Red Lotus opened seven nights a week, from eight in the evening till four in the morning. Fridays and weekends were always the busiest with people wanting to waste away and escape their dreadful work week into the arms of loving omega hosts. Alcohol poured freely. Pheromones flooded the air. Flirts and kisses were the conversation. During these three days, all hosts and staff were on deck.

Mihoshi was glad that Sora set the housewarming party on Tuesday. Taking time off on a slow night wouldn’t cloud him with guilt.

At a little after seven, Mihoshi found himself in front of a luxurious high-rise apartment building. His neck hurt looking up at the numerous rows of windows pointing at the night sky.

“This…is the correct address, right?” he muttered to himself.

Mihoshi rarely ventured into the heart of Tokyo. He could deal with flashy neon lights and raunchy billboards, but standing amongst the concrete jungle of expensive and extravagant buildings was a whole other thing he never thought he would experience in his lifetime.

Entering the apartment complex required an ID check and a confirmation from the recipient. The sparkling lobby extended far and wide, even more spacious than Red Lotus’s open floor, and it took Mihoshi a few minutes to reach the elevators. Even the inside of the elevator exuded wealth with its mirrored walls and silver handrails.

Mihoshi fixed his hair in the mirror. His blue shirt and faded gray jeans looked shabby under the warm golden lights. He had never been upset about his financial situation because he accepted that no matter how hard he worked, paying off his debt was still the priority. He was content simply being able to eat and sleep well. But now, as he reached the penthouse at the top of the apartment, his stomach flipped and churned at the obvious difference between his and Sora’s worlds.

At least the wine I got is expensive.

Mihoshi hugged the bottle to his chest and trotted the short distance to the front door. He breathed in to calm his nerves, but before he could ring the bell, the door opened.

“Mihoshi! Welcome!” Sora greeted him with a bright smile.

“Ah, yes!” Mihoshi jumped.

Dressed in a beige cardigan over a white shirt, his hair comfortably tied in a loose ponytail, Sora still looked as handsome as when he was decked out in stylish clothes.

Pink dusted Mihoshi’s cheeks and he followed Sora to the foyer. As he took off his shoes and changed to the provided indoor slippers, he said, “Pardon the intrusion.”

“Come in, make yourself at home!” Sora led them through the entryway and into the living area.

Mihoshi’s jaws hung open. If he thought the lobby was sparkling, the interior of Sora’s penthouse was shimmering with grand radiance. Marble floors with plush fur rugs. Black leather couches and mahogany coffee tables. A large flat screen TV and the latest audio equipment. Next to the living area was an open kitchen with granite countertops, branded appliances, and expensive cooking utensils. Several doors lined the walls on the other side of the living area, presumably leading to the bathroom and bedrooms.

“You…you bought this place?” Mihoshi stammered.

“Yeah, it was the only suitable one available on the market at the moment.” Sora gestured to the dining table. “I was getting tired of staying at a hotel, so I picked up whatever was ready to move into.”

“Are you kidding? Not like I’ve ever been in a hotel, but this looks crazier than a hotel!”

“Do you like it?” Sora asked.

“Who wouldn’t?! I’ve only seen these kinda places in magazines! I never thought I’d actually step into one! Hell, am I dreaming?” Mihoshi pinched his arm.

Sora chuckled at Mihoshi’s flustered expression. Then, he stepped closer and leaned in to whisper in Mihoshi’s ear. “Do you wanna live here too?”

“Huh?” Mihoshi stopped his rambling, gazing up at Sora’s affectionate eyes. With how close they were standing, he could feel their body heat radiating. The warmth caressed him in gentle waves, shyly greeting him, asking if it was okay to be closer, coaxing for a positive response. The slight tension in Sora’s neck indicated that he was surpassing his urge to release his pheromones.

Mihoshi’s face flushed a deep red.

