The Beta Is His Omega

Dreams and Reality (2)

Though Ren was still inclined to feel angry, he didn’t quite know what to make of that statement. Was it an insult or a compliment?

Meanwhile, in front of them, the principal was distractedly frowning as she stared at the computer screen before sneaking a look at one of the students in front of her. 

In the end, while shaking her head, she dismissed whatever the matter was from her mind.

Drawing his now-unsmiling gaze away from Ren, Rhys turned to the older woman once more and told her, “I’ll look for it, Principal.” 

Both she and Ren were stunned. 

“I’ll spend most of my breaks at the library and scour the shelves for it,” Rhys continued. “I’ll even start today and stay as late as possible. I’m sure it’ll turn up somewhere, eventually. With this, we can just let this matter slide for now, can’t we?”

It was clear enough what the guy was trying to do. For whatever reason, even though he claimed to not even remember borrowing that book, he was taking responsibility for its loss and was setting his own punishment on top of it.

This was no small thing that he was offering to do. With only two more weeks of the school year left, the final exams were just around the corner. Any serious student would be wanting to spend every last bit of their free time studying, and that certainly included Ren. 

In fact, as a beta, he would have to study harder than most of his classmates just to maintain his spot on the upper half of the rankings.

But when he considered just who Rhys was, Ren had the reassuring thought that the guy would be fine even if he wasted all that time.

However, before the relief and gratitude—along with all the original feelings he had for the guy—could truly start blooming in Ren’s heart, the principal ruined everything again.

She too knew what kind of student Rhys was. She knew he would be fine. 

But if the culprit in her mind were to get subjected to the same punishment, wouldn’t he feel pressured to return what he stole or risk failing the final exams of his senior year?

Thus, even though she was “being fair” by punishing both suspects, she was really only targeting Ren when she ordered the two to search the library until that book was found.

…

And that was how Ren and Rhys ended up being alone in the library together, long after the rest of the school had already been dismissed.

Add to that, as all the teachers and staff were in a meeting, even the librarian wasn’t here.

If only the circumstances weren’t so shitty, then Ren would consider this a dream come true and would secretly be jumping for joy.

With things being the way they were, however, he could only sigh dejectedly before depositing his bag on a nearby chair. Then, without quite meeting his eyes, he turned to Rhys and said, “I’ll be searching over there, so…”

‘So go search elsewhere,’ he finished privately. ‘With you nearby, I sure as hell won’t be able to focus!’

Just as he started to step away, Ren heard the other guy pulling a seat. His head instantly whipped towards Rhys’ direction again, and his expression screamed disbelief when he saw Rhys taking a seat leisurely, even raising his feet on top of the library table in front of him while crossing his arms across his broad chest.

He looked so unbothered that Ren could instantly tell, no amount of telling off would get him to move his ass from where he had just parked it.

He wanted to try anyway. 

But before he could get his tongue to work, Rhys spoke first.

“It’s not here,” he said in a nonchalant tone. “Don’t bother searching.”

For a moment, Ren just stared in confusion at Rhys, who looked like he was ready to close his eyes and go to sleep right where he sat. 

Then, when Rhys' full meaning hit him, the disbelief that Ren felt deepened further. He said, “Hang on, don’t tell me you were really the one who took it?”

“Not me,” Rhys answered, blinking his eyes slowly.

Ren did not get too distracted by that this time around. 

“Then how do you know it’s not here?” 

Finally closing his eyes, Rhys said, “I just know. So don’t waste your time.”

Ren’s lips were still parted as he continued to look at the other guy. He couldn’t even enjoy this living and breathing Renaissance painting in front of him due to his rising panic and continuing disbelief. 

So, he thought—Rhys really was pretty much how he had imagined him to be. And yet, thus far, the reality felt far different from how Ren had been romanticizing him all this time.

Was it the right move, after all, that he had already "given up" on the guy?

But whatever the case may be, he still had no time to worry about it right now.

He muttered, “F*ck that s**t,” and continued to head to the shelves he wanted to search first.

Having heard Ren loud and clear, Rhys found his lips turning up at the corners. 

Before he could explore that reaction further, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He opened his eyes and took it out.

When he saw the chat message that read, “Hey, how did it go???” Rhys thought, ‘Oh. Right.’

He then typed a reply: “You’re clear. You better find it quick.”

The person on the other end quickly responded: “I will!!! Thank you, Rhys TT___TT … I seriously owe you TT___TT”

Rhys did not send another reply and put his phone back in his pocket. No longer in the mood to sleep, he stared off absently.

Before he knew it, however, his eyes were already following around the movements of the other guy in this library.

‘Ren Ashford…’ he caught himself thinking as his gaze continued to be drawn to him like a magnet. ‘What were the odds…’

All of a sudden, a sharp voice broke through his thoughts. 

“What?”

Rhys returned to full awareness. It was only now that the other guy, who had had his back to Rhys the entire time, was turning around to face him.

And yet, he still said, “Why are you looking at me?”

Rhys’ eyes narrowed slightly. 

‘He knew I was staring?’ he thought, that small smile from before back on his lips. ‘Interesting.’

He hadn’t planned on saying anything. 

Rhys felt that he had already done his part earlier when he told the other guy not to bother to search for the book, which he knew for a fact really wasn’t here. 

It was entirely up to the person himself what to do with that admittedly dubious information. And since the guy had chosen not to believe him, so be it. It was his own time to waste.

Or so Rhys had told himself.

But now… 

“If you weren’t stuck here,” he found himself asking, “what would you be doing instead?”

The other guy scoffed at him with his now ever-present disbelief.

“What, you ask?” Ren answered bitingly. “What else would I be doing but studying? I’m not like you.”

In his sudden amusement, the smile on Rhys’ lips widened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ren forced himself not to get distracted and replied, “I mean that unlike you, I can’t not study.”

“So study,” Rhys said simply. “I’ll help you.”

“…”

Outwardly, Ren was showing nothing but doubt and suspicion in his expression.

Inwardly, however, a meme from the show The Office was playing in his head—the one where the character named Michael Scott was shouting for everyone to stay calm when he was the only one visibly losing his s**t.

'What the hell is this?' Ren was thinking in silent panic. 'What the f*ck is happening?'

Fortunately for him, Rhys mistook his long hesitation for something else.

He was suddenly looking serious as he put his feet down from the table and sat a bit more straighter in his chair. 

“If I tell you a secret,” he asked Ren, “will you promise to keep it?”

His heart now thumping wildly for some reason, Ren could only nod at that. He didn’t even attempt to speak.

And then, taking Ren at his word, Rhys proceeded to tell him about how it was actually Mei Griffiths' fault that this was all happening. 

In yet another shitty coincidence, she was the one who had accidentally stolen that priceless manuscript—then she promptly lost it.