Chapter Text
#Yang Jungwon: His Parent's Little Miracle
Jungwon is an ordinary omega born to Alpha Choi Seungcheol and Omega Yoon Jeonghan. As the only child of his parents, he grew up loved and doted on. He was the apple of his parent’s eye and they let him do whatever he wanted. He had freedoms that omegas from other households did not. And as the former General’s son, he came from a pretty good family background.
He wasn’t poor per se, but their family is one long fallen from grace. So growing up, money was tight for him, but his parents never complained and did everything in their power to give him a comfortable life. They lived on the outskirts of the capital, far from the border but not close to the capital. Their house was built in a pretty ancient style from wood and had a farm where they reared chickens and cows. They had a dog named Kkuma, and a cat named Doljjong. Kkuma and Doljjong were both strays that his dad and oma picked up at different moments, but the two got along pretty well.
His oma believes that Doljjong is their family's lucky charm. He always says that the only reason Jungwon made it out of his oma’s womb alive was that Doljjong had sneaked into their house and drank the milk that they had offered in the ancestral shrine for an easy birth. His parents were madly in love and wanted a big family. But their continuous miscarriage had put a black curse on them. Jeonghan says that when he found out he was carrying Jungwon, he had been so afraid that he didn’t leave the house at all. He never ventured out even during his trimesters and was extremely careful. Only when he made it eight months did he step foot into the wilderness of their compound.
Even then, there was always a risk of losing him. Like a looming black cloud over Jeonghan’s head. But when Jeonghan saw Doljjong sipping the milk he just placed in the ancestral hall, the shock from having a cat appear out of nowhere had sent him into labor. He was home alone and he had no support as Kkuma had run off to find his mate as soon as he smelled the change.
His screams and cries of pain had scared away the little stray cat but it soon trodded back, sniffing the air and looking at Jeonghan with a guarded expression. But when the omega did nothing but heave in pain, it approached him and rubbed against him, purring soothingly. So Jungwon was delivered safely and quickly to their ancestral hall with his family surrounding him.
His oma recalls this memory fondly despite the fear and pain of that moment. Their parents call him their little miracle because his existence was possible due to sheer dumb luck.
Today is the day when he tests that luck of his. Jungwon takes a deep breath as he memorizes the lines again and again. “Omega’s are delicate, dutiful, elegant, and nurturing. Polite, graceful, delicate, and dutiful.” He can’t help but be distracted by the fact that he is nothing like that. Don’t get him wrong, when it comes to looks, he inherited after his oma and his elegant features, so he was considered one of the pretty ones. But when it comes to behavior, however, he takes after his papa.
Jungwon is strong-willed, sharp-tongued, intelligible, and clumsy. He is very, very clumsy.
“Jungwon-ah! Are you up yet, sweetheart? Your oma is waiting for you at the matchmaker's!”
He scrambles to get out of bed when he hears his papa’s footsteps approaching his chamber doors. Yes, that is the opportunity to test his luck. The matchmaking house. Boo Seungkwan, the most strict and perfect omega by omega standards, holds matchmaking auditions once a year. He is a graceful being and has a very loving mate that every other omega wishes was theirs.
He tests every omega on their appearance, speech, walks, and table manners before finding them what he calls the ‘fated match’ with him acting as their string of fate. Jungwon’s honest reaction to this would be to roll his eyes but he has chores to do and a matchmaking house to be.
The door to his chamber opens and his papa Seungcheol peeks inside, “Are you not up from bed yet? You’ll be late, my little love. You need to hurry up!” His father’s chastising, yet fond voice filters into his ears and he smiles at him, his omega wolf happy at seeing his sire’s affectionate eyes. “No worries, papa! I’m up! I’ll be quick!”
Seungcheol looks at him with worried eyes but eventually leaves him be. Jungwon then scrambles to get ready and passes by Kkuma on his way out. “Come now, Kkuma, this is your time to shine!” He ties the bucket of grains around the dog’s neck and throws a bone across the penny where the roosters are which makes it so that the fluffy pet has to race across the field to get it, passing right through the hens that are waiting for their food. Also, the dog’s motion makes it so that the bucket will be empty by the time she reaches the bone. Jungwon is confident that Seungcheol will notice his slavery of his beloved Kkuma free the poor thing out of her misery and take the bucket off for her.
