Far along in the outskirts of Pyeonghwa, was the ruined land of Baek. Though once a powerful kingdom, it has now been ravished and overtaken by ruthless alphas.
Just at the edge of the land, was a docked pirate ship.
"I said your worst outfit Jas," Kyro eyed the beta.
"And it is. This shirt is so ugly. It's not even pink!" She exclaimed.
The captain rolled his eyes. Ian came towards her and ripped the bottom of her shirt.
"What'd you do that for?" She complained.
"It's ugly right? So it doesn't matter," the boy shrugged. Jasmine huffed.
"Do we have to do this?" She asked, hating that she had to be apart of the mission.
"You don't. I gave the job to Jain. You're the one who wanted to protect your lover," Kyro corrected. Jasmine crossed her arms in annoyance.
"So, you're ready?" The Captain asked.
Ian nodded. He was excited. This was his first real mission. As the youngest of the crew he was never allowed to go on missions and mainly stayed on deck to protect the ship. He understood why since he had yet to present until recently. But now that he could, he was determined to prove his worth to them and successfully complete the mission.
Jasmine simply sighed and put her hand on the younger boy's shoulder. She shot the captain a dirty look before her eyes glowed pink as they vanished.
The Queen read the King's letter.
'The contract simply states that if everything goes accordingly, he shall move there to build a relationship with your son. Everything went better than we expected so there really is no need for it. They're enjoying their time right now. We're in a time of war and I don't want to have my son in a new environment with nothing to do. He's a lot useful here. Also, there's still a few years before he becomes King. There's no need to rush.
-King Woohyung.
Soojin already had her pen and paper out knowing he was going to argue and began writing out her reply.
The next morning she asked Jongho if he could deliver the message but the boy respectfully declined.
"I have work to do," he told her.
"And why are you arguing with the King anyway?"
"Arguing?" Jiwoo exclaimed.
"We are not arguing. It's simply a formal dispute," she remarked confidently.
"And I'm sure, with this," she held up the letter, "it will all be over," she smirked.
Jongho rolled his eyes at his mother's childish behavior and stood up.
"I'll deliver it," San spoke.
Everybody turned to him a bit surprised.
"Are you sure?" Soojin asked.
The beta smiled and nodded, taking the letter from his mother's hand.
Hongjoong felt restless. He knew what he was trying to do but he didn't know how to go about it.
If he has abilities, doesn't that mean he's a beta? But he's born under the fire sign? A fire beta?! But those are extremely rare! Even so, didn't he say he was born with them? So he could have presented as anything.
The alpha sighed. He walked down the small bridge that lead to the main area.
"Hey Hongjoong. What are you doing?" Yunho asked.
"Not much," he answered quietly.
"Great! Can you help me? I need somebody to spar with."
"No thank you," Hongjoong declined.
"What? Why?"
"I don't feel like it. Besides, I don't know how to use a sword."
"Please! I feel like I'm going to go crazy if I don't practice with someone," Yunho begged.
"Don't you always do it with Mingi? Go ask him."
Yunho scowled at the name. The younger had made him upset and he's not even sure he knows why.
"Mingi's being annoying," Yunho mumbled.
Hongjoong chuckled dryly at that.
"I see he finally got tired of it."
"Tired of what?" Yunho asked
"Playing nice guy."
Yunho stared at the alpha expecting an explanation but it never came. Instead, he was insulted.
"You're such an idiot," Hongjoong gave him a look of dismay.
Yunho became upset.
"Hey! I'm still-"
"What? You're still the prince? So I have to show you respect?" The alpha mocked. He chuckled.
"This is why Mingi's being annoying."
"You don't even know what happened," Yunho remarked.
"And I don't need to. It's quite obvious. You're the only one not getting it," Hongjoong stated simply.
"Get what? What did I do?!"
Hongjoong sighed for the millionth time today.
"You can't get what you want, without giving what you want. There's some things even the highest of people can't escape from."
With that, Hongjoong turned around and headed back to his room.
When San reached the Jung castle, he found the King in the courtroom and greeted him.
"It's nice to see you! Are you feeling better?" The King asked.
San looked at him very confused.
"Well you're definitely looking a lot better than my son," he added. San voiced his understanding.
"Aahh! Well, I decided to come and talk to him," San said sheepishly. It was weird talking to the King about this.
"That's good. Hope you figure yourselves out," he smiled.
San gave the King the letter before leaving and he quickly opened it.
'It's still a term in the contract. You can't breach it without facing the consequences. Jongho is going to be King. He's already learning how to rule a kingdom and be dutiful to his people. He needs to learn how to do it properly with his future mate by his side. I'm going to take your next reply as a breach in our contract.'
-Queen Soojin.
Woohyung was angry but decided to give it a break. He didn't want to reply while he was upset.
When San knocked on Wooyoung's door, there was no reply. He opened the door and entered but the room was empty. He went to the courtyard expecting to find him but all he saw was an upset and confused Yunho sitting in the resting area. He ran up to him and tapped him startling the omega.
"Oh my heavens! San!" He breathed.
"What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk to Wooyoung but he's not in his room so I came here."
"He's busy. Father finally forced him out of his room."
"How about you? You look fine," Yunho asked the beta.
"I'm alright I guess. I just hoped we could talk, but maybe next time. What are you doing?" San asked.
"Having problems of my own," Yunho whined.
"What's wrong?"
