"What about this one?" V held up a beige cashmere sweater to his body, camera pointed at the mirror.
"You look good." The voice came from the phone speakers along with the sound of the ocean. Caoli's large sunglasses loomed over the screen, her tuft of hair pulled up in a messy bun, endless white sand behind her.
"I always look good," he replied without missing a beat.
A melodious chuckle resonated from the device in his hand, but V was too busy looking over the other articles of clothing to notice the teasing. "Then why are you so nervous?"
His movements paused, hand hovering over a black button-up. He flipped the camera from rear-view to front so he could talk to his best friend face-to-face—with a thousand miles in between them, that is—as he slumped over the bed, feet planted on the carpeted floor. “I don’t know, Cao. Maybe I want them to take me seriously.”
“You weren’t like this even during your first job interview.” True. For all the fresh-graduate V could care about, he would’ve gone in sweatpants and a baggy shirt if Caoli didn’t pull him back and dressed him up decently. “And it’s them who reached out to you, not the other way around. Have more confidence in yourself.”
At this moment, Mick came back holding two fresh coconuts. Caoli’s now-husband handed one to her before taking a large sip on his. “What are you talking about?” He asked after quenching his thirst.
“V’s joining Venus Entertainment,” Caoli said to her right, Mick still off-screen.
“Really? That’s so cool!” He squeezed himself next to Caoli so his face was shown. “Congratulations, dude!” His face was visibly tanned, even sunburnt, but the light in his eyes showed how happy he was.
“Thanks,” V grumbled. He looked pissed but there was warmth inside his chest. V might’ve treated the Beta coldly at first, but after the wedding, the Omega’s treatment of him became better. “How’s the honeymoon?”
“It’s great!” It might’ve been a trick of the light but V could’ve sworn he saw a tail wagging behind Mick as he said, “The food is so good and the beach is so beautiful. You should see it, man!”
As much as V wanted to play nice, he couldn’t keep up with Mick’s golden retriever- energy so he said the first thing that came to mind: “It’s not summer yet.”
“It’s always summer here!” He chirped like an excited kid on his first vacation, and from what Caoli told V about Mick, it might as well be. “The locals said there are only two seasons here.”
“What? Dry and wet?”
“No,” Caoli intervened with a grin. “Hot and hell.”
The two laughed from their side of tropical paradise, and though V didn’t understand the joke, their infectious laughter caused a smile to form on his face. The Alpha-Beta couple looked so content and harmonious that V’s own barren love life stood out in contrast. He tried to ignore the steadily growing void inside his heart and focused on the hard-earned happiness of his best friend. God knew she deserved it, especially after all that.
Not wanting to think about the ugly past, V changed the topic. He asked Caoli, “How do you think my family would react once they see me on screen?” This was one of his concerns, especially with how overprotective they were, since he wasn’t sure if they would approve of him entering the entertainment industry.
“You’re truly god’s favorite, even your lie worked out,” Caoli commented, teasing V with how he bluffed his family at the wedding reception, claiming that he was accepted into Quina Corporation.
“Don’t even mention it,” he groaned. None of them knew at that time that his words would manifest and although Venus Entertainment was only a subsidiary of the multi-corporation, it would still count, right? “So where are you off to next?”
"We're going to the tea farm after this." It was Mick who answered this time. He asked his wife, "Right, babe?"
"I can't believe you're into tea now, Cao. You used to be on team coffee. Love really does change people." V said the last part with a sigh, earning a giggle from Mick who knew full well that it was because of him that the coffee shop owner was learning the art of making tea.
"Only children choose sides. Adults pick both." Caoli waved the coconut around as if to prove a point. Mick, ever the child, copied Caoli’s gesture with a wide smile, before planting a kiss on the Alpha's cheek.
V rolled his eyes at the blatant display of affection. “Okay, enjoy. I’ll go now.”
“Make sure not to scowl at them too much.” Caoli wiggled her eyebrows behind the large sunglasses, not at all taking the conversation seriously.
“Whatever," the Omega said with a grunt, leaving the husband and wife to enjoy their honeymoon with a press on the 'end call' button.
The silence that came after echoed with the loneliness in V's heart. He was venturing into unexplored lands without the support of his friend or family, and it would be a lie if he said he was not scared. If only he had someone by his side the way Caoli has Mick, then maybe he would be braver than he was pretending to be.
V slumped further into the mattress, if that was even possible, and stared at the ceiling as he rearranged his mindset. He was starting a new career—one he hopes not to mess up, so should he be thinking about love right now?
