Chapter 31: Day Thirty-One of Pretending to be A

Chapter 31: Passing as an Alpha – Day Thirty-One

Passing as an Alpha – Day Thirty-One

By looks alone, the omega in the photo was indeed the perfect omega.

Pale and handsome, he looked like the quiet type, with lips slightly downturned.

There was a sense of aloofness in his gaze.

At a glance, he seemed like someone who could be trusted with secrets.

But Chu Mo couldn’t help feeling that this person carried an aura unbefitting an omega.

The agent messaged Chu Mo: “Boss, this omega is a total ten looks-wise—calm, reserved, nineteen years old, religiously takes his suppressants, and will disappear without a trace once the job is done. Would you like to consider him?”

Chu Mo still felt uneasy.

To verify the guy’s identity, Chu Mo messaged the agent: “Do you have his background info? Send it to me.”

The agent hesitated: “Boss, IDs are confidential in this business. If too many people know, he won’t be able to get other jobs.”

Then, the agent added: “Don’t worry, boss. This omega is absolutely reliable, especially since his personality fits your requirements—he hardly speaks!”

This was likely an industry standard in the “fake relationship” business.

People in this trade didn’t want their real identities exposed.

After all, it was just a short-term job—payment ends the arrangement.

If too many people knew, there was a risk of complications afterward.

Seeing this, Chu Mo thought for a moment before replying: “I’ll think about it.”

The agent persisted: “Boss, this omega is really great—an honors student at C University, doing this for the money. Charming and sociable, he’s in high demand among clients…”

C University was right next to H University, both equally ranked.

So this guy was also a straight-A student.

Chu Mo considered it but held back from hiring him.

He didn’t want someone with questionable origins around him.

The agent’s instincts told him this client might be a VIP—perhaps a major deal was within reach.

He made his final offer: “How about this, boss? I’ll send you his WeChat directly. You can chat with him first, and if you’re satisfied, we’ll sign the contract.”

Before Chu Mo could decline, the agent had already forwarded the contact.

The omega’s profile picture was a cartoon—a white-haired boy.

It seemed to be the protagonist of a recently popular horror comic.

His username was simply “Chen,” radiating coldness.

Nothing about him matched the agent’s description of “charming and sociable.”

Chu Mo thought it over carefully.

In the end, he still didn’t send a friend request.

He decided to think about whether there were other options.

Meanwhile, at C University.

In the alpha male dorm.

“No way, Xie,” the roommate exclaimed, unable to stay calm after hearing that Chen Songxie had recently been pretending to be an omega and planned to take on fake dating gigs online. “You’re really going to scam those alphas?”

Chen Songxie, wearing a black tank top and athletic shorts, lay on his bed reading a comic.

His hair was jet black, his features handsome and striking, with a faint scar on his temple.

Chen Songxie glanced at his roommate below the bunk and said, “The agent saw my pics and said I’d be perfect for alpha clients.”

“Damn, you *are* hot,” the roommate marveled, clicking his tongue. “But would any alpha actually bite?”

Chen Songxie picked up his phone and checked it.

The agent had mentioned that an alpha might be interested in him.

An hour had passed since the agent recommended him to the client.

Still no friend request.

“Who knows,” Chen Songxie put his phone down and went back to reading his comic, saying casually, “If not, no big deal.”

The agent had altered Chen Songxie’s gender and age, even falsely claiming he was a smooth-talking honor student.

They had even “thoughtfully” edited out the scar on his temple.

In reality, Chen Songxie was a junior, twenty-one years old, an alpha, usually aloof and quiet, and a jock on scholarship who only gave a damn about comics.

The scar on his temple was from a fight in his senior year of high school.

Chen Songxie thought to himself, no way anyone’s dumb enough to buy this, right?

Just then, his roommate said, “Some alphas are dumb *and* rich—maybe they’d go for someone like you.”

Chen Songxie lifted an eyelid. “Someone like what?”

“A pale, ripped athlete,” the roommate said seriously. “How many omegas like that even exist?”

“Sounds like you’re jealous,” Chen Songxie remarked flatly. “Want me to hook *you* up instead?”

The roommate hurriedly said, “Not happening, I’m not as good-looking as you, no such luck.”

After a pause, the roommate added, “If some CEO alpha takes a liking to you, you’ve gotta cut us in on the payout.”

