Archive of Our Own

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, which is an irrefutable truth Yangyang can attest to.

He could be the poster boy for it, in fact—despite only spending a year living in the same neighbourhood as Renjun, aged fourteen to fifteen, he’s never had a closer, fonder, more lovable friend in his life. Thanks to the power of the internet, they never fell out of touch for too long as Yangyang’s family moved around the globe—and as they saying goes, distance made Yangyang’s heart grow fonder.

Somehow, staying in one place for school the last few years has made the ache in his chest burn harder, his longing for Renjun grow stronger, and Germany is so, so far from home. After nights upon nights of calls that went on for hours, countless days receiving Renjun’s carefully wrapped care packages in the post, and hundreds of thousands of carefully crafted messages just to make him laugh, he’s finally going to see Renjun in person again.

When he comes out of the terminal, huge suitcase in hand, it’s to the surprise of Renjun standing there next to Kun, waiting for him. His face lights up with an excited, if slightly embarrassed smile when he sees Yangyang, pushing up on his toes to wave at him over the crowd.

Yangyang can feel himself beaming right back—he hadn’t known Renjun was coming to pick him up, and the sight of him so excited to see Yangyang makes him pick up the pace. He goes straight in to hug him, Renjun opening his arms for it, squeezing them around Yangyang’s shoulders.

“I missed you,” Renjun says in his ear, and Yangyang squeezes him, rocking them from side to side.

“I missed you too,” he replies, feeling breathless from the emotional honesty.

“Don’t mind me,” Kun says, taking Yangyang’s suitcase from him so that he can put both arms around Renjun’s wiry frame. “I’m only the brother you’re living with for the foreseeable future. It’s nice to see you too, Yangyang. How have you been?”

Yangyang squeezes Renjun once before releasing him, both pink-cheeked from the soul-baring greeting he hadn’t been anticipating. It’s early, and Renjun is dressed in slacks and turtleneck for work. His hair is long—it must be in his eyes now—but slicked back handsomely away from his forehead. He must’ve come to greet Yangyang before going into the office for the day.

“Yeah, yeah,” he says to Kun, laughing when he swats at him indignantly, but he still has Yangyang’s case in hand nonetheless.

“I’ll come by this weekend to see you,” Renjun promises as they walk towards the terminal doors. “I’m sorry I can’t stay, I have to run to work. But I’m glad you made it safely.”

“I’m glad you came to see me,” Yangyang says, ears warm, but Renjun’s shy smile when he says it makes Yangyang’s stubborn smile stick on his face. “Safe trip.”

“And you,” Renjun says, waving as he takes off in a different direction, towards the public transport end of the airport. Kun leads Yangyang towards the car park end, and Yangyang nearly falls off the curb trying to watch Renjun go.

Kun raises an eyebrow at him, amused. “You’ll be going ahead with your grand plan, then?”

“Fuck yeah. He came to see me arrive at the airport even though he could only stay for five seconds. I don’t even have a choice, gē. I have to have him.”

He’s not exactly known for his romantic whimsy. But Renjun is. And he can do his best for Renjun.

As he loads his case and bags into the car, he thinks about the call he’d had with Kun just last week, where his two boyfriends had stuck their noses in and started giving Yangyang unsolicited advice. As much as Kun had sighed and huffed, and he knows Ten and Johnny did it out of their chronic need to meddle, he still appreciated the gesture. He’d even taken notes, and together they’d concluded that courting someone can be done in five straightforward steps.

Yangyang is ready to put that to the test.

-

1. Permission

Permission to court someone is a pretty old-fashioned concept that only exists amongst conservative families these days, and was traditionally expected of an alpha looking to instigate a relationship with an omega. As a beta in the modern era, he wouldn’t typically even consider including this as a step in his carefully-planned process.

But Renjun is two steps ahead of him in this regard. He’s in a relationship so progressive it circles back around to Yangyang needing to ask permission, from at least one of his six existing boyfriends.

New age packs like his aren’t uncommon in some parts of the world, especially amongst Gen Z. Yangyang could name quite a few people he knew in Frankfurt who were in new age packs, but they’re still relatively unusual in South Korea, a country still getting used to alpha-omega relationships not being the default.

It’s made easier by the fact that he knows most of the pack already. He plays League and Battleground regularly with Donghyuck, Jeno, Jaemin and Chenle, and though he’s only spoken to Mark a handful of times, he’d felt a vibe they had a lot in common. Jisung is shyer than the rest, and he’s the newest of Renjun’s boyfriends, but he’d recently moved into their shared house and started dating Jaemin too, so Yangyang is sure he’ll get to know him better in the coming months.

He messages Donghyuck, because he knows him best, and honestly has a little crush on him. It’s nothing he can’t handle until he gets his Renjun issue sorted, but he can’t resist the temptation to come to him first, just to get his attention.

Can we meet when ur free? Need ur help…

Dude didn’t you just land like 6 hours ago

Renjun will be pissed if you’re hanging out with other guys before him

I’ll see him this weekend!!

The help I need is about Renjun….don’t tell him

…

I’m gonna drop a location. Meet me there

When?

Right now

The location, as it turns out, is the cat cafe where Jeno is currently on shift. It’s positioned right by the university where Mark is doing his postgrad and Donghyuck is getting his teaching degree, and only ten minutes away from Jisung and Chenle’s university. By the time he gets there, it’s lunch time, and Jeno goes on his break as soon as he spots Yangyang coming in through the doors.

This is all to say, his conversation with Donghyuck turns into a meeting with most—nope, there’s Jaemin appearing at the front door—all of Renjun’s boyfriends in no time at all.

“You’re eager, for someone fresh off a twelve hour flight,” Donghyuck is saying, as Jaemin pulls up a chair to cram in around the table meant for four. “Come on then. Out with it.”

“Hyuck,” Mark says, flashing big, meaningful eyes at Donghyuck.

“Don’t let the noisy boy scare you, Yangyang,” Jaemin says, patting his back reassuringly. “Take your time.”

“Uhh,” he says. “Why do I feel like I’m in an interrogation right now?”

