Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

5.12.2023

It was Soobin’s twenty-first birthday. He had thrown a house party in the midst of exam season, which became another reason why Beomgyu, Soobin’s best friend, had turned down the invitation at first. Beomgyu was a meritorious student, a responsible freshman who seemed to have zero interest in losing his merit-scholarship. The foremost reason was that Beomgyu was just not a party guy at all .

Unlike other alphas his age, he was very reserved and barely spent his nights out. Beomgyu thrived in a structured and composed environment — his desk, coding through the night, debugging his project websites’ back-end codes or, the chilly football field in the evening — which was quite the opposite of Soobin’s party or parties in general.

Also, Beomgyu was a hot, single, and unmated alpha, a newbie at that. So, he was like a treat for all the senior omegas, which might appear as unconventional, considering the sub-gender norms, but it really did feel that freshmen alphas were like fresh-seasonal fruits, inducing a craving within everyone. Beomgyu wasn’t a fan of hookups or unnecessary attention, nor was he into free beer, so parties have always been a big no for him.

Beomgyu has been very serious about this, because he has a lot that he doesn’t want to risk. He’s the vice-captain for the university’s football team — the only freshman to have ever been at such a position — a computer science major on a merit scholarship, with a tight schedule, and tighter responsibilities. So, for him, parties meant risk, parties meant prioritising something else over what needs to be prioritised. Even if he doesn’t drink, even if he behaves, proximity to the wrong kind of story could spiral : chaos has a way of staining everyone within reach, because even if you don’t touch the fire, the smoke still clings to you. He has no room for recklessness, no one to catch him when he falls.

Once, he had even fought with Soobin over this.  It was when his first and Soobin’s third semester's exams ended, that Soobin tried to drag Beomgyu to a party. 

“I’m not you, Soobin. I don’t have a brother who’ll cover for me when I screw up”, Beomgyu yells. That line hits Soobin harder than Beomgyu likely meant it to.

He instinctively laughs at first, like he always does when things get too real too fast. But the chuckle dies somewhere behind his teeth, because something in Beomgyu's tone sieved deeper than it should. Soobin knows Beomgyu doesn’t say things to hurt, he is very careful, he has always been, careful in the way alphas rarely are.

So, this — this wasn’t just careless, it was partly honest and that’s why it stings. It's true, Soobin has always had Yeonjun, his brother - even when they fight, even when they pretend to hate each other, even when Soobin’s too harsh and Yeonjun's too much sometimes, there's always been that unspoken shield of shared blood, that no matter how messy he gets, someone will be there to pull him out.

Beomgyu doesn’t have that and Beomgyu has always lived like that. He had been away from his parents since god knows when and he has learned to be alone, he lives like someone who knows no one would come. Like he’s trained himself to carry every consequence, every slip, every crack in his control, all alone. It’s reasonable why Beomgyu wouldn’t take a risk with his priorities at all.

“You know I’ve got your back too, right?” Soobin says, quieter now. Beomgyu shrugs like it doesn’t matter, it does though, as he realises how letting Soobin in, getting a chance to have him as his best friend was something fated, something Beomgyu would choose over and over again in the future.

They skipped partying that time, but this time was different, it was Soobin’s birthday party and after eight months of being best friends, Beomgyu kept an important place for Soobin in his life. Yet, he tried to get himself out of this situation, but, as the captain of the football team, Soobin used his authority over his junior, to make him oblige to the invitation. Beomgyu, the said junior, could not argue much, so he dragged himself to the party, in hopes that there would at least be Kai, who could make him feel that leaving his computer for a night was worth it, although he was proven wrong not long after he entered.

The party was loud, the house pulsed with noise and music thumped through the walls as if the house now had a heartbeat of its own. Somewhere across the room, a group of freshmen were trying and failing to play beer pong, the clatter of cups and laughter spilling into the already too-crowded living room. The whole place reeked of cheap beer and Beomgyu felt sorry for Soobin’s parents who were out of town, as to what their son had made of the house.

Beomgyu had barely stepped inside when he realised that coming to this party was probably going to be a mistake he would remember and regret for a long while. He had just walked into the place and immediately knew which omegas were in heat, which alphas were posturing, which people were desperately trying to pretend they were fine. It was going to be exhausting.

Choi Yeonjun leaned against the kitchen counter, loose-limbed and artfully draped in a black embroidered shirt, the top three buttons undone just because they could be. He was covered in black from top to bottom, his jeans clung to him in a way that made people look — and they were looking, all the time, every time, and normally, that would’ve been enough to keep boredom at bay, but today was not the case. His certifying silver jewelry glorified his look even more, like the dangling loops over his abnormal — in the nicest way — ears and his anti-tarnish rings that clasped strongly against his fingers, one of which laid on his right ring finger for maybe absolutely no reason at all. 

Yeonjun knew he looked good and he was no less than a criminal to behave in a manner that reflected that he knew how hot he was. Because, leaning on the kitchen counter, reciprocating compliments to every pretty omega and letting every alpha drown him with words of desire was the game he had chosen to master tonight.

The omegas he had met tonight were all soft-voiced and sparkling-eyed, and were seeking for Yeonjun’s approval, like it mattered . He liked them, the ones who made him feel like he was something, the ones who knew what they wanted and weren’t afraid to want it, but he didn’t try anything with them, just returned the compliments and gave them a friendly kiss on the cheek, like a farewell.

Unfortunately, Yeonjun didn’t meet any betas yet and his personal favorite beta — Taehyun — was also busy for the night and didn’t make it to the party.

As for the alphas, there were two kinds, one, the cocky and loud ones who presumed Yeonjun was into them. They told him what they’d do to him like he was a checklist, and Yeonjun let them talk, let them feed his ego and when it got boring, he simply walked away with the help of an excuse. Second were the alphas who watched him from a distance for a certain period of time before deciding to approach him, they were Yeonjun’s favorite type of people at a party, the on es who noticed his every move and then approached him with a slight touch, a soft wrist hold or a lingering look.

Regardless of the sub-gender, Yeonjun didn’t stay anywhere. He moved from person to person like a thief, taking attention like gold and giving just enough of himself to keep them wanting more.

Now, while Yeonjun was talking to an attractive alpha, whom he had seen at some of his modeling gigs and who also was, somehow, acquainted with Soobin, Soobin interrupted their talk and dragged Yeonjun away from the kitchen and nearer to the main door. 

“Well, hello to you too, birthday boy”, Yeonjun teased, his eyes going crescent, his soft, glowy, lip-gloss-coated lips puckering out as he tried freeing himself from his alpha brother’s grasp, only earning a soft groan in return.

Soobin sighed, “Yeonjun, can you stop, please?”, frustration pouring out of every word he uttered. Yeonjun stepped back and gave a confused look, “Stop what? And I know there’s barely any age gap between the two of us but you need to call me hyung, Soob”, he commanded in his sweet omega voice. Soobin clicked his tongue, something he did when he was mad.

“Yeonjun, you’ve been sucking faces the entire evening. You’ve been messing around so shamelessly that even your scent patches have worn off, you do know how harmful it is for an unmated omega to roam around in party full of thirsty, filthy alph-”, Soobin was cut short by Yeonjun trying to calm him down by rubbing his arms gently. People were starting to look, and Yeonjun was mumbling apologies in his sweet , manipulative voice, hinting at stuff like, how this could ruin his reputation and how Soobin should not be ruining a party dedicated to himself.

Then came his explanation, “Soobs, I am only here for some fun, but I can leave if you want me to”, he blinked with the familiar pout still on. And nevermind, he didn’t even try to explain, his eyes did the job for him, one of Yeonjun’s favorite weapons, which were guaranteed to work on ninety-nine percent of alphas.

“Don’t show your omega eyes to me, they are not working, and stay , I don’t want to celebrate my birthday without you, just– at least, don’t mess around with my friends”, he warned, earning a soft nod from Yeonjun as he raised his hands up in defence, the fragile glass in his right hand glinting with his action.

After getting cornered and warned by Soobin, Yeonjun decided he would not cause any more problems tonight. He clicked his tongue against his teeth and let his gaze slide lazily over the crowd, picking up new games like mentally ranking outfits, judging haircuts and scents, finding nothing he wanted to keep but that was until the front door swung open and a latecomer stepped inside.

Soobin had already dispersed from Yeonjun’s sight a few moments ago and Yeonjun had been thinking about the next thing to do, when almost timely, he spotted the guy at the door.

There was nothing too special about it, if anything, the new arrival looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. He was tall, looked like a potential alpha, a little disheveled, wearing nothing but a dark navy football jersey, something similar to what Soobin wore in his matches, which said : 13, Choi Beomgyu, Vice Captain vertically, and a small Seoul National University printed above the jersey number, paired with basic black joggers. His dark-brown hair was still damp, sticking up in messy clumps like he’d just run a hand through it after a shower. His gym bag slung carelessly over his right shoulder. 

Talk of timing, still. Yeonjun was about to drop his games for the night, but now, he had a reason to continue. An athletic reason with just the right amount of tan.

Now, Yeonjun had always known how to read dynamics — it was an unspoken fluency, the kind you learned as a young omega when you realized the world started watching you too early and never stopped. He could tell an alpha before they even opened their mouth, the basics — the posture, the gaze, the particular kind of silence that wrapped around them like heat. Yeonjun felt it in his nerves that this guy was an Alpha, and his instincts have never been wrong, but the guy was wearing scent patches, and alphas are not afraid to show off their scents in parties like these, it’s the omegas that do that, generally.

Omega? Yeonjun thought, speculative. No, he needed to be an alpha. He could perhaps be a beta?   But that was unlikely, he didn’t have the restless energy of someone caught in-between and he was wearing scent patches, so his scent must not be as dilute as a beta’s.

Overall, the guy hadn’t even tried to look good. Worse, he didn’t even look around, didn’t notice the way the room tilted towards him — Yeonjun did — and most importantly didn’t notice Yeonjun, didn't spare him a second glance. This infuriated Yeonjun, he was so troubled by the fact that a seemingly potential alpha, who did not know how to dress, wasn’t interested in him. His fingers tightened around the glass in his hand, a slow curl of offense working its way into his chest.

“Seriously?” he muttered, mostly to himself.

But then, in a click, he convinced himself that maybe the said jersey boy didn’t feel like he belonged there, since he was already on a phone call, looking for someone, and, who if not Yeonjun knew how to make someone feel like they belong. Belong to a place, to a party, belong in Yeonjun’s embrace, perhaps.

Yeonjun placed his glass away and started walking towards the door, but his steps stopped when he saw the scene in front of him. His younger brother engulfed the jersey boy in his embrace and he looked very happy, the happiest he did this evening. 

Yeonjun stepped forward.

“You came”, he heard Soobin say, Soobin had always been into omegas.

“Happy birthday for the fifth time, and, you tricked me to”, the boy said, earning a soft chuckle from Soobin, “It worked, wait, head to the kitchen, I’ll be there, yeah?”, Soobin rushed away to attend to someone else. How could you leave such a pretty guy regardless of his sub-gender to attend someone who might not be as important as him, Choi Soobin?

“Hyung! Don’t leave me alone please, you know I don’t like it here!”, the jersey-boy whined, his pout appearing publicly. No, alphas do not do that, not usually. The only time Yeonjun had seen an alpha in this situation was when they desperately begged him to let them go on another round.

“I can help you with that”, Yeonjun strided towards the door, unlike his reputation, he had to approach the guy first. Now, he was closer to him, but not close enough, because close enough would be when he’d be able to smell his scent seeping through the scent patches. Number 13’s eyes widened, how cute, he was probably startled. He looked around for any familiar faces and then asked, “with what?”

