He cleared his throat. "So.. she is mine? Why'd you lie? And why'd you keep it quiet? You should have told me, Rin. I would've helped you, would've taken care of you. And my—our daughter."
Rin bit his lip to keep from lashing out.
"...She is a girl, right?"
Rin turned with aggravated flair, his grip tight on her.
"Yes. She is. Finally realized that calling a child—a child of your own—it, is disgusting or are you just guilt-tripping me or something?"
The man didn't respond.
"And you weren't there. You didn't even fucking know. Or maybe you did since you seem to know so much about me—a fucking 'slut' you had sex with once. You wouldn't have done shit and we both know that." Rin spat. The alpha stepped closer. Rin's heart pounded, his daughter's fused scent of his own Vanilla and the whiskey that the other man smelled like clouded his senses.
"You wouldn't know, omega. You purposely hid it from me, I assume. You don't know what I would've done if I found out an amazing omega like you was pregnant with my pup." Rin wanted to scream as the man towered over him.
Before he could even bark out a response, Jiyeon made a sound. A gurgle. She turned her head so far it looked like she'd break it to snap a chance at the man who Rin was afraid to name. It defied who she was facing, her mom. The one who literally birthed her. Yet, her small fist opened and closed to the man, they weren't off her body as her infantile arms were still new to her mind. She squeezed her fists open and closed and whined. Profusely. For the man who Rin subconsciously deleted from his mind and well, he tried to delete him from life too but Jiyeon stayed a constant staple of their night.
Her tiny lips pursed in a pout Rin knew too well, her eyes wide open as she opened and closed her fists, as if grasping for someone she felt and just.. knew who was 'daddy.' Rin hated it. He hated the fact she'd already seemed to analyze everything about him. Everything that made Rin want to cry.
The man's eyes widened. He loosely pointed at himself.
"Me? She wants me?"
Rin looked away as the baby began to whine, her barely there vocals still quiet but so loud in Rin's ears, the tears and tantrums he's been enduring for nights a month straight. He didn't want to give her to him even if she wanted him. It enraged him. It scared him. More than anything. He couldn't trust this man not to ruin his life by revealing Jiyeon to the clan. He couldn't trust this man to not ruin his life by taking Jiyeon and running. He couldn't.
But she cried harder. Her little body strained against Rin's chest, as if desperate for a release of him.
"Let me hold her."
"No."
"She's mine and she wants me, so yes."
Rin yanked her back.
"No. She doesn't want you, she likes the idea of you."
The man clicked his tongue.
"I want her to know me. Give her to me, please. She's crying and we're in public."
Rin took a breath and looked around. People on the streets were staring. Even the ahjumma pushing a stroller across the street was staring disappointedly. Rin gulped. He propped one eye open. The man had his arms held out, his dark dress shirt rolled up the forearm, tattoos crawling like rose vines up his pale skin. His hands were going to be too rough for Jiyeon's delicate head. Rin knew all those hands did was clean dirty money in dirtier ways.
He clutched his crying daughter to his chest.
"You can't.. you can't touch her. Your hands are calloused and bruised, it'll hurt her."
"It won't hurt shit."
Rin glared at him.
The man's eyes widened but his lip.
"....please? I.. I won't hurt her or take her, just let me hold her."
Rin sighed heavily, his brain runiing anxiously and angrily as he slowly, incredibly slowly, pulled Jiyeon from his chest. The movement felt like he was ripping his own stomach out. Or his ribcage or his gut. He couldn't let her go. It felt like strands of her tiny body were wrapped around him, pulling her back to him.
He placed the sobbing child in the other man's hands and hit his lip.
"Hold her head and do not drop her. If you drop her—I will kill you, no matter who you are."
The man hummed, looking down at Jiyeon like she made the world for him to walk through. His eyes widened in something Rin couldn't understand. They watered like he'd been blessed by the pup. Rin hated but loved it. He couldn't predict what the man would do next and that scared Rin.
"She's so beautiful." The man muttered as he brushed her hair out of her face. Her crying finally stilled as she was pressed against his chest, her soaked cheeks wet a puddle into the man's dark shirt. He didn't even seem to care, he held her like she was glass. Like she was made to be broken if not held by the right hands.
He cradled her head and kissed it. It aggravated Rin how close he was to the baby. But at the same time, it made his heart pound unfairly at how endearing the scene was. This big, tall man held a thing not even his full forearm like she could beat him. It was ridiculous but adorable.
The man smiled softly as he looked up at Rin. "She's.. she's really beautiful. Just like you. She's precious."
"You don't even know how much she cries." Rin bit his lip.
The alpha looked down at the little baby, her ridiculous, doll-sized fist gripped his index finger liked it was a nipple.. or bottle, for better wording.
He didn't let go or snatch his hand away, he just stared at her. He seemed almost.. dumbfounded by her. It made Rin want to rip his hair out and scream. But he didn't. Instead, he bit his lip and watched the interaction like a judge on an idol trainee show.
"She's so perfect and small and she's got pretty little eyes and.." The alpha stopped short, his smile still there despite the falling of his words. He looked up from her once more and gazed at Rin.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Rin didn't know how to answer. So he didn't. He looked away, at the street. It wasn't crowded but the roads were. Rin wanted to be in the road, with a car, with his baby in the seat next to him in a car seat.
"Kiseok wanted me to get an abortion. So I couldn't tell anyone."
He spoke softly, his words barely above a whisper.
He didn't hear much but a sigh and a coo. He turned back.
The alpha was back to playing with Jiyeon's delicate fingers. Her little mouth was wide open in free giggles. It sent shocks of warmth throughout Rin's body like electroshock therapy.
"And before that? You didn't tell me because ..? I'm dangerous or some shit they feed kids like you." The alpha finally replied without even looking up. He stayed giggling with Jiyeon. Rin shook his head, wrapping his arms around his chest, ignoring the bruise that was forming from the buckle of the baby carrier.
"No... and I'm older than you.. by two years, kid. I'm pretty sure I've been in this.. business longer than you've been. And I've seen your work, you're as dangerous now as you were at 16."
The alpha's hands stilled. He looked up, eyes glistening and Rin wasn't sure if it was because of what he just said or because of Jiyeon who babbled happily to the man.
"You've seen me at.. 16?"
Rin nodded, gulping. His gut clenched and unclenched with every thought in his head.
"Yeah.. the huge boss would bring you around my area when you were around that age.. I don't know if you remember but my boss used to lecture you while I was with the other omegas... That was before I was in..this business."
Rin admitted more than he wanted to. He scratched his arm subconsciously as he spoke. He noticed the alpha's arms tightening around Jiyeon. He didn't speak and Rin didn't want to egg the house.
Then, the alpha hummed. He bounced Jiyeon softly and looked back down at her, smiling softly.
"I never noticed you back then. Surprised you remember."
Rin didn't respond. The alpha shrugged.
"I'll get us a car—no driver, don't worry—and we'll talk about this somewhere private. Hungry?"
Rin shook his head but followed the man as he began walking.