A white light pierced through my closed eyes. I tried to open my eyes slowly.

The entire room is completely dark. The only light is from the clock on the wall. It says 9.00 p.m.

I remember it all vividly. How we spent six hours of the day, only to have sex. How he begged me not to stop, told me that he really liked it, and when he called my name out loud. We came several times, I even stopped counting.

The room is not filled with Riku’s pheromones anymore. We stopped doing it when I gave him a suppressant in the drawer. He fell asleep right away, but the seconds before ….

“Say it, Iori. Will you leave me too, just like him?”

I didn’t answer it, nor do I thought about it. I know that he was not even in his right mind when he asked that question.

I walked out to return to my room. With half of my consciousness, I clicked on the call button.

“Yo, what?”

I heard the sound of pencil and paper rubbing together. When Yato answered my call, it fell silent for a moment before it continues.

“… Riku is in heat and I just gave him a suppressant. Now he’s asleep, but I don’t know whether I should wake him up tomorrow or not.”

“What?!”

The sound of pencil and paper stopped again, but now interspersed with a whisper that is asking “What’s wrong?”. I heard Yato is trying to explain it to that person.

“Well, you better not waking him up tomorrow. Let him rest.”

“Okay. Then, I’ll hang—”

“Wait, Iori. I hope my guess is wrong here, but did you two ….”

I sighed. “Yes. We did it.”

Silence. He doesn’t say anything, but I know for sure that he shocked.

“Surely, you used condom, right?”

“Yes.”

I can hear he exhaled a breath, and it makes him less tensed now.

We ended the call right after. I went to shower and go down back to the kitchen. At least I’ll make something simple to eat, so if he wakes up later, he can just warm it up and eat it right away.

My head suddenly fulfilled by the thoughts of today. How do I face him from now on? How do I apologize?

I walked back to Riku’s room after I finished cooking. I took his phone and write a message to his coworker.

Riku is in heat, he can’t go to work tomorrow. 

***

I forced my eyes to open after the alarm rang for the third time. Really, it is a bad time for the first day of work.

Because I don’t have much time, I skipped breakfast and just took a quick shower. I couldn’t even visit Riku in his room, but it seems like he is not awake yet.

Luckily, a taxi coming right after I got out of the apartment. I put out my phone and texted Riku after I sat on the taxi.

I already make you something, so don’t forget to eat. I’m sorry I can’t see you before I went to work because I was almost late.

I arrived at the office only fifteen minutes later. When I opened the glass door, a woman sat quietly in the chair near the door. Our eyes met, and she stood up immediately, approached me.

“You must be Iori Yamamoto, right? I’m Makio Shizuku, team lead of production department. Follow me.”

I’m just following her into the building. She is so quiet, but the surrounding atmosphere is not that tense. Is it because she is a Beta?

“Oh, Makio-san! You’re here already!”

The cheerful vibe surrounding us the moment she opened the door. All the people inside talking and joking with her.

She giggled, “I’ve been here since seven, stupid. I just sat on the chair near the front door.”

In the middle of their cheerful conversations, I just realized something.

This woman is my ex-girlfriend.

I’m sure of it. I still remember her straightforward behavior when she is actually a soft woman who loved by a lot of people. She is my last ex, and the only one that didn’t dump me. We broke up in a good way, and still be good friends ever since. Until two years ago, our college friends told me that she died.

Of course, it shocked me so much, but the situation in front of me right now is way more shocking.

“This is Iori Yamamoto, our new member team.”

Her pat on my shoulder took me back to my senses. I bowed myself in front of everyone. “Iori Yamamoto. Yoroshiku.”

“Yo, Iori-san! Let’s go to drink together tonight, guys! It’s Makio-san's! Let’s welcoming our new member!”

“Yeah!”

Unlike my expectations, the vibe of this team is actually so cheerful. They are not too formal, but still respectful towards each others.

“You’ll come, right, Iori-san? It’s your party anyway!”

I want to say no because I should come home right away and accompany Riku. Moreover, I still don’t know how is Riku’s condition right now. It’s better to turn it down for today, but ….

“Please accept it, Iori-san. They haven’t had a drink for such a long time, and when I told them we were going to have a new member, they’ve been so excited.”

Sigh

“Sure, thank you.”

I guess I’ll just text Riku about tonight.

***

Today works just okay. They helped me much and good enough to me.  Makio is also still like her old self. Her leadership has never changed, that is one thing of her that makes people like to be with her.

“Why aren’t you going to the cafeteria with them all?”

I see her coming towards me, with a cup of coffee on her hand.

“Nah, I’m full, and this view is quite good from above here.”

I lied, of course. I haven’t eaten anything since this morning. Riku did lend me money yesterday, but I only accepted a little, enough to take a taxi. He nagged me because he worried about my meals when I’m at work, but I said that I’ll bring a lunchbox instead. The problem is, I was almost late today, so I can’t bring anything at all. Guess he’ll nag me later.

“Yes, it is. That’s why it becomes my favorite spot for lunch break.” She drank her coffee while looking at her phone.

“Ehh, so, did I just steal it from you?”

“Hahaha, yeah.”

It feels like a dream, seeing her smiling and laughing like years ago. She hasn’t changed a bit.

“Umm, sorry, but, have we met before?”

Gulp

“No? It’s our first meet, of course.”

Sweat started to fall out of my entire body. Her question shocking me to the point my heart is pounding.

“Is that so? It’s strange, I’m sure I’ve ever met you, but where, though? Hmm ….”

“Ha … Haha, we might’ve been met before, but just cross paths.”

Please, don’t think about it anymore!

“Hmm, you’re right. By the way, why did you plan to turn down their offer earlier? Do you perhaps don’t like to drink?”

I shook my head. It also reminds me. Riku hasn’t texted me back, he didn’t even read it yet.

“No, it’s not like that. I just—”

“Oh, there you are! Lunch break is almost ended, guys! Let’s go back to work and quickly have a drink!”

They took us to enter the room together. I should quickly get used with this cheerfulness.

Time flies and it’s already four in the afternoon. They are all started to surround me and pulled me off of my desk.

“Party! Party!”

Really, it’s so noisy, actually.

Seeing my tired face, Makio giggled and pat my back. “Hahaha, bear with it! You’ll get used to it in no time.”

I just sighed.

We went to the restaurant near the office. I texted Riku as soon as I sat down.

I have a drink with my coworkers tonight, so I’ll be home late. It’s a welcome party for me, so I should come. Don’t wait for me and just go straight to sleep. I’m sorry about the food, but I’ve made quite a lot, so I think it’d be enough for you tonight. I’ll go back as soon as I can. Take care.

His silence really worried me. Is he not awake yet? This whole day? Is that how it normally goes after he spent a heat cycle?

“What’s wrong, Iori-san? You seem so worried.”

“Ehh, what is it? Does Iori-san have a partner already?”

“Wahhh, I have a crush on him, though!”

“You stupid! There’s no way that Iori-san doesn’t have a partner yet! It’s obvious, you know?! Who wouldn’t fall with a tall and handsome guy like him? Moreover, he’s a Dominant Alpha!”

I scratched the back of my neck. “Um, but, actually, I don’t have a partner.”

“Ehhhhhhh?!”

How could a mere fact like that is shocking this entire people?

“Then, who is it that you’ve texted to?”

Their extremely curious expressions looked as if they are watching a movie right now.

“It’s my roommate.”