Chapter Text
The first time Phee smells the other alpha, it’s on Non’s sweatshirt.
Non comes home after class wearing one of his zip up hoodies, and shuffles in, tired from the long day while Phee is in the kitchen. He walks over to kiss him with his arms outstretched, stopping short when he gets a whiff of another alpha and Non blinks at him.
“Phee?”
Phee isn’t territorial (a lie he tells himself). He’s not upset that Non smells like someone else. Sometimes Non comes home smelling like smoke or food or perfume or garbage, because they’re human and they live in a world full of smells. Non has friends of all subgenders and Phee doesn’t mind that. That’s not what throws him off.
It’s that he’s blanketed in the scent of driftwood and fig, coating around him, like it’s protective. Phee frowns, taking Non into his embrace slowly and sniffing him.
“Non. Why do you smell like someone scented you?”
“Oh. Um. Maybe it’s Jin?” Non muses, going to take off his hoodie. That dissipates most of the smell. “He got cold in class since they keep the air up so high so I gave him my sweater.”
Phee nods, patting him on the back. “That’s okay. It’s just really strong. It took me by surprise.”
Alpha’s scents are naturally inclined to provoke the fight or flight instinct in one another, and now Phee’s a little on edge. Not because he doesn’t trust Non—he loves and trusts his boyfriend a great deal. But he doesn’t know Jin very well at all. And he certainly doesn’t trust the new college friend Non has made in his media club, or any of them, without meeting them first. Maybe it’s his (over) protective nature but Non is much too precious for Phee to not want to keep safe. He’s suffered a lot and he just wants him to be happy and healthy.
“Is it bad? I can shower…” Non offers and Phee smiles to put him at ease, shaking his head.
“No, no, pretty boy. You’re okay. You’re a good friend for that.” Phee holds Non’s face in his hands and strokes his cheeks with his thumbs and Non smiles, shy. He kisses him before he gets too shy to look at him anymore and that’s the end of that.
The second time he smells him, Phee is picking Non up from school for the late night movie premiere of his favorite director and Phee tries not to react at all. It’s the same scent, stuck to his skin and Phee drums his thumbs against the steering wheel as Non settles into the passenger’s seat. Non leans over to plant a big kiss on his cheek, seemingly unaware of what—or who—he smells like,
“Hi.” Non seems genuinely excited so Phee doesn’t bring it up, not wanting to ruin anything tonight for them.
“Hey, my pretty boy.” Phee takes his hand and kisses it, rubbing his cheek against his knuckles as a subtle way to scent him back, to get Non smelling like him again. Non doesn’t seem to pick up on it and just thinks his boyfriend is being cuddly. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yep!”
Phee tries not to say anything even when they get to the movie theater, and he realizes that he’s walking in with his omega smelling distinctly like someone else. It’s not like anyone will have a wrong impression of either one of them. It doesn’t matter what they think and he doesn’t care. They get drinks and snacks and Phee settles them down in the almost-empty theater, moving the arm rest so that Non can snuggle into his chest and he kisses the top of his head. Non is stimming and making his happy little noises and Phee can't help but feel endeared by that, honored to be a guest in Non's long awaited experience and in his life. It's not often Non stops masking but he's beautiful when he does. As the movie starts, Phee rubs his cheek against his head and by the end of the night, Non smells like him again. Non is amped up on horror movie butterflies, blue slushies and a ton of popcorn and candy and too distracted to even realize Phee’s silent victory. No harm done.
The third time it happens, Phee stands there with a smile on his face for much longer than anticipated, and has to reason with himself not to fling himself into a wall. He’s waiting for Non’s midday from classes and can smell the Alpha’s scent on him so strongly before Non even leans in for a hug or a kiss. Phee throws his arms around him and pulls him in close, rubbing against Non’s neck fervently. He’s not one for public scenting like this, prefers to do it in the privacy of their own home, but he can’t help it.
At this point, this Alpha is just being careless.
“Uh, Phee? Phee?” Non squeaks, startled by the sudden display of aggressive cuddling, and Phee pulls back quickly. “Uh, hi?”
“Hi.” Phee presses his forehead against Non’s to calm himself down, his hands traveling down Non’s waist to hold him close. “Just wanted you to smell like me. I missed you.”
Non accepts this as a reasonable explanation and gives a little chuckle, his hand wrapping around Phee’s wrist to lead him towards a table to eat at.
“You saw me this morning, silly.” Non tells him.
“Well, still, I missed you.” Phee doesn’t want to outright tell Non that he’s bothered by Jin’s scent all over him because he doesn’t want Non to feel suffocated or pressured, doesn’t want him to feel like this is an odd boundary for them to suddenly have to talk about in their relationship. It’s just Phee being protective, and possessive, isn’t it? He’s got to get over it somehow.
But . . . what kind of Alpha doesn’t wear scent blockers, and looms over an Omega all the time? A taken, marked, and mated Omega? It’s bold, he thinks. Unless this Jin is socially unaware of it, which he might just be. Or maybe he’s stupid. Or maybe he’s . . .
