Chapter Text
On March 3rd, 16 years ago, at the North Shore Elite Medical Centre, just north of Sydney, Australia, a 20-year-old omega gave birth to a little boy with fair skin and large brown eyes, eager to see the world. He was accompanied by his nervous 23-year-old alpha and the latter's family. That March 3rd, little Min-jun came into the world to bring joy to his young parents.
—
A young Bang Chan, with black hair, watched his omega as he finished packing his suitcases, tears still in his eyes. He began tapping his foot on the floor in an anxious tic. The sound made Seungmin look up, only to find his alpha a bundle of nerves. He extended his hand as a signal for the older man to take it, and he obeyed without hesitation. He rubbed the back of his hand with his thumb and spoke.
"Relax, alpha."
He took a step closer, resting his head on Christopher's chest. Christopher took hold of his waist with one hand and rested his head on the shorter man's.
"I don't want to leave him. He's a baby. He's our baby, our pup."
His voice began to crack, and his eyes filled with tears. He hugged his partner tighter, almost as if he feared he would leave.
"I don't want to leave him either, Channie."
He pulled back slightly and raised his hands to cup his alpha's face.
"He was inside me for nine months. Do you really think I want to leave him?"
The alpha shook his head gently.
"But it's for the best. I'd rather see him only a couple of times than face all this from a young age: the company, the sasaengs, and everything else. Think of it as temporary, and we'll come see him whenever we can. Okay?"
"Okay."
He nodded and placed a kiss on the shorter man's lips before stepping away and picking up the suitcase that lay on the bed.
"It's time to go."
The omega nodded, and hand in hand, they left the room. Outside, the alpha's parents and siblings were waiting, along with a small baby held in the arms of his grandmother, Jessica. Seungmin was the first to approach, and without wasting a moment, he took the baby and hugged him tightly.
"I'll come for you as soon as I can, my love. I promise."
His eyes filled with tears again, and his voice broke once more. Christopher slowly approached and joined the hug, kissing the baby's head.
"My little Min-jun..."
He couldn't continue. The lump in his throat grew stronger. If Chan didn't like goodbyes, this was undoubtedly the one he hated the most. They didn't separate for the next twenty minutes. Jessica and Jack insisted on accompanying them to the airport, but the couple flatly refused. It would only make leaving their baby harder.
Once on the plane, Seungmin couldn't hold back any longer. He cried throughout the entire flight, and Chan was right there with him. His mind was solely focused on getting his baby back. He would do it. He would talk to the company, to JYP, he would convince them. Then their baby would be with them again.
—
But it didn't happen.
The company flatly refused. They wouldn't allow one of JYP Entertainment's most important pillars and faces to show that he had a baby. The couple threatened to quit, but that would only affect the other members of the group, and Chan could never hurt them. They tried to convince JYP again and again, but he refused. In response, all their vacations and trips to Australia were canceled indefinitely.
They wouldn't be able to see their baby.
Their world crumbled. Seungmin seemed to be the most affected: he wasn't eating, he wouldn't leave his room unless absolutely necessary. Chan wasn't any better. He ate very little, he wasn't sleeping at all, and although they didn't want to say anything, one night Han and Jeongin found him passed out on the couch, with an empty pack of cigarettes and several bottles around him. The situation repeated itself more times than the boys would have liked.
Luckily, neither the staff nor Stay noticed. To the public, they were still the same old Christopher and Seungmin. But the members knew a different story.
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and without realizing it, 16 years had passed. Sixteen years without knowing anything about Min-jun.
—
It was a day like any other. The boys were on tour in Amsterdam. The concert had ended, and Chan was furious. During a costume change, a skijigi had injured Changbin, and when Felix politely asked him to be more careful, he was met with shouts and insults.
The leader held back for a moment. They only had a few minutes before going back on stage. But as soon as they returned, the shouting began.
"I don't want you to yell at Felix again! At anyone, for that matter!"
"What the hell do you care if I yell or not? Being the leader of this group doesn't make you my boss!"
The tension was palpable. Minho tried to calm Christopher down while the other skijigi berated the older man, who was shouting incoherently.
"A man half my age isn't going to tell me what to do!"
"I said that's enough!"
