Walking with his head down, Jaemin dragged his small suitcase through the puddles. The rain had soaked through his coat, chilling him to the bone, but he was grateful for it. It hid the tears that wouldn't stop falling.
The intersection was a chaotic mess of headlights and honking horns. The crosswalk signal counted down in red LED numbers.
30... 29...
Jaemin stopped at the curb. Across the wide avenue, parked illegally in a loading zone, was the sleek black sedan.
The driver's window rolled down. Even through the sheeting rain, Jaemin saw him. Choi Seungcheol. He looked dry, warm, and calm.
He raised a hand, beckoning Jaemin forward.
It's over, Jaemin thought. Do-hyun will be safe. His family will be safe.
The pedestrian sign turned green. Jaemin took a deep breath that didn't seem to reach through his tight chest, and stepped off the curb.
Just then, a roar of an engine cut through the sound of the rain. A car swerved around the corner, tires hydroplaning on the slick road.
It didn't stop at the line, but drifted across three lanes of traffic, jumping the curb and screeching to a halt directly in Jaemin's path, blocking the crosswalk.
Jaemin stumbled back, shielding his eyes against the blinding headlights. Amid the blaring horns of the other indignant motorists, the driver's door flew open.
Do-hyun scrambled out, his expression wild. His dark hair was plastered to his forehead, his clothes already drenched. His eyes were wide, frantic, filled with a terror Jaemin had never seen.
"Jaemin!" he shouted, lunging for the omega. He grabbed Jaemin's arm, his grip bruising. "Don't! Don't you dare!"
"Do-hyun..." Jaemin breathed, the name slipping out in a horrified whisper. "What are you doing here?"
"What are YOU doing??" Do-hyun started dragging him towards the car. "I'm taking you home!"
Snapping out of his shock, Jaemin resisted.
"Let me go!" he cried, trying to pull his arm away. "Do-hyun, get out of here! I have to do this!"
"You don't have to do anything!"
"You don't understand!" Jaemin screamed, digging his heels into the wet pavement as Do-hyun tried to pull him toward the car. "It's the only way! He promised!"
"His promises mean nothing!" Do-hyun shouted back, seizing Jaemin's other arm to stop him from pulling away. "I'm not letting you go to him!"
"He'll destroy her!" Hysterical now, Jaemin fought to wrench free, desperate to make him understand. "He has all the records! He'll send your mother to prison! I can't let him ruin you! Let me go!"
He was sobbing, thrashing, completely unreachable. He wasn't listening. He was determined to throw himself into the fire to save the man holding him.
Do-hyun looked over Jaemin's shoulder. He saw the black sedan door opening, Choi Seungcheol stepping out under an unfurling black umbrella, looking annoyed at the interruption.
They didn't have time. Jaemin was hysterical, he couldn't reason with him in this state. He couldn't carry him while he fought.
Do-hyun felt a sudden, icy clarity settle over him. He realized, with a sharp intake of breath, that ordinary words were useless against this hysteria. If he couldn't beg Jaemin into safety, he would have to force him.
He reached deep within himself, past the panic, past the desperation, tapping into a dormant reservoir of power he'd never known was there.
It felt like a floodgate opening; a rush of pure, golden adrenaline that surged through his veins, electric and heady. It was an ancient, instinctive strength, ruthlessly seductive in its potency.
For the first time in days, the crushing weight of helplessness vanished, replaced by the intoxicating sensation of absolute power.
He inhaled deeply, the air tasting sharp and metallic. He didn't hope Jaemin would listen. He knew. The world would bend because he willed it so.
"Seo Jaemin."
It wasn't a shout. It was a physical weight, a vibration that slammed into the air around them like a gravity well.
It hit Jaemin like a shockwave. His body locked up instantly, his pupils dilating, swallowing up the amber of his irises as his expression went blank, docile.
"Get in."
It wasn't a request. It was a neurological override.
Resistance vanishing, Jaemin turned without a word, opened the passenger door of Do-hyun's car, and climbed inside.
