V’s steps were brisk but his posture was lazy—as if he had somewhere else to be but was also not in a rush. The heels of his boots went tap, tap, tap on the marbled floors of the company lobby. He didn’t dare to look back, not with the tips of his ears turning red upon remembering the conversation he narrowly avoided.
Of course—of course, he knew why he had to wear scent patches, and what might happen if omegas went around flaunting their pheromones. He knew that, but the single second his brain lagged—failing to register the image of omegas tantalizing the people around them—was already a second too late. If the earth could swallow him right now, that would be great, thank you so much.
Fortunately for him, his ride pulled up the moment he went through the glass doors. Echo’s Maybach was like a sturdy shield in the middle of a warzone, and he rushed inside once it stopped, not bothering to wait for the actual owner. He gingerly sat in the backseat to calm down his embarrassed self, not taking too long before the Alpha joined beside him. The car left and they made their way back to their shared home.
Behind the glass windows on the third floor, a petite assistant with short, brown hair was reporting the events that just transpired to two Omegas who shared almost identical faces, one male and one female. The male Omega raised one of his perfectly trimmed eyebrows upon hearing that a fresh artist was personally escorted by Director Leo, while the other brought a well-manicured finger to touch the corner of a smirk forming on her lips.
The assistant had no energy to ponder about what nefarious thoughts the Omega twins were having, she simply wanted to make it out of the room alive. She had only been working for them for a month, breaking the record of the last assistant by a week, but she already knew how vicious the twins’ hearts could be. Do not be deceived by their dark blue hair and golden eyes, they were as evil as they were beautiful. She could only pray that their new victim, a silver-haired omega with eyes that were like the dawdling sunset, would make it out with all his limbs attached.
--
Echo pulled V inside the sanctuary whenever he had any free time. V had been inside many times, yet every time he warped through the gate, he felt like he was passing through another dimension, his stomach lurching and soul detaching from his body. If the place wasn’t always as magnificent as the first time he saw it, he would never bring himself through the hidden door again.
“What is it this time?” V crossed his arms over his chest after the Alpha pulled him inside immediately after they got back from the company. He wanted to take a nap, and perhaps burrow inside thick blankets to shake away the shame, but the darn Alpha didn’t give him a chance to do so. It wasn’t surprising that he was cranky, it was even somewhat of a miracle that his temper wasn’t flaring.
“You need to train,” Echo took one look at him and said that before going through the ancient papers on one side.
“Train what?” V’s eyes followed Echo’s movements. They already went through most of the records, with only about one-third left, so he was puzzled by the Alpha's actions.
“Your eyes,” Echo replied without looking back.
A corner of V’s eyebrow twitched, annoyance growing with every second Echo didn’t provide an explanation, yet the ignorant Alpha continued on with his activity. The earlier bout of embarrassment was already forgotten as V tapped a finger over his crossed arms. Despite his impatience, he did not rush Echo in whatever he was doing, unconsciously building up tolerance to the other man's lack of social awareness.
After a while, Echo pulled out a tattered scroll from somewhere high up, the paper worn and yellow. He walked a few steps towards the waterfall but then paused halfway, rigidly looking back with his head lowered. If the man wasn’t made of flesh and bones, V was sure a creaking sound would accompany this tiny movement with how stiff the Alpha was.
V raised a corner of his lips, half out of amusement and the other out of annoyance. "Finally remember I'm here?" Although his tone contained mock anger, by now, he had gotten used to Echo's speech that waxes and wanes.
Echo gave a tiny nod, the gesture almost imperceptible, before saying, "Come over."
"Who are you to order me around, huh?" V's words were fierce but his feet followed along to trail after Echo as they made their way near the waterfall.
At this close, the two could barely hear each other without amping up the volume of their voices, so they did just that.
V, who was used to shouting from telling off strangers, took the initiative to ask, "What now?"
Instead of replying, Echo unfurled the scroll, closed it, then opened it again. His actions were comical but his expression was serious as he asked, "What do you see?"
V moved closer to inspect the old scroll and when he did, he almost blew his top off. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
"No, look closely." The Alpha, who was a head taller than the younger man, bent low so that they were almost at the same height. He could see that V was fuming, at the brink of exploding, so this attempt at making himself seem smaller was instinctual—a desire to convey his harmlessness. "Just tell me what you see, okay?"
"Aren't you too old to be playing a childish prank? There's nothing in it!" Blank. Nada. Nil.
"There's something, you just can't see it yet. It's okay. That's why I said we have to train your eyes," he gently said in a soft voice, the man who could pose as a bodyguard earlier was now gone. If outsiders saw this scene, they would be confused as to who is whom between the Alpha and Omega. One was anxious and almost groveling while the other was tense and ready to pounce.
As much as V was acclimating to Echo's irregular and awkward behavior, Echo was doing the same to V's short fuse. From living together, the Alpha was unknowingly picking up how to defuse the Omega, even going so far as to subtly change his pheromones into calming ones without the other noticing.
"Are you saying something is wrong with my eyes? I'll have you know, I have 20/20 vision!"
“I-I’m not.” Echo was having a headache. How does one explain the color blue to a blind person? “Can you close your eyes first?”
V huffed and puffed but still obliged. He closed his eyes and Echo stared at the Omega as much as he wanted. V’s cheeks were slightly red and his eyelashes quivered as if it was a strain to keep them closed. The tip of his nose was twitching with every exhale while his brows remained furrowed all throughout. It was adorable, he’s adorable, Echo thought, like an angry rabbit.
Echo was ashamed to admit it but maybe he stared at V’s pursed lips longer than necessary, for it had the Omega asking, “What now?”
“I’m going to touch you, okay?” So don’t punch me, he wanted to add but kept it to himself in fear that V would do just that. “And it may be a little uncomfortable but bear with it.”
Echo crouched down and dipped his hand in the water, missing V’s mumbling of, “It’s always uncomfortable whenever I’m near this damn waterfall.”
The water was cool to touch but it quickly turned warm as Echo channeled energy at his fingertips, making it glow from red to a bright white before it all condensed to a dull glow on his thumb. He stood up and moved closer, saying in the gentlest tone he could muster, "Don't open your eyes until I say so, okay?"
"You're not the boss of me," V grumbled yet his head nodded in assent.
Seeing that, Echo brought his hands up and lightly cupped V's face in his palms. From the right eye to the left, he gently pressed his thumb over the closed eyelids, running the finger over and beneath the fluttering lashes. He kept holding on to V's face as twinkling lights converged atop the latter's face, and as they arranged themselves above the cheeks but below his eyes, it appeared as if small, luminescent teardrops were falling from his face.
The image of V crying brought out a beautiful but sorrowful picture, making the Alpha pause. For a moment, Echo hesitated because maybe this wasn’t the right thing to do. What if giving V this ability would lead to a life of difficulties? How would he undo that? How would he live with the knowledge that he ruined someone else’s life by making it more similar to his?
It was nothing but a moment of doubt, but it was enough for a thorn to form in his heart.
He stepped back, feet quick to escape like a child caught red-handed, and steadied his wandering mind. No amount of uncertainty would change the fact that once V opened his eyes, he would start seeing things he never did before.
