→ Sosuke:

“We can talk in my office, or I can give you both a quick tour?” The OMEGA CEO said when she was halfway to where the boys still stood frozen in-place.

“Guess we can do the tour first?” Tobias suggested and nudged Sosuke’s shoulder. “While we’re already in the hall and all.” Tobias bumped Sosuke again when he snickered at his bestie’s comment.

The CEO raised one of her perfect brows and stopped just in front of the boys. “Either is fine with me,” she said and placed a hand on her hip. Sosuke broke out into a sweat when her dark eyes roamed over his body. She gave no impression of dissatisfaction, but Sosuke couldn’t help feeling like he was being seriously judged.

“Perhaps seeing how the company operates will help you decide,” the boss lady continued. She tilted her head in the direction behind her and waved her free hand. “Come on. I’ll show you the first few rooms while we’re here.”

The teens looked at each other for the umpteenth time before shrugging and nodding at the boss lady. She then smirked and turned on her heels to lead the way.

“By the way,” the CEO said as they followed after. “Forgive me if I forgot to properly introduce myself when I first approached you. I was simply too excited to see such rare gems in an unlikely jungle. Please, call me Sienna.”

“Okay,” Tobias said. Sosuke thought it would be a little too informal, especially for a Japanese lady, but he supposed she probably just hated her last name.

They were first introduced to some of the lounge rooms—Sosuke knew they existed!—and then more photoshoot rooms than they cared to look at. They also passed by a couple of “star” dressing rooms, one of which belonged to the model that Tobias couldn’t stand. Sosuke had to hold back his laughter at the teen’s puckered-up face. Sosuke would certainly never forget all the times during their sophomore year that Tobias had crossed out the poor girl’s face, particularly whenever she was paired with Gabriel in an ALPHA magazine.

There were also a few large storage rooms for all the clothing articles, shoes, and jewelry the magazine received to feature in their photos, but also some props for photoshoot sets. Sosuke could’ve easily gotten lost in the rows upon rows of brand-name outfits in the walk-in closet-like rooms. But the worst storage room for him to see was the one designated for preserving every OMEGA and ALPHA issue ever made. Sosuke really could’ve gotten lost in there looking at all the photos, especially the limited edition magazines he never got to see because everyone in his school was too poor.

“You’re welcome to browse the collection during your free time,” Sienna chuckled. “If you join OMEGA, of course.”

She sure knows how to sell it, Sosuke thought with a huff, but otherwise refused to acknowledge the comment.

There was also an auditorium-styled room that featured an actual catwalk. Sosuke had no idea OMEGA actually held fashion shows, but it was certainly fascinating to actually see one up-close.

“We don’t really hold fashion shows, but I sometimes like to host them for our sponsors,” Sienna said as they crossed through to the other side. “The profit I’ve made off this room has more-than made up for the cost of its construction. It’s rare, but a few girls have been invited to participate in a show before. If you’re interested, it could be arranged.”

Sosuke vigorously shook his head and Sienna laughed.

The exit led to a small hallway with a red carpet laid out, much like the official entrance for an actual event. The theme was completely different from the OMEGA building so far, with warm, wooden tones like an old theater house. Even the bathroom doors had vintage-styled “ladies” and “gents” signs.

Sienna took them to the last door at the end of the hallway, opposite of the glass door entrance area. There was another black box on the wall beside the door, much like the one Sosuke saw at the beginning and again when they’d entered the auditorium. The CEO slid a card along the strip and the door buzzed. She pulled it open and ushered for the boys to follow.

“This is the opposite side of the building,” Sienna said and flipped on a lightswitch, revealing another pink-walled hallway lined with model portraits. “You will not have access to this hall, but I like when models understand how the magic happens.”

“Is this the techzone?” Sosuke piped in. The scary boss lady looked back at him and smirked.

