He is not my Alpha! - Chapter 28
Li Yiqin rushed back to her dorm and immediately opened her phone. She saw the first message sent by Senior Shang Yan, whom she had just added.
Shang Ten-Year-Old: I’m sorry, we are not a couple.
As the number one CP fan leader, the first person to ship them when they were newly assigned to the same class, the one whose meticulously built post on the forum was taken down, and the one who was temporarily denied by the main subjects themselves—
She simply responded: So what!
Being in the same class is destiny, the banned forum post can be reopened, and not being a couple now doesn’t mean they won’t be one in the future!!! Anything is possible!!!
Ji Yifei returned to the dorm with a flushed face. Two of his roommates were huddled together discussing the handsome guy they had added today, while Chen Ken sat at his desk organizing things.
Ji Yifei went to wash up. The question, “Are we a couple?” still echoed in his mind.
He felt his scent gland throbbing slightly again…
The next day, everyone’s mood was noticeably higher. If yesterday’s competitive events were about passion, today’s fun events were about “bromance,” according to an unknown female student’s assessment.
The three-legged race was arguably the most anticipated event for the girls in Class 1. When the girls saw the group list, their hearts were already boiling!
Shang Yan and Ji Yifei! Wei Zhiheng and Wen Xinxin!
The two most popular pairings in the class were going to participate in this event, with their ankles tied together, close contact, and the need to even synchronize their breathing to maintain consistency!
The athletes on the field had no idea what the people below were thinking. Wen Xinxin was so overwhelmed by the crowd that he nearly forgot how to breathe.
Yesterday, watching others compete from the stands, there weren’t so many spectators. Why did the crowd grow so large here? His heart was pounding non-stop, and he could only look down and pick at his fingers.
The Alpha next to him sensed the faint pheromones. Although he knew only he could smell them, he couldn’t help but frown.
Sure enough, the person next to him was looking down, picking at his hands. He had no choice but to reach out and separate the intertwined hands.
“If you pick at them again, you’ll eat an extra bowl of rice tonight.” He didn’t even look, but one sentence made the person next to him stop.
Ji Yifei, on the other hand, was full of excitement and passion. He had practiced with Shang Yan day and night for so long, and today was the perfect opportunity to prove themselves!
Ji Yifei patted Shang Yan’s shoulder and told him “Go for it.” Shang Yan nodded in response.
This scene was noticed by a person standing in the corner, who quietly recorded everything with a phone.
The competition began, and everyone took their positions. Ji Yifei confirmed the stepping sequence with Shang Yan one more time: “Left foot first, then right foot, right?”
“Right.” Shang Yan’s confirmation came out with the sound of the starting pistol. The two put their arms over each other’s shoulders and took large strides forward, just like every practice session.
“Holy crap, Brother Ji, those two are cheating! At that speed, even if I take a screenshot, only God Shang’s face is clear and handsome, everything else is a blur!” The boys in Class 1 enthusiastically praised their speed.
“Ah ah ah ah… Sister, do you feel it too?” A pair of girls in the corner asked.
“I feel it! I feel it! Here I come, forum~”
Ji Yifei and Shang Yan unquestionably took first place in the first group, followed closely by Zhou Tian and Li Jiang. Wei Zhiheng and Wen Xinxin’s speed wasn’t slow either, with the three pairs practically scrambling for the lead.
The rest was determined by watching the other groups and comparing the total time taken.
Ji Yifei was so excited he almost jumped onto Shang Yan, but considering the crowd, he finally put his hands on the Alpha’s shoulders and constantly shook Shang Yan’s upper body to express his excitement.
“Ah ah ah ah ah ah, we are first, first, first!” Ji Yifei shouted out his inner joy.
The Alpha narrowed his eyes, smiling as he looked at the person in front of him, and replied, “Yes, we are first.”
Shang Yan’s inner thought at that moment was to hold the Omega in his arms, to have him close, sharing the joy against his ear.
The final results came down, and Ji Yifei and Shang Yan fortunately secured the first place.
As the two stood on the podium, holding the trophy together for a picture, Ji Yifei said, “Although I won other awards these past two days, this one makes me the happiest.”
Shang Yan turned slightly, looking at the person holding the trophy with him, and replied, “Me too.”
The soda hidden in his heart was already spewing out the Mentos thrown in. The feelings he wanted to hide were on the verge of breaking through his resistance.
The campus forum had already exploded at this moment.
[Floor 1] Ah ah ah ah, I’m going crazy shipping them! Our Campus Heartthrob Shang and School Bully Ji are too perfect!!!