He sounds adorable, adorable in a way he can do all the things every alpha present here wishes to do to me, and I’ll only beg for more.

“I can help you like it better here. It’s Yeonjun, by the way”, Yeonjun took the chance to introduce himself, and usually, Yeonjun does not require introductions, if you are in SNU, you’d have to know him, or in Seoul even, there’s at least fifty different billboards featuring him, throughout the neighbouring districts of the university area. The boy raised his eyebrows again, head tilting ever so slightly in quiet amusement. Yeonjun offered a smile — his omega smile that spread across his lips, all honey and heat. “My name,” he said smoothly, “though I’d much prefer if this exchange was mutual.”

“Beomgyu, Choi Beomgyu”, the boy hurriedly nodded before replying.

Yeonjun smiled briefly before letting his expression shift into something closer to a pout, feigned indifference barely masking the mischief in his eyes. “Are you dating Choi Soobin?” he asked, voice light but edged with challenge. The boy in front of him stilled for a beat, eyes narrowing slightly before he let out a dry scoff, almost as if Yeonjun had asked him an impossible question, “And who exactly are you to be asking that?” he replied coolly, answering the question with one of his own.

“That does not answer my question, pretty boy, also, didn’t know the dress code was fresh off the field ,” Yeonjun drawled, letting his voice pitch into that silky, teasing register that always made people lean closer, Beomgyu didn’t. He barely glanced up from digging through his gym bag, pulling out a soft, grey sweatshirt. 

Pretty was intentional, he never met an alpha who was fine with being called pretty, pretty was always good as an adverb, pretty hot, pretty strong, pretty reliable and all the other bookish alpha traits. The boy in front of him had no problem with it, maybe he was an omega, then. 

“Didn’t know I was coming,” Beomgyu said, his voice an unbothered murmur, he spoke like someone who didn’t mind being misunderstood, he didn’t care.

With the same quiet indifference, he reached for the hem of his sweatshirt and pulled it over his head in a single, clean motion. The fabric shifted up with it, and for the briefest of moments, his jersey caught — revealing a sliver of skin beneath. Tan, perfectly smooth, suited for a belly-button piercing, and it was not a calculated flash, nothing intentional because Yeonjun had read Beomgyu’s face and he was not teasing Yeonjun. It was just something incidental, like catching someone looking at you just to find out they’re not looking for you. Yeonjun noticed it though, maybe he was eyeing it, he noticed in the way an omega notices danger or desire. His gaze lingered a second longer than it should have, even as his lips curled faintly in amusement and his throat gasped for a sip of his forgotten drink.

He understood for once that if this party was his stage, Beomgyu was not here as an audience. Yeonjun tilted his head. If attention wouldn’t come easily, he’d earn it the way omegas had always been taught to, with presence, with charm, with scent . The most subtle, yet the most powerful natural weapon he owns. 

He let his posture soften and his lashes dipped as he slowly, deliberately allowed his scent to bloom around him. His sweet citrus scent exploded subtly, and it was equivalent to him smirking, to marking his territory.

React to me. Widen your eyes, acknowledge my scent. Flinch, move, be bothered. Please?

But Beomgyu didn’t so much as glance in his direction. It was a test, Beomgyu had to pass this one. But Beomgyu didn’t even flutter, he didn’t turn towards him. He didn’t react at all, he just rolled the sleeves of his now-loose sweatshirt into place, and slung his gym bag over one shoulder. His face remained unreadable. There was no tension in his shoulders, no reflection of second thoughts as he walked away. As if Yeonjun hadn’t shifted the entire climate between them, as if, the citrus explosion was not worthy of attention. As if, some other alpha wouldn't have gone feral over this.

Yeonjun blinked in disbelief, his mouth was now slightly opened. Something small and indignant flickered in his chest and his smile faltered, almost dramatically, before he straightened, his pride bristling beneath his mask.

He’s not blind, nor could he have anosmia, he knows exactly what I did and he chose not to care?

Rejection. Yeonjun, and his omega regarded it as rejection, after getting complimented by, getting looked at by all the alphas present in the house, Yeonjun definitely wasn’t used to this. Beomgyu bowed politely and walked towards the kitchen next, leaving Yeonjun alone at the front door with a weird chest pain.

Yeonjun was a stubborn man, prideful, even. The kind of omega who’d grown too used to winning every interaction, who could end conversations with a look, or a laugh, or a calculated tilt of the head with his little widened eyes and an 'o' for his mouth. Yet, half an hour later, having drifted through a maze of idle conversations and hollow compliments from other alphas, he found his eyes scanning the crowd again. Looking for one in particular. Because none of them, not a single person, had looked at him the way Beomgyu hadn’t . And that was a problem, the problem of the night.

He found him in the kitchen again. Of course . Away from the haze of beer and dim lights and grinding music. Beomgyu stood with his back half-turned to the room, shoulders relaxed, forearms braced casually on the counter. He was filling a red cup, not with liquor, not even with soda, but with water from the filtered dispenser on the fridge.

Yeonjun approached with the slow elegance of someone who knew the weight of his presence. He moved like an invitation, unfortunately, Beomgyu knew how to make him feel uninvited.

“Drinking water at a college party?” he asked, voice laced with artificial amusement. His nose scrunched slightly as he leaned in. “What a rebel”, he talked as if he was talking to a toddler.

Beomgyu gave him a glance, just a dry flick of his gaze, as though evaluating whether this conversation required effort. “Not interested in getting drunk for no reason,” he said, neutral.

Yeonjun exhaled a soft, musical hum, then let his shoulder brush faintly against the edge of the counter. He angled his body half-open, just enough that the lines of his posture would curve invitingly in Beomgyu’s direction. The air between them adjusted, like the room noticing a change in lighting.

“Sounds boring,” he chirped, with a grin that was all charm and challenge. Beomgyu raised the cup to his lips and sipped. His profile remained composed, Yeonjun noticed his sharp cheekbones, his smooth jaw, and his long lashes that didn’t flutter once.

“It’s called being responsible,” he replied evenly. “Have you ever tried that?”, a challenge, he is interested.

Yeonjun’s mouth parted in a breath that he wanted to be laughter. His eyes glittered with mischief, even as he leaned in further, not letting the moment slide. His omega scent responded to the slight, weaving more thickly into the space between them like something addictive. He tilted his chin slightly, close enough that his scent could thread around Beomgyu’s wrist, his neck, and test the waters of his control.

And yet he got no thing. Beomgyu simply stepped sideways, keeping the physical space unbroken, like someone dodging a puddle they’d seen coming five steps ahead. His expression didn’t shift and his eyes didn’t linger.

Yeonjun stared a little too long at Beomgyu’s glass of water. His smile faltered, but he covered it quickly with a scoff, gaze flicking away as if dismissing the whole interaction before it could be taken seriously. But the sting lingered. That familiar little ache in his chest, rejection. Yeonjun had been brushed aside before, he had been ignored politely but this was too abrupt, it was a different kind of challenge.

Soobin had eventually dragged Beomgyu into the living room — into the circle of his so-called brothers, a group Yeonjun had seen and dismissed plenty. They were all the same to him – rough-laughing football boys with broad shoulders, steady girlfriends, and personalities that rarely wandered past protein shakes or practice schedules, and they were all sweaty as fuck. Yet, each time Soobin brought Yeonjun around, at least one or two of them found their gazes drifting his way, as if they’d never seen an omega who could weaponize his scent with a smile.

Tonight, Yeonjun followed out of interest. Or maybe boredom. Or maybe because some invisible thread had wrapped itself around his ankle and tugged him forward, threading him deeper into Beomgyu’s orbit. It wasn’t the lust, it wasn’t even attraction, he told himself. It was curiosity. It was belonging, like a bee to honey. The bloom of ego around a boy who had dared to be unimpressed.

Beomgyu — if he was even an alpha — hadn’t looked at him twice. That made him appear something like a closed window in a world of open doors.

If this party really was Yeonjun’s stage, and Beomgyu really wasn’t here to be his audience, Yeonjun had decided he would make sure that Beomgyu would be the chief guest for the event.

Yeonjun slid down into the conversation pit with the same ease he used on runways, letting himself land just a little too close to one of Soobin’s friends. Haojin, description similar to all the football bros. Yeonjun remembered him vaguely from a past dinner and a half-hearted flirtation that had ended with Yeonjun laughing into his drink. Still, Haojin lit up, like a dog seeing their long lost owner who left him somewhere on purpose.

“Yeonjun hyung, good to see you!” he called, loud enough to turn heads, Soobin's included.

Yeonjun turned on the charm like flipping a switch. His pout was all softness and light mockery. “Oh god, Jinnie,” he sighed, “it’s been so long since you’ve visited home.” The statement dripped with sweet familiarity, made more for the audience than for Haojin. The way his voice cut through the noise was practiced like dialogues of a script, it was an omega’s call, a flirtation dressed as affection.

Haojin chuckled and leaned in, arm snaking around Yeonjun’s shoulders like it belonged there. The touch felt wrong the second it had landed. Haojin’s scent was strong and heavy like gasoline. It clung to Yeonjun’s skin, making the fine hairs on the back of his neck rise. His omega instincts shrank from it, curling inwards in a protective manner. His stomach twisted and it took everything in him not to flinch, but he didn’t pull away, because he could feel it now — the way the room shifted. How Soobin’s gaze narrowed, not with anger, but something fraternal and protective.

And then, there was a second weight. Beomgyu was watching, not necessarily with interest or curiosity like that of Yeonjun’s but with concern ? Beomgyu was wearing scent patches but that didn’t mean Beomgyu couldn’t smell Yeonjun’s distress, and it looked like he did . 

Yeonjun sat straighter beneath Haojin’s hand. The pain of Haojin’s hand became a stage prop. Yeonjun’s eyes dropped down in his misery but his eyes flicked across the pit, landing on the boy who hadn’t looked at him all night, who was now subtly looking at Haojin’s hand.

Is he jealous? Interested, perhaps? He didn’t know. But Beomgyu hadn’t looked away and that was enough to make the burn worth it.

“Soobinnie’s got himself a new best friend,” Haojin answered, lamenting it with an exaggerated sigh, nudging Yeonjun playfully. “He barely invites anyone else these days. It’s just him and his two shadows now. Tragic, it means we don’t get to see you outside campus anymore.”

Yeonjun offered a soft, self-aware smile that reflected a little genuine shyness. “Oh? And who might this elusive new friend be?”

Haojin raised a brow and pointed, as if the answer was obvious. “Take a wild guess. He’s sitting right there.”

Yeonjun’s gaze followed the gesture to where Soobin sat, head tilted, watching the exchange. Yeonjun, ever the actor, pouted theatrically. “Soob, you didn’t introduce me to your new friend!”

There were stifled chuckles around the circle. Soobin’s smile was tight. “Hyung,” he said, tone even but a little warning, “This is Beomgyu. Beomgyu, this is my elder brother, Yeonjun.”

Beomgyu acknowledged him with the same polite smile he had worn at the door. A bare minimum sort of civility that bordered on impersonal. Yeonjun clicked his tongue and returned a matching, clearly artificial smile of his own. “Is he an omega?” he asked, displaying wide-eyed innocence. 

An alpha, an alpha, an alpha. He chanted in his head.

Soobin rolled his eyes. “You know the coach doesn’t allow omega players on the starting line. He’s an alpha.”

I know , Yeonjun thought, lips twitching, honestly, he could’ve thought of this criteria to confirm his assumption earlier. I just need to smell him now .

“Oh, I thought—” he said, drawing out the syllables like a comical stretch, “he might’ve been an omega. We could’ve been friends.”

