XU WUTAO
I stretched my arms with a stifled yawn, moaning in satisfaction as the bones in my back popped.
Another day of staying at home, due to orders from above, a.k.a. Miss Lu Xueya. Which meant, another day of not finding out who that Z-Gen Alpha was. Which also meant another day of stagnation for our mission.
But who was I to complain? I let out a calming breath.
Reaching for the rim of my sweat pants, I pulled, inspecting the body part down there—As I'd been doing every morning since the incident.
The redness was nonexistent, the skin around it, which looked like grilled sausage on the first night, was healthier.
Next, I inspected my arms and legs—No purple hand prints. No hickeys. Great! I could finally ditch the hoodies and turtlenecks.
I snatched my phone from under the pillow, checking the time. 12:00 pm. It was earlier than I expected, seeing as I stayed up deep into the night finishing up drawings for the self inspired comic I was working on.
I turned on the message app on my phone, scrolling through. There was no message from Xueya, or her father. They knew not to contact me on my phone when I was home.
I opened my chat with Miss Jia Li, which was filled with messages I still hadn't replied to.
6d ago: Just one week Ren. Not a second more.
5d ago: Mr Zhen came looking for you. I told him you don't work on weekends.
3d ago: He was here again, asking for you.
2d ago: Baby boy, are you in some kind of trouble? He seemed very pissed when I told him you weren't here.
Yesterday: How're you feeling? I miss you. Also, he came asking for you today too.
I let out an exasperated sigh. What did he want from me? It wasn't like I was the only good companion at the establishment. Plus, he spent the whole session calling out someone else's name… ugh! it pissed me off whenever my clients did that.
I rolled my eyes, pushing whatever-his-name-was and his drama to the back of my mind. Time for some stalking, I thought as I began typing my sister's account name in the search bar.
Her name popped up in my 'frequently searched' options before I even finished typing.
I tapped on it and soon, I was on her page. Preparing myself to live vicariously off my relatives.
Scrolling through the numerous posts on her page, I came across one with 500k likes where she was at the club with some friends. She looked beautiful in her red low dipping halter neck dress, with ruffles stopping mid thigh. She matched it with a pair of gold heels and a gold clutch purse.
There were a lot of wonderful comments. Some complimenting her looks, others wishing they were her. Because who wouldn't want to be her?
One particular comment caught my attention 'Meilin is such a QUEEN.' Attached to it was a link to a video. My curiosity won and I tapped on it.
I connected my Bluetooth earpiece as the video loaded.
They were in a private room of a club. The aesthetic matched the one from my sister's post.
A group of people had gathered around one frail looking girl. The camera zoomed in around her neck, and I saw something branded on it. It wasn't clear, but I didn't need it to be clear to know what it was. I'd seen it too many times on Xueya's wrist, that my corpse could recognize it from the grave. The same one I was fortunate enough not to have, due to my family's unwillingness to be associated with me.
"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" The crowd shouted as they forced a bottle of alcohol down the Omega's throat.
My stomach churned as I watched the poor Z-gen omega squirm and spit out the liquid.
"Mom's gonna kill me if she finds out I brought it with me to the club." A female voice slurred amid laughter.
"Ha! We're gonna teach it how to drink!" Another shouted and the group burst out in drunken howls before the bottle was pushed back down the omega's throat.
She shook helplessly, tears streaming down her face as she struggled to release herself from whoever was holding her in place. Rage boiled up my veins.
"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" The chants continued and the disgusting scene played on.
"What's going on here?!" My brows rose in surprise when I heard my Jie's voice. The camera turned to her. She was in the same clothes from before, so I was convinced it was the same night.
Behind her were her friends and three tall burly men dressed in black t-shirts tucked into black trousers. I didn't need anyone to tell me they were bouncers.
"Whaaa? We're just having fun!" One person in the group drooled out, dragging himself to stand in my Jie's face in an attempt to intimidate her.
"Fun?" She spared a glance at the shivering girl. "Who allowed you to bring a Z-Gen omega in here?" Then turning to the bouncers, "get them out of here."
My feet dangled on my bed as I happily watched the group being herded out of the room. Good. Let them choke on their own fun for once.
"Who the fuck told you to record?!" I jerked in surprise at the sudden closeness of an angry looking girl's face on the screen.
Just then, a smack sounded and the screen went black. I blinked at the screen for a second, before slowly turning to lay on my back.
I stayed like that for a while, until growl of my stomach caused me to sit up in surprise. It'd been long since I heard that sound.
For the past few days since I'd been home, I rarely felt hungry. Or tired, for that matter. Not to mention, the wound from you know what activity healed a bit faster than I was expecting.And the only few times I'd eaten, they were because I wanted to.
I checked the time on my phone. It was 12:27 pm. Was the afternoon chef in? I wondered.
Quickly, I pushed myself of the bed,carefully straightening it. I turned off my phone pushing it and its accessories back into the secret compartment im my bag—in case anyone were to barge into my room while I was away.
I opened my wardrobe, shoving the bag under a pile of clothes. Then neatly arranged the numerous papers scattered all over my room.
Once everything was orderly, in my opinion, I hurried into the bathroom.
I came out after a ten minute brush and shower. My outfit for the day—not that anyone would see— was a black t-shirt, paired with grey sweat pants.
I took a look at myself in the mirror. My face, plain. My hair, a bird's nest. Perfect.
Like a church mouse, I snuck my way to the main kitchen.
The kitchen was quite a distance from my room. It was rarely ever used since the chef usually brought the meals pre-cooked to serve at the dining area.
Usually, I waited till everyone was done eating to make do with whatever was left over in the fridge. It was the only way to avoid everyone in my family and be invisible. Just like my father preferred it.
Sometimes I wondered if he'd even recognize me if he saw me. I did know What he looked like, though. There were numerous portraits of him around the estate, and my siblings posted him on their socials every now and then.
The halls leading to the basement where my room was were empty as usual. I took silent steps, poking my head out to make sure there was no one approaching every time I had to make a turn. Finally, I came to the archway leading to the kitchen.
There was no one in there. As expected.
I made my way to the cupboard where I knew there was sure to be a box of cereal. Pulling up a bowl and spoon, I helped myself to the crunchy goodness, mixing it with some milk from the fridge.
I let out a satisfied moan as I devoured my breakfast/lunch. I didn't know at what point I let my guard down so low that I didn't hear the footsteps approaching, but out of nowhere, I heard my Jie's voice.
"We're here, Lang Gao." Then a very familiar scent wafted through my nose.