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One evening, Jaekyung’s mother reached out to let them know their little family was expected for a casual lunch.
On Sunday.
Usual place, she added in a second text.
As if meeting once was enough to talk about having a habit.
Perhaps it was to give her family the impression that she was secretly close to him. She had a happy husband of over twenty years and two even happier children—two healthy, smart, and loved sons. A perfect family picture he only saw on his mother’s lockscreen, which she had accidentally let shine too brightly during their first meeting. Those were the moments when, a few months after the news of his engagement to Dan stirred up the internet, she unexpectedly deemed his existence interesting enough to want to meet him, know him, talk to him.
Jaekyung thought he would never let himself be fooled again by this stupid, pathetic, part of himself ready to be awakened by any ounce of hope his mother meant to him. He was no longer a tiny pitiful puppy who tried to bargain his self-worth with a voicemail.
But—
But, she had looked into his eyes and called him by his name. Her voice had sounded so warm and she had looked so calm and collected, so sincere, so—
So real.
Real enough to feed all the parts of his soul, stirring his Alpha who has always wanted to belong somewhere, anywhere, as long as it was with her.
The bitterness left behind by the unanswered invitation to their wedding ceremony still stung after two years. A reminder that the hollowness her absence created wouldn’t fade, even with time.
Sooha celebrated her first birthday four months ago. She knew how to walk, run, blabbered all day long and was a dynamic and sweet toddler.
Jaekyung could see Dan in the way she laughed, loudly and cutely, frowned and pouted as she questioned each part of their world, in the way she always asked for kisses and hugs, clingy as hell when she was still groggy from sleep, bickered with her Daddy a lot yet spent most of her time clamped around his legs to walk the earth quicker and safer —simply to stay glued to him and enjoy her Daddy fake-annoying frown, in all honesty.
However, in her stubbornness, her strong will to achieve whatever she started even from such a young age, how blindly and selflessly she shared love like a warm meal with everyone around her, Jaekyung could unfortunately see his younger self in her, too. And on her, too. Too much. The top of her head where dark ebony dazzling locks framed her beautiful face to her tiny tiny toes—she was the spitting image of him.
Jaekyung has heard it thousands of times and while it used to fill him with nothing but pride, parts of him started to think about it with an unusual animosity since he heard back about her. The alpha who has always cherished and loved how his daughter was precious to his soul slowly felt like dying from an intense nightmarish worry gnawing at his bones.
Because all of it meant that Sooha was everything his mom might despise.
Reject.
After becoming a father, hideous thoughts struck him low in the gut as he wondered—what had he done so wrong for them not to love him? Though they barely crossed his mind anymore, they still rattled him from time to time in the middle of the night, leaving him drenched in cold sweat, his feelings a total mess, his pheromones stronger than ever, impregnating the sheets, furniture, and walls around him; his mate jolting awake in panic beside him.
What has he done so wrong? Was he that unlovable? Was he—Wasn’t it too much to ask for Dan’s affection like this? Did his omega even want to keep him against his chest, humming a soothing melody as his fingers softly scraped hints of hair along the sharp edges of his nape? Jaekyung never got the answers. The clean floral pheromones calmed his soul like the greatest soothing balm until he fell soundly asleep with tears staining his cheeks.
•••
They had a reservation at one of Seoul’s hottest brunch spots—a place so exclusive that only successful people could get a table. The cost of one table was more than Dan could even imagine, and he preferred to let him stay in the dark rather than add unnecessary stress, because he knew it would only mess him up more. The omega might have already met Jaekyung’s mother, but he had never met his—well—stepfather before.
Neither did Jaekyung, in fact.
His curiosity pushed him to look up the man online at three in the morning, after his mother had briefly mentioned him during their first encounter. Rich, he had started from the bottom and built an empire in the agri-food industry; respected by his colleagues, often featured and interviewed in well-known magazines.
Everything added up to portray, in Jaekyung’s opinion, an uninteresting man — yet impressive enough for a knot to form in his stomach whenever he thought about him.
Because, after all, that man has been enough for his mother in so many ways Jaekyung himself has been lacking. Right?
The soulmates tried their best to hide how nervous they felt from each other. They started the day together when the sun was barely up. Jaekyung handled Dan with gentleness, enhanced his prettiness in white pants he coupled with a simple white shirt and a beautiful buttery yellow cardigan—Sooha chose loudly, all happy after getting permission to jump on her parents’ bed.
The alpha finished with tenderness. A good scenting, pouring his pheromones all over his mate. He unconditionally laid his heart on the table as he complimented the omega’s form. He insisted on how glowing and precious Dan was, how Jaekyung was the luckiest man on earth—and he sure didn’t miss the chance to use their bond to coax Dan into missing the appointment. It wouldn’t be that bad. They could make love all day long. The tightness on their shoulders months of exhaustion pushed there would finally be set free. Dan could be as loud as he wanted to, Sooha was missing her Sungsungie Uncle after all. It all made sense.
