Archive of Our Own

“A never seen situation. It's only you or you on repetition. Trouble, trouble like a miscode. It's a state of emergency, it’s a bu-buffering; I'm on that glitch mode” 

— NCT DREAM, Glitch Mode.

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On his first day of college, Jisung was nervous. 

Black backpack and baby pink cardigan, taking slow steps with his new beige vans and showing off his white pants. His outfit screamed soft boy and that’s what he wanted;  everyone knew soft people were friendly and he hoped for someone to befriend him. Jisung knew friends would be a must-have in college.

Of course, being an omega was a plus. 

Fall was beautiful, and Jisung took his time to admire the falling leaves of the trees. He was sitting on a bench, outside the classroom, waiting for the professor to arrive. The omega slurped his juice box and continued to look at how wonderful the college’s garden was until someone sat down next to him. A pretty attractive floral scent of jasmine appeared, a bit musky and wild. Jisung glanced at the boy currently watching a video on his phone, looking way too focused on the screen, and eating a sandwich. His hair was black and somehow wavy.

The omega is naturally a curious boy, so he leaned a bit to try and see what was the other watching. 

“Hey, did you lose something?” the guy frowned at him, and Jisung freaked out a bit. 

“Oh, no, I’m sorry,” his voice cracked up at the end, and he smiled shyly. “I was trying to see what game are you watching," he said, avoiding the other’s eyes.

And suddenly, that guy got very excited. He slid closer to him and, with a serious tone, started talking about Stephen Curry, someone Jisung didn’t know, and how incredible he played basketball, a sport Jisung was bad at. 

“You seem to like basketball very much, do you play it?” it was a dumb question, and the other boy knew. 

“I would say I’m the best omega at playing it,” maybe it was an arrogant statement, but the way he said it made Jisung believe his words. “By the way, my name it’s Chenle,” he smiled gently. 

There was this feeling growing inside him; as if he just found his other half. 

“Oh, I’m Jisung,” he said with a timid smile that the black-haired omega found cute.

He had never felt a connection like that before, it was rare how comfortable was being near Chenle, and the omega treated him as if they had known each other for years. Both were happy the entire day in college, sitting next to each other in class, exploring the campus together, mostly Jisung, and eating at the cafeteria while laughing out loud, mostly Chenle. They soon realized both were compatible.

Two whole weeks of them being an inseparable duo. Little by little knowing each other's likes and quirks; like Chenle being a nosy omega or Jisung's poopy hands showing anytime. Soon they become close enough, becoming the first person they would search for once they arrived at college or talk to when they had doubts about the classes.

On that particular Wednesday evening, they were peacefully sitting in the auditorium, which was getting crowder and crowder. A seminar was taking place there for the freshmen recently beginning their Psychology Major, it was obligatory to attend and so many students were gathering in the room. Luckily, they were already sitting and had a very comfortable place where they could see the scenario perfectly.

“Why would they force us to come? We could be eating lunch right now,” his friend whined while constantly moving in his seat, clearly upset about having to hear a seminar instead of eating the food he prepared. “I made us something delicious today! It's-” Chenle said with sparkly eyes, but he was silenced by a big hand that covered his mouth.

“No, don’t tell me. I’ll suffer more if you do,” Jisung complained, trying to keep it together and pay attention to the old lady speaking at the front. 

Both were bored enough to cuddle next to each other, not caring how much the lady made emphasis on how important her words were. It was until a half-blond-half-black-haired boy walked on to speak that the omegas seemed curious. Jisung sat straight and focused on him.

“Hello, my name is Huang Renjun and I’m a sophomore student,” his voice was so nice to hear, and everyone in the room focused on him almost immediately. The guy smiled gently. “I’m a beta and part of the Student Council, so I’ll explain some of the activities that are planned for you this semester.” 

Nobody hold their gasp after hearing he was a beta, because the guy sure looked like the most beautiful omega in the room. Jisung admired how cool his two-tone hair was, almost being addicted to seeing how it would bounce and move every time Renjun nodded or turned his head. 

He suddenly wanted to bleach his hair. 

