In the crisp autumn air of October, the weather was gradually turning cooler. The leaves of the plane trees lining both sides of the street had begun to yellow and fall, and sanitation workers in orange uniforms swept up the fallen leaves with large brooms.
It was seven thirty in the morning.
Pedestrians on the street hurried along on their way, some heading to work, some to school.
Chen Si was among them. With his ordinary looks at best delicate and refined and his fair skin, he didn’t stand out in the crowd at all.
No one noticed him.
So when he boarded the bus, he found a corner, stood there quietly, put on his earphones, and watched his favorite variety show.
Until someone behind him bumped into him without warning.
His phone was jostled, and he nearly lost his grip on it.
Chen Si’s heart lurched, and he quickly clutched his phone. Only after confirming the phone was fine did he breathe a sigh of relief.
But he didn’t think of confronting the culprit.
With so many people on the bus, he was sure it hadn’t been intentional.
With that thought, Chen Si didn’t dare look at his phone anymore.
He gripped the handrail and stood firm.
But just as he straightened up, the person who had bumped into him pressed up against him like a shadow.
In the crowded bus, that person seemed to be glued to his body.
Chen Si froze, startled.
Only then did he realize something was wrong, and he tried to move forward to shake the person off.
But the person only pressed closer.
Something pressed against his buttocks, and the moment Chen Si realized what it was, his whole body went rigid. He didn’t dare move, terrified of touching anything else.
Panicking, he tried to flee forward.
To escape this mortifying situation.
But the moment he moved, the hand gripping the handrail was seized.
!
Not only that, the person behind him leaned fully against his body.
An unmistakable warmth pressed against him through the fabric.
Chen Si’s mind went completely blank.
Only then did he realize he was being sexually harassed.
Instantly, he felt a chill spread through his entire body.
He couldn’t help but say in a small voice: “I’m a Beta.”
The person said nothing, as if he hadn’t heard at all.
He just kept leaning against Chen Si.
Suddenly, the bus announcement rang out.
“City Hall. Passengers getting off, please exit through the rear door.”
The crowd on the bus began to stir.
Seeing his chance, Chen Si seized it, never mind that he still had several stops to go.
He bolted off the bus as if fleeing for his life.
He didn’t even feel the pain of the fare anymore, hailing a taxi to escape the place.
Even after arriving at the company, Chen Si still hadn’t recovered.
The image of that person kept replaying in his mind over and over, and he found himself spacing out, bothered by it.
Nearby, his coworkers were discussing the day’s gossip.
“Have you seen the news lately?”
“What happened?”
“That famous model, Pei Wen, he’s coming to shoot a fashion spread here, in the photo studio downstairs from our company.”
“Really? Is Pei Wen actually coming?” an Omega asked, face full of delighted disbelief.
The Omega beside her looked a little proud as she spoke about it.
“Of course it’s true. I got the news from my best friend, she works at that studio downstairs.”
“Then it must be true! Amazing! Maybe we’ll even get a chance to see Pei Wen in person!” the Omega said, practically swooning.
Speaking of Pei Wen, he was the hottest new star in the modeling world lately. Not only was he extremely good-looking, he was also a top-tier Alpha great family background, great looks, and single. There wasn’t an Omega who didn’t like him or didn’t want to marry him; even Alphas and Betas were no exception.
Because that face of his was truly universally devastating.
Even the media described him as a prince from the last century.
Long, flowing pale-golden hair, a beautiful face so androgynous it was hard to tell his gender, pale blue eyes as deep as if they held an ocean within them. He was also very tall, nearly 1.9 meters, like a towering mountain, radiating an oppressive presence.
Yet he was also elegant and gentlemanly, the smile at the corner of his mouth was just right, and the refinement hidden in the details couldn’t be faked.
That was why everyone loved him.
However, up until now, Pei Wen’s ideal type had never been made public online.
But everyone had already assumed he would surely end up with an Omega.
After all, only Alphas and Omegas were a match made in heaven, naturally drawn to each other.
Chen Si had been listless all day and had finally made it to quitting time.
He had packed up his things and was just about to leave work when a coworker stopped him.
“Chen Si, could you please do me a favor?” The Omega looked pleadingly at the unremarkable Beta before him, who was timidly hanging his head. Suppressing the disdain in her heart, she said pitifully, “I have somewhere to be later, but the supervisor needs this document tomorrow, and I really can’t finish it in time. Could you please help me out? I’ll treat you to a meal when I’m back, okay?”
“…Alright, sure.”
The words of refusal reached his lips, but he didn’t know how to say them.
Chen Si was silent for a moment, then agreed.
The Omega had known the Beta would agree, so she wasn’t surprised. With a smile and a word of thanks, she grabbed her bag and left the company, as if afraid Chen Si might change his mind.
