Chapter Text
Jeongin arrived at the train station. It was quiet enough, since it was nearing time for it to stop running for the night and a weekday. Still crowded as hell, though.
What a waste it had been, trying to come back to Busan. He shouldn't have even attempted it in the first place – he knew his bridges had all burned. He supposed he just wanted to try, one last time, before he resigned himself to believing it was all really over.
And so here he was, slumped onto the bench, hood up, waiting for his train. He sighed, leg bouncing tirelessly.
His wallet was growing thin. It was underfed, just like him. Starving, really.
There were no more couches to surf on, no more friends to phone, no motels he could afford. He supposed it was time to bite the bullet.
He opened his browser and the Naver search was already pulled up.
“obc center near me”
All he had to do was click the little phone icon and call. Tendrils of anxiety licked up his spine. Why did it have to feel so difficult? Was it really f*cking necessary for it to be so painful?
rrrriiing. rrrriiing. rrrriii –
click
“Hello, you’ve reached the Omega, Beta, and Children’s Crisis and Support Center, Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area, Location 7. My name is Minho. How can I assist you?”
Minho’s voice was butter-smooth and calming, full of soft color and a gentle cadence. Jeongin shivered. Good thing this was over the phone.
“Yeah – uh, hi. Hello, Minho-ssi. I’m Jeo – Just, ah… I'm Iyen.” He knew it sounded like a blatant lie, but he also knew that sometimes services like these didn't require your real name. So he went with the screen name he used on the self-help forums he lurked on, Ah Iyen – I.N.
“I… A room? I need a room. If, um… do you guys have space?”
Minho chuckled lightly.
Oh. How pleasant…
“Yes, Iyen-ssi, thank you for calling! And, yes, we do have a few spaces left, but I urge you to arrive sooner rather than later. To expedite your process, can I get a little info from you over the phone? We try not to ask too many questions that identify you, only ones relevant to your needs for the duration of your stay.”
“Yeah – yes, Minho-ssi. I’m honestly probably not going to arrive until after midnight… I’m coming from outside the city. But ask away…”
“I understand. So, of course all your answers remain confidential unless it is necessary to release them to the law for your or others’ safety.
“First, your age - this is to ensure you are placed with age-appropriate neighbors or roommates.”
“Twenty-four.”
“Are you employed? And if not, are you able to be employed?”
“No employment, but yes, I’m eligible. I, um. Don’t have access to any of my papers.”
“That’s alright, dear.”
Oh. Jeongin was red-cheeked and flustered. He’d never expected that a complete stranger’s disembodied voice could send a shock down his spine. Or how he could even feel something like that at a time like this.
“Next, what’s your primal sex?”
Ah, this. This was the difficult, painful part. Jeongin sighed – really, just a quick little huff.
“Beta. Uninclined.”
“Lovely, thank you. Do you have any funds?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, I’m going to list off things you need to purchase to live. Stop me when I hit something you don’t have money for. And the costs add up, like, they stack.”
“Okay, I got it. I’m ready when you are.”
“A week’s worth of food,”
“Yeah.”
“and bus fare,”
“Yes.”
“and toiletries, if you need any … and … and a deposit on a living space.”
“Yes … Yes … Yes … No, I can’t afford a deposit.”
“Thanks, dear. Okay, last one. Do you have an idea of how long you’ll need to stay?”
“No, sorry. I – just until I can get my sh*t together, I guess. I don’t have any more couches to crash on.”
Jeongin nervously slid his fingertips back and forth over his thumbnail, leg still shaking like crazy.
“Do you expect it to be over two weeks?”
“… Probably.”
“Would you like to apply for the long-term program?”
“Sure.”
“That will require a little more identifying personal information, and it comes with certain additional restrictions and requirements to qualify. Would you like to hear them?”
“Um… No, thank you. I’ll do it when I get there. I have trouble keeping track of long lists if they’re not written down.”
“That’s perfectly fine, dear. When you get here, just remember to ask for Minho. I’ve got your application filled and processed, and it looks like you will qualify.”
