Work Text:
(Placed after chapter 15)
Jisoo woke up with a headache and the muscles of his neck sore. He barely slept at all that night and when he did, he was still tense from the events of the previous day, having nightmares and pains where the officers had held him too tightly.
He tentatively palmed around the bedside table to find his phone on it. He turned it on to look at the hour: 5.47 A.M.
It was useless to try to go back to sleep, so he slipped out of the covers trying to avoid waking his mates up and stalked toward the living room.
He was still wearing only shorts and Mingyu's sweatshirt, but he felt cold, the kind of frost that comes from inside, from the hole in his heart that loneliness was gnawing inside him.
He sat at the kitchen table with a tired sigh, burying his face in his hands and passing his finger through his hair.
He was exhausted and he was desperate.
Seungcheol was the one always in charge, being both the head alpha and the oldest member, but he wasn't here now and Jisoo was the oldest out of them.
He knew they all looked up to him as an omega: he was the one who had stayed with them before their first heat, he had been the one who has showed them how to wash properly after sex and he had been the one who had explained them how a gynecological visit would go. He had been there for them in all of the most important milestones of an omega's life, reassuring them though he had always been alone in the same situations.
But he couldn't help them now. He was scared, so, so scared and he couldn't think of a way to get out of this situation.
"Fuck" he whimpered, a sob leaving his mouth as the pressed his palms into his eyes sockets.
He stayed like that for several minutes, tears dripping down his wrists and body shaken by the sobs, while the two mating marks on his neck burst with pain, until a warm hand was placed on his shoulder.
He jumped a little at the sudden contact, but turning toward the new person, he saw Jihoon's sad eyes looking down at him.
"Oh Shua" he murmured, before pulling the older against his chest and letting him cry on his shirt.
"I'm sorry Hoonie. I can't protect you, I-I'm not Cheol, I'm weak" he said, gripping the back of the producer's shirt "we're alone and...and Chan is so close to the birth, I'm afraid the stress could hurt our baby and-"
"Shh, calm down hyung" Jihoon said, lowering himself to level their eyes and taking his face in his hands "You defended us yesterday, you were so brave and took care of us, but you also let us take care of you. You don't have to bear the whole weight on your shoulders just because you're the oldest. You are strong, but you can't do it on your own, none of us could" he concluded, hugging the tremblimg frame of the singer and kissing his forehead, feeling him slowly relax under him.
"Listen, just lay down on the sofa, I'll make you some tea and then we can eat something together, ok?"
The older nodded weakly, drying his tears with sweater paws and sniffling softly.
"Can...can I stay with you while you make it? I don't want to stay alone" he asked, sounding so small and broken Jihoon could only nod to him.
And that's how they ended up in front of the stove, waiting for the water to boil. Jihoon was standing in front, while Joshua was slightly behind him, a hand gripping his shirt like a scared kid would do with their mother.
He followed every move of his mate and only sat when the shorter pushed him delicately down on the sofa.
"Ok pup, here's the tea, be careful, it's boiling" he said, handling the hot mug over to the boy before him.
They drank in silence and then cuddled close to each other, Jisoo's head tucked right under the younger's chin.
"I feel just like you, you know?" Jihoon started
"You do?" The singer asked, receiving a nod before the producer continued
"I feel sad, angry and helpless. I couldn't do anything while they dragged me downstairs and I couldn't do anything to protect you from the disgusting things they did and said to you. I was just so...so furious, but I couldn't move a muscle" he confessed, his voice going from sad, to heated with anger in just a few seconds, before turning tired and resigned again.
"We're all shaken by yesterday baby, so don't take the whole responsibility for what happened" he concluded.
There was a pause, before Jisoo spoke up.
"Thanks for telling me this Hoonie. I was so absorbed in my feelings I didn't realise you were hurting so much. I'm sorry"
"No need to apologise pup" the producer smiled down to him "I'm not exactly the type that lets his emotions show"
They exchanged some tender kisses before relaxing back on the sofa.
It was almost seven in the morning when a half asleep Seungkwan came in the living room, rubbing his puffy eyes.
"Morning guys" he croaked out.
With a brief look to his face and by the state of his vocal cords, it didn't take a genius to understand he had cried himself to sleep.
Jisoo immediately got up and hugged him tight. The younger, still a bit hazed by sleep, took some seconds before understanding why he was being held like that and reciprocating the affection.
"Hi Kwannie, how are you?" The older aked when they separated.
