We Are Just Meant To Be

Chapter Twenty-Two

From the very beginning it could be made clear that, a dominant must always know the status of his submissive health, and emotional state. This is typically different for male-female relationships, were emotions, and health status can be trickier to read for reason as males don’t always get the same illnesses as females.

Yet, Submissive and female naturally take care of their dominant when he is ill.

Well, they had made it to the hospital, but the status of Minzy’s well being was still not known to them- Not Even Daesung whom was in shell shock.  All he kept thinking was that he had failed his mate, and not even Ji Yong and Seungri’s attempts to comfort him seemed to be working. Now, a submissive is never to comfort another male unless it’s a sibling, or they have their dominants permission to do so. This is particular to submissive getting abused or mistreated that could cause their dominant to kill any other male-regardless of status. But although in Daesung’s mind this is clear, and these are his brothers, he didn’t feel much like he needed the comfort and his own negative energy could hurt his brothers if he lashes out. He was thankful that Young Bae, and Seung Hyun were present though.

Within the next twenty minutes of waiting, there was suddenly a ruckus in the hospital lobby that caused several of the nurses to scream in shock as three girls seemed to push themselves inside.

Seeing that they were headed their way, Seung Hyun instinctively raised his hand and created a strong barrier that all three couldn’t break and finally came to a halt. Instinctively, he sought to make sure no one disturbed his family, and most of all agitate Daesung any further while the other male was close to his mate.

“Let us through!” One snapped, banging her hands against the transparent barrier.

“We need to get to our sister!”

“Or I could have you arrested,” Seung Hyun said making them freeze when they heard his deep voice, and they gaped at him in awe.

Noticing this, Ji Yong stood up from where he was, and walked over to Seung Hyun. Once he was beside Seung Hyun, the white haired male dropped the barrier and all three girls stumbled before straightening and tried to keep calm. They weren’t sure who the male before them was, but he was dressed as an officer so they could only guess he was keeping security here. They had to have more class or they really would be arrested.

 “Dara, Chaerin, Bom, what are you three doing here? I thought you were on vacation or something?” Ji Yong said diverting their attention from Seung Hyun to him.

“We were, but we planned to come home before the battle started. Of course, we didn’t make it until today, and we thought we could catch Minzy’s and Daesung’s battle, but we didn’t. When we stopped by other matches were going on, and they said Minzy was at the hospital since she had fallen ill, so here we are,” Chaerin quickly explained. Worry was clearly shinning in all the eyes of the girls.

“We still haven’t heard what’s wrong with her” Ji Yong said, and then nodded his head towards his brother, “and Daesung keeps blaming himself so badly,”

“Aigo, he shouldn’t, he beating himself will be bad for Minzy’s health” Bom said in a concerned tone. Ji Yong raised an eyebrow and tried not to ask how it could be bad for Minzy’s health. 

“We should talk to him,” Dara said, and then smiled at Ji Yong briefly before she and her sisters all moved to Daesung. As soon as they were near Daesung they started trying to get him off from his self guilt. Young Bae moved in though, ready in case any of them irritated Daesung to the point that he could lash out and hurt Seungri. Not that it did much to help, after all, It isn’t comfortable to have single females trying to comfort a male despite them being his female’s sisters; this could be construed as rude and intruding.

Seung Hyun moved towards Ji Yong and kissed him on the cheek. Ji Yong’s cheeks reddened a little, but he couldn’t help the smile that suddenly spread on his face as he brought his hand to his cheek and turned to his mate. He could feel the comfort and warmth, the stability, and strength that came from his mate.

Realization hit him then. The mating mark is what connected a couple. If Daesung kept blaming himself, his despair, insecurity, and self-doubt would all be fed in his worry for Minzy and cause her anxiety and worry as well. It was something that he sometimes forgot, seeing as Seung Hyun and he had such an open relationship when it came to their feelings that it was almost as if they shared the same kind of feelings. Both of them often verbalized exactly what they were feeling. It’s what kept their relationship so cool, and fresh, with no arguments. They only felt their feelings more pronounced when the feeling itself spiked, overflowed, or the other was trying to convey something to the other.  