Wonderful. He stepped on to the train, finding there were a scant few open seats. He stepped quickly to the one furthest from any other people. He wanted so badly to sleep, but he just couldn’t relax in public like that.
It was a long, tense ride to Seoul.
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The bell on the door to the OBC Center rang when he opened it. It really was after midnight – almost 1:30 in the morning. Having to hail a late-night cab, right after getting off a three hour train ride? It took forever. His brain was full of static.
An omega with coffee-brown hair and thick glasses looked up at him and frowned a little.
“Sir, this is an Omega, Beta, and Children’s center. I’m sorry, but we can’t help you. You need to leave.”
Jeongin didn’t know whether he should feel pleased or hopeless at that. He felt like laughing and crying.
“I’m Iyen. I spoke with Minho-ssi on the phone a few hours ago.”
A head of pretty auburn hair poked out of a door behind the reception desk. Tiny wisps curled upwards at the ends. Something shiny flashed at Jeongin from the side of his face as it swung under the cold, fluorescent lights. He could sort of make out a dangling earring.
“Hyeeun, he’s good. I already did his intake. And you know better than to stop someone at the door like that. I know you know, because I trained you.”
Hyeeun had the decency to go a little pink in the ears at the admonishment. The redhead must have been Minho-ssi, then. He stepped out of the door and stalked up to the front desk, right in front of Jeongin.
He really did stalk up, Jeongin thought. Lithe like a feline, Jeongin wouldn’t have been surprised if a tail had swished behind him and little ears popped out from under his purple beret. Minho was pretty catlike. And pretty in general. He was quite stunning, actually. Jeongin hoped he wasn’t blushing as hard as he felt like he was.
He had a straight nose with a little mole on one side, and the brightest peach blossom eyes. His cheekbones were high and dusted pink, and his pouty lips revealed a cute set of bunny teeth. And he was, indeed, wearing a dangling earring, but only in his left ear. It was a little silver carrot encrusted with cubic zirconia – the other ear held only a simple silver hoop.
“Hi, dear, I’m Minho.”
“Nice to meet you, Minho-ssi.” Jeongin bowed deeply before shaking his outstretched hand. His voice was even nicer in person.
“Oh, you can speak comfortably with me, if you’d like. But I’m happy to keep it formal if that’s more comfortable for you,” Minho said.
That was… weird. Usually people just told him to call them hyung, or they didn’t, but they usually didn’t ask him how he felt. Weird, but nice.
“Um, okay. Thanks… hyung.”
“No sweat. So I know you told me you don’t do well without written copies, and – lucky you!” He brandished a tri-fold at Jeongin with a flap. “We have pamphlets~!” he singsonged.
“Before we get too far, I have to ask, for intake purposes: Do you identify as an alpha?”
And, yep. There it was, the million dollar question.
“Yeah…”
“Okay. That’s not necessarily a problem. But I do have to let you know now, you… you can’t stay here. Unless – unless you’re willing to stay here as a beta. But all the crisis programs are government-run, so your approval transfers to every location, and the rules are all the same. Otherwise, you’ll have to seek an alpha support center, but those are a little… rare. Or preferably, you could go to one specifically for transprima people. I’m sorry, dear. I hate this rule, myself, but that’s how it is…”
“What the hell? Can they do that?!” Jeongin exclaimed. He saw Hyeeun’s head turn toward them out the corner of his eye. He felt a little vindicated, that he was alpha enough to not qualify for a beta-support service, but… He’d just traveled here with nearly the last of his money, overnight, on a weekday – like, nearly five f*cking hours! To a crisis center! Only to be told he needed to go somewhere else?
“I’m sorry, dear. I know it’s not super pleasant to hear. There’s a transprima one in Busan –”
“NO!” Jeongin said, a little too loud, a little too quick. Now Hyeeun was really staring. f*ck her.
“Okay, that’s fine, too. There’s a regular alpha center about half an hour from here…” Minho went to flip the pamphlet over and point at the addresses of the other locations, but Jeongin held his hand out.
