Chapter Text
“Good morning, Doyoung-ssi!”
“Good morning, Jungwoo. Let’s get going.”
As he slid into the backseat of his company car, Kim Doyoung resigned himself to another day in his cycle. Jungwoo, his personal assistant and driver, would take him to the art gallery Doyoung owned. Doyoung would meet important people and take important phone calls until the end of his long day. Afterward Jungwoo would take him back to his home where dinner would be prepared by a personal chef. His husband, Shin Heeyung, may or may not join him for a silent dinner before they retreat to their separate bedrooms. Doyoung would do his bedtime routine, cry himself to sleep, and start the cycle all over again.
The car drove slowly out of the driveway of Doyoung’s big, lifeless house. Heeyung had insisted on a big house with the idea of having plenty of children. Eight years later and the only occupants of the house were two people in a sham of a marriage. Heeyung kept an apartment in the city that Doyoung pretended not to know about.
“Not a lot on the schedule today, if everything goes well.”
Doyoung gave a noncommittal hum and stared out the window. Soon the sky was blocked by the tall buildings of the city. Despite living in the city his entire life, the landscape had lost all its color.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. Doyoung had dreams that far surpassed the reality he had been living for the past ten years. He was stuck in a life that he didn’t want and tied to a man that he didn’t love and he hated himself for it.
“Don't be so down, Doyoung-ssi. You know, my mom took me to a shaman this weekend and she said there would be a big change soon!”
Doyoung smiled, looking at Jungwoo in the rear view mirror. Jungwoo had been working for him for five years now, and certainly lightened the mood. He was a happy go lucky omega who got the job done. Doyoung was sure that he’d have gone crazy a long time ago if not for Jungwoo.
“No offense Jungwoo, but what does your fortune have to do with me?”
Jungwoo shrugged, giving Doyoung a dopey smile.
“Well, I'm with you most of the time so I figure my future is your fortune. Unless the big change is getting fired. You wouldn't fire me, would you Doyoung-ssi?”
“No Jungwoo, I wouldn't.”
Jungwoo chattered for the rest of the car ride until he pulled into the large car park. As Doyoung stepped out of the car he let himself hope.
“Maybe a big change would be good,”
The two omegas walked from the car park to the front door of Little Light Gallery. The art gallery was the only thing in the world that Doyoung had for himself. It was his escape and it was a small reminder of his past.
When he inserted the key and turned the lock to open up the gallery, Doyoung hoped he’d be greeted by a new, exciting day.
He was welcomed by a gush of freezing cold water covering his black leather pumps instead. Doyoung screeched at the cold, stepping back and gawking at the floor. Water was pouring out of the gallery, and there was at least a half inch of it standing on the floor.
“Shit,” Doyoung cursed, pulling up the end of his long pencil skirt to keep it from getting wet.
Jungwoo took a step ahead, not caring about the water covering his oxfords and soaking the bottom of his dress pants. He reached for the light switch, illuminating the pristine wood floors and glinting off the clear water covering said floors.
“A pipe must have burst. What do we do?”
Panic bubbled up from Doyoung’s stomach to his chest. Little Light Gallery was an open floor gallery with four main sections full of modern art. The pieces under Doyoung’s care were worth thousands of dollars and water was one of the major enemies to paintings and sculptures. They had to work fast to avoid a major disaster.
“Go find the maintenance room, get them to shut off the water. I'm going to make sure the storage isn't flooded, then we're going to get everything into storage.
Doyoung gathered his skirt in one hand, keeping it away from the water as he took a step inside. The water reached just above his toes and Doyoung shook from the cold. Jungwoo took off in another direction heading to the building maintenance room.
The gallery was on the first floor of a ten story building. The rest of the building was office or studio space, all owned by Heeyung. Doyoung had half a mind to call Heeyung and curse the man out but he had paintings to protect.
Doyoung walked through the gallery, hyper aware of the sound of rushing water.
“When I said I wanted change, I didn’t mean this .” Doyoung mumbled to himself, shaking the excess water from his shoes as he entered the, thankfully, dry hallway leading to the storage room. He checked the storage room, full of old displays and a few covered artworks. It would be a tight fit, but everything on display would fit until Doyoung could get it sent to a warehouse.
Doyoung started back out to the main gallery and followed the sound of rushing water. He walked into the main section of the gallery, the largest room with the biggest and most expensive pieces.
