Seoha’s POV

The small sneeze wakes me up and as soon as I open my eyes, I am greeted with the sight of my best friend’s face.

The air conditioner is making him sneeze but he’s not waking up out of habit.

I blink to take away the dryness of my eyes and then stare at the ceiling, trying to remember why and how I’m here in Minjae’s home.

A shudder runs through my body as I lift my hand, pushing the suit on my body upwards and smelling Taesan’s pheromones.

Huh? I’ve never seen this jacket before on Taesan, why does it smell heavily like him?

’Alpha’ my omega gives a lazy purr, he sounds like he is resting from an intense moment, and I can’t remember anything at all.

"Minnie" I whisper my friend’s name and he wrinkles his nose, mumbling something unintelligible under his breath.

"Min-"

"Shut up and let me sleep, please" he says and turns around, as he turns, I notice how the back of my head hurts.

"Minjae" I whisper his name and he groans before he turns again to look at me, he looks cute and his shirt has ridden up to show his baby bump.

"What?" he asks with his eyes half closed. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Why am I here? Why is...how is this jacket here?" I ask, holding up Taesan’s jacket and avoiding to say his name, I wouldn’t like to put Minjae in trouble.

"You can’t remember?" he asks and I frown in confusion, "remember what?"

"Of course, when you go into omega space out of fear, most of the things you experience are almost totally forgotten, I hate omega life" Minjae rants and I blink.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your mate, the bastard hurt you and I found you on the road, bleeding and in omega space" Minjae says and I open my mouth.

What?

All the memories come rushing back to me and I shut my mouth.

Oh.

I remember Taesan slamming me against the wall, the way he looked hurt and angry, the way his eyes didn’t look like he ever said he liked me.

I divert my gaze from Minjae’s face and he sighs loudly, obviously tired, but here for me.

He moves closer to me and puts his hand around me.

"It’s okay, it’s okay, don’t worry you will never have to see that man again, I’ll take care of you" he says and I shake my head.

"I have to see him" I say weakly and Minjae glares at me to shut me up.

"You’re not going to see him, how can you even think of wanting to see him after what he did to you?" he scolds and I whimper.

"You don’t understand..." I say.

"You’re right, I don’t understand, and I really don’t plan to ever understand" the other omega says and huffs with annoyance.

"But..."

"Nothing you say will change my mind, I couldn’t protect you from Daeshin but this one, I’ll fight for you" my best friend says stubbornly and I rest my head on his shoulder.

He smells agitated, obviously annoyed by me and my situation.

"I’m sorry" I whisper to him and he sighs, "Seoha, don’t ever apologize for things that are not your fault, you deserve better" he says.

You deserve better is his mantra, but I don’t see it, I don’t deserve anything good...I hurt Taesan.

"Can I...at least know if he’s okay?" I whisper and Minjae’s glare intensifies.

"Goddess help me, you’re not asking about that man again or you’ll have nothing to do with my child’s life" he says and I press my lips together.

I wouldn’t want to offend Minjae, especially now that he’s pregnant.

"Can you manage by yourself?" he asks me in a soft tone that’s very different from when he was scolding me seconds ago.

"I can...you’re going to work?" I ask and he grunts, "unfortunately, I have things to do and I have the evening shift, I’ll be home in time for dinner" he says and gets out of the bed.

Minjae has always been a hard worker, he’s the kind of omega that knows what he wants and is working towards it.

A life with a family of his own and pups that are loved, it feels sad that Seungmin chose to walk out on him.

As he dresses up for work, my mind drifts to Sooin, my pup...I wonder how she’s doing.

Has she noticed my absence? What will Taesan say to her about me? Will she think I left like her biological mom?

A single tear slides down my cheek and I wipe it off before Minjae would notice.

"I’ll see you soon, make sure you eat okay?" he says and I hum, sitting up and hugging the jacket that smells like Taesan closer.

Did he give this to Minjae by himself? Is that how Minjae knows his name? How much does he hate me?

Fifty different questions fill my mind and I have no answers for them, no one to ask them to, just myself and the jacket.

As I crawl out of bed to stretch my limbs, my head feels heavy and strange...I might have really been hurt badly.

With a sigh, I go into the shower, holding on to everything I can find so that I won’t fall.

I wash up and put on a clean pair of pants and one of Minjae’s old shirt.

The smell of a loved one feels like the world to me, like a hug that I don’t want to let go of.

Once I’m cleaned up, I return to the room and wrap Taesan’s jacket around my shoulder, laying back in bed.

As soon as I lay down I feel an opening in my mind and my body becomes alert.

It doesn’t feel like me...but I feel anxiety, like the type of worry I felt when Sooin kept crying...is it...Taesan?

Is Taesan panicking?

I sit up and try to reach back to him but the connection closes abruptly.

It’s like when a door is slammed in your face, a ’I came to see you, but get out’.