Chapter 23: Day Twenty-Three of Pretending to be A

Chapter 23: Faking Alpha Status – Day 23

Faking Alpha Status – Day 23

On the inhibitor box, words like "strong potency" and "medical use" were also printed.

Xie Songchen hadn’t paid much attention to inhibitor packaging before.

He instinctively assumed it was no different from ordinary omega inhibitors.

Xie Songchen’s eyes showed confusion as he wondered why Chu Mo would have a box of inhibitors in his pocket.

Chu Mo wasn’t an omega.

Xie Songchen’s expression darkened as he fell into deep thought.

Chu Yun followed Chu Mo out of the arena when he suddenly said, "Big bro, I have something to do later. You go on ahead."

"Xiao Yun, I didn’t get to watch your match today," Chu Mo said apologetically. "Next time, I’ll make it up to you with a big meal."

Chu Yun grinned, showing his little fangs. "Bro, what are you talking about? You’ve never missed a match of mine since we were kids. You even brought water for me and my classmates during high school sports day."

That classmate was probably...

Xie Songchen?

Chu Yun paused at the memory.

Just then, Chu Mo interrupted his thoughts. "We should still celebrate your win with dinner. Besides, of course I’d support my little brother in all his matches."

Chu Yun nodded. "Okay."

Wait… Xie Songchen actually gave you the ticket?"

Chu Mo cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, I tried to buy it from him, but he refused payment."

Chu Yun frowned.

He said meaningfully, "He doesn’t usually do things like that."

Chu Mo didn’t pick up on the implication and continued, "Don’t go thinking that guy’s nice. You still need to listen to me and stay away from him."

Chu Yun nodded thoughtfully.

Half an hour later.

At the pheromone clinic.

Chu Yun had lied to his brother about having something to do. In reality, he had bundled up carefully and gone to the pheromone clinic for an appointment.

Ever since Chu Yun presented alpha, he’d been coming to this clinic regularly.

While waiting, Chu Yun suddenly received a call from Xie Songchen.

Xie Songchen stayed silent on the line for what felt like ages.

Just when Chu Yun was about to hang up—

Xie Songchen finally spoke. "Chu Yun, does your brother have a habit of holding onto inhibitors for you?"

Chu Yun was taken aback by the question and was about to say he never used inhibitors.

Suddenly realizing this would reveal his secret, he quickly corrected himself: "Xie Songchen, I can take care of myself just fine. Why would my brother need to keep my inhibitors for me?"

Xie Songchen paused before replying with a simple, "Oh."

Chu Yun asked, "Why are you suddenly asking such a strange question?"

Xie Songchen said, "Never mind," and then hung up.

Chu Yun didn’t bother with Xie Songchen.

He had more important matters to attend to.

Inside the private treatment room.

Xu Yi looked at the "omega" before him and sighed, "Chu Yun, have you used up your meds again?"

Not long ago, his elder brother Chu Mo had come to see Xu Yi, and now the younger brother Chu Yun was here.

Chu Mo faked being an alpha, while Chu Yun faked being an omega.

Xu Yi felt the Chu family had a knack for pretending.

"A couple of days ago, I was exposed to an omega's pheromones," Chu Yun explained to Xu Yi. "I had to take extra meds."

The special medication prescribed by the hospital for alphas was usually just to keep them from being affected by omega pheromones.

Typically, only sensitive alphas or competing athletes took this kind of medicine.

The reason Chu Yun came to this hospital was because his brother had stakes in it, ensuring the highest level of confidentiality.

And Xu Yi was the top specialist in the pheromone department.

Xu Yi nodded and prescribed Chu Yun more meds, advising him, "Take less. Faking omega is easier than faking alpha—just staying away from omegas works."

Xu Yi wasn’t wrong. For an alpha faking omega, maintaining distance from omegas was enough, whereas an omega faking alpha had to constantly take inhibitors.

Chu Yun asked, "What, do you have other alpha-fakers here?"

Xu Yi fell silent for a moment before shaking his head. "Not really."

