Chapter Text

Chapter One

Soobin walked through the campus of the St. Edward’s International School for Boys, located on the outskirts of Busan. He was there for a tour with his parents.

The school was incredible. A sprawling campus modeled after universities complete with a quad for students to hang out on and the tall white buildings with ornate columns framing the doorways. It was gorgeous.

Of course, it had originally been built only for alphas. And then in the 60’s they’d started letting in betas. And now, they were about to begin enrolling omegas for the first time ever.

It was exciting! Especially since they had one of the best cheerleading teams in the country. And Soobin, well, you wouldn’t guess it just by looking at him, but he lived and breathed cheer.

At his old school, a school for everyone but alphas, back in Ansan, he’d been on the cheer team. Even made varsity as a freshman. But they hadn’t been allowed to compete on the same scale…because there’d been no alphas on their team.

At St. Edward’s they had an insanely good cheer team. They’d won nationals the year before and the only reason they hadn’t placed at worlds was because their star flyer, Jung Wooyoung, had gotten one too many concussions deeming him ineligible for competition.

They were coming up on the part of the tour where they saw the gymnasium. And the rest of the campus was gorgeous, but, the sleek, state-of-the-art, gymnasium was the crème de la crème of the campus. They had an insane weight room only for athletes, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and two multi-use gymnasiums. All of this was, of course, separate from the old gym, or the “original gym” as the campus map had it labeled.

The old gym was, in fact, quite old. It had rubber floors and no air conditioning. Not to mention the ceilings being exponentially lower. A bad thing if you wanted to do cheerleading stunts.

”You said your son was interested in athletics, right Mrs. Choi?”

The school didn’t know Soobin was an omega yet and he’d opted to do the tour with a scent blocker on. He wanted to keep his secondary gender a secret because, well…people always got weird when they found out.

Soobin didn’t exactly look like a typical omega. He was tall and because of his height and how awkward he felt he was also clumsy causing him to often be mistaken for a beta. Cheering was the exception. It made him feel brave. Soobin had never felt more graceful than when he’d been on those ugly blue mats.

”Yeah, so, due to the omegas coming in this year, we’re re-opening the original gym!”

Soobin’s heart suddenly started to sink. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

”For our new omega athletics programs, they get to be in our historic gymnasium.” It was said like it was an honor, but Soobin knew what this meant. An omega only cheerleading team. Separate from the alphas and betas. That meant no competitions. Omega only tournaments didn’t exist! Would they even get to perform at major sporting events or would all omega athletics be relegated off to the side? Soobin was afraid he knew the answer.

Soobin offered up a wobbly smile as the tour guide gave him a once-over.

“For you, though, you’ll get to be in our new gym over here.” And then they steered him and his parents in the direction of the new gym.

For a brief, horrifying, moment he saw his dad open his mouth, like he was going to correct the guide, but Soobin hurriedly shook his head no.

Later, when his parents had asked about it he lied. Said he just wanted to make sure he got to tour the new gym because everyone was talking about it. His parents had laughed and told him all he probably had to do to see it was ask. But Soobin knew better. His parents weren’t omegas (they’d had him through a surrogate), they couldn’t possibly understand what it felt like for him.

Still, Soobin would be attending St. Edward’s when the school year began. And if he wanted to be able to compete and cheer on a global scale, the way he’d been dreaming of, he was going to need a plan. A smart plan. A plan that would help him convince others he was a beta and therefore qualified to cheer in the new gym.

*~*~*

“This is the stupidest idea you’ve ever had.” Beomgyu was Soobin’s cousin and a beta. He would also be attending St. Edward’s. The difference was he’d been attending the school. It was partially due to his parents waxing poetic about the teachers, the curriculum, and the amenities that Soobin was being enrolled this year.

Currently, Beomgyu was on FaceTime with Soobin while Soobin was packing. And telling Beomgyu about his plan. About what he’d done. And what he’d done was this: opened the sealed envelope of documents his parents had to fill out to confirm his enrollment, found all the documents that listed his subgender and carefully whited out all the little checks in the boxes marked “O” and then re-checked all the “B” boxes before re-sealing the envelope so his parents would never know it had been tampered with.

Soobin tossed a handful of workout shorts into his suitcase and turned to glare at his webcam. “Look, Gyu, no one’s going to know!” He held up the jumbo box of scent-blocking patches he’d picked up at the Costco and waved it around like it was all the proof he needed that his plan was foolproof. “And I have these, too.” Soobin held up a bottle of pills.

