*** 18 years ago ***

“I feel like Junhui is trying to kill me,” Minghao was rambling again. “Look at him, he looks so hot in that jacket!”

Jeonghan was eating his fruit tart, the third one. Minghao already ate his share, so if Jeonghan sees him grab another one he was going to smack him. “Minghao, if I found your crush hot, you wouldn’t talk to me for the rest of your life.”

“True, true, but you know he’s good looking.” Minghao looked at his plate, only covered in crumbs. “Hey, Jeong-”

“Nope.” Jeonghan grabbed his last tart and took a bite. “I’m mad at you for last time.”

Minghao pouted. “I said I was sorry.”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes and handed it to Minghao. “You’re going to help me later.” 

Minghao took it and stuff it his mouth, chewing it really fast before swallowing and saying to Jeonghan, “sure, you’re conquest for Seungcheol must  be underway.”

Jeonghan smiled. “He is a nice bodyguard.” 

“Kind of stiff when he’s working, but chill otherwise.” Minghao shrugged. “They’re always like ‘it’s my job to protect the royal family’ and I’m like ‘try to stop me eating detergent!’”

“Please don’t eat detergent,” Jeonghan said. “You’re my best friend, you’re prohibited of dying.”

“Whatever you say, Prince of Kaeleous,” Minghao said. “Yo, I think they’re going to make me go back to China next week for the Lunar festival, can you make me mooncakes?”

“I hereby shall declare it made,” Jeonghan said, earning a laugh from Minghao. “I can make you mooncakes, but I can’t promise that I won’t eat any.”

“Hey that’s not fai- oh my gosh, Junhui is taking off his shirt!” 

*** Present ***
 

Some guy was stalking him. 

Shin was just trying to get some bamboo like normal but he kept hearing footsteps behind him. It was really odd; maybe Seyong was trying to prank him again. He wouldn’t last this long before scaring him, though. 

Shin turned around and saw a guy who immediately jumped. “You, you!” 

“Me?” Shin asked. “What did I do? Who are you, anyways?”

“Takuya,” he said. “Exploring.”

He was not Korean, Shin realized, but he knew a few Chinese phrases. Maybe he could make this guy feel comfortable. “What’s your name?” he asked in Mandarin. 

The guy said “no, no Chinese.”

Wait, was language was he speaking? Thai or English? Shin didn’t know those languages. 

“What language do you speak, then?” Shin asked. 

“Japanese,” he said. “I am from Japan.”

That left Shin perplexed. What the hell was a Japan, anyways? 

“Well, okay, Mr. I-am-from-Japan but can you not follow me?” Shin said. “I need to pick some bamboo for later-”

“Bamboo,” the guy said. “I can pick bamboo.”

“Well ... actually, what’s your name?” Shin asked. 

“Takuya.”

“Well, Takuya, are you going to help me get bamboo or not?”

***

“So I have bad news,” Taehyung said when he entered the living room. 

“If you ruined the potato slices, we’re not going to be friends anymore.”

Taehyung hid the basket behind his back. “No, I haven’t made them yet.”

“Good.” Hakyeon was on the floor, trying to weave bamboo strands. “This is harder than I thought.” 

Taehyung inched his way into the kitchen and tossed out the potato slices before proceeding to grab new potatoes. “I thought Taekwoon always did those.”

“Yeah, and guess who’s mom found out.” Hakyeon groaned and threw the bamboo strands on the floor. “I don’t know how Taekwoon persuades her not to get me in trouble.”

“It could be worse,” Taehyung said as he started peeling a new potato. 

“Always could,” Hakyeon whispered under his breath. “Probably cause if she grounded me she thinks that Leo will break up with me or something.”

Taehyung nodded as he continued to peel the potato. “She’s already asking for grandkids, right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know how she’s going to get them if Leo doesn’t want any kids,” Hakyeon said, grabbing another bamboo strand. “I hate making baskets, this is so stressful.”

Taehyung put down his potato. “Wait, Leo doesn’t want kids?”

Hakyeon shook his head. “Nope. None. Which is why he makes a face everytime she asks about it. He always gets in a bad mood afterwards.”

