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“minho, how do you court?”
“huh? court?” the alpha snorted, “you, of all people, want to court someone?”
chan’s cheeks flushed, “i was just… just asking…”
minho leaned in closer, with a grin from ear to ear. chan shrunk in on himself. “who’s the idiot you want to court?”
“he’s not an idiot,” chan furrowed his brows.
“defensive, are we?” minho snickered, “cmon, who is it? hyunjin?” a shake of head, “felix?” another shake of head, “jeongin?” again.
minho furrows his brows, “then? do i know him?”
chan messed with the tangle of his headphones, avoiding eye contact now. “yeah…”
minho’s eyes washed over him, inspecting every detail he could see and smell, because of all people, chan never reigns his scent. he’s almost like an open book once you get to know him.
then, from the corner of his eye, he sees him. and sees the way chan glances for a little too long with a stutter to his scent.
“no,” minho grits, “you’re fucking kidding me.”
chan’s ears are fiery red, so are his cheeks. he goes back to untangling his headphones but with a tremble to his fingers. minho finds himself getting pissed.
“kim, fucking, seungmin,” minho bellows, displeased.
“sorry…” chan whispers.
it’s not unknown fact that lee minho and kim seungmin despise each other. they’ve always competed against each other academically and when their friend groups merged thanks to felix, they had an ongoing gig of bickering.
if minho had to describe seungmin, it would be bland, unfunny, stuck up, try hard, unfit, weak-
“-he’s a walking stick! no muscle. how is that attractive!”
chan shrugs.
yet, minho sighs. he likes chan, chan is a good guy. he’s lived under a rock, always focused more on his studies and more serious than not but a good person. easy to be with. now that minho thinks about it, chan has literally never dated anybody nor has anyone tried to court him.
with another sigh, minho gives in. “but you could do so much better.
chan sees minho as a best friend and vice versa. he confided that minho would do anything for him since he would. and minho is the one in their friend group that has had more romance in his life.
“he’s cute… and funny… and we have so much fun talking about-
“he literally hates when you cling to him, you have no shame.”
it’s harsh and minho feels bad when chan’s eyed widen and his scent shifts . he can’t really blame chan though, at least the omega finally has interest in dating.
“o-oh-“ “i’ll help you.”
“what?”
chan’s face is hot and his hands are trembling. he’s seriously never even thought of doing this and he’s dreading how confident he had been for even thinking of doing this.
“it’s…” he takes a deep breath, “seungmin i like you and this is my courting gift,” he says with as little tremble in his voice as possible.
“you got me, an alpha, cologne. as a gift.”
chan glanced around, suddenly feeling more and more dreadful when people stop to stare. he should have known better than to do this at uni, with seungmin, the student body president.
“y-yeah?” chan flushed when some people snickered. “do you… not-“
“dude, everyone knows not to give alphas or omegas cologne. it’s an insult to their scent.” someone yells.
chan freezes. panic and anger bubble in the pit of his stomach.
“i thought you liked my scent,” seungmin says with a disappointed hum.
chan stares him, “i-i do- i just- no, i-“
“poor seungmin,” he heard someone say.
“chan, just…” seungmin smiles a bit, but it’s forced. “i’ll see you around.”
“wait, s-seungmin,” chan feels tears well up in his eyes when the alpha walks past him.
when eyes are now on him, he finds no other option but to walk in shame. his anger, however is with minho. so when he gets home, to their shared apartment, he breaks down.
“m-minho!” chan cries as soon as he walks inside, “why did you make me do that!?
“do what?” minho asks casually, working on an assignment. he doesn’t spare chan a glance.
“court with cologne!” chan throws the box at minho’s head.
minho growls, holding onto the spot that throbs. “the fuck was that for!?”
“for making me feel and look like a fool!” chan cries, “seungmin hates me!”
“yeah,” minho rubs the spot before going back to his assignment.
“minho!”
“chan, how are you going to ask the guy that hates him for advice!?”
chan stares at him, flush with tears. “i’m your best friend! you don’t do that!”
“i love you,” minho growls, “and because of that, i want the best for you. not kim seungmin.”
“but i wanted seungmin!” chan sobs, “and now his pride is hurt and it’s your fault!”
“what are you going to say!?” minho huffs, “‘oh seungmin, i’m sorry! i asked your nemesis for advice and he used me! i let myself be blinded to hurt you!’ or better yet, ‘seungmin i’m dumb enough to not know even the basics of courting, i didn’t even bother to search it up!’ is that it?”
chan gawks at him, his scent turns more sour by the second. minho’s giving him a deadly glare, one he doesn’t think he can hold much longer.