Even if he didn’t want to admit it, in a way this is how their world functioned, and how things ever made sense between couples. That simple mating mark meant so many things on how it tied you to the person you mated with. They were sacred, and were never to be touched by anyone but their mate. Having anyone else look at it was an invasion of privacy as well as made the owner feel embarrassed at having such an intimate part be looked at by anyone who was not their mate. Of course, it sometimes did happen, but that was what made them guard it that much more.

“Should we read over the books again?” Ji Yong reluctantly asked as he and Seung Hyun both leaned against the wall and waited for the doctor to tell them if Minzy was going to be alright.

“You don’t really want to read it,” Seung Hyun commented, thinking about the several books they both had burned. Not that he minded, especially when it meant getting to cuddle with Ji Yong all night long by the fireplace.

“No,” Ji Yong said, “But it’s better if we know the loop holes.”

“Well, at least there is no rule about us fighting side by side…” Seung Hyun said. Ji Yong nodded his head but wryly frowned. It was true that there was nothing wrong with fighting at Seung Hyun’s side, but it seemed society had a set of unspoken rules. The kind that would say “Ladies first” and a man was supposed to hold the door open for the woman. Or when a man held open the car door for a woman, or would drop his jacket over a puddle for her to walk elegantly through it. Or when a men pulled out the chair for a women and pushed it in for her once she sat down. For any Submissive or female it was that although they stood beside their mate, they had to keep at least a six inch to one foot distance slightly behind their mate, when walking together or when facing battle.

A dominant that allowed his mate to step in the same line as him was often mocked for being unable to take proper ‘control’ or dominance over their submissive. It was considered a weak trait and it was not something Ji Yong would ever want Seung Hyun associated with, but at the same time he was not up to giving his full control to Seung Hyun. It was a fear he had, to ever submit to anyone, and he was starting to see how it was tied to him never falling in love. People in love were fools really. Trying to give every inch of themselves up that they lost sight of whom they were. So far though, Seung Hyun never once forced him to submit to him, it had always been Ji Yong whom decided when to submit.

“But they will think that it’s rude,” Ji Yong said and Seung Hyun turned to look at him. He looked his beautiful mate up and down and then chuckled. Ji Yong pouted and turned to him, “What? Why are you laughing?”

“Nothing Yongie, I just wonder what others really are thinking about us,” he said, and smiled. Ji Yong shrugged his shoulders.

“I honestly don’t care.”  And he didn’t. Everyone else could think what they wanted to think, he was happy in his relationship with Seung Hyun. He liked that he was his equal in where he didn’t feel pressured to act like he was the submissive one. He liked that he was not forced to abide as a submissive would. Other Dominants would punish their submissive and force them to do things, willing or unwilling, it didn’t matter. As a right those Dominants even could throw their weight about and force themselves on their mates.

But Seung Hyun wasn’t like that. Like Ji Yong, he didn’t seem to care much about the dynamics or dimorphism of Submissive and Dominant.  

“Not like that,” Seung Hyun said, and then looked to the side to the others before turning back to Ji Yong and leaned in close to whisper in his ear, “Doesn’t it make you curious to know how they see our relationship?” Ji Yong blinked at that, and then looked to his other side, before turning to face Seung Hyun, leaning close to him.

“Omo, you’re right Hyunie, we haven’t even taken in their reactions,” Ji Yong said, and then a wicked smile made its way to his lips, “Although I don’t think anyone would ever understand us,” Ji Yong then turned his head and pulled out the book that had offended him. The reason it had offended him was because it gave a sort of ‘suggested’ guidelines to Dominant and Submissive. What Ji Yong didn’t like was that even now in society, it seemed like Submissive were treated as if they were weaklings that could do nothing without their dominant around. He wasn’t helpless and he was doing things on his own way before Seung Hyun came along, so he didn’t need Seung Hyun to always hold his hand. Just standing at his side, and knowing he was at his side was enough. Also! He didn’t like that Seung Hyun could be mocked or labeled as weak just because he didn’t keep a ‘tight leash’ on him.

Seung Hyun watched Ji Yong read the book, and chuckled again when he saw his submissive glare at it as if it was the worst thing ever.

“Daesung,” A doctor suddenly came out, and called out to Daesung whom now looked calm and was leaning against Seungri. Chaerin, Bom, and Dara whom had been pouting at the fact that Daesung preferred his brother’s comfort, all snapped their heads up at the sound of the Doctor’s voice.

“Is she alright?” they immediately asked.

