* * *

“Yeah. I’m surprised you didn’t know. You’re making it obvious that you’re not interested in me,” Lan laughed, while Reese turned ghastly pale. To be honest, Reese had considered the possibility since Lan’s surname was Mo, but he quickly dismissed the idea, thinking there was no way he’d become such a person’s roommate. Plus, Lan didn’t even act like a young master. He wasn’t the insufferable Alpha Reese imagined would come from such an elite family. In fact, Reese found it hard to believe that such a sweet, kind, and caring man came from that household.

“D-Don’t tell me you’re a multi-generational heir of a literal empire!”

“It’s not a literal Empire though,” Lan corrected, still laughing looking at the Beta turn pale. He leaned on his steering while enjoying the sight of his lover panicking.

“Shut up! It’s a literal Empire! A-And you’re its heir. No wonder male and females are drooling over you at school. It wasn’t just about that face!” Reese exclaimed hysterically, unable to believe he pulled that. He looked at the Alpha and he frowned in annoyance thinking God was unfair. He questioned why He gave one man everything. Lan literally has no flaws. He’s perfect in every way that perhaps he is his only flaw.

“I was just lucky to be born in my family. Besides, I have a sibling and a lot of cousins so I’m not the only heir. I might perhaps follow my uncle’s position since I’m the eldest but I won’t own everything so calm down,” Lan laughed again, leaving the fact that as the eldest, he’d be head of the family. That means, he would still control everything in the family business in the future.

“It’s a lot to take in. I need fresh air…” Reese only said at the end, feeling like he can never move on from this.

“Well, good thing we’re here. Come on, I’ll take you on a tour as we wait for our food,” Lan suggested to which Reese no longer refused and just nodded. As the Alpha said, he toured him around and each time, his jaw dropped. He thought his step-dad was rich but Lan’s family was on a different level. From furniture to decorations, it was either commissioned from famous artisans or bought in an auction. That means, there’s some weird looking jars, sculptures, and paintings that are worth hundreds of thousands or millions and are only one or very few in the world.

“That’s just the whole house, let me show you the garden… I wanted to show you the one back at home but let’s do that next time,” Lan excitedly said, pulling Reese as he took the lead. This whole time they have been holding hands, either hugging and kissing which Reese had surprisingly gotten used to pretty quickly so it was easy for the Alpha to pull him around and unintentionally parading him all over the mansion and earning curious stares from the workers.

Since Lan had never brought anyone at the farmhouse aside from Elven who everyone thought the Alpha would end up to, their necks extended watching the two display their intimacy. Their giggles and playful bickers echoed all over the house, making everyone so confused especially seeing the young master laugh so heartily for the first time. Lan wasn't the brightest boy growing up as he always acted mature despite his age but for the first time, they saw him acting out of character. They had a lot of questions but at the same time, they weren’t displeased.

“You mentioned before that you liked flowers. It’s just a small garden but I think you’ll like it,” Lan continued to chat excitedly. As for Reese, he secretly chuckled because the Alpha looks like a little kid wanting to show off his toys. It was quite cute so he just let him drag around and do what he wanted.

“Tadah! Grandpa had this place made for grandma because she hated it when grandpa spends most of his time in this place. So to compensate, he had a place made for her to relax whenever she visited and get bored waiting,” Lan mentioned as they walked through a huge rose tunnel. The rose was a variety of a climbing rose with big pale pink petals so with it blooming all around, it looks quite magical, making Reese in awe. He had grown roses before but he never grew this kind as he heard it was quite difficult to take care of. Just seeing how much the plant bloomed, the gardener quickly earned his respect.

“You like it?” Lan asked, his eyes hopeful.

“Yeah. It’s wonderful. It makes me want to work here,” Reese replied as he neared one of the roses and smelled it before smiling at the rich floral scent. There weren't just roses but there were other flowers at the side as well of the pavement so it was quite relaxing.

“If you stay with me, you don’t have to,” Lan simply said before pulling Reese again. 

“What do you mean?” Reese asked with a chuckle, thinking the Alpha might say he’d give this place to him if he wanted to.

“If you stay with me, I can always bring you here, you know. And if the title becomes mine, I’ll give it to you,” Lan replied casually as if it was the best idea ever, quickly bursting Reese in laughter hearing such a ridiculous statement. He didn’t think his guess was actually right. Now, he’s really worried the Alpha might get taken advantage of. He’s too nice and generous. Thankfully, he avoids people for that same reason that he might get taken advantage of.

“What? I’m not kidding,” Lan said as he sounded pouting.

“Yeah yeah, I get it, young master. I’ll look forward to it,” Reese continued to laugh happily making Lan frown but he quickly sighs in relief watching the Beta finally laughing genuinely. He was glad he decided to go here, he thought it would make him feel better and thankfully it did.

“Are you feeling better?” Lan asked softly, his voice contoured with adoration as he neared Reese pulling him close to him before he gently held his face and tilted it up for him to see. For some reason, his heart ached at the sight of the reddish spot on his cheek that if the Beta only allowed, he would seek revenge for him.

“Hmmn, thanks,” Reese only nodded, a pinkish blush quickly made its way to his cheeks as he comfortably hugged the Alpha’s torso.

