𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 || 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐊𝐰𝐚𝐧

Chapter 13

Vernon looked Seungkwan over as the car sped off. He looked flustered and pale, but otherwise, Vernon couldn’t see a mark on him.

“What happened?”

On the phone, the omega had sounded rattled and a little hopeless.

“It wasn’t a dinner date so much as a party,” Seungkwan admitted, avoiding his eyes. “And I was the evening’s entertainment.”

“You didn’t know?”

“Stewart said it was just dinner. A producer in town for business, wanted some company.”

Having a clearer picture of what Seungkwan’s evening might have entailed, Vernon lowered his voice and asked, “Do you need a hospital?”

Seungkwan looked startled by the question.

“What?”

“We can take you to a hospital if you want, or Seokmin can see you at the clinic if you’d be comfortable with that.”

Seungkwan still looked confused, and Vernon worried he was in shock.

“Emergency contraception, that kind of thing,” he said gently.

The omega flushed but shook his head. “No, it worked, what you said on the phone. I got them to order food. We put on some music and danced. They were a little handsy, but that’s it.”

Vernon tried not to show how relieved he was to hear that. Seungkwan didn’t need the weight of his opinions or judgment right then.

“Hey, how’d you get here so fast?” Seungkwan asked.

“We were in the city,” Vernon said, trying to sound casual about it.

“I thought you were going to spend the rest of the day at the packhouse?”

Seungkwan seemed curious but not suspicious. Still, Vernon didn’t feel it was fair to hide the truth.

“I changed my mind. Because of you.”

That drew Seungkwan’s gaze to his, the omega’s eyes narrowing.

“What do you mean?”

“You had this look on your face when you were leaving, like you really didn’t want to go. Call it a gut feeling, but I figured it wouldn’t do any harm to be in the city for a few hours. I thought I’d call and check in with you. If you sounded fine, we’d head home. If not, you’d have a ride back.” The omega had been far from fine, and Vernon was very glad he’d trusted his instincts.

“I’m sorry,” he told Seungkwan. “I don’t make a habit of things like that, but something felt off. We weren’t following you or spying on you, just…” He paused before plowing forward with what he wanted to say. “It doesn’t seem like you have a lot of people in your life actually looking out for you. And what with me being an alpha protector and all… The clue is in the name.”

Seungkwan nodded, looking close to tears.

“I’m not angry. I mean, it’s a little weird and stalkery, maybe… we might need to talk about that… but right now, I don’t care. I needed you, and you were there. Thanks, guys.”

He swallowed back a sob and curled up, leaning his head against the door. They lapsed into silence, and Vernon didn’t break it. Seungkwan would talk if and when he was ready. What mattered was that he was safe.

Zane switched on the radio, and some easy listening station came on. It filled the awkward hush that fell over the car as they drove home.

“We’ll drop you two off at your place,” Seungcheol said as they neared the packhouse.