Chapter 4

Word of the Day

Minseok frowned as he watched Joonmyeon freak out on the phone. From his desk, he could not really hear the conversation, but it was worrisome enough when the always calm man seemed to be receiving the worst possible news on the planet.

“Are you alright, Minnie?” Came the voice of his mate all of a sudden, snapping him out of his staring trance.

The pregnant male turned his gaze to his Alpha and nodded gently; giving the worried man a gentle and reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry Dae, I was just observing Joonmyeon, it seems like something might’ve happened.”

Jongdae’s eyes instantly went to said man, only to catch the other running out to the elevator in urgency.

“He worries about the smallest things on the planet Minnie, I doubt it’s anything big,” He assured his mate, “Now c’mon, you and the little one must be hungry, no?”

Minseok instantly smiled widely, nodding his head and giving a peck to Jongdae’s cheek, “Go on ahead, I’ll get my things while you get the car up front.”

Jongdae gave him a chaste kiss on the lips and nodded, taking with him his work bag and coat.

“Oh, and Dae, don’t forget we promised my mom to eat lunch with her, so I’ll give her a call!” Minseok called suddenly to his mate who was now far from him, but the wave he received was signal enough that the other had heard him.

---

Joonmyeon pretty much ran over to the woman once he caught sight of her, having a mental breakdown as he got a look at the tears running down her face. Yoona was a great teacher, she was lovable and all; Ah Young loved her. So, even if the situation may have allowed him to, Joonmyeon was not angry at her, nor disappointed. If anything, worried, because Yoona was not ever distracted enough to lose sight of his little girl.

“Any news?” he asked her, panting hard.

Yoona shook her head, sobbing even harder than before.

“I-it’s ok… I’m sure she’s fine… we’ll find her…” Joonmyeon said, his eyes tearing up a bit, “I’ll start looking around the building, why don’t you let security know?”

Yoona nodded and walked off, and Joonmyeon did the same, opting to begin from the first floor. He blinked the tears away as he walked around, trying his best to be strong. He would find his baby girl, no matter what it took, he couldn’t lose her. He wouldn’t. She was his only string to his deceased husband, she was his life.

He hadn’t been strong enough to give birth to the full litter of pups in his womb, Ah Young though, she had been strong enough to survive and come to the world to him. She was the sole reason of his existence, he didn’t want to imagine if out of the five babies he was supposed to give birth to, the only one that survived was now lost and never to be found. He would not allow his princess to be away from him, to be taken from him. He needed to find his angel.

---

“You think you’ll be fine next week? I don’t really want to overwhelm you, Kyungie.” Luhan said, frowning a bit as he impatiently pressed the button for the elevator to take them to the ‘ground level’ various times.

Kyungsoo smiled and nodded, “Don’t worry hyung, Chanyeol won’t be there Monday as Kris is taking him to a meeting with him, so you won’t have to worry about that day. As for the rest of the week, I’ll make sure Jongdae keeps your schedule clear and I’ll send Chanyeol the stacked files from extra pictures.”

“Woah… And you’re only a food journalist? Kyungie, you should ask Kris for a raise!”

Kyungsoo chuckled lightly, his cheeks painted pink in a second, and his gaze lowered in embarrassment, “It’s nothing hyung, I’m just helping a friend. A bit of extra work here and there won’t bother me from time to time.”

“Well, that’s kind of what Kai was hired for though…”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, “He’s useless, really. I don’t exactly know why Kris doesn’t give him a job that actually relates with what he studied. I’m sure other people, other departments even, would appreciate his help more.”

“But Kyungie, why would you even think of such thing?” Luhan asked, blinking expectantly at Kyungsoo, then cheering a bit when the elevator doors finally closed, “I mean, it’s none of my business or anything but… well, he claims to be your mate. And you’ve never exactly said he’s lying…” Kyungsoo bit his lip, his brows furrowing though he kept quiet and just listened, “It’s a better for your relationship to progress if you stay near each other, y’know.”

