Chapter Text
The large meeting room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The four brothers of the largest crime family in all of Korea sat in a meeting room, waiting for news of their father. He had fallen ill plenty of times, but nothing like this. It was as if everyone in the compound knew that it was close to the end. The four children had gathered, hoping to come up with a plan for what came next when that end did come.
The eldest brother finally spoke, “I’ve sent for one of my men to get ahold of Dad’s will. I don’t trust that he didn’t put something in there to try and keep us from running the family as a united front.”
The second oldest nodded and looked to their two younger brothers, “Are you both ready to keep our promise to each other?”
The two younger boys nodded. There was no way in death their father would accomplish what he could never do in life and break apart the boys. Their father had tried to make the boys fight for the position of head of the family. He pit them against each other from the time they hit grade school. He hadn’t anticipated that it would actually bring his sons together, wanting to change the way the family was run.
Finally, there was a knock at the door. The eldest brother's most trusted man walked into the office with an envelope. “Chan, sir. I was able to obtain a copy of the will without detection. I kept one of our guys on the team to see if any gossip got out.”
“Thank you, Allen.” Chan nodded, “My brothers and I will read it alone and go from there.”
Allen bowed and left the room, leaving the brothers with the ominous envelope.
“Who is opening it?” The second youngest brother asked.
The youngest of the four brothers picked up the envelope, “Well, let's hope those few years of Pre-law will help me out.” He pulled the document out of the envelope and started reading. The other brothers waited, almost holding their breath to see what he would find. The youngest got to the end of the document and started laughing.
“What is it, Jeongin?” Chan asked.
Jeongin got a hold of himself and held the document for his brothers to see, “He made it where the shares of the company will be split evenly, but only among those brothers who are married. If none of us are married, then the company goes to his rat of an advisor, Jinyoung.”
The second son hit his hand on the table, “So dad is using the two things we refuse to give up. Marriage and running the company together.”
Chan was shaking his head, it made sense. It always made their father angry that the boys refused to use their partnership as a negotiation tool. This would ‘stick it’ to the boys for never listening to him.
“This isn’t the worst thing…” The second youngest said, almost to himself.
The other three brothers looked at him. “What do you mean by that, Changbin?” Jeongin asked.
“Well think about it,” He said, looking up like he is putting puzzle pieces together in his mind, “Dad is dying, sure, but it will be a slow process. The doctor confirmed that to us. We can get married in that time. It can all be legal stuff, and then we divorce our spouses once dad is dead and we have the shares.”
Jeongin nodded, looking back down at the paper, “There's also a clause in here about the shares not being transferable for 10 years, so even if we divorce our spouses it’s not like anyone can take it back…”
Chan smiled, the plan easily coming together. If they hadn’t gotten their hands on the will, it would have come as a shock. But now, knowing their fathers intentions, it all seemed doable. “Well mine will be easy. Felix and I were talking about getting married anyway. Do you think you’d be ok with this, Minho?”
Minho sighed, “I will have to be. Maybe I can find a spouse that won’t make me want to gouge my own eyes out.”
“That's the spirit,” Changbin sighed sarcastically. “I can put a notice out to our guys, let them know that we are looking for spouses so we can get some options. Maybe some of the other families will want to offer their omegas.”
Jeongin smiled, “I have someone in mind, don’t worry about me.”
The older boys raised an eyebrow at their little brother but didn’t voice their internal questions.
Minho gave a small smile and looked to their oldest brother, “Well, you have to figure out how you're gonna pop the question to your boy.”
Chan smiled. It wasn’t ideal, but he knew that he was lucky out of the four brothers. He had already found the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. It just moved up their timeline a bit.
***
Chan picked at the loose string on his finely crafted suit pants. He hadn’t seen Felix since he went home to settle a few things in Australia with his own family several weeks prior. Chan hadn’t been able to discuss everything that happened with his father and the discovered will like he wished he could. It would have been nice to have Felix in that meeting room. Right now, his aim was to get married as quickly as possible so that if his father died quicker than the boys were expecting, they at least had one brother with the shares of the company. They could deal with the non-transferable clause later.
