Chapter Text
Allen tugs at the white cloth, making sure the ropes around his waist are snug for the tenth time tonight. He feels naked, like a piece of meat for alphas to gawk at, but that's kind of the point. The white cloth wrapped around him covers him somewhat modestly, but his shoulders and legs are still exposed. He does like the gold leaves in his hair though, and they twinkle in the faraway lights. His cheeks are colored with a thin layer of blush, and the glitter around his eyes itch every so often no thanks to Seongmin.
Allen didn't even want to wear a costume, let alone go to a party full of strangers, but Seongmin stressed that in order to get into the Halloween party you need to wear one, which is complete bullshit to Allen. Still, Allen couldn’t resist Seongmin's begging and his offer of free coffee for a week. As for the costume, it's not like he had any other Halloween costume being a broke student, and so after all the compliments Seongmin threw at him, Allen is dressed up as a generic Greek God.
Seongmin is just ahead of him and is already having too much fun, excitedly bouncing as they walk into the house. His red cape is flowing behind him, a perfect fit for red riding hood. It's already pitch black, but the towering house alive in front of them doesn't seem too welcoming. There's a big banner hanging from it, with the words 'VENI VIDI VICI' in big fancy letters.
"Oh my God Allen! Do you think he'll be there? I mean, he told me I should come to the party but like, maybe he means that in a friend way? Like he probably tells all his friends to come to parties or whatever."
"You'll be fine," Allen retorts. He's been dragged here, Seongmin better not back out now, "Taeyoung literally looks at you with googly eyes! Last week, I think I saw him spill juice on himself while you walking by. And he was wearing a white shirt."
"But what will I do if he's wearing a hot costume? I'm gonna die on the spot and then he'll never get to know me!" Seongmin whines, "I mean, he's just so perfect. He literally has a heart of gold! Not anyone would offer to tutor me in calculus, especially for free. He's so cute, and smart, and athletic, and I mean just look at his hair…"
After hearing this rant every day, Allen's learned to unconsciously tune it out. He's only at the biggest Halloween party on campus because Seongmin begged him for a week. He doesn't really know anyone that well, especially those that are a part of the fraternity, but a half-hidden Taeyoung is standing around the door like he knew they were arriving. Seongmin squeaks when he realizes Taeyoung is right there, a couple meters away from them. He grabs Allen's hand and forces himself to take deep breathes. From what they can see, it looks like Taeyoung is dressed up as a wolf, two furry ears atop his head. Allen puts on a brave face, "It'll be fine Seongmin, you got this. Remember what we went over? Play it cool and be yourself, and then he'll fall in love with you."
The younger can only nod in response, his steps becoming smaller and smaller. When they reach the glowing entrance, Taeyoung lights up at the sight, "Hi Seongmin, you made it! And Allen, right?"
"Hi, Taeyoung," Seongmin manages to say almost normally.
"Hey, it's nice to finally meet you," Allen says, "Seongmin has told me a lot about y-"
Seongmin elbows him square in the ribcage, laughing loudly as if Taeyoung couldn't possibly guess how his sentence would end. "Allen's so funny, always trying to play pranks and saying weird stuff. Anyways, could you show us around, maybe?"
"Yeah of course, follow me."
As Allen and Seongmin enter the house, the pounding music and lights surround them completely. Not only that, but it's also the myriad of scents mixing. It takes a couple of seconds to adjust, Allen blinking half hazardly, but Taeyoung keeps on going like a walk in the park. There's a good amount of people, girls and boys in revealing clothing, talking and dancing. Allen can smell the alcohol from people's breathes as they walk past.
"This is the living room, but uh- right now it's kind of a dance floor," Taeyoung yells so Allen and Seongmin can hear him. The music is the loudest here, and the most bodies as well. They move past into a kitchen area full of cans and bottles. "I'm sure you can tell this is the kitchen. Wanna drink?"
