Chapter Text
To Yoojin, who expected nothing extraordinary from life, being riddled with overpowered little brother, unbidden estrangement, several attempts on his life, a permanent disability and very delayed presentation as a borderline infertile Omega; was surely not what he imagined his 20s were gonna be like. Woes of youth had turned into wrecking ball while colliding into bleak yet satisfactory life he enjoyed before dungeons came into picture.
Everything else after turned into mess so quickly that Yoojin wasn’t allowed time for even whiplash.
His childhood to teen-hood, that he spent on carefully building foundation for his brother’s youth, was demolished so suddenly—so thoroughly—by the hands of some week old outsiders who had no business interfering with the familial ropes of Han family.
But they still did. His little brother allowed them to do it after all.
And words of Han Yoohyun, the S-Class Hunter who presented as dominant alpha not a second late, were always going to overpower his hysterical big brother’s who was not just unpresented at time but also rumoured to trying to leech off his now otherworldly family member who undoubtedly had better things to entertain like dungeons and monsters and end of the fucking world.
The more Yoojin relented by refusing to give-up on his last remaining family, the bigger of the villain he became. It came to the point that he was physically thrown out under the mocking gaze of said brother and not single word of condolence was offered for his scraped elbows.
Though Yoojin had sufficiently backed away from his brother’s extravagant life, from public scrutiny and from society altogether, a little ray of hope still burned deep within him as he dreamt about lovingly cradling his baby brother just single more time in his embrace. Maybe God didn’t liked him harbouring such indecent intentions over his finest creation and hence, cursed Yoojin to present as an Omega the moment system chimed in with his F-Class status. And he realised he got worst of both worlds after one clinic visit where he was informed that his reproductive organs were too underdeveloped to ever cradle a life. Meaning he will face all the heats, discrimination and dangers of Omega but never receive upsides of same.
He was packless, unloved and ostracised and was bound to remain same maybe for rest of his life.
Yoojin still remembered that day like back of his hand when his first heat hit him. The excruciating pain he was subjected to worked wonderfully in making him realise exact gravity of his circumstances—of his life as an Omega. He had been able to endure physical aspect somehow but internal blow his psyche received had reduced him to a breathing corpse. His willpower was drained to the point he was unable to lift a single finger for whole week after heat concluded. He recalled being numb all over, his limbs paralysed, and soulless eyes staring in depth of abyss only they could witness. He was sure a significant part of him died that day.
He eventually was able to put himself together but his ribs had started to show due to surviving on some cheap protein bars for whole week.
By the next heat he had more or less decided to seek external stimuli but the alpha who he judged to be decent enough for job, turned out to be back street journalist planted by some rival guild to blackmail his little brother and Yoojin, luckily, figured that out before that particular can of worms could be opened. This event marked for Yoojin’s first ever murder by his own two hands. And since his heat was scheduled not even a minute late, he had no choice but to contact Suk Simyeong to deal with body of a burly Alpha lying on floor of his shabby complex.
Safe to say that body was disposed in matter of minutes afterwards and in same moment he was handed an unexpected lifeline in form of highest grade suppressants by hands of said man who took upon himself to supply for his all and every foreseeable heats.
Yoojin had to confirm twice because Suk Simyeong thought him nothing more than black spot staining pristine reputation of Haeyeon Guild. One phone call later he was told that suppressants were apparently cheaper than cleaning after impromptu murders.
And that’s how Han Yoojin managed secure non-suicidal route for going on with his life as an Omega.
But enduring heat on suppressants had their own set of downsides. One of them being knocking out his hormonal sensitivity altogether and making him utterly numb and apathetic to almost everything. That particular tit-bit wasn’t issue for Yoojin until it was; until some two-faced asswipes decided to gang up on him and broke his leg, something that would’ve been avoidable if Yoojin had his regular sense of judgment intact while entering dungeon with such obvious set of liars.
To pour gasoline on his flame, his little brother refused to spare him a single glance and Yoojin was completely abandoned to nurse after his broken limb with no funds to afford a surgery.
