Chapter Text
The door to the office clicked shut. CEO Lee held his business smile for a few seconds longer than needed, in case his oh-so-important business partner came back because he had "another great idea" to share.
Then Minho groaned deeply, letting himself fall back against his thankfully quite comfortable office chair and immediately loosening his tie a bit, his eyes and mind wandering. He'd never get used to that damn thing cutting off his windpipe.
He let his gaze lock firmly onto the abstract, colorful painting to the right of his desk. Changbin and Eunkyung had persuaded him to hang it there, right above his sofa, to give the room a nicer atmosphere. Minho thought it was bullshit but he couldn't care less. He didn't care much about art.
He was ripped out of his thoughts by a gentle knock, instantly recognizing the sound.
Minho grinned as the door opened slowly. Speak of the devil.
"Minho-sshi, how was your business talk?", Eunkyung inquired, voice soft and calm like always.
"Good", Minho offered, not in the mood to have a lot of social interaction right after an exhausting talk like this. This dude from Samsung had really thought he was going somewhere.
Eunkyung nodded, tilting her head to the side slightly, long, black ponytail swishing from side to side. "I'm glad", she answered with an honest smile and looked down at the appointment calendar in her hands, "Your next appointment is at 7 pm, so in about an hour."
Minho groaned loudly, putting his right forearm over his eyes. "That charity thing, right? God, no."
His secretary gave a small chuckle, keeping it short to still sound professional. "Yes, down in the town-hall. It's important for publicity reason that you show yourself there, Minho-sshi-"
"I know, I know", Minho shuts her up by waving his left hand in the air.
"They are annoying, right? Charity events like this."
Minho glanced at her from under his arm, shrugging without much effort.
"It would sure be nicer to have an Omega by your side during this times, right? An omega that could release your… tension."
Minho certainly didn't miss the flirty tone and the innuendo. He grinned lazily.
"You know I don't have time for a relationship", he said, eyes wandering her body.
"Just saying", Eunkyung winked at him before she took a bow and stated: "I'll wait for you out here in half an hour. I'll get back to work then!"
When Minho gave no real response his door clicked shut again.
He lifted his arm and laid it back down on his office chair, slightly spinning in his seat, keeping his dark eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Eunkyung's flirting wasn't a new thing, not at all. Minho knew she was an attractive Omega - he often caught his business partners looking after her or even bluntly flirting with her. Even some of his colleagues sometimes told him how much they envied him.
Sure, Eunkyung had nice hips, a great figure in general, just short enough to be becoming to an Omega and her typical dark blue eyes fascinated him quite a lot. But there wasn't more. While her flirting appealed to his inner Alpha, doing a great deal for his self-confidence, he barely felt the need to reciprocate with a phrase indicating interest.
It was like he had said - Minho didn't have time for relationships. And he wasn't an Alpha like that, having one time flings.
He might be a little cursed in that matter.
His gaze lowered to his inner wrist, to the place his soulmate tattoo would appear when he'd meet his other half. These days, people found their soulmates way more often than before, having more opportunities to meet people. Minho heard that the soulmate tattoo could also appear if you were only looking at the picture of your other half but he wasn't sure if that was just myth.
There were a lot of rumors surrounding this mystical string of destiny. Science hadn't found an answer to the question of the mechanics behind the system yet so people made up and believed whatever they wanted about it.
Minho was a skeptical person, one had to be in his field, but he caught himself thinking about that one person that might be his perfect fit more and more often the older he got. He'd met countless people on his way up the career ladder, had shaken oh so many hands on business events, but the supposed burn of his wrist had never happened. On one hand, he was glad about it - a soulmate meant an Omega that was bound to him, a complicated relationship with a near stranger. On the other, he couldn't help but yearn for that one person who was supposed to be his until the end of his life.
With a sigh Minho broke out of his thoughts, switching his laptop on. With a glance to the clock hanging on his wall he decided to get some work done before he had to get going.
-
The town-hall was so crowded and suffocatingly full of different scents, Minho felt slightly dizzy. Going from his scent-proofed office to a public place was always a challenge, making him quite tense. Still, he knew he needed to be professional. Smile for the camera, deliver the gracious cheque, shake hands and make semi-friendly small-talk. Minho was sick of it. Rationally he'd know that this was part of being the CEO of a big company. Emotionally he hadn't been prepared in the slightest.
He had just finished talking to an older Beta, apparently one of the founders of the charity Minho's company had decided to support. The Alpha had kept the talk short and simple (because he didn't even know what this charity was for), took a picture with the friendly man and had excused himself to get a glass of champagne. When Eunkyung had met a friend, another secretary, Minho had allowed her to go with her and mingle on her own.
