Love at First Sight

by ot7mikrokosm

Summary:

Love hits you in the strangest places.

For Mingyu it was in the public library during a pandemic.

For Wonwoo it was in Chicago during Christmastime.

 

A KAS prequel

Notes:

Hope you all enjoy the story of how minwon got together! <3

Chapter 1: September 2021

Mingyu had just reached his car after the end of his workday when his phone began buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out as he climbed into his car and saw that it was his sister calling. He quickly removed the mask from his face, tossing it in the passenger seat as he answered the call. "How are you feeling, Minseo?"

"Like death." Minseo said before coughing.

"Need me to bring you anything?" Mingyu offered. "Medicine, food, groceries?"

He heard Minseo blowing her nose before she answered. "Eomma just sent me a grocery delivery so I should be good. But I do need you to get me some books from the library if you can."

Mingyu furrowed his eyebrows. "Why can't you get them from the UCA library when you're feeling better?"

"Because my Asian Literature professor isn't allowing covid as an excuse for late work and I have a paper due Friday for which I have yet to even begin." Minseo said in an exasperated tone.

"Alright, I'll head to the library and drop the books off before going home." Mingyu said.

Minseo profusely thanked him. "I'll text you the list of books I need. You're the best big brother!"

'And don't you forget it." Mingyu chuckled.

After the call ended, Mingyu headed over to the public library and put his mask back on before going inside. He first sanitized his hands at the sanitizer station just inside the doors before beginning his search for Minseo's books. As he went through the building, he kept picking up on the scent of peaches lingering near different shelves. It wasn't just any scent though. He found it to be nearly identical to the same scent that had been the source of his main high school crush. He'd never seen the owner of the scent as a teenager, just caught whiffs of it every so often in the hallways between classes. But even now at the age of 24, he often would think about that scent and wonder what kind of omega it belonged to. He wasn't sure if it was the same scent or same omega, obviously, but it definitely had his stomach feeling tingly in the same way as it had back in high school.

The only difference was that day he saw the owner of the scent as he came out of an aisle and spotted an omega sitting at one of the tables with a laptop and a notebook in front of him. Even though half his face was covered by a mask, Mingyu could still tell that the peach scented omega was quite possibly the most beautiful omega he had ever seen. He wanted to walk over to him and profess his love for the omega, but he could tell the omega was busy and didn't want to be disturbed, plus it would be pretty weird to tell an omega that he didn't even know the name of that he loved him as the first words he ever said to him. So he did his best to mind his business and continue looking for Minseo's books. However, he found himself unable to leave the general vicinity of the omega, the second the scent of peaches grew faint filling him with a burning need to be surrounded by it, and kept sending glances the omega's way.

He wasn't sure how long that had gone on for when the omega suddenly looked up and locked eyes with him. "Do you need help with something?" He asked and Mingyu felt like he could literally melt.

Before Mingyu could say no and apologize for being a creep he spotted the omega's badge that identified him as a librarian there. So the omega really was offering help and not just calling him out on his behavior? At least that's what Mingyu was hoping as he dared to step closer. "Actually yes. I'm trying to find these books for my sister." He held his phone out to show the omega the list Minseo had sent him.

The omega glanced at the list an amusement glinted in his eyes. "So you're looking in the newspapers?"

Mingyu felt his face burn and was thankful for the mask covering his blush. "I got a little lost."

"Uh huh…" The omega closed his laptop and stood up, gathering his things in his arms. "Follow me." He led Mingyu to the correct section and pulled the books off the shelf for Mingyu. "There you go."

"I really like your scent." Mingyu blurted out before inwardly cringing.

The omega looked at him in what Mingyu assumed was confusion for a moment. "Thank you…you know people aren't usually so straightforward about that."

The tone the omega had made Mingyu feel like he was flirting a bit with him, but he also could very much be wrong. "Are you free Friday night?" He once again blurted out, making him wonder what was wrong with him. Usually he was much smoother when it came to picking up omegas.

