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“I would like to have Park Chanyeol as my mate.”
The room fell into silence at his words, both his parents' attention falling on Baekhyun. His Baba had been going through the papers on his desk, his Appa frozen in the middle of putting his needle in the small blanket he was currently embroidering on. The dark blue blanket had a few tiny white and yellow cats already completed on it, his Appa now was adding flowers to the design. The blanket was to be a gift for Jongdae’s new baby once it arrived.
Baekhyun had thought hard about how he should tell his parents that he wanted to become Chanyeol's mate. Normally Baekhyun wouldn’t hesitate to tell his parents anything, But this was a bigger step up than admitting he had impulsively bought a dozen bunnies from the market because he had felt bad for them.
His Baba was the first to speak up, smiling at Baekhyun in the soft way he always did. “I think he would be a very good match for you.” He said, pulling out a clean piece of paper. It was easy to guess what he would do next, it was something he had done with Both Jongdae and Sehun; His Baba would write a formal letter to the parents of his son's potential mate in support. Although Jongdae’s mate Minseok had been of low status, his Baba had still done it much to the shock of the Minseok family. Jongdae had said they had been freaked out that such a high-status Alpha had gone out of his way to do such a thing.
His Appa set his needlework aside and stood from his chair, gracefully walking over to Baekhyun. Everything his Appa did was elegant and perfect, proving himself to be the utmost perfect Omega. Many had expected Baekhyun to mate someone like his Appa, a traditional omega in order to help combat Baekhyun's lack of Alpha looks. But fate liked to be weird.
“That’s wonderful news Baekhyun, I’m sure the Park family will be happy to accept your request. I will get right to work making arrangements.” His Appa said, hugging his 2nd oldest child. “You have our full support as well.”
Baekhyun smiled, hugging his Appa back. He never expected them to be against any choice of mate he had, but it still was relieving to hear their support. From what Baekhyun had gathered his parents adored Chanyeol, not once making any negative comment about the tall awkward Omega.
Soon Chanyeol would be his Tall, awkward Omega.
It took less than two days for the Parks to accept the arrangement, it came as no surprise. The Zhang family was just as powerful as the Parks at this point, they would have to really hate Baekhyun in order to decline the request.
Plans for the ceremony were made, simple ones where only the two families would attend. It would be fairly traditional in setup, but more lax in execution. Baekhyun had no interest in treating Chanyeol like some object he was to take, but Chanyeol had wanted some of the traditional ceremony aspects.
A house was gifted to the soon-to-be mated couple, a sizable structure located between both their parent's estates. It was a bit closer to the Zhang estate since Baekhyun wanted to be closer to his whole family (as all his siblings still lived close to his parents), and Chanyeol wanted to be close to the market.
It worked perfectly.
The ceremony crept up and Baekhyun was unable to see his soon-to-be partner. They had a plan of time to mate, but Baekhyun wanted to have everything done and be settled in time for Jongdae's baby to come. There would be only a month or so before that happened, so they had less than a week to get everything prepared otherwise they would have to wait for at least a whole year.
Before Baekhyun knew it it was the day of the ceremony and everything was chaos. The event was to be held in the garden of their new house, his Appa taking the liberty in making sure everything got set up while his brothers fussed with him. Jongdae was the most helpful, sitting Baekhyun down and helping with his hair and hanbok, triple-checking to make sure he looked fine. Sehun on the other hand sat in a chair nearby in an attempt to avoid all responsibility, but his own soon to be mate managed to find him and dragged him out to help. Jongin would come in and out of the room, updating Baekhyun on what was going on and taking information out.
When it was time to start things, Minseok came for Jongdae and the two hugged before they left. Only moments later his Baba stepped in, and the two were off. In the garden chairs were set up in a circle of sorts around a thick rug where the ritual would take place.
Baekhyun took his spot kneeling on the rug, the fabric warm from being under the bright sunlight. The garden was beautiful, everything in bloom and neatly taken care of. The chairs circled the rug, filled with family and friends that had come to witness the ceremony. The rug was soft and comfortable, making the process of kneeling feel much less like a chore than it could have. It was a smart move on his Appa’s part, he was the one who had planned everything for the ceremony. They wanted something traditional and simple, but lax. The garden of the new house was the perfect fit.
