Chapter 6: Male Lead

The Guard Squad arrived almost instantly. A team of people surged into the alley and pinned the gang of thugs to the ground in short order.

Amid the chaos and clamor in the alley, the sunset’s glow slanted down, shining on the chestnut hair atop the head of the boy in Lolan Academy uniform, making it seem as if his strands themselves sparkled.

The girl whose wrist he loosely gripped stood before him, staring up at him in a daze. Her waterfall of inky straight hair framed a pale face that did nothing to diminish her beauty. At that moment, her eyes brimmed with tears, making her seem fragile and breakable.

Su Mi witnessed it all firsthand from their other side.

—Right in front of her, the System’s subtitles depicted the touching reunion scene of the male and female leads.

Su Mi said to the System speechlessly, “Shut up.”

But with one gripping a wrist and the other frozen in place, it really wouldn’t do.

She took a deep breath, put on a pitiful expression, and hurried over in a few steps. She threw both arms around Xu Nanqiao’s shoulders.

“Nanqiao! You scared me to death just now!” Su Mi whined pitifully, dragging out a sobbing tone to play up her misery.

The System rated her acting a 1 out of 10.

She deliberately shoved the Male Lead’s hand away from Xu Nanqiao as she did it.

But only after hugging Xu Nanqiao did Su Mi realize that her condition was even worse than before.

Was she that frightened?

The body in her arms was even trembling slightly.

Su Mi reached out to touch Xu Nanqiao’s forehead. It was a bit feverish, covered in cold sweat.

“Nanqiao, are you okay?”

Su Mi looked at Xu Nanqiao in confusion.

Was it shock overload?

“You really don’t know, or are you pretending?”

The Male Lead stood off to the side with his arms crossed. He said, “Your Omega friend was stimulated by those Alphas’ pheromones and is on the verge of her susceptible period. The proper way to handle it is with a suppressant or by taking her to the hospital.”

Su Mi thought: Fine, I almost forgot this is an ABO world again…

She smiled at the smug-looking Male Lead and said, “Thanks.”

Su Mi draped Xu Nanqiao’s arm over her shoulder and supported her as they walked out. As they passed the Male Lead, she politely handed him the cue stick in her hand, which was already stained with some blood.

“A 100,000-yuan cue stick?” The Male Lead took it, looking intrigued.

Su Mi said, “Yeah, consider it thanks for saving my friend. Wipe it off, and it can still fetch a good price. See ya.”

Su Mi moved so quickly that Xu Nanqiao only had time to quickly say “thank you” to the Male Lead as they passed before Su Mi brought her straight to the Guard Squad leader.

Both of them wore Lolan Academy uniforms. After the Guard Squad leader scanned their student IDs and personal info, they received assurances that the squad would handle the rest.

Since most Lolan Academy students came from wealthy or influential families, the academy’s Guard Squad was highly professional and closely coordinated with Prime City’s security bureau. Those thugs definitely wouldn’t get off scot-free.

Su Mi feared the Male Lead might chase after them and pull some stunt.

After hustling Xu Nanqiao into the car as fast as possible, she finally remembered to ask, “Nanqiao, do you have any suppressants?”

Xu Nanqiao’s face flushed with an unnatural redness, as if she were struggling to stay rational. It took her a moment to respond, and her voice was faint. “No, I… I need to go to the hospital for an emergency suppressant shot.”

Su Mi had her Light Brain navigate to the nearest hospital. On the way, she couldn’t help but knock her own head.

Why was the System’s memory recall function so unreliable? It still hadn’t given her any info on “susceptible periods.”

Xu Nanqiao rested for a bit and seemed a little clearer-headed. She happened to see Su Mi knocking her own head in frustration.

Thinking Su Mi was blaming herself, she comforted her. “It’s fine… Those Alphas were numerous, but they were all just D-grade. Their pheromones were low-quality, so I haven’t been triggered into heat yet.”

Su Mi thought: Another blind spot in my knowledge.

She nodded as if she understood, then reached up to touch her earlobe.

Come to think of it, those guys had been Alphas.

Yet she, the fake Omega, hadn’t been affected by the pheromones into nearing a susceptible period like Xu Nanqiao.

The edges of the star-shaped Barrier Earring weren’t uncomfortable to touch—cool and giving off a distinct presence.