Annoyed, Chen Songxie coldly spat out a single word: “Fuck off.”

His phone vibrated just then.

He set the comic aside and picked up his phone, seeing another cash demand from his family.

Chen Songxie held his phone for a beat before locking it.

From start to finish, his face stayed deadpan.

As if he were already used to this kind of thing.

Chen Songxie figured that if the boss didn’t reach out by evening, he’d have to go wait tables instead.

Meanwhile.

Chu Mo was buried in work, pushing the whole fake-boyfriend thing to the back of his mind.

On top of work, he also had to keep tabs on how the story was unfolding.

Xie Songchen’s project performance was outstanding, bringing substantial profits to the company.

Chu Mo "had no choice" but to bump up his salary.

He called Xie Songchen into his office and told him the news.

Xie Songchen stayed cool, like the raise didn’t even matter to him.

Chu Mo nudged, "So, you haven’t been bothering my brother at school lately, right?"

Haven’t talked to him.

Chu Mo thought to himself—seems like the protagonist couple really had a falling out.

Chu Mo’s eyes flashed with frustration.

If you’re fighting, just go fix it! Why stand there like a log? How’s the story supposed to move forward like this?!

"You guys fought? Or was it a misunderstanding?" Chu Mo sneered. "Yeah, because you’re the kind of guy who never thinks about how others feel, can’t charm someone you like, and definitely don’t know how to make amends. No way you’ll reconcile."

He sounded smug, but he was really trying to help.

Xie Songchen blinked.

Clearly, he didn’t catch Chu Mo’s hint.

He eyed Chu Mo, paused, then asked casually:

"...How do I fix it?"

In the novel, Xie Songchen was clueless about love—having pined for Chu Yun for years but never daring to express his feelings.

"Do what he likes, obviously," Chu Mo scoffed. "But honestly, you should just quit while you’re ahead. What my brother wants isn’t something a poor guy like you can provide."

Xie Songchen went quiet, lost in thought.

All afternoon, Xie Songchen seemed stuck on how to win Chu Yun back.

He hardly said a word.

That evening, Chu Mo had a work dinner.

The other guy was a big-shot real estate developer, very interested in Chu Mo and Dingming Group’s project.

Since Xie Songchen was heading the project, Chu Mo took him with.

They met at a fancy rooftop garden restaurant in some high-end mall.

Dinner dragged on for what felt like forever—four or five hours.

Fortunately, the final outcome was quite positive—the other company's boss showed strong intentions for cooperation.

Afterward, Chu Mo and Xie Songchen walked out of the restaurant.

After seeing off the other boss, Chu Mo said to Xie Songchen, "The subway's still running. Make your own way back."

Xie Songchen pursed his lips and gave a quiet "Mm," then turned to leave.

The mall was about to close, and barely anyone was around.

Chu Mo was looking for an elevator when his gaze was suddenly drawn to a few keychain claw machines nearby.

He stopped in his tracks.

These were mini claw machines for grabbing keychains.

Unlike regular claw machines, these ones were much smaller.

Even the claws inside were tiny.

The pink machines, paired with various licensed cartoon-themed keychains inside, made Chu Mo want to play.

Before getting stuck in this book, Chu Mo had always been a playful person.

After transmigrating, in order to complete his mission and return to his original world, he had to act the part of the heir of the Chu family.

It wasn’t just Chu Yansheng who had expectations of him.

His mother, the company’s board of directors, and his younger brothers’ expectations too…

All of it kept him from breaking character.

If he ever did, Chu Mo would face consequences he couldn’t risk.

But at this moment…

The unfamiliar mall was about to close.

There was no one else around.

Chu Mo cracked his knuckles, ready to take a turn and have some fun.

Just as he took out his phone to pay for tokens—

"You like playing this?"

A familiar voice spoke up beside him.

Chu Mo was startled.

On impulse, he aimed his phone at a poster on the wall.

"I was just scanning this," he said, scanning the QR code in the bottom right corner.

He pulled it off smoothly—then his screen lit up with a dating app ad.

Suddenly, a dating app ad popped up on Chu Mo’s phone screen.

"Are you a lonely alpha or a lonely omega? Come meet some guys here!"

Chu Mo: "..."

He glanced up at the poster and realized it was an advertisement for some dating app.