He gathered the discarded clothes and chucked them inside the closet, hoping that it was like his thoughts and yearning to love and be loved, thrown to be forgotten in a dark place. He decided, closing the closet doors, to choose career over his heart. His career would not betray him, he reasoned, or one day wake up and decide it doesn't love him anymore. It was safer this way, probably, and the risk was still within his boundaries.
After all, if he failed, he could always run home and keep himself inside the small world with his family. He could choose his career now and think about what he was giving up later.
Only children choose sides, yes, but V was not mature enough to act like an adult yet.
--
In the end, V chose to wear a white, long-sleeved shirt with pastel pink flower stitching tucked underneath black, form-fitting pants, and black boots to match. His silver hair was swept up and back, exposing his immaculate forehead and a single, golden earring embedded with tiny jewels dangling by his right ear. It was neither too formal nor too casual, just enough so that he didn’t look like he was deliberately trying to impress anyone, and judging by the glances he got as he walked through the halls of his new company, he was certainly the center of attention.
The Omega thought that he would be going alone, as there were no prior arrangements made, but to his surprise, his Alpha roommate accompanied him, casually dressed in an all-black ensemble with a cap to hide his face. Next to V, Echo looked more like a bodyguard than the hidden big boss. Of course, with the three betas escorting them—Leo, his secretary, and the man that would be V's manager, only the Director knew of Echo's true identity. But since Echo still held the Quina last name, and he attended a few formal events to live up to it, the cap was to stop a commotion, if not for the Alpha's comfort at anonymity.
They finally reached the Director's office, the contract already laid on the table by the company's lawyer, and V took it upon himself to sit at the only single-seating chair available.
He took his time reading through the contents of the contract, all the while weighing if it was worth the scolding to have his second brother review it, before he put it down and swept his gaze at the people in the room.
Leo saw apprehension in the Omega's face, so he asked, "Do you have any questions?"
The question was already rolling out of his tongue, "Why me?"
Leo and his prospective manager—Art, short for Arthur, he would later introduce himself as—looked at each other in understanding, silently pushing the responsibility to one another.
It was Leo who admitted defeat. "We want to cultivate your potential and train you, it would beneficial for us as well.” The potential referred to V’s ability to attract fame and the training was for his musical skills.
"But this is not a trainee's contract," he tapped three times on the paper. V may be a bit dumb sometimes but he was not ignorant. The conditions were too good for someone who never performed professionally, even on par with some B-list celebrities.
"That's because we know you compose your own songs, and some of them can even be used on your debut album."
He tried to think back on all the nonsense lyrics he made up while venting, suspicion running through his mind. "Are you sure?"
"Stop underselling yourself." All heads turned to the Alpha when he interrupted, voice laced with a hint of anger—maybe impatience, but even he didn’t know why. Leo's secretary sent a glare to this rude 'bodyguard' who kept quiet until now.
V’s manager, as if afraid that the Omega would back out at the last minute, poured out words of persuasion. “He’s right. Did you know how long the hashtag #WhoIsCoffee5019Jam stayed on the hot topic? Several of our own artists almost went crazy when they tried to buy the hot search but you still remained on top.”
It was an exaggeration to say that the artists almost went crazy, but the company’s PR team did have a headache trying to overtake V’s spot. The group chat exclusively for managers had a hundred complaints about the anonymous singer, and now that Art was so close to taking this artist under his wing, his nerves were on edge. He would’ve offered his life’s treasures if he had any, only to grasp this golden goose that was almost, almost at his fingertips.
V nodded to express his understanding, and when they thought that the questions were finally over, he asked another one: “This part here,” he pointed to a clause on the second page. “Why do I have to wear scent patches while working?”
Everyone looked at each other again, even Echo turned to look at him, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. Aside from him and V, the rest in the room were all betas, so he took it upon himself to explain after realizing that the Omega was not joking. “That—” a blush was slowly creeping on his cap-covered face as he deliberated his words. “For safety,” he squeaked out.
“Safety?” The naive Omega repeated.
Echo cleared his throat, perhaps to stall time, but heavens knew he needed it. After all, how was he supposed to explain something that V should’ve been taught in sex-ed classes?
So, he tried to go about it as mild as he could, his virgin heart suffering. “The entertainment industry, in general, is one of the top occupations for omegas.” Good lord, he wished this would end.
An awkward silence hung in the air, and when everyone thought that the Omega would be squirming at his seat at the insinuation, he merely nodded, face impassive and innocent. “Okay. I understand.”
V quickly signed his name to get out of this situation and shook hands with everyone before leaving with Echo. His quick steps the only indication of his need to escape.
When all was said and done, the meeting went by rather smoothly, if only there wasn’t two pair of eyes that followed the Omega from beginning to end.