Seongmin takes two shots of the nearest bottle offered by Taeyoung, but Allen politely declines. Since they're both omegas, it's best if one of them stays alert. Part of the reason Allen didn't want to come to a frat party is because he's heard of omega's being taken advantage of, and he'll be damned if that happens to Seongmin or himself. There hasn't been any bad rumors surrounding Delta Kappa Sigma yet, but anyone could be here. Allen also knows Seongmin trusts Taeyoung, and so he does too. Two weeks ago he secretly went to give Taeyoung a stern lecture about Seongmin and his heart, and he seems like an alright guy.
"There's a bathroom down the hall, but the better parts are upstairs," Taeyoung says, walking up the stairs, "This is kind of a meeting area and lounge section but um, actually, I think they're playing a game right now."
The room has a couple of cozy couches, but everyone else there is sitting in a ragged circle. There's old banners and posters hung up on all the walls, and a white board with weekly chores. This week it's Taeyongs turn to clean the bathrooms, and Minhee's turn to do laundry. A cute guy from the circle sees the trio, "Taeyoung! Come join us, we just started truth or dare. You can bring your friends, too."
The mystery man looks straight at Allen when he says the last part, almost smirking in the dim lights. Heart skipping a beat, Allen can't help but stare helplessly like an idiot. He has black hair perfectly framing his face, a face that could be on the cover of Vogue, his eyes are light and luring. The stranger is far too handsome for his own good. If this is how Seongmin feels around Taeyoung, then he deserves more credit.
Taeyoung faces back to Seongmin and Allen. "Do you guys wanna play truth or dare? It's okay if you don't, I'm not the biggest fan of it, and the guys can be a little much at first. I can keep showing you around if you want."
Allen and Seongmin share a telekinetic look, one that says, "There's a super hot guy" and "You can spend alone time with Taeyoung."
"I'm down to play truth or dare, but maybe you could keep showing Seongmin around?" Allen asks lightly. Deep down, Allen knew Seongmin would ditch him, but at least now he won't be alone. Rather, he hopefully he won't be alone with the way the stranger is looking at him.
"Oh- uh yes! Sure, that sounds good," Taeyoung turns to Allen, "I'll introduce you to Serim so at least you'll know one person. He's the fraternity president, so if anyone messes with you he can deal with them."
As the trio walks closer to the mystery man, now known as Serim, so too does Allen's heart beat. He's talking to someone next to him, probably another fraternity brother, but perks up when he sees them. "Hey Serim, this is Allen and Seongmin. I'm gonna show Seongmin around the house, but can Allen play truth or dare with you guys?"
"Yeah of course. Here, sit next to me," Serim shuffles a bit to open up a space for Allen. Taeyoung and Seongmin go down the hallway, not without Seongmin winking at him. Allen's short circuiting at the fact that this is happening so quickly, but tries his best to keep calm or his scent will give him away. Up close, Serim is somehow even better. His voice is warm and inviting, and Allen can catch a bit of his scent, coffee and a hint of something caramel toffee-like. A strange combination for an alpha, but he has to hold himself back from leaning forwards.
"I'm Park Serim. I like your costume," Serim grins.
"Thanks, I like your costume too," Allen's breathe comes out rushed, and his hands are starting to clammer. Serim is wearing a white button up and tight black pants, but what catches his attention is the leather harness wrapping around his chest. Allen follows the leather as it curves around his shoulders and arms, disappearing in the back. A black tie is caught under the chest harness, and despite no skin showing Allen feels hot. There's a matching leather glove on Serim's right hand. "Are you suppose to be um, a spy? Or like a secret agent?"
"Yeah basically, but I didn't chose the costume. The frat voted for me, which is why I'm wearing…this." Serim points to the harness, the silver clasps glinting. Serim laughs, and it sounds like music against all the noise. "It could definitely be worse. The second choice was a stripper from Magic Mike, so uh, I'm happy with this. This harness isn't mine, by the way."
Something on Allen's face must have given him away, because Serim asks, "Are you nervous? Don't worry, I promise you they'll play nice. I mean, you know Taeyoung and he's good kid." Serim reassures him, and in the circle of ten people they look pretty normal. Allen wants to ask him if he'll play nice tonight, but when he doesn't respond in time, Serim comfortably keeps on going, "I haven't seen you around campus, are you new?"
