[BL] Between an Alpha and Omega

Since it was the first time in weeks that Jun Yibai and Yang Ru had spent time together, she suggested that they hang out. It was, as she proclaimed, what she deserved after being worried sick about her friend.

Jun Yibai obliged, wanting to spend some time outside with a friend.

He, unfortunately, forgot that Yang Ru was a woman despite her brazen personality. As such, most of their hang out was walking from store to store, looking more than buying. Worse, she chose high-end stores since they had the best products.

Jun Yibai could only watch her marvel at an expensive purse that, to his eyes, looked no different from the previous six he'd seen in the last few stores. Yet Yang Ru insisted that this was special.

"It's a limited edition Huanmei bag! All my classmates were raving about it since there are so few made." She cooed, looking at the bag like a lover. "They all swore it wouldn't hit local markets before the year ended yet here it is!"

Yang Ru wanted to take a picture to show off to her classmates. They were all med school students so they didn't have a lot of free time. Admiring these little luxuries was a reprieve from the stress of studying and expenses so Yang Ru wanted to share it with her friends.

Yet her action was halted by a clipped tone.

"Miss, please refrain from taking photos of products that don't belong to you." An employee walked up, glaring at Yang Ru. She had seen the pair walking from store to store, clearly window shopping. While the employees at other shops didn't seem to mind, this employee was going to put her foot down.

Looking at their casual clothes, she pegged them as just regular college students.

"If you wish to take photos, please pay for the item or kindly leave." She continued, brushing her hair back in an arrogant manner. "We have paying customers who would like to shop in peace."

Yang Ru gave her a hard look before glancing at the bag. The price of the bag, as expected of a brand new, limited edition bag, cost a lot. It was close to her tuition for the entire med school program.

Buying it would be a complete waste of money, yet she hated how this woman was talking down to her. She opened her mouth to lay into her before Jun Yibai raised a hand to silence her.

"You'll have to excuse us. We didn't mean to disrupt your busy workplace with our chatter." He said, looking around at the near-empty store. "I'm sure your two customers must feel very aggrieved."

In fact, the two other patrons in the store hadn't even noticed them yet, too busy talking to the other employees.

This woman was clearly just trying to start shit.

The clerk grimaced, glaring at Jun Yibai. These annoying guys, acting so ridiculously in such a high-end place. She had worked very hard to get away from people like this yet the mall just let anyone in!

"We have expectations from our customers, sir." She explained, smiling though she wanted to shout. "We can't just wait for our esteemed customers to be bothered, that would be irresponsible."

They hadn't even been that loud. Yang Ru was a master of whispering since her parents had sensitive hearing, according to her. While she was excited, her actions would only be noticed if someone was nearby, like the clerk had been before this.

"How were we bothering anyone?" He countered, crossing his arms. "We haven't touched anything, our voices have remained low and the sign outside the store says we can take photos as long as other customers or employees aren't in frame. So what have we done to warrant this?"

The clerk frowned looking around the store. She had thought her other co-workers would notice them by now and back her up but all of them were doing their own thing. One woman looked over, smiled, and went back to sorting the products.

Anyone else would have gotten mad over the accusation alone and raised their voice, retroactively justifying her scolding. Others would just leave in shame at being looked down on.

These two had done neither, leaving her in a bind.

In such a situation, she'd be the one in the wrong if pressed. Yet she didn't want to apologize. She didn't want to deal with lower-class people anymore. Getting this job was supposed to keep them away from her.

"I-"

"Brother Jun, is that you?"

All three people turned toward the sound, seeing Li Min standing nearby. From the bags in her hands, it was clear she'd just been passing by when she spotted him.

She glanced at the clerk, who stared back with a mild blush. When she smiled, the woman nearly fainted.

Both Yang Ru and Jun Yibai rolled their eyes.

She leaned over to nudge Jun Yibai. "Who's this chick? A friend of yours?"

"No." He sighed, already feeling a headache coming on. "Remember the chick I was talking about?"

Yang Ru stared at Li Min as she comforted the clerk as if she'd just come to the rescue. Yang Ru had met many women like her who acted like a supporting figure to gain affection. Her sharply beautiful face and subtle glare toward Jun Yibai told her exactly who she was.

"Oh, is she the creeper chick you told me about?" She guessed, rolling her eyes. "You said she was pretty yet this is her? My baby Xinshui is hotter than her."

Leave it to her to take every opportunity to show off her boyfriend.

"He's an omega." He countered, cocking a brow. "Isn't that a bit unfair?"

