Chapter 31: The Beta Who Hates Alphas Part 2

Meanwhile, the others found it hard to sleep.

Jiang Nianxing was on the phone. He frowned fiercely, looking murderous, his tone explosive.

“Fine. Let him come. I’ll beat him senseless!”

Without waiting for a response, he hung up.

He Baiyan was on a video call.

The young man on the screen had striking features and a brilliant smile. “So many people like you. I wonder if your fans would unfollow if your childhood antics accidentally got exposed on the show.”

“Are you done?” He Baiyan didn’t even furrow his brow.

The young man on the other end froze, clearly not expecting any reaction at all.

“I’m really looking forward to meeting you.”

“Is that so?” He Baiyan’s tone remained ice-cold. “Then keep looking forward to it.”

With that, he hung up.

That night, everyone harbored their own thoughts.

The next day.

Yu Sui got up early. He changed clothes and freshened up, double-checked that his room was spotless, and only then opened the door.

The cameraman had been waiting for a while. He hurried inside but captured nothing of interest.

He didn’t bother hiding his disappointment.

Yu Sui’s eyelid twitched. He pretended not to notice.

“Xiao Yu, give everyone a greeting,” said a nearby staff member.

Facing the camera, Yu Sui said good morning.

As he stepped out of the room, the doors to the other rooms opened at the same time.

They were all well-mannered idols, dressed impeccably from head to toe—clothing, accessories, hairstyles, everything perfect.

The viewers saw this and immediately jumped to conspiracy theories.

[What the hell? Stealing the spotlight without telling Sui Sui.]

[Team discord confirmed.]

For some reason, none of the four were in high spirits. They were utterly cold, both to the cameras and to Yu Sui.

This gave the netizens plenty of fodder to attack.

[As expected—use ’em and toss ’em. Total scumbags.]

[Sui Sui’s so pitiful. The whole group isolating him, not even calling him for makeup and styling.]

[Pfft. What a waste of me hyping them up everywhere. Their true colors show the second they hit the show. This program’s a real demon mirror.]

[No way, is my ship dead?]

[Seriously? They usually have such high IQ and EQ. How do they make a rookie mistake like this?]

The show had barely begun, and TYE was already trending on the hot search for suspected internal discord and isolating a member.

Yu Sui didn’t care much about it.

The colder they acted, the happier he was.

The accompanying program staff hadn’t expected this situation. They quickly contacted the director to ask what to do.

The response? Let it play out naturally.

The group dragged their suitcases out of the hotel.

Shen Anliu wore sunglasses. From the moment they stepped out, his gaze never left Yu Sui. He wanted to say something but remembered the organization’s instructions from yesterday.

Among the people arriving today, the organization had planted members to help him stage sweet interactions with Yu Sui.

He no longer wanted to exploit Yu Sui, so he was pretending to be cold right now.

Jiang Nianxing was genuinely out of sorts. In fact, he still hadn’t shaken off yesterday’s emotions.

As a result, the team’s atmosphere was utterly bizarre.

TYE Team Members’ Personas Collapse#

Posts like this popped up endlessly. There had been similar ones before, but commenters used to mock the posters. This time, even casual fans fell silent.

Such cold arrogance. They treated each other like strangers. Who could imagine that just days ago, they were all lovey-dovey on the hot search?

[I’m telling you, alphas can never get along.]

[But it’s a recorded show. Not even pretending? Isn’t that stupid? They’ve been so careful up until now.]

[Maybe they think they’re the biggest stars here.]

[Star Sea Entertainment can’t possibly have no backup plan. Remember what happened with the last team discord rumor?]

[No way. Am I getting slapped in the face again?]

[I gotta see how they spin this one.]

They piled into the car.

Lu Jinxia had wanted to take the seat at the very edge, right next to Yu Sui. But he was a step too slow.

Yu Sui was by the window, with Lu Jinxia beside him and Shen Anliu on Lu Jinxia’s other side.

The suffocating alpha pheromones made him want to vomit.

His condition, which had been improving lately, had worsened dramatically because of that name on the hot search.

He was trembling. His cheeks were deathly pale, sweat beaded on his forehead, and his stomach churned. He hadn’t eaten since last night.

Yu Sui had been lost in thought when he noticed the uneven breathing next to him.

He turned his head and saw the young man shaking harder and harder.

He remembered Lu Jinxia’s alpha aversion disorder.

Shen Anliu had sat right next to him before without triggering such a severe reaction. What was going on?

And weren’t protagonists supposed to be immune to each other?

Perplexed, Yu Sui started to ask something but then remembered another detail.

In the plot, Lu Jinxia’s symptoms were exposed later on, and the company even custom-arranged a fan handshake event for him.

Fortunately, by then they had evidence of the company’s crimes, so it never happened.

It was still early for that timeline. What if the company found out now…

Yu Sui reached out and touched the young man’s arm. “Are you carsick?”

Lu Jinxia felt cold all over, nauseous and miserable, his breathing labored.

Hearing the voice snapped him out of his daze. He turned to look.

“Let’s switch seats,” Yu Sui said.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

Especially Shen Anliu.

He hadn’t fought for the seat next to Yu Sui for two reasons: one, to avoid being hated; two, because of the organization’s words.

Truth be told, his intentions in getting close to the young man weren’t pure.

Now, here was Yu Sui showing concern for Lu Jinxia—willing to sit beside him just to accommodate him. Wasn’t he supposed to hate all alphas?

