When it's YOU || minsung

The sun had barely broken the horizon, its golden rays bleeding softly through the drawn curtains of the pack house. Everything was still — the kind of stillness that only comes after a storm, the kind that makes you hold your breath without realizing.

Minho hadn't slept.

The scent of alcohol still clung faintly to his skin, his shirt smelled like someone else, and his heart throbbed painfully in his chest. The slap still echoed in his ears. His cheek didn't hurt half as much as the memory of Jisung's eyes — wide, broken, betrayed.

He'd messed up. And he didn't know how to fix it.

There was a knock, then the door creaked open.

Minho didn't even lift his head from where he sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on knees, hands in his hair.

Chan stepped in, his presence quiet but heavy. He didn't wait for permission.

"Get up," he said calmly, but firmly.

Minho didn't move.

Chan didn't repeat himself.

"Hyung," Minho croaked, barely audible.

"Don't," Chan cut in, crossing the room until he stood directly in front of him. "Don't give me that broken-little-boy routine. I'm not here to coddle you. I'm here because I watched Jisung fall apart last night while you reeked of alcohol and another omega. So either you talk, or I drag it out of you."

Minho flinched.

The silence stretched.

And then—

"I don't know what I'm doing," he whispered. "I don't know how to be what he needs."

Chan's expression didn't soften.

"I never planned for any of this," Minho continued, voice cracking. "We were best friends. My best friend. And then his heat came and I— I couldn't stop myself. I bit him. I claimed him. And now it's like— like I'm terrified of even being around him because every second I'm near him, I want to mark him again. I want to touch him and hold him and never let him go but— but what if I ruin him?"

Chan tilted his head slightly, watching him.

"I'm not good at this, you know that!" Minho choked. "My family was a mess, remember? I never had an example of what it means to love someone. I never thought I'd have someone wanting to be claimed by me."

"So instead of asking for help, you avoid him?" Chan asked, not unkindly. "You give him just enough attention to keep him hoping, then disappear again? You let him sleep alone after marking him — after bonding with him — and you punish him for loving you?"

"I was scared," Minho admitted, eyes glossy. "And I thought— if I stayed away long enough, maybe he'd stop needing me. Maybe the bond would fade and he'd be better off."

"Minho," Chan said, crouching down to his level. "Do you have any idea what Jisung is going through? That omega is drowning in this bond. He aches for you. He's confused, he's exhausted, and he still defends you when the others want to chew you out."

Minho swallowed hard.

"You think running away is strength?" Chan went on, eyes fierce. "You think sacrificing yourself to 'protect' him makes you noble? You're hurting him more than anything else ever could. And if you don't fix it now, there won't be anything left to fix."

Minho's breath hitched.

"I thought I didn't deserve him," he whispered.

"You don't," Chan said plainly. "Not like this."