The omega raised his eyebrows slightly. "Not for an alpha I don't even know the name of."

"Oh, sorry." Mingyu felt his cheeks flush again. "I'm Mingyu."

"Wonwoo." The omega introduced himself while tapping his badge that did have his name on it. He then looked at Mingyu almost expectantly.

Mingyu felt the omega was waiting for something, so he tried again. "So…Friday night?"

"Oh, I don't do dates on Fridays." Wonwoo said. "Everyone does that which leads to all the good places being overly packed, which I already didn't like even before we were in a pandemic."

"O…kay…" Mingyu blinked. "Then what day do you go on dates?"

Wonwoo hummed and Mingyu could picture the omega's lips pursing thoughtfully behind his mask. "Maybe Wednesdays."

Mingyu gave a small nod. "So are you free on Wednesday?"

"Yes, my schedule is empty after I get off work on Wednesday." Wonwoo said.

"Then…would you want to go on a date with me? On Wednesday." Mingyu asked.

Wonwoo tilted his head. "You're kinda cute…so possibly."

That wasn't a yes, but it also wasn't a no. "So could I have your number? So we could discuss this possible date more?"

"Oh, you haven't earned my phone number yet." Wonwoo said, turning to walk off which confused Mingyu even more. Just before he disappeared out of the aisle, the omega then called over his shoulder. "I'll be at Pasta Grill at 7:30 on Wednesday. Maybe I'll see you there."

Mingyu wasn't sure if that was the omega's invitation for a date or not, but he knew there was only one way to find out. So he made sure to be standing outside Pasta Grill on Wednesday at 7:30 just in case. Worst case scenario, he could call up Jungkook to come have dinner with him. Jungkook was always down to get food. The minutes ticked down and soon Mingyu began to believe Wonwoo wasn't actually going to be there. Then, just as he was about to pull out his phone to make the call, the omega finally appeared. "Didn't think you'd actually show up." Wonwoo said with a small laugh.

"I wasn't going to pass up the chance to take a beautiful omega out on a date." Mingyu said, as the six days since he'd last seen the omega had allowed his usual confidence to come back.

Wonwoo raised his eyebrows. "You think you're smooth, don't you?" And there went his confidence again. But the laugh Wonwoo let out was worth it.

They went inside and thankfully didn't have to wait too long to be seated and have their drink orders taken. As their waiter walked off to get their drinks, Mingyu took his mask off. "What do you know?" Wonwoo smiled, propping his chin on his hand after taking his own mask off. "You're even cuter when I can see your whole face."

"And you're just as beautiful as I imagined you were." Mingyu said sincerely. Wonwoo raised his eyebrows as he always did but that time, he didn't have a mask to hide the flush that rose to his cheeks. So he did enjoy Mingyu's flirting. Win for Mingyu! "So how long have you been working at the library."

"A little over a year." Wonwoo said. "I was lucky enough to get the job right after I got my master's last year." He then tilted his head curiously. "What do you do? Besides comment on random librarians' scents in your free time."

Mingyu let out a tiny, embarrassed chuckle and shifted in his seat. "I'm the omegas' soccer coach at the high school. And I teach health too."

"And you read analyses of Asian literature when you find the time?" Wonwoo asked with an amused tone.

"Actually those books were for my sister." Mingyu clarified. "She's studying at UCA right now and needed them for a paper but had covid last week and couldn't go get them herself."

Wonwoo's eyes softened the tiniest bit. "That was nice of you."

Mingyu shrugged. "I was just doing my job as her big brother."

As the night progressed and they learned the basics about each other, Mingyu found himself falling hard for Wonwoo already. It was getting increasingly more difficult not to declare his undying love and propose to him right then and there, but he managed to hold back even as he paid for their meals and offered to walk the omega to his car. He was half expecting Wonwoo to insist he could walk to his car himself, but he surprised the alpha by allowing him to walk with him across the parking lot. "Well, this turned out to be a lot more enjoyable than I thought." Wonwoo said once they reached his vehicle.