Haojin scoffed. “Come on, hyung, you sleep with omegas too. Since when is friendship a requirement?”

Yeonjun chuckled in a light tone, even as he subtly shifted his weight away from the arm Haojin still had lazily draped across the back of the couch. “Let’s not scare the guy on his first real social outing”, he acted out.

“Scare?” Haojin’s grin was disgusting now, gaze dipping low to Yeonjun’s waist. “I think he’d be thrilled.”

Yeonjun didn’t flinch, but he felt the discomfort in his guts, he simply shifted his posture, letting his knee fall just far enough to increase the distance between them. Beomgyu cleared his throat. “Let’s not make this more uncomfortable than it needs to be,” he said smoothly, standing. “I’ll head out. Nice meeting you guys.”

Before Yeonjun could process it, he turned, but Soobin caught his wrist before he could take a step - a familiar grip, too close to the scent patch on Beomgyu’s wrist. Beomgyu stiffened, sighed, and muttered under his breath, “Hyung, I’ve given you my all today.”

Yeonjun scoffed quietly to himself. That’s how he talks to Soobin?   Soobin tugged again. “One last game?” he pleaded, in that boyish way he knew worked. Beomgyu’s lips pressed into a line, but he gave a reluctant nod and sank back into the conversation pit, this time at the far edge. His long legs stretched carelessly in front of him, a plastic cup dangled from his fingers, posture loose, as if he was immune to the electricity in the air. Yeonjun leaned back into the couch, the lazy elegance of his movement hiding how intensely he was watching. His smile had returned — polished, slow-burning, the kind that drew eyes without asking for them. He looked like he belonged there, in the spotlight of casual chaos, among the alphas too predictable to be dangerous. But his attention kept slipping, uninvited, to the boy sitting just out of reach. The boy who hadn’t once looked at him with hunger, or awe, or possession but concern.

Beomgyu didn’t laugh with the others. He didn’t lean in when the room erupted over a scandalous truth or some dare-induced chaos. He watched with the detachment of someone who wasn’t trying to belong — someone clearly there on borrowed patience. Yeonjun could see that Beomgyu was there because Soobin had asked him to, maybe even begged him to. And for some reason, that disinterest made him all the more magnetic, like all the emotionally-unavailable characters Yeonjun had a crush on, while growing up.

Yeonjun hated how curious he was about Beomgyu, about why he stayed despite clearly wanting to leave. A part of him wished he were the reason. If it had been someone else, they would’ve stayed for Yeonjun. They would’ve clung to every word, chased every look. But not this guy. Beomgyu was a mystery with no desire to be solved and Yeonjun had always been greedy for a puzzle wrapped in tan skin, broad shoulders and a pretty smile - he caught him smiling at a lame joke Soobin cracked.

The bottle spun again — another round, another surge of cheers. Someone was dared to shotgun a drink, someone else blurted out a painfully obvious crush. Laughter rippled, loose and unrestrained, as a freshman — flushed pink with alcohol and high on the chaos — swayed forward to grab the bottle. His movements were sloppy but determined, and his grin was wide and mischievous as he rolled it away.

“Beomgyu!” he called, voice cracking with giddiness, “You’re the only freshman left. Your turn! Dare!”

Beomgyu’s name landed like a dart and the room tilted toward him in anticipation. Yeonjun expected him to opt out — expected the quiet, logical boy to lift his hands and decline with a cool smile. Beomgyu seemed like the type to pick truth, if he picked anything at all. But Beomgyu didn’t flinch, he raised an eyebrow, barely, and gave a one-shouldered shrug. 

“Alright.”

He could have said no, should have, according to Yeonjun’s calculations. There was no obligation to humour a drunk freshman, no need to play along with party games that clearly bored him. But he agreed anyway, and Yeonjun couldn’t stop the flicker of intrigue that twisted in his gut.

The freshman’s grin widened, gleaming with mischief. His gaze darted around the circle, clearly cooking something up, until it landed — like he had chosen a target — on Yeonjun. Yeonjun felt it before it happened — his stomach tightened, fingers curling slightly on his glass. The freshman’s smile sharpened with recognition.

“I dare you,” he said, dragging out the words like a showman, “to scent the hottest omega in the room.” He paused, then added with dramatic topping, “Which would obviously be Yeonjun hyung!”, the words dropped into the circle like a stone into water — there were ripples of laughter, of shrieks and mumbles.

Scent? Me?

Scenting was too intimate. Yeonjun was unmated, Beomgyu was too, apparently so. And it needs to be believed when it’s said, Yeonjun had had alphas deep inside him, but has never let any of them, or the omegas he has been friendly with, scent him, not even for comfort, not casually at all.

One man, only one man, an ex , had the chance to do that and Yeonjun is very serious about scenting, unlike he is about the other stuff.

So, Yeonjun’s heart punched hard against his ribs before he could stop it. He kept his face smooth, cocked his head slightly as if unimpressed, but his fingers tightened imperceptibly around the stem of his glass. He waited for it. Most alphas would have laughed and lunged for him already, like they have had before, treating it like a joke, like something inevitable. Yeonjun was used to that.

But Beomgyu only turned his head, just slightly, meeting Yeonjun’s gaze with a quiet, unreadable steadiness. Then he spoke clearly loud enough to cut through the noise. “You guys really enjoy making him uncomfortable,” he said, almost like an observation, almost like it bored him, and almost like he was pissed.

Haojin scoffed, ever the instigator. “Come on, Beomgyu, just do it! You’re killing the mood.”

Typical . Yeonjun could’ve rolled his eyes, these so-called alphas, so loose with their pride, laughing over shared omegas like it was some joke. Where was the dignity in that? In Yeonjun’s mind, they were just boys in alpha skin — all bark, no weight — where were the alphas the movies showed, the books talked of?

Beomgyu didn’t take the bait, he smiled — soft and warm in a way that made Yeonjun’s pulse jump — and said, “I’ll do it, if he’s okay with it. Yeonjun-ssi?”

The laughter didn’t stop so much as dissolve into silence, a confused, surprised lull before the storm. Consent? Here?  Yeonjun felt all the eyes shift toward him again and then Beomgyu did something else that caught him off-guard — he looked at Soobin, not for approval, exactly. Just something like checking in.

Soobin gave the smallest shrug, as if to say don’t ask me . Yeonjun blinked as he realised that it wasn’t out of mockery, Beomgyu wasn’t teasing, he had asked a genuine question, it was an edge held open, waiting for him .

And that — that consideration — rattled him far more than any cocky dare ever had, Yeonjun hated that a lump had formed in his throat, stupid and hot, making it hard to swallow. He should have played it cool. Should’ve leaned back with a smirk and made some lewd joke, shrugged it off like it was nothing, like he was the slutty omega everyone thought he was. But instead, embarrassingly, the words came out too fast. 

“…Yeah. It’s fine.” Too desperate. 

Beomgyu didn’t react though, neither did he grin in victory, nor did he flash looks at others as if he;d scored something. He just stood up and the room seemed to shrink around him as he rose. Yeonjun’s stomach twisted with it and yet, it was still a decision. A calculated one, with all required reasoning acquired. Yeonjun, for all his nerves, had reasons lined up like armor — 

1 - Beomgyu doesn’t seem desperate — he won’t hurt me.
2 - It’s been a while — maybe I’ll feel something, maybe it’ll write over the memories associated with scenting.
3 - I cannot risk looking like a coward — that’d ruin my reputation.
4 - Beomgyu.
5 - Beomgyu.
Nth - Beomgyu.

He needed this to mean something, he wanted this to undo the tight, ugly knots he’d tied around the act of scenting. He needed someone — Beomgyu  — to make it feel good again, or atleast better than him .

The others leaned forward, eyes gleaming with anticipation. They expected something provocative and loud, another party moment to laugh about later. But Beomgyu moved like this was something else entirely. Like it was something that mattered. Like each step he took toward Yeonjun was deliberate. He moved like he was stepping on holy ground, yet his face showed no signs of anything.

Before he reached Yeonjun, Haojin’s hand landed on Yeonjun’s shoulder and pressed, guiding him to sit down, not on the mattress anymore, but on the floor. It wasn’t rough, but it was entitled — the way alphas sometimes touched, as if they owned the right to. It made Yeonjun shiver inside, but he let it happen. His mind was elsewhere, his mind was hovering over Beomgyu. Beomgyu’s gaze flicked, just for a second, to where Haojin’s fingers curled against Yeonjun’s sleeve. It wasn’t dramatic, but it was pointed — a moment of stillness that said I saw that . His expression remained unreadable, but the air shifted.

Then, he knelt right in front of Yeonjun, lowering himself without hesitation. Honestly, Yeonjun was expecting him to sit behind him, on the sofa mattress and scent him from the back, it would’ve been hotter, but what Beomgyu was about to do was still going to make Yeonjun lose his senses for some time.

Yeonjun felt his breath catch. Beomgyu didn’t have to say a word — somehow, the act alone demanded the attention of the room more than any shout could. He reached out, slow and deliberate, and took Yeonjun’s wrist into his hand — the same wrist Haojin had touched a moment ago — and Beomgyu’s fingers felt like a desired replacement, it was like he was erasing the casual claim that had been laid, as if he were reclaiming something without ever saying it out loud. Yeonjun let himself hope, just a little.

Beomgyu didn’t move right away. He was so close now, their faces only inches apart, and still he paused again. His gaze searched Yeonjun’s, his eyebrows twitched a bit with a silent question Are you sure?

A confirmation.

Yeonjun’s throat bobbed. He could have pulled away, it could have turned into a joke, he could’ve altered the image everyone had of him. But he didn’t, he just couldn’t when something about the quiet gravity in Beomgyu’s eyes made it impossible. So instead, Yeonjun tilted his head to the side, made the first move, exposing the soft line of his throat like an offering. Yeonjun then received the most pleasurable reaction of the night, because, for just a moment, Beomgyu’s expression flickered. Yeonjun saw something similar to hunger in his eyes, Beomgyu wants this . But, it was gone as quickly as it appeared, locked back behind control.

Beomgyu leaned in and the closeness was overwhelming. Yeonjun’s skin felt stretched tight, buzzing with nerves, he was sure he had goosebumps when he felt the warmth of Beomgyu’s breath.

Beomgyu’s breath reached him first and then, his scent reached him second and it was nothing like what Yeonjun had braced himself for. It wasn’t sharp or overpowering or disgusting or intolerable, it was warm and clean, and so calming. There was something grounding in it — like earth after rain, like a long comforting hug, like a deep breath on a bad day. It curled around Yeonjun gently, without force, but with undeniable presence, and it broke him because, he felt like home.

His chest ached so suddenly it felt like a wound, not from pain, but from something deeper — something unmet and long denied. He’d spent so long making scenting off-limits, wrapping the idea in shame and fear and now, all those walls were useless against this .

Beomgyu’s nose brushed lightly beneath his ear — the gentlest contact imaginable. Barely there, but Yeonjun felt it everywhere, in his skin, in his veins and in his bones. It wasn’t desire that undid him — it was the subtle devotion. The way Beomgyu treated the dare like it wasn’t a game, like Yeonjun wasn't a joke. He hadn’t expected that, he wasn’t used to this. He hadn’t expected to feel seen , let alone respected .

Yeonjun wasn’t used to this and he felt like he could be, he could get used to this and he wouldn’t mind even a single bit.

After Beomgyu had pulled away and gone back to sit beside Soobin, there was still a strange hush lingering. Someone laughed too loudly, as if to break the silence, a few people muttered things like, “That’s it?” or, “He got so serious for nothing”, but no one quite met Yeonjun’s eyes, not even Haojin, who now looked a little like he’d lost some invisible game he hadn’t realized he was playing.