The door to the rented out restaurant opened and Chan saw his beautiful boyfriend walk through. He looked absolutely stunning in his perfectly tailored suit. It should be illegal for someone to look that good after having just gotten off an international flight. Chan didn’t want to put it off any longer than he had to, so he asked Felix to meet him as soon as he landed. Chan stood to greet his boyfriend.
Felix smiled as he walked towards his boyfriend and wrapped him in a big hug. “I’ve missed you.”
Chan smiled as he let himself be wrapped up in Felix’s hug. He stuck his nose right next to Felix’s neck to better take in his boyfriend's scent. The smell of sweet chocolate filled his nose and he kissed the scent gland giving off the aroma.
Felix pushed back, “Hey hey hey! Calm down.”
Chan laughed as he went back to his seat, still not speaking.
“So, what was so important you had to close an entire restaurant?” Felix asked.
Chan had the wealth and the power to do this for every date if he wanted. But he never threw his power around. It wasn’t how he liked to operate. For Chan to have the entire place cleared meant that this was a big conversation that he didn’t want prying ears to hear. Felix had been getting nervous for it until he walked into his boyfriends overwhelmingly beautiful scent filling the restaurant. It was so comforting and made Felix feel like nothing was wrong, it was just important.
“Well,” Chan sighed, wanting to get this over with, “I’m sure you’ve heard my father has fallen ill…”
Felix tried to hide his smile. You really shouldn’t think poorly of those who are fighting to stay alive, but Felix had a— less than stellar opinion of Mr. Skz. “I have. What does that mean for you and your brothers?”
“As it stands right now, nothing.” Chan stated.
Felix looked to his boyfriend and cocked his head to one side, asking the question without words.
Chan nodded as he responded, “We got a copy of the will early. The non-transferable shares will be split among his children who are already married. If none of us are, then they go to Mr. Jinyoung.”
Felix nodded as he processed the information until he jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over. “Wait, married? That means you-”
“Need to get married before my father dies so we can be sure that it goes to at least one of us.” Chan finished for his boyfriend.
Felix’s eyes widened as it dawned on him what Chan was saying. This wasn’t at all how he thought his eventual proposal might go. They always talked about waiting until Felix was ready so he figured he would be the one to actually pop the question. The couple never did like doing things traditionally, so the idea that the omega would be the one to ask felt right. This, however, didn't feel right.
“I know this isn’t what or how or when we wanted.” Chan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ring box. “But would you do me the incredible honor of being my spouse?”
He opened the ring box for Felix to see a stone he recognized right away. It was Chan’s mothers ring. She had died when Chan was just a few days old due to an attack on his family's home. It left Chan’s father annoyed more than heartbroken because he had to find a new Omega if he wanted more children. Chan’s mother was the only woman that his father had actually married, which is why it always fascinated Felix that he was so obsessed with the idea of his children marrying.
Felix took the ring out of the box and stared at it for a moment. He knew he wanted to marry Chan. That much had become clear when he went home and realized that it no longer felt like home. His little apartment in Korea was his new home. There, no matter how late it was, his boyfriend would always come home after a long day and snuggle with him in their shared nest. They weren’t mates yet, Felix was very strict on wanting to be married before that happened, but it was starting to get harder and harder to wait. His last heat had been utter agony.
Maybe this would be a good thing. Felix tried to shake off the feeling of everything being wrong. It wasn’t wrong, just not how they planned. Sure, it wasn’t the most romantic way in the world to be proposed to, and it moved up Felix’s internal timeline, but if they were sure about this anyway,, why not?
Felix looked up and realized he was just looking at the ring and not saying anything. Chan was looking at him with a stone expression, but Felix noted the slight worried twitch of the corner of his mouth.
“Yes,” Felix said, handing the ring to Chan and extending his left hand to him.