He eventually got used to all the limping but his Omega side, again, chipped away in pieces at such direct rejection from only person he considered as his pack. The pain deep from his soul eventually overpowered and, ironically enough, numbed any and every physical wound he was riddled with. Or at least that’s what he liked to believe.
However these days, from few months back, he kept aching in the places he hadn’t before; which had let to him seeking comfort of cheap Soju that could knock him out when sleep evades. It had eventually developed into nasty little habit of getting drunk out of sanity and crashing out into random alleyways. Sometimes even in his own puke.
And to immense disappointment of his—he always wakes up. Always gets back on one and half left of his limbs. Always repeats his walk of shame back to his basement shed under the scrutinising murmurs of civil society.
Always alive for yet another day of humiliation.
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Yoojin tended his second bottle of the day while trying to disappear into his reserved corner of only hole in the wall that he wasn’t barred from.
Yet.
It was just matter of time for one of the Haeyeon’s goon figure out his new hiding spot and create enough fuss to have him removed from establishment permanently. They’ve done it before after all. And from the looks of it, his brother will keep doing it till Yoojin had permanently receded from confines of living community and into oblivion.
Involuntary snort left his mouth at that thought.
His alcohol addled mind seem to fancy that thought—of his ultimate demise. To have nothing but blessed silence of afterlife surrounding him and no gaping hole in his chest reminding of all that was lost; death definitely was tempting him in ways like never before.
In the background, tale-telling chime of door opening rang and refined footsteps foreign to creaking wood of shabby structure echoed as someone walked to where he was lost in his morbid thoughts, sliding on stool next to him. Han Yoojin, however, failed to notice his sudden company until his surprise companion opened his mouth, ordering some whiskey on rocks, snapping Yoojin out of his suicidal escapades.
He inelegantly twisted his neck to inquire about the figure that had suddenly spawned beside him but his breadth hitched in his throat at the sight that greeted him. Yoojin wasn’t religious by any means but even he had to admit that blonde haired being beside him was very specimen of God’s loving grace. With styled bangs perfectly framing side profile of his face that seemed carved out of marble, Yoojin was about to get lost in his staring when person in question suddenly turned his golden eyes towards him and realisation dawned upon him like ice cold water.
Golden hair, golden eyes, a practiced benign smile and aura that kept leaking minutely, definitely on intention, beyond the tightly sealed orifice brimming with insurmountable power.
’How can someone look so many times better in real life as compared to TV?’ Yoojin thought.
”What important business Saesong Guild leader might be having to risk his reputation by coming in place such as this?” he asked unabashedly before his brain-to-mouth filter can even start processing. He only had liquid courage to blame for that. The man—Saesong Guild Leader Sung Hyunjae—who could disappear him from mere flick of wrists, fortunately only deepened his smile in return.
“I wasn’t aware my reputation was so fickle in eyes of Han Yoojin-gun?” reverted the same smooth voice that had pulled him trance a moment back.
”Why you’re talking to me like we’re familiar?”
”Would you rather have me addressing you as Young Master’s elder brother?”
”Only if you want to be addressed as bastard for rest of your lifetime.”
”Than Yoojin-gun has to do.”
”Why not Han Yoojin-shii like any other normal fucking person?”
”Oh my! Do I strike to you as just any other gentleman who approaches you?”
”I wasn’t aware there was special treatment reserved on account of Sung Hyunjae-shii?”
”Perhaps not with amount of alcohol floating through your system but I had assumed that relationship between us at least deserved little more…consideration than most.”
Yoojin stared at guild leader as if he was growing horn from his head in real time.
‘Maybe tall, blonde and dumb had some truth to it after all.’
“And what…relationship it was? If I may ask?”
Like the goddamned son of a bitch he was proving to be, man in question looked positively delighted that Yoojin asked. The bartender choose that moment to place drink in front of blonde guild leader as he gave both of them curious one over and turned back to serve other customers. A gloved hand than leisurely pick up the drink and swirled it around like it was some expensive wine instead of of cheap, diluted version of fifteen thousand won whiskey.
