Chapter 1: The Beginning

Today is one of those Sundays where he just wants to lay down and go to sleep for fifteen hours. However, he has an exam tomorrow, and his father would kill him if he scores anything less than 90.

Liam flipped his textbook from page to page, then his notebook from notes to notes. Pheromones this, pheromones that. Alphas are naturally attracted to omegas' pheromones, proven by science with data to back it up. He himself is an alpha, so he should already know that.

However, he's also well aware of himself that he has a thing for his neighbor.

And... He lives in an all-male-alpha apartment complex.

And said neighbor is already courting a beautiful little omega female, so Liam shouldn't stick his fingers into where he shouldn't. Besides, what kind of alpha male is attracted to another alpha male?

A weird one, of course.

As an alpha male, Liam has the choice of courting a female omega (most socially acceptable and recommended because that's how it should be), a female alpha (socially acceptable but not recommended since both alphas can be aggressive towards each other and female alphas are really rare to begin with), a female beta (a bit socially acceptable and not recommended because an alpha of his status can do better than that), a male beta or alpha (his parents will probably kill him), a male omega (socially acceptable and recommended because as long as it's an omega, he's secured).

But no... Liam just had to set his eyes on the man who lives next door. The fucker has such an enticing scent, Liam had to stop himself from claiming that dude in broad daylight right then and there on their balconies. It's not helping that their family has known each other since forever, and—

Knock, knock, knock...

Liam took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his platinum blond hair. He's not expecting any visitors today... So, why?

He picked up his T-shirt and threw it over his head in an attempt to look presentable, and then he pushed himself off his desk.

His bare feet dragged him to the door as the knocking became more urgent.

"What do ya want?" He said as soon as he opened the door; he didn't even bother to look into the eyehole.

Well, even if he did look into the eyehole, he wouldn't see anyone anyway because the short girl standing in front of him barely reached his armpit. That's a pretty harsh statement considering the fact that Liam stands at an imposing height of 6'6", so everyone is short to him.

Nonetheless, he allowed himself to be internally harsh to this one female omega in particular. Just because she's the object of his crush's affections.

"Er... I..." Whatever confidence that possessed the omega left her, and her deep green eyes blinked up at Liam.

Is this her attempt at being cute?

She's wearing nothing but a white crop top T-shirt and jeans, and her long ember hair was pulled into a neat pony tail. In the late spring - early summer heat, he could catch a waft of her scent, which was mainly rosemary and lavender...

"What's up, Laura?" Liam asked her again, and she finally gave him a response.

"I broke up with Mar."

What?!

"Oh, okay." Liam nodded wisely. The number of times he talked to this girl can be counted on one hand, but at least he knows her name. "That sucks. You two woulda made a cute couple."

"Yeah..." She giggled a little, and the alpha ran his eyes over to the room next door.

The ugly blue rug is missing, but other than that, nothing looked out of place; the name tag underneath the room number is still there.

"So, he's single now?" Liam asked just to confirm, and the omega nodded.

That's all the answers he needed. Mar's own girlfriend confirmed that he's single, so there's at least some hope for Liam.

"Are you free today?" Laura gave him a little smile. "It's only 4pm. We can grab a drink..."

"Sorry to disappoint ya." The alpha's wide smile never failed to make people think that he's genuine. "I have a final exam tomorrow, and I'm not even close to reaching my goal."

"Oh..." Her fingers began fiddling with her hair. "Maybe another time then? Let me get your number so we can pick a date."

Liam shrugged. "My schedule's pretty packed within the foreseeable future. Sorry, Laura!"

With that said, he slammed his door shut. Then, he melted to the floor.

Holy shit, Mar is single again. Dude is also heart broken from the fact that Laura broke up with him. Or not. Liam should check on that.

After he heard footsteps walking away from his door, the alpha finally picked himself up and walked to the balcony. Along the way, he took off his T-shirt and threw it on his bed. Then, he opened the sliding glass door and took a deep breath.

Vetiver and cedarwood wafted in the air. Mainly the vetiver... If he basks in it long enough, he can even pick out the faint smell of ink and old paper. It's not uncommon for an alpha to be more sensitive to other alpha's scents, but this one specifically feels pleasant to Liam. When the owner of the smell hit the gym at the wee hours of the morning and Liam happened to be there, the vetiver mixed with sweat and metal sent Liam spiralling.

"Bro, you okay?"

A voice brought him back to reality, and Liam whipped his head towards the balcony next to his.

The afternoon sun is shining from above, chasing a dramatic shadow on another university student trying to water his plants. His peachy skin got a little tanned from the sun, which made his muscles more pronounced underneath his black tank top. Mar stands a head shorter than Liam, but the alpha doesn't mind. The other alpha also has a pretty face and a mop of jet black hair which Liam desperately wants to play with, to see what it feels like all tangled up underneath his fingers.

Purple eyes blinked at him, and the alpha couldn't help but chuckle.

"I need some fresh air." Liam sighed. "Been studying for the past three hours, and your girlfriend was at my door for some reason."

"Laura and I broke up this morning." Mar's voice was monotonous, like he's narrating a documentary. "She said she wanted someone else, and I didn't have any rights to stop her."

"Oooh, that's rough." Liam's eyes wandered down the other man's collar bone, down his bicep and to his hand holding the little spray can. "You're over watering the poor aloevera."

"Shit..." Purple eyes snapped back to the plant in question, and Mar immediately lifted the watering can away.

"You're trying gardening now?" Liam pointed at another aloevera plant. "That one's new."

The other alpha just shrugged. "It's just a phase, I guess. Before we know it, it's gonna die, and I'll move on to aquascaping or something."

"Remember the hamster phase?" The alpha grinned at his neighbor, and Mar shook his head, a small smile laid on his lips.

Their families know each other, and throughout most of their lives, Mar and Liam spent their summers running in one of Mar's father's vacation houses because the old man thought getting a friend for his youngest son was a good idea, and the family doctor just happened to have a son his age. It was a great idea, in fact. Liam had to witness the trauma that Mar had to go through just for existing, and in between, he got to enjoy things like seven hamsters running around in their balls during one middle school summer before Mar's old man trashed all of them. They felt bad for the hamsters, but they hoped Mr. Aster actually relocated the little rodents instead of literally throwing them away in the trash.

High school was when Liam was separated from Mar, but they still met up for both of their families' mandatory vacation together. After graduation, they were accepted into the same university, and as their families dictate, they shall be neighbors. Somewhere along the long ride of summer houses and hamsters, Liam became too fond of the other alpha's earthly scent.

Half way through their first year of university, Mar began dating Laura. Now at the end of second year, Laura broke up with Mar.

"Don't remind me." The other alpha sighed. "I'm still mad at my father for that."

"He should be like my dad, you know." Liam clicked his tongue. "Not allowing his kids to have any pets in the first place."

"Haha, very funny." The comment was more sarcastic than anything, but at least Liam got Mar to smile.

"Anyways, tomorrow's my last final." Liam put his hands up in the air and stretched. "I need a beer after all those hours of studying. And you also need a beer for what Laura did to you."

"Yeah, man." Mar's cheeky grin never failed to make the alpha melt internally. "Serves you right for talking two majors."

"You're one to talk." The alpha stuck his tongue out at his neighbor. "I got no hobby, but at least I know what I'm gonna do with my life."

That earned a snort from Mar. "Yeah, right."

Yeah, right. Liam doesn't even know how to approach the love of his life, and he's on this ride entirely because of his parents.