“I understand you’re in the stock trading business, Donghyun?” asked Joochan’s father, trying to break the silence on the dining table. He glanced at Joochan who was sitting in front of him, looking for approval before he discussed any further about his main source of income. Joochan nodded a little, not wanting his step mom who sat next to Donghyun noticed.

“Yes, Sir.” answered Donghyun, short and simple. He had agreed with Joochan’s suggestion to answer ONLY what had been asked to avoid his fabricated background being exposed.

“Joochan told me that both of you are of the same age… But based on how Joochan explained to me, it seems like you’ve been in this business for a long time… How is that possible?” asked his father, curious.

“Well I started in high school. I did some trial and error but once you’ve got a hold of how it works, everything becomes simpler.” answered Donghyun before gulping down the grape juice on the table.

“That’s actually amazing-”

“So, your mother is an Omega?” questioned Joochan’s step mother as if she was interrogating a homicide suspect. Her eyes went straight to Donghyun’s eyes. He could sense the cold air around this Alpha lady. Donghyun couldn’t help but notice how every word uttered by her was meant to put Joochan down. He wondered how his ‘future husband’ still managed to smile.

“Yes.” answered Donghyun.

“Oh I see… Well birds of a feather do flock together, afterall.” she snickered.

“Darling, enough.” warned Joochan’s father.

“Are you sure you are a legitimate son though? Or was your mother a too?” insulted her while wiping clean with the napkin on the table.

The moment the word ‘’ and his mother were put in the same sentence; Donghyun could feel rage building up within him and within a few milliseconds, it calmed down as he remembered his agreement with Joochan though the same couldn’t be said about Joochan. His face was red and his hand started to form into a fist. He looked like he was going to explode at any given moment.

“The same could apply to you too, ‘big sis.’ How many boy toys do you keep in your dungeon?” quipped a deep voice from one of the hallways connected to the dining hall they were in.

Joochan let out a deep sigh before gulping the red wine he was served on the table. He muttered some words that went along with ‘I thought he wasn’t going to show up’. Donghyun turned around to a man in a luxurious 3 piece black suit with a matching red tie. His black hair was neatly slicked back, exposing a face sculpted perfectly by God.

“Watch your mouth, Bomin!” warned Joochan’s father as that man smirked and took his place at the end of the table, facing him.

“No need to worry about mine, brother. I know how to take care of myself. Worry about your wife’s crap smelling mouth first.” that tall man retorted before winking at Donghyun who was still confused about that attractive man that appeared in the middle of their important dinner.

Although his wink did send shivers down Donghyun’s spine, he tried his best to not pay attention. He looked at Joochan to see if he had calmed down but immediately looked away as their eyes were accidentally staring at each other.

“Choi Bomin!” Joochan’s father stood up, slamming the table with both of his hands; startling Donghyun.

“Great! USING MY MOM’S SURNAME TO ADDRESS ME WHEN NOBODY’S AROUND. ‘Accepted him as my younger brother’ MY !! Worry about your wife accepting your bastard son first, will you? Such hypocrisy deserves a round of applause.” jeered Bomin while clapping his hands.

“Okay that’s it! I’ve had enough of this. Let’s get out of here, Kim Donghyun.” raged Joochan before going around the table and grabbing Donghyun’s hand.

“Hong Joochan! Sit down!”

“No. I’ve had enough, father. I’m past getting your blessing. I will still be marrying this man and climbing up on my own.” said Joochan one last time before pulling Donghyun’s hand, prompting him to get off the chair and walk with Joochan. As he walked by that man, he heard him whisper underneath his breath with a smirk.

‘This won’t be the last time you’ll be seeing me.’

“Great! Run away with your and never show your face in this house again!” shouted Joochan’s step mom, breaking her silence.

Upon hearing the insult, Joochan stopped from taking another step. He turned around, letting go of Donghyun's hand.

“Joochan, don’t!” This time it was Donghyun's turn to grab Joochan’s hand; stopping him from taking another step.

“Let me go, Kim Donghyun. This doesn’t concern you. Stick to your side of the deal.” ordered Joochan, cold. Scared that he might’ve broken one of the rules in the contract, Donghyun let go of his hand.

Joochan then walked towards his step mother.

“What do you want?” Once again his step mother shouted as Joochan walked closer towards her.

Suddenly two loud slap sounds were heard and echoed through the hallway. Donghyun, who was left by Joochan at the end of the hallway, walked closer towards the dining hall to see what was happening. All he could see was Joochan walking towards him and his step mother on the floor, holding her cheek, his father rushed to aid her while shouting for Joochan’s name and that man called Choi Bomin laughing to his heart's content.

“Let’s go.” uttered Joochan.

