Chapter 3

[Zhuang Qu: Remember to arrive at the dance studio on time at 8 o’clock. There is breakfast and nutrient solution in the fridge.]
[Zhuang Qu: The dance instructor will be here today. The others have already finished practicing their parts, so you need to pick up the pace.]

Opening her optical computer, two unread messages popped up right on time.
Chi Xun checked the time in the top right corner of the screen—7:43. Her eyes widened, all traces of sleepiness vanished, and she rushed into the bathroom.

7:59.
Chi Xun sprinted to the entrance of the dance studio in her slippers, using the final seconds to change into her sneakers while checking her reflection in the glass door to ensure she looked the part.
Hmm, chest flat, loose T-shirt paired with baggy shorts—she looked every bit the boy.
The only drawback was her short, cropped hair, which was prone to sticking up after sleep; there was one stubborn cowlick she had spent all morning trying to flatten with water to no avail.

Smoothing out the wrinkles on her T-shirt, Chi Xun pushed the door open and strode inside.
The room was flooded with sunlight, and the chatter that had been filling the space hit a pause at her arrival.

"...So that’s Chi Xun?"
After a few seconds of silence, a clear, crisp teenage voice broke the quiet.
Xie Sisheng saw the boy's pants and was instantly reminded of yesterday’s scene; he quickly shifted his gaze away. "Yeah, got a problem with that?"
"Not really, just didn’t think such a little shrimp could get under your skin. Aren't you being a bit narrow-minded?"
The boy turned his head with a bright, sunny smile toward the person beside him. "What do you think, Captain?"

Hearing the commotion, Chi Xun realized there were people in the studio. Clutching her water bottle, she looked over and saw two tall boys standing in front of Xie Sisheng, who was sitting on the floor against the mirror. The three of them were chatting.
The one on the left had tea-colored short hair, wore an oversized hoodie with a plaid shirt tied around his waist, and matching canvas shoes. He had a beaming smile and looked very easygoing.
The other, a black-haired boy, wore a black turtleneck sweater and listened to his companion with a faint, detached expression. Even when the sunlight hit his face, it failed to soften his cold, sharp features.

They were standing close together, and she couldn't quite catch what they were saying.
Chi Xun glanced at them twice, then lowered her head, looking for a place to stand.
She picked a corner, piled her thermos, speaker, and small bag in one spot, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pair of colorful canvas shoes appear before her.

"You must be Chi Xun, right?"
A smiling male voice came from above, and a large, articulated hand reached out. "Hi, I’m Song Yao’an. Nice to meet you."
Chi Xun looked up, meeting a pair of smiling "puppy eyes."
She hesitated for a moment before shaking his hand.

"How are you so cute, like a little doll?"
The boy leaned in, laughing teasingly, "You aren't still a minor, are you?"
Chi Xun tried to pull her hand away, but he held it tight. She pursed her lips and replied earnestly, "I’ve been an adult for a few months now."
"I see, then I’m a year younger than you."
Song Yao’an rubbed his chin. "I usually call the other teammates 'brother,' so it’s fine if I call you that, too, right?"
Not far away, the corner of Xie Sisheng’s mouth twitched.
Si Heng also gave them a long, deep look.
"...Whatever works," she replied.
Chi Xun felt the constant heat radiating from his palm and felt uncomfortable. Was interaction between teammates always this intimate?

"You should have met this one yesterday."
Song Yao’an pulled her hand, leading her toward Xie Sisheng. "Opposite him is our group’s captain, Si Heng. If you have any problems with daily life, you can ask him for help."
Chi Xun looked over as mentioned and crashed into a pair of dark, narrow eyes.
The boy’s pitch-black pupils seemed capable of sucking her in. She didn't dare look again and shifted her gaze to the bridge of his nose—a trick she had learned as a child when lying to Chi Xun to avoid eye contact without being obvious.

The boy in front of her had a sharp, slightly protruding ridge on his nose, like a camel’s hump, accented by a small, light-brown mole. It was exactly as described in the books: Si Heng was humorless, aloof, and the strictly raised heir to a conglomerate.
—Before meeting Xie Sisheng, he had never needed suppressants and had never entered a rut.

