CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 50

Park Min’s POV

I didn’t even wait for the phone to finish vibrating before I snatched it. The second I heard, "Is this Park Min? Man, we gotta talk about our omegas," my brain rolled straight out of my skull, did a backflip, and came back with a baseball bat.

"Where?" I snapped, because clearly I wasn’t in the mood for introductions, explanations, or whatever emotional support hotline this idiot thought he was running.

The guy chuckled like we were old friends and not two strangers bonding over shared trauma. "Let’s meet at a restaurant. In twenty minutes. I’ll send you the address."

Before I could tell him to choke on a spoon, he hung up.

Mom immediately grabbed my wrist. "No. Absolutely not. You are not going."

I yanked my hand back. "Watch me."

"You don’t even know who he is."

"Do you think I care?" I said, already walking toward the door because if I stopped moving for even one second I was going to lose my mind completely. "Yu Jin is missing. I’ll meet the fucking Pope if I have to."

Mom walked after me like she wanted to physically tackle me to the ground, which honestly might have been the only thing that could’ve slowed me down. "Park Min, this is reckless."

"Oh wow," I said, waving my hands. "Reckless? Really? Wow, thank you, I didn’t know that. Thank you for explaining. Should I kneel again so you can understand how much I don’t care?"

She glared so hard the air temperature dropped. "Don’t talk back to me. I’m trying to keep you alive."

"And I’m trying to keep Yu Jin alive, so guess which priority wins today! Here’s a hint: it’s not yours!"

Mom grabbed my shoulder. "Min...."

"DO NOT TOUCH ME RIGHT NOW!"

She stepped back like I slapped her with a dictionary. "You’re spiraling."

"Yeah," I said, grabbing my jacket. "And I’ll keep spiraling until Yu Jin is in front of me."

She tried again. "Min..."

"Nope!" I said, already halfway out the door. "I’m going."

"Min!"

"Bye!"

And I left. Because if she wanted to lock me up again, she’d have to drug me, tie me, and probably tase me, and I’d still bite someone.

***

The restaurant was some stupid cozy place with way too many happy couples sitting around acting like life wasn’t absolute hell. I walked in like I was ready to set the entire building on fire, because honestly, I was.

Then I saw the guy waving at me from a corner booth.

And my brain just stopped.

He looked like someone took a security guard, a gym trainer, and a refrigerator, mashed them together, gave them nice hair, slapped a hoodie on him, and told him to be intimidating for free. And he sat there like this was a blind date he wasn’t sure he wanted to be on.

"Oh great," I muttered, sitting across from him. "You’re big."

He blinked. "And you’re rude."

"Good start."

He reached out a hand. "Fan Xiao."

I stared at it like it was diseased. "Park Min."

"Yeah, I know." He pulled his hand back. "So before you start shouting, I’m not the enemy."

"Everyone is the enemy today," I said.

"Fair enough!."

He slid his phone across the table. "Look. You’re going to want to see this."

I looked, and okay, fine, I’ll admit it my stomach twisted so hard I thought my intestines were about to file a complaint.

There it was: a GPS trace. Two dots. One labeled "Boyfriend." One labeled "Unknown Omega Device." And then both signals had moved... together.

I couldn’t breathe.

Fan Xiao tapped the screen. "Your omega’s phone showed up right next to my boyfriend’s location minutes before both signals vanished. So yes, someone took my guy too. I tracked both devices backwards. One route; yours. One route; mine. And they intersected."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they’re in the same mess," he said. "And I want them back."

"Join the club," I muttered.

"I figured we’d team up," he said, leaning back. "You’re business. I’m tech. You have money. I have access. You have temper issues..."

"The fuck? Oh wow, thanks."

"....and I have common sense."

I scoffed so loud the waiter flinched. "You think I’m just going to trust you?"

"No," he said instantly. "I think you don’t have a choice."

"Fan Xiao, you’re most likely a Chinese who is unaware that here, I’m the boss, so if you piss me in a way I don’t like, trust me you may not like the end."

"Why was your boyfriend kidnapped, if I may–"

"No, you may not, it’s none of your fucking business." He said to me with a straight face.

I wanted to turn the table at him. "I always have a choice."

"Sure," he said, shrugging. "You can work with me. Or you can work alone and lose time fighting air while your omega sits god-knows-where crying his eyes out...."

"Watch your mouth."

Fan Xiao raised his hands. "Relax. I’m saying I get it."

"No you don’t."

