The Stand-In Alpha Goes Viral on a Dating Show - Chapter 56

By evening, Chi Wan trailed after An Ran in a daze, her cheeks tinged red, lips curled in a mysterious little smile.

“Why are you still following me?” An Ran stomped lightly in embarrassment. She had deliberately chosen a quiet path, afraid someone might see them.

They’d already been stuck to each other all day—yet Chi Wan still looked unsatisfied, like she couldn’t get enough.

“I was wondering if from now on, I could…” Chi Wan started, but before the key words left her lips, she turned her face aside and coughed softly, her tone nonetheless burning hot.

“Could what?” An Ran puffed out her cheeks, eyes wide with wariness, as if warning: You’d better not be about to ask something outrageous!

“Mm…” Chi Wan glanced sideways at her and was instantly disarmed by how adorable she looked. Whatever she’d meant to say completely vanished from her head.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” An Ran squinted at her suspiciously, resembling a soft little bunny.

Chi Wan pressed her lips together, eyes wandering. She raised a fist to her mouth and thought: I can’t exactly admit that your cuteness made me forget my lines. That’d be way too embarrassing!

“I…” She had barely spoken a word before—

An Ran suddenly spun away, quickening her pace. “Forget it, I don’t want to hear it. It must be something unreasonable and weird!” she muttered.

“Hey—no, it’s not!” Chi Wan felt unjustly accused.

“Anyway, I don’t want to hear it.” An Ran walked faster and faster, her legs moving so quickly they almost left afterimages. Just as she was about to exit the grove, a steady but gentle hand caught her wrist.

The next moment, she was pulled back. Unable to resist the force, her slender waist twisted as she stumbled into a warm embrace.

Chest against chest, both of their hearts pounded wildly.

“Your heart is racing,” Chi Wan murmured, one hand holding An Ran’s wrist, the other snug around her waist.

“Yours too…” An Ran lightly tapped her shoulder, eyelids trembling. She seemed unaccustomed to being this close, her face stiff with tension. Her lips parted just barely with her breath.

“Mm, mine’s racing too.”

Chi Wan smiled, pulling her closer, savoring the stillness and beauty of the moment. Since the show ended, real life had been full of interruptions—peace like this was rare.

Just then, her phone chimed. Chi Wan frowned, pulling it out. The number looked vaguely familiar. She considered hanging up, but after hesitating, she answered.

“Hello, Chi Wan? You’re so lazy.”

Lu Xin’s voice came through the receiver, languid yet vibrant: “All the other guests have done multiple livestreams already, but you—nothing at all. What’s the deal? Don’t want to make money?”

Chi Wan froze. Only then did she remember—the original Chi Wan had been a livestream influencer.

“How do you even know I haven’t streamed?”

Surely this person hadn’t been secretly monitoring her channel all this time.

“Hmph, of course my assistant told me!” Lu Xin’s voice suddenly grew higher, almost as if she was covering something up.

The truth was, she had personally been lurking in Chi Wan’s channel. Her agent and assistant wanted her to cut ties, so how could they possibly have told her? But admitting she had been watching twenty-four-seven was far too humiliating. She decided to conceal it.

Chi Wan only gave a casual “Oh,” and said nothing more.

“That’s it? Just an oh? Way too perfunctory!” Lu Xin pouted. Her chest ached with disappointment. The old Chi Wan would never have been like this. Comparing then and now, she felt a wave of pain—was it true that people only cherished what they couldn’t have?

If so, she realized it too late. The thought made her feel pitiful.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

Sensing An Ran growing impatient in her arms, Chi Wan was ready to hang up.

“Yes! Of course! I’m kindly reminding you: while you’re still popular, do more streams. It won’t hurt you. And… watch out for people riding your coattails.”

Lu Xin nearly blurted out Ruan Xiao’s name, but hesitated. They were still technically friends. To expose her outright felt disloyal. After wavering, she swallowed the words.

Chi Wan caught her hesitation but didn’t press. “If that’s all, I’m hanging up.”

“Wait—!” Lu Xin cried, but all that followed was the flat “beep-beep” of a disconnected call.

“She just hung up like that…” Lu Xin stared blankly at her phone, looking lost.

Maybe I should go see her. If I dress up nicely, face-to-face will always be more sincere than a phone call.

Driven by that sudden impulse, Lu Xin hurried into her walk-in closet and began trying on the latest designer pieces one by one.

