A quiet hallway, minutes later
POV: In-su
His phone buzzed.
Yohan:
You good?
In-su smirked faintly.
In-su:
They left. I stayed calm. You'd be proud.
...Though I might punch the next guy who thinks I'm an easy target.
There was a pause.
Yohan:
I am proud.
And they won't try it again.
In-su:
You promise?
Another pause.
Then:
Yohan:
You're not someone people get to threaten twice.
In-su stared at the message for a long time, a strange calm settling over him.
He slipped the phone back into his pocket and walked back to class, his steps a little firmer than before.
Yohan's private penthouse office, late at night
POV: Lee Yohan
The city glittered below, its lights flickering like dying stars. Yohan stood at the window, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a glass of scotch he hadn't touched. Behind him, the door opened with a soft click.
Seo Jin entered quietly, carrying a thin black folder and the unmistakable scent of tension.
"They've confirmed the surveillance," he said.
Yohan didn't turn.
"Which group?"
"Not one of the usual rivals," Seo Jin replied, stepping forward. "A smaller syndicate—young and ambitious. They've been watching the school. More importantly, they've been watching you at the school."
Yohan finally turned, eyes narrowing.
"They saw me with In-su."
"Yes," Seo Jin said carefully. "More than once. And they've started asking around. About him. About your relationship. About why the great Lee Yohan would spend his mornings parked outside an elementary school like clockwork."
Yohan's jaw tightened.
Seo Jin laid the file on the desk, flipping it open. "They know his name. They've got blurry photos. No confirmed background yet, but they're getting closer."
Yohan stared down at the images. A shot of him opening the door for In-su. Another of them talking by the school gate—In-su half-smiling, unaware. Casual moments that now felt like blood on the water.
"They think he's a weakness," Yohan murmured.
Seo Jin didn't answer. He didn't need to.
"He's not," Yohan said, voice flat.
"I know," Seo Jin replied. "But they don't."
There was a long silence between them.
Then Seo Jin added, "They've noticed what kind of omega he is."
Yohan's head snapped up.
Seo Jin nodded slowly. "Not just a pretty face. He's dominant. Sharp. Too composed to be just a fling. Too rare not to draw attention. You've never looked twice at anyone, and suddenly you're circling the same omega like a starving wolf."
Yohan's grip on the edge of the desk tightened.
"I haven't touched him," he said.
"I know. And they know that, too. Which makes him even more tempting."
Yohan's chest burned.
Because he knew exactly what kind of chaos that would draw. In-su wasn't some trembling, submissive omega to be hidden away. He was beautiful, yes—hauntingly so—but also proud, intelligent, infuriatingly strong. He walked into a room and held it without trying.
And every alpha in this city—every predator—would want him for that alone.
Not to love.
But to own.
Yohan stepped back from the desk, the decision solidifying behind his eyes like steel.
"Double the guards at the school. No less than four. Rotate the teams, change the cars. And I want names—anyone sniffing around him. Anyone even thinking about it."
Seo Jin nodded. "Understood."
"And if they try to get close?"
"I'll make sure they don't leave fingerprints behind."
Yohan's voice dropped, low and final. "If they look at him like they want to take him—kill them where they stand."
He didn't care how bold it sounded.
Because In-su wasn't just someone he was protecting anymore.
He was someone the world needed to know was already spoken for.
later that week
POV: Ho In-su
It started subtly.
The car parked across the street had tinted windows, but In-su knew the silhouette of a bodyguard when he saw one. There were two others—one in the library "volunteering," and one who kept "fixing a pipe" behind the faculty building for the third day in a row.
It was discreet. Professional.
And completely unnecessary.
At least, it would've been—if In-su were naive enough to think this was normal.
At lunch, he stepped into the hallway and caught the eye of one of them. The man flinched subtly, then straightened.
In-su sighed. His students didn't notice the extra presence. But he did.
Yohan had doubled the security.
And hadn't said a word about it....