“why… are you being such a dick…” chan says softly, “i really liked him…” he looks down at the floor, “i thought… you’d support me… why are you so mean all of a sudden… you don’t…” he takes a shuddering breath, “you don’t do these things to people you love, minho.”
and before minho can answer, chan zips it to his room. the door is slammed and minho let’s chan’s heart crushing sobs invade his senses.
“seriously? cologne?” seungmin asks with a huff. “that hurt.”
minho shrugs, “i saw the opportunity and took it.”
“i hate you,” seungmin huffs again.
“chan hates me too, i know i’m special.”
seungmin let’s his head drop into minho’s neck, “should we tell him?”
it will come as a shock, the two so called nemesis’s dating. not something you’d conclude, especially when they're both alpha’s. yet, the hate turned into love at some point.
maybe it was when seungmin shoved minho against the wall after the older teased a little too far, resulting in minho questioning if seungmin always looked this adorable with his brows furrowed. it resulted with minho liking when seungmin got physical back.
it resulted with them kissing out of anger. out of spite.
out of interest.
“i think so, before he enters a pit of depression again. he’s been doing his work online all week, might as well go to our place.”
“you made him embarrass himself, minho.”
“he needed a little pain on the way.”
“you suck.”
“and fuck.” he grinds down on seungmin’s lap.
seungmin groans, “stop it.”
“fine,” minho sighs, he stares at the wall opposite of him. “you know, i do feel like shit.”
“duh, you’re insensitive. if it sounds harsh, it is harsh. you dismissed his feelings and insulted him. he’s an omega, his emotions are not easy to handle.”
“i know but… i really hurt chan… i didn’t think i could be that much of a dick.”
“you’d be surprised.”
minho smacks his arm, making seungmin chuckle. “shut it, i’m sad.”
“oh really,” seungmin lifts his head. their faces are a centimeter away, lips close to touching. “how do you think chan is? if we go and court him right now, it’ll be too much.”
“yeah but…”
“first you apologize to him, own up to your mistake.”
“i hate how smart you are.” minho huffs, grunting.
“then,” seungmin ignores him, “you try to make him come back to uni; take classes, eat with us.”
“he’ll avoid you like you’re the plague.”
seungmin shrugs, “we’ll make it work. we’ll work on it when it happens and after you apologize. tell me how it goes.”
“fine,” minho pecks his lips, “i’ll call you later.”
“mhm.”
chan has always been someone that is there. not just physically and existing, but a supportive role for everyone. he puts everyone first and his needs are always last. minho found himself enjoying making food for the omega. he found himself loving chan’s happy dances and cute expressions, his giggles and his overly serious moments. while he had been chan’s friend since high school, minho’s interest grew when uni started.
seungmin found himself enjoying the study sessions they would have. since felix introduced them, they’ve found solace in each other’s company. while they’d study seperate things, just being in the same spot or chatting over take out has made them feel relaxed. chan found himself expressing his vulnerabilities, making seungmin feel good for being a sort of safe place and support for chan.
you could say their hatred had, at some point, just been pure jealousy.
you could say minho got upset when chan would ditch their movie nights to go to felix, jisung and seungmin’s place just to ho over something with seungmin. could say he hated seeing chan be so clingy to the younger alpha, throwing himself at him like they were a thing. it was a ‘i met him first’ type of thing.
you could say seungmin hated seeing how close minho was to chan. disliked how the older alpha got protective over the omega, like they were a thing when chan had innocently denied that assumption. could say he felt like minho was something he had to up do to get chan’s constant attention and praise. it was a ‘i could treat him better than you ever could’ type of thing.
yet that also made them grow fond and curious of each other. while they might not know it, chan just gave them another reason to see each other.
because why compete? might as well work together.
it’s probably been four days after he’s talked to minho, when seungmin spots the familiar ruffle of blonde on a bench. he takes his phone out and takes his sweet time to snap a good picture. chan always looks pretty in his eyes.
he sends minho a ‘good job, thought you’d tell me when it got fixed.’ along with the breathtaking picture of chan.
just before he heads over to chan’s side, minho replies with ‘I THOUGHT HE WAS HOME.’
minbun
HE IGNORED MY APOLOGIES ALL WEEK
I KEPT KNOCKING AND BEGGING
AND HE DARES TO LEAVE WHILE I’M
ASLEEP!?
me
calm down, this is equally great
minbun
HOW IS IT GREAT
HE’S AVOIDING ME
YOU’RE NOT THE ONE SUFFERING
me
you just come here and talk to him
or at least try to
reply to ‘YOU’RE NOT THE ONE SUFFERING’ ; babe, if you’re upset, i’m upset
minbun
that doesn’t make me FEEL ANY BETTER
me
stop yelling at me and get your ass over here
i’m going to talk to him
hopefully he doesn’t avoid me
minbun
doubt he will, he feels bad but he won’t be ‘rude and run away’ if you sit next to him
On my way!
he laughs at the automatic correction to ‘omw!’. minho hates it but he can’t help it when he’s clearly rushing. he diverts his focus back to chan, taking a deep breath before heading over.
