Prologue (1/1)

“My beautiful Yuki… as beautiful as I imagined you. You're growing up to become such a pretty flower"Mina caresses the hair of the little girl sleeping on her lap, her short black hair as soft as only a baby can have. Her red dress only highlights her innocence a little more and the omega smiles widely as she goes back to combing the baby dark locks with her fingers. The morning just peeks out the window of the wooden house but Yuki is an early riser and she woke up as soon as she could, probably to greet Jihyo before she went to light the ovens at the bakery."Chaeyoung-ah!"The alpha's voice, her alpha, echoes in the still-small house. Mina smiles in a bittersweet manner when she looks at her daughter again and remembers that the name "Yuki" is just a nickname and not her real name. For everyone else, her friends and acquaintances along with relatives but especially for Jihyo, Yuki name is ChaeyoungYuki is the name Momo wanted for our first child. She said they would be our happiness"Chaeyoung-ah!" Jihyo repeats as she enters the room that she shares with Mina and which is the same where the little girl, barely two and a half years old, sleeps. She freezes in the doorway, wide-eyed when she sees the sleeping girl and Mina staring at her with scolding eyes. Jihyo puts her index finger against her lips and walks slowly towards the bed where her omega and daughter are. With a loving smile, she strokes the baby cheek over and over again"She woke up very early" Mina whispers trying to hide a smile "I told her to go back to sleep""I imagined it" Jihyo replied with a deep voice, the one that made Mina feel butterflies in her stomach "I was thinking that maybe today I could take her with me to the bakery"The omega immediately looked up, her protective instincts appearing almost instantly and she almost seemed to be tightening the embrace in which she holds her daughter. Jihyo gave her a pained look, almost shy. Traits that would never be representative of an alpha but that in Jihyo were more common than expected"I know you say it's dangerous but I promise I'll take good care of her"“Jihyo…” Mina sighed “The ovens are burning most of the day and Chaeyoung is two years old. Accidents can happen"“Honey, you know I'll take care of Chaeyoungie with my life and...I want to give you time for you to keep working on the garden and the orchards. They've been awfully lonely lately with only Jeongyeon taking care of them"Mina looks at her daughter one more time. Of course she is afraid of what might happen to her but she knows very well that she can trust Jihyo like she trusts her own shadow. The alpha would die before she let something happen to ChaeyoungDeep down, the omega knows she's a bit overprotective"Okay" Mina responds, unconvinced but letting herself be carried away by her instinct. That never fails her and perhaps it increased when she became a mother. Jihyo jumps with her fist up in the air and then leans down to take Chaeyoung in her arms. The girl barely moves, soothed by Jihyo's orange scent "Promise to call me if anything happens, understand?"Jihyo does a rather comical military salute managing to get a laugh out of her omega before leaning in to give her a brief kiss on the corner of her lips and rub her nose against the spot behind Mina's ear leaving her scented for the rest of the day. Mina smiles with closed eyes and wraps her arms around Jihyo's neck to do the same."I love you" Jihyo whispers"I love you too"Before Jihyo walks through the door, Mina insists again“Chaeyoung's bag is in the kitchen. You know how to feed her, right? "The alpha tries not to burst out laughing and even more so when Chaeyoung already shows signs of starting to wake up"I know, honey. I know. I'm not that useless"With one last smile, Jihyo says goodbye and Mina soon hears the front door closing followed by the engine of her lover's old truck roaring along the dirt road to get lost and leave her in complete silence sitting on the bed with fresh clean sheets.Certainly this is the future that she had waited for since she was a child. The idea of ​​a family of her own always fascinated her: she saw her parents loving each other every day and she fantasized about one day living in the same way. Mina wanted to share everything she had learned while she was a child, she wanted to heal bloody knees and give forehead kisses to the little ones running around the yard of her house. She too dreamed of being a great artist, her face appearing everywhere and her name would be cheered many times through countless theatersThe war had taken so many things away from her: her dreams, her home, her beliefs, her parents...Momo...Although Mina always imagined her perfect future, Momo was the constant factor that never went away. Her best friend since they were kids. The woman that her parents asked her to start a family with. The perfect, loving and protective alphaThere is a very popular saying that goes: Tell destiny about your plans and watch it laugh at youMina learned it the hard wayShe prepares for another long day at work. The city where they