Chapter Text
Pressure
I
Life always presented itself as a heap of advantages and disadvantages, Yun Taegeom knew.
He had always been tall and quite strong, more than many of his classmates. He also had an innate ability to learn languages. He was smart and possessed a strong will that had secured him a good spot in the army. He had been respected, even when most of his peers felt certain distrust toward his inexplicable ability for creating explosives.
There was a bad part to his life, however. The unlucky part was that he was an omega. Though not many people knew it.
His now dead wife had been an omega too, both of them entangled in a love that many still perceived as skewed and wrong. But they had loved each other no matter what and only after a lot of trying —after exhausting treatments, money and patience— had they managed to conceive Mina. So, most people assumed he was a beta or even an alpha.
That was not the case, but he let them believe it, he wanted them to believe.
So, he took suppressants and scent blockers until he stripped that part of himself away, until he let them believe that he was far from being an omega. That his secondary gender matched his exterior, that it matched his long limbs, his abilities and the permanent frown on his face.
It was easier, less complicated, to pretend.
And everything had been fine for a while, then cancer invaded his wife's body, and the hospital bills piled up until he had no other option but to ask for money.
Im Baekjeong had then entered his life.
He had somehow seen through him. He had exposed his lies. He had made clear that Taegeom had committed a great offense against the army by hiding his secondary gender.
He had been dishonorably discharged. And Taegeom had become a full-time employee at first.
Then he had become property.
A weapon and a slave at the same time —an attack dog, someone who slashed throats, cut limbs. Someone who made people fall. Bad people and innocent people alike—.
He had been forced to become a criminal that had to keep his distance from his own daughter and mother, only allowed to visit if his owner was in the mood.
“Do you want your daughter to live?” Baekjeong had asked years ago, once he had been dismissed, when he had nothing but debt left. The strong, bruising grip of his fingers held Taegeom’s chin.
He nodded. Resisting the urge to push the other away.
"Then work for me, omega. Work for me and I'll spare your debt." Baekjeong sneered. Then he laughed "I have to give it to you. I also thought you were a beta, but Allen dug deeper into your information, and there you were. Yun Taegeom. Gender: male. Secondary gender: omega."
He made a sound of surprise, then he clicked his tongue "You're too strong for an average omega, and can compete with many Alphas. But you will never be one". The last part was said in mockery.
Taegeom’s jaw clenched, but that only made Baekjeong's eyes glint.
"Be useful and I'll keep you alive. And I'll make sure she stays alive.”
So, he obeyed, he lowered his head, he clenched his teeth and bit his tongue at Baekjeong's comments.
Taegeom now knew Baekjeong had been a professional athlete who had thrown his future away because of his uncontrollable anger. He knew that his father had been an alpha like him —and that that father had killed his omega wife in a drunken fit—.
And, somehow, Baekjeong was angry at her instead of him. For being too weak, for leaving him.
He never mentioned it directly, of course. But his words, once laced with enough alcohol, were too many and too blunt. They gave him away, and Taegeom was good at reading people.
Baekjeong was like one of the many bombs he had built throughout the years.
And still, Taegeom remained silent, because he knew that being quiet, that being as efficient as he could, was the best thing he could do to survive.
Sadly, Baekjeong was a consuming force, an unpredictable one. He was fire that burned everything that came in front of it.
II
The first time it happened Allen had been away and that had made Taegeom nervous, so nervous that he almost lost his impassive demeanor for a second. Back then, around two years ago, he wasn't familiar enough with the alpha. He wasn't familiar with the foreign country they were in either. And not having Allen around —because Lee Manbae and Kang Inbeom hadn't entered the picture yet— meant having all of Baekjeong's attention focused on him.
Luckily, that night the alpha had called for company, some Thai escorts who laughed at the right times, who wore short dresses and high heels. Their omega scents laced with the smell of cheap perfume and drugs.
Taegeom had retired to his room. He scrolled through his phone, looking at the pictures his mother sent him, a bitter feeling filling him as he realized that in such a short time, he was already missing so much of Mina’s growth, of her happiness. Her firsts, her smiles, the small things that would never come back.
He was indirectly staining her life with his actions.
He had so much blood on his hands already, just a few months into the job.
Everything on him was dirty.
With Korean blood, foreign blood. The blood of people whose names he knew, blood of those who had been too insignificant to be remembered.