Their eyes met again, and he gave a slight nod, as if confirming the latter half of Song Yao’an’s words.
Then, he said coolly, "It’s getting late. Let’s start training."

...

Chi Xun sat in the corner, finishing her last bottle of nutrient solution, waiting for the intro to their debut song, "Aurora," to play.
As the powerful drum beats of the intro dropped, the sound of rhythmic, crisp footsteps echoed on the floor. The three of them took a large, synchronized step forward with the beat; even Xie Sisheng had discarded his usual lazy demeanor.
Although there were only three of them, they danced with the presence of seven, yet the sound of their steps reached Chi Xun’s ears as if it were only one person.

She watched, mesmerized, subconsciously twitching her toes to the beat as they began to break down the dance moves.
To her surprise, Si Heng’s dance style was completely different from his personality.
During a move where he knelt on both knees, his fingers brushed over his Adam’s apple, slid down to his waistband, and then he braced himself on the floor. Chi Xun’s gaze followed his waist and abdomen—a thin, narrow area tightened by a belt, yet it carried immense power when he performed the wave.
Compared to him, Xie Sisheng danced with confidence in other parts, but held back during this specific hip-thrusting move.
As for Song Yao’an, he seemed to have endless energy in every move he made.

Being young is nice, Chi Xun mused, shifting her gaze back to Si Heng.
His movements were the most standard.
His burning gaze was impossible to ignore. Xie Sisheng tolerated it for the whole song, but finally, unable to take it anymore, he prepared to glare back—only to realize that Chi Xun in the corner was actually staring blankly behind him, not even bothering to throw away her empty nutrient bottle.
Xie Sisheng turned his head to follow her gaze.
Behind him, Si Heng was wiping sweat with a towel, completely unaware.
"..."
Xie Sisheng unscrewed his water bottle and took a large gulp.

The three-minute break ended, the accompaniment looped, and everyone seemed accustomed to this rote, test-prep style of daily dance practice.
Near nine o'clock, the door to the studio was pushed open again, and a figure burst in.
"Sorry, sorry! My flyer had a bit of a glitch on the way here, I’m half an hour late. Oh right! Zhuang Qu called me over today to teach your new teammate, Chi Xun, how to dance. Is he here?"
Zhuang Xiao met the gaze of the three boys and noticed they were looking behind her.
She spun around abruptly and saw a clean, fair-skinned boy emerging from the floor like a radish.
He really did seem to emerge... since, standing upright, he was barely level with her shoulders.
Fluffy, short, curly hair, upright posture, and a somewhat naive face—the sunlight fell on him, and Zhuang Xiao could even see the fine fuzz on his skin, making her palms itch.
Damn, he’s so cute.
She rarely found Alphas cute—if ever—because she was an Alpha herself and knew the base instincts of their kind; once they hit their rut, they wanted nothing more than to grab an Omega and have their way with them.
S-class or F-class, it made no difference.
It was just a matter of whether the former could hold back while the latter couldn't. Once the floodgates opened, they were all beasts, which was why she sometimes envied Betas.
But the Alpha in front of her was like a little cupcake. She would have believed it if someone said he was an Omega... the contrast was immense.
What kind of luck did Zhuang Qu have to rope this person in?

"Teacher?"
Chi Xun waved her hand in front of her.
Zhuang Xiao snapped back to reality and immediately got into character. "You can just call me Sister Xiao-Xiao; no need to be so formal. Come, let’s find some empty space and I’ll see what your level is."
"Okay."
Chi Xun followed her closely.
This was the first time she had seen a female face in days, and she unconsciously showed a bit of dependence.

...

