Hongjoong finds himself standing next to Jongho when all of the alphas and betas file into the strength training building. He sees one of the Park's sons, Dohyon, making his way to the front and bowing towards them all. Out of respect, they bow back and the boy begins explaining how strength training works here.

"I'm going to ask for everyone to pair up, you all can choose your partner. Your partner will be the one that spots you while you're completing your routine and vise versa," Dohyon says.

Hongjoong looks around the room and sees Sunghee asked to pair up with San already and Dongwoo was asked by a younger-looking beta girl. As Hongjoong realizes the friends he's made have already been partnered up, he looks over at Jongho.

Jongho seems to have realized the same thing that Hongjoong just had and looks at him with a face of disgust, "How could we have gotten this unlucky?" He complains, crossing his arms into a tight fold across his chest, "I'm asking San before we even get here next time..." He mumbles under his breath.

"I'm just as unhappy with this situation as you, but you damn well better not let those weights fall on me, Jongho," Hongjoong says fiercely.

Life truly has it out for them both.

Dohyon nods in contentment when he sees everyone has paired up and then he goes over to one of the many bench presses they have in this building, "This is a bench press, which I'm sure you're all aware of, but your partner will most come in handy here. Having a spotter can sometimes mean the difference between life and death and with how much I've seen especially alphas put on these things, it's serious," He explains and pats the bar of the weight before going over to a few other machines around the building.

Hongjoong listens intently to the Park boy, taking in everything he says even though he's well aware of what the machines do and how important safety is when operating with them. He glances over to his... partner... and notices how absentmindedly he's looking around the room, not paying as much attention to Dohyon as Hongjoong thinks he should be.

Hongjoong nudges Jongho in the side with his elbow and gives him a pointed look, whipping his head back to Dohyon, hoping Jongho gets the message that he needs to pay attention.

Jongho rolls his eyes once more but does end up following Hongjoong's motions and starts to listen to Dohyon and what he's saying.

After all of the explanations, the pairs went off to what they wanted to do first. Jongho surprisingly took Hongjoong by the forearm and dragged him over to the bench press. The surprising part being the physical contact, Hongjoong was definitely not surprised by the workout he wanted to do since it's what he's always seen him do back home in Nightshade.

"I'm going first," Jongho states, already getting on the bench and laying back.

Hongjoong hums, expecting nothing less from him at this point, so he goes up by his head and prepares to spot him.

Jongho takes the bar in his hands and begins slowly pumping it up and down from his chest and up high in front of him, being sure to keep his arms bent. He does the first fifty reps with ease before setting the bar back on the resting arms. Hongjoong helps the bar set properly on the resting arms, letting Jongho breathe for a moment.

"Can you put on thirty more pounds on each side?" Jongho asks, taking steady breaths. Beads of sweat begin to appear on Jongho's forehead and his cheeks are red from the heat in the room.

Hongjoong's eyes falter when he sees how Jongho looks, but he nods, going and getting two thirty-pound wheels and he comes back, putting them on either side of the bar. He secures them tightly so there's no way they'll fall off and as soon as Jongho sees him tighten the last one, he lays back down.

Jongho looks up at Hongjoong from his lying position and smirks, "I know this is more than you put on, isn't it?" He asks cockily.

Hongjoong's eyes narrow as he looks down at his rival on the bench, shaking his head in dismissal, "The amount doesn't matter if you can't lift it," he retorts flatly.

Jongho scoffs and grips onto the bar, beginning to pump once again, wanting to show Hongjoong how he can lift it. He should be concentrating on his reps, but he can't help it when his eyes trail up to Hongjoong. For some reason, his mind goes to that kiss they shared and he finds his eyes landing on his enemy's plump lips, admiring how soft and supple they look.

In the moment of Jongho's distraction, Hongjoong swears he saw him staring at him. Suddenly, Jongho loses his grip on one of the sides of the bar and it begins to fall down. The heavy bar is about to land on Jongho's chest, but Hongjoong quickly catches it before allowing it to make contact.