To everyone’s surprise, the beta turned out to be a great speaker. He got the attention of the students just as he started explaining, and even Chenle sat correctly on his seat and focused on his words. Renjun showed off a calm personality yet he looked so intense when talking about the Student Council’s plans that nobody could ignore him. 

Jisung connected his eyes with him at the end of the seminar and internally wished to befriend that guy. After the event ended, the omega played with his hands a bit unsure if he should approach him or not, since Renjun stayed to answer some doubts of the students. But Jisung didn’t have to trouble himself with that, because it was Chenle who intertwined their arms and dragged him closer to the beta. 

“Let’s go and talk to him!”

Maybe it wasn’t that bad to have such an extroverted friend, so the chestnut-haired omega let himself be dragged until both were in front of their senior. 

“Hi, do you have any questions?” he asked politely.

They were close enough to pick up his scent, and Jisung enjoyed the smokey aroma of a freshly brewed cup of barley tea. It calmed him down. Without even realizing it, the omegas already liked him so much. 

“Can you be our friend?” Chenle’s voice showed his excitement and Jisung hid behind him. He felt a little bit embarrassed about how confidently his friend asked. “My name is Chenle and he’s Jisung.” 

The beta looked a bit puzzled, and the chestnut-haired omega couldn’t blame him. It was a weird conversation that only happened in the English book’s exercises. 

“Wait, are you Chinese?” Renjun seemed a bit amazed, and after the nod of Chenle, the beta smiled widely. “Oh, that’s so cool! I don’t have Chinese friends here.”

“Well, now you do!”

Jisung was speechless at how easy it was to integrate Renjun into their daily lives. 

The beta turned out to be an excellent student that gave pretty good advice, even though Chenle wouldn’t listen to most of them, and Jisung liked how the older one took care of them, he constantly reminded them to eat and rest properly. It was like a dream.

Until both forgot to submit a paper and the two-tone-haired beta transformed into the scariest boy they have ever seen. 

Renjun sure had a temper, and they learned the lesson after getting yelled at by him in the middle of the cafeteria. Honestly, Chenle was too stunned to defend himself at first but after that one time, he always talked back to the older beta. Jisung soon understood that his days would fly away while listening to the Chinese boys argue. 

Sometimes they even changed their language without realizing it. The omega found it pretty curious and would often record just to annoy them later. 

“Delete it or I’ll never bring lunch for you again.”  

“Yah, no need to be that extreme,” Jisung chuckled and did as Chenle said because he could accept any other thing but lose free lunch.

One afternoon, when the three were lazily lying under the tall trees of the faculty's garden, Renjun received a message from a friend and, with a smile, he sat down to look at the omegas napping already. He knew some drinks were what they needed to gain energy again, and so, he happily asked if they wanted to visit Dream Cafe, a recommendation of his friend. 

Jisung wanted to deny the offer, since he was pretty tired and just wanted to nap, but Chenle was the one to get all excited. The omega forced him to go, and Jisung didn’t stand a chance to refuse. 

The two-tone-haired beta entered the shop with confident steps, his eyes looking around to find his annoying friend sitting alone on the corner, drinking a frappuccino while stupidly smiling at his phone.  

“Hey, Renjun-ah!” the boy yelled with a big smile, waving at the beta, who rolled his eyes at that noisy greeting. 

Chenle and Jisung glanced at each other and with suspicious looks approached behind their friend, carefully analyzing the other boy. Soon, a sweet scent of chocolate and almonds attacked them and both just knew the guy was another omega. Their defensive states lower down after that, but they still were cautious.

“Hey, Hyuck, you didn’t wait for us?” the beta asked, a bit offended while sitting down next to the purple-haired omega, who quickly cuddle him. 

The two boys looked at that interaction and internally admired how courage he had. Although, Hyuck lasted five seconds like that before being shoved off by Renjun.

“I told you I have two hours to be here!” the guy whined and his voice showed a sweet and nice tone. Jisung liked it. “I have a date later but don’t get jealous, I’ll always be yours,” he received a whack on the chest, causing him to chuckle.

Chenle decided he liked that annoying guy.

