Work Text:
Cale felt extremely nauseous, he ran to the bathroom in a hurry, find the urge to throw up–nothing came out.
This is the worst morning ever, Cale thought.
Not only the extremely nauseous, but his head was also dizzy and heavy; it's hard to breathe, like the oxygen around him was very thin.
This has been happening for three days straight, only in the morning.
Cale didn't think of anything strange in the first two days; he thought it was just a hangover, the result of having a night out with his coworkers.
But today, this morning, he remembered something. Another logical reason why his body react this way every morning: one month ago event.
He bite his lip, heart sank. An uneasy silence suddenly surrounded him.
With shaking hands, Cale decided to shook off his bad thoughts. He cupped some water and then rinsed his face.
No matter how bad his condition is, he still needs to go to work. So he forced himself, swallowed the nausea back in his stomach, and moved toward the shower curtain.
No, not good. His condition didn’t get any better, Cale looked limply pale, possibly weaker than before.
Cold sweat started to flow from his forehead, he wiped the sweat away, focus back on the screen.
"Cale!" His shoulders jumped in surprise, someone shouted his name.
One of his co-workers, Rosalyn, looked angry with a frown.
"What is it?"
"I've called you hundreds of times but you didn't answer." Rosalyn said, worried, “Are you all right?”
"Yeah, I'm fine." Cale replied, smiling awkwardly.
“Don't lie, you looked horrible. Just go home."
He shook his head, rejecting Rosalyn's idea, "No."
She held back his anger, clenched her fists, and sat back down in her chair. Cale had always been stubborn with his health.
“You have bad habits.” Rosalyn said, curtly. Her long slender fingers were back, dancing on the keyboard.
Cale didn't reply, he put his head on the desk, biting hard his lip.
Lucky for him, it’s almost lunch hour. Some of his co-workers started to leave their desks and the office became quieter.
“Cale, let’s grab a lunch.” Rosalyn squeezed Cale's arm, a sense of panic starting to well up inside her.
“Later.” Cale replied, His voice choked up a bit.
Rosalyn let go with a sigh, she started nagging at Cale, “I swear to God just go home, Cale. You won't be able to do your work in this condition either."
She didn't get any response, because Cale was busy trying to hold back his vomit, to make it worse he remember the bad thoughts he had this morning.
Shit, shit, shit. Cale cursed inwardly.
One month ago, possibly the worst decision he ever take.
Spent his heat with a stranger.
A stranger, An Alpha, named Alberu Crossman.
“I...” Rosalyn turned her head when she heard Cale’s weak voice, he continued, “I... want to go home.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Cale shook his head, “No. I’ll go by myself.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He then rose from his seat, staggering. Rosalyn's hands moved quickly to support him.
“Cale, I'll go with you.” Rosalyn insisted, Cale again shook his head.
"No, I want to be alone." He responded, didn’t give up.
“At least allow me to walk you until you find a taxi.”
Cale pursed his lips, unable to refuse; he could see the reflection of anxiety in Rosalyn's eyes.
Finally, he said, “Fine.”
One month ago.
Cale stretched his extremely stiff muscles. It was getting dark but he was still here, at his desk, with endless paperwork.
"Cale."
"What's wrong, Lyn?" Cale replied, his fingers stopped.
Lyn, Rosalyn, his office co-workers who were also working overtime with him, handed a piece of paper. Another new task, Cale squeezed hard his hand.
Rosalyn was just as messy as him. Her hair, clutches, face look so horrible that’s not pleasant to see.
"Soon you will enter your pre-heat right?" Rosalyn asked.
"Yeah, that's why I’m working overtime right now. So, I can get my absence."
As an omega who had never had a partner in his life, Cale Henituse always prepared his heat circle perfectly well. Therefore, doing two weeks worth of office assignments in this week is one of them.
“About that…” Rosalyn took out her phone, “Want to try this app out?”
An application with eye-catching colors. ROAN's HELPER, that's the name.
He realized after taking a good look at the application, it was similar to the dating application that his office co-workers often use during lunch hours.
"Ha! Dating Apps?” Cale said, a little annoyed.
" No, it's to find a partner for your heat or rut." Rosalyn explained, Cale snorted.
“It is a Dating App, then.”
"Hm, maybe you could say that."
Rosalyn tried to fixed her messy hair then put her cell phone back into her pocket. Continuing her work.
"I'm not interested, it's better to do it alone." Cale refused confidently.
On the other hand, Rosalyn, just kept quiet and didn't reply right away.
