Chapter Text
“Taerae that was the most fun I have had in what feels like forever,” Matthew said laughing as he and Taerae held hands as they walked out of the amusement park, his other hand clenching tightly at a giant stuffed shark.
“Did you see that alpha’s face when you beat him out at the strongman hammer game? I thought he was going to burst a blood vessel when the puck hit the bell at your swing after his had only gone up halfway.” Taerae laughed, swinging their joined hands, reaching his other hand up to playfully squeeze Matthew’s biceps. He was so happy to have a day alone with Matthew to bond and be himself. Matthew’s sweet and thoughtful personality matched up with his perfectly and he could just be himself without worrying about the other or trying to act strong.
Matthew blushed lightly, but laughed at the memory, smiling brightly at his friend. “And the worker’s face when you calculated the angle to throw the dart at the balloons and arched it so gravity would give an extra boost to pop them, I swear he was going to pop himself when you won the grand prize.” Matthew said, nuzzling into his giant stuffed shark. “This is going right in the center of my nest as soon as we get home.”
Taerae smiled at the picture of Matthew and the shark. “And I will use this cute little pig keychain everyday,” Taerae said as he took out of his pocket the prize Matthew won him to dangle in front of his packmate. “It is perfect because it will remind me of spending the day with my cute little piggy in pink.” Taerae said teasingly at Matthew’s pink sweatpant and sweatshirt combo.
“Yah! This is a cute outfit! And they didn’t have a fox keychain or I would have picked that for you.” Matt said with a pout. “But it does go well with your red and green sweatpants!” Matthew said as he tried to poke his friend in the stomach, teasing him back.
As Taerae doubled down laughing at their own shenanigans he added, “Hanbin and Jiwoong definitely thought it was cute at least, I swear I thought they were going to steal you away as we were about to leave seein how cute you were in your outfit. But Ricky would say we look like a Christmas and Valentines day threw up together and decided to go on a hunting trip.” Taerae said the last part pointing at Matthew’s camo print fanny pack he had his wallet and phone in.
Matthew almost fell to the ground at the comment, laughing so hard. “Hey I think we look cute! And we are comfy.”
“We are comfy.” Taerae agreed as he tried to calm down from the laughing.
“And we are ourselves and happy, so nothing else matters.” Matthew said proudly as he retook Taerae’s hand to continue on their walk, passerbys feeling they needed sunglasses to look at the bright smiles from the two.
It was silent for a few blocks as they swung their hands and enjoyed the moment, well Matthew did, Taerae began to think.
“Matthew-ah, I have some news to share…” Taerae said hesitantly while he unconsciously gripped Matthew’s hand tighter where they were connected.
“Yeah Taerae-ah? What is wrong?” Matthew said as he stopped and turned to face his sunshine twin, concern marring his features at the action and sudden change in emotion.
“Nothing is wrong necessarily…I just met someone, or two someones actually…and they asked to date me…and I want to say yes.” Taerae mumbled.
“That's so exciting, do you like them? Do I know them? Why haven’t you?” Matthew exclaimed excitedly with a little hop.
Taerae smiled at the brightness of his friend, then frowned as he went back to his thoughts. “Do you think I deserve it though?” Taerae said looking at his friend, allowing a bit of the vulnerability he usually keeps hidden deep down to the surface. “They are just so perfect in every way, kind, normal people, and I am me. They will probably think I am horrible if they ever learned what I have done in the past. And maybe I deserve to be alone for it.” Taerae said as his eyes filled with tears.
Matthew’s heart broke at everything Taerae had been keeping in, always being so strong and caring for the pack, but secretly harboring this self loathing and fear of himself and his past. Matthew grabbed Taerae’s face gently between his hands, his thumbs stroking the few tears that have fallen.
“Taerae, you are an amazing person they would be lucky to be with. If they can’t see it they won’t deserve you. And everything you have ever done has only been to protect your family or the pack.” Matthew said as he lovingly looked at Taerae. “I have met your adoptive parents and you take such good care of them. I know I wasn’t in the pack yet when everything happened, but I know Hanbin has never looked at you with anything but love and never blamed you for what happened to his family. You were just trying to survive and even with everything that was thrown at you, you still left openings that made it possible for the others to take over the pack. The other hyungs don’t look at you any different either, you are one of the best things that has ever happened to them. And the maknaes look at you like you hung the stars, Yujin specifically always fights to sit by you and spend more time with you. And almost everyone has done what they had to to survive, you can’t fault yourself for that. if you still are upset, I love you more no matter what too. So if you really like these people, don’t hold yourself back because you think you aren’t good enough, I think you are the best and deserve the best. So if anything I will have to meet them to see if they are good enough for you.” Matthew added determinately.