"I think you can already guess it" he sadly chuckled, looking down.
"Come here pup, let me check if those bastards left some bruises on you" Jihoon said, patting the seat next to him on the sofa.
The younger obeyed and sat down next to him, letting him maneuver his head to look at his neck where purplish marks were forming where the collar the officers had pulled had dug in his skin.
"Does it hurt baby?" He asked, probing at one of those marks.
"Just a bit" the singer admitted "but I think we should worry more about Jisoo-hyung"
"I-I'm fine, you don't have to think about me" the older stuttered out, instinctively pulling the sleeves of the sweater further down on his wrists and lowering his head.
Jihoon was going to rebuke to that, but he was interrupted by Chan's arrival. The boy had slept in his boxers and shirt, the material loose enough to cover his big belly and swelled chest.
"Oh love, did we wake you up?" Seungkwan asked. He got up and hugged the younger as close as he managed with the pregnant tummy of his.
"No, I...I had a nightmare and woke up on my own. Nothing too bad, you don't have to worry" he anticipated his mate's words "I guess it was kind of a natural consequence to what happened yesterday" he murmured, his hands and eyes going instinctively to his round tummy.
"Channie, if you want to tell us about that, you know we'll listen" Jihoon said, guiding the younger on the sofa as well.
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but eventually sighed and started talking
"It was basically like living again what happened yesterday at the dorm, but the officers were harsher on me, beating me and you as well, and then I saw blood on my thighs...I woke up in that moment, but I realised I was losing the baby" he said with a small voice, tightening his arms around his middle.
"That was only a dream love, the baby is safe and so are we. Yesterday was scary and we're afraid as well" Jisoo softly said, crouching in front of him and taking his hands in his own "we'll find a solution to this, ok? And we'll have the most beautiful baby ever. Your father won't be able to snatch either of you away from us"
The maknae seemed to calm down at his words and at the agreeing noises his other two mates made to comfort him, stroking his hair and shoulders.
"Ok my loves" Jihoon spoke up, shaking them out of this tender haze "We should eat something and then we have to check on each other. Those bastards were rough on us yesterday and I want to make sure none of us has severe damage"
________________________
In about half an hour, they were back in the bedroom, Seungkwan laid down on the bed with only his underwear on.
Apart from the bruises the collar had left, there were some more on his wrists where the policemen had cuffed him. Nothing to worry about, they would have been gone in a couple of days.
Chan was pretty much in the same condition and his mates were relieved to see that those pieces of shit had had the decency to go a bit easier on him since he was pregnant. His bruises were even lighter than Seungkwan's ones, but that didn't avoid him a sweet massage from his mates, just like they had done to the older singer.
Jihoon was in a quite worse condition: he had fought nail and teeth to get out from the officers' grip on him, so the bruises of their hands on him were darker and more painful if touched. They were plastered on his shoulders, wrists and neck and his mates took a bag of ice to put on them to relieve the slight swelling of the areas.
He hissed and cursed a little at the freezing contact, but eventually accepted it.
"They did a number on you hyung" Chan murmured, eyeing the dark patches of skin.
"They did, but I kinda asked for it. I just didn't want to give the bastards the satisfaction of following them quietly" he chuckled.
It was Jisoo's turn to undress and let himself be examined by his worried mates.
"Guys, there's no need to-"
"Hyung. Undress" Jihoon prompted him with a serious tone.
The older gave up and started to slide out of the sweatshirt, showing them the shirt that had been ripped by the officers.
A day after the events, the holes in the fabric showed dark marks on his shoulder and some scratches on the exposed part of his chest.
He also had a hand-shaped bruise printed on his neck and wrists, hissing everytime someone touched them.
He didn't dare to look at his mates as they carefully pressed ice on his wounds, eyes downcasted in shame and humiliation.
When they were done and he was ready to put his clothes back on, Jihoon stopped him and then sent Seungkwan and Chan out of the room to look for some analgesics, locking the door behind them.
"On your front hyung" he ordered.
"What?" Jisoo looked confused and anxious at the same time.
"On your front, I saw you limping yesterday, I want to check your back" the producer only said, pushing the singer back on the bed and maneuvering him to lay on his tummy.
"T-there's no need Hoonie, I'm fine, I-" the older tried to squirm out of Jihoon's grip, tears now swelling in his eyes as the younger, smaller but stronger than him, forced him in position.
