Chapter Text
Inho lived better than him, more than Gihun could have imagined. He thought of the mansions of spoiled children in the television programs that played on some mother's television in his childhood, where the big mansion always had a fountain and was surrounded with colorful animals and maids and butlers here and there.
It wasn't as far from reality as he once thought.
Inho lived like a king in a large bone-white house with wooden details that seemed implanted directly from the tree, and decorated with cold lights that screamed; "my light bulb is worth more than your entire house, Gihun".
He could swear that even the toilet paper was worth more than the entire apartment he lived in before being kidnapped by Inho.
Kidnapped with the permission of his own mother.
He could still feel the nausea churning through his stomach at the thought that his sweet mother had so easily handed him over to an unknown alpha with a gentle smile who promised millions upon millions of privileges to her useless son.
Now that he thought about it, it didn't sound bad. Not when it was Inho who was describing it.
Gihun clenched his fists, gripping the small wheeled suitcase tightly as he stared at the large dark oak doors in front of him, hesitating slightly as the alpha beside him looked at something on his cell phone before the doors were pushed open by two well-dressed men.
The omega shifted uncomfortably as he watched the two well-dressed men bow in greeting to the alpha, who simply ignored them and continued on his way with the same icy expression on his face.
Gihun watched as the men remained in the same position, this time pointing at him, which made him move quickly in panic as he looked at the large interior of the huge house that screamed lots and lots of money every time he saw it. He felt small at every tiny expensive looking thing that passed before his vision, making him blush at how he was dressed in front of such works of art.
"Omega." A deep voice was heard coming from one of the long hallways of the house, confusing the omega as he couldn't identify where the voice came from, starting to sweat as he thought he was taking too long.
Until another well-dressed man approached him, avoiding eye contact and led him down one of the long hallways until they stopped in front of the alpha who was looking at his phone before looking up, paying attention to Gihun.
Gihun looked down in shame for a few seconds. Inho dismissed the butler with a vague hand signal and opened the dark oak door, revealing a simple room not unlike the large house.
The omega felt disheartened as he looked at the large room as if he was looking at the sky right now, marveling at the size of the loft bed and what appeared to be the bathroom, dazzled by the furniture and the dressing table in front of the bed.
"Whoa, I..." Gihun tried to say something but it was as if his tongue had been cut off by someone as soon as he saw the room, gulping and clenching his fists on the handle of the wheeled suitcase.
Inho entered the room still with the cell phone in his hand, ignoring the presence of the omega who was gasping in amazement at everything. The alpha deftly removed his grey coat and laid it on the large bed before another man in a pink suit picked up the garment and quickly carried it away.
The silence made Gihun slightly uncomfortable, but he preferred to be uncomfortable in silence than to be uncomfortable talking to that stranger who barely noticed him.
"Omega." The alpha's commanding voice sent another disturbing shiver down Gihun's spine, forcing him to stand at attention and await orders. "You will stay here, you will not go beyond the garden and you will always be accompanied." Inho said directly, looking at the omega for a millisecond before turning back to his cell phone and walking towards the door of the room.
Gihun stood there dumbfounded, words hanging in his mouth as the slam of the door closing filled the room. He could only hold on to his small suitcase while biting his lower lip.
He thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad, he tried to be positive. With time he would get used to it, it's a comfortable life. He has a bed, air conditioning, quality food, clothes that cover his skin from the cold.
But with the detail that he would share his daily life with an alpha who does not speak to her and controls all his movements with suffocating threads.
And all this while waiting for the arrival of a puppy.
Gihun took a short breath, thinking as he looked down at his plate of food.
There was no one in front of him, just an empty chair. A reminder that he has been alone ever since he arrived.
Gihun instinctively clenched his fists at the feeling of extreme loneliness, biting his lower lip as his right leg moved in a nervous rhythm. He was lucky that the pregnancy symptoms weren't so strong the first few weeks, so he could move freely around the areas that Inho allowed him.
