After Pretending to be a Beta, the Omega was Discovered by the School Heartthrob Chapter 37

After a night’s sleep, Zhou Le felt noticeably more energized.

His body was back to normal, but to be safe, he slipped a suppressant into his backpack before leaving for school, discreetly tearing off the packaging. After yesterday, he decided to always carry a suppressant with him, just in case he found himself in the same situation again. If he hadn’t had Lu Jingran’s uniform yesterday… he would’ve been in big trouble.

Entering the school gates, someone bumped into him from behind.

Thinking it was Xia Linchuan, he turned, only to see it was Lin Xiaoxiao.

Zhou Le widened his eyes. “Why are you here?”

During a heat period, even if treated, most Omegas wouldn’t have the strength to attend school—they’d usually rest at home for a few days.

Lin Xiaoxiao huffed, crossing her arms. “Why can’t I come?! And I haven’t even started on you—asking me questions first!”

“Zhou Le! Are you even a good friend?!” Her voice rose, clearly remembering. “Yesterday, I begged you so much, and you just ignored me! Some friend you are!”

Zhou Le’s face showed a hint of awkwardness at the mention of yesterday. He looked away. “Yesterday… um, I had leg cramps and couldn’t move. I’m sorry. Are you okay now?”

Though annoyed and not buying his obvious excuse, Lin Xiaoxiao softened slightly at his apologetic expression.

“Well, at least you care enough to ask.” She huffed. “I’m mostly fine now. I recovered quickly and went for a suppressant injection yesterday, so I’m okay. It wasn’t a full heat, just a false alarm—the doctor said I’m fine.”

Zhou Le nodded, relieved. “That’s good. Glad you’re okay.”

Just then, a classmate walked by. “Lin Xiaoxiao? You’re alright? Back to school already?”

Lin Xiaoxiao: “Yeah, are you guys seeing a ghost or something?”

“You’re okay now, but you really scared us yesterday,” someone replied, still a bit shaken. “I heard the school even activated its emergency protocol yesterday.”

Feeling embarrassed about the trouble she caused, Lin Xiaoxiao looked awkward. “It’s not like I wanted to… but you can’t really control these things.”

“Yeah, it’s true. But yesterday… you were pretty strong. I think even the class rep had to go to the isolation room.”

Lin Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up instantly. “Really?” Had she really reached the point where even the class rep couldn’t control himself?

“Yeah, didn’t you know?”

“But I heard he left early, didn’t wait for the end of the day, and even signed a release form with the school. No one knows why he was in such a hurry.”

“Yeah, he seemed to be in a rush for something.”

“Oh? What time was that?”

“Probably around four-thirty.”

“Huh? Isn’t that when we Betas were leaving?”

“…”

Zhou Le lowered his head, staying silent.

So the class rep left early to take him home…?

Before he could process it, Lin Xiaoxiao noticed Zhou Le. “Why are you clutching your backpack like that today?”

Zhou Le’s hand instinctively tightened. “No… nothing.”

Lin Xiaoxiao noticed something was off. “What’s in your bag?”

“Nothing, nothing at all,” Zhou Le replied, innocently shaking his head.

Narrowing her eyes, Lin Xiaoxiao, one of Zhou Le’s few close friends, immediately sensed he was lying. Her curiosity piqued. “Let me see—what treasure are you hiding?”

With his suppressants in there, Zhou Le couldn’t let her look. Even without the packaging, the contents were too conspicuous, especially for an Omega who’d recognize them in an instant.

“Nothing, really, nothing!”

The more he resisted, the more curious Lin Xiaoxiao became. The two began tussling over the backpack right there.

Surprisingly strong for a girl who’d just had a heat, Lin Xiaoxiao put up quite a fight, making it difficult for Zhou Le.

Just then, a firm hand reached above them and snatched Zhou Le’s backpack with one hand.

Both stopped and looked up—Lu Jingran.

Lin Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up. “Class rep!”

