Archive of Our Own

Heats always seem to creep up on Harua. 

They’re not something that Harua is unfamiliar with at this point, but they always throw a massive spanner into whatever plans he had coming up. He’s not like Taki or Nicholas, whose heats come in every three months like clockwork on the cocktail of medication the company has them on, or like Fuma, who can predict within a day of accuracy when his next heat will start even several months in advance. Even having had heats for around a year by now, nothing about them has ever been normal or predictable. Harua usually just feels the slight twinge in his stomach and thinks, ah, there it is again. 

Very luckily for him, it’s not this ‘slight twinge’ that brings on his preheat this time, no; it’s full-blown cramps that have him staggering out of bed and collapsing next to the toilet bowl. The tiling is cool against his bare leg, and it’s comforting enough to have him curling up on the floor right there. Harua breathes out shakily as another cramp hits him, groaning. It’s rare that he has to deal with anything this bad before or during a heat. He knows it is a heat, at least; he can’t usually smell everyone and everything so strongly otherwise. 

He huffs out a breath. He hadn’t brought his phone with him in his mad rush, so it wasn’t like he could ask any of the members for help; that was if they were even awake, anyway. At least the nausea has subsided during the time he’s been sitting on the floor. Harua focuses on his breathing in a weak attempt to reduce the pain; in, out, in, ow, out, in-

A quiet knock on the door jamb jolts him from his focus. Harua cranes his head up to see Fuma smiling down at him. 

“That looks uncomfortable,” Fuma remarks. 

“No, this is actually really nice. It’s-” Harua grunts, repositioning himself on the floor slightly, “ Really comfortable.” 

Fuma hums. “I’m sure you won’t be needing this, then, huh?” he replies, pulling a heat pack out from behind him.

Harua immediately makes grabby hands in an attempt to reach it, whining. Fuma only chuckles for a second before relenting, allowing Harua to mould the heat pack to his belly. Harua’s eyes flutter shut in relief. The pressure and heat of the pack over where it hurts the most make him feel a little more human. 

“Better?” 

Harua nods.

Fuma helps Harua to get up off the bathroom floor, unsteady as he still feels, and onto one of the couches. Harua rests the heat pack under his clothes, wanting to feel the heat directly against his skin. Its warmth radiates from his stomach to his entire body, a shiver running down his spine. 

Now that he’s in the living room, he can see how dark it still is out. Fuma always wakes up before the rest of them, but Harua never realised he woke up this early. 

“I could hear you on your way to the bathroom,” Fuma says, breaking him out of his stupor, holding a bottle of water in one hand and a painkiller in the other out to him. “Also, you already smell of heat, so… that’s why I got up.” Fuma’s sixth sense for their pack has apparently struck again, and Harua couldn’t be more grateful for it. He takes the medicine without hesitation. 

“Thank you,” Harua manages croakily. 

“You should go get more sleep, if you can,” Fuma yawns out, stretching.

Harua gets up off the couch, still clutching the heat pack against him. He hesitates for a second when he sees Fuma start to pull eggs out from the fridge. 

“Aren’t you going back to sleep too?” He asks slowly. 

Fuma shakes his head. “I’d be waking up soon anyway.” 

Harua suddenly feels a pang of guilt for taking away some of Fuma’s sleep; as idols, any rest was precious, and it always sucked for Harua if he was woken up if he didn’t need to be. 

Fuma comes back over to Harua, petting his hair. The gentle gesture from his fellow omega is comforting enough to have his eyes drifting closed again already. 

“Don’t worry about me. I’d feel worse if I had known you were still in pain without any help while I just kept sleeping, okay?” 

Harua nods. He starts to pad over to his bedroom, but pauses in thought. Pivoting slightly, he finds himself in front of Maki and Nicholas’ room instead, and quietly opens the door. 

(Fuma looks up from the stovetop and sees Harua slip into their bedroom silently. He breathes out a laugh to himself, shaking his head.)

Maki’s scent is always much more prominent in his room compared to Nicholas’; whether that be just because he’s an alpha, or because Harua is just that in tune with him ever since Maki presented just a few months ago. 

Maybe it’s because he’s your alpha , Harua’s brain helpfully supplies. Yeah, he’s definitely going into heat. 

Harua can’t wait a moment longer before he’s carefully feeling through the dark room to get to Maki’s bed, where his scent emanates most strongly from, and the boy himself. He pulls back the cover before he can stop himself, and crawls in next to Maki, abandoning the heat pack on the floor and snuggling in as closely as he can. The face-full of alpha scent he immediately gets is the best thing he’s ever smelled and, for the first time this morning, Harua completely relaxes.

Maki grunts next to him, rousing from his sleep. He seems to freeze for a second against Harua before pulling him in closer by his waist, pressing his nose the space between Harua’s ear and neck. 

“Y’smell nice,” Maki murmurs against him, and Harua shivers at the contact. 

“Go back to sleep already,” Harua urges him, guiding Maki’s face to his and gently pressing his lips to the corner of Maki’s. 

Maki relaxes back down against him, and with the morning’s exhaustion washing over him, Harua drifts to sleep. 

