The room was quiet after Cyrin left, the faint sound of footsteps fading down the hall. Veyr lay still on the bed, eyes shut, his breathing steady, like he had already drifted back to sleep.

Then, without warning, his eyes opened. He blinked once, lazily, as though he had just remembered something trivial. He spoke in a flat, careless voice.

"...Ah. I forgot to tell Cyrin. Those rats weren't after me. They were after... that omega downstairs."

He closed his eyes again and went back to sleep, as if nothing had happened.

Cyrin came down the stairs, spotting Meirei still sipping the tea in the living room.

"You tea-addict jerk! Give me the cup right now". Cyrin snapped.

Meirei smirked. “Already drank it.” He even stuck his tongue out, purely to annoy Cyrin.

“Ugh, seriously?” Cyrin groaned. “Forget it. I’m going to bed.” He shot Meirei a tired, defeated look before dragging himself out of the room.

Meirei responded with a nod.

**The next morning at 9:00 AM**

Meirei had already woken up, while Cyrin had just arrived, and Veyr was still sleeping. "Has the omega woken up yet?" Cyrin asked.

Meirei responded with a "No".

"Do you know when Sevren and Leyla will be back home?" Cyrin asked again.

"No," Meirei's response remained unchanged.

Cyrin didn't ask any further questions and had his breakfast.

**Brightweight state university** 12:00 PM

Due to heavy rainfall, Leyla and Sevren had to stay the night at the university's dormitory and attend the class in the morning.

Leyla sat in her classroom, staring out the window with a long sigh. The lecture was almost over. Just one more lecture, and then she would go home; she wouldn't attend any more lectures.

Once her lecture ended, she waited outside for Sevren’s class to finish. Suddenly, she found herself in the middle of a fight, beating up two betas and an omega.

**FLASHBACK**

Leyla was called by a girl who said the teacher wanted to see her about her assignments. Confused, Leyla insisted she had submitted them but was told to go anyway. On her way, she was dragged by an omega to an isolated spot, where she found another girl on her knees, fearful and with scars on her face. The girl revealed she couldn't name the one who saved her from bullying before. When the girl who initially called Leyla arrived, she mistakenly identified Leyla as the girl who had helped before. Tensions escalated, and the group tried to assault Leyla for no reason. Infuriated by their taunts, Leyla defended herself and fought back, but the girl who'd brought her there ran away.

END  OF  FLASHBACK 

While Leyla was fighting, Sevren waited for her to finish. Suddenly, he received a message that made him jump into the fight and show Leyla the text he had just received from Cyrin.

Leyla had the omega by the collar. She shouted, "AGAIN!" and she released the omega after reading the message.

Soon, Leyla and Sevren reached home. The front door swung open, and immediately the usual chaos hit them. Meirei was reading stock market updates on his iPad, while Cyrin's sharp voice echoed somewhere in the house; he was talking on the phone.

Leyla stormed into the house, her steps heavy and loud. She didn't even let the door close properly before her voice echoed through the rooms.

"What the heck do you think this is going to be like last time?!" She shouted, her words slicing through the air.

Cyrin, catching sight of them, waved a hand casually. "It's not, chill."

Leyla shook her head at Cyrin. “Did he say that? And you actually believed him? Don’t you know how unpredictable that jerk is?”

“I don’t know… I hate the scent of strangers here,” she whined.

Cyrin and Meirei both lightly scolded her, but Leyla ignored them and made her way straight to Veyr's room to see the omega. However, Meirei and Cyrin informed her that this time the omega wasn't in his room. Unbothered, she headed straight to the guestroom to check on the omega.

When leyla saw Lioren, her eyes softened, and for a moment she was struck by his face. Almost like a child having an innocent crush on her older brother.

"He's... pretty. I like him," Leyla said, innocently.

Cyrin, Meirei, and Sevren entered the room shortly after Leyla and heard her confession.

Cyrin raised an eyebrow. "What about your rule, not strangers in the house?"

Leyla shrugged. "When he wakes up, I'll marry him. Then he won't be a stranger anymore."

"And what about -how unpredictable jerk Veyr is?" Cyrin pointedly countered.

Leyla's eyes narrowed. "How dare you call him a jerk? He's my brother, and I trust him. He's the most reliable man I've ever met."

Cyrin froze, completely stunned, as Leyla's convenient hypocritical words sank in.