Taehyung was not allowed to go to this town hall meeting today; instead, he was ordered to stay home and do chores instead. 

Not that he wanted to go, anyways. He always hated going to the meetings; as an unmarried omega, your opinion literally meant nothing to these people. Plus, add in the fact that his mother would tell him every five seconds to change his facial expression or posture or how to place your hands and Taehyung would just know that she’s going to scold him big when they go back home. 

No, he felt much more comfortably washing the rice and making new kimchi batches back home. And cleaning the house. And going out to pick some rice and vegetables. And-

Well, you get the point. 

Honestly, Taehyung did chores all the time, so he was used to it by now. He just found it better when his mother wasn’t watching over his shoulder, screaming at how he was doing everything wrong and how he was never going to end up with an alpha mate. Course, she still screams at him whenever she comes back, but at least it’s not ongoing. 

Taehyung still couldn’t believe that he was now “courting” Jungkook, even though they promised to keep it a secret. He still had no idea what the latter saw in him, but he frantically didn’t have the energy or mentality to remind Jungkook of all of his flaws and why the alpha wouldn’t like him, so he said… yes.

When he told Hakyeon, the latter start bombarding him with questions, but Taehyung didn’t have time to answer all of them because a, he didn’t have the answer to most of them and b, Hakyeon’s mother came back pretty soon to drag (yes, drag - she even pulled his ear once) Hakyeon to the meeting with her and his father, so Taehyung was left here alone. 

He shrugged as he continued to scrub the kitchen floor with the rags. He didn’t have time to think today, he really needed to finish these chores today if he didn’t want that bad of a punishment. 

Maybe Jungkook wouldn’t make me scrub the floors, he thought to himself, knowing his voice was unheard anyways. 

***

Si Cheng sat with his mother at the town hall meeting towards the back, where many of the Chinese immigrants in the village sat at. Usually, you just needed one person from your household present, but as they were both omegas, they didn’t feel comfortable leaving the other one alone, so they often went together. 

His mother grabbed his hand and tightened her grip on it, giving him a light squeeze. “I hope they don’t do anything to you,” she said in her native Mandarin.

“Ma, they’re not going to do anything to me,” Si Cheng said, persuading her. Sure, he knew of the omega shortages, but they thought that the immigrants were too dirty, anyways. “If they pick omegas, they’ll probably pick the handsome Korean ones first.”

“They shouldn’t be picking anyone,” she reminded him. “They should not be forcing omegas, they have the same human rights as alphas.”

“Ma- well…” Si Cheng sighed. “I don’t know, it’s not like we get a say, you know.”

She didn’t say anything after that, squeezing his hand tighter, so he just looked around, wondering when the meeting was going to start. 

He thought of what Yuta and Takuya were doing back home. Si Cheng didn’t know much about Takuya, as he struggled with his Korean and was often out of the house, despite the two saying they needed to stay hidden. Si Cheng figured he had become friends with someone and just saw him constantly, but it’s not like he knew from talking to him. 

Yuta, though… Yuta spent all his time indoors. Sometimes he wrote on pieces of spare paper a language that looked similar to Chinese but not quite - Japanese, if Si Cheng remembered correctly. He played with this toy sometimes that he made out of sticks, or he would talk to Takuya. Other than that… nothing. 

Si Cheng didn’t know about their past that much, but he couldn’t help but worry for their safety as they stayed here in the meeting, him and his mother, alone as usual at the very back of the seats, praying once again that there would be no attention paid to them. 

The place started getting more filled with every couple minutes, but Si Cheng noticed a strange tension in the air. There was chatter, yes, but more hushed, as if they were being afraid of being heard. Some people were missing; the young father alpha who always defended omegas, the omega who had a foul mouth according to the elders, even the usual mysterious man at the back that was often thought to be the Scoups man. 

The chief’s son was also missing, Si Cheng noticed, and he was one of the first ones to always be there. Why so many people were gone, he had no clue, but he had a feeling this was about to be a bad meeting. 

***

“Jeonghan, go first,” Seungcheol said, holding out to grab his hand. “Please.”

Jeonghan hesitated, extending out his hand slowly. “It’s just not fair,” he whispered. “All those years of hiding going down the drain.”

“Hey,” Jihoon spoke up. It was a bit awkward for him to talk to the two, considering how it’s been almost two decades since he’s last seen them. “It bought you a few years with your son, didn’t it? I don’t think that’s a waste.”

