Work Text:
Slumped on the couch, Xia Fei held his phone up to his face for the million’th time again, thinking if he should send another text explaining why he’d be unable to show up for work today. His eyes couldn’t help but glance at the contact name again, feeling troubled.
That person had read the first text. That was good, at least.
Xia Fei’s other arm wrapped around his lower stomach in comfort where a dull ache tormented him. He felt a sudden wave of drowsiness and his limbs were out of strength despite just waking up. Without warning, he knew his heat had started, but thankfully they were all relatively mild.
He spent most of his past years being a broke student after all, so he couldn’t exactly always eat healthy meals. Mild heat symptoms were a fortunate thing for him at least, since his part-time job as a famous model was tiring and uneventful. An malnourished omega that had wandered the streets for a job… It was a blessing that someone decided to pick him up and give him shelter in recent years, but more than that— had given him love.
Another rush of heat swept over Xia Fei’s body, instinctively searching for his alpha’s scent. “Hnng…” A small groan escaped his lips as he tried to bury his head into the heap of soft blankets he had laid on the couch. It wasn’t enough. He admitted he was a little afraid of pain and disliked the aching in his body that could only be soothed by a specific person.
Though, he didn’t want to bother his lover for his own sake, he was his boss— the boss of his modeling agency and was extremely busy. He mostly came back when it was late into the night.
‘I can’t handle this anymore… I’ll just go in for a quick nap and go back to my room after.’
Xia Fei’s fingers moved to press the delete button again and put his phone down just as the other had replied.
Vein: Wait. I’m coming back soon.
Having missed it, he dragged himself to follow the source of his favoured dahlia scent to Vein’s room and laid on his bed, hugging the pillow close to his nose as he soaked up any form of comfort he could from the lingering pheromones. His body immediately reacted and relaxed into the mattress, the aching in his abdomen lightened immensely.
Xia Fei almost sobbed at the relief he felt, thanking himself for coming here as he mumbled into the sheets, “Smells so good ahh..”
Yet there was still a distressing air in his omega’s scent. He knew that the lingering floral notes couldn’t compare to the real source. He could sense a stronger, cleaner scent from Vein’s closet but he shaked his head repeatedly to stop himself from taking his clothes, no matter how tempting it was.
His boss would for sure throw him out if he ruined his very expensive, likely 4-figure Yuan of clothing even though they reeked with his alpha’s rich, floral scent with a slight spicy note…
The devil on his shoulder called out to him as if offering a meaty bone to a starving puppy.
‘Can’t do it, can’t do it. Ahhh Xia Fei stop thinking about it!’ He swore he was a full grown adult that could resist his omega traits!
Xia Fei used up all his energy to will himself not to inch any closer to the closet and unknowingly drifted off to an uncomfortable sleep.
***
At the other side of the agency building, Vein hummed a tune as he thought of his cute lover, a smile playing on his lips. He was worried about Xia Fei, despite seeming playful on the outside, ever since he noticed the other’s dark circles under his eyes becoming worse and that his muted sunflower-like scent had become unusually sweet in recent days.
Coincidentally, he’d just received a short text from Xia Fei that he wouldn’t come for his scheduled work today. Vein’s red eyes narrowed at the words, already having an inkling in his mind of the situation.
As his steps hurried, opening the door to his room, he saw his omega on his bed, only pitifully hugging his pillow and with a small part of the blanket pulled up to cover himself. Xia Fei’s furrowed brows and constant shifting in his sleep left Vein with a piercing ache in his chest, not to mention the lack of a nest that omegas typically built using their partner’s and their own clothes to mix scents.
But Vein knew, Xia Fei wasn’t a healthy and normal omega, and it was okay. From the moment he picked him up, he made sure that changed forever.
‘Sigh. What am I going to have to do with you?’
He immediately took off his coat and covered Xia Fei entirely with it. The distressed look on his sleeping omega’s face quickly vanished— feeling enveloped by a warmth and scent he desperately missed, subconsciously hugging the coat to himself tightly.