Good. A topic change. "Yeah, I transferred here this fall. I'm in the faculty of science, majoring in biochemistry."
"Oh really? I'm majoring in chemistry. It's weird I haven't seen you in a class or anything. I'll have to show you all the secret corners and rooms since you're new. There's the janitors closet on the third floor, and the broken bathroom stalls on every floor you'll need avoid." Serim muses, smiling. The game of truth or dare is getting closer to them as the second girl on Serim's left takes a shot instead of doing the dare of calling her ex and getting back together. Everyone groans at this.
"Um, I don't really wanna drink tonight. Is there another way to skip a dare? Maybe I shouldn't play…" Allen mutters.
"No! You should definitely play. Actually, I have a secret that might make you feel better. Can I tell you?" Serim has his eyes wide open.
"Sure," Allen whispers, but Serim is already leaning in, his breath warm on Allen's ear. "I don't like to drink a lot at big parties either, especially because I have to watch over everyone, but since everyone expects me to drink I always have a bottle of vodka filled with water. In the beginning when everyone is still sober I drink a little, but once its been two hours I'll pretend to keep drinking from the fake bottle. It's honestly ridiculous no one has caught on yet."
"Wow, that’s…kind of smart," Allen says. He knows Serim isn't lying either, because his breath doesn't smell strongly of alcohol. There's just a hint of beer when they're this close.
"So, if you want to back out of a dare, you can just take a shot out my fake bottle. Don't tell anyone my secret, okay? The guys would kill me and then get me piss drunk," Serim chuckles. Allen can feel himself relaxing as he smiles back, promising, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."
"Serim! Truth or dare?" Shouts someone dressed as a pirate. All of the circle seems happily drunk, and doesn't seem to mind their whispering.
"Dare," Serim says, bored. The rest of the circle starts offering suggestions, someone mentions seven minutes in heaven with his exes, or stealing from the university bookstore.
"I know what Serim should do! You haven't slept with anyone in over two months because of 'school', bleurgh. Your bed must be getting cold!" The pirates voice cuts clear, and Serim shoots him deadly glare. The pirate doesn't seem to care as he gleefully keeps cackling, "I dare you to fuck someone tonight."
"Seriously? That'll be easy for Serim," Someone else groans, and Wonjin promptly throws a pillow at him. Someone else dressed up as cat approves of the idea, "We're doing our president a favour! Serim, you can't back out now. Plus it'll be a good way to release stress."
Serim rolls his eyes, his ears turning pink, and Allen can guess this only happens during yearly parties. The alpha waits for everyone to quiet down before pleasing his patient subjects, "Alright, fine, but you guys don't get any proof. Just take my word for it. Oh, and Wonjin? You're going to regret this tomorrow morning."
The pirate, Wonjin, cowers for one second, and then exclaims, "Well, I might as well have as much fun as I can! Serim, I'm telling you as a friend, you NEED to get laid."
Serim mutters something under his breath, the words "fucking' and 'kill' and 'Wonjin' being barely audible. Allen wants to say something, but it's like his throat is lodged. There's giggles about how uptight Serim is being, but the group eventually focuses on the new comer. Serim does the introductions, "This is Allen. He's a friend of Taeyoung's. Also, be nice to him, he's new."
Wonjin gets excited at this piece of information, a devilish smile forming. "He's new? That's fun, welcome to Delta Kappa Sigma! For you first dare, hmm…You're lucky I'm feeling nice tonight. Maybe something easy like a strip tease? A kiss? Body shots?"
Allen internally cowers, but he knew it would be something along these lines. Serim groans at this, ready to interject if anyone else approves. A guy dressed as a vampire next to Wonjin chirps in before he can, "I like the kissing idea, but definitely not you. He should kiss someone decent, like…Serim."