His cousin rolled his eyes. “Heat suppressants and scent blockers aren’t the only things you need to be worried about. Going to school with alphas is just different.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Hyung, what are you gonna do if one of them - you know…”

Soobin knew what Beomgyu was worried about. And it was something that had Soobin a little worried, too. What would happen if someone forced him to submit? Or, god forbid, he dropped. But the chances of that happening were unlikely. It was considered inappropriate to force an omega to submit, especially if that omega wasn’t yours. The idea of omegas still theoretically being owned by anyone they found themselves in a romantic entanglement with was a completely different issue.

“I’m sure that won’t happen. I’ll be fine.” Soobin hoped he wasn’t lying.

*~*~*

Oh, god, Soobin had been lying. He would submit willingly for the man he was currently staring down from across the quad.

Beomgyu had helped him get all moved in (Soobin had a very nice beta roommate - Kai) and then they’d said goodbye to Soobin’s parents before they could ask too many questions and blow his cover and he and Beomgyu had headed out to the activities fair.

The activities fair where Soobin avoided the tent for omega activities as he eagerly searched for the cheer booth. Which was how he’d spotted the Choi Yeonjun.

Of course, Soobin knew who he was. He was one of the best tumblers in Korea. Point blank. He’d been on the cover of Cheer! Magazine twice. And this year he was the captain of the St. Edward’s Cheer Team.

Soobin had never idolized Yeonjun the way his old teammates had. They’d cut out his pictures to keep in their gym bags for good luck and would constantly giggle over him at sleepovers - whispering about how they wouldn’t mind spending a heat with him. Soobin hadn’t really gotten it. He was good looking, sure, and a really good cheerleader, but so were they! However, in person, even from across the quad, Soobin was starting to get it.

Yeonjun looked like a dream. Like something delectable Soobin just wanted to take a big bite of. His black hair practically sparkled under the sun like he was a Disney princess or a fairy or something. His red and white cheer t-shirt made his skin look like it was glowing. And, well, his chest was very defined. It made Soobin feel like a creep with the way he was so obviously ogling him.

Beomgyu reached over and nudged Soobin’s chin until his mouth was shut. Soobin felt himself blush. He hadn’t realized he’d been gaping.

“Wipe your mouth.”

Or drooling.

Oh, this was bad.

Beomgyu squinted against the sun as he turned to look Soobin head on. “Are you sure you can do this?”

At this moment, Soobin was having trouble thinking about anything besides how cute Choi Yeonjun’s butt looked as he bent over to pick something up off the ground. So instead of using words he just nodded his head. Apparently, that was good enough for Beomgyu, because he took Soobin’s hand and dragged him forward until they were right in front of the cheer table and Yeonjun himself.

Yeonjun smiled as they approached, his little rabbit teeth peeking out from under his upper lip. “Hey, you guys interested in signing up for cheer?”

Soobin wasn’t even sure he was breathing. Since when were people allowed to be this pretty? Or smell that good? His scent was a breezy, musky, floral scent that reminded Soobin of walking through a fancy garden in the middle of spring - the kind of garden with a little river running through it and fruit trees sprinkled throughout.

Beomgyu cleared his throat and kicked the back of Soobin’s leg making him stumble forward a bit. “I’m not, he is.”

Yeonjun’s smile wavered slightly, probably wondering why the nonverbal skyscraper who wasn’t blinking at all and could barely stay upright wanted to try out for cheer.

“Have you cheered before?”

Soobin blinked a bit stupidly as he processed the fact that he was now being spoken to directly. “Uh…yes, I-I was a base at my old school.”

Yeonjun’s gaze zeroed in on Soobin’s noodle arms.

“Oh, uh, at my old school, I cheered with omegas so.” Soobin shifted a bit awkwardly before finally dragging his gaze off Yeonjun. He fumbled for the pen and hurriedly scribbled down his name on the list before he could embarrass himself further by like actually falling over or baring his neck or something.

“Well,” Yeonjun glanced down at the signup sheet to get a look at Soobin’s name, “Soobin, I’ll see you at tryouts.”

*~*~*

Soobin was feeling completely overwhelmed. He was in one of the very new state-of-the-art gymnasiums for cheer tryouts. And so much of it felt familiar in the best way. The blue mats spread out on the floor, the bubble gum pop mix blasting through a portable speaker off to the side, the cardboard box stuffed with pom-poms…But so much was also different. The biggest difference, by far, was the stench. The stench of alphas getting pumped up. It made Soobin feel a little woozy.

“Nervous?” A short muscular guy with large boba shaped eyes nudged Soobin with his elbow, a soft smile gracing his lips.

