A/N: Sorry for the delay ^^

“Finally!” Junhyung shouted, falling dramatically to the wooden floor with a loud thud.

“Too exaggerated, Jun.” Hyunseung rolled his eyes, passing a bottle of water to Sungmin, who was sitting with an amused smile beside Junhyung. “Look at Sungmin. He doesn’t even look tired at all. You need to exercise more.”

Sungmin gratefully received the water, gulping down a few mouths of water before recapping it. “Not exactly, Hyunseung-ssi. I’m really tired.”

“See! You even made Sungmin tired!” Junhyung exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at his beta. “He just recovered from those wounds on his stomach, you monster trainer!”

Hyunseung frowned concernedly, placing a hand on Sungmin’s shoulder. “Are you feeling fine, Sungmin? Tell me if it’s too tiring. I will slow down.”

Sungmin shook his head, running his fingers along the almost disappearing scars across his front, before adjusting his Taekwondo uniform. “I’m fine. I should learn faster so that I can take the grading exams soon.”

“Pleasing your Master again?” Junhyung asked with a mischevious glint in his eyes. When Sungmin ignored him and drank more water instead, he continued with a shrug, “Well, you should since he’s pleasing you too. I mean, asking the two of us to quit basketball just so that we can teach you Taekwondo because Dongwoon found out that Choi Siwon freak joined the club? Not that I’m complaining.”

“You sound like nothing except complaining.” Hyunseung commented.

“I just said I’m not. You know I don’t really like balls anyway, except…” Junhyung’s eyes swept down the beta’s body.

“Do you want me to slap you?” Hyunseung lifted his hands to his hips, narrowing his eyes at his alpha.

“On my ?” Junhyung suggested with a grin. “I like , baby.”

Sungmin giggled when Junhyung flipped around, a hand seductively circling his own , but Hyunseung simply kicked his alpha’s , eliciting a loud groan from Junhyung.

“Yah! You’re violent!” Junhyun complained, rubbing his backside with a grimace.

“Hyung!” Dongwoon suddenly burst in through the door, crouching down beside Junhyung as Hyunseung stepped aside. “Are you alright?”

“Dongwoon,” Junhyung clutched the beta’s hands tightly, tears shining in his eyes. “Don’t blame your Hyunseung hyung. Please take care of him even though he’s the one who caused my death.”

“Death?” Dongwoon frowned in confusion, having not caught the earlier part of the conversation.

“Ignore him, Dongwoon. I think he watched too many dramas recently.” Hyunseung pulled the beta away from the now pouting alpha. “Why are you here? Basketball practice isn’t over yet.”

“Oh, right!” Dongwoon clapped at the reminding question. He jogged out of the door, picking up the bag of bottles he had dropped upon hearing Junhyung’s groan. “Here! Isotonic drinks! Kyuhyun hyung asked me to pass them to you three.”

“Wahhhh.” Junhyung greedily snatched a bottle from Dongwoon. “Perks of being a protector of the precious.”

“Hyung!” Dongwoon exclaimed, grabbing the bottle back. “This one is for Sungmin hyung.”

“For me?” Sungmin received the bottle, not seeing the difference between the three bottles until he turned the one in his hands.

“Ah, protectors are different from the precious after all.” Junhyung lamented, picking up another bottle for himself.

Seeing the familiar handwriting, Sungmin tore off the yellow post-it note with a smile, ears filtering out the noisy bantering between the other three as he read the note.

‘Finish this bottle, Sungmin. And if the hallucinations come, tell Hyunseung and he will get me immediately. – Kyu’

Sungmin ran his finger along the shortened name of his alpha, testing it tentatively. “Kyu.” He whispered to himself, deciding that he liked the way it sounded on his tongue. He wished he could call his alpha that someday.

“So, done checking that Sungmin is fine?” Hyunseung said, clearing the numerous bottles to the side. “You can go report to Kyuhyun.”

“They’re in a match now and I’m sitting out.” Dongwoon shrugged, sitting himself down. “I can’t do anything if I go back now anyway.”

