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His eyes feel moist but Jeongguk forces himself to keep his composure. He clenches his jaw and looks at the person who approached him.
"You must be the grandson, Jeongguk was it?" The old man says with a pleasant smile on his wrinkled face. "I was a classmate of your grandfather" He continues "I had known Seolhyun for a long time, she was a good omega to your grandfather…"
Jeongguk feels his eyes prick again and he almost loses his expression but suddenly a cool hand laces with his own and a weight lands on his shoulder.
"You must have had good memories with them right?" a sweet, deep voice says. Jeongguk does not dare to look at the speaker. He is too occupied in his emotions for that. "Ah! Look at the time!. Chong-ssi we have something to attend to. So please excuse me and my husband" Jeongguk can visualize the smile that his husband must be giving right now. A boxy smile. Nothing special about it.
He feels himself being dragged by his husband, through the crowd and away from his grandmother's funeral ceremony.
"Are you okay?" His husband whispers, "You're not in the right mind to drive so I'll drive" Jeongguk emits a confirming noise and lets himself being ushered inside the passenger seat of his car. His husband looks at him with worry painted all over his face. He hesitates to place his hands on the steering wheel. Jeongguk knows why. It's because Jeongguk had retaliated wildly the last time his husband touched his car.
"Don't you dare touch my car, omega!" The omega in question stopped his motion towards the car.
"But your mother said to take it. She told me to-"
"I don't care. Kim Taehyung you are never going to touch my car till you are alive. Understand?" Jeongguk was angry. So angry.
Taehyung clenched his jaw and didn't say anything. What could he say? He was an omega married to such a cocky alpha. He was even called by his full name. Without any respect.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he took out his own car keys instead.
Biting his lips and casting one last glance at his husband, Taehyung slowly revs the engine on. Taking a deep breath, he silently guides the car homewards. It's not like he and jungkook ever do small talk. The only reason they came in the same car was to avoid suspicion from others.
It's clear as day that the two men hate each other.
Taehyung slows down the engine once he enters a familiar street. It's a nice cozy street, relatively more posh than his home before marriage. Their house was close to the college they attend to too.
Anyone would love to live here but not Taehyung. Because it's his house here, not home.
Parking the car, he gets out and turns his head to see that Jeongguk is still staring off into space. he circles around the car and opens the passenger seat door.
"Alpha?" he says while shaking Jeongguk lightly. the man doesn't budge. Taehyung sighs and tries to drag him out himself. The alpha isn't aware of whatever struggle Taehyung is going through to drag him home.
His eyes are glossy, Taehyung notices. He detaches himself from the alpha once they enter the living room.
Jeongguk makes no sound, he just stares blankly. Taehyung feels a bit worried now. Not that he cared about the alpha but he feels it necessary to care for him as a person.
He brings him tea and places it in front of him. Not knowing what else to do, Taehyung resigns to his own room to give privacy to the alpha.
"Don't come inside I'm showering" Taehyung shouted when he heard the doorknob moving
Jeongguk cursed loudly
"You know what? Get out of my room! You can use the second guest room. I'm not going to share a room with you anymore!" A door was slammed to punctuate the sentence.
"Fine, you asshole" Taehyung muttered.
When Taehyung comes back from doing his papers due a few days, he sees the alpha sitting at the same spot. The tea has turned cold now. Taehyung picks the teacup and wordlessly shoves it in the kitchen sink.
He proceeds to stand in front of Jeongguk, who still hasn't come to his senses.
"Alpha, its night now. You should go to sleep. You have classes early in the morning" No response. Again, Taehyung curls his arms around Jeongguk's and makes him stand on his feet.
"Come on" he mutters as he guides the alpha to his room. He makes him sit on the bed and removes his socks for him.
"The things I have to do for you. Asshole" Taehyung mutters under his breath. He also removes the coat worn by the other and debates whether he should let Jeongguk sleep in the dress shirt and slacks. Not that he cares.
He shrugs and turns to leave when suddenly a soft voice stops him
"Hyung.." Taehyung feels everything stop. Did Jeongguk call him hyung? Jeon Jeongguk?
"Mom wants to visit in a week. You should prepare everything" Jeongguk muttered.
Taehyung clenched his jaw "What's with the informal speech? Don't you remember I'm older than you? Give me some respect"
"You don't deserve my respect, omega" Jeongguk deadpanned leaving a shocked Taehyung behind.
Just one word and Taehyung understood that there is something serious going on about the alpha. He turns his frown towards the younger and asks softly,
"What?"
Jeongguk isn't meeting his eyes, but Taehyung can see the moisture in his eyes. Taehyung pads towards the younger and looks into his eyes for a response.
"Stay here" The younger whispers "Hyung" he adds as an afterthought. Taehyung's eyes blow wide as he absorbs what the alpha just said. He hesitates but obeys him anyway. He tucks the alpha in and makes room for himself in the huge bed, providing ample space between them.
He stares at the ceiling and suddenly hears the labored breath towards his left side. He turns towards Jeonngguk whose figure looks so tense even in the darkness. Taehyung moves closer towards the broad frame of the alpha and tries to wrap his arm around the other.
He's not in his right mind, I hope he doesn't remember this later, he thinks.
He pushes the alpha's face towards his chest and whispers quietly
"Its ok alpha, let it all out. You really loved her right, You can cry if you want. Alphas do cry. Anyone can cry"
Soon he feels his shirt getting wet and Jeongguk emits a sob
"Alphas don't cry Jeongguk-ah" the cold voice of his father cut through his sobbed
"S-sorry, I loved Gereum very mu-"
"I don't care whether a dog dies or any person, you won't cry. Is it clear?"
