a/n: for those who read house of cards and are reading this - this is an apology update ( n, to those who waited for the update) and may be a sort of filler (?) before the plot finally picks up and I can’t believe I am updating it after soo long (for me, that is XD )

Luhan was a very hardworking actor and idol. His life’s one and only priority was his career. His love life didn’t exist. His love for his family drove him to work harder for his career. Luhan had had only one boyfriend before - Sehun. He had been engaged to one other person - a pretty omega before understanding dawned on him that he swung both ways. It was all fine for him. However, he came from a wealthy family who needed an heir. So his family got him into an alliance with the heiress of another such traditional family. It was seven months after he had returned from Seoul for good. Luhan had felt suffocated at the thought of marriage but, it was his duty. He had soldiered on. On the wedding night, he was left hanging at the altar and the humiliation that he and his family faced, they never recovered from it. His parents wanted to sue the omega’s family - the bride had run away. It was unknown if she had run away with someone. Her family instead offered him what Luhan considered to be a gift - her elder brother proposed to launch him as an idol like Luhan had secretly always wanted in return of the Lus keeping their mouth shut. His parents had protested. He had agreed. They had not been happy. It was the first time he had rebelled against them. His family liked fame if not the glamour and wild life that came with it. Luhan let them bask in his fame and enjoyed the wild side himself. He got to experiment with a lot of things - dabbling in singing, acting and dancing; turning out to be good in at least two of them. Over the years, his acting improved (he hates his initial movies now) and a lot of famous directors approach him now with scripts he wouldn’t believe he was getting a chance to work with. He had also become a hit with the variety shows he loved being a part of. He appeared in Running Man China from time to time after his successful stint in what was his first two seasons of the popular variety show. China loved him. He loved his career.

It also started experimenting with other .. things when he thought he couldn’t explain away his growing attraction for actor Chen Bolin or, idol Hangeng. Both of these celebrities were alphas whom he had met again on the sets of RMC and then, on different sets. His first time with another alpha was with Chen. It had been educating and enlightening. Luhan had never looked back since then. Occasionally, he even slept with Betas but, those were far in between. He limited himself to one night stands with his fellow peers and never got entangled in attachments. Plus, he never felt that way for anyone anyway. His life was simple and easy. His father had threatened to take his name off the family register for being a disgrace to the family. He had shrugged and gone back to the sets. They complied but, secretly hoped he would eventually forego the ‘nonsense’ and settle down with a pretty demure omega. He would never settle down.

He was in Seoul for the shooting of an episode of Running Man China with actor Song Joon Ki. They were both set to appear in the finale episode. There location set had been in Busan. As soon as his filming had been over, he left for Seoul because Sehun was getting engaged and to Kim Jongin nonetheless. He was to give the new couple his blessings. Xiumin had explained to him on his last visit about the Kim family situation. He wasn’t surprised about Kai. Why was Sehun getting hitched to him though? Even in their last meeting, he thought he felt the blond omega still harbour feelings for him. Luhan wished he could have liked Sehun back. It would have been so much easier for all of them. Especially, for his family. Sad.

Not really.

  ***

He had been invited as a friend of Jongin’s. Minseok stood at one of the corners of the banquet hall sipping on the champagne from the glass in his hand. He watched the proceedings with a curious distaste. He did not approve of the methods of the Kims; forcing their children into wedlock who would otherwise never agree to. His family was not like that. His alpha or, omega would never take a single decision without their consent since they came off age. Since Minseok was the Director of KEnt Seoul and Kim Minjoon’s rival, they had exchanged extremely stiff, polite greetings before he had been taken immediately to where Jongin and Sehun were. The room had been charged with tension. Jongin had been pleased to see him and the engaged omega had looked surprised for a second before his face fell back into the usual mask of blankness. Though from what he had been observing, the blond man was trying to have an actual expression on his face - he was trying to smile. The omega was not unhappy at least even if his soon-to-be alpha was not. Jongin looked like a soldier in war. He stood ramrod and stiff. His pheromones were constantly roiling. Perhaps, that was why Sehun’s smile looked borderline delirious? He was drunk on his scent? May be Sehun was indeed attracted to his fiance. Minseok hummed thoughtfully.

