Parfait

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Hana was so thankful that Dr. Bae had prescribed that extra day of rest. The very next morning, life slammed back into them full force. She had not even finished her coffee before the pack was gathered around the dining room table with Jo Ahnjong at the head of it, a huge stack of papers in front of her. Ostensibly, this meeting was happening here because it was difficult to fit the whole crowd into Manager Jo's office. It had quickly become apparent that, while that was true, it was also vital for the pack to hash a few things out before setting foot in the company building.

"So this is basically a house omega contract but upgraded to permanent pack status, and without the financial support restrictions, right?" Namjoon summarized as he flipped through the copy he had been given. Ms. Jo had explained that the company thought it was in the band's best interest to keep Hana as an employee, albeit with heavily amended terms. It was clearly a way to keep a certain amount of control because it meant that they would be allowed to enforce her NDA, but she admitted that she liked the idea of still receiving a paycheck of her own. She was the only one with access to her new bank account, but she still checked it almost every day, the obvious exception being when she fell into heat. Dr. Song had called the anxiety "understandable, but still problematic" and she was working on it.

"That's essentially correct," Manager Jo confirmed as she made sure enough copies had gone around for everyone to see. "And it will fully replace the original contract, effective immediately. It will nullify the bonuses you were supposed to receive every three months, and the pay raise you were receiving as head omega since you will no longer have other house omegas to supervise, but I didn't think that would be a problem with the financial restraints taken off of your alphas."

"We got that covered," Hoseok laughed. "I'm so excited to finally take my baby shopping!"

"Please continue to read the contract," was all Ms. Jo said, her expression flat even in the face of Hobi's sunshine.

"It still says she can't be seen in public with us," Yoongi said, having gone the farthest in his scanning. "That's not fucking happening. Don't sign it, Hana."

"Well, we could still manage to make that work," the omega cautiously replied. "I'm used to it."

"Wait, why does it still forbid marriage?" asked Jungkook, who had skipped ahead a couple of pages. "Isn't that our decision?"

"And it still requires her to be on birth control," Seokjin scoffed, dropping the contract to the table. "That is definitely none of their business."

"Ahnjong-noona, this contract isn't fair," Taehyung said with a pout. "Hana is not a permanent house omega, she is our mate."

Ms. Jo's stiffness finally melted away a little, as if she had been waiting for them to finish their reading. "Kim Taehyung, do not 'noona' me," she scolded him gently. "This version of the contract was not my idea. The public relations department insisted upon it and I am the unfortunate messenger. Trust me, it is my job to inform the other departments of what is necessary for our bands to function as packs, and I did not approve of these restrictions."

"What do we do?" Namjoon asked. "Obviously Hana won't be signing this."

"But they won't send me overseas with you unless I'm under contract," Hana reminded him. "We just need to take care of this quickly, we can figure out how to make the conditions work."

"Absolutely not," Jimin told her firmly. "This contract is insulting. And not only to you, but to us too. We were promised that we would be treated as a proper pack."

"Hana will have to propose any amendments since she is the contracted party," Manager Jo said. "If there are any clauses that you disagree with entirely, cross them out and initial the change. If there are any stipulations you would like to add, write them in and initial that, too. Whatever you do, though, do not sign that final line. The legal team will hold you to a poorly worded change if it benefits them, so we want an airtight final copy before your name goes on it. But," she sighed, "I admit that we'll face a fight if you don't give them some kind of concession. If there is anything you can stomach keeping, then please do so."