Chapter Text
Johnny Suh.
CEO of Suh Management Enterprise, commonly known as SM Ent.
Most people assumed he had everything an alpha could ask for--his own business, power, wealth, a reputation that preceded him in every setting. Of course, that was just his public image. Only a trusted handful of people knew about his life behind closed doors.
The two young boys who missed their father’s company even when he was present.
The omega whom he had loved then lost, turning him from a happy husband to an overwhelmed widower overnight.
And the hollow shell of a home with too many empty rooms.
Johnny’s friends used to say his house was haunted. Not by ghosts or anything quite so exciting. Just haunted by memories of a past he couldn’t move on from yet and the wasted potential of what his future could have been.
Even though four years had already passed since the omega’s death, Johnny still didn’t feel like he could catch his breath. First grief…then worry for his children…then endless work until ‘drowning’ became synonymous with ‘surviving.’
While he could excuse some of his workaholic personality on the daily grind and demand of his job, there was also a selfish component he couldn’t deny. Spending twelve hours in the downtown office meant he didn’t have to pretend he filled both parental roles. He didn’t even have to think about it. Guilt didn’t taste quite so bitter when he justified the early morning mergers and late night calls for putting the highest quality dino chicken nuggets on his sons’ plates.
Fortunately, Johnny also couldn’t have asked for a better support system. His social group was intimate, mostly made up of college best friends and their mates. It helped that at this point in their lives, they all had children too.
He was closest to Jaehyun, both figuratively and literally. The younger alpha oversaw the finance department in SM Ent, while also acting as Johnny’s unofficial right-hand man. Their relationship had started as freshman roommates, before college led to their linked careers.
Johnny relied on Jaehyun more than the latter realized. In addition to discussing work problems, they also had raising unruly boys in common. Sometimes they needed to trade tips or complain.
However, Jaehyun still had his omega in his life, which lightened the mental load immensely. Doyoung packed his husband a bagged snack every day, and he never forgot to include a sappy note that made Jaehyun’s dimples pop and his ears turn red. Doyoung was also the first to chastise Johnny for, well, anything.
If the circles under Johnny’s eyes looked darker than usual…
If the elder’s boys had taught one of his ‘angelic’ children a bad word…
There were pros and cons to sharing an elementary school, but at least Taeyong kept most of the peace during drop-off and pick-up times. Johnny had first seen the other 95-liner drunk and dancing on a table at a frat house over a decade ago. Now, that same man was the school’s first-grade teacher and taught his sons how to count. He still danced occasionally, but Johnny’s children only saw Mr. Lee dance during music class.
Taeyong’s husband also worked for SM Ent., specifically in foreign affairs. His role required him to travel more often than the rest of their group, but Taeyong was glad for it. Visiting his family back home in Japan, whether for a quick meal in between flights or during a whole conference week, restored Yuta’s soul better than any meditation app. Besides, traveling abroad always made Yuta twice as clingy whenever he returned home.
Their pack consisted of one more couple, a pair unlike the others. For one thing, Sicheng was a beta--the only beta in the group. His omega mate was also the one who thrived in the corporate world, whereas Sicheng preferred his quiet, simple job as the school’s librarian.
However, his tranquil energy perfectly complemented Ten’s passion. The latter led the marketing team at SM Enterprise, dabbling in everything from artsy logos to high-profit campaigns. Ten also wasn’t afraid to tell an alpha when they pitched a bad idea, an admirable trait that added to Johnny’s list of daily headaches.
Now was a perfect example, as Johnny rubbed his temples in a vain attempt to ward off an impending migraine. Even worse, this time he couldn’t just blame the Thai omega sitting on his desk and wrinkling reports. Yuta and Jaehyun had also joined today’s ‘emergency’ meeting, though Ten used the term way too loosely.
