Just like that, days went on as normal as timed passed by in what seemed like an instant.

            Minseok looked through the files on his desk once more to make sure everything was properly sorted before moving to pack his things up. Things had settled down considerably so over the past few weeks at work. After the chaos that was last month, he’d instated a new policy for his team: no checking news sites during work besides stocks and financial journals. Before, he’d been a lot more free about things like that—he didn’t want to be the boss firing people for checking their social media or reading up about politics—but god he didn’t want to deal with people badgering him whenever a new rumor hit the highlights. Hell, half of it wasn’t even true, but since his courtship was announced, journalists started making up as much as they could to keep the views coming in.

            He’d hoped to just outright block some sites on their server, but apparently, HR didn’t approve of that. They kept saying it’d affect the entire company and not just his team, which would require a lot more time and paperwork. Minseok just thought they were being difficult, but he guessed the CEO’s son couldn’t really say that.

            Sighing, he checked the time. He had about half an hour to make it to the hospital before visiting hours ended. Usually, it wouldn’t matter, since the nurses there liked him well enough to bend the rules a little for him, every once in a while. But lately they’d been more steadfast in following the rules, saying that they need to ‘maximize recovery time after surgery’ for his dad as much as possible. It made sense, he supposed, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t glad as that his old man was going to be discharged in a week. Not only did it mean he didn’t have to rush every time just to go see him, but it also meant he could stop kissing random investors asses to keep the company in good standing after its ‘ill and dying CEO’ dip.

            Though, oddly enough, it seemed like his courtship news had done more for the company than any of his bootlicking could have ever hoped to achieve. It made sense—people loved a good gossip reel, and for them, Minseok was practically a mystery to crack.

            Not to mention, their partnership with Kim Industries practically had offers flying to their doorstep. He’d just finished his deal with Jongdae’s division a few days ago, and they were already in talks for future work together, both with his department and others in the company. Good news had already spread of their collaboration, and if there was one thing in this industry that could skyrocket their popularity and business, it’d be recommendations and referrals from Kim Industries.

            Now that he thought about it, he owed a lot more to Jongdae than he gave credit. After all, if it weren’t for his boyfriend, he’d still be out at some gala or banquet every other weekend trying to woo and charm investors and partners three ways to Sunday. Now, they were having to turn down people simply because they don’t have enough time and resources to work with all of them. But even with that, it seemed like the time he spent working overtime had decreased since he started dating Jongdae. Whether it be because his personal workload decreased, or because his boyfriend just gave him a reason to work harder, he wasn’t sure. He suspected it was a little bit of both.

            Then, there were the other things that Jongdae did for him. Like how he’d deal with his lack of creativity and just smile when he’d suggest the same coffee shop for their date the third time in a row. Or like how he’d patiently teach him about what it was like to be an unmated Omega on suppressants without judging his ignorance or laughing at his stupid questions. Or like how he’d be the shoulder for him to cry on when the frustration, the worry, the fear he felt before his had went into surgery got to be too much.

            Really, Jongdae was there for him no matter where he looked.

            With a fond smile on his face, he grabbed his bag and headed out, waving to his secretary as he did. Mostly everyone had already gone home for the day, and if they weren’t, they were getting ready to. It was getting late, after all, and no one wanted to spend their Friday evenings at work. Even Seungwan, who probably invented the idea of a workaholic, was turning in for the day it seemed. The quiet of the office was always a bit odd after a busy working day, but it was strangely relaxing, in a way.

            Minseok should’ve known that peace wouldn’t have lasted long.

            He tried to not to jump back as the first thing that greeted him walking out of the elevator was a camera flash. Startled, he rubbed at his eyes and looked around, only to see the company lobby flooded with reporters.

