The train ride home was smoother than V remembered, the bullet train quiet and comfortable. He got himself a window seat with a premium ticket, away from the masses. Sure, he was currently unemployed, but that didn’t mean he lacked money. To be honest, he didn’t even need to work - not with four brothers competing with each other for his attention. His bank account was never empty, and he didn’t feel shame in receiving financial support from them. It was his stinky brothers’ fault he moved out in the first place, anyway.
Even without them, he still had his parents who regularly deposited money in his account. He told them to stop ages ago - that he could support himself. They only shrugged him off, saying that this was their way of showing their love now that their youngest flew away and spread his wings.
A little bit of nausea from pheromone overload was still there, but the scenery outside helped take his mind off it. He was grateful that there were not a lot of passengers during this time of the day. Although, it may be because it was a weekday.
He called Caoli (and Mick, on speakerphone) this morning before he left the apartment, informing her that he would be staying at his family home for a while. Caoli, in turn, explained to him what happened at the stadium. She told him about his suspicions and how seeing the Alpha flicked the protective switch inside her. She also recounted the events that transpired after he fainted.
Apparently, they were taken to the security office somewhere inside the stadium because people complained about Caoli releasing hostile pheromones in a public event. There, they were given a stern talking (“threatened,” Mick added from the side, “we were threatened, it was scary”) about the dangers and responsibility of using pheromones in public. Everything was so chaotic that they had no choice but to leave V in the care of Leo, and in turn, in the hands of Echo.
V didn’t hide the fact that Echo offered that they live together, but he didn’t divulge too much into the details. He promised himself that he would tell Caoli someday, just not now when everything was still a mess. He thought he would receive a scolding, but his best friend remained quiet instead. It unnerved him, the silence that came from the other side. For a moment, he thought that the line went dead. A few minutes and a tentative ‘hello’ later, the Alpha finally responded with a ‘be careful’ and ‘make sure to come back before the wedding’ before the call ended.
That was that and now, here he was, enjoying how the city view slowly morphed into grasslands and the occasional signs of urbanization. It would take 6 hours before the high-speed train reached its destination and by V’s estimate, the nearest city was 2 hours away. Until then, he could busy himself by daydreaming, staring outside to watch the never-ending paddy fields.
Reading while on a moving vehicle made him dizzy, no matter how smooth the ride may be, and he was still nauseous on top of that. He couldn’t look at his phone for long periods of time. He could only check the time every now and then. With nothing to do, he plugged in his earphones and opened a playlist called ‘no thoughts head empty.’ The playlist had 120 songs, enough for the whole ride even if he listened to it nonstop. With the music to accompany him as he acted in the imaginary music video he created in his head, the Omega slowly drifted into sleep.
--
V slept longer than he expected. He didn’t even wake up when the food trolley passed by. He could use some food, but as V saw that they were almost there, he held it in instead. He would rather have his father’s cooking - it’s been too long, after all.
It was almost dusk when the train arrived yet the station was still packed. The crowd was full of youthful faces; it was as if students were returning home for the semester break.
V tightly held his bag and walked slowly, keeping his distance from those around him. He packed light, his family home could provide most of his necessities. It had more than he needed, in fact, with some of his childhood mementos still there. He was sure his mom kept his room pristine, now that he moved his nest to the apartment. He could always build two, but if he didn’t visit often enough, no one could come in and tidy the place.
When V was sure that the last group of tourists made their way down the escalator, he followed suit. With the earphones still plugged in, he looked straight ahead as he descended. He didn’t tell anyone his arrival time, he didn’t even open the group chat after sending that single message last night, so color him surprised when he saw a familiar face in the waiting area.
Sitting with his legs crossed and his elbows on the backrest of the metal bench, the man exuded confidence. He had short, almost cropped hair and a muscular body. If someone placed him side-by-side with V and squinted, they would see that the two looked alike. They had the same topaz eyes and pretty face, except the man was more masculine and had sharper features.
Why is it him?
V would not lie and admit that he was a little scared of his eldest brother. They had the largest age gap between each other - 12 whole years. His eldest brother was already in 7th grade by the time he was born, big enough that V could never fight back while growing up. Not that his brother ever hit him, oh no, their parents would not allow them to get physical like that. His brother’s aura was enough to deter him from doing anything mischievous, a single glance stopping him in his tracks.
Now that he was 27 and his brother was almost 40, his brother’s aura had a weaker effect on him. Still, if his brother put on a stern face, the Omega often found his knees shaking a little.
Just a little. I’m grown now. He tried to fool himself, his courage was as fragile as candy.
Making his way towards his brother, V called out, “Arwan! Have you been here since morning?”
Arwan inspected him up-and-down once before standing up and taking his bag. “It’s my day off.”
V knew that was a lie, running the family business meant saying goodbye to days off - one of the reasons none of them wanted to do it, but he didn’t call him out on it. “Are we heading straight home?”
“No, we’re going to the restaurant. Everyone should be there by now.” Arwan had a warm smile on his face, secretly happy he got some alone time with their youngest despite waiting since the gates opened. He knew that once they were home, the gremlins he called brothers would try and hog their little brother to themselves. It’s always been like that since they were young; it mellowed down but nobody grew out of it, not even him.
As they walked next to each other towards the parking lot, people kept staring their way. V ignored it but his brother couldn’t, stepping in closer to warn the others not to harbor any funny ideas.
“How’s it going?” V asked once Arwan got close enough that the scent of hickory and dew in the early morning entered his nose.
“The business is doing well. We plan to open another branch before the end of the year.” It would be the fifth branch if V was not mistaken.
“I meant you, dummy.” He gave his brother a side glance. “Got a partner?”
“No, but still as handsome as ever, as you can see,” Arwan smirked, even stroking his chin as if to show off.
“Ugh.” V cringed and moved one step away, not wanting to have a conversation about his eldest (or any of them, really) brother’s attractiveness level.
They may be attractive to outsiders, but all he saw were guys who chased the young him around till he cried, growing alphas who brawled in the backyard while stinking the house with their pheromones. If he closed his eyes, he could conjure the image of them passed out in the living room, liquor in one hand and vomit-soaked towel in the other. They made the 15-year-old him promise not to tell their parents anything, but of course, they got caught by their dad 5 minutes later. His four elder brothers kneeled in a row, sober from the scolding. They had to put their arms up once their dad realized that the alpha children tried to rope the youngest into shielding them. Even the then-27-year-old eldest was not spared.
Arwan laughed upon seeing the Omega’s reaction. He closed the distance between them and nudged his shoulder. “Come on, am I not right?”
“Please don’t.” V had to fight the urge to gag, especially since he saw his brother’s car was only ten steps away. “Let’s just get there as fast as possible. I’m hungry. I didn’t eat on the train.”
The Alpha’s brow slightly furrowed but he still spoke in a teasing tone. “Aw, is our little baby hungry? Want this handsome brother to cook your favorite?”
“Just please drive.” V opened the passenger seat door with an obvious scowl on his face.
Arwan laughed again, the sound big and loud. He plopped himself on the driver seat and buckled his seatbelt before turning to the Omega who still had a scowl and had his arms crossed. He knew he couldn’t push it further lest their youngest ignores him for the duration of their stay.
“Seatbelt.” V did as he was told and then returned to crossing his arms.
Switching on the car ignition with a press, he quietly decided to only tease his brother in small doses, albeit as frequent as he can.
The next few days were going to be fun.
For him, definitely.
For their youngest, not so much.
Especially when there were three more waiting to tease and annoy him to the ends of the world.
