Jeonghan stared at the mirror while brushing his hair, humming quietly to himself. 

The gala was tomorrow, and even though he was dreading it a bit because of his father forcing him to socialize with a lot of nobles, he was looking forward to making some mooncakes early in the morning with the cooks and Minghao. Plus, he already had a good outfit matched just for the occasion that he planned on wearing for the occasion, which he was really looking forward to. 

One of the only things that Jeonghan had left from his mother was a long, pretty white dress. Jeonghan always loved it; since his mother passed away when he was very young, he didn’t have much memories of her, one of the rare moments he remembers was her sneaking them out of a banquet to stay in his room all night, the two eating fruit tarts and eating with his toys, all while she was wearing it. 

Even though the dress was for women (male omegas didn’t wear feminine clothes often), Jeonghan really wanted to wear it once, just once, and think of her. And he thought the gala was a perfect moment for that. 

He continued to watch himself in the mirror as he brushed his hair, wondering if he’ll wear his long hair down or in a ponytail, when the door suddenly busted open. 

He whipped his head around to see Minghao standing there, eyes wide open. “You will not believe what just happened to me,” Minghao said. 

“You almost gave me a heart attack,” Jeonghan said. “But continue.”

“No, like you literally will not believe it,” Minghao said slowly. He paused, and Jeonghan could see how his chest was rising really quickly, as if he were heavy breathing. “Like you won’t believe it. At all. Not in a million years. Why? Because this has only happened in my dreams, matter of fact, all of the dreams I’ve been having this past year-"

“Holy , did Jun kiss you?” Jeonghan asked, standing up from his chair.

“Did Jun kiss me- OF COURSE HE KISSED ME!!” Minghao screamed, dashing in the room. “HE KISSED ME!!”

“OH MY GOSH, HE KISSED YOU?!” Jeonghan screamed back as Minghao jumped into his arms, the two friends becoming a screaming mess soon after. 

***

Seungcheol and Jeonghan were sitting against the wall in the room, as far away as possible from the omega who looked like Seungcheol’s friend Jihoon who he hasn’t seen in more than sixteen years. 

It was possible that the omega wasn’t Jihoon, considering how he looked like he literally hasn’t aged at all. However, now this was driving them into a panic attack, because this could only mean one thing. 

They know their identities, that’s for sure. And the fact that the kidnappers could find their friends from the past even though they haven’t made any contact for almost two decades did not sit well in their stomachs. 

All Jeonghan could think of right now is that he was glad that Junmyeon hadn’t been with them at all. He didn’t want his son’s presence to be known to people of the past, especially those that no doubt wanted to hurt them. 

They didn’t make any sound for a while, not wanting to startle the omega, until they watched him slowly become awake, first noticeable by how he groaned, slowly moving his head from side to side until he sat up. 

Jihoon got up, rubbing his temples with the palms of his hands, as he muttered something under his breath, something about some Vernon kid and someone’s name they both did not catch. “Jeez, where am I-”

When he looked around and caught sight of Seungcheol and Jeonghan looking at him, he froze, his eyes widening.

“Yeah, that’s definitely Jihoon,” Seungcheol said, knowing the omega recognized them. “Hey, Jihoon, we’ve been kidnapped together-”

“You are not making these jokes right now,” Jeonghan scolded him. “Please tell me you’re not.”

“Well, then you break the tension,” Seungcheol said, pouting. 

Jeonghan turned his attention back to Jihoon, who was still staring at them wide-eyed. “Are you okay?” he asked him. “They didn’t hurt you, right? I’m assuming they brought you here against your will, too-”

“You’re alive,” Jihoon interrupted him. 

“Um- yeah?” Jeonghan said. “At least, for now.”

“No, you don’t get it, for the past decade, I thought you were dead- no, we thought you were dead,” Jihoon corrected himself. “Soonyoung missed you, Seungcheol.”

“Holy , Soonyoung?” Seungcheol said. “You’re in contact with him?” 

“You’re in contact with him- he’s my husband, you ing idiot,” Jihoon yelled at him. “The , only you would forget that- oh, wait, that was after you left,” he trailed off. 

Seungcheol’s eyes widened in surprise. “Hold on, you married Soonyoung?”

