Chapter Text
Kim Dan was sitting in his old, run down apartment with his back against the wall, staring at the chaos that was in front of him.
They came again and destroyed everything. The loan sharks. The group of Alphas that seemed to follow him everywhere, never leaving him in peace for more than four or five days asking for money that he didn't have. Even though he couldn't give them anything most of the time, they followed him to only beat him up, insult him and take everything from him that he had left. His pride, his dignity, his self worth. They had taken everything until Kim Dan had nothing left.
The short brown haired boy with the hazel eyes and slender figure was at his wits end. He didn't know how he should survive this any longer. He had no money that he could give those loan sharks, he was working three jobs simultaneously to earn barely enough to feed himself, pay rent and his grandmother's hospital bills.
At the end of the month, he had nothing left.
He was eating only breakfast and dinner, always skipping lunch to save some money, but even that wasn't enough. He never bought anything for himself. The clothes that he was wearing were completely worn out, some even had small holes or loose threads in them, but Kim Dan didn't care.
He couldn't afford new clothes. And taking care of his grandmother was much more important than a new t-shirt.
However, no matter how hard he tried to pay off the debt that he had built up over the past few years in order to pay for his grandmother's surgeries and his own education, it was never enough.
With these normal jobs that he was working, it was completely impossible to pay it off. He needed to win the lottery or find a job offer that paid way more than average to have a chance to satisfy those men.
The Omega was desperate. He would work any job, no matter what it was…
He just wanted to be free of them and live a normal life with his grandmother. Like they did in the past before this insanity started. Just the two of them. It had always been enough for Kim Dan to live here in this small apartment together with her, eating their meals together and just feel each other's presence. His grandmother was everything he had, she raised him, she had always been there for him.
And he needed to return that favour now that she was so sick. But to be honest, the Omega had no idea for how long he could keep this going.
The Alphas always beat him up brutally whenever they came to find him and he had no money to offer them. They kicked him against his head and back, punched him in the face, his stomach, leaving bad bruises all over his body. The brown haired boy was sure he already had a head trauma of some sort and his back was affected as well. This couldn't go on forever.
But he had no idea what to do. How could he solve this ? He couldn't work more, he barely had time for himself or to visit his grandmother in the hospital. He was running on four hours of sleep every night.
He already gave more than he had. This wasn't healthy, no one could live like this for long and he was doing this for more than a year by now. The Omega was about to burn out and collapse.
So how …. What should he do ?
He didn't want much. He wasn't asking for a lot.
As an Omega, he knew he would never make it big and become rich or have a great career. Only Alphas had that privilege. But that was okay. He just wanted to live a peaceful and quiet life together with his grandma and be happy in their small one room apartment where they lived his entire life.
He didn't know any different.
Was that too much ?
**************
Jaekhyung was angry.
He paced up and down the boxing ring in his gym, waiting for his new opponent.
Was there no one here who could challenge him? He already beat all of those good-for-nothings who trained here with him, but they were not even close to his skill level. Jaekhyung beat them all with one well aimed punch and brought them to the ground.
Was there no one here who could hold themselves up for even one round ?!
Fuck! What was he even doing here ? This was a complete waste of time!
“Jaekhyung, please calm down. They all did their best. You are just….”
His coach came running towards him as soon as he noticed his champion's sinister mood, trying to calm the dark haired Alpha down.
For almost two months now, Jaekhyung was more aggressive than usual and his mood was darker than the Coach had ever thought that it was humanly possible. The Alpha was almost impossible to handle. A few members of the gym quitted the training completely after Jaekhyung beat them into a pulp and almost broke someone's nose. The Betas were too afraid of the Alpha who didn't have his temper in check and could explode at any second.
“I am what ?! All of them are just useless! How should I train for an important match if no one here can be a serious training partner for me ?! They are too weak! They have no skills! It fucking pisses me off !”
The Alpha with the dark gray eyes and a body packed with thick muscle yelled at his Coach Park Namwook his expression furious.
His coach was used to Jaekhyungs outbreaks by now, it was unfortunately nothing new to him. But it had gotten much worse over the time, especially during the last two months. His thirtieth birthday was arriving with big, merciless steps.
Friday next week. Then the Alpha would have his big celebration, entering a new era of his life.
