Old Friend

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Becoming more and more frustrated thinking about what Jonathan had said earlier, Fyre groaned in annoyance, hugging his pillow "boyfriend". He really should just forget about it, but it was too difficult to do so. Anyone in his position would definitely overthink. And the more he thought about it, the more he could find reasons to slowly believe it. He had been friends with Jonathan for a long time now. He had especially gotten a little closer to him after Remi died. Maybe the fact that they both shared a bond with Remi made him reluctant to accept any of this. Jonathan was a friend who had helped him a lot, just like a caring older brother he'd never had, even though the Alpha was younger than him.

"No, Fyre! You have to forget about all of this. If you come up to him and ask, your current relationship will definitely crumble." Fyre scolded himself and finally decided to no longer think about it. Jonathan may be annoying at times, but he wouldn't want to break his friendship just because of some drunken words, …whether they had meaning or not. Fyre was already satisfied with his current relationship with Jonathan and all his friends. He wouldn't want to do something that would ruin that. This was the first time in his life that he had acquired so many friends that would help him and take on his side, he didn't want to lose any of that.

'I should bake something... maybe like an apple pie, to keep my mind busy,' Fyre thought and abruptly stood up from his bed and proceeded to his small kitchen. He quickly began to gather his ingredients and laid them neatly on his kitchen counter before his eyes fixed onto the bag of flour. Even though he had a premade pie dough he'd bought before for when he wanted a quick bake; right now, he decided to make his own pie dough. He wasn't in a rush and the main reason he was baking anyway was to keep his mind busy. Making his own dough from scratch was the best way to do that. However, since he had been baking for the longest time now, especially at that time when he stayed with the Mos, making pie dough was as easy as breathing to him. So before he knew it, he was done and prepping the next step.

He heated his pan and quickly threw in his unsalted butter and began to melt it for the pie's filling. As he was doing so, throwing in another ingredient, his phone suddenly rang from his bed. The ringtone was the default one which told him that the caller wasn't a specific person, so he wasn't in a hurry to accept it. He finished the pie sauce with ease and had just set it aside when his phone began to ring again. This time, Fyre decided to answer it, afraid that it might be an emergency.

"Hello, who is it?" Fyre hesitantly asked, frowning after looking at the unknown number flashing on his screen, deciding to answer anyway. He was a very private person and he didn't have a lot of friends. In fact, he only had less than 15 people on his contacts, most of which were those who had insisted their contact info on him, so he was wondering who was calling him on his personal number.

"Have you already forgotten your only friend?" the person from the other end said with a gentle chuckle, making Fyre frown again. But that was only for a brief moment as he remembered that before he had met Tian Zi, Jonathan, and the friends he had now, there was one person he considered his only friend because of that one time when he'd helped him in a pinch. An old friend who he saw most of the time as a fool for loving such a devious woman. He'd gotten hurt and then decided to study abroad and never came back. That is, until now.

"Paul Hymlyn?" Fyre asked, sounding a little surprised because he did not expect an old friend would call him today. To be honest, he didn't even think the Alpha would still remember him or had even kept his number. It has been more than 5 years since the last time he had talked to him. He could still remember the day when the Alpha had called him to thank him for helping him with his problem at that time and apologized for not believing him sooner.

"Yes. I arrived earlier than planned. I didn't want to go back yet. Wanna hang out for an hour or two?" Paul asked, sounding a little unsure because it had been years since he talked to Fyre and it felt a little awkward somehow to talk to him now.

"Ughh, I'd like to, but I'm currently baking apple pie... we can meet somewhere, but can you wait?" Fyre replied, turning around looking at his peeled and sliced apples. He didn't want to just leave it because he didn't want to waste the fruit. So his only choice was to finish the pie, even if he had to eat it completely cold later. He liked it a little warm but knowing that an old friend had come back, of course, he'd want to meet him. Paul was the first person who had helped him when he had nothing.

In fact, his place was recommended and arranged by Paul, upon his request, because it's far from the city but not too far; not having a lot of neighbors but still has neighbors. It was the perfect place for him who didn't like having too many people around him.

"Should I go to your place instead?? I'd love to taste some of that pie. I never knew you baked." Paul chuckled and Fyre could audibly hear the Alpha getting in a vehicle.

"Ahh~ It's just something I've picked up in the past years, but yeah sure... you can come over and have a taste. It's been years since you've been here." Fyre smiled. He was a little embarrassed to let others know that he baked, but Paul was his friend. And since the Alpha wanted to come over, he didn't really have a reason to decline.

"Okay. I'll head over there now." Paul said and then they ended the call. Fyre resumed his baking, preparing the pie to put in the oven. While waiting for it to cook, he cleaned his kitchen, and on cue when he was finished, the pie was ready as well.