“you know,” seungmin says as he sits next to chan. he feels the omega jump and tense up, “i thought you liked minho.”
“no, minho is just a friend,” chan says after a while, “i don’t see him as a potential partner, plus, he’s mean.”
seungmin smiles, “is he now.” he watches chan attentively, “normally you’re with him in the mornings. you two live together right?”
chan nods, “yeah…” he pauses, “seungmin,” chan says softly, messing with the pages of his book, “i’m sorry… i never courted anyone… so… i didn’t know how to court and-“
“and you asked minho for advice.”
chan turns to him, eyes wide and glassy. “i swear i didn’t mean it, i should have done my own research. i’m really sorry-“
“it’s fine, chan,” seungmin gives him a smile. “he’s your best friend,” he takes his phone out when it buzzes, he taps on his screen while continuing, “you had every right to go to him. sorry you had to deal with one of his insults towards me.”
“that still makes me feel worse… i neverintended to insult you.” chan goes back to looking at his book, “plus… i don’t think i can even call him a friend anymore…”
“he loves you, chan. i’m sure he’s owned up to his mistake,” seungmin tries.
“i guess… i’m still hurt though, he said some mean things when i came to him that day…”
“mean things?”
chan nods.
“has he tried to apologize?”
“he apologized last night but i just ignored him…”
“communication is everything.”
chan pouts, “i know…”
“would you accept his apology?”
“i don’t know… maybe? not really…”
“have you two ever fought before?”
chan shakes his head.
seungmin hums, “really?”
“maybe playfully but never like this. i feel really used and naive…” chan murmurs as he messes with his book again.
“yeah, he shouldn’t have dragged you into our issues. i’m guessing he got upset when he found out you like me?” seungmin scoots closer.
“a little yeah…” chan blushes, “it’s more embarrassing because i’m the oldest.”
“age is just a number.” seungmin smiles, “and it doesn’t really matter when you’re in love. nothing should matter. like, you’ve seen trios, right?”
chan turns to him, confused but understanding. “yeah.”
“would you be in one?”
chan glances around, unsure where this is coming from. “uhm… not sure… maybe? it depends but… i wouldn’t be against it… i feel like if i truly loved the people i’m with, it wouldn’t matter.”
“true,” seungmin smiles and glances behind chan. “so you’d give a poly relationship a chance?” he asks a but louder.
“yeah?” chan purses his lips.
suddenly, a weight is thrown to chan’s side. the omega tenses up when he’s a bit closer to seungmin, shoulder and thighs touching. he’s absolutely sandwiched and when that familiar scent invades his nose, he feels the need to scramble away.
however, minho’s arm snakes around his waist and hold him in place. to make chan’s heart almost jump out of his throat, seungmin does the same.
“so if we asked to court you, would you give us a chance?” minho asked teasingly but also seriously.
chan’s face was redder than a tomato. his hands dropped his book and covered it, feeling the various emotions wave over him.
‘this can’t be happening’ is mostly what his brain is screaming.
“seungmin yes, you no.” chan says muffled, bouncing his leg anxiously.
seungmin laughs, “eeh, but minho apologized.”
“but i won’t accept it.”
“chan, i cried my eyes out last night, my face is swollen,” minho huffed.
seungmin eyes his boyfriend, confused on where the swell is located. minho looks handsome as ever.
chan peeks through his fingers, brows furrowed. “i’m still hurt.”
“then let me make it up to you with taking you on a date.”
“let us make it up to you,” seungmin preens, “i was also in it for telling minho to hell you court me. i just didn’t think he’d be mean about it.”
chan is silent, for a long moment. “i… don’t you two hate each other?”
minho glances at seungmin, “it’s a love hate thing.”
“more love than hate though,” seungmin chuckles, “but we like you, chan. let us take you on a date.”
“this is weird!”
“we’ll let you think about it,” seungmin insists, “but even if you say no we’ll keep trying to court you.”
chan whines, “so what, you two are a thing?”
minho shrugs, “you could say that. we just won’t date unless it involves you too.”
“think about it, plus you live with minho.”
“WHICH IS WHY IT’S WEIRD!”
they only grin at chan when the omega pulls his hands away.
“see you around, chan,” minho says while getting up.
“see ya,” seungmin gives chan’s hip a gentle pat before following minho.
the omega is left to drown in both his thoughts and emotions.