32. The Chosen One

"What were you thinking Stannie? He is our guest! Your fated mate! Isn't it your responsibility to protect him?" Dad Joss was beyond furious, unable to calm down. He was pacing about, throwing his hands repeatedly in frustration.

"Honey stop it, you're making me dizzy..."

"This is a serious matter, you can't take it lightly just like that! What would have happened if we came in minutes later? If I hadn't suggested we leave early..."

"Honey please calm down, you're going to wake Yeon up..." Dad Robin stood up to pacify his partner. Holding his hand, he pulled him back to take a seat next to him.

They were sitting in a dedicated room downstairs which they had turned into an office. Often times, the neighbors would come unexpected times with medical emergencies, mild or severe hence, they were forced to create a working space which turned out to be quite effective and efficient in the long run.

"Stannie, I'm greatly disappointed in you. You met Yeon's parents and you were present when we promised to take responsibility for him. You're the one who suggested proving yourself a worthy partner regardless of being fated despite our interventions to hurry the marking completion, and we spoke on your behalf! Provoking your fated like that is completely mocking that naive vision of yours!"

"Even so honey, we both sensed two scents so this was a two way thing." Glancing back at Yeon, dad Robin asked, "did Yeon provoke you?"

"No."

"Then why were both your scents full of sadness mixed together? When we got here, it was hard to breath...this house was full of pain and your father is like this because of that."

"I'm sorry dads. It won't happen again. I take full responsibility..."

"That is not the point Stannie, apologizing doesn't solve this matter. If both of us could feel the sadness you were both sharing through your synchronized scents, then clearly something is not right with the two of you. I thought you kept your distance to practice controlling your scent? Isn't that what you wanted?" Dad Joss asked

"Yes..."

"Then what happened? I've never perceived such a scent from poor Yeon since he got here. Most of the time it's hard to tell whether he's happy or sad. His dominant scent has always been sweet which is not uncommon for someone not completely marked. That couldn't have possibly been enough to send you to want to hump him so ferrociously."

When Stan didn't utter a word, Dad Joss continued, unable to win over his anger, "How can you think of mating with him? From the things you spoke of, your intention was to make him pregnant! Don't you know his womb isn't fully developed?"

Stan had never seen him this upset before. He was sitting opposite his parents, his fingers clasped together, rigid, unmoving...

"We had to induce high amounts of morphine on both of you because of the pain...is that what you two feel for each other? Pain? Are you perhaps holding yourself responsible for what happened to Yeon?" Dad Robin asked, a look of great concern on his face.

"No...it's nothing like that..."

"Then tell us exactly what happened so we can help both of you!" Dad Joss demanded. "This is what we do for a living..."

"Honey calm down..." Dad Robin pleaded, pulling his partner closer towards him. "Look at him sitting there in shock. He must be just as scared as we were and clearly, this has never happened to them before..."

"Actually, today was not the first time dads. I felt the same way when Yeon had been kidnapped. That's how I started scent manifesting..."

"That doesn't make any sense Stannie, Yeon was in a lot of pain then...." Dad Robin stopped abruptly as if he'd just discovered a new information. "If that was the first scent you reacted to, then a lot of things begin to make sense now. For example why he can't..." He stopped midway again, glancing at his partner then back at Stan. The look of worry only made the others nervous.

"What is it?" Dad Joss asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

"How many scents can you manifest so far Stannie?" Dad Robin asked.

"I believe about nine..."

"What are they?"

"The usual two, happiness and sadness, pain, desire, fear, rage, anxiety, awe....lust..."

"What about Yeon, how many have you sensed from him?"

"I can't for sure say since it confuses me sometimes. The night before his kidnapping, he had a faint scent which only amplified after he was forcefully marked. Often times it's just sweet and a lot of people around campus would frequently mention how happy he made them feel, others said erotic...." Stan added with Elric in mind. "It's always the same scent and the stronger it becomes, the more..." Stan couldn't complete his statement. How could he fault Yeon for what he'd done this morning. Even after he'd woken up two hours later post his parents inducing morphine on the two of them, he'd called Elric to ask him what had happened aside from just drinking when he'd been left alone with Yeon and according to him, Yeon seemed his usual stoic self, though Elric had added they were drinking in his room. However once Yeon had fallen asleep, he'd appeared to be having nightmares...as if he was reliving it over and over. After sobering a little, Elric had carried Yeon to Stan's room, hoping the faint scent of his fated would calm him down which was surprisingly effective.