Zhou Le instinctively shrank under Lu Jingran’s gaze.

“Don’t mess around, or there’ll be points deducted,” the Alpha said calmly.

The nearby classmates thought to themselves: The class rep is fierce; he doesn’t even spare his own friends.

Lin Xiaoxiao instantly behaved, raising her hand. “I was wrong, class rep. I won’t do it again.”

Lu Jingran handed the backpack back to Zhou Le.

Zhou Le took it without the same strength he’d shown when tugging with Lin Xiaoxiao, his lips pressed together in silence, looking rather shy.

Lu Jingran walked beside him, keeping a relaxed pace.

As long as Zhou Le turned his head slightly, he could see him.

The class rep’s uniform… it looked new, not the one from before…

He really should’ve washed it and given it back to him sooner, Zhou Le thought.

—

The chemistry competition was scheduled for Saturday morning. The principal, vice-principal, director, and a panel of professors were all judging, making the event very formal.

Zhou Le felt a bit overwhelmed, though thankfully, he and Xia Linchuan weren’t involved in the presentation. Only Lu Jingran and Sheng Qian were presenting and answering questions.

Cameras focused non-stop on Lu Jingran and Sheng Qian, flashing so much it dazzled Zhou Le.

Unsurprisingly, the school forum was likely exploding with posts about Lu Jingran again.

Once the competition was over, Xia Linchuan sighed in relief, taking off his competition uniform. “Finally! I thought I’d die from the late nights. I need to hit an internet café to recharge.”

In the days leading up to the event, they’d practically been living at the school. Zhou Le was exhausted, even falling asleep in a chair once, only to wake up covered by Lu Jingran’s jacket—apparently, it was him who’d taken Zhou Le home afterward.

Chen Nan stretched his arms wide; he felt as if he’d been sitting there forever. “Finally, it’s over. I’m starving.”

The competition had started at nine, and Chen Nan, rushing to be on time, hadn’t had breakfast. Usually, he didn’t get up until noon on weekends.

Sheng Qian, anticipating this, had prepared breakfast for him, but Chen Nan had skipped it, thinking the competition would be over quickly. Now he was practically starving.

“I booked a restaurant, and the car’s coming soon,” Sheng Qian said, putting down his phone.

Chen Nan’s eyes lit up. Instantly in a good mood, he slung an arm around Xia Linchuan. “You’re coming too; I’ll treat you all.”

Sheng Qian’s gaze settled momentarily on Chen Nan’s hand around Xia Linchuan’s arm.

Xia Linchuan politely declined. “I already ate breakfast. Right now, nothing is more important than gaming. I’m going to blow off some steam! Bye, everyone!”

Chen Nan huffed, “Ungrateful, huh? Fine, I wasn’t inviting you anyway.”

Turning to Zhou Le, he asked, “You’re not coming either?”

Zhou Le hesitated. 

He wanted to go, but he’d promised Uncle Zhou he’d deliver food that afternoon—they’d talked about it the night before.

Lin Xiaoxiao urged him. “Come on, just this once. You guys just finished the competition; shouldn’t you celebrate?”

More than anything, if Zhou Le agreed, she could shamelessly join as well. Eating with Lu Jingran and Sheng Qian was something she’d never even dreamed of.

Zhou Le thought about it, still hesitating, but seeing Lin Xiaoxiao’s hopeful look, he couldn’t bring himself to say no directly.

At that moment, Lu Jingran spoke up. “I have something to do this afternoon, so I can’t make it. Next time.”

“Aw…” Lin Xiaoxiao looked disappointed.

Lu Jingran extended his hand toward Zhou Le.

“?”

Lu Jingran said, “Give me your backpack. I’ll send you home.”

Lin Xiaoxiao, Chen Nan, and Sheng Qian all looked at Zhou Le in unison. What was this natural sense of intimacy about?

