender to threaten Yu Sui, which was why he wasn’t fighting back.

Come to think of it, Yu Sui hadn’t done anything truly evil—just ran his mouth a bit.

But why would a Beta disguise himself as an Alpha to infiltrate Star Sea Entertainment? This wasn’t a place for humans.

And he was so high-profile… Or maybe that was the point, doing the opposite of what anyone expected. Lu Jinxia hadn’t seen that coming either.

He gripped the coin tighter, speculating on Yu Sui’s real goal. Undercover to expose the company’s dirt? Avenging a twin Alpha brother?

Why hadn’t he found any of this in his searches? Did Yu Sui have backup?

He Baiyan hadn’t reached a full agreement with the agent, but the company finally compromised—they wouldn’t force the hype every single day.

That was the most the captain could wrangle.

His face set in grim lines, he returned to the changing room and opened the locker. The short-sleeved shirt was gone.

Yu Sui must have taken it himself.

He Baiyan’s gaze softened.

Yu Sui fiddled with his phone for a while before heading to the cafeteria for some food.

Lu Jinxia had been waiting for quite some time. “Yu Sui, over here.”

With so many people watching him, Yu Sui had no choice but to steel himself. He carried his tray over.

“After we finish eating, let’s talk,” Lu Jinxia said.

Whatever Lu Jinxia’s intentions were, if the company ever discovered Yu Sui’s true gender, he would probably be enslaved for life. So Lu Jinxia decided to give him a heads-up.

Yu Sui looked puzzled.

Once they had finished their meal, the two of them left the cafeteria and took the elevator back to the dorm building. That’s when Lu Jinxia spoke up. “I know you’re a Beta.”

“Wha… what?” Yu Sui had been feeling lazy and absent-minded at the time, but those words made his heart skip a beat.

[Host, you absolutely cannot let your true identity slip at this stage! Otherwise, the mission will fail!] The System’s tone turned deadly serious.

Seeing how startled Yu Sui was, Lu Jinxia hurriedly explained. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

Yu Sui didn’t buy that for a second. He struggled to keep his composure. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The truth is, I have Alpha-phobia,” Lu Jinxia confessed, revealing his own secret. “Being around other Alphas makes me feel sick to my stomach, but touching you is fine.”

Yu Sui nearly spat up blood. Was this some kind of glitch?

“That doesn’t prove anything for sure,” he said stubbornly, refusing to admit it.

“I’ve had someone look into it.” Lu Jinxia pulled out his phone and opened up Yu Sui’s identity information.

Yu Sui stared at the evidence laid out in black and white. His vision darkened.

It was over.