lived, Tainano, located at the south of the Kansai region was slowly rebuilding after the tragedy. There was a pessimistic atmosphere after the war, people didn't want to smile and everything seemed colored in gray but Mina has hope for the future. She hopes the colors would slowly fill everyone's life again.In the same way they came back into her life"Jeongyeon should be here soon," Mina said looking at the huge clock on the kitchen wall. Jihyo told her the other that soon she would have the time to build a bigger house, just as Mina envisioned it and perhaps they could plant a couple of cherry trees if the terrain allowed it. Looking out the kitchen window that led to the backyard, Mina smiled againThe sun hit her face and a silver necklace on her neck shines like the moon does at night"Do you like to play here, love?" Jihyo says with a wide smile as she squats down, getting on the same level as Chaeyoung who was looking at the bakery with curious eyes. In a way, she reminded her of Mina and Jihyo couldn't help but kiss her cheek with deep love before carrying her in her arms.Jihyo's bakery had a certain reputation to maintain in Tainano because it was the first and only bakery in a town under reconstruction. The metal shelves were filled with all kinds of fresh bread by 8am and emptied at noon. Jihyo was proud of it and she loved to live up to her reputationOvens made of fire brick waited to be lit while Jihyo placed Chaeyoung in a crib away from the heat but where she could easily see her. The alpha gave her daughter a stuffed tiger (specially made by Mina) and Chaeyoung immediately let out a happy little squeal"Here you go, my baby tiger" Jihyo ruffled the little girl's hair in a loving gesture "Wait for mom here, okay?"Chaeyoung squeals again as she puts the stuffed animal in her mouth and leans back in her crib. She's surely tired and wanting to sleep as she had missed a couple of hours of sleep. The girl loved to nap until late but Jihyo really wanted Mina to have some time for herself. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to play a little more with her lovely Chaeyoung.After an hour, Jihyo had the ovens on with the first batch of bread ready to be served. She knew that customers would start arriving one by one within a few minutes and she was thankful that Chaeyoung got restless when she was close to finishing her work. Her daughter was standing in her crib, the forgotten stuffed tiger in a corner as she constantly rubbed her eyes with the back of her chubby hands."Mama" she mumbled in a little voice on the verge of crying"Shh, shh. I'm almost done, baby. Wait a minute"Jihyo put the next tray in the oven before walking over to Chaeyoung and taking her in her arms. Her scent filling the entire bakery to try to calm the baby down and the alpha sighed in relief when she realized that it was working perfectly because Chaeyoung's sobs were reduced to tiny whimpers and then nothing. The little girl sucked her thumb into her mouth and continued scanning the place with the same chocolate curious eyes from before when Jihyo showed her the bakery"Hey, Chaeng... you know mommy doesn't like when you suck that thumb" Jihyo remembers very well when Mina tried everything to try to get rid of that habit but it was still present and maybe for a long time now "But it's okay. I'll let you do it just because you're adorable"Chaeyoung giggled as if she knew what the alpha was saying and laid her head on Jihyo's shoulder, lulling herself to sleep thanks to the warmth of her mother's body.The bell on the front door softly rang, signaling that a customer was about to enter. Jihyo turned around to see who it was, although she thought she still had more than half an hour until the first customers arrived. A tall woman, an inch taller than Jihyo, slowly opened and closed the door. Her hair cut short up to her chin covered by an Osaka Tigers baseball cap and rather casual clothing. She was not the type of person that Jihyo expected in her bakery and less in a place like TainanoHowever, just wearing a cap from Jihyo's rival team made the alpha lift an eyebrow"Good morning" Jihyo greeted with a wide smile as she always did with any other client "How can I help you?"The woman removed her cap briefly before bowing in Jihyo's direction. Somewhat confused dark brown eyes made Jihyo feel something warm on her chest. She was ignoring the heavy peach scent that was fighting her own orange one, a clear indication that she was an alpha just like her."Uhm... I'm looking for miss Kitayama Haru. Do you know where I can find her?"The growing hatred for Korean alphas across the country made Jihyo hide her real name more than once so when she heard her fake name she was relieved"It's me" she replied with the same calm smile she had greeted the alpha "How can I help you?""Oh! It's you." The alpha giggled and smiled "Someone told me I can find a job with you. The army just gave me a discharge and I don't know where to start""And who told you that I can help you?""Mhm... Minatozaki Sana"Any mistrust that had crossed Jihyo's body at that moment was forgotten