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Taeyong slowly opens his eyes, when he feels the sun prickling on his face through the window. He closes them again and turns in search of his husband’s warmth. He’s not there. It's a Thursday, he remembers.
☺︎︎☺︎︎☺︎︎
As any other day, he woke up at 5am when the alarm blared on his bedside table. Jaehyun, right beside him, stirred awake after a few minutes. He grumbled “Good morning” and rose to get ready for work. His sour scent made Taeyong uneasy. Jaehyun is always grumpy in the mornings.
Taeyong quickly left the bed and went straight to his son’s room. Jaemin was sound asleep. His hair pointed in all directions, mouth gaped open with drool dried on his rosy cheeks, his left leg stuck out of the blanket, his right hand held onto his stuffed bunny as it was off the bed —almost didn’t want to wake him— yet he whispered softly, “Nana, baby, it’s time to wake up.”
The unpresented 11 year old stirred awake right away, wiping the drool off his cheek with the back of his hand.
“Good morning, baby,” Taeyong hugged and scented him, Jaemin groaned and pulled away quickly. Just like his alpha father, he whispered “good morning” and headed to his bathroom.
Taeyong sighed and went straight to the kitchen to make breakfast. He quickly made them scrambled eggs with toast and bacon.
As he set the table, Jaehyun came down the stairs in his suit and with his briefcase— which he left on the table as he ate his breakfast silently, Taeyong sat next to him and also ate in silence. Jaemin rushed downstairs just as the alpha finished eating.
Jaehyun’s scent soured slightly but his face remained emotionless.
“Good morning” he said as his son took a seat.
“Morning dad,” Jaemin said, not looking up from his plate and eating as fast as he could.
Taeyong’s legs shook due to the uncomfortable environment he was in. everyday Taeyong thought, recalling every morning before. Jaehyun noticed and glared slightly at him; he reached over and put his large hands on Taeyong’s small thigh in order to stop him. He squeezed hard and Taeyong immediately stopped— his heartbeat extremely loud.
“Dad, i’m ready,” Jaemin quickly said, not wanting to witness how controlling his father can be.
“Alright then, hop in the car!” Jaehyun said, weirdly cheerful and smiley. Jaemin did so, he waved goodbye to his omega father and smiled sympathetically at him before heading out the door and into their garage.
Taeyong reciprocated and turned to his husband who was standing right next to him, looking down on him with a toothless smile— he smiled back.
“I want burgers for dinner: beef patties, swiss cheese, no veggies, fried egg with a runny yolk, potato buns, mayonnaise, ketchup, and french fries on the side— make those loaded fries with melted cheese and bacon bits. I get out at 6 today.” He demanded softly while holding and rubbing his fingers over Taeyong’s soft face.
Taeyong nodded, noting his request in his mind.
Jaehyun smiled down at him once again, dimples on display. He pulled him in for a short kiss, grabbed his briefcase, and stepped into the garage, closing the door after him.
Taeyong released a huge breath he had no idea he’d held in. He picked up the table and did the dishes. Soon after, he went back to sleep.
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He walks out of the shower, hair soaking wet. He listens to music at a low volume— Jaehyun doesn’t like loud music— as he dries his hair with a towel.
He looks at himself in the mirror. He looks very different from when he’d first met Jaehyun— he quickly looks away, not wanting to see who he has become anymore.
Ignorance is bliss he tells himself as he dresses up. Jaehyun loves it when he wears tight shorts and Jaehyun’s oversized t-shirts; so he wears black bike shorts with one of Jaehyun’s old band tees. He hopes that’ll put Jaehyun in a good mood when he comes back.
He picks up his phone, which he can’t use unless Jaehyun’s home as he doesn’t know the password. He can still check the time and see how many notifications he has.
The time is 10:27AM. And, as expected, no new notifications.
He grabs his favorite blanket and stops by Jaemin’s room to grab one of his plushies. He runs downstairs to the living room and turns the tv on to his favorite show lately: love island.