But Dan would never succumb to such temptation, especially since his mother was involved in the said meeting, Jaekyung knew it. Eyes rolled, an exasperatedly fond sigh, he predicted them all. But he never expected affection to be returned, ten times fold. Speechless with odd shivers care left coursing his veins when Dan gently dressed him up, styled his hair like the omega adored, and coated him with nothing but love.
After all the days and years together, Jaekyung still went weak at the knees whenever Dan scented him and purred his praise, whispering how good he was to him and their baby, right against his mating mark. His mind would fog, overwhelmed by the lingering traces of his omega’s claim on his body and soul.
With their little girl wearing a pretty fluffy yellow dress with trendy brown sneakers, yellow bows toning up her beautiful dark hair, the couple looked totally whipped watching her carefully as she took slow and steady steps between them, each hand enclosed by her father’s pinky fingers.
The waiters and receptionists had to keep their working classy etiquette, Jaekyung and Dan knew it. But Sooha didn’t. She insisted on greeting everyone she met and waved warmly at the staff when Jaekyung asked for their table, far from accepting a blank expression as an answer. As if enlightened by flashbacks of her dad’s lessons in politeness, she couldn’t possibly just wave her hand cutely. The little girl bent down in a perfect ninety-degree bow—well, more like ninety-nine. Thankfully, her parents held her tight to prevent yet another of her many clumsy face-first falls to the floor.
Being polite? Always—she was working on that. Letting go of her two favorite people’s hands? Never.
"Dada!" The little girl pulled and pointed her little finger toward the waitress’s clean apron made of English dentelle and embroidered with flowers. All without missing to show her candid dimples. "Fowers!"
The omega was stuck between pride and embarrassment. This place was… really, too high-ended for such behaviors and other clients' reactions around said much. Some were judging them for the noise, others shut down their reactions when his husband’s face clicked into their recognition system.
"We prepared a child's chair for your daughter, as requested, Sir. Please, this way," respectful hands to the side and palms up to the sky gestured them to follow the waitress.
Most of the walls left place to ceiling-to-floor windows, greenery everywhere highlighted by beautiful tones of cream and neutral shades. Silver cutlery flared under the sun rays, enticing, burning their eyes but oddly addictive to look at, and enchanted them silently as it lay perfectly in parallel over the tables. Almost all were full even though it was not yet midday.
They walked until a round table by the biggest window of the room. From there, they had the most enchanting view of the Han River and its shadowing bridges. Touristic boats were floating on the river, the calm current acting like shy and pretty starlight in daylight.
Only ten steps separated them from Jaekyung’s mother and stepfather —their sons didn’t even bother to show up for once— who hadn’t even noticed them yet, and Dan suddenly felt like he was suffocating from it.
Fear.
Apprehension.
Anxiety.
Name it, he felt it all.
But it all crumpled down to the warm love and trust Jaekyung lowly pushed into their bonds, "No matter what, let me know if you’re uncomfortable. We’re getting out of here immediately."
"Don’t be so anxious, honey… Everything will be alright."
The waitress gave them a polite smile as they reached the table. She left in a mannered silence yet loud enough for the older couple to turn their eyes on them.
Jaekyung’s mom looked exactly the same as how Dan remembered her. An exquisite beauty. Her slender frame plus fine and delicate features left no doubt as to her nature. Omegas like them would be filled with infinite pride to look this good, demanding to be worshipped like the most precious gem on earth. Dark familiar hair draped over her frail shoulders, hands clasped over her husband’s left one. Her face somehow lightened up when she noticed her biological son and the rest of his family. She may not have changed much in two years but Dan didn’t remember her shoulders to be this tight, coiled like they’d hold up all the negativity the man beside her emanated.
The man, her husband, Jaekyung’s stepfather, was perhaps the most striking figure of this pseudo-family get-together. An emotionless facade made to cause haunting chills to any innocent daring enough to look. His pheromones couldn’t reach Dan since his nose buds had been surrendered to blandness after mating with his alpha but he just knew his scent would have triggered him, badly. The man was the type of alpha Dan despised with all his might. Cold and clearly unhappy to have to sit with them over an entire meal, acting as if Jaekyung was a threat to begin with when he was never even an option in his mother’s life.
He repeatedly tugged his sleeves with the faintest arrogant smirk ghosting his lips that caught Jaekyung’s eyes and distracted him from his torment. If he looked at his mother’s face for too long, nightmares would learn from it and create an all too realistic sight to his fears.
While the woman stood up to greet them, it irked the young couple that the man simply hissed under his breath, arms crossed over his chest, his butt never leaving the comfort of the chair to reciprocate the greetings.
How messy is he exactly?
Even Sooha oddly imitated their bow despite the judging glares she already received from the man when she jumped on the spot.
What did he expect? Any child would be thrilled by the sparkling river behind the glass.
"We apologize for the wait," Jaekyung tried to divert their attention from the bubbly toddler, nausea floating oddly in the spit of his stomach for him to even want to sit down. "We didn’t expect you to come early,” he added, tension clear through his words.