Jongho breathes heavily, his heart pounding with adrenaline as he realizes he could've just crushed his chest.

"What the hell were you doing?!" Hongjoong demands, lifting the bar up to the resting arms, "You could've gotten so badly hurt, you dumbass!"

Jongho's eyes widen at Hongjoong's anger, but it settles back on him and his eyebrows furrowed together, "Well, I didn't, so why are you getting so livid?" He growls, getting up from the bench fast and the two boys are instantly chest to chest.

A fight hasn't started yet, but Dohyon knows it's coming soon, so he is quick to step in, "Hey, calm down, guys. There's not going to be any fighting here, okay? This is the whole reason for a spotting partner. This guy here saved your life," Dohyon says, trying to defuse the situation.

"He didn't save shit," Jongho mumbles, crossing his arms again.

"Would you have rathered me let the bar fall on you, then?" Hongjoong asks angrily, but he knows they really shouldn't be doing this here. He can feel others' eyes on the two of them at this moment.

"I know, I know," Dohyon tries, "How about you two go back and rest some, or take a walk?"

Hongjoong and Jongho both nod, knowing they have to go cool down for a while. The two leave the strength training building and decide to go on separate walks around the Chrysalis grounds. During their walk, they see that Chrysalis is much larger than they ever thought, seeing how many different things are happening at any given moment around the grounds.

Later that evening, Hongjoong and Jongho finish their respective walks, and of course, only their luck, they arrive back to their building at the same time.

Hongjoong shifts his head away from Jongho and Jongho does the same, neither of the men giving each other another glance as they enter. When they enter the building, they see a few of the boys gathered around in the living area.

"Hey, guys, come here!" Sunghee says to Hongjoong and Jongho, waving them over to the couches to sit with them all.

Sunghee chuckles once the two men sit down, "I have a special surprise that I brought from home... and I've decided to share this treat with all of you," he smirks as he pulls out a glass bottle full of liquid that everyone around him knows must be liquor.

Yeosang looks at Sunghee from across the room, sitting nuzzled in Dongwoo's side, "You know that's against the rules here, Sunghee. We've heard that about Chrysalis all throughout the years..." Yeosang says cautiously, not wanting to get in trouble.

Sunghee hums, popping the cork, "We don't know if that rule applies to us while we're here," he shows one more smirk before taking a swig.

Wooyoung shifts his eyes away from his mate when he sees he's about to drink, but Sunghee pulls him inward towards his chest, passing the bottle down to him.

"It's your favorite," He whispers seductively into Wooyoung's ear and it causes Wooyoung's cheeks to redden as he takes the bottle.

While Wooyoung drinks from the bottle, Dongwoo ran his fingers through Yeosang's fluffy hair, "It'll be okay, Yeo. I'm here. I won't let you drink too much, okay?"

"Yeah, it's just us here anyway!" Sunghee says, handing the bottle Wooyoung was holding over to Hongjoong and Jongho.

Yeosang looks up at his mate and sees his reassuring eyes and he nods, assuming it to be okay since Dongwoo thinks so too. Dongwoo smiles and kisses the top of Yeosang's head, "That's my boy."

His words make Yeosang smile and hide his face shyly, covering himself with his hands.

Hongjoong takes a few swigs from the bottle before Jongho takes it out of his hands, "God, I really needed this after today."

Hongjoong narrows his eyes at what Jongho said, "Whatever..."

San shakes his head at the two bickering men, "Maybe you two will finally loosen up now," he says, taking the bottle after Jongho takes, what San thinks, is enough sips for one go.

After a while of drinking and with the bottle Sunghee brought almost gone, the couples in the room seem to be all over each other. Sunghee hasn't taken his wandering hands off of Wooyoung for even a second, low growls coming from the alpha. One the other hand, Yeosang and Dongwoo seem to be much more lovey-dovey and gentle with their touches of each other.

San can't help but feel sadness come over himself at the view of these mated couples, starting to wonder if he will ever even get truly mated at this point. San hasn't drunk much of the bottle, having decided to only take a small sip before setting it down.

