The Rivalry of Alphas

The moment he spoke, the surroundings fell deathly silent.

The boy standing in front of Li Chen was a good half-head taller than him. His school uniform jacket was tied loosely around his waist, and the white short-sleeved shirt underneath revealed the defined muscles of his arms. His thin lips beneath a high bridge of his nose were pressed tight, and a pair of deep green eyes swept over the crowd.

Li Chen’s eyes widened as he stared at the back of the boy’s head, frozen for several seconds.

“Who’s that?” “No idea.” “Coming out here to play the hero, how hilarious.” “…”

In the stagnant air, fragments of mockery began to surface one by one.

The boy arched an eyebrow and let out a cold snort. “Not convinced? If anyone dares to lay another hand…”

He paused, reached out, and snatched up a nearby broom. With a sharp crack, the hard wooden handle was snapped in two by his bare hand.

Combined with the boy’s aura as a top-tier Alpha, the pheromones occasionally saturating the air had already frightened off several ordinary Alphas. Only the Betas remained, staring dumbfounded at the two pieces of the broken broom in his hands.

The boy tossed the wood aside and spoke flatly: “—If you aren’t afraid to die, you can try me.”

The group that had been bullying Li Chen swallowed hard. They whispered to one another, retreated a few steps, and then quickly fled the scene.

Shi Ji stood at a distance, watching silently. The principal beside him breathed a private sigh of relief. Even though he knew Shi Ji disliked Li Chen, he didn’t dare allow him to be bullied in front of Shi Ji’s face. After all, no matter what, Li Chen was Shi Ji’s brother; otherwise, it would be seen as a direct insult to Shi Ji himself.

He had worked far too hard to climb to this position and had no desire to be dragged down so soon.

The principal glanced at Shi Ji’s expression and spoke tentatively: “Mr. Shi, please don’t misunderstand. The children were just playing around.”

Shi Ji turned his head to look at the principal, his gaze unfriendly. The sweat the principal had just wiped away began to bead up again.

“…The student in front of Li Chen is a freshman who transferred in last week named Jiang Mo.” He forced a change of subject, his eyes darting around, never daring to meet Shi Ji’s. “The young master of the Jiang family—Mr. Shi must have heard of him.”

Only then did Shi Ji shift his gaze, turning back to the two at the restroom entrance.

The distance was a bit far, so he couldn’t hear what Li Chen and Jiang Mo were saying. From his angle, he could see the slight curve at the corner of Jiang Mo’s lips.

It seems the two leads are developing quite smoothly.

Shi Ji squinted, almost imagining a pink romance progress bar over Li Chen and Jiang Mo’s heads, shooting upward.

“Yes, I know of him,” Shi Ji answered nonchalantly. He didn’t realize his tone carried a hint of cheerfulness, leading the principal to believe that Jiang Mo must be a very important figure for even Shi Ji to recognize and seemingly appreciate him.

While the principal plotted how to suck up to Jiang Mo, he rubbed his hands together and continued, “Student Jiang Mo is upright and chivalrous; he’s truly a rare talent.”

Shi Ji had no time for the principal’s flattery. He watched the pair intently, feeling as though he were witnessing a beautiful future where the plot was successful, the leads’ feelings were blossoming, and he was reaching a “Happy Ending.”

Just as Shi Ji began to fantasize about completing his mission and returning to reality, Jiang Mo suddenly bent down to pick something up from the ground. Immediately, Li Chen’s emotions flared. Amidst the muffled sounds, Shi Ji only caught fragments like “give,” “hit,” and “fast.”

He watched as Li Chen and Jiang Mo’s lips moved faster and faster. Shi Ji tilted his head, trying to hear what they were arguing about.

Unfortunately, he heard nothing.

Suddenly! Li Chen stood on his tiptoes and reached out his arms, nearly lunging into Jiang Mo’s embrace.

Shi Ji was shocked. Is this the chemistry between leads? Hugging and holding after only a few minutes!

Then, Jiang Mo tilted his body, a smile still on his face.

Shi Ji felt gratified. Excellent. Flirtatious bickering is the beginning of love.

His facial expressions were vivid. The principal beside him watched, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

Shi Ji’s vision was filled with the “friendly” scene of the two leads surrounded by pink bubbles: Li Chen lunged toward Jiang Mo, Jiang Mo caught him steadily, and just as he was about to reach out to affectionately pinch the Omega’s cheek—

—Li Chen unexpectedly raised his hand and punched Jiang Mo squarely in the face.

Shi Ji: ! Principal: !!

Wait, no. What’s going on?

Shi Ji blinked rapidly, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Where’s the flirting?! Where are the pink bubbles?! Where’s the romantic interaction?!

Because of Li Chen’s punch, Shi Ji watched as the progress bar that was supposed to grow reset all the way back to zero.

Jiang Mo crouched on the ground, clutching his face. Li Chen, the Omega, looked down at him from a height. Just as he was about to raise his leg to kick the boy, the principal beside Shi Ji finally couldn’t stand it anymore. He trotted over, his large belly wobbling slightly.

“STOP!!”

Li Chen’s raised foot froze in mid-air. He turned his head expressionlessly to look at the rushing principal, then shifted his gaze to Shi Ji standing behind the man.

