Omega Manual chapter 54
Night Fireworks
In an instant, the excited kids swarmed around Irey.
“Me!”
“Me too!”
“One at a time, line up, or no one gets to see.” Irey warned.
Hearing this, the kids quickly quieted down and obediently formed a line in front of Irey.
A girl with pigtails timidly spoke up, “I-I said it first.”
“You said it first? Alright, you go first!” Irey reached out, picked the girl up under her arms, and lifted her onto his shoulder. “How about now, can you see?”
The girl, no longer shy, turned bright red with excitement. “I see, I see! It’s so beautiful!”
With that, the other kids started clamoring.
“Let me see too!”
“I want to see!”
“One at a time!” Irey put the girl down and picked up a little boy, who cheered even louder, kicking his legs excitedly, nearly hitting Irey in the face.
Watching this lively scene from a distance, Shelley’s lips couldn’t help but curl into a smile.
Irey Halton might be surprisingly good with kids.
Compared to the boring and rigid education from ordinary adults, his tricks seemed to be much more endearing to the children.
Back in Nantes, Shelley disliked kids running around noisily. But since the meteor shower, children had become a rare treasure. Hearing their laughter like this, Shelley felt a warm flow slowly spread in his chest.
“Has anyone not seen it yet?” Irey patted the dust off his hands and asked.
The children were well-behaved and sensible, with none of them lying about it.
“I’ve seen it!”
“Me too.”
“The fireworks were so beautiful!”
“No one? Everyone’s seen it?” Irey asked again.
Suddenly, someone pointed at Shelley, who was not far away, and said crisply, “The boss hasn’t seen it!”
Shelley, caught off guard by being singled out, was momentarily stunned.
Irey laughed, leaning against the wall, and shouted to Shelley, “Boss, do you want to see the fireworks?”
What a joke…
Shelley forced a smile, pulling the corners of his mouth awkwardly, “No need, you guys go ahead and play.”
Irey looked down at the children beside him, “He won’t come, what should we do?”
The children, understanding immediately, rushed to surround Shelley. Some pulled his arms, some pushed his back, and they forcefully dragged Shelley to the edge of the wall.
“We’ve all seen it!”
“Yes, it’s really beautiful!”
“Come quickly, it’ll be over soon!”
“Wait a minute…” Shelley, who had never been good with children, didn’t know what to do with his hands and feet at this moment. “You guys watch, it’s fine! Besides, I’m not tall enough…”
“Not tall enough? No problem.” Irey said confidently, extending his arms. “That’s what I’m here for.”
A look of terror appeared on Shelley’s face, his blue eyes filled with a warning: “Don’t you dare.”
Irey completely ignored this warning, squatted in front of Shelley, wrapped his arms around Shelley’s waist, and lifted him up with one strong motion.
“Halton!” Shelley let out a scream of both fright and protest, merging with the children’s laughter and cheers.
“Hold on to the wall, put your legs on my shoulders!” Irey shouted. “If you fall, it’s not my fault!”
At that moment, Shelley’s survival instinct kicked in. He grabbed the top of the wall tightly, straddling Irey’s shoulders, and then his ankles were securely held in place.
“Boss, look up.” Warm breath, tinged with laughter, gently blew against his legs.
At that exact moment, an explosion sounded right next to his ear, and Shelley reflexively looked in the direction of the sound.
In the dark blue night sky, a fiery red firework exploded, like a star expanding in the universe, bright and warm, spreading into every cold corner of the starry night.
Then a green firework burst into a star shape in the sky. The green sparks crackled for a moment before being replaced by another new firework.
Shelley was entranced, the colors of the fireworks reflecting in his blue eyes, blending into a new, multicolored hue.
At that moment, he realized he had never seen fireworks before.
As a child, he wasn’t allowed to go outside and play with other kids. Growing up, he spent every holiday in front of a computer, never taking a single day off.
Countless times he had heard fireworks from his office building, seen them in photos and on design posters.
But it wasn’t until this moment that he realized he had never actually seen fireworks in his 31 years of life.
Amidst the children’s noisy chatter, he heard Irey’s deep voice from below.
“See them, boss?”
Shelley’s throat moved a couple of times, suddenly unsure of how to respond.
“Yes,” he finally said. “They are really, very beautiful.”
After the fireworks ended, the children pestered Irey to play for a while longer before they all started yawning and getting sleepy.