[Floor 2] Agree, agree! I’ve been shipping them since the start of the semester. Although there was only a little interaction before, there’s been so much interaction since the start of this semester!!!
[Floor 3] School anniversary performance, sports meet events—one time is a coincidence, twice, and I know what’s going on!
…
[Floor 10] Ah ah ah ah, I’ll eat up the Campus Heartthrob x School Bully trope for a lifetime, okay?
[Floor 11] Sister above, I support you!
…
[Floor 26] Pure passerby here. I’ve always had a question I wasn’t sure if I should ask: why is Ji Yifei called the School Bully?
[Floor 27] The one above doesn’t know about the School Bully 1v10 incident? If the post hadn’t been deleted, I would guide you to it.
…
[Floor 32] To be honest, I never understood. If he’s really as impressive as you all say, why doesn’t he have a demerit? Now he’s even exposed for dating early. What is the dean doing all day?
[Floor 33] Hehe, the one above doesn’t know. Our “School Bully’s” family background is actually quite good; he has some power behind him.
[Floor 34] I can vouch for this. To be frank, a friend of mine was his middle school classmate. I can only say, don’t be fooled by appearances~
[Floor 35] Can the one above elaborate ^-^?
…
[Floor 45] A genuine middle school classmate here. All I can say is that skipping classes, smoking, and drinking—he did it all. A complete ‘delinquent.’ Then, in the second half of ninth grade, for some unknown reason, he suddenly adopted the good student persona. Now he’s in high school, occupying the good student spot, and is even respectfully called the School Bully. Unbelievable.
[Floor 46] To be honest, why is an Omega so arrogant? The title of School Bully should belong to an Alpha.
[Floor 47] The one above, keep the discussion civil. Don’t constantly create AO conflicts.
…
[Floor 58] Everyone, please don’t derail the topic… The OP is just a CP shipper. No personal attacks, please. I’m scared. Deleting the post and running away.
When Shang Yan saw the screenshot of this post, it was already evening after the sports meet had ended and everyone was dismissed to go home.
Although the post was deleted, the discussion grew higher and higher, and many people had already started digging up Ji Yifei’s middle school history under various pretexts.
Language is an invisible yet sharp knife, and the sound of discussion is the direction it points.
It was already too late to delete the post. Shang Yan understood this better than anyone, but seeing this group of people attacking Ji Yifei, he felt distressed. The people who initially tried to speak up for Ji Yifei were eventually drowned out by the noise.
Although it is said that rumors stop with the wise, how many wise people are there in the world?
The matter continued to ferment in an increasingly unfavorable direction, eventually turning into “early dating,” “smoking,” “faking a good student persona,” and “falsifying grades.”
Shang Yan didn’t know if Ji Yifei had seen the forum, but he was already trying his best to hire internet trolls to defend Ji Yifei. Public opinion always follows the trend, and people easily switch sides.
But he overlooked human jealousy.
[Floor 79] Some people shouldn’t be so jealous of others, okay?
[Floor 80] I really don’t understand. Why are so many people defending that Ji Yifei, a pretty boy? Are all those defending him trying to sugar baby him?
[Floor 81] Don’t get me wrong, looking at his small face, I actually feel something. And he’s an Omega, perfect.
[Floor 82] The one above making vulgar jokes, get out. Be careful, I’ll report you to the Omega Association.
[Floor 83] Go ahead.
…
Behind the network, everyone wears an opaque mask, always feeling that their anonymous posts won’t affect others. A light sentence is enough to make the victim of the rumor more despised by others.
At this moment, Ji Yifei was also forced by Li Jiang to check the forum and saw a group of people discussing him.
Li Jiang created a group on WeChat, adding Zhou Tian, Han Dongjun, and Shang Yan.
The group name was: Ji Bully Protection Association.
Everyone inside was discussing what to do. The anxiety of Han Dongjun and Li Jiang could be felt by Ji Yifei even through the screen.
Ji Yifei: Actually, I don’t care too much. Let these people say what they want. Rumors stop with the wise.
Ji Yifei had only briefly skimmed the posts, seeing only discussions about whether he deserved to be the School Bully. To be honest, Ji Yifei was indifferent to the title of “School Bully,” only feeling it was quite cool when others called him that.
Li Jiang sent a pile of screenshots in the group, cursing why people posted anonymously. Why couldn’t they use their real names!
Ji Yifei opened these pictures, and the hand holding the phone trembled.
“Just an Omega who has to kneel when smelling Alpha pheromones every day. Ji Yifei, I’m an Alpha, come seduce me.”
