Chapter Text
Later that day, Youngwoo wrings her hands together anxiously as she climbs the steps to her own flat, Junho in tow behind her.
She isn’t certain whether bringing him to officially meet her father right now, off the back of their first heat together is the best idea… but she also knows that should she stall, she’d likely blurt everything out to her abeoji when he interrogated her anyway. It would be easier to explain everything with Junho here by her side.
Taking a breath and glancing back at Junho for reassurance, she sticks her key in the lock, turning it and letting the door swing open.
“Youngwoo? Is that you?” Comes her father’s voice from inside immediately.
“Yes, it’s me, I’m back.”
“Are you alright? I’ve been so worried and you hardly replied to my…” Her abeoji trails off when he comes into view, staring at the large alpha shuffling on his feet behind her. Youngwoo takes a breath.
“Abeoji, this is Lee Junho ssi, and we -”
“ You!” He cuts her off, marching up to them as Junho takes a step back and holds up his hands in surrender. Youngwoo tries to stand in front of him, blocking her father’s way, but he reaches past her, and she yelps when he seizes Junho by the scruff of his neck.
“Abeoji!”
“I could have you arrested for what you’ve done,” he snarls at Junho as her alpha’s eyes bulge. “What the hell is the matter with you, ah!? Biting her like that, forcing her into heat to become your mate so she’s got no say in it - you’re disgusting!”
“Abeoji! Please calm down,” Youngwoo steps between them again, trying to pry her father’s hands away from her mate. Fury is bubbling up inside her that makes her want to throw him off Junho, snarling at him for daring to harm her mate. She takes a deep breath and tries to think rationally. “Junho ssi didn’t bite me.”
“Do you think I’m blind!?“ Her abeoji barks. “What’s that on your neck!?”
Youngwoo presses a guilty hand to the fresh mating bite, cheeks flushing. “He didn’t bite me before my heat. That’s not what mated us. It happened by accident and neither of us meant for it to.”
“What are you talking about?” He snaps, frowning at both of them.
“Please let go of Junho and I will tell you.”
He glares from one to the other for another moment, and Youngwoo holds her breath, until finally he releases Junho’s shirt and lets him stumble back. Youngwoo catches him, steadying him with her hands on his arm.
“Are you alright?” She worries, straightening his shirt collar.
“I’m fine, love,” he assures her, brushing himself off. Turning his attention back to her father, Junho takes a step forward, and bows his head.
“Abeonim,” he addresses her father respectfully. “May I come inside so we can sit down? I'd like to explain properly.”
—
Sitting on her couch next to Junho, her hip and thigh warm where they’re pressed against his, Youngwoo wrings her hands in her lap as her father looks between them.
“I’ve never heard of this before.”
“It’s rare, like Junho ssi said,” Youngwoo interjects.
Her father gives a heavy sigh, planting his elbows on his knees and dropping his head into his hands, rubbing at his hair a moment. He lifts his head and looks back up at them. “If this is true… then I suppose the two of you didn’t have much choice in the matter.” Youngwoo starts to smile and he quickly lifts a finger, pointing it at her. “But I’m calling that doctor first thing in the morning to see what she says about this!”
“They won’t be able to tell you anything,” she tells her abeoji. “Doctors have to adhere to patient doctor confidentiality the same as attorney client privileges, and even though you’re my father, as I’m an adult my records won’t be available for you to view.”
“Bah,” he grumbles.
“But, if you want… I’ll make an appointment and you can accompany me and speak with the doctor while I’m there, since I need to get a new prescription anyway.”
“Prescription? For what?”
Youngwoo goes to answer before she remembers who she’s speaking to and clamps her mouth shut. Probably best her father didn’t know she’d used up all the contraception she had and needed more so she and Junho could continue sleeping together now her heat was over. She’d have to make sure he left the room before she asked the doctor about it.
“It’s personal.”
He huffs, rolling his eyes. “Fine. I’ll hold you to that. I want to speak to this doctor.”
“Yes, fine.”
He looks between them. “And you’re sure about this Youngwoo-ah? Moving in with him already? You’ve never lived away from home…”
“Yes, I’m sure. I told you, I’ll just stay there a few nights per week to start with, and it’s not far from here either.”