"Hyung, I'm doing this for your own sake" he said, ignoring the begging coming out of Jisoo's mouth.
He stripped the oldest omega completely naked, getting rid of his shorts and underwear to reveal purple and red marks, distinctively shaped like fingers and hands.
Joshua had his face buried in his arms and in a pillow, sobbing softly against it, while Jihoon's breath grew ragged with anger.
"I'm gonna fucking kill them" he hissed out through gritted teeth.
"Hoonie, please" the older whimpered out, implicitly begging him to calm down.
"It's not that bad, I...I'll get over it"
"Get over it?? Hyung they didn't just do this to tease the alphas, it's not just a slap on the ass, they fucking groped and molested you until you were limping. They sexually harassed a defenceless person while they were in a position of power. This is just unacceptable".
He was clearly furious, but his anger did nothing to help the whining omega on the bed, only feeling more humiliated at being reminded of his weakness.
He realized he was only hurting him more by saying such things and sighed, defeated.
"I'm sorry babe, I didn't mean to say these things to shame you, I'm just really angry this had to happen to you" he said, sitting on the bed and pulling the older to sit up, taking his face in his hands and drying his tears with his thumbs.
The other could only nod and shrink on himself.
"Could you...not tell the pups? I don't want them to see me this way" he said after a few seconds of silence.
Jihoon nodded
"Yeah, I wouldn't want them to know as well. Is there something I could do to make you feel better, love?" He asked in the end, feeling bad for his previous words.
"Just...can we cuddle? With Kwannie and Chan too. I want to feel you close" the taller hesitantly said, receiving a smile and a nod in return.
"Of course we can prince" and with that, he went to unlock the door and called the two younger omegas back while Jisoo dressed himself and dried his eyes.
When Seungkwan and Chan came back, the only thing Jihoon needed to say was "cuddle pile" with a satisfied smirk, before the two happily threw themselves on the bed and hugged Jisoo close.
They settled with Chan in the middle, Seungkwan and Joshua on either side of him, his head pressed on the latter's chest while they both stroked his belly, enjoying the small movements the pup sometimes manifested.
Jihoon was spooning the american omega from behind, hand tangled in his light brown hair and a low purr coming from his chest.
It wasn't like the growl alphas emitted for them, but it was something and Jisoo seemed to appreciate the vibrations on his back.
They were interrupted when a few members of their staff knocked at their door to give them their stuff they had retrived from the dorms.
They then busied themselves to put everything away, until Seungkwan called them, clearly emotional by his voice.
"Guys, look. They managed to get this in one of my shirts" he said, pulling an envelope from his folded clothes.
It was a letter.
"To our sweet, beautiful mates,
We want to say sorry for what happened yesterday, we should be the ones protecting you and keeping you safe, it's our responsibility, but we failed you. We sincerely hope that you're alright and we assure you we're already working to get us out of this nightmare.
In the meantime:
Jisoo, you have to be brave, but don't take the whole thing in your hands, you're not alone and you have to ask for help if you need some;
Jihoon, we know you're guiding them, you're a born leader, but this isn't your fault and you don't have to make up for anything. Keep them safe like you've always done, but think about yourself as well;
Seungkwannie, don't worry about us too much and don't get too deep in tour head, express your feelings and please never stop singing. Sing for them, for us and for our pup, because your voice always finds a way to get heard;
An finally, Chan, our baby Channie. We're sorry you had to live and witness what happened yesterday and we're sorry we weren't able to keep you and our little pup safe. We already know you're strong, but we have to ask you to be it even more now, for both you and the miracle you carry, at least until we get you back.
We love you more than anything, our precious angels, please support each other and take care of yourselves, this nightmare will end soon.
Your mates Cheollie, Hannie, Jun, Wonu, Soonie, Haohao, Gyu, Minnie and Hansollie"
Needless to say, the omegas were in tears, Chan and Jisoo sat on the bed and sobbing in each other's arms, while Seungkwan was on the floor and Jihoon was still standing, looking down while an endless waterfall of tears flooded down his cheeks.
"Well" Seungkwan spoke after a few minutes, getting himself together and drying his eyes "you heard them guys. We're a family and we support each other. So let's do our best to silently support them while they work so hard to get us home"
Everyone nodded and they slowly got back to work, in their minds flaring the determination to make their alphas proud by following their words.
In the end, the letter ended up in a visible point of their temporary house, where it could be easily seen and used as a reminder that their happy ending would come, eventually.