“Anyway, here they’re; my little omegas,” Renjun said while insisting they take a seat. For the beta, both looked so cute and lost as if their big brother was introducing them to his friends; which was pretty much the situation.

Donghyuck introduced himself with an excited face and instantly started asking questions and creating a lively mood at the table. Jisung felt like he just met the sunniest personality in the whole world, and that took away the tiredness he was feeling. After a while, they ordered their drinks, following the words of Donghyuck, who seemed to like this Cafe very much and recommended a few beverages, but Jisung didn’t mind because he was determined what to order.

“Ji, here’s your hot cocoa,” Chenle said while passing him the drink, and the omega puffed his cheeks happily. Unanimously, everyone agreed that he looked super cute. 

But while Jisung was drinking it, he suddenly froze. 

The Cafe wasn’t full of people since it was a bit late, but it wouldn’t be normal to feel this intense scent just as if he was surrounded by thousands of people with the same aroma. His nose scrunched to focus on finding the origin of this addictive scent, and the omega’s eyes wandered around the whole room just to spot him; that brown-haired alpha. 

Timidly, he inhaled just to get dizzy by lightly caramelized, and almost nutty, freshly ground coffee. And Jisung was sure it wasn’t coming from the local. It was coming from that alpha. 

His pupils dilated, his mouth stopped slurping, and after he left his drink on the table, his hands turned into fists while observing him; wearing a mint hoodie that fit him perfectly, comfy black pants, and white sneakers. He was tall, maybe more than Jisung. And his torso seemed so firm that down deep he wished to caress it. His shoulders were broad, definitely more than his. Then, he took a long time to admire his arms, because the alpha had rolled up his sleeves till his elbow, allowing his biceps to be exposed. 

Jisung gulped when the alpha showed a gummy smile that looked so charming. 

After catching a view of his hazel eyes, the omega felt his heart rushing and body trembling. Unconsciously, he released his pheromones in the hope of being noticed by the alpha, the place was getting filled little by little with the strong and sweet scent of hot cocoa with marshmallows. 

Chenle was the first one to notice. And soon, Renjun did too. Both were a bit confused until they followed the hearty eyes of Jisung; then everything clicked. 

“Oh my God, Ji fell in love!” he squealed a bit too loud and that was enough to take Jsiung out of his bubble. He panicked at being discovered drooling over an alpha. “Did you see it!?” the omega asked Renjun, who nodded quickly. 

“Shut up!” Jisung tried to defend himself and his hand moved to cover his friend’s mouth. But Chenle wasn’t having it. 

“Ji is in love! Donghyuck Hyung, did you notice?” Chenle grabbed his hands and left Jisung unable to silence him. The chestnut-haired omega started complaining and denying it. 

“Hmm?” the third omega asked, almost finishing his frappuccino. He looked lost and Jisung was hoping he wouldn’t ask more and ignore his friends, but Donghyuck showed a smirk and moved his drink aside. “Spill the tea.”

Jisung whined. 

“Of that alpha,” Renjun said, pointing to the guy who was talking so casually with a barista. “He was looking at him with hearts in his eyes just now.”

“No, it’s not true!” he muttered, trying to calm his panic. 

“Don’t lie to us!”

“Yeah, there’s no use, we caught you looking!”

“I-I wasn’t looking at him!”

“Oh, so you suddenly were drooling over the air?”

“I didn’t drool!”

“But you were about to!”

“Wait, you like Jaeminnie?” then, the trio stopped bickering and focused on Donghyuck, who was now under the intense look of three boys. 

Eyes full of curiosity and the omega feared for his life after glancing at Renjun. The beta evilly smiled, followed by mischievous Chenle and amazed Jisung.

“Do you know him!?”

“Tell us about him!”

“Why do you know him!?”

The three started asking many questions at the same time, and the confused omega couldn’t focus on answering any. But after noticing someone approaching their table, Donghyuck hurriedly tried to silence them, causing the Chinese boys to nag but Jisung didn’t need to be told; he smelled him and felt his cheeks blush. 

Jisung made himself tiny, trying to hide in the corner of the table, but it was useless; because he was the only person the alpha could see. 

