THE OMEGA | ✓

Chapter 24 - The Brief Happiness

New stares at the cooked rice on the stove. There is no used cloth so he cannot check the inside of the pot but he smells something burning and is kind of worried. He is in charge of rice since that is the simplest cooking task. Gun and Inn are making some side dishes to go with his rice while waiting for the other three to arrive. Running around to look for a stick, he grabs a stern-looking one and gets back. There is a handle on the cover so he sticks the piece of wood and takes the lid off.

"Newwiee! Did you burn the rice??"

"No! It's fine!" He unmistakably burnt it. How the hell should he turn the stove off? How the hell did old folks cook using this ancient-looking stove? Why the hell did Mew choose to live in this kind of place for his graduation trip? Is he insane? "Gunnie! A little help!"

"Yah!" He hears Inn scream back but ignores it. The youngest simply removes the pot with some thick cloth he found somewhere, laughs at New, and returns to his post. Dumbfounded by how stupid he is, New takes a rice paddle and mixes the rice quickly so the base won't burn. "Don't mix it!"

"Oh." He just mixed the burnt parts with the good ones. Now they have to eat the bitter rice. Welp. No use crying over burnt rice. They just have to man up and eat it. Thank god it is only for two days before they move to a normal hotel instead of this shabby-looking house in the middle of nowhere. New loves camping, but he hates this.

"I smell something burning!" He hears the VIP's voice and heads out, noting the other two behind him, wearing the same unreadable expression. Well, Gulf's soon turned into shock but Joong is still processing the whole situation. The only happy guy is Mew, and Inn, who are immersing themselves in cooking to distract themselves from the horrid beginning of their summer vacation.

New notices the same bandaged lower neck of both Gulf and Joong which confuses him. First, Gulf and Mew are already mated so why does he have that new mark and two, why the hell does an alpha like Joong have it too? What did the boy do?

Running quickly to the new members, he notices the citrusy scent around Joong and laughs, alerting the others who don't realize his stealth movement.

"Phi." Chansol stares at him wide-eyed. "What happened?"

"Don't you owe us some explanation? This? Dunk?" He points the obvious to both the betas, announcing the news since he is sure the alpha/omega couple already knows about it. "Why's the mark on you?"

"New-" Both Gulf and Mew look concerned, and so is Joong. Did he just say something he shouldn't? Is there something he doesn't know about new bonds? Because he doesn't remember coming across anything close to not announcing bonds too early to betas in the guidebook.

"Wow! Joong Archen! Seriously?" Inn's voice breaks the tense silence, backing him up in his plan to tease the youngest of the pack. "You're a man now!!"

"But why are you bitten?" Gun asks, puzzled, and the other two nod, curious. Joong doesn't seem to hear the question though, he keeps looking weirdly at New before Gulf pulls him over. Laughing at the normal dazed face, he was about to help them unload the trunk before suddenly being pulled by Mew. "You're okay?"

"Oh, yeah! It is just uh, my gastritis." He lies awkwardly, trying to avoid the suspicious gaze the oldest is giving him. With a nudge from his mate, Mew lets his hand go.

"No, phi-" Gulf stops Joong and forces a smile on New, which he finds unsettling. "It's good you're okay."

"Guys. I know you're tired after the long journey, but can someone please help us cook?" Inn's commanding voice fills the space and everybody finally moves away to their respective position. New cannot help but feel a bit uneasy from the way the two alphas acted.