“Stay and talk to me then.” Junhyung rolled over, lifting his head to use Dongwoon’s thigh as a pillow. “I don’t wanna train anymore under this monster, maknae~”

“I’m going to catch up soon, hyung. You better train harder.” Dongwoon teased, earning a hum of approval from Hyunseung.

“Can I ask you a question, Dongwoon-ssi?” Sungmin cut in, finally finding a chance to talk to the younger without Kyuhyun around. He could have asked Junhyung and Hyunseung, but there seemed to be a higher possibility of getting an answer if it was the younger he asked.

“Sure, hyung.” Dongwoon smiled at him. “Is it about the note? I didn’t ask Kyuhyun hyung to write it. He did.”

“No…” Sungmin fiddled with the note in his hand. “Does… Master have something against…”

“Against?” Dongwoon prompted, and Sungmin could see the crease appearing between Junhyung’s eyebrows.

“Black omegas.” Sungmin replied softly, afraid to look at the expressions of the two before him. However, curiosity took over, and he caught the solemn looks on both faces.

“What did Kyuhyun tell you?” It was Hyunseung who spoke instead, moving from behind Sungmin to his side.

“He… He didn’t say anything.” Sungmin flicked the corner of the post-it note repeatedly, subconsciously sculpting a curve as he applied controlled pressure on the corner. “He kind of got upset when I mentioned…”

“Then we can’t tell you much, Sungmin.” Hyunseung said firmly, sitting down beside him.

“Hyung—”

“No, Dongwoon.” Junhyung cut the younger off. “Seung’s right on this.”

“Why?” Sungmin inquired without looking up from the note.

“Because one, we weren’t there with him and hence, uninvolved. Two, it’s Kyuhyun’s secret to tell.” Junhyung answered, his tone allowing no room for negotiation.

“When will I get to know?” Sungmin accidentally pressed down on the corner, and he immediately undid the fold, smoothing the paper out on his palm.

“Kyuhyun will tell you when he’s ready.” Junhyung paused before adding, “But you’re right about him not liking black omegas.”

The statement made Sungmin pause in flattening the crease, his chest constricting as the line repeated in his head.

Hyunseung’s hand landed on his shoulder, providing a support the beta didn’t know he was giving. “He’s… had it hard when he was young. Don’t push your alpha about it.”

“Yeah, he never talked to us about it after that first time he opened up to us.” Dongwoon added. “It took us more than three years… So don’t worry about it. It’s not your problem. Kyuhyun hyung just finds it really hard to recall… it.”

Sungmin stuck the note back on the bottle, worried that he would crumple the paper he wanted to keep. He drew a deep breath, releasing it unsteadily as he clutched his hands together nervously. “Was… Was it… bad?”

“The incident you mean?” Hyunseung clarified, giving a squeeze to his shoulder.

Sungmin nodded silently, glancing from one to another for their response.

Hyunseung released a weary sigh after a nod from Junhyung. “If everything really happened like how Kyuhyun told us… Personally, yes, I think it was bad.”

Sungmin didn’t know what to say, only nodding as he swallowed the lump in his throat.     

~--~

Sungmin didn’t mention his conversation with the three bodyguards to his alpha, choosing to report what he did in the Taekwondo lesson under Hyunseung’s tutelage instead. He fell asleep that night in his alpha’s arms again, a fleeting thought before he gave in to slumber – How long will this last?

What Sungmin was glad didn’t last were the hallucinations and dreams. After Tuesday afternoon when he had injured himself, the voices and touches stopped haunting him. Sungmin reckoned it was the work of his alpha, who made sure someone was really twenty-four hours with him since then, distracting his mind enough not for the hallucinations to come.

However, the relief from him recovering from the effects of the silver charm was insufficient to uplift his melancholic mood resulting from the unknown relation between his alpha and black omegas. It was only momentarily broken when Leeteuk had returned their history test papers right before dismissal on Friday afternoon, in which Sungmin had hit the target of A. He had barely scraped through the A grade of eighty marks by getting an eighty-two, but his alpha seemed satisfied with his result, patting his back on the spot. The happiness lasted until Sungmin saw the ninety-four on his alpha’s test paper by chance, and he realized that he still had to work harder in