He grabs the green straws and the waste of the vegetables from yesterday and gives them to the cows before he rushes out of the house. Mumbling the phrase that he learned by heart the entire night before. “Omega’s are delicate, dutiful, elegant, and nurturing. Polite, graceful, delicate, and dutiful.” But Jungwon is nothing of the above and is extremely clumsy. Proven right when he bumps into a beta man walking towards the other street with vegetables swinging from his hands that send them spilling onto the floor.
Jungwon apologizes purposefully and runs away while the man yells behind him, “Watch it, Boy!”
He is defeated to admit that he may have caused an almost accident on his way to the matchmakers. “Jungwon!” He hears and turns around to locate the source of his voice. He sees his oma standing with his aunt Jisoo and rushes to them. His oma greets him with a soft scolding “You’re late! Now you won’t have time for a hot bath before going to the matchmaking house!”
His oma pulls him by the sleeves of his robes and drags him inside the bathhouse. “Cut him some slack Jeonghannie, it’s not like he will find his match anytime soon anyway,” his aunt Jisoo, his oma’s twin comments, a smug and teasing smile on his lips. Jungwon would whine but he is immediately getting stripped by his oma and is too embarrassed to let out a sound. “Oma, I can do it myself!”
His oma hushes him, “Hush, now baby, we do not have the time.”
Jungwon is then dunked in ice-cold water and scrubbed within an inch of his life. His omega wolf is irritated at unfamiliar hands touching it but stays silent nonetheless. When he is scrubbed raw and red, he is fitted into tight cotton robes and is forced into a corset that restricts his breathing to the point he sees black spots dancing in his vision. After that, he is dunked in a bowl full of white flour (powder) and is adorned in black, red, and white. He looks like a ghost clown by the end of it.
After that, his oma shoves a squirming Doljjong in his hands and rushes him to the matchmaking house. “He will bring you good luck!” his oma reasons while his aunt Jisoo snorts behind him, “Yeah, he will desperately need it.”
Jungwon tries not to stomp his feet at that and runs the distance to the matchmaking house. He gets there just in time when he sees omegas lining up to greet the matchmaker, Boo Seungkwan. He slips in between the line and bows his head when the door opens and the omega walks out. Jungwon can feel his omega wolf tensing nervously as it bears the weight of the matchmaker's gaze sliding over them critically. The delicate omega lifts the paper with the names of the applying omegas and reads out the first name on the list. “Choi Jungwon!” he calls, his voice soft but booming across the street.
Jungwon freezes and despairs when he realizes that his oma registered his name first. He tries to stand elegantly and meets the matchmaker's gaze while raising his hand, “That would be me, sir.”
Seungkwan watches him impassionate and marks something off in another paper, “No manners. Come show me what else you don’t have, and I will see if any alpha will be amicable to mating an omega like you.” His clipped words sting at his heart as Jungwon looks down embarrassed. The other omegas present look at him with pity and nervous jitters as he walks up the steps to follow the matchmaker.
Doljjong runs off as soon as they are inside and Jungwon panics as he tries to chase after the cat but Seungkwan turns to look at him just then. He gestures to the cushion on the side of the low table and says, “Sit.” Jungwon gulps nervously and follows through. He tries to sit as gracefully as possible but he trips on his robes and bumps into the table. While he hisses in pain, Seungkwan marks another thing off the list, “Clumsy,” he murmurs. He then goes to sit opposite him and leans back. “I will ask you three questions, if you answer them correctly, you may redeem yourself a bit.”
Jungwon rubs his hands nervously from where they are folded over his lap. Seungkwan then gestures to the tea set on the table, “Pour us some tea while I read your questions, will you?” Jungwon nods his head and grabs the curved handle to pour the steaming liquid into the two cups. But his hands are shaking with fear so much that some of it spills from the side. The other omega frowns distastefully at it. Jungwon mentally winces.
“If your alpha asks you to prepare dinner, what would you make?”
Jungwon blanks out thinks for a while and replies, “Um… food?”
Seungkwan frowns, “No, his favorite food.”
Jungwon tilts his head in confusion and asks, “Isn’t that the same thing?”
The strict omega matchmaker raises his brow and Jungwon realizes that he has made a grave mistake. “Uh.. sorry.”
Seaungkwan sighs, “Tell me the four virtues of being an omega.”
Jungwon lights up! He knows them! “Polite, graceful, delicate, and dutiful.” He memorized them all night! But before he could answer Doljjong runs beneath the table after a mouse dislodges it, causing Jungwon to spill the hot tea all over the table also splashing Seungkwan on the way.