As if it were continuously transmitting some kind of shielding field to her.

Aunt Fu’s Daughter seemed like a pretty impressive researcher.

The sports car sped all the way to the hospital. Following Xu Nanqiao’s directions, Su Mi took her to the special clinic for Omega pheromones.

Xu Nanqiao registered her info and entered the ward, apparently for some checks first, followed by treatments targeted at induced susceptible periods.

Su Mi stayed outside alone. She zoned out at the ward door for a bit, then turned and headed to the balcony she’d spotted earlier. She let out a soft breath.

In any case, she’d managed to interfere with this key Plot Point where the male and female leads met.

Su Mi reviewed the day’s events.

From today’s test, the System’s rule that “major Plot Points must occur” seemed to mean it would use coincidences to make the general events happen, without caring if the outcomes matched the Original Plot.

That made it controllable.

Plus, the first step of building a good relationship with the female lead had gone pretty well. She’d snatched most of the Male Lead’s “hero saves the beauty” spotlight, and with the female lead tutoring her later, their relationship should only get better.

As for the Male Lead…

Su Mi recalled the plot.

In this world’s Original Plot, the Male Lead was the “crippled crown prince” of South City’s largest clan, the Gu Family. He had been the designated heir but was deposed and exiled to Prime City for certain reasons.

After arriving in Prime City, the Male Lead played weak to strike strong, disguising his identity. When others asked if his surname related to South City’s Gu Family, he’d claim to be from an insignificant branch.

The profit-driven noble heirs naturally looked down on him. The Male Lead was happy with that, wandering alone each day, taking odd jobs in his spare time to reinforce his “loser” persona—also a way to bide his time.

After saving the female lead, their second encounter came when he was mocked at school, followed by various coincidental misunderstandings. Before long, feelings blossomed between them, and they fell in love.

So the next goal was to build a good relationship with the female lead and improve the antagonist’s image in her eyes while disrupting the second plot point.

And the Male Lead’s performance today…

Su Mi recalled his somewhat pretentious and odd behavior.

He’d known the cue stick cost 100,000 yuan, so he’d clearly been eavesdropping from outside the alley wall for a while.

But why hadn’t he shown up sooner to save the female lead?

Su Mi jotted that question down mentally.

In the Original Plot, the thugs had cornered the female lead at the alley’s outer edge, so the Male Lead spotted it from the street outside and swooped in for the hero save in time.

But the spot where the Male Lead had popped up today was weird too…

Su Mi had mostly sorted out her thoughts. She stretched lazily toward the hospital window, preparing to head downstairs for a bottle of water.

The Original Host’s body wasn’t used to regular exercise. After Su Mi’s earlier exertion, fatigue finally hit her delayed.

Su Mi took the escalator to the first floor and wandered aimlessly, looking for something like a vending machine.

She kept going until she reached what seemed to be a side entrance of the hospital.

Su Mi glanced over from afar. A few people stood guard there oddly, with no machines in sight, so she turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, a voice came from behind her. “Miss Su?”

Su Mi stopped in her tracks and looked back. Shen Han’s personal secretary, Secretary Zhuang, stood there, his poker face showing faint puzzlement.

“Miss Su, what are you doing here?” Secretary Zhuang asked flatly.

“Just wandering around,” Su Mi replied. She asked, “And you, Secretary Zhuang? What brings you to the hospital?”

Secretary Zhuang hesitated slightly before saying, “Accompanying President Shen.”

As expected, Secretary Zhuang showed up wherever Shen Han did.

This was a golden opportunity! Xu Nanqiao was nearing her susceptible period—which, though the details were unclear, surely made her mentally vulnerable. Visiting her would be perfect for boosting goodwill!

Su Mi’s eyes lit up.

She asked with some concern, “Is big sis feeling unwell?”

As she spoke, she peered behind Secretary Zhuang. The shadows there were Shen Han’s bodyguards; she wasn’t with them.

Secretary Zhuang said, “President Shen is here for her monthly routine checkup.”

Monthly routine.

Su Mi knew it must relate to Shen Han’s so-called “heart condition.”

Secretary Zhuang seemed about to say more but was interrupted by a new message on his Light Brain. He tapped the virtual screen a few times, paused, then suddenly looked up. “Miss Su, would you like to go up and see her?”