He’s woken up later not by more cramps, but by the overwhelming warmth around him, almost stifling as he pulls himself out of Maki’s embrace as much as he can in their single bed. Even like that, it’s too warm; he pushes the doona off himself until his upper body is uncovered. Maki is still asleep next to him, face smushed into his pillow. Harua sighs and rubs the sleep from his eyes, starting to feel a little worse for wear. 

“Harua?” He hears from above him, before the bunk bed squeaks and moves until Nicholas has climbed down. “Oh, it really is you.” Nicholas acknowledges the abandoned heat pack on the floor, and his once neutral face turns vaguely sinister with an evil grin. “Ah, I see,” he says, wiggling his brows. Harua rolls his eyes.

Nicholas places a hand against Harua’s forehead, and squints, as if that’ll help him perceive the temperature better.

“I think we’ve still got some of those, uh, the thing you put on your head and it’s cold.” Nicholas has at least developed the vocabulary to describe what he wants to say in Japanese, even if he doesn’t always have the exact word. He really has improved over the past two years. 

Harua hops off the bed to grab one of the patches Nicholas is talking about, but feels himself falter. He looks back at Maki. His omega is screaming at him, don’t leave him, you can’t leave him and it’s near impossible to ignore.  

“C’mon, ‘Rua. You’ll have to leave him sooner or later, right? Easier to do it now,” Nicholas coaxes him, slowly pushing him out of the room while ignoring Harua’s protesting whines. It feels viscerally wrong for Harua to be leaving the safety of Maki’s presence, but he’ll have to make do for now. 

He grabs the box of cooling sheets from their bathroom cupboard, plastering it onto his forehead and brushing his bangs back down over it. Whatever was in these things really did help cool him down. Harua looks down at the box for a second. Great for relief from heat fever! it helpfully informs him. Amazing! He thinks in response. Maybe you could stop the whole thing altogether, while you’re at it!

He runs into Jo in the doorway of their room, who regards him for a second, before a look of realisation takes over his features.

“Ah. Need me out of the room for a bit?” Jo asks. It definitely wasn’t his first rodeo when it came to dealing with Harua’s heats over the past year and a bit. 

“Mhm. Sorry,” he says, even though it feels a little silly to feel guilty over something he can’t control. 

Jo shakes his head. “I’ll grab some stuff for you.” 

‘Grab some–? Oh,” Harua is confused for a second, until Jo yanks a spare hoodie off the side of his bed and hauls his doona over to Harua. 

Jo’s scent is less subtle than it usually is, thanks to Harua’s heat, and he immediately catches a whiff of grass and petrichor. It’s a palette cleanser against the heady feeling Maki gives him, and he almost wants to smoosh his face into it already but he’ll resist until Jo’s gone. 

“Thanks.” He throws everything onto his bed, and starts to organise it as well as he can. It’s a little messy so far, but it’ll work out. 

“I’ll grab some from the others, too,” Jo calls to him, and leaves the room. 

Harua flushes. Jo knows him too well. 

He’s arranging what’s already on his bed for barely a few seconds before he hears some kind of commotion coming towards his room, sounding suspiciously like shouts of ‘ Haru-chan! ’. Harua looks down from his perch as Taki slides into the room, immediately knocking his shoulder on the door. He can’t help but sympathetically wince at his friend clutching his shoulder.

“Dude.”

“My Haru-chan is,” Taki breathes out emphatically, “ Suffering .” 

Harua rolls his eyes, but smiles nonetheless.

“Get up here already, dumbass.” 

Taki grins and clambers up onto the bed with him, grabbing the blanket he’d brought with him and shoving it into Harua’s face. Harua squawks, shoving it down into the pile with the rest of them. They both lie back down on the bed with a thud, and Harua immediately cuddles into Taki’s side. 

He breathes in Taki’s scent, and breathes back out. If he focuses, he can feel the dulled pain of another cramp coming on. 

“Ugh, I hate this. I’m gonna have so much practice to catch up on after this,” Harua groans. 

“Myeah, I know,” Taki replies, a hand carding through Harua’s bed hair and smoothing it down. 

Harua thinks for a second, then begins to flush from his ears to his chest. Taki is quick to catch on.

“Mh? What’s got you all red, huh?” He teases, poking Harua’s cheek.

Embarrassed, Harua buries himself further into Taki’s soft pyjamas. It’s mortifying to even voice the thought out loud. 

“Maki,” he murmurs. 

“Oh? Oh, I see,” Taki squints for a second, nodding slowly. “Well, it’s only natural, I guess, with the two of you dating for the past few months, but, well…” he trails off.

“Well, what?” 

“I just don’t think they’d let you, you know,” 

And the unnamed they , whether that be their older members, or their management; Harua doubts any of them would allow two underaged wolves to spend a heat together. 

“Yeah, I know.” Harua sighs glumly. 

This was the life they chose for themselves; spending their time practising day in, day out, with barely enough free time to control their inner wolves. What might have been possible for any regular guy his age was out of the question as an idol, spending a heat with a partner included. Harua envied their oldest members, trusted enough to spend their cycles how they wanted. He could remember times when K returned from Fuma’s heat smelling so strongly of chocolate that the scent took days to dissipate, looking like he’d returned from weeks of non-stop promotions; or having to pointedly ignore the trail of hickeys running from Nicholas’ jaw all the way under his t-shirt. 