“She’s just fine,” The doctor pleasantly smiled, “But,” the man continued t his time in a grave tone, “She lost two babies,”

They all froze.

“What?” Daesung asked.

“She was pregnant, and the babies seemed to have been taking most of her energy as they started to form, something natural for any pregnant female,” the doctor said, “She had two miscarriages, but she is still carrying five more babies,”

“She was going to have seven babies?” Seungri asked in pronounced shock that made Young Bae sigh and shake his head at his boyfriend. Seungri snapped his mouth shut and lowered his ears when Young Bae disapproved.

“Yes, but they weren’t rightly formed, but right now we have to give her a lot of rest so she can remain stable, and heal completely” The doctor smiled again, “The five babies are still going to be draining her energy rapidly so we’d like to keep her here for a while, until she is deemed stable to go home,” he said, and then waved towards the room, “You can go in now,” he said.

When they entered, there were three nurses inside finishing cleaning up everything, and smiled at the group that scrambled to move into the room. They bowed to them and politely left, taking everything with them. As they left they closed the doors behind themselves, and the family was left there with Minzy whom was still resting on the bed. Daesung quickly moved towards her, relieved that he was once again standing in the same room as her, and she was alright. In fact, right now she looked so calm, and color had returned to her.

As soon as Minzy felt Daesung, she turned towards him, sadness and an apologetic look in her eyes, “I’m sorry Dae, it was my fault we lost two children. I should have known,” she closed her eyes, feeling terrible. Being pregnant was not something a male understood when it came to his female. It was the female’s job to let the male know that she was carrying, but Minzy had never been pregnant before and she didn’t think that she would be now. Being as it was her first time, it was understandable that even she herself wouldn’t know what was wrong with her.

“Shh, it’s alright. You’re alright, and that’s what matters,” he said and Minzy nodded, sinking herself in his comfort.

“Oh Minzy, we’re so glad you’re alright!” Chaerin said as she leaned in on the other side. Minzy opened her eyes, surprised to see her sisters there. Dara and Bom stood behind Chaerin and smiled at her.

“You guys…when?”

“Today” all three answered.

“So annoying,” Seungri muttered, and hid behind Young Bae when all three women turned to glare at him. Young Bae smiled and waved at them, not really wanting them to come after Seungri. He knew all three would try and harm him, and he really didn’t want to fight all three of them to keep them from murdering his future mate.

Ji Yong chuckled as he walked over to Young Bae and Seungri, tilting his head at his brother whom was hiding behind Young Bae. “You’re such a scardy cat.”

“Am not!” Seungri snapped, as he came out from behind Young Bae and tried to swipe his claws at Ji Yong. The blond neko moved out of the way, and stuck his tongue out at Seungri whom tried again. When both of them started to run around the room and making a mess of everything, Daesung felt anger rise in him. After all, his mate was still ill and they were being a disruption. But as his mate was close to him, Daesung was reluctant to leave her side just to settle his brother.

“Can’t you two stop them?” he asked, turning to Young Bae and Seung Hyun- Seung Hyun whom was reading the book that Ji Yong had handed off to him instead of paying any attention to what his mate was doing.

“Seungri!” Young Bae called out, and Seungri heard him and halted only for a second, before Ji Yong mocked him again, and he ignored Young Bae in favor to attacking his brother. Although in the back of Seungri’s mind he could already imagine Young Bae being mad at him.  But since they were not mated, Young Bae really couldn’t control Seungri and make him stop at will.

“Seung Hyun” Both Daesung and Young Bae snapped at him.

Seung Hyun tilted his head up and looked at them, “What?” he asked. Both men pointed to Ji Yong accusingly and Seung Hyun turned to look at his mate and smiled proudly. He then went back to his book. Dara, Bom, and Chaerin were confused, and looked from the frustrated Daesung and Young Bae towards this Seung Hyun.

“Umm, who…”

“…is…”

“…he?”

“He’s Seung Hyun, Ji Yong’s mate” Daesung said in aggravation.

“Ji Yong’s mate!?” Bom screamed.

“And he’s male?” Chaerin added.