"Relax, good."
"Make the arc bigger, even bigger... very good."
"Remember to make the kick heavier, it was too soft just now, honey."
Song Yao’an watched the man and woman in the distance, propping his chin on his hands and smiling: "So Sister Zhuang Xiao can be this gentle. Looks like our new teammate is very likable."
Si Heng was silent for a few seconds before speaking, which was rare: "He has no foundation in hip-hop."
Xie Sisheng curled his lip: "You’re quite observant."
"You two are the best at hip-hop. Why not just give him some extra lessons?" Song Yao’an shrugged.

Xie Sisheng scoffed: "No time. Let our enthusiastic Captain help."
Si Heng looked at him: "Did you eat gunpowder today?"
Xie Sisheng: "Just stating facts. You’ve always liked using that meritocratic system to filter your social circle, haven't you? If you encounter a commoner with no talent, I bet you’d want to eliminate him even more than we do."
"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Don’t let Chi Xun hear you." Song Yao’an grabbed the clothes of both of them. "Let’s keep practicing."
A brief standoff ensued.
But when the music started again, all three returned to their respective positions.
Song Yao’an never believed they would truly fall out. After all, one was the youngest son of the Linggou Group chairman, and the other was the only son of a major nutrient solution supplier; the two companies had countless interests intertwined.
Or rather, all six of them were like that.
Daily friction was harmless; as long as the internal core was stable, no external force could truly dismantle their relationship.

...

"Alright, let's stop here for today."
Zhuang Xiao held back as much as she could, but finally couldn't resist ruffling Chi Xun’s fluffy hair. "It’s been six hours, you look like you need a rest."
"Thank you, Sister Xiao-Xiao."
After saying that, Chi Xun had used up all her energy and floated back to the floor like a sponge. Her legs were sore, and she felt like her waist was no longer her own.
"Actually, you’re progressing faster than I thought. The second half is already much better. In ten days... less than two weeks, you should be able to catch up to their pace, though the performance might be a bit lacking." Zhuang Xiao sat down beside her. "Can you handle it?"
Chi Xun nodded vigorously.

Just then, a message from Zhuang Qu popped up at the most inconvenient time.
[During the group promotion period, remember to update your social media daily. Attach three to nine photos to build popularity.]
Photos? Chi Xun was stumped.
She didn't have an optical computer before, so she rarely took photos. Chi Xun did have one and had taken photos of them together, but there was a locked album on the device that her brother said contained work secrets, so she rarely touched it.
Now that she had inherited his device, she still couldn't open that private album.
If the photos turned out ugly, would that really build popularity, or would it just build resentment?

Just as Chi Xun was agonizing over whether to take a selfie or have someone else take it, she heard Zhuang Xiao curse: "What a mood-killing workaholic."
With her bright and vivid features, she leaned over and held her own optical computer up to them: "If you don't know what to post, let’s take a few photos together, how about that? For the caption, just write: 'First day of dance practice.'"
Chi Xun didn't nod or shake her head, but simply held her hands in a peace sign against her chest, showing her cooperation.
Zhuang Xiao burst out laughing.

*Click, click.* Two photos were taken. In the picture, the bright, beautiful woman with long, cascading hair and the young, short-haired boy with slightly curly locks stood shoulder-to-shoulder. One was laughing with a hand over her mouth, while the other had a faint smile, looking at the camera with a sense of bewilderment.
Chi Xun edited the caption as Zhuang Xiao suggested and posted her first update. Her follower count was very low, even lower than the fake account of the captain, Si Heng.
But within seconds of posting, a deluge of replies flooded in.

[Help, who is actually backing Chi Xun?]
[The background is really solid. I don’t mind a seven-member group, but at least make them all 185cm tall.]
[Commoner’s ugliness... well, he’s a rare, pretty kid, but the Isaro concept is 'Children of the Stars and Ocean.' How does he, coming from the Lower District, look anything like that?]
[What’s wrong with the Lower District? Did it offend you? Playing the discrimination card again, huh?]
[Actually, I quite like this type. The others are all too sharp.]
[To the one above: You’re a glandular-numb Beta, what do you know? Go play with your adult toys.]

So lively.
So she actually had quite a bit of buzz, Chi Xun thought.
She finally understood why Zhuang Xiao had looked at her with such pity before taking the photos.