The late afternoon sun cast long, golden shadows across the bustling market street as Seo Soomin led the way, a force of nature in a floral blouse.
"Oh! Mackerel! Jaemin-ah, look at the eyes on these, they're so fresh!" She didn't wait for a response before turning to the fishmonger, haggling with a terrifyingly cheerful efficiency.
Behind her, the three men trailed like a sombre entourage. Jaemin walked with his head down, the noise of the hawkers and the smell of frying oil washing over him in a blur. He felt hollowed out, his body present but his mind stuck in the sterile white room of the clinic.
His thoughts were a tangled knot of revelation, relief, and regret. Fated. The word felt heavy with his hope. Dr. Lee said the bond could be overwritten. He could be free of Choi Seungcheol. He could shed the scar of his past mistakes and pain and be fully whole again, free to properly build a life with Do-hyun.
But the relief was soured by the realisation of Do-hyun's secrecy, and worse, the memory of what he had said to his mate in response to finding out, back in the clinic.
'Now… Now I'll never know.'
He closed his eyes, wincing as the scene replayed in his mind. He had seen the way Do-hyun flinched at those words. In his shock, in his confusion over the secret kept from him, this vital piece of information which held the key to his freedom, Jaemin had lashed out. But in the time it had taken them to check out and leave, he'd realized how it had sounded. As if he was saying, I might not have chosen you.
It wasn't what he'd meant. He loved being with Do-hyun, chose Do-hyun in spite of all odds, despite every tender touch they shared feeling like something stolen that he had no right to have… but how else could the alpha have interpreted it?
Chest tightening, he glanced at Do-hyun, who walked beside him, carrying the heavy bags of groceries Seo Soomin had already acquired for the thousand and one banchan she intended to whip up. He was attentive, shielding Jaemin from the jostling crowd, but he didn't touch him. There was a respectful, terrifying distance between them.
Why was he still here? Jaemin couldn't comprehend it, not after he had said something like that to Do-hyun. The alpha was clearly a man who kept high standards in everything he did. Whether it was a rehearsal, a performance, his role as Concertmaster for the SPS, he aimed only for perfection. For all the lovely things he had done for Jaemin, he couldn't have been happy knowing he was saddled with someone else's secondhand goods. Unless…
Unless, he's staying because he has to. The thought settled like lead in his gut. He's staying because his honor demands that an alpha cares for his fated mate, even if that mate is broken.
I've trapped him. The realization made Jaemin's breath hitch. I'm a mess of trauma, scandals, and seizures. And now, because of this biology neither of us can control, I've dragged him down into the mud with me. He can't leave without dishonoring himself.
"Do-hyun-ssi!" Seo Soomin called out, waving a bundle of greens. "Do you eat spicy food? I'm thinking of making dakdoritang, it's always one of Jaemin's favorites. But what do you like?"
Do-hyun stepped forward immediately, a polite smile fixing itself onto his face. "I eat anything, Eomeonim. Please don't worry about my tastes."
"Nonsense, you're our guest! And you've been taking care of our Jaemin." She patted his arm, oblivious to the way Jaemin flinched at the words.
Taking care of him. The phrase grated, somehow, like caregiving to a patient. A duty to a fated partner.
Jaemin watched them, his mother beaming, Do-hyun being the dutiful son-in-law. It felt like a play they were performing, an absurd performance for an audience of four. All Jaemin could see was Do-hyun, playing his part perfectly, wearing the invisible shackles tying him to a broken omega with grace, all to maintain Jaemin's dignity in front of his family.
It was the ultimate act of kindness, and it broke Jaemin's heart.
They finally reached Jaemin's apartment, to find the twins sprawled on either side of the small coffee table, a deck of Hwatu cards scattered between them on a blanket. They looked up as they entered, Jina pausing mid-slap of a card.
"Oh, you're here!" Jina greeted. "And I see that Omma bought the whole market again?"
"Just about," Do-hyun said, setting the bags down in the kitchen.
Seo Soomin gave him a chirp of thanks. "I've got everyone's favorites here! Let's all have a good meal all together before we fly back, hmm?"
She shooed them out of the kitchen and proceeded to bustle around. Seo Taejun headed for the bedroom without a word, leaving Jaemin and Do-hyun to drift towards the living room.
"Come play," Junho invited. His voice twisted in a whine. "I'm losing, badly, so we need to change games."
Jina laughed. "Sore loser. But yes, please, join us!"
They scooted over to make room, and the four of them arranged themselves in a circle, to play a few rounds of Go-Stop as the apartment filled with the rhythmic chopping of vegetables and the savory aroma of braising chicken.
The domesticity of it all was jarring against the emotional rift that lay between them. The smell of the cooking food helped to mask the scent of fatigued cedar and cherry blossoms. Jaemin had never been so glad that his family were all betas who couldn't sense pheromones.
Playing mechanically, he watched as Do-hyun lost a hand to Jina with a grace that seemed practiced, reacting enthusiastically to Junho's jokes with laughter that sounded hollow in Jaemin's ears.
He's resigned himself to it, Jaemin realized with a sick lurch in his stomach. He's accepted the burden. He's going to be the perfect in-law for my family, he's going to protect me from Choi Seungcheol, and he's going to let me overwrite the bond... not because he wants this, but because fate gave him no other choice.
He's going to stay, and he's going to be miserable.
Just then, Jaemin's mother called out to them to set the table. Insisting that Jaemin and Do-hyun just sit tight and let themselves be served, the twins scrambled between the kitchen and the dining table, ferrying dishes and cutlery. Seo Taejun ambled silently out of the room, Jaemin's mother emerged from the kitchen carrying a large, steaming pot of stew, and the meal began.