Jiyong stood there, lulled by the blinking of his own eyes to think that this wasn't happening. His sister didn't sit in front of him, looking at him with an excited, expectant gaze, and Jiyong didn't have to think of a way to tell her that she had so violently misunderstood him. 

But she went on sitting and she went on staring, and Jiyong accepted that she wouldn't accept it ifhe didn't simply told her that his mind had change and he didn't want the 'normal' Veela bond anymore. He would have to explain. 

"Nuna, I'm flattered that you did all these work for me," he said, and reached out to take her hand. "You said that this ritual is almost forgotten because people decide that all Veela bond and, what? It would be foolish to resist it?" His voice was dry and thin as paper, but his sister didn't seem to notice. 

On the contrary, she beamed at him and nodded. "Yes. The bonds were once sometimes resisted and fought, you know. Apparently, some people knew that the tie between them and another person was weak, or unflettering to them." She laughed a little. "I wish we had retained that mindset. With it, we might have known at once that Lee Seungri wasn't for you, and you should seek someone else."

He is for me, Jiyong thought, with a vicious beat of his heart. If someone tries to take Seungri away, he would rip their eyes out from their head.

"Jiyong, what's wrong?"

Yes, he had his hand shifted into claws in his sister's hold, and she gazed at him anxiously, not be able to ierpret his silence or the edge of agony he had taken on. Jiyong sighed and sat down beside her. He would have to pick his way carefully, not to hurt her feelings, but honestly, he thought that she would be able to recover from hurt feeling more easily than either him or Seungri would recover from rejection. 

"Nuna, I'm flattered that you do all these works for me," he repeated, and his sister wasn't stupid. He saw the clouding in her eyes and the withdrawal back from him against the other arm of the couch. Jiyong held her glance anyway, and tried to show how much he loved her. "But Seungri and I have changed. We're growing closer now. I understand him better now, and I can say that he's on the process to accept our bond as how it is. I don't want to change him for anyone else."

"I don't understand," said So Hyung, in an exquisitely polite voice of someone who concealing their dissapointment. "You don't want a submissive mate? You, don't want someone who will place your every need and desire first?"

Jiyong hesitated. That was a vision he had been raised with, with natural and shining one, and it is still tempting. But, having to struggle with Seungri make him understand himself more. Yes, perhaps without Seungri, that would have been what he wanted. Now, though, he wanted someone who would challenge him, fight with him, compromise with him and he wanted Seungri. 

Seungri, who with all of his past, his flaws and his emotions that were flooding him like melting snow, and their tattered bond that was repairing itself now. Jiyong tried to imagine himself touching someone else the way he touched Seungri, kissing them, and tolerate their emotions and moods the way he had with Seungri. But, no faceless mate his sister could find for him would be better or even near it other than Seungri. Strange or not, thats the way it is.

"I don't want anyone else," Jiyong finally said. "I'm at peace at my own choice of mate. And, I like him the way he is." It might be too much to say that he loved Seungri to So Hyung yet, although the boiling feeling inside his chest did resemble it.

"You could have anyone you wanted," So Hyung said. 

"Anyone else who is submissive and thought that bonding with me was a gift?" said Jiyong, frowning. "Do you have candidate in mind nuna? Because I honestly can't think of anyone to replace Seungri." He was sure that his sister would want him to marry a girl from other noble families that they knew, families that is similar to them in both status and wealth. 

And honestly, he don't want any of them. 

"I do not have any particular candidate in mind," So Hyung said. Jiyong looked sharply at his sister. She had said those words with a little twist in her neck and that, he had learned to read, of necessity. The twist of her neck always meant that she was trying to soften the blow.

"Nuna," Jiyong began, a hint of exasperation in his voice no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"Her name is Lee Da Hae."

Jiyong had searched his mind for a moment before he found the name Lee. The were Korean aristocrat families, but they had gone to live abroad at Spain and Jiyong knew none of their children had attended school in this country, or even returned here with the interest of staying. Therefore, he couldn't picture Lee Da Hae.

