“Where are you taking me?” Sehun demanded as the Neanderthal bodyguards of Yifan hauled him to the elevators. His eyes widened when he saw that one of them had a gun at Chanyeol’s head. “You’re not going to kill him, are you?”

The bodyguard on his right laughed. “That’s really none of your business.”

“It is my business!” Sehun argued, pulling on his arms as he felt his wrists now being handcuffed. “And I’ll sue your off if you don’t take these off me right this instant!”

He sputtered on deaf ears up until the elevators stopped at the topmost floor—the penthouse.

The next thing Sehun knew was that he was being shoved into one of the rooms, landing on his knees.

Sehun fell on his side, body folding like a baby, as he felt several ligaments tear at the impact on his left knee.

What trouble did Chanyeol get into now? In the past, Sehun only had to iron out minor complications for him, such as cutting through all the red tape and perhaps some bribing involved in order to prevent a legal dispute.

But never to the point where he was held up—in handcuffs—and with no means of escaping whatsoever.

Chanyeol would never allow himself to be killed over a poker game.

Or would he?

Something simply didn’t add up.

A few minutes later, he heard some noise and rumbling from outside. Suddenly, the door opened again, and Chanyeol and Kyungsoo stumbled as they were pushed into the room with him.

“And keep quiet!” The bodyguard warned, before slamming the door shut and turning the locks twice.

“Sehun-ah!” Chanyeol immediately rushed to his friend’s side, sitting him up.

“Hyung!” Kyungsoo knelt down to inspect Sehun’s face. “Did they hurt you?”

The young lawyer only shook his head, staring at them in bewilderment. “You know each other? How?”

Chanyeol chose not to confirm directly as he ripped off the name tag he was wearing from the tournament and removed the safety pin.

Sehun narrowed his eyes at Chanyeol, who was already picking on the handcuffs restraining the younger one. “You’re not answering my question, hyung.”

“He’s my mate,” Chanyeol told him calmly as the lock unhinged and Sehun was freed.

“What?!” Sehun exclaimed incredulously, rubbing his reddened wrists. Then his eyes zoomed in on the silver wedding rings they were both sporting on their left ring fingers. “This was what you meant by S. O. S.?!”

Chanyeol sighed. As his legal counsel, of course, Sehun didn’t appreciate nuclear bombshells such as this being dropped on him at the last minute. He was not used to being kept in the dark. “Seh—”

All of a sudden, Chanyeol found his back on the wall and Sehun’s forearm locked on his neck. It wasn’t as tight that his air passageway was blocked, but just enough to trap him.

Still, Chanyeol was unable to release himself.

He glared into Sehun’s dead serious eyes. “Is this the thanks I get?!”

“Did I hear you right?!” Sehun badgered in a panic. “Yifan’s child is your mate?! As in… you’re married to Kyungsoo?!”

“Sehun-ah…” Chanyeol warned in a whisper, his eyes flashing now. “Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me.”

“Hyung!” Kyungsoo tried to yank Sehun from his alpha. “Stop it! It’s not his fault!”

Sehun turned to Kyungsoo but keeping his forceful hold on Chanyeol. “What are you talking about, Kyungja?! No wonder your father wanted to kill him!” Then his eyes blazed wildly at Chanyeol. “Did you knock Kyungsoo up?!”

“ANIYO!” Kyungsoo objected, pushing at Sehun. “I’m not pregnant! You’re the second person to presume that! Is that the only reason I would get married?!” He stretched his cashmere sweater across his flat tummy, looking at both tall alphas in frustration. “Do I look fat to you?!”

Sehun reverted his gaze to Chanyeol’s, which clearly cautioned him that neither one of them should fuel that fire—the most lethal question in the world for an omega to ask an alpha—if they knew what was good for them.

Sehun finally let go of Chanyeol and Kyungsoo sighed with relief, opening his arms as his alpha came into them.

They could still feel their friend staring at them with incredulity.

“Help me understand,” Sehun began as they reduced to holding hands, perhaps now conscious that there was a third person in the room. “How did this…” He put his two pointer fingers together and then wriggled his hands in a weird manner, as if not able to grasp the logic of it all, “… you two, happen?”

The younger alpha looked at Chanyeol again, utterly confused. “Hyung, I know you are an extremely private person. It’s just that… in all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never been in a serious relationship.”

Kyungsoo stared at Chanyeol in surprise.

“Ani, Kyungja, don’t misunderstand, he couldn’t be more of Jongin’s polar opposite,” Sehun explained immediately, couldn’t resist rolling his eyes at his hasty example. “I would know, because Chanyeol hyung hasn’t the time. What I meant was, he hasn’t been with anyone in years.”

Sehun regarded Chanyeol once more, “Hyung, I don’t mean to impose, but Kyungsoo is like a dongseang to me. Our families are very close friends.” His forehead creased, as if carefully mincing his words before saying them. He knew whom Kyungsoo was arranged to end up with, as aversely twisted as it was, and Chanyeol was nowhere near that radar. “There are things no one should mess with. And this marriage, if it is—”

“Sehun-ah,” Chanyeol interrupted, more drained than offended, really, “I would understand if you want no part of this. What you saw earlier got out of hand. Yifan and I had agreed on a wager, which he thought he would win. I hadn’t anticipated everything to escalate this quickly when I asked you to come.”

Sehun nodded, exhaling deeply. “And it’s about to get worse.”

Kyungsoo’s lower lip trembled. “You’re not going to help us?”