Challenging Phee?
Phee grips the fork in his hand without realizing it, trying not to let his thoughts run wild about it. No, he’s just being sensitive, isn’t he?
“Phee?” Non looks him up and down and Phee just sighs, not able to fake a smile and a cheery attitude today. “Is something wrong?”
“No, it’s not. I think I’m just not hungry.” It’s somewhat of a lie and Phee feels a little nasty for that but he just doesn’t know how to tell Non what he’s really feeling. He doesn’t want him to worry about it so he just moves on by trying to feed Non. “Open.”
Non isn’t one to really question Phee’s displays of affection and opens his mouth awkwardly to let him feed him from across the table. It’s a little messy but they manage and by the time Non is laughing at him, and guiding Phee’s arm to feed himself, he’s nearly forgotten all about it.
The fourth time it happens, he goes to see his Dad.
Phee drops Non off at home without saying a word, letting him ramble on about his day and how Jin was going to help him with designing a poster for their festival day, how Jin had offered to pick him up for the film festival–Phee is glad that Non had refused because Phee likes to make good use of his bike over the car. Jin this, Jin that, Jin’s scent all over his car. He just kisses him goodbye before going to work and marches right into his father’s office, red in the ears. He closes the door behind him and goes to sit down, before jumping right back up and pacing back and forth.
“Phee? Is everything alright?”
“I don’t know.” Phee admits, hands on his hips. “I don’t know. Tell me . . . how would you feel if Mom had come home smelling of another Alpha when you two were together?”
Granted, both of his parents had made mistakes, but this one seems like a bit of a call out and Phee’s father just raises an eyebrow.
“What?”
Phee sighs, unable to keep still. He has to move with this emotion to understand it, to realize why it’s still sitting here in the room with him, sitting right on his chest.
“Non. He keeps coming home smelling like some other Alpha. Which is fine. He has alpha friends. He’s allowed to be friends with alphas! But he stinks . He smells so strongly of him, like the guys hanging all over him, like he doesn’t even have the decency to wear deodorant.”
Phee is angry now. Mostly because he’s hurt that he’s being disrespected so subtly but also because he kind of wants Non to realize that Jin might be doing this on purpose.
“Am I being sensitive? Possessive? I don’t want to tell him not to be affectionate with his friends. He deserves to feel affection. But I really don’t like this type of thing, especially not since it’s not the first time that . . .”
That someone might be taking advantage of Non.
“Phee, sit down. Don’t pace. You’ll end up making yourself more upset.”
“I’m not upset, I’m angry.” Phee sits down regardless, his legs bouncing. His father seems a bit sympathetic towards him and just nods, going to fold his hands on his desk.
“Look, you’re a young alpha. It’s normal to be upset by these things. But the moment you realize you’re not competing with anyone for Non, the less upset you’ll feel by this. Non isn’t going anywhere.”
“It’s not Non I’m worried about! I just don’t like it. I think it’s rude to smother your scent all over someone who’s taken and marked. It’s not proper social etiquette! It’s not about Non being my omega, he’s not mine . He’s just an omega. Isn’t that weird to do? I don’t go around cuddling someone else without scent blockers. They’re cheap and free and easy to use. I thought to myself maybe he can’t use them but . . . I don’t like the feeling. I don’t like how uneasy I feel about this.”
“Okay, let’s start there. It’s about how you feel, right?”
“I guess?” Phee throws his hands up.
“You’re feeling on edge because someone you don’t know is around Non a lot, and you don’t like his scent.”
“Yes, and because it’s all over him, not just on his head or his sweater.”
“So, why don’t you get to know him and find out?” His father suggests gently, like Phee should’ve thought of this beforehand. “And talk to Non about it, this way he knows to draw a line between certain things.”
“Pa,” Phee sighs, frowning. “I don’t want to tell Non what to do. He’s never had friends until now. It’s normal for friends to hug and cuddle, I don’t want him to feel like he needs to limit that.”
“Then get to know the other alpha and see for yourself what it’s all about.” His father is probably right about that. If it were Non’s brother, he wouldn’t care. If it were a mutual friend of theirs, he wouldn’t care. So, maybe he needs to figure out why he does care so much. He’s not jealous; Non is his boyfriend after all. His. No one else’s.
He rubs a hand over his face at that and tries to dedicate some of the night to writing out what he should say to Non before the next time it happens.
A week goes by without another incident, and it gives him enough time to pick a day to sit down with Non and talk to him face to face. He chooses a Saturday morning to cook breakfast and wake Non up slowly with kisses and cuddles. He’s never been a morning person, opting to stay up all night on his laptop before coming to bed–if he ever makes it to bed. Sometimes, he just falls asleep on the couch, and Phee has to carry him to bed and make a terrible make-shift nest around him for him to settle down into. Non has never been much of a nester, even when he’s sick or upset, so Phee tries to learn how to do it for him.
