Chapter 7: Day Seven of Pretending to be A

Chapter 7: Day 7 of Pretending to Be Alpha

Day 7 of Pretending to Be Alpha

When someone has a minor emotional upset, they need to be soothed.

But Chu Mo couldn’t soothe Xie Songchen.

The image of an overprotective alpha brother soothing his younger brother’s pursuer was too shocking for Chu Mo to even imagine.

Chu Mo wasn’t clear on the exact reason for Xie Songchen’s displeasure.

But upon careful consideration, it was probably because he had said that Xie Songchen wasn’t suited to be a secretary, undermining his capabilities, which had upset him.

“What, are you unhappy because I said you’re not suited to be a secretary?” Chu Mo looked at Xie Songchen and said with a blank expression, “Xie Songchen, can’t you handle such a minor setback?”

Xie Songchen looked at Chu Mo with an expressionless face, as if looking at a fool.

After a while, he said in a low voice, “Then, Mr. Chu, find someone who can handle it.”

This is trouble.

Now he has really angered the male lead.

The original work portrayed Xie Songchen as cold and aloof, causing Chu Mo to almost forget that at his age, he was just a male college student who hadn’t graduated yet.

The emotional stability of college students is very unstable.

Chu Mo took a deep breath and, after much deliberation, decided to console this male college student without ruining his persona.

“Even though you’ve been doing well at work recently, buying coffee that satisfies me, and handling documents well, can’t I say a few words to you?”

This was the most comforting thing Chu Mo could think of to say to Xie Songchen.

Any more and it would ruin his persona.

After saying this, Chu Mo looked at Xie Songchen, who remained unresponsive.

No way, this doesn’t work?

“Don’t you want to be my secretary?” Chu Mo continued to try to remedy the situation, deciding to use reverse psychology, “If you don’t dare to take on such a simple project, how can you be my secretary?”

Chu Mo didn’t even care about Xie Songchen’s position anymore; he just wanted the male lead to accept the task.

Xie Songchen still didn’t give Chu Mo a direct glance.

Chu Mo appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof.

His task was to make the male lead a successful figure within three months.

But now the male lead won’t even take the initial assignment!

This non-player character is almost ready to do the task himself.

“As long as you secure this deal,” Chu Mo took a deep breath, stared at Xie Songchen, and said word by word, “I will immediately have a tailored suit made for you.”

Xie Songchen’s hand, which was gathering his belongings, halted.

He glanced up at Chu Mo.

After a moment, he asked with a blank expression, "Really?"

Chu Mo feigned disdain and said, "Wearing such cheap suits to work every day, and perfectly matching my brother—it’s embarrassing to even mention."

In reality, he kept his eyes on Xie Songchen, nervous that Xie Songchen might refuse.

Xie Songchen didn’t take offense at Chu Mo's disdain.

"Project materials," Xie Songchen said calmly, setting down what he was holding. "Send them to my email."

Quietly sighing in relief, Chu Mo thought, Thank goodness, he has accepted the task!

It seems that college students aren't particularly hard to win over.

All it took was a suit.

Li Shuo, standing nearby, was stunned and tried to intervene: "Mr. Chu, Xie Songchen is a secretary, not part of the Business Department. How can you..."

"Since Xie Songchen has business experience, why not let him handle it?" Chu Mo raised an eyebrow and said matter-of-factly, "If he fails, I’ll fire him myself—fair and square."

Li Shuo thought he must be dreaming.

Not just Li Shuo—everyone present was in disbelief.

After all, Dingming Group ranks among the top five real estate companies in the city.

Their projects are highly sought after by companies across the city, big and small.

Chu Mo actually handed such a major project to an intern?

Soon, the whole company was talking about it, even catching the attention of some shareholders.

Board members jealous of Chu Mo’s position seized the chance to spread rumors.

Most assumed Chu Mo was using the project as a pretext for revenge, setting Xie Songchen up to fail so he could fire him.

To outsiders, this seemed the obvious explanation.

Chu Mo dismissed the rumors, insisting he simply believed in Xie Songchen’s abilities.

So Xie Songchen, still an intern, took charge of the project, instantly becoming the talk of the company.

In the days that followed, outside of work, Xie Songchen and Chu Mo didn’t exchange a word.

Ever since Chu Mo said Xie Songchen wasn’t cut out to be a secretary, Xie Songchen had turned into an iceberg.

Chu Mo thought this was just fine.

In the original story, Xie Songchen was meant to dislike Chu Mo.

Luckily, Xie Songchen kept his personal feelings separate from work.

After taking on the project, Xie Songchen worked late into the night nearly every day, practically living at the office.

This matched the original story perfectly.

In the original story, Xie Songchen worked tirelessly to prove himself worthy of Chu Yun, seizing every opportunity and working late every night at the company, just to boost the odds of a successful deal.

One day, Xie Songchen finished a meeting with his team.

After the meeting, a few members complained in the corner.

"Why so many meetings every day? Do more meetings really mean success?"

"I've dealt with Dingming Group several times, and it seems they have no intention of cooperating."

"What’s Chu Mo thinking, putting an intern in charge of the team?"

"Chu Mo must be looking to fire him. Given the compatibility issue, Chu Mo must be really fed up with him."

"..."

Xie Songchen stepped out of the restroom and caught these comments at the door, stopping dead in his tracks.