“It was like- uh, a year or two after you disappeared,” Jihoon said. “Yeah, I guess- yeah, I married Soonyoung.”

“You married Soonyoung, what?!” Jeonghan yelled as well.

“Can we get past the fact that I married Soonyoung?!” Jihoon screamed. “What are you two doing here?! I thought you were dead?! And- and what happened to…”

“Oh yeah, Junmyeon was born safe!” Jeonghan exclaimed happily, remembering how everyone had been worried that his baby wouldn’t make it. “He’s a boy, an omega, and he wasn’t with us when we were kidnapped, thankfully.”

“Oh, thank god,” Jihoon said, sighing in relief. “Man, Minghao would be ecstatic to hear that, he’s always blabbering how your baby would have gotten along with Luhan and Zitao.”

Jeonghan frowned. “Who’s Zitao?” he said. He knew Luhan was Minghao’s baby, and from how Jihoon described it, thankfully Luhan was doing well. 

“Oh , you don’t know, Minghao and Junhui had another baby like a year later!” Jihoon explained. “They’re both kind of quiet, both turned out like Junhui and not at all like Minghao, but they both know martial arts, man, Zitao is intense at it-”

“MINGHAO HAD ANOTHER BABY?!” Jeonghan screamed, standing up. “SAY SIKE RIGHT NOW!”

“He did, I’m not joking!” Jihoon said. “Honestly, I’m not surprised, Junhui’s kind of stupid.”

“He is not stupid, I will not tolerate Junhui hate in this household- Seungcheol?” Jeonghan watched Seungcheol who grabbed a nearby chair. “What are you doing?”

“Keep gossiping, I don’t mind,” he said. “But grab those blankets and tie them together, will you?”

“You should probably wait until we tie them before you break the windows,” Jihoon said, already knowing what Seungcheol was about to do. The alpha had been trained as a bodyguard, he knew ways of how to get out. “Same alpha as you’ve always been.”

Jeonghan grabbed the stack of blankets at the side of the room and started tying them. “He’s been missing your avocado wraps for years now,” he explained. “Honestly. Not to mention how much apple juice he always steals from me.”

“I’m not surprised,” Jihoon said. “Why does everyone like my wraps so much, it’s just plain ingredients, even Vernon and Seungkwan can eat a whole plate of them in one sitting, I’m not even going to talk about Soonyoung’s obsession with avocados-”

“Wait, I’m lost, who’s Vernon?” Jeonghan interrupted him. 

“Oh, my son,” Jihoon explained. “He’s almost fifteen, Seungkwan’s his best friend since forever-”

“You had a son with Soonyoung?!” Seungcheol exclaimed. 

“Can we stop invalidating my marriage with Soonyoung already?!” Jihoon yelled. “This is why you weren’t invited to the wedding! That and because I thought you were dead.”

Jihoon stood up from the ground and reached out his hand to Seungcheol. “Let me see that real quick,” he said, taking the chair from Seungcheol. 

“Wait, what are you going to do, I’m confused-” Seungcheol asked, only to be interrupted by Jihoon breaking the glass windows with the chair. “Really Jihoon?!”

“Alphas are strong my ,” Jihoon mumbled under his breath. “Okay, let’s escape now before these idiots try to kill us.”

***

While the town meeting was going on, Mark (Tuan, not Lee), was packing his bag in his house, stuffing as many rice bags as he could, along with some clothes, jugs of water and dehydrated fruit, hoping it’ll last the trail. 

The joys of not being a desirable omega in their village meant that he could miss the town hall meeting and no one would wonder where he was, so when he got out of his hut, bag slewn over his shoulder, no one was questioning his whereabouts. 

Mark stepped out, rushing quickly to get into the forest, hoping no one would see him. Packing a bag and leaving through the forest would be a bit suspicious, so it was important that he left without anyone noticing. 

If he recalled Jackson correctly, they were going to meet behind the old house at the end of the village, the one where the betrothed of the chief’s son lived. No one ever went there, and it was separated from the rest of the village, so it would be a good place for them to meet. 

He tried not to make noise in the forest, watching his step carefully. His bag wasn’t heavy, thankfully, despite all the rice he shoved in there. His friends always praised him for being strong, and Mark rarely ever took pride in that, but it always came in handy. 