The old lady patiently sent each child back to their rooms and reminded the two of them to rest early as well.
The moon had risen high in the sky. At first, they could still hear chickens and dogs calling from somewhere in the village, but soon, even those sounds faded, leaving only an eerie silence.
Irey and Shelley’s room had only a narrow single bed, but neither of them complained. After all, the old lady had taken in so many children, it was already very considerate of her to provide them an empty bed. However…
Even though an Omega’s body was relatively slim, the bed was too narrow for two adult men, forcing them to stick closely together.
Despite Shelley pressing most of his body against the wall, he couldn’t avoid Irey’s chest pressing against his back.
The Alpha’s higher body temperature enveloped him warmly from behind, making him feel a bit overheated.
He could even clearly feel the rhythm of Irey’s breathing, with his chest occasionally pressing against Shelley’s back and then slightly moving away. …Even though he was still recovering from a cold and was utterly exhausted, he couldn’t fall asleep in such a situation!
It was too late to kick Irey out of bed now, so Shelley closed his eyes and forced himself to count sheep, only to become more awake with each count.
At the 58th sheep, he heard a light laugh behind him, followed by a warm touch on his ear.
“Can’t sleep?”
Shelley covered his ear and turned to glare at the mischievous eyes looking at him.
“…How did you know?”
“After sleeping together so many times, how could I not tell the difference between you asleep and awake?” As he spoke, Irey lightly touched Shelley’s waist. “Your back is as tight as a drum, no way you’re asleep.”
“Halton!” A blush spread across Shelley’s cheeks as he angrily turned around and punched him.
But his wrist was easily caught by the Alpha and gently placed back by his side.
“Still not feeling well?” Irey asked softly.
There was some truth to that, but…
“Mm.” Shelley responded with a nasal sound, his body muscles gradually relaxing.
Irey reached out and touched Shelley’s forehead, “No problem, the fever hasn’t come back. It’s normal to still feel uncomfortable. Get some sleep, and you’ll feel much better tomorrow.”
Shelley shifted slightly under the covers, burying half of his face into the pillow, mumbling, “What can I do if I can’t sleep?”
Irey looked at him leisurely, “So what should we do, should I sing you a lullaby?”
“Spare me with that voice of yours.”
“Tell you a bedtime story?”
“No need.” Shelley pulled up the covers, “Don’t treat me like a child.”
“I’m seriously trying to come up with something to help.” Irey stretched out a hand, casually playing with the strands of Shelley’s blond hair, “How about we play a game?”
This time Shelley finally showed some reaction. Reluctantly, he emerged from under the covers, exposing half his head to look at Irey, “What game?”
“Do you know how to play rock-paper-scissors?” Irey asked.
“What do you take me for? I’m not an alien.” Shelley said, displeased.
“Alright then.” Irey chuckled, propping his chin with one arm and extending his other hand flat, “We play rock-paper-scissors. The winner can ask the loser a question, and the loser must answer honestly without lying.”
Shelley frowned, “Answer any question? That’s unreasonable. What if it’s a question I absolutely don’t want to answer?”
Irey thought for a moment, “Hmm… you’re right. How about this: if there’s a question you don’t want to answer, you can refuse, and then the one who asked the question gets to assign a punishment. How’s that?”
“That sounds acceptable,” Shelley said.
Despite his words, Irey could see the spark of interest in Shelley’s eyes, and he seemed quite determined to win.
“Shall we start?” Irey adjusted his posture, raising one hand in front of Shelley, “Rock, paper, scissors!”
Shelley played paper, Irey played scissors.
“First win goes to me.” Irey raised an eyebrow, “Shall I ask?”
“Go ahead,” Shelley said reluctantly.
“Hmm…” Irey thought for a moment, twirling Shelley’s hair around his finger, “Is your hair color natural?”
Shelley was taken aback. That’s it?
He thought Irey would ask something much more serious.
“It’s natural, inherited from my mother.” Shelley said, “My mother died early, only had me, so I’m the only blonde in the Manta family.”
“I see.” Irey nodded, “I’ve asked my question, let’s continue?”
A truly straightforward question.
“Rock, paper, scissors.”
This time Shelley played rock, Irey still played scissors.
“Ask away, boss.” Irey looked more interested than Shelley, “What do you want to know about me?”
Shelley pursed his lips, hesitated for a few seconds, then asked, “Have you ever marked any other Omegas before me?”