"O-Oh, no no don’t worry! It’s nice to see you both and your daughter," The middle-aged woman bowed down on her side and tried to meet Sooha’s gaze who was suddenly surprisingly busy hiding behind her father’s leg at the attention. The awkwardness left a brief smile on her face dismissed by a clap of hands as she turned to watch her husband, "Ah! It’s your first time meeting Minhyuk, mh? Husband, this is Jaekyung and his mate, Dan. What a pretty couple, right?" The dearth of reaction cast a pall on the conversation. The mother kept her uneasiness hidden behind closed lips.
But Jaekyung didn’t care. Their words were nothing but a deafening buzz in his ears. Absentmindedly, he turned to his husband first, holding the chair out for him, then bent down to scoop the little girl into his arms. Only once his family was properly seated and secured did he sit down on the other side of their daughter. Jaekyung didn’t need to look at her to feel how delighted she was with the whole place—especially the view.
The reminder, in the form of excited little taps on his bicep to get his attention, which she always earned within a second, was still appreciated.
"Daddy, Daddy! 'Ook! Pwetty!" she clapped joyfully and Jaekyung prayed for her to never lose her innocence, carefree about people’s stares who silently wished for her light to fade to black.
The alpha simply nodded, "It’s beautiful, yes. Like Dada, yes. But you need to calm down a little bit, sweetie. You’re a bit loud," with his bond talk, he brought a finger to his mouth, insisting on keeping her voice low.
The little girl only imitated her father with her tiny finger yet hummed loudly to herself and turned her attention back to her plate. She grabbed her napkin, very gently for such an active toddler, then turned to her dear Dada’s side, struggling to move it to his lap despite him already having his lying there.
However, Dan received it with a kind and thankful smile, kissing his bubbly daughter on the cheek, complimenting her respectful and doting manners. Not missing the opportunity to remind her of how proud he was of her.
Her shy little smile and blushing cheeks were all that mattered. For a second, the judgments that kept on following all her movements were unnoticeable.
At least, until the innocent eyes finally fell on the old couple. Particularly, on the woman sitting on their left.
"Daddy!"
She pointed out, probably mentioning how similar they looked.
Because of course, if Sooha inherited all her father’s face she obviously also looked a lot like Jaekyung’s mother.
"Dooha!" she exclaimed in her candid high high-pitched tone, sharing excitement with others as she pointed at herself and shook her head to make her baby curls bounce with her.
"Dooha? That’s her name?" the elderly man scoffed with a frown, judgmental.
Dan winced at the sound and put a hand on his daughter’s smaller one, warning her to be quieter at best as he could when he answered tightly, "Joo Sooha, Sir. She is sixteen months old, and very joyful as you can see."
"Sooha, I see," he paused, "At least, there is no doubt on who the father is. Congrats."
Ouch.
What a typical alpha with an oversized ego would say, despite having his very omega wife beside him. The insult was directed at their second gender, reminding them how society viewed them. Dan knew it and had to swallow down his nerves. Jaekyung knew it too if the sound his gritted teeth made wasn’t enough to tell. Oblivious, or just choosing to ignore her son’s agitated state, the woman simply started, cleared her throat then covered it with a cough.
"Sooha, what a pretty name. She indeed looks just like Jae—" but the woman was interrupted by a strong voice. Sharp with disdain and unfiltered hatred. "Our babies were already forming full sentences or at least,” he scoffed, "saying their full name perfectly at her age, right honey? Isn’t she late?"
Jaekyung paused, hand frozen in the middle of the table where he was about to grab a flower head Sooha had been silently asking for since they sat down.
"What did you just say?", his cold tone made Dan shiver, spine straighten as instincts spiked in alert at his mate's disturbed senses.
Strong alpha pheromones were suddenly all over the table. Not the ones only Dan could usually smell, tempting him with their meanings, the ones Dan was addicted to and craved for. No, not those. Those signaled the presence of an Alpha, ready to defend his family, seconds away from snapping someone’s neck for even daring to speak wrongly about them.
"What? I’m simply asking. Or maybe it’s because she is going to turn out as an omega. Our sons are alphas after all," the man scoffed proudly, convinced, turned towards his wife as if he wanted to share his pride with her. Together. But he only met furrowed eyebrows, clearly unhappy about the turn in the conversation.
"Talk about my daughter again and we’ll see if a punch on your ugly head will retard you too."
Dan discreetly reached for Jaekyung’s arms over their daughter’s seat, ignoring the tremor of his own hands from restrained anger.
It was not the time for him, them, to be acting all protective—
"Of course, aggressiveness and violence over words. Must runs in your blood."
Forget it.
The little girl frowned at the tense atmosphere, not used to such strong smells and raised voices surrounding her. She threw a worried glance at her fathers then looked back at the women in front of her.
Jaekyung felt his patience running thin, sensing the familiar shivers over his knuckles demanding to satisfy the hunger to make the smile crumble down from the man’s face, "Listen to me, you deranged little—" but a childish voice interrupted him, fearless.
"Almeoni!"