Soobin let out a nervous giggle. “A little."

The boy clapped him on the shoulder. “Everyone here is, that’s why it reeks so much.”

Soobin felt himself relax a little. This guy wasn’t so bad. Hopefully, the other cheerleading hopefuls were just as nice. “I’m Soobin.”

“Taehyun.”

Soobin found himself sticking to Taehyun’s side like glue. It didn’t matter that he was technically older (the other was just a sophomore!), it made him feel safe. Taehyun was an alpha, Soobin could smell it on him, but unlike some of the other alphas in the room, he wasn’t excreting pheromones at an unreasonably high level, wasn’t using his scent to try and intimidate the competition and to the primal part of Soobin’s brain that made him feel safe.

The warm-ups Yeonjun led them through were standard. Simple stretches Soobin could do with ease. He was grateful there wasn’t an insane workout routine they were expected to follow. He’d heard rumors, of course, about how the St. Edward’s cheer team trained and he was very thankful there was no obstacle course or 5k run he was expected to do.

“Alright, now that we’re all stretched we’re going to start with a few simple call and responses and then a sidelines dance routine. After that, we’ll be making our first series of cuts.”

A murmur rippled through the crowd. No one wanted to get cut, obviously, but being cut because you couldn’t keep up with sideline dances was just embarrassing. Soobin glanced around, wondering if anyone here would struggle or if everyone would be so outstanding they’d have to start eliminating based on performance quality instead of basic skill. A shiver ran down Soobin’s spine. He’d never been the best at projecting confidence when he didn’t quite feel it.

The first call and response was a simple one. They wound up being split into several groups. Each group would yell one at a time with the other groups acting as the crowd at a sporting event. It was pretty easy, Soobin thought. In fact, he was even excited when it was his group’s turn to go.

He stood and scurried to the front eagerly. He was the tallest in his group by far, but he was also the least muscular. He wondered if that would be a problem. None of the other guys were bulky, but most of them had defined muscles. Tossing that thought away for the moment he clapped his hands and got ready to perform.

The chant itself was cheesy and simple. The hardest part would always be muscling through the inevitable cringe. Soobin could do that, no big deal. He smiled brightly, knowing his dimples would charm the crowd. Sure enough, as soon as they began people were staring at Soobin, like he was the only cheerleader there. He clapped and stepped to the rhythm.

“We don’t need no music, we don’t need no bands, all we need are fans, jamming in the stands!” Soobin found himself smiling brighter, an extra peppy spring in his step as the next part was easily his favorite. “Jump! Shake your bootie.” Obviously, the steps called for them to act out the words as they spoke them though the jump was more of a little bunny hop, and instead of shaking your butt with wild abandon they simply moved their hips left to right in beat with the song, using their pom-poms to emphasize the movements and make them look bigger. “Jump, jump, shake your bootie! Jump, shake your bootie! Jump, jump, shake your bootie!” As Soobin continued to dance and shout he allowed his eyes to wander, proud of how easily he’d enthralled the room. But one stare felt different. A glance slightly to the left had him making eye contact with Choi Yeonjun. While the other cheerleaders were grinning and shouting along, happy to play their part as the crowd, Yeonjun’s gaze was purely scrutinizing. It made him feel…unsettled.

Luckily, it didn’t last long. The cheer wrapped up and they took their seats, Yeonjun’s gaze falling away from Soobin and back to his clipboard as he furiously scribbled down notes on how their group had done.

It wasn’t long before all the groups had finished and they were all lined up once more, watching Choi Yeonjun intently as he walked them through one of the many sideline dances they would be expected to learn and perfect.

And of course, he’d chosen the most difficult dance done at St. Edward’s. See, it was the dance to the drum line cadence. Which meant it was only the drum line that played the song. Which meant it was all rhythm and no melody. So, while the steps themselves weren’t anything out of the ordinary (arm and leg movements in a ripple formation until all the rows were dancing together and then some jumps, kicks, and vaguely suggestive hip movements) it was hard because you had to be able to count. And while counting was a thing cheerleaders were known for (one, two, three, four, five, six, sev-uhn, eight - and one…) that didn’t mean they were all good at it. Especially when a song had such an unconventional rhythm to try and follow.

They just listened and watched Yeonjun first and then he began to break it all down. They went four counts by four counts. And Soobin watched as some of the other contenders began to crumble.

And it wasn’t like they could hide it, either. Sure, there were a lot of students at the try-out, but Yeonjun’s scrutinizing gaze saw all. If you couldn’t do it, he would saunter over and give you a warm smile before delicately tapping your shoulder. A silent signal to give up and leave. Go back to your room and rest up for classes tomorrow. You would not be making the squad.