“Oh, he’s going to ing live, I’ll make sure of it,” Jeonghan said, letting go of Seungcheol’s hand to get up on the windowsill. “I swear if they touch him-”

“What a coincidence that we get kidnapped the same day we let him go off with Yifan to find Minghao,” Seungcheol whispered under his breath. 

Jihoon blinked rapidly a few times, trying to comprehend what Seungcheol just said. “Excuse me, what-”

Jeonghan, holding onto the makeshift rope, loosened his grip a bit, allowing it to let him slide down a few feet down, careful not to lose his grip completely. His skills were a bit rusty, his training having stopped when he left the palace all those years ago, but at least he wasn’t a complete newbie. 

Seungcheol, realizing that Jeonghan was already climbing down, leaned out the window, eyes widened in fear, as he saw him go. “Jeonghan, please be careful-”

“No, idiot, he’s going to hurt himself on purpose,” Jihoon said, rolling his eyes. “Wait until he gets to the ground so that you can go, we don’t want it to break.”

“I am not an idiot,” Seungcheol said, eyes glued at Jeonghan who showed no signs of struggle. “That was Soonyoung’s job.”

“It still is his job,” Jihoon muttered. “Hold on, don’t talk about my husband like that!”

“Why not?” Seungcheol exclaimed. “You know it’s true-”

“GUYS!” Jeonghan screamed from outside. The two of them broke their argument and looked out the window, where Jeonghan was standing on the ground, waving his hands. “You guys are, like, almost forty, now’s not the time to argue like children.”

“Jeonghan, you probably shouldn’t scream if we don’t want to attract any attention from any people here!” Seungcheol shouted right back at him.

Jihoon slapped his face. “And yet you continue to do it-”

“Yo, Jihoon, hurry and go down,” Seungcheol said. “Jeonghan can’t be alone down there for too long.”

“Your alpha is showing,” Jihoon mumbled, getting on the windowsill. “Oh, , we’re kind of high-”

“This is not because I am an alpha!” Seungcheol exclaimed, watching Jihoon climb down. “Forgive me for worrying about him-”

At that moment, Seungcheol heard some pound on the door behind him. 

Oh . 

“Jihoon, hurry up!” Seungcheol half-whispered, half-shouted at Jihoon below him, who was at the bottom of the makeshift rope. “They’re coming!”

Jihoon was still missing a good three feet from the ground when he jumped, landing on the grass for a split second before falling on his back, Jeonghan rushing towards him to help him get up. 

Seungcheol could hear more pounding behind him, so he jumped out the window, holding onto the rope and he climbed down quickly, trying not to notice how he could feel the sheets come undone. 

“Don’t rush it, Seungcheol, we can’t have you getting hurt!” Jeonghan screamed at him. “Seungcheol!” 

They looked up to the window where they saw two men lean out the window where they had come from, shouting at them to get back up. They didn’t look recognizable, from what Seungcheol could tell, but, unfortunately, they knew them. 

One of the men pulled out a knife out of nowhere and started cutting the rope, the other shouting at people indoors to go downstairs and find them, so in a moment of desperation, even though he was still a good ten feet above the ground, Seungcheol jumped, landing hard on his shoulder as he rolled around the ground. 

“SEUNGCHEOL!” Jeonghan screamed, kneeling down beside Seungcheol as the alpha groaned, rubbing his sore shoulder. “Seungcheol, no-”

“Hey, I’m good-” Seungcheol mumbled, pushing himself off the ground with his scratched palms. “Let’s get out of here before they catch us.”

“If only the stars were out,” Jihoon said. “Do you guys know where we are?”

Seungcheol got up, his legs a bit shaky as he held onto Jeonghan. “No idea, but we should probably run into the forest,” he said, pointing at a location in front of him. “From what I can see, there’s a stream over there, that should help us with our location.”

“We have to run,” Jeonghan whispered, holding onto Seungcheol’s hand and grabbing Jihoon’s as well. “We have to run.”

***

Vernon held tightly onto Seungkwan’s arm, practically dragging him, as he led the two strangers so-called Junmyeon and Yifan to the inside of his house. 

Seungkwan wanted to get Mr. Kwon, but Vernon did not trust those strangers at all and thought they should keep an eye on them. What a coincidence they show up when his eomma goes missing. 

His father was falling asleep on the kitchen table, head resting on his hands as he had scatter photos displayed in front of him on the table. 