He eyed his fourth empty glass in contempt before ordering a passing by waiter to stop and get him another one. There was a slight buzz in his head. He and Sehun were drunk for entirely different reasons. Minseok’s throat felt parched. He needed more liquid. He needed water. He was thirsty. He gave a lopsided smile to Suho who was sitting at the table near to where he was standing, before he stepped out of the hall to search for the restroom. He was giving all the Kim employees a wide berth. There were new guests, queuing up to meet the newly engaged handsome couple. Minseok pulled his necktie loose. The hall was stuffy. Too many people. He ran his hand through his hair making the dark locks messy. Some of them even stuck to his fingers. Minseok carelessly flicked the loose strands on the polished marble flooring. He had not seen these many people in a gathering. Not since Suho’s wedding. He walked rapidly towards the staircase feeling very uncomfortable in his suit. He needed to discard it as soon as he reached home. He also had to take a bath. That was a must. He could feel his undershirt sticking to his chest due to the sweat. He was sweating. He trudged himself up the stairs, suddenly feeling very sluggish and tired. He blinked when each step lighted with his foot on the next. Motion sensors. Right. The guard near the hall entrance had told him the restrooms were upstairs. This entire floor was just one big banquet hall. He could hear the announcement on the mic and the thunderous applause following it. Party had started.

  ***

Luhan ran into the building in nick of time. They were closing the entry. He asked anyone he saw in his way where the banquet hall was. Everyone knew which one he was looking for. The entire building had been rented out for the Kims and the Ohs. He took two steps at a time with the bouquet in his hand swinging back and forth. One of the roses flew out of the bundle and got crushed under his foot in the subsequent step. He practically flew into the hall after nearly having himself trip over an abandoned tie in the hallway. He cursed mentally, thanking his stars he didn’t fall. He stood at the back of the crowd, panting loudly. The guests next to him gave him haughty looks. They were looking down upon him - the messed bubble pink hair, the plain white tee and blue jeans. He must be a sight to them - to the pretentious rich members of the society. Luhan had been raised in one but, he could never bring himself to become a true elitist. He looked down upon them too. He chuckled and winked at the lady next to him. He hoped she was not someone too important and especially, not part of his line of work. After all, he was to debut with SM in Korea in another year or, so. He didn’t need someone disapproving of him already the way she was doing right then. He cleared his throat. She was clearly an alpha.

The Chinese actor made his way through the gathering of the elite people. Clearly, both the Kims and the Ohs knew a lot of important people - he could tell it from the way they held their noses high up in the air.

“Hyung!” The young couple looked at him in both surprise and happiness. “We thought you were not going to turn up.” Kai smiled brightly at him. Sehun had the half smirk which irritated a lot of people but, not Luhan. Luhan thought it suited the younger man quite well.

“I was not going to miss this for the world. You two are my favourite dongsaengs.”

“Oh, so now I am a favourite dongsaeng from your ex?”, Sehun asked acerbically. Sehun’s mother - or, the omega who looked like Sehun looked scandalised. Luhan rubbed the back of his neck feeling abashed.

“At least, you still are something, Sehunie. Some people don’t even get that.” Kai quipped and the taller man glared at him. The two alphas laughed nervously. On seeing the older omega shooting continuous glares at him, he said, “I’ll talk to you guys later? The other guests are waiting.” He had broken into the line of the guests waiting to wish the two. He heard Sehun shout a “do bother getting dressed for our wedding, hyung!” and walked faster towards the end of the hall. His eyes scanned the crowd before they were lowered, dejected on not finding whatever they were looking for.

“Hey, thanks for making time for this.” Suho was sitting at one of the decorated tables. Luhan sat on the chair next to him.

“I would never want to miss this,” he replied breezily. “Where is Lay?” He looked around for some more familiar faces. Suho barked a laugh. Luhan’s eyes came back to observe him. “What?”

“Yixing is in the hospital. Got patients.”

“Ah, okay.” Suho’s face did not betray anything but, the way tension roiled off him, it was clear as a day.

“Jongdae isn’t hear too.”

“Chen didn’t come?”

Suho wrinkled his nose at the moniker. “Why do you still call him that?”

“Because that is his name?”

“That’s not his name. That’s what his friends back in China called him.”

Luhan raised his eyebrow at him. What was up with him? “That stuck, didn’t it? It may not be official, it still is his name. In fact, more than what Jongdae is.”