Chan smiled and slipped the ring on Felix’s fingers. He kissed the hand and smiled at his new fiance. “We can do this however you want, big ceremony, small one in the backyard, whatever you want.”
Felix nodded, “We should do something small at home just us and a few close friends and family?” Felix smiled. “Let's make the marriage official, and then we can do a big party back in Australia later this year.”
“That sounds wonderful.” Chan gave Felix a sad smile, “I’m sorry that this isn’t what we wanted.”
Felix laughed, “With our families, when has it ever been what we wanted?”
Chan nodded “I can still wish it was different.”
“And you will make it different,” Felix smiled, holding his fiancés hands in his own, “We get married, your dad dies and you and your brothers take over. You can bring change!”
Chan smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Felix knew there was no point in asking him why. He doesn’t do well sharing burdens, something Felix would work with him once they are married.
Felix looked to Chan, “We should make a plan for if any- unwanted visitors should try and attend.”
Chan sighed, “Please, I don’t want to think about *him* as we are trying to plan our wedding.”
“We should think about it though.” Felix put his hand on Chans “I don’t want anyone ruining this for us, especially not Kim Woojin.”
Chan recoiled at the name. He understood why Felix was worried. As an ex-employee of the family, Woojin was a very capable man. He was especially good at worming his way into places he shouldn’t be.
Woojin had quickly risen in the ranks as a skilled bodyguard. He eventually became the head of Chan’s bodyguard detail. They spent so much time together, talking, laughing. Chan developed a real friendship with the man, and it became something more. Chan’s father opposed the relationship between an alpha and a beta because it wouldn’t produce an heir, but Chan fought for his approval anyway. The two made waves among the house when Chan went ring shopping with his brothers to cement the relationship as real. It was only when Jeongin played Chan a recording of Woojin selling secrets to the Nct family that he realized how he had been used.
“I’ll make sure to double security at the wedding.” Chan nodded. Felix realized that the nod was to signify that it was the end of the discussion. He had many more concerns he wanted to raise (Woojin would know how double security worked) but he supposed that was for another time.
“So what are your brothers going to do?” Felix asked, trying to change the subject from the man whom both of the boys wished was never in their lives.
Chan chuckled, “Minho is working on looking at some of the offers we have received in the past for other families omegas. Jeongin said he had someone in mind but he hasn’t figured out a good in, and Changbin is hoping someone falls in his lap.”
Felix smiled, “So I’ll get to welcome all the other little omega’s into the family? Incredible!”
“That’s you, head omega in the house.” Chan smiled.
The two finished their dinner, lightly making plans on what their ceremony would look like and how the other three alpha brothers were getting along in their relationship endeavors. It was a lovely dinner. It may not have been how Felix and Chan planned their engagement, but it was theirs nonetheless, and it was beautiful.
***
Chan was working at his desk when he heard a knock on his office door. He sighed looking down at all the paperwork he had in front of him, not really wanting to deal with people. He had to meet Felix for a cake tasting this evening. “Come in.” He called, barely looking to see who had entered. It was likely Allen or Hyunwoo coming to give him an update on the situation with the other families encroaching on Skz territory.
“Hello Channie~” A sickly sweet voice called out.
There was only one man who ever called him by that nickname. Chan looked up in horrified shock to see Kim Woojin standing in front of him. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m just coming to visit my boyfriend, or should I say fiance?” Woojin smiled. “I heard from Minho that the ring you picked out was beautiful. I can’t wait to see it in person.”
Chan tilted his head in confusion. What was Woojin talking about? He had been ousted from the family years ago at this point, and was in no way connected to the Skz organization.
“Oh don’t be so shy, Channie!” Woojin walked closer to Chan and sat on his lap. It felt so painfully familiar. He would do this whenever he wanted something from Chan. It used to work on Chan every time too. “Why don’t we go to that one restaurant on the corner of town?”
“Wait,” Chan asked, “The restaurant where you sold secrets to Nct?”
