CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49

Park min’s POV

I swear the second I walked out of that stupid cell, my legs felt like they were still kneeling, which pissed me off even more because I didn’t kneel for her, I kneeled for Yu Jin, and the universe knows I’m going to repay that humiliation later, with interest, with tax, with whatever extra charges suffering mothers get when their sons finally snap. But right now? Right now every thought in my skull was just Yu Jin, like someone buried his name under my ribs and kept pressing on it until I couldn’t breathe normally.

The corridor outside the cell had this smell of cheap cleaning products and people who hated their job, and honestly if one of them looked at me for too long I might’ve rearranged their teeth, but I had priorities. Yu Jin first. Revenge later. Mom last, because she deserves her own special session.

She walked ahead of me, heels hitting the floor like she owned the whole building, which she probably did with the amount of secrets and power this woman had. "Walk faster," she snapped without even turning around.

"I just got out of a cage," I muttered. "Sorry I’m not sprinting."

"Don’t start," she said.

"Oh wow, mother-son bonding moment. Love this for us."

She didn’t respond, which was fair. If she opened her mouth right then, I would’ve bitten her head off, and even though that sounded satisfying, I needed her to make a call. The call. The whole reason I bowed my stupid pride and kneeled.

Min Ho trailed behind us like we were his morning entertainment. "You sure you’re okay?" he asked, fake-innocent.

"I hope you fall down the stairs," I said.

He snorted. "Still charming."

"Try me again. I’ll improve my material."

Mom stopped at a door, pushed it open, and the second we stepped inside, she gestured for me to sit. Like I was a toddler who needed a timeout. I stared at the chair, stared at her, stared at the chair again. "No."

Her eyebrow twitched. "Park Min."

"I said no. If I sit, I’m going to punch something, and your face is in range, and I don’t want to start a war before we find Yu Jin."

That shut her up for three seconds, which was honestly a personal victory.

Then she picked up her phone. "Fine. But don’t interrupt me when I make this call."

"Oh trust me. I want you to actually do something useful for once."

She sighed like I was the dramatic one, pressed a number, and turned slightly away.

"Chief Nam," she said, voice switching into that expensive cold tone she uses when she wants something done fast. "I need a retrieval. Quiet. Oh no noo public channels. Yes. Now. Thank you."

I paced because sitting felt illegal. My pulse was everywhere. My hormones hadn’t shut up since the second I woke up from that blackout, and it kept swirling the same thing in my body.

Mom kept talking. "No, not a simple runaway. He was taken. Yeah, at the office, random omega and– –."

My head snapped up. "He’s NOT ..."

She flicked her hand. "Shut up."

I shut up. For now.

She continued. "Yes. The Omega. His name is Yu Jin. I want every backdoor channel checked. If anyone touched him..."

Touched him.

My throat tightened so fast I stopped breathing for half a second.

Because that was the part that was killing me from the inside.

Not knowing.

Who grabbed him.

Whether he was scared.

Whether he was hurt.

Whether he was calling for me.

And I wasn’t there.

I wasn’t fucking there.

I punched the wall. Hard.

My mom turned . "Dude..."

"Don’t ’dude’ me!" My voice cracked so badly it hurt. "He’s out there and I’m stuck in this stupid place listening to you make calls like this is a charity event!"

Mom stopped mid-sentence and turned around. "If you don’t shut your mouth, I swear I will let you rot until your horned and scoffed hormones drags you through concrete."

"Let me rot then," I snapped. "After I get him back."

"You’re unbelievable."

"Thanks, it’s part of my charm."

She pointed a finger at me. "Park Min, if you speak one more time during this call..."

"THEN TALK FASTER!"

Her eye twitched again. "Chief Nam, I’ll send the boy’s profile. Work discreetly. I expect results within the hour."

She hung up, tossed the phone on the desk, and faced me like I was the problem.

I wasn’t the fucking problem.

"You need to control yourself," she said.

"I’ll control myself when Yu Jin is in my arms."

She gagged. "Gross."

"Choke."

" Shut up," Mom muttered, massaging her temples.

I started pacing again. I couldn’t stop. The air felt wrong, like someone replaced oxygen with anxiety. My body wouldn’t sit still. My chest hurt. Everything felt like it was sliding sideways and I had no grip on anything.

Mom sat down, crossed her legs, and said, "I don’t understand why you’re acting like this. It’s not like you’ve ever been this attached to an Omega, I’ll never understand how poorly your mom raised you, for you who hated these species to be this obsessed with one."

I froze mid-step. I didn’t even breathe.

"Say that again," I whispered.

She blinked slowly. "What?"

"You think this is normal?"

She shrugged. "You better calm yourself the fuck down."

"Calm down?"

I laughed. Loud. Hysterical. Unhinged.

"Oh my god. Oh wow. This is why mom left you. This right here."

"Park Min!"

"No because seriously, Yu Jin’s gone, kidnapped, probably terrified out of his mind, and you think I’m having a hormone moment? Are you stupid or just emotionally bankrupt?"

Her nostrils flared. "Watch your mouth."

"No. No. I’m done watching anything. I begged you. I KNEELED. For the first time in my life, and you still want to act like this?"

"I helped, didn’t I?"

"You owe me a refund. Your help sucks."

I moved to the window because if I stayed near anyone I might commit a crime. Again.

My reflection looked feral. Eyes too bright. Breathing uneven. Wolf surfacing too close.

If Yu Jin were here, he’d probably touch my arm and tell me to breathe, and I’d pretend I didn’t need it, even though I always did.

My hands shook.

"I should’ve been there," I whispered.

Mom’s voice softened. Barely. "You blacked out, Min."

"That’s not an excuse. I should’ve gotten up. I should’ve chased them. I should’ve..."

"Stop."

"No."

I punched the window frame. "He was crying. I felt it. I KNOW he was. And I wasn’t there."

Silence.

Even Min Ho didn’t dare say anything.

Then Mom spoke. "You’ll find him."

I turned to her. "Don’t say that like you care."

Her jaw clenched. "I didn’t say I care. I said you’ll find him."

"I’ll kill whoever took him."

"Yes. I assumed that was obvious."

Yu Jin.

Yu Jin.

Yu Jin.

Every breath was his name.

Every step was toward the address.

Every thought was a threat.

And god help whoever was stupid enough to touch him, because I was done begging, done kneeling, done listening, done being trapped.

I was coming for him.

And I wasn’t stopping until the whole city knew it.

Until I got another message again.

"Is this Park min? Man? We got to talk about our omegas."