That nothing was everything, and people who were closer than other people knew it. Yeonjun sat back on the sofa mattress and cleared his throat, he tried his best to not look at the alpha whose scent was still wrapped around him, whose body called for him like an echo from a stranded ravine.

When Yeonjun regained his senses, he found Soobin watching from his spot on the couch, arms crossed, brows drawn just slightly. He was not confused, rather, he looked like he’d seen something that worried him. Yeonjun looked away now that his throat felt too tight, his skin too warm. He reached for his drink out of reflex, fingers cold against the condensed glass, and brought it to his lips just to have something to do, it felt similar to what Beomgyu made him feel before.

Beomgyu, the said man, just sat calm and composed, as if he hadn’t just rewritten the entire script of Yeonjun’s night. He didn’t try to look at him again, didn’t smirk or wink or wait for Yeonjun’s reaction. He just turned to his phone again as if nothing had happened.

Something had happened and Yeonjun didn’t know how to name it. All he knew was that he couldn’t breathe right and that his scent — which had stayed behind the walls, hidden for so long — was threatening to spread, just faintly, from the place Beomgyu had redesigned with his soft lips.

He dragged in a shaky breath and sat straighter, masking the uneasiness with practiced ease. The others were already onto the next dare, laughter bubbling again like nothing had shifted.

Yeonjun could play truth and dare all the time, if the setting was exactly similar, and if Beomgyu would just look at him again like he did when he knelt down in front of him.

Younger alphas, they say, are a dangerous breed. Stamped by Choi Yeonjun, 2023.

Yeonjun suddenly felt out of place in the environment he used to thrive in, and now he just wanted his bed, his blanket and Taehyun.

Chapter Text

The first thing Taehyun noticed when he stepped inside Yeonjun’s apartment was how quiet it was. It was very unusual, because usually, Taehyun would drop a text (which he did today as well, but it went unread), and come over to find Yeonjun waiting for him at the front door, like a trained house-kitten, but today was different and maybe it was because Yeonjun was dealing with hangover. Keeping the worst case scenario in mind, Taehyun had not been expecting a ‘welcome’.

He had been expecting some sort of aftermath of the party — the typical mess of empty bottles, scattered stuff, remnants of youthful chaos and maybe even remnants of the party’s spirit in human forms, entangled in each other’s bodies in some room. Instead, there was silence. The kind that seemed suffocating rather than peaceful, it appeared like there was no one in the house, and now, Taehyun felt like a robber.

Taehyun justified his intrusion by blaming it on Yeonjun’s manager, but a part of him was worried himself. Yeonjun’s manager had called Taehyun earlier, asking him to go over. There was a tone in his voice that said something had happened , though he specified nothing and gave out no details, it seemed like he himself didn’t know the complete scenario. 

All Taehyun knew was that it wasn’t a normal cancellation of a gig since Yeonjun did not have another even-more-important schedule clashing with this, considering that it used to be the only reason Yeonjun would get the schedules canceled, but he also knew Yeonjun was not yet in the red zone since he had made an effort to call Mr Park to cancel his gig. 

So here he was, standing in the middle of the living room with his hands in his pockets, looking for Yeonjun in this messy place. He placed his bag near the conversation pit of the living room before he turned to look at the kitchen aisle, a place where Yeonjun is usually found, munching on a protein bar or drinking his favourite wine, which changes on a monthly basis.

“Hey”, he heard a groan as soon as he turned towards the aisle. It was Soobin. Yeonjun’s little brother.

Soobin’s presence didn’t really make a difference whenever Taehyun visited, neither did he make any noticeable sounds when he was home, nor would he have someone else over, ever. Therefore, Soobin was not someone Taehyun used to pay attention to, when he was around.

But today, Taehyun felt like he was looking at the boy for the first time, maybe that was not the case(it obviously wasn’t) and maybe Soobin just looked a little too disheveled, a little too fix-able or, just, cute. 

“Happy Birthday”, Taehyun replied, his eyes bigger than his usual — still-big — eyes. Soobin let out a soft scoff and nodded, he fetched another glass, to pour some water for Taehyun, perhaps.

“It was yesterday”, he said, holding back a yawn and Taehyun could only press his lips together and nod, “Belated”, he uttered, earning another soft smile from Soobin.

Soobin did invite Taehyun to his party through Yeonjun, but Taehyun had owed an ex a favor, something long overdue, and his priorities had been clear at the time. But now, with everything unfolding the way it did, he couldn’t help but think he should’ve come, he could’ve arrived a little later.

“Water”, Soobin offered, sliding the glass towards Taehyun, who caught it much before it would be at risk of falling, he looked a little startled still.

“Did something happen to Yeonjun hyung?”, Taehyun asked and Soobin just shrugged.

Honestly, Taehyun despised Soobin sometimes(most), the captain of the official SNU football team was everything — a good student, an ideal alpha, a good friend but a decent brother, because why else would he never have answers to questions that involved Yeonjun.

“He probably drank too much. Everyone did, he was also sucking faces like—”, he looked at Taehyun who looked offended, so, Soobin just shrugged carelessly, “That’s true, he embarrassed me so much, please tame your best friend a bit, make him unavailable like yourself or something”, he let out an unfunny laugh as he said that.

Tame?

Taehyun’s expression cemented as he muttered, “asshole”, and walked away, leaving the glass on the counter.

The door to Yeonjun’s room was opened, Yeonjun always kept it open, he wanted comfort and he opened all the doors and windows for that, for someone to come, and Taehyun always did, he always would. Taehyun took in a long breath, he’d need it if Yeonjun would just talk about him again, he’d need a lot more than some air.

As Taehyun finally opened the door, he saw Yeonjun sitting on his almost-deflated red bean bag. He looked broken. He looked lost in a way that made Taehyun’s chest tighten, he could still live knowing about climate change, global warming, global hunger, or theft, which he was very serious about by the way, but watching Yeonjun act like he had no life inside him would kill Taehyun instantly.

“Yeonjun hyung?” Taehyun’s voice broke the silence like a thread snapping. Yeonjun didn’t turn to him immediately. Instead, he let out a breath that sounded too heavy for his body. His hand was gripping the remote control in his lap, but he wasn’t looking at the TV, the sound was like background music. That’s what Yeonjun always did, when he gets attacked by a tsunami of his own emotions, he tries to distract himself whilst still drowning in the process.

“Is it about the gig?” Taehyun asked cautiously, moving towards him. “Did something go wrong?”

“Canceled it,” Yeonjun mumbled. His voice was rough, like he hadn’t used it in hours. “I told him though...told the manager, I needed a break.”

Taehyun raised an eyebrow. “That’s not like you. You’re the last person to cancel work”. Yeonjun finally turned to look at him, his eyes bloodshot, his hair a mess. He looked defeated and he smelled different . Yeonjun was still in yesterday’s clothes, now wrinkled and pathetic. His eyeliner was smudged down one cheek, hair a mess, lips bitten pink.

“I couldn’t go. I didn’t feel right for it.”

Taehyun took a seat beside him, cautious not to crowd him. “What happened?”, he asked, careful not to touch Yeonjun just yet. For a moment, Yeonjun said nothing. His fingers curled around the remote control harder, and Taehyun thought maybe it was his way of holding himself together.

“I still do not feel right,” Yeonjun finally muttered, and there was a bitter edge to his tone.

It was only then that Taehyun realized something deeper was going on. He leaned forward, his tone turning serious. “Yeonjun hyung, what happened? You can tell me.”

Yeonjun’s gaze flicked to the floor. He didn’t answer immediately. Taehyun’s heart began to race, something was wrong. Something must’ve happened at the party, something that had shaken him.

Yeonjun’s eyes were suddenly back to normal(?), as if he had decided to pull up his mask. He let out a whisper, “Hey.”

Taehyun stared. “Hey? You go all quiet on me and ‘hey’ is what I get?”

Yeonjun pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes and groaned. “Can you not yell at me? I’m already-...I don’t know. Broken? Humiliated? Annoyingly turned on?”

Taehyun blinked, he was totally not expecting that . “...What? Is this about a hookup?”

Yeonjun stood up, paced around the room for a bit and then plopped down on the couch, “Sit down,” he motioned. “I’ll tell you everything.” Taehyun hesitated — still hovering, still scanning for injuries because of experiences — then reluctantly sat on the opposite end of the couch, arms crossed.

“Okay. Talk.”, he was a bit more abrupt now because Yeonjun was probably just overthinking a random interaction with a random stranger. 

Yeonjun exhaled. “Do you know Beomgyu?”

“ Should I know Beomgyu?”, he might have heard that name somewhere, maybe in the lines of, “Taehyun-ssi, if you’re looking for a model to represent the techies, you should check out this freshman named Beomgyu”, or, “Can you believe Minju from second year actually tried her luck with this freshman Beomgyu? And he turned her down, who does he think he is?”, so Taehyun knew about the existence of the guy.

“He’s Soobin’s best friend. Football team vice captain. He is tall, hot, smart, and pretentious . The type of guy everyone fawns over but no one really knows? Pretentious because he acted like I had zero impact on him, by the way!”

Taehyun narrowed his eyes. “That’s the one you last texted me about? The one who showed up to the party in his practice jersey?”

Yeonjun huffed. “Yes. Him. He was so unbothered and he looked like a walking Nike ad and god, how good he looked with-”

“Did you flirt with him?”, Taehyun personally wanted this to go on 2x considering all the additional filters Yeonjun was adding in his answers as if trying to write an essay for a college application.

“Obviously,” Yeonjun snapped. “I flirted with everyone . But Beomgyu acted like I was a mosquito, mildly annoying but not worth taking action unless I bite him? wait, he was the one who bit..”

Taehyun snorted, no, this was a first. Yeonjun shot him a glare. “I’m serious. He wasn’t like the others. He didn’t look at me like I was something to devour. He looked at me like I was...noise. Like I was pollution”, Yeonjun’s references were pretty amusing to Taehyun.

Taehyun tilted his head. “And that got to you?”

“No,” Yeonjun said too quickly. “ Maybe . Okay, Yes”, he corrected himself.

Taehyun raised his eyebrows, letting the silence drag. Yeonjun groaned. “He rejected me like twice, okay, he didn’t just reject me, he made me feel forgettable . So of course, I kept poking at him. Trying to get a rise, literally anything at all.”

“And?”, Taehyun prompted.

“And as if the gods were at a grace yesterday, they put him in a dare situation”, Taehyun blinked, he shouldn’t pay for a Netflix subscription any more.

Yeonjun buried his face in his hands for a second before looking back up. “He was dared to scent me .”

Taehyun stared. “And you let him?”

Scenting was sacred for Yeonjun, but Taehyun knew Yeonjun wasn’t a “mood-killer” in parties.

Yeonjun nodded, slowly. “He didn’t say anything. Just walked across the room, like I summoned him. Like he chose to come.”

“What the hell?”, because why was Yeonjun talking like somebody from bridgerton - the series. 

“And then he knelt in front of me. Just— went down on one knee like royalty, like he was proposing, oh my goodness. It was like he wasn’t performing for the crowd, just doing something sacred, like I was an idol statue in a monast-”

Taehyun was amazed, he cleared his throat, first of all, he had never known of an alpha so polite, considering the present timelines. Secondly, he couldn’t believe Yeonjun had let someone scent him, after all those pre-notions Yeonjun had about scenting.