Just a few centimeters away from the center of the room, water was pouring down from the ceiling. Doyoung watched in horror as a steady stream of water crashed down onto the empty display stand in the center.
The gallery centerpiece, a massive clay sculpture, had been taken out of the gallery the day before. Doyoung couldn’t believe his luck; If that piece had been ruined, the gallery would be close behind. The omega watched the stream helplessly, unsure of how he was going to fix this.
“Doyoung-ssi!!” Jungwoo shouted from the door of the gallery. “We have to turn off the power, please come out.”
Doyoung shook himself from his stupor and shuffled out of the gallery, feet already numb from the cold.
“I know, Mr. Lee, and I'm terribly sorry to be canceling the event, but we have no idea how long these renovations would take.”
Doyoung pulled the phone away from his ear as his client shouted. It was just one of the many calls he had made in the past two hours while Jungwoo and other gallery attendants carefully put the artworks away in the dry storage room.
“Yes, of course Mr. Lee. I'll send some referrals for other galleries that can host your event. And I'll send that refund right away.”
Doyoung hung up the call and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was sitting on the back of his car, legs up on the seat and laptop on his lap. His feet were bare and he left his wet shoes outside the car to dry. He was emailing and calling all the artists and guests to make arrangements now that the gallery was closed indefinitely. Doyoung’s professional facade, a necessary evil in this line of work, was threatening to break if he had to take one more angry phone call. .
The gallery was all he had. He would have to spend weeks, maybe months, putting it back together and that was if the place was even salvageable.
Doyoung started to type in another number when Jungwoo opened the passenger door facing him.
“Here, I found a place selling waterproof shoes.”
Doyoung put his laptop away as Jungwoo pulled up a pair of slip-on, rubber looking shoes. They were hardly stylish, but Doyoung wasn’t sure his pumps would last another round submerged.
“What's the status?”
“Everything has been properly stored. Thankfully there was no massive damage, some might need a small restoration but that's all,” Jungwoo slipped the shoes on Doyoung's feet. “But none of the maintenance people on duty know anything about pipes.”
“What?”
Jungwoo shrugged and pulled out his phone.
“There's no sense of urgency up there, I swear. But don't worry, Kim Jungwoo is no slouch. I found a maintenance company and called and they sent a technician right away. He should be here soon.”
They both got out of the car and Doyoung adjusted his skirt so it stayed above his knees.
“What's the name of the company?”
“Jeong Maintenance.”
Doyoung’s heart pattered at the mere mention of the last name paused in his walk. Jungwoo stopped too, tilting his head.
“Jeong?”
“That's right. What is it?”
“I…oh, nothing. Just a familiar name.”
Doyoung shook his head and started walking again. He always did this when he heard that name. Got his hopes up only to be let down. It couldn’t be who he thought it was.
“Ah, there he is,” Jungwoo said, picking up his pace. “I'll greet him first.”
Doyoung watched Jungwoo lightly jog towards a man in dark green coveralls. The man was just as tall as Jungwoo but was turned away from Doyoung. As soon as Doyoung was close enough, the maintenance man turned to face him.
“Mr. Kim, this is Mr. Jeong himself! Mr. Jeong, this is my boss.”
“Doyoung.” Mr. Jeong breathed out an air of disbelief with his words.
“Jaehyun.” Doyoung said back in just as much disbelief.
Jeong Jaehyun had changed in ten years. His lean, college age body had been replaced by a more bulky and toned version. The longer black hair he'd sported in those years was lighter and short now but still framed his face perfectly. And what a handsome face it was, only better with age. His eyes were a little darker, and his jaw a little stubbly, but Doyoung knew that face.
He dreamed about that face.
“I didn't know you were back in Korea.” Doyoung said, but Jaehyun was too busy looking at him to answer. Doyoung was sure he had changed a lot too, but he wasn't sure if it was for the better. He wore his black hair a little longer than he did in college, and only did the bare minimum makeup when he went out.
“Oh my, you know each other? How did you-”
“Jungwoo,” Doyoung interrupted before the younger got too excited. “Why don't you call the moving company again? The sooner we get the art out the better. I'll show Mr. Jeong to the problem.”
“Yes, Doyoung-ssi!”
Jungwoo left the two of them standing in front of the gallery. Jaehyun shuffled awkwardly for a moment before looking at the front door and back.
“I didn't realize this place was yours.”