As they continued to run through the dance without music, just counts, getting faster each time, Soobin found himself growing more and more confident. He maybe couldn’t walk in a straight line, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t dance. Most people expected him to be an awkward dancer just because of his height. But it was quite the opposite really. Soobin was sharp, precise, on time, and confident.

He wasn’t all that surprised to make it past the first round of cuts. Even managing to get called to the front row, where the other best dancers were, for the final run-through with music. His heart soared, he couldn’t stop smiling if he tried, he was basically floating he was so happy. He could do this!

During the break, as the rest of the rejects stumbled outside, Soobin snuck into the bathroom to top up on scent blockers and send a quick text to Beomgyu letting his cousin know he’d passed the first round of tryouts. It was then that Taehyun came up behind him.

“You’re really good,” the younger spoke as he bent over the sink to splash cold water onto his face.

“Oh,” Soobin blushed. “Thank you.”

“I mean it, like really good.”

“Well, I’ve been cheering for a while, just, at my old school we weren’t very competitive…” He trailed off a bit then, “I was on a team with omegas.”

Taehyun gasped. “That’s awesome, your old school let the omegas do sports with everyone else?”

Soobin nodded.

Taehyun grinned, widely. “I wish it was like that in more places. God, I feel so bad for the omegas doing their tryouts today in the historic gym. I had a fitness class in there last year and the AC was busted so it was just hot all the time, felt like I was going to sweat right out of my skin.” He let out a laugh at that and Soobin’s stomach churned. Because that was supposed to be him, suffering in the remnants of the summer heat in the historic gym. But he was here instead. For the first time since he’d come up with his plan, he realized how risky it was. How easily he could get caught. It made him feel queasy.

“Don’t worry though,” Taehyun shut off his sink as he spoke, “I’m sure they fixed the AC since it’s going to be a fully operable building again!”

Soobin, he wasn’t so sure. He had no confidence in society when it came to treating omegas fairly. Especially when it came to things like athletics.

The reason omegas couldn’t compete in athletics on the same scale betas and alphas did was because they were typically smaller and lighter. They had a harder time building muscle. In a lot of ways, male omegas were viewed as the weakest members of society. So of course Soobin’s old cheer team hadn’t been allowed to compete at major competitions. People would’ve been too worried about an omega dropping someone or falling and breaking a leg (even though those things were just as probable when it came to betas and alphas). Omegas were delicate. They had to be protected. What a load of bull, clearly, because here Soobin was, a male omega, at cheer tryouts with alphas and betas and holding his own. Excelling even. A surge of determination swept through him. He was going to nail this tryout. He was going to make the team. He wasn’t weak. He’d prove it.

Taehyun slipped out and Soobin slathered more scent-blocking lotion over the scent glands on his neck and wrists before applying a fresh scent-blocking patch and then he followed.

Following the break, the first thing Yeonjun wanted to see was tumbling and tricks. Soobin wasn’t much of a tumbler, but he was flexible. So while he couldn’t do a front handspring-step out, roundoff back handspring step out, roundoff back handspring full-twisting layout, he had pretty nice high kicks and jumps, could do a scorpion, and had some old taekwondo moves that he could still pull out from when he’d practiced it in elementary school. Yeonjun didn’t say anything when Soobin was done with his little demonstration just nodded and wrote something else down on his clipboard.

Some more people were cut during the tumbling demonstrations. Soobin by that point was practically vibrating with excitement. He’d made it to the final stage of auditions: stunt groups.

Yeonjun was calling out names and roles. Soobin listened intently, but Yeonjun had called out everyone he wanted to be a base, those he wanted to backstop, and was moving onto the flyers and Soobin’s name still hadn’t been called.

“And, Soobin…I want you to fly.”

Soobin must’ve looked shocked. Because Yeonjun smiled at him. But it didn’t feel friendly. No, it felt like Soobin was being set up as Yeonjun explained. “I know you’re tall, so normally we wouldn’t have you fly. But you’re lightweight and flexible, so let’s just see what you can do.”

It would’ve been fine if Yeonjun had asked this of Soobin at a practice. But this was still the tryout. There were still some final cuts to make. Soobin had made it so far. He was risking so much. And now he was going to fly for the first time ever.

Taehyun reached over and squeezed Soobin’s shoulder like he was wishing him luck.

