章 15: Picking Up Pieces 2

Wonho gets out of his room and heads downstairs towards the kitchen. He is a bit thirsty and wants something hot to drink. His mother just bought his favourite hot cocoa today, so he decides to make those. It is a few hours past midnight, he makes sure not to make any noise to disturb the others.

He hears the noise again. The same voice he heard a few days earlier that triggered his trauma. Only this time, knowing what it is, he tries to calm himself down and peeks from the stairs. His mother told him it is just the late drama playing at night, and indeed, it is; the television staring at his sleeping father on the couch.

Wonho continues to walk down the stairs quietly, not to wake his old man. He takes out his mug and his father's grey one, and makes two cups of hot cocoa. He then brings them, one by one because his right hand is still in a cast, to the living room and places them on the coffee table gently before sitting on the sofa besides his snoring father. The sudden movement wakes the man who quickly looks around the house before noticing his son right next to him.

'Aigoo Wono-yah' He laughs awkwardly.

Wonho smiles at the man. This is their first meeting after Junjie told them about the incident. His other family members just returned home from his grandparent's house and Wonho still hid in his room because he needs a little time to prepare himself mentally.

His mother taught him how to hide his scent because he refuses to go out of the house as is. Because he doesn't want the neighbourhood ahjummas to talk about him, the only beta of the omega family. It is enough that they talk about his siblings being all flirty when all they did is having stronger scent that attract more alphas than they should. He does not want them to start talking about him too.

The first time he and his mother went out of the house was to see the therapist to get his medicine. They went to and back, not stopping anywhere in between. Then they gradually went out for groceries and for lunch or dinner but that was the just the two of them; His other family members stayed at his grandparents. Yesterday, his mother finally asked him to talk to his father to give him a peace of mind and Wonho promised to try. And today evening, everyone returned home.

Apparently, ever since his old man learnt about what happened to him, the old man had been keeping watch of the house. He would try to stay up before ending up sleeping downstairs anyway. And wake up early in the morning to go to work, and repeat it again every night. Just so he could make sure no one would be able to break-in. And it affected his health, especially with his aging body.

Wonho feels guilty, 'Appa, I made you hot cocoa.'

'Aigoo...Our Wonnie... you're so considerate…' Wonho smiles at his old man and passes the drink to him. The man takes a slurp and he sees tears dropping into the beverage. 'It's so good.'

'Appa, you're spoiling it.' He comments, pointing it out to not make thing awkward.

'Aigoo, sorry. Eheh. What am I doing… I need a tissue.' The man takes off his glasses and searches for the tissue box. Wonho grabs the one on the dining table and passes it to his father, 'You need to sleep.' He says while gently massaging his father's shoulders. Sleeping on the small sofa, in a very uncomfortable position every single night for more than a month, that must have been hard for him.

'Yes, yes. Don't worry about me Wonnie. You should go to sleep, it's late.'

'I'm okay now. Eomma brought me to see a therapist. Sorry for worrying you…' his father nods, the tears continuing to flow despite the man's attempt to keep drying it. He holds Wonho's head, kisses his forehead and pulls it down for a hug. 'Appa, my neck hurts. Not comfortable.'

'Gimme a few more minutes.'

'Then you go upstairs and sleep.'

'Yes. Then I'll go upstairs and sleep.'

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Wonho hears his younger sister gasps and pretends not to hear it, continuing to eat. She is running towards their mother and keeps pointing towards him before running to the back and opening another door forcefully. The oldest brother lets out a sigh when he hears another pair of footsteps following her to the dining table.

'Oppa¹!!!' 'Hyung!!!' Both of them scream loudly and Wonho curses on the inside. He is hoping for a quiet 'first meeting' but he should have known that was never an option. Not with his younger siblings.

'Oppa!!!' 'HYUNGGG!!!' they repeat again, as if he didn't hear them the first time. They are not surprised by his scent, so he figures his parents told them that much.