But unfortunately for the Alpha, it was not only a day to celebrate. Every Alpha had to be married by thirty. Without exception.
“I know, Jaekyung. But to be honest, your mood was extremely bad during the last few training sessions and your behaviour is more aggressive than usual. I think the guys are just a little afraid of you. If you could maybe hold back your temper a little, they could be better sparring partners for you.”
Namwook tried to tell him carefully, but of course the Alpha didn't want to hear that. He knew exactly how his mood was. He was fucking angry and miserable.
But that wasn't his fault! It was that stupid rule that made him like that. He didn't want to marry. He never wanted to marry. He didn't need or want a partner. The Alpha was solely focused on his career. He wanted to secure his champions title and win his way up to the top. That's the only thing he cared about. Winning. Getting titles. Being the best of the best. Beating every single one of his enemies into submission.
Marriage… that was never on his list of things he wanted to do in life. He was happy by himself. He only needed himself.
The fighter had absolutely no time for another person in his life.
And now his coach was showing him a list of Omegas that would be willing to date him after every training session and even set him up for a couple of dates.
Every single one of the dates ended terribly of course.
Either Jaekhyung immediately ended the date once he saw the Omega and drove back home or he spent a couple of hours with them, terrorizing them and making sure they would never want to marry a guy like him.
And until now that strategy worked. None of the Omegas that the coach picked out for a date ever texted him again and wanted to have another date.
The only unfortunate thing about it all was the press. As one of the most promising sportsmen of the country, Jaekhyung was under constant surveillance of the media and news journalists.
And some of his “dates” had been documented by paparazzi that made pictures of Jaekhyung yelling at the Omegas or throwing his drinks at them.
Yeah, that didn't make him look so good. The Alpha had no idea he was being followed. He would never have done that if he knew that there were pictures being taken of him.
There were already a few interview requests from some television channels or newspapers, but the Coach had declined all of them so far. He knew that Jaekhyung couldn't handle the pressure or control his temper enough for that at the moment. First, they had to find a solution for that problem. Then Jaekhyung could explain himself if he wanted to.
“Oh shut up! You have no idea what I am dealing with at the moment. I don't want to hear anything about my mood or my temper. I could kill everyone in the room right now, I already hold myself back as much as I can.”
Jaekhyung rumbled, his furious gaze boring through his coach.
Namwook bit on his tongue, preventing himself from saying anything further that would only worsen Jaekhyungs mood.
Of course he knew what the Alpha was dealing with. He knew the boy for a long time now. He knew that Jaekhyung had no family left, that he was all by himself, forced to deal with everything himself. He had no one he could rely on, no one he could ask for help or advice.
The young man was all alone.
And now he was forced to marry a complete stranger. That must be hard for him. Jaekyung never let anyone in his life. Not the other guys he was training with, not his previous coach or his physician that kept track of his overall health and nutrition or him, his current coach. None had managed to get any personal information out of the Alpha.
No one knew how he dealt with his ruts. Or how he spent the time off that he had after important matches to get some rest and let go of the stress that has built up. No one knew anything about him, and Jaekhyung clearly intended to keep it that way.
And so to imagine that this closed up guy that didn't even talk to people he knew for years accepted a complete stranger by his side….
It was impossible. Namwook couldn't imagine it. And yet, Jaekhyung had no other choice.
And his coach felt for him. That's why he wanted to help him. Jaekhyung wasn't a bad person. He had bad moods yes and he could be too aggressive at times, yes. He sometimes even lost control over himself.
But he didn't do that because it was fun for him. His coach knew that there had to be another reason behind it. The Alpha probably was just overwhelmed with all the things that were expected of him and forced upon him. No one wanted to be forced to marry. Of course Jaekhyung was in a bad mood because of that. He was angry and desperate because he didn't want to do that and yet he had no other choice.
The Coach understood all that. And yet he couldn't behave like an asshole and make other people suffer because of the things that he had to deal with. The other gym members weren't responsible for that stupid rule. It wasn't their fault what Jaekhyung had to deal with.
“I know. But please take a deep breath. No one here is responsible for the things that you have to deal with. You can't punish them for how you feel, alright? None of them is at fault for anything that happened to you. And you know that. So please, try to calm down and breathe.”
