The Beta Is His Omega

Dreams and Reality (3)

Ren had taken the seat nearest to where he had been standing, which was at the head of the same table where Rhys sat. There was a three-chair span of distance between them, but this was still only barely enough to keep Ren’s brain functioning. 

After all, Rhys was keeping his eyes glued on him as he spoke, and by necessity, Ren had to keep meeting those eyes as he listened. If they’d sat any closer to each other, this much eye contact for this amount of time would really have been too much for him.

According to Rhys, Mei had still been thinking about which book to borrow among several choices when something distracting happened and she ended up placing one of the books inside her bag, along with her other stuff. 

When she realized later that she had taken it home with her, she thought that she might as well study it in detail for the personal research she was working on, then just as secretly return it to the library later.

But Mei had a habit of hanging out in diners or coffee shops in her free time, and at some point, she was only taking that book out with her on the off chance that she needed additional information from it. She had moved on to other materials by then.

She must have gotten distracted again during one of those times she was out—before she knew it, that book was no longer in her possession.

This was a serious offense she had committed. She may have taken the book out by accident, but she had knowingly kept it with her for a significant amount of time afterward. To top it all off, she even lost it somewhere in the end.

Even she would not be getting off light if the school found out. Thus, she had been hoping to track its whereabouts before the librarian finally noticed that it was missing. 

But just in case the librarian did notice it first, as she felt conscientious enough to want to protect the last person who had borrowed the book from being viewed with suspicion, she had also asked Rhys to help cover for her. She had him hack into the library’s database to place his own name down as the current borrower.

He was one of the few individuals that the school would not dare to touch no matter what, so this was the best stopgap she could think of under the circumstances.

Unfortunately, things did not quite work out as planned. The actual last borrower was still viewed with suspicion, and until Mei found that book, then passed it on to Rhys so he could pretend to have found it later, Ren’s name would not be cleared.

“So you see,” Rhys went on after letting the rest of what he’d just said sink in, “this is the least you’re owed for the trouble you got dragged into. Until Mei finds that book, you’ll have to waste your time here anyway. You might as well let me help you study.”

This point that the guy had just made was much too enticing for Ren’s heart. To help hide how self-conscious he felt over what Rhys was unsuspectingly offering, he addressed another topic.

“Somehow, this whole thing isn't surprising coming from her…”

Because he was genuinely finding Mei’s actions to be bizarre yet also amusing the more he thought about them, Ren let out a brief and quiet chuckle.

Then he heard Rhys say, “Even though you now know it’s her fault you’re in this mess, you're laughing.” 

For some reason, Ren felt that there was something odd in the other guy’s tone, but when his absent-minded gaze focused on him again, he saw that there was nothing amiss with how he looked. In fact, a small wry smile was even tugging at the corners of his lips. Ren couldn't look away.

“But back when you thought this was all my doing, you seemed ready to bite my head off. Isn’t that unfair?”

Too surprised at those words, Ren wasn't able to keep it in. He laughed much louder this time, and he was looking incredulously at Rhys as he did so.

He then found himself jokingly saying in reply, “Well, she’s cute and you’re not, so…”

At this point, he recalled himself. The mirth in his face completely vanished.

“Sorry,” he continued, now looking awkward. “I didn’t mean… I know she’s your girlfriend and all. I was just…”

All of a sudden, Rhys pushed his chair back and got up. Ren’s heart jumped to his throat.

How tragic would it be if he got punched in the face by the guy he had crushed on for so long, with the reason for it being that same guy’s girlfriend?

But every other thought disappeared from his mind when Ren next saw Rhys picking up his bag from where he had deposited it earlier. Then, the guy closed the three chairs’ span of distance between them to sit right beside Ren.

As Rhys handed him his bag, he said unconcernedly, “No need to hide it. I already know you like her.” He then met Ren’s wide-open eyes and smirked. “I guess that’s also why you can’t seem to stand seeing my face.”

"…"

‘Are you…' Ren thought, sluggishly at first, then with explosive disbelief. 'Are you kidding me?! I want to kiss that face, you—!’

For fear of what they might accidentally reveal, Ren averted his eyes.

"So you did hear us back then," he then said, his tone subdued. 

A small part of him also wanted to ask, “Was that really what made you make your move?”

But the rest of him didn’t actually want to know. 

Just like his friends, Rhys was obviously under the mistaken impression that he liked Mei. If it turned out that it really was his fault they got together…

Now feeling numb and resigned, Ren decided that this misunderstanding was for the best. 

It was better than having Rhys find out it was actually him that Ren liked. He didn’t want to lose even this lucky bit of chance to be around him.

Seeing Ren’s attitude and likely misinterpreting the reason for it again, Rhys didn’t respond to what he had said. He simply asked, “Which subject should I help you with first?”

Moving slowly, Ren opened his bag and started digging inside it. While doing so, he asked in a dry and bitter tone, “You sure you really want to help out your rival like this?”

Rhys was once again watching Ren’s movements. Thus, he was somewhat absent-minded when he replied, “You’re not my rival.”

Inside his chest, Ren felt a sharp sting that only became more painful instead of dying down. His hands stopped. 

Noticing this, Rhys finally realized what he had just said. 

“That came out wrong,” he tried to clarify. But right now, he couldn’t really explain himself. He was hit with a sudden feeling of frustration when all he could say in the end was, “I didn’t mean that to be insulting.”

“It’s fine,” Ren replied, continuing to take out stuff from his bag and not meeting Rhys’ eyes. “I’m used to it. You’re right anyway.”

For what felt to him like the first time in his life, Rhys didn’t know what to say. Even so, he found his lips parting, wanting to form words.

All that bubbled up in his mind, however, was Ren’s name. 

But just when he was about to utter it, some strange feeling overcame him, and the name got stuck in his throat. Confused at himself, Rhys frowned and blinked.

Missing all of this as he was pretending to be occupied with scanning through his notes, Ren changed the subject, thinking, ‘I might as well milk this windfall for all that it’s worth.’

“Can you help me with…”

…

Not even an hour later, Ren seemed to have fallen in love all over again.

Given his reputation as a brilliant but lazy student, one could be excused for expecting that Rhys would not be a good teacher either. 

But even though his very presence itself was a distraction for Ren, his lessons were surprisingly easy to take in. 

Rhys was thorough and patient as he clarified the points that Ren didn’t fully understand. Whenever Ren was still confused after he had already explained it once, Rhys would pause to think about it further before explaining it from a different angle. Ren would get it then, and thus far, he had never needed to ask a third time.

But while Ren’s brain was getting a much-needed boost, his heart was enduring more stimulation than it could handle. 

For some reason, during the first five minutes, both Rhys and his chair were already facing Ren fully in his. 

Not only that, but one of Rhys’ arms had ended up draped over the back of Ren’s chair, and he had his forehead propped on his knuckles so he could look more closely at the studying materials in front of his student.

It was such that the rest of the bigger guy’s body was leaning over the table just a few inches away from Ren’s. 

Even past the sleeve of his uniform, Ren could feel the heat radiating from Rhys. On his exposed arm, he could feel Rhys’ breath as he exhaled.

Half of the time that he’d had to ask Rhys to explain again, it was because he got too distracted by the sensation of his nearness. 

He was about to go insane, but at the same time…

He simply didn’t want to ask Rhys to move away.