“Yup, he’s mine” Ji Yong said as he moved towards Seung Hyun, wrapping his arms around him, and Seungri was pulled back by Young Bae whom started to nibble on his neck to distract him. Young Bae sighed in relief when Seungri was a purring mess in his arms. Public displays, otherwise initiated by the dominant in the relationship and really frowned upon when initiated by the submissive. It could lead to a submissive being labeled as a if they were overly affectionate towards their dominant without the dominant having been the one to initiate the contact.

Dara whom was opening and closing finally decided to speak up, “And who’s the dominant?” she asked, a part of her refusing to believe that Ji Yong could be the submissive, although the ual dimorphism between both Ji Yong and Seung Hyun would favor Ji Yong as the submissive in their relationship.

“Why does everyone always have to ask?” Ji Yong asked.

“Forget it; they won’t tell you,” Minzy huffed, “They think it’s funny to keep us guessing or something.”

 “Well, someone’s bitter” Ji Yong turned to Minzy with a glare on his face. The other three girls were confused as to what was going on. It was natural for submissive to be more aggressive towards females for the plain reason that they seemed to have a hostility towards females that tried to make themselves to familiar with their relationships, even if they are family.                  

“Ji Yong, be nice to Minzy or just get the hell out!” Daesung snapped, angry at his brother at this point. Ji Yong pouted.

“I’m not being mean to her,”

Daesung growled, ready to attack his brother when Minzy’s soft hand on his shoulder made him stop. Minzy, although ill from losing a few babes, still had the instinct enough for it to tell her that Daesung attacking his own brother in the presence of Seung Hyung was a bad idea. She had after all seen them trained, and knew Seung Hyun’s over protectiveness for Ji Yong was no joke. “No Dae, It’s alright. Ji Yong can stay, I don’t mind him. I’m used to how he is.” She softly said and everyone else nodded at the same. “I kind of feel sorry for you Seung Hyun.” Minzy added, turning to Seung Hyun with a soft smile on her face.

Seung Hyun quirked an eyebrow, “Why would you feel sorry for me?” he asked.

“Well, you’re mated to Ji Yong,” Daesung said as if it was the most obvious thing.

Seung Hyun turned to Ji Yong, “What are they talking about Yongie?”

 “I’m not sure Hyunie, they are speaking in tongues again.” The other three sighed in defeat, while Bom, Dara, and Chaerin all stared at the couple with perplexed looks on their faces.

“I think they are perfect for each other,” Seungri playfully stated, and Young Bae ruffled his hair gently.

“Sure,” he said.

Suddenly the sound of a radio transmission sounded, and Ji Yong pouted up at Seung Hyun as he reached behind him and pulled out a black handset walkie-talkie. They were clearly calling out Seung Hyun’s name, and Seung Hyun frowned at it as he took it from Ji Yong. “What’s up?” he said into it, and the person on the other side immediately responded.

“There’s been an attack, and I think one is dead, you better get down here,” Ji Ho sounded on the other side and Seung Hyun looked at Ji Yong apologetic.

“I’ll be right over,” he said, and Ji Yong let go of him with a frown on his face.

“Sorry Ji,”

“It’s okay, I understand,” he said, and Seung Hyun leaned in to kiss him on the cheek before he was gone. Ji Yong briefly touched his cheek where he had just been kissed, his eyes briefly taking on a warm look before he remembered that there were other there and turned to look at everyone else, with a frown on his face.

“I’ll be outside,” he muttered, and left. Ji Yong knew better than anyone that a submissive had no right to ever tell his dominant that he didn’t like what he did for a living, but Ji Yong crossed that line like it was nothing.

“When, how?” Dara asked as soon as Ji Yong left and she looked at everyone else in the room. “When did Ji Yong get mated?” she asked. The other girls were wondering the same thing, perplexed and now hopeless. Each one of them had had their own form of crush on Ji Yong, and all three could feel different pains in knowing that Ji Yong was now mated.

“Well, during the mating season, when Ji Yong came back, Seung Hyun came right along with him.” Daesung said, “Well, he wasn’t with him when we first saw him, but mom got it out of him and now, here Seung Hyun is, in our lives and is Ji Yong’s mate.”

“But,”

“We know, they practically barely just met, but they have been doing fine so far. They have also been dating a lot,”

“Plus they are paying me to keep them from having !” Seungri proudly exclaimed and Young Bae sighed.

“And they have been teaching Seungri how to have a foul mouth as well” he said making Seungri blush and turn to look at him with a suggestive look. Young Bae only smiled in return. Seungri knew that Young Bae actually liked it when he talked dirty.