"Sunghee, stop..." Wooyoung says in an embarrassed tone as his alpha stuffs his face into his neck, taking in his sweet jasmine scent he loves so much.

Hongjoong and Jongho both look pretty wasted, from both the liquor and the lack of sleep. All of the other males staying in their building had already gone to bed, leaving just the small group of seven in the living area alone.

"I'm gonna go to bed," Hongjoong announces in an unusually loud voice as he stands up, his knees wobbling for a moment before he can fully balance.

Jongho stands as well, falling against Hongjoong slightly, "Me too..."

Hongjoong gives Jongho a small shove when he falls on him, "Don't touch me, it feels weird."

San watches the two men as they stumble to the group sleeping room and shakes his head, knowing the two have something going on. San just can't put his finger on it. He's going to have to ask one of them about it sometime.

When Hongjoong and Jongho enter the group room, all of the spots are taken except three beds in the back corner that are pretty crammed together. The others must've moved them so that they would have more space. The two stumble their way to the free beds, accidentally bumping into a few beds on their way, but no one stirs too much.

Hongjoong instantly flops back onto the bed in the corner and Jongho, for some reason, chooses the bed right next to him.

"Sleep on the other one, dumbass... Let San have the middle one," Hongjoong whisper yells, pulling the covers up over himself as he turns away from Jongho.

Jongho doesn't say anything as he makes the middle bed his home for tonight, also crawling under the covers, facing Hongjoong's back. His eyes travel from the back of Hongjoong's head all the way down to his lower back, his mind unable to stop thinking of the night they kissed.

Hongjoong turns his head around, about to curse at the boy again to sleep on the other one, but he sees that Jongho is staring back at him. Their eyes catch and Hongjoong's words are stuck in his mouth. His arms cover in goosebumps that he justifies to himself are from all the alcohol he had consumed. They're definitely not due to the way Jongho's eyes feel gazing back at him.

Jongho's lips part when he and Hongjoong make eye contact, but they slowly come back together.

He wants to say something to him, Hongjoong thinks. What does he want? Hongjoong can't keep up this oddly intimate eye contact with Jongho any longer and he turns his head back, resting it once again on the pillow. He can almost feel the tension in the room as he senses Jongho's eyes still on him.

"Thank you for today, Hongjoong. You really did save me back there..."

Ever since Hongjoong and Jongho went to bed, San has become more and more uneasy about staying out here with the two couples. He can feel himself becoming the third wheel, or rather, fifth wheel. He's about to get up when the door to the building slowly slides open.

Seonghwa hums, annoyed that he has to go to the boys' building to check in on everyone. He's normally not bothered by this sort of thing, but there's a certain someone in that building that he's nervous about seeing. His father asked for him to go tonight since Dohyon checked on them the other night.

Seonghwa takes a deep breath before sliding the door open, hoping that the world will be kind to him and everyone will already be asleep like they're supposed to be.

What Seonghwa didn't expect, or he wished he didn't, was to see San sitting right there. It wasn't just San though, there were two pairs of boys on either side of the couches with him getting fairly... close. Seonghwa is not used to seeing this sort of affection displayed in the slightest since Chrysalis rules against touching others unless it's family or your mate.

They must be mates, Seonghwa thinks to himself as he walks into the building. The couples become clearer to him and he sees that they're male couples. It causes his heart to ache seeing them, but he's not sure where else to look because his only other option is San.

Seonghwa tries to keep his composure as he bows to the group of men, the couplings splitting apart when they hear his presence. When he raises back up, he sees one of the men holding a bottle of liquid. Seonghwa mentally questions it, but he's not sure what it is.

"You're Park Seonghwa, right?" Sunghee asks, rubbing along Wooyoung's back with his free hand in an attempt to comfort his mate. He had felt his tense up as soon as he saw the Park's son.

Yeosang's also avoiding eye contact, knowing that they could get caught right this very moment and be punished. Dongwoo places reassuring kisses against the side of his mate's face, whispering sweet things in hopes of calming him back down.