Woojin tilted his head, “What do you mean?” He asked. “I wouldn’t do that.”
Chan sighed. “Sure you wouldn’t. What do you want Woojin?”
His ex-lover pulled Chan into a hug, “Channie, I just want you to take me out like you always do.”
Chan was confused. None of this made sense. Woojin was acting like everything was like it was before he betrayed him. With Woojin holding him the way he was, Chan got a whiff of his scent. It felt familiar in a way that almost made Chan’s stomach turn. It was a scent that instantly brought back memories and heartache. “Why are you doing this?” Chan asked with tears falling down his cheeks.
“Oh, Channie~ I’m doing this to hurt you.” Chan felt a sharp pain in between the back of his shoulder blades. He turned to see a knife stuck in his back. “Goodnight~” The man called as Chan closed eyes for what he thought was the final time.
Chan woke up with a start in his bed, he looked next to him to see his fiance stir. “Are you ok?” he asked sleepily.
“Yeah, fine… Just a nightmare…” Chan sighed. He still felt an itch on his back.
“Lay back down, I want to cuddle!” Felix sighed, opening his arms.
Chan settled back in and kissed Felix on the forehead. “I love you,”
“I love you too, baby.” Felix seemed to fall asleep as he whispered those words to Chan. It took him a while, but eventually Chan fell asleep with the weight of Felix’s head on his shoulder. It was only a nightmare. He had his baby there in his arms.
***
Felix smiled as his best man went flying around the room trying to find Felix’s cufflinks. “I know I saw you put them down in here!” he called as he checked each drawer in the small makeshift bridal suite in Chan’s family compound.
“Eric,” Felix called, “did you look at that dresser next to the tie?”
Eric looked up and saw the box sitting there and breathed a loud sigh of relief. “Oh God, here they are. I thought Chan would kill me. You know he told me three times he had these custom made for you? They are just cufflinks!”
Felix shook his head as Eric brought the custom cufflinks over, helping him to get them on his wrists. They were delicate. They have an engraving of a small chick. It made Felix laugh to himself that Chan wanted to immortalize the nickname that got Chan a punch to the gut the first time the couple met.
Eric and Felix looked in the mirror together. “You look stunning,” Eric smiled.
Felix smiled at himself in the mirror. Eric wasn’t incorrect. Felix was in a finely tailored white suit with light blue accents in his tie and cumberbun. His blonde locks were cut just above his shoulders. He had just re-bleached them a few days prior, so it would be nice and bright for his wedding. He nodded to his best man. “Thank you, for being a part of this.”
Eric smiled, “Of course! It’d be boring around here without you! Plus, you promised me a tub of vegemite if I helped out.”
Felix was lucky to have found Eric early on in his time in Korea. He also spoke English and had moved from another country, so they felt like kindred spirits. Felix was also lucky that his boyfriend wasn’t so much the jealous type, so he could have a close beta friend like Eric. Not like there would ever be anything between the two, but not every alpha can easily comprehend their omega being friends with anyone other than other omegas.
There was a knock at the door and Eric shooed Felix to the side, in case it was his future husband trying to sneak a peek at his bride. “Hello?” Eric asked.
“Hey, I wanted to come say hi to Felix before the wedding if I could.” Eric nodded and opened the door. Changbin walked through and looked at Felix, unable to hide the shock on his face. “Wow, Chan is going to die.”
Felix smiled and ran towards his soon to be brother in law for a hug. “Thanks Binnie,”
Changbin broke the embrace and looked at Felix, “I just wanted to come and thank you. I know that this is nothing like what you and Chan planned but it means a lot to our family that you are willing to do this.”
Felix nodded, “Even if it will only be official as of today, you guys have been my family for years now.”