“Hello, guys,” he greeted them with a small smile, and Jisung had to refrain from reacting to his voice. It was so pleasant to hear; a bit husky but sweet enough to get the omega addicted to it. 

He couldn’t look at him if he wanted to keep it together. 

“Hey, Jaeminnie!” Donghyuck said happily, doing his best to act as if he wasn’t just being interrogated about him a few seconds ago. “What’s up, dude? Visiting Jeno again?”

After hearing his words, Jisung’s head turned without thinking twice, glancing worriedly between the alpha and the omega. Could it be possible that Jisung fell in love with a mated alpha? He would cry right there if it was the case. It seemed like Jaemin noticed him panicking because he looked straight into Jisung’s eyes before answering.

“I mean, he’s like a brother to me, I need to assure he’s doing okay, you know?”

Jisung malfunctioned.

He bit his lip and looked away, trying to hide again. It was so embarrassing that the alpha read him like an open book. Shy glances from Jisung and confident smiles from Jaemin; they were communicating without saying anything. Everyone else on the table disappeared after a few seconds, and even though Jaemin was just leaning on the table, Jisung could feel him right in front of him; looking directly at him and showing his charms to drive him crazy. 

The omega felt the urge to try and talk to him since he hasn’t said a thing, but his mind wasn’t formulating any coherent sentences right now. 

“What’s your name?” the alpha asked, sweetly and politely, but as much as Jisung wanted to answer him; he stayed still with his cute eyes looking at him. 

It was as if he had just forgotten how to talk. 

Jisung was having a crisis inside his mind. He was a 17 years old omega who had never felt this way about an alpha before, and he couldn’t decipher what he was supposed to do about this warm and tingling sensation forming on his tummy while being under Jaemin’s hazel eyes. It was like his brain decided to stop functioning and just took a short vacation. 

He went all crazy over that interaction for the next seconds, asking for help under the table by pulling Chenle’s sweater in desperation. Luckily, Chenle took the hint and introduced their trio with his natural confidence, and Jisung’s head was spinning round and round when Jaemin said his name was lovely. He said it with such a charming voice that Jisung thought he would faint over the table. 

He then decided it was enough and needed to cool down. With an almost unhearable voice, Jisung excused himself to the restroom and practically ran away from the table, noticing his knees weak while feeling an intense stare behind him.

“What…?” he asked himself as soon he was alone. 

Jisung touched his chest and felt his heart going crazy, then patted his cheeks and felt them hot under his palms. Was he sick? Was the alpha provoking this? What the hell was going on?

Three times of cold water splashing his face and two times of slapping his cheeks softly were what the omega thought would do for him to return to normal. It would be weird if he stayed too much in the restroom, so he exited with his hands rubbing his eyes. 

He bumped into a hard chest and his nose recognized that scent so quickly that it was embarrassing. Jisung slowly looked up to meet the alpha’s worried eyes. 

Oh, his tummy did a backflip. 

“Are you okay? You seemed a bit weird before leaving, do you feel sick?” it made Jisung blush harder after noticing how concerned he looked, his eyes showing he was truly interested in his current condition and the omega could notice Jaemin’s hand being uneasy as if he wanted to touch him and check if he had a fever. 

Which he did, but not because he was sick. 

“Am I being too intrusive? Oh God, I’m sorry,” Jaemin stepped back a bit and smiled awkwardly, not knowing why the omega wasn’t answering his questions. 

“No!” Jisung shouted way too loud, making the alpha look surprised. Even his friends turned to see them and the omega caught Chenle’s message; he needed to calm down. “I-I mean, no… I’m good. Well, I do feel rare, but I think it’s nothing serious,” his voice turned out weak because Jisung was having a hard time trying to focus on his words and not on how attractive the alpha was. 

Damn, this is what it feels to like someone? Was it always so intense?

“Okay, then let’s return,” Jaemin sighed in relief after watching the omega obey him. For a second he thought he made the cute boy feel uncomfortable. 

The alpha turned to catch a glance of Jeno, and he smiled proudly while his best friend gave a thumbs up. 