Rosalyn is an Alpha, already has a partner. Going into a rut was a small and easy matter for her but she also understood how painful it was for Omega to spent their heat alone.
The reason why Cale decided to run his heat alone, the reason why Cale had no intention of finding a partner even though he hated the pain of heat so much.
Rosalyn already knew it all.
"Still haven't moved on from Jung Soo-ssi?" She said, after a moment of silence.
Cale rolled his eyes.
"Rosalyn, please don't talk about it."
Choi Jung Soo, a beta that Cale liked for a long time, had recently found a partner.
Cale indeed never showed any reaction when he found out about it, but Rosalyn knew him very well, he must be hurt.
"I just wanted to help you." She said, sincere and firm.
Cale took a sip of his almost finished coffee.
"No. I have no luck, won't make it."
Stubborn. Rosalyn patted her friend's shoulder lightly.
"Hmm, fine. But I still advise you to at least take a glance at the app.”
Her plan failed this time, Rosalyn thought.
Because Cale didn't mention the slightest bit about the application even though a week had passed.
Well, not until today.
At lunchtime, Rosalyn who was busy clearing her desk could see Cale holding his phone, a face full of doubts.
Gotcha. Rosalyn cheered inwardly.
“Rosalyn, about the app you told me–”
"You want to try it?" Rosalyn cut him, face beaming brightly.
"Yeah, how does it work?"
Rosalyn take Cale’s phone away, immediately pressed one of the buttons on the app.
“This one,” She glanced at Cale, “You can look for it here.”
Cale nodded then asked again.
He seemed to have a lot of doubts.
“How can I tell which one is a faker, which one is not?”
"What do you mean faker?" Rosalyn tilted her head, confused.
"I don't know, for example, a criminal."
“This application is safe Cale, a criminal especially the one who has a sexual harassment case is prohibited from using this application. They don't even allow fake identities." Rosalyn explained.
The government's app, ROAN's HELPER, almost has a perfect rating because of the user's trust in their security.
They even have a special team assigned to it.
"Hmm, is that so?" Rosalyn quickly nodded.
"Yeah, let's try making a post." Rosalyn said, pressing another button again.
Cale allowed Rosalyn to guide him.
“Alpha or Beta?”
"Up to you."
"Alpha then." Rosalyn decided, purposeful.
“What kind of alpha do you want?” He asked again, Cale thought for a moment.
"I don't know?"
"Hmm, mature and not yet have a partner, how?"
"Up to you."
"I'll write that down." Again Rosalyn decided on her own hearing Cale's nonchalant answer.
She wrote down the last few words before finally sending the post. Rosalyn was relieved, at least Cale already had the intention to forget about his heartbreak.
"Are you sure someone will reply?" Cale's question interrupted Rosalyn's thoughts. She nodded.
"There should be-"
Ting. Ting. Ting. Ting.
The noise of incoming notifications can be heard without stopping. Cale gasped, he didn't expect it.
"See?” Rosalyn continued.
“…There are a lot of perverts out there.” Cale added.
"I can't deny that one."
They began to see one by one the people who replied to the post.
Rosalyn gave Cale some advice on which one seemed convincing, until finally ten minutes later, many times back and forth and hearing Rosalyn's babble, there was one user that caught Cale's attention.
"Try this one." He said, pointing to one of the profiles.
"Which one? Oh, Alberu Crossman?”
"Yes."
Rosalyn pressed the screen, the profile of a person named Alberu Crossman immediately came into view.
“Single, 25 years old, office worker. Hm, older than you.” Rosalyn read out what she saw, Cale nodded.
"Doesn’t matter."
They moved his photos one by one, the person named Alberu didn’t post many photos but looked convincing and trustworthy.
"He is handsome." Said Rosalyn giving an opinion, Cale agreed.
His blonde hair and blue eyes are eye-catching.
"Then?" He asked again.
“Press this one, to send a message.”
Great app, Cale thought. They can exchange messages without telling each other's personal contacts.
"The requirement is to meet once before spending a heat or rut together, for safety." Rosalyn explained, Cale nodded.
He sat on the empty seat beside Rosalyn. Starting to get lost in his phone, exchanging words with the person on the other side.
It didn't take long for him to stop and look at Rosalyn who was continuing her clean-up.
"He said tomorrow at a nearby cafe." Cale said, informing.
Rosalyn gave a smile.
"Good, if he doesn't suit your taste, just refuse him."
"That’s for sure."
He didn't expect that his meeting with Alberu Crossman would change his whole life.