"Yes sir"
Taehyung knows that grandma Seolhyun was really dear to Jeongguk. the younger must be breaking inside badly. His grandma was kind to even Taehyung in the 8 months of their association. Taehyung had gathered that everyone loved the old omega and respected her a lot. It was shocking to everyone when she died suddenly, but Taehyung knows the most affected person was Jeongguk. The man prevented himself from showing many emotions but it still slipped off his mask.
Taehyung tightens his hold around the younger and lets him cry on his chest the whole night.
The next morning Taehyung finds his face in Jeongguk's hair. He slowly pulls away from the younger to look at him. The younger is sleeping peacefully but the traces of tears on his face shows the agony of the day before.
He's just twenty-one for heaven's sake, Taehyung thinks.
Jeongguk makes a whimpering noise when taehyung tries to get off of the bed. Taehyung silently goes to his room's bathroom to freshen up and comes back to wake up the alpha. He finds the alpha sitting on the bed with eyes widened.
As soon as Taehyung comes into his field of vision, Jeongguk pulls him into a hug. Taehyung gasps audibly and tries to not get bewildered by this sudden gesture.
"Jeongg-alpha, you have classes today. Do you want to go or not?" Taehyung mutters from Jeongguk's shoulder.
Jeongguk does not respond which Taehyung takes as a no. He pulls himself from the embrace and the younger whimpers again.
"I need to call Chim and tell him that we won't come today," Taehyung says. Jeongguk desperately wraps his arms around Taehyung again.
"I-I'm not going anywhere," Taehyung says and pushes off again. But instead of leaving the room alone, he entwines his hand with Jeongguk's and takes him to his room to pick up his phone.
Hands still laced with Jeongguk, Taehyung calls their friend Jimin and tells about their absence.
Its the first time since their marriage that Taehyung is alone with Jeongguk for the whole day. Today's something different. Taehyung longs for the days before his marriage though.
Taehyung was livid. No, not because his parents fixed his marriage to some alpha. It was bound to happen and as an omega, he knew such time would come.
But the thing which made him mad was, the alpha he was going to marry was younger than him.
Younger
Taehyung knew how the society worked, he would be bound to that alpha and would be ordered around by him
He would be ordered around by someone younger than him
"Mom, but I'm in my third year only. Don't you think I'm too young for that?"
"No buts. Your alpha is in his first year too. It's not early. It's the correct age to marry"
A kid just freshly graduated from high school is going to be his alpha.
He has to call a kid his alpha
Humiliating
So humiliating
Taehyung lets Jeongguk sit on a chair in the kitchen while he makes breakfast. The alpha has his eyes trained on the omega, making him nervous.
He doesn't feel threatened by Jeongguk. of course not. But he is worried, what if the man never turns back to normal?
The whole day passes with Taehyung awkwardly doing his work with Jeongguk silently brooding nearby. Taehyung could hardly finish his essay.
It is night when Taehyung realizes that Jeongguk is still wearing the dress shirt from the night before. He groans as he drops the spoon with which he was eating. Jeongguk just looks at him silently.
Once they finish dinner, the omega ushers the alpha to his room.
"You need to change your clothes, alpha," he says calmly as he takes out a nightdress for the alpha. Jeongguk looks at him blankly again.
"Change your clothes" Taehyung asserts again before leaving the room
"Hyung," the soft voice says again.
Taehyung could never get used to it. He pops his head inside the room and sees that Jeongguk is already looking at him.
"Sleep here," Jeongguk says awkwardly while patting the bed. "Hyung" he punctuates again.
So adora-
Taehyung slams the door after a quick nod. He later comes by to find Jeongguk lying on the bed with the covers drawn up to his lips. His eyes are open though, trained on the door. Taehyung enters the room and switches off the light. He climbs onto the bed and shimmies under the blanket. Two arms encircle around him and his face gets smashed into Jeongguk's chest. He doesn't complain. He doesn't feel uncomfortable anyway.
The next morning when Taehyung feels himself gaining consciousness, he opens his eyes slowly. Jeongguk's eyes staring into his is the first thing he sees. He pulls away from the other before saying
"Are you feeling okay now, alpha?" in a whisper.
Jeongguk does not answer for a while but then suddenly he says,
"Jeongguk"
Yeah, that's his name. What about it?
"W-what?" Taehyung asks instead.
Jeongguk lifts himself upwards and brings his face closer to the omega.
"Call me Jeongguk," he says and Taehyung's breath hitches.
Nope, he is not better. He is getting worse now, Taehyung decides
"Are you going to attend classes today, J-Jeongguk?" his voice cracks in the end.
Jeongguk smiles a bit and Taehyung decides it's not because of himself.
"Yeah" Jeongguk breathes.
Taehyung resigns to make breakfast — but mostly to get away from his strange alpha — thinking that the younger might not need his help now.
As he flips an omelet, his waist is circled by a pair of arms and a face plants itself on taehyung's shoulder, making him freeze.
"Alp-Jeongguk, what are you doing?" Taehyung squeaks
Instead of answering that, Jeongguk says " Thank you" softly on his shoulder.
Taehyung's mouth opens and closes like a fish. Jeongguk continues "I treated you so badly all the time and yet, you stayed with me the last two days. I don't deserve you hyung"
Ah, again that honorific.
Arms tightened around Taehyung and the alpha spoke further "You deserve the best, hyung and I'll now make sure that you get the best. I know we are already married but will you allow me to court you?" his words hang on the atmosphere and Taehyung finds himself biting his lips.
He takes a deep breath before answering
"Yes"