Gasps and cheers arise from the circle, everyone eyeing Serim and Allen. Feeling his cheeks heat up, Allen is a mix of embarrassment and excitement. The opportunity to kiss Serim is too good to pass up, but in front of a bunch of strangers? And it's because of a dare? There's too many layers to the situation for Allen to dissect, and besides, Serim probably doesn't even want to kiss him. Serim's voice in his ear snaps him out. "You know you don't have to do it, right? You can just take a shot. They'll forget all about it in the morning."
"So Allen, are you gonna do the dare or not? Also, I forgot to mention the best part. The kiss has to last 10 whole seconds! I guess it's not really a kiss but, you already know that," Wonjin says, delighted by the new rule. "Serim, you're okay with the dare, right? I'm sure you wouldn't mind a kiss from a cute omega!"
Serim looks at the ground. "I'm fine with it as long as Allen is too."
With the room chanting, "KISS! KISS! KISS!" Allen hesitantly faces Serim, red blooming on his cheeks and ears. When he makes eye contact with Serim, all the background noise fades away, the scent of coffee enveloping him. It's as if they're the only ones in the room, and everything other than the alpha blurs. He feels Serim gently hold his arms, and in a rush of adrenaline, Allen leans forward to kiss him. His lips are soft, as if he's scared Allen will break. There's light tongue, and just as Allen thought, Serim tastes faintly of alcohol with an overwhelming sweetness and warmth. It's nothing short of magical.
"…8, 9, 10!" The room cheers, but neither Allen nor Serim hear it. Too caught up in their heated moment, it's only when someone rustles Serim's shoulder that he's brought back to reality. Breaking apart, Allen can't bare to look at Serim without turning into a flustered mess. Serim is still holding onto him, though. It takes at least five minutes for his heart to come back down to normal, but his body is still warm and itching for more.
The rest of the game goes by in a blur, and at the end it's only them left sitting there. When Serim asks him if he wants to go somewhere more private, Allen has never wanted anything more in his life.
"This is my room. It's um, seen better days, but this is it. Sorry for the mess."
Allen likes Serim's room. It's messy, there's dirty clothes on the ground and his desk is piled with papers, but overall homey. There's a big window with patchwork curtains, and the moonlight cuts the room into two. There's also a queen sized bed with deep blue sheets that catches Allen's attention and now the party seems so far away from here. The thing he likes most though, is the scent lingering in the room, soaked in every corner. It relaxes him immediately, and that's never happened before.
"It's nice," Allen mumbles, still standing in the doorway.
"My room is a mess right now, but thanks anyways. One good thing about being president is getting my own room. It offers a semblance of privacy." Serim says, already sitting on the bed. Combined with his spy costume, Allen can't think straight. Cautiously, he sits beside Serim, an inch separating them.
"How did you become the president of Delta Kappa Sigma?" Allen asks, finally thinking of a normal question.
"I have an older friend who invited me to join in my first year. I was also from out of town so it worked out perfectly. I got a roof over my head for really cheap, and food, if you can call it that." Serim reminisces. "There's definitely frat culture that I had to tolerate, like the dreaded initiation, and living with ten other guys, but otherwise I really liked it. They’re kind of like my family, along with all their annoying quirks."
"You must have be pretty popular to be chosen as president." Allen muses, and Serim laughs at that. "What was the initiation like?"
"The initiation is…bad. For my year, we had to be in the same room as an omega in heat. Anyone who touched or even yelled at the omega was immediately kicked out. I always thought it was fucking barbaric, but it's been tradition since Delta Kappa Sigma was founded. It's technically a good test of self control, but for the omega, it must have been much, much worse."
Despite the initiation making Allen hate fraternities even more, it's comforting to know Serim passed. The fact is pulling a deep desire out from Allen, one that makes him want to test Serim's limits.
"Since I'm president this year, I decided to change it. Basically, instead of having a real omega in heat, we were able to mimic the scent in the lab. It's definitely not as effective as a real heat scent, but it shows self control and level headed thinking. I even had to ask the dean of chemistry to get permission to use it, and also make it." Serim says, releasing a comforting pheromone. Allen could feel his pride, and he agreed with him.
"How did Taeyoung do?"
"Passed with flying colors. I think he barely moved when the scent was released."