            “What the—”

            He couldn’t even get the chance to get the exclamation out, because his voice was being drowned out by insistent questions and calls of his name. Overwhelmed, Minseok desperately looked around to find an opening. One of the managers reporting to him caught his eye and gestured for him to follow her, which he did thankfully. They wormed their way through the journalists, and he did his best to give polite nods and stiff greetings to them. He froze, however, when one question pierced through his senses like a dagger through his mind.

            “Minseok-ssi! Is it true that your courter is an Omega?”

            What.

            How did they know? He’d been so careful about keeping to himself about the whole topic, while not hiding his bracelet as to not annoy Jongdae. Oh God, Jongdae. Did they know it was him? Had someone who knew Jongdae leaked it? Wait, thinking about it… did Jongdae lea—

            “Executive Kim, are you alright?”

            He snapped out of his stupor to see the manager looking up at him in concern.

            “Y…yeah, sorry,” he muttered out, eventually squirming his way out of the crowd to his car. God, was he glad he decided to drive today instead of taking the train. He didn’t think he could handle being in public for any longer. Practically speeding out of the parking lot, he tried not to look back as he drove off to the hospital.

            And immediately proceeded to groan loudly as a thought crossed his head.

            His dad was gonna give him Hell for this.

----

            Luckily enough for him, his father hardly had the time to chew him out, or even really interrogate him much about it all. He’d gotten to the hospital just about ten minutes before visiting hours ended, so they barely had enough time to catch up on company affairs before Minseok was being shooed away by a nurse. His father ended up settling with a gruff sigh and a ‘this better raise our stocks, mister,’ before he waved goodbye.

            Stepping into his apartment, he was only half-surprised to see the lights on and dress shoes by his door.

            “I’m home,” he called out easily, vaguely wondering if it was Lu Han or Jongdae who’d broken into his house this time.

            “I have shrimp chips!” A voice sounded from the living room. Jongdae, then.

            “Is there any left for me?” he asked.

Slightly amused, he walked in to see his boyfriend sprawled across his couch. Blazer off, tie loosened, hair ruffled, it looked like Jongdae had just bolted here after work. It hardly bothered Minseok, though—how could it? There were shrimp chips involved!

            “There will be if you come join me,” Jongdae said liltingly, finally looking up to grin at him.

            “Yes, yes,” he conceded easily, dropping his briefcase by his coffee table and taking his seat by Jongdae. Almost immediately, his boyfriend was curling up into his side, feeding him a small handful of the chips wordlessly. There was some drama playing on the TV, though it seemed like he wasn’t paying even the slightest of attention to it. “When’d you get here?”

            “Like an hour ago,” Jongdae hummed absently. “How’s your pops?”

            “Stubborn as ever. He nearly yelled at a nurse for bringing him water.” Jongdae guffawed at that, and even Minseok’s lips turned up a bit at the memory. “Besides that, he’s fine—alive and kicking, y’know? Emphasis on the kicking part; I think he’ll legitimately try to beat someone up if he doesn’t get discharged soon. Probably me, to be honest, after the recent ‘courting’ scandal that’s blowing up.”

            Jongdae tensed in his arms, and Minseok wasn’t sure whether to be surprised or exasperated. Maybe both.

            “Wanna talk about that?” he asked lightly, but they both knew it wasn’t a real question—it was a demand.

            He squeezed his boyfriend’s arm in what he hoped was a reassuring matter, but he knew his discomfort was palpable. Who could blame him? He’d always been a patient person, but they couldn’t afford leaks now, when they had nothing even close to a plan and eyes on them practically 24/7. With Lu Han and Jongdae’s engagement only now slowly starting to leave the news cycle, Yixing’s name plastered all over the place because of his newest album release, and Minseok’s family drawing intrigue from their stock spike and from the CEO’s successful surgery—none of them had any room to breathe, let alone make mischief.

            “…no,” Jongdae eventually replied, making Minseok sigh as his boyfriend retreated further into the crook of his arm.

            “Jongdae,” he tried again.

            “Shut up.” The younger boy shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth, indignantly.

            “Darling, sweetheart.”

            “Fight me.”

