ONE YEAR LATER

"My wife Hyejin and I have been discussing this for a while now, and we would like to inform all of you that we will be sending out letters to chosen members of the packs around us to visit Chrysalis and stay for a month to join our lessons about our values and way of life. We believe that through this experience, we will further understanding of one another. Through this program, we're hoping that the more we can understand each other, the fewer problems we will all have involving each other," Gyungho, Seonghwa's father, announces in from of his family and many of the elders of Chrysalis, including the Han family.

Hyejin stands with her husband, "We will be choosing the lucky men and women tonight and send out the letters tomorrow morning. We're hoping their arrival will be in two weeks, as that is what we wrote on the letters. During this time awaiting their arrival, we'll prepare two buildings for our new guests. These buildings will be separated by men and women, of course."

Seonghwa hums, resting his chin on his hand while he listens to his parents speak about their plans. Although he doesn't look interested, the more he takes in their ideas, the more logical it sounds to him. If everyone is able to understand and relate to one another, it makes sense that there would be fewer arguments among us all.

Seonghwa's disrupted from his thoughts when he feels someone's foot brush against his, willing his head to turn in the direction of it.

Han Eunji.

Ever since Seonghwa and his family came back to Chrysalis after their journey to all the packs last year, Eunji has been trying her strongest to get Seonghwa to notice her. Seonghwa knows Eunji's parents have already discussed the two of them becoming mates, so he's sure this has gotten into Eunji's head.

She is, of course, a rare alpha female just as he's a rare omega male. For Chrysalis, that is... They're the only two in their entire pack that matches correctly according to the Chrysalis pack rules, so it's clear they're expected to be mates.

And Seonghwa assumes that they will have to be. He's going to have to settle for her. He's going to have to learn to love her. It's only right.

Seonghwa just doesn't want to mate. He's never felt the need to find a mate, his suppressants allowing him to skip his heats and eliminating that instinctually need. Seonghwa will always be thankful for suppressants because of this fact. The only time he thought his suppressants were faulty happened last year when he and his family entered Eclipse.

San.

He was the one that ruined it all. Ever since Seonghwa got back, he asked his parents for a higher dose of suppressants since he pushed away the thought he knew was true. He thought it was easier to not think about the fact of San being his fated mate, but it made it hard when he would feel these intense aches shoot throughout his chest that made him feel like he was going to die right then and there. Seonghwa made himself believe it was just his suppressants not being strong enough for him anymore, and he was content with those thoughts.

Seonghwa's brought back to reality when Eunji brushes her foot against his once again, not realizing he was lost in thought while looking at her. When Seonghwa's mind clears, he sees Eunji staring sweetly back at him, mouthing 'hello' as she rubs her leg against his.

Seonghwa keeps his face neutral as usual and gives her a nod before turning his attention back to his parents.

Only, they've already finished their speech. Everyone has begun leaving except the choice few that go up to his parents to discuss with them further.

Seonghwa sighs, frustrated that he let himself get so distracted. He looks two chairs down, seeing the empty space and it makes him feel even worse. Areum has been sick ever since they got back and nothing they've tried seems to make her any better. Their parents are starting to believe Areum just has a very weak immune system.

It pains Seonghwa to watch his sister miss out on most everything nowadays. Seonghwa doesn't let her go unknowing, though. He goes into her room a few evenings each week to see and visit her to tell her what's been going on around the grounds.

Dohyon got mated not too long ago, so he doesn't get to come see Areum as much. Seonghwa has done his best to fill in Dohyon's role as the protective brother for Areum, but with Seonghwa's hard-shell exterior, he can come off... rather cold.

"How is your sister doing?" Seonghwa hears Eunji ask. She always asks about her and it makes Seonghwa want to smile knowing that even though Areum isn't around everyone as much, that they still think and worry about her.

"Well," Seonghwa replies, thinking back to a few days ago when he visited her last. She was still feeble and frail, attributes not usually ascribed to someone of such a young age like her, but they're the best words Seonghwa can think of when asked to describe Areum's current state.

Eunji nods, gently moving her hand to atop Seonghwa's forearm, "Maybe I could come with you to visit her one of these days, Seonhgwa. Would that be alright?"