He knows it’s stupid, but it makes him feel more in touch with the rest of the world. He hasn’t had contact with anyone other than Jaehyun, Jaemin, and Jaemin’s friends, when they go over to the Jung’s house, since… since we had Nana… he shakes that thought out of his head and focuses on the show as he hugs the bunny plush that smells like coffee, just like his baby.
The blanket. It comforts him. It’s one of the only things in the house that doesn't smell like peaches, rather it smells slightly like tuberose. He keeps it well hidden from Jaehyun, it’s his only secret. If he found out, all hell would break loose; for that tuberose scent belongs to a certain long-necked, doe-eyed tall beta with the warmest gummy smile, and a little dimple that sits above a beautiful scar on the right of his pink lips. A beta he remembers all too well when he feels down. The thought of him enough to make his cheeks blush and his heart skip a beat.
He wishes he’d known things would turn out like this. He wishes he’d escaped before it became too late. He was so stupid, now he is in too deep and he feels like he hasn’t an escape.
Right as he goes back to watching the show, the phone rings. He gets up quickly, not wanting to make Jaehyun (he’s the only one that calls, ever) mad and picks up the phone.
“Hello…” he whispers, slightly out of breath.
“Taeyong-“ his heart stops, his breath hitches. why is he calling…?
“...Ten…?”
“Hey! I haven’t heard from you in a long time! How have you been?”
Taeyong debates on whether he should hang up or hold a little conversation with his old friend.
“You still there, hyung?”
“Yeah! I’ve been well!” he lies. “What about you? Haechan doesn't say anything about y’all when he comes over”
“We’ve been wonderful! Johnny and I are planning on renewing our vows soon!”
“Oh- wow! congratulations” his eyes start to water.
“Actually, I was calling to invite you to the ceremony! you haven’t been out in so long, it’d be good for you!”
“...I don’t know…”
☺︎︎☺︎︎☺︎︎
“...I don’t know…” Taeyong hesitated, phone on speaker as he tried on different outfits in front of his mirror.
“You’re such a loser” he can practically hear Ten rolling his eyes. “it’s literally just one night out, i promise you’ll be fine. I’m going to be there with you the whole time! Plus, a little birdy told me a certain beta is going to be there…” Ten whispered cheekily into the phone.
Taeyong stopped all movement and his eyes opened widely, his mouth gaped open.
“No way” he yelled into the phone as he picked it up and jumped on his bed.
“Yes! I begged Johnny to convince him to go, I promise he’ll be there.”
“Oh my god. When are you picking me up?” Taeyong said hurriedly as he looked through his scattered clothing on the floor in order to pick an outfit.
“You whore”
“Shut up and tell me”
“does 8 work for you?”
“Yes, thank you, bye”
“I love y-“ Ten barely managed to say before Taeyong hung up.
Fuck
What do i wear now?
“Mmh” he contemplated as he looked around his messy room.
☺︎︎☺︎︎☺︎︎
“Come on, you’ll have fun, just like old times!”
“i’ll bring it up to Jaehyun but i don’t know if we’ll go. Thank you so much for inviting us!”
“Of course! I’ll tell Johnny to talk to Jaehyun about it!” Taeyong smiles to himself at the possibility of seeing his best friend again after years.
A few minutes pass in comfortable silence before Ten speaks, “I really miss you…”
Taeyong’s eyes quickly fill with tears, a knot forms in his throat, and it becomes hard to breathe.
“...I miss you more” His tears stream down his face and his heart hurts.
He looks up.
☺︎︎☺︎︎☺︎︎
He looked up.
The night sky was filled with stars.
He walked right next to Ten and his boyfriend, Johnny, to a huge two story house.
He could hear the music blaring from outside, no people on the front lawn, but he could see it was packed from the windows.
They stopped walking when they reached the door, for some reason, it was locked. Johnny took his phone out and, Taeyong guessed, texted someone.
A few minutes later, the door opened revealing this extremely good looking male alpha who reeked of peaches— a really interesting scent for an alpha. He had a chiseled jawline, naturally puffy eyes, a set of pearly white teeth with vampire-like canines, and the cutest dimples. Now, Taeyong wasn't falling for the alpha, his mind too clouded with pictures of the black haired beta, but he could still appreciate the god-like beauty the man had.