            “I’m not mad—”

            “And I didn’t do anything.” Minseok took a deep breath to force himself to keep calm. They weren’t going to get anywhere like this, he knew, but he was running out of ideas and his patience was running thin. But Jongdae was quickly speaking up again. “Besides, it’s not like it’ll do anything, it’s just a stupid news story.”

            “A news story that gets us one step closer to getting caught,” he mentioned lightly. “There’s not a lot of Omegas like you, you know. They’re gonna see this as a ballsy move, and sooner or later they’re gonna piece together the puzzle. It’s already common knowledge that I worked with you for that project, and now with this, they’re only gonna suspect more—”

            “Then let them ing suspect!”

            The yell stunned Minseok into silence, his entire body freezing up as Jongdae straightened his back. His arm felt heavy on his boyfriend’s shoulders as the man clenched his fists in his lap and kept his head down. The bowl of shrimp chips had, at some point, been put away, but that was hardly Minseok’s focus as he could barely half of Jongdae’s face, chin tucked down and eyes hidden away by his bangs. He sat up quickly and turned so he could properly face his boyfriend, his eyebrows scrunching up in worry almost immediately.

            “Jongd—”

            “Who cares if they guess? Hell, who even cares if they get it right? What does it even ing matter if everyone’s just gonna ignore everything I say and go along with their own ing agendas anyway, huh?!”

            Jongdae snapped his head up towards Minseok’s, and the older man’s breath hitched at what he saw. Jongdae had cried, gotten upset, and all of those sorts of things in front of him before. They were open with each other as much as possible. Just like how he cried in front of Jongdae when his mom got into a car accident a week ago, his boyfriend cried and broke down when the engagement was first announced.  If it wasn’t that, it was Jongdae stifling a cry when things got particularly tough or worrisome, or even when he just needed to let out stress and all the other emotions he’d bottle up throughout the day.

            Yet this was like none of those times.

            A glare painted on his usually kind and gentle features, Jongdae stared at him with the fury of a thousand suns. Even as tracks of tears trailed down his cheeks endlessly, his expression was far from a gloomy one. Rage, regret, disappointment, and what even seemed to be fear swirled in his eyes as his lips quivered from unspoken fury.

            And it was all directed at Minseok.

            “Jongdae,” he tried, pleadingly, though he wasn’t even sure what to say at this point. “Please, tell me what happene—”

            “What happened? Oh sure, ing sure.”

            Jongdae seemed near hysterics now, but Minseok didn’t dare remove his arm, which had fallen from his boyfriend’s shoulders to his lap when he turned to face him. No matter how concerned for and slightly scared of Jongdae he was right now, he was going to be the boy’s anchor no matter what.

            “I’ll tell you what happened, fine. Hell, where do I even ing start—no, you shut the up and listen.” Minseok closed his mouth immediately, blinking as Jongdae’s swollen eyes glared at him further. “How about we start the day I was ing born? You know what ing ? Not being given a name until you were five, because you didn’t an Alpha scent when you first popped out and they wanted to wait ‘til you presented and found out if you’re a Beta or an Omega so they could give you a name ‘befitting of your status,’ like you’re either a normal person or ing slave?”

            “Oh, but , I’d take being called ‘boy’ for the rest of my life over the other ing bull. Do you know how ing degrading it is to have everyone, every God damn person you meet call you ‘Omega,’ for the rest of your life?  giving you a name, you might as well be named ‘-boy’ or ‘Alpha breeder’ because that’s all anyone gives a about. Do you know what it’s like to have your parents—your own ing honest-to-God parents—call you Omega half the time? Like, if you’re misbehaving and they call you Omega to remind you of the blow-up doll you’re meant to be, you’ll suddenly obey them and be a good child?”

            Every word drove a bigger stake into Minseok’s heart, but Jongdae was far from done.