"Did you think it was going to be horrible?" Mingyu raised an eyebrow.

"At best I thought it was going to be unbearably awkward." Wonwoo deadpanned and Mingyu couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you for not making it that way." As Mingyu met the omega's gaze, he had the overwhelming urge to kiss him. He felt that was safer than telling the omega he was in love with him, so he slowly started to lean in, hand coming up to lower his mask enough to be able to kiss him. Then Wonwoo stopped him by saying, "I hope you didn't think one dinner earned you a goodnight kiss." Mingyu was too stunned to speak as Wonwoo opened his car door to climb inside. "I'll see you at Kings same time next week." He lowered his mask to smile at Mingyu as he closed the door.

Chapter 2: October 2021

"And will you be having any dessert tonight?" Wonwoo and Mingyu's waiter at Mike's Place asked while checking on them.

Mingyu glanced at Wonwoo, who was more focused on his chicken tresor. "I think we'd like some of your white chocolate crème brulee."

"It'll be right out."

Wonwoo raised his eyebrows at Mingyu as the waiter walked off. "You're really going all out tonight."

Mingyu gave a tiny shrug as he picked up the last bite of his steak. "You picked the closest thing we have to fine dining here."

"Valid point." Wonwoo smiled and popped another piece of chicken into his mouth.

It was their fifth Wednesday night date and while originally Wonwoo was just using it as a way to get free food--Mingyu being cute and endearing was just a bonus to him--the 25-year-old omega found himself looking forward to Wednesday nights even more than Sundays despite that being his day off dedicated to spending all day on his computer. There was just something about Mingyu that made him want to spend more time with him. But in order to do that, there was something the omega had to allow first, as Mingyu had proven to not be pushy like other alphas.

When their dessert was brought out and Mingyu picked up one of the spoons to crack the top of it, Wonwoo held his hand out expectantly. Mingyu immediately handed Wonwoo the other spoon causing the omega to snort in laughter. "No, give me your phone."

"Why?" Mingyu asked a bit suspiciously as he reached into his pocket.

"Because you've earned my phone number." Wonwoo said, and a smile spread across Mingyu's face as he placed his phone in the omega's hand.

As Wonwoo typed his number in, Mingyu asked, "So does this also mean we can extend our dates beyond Wednesdays?"

Wonwoo glanced up at him. "Depends on what you have in mind."

Mingyu bit his lip, dragging his spoon through the crème brulee. "My friends, Joshua and Seokmin…I told them about our arrangement, and they've been begging to meet you as soon as they get the chance. They said whenever you're ready, they'd love to have to two of us over for dinner."

"I might allow that." Wonwoo said.

"Really?" Mingyu asked as if he hadn't expected that.

Wonwoo nodded. "The library closes at 5:00 on Saturdays, so how about then?"

Mingyu smiled a bit. "You're gonna allow a Saturday date?"

"It's not really a date so much as visiting friends, right?" Wonwoo pointed out.

"You are something else." Mingyu said, shaking his head slightly as he took a bite of crème brulee.

***

"So you're meeting his friends tonight?" Hannah, one of Wonwoo's coworkers, asked as they were taking their lunch break. "Sounds like you guys are getting pretty serious."

Wonwoo shrugged although he could feel his cheeks flushing a bit. "He's alright."

Hannah shook her head as she picked her phone up. "What are his friends' names again?"

"Joshua and Seokmin. Why-" He cut off as he realized why she was asking. "Do not social media stalk him."

"Too late." Hannah said as she scrolled through what Wonwoo presumed to be Mingyu's Facebook profile.

Wonwoo sighed deeply. "Why are you like this?"

Instead of answering, Hannah suddenly paused, frowning at her phone. "You said Joshua, right?" Wonwoo hummed. "Well, I typed Joshua into the search bar on his profile to see what came up and the only Joshua that he regularly tags in pictures and stuff is an ex of his."