He spoke kind of slow with a deep voice as he bro hugged Johnny, before he turned to him. Taeyong could tell the man was high, so smiley and giddy-
“Hello there, who are you?” he interrupted Taeyong’s train of thought. He snapped out of his trance and looked at the man with an apologetic shy smile.
“Hi! I’m Taeyong, Ten’s best friend! Nice to meet you!” He extended his hand out to him intending to shake his hand, but Jaehyun took his hand and kissed the back of his hand slowly instead.
“The pleasure’s all mine” he smirked as he looked up from Taeyong’s hand. He awkwardly laughed as he pulled his hand back and followed Ten inside the house— the whole time, Jaehyun trailed behind him.
They stopped in the kitchen, where all the snacks and drinks were.
“You guys go to the living room, we’ll get y’all drinks!” Johnny yelled loudly into Ten’s ears as the music barely let them hear.
Ten took his hand and guided him to the living room, they stood on an empty corner watching people dance. Taeyong, not so subtly, looked and sniffed around for the tall, tuberose smelling beta.
“So...jaehyun, huh?” Ten yelled in his ear as he bent down slightly to meet his height.
“what about him…?”
“He’s been eyeing every since he saw you, I say he wants to smell like blackberries in the morning”
“Stop… I don’t want to, he’s kind of creepy; plus you know i’m expecting to go home with someone else already”
“right, doyou-“ he’s interrupted by Taeyong’s hand on his mouth.
“SHHHH HE MIGHT HEAR!” Taeyong said in all seriousness looking around frantically.
Ten burst out laughing, “what is this, middle school?”
Taeyong rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, still looking around with no sight of the boy.
“Don’t you have his number, why don’t you text him?”
“I’m supposed to meet him here spontaneously. He can't know I already know he’s going to be here, he’ll think I'm stalking him or something.”
“Fine” Ten glared at him then leaned against the wall next to him.
Just as Johnny and Jaehyun approached them with their drinks, a guy opened the door and right outside was the man of the hour: Kim Dongyoung, or “just doyoung”, as he insisted everyone call him.
He walked in and it felt like time stopped for Taeyong. He looked heavenly: black hair covering his forehead, cheeks slightly flushed from the heat emitting from inside the house, long neck with a long silver necklace that went down to the middle of his semi exposed chest; dark blue long-sleeve button up with three unbuttoned buttons, doing his body proportions justice by being tucked into black skinny jeans pulled up by a black belt; the look completed by a silver watch on his left wrist and a pair of black wingtip boots. He gulped.
“Holy shit” he whispered, mouth agape eyes locked on the man who hasn’t looked over yet— too busy talking to Jungwoo, his omega friend.
“Hyung, you're drooling ” Ten and Johnny giggled in each other’s arms, Jaehyun had left as soon as he realized the attention wasn’t on him. Taeyong came out of his second trance that night, still feeling light from the whiplash that was that man’s beauty.
“Ha! Sorry, he’s just so dreamy.” He said as he looked away and took the red solo cup Ten handed him. To his relief, sprite was the only substance found in his drink.
He turned his back to the door, in order to face the couple all over each other.
“So, what courses are you taking, again?” Johnny asked, finally acknowledging the third wheel.
“I’m taking culinary skills, menu design, and fundamentals of f-”
“The way you keep asking him to list his courses every time y’all meet” Ten interrupted laughing hysterically at his boyfriend and best friend’s awkward relationship. Both Taeyong and Johnny chuckle along with him. To his defense, Johnny and Ten hadn’t been dating for a long time and he’d only hung out with Taeyong less than 5 times. He was also nervous about saying anything out of place because he wanted to make a good impression on Ten’s only “family” in South Korea. He was brought out of his thoughts when Ten nudged him and motioned for him to look behind Taeyong.