Yunho looked at the beta curiously. San was a kind person who always tried to help whenever he could so he figured there was no harm in telling him. He decided to explain everything that's happened to him knowing San would help.
"And then he called me an idiot! Can you believe that?!" Yunho finished. San stared at the prince completely dumbfounded.
"You know, I'm not really happy with Hongjoong right now but he's right," San spoke.
"Not you too?! How? And please explain with words I can actually understand," Yunho pleaded.
"Like Hongjoong said, you can't get what you want without giving what you want. You can't treat Mingi like a servant or just expect him to always be there without giving him what he deserves as your partner. You're too used to him always being nice and letting things slide and you probably don't realize because you've subconsciously been keeping him at a distance. Mingi understood that so he never crossed it. But now that you're in a relationship, you can't expect it to be the same," San explained. Yunho was still slightly confused.
"What does that even mean?"
San sighed.
"Right now, I just agreed with Hongjoong that you were an idiot. Why didn't you get mad at me?" San asked.
"Because...you're my friend," Yunho replied.
"Exactly! But if that guard over there came and called you an idiot, you'd get mad and reprimand him right?" Yunho nodded.
"See! That's because he's not somebody you're close to. He doesn't deserve that right. Mingi's not stupid. He knows you're the prince, and he was most likely going to apologize anyway. But then you come and start to rebuke him like he's a simple guard when he's not only a friend but your lover. That's very demeaning."
Yunho felt bad. He started to realize that he's always been like that. He'd always treated the younger like it was an honour for him to be his friend but Mingi never minded. He'd always listen to him and followed him everywhere. If he wasn't guarding Yeosang, he was practicing with Yunho or helping him with his studies and duties around the castle.
Whenever Yunho was sad, he would be there for him and when Yunho was hiding because he was upset, Mingi always found him.
"Also!" San raised his voice a little startling the omega.
"Why would you pick her up?! She didn't break her leg, she sprained her arm. That's just going to make him more upset," San scolded.
"Why would he be upset?" Yunho asked.
"Wow you really are an idiot," San said a little exasperated.
"Don't you understand how this whole thing started? It's because he's jealous! Do you know how many times you mentioned Na Young when you were speaking? Even I was starting to feel jealous and this is not even my relationship!" San exclaimed.
Yunho was shocked. He didn't think for a second that Mingi would be jealous of him and Na young. There was no reason for him to be.
"Why would he? I told him I loved him," Yunho stated a bit dumbly.
"You have to show it Yunho. You can't just say you love him then fraternize with someone else," San answered. Yunho just sat there, his mind wandering all over the place.
I was just worried about her. And we're just friends. I'm not going to leave Mingi for her or anything. Never.
But San's right. Mingi's simply acting the way I was treating him. Wait...so is that how he felt the whole time? Like he couldn't speak freely around me or he had to be careful of his words?
Yunho's vision became blurry.
I need to ask him. I have to apologize.
"I..I have to go!" He said fidgety before running the opposite direction.
He ran frantically looking for the alpha. He checked everywhere but couldn't find him. He asked his brothers if they had seen him but they both just shook their head. He didn't even know what to say or how he was going fix it, he just needed to find him first. But he couldn't.
Yunho began to cry. He felt terrible. This whole time he was mad at him and being mean to him when he was the one who was wrong.
A few of the Kingsmen passed by and saw him crying and began whispering amongst one another.
"Isn't that the prince? Why's he crying?"
"I don't know. I've never seen him cry before."
"Well, he is an omega after all. You know they can't help their emotions."
"You're right. Let's hurry. We can't keep the King waiting."
"Didn't he want to discuss ascension of the throne?"
"Yes. It's obviously going to be Yeosang right?" "Most likely. He is the only legitimate."
Their voices faded as they walked away but their words remained and echoed in the prince's mind. Yunho stood completely frozen and filled with dread. There was no way that could be true. He wiped his tears and refused to believe it. Not until he talked to his father at least.
He continued to look for Mingi but it was to no avail. He checked the meeting room and found Na Young holding a scroll. She bowed.
"Good evening sir. The King gave me this before he left and asked if you could deliver it to the Choi kingdom for him," she said.
She was feeling better even though her arm was still bandaged.
"Do you know where Mingi is?" He asked her.
"I think he went to the Jeon kingdom to do something for the King. I'm not sure though," she answered.
Yunho nodded and took the scroll from her before leaving. He climbed his horse and headed towards the forest garden, a shortcut to the Choi kingdom.
On his way, all he could think about was what the kingsmen were talking about.
Father wouldn't do that right? He never told me I was going to be King because he never had to. It's obvious. I'm the oldest, he convinced himself.
His horse suddenly became afraid from the loud thunder and jumped, causing him to fall off as it ran away. The scroll flew out of his hand and fell into a muddy puddle.
He became frustrated as his clothes were now dirty and he had to go look for his horse. He picked up the scroll and became upset when it was wet and muddy. He opened it to check if the message was still readable but was shocked and very much hurt with what he read.
'Yeosang is going to become King as well and he's already learning the basics. It does not need to be done together. That is something
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'
The rest of the scroll had been ruined by dirty mud water. Yunho started to cry. He was heartbroken. This was something he dreaded his whole life. The same reason why he hated being an omega. But it clearly didn't even matter. His father simply had not even considered him.
He dropped the scroll and ran straight for the shed. He wanted to be alone where nobody could find him. Not even Mingi.
A/N🤭🤭🤭 hehehehe
-K.