Jiang Nianxing had been wrapped up in his own thoughts but now looked over as well.

He wasn’t having it. Losing to Shen Anliu, he could accept. But Lu Jinxia too?

They switched seats without issue.

Lu Jinxia was too unwell even to utter a thank you.

Feeling sorry for him, Yu Sui kept glancing over.

Shen Anliu felt even worse. He lowered his head and clutched at the hem of his shirt.

Meanwhile, He Baiyan stared out the window on the other side, lost in thought.

The atmosphere solidified once more.

[This must be the real picture. Sui Sui’s the group punching bag. He helps out a senior and doesn’t even get a thank you.]

[Too tragic.]

[The stuff they said in the live stream before was probably just company-scripted personas. They wanted our Sui Sui to play cannon fodder, but our baby put up a real fight.]

[Pitying him hard.]

Yu Sui had no idea he’d gained even more fans.

The other guests had arrived ahead of them.

The shoot was taking place at a villa.

Ten members in total.

Huo Tian stood off to one side by himself, hands in his pockets as he eyed the approaching cars with malice in his gaze.

The other four exchanged friendly greetings and introduced themselves.

Only Zuo Meng was somewhat familiar to the public—not hugely popular and even more obscure now that he was getting on in years.

As the eldest, he took the lead in keeping the conversation going.

By coincidence, the topic turned to TYE.

At that, Huo Tian glanced over. “Oh yeah, aren’t you acquainted with Lu Jinxia?”

Zuo Meng paused before flashing a faint smile. “We’re in the same industry. You could say I’m a senior to you all.”

“Tch.” Huo Tian shot him a disdainful look.

“You’re way too rude,” said the youth in pink beside him, his expression one of disapproval.

Huo Tian stared him down appraisingly before sneering. “Fake.”

The air crackled with tension.

The viewers were stunned. Conflicts usually erupted in the middle or late stages of the show, but now everyone from TYE—except Yu Sui, including a former member—was causing problems. It was utterly bizarre.

[It’s obvious TYE clashes with this show.]

[More like it curses him.]

[Please let Sui Sui go solo. Thanks!]

The pink-clad youth’s smile froze. A chill flashed in his eyes, but he held it back.

Because the TYE car had pulled up.

They went forward to greet them as the doors opened.

Strangely, no one inside moved.

[Throwing their weight around?]

Yu Sui was baffled. He peered out the window. Except for Huo Tian, everyone looked perfectly friendly—the newcomers especially, full of admiration. So why the holdup?

Or maybe his teammates were scheming against him.

Making him get out first to steal everyone’s spotlight and get dragged by the comments?

With that in mind, Yu Sui made his move.

Seeing him move, Jiang Nianxing parted his lips slightly and followed with a frown.

Yu Sui grew even more certain of his suspicions.

The mild-mannered elder extended his hand, waiting for the person he wished to see.

Yet the one who emerged was a complete stranger.

Zuo Meng raised an eyebrow, his smile unwavering.

Finally, Lu Jinxia arrived.

“Jinxia,” he greeted warmly, as if reuniting with an old friend.

Lu Jinxia’s body went rigid. His already pallid face drained to the color of white paper.

He was trembling so violently that anyone could see it.

“What’s wrong with you?” the alpha named Lin Xiaoyi nearby asked in confusion, stepping forward to steady him.

Lu Jinxia instinctively backed away, dodging the touch.

The audience interpreted his reaction as disdain for the newcomer, and a barrage of curses flooded the chat.

Of course, some more level-headed viewers noticed that something was seriously off with him.

[Why is Lu Jinxia sweating so much? Is he feeling unwell?]

[It looks like he’s having some kind of episode…]

Lin Xiaoyi didn’t get upset at the rejection. He continued to ask gently if Lu Jinxia needed to see a doctor.

“Yes, if you’re not feeling well, you should get checked out,” Zuo Meng said with concern, starting to move closer.

Yu Sui could tell there was more to their relationship than met the eye. He had been the first off the vehicle, had exchanged greetings, and then stood aside waiting for his teammates—so he knew Lu Jinxia’s dire state was tied to this man.

Could it be that his alpha-phobia was connected to Zuo Meng?

Yu Sui glanced at the other teammates. They were all out of sorts, showing no interest in helping the unwell Lu Jinxia. He frowned faintly. This wasn’t boding well.

Lu Jinxia wanted to say he was fine, but he found even opening his mouth a struggle.

It was over.

His heart sank. They were still live-streaming, and the company was surely monitoring it. If they discovered his symptoms, the consequences awaiting him would be…

His mind turned to chaos. His vision darkened, and his steps faltered.

“Lu Jinxia, are you alright?” Yu Sui saw that Shen Anliu hadn’t reacted at all, so he stepped forward himself and grasped Lu Jinxia’s hand. He thanked Zuo Meng from across the way. “He’s just a bit carsick. He’ll recover after a short rest—no need to trouble you, senior.”

Zuo Meng looked surprised for a moment before nodding. “That’s good, then.”

Lu Jinxia’s body stiffened again. He widened his eyes, staring at Yu Sui’s hand.

He… he had just bailed him out?

His heart pounded fiercely. Lu Jinxia caught the faint, refreshing scent on Yu Sui and felt a little better. He leaned in closer and closer until he finally slumped against Yu Sui’s shoulder, taking deep, greedy breaths.