Omega Manual chapter 30

Hold on tight, don’t be afraid

Shelley stepped out, hearing the sound of a video coming from Irey’s room, indicating he was awake.

He hesitated for a long time outside the door, then finally raised his hand and knocked.

He was just concerned about his physical condition, nothing else. He muttered to himself.

“Come in,” Irey’s lazy voice called out.

The door wasn’t locked, not even fully closed, just left open. Shelley pushed the door open and entered, seeing Irey lying on the bed, his phone resting horizontally on his knees, looking fairly spirited.

“Awake?” he asked.

Irey hummed in response, “Been awake for a while.”

Shelley walked over and felt Irey’s forehead with his hand, and Irey obediently lifted his head to let him.

“Not hot anymore,” Shelley sighed in relief.

He had to admit that the physical difference between an Omega and an Alpha was significant. In just a few hours, Irey’s feverish temperature had returned to normal.

If only his heat period were always this easy to get through.

“I told you I’m fine, but you wouldn’t believe me,” Irey said lazily. “Last month I had a 40-degree fever and could still carry a 100-pound bag of cement up to the fifth floor.”

“Couldn’t you take a day off?” Shelley frowned.

“Do you think all bosses are as kind as you?” Irey laughed. “If I don’t do the work, there’s always someone else who will.”

Shelley said nothing, his beautiful face twisted in a frown.

Irey reached out and cheekily wrapped an arm around Shelley’s waist, flashing a mischievous smile. “What’s up? Did you start missing me after just one afternoon?”

This time, unexpectedly, Shelley didn’t resist but instead handed something to Irey.

“This is for you.”

“What?” Irey looked down to see a small feather.

“A sparrow’s feather,” Shelley said stiffly. “Found it on the windowsill just now.”

“Oh? It’s rare for a sparrow to survive in this season.” Irey picked up the feather and twirled it in the light. “In my mom’s hometown, there’s a saying that finding a sparrow’s feather is a sign of good luck because sparrows are very alert and rarely stay long in front of people. If you find a sparrow’s feather, it means you’ll have wealth and a smooth life ahead.”

Irey thought for a moment and clicked his tongue. “But you’ve already got plenty of wealth, so share some with me.”

With that, Irey placed the feather in a map book on the bedside table and patted it. “I’ll keep it safe.”

Shelley nodded but didn’t say anything else, nor did he leave.

The curtains in Irey’s bedroom weren’t drawn, revealing the moon casting a bluish glow outside. The leaves rustled in the wind, and a garbage bag rolled from one side of the street to the other.

“It might rain tomorrow,” Irey said, looking out the window.

“Because it’s windy?” Shelley asked.

“No, because of the clouds,” Irey pointed at the dark sky. “When you see clouds arranged in this fish-scale pattern, it usually rains the next day. Whenever my mom saw these clouds, she would start moving things to higher places because the floor could flood in a heavy rain.”

“Impressive,” Shelley said sincerely.

“Just a survival trick for the poor,” Irey stretched. “You have to adapt to survive.”

Shelley opened his mouth as if to say something, but ended up sneezing instead. “Achoo!”

The sudden drop in temperature caught him off guard, and he hadn’t put on more clothes, making him seem more frail than the recently feverish person lying in bed.

“Cold?” Irey looked at him and patted the mattress. “Want to join me?”

Perhaps it was really too cold, or maybe that night Shelley was just different from usual. The blond Omega hesitated for only two seconds before nodding.

Irey lifted the blanket, and Shelley lowered his head, crawling in like a fluffy little animal. The originally snug single bed suddenly felt crowded, warmth spreading through the soft bedding, creating an intimate closeness.

The fragrant blond hair was just centimeters from Irey’s nose. Irey took a deep breath, mischievously moved closer, wrapped his arms around Shelley’s waist, and nuzzled his chin against the back of his neck.

“Agreeing so easily, aren’t you afraid the little rabbit will be devoured by the fox’s sharp teeth?”

Shelley glanced at the cute cartoon fox on Irey’s pajamas.

“I’ve already experienced your fox teeth yesterday,” Shelley squinted. “At most, you bit my lip.”

Irey let out a pained hiss and released his arms. “Your rabbit mouth is too sharp.”

Shelley lowered his head and smiled.

He had fully understood the true nature behind the fox’s frivolous mask—if Irey hadn’t done anything yesterday, he certainly wouldn’t do anything now, merely putting on a show to scare him.

Without permission, he wouldn’t do anything at all.

Shelley shifted his gaze to the phone screen on Irey’s knees. It was playing a video of a man and a woman climbing a stormy cliff, holding hands.

