TOAO | MW [✔]

Eleven.

Mingyu slept for a few hours, but around 3 AM he slipped out of bed, tucking Wonwoo in firmly before quietly exiting the room. He was so close to being done with his little project. He'd planned on giving it as a courting gift, but now was giving a mating gift. When Mingyu had taken Wonwoo to the bookstore and bought him the books of Braille poetry, and seen how happy it made him, he had bought a copy of Robert Frost's poems for himself. For the past nights, he'd been recording himself reading the poems from the book, and he was almost done. He knew Wonwoo liked to hear him talk, and he knew that Wonwoo liked his poetry. He hoped that his omega would like it.

There was one poem in the book that was so perfect, it made him think of Wonwoo each time he saw it in the book. He'd skipped over it wanting it to have a special place. He finally finished the last page of the book around dawn. He flipped to the page with the love poem that made him smile and think of his omega. He hit the record button on his computer and read the words clearly and carefully, ending it with his question.

Mingyu read the words to "The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. There was a short pause to indicate that the poem was over.

"Jeon Wonwoo, will you be my mate?"

Mingyu spent the next hour putting the poems together into a sound file and copying it to his phone. By the time he was done, it was just past 7 AM. He had been concocting the perfect scenario to ask Wonwoo to mate with him. He wanted it to be perfect. He'd take him out dancing, followed by dinner at a nice restaurant where he'd play Wonwoo the poem and get down on one knee and ask his omega to be his mate.

However, in order to do that, he was going to need a ring. He pulled out his cell to call Kihyun. He braced himself for the reaction to this news and the probable outcome that he'd be at least semi-attacked over the phone. He sighed and pressed the call button. He knew Kihyun was an early riser, so he was definitely up by now.

"Mingyu? Why are you calling so early? Is everything okay?" Kihyun answered, immediately.

"Everything's fine. More than fine. I actually called to ask you a favor."

"Oh. Okay, what's up?"

"It's been a few days since we talked...a lot has happened."

"I know you confessed to Wonwoo. He told me about your kiss in the rain. Very romantic. I'm guessing more has happened since then. So...did you sleep with him?" Kihyun's voice was suspicious.

"Uh...yeah. I did." Mingyu felt his face get red, talking to Kihyun about this was a little weird.

"Mm-hm...and is he okay? You didn't hurt him?"

"Of course, I didn't hurt him. I love him."

He heard a sound from the other side of the line, like a deep breath being blown out.

"Okay. Thank god. I just...I worry about him. I don't know if he told you about his past. But..."

"He did. He told me about Sangho, and what he did to him. I want to kill that motherfucker for what he did."

"Get in line. I have dibs on that asshole. But, I'm glad he told you. I still have nightmares sometimes about that, you know?" Kihyun's voice hitched slightly and he sounded a little watery as he continued. "When I walked back into our dorm and he was just lying there, sobbing...there was so much blood...I don't think I'll ever forget it as long as I live. I did everything I could to get revenge on that asshole, but after a while, Wonwoo told me to stop messing with him. He just wanted to move on, but I don't think he ever really did."

Mingyu squeezed his eyes shut as images of what Kihyun was describing sliced through him. He tried to stop his mind from picturing it, but it was impossible. A smaller, younger Wonwoo, in pain and alone, savaged by that monster and left crying and bleeding. He felt the hard ball of malice in his stomach harden further until it was like a black hole that was sucking on his very soul.