The older man with the dark framed glasses and dark blonde hair tried everything he could to bring Jaekhyung down again and erase the tension between them.
Jaekhyung grunted and gave him an ice cold gaze, but he took a deep breath and drove his hands through his hair. He knew that his Coach was right, but that didn't change anything for him. He didn't care about the other guys at the gym, he didn't care if he scared them with his temper. He only cared about his own problems. And unfortunately, he had a lot of them at the moment.
“Fine. I'm going home. I don't have anything else to do here. And if there aren't any good enough opponents for me here who want to face me, I can train in my own gym just fine.”
Jaekhyung grabbed his towel and his water bottle and made his way past his coach to the changing rooms, ready to leave the training grounds.
“No! Wait! I have to tell you something. I was in the hospital yesterday and I may have a solution for you. Please hear me out….”
*****************
One day earlier
Kim Dan was visiting his grandma in the hospital like he tried to do every Sunday. He couldn't make it every week, but he tried his best to see the woman who raised him as much as possible.
And today, he had two hours of free time in between his jobs so he drove to the hospital as fast as possible to have as much time with her as he could.
Unfortunately, the loan sharks had surprised him in the middle of the night, beating him up like they always did when they asked for money that he didn't have. The Omega could only offer them a quarter of what they wanted, giving the Alphas a free pass to beat him up in his own home.
Kim Dan's face was covered in bruises now, he had a split lip and a black eye. He didn't want his grandmother to see him that way, but he had no other choice if he wanted to see her at all.
He couldn't bear seeing her worried about him, asking him if he was okay, even though she was the sick one of them and this visit should be about her health. Not his.
“How much money do we owe them? For how long is this going to continue, my boy? I don't want to see you like this. I don't want you to get hurt because of me.”
His grandmother said when she saw what the brown haired Omega looked like, his face bruised and his lip swollen and split.
“It's not only because of you, granny. It's my school loan as well. I can handle it. Don't worry, please. You should only focus on your health, I have everything under control.”
Dan tried to calm his grandma down and ease her worries, but of course it didn't work. The old woman who was laying in the hospital bed in front of him worried very obviously about her grandchild, she never wanted to see him suffer like this.
They talked a bit more about the debt that they had and about the group of Alphas that came every few days, seeming to always know where Kim Dan was at that time. Like they were stalking him or something.
And in the middle of their conversation, the Omega heard a sound coming from the door and turned his head around, seeing a man eavesdropping on them and quickly running away when he caught him.
He had dark blonde hair and big glasses sitting on top of his nose and was pretty tall. Unfortunately, Dan couldn't see more because everything happened so fast.
Why was that guy listening to them?
Did he belong to the loan sharks or something?
Now the boy was afraid….
Were they even following him here, into the hospital? He just wanted to spend some time with his sick grandmother, they already had everything that he could give.
Did they have absolutely no conscience?
When Kim Dan left his grandmother's room again to drive to his next shift, the tall guy with the glasses stopped him right in front of the exit of the hospital.
“I wanted to apologize for eavesdropping earlier. But I overheard your conversation and that you have a great debt to cover. I see how much you and your family are suffering under that situation and I know you don't know me. And I know how crazy that sounds. I am in a similar desperate situation like you are, and if I could avoid this, I would. Believe me. I don't want to overstep any boundaries since we don't know eachother. But if you need money to help your situation, here is my contact information. Maybe you think about it and if you want more information, you can call me or text me and I can explain. Have a good day.”
Then the guy pushed a little card into Kim Dan's hands and was gone.
The brown haired Omega had no idea what happened there. Who was that guy? And why was he offering him money to solve his debt problem? What did he want in return ?
To be honest, yes, he looked and sounded a little desperate. And serious. This wasn't a joke, that much was clear to him. But what else was it then? Surely this guy didn't do this out of the goodness of his heart.
Kim Dan was completely confused. He took the small business card that smelled heavily like Alpha and put it into the pocket of his pants.
It was a card from a Gym that trained MMA fighters, Kickboxing and stuff like that that the Omega had no clue of. The guy in the red T-shirt with the glasses looked pretty muscular, which made Kim Dan even more uncomfortable about the whole thing.
