I won't be updating this one for a while, just wanted to catch my AFF up to my AO3 fic :3

-

Six months after Yunhyeong’s presentation, the whole group received a message from their CEO to head to the building for big news.

They got into the van, nervous energy buzzing around them, Yunhyeong and Jinhwan in particular experiencing it almost double-fold. They had started taking lessons with some of the older bonded Packs in YG in order to learn how to control how much they shared and received right after they Pack bonded.

It was a long process, but the both of them had it mostly down. However, the heightened nervousness of Yunhyeong made his control weaken and his emotions were pushing against Jinhwan’s barrier.

“Yun,” Jinhwan breathed out, turning to his Beta and resting a hand on his arm, “calm down.”

Yunhyeong looked at the Alpha guiltily. “Sorry, Jinan-hyung,” he whispered, reining in his nerves again, tighter this time.

Jinhwan breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he told Yunhyeong.

The van stopped and the driver looked at them, “We’re here.”

The group got out and walked towards the training room apprehensively. Hanbin was at the front, leading them to the doors with Bobby and Jinhwan right behind him. He opened the door slowly and peeked in, slightly twitching as he saw the large amount of cameras and people inside the room.

“What’s wrong?” Jinhwan murmured from behind him, proverbial hackles rising in protective alarm at Hanbin’s uneasiness.

Hanbin subtly waved his hand at Jinhwan to calm him down, walking into the room with quiet confidence. The rest of the kids took comfort in his calm gait and walked in with the same mindset, barely showing their nervousness at the cameras.

Hanbin bowed to the cameramen and PD’s, walking to the benches and sitting down, the group following his lead.

They waited patiently for a few minutes before the door opened again and, to their surprise, five of their close friends walked in, pausing at the sight of the cameras and group of six.

Seunghoon, the leader of the group, kept walking with barely a hiccup to his step as he absorbed the scene before him. He stopped in front of Hanbin and leaned down, murmuring quietly, “What’s going on, Bin?”

Hanbin gave a slight shrug and replied just as quietly, “Don’t know, but I have a bad feeling about this.”

Seunghoon accepted it with a nod of his head, gently pulling Hanbin up to sit in his seat and placing the younger onto his lap. The rest of his Pack mingled amongst Hanbin’s boys and they quietly talked while waiting for the CEO.

The door swung open after almost ten minutes and the entire room fell silent, all eyes trained on YG’s CEO, Yang Hyunsuk.

The Alpha walked in confidently, scanning the room with a cold gaze before coming to a stop at the front of the room. All eleven boys scrambled to their feet, forming a straight line of their Packs in front of the man who would decide their future.

He looked all of them in the eye slowly, one-by-one, and nodded, as if finally coming to a decision.

The cameras flickered to life at the gesture and he asked them a question that would change their lives – and their bonds with each other. “When do you expect to debut?”

-

After the last of the cameras left, the eleven boys collapsed onto the ground, still reeling from the bomb the CEO dropped on them.

Hanbin was the first to recover, always the strongest of them mentally. “This is both a good and bad thing and I don’t know which one weighs more.”

Seungyoon responded, “One of us will debut, but the other group...”

No one wanted to think of the consequences the losers would experience.

Jinhwan spoke up, “Hyungs won’t get separated because you guys are already a Pack. Even he knows not to mess with that kind of bond. But us…”

Hanbin cut in, a hard glint in his eyes, “Nothing will happen to us,” he swore, “I’ll make sure of it.”

“You can’t promise that, Hanbin-hyung.” Junhoe spoke up quietly, shoulders slumped uncharacteristically.

Donghyuk scooted closer to him, leaning against him as Seunghoon placed a hand on the nape of his neck comfortingly.

“We’re Pack,” Hanbin replied back sharply, “that means we either go together or not at all. And you know YG values Jiwon-hyung and I too much to let us go.”

Taehyun took in a quick breath, looking at his younger friend warily. “Do you understand what you’re saying, Bin?”

Hanbin nodded confidently, “If he tries to split us apart, he’ll lose me, his ‘second G-Dragon’ and all my music.”

Bobby added in, “And me, one of his best rappers.”

“So, you’re basically saying you’ll blackmail the president of YG, one of the Big Three companies?” Minho asked sharply, looking at the duo with unreadable eyes.

“Yes,” Bobby answered firmly for the both of them, staring right back at his older Alpha friend resolutely.

Minho looked at him and suddenly broke out into a grin, eyes brightening in mirth. “You two are so damn gusty, it might actually work!” He laughed loudly, reaching his hand out for a high-five, which Bobby gladly returned.

Hanbin turned to his boys, meeting their shocked eyes fondly. “We’re Pack.” He repeated softly, “That means we go together, or not at all.”

“You’re risking your future, Hanbin,” Jinhwan said to him incredulously. “Out of all of us, you’re the one that can go the furthest.” The rest of the boys nodded, fully aware of the fact that Hanbin had more talent then they could ever hope to obtain ten lifetimes over.

“I don’t care,” Hanbin asserted firmly, “You guys are my boys, and worth far more to me than anything YG could ever offer, got it?”

Donghyuk nodded, lower lip wobbling as he tried not to cry. Bobby laughed softly, crawling over to his baby dongsaeng and hugging him. “You guys are so important to Hanbin and I, you know?”

Junhoe bit his lip, a tear rolling down his face in sheer relief that he wouldn’t be separated from the group he considered his brothers. Warm arms wrapped around him and a head settled on his.

“You guys are too good at making us hyungs cry.” Seungyoon warbled, rubbing his face into Junhoe’s hair. Taehyun nodded, hiding his tears in Hanbin’s shoulders as he cuddled into the younger.

Seunghoon sat off to the side, looking at the group of ten with sad fondness, loathing to break up the familial atmosphere.

“Kids,” he called out softly, waiting for their attention. “As soon as we step out of this room, we’ll no longer be friends. We’ll be competitors.”

Yunhyeong made a hurt noise, gazing at Seunghoon mournfully. He winced, but didn’t take back his words.

Bobby smiled back at him brightly, “Only while this competition lasts. Something like this won’t tear apart a bond made from years of shedding tears and bleeding for one another.”

Seunghoon conceded with a huff, shaking his head fondly. “You’re right,” he replied back, “we’ve been through too much together to let this brotherhood crumble so flimsily.”

Hanbin let out a laugh, “But don’t think I’ll make this easy for you guys. There’s a lot on the line.”

“Hey,” Minho protested good-naturedly, “we have more producers and composers than you do!”

Hanbin smirked, cocking an eyebrow at them, “But are you all as good as me?”

“Brat!” Seungyoon barked out, letting go of Junhoe to fly towards Hanbin and tackle him to the floor. “We’ll show you!”

Hanbin giggled, trying to squirm away from the older Omega’s tickling hands.

The tension lightened up and the group joined in the laughter, only Seunghoon and Jinhwan remaining quiet. Their eyes met over the tangled mass of bodies between them and they shared a melancholic smile, knowing that there was only going to be hurt along this path, no matter how close they were.

This was a survival after all.