“You’re watching a movie?” Shelley asked.

“Uh-huh.” Irey tilted the phone screen towards him. “Found a lot of old movies on here, so I’m rewatching them. I’ve seen this one several times, still love it.”

Shelley glanced at the man and woman clinging to each other on the screen. “You like romance movies?”

“Not exactly, just this one,” Irey said. “Despite their current misery, the guy eventually gets back the money he was scammed out of, the girl’s terminal illness is cured, and they unexpectedly inherit a fortune. I like these happy endings after hardship.”

“Oh,” Shelley said softly.

Then they fell into a brief silence, with only the storm in the movie howling and the female lead tearfully expressing her love to the male lead.

“Halton,” Shelley suddenly spoke.

“Yes?” Irey responded quickly.

“Actually, your sister’s situation qualifies for assistance from the provisional government agency,” Shelley said. “Since your mother is disabled and your family is short one able-bodied person, the government is obligated to provide financial support. Although your sister’s situation can’t be rectified, at least this way your mother can receive the compensation she deserves…”

Irey was taken aback for a moment, then gave a helpless smile. “My mom passed away in that meteor shower. She’s long gone, boss.”

Shelley was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered that Irey Halton’s file always indicated he lived alone.

If he had any family to take care of, he wouldn’t have accepted this long-distance job in the first place.

Shelley realized he had been oblivious to the fact that Irey had no one around him from the very beginning.

“I…” he stammered, not knowing what to say to mitigate the painful mistake. “I’m sorry, I…”

Irey sighed, turned around, and lifted Shelley’s chin with one hand, turning his head towards him. “Boss, what’s wrong with you today? You seem to be in a bad mood.”

“Do I?” Shelley asked stiffly.

“Yes. It’s quite obvious,” Irey said. “Like a blowfish, puffing up all of a sudden.”

“That’s called a pufferfish!” Shelley corrected, exasperated. “And I am not—”

The movie was still playing on the phone screen. The male and female leads had finally climbed to the highest peak, the rain had stopped, and a beautiful glow gradually appeared in the tranquil night sky.

“Hey, do you want to see fireflies?” Irey suddenly asked.

“Huh?” Shelley was caught off guard by the abrupt topic shift.

“Fireflies,” Irey said, looking out the window with certainty. “This time should be just right.”

“It’s winter, where would there be fireflies?” Shelley said incredulously. “And you just got over a fever. Why are you suddenly acting crazy…”

“What’s wrong with being crazy once in a while?”

In an instant, Irey got up from the bed, grabbed his coat, and put it on over his pajamas. “Even if you’re cautious all your life, you won’t get more out of it than others.”

“You—” Shelley was speechless at the crude language.

Irey Halton always had a way of making nonsensical arguments that seemed illogical but were inexplicably irrefutable.

Seeing Shelley not reacting, Irey took a step back and grabbed his hand.

Shelley’s hands were thin, pale, and cold at the fingertips.

“Let’s go,” Irey said, putting Shelley’s hand into his warm, fleece-lined pajama pocket. “Don’t you want to see what winter fireflies look like?”

And so, Shelley was inexplicably dragged out of the house by Irey in the middle of the night. Irey was still in his fox pajamas, wearing a coat over them and fluffy slippers with ears.

Behind the old house was a sparsely populated suburban area, or maybe because the townspeople knew that the area was inhabited by tough salt dealers, the whole area was pitch dark, with even the moon obscured by walls. The dense darkness loomed like an abyss, quickly engulfing the two of them.

Irey didn’t pull out his phone or any light source; he just held Shelley’s hand and walked through the pitch-black darkness.

“Halton!” Shelley couldn’t help but speak, fear making his steps stumble as he struggled to keep up. “What are you doing… Slow down!”

Irey didn’t slow down at all and continued towards an unseen destination.

Fear melted by the darkness made Shelley struggle, wanting to retreat. “It’s too dark, Halton! Stop!”

“Shh.” Irey tightened his grip on Shelley’s hand, his warm palm passing the heat over. “Don’t think about anything. Hold on to me, don’t be afraid.”

In the near-total darkness, the Alpha’s confident voice was like a lighthouse, suddenly making him feel at ease.

He inexplicably and baselessly trusted the owner of this hand, letting himself be led through the seemingly endless night.

Then, in an instant, he saw light.

Small, round lights, faintly gathered together, trembling slightly, emitting a soft green glow.

Gradually, the light points increased, growing denser, unknowingly enveloping the entire night.

Author’s note:

Dawn will catch your darkness.