“Hey, what’s up?” he entered the Cafe like he owned the place, and made the biggest smile to greet his dear friend, hiding his tiredness.

“Oh, Jaeminnie,” the alpha said while stopping his work for a few seconds. “What are you doing here?” Jeno asked with hidden worry because the brown-haired alpha was supposed to be having a job interview today, yet he was dressing casually and visiting him.

“Huh, do I need a reason? Can I not visit you because I miss you?” the silence was way too loud. “Okay, you got me.”

Jaemin had arrived only to rant about how hard it was to find a job these days. He went to the interview with so much hope and positive energy but as soon as the old lady started to ask questions about his studies, he knew they would reject him. And as he had thought, she wished him luck and send him back home.

At least he stole a few candies from the reception on his way out.

Jeno had made clear it wouldn’t be that hard if he had finished his studies.

“Well, don't think so much about it, you know it's pretty hard to find a job without a master's degree,” Jeno said careless, and then realized that his words could be a bit harsh. “Oh, Jaemnnie, sorry, I didn't mean it that way...”

Jaemin calmly nodded.

It was something that frustrated him a lot because he loved studying medicine so much and his grades weren’t that bad, but since his father passed away, the money wasn’t enough, and he had to give up on his dream and start searching for a job to help his beloved mother. She tried everything she could but the Medicine major was expensive, and nowadays she still felt sad about his son dropping out. 

The alpha made a smile after hearing Jeno’s words, trying to hide the pain inside him. He knew he meant well, but it stung him down in his heart to remember that. Jaemin never blamed her nor his father, and never showed any ill-feeling. Yet, he still felt them deep down, and that only pushed him to work harder. He hated feeling that way so he just ignored it. 

He was so overwhelmed by the stress, anger, and nostalgic memories that he didn’t realize someone was looking at him with sparkly eyes. 

“I’ll repeat myself for the ninth time, you can work here,” the black-haired alpha said while finishing doing art coffee. “Stop being stubborn and let me help you,” Jaemin scoffed, rolling his eyes.

He was getting tired of hearing those words. 

“I won’t work here, you can continue begging but it will never happen- What the fuck is that?” he got distracted after glancing at the ‘art coffee’ his friend just made, his barista knowledge wasn’t the best but that couldn’t be okay. 

He got hit on the chest by an offended Jeno. 

Jaemin immediately started lecturing him about how he was a barista and yet he didn’t know how to properly do art coffee. It was hilarious if you asked Jaemin because Jeno’s father was also a barista and coffee lover to the bone, so how was his son this lame at art coffee? 

“As if you could do any better!” his friend dismissed his comment and passed the drink to Soyeon, who stared blankly at it. 

“I don’t think he could do any worse,” she muttered as she walked away to deliver the order. 

Jeno whined out loud but didn’t lose concentration to start making the next drinks. While looking at his friend's work, Jaemin sat down on the nearest stool. He leaned to rest his head and closed his eyes a bit. 

It was when the sweetest scent arrived to engulf his senses that his eyes opened with dilated pupils and quickly inhaled more of that delicious smell of hot cocoa, very chocolatey and so Christmas-like that Jaemin felt as if it was winter already and he was on a warm couch chilling out near a fireplace. An uncontrollable addiction made him need more, so he quickly scanned the room to find the origin of it. 

At first, he thought it was just Jeno doing his barista things, but he knew this scent was stronger. It was until his ears perked up to hear the nosy table from afar, that he looked at the cute boy sitting there; and Jaemin froze. 

He had an adorable pout on his face, precious eyes, and features that made him look so squishable that the alpha had to hold his urge to go and pinch his cheeks. The omega was wearing such comfy clothes, increasing how huggable he looked, and Jaemin’s eyes caught the current blush on his face.

The alpha was hypnotized. 

His stomach felt like being hit by a thunderstruck, heartbeats speeding up and making Jaemin feel so conscious about how he was reacting to only looking at the omega. 

“Hey!” Jeno shouted right next to his ear as he patted his arm. “Don’t stare like that, it’s rude,” the alpha just blinked twice. And with incredible speed, he turned his head to see Jeno, who freaked out after the sudden move. 