Yeonjun’s voice dropped, eyes unfocused and it seemed like he was adamant about continuing his script narration. “He touched my wrist that Haojin was holding a second earlier. Took it like he was... reclaiming it. And then- he looked at me. Really looked at me for the first time yesterday”

Taehyun was quiet now, he wasn’t even judging anymore, just listening, thinking about what Yeonjun would’ve thought about, during all those moments. 

If he were at the party, he definitely could’ve saved this from happening or delayed even, okay, maybe Yeonjun wouldn’t let him do that but Taehyun knew this was going to be disastrous for future Yeonjun, maybe a minor disaster, but he felt it in his nerves.

Yeonjun smiled faintly, reminiscing yesterday’s event like it was an achievement for him, “I felt like a sacrifice to the demons yesterday, I just tilted my head to offer my throat. And he leaned in and scented me like it meant something . Like I was made of glass and gold and everything that comes with the handle with care sign.”

Taehyun exhaled. “Shit?”

Yeonjun nodded, jaw tight. “I know I don’t like talking about scents with you but, his scent was nothing like I expected. It felt like— I don’t know. Like the first warm breath in winter. It was so safe, so homish, not overwhelming at all. Just present . And I broke. Eternally . Quietly . Wholly .”

Taehyun rubbed the back of his neck. Quietly? Stop lying Yeonjun hyung.

 “So now you’re...what? In love? That’s what you sound like”.

“I don’t know what this is!” Yeonjun burst out. “I barely know him. But I felt it. And I never feel anything.”

Taehyun studied him, gaze softening. He analysed some stuff and came to a mental conclusion about why Yeonjun was talking about not feeling like it for the gig. That’s what rejection did to thee. 

“Did you talk to Soobin?” he asked gently, he didn’t want to talk about Soobin after what he had said when Taehyun was trying to know about Yeonjun, but he did anyway.

Yeonjun winced. “I tried to talk to him. Tried to ask about him in general. He said Beomgyu’s off-limits. That I’m just playing games again”, his pout grew out a lot.

Taehyun sat back, his expression hardening. “Because of Jaemin” , Taehyun didn’t ask, he declared.

“Yeah.”

“Fucker,” Taehyun muttered, tossing his legs on the coffee table now. “He cheats on you, and you’re the one people don’t trust. Honestly, isn’t Soobin a bit too much with you?”

Yeonjun didn’t respond. The ache in his chest was too familiar. It felt like the early days from the break-up phase.

Taehyun leaned in again, quieter this time. “Look, Hyung. I honestly don’t know how you should be feeling about the whole Beomgyu situation, but tell me what do you want from this, and why were you sitting here..why did you cancel work?”

Yeonjun stared down at his hands.

“I don’t know,” he said softly. “Maybe I want him to look at me again, I want his attention. He rejected me and I felt so insecure, not that it’s his fault but he could be playing with me. It might sound crazy but it’s like Jaemin all over again, and no, I don’t want that in my life, but Beomgyu is just so hot. Maybe..”, Yeonjun had a little mischief in his eyes.

“Do not..”, Taehyun warned like a parent.

“Maybe it’s just my omega”, Yeonjun said it anyway with a dramatic shrug.

“Saw it coming, do not blame it on your little demon!”

“Well, what can be done”

“Let’s see, what do you want now?”

Yeonjun swallowed before he looked up, eyes clearer, ready for a mission . “I definitely want Beomgyu to like me. Not because I’m shiny or flirty or half-naked. I want him to see me . The real me. And still want me.”

Taehyun smiled, but there was exhaustion in it, it was so scripted, and Taehyun knew he had to act his part out as well, “Then maybe don’t chase him like a cartoon character and actually get to know him”

Yeonjun blinked. “Oh. About that...”

Taehyun narrowed his eyes. “What did you do?”

Yeonjun grinned.

“After defeat, comes victory”, he announces like a character in the spotlight and Taehyun sighs, “Why’d you even choose business? There’s a completely different department for theatre”, Yeonjun walked towards his wardrobe, flicked the light switch on dramatically and hummed a 90s song. 

“But before we lead towards victory, we must make preparations, comrades!”, he signs and Taehyun leans back on the couch, to get a better view. 

He then throws out some clothes which land on Taehyun’s face like a dart on the innermost circle of the dart board. “What are these?”

“My outfit for today”, Yeonjun chimes and Taehyun chuckles awkwardly, “Hyung, it’s too hot outside, you’d get tanned and most of the upcoming gigs-”

“The most intelligent race in the world has therefore created UV protection creams, aka sunscreen , so I must wear sunscreen, the kind that makes my skin look extra shiny!”

“and by wearing this..this tank top from the toddlers’ section and these red shorts..well..how is this preparation?”

“I’m going to wear this and run across the football field like five times!”, Yeonjun declared.

“Too much for you, don’t you think”

“Alright, twice . I bet he will notice me once out of the two times, the probability is at least one by two and at most two by two!”

“The probability of impossible events is zero according to the probability I studied, and by the way you’ve talked about this Beomgyu guy, I believe..”, as Taehyun talked, Yeonjun’s pout deepened.

“But! You’re The Choi Yeonjun! We make the impossible possible!”, Taehyun raised his hand awkwardly as if to denote fighting. 

Yeonjun smiled as he imagined his victory like a princess’.

Yeonjun stepped into the campus like he wasn’t coming after missing classes for a week, dressed in a borderline offensive outfit - yellow, sleeveless crop top which had enchanté woven onto it, red gym shorts too short for decency, sunglasses too big for subtlety, and a bomber jacket that screamed “look at me not looking at you”.

He entered like a celebrity, with Taehyun walking behind him, looking just as inviting with a blue jorts and a clueless jersey. 

“Where was the football field again?”, Yeonjun asked, pulling out a gum and straightening his sunglasses. 

“You’re so clueless, hyung. Catch up with me!”, Taehyun made his way to the field and Yeonjun looked around before getting to stretch. And what a sight it was for the whole alpha community or even other people who were into Yeonjun — the empty stands were now getting filled with the audience as if someone had published Yeonjun’s sighting like it was an event.

It was an event , the one where Yeonjun could either get what he wanted or make a fool out of himself, which will probably lead to him missing classes for another week. 

It was Yeonjun who announced it to everyone on instagram by the way — going for a run, say hi if you could catch me. 

Taehyun looked around, in search of the football team and as soon as he spotted Soobin coming out with the coach, he signalled Yeonjun who was still tying the laces of his jordans. 

Yeonjun bent down like he was a part of a big race and then stood up, he started to run around the field and the sparse stands cheered for him like it was actually a big deal. 

Yeonjun kept running for five minutes when he realised he had only covered 100 metres and he hadn’t seen the sight of the alpha he was supposed to impress, so, as one is suggested to never give up until he has what he wants, he continued to run. 

After what felt like an hour — it had only been 20 minutes — Yeonjun finally had the attention of the football team. He noticed his brother looking at him like he was concerned about his mental well being, the coach just looked amused and the other team members had their mouths hanging in the air. 

Yeonjun felt confident, he was now destined to complete one lapse, but he stopped and looked around for the vice captain, who appeared at the correct time, still on his phone. 

Yeonjun sighed and looked at Taehyun who raised a white flag out of nowhere, Yeonjun was confused, but then when he noticed Taehyun raising up Yeonjun’s phone with his health app opened, he realised he was in trouble. Soon, he felt a weird feeling climbing onto his legs, his heart felt in a loss of oxygen and his lungs felt trapped. 

Yeonjun tried his best to keep his eyes open because what he heard last was, “Hey, first year, didn’t you get your chance with him yesterday? How was he?”

Blackout.

Yeonjun opened his eyes when he heard people arguing. 

“…if you stop supporting him with  his stupid ideas, he wouldn’t do it with so much confidence, you’re as much at fault as he is!”

“Who are you to say anything when you don’t even know about hyung’s condition, Choi Soobin?”

Yeonjun sighed, it felt like he was thirteen again and his mum and dad were fighting over who’s at fault for not being in love, he rubbed his head before pulling the curtain around his bed.

He was in the college infirmary.

He saw Soobin and Taehyun, both holding a frustrated expression, then he noticed Taehyun’s little fists. He was scared for his brother. 

The environment changed when the two boys realised Yeonjun had woken up, they rushed to him. “Hyung, are you okay?”, Taehyun asked, his voice trembling. Yeonjun hates worrying him. 

“I can breathe”, Yeonjun chuckled, earning a glare from Soobin who pulled Taehyun away and crossed his arms, “What was the strip show for? What did you get out of it? Why-”, Taehyun pushed him away. 

“Rest well, I’ll get something to drink for you!”, he said and tried to drag the big guy away. 

“Wait!”, Yeonjun yelled, trying to get up from the bed. 

Soobin helped him, “Hyung, why the fuck would you do that knowing your heart has not yet healed from-”

“I am sorry, I didn’t realise this could happen. I just wanted to..”

“Yeah? What did you want out of it?”

“Choi Beomgyu’s attention”, Yeonjun was straightforward, maybe Soobin would pity him and give him the secret key to Beomgyu.

Soobin sighed and pulled away, “Hear me out. His attention? Congratulations, you got it.”

Yeonjun’s eyes shined at that but that was not for long because Soobin continued to talk, “But that was because he was the only one who realised you were actually unconscious and that laying down on the field in a..in that manner, was not a part of your show, so while people in the stands were taking pictures and filming you, my best friend urged me to check upon you and when even I didn’t believe it, he ran up to you and got you here. Taehyun and I could only follow.”

Yeonjun’s dilemma had worsened. 

“If that’s the kind of attention you wanted, congratulations. But I just want to tell you, he would’ve done that for literally anyone else, and he would never want anything with someone like you hyung.” Soobin concluded and Yeonjun was sad. 

Taehyun could only sigh. 

“I am taking the medicines the nurse prescribed at home, I’ll see you there. Please change into my gym clothes, don’t roam around in this”, Soobin threw his locker’s keys at Yeonjun before leaving the infirmary. 

Yeonjun whined as he sat on the bed, “Why did I have to faint! This stupid heart can’t even beat for good!”

If there’s one thing that can be a star fact about Choi Yeonjun, it is that he never gives up. It probably comes from being the elder child where your parents just expect you to be the eighth wonder of the world, or maybe because of his experiences growing up, but he had inculcated in himself to not give up until you touch it . 

Non-metaphorically too.

So, he continues to chase the alpha who dared to not show interest in him.

Soon — in a span of two days — Yeonjun was everywhere Beomgyu was. He was in the library, which he was respectfully realising existed in his education of three years, then he was in the computer labs waiting for the now-love-of-his-life to show up and eventually, it sums it up that he was everywhere Beomgyu was.

His first rebounding attempt started with a water bottle, in the CS department building. 

Yeonjun’s sleek, unnecessarily expensive, matte black designer water bottle that he had purchased just for the act of dropping it at the perfect time. 

He positioned himself outside the CS building,  where Beomgyu had a lab class that day, according to Soobin’s barely coherent group chat where Beomgyu was ranting about Red-Black trees. Such an interesting topic, Yeonjun had thought. 

Yeonjun had done his research. He’d timed the break between classes, picked a corner spot near the vending machine, and practiced dropping the bottle twice behind a trash can to make sure it landed label-side up. The label was pink and had  YJ written onto it with bright red.

Now, all he needed was his target.

Beomgyu appeared five minutes later, walking with that easy, athletic form Yeonjun hated (wanted to study up close). He had his headphones on, hands in his jacket pockets, and looked exactly like an athletic manhwa male lead who could destroy the opponent team with a smile.

Yeonjun took a deep breath.

3

2

1

The bottle goes rolling.

The water bottle rolled across the pavement with a perfect angle, I should’ve opted physics , right in Beomgyu’s path.