“But, wait,” Taehyung came from the kitchen and stood in front of Hakyeon. “He doesn’t know that you want kids? About treating them differently than how your mother did?”

Hakyeon shrugged. “It’s fine. I can’t just force him.”

Taehyung nodded and walked back to the kitchen. “Your mother is going to be so pissed when she finds out.”

***

“I hate this game,” Mark Tuan said, throwing the branch on the ground. “It’s too complicated.”

“That’s what a loser would say,” Chen Le said before running to avoid Mark hitting him. 

The four of them (well five - Jimin brought Yoongi along but he was just sitting down) were playing a game in their usual spot in the forest. Mark had been losing, unsurprisingly, but Baekhyun was for some reason in the lead. 

“Can we take a break,” Chen Le said. “Mark hit my foot and I think he bruised it.”

“That’s something a loser would say,” Mark repeated. 

“Mark, we are the losers,” Baekhyun said. “In the whole village. Your argument is invalid.”

“Well that means one of us is the biggest loser in the whole village,” Mark said. “Thanks for making us feel better.”

“We’re not losers!” Jimin shouted. “Don’t call yourself that.”

Yoongi got up from the floor and brushed off his pants. “Hold up, let me get ready before I beat your .”

“Yoongi, don’t do that,” Jimin said, making his boyfriend sit back down. “No one needs to get their kicked.”

Mark tried to walk up to Yoongi, struggling to get out of Chen Le’s reach. “Ima beat your , see how you like it."

“Mark you can’t threaten an alpha!” Baekhyun yelled. 

“I can do whatever I put my mind to!”

“Okay, no one is kicking anyone!” Jimin shouted, only to be pulled back down by Yoongi who enclosed him in a hug.

“Jimin, they’re just messing with you,” Yoongi said. “I can’t even do a jumping jack.”

“Aren’t alphas supposed to be strong, though?” Mark said, still trying to shake off of Chen Le. That guy always tried to stop him from something every 10 seconds. “Make us cower in fear? Prove your dominance or some ?”

“Mark, don’t anger him,” Baekhyun whispered. 

Yoongi only shrugged. “I don’t give a at this point.”

“Mark, can you stop pushing your cliches on everyone for ten seconds!?” Chen Le yelled. “That’s what gave us the loser label in the first place!”

“Jimin, maybe you should bring your friends some tea,” Yoongi offered, earning a grumble ‘behave’ from his boyfriend he marched back into the clearing to go to his house real quick. 

“Why did you kick him out?” Chen Le asked. 

“I need to ask your opinion on something,” Yoongi explained, taking out a small porcelain box from his pocket. “What’s your opinion on this?” 

He opened the hinge box to reveal a small ring inside, covered in dark blue jewels all over the band.

“Wait a second, are you-are you what?!” Mark screamed.

Baekhyun’s eyes went wide. “A proposal?”

“Yeah, to be official mates,” Yoongi explained. He closed the box and put it back into his pocket. “Do you think Jimin will like it?”

“Like it? Boy he’ll love it,” Mark said. “You’re actually going to propose to him?”

Yoongi nodded. “Do you guys think I should wait, or-”

“No, he’ll love to marry you!” Chen Le said. “He’ll say yes, Yoongi, you don’t know the type of conversations we have with each other. He will say yes, promise, but make it romantic!”

Mark marched up to Yoongi’s face and leaned forward, making Yoongi lean back. “You better, and I mean better, not hurt our Jimin.”

Yoongi didn’t flinch, nor broke eye contact. “When have I ever?”

“Wait, so can you do it quick by the end of this week so that we can help him plan the wedding-” Chen Le said before being interrupted by-

Jimin. 

“Hey, what did you say, plan what wedding?” Jimin, who was still a good amount of feet away, jogged quickly to where the group was, tea in hand. “Whose wedding are we planning?!” He yelled, a smile on his face. 

Yoongi stared dumbly at his future mate while Mark took it as a chance to say, “We want Baekhyun to date that alpha he met earlier.”

Jimin pouted while pouring a cup of tea for Chen Le. “I thought it was real.”

“No worry, baby, there might be a wedding soon,” Yoongi reassured him, Chen Le trying to stifle a laugh. 

