Chapter 3

    Did you secretly take a picture of me?

    Kacha arrived at Nalin's condo just after one in the afternoon.

    His first night in Thailand went smoothly, thanks to the help of his cousin. Still adjusting to the time difference, Kacha found it hard to sleep last night. After unpacking his things, he initially planned to take a nap, but the park next to the condo tempted him to change the scenery and head downstairs.

    Naturally, as a photography enthusiast, Kacha did not forget to bring his trusty camera along. He considered it a warm-up for Nalin's work tomorrow. In fact, he had completely forgotten to ask his cousin for more details about the client because he was too busy settling into the condo.

    All Kacha knew was that the client was a famous model whom she managed, and the brand name was Milly. When he tried calling his cousin for more information, she might have been busy, as she did not answer. This led him to research the product and discover that the young omega named Ramil McCullen was the brand's owner.

    He had to admit, the first time he saw Ramil on screen, Kacha thought this person looked... flawless

    Ramil's golden blonde hair and striking blue eyes, along with his sculpted features, made him stand out. Despite being an omega, he was four centimeters taller than Kacha, making him possibly easily noticeable in a crowd of hundreds.

    The latest photo he posted was a side profile that highlighted his jawline, perfectly complementing his facial features and prominent nose. Overnight, it garnered over a million likes, with fans flooding the comments, praising his beauty.

    But for some reason...

    Kacha could not help but think that in this picture...

    Ramil's jawline looked... strikingly handsome?

    Sure, he could not deny that Ramil looked stunning on screen. However, Kacha felt that some of Ramil's photos had a unique charm beyond just beauty, especially the selfies he took himself. In contrast, the product shots or modeling photos leaned more towards elegance.

    Kacha did some more research by checking out the Instagram of the industry queen to understand their taste and style preferences. He looked into the product details and previous promotional images to ensure his work would please the client. After all, this job came recommended by Nalin, and he could not afford to let his cousin down.

    As Kacha strolled through the park, he casually searched for the perfect spot to take photos. By the time it was past five, the sky began to show vibrant colors, especially from the angle where he stood, which was the perfect spot to capture the sun setting over the horizon. He quickly grabbed his trusty camera to snap the scene before him.

    However, the landscape photo he aimed for...

    Snap!

    Whoosh!

    “!!!”

    Something suddenly dashed past his camera lens.

    The young beta furrowed his brows and looked at the camera screen, only to find that he had accidentally captured a man in a gray tracksuit and dark sunglasses running across the frame. The most eye-catching feature was the oversized pink headphones that stood out prominently. It was not surprising, though, given that many people were jogging in the park at this time, so it was not unusual to capture someone in the shot.

    That thought led Kacha to delete the image and start again. Once he found the perfect angle and the coast was clear...

    Whoosh!

    Snap!

    “!!!”

    Once again, someone ran across his camera's view...

    This time, another person was stretching by the fence in front of him.

    Yes, a tall man in a gray hoodie with headphones was stretching his muscles against the fence. It seemed like the person had not noticed him, as he hummed softly while stretching his arms with a cheerful demeanor. In truth, Kacha could have opted to change his shooting angle.

    But he was reluctant to miss capturing the captivating sunset here, so he said...

    “Excuse me.”

    Kacha called out to the man in the gray hoodie, hoping to ask him to move aside a bit. But the stylish pink headphones worn over the hood seemed to prevent the other person from hearing him. So, the young beta decided to walk up and tap the man on the shoulder.

    “Excuse me, I…”

    Before he could finish his sentence,

    Whoosh.

    The man turned to look at Kacha, responding to the tap, and as soon as he saw the camera in Kacha's hand, he said,

    “Hey... are you secretly taking pictures of me?”

    “!!!”

    Caught in a misunderstanding, Kacha quickly shook his head to deny the accusation.

    “No, that's not it. I was just…”

    Again, he could not finish his sentence.

    Whoosh!

    The person in front of him removed their dark sunglasses and said,

    “You... at the airport yesterday?”

    “!!!”

    If being misunderstood was shocking enough...

    This moment was even more shocking.

    “You’re... Mr. Ramil?”

    Yes... the person in front of him was indeed Ramil McCullen, the real deal, and he was now staring intently at Kacha. His deep blue eyes looked surprised to see him, but the next words from the famous omega left Kacha almost speechless.

    “Both yesterday and today... Oh, so you're one of those sasaeng fans, right?”

    “Uh... what?”

    “What are you planning to do with my pictures? Auction them off or something?”

    “I think you're misunderstanding, I was just...”

    "What misunderstanding? It's obvious. If you're not a sasaeng, then what are you? A paparazzi? A stalker? You've been following me both today and yesterday. How could I not think that?"

    The young beta furrowed his brow, looking at the person in front of him with confusion. He admitted he was a bit annoyed by the accusations thrown at him, and he could not recall ever meeting Ramil before, except for yesterday at the airport when he bumped into...

    Ah...

    That was what this was about.

    "Mr. Ramil, about yesterday..."

    "There you go! You're admitting you were secretly taking pictures of me."

    "No, that's not it, but I..."

    "Don't you know you should respect other people's privacy instead of following them around taking pictures?"

    "I was..."