A loud shriek followed by Baekjeong's angry yells alerted him, his legs quickly taking him to the living room where he found him holding one of the escorts, twisting her arm painfully while the rest of the women cornered together as far as they could.
"You think you can steal from me, bitch?" He snapped, his grip never faltering, not even as she pleaded with broken English. Saying that she had only been looking, that she was not trying to steal. All lies, Taegeom knew, but he still felt bad for her. Even if his face didn't show it.
And Baekjeong hit her. Again, and again.
Taegeom froze for barely a second, somehow imagining that was exactly how Baekjeong's father had ended up killing his mother.
Taegeom stepped in, stopping Baekjeong before things escalated further. Taegeom was taller than the average omega —barely an inch smaller than Baekjeong—, stronger too, but Baekjeong was still an alpha. A ruthless one.
"Let her go, sir.” He said, voice controlled but firm when necessary. “We're trying to go unnoticed. Killing her will only bring problems."
He turned away from Baekjeong for barely a moment and mouthed at the women to get lost.
The women fled immediately, running away like rats. Then the door closed loudly and he found himself alone with the alpha again.
The tension shifted.
Something darker settled in the room.
The blow came fast, but Taegeom found it as expected as the punch that followed, as the kick that made him fall to the floor. He tasted iron, but he stayed silent.
Taegeom looked up with hatred for just a second, then averted his eyes.
He knew better than to fight back.
Not this time. Not when Mina’s life hung over him like a blade.
It wasn't the first time he had received a beating. In fact, in Baekjeong's eyes even the smallest mistakes deserved one. That had been clear since the beginning.
He just needed to endure it until Baekjeong grew tired. He knew fighting back would only make things worse.
"Who are you to meddle in my business, fucker?" he asked, each word punctuated with a punch. "Those fucking bitches were here to entertain me. If I ended up killing her, that's my problem."
He leaned back for a moment, studying Taegeom —really looking at him— before letting out a loud laugh.
"Is it an omega thing?” he continued. “You feel the need to protect your own?"
His words dripped with mockery. And quietly, Taegeom thought that Baekjeong felt something else beneath it, something sharper. Offense. Pride. As if pretending to stand on equal ground with the betas —with the alphas—, had been a crime itself.
"Is that it?” he muttered, tilting his head. “Then make yourself useful in their place. You let them go. So take responsibility."
Taegeom frowned, confusion tightening his features as Baekjeong shifted over him, his thighs pinning him down.
"Open your mouth," he ordered, already moving, already crossing a line as if it meant nothing.
Taegeom froze.
For a second, his mind refused to process it. His body went rigid, his jaw locking instinctively at the musky scent of Baekjeong's still clothed cock in front of him.
Realization crept in —cold, slow, undeniable—.
This was real.
He kept still until harsh fingers forced his mouth open.
No. This can be.
He struck first.
The punch landed clean, driven by instinct, years of training reacting before fear could settle inside him completely. Taegeom shoved him away and forced himself up, creating distance between them.
But Baekjeong only smiled.
The alcohol in his system didn't slow him. It sharpened him, turned his anger into something volatile and eager.
They circled each other like hunter and prey.
Some furniture lay broken around them, shifted out of place, and a slow grin appeared across the alpha’s face. Rage left him, replaced with enjoyment.
Taegeom didn't care. He wouldn't give in easily.
Every movement was measured. Small shifts of weight, controlled breathing, watching, waiting. Because the door was too far, escape wasn’t an option.
Still, as Taegeom waited for the next attack, a part of him hoped —stupidly— that this would end differently, that Baekjeong would forget about everything. That he would laugh it off and say he was just testing him.
He didn't.
Instead, his expression changed. His gaze dragged over Taegeom from head to toe, lingering, assessing. And suddenly, something in it lit up. As if the challenge itself had become appealing. As if the prospect of dominating an omega like Taegeom, capable —and stupid enough at the time—of facing him, excited him.
Looking back, Taegeom would think that he could have fought harder. That he could have reached for something. A weapon, anything.
But even then, he knew the truth. He knew why he hadn't done more.
“Should I pay Mina a visit?” Those words were all it took.
The next blow dropped him to the floor, the air knocked out of his lungs as he realized that by hitting Baekjeong he had just made things worse for himself.
That he was putting his daughter in danger.