“You’re totally not,” Chenle says, leg crossed over his knee primly, though he looks at Yangyang with an air of nonchalance so feigned Yangyang can tell he’s anticipating something.

“You are a little bit,” Jisung grimaces.

“You shouldn’t have messaged Donghyuck if you didn’t want an interrogation,” Jeno says, which is fair.

“Just pretend like they aren’t here,” Donghyuck says, leaning forward, elbows on the table. “Look at me, baby. What did you want to say?”

Yangyang shuffles uncomfortably in his seat. He guesses it’s a good thing they all came—avoids any misunderstandings about who he’d asked permission from, and why. Even if it’s making him pluck up all his courage to tell his deepest, darkest truth the six successful to Renjun-boyfriends. If Renjun rejects him, this will be so humiliating later.

“I—uh,” he says, swallowing. “I came to ask for your permission. I want to—to court Renjun.”

Donghyuck clasps his hands together as if in prayer, lowering his head and closing his eyes. “I never thought this day would come.”

Yangyang looks around, trying to gauge if that’s a good reaction or a bad reaction. Jisung, as ever, looks nervous. Jaemin is sat back in his chair, satisfied smirk on his face, sharing a knowing look with Chenle. The two pack alphas, Jeno and Mark, have the most reassuring looks on their faces, genuine smiles that stretch to their eyes.

“Dude,” Mark says. “No one else has asked for permission before. You’re off to a great start already.”

“Really?” he asks, betraying his surprise. How had they gotten to this point without anyone ever asking permission before?

“Seriously,” Mark says. “At least when it comes to Renjun, anyways.”

“Jeno and I asked for permission,” Donghyuck says, though Yangyang can tell he’s being facetious.

“You asked each other for permission, because you were already dating each other. That doesn’t count. Neither of you asked me for permission.”

“You weren’t dating Renjun then! You were courting him too slowly, he barely even noticed. It was fair game.”

Yangyang has heard this story before—he remembers witnessing it in real time, in fact, when Renjun would update him on every gift he received from Donghyuck and Jeno, and every date he went out on with Mark before he was sure they were actually dates. In the end, it had all come down to a long conversation between the four of them, when they’d all decided they were okay with dating Renjun at the same time. Renjun had a bit of a breakdown over it at first, then had taken it in his stride, and had three boyfriends by the end of his first year studying in Seoul.

It’s not a particularly fond memory for Yangyang—with three boyfriends, time was very much divided for Renjun, and he heard a lot less of his best friend for a good few months as they figured things out.

The jealousy had been something he’d lived with, at the time. Now, he only feels excited at hearing the story of their pack getting together—it reminds him he has a chance with Renjun, if only a slim one.

As Mark and Donghyuck bicker, he turns to Jaemin and asks, “What about you?”

“Jaemin pretty much started courting Renjun since the first time he met him,” Mark breaks off to say. “When Renjun sat him down and told him the situation, he just started courting all of us.”

“Why not?” Jaemin asks with a shrug and a grin.

“Then Chenle came along,” Jeno says, amusement in his smile. “And nearly failed his semester because he was too busy courting Renjun and Jaemin.”

“I didn’t fail anything!” Chenle says hotly. Yangyang remembers this too—Chenle had been doing a project on new age packs, and had asked to interview Renjun and Jaemin, who had become infamous on the Business & Accounting campus for the nature of their relationship. Over the course of several interviews, he’d ended up courting the both of them, and had to discount much of his research to make sure his paper wasn’t biased.

“Chenle never asks permission for anything,” Jisung says, by way of explanation.

“And you never needed to,” Yangyang responds, the pieces slotting together. “Renjun was the one who courted you.”

Jisung hides his face with one huge hand. “Yeah.”

“Wow,” Yangyang says. “So, uh, does that mean I’m okay to…?”

“Yes!” Mark, Jaemin and Chenle say at the same time, and Yangyang’s eyebrows shoot up from the enthusiasm. He’d been a little worried they’d tell him Renjun’s boyfriend quota was full, or something.

“Dude, he’d love for you to court him,” Mark says, then whines when he’s elbowed by Jeno.

“You have our blessing,” Jeno says more neutrally. “I’m guessing you don’t want us to tell him?”

“Not yet,” he affirms, releasing a breath in relief. “You guys can trust me, I won’t mess this up.”

“You’d better not,” Donghyuck says, clasping his hands together on the table, expression completely, scarily masked. “He’s been going on about you since before he started dating any of us.”

Jeno elbows him too, and Donghyuck whines a lot louder, and a lot more dramatically.

“Really?”

“Really,” Chenle deadpans. “Don’t screw it up.”

-

2. Gifts

Time with Renjun has always felt near-euphoric. Their last few times seeing each other have all been over fleeting summers staying at Kun’s place in Seoul, when they had visited the tourist sites, and Yangyang had pulled all-nighters just to game with Donghyuck and Jeno, and Renjun had grilled him for every detail about Germany and made wistful plans to visit. For a while, he’d thought that euphoric feeling was thanks to the timing of spending their summer break together, free from responsibilities, studies, shifts and worries.

In the last few months, he’d come to the blinding realisation that there is way more depth to his feelings than the simple bliss of school break. Said realisation may have been one of the main motivators for him to look for work in Seoul—not that he’d admit that to anyone.

It’s been ten years since he lived close enough to hang out with Renjun on the regular, and he’s never been more excited to live in a new place in his life. He’s got a few weeks to settle in before starting at his new job, and he’s determined to grab as much of Renjun’s time as he can in those few weeks.

Their first opportunity to spend real time together is that weekend. At Yangyang’s suggestion of shopping, Renjun had picked out the best mall for them to visit, so Yangyang can pick up the few things he needs for his new room and the two of them can get hotpot together afterwards.

Here starts the second step of courting: giving gifts. He’s no stranger to buying Renjun things they both like in stores—it’s how they’ve ended up owning so many matching hoodies, hats, and shoes—or paying the bill when they go out to eat hotpot together. But this time, he’s going to buy him something he really wants, something that makes it clear that Yangyang is desperately and irrevocably in love with him.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a great idea of what that could be. Yet.

“What do you think about these?” he asks, pointing to the rings on display in a shop window.

Renjun, ever pragmatic, drags him past them. “Do you need rings right now, or do you need shelf storage boxes?”

“Shelf storage boxes aren’t exciting,” he complains, but Renjun is on a mission.

“But it’s what you came to get. Your room looks like a bomb site, Yangyang, and if you think buying a set of shelf storage boxes will help you fix that, I’m not letting you leave until you have them.” He has one hand on Yangyang’s arm, dragging him along with all the determination in his little body.

Today, without his hair styled up or his fitted work clothes on, he looks incredibly cute and cosy. His long hair flops into his eyes, a soft chestnut brown, a little curly and frizzy over his forehead. He’s wearing an oversized cream hoodie with a graphic on that Yangyang recognises, because he owns one in his own size somewhere on his bomb site bedroom floor. It looks cuter on Renjun, but most things do.

He’s way too endeared by the look, and lets Renjun drag him all the way around the mall until they find a set of storage boxes he’d hazard a guess will fit on his shelves. But even then, Renjun refuses to let him look too closely at the clothes shops, which is Yangyang’s best bet of a place to buy Renjun stuff he wants.

“Do you know how many clothes you have? I seriously couldn’t see your bedroom floor earlier, Yangyang.”

“I told you, I was halfway through unpacking! I needed the boxes!”

“And until you get all your belongings sorted into those boxes, you absolutely don’t need more clothes to put away.”

“Are you my mom, or what?”

“I’m your best friend who is concerned you’ll leave the floor like that if I don’t tell you not to. I remember what your bedroom was like, you know, back when you lived in Jilin.”

“You do?” he grins, a little dumbly. He barely remembers what his bedroom looked like then—but to be fair, he remembers Renjun’s well. He’d spent enough time there, and re-treaded those memories often enough to have it burned into his mind.

“Of course. You had that huge Mortal Kombat poster up over your bed like it was your prized possession. You left shit all over the floor, but God forbid if I sat against your Mortal Kombat poster.”

He raises his eyes to the glass roof of the mall. Of course that’s what Renjun remembers.

Renjun giggles, delighted with himself, which is what finally tips him off that Renjun is pushing his buttons. He skips along beside him every few steps to keep in pace with Yangyang, still holding him by the arm to keep him close along the busy mall walkway.

“Let’s go in here instead,” Renjun says, suddenly diverting them into the large pet store at the end of the mall.

This isn’t so helpful in his mission to buy Renjun gifts. It’s not like he can up and buy him a puppy—as much as he’d like to, a dog is for life and whatever, and Renjun’s polyamorous household has only just adopted an extra inhabitant. But if Renjun wants to see the pet store, Yangyang is all too happy to oblige.

They beeline straight for the bunny house in the centre, where a family with two young children are peering into the rabbits hopping around the glass enclosure, and Renjun puts his hands against the glass to peer at them in much the same way. His eyes curve up at the corners as he smiles in at them, cooing a little and waving at the grey bunny that hops up to them. Yangyang finds himself smiling down at Renjun rather than the rabbit enclosure.

“They’re so cute,” Renjun says, stepping back when the rabbit hops away from him, the two of them moving on to the guinea pig and hamster cages at the side of the room. There are a few budgies around here too, and Yangyang squawks back at them when they chirp at him, making Renjun laugh.

“What would you name this one?” Renjun asks, pointing to a guinea pig with fur the same colour as Renjun’s hair.

“Jürgen,” he says immediately, and Renjun laughs in surprise.

“What about this one?” He points to a black and white guinea pig lapping at the water bottle.

“Mingming.”

“That one has to be yours right? Yangyang and Mingming.”

“Does that mean Jürgen is yours?”

“Sure,” Renjun smiles. “I’d take good care of Jürgen.”

“Jürgen,” he says again, just to get Renjun to say it right. His accent is so cute—he’ll have to try and teach him some other German sometime.

“Jürgen,” he repeats, as the two of them wander away from the rodent section to the huge wall of fish tanks at the back of the room. “Jürgen.”

“No, babe, these are fish.”

“Shut up. These fish are gorgeous.”

“Aren’t they?”

Under the pet shop lights, some of the exotic fish seem to glitter and shine, reflecting the light with every wiggle of their little bodies. Renjun, never one to exclude cute things from his attention, takes the time to view every fish tank, even if that means standing on his tip toes to reach the ones at the top or squatting down beside the tanks along the bottom.

Yangyang can’t say he’s not interested too. He’s always wanted a pet, but had moved around too much as a child, and knows he isn’t organised enough to take care of a dog now. Fish always seemed like the ideal solution to him, and seeing Renjun’s shiny eyes looking in at the tanks only makes that logic seem even more flawless.

“Look at these ones,” Renjun says, beckoning Yangyang over to where he’s squatted beside a tank of little yellow fish, their scales shimmering blue when they turn through the water. “Aren’t they pretty?”

“Really pretty,” he agrees, smile widening when he looks at the sign stuck to the tank. “Oh my God, look at the species name.”

“German blue ram,” Renjun reads aloud, smile on his face widening as he looks at Yangyang.

“Jürgen!” they say at the same time, and they laugh together, Renjun throwing his head back in delight.

That seals the deal for him.

“I have to have him,” Yangyang says, standing and looking around for a shop assistant. “I want to take him home.”

“Are you serious?” Renjun asks in surprise, but Yangyang has made up his mind. This is the next best thing he can get to buying Renjun something he wants, even if it is technically for himself—they just named this fish together. He’s practically their son.

The shop assistant shows him the sort of tank he’ll need, and he arranges to have the tank and its accessories delivered home today, and three German blue ram fish delivered later in the week.

Renjun follows him around, fascinated by the process, giving Yangyang an excited little smile as he finishes up paying and leads them out of the store.

“Do you want to come back to mine and decorate the tank with me?”

“Of course I do!” Renjun exclaims, as if that should be obvious. “We have to give Jürgen a nice home. What will you name the others?”

“Jürgen, Hans, and Monika,” he says, and Renjun full-bellied laughs again, sparking a little thrill through Yangyang. “They’re going to be a happy family.”

“I’m going to be visiting you for your fish, you know,” Renjun says, and Yangyang makes a face at him.

“What, not for my charming personality?”

“Definitely not.”

“Good thing I’m bringing Jürgen, Hans, and Monika home, then. You’ll have to come and see me all the time.” He takes Renjun by the hand to lead him away from a group of people coming towards them. They’re nearly at the hotpot place, so he doesn’t hold his hand for long, but he doesn’t miss Renjun’s shy smile at being held close.

-

3. Meaningful gestures

So buying Renjun a bunch of great gifts didn’t really work out. He just ended up buying himself a family of fish instead. But whatever, Renjun enjoyed watching him spend money, loved organising their tank, and true to his word, next comes to visit him the day after the fish are delivered.

It just means he’s doubly determined to nail the next step of his airtight courting process—gestures that show Yangyang knows Renjun, cares about him, and wants to do nice things for him. His main plan is to take him out to a great place he knows he’d love, pay for their tickets, and make it a nice day for him.

He knows how lucky he is to grab two weekends in a row with Renjun, what with six other boyfriends to compete with for his time, but he thinks asking the pack for permission worked in his favour on that front. Maybe a little too well, judging by Renjun’s grumbling when he turns up at Yangyang’s doorstep the following Saturday.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into my pack lately, but I went around and asked everyone if they wanted to come with us today, and they were all busy,” he scoffs. “Since when does Donghyuck have plans on a weekend? Or Jeno?”

“Did you want them to come?” he asks, pulling on his coat and stepping out the house. He knows the way to where they’re going—it’s not far from Kun’s home, but the opposite side of town to Renjun’s shared house.

“Of course! I want them to spend more time with you. Especially Jisung, since I know you guys haven’t met each other properly yet. I don’t know why they’re all suddenly full of excuses.”

Yangyang makes a mental note to send a message to each of the others, thanking them for their intervention—he knows how hard it is to say no to Renjun’s sad eyes and soft, pleading voice. Or alternatively, all his nagging.

As much as he does want to spend more time with the rest of Renjun’s pack, it’s just not the right time when he’s busy trying to court Renjun. He crosses his fingers behind his back to exempt himself of the lie-by-omission of technically having met Jisung, too.

“It’s alright. I’m here for a long time, now. I’ve got plenty of chances to meet them.”

“It doesn’t help that I couldn’t even tell them what museum we’re going to. Are you going to tell me yet?”

“You’ll find out when we get there,” he croons, and Renjun rolls his eyes, though not without a smile on his face. Yangyang has the impulse to reach out and take his hand, but can’t quite make himself go through with it—he ends up just brushing the back of his hand and pulling away.

They take the streets with a spring in their step, chatting easily the whole way. When he was back in Germany, and they’d had to time their calls just right to make it work around the time difference, they could easily spend hours on the phone. Neither of them had ever quite got their head around the time difference, and Yangyang would only realise in retrospect that he’d kept Renjun up until all hours of the morning. Though they’d both complain about it the day after, it didn’t stop them from doing it again and again.

Though Renjun has lived in Seoul for around four years now, he doesn’t seem familiar with the area they’re in, and doesn’t realise where they’re going until Yangyang stops them right at the door.

“The Museum of Illusions and Wonders?” he reads, cocking his head a little in Yangyang’s direction. “What is this?”

“It’s a museum of illusions and wonders,” he answers, leading them inside. “You’ll see.”

In truth, he doesn’t know too much about what’s inside the museum, other than the pictures he saw on the website. He just knows it’s a museum—Renjun likes those—it’s a cool attraction neither of them have been to before (he’d checked with Jaemin), and it’s close enough to home for them not to spend all day commuting on a special trip.

The first few rooms tell him the idea was a great one. Renjun is delighted by the two forced perspective chairs that, when stood on, make them each look tiny and huge. He orders Yangyang to stand on the tiny one and look up at him, as the souvenir photographer takes a picture of Renjun looking down on him, with a hand raised as if to squash him. Then comes a room full of lights, carefully placed between mirrors, which gives the effect of the room being an endless glowing rainbow chamber.

Midway through the trip comes a room of scents. A sign apologetically explains that omegas and alphas will get a lot more out of the room than betas, with their stronger and more intuitive sense of smell, but Yangyang still gets some amusement out of smelling roses that smell like cheese and chocolate that smells like Brussel sprouts.

Renjun is very taken by that room, especially the large scent mixing station at one end of it, where pressing buttons to combine gentle scents allows the user to create one of their own. The fragrances are too faint for Yangyang to really tell what he’s making, but he patiently waits for him to have his fun with it, even when he plays around with it for longer than he probably should. Yangyang isn’t going to say anything—especially when Renjun gets quiet and focused, then pays for one of the scent cards, and presents it to Yangyang.

“This is how you smell, to me. It’s the closest I could get, anyway.”

Yangyang has been told before that he smells like the ocean, by alphas and omegas who love to flaunt their superior sense of smell. It usually results in some joke about him being salty, or about his childhood spent in Taiwan when he feels particularly sentimental.

But when he brings the card Renjun gives him to his nose, and takes a dramatically deep whiff—just to see Renjun roll his eyes—it’s a lot more nuanced than that. It’s the smell of salt air at the seaside; it’s the pollen scent of treaded flowers and long grass; it’s the faintest hint of coconut on a tropical shore. It’s sweeter than it is salty. It’s a smell that feels like home to him, even if he’s never really lived anywhere long enough to call it home.

That’s what he smells like?

He takes too long to respond, holding the scent card to his nose and taking in the delicacies of it.

“What do you think?” Renjun asks softly, eyes trained on Yangyang.

“I smell really nice?” Yangyang says, hearing his own surprise, and Renjun laughs at him.

“Did you not know?”

“How would I know?” he sniffs it again. “People just say the sea, when they tell me. But this is a lot more than the sea.”

“I know, right?”

He’s touched by the gesture through the next few rooms, as they pass by some trippy art on sloping walls, and a room with a floor that looks as though it moves under his feet. A small room with interactive screens is showing a tank of fish when they arrive, fish that scurry away under their footsteps or when they touch the walls. They each point out the yellow ones when they see them, calling for Jürgen and his siblings and finding it hilarious each time.

The final room is Yangyang’s favourite. It surprises them both when they step inside to find it raining inside the room, but Renjun is quick to read the sign. The rain room works with sensors, allowing people to walk around inside the steadily raining room without getting wet.

Renjun is the first to bravely breach the edge of the room, keeping a hand on Yangyang’s arm to pull him in. Slightly more reluctant, Yangyang stands his ground a little until Renjun’s hand slips down to grasp onto his own. He turns around to encourage Yangyang in, and the sight of his excited little face and the feel of his warm hand is enough to convince him. He steps into the rain after him, and despite the promise of the sign, is pleasantly surprised when he doesn’t get wet at all, the rain continuing on around him.

“It’s like magic!” Renjun exclaims, releasing Yangyang’s hand to twirl in the middle of the room, arms out.

The room is dim, only spotlit in the corners, meaning his silhouette shows up against the white lights. He’s in a denim jacket and white shirt today, tucked into blue jeans, and his hair frames his face just perfectly in front of the light. He reaches out for Yangyang’s hand again, encouraging him to step further in and enjoy the trick of the room by reaching out his arms, reaching for the rain only for it to evade them.

It does kind of feel like magic, he thinks. But that might just be the feeling of being here with Renjun—he still finds it hard to separate all good feelings from his ginormous crush on his best friend.

Renjun is gushing about it as they come out of the rain room, and he puffs up with pride knowing he picked this out—with success! He’d chosen somewhere Renjun really liked! Even if they are both a little sad to arrive in the souvenir shop at the end. It’s full of trinkets and small magic trick packs, but the two of them head for the fun section of the shop, where there are themed t-shirts and baskets of scented stuffed toys. There’s even a DIY kit for making scent cards at home, with twenty tiny bottles of scents included, and more available to order online.

It’s there that he makes a more disappointing realisation. Despite planning their day out, Renjun had undoubtedly beat him in meaningful gestures—he’s still thumbing the scent card in his pocket, wanting to take it out and sniff it again without looking like a complete weirdo. He’d been the one who’d bought it for Yangyang too, when Yangyang is still yet to buy him anything since returning to Seoul.

When he leaves the graphic tees to find Renjun digging through the basket of stuffed toys, he asks, “Do any of them smell like me?”

“This one has the sea air and coconut scents in it, I’m pretty sure,” he says, holding up a cute shark plushie. “So it’s close. But this one kind of smells like me, from what Mark always tells me.”

He holds up a fox plushie, and Yangyang takes it to give it a sniff. It smells like rain, the way it hangs around forests and carries the scent of rich wildflowers, highlighting the damp greenery. It’s a smell he really, really likes, and for a moment feels envious that half of Renjun’s pack get to smell this every day. All of them, in fact—apparently betas can smell omegas and alphas if they get close enough to their scent glands. Yangyang has rarely been intimate enough with anyone to know if that applies to him.

“This smells so nice,” he says. “I want it.”

“If you get that, I’ll get the shark,” Renjun says, clutching it excitedly.

“Okay, you’re on. But I’m buying both of them.” He takes the shark from him, and Renjun doesn’t complain, but follows Yangyang to the desk to pay.

So maybe he hasn’t quite managed to give Renjun anything extra special yet, or make a meaningful gesture so touching that his intentions are obvious. But their not-date has gone really well, he thinks, and they’ve had a nice day together. Now they’ll go out for hotpot again, and Yangyang will pay. And he’ll talk to Renjun about his third and final not-date plan for next week—and hopefully he’ll agree to it.

He can go big or go home on step four. And he’s so, so far past going home.

-

4. The question

It goes without saying that the archaic, hierarchical aspects of courting have gone out of the window over the last hundred years or so, giving omegas the agency to choose their own partners, and recognising betas as more than just desexualised pack mediators. Modern references to the practice of courting is usually little more than giving someone nice things before you ask them out.

The one traditional aspect that still exists is the final act of asking your love interest out directly, both in words and in gesture. This process requires giving the other something personal, traditionally something that smells like you, and telling them that you’d like them to wear it, or use it. This is the universal signal of interest—if they accept, you’ve bagged yourself a significant other. If they reject your gift, you go and dig a hole, lie in it, and never come out again.

Or at least, that’s what Yangyang is planning to do if Renjun rejects the hoodie he’s carefully picked out to offer him. He’d made sure to wear it enough so that it should smell like him—he’d asked Ten, actually, to smell it for him and make sure—but not so much that it’s sweaty or dirty. He’d also had to go through all his clothes and try to pick one he didn’t already have matching with Renjun, so Renjun wouldn’t mistake it for his own. He’d even taken some pictures of ones he wasn’t sure of and had asked Donghyuck to check for him, because he’s kind of lost track of how much matching shit they have.

But he’d managed to settle on one—a bright yellow hoodie with a small brand name in the corner. It’s not too old, so it’s not faded or worn yet, but he knows he wore it in his last video call with Renjun from Germany. Renjun had complimented him on it at the time, said he was looking for more yellow clothes for his own wardrobe.

You know what? What Renjun wants, Renjun gets—Yangyang is more than happy to give up this hoodie for a chance with him. But the question is whether he will want the Yangyang that comes with the hoodie—that’s the part that’s making butterflies dance in his insides, lodging something awkward in his chest that makes his heart beat quicker than it should.

Renjun had agreed to his crazy plan for the weekend—seemed delighted by it in fact. This is his last weekend with Renjun before Yangyang starts his job, and it’s the day he’s planning to tell Renjun the truth.

So he drives over to Renjun’s shared house in Kun’s big, shiny Kia, car loaded with camping gear, overnight clothes, and enough food to feed a small family. This is where he can make his comeback on the gifts and meaningful gestures—food has always been a strong courting gesture, and making hotpot is something he has more than enough practice with.

Renjun, at least, looks about as excited at the prospect of a camping trip as he is. He looks so cute in his big white raincoat and the overshirt that comes down to his knees—he’s even brought the stuffed shark along, clutching him to his chest as he makes himself comfortable. Even before moving off, he straps himself eagerly into the passenger seat, hooks his phone up to the aux cord, and starts loudly singing Versace on the Floor.

“I’ve never been camping with any of the others before,” he tells Yangyang as they get going on their journey, fidgeting in his seat and watching the streets pass by. “I keep telling them we should go all together, but it’s hard to make everyone’s schedules line up.”

“I don’t know how you manage that amount of guys any of the time, seriously. Have you ever gone anywhere with all seven of you?”

“Of course! We’ve done theme parks and stuff. I keep telling them I want to do a trip to Paris with all of us, but going abroad is an even harder ask. Jisung doesn’t have much money and doesn’t like us paying for him, and Mark is too much of a workaholic to take enough time off for a trip.”

“Maybe in a few years, when you’re all responsible adults and stuff. School is hard.”

“I think Mark will still be a workaholic in a few years. But I’m glad you have faith in us. Is there anywhere you want to go?”

“I’ve done enough travelling for a lifetime,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m just happy being here. With you.”

“Shut up,” Renjun says, but Yangyang can see him repressing a smile.

When they arrive, the camping site is mostly empty, to his relief. It means it has the exact atmosphere he wanted—they can park the car close to the pond and see the frogs leaping about, with the edge of a small forest not far away. There are no children running around screaming, no old alphas who can look down on Yangyang for courting an omega that smells like six other men.

No one around to see them struggle to set up the camping table, the two of them bickering about how to properly insert the legs, or to see them try to set up the tarpaulin in four different incorrect ways, before one of the people on the opposite side of the site comes to show them mercy.

“We’re such stereotypes,” Renjun laughs when the friendly guy leaves again, after knocking their tent pegs in securely. “We needed a big, strong alpha come and help us set up our tent.”

“No, we didn’t! We totally had it! He was just helping us get there quicker.”

“Oh yeah? How long would it have taken us? Until dark?”

“No, no. Anyway, I could’ve kept us warm.” He pulls a blanket out of the pile of bedding in the back of the car and hands it to Renjun. “Look, you have that, I’m going to start the fire.”

“Are you trying to provide for me?” Renjun laughs, holding the blanket without really putting it over his lap. “It’s not even cold, Yangyang.”

“So? We’ll need the fire for cooking anyway. Watch this.” He loads enough of the firewood into the grate, then circles around their little campsite, looking for wherever the hell he put the gas.

“It’s there,” Renjun points out, and Yangyang is dismayed to turn around and discover he’s already putting the grill together, ready to cook their food.

“Don’t do that! I can do that!”

“So can I!” Renjun huffs. “Look, start the fire and we’ll both do it.”

They both startle and laugh when Yangyang finally gets the fire bursting into life, a swoosh and crackle of flames by their knees. He steers Renjun away from it at that, having visions of his floaty overshirt dancing into the flames, and starts to lay out their meat to cook.

“What is up with you today?” Renjun asks as he’s mixing them some brightly coloured drinks, insisting on doing it the way he saw on TikTok so that they can get gradient colours.

“What?”

“You’re just being… I don’t know. Since when were you so adamant about doing things for other people?”

“Only for you,” he answers him. “I’ve been away a long time, maybe you don’t know how much of a mature adult I can be.”

“We saw each other last summer, when you told me a long story about how you’d eaten so much spicy beef on a night out you spent most of it on the toilet, and you and Guanheng played competitive footsie under the stall because you were both there for so long.”

“Right, and? A mature and responsible adult can have rough nights on the toilet.”

“The summer before, you were obsessed with Shrek, and you made me like and share all the stupid videos you did with your German flatmates where you acted out the entirety of Shrek in thirty-second increments on TikTok—”

“And if I were a rich and famous TikTok influencer right now? Wouldn’t we be in a proper camping van, seeing the sights of Japan or something?”

“But you’re not a rich and famous TikTok influencer, are you?”

“But you supported me anyway.”

“That’s right,” Renjun says, suddenly looking down at their meat with shy eyes. “I don’t know why.”

“Because you love me,” Yangyang says, deliberately annoying and cutesy, and Renjun rolls his eyes.

“I know how sulky you get when I don’t do what you want.”

“I don’t get sulky.”

“Yes, you do. You used to declare we weren’t friends anymore every time I left you on read for more than a few hours.”

“You would do the same whenever I didn’t pick up your calls! Even if you called me at 5am German time!”

“I stayed up late for you and your calls, I think you should’ve woken up early for me sometimes,” Renjun says, and Yangyang giggles at how faux-serious he’s being.

“I’m glad you stayed up late for me, even when we talked about the most random shit. Whenever we would call, you know, I felt like you just got me. The two of us, we get along well together. I think you understand everything I say. Other people don’t get it.”

His words leave a comfortable silence as Renjun takes a long look at him. In the pause, he realises it’s started to rain lightly outside their tarpaulin, creating soft ambience noise on the plastic and bouncing from the gravel.

“I think so too,” Renjun tells him. “It’s easy being with you. I’m glad we came here. This mood is perfect—hot pot is meant to be eaten in the rain.”

“And it perfectly sets the mood for saying sweet things,” Yangyang says, screwing up his face a little as everything they just said washes over him. He means every word—but he and Renjun are much better at teasing each other than talking about this kind of thing seriously. “The cool air will stop me from blushing.”

The sun sets as they spend the evening working through their food, Yangyang piling more meat onto Renjun’s plate every time he finishes it, until they’re both too stuffed to eat any more. Then they pack everything up and take a walk down the edge of the forest, Yangyang holding up the umbrella for the both of them as they make it to the cherry blossoms that overlook the river.

It rains a little harder by the time they return to the car, so they can’t lay out and watch the stars like Yangyang had wanted. But Renjun seems sleepy and happy about the rain—as Yangyang flattens the back two car seats down and sets out the bedding for them, Renjun talks his ear off about how they can fall asleep to the sound of the rain on the car roof.

The idea is nice in theory—but in practice, it’s just the two of them in the back of a car, with as many blankets, pillows and quilts as Yangyang could rustle up. There’s not much space to change, so they’re both sleeping in the clothes they wore in the day, and Renjun is shivering a little in his thin t-shirt. He pulls the stuffed shark into himself and clutches it, burrowing under the blankets.

“I should’ve brought a warmer jacket,” he admits, making himself comfortable in the dim light of the car.

Yangyang’s heart pounds. Is now the time? He’d been planning to take Renjun to see the views tomorrow, give it to him then—he doesn’t want to ruin this perfect day if Renjun rejects him.

But Renjun is cold. And what Renjun wants, Renjun gets—if he rejects him, Yangyang can just drive them home in uncomfortable silence tomorrow, and then go and dig his hole, lie in it, and never leave again. Yeah.

“I, uh—” he starts. “I have one, if you want it.”

“You do?” Renjun asks, voice soft like he’s ready to drift off to sleep.

Yangyang pulls the yellow hoodie out of his bag, grips it in both hands, and holds it out to Renjun. Moment of truth. “Yeah. This is for you, if you want it.”

“Thanks,” Renjun says, taking it from him and pulling it over his head. Then he lies back down, pulling the shark close.

Yangyang is frozen. “Is that, uh, a yes?”

Renjun gives him a funny look. “Yeah. Don’t you want me to wear it?”

“N—no, of course, please do,” he says. Maybe he should’ve made it clearer. What’s he supposed to say now? Did Renjun get the intention behind the hoodie?

“Okay. Thanks, Yangyang.”

He snuggles down into his blankets again, getting comfortable. Yangyang stays sat up on his knees, looking at Renjun in the dark—was that a yes? Should he say something more now? Should he leave it?

Has he fucked this up?

There’s a small movement—Renjun nuzzling his face into the collar of the jacket. Then he sits up, as if on a spring, movement making him bolt upright in an instant.

“It smells like you,” he says, like it’s a shocking realisation.

“Yes,” Yangyang says pathetically.

Renjun looks down at the hoodie, then looks back up again at Yangyang. “Are you courting me?”

“Yes,” he says again. “Are you rejecting me?”

“No!” he exclaims, clutching the hoodie as if afraid Yangyang will take it off him again. “I just didn’t know you were courting me!”

“I’ve been trying for weeks!” he defends, crossing his arms. “I did all the things you’re supposed to! Like buying you stuff, making you food, taking you nice places…”

“How is that any different to all the other summers we hung out together?” Renjun asks, indignant. “That first summer you came to visit me in Seoul, I wondered then if you were courting me then, you know. We did all the steps. But then you left without a word about it. Every summer, we buy clothes together, and we go out together, and we eat food together. I gave up thinking you’d ever even consider it.”

Yangyang splutters. He can’t tell Renjun he’s wrong—this is the problem he’s been battling with for weeks. He doesn’t know how to do anything special for Renjun—they’ve already done everything together. “Well, we’ve never been camping!”

“I did think you were making more of an effort than usual with this,” Renjun smiles. “But if you’ve been courting me, then I’ve been courting you too.” He reaches over to his bag, rummaging around for something.

“What?”

“Well, I’ve bought you things, and I took you to the mall, and I’ve made you food—”

“I told you I could make the food!”

“But I wanted to court you too!” Renjun says, his whole face bright with it, indignance sliding off the smile curled around his words. “Even if I didn’t think you were courting me back. I like doing all these things with you.” From his bag, he produces a small canvas painting, no bigger than six square inches.

Yangyang switches on the light inside the car to get a good look at it. It’s a black and white painting of two silhouettes, lit up against a spotlight and a room full of rain.

“I was going to give it to you tomorrow, before you start your new job,” Renjun admits. “But if you’re giving me a courting gift, then I’m giving it as a courting gift, too.”

Yangyang can’t stop smiling, wide and dumb, as he stares at the painting cupped between his hands. When he tears his eyes away to look up at Renjun, it’s to see his face looking hopeful, a little nervous, but beaming nonetheless.

“You’re amazing,” Yangyang tells him, then comes in for a hug, wrapping his arms around Renjun’s shoulders, careful with the painting in his hand.

Renjun’s arms wrap around Yangyang’s back, and his happy little laugh chimes in Yangyang’s ear. “I can’t believe you were actually courting me this time,” he says, giddy and quietly delighted.

“I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“I’m glad you’re here now.”

They separate, and when they see each other’s faces, they start to laugh, sat in the back of the dark car with just the shitty little bulb on them both.

“I’m going to get under the blankets now,” Yangyang announces, carefully putting the canvas away in his bag before shuffling under the sheets. “It’s cold.”

“We can keep each other warm,” Renjun says, playfully, and Yangyang feels himself go a little pink.

“Oh really?”

“Keep your mind out of the gutter,” he scolds, shuffling over. “You know I meant cuddling.”

“I know,” he says, still warm in the cheeks anyway. “But cuddling is like, third base for asexual people.”

“Shut up,” Renjun laughs, shuffling closer to Yangyang until he can throw an arm over his chest and nuzzle his nose into his shoulder. “Goodnight, Yangyang.”

“Goodnight, baobao,” he says, then giggles when Renjun slaps his arm, rolling over to throw an arm right over Renjun in return.

-

5. Physical affection

Unlike most other casual, non-committal developments to the modern courting ritual, physical affection and scenting your partner is still considered a crucial step in the process. Thanks to a helpful little detail called consent, it’s now only expected to scent a partner once the relationship is mutually agreed upon, rather than as a step along the way of the courting process.

But it’s still an important step, nonetheless, one that signals their relationship to other potential mates in the area. He and Renjun have never been quiet about how close they are, but this—this is different. This is new. He’s rarely woken up in the same bed as Renjun before, for one, and he’s never woken up with Renjun this close to him, snuggled into his side, nose pressed into his neck.

His smile stretches across his face, unable to contain his excitement. It’s hard to believe everything worked out—despite falling down on some of the steps, Renjun had accepted him anyway.

Renjun likes him back!

He reaches across to hug him, overcome with affection. Renjun groans and jostles awake at the movement.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

Renjun groans and rolls away. “I take it all back. I’m un-courting you.”

“No take-backs,” Yangyang sing songs, leaning over him to put his weight onto Renjun’s back and cuddle him tightly. “You’re my boyfriend now!”

Renjun sighs, pushing back so he can roll over to face him, and Yangyang shuffles up enough to let him. “You’re not having any second thoughts, right? You do remember I’m an asexual omega in a pack with six other guys?”

“I know very well,” he says. “I asked the others for permission, you know. Did it all right.”

“Did you?” Renjun asks, eyebrows raised. “Wow. They all kept it from me pretty well. And Jaemin didn’t scare you away?”

“I don’t think it’s possible for someone that hot to scare me away,” Yangyang says, and Renjun bursts into laughter at that.

“You’ll fit right in with the pack then,” he smiles. “I can’t believe you really want this.”

“I really want this,” he confirms, propping himself up on his elbows to hover over Renjun. “I just really want you. Everything else, we’ll work out.”

“I never knew you could be this romantic,” Renjun says, eyes roaming Yangyang’s face.

“You’ll learn a whole new side of me from now on, I swear.”

“Nothing too new, I hope,” Renjun says quietly. He reaches up a hand to thread his fingers through Yangyang’s hair. “I like you just the way you are.”

“Baby,” Yangyang starts, but before he can say any more, Renjun leans up and kisses him. It’s short, just to shut him up, and they both giggle like schoolchildren when he pulls away. Yangyang goes in for another, and Renjun lets him in pliantly, the two of them revelling in each other.

With the pale morning light streaking in through the car windows and the blankets crested around them, they’re burrowed away from the rest of the world, if only just for now.

When Yangyang breaks off to kiss his cheek, leading a few more kisses up to his ear, Renjun rubs the side of his face against Yangyang’s gently.

“Do you want to scent me?” he asks quietly, and Renjun hums, gripping Yangyang’s arms with his hands.

“Come here.”

It’s Yangyang’s turn to go pliant, flopping back onto the blankets as Renjun crowds close to him, rubbing his face and neck gently against Yangyang’s cheeks, hair, chin and neck. He even manages a little on his shoulders, pulling aside the collar of his shirt. He grips Yangyang’s clothes rhythmically with his hands as he does so, like a cat kneading its owner. It’s incredibly cute.

“Good?” he asks, and Renjun smiles down at him, so pretty and perfect, even first thing on a morning. Especially first thing on a morning.

“Good,” Renjun says, satisfied. “You don’t have to scent me back if you don’t want to. I know it’s kind of weird for betas. Jaemin likes it, but Jisung doesn’t really get it.”

“I want to try it,” he says, and Renjun’s smile turns blissful as Yangyang pulls him in, putting his nose to Renjun’s neck and trying to copy the movements he’d been doing.

When he takes an inhale there—just to see what it will do—it hits him. Renjun was right, he does smell just like the fox—but this is a thousand times better, surrounded by a rained-on forest themselves, with Renjun’s actual scent being more flowery than that of the fox. Perhaps thanks to his mood—he can’t wait to get to experience this regularly, to be able to tell Renjun’s delicate shifts in scent as his moods change, as he grows and changes. As they grow and mature together.

“You smell so nice,” he tells him, stroking Renjun’s hair reverently.

“Thanks,” he giggles. “You’re not doing a very good job at scenting me.”

“What if I like your scent more? I don’t want to ruin that.”

“I’ll still have it, you dummy. It will only last so long once I get home, to my very smelly pack house.”

“Good point,” he says, putting in renewed effort, making Renjun laugh at him and pull him in closer.

-

They don’t make it back until late, finding every excuse possible to prolong their time together. Still, even pulling up to Renjun’s door late at night, they manage to cross paths with Donghyuck leaving the house.

Yangyang can hear him wolf whistling before the car has even stopped. He must be able to smell the two of them from there, and can tell things have gone well.

“Come and kiss me before Donghyuck starts being annoying,” Renjun says, leaning over the console to meet Yangyang halfway. Yangyang is all too happy to oblige, giving Renjun a lingering kiss goodnight before he pops open the car door and goes around to get his bag.

Yangyang hops out with him, even though he doesn’t really need to, just to make sure Renjun can open up the back of the car alright. Renjun is pulling his bag out as Donghyuck reaches them, hands in his pockets, leering in as if to see something scandalous.

“Congratulations, lovebirds, it’s only taken you your whole lives to get here. Renjun, this has to be the last guy you pick up now, alright? I’m serious, we don’t have room in the house for another one.”

“I think I can live with that,” Renjun says, flipping Donghyuck off as he leans up and presses another kiss to Yangyang’s mouth. It’s to make a point, he thinks, but he can’t help but feel lightheaded and giddy all the same. Renjun has chosen him—Renjun wants him!

“You need to come and visit us all sometime,” Renjun says to him, as Donghyuck cat-calls them down the street, finally moving away when Yangyang walks Renjun to the door. “I want you to spend time with my pack, properly.”

“Fine by me,” he says, a little dopily. “I want to do everything with you. And your pack. But mostly you.”

“Is that so?” Renjun says, leaning back against his door with a coy sort of smile. “I’ll hold you to that, baobao.”

He sneaks a hand around Renjun’s waist and pulls him back in for one more kiss. Renjun goes willingly, relaxing his arms around Yangyang’s shoulders and tilting his head just right, kissing Yangyang like he means it. Like he wants to do everything with Yangyang, too.

“You’d better,” he says, and skips his way back to the car, if only to make Renjun laugh as he goes.