Seonghwa nods, not taking his eyes off of the bottle. He finds it odd how nervous the two omegas got as soon as he came in, and he feels like it has something to do with this bottle.

"Would you like some?" Sunghee smirks devilishly, "Come sit down."

Seonghwa comes closer and does sit down with them, having to sit beside San. He can feel San's eyes burning holes into him, but he still refuses to look at him. He can't.

"You don't talk much do you?" Sunghee says as he hands the bottle over to Seonghwa, seeing how San gives him a warned look.

Seonghwa takes the bottle and inspects it, "What is it?"

"Don't drink it," San says, keeping his stern glare on Sunghee before going back to looking at his fated mate, his eyes instantly softening.

Sunghee laughs when he sees this interaction, feeling like he understands what's going on here, "Ah... Don't worry about it. It's pretty damn good, right, Wooyoung?" He says, but Wooyoung is already falling asleep at his side from all the liquor. Wooyoung never was one to handle his liquor very well.

Seonghwa feels like the air surrounding them all has changed to something more peculiar. He hears San tell him not to drink it and it angers him for some reason, giving in to himself and he looks over at San, "Why not?" He asks, finally making eye contact with those beautiful dark brown eyes he's been trying to avoid.

"It's uh... Dangerous," San says, not knowing what else to say since he knows that they are at risk of getting caught going against the rules. The last thing he wants right now is a punishment from the heads of Chrysalis, and... He doesn't want Seonghwa to be even more disappointed in him if he found him to be going against the rules already. 

Seonghwa cocks his eyebrow, flicking his eyes down to the bottle and back at San, making sure to hold eye contact with him as he downs the rest of the drink in the bottle, it sending a burning sensation down his throat as he does. His eyes narrow with confusion once he's finished the bottle off.

Why does it taste like that?

Seonghwa feels a warmness spread throughout his body, keeping his eyes on San as he lowers the bottle down to his lap.

Sunghee laughs even more when he sees Seonghwa's drunk the rest of the bottle and Dongwoo looks at San and Seonghwa worriedly. He's not sure if the Park's son has ever had alcohol in his life. In fact, he knows he hasn't. No one in Chrysalis has from all the rumors they've heard. He has a bad feeling about all of this and when he looks down to say something to Yeosang, he sees that his mate is already in a deep sleep.

"I'm going to take Yeo to bed," Dongwoo says cautiously, standing and picking up Yeosang bridal style before going to their separate room, getting them both away from this situation as soon as possible.

"Loser," Sunghee says under his breath, the smile never leaving his face from the amusement he's getting from Seonghwa and San. He makes sure to keep stroking Wooyoung's hair as he comes in and out of sleep on his lap.

"Are you okay?" San asks Seonghwa, scooting closer to him since he's concerned. He knows he's never had liquor and he's afraid of how his fated mate's body will react.

Seonghwa moves away from San when he moves closer to him, not wanting to be that close, "I'm fine," He says, but he does start to feel this unfamiliar warm feeling spreading throughout his whole body. Seonghwa stays quiet as the alcohol quickly courses through his system.

San sees Seonghwa's face start to flush into a whiter color and he gets closer again, "Are you sure?" He shoots Sunghee an angry look, "Look what you've done to him!"

Sunghee just sits back and chuckles, "Listen, man. I didn't do anything to your little lover, okay?"

San is about to respond in anger, but he's stopped by a burst of small laughter coming from beside him. He turns to Seonghwa and he sees a wide smile on his face and the giddiest laughter coming from his mouth. It's the most beautiful sound he thinks he's ever heard in his entire life. San's face instantly turns beet red as he's not sure he's ever seen Seonghwa's breathtaking smile before.

"Seonghwa?"

Seonghwa's eyes turn into little half-moons the more he laughs, his body being taken over by something he's never experienced before. He thinks he likes it, "Saaan," He mumbles, falling back onto the couch, gazing up at San with glazing-over eyes.

San feels his heart rate quicken at this side of Seonghwa he's never seen before, knowing it has to be just the liquor talking, but seeing Seonghwa's smile ignites something within him.