At this Taerae broke down, having laid out the worries that had been clouding his heart for so long and to know he was still loveable. “Thank you Matthew-ah.” And with a choked laugh at Matthew’s last sentence, he added, “I would love it if you could meet them. I think you would really like them, they are kind and funny and make me laugh all the time.” Taerae said as began to calm down, taking Matthew’s hand again and rubbing his eyes with his other hand to get rid of any of the other tears still clinging on.
“Okay, plan a time and I will be there.” Matthew said smiling, happy to have been able to be a support for Taerae to lean on. “And I want to hear everything. How did you meet? How did they ask you out?”
They continued their walk back to the house, chatting animatedly about everything, opting to enjoy their conversation and the nice weather over a drive back and just bask in each other's presence.
After another twenty minutes of leisurely walking, suddenly Matthew felt the grip on his hand tighten. Taerae looked at him with big eyes and quietly said as they kept walking, "Text the pack, we have three guys following us, they don't look civilian either."
Matthew nodded at the information, not wanting to be scared, knowing while he had been practicing self defense, but also he and Taerae were not the top fighters and didn't have a lot on them at the moment for weapons. He quickly typed a text before putting his phone away to be able to defend himself, not noticing the message failed to send.
As they quickened their pace without trying to alert the men following them, Taerae tried to contact one of the guards the hyungs usually sent out to follow them. Seeing the call not go through and the lack of service, Taerae swore under his breath. They must be using a signal jammer. That would mean their trackers wouldn’t work if they moved locations either until the jammer was off.
Taerae looked around for a good place to try to lose them, realizing they were probably on their own for a bit. It would be tough, but he had full confidence they could at least take three guys out. He wanted to stay in the open and knew if they kept walking they would reach a residential part of town which would have less witnesses. They needed to stay in the shopping area as much as possible to have as many views if something happened for the pack to get information.
Taerae scanned around and saw across the street an old corner shop with old wire security cameras. That would be their best bet for video evidence for the hyungs to follow, the jammer most likely taking out the newer bluetooth cameras most of the other stores had. Squeezing Matthew’s hand to signal to stop, Matthew looked up at him with big eyes. “We need to fight them here,” Taerae whispered, “Any farther and there will not be a lot of evidence for the hyungs to follow if something happens.” Taerae lovingly stroked Matthew’s cheek, for courage and to make the stop seem natural as the men got closer so they could hit them unawares.
Matthew nodded, determination stepping closer to Taerae as he set his stuffed shark down at the wall. He smiled once at Taerae before getting ready to fight their way out as he saw the men almost come to them over Taerae’s shoulder. As they got within striking distance, Matthew spun around Taerae using his shoulders as support as he kicked the first guy in the face, knocking him out.
Taerae used the momentum from Matthew’s movement to move and kick the second guy in the privates, which caused him to immediately drop as well, he knew it was considered a cheap shot, but they were outnumbered and they needed them out of commission as quickly as possible to stay safe. He went to knock the guy out with a kick to the head, when the third guy bear hugged him from behind, trying to get an arm around his throat.
Matthew quickly wrapped his arms around the guy's throat from behind and dropped to the ground using his body weight to make the guy to let Taerae go and fall back. Matthew followed with a punch to his face, hoping that would take him out enough to give them time to run.
Taerae nodded in appreciation, about to try to knockout the second guy still holding his privates. Suddenly a van pulled up beside and another four guys jumped out. Matthew looked up at Taerae in alarm, worried about their odds, but not having any options. When they reached them Matthew wasn't thinking, just doing his best to keep the guys where he could see them and hold off until the pack could come.
Matthew got a kick to one of the alphas privates and had elbowed him in the nose in quick succession as they came up on him, so he was taken care of for a second and he managed to kick the another back, however with another one coming his way he really hoped his pack would hurry, he was also worried with the other guy getting back up and going towards Taerae.
Taerae managed to hold off his guy and stop the man from earlier who had gotten back up angry at the pain Taerae had caused, but suddenly he felt something cold against his neck. He froze quickly, seeing an eighth guy behind him from the corner of his eye and realizing the driver had gotten out of the van.
"Take another move and the beta dies." The driver said, pushing the blade slightly into Taerae's neck, not enough to cut it, but enough for his eyes to widen in fear. Matthew quickly stopped fighting and the two guys grabbed him. "It took seven of you to fend off a little beta and omega? What the heck is Boss paying you guys so much for. Tie them up and get them in the van, there's already enough witnesses." The guy said looking at the people who had stopped shopping as the fighting broke out, but were too afraid to get involved.
Matthew struggled a second longer, fear overtaking him at the thought of going to a secondary location and what would happen to Taerae and him. Suddenly he felt pain on the back of his head then everything went black.