“And if you don’t like it?”
“If… I don’t, then Junho ssi will look for a new roommate,” she says, glancing at Junho who confirms with a nod. “But it’s very unlikely that will happen, since he’s my mate now I’ll want to be near him.”
Her father huffs. “I suppose that’s how it goes,” he agrees, then lifts a hand, pointing a finger at Junho. “But you better be getting ready to marry her. I’ll not have my daughter living in sin.”
“A mating is as good as marriage in law,” Youngwoo points out.
“I don’t care! Get a ring on her finger, okay?” He demands to Junho, who nods his head frantically in agreement.
“Yes abeonim, I will.”
Youngwoo catches Junho’s eyes, and can’t help but smile, her stomach fluttering pleasantly at the thought of being married to him.
“Alright now get out of here, you’re making me feel ill,” her father grumbles.
--
As they’d told her abeoji, Youngwoo planned to stay over at Junho’s place just a few nights per week to start with while she acclimatised to living away from home. Moving in with him felt very fast, and they’d had a long discussion about it, before she’d agreed to take on Minwoo’s portion of the rent but take her time actually moving in. She’d planned to move some of her things over and try staying at Junho’s - their place a few nights every week to start with, however…
However. The first night at home in her own bed away from her mate is agony. Her chest aches like there is a hole in it, her stomach feels unsettled, and she wakes after a fitful sleep tossing and turning all night to a pounding headache with her mating gland so itchy she wants to claw it out.
Her phone rings right after she wakes up, and seeing Junho’s name on the display she grabs for it, answering quickly.
“Alpha,” she croaks into the phone, voice a whimper.
“Was your night as bad as mine?” Is the first thing he says.
“Yes,” she nods quickly. “I miss you - it hurts…”
“I know, baby. I think it’s just because the bond is so freshly sealed. Your bite itches like hell.”
“Yours too.”
“Shall I come over so we can travel to work together?”
“Yes!”
She gets up, showers and dresses as usual, then heads down to her father’s shop for breakfast, anxious to see her mate and checking her phone for the time every five minutes. He’d messaged her that he had left home already, and taking into account the morning rush hour and potential delays, Youngwoo estimates that he should be here in around twenty-five minutes.
He makes it in twenty-two, walking briskly up the street where she catches sight of him through the shop window, before he appears in the doorway, dark eyes seeking her out.
“Alpha!” Youngwoo exclaims, leaping up from her seat and running into his arms. She can vaguely hear the sounds of her father grumbling under his breath behind them as Junho folds his strong arms around her and she presses her face into his chest, breathing in his scent.
Junho bends his head, nose in her neck, and inhales deeply, mouth finding his mark on her gland and sucking it gently, her whole body relaxing under his touch.
“Alright, alright, you’re putting my customers off - go and do that somewhere else,” Her abeoji complains, shooing them away.
She extracts herself from his arms, but he sticks close to her as she goes to grab her bag, taking her lunch from her father and popping it inside. “See you later,” she bids him as she turns to head off with Junho.
She bounces along beside him happily as they head to work, chattering on about this and that, her insides thrumming with the warmth of his presence. It's strange - she had heard how mated couples spoke about the bond being tangible between them - they were forever going on about the feeling in those romance dramas Geurami made her watch with her, but Youngwoo had always assumed it was one of those things that people just said. Like the phrase ' love sick' that she'd come to learn didn't mean one was sick at all, or when Junho had told her repeatedly during her heat that she was killing him. (He'd had to assure her the first time that he wasn't in any danger of dying, and in fact just meant he was immensely enjoying the way she was kissing down his bare abdominal muscles.)
So Youngwoo had assumed the claim that one could feel a mating bond had been metaphorical, but she was surprised to learn it wasn't like that at all, and it was very apparent now after being separated from Junho all night. She feels warmer next to him - calmer and easier, and when he reaches up a hand to rub at the mating mark she'd left on his neck her whole body tingles so sharply it makes her miss her footing and stumble.
"Woah - careful," he says, grabbing her arm. "You alright?"
"Yes… I just feel… different."
Junho nods. "Me too. Good different though, right?"
She doesn't need even a second to consider it. "Good different."
