A knock on the door had Yuliang looking up from his work to see the Troublesome Trio waiting at the doorway of the Med bay.
"Oh, it's you."
Seth Rydel scoffed as he sauntered in and flopped onto the medical bed. "Rude! Is that how they teach you to speak to your elders in Sundan? I thought you guys were supposed to be super respectful to your elders. Or was that the Estish..."
Kalifa and Alan followed his lead and took a seat on their preferred chairs themselves.
Yuliang rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Rydel? I thought I had made myself clear on the first day. Unless someone's bleeding, don't bother me."
"Technically, I am bleeding right now," Khalifa said with a smirk.
Yuliang scrunched his nose, amber eyes darting in search of an obscure cut. "You are? Where?"
"From my cunt."
The trio cracked up.
Yuliang huffed, helplessly amused, and had to turn back to face his screen to hide his smile. He didn't want to encourage them after all.
"Alright, you've had your fun. Now, are you here for something important or not, because I really don't have time to play with you today. Got a lot of work to catch up on."
Yuliang's entire weekend had been spent helping Jeremy with the cleanup and the repairs at the wrecked bar, so he was playing catch up with his reports now.
Seth sighed, "Yuliang, you're an omega, right?"
Yuliang partially turned his head to eye the man curiously, "Yeah, what about it?"
He heard the mattress creaking as the older man made himself more comfortable.
Yuliang could see Kalifa and Alan making themselves busy on their phones from the corner of his eye. He braced himself for an uncomfortable discussion.
"How come you don't act like one?
"How exactly is an omega supposed to act, Rydel?" Yuliang asked with a sneer as his hackles raised internally.
Yuliang was a proud omega, so Seth's question was a step into a minefield. If the man weren't careful, he'd be detonating Yuliang's temper.
Seth immediately raised himself to sit and held his hands up in surrender. "First of all, I'm not trying to insult you or anything like that. I'm just curious, alright? I want to make that clear. If I ask anything you're uncomfortable with answering, tell me to shut the fuck up, alright?"
Yuliang scoffed and turned his chair to completely face the reclining man, his temper settling to a simmer beneath the surface. "I can't even get you to shut when I say it on a normal day. So how would saying it now make any difference?"
Seth huffed. "This is different, ok? I'm trying to be serious here. I was just curious about why you don't have a chaperone or an engagement. You don't act dainty or dress feminine either. "
Yuliang was confused, "Chaperone? Engagement? Is that how things work here?"
Seth blew the strands of his growing brown hair out of his eyes. "Well, as far as I know, that's how it works everywhere. Not just in Society."
Yuliang had heard that term a few times now. "What's Society?"
"It's just the collective term for the upper class," Alan explained without looking up from his phone.
"Like rich people? Lords and Ladies?"
"Yeah," Khalifa chimed in with a laugh.
"Oh, ok. Let's see... I don't need a chaperone because I can take care of myself. I'm definitely not looking to get engaged either, and I guess I don't dress feminine because men's clothes are cheaper."
"Still, compared to all the omegas I've met, the way you act makes you seem almost like a normal man," Seth said.
Yuliang shrugged, "I'll take it as a compliment."
"Common-born omegas are quite rare, though, so maybe that's why you slipped by without anyone's notice. If you'd been born here, you'd either have been adopted by an upper-class family or gotten engaged to a member of one eventually," Alan said. Silver eyes, studying him curiously. "Not that it's too late, because once the news of you circulates here, I wouldn't be surprised if you started getting offers."
Yuliang's face twisted in disgust, "If that's the case, I hope I'll be long gone by the time that happens then. Seriously though, guys, nice chat and whatever, but get out, I have work to do."