            “Can you even begin to imagine what it’d be like to be nothing but a ing porcelain, baby-making doll to everyone you’re supposed to know and love? When your nannies give you -ed lessons the second you hit puberty? When your long-term security staff doesn’t let you go out for months at a time because 'Alphas are hitting rut season and the Master and Mistress have yet to find you a suitor, young Master?' Or hell, what about when your brother nearly kills two people you were friends with all in the name of ‘keeping you safe from creeps,’ and makes you bear with the guilt for the rest of your life?”

            “And God, the parents. What sort of normal, good parents start scouring for mates for you when you’re ing five? Or only let you take some control of your life and goals so they can make themselves look better and make you look nicer to someone’s cocky parents? Or who ing replace your suppressants with placebo pills so you don’t notice ‘til it’s too ing late.”

            Minseok froze at that, his jaw open, agape as he could barely formulate a stutter.

            “Th… they, they didn’t—”

            “They ing did,” Jongdae snarled. “Took them while I was sleeping and started changing them out in parts to wean me off. Wouldn’t have ing known for another month if Jongin didn’t warn me.”

            Huffing in a bout of frustration, and hurt, Jongdae threw his body back to lean on the couch. His fists were clenched tight enough to leave indentations on the palm of his hand, and Minseok grabbed one immediately. Prying his boyfriend’s fist open, he forced their fingers to interlock and only slightly winced when Jongdae gripped on his hand ridiculously tightly.

            “…How long have you been off them?” he asked slowly, leaning closer as the anger faded from Jongdae’s eyes, only to be replaced by pain and grief. Gone was the hysteric screaming and raging, as it left room only for fearful whispers and sobbing.

            “Not completely off them, but my Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday pills are all fake now. They’ve probably been replacing one pill a week, so I’d be completely off them in another three weeks’ time. Even if I confronted them about it now and forced them to switch it all back, I’d need at least two or three weeks for each pill to set in, and at that point it’d be too late anyway.”

            Minseok understood that much. In his research about Omega lifestyles and suppressants, he’d found a plethora of sites explaining that starting suppressants was a lot more difficult than stopping them. It made sense too, logically speaking. Going against a natural process with medication was bound to take more effort than reverting back to that process, after all. Trying to incorporate a suppressant in its entirety immediately could lead to hormonal and reproductive damage that could easily become permanent. On the other hand, while side effects were possible when weaning off suppressants, most of them just meant extended or more intense heats, mood swings, cramping, and other similar things. Notable side effects, but nothing as harmful or deadly as taking the pills too quickly.      

            “Why now?” he asked quietly, barely breathing out a sigh of relief when Jongdae’s grip loosened.

            “They…” he trailed off, looking up at Minseok with a glassed-over gaze that made him just want to gather his boyfriend in his arms and hold him forever. “They pushed the wedding forward.”

            He’d hold Jongdae, right after he punched the boy’s parents in the neck.

            “Lu Han hyung’s parents insisted on doing it earlier since they kinda know about Lay hyung, and my folks were all for it,” he explained dully, the light drained from his eyes. “The wedding’s supposed to be next month.”

            This time, Minseok actually did pull Jongdae into an embrace, holding onto the boy tightly and not letting go as hands shyly pulled up to return to hug. Jongdae’s whole body was quivering at this point, yet it was no longer wracked by sobs, which he supposed was progress.

            “I’m so done.”

            Jongdae’s voice was quiet, but clear, and only growing louder.

            “I wanna give up. Just say it all and let whatever happens happen because I’m so tired. I’m so, so, so ing tired of everything and everyone. What the hell am I supposed to do when it seems everything and everyone in this god damn universe has it out to get me, to ruin my life? I’m trying so hard and so much to do what I wanna do and yet nothing I want seems to go my way and I’ve just ing had it. What’s the point in fighting for yourself if it’s not gonna do anything?”

            Jongdae was practically screaming into his chest at this point, but they weren’t out of anger. No, the rage had flooded out of Jongdae’s systems long ago, leaving only this. A cry out, a shout into the darkness so clear that Minseok could only use one word to describe it.

