Chapter 101 - 98
"Hey, don't you think it's weird?"
"What? What's weird?"
"You know... that demon? Isn't he acting weird lately?"
"Ah, I know that! People say he actually knows how to smile."
"Of course, he knows, you idiot! What's weird is that he keeps smiling lately. I wonder what's gotten into him..."
The whispers of the employees can be heard as they waited for the elevator doors to open. It was a new week of work again, and as usual, everybody's looking for something to talk about again.
A man with cleanly slicked-back brown hair and a neat gray suit walked in. Everybody's eyes were immediately drawn into him as if he was a sight to behold.
It wasn't an unknown fact that the man who just walked in is a charismatic head-turner. He exudes an aura that intimidated everybody around him but makes them respect him anyway.
To the employees' eyes who didn't know about his story, they'd think that he's acting strangely when he's really usually like that before.
"I think I'm seeing flowers around him," an employee said as he watched the man walk with his head high, smiling so brightly first thing in the morning.
"I hate to admit it, but he's really good-looking. But it really creeps me out how he suddenly changed overnight," another replied.
"You know, my grandma used to say that when someone changes so suddenly, they're going to die soon..." another whispered.
"Hey, don't say that!" an employee laughed.
"Maybe he's... in love?"
'I wonder what we're gonna do today...' Tristan thought as he headed to the elevator.
After they ate dinner at his house last time, Justin seemed to warm up to him bit by bit. He didn't treat him as coldly as before, and he also stopped calling him sir whenever they were alone outside work. That was great news for someone who desperately wants to get closer to him.
As he neared the elevator, all the employees averted their eyes from him except for one.
"Good morning, sir," he greeted as he looked at Tristan. The alpha's smile slowly faded when he saw the person who spoke to him.
'If I remember it correctly, his name is Mark, right?' he thought to himself as he looked at him.
"Good morning," he replied briefly as he faced the elevator once again. "You're smiling a lot lately, sir. Did something good happen?" Mark asked as he faced the elevator, too.
'Why is this person so nosy? What does it have to do with him if I'm smiling?' Tristan thought, trying his best not to frown so as to not ruin his mood completely.
"I guess so," he replied. "Did you get a lover?" Mark continued prying further. "Doesn't have to do anything with you now, does it?" Tristan said as he smiled a little, his mood slowly getting sour.
"I apologize if I seemed too nosy, sir. It's just that there has been a rumor circulating around lately that you're dating someone from my department," Mark chuckled. "You see, that beauty you talked to last time already has a boyfriend," he continued.
'Of course, I knew that there were rumors like that about me. Does he mean Justin? He told me he's not in a relationship with anyone though...' Tristan thought.
"What is it to you?" Tristan asked as he watched the floor number on the elevator change. "Oh, uh... Well, it wouldn't be too nice if you'd steal someone away from their lover, no?" Mark said and pursed his lips.
'Is he really interested in Hannah? She already has Carl. Does the CEO like it when the woman is already taken?' Mark thought, trying to figure out what was going on in Tristan's head.
A misunderstanding formed between the two as they waited for the elevator to arrive. Meanwhile, the employees who were listening to them could only hold their breaths so as to now upset the CEO further.
They all thought it was brave of Mark to talk to him like that, ruining his mood in the process, too. Honestly, they all thought it was stupid how he was risking his office life just to confront someone about a dating rumor.
"I wasn't informed that that beauty is already in a relationship. Regardless of what that person's relationship status is, I'm still gonna do whatever I want," Tristan said.
"Ting!" The elevator door opened, and none of them dared to step in after Tristan. How could they? The alpha's good mood was suddenly ruined. Who knows what's going to happen to them if they stepped into the elevator, too?
Mark could only watch the elevator doors close, finding it unbelievable that the CEO is that kind of person. He shook his head as a sighed.
"Seriously..."
Meanwhile, Justin was still on his way to work after dropping the twins off at the preschool. As he was riding the bus, he can't help but feel nauseous.