“You’re not going to break up with me now that you know who I am, are you?”

“Hmm, I won’t,” Reese replied again, his eyes looking straight at the Alpha’s eyes before it dropped to the lips that had been kissing him all day.

“You promise?” Lan smiled happily, slowly leaning down.

“Yeah, promise…” Reese tiptoed, closing his eyes preparing for the kiss to come.

“And this… Are you still not going to tell me?” Slightly chuckling at the Beta waiting for his kiss, he gently brought his lips to the bruise area and asked.

“. . . Do I really need to?” Opening his eyes frowning, Reese asked with a pout while batting his eyes.

“Of course! Isn’t the first thing you do to keep a relationship is honesty? Honestly leads to trust which is something we both know we have to work on. Besides, I want to share your burden just like how I shared mine. You’ve been helping me a lot and I want to help you back,” Lan said dotingly, softly caressing the Beta’s cheeks and hair. Listening to him, Reese really could no longer harden his heart as he eventually sighs in defeat.

“Fine. But it’s really not big of a deal. It’s just a family problem,” Reese assured, and the only reason he was bruised was because his mom was wearing a couple of rings on the hand she used to slap him. It hurt when it happened but it's no longer hurting now.

“Still. I want to know…” Lan insisted, to which Reese nodded. They stayed hugging on their spot as Reese told the Alpha what just happened. He told him about his mom’s remarriage, about his step sister and even the fact that she hated him. Lan was such a good listener that he even mentioned the fact that he suspected it was sister who spread rumors about him and his mom being gold diggers before. Right now he wasn’t sure if his step-sister had accepted his mom fully since they seem to get along now but the fact that she used to hate them was true.

“Mom’s been hoping that we get along so she thought that if I introduce Stella to you, things would get a little better between us. Stella has a way with her words and she always acted nice so mom easily gets fooled by her. But not me, I know she’d never want to talk to me, let alone get along,” Reese finished after mentioning that Stella had a crush on the Alpha.

“I’m assuming you declined, that’s why she slapped you?” Lan asked, raising one of his brows.

“I did decline but it wasn’t the reason why I got slapped. I got slapped because I told her people have been calling us gold diggers ever since she married my step-dad,” Reese sighed before finally pulling away from their hug. He’s worried that people might really see him as such now that he unintentionally got close to the Alpha but he already promised he wouldn’t break up with him.

“I see…” Lan nodded in understanding, pulling the Beta again close to him. Now that he knows most of the Beta’s situation, he could understand his worries so he quickly wants to assure him. While he can’t do anything about Reese’s relationship with his mom, but he can promise that he can protect him from others as long as the Beta tells him. “Thank you for telling me, Reese. Don’t worry, I know that you’re not so if I hear people spread such rumors about you. You can rest assured that I would make them pay, okay?” Lan added, kissing Reese’s forehead. He can’t really change what people think but what he does know is that Reese was definitely not someone like that. 

If anything, those who came from ‘wealthy’ families are what he calls gold diggers. He could tell because even though they tried to hide it, he could tell that they’re getting close to him in hopes to get something as the future heir of Mo Empire. It has always been like that since he was young and he had gotten used to it. That’s why when he came across Reese, he knew he wasn't like others. 

“Thank you, Lan.”

“Come on. Our food’s been waiting. I bet you’re starving,” Lan chuckled, it’s been more than an hour but it’s better late than never.

As they walked deeper to the rose tunnel, Lan led Reese to another path which eventually brought them to an elevated vintage looking outdoor round gazebo. There was a table in the middle and two chairs. And just as the Alpha said, their food was waiting, placed beautifully as if they really were on a date—an exclusive one surrounded with lush greens, scented flowers, butterflies, and fresh air.

“Do you like it?” Lan asked even though he could tell.

“Yeah, I love it… Thanks again, Lan,” Reese gasped in awe, his heart pounding in excitement. The place looked out of this world, it's like the scene was ripped out of a fairytale book. 

“Then gimme a kiss?” Lan playfully asked. He didn’t really do much but he’s happy that something as simple as this had made the Beta extremely happy. He couldn’t help but compare when he brought Elven to the place before. Even though the Omega was happy as well, he wasn’t as happy as Reese right now to the point where his eyes were glowing in a suppressed excitement.

“There! Happy?” Lan was still lost in his thoughts when he suddenly was pulled down and later felt a brief kiss on his cheek. He looked at the Beta in surprise but when he saw how red his face was, he burst into a laugh. Now he understood why his dad keeps on teasing his mom, it’s because it’s fun and he couldn’t help but want more. For the most part of his life he had watched his mom and dad and although they bicker a lot for the most random things, he had dreamed that one day he’d have the same exact kind of relationship—well, minus the cheating part as he hated his father for that. But the same kind of energy when they’re together. They loved each other a lot and it shows wherever they go even though his mom sometimes gets annoyed at how clingy his dad was and still is.

“Not enough…” Lan grumbled before leaning down to get the kiss he deserved. Reese was caught off guard but had already gotten used to it as he wrapped his arms around the persistent Alpha.

* * *

To be Continued. . .