Part 4

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He's still crying in Chan's arms when the alpha sets him down on his bed, just holding him. Minho feels like a toddler that needs to be taken care of, and yet he feels comforted. It's obnoxious. Chan sits with him, covers them both and wraps his arms securely around the omega after adjusting him to sit across his lap. Again, a toddler.

He feels bad that it's Chan having to take care of him, after everything he likely overheard. At the same time, this may have been exactly what he needs, considering he still can't stop the tears.

Chan's strokes through Minho's hair are gentle and methodical and it could have taken hours or minutes to calm down- he doesn't know- but eventually his tears turned to headache-fueled closed eyes and sniffles. The room and home are quiet, and Chan's whispered assurances that everything is okay works as well as it did when they were younger.

All of their current issues aside, he really is a good person. Both of them have their own fault to share.

"I heard you," Chan finally says, his voice a quiet rumble in his chest, vibrating against Minho's own. "I'm sorry. For everything." Minho shifts slightly, burrowing closer into the warmth that envelops him. The alpha's scent may not invoke any special feelings or help to calm him down like they would with other omegas, but it's familiar.

And familiarity during times of chaos is akin to anesthetic.

"Sorry I didn't just talk to you. Didn't know how. I've been feeling so close to just... breaking. And I guess I finally did." He clings to Chan's shirt and takes another deep breath.

"I have not been... a good pack alpha, or partner, or friend. I knew you were struggling with everything, I just didn't know it was this bad. I just blindly hoped it would get better on its own, I think. I know how you feel, and how you don't, and I haven't been helping you like I should have been. I also... I don't think I've been letting you in the way I should have been."

Minho sniffs, trying to compose himself properly before he begins speaking again. Too much and he might cry- again. "I didn't fully realize either, until... until I started talking. It's like all these feelings were locked up somewhere deep inside me."

Chan rubs Minho's back in slow, soothing circles. "It's okay. You're not alone anymore, not with this. We'll figure it out together."

"But how? How do we change anything when everything feels so... predetermined?" Minho chances a look up at him and sees that Chan's eyes are as red and puffy and wet as his feel.

"We start with what we can fix. Let's spend today calming down and tomorrow... we can really talk-" Chan stops himself and blinked as he swallows. "We- Does that sound alright for you? Is that something you're okay with?"

As it turns out, a dam can also stand tall and strong with just the right amount of pressure, and a little bit of help.

─── ∘°❉°∘ ───

"There's no sense in fighting over the border when that territory isn't even available anymore-"

Chan has a point, sure, but it's annoying. "That territory was technically never available. We didn't do our job in verifying that that was available land to hunt in. We've been stealing resources from a pack that hasn't actually done anything wrong and isn't actually full of braindead savages like we were led to believe."

Of course now Chan was open to discussing boundary changes and letting Minho have more freedom- now that he couldn't cross the border into the gray, freely. He knows it's not technically Chan's fault, the timing is just bad. But they run in circles.

"Min, I'm trying, here. Can we please talk about the things we can control." A statement, not a question. It doesn't matter. Again, Chan is right.

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