𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫 || 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐖𝐨𝐧

Chapter 10

Mingyu sat down to breakfast with Seungcheol one morning. They didn’t usually have the kitchen to themselves, but it was early yet.

“You’ve been spending some time with Wonwoo,” Seungcheol remarked.

Mingyu chewed and swallowed a mouthful of omelet.

“Noticed that, huh?”

“Not much goes on here that I don’t see,” the alpha pointed out. “How’s he doing?”

Mingyu considered his answer carefully. Wonwoo’s story wasn’t his to tell.

“It’s hard to say.”

“He give you any hint about what’s going on? He won’t talk to Minghao, and he’s avoiding me like the plague.”

The pause grew awkward as he tried to work out how best to answer.

“Yes, and no.”

Seungcheol sat back in his chair and folded his arms. “Glad we cleared that up.”

Mingyu regarded him steadily. “You need to talk to Wonwoo if you want answers. But if you can, I’d suggest waiting until he comes to you.”

“Will he?”

“He’s working through some stuff. And he might not be talking to you or Minghao just yet, but he is talking.”

Seungcheol stared at him for a moment before nodding decisively. “That’s something. And we do appreciate it. I know this is more than you agreed to take on when you came here.”

They’d offered food and board in exchange for training Junhui and helping out with the orchard. Wonwoo hadn’t factored into anyone’s equation.

“I’m happy to help, you know I am.” He took the chance to probe a little. “How’d you and Minghao meet him?”

He knew enough to know that it was back during their army days. But that covered a lot of ground.

“Toward the end of his Anchor training, he had to be embedded with a team to shadow their Anchor.”

“Your team, I presume?”

“Uh-huh, the second time Minghao and I worked together.”

“What was Wonwoo like?”

Seungcheol smiled at the memory. “Determined to succeed. Had a real drive to be the best. Competitive in a way omegas usually aren’t. Comes from having a pile of alpha brothers who all enlisted before him. He wanted to make his father proud, just like they had.”

That painted a picture that gelled with what little Wonwoo had told him.

“Does he seem much different now?”

The smile fell from Seungcheol’s face. “It’s like night and day. He used to be chatty, social, always good at coaxing a smile out of people. The mission he joined us on turned out to be a lot rougher than we expected. Our Anchor was injured and out of action, and Wonwoo had to take over. Others with so little experience would have fallen to pieces under the pressure. He held it together, worked in sync with me and Minghao to keep the team cohesive. Earned himself a commendation. Looking at him now—it’s like he’s a different person.”

Not different, just pushed to the brink and beaten down by life. Mingyu had seen it before, but people usually got out before it got so bad. It spoke to Wonwoo’s sheer determination, and probably a big helping of stubbornness, that he’d lasted this long. The fallout must have been epic if it had been enough to send him running for cover.