Senior, Stop Pretending to be an Alpha - Chapter 21

Xie Ke let out a “wow,” her eyes widening slightly as she spoke with pleasant surprise, “You remember me!”

Her appearance was not entirely similar to Xie Bufei’s; her features were more bright and adorable. When she smiled, her eyes rippled like a shimmering lake reflecting the moon. However, due to her sickly aura, her original liveliness was diminished, replaced by a fragile quality that evoked pity.

Yao Rudong looked at them in surprise. “Qiaoqiao, is she your friend?”

Yu Qiao replied, “No.”

Xie Ke bit her lip, revealing a hint of timidness. She carefully observed Yu Qiao’s expression, her tone cautious. “Qiaoqiao, is that your name? Do you live here too?”

Yu Qiao had no intention of exchanging pleasantries and asked bluntly, “Is there something you need?”

“N-no,” Xie Ke’s face suddenly flushed as she stammered, “I, I just, wanted to ask you about my sister.”

“Did Sister Bufei say anything to you about me that day?” she continued. “Actually, Sister misunderstood me. I’ve always wanted to explain it to her.”

“But she doesn’t come home often, and she never replies to my messages.” Ignoring the shocked expressions of Yao Rudong and Lu Yun nearby, Xie Ke wore an innocent look tinged with a faint sense of loss. “She must hate me. Did I do something wrong?”

Yu Qiao kept her eyes lowered, looking weary and emotionless. The nerves at her temples were throbbing with a dull pain, making her less patient than usual.

She interrupted Xie Ke’s rambling, her voice cold. “Do these things have anything to do with me?”

Xie Ke’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth in bewilderment, a perfectly timed look of panic appearing on her pale face.

“Eh.”

“If you think there’s a misunderstanding, go find her and explain it to her face,” Yu Qiao said. “There’s no need to act pitiful in front of me.”

Xie Ke’s eyes flickered. Her fingers trembled as she gripped the hem of her skirt, taking a few steps back. “No, I wasn’t.”

From behind, a roommate’s voice called out, “Xie Ke, what’s wrong?”

Two girls quickly ran over. Sensing the tension in the air, their suspicious gazes fell upon Yu Qiao.

“It’s nothing,” Xie Ke said in a soft, thin voice, her slender eyelashes trembling. “It was just a small misunderstanding.”

Her aura was naturally pity-inducing; with her head bowed now, she looked as though she were being bullied.

One of the girls spoke with hostility, “Yu Qiao, did you do something to Xie Ke?”

“She’s new here. Can’t you be a little more tolerant?”

The residents of the third-floor dorms knew each other, but they weren’t very close. Most people’s impression of Yu Qiao was just the quiet top student from the next class, plain-looking and unremarkable.

Compared to their pretty, soft-tempered roommate Xie Ke, they naturally sided with the latter.

Hearing this, Yao Rudong was instantly displeased. She stood with her hands on her hips and shouted, “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? It was clearly your little princess who came to pick a fight with our Qiaoqiao first. How can you turn it around and blame us?”

The other girl retorted, “How is that possible? Xie Ke has such a good temper and never fights. Why would she provoke you?”

Lu Yun leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. Her cold, elegant eyes slanted upward, her face full of disdain as she said coolly, “After all, some people think that just because they’re sick, the whole world should revolve around them.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “Lu Yun, don’t go too far with your words!”

Lu Yun chuckled. “I wasn’t talking about you. Are you sick? Why are you taking it personally?”

“You!”

Xie Ke widened her eyes and stopped the angry girl. She pursed her lips and whispered, “No, it’s not like that. Please don’t fight.”

“I just wanted to make friends with Yu Qiao, but I didn’t expect her to misunderstand. It’s all my fault.”

Yu Qiao suddenly spoke, “What did I misunderstand about you?”

She looked straight at Xie Ke. Behind her glasses, her narrow eyes were as dark as a bottomless pit. Xie Ke shuddered, not daring to meet her gaze.

“I don’t know why you always like to use the ‘pitiful act’ to deceive and isolate others, and I don’t want to know the reason.”

Yu Qiao was expressionless. “I think you’re pathetic for only being able to trick people into caring for you this way.”

Xie Ke’s pupils shrank, and her face instantly turned as white as paper.

“What you do is your business, I don’t care. But don’t involve Xie Bufei in it.” Yu Qiao turned her head and said to the two beside her, “We’re going to be late. Let’s go to class.”

Yao Rudong followed suit, not forgetting to make a face at Xie Ke. “Exactly! It was your fault to begin with!”

Lu Yun put her arm around Yao Rudong’s shoulder as they walked away, smiling. “Alright, don’t waste your breath on them.”

