Omega Manual chapter 41

Can you be a bit more shameless?

The cashier at the supermarket was a young Beta woman in her twenties. She was all smiles as she helped the two of them tally their items, but froze upon seeing the condoms, her cheeks turning from white to red, then to green. She shakily picked them up with two fingers and tossed them into the bag as if they might bite.

“God bless, God bless.” She muttered as she drew a symbol on her chest. “Such sinfulness, may God forgive you…”

“Don’t trouble Him with that,” Irey said as he took the bag from the cashier. “We’re planning to stay in hell for good.”

The cashier’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief. Shelley couldn’t help but chuckle, giving Irey’s arm a nudge to signal it was time to go.

After leaving the checkout counter, Irey rummaged through their bags of purchases and pulled out a box of condoms. He lifted Shelley’s coat and casually slipped the box into the inner pocket of his jacket.

Shelley looked up at him.

“You bought it, you keep it,” Irey said, flicking the paper box playfully through the fabric. “When to use it is up to you.”

This familiar fox-like demeanor of Irey’s, baiting and retreating, only made Shelley more tempted to provoke him.

“What if I never agree to use it?” Shelley lowered his voice.

He wasn’t like this before, but recently, Irey had been leading him more and more astray, making him say things he never thought he would.

But this didn’t faze Irey at all. He pretended to ponder for a moment before leaning down to whisper in Shelley’s ear. His Adam’s apple vibrated slightly as he spoke, and the warm breath against Shelley’s ear sent a shiver down his spine.

“Halton!” Shelley, his face flushed, pushed him away, his blue eyes filled with disbelief. “Can’t you have some decency?”

Irey straightened up, looking innocent. “Weren’t you the one who started it? If we don’t use it, then we’ll just have to…”

“That’s not what I meant!” Shelley raised his voice.

“Then what did you mean?” Irey cupped his hand around his ear and leaned closer. “Explain it clearly so I can understand.”

“You… shameless!” Shelley shouted angrily and stormed out of the supermarket.

Irey laughed and chased after him, trying to grab his hand. “Just kidding, boss! I was just kidding! Don’t be mad, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—”

Shelley shook off his hand, and when Irey reached out again, he was shaken off once more.

On his third attempt to grab Shelley’s hand, Shelley suddenly stopped.

“What?” Irey caught his hand.

“It’s snowing,” Shelley looked up, a tiny snowflake landing right on the tip of his nose.

The streets of Duhaat were dirty and narrow, the barren branches of the roadside trees stretching out wildly. In the distance, the church bells rang rhythmically. Only the snow fell impartially, settling on rooftops, on the ground, on the trash, and on the hair of the beggars.

The snow quickly grew heavier, from crystalline flakes to clusters as large as goose feathers. Soon, a layer of snow had accumulated on the ground and buildings. By the time Shelley and Irey carried their bags back to the villa, the snow was nearly ankle-deep.

“Such heavy snow, we haven’t seen it in years.” Irey shook his hat, a small blanket of snow falling from it. “If it keeps snowing through the night, we won’t be able to walk in the yard tomorrow.”

“Should we shovel it now?” Shelley asked, pulling out the keys to open the door, leaving two snowy footprints on the steps.

“It’d be a shame to clear such nice snow,” Irey remarked. “It’s so soft and fluffy, we used to…”

Shelley’s hand paused as he unlocked the door. As if by telepathy, a memory from a night not long after they had set out suddenly resurfaced.

He looked at Irey, and Irey looked back at him.

Shelley slowly put the keys back in his pocket and set down the shopping bags. Meanwhile, Irey crouched down slowly.

In a flash, Shelley grabbed a handful of snow and flung it at Irey, but Irey was faster. He had already formed a snowball and threw it accurately at Shelley.

“Halton!” Shelley screamed as he tried to dodge. Irey wouldn’t let him get away, grabbing a handful of snow and flinging it forward, blocking his escape route.

Thinking quickly, Shelley grabbed a nearby branch and shook it vigorously at Irey. The snow on the branch fell and landed squarely on Irey’s head. Taking advantage of this, he scooped up some snow, formed a ball, and threw it at Irey’s face.

“Damn it!”

The snowball hit its target, leaving a white “wound” on Irey’s forehead. He slipped and fell into the soft soil of a flower bed.

