After Becoming An Internet Sensation For Pretending To Be An Alpha, I Turned Into An Omega - Chapter 17

Bai Yue quickly hit pause, stammering, “You… you listen to this?”

An Leng cleared her throat, her eyes fixed on the road as she drove. “I opened it once before and heard something strange. It must have been a system glitch.”

Afraid another strange song would play, Bai Yue didn’t dare mess with her phone anymore. She put it away and sat quietly, watching the scenery.

The weather was overcast, and the car was very quiet.

After a while, her eyelids began to droop.

Thinking she needed something to keep her awake, Bai Yue took out her phone and started flipping through it absentmindedly. Before she knew it, she had opened a photo she had saved in her private album long ago.

The photo quality wasn’t very good back then.

She zoomed in on the first photo, revealing blue-black pen writing:

Crush.

After the title, there was even a faint pencil line, followed by a lightly written line:

Day 152 of loving you.

Bai Yue had written this in high school, and it was the same song she had mentioned in the previous meeting. Looking at it now, both the lyrics and melody seemed quite amateurish.

The kind of love I dare not speak aloud.

We’re like parallel lines, destined never to meet.

To get closer, I exhaust all my schemes.

Every glance is a turbulent wave, making my thoughts uncontrollable…

She created a new memo, planning to note down how to revise it. The title “Crush” definitely had to change; it was still too obvious.

After some thought, Bai Yue decided to simply change the title to “152.”

Humming a tune to herself, she jotted down the new title. When fully immersed in her work, Bai Yue barely noticed the passing of time, completely absorbed in the task at hand.

“It sounds nice,” An Leng remarked casually.

“Huh?!” Bai Yue whipped around, her hair standing on end. Did I actually sing out loud just now?

Her thoughts spiraled into a panic.

An Leng, driving and oblivious to Bai Yue’s expression, assumed she hadn’t heard clearly and repeated, “I said, the song you were singing sounds nice.”

The simple remark only intensified Bai Yue’s anxiety.

“…Song?” Which song? Did I really sing?

“Mm-hmm,” An Leng confirmed, even glancing at Bai Yue with an affirming look.

The robotic female voice of the car’s navigation system chimed in: “We have arrived at your destination.”

After swaying into a parking space, An Leng stopped the car and said, “Let’s go. Time to get out.”

Bai Yue snapped out of her daze and quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, making a hasty exit.

An Leng remained seated, picking up her phone and unlocking it. The music app was still open, paused on the last song of the playlist. The “repeat” icon on the left showed:

[412 times.]

After retrieving gifts from the trunk, the two women set off, laden with bags.

Downstairs in the residential complex, Zhao Ping had been waiting by the unit door for them. Seeing them approach, she hurried over. “You didn’t need to bring so much stuff! It’s all so heavy!”

Seeing her parents, Bai Yue couldn’t help but smile and rushed to greet them.

Just as she was about to speak to her mother, Zhao Ping brushed past her and went straight to An Leng, who was behind her.

“Let me take that for you. It’s awfully heavy,” Zhao Ping said, taking the bags from An Leng’s hand without waiting for a response. Then she turned to Bai Yue and scolded, “Xiao Yue! You could have helped carry some of the bags.”

“I…” Bai Yue stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded.

An Leng, now carrying no bags, walked past Bai Yue. Without thinking, she casually picked up a paper bag from the ground beside her.

The moment their fingers touched, An Leng deliberately and gently brushed her fingertips against Bai Yue’s hand before quickly pulling away.

After taking a few quick steps to catch up with Zhao Ping, An Leng asked, “I remember Aunt used to love these snacks. I hope her taste hasn’t changed.”

As the two women chatted happily, Bai Yue was left alone downstairs, feeling lost and bewildered.

The residential complex didn’t have an elevator.

But the Bai family lived on the second floor, so they quickly entered their home. The aroma of cooking already wafted from the kitchen.

