“You seriously did not set me up on a blind date, Tae. Seriously?”

Taemin shrugged his shoulders and handed the child in Jongin’s lap a small container of gummy bears, “Here, you go, baby.”

“Thank you, mommy!”

Jongin’s irritation slightly went away as he watched the small child munch away at his candy.

“Taeho, you’re such a cutie pie. You’re getting so big, I can’t believe it,” Jongin snuggled the little boy to giggle.

“Am I big enough to marry Nini yet?”

Taemin laughed at Jongin’s shocked expression. He noticed his son’s fascination with Jongin ever since the young alpha was born.

On nights when Minho was away on business trips and Taemin was stressed over taking care of his new crying infant, Jongin would come over and hold Taeho while Taemin got some rest. The moment Jongin walked through the door, he always had Taeho’s full attention. At first, Taemin thought his own baby preferred Jongin over him because he was an unfit mother. However, Taeho only pushed away from Taemin whenever Jongin was around. After thinking about it, the omega concluded that his 7-year-old boy was simply subconsciously captured by Jongin’s pure omega aura.

A recurring topic Taemin had learned to get used to a long time ago.

Jongin looked to his friend for help. When he saw that Taemin was not going to offer any, he looked at the little alpha, “Taeho is too young to marry anymore right now. You shouldn’t worry about that stuff, sweetie.”

The little boy’s face scrunched up in displeasure, “But I want to be a good husband for you. I have to prepare now.”

Jongin was speechless, which was not a usual occurrence for the psychologist.

Deep brown eyes looked to Taemin again. He knew he looked desperate for help. Taemin should easily know, so why wasn’t he saying anything?

After an awkward moment of silence, the omega mother sighed and intervened.

“Taeoh, sweetie. Nini needs a husband his own age.”

The boy frowned even more, “I will be Nini’s age when I grow up.”

“Yes, but when you turn Nini’s age, Nini will also be older. You can never be Nini’s age, baby.”

Jongin bit his lip. He personally felt like Taemin was being a little too harsh with his words. But at the end of the day, it was the reality. He strongly believed in telling the truth no matter the outcome. However, lately, the omega has been more unsure about a numerous amount of things.

A young alpha with a wide grin flashed across his mind.

Jongin frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar, tell the truth.”

“Yeah, Nini. Tell the truth,” Taeho backed his mother up.

“Hey, you. I don’t need your help. Go play in your room. Mommy and Nini need to talk.” Taemin pointed.

“Awww,” Taeho pouted, “I want to know what’s wrong with Nini too.”

The omega mother stood his ground, “Run along, baby.”

Taeho huffed and jumped down from Jongin’s lap. Once the little alpha was upstairs in his bedroom, Taemin turned to his friend.

“Spill it.”

Jongin crossed one slim leg over the other. Should he tell Taemin about Sehun? Should he tell him about the way his blood runs cold and his skin becomes hot whenever Sehun is around? How would make him look? He was 24 and Sehun was turning 16 this month. Eight years wasn’t too great of an age difference, and if Sehun was an adult, then maybe things would have been different. However, Sehun wasn’t an adult. He was a minor. No matter how mature he appeared, he was a child. And children should never be with an adult.

“That kid we saw earlier today...the one that waved at me. His name is Sehun.”

Taemin nodded, urging Jongin to continue.

“Umm..Sehun he..well lately he’s been acting...strange. Well, not strange, I know why he’s acting the way he is, but he shouldn’t. It’s wrong.”

“Nini, you’re losing me. What’s the problem?”

“Sehun is trying to court me.”

“Oh.”

Jongin’s cheeks were red with shame. Why did Sehun have to be so young? Why did he have to be a student at the school Jongin worked at? Why did he have to be a pure alpha? Why was a pure alpha even slightly interested in him? Was he playing a joke? Did he think it would be funny to make the omega feel important only to laugh about it later? Jongin didn’t understand.

“I don’t know if he realizes that he is doing it. I mean, he has a boyfriend already and talks about him all the time. But whenever he is around, I feel like I am suffocating from the way he smells. He just smells so freaking good, Tae. I don’t know what to do.”

Jongin hated feeling like this. He was proving society right. He was weak, helpless, and needy. All because of a mere 15-year-old alpha. Was it really useless to try to make something of himself? Was his worth really only as much as the attention he got from an alpha?

“Let him.””

“No. I can’t,” Jongin shook his head.

“Yes you can, Nini. If he is your mate then the more you push him away, the more it hurts you.”

“Taemin, he’s 15.”

“You know damn well that doesn’t matter. Don’t try to use that excuse. All you have to do is form an intimate relationship with him, not ual.”

Jongin stood up, “Taemin, I can’t. I can’t allow myself to submit so easily. It’s not fair. Where is my choice? Do I not have a say so in who I spend the rest of my life with? Or am I forever doomed to bend at an alpha’s will? I can’t do this, Tae. I just can’t.”

~.~.~.~

Sehun was pretty bummed. After his parents told him about his grandfather, he decided to spend the weekend at Vernon’s place. Like Sehun, Vernon’s parents were always working. Unlike Sehun, Vernon’s parent took breaks from their jobs in order to spend time with their son. Sehun was envious.

On top of that, Jongin had ignored him. He was surprised to see the other on the way to breakfast this morning, but he was so happy when he did see him. He was feeling so many things because of his family, he needed to release them.

His friends were great when it came to simply being social, but when Sehun was feeling useless Jongin seemed to be the only one who could make him feel better.

Sehun smiled as the pretty omega flashed across his mind. He could honestly say that he has never seen a person as beautiful as the counselor.

Luhan was pretty. Back in the States, Sehun was considered the luckiest guy in the school. Luhan was a teen model and was admired by all. The beta was ev