A/N: I wasn't sure if I clearly mentioned about the Deep Pockets' poker tournament lasting for three nights so the following chapter is about the SECOND night of the tournament, which means they still have one more night to spend together before ChanSoo's fate as a married couple is determined by the wager.  So without further ado, here we go:

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Thirty minutes before midnight. Chanyeol felt some relief, almost. From the lack of sleep and sustenance, it was beyond him how he managed to keep afloat from the half-sandwich and brewed coffee from breakfast. Liquor was free flow on the floor and yet he had rejected every offer so far. He didn’t think his empty stomach would appreciate it if he even thought of indulging.

His last ounce of concentration could at least be reserved for this final game of the night.

Yifan occasionally glanced with a sneer over his direction, fledging victorious each time cheers erupted from the table he was playing on. They weren’t on the same table tonight, for which Chanyeol was immensely grateful. Truth be known, he didn’t know if he could handle it if they were face-to-face. The heavy wager that involved Kyungsoo had been weighing on his head all night.

And how furious Kyungsoo had been because Chanyeol instigated it.

“Why did you do that?! How could you?!” Kyungsoo had screamed at him the moment they were mercifully left alone in his suite. “Why don’t you just hand me over to them if you couldn’t wait to get rid of me?! Why did you even bother marrying me at all?!”

His omega pounded on his chest so hard—startlingly strong for someone so small—that Chanyeol had stepped back a couple of feet at the force and taken hold of Kyungsoo’s wrists.

“Am I a game to you?!” Angry tears had streamed endlessly to the smaller ones’s smooth, round cheeks. “You’re no different from my father!”

Chanyeol’s eyes had blazed at the accusation. “KYUNGSOO!”

His omega had gasped, backing down.

“I am nothing like him.” Though his tone had become gravely quiet, Chanyeol found himself trembling at the amount of control he exerted. “Don’t ever say that to me again.”

And he’d walked past his omega before he uttered something he would regret later.

Couldn’t stand being in the same room, he’d opted to exit. He discovered that there was no end to Kyungsoo’s father’s audacity.

Yifan had placed two bodyguards outside his door, to ensure that neither he nor Kyungsoo could flee before the wager was fulfilled.

He was allowed to compete in the tournament by six in the evening. He and Kyungsoo hadn't seen each other since then.

By Chanyeol’s standards, the hands he had been playing tonight were way below par, a lot of them were practically influenced by bluff or luck. Being as physically and mentally drained as he was, his efforts were just enough to qualify him in the Champion’s Table for tomorrow night’s showdown, but barely.

The fact of the matter was he was aware that his distraction had everything to do with the fight he had with his omega.

He couldn’t wait for the game to be over.

The bets had been placed. Chanyeol briefly snuck a peek at his opponents, only three of them left. He then subtly examined his cards.

Goddamnit.

3 Jacks and an Ace.

The game could go either way at this point. He didn’t even have the strength to panic anymore. If he decided to fold now, he would have lost the bet with Yifan altogether.

He couldn’t afford that.

Suddenly, one of his competitors folded.

Chanyeol sat up a little straighter and looked at the other two players remaining in the eye.

One of them, a ginger Irish fellow, blinked and began to check his cards nervously.

The other one, an elderly Mexican gentleman, slid a stack of his chips forward.

Chanyeol, without cutting off the eye contact, upped the ante by doubling the bet that was just made.

The Irish guy shook his head. “Fold!”

Now, it was just between Chanyeol and the Mexican.

From Yifan’s table, he could hear congratulatory hoots and applause but his attention couldn’t be swayed now.

Chanyeol would not let Yifan win again. Not this time.

Over his dead body.

The Mexican pushed another five chips into his pile, leaving just one stack left by his side.

Chanyeol went all in.

He had been withholding as much as he could, only to bet everything on the third and last night of tournament. Time to change his strategy tonight. By calculation, he had more than all of his opponents’ surplus chips put together.

He saw a spark of fear in the Mexican’s dark brown eyes. Chanyeol was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

After a few heart-stopping breaths:

“Ah, chinga!*” (*Mexican cuss word)

The Mexican threw his cards on the table and declared to fold.

And he cursed some more when he saw that Chanyeol only had a straight flush.

The golden grandfather clock hanging from the ceiling chimed twelve times, indicating the end of the second night. The chips were gathered and the winners from each of the nine tables were announced. As fate would have it, Yifan and Chanyeol would play at the Champion’s Table tomorrow night.

Chanyeol did not have the time or the patience for pleasantries. He was about to head for the elevators when Yifan and his bodyguards stopped him.

“You know your game, kid,” Kyungsoo’s father said in a way that was more patronizing than praising, really.

“I don’t lose,” Chanyeol asserted, narrowing his gaze. “Now let me pass.”

“Don’t get too attached to my child.”  Yifan puffed on his tobacco and exhaled leisurely on Chanyeol’s youthful face. “Your last night with him is tonight.”

The concealed threat registered to Chanyeol, but eliminating him so soon would be a foolish move, even for Yifan.  Chanyeol thrived on being underestimated. He struck back best whenever the adversary least expected it.

The thick smoke reached his nostrils but he didn’t flinch. “Then I’ll make this a night Kyungsoo will never forget.”

That wiped the smile off his father-in-law’s face completely.

Two bodyguards were swiftly ordered to Chanyeol back to his suite, quietly. It took Herculean restraint not to slam his fist on the wall as they went around the back and through the dirty kitchen to board one of the service elevators.

Chanyeol was then delivered to the other two stationed to guard his suite on the 32nd floor. “Where’s my omega?” he demanded immediately.

“Kyungsoo-ssi is inside,” the one on the right answered.

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