Thankfully, Yeonjun wasn’t completely evil. He had another group go first. Soobin watched the flyer intently. He knew, in theory, how flying worked. But having to put it into practice was probably about to be disastrous. He just hoped Yeonjun wouldn’t be holding him to the same standards the more practiced flyers were being held to.

Soobin found his arms moving, copying the movements of the other flyers as they ran some simple stunts for Yeonjun.

When it was Soobin’s turn he felt a little silly stepping up to his bases. He was taller than all of them. Hands on their shoulders he stepped into their hands and let them lift him up. He locked his knees and moved his arms into the standard high V.

“Alright, good. Soobin, do you think you could balance up there on one leg?”

There was some shuffling and Soobin slowly raised his left leg until his foot was resting against his knee. He wobbled a bit and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the bases sway below him, attempting to stay under him to keep the whole stunt together. Miraculously, the whole thing stayed upright.

“You’re a natural!” Yeonjun sounded giddy. Like he’d hit the jackpot by discovering Soobin had basic balance skills.

Soobin waited for Yeonjun to tell him he could get down. The words didn’t come.

“Okay, no pressure, but Soobin do you think you could do a heel stretch?”

Soobin was more than capable of holding his leg up like that. He’d proven it earlier with his high kicks. But doing that on top of a stunt was completely different. It didn’t matter that he was just in prep. It was still scary to fall. Soobin got the feeling he was going to fall soon. He just hoped it wouldn’t cost him his spot on the squad.

Sucking in a sharp breath Soobin grabbed his heel and pulled his leg so it was essentially straight up in the air. He wobbled again. Felt the back spotter tap his butt to nudge him forward and keep him from falling backward. Miraculously, once more the bases were able to quickly shuffle into a position that was more stable for him.

Yeonjun was grinning wildly. Soobin was pretty sure he’d lost his mind. Soobin wasn’t doing anything the other flyers weren’t capable of doing. Still, when the bases put him down Yeonjun looked ecstatic. He walked over to the bases, which now that Soobin was no longer thinking about how awful the whole thing could turn out he realized, were all returning bases. All guys who’d cheered for St. Edward’s before. Changbin, Mark, and Chan.

“How was he?”

“You were right, despite his height he’s very light. He’d be easy to toss around, no problem.” It was Changbin speaking. Mark and Chan nodded in agreement.

“Perfect.”

Soobin frowned. He didn’t like where this was going.

“How did you know he’d be so good at it?”

“His center of gravity is low like an omega's, I noticed earlier during the morning session.” Yeonjun was once more scribbling furiously on his clipboard. “Plus he’s slim.”

Soobin did not like that Yeonjun had been able to clock all that in one day. In just the tryouts. But before he could dwell on it for too much longer Yeonjun was calling them all together. He’d made his decisions about who would be on the team and who would not.

*~*~*

Soobin returned to his room completely exhausted and covered in sweat. He desperately needed to shower, but he’d refused to shower in the locker room for obvious reasons. He was so tired he just collapsed on his bed in a sweaty heap. He didn’t even register that Kai was there or that Beomgyu was with him until he rolled over to see the two of them sitting on the beanbag chairs at the foot of Kai’s bed, headphones on, and a game paused on the TV.

Soobin sat bolt upright, slightly panicked. Did he smell like omega? Beomgyu took that opportunity to loudly announce, “You reek! Must be all those stinky alpha pheromones stuck to you.”

Kai giggled at Beomgyu’s outburst before turning his kind smile to Soobin. “How did your tryouts go, hyung?”

Soobin relaxed when he realized his cover hadn’t been blown. He smiled back, dimples on full display. “I made the squad.” But then he thought about Choi Yeonjun. “And I think the captain has it out for me.”

Kai frowned. “Yeonjun hyung?”

Soobin huffed out a breath. “You know him?”

Kai nodded. “He tutored me in math last year. He’s really nice!”

“Well, I think he’s trying to kill me.”

“How? By being unbelievably sexy and increasing the risk of you drowning in your own sl-spit.”

Soobin shot a glare at Beomgyu and pointedly ignored his little slip-up. “No, he’s making me fly.”

“That sounds fun!” Kai clapped his hands together like it was great news. And if Soobin were about 20 centimeters shorter it would be. But he wasn’t.

“I’m too tall to fly.”

“I’m sure he knows what he’s doing,” Beomgyu said. “But if it makes you unhappy you could always quit.”

“Never!”

Beomgyu rolled his eyes and Kai smiled. “Go shower, you stink.”

Soobin hauled himself up and went into their bathroom making sure to take his scent-blocking products with him. He’d just made the squad, it would be a shame if he blew his cover after all that.