“May be. But, only in China”

“But, that’s where he lives. Doesn’t he?” Luhan watched with questioning eyes as Suho downed a glass of -

“Champagne. It’s champagne”, Suho answered him. “Do you want some?”

“Uh, thanks, but, I have a flight to catch in a few hours.”

“Suit yourself.”

Luhan was looking to excuse himself when Suho spoke up again. “Jongdae is busy with his shoots and Chanyeol - you missed him by a few minutes. Am not sure where Minseok hyung went. He was supposed to be here. This is his”, he said pointing at the now empty flute in his hand. Luhan sat up only a slight bit straighter. Nonchalance, that’s what he was going for.

“Chanyeol left already? He is one of the last people to leave.”

“He had a date or, something.”

That was new. “Who?” His eyes widened. “Baekhyun? Is that why he is also not here?”

Suho gave him a blank look. “Even Kyungsoo is not here. No. He is dating some idol. Taeyong? Taeyeon? Something like that. I couldn’t quite catch it.”

“Taeyeon? But, wasn’t she the omega whom Baekhyun was dating back in their university?

“No. This is a male omega.”

Luhan hummed. “What about Chen?” He ignored the way Suho frowned.

“I just said he was busy with work?”

“He has work now?”

“Yes, Luhan hyung.” Suho’s eyes constantly flitted from one guest to another.

Luhan finally excused himself and headed towards the restroom. He was feeling tired. He had had no break during his shoot. Everyone just wanted to wrap the shooting as quickly as possibly. They had spent three days on it. Everything was lavish for the engagement party. He decided to go straight for the food after coming back from washroom and take his leave. He took his time up the stairs, looking at the paintings on the walls wondering why Cousin Kim was missing. He definitely remembered him whining about not having to do anything the previous week when Luhan did a guest appearance for a show whose MC was Jongdae.

The restroom was big and spacious and taking up one half of the floor. He washed his hands trying not to breathe in the heavy alpha scent hanging in the air. He hurriedly opened one of the stalls to relieve himself. His bladder would have burst had he not rescued it on time. He was on Mission: Rescue Bladder. Luhan snickered at his own lame joke. He pulled the flush down and went out, washing his hands and wiping it with the paper roll stacked on the racks outside. He was leaving, totally ignoring that scent when he heard a muffled groan from one of the stalls. He stopped. Whoever it was, that person was groaning. It was an alpha, he was sure of that. The person was in pain if the way the alpha was . He could feel distress in the air.

Distress, my arse.

He went right back in and banged the door. “Hey, you okay in there? Do you need help.”

There was no response. All the sounds seized. “Hey, can you hear me? Do you want me to - to call somebody?” If he was not straining his ears, he could have missed the whisper of a ‘no’ from the other side of the door of the stall.

“Okay. Are you sure?”

“Yes.” The voice was small but, deep and vaguely familiar.

“Okay. Am leaving then.”

He looked worriedly in that direction. The alpha was in some sort of problem. Was he going into rut? That might explain the smell. But, he couldn’t interfere if he was told not to. He went back to the hall. Everyone was already eating. He wished he had met Yixing once before leaving. Video chatting didn’t completely take away the thought of missing his best friend. His phone buzzed. His silly worried manager. Luhan ignored it. He was leaving anyway. He congratulated the pair and left. He was almost on the last step and out of the building when he took his phone out. The new text was from a ‘Baozi’. Huh? His saucer wide eyes stared at the bright screen in disbelief. It took him a whole minute before he pressed his thumb on the notification.

“Plz com bk”

He blinked his eyes rapidly because what? What? He called the number back. It rang twice before it was received and he could hear a static version of gasping. “Lu-Luhan?”

“Xiu-Minseok?” Luhan stood on the last step, his jaw on the floor.

“Luha ..” Minseok was gasping. He was in pain. He could tell. No, he knew.

“Minseok, was that you?”

A voice rasped ‘yes’ on the other end of the line and the bubble pink haired alpha was dashing up the floors because Minseok was probably dying. He could hear the faint ‘Luhan, Luhan, help me’ from the speaker. He couldn’t reach faster. He didn’t stop to catch his breath. When he finally, finally reached, Minseok was clutching his chest in one hand and the other struggling to support him against the wall. His face was contorted in pain.

“Minseok? Are you okay?”

It was Luhan’s first time seeing someone look up at him like he had brought them peace; someone so relieved to see him. His heart squeezed. “Luhan.”

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