The entire table held its breath. Mouths hung open from the shock, yet no words came out. Faces loud from the insinuation behind the word, its meaning, eyes suddenly busy avoiding the others’.
Tears swelled up in Dan’s eyes because of how messy everything felt. If he knew something about the son and mother’s situationship was that they never addressed however they considered each other after so many years.
Jaekyung once shared how he refused to name her back. What mother was supposed to mean was too far away for him, buried deep inside old cracks and old memories where guilt always met him at the end. Same way it did after his heart refuelled with hope when their gaze met for the first time after a while.
He shared how maybe that was that, after all, having a mother. Being guilty for daring to look for attention, to crave to be seen.
And his mother—never once had she addressed him as his son either.
Sooha breaking down invisible walls built after years of pain and unfiltered resentment with a word wasn’t what everyone expected. And with how pale the woman looked right now, surely being called Almeoni, grandma, was not on her bingo card for the year.
"I-I-I’m so sorry! We—I just wanted to teach her who we were going to meet today. She doesn’t mean to be disrespectful or, or intrusive, I apologize," Dan nervously ranted, fixing the hems of Sooha’s dress to prevent easy stains or any spill of water on them. It was the easiest way to distract his mind. His moves slowed down. If he weren’t all hyper aware of his surroundings, he would have missed the woman's simple dismissal of the apologies with one trembling hand.
"Yes, Sooha? What is it?" the woman's smile may have been forced, she made sure Sooha didn’t notice.
"'ook!" she pointed proudly at Jaekyung’s face, "Daddy! Dooha Daddy!" Sooha insisted until the woman got the message —what message exactly it was hard to say— to drop it, sweeping away all the oddness with her innocent comment.
Their plates were slowly filled up with things Dan would find appetizing in any other circumstances yet couldn’t bring himself to taste them here. He silently nudged his food towards the corners to give the illusion his stomach wasn’t capricious today, seconds away from throwing up from the tension. Judging from Jaekyung’s plate, his husband wasn’t doing any better.
The only person unbothered by the uncomfortable atmosphere remained to be Sooha. She picked up her food with ease, filled her cute cheeks to the brim as she always did, looking too much like Dan that all the tension left Jaekyung’s shoulder in a span of seconds. Affection rubbed him good, and with softness he pulled her face towards him to kiss those tender cheeks, his Alpha jumping with joy at her sweet giggles.
The little girl was playing with her Daddy’s fingers, tracing his veiny hands and the hint of skin showing on his forearms. Then she stopped. Mesmerised by the water, with a crispy girlish voice, she turned to her Daddy to ask, "Dooha s'im?"
"Do you want to swim? We can swim tonight, before shower time. At home, though. Not there," Jaekyung looked at her, his pride, a gentle smile adoring his lips, affection wide and clear in his orbs.
"Yes yes!"
Jaekyung must have been confused because he could have sworn to have seen a side smirk coming from his mother but quickly dismissed the thought. It couldn’t be.
It was not like he remembered what her smiles looked like anyway. The real ones, though. Not the fake ones she has been giving him since they arrived there. Not the ones she offered when he presented Dan to her back then.
"Pregnancy must have been hard on you, Dan-ssi. Seems like she can’t stop moving around," amusement animated the woman’s voice for a second. Dan didn’t even have time to apologise that she carried on, "Jaekyung was an active baby and an unstoppable toddler, too. It wasn’t easy every day to take care of him."
Dan hesitated a bit, not sure if those informations were to be known by his in-laws when it was their second meeting—and likely their last—and lowly mumbled, "It sure wasn’t easy everyday b-but, I had the best support from the beginning so it turns out alright.
The woman nodded, curiosity catching her tone, "are you planning to have more?"
She drank a bit of her wine served before they arrived then put it down soundlessly after dropping what felt like a bomb into the conversation.
More? More children?
Dan observed her quietly from the side trying to decipher any ill meaning into her questions but found only genuine interest, making him lose his focus he solely had on his daughter from the beginning. Daughter who murmured and showed exciting details about the world to her alpha father.
Dan wondered if Jaekyung even noticed how he spontaneously played with her hair, tucking it back repeatedly behind her ear then nuzzled his nose gently against her forehead when she asked for a kiss. According to his husband, Sooha constantly rumbled through their secret bond how nothing was better than hugs with Dada and nuzzled kisses with Daddy.
How could I not want to have more babies with such a kind man?
The annoyance was to be expected when she asked for her father’s affection for the fifth time in less than ten minutes, Dan thought. But Sooha had her father wrapped around her little finger. Jaekyung gulped down, looking at her with round eyes as if he was already restraining himself to do something long before she even asked. The little girl loudly giggled at every kiss she received, squeaking louder when her cheeks disappeared between Jaekyung’s lips. Dan would never tire of watching their bond grow stronger each day. And maybe he had a serious opponent given the incredulous scoff, almost filled with endearment, coming out of the woman’s mouth.