            “I just want it all to be better.”

            Pleading.

            “I’m not going to fight for you, Jongdae.”

            He knew his words were clear and loud, as his boyfriend stiffened completely in his arms. The shaking even stilled, as what Minseok knew to be shock ran through every inch of Jongdae’s body. He made no move to say anything though, and that very silence had Minseok smiling. Not only did he not jump to conclusions and start yelling, but he was clearly listening, waiting for the rest of what he was going to say. Really, he knew Minseok so well.

            “I’m not going to fight for you, because it’s not what you want or what you need. I’ve told you this before, and I’ll say it again. I could do everything to stop this engagement. I could present myself to your parents, make our courtship public—hell, I could even mate with you right now. We could right now until the sun comes up tomorrow morning, until there’s not a single doubt in anyone’s mind that you were pregnant, carrying my baby. I could play every underhanded trick in the book to ever exist right here and now, but that isn’t and will never be what you want.”

            “Because,” he continued, tugging the boy closer to him as he tried to squirm away indignantly, “none of that would mean anything unless you were the one doing it, and you know that. If I did all that, nothing you cared about or did would matter. Our marriage would seem like a thing for our families to save face before a kid popped out from wedlock. You continuing to work would be seen as me ‘giving you permission’ to do so, rather than you doing it because you want to and you’re good at it. My love for you would be seen as glorified lust and instinctual possessiveness no matter what either of us said. If you don’t do this for yourself, nothing’s ever gonna change.”

            He paused there, letting his hand play through Jongdae’s hair lightly as they sat there in silence. After a few minutes, Jongdae finally pulled back just enough to look at him dead in the eye, and Minseok tried not to frown as he saw the redness seeping through his eyes, the teeth imprints pressed into his bottom lip, and the wetness covering his cheeks.

            “Hey,” he started, but cut himself off quickly.

            “Yeah?” Minseok urged gently, his hair gently.

            “When you said…” he paused. “When you said, your… your love for me, did you mean it?”

            “Absolutely.”

            If there was one thing Minseok was sure about in that very moment, it was that.

            “I don’t know when it happened, or when I realized it. I don’t know if any one thing brought it upon me or if it’s just something that’s grown for a while. But what I do know, without a shade of doubt in my mind, is that I love you, Kim Jongdae, to bits. I love every part of you, from head to toe, no matter happy or sad or angry or funky,” Jongdae chuckled at that last one, “you get. I love you, and nothing will ever change that.”

            Jongdae stared at him with this deep, searching look as he finished speaking, wordlessly staring him down. It was as though he was looking into his very soul, scouring and digging for hints, for clues, for even the slightest of tips that he may be lying. That he was insincere. That he didn’t mean it. Yet Minseok didn’t back down. He returned the gaze with one of his own, a firm, confident, but tender look that he hoped would show Jongdae how genuine he was.

            A smile curled up on those kitten lips, content and calm.

            “I’m not gonna let anyone take you away from me, Minnie.”

jongdae's angry as but honestly who can blame him i sure as hell don't
y'know i was actually worried that this chapter wouldn't be long enough bc it was just gonna be jd yelling yet lo and behold i write it and it's literally longer than most chapters i write 
10/10 much planning

also a quick side note about the layhan side story. thanks everyone who voted and/or commented their opinions, and based on the vote i'm gonna go forward with the side story! however, and i should've clarified this in last chapter's author notes but i forgot, this story won't come until the END of the main story. it's my general rule of thumb with all side stories: wait until the main is done, then add the extras. this does mess up the chronology a bit, of course, but i'd rather give everyone the main story first, so the thing that everyone came for is finished, before moving onto a side story that only some wanted. hope that makes sense and clears up any confusion!

i think thats it for now, stay tuned for the next chapter where a bunch of goes down (probs i havent written it yet whoops) and xiuchen hopefully saves the day