But the name and connection tells him a lot, anyway. He was sure that Lee Da Hae would be a pale, and soft, and she'll do anything to please her Veela mate. She would probably one of those girls with traditional korean girls look, with her straight black hair and almond shaped eyes. Pliant. He could do what he liked to her in a way he could never do with Seungri. 

But thats not what I want.

No, it wasn't. Perhaps Jiyong would never know the exact moment where his feelings change but they had, and it was stupid to keep on pretending otherwise, just because he thought his sister would be dissapoint if he didn't. 

He faced So Hyung and shook his head a little. "I hope she finds a Veela to bond with, and you find a way to make it up to her if you already promised her," he said quietly. "But I've choosen with whom I wanted to be with."

Only a sligh narrowing of his sister's eyes told him her real emotions. "You didn't choose," she said. "Destiny, or whatever name you want to give to the force that creates Veela bonds decide for you. Does that seems like freedom to you?"

Jiyong winced a little, but he maintained his calm, stubborn gaze right into her sister's eyes. "It didn't once. But now, it is."

"Why? Because he yielded a bit, and you wanted to him?" said So Hyung, the words making Jiyong wince and rock back. He had never imagined curses like that to comes out from . "Is that worth compromising your future happiness?"

"Choosing anyone else would be compromising it," said Jiyong. His hold on his temper was slipping a little. No matter how much he love his sister, he couldn't just sit there and let her insult his mate. He stood up and began to paced slowly back and forth, trying to relax his wings, which were snapping out to the sides. "I might have not be keen at all about having Seungri as my mate at first, but I understand both of this bond and him a lot better now. I can accept it the way it is."

"You should feel more than just accepting it," said So Hyung. He expression turn hard and cold as she stared at Jiyong. "You should rejoice in it. Da Hae could make you feel that, and even more than what you feel with him now."

"How can you be sure of that?" Jiyong asked softly, keeping his head turned away from her. He wanted to yell at So Hyung but he can't act like that towards his sister. "It was less than months ago you started researching about this. How much time you spent talking to her? To get to know her? To be so sure that she would please me?"

"She is a perfect submissive and ready to be bound to a Veela," said So Hyung, as if that was the only thing mattered. 

Jiyong had once thought of it the same way. He had assumed the same things about Seungri, and those who had mattered a lot more to him than looks or their past or the personality Seungri would bring into their bond. But he had options now. That was the only way he could phrase himself. Why would he settled for something less than the absolute best? And he knew that Lee Da Hae, as pretty as she can be. as polite, as proper, wouldn't be able to please him the way Seungri did. If only he could convince So Hyung of that. 

Then Jiyong paused, and another thought raced softly inside his mind and startled him with a new perspective. 

Why would he have to give So Hyung any convictions at all? This was his life she was talking about, and no matter how much she cared for him, she couldn't live in his place. Jiyong sighed and turned to her. 

"Don't bring up Lee Da Hae again," he said. "Please," he added, when he saw her opening and knew she would probably determined enough to keep on going about this. "I appreciate you finding her. I hope she'll find someone else, or other Veela to bond with. But I have my mate and thats not going to change."

So Hyung didn't argue back, the way he thought she would. She only sat there with her hand folded in her lap and her eyes so distant and cold Jiyong wondered if she already dismissed him in her mind and go hunting for some other distant goal. 

"Very well," So Hyung said finally,and her voice crackled like a burning paper. "I thought you must know this, its Seungri who asked for my help him find a way to get out from the bond. He clearly don't want you, so why the hell you're thinking to keep your bond?" She didn't wait for Jiyong to reply, but she stood up and simply walked out of the room.

Jiyong was left behind to stare after her, more than a little shaken, and wishing that what she said wasn't true. Seungri may not want this bond at first, but thing were changing between them. He believe that but that faith had been shaken a little. 