"Okay?" Wonwoo shrugged. "Exes can be friends depending on the circumstances around their relationship and break up."

"Yeah but apparently they almost got engaged." Wonwoo furrowed his eyebrows as Hannah turned her phone to show him a picture of Mingyu and this Joshua posted by what seemed to be Joshua's parents dated three and a half years prior with the caption saying there was 'the smell of an engagement in the air'. "That's a little sus."

"Again, it depends on the circumstances around their relationship." Wonwoo said, although while he wasn't the jealous type, a part of him did wonder why Mingyu was close enough to someone he was apparently almost engaged to to introduce Wonwoo to them.

Hannah shrugged. "You do you but if it were me I wouldn't date someone who was still friends with their almost fiance."

"I'm sure there is a logical explanation for their friendship." Wonwoo said.

And he truly believed that, but as he pulled into The Greens at Nutters Chapel apartments, to meet Mingyu and his friends for dinner, he was already preparing for a lowkey interrogation to figure out what was going on. Mingyu was waiting outside for him when Wonwoo parked outside the building the alpha had texted him. "You made it!" Mingyu greeted him with a bright smile, hurrying over to open Wonwoo's door for him. "You ready for this?"

"Yep!" Wonwoo said, not sharing that what he was most ready for was getting to the bottom of the almost engagement.

He got his answer almost immediately when Mingyu led him into the apartment and his gaze fell on the two omegas hosting them for dinner, more specifically the matching scars on the base of their necks. So Mingyu had been Joshua's beard, it seemed. "You must be Wonwoo!" Joshua exclaimed, hurrying over to greet him while Seokmin carried their dinner over to the coffee table. "It's so nice to meet you! Mingyu's told us so much about you!"

"Nice to meet you too." Wonwoo smiled.

As they sat around the coffee table to eat the kimchi fried rice the omega couple had made for dinner, Wonwoo nonchalantly asked, "So how did you all meet?"

"Joshua and I both went to Harding University in Searcy." Mingyu answered. "He was a year ahead of me and the way we met was actually really hilarious."

Joshua's cheeks flushed a bit as he laughed at the memory. "Seokmin and I had just started dating when my parents showed up unexpectedly to visit. My mom, as her usual self, immediately started talking about finding a 'proper match' for me and I accidentally let it slip that I was already in a relationship. Well, I had only just come out to myself and definitely wasn't ready to tell my extremely conservative parents that I was gay, so I panicked and grabbed the first alpha I saw walking by."

Wonwoo looked over at Mingyu. "And it was you?" Mingyu nodded. "And you played along?"

Mingyu shrugged. "He seemed desperate, and I like helping people."

"They ended up keeping up the fake relationship for two and a half years until Joshua finally came out to his parents." Seokmin added on.

"And then we stayed really good friends." Joshua said with a smile.

When they finished their dinner and Wonwoo decided he was ready to leave to go home and decompress, Mingyu insisted on at least walking him out to his car. "Your friends are fun." Wonwoo said.

"I'm glad you like them." Mingyu smiled. "They really like you too."

"Good." Wonwoo nodded. "Because future hangouts would be awkward if they actually hated me."

"Future hangouts?" Mingyu repeated, raising his eyebrows. "So you see more of this in the future?"

Wonwoo tilted his head. "You don't?" Mingyu was obviously at a loss for words, and Wonwoo decided in the moment that the alpha had earned something else that night. He leaned closer and softly pressed his lips to Mingyu's for a couple of seconds, the alpha not even having time to kiss him back before Wonwoo pulled away. "Goodnight." Wonwoo said softly before opening the car door and climbing inside.

"Text me when you get home so I know you made it safe." Mingyu said, his cheeks still bright red from the kiss.

