The fact that Rex can use chopsticks scares the shit out of Liam.
Not only can he use chopsticks, he can use chopsticks better than everyone at the table. That means Rex spent more time with Blue than Liam expected. One thing about Blue is she grew up using chopsticks, and that girl eats spaghetti with chopsticks. Rex grew up in the same household as Mar, where people eat pasta with forks, you know— the normal and proper way of eating pasta.
"Dude, slow down." Mar said to his brother, who just finished his entire bowl of hand pulled noodles, and he's now reaching for a soup dumpling in the middle of the table with his chopsticks. "The food's not gonna run away."
"Ah, sorry. Old habits." There's no sincerity in his apology as he picked up a soup dumpling with his chopsticks. Nothing spilled and nothing dropped as he delivered the dumpling to the soy sauce, the picked it up into the safety of his mouth.
Liam looked at the scene and continued eating his own bowl of noodles in peace. Next to him, his best friend didn't get any noodles, instead he filled his plate with steamed buns and spring rolls.
The breakfast itself was quite peaceful, and when they're boarding the plane, Liam was right that Rex would check the security himself. Even if it's a private plane owned by Mr. Aster, literally the pilot's father, he still checks.
And that's when the condoms came in.
Mar was smiling the entire time their suitcases went through the scanners. His older brother looked at the screening of the suitcases, then at the two younger alpha males, then back at the screening process. Rex saw it, but he didn't say anything.
Well, that was a little disappointing.
Just as Meg boarded the private jet, Rex blocked the stairs going up. Liam could easily jump over his arm, but instead he chose to stand his ground. Huh...
Both of the alphas are the exact same height. Liam can finally look at him face to face without craning his head up. Meanwhile Mar looked between both of the taller alphas and sighed. Mar himself isn't considered short since he's 5'9", but between Rex and Liam, he's a baby.
After a moment of silent tension, the platinum blond alpha gritted his teeth, his pheromones penetrated the air. "Got something to say, pilot?"
A sharp scent made of mint, citrus and camphor came out of the alpha blocking their path. Liam's mind went in search of the name of that specific scent... Eucalyptus. It's eucalyptus. Unlike Mar's calming vetiver, Rex's eucalyptus is sharp and demanding.
"Don't lock yourselves in the bathroom for too long." A smug smile came on the pilot's thick lips. "Other people need to use it too."
Fuck. Liam's dilemma was confirmed. The fucker does know about their relationship.
Mar visibly froze in his place for a solid two seconds before his face morphed from shock into mischievous. "At least we got condoms from your girlfriend's recommendation."
"You're not as discreet as you think you are." Rex said back, completely ignoring the remark about Blue. "You kids grew up too fast. Have fun."
The pilot flicked his cap, and then he turned around to walk up the stairs. Liam and Mar watched him go, and blue eyes met magenta.
"Asshole." Mar grumbled. "Can't believe Blue fucked that guy."
"Me neither." Liam chuckled.
Two flight attendants greeted them when they entered the plane, and the old pilot who usually did most of the flights was there, too. Liam's parents are already seated, his father had his laptop in front of him and already began grading.
"Hello, young master Mar, and Liam!" The old pilot greeted them as they're putting on their seat belts.
"Mr. Yosef!" The black haired alpha eagerly waved at the old pilot.
Unlike Rex, Mr. Yosef has his pilot uniform on. The middle aged beta has been flying Liam and family to and from their homes to the vacation spot every year since Mar's father decided that it was a good idea to have his good friend Mr. Velison's son hanging out with Mar. Why did the billionaire fuckboy Mr. Aster decided it was a good idea? Because Mar's mother was dying, and Mar was in a depressive state. Even after she died, Liam continued to come back to Mar year after year, and after several years, Mr. Aster stopped paying him, but he still sent Mr. Yosef to pick up the Velisons every summer.
"Hello!" Liam smiled at the old man, and Mr. Yosef patted the platinum blond alpha's shoulder.
After interacting with everyone a little, Mr. Yosef went back into the cockpit. Guess Rex wasn't trusted to fly after all—
"Seat belts on, we're taking off now." Rex's voice came through the announcement, and the private jet started moving.
The two flight attendants scrambled back to their seats, and Meg pressed her lips together into a line. She's sitting in front of their parents while Liam and Mar took the other table. There's also a couch behind them, but that's for after take off.
Taking off was... Less smooth than Mr. Yosef's work, but none of them died yet, so no one complained. As soon as the plane was stable enough in the air, Mar took off his seatbelt. Then, he collapsed on the couch. Liam smiled as he looked at his best friend. Without another thought, the taller alpha picked up the blanket from his seat and joined the black haired alpha on the couch.
"Move over." Liam said as he sat down next to Mar. The black haired alpha didn't move over, instead he pulled Liam down.
With one couch pillow, the taller alpha became victorious when his head was the only one to use it. Black hair laid on his white T-shirt, and Mar hummed a piano note as he buried his face into Liam's chest. The gray blanket was haphazardly covering both of them, but that's okay.
Liam closed his eyes with a smile as he felt their heartbeat sync. This time, it was Mar who did the work to make it happen. The taller alpha didn't know when he fell asleep, but it was worth it even with the typical airplane turbulence in the background and the voices of his family talking to each other.
The alpha was awakened from his dreamless sleep again when his back hit the floor, and he was stuck with a weight to his chest, so he wheezed breathlessly.
"Augh..." Mar's painful groan can be heard from underneath him, and Liam tried to untangle them as fast as he could from the blanket.
"Young masters, are you alright?" Mr. Yosef's voice came as the old pilot tried to help them up.
Blue eyes landed on Mr. and Mrs. Velison holding on tightly to their seats, and Meg's eyes widened as she looked at the two alphas on the floor.
"Buckle up," Rex's voice came from the speakers. "We're landing."
Then, Meg burst out laughing while her fingernails were still digging into the white leather seat.
"Rex, you asshole!" The female alpha shouted in between her short laugh. "You tilted the fucking jet just so you can wake them up?"
Not far from her Mr. Velison huffed in disappointment. Hopefully his dad reports Rex's shitfuckery attitude to Mr. Aster.
Liam pushed himself up from the floor and gave the blanket to the nearest flight attendant. Mar was already sitting down, so the platinum blond alpha got back to his seat and put on his seatbelt.
"That was a dick move." The black haired alpha grumbled under his breath.
"Tell your dad." The taller alpha said to his companion as the plane began descending.
"What he's gonna do? Revoke Rex's license?"
"That sounds great, honestly."
Mar sighed and looked out the window with a sigh. "I wish he can do that, but Rex earned his own license."
Alright, now that's pretty impressive. By "earned" Mar meant Rex went to flight school, paid tuition with his own money and got a license without Mr. Aster's intervention. It's no secret that Mr. Aster pays for all of his children's tuition and openly bribes whatever institute they're studying at to make them the best. Mar's oldest brother went to business school? Better be the top or none at all, with some generous start up money to launch his own ventures, too. Star went into ballet and Mar went into gymnastics? Judges lined their pockets so the kids got gold. Every one of Mr. Aster's children got a car of their choice and a property that their father generously granted to them, but as soon as they rebelled against him, their privileges will be revoked.
If any of them "earned" what they have, for example, Star pays rent with the money she got from her internship, Mr. Aster doesn't have the right to take her away from that apartment. Everything he has given to them can be taken back, no matter if it's a house he bought for them, a car they chose and he paid for, a degree he paid for the tuition, a pet they bought with his money, or an omega he introduced them to. Yeah, it's a weird rule, but that's how he keeps his children in line.