Dan finally opened his mouth when his gaze met his husband’s protective one. Jaekyung had stayed silent all along, distracting their baby, because he knew how sensitive the omega was about pregnancy talks as it dug too far into his memory, bringing back pain and unwanted feelings on how useless he had felt to not have her sooner.
"Sooha—Sooha is still young. We are thinking about it," the gentle fingers cradling the back of his skull made it difficult for Dan to hide his bashful smile when a familiar voice rang into his head, "We are thinking about it? You clearly were sure about it two days ago, moaning your Alpha name prettily—"
Dan cleared his throat, cheeks all flushed, breaking the highway to his mind those inappropriate thoughts took. All thanks to his stupid, idiotic, dumb—cute husband.
Jaekyung did it on purpose.
Not to trigger him.
But to appease their hearts from the sadness, the anxiety—the pressure that was suffocating them since the moment they sat down around the table.
"Oh! Of course!" The woman could sense the discomfort emanating from Dan and knew her husband would soon want to corner him over that. All she had wanted was a peaceful brunch with her so—Jaekyung, with Jaekyung and his family, "Oh my, Sooha… You were so beautiful that I didn’t notice how pretty your dress looked! Who chose it?" She expertly changed the topic.
The little girl’s face illuminated so prettily from the attention. Thankfully, Jaekyung reacted quickly and prevented her little jumping on her high chair, sensing his mother analyzing her. Sooha started to blabber on everything and nothing, showing off her puffy sleeves and playing with them. Dan encouraged her to thank her grandmother for the compliments under the lady’s attentive gaze.
"Sooha, do you like animals?"
Jaekyung’s face blanked at the simple call.
Animals.
Anything, but this.
It was too late, the little girl beamed sheepishly and started to sing out loud, really loud, like loud enough for every single person in the restaurant to turn their heads, indignation cleared on their face.
The rhythm was idiotic but Sooha showed her knowledge of animal sounds. Jaekyung only had himself to blame. He noticed Sooha’s grand interest when she was barely over a few weeks old. She stayed so focused on him when random imitation time rang and made him sing like a crazy man to his little one guarded by dozens of cushions on the couch. Dan would sometimes join his craziness but preferred to stay apart to film the scene, a great souvenir for Sooha, he said.
And Jaekyung’s mother burst out laughing after Sooha imitated a bear, of all sounds. Okay, her bear sounded more like a duck attending a K-pop concert than something at least close to the species, and okay she could judge his life and his choices… but openly mocking his daughter, now? Wasn’t it going too far?
"Oh! I can’t believe it," the elder woman wiped away tears gathered around the corner of her eyes from laughter, "Jaekyung, you used to imitate bears like this too! It was the same sound!"
And Dan laughed in his distinctive elegance. His pheromones were barely distinguishable to people outside of their bond but from the glad smile his mother turned back at him, he knew the sweetness of his husband gathered people’s hearts in an instant.
Dan briefly looked at him.
"She really has inherited almost everything from him, then. Our precious little girl."
•••
The silence between Dan and his mother-in-law was neither pleasant nor tense—just strange. Jaekyung had taken Sooha to the restroom shortly before his stepfather excused himself to take a call from his secretary. “Something urgent came up at work. Goodbye.” If the man didn’t consider his husband and their child worthy of a proper farewell, true or not, Dan decided to bitterly ignore him.
"Jaekyung… was a very kind boy you know. The son every parent could dream of."
The woman looked out the window, her nails short-trimmed and perfectly well manicured nervously scratched her napkin.
What?
"He, mh… He was what people used to call a "momma’s boy". He used to love to pick me flowers and write me love letters with hearts everywhere," she chuckled lowly, her fingers drawing random patterns on the napkin fabric as if they remembered every shapes Jaekyung used to dedicate to her, "Truthfully, his father and I didn’t really plan to have a child together. After all, our life was not the most stable one to bring a child into it. His father—He started everything right after I told him about my pregnancy. I almost had a miscarriage but Jaekyung was already strong-willed I guess," she breathed in deeply then added, "He made all the suffering bearable. He would always smile sweetly at me, reminding me how loved I was, how worthy I was to someone, asking for my hand to fall asleep. But… Yeah. I think you know the ending."
Dan kept his silence while he desperately tried to tame down his emotions, flooding from nowhere and everywhere. Jaekyung would sense him otherwise and he wasn’t sure he could hold back tears seeing his husband coming right now.
"Thank you, sincerely. Jaekyung is… happy is not even enough, probably even a bit insulting compared to how he looks with you. I felt it the very first time we met. He was all tensed and on guard but the second he looked at you, everything faded away. I was afraid at first that you’d break his heart like I did. But then… I saw it all in your eyes too."
She looked straight into Dan’s eyes, hers shining with unshed tears.
"Thank you for bringing so much love into his life. I know I don’t deserve much, I… Jaekyung doesn’t even want anything to do with me but—Can I see her, sometimes? Even simply through pictures if it puts you more at ease. But—but… Please."