Standing slightly leaning on a wall, sipping the actually quite good champagne, he sighed for what felt like the hundredth time on this wonderful Tuesday.
"Having fun there, Hyung?"
Minho managed to suppress his flinch at the unexpected voice, turning towards the familiar scent of citrus mixed with earthy tones. "Changbin", he gave his friend an honest smile, "Not quite."
Changbin made a fake indignant sound, looking left and right and finally locking eyes on a waiter coming their way with a tray of drinks. They waited in silence for a few moments until the small, seemingly Beta girl came close to them on her mission, Changbin quickly grabbing a glass of the same champagne Minho was drinking off her with a quick and muttered 'thanks'.
"You had a meeting with the Samsung guy today, right? What was his name again… Park Sungjoon?"
"Sungjin. Quite the guy, has a lot of ambitions and seems to be quite passionate about his work. Talking to him was exhausting but I'm thinking about that deal he proposed. Well…", Minho shifted slightly, grinning down at his smaller Alpha friend, "Let's not talk business here, shall we? I'm not that much of a workaholic."
"True. So, how have you been these days?"The small-talk between the two of them was flowing easily. Changbin was working in the upper ranks of a big music industry. They had been great friends since the first day of an economics class in university, having bonded over mutual circumstances and similarities, for example how much they didn't want to study economics. Since then, Changbin had been a stable constant in his life.
Unfortunately, the two of them were not talking among themselves for long.
"Ahh, CEO Lee~", a voice chirped from not far to their left. Minho knew that voice - it was time for his business smile again.
"Oh, Choi-sshi. How nice to see you."
Changbin snickered into his hand beside him, taking a long gulp out of his glass to mask his amusement. Apparently, his fake-friendliness hadn't nearly been as convincing as Minho had thought.
Choi Jangmi didn't seem to care much though. Minho resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the smell that invaded his nose. Vanilla. And pretty strong Vanilla at that. It wasn't uncommon for Beta women to spray themselves with perfume advertised specifically for them, giving them a scent they naturally lacked. Due to their generally terrible noses, none of them ever noticed that they smelt so hardcore that it was already revolting. Tragic. Adding on to his immediate dislike to her scent, Jangmi was wearing a rather low-cut dress, seemingly defying all laws of physics with her bra.
Unfortunately, Choi Jangmi was the daughter of the mayor and wasn't as unimportant as Minho would have wished.
"Ah, you flatter me!", her voice was pitched so high Minho was faintly reminded of a tea kettle, "I saw the donation your company made for the Domestic Homeless Foundation! You're so generous~ We should drink a toast!"
"Thank you, my lady. It was nothing though", Minho tried to calm her down, trying his best to think of an excuse out of this situation.
"Don't be like that, Minho-sshi!", the woman daringly switched to his first name, giving him a wink. Changbin chocked on his drink, barely concealing his amusement any longer. The older Alpha pushed his elbow into the other's ribs with a bit of force.
But because of his attempts to silence his best friend Minho didn't have the opportunity to flee the situation, as Jangmi had already turned around and was looking for a waiter. "Hey, you!", she shouted at a small figure not far from them, sweetness in her voice only remaining in the least bit. Minho fixed his gaze on his feet. Why was everyone around here this fake?
"So, Minho-sshi, I wanted to talk to you about something. My father is looking forward to a new project next year…"
Before Jangmi could finish introducing this 'something' she wanted to talk to Minho about, footsteps and a new scent neared them and a boy in a suit entered the Alpha's peripheral vision.
Suddenly, his inner Alpha roared and his head snapped up to his right, staring right into bright blue eyes.
It was a weird feeling if Minho was being honest. He grew impossibly hot in a matter of heartbeats, his stomach turning like he was free falling, his eyes opening wider and almost bulging out of their sockets.
And then came the weirdest sensation of them all. His left wrist started burning like fire was licking a path over his skin but instead of the pain Minho was expecting, it felt… right.
The Alpha didn't have much time to ponder the thought though before blue eyes mirrored his expression of undisguised shock.
It felt like everything happened in slow-motion. He had to use all power of mankind to rip away his eyes from staring into the deep skies, only to witness the slim wrist holding up the tray of colourful liquids starting to shake slightly, eventually flinching violently.
The next thing Minho felt was cold shock, a mix of sticky liquid smelling strongly of the searing stink of alcohol covering his face and upper body. He inhaled air sharply out of reflex and almost choked on the air surrounding him, coughing quickly.
"Oh shit", a soft voice muttered close to his ear, numbed of all emotion.