"For an adult man to be prettier than the supposed campus flower?" She shot back, smiling sweetly. "Isn't it that she isn't trying hard enough? I make more of an effort."

Li Min gave her a shocked expression, probably amazed at the beta's words. Li Min was a lovely-looking woman but her personality made her unappealing to those who knew the real her.

"That's true." Jun Yibai nodded sagely, greatly enjoying Yang Ru's roasting. "Our Yang Ru is the loveliest beta I know."

"Exactly." She accepted the compliment with a preening bird. She glanced at Li Min indifferently. "So why did you call out to us?"

Li Min gave a brief glance at Yang Ru before dismissing her to address Jun Yibai. "I saw you arguing with the clerk and was worried about brother Ju-"

"I believe I told you already how I feel about you pretending to be close to me." He cut her off, stepping forward. "It's gross and I'm starting to wonder if our campus flower is hard of hearing. Otherwise, should I take it as you are just being rude?"

He might not be able to punch her like he'd do with a guy for all the bullshit she'd put him through but he had a tongue that could do just as much damage.

"You!"

"If you came to make trouble for us, save your breath." He continued, ignoring her anger. "We have done nothing wrong so you might as well just leave. Besides, I'm pretty sure you still have an investor to secure so should you really be just casually shopping like this?"

Li Min clenched her fist, recalling why she had confronted them. She really did want to make a fuss, backing up whatever claim this clerk had made against them.

She was in a good mood too! Getting that invite and spoiling herself by shopping for the outfit she'd be wearing at the party was just a special kind of treat. Then she spotted this jerk!

"If you must know, I'll be securing that investor soon enough so there is no need for your concern, Jun Yibai." She replied.

Jun Yibai cocked a brow at this, wondering how she was planning on getting the investor from before on her side. Was she going to try and use her uncle to get close to the Li clan? If so, he really wished he could see that show.

"I'm sure you will." He mockingly replied, his sarcasm so thick it was almost suffocating him. He coughed, holding back a snicker.

Yang Ru didn't hold back, unsure of the context but knowing her friend wouldn't make such a face if her claim held any water.

Li Min seethed, wishing she could suppress him. Had either been an omega, or even a low-level alpha, she could use her pheromones to oppress them. But these useless beta's felt nothing.

She held it in, noting the wary looks she was getting just then. The other customers had finally noticed the strange energy around them and frowned.

Shit, her anger was making her pheromones leak out. Flushed, she stomped away, leaving the beta pair alone since the attendant had slipped away at some point.

"It's never a dull moment with you, is it?" Yang Ru sighed, shaking her head.

Somehow, a simple window shopping trip had become this. While small, she knew things would escalate if they didn't leave soon. Their small argument had gained a few eyes and she feared they'd soon be filmed.

"Let's get out of here." Jun Yibai suggested, pulling her away from the store. He spotted his bodyguards some distance away, talking to one another in hushed tones.

Once again, he wondered about Chen Guiren's judgment on personnel. While he hadn't expected them to body slam the attendant for bothering them, they could at least pretend to be looking out for him.

Once they saw him, they stiffened, looking at him as if he'd caught them in a compromising situation. He rolled his eyes.

"Oi, did he leave anything for me?" He asked, glancing between the two. They frowned with confusion. "Your boss. Did he leave me anything?"

A flash of understanding bloomed on their faces and the two each produced a black card.

Seeing his confusion, the pair explained.

"Young Master Chen gave me this to give you." The woman said.

"Young master Li gave me this to give you." The man said at the same time.

He nodded, not questioning it. He hadn't expected them to have different bosses but it didn't matter.

He turned to Yang Ru, who looked at him with a quizzical look.

"Wanna buy something?" He offered, holding up the cards.

He felt weird spending other people's money but those other people were Chen Guiren and Li Suren. If they were allowed to be a bother to him, he should be allowed to spend their money a bit, right?

Being bothered by that attendant and bumping into Li Min had put a sour taste in his mouth. Buying stuff might alleviate his frustration. Women did it too so there had to be some merit, right?

"You pull out double black cards and expect me to say yes without question?" She countered, narrowing her eyes. Before he could reply, she swiped a car from his fingers and turned away. "Well, if our Jun Yibai is willing to incur the wrath of his benefactors for little old me, how can I refuse?"

He watched her skip away, her eyes gleaming with want as she pursued the mall. There wasn't much she wanted but the thought that she could buy anything was clearly exciting.