The fledgling omega hastily stands to help but the other omega simply grabs a cloth and wipes it off himself. He then looks at him straight into the eye and tells him, “You’re hopeless. There is no match for you as it is clear that you will only end up disgracing your family even more. Give up on finding yourself a good mate, Jungwon-ssi.”
Jungwon is too embarrassed to look the other omega in his eyes. He silently grabs another cloth and goes to wipe the mess he caused but Seungkwan raises a hand to stop him. “I’ll do it. Please show yourself out.”
Jungwon dejectedly places the cloth back down and bows in apology. He grabs Doljjong and walks out of the matchmaking house with his head bowed. He doesn’t know how he will face his oma and papa after the humiliation he caused them today. Jungwon has managed to disgrace them yet again. His parents have given him as much freedom as they could despite the stigma around those of his designation. But it seems that Jungwon keeps failing them again and again.
He sighs as he looks up at the grey clouds that reflect the melancholy of his heart. Doljjong purrs in his arms and rubs his head under his chin comfortingly. Jungwon reaches up to caress it and murmurs to the cat, “Will I ever be the deserving child of my parents Doljjongie? Or am I destined to be a disgrace to all those who have ties to me?”
The cat says nothing and nuzzles his hand for pets. Jungwon indulges it and walks home to get there before it starts raining. He walks to the ancestral hall after washing himself up and kneels before the plaques that have his family's entire generation’s name written on them. He lights some incense and bows to pay his respect. “I am sorry, ancestors. But it seems that I keep disgracing the family again and again. It seems I am fated to never find a mate.”
His omega wolf whimpers at the thought of living the rest of their lives alone. The rain starts pouring and Jungwon hears the pitter-patter of water against an umbrella. It’s Kkuma who runs to him first, licking his face before greeting Doljjong with a scratch to his face. Annoyed the cat chases after her. It’s his parents left by his side at the end. His oma sits on his left and Papa on his right. His oma cups his cheeks at turns his face to look at him. Jeonghan coos at him when he sees tears shining in his eyes, “Oh you poor baby, it’s okay.”
Jungwon cannot hold himself back anymore and bursts into ugly wails. “Oma,” he cries. Jeonghan softly wipes his tears as they fall and takes him into his embrace, tucking him close to his heart. His father’s hand reaches from behind to caress his hair lovingly. His oma croons at him, “Oh my sweetheart, it’s okay little love. You did your best and it's all that matters.”
Jungwon sobs, “But I disgraced you and Papa.”
Jeonghan shakes his head, resting his chin upon his head, “No, baby. You have not disgraced us. You’re the most precious gift we could ever ask for.”
Jungwon shakes, “B-but, I might never find a mate. I might always go unloved.”
Seungcheol scoffs, “Who says that not having a mate means you're unlovable? You are always loved wonie. You’re our little miracle pup and we love you a lot.”
Jeonghan looks down at him and speaks softly by his head, “Your papa is right sweetling. You are very loved. And it matters to us not if you were mateless. We would adore you more because that would mean you will always remain our little miracle pup.”
Jungwon whines, “You just want to keep me all to yourselves!”
Jeonghan laughs, “Of course we do, baby! You’re my sweet boy and I want to dote on you my entire life.” His oma moves his hands to tickle him at his sides and Jungwon squirms, but digs deeper into his bearer’s hold, taking comfort in his scent and love.
“I love you, Oma.” He whispers and his oma smiles softly before pressing a kiss to his temple. “I love you too, little wonie.”
Jungwon turns a little to look at his sire but he fails so he gives up and murmurs anyway, “You too Papa, I love you both a lot.”
A large calloused but warm hand comes to rest on his head and a comforting rumble sounds behind his back as the alpha of the family comforts his mate and pup. “I love you both too.”
Jungwon smiles as he glances up at his oma who is looking down at him with such affectionate eyes that it leaves him breathless. Jeonghan leans to press a sweet kiss on his plump cheeks and then on his nose. “Time for dinner, little miracle.”
Jungwon sighs, not ready for this moment to end yet, and snuggles closer, “Five more minutes.”
Jeonghan tightens his hold and Seungcheol’s scent envelops them both in a comforting embrace as Kkuma and Doljjong sneak their way by their feet. “Take as long as you need, wonie. Oma and Papa are always here to support you.”
Jungwon hums and closes his eyes.
Jungwon might never find a mate, but he has his parents with him so it doesn’t matter to him much anymore.
—
©Liyana⋇