*

Jiyong's heart were thumping against his chest as he walk toward his bedroom. His mind were swirling with thoughts, and So Hyung's voice seems to bounce against the hallway walls as he passes through. He knows from the start that Seungri were forced into this and he can accept it if his mate reaches for everyone else for help, even if its So Hyung. He could forgive that because it doesn't matter anymore since their relationship had been progressing so much. 

But, the displeasure, and the doubts returned again when he thinks about it now. What would happen to him if Seungri had found out from So Hyung that this bond between them could be broken without having him dying? What if after finding out about that, Seungri choose to leave? It's hard to deny that at the very beginning, Seungri's acceptance towards their bond is because he don't want Jiyong to die... and now, if he knows there's a way to leave, without Jiyong,clawing his eyes out or convulsing violently on the floor, of course he would take those chances. 

Seungri never did love him enough to stay. The thought come across his mind, and he could feel his stomach sunk.

Jiyong paused and turned around, resting his hand on the knob of their bedroom's door. Jiyong sighed and grip it harder. He was plagued by questions of how his mate would react if he found out and what his next actions would be. Would he really leave?, asked a voice inside his head and Jiyong was scared to find out. And from whence he could glean the temerity to face the said mate. He was too conceited, from the start he should know that he had no redeeming qualities that would make Seungri proud to be his mate. He's a Kwon and all, but then, Seungri never really care. From the start, Seungri don't want him.

The thoughts in Jiyong's head made his chest hurt. But still, he's hoping that what So Hyung said wasn't the truth, and that Seungri's behavior towards him were all his honest effort to accept him as his Veela. 

Jiyong stands there for however long, brooding and too scared to face Seungri, too worried if he can see the truth written all over Seungri's beautiful face. At the end, he cursed himself to stop being such a wimp. He pushed the door and started to walk into their bedroom. His pace were much slower, legs weighed down by his lingering worries. 

He peaked inside the door, searching for his mate presence inside the huge room. Seungri isn't on the alcove like how he left the room earlier and that brought a fresh surge of worries and doubt inside his heart but it calmed down when he saw Seungri was curled under the thick quilt on their bed, with his favourite book still in his hand. Had he fall asleep while waiting for me?

Jiyong carefully pull the book away and place it on the nightstand. He get on the bed and layed down beside Seungri, carefully enough so that he won't wake his mate up. Seungri seemed to be content in his sleep, and he took solace in that. Since they've been talking more honestly to each other, Seungri seemed to be more relaxed to be around him compared to the first couple month of their bonds.

His mate seemed to smile more nowadays and it's not one of the snarky smirks or even a scoff like how he used to do. Seungri's smile if he could describe it, were more honest and everytime he sees it, he find himself to fall even more deeper than he already is and he don't want to lose it now. After all they've gone through, and after all the things he has to do just to earn Seungri's trust. 

Jiyong sighed, he took Seungri's hand into his and laced their fingers together. He kissed the back of Seungri's hand and continue staring at his mate. His heart started beating almost painfully when Soo Hyung's words flashes inside his mind and the doubts comes back. Would Seungri still leave me if he knows? He held Seungri's hand tighter and start to wonder... how would he anchored himself if Seungri ever comes to him, in anger, sadness or whatever the emotions it is, telling him that he was going to leave him; that he couldn't possibly be expected to live with Jiyong as his dominant Veela; for tears.

Jiyong opened his eyes and stares back at Seungri. It was impossible for him to watch Seungri leave without losing his mind. Maybe he wouldn't die, if the ritual that Soo Hyung tell him about were true, but his heart will die. He reached out his hand and pulled Seungri close to him. He would never touched Seungri without his consent, or when he's asleep but he decided that he needed this. The Veela in him demanded him to hold his mate close, to feel his presence and for the first time, he let those instinct take over.

The thumping in his ribcage ricocheted when he feels Seungri snuggled back to his chest and Jiyong wrap his arm around his mate. He prayed hard, the way he never did before that this would last. That Seungri won't ever leave his side. He don't think he could handle that if it ever happen.

*

"Lee Seungri. A word." 