“Mmmm, too early,” Non whispers and Phee chuckles, kissing his jaw.
“Too early? It’s a half hour until noon, sleepy boy.” Phee whispers into his ear. “How late did you stay up last night?”
Non just makes an unintelligible noise but Phee lets him laze around for another ten minutes before scooping him up and carrying him to the living room. Non squeals and kicks his legs, laughing when Phee almost drops him, and they crash onto the couch cushions, the smell of food making the apartment warm and cozy.
“Don’t do that next time! I could drop you!”
Non teases him, kissing his lips before making a grab for one of the bowls of food and pulling it into his lap. They don’t normally eat like this, and he can tell something is up, but Non looks so joyful this morning and he hates to put a damper on it.
“I wanted to talk to you about something, baby. Just a little something, nothing bad.” Phee begins, taking a sip of his juice. Has it always tasted this metallic?
“Mhm?” Non questions as he chews. “What is it?”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Phee pokes him in the head and Non grabs his finger, his fist an iron grip that Phee must wriggle out of to free his pointer finger from. Sometimes, he forgets how strong Non is because he just looks so soft.
“What is it?” Non asks again. He’s still smiling, like he’s trying to appear hopeful for Phee, but Phee can see the lingering anxiety underneath his eyes.
“I don’t know how else to say it so I’ll just say it: I want to meet Jin.”
“Oh?” Non seems caught off guard by this. “Haven’t you met him before?”
“Waving hello to him on my bike while bringing you coffee once doesn’t count. I want to sit down properly and meet him. We can go out for lunch or something one day. I want to meet him before the film festival.” Phee says and Non finishes swallowing his food before talking.
“Okay, yeah. I’d like for you two to meet. I really like him, he’s a good friend. And I talk about you all the time, I just didn’t know if you wanted to meet him.”
“Of course I do, babe. He’s your friend. I want to know your friends. I want to know people in your life, it’s important to me.” Phee doesn’t want Non to think that he only wants to get to know the people in his life so he can interrogate them or scope them out. He wants to be a big part of Non’s life and that means getting to know his loved ones, too.
“I just thought that . . . maybe you didn’t want to. Or that you didn’t like him.”
“How can I not like him if I don’t know him?” Phee asks it out loud, more of a rationalization to himself but Non makes a little noise, going to peck at more of his rice. “What is it?”
“Well . . . some alphas don’t like their omegas being friends wi”--
“Non. You know that’s not it.” Phee cuts him off. “I’m not like that. I don’t care if he’s an alpha or not, as long as he’s nice to you and makes you happy and is a good friend. Not like those dickheads in high school.”
“He’s not like them.” Non answers smally. Phee goes to take his hand before Non can start folding in on himself, holding his hand with both of his own.
“Then I’d like to get to know him. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“And Non . . . maybe suggest that he wears scent blockers, for my sake?” Phee sprinkles in as a suggestion. “Because he reeks .”
“Oh. Does he?” Non actually looks surprised and that makes Phee a little nervous.
“Yeah, he . . . his scent gets all over you. Head to toe. He smells really . . . strong . And I’d like to not smell it all the time. That’s just the one thing I ask. I want you to have fun with your friend but I just . . . get a little on edge with an alpha scent around all the time.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t really realize. I can’t smell super well anymore, you know.”
Phee blinks.
“What?”
“Remember? In high school, when Tee broke my nose? The doctor said that it can affect your sense of smell over time. The sinuses, or something. I just didn’t realize he smelled that strong.”
Phee closes his mouth before he looks stupid, his jaw dropping in realization. He remembers when the guy had smashed Non’s nose in a fight, a particularly nasty one, and Phee had almost paid him a visit to rip his clean off. But Non had left and Phee had decided then that he would do everything in his nature to keep Non safe. If Non never realized he smelled that strong, then of course he wouldn’t be able to set any boundary with Jin.
Well, fuck.
“Right.” He answers quickly, so he doesn’t leave his boyfriend on edge. “I didn’t even realize that was a thing. You can smell me, right?”
Non nods, a small smirk on his face. “I always smell you. I’m used to you.”
Phee relaxes at the confession, going to rub his hand down Non’s back.
“But I’ll let him know. I know it’s probably an instinctual thing. I’m sorry it’s been making you anxious.” Non continues. Phee knows that alphas can get as stressed out on an instinctual level as omegas but he’s still unsure if this is a mix of emotion and possession or what. He tries not to gaslight himself in the midst of it. He just wants to be mature about it, rational even, but sometimes he knows that to do that would have to be . . .
Well, it’s robbing him of his own feelings. His feelings are valid, even if he can’t identify why they’re happening.
“Thank you, baby.” Phee kisses his cheek and then his lips and Non beams at him with those giant little Bambi eyes. Now that they’ve gotten through the easy part, Phee is excited to finally be able to meet Jin, and decide for himself on who he is, what he’s doing and whether or not he actually likes him. That is the hardest part.
What if he doesn’t like this guy?