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‘I hope to find a good alpha.’ Yeonjun reads through what he wrote one last time. He prays to all the gods out there that he will meet one where he is today.
It’s the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of Yeonjun’s favourite holidays ever. He thinks that it is romantic, it has something about seeing a ton of lanterns being released into the air with the one you love. Except, he is watching it alone because his boyfriend- now, ex-boyfriend cheated on him with another omega.
Regardless of that, the omega is still a hopeless romantic. He’s going through a phase in life where he tries to romanticise everything. So obviously, he’s going to do it to the best of his ability. He travels from Korea to Singapore to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
There’s not much reasoning as to why he wanted to do that, he just really wanted to get out of Korea after that horrible breakup. Besides, it is on his bucket list to celebrate the festive season in one of the Southeast Asia countries. He decides on Singapore because of the great weather that he has been hearing of.
Yeonjun looks at the words he wrote on the lantern and releases a hefty sigh before forcibly pursing his lips together in a straight line. “I’ll find the good alpha,” he says reassuringly to himself before releasing his lantern into the sky.
Snap. The sound of a camera flashing goes off.
Yeonjun turns toward the sound and sees a man with slightly overgrown hair holding a camera right in his face.
Did this man just take a picture of him without his consent? Oh, Yeonjun is not having it. First, his shitty ex-boyfriend, and now this random man is taking unconsented pictures of him?
“Excuse me-”
“Sorry,” the man cuts him off and quickly explains to clear up any misunderstanding. “I was just taking a picture in your direction but you were in the view too.”
The omega rolls his eyes. Excuses. “Okay, but please delete the image, I do not feel comfor-”
“Oh, the picture turned out nice. Wanna have a look?” The guy turns his camera towards Yeonjun so he can see the picture. True enough, the image is gorgeous. But Yeonjun notices something else that’s prettier than the picture that he’s seeing.
The man before him is drop-dead stunning. The most handsome person he has ever seen. Yeonjun believes that he only dates good-looking men (everyone around him says so too), but this man right here single-handedly proved him wrong. Despite what Yeonjun wrote down on the lantern, he didn’t expect to find love in a foreign country, though that would be very romantic. And Yeonjun thinks exactly that right now.
Yeonjun’s jaw is floored. He needs to strike up a conversation and think up of something quick. “Can I have this picture?”
“I usually charge people for my photography, but since you’re the model in the picture, I’ll let you have it for free. I’ll print it out for you, what size do you want?” The cameraman reaches out for his business card in his bag and passes it to Yeonjun.
It is a minimalistic business card. Just a white paper and some fancy font.
Choi Beomgyu. The name reads on the business card. Beomgyu. Huh. So he’s Korean too and he even has a fascinating name.
“So you’re a professional photographer?” Yeonjun asks while looking at the card even though the card serves as the answer to his question. He just wanted to hear Beomgyu speak.
“Yeah, as you can read on the card.”
“What company are you from then? I don’t see any company name here.” Yeonjun flips the card around to find the company he works in but he sees nothing.
“I’m a freelancer. I travel around the world a lot so my office is wherever I’m staying at the moment.” Beomgyu’s answer is straightforward, informative, and fast. Just like his business card.
“So are you from around here?” Yeonjun asks.
Beomgyu shakes his head. “South Korea, Daegu.”
Yeonjun does a silent celebration in his head because this means the chance for them to go back to Korea together. He knows that he just met Beomgyu just a few minutes ago and the same man took an unconsented photo of him. But an attractive man is an attractive man, sue Yeonjun for having a broken heart.
“Anyways, if that’s the end of it, I’ll head off first. You can contact me anytime.” Beomgyu is about to walk off when Yeonjun stops him in his tracks.
“Wait! Since neither you nor I are from here, can we walk around together for a bit?” What does Yeonjun have to lose? He’s here alone anyway, a company can be nice.
