Kyungsoo frowned at his phone for a few minutes now, as Luhan looked on worriedly.  
 

“Let’s… start the omega shower?” Yixing announced, faltering as Kyungsoo threw his phone begrudgingly inside his bag, his pretty face now set on a determined scowl. 
 

Luhan and Minseok had both come up with the spa-themed party, and every omega in attendance couldn’t have been more thankful.  Since the last few weeks had been such a whirlwind of wedding planning, with the wedding event a mere two weeks away, even Yixing was delighted to be included as an esteemed guest and a friend who could take part in the massages, body scrubs, foot soaks, facial and the works.
 

Kyungsoo sighed, now conscious of the twenty guests’ eyes were on him.  “Mian-haeyo… please… enjoy yourselves.”
 

And then Kyungsoo stormed out of the venue, carrying his bag with him, leaving the guests’ jaws dropping open and Luhan chasing after him.
 

“Kyungja!” Luhan called, catching up with his cousin at the lobby.
 

The younger one clucked his tongue.  Of course, Luhan would catch up with him.  Among the two of them, his hyung was taller with longer legs, more athletic... 
 

But then, all Kyungsoo really wanted was to get away…
 

From his own omega shower.
 

“What’s wrong?” Luhan asked gently, taking his hand. 
 

Kyungsoo refused to look at his hyung, attempting to keep his tears at bay. 
 

Luhan led the younger one to the pool outside the veranda, but by then, Kyungsoo was a sobbing mess. 
 

“I don’t know what to do with him!” Kyungsoo wept in anguish.  “Who tells his omega that a break would be good when we haven’t even had a decent meal together in two weeks because he works all the time?!  How long of a break does he need from me?!  A permanent one?!  Who tells his omega he’ll be spending the night at Jeju Island tonight?!  Couldn’t he tell that I miss him?!  Doesn’t he miss me?!”
 

Luhan wiped the uncontrollable tears flowing out of his best friend’s cheeks.  “Here, let’s sit.”  He kicked off his slippers and sat on the pool’s edge, dipping his legs up to the knees, smiling encouragingly. 
 

He could only helplessly watch as Kyungsoo weakly followed his example, weeping wretchedly as he did.  Luhan reached out and rubbed Kyungsoo’s back.  “Kyungja… this is a stressful time…”
 

“It is!  And Chanyeol…” Kyungsoo sighed deeply, stopping at once, before he said anything against his alpha that he didn’t really mean.  “You have no idea how this spa retreat couldn’t have come at a better time...” He looked at Luhan with gratitude as best he could through his teary eyes.  “Gomawo, hyung.”
 

Luhan cringed.  “Has it been… that bad?  What happened?  Why did his text message upset you so much?”
 

Kyungsoo thanked the empathetic assistant who handed his some tissue.  “Ever since the formal dinner, something in Chanyeol changed.  I couldn’t quite reach him.” He blew his nose on a tissue, automatically soaking it.  “I don’t know what it is, and he just keeps dismissing me.  He’s shutting everyone out.” 

His lower lip trembled as more of his tears came.  “If it’s just me, I can handle it.  If he doesn’t talk to me, fine.  If he wants to continue to be more brooding and angry over something he doesn’t want to share with me, I get it!  But his mother and his dongseang and his uncle are living with us now and they’re all afraid he will explode any second!  When he’s in the house, the tension in the air is so thick, it’s hard to breathe!  They can’t even go back to their family home when they want to so badly because my alpha decided to renovate it without telling them… just like he decided on his own to resume construction on my art school… which he still forbids me to go to!” 
 

Luhan rushed to hug Kyungsoo.  He couldn’t presume to know what hyung’s reasons were, but Sehun always seemed to think so highly of Chanyeol. 
 

However, from his cousin’s depiction of his alpha just now… Chanyeol sounded just like a pathological control freak…
 

…who wasn’t all that different from Kyungsoo’s father.
 

“Kyungja,” Luhan began carefully, “is there… anything else that you want to tell me…?”
 

Kyungsoo cried, blinking.  “W-What do you mean?”
 

“It’s… not too late, you know.  You can still…” Luhan lowered his gaze, fidgeting with his hands, “…change your mind.  If… he h-hits you…”
 

“Aniya, aniya, aniya,” Kyungsoo answered in defense of his alpha immediately, wiping his tears.  “Nampyeon hasn’t laid a hand on me, and he never would.  Please don’t think that.  Chanyeol’s very… caring.  He’s just… He just believes he has to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.  Something he’s done his whole life.  He doesn’t know how to lighten the load now that he is married.” Two more tears rolled down his squishy cheeks on their own accord.  “I feel like part of the burden most of the time.”
 

“Kyungja…”
 

“I know he loves me…” Kyungsoo sniffed