From a distance, he could see Jackson with his two friends, Yugyeom and Bambam, the latter being from one of the Thai families. There were definitely going to be questions if Bambam was gone, but it looks like the latter didn’t care, worried more about his friends. 

Mark will admit he might have been wrong of what he thought of this friend group. 

He accidentally stepped on a pile of leaves, making the crunchy sounds, and he could see how the three of them looked around, trying to find out where the sound came from, only to sigh in relief when they saw him. 

They continued chattering as Mark walked up to them, trying not to make any commotion. He didn’t know the group well, only Jinyoung and… well, Jackson, so it was a bit weird being in the same presence as the other two. 

“Mark, you made it!” Jackson exclaimed, grinning. God, what a stupid smile, if it weren’t for the situation they were in, Mark would think he was faking it to get a reaction from him. “We’re just waiting on Youngjae, he’s getting Jaebum and Jinyoung.”

“Youngjae’s going to steal some last-minute chocolate and you know that,” Yugyeom reminded him. 

“I don’t see the problem,” Bambam said, shrugging. “That is, assuming he brought some for me, of course.”

“Jaebum’s probably packing some last stuff,” Jackson said, shrugging. “You know how worried he’s gotten recently.”

“Duh, they’re going to punish Jinyoung, of course he’s going to get worried,” Yugyeom said. “You know Jaebum, he’d die for him.”

Mark clutched his hands tighter around the straps of his bag, looking at the floor uncomfortably. “Jaebum sounds like he really likes him,” he muttered to himself. 

“Pfft, you know how many years he’s been obsessed with him?” Bambam said. “Jaebum has the boy aura, but trust me, he was an entire mess when they started courting, for him, it was a victory if he said hi to him.”

“Still surprised how they had ,” Jackson said, laughing. “You know they must have kissed for at least two hours before Jaebum dared to take off Jinyoung’s shirt.”

“Hold on, Jaebum knows how to take off omega’s clothes?” Yugyeom said, laughing as well. “Damn it, too bad Jinyoung’s pregnant, I want to joke about Jaebum being inexperienced.”

“The fact that he’s more experienced than all of us,” Bambam said, trailing off when he pointed at something in the distance. “Guys, look, it’s Youngjae- wait, where are Jinyoung and Jaebum?”
 

***

Jaehyun always went to town hall meetings for him, letting Taeyong stay at home with the kids. The omega didn’t like being around the people of the village, as they often said stuff about him, and plus, they only had respect for Jaehyun anyways. 

However, village rules state that there must be one person of each household for every meeting. Since Jaehyun wasn’t there with them, logically, this meant that Taeyong had to go. 

Which he wasn’t going to. 

He spent a good hour tearing the house down, trying to find any information on who he could trust. He knew Jaehyun had a list somewhere, and if he was going to find him, he had to leave his children with someone trustworthy. 

Taeyong managed to find out some scribbled out notes from Jaehyun and recognized one of the names, an unmarried Chinese who lived near the center of the village. A bit risky, Taeyong admitted, but he had no other choice. 

He left the house like they usually did, with Taeyong holding onto Gongchan’s and Gunwoo’s hand while Jungshin walked with Jongup and Jian. 

Taeyong doesn’t know the rules of children presenting, only that sometimes they could get a bit sick, but Jungshin looked to be okay for now. He was sweating a lot and complaining about being hot, but he didn’t feel dizzy or had a headache, which was good. 

Jongup kept complaining about his older brother and how he was really disgusting and should take a shower, while Gongchan talked about how much he loved bubbles. Usually Taeyong would listen to their conversations and converse with them, but talking to them was the last thing on his mind, as he was more worried about them remaining safe. 

“Weird brothers,” Jian said, shaking his head. “Jungshin and Jongup weird.”

“I’m not weird, I’m amazing, appa says I’m amazing,” Jongup said. “Jungshin here nasty.”

“I’m not nasty, I feel really sticky!” Jungshin exclaimed. “Eomma says I’ll be alpha like appa.”

“Appa? Appa?!” Gunwoo exclaimed, looking around for his appa. 

“We will find appa, eomma said we will!” Jongup said, turning around to see his younger brother. “We will find appa!”