Xie Ke remained silent for a moment before suddenly taking a step forward. She reached out, wanting to grab Yu Qiao’s hem, but she was pinned to the spot by the other’s gaze. A chill raced up her spine.

She watched Yu Qiao’s tall, thin figure walk away, biting her lip unwillingly, her breathing ragged.

She clearly looks like a Beta and doesn’t have a hint of pheromone scent, why is her pressure so strong?

Seeing her shaking, her roommate asked with concern, “Xie Ke, are you okay? Let’s ignore her.”

“Yeah, so what if that Yu Qiao has slightly better test scores? What’s the big deal?”

Xie Ke asked in a low voice, “Is she an Alpha?”

“How is that possible? She hasn’t even differentiated yet!” The roommate’s tone held a hint of mockery. “Anyway, even if she does, she’ll probably be a Beta. She can’t compare to you at all.”

Just undifferentiated, and she already has such strong control?

Xie Ke paused, her expression returning to normal as she said softly, “Okay. Thank you both today.”

“Don’t be a stranger, we’re roommates. Come on, let’s go to class too.”

Before the first morning class started, Yu Qiao was buried in her arms at her desk.

The classroom was bustling with people and noisy with voices. Many people were talking at once, like the rustling of wind through grass, but not a single word reached her ears.

She could only hear her own heavy heartbeat. The pain grew more intense, slicing through her nerves at every moment.

Yu Qiao opened her eyes. The figures in front of her were blurred, as if countless shadows were overlapping. Holding onto the desk, she stood up unsteadily and walked toward the door.

Next to her, Lu Yun was playing on her phone, and Yao Rudong was buried in her homework; neither noticed anything was wrong.

Yu Qiao walked out the back door silently, leaning against the wall as she slowly made her way to the corner.

Class was about to start, and the hallway was empty.

She could barely even see the path anymore. A sense of lightheaded weakness washed over her. She followed her instinct toward a certain direction in her memory, seemingly going downstairs and turning another corner.

Pushing open a door nearby, Yu Qiao locked herself inside. As if her strength had been instantly drained, she collapsed onto the floor.

She closed her eyes, every breath feeling scalding hot. It felt as if something was crashing around inside her body, screaming for release, but with no way to vent.

Yu Qiao buried her head in the crook of her arm, her body trembling. A sickly flush gradually spread across her skin.

Ten minutes after class began, Yu Qiao still hadn’t returned.

“Why isn’t Qiaoqiao back yet?” Yao Rudong looked around, hesitating. “Xiao Yun, did you see where she went?”

Lu Yun frowned, unsure. “Maybe she went to the restroom? Should I send a message and ask?”

Yao Rudong sent Yu Qiao a WeChat message but received no reply.

Yao Rudong waited five minutes, then said gloomily, “She’s not replying. What’s going on?”

Lu Yun’s expression changed. “Strange, Qiaoqiao used to reply very quickly. What happened?”

Feeling that something was wrong, she raised her hand to the teacher. “Teacher, Yu Qiao is missing. Yao Rudong and I are going to go look for her!”

In the dim room, the phone rang.

Yu Qiao opened her eyes slightly, her vision a blur. She could vaguely see two familiar characters on the screen.

Her fingers were soaked with sweat and slipped on the screen. After several attempts, she finally swiped to answer.

“Qiaoqiao, where are you?”

A familiar, gentle voice sounded in her ear, tinged with anxiety.

Yu Qiao struggled to process it for a moment, then whispered, “Senior.”

“It’s me,” Xie Bufei said. “Don’t worry, take your time.”

She repeated the question several times before Yu Qiao finally answered.

“I, I don’t know where I am.” Yu Qiao kept her head down, hugging her knees. Her voice was weak. “Senior, it hurts so much.”

Xie Bufei’s breath hitched. She comforted her in a calm tone, “It’s okay. Just wait a bit longer, I’ll find you soon.”

“Don’t be afraid, I’m right here. Trust me, okay?”

“Okay.” Yu Qiao nodded obediently where the other couldn’t see. “I, I’ll wait for you.”

In the darkness, Yu Qiao was shaking with heat. Sweat had long since soaked through her clothes. The pain made her feel like a drowning person, sinking bit by bit into the sunless depths of the sea.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, maybe a few minutes, or maybe centuries. She heard a loud noise nearby.

It seemed like someone outside the door was calling her name, “Qiaoqiao!”

Separated only by a door, Xie Bufei’s expression completely changed. As an instinctive reaction of an Omega, her legs felt so weak she could hardly stand. She wanted to be closer to the other person.

Craving touch, and kisses, just like lovers.

The pheromones belonging to an Alpha swept in aggressively, sharp and terrifying, making her feel breathless.

Xie Bufei suddenly realized, Yu Qiao had differentiated.

Support