His tense expression suddenly softened a fraction.

“This is a school! How can you bully a classmate so openly?!” The principal panted, pointing a finger at Li Chen. Li Chen lowered his leg and ignored him completely, his eyes fixed squarely on Shi Ji.

Shi Ji lifted his gaze, meeting Li Chen’s eyes. Those misty-blue eyes were slightly clouded with moisture, and damp strands of hair clung to his cheeks—he looked like a sodden puppy.

His gaze was naked and direct, clearly questioning: Why are you here?

Shi Ji felt guilty under that stare and averted his eyes, only to see the tall, large “Protagonist Alpha” Jiang Mo looking pitifully at the ground with an eyelid swollen to the size of a fist. Shi Ji couldn’t help but walk over to stand before Li Chen, frowning as he looked at him.

‘Kid.’ ‘Are you really hitting your future husband?’

‘Do you realize that this one punch just destroyed two people’s futures!’

Li Chen watched Shi Ji making faces: ?

“Apologize! You must apologize!” The principal’s suddenly raised voice startled both Shi Ji and Li Chen. He stood with his hands behind his back, chin held high with arrogance.

He didn’t dare offend Jiang Mo, but Li Chen was different. He knew Shi Ji couldn’t stand Li Chen, so he figured he’d take the chance to scold the boy. The principal was certain in his heart that Shi Ji would never help Li Chen.

To his surprise, Shi Ji turned and looked at him.

The young man in his early twenties had a gaze that was exceptionally chilling. A single look made the principal feel as though he were frozen in place by frost, and a sense of unease rose in his heart.

In the next second, Shi Ji blinked slowly and parted his thin lips: “It seems I’ll have to stay here for a while.”

His words were vague, but the principal understood the implication. He shuddered, swallowed hard, and tried to struggle: “We… we can handle the bullying. There’s no need to trouble Mr. Shi.”

“Trouble?” Shi Ji asked. “It’s no problem. It just so happens I can see for myself how my brother bullies people at school.”

As he finished speaking, he narrowed his eyes slightly and moved his gaze back to Li Chen.

The principal stammered for a while, eventually unable to say anything else. He agreed to the arrangement and quickly made an excuse about preparing a place for Shi Ji to stay before fleeing the scene.

Only the three of them remained at the restroom entrance.

Shi Ji stared at Li Chen, and Li Chen stared at Shi Ji. Neither of them took the initiative to speak, and a bizarre silence hung over them.

It wasn’t until Jiang Mo, who had been ignored by the two of them, rubbed his eye and let out a hiss of pain that the silence was broken. “Um—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Li Chen turned abruptly, reached out a hand, and said with a face full of anger: “Give it back.”

Jiang Mo froze, then handed the photograph back to Li Chen.

Li Chen took it and put it in his pocket. Shi Ji watched them, then gave Jiang Mo a look of admiration.

‘You actually dared to snatch Li Chen’s photo.’ ‘Kid… you must have a death wish.’

Recalling how Li Chen had snatched the photo from his own hands, Shi Ji felt a phantom pain in the back of his head. He glanced at Li Chen and said neither heavily nor lightly: “You hit someone?”

“He grabbed my things first,” Li Chen replied without changing his expression. The feeling of wet clothes clinging to his skin was uncomfortable. As a cold breeze blew by, he instinctively shivered.

Shi Ji’s reflex was to take off his jacket, but Jiang Mo was much faster. He quickly untied the uniform from his waist and draped it over Li Chen’s shoulders.

Li Chen frowned and gave Jiang Mo a strange look.

“No need for thanks,” Jiang Mo’s swollen eyelid combined with his expressive face made him look particularly comical. “We’ll settle the score for that punch later, but the prerequisite is that you don’t catch a cold.”

Whoa. Shi Ji marveled internally.

As expected of the protagonist Alpha. So thoughtful. You deserve a wife!

He was finding Jiang Mo more and more likable by the second.

An involuntary smile appeared on Shi Ji’s face. He didn’t notice the surprise flickering in Li Chen’s eyes. Li Chen stared at the curve of Shi Ji’s lips; he had never expected this man to smile, let alone at a total stranger Alpha.

‘He hasn’t even smiled at me.’

With a light slap, Li Chen snapped Shi Ji back to reality. He had thrown Jiang Mo’s jacket back, looking as if he were avoiding a plague.

“I don’t need it,” he said sharply. “Thanks.”

Faced with the rejection, Jiang Mo rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. Just as he was about to say something to save face, he sniffed the air, caught something, and then frowned as he walked toward Shi Ji.

He approached Shi Ji, leaning down slightly to catch the scent. Jiang Mo’s pupils shrank, and he asked in astonishment: “Are you an Omega?”

Jiang Mo’s single sentence nearly left both of them unable to react. Shi Ji tilted his head in confusion and raised his sleeve to sniff it.

He couldn’t smell anything, but from Jiang Mo’s expression, there was definitely something.

Shi Ji thought for a few seconds and was about to answer, but Li Chen silently pulled him back, squeezing himself between Shi Ji and Jiang Mo to separate them.

Then, Li Chen looked up at Jiang Mo and said with a hint of hostility: “…The scent on him belongs to me.”