A/N: Hi everyone, thank you so very much for the reviews. Last chapter was indeed one of my favorites too for so many reasons, but thank you. One more after this, but thank you for reading so far, enjoying, and sticking with it, so please enjoy chapter 14, insane I just said that lol. 

With it now being the weekend before the finals, and Joohyun growing worried because though she had seen Seulgi a few times in passing. They didn’t have the chance to really sit down and talk to one another, not with how busy they both ended up being, and even though Friday was supposed to be their day to meet. By the time the alpha finished taking Seungwan to the doctor’s and both of them having things to do they couldn’t meet as intended. Seulgi had sent a text to her earlier than morning saying she’d come by today, since it was a day without any work, and they did want to meet up at least once before finals began. Though there was already talk about having a fun celebration together with everyone once all exams were over. There was a text again as Joohyun waited, but it wasn’t officially from Seulgi.

“Hey, Joohyun, this is Seungwan. I’m using Seulgi’s phone, will you do me a favor and try to keep an eye on her for me. I’m worried about her, she left really early this morning without saying anything. I know you care about my sister and she cares about you too, so please do me that favor of making sure she’s okay.”

Of course, Joohyun would make sure that Seulgi is okay. She cares very much about the alpha and if Seungwan is worried like this, it must be serious. Joohyun assures Seungwan that she will do this and see for herself what’s going on. There’s not been any further text from Seulgi since earlier, but Joohyun knows no matter what she is going to come over. Seulgi did promise and if there’s one thing about the alpha is she is no liar. She keeps her promise but now Joohyun feels more worried than ever. Joohyun hopes Seulgi didn’t decide to handle that situation with her boss on her own. 

“Ms. Bae..” One of the kitchen workers calls out to her. “Is there anything else special you’d like made for your visit with Ms. Seulgi?”

Joohyun had gone all out, planning a special lunch for them, filled with some of Seulgi’s favorite foods and snacks. She hoped to play the violin for Seulgi too, as a part of the reason the omega even started playing it again was because of Seulgi’s encouragement. 

“No, I don’t think I’ll be needing anything else, but thank you for helping to make all this food at such short notice.”
 

“It’s no problem, Ms. Bae. I was glad to help out, I do hope your day with Ms. Seulgi goes well.”

“Thank you, so do I.”
 

If only she knew when Seulgi was going to come here. Because truly all she was doing now was getting worried. She sighs before sending a quick text to her.

“Seul, I hope to see you soon. Please be careful.”
 

Seulgi takes a look at her phone and sighs to herself because she knows right now Joohyun is bound to be worried. She probably should have showed up to her house already, but Seulgi ended up finding herself walking around aimlessly in the city. The alpha did as Joohyun asked and did not contact her old boss. Though the woman sent all the necessary information to her, all about the heist she was planning on an old colleague of hers that would certainly give her a lot of money if done well, and all the information on the experimental medical program, not to mention a picture of a check in the full amount of how much it would cost. It was tempting, very tempting but Seulgi couldn’t do it. She had to trust in Joohyun because Joohyun had already proven to her that she could do so. Everything would be okay, somehow. The alpha had to believe that. It was nearing three in the afternoon, maybe she should at least get going. She didn’t want to keep Joohyun waiting much longer.

Though if the monolid girl was being honest with herself, it felt like someone was watching her. She needed to get going now, the need to see Joohyun stronger, and nothing would stop her from meeting the omega, no matter what.

No matter if she was currently being followed.

“I’m coming, Hyun.”

Meanwhile, rather than studying like she originally wanted. Kim Yerim found herself at her mom’s company because her mother insisted. Things haven’t really been getting all that better with her mom, and there are times Yerim wishes she could just run away from here and never look back. But at the same time she does love her mother and then there’s also Sooyoung too. She couldn’t just up and leave Sooyoung, who has become the sweetest girlfriend in the world. Not that it was all that surprising because the alpha was sweet to her before they officially became a couple. Yerim sighs and runs her fingers through blonde locks. She would much rather be studying somewhere than spending time at her mother’s company. Her phone lights up with a text and she smiles. The omega can still remember how much her girlfriend protested when she saw the contact name that Yerim wrote for her. At this point, it would not be changing, since Yerim saw it as a term of endearment.

IdiotSooyoung: Babe, are you still at the company?

Yerim knew she liked Sooyoung, though it took her years to even admit it to herself. She honestly can’t see the alpha not in her life in some way, it wouldn’t feel good to just leave Sooyoung, at least not without telling her. Not that Sooyoung would let her go either, she’d probably chase her down to the ends of the earth. Yerim texts back letting her know she is indeed stuck here probably for a few hours more.

“Let’s meet up later, we can go out to dinner or something. I should be free by then.”
 

Sooyoung doesn’t text again, and Yerim doesn’t worry about it or question anything. Sooyoung could be studying herself, and the omega for now focuses on the stack of papers in front of her. She’s treated more like an intern around here, not a future leader of a company. But she gets it because even her mother started from the bottom so she wanted Yerim to get the same experience. With that being said, it wasn’t all bad. Her mom would let her sit on meetings and observe, and interact with a lot of the staff, some of which she liked a lot. 

“I think my mom has no concept of separating school from work.” The blonde sighs and ends up falling asleep at the desk while staring at the paperwork. A quick nap wouldn’t be the end of the world, right?

But what Yerim didn’t count on was her girlfriend coming up to the office building, and marching her way straight up to the big boss CEO herself, and offering her a gift because that’s what good soon to be daughter-in-laws do.