Allen breaths a sigh of relief. Unconsciously, he leans in closer to Serim like a moth to a flame, the warmth drawing him in. "That's good to know. Do you remember Seongmin? I think the two of them are gonna date. Actually, the whole reason I'm here is because Taeyoung invited Seongmin. And obviously Seongmin isn't going by himself, so…here I am."
"Aw, you're the third wheel. I guess that makes sense why they left you with me, not that I'm complaining. In fact, I actually think I got lucky tonight," Serim says, and then warps an arm around Allen's back. Allen is so lucky he's sitting down or else his knees would have failed him. Serim whispers, the breath tickling his ear, "Can I tell you another secret?"
"Uh- sure."
"I want to kiss you right now." Serim has a dangerous look in his eyes, almost taunting Allen to come look closer. The alpha's hand gently cups Allen's cheek, leaving hot spots. Without a doubt, Allen knows he can't cover up his cherry red flush or how pliant he is becoming. The two of them are practically touching side by side, so much so they can feel when the other takes a breath. "Can I?"
"Please," Allen whines, and they collide in perfect unison. It's like they've been pulled taught, and finally they can snap back into each other.
It's just as saccharine as before, but with a passion unseen by prying eyes. Allen can feel himself melting into the kiss, holding onto Serim's shoulder for life support. Serim's lips are soft and ever so sweet as he guides him. It's messy and faster paced without a count down, and as Serim gently slips in his tongue, Allen follows helplessly. The pink blush he put on earlier has no use anymore, as he can feel himself burning from inside.
Their hands slowly explore each other more, feeling hard muscle and soft skin. Serim touches his knees and shoulders, and it smolders in it's wake. With all the contact and overwhelming scent of coffee, Allen can feel himself losing self-control. All he can think about is Serim, Serim, Serim, and yet he wants more.
Rampant knocking breaks Serim and Allen apart from their daze as they hold their breathe, their privacy at risk. There's people giggling outside, most definitely drunk and high. Wonjin's voice cuts through the rest, in a sing song fashion, "Oh Serim! Oh great president! You better be getting your dick wet right now or we're finding someone for you!"
"Fucking Wonjin," the alpha grunts, still gently holding Allen who has suddenly turned ridged. Serim back, "You're drunk, leave me alone."
Wonjin is delighted by this response, rambling to the other people behind the door, "Ha! I guess he really did find a warm body tonight. Have fun with your mystery omega! You're welcome for the dare by the way! I want a thank you card by tomorrow!"
The people outside cheer and laugh, but quickly leave when Serim doesn't bite back. The heated connection they shared is now replaced with a dull silence, neither pair moving. Allen feels cold, sick to his stomach that he's one of many who fell for Serim and his charming good looks. His ears are heating up, betraying his embarrassment and shame. Allen's thought are a racing blur, but all he knows is that he needs to get away from Serim.
"I'm really, really sorry about them," Serim apologizes, their hands tangling, "They're just really drunk and high and really fucking stupid, and hell, they won't remember any of this tomorrow morning. And about the dare, I don't want you to-"
"No, it's okay. I think I'm gonna go, uh, check up on Seongmin." Allen says, forcing himself to breath. He doesn't allow himself to make eye contact with Serim. By the time he finishes his sentence he's halfway out the door, and his legs feel like they'll fail him at any second. He can barely hear Serim calling after him, his heartbeat ringing in his ears.
As he stumbles to his way to his dorm, he can't seem to remember any of the journey. It's only when he's alone in his room that he breaks down. It's pathetic that Allen's crying about an alpha he just met tonight, but there's no one here to judge him but himself. Seongmin texted him thirty minutes ago, but he doesn't have the strength to respond. Quickly taking off his Halloween costume and throwing it in a corner, his twin-sized bed is cold no matter how many blankets he uses. After tossing and turning for forever, Allen surrenders in his sleepy daze, snatching the costume back to bed with him.
In the morning, he'll hate himself. Allen won't let himself be another number, conquest, or dare. For tonight though, Serim's coffee scent lulls him to a peaceful slumber.