Windsly Golf Club, March
“I’m telling you, Kim,” Mr. Boo muttered, his eyes fixed on the golf ball. “That boy will drive me to drink.” He tried to steady his hand as he lined up for the shot, but his mind was already elsewhere.
He swung his club with more force than necessary, and the ball soared through the air, only to land with a thud in the bunker.
“Oh hell,” Mr.Boo cursed. “I really am off my game today.”
Kim hyungsoo chuckled, slapping his oldest friend on the back. Resigned to his fate, Boo hyunmin
turned to rest on his club, watching Kim effortlessly hit his own ball into the hole.
Boo and Kim had been each other’s most trusted confidants for over three decades. They met at the prestigious Windsly University as two young and cocky alphas revelling in their newfound freedom. Together, they broke more rules, hearts, and probably laws than the rest of their class combined. Only the mix of their handsome looks and devastating charm saved them from expulsion on more than one occasion.
Despite their wild antics, Kim and boo graduated at the top of their engineering class and went on to dominate the tech world, with Kim’s corporation specialising in robotics and Boo leading the revolution in AI solutions.
After Boo finally dug himself out of that damned bunker, they finished their game and headed back to the clubhouse. As they walked, Mr.Boo debated sharing his worries about his son. The pair told each other everything, but what would Kim think of him? Unable to rein in his tiny, eighteen-year-old omega.
But in the end, the need to unburden himself outweighed his potential embarrassment. If he couldn’t confide in Kim, who could he turn to?
“Honestly, Kim. I’m at my wit’s end. Yesterday, Seungkwan walked right into my office, bold as brass, and asked me to sign a permission slip to visit some university up country,” Mr.Boo began as they strolled across the perfectly manicured grass.
“I mean, what the hell is the point? By twenty, my late omega was married, mated, and dead from birthing the ungrateful little brat.
“Seungkwan’s already eighteen. Time’s running out before his hormones tell him to spread his skinny little legs for any hit of alpha cum he can find.”
Mr.Boo sighed, lifting his cap to nurse the migraine forming behind his eyes. “My god, this would have been so much easier thirty years ago. Those omega rights activists have a lot to answer for.”
The government had long since taken a stance against forced marriage and mating, enacting laws prohibiting the practice. Even arranged marriages, although still permitted, became widely frowned upon. Much to Mr.Boo’s dismay.
“Back then, all I’d have to do was find him a suitable alpha to carry on my bloodline, and there we have it. Problem solved. I’m free of him, and he becomes someone else’s headache. And at least that someone gets all the perks of having an omega in their bed.”
Kim could tell how fired up Mr.Boo was getting as he punctuated his points with the cap in his hand.
“I don’t care what they say. Forced marriage was a damn sight easier for omegas than leaving them to their own devices. How many omegas are stranded in their first heats? Relying on unnatural solutions and completely vulnerable. I tell you, it’s not safe. I can’t let Seungkwan loose out there to live so dangerously.”
“I don’t envy you, hyun,” Kim murmured in sympathy. After all, he had his fair share of problems with his own errant offspring. Still, he couldn’t imagine the disappointment and helplessness that Hyunmin must have felt when dealing with his omega.
At least his own good-for-nothing whore of a husband had birthed him an alpha before running off with his tennis coach.
As the imposing glass-fronted golf club came into view, his friend continued his tirade.
“To tell you the truth, Kim, with Seungkwan and your Mingyu finishing school in a few months, it’s got me thinking about the future.
“With no alpha to pass the torch to, who will continue my legacy? I can’t leave my business to Seungkwan. He wouldn’t be able to handle it. I know omega CEOs are all the rage in start-ups and whatnot, but it takes an alpha to survive in our world, Kim.
“I feel like I’ve run out of time. The boo name will die with me, and so will everything I’ve built.”
Kim knew nothing could draw his friend out of his self-pity, so he remained quiet as they walked through the impressive clubhouse. But, while his friend was lamenting in his thoughts, Kim’s mind was racing as he pieced together an idea so simple he was kicking himself for not thinking of it before.
Because while his friend grieved his dreams of an alpha heir, Kim was done with his. Sure, raising an omega as a single alpha was hard. But, bringing up a teenage alpha alone, especially now the liberals were poisoning the minds of school-aged children across the country, that was no walk in the park either.
No, Kim was no stranger to the disappointment a son could bring.
He knew that Mingyu held no passion for his business, or any business it seemed. He didn’t even have the decency to fake a desire to build on his father’s legacy. So Kim was leaving the company, into which he poured his blood, sweat, and heart, to a son who would be content to sit back and watch the money flow in until the pool dried up from neglect. With this and his board of directors breathing down his neck to start an aggressive expansion of their company, Kim had experienced his fair share of sleepless nights.
But now, with the seed of opportunity planted in Kim’s mind, there may be a way to secure Hyunmin’s legacy and satisfy his own board.
The pair finished their usual swim and sauna in the kind of comfortable silence that only decades of friendship bred. It wasn’t until they were seated in the opulent restaurant that Km shared his fledgling plan.
The alpha leaned across the table and locked eyes with Boo, ready to give one of the most critical pitches he’d ever made.
“Look, Min, there might be something that we haven’t considered. What if we could kill two birds with one stone? Get rid of our boys and secure our future at the same time?”
“Oh yes,” replied his friend, taking a long sip of his coffee. “And how would we do that?”
“What if they were married?”
Mr.Boo froze, the moment thick with possibility. Kim could almost hear the cogs in the alpha’s mind grinding and turning until, click, there it was. A look of realisation washed over his friend’s face. The pitch had landed.
Boo-kim. Well, doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?” Hyuunmin said, smirking as he set down his coffee cup. The pair leaned in, eager to discuss the details of their brilliant plan.
What had started as a day of disappointing golf had turned into a day of promise after all.