Chapter 3: November 2021

"So when do we get to meet this alpha?" Wonwoo's mom's voice rang from his phone as he had it on speaker on the bathroom counter as he did his morning skincare routine, making him regret telling her about Mingyu just yet.

"We're not serious enough for that yet." Wonwoo said.

His mom scoffed. "Are you not going to spend Thanksgiving with his family today? Why can they meet you, but we can't meet him?"

"He invited me when he found out my Thanksgiving plans were to eat ramen while sitting in front of my computer." Wonwoo said, smiling at the memory of Mingyu's text ramble where the alpha had been assuring he was not at all pressuring Wonwoo to meet his family and spend the holiday with them. "And I'm not making it a big deal so it's not a big deal."

"It doesn't have to be a big deal for us." His mom insisted.

"That's different." Wonwoo argued and his mom scoffed again. "Spending Thanksgiving with Mingyu's family means going over to his parents' house for a couple of hours to eat. Taking him to meet you involves being stuck in a car with him for 10 hours to drive up to see y'all followed by sleeping in the same vicinity as him for a week. Not to mention-" He was cut off by his mom letting out a series of violent coughs. He waited until she recovered then decided not to even bother finishing what he was originally saying. "I'm gonna let you go so you can rest up, Eomma."

"Alright, I love you, my darling."

"Love you too." Wonwoo tapped the end call button and let out a long breath before resuming getting ready for the day.

Due to no one in Conway knowing how to drive whenever it rained, Wonwoo waited out the light shower that had taken up the morning before going out to his car and following his GPS to the old side of town to the address Mingyu had sent him. He pulled up to a cute, light green house and parked behind Mingyu's car in the driveway, taking a moment to remind himself that it truly wasn't a big deal. People put way too much weight on meeting the parents of the people they were dating. So he was just going to meet people that very well could play a huge role in the rest of his life if he and Mingyu's relationship continued for a while. Totally not a big deal at all.

When he finally climbed out of his car, Mingyu stepped out onto the porch to greet him. "You made it!" Mingyu smiled brightly opening his arms as Wonwoo walked up the steps. Wonwoo obliged him and walked into the alpha's embrace, smiling at the flutters in his stomach as Mingyu leaned down to softly brush their lips together. "My parents and sister are all in the kitchen. We always spend the morning cooking together so that we're all having to put in the work before finally sitting down to eat. But you're a guest so you can make yourself at home while we finish up."

"I'll help." Wonwoo said. "I mean if the rule is everyone has to chip in, then I shouldn't be an exception."

Wonwoo instantly regretted his offer to help. After a brief introduction to Mingyu's family, Wonwoo was placed in front of the stove, given the responsibility of the pot of some kind of stew simmering. Wonwoo wasn't a cook. He was lucky if his ramen didn't come out overdone. So he focused on lightly stirring the contents of the pot while glancing around the kitchen to make sure he wasn't fucking things up. No one really seemed to be paying attention to him or notice that he wasn't really doing anything at all. Except Mingyu, who kept coming over to add things to Wonwoo's pot, but the alpha also didn't draw attention to him, which had Wonwoo extremely grateful.

As they sat down to eat, the official meeting began. "So Mingyu said you weren't going to get to spend the holiday with your family?" Mingyu's mom asked.

"Yeah, they live up in Chicago." Wonwoo said. "With the pandemic I've been trying not to visit as much. But this year I've been working a lot of overtime so that I can take extra time off around Christmas to isolate and go see them."

"So you're from Chicago?" Mingyu's dad asked.

"Actually, I'm from Kentucky." Wonwoo said. "A small town not far from Lexington. When I was in middle school, my dad's job transferred him here to Conway, then my senior year he got moved up to Chicago."

The conversation continued to flow smoothly over the course of the meal, and seeing how Mingyu interacted with his family had Wonwoo feeling some kind of way, the omega couldn't deny. When they finished the main part of the meal, Mingyu made them some tiny bowls of yaksik and led Wonwoo out to the porch to sit and enjoy their dessert. "My family really likes you." Mingyu said.