    "This is borderline stalking, you know? I could report you."

    "No, actually, I..."

    "Before I caught you red-handed like this, how long have you been doing this? Delete all the pictures you've secretly taken of me, or else..."

    "I was just trying to take a picture of the scenery behind."

    "..."

    "..."

    "Huh?"

    "Well..."

    "..."

    "I was just trying to take a picture of the scenery."

    "..."

    "But you ran in front of the camera twice, so..."

    Kacha licked his lips. He did not finish his sentence completely, fearing it might embarrass the other person too much, but if he did not explain, he would not understand. Kacha hoped this clarification would help the queen of the industry understand him.

    But...

    "Do you think making excuses that embarrass me will make me believe you?"

    The young omega raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, looking at him with a displeased expression.

    "You can check my camera. If I was secretly taking pictures of you, it should be full of your photos, right?"

    Finally, Kacha decided to hand his camera to Ramil to prove his innocence. The blond-haired man quickly grabbed it, eyeing Kacha with suspicion before scrolling through the photos in the camera. He found that, aside from a blurry shot of him running through the frame...

    there were only landscape pictures, just as the other had claimed.

    "There might be some on your phone..."

    "You can check it too. There's really nothing."

    When accused again, Kacha promptly handed over his phone. Ramil quickly took it to inspect, only to find that, apart from photos resembling foreign landscapes and the latest picture of the sky from the plane...

    Damn...

    There were really no pictures of him at all on the beta's phone.

    Hmm... at this point, the person who was so sure he was being secretly photographed began to waver a bit.

    But,

    someone like Ramil McCullen could not be wrong, right?

    "I don't believe it. How could it be a coincidence twice?"

    "I just got back from England yesterday. I was on the phone with a relative, wasn't paying attention, and bumped into you. Today, I moved into my relative's condo nearby just four hours ago."

    "But..."

    "And to be honest..."

    "..."

    "I've only known you for less than three hours."

    The statement made the listener's eyebrow twitch, his blue eyes fixed intently on the person in front of him.

    "You're lying."

    "I'm not lying."

    "I'm so famous, how could you not know me?"

    "I don't follow Thai entertainment news at all."

    "Still, I don't believe you."

    "Then what will it take for you to believe... I'm really not a sasaeng like you think."

    The young beta bit his lip in frustration, his expression visibly downcast. And damn it, Ramil found himself inadvertently staring at those beautiful lips biting together. Why did he feel... what was the word?

    So soft-hearted?

    Feeling strangely awkward, his confidence that the person in front of him was a sasaeng began to waver. In the end, Ramil could only sigh before deleting the picture of himself from Kacha's camera and handing it back without even looking at its owner.

    "This time, I won't hold it against you... but next time, don't take pictures of people without asking for their permission first."

    "Wait! I told you, I didn't..."

    Whoosh!

    Ramil did not wait for the other person to explain. He put on his headphones and ran off immediately, leaving Kacha standing there with his mouth agape, staring at the celebrity's retreating back in confusion. The industry's queen, whom he had only seen in glamorous mode, had somehow ended up meeting him in a situation where he appeared to be a stalker. Honestly, Kacha did not care what that omega thought of him because he was not part of this industry.

    But tomorrow...

    How would he tell Nalin?

    That he had accidentally... gotten into an argument with the industry's queen.

    .

    .

    .

    Ramil did not understand what was happening to him.

    Why did he have to act like he was running away...

    But the truth was, he was secretly watching the beta with the average looks from behind a large tree.

    He... wanted to prove the truth, so he stayed there. Of course, that allowed the McCullen heir to see the other's actions from the moment he stepped back.

    The ordinary-looking beta stood there biting his lip, seemingly deep in thought for a moment. Perhaps regretting that he had not lied convincingly enough? Before the other person sighed and raised his camera to continue capturing the surrounding atmosphere as if nothing had happened.

    After a while of taking pictures, a dog ran up to him, and that was when the stalker's smile appeared.

    Which...

    Made his heart race for a moment.

    As soon as his blue eyes spotted a fly buzzing around, he decided to blame the strange feeling he had earlier on the pesky insect for his own peace of mind.

    After that, the other person ran off to buy some snacks, offering them to the dog while continuing to take pictures, his smile never fading for a second. It was a stark contrast to the moment he had been with Ramil, which left Ramil puzzled once again as to why he was acting like a stalker, secretly watching that beta. Why could he not take his eyes off the smile in front of him?

    And he could not understand why...

    He found himself smiling along with the other person.

    No matter how much it annoyed him, Ramil had to admit that the smile of that person always held his gaze, and it was incredibly frustrating. He even let out a breath when he unconsciously furrowed his brows as the smile disappeared. Suddenly, the beta stood by the river fence, gazing at the sky with such a sorrowful look that it made Ramil feel... a pang in his heart.

    "Hey, is that Ramil?"

    "!!!"

    Before he could think any further, whispers from around him grew louder, making him realize that his gray hood had slipped off, revealing his striking blond hair. The young omega quickly pulled the hood back up to cover his eye-catching hair, put his headphones back on, and dashed back to his condo without delay, leaving behind the lingering question:

    Why did that beta sasaeng...

    look so sad?