“Are you guys sure that Ji Yong is even happy with that guy! He could be forcing Ji Yong to be with him!” Dara snapped.

Just outside, unknown to them as they kept talking, Ji Yong stood silently, listening to what they had to say. It had to be a joke, for them to think that Seung Hyun even tried to control him. It was the one thing that Seung Hyun didn’t do…although he wondered if Seung Hyun ever would. Maybe if Ji Yong crossed some sort of boundary with him, then he might face that consequence with Seung Hyun, but just because Seung Hyun didn’t try to do it, didn’t mean that he couldn’t.

But Ji Yong trusted Seung Hyun.

Not to mention that it actually aroused him to even think that Seung Hyun could ever be forceful with him…

What was normal about their relationship anyways? They truly had done things backwards. Neither of them minded though and Ji Yong got to thinking. Taking a deep breath, he shifted as he felt the soft tendrils in his body that still ached with so much need every time, no matter how much he tried to ignore them. It was getting to the point that Ji Yong didn’t care much for his own self control, and wanted to break Seung Hyun’s self control just to have him dominate him in bed.

Not that this was of any relevance. 

If you really thought about it and reflected it, everything made sense in a level. Well, complex level, since Ji Yong really didn’t know what to label himself anymore. Well, he hated being labeled. From the very beginning no ne could ever figure out what Ji Yong was, weather he was a dominant or a submissive, but the truth was that Ji Yong was neither. Ji Yong was just a male with submissive tendencies, which meant that he could have gotten with a female and been just fine. ual Dimorphism played a large role in their society, in where the male was technically larger than the female, and submissive were only slightly smaller than the dominant males. Well, Ji Yong was small like a submissive, but he had the attitudes of dominant.

You would probably want to label him a Submissive Dominant, but that was not the case with him. Where in a Submissive, as to gain that name, they didn’t have any other choice but to submit, and fast. It was in their nature, but it was not in Ji Yong’s nature to submit, unless he consciously decided it for himself. In the situation that he would have found himself with Seung Hyun at first, any other submissive would have let themselves been caught when Seung Hyun showed interest and let him claim them.  Ji Yong on the other hand was giving up his freedom and going a little against his nature and submitted, because…well he was just to damned attracted to Seung Hyun and he couldn’t help but feel like he had to be the only one he would make himself that vulnerable for.

This is why they said that males were ‘whipped’ by the female. They humbled themselves towards them, but Ji Yong had never been attracted to females, so maybe that is where he failed. Or maybe not. In the preference of ual dimorphism, Ji Yong was considered slightly smaller than the average male. Like Daesung, who was slightly bigger, and had a more robust built compare to Ji Yong’s slimmer built. Daesung had a better chance with females. Ji Yong on the other hand was too pretty, and he had to admit that when it came to choosing his mate based on qualities that he found attractive, Seung Hyun fit the bill and even more…

This is what troubled Ji Yong more.

Since he submitted to Seung Hyun maybe he was a submissive in some level…right? That would make more sense. But it still didn’t explain the cost of their relationship. After all, both of them would share things differently from the norm. Like their open relationship of their feelings…and the choosing.

Ji Yong knew that they had a lot more work to do if they were going to make their so far functioning relationship grow. And they couldn’t allow what others had to say or even thought get in the way of it!

Later that night, Seung Hyun had returned to the hospital to get Ji Yong and took him home with him. Everyone wished them luck as both headed out, seeing as they needed a good nights sleep before they had to face their first real battle. Which is what had Young Bae and Seungri excited early in the morning as they rushed out of the hospital to get dressed and go. Daesung had begged them to film it so he could see it. After they had agreed, the anticipation for the footage sort of made Minzy stay awake for a bit more since everyone had woken up early that morning. 

Dara, Chaeri, and Bom had left even earlier since they really wanted to look good for the battle.

“How do you think they are going to do?” Minzy asked, closing her eyes every now and then. It was still to early for her. Daesung shrugged his shoulders, and watched her with a fond stare.

“We will know when they return” Daesung gently said, and the ran his fingers through her hair and tried to calm her down. Minzy purred her pleasure as she let sleep once again claim her, as Daesung gazed to the side, worried about Ji Yong and Seung Hyun and how they would do.