That had Wonwoo feeling more relieved than he wanted to admit since it wasn't supposed to be a big deal. "Well, I am a likable person."

"You are a very likable person." Mingyu agreed and Wonwoo felt a slight flush rise to his cheeks. "If you weren't already planning on spending Christmas in Chicago, I'm sure my mom would try to convince you to spend it with us."

"Sounds like my mom trying to bully me into bringing you home for Christmas." Wonwoo said, subtly glancing at Mingyu to see his reaction.

Mingyu froze slightly next to Wonwoo, and the omega could tell he was trying very hard to mask the excitement he was clearly feeling. "She did?" Mingyu asked.

Wonwoo nodded. "She thinks it's unfair that your family has met me and she hasn't gotten to meet you."

"Oh." Mingyu said with a slight chuckle tinged with nervousness. "Well, I'd be more than happy to meet her. And your dad and--you have a brother, right?"

"I do." Wonwoo was surprised by the strong urge he suddenly had to see how Mingyu and his family got along. He pushed down that feeling with a slight cough. "I haven't decided if you've earned that yet."

"I look forward to hearing when I have." Mingyu said so sincerely that it had Wonwoo's heart doing strange things. So Wonwoo gave the normal response of flicking some sweet rice off of his spoon onto Mingyu. Mingyu responded by tossing some rice of his own back at Wonwoo, the two of them dissolving into a fit of giggles over their mini food fight.

Chapter 4: December 2021

As soon as Wonwoo heard a knock on his apartment door, he wheeled his suitcase behind him over to it and slipped on his shoes before opening the door, revealing a smiling Mingyu holding up his negative covid test results, as that had been the stipulation Wonwoo had given him for coming to Chicago with him. "And I've been isolating since school let out a week ago." Mingyu informed him.

"Good." Wonwoo nodded in approval, leaning in to give the alpha a quick kiss before stepping past him and closing his apartment door behind him. "Let's get going so we don't get there too late."

Once they were on the interstate heading toward Chicago, Mingyu asked, "So tell me about your family."

"There's my mom, my dad, and my little brother, Bohyuk." Wonwoo said.

Mingyu kept glancing at Wonwoo out of the corner of his eye. When it became obvious the omega wasn't going to elaborate further, Mingyu asked, "That's it?"

Wonwoo shrugged. "What else do you need to know?"

"I don't know." Mingyu said. "Things they like, things they don't like, stuff to avoid. Whatever I need to know to ensure they like me."

"So you want to put on a persona to impress my family?" Wonwoo asked.

"No!" Mingyu quickly shook his head, clearly starting to panic while Wonwoo held back laughter. "I just really like you, so I want them to really like me so I can continue to be with you."

That had Wonwoo's heart beating wildly in his chest. "Well, it doesn't take much to impress them." He assured the alpha. "I'm pretty sure they're ready to adopt you the second they meet you. As long as you're genuine with who you are and aren't an asshole, they won't have any issues."

Mingyu nodded, exhaling as he tried to relax his anxious grip on the steering wheel. "I'm not an asshole, am I?"

"I wouldn't have stuck with you this long if you were." Wonwoo said, playfully poking Mingyu's cheek.

Over the course of the 10-hour drive, the bubble of nerves in Wonwoo's chest grew until it was almost too difficult to breathe. Which was ridiculous, he kept telling himself. Mingyu was just an alpha. If he and his parents didn't click, no big deal. Some people just didn't click. They could move on. But as they got closer and closer to his parents' house, Wonwoo realized his biggest worry was more so about how Mingyu would react to Wonwoo's mother.

"I lied." Wonwoo said as Mingyu pulled into his parents' driveway.

"What?" Mingyu asked in confusion.

"I lied." Wonwoo repeated. "There is something more you should know." He took a deep breath but found himself unable to bring the actual words forward. Instead he said, "Don't freak out. Don't make a big deal. Just pretend like everything's normal." Mingyu furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but Wonwoo climbed out of the car before Mingyu could ask what he was talking about.

