The day Renjun has waited so impatiently has finally arrived. He gets sold to a charming beta who claims to be a home economist of a COO pureblood alpha and wishes to gift Renjun to him as a birthday present. Hearing heartwarming stories from Jaemin, the omega slowly falls in love with his future mate Jeno, however upon meeting the alpha, he realizes that life is way more complicated than he was taught. And as if it's not enough, Renjun is also the one distorting it.
The moment the Aquamarine House shop door opened, Renjun sat up straight and lowered his eyes to his craft. Smiling from the corner of his lips, the omega continued stitching the fabric just as he learned. It was a little tablecloth full of colorful tiny flowers that Renjun spent days embroidering. Many of his friends complimented the work, therefore the boy wished alphas would notice his skill too.
The first customer of the morning appeared perplexed. Renjun stole a glance at the alpha when it got too quiet, noticing that the man just stood there and didn't know which omega to look at. Lady Brixil, the owner of the shop and Aquamarine House, gave the alpha a few more minutes, but then sent a beta assistant to help the customer out.
Renjun watched how the alpha was led to a few omegas and smiled, hoping his friends would get picked. He always did. Each time he or other omegas were put on display, Renjun heartwarmingly wished they could finally meet their happiness. However, he and others surely noticed how the alphas who came as early as the morning, just when the shop opened, didn't pick any omega.
"Darlings, don't get upset," Lady Brixil once said, and Renjun remembered it for quite a while. "All the morning alphas come here just to stare at your pretty faces to keep themselves entertained. Do you know why they come here early? Perhaps, they don't have jobs. Real alphas come here early in the afternoon, during their breaks, or in the evening! So, let us all hope for the better ones to come faster."
Renjun kept that in mind and looked away from the man, trying not to get his attention. He didn't want any jobless alphas around him. Although he was taught not to be prideful but sensitive to everyone around, Renjun knew his self-worth, and he was aware that after spending three years learning how to be a perfect omega, he should at least get an alpha with a stable job. Renjun was taught how to manage the household so he surely could help his future mate, but the alpha still needed to work to deserve a perfect omega such as him!
Unfortunately, the alpha appeared next to Renjun quite fast. He just checked the other omega beside, reading their plate, and then, seemingly finding it boring, shifted to the other suggestion. He stopped before Renjun and read his silver-colored plate that informed:
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Name: Huang Renjun
Nationality: Chinese
Age: 21;
Gender: male;
Secondary gender: pureblood omega;
Defects: birthmark on the back of his right hand;
Mental condition: very well;
Skills: great at sewing, cooking, and cleaning, good at painting and drawing, knows how to massage;
Personality: shy with strangers, adorable, soft-spoken, observant, sensitive to people around him, likes kids and animals, sometimes impatient.
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"Soft-spoken?" the alpha asked. "May I hear your voice?"
Before even looking at the alpha, Renjun glanced at Lady Brixil since he was one of a few who was asked to do something. The omega heard the man giving requests to others, and they looked at the owner each time to make sure the request was valid. After all, they knew what type of alpha this man was.
Lady Brixil nodded, and Renjun knew why. What he asked was so simple. Even though the alpha wasn't worth him, Renjun could still bring him happiness by answering a few questions.
"Okay, sir," he said softly, looking up at the man.
He put on a customer service smile, although Renjun wanted to shiver when he noticed how much older the alpha was. It was as if twenty years stood between them.
"Oh," the man smiled, then quickly thought of a question so he could hear more of Renjun's voice. "How much are you sensitive to other people?"
It was an open question. Renjun wasn't ready to talk that much.
"Well... I'm very observant and empathic. If someone feels down, I get the same emotions," the omega formed an answer, but way shorter than the alpha expected.
However, the latter was happy as he still got the chance to hear Renjun's voice.
"You really have a nice voice."
"Sir," a beta staff suddenly approached the alpha. "If you're not willing to buy him, please, move on."
"Fine," the alpha grumbled.
He stopped by a few more omegas, asking them questions, too, but now the beta followed him around and made the ones on display less talkative. Unable to bear the pressure as the staff kept a close eye on him, the alpha, as expected, didn't choose anyone, and left the shop. Everyone inside could sigh in relief as neither the omegas nor the betas liked those who came there just to look at pretty young people. The main purpose of the shop was to advertise well-trained and talented omegas to worthy alphas!
The same thing repeated for the rest of the morning. Renjun stopped paying attention when more alphas entered the shop. He was glad that they weren't that brave to ask him questions and instead, just stood by his plate and read his information, then moved on. Some of them didn't even read anything. They just stood in front of the omegas and stared at their faces, or admired what they were doing, completely mesmerized. A few alphas got intrigued by Renjun's embroidery and stood there, watching his every move. The omega was nervous by such an audience, and he almost pricked his finger. It was great that the betas spread around the shop and paid attention to every alpha, so one noticed they were putting pressure on Renjun and chased them away.
