9 Aftermath 2

'So we heard that you friend was forcefully marked. Is that correct?' The older officer asks, repeating what they reported earlier. Both of them answer and the officer immediately writes something down. 'How did that happen?'

'What do you mean?' Junjie wonders. How else could that have happened? Wonho was bitten by someone without his consent.

Sensing the confusion from the two, the investigator simplifies his question, 'Was he dragged from his dorm? Was he grabbed by the alpha on his way home?'

'I don't know. We were running away…' Sangcheol answers, now understanding what was expected from them. But before he could continue, the younger officer interrupts, 'Running away from what? All of you were running away?'

Sangcheol clenches his jaw, not appreciating the interjection. However, relaying whatever information they can is more important than getting worked up over something so trivial and angering the impatient authority. 'Yes we were all running away fro-'

'From whom?' The younger one cuts him again. Sangcheol finds it hard to let this one go. Making a fist beneath the table, he firmly answers, 'From the alphas,' and stops, expecting another question based on how the two were acting the past few minutes. This time, however, the two officers stay silent. Listening. It was obvious they are expecting a continuation of the story. Without any of that, the older officer encourages, 'Alphas? Plural?'

'Yes. Alphas.' Sangcheol observes as the man scribbles something in his notebook. His face is filled with doubt. 'Why were you running?'

'Because the alphas were acting crazy…'

'You're an alpha right?' The younger policemen interrupts Junjie's answer, looking at Sangcheol. Glaring, feeling like they are taken for foolish students, he almost growled, 'Yes I am.'

'Were you chasing them too?' Now the questions are directed somewhere else. If they let this go on, Sangcheol knows they will never fully get to tell the whole story.

'No, Chansol and I were running back to our campus,' Sangcheol glances at the officers' faces, trying to read their mind. It is really stressful, trying to convey their memories and not knowing when they will be cut and have to answer random questions instead. It is really messing with their mind. Even now, he is more concerned on getting accused than telling the truth. 'Look, can't you just listen to what we have to say? I mean it's better if we tell our side of the story first without interruption, right?'

'Owh yeah, sure, go ahead.' He swears he can hear the sarcasm from the younger officer but choose to ignore it. Junjie man is trying to hold his anger too. Sangcheol worries he might explode soon. After all, he just sent his best friend, left for dead in an alley, to a hospital where the nurse told him to pray it is not too late to save Wonho. Being treated like this is too much for him to handle. Sangcheol feel relieved that he chose to come along to lessen the burden, 'So we were hanging out…'

'Look, kid. We don't have time to listen to your story. We just need you to answer our questions and we'll be gone now. Understood?' Now the older officer stops them, probably thinking they are a bunch of delinquents just based on the five words he just said. 'So now, what was your friend doing in the west district alone?'

Both Junjie and Sangcheol takes a deep breath. They cannot take the disrespect and this treatment any longer. However, they try to keep their calm for Wonho, as hard as it is. 'He wasn't alone. As I said, we were hanging out.'

'So why was he found alone?'

'Again, as I said, we were all running away from the alphas.' Sangcheol made sure to emphasize that he answered that question before. Honestly, are the men actually taking notes? Because they keep on asking the same thing over and over again.

'And can you tell me why you were running?'

Again, he told them this. Obviously they weren't listening. 'Because they went crazy over Wonho's scent.'

'So he was in heat?'

'No he wasn't… he wa…'

'Are you sure he was forced? Can you give us an affirmation that this was not mutual?' Sangcheol's brows furrows at that question. How can it be mutual if his friend just presented a few hours ago? There is no way he can just decide he wants to bond with a stranger. No way. Wonho would not know how even if he wanted to. What an absurd question-

'What are you trying to say?' Junjie finally speaks after keeping his silence, surprising his senior. He can take the disrespect towards him, towards Sangcheol, but not to Wonho. Nobody does that to Wonho.

'Look. Your friend clearly is not wearing a neck protector. To me, it seems that he was looking for a mate.'

Sangcheol was about to argue before Junjie slams the table in anger. His breathing is heavy, trying not to hit the two officers who are trying to refute their statements. 'Are you suggesting that he wanted this to happen???'

'No, we are saying that this would not have happened if he had worn his neck protector. I'm just saying that the guy who claimed your friend is not the only one at fault here.' The younger one states as-a-matter-of-fact-ly. Sangcheol can no longer let this slide-

'YAAAHH!!!! HE DIDN'T WEAR THEM CUS HE DIDN'T HAVE ONE!!!' Junjie screams to everyone's shock. Sangcheol holds his junior in place, glaring at the two officers. To his dismay, he sees both of them smirks, as if they are right in saying Wonho was asking to be raped.

