The Boy Behind the Mosaic

People came and went around the dinner hall, all talking about the real bloodshed they had seen that afternoon.

Everyone knew that one of the twin heirs of the infamous mafia Vesey Family—the future godfather of the underground empire, one of the most renowned S-class Alphas of this era—Rhein Vesey had been rushed to emergency care by helicopter two years ago after an accident.

After overnight rescue efforts, his left eye was permanently damaged, and he has worn an eyepatch ever since.

Compared to his more low-key older brother Vigeta Vesey, Rhein had already earned himself the nickname “the one-eyed sheepdog” even before fully rising to power.

A sheepdog that herds sheep, yet was injured by a lamb.

How could that not count as a dramatic downfall in the otherwise untouchable youth of these golden-born, gun-in-hand twins?

No one knew what kind of twisted mindset the brothers had.

But everyone agreed on one thing—the video on Picline’s inner circle that revealed exactly how Rhein lost his eye could not possibly have been uploaded by anyone other than the twins themselves.

And afterward?

Where was that black-haired Beta in the video?

Was he still alive?

Those questions were enough to fuel an entire dinner’s worth of discussion.

Because the mosaic was so heavy, no one could even tell what ethnicity the fierce prey in the video was.

Someone insisted, “He’s Mexican. I heard he was a professional spy sent by the Morrigan family to deal with the twins.”

Another immediately cut in, “No way. People born like the Vesey twins would grow up with anti-scam awareness drilled into them like lullabies. How could they get fooled into losing an eye to some spy?”

Then they turned to Zhao Shu.

“Brother Shu, what do you think?”

“I didn’t watch it,” Zhao Shu replied.

He had only glanced at it briefly while standing in front of Wu Qie, and had zero interest in identifying anything through eight layers of mosaic.

“But Mexicans probably aren’t that pale.”

They turned to Pei Qingyu next.

Pei Qingyu was looking at his phone, lazily lifting his eyelids.

“I didn’t pay attention either.”

Everyone sighed at how boring the two top-tier Alphas were.

Then Zhao Shu suddenly said, “You’ve been using your phone a lot lately.”

Pei Qingyu glanced at him.

“You’re saying that as someone who just put his phone down three seconds ago?”

Zhao Shu had just been messaging Wu Qie about switching rooms after dinner.

“I have actual business. Not like you, glued to Picline all day.”

“Mm. Got it,” Pei Qingyu said. “Dad, speak properly. Don’t possess Zhao Shu and come down from him.”

That deadpan nonsense made the whole table burst into laughter.

People clearly loved his calm sarcasm.

Once they finished laughing, they went right back to discussing whether the person in the video was alive or dead.

“He’s dead! Definitely dead! With Rhein’s temper, there’s no way he let that person live!”

The boy shouted confidently.

Completely wrong.

—Because the person in the video was alive.

And at this very moment, in this very place, he was sitting at the table next to them, expressionless, sipping freshly squeezed orange juice through a straw.

Wu Qie.

His phone lit up beside him.

A message from “sssssss.”

【sssssss: I don’t understand what you’re talking about.】

Wu Qie directly blocked the account.

There was no need to continue that conversation anyway.

…

Halfway through dinner, Zhao Shu was called away by Sun Mi to discuss the results of the past two days’ physical tests and future training plans.

He was reluctant, but slightly comforted by the fact that Pei Qingyu was also called along.

People from the national youth team were paying attention to these two S-class Alphas, hoping they would shine a little longer in sports before taking over their family businesses.

Zhao Shu had learned his lesson from skipping out last time—

The result had been getting beaten black and blue and earning his first mild concussion.

So this time, before leaving, Zhao Shu carried his tray and sat down in front of Wu Qie.

Wu Qie kept his head down, poking at peas in his plate with his chopsticks.

Zhao Shu had to snap his fingers in front of him.

Wu Qie looked up calmly, like still water.

“I need to go to Sun Mi’s after dinner. Won’t take long. Wait for me. I’ll come back and we can switch rooms.”

