XIII

Oasis
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Oasis

 

It don't matter what you say
I know I could never fake
Someone that could sound like you

 

The clock ticks excruciatingly loud in the hall. Auburn lights cascade over the two men standing outside the bathroom, silence layering the distance between them. Tick, tick, tick. Youngjae pieces back his composure and bats his lashes slowly.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Jung,” he says, nonchalance stamped into his irises despite how hoarse his voice is. It was nothing but a slip, truthfully. The tears, the warmth, the comforting words from Jung Daehyun, how ridiculous of a chapter those few minutes were.

“I am fine. Shall I go to your mother now?” Youngjae glances down the stairs. By mistake, he lets out a brittle exhale, shutting his eyes to once more calm himself.

“Mr. Yoo, it is alright. Please forget about our arrangement for today. I shall send you back.”

“I said I’m fine, Mr. Jung. I was only feeling under the weather. Please let me finish my work,” Youngjae rebounds swiftly. Somehow, the feels less disgusting than the pity Daehyun is currently showering upon him. How pathetic can Youngjae get before the world deems it enough?

Silence engulfs a mansion too large for a family of five. Daehyun lets out a thin exhale.

“Perhaps I am overstepping boundaries to say this, as your superior,” Daehyun pauses, “but you can speak to me about anything, Mr. Yoo.”

Youngjae glimpses over at Daehyun. The amount of concern scrawled into Daehyun’s tone is almost laughable. He did overstep boundaries with his line, but this is barely the tip of the iceberg.

They have become a little too close for a boss-employee relationship. It is becoming rather unnerving, especially when Youngjae has maintained to keep any workplace relationship with the Alphas strictly business.

The between them were lapses in judgement; their discreet arrangement couldn’t be helped since Youngjae owed Daehyun for his mercy. But between these situations that should have at least allowed some distance between them, somewhere, they started getting more emotionally involved with one another.

“How can I speak to you about it, Mr. Jung?” Youngjae hums faintly after a long moment, not meeting Daehyun’s eyes. “You are everything I am not.”

Daehyun bats his lashes slowly. “We are both people.”

“And there’s nothing else we have in common,” Youngjae softly surmises. He tiredly leans back, deciding to revert to formalities. Even this is crossing the line.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Jung. I was honestly just feeling a little blue. Please don’t worry about me.”

Gazing at him for a lengthy while, Daehyun eventually concedes with a low sigh. “Then, please follow me. I’m not sure if my mother is still awake. If he is not, I will send you home, Mr. Yoo.”

Youngjae nods wordlessly. He follows Daehyun down the grand stairs, breezing past familiar, cold artworks. A muffled echo weaves through the corridor as though scratched into the hall, and it is only when they wind into the adjacent corridor do the screams materialise more coherently.

Instantaneously, Daehyun breaks into a sprint, swiftly throwing open the door to Heechul’s bedroom.

“Water! Water!” Heechul shrieks, decibels ripping through the air. He violently scratches at his face and writhes on the mattress, eyes adamantly squinted shut. Several traces of blood trail his cheekbones, sickly pallor contrasting with the scathing red lines down his face.

“Mother,” Daehyun hastily grasps the empty mug and wrenches open the mineral water bottle, filling it up. “Here, water.” He brings it to Heechul’s lips, only for his mother’s delirious frenzy to knock it over. The wet patch rapidly seeps into the royal blue sheets, Heechul’s cheeks scrawling further with an excruciating red.

“Water! I need water!” Heechul screams so despairingly it has Youngjae’s heart shrivelling up, the young Omega staring in mute shock.

“Mr. Yoo, stop him from hurting himself!” Daehyun raises his voice, snapping the Omega to his senses. “I’ll get him warm water!” With that, he darts out of the room.

“Mr. Kim, please calm down,” Youngjae breathes, eyes raking over the poor Omega’s frantic ministrations. He tries his hardest to pry Heechul’s hands away from his skin but only gets shoved away. Heechul’s elbow dips into the puddle in the process and he jolts. He instantly grasps his elbow and wets his hands, hysterically smearing the water over his face.