When they get into work, her light mood fades a little as they ride the elevator up to their floor, knowing that in just a moment they'll have to go their separate ways and she won't see him again until lunchtime. The doors open, and as he walks together with her to her office door, she swears the whole floor is staring at them. She tugs at her coat a little uncomfortably, turning her head to give her shirt collar a subtle sniff, wondering if their combined newly mated scent was stronger than she realised.
Junho it seems, has every intention of letting the whole of Hanbada know exactly what went on between them during their time off, He stops in front of her office, pushing open her door for her, and she bobs her head at him, turning to disappear inside when she finds her arm caught in his grasp, and looks back, surprised.
"Junho ssi? Wha-"
He swallows her next words, arm looping around her small waist as he cups her jaw in his other hand and kisses her. It's brief but heated, and Youngwoo is gasping when his lips leave hers, her alpha’s mouth dropping to her neck, tongue sliding over his fresh mating bite which tingles in response. He sweeps her hair aside when he draws back, tucking it behind one ear, before he steps back and motions into her office with a polite bow of his head like he hadn't just had his tongue in her mouth in the middle of Hanbada.
Still stunned, Youngwoo turns and scuttles inside, closing the door behind her and leaning back against it with pink cheeks. She huffs a little, smoothing her hair back down from behind her ear where it covers his bite mark, cursing her alpha and his possessiveness. It was already going to be obvious enough that they were mated without giving the whole damn floor a show, but still, as she heads to her desk with a smile on her lips, Youngwoo cannot find it in herself to be angry.
--
With the amount of work she has to catch up on, the morning flies by for Youngwoo, and before she knows it, Junho’s knuckles are rapping on her door, and she looks up from her paperwork as the scent of her mate hits her before her office door opens.
She squeezes her eyes shut, adjusting to the new, potent way he makes her feel, her body warming instantly to his presence, just like it had that morning as she inhales deeply.
“Are you okay?”
She opens her eyes to see her mate watching her with a crinkle of concern in his forehead. She nods. “Yes. You just make me feel…” She trails off, not having the words.
Her alpha’s eyes darken a touch. “Likewise, baby,” he purrs. “Shall we get lunch?”
Youngwoo nods, grabbing her lunchbox and crossing the room to him, his hand on her back as he guides her from her office to the elevator.
“Will you stay over tonight?” He murmurs lowly in her ear as they wait for it to arrive.
“Yes,” she nods instantly. “I want to be with you.”
The elevator doors open and they step inside, Youngwoo feeling her alpha’s eyes burning into her before she turns to glance at him, before they’re both distracted by another worker from litigation jogging over.
“Hold the doors please!”
"Take the next one," Junho says rudely, slamming the button to close the doors before the young beta can reach them.
"Junho ssi!" Youngwoo scolds, "Why did you -"
Her back hits the elevator wall and Junho’s mouth swallows her next words, a large hand sliding down over her thigh, quickly gathering her skirt up.
"Alpha!" She gasps, little hands braced on his broad chest to push him back as his hand dips under her skirt and touches skin.
"Shh," he hushes her, warm nimble fingers gliding over the increasingly damp crotch of her panties, feeling her through them before slipping beneath to touch her bare pussy. "I just need to feel you," he begs, drawing a finger between her lips to open her up, her thighs falling apart on instinct as she lets the rumbling elevator wall take her weight. He sinks two fingers inside of her and her head tips back to meet the wall with a thud as she exhales shakily.
"You feel like heaven," he groans. "As soon as I get you home tonight I'm going to sink my cock into you here," he curls his fingers inside her just to reiterate the location, "and my teeth into you here." His thumb glides over her freshly marked mating gland on the side of her neck and Youngwoo whimpers.
"Do it now," she breathes, clutching at him.
He sucks in a sharp breath and holds still a moment, like he's contemplating, before in one swift movement he slips his fingers out and steps back, letting her skirt fall back down over quivering thighs.
The elevator pings and the doors open and Junho motions for her to go ahead with a gesture of his hand and smirk on his smug face. Frazzled, and an annoying throbbing between her thighs now, Youngwoo is left with no choice but to step out into the cafeteria with her alpha right behind her, his hand resting lightly on her lower back as if to make certain everyone knew exactly whose mate she was.
