“What?” Seo Gu was at a loss for words. Yong Guk gave him a few minutes to gather his thoughts. “I thought you said you were heading to the Facility.”

“We didn’t know how you would react if you found out we came from there.” Yong Guk admitted.

Seo Gu nodded, “then why are you out here?”

“We escaped,” Yong Guk decided to take a seat next to his mate before further explaining. “We started to feel trapped there.”

“How did you start feeling like that?” Seo Gu was curious.

Dae Hyun took his turn to speak, “My mate and child had died during childbirth, but after a few weeks they were already planning on having me mate with someone else. I didn’t want to mate with someone I didn’t know. I didn’t think I was ready to take on a new mate, I still don’t think I am.”

“They were going to force us to mate together,” Jun Hong spoke up next motioning between himself and Jong Up. “I wasn’t ready to mate and I couldn’t think of mating with my best friend.”

The brunette nodded, “it didn’t feel right to either of us.”

Young Jae spoke barely loud enough for Seo Gu to hear, “I never been mated, I was going to be forced to mate and so I was inseminated with an unknown Dominate’s seed. I was supposed to meet him the week we left.”

“And why did you two leave?” Seo Gu looked to the couple. “Were you two forced?”

Him Chan shook his head, “I didn’t want to raise a baby in there anymore.”

“So, were you guys born there or did you move there?”

“Young Jae is the only one who was born there,” Him Chan spoke softly. “He once told me how suffocated he felt living there and it brought me to wonder how my child would feel, but…”

“They wouldn’t let us leave,” Dae Hyun finished.

“Especially Young Jae and Dae Hyun,” Yong Guk spoke, moment of truth had come, but none of them knew how Young Jae felt… “Young Jae’s one of the doctor’s son; they would never let him go freely. And Dae Hyun’s Replacement mate was possibly pregnant.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Seo Gu already knew the answer but it was best if they could voice the reason themselves.

“We didn’t want to be turned away, especially with two pregnant Carriers,” Yong Guk spoke softly. “Young Jae is almost in his third month.”

“He is three months,” Dae Hyun couldn’t face the elder three’s shocked expression. “He turned three months yesterday.”

Young Jae and Jun Hong were lost, how would Dae Hyun know. Young Jae spoke out of curiosity, “how would you know? I’m not even sure how far along I am.”

Dae Hyun sighed, “because we were supposed to mate.”

Young Jae couldn’t speak. He turned questioningly to Him Chan, desperate for an answer. The couple gave him a sad and worried look. He shook his head not believing the fact. “That’s not possible.”

“Unfortunately it is,” Him Chan’s voice was low. “We’ve just got our confirmation.”

“Confirmation?” Jun Hong interrupted. “How were you able to figure that out without actual proof?”

“A Dominate can sense when his Carrier reaches its third month of pregnancy,” Yong Guk answered, “but only if the baby is theirs.”

“Why the third month?” Jun Hong kept on, knowing that the blonde was still fighting to find his voice.

“Because its nearing the end of the first trimester,” Him Chan explained, “the risk of miscarriage drops when you reach your second trimester.”

“It’s kinda like confirming that the baby will be able to be carried to full term,” Yong Guk tried to elaborate.

“Not to sound kind of off topic but it’s actually been bugging me,” Jong Up joined in, “what if the baby does have some type of defect, would the Dominate be able to tell?”

“It would depend on the Dominate and the defect,” Yong Guk thought about it. “Dominates vary in what they consider a defect but if they believe it is harmful to the baby then they will kill the baby…”

“Always with the killing,” Jun Hong mumbled. “So does that mean Dae Hyun is Young Jae’s intended Dominate?”

“…” Him Chan hesitated. “I believe so since he’s confirmed Young Jae is now in his third month.”

“So does that mean Young Jae’s baby doesn’t have any defect?” Jun Hong tried to joke. “Did it pass your requirements?”

“Hng?” Dae Hyun choked out. Yong Guk tried to hide his laughter. Him Chan shook his head but a small smile made its way to his lips. The maknaes were giggling along with Seo Gu and the blonde sat with a confused look still try to absorb the fact of his Dominate.

“So are you going to explain your own decision,” Jong Up turned serious. Him Chan’s and Yong Guk's expressions became worried. Jun Hong and Seo Gu looked between them confused.

“You all knew that Dae Hyun was possibly my Dominate?” Young Jae shrieked standing up.

Him Chan was the first to react, “we didn’t know for sure.”

“But you still knew there was a chance and nobody said anything to me?” Young Jae exploded. “And what decision does he get to make?”

“If he’s willing to mate with you,” Yong Guk answered.

“And where is my decision in all of this?” the blonde tried to shake away his tears. Him Chan tried to pull the youngster close but was pushed away. “Leave me alone.”

Him Chan looked to his mate as Young Jae walked away from camp, torn between chasing after him and giving him his space. The elder shook his head signaling for him to give the blonde his space. the black haired man sighed heavily as he slumped in his seat. Everyone sat in silence not knowing what else could be said.

Jun Hong looked to each of them wondering why they kept this information hidden for so long. And why did Jong Up keep it from him? They were best friends, how could he keep something so important from him? And what did they mean about Dae Hyun deciding if he was going to accept Young Jae or not? Didn’t Young Jae get a choice if he wanted to be mated? But did this mean that Dae Hyun didn’t want to mate with Young Jae? Didn’t he like Young Jae? Young Jae… how was he feeling about all this? Of all people, didn’t any one try to ask him how he felt?