“Only two more dishes to go! Dinner will be ready soon!” Bai Fengde called out from the kitchen when he heard movement at the door.

An Leng, having changed her shoes, offered to help in the kitchen. The child persisted, and Zhao Ping didn’t refuse, though Bai Yue felt a twinge of worry.

So far, her parents’ impression of An Leng was favorable.

But given An Leng’s culinary skills, any “help” that backfired would truly count against her.

As she helped Zhao Ping set the table, Bai Yue kept glancing nervously toward the kitchen, half-expecting An Leng to blow up her house at any moment.

Fortunately, by the time all the dishes were served, everyone was still safe and sound.

At the dinner table, Bai Fengde picked up his chopsticks first and pointed at the spicy and numbingly hot cod in the center. “Try this dish Xiao Leng made—it’s absolutely amazing!”

An Leng quickly demurred.

Bai Yue had been staring at that cod since it was served, never imagining An Leng had made it. Skeptical, she picked up a piece and took a bite. The shock hit her instantly. While not a transcendent masterpiece, it was infinitely better than her own culinary disasters.

“If Bai Yue could learn to cook,” Zhao Ping said, picking up another piece, “I wouldn’t worry about her when she’s out on her own. Takeout is just not healthy in the long run.”

“Auntie is right,” An Leng said with a wry smile. “We live close by. If she ever wants to eat something, she just needs to tell me, and I’ll cook it for her.”

Bai Yue was about to protest after hearing the first part, but the second part deflated her instantly. She obediently lowered her head and resumed eating.

“You two live close by? This child never told me,” Zhao Ping said, beginning to reminisce. “Just after you left, Yueyue used to talk about you every day…”

“Mom!” Bai Yue immediately interrupted, placing a piece of fish in her bowl. “An Leng’s fish is delicious. You should eat more.”

Hearing this, An Leng mentally noted down the spicy and numbing Sichuan-style cod. She explained, looking at Bai Yue, “We left in a hurry back then and didn’t have phones. Later, most of us lost touch…”

And after that…

Even when contact became possible, she only dared to silently follow Bai Yue’s life, afraid to disturb her.

Halfway through the meal, Bai Fengde glanced out the window. “It’s already pitch black at five o’clock. Looks like rain.”

Zhao Ping quickly added, “We should stay here tonight. Driving back in the dark wouldn’t be safe.”

The couple sang in perfect harmony, and Bai Yue couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

She picked up her phone, and the weather forecast showed dark clouds and an 80% chance of rain.

“You two are so busy lately. Consider this an opportunity to spend more time with us,” Bai Fengde declared.

Bai Yue timidly raised her hand and suggested, “The graduation ceremony is on the weekend. Mom, Dad, you could come to that too.”

She hadn’t even told her parents about her lack of pheromones, hoping to spare them worry. But now she realized she might have dug herself into a hole.

If she stayed overnight at home with An Leng, wouldn’t they discover she had no pheromones and no glands at all?

Zhao Ping clearly wasn’t happy with this suggestion.

“It’s raining, and the roads are slippery,” An Leng added calmly. “I just got my driver’s license.”

“We could take a taxi…” Bai Yue tried to negotiate. “…or I could see if there are any hotels nearby.”

She looked up, and all three pairs of eyes were fixed on her.

Defeated, Bai Yue relented.

Bai’s mother enthusiastically began tidying up their room.

Since the Bai family’s apartment was a simple two-bedroom unit, it meant they would have to sleep together tonight.

“Oh, I tidied up your room earlier,” Zhao Ping called from the kitchen. “I threw away some things you didn’t need. They were just taking up space.”

Bai Yue, washing dishes in the kitchen, quickly acknowledged the comment. Turning around, she saw An Leng approaching.

“W-what is it?” Bai Yue asked, sounding a bit nervous.

“Let me finish washing the dishes. You go take a shower first,” An Leng said, stepping forward and taking the plate from her hand.