***

By the end of the day, the pair had bought only a few things. Despite the promise of it being fine to use the black card, Yang Ru refrained. The only things she needed were school supplies and those didn't require a limitless card.

"Besides, those guys behind us look ready to tackle me to the ground if they see me use the card." She pointed out, gesturing to the pair of bodyguards behind them. At some point, they started trailing after them.

Considering he'd all but introduced them to Yang Ru, it made sense not to hide anymore but still.

"So you wanna explain to me about the muscle?" She asked. She'd stayed quiet the entire time as they were shopping so it made sense she'd ask eventually.

"Oh, yeah that." He tried to talk casually but he was still trying to think of a way to explain his current situation. "So... you know how you warned me back in high school about those crazy guys who 'ran' things."

"The tyrant and the crazy king."

"Yeah. So I may have... gotten close to them."

"....UGH!!!!" Her expression fell, showing her dismay. "How close?"

"Well..." He'd had his dick down one of their throats just the other day and dry-humped the other the night before. Not to mention what happened just that morning. So in modern terms... "Close."

"Are you dating them?"

"..."

"I'm not gonna be on your ass about it. To each their own and all that but considering your home life, is that the best choice?"

He had never spoken about his parents with Yang Ru. How could he? At best, his father would have openly mocked her parents as leeches feeding off each other. He would never put her in that position.

But one didn't have to meet or speak about their parents for others to get a gist of their home life. She was a Beta born from Omega's. He had no doubt she had heard the things they said about her and their views on her parent's lifestyle.

She saw the signs in Jun Yibai though she knew he wasn't like them.

Honestly, Jun Yibai wasn't sure why he wasn't like that. He definitely saw Alpha and Omega's as troublesome. They seemed to live in some fantastical world where everything went well for them. They naturally had everything that would make life easy for them.

Looks, brains, and charm.

Those alone would make them excel.

But Jun Yibai ended up finding most people bothersome.

People in general were just... too much of a hassle to deal with. They often said too much but never enough to be clear with their desires. There was so much subtext and it was annoying. Jun Yibai preferred the simple stuff.

The friends he'd made were those who were straightforward and kind.

Outside that, he found himself not caring about any of the other complicated shit.

His parents on the other hand.

"I'll... figure something out."

***

Li Suren had to return to the Li main house rather than go home, which left him in a bit of a sour mood.

If not for his grandfather requesting his presence, he'd never even bother. He loved the man, sure but god did he not like the fucker.

Still, what kind of grandson didn't visit his sick elder?

He was welcomed in such a fancy way, with servants lining the entrance to greet him. It made him feel like he was a war hero returning after a long fight.

Was this his grandfather's way of enticing him to live in the main house again?

He had moved out some time ago, claiming to want to establish some independence so he could be descendant worthy of the Li name. It had worked only because the elder knew he was living alone. Had he roomed with Chen Guiren, the elder would have a fit.

Yet now that he was living with Jun Yibai, Li Suren worried that his grandfather would notice the beta and cause trouble for his mate.

He wasn't strong enough to keep the Beta safe yet.

Just a few more years and he'd be-

"Suren."

Li Suren had only passed by a doorway when he heard his name being called. He stopped, glancing inside the study. Inside, he saw his grandfather, one of his uncles, and a stranger sitting on the couch with a table full of paperwork between them.

Other than the blanket over his lap, the elder looked healthy and flush with life.

This sly old man.

"Afternoon, Grandfather." Li Suren greeted sincerely, having not seen the old man in a while. "Are you feeling well? The weather has been bad recently."

"I'm fine! I've lived through worse chills than this!" He declared with his back straight. "I'll be better by my birthday, which I expect to see you and Xiao Chen attending."

Li Suren inwardly sighed, not wanting to talk about that annoying guy right then.

That hooligan had tried to get in the way of his experiment. All that stuff this morning, while enjoyable, had skewed his pristine calculations. Now he'd have to factor the presence of an alpha into his findings. It would have come to that eventually but he wanted to do the control testing first.

Now that mutt was acting all clingy, which would make things so much harder now. He could barely get the alpha to leave him alone after he woke up.

How frustrating!

"Are you not going to greet me as well?" His uncle complained, crossing his arms.

To be honest, Li Suren actually wasn't sure which uncle this was. His mother had a lot of siblings so he usually didn't pay them much mind. Most refrained from getting together outside of holidays since there was a lot of backbiting and subterfuge between them.

They all wanted to be the next head of the Li clan.

Still, they had a guest present so he had to guess who this guy was.

