The King's Swan | Jikook |

Chapter 3: The Son of the Minister

       At the same time, Jimin was rushed into a house after being dragged by the alpha, Namjoon. Jimin stumbled into the quiet, wooden, yet durable house with a variety of multicolored silks hung up and stitched properly at the entrance; completely binding the room like curtains. Jimin looked around the familiar place until he let out a sigh or two after being rushed in. Carefully, Jimin began to unfold the parchment to further latch his eyes onto the painting of the swan he had requested earlier.

     "Taehyung, where are you?" Namjoon called out with the usual hint of worry he would carry in his voice. Within seconds, the silk fabric that hung in front of another entry from a room, parted and out stepped an omega with big, bright, brown, eyes. He looked up with his usual smile that began to radiate like the sun beaming on a hot day, "There you are..." The alpha whispered into a sigh of relief. Namjoon was always the type to worry every time Jimin managed to get into situations like this. However, Namjoon just couldn't get used to it, at least not yet.

     "What do you want? What brings you to my precious home at a time like this, alphas?" Taehyung persisted, approaching the two before adjusting the slight wrinkles over his long skirt to his cream-colored hanbok. "Oh that's Jimin smelling like an alpha... again."

    "Please be quiet... I had no intention to get another scent stuck onto me," Jimin whispered. The young man grew red as he looked at the other omega standing and staring. "Taehyung, can you help me remove this sc-"

    "Of course I will, if I didn't, well... we all know what your father would say. Jimin, how do you get into these situations?" Taehyung wondered, walking Jimin and Namjoon to what seemed to be a wooden tub within a secluded room. "For your sake... and mine, please stay home."

     "Yes, please do," stressed Namjoon as he sat on a wooden bucket flipped upside-down. Jimin slowly stepped in, hugging the parchment to his chest, and slowly looking upon the tub that seemed to be filled already with the water from The Omega River; a river available to omegas to rinse off any scent of alphas or even scents of pregnancy. This gave Jimin a dirty feeling from his friend, as if Taehyung already knew the trouble Jimin would get himself into today. Jimin was always seen as the childish, curious, little omega of the group and at times like these, it seemed to weigh him down when his friends would have the habit of assuming many things.

     "Why does it appear to be filled already?" Jimin whispered, but to his dismay, Namjoon managed to catch every breath and whisper due to his heightened hearing as an alpha.

     "Because knowing how beautifully curious you are, we knew what was coming. Park Jimin... you can't keep being seen with just any alpha! You could be married off soon and rumors aren't a good way to start something off."

     "He's right, Jimin. As much as you hate hearing what the alphas have to say about things, you need to understand that if an omega has a bad reputation, no one wants them... Imagine me with a bad reputation, how could I ever marry? It would be impossible. So, we say this because we love you," Taehyung tagged along. With that, Jimin let out a sigh and stared at the painting once more. Jimin looked at the painting as a mere memory of the alpha who actually listened to him this morning. The man was able to leave such a good impression on the omega and it showed when he would look at the swan. The swan never looked this beautiful to Jimin before.

    "Oh how I despise the way everyone looks at alphas. I guess we should all respect just how perfect they are!" Bickered the omega as he set the painting aside and began to remove the silk ribbon (a goreum) to his upper coat (a jeogori). With that, Namjoon stood up and walked out of the room. Standing right against the wall; separating the view from Jimin.

     "We get it, Jimin. You don't like the way society holds us alphas up, but that does not mean you can run around with them all day as if you are at their level. You must respect them eventually. That will make you a good omega to marry," Namjoon uttered.

     It was true, the way alphas were praised in the world seemed unfair to Jimin since he was an omega; a rank that was set all the way at the bottom. Jimin was created to please his alpha and built to raise pups, there was no winning in a life chosen for an omega like him. However, that's what made Jimin feel so pretentious around other alphas and this is what made him show off how independent he could truly be. Yet, no one took him seriously, no one but the handsome alpha he crossed paths with this morning.

     "It feels like I'm nothing but a jewel to them. My purpose is to be perfect and beautiful, to please them, and make them look good, am I not? The world's view is disgusting and cruel to me and other omegas alike," Jimin pouted. The omega then sat in the tub, eying the painting he set over a table. "The alpha I met at the river this morning was charming, his omega must be the happiest in the world just knowing that they have an alpha who looks past these roles, and respects their utmost wishes."

     "What is his name?" Taehyung whispered, seeming intrigued as he began to scrub Jimin's hair with an infused recipe crafted for omegas to wash off a scent.

      "He told me his name was 'Yeong-hwa' he's visiting from another village and he looks very young," Jimin spoke with the most fascinated gasp in his voice. The omega was charmed as he closed his eyes and remembered him clearly. "He wore white and straw shoes, he's a commoner, but he knew how to respect me no matter what I said. No alpha has ever treated me like that... No one ever."

     "Hey, maybe he respected you because you were born in an upper class, genius," Namjoon retorted, leaning against the wall and facing away. "If you told him you were a commoner, he would treat you badly. I tell you this because it's obvious."

     "You don't know if he would treat me differently, Namjoon! I asked him to paint me a swan and he did. Do you know how big of a difference that is? Any other alpha would look at me and turn the other way or ask me where my father is so they could talk about marriage. This man, he-"

      "Park Jimin, you are an upper class omega and son of the Minister. Don't make yourself look foolish over an alpha you just met, a commoner at best! You fall for the wrong things and as your guardian and a fellow alpha, do not go against my words. I speak for your Father when I say, stay home and work on your omega training," Namjoon argued. It took every bit of the alpha's humble soul to scold Jimin everytime he would end up having to get an alpha's scent washed off. Namjoon thought of this as tough love, he was more of an older brother to Jimin who had to look out for the omega, and Taehyung was always the one to sympathize with Jimin in any situation.

     "I think he sounds lovely," Taehyung whispered to Jimin. The younger omega pitied Jimin and always related to him as an omega himself. It was tough to be an omega and Taehyung understood it, but what was invisible to what meets the eye, was being a first-born son of a powerful man. In which, all eyes rested on the son of the minister, Park Jimin. Watching his every movement like his life depended on it.