Beomgyu squeezes the camera in his hands. “That sounds like a great idea actually.” As a travel photographer, it’s always nice to have another company. Thus, they find themselves walking along the buzzing streets of the festival in a buzzing city.
“So what are you here for?” Yeonjun strikes up a conversation. You can always count on him to do that. The omega’s proud of his own extroversion too.
“Mainly photography, nothing else.”
But goddamn. What does Yeonjun even say to that? He racks his brain for something. “Did you come here alone? Do you not have any assistant or anyone? Friends?”
“No.” The short answer puts an end to their conversation.
Yeonjun scratches his head awkwardly. Is this a bad idea? No matter how lonely he is, is he this desperate for someone new? Heck, he doesn’t even know if Beomgyu is an alpha at that. The place is too crowded for the omega to identify the man’s scent.
“What about you? Are you here alone?” Beomgyu asks the question this time. Yeonjun is thankful for that.
“Yeah. I just recently found out that my ex cheated on me, so we broke up. So I decided to fly out of Korea to get a change of scenery.” Shit, is that oversharing?
“I see. Is that why you wrote what you wrote on the lantern?”
Heat rushes to Yeonjun’s face. “You saw that?”
“Not at first. But I saw it when I was reviewing the picture.”
“That’s so embarrassing.” Yeonjun looks away from Beomgyu. He’s thinking of ways to dig a hole in the ground so he can bury himself in it.
But the next few words that come out from Beomgyu’s lips are reassuring. “Things like that happen. I’m sure that you will find a nice alpha for yourself sooner or later.”
It makes Yeonjun’s heart skip a beat. He might be slightly delusional right now. But he came here with the intention of finding someone new and now Beomgyu is saying that? Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated as a second Valentine's Day in some countries. This is only riling up his delusions.
Finally, Yeonjun’s curiosity kills him. “If it’s not too sensitive to ask, may I know if you’re an alpha, beta, or an omega?”
Beomgyu raises a brow at the sudden personal question. Yeonjun quickly waves his hands defensively. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“Oh, I’m not offended at all. I guess it kind of makes sense that you can’t smell me because this place is crowded. I definitely wouldn’t know that you’re an omega if it wasn’t for the fact that I saw what you wrote on the lantern too. For a fair exchange, I’m an alpha.”
And then suddenly, the fireworks go off.
No, not at the festival. (That’s for later.) But in Yeonjun’s world. Maybe Beomgyu is the nice alpha guy he wished for upon that lantern? Even if he isn’t, it’s too late. Yeonjun is already thinking up scenarios of him and Beomgyu.
The visual images make him breathless and he asks his next personal question.“I.. I see. T-then do you have anyone that you’re currently seeing?”
“No.” Beomgyu’s reply sends Yeonjun floating on cloud 9. Nothing can stop him now. Beomgyu is a free man and he can cuff that alpha for life if he allows Yeonjun to.
“Then…” Yeonjun drags his word out, grabbing Beomgyu’s full attention.
The alpha hums in response. “Hm?”
Yeonjun rubs his arm meekly. “Are you looking for anybody?”
The question makes Beomgyu stop in his tracks, and Yeonjun follows suit. This causes a few people to click their tongues and shove them for stopping in the middle of the road. Someone had shoved Yeonjun so hard that he tripped over his own feet and he found himself in Beomgyu’s arms the next second.
“I’m so sorry,” Yeonjun apologises and tries to move away from Beomgyu but the alpha grips onto him tightly. The omega turns his head around to see Beomgyu glaring at the stranger who just pushed Yeonjun. The expression on the alpha’s face sends a tingle down Yeonjun’s heart.
He snaps out of it when Beomgyu looks back at him and asks, “Are you okay?”
Yeonjun can only nod his head. He doesn’t trust his voice right now.
Beomgyu lets out a sigh of relief. “Thank God, how can they shove people around like that?” Just then, something seems to have caught Beomgyu’s attention. He points to their right. Yeonjun turns and sees a stall selling mooncakes. “Do you want one? I’ll buy one for you as a gratitude for being my accidental model if you will call yourself that.”