“Lasagna, I want lasagna,” Jian said, yawning. “Tired.”

“We will eat soon,” Jungshin said, reassuring him. “I’m really hungry, too.”

Taeyong found the location of the alpha’s hut, hesitating last minute. Jaehyun said he was trustworthy, but… 

No, he shouldn’t doubt Jaehyun’s judgement. His mate knew of all of the rude and fake people in this village, he knew what he was doing. 

But clearly, Jaehyun did something and hid it from Taeyong, not trusting him. Unless they’re lying and he’s being framed? But why would they do that?

“Kids, get behind me,” Taeyong said, ushering his children to stand behind him as he knocked on the man’s door, hoping he would get a response. The town hall meeting was starting soon, and Taeyong doesn’t know if he already left or not-

An alpha opened the door, staring at Taeyong in confusion. “Hello?” he asked him. “How can I help you?"

Taeyong gulped. “Are you Qian Kun?” he asked him, taking out Jaehyun’s notes from his pockets and unfolding it. “Do you know Jung Jaehyun?”

The alpha Kun nodded. “Yeah, I know Jaehyun,” he said. “What about him?”

“They took him,” Taeyong blurted out. “They mentioned something about treason.”

“Treason- hold on, Jung Jaehyun?” Kun said, opening the door wider. “What do you mean, treason?”

“I don’t know, they sent people to my house to look for something and I accidentally stabbed one of them, but they won’t tell me anything, and I don’t know why the officials sent them after me,” Taeyong started rambling. “Please, can you look after my children, you’re one of the only people he trusts in this village, and I need to find him, please-”

“Hey, calm down, look, uh-” Kun glanced inside his house. “Come in, okay, I’ll help you find your husband,” he said. “I really doubt Jaehyun did something, I’ll help you find him.”
 

***

The omega stranger said the name Minghao, which left Vernon confused. Did they know that his parents were friends with Minghao and Junhui?

From what Vernon remembered, his parents had been friends with a bodyguard Seungcheol, who was the lover of the missing prince Jeonghan, who had been friends with Minghao, which is how they knew each other. Sometimes his parents hung out with Minghao, but Vernon didn’t interact with his two children that much; they were really quiet, unlike Minghao. 

He didn’t want to jeopardize anyone, so he had to think carefully. “Why are you looking for Minghao?” he asked them. “The prince of the China Kingdom?”

"He was friends with eo- I mean, he’s married to Junhui, isn’t he?” the stranger omega asked. He showed Vernon one of the papers he had been holding, which he noticed was a drawing of- hold on, a drawing of Minghao? “He looks like this."

“That looks like Minghao,” Seungkwan said. “Right, Vernon? That really looks like him- at least I think…”

Vernon had noticed that the tall alpha hadn’t said anything at all, but he decided not to deal with that. “Who are you guys?” he asked them. “And why are you looking for him?”

“Oh, we’re uh… um-”

“He’s Junmyeon, I’m Yifan,” the tall alpha said for the first time. “And we need his help.”

“For?” Vernon asked, prying further. Last time he ing remembered, his eomma went missing, so he was not about to give random information to strangers. 

He noticed how the omega Junmyeon gave Yifan  a confused look, the two whispering to each other, while Seungkwan poked Vernon’s side. “Minghao is friends with your parents, right?” Seungkwan asked. “One of the China princes?”

“Yeah, but why would they be looking for him?” Vernon asked him. “They won’t even tell us, this all looks really suspicious.”

“Maybe they don’t want to expose anything,” Seungkwan said. “I thought he was going to say friends with someone earlier but went back on it.

“Like I said, really suspicious,” Vernon reiterated. “I have a bad feeling about these people.”

Seungkwan looked at the alpha and omega, who were waiting for an answer. “Maybe we should ask your appa for help,” Seungkwan suggested. “He would know if they are bad people or not.”

Vernon eyed the strangers. “Can you get him?” he asked his best friend. “I don’t want to leave you alone with them.”

Seungkwan wanted to say something about Vernon’s worrying but knew the latter wasn’t going through a good time right now, so he sighed and walked back towards the house. “I’ll be right back,” he said. “I’m going to get your appa.”