Vein leaned down to gently rub Xia Fei’s hair and press a light kiss on his forehead, before reluctantly leaving for the modelling site for the day’s photoshoots. How regretful. He still was the boss.
***
Later, the sky outside was dark and quiet when Xia Fei woke up in a surprisingly content mood. He found himself in Vein’s lap— surrounded in his scent with his coat on his body while his own arms were wrapped around Vein’s neck, hugging him as his head laid on his shoulder, smelling the soothing, rich scent.
‘When did the pillow become a human?’ His mind was still groggy and dazed from a comfortable lightheadedness, his thoughts were slightly messy.
He hadn’t noticed that another hand on his waist held him close to the warm body, the other hand on a phone as Vein replied to his work chats after he found an excuse to leave earlier to come back. He had an omega in heat that needed him, of course.
As he felt Xia Fei stirring awake, he put his phone to the side, seeing the other raising his head to yawn, rubbing his eyes that had lighter dark circles under them now.
‘So cute. He looks so tasty.’
Vein broke into a wide grin, arm tightening around the omega. He resisted biting his soft and flushed cheeks from having just woken up, and also being in heat. His tongue slid over his teeth as a distraction, he was sure to savor them later.
It took Xia Fei a few seconds to realise their ambiguous position as his eyes widened.
“Eh? Boss? H-How did I end up here?!”
“You crawled in here yourself, ah.”
The omega was struck speechless, only mindlessly muttering, “Why would I…”
A sudden flash of memory came to Xia Fei’s mind as he recalled that while he was sleeping and felt the bed dip, he had subconsciously searched for the other person and really did crawl into their lap himself, to be closer to the comforting and familiar scent.
Heat rose from his neck to his face as he reddened noticeably. Xia Fei jerked his hands back to cover his face in embarrassment.
“Ahhhh I’m sorry boss I couldn’t help it…”
His muffled cries of sorry made Vein laugh at his cute omega as he ruffled his hair, enjoying their mixed floral scents in satisfaction. He hugged Xia Fei closer with both arms, preventing him from running away as he chuckled with a hint of a serious tone.
“If you were conscious, you wouldn’t willingly climb into my lap?”
“Mn, mn, I don’t dare to.” Xia Fei quickly nodded.
“You didn't take my clothes to make a nest and just laid on my bed?” Vein continued.
“ …Mn, I don’t dare to.”
“Then you didn't want to come look for me when your heat started either?”
“ …Mn… Boss, I…”
His voice trailed off weakly, understanding the alpha’s questioning. He avoided Vein’s gaze as his eyes looked to the side, apologising again.
“Okay okay, I know my mistake already…”
The red-haired man sighed and held Xia Fei’s hands away from his face, giving him a tender peck on his cheek— a light affection that Vein would never show to anyone else in this life.
He half-ordered Xia Fei, “Next time, you have to tell me when your heat starts. Use my clothes to make your nest, I don't care if they're expensive. You’re my person and I want to care for you.”
The last part of his words almost made Xia Fei’s heart burst in happiness and he felt like he could fall in love with his amazing boss over and over again.
“Mn, mn, mn, but… can I really? Ai–!”
Vein flicked his forehead teasingly, an upward curve of his lips as he smiled.
“Less nonsense.”
Xia Fei was about to cover his forehead and rub the slight pain but Vein had already snatched his hands back to press his lips where he flicked him, making the sting magically disappear.
He found the soft kiss all too familiar as he wondered, ‘Boss… didn’t he kiss my forehead earlier too?’ Xia Fei subconsciously revealed a bright, tender smile on his face, making his alpha raise an eyebrow curiously.
“What are you happily thinking about?”
“Eh?! Nothing… boss…. Let me give you a kiss too?”
“No need.”
“Don’t tell me you’re shy ah! Boss!”
Xia Fei swiftly pecked his cheek before he could dodge and Vein couldn’t let his omega win so easily.
“If you want to kiss then do it properly on my lips.”
“ …! W-Wait boss… I- Ah! Let me go ah…!”
His cries of “let me go” soon became reduced to gentle moans as both of them were strangely unable to show up for work the next day, leaving the agency to their wild assumptions of reasons why.