“I heard our class is getting a transfer student this semester.”
“Really? Guy or girl? An Alpha or an Omega?”
“Could it not be a Beta?”
“If it’s a Beta, I’ll go die!”
At Gaoyang No. 2 Middle School, a few students in Class 2-1 gathered in a circle, chattering excitedly as they discussed the impending arrival of the transfer student.
“Hey, they’re here! Old Chen is leading the transfer student toward our classroom!” the lookout at the door yelled at the top of his lungs. In an instant, nearly every student in Class 2-1 snapped back into position, casually pretending to study intently at their desks.
“Ahem.” Chen Feng stepped onto the podium, and the room instantly fell silent. “Stop pretending.”
Realizing their ruse had been exposed, the students laughed awkwardly, though one brave soul called out, “Director Chen, I heard our class is getting a new classmate?”
Chen Feng was not only the homeroom teacher for Class 2-1, but also the head of the grade’s discipline department.
“You all already know, fine. Then let’s have the new classmate introduce himself.” Chen Feng gestured toward the door, and a boy in a white T-shirt walked in.
“Damn, so handsome!” For a second, the classroom that had been quiet enough to hear a pin drop erupted into chaos.
“So handsome! I hope he’s an Alpha; I’m going to chase him!”
“Keep dreaming in your spring and autumn fantasies.”
Before the transfer student had even officially spoken, the classroom was already in an uproar.
“Introduce yourself to everyone,” Chen Feng said.
“My name is Xu Changxing.” With just those five short words, everyone could already feel the transfer student’s aloof and unapproachable aura.
“That’s it? Say a little more,” Chen Feng prompted, patting Xu Changxing on the shoulder.
“That’s it,” Xu Changxing said calmly.
“Alright, then pick a seat. Let’s see where there’s still an empty one.” Chen Feng scanned the seating chart and found that there was one, and only one, empty seat left in the back row by the window. “You can sit there.”
With a wave of Chen Feng’s hand, everyone in the class watched with bated breath as Xu Changxing slowly walked all the way to the back row, drawing in a sharp gasp of cold air.
For no other reason than the fact that sitting right next to that empty seat was Dai Li, the campus bully of Gaoyang No. 2 Middle School.
Completely ignoring his deskmate, who was sleeping soundly facedown on the desk, Xu Changxing pulled out his chair and sat down.
Perhaps sensing the movement beside him, Dai Li slowly woke up and realized that someone had suddenly appeared on his right side out of nowhere.
“Damn, I must still be dreaming.” Muttering to himself, he slumped back down and fell right back asleep.
“Ahem, Dai Li!”
Hearing Chen Feng call his name, Dai Li reflexively jerked his upper body up. “Here!”
The surrounding students burst into suppressed laughter.
“Don’t bully your new deskmate. If I catch you, you know the consequences,” Chen Feng threatened with a smile.
“What new deskmate?” Dai Li narrowed his eyes and looked sideways, leaning so close to Xu Changxing that he was practically touching the side of Xu Changxing’s face. Then he grinned, leaned back, and finally woke up completely. “I must have too much time on my hands to go bully him for no reason,” Dai Li muttered with disgruntled laughter.
Xu Changxing sat quietly by himself without saying a word, quietly organizing his books and stationery.
“Since the new classmate is a bit shy, I’ll introduce him instead. Classmate Xu Changxing transferred to our class from Xilin No. 1 High School. His gender is Beta, and his grades are exceptionally good. I hope everyone will get along peacefully and unite as a class from now on. Tomorrow is the opening exam, so make sure you review thoroughly tonight.”
“What the hell?! A Beta?!”
“The sky has fallen! Someone who looks so devastatingly handsome turns out to be just a Beta?!”
“Hey you, weren’t you just going to go die?”
“So what if I was? I’m taking my words back.”
“I should probably worry about tomorrow’s opening exam instead.”
School gossip always swept through the campus like a gust of wind. By just noon, all of Gaoyang No. 2 Middle School was buzzing with rumors that Class 2-1 had welcomed a high-ridge flower who rivaled Pan An in looks, possessed a breathtaking beauty that could sink fish and drop geese from the sky.