Beomgyu stopped and looked down, then he picked it up and looked around with a familiar, not too loud pout on his face. Yeonjun emerged dramatically from behind a pillar like a badly written romcom’s side lead. “Oh no! My bottle!”

Beomgyu blinked at him. “You dropped it.”

“I did!” Yeonjun laughed a little too loudly. “Silly me”, he dramatically hit his forehead.

Beomgyu held it out to him. “Here.”

Yeonjun stepped forward, brushing his fingers against Beomgyu’s as he took it. “Thank you, Beomgyu-yah!”

Beomgyu stared at him for a beat, unreadable. “You know my name?”

Yeonjun’s smile wavered. “Of course. It’s a…very remember-y name.”

There was no reply for a moment, but then there was a classic Beomgyu reply, “Right,” Beomgyu had said, noncommittal. He took a step back, headphones still on, gaze already moving past Yeonjun like he was just another blurry background character.

Then, just like that, he walked away and maybe Soobin got a text in the lines of 'Your brother seems to be up to something..'

Yeonjun stood there, water bottle in hand, deflating like a balloon with no air, from rejection.

Rejection counter : 3

Stubborn, Choi Yeonjun’s second name, led him to the football court again. It was 3:27 p.m.

Beomgyu’s practice usually ended at 4:00. Yeonjun had confirmed this three times — once through Soobin’s vague mentions, once via Taehyun’s reluctant hacker-level social media stalking skills, and once by walking past the field “coincidentally” all week after his fainting incident.

Today, he came prepared (like he always attested to).

He was wearing gym gear, not too revealing, not too covering. He also has his health band tied around his wrist for safety purposes, it had an emergency buzzer that would ring in the wristwatch itself and in Taehyun’s phone. 

Yeonjun perched on the bleachers like a tragic football wife from a daily soap. A water bottle rested beside him again (new one, this time gold and obnoxiously shiny). His plan?

It was to exist louder than he already does, be a bit seductive here and there and act all obnoxious like he isn’t aware of what he is doing. 

Beomgyu, the targeted alpha, was mid-practice, all sweaty and focused. The sunlight hit his hair like a serial tragedy and Yeonjun had to grip the bench just to stop himself from screaming.

Beomgyu was hot, there was no doubt. Yeonjun acknowledged him and wouldn’t have chased after him if he wasn’t this hot. He watched as Beomgyu called out the other players, jogged with effortless power, and wiped his face with the hem of his jersey. Yeonjun would’ve found it disgusting if it were some other alpha, but he was a worshipper of the skin that flashed because of Beomgyu’s act. 

Yeonjun’s brain short-circuited, not once, but many times during the practice. 

In hopes it would calm his pheromones down, he took a sip from his bottle and missed his mouth entirely, spilling cold water down his shirt.

The dramatic shriek he let out startled some pigeons and a water boy. Beomgyu didn’t even glance his way. If he did notice, he didn’t show it, classic Beomgyu. 

Yeonjun quickly wiped at his chest like he was in a very normal state of existence and not actively melting on the bleacher. 

Then, the almighty granted him his chance.

Beomgyu broke off from the group, jogging toward the benches for his break. Yeonjun stood upright, posing mid-pout like he was born to be the mysterious bleacher siren.

Beomgyu paused when he spotted him.

“Are you lost, perhaps?”, he continued walking, making Yeonjun follow behind. 

Yeonjun blinked. “No?”

Wait, is that supposed to be a new pick up line? Was I supposed to say Yes? Yes I am, take me to your place?

Beomgyu looked him over once, head tilted slightly in confusion. “You’re sweating”, he said, wiping his own with his jersey. 

1. Disgusting, but you’re hot.
2. I am sweating and the sun rises from the east, the more you know?
3. The sun..the sun..

Yeonjun flushed. “It’s the… sun.”

“It’s cloudy”, Beomgyu stated like the fact it was. 

“Then it’s you,” Yeonjun replied, grinning like the stupid omega he was, Taehyun would’ve definitely called him out for this, but, this was his only chance, remember?

Beomgyu stopped walking, Yeonjun pulled his brakes as well. 

Beomgyu’s brows lifted an inch, his mouth parting like he might say something, but instead, he just shook his head and walked off again, towel around his neck, leaving Yeonjun standing there like an ad for poor life decisions.

Rejection counter : 4

He heard a bunch of freshmen laughing at him, it wasn’t new though, and he’d be the one to have the last laugh. 

To have Choi Beomgyu. 

Another time, it was Choi Yeonjun VS STEM.

It started with Yeonjun acquiring a course timetable he had no business owning.

Beomgyu was taking Advanced Algorithms on Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m., Room 2C. That was all Yeonjun needed.

So, dressed like a Pinterest version of a hot librarian — oversized glasses (zero prescription), a tight black turtleneck tucked into beige trousers, and holding a random textbook titled “Coding in C++” (a whole semester old) — Yeonjun stormed the building like it was a runway. 

He entered Room 2C with the calm confidence of someone who believed he belonged there spiritually, if not legally.

The professor looked up. “This is a restricted elective. Are you—?”

“Transferring departments!” Yeonjun lied immediately. “Double majoring. In…coding?”

“Programming?”

“Yes. That.”

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t question further. Poor man probably assumed no one would lie to attend a 10 a.m. lecture about Prim’s algorithm.

Yeonjun scanned the room and spotted Beomgyu, already seated, hoodie on, long legs sprawled like he owned oxygen. There was one empty chair next to him. 

See? When you truly desire something from the heart, the entire universe conspires to help you achieve it.

He lunged towards the seat and sat there. 

Beomgyu glanced at him once, then turned back to his laptop. There was no reaction, not even mild curiosity, but maybe, just maybe, Yeonjun saw him texting Soobin. 

Yeonjun cleared his throat. “Hi.”

Beomgyu looked again, he looks so fine so early in the morning , “You’re not in this class.”

Stop telling me facts? I am aware. 

“I am now.”

“No, seriously.”

Yeonjun leaned closer — Beomgyu didn’t shift —, whispering dramatically, “I infiltrated academia for you.”

Beomgyu blinked. “Did you hit your head?”

“I’m just expressing interest. In you. And in…algorithms”, Yeonjun crossed his legs and opened a blank notebook. 

Beomgyu maintained his focus on the lecture.

The professor continued with the class. Slides appeared on the screen. Words like “Greedy strategy” and “Dynamic programming” flew by. Yeonjun’s eyes glazed over instantly. He scribbled hearts in the margin of his fake notebook.

Halfway through, Beomgyu placed a folded post-it note on his notebook’s blank (filled with hearts) page. Yeonjun, thrilled, opened it like it was a love letter.

It read:

“ If you don’t leave in the next 5 minutes, I’ll help you fail your actual degree."

How romantic.

Yeonjun scowled. Then drew a tiny broken heart in response, before sighing theatrically, packing up his things, and strutting out with the pride of a man who’d just been humiliated but still believed in destiny.

Rejection Counter : 4.5 (0.5 because it was romantic)

For a span of two weeks there were many more attempts and eventually, many more rejections. 

Like following Beomgyu around the campus along with Taehyun who was begging him to stop because it was getting embarrassing, and eventually getting ignored by the boy who somehow always ended up with Soobin and his friends which became Yeonjun’s cue to leave.

Then came trying to sing for the alpha, because better than serenading the alpha with an acoustic song? Except, Yeonjun couldn’t play an instrument to save his life, nor did he have a talent for singing. But he was determined, so he headed to the campus courtyard with a guitar(his mother gifted it to him for his 17th birthday and it stayed in the attic ever since), and when Beomgyu walked by, Yeonjun stood up all confident, strumming the guitar with one hand — with not a single clue about the existence of chords — and singing a melody that’s totally off-key (read : a dying cat). 

Beomgyu stopped in his tracks, the entire campus stared at him. For the first time Yeonjun saw a look of annoyance on Beomgyu’s face and god forbid an omega finds his annoyed alpha hot.

Yeonjun kept singing, Beomgyu snatched the guitar from him, little did he know, Yeonjun loved being manhandled, he couldn’t argue about it, Beomgyu placed the guitar away and went, “Please stop this, Yeonjun-ssi”, he was so polite even in the tough times, it made Yeonjun want to do it more. 

According to Yeonjun’s analysis, he found that Beomgyu’s weakness was being publicly serenaded, so he had to pull his strings like the last time, which led to a viral video titled famous model choi yeonjun sucks at guitar but since the comments were all talking about either the efforts he was trying to put in, or were jealous of Beomgyu, or were sympathising with him, Yeonjun’s management company thought it was good publicity and let him be.

Determined to let Beomgyu know he really likes him, Yeonjun decided to make a(nother) grand gesture. In front of the whole university.

He writes a super romantic confession on a large banner that he spends hours making — his manager was so pissed about it because he was the one who was trying to clean off all the permanent marker Yeonjun was leaking while he tried to be an art freak. It’s a bold move, filled with hearts and flowers, with the words “Choi Beomgyu, will you be mine?” plastered across the entire thing. But when he rolls it out in front of the campus courtyard, a familiar location, he realizes one minor flaw.

He’s blocked Beomgyu in the process of this grand confession, since it’s so crowded, Beomgyu’s being mogged. Everyone stares as Beomgyu walks through the crowd, looking at Yeonjun like he’s lost his mind. The rolling banner is now blocking his exit. He takes one look at Yeonjun, then the banner, and sighs. “Are you serious?”

Yeonjun, heart pounding, nods dramatically, he would’ve been on his knees if he weren’t covered by 1/4th of the banner himself. “Yes, very serious. Will you—”

Beomgyu waves him off, lets out a sad sigh and goes, “I’ll…um, just…let you figure this out, okay?”

He moved past Yeonjun and his banner effortlessly.

With Beomgyu stepping away, phone flashes going off and Yeonjun getting pushed by some of the students, the banner was all over Yeonjun now, wrapping him like a taco. There was laughter everywhere, and Yeonjun wished he could just disappear.

After that, campus was buzzing from the scene Yeonjun made — someone had recorded it, of course, and it was now doing modest rounds on the student forums under “Yeonjun Drama: Model Chases Football Nerd” . Yeonjun didn't care, positive publicity, remember?

Rejection counter was up to 10, and that was enough because the “figure it out” had left Yeonjun more wounded than ever, it was worse than being ignored and it deserved a total of five point five points.

Taehyun found Yeonjun in his favorite bar, trying to drink away the I’m only being dramatic pain. He had whined about each of his plans failing before he had gone all silent on Taehyun.

Yeonjun also said something about the match day, something about Soobin’s warning, something about the final chase. Taehyun didn’t remember a whole lot of it, because most of them were murmurs, others came out as yells onto the bartender’s face. Taehyun did his best friend duties and dropped a drunk Yeonjun home.

Taehyun was pretty sure Beomgyu wasn’t interested in Yeonjun and although it was pretty unconventional, he respected Beomgyu, because maybe he wasn’t even into omegas? Yeonjun probably didn’t even know anything about Beomgyu other than the information he had “acquired” due to his missions, and Taehyun wanted to tell his best friend that he should figure what he wants out of this before blindly chasing the alpha but he didn’t want to come out as a leading force for Yeonjun’s actions.

Taehyun had rang the bell to Yeonjun’s main door and Soobin was there to collect Yeonjun.

“How much did he drink?”, was the first thing Soobin – in his classic grey pjs – asked and Taehyun sighed, “Whiskey, and I don’t know how much, he was probably on his second bottle when I reached, he also drank soju with yakult?”

Soobin scoffed, grabbing his brother’s arms to keep him standing, “He’s so wasted. Thank you for getting him home”, he said and then awkwardly looked around.