Seonghwa moves his arm away instinctually, glancing around to make sure none of the lingering pack members were looking in their direction. He's annoyed by her movements because Eunji knows the rules. Yes, they're thought of to be future mates eventually, but the touching must stay to a minimum until then and Seonghwa isn't going to turn the other cheek to it.

Not again...

Seonghwa still can't believe he allowed San to touch him in the way he had that day. He shakes his head, hating the fact he's been thinking about him so often today.

"That will be fine," Seonghwa finally answers her before standing up, wanting to get back to his home to see Eunji, "Just not today."

Eunji nods and is about to say something else, but Seonghwa's gone, the sliding door of the meeting building left slightly ajar from his abrupt exit.

~ t/w dubcon ; non-explicit

Wooyoung turns the stove back to medium once he gets the water to a roaring boil, adding all of the ingredients into the pot while he stirs it. There's a beautiful orange glow of the sunset coming through the window and shining down onto Wooyoung's face as he cooks the meal for him and Sunghee. He's admiring the view when a hand runs through his hair, gripping it with a bit more strength than he would've liked to move his head to the side to reveal his neck.

Sunghee nuzzles his face down into Wooyoung's neck, humming against it as he kisses and licks against the mating mark he placed there only a year ago, "You got a letter today, mmm..." He says in a mumble as he goes up to nibble on his mate's earlobe.

Wooyoung moves to turn around to face Sunghee, but he feels his mate's rough hands grip his hips to keep him in place as he continues his actions on Wooyoung's neck. Once he's done he slides the envelope into Wooyoung's hands, still standing behind him, almost like a surveillance watch to see what's written in the letter.

Wooyoung sighs back into Sunghee's chest as he carefully tears open the letter, unfolding it to reveal its contents.

Dear Jung Wooyoung,

On behalf of Chrysalis, we would like to invite you to join us two weeks from the arrival of this letter to participate in our lessons. These lessons will consist of: learning about the history of Chrysalis as a pack, learning about our pack values, and learning about how we live. We have invited many people from all of our surrounding packs to join us in this learning experience. Through this experience, we believe that we will create a stronger bond between us all. By getting a better understanding of those around us, we believe that it will bring us closer and lessen the chances of misunderstandings in the future.

As we have sent these letters out by choosing people randomly, we can not be sure of everyone's mated status. If you receive this letter and you have a mate, they are more than welcome to join you. In fact, we encourage it.

See you soon,

Gyungho and Hyejin Park

Wooyoung flinches when he hears a scoff from behind him, "A learning experience? I know all about Chrysalis. I could tell you anything you wanted to know about those prudes," Sunghee asserts.

Wooyoung nods once, hesitating before he decides he wants to speak, "I think we should go..."

Sunghee's brow furrows up as soon as he hears that come out of Wooyoung's mouth, "You think we should go?" He turns his mate around quickly to look down at him, "Why is that?"

Wooyoung's nose scrunches up as he feels his anger rising up, "Just because you think you know everything about them already doesn't mean you really do."

Sunghee grips onto Wooyoung's hip harder, pulling him towards him, causing Wooyoung to fall against his chest, their faces still pointedly staring at one another, "You'd think by now you wouldn't talk back to me, Woo."

Wooyoung's body recoils at the nickname. He's been using it since the moment they were assigned as mates and Wooyoung's never liked hearing that sweet nickname coming from his lips. There's only one person he will ever let call him that name and Wooyoung will never accept that it will be him.

"We should go."

"You really want to go, hmm?" Sunghee asks, the corner of his lips curling up into a smirk, "Stop taking those suppressants then. It's about time you bless me with a pup, don't you think?" He moves his index finger under Wooyoung's chin, bringing his face up to inspect it.

Wooyoung narrows his eyes as he stares daggers into Sunghee's reddening irises, "You said that we could wait a few years or so for that, plus you know how tough it is going back on them once you stop."

Sunghee chuckles as he listens to Wooyoung talk him down from that suggestion, moving his hand from Wooyoung's chin down to his shoulder, resting it there, "I suppose I did say that, didn't I?"

Wooyoung doesn't say anything, he stands there as he watches the red shade become more prominent in his mate's eyes. Wooyoung knows what is coming for him.

