After the new students enrolled, the faculty advisor of the school broadcast station asked Chu Tao to train the newcomers.

Originally, this task was supposed to be handled by the new senior year members. However, Mo Xi had withdrawn from the broadcast station after the new semester started due to personal reasons, and the teacher had no suitable candidate, so he asked Chu Tao to teach again.

Tao Song, who was pulled from the regular class, approached Chu Tao right away. He hooked his arm around Chu Tao’s shoulder and complained, “Look at you! Switched classes and didn’t even come find your old man, heartless.”

Hearing this, Chu Tao gave a lazy smile and replied, “You know how much pressure I’m under.”

Tao Song, aware of Chu Tao’s family situation and the pressure he faced from Song Mian over his poor chemistry grades, knew that any progress Chu Tao had made must have taken a lot of effort.

Tao Song muttered, “Well, that’s what happens when you have a genius brother. Look at me, no one to compare to, and my mom doesn’t push me.”

Chu Tao’s eyelids fluttered briefly as he tugged at his uniform zipper, letting the hallway breeze cool him a bit.

“My mom doesn’t push me now, so I’ve been putting my energy elsewhere.”

Tao Song raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “On what?”

Chu Tao pursed his lips, silent for a moment, then took a deep breath, patting Tao Song on the head. “Your old man’s got himself a stepmom.”

Given his close relationship with Tao Song, Chu Tao felt no need to hide it, confident that Tao Song would keep it secret.

Tao Song jerked away from Chu Tao’s hand, exclaiming, “Wait, what?!”

Chu Tao, annoyed, said, “Could you keep it down?”

Tao Song leaned in close, sniffing around Chu Tao like a dog, and after a moment, complained, “Are us betas just not sensitive enough? I can’t pick up any Omega scent on you at all.”

Chu Tao glanced at him, shook his head, and replied, “You’re right not to smell anything—he’s not an Omega.”

Tao Song cocked his head, raising an eyebrow with a funny look, and probed cautiously, “A beta?”

Chu Tao didn’t answer directly. “Remember the lecture we had before, about gender and such, from that professor?”

“Uh, yeah, wasn’t he from some famous university?” Tao Song barely recalled the lecture, as he hadn’t really paid attention.

Chu Tao continued, “The professor mentioned that some alphas have a unique gland like a mental gland that can react specifically to certain people, regardless of gender. Do you remember that?”

“I think so?” Tao Song thought hard, vaguely recalling it as an oddity, something he didn’t expect would ever matter.

Chu Tao took a deep breath and calmly said, “I have that. And I realized that I react to Jiang She. That’s why I asked you to blow on my neck before; I tested it, and only Jiang She triggers it.”

Tao Song gasped, stunned into silence.

Chu Tao lowered his head, a small smile surfacing. “I don’t really understand it myself. At first, I rejected him, even thought about finding an Omega to suppress my reaction to him.”

“But eventually, I realized this attraction was impossible to resist. It feels like I’m meant to be with him, so there’s no point in fighting it anymore.”

“Last time in the broadcast station, the confession that got overheard by Mo Xi was from Jiang She. It probably shocked him, which is why he doesn’t want to stay in the station.”

Chu Tao kept speaking to himself for a while, only noticing after some time that Tao Song had been staring off into space.

Chu Tao stopped, his sharp eyes narrowing slightly as the wind brushed up his half-zipped jacket, swinging the zipper in the air.

“Tao Song?”

Tao Song snapped back to reality, suddenly grabbing Chu Tao’s arms with a worried, conflicted look. He bit his lip and said, “Chu Xiao^[1]Xiao means Little Tao, dude, please get a grip. Out of all people to date, why’d you choose an alpha?”

He sighed, shook his head, and said, “Fine, even if you want to date an alpha, why Jiang She of all people? Unless he got his head smashed in a door, he’s never going to let you be the dominant one—you two would end up fighting until you’re half-dead, getting married in the hospital!”