'God, what's wrong with me today?' he thought as his grip on his bag tightened.
He finally got off the bus and walked inside the building. When he arrived, he immediately headed to his department's floor.
Despite feeling unwell, he continued with his day and worked just as he always did. He can't afford to slack off just because he was feeling nauseous.
Time flew by quickly, and it was already past lunchtime. He ate at the company cafeteria with Hannah and Carl because they were quite busy today and they didn't have time to leave the building to eat outside.
"You're not eating well today. Is something wrong?" Hannah asked as she looked at Justin with a worried expression on her face. It has been bothering her all morning that Justin wasn't acting like his usual self. It was obvious that he wasn't feeling well, but she couldn't ask him earlier because he was too focused on his work and she didn't want to interrupt him.
"I'm just feeling a bit nauseous and tired. That's all," Justin smiled a little as he ate another spoon of his food. "If your condition worsens, don't hesitate to tell us. Also, go to the hospital after work for a checkup," Carl said and drank from his glass.
"Yeah, I will. Thanks," Justin said.
After they finished eating, they headed back to their floor. They continued working right away as soon as they got there, making them feel quite burned out from it.
As Justin was typing on his computer, he suddenly felt his body getting warmer and warmer. His palms started sweating as his heart palpitated.
His heat was coming.
He knew that, so he grabbed the bottle of suppressants inside his bag and headed to the snack pantry where the water dispenser was.
'This is crazy. I'm pretty sure my heat cycle isn't until next week. I've been taking suppressants regularly, so my cycle has also become regular compared to before. What the hell is going on?' he thought as he grabbed a glass and get some water from the dispenser.
With shaking hands, he opened the bottle of suppressants and took one pill.
He started giving off a sweet scent, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to leave there until the pill starts working. If he went out right now, he'd probably disrupt his officemates' work, and he doesn't want that.
He knew that it was a busy time for them, so he can't afford to have other people getting distracted from their work, too.
Just as he was about to lock the door, it suddenly opened. A man who had slightly messy hair was before him. As soon as the man caught sight of Justin and took a whiff of a bit of his pheromones, he immediately covered his nose.
"Jesus, Justin! You're in heat," he said as his face flushed. He started breathing heavily as he got affected by the omega's pheromones even though he was a beta. "Wait here and don't open the door for anyone. Got it?" he said and hurriedly closed the door.
It was Carl.
Justin was thankful that the person who found him there was one of his close officemates. If it was someone other than Carl or Hannah, he would have felt really embarrassed that he wasn't able to anticipate his heat.
As his heat was getting worse and worse, his pheromones began leaking from the small spaces on the door and on the windows.
People who were near the room took notice of it, and the omega's sweet scent became a topic for them.
The employees who passed by the room headed down for their break, and as they talked about it, some people overheard their conversation too.
"Who's the omega in our department?" one of Justin's officemates asked another. "I seriously have no clue. They don't disclose that kind of information, you know?" another employee said and sighed.
"But whoever it was, that omega was totally in heat, right?" another said, finding it amusing that someone was in heat.
An employee who was eavesdropping from their conversation peeked at their I.Ds and saw that they were from the Finance Department.
They got off from the elevator, and it was scary how rumors about an omega in heat started spreading like wildfire in a span of five minutes.
Eventually, the information about that became known to Tristan's secretary who was on an errand to the cafe to buy an Americano for her boss.
"Here's your coffee, sir," she said as she gently placed the cup on the table. "Thank you. You may leave now," Tristan said as he flipped the pages through some documents.
"Before I leave, sir, I would like to report something," Erika started and took a deep breath.
When Tristan found out that Justin was working in the company, he specifically asked his secretary to inform him about anything that's related to the Finance Department.
"Go on," he said as he looked at the papers intently. "While I was buying your coffee, I heard people talking about an omega in heat in the Finance Department. They said..." Before she could even continue what she wanted to say, Tristan got up from his swivel chair and ran outside his office.
'An omega in heat.... There's only one omega in that department, and it's Justin.'
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