Christopher used his commanding voice. As the dominant alpha, he had control even over other alphas. Felix and Han immediately backed away. Jeongin hid behind Hyunjin, and Seungmin was breathing heavily. Chan using his voice like that affected everyone. The least affected seemed to be Hyunjin, Minho, and Changbin, who led the maknae line away from the area.
The man, being just an ordinary alpha, began to tremble. His legs gave way, and his wolf begged him to kneel and apologize. Christopher took a deep breath and cleared his vision. Then he noticed Seungmin peeking out from the dressing room.
"I'm going to see my omega. I want you to leave when I get back."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned around. At the dressing room door, Minho stopped him.
"Everything alright, Chris?"
The older alpha nodded.
"You know I can't let you in if you're not calm. You'll scare the guys."
Chan nodded again. Lee Know let him in. Upon entering, without wasting a second, he approached Minnie, who was trembling slightly without noticing.
"Hey, love, forgive me. I didn't mean to..."
He was interrupted by a hug from the younger man.
"You haven't used your voice since the meeting."
Chan swallowed. It was true. The last time he'd used it was when he tried to convince JYP to let Min-jun come to Korea with them. He hadn't succeeded.
He hugged Seungmin back, releasing pheromones. The room filled with a mixture of leather, dark wood, and fire, all emanating from the leader. The scent relaxed the members. They were already a pack, and the alpha's scent calmed them all.
---
Things weren't any better for Min-jun.
From a young age, he knew his parents had left him in Australia and gone. His grandparents always told him they would come back for him. For the first few years, he waited for them on important dates: Christmas, New Year's, his birthday. He always left two seats free for them.
From his seventh birthday onward, he began to give up. He stopped saving seats. By twelve, he had completely lost hope.
He always knew who his parents were. Members of a boy band. He had seen most of their interviews, all their SKZ-CODE videos, their music videos. He listened to their music all the time. Every time they toured, he hoped to see Australia on the itinerary. It was never there.
Until that day.
He knew they were going to Australia. He hoped they would come to see him. Every day he asked his grandparents and uncles if they had called to let him know they were coming. They always said no. Part of him thought it was a joke, that they had all conspired to surprise him.
He found out through Instagram that they had arrived. From that moment on, he kept an eye on the door. Every time someone knocked, he ran to open it. But it wasn't them. Never.
Even so, he held onto hope. Maybe they were busy with the concert. They'd come later.
That wasn't the case.
They left Australia without even visiting him. Not even a greeting.
That was the final straw.
He decided that if his parents didn't care about him, then they wouldn't care about him either. He threw away everything he'd bought of them: WolfChan and PuppyM plushies, albums, photocards. Everything.
On his desk remained the only photo he had of them: the day he was born. His eomma lying in the hospital bed, holding him in her arms. His appa beside her, crying and smiling.
He picked up the photo and stared at it for a few seconds before throwing it in the trash. He didn't want to see them. He didn't want anything of theirs.
Years passed. Min-jun turned 16. He went to a good high school, had good grades, some friends, and was happy with his grandparents and aunts and uncles. His friends called him Liam. His grandparents and uncles too.
Sometimes he thought about his parents. Sometimes he missed them. But he remembered that in 16 years they never looked for him, and the sadness turned to fury. If he didn't matter to them, they wouldn't matter to him.
—Hours later—
In a hotel room in Amsterdam, an older man stared at his phone, his hands trembling. His brow furrowed, betraying his anger. Years working for that damned company, only to be fired in front of everyone by a "kid" in a voice that chilled him to the bone.
He opened his gallery. An old photo showed two young people in a hospital, holding a baby, their eyes filled with tears.
They were going to regret this.
He opened X and, without thinking twice, posted it along with the text:
"The secret son of Christopher Bang and Seungmin Kim. Min-jun Bang, 16 years old. Currently living in Australia with his grandparents."
He attached a recent photo of Min-jun.
They were going to regret humiliating him.
—
Hours had passed since the fight with the skijigi. Seungmin was asleep on Christopher's shoulder. Hyunjin and Changbin were playing on their phones. Felix was listening to music. Han and Minho were watching a movie together. Jeongin was checking his phone on a couch.