“More water, please, please… It burns…” Heechul begs, harshly wiping his damp elbow over his cheek.

Observing the reaction, Youngjae hurriedly takes the bottle and spills some water into his palm, gingerly patting Heechul’s face. The older Omega wrenches the bottle out of his hands and splashes it over himself, his shrieks withering into heavy pants.

Daehyun rushes back into the room and widens his eyes at the sight. “Mr. Yoo,” he starts, pausing upon realising how quiet the room has become.

“He wanted water over his face,” Youngjae wheezes, the cacophony still bleeding in his eardrums. He steps back as Daehyun grabs a towel and gently pats his mother’s face.

Eventually, Heechul cracks open his eyelids, blankly staring up at the ceiling. “Where am I?” His eyes dart around and quickly land upon the figure hovering above him.

In a flash, his face melts into a subtle resentment. “I told you never to come in,” Heechul exhales feebly. His glassy eyes rake over his youngest son’s face for just a second before he rolls onto his side. “Seeing you makes me nauseous.”

Even without the vigour of his usual rancour, the words still slit into Youngjae’s skin.

Daehyun flutters his lashes and nods simply. “I’m sorry, Mother. I heard you screaming so I came to help.”

“Where’s Donggeun?” Heechul whispers, still trying to catch his breath. “It seems like I was out of it for some time. He would have sedated me ages ago.” His words are so bitter, entwined with a clashing fraility.

“Or is that Omega here? Is that why none of the servants are here?” His tone noticeably softens, still speaking more to the wall than his own son.

Quietness composes the harmony to Heechul’s laboured inhales. “Your father will not let you marry him. You should well be aware of that.” He closes his eyes and mutters harshly, “It is disgusting how much you are like him, even following in his imbecilic footsteps.”

His words blatantly tremble towards the end. Heechul eventually seethes, “Get out of my room. Don’t you ever come in again.”

“Mother,” Daehyun lowly says, obediently retreating. “Mr. Yoo is here.”

“So I was right. Why take advantage of an Omega like that? Have you not enough of them drooling at your feet?” Heechul scoffs, energy returning in the most bittersweet manner. Silence stales over the three men in the room, Youngjae obscured behind Daehyun.

The words that subsequently spill from Youngjae’s lips are nothing short of bewildering. “Mr. Kim,” he speaks up with his voice strained, “I… I volunteered to do this.” He has no idea why he’s bothering to defend Daehyun. It is probably because his own character is on the line.

After a moment, Heechul turns over slowly, finding the source of the voice. He regards Youngjae with a less hostile gaze, though his frown still persists. He does not say anything else and Daehyun meets Youngjae’s eyes, sending the man a nod.

He exits the room, leaving an awkward stillness behind. Heechul sighs as he peers at the approaching Omega.

“I’ve already told you to stay away from him,” he says when Youngjae kneels down by his side. “At such a young age, we all think love is some sort of holy grail, but you’ll find it’s really quite useless.”

The manner in which Heechul is speaking drastically differs from his previous episodes, repetition mangling his speech. Youngjae has only spoken briefly to Heechul once in his moments of unadulterated lucidity. Maybe this is how Heechul was like in his prime, all eloquence and sophistication.

“We are not attached in that way, Mr. Kim,” Youngjae murmurs.

Heechul spares him a dubious glimpse. “I see no other comprehensible reason he would rid the house of the servants just for your presence. I may loathe him but I know my son well. He would not defy his father for no good reason.”

“Are Omegas not allowed here?” Youngjae questions slowly, attempting to put two and two together. Daehyun mentioned it was not optimal for him to solicit an outsider Omega.

“You’re quite sharp,” Heechul hums. His wheezes steady gradually, light returning to his eyes. “He wants me to be surrounded only by my nightmares. Hell on Earth has never been such an apt phrase.”

