Chi Zhan stood out from the crowd with an unusual calm, quietly picking up his book to review the material, completely unbothered by the upcoming match results.
“So studious,” came a warm voice beside him. “Is this seat taken?”
At some point, Cen Chi had walked over. When Chi Zhan looked up, Cen Chi gave him a gentle smile.
As the unanimously acknowledged heartthrob of the Medical Division, Cen Chi’s looks were beyond reproach. When he smiled, he exuded a refined, jade-like grace, entirely unlike the aggressive allure most Alphas carried. It was no wonder that a countless number of Omegas had confessed to him—Beta and even Alpha admirers among them.
Chi Zhan returned the smile. “Nope. Have a seat.”
Cen Chi did have this public elective as well, though since the class was so large—with students from three different divisions attending—they’d never actually crossed paths before. Was he seeking him out on purpose today…?
Chi Zhan’s gaze swept to the subtle smile on Cen Chi’s lips. It had already captivated the nearby students, who were now eagerly offering him small gifts. Before long, Chi Zhan’s own desk wasn’t spared either—it became a miniature mountain of snacks.
“…”
Chi Zhan mused:
What exactly is he up to?
If Cen Chi wanted to date someone, he wasn’t an Omega. Surely there were more fitting choices.
The only reason they’d interacted before was due to that pheromone sampling incident—Cen Chi had no better option and asked him for help out of necessity.
Still, a Beta’s pheromones were like plain water—bland, scentless, entirely devoid of appeal. What on earth made Cen Chi interested in him?
Thinking back to that kiss last night, Chi Zhan found Cen Chi utterly incomprehensible.
If it had been anyone else, Chi Zhan could’ve pretended to wake up and stopped them. But Cen Chi… wasn’t so easy to deal with.
The last time he’d tried that tactic, Cen Chi had done something to knock him out cold. Which was why, last night, Chi Zhan could only feign sleep to the end, lest the man knock him unconscious again.
What a headache.
“Ah-Zhan, aren’t you curious about the match results? You might have a high compatibility with the Crown Prince,” Cen Chi said casually.
“I’m just a Beta. The compatibility score won’t be high. But it’s fine. I’ll still give it my best.”
He had no intention of telling anyone he’d already secured direct advancement. Graduation was still a year away, and he had to stay at the academy until then. With so many eyes around, it was best to keep a low profile.
Still… what was with that familiar form of address?
Noticing Chi Zhan’s subtle confusion, Cen Chi explained, “Calling you by your full name feels too formal. Since we’ll be seeing each other often, is it okay if I call you Ah-Zhan?”
Chi Zhan stared at him for a moment, then looked away, replying awkwardly, “No one calls me that… It feels weird.”
“It’s a hometown thing,” Cen Chi said with a soft chuckle. “It sounds warm and familiar, doesn’t it? You can call me Ah-Chi too.”
Chi Zhan repeated it quietly, “Mm. Ah-Chi.”
“The results are out!” someone shouted suddenly. Everyone immediately opened their comms, the classroom erupting into collective sighs of disappointment.
“Not me.”
“Me neither.”
“Who do you think it is? Must be an Omega, right?”
Tao Ran glanced at her screen, her expression saying “called it”: “Chi-Chi, check your messages! Maybe you got matched!”
Chi Zhan didn’t even blink. He turned a page in his textbook.
“It’s not me.”
“You didn’t even check! You can read that book anytime—aren’t you even a little curious?”
Urged on by Tao Ran, Chi Zhan reluctantly tapped open his comm. A single unread message sat quietly in his system inbox.
“This part’s easy,” the System suddenly chimed in.
Chi Zhan froze for a second before realizing it was responding to his earlier remark: “Are you overestimating me?”
“No. This is anything but easy.”
Assassinating the Crown Prince was far harder than becoming a secretary.
“As long as he falls hopelessly in love with you, then it’s a very simple task.”
“Didn’t know you had a sense of humor,” Chi Zhan replied coolly, tapping the webpage open.
Due to the heavy traffic, the signal lagged, and the interface loaded slowly.
“I’m not joking,” the System said. “Because—”
The page refreshed.
Chi Zhan glanced at it idly, ready to close it—but then his hand suddenly froze.
“…Your compatibility with the Crown Prince is extremely high.”
Across the screen, bold red letters lit up:
Match Successful.
***
“Chi-Chi, what’s wrong? It’s not a big deal if you didn’t match—we didn’t either. There’ll be more chances later,” Tao Ran said, watching Chi Zhan with concern.
Chi Zhan’s face was completely blank. After a long moment, he finally blinked, let out a faint “Mm,” and looked at the screen again, confirming it wasn’t a hallucination. Then he rubbed his temples.
What the hell…?
The classroom was still buzzing with excitement. Only when the professor arrived and class began did things slowly quiet down. Chi Zhan shut his comm and quietly listened to the lecture.
“You tampered with it, didn’t you?” he wrote notes in his textbook while silently asking the System.
“No. I don’t have the authority to alter results. I only report the facts.”
The Matching System, officially known as the Central Genetic Matching System, was designed to match individuals based on their genetic chain, seeking highly compatible complementary strands. Given the substantial genetic difference between Betas and both Alphas and Omegas, there had never been a single recorded case of an Alpha matching with a Beta in the system’s history.
After class, the professor left homework assignments. No one paid much attention—they were all still chatting about the match results. Chi Zhan closed his book and was just about to leave when someone gently tugged his sleeve.
“Can I crash with you for the group project?” Cen Chi asked. “I don’t want to go find a new team, and since we’re in the same dorm, it’ll be easier.”
It was such a perfectly reasonable excuse that Chi Zhan couldn’t find a way to refuse.
This shared class came with a one-week group project, and each group needed at least three members. With him and Tao Ran, they were one short.
Chi Zhan paused for a few seconds, still considering, when Tao Ran lit up and exclaimed:
