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“Guys, we’ve been through this already…” Sunoo sighed while sounding very exasperated. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he frowned at all his members. He knew they were protective of him, and a part of him did like that but- he didn’t want them to keep getting into trouble because of him.
“But hyung, he-“
“No buts, Ni-ki.” He shook his head at the youngest, who sulked in return. How was it his fault Sunoo was too oblivious and pure for the world? If it wasn’t for them, he’d get abducted one day, Riki just knew it.
“Besides, nothing happened anyways.” Sunoo shrugged, looking at his members in confusion. With him being the only omega in the group he was bound to have difficulties understanding them sometime, but this was just- there was nothing to understand in the first place.
Sunghoon clicked his tounge, unnerved with everything. “See, this is exactly why we do what we do.” Sunoo was way too unaware and unsuspecting for his own good. It was bound to come back and bite him in the ass for it one day. But to prevent that from happening, he had the six other males.
“You guys are so weird sometimes…” he muttered, before he turned around and left the little supply closet they had assembled in.
Riki pouted and looked at the others with shining eyes, sad at having upset sunoo once again. But before he could say something about it, one of his hyungs came to his rescue.
Jay stubbornly shook his head. “No, Ni-ki, we did nothing wrong. He might not accept and show it always, but he’s thankful for our help. Believe me.”
“Jay hyung is right.” Jungwon added, thinking about what had led them to this predicament in the first place.
1.
“Enhypen? You guys can go settle in room 203. The according staff members are already present there. Thank you for joining us today.” The director bowed, before she left with a clipboard in her hands, ready to double check on the other groups.
The seven boys looked at each other, all of them sporting different degrees of excitement and happiness. They had been invited for a joint stage with a few other idol groups, and they couldn’t wait! Especially since some of them were successful seniors they rarely got to see…
“Is this real? Pinch me..” Sunghoon whispered, unable to believe it. They were rookies. A few months into the job only. Events like these still made them freak out.
Jake went ahead to pinch Sunghoon’s arm, and said boy yelped. “Ow! Not literally, you idiot!” He soothingly patted the skin, throwing daggers at Jake with his eyes.
“You should’ve made that clearer then!” Jake cockily responded, not able to stop himself from laughing. Sunghoon deeply inhaled and exhaled. This was not the time to jump the beta. Besides, he was an alpha, he knew better than to act up like that.
“Guys, where is room 205?” Riki asked, biting his inner cheeks in concern. How were they supposed to find the room on their own?
“She said room 203, you dumbass.” Jungwon corrected, rolling his eyes.
“Same thing! I don’t know where either of the rooms are!” Riki exclaimed, getting even more nervous. They had to get ready soon, but none of them knew where they were even supposed to go.
“Maybe we can ask around for help…” Sunoo meekly suggested, looking around the place. They stood in a corridor, which was somehow void of any humans. Great.
“Sure! If only there were people here.” Sunghoon sarcastically commented, making Sunoo blush in embarrassment. He was just saying!
“Stop attacking Sunoo, hoon.” Jay reprimanded, slapping the same arm Jake had previously pestered. Sunghoon let out a wail. Why were they coming for him?
“Okay, where ar we going to now?” Heeseung asked, looking around his members. If it went after him, they’d just walk around for a bit to gain a sense of orientation. But he knew they didn’t really have the time for that.
“If only I knew..” Jungwon sighed out, already giving up. He was the leader, but he was just as lost as the others. It didn’t help that Riki had started running around in circles too.
“Oh! Look!” Sunoo pointed somewhere to the back, where one could faintly see a group of people approach them. They couldn’t make out who they were, but hey, at least there were people here!
“Woah, they’ve come to save us!” Jake excitedly exclaimed, smiling widely. They were saved!
The group of people came closer and closer, and the seven could finally make out who they were- and oh. They were all members of the internationally known idol group ‘blue day’. The boys eyes turned as wide as saucers as they realized in whose presence they currently were.
“Oh god, what the-“ Sunghoon whispered, straightening out his clothes. The senior idols were still laughing and chatting with each other, meaning they hadn’t noticed the seven rookies.
“Is my hair okay?” Riki whispered to Sunoo, making the older man turn around and inspect it. Sunoo was freaking out himself, but opted not to show it. Instead he huffed fondly and smoothed the hair of the maknae out.
“You’re good to go!” He whispered back, pumping his fist into the air. Riki smiled that boxy smile of his, and Sunoo felt his heart warm up at that.
“Right? She was so weird for that!” One of the seniors said, and his other members laughed even more at that. Jungwon noticed that they were all alphas from their overpowering scents alone.. oh wow, that made them even more intimidating. And they were all so tall! Taller than Heeseung!
Another member shook his head. “People these days…oh- who do we have here?” He asked, taking in the enhypen boys. It made his other members turn around too, surprised at seeing rookies on set.
Jungowns mouth opened and closed like a fish, before he seemed to find back his voice. “Ah! One, two, connect! Hello, we’re enhypen!” They all bowed deeply, before they looked back up, into the amused faces of their seniors.
“You guys are rookies?” One of them asked, and they boys eagerly nodded. They were able to take in the woody and very musky scents of the seniors, and it made them falter. Wow, these guys were truly intimidating.
The leader of Blue day hummed amusedly and looked around the seven boys, taking in each of their faces and scents one by one. Little to no emotion passed by his face until he reached sunoo, who somehow managed to make him stare just a tad bit longer. He tapped his members arms and pointed a quick finger at Sunoo.
“Who are you?” He asked directly, and Sunoo blinked. He hadn’t expected to be addressed directly, but he was and that made him panic monetarily. His scent glands let out a light wave of his strawberry and cotton scent, and it made his members look at him too, surprised.
The seniors looked at each other at that, unintelligible smiles playing around their features.
“Oh! I’m Enhypen’s Kim Sunoo! It’s a pleasure to meet you!” He bowed deeply, and his legs were trembling in nervousness and excitement. Did he stand out to them? But why?
The leader took a step closer to the rookies, who looked at each other in confusion. What exactly was going on?
“Sunoo-ssi?” He asked once more, and Sunoo nodded enthusiastically. “My name is Jungkwan. It’s a pleasure to meet you. You’re very cute, Sunoo-ssi.” The leader spoke, making Sunoo blush. He knew he was cute, but this was a very successful senior speaking to him!
“Oh, thanks a lot.” Sunoo spoke, sounding way more shy and sheepish than he liked to admit. He averted his eyes to the floor, not able to hold the eye contact any longer. His sweet scent wafted around, making everyone unconsciously inhale it.
The entire group whispered something among each other which made them laugh, and Enhypen somehow felt a bit awkward. Besides, the other members apart from Sunoo felt their guts churn uncomfortably at the whole scene. They couldn’t help but feel worried.
“I’m sorry, do you guys happen to know where room 204 is? Was it 204?” Jake asked his members.
Jungwon shook his head, before he whispered “203 I think.” Into the older beta’s ear.
“Ah, 203. Do any of you happen to know where that room is?” Jake asked, interrupting the seniors. Jungkwan drew up a brow at having been interrupted, but there were seven hopeful pairs of eyes looking up at him and he sighed. The pair of hazel eyes especially stood out to him.
Before he could answer though, their maknae, Dongjun answered instead. “Oh, what a coincidence! We’re on our way to a room on that floor too!”
At that, the seven boys exhaled in relief, happy at having found help.
“Just follow us, yeah?” The seven boys nodded obediently, and started following the elders.
“Sooo, sunoo-ssi.” Another one started and Sunoo perked up. Sunghoon wasn’t able to stop himself from huffing. “How are you feeling today? Nervous? Excited? I imagine everything to be pretty new for you.”
Sunoo nodded, his cheeks rosy. “Yes! Uh- we’re new to all of this but- I’m highly positive that we will do just as well as we did during practices!” He shook his fists, making the seniors laugh fondly.
And suddenly Jay hated the way Sunoo would always unconsciously release his scent whenever he was happy. Usually, he loved it, as he couldn’t ever seem to get enough of the sweet and addicting strawberry scent.
But this excitement wasn’t caused by him nor their other members. And that displeased the alpha in him a lot. They were a pretty mixed group. Jake and Jungwon were the only betas, while the rest were alphas with the exception of Sunoo being the only omega.
They were bound to make a few weird encounters in the world as such a mixed group. But still… he didn’t like the attention Sunoo was getting the least bit. He wanted Sunoo’s attention on their group only.
“I’m also sure you will rock this. And if you ever need anything, you can always ask your Jungkwan hyung, hm?”
Sunoo spluttered, not having expected to be allowed to call the other hyung so quickly. But he nodded, showing his approval for that.
Riki was looking at the seniors with his forehead creased, not happy at the scene. They had been hogging Sunoo’s attention all for themselves!
“I don’t mean to pry but, are you a beta?” One of the members asked, and Sunoo flushed entirely red. He didn’t-
“Sunoo hyung doesn’t have to tell you, it’s none of your business.” Riki pouted, displeasure obvious in his voice. It had the others falter at that, and also Sunoo’s jaw dropped. He was quick to mellow out the tension.
“Ah, I’m sorry for him!” He bowed thrice, and it had the seniors look back at him and forget about what the alpha kid just said. “And regarding your question, I’m an omega…” his eyes were glued to the ground in embarrassment.
Omegas weren’t exactly rare in the industry, but they were female. Almost always. It was indeed rare for male omegas to be in the industry. And he knew that. He knew his debut would mean a lot of unwanted attention from the most different directions just because of his second gender. And yet he still wanted to debut.
“So that’s why you smell so nice.” Jungkwan sniffed the air, making Sunoo laugh a bit awkwardly. What has he supposed to even say…
“Too bad you won’t ever get to smell it after today..” Sunghoon murmured, making his members look at him. Luckily, it had been quiet enough for the seniors to not hear. Sunoo was trying to off the older with his eyes still though. The audacity!
“Don’t say that, you creep!” Another member told their leader, smacking his head. Jungkwan whined and the others laughed. The member turned around to apologize to Sunoo, but Heeseung could see the way his eyes took in Sunoo’s figure from head to toe. They roamed his facial features and lingered at his waist, which just had to be enhanced by the tight shirt the omega wore. Heeseung scoffed. Who was the real creep?
They continued walking through the corridors, and the seniors continued asking Sunoo all kinds of questions that were actually private matters like when he presented, if he’s ever experienced a heat (especially this one made the boys bristle) and if he’s ever nested. They excused their intrusive questions with the fact that they didn’t know any other omegas they could ask. And Sunoo believed them!
Another problem seemed to be how gullible and oblivious Sunoo was. It wasn’t enough that he was an omega, he just had to be so unaware of people's intentions too!
“Okay, this is the room!” They pointed at a door with the number 203 written across it. Enhypen bowed in gratefulness, though it looked stiff for all the members other than Sunoo.
“Thank you so much! We would’ve been stranded without you..” Sunoo thanked them, smiling that eye smile of his. It made the seniors swoon.
“There’s nothing to thank us for. We will root for you! It was nice to have met you, fighting!” They waved goodbye, and Sunoo waved too.
“Can’t say the same about you!” Riki yelled after them. Sunoo looked as if he had seen a ghost at the blatant disrespect, but it wasn’t over yet.
“Yeah! Next time stay away from our omega!” Sunghoon yelled after them, and the seniors were looking quite offended. Sunoo turned to Jungwon for help, but the leader was also staring after the elders with fiery eyes.
“He’s ours! Keep your hands and eyes to yourself!” Jake yelled, though the seniors were already gone. They hadn’t signed up for a bunch of jealous teenagers after all.
“What!” Sunoo yelled, before he turned around to look at his members. His scent was all over the place, and it was intensive. Almost like a burned strawberry shortcake. Still sweet, but kind of sickly so. It had his members pinch their noses.
He quickly pulled them into an empty storeroom next to the room they were
supposed to be at already, and the rest is history. (See: the introduction to this fic).
2.
Sunoo woke up feeling somewhat under the weather. It wasn’t anything concrete and tangible, so he didn’t know what was off either. His stomach felt fine, there was no headache, his lungs were fine. His heat, too, wasn’t due for at least another month.
So why did he feel so weird?
As he stood up and got ready for the day, since the seven of them had to be on set for the filming of a new music video, he tried to push these weird thoughts aside. What was actually important for today was to get his head into the game, as he’d have to do a good job.
So he quickly showered and brushed his teeth. These tasks alone already made him feel a ton better, so he believed he could go on about his day as planned.
“Oh! Morning, Sunoo hyung!” Jungwon greeted from where he sat around their dining table with a plate in front of him. The other members seemed to have already started eating too, from what he was able to see. Jake had even finished eating already.
“Morning, wonnie.” He mumbled. He didn’t have it in him today to smile his thousand watt smile first things first in the mornings, but he could still greet the others. Jungwon took a good look at the older, noticing that something was off.
Before he could ask about that though, someone interrupted. Riki took a good sniff of the air. “Hyung, what’s up with your scent?” He asked curiously, and Sunoo tilted his head. Now that the maknae had said it, the other members also noticed the faint change in sunoo’s scent.
“My scent? What’s wrong with it?” Sunoo tried to smell himself but he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He had literally just taken a shower, he couldn’t be smelling bad. “Do I stink?” He hesitantly asked, as he took in his members confused faces.
“What? No! God no, you don’t. It’s just- it’s more sweet than usual.” Jay tried to explain, searching for the correct words.
“Yeah! Uhm, it’s sweet but somehow even more sugary than usual. More intensive.” Heeseung added, making Sunoo nod in understanding. Well, the omega couldn’t smell himself anyways, so.
“But you’re okay?” Sunghoon asked, his forehead creased. The omega didn’t look too good, and that wasn’t because of his visuals. He was kind of sweating too, now that he had said it…
Sunoo nodded and used his hands to give himself some fresh air. “I am. It’s just hot. Is the AC turned off?” He looked around the room.
“Well yeah.. it’s only about 20 degrees outside.” Jungwon said, getting worried.
“Oh…” Sunoo mumbled, not understanding why he felt so hot. His body was burning up, and he had no clue why or what to do about it.
“Sunoo-ya, are you about to go into heat..?” Heeeung carefully asked, making six heads snap towards him. Sunoo’s eyes turned wide in embarrassment as he blushed.
“No, hyung. I’m not due for another month.” He answered truthfully. Heeseung nodded. He had to know after all, even though the question might’ve seemed a bit too personal.
“So we can exclude that. Do you still feel well enough to come with us today?” Heeseung asked, finishing his toast that was left on his plate.
“Of course, hyung! I am completely fine! Wouldn’t want to miss it…” Sunoo tried his best to sound as reassuring as possible. His members nodded.
“Okay. But as soon as it should get worse, I want you to tell us, okay?” Jay intensively stared at Sunoo daring the younger to disobey his request. Sunoo rolled his eyes before he huffed.
“Fine, mom.” Really, they were too overbearing sometimes. His work as an idol came first and even if he suddenly got worse, he’d be able to push through righ? It wasn’t that huge of a deal, he knew his limits best after all.
“Don’t be like that, take this seriously, okay?” Jay reprimanded, looking at Sunoo sternly. Sunoo’s lips pressed into a thin line. Whatever.
“Just sit down and eat something for now, okay?” Riki requested, drawing back the chair for the older one, so he could sit. Sunoo took his seat, but not without throwing their maknae a glare. He could take care of himself just fine, he didn’t need their
maknae to baby him.
Over the course of their meal, he tried his absolute best to ignore the lingering stares he received from his Bandmates. He knew they meant well and were just worrying for him, after all. He still felt a bit watched though.
It didn’t help that he truly wasn’t feeling too well. He was unbelievably hot, to the point he felt uncomfortable in his own clothes.
Trying his very best not to start panting and taking off his clothes, he decided to focus on his food. He could push through this day and get it over with. He had to, after all.
“Are we all ready to go?” Jungwon asked good twenty minutes later, when all of them stood at the door, ready to leave. They looked around before they nodded, remembering everything they had to take with them. Their leader hummed, before he opened the door and led them all to their van.
The ride to the set went over pretty quickly and silently, and soon enough they told on set, waiting for instructions and their makeup noonas to start getting them ready.
“The joint scenes will be shot today, so all the solo and duo scenes will be taken care of tomorrow. We really need to get them done today though, since our schedule is already fully packed and it’ll be difficult to postpone. So I’m asking for all of you to work as efficiently as possible, so that we can get this over with quickly.” Their manager gave them a brief rundown and they all nodded.
“Okay, now I want y’all to get ready.” With that, the boys went to get ready.
“Are you feeling okay?” Riki whispered into Sunoo’s ear in passing. Sunoo gaped before he rolled his eyes and lightly pushed the maknae away.
“I’m just fine, you better worry about yourself.”he snarled. He didn’t want to come off as hostile but his emotions were all over the place, what could he do? He felt hot. Unbelievably hot all over.
There was something akin to hurt flashing through Riki’s eyes, but it was gone just as quickly. “If you say so, hyung. Take care of yourself still, okay?” He patted the omega’s shoulder before he turned around to leave. That little motion made a cloud of Riki’s scent waft over to Sunoo, and the omega felt his stomach churn uncomfortably.
He wanted to get a better chance to deeply inhale Riki’s pungent scent. Preferably, he’d gather clothes with all his members scents, so he could have them all close to him. Then he’d softly weave them together into a….oh.
Oh.
Now that he had realized it- he was in preheat right now! His body was preparing to start his full heat soon, which was also why he was so unbelievably hot. And now that he said it, he could also feel a tight knot in the pits of his stomach. It would start cramping really soon.
Sunoo was getting nervous. Could he hold it off until he was back home? Then again, this wasn’t a choice he could make consciously. He had to hold it off, as long as he could. Had he brought his suppressants? He immediately started searching through his bag, but it was futile.
He sighed, feeling frustrated. “Oh come on, why today?” He whispered, unknowingly letting out his scent heavier and thicker than before. It made a few heads turn to him, and he flushed even more.
This stupidity was completely on him. He was an omega, he should know better than letting his suppressants at home even when he wasn’t due for who cares how long. Emergencies could always happen.
So when he sat down to get ready and his makeup Noona looked at him weirdly, he only shook his head. He was already frustrated enough.
They started shooting half an hour later, and Sunoo felt confident that he could do it.
“Sunoo.” Sunghoon called him, and he turned around to face him, tilting his head.
“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong? You scent and your pheromones are all over the place and-“ hoon gulped, not knowing how to say it.
Sunoo only smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry hoonie hyung. I am okay.”
“If you say so.” Sunghoon nodded, deciding to let it be, Sunoo knew himself the best after all.
So they all got to work.
They were all ordered to go to the first setting and dance through the choreo fully twice, as if they were having an actual stage. Every member got their head into their current task, even though it might’ve been harder for one or the other. Sunoo was downright nervous with the knowledge of his heat approaching very soon.
And he was too embarrassed to tell anyone about it and ask for help. He knew how important this day was and how especially important it was to get as much done today as he could. He couldn’t additionally burden the others with his omegan problems.
He just had to suck it up, work efficiently and precisely, so he could get home quicker and fulfill his needs.
He really wanted the comfort and warmth of a nest. Really, really bad. He wanted to drink some warm tea and cuddle with his favorite blanket. Alone the thought of being able to go home soon was warming him up from the inside, making him release strong waves of his scent, successfully throwing off everyone on set.
His members looked at him worriedly, even Jake and Jungwon who were supposed to be betas and weren’t supposed to be able to perceive pheromones as strongly.
“Sunoo hyung, are you sure you are okay?” Jungwon asked, brows furrowed in worry.
“Yeah, yeah I am.” Sunoo waved the other off and smiled tightly, ignoring the knot in his stomach. “Don’t worry, let’s continue filming.”
Jungwon nodded tight lipped. He signaled for their director to resume filming and they all got back to work. Two more rounds with this setting, then they’d move to the next.
It was all going well, it truly was.
Everyone was giving it their all, making sure to keep their facial expressions in mind and their moves precise. It was all going well, it truly was. And they had also successfully transferred to the next set, meaning they were almost able to go home.
It was all going well, it truly was.
Until Sunoo suddenly dropped onto the floor, clutching his stomach and letting out a loud whimper. His scent turned stronger than it was before, and his members had to hold their breaths for a second. The strawberry scent was rich and thick, and it was then that the others realized what was going on.
There was an Omega in heat right on set. And at least a hundred alphas were right there.
“Sunoo!” Jungwon yelled, having regained his bearings first. He rushed over to the older, and noticed how he was shaking and panting. He took Sunoo’s hand in his, but hissed at just how hot the older felt. “Shit, you’re burning up…” he whispered, not knowing how to handle the situation.
“Jungwonie.” Sunoo whimpered. “I want- I need a nest.” He clawed at Jungwon’s clothes urging the younger to take them off. Jungwon sharply inhaled at seeing the state Sunoo was in. His eyes were unfocused and hazy, telling him just how far gone the older already was.
He turned around to beckon Jake closer, seeing as all the others were trying to cover up their noses due to the strong scent.
“We need to get him out of here, as soon as possible.” Jungwon stated and Jake nodded. Seeing the way Sunoo was whining and whimpering while babbling incoherent stuff, Jake knew there wasn’t much time left before he’d be fully gone and
start producing slick and begging for a knot.
“Right. I’ll get the driver.” Jake quickly left, but before he could, he was held up by their director.
“How much longer?” He asked.
“How much langer what?” Jake tilted his head.
“How much longer until his heat fully hits? We have to continue filming.” He sad it without any ounce of sympathy or empathy for the situation and it made Jake’s cheeks warm up in anger.
“Who the fuck cares? You’ll just have to find some other time to continue filming. We’re getting our omega home now.” He turned around with that, and left for the driver.
Their director wasn’t having it though. He as a beta was barely affected by Sunoo’s pheromones that were all over the place so he headed for Heeseung, who was crouched on the ground, using his sweatshirt to cover his nose.
“Heeseung!”
Said boy looked up in surprise, sweat trickling down his forehead. Sunoo smelled sweet. Too sweet, and it was making his alpha ask for more. He was urged to go closer and get a better whiff of the scent, maybe even mark the omega if he was pliant enough and up for it. In short, he was about to enter his rut, just like the other three alphas.
“Can we continue filming? We were almost done anyways. It’d be a whole load of unnecessary work if we had to break off here.”
Heeseung frowned. Was their director for real? Was he not seeing the state the whole set was in? How the hell did he want to continue working? But before he could say anything, there was someone else that voiced his disapproval.
“With all due respect, there’s an omega about to go in heat here. Don’t you think that’s more important right now?” Jay asked, scowling.
“I don’t care about him, we can also film without him. I just need at least something.”
“Too bad then, you won’t be getting anything.” Riki hissed, finding himself getting worked up.
“We’ll be leaving and taking him with us. Find some other day to continue this.” Sunghoon added, trying his best to not inhale Sunoo’s scent too deeply. But it was hard, with how the whole set smelled like the fresh strawberry cake his mother would prepare whenever he came home from ice skating practice completely exhausted.
“No you don’t understand.” Their director shook his head, slowly getting mad. “This heat thing isn’t my problem. What did he even think, debuting as an omega. I can’t alter my schedule just because of him. I need to get my job done today.” He stared intently at the idols, who looked back, unfazed.
“Guess what. We don’t give a fuck.” Riki said, just as Jungwon rushed away with Sunoo behind him.
“And don’t you ever talk about him like that again. He debuted, because he had the talent. He debuted regardless of his secondary gender and I won’t let you walk all over him like that again.” Heeeung spoke, standing up. He was scowling deeply at their director, who was still seeming irritated by all of this.
Something about his face irked Riki and he stepped closer to grab him by his collar, but Jay held him back. “He’s not worth it Riki.”
Riki only stepped back, seeing how his hyung was right.
“At the end of the day, you can’t do anything if we all leave. What are you gonna do? Chain us to this set?” Jay shrugged before he left, dragging Riki with him. Their maknae flipped the director off, making Heeseung and Hoon laugh who were walking behind them.
“That bastard.” Sunghoon whispered.
There was only so much discrimination against Sunoo they could tolerate.
3.
“Yes indeed. The senior requested Sunoo as his partner, since he fits the asked vibe of the performance. Our staff and managers didn’t have a problem with this decision as we’re sure sunoo will do well. Any objections?” The staff looked around the members faces, searching for disapproval.
Sunoo’s eyes were wide as saucers, as he had not expected this. Not now, not in a thousand years.
“Wait, he wants me?” He asked again, pointing to himself. Maybe they had said Sunghoon and he had just misheard it.
“Yes, Sunoo-ssi. Is that a problem?” The staff asked, tilting her head the tiniest bit.
Sunoo frantically shook his head, a healthy blush covering his cheeks. “No, not at all! I was just surprised, is all…”
She smiled. “I have no doubts you will do just fine.” She patted his shoulder lightly. “Okay if that’s all, I’m going back to work?” She asked, but didn’t get back an answer. Sunoo had already drifted off to his own little world, just like his members.
She only huffed before she turned around and left.
“Wow…” Sunoo whispered. He’d get to perform a duo with a senior at the MAMA awards? How did he get so lucky? Did he even deserve that? There were a lot of questions and doubts in his mind, but he was also so unbelievably happy and excited.
“Guys did you hear that?” He exclaimed, turning around to face his members. He was smiling brightly from one ear to another, hoping to see his members equally excited for him.
Instead he saw most of them frowning at nothing.
Jungwon looked up and weakly smiled. “We did, we’re happy for you, hyung.”
But Sunoo could tell it wasn’t genuine. In fact, none of his members seemed to welcome the news as well as he had expected. It made him pout.
“What’s wrong?” He asked instead, worried that they weren’t feeling well.
“Nothing is wrong, Sunoo. Don’t mind us, we’re just tired from today. But we’re all happy for you!” Jay smiled too, and Sunoo decided to just nod. If there was something truly up, they’d tell him, right?
“Hyung, come with me. I want ice cream. I’ll even buy you mint chocolate.” Riki said, intertwining his and Sunoo’s hand. Sunoo wasn’t given a chance to protest, before he got pulled away by his junior.
“I want two scoops then!” Sunoo demanded, and Riki grumbled before agreeing. The things he did for his hyung.
“You can even get three if you want, hyung.” Riki turned around to look at his hyung intently while he said that, making Sunoo blush.
“Eh? No no, two are enough!” He averted his eyes, getting nervous at the stare. “I need to look after my weight after all, especially with the upcoming award show.”
Riki looked Sunoo up and down, before looking his hyung in the eyes again. “You look good to me. You always do.” He shrugged and Sunoo flushed red, feeling flustered.
“You should get one of these buckets to take home with you.” Riki suggested, pointing at the ice cream buckets they were selling. They were already enjoying their ice cream cones, and Sunoo looked at the buckets, before he let out a laugh.
“Do you want me to get even chubbier?” He looked down to his stomach, poking the soft skin. There were no abs like his members had, and that was the root of the one or other insecurity of his.
Riki also poked sunoo’s tummy, making the other squeak in surprise. “You look just fine to me. You’re good just the way are, who cares about the one or other pound plus or minus.”
Sunoo giggled, before pinching Riki’s cheek fondly. “You’re too cute, Riki.”
Riki pouted and shook his head. “I’m not hyung! I don’t wanna be cute!”
Sunoo fondly shook his head. “That’s exactly what makes you even cuter.”
Riki pouted even more, wanting to be perceived as strong and handsome by his hyung. He tried so hard to be protective, strong, and cool. Only for Sunoo to find him cute.
“Oh well.” He shrugged, deciding to just enjoy the day out with sunoo.
That proved to be an especially correct theory, because starting from the very next day, Sunoo seemed to be loaded with new tasks, courtesy of the upcoming joint stage performance.
They had all arrived at their company earlier and had started warming up as per usual, before they could start practicing their dances.
Sunoo was stretching his legs, when the door to their practice room opened and the same nice lady from yesterday came in with someone else in tow. It was the senior that had asked for Sunoo as his partner.
Everyone immediately rushed to stand up and bow deeply to welcome their guests warmly. It was Jeonghan hyung from Seventeen! He was like- the coolest beta ever!
The newcomers laughed. “That’s not necessary.” Jeonghan assured, smiling politely at the other group. He saw a lot of surprised and incredulous Stares at him, which made him chuckle but also swell with pride. It was always nice to see younger groups appreciate their elders.
“So, how are you guys doing?” He asked, looking around. All the enhypen member answered the most different responses at the same time, making anyone unable to understand anything. While most of them blushed in embarrassment, Jeonghan laughed.
“We’ve come here to explain more about Sunoo’s solo schedule.” The staff member said, looking at the omega who perked up.
“And perhap already start working on it today?” Jeonghan asked, looking at the staff. “The earlier the better, no?” She nodded and faced Sunoo once more.
“So, we want to perform a duo version of ‘Pretty U’ and either ‘Rock with you’ or ‘Darl+ing’ by seventeen. We haven't settled on the second song just yet.” She flipped through her ipad, checking through some notes.
“We had hoped for your input on this?” The beta asked, looking at Sunoo.
His eyes widened. “Ah! Oh uhm, I don’t mind either, actually! I think the choreo of ‘Darl+ing’ might go better with ‘Pretty U’ though… as in- ‘Rock with you’s choreo is quicker and… yeah…” he ducked his head, getting shy at everyone’s attention being solely fixed on him.
“No no, that sounds very valid. You should consider that when making the decision.” He told the staff, who nodded. She jotted down something real quick, before she bowed and left the boys alone.
Jeonghan walked up to Sunoo and bowed briefly, before he stretched out his hand. “Hi, I’m Jeonghan from Seventeen, nice to finally meet you, Sunoo.”
Sunoo’s breath hitched- Jeonghan was so so pretty, he felt unreal. Sun bowed a 90 degree bow before he enthusiastically shook the older’s hand. “The pleasure is all mine! I’m Sunoo! Although, you already knew that…”
Jeonghan laughed. “You’re cute. And you smell so nice, too.” He spoke, leaning in the tiniest bit to get a better idea of Sunoo’s scent. As a beta he didn’t perceive pheromones that well, but he was still able to pick up on hints of strawberry.
“Ah, thank’s a lot, Jeonghan sunbaenim.”
“No, don’t do that.” He shook his head, making his long hair fly around. Sunoo was in awe, Jeonghan was like a prince in real life. He subconsciously twisted his own hair strands, strangely wishing for longer hair himself. “Just call me hyung.”
Sunoo blushed. “O-okay, Jeonghan hyung.” A little sqawk sounded through the room coming from one of Sunoo’s members. It made him and Jeonghan turn to face them.
“Ah, the same goes for you! You can all call me hyung!” He declared, making the
others bow to show their gratitude, albeit stiffly. It wasn’t their fault, really.
After that, an awkward silence settled among all of them, making Sunoo gulp a bit. He didn’t know if he was making things up but his members were fixating on Jeonghan. And their stares weren’t friendly at all.
“Okay…” The senior beta started, looking at Sunoo once more. He offered his hand, which Sunoo shyly took, not being able to believe his reality. Jeonghan reassuringly squeezed his hand once, before attempting to pull Sunoo out of the practice room. “I’ll bring him back in one piece, promise.” He tried to joke, but no one laughed.
Instead, Jungwon quickly took Sunoo’s other hand and tugged, asking for Sunoo’s attention. “Can’t you stay with us for today? We have to prepare for the award show too.” And his eyes looked watery, making Sunoo feel bad.
Jeonghan released sunoo’s hand, opting to stay back and see how that scene played out. He had never seen it, but definitely heard of it before. An omega in a group or pack tended to make the other members a thousand times more protective.
“Yeah! I wanted to show you that one move you couldn’t quite get down today too, remember?” Riki added, making Sunoo subconsciously nod. Their maknae had wanted to help him, after all.
The other members grunted and nodded, all agreeing with Sunoo having to stay with them. And when Sunoo looked at Jungwon once more, and saw the younger’s lips trembling, he immediately started fretting.
“It’s okay, I’ll stay!” He pulled their leader closer, wrapping him into a protective hug, and started scenting him. He released his scent, making the others come closer too. “You’re right, we should practice on our performance today.” He said to Riki, pulling in the maknae too, who buried his face in the crook of Sunoo’s neck.
The others wrapped their arms around them one by one, resulting in a group hug. Although less prominent than the others, Sunoo also had protective instincts which were rather centered around the younger members of the pack. He wanted to guide and help them grow- nurture them in a way only an omega was capable of.
The hug lasted for longer than Sunoo anticipated, seeing as his members just did not want to let him go. He craned his neck to look for Jeonghan, who was smiling at the group of rookies. Sunoo smiled apologetically, but Jeonghan waved him off.
Instead he held up a little white note and placed it where the water bottles and towels were. It was his number. He made a calling sign, and left the room.
Jeonghan hadn’t ever seen it before, but he found it fascinating how a group's dynamic could completely change if you added an omega to the equation.
Sunoo had this motherly air around him, which the others probably didn’t want to share, and he honestly couldn’t fault them.
A little smile tugged at his lips. He’d still steal Sunoo from tomorrow on though.
4.
“Breakfast is ready!” Jay yelled through the dorm, making the sound of a thousand feet patter through their living space to settle around the table. The members quickly took their seats around the table, already salivating at the thought of a filling meal.
Jay snorted as he placed their plates and cups firstly, before adding the pancakes he had prepared. Jungwon quickly rushed to the fridge to get out the syrup and whipped cream while Jake took care of the fruits they wanted to add.
“I’m starving!" Riki yelled out, rubbing his tummy in anticipation. Nothing went over a full plate of pancakes with syrup drizzled all over them, whipped cream on top and warm strawberries to top it all off.
“Calm your tits, bro.” Sunghoon huffed out, drawing up a brow. It made Heeseung and Jake laugh out and Riki flushed a bit.
“Let him be, Sunghoon.” Jay came to save the day. “I’m happy he’s actually hungry for the change.” Jay looked at Riki with his brows drawn together in worry. The teenager ate too little for his age, and that worried him more often than not.
“Whatever.” Sunghoon mumbled, looking at the food instead. Jake and Jungwon returned and sat around the table, so they could all dig in.
Jay gave everyone two pancakes to start it off. “Wait- where’s sunoo?” He asked, as two pancakes remained on the plate.
The others looked up and around, realizing their omega was not with them. Weird.
“Have any of you seen him today already?” Jake asked, not able to hold back the tint of worry that was audible in his voice.
“No, I haven’t..”Jungwon answered, shaking his head. The others did the same, only now realizing that their omega hasn’t been with them all morning.
“No wait, I have! I saw him coming out of the bathroom earlier this morning!” Heeseung noted, making the others immediately turn to him.
“When was this?” Jay asked, taking a seat himself.
“Earlier this morning. Everyone was still asleep or just about to wake up. He got ready I think.”
“Ready for what?” Riki was very much confused.
“I don’t know, actually. He looked ready to go out, though.” Heeseung shrugged, his forehead creased in worry.
“And you didn’t bother to ask him where he was going?” Jungwon asked, stunned at his hyung’s silliness.
“I was still in a trance from sleeping, don’t do me like that!” The alpha defended himself, his thick scent leaking from his scent glands, hinting at how distressed he was.
“Okay okay, we believe you, calm down.” Sunghoon yelped, using two fingers to cover his nose.
It was then that someone punched in the code to their dorm and the front door opened with a beep. They all perked up and turned to look to their hallway.
Soon Sunoo came into view, looking exhausted. “Oh. Good morning.” He offhandedly commented, passing them to get to the kitchen, wanting to drop his water bottle. He took off his jacket and shoes then, before he wanted to head to the bathrooms.
“Sunoo.” Heeseung called him, making him halt in his tracks.
“Yes hyungie?” He asked, hoping he wasn’t in trouble.
“Where have you been?” Riki blurted out, not able to hold it back.
Sunoo blinked. “I went out for a morning run, Ni-ki.”
But that answer made all his members worry even more, either looking at him or each other, not believing their ears.
“Did you just say you went out for a run?” Sunghoon hesitantly asked, wanting to double check. But Sunoo pouted even more, looking mildly hurt at that reaction. So the manager had been right after all…
“What's so absurd about that imagination?” He asked defensively, crossing his arms.
“No no, we didn’t mean it like that!” Jay came to save the day once more. “It’s just, you never- you usually wouldn’t willingly exert your body like that…”
“Well I do so starting from today, so you better get used to it.” He snapped. He really didn’t want to be seen as the only unsporty member of Enhypen. As the only omega he already got more than enough of the unwanted attention.
Under no circumstances did he want to give those haters more bait.
“Woah, calm down, we were just saying.” Jake said, a pout promonet on his lips. His beta did not like the fact that they had upset their omega.
“At least come here and eat after washing up.” Heeseung said, hoping to appeal to the younger. But the strawberry scent he had hoped to perceive after his comment failed to materialize.
“I’m on a diet.” He declared, making his member’s jaw drop. Riki was just about to eat a strawberry with whipped cream when he halted in his tracks, not being able to believe what he just heard.
"You're what?” Jungwon asked, tilting his head.
“I’m on a diet, Wonnie.” Sunoo said, sounding so resolved it threw off his members.
“Wait, what’s all of this about anyways?” Sunghoon asked, having lost the thread a long time ago.
“Nothing’s about anything, hyung. I’m on a diet and I go on morning runs now. That’s all there is to it.” He shrugged.
“Did the managers ask you to lose weight?” Heeseung asked, assessing the omega. He looked just fine to him. Well, he wasn’t the most bulky man, but he was slender and nowhere near the point where he needed to additionally lose a few pounds.
“They don’t need to. I know I have to.”
“So you’re just gonna skip breakfast?” Jay was unable to grasp the current situation.
Sunoo only shrugged, not wanting to answer.
Jake sighed. “This is not how it works, Sun. You can’t make your body work that hard without eating anything. It won’t have anything to store and digest, meaning it can’t gain any energy, resulting in you collapsing. You won’t lose weight that way, you’ll only harm yourself that way.”
Sunoo’s gaze dropped to the floor. He didn’t want to receive a lecture from his bandmates and friends.
“He’s right, hyung. And besides, I don’t see where you have to lose any weight anyways.” Jungwon shook his head.
“What’s all of this really about?” Heeseung softly asked, his eyes looking so understanding and patient. Sunoo tried his best to stop his lips from wobbling and the tears from rushing into his eyes.
“It’s stupid.” He shook his head, too embarrassed to say it out loud.
“It hurt you though, didn’t it? So as long as it got a reaction out of you, it’s valid. Tell us, hyung.” Riki spoke, and Sunoo deeply inhaled.
“The manager made a joke about my weight yesterday. And I- I thought I had to lose weight so that wouldn’t happen again.” His eyes flitted all over the place, as half of him was expecting his members to start laughing at him.
“When?” “Who?” “Where?” Various replies came all at once. Sunoo only pouted and took a seat next to Jungwon and Sunghoon.
“We were all at the company. The manager was walking us through the schedule for the fanmeeting I think. And he said- he said he hoped they wouldn’t have to alter my stage outfits, but then he looked at my body and said that they probably would have to anyways.”
As he kept on explaining, his members got more and more displeased by the minute. They could see just how much Sunoo had taken such an offhand comment to heart and they were unhappy with themselves for not realizing sooner. Especially since sunoo had always rather struggled with his image.
“And I know that sounds stupid but I just thought- I didn’t want to be an additional burden, especially since the managers already have a lot to do without me adding any unnecessary trouble on top. So I- I figured I should lose the weight.” He deflated.
Sunghoon poked his tummy, making Sunoo sqeuak in surprise. “Don’t be silly, Noo. Your feelings are completely valid, and nothing you say is stupid when it upsets you.”
Sunoo pouted, feeling like he didn’t deserve such understanding mebers.
“Yeah, he’s right. That manager was an idiot for even implying anything about your weight. You’re completely fine the way you are.” Jake added, making sunoo look at him with hope in his eyes. He hoped the older one was telling the truth.
“Mhm!” Riki nodded, his mouth full of pancakes. “I’ll make sure to flip him off the next time I see him!”
“Riki!” Sunoo yelled, cheeks flushed red. Ni-ki only laughed.
“No but, jokes apart. Sunoo, please don’t think about your body image too much. It is easy for us to develop any sort of dysphoria, especially since we’re people of the public. But let me tell you, I’d never lie to you and when I’m saying you’re prefect the way you are, I mean it.” Heeseung stared intently into the hazel eyes, amd Sunoo’s breath got stuck in his throat for a second.
Soon, a crooked smile settled on his lips and he looked so, so relieved. He should have double checked with his members first before torturing his body through an hour and a half of running.
“So…I’m good?” He asked once more, and got enthusiastic nods in return. He deeply exhaled. “Oh thank god, I hate running anyways.” He reached for the pancakes and loaded them onto his plate before grabbing some of the syrup to decorate them.
His members looked at him fondly, happy that he was enjoying himself. They were happy to have been able to ease his mind and make him. Stop worrying over irrelevant stuff. Besides, Sunoo looked like he had a whole load of fun while eating and they hoped he’d never lose that sparkle.
The fact that he let out his sweet strawberry scent too, making their entire eating space feel cozy and warm, was just an added bonus, really.