“Jeez, I wonder who it will be-”

“Why do you guys say I need to be with Chanyeol?” Baekhyun said. “What do you see in him?”

“We’re just playing,” Mark said.

“Look, Baek, know that we will support if or who you get married to,” Jimin said, sitting next to Baekhyun as he poured him some tea. “You know what I hate? When the elders say that starting a family is with a mate and your kids. We’re family too, right? It’s not just going to be me and Yoongi, right, Yoongi?”

Yoongi jumped from his seat after hearing his name, not paying attention as he was trying to think was romantic way he could propose to Jimin. “Yeah, right,” he said, staring at his love. “You’re always right.”

“Not always,” Jimin says. “Just follow your heart.”

“Well, my heart doesn’t like Jackson,” Mark said, earning a smack from Chen Le. “Hey! What was that for?”

“Shut up,” Chen Le hushed him. “Can’t you-nevermind, you’re stupid.”

“I’m not stupid, I’m a loser. There’s a difference.”
 

***

There was a village meeting on Friday. 

Seungcheol always went to the meetings, but he always stood in the back, mask covering his face. He didn’t care if he looked suspicious; the handful of higher up officials who knew about him let him do what he pleased. The important thing was that people won’t recognize him. 

But that wouldn’t work for them anymore. 

On Friday, two of those officials asked Seungcheol to help him with a shipment, so he couldn’t go attend the meeting. By village rule, at least one person from each household, alpha or omega, should attend the meetings. Meaning Jeonghan or Junmyeon had to go. 

Seungcheol was getting ready to leave as Jeonghan sat at the table, reassuring him. 

“I can risk getting in trouble, Jeonghan, but I can’t risk anything happening to you,” Seungcheol said, trying to change his mind. 

Jeonghan shook his head. “Seungcheol, I can defend myself, I wasn’t a princess who sat around and did nothing,” he said. “Besides, I doubt anyone here is from the kingdom and will recognize us.”

“Still, though,” Seungcheol said. “We don’t know anything about these villagers.”

“I’ll be fine, Cheollie,” Jeonghan said. “And if something does happen, it won’t be your fault, okay?”

“That’s not reassuring-”

Jeonghan got out of his seat and started to push Seungcheol out of the door. “Go to what you were asked, you can complain to them. But I got a meeting to attend to.”

“But Jeong-”

“Why is it so important that you go to the meetings?” he questioned him. “Don’t say because you’re alpha or because you need to protect me-”

“I’m trying to protect the three of us,” Seungcheol said. “You know I never cared about status.”

“Good! So-hey, give me a kiss before you go.” He got on his tiptoes and looked away, waiting for the peck on his cheek. 

Seungcheol sighed before leaning down to kiss him. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?” he said to his husband. “And take Junmyeon with you, I don’t want any of you to be alone.”

Jeonghan nodded. “It’ll do him some good, now goooooo-” he pushed Seungcheol until the other finally walked out of the house, giving Jeonghan a flying kiss before turning back and heading his way towards the center. 

Jeonghan closed the door and shouted for Junmyeon. “JUNMYEON! GET DRESSED, WE’RE HEADING OUT!”

A few seconds later he could hear Junmyeon walk down the stairs. “I didn’t hear you, what did you say?”

“I said we’re going out,” Jeonghan said. “We’re going to attend one of the town meetings.”

Junmyeon’s eyes went wide. “Wait, what?”

“Your father is expected somewhere, so we have to take his position,” he explained. “Now get dressed, we’ll leave in a few, okay?”

***

The town hall was full of people. 

Junmyeon stayed close to Jeonghan’s side, clutching his arm as his mother weaved his way through the crowd. They were trying to find a seat as far away from the podium as possible, but it was no use; they were going to have to sit in the middle section. 

A lot of the people here were alphas (understandable, since they outnumbered the population) but there was a bit of omegas here, too; most of them looked like they came with their parents. As far as Jeonghan could tell, though, he was only of the only ones who came without an alpha.

“If they start discriminating, we’re walking the out of here,” Jeonghan whispered to Junmyeon as they sat down, sitting right next to the aisle. “I don’t know how bad it is in this village, but I’m not risking it. Pretend you have a stomachache.”