It was such a comical sight that Shelley couldn’t help but laugh until tears streamed down his face.

But his triumph was short-lived. Irey, still on the ground, quickly formed another snowball and, with a swift motion, grabbed Shelley’s coat, pulling him into range and hitting his long hair with the snowball.

“That’s cheating!” Shelley shouted, the cold snow sending shivers through him.

“Rules are made to be broken,” Irey said smugly. “Winning is what matters, right?”

“You said it!” Shelley grabbed a large handful of snow from the steps and dumped it down Irey’s collar.

“Shit!” Irey yelled loudly and clearly, grabbing Shelley’s wrist. Shelley laughed and tried to escape, but was finally caught.

In their struggle, Shelley’s leg caught Irey’s foot, causing Irey to lose his balance and fall forward. Instinctively, he grabbed Shelley’s arm, and they both tumbled into the soft snow.

The exertion still lingered in their chests. Irey turned to look at Shelley, whose long hair was spread out on the snow, breathing heavily just like him.

The courtyard fell silent. Above them were gray clouds, and snowflakes swayed as they fell, reflecting a faint bluish light. In the vast universe, it seemed as though only their breaths remained.

“You’re so childish,” Shelley said, turning over, his chest rising and falling. “We’re grown men, and yet you still want to have a snowball fight without warning.”

“Then according to this, you’re even more childish than I am.” Irey turned his head towards Shelley. “You’re already thirty one years old, yet you’re still so excited about a snowball fight…”

Shelley threw a handful of snow at Irey. “Don’t bring my age into this!”

Irey laughed as he dodged and then reached out to grab Shelley’s hand again.

Shelley’s hand was colder than his own, icy, and the skin was so pale it almost blended with the snow beneath them. Irey intertwined his arm with Shelley’s, clasping their fingers together, silently sharing his warmth.

“So what if we’re a bit childish? We only have so many years to live.” Irey said. “The world has already been destroyed once. If we’re still tied down by all these trivial things and don’t dare to live freely, wouldn’t that be too boring?”

Shelley turned his head, his clear blue eyes like glass marbles staring straight at Irey. For a moment, Irey saw an emotion in those eyes that he couldn’t understand.

“Before I met you, I never had a snowball fight,” Shelley said.

“Really?” Irey was surprised. “Not even when you were a kid? Not even once?” 

Shelley shook his head.

“Nantes isn’t snow-free, right? Why?” Irey looked puzzled.

Shelley smiled. “I had strict tutors as a child. I hadn’t even heard of the games those kids played. It was only after I started school that I learned there were many ways to play in the snow, but by then, my studies were already very heavy, so I had no time to play, nor did I have friends to play with.”

Irey found it even harder to understand.

What kind of environment would raise a child who, when they started school, was already burdened with such heavy studies?

What on earth was the Manta family trying to cultivate, Batman?

“For us, this is something you don’t need to learn, and no one teaches it.” Irey patted the snow on the ground. “If you were born in Lansai, as soon as it snowed, whether you wanted to or not, seven or eight kids from the neighborhood would chase you down for a snowball fight. And it’s not like the fun we’re having, they’d really aim to send you to the hospital.”

Shelley looked at him in surprise.

“There was a thug across from my house named March, fat and ugly, with the build of two people. He took a fancy to Caroline and harassed her every day after school. Once, he even jumped out and pulled his pants down in front of her in the woods, scaring her to tears.”

Shelley frowned. It was hard for him to imagine such lowly people existed in the world.

“I was only fourteen then, and Caroline was not even ten.” Irey touched his pocket, took out a cigarette, and lit it. The smoke rose, contrary to the falling snowflakes. “One winter, it snowed heavily. Whenever Caroline and I went out, March and his gang would surround us and pelt us like sandbags. Even though my mom always told me not to get into fights, one time I couldn’t take it anymore. I said, ‘Alright, you want a snowball fight, let’s do it. Whoever falls first loses.’ March laughed and told me to bring it on. I threw a snowball and knocked him out cold; he couldn’t get up for half an hour.”

Shelley stared at him in shock. “With just one snowball?”

“Just one snowball.” Irey took a slow drag of his cigarette and added, “It had a rock inside it.”

Shelley’s eyes widened as he met Irey’s amused gaze. After a moment, Shelley burst out laughing, and soon both of them were laughing uncontrollably, their laughter growing louder and louder.