Chapter 4

Evening.

Si Heng left the recording studio, intending to head to the bar counter for a glass of water. As always, he passed by the dance practice room, where a bouncy figure was still moving within the vast, quiet space.

He paused for a moment and checked the time. It was past six in the evening; ten hours had passed since the morning assembly, and Zhuang Xiao had long since left.

Si Heng looked back. Bathed in the final rays of sunset, he caught a glimpse of the boy’s hair, damp and clumping against his forehead, and the collar of his T-shirt soaked through with sweat. At one point, the boy crouched down, gasping for air, his slender, deeply defined collarbones rising and falling violently with every breath, while a few beads of sweat rolled down into his wide neckline.

He thought the boy was about to rest. But soon, the boy braced his knees and stood up, continuing the dance steps from before.

Si Heng’s gaze flickered. Only when the entire track finished playing did he push the door open and say, "There is physical training tomorrow morning."

Chi Xun, exhausted to the point of tinnitus, turned her head sluggishly. "Captain? Physical training is..."

Si Heng replied, "Planks, sit-ups, jumping jacks, and bench presses. Since we are Alphas, the intensity will be continuously increased."

Chi Xun’s eyes widened slowly.

Si Heng walked in and turned off her music. "Go back, take a shower, and get some rest. Don't affect our progress for tomorrow."

"..."

Upon hearing the words "increased intensity," Chi Xun’s soul left her body for a moment. Are these people monsters of stamina? If only she had saved some energy for tomorrow.

Si Heng turned and left, switching off the lights in the dance room as he went. Not long after, she heard heavy footsteps approaching, and someone caught up to him, panting slightly. "Wait, wait a moment."

Si Heng slowed his pace. "Is something else the matter?"

Chi Xun bit her lip, looking him up and down with confusion before saying earnestly, "You took my slippers."

Si Heng tilted his brow slightly as he looked at her. The boy was holding a bag that hadn't been zipped shut and a pair of sneakers, drenched in sweat, with a faint, subtle scent lingering about him—like green grapes, yet indistinct upon closer sniff.

He looked away and said coolly, "It was my shoes you took yesterday."

After a brief pause, he added, "Disposable slippers are in the black box on the top shelf of the living room shoe cabinet. When the dormitory opened, Zhuang Qu only prepared six pairs, same for the tableware. Anything missing needs to be bought by the assistant."

...!

Chi Xun was struck by this sudden information, and she felt a surge of happiness she didn't know how to handle. If she applied to go out and buy them herself, couldn't she sneak back to the lower city and exchange them for two chest binders that fit properly?

Chi Xun suppressed her excitement, forcing herself to appear calm. "I understand, thank you, Captain."

Si Heng said nothing more. As he stepped down the final stair, he heard a sniffing sound behind him. Looking back, he saw Chi Xun still standing in place, shoulders hunched, rubbing her eyes. She looked like a tiny shadow cast by the light, appearing all alone.

Back at the bar, the dining room was lively. Song Yao’an was wearing an apron, holding a cocktail shaker as he mixed a drink; the glass in front of him was filled with a colorful cocktail. Xie Sisheng was walking his electronic turtle, which was crawling slowly around the dining table with mechanical, jerking joints.

Si Heng was long accustomed to his teammates' erratic daily routines. He walked past them to pour a glass of water. After all, although S-class Alphas could suppress their rut periods through superior physique and forgo the pleasures of the palate by relying on nutrient solutions for long periods, repressed sexual desire would not vanish with time; it would only accumulate. To avoid losing control, all six of them had, to varying degrees, niche hobbies to pass the time.

"There’s not much left in the wine cabinet. Looks like someone needs to go to the convenience store. Is anyone going out?"

"Wouldn't it be easier to just leave such things to Xiao Xu?"

"His taste is too poor..." Song Yao’an smiled innocently, though his words were malicious. "He's been an assistant for so long, and he’s still an idiot who can't even buy a decent bottle of wine."

Xie Sisheng said, "Not going. There are piles of paparazzi and obsessed fans everywhere."

"Then I'll go myself." Song Yao’an shrugged and turned to untie his apron. He deftly put on a baseball cap and a mask, ready to leave. As he changed his shoes, he heard Si Heng’s voice behind him.

"I'll go with you."

...

When the two returned with their purchases, Xie Sisheng’s turtle had just crawled to the entryway. Song Yao’an smiled and crouched down to touch it. The turtle scurried away, its joints scattering along the path before reassembling into a spider and crawling back onto its master’s shoulder.

"Are you sick? I told you it hates being touched," Xie Sisheng said, walking over to scold him.

Song Yao’an smiled. "It's you who hates being touched, isn't it? Isn't this little electric pet connected to part of your senses?"

Xie Sisheng rolled his eyes and crouched down to rummage through their plastic bags. "Why is it all strawberry, pineapple, and guava fruit wine? Your taste is also exceptionally poor. And this..."

He pulled out a pair of pink slippers the size of his palm, frowning as he inspected the little dog bone print. "So ugly. Who is this for? Whose feet are this small? These are women's slippers, right?"

Song Yao’an replied, "The Captain bought them for Chi Xun. This was all the convenience store had left."

"..."

Si Heng actually found out Chi Xun’s shoe size?

Xie Sisheng twitched the corner of his mouth. "What kind of love potion did this new member feed him?"

"The Captain has always cared for us equally," Song Yao’an said.

Xie Sisheng couldn't be bothered to retort. If he hadn't been a classmate of Si Heng's, he might have actually believed that. The man was clearly an exquisite egoist who kept strangers at bay and even kept acquaintances at a distance. Thinking of the way Chi Xun had looked at Si Heng with such infatuation during the day, he suddenly felt his teeth itch. Didn't that kid use to stalk the places where he practiced dancing? Now he had a new target immediately. What was the meaning of this? Was he playing him?

Si Heng didn't care about their bickering and said coolly, "I'm heading back to the recording studio."

Song Yao’an turned to ask Xie Sisheng, "Are you going upstairs? Why not drop off the slippers for Chi Xun?"

The spider on his shoulder immediately became excited, waving its eight legs as if preparing to jump toward the slippers, but Xie Sisheng pressed it down. He stood up with his arms crossed and said with a stiff face, "I don't have time."

...

Steam rose in the bathroom. Chi Xun, with a towel wrapped around her head, climbed out of the bathtub with reluctance. She wanted to soak like this forever. It was so relaxing.

Earlier, the sweat on her forehead had trickled through her eyebrows into her eyes. She had rubbed them the whole way back, and her eyes were so irritated she could barely open them. The training intensity of an Alpha was indeed more than she could handle; she had never been this tired, even back when she practiced ballet.

Back then, her ballet teacher would always scold her, saying she was relying on her talent and not practicing seriously, often keeping her in the classroom for extra hours and not letting her eat. One night, when it was almost dark, Chi Xun was so hungry that she started tearing up the moment she saw Chi Xun (her brother) come to the dance room to find her. Later, her brother hired a private tutor for her.

The tutor was a ballet teacher from the upper city. Every time he came, he had to take a private aircraft and required a dedicated room to teach. All these expenses were covered by her brother. Chi Xun had been curious about where his money came from, but he just wouldn't say.

Chi Xun wiped her half-dried hair as she came out of the bathroom. Passing by the mirror, she glanced at herself.

It was fine. Even if she only wore a tank top, the loose, thick black pajamas were just enough to hide the curve of her chest, keeping her from being crushed by a chest binder in the middle of the night or dreaming of