The front door opened and Wonwoo's dad appeared, the older alpha heading down the porch steps with his arms spread wide. "Wonwoo!"

"Appa!" Wonwoo hurried to hug his dad tightly, leaving Mingyu to get their bags from the trunk. "How's Eomma?"

"She's good." His dad assured him. "She's having a good day." He pulled back from Wonwoo, his gaze falling on Mingyu. "This must be the young alpha who's been courting you."

Mingyu's cheeks flushed a bit as he hurried to shake Wonwoo's dad's hand in greeting. "Pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm Mingyu."

"Pleasure's all mine." Wonwoo's dad beamed. "Come on in and get out of the cold."

Wonwoo went in ahead of the two alphas, immediately spotting his mom in her recliner in the corner of the living room. She looked frailer than the last time he'd seen her in person, but she otherwise did seem to be in a great mood, meaning it was probably a low pain day for her. "Hi, Eomma." Wonwoo smiled as he went over and leaned down to hug her.

"I've missed you, honey!" She exclaimed, returning his hug with as much strength as she could muster. "Now where's that alpha of yours."

"He's coming in right now." Wonwoo said with a chuckle, pulling back just as Mingyu entered the room with their bags and Wonwoo's dad right behind him.

Mingyu's eyes noticeably widened for a moment as he saw Wonwoo's mom, but he quickly composed himself, following Wonwoo's pleas to act normal. "Hi, Mrs. Jeon." Mingyu greeted her with that charming smile of his. "I'm Mingy. It's so nice to meet you!"

"Get on over here." She waved the alpha over, holding her arms up to him. "I'm a hugger."

"Well, Wonwoo definitely doesn't take after you then." Mingyu joked, and Wonwoo playfully kicked at him in response.

"Oh, he's always been a little too stubborn for his own good." Wonwoo's mom laughed.

As the evening proceeded with the two of them getting settled in and Mingyu getting to know Wonwoo's family, Wonwoo was surprised to see Mingyu naturally molding into an almost caregiver role for his mother. Wonwoo and his dad both told Mingyu he didn't need to help, but the alpha insisted on helping prepare her meals, bring her water when she needed it, helped her stand up from her chair, and even brought her nighttime meds to her. A part of Wonwoo wanted to believe that Mingyu was only doing it to get on his good side, to impress him, but watching him, Wonwoo could tell that it was just how Mingyu was.

"Thank you." Wonwoo said as Mingyu came to the guest room Wonwoo was staying in to say goodnight before heading out to the couch where he had offered to sleep due to not wanting to assume Wonwoo would be ready to share a bed with him.

"For what?" Mingyu asked.

"My mom." Wonwoo said vaguely. "Being you."

"Oh, of course." Mingyu nodded before hesitating slightly. "Can I ask what…" He trailed off a bit. "I mean, if you're not comfortable talking about it, I totally get it but…"

Wonwoo swallowed thickly as he sat in the nest he'd started to form. "Breast cancer. Stage four."

Mingyu was quiet for a moment before saying, "So not good."

A tiny laugh escaped Wonwoo at that and he patted the spot next to him, gesturing for Mingyu to sit with him. Mingyu closed the door behind him before joining the omega. "She was diagnosed right before the pandemic. We were told from the beginning that she only had a few years left due to how far it had already spread. So my dad and brother are just keeping her as comfortable as possible until the inevitable." Wonwoo exhaled shakily. "I don't visit near as much as I should."

"Well, we are in the middle of a deadly pandemic." Mingyu pointed out. "And your mom is definitely high risk. Which means staying away and isolating yourself for the past week so you could come today, you're doing what's best for her." Wonwoo flashed Mingyu a grateful smile. "Thank you for opening up and letting me see this." Mingyu then said softly. "It means a lot that you trust me enough for that.'

