章 72: Marked Red

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Five hours after the article about Maverick was released online, as usual, many discussions had been made by those who didn't have anything else better to do. People were a little confused as to why such news came out of nowhere, but most of the netizens were sympathizing with Maverick. Since it was common for some people to hide their gender for personal reasons and such, there weren't that many negative comments thus far, just like Tian Zi had predicted. But since anything could happen, Fyre and Tian Zi were making sure that nothing was getting out of hand.

"Find anything?" Tian Zi asked, sitting next to Fyre who was scanning forums and topics related to Maverick. He was focused on his task but as soon as he felt Tian Zi's presence, he hastily clicked on one of the sites.

"Hah? Ahh, nothing... so far nothing suspicious yet." Fyre replied in a panic. Since they'd already stolen the explicit videos involving Maverick, they didn't have anything else to do so far except make sure their enemies didn't have more videos left to publish for now. When they've made sure that the coast is clear, they would then proceed to find dirt on their enemies, which was what Tian Zi was actually doing before he suddenly went ahead and sat next to him.

"Hmm. That's good. What are comments about Maverick so far?" Tian Zi asked again using a gentle tone, before he leaned down and read some comments that were flashing on Fyre's screen.

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[@JunkAnimeGRX I don't blame Maverick Sullen for hiding his gender because the Sullen family really has problems with Omegas. First, it was Daniel Mo, and now this. I feel bad for them because this wasn't even their fault. They're unfortunate to be born in such a household.]

[@Renata Very true! Thankfully, Daniel Mo is now living a happy life with his doting husband and adorable children. I hope Maverick Sullen would find his own happiness too.]

[@teishawnorr I completely agree. Wealthy families are really just different from normal people. We don't really care whether someone is an Omega or not. In fact, we have two Omegas in our family lineage and they weren't treated this way. For God's sake, it's the 21st century! Why are they so caught up with the past?]

[@ngu102yen Well, that's something we will never be able to understand. We all think people from wealthy households are happy because they have money and power, but there are people like Daniel Mo and Maverick Sullen who are suffering just because society says only Alphas are able to stand at the top.]

[@mandygermann I agree with everyone from the previous comments and to tell you honestly, I've always thought that Maverick Sullen was a little too delicate and graceful to be an Alpha. It's like he always kept himself in the shadows of his brothers to avoid attention. I saw him one time during a perfume launch and he seemed lonely and carrying something.]

[@nedwards76 OMG! I noticed it too. He used to be my schoolmate and he was more of a loner. He didn't have any close friends and instead, was always around his brothers. They were such eye candies back in college. Now, I'm not so surprised that he's an Omega. Everything just makes sense now.]

[@FrenchCheese Hmmm, I understand what you all mean but don't you find it so sus that this is coming out all of a sudden?? And coming from ABC at that! We all know that ABC entertainment is always on for something especially when it comes to huge scandals. I think something big is going to come out soon.]

[@dwilliams2737 @FrenchCheese as long as he's not dating my hubby Duke Davidson, I'm fine with everything.]

[@562kittycat LOL @dwilliams2737 I'm with you. Duke may be a Beta but he's hot as fuck! He's one in a million and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he told us he was actually an Alpha.]

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"I'm glad no one's paying too much attention to this," Tian Zi commented after reading a few lines before his gaze shifted to Fyre who was all this time having his heart banging against his ribs. Even more so when Tian Zi was suddenly so close to him, it's like the Alpha was purposely doing it even though this was normally what happens when he hung around Tian Zi's place.

"Fyre, are you okay? Does your body still hurt?" Tian Zi asked worriedly, seeing Fyre being uncomfortable. He was unaware of the fact that him being so close after what had happened between them was the problem. Of course it would cause the little Omega's heart to go crazy being so close to the person he liked who had recently confessed to him.

"N-No. I'm fine b-but you're a little too c-close for my liking," Fyre said, trying to hide his flustered expression. Normally, he would have lashed out on Tian Zi but how can he do that now? His heart was still very much vulnerable. Especially when the slight sore on his body constantly reminded him of their activities last night.

"Oh, I'm sorry... But your complexion doesn't look too good. Are you really okay?" Tian Zi asked again now that he'd had a closer and longer look. Fyre has a fair complexion but what he was seeing now was pale, it was like blood was being sucked out of his body.