He leaned forward. "My boyfriend is pregnant."

I froze.

"I tracked his phone," he continued. "Because he didn’t come home. And he never doesn’t come home. And when I saw someone else’s device moving with him, I thought it was a thief... until I traced it back... to your omega. So I realized you were dealing with a kidnapping too."

I stared at him. He stared back. I didn’t blink. He didn’t blink. It was the least fun staring contest ever.

Then he smacked the table lightly. "So? Are we doing this together or what?"

I rubbed my face. "I swear to god, if you betray me..."

"I won’t."

"And if you lie..."

"I’m not."

"And if you touch Yu Jin..."

"Why the fuck would I touch your omega?"

"Because you’re big," I said without thinking.

He blinked. "What?"

"You’re..." I gestured at him. "Tall. And your scent is... okay whatever, never mind."

He leaned back like he wanted to laugh. "Is this jealousy?"

"I will set you on fire."

He grinned. "Yeah. This is jealousy."

"I SAID..."

"Relax," he said, waving me off. "Let’s go to my place. I’ll show you everything."

***

We took his car. He drove too calmly for someone whose boyfriend was missing, which already made me suspicious because if I were him, I’d be driving through red lights, yelling at pedestrians, and threatening birds.

His apartment was actually ...clean. Like suspiciously clean. Like "no one with a personality lives here" clean.

I walked in and the first thing I did was sniff the air because something smelled... weird.

He raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

I ignored him. Took another sniff. "Are you gay?" he asked me, because I definitely think you’re an Alpha.

I choked so hard I thought he swallowed his tongue. "Excuse me?"

"You smell like... I don’t know...something. Like someone who’s definitely hiding something. And not like a straight person."

"Wow," I said. "What an analysis."

"I’m serious."

"And I don’t give a fuck, you look like the one who’s hiding more here.."

"You didn’t answer."

I put a hand on his hip. "Are YOU gay?"

He blinked so fast my eyes dried out. "ARE YOU STUPID?"

He lifted both hands like he was innocent. "You sniffed me!"

"YOU SMELL WEIRD!"

We were yelling so loud the neighbors probably thought we were breaking up.

I felt my pheromones spike so fast the air got thick and hot and angry, and Fan Xiao coughed. "Dude... chill... your pheromones are... holy shit..."

"Then answer the question!"

He grabbed my shoulders like he was trying to keep me from exploding. "YES, I’M GAY! OBVIOUSLY! I literally told you my boyfriend is pregnant! How what how did your brain not connect that?!"

I blinked.

"Oh."

He stared at me like he regretted contacting me. "Are you done?"

"No."

He sighed. "Fine. Finish."

"Your scent is still weird."

"GET TO WORK OR GET OUT."

***

We moved to his desk where he pulled up a wall of surveillance footage like some superhero. He pulled up timestamps from the building and isolated the floor where Yu Jin disappeared.

"Now," he said, typing like his fingers were possessed, "we track who went in and out of that bathroom."

I leaned over his shoulder. "You’re hiding something."

He paused. "What?"

"You’re hiding something about your boyfriend. Why aren’t you telling me why he was kidnapped?."

He didn’t look at me. "Like I said, none of your business. As I was saying, I’m tracking the bathroom footage."

"Fan Xiao."

Nothing.

"You’re hiding something."

He slammed the keyboard. "I’m trying to help. Isn’t that enough?"

"No."

He looked at me then. Really looked. "Some things are personal."

"And some things get people killed," I shot back. "If your boyfriend is involved in something that affects Yu Jin...."

"He’s not involved in anything!"

"Then why won’t you tell me his name?"

"Because I don’t want to!"

"Because you’re a businessman! You threaten people for fun! You literally walked in ready to fight me!"

I threw up my hands. "I WALK INTO EVERYTHING READY TO FIGHT!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I’m not hiding something that hurts you. I’m hiding something that hurts me. Is that enough explanation?"

I shut up for three seconds.

He clicked a file.

Bathroom footage filled the screen.

A line of people. One by one.

And then

Yu Jin.

Walking in.

Not walking out.

My knees almost buckled.

Fan Xiao whispered, "There."

A figure followed Yu Jin inside.

Not an omega.

Not someone small.

Someone big.

Tall.

Strong.

Covered.

Hood up.

Gloves on.

Moving with purpose.

Fan Xiao pressed pause. "That’s our guy."

I stared at the screen. My jaw locked. My hands shook.

And I whispered, "I’m going to kill him."