Chu Mo was scared of his gender getting out, and so was Chu Yun.

Stuck in the middle, Xu Yi had to keep up the act.

If either brother’s true gender were leaked, Xu Yi could kiss his career goodbye.

As Chu Yun prepared to leave with his medication, Xu Yi couldn’t hold back any longer. "You, uh... these meds aren’t healthy long-term. They might mess up your future with an omega."

Chu Yun just said, "Oh," unconcerned, then added, "But I’d rather my family never finds out I’m an alpha."

Xu Yi was confused.

Chu Mo feared his gender being exposed, perhaps because he was the heir.

But what was Chu Yun afraid of?

Xu Yi ventured, "Maybe you could try letting your family accept it? After all, this isn’t sustainable forever."

Chu Yun fell silent.

From childhood, Chu Yun's secondary gender test results had always stated he was an omega.

To suddenly become an alpha was something Chu Yun found hard to accept.

Chu Yun had been doted on by his family since he was young.

He had always believed that the affection he received was because of his gender.

After all, he was the only omega in the Chu family.

Chu Yun feared that if his family found out about his true gender, they would no longer give him the same affection.

Especially Chu Mo.

Chu Yun might have been able to accept his family loving him less.

But he couldn’t bear the thought of Chu Mo no longer being so affectionate toward him.

Since childhood, Chu Mo had told him, "You're definitely going to grow up to be a very popular omega."

Hearing this, Chu Yun naturally wished to become an omega.

Seeing Chu Yun’s silence, Xu Yi stopped trying to convince him and said, "Just take care of yourself and don't take too much of the medication."

Chu Yun took the medicine and nodded in acknowledgment.

Before leaving, Chu Yun suddenly asked Xu Yi, "Actually, Dr. Xu, there’s something I’ve always been curious about."

Xu Yi replied politely, "What is it?"

"During the pheromone matching test, you conducted it for me," Chu Yun said, looking at Xu Yi. "Whose pheromones did you prepare in advance?"

Xu Yi was surprised. "Why ask this all of a sudden?"

"Just curious," Chu Yun said. "Who was that omega? How did their pheromones happen to match so perfectly with so many alphas around me, which has caused me a lot of trouble?"

Back when the Chu family had ordered the pheromone matching test for Chu Yun, Xu Yi had secretly helped him by concealing his true gender.

Xu Yi looked troubled and slowly replied, "I don’t know either. The sample I submitted was an unregistered leftover pheromone sample."

The pheromone Xu Yi had submitted was taken from the hospital’s pheromone bank.

The bank held many unregistered leftover pheromone samples, commonly referred to as "discarded pheromones."

Most of these pheromones had no owners—either because the owners had undergone secondary gender change, concealed their gender, or had passed away.

Xu Yi hadn’t expected that a randomly selected pheromone would be so highly compatible.

"I see," Chu Yun frowned, his tone full of regret. "So, there’s no way to find that omega?"

Xu Yi nodded. "Unless they get tested again, we have no way of knowing who the owner of that pheromone is."

After a long silence, Chu Yun just said, "Understood," and left the pheromone clinic.

After the match ended.

In the following days, Xie Songchen returned to his usual routine at the company.

But every time he saw Chu Mo, his expression turned icy, radiating a "keep out" vibe—even for people he knew.

Chu Mo knew Xie Songchen must be angry because he had blown him off.

After all, the ticket hadn’t been cheap.

Then, one day,

after reporting his work to Chu Mo, Xie Songchen brought him a cup of coffee.

Chu Mo kept suspecting his latte had been switched to espresso.

He tested it with a sip and found the latte unchanged.

Chu Mo let out a relieved breath.

He glanced at Xie Songchen, who was calmly tidying the desk, and felt a pang of... guilt.

Of course, Chu Mo would never show guilt in front of Xie Songchen.

He had to stay in character.

Chu Mo tried to apologize without breaking character.

"Xie Songchen," Chu Mo stopped him as he turned to leave, "wait a moment."

Xie Songchen paused, turning with a blank stare. "What is it?"

His demeanor was calm.

