"But why do you hate me?" Caelen still couldn't get himself out of Soren's grip.
"With such a trashy personality, who would like you?"
Soren's eyes widened, a film of tears welled up in his eyes. His face went pale, and pain etched across his features.
"What?"
"You have done so many inhuman things. Why do you think no one would hate you?" His eyelids tightened as he snarled.
"But I..." Soren had no answer; his thoughts drifted. What could I have done to make him hate me like that?
"I can change," his words carried heaviness. "Can you like me if I change?"
"No, I will never. I will hate you until my last breath. I despise you so much that even if I was given hundreds of lives, I would still hate you the same."
Soren's whole body went numb, and his grip loosened. Caelen pushed him to the passenger seat.
"If you want me to take you home, sit in the backseat," Caelen's spat and his voice was firm.
Soren silently settled into the backseat, and the car was running on the road with heavy silence in it.
The next day at the shooting, Soren could not focus properly.
"Cut!" The director sighed for the fifth time. "Soren, you're not feeling it. Again."
Soren nodded and stepped back to his mark.
"Action!"
He opened his mouth, but Caelen's voice cut through the noise in his head. "I hate you with all my guts! Don't go around calling my name with yours!"
He said his line, but the words came out flat.
"Cut! Soren, what's wrong with you today?" The director slipped his fingers through his hair roughly.
Soren blinked, forcing a nod. "Sorry. I'll get it this time."
"Action!"
He tried again, but another echo hit him. "With such a trashy personality, who would like you?"
He clenched his jaws and missed his cue.
"Cut!"
No one said anything this time. Just silence took over the set. He tried one more take.
"You've done so many inhuman things…"
The noise in his skull was tormenting him with the person who said it standing at the distance of meters. His voice cracked, trying too hard to hold everything in.
Soren didn't move. He just stood there under the lights, Caelen's voice still looping in his head.
"Let's continue tomorrow," the director spat. "The actor's condition doesn't seem good."
"You are distracted," Caelen handed him water while Soren's eyes were fixed on him. "Do you want me to cancel your schedule?"
"It's all your fault," Soren's voice came out low. "What exactly have I done to make you loathe me like that?"
"How am I the one to blame for your personal desires?" Caelen lowered his voice on purpose. "Please mind that we are in public."
"It's not just desire, it's love."
"How long have you known me to call it love?"
Silence took over.
"What love? You are an Alpha. It's all about pheromones," Caelen believed firmly that love was almost impossible between Alphas and omegas since it was mostly influenced by pheromones. Because he came into existence for the same reason when his father slept with a complete stranger under the influence of alcohol while Alpha pheromones took over him.
"Do I look like I am under the influence of pheromones?"
"You don't look sober to me either. Just take a look at the withered faces of the staff."
Soren glanced at the staff and took a deep breath before turning back to him. "It is love, and I know it. Your hatred can't stop me from loving you," Soren walked away with speedy steps.
"Take me to the Gardoon vicinity," Soren said while Caelen could see his gaze drifting outside of the car's window from the driver's seat through the front mirror.
Caelen stopped in front of the designated location. "It's a memorial park," he thought.
"You can go back. I will call my driver to pick me up," Soren's voice was devoid of any emotions as the car door locks clicked open.
"Wait," Caelen turned towards the backseat. "Are you sure about that? What if you encounter..."
"I will be fine. Go ahead," Soren picked up the rose bouquet that he instructed Caelen to buy earlier, stepped out and walked into the memorial park.
"Whatever," Caelen drove off.
Soren placed the flowers in front of a grave in the graveyard and settled down onto the grassy plot.
"I wonder if you would still like roses or if your preference would have changed over time," Soren chuckled. "You would be the same age as Carol."
A stiff expression wiped the smile from his face. "I wonder if you would still love me like you did," he was reminded. "Well Moren seems to like me but I am not sure if it's just that he has nowhere to rely on. But still he doesn't love me as much as you did."
Then a sniffle escaped with a sob from his mouth, the overwhelmed tears that streamed down his face. "Why would you die this early leaving me all alone Noren?"
He wiped his tears quickly. "What am I doing, crying in front of you?" He tilted his head to the blue sky. "Now come to think of it, it's my second time crying in front of you."
"I remember getting scolded by Father for crying so hard as a prime Alpha. He said it made me look so weak. I was shouting and screaming at the top of my lungs, yet you were just lying wrapped in rose petals," he looked down, tears dripping again. "Why the hell did you like roses that much?"
Noren was Soren's little brother with an age difference of two years. He died of a rare disease at the age of twelve.