He and Maki weren’t going to be given that kind of freedom; the chance they’d accidentally mate, or worse, was much too unpredictable, especially given how recently Maki had presented. Either way, it was nice to hope. The thought of Maki over him, eyes glowing that bright amber, as he-

“Hey, what are you doing?” Taki says in Kansai dialect for emphasis, ruffling his hair. “I can already smell you enough as is.” 

He flicks Taki in the forehead. 

It takes Harua a little while to feel like himself again, but when he finally does he untangles himself from Taki and hobbles over to the kitchen sleepily. A mug of something steaming lands in front of him at the counter, and he looks to Yuma grinning toothily next to him.

“Drink up. It’s, uh, probably good for you.” 

Harua sniffs it; it’s something vaguely tea-smelling. He takes a sip regardless of how it singes his tongue slightly, and it’s just slightly sweet. 

A sudden presence at his other side makes him jump. It’s a wonder Harua’s sensitive nose didn’t notice him coming before, because his mouth immediately starts watering at Maki’s scent as he places his head onto Harua’s shoulder, arm around his waist. 

“Morning,” Maki half speaks, half grumbles. Harua can’t help but lean further back into his embrace. 

“Isn’t it too early for PDA? You get the whole next few days to do that,” Yuma questions. He’s taking out several rice packets and preparing to heat them. 

“Hyung said we couldn’t,” Maki sighs, squeezing Harua’s side. 

“You asked?” Harua looks back up at him. Maki nods. 

“Eh? Why?” Yuma questions.

“Does it matter?” 

“I guess not,” Yuma leans back, crossing his arms. 

Harua hums. He swirls the steaming tea around. 

As if he can acutely sense the emotional turmoil Harua is experiencing, Maki nudges him. “Guess I’ll be going without my favourite hoodies for a while,” he muses.

“I wear them half the time anyway.”

“You just can’t resist me, can you?” He murmurs, right into Harua’s ear. 

“I think you just can’t resist staking your claim on me.” 

“ You like it just as much as I do.” 

Yuma grimaces at the pair of them. 

“I was going to say it smells like a horny teenager in here, but this explains things,” K says as he saunters over to them. Maki unconsciously tightens his grip on Harua, the hand digging into his side making Harua jolt in his arms. 

“You’re not usually any better, K-hyung,” Fuma calls over from the couch, where he’s intently watching the TV. He’s just caught a Cramorant. 

“Really uncalled for, Fuma,” K responds petulantly.

“He’s not wrong, though…” Maki mumbles. 

K slaps him on the ass as he walks by. 

Yuma places several bowls of various dishes in front of Harua and Maki.

“Eat up, bunny boy. You’re going to need it.” 

Harua looks down at the food. His stomach has just barely stopped turning, so he supposes it was about time to finally sate his hunger.

“Here, say ‘ah’,” Maki is faster than he is; a bite is already positioned in front of Harua, and he reluctantly opens his mouth to accept it. 

It feels a little childish to be fed, but it also makes the omega in him sing. Maki continues like that, intermittently feeding Harua and himself bites of rice and other side dishes until there’s nothing left. 

“Thanks,” he says through his final mouthful. Maki simply smiles down at him. 

“C’mon. You needed more clothes, didn’t you? I’ll grab some for you,” he says, grabbing Harua’s hand and pulling him along. 

He stands by the door to Maki’s room as the alpha throws a variety of both his and Nicholas’ clothes at him before he allows Maki to guide him back to his own room under the weight of all the clothes. On their way, Fuma hands Maki another small pile that seems to smell like several different members. Harua’s omega can discern them immediately, even through the confusing amalgamation of rich, fresh, spice, and the sweet cocoa that envelops them all. 

Harua drops his pile onto the floor of his room before climbing up to his bunk and gesturing down to Maki to give the clothes back. Maki wordlessly hands them all up to him while Harua figures out the best way to lay out everything he’s been given so far. It’s always hard to lay things out perfectly; he notices after just a few seconds that he’s definitely used more of Maki’s clothes than usual, but his omega seems to only be happy about it. After a while, Harua settles down into his little nest, looking rather pleased with himself. He’s about to lie down before he realises something very important isn’t there. He peers down from his bunk.

“Aren’t you joining me?”

“Oh! Oh, yeah, let me just–” Maki hurriedly pulls himself up onto the top bunk and crawls next to Harua, who furrows his brow.

“You’re acting like it’s the first time you’ve been in my nest.” He laughs out quietly. Maki’s hesitation makes Harua’s stomach roll again. Was it because the nest wasn’t good enough? Or did Maki just not want to be here with him? 

“No, I just…it’s the first time I’ve been in here since I presented,” Maki admits. “I wasn’t even sure if you’d let me.”