“Hyung, he’s said he’s my mate, but he has never really made a move to prove his point or anything. It’s quite effortless really; don’t know why I should waste my time even pondering over him.”

“That’s because you always outright stop him from speaking whenever he brings up that he’s your mate…” Luhan muttered, pouting a bit, “That’s a little childish, don’t you think, Kyungie?”

Kyungsoo shook his head, “Not at all.” He stated simply, following Luhan out of the elevator once the doors opened, “Plus, why are you talking to me about this, hyung? Shouldn’t you sort out your problems first?”

Luhan stopped and looked at Kyungsoo, his expression suddenly gone blank, “Kyungie…”

“What? Hyung, I know you, and this little ‘cute dongsaeng’ game you’ve kept playing with Sehun isn’t exactly fun to watch.”

“It’s not a game,” Luhan said, his usual natural smile and sparkling eyes back in place, “Sehun really is a cute dongsaeng. That’s all.”

Kyungsoo frowned, “Hyung-”

“Plus Kyungie, ew! He’s like 4 years younger than me!” Luhan excused, giggling lightly, “That would be like , my dear Kyungie.”

Kyungsoo sighed and rolled his eyes, “Sure hyung, sure.” He said, shaking his head in disappointment.

A car honk came from the vehicle they were a mere meter from, startling both omegas as one let out a rather girly-manly scream and the other flinched and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “Dammit Baekhyun! What do you think your mouth is for if not for greeting us!” the blonde whined, glaring at the male sitting in the driver’s seat of Chanyeol’s convertible.

“Ugh, you guys are turtles! I’ve been waiting for both of you for like fifteen minutes already! It’s going to take forever to find parking at the mall if you two don’t hurry up and get your asses in the car right now.”

“You’re lucky we even agreed to come to the mall with you.” Kyungsoo retorted, getting into the backseats.

“Actually Kyungie, I really do need to shop for some new jeans, so I didn’t mind tagging along.” Luhan said, smiling widely at Baekhyun as he got into the passenger’s side and closed the door, “Plus, we get a ride on Chanyeol’s car, I think the outcome was pretty good if you ask me.”

“How did you even manage to get Chanyeol to finally lend you his car?” Kyungsoo asked, honestly curious.

Baekhyun grinned and looked at Kyungsoo through the rearview mirror, “Nobody can resist my charm Kyungie, not even Chanyeol.”

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow, “Charm?”

“Ew! That’s like !” Luhan whined, pretending to gag.

“…?” Baekhyun asked, looking at Luhan with an expression of pure puzzlement.

“That’s like his word of the week. I blame this one on Tao again.”

Baekhyun chuckled; he shook his head and finally decided that they couldn’t waste any more time so he set to drive.

“That’s kind of mean, Kyungie. TaoTao is just teaching me more words so I can understand the slang of kids nowadays.”

“Hyung, isn’t slang. It’s a term.”

“Still though! You can’t deny it’s a recent term! How many times your life have you even heard it, I don’t think it’s common.”

“Hyung, having a conversation that will bring up the term is uncommon overall… it still doesn’t mean it’s slang. Plus, how would Tao know what slang kids use nowadays, he’s an adu- wait no… Tao’s… he’s… well, he’s not a kid…” Baekhyun frowned, tilting his head a bit as he tried to let his thoughts figure themselves out, “Well, whatever… the point is, Tao’s of age in which he isn’t as updated anymore. Your best shot would be Sehun-”

“No Baek, that’s his worst option. I think that even the almighty Kris is more innocent than Sehun.”

“Kyung, I think you’re confusing Sehun with Kai again.”

“Oh… that doesn’t change the fact that Sehun is pretty mature too.”

“Well… he and Jongin do get along rather well… and they both are pretty erted…”

“Yah! Sehunnie isn’t a ert! He’s just a flirt…”

“And how’s that any better, hyung?” Baekhyun deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at his flustered hyung through the rearview mirror.