Xie Songchen beside him let out a dry *Hmm* and remarked coolly, "Didn’t take you for the type, President Chu."

Chu Mo calmly put his phone away. "Market research. After all, we’re an internet company."

Compared to downloading a dating app, Chu Mo felt playing a tiny claw crane would wreck his image even harder.

Seeing Xie Songchen’s doubtful look, Chu Mo tried to change the subject. "Didn’t you leave? Why are you back?"

Xie Songchen replied, "Left my wallet at the restaurant. Came back for it."

Then, he gave Chu Mo a once-over and asked, "And you? Why are you still here?"

Chu Mo lifted his chin and uttered two words: "Window-shopping."

Xie Songchen glanced at the surrounding shops, all closed for the night, and fell silent for a few seconds.

Suddenly, Xie Songchen looked at Chu Mo and said,

"You’ve got ten minutes if you wanna play."

"...Who said I wanna play?" Chu Mo retorted stubbornly.

"You tell *me*." Xie Songchen walked over to the machine, scanned the code to buy tokens, and lazily cocked a brow. "Who else is here?"

Chu Mo just wanted to mess around with the claw machine for a bit—he hadn’t expected to get busted by the male lead this fast.

Resentfully, he’d thought, *After acting like a top-tier alpha—what’s wrong with a claw machine?*

Xie Songchen finished purchasing the tokens, dropped two into the machine, and maneuvered the tiny metal claw inside.

The claw looked flimsy.

Xie Songchen hardly even aimed before locking onto a keychain and pressing the button decisively.

A cheesy win tune played as the keychain successfully dropped into the chute.

Chu Mo was stunned. *How’d he nail it first try?*

*You a rigged demo or what?*

He barely held back those words.

Xie Songchen wiggled the prize keychain—a lineless cartoon dog—in front of Chu Mo and smirked.

"Bet you can’t pull that off."

Chu Mo’s competitive streak kicked in instantly.

His desire to play the claw machine hit an all-time high at that moment.

Hanging onto his last bit of dignity, Chu Mo said sternly to Xie Songchen, "As if I’d play this crap."

Xie Songchen tossed the keychain into his pocket.

He looked at Chu Mo and said dismissively, "What’s wrong with an alpha playing this?"

Chu Mo froze—he never expected Xie Songchen to say that.

In the source material, Xie Songchen was an alpha with extremely strong self-esteem and competitiveness.

By all logic, he should’ve been embarrassed for an alpha to play with this machine.

But now, not only had Xie Songchen played with it, he even retorted with, "So what’s stopping a CEO?"

It threw Chu Mo completely off balance.

"...I’m a CEO, you know," Chu Mo said with a frown.

"So what’s stopping a CEO?" Xie Songchen asked again.

Chu Mo had no comeback.

"Don’t you think," Chu Mo pondered before asking, "this is way out of my lane?"

Xie Songchen hesitated.

The next second, he looked into Chu Mo’s eyes and asked seriously:

"Isn’t this what you’re into?"

Chu Mo absolutely wanted to.

But he couldn’t…

Xie Songchen seemed to see right through him and said mockingly, "Just say you suck at this. Spare me the excuses."

"Who said I suck?" Chu Mo snapped, gritting his teeth. "Watch this."

As he spoke, he walked over to the machine.

Just as he was about to buy tokens, a hand reached out from behind him and dropped in the rest of the tokens.

The machine displayed 15 remaining attempts.

Chu Mo blinked, then turned to Xie Songchen in surprise.

"I don’t need this many—I’d clean the machine out," Xie Songchen said with a shrug. "Better leave them to you."

Seeing Xie Songchen’s arrogant attitude, Chu Mo stopped playing nice.

He worked the claw and started snagging keychains.

One, two, three...

Five minutes later.

Chu Mo’s fingers were dangling with keychains.

He held up his hands, waving them in Xie Songchen’s face, and taunted:

"Beat that."

Xie Songchen looked at the keychains in his hand and asked, "I thought you said you didn't want to play?"

As he spoke, his lips quirked into a subtle smile.

Chu Mo froze.

He suddenly realized that Xie Songchen had been messing with him earlier—just to get him to play the claw machine.

Chu Mo quickly said, "I was just showing you up."

With that, he dumped all the keychains into Xie Songchen's hands.