“Not to alarm you or anything, but-” Ten said to Taeyong not taking his eyes off whatever was behind him, “He’s coming over here right now…”
Taeyong immediately paled. His heart started beating out of his chest, and it suddenly became hard to breathe. Just as he was about to swallow the lump in his throat, he saw the beta appear right in front of him-- happy and smiley. He choked. He started violently coughing, Johnny and Ten having a field day.
“Oh- shoot- Are you ok?” Doyoung asked, eyes blown with worry. Taeyong just took some sips out of his drink and slowly went back to normal-- his face red as a tomato.
“Hihi~ Yes! I’m ok now, thank you” he blushed hard. Doyoung smiled even bigger, showing his gums.
“You’re cute.” Doyoung giggled, looking directly into Taeyong’s sparkly eyes.
He choked again.
☺︎︎☺︎︎☺︎︎
He looks down at the floor, tears flowing and nose running. He sniffles.
Then he hears Ten sniffle too.
He smiles.
“I want to be around you again, hyung, I miss the old you. I miss you…”
“...I miss me too…”
“Why don’t you run away for the afternoon? Jaehyun can’t keep you in there forever.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know… I don’t have the strength to defy him.”
“Hyung, you shouldn’t be living like this, no one should.”
“I can’t. You know we’re mated.”
“...There’s still a way out. Johnny and I will protect you and we’ll help you, come to us. Please.”
“Ten-”
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“Ten-” He whispered through his tears.
“Why are you waking me up at 3am on a school night!?” Ten growled into the phone.
“Wait, are you ok?” Ten worried when he heard Taeyong sniffle.
“Be quiet.”
“Where are you? Should I come over?”
“No”
“Wait let me call Doyou-”
“NO!” Taeyong whisper-yelled.
“Hyung, you’re scaring me.”
“I’m sorry” He cried harder than ever before.
“I’m in heat.”
“Oh- then I-”
“-Listen… Jaehyun… he-” Ten understood immediately and let out a huge growl in anger.
“I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL HI-”
“-That’s not the worst part… he-” Taeyong choked.
“...claimed me-”
☺︎︎☺︎︎☺︎︎
“Hyung” Ten answers.
Taeyong hears Jaehyun’s car pulling into the driveway. He’s home early.
“Please-” he swallows.
“-Don’t call me again.” He hears the garage door opening.
“Hyung, please let me help you-” Ten cries.
“No-- Please don’t call again, for my safety.” He wipes the hot tears that continue to stream down his face.
“Fine, but, before I go--” He takes a deep breath.
“He still has the same phone number.” He hangs up.
Taeyong stays stunned for a minute then quickly runs to his bathroom to tidy up for Jaehyun, taking Doyoung’s blanket and Jaemin’s plushie with him in the process.
He looks into the mirror. Eyes puffy and filled with tears, cheeks wet and red, lips dry and chapped from biting them.
Suddenly, Jaehyun bursts into the bathroom. Taeyong flinches and stares at him in shock. Jaehyun cocks his head to the side.
“Why are you crying?” he approaches him, taking his head into his hands and making him look up directly into his eyes. He softly caressed his face, wiping the tears away, releasing calming pheromones-- which works. Taeyong hates it, his body loves it.
“I missed you…” he lies.
“Are you close to your heat or something?” Jaeyun laughs smugly.
“No, I just love you-” I fucking hate you.
“Aw, I love you too, baby.” Jaehyun hugs him tightly.
“Come, before Nana gets home!”
☺︎︎☺︎︎☺︎︎
Taeyong slowly opens his eyes, when he feels the sun prickling on his face through the window. He closes them again and turns in search of his husband’s warmth. He’s not there. It’s a monday , he remembers.
He reaches for his phone, 10:23 AM and no notifications.
82 2626 0296, he remembers.
He doesn’t need to unlock his phone; He realizes as he clicks on the emergency button on his lock screen and it shows the phone dial screen.
This is it. He thinks.
82 2626 0296, he dials.
It rings 3 times before he answers.
“Hello?” he whispers.
Taeyong freezes. He hasn’t heard his voice in so long.
“Hi!” Taeyong shyly whispers back.
“Taeyong…?”