“He shouldn’t have disturbed you though, could’ve called for me instead”, Soobin said, guiding Yeonjun to his room. Taehyun followed behind, holding Yeonjun’s stuff.

After they tucked Yeonjun into his bed, Taehyun followed Soobin to the kitchen and sat down around the aisle, “Don’t you wonder why he didn’t call for you?”

Soobin sighed, “If you’re going to start with me being a shitty brother yada yada, please don’t. I have a match tomorrow and your words have an impact on me, so they could really wound me..”, he pleaded seriously.

“Wound you, Soob-”, Taehyun was cut off by Soobin walking over to him and leaning over the counter, “Listen, I don’t know. We fought in the infirmary last time and I didn’t sleep that night, I agree I’m not the best brother but then, I have to deal with Yeonjun, have you seen what all he has done in the past two years?”, Soobin sat down beside Taehyun.

Taehyun sighed, pinching his eyebrows, “Deal? that’s how you think Soobin? He’s your brother for god’s sake!”, Taehyun said a little too loudly, expressing his frustration through his arms.

Soobin held his arms, “Yeah, okay. I will..I am wrong for thinking this way, I’ll change, okay? Just, don’t go all rude on me, be nice to me”, he waited for a reply with passionate eyes and Taehyun sighed, freeing himself, “You be nice to my friend for once, then I’ll think about it”, Taehyun walked off towards the door but then stopped mid way and turned around to look at Soobin, who had his head hung low.

“Goodluck for your match tomorrow, I know you’ll do well, captain”, Taehyun softly said, before heading outside and shutting the door as he left.

Taehyun met Yeonjun again in the morning, and he hadn’t said anything about the night before. Just handed Yeonjun his coffee with a blank face and told him, “If you're going, don’t wear anything stupid.”

Yeonjun wore leather pants and Soobin’s old jersey, back from when he wasn’t the captain. It was stupid, but it was iconic.

“Do you even care if they win?” Taehyun asked later, as they walked toward the stadium.

Yeonjun didn’t answer right away. “I care that he sees me.”

Taehyun sighed. Loudly, his shoulders slumped dramatically, earning a soft yet mischievous giggle from Yeonjun.

“I do wish to see my little brother win though. Beomgyu’d look super hot biting a medal too, don’t you think?”, Yeonjun questioned, following Taehyun who did try to imagine it but it wasn’t Beomgyu that he thought about, with a medal.

They took their seats near the front. Yeonjun was impossible to miss — even the players glanced toward the stands when he sat down, marking his undeniable presence. Someone elbowed Beomgyu. He didn’t react. Taehyun caught it and felt a little bad for the unbothered guy, if it were some other alpha, they would’ve been so pissed by now, but then, what other alpha wouldn’t have shown interest in Yeonjun.

It had only been a few minutes and a bunch of guys and girls had already come to bid for the empty seat beside Yeonjun’s, Yeonjun was pretty unbothered though, he was stretching out, as if he were to play too. 

The match began and Taehyun realised just what Yeonjun had been stretching out for. Because now, the omega was jumping like he was in a trampoline park or in a tampon advertisement. 

In the field, SNU was holding up, solid teamwork, fast feet. “Let’s go number thirteen!” Yeonjun screamed, voice piercing through the crowd, he pulled up another banner (a printed one now) which said, “Number 13, score like you scored my attention!”

Heads turned, including Beomgyu’s, this time. 

Their eyes met across the field. Beomgyu’s expression didn’t change. He looked away completely, tried to stay as focused as possible. 

Yeonjun stood there, with his solo cheerleading dance that he prepared for god knows when. 

He even made random chants like, “B-E-O-M ! G-Y-U! I am so obsessed with you!”

Taehyun covered his face with his hands as he saw the other people in the stands follow Yeonjun with his stupid chants.

Yeonjun went, “BREAK MY BACK LIKE YOU BREAK THAT DEFENSE!”, when Beomgyu successfully made a goal and the crowd cheered for the cheer more than they did for the goal. 

Things took a turn after the first half. Something had shifted after that — Beomgyu seemed distracted, he kept glancing toward the sidelines — and Yeonjun was getting worse with his cheering. Taehyun assumed there had been a talk about this in the team, the coach probably pointed something out or maybe Soobin warned Beomgyu about something but Beomgyu was a lot more conscious of Yeonjun now. 

A lot more than he was supposed to be, b ecause he messed it up in the last few minutes. 

A ball flew past Beomgyu and he missed the block. The most crucial one. The other team scored and broke the tie.

SNU lost the match by one point. A point that Beomgyu gave out for free, because he was so distracted by an omega in the stands. 

Yeonjun didn’t realize what he’d done until it was too late. He jumped too suddenly, shouted too loudly. His voice had cut through the stadium like a fire alarm. And for a second — one goddamn second — Beomgyu had looked up at him, distracted.

The whistle had blown an d just like that, SNU’s undefeated streak shattered on home ground. The crowd had begun to murmur, groaning, standing, dispersing with half-hearted applause. But Yeonjun sat back down, spine locked straight, jaw clenched.

It’s okay, he did score a goal!

The team was already leaving the field, Beomgyu’s figure stiff and unreadable as he jogged off without looking back once. The others patted his shoulder. Someone ruffled his hair. But he didn’t smile or even blinked. The boy looked broken and he wasn't at fault. 

Yeonjun sat alone now, his sign wilting in the evening air. He earned a few disheartened shoulder pats when the audience dispersed from the stands. Taehyun approached slowly, holding two juice bottles. 

“Maybe I shouldn’t have yelled so loudly,” Yeonjun muttered.

Taehyun sat beside him. “It’s not just the yelling.”

Yeonjun looked at him, ofcourse his dearest friend would support him in everything that he does.

“It’s the full circus you put up,” Taehyun said flatly.

Okay, maybe not. 

“Do you think he’s mad?”

Taehyun passed him a bottle and sighed. “Oh, hyung.” He patted Yeonjun’s thigh like one might console a pet with no survival instincts. “You’re so about to find out, locker room’s waiting for you”, Taehyun showed him a text notification from Soobin.

Yeonjun gulped. A mad Beomgyu would be so hot. Yeonjun stood up with a stupid grin on his face. 

“Wait here,” Taehyun said, standing. “Don’t follow him. Just...wait.”

But Yeonjun didn’t wait. Of course he didn’t and Taehyun sighed for the nth time.

Yeonjun made his way down from the bleachers and toward the tunnel — as casually as a model could when walking like his heart was stuck in his throat. By the time he reached the locker room hallway, the team was already inside. The door was slightly ajar, the sounds inside muffled: water running, cleats clinking, the low murmur of frustration.

Yeonjun stood a few feet away, unsure of what the hell he was even doing there. He shouldn’t be here. He didn’t belong. His palms were sweating.

He could turn around now. He still had time.

But then he heard it — Beomgyu’s voice, calm and sad.

“I’m sorry guys, I should’ve acted better. I’ve disappointed you as the vice captain!”

Thereafter came mumbles of its okay, we’ll do better next time, well played, don’t mess it up again. 

Then there was, “You should’ve been more focused!”, by Soobin, a little annoyed. 

Yeonjun hid himself, and waited until the team dispersed and it was only Beomgyu left in the room because Beomgyu was supposed to make amends for the mistake he had made today.

"I know you're out there"

Chapter Text

Yeonjun’s heart was racing as he stepped inside the locker room. The room reeked of alphas and Yeonjun wouldn’t have been here if he wasn’t so determined about the-Beomgyu-mission. Over that, he did feel a bit guilty when he heard almost everybody scolding Beomgyu, the usual ace player of the team.

He hadn’t expected Beomgyu to actually talk to him. He had stepped forward cautiously, afraid – yet excited – for if the alpha will finally show his true colors, yell at him, throw a fit, or maybe, just maybe manhandle him?

“You looked good out there,” Yeonjun offered, shaping his voice lighter than he felt, trying to pull up his calm endeavour because he couldn’t show it to Beomgyu what Beomgyu’s spiked scent actually did to him.

Beomgyu didn’t respond.

Yeonjun tried again. “I was watching the whole game—”

“I know,” Beomgyu interrupted, voice low, sharp at the edges. He turned, finally facing him. His eyes weren’t cold, they looked tired instead. The towel around his neck probably smelled completely like the alpha by now and that’s all Yeonjun could wonder about.

“That’s the problem, Yeonjun, everyone in the stadium just had to know of your existence. Because that’s how it is supposed to be, yeah?”, Beomgyu sighed.

Yeonjun’s lips parted to speak, he had an explanation to it, he sure did, he would’ve justified his support by saying Beomgyu sweating in the field just excited him so much that he couldn’t stay seated like a noble guy or the flash of Beomgyu’s thighs when he took long strides towards the ball made Yeonjun wish he were the damn football, so he couldn’t stay still.

Yeonjun was about to babble something out, but he didn’t have to, because before he could, Beomgyu crossed the room in a few strides; a similar view from the match; and grabbed his face in both hands, rough and sudden, and before Yeonjun could react, Beomgyu was pressing their mouths together. 

It wasn’t soft mouth pressing, or a tender feeling or any sort of a confession. It was desperate , like Beomgyu was trying to get something out of his own system — something that had been clawing at him from the inside for far too long, and Yeonjun could feel it too, something blooming within his chest.

Their lips met each other, and they were probably enchanted to have met, because Yeonjun’s had been longing for Beomgyu’s ever since his neck had felt them and Beomgyu’s seemed too eager.

Yeonjun completely forgot his purpose, forgot whatever show he was trying to put on when he was holding the lockers for support as Beomgyu was pushing onto him.

Yeonjun melted into it, like he always had when it came to pretty alphas. For a second, he thought: finally, finally he could go back to his routine and stop chasing the boy because now he’d actually get to have him. What’ll happen after today would be for future Yeonjun to take care of, but for now, he can be relieved, he has made it, the alpha has finally given into him. 

Because why wouldn’t he? Beomgyu had finally realised Yeonjun’s worth, and was so impressed by Yeonjun’s overflowing passion for the boy, that he had decided to be a part of this, to let Yeonjun have him, completely now, religiously soon.

When Yeonjun’s thoughts raced around the cloud of relief in the back of his mind, the kiss broke, just as fast as it came, and Beomgyu stepped back, chest heaving. His gaze burned into Yeonjun’s and Yeonjun knew it wasn’t just lust or desire, it was frustration. He was frustrated and drowsy. Yeonjun probably sensed it right, considering what Beomgyu said next.

“This is what you wanted, didn’t you?” he said, breath ragged. “For me to give in? For you to win your stupid little mind game?”

Yeonjun scoffed, he wasn’t ready for this. He wasn’t ready for the kiss, but not at all for the aftermath. No one had ever belittled him so innocently after kissing him numb, they’ve either taken him to the bed or explored him even more nonetheless.

Yeonjun swallowed hard, his voice small, his act back on. “Beomgyu…”

“You have it now.” Beomgyu’s voice cracked. “So please…leave me alone.” Beomgyu had raised his voice a bit, and Yeonjun knew he was agitated. 

Now, Yeonjun didn’t particularly want this, well, he wanted Beomgyu to kiss him until he was senseless but not for him to say all of this afterwards, this just felt like another rejection on top of all the rejections he had faced in the past month. This felt like a slap on an already wounded face.

Even though there was no cruelty in it the way Beomgyu said it, it felt more like a request, one that came from someone who was done with everything, to Yeonjun, it was something that sounded a lot like heartbreak, the final rejection, morphed into a request.