Junmyeon nodded to Jeonghan’s orders. “But you’re the better liar tho-”

They were interrupted by the sound of a gavel hitting the podium. That’s when they saw the chief, Xuheng, gavel in his hand. Last time Jeonghan had seen him was years ago, probably not a good thing, but he had to respect the man, after all; he was the one who went against everyone and let them stay here when they ran away and came here all those years ago. 

“Attention, everyone.” he said, shushing the crowd. “The town meeting will now commence."

The chief and the other officials went over news reports for the week. Discussed about imports, taxes, etc. A waste of time, in Jeonghan’s opinion, considering how he stayed inside all day. 

Then the topic shifted. Hyunsuk got up to the center and started talking about the omegas. 

“It has come to our attention that there aren’t any pairs in the new generation,” he said. “And the majority of the vote last week dictates that we will help create pairs.”

Wait, did he just say they are going to start wedding people together?

“A vote?” Junmyeon whispered to us. “Dad didn’t tell us about any vote.”

“He said they pulled him out to discuss some labor thing, but why would he miss the whole thing? Unless it was deliberate-” Jeonghan stopped mid sentence when he realized what Seungcheol had talked about last week. He said he didn’t understand why they pulled him out to talk about something they had already discussed-

“Junmyeon, try to make yourself not seen,” Jeonghan said, pushing Junmyeon back. “I don’t want them to spot you.”

Junmyeon didn’t know why until he heard what Hyunsuk said next. 

“Which omegas are to be paired next?” he said to the crowd. 

The crowd gave mixed signals. 

A large majority of the alphas there present thought it was a good idea. They showed smiles on their faces and whispered excitedly to their friends next to them, while most omegas, mainly the teens, showed horror on their faces. 

Jeonghan was no exception. Seungcheol has talked to him about how the officials would step in and start putting people together if the birth rates were getting real low, but he never believed it. It was just absurd, why makes them think they have the authority to do so?

That’s why Jeonghan understood why so many of the omegas sat in the back. They were just omegas and and their children, no alpha in sight. When he walked by them earlier, he heard some speak in Chinese, a language he hasn’t heard in years. As royalty he had to learn a lot of languages, but was surprised that there were Chinese here. 

A lot of them immigrant from China, Seungcheol told him once during their earlier years here. They pay taxes and obey laws and stuff like everyone else, but it’s hard for them to have a say in anything since they never really learn Korean. 

There really was discrimination here. 

“Some people are already in relationships, though,” an alpha popped up from the crowd. “I don’t think this is really necessary.”

“How many relationships are there, like three?” An alpha teen got up from his seat in the front and looked back at the audience. “Three for this whole village?”

“Actually,” another alpha, one smaller than usual, got up from the ground along with an omega by his side, the two linking hands. “Jimin and I are engaged, don’t drag people into this mess.”

“After who knows how long,” someone else chimed in. 

An intimidating alpha who was seated near the back stood up. “There’s no good in deciding for others, it’s never a positive result.” 

“As if he didn’t Taeyong from an earlier age,” the alpha sitting next to them whispered under his breath. “Their kids are enough proof.”

Jeonghan grabbed Junmyeon and pulled him closer to him, scooting him away from the man. 

“The people who voted for basically stripping omegas rights away from them are the s who can’t get a date,” an omega said, causing people to give him weird looks. “Maybe if they were nicer, then we wouldn’t be in this dilemma-”

“Shush, omega, that’s not how you’re supposed to act,” an elder sitting near the front said. 

“Why don’t we just vote on an omega one by one?” An omega mother said from the back. “Give us a say, too.”

“Yeah, this omega right here looks fertile enough,” the man next to them said, pointing at Junmyeon. “Never seen him before, he looks good enough.”

. 

“Don’t drag my son into this mess,” Jeonghan said out loud. “He has nothing to do with you guys wicked games.”

“You guys think you’re so special sitting near the edge of the village,” an omega piped up. “But you guys need to contribute like the rest of us.”

“Make him get mated first, they don’t contribute anything!” Someone behind them said. 

Soon, everyone was chiming in with their own opinions, some even starting to get up to try to surround them. Jeonghan grabbed Junmyeon tighter, telling them all, “get the away from us.”