Chen Si stood there without a word. Resigned, he sighed, carried the documents back to his desk, took his already-packed computer out of its bag, and obediently began processing and organizing the files.
Honestly, he was long used to this kind of thing.
As the most ordinary, lowest-tier Beta in society, Chen Si had lived like this his whole life.
Unremarkable looks, unremarkable work performance.
From childhood to now, it seemed he had always been this way.
No friends, no lover.
No one noticed him, as if he didn’t exist. People only paid attention to him when they needed a favor.
But that wasn’t such a bad thing after all, he was alone when he got home anyway.
Comforting himself with this thought, Chen Si managed a faint twitch of his lips.
He pushed up his glasses and focused on organizing the documents.
Sorting files wasn’t difficult, but some of the data was hard to track down, so it still took Chen Si a lot of time. He didn’t finish until he was the only one left in the company.
Everyone else had already gone home. Chen Si stood up, stretched, and glanced around. Seeing that he really was the only one left, he packed up his computer, turned off the lights, and left the company.
At this hour, the buses and subway had already stopped running. With no other choice, Chen Si could only take a taxi home.
The taxi could go no further than the intersection, so Chen Si grabbed his laptop bag and got out.
He then arrived at the narrow alley he had to pass through to get home.
Every time he walked through this alley, Chen Si’s heart would race, and with the streetlight broken recently, the last few times he’d passed through, he’d been especially nervous, always thinking back to the ghost movies he’d watched.
Especially today.
Perhaps it was the psychological shadow left by that man on the bus, but he kept feeling like someone was following behind him.
His heart pounded like a drum, and hearing what seemed like actual footsteps trailing behind him, Chen Si’s expression changed. He couldn’t help quickening his pace, wanting to run home as fast as he could.
But the moment he moved, the footsteps behind him drew closer.
They followed him like a shadow, one he couldn’t shake off no matter what.
Chen Si’s eyes were wide with terror, not daring to look back, as if afraid of seeing something horrifying. His steps quickened involuntarily, and just as he was about to reach the end of the alley, where the light was visible.
His expression relaxed a little.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind, grabbed him, turned him around, and pressed him against the wall.
The hand was well-defined, pale and cold. Chen Si’s heart lurched.
He thought he had really run into a ghost.
He trembled all over.
Not daring to open his eyes.
He thought, this time I’m really done for.
Suddenly, he felt something warm touch the back of his neck.
His whole body stiffened.
But the man behind him didn’t seem satisfied. His gleaming white teeth showed no less bright in the darkness, and the man’s sharp teeth pressed against the Beta’s underdeveloped Gland, touching it lightly, as if testing which spot was best to bite.
Chen Si’s mind went blank.
For some reason, he thought of the man on the bus.
Assuming this man had also mistaken him for an Omega, he couldn’t help stammering in a small voice.
“I… I’m a Beta.”
“I know.” The man chuckled softly, his low, husky voice utterly indifferent.
Chen Si was even more astonished.
He couldn’t understand why, knowing he was a Beta, the man would still do this.
Just as he was wondering.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck.
“Ah!”
Frowning from the pain, Chen Si bit his lip hard, trying his best not to make a sound, but the sudden pain still forced a cry out of him.
A Beta’s Gland is not fully developed. Biting it rashly, injecting Pheromones into it, would only bring them pain.
But Omegas are different. Marking them hurts too, but the pain is mild compared to the pleasure Marking brings, it’s barely noticeable.
That is the difference between Omegas and Betas.
And that is why Betas are unwilling to be with Alphas.
This instinctive urge in an Alpha to Mark their partner is pleasure to an Omega, but to a Beta, it is nothing but pain.
With his lips against Chen Si’s Gland, the man closed his eyes, and with lingering desire, pulled the person in his arms tighter. He licked his teeth, and feeling it wasn’t enough, wanted to give the poor Beta in his arms another Mark.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen.
The alpha, stung by pain, let go.
Seeing this chance, the Beta no longer held back. He grabbed his laptop bag and sprinted as fast as he could toward the place with lights and surveillance cameras.
Running at the fastest speed of his life.
Even after making it to his front door, fumbling with trembling hands to get the key in the lock, Chen Si was still shaken with lingering fear.
The bite mark on the back of his neck throbbed with a dull ache.
Chen Si opened the door and collapsed onto the floor.
Drenched in cold sweat, he looked as if he’d just been fished out of water, utterly wretched. His damp little curls hung in sparse strands over his black-framed glasses.
His mouth hung open as he gulped down air.
His heavy, ragged breathing was especially conspicuous in the silent room.
Chen Si leaned against the door, listening for sounds outside. Only after he could no longer hear footsteps did he feel as if he’d come back to life.
He took a deep breath, about to get up and take a shower.
But just as he was about to move, he noticed something: the empty flower pot he had left on the shoe cabinet before heading out had, at some point, been moved to the balcony and a rose bush had been planted in it.