“Appa,” Vernon said, letting go of Seungkwan to shake Soonyoung softly. “Appa. These strangers need to talk to you.”

Soonyoung opened his eyes abruptly, jerking himself awake, as he blinked at Vernon a couple of times, eyes adjusting to the light. “Who wants to see me?” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes hard. 

“I don’t know, these people saying they know Minghao and know he’s married to Junhui,” Vernon explained, stepping aside to let Soonyoung have a closer view of them. “Look at them, do you know them?”

Soonyoung frowned. “I’m not about to deal with the ing government right now-”

“We’re not part of the government, sir,” Junmyeon said, bowing down. “I really need to know if I can find Minghao here, I know he’s married to Junhui- look.” 

Junmyeon showed Soonyoung the drawing he had of Minghao, careful not to ruin it, and when Soonyoung saw it his eyes bulged out of his sockets. 

He jumped out of his chair and stood right in front of Junmyeon, pointing his finger at him. “Where in the ing world did you get that?”

Vernon and Seungkwan, both confused, had no idea what was going on and stood to the side, not wanting to get into the argument. 

Junmyeon gulped. “It’s- it’s from my eomma,” he said, before tilting his head, a light flickering in his head. “Wait, he- he drew you too, right?”

“What are you talking about?” Yifan whispered. “Do you know him, too?”

“My eomma had drawings of a lot of people,” Junmyeon explained to Soonyoung, going to his papers before pulling out a drawing, the hangul Soonyoung on the top corner. “You’re Soonyoung, are you?” he said, pulling out the drawing to show the omega in front of him. 

Soonyoung remained in shock, staying in silence for another minute before speaking up again. “You got three seconds to tell me where you got these drawings.”

“You were friends with my appa,” Junmyeon explained. “Choi Seungcheol. And he was friends with Mingyu, Joshua, and Jihoon. Minghao and Junhui were friends with my eomma, Prince Yoon Jeonghan of the Kaelous Kingdom.”

“You- you’re alive?” Soonyoung managed to sputter out. “You’re- what?”

“Appa, what’s going on?” Vernon interrupted. It looked like his father was going to go into cardiac arrest any second now. “Why can’t he be alive?”

Soonyoung held out to Junmyeon for the drawings, his hands running over the pages. “Because last time I saw Jeonghan, he was stabbed,” Soonyoung explained to his son quietly. “And Seungcheol- he was my best friend…”

“They’re alive,” Junmyeon said. “They miss all of you guys. I need to bring Minghao and take him with me, I know he’s married and has a child but as the second prince of China, I don’t know where he would be at."

Soonyoung handed the drawings back to Junmyeon. “I’ll take you to see him,” he said, turning back to see Vernon and Seungkwan. “Yo, let’s go see uncle Xu.”

***

Taeyong sat on the couch, hugging his knees as his children sat next to him on their best behavior (well… most of them; Jian kept hitting Gongchan for touching his leg.)

“So you said that Jaehyun did something,” Kun said, handing him a cup of tea. “Apparently it’s treason, and they are going to hurt him but you don’t know what.”

Taeyong nodded, wiping his face with the bottom of this shirt. “Yes,” he cried out, trying to keep his voice stable. “I’m scared.” 

“And the officials came to your house and you stabbed on of them-”

“I- I was panicking,” Taeyong said.

“No, you had every right, don’t worry,” Kun defended him. “So you haven’t seen Jaehyun.”

Taeyong shook his head. 

“If he’s being held somewhere,” Kun continued, “they would have him in this holding cell in the town hall’s basement. You should try to receive him there, or maybe try to get any other information about what’s going on.” 

Kun headed to one of the hallways and started speaking in Mandarin. Taeyong didn’t know who he could be talking to; last time he remembered, Kun didn’t have a mate nor was courting anyone. He didn’t have family either; all of them have passed away years ago. 

An omega came out of the hallway, bowing when he saw Taeyong. “Hello,” he said in heavenly accented Korean. 

“This is Xiaojun,” Kun explained. “I asked him if he could take care of your children while you and I head to the town hall and try to find out anything.” 

Taeyong looked at his children beside them; Jungshin, who was presenting, was running a really high fever, and he didn’t want to leave him. And he was merely five; all of his other children were younger than him. 

“Please take care of them,” Taeyong said. “I can’t lose their father and I can’t lose them either.”

***
 

“WHY are they in the basement of the town hall and how did you hear about this?” Bambam started shouting at Youngjae, who was leading them through the forest to the center of the village. 

