He never would've guessed that he would fall in love with someone at first sight, the feeling of his soul being struck by a hard blow almost made him lose his mind. He'd noticed the boy among thousands of new students at almost a glance, and he couldn't control his desire to pursue him. When he'd learned that the boy's inner self was even more excellent than his external appearance, it made it even more difficult to extricate himself from this love.
Joshua usually enjoyed basking in Osborne's affections, but he found it particularly hard to face him today. Osborne had rejected his family-arranged marriage for him and declared that he didn't need a birthing machine, but a lover who could stand by his side with their own strength. This sentence had simply melted Joshua's heart.
He'd finally made up his mind to be with Osborne, and was planning to find time to reveal his Omega identity, but he didn't expect Cecil would do such a crazy thing.
Now, he felt that the happiness between Osborne and himself was founded on Cecil's pain, making him not have the mood to enjoy feeling the sweetness of love.
"I think I know why. Look at this." Joshua opened his personal terminal and projected out Empire Star's hottest news headline.
Osborne's relaxed and happy expression gradually turned solemn. He shook his head in disbelief, he wanted to say something but found himself speechless.
"You shouldn't have refused him in public at his own engagement party, you should've communicated with him in private." Joshua's mood was very low. He felt that he had ruined a man's life, and that burden was so heavy that he couldn't breathe.
"I had no choice. Grandpa didn't even tell me that it was my own engagement feast. At the end of the banquet, he suddenly called me out and asked me and Cecil to drink engagement wine. All the nobles and military higher ups were present, if I'd compromised I wouldn't be qualified to be with you, I had to refuse on the spot."
"I didn't want to disappoint you, so I could only disappoint him, can you understand my decision? I'm not the kind of Alpha than can casually mark any Omega, I can only stay true to the one I love." Osborne firmly held Joshua's hand, his eyes steady and clear.
Joshua was very touched, but he also felt some resistance. He shook off Osborne's hand, picked up his backpack and left without a word.
Osborne drained the glass of wine on the table and left in disappointment.
After a few days, not only did the gossip storm not subside, it intensified. There was constant urging for Cecil to come out and clarify, curses at the Matthew family's ruthlessness, and demands for the Matthew family to take responsibility. But in any case, Old Matthew couldn't let his grandson marry a barren wife, so he made a proposal to Johnny Bernard, intending to give Cecil a large sum of money and send him to live on another planet.
Of course, the premise was if he really had castrated himself.
Zhou Yun Sheng spent day and night in the training room, he had no interest in the rumors of the outside world. Old Bernard was furious, he kicked out the men Old Mathew had sent and threatened that the Bernard family would never marry into the Matthew family.
Jasper and Cornell's wishful plans failed miserable, the anxiousness in their hearts didn't even need to be mentioned. But they knew that Osborne had a very strong sense of responsibility, he would never leave things in limbo.
Sure enough, after one week of uproar, a haggard looking Osborne visited the Bernard family's main house. Under Old Bernard's orders, no one entertained him. Johnny was at work, Jasper and Cornell were under house arrest in another room, so only Cecil's younger brother with the awkward identity of a Beta, Archie, greeted him, staring at him with big eyes.
"I want to see Cecil now, otherwise I'll visit the Bernard home every day until I do." Osborne made a tough request. He despised Cecil's self-mutilating behavior, if he felt that he could force him to give in because of it, he was wrong. He could never fall in love with a man with such a foolish character.
"Wait here a moment, I'll ask my grandfather." Archie opened the personal terminal on his wrist.
Old Bernard's rough voice came out, "Has Matthew's annoying brat left yet?"
Archie glanced at Osborne in embarrassment and shook his head, "No grandfather, he refused to leave. He said he must see big brother Cecil now, or else he'll come to our house every day."
"What? What a spoiled brat! You wait there, I'll send someone to kick him out and break his two legs!" Old Bernard had wanted to do that from the day Osborne refused the engagement.
Archie felt even more embarrassed, but Osborne didn't even furrow his brow.
But soon, a breathless voice came out from the terminal, "Wait a minute, tell him to stay. I want to make a video with him to clarify the rumors. Arch, tell him to wait a moment, I'll be right up."
The terminal hung up and the hoarse sexy voice disappeared, Osborne felt his eardrum itch, and he shifted in discomfort.
A few minutes later, hurried footsteps sounded outside the living room, Osborne turned to look and his expression froze. In only one month, Cecil had become a completely different person from his memory.
His facial features were still gorgeous, but because his eyebrows were slightly thicker, he looked extremely fierce, his original pink lips had somehow turned into a bright crimson color, which looked like a drop of blood in contrast to his now snow white skin, revealing a shocking beauty. He'd also grown a lot taller, although he was still boyish when compared to the burly Alpha, when observed by himself, he looked extraordinarily tall and strong.
