Late August marked the start of the semester for universities across Sea City, turning the University Town area into a nightmare of traffic jams.
Qiu Sui sat in the back seat of the ride-share car heading to University A, his motion-sick twin brother Qiu Shun wearing a hat and mask as he leaned his aching head on Qiu Sui’s shoulder, pretending to nap. The Omega Pheromone Blocker Patch on the back of Qiu Shun’s neck peeked out slightly from the motion.
The driver was quite the talker. He’d been chatting enthusiastically with them since picking them up from the hotel, and out of politeness, Qiu Sui responded now and then to keep the conversation from dying.
The driver rambled from universities to Sea City attractions, then to everyday trivia. While waiting at a red light, he glanced into the rearview mirror.
Catching sight of their intimate posture and the exposed Pheromone Barrier Patch, he subconsciously pegged the pair of young guys as a fresh couple heading to college. He turned his head with a chuckling grin toward Qiu Sui. “You dropping off your boyfriend for school, or are you both studying at University A?”
Qiu Sui wore a baseball cap matching Qiu Shun’s. Without a mask, his fresh-faced, handsome features were half-visible in the mirror.
His lips had been pressed flat indifferently, but at the question, they twitched. Used to such mix-ups, he spoke up to clarify, “We’re not a couple.”
The driver’s smile froze awkwardly. Floundering for a save, he said, “Good friends, huh? Haha, sorry about that, my bad.”
Qiu Sui didn’t correct him again and didn’t blame the driver for the mistake.
He and Qiu Shun were fraternal twins with independent genetics, so their secondary gender differentiation, builds, and even looks differed greatly.
Qiu Shun was an S-Rank Omega, slimmer than average, his height stalling at 177 cm. His features leaned soft and delicate.
Qiu Sui, on the other hand, had differentiated as a Beta at seventeen. He took after their Alpha father—sharp, defined facial lines, deep brows, thin lips. Only his eyes inherited their Omega mother’s round, upturned peach blossom shape, softening the fierce edge of his features.
Qiu Sui was well-built from staying home reading novels or playing basketball with friends, plus weekend jiu-jitsu sessions at the club. At 184 cm with lean muscle, he resembled many ordinary Alphas. When out with Qiu Shun, rude Alphas often mistook him for Qiu Shun’s partner and tested him with Pheromones.
But unable to sense Pheromones, Qiu Sui never felt the pressure. He often met those aggressive ordinary Alphas with casual disdain.
So when the two leaned close like that—especially in matching baseball caps—it totally looked like your standard AO couple. The driver, a Beta who couldn’t smell Pheromones either, had pegged Qiu Sui as an Alpha. Totally normal.
The light turned green, and the driver hit the gas again.
After that awkward slip, he finally shut up. The brothers’ ears got some peace.
Qiu Sui steadied his brother’s bobbing head with one hand while checking the ETA on his phone with the other.
With about seven or eight minutes left to University A’s East Gate, he pulled up WeChat and messaged his buddy Qiao Keren, who’d already checked in at University A that morning.
The reply came instantly: Got fruit tea, waiting for you guys at the East Gate!
Qiu Sui smiled and sent back a happy emoji. As he exited WeChat, his thumb paused at the messaging app in the dock, its badge showing 99+.
He tilted his head carefully to confirm Qiu Shun was still asleep with eyes closed, then tapped it open.
Besides a few carrier notifications, the other ninety-odd texts were all from a virtual number. Qiu Sui had cleared them out before bed last night, but overnight, they’d filled up again.
Used to it by now, he swiped over the number, meaning to mass-delete—until the driver’s sudden brake jolted him, and he accidentally tapped in. His eyelid twitched as he read the content.
0: Darling, headed out yet?
0: When are you coming to school? Can’t wait to see you. Can I wait for you at the gate?
0: [Picture]
0: This your dorm, right? Too crowded at the gate—better to wait here for you?
0: You’re on your way to school now, aren’t you?
0: Finally meeting again. So excited. Will you recognize me at first sight?
Qiu Sui hadn’t opened this one-sided harassment number in ages.
He had no idea who it was from, only that it was an Alpha.
It had started in his sophomore year, relentless texts. At first, Qiu Sui thought it was a prank from friends. When it got weird, he blocked it quick.
No dice. They switched numbers and kept coming—sometimes normal stuff, sometimes nonsense. They even knew details about his life.
Qiu Sui figured it was some real-life coward who lacked the guts to approach him, getting off on this instead.
He got paranoid for a while, watching friends and classmates closely amid baffled stares, then gave up.
In the summer after sophomore year, he changed numbers. No escape—the new one got found too.
Only family knew the new number; he hadn’t even told Qiao Keren yet.
Terror set in. He probed with messages to flush them out. Got chaos in return.
Qiu Sui quit trying blocks or replies. After the college entrance exams, he took his screenshot archive to the cops.
Society brushes off Betas. This prank-like harassment barely registers.
Betas are average across the board—no Pheromones, can’t sense them. No Alpha strength or leadership, no Omega allure or fertility. The world’s plainest, least charismatic group.
Cops often laughed at Beta harassment reports.
Plus, no real harm from texts—cheap, hard to trace. Usually empty threats. Even if caught, it’s a slap on the wrist: detention, record.
The station took the report but warned slim odds. Qiu Sui waited over two weeks, left disappointed. Routine: clear texts, ignore.
Now, accidentally opening it sobered him. Brow furrowing warily.
They were at University A too?
Few from Stream City made it to University A—Qiu Sui could count them on one hand. Narrow to secondary genders, even clearer. But he’d never crossed paths with those two Alphas.
If anything, just names on a post-exam Stream City public account list. He didn’t even know what they looked like.