“Why should our sons be married off and not yours, huh?” An omega mother yelled at him. “What are you, a princess or something? Let him go first!”

An alpha who was sitting in the front row got up. Jeonghan recognized him to be-

“Get away from my fiance,” Yifan said in a low voice. 

He walked to where Jeonghan and Junmyeon were, making people get out of the way as he went to stand beside them. “You guys need to stop attacking any single omega on your sight, it’s getting old.”

“Yifan, what’s the meaning of this,” Hyunsuk said. “Since when are you engaged?”

“We’ve been seeing each other for a while and I wanted it to be a surprise,” Yifan said. “And you guys ruined it, I hope your happy. We were planning an engagement announcement party next week.”

Some alphas from the front stood up. “We’re the best men!” one of them with large ears shouted. “He said the wedding will take place in a few months.”

The crowd calmed down, stunned that the official’s son had already found a mate. 

“The engagement party shall be held this week,” Xuheng said, “and the wedding date will be announced then. Please wish luck to my son and his future mate.”
 

***

Yifan took the two to a room in the back after the meeting, praying that they won’t kick his . He did the first thing that he could think of, which was, unfortunately, declare Junmyeon as his. 

“Look, I’m sorry, I couldn’t think of anything,” he tried to explain to them. “It’s just when the villagers get aggressive like that, bad stuff comes out of it, and the officials would have listened to them on their demand-”

“It’s fine,” Junmyeon said, not wanting to look at Yifan in the eye. “Thank you.”

“So how long is this ‘fake engagement’ going to last?” Jeonghan said. He had no problem of Junmyeon marrying Yifan, but knowing how this was something neither of them wanted, it wouldn’t be good for them to continue with it. 

“Give me a month,” Yifan pleaded. “I can make it go away. Hopefully by then other people get mated soon.”

Jeonghan sighed. “I guess you should visit us more often, then. But don’t you dare hurt my son.”

***

“Hey, Mark, wait up!” He heard someone shout in the distance. 

He shrugged, continuing to walk. They were probably calling for Mark L-

“Tuan!”

Or not. 

He turned around and wasn’t surprised to find Jackson calling out for him. He was surprised, however, to find a fellow Jinyoung close behind him. 

“Mark! Hey Mark, you’ve met Jinyoung, right?” Jackson said, gesturing to Jinyoung beside him. 

Mark really wanted to tell Jackson to off, but Jinyoung was a nice person and he couldn’t be rude to him, so instead, he said, “Yeah, nice to see you, Jinyoung.” 

“Hey, sorry for Jackson here,” Jinyoung said, earning a loud “hey!” from the latter. “But I wanted to ask you guys for a favor.”

Favor for what? “Depends. What is it?”

“Well, you see,” he said, “there’s this really nice cake that Jaebum likes, one that uses mango and grapefruit, but I’m not really, you know, good at baking. I was wondering if you could help?”

“I would have helped him myself, but cakes aren’t really my thing,” Jackson explained. “But Chen Le told me you make some good ones, so I thought I would recommend him to you.”

“Oh, uh,” this was unexpected. “Sorry, I would help, but I can’t at the moment.”

“That’s okay!” Jackson said. “We understand. Well, see you later, Mark!” He walked away, Jinyoung following him behind. “Take care."

Mark turned to leave around, but then, faintly, he heard Jinyoung talk to Jackson. “Do you know anyone else who can bake a cake?”

“Nope, sorry, Mark was my only hope,” Jackson lamented. “But I’m sure we’ll find someone. Maybe one of the adults? I don’t know."

“I spent a lot on the mango and grapefruit, I don’t want them to rot.” Jinyoung sighed. “You know how much Jaebom loves that stuff."

They soon got out of earshot, chatting between the two, when Mark started to feel guilty. He didn’t like Jackson, not at all, but Jinyoung-

He turned around and shouted, “hey, guys, I think I’ll be able to!” 

Both turned to look at him, confused. “You can?!” Jinyoung screamed back. 

“Give me a day or two!” Mark continued. “I’ll find my recipe.”

“Oh, okay!” Jinyoung waved at him. “Thank you!”