Chu Tao met Tao Song’s gaze, both taking a deep breath, eyes locked.

Slowly, Tao Song’s expression shifted from worry to confusion, then to shock.

“Don’t tell me—”

Chu Tao calmly replied, “Tao Song, I think I mentioned that I always thought I’d be an Omega, but then I ended up as an alpha.”

“So…”

“So, I don’t want to be the dominant one—I want someone else to be.”

Tao Song gulped, struggling to process it. “Dude, you’re way too honest.”

Chu Tao suddenly felt lighter, having shared his secret with his best friend.

He and Jiang She had hidden their relationship from everyone—family, teachers, classmates—each secret adding pressure. He wanted to express it openly, but he knew he couldn’t.

Telling one person felt like a relief. While he wasn’t ready to tell his family yet, he sensed that day wasn’t too far off.

Chu Tao warned Tao Song, “Just keep this between us. Don’t let Jiang She find out.”

“Why?” Tao Song asked, puzzled.

With a mischievous grin, Chu Tao shrugged, “He doesn’t need to know I prefer the other role. Gotta let him sweat a little, right?”

With that, Chu Tao sped up, walking ahead against the sunlight.

Watching his carefree stride, Tao Song murmured, “Chu Tao, you’ve changed a bit.”

“How?”

Tao Song chewed on his words, scratching his head. “Seems like you’re more open now, more talkative, expressive. You know, you used to be so quiet, like a senior bureaucrat, all serious and reserved. Just very… noble.”

Chu Tao was slightly taken aback. “Really?”

He hadn’t realized that was the impression he gave Tao Song. He always thought he was fairly talkative, at least when he was hanging out with him.

Tao Song added, “It’s not that you weren’t cheerful before, but maybe when your brother was around, his presence made you quieter by contrast. You seemed pretty different from him—more reserved. But now it’s like you’ve found your own world.”

Chu Tao nodded thoughtfully, his long eyelashes casting shadows like little fans. He stood right on the edge where the sunlight hit, just a step away from the darkness, but he remained in the light.

“Since I met Jiang She, a lot has changed. I think I’ve changed quite a bit, and he’s changed a lot too. I never imagined he’d improve his rank from a thousand to the top three hundred just for me. Looking at it that way, it’s not bad,” Chu Tao mused aloud.

Tao Song rubbed his hands together, moving closer to Chu Tao. Perhaps it was just psychological, but he felt he could actually sense another alpha’s faint pheromones on Chu Tao—subtle, but undeniable.

“Can I be nosy for a bit? Jiang She, such a talented guy—uh, is he… big?” Tao Song’s face was full of curiosity. He’d heard that alphas were supposed to be, well, a little more impressive than betas in that area, but he hadn’t noticed much difference with Chu Tao, so he wondered if Jiang She might be different.

Chu Tao raised an eyebrow, giving Tao Song a sidelong glance. “Do you think I’d be looking there?”

Tao Song countered confidently, “How could you not? Don’t you know how important sexual compatibility is in a relationship? Why do you think everyone cares about pheromone compatibility? You two don’t have a pheromone compatibility rating, so if he’s not big, what are you even enjoying?”

Chu Tao: “…”

Chu Tao: “Just shut up already!” He suddenly felt like unzipping his jacket didn’t help with the heat; the weather was getting ridiculously hot these days.

Tao Song sighed, disappointed. “You’re way too proper. Let me tell you, with my five terabytes of experience in pornography films, alphas tend to think with their lower head more than you’d expect, and poor quality performance in bed directly affects relationships.”

Although Chu Tao hadn’t been giving it any thought before, Tao Song’s words planted the idea in his mind.

Back in the classroom, he noticed Jiang She studying, memorizing ancient poetry from a Chinese textbook. Without thinking, his gaze drifted downward.

The school uniform pants were too baggy; he couldn’t see anything clearly.

Jiang She lowered his book, noticing Chu Tao’s gaze, and raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “What’re you looking at?”