Harua’s eyes widen at Maki’s admission. Now that he’s really thinking about it, it really is Maki’s first time being in his nest since his presentation as an alpha barely a few months ago. None of the other alphas had ever been invited in; being invited into an omega’s nest was a very personal thing, and for an alpha to be invited into one implies they’re being accepted as a heat partner. It still wasn’t uncommon for an alpha to not even be let into their omega’s nest until after marriage. 

But Harua’s omega doesn’t hesitate. Before Harua even registers his own movement, he’s crawling onto Maki, who grunts in shock as he takes Harua’s weight, balancing him with a hand on Harua’s side. 

“Wait, wait–” Maki says, voice strained. When he looks into Harua’s eyes, all he can see is bright yellow. It’s been months since he’s even seen Harua let his instincts loose like this. Out of all of the members, Harua was always just a little more restrained; even without scent blockers his scent never spread far, and only clung to Maki on the rare occasion Harua scented him. There was never a need for Harua to stake his claim on Maki; everyone already knew they were each other’s. 

“You’re mine , ” Harua breathes out, “ Alpha .” Maki can’t help but stare down at his bunny-pink lips, shiny and plump, even in his shock at Harua’s sudden confession. 

Harua watches Maki intently as his adam’s apple bobs up and down. It’s not often that he allows himself to relinquish control, but he finds his interest thoroughly piqued at Maki’s reaction to him like this. 

“I wanted to spend my heat with you, Maki,” Harua insists. “It’s just– ugh,” he slumps down onto Maki, who’s still staring at him in confused awe. “It’s not fair at all.” What was a few years difference between him, Maki and the others, like Euijoo and Nicholas? It wasn’t about discretion, because it wasn’t like the company announced every time a member had a rut or heat; they just went off, and did their own thing, and came back when they were done. 

Even though he’s still getting used to his own instincts, Maki can easily sense Harua’s waves of emotion; the frustration, sadness and anger running through him. He takes one of Harua’s hands into his own, thumb stroking up and down. It’s warmer than Maki’s, the heat just barely beginning to simmer underneath the soft skin. It probably won’t be long until his heat kicks in. “I know how you feel,” Maki says, looking down at their hands. “I mean, maybe it’s a good thing, because who knows if I’d be able to control myself,” he laughs slightly. 

Harua shakes his head at him, furrowing his brow. “I’d trust you either way.” 

Maki looks down, flustered, but his eye-smile is evident. 

“So,” Harua starts, a smirk forming on his face. “They said no heat, but they didn’t say anything about before my heat, did they, alpha ?”

There’s a flush already rising from Maki’s neck to his cheeks. In the past few months, Harua has learnt the effect that one word has on Maki, causing his scent to flare around them both. This time is no different.

With one hand wrapped around Harua’s side, Maki reaches his other hand to trace the edge of Harua’s bottom lip with his thumb. “No… I guess they didn’t,” he says. The glow of Harua’s eyes follows his each and every action, entranced.

There’s no hesitation before the two of them connect lips, hands coming up to card through Maki’s hair. The still barely-there heat scent starts to grow stronger. 

 Harua removes himself for a second, flipping his fringe away from his face. “Good,” he murmurs, slightly breathless. “‘Cause I’m not leaving you again today.” He kisses Maki again. 

The heat sets in completely that night, with the two of them lying there in Harua’s nest. The hickey Maki just left on Harua blushes scarlet against his collarbone, and alpha scent permeates his entire being. It’s starting to feel a little like he’s floating in some pleasant space, just him and his alpha. 

Maki sits up a little, as if he’s been startled by something. “Is that–” his nostrils flare slightly, looking down at Harua.

“Mh?” Harua grunts, voice bleary. And then– oh. He knows his heat is starting when Maki’s scent turns from tempting to irresistible, and he resists the immediate urge to throw himself at Maki by gritting his teeth. “Shit,” he breathes out, attempting to calm himself. He looks back at Maki, one more time; the concern is clear in his features, but he knows that it’s not easy to control yourself against instincts, and when Maki blinks, his eyes share that familiar glow. There’s a visceral reaction in his system as their eyes meet, alpha and omega reacting to one another. 

“You should go now,” he urges Maki. “Before anything worse happens.” Maki nods, and hesitantly begins to get up– but not before Harua is pulling Maki back towards himself, grabbing his cheeks and pressing a long kiss to his lips. 

As they come apart, Maki squeezes his arm. “You need anything, and I’ll be right here for you, Harua.” 

“But hyung said–” 

“Doesn’t matter what hyung said,” Maki insists. “Okay?”

Harua reluctantly nods, and Maki jumps off the bed. He gives Harua one last look before leaving him alone in the room. 

Harua takes a deep breath. There’s slightly more clarity in his mind without the intense presence of an alpha, but deep within him, his omega only wants Maki to come right back. But now that he’s alone, he can feel the building heat within him, and the uncomfortable feeling of slick already collecting makes him squirm. 

He already knows he’s in for a long few days. 

three days later

Harua huffs, and rolls over, groaning at the aching reaction of his joints from being cramped in his nest for so long. Whichever of the omegas or betas that are available - usually Taki or Nicholas - has come to check on him every once in a while, ensuring he’s got enough food and water as well as periodic access to the bathroom (during which they follow Harua, spraying around scent neutralisers as he slowly returns to his room). Other than that, he’s been completely alone and largely miserable. His nest is covered in sweat and slick, and the hoodie he’d snagged off Maki before his heat had started barely still smells like the alpha. 