Meanwhile, An Ran, who had overheard the voice on the other end, watched Chi Wan hang up without hesitation. Satisfaction bloomed in her chest.

As the current girlfriend, of course she dreaded her Alpha lingering with an ex. “She was telling you to stream?”

“Mm.” Chi Wan nodded. They were still in each other’s arms, but An Ran’s fingers had slipped to play with the buttons on her shirt, looking almost childishly mischievous. Chi Wan’s heart softened at the sight.

In truth, Lu Xin’s advice wasn’t wrong. With her popularity high, streaming more made sense—especially since the original Chi Wan had made her career that way.

But… someone piggybacking off her popularity?

Chi Wan frowned slightly. She could already guess: someone posing as her ex and talking about their past, or spinning her show persona against her gold-digger reputation, or gossiping about her and An Ran—or the other Omega guests.

Maybe even fabricating scandals.

“What are you worried about?”

An Ran rose on tiptoe, exhaling softly against her ear. Her teasing tone brushed her eardrum like a feather fan.

“Honestly, I don’t want to stream. Facing that many viewers at once…” Chi Wan sighed. Hugging An Ran tighter, she stroked her long hair, the silky strands sliding through her fingers and soothing her irritability.

“Mm.” An Ran made a soft sound of acknowledgment, signaling she was listening.

“But rationally… now really is the best time to go live. So I’m torn.”

Chi Wan absentmindedly checked her account balance—and froze. The pitifully small number of digits stunned her speechless.

“…Alright. No more hesitation. Reality check: poverty clears the mind.” She rubbed her face with both hands.

An Ran blinked, then burst into silvery laughter.

“You’re laughing at me?” Chi Wan pretended to sulk, squeezing her waist. “Schadenfreude, huh! Keep it up and soon I won’t even have money to buy you gifts!”

“I don’t want gifts.” An Ran squirmed from the playful pinch, laughing even harder.

“No gifts? Then what do you want—me, perhaps?” Chi Wan leaned in with a wicked grin, exhaling over her full lips. Her eyes glittered mischievously, her smile carrying a teasing promise.

“I don’t want that either.” An Ran pushed at her shoulders in flustered protest, face burning.

“Really don’t?” Chi Wan pressed closer still, their waists flush together.

“No! Ugh, can you stop thinking about those messy things all the time?”

An Ran was ready to stomp her foot. Were all Alphas in love this shameless?

“What messy things? That’s basic human nature. I’m offering myself to you, and you won’t even take it!”

Chi Wan instantly put on a wounded look. “Be honest—do you not like me anymore? Are you seeing someone—mmph!”

Before she could finish her dramatic lament, a warm palm clamped over her mouth.

An Ran glared at her. “What nonsense are you spouting! Say that again and I’ll really get mad!”

Chi Wan blinked, then blinked again, her bright eyes full of emotion, as if they were speaking on their own.

“What are you trying to say?” An Ran’s lips pouted slightly. She loosened her palm just enough to let her speak.

“I want you to…” Chi Wan deliberately paused, staring straight at her. Watching An Ran’s cheeks flare red, she quickly added, “…prove it to me.”

An Ran froze. “Prove it? Prove what? How?”

“If you still like me, then kiss me.”

The answer slipped from Chi Wan’s lips without a second thought.

“Kiss…” An Ran’s gaze dropped instinctively to her hand still covering Chi Wan’s mouth.

Seeing her hesitation, Chi Wan lowered her lashes and sighed faintly. “So even a kiss is too much now?”

She looked so disappointed. The thought struck An Ran like a spark catching flame—it quickly grew into something unstoppable.

She didn’t want to see Chi Wan look that way.

It was just a kiss…

And truthfully, she wanted it too.

Swallowing hard, she slowly lowered her hand and leaned in, though when it came to kissing directly on the lips, she faltered with shyness.

Instead, she pressed a feather-light kiss to Chi Wan’s forehead, as gentle as a dragonfly skimming water. Then she trailed lower, lips brushing her delicate nose bridge, her bright eyes, finally landing on the tip of her nose.

They were so close, Chi Wan could hear the faint sound of her swallowing.

She’s nervous… maybe because my lips are just beneath her nose.

Realizing this, Chi Wan’s own heartbeat surged. So how will she kiss me? Will it be fiery and passionate—or soft as water?