But beneath the calm, something icy simmered.

Like ice over deep water.

"Ahem," Chu Mo cleared his throat, taking out his phone and opening his chat with Xie Songchen. "How much did that ticket cost?"

Xie Songchen frowned. "What for?"

"I’ll pay you back," Chu Mo said.

Chu Mo had expected Xie Songchen to be pleased.

But Xie Songchen’s face only hardened.

"What do you mean?" Xie Songchen asked, his expression thunderous.

"I can’t just take the ticket without paying," Chu Mo said, preparing to enter the transfer amount. "How much? Five grand? Seven? Or—"

"I don't want it," Xie Songchen snapped.

Chu Mo froze mid-tap.

Xie Songchen was broke—why turn down cash?

Then what did he want?

"Not enough?" Chu Mo raised an eyebrow, slipping into his usual bossy act. "I'm offering this for Chu Yun's sake. Besides, it's just a ticket. Why the big deal—"

"Indeed, just a ticket," Xie Songchen said with a mocking tone. "Why’s Boss Chu making such a big deal out of it?"

Xie Songchen rarely called Chu Mo "Boss Chu."

He only called him that in formal situations.

Chu Mo froze at Xie Songchen’s sarcasm.

Why did Xie Songchen seem even angrier?

He simply transferred eight thousand yuan directly to Xie Songchen: "I don’t take handouts."

Xie Songchen pressed his lips tightly together.

The air around him turned icy.

His glare alone could’ve frozen the room.

Xie Songchen took out his phone and, right in front of Chu Mo, sent the money back.

"I said no," Xie Songchen gripped his phone, his brow furrowed, his voice icy.

After speaking, he turned and left the office without looking back.

Chu Mo blinked, baffled, at Xie Songchen’s angry retreating figure and muttered under his breath, "Was eight grand too little?"

Xie Songchen walked out of the CEO’s office and arrived at an empty stairwell.

He took a deep breath, gritting his teeth to keep his emotions in check.

Of course. He should’ve known better than to expect anything from Chu Mo.

Chu Mo never got it. Never would.

A moment later, Xie Songchen seemed to remember something and pulled out a pack of suppressants from his pocket.

He stared at the pack, his lips pressed into a thin line.

His grip tightened, then loosened.

Chu Mo couldn’t care less about Xie Songchen’s feelings,

but Xie Songchen still obsessed over every little thing about Chu Mo.

—Xie Songchen’s recent agitation wasn’t just because Chu Mo had missed the match.

It was also because of this pack of suppressants.

Xie Songchen had offhandedly asked Chu Yun whether Chu Mo would help him store suppressants.

Chu Yun’s reply was, "Hell no. I’m not some damsel omega."

Hearing this answer, Xie Songchen only got more tangled up.

The thought flickered—was Chu Mo an omega?

But he shook it off just as fast.

If Chu Mo were an omega, he’d be the world’s best actor.

Moreover, what reason would Chu Mo have to pretend to be an alpha when he's actually an omega?

Taking suppressants is hardly a comfortable experience.

Ruling out those two options leaves only one conclusion:

Chu Mo brought the suppressors for another omega.

No alpha would just carry suppressors for an omega they weren’t close to.

Unless that omega was a family member or lover.

Xie Songchen reached a conclusion—

Chu Mo must be seeing an omega.

The omega must be really conservative, needing Chu Mo to supply suppressors for their dates.

Xie Songchen’s chest tightened. His logic seemed rock-solid.

At this thought, his fingers clenched the box so hard he nearly crushed it.

A moment later, he released it.

Xie Songchen lowered his gaze, staring at the crushed suppressor package, his eyes full of despair.

He should have always known this day would come.

When it arrived, just the suspicion alone was enough to destroy him.

Xie Songchen was a genius who aced H University's entrance exams—handsome, tall, the alpha of countless omegas' dreams, had omegas swooning since he was a kid.

Yet no one knew the person he secretly loved was a die-hard straight alpha.

The second Xie Songchen fell for a straight alpha,

The ending was practically written in stone—

And here we are.