“Mom and Dad, I don’t want to work hard anymore. Can you help me fake my grades if I write whatever I want on the test?”
“So what if I was rebellious, smoking, drinking, and skipping classes? I changed my face for high school, and no one remembers.”
…
Ji Yifei hadn’t expected these words to be typed out by hands that had a warmth to them. Ji Yifei remembered not having offended anyone at school. How did things escalate to this point?
Ji Yifei panicked and asked in the group: Can I post a clarification?
Li Jiang: Now is the peak of public opinion. Posting a clarification would only add fuel to the fire.
Han Dongjun: I want to contact the administrator to delete the posts, but the more they are deleted, the higher people’s emotions become.
Ji Yifei knew these people couldn’t be caught; the posts were anonymous.
Li Jiang: But School Bully Ji, although I consider myself your brother and understand you very well, were you really that wild in middle school?
Li Jiang’s message made Han Dongjun, who was discussing solutions in the group, stop messaging. Zhou Tian, who occasionally sent a couple of messages, also fell silent.
The color drained from Ji Yifei’s face. No one knew better than himself what he was like back then.
But if he told them, how would they see him? As a little boy who was just temporarily rebellious and made mistakes, or as a delinquent rotten to the core?
Ji Yifei: The situation is a bit complicated.
Ji Yifei could only try to stabilize the situation first.
Li Jiang: If the situation is complicated, let’s meet and explain. We’ll meet at the entrance of Ji Yifei’s residential area at 6 PM. Any objections, except for Zhou Tian who has class?
Han Dongjun: No problem.
Shang Yan: No problem.
Ji Yifei: No problem.
He typed “No problem” on the keyboard, but was it really no problem? How was he supposed to explain when they arrived?
Ji Yifei instantly felt saddened and downcast. He looked at the weather outside. The sun that was hanging high in the morning was now covered by a thick blanket of dark clouds, making it impossible to see through.
A lump welled up in his throat, forcing him to swallow.
His parents weren’t home today. It was one hour until 6 PM. What would he say during this hour?
The vibration of his phone interrupted his thoughts. It was a call from Zou Duquan. Ji Yifei answered and was met with a long string of sincere “greetings.”
“I saw the forum in your school. What do you mean by ‘delinquent’? Damn it, when I took you out to hang, you didn’t smoke a single cigarette or drink any alcohol. You just stood there watching when we played pool.”
The angry voice on the other end made Ji Yifei’s slightly sad heart tremble.
“Damn it, when did you hit a teacher? Why didn’t I know? Damn it, hundreds of middle school classmates popped up, and they all knew you? Dare to send me their real names so I can check?”
“Holy crap, awesome, awesome. And ‘forcing’ an Omega? Damn it, you’re an Omega yourself, how do you force others? Is it OO dating? I haven’t seen someone so brazen in years.”
“Ji Yifei, damn it, say something.” The person on the other end was also furious, wishing he could leap through the phone and beat him up.
“Come down to my house at 6 PM and join my current classmates to discuss it,” Ji Yifei calmly replied.
“Oh.” The other end was silent for a moment. Just as Ji Yifei was about to hang up, the person spoke again: “You still haven’t told me where you moved to.”
A wave of sourness rushed up Ji Yifei’s nose. He forced an awkward smile and quickly replied, “I’ll send it on WeChat.” He hung up the phone.
Zou Duquan looked at the disconnected call in his hand, then looked up at the person who had been standing beside him: “Heard enough?”
The person next to him didn’t answer, only swirled the red wine glass in his hand.
“I’m leaving.” Zou Duquan couldn’t be bothered to talk nonsense with him. He snatched the tightly hidden leather jacket from his hand and left without looking back.
After hanging up with Zou Duquan, Ji Yifei held his phone tightly in silence. He always knew that Zou Duquan had nothing to do with what happened back then, but he had hurt a genuine friend who treated him sincerely.
His phone vibrated again. He picked it up and saw it was Shang Yan calling.
“Hello?” After the call connected, both spoke the word almost simultaneously.
A light laugh seemed to come from the other end. Shang Yan asked, “Are you upset?”
Ji Yifei replied in a joking tone, “What’s there to be upset about? I don’t bother with idiots.”
There was no reply from the other end. Ji Yifei then teased, “I was talking about myself, not you. Don’t wrongly assume I’m upset.”
This time, the person on the opposite end spoke without further delay: “If you’ve thought it through, you can tell me. I will believe you no matter what.”
It was that phrase again: “I will believe you.”
Ji Yifei thought, Does Shang Yan even know how heavy the burden of those four words is?