Renjun started to get impatient with all the morning visitors. He glanced at a few fellow omegas, meeting their eyes and noticing that they seemingly waited for the other part of the day as well. Although many omegas liked the attention the alphas gave them, they wanted to spare the answers and smiles to the ones who would willingly buy them.
The boy's mood got better when the clock on the aquamarine-colored wall struck twelve. The betas put a sign on the door to inform the customers of a lunch break and ran around the shop to change some plates. Renjun knew that in the afternoon, a few omegas turned younger, and their descriptions became more appealing—it was a strategic plan of Lady Brixil. She was willing to sell her omegas whenever richer alphas came to the shop—since they were what the omegas needed—and prepared new plates to increase sales. Those in the morning saw the reality of the pretty omegas and a bit of boring information. But the afternoon alphas were given a little bit of an embellished story—the omegas became even more perfect.
Renjun didn't have anything against that. He was happy he was 21, so his age didn't change, although he was certain he could pretend to be younger since he had a uniquely young face. He refused to lie about his age, however, as once his papa called him and begged his son not to. He said younger age attracted bad alphas, and if he really wanted to find the good one, he had to leave his age as it was. But if no one buys for a few more years, he'll have to lie. Renjun had heard about a place where the omegas go if no one's interested in them. He didn't want to be one of those.
So, even when his age was the same, the further description was a little bit manipulated. As he took a sip of water out of his cup, Renjun got the chance to read what Lady Brixil wrote about him and was left satisfied. Not everyone had to know he was a pureblood omega. Some alphas found that threatening—they wanted submissive omegas not quite dominant ones.
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Name: Huang Renjun
Nationality: Chinese
Age: 21;
Gender: male;
Secondary gender: omega;
Defects: birthmark on the back of his right hand;
Mental condition: very well;
Skills: great at sewing, cooking, and cleaning, good at painting and drawing, knows how to massage, has every necessary skill to maintain a household;
Personality: shy with strangers, adorable, soft-spoken, innocent, observant, sensitive to people around him, likes kids and animals, obedient and loyal.
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He liked that Lady Brixil took out the information that he was impatient. It was one of the flaws of Renjun's personality, but he knew it would disappear if he could finally meet his alpha. He was also a bit stubborn and showed this flaw to the people he felt close to. He usually did it to other omegas, but it was never written on the plate as everyone knew the omegas behave differently and have only positive aspects of their personality around the alphas. Because alphas weren't friends, they didn't have to know everything about their omegas. They were partners or even clearer—mates. All they needed was love and care.
Unfortunately, there were things Lady Brixil couldn't erase from the boy's plate. For example, his defect. Renjun knew that, unlike personality that could be changed, the defects remained, and he was upset that the natural thing, such as the birthmark on his hand, lowered his value. He thought of it as a unique mark, but alphas mistaken it was a bruise and thought the omega was clumsy.
"Do you want to go to the bathroom?" a beta, assigned to take care of Renjun that day, asked.
"No, I'm fine, Miss," the omega smiled.
"I still advise you to go. You'll have to sit there for the rest of the hours..."
Renjun put the embroidery on the other armchair that belonged to his area, almost like a scene created just for him, and stood up. He was guided to the bathroom he used a few months ago and met with other omegas who shared their thoughts and looked forward to the rest of their time on display. Renjun exchanged a few words with them, and together they could breathe fresh air out of the window and clean their heads from the alpha pheromones. He liked to talk to them so much that he almost forgot he needed to use the bathroom.
After he was done, he went to the mirror to check on his appearance. Noticing a few imperfections in his makeup, the omega rushed out of the bathroom and called his caretaker. The beta took him back to the armchair, and fixed his makeup, then sneaked a little candy into his hand and smiled softly at him.
"I know you must be hungry," she said.
Renjun smiled back but avoided eating the candy. Not because Lady Brixil didn't allow them to eat when they were on display, which was for a reason, as they turned lazy and sleepy. But all because Renjun didn't want to mess up his teeth in case he needed to smile. The candy was made out of chocolate...
After thirty minutes of enjoying the break, everyone returned to their places, and the door of the Aquamarine House shop was opened again. Renjun surely noticed a few of the alphas lining up to the door, but he was still surprised when five of them walked inside. They all wore suits and talked to each other, so it was very easy to determine that they were business partners. Renjun's little omega heart flipped as he made eye contact with one of the alphas, and he almost melted away as he imagined being the mate of someone like that man.