"Fifth uncle, grandfather is sick." He stated, looking forlorn. "I need to make sure he's okay since elders take precedence."

He huffed but waved him off.

Turns out that he was right. Lucky him, just picking a random number.

After ensuring his grandfather was feeling good, Li Suren greeted his uncle and guest. Or at least he tried to. The guest, a man older than him but considerably younger than his uncle, wouldn't look at him.

Li Suren watched him for a minute but was pulled away by his uncle. Somehow, the conversation stayed between him, his uncle, and his grandfather.

Eventually, fifth uncle and the guest left, leaving only Li Suren and his grandfather.

"Who was that man?" He asked, unable to let the matter go. "A recruit you found?"

Li Suzhen was an old man but still had some sway in the Li Group's decision-making. One of his sons was CEO but every once in a while, Li Suzhen would introduce a young person to the company. He was old-fashioned, wanting to be useful even when not officially working.

"Him? No no." Li Suzhen denied, shaking his head. "Your fifth uncle is sponsoring that child. He found him overseas and is cultivating him himself."

Li Suren couldn't bring himself to care too much. His uncles and aunts were always trying to find their golden bullet to take each other down. This guy was just the first he'd met personally.

"He might be a bit of a hassle since he's one of the Song family's third generation." Li Suzhen sighed, pouring out some tea for himself. "You had one of them as a schoolmate, right? So you should know how thuggish they can be."

Li Suren vaguely recalled the beta but only because he kept harassing his Sweetie. Afterward, he only vaguely heard whispers about him but mostly in connection to some Alpha. Wasn't he some alpha's secretary or something?

As long as he didn't bother his Sweetie, he didn't care.

"You don't seem to mind the Chen's though." He pointed out, wondering why his grandfather seemed fine with the Chen's but not the Song's. They were just a bit beneath the Chen's in prestige so why forgo a union if the use of violence isn't a deterrent?

"The Chen family is just clean enough to be worthy of being joined with our noble clan."

"And their dirty dealings?"

"Our noble clan wouldn't be where it was if we were squeamish about such things." Li Suzhen replied calmly, smiling serenely. "You aren't opposed, are you?"

As if his opposition would have meant anything to him.

"You taught me to use anyone and anything to bring honor and prestige to our clan."

Li Suzhen looked Li Suren over. His grandson was the only male omega of the Li family's third generation. As such, the elder felt a lot of affection for the young man whose fate mirrored his own.

Thinking of those darker days, Li Suzhen felt more resolved in his heart.

Things would have been so much easier for me if I had someone to guide me when I was your age. He thought, thinking of the hardship of his youth.

At least his little grandson would be stronger than him.

"Yes, your smile is so sweet, no one would feel the knife before it struck, right?" He sighed, stroking Li Suren's cheek. "I'm so proud of you."

"And if that knife is pointed toward you?" He shot back, moving away from that gentle touch.

"If it could reach me, then I must have taught you well, my dear."

*****

AN: Here's some more novel/webtoon suggestions~

Lucia: MC is given a second chance at life, though she views her previous life as just a dream. She decides to marry the Duke of the country as a means to escape her fate. ML is basically a fukboy. He bones women left and right, dumps them if they even hint at wanting anything more substantial, and is the stereotypical cold-blooded duke of the north. He is, however, in need of a wife so she bursts into his life offering herself. He's actually a pretty decent guy if not a bit dismissive of her initially. He's not even a red flag since he's upfront about everything. His backstory makes it pretty understandable as to why he is the way he is. Fukboy who respects monogamy within marriage x chick who has lived a whole ass life on her own (twice). 

Note: The novel is complete but I'm unsure bout the webtoon. Reading both is nice since there's more detail with the smut in the novel but the webtoon is nice~ I haven't finished the novel but caught up with the webtoon.

Fire burns through me: MC is a woman who is a living, breathing death curse. Her dad, after killing her mom and taking her, curses her so he can control the kingdom from the shadows. She is effectively immortal so her numerous attempts at unaliving herself always fail. After decades of misery and despair, her dad suddenly sends her on a 'vacation' with a knight who is seemingly unaffected by her curse. Good boy knight x depressed woman

I fell into a Reverse Harem Game! - MC wakes up in the body of the evil queen of a nation in bed with some guys. She realizes she's in a game when a menu pops up in front of her but it isn't hers. In actuality, she is seeing the choice screen of the actual protagonist of the game. MC's goal is to survive till the end which is hard since the original queen was a true villain who burned a lot of bridges. Possible reverse harem.