Usually his heat would be well on its way out by now; his heats might usually last two days, or be at their tail end by the third day at the very most. Yet here he is, still feverish, exhausted and nonetheless extremely horny. This whole time, all his brain’s been feeding him was Maki, Maki, Maki, Maki – just texting him was never enough. But Harua knew it was dangerous, especially as such a young group. Any omega in heat, and especially a relatively newly presented one, could easily trigger an alpha’s rut, and cause rather undesirable results if proper precautions weren’t taken. Just the thought of that makes him heat more; the idea of sending Maki into rut, even bonding with him—

Harua’s burst out of his stupor by a quiet knock at the door. 

“Yeah?” he calls out, voice hoarse.

“Just me,” Nicholas’ voice rings out from across the door, before opening it slowly. Harua pops his head out from above his bunk to look down at Nicholas.

“You doing alright?” Nicholas asks. He can clearly smell Harua well, judging by the affronted reaction he had upon entering the room. 

“Tired. I don’t think it’s stopping soon,” Harua says, glumly. 

Nicholas’ face twists in thought. He takes the thermometer on Jo’s bed, and hands it up to Harua, who places it into his ear until it beeps. He hands it back to Nicholas, who grimaces upon reading the number. 

“40.5 degrees, huh…” Harua can hear the concern bleeding through Nicholas’ tone, even in the way he’s trying to act nonchalant. 

Harua groans again. “I don’t wanna do this anymore.” He’s suddenly frustrated to the point of tears in his eyes, and he has to wipe his eyes. “I’m sweaty and gross, and can’t stop slicking up, and I can’t fucking stop thinking about Maki–” 

“Hey, hey–” Nicholas takes one of his hands, scenting his wrist gently. 

“I don’t know why it’s so much worse than usual,” Harua whimpers. 

“I know, baby,” Nicholas says. “I’ll call the manager, okay? We’ll get a doctor in.” 

All Harua can do is nod, sniffing. 

Nicholas leaves Harua in his room, quietly shutting the door behind him. When he turns around, Maki is barely a few metres away. Nicholas can tell he’s trying to feign ignorance, but it’s clear what he’s doing here. 

“Dude,” Nicholas says.

Maki looks up at him, clearly trying to pretend he wasn’t - hasn’t been - waiting outside Harua’s door. It’s been like this for the past few days. They all go to practice, Maki looking like he’s about to itch out of his skin with impatience, or anger, or something like that; and they go home, and he sticks as close to Harua’s room as he physically can without actually entering the room. Yesterday, Euijoo had apparently found him sitting, back against the door, asleep. Nicholas supposed it was really all Maki could do, given his strict instructions to stay away. 

Nicholas watches as Maki’s pupils dilate.

“Harua’s scent, it’s– is something wrong?” 

“Nothing you can do anything about, Maki,” Nicholas says, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“If you’d just let me see him—” 

“It’s a bad idea, and you know it.” 

Maki huffs out a breath, clearly annoyed. It’s rare for Nicholas to see Maki like this; so clearly irritated, alpha scent coming off him in waves. Even he has to resist his omega’s urge to defer to him. It appears to Nicholas that he’s about to step forward to challenge him when Maki’s phone buzzes in his pocket. He pulls it out and seems to deflate before Nicholas’ eyes, scent returning to something more neutral. Nicholas watches as Maki stalks away again, back to their room. 

These damn kids, Nicholas thinks, rolling his eyes. 

They’re able to get the doctor in that night. Thankfully, he’s a beta, and he doesn’t trigger Maki to get any more possessive than usual. 

He finishes taking Harua’s blood pressure and removes the cuff from his arm.

“And how long again did you say this heat has lasted for?” The doctor asks, not taking his eyes off his notes. The whole situation feels deeply impersonal and weird, given Harua’s nest is right above them. Fuma sits beside him, a hand resting on his knee. 

“Um, just over three days,” he replies quietly. 

The doctor hums at him, nodding. 

“And you’ve had no exposure to any alphas during this time? At all?” 

“Yes,” Harua says, even though for some reason the question has him flustered. 

The doctor furrows his brow, finally looking up at him. “Are you certain?”

Harua nods slowly. 

“And the young alpha outside your door?” He asks abruptly.

Harua flushes red. 

“I– uh, he–” 

“I don’t mean to assume, especially because you’re young, and you’re idols. But, well, I’m surprised that your other team members haven’t noticed it,” the doctor starts, placing his notebook down. “You’ve started to form a mate bond with him.” 

Harua’s eyes widen, and Fuma’s scent flares in something like protectiveness. The doctor continues to talk, but it’s all white noise to him. It wasn’t possible; they couldn’t have bonded, especially if they’d never spent a heat together. But… if it really were the case, it would certainly explain all of his stronger heat symptoms, and his inexplicable need to be with Maki throughout this time. 