His suspicions are correct when Sunghee presses down on Wooyoung's shoulder, pressuring his body lower until he's on his knees on the floor of the home in which they're staying. The food that Wooyoung was making seems to be forgotten about as all Wooyoung hears is the sound of his mate's zipper going down.

"I think this might influence my decision in us going," He smiles widely, stroking down the side of Wooyoung's face as they keep each other's gaze locked.

After dinner, Wooyoung is cleaning up and drying all the dishes he had used in preparation for their meal. A smile is spread across his face, thinking about the adventure that learning about Chrysalis will be. Sunghee finally gave into Wooyoung after he treated him to one of his favorite acts, and Wooyoung couldn't be more thrilled.

They'll have to begin packing soon since it will likely take a few days to travel all the way to Chrysalis. Wooyoung isn't even sure where they're staying at the current moment since they have been having to travel a lot to aid Essence and Bloodbane from the aftermath of the attack.

Wooyoung can only assume they're on grounds somewhere between the two packs, being almost the furthest they could be from Chrysalis. It's going to be quite the journey over there, but Wooyoung is confident in his survival abilities. With Sunghee coming with him, he's also a famed fighter from Riverside, so he's in good hands he thinks.

Wooyoung's been working on his relationship with Sunghee ever since they were first mated. Although, it has been tough with all of the travelings they've had to do because of this war and with Sunghee being from Riverside's head alpha's family. Sunghee has always been a cruel and brutal man. Wooyoung knew this even before they were mated because of how he would treat Yeosang back when they had classes.

Yeosang...

Wooyoung hasn't seen Yeosang since the day they were assigned their mates. Not a day has gone by where he doesn't think about his childhood best friend, though. There have been times where he's wanted to forget about Yeosang and the strong feelings he had for him, but he just can't do it. He can't help but wonder how life would've been if he had actually confessed to him.

Of course, nothing would've changed... Riverside only allows alpha/omega or beta/beta mates and with Wooyoung and Yeosang both being omegas, it would have never mattered. They couldn't be together, so there was no point in ruining his life-long friendship with Yeosang by telling him how he's felt about him since he entered his teen years.

Wooyoung often wonders how Yeosang's relationship with Dongwoo is. It might make him jealous when he first thinks about it, but it ultimately ends up in Wooyoung smiling at the thought of Yeosang having a beautiful and loving relationship with someone that has a genuine and pure interest in him.

Wooyoung longs to see his best friend again... It hurts having to be away from him for so long. He doesn't think he's ever spent more than a few days without him before, so this entire situation is new.

Wooyoung's life quite literally changed before his eyes after being mated to Sunghee.

Sunghee is still the same asshole he was when they were younger, but Wooyoung's learned to tame him in some ways. He's been relatively responsive when Wooyoung doesn't want certain things. One of those things being pups. They've compromised to wait a few years before taking Wooyoung off of his suppressants, which Wooyoung is thankful for.

He's never been one to have the strongest desire in having pups of his own, but that could just be because he's been on his suppressants for so long.

Wooyoung's thoughts are interrupted but Sunghee's low voice, "Woo, the sink is about to overflow."

Wooyoung bites his lip at the nickname once again and turns off the water quickly. He doesn't think he will ever get used to it coming from him, but he knows he's going to have to get used to it eventually.

Baby steps...

Sunghee comes up and wraps his arms around Wooyoung's waist in a more comforting way than before. He's always like this after he gets what he wants, "Come on baby, you can do that later. Why don't we pack for our trip?"

Wooyoung hums in agreeance and relaxes back into his mate. It's already been a year, but he's still not used to this kind of life. He thought having a mate would be much different than what it really is. He's idolized mated couples since he was a young child, but he's realizing that maybe he was only so excited because at the time he still wanted to believe his mate could be Yeosang.

End of Chapter Thirteen

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I believe I used the trigger warning correctly... I've never had to use it before, but I thought that a certain scene with Wooyoung and Sunghee could be seen as dubious. I'd rather keep my readers safe than sorry. 

Are you excited for the gathering? :) I'm really excited, personally XD Everyone is going to be together in the same place~! Be ready for some spiciness and drama, mwahahaha.

I was originally going to have a mini-break after the arcs completed, but a GIANT wave of ideas came over me for Horizon, so here we are. Jumping right in.