And when it comes to free food, Yeonjun is not one to turn it down. “Yes! I mean- please, if you don’t mind.” He changes his tone after realising how desperate he sounds.
Beomgyu grabs Yeonjun by the wrist and brings the omega closer to him as they walk over to the mooncake stall. “Which flavour is your favourite?” Beomgyu asks.
“Oooh, I like the mint chocolate one.” Yeonjun’s answer draws a grimace on Beomgyu’s face.
“You like mint chocolate?” Utter horror and disgust can be heard in Beomgyu’s tone.
Yeonjun looks at him, offended. “What’s wrong with mint chocolate?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.” Beomgyu dismisses but Yeonjun presses on.
“What’s wrong with mint chocolate, hm? What’s wrong with it?” The omega repeats over Beomgyu’s shoulder as he orders mooncakes with the stall owner.
Instead of a verbal response, Beomgyu shoves the requested mint chocolate mooncake into Yeonjun’s mouth. “Nothing’s wrong with it. If you like it, you like it. It’s just not for me. But since you’re cute, I’m going to try it too.”
It’s only normal for Yeonjun to think that Beomgyu had gotten another mint chocolate flavour for himself. Nothing and not enough time will prepare him for Beomgyu biting onto the other end of his mooncake. In the middle of the busy streets of a foreign country, right in front of the stall owner who just sold them their mooncakes.
After taking a good bite of the mooncake, tasting the crumb and the filling. Beomgyu pulls away and swipes his thumb across his lips whilst staring Yeonjun dead in the eye. “Well, I’ve never been too sure about it but if it crosses my way, and it’s good, I don’t see why I shouldn’t give it a try.”
Yeonjun inhales a sharp breath, trying to catch up with the breaths that Beomgyu takes away. He takes the mooncake out of his mouth, wiping whatever crumbs that are left on his lips away with the back of his hand. “So are you saying that you’re looking for someone?”
They each take a bite of their mooncakes and start wandering around aimlessly.
“I’ve never really thought of having someone new. My only relationship ended because of my selfishness. I wanted to become a travel photographer so I thought maybe I was destined to be alone. I never want to hurt anyone, at the same time, I don’t want to be alone. So I decided not to hurt anyone else and have since been carrying that value. Though, it gets really lonely.”
“So would you say you would like to have a company with you?”
They arrive at the edge of the festival where not many people are around. Beomgyu leans over the railing and looks up at the moon melancholically.
“You’ve heard of the story about Chang’E right?”
“Yeah?” Yeonjun’s not really sure where Beomgyu is going with this.
“She chose to drink the elixir because she didn’t want her lover to be hurt, but that caused her to end up being immortal and alone forever, right?”
Yeonjun nods solemnly. He knows what Beomgyu is going to say next. Even though he hasn’t heard it from the cameraman himself, it is heartbreaking. No one should feel this way ever.
“It’s the same for me too. I feel like I’m destined to be alone because of my profession. It’s something that I chose to do, just like Chang’E. Nobody forced us, it’s something that we want.”
But Yeonjun doesn't agree with that. This feeling of accepted loneliness does not sit right with the omega. “But don’t you think that there can be other solutions to this? What happened to Chang’E is unfortunate and I think no other human beings should be subjected to that kind of loneliness. But that’s only possible if you are willing to open up for other solutions.”
“Yeah? Like what kinds?” Genuine curiosity can be heard in Beomgyu’s tone.
“For your case, compromising. Maybe your ex didn’t want to do that but there are people out there who are willing to swim across the world just to be with you. You shouldn’t think that no one out there will do that just because your ex wasn’t willing to do that for you.”