Xie Songchen, now holding a pile of cartoon keychains, looked at them helplessly. "Where would I even put all these?"

He stuffed the keychains into his coat pocket, making it bulge instantly.

After a moment's thought, Xie Songchen took out the simple line-art puppy keychain he had grabbed earlier.

He reached out and handed it to Chu Mo. "Here, you can have this one."

Chu Mo was about to refuse.

But the keychain was just too cute.

Plus, after working so hard, he didn't want to leave empty-handed.

"Tch," Chu Mo cleared his throat, trying to hide his awkwardness as he took the keychain. "I'll just take one as a memento. These keychains are way too kiddie anyway—I don't really like them..."

Xie Songchen held Chu Mo's gaze before suddenly saying,

"This keychain is one of a pair. Don't you want the other one?"

Chu Mo shook his head. "No."

Xie Songchen kept staring at him.

Then, he pulled out the matching puppy keychain from his pocket.

The one in Chu Mo's hand was white, while the one in Xie Songchen's was gray.

He let the gray puppy dangle from his fingers, holding it out to Chu Mo.

The little dog swung gently.

"You sure you don't want it?" Xie Songchen asked again.

Chu Mo was confused. Why did Xie Songchen keep asking this?

If he could, of course he'd want to keep them all.

But he had to maintain his image—how could he admit to that?

"No," Chu Mo replied.

The moment he said it, Xie Songchen went quiet.

The huge mall suddenly seemed too quiet.

Chu Mo suddenly realized something seemed off.

Xie Songchen seemed to be...

Testing him, perhaps?

At that moment,

Xie Songchen lifted his gaze to meet Chu Mo’s, his lips slightly parting as he asked slowly:

“Aren’t you gonna get one for your ‘partner’?”

Chu Mo’s stomach dropped.

So *that’s* what Xie Songchen was getting at?!

“Of course I will.” Chu Mo hastily reached for the keychain in Xie Songchen’s hand. “I just forgot.”

Xie Songchen tilted his hand up, sending the dog-shaped keychain flying back into his palm.

He closed his hand around it. “Too late.”

Chu Mo swiped at nothing.

Xie Songchen raised an eyebrow, lips curving. “Seems your ‘partner’ isn’t much of a priority.”

His tone was clearly amused.

Clearly, Xie Songchen didn’t believe Chu Mo had a partner.

Chu Mo was baffled—was Xie Songchen really this happy about him not having one?

Did Xie Songchen really hate seeing him happy?

Chu Mo kept his face blank and replied calmly, “I’m not desperate enough to fake a partner.”

“Really now?” Xie Songchen looked at Chu Mo, teasing. “Then your ‘partner’ is not exactly putting in the effort—they’ve never once come to the office to see you.”

He clearly didn’t buy it.

Chu Mo exhaled sharply.

A moment later, he met Xie Songchen’s gaze and said evenly, “He’s had a lot going on lately.”

Xie Songchen went still at that.

Chu Mo continued, “But you’re right. I’ll make sure he swings by the office more.”

His tone was firm, without a hint of a lie.

Xie Songchen stiffened, his face twisting in disbelief.

“You’re *kidding*.”

At the same time.

C University, all-male dormitory.

Chen Songxie was throwing clothes into a suitcase.

His roommate asked curiously, "Xie bro, why are you packing this late at night?"

"I'm going to work at a hotel out of town tomorrow," Chen Songxie said casually. "Working as a waiter, 200 yuan a day."

His roommate was shocked. "Seriously? You're really going to wait tables?"

Chen Songxie looked up. "Or are you giving me money?"

The roommate tried to persuade him, "Xie bro, that kind of work is exhausting, and the pay isn’t great—they'll just take advantage of you. Don’t go."

Chen Songxie didn’t respond and kept packing.

The roommate pressed on, "Besides, there are tons of ways to earn cash. You really don’t have to..."

Right then.

Chen Songxie’s phone vibrated.

He checked his phone and saw a friend request pop up.

From an unfamiliar account.

Chen Songxie stiffened.

The roommate went on pleading, "Xie bro, our school has on-campus work-study jobs too. Why don’t you sign up for one..."

"Forget it," Chen Songxie suddenly interrupted.

The roommate blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I mean," Chen Songxie said slowly, eyes locked on his phone, "I don’t have to go wait tables anymore."