“It just means he’s friendly. Not a ert.” Luhan stated, giving a firm nod as if to assure both guys and even himself.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

“Sure hyung, sure…”

---

Hearing the cries of a child coming for the shooting set was rather confusing for the new model. He wasn’t entirely sure if children were allowed into the photo-shoot area; while Chanyeol seemed like a relaxed guy, along with all of the other staff; he doubted children were brought to work as they were rather distracting. Not to mention the fact that there wasn’t anyone around other than other two models, Kevin and Leo if he wasn’t mistaken, and models of their age usually would not have children while so young, plus the two were far off to the side so if the child was of one of them, surely it would be with them.

Then again, he could be wrong. So keeping that in mind, he decided to look around. If the child really was here for one of the models, he’s take the little one to them. If not, he’d do his best to try to find whoever it was the pup was supposed to be with.

As he neared the curtains separating the platform from the sidelights, he saw a little girl curled up against the wall. Her face was buried within the comfort of her arms, and as she cried, her whole little frame shook. It was a heartbreaking image to Yixing, and he wondered what could possibly have happened to the little one.

Curiosity and concern got the best of him after a bit of hesitation and he walked over, his steps making the little one look up with glossy eyes and watch him with a mix of emotions.

Curiosity.

Confusion.

Fear.

Yixing was not offended though. He was a stranger; it was rather relieving to know the girl was weary of her surroundings and wouldn’t approach just anyone.

He stopped half a meter away from the pup and kneeled down to be leveled well with the little one, offering her a soft smile, hoping to bring a bit of comfort. The glossy eyes, he noted, were rather unique. The little girl must have had parents with beautiful eyes. No, beautiful features; the little girl had very prominent features.

“I don’t mean to scare you, little one, I’m simply concerned,” He said with a soft voice, trying his best to not scare her too much. His eyes somehow spotted the red on her white stockings for the first time, the cloth over her knee scraped off and the skin glazed over with blood, “Did you hurt yourself?”

“Eomma says I shouldn’t talk to strangers…”

Yixing looked at her, smiling softly once more, “Your Eomma is very smart.”

The little girl blinked a few times, Yixing thought maybe to clear up her vision, and stared at the man for a few seconds before hesitantly offering her hand for a handshake, “I’m Kim AhYoung.”

“I’m Lay.” The model replied, taking her hand and returning the gentle handshake before retrieving his hand just as the little girl had.

“We’re not strangers anymore…”

Yixing chuckled lightly and nodded, “I guess we aren’t,” he said, reaching from his pocket and taking out a Band-Aid and a small alcohol wipe packet, “I tend to always meet people who hurt themselves often, so carrying Band-Aids around is rather helpful. Would you like me to patch up your knee?”

The little girl nodded meekly, and Yixing offered her another soft smile before he got closer and set to work.

“How come you’re here alone? Does your Eomma work here?” He asked curiously, looking up to meet the beautiful doe eyes of the pup, and then looking back at her knee when she replied with a simple nod.

“Oh, is your Eomma a model? What’s their name?”

“Eomma works with Uncle Kris.”

Yixing looked at the little girl and blinked a few times, “Oh, that’s not far from here. What’s your Eomma’s name? I’ll ask security to call your Eomma so she can come and get you.”

“Lay… Uncle Lay, Eomma is a he.”

Yixing chuckled sheepishly, his cheeks gaining color, “Oh, my bad.” He stood up and offered his hand, “C’mon, let’s go to security.”

Ah Young nodded and took his hand, allowing him to help her to her feet. Then she followed him as he started walking out the door.

“Uncle Lay?”

“Yes, Ah Young?”

“Young-ah is fine. But, Uncle Lay, I have a question.”

“Go right ahead and ask.” Yixing said, looking down at the little girl walking next to him.

“Why do you talk funny?”

­­­­­---

“Joonmyeon-ssi!” A security guard called, catching the male as he rushed around looking inside every room in panic.

“She was found!” That stopped the man instantly. His teary eyes widened and he looked at the guard expectantly.

“Y-Young-ah? They found my Young-ah?”

The guard nodded, “A model took her to the security guard in by the Director’s office. She’s there.”

Unbeta-ed