Still, he pondered suspiciously. Couldn’t rule out them sneaking in for opening day.
The texts mentioned meeting. Qiu Sui stared at the screen, instantly on high alert.
Finally catching them?
Emotions surging, he gripped his fingers tight—rarely leaving the texts uncleared.
He’d just closed the app and pocketed his phone when Qiu Shun stirred beside him, head tilted, scrolling short videos.
Qiu Sui’s heart skipped. Did he see? Tense, he asked, “Awake already?”
Qiu Shun’s eyes stayed down on the glowing screen, voice weary. “Brake jolted me awake.”
Tone normal—no sign he’d noticed. Qiu Sui relaxed. “Almost there. Traffic’s bad on this stretch.”
The stop-start crawl stretched the final seven minutes to twenty. Qiao Keren spotted them under the sunshade, fruit teas in hand, as they wheeled their luggage over. He grimaced, holding up one finger. “Those seven minutes were pure Schrödinger’s.”
Qiu Sui had scanned warily since stepping out, but spotted no familiar faces besides Qiao Keren.
Texts weren’t gospel. Rationally, he looked away, took a tea from Qiao Keren, and thanked him with a shoulder squeeze. “Our Qiao Keren’s a real trooper.”
Qiao Keren played along, shrugging his other shoulder. Qiu Shun joined in, pinching too. Next second, the brothers synced up, pinching Qiao Keren’s neck—setting him off.
“Fuck! You two are asking for it!”
Qiao Keren was an Omega too, neck super sensitive. He clutched it, glaring like they’d groped him. Hilarious.
The trio had been tight since middle school, from an Olympiad training class. Qiu Shun later switched to bio, while Qiao Keren and Qiu Sui stuck with informatics Olympiads. Qiu Sui bombed provincials junior year; only Qiao Keren and Qiu Shun snagged University A recommendations.
Qiu Sui missed rec, but aced exams for a spot in the School of Computer Science’s info-computing science program.
Unlike Qiu Sui and Qiu Shun, who’d flown in from Stream City last night, Qiao Keren had toured Sea City early with family. They’d dropped him for check-in that morning before flying home.
Qiao Keren led them through the gate like a pro, heading for the shade. “Asked a senior earlier—Differentiation Research College’s freshman desk is opposite the School of Computer Science. CS is closer, and I know the way. Head there first?”
Qiu Sui and Qiu Shun traveled light—one suitcase each, planning to buy sundries on campus. Easy. No check needed. They nodded, one hand on luggage, sipping tea.
Qiao Keren was a chatterbox, but unlike the driver, he knew boundaries with his close buds—never offensive.
Qiu Shun shed his car silence, chiming in with his tea, watching Qiao Keren gesticulate wildly: huffing one sec, clapping excitedly the next.
“Oh yeah!” Fresh off griping about Sea City weirdos, Qiao Keren remembered something, phone aloft, whipping back excitedly. Topic swerve: “Get this! During freshman check-in this morning, I ran into the hottest S-Rank Alpha.”
Qiu Sui, who’d been side-eyeing for suspects, glanced at Qiao Keren’s phone. In half a day, the guy had added five Campus Wall apps.
“Parents were there, so no sneaky pic. But the confession wall’s got one.” Qiao Keren scrolled Campus Wall, gossiping. “Comments say his family’s in biopharma—makes most of our Suppressants, Suppressant Patches, Neck Rings, that stuff.”
He paused, tapped a photo, shoved the phone at them with a grin. “Check it out. Hot, right?”
“He was right next to me. Super tall, even wore a Pheromone Suppression Ring. So considerate.”
Higher-rank Alphas’ Pheromones pulled Omegas harder than ordinary ones. Drawback: fiercer Susceptible Periods. Over time, unpaired Alphas risked Pheromone loss from unmet needs.
For many Alphas, daily Suppression Rings or Pheromone Barrier Patches screamed weakness—like admitting they couldn’t control themselves, even if they sometimes couldn’t.
Truth was, those aids prevented public Susceptible flare-ups sparking Omega passive heats, or rogue Omega heats clouding Alpha reason into deadly attacks.
So Alphas who proactively wore Suppression Rings? Major charm points for Omegas. Especially a hot Top Alpha.
As a Beta, though, Qiu Sui felt zilch. He humored Qiao Keren, peering at the screen.
The Alpha in the photo propped up the paper with his palm as he wrote, his figure slightly tilted. The sneaky photographer must have snapped it from a low side angle, and even though it was a bit of a death shot, it still couldn’t conceal the stunning impact of his handsome face—especially those sharp brows and eyes. Even with his gaze lowered, they radiated an aggressive intensity that pierced straight to the heart.
This was the innate aura many high-level Alphas possessed.
Qiu Sui had to admit that this Alpha’s looks were indeed superior.
His heartbeat quickened from the surrounding heat, and he silently withdrew his gaze, meeting Qiao Keren’s eager stare. With brutal honesty, he said, “Good-looking.”
Having earned Qiu Sui’s approval, Qiao Keren turned those sparkling eyes toward Qiu Shun. After getting a nod from him too, he excitedly flipped through his phone to show them more photos. “Right? Right! He’s in the Computer Science Department too—might even run into him in class all the time.”
High-level Alphas were rare to begin with, and those with outstanding looks who also upheld excellent habits were even rarer. They were practically the perfect ideal type in the eyes of countless Omegas.
Qiu Shun stared at the photos, a strange feeling nagging at him that he couldn’t quite put into words. For once, he asked out of curiosity, “What’s his name?”
“Shen Zhixiao.”
Qiao Keren, who had been about to close his phone, blinked and spelled it out slowly, just in case they hadn’t caught it: “His name’s Shen Zhixiao.”