Baekjeong moved him easily, meeting little resistance. He gave up quickly after hearing her name, forgetting about his skills, about his days in the army, while thinking that he needed to endure it. For Mina. His body obeyed even as his mind recoiled in disgust.
He focused on her name. Only on that.
Not on the harsh grasp of Baekjeong's hands on his nape, his fingernails digging deeper and deeper, leaving red marks. Not on the cold press of the floor against his cheek, or the sting of his lip splitting under his teeth. On the distant sound of his own breathing.
He stayed silent.
Each moment dragged, each movement stretched with paint and with something worse. Something harder to recognize.
Humiliation.
So he didn't make a sound while Baekjeong fucked him into submission.
III
Hours later, he stood under the shower, staring at himself in the mirror as water carried thin streaks of red down his legs and into the drain.
The reflection looking back wasn't him anymore. It was something hollow. A man that moved efficiently and automatically, almost without consciousness and will.
He heard the main door open, his shoulders tensing instantly, but it was only Allen returning to the hotel they were staying in.
And Taegeom hated him for a moment.
He hated him for leaving. For not being there.
He hated him for being a beta.
A real one.
But more than anything, he hated himself.
Because it happened again.
Just a few weeks later.
Then again, and again.
He allowed it to happen.
It happened every time he made a mistake. Then when others made mistakes too, or when they had a bad day and Baekjeong needed something to break.
And every time Taegeom felt his hand drift toward the spiral dagger he now always carried in his pocket. He felt the weight of it and wondered if he would ever have the courage to use it against Baekjeong.
He never did.
Allen saw it once.
Almost a year later.
Him and the younger man had failed a job —something simple, something avoidable—. And Baekjeong didn’t care that Allen was there when he decided to make an example of it.
Taegeom caught a glimpse of Allen’s face. Just for a second.
Allen's eyes had been wide open and his skin pale. Shock, raw and unfiltered.
Then Taegeom looked away. Because shame burned more than having Baekjeong moving against him until he drew blood. Until he drew blood that matched the red trail falling from his bruised nose.
And Taegeom understood something clearly:
It was never just a punishment.
It was about power, about humiliation, about ownership. A reminder of where he stood, and where he would always stand, as the only omega in the team.
He understood that it wouldn’t have mattered if Allen had been there the first time.
It would've happened anyway.
A part of him, a sick and twisted part, wished Allen would be punished for his mistakes too, but Baekjeong never treated him like he treated Taegeom.
He never crossed the line like he did with him.
"I'm sorry" Allen said later. Quiet. Awkward. Useless. Probably feeling guilty after seeing the brutal image, by seeing Taegeom, always so serious and composed, being reduced to nothing.
Taegeom didn’t answer. He ignored him until the silence stretched for too long, until Allen gave up and retreated back to his screen. Because Allen was many things. An idiot, annoying, impulsive and greedy, but he wasn’t cruel. At least not like Baekjeong.
IV
Taegeom spoke less as time passed. He said just the necessary words.
He had always been quiet. But now silence became a necessity.
Even his expressions betrayed him sometimes, and even that earned him a hit.
So he learned. He learned to save not only his words, but also his pain. He learned to swallow everything. To hold it until bile pooled inside his stomach, until it made him sick. Until it felt rotten and made him vomit uncontrollably during the solitude of the nights in Thailand.
He often thought of running away, of course he did. Of going somewhere far. Vietnam, perhaps. Maybe somewhere farther. It didn’t really matter as long as it was somewhere unreachable. He even thought of ending it all in one blast, taking everything and everyone with him. It wouldn’t take much; he had the resources and the knowledge. He knew what to do and how to do it. Sometimes, he thought of putting the blade he always kept with him to a different use, of turning it on himself instead of others.
But Baekjeong always made sure to mention his daughter so he could keep him on a leash. So he could tighten the restraints that bound him to his side. Because Taegeom was an excellent asset. He was smart and stealthy. And, most importantly, he had a daughter. A daughter that unknowingly represented his captivity.
But he didn’t blame her. It wasn’t her fault.
It was his.
So he stayed.
Because he had no choice.
Because resignation had settled into his bones.
Then Kim Gunwoo appeared, like an anomaly.
An innocent but wild card that had turned Baekjeong’s game upside down. A piece thrown into a carefully controlled system.
And suddenly. Things began to shift.
Kim Gunwoo was a variable no one had accounted for.
Things changed. They became erratic, unpredictable.
As unpredictable as the life growing inside him.