“I told you, a lot of rude as omegas were gossiping about an unmated omega who was expecting, and when I couldn’t find Jinyoung and Jaebum I put two and two together,” Youngjae explained, yelping when he ran into a branch. “Ouch!”

Jackson sighed. “We should have done this sooner,” he muttered. 

“AY! It wasn’t your idea,” Youngjae reminded him. “And no more arguing! Right now, we are focused on rescuing those two and getting them the hell out of this village. God forbid those two love each other and have and whatnot, is that a crime now???”

“By village law, it is,” Yugyeom said. 

Youngjae grabbed a nearby stick and pointed it at Yugyeom. “Try me, .”

Mark Tuan didn’t say anything as they headed towards the town hall, scared out of his skull. If they were to retrieve Jinyoung and Jaebum, would they get in trouble as well?

Well, who gives a , anyways. Jinyoung and Jaebum deserved justice. 

He just hoped they didn’t hurt his friends back home. They had nothing to do with this, and the last thing Mark wanted was for them to be deemed as worse than outcasts. 

“How are we going to get them out?” he asked the group. “Are they- you don’t think they locked them up or something, right?”

“They’re probably in a ‘holding compartment’ or whatever nice name they want to call it,” Youngjae said, using air quotation marks. “But they’re still probably holding them hostage which is making me pissed off. Which one of y’all snitched?!”

“None of us,” Bambam said. “If I were, I would at least be wearing better clothes right now.”

“Ayo, Jackson got a nice hat, should we question him?” Yugyeom said, squirting his eyes at Jackson. “Hmmmm….”

“Dude, now is not the time,” Jackson said, rolling his eyes. “You’re an idiot.”

“He’s dodging the question,” Bambam said as well, his chin. “Hmmm…”

Jackson sighed. “I’m not even going to argue with you about how wrong you are-”

“Guys, shut up, we’re almost here,” Youngjae interrupted them, pointing at the town a couple of yards ahead of them. There wasn’t anyone standing outside, meaning the meeting must have started a while ago. 

“Okay, how do we enter this supposed basement?” Mark asked, still confused. 

Youngjae cracked his knuckles. “Towards the back, I think,” he said. “I always see this hidden door there when I eat stolen mangos.”

“You eat stolen what?!” Bambam yelled at him.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Jackson muttered under his breath, walking past him. “Come on, guys, before someone sees us and we get murdered.”

“SNITCH!” Yugyeom shouted at him. 

Mark sprinted after Jackson, catching up to him. “If they are being held, how do we get them out without causing a commotion?”

Jackson shrugged. “I don’t know and at this point I don’t care anymore, they’re hurting my friends,” he said, before whistling to the group. “Yo! Is this the door?” he said, pointing at a low door that did lead to an underground level of the town hall.

Youngjae ran past him. “Yes, this is the door, I’m assuming,” he said, knocking on it. “Wow. No answer.”

Bambam pushed past him as well, rolling up his sleeves. “Step aside, peasants,” he said, scooting them away with his hands. “A strong omega presence is needed.”

“Then let Mark do it, not you,” Jackson said, lightly smacking Bambam.

Mark frowned. “Haha, very funny,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“What? Did you think I was joking?” Jackson said. 

“Oh my god, guys, hurry UP!” Yugyeom kicked the door down with his foot, stomping on it repeatedly until it completely came off the hinges. “THERE!”

“Quick, inside!” Youngjae said, jumping in. “We have no time!”

The others followed inside, thankful to be out of the view of any stranger that might see them outside. Last thing they needed was any witnesses. 

The hallway was pretty dim and would have been completely dark, save for some torches spread out on the walls. (They had brought candles with them and homemade matches, but were grateful they didn’t have to use any.) All the rooms down here were shut, save for the tiny sliders on the doors that allowed you to see who was in the room. 

“JINYOUNG!” Bambam shouted, only for Youngjae and Jackson to slap his mouth shut. 

“Not now, Kunpimook!” Jackson hushed at him, taking a step forward to try to inspect their surroundings. “Jeez, what is this place?”

“Hello?” 

They heard a voice coming from the end of the hallway, a low voiced groan that instantly spooked them. 

“That doesn’t sound like them,” Mark whispered to the group. 

Jackson went towards the end of the hallway, standing there until he heard the groan again. Once he knew what door it was coming from, he opened the slider and his had a mixture of shock and confusion. 

“Alpha Jaehyun?”