“Joochan, your cheek, it’s bleeding.” Donghyun gasped as he saw the dark red liquid was rolling down Joochan’s cheek.

“I’m fine. Let’s get out of here.” replied Joochan. His eyes were cold.

**********

“How was it?” asked Jaehyun as soon as Donghyun answered his call.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it went well.” Donghyun sighed. He landed his bottom on the bed.

“In detail, please? Why? They didn’t like you? How could they not like my cute precious friend?” Jaehyun bleated. His non-stop questions made Donghyun giggled a little.

“It’s complicated. I don’t know how to explain. I truly thought he was going to cancel the contract after all that happened during the dinner.”

“But he didn’t?”

“Yeah. It’s weird. I don’t understand him at all.” grumbled Donghyun.

“But you said the other day you kinda understand what kind of person he is?”

“Scratch that. Not anymore, I guess.”

“Hey Donghyun?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure you are okay?”

“I’m fine, why?”

“If it’s too much, you know you have me and Jibeom, right?” asked Jaehyun, worried about his best friend.

“I know, Jaehyun. Also, don’t worry about me. Ah, but can I ask though?” asked Donghyun.

“Sure? What is it?”

“Well when I was at Joochan’s family house the other day, there was this one person who came late for the dinner and his name is Choi Bomin. He looked like he’s around our age but Joochan said that was his uncle? I’m so confused. Has your father said anything about him though? ”

“Hmm… Never heard of him. Joochan didn’t tell you anything more than he’s his uncle?”

“He wasn’t exactly in his best mood at that time.”

“I see… Well, maybe you can ask him next time?”

“He hasn’t contacted me for a few days after that dinner… So… I don’t know when exactly is the next time.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? Maybe he’ll be gone forever and you don’t have to worry about the contract?” suggested Jaehyun.

‘Oh Jaehyun… If only you know his side of the bargain.’ Donghyun thought.

“Yeah… I guess.” answered Donghyun, partially disagreeing with Jaehyun.

**********

Donghyun's deep sleep was interrupted by the continuous sound of the doorbell. He looked at the clock on the wall; it was 3 in the morning.

‘Who the hell came to my house at 3 in the morning? It can’t be… them? Right? I paid them this month.’ Donghyun thought to himself; contemplating whether he should open the door or not.

Suddenly he remembered his house was equipped with an intercom camera which had managed to reduce his worry over who could be on the other side of the door. He then walked towards the intercom on the wall and pressed the button next to the screen to see who the mysterious visitor was.

Indeed, he knew who that person was. The person he had not seen for almost two weeks after the disaster during the dinner.

“Hong Joochan?” asked Donghyun through the intercom microphone.

“Yeah. It’s me. Open the door, Kim Donghyun.” His voice sounded raspy. Those awkward pauses between the short sentences he uttered signaled that he was in pain.

Donghyun immediately opened the door only to find Joochan squeezing his eyes half shut while holding his stomach. He kept on breathing loudly through his mouth.

“Joochan? Are you okay? Is that blo-”

Donghyun couldn’t finish his sentence as Joochan collapsed and landed on him.

“Joochan?”

Donghyun’s call was left unanswered signifying that Joochan had probably lost his consciousness. He then decided to carry him to the living room to stop the bleeding on his stomach first before calling for an ambulance. After laying Joochan down on the sofa; he fumbled through his door cabinet, looking for the first aid kit that he had been keeping but never used.

With a warm towel on his right hand and first aid kit on his left hand, Donghyun rushed towards Joochan who seemed to be slowly gaining his consciousness.

“Kim Donghyun?”

“Yeah?” answered Donghyun while taking off the black leather jacket on Joochan’s body. His white inner t-shirt was stained with so much blood that one could mistaken it to be a red t-shirt. Donghyun wasn’t fazed by the blood. Not at all. Probably due to the same amount of blood his mother-

“Don’t call the ambulance.” Joochan’s weak request snapped Donghyun back from going further down that chunk of memory.

“But with this amount of blood-”

“Just don’t. I’ll be fine.”

“But-”

“Take this shirt off and you’ll see why.” explain Joochan. His lips were trembling.

Donghyun did as he had been told by Joochan. The sight being laid in front of his eyes rendered him speechless. There were three long wounds that seemed to start from his left shoulder down to his belly button. It was as if, Joochan was clawed by a-

“Wild animal?”

“Did I say that out loud?” Donghyun said, perplexed.

“Only the last part.” smiled Joochan. His pale lips started to be filled with colours again.

“I'll explain soon, Kim Donghyun. Please don’t call the ambulance.” he continued.

“Okay, fine. But these wounds. These wounds would need some stitching.” worried Donghyun.

“Hey don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Joochan smiled while caressing Donghyun's cheek before losing his consciousness yet again.