Everyone looked to the pink haired maknae as he stood up, ignoring all of their silent questions and he left camp in the direction he had seen Young Jae gone just moments earlier. None had bothered to trying to stop him; he was probably the only one who could talk to the blonde right now. The only one who probably understood how the blonde was feeling. Yong Guk pulled his mate into his lap trying to stop his gentle sobs.

Jun Hong found Young Jae curled up at the base of a tree crying. He sighed softly to himself as he dared to get closer. He called out softly to the blonde, “Young Jae hyung, are you going to be okay.”

It was a stupid question he knew that, but at least he got a response that didn’t involve ‘go away’ or ‘leave me alone’; instead he got a mumbled ‘I don’t know’. Jun Hong sat next to the blonde, gently his hair. “Everything’s just a mess.”

Young Jae sat up slowly wiping away what tears he could, “did you know about all this?”

Jun Hong shook his head lightly, “I didn’t know that they already were suspecting Dae Hyun to be your intended. When you mentioned his number the other night when you were listing out those who were a possibility, I didn’t think much of it because you didn’t seem too sure.”

“But Dae Hyun knew about it too,” Young Jae sniffed.

The maknae nodded his head, “so did Jong Up apparently…”

“You like Jong Up don’t you?” His voice was barely above a whisper.

“And you like Dae Hyun…” Jun Hong didn’t bother making a question.

Young Jae nodded, “but he doesn’t like me in the same way.”

“Same with Jong Up,” Jun Hong looked up at the trees. “Jong Up wants to mate with you.”

“I don’t want to mate with him though,” the blonde sighed. “Even if I did like him in that way, I wouldn’t mate with him.”

“Why not?” the maknae looked to the blonde. Young Jae gave a small smile, “I wouldn’t betray you like that.”

Jun Hong smiled, “Thanks.”

Both turned their attention to the trees above them. Jun Hong sighed, “I guess that means Dae Hyun will be leaving us when we get to the village.”

“Why do you say that?” Young Jae asked.

“You heard what Seo Gu said,” Jun Hong spoke softly, “if he rejects you he might try to kill you and the baby… I don’t want that to happen, I doubt Him Chan and Yong Guk would want that to happen too. They don’t have the heart to send you away and where would you go without protection.”

“Oh…” Young Jae breathed out. “It’s probably best if he did kill me.”

“Don’t talk like that.” Jun Hong was close to tears. “I wouldn’t have anyone to talk to. I don’t think I’ll be able to talk with Jong Up about certain things anymore.”

Young Jae chocked out, “I wish they would’ve left me at the Facility. I should’ve just shut up about wanting to leave.”

“Then we wouldn’t have met,” Jun Hong pulled the blonde into a hug.

“Why the hell did I have to be impregnated by Dae Hyun?” Young Jae cried. “If I wasn’t then would he still like me?”

“We’ll never really know,” Jun Hong sniffed.

“I almost wish I miscarried, but I can’t bring myself to wish anything so bad on my baby,” Young Jae sobbed harder.

“It’s not the baby’s fault, it’s the Facility’s,” Jun Hong huffed. “If they didn’t meddled into certain things then maybe things would’ve been different. If they didn’t try forcing Jong Up and I together then maybe he would see me in the same light that I see him.”

“If I wasn’t inseminated then Dae Hyun wouldn’t have to leave,” Young Jae spoke softly. “And maybe I wouldn’t be so scared about finding a mate.”

“Searching for a mate is hard,” Jun Hong complained.

Young Jae nodded, “I guess this is the pain that Him Chan told me about that one goes through when searching for a mate.”

“I guess so…” Jun Hong sighed. “It hurts like hell.”

Both chuckled sadly before entirely breaking down into tears. Their cries feeling the air growing steadily louder.

“We ed up big time,” Him Chan choked out. Yong Guk laid behind him, wiping away any tear that fell from his mate’s eyes trying to fight back his own tears. “How the hell is this to be fixed?”

“Shh, Him Channie,” Yong Guk tried to soothe him ignoring the younger's harsh language,. “It’s going to take some time for these wounds to heal. It’s not like we meant for any of this to happen.”

“No, but we could’ve prevented it from turning out like this,” the black haired man protested. “We could’ve told Young Jae ahead of time, let him process all of this. Instead we let it all explode into one big mess.”

“We didn’t give him the baby and neither did Dae Hyun, not willingly at least.” Yong Guk sighed.

“We can’t leave them out there alone,” Him Chan changed the subject much to Yong Guk's annoyance, but he let it go.

Yong Guk sighed, “do you want one or both of us to go out there with them?”

“As ridiculous as this sounds, I think they’ll need you more than me.” Him Chan sighed sadly. “They’re both being rejected so they need their ‘Appa’ to protect them and these idiots over here won’t admit it but they need their “Umma’.”

“Will you be alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” Him Chan assured, “beside I think I’m going to have to beat some sympathy into them.”

Yong Guk laughed softly before kissing his mate’s forehead, “I’ll be with our ‘baby’ Carriers if you need me. Make sure our ‘baby’ Dominates stay here. I don’t think we’re going anywhere tomorrow.”

“Do you want me to take breakfast over there or let you guys wonder back hungry?”

“It might be best if they are kept separate for a while at least until they cool down.” Him Chan nodded his agreement. Yong Guk helped Him Chan into a seated position before getting to his own feet. He kissed Him Chan’s forehead again before leaving camp.

Him Chan turned his attention to the two curious youngsters that were watching Yong Guk disappear into the darkness. Him Chan smiled softly, “come here my baby Dominates.”

Without a second thought he two made their way to Him Chan lying in front of him. Him Chan couldn’t resist pulling them into a hug as he laid himself down.