Wonwoo wasn't quite sure what it was, but for some reason, Mingyu saying that had it clicking for him. The reason he'd been so nervous about Mingyu's reaction to seeing his mother, why he kept trying to trick himself into thinking things weren't a big deal, it was because he was afraid of losing Mingyu. Because even though he'd only known the alpha for three and a half months, he already somehow knew that he wanted the alpha in his life forever. But he couldn't say that out loud. Doing so would most definitely jinx what they had, and now that Wonwoo was aware, he wasn't going to risk it. But he could show him…

Wonwoo leaned in to softly press his lips to Mingyu's, quickly deepening it. Mingyu's hand came up to gently cup Wonwoo's cheek as he flicked his tongue into the omega's mouth. Wonwoo shifted in his nest so he could lay back without breaking the kiss, tugging Mingyu on top of him. As Wonwoo parted his legs to wrap them around the alpha, Mingyu pulled back slightly. "Are you sure?" He asked.

"We wouldn't have even gotten this far if I wasn't." Wonwoo said.

Mingyu paused for a second. "Very true." He pressed his lips to Wonwoo's again for a long moment before climbing off of him. "I'll be right back." He hurried out of the room.

When Mingyu returned, he had a condom in hand. "Where did you get that?" Wonwoo asked curiously before gasping. "Were you expecting to get laid?"

"No!" Mingyu denied. "It's just…I'm a high school health teacher. Sex ed is my thing." Wonwoo couldn't help but laugh a bit as Mingyu gave his explanation. "I have to practice what I preach so I always make sure I have a condom around just in case."

"An alpha who's actually responsible." Wonwoo mused as Mingyu climbed back on the bed with him. "Kind of turning me on." He reached out to pull Mingyu on top of him again, crashing their lips together.

Wonwoo had always been a bit impatient, so he didn't let Mingyu take his sweet time warming him up. No, he made sure their clothes were gone as quick as possible and opened the condom packet himself. He probably would have rolled the condom down Mingyu's dick on his own too if Mingyu hadn't gotten the message and made quick work of putting it on. Mingyu settled in between Wonwoo's legs, positioning his tip at the omega's entrance while Wonwoo wrapped his arms around him. Mingyu then leaned down to press his lips to Wonwoo's before pushing inside, successfully muffling the gasp of pleasure that tried to escape Wonwoo. Wonwoo dug his fingers into Mingyu's shoulder blades as the alpha bottomed out, pausing for a moment to give Wonwoo the chance to adjust around him before pulling out and thrusting back in. He found that spot inside Wonwoo that made the omega want to scream fairly quickly, causing Wonwoo to have to bite his lip to keep from crying out when Mingyu's mouth wasn't swallowing his noises. Wonwoo lost himself in Mingyu's warmth and scent so completely that he was surprised when an orgasm racked through his body, his arms and legs tightening around Mingyu as he trembled from the pleasure. Mingyu thrusted a few more times before stilling, groaning lowly into Wonwoo's mouth.

As they recovered from their highs, Mingyu very carefully untangled himself from Wonwoo, the omega unable to help the whimper that escaped him as Mingyu slipped out of him. Mingyu removed the condom and tossed it into the waste basket near the bed before retrieving his underwear to pull on. "I'm gonna get something to clean you up." He said, leaning down to press a kiss to Wonwoo's cheek before quietly leaving the room.

He returned moments later with a wet warm washcloth and Wonwoo rolled over onto his stomach so Mingyu could start cleaning up the slick starting to grow sticky on his thighs and ass cheeks. "Stay in here tonight." Wonwoo said softly.

"Okay." Mingyu agreed, and as soon as Wonwoo was cleaned up and dressed in fresh underwear and pajamas, Mingyu climbed back into the nest with him and pulled him into his arms.

Notes:

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Series this work belongs to:

• Part 52 of Korean-American Series
• Part 16 of SVT KAS Arc
• Part 4 of MinWon KAS Arc