“Welcome everyone to the second day of the battles and I hope all of you are ready for another day filled with rounds of magic and battle!” The announcer said in a very fresh and exciting voice. As he was saying it, Seungri and Young Bae were rushing towards the bench stands, so they could get a good view. One of Seungri’s hands was clawed around Young Bae’s shirt, as Young Bae tried to keep up with him and fumbled with the camera.

“We’re almost there!” Seungri encouraged, and grinned when they finally made it outside. His eyes fixed on the lush green field, and he sorely hoped that Ji Yong and Seung Hyun had woken up in time for their battle.

“Hello” A voice said, making Seungri jump and hide behind Young Bae.

“Dong Ho, Minki,” Young Bae said as he looked up, wanting to see what had startled Seungri. “Hello,” he offered a smile.

“Oh sorry, did I scare him?” Minki asked, seeming apologetic about scaring Seungri. Young Bae turned to him and shook his head.

“He’s alright,” he said, and went back to fiddling with the camera. Seungri just didn’t like Minki, really. The reason, he was not sure, but somehow he found him not to be as nice as he seemed. But of course, he couldn’t say much as it had yet to be proven that he was actually anything but nice.

“It’s almost going to be time for that couple to fight,” Dong Ho said, crossing his arms and looking out to the field where one couple was currently battling and going all out. “What are their names again?” he asked, turning to Yong Bae who was happy now that the camera was working.

“Seung Hyun and Ji Yong,”

Dong Ho nodded and then briefly glanced at his mate, before asking, “and how long have you guys know them?”

“Huh” Young Bae placed his guard up. “What is it that you want to know,”

“We’re just curious as to whom Seung Hyun is,” Dong Ho decided to be straight with him so as to not really nerve Young Bae about it. It seemed that this guy, although not mated into the family, he was already overly protective of everyone on it.

“He’s Ji Yong’s mate, that is all you need to know,”

With that, Young Bae nudged Seungri, and both of them moved to go further into the lower area and a bit closer to the field.

“I hope they don’t think we’re intruding, but I can swear that I know Seung Hyun,” Minki said, and turned to his mate with a sad look on his face, “I’ll just ask Dong Wook”

“That will be a good idea,” he said. Minki then turned to look at the field and deeply frowned.

Seung Hyun and Ji Yong, report to the left side of the field, and Siwon and Hee Chul, to the right side!

The crowd was cheering loudly, and it ridiculously became boisterous the moment that Siwon and Hee Chul both emerged onto the field. Dong Ho and Minki both took deep breaths, as they knew why the crowd reacted like that. Siwon and Hee Chul were Blood seekers. They were cruel to whoever their opponent was and found a sort of pleasure in making them bleed. They especially enjoyed torturing. “I hope they will be alright, seeing as Dong Wook did say that this would be their first real battle,” Dong Ho worriedly said.

“I hope so as well, I can’t believe that he’s my brother though…Siwon”

Of course, as the crowd was loudly cheering the referee in the middle tried to keep cool as he waited for the final couple. Eventually, Seung Hyun and Ji Yong finally walked out to the field, their heads both covered in baseball caps. Both of them were wearing matching blue jeans, and baseball shirts, with the number one on their backs.

It looked more like they were ready for a baseball game than to come battle really.

Dong Ho and Minki both watched a little dumbfounded.

Below then, Seungri was cheering his brother for his great fashion sense and Young Bae was to busy recording to really say much about it right now. The referee in the middle had to keep himself from making goo goo eyes at how cute an adorable Ji Yong looked as his eyes met with Seung Hyun’s strong gaze.

He quickly stated the rules and gave the custom final warning before he jumped off and allowed the battle to begin. It almost looked like he was to scared of Seung Hyun to properly carry out his role. Either way, as the dominant Siwon took his stance forward, and smirked as he allowed his aura to surround him.

Confusion filled everyone’s faces though, and even silenced the crowd when both Ji Yong and Seung Hyun remained standing side-by-side, and alert.

“Why don’t we get this battle started!” Ji Yong called, with a smirk on his face that made Siwon and Hee Chul both bare their fangs at them.

And the battle started!

I know, I wanted to have the battle scene in this chapter, but lab is about to close, and I can't stay any longer. It's already nine pm...>< Still. I don't know how to feel about this chapter...