He didn't want to put himself in any dangerous situations. The loan sharks that were on his heels and followed him everywhere he went were already enough for the Omega to handle.
No, thank you. He didn't want to die. Not before his grandma.
The Omega wasn't in a good mental place, his body was hurting all over and he had a lot of problems he needed to take care of. He was just as desperate as the Alpha sounded. His life was completely fucked up.
But he didn't have a death wish.
************
Kim Dan was thinking about the strange man for the rest of the day. He couldn't forget what he said to him and his business card was weighing heavily in the pocket of his pants.
He didn't know what to do. He needed the money, desperately. He didn't want to live like this for the rest of his days. And he had to, if he didn't win the lottery or something. He could never earn that amount of money in a short period of time. A wonder had to happen….
Or… he would call that man and ask him what he meant with his offer. What was the catch ? What was his part of the deal? He would surely ask for something in return if he paid his debt.
How bad could it be ? He didn't seem like a shady person. He was obviously very nervous when he gave him his card.
What should he do ? Ask him? Or forget about it and throw the card away but accept being beaten up at least once a week and work for the loan sharks for the rest of his life.
Objectively, the choice was easy. But being in his skin, having to make that decision and maybe changing the entire rest of his life….
Kim Dan wasn't so sure.
Walking into the unknown was never easy. Not knowing what was about to come… what consequences his decision came with….
But honestly, how much worse could it get ? He already was in a position that sucked extremely, overworked, always tired, running on too little energy and sleep. He was underweight and surely didn't get enough food inside his system for all the work he was doing all day. He barely had time for himself. He couldn't afford any hobbies or other things that he could do to make his life enjoyable.
His life was the nightmare of many people. The kind of future that wanted to be avoided at all costs.
And here he was, pondering if his life could get any worse by one little decision.
Probably not.
The Omega sighed and took the card out as soon as he got home from his second job, hoping the guy was still awake.
**************
Back in the present
“You were in the hospital and you have a solution for me ? What do you mean?! A solution for what?!”
Jaekhyung hissed at his coach, having no patience left for any games today.
He was tired. He wanted to go home. He didn't want to bother with any more annoying people today. He was sick and tired of it.
“A solution for the marriage thing. I may have a fitting candidate for you. Jaekhyung, you have barely a week left. You can't push that topic away forever. You avoided or terrorized every single one of the boys that I presented to you and made sure they would never come back! So you still have no one you can bring before the altar, do you want to keep it that way?!”
Namwook spoke to the other Alpha in a more serious voice now, looking him straight into the eyes.
He put so much effort into this because he knew that Jaekhyung would never find anyone by himself. Namwook was somewhat of a father figure for the successful fighter, even though Jaekhyung was already in his mid twenties. But his coach still had the feeling that he needed help with this, and so he took it upon him to find a suitable partner for his most promising talent.
“You know that if you don't marry, your career will be over. You will be cancelled from all the upcoming fights until you find an Omega that you will marry, or the government will pick one for you and you have no say in that. You will have to marry however they decide. Do you want that ?!”
Namwook made Jaekhyung face the cold hard facts about his situation. If he didn't do what was demanded of him as an Alpha who turned 30 years old, there would be consequences.
And for someone like him, those consequences could cost him his whole career. Everything he worked for so hard until now.
Maybe Jaekhyung didn't see this, or didn't want to see it. But Namwook had to slap them into his face so that he realized the severity of his situation.
“Shut up! I know! I know all that, okay?! I'm not stupid!”
Jaekhyung yelled at his Coach, his teeth bared and his hands curled into fists at the side of his body. He knew all that. He knew in what kind of shitty, fucked up situation he was! Namwook didn't need to tell him all that once again to his face. He knew that, but he still wanted to forget about it because there was no way he would marry anyone. A partner of his choice or not. He didn't want a partner at all, that was his problem.
“If you know, then why don't you make an effort?! This is your life! Don't you want to have at least a little bit of control about who will be at your side, live in your house and share a bed with you ?! Come on, Jaekyung. I'm doing all the work for you already, you just have to meet him and take a look!”
Now Namwook was really getting pissed. He was doing all the work for the guy, well knowing what the consequences of his actions were. And he still complained about everything. Risking his entire career and also Namwooks job together with that. He shouldn't only think about himself. There was more at risk than a little bit of money.