--
The first day back at work after spending his rut and her heat with his mate drags for Junho. All he can think about is getting his omega home and safely shut away behind closed doors where she’s all his . He knows it's the bond between them that was newly sealed and strengthened, driving all of his primal instincts to the surface, but knowing the cause doesn’t make it any less frustrating. A male client had knocked on Youngwoo’s office door just after lunch and gone in to see her, and it had taken everything inside of Junho not to barge in and haul him out by the scruff of his neck. His knuckles had been white where he gripped the edge of his desk to keep himself seated, and he’d bitten into his cheek so hard that by the time the man re-emerged he could taste blood.
It would be fine . It was just his hormones - he’s sure it would settle down in a few days.
A hand claps onto his shoulder, making him jump in his seat, whirling round with his teeth bared, and immediately feeling mortified when he realises it’s his supervisor.
He apologises, bowing, and thankfully the man waves him off as he drops a folder onto his desk.
“Can you run this over to the meeting room along with those letters of confirmation you printed off this morning please, Junho ssi. And maybe get a coffee before you come back.”
“Yes sir - sorry sir."
He grabs the paperwork and hastens away, telling himself to get a grip.
Minwoo and Suyeon are in the room, setting up for a meeting with a client, and he shoulders open the door with his arms full, offering them a smile in greeting (more for Suyeon’s benefit than Minwoo - he still hadn’t spoken to his roommate properly since he’d announced he was moving out out of the blue the other day).
“Junho ssi, good to see you back,” Suyeon smiles pleasantly. “How’s Youngwoo?”
“She’s good,” he smiles. “We’re good. Here’s that paperwork - I got all the letters this morning so they’re all printed off here.”
She starts to thank him when Minwoo cuts her off.
“What is that?” He says bluntly and rudely. Junho glances round to see the other alpha’s eyes on his neck.
“A mating bite,” Junho replies proudly. “I’m sure you’ve seen one before.”
Minwoo scoffs. “Yeah, on an omega. What kind of alpha are you, letting her mark you like that?”
“The kind who wants the world to know I love her.”
“Love?” Suyeon piped up. “Wow, you alphas really move fast. Does Youngwoo feel the same?”
A smile breaks out over Junho’s face, and he ducks his head with a nod. “Yeah. She does.”
--
Junho sighs, checking his watch for the fifth time that hour. Almost eight pm. He can’t believe they’re still here. He knows they both have a mountain of work to catch up on after their time off, but if it were up to him he’d have left all of his three hours ago and dealt with the consequences tomorrow since there were matters far higher on his list of priorities to attend to tonight. Like burying himself inside of his mate and covering her whole body with kisses until he could detect only the scent of himself on her.
He really hopes his hormones settle down soon.
Junho glances up as the door of her office opens, eyes bright with hope, only to see the omega close it behind herself and stride off in the other direction, file clutched in her hands. Frowning, Junho gets up from his desk and follows after her, drawn to her like a magnet as his legs carry him down the corridor towards Attorney Jung’s darkened office.
The senior attorney clearly having already left for the night, Junho finds her inside lining up the file neatly in the centre of his desk, placing a sticky note on top of it.
“Are you following me?” She asks without turning round, and Junho smiles and steps inside the office, closing the door behind himself.
“Yes,” he says without pretence.
She turns to face him as he crosses the space steadily to her, crowding her up against the desk and enjoying the way her scent spikes with arousal at his proximity. He smiles, lifting a hand to brush the backs of his fingers over her cheek.
“Alpha… I - I still have work to do,” she breathes shakily.
“So do I,” he rumbles, lips on her neck. “Hard… hard work…” He drives his hips into hers to make his point, and delights in the gasp it squeezes from her.
“Are you - talking about work work,” she says, breathless as her small hands grip the desk edge either side of her, “or are you using the term work to refer to lovemaking?”
“You catch on quick,” he smiles into her skin, before hoisting her up to sit her on the desk. A pot tips over, pens scattering across their boss’s desk, and papers slip to the floor as she gasps and shoves him backwards.