But it was dangerous, too. Not even their oldest members had formed bonds with each other, especially since it was frowned upon by management. He knew other groups that had previously terminated contracts with members for doing it, too; they were meant to be dedicated to their fans. His stomach starts to turn at the thought of explaining this to the rest of the group. 

“The way I see it, you’ve got two options; you either take some heavy duty heat suppressants and end it like that,” the thought of doing so makes Harua deeply uncomfortable, knowing how he felt any time he had to use suppressants, “or, you bring your alpha in here, and the whole problem will be gone by the time you wake up tomorrow.” 

There’s a pause; Harua is stunned into silence. Fuma takes the initiative to speak for him.

“Thank you, doctor. We’ll discuss this with our management.” 

He feels numb as the doctor leaves the room. 

“Shit,” Harua whispers. 

Fuma starts to stroke up and down his back, flaring his scent in an attempt to comfort him. How was he going to explain this to Maki? What if he’d permanently ruined their team, and their contracts had to be terminated, and–

“-Rua. Harua, ” Fuma says, with more urgency. Harua finally looks up at Fuma, and becomes acutely aware of the way his heart is beating like crazy. “It’s going to be fine, okay? We’ll figure it all out.” Harua nods, closing his eyes and trying to get his breathing under control. He fits himself snugly into Fuma’s side when Fuma entwines their hands, pressing their wrists together. 

“Those suppressants don’t work on me,” Harua murmurs. He’s tried them several times since his presentation, even different variations; they all leave him ill, and barely reduce his symptoms. 

“I know,” Fuma responds. Harua can feel the rise and fall of his chest until Fuma gets up off the bed. He silently gives Harua’s head one last scritch before he joins the members in the other room. 

The tense mood of the other members is immediately apparent to Fuma as he enters their living room. Clearly, the doctor has told them what he just told Fuma and Harua. Nicholas’ hand rests on Maki’s leg, jittering where he sits, and Euijoo sits on his other side. Their manager is on his phone, clearly sending urgent messages to their management. K has started to pace around, so Fuma makes his way over to him first.

“Hyung,” he says, putting a hand on K’s shoulder. 

K whips his head around. “Oh, Fuma! How is he?” 

Fuma purses his lips. “Not good.” 

K hums. “Neither is he,” he murmurs, leaning his head in Maki’s direction. The both of them watch as Maki clenches and unclenches his jaw, scrolling through his phone aimlessly. 

Fuma moves in closer so they can whisper. 

“Management said anything yet?”

K shakes his head. “He’s fine with it,” he says, pointing at their manager, “but who knows what the big guns have to say about it.” 

“I still don’t get how it happened, anyway.”

“Probably because they’re always all over each other,” he suggests, looking at Maki once again. 

“You reckon? I would think you’d have bonded with me pretty quickly then, huh…” he jokes with K, who hits him on the arm. 

Just as K is about to retort, the manager puts his phone away and stands in front of them; the eight of them go quiet. Maki sits forward, his restlessness palpable. 

“Management wants the nine of you back as soon as possible, so,” he gestures vaguely. “Go do what you need to do.” 

There’s an audible collective sigh of relief. Maki immediately stands up, but Euijoo catches him before he moves, and begins to drag him away, much to Maki’s chagrin. 

“That’s my cue, too,” K sighs, before following Euijoo and Maki off into Euijoo’s room. 

Yuma raises a brow. “Looks like someone’s about to get the alpha talk.” He quips as Fuma comes to sit down on the couches with the rest of htem. 

“I still don’t get what just happened,” Taki says, sprawled out onto Yuma’s lap. “Since when did the two of them mate without the rest of us knowing?” 

“I don’t think it was intentional,” Jo replies, shaking his head. He’s letting Taki play with one of his hands, largely unbothered. 

“I feel like I’ve heard something similar happening before,” Nicholas adds. “Another idol group, maybe a few years back. One of those survival show groups.”

“ We’re a survival show group,” Yuma retorts. 

“I mean one of the impermanent ones, dumbass.” Yuma flicks Nicholas on the arm in retaliation. 

“Anyway, like– there was a bonding scandal, but I heard they’d never actually spent a cycle together. So maybe…” Nicholas trails off. 

“Maybe it’s just bad luck,” Jo suggests. 

The rest of them are quiet for a moment. It’s not likely that news of their bond would actually spread, but in the off-chance that it did, it might just be the end of Harua and Maki’s careers, and the end of &TEAM as it is now. 

Fuma slaps his hands down onto his thighs, breaking everyone out of their stupors. “There’s no point dwelling on it now. What’s done is done, and what matters is that both of them are going to be okay.”

The others nod in agreement, but the mood is still dim. 

“Do we think this means the PDA will get worse than it is?” Taki asks, to nobody in particular.

“Oh, god,” Nicholas plants his head in his hands. 

“Please let me switch rooms,” Jo begs quietly, and there’s a collective groan and laughter from the rest of them. 

It’s at this point that K and Euijoo rejoin the rest of them, Fuma pulling K down onto his lap, arms around his waist, and Euijoo taking the spare spot next to Nicholas, leaning into him. 

“...So?” Yuma asks intently. 