“I—! How could I impose on you?! I mean, anyone would love to live in a place like this, but y’know, this is your new house and I have my own place. You’ve just moved here, you gotta enjoy it to the fullest!” Embarrassed at the sudden turn of events, Mihoshi gasped out random words.

Sora snuck an arm around Mihoshi, resting his large hand on Mihoshi’s waist. “When we were in high school, I always dreamed that we would room together in a dorm at uni. Wake up together, go to class together, go home together. I want to be with you, I never want to part.”

Before Mihoshi could answer, hot lips found him. A fervent kiss filled with thirst and longing, the lips smacking against each other, tongues sliding with saliva. Sora backed them onto a wall, trapping Mihoshi in his embrace. The hand squeezed his waist, and the other roamed across his back, wrapping around until the long fingers gripped his chest.

Mihoshi trembled under the relentless kiss. It was different from the kisses in the VIP room. All of his polite manners and gentleman front crumbled because here, in Sora’s own house, there was no one but the two of them. And in front of Mihoshi, Sora never lied.

“I miss you,” Sora breathed into the kiss. “I miss you so bad. I want to touch you, Mihoshi. Can I?”

Mihoshi turned his head away to gasp for air and Sora peppered his cheek with loud, wet kisses. He felt light-headed, as though he had just drunk an entire bottle of wine in one sitting. Heat encroached his pelvic area. And with how Sora was pressed up against him, there was no excuse Mihoshi could make if his erection popped up.

“I—I miss you too!” Mihoshi blurted out. “And now you’re here, which is why we should hold your housewarming party! Look, I’ve got an expensive red wine, had to beg the madam for it! Let’s not waste this chance!”

Mihoshi tried to slip out of the embrace, but Sora didn’t budge. He trailed his gaze up to check Sora’s face, and for a split second, a chill ran down his spine. The obsidian eyes held no sparkle, flat and emotionless like murky waters. In a flash, the eyes curved into crescent moons again, returning to the usual cheery expression that everyone was familiar with.

Perhaps Sora was simply shocked at Mihoshi’s hesitation.

After all, they were boyfriends in the past, and now they had shared lots of kisses that went beyond normal friendship. And with the intensity of Sora’s feelings, of course he wanted more.

Mihoshi wanted the same.

He gritted his teeth and dropped his gaze.

A few seconds of silence ticked by before Sora slowly released his hold. “You’re right. I have dinner ready. Could you help set the table?”

Without any further instruction, Mihoshi trailed after Sora to the kitchen. Sora platted the pasta dinner while Mihoshi laid out the utensils on the table along with the wine glasses.

“Are you living here alone?” Mihoshi broke the comfortable quiet. “Are your parents okay with you moving here? Weren’t they really strict about it?”

“Yes, they were more than willing to give me whatever I wanted.”

“Huh?” Mihoshi took a seat across from Sora, surprised by the answer. As far as he knew, Sora’s parents were against him moving to Japan. “That’s good, right?”

Sora let out a small chuckle. “You know how adamant they are in controlling every aspect of my life. From school and future plans. What I eat, who I interact with, what I do during the little spare time I have. The only choice I made myself was to finish my school year in Japan. To be away from them. Even then, I had to beg on my knees.”

Sora paused, taking a sip of the red wine.

“My plan was to get a scholarship and enroll in a university with you. Then, find a job, build our lives here. I even tried to convince them that building my modelling career here could be a good opportunity. Actually, they were on-board since expanding my reach internationally was part of their original plan anyway. But the moment I manifested as a dominant alpha, they shipped me back.”

“Why? You were doing so well here. Did they want you to continue modeling in Canada? I mean, you could have totally made it big here too.”

Sora chuckled at Mihoshi’s innocent response. A shadow cast over his eyes and the smile that painted his face was far from kind.

“They don’t want me. They want the dominant alpha genes.”

“What…?” Mihoshi swallowed. The tension was palpable, cutting through him like a grating chainsaw.

“They wanted to marry me off and produce more dominant offspring.”