Standing tall and handsome in his impeccably tailored suit, Choi Seungcheol stepped towards them, his scent of black tea and bergamot pervading into the sanctuary of the rehearsal hall. The applause he gave was slow and measured, his eyes fixed on Jaemin and no one else.
"It really is a very clever little plan," he smiled. "A pity that you might just be too late."
Do-hyun surged forward, positioning himself squarely in front of Jaemin, his cedar scent roaring to life in a fierce, protective wall.
"Get out," he snarled, his voice a dangerous low rumble. "You are not welcome here. Leave."
A shocked murmur rippled through the musicians. They were all familiar with how aggressive their concertmaster could be, but this level of immediate, overwhelming hostility, directed towards this elegant, immaculate stranger, confused them. The contrast to Do-hyun's growing ease over the last couple of months was especially stark.
Who was this man?
Choi Seungcheol ignored him, his gaze sliding over the orchestra with detached arrogance as he gave a low hum. "There are quite a few of you left. Amazing, really. I'd have thought more of you would have had the wisdom to recognize a sinking ship if there ever was one."
Jung Eunji leaned towards Kim Seojun, who was standing just beside her. "Isn't that… Isn't that Conductor Choi Seungcheol?" she whispered. "I thought he was with the Busan Metropolitan Symphony."
Kim Seojun's usually jovial face, however, had gone pale. "It's him," he confirmed.
Joining in the conversation, Han Chaewon murmured, "What's he doing here?"
"I don't know," Kim Seojun rasped. "But I do know that years ago, he stole one of Conductor-nim's greatest compositions and passed it off as his own."
"What??!" The two ladies whipped their heads to look back at the now extremely unwelcome visitor. But their sharpening gazes went completely unnoticed by the man, whose own gaze was still trained solely on their conductor.
"Jaemin." His voice was a smooth, soft caress. "Why are you doing this? Why do you insist on wasting your talents here with this ragtag group, instead of fulfilling your true potential and purpose with me? You know I've been waiting for your return. How long will you persist in being so stubborn?"
Jaemin took a step back in retreat, all of his earlier, glowing confidence gone. "I—I don't—"
"Enough," Do-hyun cut in with a growl. "He's not going anywhere, especially not with you."
"I wasn't talking to you." Seungcheol's gaze did not waver from Jaemin's pale figure. "Jaemin, you can't have forgotten that you belong to me. Our bond is eternal. Stop wasting time defying me."
"Is that the reason why you booked out all the halls, just to steal our conductor?" Han Chaewon called out, hazarding a wild guess. The rest of the orchestra turned to look at her. "I bet you're the one who's been spreading all those rumours in the media and trying to ruin us, aren't you!"
Collectively, the members of the orchestra stiffened. So this was the enemy that kept standing between them and their full revival. This was the man who had tainted their good name, souring their reputation and spreading slander about their conductor and concertmaster.
Their gazes landed back on Choi Seungcheol, a chorus of accusing stares.
Choi Seungcheol merely smiled, unaffected by the fresh wave of animosity. He kept his eyes focused beyond Do-hyun's shoulder, pinning Jaemin with a chilling, possessive intensity.
"Only to remind him not to get ahead of himself. He remembers what happened the last time he tried to get too far from me. Don't you, Jaemin?"
From behind him, Do-hyun heard Jaemin whimper faintly, and instinctively reached out for him, trying to ground him with his touch.
His hand found the omega's clammy and shaking. Through their point of contact, he could sense Jaemin's paralyzing fear, the inward screaming of his soul.
Heart clenching, Do-hyun pushed harder against the scent of black tea and bergamot with his own pheromones, willing them into a protective barrier around the trembling omega.
"Enough," he repeated. "Leave now, before we take action against you for trespassing and coercion."
For the first time since he had entered, Choi Seungcheol's eyes slid from Jaemin, down to where Do-hyun's firm grip on the omega's wrist. For a moment, the features of that smooth, charming face twisted, the beginnings of a crack in his polished demeanor.
"'Coercion'?" he questioned, his voice still soft but no longer purring, instead turning cold. "You're one to talk, Concertmaster Kang. Trying to be a hero? Everyone saw how you were only too eager to take advantage of Jaemin's… situation at the Gala, sweeping him off like some honorable knight in shining armor, only for the both of you to disappear from the public eye for weeks. I wonder," he took a step towards them, "what could possibly have happened in all that time behind closed doors, between an alpha, and an omega in heat?"
"That's none of your business," Do-hyun growled, hackles raised.
"Actually, it is." Choi Seungcheol took another step, his long legs quickly gaining ground in his invasion into their sanctuary. "I'm sure that since you two have been so intimately acquainted—" his words left no room for doubt as to what he meant "—then you should be well aware of the mark I left on him."
As shocked gasps and murmurs rose again among the orchestra, he smiled.
"Tell me, Concertmaster: what would the world think of an alpha who takes an omega that has already been bonded to someone else? Or, worse still, of such an omega for letting him in?"
The growl in Do-hyun's chest rose to a snarl. This man, this brute, was dragging the soft, private moments between Do-hyun and Jaemin out for scrutiny in front of the entire orchestra, painting Jaemin as disloyal, adulterous… loose.
All of his instincts screamed at him to rip tooth and nail into this man, who dared lay such humiliation on his mate, for shaming him so publicly. But he knew better than to resort to physical violence, when all Choi Seungcheol had used so far was pheromones and words; Do-hyun's current reputation was precarious enough, and it would do Jaemin no favours if he were to be taken away.
"How about an alpha who was so uninspiring and untalented that he had to steal the work of an omega? An omega who trusted him to be his friend and comrade?" He took a step of his own forward, challenging. "But you only know how to exploit others, don't you? Choi Seungcheol."
The name tasted bitter even as he spat it from his lips. He loathed having to position Jaemin as the victim, when he had been labouring so hard over the last few months to prove to him that he didn't have to hold on to that part of his identity and past any longer… that he was strong, and capable, and loved.
Safe.
"What would you know of the sacrifices of love?" Choi Seungcheol snarled, losing his cool. "You can cling to him as much as you want, but your claim is bankrupt, Kang Do-hyun. Jaemin knows who he ultimately belongs to, and he will return to me."