Unfortunately, he was a Beta.
All the Alphas and Omegas thought so, but the Beta legions were far from happy about it.
What’s wrong with being a Beta?
Because they now had a top-tier handsome guy dripping with gossip value like Xu Changxing, the Betas couldn’t have felt more proud.
Of course, another rumor was circulating around campus: Xu Changxing, the popular transfer student of Class 2-1, was seated right next to the school bully, Dai Li.
Even so, this did nothing to dampen everyone’s curiosity and enthusiasm. Countless students from other classes crowded around the entrance of Class 2-1, all hoping to catch a breathtaking glimpse of him.
During the afternoon break.
“Darling.” A voice drifted into the doorway of Class 2-1.
Dai Li, who had been resting his head on his desk, instantly snapped his head up and shouted toward the doorway, “Get lost!”
“Come out, come out.” The person at the door beckoned with a hand, but Dai Li just turned his head and went right back to resting.
Seeing that Dai Li was ignoring him, the person at the door remained unfazed. “If you don’t come out, I’m going to broadcast your nickname to the entire school!”
“Damn it, are you insane?!” Anger surged up in Dai Li. Right beside him, Xu Changxing—who was busy working on a test paper—calmly spoke up, “Keep it down.”
“Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to boss me around?!” Dai Li was already irritable from having his sweet dream interrupted, and Xu Changxing’s commanding tone was like pouring oil on a fire.
Yet, despite being snapped at so unreasonably, Xu Changxing didn’t get angry at all. He stopped his pen and turned his head slightly. “And so?”
Whether it was because of that god-given, astonishingly handsome face or that baffling retort he didn’t know how to answer, Dai Li’s mind went completely blank for a second, trapping a stream of profanities in his throat.
Dai Li abruptly stood up, the legs of his chair scraping a harsh, grating sound across the floor, and strode angrily out of the classroom.
“Ma Tianqin, are you sick in the head?” Dai Li walked up to the person who had come looking for him, leaning against the window frame.
“Big Brother Dai, as the deskmate of a super hunk, let’s have a quick interview: how do you feel?” Ma Tianqin curled his hand into the shape of a microphone and shoved it right against Dai Li’s mouth.
“Boring. If you want to chase him, go chase him yourself.” Dai Li rolled his eyes.
“Seriously? I was thinking of leaving him to you,” Ma Tianqin chuckled slyly. “Isn’t this exact type your favorite?”
“You looking for a death wish?” Dai Li was almost amused to the point of anger.
“You really don’t like him? Then I guess I’ll go make a move.” Ma Tianqin raised an eyebrow.
“Since when do you, an Alpha, like Betas?” A smirk tugged at the corner of Dai Li’s mouth.
“Gender doesn’t matter; I’m a total simp for good looks.” Cupping his face in his hands, Ma Tianqin leaned forward to peer over at Xu Changxing, who was currently writing furiously away, completely oblivious.
“Ah, what a pity. The heavens gave him a soul-stealing face, but failed to give him a good secondary gender.”
“Shut your trap before you get swarmed and beaten by the Beta faction.” Dai Li frowned; he didn’t like passing judgment on any gender.
“Class is starting, get lost.” Hearing the warning bell ring, Dai Li turned around and headed back to his seat.
Perhaps moving a bit too abruptly, Dai Li accidentally knocked a notebook off the edge of Xu Changxing’s desk, causing a photo tucked inside the pages to flutter down right under Dai Li’s chair.
Dai Li bent down to pick up the photo, but it was snatched right out of his hand by Xu Changxing, who quickly tucked it back into the notebook.
“You could at least say thank you,” Dai Li muttered under his breath.
“Thank you.” Xu Changxing’s right hand tightly gripped the two fingers of his left hand, the two words practically squeezed out through his teeth.
Because in his rush to snatch the photo back, Xu Changxing hadn’t expected to brush against Dai Li’s hand.