“Ah, yes. I do recall you liking technical positions?” Sienna said and Sosuke felt his blood rush to his face for whatever reason. “This hallway is usually empty on the weekend, but sometimes we have designers come in at the beginning of the month if there are last-minute edits that need to be done before the deadline.”

“Makes sense,” Sosuke basically whispered, reverting back to his shell. He squinted at the large glass pane of a dark room they were passing. There weren’t any cubicles, but large work desks with Mac monitors lined up across each side. The work space was probably for the graphic designers or marketers because Sosuke doubted the IT guys could function in such a social setup.

“...over here is the red room for physical prints, and over there is the magazine printing room,” Sienna droned on and Sosuke vaguely wondered why the hell they had the actual printing press in the building. They didn’t contract with a separate warehouse? That was definitely different…

“Like I said before,” Sienna continued, snapping Sosuke out of his reverie. “Only designers, tech, print employees, select business partners, photographers and, of course, myself have permission to enter this part of the building, but sometimes a model may make a trip over here if requested to look over photo edits.”

The double doors at the end of the hallway mirrored the ones from when the boys first stepped through. Sienna used her card to open them and waved her hand for the teens to step out first. They walked back out into the large lobby, but from the right side of the front desk. The ice queen receptionist either failed to realize they’d returned or just didn’t care to actually acknowledge them, because she refused to look away from the monitor screen for even a second.

“Thanks again for coming in today, Mindy,” Sienna said to the receptionist as they passed around the front desk.

“You betcha, boss,” the ice queen said and straightened her shoulders. Sosuke waited for her to blow another bubble, but she didn’t do so until the CEO was already back inside the first hallway. Sosuke was honestly impressed that she somehow knew the space was clear because the receptionist hadn’t looked their way even once.

The double doors closed behind the boys again and they followed the CEO to the end of the first hallway. She stopped at the last door on their right and slid her card into another black box.

“Welcome to my personal office,” Sienna said as she opened the door.

Sosuke walked in after Tobias and the light automatically turned on above them. The CEO closed the door behind her and walked around the desk to their left.

Why does everything here have to be made of cherrywood? Sosuke thought as he scanned the room. Even the bookshelf is cherrywood…

“Have a seat,” Sienna said with a hand gesture to the plush seats facing her sleek desk. “We have a lot to go over.”

Her tone felt passive-aggressive to Sosuke at first, especially when he looked over and saw the wicked smile the boss lady was giving, but he knew she likely only wanted to get a move on since they’d probably already been there for over half-an-hour now. So, he left his study of the bookshelf and crossed the plush carpet to the fuzzy pink seats that totally didn’t give him another 90’s vibe. Or was it actually the early 2000’s? He honestly wasn’t quite sure.

“So, what did you both think of the tour?” Sienna sat down in her own plush seat-on-wheels and leaned back. She then crossed her legs and watched the boys make themselves comfortable.

Sosuke looked to Tobias for his input, but the other didn’t even spare him a glance this time.

“It was nice to see how things run,” Tobias said and Sosuke wanted to roll his eyes at his best friend’s formal speech. “I’d be interested to see what you have to offer.”

Sosuke leaned over and looked incredulously at his friend. So he seriously was going to consider signing his life away? The teen slowly leaned back into his pink seat and fixed his gaze on the CEO. Tobias couldn’t make a decision without him, either way, because there was just no way the other omega would join without Sosuke. They were like platonic soulmates, after all.

“As I mentioned before, you would both receive a cut above my usual entry salary,” Sienna started, tapping one of her manicured nails against her raised thigh. “And that would just be the starting rate, of course. Should your debut raise my sales, which I’m confident will happen regardless of performance, I will certainly re-negotiate pay to keep your employment.”

“Okay,” Tobias said with a slow nod of his head. “Sounds pretty good so far, but I take it there’s more?” Tobias continued to press and raised his eyebrows.

Sosuke knew he could count on his best friend to at least work out the best deal for them, considering what all they’d be giving up for the job.