When they saw Xie Songchen, they scattered like roaches.

A few minutes later, Xie Songchen walked into the CEO's office with a stack of documents and handed them to Chu Mo.

All this time, Chu Mo seemed to be enjoying the show, waiting for Xie Songchen to screw up.

In truth, Chu Mo was more invested in the project's progress than anyone else, personally going over the materials Xie Songchen prepped every day.

"Fix the charts in this document."

Chu Mo sat in his chair, legs crossed.

He gave the charts a quick look and said coldly, "And here, here... all the data I marked needs fixing."

Xie Songchen glanced at the charts, jotting down notes in silence.

Chu Mo looked up at Xie Songchen and sneered, "Xie Songchen, is this your ability? Then I’d say you’re nowhere near ready for a full-time role."

Facing Chu Mo's sarcastic jabs, Xie Songchen barely reacted.

He just pressed his lips together, muttered, "I’ll go over the materials again," and walked out of the CEO's office.

Though Chu Mo kept picking at Xie Songchen, he knew full well that Xie Songchen was highly capable and improving fast.

In just a few days, Xie Songchen had fully stepped into the role of team leader.

Chu Mo was quietly impressed, thinking to himself, no wonder Xie Songchen was destined for greatness.

The night before the big negotiation.

Chu Mo stayed late at the office with the project team.

As midnight rolled around, the office building went quiet.

The team members clocked out and headed home one by one.

Chu Mo gathered his stuff and told his driver to wait in the parking lot.

At that moment.

As Chu Mo passed by the secretarial department, he noticed that the lights in one of the workstations were still on.

As he walked closer, he couldn't help but freeze.

It was Xie Songchen's desk.

Xie Songchen was sprawled across the desk, asleep, a jacket slung carelessly over his shoulders.

His broad back rose and fell rhythmically.

The office was so quiet that you could hear the hum of the computer and the soft breathing of the sleeping young man.

Xie Songchen's computer was on, the screen filled with a jumble of files named 'Final Draft,' 'Final Draft 2,' 'Absolutely Final Draft,' and so on.

There were also files with random names like '1,' '1111,' '.', and so on.

Chu Mo couldn't help but chuckle softly at the sight of these files.

On the surface, he was as cold as an iceberg, but in reality, he also came up with bizarre and quirky titles for his documents when working.

Chu Mo stood by Xie Songchen's desk, hesitating.

Xie Songchen looked utterly exhausted.

But the office was empty, and he couldn't let Xie Songchen keep sleeping there.

After a moment's hesitation, Chu Mo decided to wake him.

Just as Chu Mo reached out to tap Xie Songchen's shoulder, Xie Songchen stirred awake.

Sensing someone nearby, he jolted upright.

The jacket slipped off his shoulders with the sudden movement.

Chu Mo instinctively grabbed the falling jacket.

Xie Songchen looked up at Chu Mo, his eyes still clouded with sleep.

His narrow eyes had faint red marks at the corners, and they were bloodshot.

The moment their eyes locked, Chu Mo froze.

In the next instant, Chu Mo's hand trembled, and he released the jacket.

The jacket slid onto the chair with a soft rustle.

Chu Mo pulled his hand back, coughing to cover his awkwardness, and tried to break the ice: "This jacket of yours... cough... doesn't have any pheromones on it, does it? Don't let me get any on me."

There was a touch of disdain in his voice.

Xie Songchen frowned, his voice rough from sleep: "What do you think?"

Chu Mo was startled and glanced at Xie Songchen.

Xie Songchen was an alpha with an overwhelming pheromone presence, still a young college student who hadn't graduated.

At that moment, he was only wearing a white shirt that clung to his well-defined muscles. His narrow eyes, still heavy with sleep, were sharp and aggressive.

He looked exactly like the kind of energetic alpha who might accidentally leave pheromones on his clothes.

Chu Mo's expression changed, as if facing a formidable enemy: "Could there really be pheromones in the air?"

Although he had taken suppressants, he wasn't sure what might happen if he encountered the pheromones of a top-tier alpha.

Xie Songchen frowned, giving Chu Mo a weird glance, and said, "I'm single."

Chu Mo froze for a second.

In the setting of this ABO world, alphas do not enter their heat cycle unless induced by the pheromones of a highly compatible omega.

A single alpha generally wouldn't be emitting pheromones.

"Ahem, of course, I know about the heat cycle of alphas," Chu Mo touched his nose, speaking somewhat guiltily, "You think I don’t get it? I was just joking."

His explanation, however, felt like overexplaining.

A hint of confusion crossed Xie Songchen's face: "Heat cycle?"

He had only heard this term in ABO biology classes.

Chu Mo also realized that his words were strange and quickly corrected himself, "Good thing there isn’t."

Xie Songchen picked up his suit jacket, slid it on, and asked lazily, "Are you afraid of my pheromones?"

"As if, how could I possibly be afraid of your pheromones?" Chu Mo immediately began to play up his top alpha act, stubbornly saying, "My pheromones are stronger than yours!"

As the "alpha public enemy" in the early part of the book, Chu Mo couldn't show weakness in front of Xie Songchen.

Even if he was actually an omega, he had to insist that his pheromones were stronger than Xie Songchen's.

Xie Songchen said 'oh,' glancing casually at Chu Mo: "Have you tried?"