An Idol for the Omega

Chapter 13: Hi

Jae

As the car approaches the group of buildings, I was expecting houses. Instead, it's almost like coming upon a little town, with the commercial look of the buildings and the road passing through them. There are some cars parked off to the side, or alongside some buildings, but there are no parking lots.

All of the buildings look to be built around the same time, in the same style. All stately brick, two-story buildings of roughly similar size. There aren't even any sidewalks as the buildings open up into large, grassy yards. There's probably at least half a dozen of these buildings on either side of the road and as we pass through I do glimpse some white, residential looking houses beyond. They look to be single-family size but the odd thing is there are no driveways connecting them to the road, or each other.

Straight ahead is the largest building by far. It's made out of the same brick and style as the others, only it's at least five stories and stretches out wider than we can view from the car. Large trees dot its giant yard and the road ends in a wide arc right before the steps leading up to double doors.

During the entire drive up, there is no one around. Not a soul dots the grassy yards, no faces in any of the windows. The driver pulls up, curving around so that my side is facing the doors. In the eerie stillness, we both exit the car. I grab my only luggage, a large backpack and pull it on while closing the door. The driver merely stands within the space of the open car door.

I turn towards the large building, okay, mansion, as I hear the creak of heavy doors. Standing on the top step is someone I've never seen before, but definitely reminds me of Christopher. He's as tall and broad as the blond giant. Granted, it's been a while since I've been up close and personal with hyung's boyfriend, but having his hand practically wrapped the entirety of my throat leaves an impression.

This other, freakishly tall man has auburn hair, tied up in the back in a small bun and you can see its closely buzzed on the sides while most of the lower half of his face is covered in several-day old stubble in the same reddish-brown color. His piercing eyes narrow on me, but I can't tell their color with the way the sun is shining.

As he steps out and heads down the steps towards me, I tense. Two more goliaths follow him, almost as big as the first one. One has his long, black hair pulled back in ponytail, while the other is bald, the afternoon sun gleaming and glinting off his dome. Glancing back over at the driver, it's obvious he's trying to subtly duck back down into the car.

The three men fan out in front of me and I raise my chin, necessary in order to look any of them in the eye. I focus on the man directly in front but he doesn't speak, either waiting for me to talk first or just trying to intimidate me. If it's the latter, it's working. With all these giants around, I'd feel a lot better seeing tiny little Braden right about now.

Forcing a smile, I try not to show my fear. "Hello!"

Silence.

Okay, I practiced this earlier. Blowing out a small breath, I start again. "I'm here for Alec." I make sure to annunciate, and keep it simple. Looking between the three stoic faces, I start to wonder if they even know Alec. I mean, hyung said that they're like a family here, so I just assumed I would be able to find someone that knows him here.

Moving so fast, I'm taken aback, the auburn hair man turns his head around and looks at the bald one. Neither of them says anything, but suddenly the bald man gives a slight twist of his lips accompanied with a shrug. Before I can figure out what that's supposed to mean, the first man turns back to me. Raising a couple of fingers, he gestures at me. "This way," he says.

Then he turns around and heads up the stairs without looking back. The other two step aside and wait, looking at me. I point to myself and then towards the man striding away, while looking towards Baldy. He nods once so I start up the stairs with some trepidation.

I glance back over my shoulder quickly, but the remaining two have silently followed me, blocking my view of the car entirely. Swallowing harshly, I turn back and stalk into the slightly cooler interior with a bravado I don't feel.

My eyes take a little time to adjust but when they do I see we're inside a large foyer. The floor is a darkly stained wood while the walls are all a bright, off-white color. There are large paintings hung up along the walls, all in different styles, but the main theme seems to be forests.

Large hallways split off in three directions, and surrounding the middle hall are two sweeping staircases. I've never seen staircases like this outside of a drama, their railings winding up to a second-floor balcony.

From all directions, people start to slowly emerge, most looking curious. Some look excited, adding to my unease. I was glad to see that they ranged in all different sizes, and that this whole building wasn't overrun with muscle-bound, macho men. It looks like men, women and children are coming out to gawk and I feel more uncomfortable than those dreams I get, where I'm naked on stage during a performance.

"Jae!" Snapping my head to the left, I see a shocked Alec ease through the crowd and run over to me.

"Hyung!" Stepping forward, I wrap both arms fully around the smaller man, pulling him close for a second. Then I grab his shoulders and hold him at arm's length, looking for any kind of injury, but he seems completely fine. My mouth breaks out into a wide smile, before I pick up on the murmurings around the room.

Everyone was already staring, but now they're whispering between themselves while watching with surprised eyes. Looking over Alec-hyung's shoulder, I see that his boyfriend was following behind him, the blond man towering over the both of us. All he does is gently pull Alec from me and tuck him at his side. Alec simply wraps his arm comfortably around the larger man's waist.

"Jae, I can't believe you're here! What are you doing here?" Hyung asks in my language.

"What do you mean 'what am I doing here?' I've been trying to get a hold of you since yesterday morning. I didn't know what happened! I thought you were hurt!" My voice raises out of control, getting louder and louder. Didn't he think I'd be worried?

Christopher says something, speaking low and flashing a menacing look. I only glare back, but Alec raises one of his hands and runs it soothingly over the overgrown man's chest.

"Hyung!" I don't yell, but still speak sharply. I doubt that there's anyone in the crowd that know what we're talking about but I still moderate my voice. "Hyung, are you being kept here? Just tell me what happened, and I can get you out."

My hyung just closes his eyes briefly, screwing up his face. I know that look. It's the 'stop being an idiot' look. He opens his eyes and lets out a breath, a gentle smile replacing the frown. "Jae, I'm here because they're family to me." I open my mouth to interject, but he just raises a hand to silence me.

"Yes, there was an accident at the clinic, but no, I did not get hurt. Thanks to Chris, no one got hurt. I haven't been able to get back to the clinic and I'm not sure what happened to my phone. I'm sorry that you were so worried, the past couple of days have been a little... hectic."

I let his words sink in, relief filling me that he's fine, at least. "You're really okay here?" I dare to ask again. He just nods once and strongly. Closing my eyes, I take a much-needed calming breath. "That's good, then."

After a couple of inhales, it's impossible to ignore the crowd around us. Opening my eyes and looking around, there are even more people filling the space, some even gathering on the stairs and second floor. My fan service kicks in and I smile and wave a little, pretending as if I didn't just barge in like a fool.

The crowd at the center hallway suddenly separates, even though I couldn't detect the reason why, at first. Standing farther down, behind the crowd is Braden, staring at me with incredibly wide eyes. I wave, this time with real feeling behind it. "Hi! Braden."

"Eep!" the tiny man squeaks. Then, in a matter of a few seconds, his slender form shakes, his body jutting out in weird angles. Cloth rips as his shorts hit the ground, just before he lands on all fours. A tan colored wolf stands in his place, my tee shirt awkwardly hanging on him.

I hear my name being called, but from really far away, as the ground rises up to meet me.