Everything was quiet.
Until it wasn't.
Jeongin sat up abruptly, his phone in front of him. The movement immediately caught Felix and Minho's attention.
"Jeongin?" Felix asked, taking out an earbud.
Jeongin didn't answer. His hands were trembling, his lips parted slightly.
They were silent. Minho stood up and approached, leaning in to look at the screen.
The silence grew heavy.
"What are you watching?" Minho murmured, but as soon as he read it, the color drained from his face.
Felix stood up too, curious, and when he peered in, his eyes widened in horror.
"Hyung..." his voice was barely a whisper. "That... that's..."
Jeongin swallowed hard.
"They uploaded it to X," he managed to say. "It's trending."
Hyunjin and Changbin immediately approached. One glance at the screen was enough to completely change the atmosphere in the room. Christopher Bang's name appeared accompanied by words like son, secret, hidden, they deceived the fans.
Chan woke up the instant the air shifted. It wasn't a noise, it was instinct. The wolf inside him tensed as if something had entered its territory.
"What's happening...?" "—he murmured hoarsely.
Seungmin stirred too, sitting up slowly, still half asleep.
"Why does it smell like that...?" he whispered, confused.
No one answered.
Jeongin, his eyes shining and his chest rising and falling rapidly, picked up his phone and held it with both hands, as if it weighed a ton.
"Hyung..." he finally said, "...they leaked it."
Chan sat up abruptly.
"What?"
Minho took a breath, as if bracing himself for something he didn't want to say.
"Chris..." he began, "someone leaked Min-jun's stuff."
The name hit him like a bombshell.
Seungmin froze. The world seemed to shut down around him.
"...what?" His voice was so low it was barely audible.
Felix took a step toward him, but Chan was faster. He took Jeongin's phone with firm hands, though his knuckles were already white.
He read.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The hospital photo.
The recent photo.
His son's full name.
His age.
His location.
The smell of leather and fire exploded in the room, thick, dangerous, heavy with fury.
"Who was it?" Chan asked, and it didn't sound like a question.
"The same skijigi," Changbin replied. "His account is already being traced, but... this has gotten out of control."
Han stared at his own phone, pale.
"Hyung... fans are already translating the post. Korean media outlets are reporting it. They're saying that... that you abandoned him."
That was what broke Seungmin.
"No..." he shook his head, his hands trembling." Don't say that... we didn't..."
Chan immediately hugged him, pressing him against his chest as if he could protect him from the entire world.
"Hey, look at me," he said, lowering his voice on purpose. "Breathe with me. You're not alone."
But Seungmin was already crying silently.
"They're going to think we dumped him..." he sobbed. "That we never loved him..."
"I don't give a damn what they think," Chan growled. "The only thing that matters is Min-jun."
Hyunjin, serious, looked up.
"He knows?"
Silence was answer enough.
"We have to assume he does," Minho said. "Or that he'll know in minutes."
Jeongin wiped his tears with his sleeve.
"Hyung... they're going to the same school. People are saying he's going to look for him."
That was enough.
Chan stood up.
“I’m calling my parents now,” he said, already dialing. “No one leaves this room until we know he’s safe.”
—
Australia.
Min-jun was sitting on his bed when his phone vibrated again. This time it wasn’t an automatic notification. It was a message from a classmate.
“Hey… is that you?”
Then another.
“Why are they saying you’re Bang Chan’s son?”
Then another.
“Is it true?”
He opened it with cold hands.
And he saw it.
Everything.
His name written by strangers.
His face shared without permission.
The story told by someone who didn’t know him.
He felt something break, but this time it wasn’t sadness. It was something harder. Sharper.
“So now I do,” he murmured. “Now I really exist.”
The door swung open.
“Liam,” Jessica’s voice trembled, “honey, come with me.”
He looked up.
“Do they know?”
She didn’t answer. There was no need.
“Tell them,” he said, standing up, “not to come.”
Jessica froze.
“What…?”
“Sixteen years,” he continued, his voice firm. “Sixteen years without calls, without visits, without anything. Now that everyone knows… I don’t need them.”
But in Korea, Bang Chan was already buying the first plane ticket.
Because whether the world liked it or not,
that was still his son.