Sunghee's already standing with Wooyoung passed out in his arms, "I'll leave you two to... That," he winks and chuckles under his breath as he leaves to go to his room with his mate.

San suddenly is thankful for having restraint tonight and not drinking as much as he could've. He has someone very important to take care of now.

"San, do you love me?" Seonghwa asks, his toothy smile still very much spread across his face as he gets closer to San. His white robe pooling on the couch as his whole body crawls to San, "We're mates aren't we?" He whines just as he's about to fall onto his fated mate's chest.

San backs up a bit, not wanting to give into drunken Seonghwa so easily even though his wolf is begging for him to scoop up his fated mate right now. Seonghwa's intoxicating lavender scent seems to be all San can focus on as Seonghwa crawls closer to him, soon hovering over him slightly. He uses all the strength he can muster up to keep his wolf down, his eyes involuntarily flashing red as he goes through this internal battle with his wolf for power.

San's breath catches in his throat at Seonghwa's words, "Y-Yes, we're fated mates, Seonghwa..." He whispers, afraid of alerting any of the other wolves staying in this building.

Seonghwa rests his palms on San's chest, looking down at him with pupils so large they're overtaking his irises that are glowing with specks of gold, "Can I stay with you tonight?" Seonghwa's words start to get harder to understand as they're slurred, his wolf starting to take over and giving in to its desires after being repressed for so long. Who he's meant to be with is right under him and his wolf doesn't want to let this moment slip away.

"No, no, Seonghwa... You're not in your right mind right now, okay?" San says guiltily, knowing this isn't his mate speaking. San hopes that one-day Seonghwa really will say these words to him, but he knows that time is not now. Not under the influence of the liquor Sunghee offered to him.

When Seonghwa's palms press against San's chest, he feels an intense burning underneath them, his wolf wanting to feel Seonghwa's skin on his own. He's yearning for the heavenly skin to skin contact with his fated mate.

Seonghwa is about to crawl up higher onto San, but he starts wobbling, falling down onto San's body with a soft 'oof' sound coming from him.

San doesn't hear any more words come from Seonghwa, so he tries to lift his head, being trapped under Seonghwa's warm body, "Seonghwa?" He whispers, looking at his face to see his eyes closed.

San sighs, slowly sitting up with his limp mate in his arms, "I-I'm going to take you back to your bed, okay?" He keeps his voice a low whisper, his eyes softening at the sight of Seonghwa's sleeping face. He shakily brushes Seonghwa's hair out of his face and caresses his face, "I should've taken that bottle from you..." San says with regret, getting up with Seonghwa in his arms.

Seonghwa mumbles in his sleep, "San..."

"I know, I know, my love..." San hushes his mate, carrying him all the way back to his room, thankful that he's stable enough to do so. A few stumbles aside...

San finally lays Seonghwa down in his bed and pulls the covers up over him, his eyes going glassy as he looks at his sleeping mate. San feels wrong about wanting to touch him again, knowing that Seonghwa's skin against his own will become an addiction if he's not careful enough. His body can't get over the way Seonghwa's touch made him feel.

"Goodnight, Seonghwa..." San whispers, his body taking over and he gives him a soft kiss on the forehead before he brings himself up off of the bed and out of his room. The lavender scent of his mate leaves his nose as he walks back to his own building, cursing himself for letting Seonghwa drink. He's not being a good alpha at all, is he...? San thinks to himself.

San shakes his head when he finally gets back to the group room, knowing he needs to rid his mind of tonight. He should've been more careful, especially with Seonghwa.

His mind can't stop thinking about the words Seonghwa said to him, though.

Does he love him?

They're mates, aren't they?

San's eyes water as he already knows the answer to both of those questions Seonghwa had asked him. Both being able to be answered with the same thing, but San knows it's not as simple as a yes or no. Seonghwa is arranged to be mated with someone else, right? San frowns at the thought, thinking to himself that it can't be right.

Seonghwa belongs with him and he belongs with Seonghwa. It's how the world wanted things to be, so why must everything be so complicated?

End of Chapter Nineteen