Yeonjun’s words really hit home for Beomgyu. It isn’t that they didn’t try. They did, but it just didn’t work out. His ex couldn’t stand the fact that they couldn’t be together all the time. Obviously, that feeling is valid until it becomes toxic. He starts hating and shitting on Beomgyu’s choice of profession. And that really took a toll on Beomgyu’s mental health and there’s only so much one can say through the phone. He just couldn’t truly convey everything through the phone, especially when his ex kept going on and on. Not leaving space for him to speak. Additionally, his ex was twisting his words and it caused a huge drift in their relationship, eventually coming to an end.
“Do you think there’s really someone like that out there?”
Yeonjun holds Beomgyu’s hand and gives him a firm nod. “You know how Hou Yi reacted to Chang’E’s great sacrifice. He’s equally as lonely as his beloved wife. What I’m saying is there’s someone out there waiting for you to open up your heart again.”
But Beomgyu is still not sure. Everything is moving so fast. He just met the omega twenty minutes ago. And he is not dense, he knows that the omega is talking about himself.
However, something in Beomgyu snaps when his attention shifts from Yeonjun’s hands to his eyes. Suddenly, the atmosphere seems right and the clouds in his head clear. He is now certain. The only thing he is unsure of is whether or not the air is pulling him closer to Yeonjun or himself. The omega lets himself get pulled in until the space between them closes and their lips connect.
And the fireworks go off again. This time, not only in Yeonjun’s heart, this time also in Beomgyu’s, and in the sky.
Everything about their first kiss is just perfect; the atmosphere, the way their lips feel on each other, and the full moon that is shining down on them brightly. It feels like Chang’E is giving them her blessing. Perhaps she is the deity that has heard Yeonjun’s prayer and sent Beomgyu to where the omega was.
Beomgyu wishes that he could capture their first kiss on camera. Even though he couldn’t, he has it engraved in his memories forever.
The way that Yeonjun looks right after they pull away from the kiss is something Beomgyu will remember for as long as he lives. The vibrant lights from the fireworks and the moonlight reflect off the omega’s honey-like skin. And his wet lips just made Yeonjun look all the more mesmerising. It brings a smile to Beomgyu’s face without him knowing.
“Maybe you’re right.”
“Hm?” Yeonjun tilts his head to the side in confusion at Beomgyu’s statement that seems to come out of nowhere.
“What you said about how there’s someone out there who is willing to be with me, I think it’s true.” Beomgyu squeezes Yeonjun’s forearms.
Yeonjun’s heart starts racing again. He knows why Beomgyu is saying all this but he wants to hear the full reason from Beomgyu himself. He thinks that it will bring ease to his heart. Yeonjun doesn’t like uncertainty, especially not after what happened in his previous relationship. “And why is that so?” He asks with cheeks flushed and slightly breathless. Beomgyu is driving him crazy with every second.
Beomgyu caresses Yeonjun’s rosy cheeks. “Because you’re here.” He leans in and plants a kiss on the mole under the omega’s eyes. Yeonjun feels his knees go weak from that.
“This is so unlike me because I know we just met, but you make me feel like it’s worth it and I want to make this worth it for you. Will you give me the chance to be the alpha you wished for on that lantern?”
“What the hell, yes! Of course, I’d say yes anytime. I’d be dumb to say no.” Yeonjun jumps into Beomgyu’s embrace. The alpha is quick on catching Yeonjun just in time. Despite the omega being slightly taller than him, Beomgyu had no problem carrying the man. It makes Yeonjun’s heart flutter at the alpha’s strength too, his scent unconsciously oozes out a little.
Now that they are pretty much alone, away from the crowd, Beomgyu is able to smell Yeonjun’s strong peach scent that is radiating off him. “You smell good.” The alpha nestles his nose into Yeonjun’s scent glands.
Yeonjun reciprocates the act, also securing his legs around the shorter’s waist so he is comfortable. “I like the way you smell too.” He takes a whiff of the alpha’s scent. He smells like matcha, specifically matcha latte. And Yeonjun doesn’t know how to explain, especially after having just met this man, but the scent is so Beomgyu.
