Chapter 114 - A Step Forward 4

Minwoo stares at Wonho, taken aback as he feels the familiar pain on his cheek. It shocked him enough to break himself from Wonho's distressed pheromones. He didn't even realize he is affected by it. Unfortunately for the pair, it brings him back to his own temper.

Wonho shudders at the glare, feeling himself shrink. He didn't mean to do it, he just wanted to get away. The intense pheromone around him felt heavy Wonho almost forgot to breath. Minwoo is angry, he is really angry. Wonho is scared. It is his first time seeing Minwoo this frightening. 

He needs to run away. Minwoo is furious at him. He can get really dangerous.

Pushing the alpha back, Wonho tries to jump away from the couch towards the kitchen, hoping to make it to the bedroom to lock himself in but before he can do so, his hand is pulled back and he falls back on the soft cushion, straight toward the alpha. Bringing his free hand up to protect his face, Wonho closes his eyes the moment he sees the other's hand hovering above him, praying he will survive the hit.

…which never came.

Still stiff in the tight embrace, Wonho's breaths stutters as his head is pushed toward Minwoo's chest, hearing the really fast, and strong heartbeats. Minwoo is breathing heavily as well, probably trying hard to stay calm. 'Minwoo, I-'

'Don't you slap me again. You fucking know I hate that.' He hears the larger man growls and nods hastily, bringing his own hand to hug the man back. His tears stuck in his eyes are now freely flowing as Wonho starts to speak. 'I'm sorry.'

'You're not the only one with problems here. I'm trying too.' Minwoo hisses between his teeth, obviously still pissed. Nodding weakly, Wonho stays in his position, trying to relax along with his alpha. He doesn't want to move, feeling safe inside the embrace despite the other is still in a worked-up condition. He knows he is safe now.

He doesn't know how long they stayed there, maybe minutes, maybe hours, but they are both finally sane enough to talk. Still holding on to each other, they move their positions to the couch, leaning against the soft back cushion. 'Why don't you wanna do it?'

Wonho shakes his head at first, refusing to answer but as he looks at the tensed face on his partner, he gathers the courage, 'I- I'm scared.'

He locks his eyes with his alpha, 'What if I die?'

Minwoo frowns at that answer. If omegas die during bonding, it would already be considered a crime. That is the stupidest reason he could ever think of. Unless, of course he was concerned due to what happened that night, but that was a special case. 'You won't'

'You don't know that.' Minwoo sighs a loud sigh. He is still irritated from what happened minutes ago. Though he is trying his best not to get physical and run amok, he really cannot handle any more of this shit. He is so tired of explaining these things to Wonho over and over again. His doctors already told him about it, his friends know it, even the betas remember it. Why can't Wonho get it inside his head??

'You can control your pheromones now. You'll be okay.'

'You don't know that….' Wonho sits up, getting excited suddenly, 'I don't wanna die. I don't wanna-'

'You're still free… what if you try to claim me again and I won't be able to take another bonding because I'm already bon-' Wonho chokes on his own words, not even knowing what he is thinking about anymore. His mind is a mess. He had thought about why he didn't want to do it again; he had a good reason why, but now the reason doesn't make sense anymore. The more he has to explain, the more confused he becomes. All he knows is that he shouldn't do it. It is dangerous.

To Minwoo, all he hears is absurdities. He cannot comprehend anything Wonho just said as it doesn't make any sense. All he can hear is excuses. Unreasonable excuses. Why won't Wonho want to do it if he is so bothered about other omegas chasing Minwoo and him doing the same? That alone should be enough reason to want to claim him for himself. It just doesn't make any sense. 'Let's just do it at the hospital in front of the doctors! Is that enough for you?! Or we can do it in front of your therapist that you trust so much. If anything happens, they can give you instant medical attention. Huh? What bout that?' He raised his voice, almost at the edge.

'I don't want to… please don't make me…'

'You know what? Fuck this shit. Fuck all of this!' Standing up and taking his jacket and car key, Minwoo shoves the door open and stomps down to the car park, wanting to escape that suffocating atmosphere. He cannot stand it anymore. He cannot stand being in the same room with Wonho and his stressed-out pheromones. It agitates him so much he wants to knock his head on the wall to break away from it. 

Driving a few miles from home to a playground, he finally stops and gets out, taking in the fresh air. It is already dark so there is no one in sight. Minwoo screams his heart out, kicking the tires buried in the park a few times until his leg hurts.

Why the hell is it so hard for Wonho to be claimed again? The one who did it the first time was Minwoo anyway, so he doesn't understand why Wonho is acting like this, as if he was recalling his assaults. Why is this such a big deal?? They are already bonded, there is no need for overreactions! He only suggested it because Wonho brought it up in the first place. Sure, he wants it too, but Wonho needed reassurance and this was the only way he could think of. It was for his own good, why the irrelevant extreme panic??

Sitting on the nearby bench, breathing heavily out of anger, Minwoo curses himself. He needs to control his temper; he is losing it. Clicking his tongue in annoyance and tapping his legs on the ground to lose all the extra energy, Minwoo screams again and again until he finally gets tired of it.

A few more minutes of just sitting, staring at the dark sky, Minwoo moves back up to his car. The pills he got from his therapist are in the glove compartment. He hid it there after Wonho took a handful of it almost a year ago. He is drained now, but he is still angry. He is sure he will feel this way the rest of the day, maybe even tomorrow, until they resolve this issue so, as much as he wants to avoid it, he needs it today. 

Minwoo is about to take one for himself before remembering about the omega at home.

Wonho has his own pills, and he is addicted to it to say the least.

...Wonho was really stressed when Minwoo left. What if he overdosed on those? Owh god, he was not ready to lose Wonho.

Minwoo closes the door and starts the engine, accelerating back full speed.