“I just found my soulmate,” Jaemin said with hearty eyes and an excited smile. 

“You what now?” Jeno didn’t understand shit.

Jeno tried to calm his friend and stop him from doing something weird, but as soon as he looked at the table, he got distracted too. 

Maybe it wasn’t all corny and cheesy as Jaemin’s but Jeno sure felt something twirl inside him while looking at that noisy boy. He stared a bit too long, then he remembered he was supposed to keep Jaemin still, but it was too late. 

The alpha was already walking straight to the table where his soulmate was sitting. 

“Good luck, bastard,” he murmured while returning to prepare drinks.

Jisung arrived home with red cheeks and ears. His left hand was touching his chest, feeling his heartbeat slightly getting back to normal, and his legs stopped trembling. He then sighed and leaned on the door. He grabbed the strings of his hoodie and pull them to cover his face, staring blankly at his house.

“I can't believe that happened,” he said skeptically to himself. 

The sun was hiding, birds were getting quiet and crickets began to appear, ready to give a concert; he felt as if suddenly spring arrived in the middle of autumn. 

He stayed a while looking at the new contact on his phone, contemplating what happened and what it meant.

Jaeminnie was followed by many cute emojis that the omega had to erase. Not only because it was an exaggerated amount of them, but because they were very couple-like. He puffed his cheeks since the alpha was way too confident, yet the only thing he did was admire him in silence. 

Jaemin gave his number and promised to text him even if Jisung had only been awkwardly quiet most of the time. He wouldn't lie, he was the happiest omega on Earth. It was the first time he ever had such a strong feeling for someone, not caring if he had just seen the alpha one time. Deep down, he felt as if Jaemin was meant to be his.

He showered and got all comfy on his bed, smiling a bit when his mind took him back to his meeting with the alpha. The omega wouldn't admit it, but he was excited to receive his message. 

Somehow, he still couldn’t believe one person showed interest in him in a romantic way. Jisung didn’t think down of himself, but sure he had never had any experience like being stared at and interchange phone numbers. He felt like an excited pup waiting for a sign of love and attention. 

The omega did his best to stay up and wait for a message, but when he woke up in the morning with zero notifications; Jisung felt so upset. He regretted being all dumb and ridiculous around the alpha, he wanted to give a good impression but sure now he was just a weirdo in Jaemin's eyes. 

Maybe it was pretty naive to expect Jaemin to text him. 

Jisung tried to act cool and pretend he didn't want to make a fuss and be babied. While feeling tired, he took all his classes but didn’t focus on any of them. Not even agreed to Chenle's lunch or Renjun's hugs. All the classmates who passed by their lunch table could feel the blue and sad aura surrounding him. 

“Aren’t you being a little bit impatient?” that was his beta friend that Jisung refused to agree with. “Remember he’s searching for a job.”

“He had a few options left, right?” Chenle added, patting his friend's head, trying to comfort him. 

Jisung knew he hadn't any right to feel upset at him, but he couldn’t control his feelings. He just wanted a simple text from him, or a sign that the alpha was truly interested in him and Jisung didn’t just get all hopeful over nothing. 

It was until classes were finished that his phone rang. Both of his friends hold their chuckles after seeing Jisung's reaction; the poor boy went from surprised to excited to upset in just one second. 

He almost hangs up but ended up answering with trembling hands and accelerated breathing. Jisung gulped before speaking. 

Chenle and Renjun didn't waste time and stuck to their friend, wanting to listen to the call.

“Hello?” he asked, although it was very clear who called him. 

“Hey there, Jisunggie,” the omega pouted because of how sweet and melodic his voice sounded. Jaemin was smiling for sure, he could bet on it. And he puffed his cheeks at how his tummy twirled. “I’m sorry I didn’t text you last night, were you waiting for me?” Jisung heard a bit of worry.

“N-No, I didn’t,” he lied, feeling his cheeks get red while his friends made faces at him. But he didn't dare to tell Jaemin the truth. “I actually was about to go home, all my classes ended,” Jisung said.

In his mind, he was pleading for Jaemin to take a hint of what he wanted.