Zhou Le felt more and more self-conscious as they stared, hugging his backpack and wanting to say he could just take the bus home. But before he could, Lu Jingran grabbed his backpack and started walking away.

Zhou Le was stunned but quickly followed, not daring to hesitate. He turned back to say goodbye to the others. “I’m heading off now.”

Lin Xiaoxiao waved blankly. “Bye-bye.” …Wait, since when did Zhou Le get so close to the class rep?

Zhou Le actually wanted to ask that same question.

Why was Lu Jingran being so nice to him?

Even though he had stalked him to earn money, got him caught up in rumors that he had a weird fondness for mint beef, Lu Jingran hadn’t gotten angry. He even helped Zhou Le fend off Xiao Lan, snagged a rice cooker for him, helped him earn money from street vending, took him to chemistry competitions he wasn’t qualified for, bought him food from the cafeteria, gave him side jobs, and even, after discovering Zhou Le was an Omega, kept his secret and comforted him when he was struggling, offering his own pheromones and his jacket.

The only time Lu Jingran got mad was when Zhou Le tried to set him up with Liu Yanyan—that was the only time Lu Jingran had looked at him so coldly.

“What’s for dinner?” Lu Jingran suddenly asked in the taxi. Instead of waiting for his own ride, he’d flagged down a cab and pulled Zhou Le in.

“Oh,” Zhou Le blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. “My mom made kimbap, I had some this morning, so I’ll just reheat the leftovers for lunch.”

Lu Jingran fell silent, and the car became eerily quiet.

Zhou Le felt like he’d put things poorly and was about to add, “It’s pretty good; would you like some?” when he heard Lu Jingran tell the driver to turn left and stop at the next corner.

The driver stopped.

“Wait here for me.”

“Okay…”

After Lu Jingran left, Zhou Le curiously looked out the window. He saw fancy shops, huge glass windows, and dazzling chandeliers shining even from outside. The street was crowded and lively.

Zhou Le glanced at the designer brands, none of which he recognized, but they all looked pricey. He quickly pulled his head back inside.

After a while, Lu Jingran returned, holding an elegant box.

He handed it to Zhou Le.

Zhou Le thought he was just supposed to hold it for him, so he took it. It was pretty heavy.

Lu Jingran looked at him and said, “It’s beef. You and Auntie can open it up and eat it when you get home.”

?

This was for him?

The driver spoke up from the front. “Is this Hejijia’s beef? Wow, that place is famous! A little bit of this stuff will be eight hundred to a thousand bucks.”

“You’ve got a good friend, young man.”

Over a thousand?

Zhou Le’s eyes widened at the box in his hands. All that for this?

“Class rep, I…”

“Don’t say you don’t want it; I got it especially for you.”

Lu Jingran’s voice was low, but his tone held an undeniable warmth that made it hard to refuse.

The words “especially for you” echoed in Zhou Le’s mind.

“You’re still growing; you need the nutrition.”

“….”

Zhou Le was now completely speechless, and what exactly was implied by “growing” went without saying.

He gripped the box tightly, his lips pressed together, unable to respond.

Lu Jingran glanced at his profile but said nothing further.

After getting out, Zhou Le, carrying the thousand-yuan box and his backpack, thanked him. “Thanks, class rep.”

Lu Jingran didn’t respond at first. Then he stepped closer and softly touched Zhou Le’s hair. “Be safe this afternoon when you go out. Don’t make me worry.”

“…”

The Alpha was so close that Zhou Le was surrounded by his scent. His gentle words overflowed with care.

Zhou Le glanced up; Lu Jingran’s eyes were full of him.

Suddenly, Zhou Le felt like he’d been burned and quickly looked away.

Lu Jingran withdrew his hand and put it in his pocket. “Go on up.”

With his mind in turmoil, Zhou Le followed every instruction without question.

Turning, opening the door—

“Zhou Le.” Lu Jingran called from behind. “If anything happens, call me. No matter what, I’ll be the first one there.”