"Hmmmn~," Fyre hummed in satisfaction, smelling the appetizing scent of the pie. It was really a good decision that he chose to bake because it truly occupied his mind and he was no longer thinking of his earlier dilemma. He set aside the pie to let it cool a little so that when Paul arrived, it would be ready to be eaten. But since the Alpha still hadn't arrived, he decided to clean his place a little. He wasn't a very organized person, …and not very good with cleaning either. That's why he has a regular cleaning schedule to prevent his trash from piling up. This made it so that he only had little things he needed to arrange and throw out. When he was finished with that, he was planning to take a shower however his doorbell rang, signifying that his guest had arrived.

Paul rang the doorbell as soon as he arrived at his friend's house. Truthfully, he knew the passcode to the door, but he hadn't been at the place for years so it was good manners to ring the doorbell instead of opening it on his own. While waiting for Fyre to open the door for him, he looked around and could definitely notice some changes in the area. One is that now, the whole lawn has fences surrounding the property. Another is that, there are two expensive cars parked in the open-air garage, where back then the Omega didn't have a single vehicle. In fact, Fyre hadn't wanted to buy one and preferred to call uber when he needed to go out. Paul could remember the Omega saying that cars were expensive and that he'd rather give that money to his parents.

"You could have just entered like you used to. I haven't changed the password at all." Fyre said to the Alpha, who was currently looking at his garage, as he opened the door and leaned on the doorjamb.

"It wouldn't be ethical of me to just open your door..." Paul replied with a chuckle and finally faced Fyre. But as he laid eyes on the Omega, his eyes went wide in surprise seeing Fyre in a white T-shirt, shorts, and a pastel blue apron. He had known Fyre since he was 18 and never had he once seen him wearing bright colors. He was always in dark shade clothes that did not expose a lot of his skin, so sweats and hoodies were his only option. When Paul heard Fyre was baking, he figured a lot had changed over the past years, …but he didn't expect this many changes.

"Well, that's true. Anyway, where are you looking?" Fyre replied. He was already planning to change his password so there wouldn't be anyone aside from him who should be able to open his door.

"There have been a lot of changes to this place..." Paul conveyed, making sure that his earlier surprised expression wasn't showing. He had never seen Fyre as an Omega before. But with his appearance now, he was starting to wonder if it was a good idea to visit an Omega's house alone. He thought that he would be seeing the old Fyre but now, everything suddenly became so bright. It was surprising to him like this because not a lot had changed for him, but for Fyre, 6 years was a lot.

"Oh, that? That's not mine. A friend lent them to me and never took them back..." Fyre replied leisurely and finally invited the Alpha in. He was talking about the two luxury cars parked in his garage. Both of those were Tian Zi's. While Tian Zi had said that he was giving them to him, Fyre liked to think that they were lent. There was no way he could accept such a gift just because he didn't want him to call upon Uber, saying that it was dangerous and inconvenient when in a rush. He knew how to drive, but he wasn't confident enough. But still, it was convenient when he had an errand to do. As much as possible he avoided using them, but he was also afraid they would break if he didn't use them while convincing Tian Zi to take them back.

"Oh, this new friend of yours is very generous," Paul said, raising an eyebrow at the mention of the word 'friend'.

"Enough with me though... How about you? It's been like 6 years? Did you like, take all the courses available in your university?" Fyre jokingly asked. The Alpha should have finished his studies years ago. And as the heir to the Hymlyn Corporation, he'd thought Paul would come back immediately but clearly, he didn't.

"Ahh yeah. I fell in love with the place and settled in. The company opened up a branch over there so I manage that now. I came back because I'm taking over the whole company after Dad steps down." Paul replied, which Fyre replied with a simple nod.

"It's good that you liked it there. But I honestly thought you already forgot about me..." Fyre chuckled, ushering the Alpha to the elevator where they took a short ride, stopping at his living place. They walked inside and Fyre quickly offered the Alpha a chair to sit on.

"Of course not, you were the one who helped me! I was a fool back then so I'm very thankful to you... And actually, I was also hoping to invite you to the company gathering celebrating my succession tomorrow night. Oh, but it's okay if you don't want to, …I was just hoping you'd come. I still haven't paid you back for that favor." Paul conveyed awkwardly. He was talking about that time when he was head over heels with Daniella Sullen and couldn't see through her obvious schemes. Truth be told, he wanted to invite Daniel, as a friend, but he knew Mo Laotian wouldn't allow it. So he chose Fyre instead, because he didn't have anyone else he could trust.

"I'm fine with it though, but what are you talking about? You helped me too so I will help you back. There's no need for you to pay me back." Fyre said with a frown and pouted. And again seeing this, Paul was surprised, Fyre wasn't this expressive before. He was having a hard time believing this was the same gloomy tech guy he used to know. Well, he could still see the computer screens and nauseating amount of wires on the floor at the far side of the room, but the person he was facing now was definitely no longer the person who looked like he was carrying the world on his shoulders.

"You've really changed, Fyre..." Paul whispered and smiled. He really liked this change.

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To be Continued…