Seungri turned around. So Hyung hasn't sought him out for these past few months. He wondered where she could've been but he is not that curious to ask about it to Jiyong but honestly, he had disposed to regard that as a good thing. He had a peace in his mind and able to give this bond a proper thought eversince she didn't interfere. Maybe that was what both him and Jiyong needed all along, to learn and figured out things on their own without an interference. 

However, he knew that she had a conversation with Jiyong the other day, but Jiyong had only turned his head when he asked what it is about and Seungri was learning to be sensitive. So he pressed Jiyong's hand and let him be. 

So Hyung though, walked right up to him now, and her face was set in a peculiarly calm, business - like expression. "I've come to you," She announced, "because I think you care more about Jiyong's happiness than he does."

"All right," Seungri said. He found himself looking around, expecting Jiyong to come flying into the room in a second. But Jiyong had said that he would be upstairs organizing a surprise for him, and begged him not to come up any sooner than his call. So Seungri folded his arms and fixed his gaze on So Hyung and tried to act as he would when he was comforting someone who didn't consider anyone else words except their own. "You have my attention."

"You know how my brother craves for a mate who can give him everything," said So Hyung, and her lips set in a flat line. "And you, you have given him... much." Seungri could feel how that admission hurt her, almost wrenched out of her as though someone had caught it on fishhook dangled down . "But you can't give him everything that he wanted."

"What else I'm missing?" Seungri felt as though he was falling into a pit that had opened up in the middle of his stomach. 

"Perfect submission," said So Hyung, with a faint sneer on her lips. "You know something of what he suffered on the first day he claimed you as his mate and how you rejected him in front of those crowds," Seungri nodded, half - unwillingly. Yes, he did, from his vision if nothing else. "He needs to be in control as a dominant Veela because its in his blood to act like that, and a mate who would never hurt him." She cocked her head. "But you have."

"What are you trying to say? You couldn't guarantee that his perfect mate wouldn't have obeyed him perfectly, and they does.. I don't think that was what he wanted anymore," Seungri began, uneasiness rising. 

"I'm not just pointing at that aspect." So Hyung seemed to rise and surge towards him without, moving at all. "But right now, I'm talking about you throwing him on the floor, pining him down and bruising him. After you becomes mates."

Seungri tried to swallow, and found his throat soft and dry. He reached up, touched his neck, then dropped his hand back to his side. "Has Jiyong told you this?"

"Not recently," said So Hyung. "But I know his desires as he grew up, and people do not change so completely as to abandon all of those." She turned her head to one side and kept Seungri under observation like a hawk. "And think of the way you have hurt him. Should someone who throw someone else around remain mated to them? Married to them?"

No, Seungri thought. His head was filled with the memories of his own childhood and back to the times when he was with Lucas, and his fervent wishes that someone would come and rescue him from Noah. Of course, it wasn't exactly the same thing, but it was similar enough when he thought about it that way. It was still a form of abuse, of what he did to Jiyong and the thought of it make him feels sick. I can't... I can't stay with Jiyong if I abused him.

He had no clear justification for why he lashed out at Jiyong that day, either. Jiyong hadn't actively been trying to hurt or him, the thing Seungri had feared as soon as he heard about the bond and understood the ual nature of it. If anything, Jiyong had been so patient and gentle to him. That meant it was him who had been the abuser, the aggressor, there. He wondered why Jiyong hadn't brought it up. He noticed the bruise on Jiyong's neck that day but he keep his pride and never apologized for it. Seungri sighed. Of course. Jiyong thought that they had no choice but to remain in the bond even when it was broken and tettered... even if he was abused by his own mate.

"I have found the solution to that," So Hyung whispered.

It took Seungri longer than usual to pull himself out of the darkness he had plunged into, so deep that it felt as if it was lapping over the exposed surfaces of his mind and icing them, and he stares at her. "What do you mean? I can't change the reality of how I abused him but I wouldn't do that, ever again."