Both Alphas angrily stared at each other for a few seconds, the air around them brimming with tension and thick Alpha pheromones. Namwook wasn't backing down now. Jaekhyung needed someone to tell him straight facts into his face without becoming afraid of his strength and temper. The dark haired Alpha wasn't used to that anymore because everyone was giving in to him sooner or later because they were afraid. But not his coach. Namwook knew Jaekhyung wouldn't hit him or anything like that. He didn't have to be afraid of him.
And he was right. After a few moments of staring at each other and both Alphas keeping their heads up and faces straight, Jaekhyung gave in. Deep down he knew Namwook was right. This was about his entire career. Everything he worked for since he was a child. He couldn't throw that away so easily.
Fuck!
He was so fucking pissed at everything! He didn't want to marry. He didn't want to look at ‘candidates’ that Namwook had picked out for him. That sounded like a plot of a stupid boring romcom and not his fucking life!
“You have five minutes.”
Jaekhyung grunted, following Namwook into his office.
The dark haired Alpha really wasn't in the mood to talk about this whole topic, but he avoided it for such a long time now, he was slowly standing with his back against the wall. He had not many options left, time was running out.
So whatever Namwook had, it better be good.
“I met this boy in the hospital yesterday. I don't know if he is an Omega or a Beta. I didn't smell any scent on him. But he was short and slim and I think he would be your type. He has collected a great amount of debt that he is forced to pay off now. I overheard him talking with his grandmother about it. The debt comes from his own college debt and the hospital bills from the grandmother. I don't know exactly how much it is, but it is surely a lot for someone who is working three minimum wage jobs at the same time. That boy is close to breaking. He can't go on like this for much longer.
And so I gave him my contact information, telling him that I would have a solution for his money problems if he is open to it. I didn't tell him much. Just that we might have an option for him if he needs help. And he indeed texted me this morning at 1 am. He wants to meet.”
Namwook quickly told Jaekyung the story about how he met Kim Dan yesterday in the hospital.
“You have a picture of him or something? I need to see what he looks like. I don't care about the rest. We all have our sob stories, that's nothing special. I won't marry him for his personality anyways.”
Jaekhyung said with a hard, ice cold voice as if he really didn't care about his background at all.
Namwook swallowed thickly, nodding his head.
“Alright. No, I don't really have a picture of him. I guess you have to see for yourself when you meet him. He said he has time tomorrow evening to hear what I have to offer.”
The older Alpha said, still a little shocked at Jaekhyungs cold response. Of course the coach knew that his best fighter had little to no empathy for other people. He never saw him being compassionate with others, he didn't hear any kind, nice words out of his mouth for as long as he knew him.
Jaekhyung was an incredibly indifferent person when it came to other people. He only cared about himself. His well being, his next fight, his money and career. There was nothing in his life other than Jaekhyung himself. There was simply no space for the emotions, struggles or feelings or fates of other people. Empathy or sympathy were words he had never heard of before.
Namwook met Jaekhyung like that, he was used to his coldness by now. But still he was shocked every time he was confronted with it like that.
He couldn't imagine what the dark haired Alpha must have been through to end up like that.
“Fuck. Alright. And what do you have to offer ? What is that plan that you have in mind for him and me ?”
Jaekhyung was pacing up and down the office of his coach like a caged wild beast, impatiently waiting for the other man to reveal what he had in mind for the both of them.
Why did he speak to a complete stranger in a hospital who was struggling with a heavy debt?
What the hell was his coach thinking ?
Namwook nodded, knowing that Jaekhyung would probably not like what was coming next.
But this was the only option they had left when they wanted to find a partner for the Alpha in time. The clock was ticking. And nobody would marry Jaekyung voluntarily, not when they saw behind his handsome face.
“Yes, so. Please let me finish speaking, it's quite simple.
I thought that since you have more money than you can spend, that you could cover that boy's debt and pay it off for him. As I said, I don't know how much it is exactly, but since it's only hospital bills and his student loan, it can't be that high. At least for you.
And in return, he has to marry you. Like that, both of your problems are solved and everyone is happy.”