Oh lord, please.

“Really? Oh, what great timing!” the alpha said with excitement. “Would you like to come to Dream Cafe? I could invite you for a drink,” Jaemin talked like a boy who was about to see his favorite person in the world. 

The omega didn't hide the big smile that showed on his face. Although Jisung could swear he heard someone yelling 'Are you going to flirt in my workplace!?' he still said yes to the alpha.

And even Jaemin asked him, his friends still invited themselves. 

The trio entered with confidence, finding the lonely alpha at the corner table, Jeno working hard behind the counter, and the Cafe being a bit too crowded. Renjun was the one who led the omegas to Jaemin, still feeling the need to be a bit protective with his younger friends.

“Hello, pretty boys,” the alpha greeted them with a tired smile, but the word pretty was enough for the duo to smile. It seemed like he had a rough day, only Jisung noticed. 

“You’re already making points, good for you,” the beta approved, he then pushed his friend gently and grabbed Chenle’s hand, ready to walk away.

“You better make him feel less upset, he was waiting for you to contact him so badly and-” he was shouted down by a big hand on his mouth, which belonged to a flustered Jisung. 

The alpha seemed a bit surprised and immediately showed off a big and proud smile. Both Chinese guys ran away after watching their friend malfunctioning, happy with the situation they created.

“Aww, you did wait for me!” he cooed, making the omega take a sit and put his hoodie on. “So it was like that!”

“I-I mean… You said you would text me,” he softly explained, peeking off his hiding place. 

“I know but I was so tired after searching for job vacancies online and sending curriculums that I fell asleep without realizing it,” Jaemin smiled sadly and leaned over the table until his hand gently discovered the omega’s face. “I’m sorry, Jisunggie,” after hearing him, Jisung was ashamed of feeling upset.

“It’s okay, I’m happy you called,” he shyly admitted.

Silently, he asked for the alpha’s forgiveness, but he just received a gummy smile. 

“And I’m happy you came,” Jaemin added.

Both looked fondly at each other, and after inhaling their scents, they felt a lot better. The omega lost his doubts from before and was now totally enjoying all the attention he was getting from the alpha, who made sure to show his interest in courting Jisung. 

Jaemin hadn’t had any mates before, but he sure knew how to flirt and court. After all, he was already 21 years old and wasn’t clueless about dating. He wanted to show Jisung how good he could be as a boyfriend and was giving his best to treat him respectfully. Not only did he pay for Jisung’s drink, but asked about his day and listened to his words with so much attention that the omega felt a bit shy about being stared at. 

It was one of the few times where such pretty and lovely eyes focused fully on Jisung as if he was the only person Jaemin could look at. 

“W-Why are you looking at me like that?” he chuckled, noticing the alpha smiling and leaning on his right hand, directly admiring him. 

“Oh, you know,” Jaemin muttered softly. “Because you’re adorable,” Jisung felt his cheeks burning.

No one could blame him for shying away and hiding with his hoodie again; he couldn't handle that comment. The alpha found his reaction so cute that he giggled and cooed, causing Jisung to nag about him doing it on purpose. 

They spent a good time that day, with Chenle, Renjun, and Jeno being watchers of the whole interaction from afar. And Jaemin quickly gained the duo’s approval, just by being so attentive and considerate of Jisung’s nervousness and awkward reactions. Even Jeno was proud of how his friend was so gentle with the young omega.

And when Jisung’s eyes shined after the alpha asked about what was his major, Jaemin knew he needed to date him. The omega was so passionate and excited while talking about his favorite thing in the world; psychology. 

He was like a little kid being all smiles and giggles, not only timid eyes and blubbering.

The alpha would often text and call Jisung after that, and Jisung would always answer with such enthusiasm and happiness that would hit Jaemin straight to the face and light up his mood for the entire day. Well, could somebody blame him?

“Have a good day today too, Jaemin Hyung!” that’s what the omega would often say on his voice notes, not being aware of the screams he provoked with it.

Because of course, Jaemin would react to every little thing he found cute in Jisung, and the omega always reacted the same way; shying away or getting embarrassed. 