He had been reflecting a lot the past couple of weeks as they planned their impromptu wedding as quickly as possible. He was lucky that when his parents shipped him off to Korea to help negotiations between the families that the Skz family found him first. Of course a newly adult Omega wandering around a country he could barely speak the language of was dangerous, but his family back in Australia knew Felix’s charms were their best bet to get a foothold here. When Felix went for his meeting with Chan it was love at first sight, but he didn’t know what to do with that feeling. He ended up following around his future husband like a lost puppy just to help him navigate the city.
Felix remembered all of the uncomfortable evenings staying in the compound where Chan's father would make comments about Chan finally settling down with a pretty omega instead of that brute of a beta. He also thought about how sweet it was when Chan helped him find an apartment near the compound so the two never had to deal with those remarks again. Their little hidden apartment was always a grand oasis that they could turn to together. There they weren’t two members of crime families working together to further both territories, they were Felix and Chan who could talk about their day while watching a movie on the couch.
“Still,” Changbin smiled, “We are all really glad that we have you in this family.” He took Felix’s hands in his own and gave him a smile. “I look forward to you taking all of our future spouses under your wing.”
Felix laughed. He knew what Binnie meant. Other than himself, the boys had very little experience with omegas, or dating at all so they were going to need some help along the way.
Changbin stared at Felix for just a moment longer than necessary, and Felix couldn’t quite place the emotion behind his eyes. It was almost wistful. Changbin’s mind was somewhere else, not here in the room with Felix. He decided to pull him back to the here and now.
“Is Chan as nervous as I feel?” Felix asked
Changbin nodded, “He keeps asking Minho if he’s dreaming. He finally stopped when Minho pinched him.”
Eric walked up beside the two men, “Ok boys, it's time for me to finish getting the bride all dolled up for the wedding. Then you two can talk all you want as brothers in law.” Eric looked pointedly at Changbin, trying to get him to leave the room so the two boys could finish getting Felix ready.
Felix’s future brother in law smiled and hurried out the door. Eric continued to dance around Felix as he put the final touches on and led Felix to the back yard.
***
The wedding was beautiful. Chan couldn’t think of anything better than a small ceremony in his backyard. His secretary, Sana, loved decor so she took it upon herself to get everything set nicely. He was very grateful. At the end of the aisle was the perfect spot to see all of his close friends and family smiling back at him. Everyone they had invited found a way to be there, except for Chan's father.
He was still stuck in the hospital room, although Chan was sure he had put up a fight to try and make it. His father was probably so happy that Chan was marrying a member of a crime family from another country. He would say it was great for business. Instead, his father’s advisor Jinyoung came. He sat in the back but had his phone out to take photos, no doubt to bring back to Chan's father. It was surprising how excited Jinyoung seemed. He must not know that by having this union, his chance at being head of the family was getting ripped away.
Chan shifted on his feet, pulling at the edge of his black suit jacket. Another Sana pick. He was grateful for her suggestions of cut and color to best show off his dashing good looks. The light blue color of his tie surprised him, but Sana said that the light blue was for Felix, not Chan.
The processional was short, just Minho (Chan's Best man), and Eric (Felix's best man) walking down the aisle before the bridal march started. The small crowd stood and Felix saw his fiance looking like he had just stepped out of heaven itself. Chan almost forgot how to breathe. Felix smiled as he made his way to the arches that were set up in the yard.
Once Felix was at the front of the crowd, Chan was finally able to take a deep breath. He could smell his omega's sweet scent under his nose. It was so joyful right now. Chan knew that Felix wasn’t trying to hide how happy he was, which in turn made the alpha happy.
The officiant, Hyunwoo, turned to look at the couple as the audience was seated. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Bang Christopher Chan and Felix Youngbok Lee.” Hyunwoo smiled. Chan appreciated that one of his men was willing to get ordained so they wouldn’t have to outsource for some priest. They could stick to people they knew and trusted at the wedding to avoid any surprises.
The ceremony continued on as expected. Hyunwoo had a few words to say about what married life was like. He had married his own omega, Kihyun, the year prior. The crowd laughed at his jokes and it made Hyunwoo stand just a little taller.