“Okay,” Wu Qie said.

And that was it.

No reaction.

Zhao Shu fell silent.

Something felt off.

Wu Qie had been unusually quiet since dinner started, sitting at the next table without even greeting them.

Zhao Shu left, returning his tray.

Only after walking quite far did he realize—

He had taken the wrong phone.

His and Pei Qingyu’s phones were identical.

Same model, same color, no case.

And recently, Pei Qingyu had been using his phone more often.

It was easy to mix them up.

Zhao Shu sighed, unlocked the phone with Pei Qingyu’s passcode, planning to call his own number.

But the screen was already open—

A Picline chat interface.

With someone named 【W】, profile picture of a golden retriever.

Zhao Shu froze.

There might be countless golden retriever avatars.

But this one looked exactly like Wu Qie’s WeChat avatar.

And the name “W”…

There was even another account called “Hongtie Basketball Guidance W” in the list.

Unless he was an idiot, there was no way these weren’t the same person.

He scrolled up rapidly.

The chat history was long.

From NBA teams to cafeteria food to stray cats behind the mountain.

Wu Qie and Pei Qingyu had been talking about everything.

Right under his nose.

That comment on the mountain earlier—about something being in the locker—

Now it all made sense.

Zhao Shu leaned against the wall, breathing hard.

He was so angry his fists itched.

He had even thought earlier that maybe he was overreacting when he warned Pei Qingyu.

Now he wished he’d been more direct.

He should’ve punched him.

He turned on airplane mode and went into the restroom.

Sitting in a stall, he started reading every message carefully.

Halfway through, his emotions got complicated.

The anger faded.

Because he realized—

Wu Qie wasn’t talking to Pei Qingyu because he wanted to.

He thought he was talking to Zhao Shu.

Everything Wu Qie had said to him recently suddenly made sense.

Zhao Shu sighed.

He almost wanted to go back and grab Wu Qie by the ear and ask how they could possibly be this unfamiliar with each other—

How could he not recognize the difference in speaking style?

He skimmed faster.

Even amused at times.

When Pei Qingyu accused Wu Qie of being shallow, Zhao Shu almost whistled.

Typical—people only get defensive when they’re called out.

But then—

He reached the last message.

—Maybe I’m like that unlucky Beta in the video.
—Once hoping someone would reach out and save me.
—You just showed up at the right time.

Zhao Shu’s smile disappeared.

He suddenly remembered Wu Qie sitting quietly alone earlier.

That strange feeling came back.

The chatting wasn’t the point anymore.

The video was.

It had affected Wu Qie.

…

Why?

Zhao Shu couldn’t figure it out.

He left the stall, turned off airplane mode, and called his own phone.

They swapped phones ten minutes later.

“Did you read my phone?” Pei Qingyu asked calmly.

“Yeah,” Zhao Shu said lazily. “Those ‘Alpha loses completely’ conversations? Read them.”

Pei Qingyu didn’t react much.

“What did he mean by that last part?” Zhao Shu asked.

“If I understood, I wouldn’t have asked. And I wouldn’t have gotten blocked,” Pei Qingyu replied.

Zhao Shu patted his shoulder.

“Welcome to my world.”

…

Later, sitting in front of Sun Mi, Zhao Shu got scolded again for being late.

He barely listened.

His mind was elsewhere.

That line.

“You just showed up at the right time.”

Something clicked.

His phone moved under the table.

He searched the birth years of the Vesey twins.

They were the same age as Wu Qie.

Even attended the same private high school in the U.S.

His heart dropped.

The phone hit the table.

He stared blankly.

Wu Qie knew them.

And the Beta in the video—

Black hair.

Unknown ethnicity.

Not Mexican.

Zhao Shu couldn’t breathe.

“Coach, I need to go. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

He rushed out.

Then sent a message:

[Zhao Shu: Why did you leave the U.S. halfway through your studies?]

And immediately made a call.

“Brother… did you find out why Wu Qie came back early?”