His steps were somewhat slow every time he walked through the long corridors of the enormous house, because he was in no hurry to see the same thing every day. At first Gihun saw everything with amazement, but now he only sighed as he saw the same things every day in deep solitude.
One day, tired of the fact that the only place he could explore outside the house was the garden, he dressed in the only clothes he had brought from his old home and left his room with little money in his pocket.
Gihun walked through the halls, successfully and surprisingly avoiding the uniformed men by pretending to go to the bathroom or get a snack, and managed to locate the door that led to the garden. As he emerged into the large farm of lush green plants, he looked around for his exit; a broken window where the uniformed men kept the rarest plants.
It was like a glass house, barely a fifth of the size of the big house, but it was larger than Gihun's old house. That made him feel a little bad, he felt humiliated and somewhat envious that even if he worked his ass off, he would never be able to have even one of the thousands of beds that Inho had.
But he tried not to focus on that, he wasn't there to wallow in his own jealousy but to get out of that golden prison. Gihun skillfully climbed out of the window, taking advantage of his flexibility and still thin body.
He couldn't help but thank the heavens that his pregnancy hadn't affected his flexibility, at least not yet since he was only a few weeks along.
The omega bit his lower lip as he stepped out of the window and landed successfully on green grass soft enough to not cause Gihun any pain. He smiled proudly before standing up and running through the completely empty area filled with more plants and some trees.
Was he in a field? Gihun asked himself when he saw nothing around him. He couldn't recognize anything, because there was nothing to recognize.
Gihun fidgeted nervously in his spot before looking back, hoping to hear something that would warn him that he was being followed. Not noticing anything, he walked further into the green grass while fiddling with his hands.
And so a few minutes passed.
The only thing that accompanied Gihun was the cold breeze from outside and his own footsteps on the endless grass. Gihun hummed, feeling frustrated at not finding anything but plants and grass.
His inner omega shifted uncomfortably, warning him of someone's presence. Gihun looked up from his feet and looked around in some panic before noticing a small, faint light in the distance that stood out from the dim light provided by the almost hidden sun.
He could also detect a delicious and enticing smell of food that made his stomach growl. Lately he has been feeling even hungrier than usual, before he could bear not eating until dinner.
But now he can't even bear to skip breakfast because then the colic attacks him fiercely, as if he were in a war.
Gihun stopped thinking and walked faster in search of the origin of the delicious smell of homemade food, food like the one his mother made for him after school.
He hadn't realized how much he missed his mother, how much he missed his friends, how much he missed leaving home to spend time in the company of the people he loved most.
It was sad to be locked up. Even with everything at hand, he felt alone.
And a pregnant omega shouldn't be alone, he should be with his alpha. Even if the omega doesn't love his alpha.
Because omegas are very sensitive, and as pregnancy affects their hormones like never before, they become overly sensitive to the feeling of loneliness. Because the puppy in the womb needs the warmth of its parents equally
Gihun knew it, his mother had taken it upon herself to tell him all the traditional habits and obligations of an omega and an alpha. An omega always had to be careful which alpha he associated with, because no one wanted a marked omega.
Because it was like bathing with used water.
Before, he used to downplay it because before he didn't care about having an annoying alpha who would only cause stress by wanting to control him.
But now it hurt. Because if one day he wanted to separate from Inho, no one would want him.
Society would reject him for not being able to satisfy his alpha to the point that he would abandon him with a newborn puppy.
His daughter would suffer without her father around, and the last thing Gihun wanted was for his unborn daughter to feel sad about the absence of a father.
His steps stopped when he noticed a small, lonely, sparsely populated food stand. Gihun stood there for a few seconds, thinking about how he had entertained himself with the sea of worries all the way.
The omega just sighed and walked towards the stand that was attended by a very kind older woman who greeted him with a big smile.
Gihun couldn't help but think of his mother as he watched the old beta cook some Kimchi.
The woman, named Geum-ja, served him the bowl of kimchi with the same kindness with which she received it while keeping her eyes on him. Gihun shifted nervously in his wooden seat before thanking for the food, eating slowly with satisfaction.