Dan managed to stay silent all along, without interruption. Gathering his hands on his knees, he broke the silence with a small voice, sadness too loud in his heart for his voice to sound even, "It was not simple, you know. Four years of trying to have a child is not easy. We were lost because none of us had people to soothe down our worries. Normally, you would turn to your parents for advice but we couldn’t. Maybe that’s why Jaekyung has… such a deep bond with Sooha," Dan sighed, nose frowning to prevent tears from falling at the memory lane, "He doesn’t joke when it comes to her. He is protective and I get where you’re coming from but I won’t take this decision by myself. Furthermore, and I apologize if it sounds rude, but I think you should try to speak with my husband, first. Like, see him sometimes, too," Dan looked into her eyes and added, quieter, "Don’t use Sooha to gain back a sense of normality in your relationship."
She gasped, desperation written all over her face, "Jaekyung never accepted before! At least, not until you came in."
Dan scoffed, bitterly. Defensive instincts were triggered.
This was not Jaekyung’s fault.
"You didn’t come to our wedding," he pointed out, "Jaekyung had waited for you. The day after too, he had waited for a text, a call, an explanation. Trying and seeking forbiddance doesn’t stop at people’s refusal."
Dan gave her a cold gaze before looking away, trying to divert his thoughts the moment he felt his husband entering back the spacious room.
"Baby. Don’t be mad at me. Sooha splashed water everywhere, she’s dripping wet. Fucking hell, she is too damn cute."
Dan whipped his head to the side and joined the giggling sounds coming to him.
They were so ridiculously damn cute, like Jaekyung said.
Jaekyung’s shirt was… useless to say the least. Wet, transparent, nothing left to imagination. How gorgeous the alpha was made Dan almost regret not agreeing to his proposals from the morning.
And Sooha, well.
She looked like the cutest baby kitten that had fallen into its water bowl. Her pretty hair was all soaked, wet curls all around her forehead. Her yellow dress looked a shade darker from all the water spreading into the fabric. And she was running so happily towards him that Jaekyung could only smile fondly behind her.
"Sooha, sweetie! What happened? Did you fight with Daddy?" Dan welcomed her, arms wide open, hiding a grimace at the cold and soaked feelings on her head while his little bean was giggling and shaking her wet hair, water drops flying everywhere.
Dan took a clean napkin to wipe as much of water dripping out on her face then secured her excited body between his thighs, putting off his cardigan out of his shoulders to wrap her in warmth. With her nose buried inside the crook of Dan’s neck, it was only a matter of seconds before calm and exhaustion monopolized her senses.
The alpha didn’t question the missing person, he couldn’t care less when his two favourite ones were looking so pretty in front of him.
"You’re going to get sick. Let me take her."
Dan only shook his head and gave his mate a grateful smile. "I missed her, let me have my baby a little bit."
Jaekyung chuckled and dropped a kiss to the crown of his head, inhaling his omega’s soothing pheromones emitted for their little baby who was already dozing off against her Dada.
Dan’s magical spell over the toddler never ceased to impress Jaekyung.
After making a total mess of the women’s bathroom for a whole five minutes, ten more needed for Jaekyung to clean up everything under the women’s amused gazes—he couldn’t even blame her, she told him she wanted to swim after all—her Dada's mere presence was all it took to soothe her.
"No one… scolded her, right?" worriedly wondered Dan.
Jaekyung scoffed, playing with Sooha’s ankles under the cardigan. Those were one of his favorite things. No matter how much she ought to grow, they would always remain small in his palms.
"No one scolds my daughter. Women were really happy to see me struggling, actually. One even asked for my number. I think she was an omega, she smelt… off to me."
The alpha shook his head disapprovingly and lovingly wrapped his arms around the smaller’s waist. He felt so dumbly happy under the little scoff and menacing side-eyes quickly hidden behind a gentle smile that he almost forgot about his mother’s presence.
But she was there, observing their interaction with interest, impressed by the little girl’s capacity to fall asleep quicker than she thought was possible for such a dynamic child.
"Wait—You’re not jealous, Dan-ssi?" asked Jaekyung’s mother with a lot of confusion. She looked younger in some way.
The omega chuckled lightly and shrugged, "Not much. During my pregnancy, I was extremely jealous for n—"
"Being unhappy about omega’s scents all over me is definitely not the definition of an extremely jealous lover," cut in Jaekyung.
The woman gasped loudly, scandalised, "Why would you let omegas come to you, Jaekyung? It’s disrespectful for your mate, even more when they’re pregnant."
"No, no!” Dan clarified, “Those omegas were his teammates’ lovers who frequently came to the gym… Jaekyung cherishes me too much, I don’t know how to be jealous."
Dan didn’t even have to look to feel the warmth of love irradiating straight from his lover’s gaze.
•••
They bid their farewells after a while.
Jaekyung didn’t insist when she refused a ride back to her home.
With Sooha sleeping soundly on the backseat, all buckled up in her baby seat, surrounded by love from all her plushie friends back there, Jaekyung and Dan left silence engulf them. Awkward with a lot of unsaid but not uncomfortable nonetheless.
"Jaekyung?"
A pause, and Jaekyung inhaled through his nose, acknowledging.
