* * *
"Are you ready?" Tian Zi asked Fyre while they sat in the car just outside the place where they needed to be. Since the wedding was next week, Fyre had to go through the fitting session with Tian Zi, as well as a mock wedding ceremony to make sure everything would be perfect on the big day. Honestly, when Fyre had said yes yesterday, he didn't think he would have to undergo this kind of thing and he was starting to regret his decision.
"W-Why was I the maid of honor again?" Fyre asked nervously. He hadn't even met Ian Andrews before, but now he was going to be his maid of honor!? He was a male Omega, not even a woman. 'Is it even legal to make me the maid of honor?' Fyre asked to no one, looking at the building outside the car which was apparently Mo Hanlu's private mansion. But of course, because Fyre is legally both man and woman due to his Omega gender, and he is also single, this makes him most qualified to be a maid of honor.
"Ian Andrews grew up as an orphan so he doesn't have a family. He worked himself to where he is now to support himself and later raise his child at a young age. He poured all his time into working, so he didn't make a single close friend on his guest list. It was difficult to find who was going to assist him during the wedding, so Older Brother remembered you when you two met that one time," Tian Zi said, explaining why a stranger like him had suddenly become a bridesmaid.
"Is your older brother insane? I don't even know him, what makes him think I'm qualified to be his wife's maid of honor? I'm a complete stranger to him as well," Fyre burst again. He understood the fact that Ian Andrews didn't have anyone, but why did it have to be him.
"Who knows what's running through my older brother's mind? He has always been unpredictable, but we are already here. Also, don't forget that you already agreed to do this. My family's been wanting to meet you since last night and arranged this practice session just to meet you. And didn't we talk about this already?" Tian Zi said with a little frown. What he said was true, even though he didn't know what his Older Brother Hanlu would do just for his own entertainment. But what could he do? This was the first time he had been cornered like this, and all because he wanted to establish his own company.
They had already come to this point, and Fyre wasn't the only one who was bothered by this. He had told his family that his college friend was willing to do it and everyone had been so happy. They couldn't disappoint them now or else even more troublesome things would happen later. Just from even hism bringing Fyre, he could already imagine all the different questions that everyone would throw at him and Fyre the moment they stepped inside that house.
"Fine," Fyre scuffs in the end, crossing both his arms over his chest.
"Good. Just act like you normally would," Tian Zi reminded, making Fyre roll his eyes.
"Duh, who do you think I am? Just don't forget that after this you're going to teach me one of your programs," Fyre said to which Tian Zi only replied with a simple nod. He had a lot of programs in his hand, so teaching one or two to Fyre wasn't a big deal if the Omega could help him get his inheritance.
"Okay then, let's go?"
* * *
Walking inside the massive mansion that highly resembled the Renaissance Age, Fyre enthusiastically looked around. Tian Zi had to snake his arm around his waist just so the Omega wouldn't stop from walking as he led him to the area where his family was.
"Ohh, Xiao Zi's here!" As Tian Zi and Fyre stepped inside the spacious living room, Hanlu was the first one to notice as he quickly turned around. He abruptly halted from playing with the kids and dashed towards the newly arrived visitors.
"It's Fyre, right? Glad to meet you again," Hanlu said with a bright smile and extended his hand to handshake the Omega. Ever since he saw Fyre that day, he couldn't help but imagine the Omega being together with his baby brother. However, he noticed that the two weren't close enough to be in that kind of relationship, so he quickly wanted to find a way to get the two closer. With him finding his true love and how happy he was with it, Hanlu wanted Tian Zi to find his own too, ...and he wanted to help him. There had not been a chance until now when his wife finally agreed to have the dream wedding he was wishing for them.
"Ahh, t-thank you so much for inviting me, sir," Fyre stuttered, and a little blush appeared on his cheeks while looking at the handsome man in front of him. Truly, just like the first time he'd seen Mo Hanlu, the man was one of the most attractive men he had ever seen in his lifetime. He was like Adonis in real life. Tian Zi was definitely handsome too, but he still had that young and immature vibe unlike Mo Hanlu, who was oozing with sex appeal.