His black hair was cut short, and it seemed to be stained with sweat, almost dripping wet. He only wore a black workout vest, exposing his thin and smooth muscles, each nimble step shaking off drops of sweat, he looked erotic and hot.
He was more gorgeous than before, the kind of gorgeous that could burn everyone to ashes, like meandering, flowing magma. Osborne stared at him, frozen stiff, he seemed to have now clearly understood what Cecil had done to himself.
The boy's eyes briefly touched him with indifference, but he felt as if his pupils were cutting into him, he involuntarily looked away, awkward. He quickly looked back up and watched the boy take a towel Archie had stretched out to him and hastily rub the sweat off his body and hair.
His current actions were nothing like regular Omega, who always paid a lot of attention to their appearance. He carelessly rubbed his hair with the towel, giving him more of a wild and debauch appearance. He threw away the towel, grabbed a white shirt from a hanger and pulled it over his head as he casually greeted, "Long time no see, Osborne."
After the strenuous exercise, his breathless and husky voice made Osborne's eardrum grow numb. He smelled a touch of sweat, so wonderfully sweet, which suddenly made him feel unable to stand or sit still.
Cecil's sweat smells so good, maybe he didn't actually cut out his glands. Osborne absentmindedly thought as he reflexively returned the greeting.
"I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you, but I've been very busy lately, so I had no time to come out and clarify the matter. Now that you're here, the time is right, let's shoot a video to show them the truth. It should be stated that my decision has nothing to do with your previous marriage refusal." Zhou Yun Sheng walked over to his side and sat down.
"So, you really did cut out your glands?" Osborne asked with difficulty.
"Yup!" Zhou Yun Sheng lifted his hair, showing the scar on his neck to the other man, and gave a hearty laugh, "You don't have to feel any psychological burden. I did this for my future, it's not self-harm because of your rejection. In fact, I'm glad you decisively rejected the marriage, I, Cecil, don't need the bondage of marriage."
"Okay grandfather, help us record the video." He handed the camcorder to the still irritated Old Bernard, and waved, beckoning Osborne to sit a little closer.
Osborne moved to his side, his handsome face stiff like a sculpture. The smell of Cecil's sweat seemed to be invading his body, making him feel very uncomfortable.
"Ready?" Zhou Yun Sheng looked to the camera.
"Ready, say what you need to say." Old Bernard pressed the record button.
"Hello everybody, I'm Cecil, this is Osborne, and we're sitting here today to clarify the rumors. I really did take out my glands, but it's not because I couldn't handle the blow from the marriage refusal, it's to prepare for entering the army. In fact, I submitted an application to Chelman and will take part in the three admissions exams in early September."
Osborne looked at him with astonishment and anxiously said, "Chelman's entrance exams are very harsh, even Alpha can't escape the 3% death rate, not to mention Omega like you. Please don't be impulsive, don't put yourself at risk to prove something to me. You can have a better future." He remembered that during his refusal he'd said that he didn't like delicate and helpless Omega, if Cecil had made this decision because of that remark, he had to stop him.
"No, you're wrong," Zhou Yun Sheng smiled cheerfully, a confident gleam flashing in his eyes that dazzled everyone who watched him, "I'm not trying to prove anything to you or anyone else. I just think that the extent of a person's ability should dictate how much social responsibility they have to bear. People born with my ability should assume greater social responsibility than plain ole marriage and child care. Of course, the Omega who continue to produce descendants for the Empire are also very honorable, they deserve respect."
Osborne tried to persuade him, but the young man suddenly hugged him and sincerely opened, "We're still friends, Osborne. I don't hate you, on the contrary, I sincerely bless you and your lover from my heart." His eyes were full of deep warmth and pleasure, there was no doubt that he had come out on top of the setback and intended to live for himself.
His mental state was very stable, dazzling like a star.
Osborne had arrived with a gloomy mood, but he didn't feel the slightest bit relaxed at his departure. He stood at the door, turning his head to look at the back of the boy hurrying away, his heart felt like a large chunk had been carved out from it. The vague impression the original Cecil had given him was now replaced by a bright, gorgeous, and confident boy who couldn't be expelled from his mind.
He closed his eyes and walked away, unexpectedly cutting a sorry figure.
The video that Cecil and Osborne co-produced gained a lot of people's attention. They insisted that Cecil produced such a crazy idea because he was trying to prove to Osborne that he was not delicate. The fans tried hard to discourage him from being impulsive, the haters were anticipating seeing him die in the entrance exam, and the apathetic ones set up a bet on him, treating his life and death as a joke.
In the face of all this, Zhou Yun Sheng took everything in stride. He only left one status update on the Star Network – Wait and see.
The day after the video was uploaded, Jasper and Cornell were sent to a very remote Bernard family owned planet by Old Bernard and ordered to never return to Empire Star.