Me and my Husband| YEONBIN TXT

Chapter-19

The restaurant: A Michelin Star steakhouse in Hannam, dimly lit and spartanly decorated. The date, Friday, December 1st. The alpha: Juwon.

They would have canceled this date night if they hadn't made the reservation months ago. It's the kind of restaurant with a long waiting list, a famously abusive chef-de-cuisine, and glowing reviews in major news outlets. The kind of restaurant that Juwon's job gives them access to.

"She's pretty," Yeonjun says, gesturing to the waitress that Juwon's been checking out all night. He's easily distracted when drunk, and easily drunk when exhausted. He wears a suit and a few white hairs that gleam against black.

Juwon flushes. "Sorry."

Yeonjun doesn't have the right to be angry about this — still, Juwon could at least be discreet.

"It's fine. She is pretty," Yeonjun says. He probably wouldn't have mentioned anything if he didn't see her obvious appeal. Her face is sweeter than Yeonjun's, her body petite like a fairy's. He wonders if she can get away with everything, the same way Beomgyu does.

"You're prettier," Juwon says, and Yeonjun laughs. So many of alphas' compliments became meaningless once he realized their insincerity. At 19, he swooned when an alpha called him "the most beautiful omega he'd ever seen." Then, he realized that alpha said the same thing to every omega he wanted to fuck.

"What have you been reading lately?" Juwon asks. He's asked this question on nearly every date they've been on since college. He always wants Yeonjun to give him a plot synopsis of whatever book he's been reading, a brief lesson on a best-selling prize-winner so he can seem erudite at parties. Yeonjun doesn't mind. He gets to speak, uninterrupted, about his interests, while Juwon listens with rapt attention. It's a symbiotic ritual. But Yeonjun's only been reading the news lately — headline after headline about terrible things happening to omegas.

"I read an article about this omega who was going out with her friends who got murdered by some alpha. He was angry she wouldn't sleep with him after going back to his house," Yeonjun says.

"In Korea?" Juwon asks, cutting his steak.

"Yes."

"Wow. That's terrible. Korea isn't usually that violent." Juwon's knife pauses. "But why did she go to his house if she didn't want to sleep with him? Like, what was the point?"

Yeonjun's hand tightens around his fork. "Why does that matter? It doesn't justify him murdering her."

"Obviously not," Juwon says, taking a bite. "I'm just saying, there's a lot of terrible alphas out there. You have to protect yourself. Your parents must have been so scared when you went to Seoul for college. But you had me."

Juwon is right, partially. He did protect Yeonjun, always. From a group of alphas catcalling him, from a classmate who sent him pictures of his penis when they were paired together from a group project.

But what about omegas who didn't have an alpha? Were they just free pickings?

"Being careful doesn't always help you. Most rape victims are raped by their husbands or fathers."

"No way."

"It's true. So what were they supposed to do?"

Juwon finally swallows his food. "There are some situations where you can't do anything. But omegas have to do what they can to stay safe when it's possible. I'm just thinking pragmatically. What if our baby grows up to be an omega? We have to teach her that she can't just go back to strange alphas' houses."

Yeonjun has always found Juwon handsome. Hair parted on the side and gelled down, eyebrows neatly microbladed every two years. He has a square jaw, a wide smile, gentle eyes. But as he speaks with his mouth full, steak mashing against his teeth, Yeonjun sees every flaw, every sign of aging. The hollowness in his face, the dullness of his skin.