Since the alphas looked extremely wealthy, Lady Brixil sent a few betas to offer a consultation. Two out of five agreed and were led to the owner's desk, where they filled out a questionnaire that made it easier to pick an omega based on their skills. The other three were more attracted to faces, so they started from one corner and ended up in another. Neither of the three stopped by Renjun for longer than a minute. They read his information and admired that he was like a porcelain doll, dressed in nice light-colored clothing, and walked away. The omega was upset, but then he noticed the alphas appeared very picky with everyone. They rolled their eyes, shared comments in whispers, and were anything but polite.
Losing patience at observing them being so picky for no reason as everyone here was perfect, Renjun rolled his eyes and looked elsewhere. At the same time, his eyes met with another male, thirty feet away from him. The omega panicked as he thought no one was looking at him, so he let his personality imperfection slip away. It turned out that he had been observed for quite a while, and when the man noticed his annoyance, he left the spot in the middle of the room and headed toward Renjun. The worst must've been that he had a frown on his face.
The omega broke into a cold sweat. He glanced at his caretaker, but the beta was missing, and Renjun got nervous. If something bad was happening, he had to raise a hand to get Lady Brixil's attention. So, he was about to do it even when he knew he'd get punished for being so reckless, but the man was already before him, and Renjun lost the courage.
"You're twenty-one?" the man asked, looking down at the silver plate, then up at him.
Scared of the consequences, Renjun was unable to answer. He could just nod.
"...innocent, observant, sensitive to people around him..." the man read under his nose, intensely staring at the silver plate. "likes kids and animals..." he paused and raised his brow. "Obedient? How obedient are you?"
It was an open question. Renjun hated open questions.
"Very... obedient," the omega muttered, darting eyes on the floor.
It was a lie. As a pureblood omega, he couldn't be as obedient as any other regular omega. He knew how to be one, but his nature kept messing it up.
"Oh, really?" the man chuckled, taking the omega off guard.
Renjun expected to feel more of the man's thoughts, but nothing came from him. The omega found it confusing, so he sniffed the air around, looking for his pheromones, and then it hit him. It wasn't an alpha in front of him. It was a beta male! He had no scent and pheromones.
Even though it comforted Renjun that the beta saw the eye roll and not an alpha, he was still in tension. What could a beta possibly want from him? Betas, unlike alphas, weren't welcomed in here. Society and the house policy didn't acknowledge them as wealthy enough to buy and sufficiently responsible to take care of an omega. Renjun could never have thought a beta would get interested in him. He couldn't even imagine a life with a beta. They were hard to read!
Renjun looked up in curiosity and a little bit of disappointment. The beta man appeared decent and also wore a suit. His suit looked even better than those five alphas around. He was handsome, too, but he was a beta, and that was the biggest problem.
The customer didn't notice Renjun's observing eyes as he was busy writing something in his notebook. That freaked out the omega even more. He wouldn't be writing something so diligently if he wasn't interested, would he?
"Okay," the beta did one last touch on his notebook and then looked up. His long eyelashes covered his deep brown eyes, emphasizing his elegant face. "When is your nearest heat?"
Renjun was so shocked he couldn't even react. Instead, he froze. What a discourteous beta! Who could even ask an omega something so personal, especially with all the alphas around? Was it because he was a beta that he didn't have any decency?
Luckily, his caretaker was already roaming around, perhaps, recognizing him as a beta too, and when she heard the question, she turned pale and hurried to the two as fast as she could.
"How dare you?" she yelled, shoving the other beta away. "Leave!"
The three got the attention of others; the omegas flinched, Lady Brixil stood up, and the alphas turned their heads to see who caused the scene. But the beta man was barely affected. Pulling some kind of business card out of the pocket of his expensive suit, he extended his arm and gave it to the beta.
"I'll contact you this evening. I'm buying him."
"No, you are not!" the caretaker retorted, appearing very hostile.
The man looked at the beta female, then showed her with his eyes to read the card. Even though she wasn't willing to, perhaps, she got curious about what he gave her, so she gave it a try. Renjun observed her face, but betas weren't as expressive as omegas. She raised her eyebrow even when she had read the information. She didn't like it but gave a sign to Lady Brixil that the situation was under control, and the latter asked the alphas to continue where they left off.
Those five alphas did, whispering again like before, but this time, the beta was the one they seemingly discussed.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Lee, but even if you're a COO of a successful company, we can't let you violate our rights," the caretaker said, more politely now.
"Oh, I'm Mr. Na, Mr. Lee's home economist. His birthday is the next week, and I want to buy him an omega," the beta man said subtly, then scoffed. "I almost forgot to mention he's an alpha, unlike me. A pureblood alpha," he added with a reckless eye roll.
"Oh!" the caretaker's face flushed. "You could've just said so, Mr. Na! Renjun, did you hear it? A pureblood alpha!"
Hearing his name, the beta male turned at Renjun and smiled. The omega didn't know if he liked that smile. Yet he smiled back.