"Eggs are good during pregnancy." The old woman said with a soft, understanding smile that almost made Gihun fall from his seat in surprise.
The omega looked at her with bulging eyes as he stopped eating, tightening his grip on his cutlery with a powerful red adorning his cheeks. "W-What?" Gihun looked at the beta woman, it was surprising that a beta could detect the scent of omega or alpha pheromones.
"You didn't know?" Geum-ja said, now it was her turn to be surprised. "I thought since you were older than two weeks you knew that..." She smiled nervously, waving her hands nervously.
"Oh, no, no!" Gihun blushed deeply with embarrassment. "Yes, I knew that! It's just that... Umm.." He turned his doe eyes to his plate, thinking of a way to explain himself without being too rude.
"Did you think that because I'm a beta I wouldn't notice it in your scent?" The old woman smiled with her arms crossed, feeling somewhat smug at Gihun's surprise. "Oh, you young people know nothing."
The omega laughed a little at the woman's mocking attitude while maintaining the same cheeky smile on his wrinkled face, making him calm his embarrassment at Geum-ja's smile.
"Sorry... I just haven't seen many betas notice the pheromones of other castes." Gihun muttered before eating one of the boiled eggs on his plate of Kimchi.
The old beta raised both eyebrows. "Well, many betas fail to detect it because they don't try." She tilted her head as the omega ate silently. "You're not from here, are you?"
The omega was surprised, this woman knew how to read him very well or maybe he was a walking open book that gave too obvious clues about his situation.
He wondered if this woman could know that he was not here by will. Gihun calmed those thoughts, it was not smart to involve people other than himself in his own problems.
"Well... No.." The omega smiled somewhat sadly as he chewed his food slowly. "I'm very far from home." He tried not to be too obvious.
"I see, you have a distinct high accent." Gihun looked at her in confusion, all his life he thought that everyone spoke the same. But now that she mentioned it, Geum-ja spoke a little more abruptly than he did, if it weren't for the gentle smile on the old lady's face anyone might think she was angry.
He just looked away. "I hadn't noticed." Geum-ja tilted her head with some curiosity as she noticed the sadness on the omega's puppy face.
"What's a lonely omega like you doing here?" She raised a questioning eyebrow, forcing Gihun to shrink in place. "And especially without his alpha?"
The omega could only look at the beta in surprise, thinking about what to say as his hands gripped his cutlery with some force, should he tell her the truth and ask for help? Or lie and pretend everything was okay?
But nothing was okay.
He felt alone and belittled, unheard and ignored.
In that golden prison where no one heard his cries, where no one cared about his safety.
Where his alpha barely saw him, and when he did he only reminded him of what he had to do every day.
This was the only human conversation he had had after what seemed like centuries.
He missed his mother. Jung-Bae, all those who loved and cared for him.
"I-"
"He was just going for a walk, but he got lost on the way home." That demanding voice came out of nowhere, just like the calloused and strong hand of the one who was now unfortunately his alpha.
Gihun glanced at the alpha with terror flooding his veins as he returned a cold stare. Inho's gaze made the omega stand at attention and wait for orders.
"Oh." Geum-ja looked at the couple with some suspicion thanks to the terrified expression on the omega's face that only grew smaller instead. "I-I see..." Inho's icy gaze made her cringe in distrust as well.
"Let's go home." He said, taking Gihun's slender arm to force him to stand as he placed the money on the stall's wooden table, paying for the dish. "Thanks for the meal." Inho turned around while pulling the omega who was just shaking
Geum-ja looked at the couple with concern and stretched, leaning over the table to make sure the omega didn't get hurt. She felt fear when Gihun disappeared down the dirt road to a luxurious white car, making her feel insecure as the omega shifted in fear against the alpha's grip.
The beta left through the back door of her post, determined to run to the big limo to rescue that poor omega.
But when she went out she found nothing but the smoke coming out of the car, leaving her with nothing.