'Well then, there's nothing we can do about that. I think our job is done here.' The officers are getting up from their seats but Sangcheol holds one of their hands, trying to prevent them from leaving. 'Young man, you need to let go or I'm going to…'

'HE WAS A BETA! A BETA!!! HE DIDN'T NEED ONE!!' Junjie screams again, not caring about the eyes staring at them.

'Now you're not making any sense. Let go or I'm going to arrest…'

'It's true, please officer, you can check with the university. He was a beta.' Sangcheol pleads. He wants to scream too, he wants to make a scene too. He wants to let the policemen know how stupid and useless they are, but that will not help anyone. Right now, he needs to stay calm and prove to the men his words are reliable.

'You mean he hid his identity as an omega. Sorry kids, that is against the law so…'

'YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!! HE HAD BEEN A BETA ALL HIS LIFE! HE WAS ONE UNTIL A FEW HOURS AGO!!' Junjie is desperate, he cannot let the so-called officers tarnish his friend's image. Wonho is not a sex-hunger omega they are trying to paint him to be. He is a victim!

'Yaah Jun!! Cheol!! Let go of the officers!!' Both of them are startled by Haneul's voice. The beautiful omega forcefully pulls both his friend and lover back, bowing an apology to the policemen. 'I apologize on their behalf. Please do not charge them!'

Both the officers clear their throat, recognizing the infamous omega. Not wanting to make a scene as they knew it will not end well, they respond, 'We won't do anything this time, but we won't tolerate any kind of disrespect again. You hear me?'

Haneul nods and forces the other two to bow as well. They keep their heads down until the officers are out of sight. Once gone, Junjie stomps his way out of the hospital, followed by both his friends running after him in worry.

'ARRRRGHHH!!! MOTHERFUCKERS!!! GODDAMMIT!!!!' Junjie kicks the rocks on the road and pulls his hair in frustration, angry at himself for allowing his friend to be painted in such horrible light. Disappointed in himself for letting Wonho down by losing control and angering the only people who can give his friend justice.

'YAH CALM DOWN!!!' Sangcheol holds the broken man's shoulders, guiding him to seat on the sidewalk. The man is sobbing so hard with curses in between. Sangcheol looks over his shoulders towards his lover; Haneul has a frown on his face.

'Why did you follow us?' he asks calmly, softly.

'The doctor is finally out of the ward. She said Wonho's out of danger, but he has to stay in the ICU for a few days.'

Junjie finally stops crying at the statement, his head perked up in hope, 'can we see him?'

'Not yet. She told us to come back tomorrow to try again. We should go home and get some rest. Especially you, Jun. Get some sleep.' Haneul advises, petting the younger one's head gently. He understands the man's frustration, having seen this kind of situation one too many times back at the shelter. But there is nothing more that they can do but to keep themselves sane and strong enough to support Wonho once the man wakes up from his coma.

'I… I think I'll be here for a few more hours.' Jun refuses, wanting to stay just because.

'No…but…' Haneul sighs as he sees his lover signaling him to stop talking. 'Okay, but make sure to go back home and rest. We need to visit him tomorrow.'

'Yeah, sure…'

#####

Both the alpha and beta finally get back up to the bench in front of the entrance, towards the ICU to relax for a while. However, to their displeasure, they are greeted by the two officers whom they thought had gone back to the station. Sangcheol rolls his eyes, no longer able to hold his distaste while Junjie refused to acknowledge them altogether. They are already too tired for all this shit. If the cops are not willing to help his friend, he does not want to entertain them.

'Young men, can we have a word?'

'If you are not going to trust us, I don't think we have anything to say anymore.' The older of the two responds truthfully. No longer holding back.

'We understand. We heard the whole situation from the doctor so we're not going to interrupt right now. I apologise for our behavior a few hours ago.' Sangcheol nods and tries to cooperate, but Junjie only glares at them in discontent. He cannot handle them right now, still very angry from the disrespect and accusation made against his friend. If he could, he wants to change the officer and sue them.

'We received many reports like this but not one of them actually involves non-consensual marking. Most of them are just some sort of a scam to get the government benefits for the victims, so forgive us if we doubted you story. We never heard of a beta turning into an omega at this age…' The younger one admits, sensing the anger from the two. They are stationed at a district where drugs and prostitution are part of everyday occurrence. Unlike other places, crimes are so normal if they investigate each and every one of them, they will not have the manpower to handle the more serious cases. Not to mention, most of the reports they get are usually only done as a way the delinquents mess with each other's business, which is why they filter their reports very firmly like they did.

Wonho's story is too absurd for them to believe. And so they thought the students were lying to cover their own mistakes. Obviously they were wrong.

'It's okay, I understand.' Sangcheol replies, trying to be the better half. He needs to stay calm for Wonho, 'I'll tell you everything.'