Do-hyun slammed the passenger door shut after him, then glanced across the street with eyes that held a faint gold glimmer.
Choi Seungcheol was still beside his sedan, his umbrella tilted back. His face had lost all traces of annoyance, and instead he stood there, stunned. He stared at Do-hyun with a strange mixture of shock and re-evaluation, as if he hadn't believed Do-hyun had had it in him to issue a true command.
Do-hyun glared at him—a look of pure, murderous warning. Then he got into the driver's seat, locked the doors, and floored the gas.
The car shot forward, leaving the intersection and Choi Seungcheol behind.
…
He drove in silence for some time, with only the sound of the rain drumming a frantic rhythm on the roof. But slowly, eventually, the static in Jaemin's mind began to clear.
He blinked, awareness returning. He looked at the dashboard, at the dark highway stretching out ahead of them. He turned slightly and saw Do-hyun's hands, white-knuckled on the wheel.
The memory of the command crashed into him. The feeling of his will being snatched away. The helpless obedience.
"You..." Jaemin whispered. His voice was trembling. "You used a command on me."
Do-hyun didn't look at him. A muscle feathered in his jaw.
"I had to."
"You... You forced me," Jaemin stammered, the betrayal cutting deeper than any knife. He shrank against the door. "You did exactly what he did—"
"He was going to take you!" Do-hyun shouted, hitting the steering wheel. "I didn't have a choice! Do you think I wanted to do that?"
"Where are we going?" Jaemin demanded, panic rising. "Turn around. We have to go back. He'll release the files! He'll put your mother in jail!"
"Let him!" Do-hyun bellowed. "Let him publish whatever the fuck he wants, let him take our money! Let him burn it all down, I don't give a FUCK! How can I care about anything else, when you were about to walk straight back to him like that?!"
"Because he'll destroy you if I don't!" Jaemin screamed, grabbing Do-hyun's arm. "Please, Do-hyun, stop the car! We have to fix this. Let me talk to him! I can fix this!"
"No!"
"Do-hyun, please! Stop! Listen to me!" Jaemin sobbed hysterically, his cherry blossom scent spiking with sharp, acrid distress. "I can't let him destroy you and your family just because he wants to get to me. Please, please! Please, Do-hyun, just let me go!"
He turned to the door, clawing at the door handle, desperate to salvage the ruined deal and save his mate.
Do-hyun felt his control fraying. The stress of the last three days, the shame of the scandal, the terror of losing Jaemin—it was too much.
He couldn't handle the crying. He couldn't handle Jaemin trying to leave him again. He was too raw, too unstable.
He needed silence. He needed space to think.
He turned to Jaemin, his eyes flashing with a dangerous, gold-flecked light.
"Quiet!" The command rolled from his lips harsh and ragged.
Instantly, Jaemin's mouth snapped shut. His eyes went wide, filling with fresh tears of shock. He stared at Do-hyun, terrified—not by the situation any more, but by the man driving the car.
Do-hyun saw the fear. He saw the flinch. The guilt hit him instantly, and a sick feeling rose up from his gut.
I'm becoming him, he realized with horror. I'm becoming exactly like Choi Seungcheol.
But he couldn't stop. He couldn't comfort Jaemin. He was driving over 100 miles an hour in the rain, fleeing a life that had imploded. If Jaemin kept on fighting him, kept on crying, Do-hyun was going to end up crashing the car.
He needed Jaemin to be safe. He needed him to be at peace, even if that peace was forced.
Do-hyun reached out, placing a trembling hand over Jaemin's eyes.
"Sleep," he commanded, his voice breaking on the word.
Jaemin slumped against the seat belt, his body going limp as unconsciousness claimed him.
Do-hyun pulled back as if burned. He gripped the wheel with both hands, the tears on his stricken face mixing with the shadows of the rain.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to the sleeping man who couldn't hear him. "I'm so, so sorry."
He drove on into the dark, toward the mountains, carrying both their broken hearts into exile.