Of course Elric would know how to handle such a situation. His mother constantly relied on his father's scent after he'd passed on.

"Yeon often kept to himself and rarely showed any emotion...though I've seen him laugh a couple of times whenever he's alone but his scent always was the same...smooth, sweet...as if someone was caressing..."

"Hey don't get carried away son..." Dad Joss warned. "If Yeon starts scenting you again, I don't want to have to separate you two once more...The two of you were completely unaware of us and your surroundings."

"Speaking of Yeon, I better go check if he is awake." Dad Robin spoke as he stood up.

Once they were alone, dad Joss added, "Seriously, how do you manage to keep your body in shape like that? Between running a clinic and keeping up with your dad, I hardly have time to work out these days..."

"Call it the power of youth." Stan replied and they both shared a laughter. "Thanks a lot dad. If you hadn't chosen to act upset, I can't imagine how this discussion would have turned out."

"Yea. Your father has quite a temper when it comes to Yeon therefore one of us had to be more upset than the other. Don't blame him though. If he scolds you afterwards, bear with it since his intentions are good."

"You're a great actor..." Stan added as his face wore a nervous smile. "I'm worried about Yeon though. I never payed that much attention to his scents before. There is no possible way he can only manipulate a single scent...it's just unheard of."

Shutting his eyes, Dad Joss shook his head to shake off the image of his naked son about to jump his lover. It had been impossible separating the two from the strong grip Stan had on Yeon, not to mention their intoxicating suffocating scents mixed together. Thankfully, he'd kept a couple of back up medicines for emergency. He never thought that he'd have to use such a strong dose on his son, in that situation.

"You know, most of the patients who come to buy medicine from the pharmacy often end up taking none. Some things are much more in-depth than meets the eye. Which I believe is the case with your fated. Your father focuses more on the physical however, I'm more of mental." Opening his eyes to look at his son, he added, "Stannie, I believe Yeon must be suffering from a silent form of depression and the incident that happened to him only forced him to hide away much further. He may have numbed his emotions just so he won't feel anything."

"...but he hates me...and he is in love with another. Aren't hate and love birthed from feelings and emotions?"

"I do not believe he necessarily hates you. Someone with his state of mind may be a little confused. Earlier on you mentioned he always kept to himself, which is perfectly normal. Some people prefer to be alone and tend to perform well when alone. However, you came along and all of a sudden, he has to depend on someone, learn to rely on another when he's already an adult. That shakes his comfort zone a lot that's why he keeps pushing you away. He either doesn't want to burden you or he just doesn't want to get used to being helped by you."

"Then what I'm I supposed to do dad? I was confident that we'd get a long when I got back but I never even got the chance to tell him I'd registered him for online classes so he won't have to take a break from completing his medical thesis. He is so close to graduating."

"Let him know once he wakes up. Who knows, he may cheer up seeing your efforts to help in his future, and we are willing to help him out if he'd accept to visit our clinic. Still, I must warn you. Your father is no fool. Soon enough he'll figure out you reacted to whatever scent Yeon let out. It's normal for him to have nightmares of what happened to him so whatever you felt from his scent is what you let out and he further reacted to it. Just do better next time to control yourself, change your scent and use it to cheer him up. Your scents are in synch similar to your spiritual essence so he'll react to whatever scent you let out. You may not have marked him, but you're responsible for him now."

"Yes dad."

"Additionally, his scent was much more stronger. Yeon appears to have numbed himself for years to not feel anything, maybe that's why we can only get one particular scent from him."

"Yea, whenever he keeps calling for that other guy he likes so much."

Dad Joss smiled at his son's jealousy. It was nice seeing this side of him. Maybe that's why Elric often enjoyed teasing him. "Then make him love you more than anyone else."

"How I'm I supposed to do that dad?"

"That's why I pity you...hehe! Ask your other dad. You two love watching romantic movies together so prepare for a nasty tongue lashing from him."

"You're annoying."

"So I've been told."