“For the last five years.” Doyoung said, smiling at Jaehyun in an attempt to lighten the mood. Of all the ways he imagined their meeting again, it was nothing like this. “It's good to see you, Jaehyun.”
The tension in Jaehyun's shoulders relaxed and he mustered up a smile. A soft one that showed off those cute dimples.
“It's good to see you too. Where's this busted pipe?”
“This way, I hope you have a flashlight.”
Jaehyun picked up the bags by his feet, fishing a powerful flashlight out as they walked into the gallery.
The floor was still damp but it wasn't as bad as before, causing small splashes as they walked. Jaehyun's boots stepped in time with Doyoung's silly waterproof shoes. Jaehyun's scent hadn't changed, the earthy and fresh scent of a countryside alpha filling Doyoung's nose as they moved side by side.
“Sorry, I just can't believe it's really you,” Jaehyun muttered, lighting their path with a flashlight. Doyoung noticed that his voice was deeper now, and he liked it very much.“You look…”
“Disheveled?” Doyoung joked.
“Gorgeous.” Jaehyun answered.
Doyoung looked down at the floor, already feeling a blush on his cheeks.
His feelings for Jaehyun had never gone away, no matter how Doyoung tried to shove them down. He let a soft laugh escape as they entered the main section.
“You always did know what to say.”
“Not always.” Jaehyun said, but they would have to save the conversation. Despite the water being shut off, it was still dripping from the ceiling.
“Damn.” Jaehyun muttered, pulling another flashlight from his bag and aiming it at the ceiling. “Alright. I'll patch this up, then we can work on the floors. I'll call one of my guys to bring some fans and stuff.”
Jaehyun turned back to Doyoung and offered him one of the flashlights.
“Go on outside. We'll talk more when I'm done.”
Their hands brushed for only a second, but it was enough to make Doyoung shiver.
“Thank you, Jaehyun.”
Doyoung sat outside for the next few hours, still furiously sending emails from a bench not far from the gallery. Jungwoo fluttered back and forth here and there to help him. Despite the growing headache, Doyoung kept working. If he stopped, he wouldn't be able to keep his mind off Jaehyun.
They had met in high school, at an event for potential students for an arts college. Doyoung had been born and raised in the city, but he found country boy Jaehyun interesting and sweet. They had exchanged addresses and shared letters until they entered the same university. Doyoung majored in art history while Jaehyun focused on contemporary painting.
To Doyoung, it was a match made in heaven. They were so in love that four years passed in a blink. Jaehyun had been his first real love and he had been Jaehyun’s. All of Doyoung's dreams had been on the brink of coming true.
Their fairytale came to an end when Jaehyun's mother got sick.
Jaehyun, his mother and his father all left for the States, seeking treatment. Despite Doyoung's desperate efforts, the two of them lost contact. Doyoung had been living on the assumption that Jaehyun was still in America. To see him again after all this time was almost too much.
Doyoung didn’t want to cloud himself with more fantasies. He was married and Jaehyun could very well be too.
Gorgeous
Doyoung sighed. Ridiculous how a single compliment could have butterflies fluttering in his stomach. Still, it was more than Heeyung had ever told him in eight years of marriage.
Even though he tried, Doyoung couldn’t help his trip down memory lane. It had to have been almost fifteen years since he first met Jaehyun, but he remembered the moment so vividly.
“Are you lost?”
Doyoung tentatively approached the other boy, who was staring down at a printed out map. The boy turned his head and his eyes got big before he stared back down at his shoes. Doyoung found himself similarly stunned by the handsome boy in front of him. The boy was an alpha, tall but thin, with short hair.
“I…I’m looking for the arts building. I have to go to the orientation for potential students.”
Doyoung smiled, nervously tipping onto the balls of his feet and back on the heels of his mary janes.
“That’s where I’m going too! Would you like to go with me?”
The boy nodded, peeking over at Doyoung again. Doyoung could see that the boy was trying hard not to look at his skirt, or the long expanse of legs underneath it.
“I’m Doyoung. Kim Doyoung. I’m seventeen this year.”
“Jeong Jaehyun,” The boy said, followed Doyoung as he started walking toward the arts building. “I’m sixteen.”
“Ah, nice to meet you Jaehyun. You can call me noona, if you want.”
“Okay, Doyoung-noona.”
Doyoung turned his head to hide his blush, but he couldn’t stop stealing looks at the handsome alpha he just met.
“You should really eat something.” Jungwoo interrupted Doyoung's train of thought and sat beside him. “I can bring you something.”