Finally it came time for the vows. Chan and Felix had written their own, so when Hyunwoo asked for them, Chan went to pull his handwritten note out of his pocket. As he did so, a loud pop was heard through the back yard. Gunfire.
Chan instinctively threw Felix behind himself and pulled out his Gun that he never let leave his side, looking for the danger. From the back doors of the compound strolled a face that Chan thought he would never see again.
Kim Woojin was holding an unconscious Allen by the neck with a gun to his head. “Well, well, well, what do we have here? Such a lovely ceremony, and you didn’t think you should invite me?” He asked loudly.
Chan snarled in response. He could hear his brothers doing the same.
“Now, now boys,” Woojin almost sang, “We wouldn’t want to hurt little Allen here, now would we?” He pulled the unconscious man closer to himself making a big show of the gun being held to his temple. Woojin always claimed that the Skz’s family’s biggest weakness was that they cared for people too much. Maybe he was right, because Chan couldn’t move a muscle thinking that his employee, no, his friend might be hurt because of his unhinged ex.
“What do you want, Woojin?” Chan asked, continuing to stare daggers at the man, but motioning for his men to stay in place and not engage.
He smiled at his former lover, “This! I want all that should be mine.”
“Should be yours?” Jeongin asked, pulling Woojins attention away from Chan for just a moment. “You lost that privilege when you started selling secrets to another family.”
Woojin rolled his eyes, “Oh, whatever! It’s not like I’m the only one who’s ever sold family secrets before-”
“Yeah and who else has lived to tell about it?” Minho asked incredulously.
Woojin smiled again, moving closer to Chan, like the aisle was for his own wedding. “I’m still alive because Channie still loves me, isn’t that right? You know, we never broke up.”
Changbin scoffed at him, “I would have thought that firing you and kicking you out of the compound would have been enough of a hint.”
Woojin continued to make his way to Chan, “Or, he didn’t break up with me because he was waiting for the day I came back for him. Well I’m here Channie. Sorry I took so long.” He walked all the way down the aisle with the unconscious Allen by his side in a perverted picture of a bride being given away. When he made his way up to Chan, he moved just enough that his neck was bared for him. Chan could smell the scent he hadn’t smelled for several years now although now Chan was surprised that it didn’t smell as sweet as he remembered. It was as if Woojin’s scent had soured to Chan’s nose. Usually, this would be a sign of submission. A weaker dynamic bending to a stronger one, but not for Woojin. For Woojin, this would be a sign that he still had control over Chan. That even now, at his wedding to a different man, Woojin still had the power over Chan the way he always had.
This was Woojins biggest flaw: he thought he had more power in situations than he actually did.
Chan used this opportunity to grab Woojin by the arm, startling him into dropping Allen on the ground. Jeongin pulled their employee to safety while Chan pinned Woojins arm to his back, bringing him to one knee.
“I don’t need to wait for you.” Chan snarled into Woojins ear, “I’m not the same man I was.”
Woojin tried to crane his neck up to look at Chan. “You will always be weak, maybe your new boy doesn’t see it yet but he will! He will be exactly like me, wanting more than you will be able to give him.”
“Oi,” Felix interrupted, startling Chan “don’t talk about my husband in front of me. You're the idiot who lost the best thing he had going for him. Don’t put any of that on me.”
Woojin growled at the omega, causing Chans alpha instincts to kick in. He pushed Woojin further down so that he was kneeling now. He growled back at him, “Not my omega.”
Felix smiled and touched Chan's cheek “Baby, I think those are all the vows we need. Hyunwoo?”
“Uh, right. I now pronounce you spouses? You can kiss each other?” Hyunwoo hurried through the last part of the marriage ceremony as questions more than as statements.
Felix smiled and kissed his husband while he still held down the wedding crasher. Chan wasn’t sure when Minho took Woojin away or where he took him, but he didn’t care. He was there with his new husband who loved him and nothing else mattered.