설탕

............𝒯𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒............

(Thank you so much for 1k reads! I really appreciate it. Now back to the story!)

"But you weren't thinking as a leader," Manager-nim shakes his head, a knowing look in his eyes, "You were thinking as an alpha."

The younger scowls in offense, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Were you thinking about any of the other boys when you said it?" He asks, unimpressed; Chan's face falls and his body sinks in shame. "Were you thinking about yourself and how it would affect you? What would you have done if they asked you to leave? If Stay asked you to leave?"

Chan worries his bottom lip, feeling guilty but trying to cling to what is left of his pride. "They wouldn't have kicked me out..."

"But they could have. And if you were gone, think about how all the rest of the group would have suffered: you're the oldest, the leader, and the main producer. The boys all look up to you, look to you as the responsible voice of reason; do you think Stray Kids would be able to last without you? What would your parents think if you returned home permanently this time because of a single, last second, comment? Changbin and Jisung  would break under the pressure of producing so many songs on their own, Minho would have to become the new leader without a choice in the matter, and Felix... Felix would be alone without his best friend, without his slice of home away from home, probably hating himself for being the reason you're gone. Don't you think that Yongbok would resent his presentation even more from that? As a leader, Chan-ah, you should have considered all of this beforehand; you should have considered the possible impact it could have had on your career and, consequently, all of your pack. And this is why I'm upset with you: you gave into your pheromones... actually, more like Yongbok's pheromones, to be exact..."

He feels the tip of his ears flush, pulling the beanie down to hide his embarrassment; he decides to defend himself even if the implication settling between them was futile to deny, "He was distressed and as an alpha-"

"Your first instinct was to protect your omega."

"I-"

"Your mate."

Chan goes rigid in his seat, staring at their manager in both apprehension and humiliation. How would he have known that already? Were they that obvious?

"I-I don't- Felix is not-"

"Maybe not yet but you did confess yesterday, right?"

The younger begins to panic, mouth opening and closing uselessly as any sort of lie or excuse leaves his head. He could just say no, just say that the omega was his little Australian brother, like he has always done before... But why does it feel like venom on his tongue now? Felix isn't even here, he wouldn't even have to know; and it's not even like he was really  friend-zoning him, bro-zoning him. He's just lying to protect their interests-

"Actually, I don't want to know." Manager-nim dismisses the inquiry, adding a little softer, "At least then, if your relationship gets out to the public, I could claim ignorance."

It felt like a knife to the gut, Chan's mouth grumbling out without a second thought, "You wouldn't support that, either..."

"Of course I want the two of you to be happy," the older starts, causing the other to lift his gaze hopefully, "But the interest of the group is my priority: if you guys get caught, all of that is reflecting on me for allowing it and I will be fired."

Disappointment blooms, the resentment coming back as his lips press into a thin line.

"Hey, don't give me that look: I'm not saying my career is more important, that's not it at all," Manager-nim scolds, "I'm saying me being there for all of the other kids when the two of you get forced out for the violation of your contract is what matters to me most because my professional responsibilities come first. The Australians of the group are a major publicity point of Stray Kids: just like Yongbok's deep voice and your hard work as well as frequent interactions with Stay. You guys are a constant in the kids' life: it would be even worse to lose their leader, ace, and manager in all the same day, right?"

"Hyung, you're acting like you're sure we're going to get caught... We would be careful and- and if we knew you had our backs then-"

"Hypothetically speaking, of course?" the older adds, a brow raised in a reminder that he didn't want to know.

Chan nods his head, "Yes, hypothetically, if we could just be ourselves around the boys and you then I think- I think we would be fine."

Manager-nim sighs, a sadness in his eyes as he pulls onto the side of the street in front of the dorm. He turns off the car and shifts in the driver's seat to fully look at the younger. "I truly, from the bottom of my heart, want to tell you to go for it and that I'm so proud and happy for you... but I can't support this. You're not my little, naïve teen foreigners anymore; you are successful and wise adults that are making this decision by yourselves so I can't technically do anything to stop you, but I think this is bad timing for such a risky move with how delicate your reputations are as Stray Kids continue to rise in popularity. You guys are being watched more, people are noticing and recognizing you; the fandom has nearly tripled since God's Menu. As your manager, as your hyung... I am hypothetically advising against this and won't be there to back you up in the fall out."

The hurt is more than the frustration, but Chan finds himself lashing out all the same, "We wouldn't even be asking you to do anything! Just to silently support from the sidelines, pretend you don't see anything if we were holding hands or something off camera-"

"I'm already sticking my neck out for Felix," he scrubs a hand over his face, "I bought those suppressants and scent creams and paid off the camera man with my own money to keep his presentation a secret. And you can go assume that it was all personal gain for me and that I don't care about you guys but the fact that he is actually not a beta despite his papers saying so is not the main problem here (that would fall back on me for falsifying documents saying him and Innie had presented when they didn't and I would be fired but they would be relatively fine. A lot of young idols get false records of their presentation so they can debut sooner; normally it isn't a problem because their presentation is pretty much assumed by the age of sixteen)."

Chan's brow furrows in confusion, "Yeah, you are keeping it a secret so you don't get fired-"

"No, I'm keeping it a secret because if Yongbok is confirmed as an omega in the company... he will be in violation of some omega-specific clauses in his contract right now, three to be exact; and I can assure that even my replacement wouldn't be able to fight them on it. You know how much the industry prefers its betas..."

The Aussie's eyes widen, attention rapt at the look of wariness on his manager's face. "Clauses... like what?"