”You wound me Yoojin-gun. I was informed that you positively received all my gifts that I had been leaving by your door from last two months. Was I wrong to assume that we have progressed beyond threshold of formalities by now?” he replied while taking reluctant sip from glass and immediately suppressed look of distaste that threatened to ruin his immaculately maintained expression.
Han Yoojin, on other hand, tried to process this sudden revelation about all the gifts he never received. Actually, he hadn’t received even drop of water in charity from last five years. Was Saesong Guild leader being scammed by someone? Because no matter how recessive of an Omega he was, Yoojin understood significance of gifts by an Alpha in Omega’s life. He would’ve remembered even a single rose petal if someone had gifted him.
Is this guy pulling my leg?
An irrational anger suddenly illuminated inside him at the thought.
“Are you making fun of me you bastard!? Doesn’t number one hunter has better things to do than harass poor Omega’s for hobby?” Yoojin seethed at blonde man.
At sudden onslaught of heated accusation the S-Rank in front of him had to, first time in evening, properly turn to take in small man grinding teeth in his direction. Blonde guild leader seem to pause for the moment to deliberate on what was just conveyed to him.
“Did Yoojin-gun, perhaps, failed to receive the baskets of various assortments that I had been sending his way? Along with my messages?” he calmly asked. The black-haired Omega paused grumbling in his direction at unexpected change in tone of man sitting beside him.
“I literally have zero idea what you’re going on about. I hadn’t received a shit from anyone in very long time.” Yoojin muttered that last bit under his breadth.
“l see.” The blonde alpha downed the unpleasant liquid in one go at Yoojin’s reply and set the glass down with faint silhouette of uncharacteristic frown painting his features. The man stared at glass he had just emptied for a moment than his face again broke into same benign smile that he had greeted Yoojin with.
“It seems their had been bit of misunderstanding between us. It’s better if we start this again from very beginning in that case.” The man then unexpectedly got up and retraced his steps—going out from the same door he came in from.
Both Yoojin and bartender stared bewilderingly at the entrance.
“Where is your buddy going?” asked bartender.
“I have no clue, man. And he ain’t my anything.” Yoojin replied.
“Uh-huh. You’re covering his tab by the way. In case he ran away.”
“Excuse me!? I told you I don’t know him.”
“You two had been flirting from last fifteen minutes. I don’t care if he stood you up, I want my money back.”
“You can’t be fucking serious!?”
At last Yoojin had to pay for alpha bastard’s bitter alcohol from his pocket, as bartender threatened to ban him from establishment otherwise. He already was down to some two, three spots where Haeyeon Guild’s surveillance failed to interfere and he really didn’t wish to risk his access to alcohol in this situation.
He walked back home that day while muttering complaints under his breath about inconsiderate rich Alpha’s and how he should be suing Seasong Guild leader in all the fairness. Yoojin scoffed at thought because hyenas surrounding him might actually hang and burn him on stake, this time around, for trying to leech off yet another ‘innocent’ S-Ranker for money.
This time though—instead of defending himself—he might just close his eyes and savour the warmth of pier turning him to ashes.
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The buzz of doorbell interfered peace of Han Yoojin’s day-off, where he laid sideways and mindlessly surfed through television while stuffing his face with convenience store junk.
Yoojin got up and walked to the door. He tried to look out from his blurry magic eye but something brown and pink seem to block his vision. He paused for moment but decided to open the door either way when doorbell buzzed again.
The sight that greeted him was something that’s gonna be ensnared on his retinas for whatever remaining time was left for him.
Seasong Guild leader, dressed in three-piece set that Yoojin knew can buy his entire neighbourhood, was holding onto lavish basket filled with all sorts of imported sweets in one hand and ridiculously large bouquet of pink flowers on other, while same practiced smile from last night decorated his unfairly handsome face.
“Han Yoojin-shii, I would like to request an opportunity to court you properly this time around.”
Yoojin slammed door shut on his face.