"Oh no please, you can call me older brother if you want to," Hanlu said with bright sparkling eyes that instantly made Tian Zi cringed on the side. He didn't know what the older Alpha was thinking, but his gut was telling him it was not good.
"You can just ignore him, Fyre. Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the family," Tian Zi said, pulling Fyre close to him before urging him to follow his lead. When everyone saw how Tian Zi acted, they looked at each other, unable to believe that the stubborn Mo Tian Zi that they knew would act like this towards his friend. An Omega friend.
Meanwhile, because he was already flustered at the whole situation, Fyre got swept away easily and soon stood in front of the most beautiful individuals that ever existed. Fyre looked at the group in front of him and his eyes slightly squinted, as if what he was seeing was too bright for his eyes' own good.
"Mother, Father, this is Fyre, my college classmate," Tian Zi introduced. And as expected of their reaction, Tian Zi rolled his eyes internally seeing his mother panic.
"Oh Honey, are my eyes deceiving me? Our baby Xiao Zi is finally introducing someone to us?" Laura Mo dramatically leaned against her husband, unable to absorb the situation. She had already mentally and emotionally prepared herself but seeing it in front of her eyes, she just couldn't believe it. Her stubborn youngest, who declared he didn't want to marry ever in his life.
"Mom, Fyre is just a friend," Tian Zi added, knowing what his mother might be thinking at this moment.
"Nonsense," Laura exclaimed, and finally this time she stood up and approached Fyre.
"N-Nice to meet you, M-Madam," Fyre stuttered again, his eyes widened and his heart pounded faster watching the middle-aged woman near him. Just like everyone in the room, even though Laura has now aged, it is clearly visible that in her youth, she too used to be one of the most attractive individuals in her generation just by looking at how beautifully she has aged.
"Oh Sweetheart, I insist you must call me Auntie from now on, it might not be far from now, you and our Xiao Zi might become..." Laura said, grabbing Fyre's hand and squeezing it tight. She had a lot to say but Tian Zi cut her off knowing what his mother was going to say next. He knew this was going to happen so he needed to make it clear to everyone that what they were thinking was never going to happen.
"Mother, please. Fyre is a university friend. He's not what you think he is and we're never going to be like what you think we will become," Tian Zi said, making Laura pout. Fyre, on the other hand, frowned seeing how Tian Zi treated his mother and quickly nudged the Alpha. He might have left home, breaking his parent's dreams for him to study and have a professional job, but he had never talked back to his mother and father like Tian Zi was doing now.
"What are you doing talking to your mom like that?" Fyre whispered, to which everyone who was paying attention in the room heard and it surprised them on their seats. They saw how the Omega was able to lecture Tian Zi, just like how Laura Mo does. No one in the whole family could scold the Young Alpha, but Fyre just had done it, ...when they were just supposed to be 'university friends'.
"What? I'm saving you from their delusions," Tian Zi replied, annoyed, but everyone could still see that Fyre had power over the in denial Alpha, making them all smile, ...especially Laura Mo, who then made it her dream to have three Omega sons-in-law.
Unfortunately, at this point, love between the two was nonexistent. This was all just everyone's misunderstanding because it was the first time the Youngest Mo had come to introduce them to a friend, ...and an Omega at that. Naturally, a friendly relationship between an Alpha and an Omega was nearly impossible because of their nature to instinctually attract each other. So if Fyre and Tian Zi aren't lovers now, there will eventually be a time when the two will.
"Fyre was it? Sweetheart. Don't worry about it, our Xiao Zi is always like this. We're used to it now," Laura said with a delighted smile before she approached Fyre again and slightly pulled the Omega closer to her. "Come with me and let me introduce you to the rest of the family, and of course, to the bride," Laura said excitedly, leaving Fyre no choice but to follow the middle-aged woman.