On the rug was a small, low table with everything needed to make and serve tea as it would be needed for the ceremony. Bakehyun had heard from his Appa the tea would be bitter as Chanyeol had asked to use the traditional one. That's the thing he was the least excited for about the whole ordeal, he would have preferred something a bit sweeter. But if that was what it took to make his mate happy, Baekhyun was fine with the bitterness.
Within moments his parents followed suit, both kneeling behind him, his Appa adjusting Baekhyun clothes one last time. He could clearly see Chanyeol’s sister sitting behind where his future mate would be, and she gave a small smile and wave to Baekhyun. They hadn’t had much communication as she had not lived in the park state and was rarely there when Baekhyun visited, but Baekhyun found her to be a nice person.
Soon the circle was broken by Chanyeol, The taller male wearing an elegant black hanbok with gold detailing, his face hidden by a gold veil as was tradition. Behind him was his mother, and the two quickly took their spot mirroring how Baekhyun and his parents were. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were kneeling before each other, a little over a foot between them. In this positional there height difference was more than obvious, but the tiny Alpha didn't mind. Baekhyun wouldn’t change Chanyeol’s height the world, it was part of his charm.
“There is no need to go over any exchanges as this was an agreement wished for by both of our children.” Chanyeol’s mother said, giving a small bow as a smile adorned her face. “I only wish for an even greater friendship to form between our families and for prosperity for all.”
With that, His Appa and Chanyeol’s mother got to work making the tea, as it was traditional for one parent on each side to participate. Baekhyun Appa was more than happy to be the one to do it. His Baba could do it, but since his Appa wanted to he simply sat silent and watched his mate with a small smile on his face.
The tea was poured and the cup was handed to Baekhyun first. One whiff and Bakehyun knew he was in for it. The smell alone was unpleasant. The drink would have to be finished by both of them, so Baekhyun gathered himself and downed a good half of the cup in one go, grimacing and the utter horrible flavor of the substance. He made no sound of displeasure, it was a bad sign and was believed to bring bad luck to do so.
He handed his cup over to Chanyeol, and the cup disappeared under the veil. Within moments it was handed back to him, completely empty. Chanyeol hadn’t even flinched or so much as given a hint of the true nature of the substance. As usual, Baekhyun's choice of mate was perfect.
After that things passed by quickly, and soon it was time for Baekhyun to lead Chanyeol to their bedroom for the very first time for the mating part of things. Chanyeol had yet to remove his veil, even when they entered the house by themselves. Baekhyun wanted to see his mate's face, but he was fine with waiting.
Once they arrived at their room and the door was shut, Chanyeol finally turned to Baekhyun and removed his veil. Baekhyun didn’t wait, pulling his mate down so he could kiss him. Sure, it was more work, but Baekhuyn didn’t mind the challenge. It was easy to maneuver Chanyeol towards the bed, their kiss only breaking when Chanyeol softly fell back onto it. The omega’s face was flushed, his scent spiked due to arousal and excitement.
Baekhyun took Chanyeol’s hand, planting a soft kiss on it. “You’re perfect in every way.” Baekhyun said without thinking. The words made the taller male's face flush even more as he attempted to pull away and hide his face. He thought back to the comments of when he first started to hang around Chanyeol, the nasty one’s about how Chanyeol wasn’t pretty enough to be an omega, how he was too clumsy to be an omega, how nobody was courting him because of his looks.
Baekhyun could almost say he pitied the fools who had thought such things, but in all honesty, he just didn't get it. They were all fools, missing out on what Chanyeol was. It had to be fate, Baekhyun was a small Alpha with enough spunk to go after the beautiful tall omega. Baekhyun was lucky Chanyeol even considered him as a mate.
As Chanyeol smiled up at him and pulled him down for another kiss, Baekhyun was confident he had chosen the perfect mate.