Chapter Text
"He seems a bit... rebellious," Mingyu's father remarks, gaze sweeping over the city skyline. "I mean, I've never met the kid, and Kyungwon's never been a traditionalist, but he's letting him live on his own while attending university, for God's sake."
He braces himself against the doorframe leading out to the balcony, tucking his hands casually in his pockets to hide how much the cold breeze bothers him.
The sight alone has Mingyu itching to pull out a cigarette.
The sun sinks lower behind a distant mountain, bleeding pinks and yellows as it goes. Mingyu watches a set of neon lights switch on down below as twilight sets in. Noraebang, cafes, half a dozen noodle shops.
He wonders why his father insisted on moving here for his palliative care. The nearest treatment center is at least a half hour drive. If he was going to live so far away, he might as well live in the mountains. At least there, the air is clear.
Mingyu suddenly remembers the piece of intel Jeonghan slipped him earlier that day. "I hear he has a babysitter following him everywhere."
Babysitter, bodyguard— it makes little difference when it comes down to it. The point is that Jeon Kyungwon isn't as careless with his children as some would have them believe. He's no traditionalist, but he's no progressive either.
"What difference does it make? He sounds a little too freespirited to me. And I don't take you for a brat tamer. I don't want to sign you up for something you're not willing to take on, my final wishes be damned."
Mingyu scoffs. As if he couldn't handle a brat. His men— his friends— put him through enough on a daily basis as it is. What's one little omega going to do to him?
His father sighs, breath puffing in the cold winter air. Mingyu feels the weight of it heavy on his shoulders.
"Kyungwon is a good friend. He feels bad for me since his wife..." he shakes his head, "so he wants to offer what he can. He's getting old, too. Thinks the little omega should come north, be mated."
It would help us all, he means. As he ages, Kyungwon gets to pass the responsibility of his omega son to an alpha he trusts, all while strengthening his relationship with the Kim family, personally and in his business. Mingyu gets a mate. His father gets to see him mated, the final responsibility that comes with taking over his empire.
And the omega... "Does he know anything?"
"Wonwoo?" His father laughs. "No, no. He's not oblivious— his own brother is being groomed to take over the business down there— but Jeon Kyungwon's protective and won't let him get involved in anything. I've never seen him in person myself, not even when he was a baby."
Because Mingyu's father is one of a handful of people to even know what Wonwoo looks like, he has been fortunate enough to put a very distant tail on Wonwoo. Besides the alpha babysitter following him around, he truly lives as a normal student. A lot less baggage to take on.
"Good," Mingyu says, nodding to himself. All Mingyu will have to do is keep him happy and sated.
Speaking of.
Knowing the cold is only aggravating his pain, Mingyu ushers his father back inside. The old man sinks into the couch, visibly untensing with the relief of being off his feet. Mingyu has never had a particularly affectionate relationship with his father, but his condition and the effect it has on his mother keeps his chest coiled tight with grief.
It won't be long before palliative care turns into hospice care, and Mingyu will be left with his mother, his omega, and all of Gyeonggi Province laying at his feet.
The sun has fully set, the city fully bathed in the blue hour of twilight. Mingyu's father leans over and turns on a lamp, and then they are bathed in golden light once more. The shine of it in his eyes reminds Mingyu of the way his cigarettes glow in the night. The pack of them in his pocket weighs heavier all of a sudden.
"What do you think?" his father prompts, looking up at his son. "Is he too spoiled? A little brat?"
Mingyu doesn't think he's a brat per se. Oblivious. Naive, certainly. Maybe a little stubborn. Jeon Kyungwon's infamous affection for his pups leaves no doubt in Mingyu's mind that Wonwoo is spoiled. He's a meek, unassuming omega, and his father allows him an unprecedented amount of freedom.
Nevertheless— "If you think he's alright, I'll go along," he concedes.
"You don't think he's too independent?"
Independence is relative when you're an omega. If Wonwoo were an alpha, Mingyu's father wouldn't hesitate to call him sheltered and ignorant due to his father's treatment of him. But he's not, and an unmarked omega living away from home while pursuing higher education is exceedingly rare, even in their changing times. Compared to many, Wonwoo is quite independent. A modern omega, some would say.
But Mingyu knows better.
Wonwoo's father shields him from the outside world and has someone watching over the omega at every hour of the day; he doesn't have true agency over himself. Kyungwon's motivation in this arrangement is the acquisition of power and the physical safety of his son— whether he consents to it or not.