“So what?” K asks, like there’s nothing left for him to say. “We just gave him some advice, that’s all.”

“I’d say that was more like shovel talk than advice,” Euijoo counters, and they’re not sure whether he’s joking or not until he grins. 

“They’ll be fine! The worst has already happened, anyway,” K waves him off. “Now, I say we forget about all the stresses of today and go out for drinks. Anyone joining me?” 

Everyone cheers, and there’s a mad rush in the entrance to get out of the dorms and to some food.

Maki’s heart is already about to beat out of his chest. The closer he gets to Harua, each and every step towards his room, the less in control he is of his own emotions. The somewhat tense… pep talk? If he could even call it that, that he had just received from K and Euijoo echoes in his head. 

“He doesn’t need an alpha, Maki,” Euijoo had insisted. “He needs you.”

“Or, well, maybe both,” K had quipped, somewhat unhelpfully. Euijoo had raised a brow at him. 

“But how do you know I’m not going to go all… alpha on him?” Maki had worried. 

“You’re not about to go feral just because your boyfriend’s in heat, you know. You do have control over yourself; it’s just a little harder to resist the pull than usual,” K had added. “Just trust your instincts!” 

Yeah, my instincts. The ones that are going insane right now, Maki thinks dryly. 

Before he even realises, he’s standing right outside Harua’s door, hand barely reaching for the doorknob. He breathes out shakily, and turns the knob. 

Maki feels himself react immediately. Mouth watering, pupils dilating, blood pumping through his chest; all just in reaction to Harua’s heat scent. It’s nothing even close to the glimpse of the scent he got barely three days ago; it’s powdery and clean, just as Maki is familiar with, yet it’s sweet, rich and damn near irresistible before he’s even seen Harua. The boy in question pops his head up from his nest on the top bunk, and Maki is immediately struck by how cherubic he looks. Plump cheeks flushed, mouth slightly open to reveal his bunny teeth, eyes glowing, breathing heavily; it’s a Harua that Maki has never had the chance to see. 

“I’m in love with you,” Maki blurts out before he can even stop himself, in awe at the omega before him– his mate. 

“Eh?” Harua says, eyes widening. “Eh?! Wait, wait, wait–” he says, as he starts to scramble down to the floor. Maki meets him halfway, and Harua grabs onto him in such a tight embrace that it feels like he might not ever let go. He can hear as Harua breathes him in, nosing right up to his scent gland, and he can’t help himself from planting his face into Harua’s hair. The two of them stand there like that for more than a few moments; it’s a struggle to even pull away from Harua, who whines when he moves even centimetres away. Maki has to physically pull him back over to get up to his nest in a display of cuteness that Maki can barely resist laughing at, even in their current states. 

When he sees Harua, laying among all their member’s clothes, wearing his hoodie, he can’t help but kiss him. Harua immediately pulls him in closer, a hand on Maki’s nape. There’s something instinctual that keeps them gravitating back together, and neither of them are sure if it’s just because of the heat, or because of the bond, or both. 

Harua disconnects the two of them for a second.

“Me too,” he breathes out. 

“What?” Maki says, making eye contact with him in a way that makes Harua want to jump him.

“I love you too, Maki.”

Maki’s lips part in surprise, and Harua can’t help but look down at them, spit-slick and red. He then breaks out in a toothy grin, and Harua smiles back, slinging his arms around Maki’s neck and pulling them both down into his nest. 

“You have to help me with my heat; doctor’s orders, alpha,” Harua teases with a serious tone. 

Maki smirks. “Ah, well… if that’s exactly what the doctor said, then… I guess I can’t really refuse, huh?”

Harua lets out a laugh as Maki flips the two of them over to kiss him again, and his omega reacts in pure, unadulterated satisfaction. It’s like every fantasy Harua’s imagined rolled into one, but it’s real this time, so it’s better than any of them put together. His heat no longer boils furiously under his skin, but instead just barely simmers, his omega appeased even just by the presence of his alpha. But, well… if they’ve got the dorm to themselves, they might as well make use of it. 

When Harua wakes up the next morning warm, but not excessively so like the past few days have been for him, he knows that his heat has finally broken. He sighs in relief as he stretches, the tension of his heat finally leaving his body, and accidentally whacks the warm body next to him, who jolts, and groans. The tiny bunk beds really weren’t ideal for sleeping with another adult-sized person. 

“Ugh,” Maki grunts, his voice husky, “What kind of wake-up call is that?” 

“Sorry,” Harua laughs out. 

Maki stretches himself out, but pulls Harua in closer in the same motion, causing him to squawk. He scents Harua, humming as he pulls away just far enough to come face to face with a blushing Harua.

“Heat’s gone,” he comments. “And you really do smell like me.” 

Harua looks away, flustered, but the smile on his face shows how much he really likes it. 

“I don’t get how we never noticed,” Harua murmurs. “Or the others.” 

Maki hums again, distantly, smoothing some of Harua’s hair out of his face. The gesture is tender, domestic; it feels like home. Maybe that’s just what a mate bond feels like, Harua wonders. 

