Leon didn't hate his brother. Truly. But if he were to be reborn, he would ensure to never have a brother like Ezra ever again.
Ezra was loud, greedy, perverted, and annoying. He was everything Leon wasn't.
Leon didn't know how to react as he noticed the messy clothes sprawled across his living room. The expensive shoes lined up, the kissy stickers pasted on the walls, and the smell of honeysuckle in the air; everything about his home was corrupted with Ezra's essence.
"Stop with your pheromones," Leon said, deciding to address the smell first.
Ezra had an offended look on his face as he processed Leon's words.
"Get a pheromone isolator or get out of the house," Leon let his hands fall to his sides as he walked out of the kitchen.
"I don't have one. Besides, you're an omega, too. Max's a beta. Little Hen hasn't even manifested yet. Why can't you let me be free?" Ezra came closer to Leon with every word he spoke.
By the end of his complaint, his face was already right up against Leon's face with a sad expression.
"Because it's annoying. And you might affect Hendrix," Leon said tersely.
"He's not affecting me," Hendrix piped up as he got up from the floor. "Just let him do whatever he wants. You're the only one complaining here."
Leon's mouth parted slowly.
'Isn't this my house? Why can't I complain? Stop looking at me like I'm some big bad villain!' Leon lamented in his heart.
Ezra's eyes had turned red and were glassy with tears as he looked at Leon, pouting his lips. Hendrix had a judging expression on his face. Meanwhile, Max sat far away from the dramatic family, hoping they would forget he was in the room.
"Brother, please. You know how uncomfortable an isolator is. It hurts." Ezra said with a pitiful tone.
'Of course, I know how uncomfortable it is. I wear one every single damn time. Why can't you do the same? It hurts, so fucking what!?' Leon narrowed his eyes, looking down at his brother who was 5cm shorter than him.
"You're an omega, deal with it," Leon said sharply, refusing to give in. "What if you trigger Hendrix's manifestation because of your excess pheromones floating all over the place? There's a brand new isolator in my bathroom. Go get it."
The manner Leon talked down to Ezra, one would think he was older and more mature. He wasn't.
"Jeez, dad. Why can't you just let him be free? Just cause you like to restrain yourself doesn't mean others should–"
"Who gave you the permission to paint your nails?" Leon abruptly cut into Hendrix's words as the latter's hands were busy gesturing about the place.
Leon grabbed both of Hendrix's wrists and saw that his nails were polished bubblegum pink. He immediately looked at Ezra in accusation.
"I'll go get the isolator now, brother!" Ezra said in a haste, disappearing into the flat and leaving Hendrix to fend for himself.
"Let go of me," Hendrix ripped his wrists from Leon's grasp in the latter's moment of distraction.
"Get the dissolver and take it off. You have school tomorrow. I don't want anyone calling me while I'm at work and telling me that my son is breaking school rules." Leon said, already searching the floor for a bottle of nail polish dissolver.
"Then don't answer your phone when it rings," Hendrix countered smartly. Leon found the dissolver at the same time and tossed it over.
"Clean it now. And you," Leon turned to Max. The beta shrunk into himself, seeing that his wish to go unnoticed had not been granted.
"Come with me," Leon said, walking to the kitchen and expecting Max to follow his lead.
Before getting up from the floor, Max removed the mask from his face. He rushed to the kitchen, almost tripping on the nail equipment splayed on the floor.
When he finally reached the kitchen, he saw Leon resting his waist against the island with folded arms.
"Why did you let him in?" Straight to the point, Leon didn't dawdle with his inquiry.
"He showed up a couple hours ago and said he didn't have anywhere else to go. Something about losing all his money to a scam." Max scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he responded.
Leon felt like slapping Max's head.
"Losing all his money to a scam? Ezra's likely to scam someone else into losing all of their money." Leon countered.
He knew his brother too well. He was as dangerous as he was beautiful. Every single word that came out of Ezra's mouth was likely a lie. Though he often acted senseless, he was miles away from stupid.
"So he gave you some fake sob story and you let him in? Max, how can you still trust anything he says after all these years?" Leon couldn't help but raise the volume of his voice as he spoke.
It was frustrating. Really.
Every two to three months, Ezra would show up claiming to have some big problem. He'd latch onto the two of them and become a problem in their lives if they didn't help him solve his own problem.
Immediately after things got sorted, he would disappear, and the only time they'd get to see him was on TV in a one-day hit or on the tabloids, featured in some scandalous event.
This has been going on for over ten years. If Max wasn't sick of being used, Leon was. He was tired of cleaning up Ezra's mess.
He could still remember the last one that he had to face. Shivers crawled up his spine at the gruesome memory.
"He said he was sorry," Max said in Ezra's defense, shifting his gaze to the floor.
"He's always sorry, isn't he?" Leon straightened his back and walked out of the kitchen.
Ezra was always quick to use the word, 'sorry'. It was still a mystery to Leon whether Ezra meant it whenever he said it.
But for Max, he believed in Ezra. Ever since they were kids, Ezra's words were Max's life guide. Maybe it was because he had an unrequited love for Ezra, but the latter could do no wrong in Max's eyes.
Leon thought Max was both pitiful and stupid.
Leon returned to the living room where he saw Hendrix taking off the paint with a sour expression on his face.
"When you're done, you can eat the cupcakes in the kitchen," he said to Hendrix.
"Not interested," Hendrix said without looking up.
Leon rolled his eyes and walked into his room. It was empty, but he could hear the showering sounds from the bathroom.
Leon pinched the bridge of his nose as he observed his room. There were about six huge luggages in bright colors standing against his closet. In addition, there were mirrors, more shoes, hair products, makeup products, skincare products, and was that a vibrator on his bed stand…?
"Ezra!" Leon spat in annoyance, marching towards the bathroom where Ezra was currently showering.
He forgot about privacy and swung the door open. The bathroom was small with a toilet, sink, and shower area that had a transparent curtain. Leon invited himself into the bathroom and pulled the curtain to look at Ezra.
The rage in his heart quenched in an instant at the sight of Ezra's naked body.