When you're an omega like Jeon Wonwoo, true independence is hard to come by. And with Kyungwon consumed by a hunger for influence, the desires of his own child come secondary to the prospect of a strong ally in Seoul.
As long as Wonwoo is agreeable. As long as he understands his place in all this.
"It's okay if he's a little spoiled," Mingyu says.
"Everyone succumbs to instinct under the right pressure."
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With Chan in Busan and Seungcheol enjoying an evening off for himself, the Jeon home is quiet. Wonwoo sits across from his father at the kitchen table, pushing around the rice in his bowl.
Wonwoo ordinarily loves eating with his father. Their schedules don't align often, and the alpha always listens to Wonwoo talk about his life with an affectionate glint in his eyes. He has always taken an interest in Wonwoo, eager to support him and his dreams.
Tonight, though, he's quiet. Something weighs heavily on his mind, and the air is so thick with his worry that Wonwoo can't muster the enthusiasm to talk about the past few weeks of his heat and final exams.
Finally, though, his father sets his chopsticks aside. "Wonwoo-yah..." He looks at his son. "I have something to tell you."
Wonwoo hesitates, sensing that whatever he has to say is not good news. "Yes...?"
"I think you should move to Seoul."
Wonwoo's heart drops to the pit of his stomach. "...What?"
"I'm somewhat ashamed to have made this decision without consulting you, but..." he looks away from his son, "I've arranged for you to transfer universities so you can continue your studies in Seoul before you're mated."
"Mated?" the omega gasps. He has never given his father any indication that he's looking to settle down before he graduates. Wonwoo has never so much as thought of any alpha from his university romantically, let alone been courted by one. He sputters, "B-But I'm not looking for a mate."
That is, unless, Wonwoo's father has taken the liberty of making other decisions for him as well.
"Abeoji..."
"It's not safe for you on your own, Wonwoo-yah," he father declares with a sense of finality in his tone.
It sinks in, then, that Wonwoo's life is truly not his to control. No matter what he tells his father, no matter what path he plans for himself to take, no matter how much he supports him, the reality is that Wonwoo is an omega. His fate was sealed the moment his gender was determined.
His father is worried about him, and he will do anything to keep him from physical harm, even if it means placing him in the hands of another alpha Wonwoo even know. Because that is where an omega's place is: beside their mate.
Still, seeing his dreams crumbling before his eyes, Wonwoo tries to defend himself. "I'm not on my own! Seungcheol-hyung is with me everywhere I go—"
"Seungcheol is not the same as a mating mark." He still won't meet his son's gaze, but he picks up his chopsticks again. "The decision has already been made. It will benefit us all. Even if you can't see that yet."
Wonwoo bolts from his seat. "Appa!" he cries. He wants to protest, wants to argue until his face is red, but what would he say? What could he say for things to change? "Why...? Why..."
"I want to give you the world, Wonwoo-yah. I want you to go to school and become whatever you want to be. Only the best for my little vanilla bean, right?" His father's eyes glisten with a love he can hardly bear. He had long supported Wonwoo in going to school despite his choices being somewhat... unconventional for an omega.
"But there are some things that I can't change. I'm busy, and there are dangerous people I can't expose you to who demand my attention. You being my eldest child makes you vulnerable, and I can't and won't always be around to protect you."
"Abeoji, don't say that," Wonwoo cries at the implication, tears streaming down his cheeks. "You're not going anywhere— you're not leaving me yet!"
"Wonwoo-yah," he says, firmer this time but still imploring, wanting him to understand why. "We are not promised tomorrow. Giving you a mate is something I can do to assure your future. This way, you will be away from my work here and under the protection of someone very powerful. You get to continue your life in comfort, and I get to maintain an alliance."
"An alliance?" Wonwoo scoffs. He feels sick to his stomach being treated like a pawn by the man he thought would move mountains for him.
"Who is it?" he grits out. He has never seen or met any of his father's "business associates." None of his allies, none of enemies, not even any of the men who work for him. But now he'll be mated to one of them. He deserves a name, if nothing else. "Who did you promise me to?"
There's no reason to keep the truth from him, to deny the inevitable. Wonwoo feels no satisfaction as remorse flashes across his father's face. He made his decision when he sold him off to someone else. Now he has to live with it.
"The son of an old friend of mine," he sighs, palming his face. "Kim Mingyu."