The sun is shining bright. Ezra stirs in bed as the sunshine almost blinds his eyes. He slowly opens his eyes and roams around.
That Omega then checks the clock; it's five in the evening. He turns aside only to realize that the space next to him is empty. His body springs up, looking around in panic.
Where is he? Ezra murmurs silently. He jumps off the bed, donning his slippers, and storms out of the recovery room.
The house is empty; only Beta helpers are available. Ezra wanders around like a lost puppy, looking for Fa. He is afraid to let the Golden Alpha run loose; he is still recovering. As Ezra steps out of the house from the back door, he finally sighs in relief.
There's Fa, jumping around the basketball court with a black ball in his hand. He looks better; much better than when Ezra found him inside the dungeon. He regains his weight and his skin has color. He also looks energetic—casually playing basketball as if nothing had happened to him.
"Less in 24 hours, and here you are, tiring yourself..." Ezra nonchalantly threw a punch at his words. Fa sneers and laughs. "I heal you not for this, Golden Alpha Fa."
Fa roams around Ezra, running in circles around the Omega. He gives a snarky look before throwing the basketball into the hoop.
"I am the Golden Alpha, so I recover fast. Besides, my energy is overflowing now. I need to channel some out of my body, or else I can't sleep tonight," says Ezra. "A good way to release the remaining energy is exercising. I have another option too, but I don't think you'll be happy to hear that."
"What's the other option?"
"Have sex with you."
That dialogue deserves a smack on Fa's head. He whines a bit, rubbing his hand at the painful spot. Ezra's crinkled forehead slowly eased, turning into a faint smile.
"Thank God you're fine. You regain your perverted brain, so it's good news," says Ezra. He grabs the black ball from Fa, casually dribbles it, and passes it back to that Golden Alpha.
"All thanks to you. I owe you my life."
Ezra casually circles Fa. He shakes his head faintly. "Nah, you work that up yourself. I'm just boosting your system."
"That means, you're truly my soulmate..."
Ezra sighs deeply, looking up to the sky and pondering. It's a long way to go, at least for him.
"Maybe. I don't know. All I can say is, I just don't want to see somebody die. That's it," Ezra replies.
Fa stares at Ezra, and a smile forms on his face. "Can we talk about this now?"
"About what?"
"Us. The mate thing."
"Sure. Let's talk," Ezra fixes his stance and faces Fa at ease. The Golden Alpha holds the black ball, ready to talk.
"I know, my earlier action is the reason why you're here. I was acting stupid, and I am so sorry about it," says Fa. "But, believe me. I have my reason for that. And, I do really want you to be my mate."
Ezra pauses a bit before he nods his head. "I'm sorry, too. I have an issue that makes me create a wall around me. And yes, I should clear things up with you instead of hurting your feelings."
"Care to talk about it now?"
Ezra takes a while to study Fa's reaction. To be fair, he has a right to know what's in Ezra's mind.
"I used to have a relationship with someone for five years. It's a long-distance relationship. We met online, so we never met each other physically. I admit, I love her so much. She's my first love," Ezra explains.
"What happened then?"
"When you accidentally spark my heat, Ou Academy wanted to send me off through early dismissal; they thought they might reduce the collateral damage. I refused, thus, I chose to elope with her," Ezra turns gloomy. "The night when we were supposed to meet, she ghosted me. I had an accident that night, and they told me I couldn't sit for my exam, so they put on hold on my graduation."
Fa stands there in bitterness. For the first time, he sees the pain in Ezra's eyes. He never pays attention to that because he only focuses on how to win the Omega without even caring about his feelings. Besides, Ezra has a solid and strong will; he hides his pain so well that no one knows how deep the cut is inside his heart.
Fa now learns how selfish he is!
"I don't hate you for what you did, Fa. I am not hating Sora too, maybe she has her own issue. I just hate myself for truly believing that love is forever. I need to realize, the world doesn't work like that. If there's hello, it means there's a goodbye," Ezra calmly explains his feeling, peeling off every word with care.
"But, to be honest, I feel betrayed. For whatever reason, Sora should have explained to me, not ghosting me out. I need to know, that's my right. We have been together for five years, how could she do that to me?"
Fa feels a pang in his chest. Ezra is right, there's nothing more hurtful than being ghosted. No words, no explanation. As if their love is meaningless. But, what choice did he have? He can't just expose himself like that!
"Did you hate Sora for what she did?" Fa tries to test the water.
"Yes."
Again, another reason not to tell him the truth! Ezra is going to hate me for lying to him, not once, not twice!
"Fa."
"Yes?"
"I don't know how long the wound would heal, but I just want you to know, I am trying..."
"It's fine. I can wait. Let's try out together," says Fa. He delicately rubs Ezra's hair, giving him a wide smile. But, inside, fingers crossed. That Golden Alpha puts hope that eventually, Ezra will forget about Sora. He dares not to imagine how will he explains to that Omega if he finds out the true.
"Fine. Let's try!" Ezra's smile makes Fa's hurt jagged, adding more guilt.
May the deity forgives me!