“I’m just saying,” the smallest man said for at least the fifth time in the past hour. “You’re not getting any younger, and you are definitely not taking care of yourself. When’s the last time you drank water that wasn’t just melted ice in your coffee? Or slept more than five hours? You look like you're halfway between retirement and the grave. I’m not judging if that’s the look you’re going for, but I feel that someone has to tell you how bad it’s getting.”
Johnny sighed loudly. “Didn’t we have this conversation last week?” he asked, fearful that his appearance was becoming Ten’s newest project. He wished Ten prioritized his deadlines to this extent. “And the week before that?”
“Yes, we did,” Ten agreed. “Glad to see you’re finally listening. Maybe now you’ll start actually doing something about it, because you’re starting to depress me.”
“Seriously?” Johnny huffed. “My life is depressing you?” He glanced over to the other two alphas for emotional support if nothing else, but they wore matching grins. Apparently they also enjoyed seeing Johnny suffer, and Ten was an expert at friendly torture.
“Not your life so much,” Ten corrected him. “More like the lack of it. There’s no fire in your eyes! Pep in your step! I knew you’d gotten boring, but this is, like, zombie-level.”
Yuta laughed loudly, no longer hiding which side he was on. “He’s got a point,” the alpha teased. “I mean, I don’t think we have to start quarantining you from others, but Ten isn’t that far off.”
“I think you’re more like a robot than a zombie,” Jaehyun suggested. “All the gears are in motion, but I’m not convinced there’s actually a cause behind the cogs.”
“My company not failing and employees not losing their jobs isn’t a good enough cause?” Johnny questioned. “Or providing for my children an expensive education and certified in-home care?” He blindly searched for a bottle of aspirin in his top desk drawer, only to angrily remember he had taken the last couple of pills the day before.
“Meh,” Ten answered with a shrug, ignoring the way his boss’s eye began to twitch. “Sure, those are all amazing things, and we also benefit from your dedication. Thank you for being great at your job.”
“You’re welcome. Now get out.”
“I’m not done,” Ten continued, swinging his feet. “There’s no denying this company runs on your sweat and blood. But what about the part of you outside this place?”
“I’m home every night,” Johnny insisted, his annoyance shifting to confusion. His friends knew better than to think he didn’t see his sons every day, whether before the alarm clock went off or after their nanny had already tucked them into bed.
The omega rolled his eyes and mumbled something about slow-witted alphas under his breath.
“I don’t mean the physical building,” Ten explained. “Because we all know you still work when you leave this place, whether you’re in your home office or just thinking about everything that still has to get done in your head. I’m talking about who Johnny Suh is beyond SM!”
Jaehyun spoke up next, the traitor.
“We’re just worried about you, hyung,” he tried to appease, although the collective nod sparked Johnny’s suspicions. Today’s impromptu chat was feeling more like an intervention with every passing second. “We see how badly you’re running on fumes lately, and we care too much about you to let you get any more burnt out.”
Oh, definitely an intervention.
Johnny should fire them all.
He might have threatened it…if only they weren’t so right.
“Do you really believe the entire company would collapse if you took a vacation?” Yuta asked. “Or even just took one day off?”
The man’s Korean was perfect, but the words still sounded foreign to Johnny’s ear.
Johnny couldn’t remember the last time he had ignored his work for a full twenty-four hours. Even when his sons needed him home, he made up for the lost time during their naps. If he didn’t work--didn’t even have to think about it--he’d probably just exist with them. He’d watch all of Mark’s cartoons and praise Haechan’s messy coloring, instead of just hearing about his sons’ interests from someone else.
Hopefully he’d be there enough for them to at least view him as a busy father, rather than practically a stranger.
And without the boys to occupy his mind and time, Johnny truly didn’t know what else he’d do with himself. He worked and he provided. That had become all he lived for anymore.
Ten hopped off the desk, taking the elder’s silence as surrender.
“Lucky for you, I know just the thing to bring you back into the land of the living.” All three alphas gave Ten their undivided, though slightly wary, attention. “Johnny Suh, you need to get laid!”