“But why, Mr. Kim?”

Heechul churns out a hollow smile. “For the things I did to him.” He reaches out to rest a hand on Youngjae’s shoulder, intoning, “My son is already engaged. Do not be stupid and play mistress to a man who claims he loves you yet makes you share him.”

He gives Youngjae no chance to clarify himself, grinning wider with such acute sourness. “Why do Omegas fight amongst themselves for Alphas?” He muses. “We’ve already got the short end of the stick. It’s silly to drag each other lower with our catfights.”

Youngjae nods, the words ringing in Youngjae’s chest. It is nice to know other Omegas beside Minki and him think the same way. The notion that they are like products on sale in the same display window is much too widespread.

“I mean it when I say that. Heed the advice,” Heechul repeats, seriousness dousing his eyes. “You and my son’s fiancée will gain nothing out of this if you two fight amongst yourselves.”

Youngjae clears his throat. “Mr. Kim, I am really not dating Mr. Jung. We are not in any way romantically involved with one another.”

“Then how are you related to my son?” Heechul snorts. “You do not have to lie to me. I will not expose you.”

Lowering

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yooyoungjaed
give me some days to update, sorry about that, i lost my whole oasis planning e_e

Comments

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Natasha_O7 #1
I love this story so much, I always come back to read it.
Khamilaa #2
Chapter 22: ♥️♥️♥️
leecika #3
Chapter 22: Hi. Coming here after few years because I was thinking about Oasis. Wondering if it finish already or not. I hope that you will continue writing it. I must tell you that this plot and story is sooo worth it and so good, it is a briliant storyline. Who have thought that alpha, beta omega thingy can leads to such an amazing story. You put so much effort in this. I hope that you will find your strength and keep on writing anything that can make you happy, because you are gifted. Love from your fan.
shiranui1295
#4
Chapter 22: While I am sad to hear that this fic is officially over even though you never made it to the end, I am sadder to hear that you were harassed and felt such anxiety over writing it. In this sense it is better than you just leave it like you did; even though it was a beautiful story, it's not worth continuing if it causes the author pain to write it.
That being said, I really hope you're feeling better now and like many of the other comments I want you to know that I really, really adored this fanfic. You are an amazing writer and it was always a joy to read your chapters, even if I happened to get emotional and was not necessarily feeling 'joy,' haha. The way you write characters is so good that I was inspired to draw them, and I was really happy when you posted my fanarts on chapter XIV (I'm not active on twitter anymore as kaebaetrash). I brag to my friends that my art was posted in this fic because again, I hold this fanfic in very high regards. Idk if you'll see this particular comment, but I hope that the many others with praise and support brighten your day :) thank you for the time you put into Oasis. I'm always gonna remember this as one of the best fanfics I've ever read, DaeJae or not.
Jaeki05
#5
Chapter 22: Thank you so much for writing and posting this so we could see how it was supposed to end. This is still one of my favorite fics of all time and was really one of the main reasons I even visit AFF every few months just to check in and see if something was posted. Just remember people will always find something to complain about, no matter how good something is. Some people are just like that. Do what you enjoy and let them be miserable on their own.
xinshuang #6
Chapter 22: Thank you letting us know about rest of the story and i will appreciate this afford. I have always liked your story lines and plots and your writing. I am sorry I have not been able to assure you with your anxiety. But belive in yourself that you are good in what you do.
unknownpresence #7
Chapter 22: xue thank you so much for doing this. i love this story so much and even though i started moving on from the group, reading this plotline still moved me to tears. i used to wonder and think about this story during the hiatus. i would imagine daejae finally getting together. now at least i know that was what exactly happened and im so happy! thank you! i miss your stories and i miss daejae! — from daejaeist ;)
baichinaicha
#8
Chapter 22: I’m here to show my love and support for you??
eliing #9
Chapter 22: Welcome back and thank you for writing this at least in stead of leaving us wondering where the story would end.