'Be quiet and eat your breakfast. Don't you need to go to school, Seunghee?' His mother scolds them and Wonho clears his throat, smirking at his sister's pouting face. His brother runs towards the table and sits right in front of him, his bed hair sticking out. Just staring. Again, Wonho clears his throat, now uncomfortable.

'Hyu-'

'And you need to get ready for your part-time job.' Again, his mother saved him.

'Eomma, come on!' his brother complains but after a deadly stare from his mother, he gives up and makes his way towards the bathroom. 'You better not hide again or I'll kill you.'

'Seo Byeongho!'

'FIIINEEEE!' he rolls his eyes and walks behind Wonho's chair towards his destination. Wonho, not wanting it to be awkward later, pushes his chair backwards to hit his brother, making him slip a bit. 'HYUNG!!!'

'What did eomma said?' His father finally speaks after reading his newspaper.

'He hit me!!!' Wonho notices the playful death glare his brother is giving him and smirks in satisfaction. He is really glad they treat him like this instead of pitying him.

His parents asked him if they could tell his siblings about what happened and Wonho agreed, minus the part of him being sexually assaulted. Although that should be a given since he was forcefully marked, the thought of it being conveyed to his brother and sister word-by-word is too much for him to bear. He would rather them imagining all sorts of scenarios than making it clear that he was violated.

That being said, Wonho was actually very nervous about eating together today, afraid that his presence would make breakfast really awkward and silent, with all of them having to mind their words around him so he is really, really glad that they acted the way they did.

'Oppa, are you going to stay here for a while?' His sister breaks the silence and Wonho feels relieved that she avoids asking about his situation.

'Yeah… maybe for a few more months.' He replies awkwardly. After a long time not talking, speaking to his bubbly younger sister proves to be hard work. Thankfully she is satisfied with the short answer and continues eating her breakfast in silence, something she rarely does.

This term, he decided to take a time off to heal and the university allowed it. His scholarship, however, is a goner. Because he is now an omega, he no longer fulfill the qualifications of the scholarship which is only for betas. His father wanted to argue with the association but Wonho begged him not to. After all, the scholarship he was under was offered as a mean to support exceptional betas so they will be able to compete in fields usually monopolized by alphas. There was nothing to fight about, everything was in black and white. Nothing good will come out of it.

With all the things happening, Wonho decided he would use this term to think about what he would do later in the near future. About other options available for him, now that he is… an omega.

'So you should help me do my homework.' Seunghee adds, earning her a scoff from the brother.

'You should do that yourself.' His mother scolds her and she glares back at her.

'Fiineee! You should help me with my homework.' She retaliates and hugs his hand to beg. He pats her head and hugs her back, just because he misses her and her bubbly self.

Speaking of which, he forgot their gifts!! He even bought each of them something from Seoul and he forgets to bring them home…'Aah… I forgot your shoes!'

'You bought me shoes??? Really???'

'Uh-uh. But I forgot to bring them… Sorry…'

'If you're talking about that big green bag, I have it in my room. Jun gave it to me.' His mother casually interrupts while putting fried eggs on his plate. Wonho closes his eyes to recall what the colour of the bag supposed to be.

Yup. Green. 'That's it!! Thank god!! I bought you and appa something too!'

'What bout me?!' He hears Byeongho scream from the bathroom, voice muffled by the walls. Feeling like bullying the younger brother, he answers, 'Nothing for you.'

'YAAAHHH!!!' Wonho laughs at the reaction and continues eating his breakfast.

Junjie… he didn't reply any messages that his best friend sent him ever since he got back. He needs to tell him about his decision to take the term off to rest. And to thank him for the gifts.

And also to ask him not to worry and give him some time because Wonho really wants to get better.

And if he didn't mail the guy, he is positive Junjie will go into panic mode and starts stalking him via his mother, just like he always did back when they were younger.