The coach braced himself for another outburst from Jaekyung, but surprisingly, nothing came.
The dark haired Alpha wasn't yelling at him. He wasn't screaming or shouting like he always did when he didn't like something. Instead he stayed calm, taking a deep breath and massaging his temples.
“You… You want me to pay off the debt of a complete stranger that you met in a hospital by accident?”
Jaekhyung asked, looking at his Coach.
“Yes, I know how that sounds. What do you think about how that boy looked at me when I gave him my card and told him to contact me if he wanted help with his debt? He looked so scared and confused like he had no idea what was going on and expected me to hit him or something. He thought I was a total creep and I get it. Of course that sounds strange, who in the world does something like that? But we have no other choice. We have to make some sort of deal to solve your problem. And that's your fault for ruining all the other dates that I arranged for you. If you hadn't pushed everyone else away and acted like an asshole, we wouldn't be here today. So thank yourself for that. I'm doing my best here to save your ungrateful ass.”
The coach pointed at the dark haired Alpha, making sure he really understood that this deal was his last chance and that it was his own fault.
Jaekhyung glared at him in return, making sure his coach knew that he didn't like to hear that. But even though he hated the situation that he was in, he knew that it was true. His coach spoke the truth, this probably really was his last chance.
Fuck. He hated this. He absolutely hated everything about this.
“So you know nothing else about him other than that he has some debt that he can't pay off himself? You can tell me nothing other than to meet tomorrow evening and see for myself ?”
Jaekhyung was annoyed by his coach having so little info about that boy. If he should feel motivated and willing to meet him and take this chance, Namwook should have something more to offer him.
This was really little information for such a heavy, big deal that they should make with each other that would be life changing for the both of them. A marriage was a contract that bound the two of them together. Even if it wasn't made out of love, it still influenced their lives heavily.
They would be forced to live together in the same house and the marriage had to last at least one year. One year could be a very long time if you were forced to live together with someone you didn't like at all.
“No, I don't know much else. He seems young, probably younger than you. He has brown hair and brown eyes, slim figure and of course he is shorter than you. He is nothing special, no rare beauty or something like that. But he is cute. You two would look good next to each other.
And you only have to marry him and show up with him in the town house to register as a married Alpha and show yourself with him once. You don't have to kiss him or get intimate with him if you don't want to.”
Namwook didn't know what else to say. He left out Kim Dan's bruises on purpose, not wanting it to be the one detail that made Jaekyung break the deal off before it even happened.
The bruises would fade in a few days. And it was highly possible that those bruises had something to do with the debt. Maybe he was followed by loan sharks that wanted their money back. In some areas here in the city, it happened every day that people were beaten into the hospital because they owed money to the wrong people.
“Yeah, you are right. I don't even need to touch him. Just give him the ring, buy a house big enough where everyone can have their own space inside of so we don't even have to meet and wait until a year is over and then I can throw him out again. It can't be that hard. Other Alphas are doing it the same way.”
Jaekhyung grunted, driving his hand through his thick dark hair again while still pacing up and down the small office.
The description of the boy didn't seem so bad. He liked brown eyes and a slim figure was nice as well. Like an Omega should be. But the Alpha didn't want to have anything to do with Omegas. They only distracted him from his work and threw themselves at him once their heat was close.
Disgusting. How could they have so little control over themselves? He would make sure that the Omegas space and his space had the most distance possible while they lived under the same roof. He would also always lock his doors twice and make it clear that he didn't want to have anything to do with him. Maybe he would even try to get a hotel suite for a few days whenever that boy got into heat so there was no chance that he could try anything with him.
Jaekhyung really hated Omegas and their heats.
“Yes, you can talk to him about that. I'm sure you will find a solution that everyone can agree to. So I would like you to be here at 10 pm tomorrow. We will meet here in my office with him.”
Namwook tried for a sympathetic smile but it was wasted on the annoyed Alpha who didn't want to hear more about it.
He couldn't even look forward to his birthday, this whole marriage thing really pissed him off. Not that he ever looked forward to his birthday, he never celebrated it. But this year was especially bad.
“Alright. See you. For your sake I hope he looks like an Idol. Otherwise I guess my career is over because I will stay single forever. I don't need and I don't want anyone in my personal space.”