"First, this is my husband, Mo Chendong." Laura pulled Fyre in front of her husband who was just as happy as her, despite it not showing very much on his face.
"N-Nice to meet you, s-sir," Fyre stuttered, looking at the dominant Alpha. Despite his old age, no one could deny the Alpha blood running in his veins.
"Hmm, come a little closer. My knees are now bad, so I prefer sitting like this," Mo Chendong said, nodding at the greeting before extending his hand, wanting to handshake Fyre and also to get a closer look at the Omega.
"I-It's okay, sir. I understand," Fyre replied and neared Mo Chendong to handshake him. He'd heard a lot about Mo Chendong when he was starting his hacking career, and to say that he was not afraid would be a lie. To be honest, he was more afraid of the old man than anyone in the room, but meeting him like this slightly eased his heart.
"Ah it's difficult to decide but for now, you can call me grandpa if you want to. We can change it later to something else if the situation permits," Mo Chendong said after a moment of thought. He wanted to be called uncle because there's a possibility the Omega could become his son-in-law, but he has already passed that age so grandpa should work for now.
"Honey please, are you saying Fyre can call me grandma instead?" Laura, who was seemingly offended, said with a pout.
"No Honey, he can call you with the one you suggested," Mo Chendong said tenderly and that quickly pacified the middle-aged woman.
"Uhmmm, o-okay," Fyre stuttered again, not knowing what to do. The whole situation was just more overwhelming than he expected it would be when he'd agreed to do this.
"Moving on, this Daniel and my eldest son, Laotian. Don't mind them, they're always like this in the house. As for Daniel, he insisted on taking care of the twins and Luangmin, so he'll wake up in a little while when the practice starts." Laura pointed at the seemingly glowing sleeping person on the lap of the stoic-looking man as he carefully supported his partner, making sure he was comfortable in his little nap.
"Ahh yes, nice to meet you," Fyre squeaked, and Laotian only nodded slightly in acknowledgment. It may not reflect on his face, but he too was very curious about the Omega who had managed to become friends with his unpredictable little brother.
"This is Diane and Armand, Daniel's parents. They're here to help with the preparation as well," Laura introduced again to the couple sitting next to a large crib with two sleeping babies in it. Fyre once again greeted them and extended his hand and Armand stood from his chair to handshake him, the same with Diane.
"Lancel Mo and Mo Luangmin." Laura briefly extended her hand to point at the two kids playing not far from where they were.
"And finally, this is Ian, our bride-to-be. We still have more coming for the practice, so let's talk and get acquainted before they arrive." Laura finished approaching Ian, who was smiling warmly.
"Nice to meet you. I'm so sorry, my husband dragged you into this," Ian said and held Fyre's hand gratefully. Honestly, he hadn't wanted to have a grand wedding ceremony. They had already initially decided to have a simple second wedding with everyone around, but Hanlu had pestered him with his ideals for more than a month and he'd had no choice but to agree in the end. And since he had no one to become his maid of honor they thought of making Daniel the one, but suddenly Hanlu remembered that his younger brother had an Omega friend and suggested making him the maid of honor instead, since Daniel was already married.
"It's okay. I was surprised at first but, it's an honor to be your bridesmaid," Fyre said and smiled, receiving Ian's warm and welcoming hug.
"And we never know, you might marry Xiao Zi in the future," Hanlu suddenly interrupted. When Fyre heard what the Alpha said, his eyes widened and he finally understood what Tian Zi was telling him earlier.
"I told you it's not like that between us," Tian Zi said again in frustration. "Why are you all obsessed with marriage?" Tian Zi added and suddenly walked out, leaving Fyre alone in front of his family.
"Uhmm, s-should I go and talk to him?" Fyre asked, contemplating. He was used to Tian Zi being in control, so this was the first time he saw the Alpha being upset and walking out.
"Oh no, leave him be. He's always like that," Hanlu and Laura said, almost at the same time, to which Fyre had no choice but to reply with a simple nod.
* * *
To be Continued...
Comments (2)
See all