Jisung was so overwhelmed by the feelings and sensations that the alpha provoked in him that he didn’t know how to handle them, and would often malfunction because of it. 

The couple times they hang out, Jaemin was the one trying to create a romantic mood and court the younger boy. Since Jisung wasn’t being himself due to his nervousness, instead, he turned into this quiet and timid omega. And the alpha wouldn’t lie, it was so cute and he just wanted to hug and protect Jisung forever, but he needed the omega to cooperate or the court would advance slow enough to drive Jaemin crazy. 

But the situation changed after the alpha explained his family and economic problem to him.

After three months of seeing each other, Jaemin felt such a strong connection with the chestnut-haired boy, and the need to share it with him was unstoppable.

Jisung pouted unconsciously just as Jaemin finished. He felt so powerless and upset. It was so unfair for the alpha to live through that alone, and he didn’t like the coping mechanism Jaemin had of ignoring his emotions and burying them deep down in his mind. The omega didn’t hold himself and hugged him tightly, releasing his pheromones for Jaemin to know he was there to support him. It was such an intimate action that the alpha almost didn't believe it. 

That was the first time Jisung took the initiative, and it made him so happy.

“Thank you, Jisunggie,” he whispered with a weak voice, holding his tears. 

Jisung did his best to be as supportive as possible; understanding that Jaemin would often be having job interviews, sometimes he wouldn’t have much money or the alpha would be a bit gloomy about still being jobless. 

The omega did his best, but he always reminded himself to not get too involved since Jaemin was the one who had to solve his problems. Instead, he focused on getting over the glitch mode (Chenle’s words) he would enter every time Jaemin did something way too flirty for him to handle. He let himself be courted, and cooperate to organize their dates. 

“I’m telling you that going to the Astronomical Observatory would be an awesome date!” he said to Renjun, who was munching a sandwich with furrowed eyebrows. “They have an exhibition this Saturday, and I’m sure it’ll be so cool,” Jisung’s eyes sparkled, making Chenle nod at his words. 

They encouraged him to ask the alpha about it, and when Jaemin picked him up from college, Jisung nervously played with his thumbs while walking together. Once they were at Dream Cafe and Jeno had already rolled his eyes as he started preparing their usual hot cocoa and iced americano, the omega finally manned up.

“So, Nana,” his voice sounded a bit loud, and he cleared his throat under the attentive look of Jaemin. The alpha sweetly nodded for him to continue. “I was wandering on the internet the other day, and a blog of recommendations appeared, I explored a bit, you know I’m very curious, and it had many entries to look at, it even had a ‘Best libraries in town’ and, to be honest, I clicked on it, even one of them is near here now that I remember- Oh God, I’m rambling too much,” he covered his face with both hands and whimpered at himself, not noticing how Jaemin almost surrenders at the urge of pinching his cheeks. “I’m sorry…”

“Hey, hey, hey,” his left hand moved to hold one of Jisung’s, asking him to show his face. “Don’t worry about it,” Jaemin smiled at the flustered omega. “You can continue, Jisunggie,” the younger one gulped because damn, he was so patient with him. 

“Okay, okay. Scratch that, bring it back,” Jisung puffed his cheeks and regained all the courage he had in his body. “Would you like to go to the Astronomical Observatory with me this Saturday at 5 pm?” he said as quickly as possible and closed his eyes, waiting for an answer. 

Jaemin had to take a few seconds to process what he just heard, and he almost starts squealing and runs to hug Jisung in front of everyone. It was an important event for him and it deserved to become a core memory in the alpha’s mind. 

Jisung just asked him on a date.

“Oh, cute baby. I’m in!” there’s no need to mention that Jisung felt dizzy at hearing the affectionate name.

When they arrived home after that date, their heartbeats went crazy, and their heads felt dizzy, not to mention the swollen lips and twirling tummy, they knew their relationship was going to change; because they couldn't keep going slowly. 

It was now time to level up. 

Oh, yeah.

The glitch mode was over.

.

♡

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“You don't have to be alarmed. An error or two, but I like it. If this is love, it's okay” 

 — NCT DREAM, Glitch Mode.