“Ice cream?” The older alpha blinks in surprise at the huge container of ice cream in front of her.

“Yeah, my mom said you liked ice cream a lot, and I wanted to talk to you.”

“Sure, Sooyoung.” Taeyeon has no idea what’s going on, but she can at least hear her out, this should be interesting if nothing else. 

“Okay,” Sooyoung takes a breath. “I get that you’re Yerimie’s sire and you’re just trying to look out for her and you want the best for her, I want that too. But you have to give her a break a little too. She’s miserable sometimes and I don’t want her to be miserable. Just maybe at least give her the day off, she’s not going to slack off and let your whole family company go to ruin if she gets some time to herself. , I hope you’re not mad, you’re going to be mother-in-law, you know.”
 

Taeyeon looks stunned for a few moments before eventually laughing a bit, amused by the younger woman’s passionate speech about being her daughter-in-law. But more than that she hears what Sooyoung is saying ultimately.

“You’re right, I should do better to lighten up. I do want what’s best for my daughter, always, but that doesn’t mean I should make her miserable either. Tell her to go and enjoy the rest of her day, and tell her I love her.”

Sooyoung nods and gives her a thumbs up. “I will, and she knows you love her, Ms. Kim. Thank you for not being too pissed with me for coming here to your place of business like this.”

“No, I’m glad Yerim has someone like you. I hope she knows that.”

“Oh, I’m sure she knows.”

Sooyoung bids goodbye to Taeyeon and then runs off to where Yerim is usually found in her own office here, which is pretty damn cool in Sooyoung’s opinion that the omega has an entire office even though she says she’s treated like an intern. Sooyoung opens the door to find her girlfriend asleep at her desk, and she looks so cute that she nearly screams, only doesn’t. The alpha gently runs her fingers through her blonde locks before placing a kiss to her forehead. But it wasn’t any of those things that helped Yerim wake up when she smelled the apple scent that accompanied her girlfriend.

“Soo?” She yawns. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m getting you out of here, babe. I talked to your mom and she said you should take the rest of the day off, so we’re going to have a late lunch. Does that sound okay?”

The omega blinks a few times, any traces of sleep disappear and she sees her girlfriend smiling at her.

“That sounds okay, thank you.”

Yerim stands up and then hugs Sooyoung which makes the taller girl smile. As she has waited such a long time for Yerim to like her back, these small doses of affection are truly the best.

“No problem, I can’t have you wasting away here like this. Come on, let’s get going.” Sooyoung reaches for her hand and Yerim accepts, their fingers becoming interlocked as they walk. Yerim has no idea what Sooyoung said to her mother, but she is grateful. In fact, she leans up to place a kiss against the alpha’s cheek and smiles as Sooyoung’s cheeks get just a bit red.

“Hey, whatever you said to my mom, thank you.”

“Of course, I’d do anything for you, you know that Yerim.”

The omega did know that. She really did know how lucky she was to have Sooyoung and knew that no matter what. They couldn’t waste anymore time because she had kept the alpha waiting for too long as it was. And if Sooyoung could even convince her own mother to give her a break and let her live, then Yerim just knew that everything would be okay from here on out. They just had to be.

Everything was not okay.

At least it wasn’t for Bae Joohyun when she got the call from Seulgi just a little after five that evening. The alpha sounded out of breath, tired, hurt, and because of that all the anxiety she felt was in overdrive.

“Seul, where are you?”

“Don’t worry, I-I’m okay.”

“You don’t sound okay, where are you? I will come to you wherever you are, just tell me where you are.”

The alpha on the phone takes a breath and the pained tone in her voice made the omega want to scream at her to tell her where she was. Only screaming wouldn’t help, not in this case.

“I’m...outside.”

“Outside of my house?”

“Yeah, gazebo…” the phone goes dead after that and Joohyun got up from her room, threw on a sweater and ran down the stairs faster than she had ever run in her entire life. Seulgi made it all the way to her house, that was good, right? Or rather she would need to see what was going on, whether she would need to call for help, or not. The omega saw her at the gazebo, the same gazebo they had sat together plenty of times when Seulgi was on a break, or Joohyun simply wanted to spend time with her.

“Oh no…” Joohyun pauses as she sees the monolid girl sitting up against the wall of the gazebo. She was clearly hurt, beaten up, from the looks of it, with a bruised cheek. Joohyun gets to her and tries to touch her cheeks but Seulgi stiffens at the touch.

“No, no, don’t...it still stings a bit.”

“What happened?”

Seulgi looks up and sees how Joohyun looks like she’s on the verge of tears. Perhaps, she shouldn’t have come here after all, not if it would cause distress. At the same time she just had to, had to keep her promise, and more than that Seulgi wanted to see Joohyun.

“I’m sorry, I thought I was being followed and I was.”

Now was not the time to sit here and go into details. Joohyun needed to get her inside and have one of the staff look at Seulgi, some of the staff, or rather nearly all of the staff have some form of medical training.

“Can you stand? I need to get you inside.”

“I can, just maybe…” Seulgi takes a slow breath. “Maybe help me….put your arm around my waist. They did a ing number on me.”

Like it wasn’t already obvious as it was, clearly this has been the work of the former boss of hers. Joohyun knew they would talk further soon, and so with her support Seulgi was able to stand. She had a slight limp but at least she didn’t appear to be bleeding or anything.

“I’ve got you.” Joohyun whispers in the most tender of voices that makes Seulgi