“Junho ssi!” She scolds, scrambling off the desk and whirling round to tidy it hastily. “This paperwork is for a case!”
Sighing, he glances around the spacious office, gaze landing on the sofa, and he smiles, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind while she’s still fussing with the desk.
“Two choices,” he says lowly. “Either you go lay down on the sofa and take those wet panties off, or I bend you over and have you right here.”
She gasps when he presses his erection into her butt from behind, arms flailing a little.
“Alpha,” she utters, gasping again when he licks at her gland. She gives a squeak that his cock reacts to, throbbing in his pants.
“What’ll it be?” He prompts.
“I - sofa! Sofa!” She gasps when his tongue glides over the soft, shiny patch of pink flesh that jumps under his touch.
He releases her so she can scuttle out of his arms, watching as she rushes across the room and kicks off her shoes, before wriggling her underwear down from beneath her skirt, stepping out of them and leaving them on the floor. She throws herself onto the sofa, laying back against the arm and holding out a hand, fingers wriggling keenly. Junho grins as he walks over to her, unbuttoning his pants.
“Good choice, little one.”
--
“Morning everyone,” Attorney Jung greets them the following day as he walks into his office with a file in hand, all of them seated around the table with notebooks open, ready for the briefing on the new case he’d assigned them all to.
Suyeon sits next to Youngwoo, with Minwoo across from her, and Junho opposite Youngwoo. She’s been trying not to look at him, cheeks pink when she thinks about what she and her mate had gotten up to in this very room just last night. What was supposed to have been a quickie had turned into… a little more than that, when he’d sunk into her and she’d been startled to feel his knot pressing against her entrance.
“I thought your - your rut had finished?” She’d gasped.
“It has,” Junho replied through gritted teeth as his hips had circled, bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. "I guess sometimes you just still affect me like that, little one."
It had taken a little work for him to coax her open enough to take his knot, but Youngwoo had been quite proud of the fact that she had, content to lay tangled with him on the sofa afterwards for the good half hour it had taken for it to go down while she chattered about the case they were working on.
"Before we begin,” their boss says, tossing a file down onto the desk and jolting Youngwoo from her memories of the previous night. “You know how there was that altercation in Attorney Kim's office last month?"
Youngwoo had heard about that - a disgruntled client who had been unhappy with his settlement had taken it out on the senior lawyer, tackling him across the table with both of them ending up with a bloody nose, and the attacker two cracked ribs from where he’d landed on the table edge. He’d then gone on to attempt to sue Attorney Kim for aggravated assault, and since they’d been no witnesses present it had all turning into a bit of a mess.
“Right, that trial’s this week isn’t it?” Suyeon pipes up.
“Yes,” Myungseok answers. “Well, after that, Hanbada decided to install security cameras in each of the main offices,” he says, and then points to the corner of the room. Junho chokes on the mouthful of water he’d been sipping, coughing loudly, and Youngwoo looks round, her eyes widening as she sees something she’d missed before; a tiny camera nestled into the corner by the ceiling, little red light indicating it was recording.
“That being said,” their boss continues, “I’m sure we won’t need to delete any more footage going forward, will we?”
Youngwoo opens her mouth to ask for clarification, but Junho beats her to it.
“Absolutely not.”
“Wait - why would you delete footage?” Minwoo pipes up, only for Sueyon to elbow him in the ribs and nod towards Youngwoo and Junho.
“What do you - oh . Oh, god, seriously!? Like it wasn’t bad enough all over my apartment,” he complains.
“It wasn’t all over the apartment Attorney Kwon,” Youngwoo corrects. “We didn’t go into your room at all.”
“Great, thanks so much for that.”
“You’re welcome,” she replies politely.
Their boss loudly clears his throat. “Shall we get onto this case?”
They all turn their attention to the paperwork he hands out, but Youngwoo, still feeling a little embarrassed at the knowledge that their activities had been caught on camera, can’t resist a glance up at Junho across the table from her. He catches her eye and winks at her, and Youngwoo squirms in her seat as her body answers his flirtation readily, her mind cursing him for having such a hold on her.
She decides later that night, when she’s pinned safely beneath him in his bed and his lips are suckling gently at his mark on her neck, that she wouldn’t have it any other way.
--