"Your mother, she, mh," Dan wet his lips with his tongue that strangely felt thicker inside his own mouth, "she asked to see Sooha, frequ—"
"No." Jaekyung’s tone was final, decisive.
"Mh, I know, that’s what I thought."
Jaekyung scoffed under his breath as he looked at his mate. Anxiety written all over his face with something else—something edgy, avoidant. The alpha closed his fists against his thighs and looked outside the window as he muttered, quietly, "She told you something, right?"
Dan’s silence was loud enough.
Jaekyung gulped down, "I-I swear I was not mean. I’m still searching for reasons why she l-left, why they never loved me. Please, let me show y—"
"You picked flowers for your mother and wrote her love letters." Dan pouted dumbly, his voice dripping with cuteness as he clutched on his lover’s hand, the one tightly wrapped in a fist, and pressed a kiss on its back. Then, he pushed the same area to his mate’s lips on purpose. The sweetest indirect kiss they’ve shared in a while. "My kindergarten crush wrote me a letter once, you know."
When Jaekyung remained silent by his side with his mouth falling open, dumbfounded, Dan added in what he wanted to be a serious tone, "Why did I never get a love letter, uh?"
"Wh-What?" The small frown on the alpha’s forehead reminded Dan of their baby sleeping in the back.
God, I love him.
"I’m jealous, that’s all," Dan accentuated his ridiculous behavior by pushing his head on his headrest, brushing his cheek over it when he whispered, all cutefully pouting, "I want hearts drawn by you elsewhere than on my body, you know."
"Dan! Sooha is—she is—Hey!" Jaekyung struggled with words and pushed the sneaky hand away from his upper thigh as if it burned making Dan chuckle louder, softer, so much more adorable.
After a beat of silence, Dan started softly, “For all it's worth, I think your mother struggles a lot with how much she misses you. She was on the verge of crying the whole time she spoke about you with a hand clutched to her belly. Perhaps, she has too much fear in her to talk about it. I’m not trying to excuse her,” he whisked his head on the side to look at Jaekyung dead in the eyes, "quite the contrary. I’m… really angry."
Why?
"No one deserves to suffer like this. Even less, you. You’re lovable, Jaekyung. Kind and sweet. Reliable. Strong. But you… don’t have to be strong for all of us, you know.”
Jaekyung looked at him for as long as deemed his mind necessary to register those words’ realness. Then, as if possessed by the sudden warmth of love beneath his rib cage, the alpha lowered down to lock their lips gently and smoothly.
•••
Jaekyung stepped into an oddly silent room, filled with comforting and familiar aromas. His arms were finally free of the small bundle of love who fell fast asleep ten minutes ago. A day out and an hour in the pool before bed sure wear her out.
"What’s this? We already ate. Do we have something planned tomorrow?" Jaekyung’s voice was quiet, careful yet confident, knowing how unlikely for him to have forgotten his lover’s schedule.
With lips out in a small pout, Dan shook his head.
Samgyetang, braised fish, japchae, a lot of Korean pancakes with different fillings, all prettily layered on the table. Last but not least, a warm glass of milk completed the beautiful scene.
The omega had to bite down his smile when his husband’s scent turned all happy and elated at the sight of the delicious beverage. Jaekyung didn’t even ask when he reached for it, entitled, as he pulled him close with his other arm tightly wrapped around his thin waist, "What’s all this, babe? Why are you so quiet?" his tone was laced with the same fondness that shone into his beautiful orbs.
The omega chucked sweetly then turned to press a tender kiss on the corner of the alpha’s lips.
"Just, you know…" he looked up into those big dark eyes then down to those lips, too appealing for Dan to resist a few chaste kisses on them, "Wanted to be there for you,” Dan swallowed down the lump in his throat, and mumbled gently against full lips, "Your pretty little head can rest for tonight. I’ll take all the worries and bad thoughts for you, okay?" he pressed on the alpha’s cheeks with his palms, pouring out as much sincerity as his heart dictated into his scent, his voice, his eyes, "So simply enjoy your favourite meals, first. You ate lightly earlier, I’m sure there is still room for these. Then we’ll do whatever you want."
Jaekyung blinked, fast. Clueless, his heart rate spiked up in a second at his mate's words and attention. A warmth spread from the bottom of his chest to his cheeks with a flush he was sure Dan could feel under his palms yet he couldn’t get himself to look away from those beautiful hazel eyes.
His mate has prepared all of this for him, and him only. Love pouring out of every part of this room, especially out of this strong little man holding him with tenderness.
Because he knew how—how shitty Jaekyung felt despite the thick walls he built around himself to hide from emotions his mother still made him feel.
And before he knew it, warm flesh of tears rolled down his cheeks and he had to bite down on his lips to prevent a sob from escaping.
Dan gently and patiently wiped them off as they came, cursing the prick of fresh tears at the corner of his own eyes, threatening to fall at any moment. The frown on his husband’s forehead and the little gasp set down the amount of guilt Jaekyung felt at the sight. And Dan hated it. He hated it so much.