"No, and you can do more than that simple promise" So Hyung gave him a small smile that made Seungri feel as if she was sympathetic to him, after all, at least, a little. "And you can change things in the future so you would never hurt him again."

Seungri took a deep breath. "I think we're on the track of that." It made sense that So Hyung wouldn't know since she wasn't around much in the past few weeks. "I've - learned how to get along with him, and he's accepting me --"

"Yes, victims often do since they didn't have other choice."

Seungri winched again. "I mean, he's been accepting me as who I am, he's been learning about me," he said, and he couldn't deny how his words sound so desperate. "And, I'm learning to accept him and this bond. Its another means of ensuring that this wouldn't ever happens again."

So Hyung looked at him with the pity and understanding gone from her smile. "You don't understand, don't you?" she whispered. "You don't grasp how humiliating it would be for him to have crawling back to the person who abused him, and beg for forgiveness? You're the one who hurt him without any reasons that he could've expected and yet, the one who apologized first is him. You doesn't even act like you're feeling guilty."

"It's not that," Seungri said, a little hotly. "I didn't mean it! We can - we always can talk about it and go on, now. We have a good enough relationship to do that. Our bond is healing."

"And I am saying that, my brother should not have to have a relationship of any kind with someone who abused him. Who hurt him just because of things that is beyond of his control!" So Hyung knuckles were white enough to make the silver rings she's wearing, a form of adornment Seungri had barely noticed, stand out like a scar on he fingers. "I don't care what you might have worked out on. What had healed or what had changed between both of you. Think of him for once, and not yourself and your lost freedom. It's not his fault that all these happen and yet, you keep on blaming it on him. Don't you think you've done so much?"

"But we can't change the bond anyway," Seungri snapped. "We have to live with it as best as we can. I would apologize properly to him and treat him better after this."

"You think that would be enough?" She smirked and Seungri clenched his jaws so tight that it starting to hurt. "This is what I'm telling you." So Hyung said, laying almost the same emphasis on every words, standing tall and staring down at him. "I have found a means of changing the bond. Making someone else the submissive partner. Freeing the unsuitable one to live his own life." She curled her lip a little. "Isn't that what you want?"

Seungri, astonishingly, found that it wasn't. Not anymore. His first impulse was to say he wanted to stay with Jiyong, to see what their bond flourishing between them could become. Now that he had his cusiosity and passion and anger back, that sounded like a preferable fate to goinf his own way alone, and maybe sinking back into the dullness that had been his life before he had this bond with Jiyong. He wouldn't admit this yet, but he knows this, that now in his heart, he had a place for Jiyong.

But this wasn't about what he wanted anymore, as So Hyung had pointed out. It really was about what was best for Jiyong. What if he was prolonging Jiyong's agony by staying in this bond? Or what if - 

Seungri's breath caught. Yes, he saw. Jiyong would say that he wanted Seungri to stay no matter what, because Veela's longing for its mate was so strong. He wouldn't think about the abuse, or Seungri's mood swings, or the way Seungri had come so close to letting Jiyong him and lashed out. Seungri's happiness was the thing that mattered to him, so strongly that he would ignore the fact that he was feeling miserable. 

Seungri could only guard Jiyong's happiness by an equal regard in the opposite direction, simply because Jiyong couldn't help himself. 

"Yes," said So Hyung, who had followed his thoughts so easily that Seungri had to wonder if she was able to read his mind as well. "You seems to understand now." She nodded. "I have found someone who would consider it as an honor to have this bond with my brother. Who would never thought of hurting him, because she is properly submissive and someone who could fulfill his every needs that you choose to ignore. Will you listen to me now?"

Seungri burned in reluctance. He wanted to stay with Jiyong after all they've gone through together. He wanted to see what happened next. It might be a better choice than any options he had imagined. 

But... 

He had to do what was best for his mate, didn't he? Not just what he wanted. 

"I'm listening," he said and So Hyung smiled.

TBC....

sorry for the late update. Thank you for always supporting me, especially my dearest friend Aizele. Much Love for you dear.