Seconds and minutes pass by as they bask in each other’s scent and embrace and silence draws in on them.
They stay in each other’s embrace long enough that the fireworks show has come to an end.
But their story doesn’t end there. Like Yeonjun said, there is someone out there who is willing to compromise to be with Beomgyu. At that moment, Yeonjun was talking about himself and he gave up everything just for the aspiring travel photographer. But Yeonjun doesn’t regret anything, he doesn’t have anything to lose.
Money is never a problem. Beomgyu has an established photography career on social media platforms and he gets paid for it. Yeonjun starts modeling for the alpha and he receives plenty of modeling offers from people from around the world. They’d go everywhere together, they’re stuck to the hips.
Every September, Beomgyu will make sure that they are somewhere in Asia, under the full moon, just to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. And nothing is more authentic than enjoying it in the countries that celebrate this holiday seriously.
Because of Beomgyu’s profession, Yeonjun gets to see and appreciate so many new things every year. If they hadn’t taken the chance that one year, Yeonjun would never get to see how much more there is to everything in life.
It went from meeting at a small festival in Singapore, to dating and getting engaged at another festival in Japan, and getting married in Taiwan. Afterward, they flew to Singapore for their honeymoon. Yeonjun said that it was romantic because they met there.
Years have passed by and they’re finally back in Korea. They agreed to go to Daegu since it had been a while since Beomgyu had gone back home. However, this time they are no longer alone. There are two pairs of tiny feet running around the backyard of the house that Beomgyu grew up in.
They watch as two kids, their kids run around with sparklers in their hands.
“They’re so active,” Beomgyu says.
“I wonder who they took that from.” Yeonjun gives his alpha a hard look, indicating that he is indeed talking about him.
Beomgyu flops over Yeonjun and strokes the omega’s soft stomach. He’s so in love with how soft the taller feels. The two pairs of small feet that are running about now were once in this stomach and Beomgyu will never stop being grateful for that. “But you like it, don’t you?” Beomgyu winks.
“Yeah yeah, whatever.” Yeonjun brushes the alpha’s response away but the blush on his face fails to conceal his true feelings.
“Dad, papa! Can we play with the lantern now?” Beomjune, the older of the two asks, pointing at the lantern that is shaped like a car on top of the table with all his might. Beomji, the younger, claps her hands elatedly upon hearing the word ‘lantern’.
Beomgyu gets up and passes them their respective modern lantern. “The car for Beomjune and the princess for Beomji, is that right?” The kids cheer gleefully before they resume running around again.
Beomgyu grabs two traditional lanterns and two markers from the same table and passes one to Yeonjun. “What are you going to write this year? The first time we met, you wrote that you wanted to meet a good alpha, here I am. Then two years later, you wrote that you wanted to marry me, then we got engaged and married. A year after that, you wished for children, now we have two. So what’s next?”
Yeonjun couldn’t stop the endeared smile from forming on his face as Beomgyu recited all of Yeonjun’s past wishes. He’s truly fortunate to find someone who remembers everything he says.
Instead of replying to Beomgyu, he writes it down. ‘To be with Beomgyu forever.’
The smile that appears on Beomgyu’s face is filled with tenderness and love. ‘Me too,’ he writes down.
Music from their kids’ modern lanterns fills the background and they get up from the bench, preparing to release their traditional lanterns at the same time.
“Let me film this.” Beomgyu runs up to press the camera that he had set up beforehand and rushes back to his omega’s side as the timer goes off.
“I guess you have my consent now or whatever,” Yeonjun giggles.
Beomgyu wraps an arm around Yeonjun’s waist. The timer goes off and they let go of their lanterns.
Shutter.
“As expected, all your photos are good.”
“That’s because you’re in all of them.” Beomgyu pecks Yeonjun on the nose.
The moon gleams brighter than ever that night.