“I'm alright. I had food.”
“A granola bar is not food, and that was two hours ago. Mr. Jeong is almost done, you should talk to him about repairs, then I’m taking you to get something to eat.”
Doyoung shut his laptop and handed it off to Jungwoo. His assistant was right. Doyoung had been ignoring the growling bites of hunger for the better part of the day. Better to refuel before dealing with any more angry patrons.
Doyoung followed the bright light coming from the main section of the gallery. The air was still damp, but the floor was no longer pooling with water. As Doyoung stepped into the main section he found Jaehyun climbing down a ladder, all lit up by bright standing temporary lights. The alpha had taken off the top half of his coverall and tied the sleeves around his sturdy waist. The sight of Jaehyun’s arms in nothing but a tank top had Doyoung swallowing hard and trying to focus. He cleared his throat as Jaehyun touched solid ground and turned to him, barely hearing him over the hum of the portable generator powering the lights.
“Well, the pipe is patched up. It's a temporary fix, of course, but it'll do for now.” Jaehyun said as he walked over, pulling off his work gloves and stuffing them in his pocket.
“Thank goodness. When can we turn the water and power back on?”
Doyoung tried not to stare at Jaehyun, but it was harder now that the alpha was facing him. In the lowlight Doyoung could still see the definition of Jaehyun's neck and chest and it was making him feel warm.
“I took a look at the powerlines, no damage to them but I'd give it a day, let all the water dry just in case.”
Jaehyun looked back up towards the ceiling, pointing at the exposed pipe.
“The cut on that pipe was very, very clean when I looked at it.”
“Is that uncommon?”
“Sort of. But I don't want to get into it until I can take it back to the shop and look.”
Doyoung sighed and nodded his head.
“I can't thank you enough, Jaehyun. Even if this is under horrible circumstances, I'm really glad I got to see you.”
Jaehyun smiled and Doyoung's heart pattered again. That smile used to brighten his day, every day.
“I'm glad too. I…I missed you. A lot.”
Doyoung knew that rekindling what they had before was a longshot, but he was so curious.
“I… are you still painting?”
“Recreationally. I sell a few paintings, it doesn't always pay the bills. Are you…teaching?”
“Oh gosh,” Doyoung chuckled, a little sadness in his tone. “I wish. I don’t have much time since I’m taking care of the gallery.”
Teaching art theory and history had been Doyoung’s dream. Yet, it felt so far away from him. He was a shell of the person Jaehyun used to know.
“How are you parents?” Doyoung asked, pivoting again. “Your mom, how did her treatment go?”
The color drained from Jaehyun's face, and Doyoung didn’t need him to answer. He took a step forward, leaving barely a foot of space between them.
“Oh, Jae, I'm so sorry. I didn't know.”
“No, I should be the one apologizing.”
“No, I -”
Doyoung stopped his words short when Jaehyun took hold of his right hand. Jaehyun’s hands were more callused than before but his grip was just as warm and welcoming as it had been years ago.
“I should have told you. You cared about her, and she cared about you so much. I just…I felt like such a failure after she was gone. Doyoung, I was afraid that you would see that I wasn't any good anymore.”
Doyoung let out a quivering breath, but he squeezed Jaehyun's hand. They were close enough that Doyoung was sure Jaehyun's scent would cling to his clothes. He hoped that it would.
“I wish you had come to me Jaehyun. I wish…I wish it had turned out different.”
Doyoung was so wrapped up in the what if that he let Jaehyun take his left hand, caressing both softly. When the alpha brushed against Doyoung’s ring finger, he stilled.
“You're married.”
Jaehyun seemed stunned by the revelation, quickly going to pull his hands away.
“I'm sorry, Doyoung, I over-”
Doyoung’s grip on his hands only tightened, refusing to let Jaehyun get away that easily. There was too much that he needed to say.
I didn't want to. I don't love him, I never did.
I want to get a divorce.
He won't let me go.
But all the words wouldn't escape, caught in his throat. For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other, trying to read all the unspoken words.
“Mr. Shin, careful! There’s still some water on the ground!”
Jungwoo’s voice was like a warning bell and Doyoung let go of Jaehyun like he’d been burned. He took five steps away from the alpha and turned back to the entrance. Doyoung ignored the way Jaehyun’s eyes bored into him as he waited for their guest to enter.
“Thanks for the warning. Now, where is my wife?”