just by the sound of said name. Sana was such a kind heart, always helping others even if they were strangers"Of course! She is an old friend""Excellent. So… can you help me?"Jihyo didn't need another employee or someone to help her but she couldn't let go of this poor person just like that. Especially in a country that wouldn't recognize her efforts as a soldier and would probably hate her as they hate everything that had to do with the great armed conflict of just a few years ago. She probably could never adjust to an ordinary lifeAnd Jihyo genuinely wanted to help her in one way or another“Do you think you can help me here for now? I have a job for you but I think I could use an extra hand serving customers"The alpha smiled widely and nodded excitedly."Of course, I'll help you in any way I can""Very good, wait here and I'll come right away"Chaeyoung had already fallen asleep since several minutes ago so Jihyo laid her down in her crib, snuggling her against her tiger and grabbed the tray full of bread to take where the alpha waited for her, just like a child, standing at the same point where Jihyo told her to wait"Your daughter is very pretty" she said "How old is she?""Just two years" Jihyo replied with a proud smile. The same one that probably all parents used for their children. Then, wanting to lighten the atmosphere, Jihyo joked "And soon I will instill her in my love for the Kyojin"The alpha widened her eyes in surprise and then pointed an angry index finger at her"Yomiuri?! Aww! The best team is Osaka!"Jihyo burst out laughing and handed a couple of paper bags to her new partner that she'd taken from under the counter."Help me pack all this- uhm did you tell me your name?""Nope!" The alpha shook her head from side to side “My name is Hirai. Hirai Momo ""Lately you reek of Jihyo" Jeongyeon gagged as she covered her nose "You usually carry her scent everywhere but now you really stink"The backyard behind the wood house was large enough to house a couple of acres of orange and apple trees alongside a garden full of white carnations. Mina felt a deep pride in this place: not only because it was the perfect spot for Chaeyoung to grow up but because she had built it from scratch and little by little she saw it rise up to the sky. It was something that she had built long before meeting Jihyo so it had a special sentimental value in her heartJeongyeon always helps her take care of the garden and fruit trees. A faithful friend of Jihyo, the older woman did not object to any request from her friend even though they were always fighting and pushing each other like two little children. Now, while they were both dressed in the gardening suit, Mina couldn't help but feel offended when Jeongyeon walked behind her as they tended the carnations."And how do you know?" Mina whined "You're a beta!""Well, that's why you should worry!" Jeongyeon growled with her arms crossed across her chest, staining her suit with mud "If I can smell that then surely half of town does too""You are making things up""Aha, yeah. Of course. You'll come to me saying ’Hey, Jeong. Guess what? I'm pregnant!' And then I'll laugh out loud and tell you 'I told you!'"Mina is surprised for a moment and abandons a half-cut carnationPregnantShe didn't mean for something like that to happen. Chaeyoung was the only daughter she wanted in her life but she and Jihyo hadn't been the most 'chaste' people in the last few months after her own heat and Jihyo's rut came together one after the other so the possibility of a pregnancy was there"Shut up and get back to work. Jihyo is about to come home"Jeongyeon laughed out loud. A choked and annoying sound like only she knows how to do itThe engine of Jihyo's old truck roars along the dirt road and Mina quickly moves away from the garden, throwing tools and other stuff to greet her alpha and especially her little Chaeyoung"I told you. They're already here”The beta pouts as she closely follows Mina toward the front entrance of the house.Jihyo gets out of the truck with Chaeyoung giggling happily as she bites her favorite tiger's ear."Tadaima!" Jihyo yells. Chaeyoung tries to copy the word but she just ends up babbling a bunch of words"Okaeri" Mina replies, her smile growing bigger as Jihyo gets closer with Chaeyoung. The omega immediately takes her baby in her arms and greets Jihyo with a long kiss on her lips.The truck's door makes a loud thud indicating someone else just got down. Mina peeks out over Jihyo's shoulder with curiosity and suddenly feels her legs turning into jelly"I want you to greet someone who will help you with the garden" Jihyo speaks excitedly as she points towards the person walking to the entranceMina feels everything is spinning. Her entire world slowly crumbles and small dots of light appear behind her eyes. Her breath is cut short and perhaps her paleness is obvious when Jeongyeon pulls Chaeyoung out of her arms and grabs her shoulder."Mina, are you okay?""Guys, this is Hirai Momo"Momo raises a hand to greet with a smileThe same one that Mina remembers so clearlyWith tears in her eyes, Mina loses consciousness