“I’ll… I’ll just stay here as a beta, it’s – it’s whatever.”
Minho frowned a bit. “Well, wait, dear. There’s one last option. I can request to open an exception case for you, and you’d be reassigned to a specialty case manager and get an in-home placement with a host pack. All the same rules and regs apply, you just would be living there instead of here.”
“Yeah, can I do that one?” Jeongin asked. He just wanted to get it over with and sleep somewhere. He didn’t want to travel anymore, didn’t want to have to wait til morning for the buses to start running again, didn’t want to scrounge in his backpack and scour the sidewalk to find change for the fare.
“Yep! I need your full name, birth date, and your last mailing address.”
“Yang Jeongin, February 8, 2001, and my last address…” He rattled off his parents’ address. “But please, don't send anything there!”
“Of course not, dear. That's just so we can match you to your government profile for employment support. Would you like to be called Iyen?”
He didn't know, really. He wasn't even sure why he'd used the screen name to begin with. “Either is fine. I answer to Iyen or Jeongin.”
Minho scribbled something on the application.
“Is the phone number you called from okay?”
“Yeah.”
Minho smiled. “Alright Iyen-ah, buckle in! I’ll be checking off that I read each of these to you, and you’ll sign the application when we’re done. But you get to keep the pamphlet.
Minho flipped it open and rattled off the bullet points rapidfire, tapping at each one as he went with a surprisingly short and cute finger.
“After approval – you’re already approved – you’ll be assigned a case manager. In your case, it’s me! They – I – will handle your case from start to finish. Get to know them and get along well.”
He winked – poorly – and flashed a cheeky smile. Jeongin combusted on the spot. In the face of Minho’s sparkling grin, he was not as exhausted as he was just a second ago. He had to focus twice as hard to listen when Minho continued.
“Since you don’t currently have enough funds to secure a place to live, you gotta get a job. You need to pass a background check. Only jobs with registered employers – that means legal jobs, or there’s some volunteer opportunities you could pick from a list of pre-approved community services.
“You must acquire enough money to put a deposit on a market-price studio or one-bedroom apartment.
“You prove both the employment and the income by processing all finances moving forward for the duration of four months with our government accountant. You must also disclose your most recent bank statement, if you have one, or self-report cash-on-hand.
“You purchase things like toiletries, medications, and other general living expenses once weekly with your case manager – so keep a list throughout the week. We then reserve the remainder toward your deposit.
“You get audited weekly, as well.
“At any time, you can request access to more of your funds or to make a purchase outside of your weekly session, with case manager approval. But that goes for things like emergencies, unexpected costs, the like.
“Try not to abuse this. I’ll know if you are.”
Somehow, in Minho’s sweet and melodic voice, it sounded like a threat…
“Once you’ve earned enough for a deposit at market price, you pick an actual apartment to rent, with me alongside to approve. You might need a small advance from the OBC center if rent’s a little above market, just so you can pay immediately. Luckily, you’ll be auto-approved by virtue of being in the program.
“Final checkbox! The deadline to complete this all is three months, with tentative extensions at the end for move-in dates and such. But you get that extra fourth month of financial planning aid from our accountant, all while paying back what you borrowed – no interest.” Minho exhaled a playfully dramatic sigh of relief. “Sign here, here, initial here, date, date, aaaand, done!
Jeongin did as he was told, handing the clipboard and pen back to Minho.
Minho smiled. “Yay! Congrats, Jeongin. Your official date of placement will be two days from now – well, technically one day, I guess, since it’s so late. The 20th.”
“And one last thing –”
Jeongin sighed in relief.
“– but it’s really important, in your case…”
Well, the relief was nice while it lasted.
“Since I’m the specialty case worker, I assign your placement. And I’m – my pack is currently also the only available host. So you’ve gotta wait for my shift to end in –” Minho glanced at his watch. “– about an hour and a half… and then you ride home with me.”
What?!