“Are you mad about it? The bond?” Maki asks. The tone of his question is casual, but Harua knows that Maki cares about his answer. 

He shakes his head. Sliding his hand up to Maki’s jaw, Harua kisses him gently, just for a moment. “Didn’t I already tell you that you were mine?” 

Now it’s Maki’s turn to look flustered again, just as he was the first time Harua told him, and he giggles at the reaction. Maki immediately reacts by squeezing him, causing him to yelp and laugh even louder. It’s not long before the two of them are both cackling. 

Maki wipes a tear out of his eye as Harua’s stomach growls.

“Guess that’s our cue to get up,” Harua sighs. He looks forlornly at the nest he’s made around him, knowing he’s going to have to clean it all up in the next few hours. It’s gross, really, probably covered in an obscene amount of bodily fluids, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t become emotionally attached to it over the past few days. 

“C’mon,” Maki says, already sitting up. “I can already smell food, so let’s go eat.” 

Harua whines, and for the second time in barely twelve hours Maki is physically dragging him down from his nest, pulling a fresh jumper over Harua’s head and taking a t-shirt for himself. When Maki deems the both of them acceptable (not without scenting Harua once more, and opening the window as an afterthought) they leave the room, and reenter the living area. 

Several heads pop up, immediately smelling the pair of them, and the room bursts into chatter. Taki immediately envelopes Harua in a tight hug, only grimacing slightly at the strong alpha smell attached to him. 

“Hey, take a look at what we did this morning!” he says, tugging Harua over to their couches. Harua’s eyes widen when he sees the piles of cushions, doonas, and clothing that somehow wasn’t snagged by Harua before his heat started, all forming a massive soft bed in the middle of the room. It’s a pack nest. 

Harua hasn’t really seen a pack nest up close since he was a kid. He can remember lying with his parents in theirs, his mother stroking his hair as he fought against falling asleep. Seeing one now brings back immense nostalgia, and immediately makes him want to crawl into it. Forget his own tiny nest; there was nothing that could compare to nesting with your entire pack. But it was something they had never done as a group before. For the past two years, they had spent their time figuring out their bonds with each other, gradually becoming close enough to scent one another and feel like they were truly one pack. Yet they had never really done this before, and Harua finds himself wondering why. 

“Hey, hey— we said we were going to eat , Harua,” Maki says, slightly exasperated as Harua inches closer and closer to the nest. 

Harua turns to him, tilts his head, and immediately plays up his omega wiles. “You can feed me in the nest, can’t you, alpha?” 

Maki only sighs, rubbing his temple before retreating to the kitchen to grab them both food. Harua jumps into the nest in the meanwhile with Taki, and they’re slowly joined by the other members. K comes in, ruffling Harua’s hair, and Jo sprawls out on one of the pillows next to him. Euijoo manages to drag a hungover Nicholas out from his room to join them too. 

“Oh? The bunny’s finally woken up,” Harua hears from across the room, and grins when he sees Yuma coming towards them to jump onto the cushions, alongside Fuma. 

“You didn’t hear them? They’ve been awake for ages,” K comments. Harua is only slightly embarrassed that they were audible this morning, even if the conversations were innocuous. 

“No, and I’m going to continue tuning them out, just as I do you and Fuma,” Yuma retorts. K halfheartedly reaches out to hit him, but Yuma’s just slightly out of reach. Maki comes back with a plate of food that he sets on the TV unit before crawling down to reach Harua. 

There’s a moment of silence then. They’re all lying there, cuddled up to each other in the nest, scents intermingling into one strange, yet perfect amalgamation. 

“But like… why did we make a pack nest today, though?” Maki questions. 

“Because,” K starts, “No matter what the company thinks about the two of you mate bonding, we’re here for you. We’re your pack,” he continues, before he sniffs a little, and the rest of them realise he’s tearing up a little. 

“Aw, our K-hyung,” Nicholas says, patting his leg from where he lies next to Euijoo. 

“Sorry! Sorry, agh– you know what I mean.” K whines, covering his face with one hand, and they all nod, Fuma rubbing circles into K’s other hand with his thumb. 

Neither Harua nor Maki had expected to get the team’s support one-hundred percent, but they can both feel the pleased scents that fill their entire living room. It’s a far cry from the tense situation the doctor had put them all in yesterday, and they’re all glad their manager gave them the morning off. 

“Wait, I am curious, though,” Taki says from Harua’s other side. “What does it feel like? To be bonded?” 

The others pop their heads up from where they’re lying, all looking at Harua and Maki expectedly. The two of them make eye contact, smile, and with barely any need to communicate through their bond, decide to say nothing. 

“Shit, that’s freaky– could they do that before?” Yuma says incredulously, looking at Jo, who shakes his head, also looking mildly concerned.

“You can’t just leave us hanging like that!” Taki whines, shaking Harua’s shoulder. 

“Find out for yourselves,” Maki says, sticking out his tongue. Amused, Harua cranes his head to do the same. 

There’s some groans, and some laughter from the rest of them. Harua snuggles himself further between Maki and Taki, and breathes in their pack scent, revelling in the deep sense of comfort he feels. So this was what it was like to have a pack.