Chapter 12

"You okay now?" Jacob asked, holding his phone against his ear as he walked back home alone.

"Yeah, thanks for earlier. I think I had an upset stomach because I ate my sister's food. She cooked breakfast earlier, you see," Kiefer chuckled on the other line of the phone.

"If Denise heard you, she'd hit you on the head," Jacob said as he shook his head while smiling a little.

"But she didn't, so I guess I'm not gonna get hit," the alpha said and chuckled again. "Touche," Jacob responded and let out a soft chuckle.

"Where are you right now? Are you on your way home now?" Kiefer asked him.

Jacob looked straight and saw that he was now only a few steps away from his house. "I'm almost home. Why?" He asked as he looked in the direction of Kiefer's house.

"I'll come to your place. You're just gonna study today, right? I'll be quiet," Kiefer said on the other line.

It didn't even take long for Jacob to see Kiefer open the gate. By the time Jacob stood in front of his house, Kiefer had already gone out and was now walking towards him.

"Jake!" Kiefer called his name with a huge smile on his face while walking towards him.

"Are you sure you don't have to get more rest?" Jacob asked as he ended the call and watched the alpha walk towards him. "Nah, I'm good. I just have to avoid eating her food," Kiefer laughed as he put his arm around the omega's shoulders.

'He smells like soap. He probably took a shower earlier,' Jacob thought as he and Kiefer went inside his house.

"My mom's not home, so we'll have to prepare our own meals today. You gonna sleep over?" The omega asked as he closed the gate behind them.

"Sure. I'll cook something good for you since you're studying so hard," Kiefer grinned as he tightened his arm around Jacob's shoulder.

A small smile curved on Jacob's lips and he then said, "I'll be expecting something good, then."

The two of them then headed to Jacob's room. By the time they got there, the omega put his backpack down and immediately started undressing.

Kiefer, who was taken aback by his sudden stripping, quickly turned around to avoid looking at his body.

'Hold on... It's not like I've never seen his body before. We're both dudes too, so isn't this totally normal?' He thought to himself as his eyebrows scrunched, getting weirded out by his own actions.

He took a deep breath and sat on Jacob's bed, still not looking at his body.

'But Jake is an omega... I suppose it would be a little weird of me to watch him undress,' he thought, justifying his actions.

"I can't find my favorite shirt," Jacob said as he went through his closet, looking for his favorite shirt.

And because Jacob spoke, Kiefer unconsciously raised his head and looked at him.

There, he saw Jacob standing in front of his closet while only wearing his boxers.

'He lost a lot of weight... Has he been eating properly lately?' He thought, concerned about Jacob's health.

In all the years that they have been together, there is one thing that has always led to Jacob's weight loss—it's when he's too focused on studying that he often forgets to eat his meals or intentionally skips them.

'I know that the finals are coming up, but he shouldn't neglect his own body like this. It upsets me to see him care too little about himself,' Kiefer thought as he let out a sigh.

He stood up from the bed and walked towards Jacob. "I'll help you look for it," he said as he stood next to the omega and started searching for his favorite shirt.

Jacob has been searching for his favorite shirt for quite a while, but now that Kiefer was helping him, it didn't even take a minute for him to find it.

"Here," Kiefer handed his shirt with a smile on his face.

Jacob happily accepted his shirt and wore it as soon as he got his hands on it.

It was an oversized white shirt that was given away during the opening of the grocery store near their place seven years ago. The shirt had the store's logo in the middle with the date of its opening and it looked so tacky, but Jacob loved that shirt so much.

'Ah, this is the feeling I've been looking for,' he thought as he rubbed the shirt against his body, feeling the slight coldness of the cloth against his skin.

"Feels so comfy..." He mumbled to himself with a small smile on his face.

"Pfft." Kiefer held himself back from laughing and looked away when he saw how happy Jacob was now that he was wearing his favorite shirt.

'He really loves that shirt so much. I remember giving that to him without any thought back then just because the store handed us so many shirts, and seven years later, he's still wearing it,' Kiefer thought as the corners of his mouth trembled from suppressing his laughter.

'He can be so cute sometimes,' he thought as he smiled while looking at the omega.

"Yeah, yeah, just laugh. It feels comfortable, don't judge me," Jacob said as he turned around and walked to his desk.

As Kiefer watched him walk, he couldn't help but notice that he was only wearing his boxers, but because the shirt was too large on him, it almost seemed like he wasn't wearing anything underneath.

He immediately looked away.

It wasn't anything weird. Really. He has seen everything there is to see in Jacob's body, and Jacob has already seen everything there is to see in his body.

Besides, Jacob always liked feeling cool. It wouldn't be weird for him to wear only his boxers since he often does that from time to time when he feels like it.

But strangely...

Badump.

Badump.

Badump.

Kiefer's heart wouldn't stop pounding against his chest so loudly.