The plate, still slippery from the soap, nearly slipped from Bai Yue’s grasp and crashed into the sink.

With her task “stolen,” Bai Yue merely rinsed her hands and tried to leave without even drying them.

Just as she reached the door, An Leng called out, “Could you help me find a nightgown?” Her voice was gentle, carrying a faint smile.

Bai Yue couldn’t remember how she made it back to her room.

The first thing she did upon entering was pull out a bottle of peach-scented perfume from her jacket pocket and spray it wildly around the room until the air was thick with the fruity aroma.

The blue desk and even the chair were the same ones from before.

On the desk sat a plastic box, presumably the one Zhao Ping had mentioned earlier.

The box’s edge held a pink plastic clip, its once-vibrant color faded with age and showing signs of chipping.

Bai Yue quickly picked it up and opened it, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw the contents inside.

Inside was a thin notebook.

The paper had yellowed slightly, but thanks to careful preservation, the writing remained crisp and clear.

[Crush]

Bai Yue tore out the pages with the lyrics, folded them carefully, and tucked them into her pocket before heading to the shower.

By the time she finished washing and dried her hair, she could still hear An Leng chatting with Bai’s mother outside.

Her phone showed a message from An Leng sent fifteen minutes earlier: [ Call me when you’re done. ]

An Leng was usually so quiet, and now she was being forced to socialize. Reading the message, Bai Yue felt a mix of amusement and fondness.

Curling up under her blankets, Bai Yue texted back: [ Done. ]

Moments later, the voices outside fell silent.

An Leng pushed the door open and saw Bai Yue bundled up like a silkworm, her eyebrows raising. “Aren’t you hot?”

Bai Yue shook her head vigorously.

An Leng shrugged, noticing the strong perfume scent in the air. “Do you really love peaches that much?” she asked casually. Then she spotted the nightgown on the bed, the corners of her lips twitching.

It was a pale blue and pink striped nightgown with a bear pattern, utterly adorable.

“All my clothes at home are high school uniforms. This was the only one suitable for sleepwear,” Bai Yue explained quickly.

She had always secretly loved pink, but after her peers started to form cliques, she switched to black to appear aloof and unapproachable.

Now, pink could only be an accent color in her wardrobe.

A quiet fondness.

An Leng picked up the nightgown and looked at Bai Yue, her tone a little teasing. “What are you wearing?”

Bai Yue hesitated before wriggling out of the covers, revealing her outfit.

She was wearing a rose-pink striped bunny-head nightgown, almost identical to the one in An Leng’s hand, just a shade pinker.

“We bought them together. That’s all I have at home,” Bai Yue added quickly, afraid An Leng would think less of her.

An Leng nodded, holding back a laugh, and turned to go take a shower, still wearing the nightgown.

When she came out, she was already changed into the outfit. Bai Yue stole a couple of glances, finding it strange.

Why did the same outfit make her look so youthful, yet on An Leng, it just made her seem gentle?

Was it because of her hair? Her short hair?

Bai Yue ran her fingers through her hair, realizing that she couldn’t escape the black-and-white-and-gray look when pretending to be an Alpha.

“Should I turn off the light?” An Leng asked, turning around after finishing her tidying. She saw Bai Yue standing there, her hair sticking straight up in a disheveled mess, looking at her with a puzzled, somewhat goofy expression.

Indeed, An Leng preferred Bai Yue’s dazed, clumsy look over her cool, stage-perfect persona.

So… clumsy…

Even a little cute?

Bai Yue hummed in acknowledgment, and the lights around them instantly went dark.

An Leng stood still, closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths.

Using the light from her phone screen, she made her way back to the bed.

Zhao Ping had thoughtfully prepared two sets of bedding… but it was perhaps a little too thoughtful.

The sound of the torrential rain outside pelted against the windows. An Leng sniffled.

Tonight… she might lose sleep again.

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