"Let it all out, honey. I’m here, mh?” the omega charged him with his gentle scent, never letting go of wide dark pupils, “It’s crazy how… how after all those years you’re still it for me. The most important person in my life. My Alpha. My love. The one I want to come back to everyday. I wish—“ with all the tenderness gathered, Dan nudged his lover’s forehead and pressed their noses together. Tears ended as a messy mix, finding out where they started and where they ended was a waste of time. “I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. Love yourself just as much.”
The alpha scoffed under his breath making it sound more like a sob to the omega’s ears.
His voice was barely audible when it broke down to whispers turned into muffled cries against Dan’s skin. "She didn’t even really talk to me—I thought she would have things to say, you know. I wasn’t expecting apologies but… It hurt, it hurts so fucking much.”
Sadness lived quietly in him, rarely reaching his eyes. He would shed a tear or two over their baby’s milestones, of course. But to cry out the pain that had gathered in his heart? That almost never happened. And Dan felt something in his chest tighten at how young his husband looked like that, how much it triggered every single cell of his body to act. The way it did the day before, when Sooha cried over stepping on ants, heartbroken because she wished she were tinier to not hurt them. Images of a younger Jaekyung hiding his tears away from a father who couldn’t care less to have created them to begin with left a disastrous taste in his mouth, burning his eyes with it.
The omega offered him a gentle understanding smile. He didn’t push for more. Admitting all of this at once was already a big step for Jaekyung. Fingers brushed the alpha’s chest as if to soothe down any tightness inside. Dan patiently kissed his husband’s eyelids, pressed love over his wet jaw, lowered his attention to his throat, sweetly biting the scent gland that reclaimed attention in its stillness.
Distracted, Jaekyung chuckled from the tingling feeling, dumping his head on the little man’s one under him, "Do you think Sooha would appreciate to hear you have another alpha in your heart?"
“Tch, she is worst than me. Daddy this, Daddy that. She was so proud to show you around earlier!” Dan pettily blew raspberries on warm skin just to hear the prettiest laugh that followed, “Our Alpha.”
Their bond nurtured under the sweetness, the trust and the love they shared. The warm meal was left untouched at the side, completely forgotten.
Tears slowly appeared as dried spots on their cheeks but Jaekyung occasional sniffing acted as the gentlest reminder.
Shivers coursed through their spine as their bodies moved together. Pressing, holding, breathing in. Gentle whispers of love drifted after every quiet call from the omega, who insisted on calling his mate, "My Alpha", over and over.
Jaekyung hummed low under his breath and overlooked his mate’s face. He was wearing the same cardigan from the morning with nothing underneath this time and the alpha’s sanity was short-circuited for a second when a pleasant sigh fell upon his neck.
Pleasant familiar sighs.
Flirty sounds died on Dan’s tongue the moment large hands slid down, gripping the back of his thighs, and in one swift motion, his alpha hoisted him up. Dan gasped loudly. His delighted giggles echoed as he clutched at broad shoulders, legs instinctively wrapping tight around Jaekyung’s waist, “What are you doing!”
Jaekyung pouted a bit, glared at Dan when he laughed harder at hands roaming all over the expanse of his ass, squeezing it hard, “You never call me Alpha seriously outside of our bed. You only ever teased me with it. Now you have to deal with it.”
The dark-haired man felt weak to his knees when short familiar nails scratched the back of his neck with a high-pitched noise moaned right against his cheek when his lover kissed him there, “My Alpha.”
Jaekyung turned around and took long strides towards their bedroom, taking the longest way to avoid Sooha’s door and risking an accidental wake-up. The ones occurring on any other days were fine, he loved it. But not now. Not when his dick was seconds away from taking over his mind and bend his flirty little omega over any surface of their house and having his way with him. Their way.
“Now look at you, you’re asking to be fucked aren’t you?” Jaekyung warmly breathed against Dan’s throat, driving his omega’s bottom right against his crotch every step of the way not without a slap on the covered skin.
Dan moaned loudly then shook his head cutely, bumping his forehead to his temple, “You act all rude now, but the moment you see me naked you only ever show me love. You don’t just fuck me anymore.” His voice sounded a bit disappointed.
Jaekyung froze at their doorway, hands hanging over the doorhandle. Before he knew it, Dan's back was pressed, hard, against their door. The click of the lock echoed his loud breath and his heart nearly beat out of his chest. The omega had to bite back a purr at Jaekyung’s eyes pitch-black.
The alpha let out an incredulous scoff yet tenderly nuzzled cheeks he always feels so attracted to, for unknown reasons. "Fuck, you’re so pretty." The shy smile followed by the sweetest scent only meant for him had him smiling like a fool in love, kissing those precious lips in surrender. ”Is that, what—our first marital feud about sex?”
At his lover’s upteenth giggles, Jaekyung could only sigh in bliss. The hollowness that prevailed in his chest for most of the day subsided to this gentle fuzziness.
Dan was his home and in his arms—love swallowed him all.
He was enough.