"What? Really? Well, now that I've thought about it, I do feel a little weak and out of breath." Fyre replied and massaged his temple. He was still flustered about Tian Zi and probably wouldn't move on from that anytime soon, but now that he had thought about it, he was indeed feeling off. He'd noticed this earlier but he chose to ignore it thinking it was nothing.

"What? I should call the doctor to check you out,"

"No, I'm fine, really. I just need a little rest," Fyre insisted. But since Tian Zi was truly worried, he frowned at Fyre and suddenly pulled him up and soon lifted him into his arms. Fyre was obviously so stunned that he froze and just looked at the Alpha. Tian Zi had always been very caring with him like this but somehow, it felt so different. He couldn't count how many times Tian Zi had lifted him into his strong arms or how many times they had hugged. It was all the same act but in a sense, it felt different at the moment.

"See. You can't even struggle or yell at me. You're still in heat and c-considering what happened last night, I-I should call doctor Feng, just to make sure." Tian Zi said and later blushed at the mention of last night's memories.

"S-Stupid! I told you I'm fine," Fyre insisted again, acting annoyed, but since he was flustered and a little bit of red tint finally reached his cheeks, his supposed angry look only appeared adorable in Tian Zi's eyes as he walked out of the room, ignoring the Omega's words.

"No, you are clearly not. Don't be stubborn now, okay? I told you I want to treasure you even more from now on, so don't avoid it. Let me show you how much I care for you." Tian Zi said and although his tone sounded serious, the red tint on his cheeks said a little bit more. Internally, it was clear to him that he was feeling embarrassed knowing that he seemed like he was copying one of his older brother's lines. Back then, it had sounded too gut-wrenching for Tian Zi when he heard it but right now, he felt exactly the same for Fyre to the point that it was almost terrifying.

Meanwhile, as the two left, neither noticed the notification that popped up on Fyre's mobile phone that was left on the computer table. The notification came from an app personally made by Fyre for himself for when he had clients who needed his service.

Fyre is a well-known hacker and he goes by the name "JunkAnime"—a silly name that was most probably made by a teenager. This username is known for being one of the best-hired hackers in the country or perhaps the world. "JunkAnime" is a grey hat hacker who mostly does bounty hunter jobs from multiple companies but he is also a black hat hacker because among the hackers out there, he was one of the few who wasn't afraid to hack into the national database to either steal information, erase information, and or the likes as long as the price was right.

There's not one hacker who doesn't know his username because he was that good. In fact, he was so good to the point that his name was marked red in the police force database. It has been years and until now, no one had ever discovered who "JunkAnime" was. And for the last couple of years, he had been inactive or some might say, "JunkAnime" was an abandoned name and the person behind it might have been now using a different name, perhaps changing his ways.

The hacker community had had theories, even to the point of suspecting Mo Tian Zi of being "JunkAnime" but none of them could ever prove it because "JunkAnime"—the person behind the name—didn't want anyone else to know who he was despite knowing that he had a group of people admiring and following his footsteps. However slowly people started to forget him, newbies barely knew him and those who did remember, kept their eyes on Mo Tian Zi… because most of the clues everyone had gathered all led to the Alpha.

Because who wouldn't suspect him? Mo Tian Zi is the third son of the most prominent family in the country, if not the world. A person from that kind of family, who was most probably carrying the whole country's economy, …why would you be afraid to hack into the government database when your family is literally supporting the government itself? He might have charged ridiculous amounts to his clients but most people believed it was just a front and that he was just genuinely enjoying hacking and conquering countless systems in order to develop his own formidable one.

Additionally, no one knew that Mo Tian Zi was a computer genius. If he hadn't launched his brand years ago, no one would have known that he was that good. Since the day his brand was released, no one had ever broken into the first wall of his system's defenses, proving just how good he really was. If he was not "JunkAnime" himself, then who was? "JunkAnime" was the only one who could do the impossible, and if he was not Mo Tian Zi, ZNetwork would have been figured out by now. Alas, no one did.

Of course, everyone could not have been more wrong. The reason why ZNetwork was so formidable was because Fyre, a.k.a. "JunkAnime" had helped develop the system. Fyre and Tian Zi were both good individually, but together, no one could ever defeat them, well except, …maybe… each other. Well... maybe not, because Fyre had never defeated Tian Zi ever before… Perhaps he might soon, …but not with programming.

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To be Continued…