Yeonjun stood there, stunned, he could still taste Beomgyu on his lips and he still, very shamelessly, wanted more of it but Beomgyu grabbed his bag and left the locker room, leaving Yeonjun alone, not sparing another glance at him. 

Taehyun found Yeonjun in the room when he decided to check up on him after waiting for about an hour alone in the stands and the condition he found Yeonjun in was not decent at all. 

Taehyun had to wait for the boy to speak, but he never did, he just let Taehyun grab his hand and take him home. 

Taehyun had wondered what had happened, he had presumed that whatever happened, it wasn’t good for Yeonjun. In the cab, on their way home, Taehyun also felt guilty for not stopping Yeonjun any sooner than this, because maybe things would have been better than they were now that Yeonjun had gone too far with his act of chasing . 

Taehyun reminisced about all the moments from the past month and let out a sigh, he really should’ve stopped Yeonjun, fought with him over this. There was no way Choi Beomgyu would give him what he wanted, the boy was too invested in his own life, his own goals, to even think of Yeonjun. 

Taehyun paid the fare and helped Yeonjun get inside, not knowing he had to deal with the devil when they’d get in. 

Soobin had come home after the match, usually he didn’t come home until midnight after his matches because of celebrations but today there was nothing to celebrate and maybe(surely), Yeonjun was a part of the reason. 

Soobin opened the door for them and glared at them like they were some gruesome criminals. Yeonjun laid down on the couch and Taehyun got water for him, whilst Soobin stood near the living room with his hands crossed. 

Taehyun heard him scoff when he helped Yeonjun drink water. 

“Taehyun-ah, don’t you get tired?”, he asked, looking at Yeonjun and Taehyun sighed, “Do you need something? If not, can you leave us alone?”

“Yeah? Leave you guys alone so you’d lay out another ridiculous plan about how to win over my best friend? Hasn’t it been enough? I told you Choi Beomgyu is not someone you’d want to play with, he is just not like that!”, Soobin yelled and Yeonjun shrank on cue. Taehyun stood up and faced Soobin.

“Are you slow, perhaps? Can you not judge the situation? Yeonjun hyung is not well, you don’t have to shove everything at him right now!”, Taehyun yelled back and Soobin was angered, “Whose fault is that? Is it mine for letting him do whatever he wishes to do? I’ve been told I should put him on leash by so many friends of mine, considering how wild he-”

Before Soobin could finish what he was trying to say, Taehyun slapped him across the face. There was not one day where Soobin could be respectful towards Yeonjun and Taehyun despised that. 

“Is it your fault then? You’re his biggest supporter, aren’t you?”, Soobin said back despite getting slapped.

Taehyun sighed and grabbed Soobin’s shoulder, “Soobin, do you really think we should be thinking about this right now?”, he then looked at Yeonjun who was tearing up. 

Soobin stepped away and sighed, chest rising and falling like he couldn’t decide whether to yell again or walk out.

Yeonjun sat silently on the couch, barely blinking, with moulded bunches of salty water covering his vision. He looked like someone who’d been dragged home in pieces. The sparkle Soobin used to call annoying or shameless was nowhere in sight.

“I know you’re hurting,” Soobin muttered finally, hand grazing the side of his face where Taehyun had hit him. “But you can’t say that I didn’t try to stop this.”

“Stop what?” Yeonjun’s voice was dull and raspy, it was obvious that he had spoken after hours. “Me from chasing someone like Beom-...or me believing I was wanted at all?”

Soobin flinched, Yeonjun out of all people could think he could be someone who wouldn’t be wanted?

Taehyun ran a hand down his face, then knelt in front of Yeonjun. “You don’t need to explain yourself to anyone. Least of all him.”

“I’m his brother!” Soobin said sharply.

“And a damn insensitive one,” Taehyun shot back. “You knew he liked Beomgyu. You knew he was serious. Yet, every time, instead of supporting him, you acted like he was some out-of-control wolf. Have you ever once considered talking to him about this positively?”

“I was trying to protect him!”, Soobin bit back.

“Didn’t it come to you so soon? The act of protecting your brother? Where were you when he had his fucking ribs fucking broken?”

That statement landed like a blow and Soobin looked down, his jaw tight and hands curled into fists at his sides at the memories of that time.

Yeonjun stared at the wall, eyes glassy. “You all act like I was trying to play Beomgyu,” he said quietly. “Maybe I wasn’t..”

There was silence. A kind of silence that only came when someone said the truth they’ve been trying to avoid. 

Was it true? Well, it was a maybe. Taehyun knew it was a lie, Yeonjun was too blinded by the sense of achievement he felt when he was able to receive the validation he wanted, to actually like someone, so he was most definitely going to play Beomgyu.

Soobin looked at him. “Do you even know what you wanted, hyung?”

Yeonjun laughed a bitter, exhausted laugh, “Does it matter?”

Soobin bent down and sat on his knees in front of his brother, “Just..just think about it, think about what you want next. Consider the feelings of people you surround and..just..just be better hyung!”, he pleaded, and Yeonjun cried. Soobin got up and frustratingly walked out of the house. 

To where, the two of them didn’t know, but the where did.

Soobin barged into Beomgyu’s dorm room and called for him like a mad alpha, Beomgyu lazily walked out of the bathroom and remarked about how he would improve for the upcoming games. 

Beomgyu seemed very tired but his eyes opened up to their full extent when Soobin lunged onto him and grabbed his collar, his alpha pheromones going crazy at Beomgyu. 

Beomgyu was confused, “Hyung? I just said I’ll do better and...yeah, there's no need to act up like this!”

“Act up? You’re the one acting up, Choi Beomgyu! What have you done to my brother! Can’t you be a bit gentle to him? Why does he always have to suffer because of shitty alphas?”, Soobin yelled at Beomgyu’s face, growls exiting his chest.

Beomgyu had seen it coming, he sighed and tried his best to get out of Soobin’s grip but Soobin had probably gone feral. “I need answers! What did you do to him?”, he gritted again. 

Beomgyu pushed Soobin back, “I gave him what he wanted!”

“What?”, the older asked in confusion, his mind wandering to places that made him feel like he had slipped into a gutter of thoughts.

“I..why are you here?”, Beomgyu sighed, finally pulling himself away and sitting on his bed. Soobin turned to him with an eyebrow raise, “Do you think you can hurt my brother and I’d let you go?”

“I didn’t..I just..Soobin hyung, you tell me, just how many times I told him to stay away from me, to stop doing whatever he was doing and rejected him clearer than anything?”

“Maybe you just didn’t make it clear enough! You could’ve told him in a better manner. Why are all alphas out there to hurt him?”, Soobin questioned and he sounded so concerned.

Beomgyu scoffed, “Maybe because his brother’s dumb as fuck”, he remarked.

“What did you say?”

“Tell me honestly, what are you angry about? Him being hurt because of me or him being hurt because of you?”

“I..you cannot..this..”, Soobin calmed down and looked around like a lost soul. Beomgyu sighed and helped him sit beside him, “Hyung, did you even ask him how he was? Not just today, but ever, I’ve never seen you do that..?”

“I do ask him how he is! I care for him and you know that very well”, Soobin justified. Beomgyu nodded, “I know you care for him, but your care often comes as possessiveness or..you just don’t express it well at all. Unfortunately, Yeonjun sunbaenim isn’t even your first priority at times, it’s the chaos he creates..”

Soobin was quiet, so Beomgyu continued. “From what I’ve understood you both, Yeonjun hyung is bit of a notorious person with a soft heart, wanting to try everything out there and you feel responsible for him when you have no right to.”

“But I’m his—“

“Being his brother gives you no right to make his decisions for him. He needs to want and decide things for himself, you can only be there and guide him, that too respectfully or support him when he falls. Do you do that now, hyung?”, Beomgyu asked and Soobin sighed, “I just..hyung had been through something cruel once and I know he’d go through stuff if he stays reckless like he is and I want him to be better..”

“I understand, but he has a life of his own, moreover, he is the one who had to go through something like that, so let him have a choice to move forward with his own wish. You cannot force it onto him, you can only be careful about his actions from a distance and express your care for him in a better manner”, Beomgyu explained and Soobin nodded. 

“What did you do to him?”, he echoed and Beomgyu shook is head, “It’ll be better for both of us if I keep it to myself, now go off, you have more things to arrange than my bones”. 

Soobin stood up with a small smile on his face, “I..yeah. Thanks, I wish you were an omega, I would’ve totally fallen for you.”

“I don’t mind subgenders, hyung”, Beomgyu made a teasy pouty face and Soobin gagged at it, “Well then, it would’ve been great if yeonjun hyung was actually serious about you, maybe I’d get to have you as my brother-in-law, because I know when you'd get serious about someone, you'd be serious serious!”, Soobin said so kindly and Beomgyu just let out another sigh for the day.

“Enough bullshit today, head out before I kick you out”, Beomgyu smiled in grimace and Soobin headed out, he left the room before yelling, “Sorry for scolding you a lot today, I know it wasn’t completely your fault, gyu-ah”.

Beomgyu smiled sadly before muffling his face into the pillow, hearing the click sound of his door shutting. 

His heart felt better after talking things out with Soobin, but his dick had a heart of its own that lingered onto the omega he had kissed this evening.

Beomgyu’s eyes flew up to the light bleeding through his curtains, for a moment he didn’t know where he was, his chest was dramatic, and he was still caught in the haze of his dream. 

Still hearing Yeonjun’s soft voice, one that was pleading to him, begging in his ear, ringing like a chant, and he could still feel the heat of his lips and his scent engulfing him wholly. 

“Fuck..”, Beomgyu had uttered, dragging a hand down his face. 

Beomgyu was..well, he just did something sinister and was probably going to ruin it even more.

A dilemma. 

Beomgyu had woken up the morning of the day that came after he had rejected yeonjun for the supposedly final time, and he had held his face in utter disbelief, for he had dreamt about Yeonjun in the most unethical scenario possible.

Maybe Beomgyu had forgotten — no, he could have never — that it wasn’t just the final rejection, but also the first time Beomgyu had kissed Yeonjun. And the last, probably. [:(] 

Beomgyu questioned himself, he had never dreamt about a person, he’d never had a sexual dream about someone, at least. He has dreamt about childlike moments of budding love with his past crushes in high school, but even during his ruts, he has never visualised anyone under him or over, he wouldn't mind. 

It was just a dream, that’s what he kept telling himself, but his cock was hard and aching against the thin fabric of his boxers which were already a bit damp from how long his body had been grinding to the thought of..— the images didn’t leave his head, it was all about Yeonjun. His pretty pretty mouth, his intoxicating eyes and his voice..calling for Beomgyu. 

Beomgyu looked at the funniness of the situation. Just yesterday, he had told Yeonjun to leave him alone and Yeonjun had stepped back helplessly but somehow, Yeonjun was still haunting him so gracefully in his dreams. 

Beomgyu knew what he did yesterday was the right thing to do, Yeonjun was way out of his reach, moreover, he didn’t want what Beomgyu would, from a relationship, he probably didn’t even want one. Star pointer, he was Soobin’s brother, that highlighted him as completely off limits. 

Beomgyu knew this would make things harder for him, he knew it was unfair for him to dream about Yeonjun after he had been rejecting him so brutally. 

But right now, none of that mattered as his hand slid under the waistband of his boxer before he could think better of it, curling around the throbbing heat of himself. His hips bucked towards his palm instantly, chasing the touch with a desperate need. He bit down on a groan, trying not to hear Yeonjun’s call for him in it, trying not to imagine what it would feel like if those long, elegant fingers that brushed his own when he handed him back his intentionally dropped water bottle, were around him instead.

It was useless to try, because his every thought was about Yeonjun, it felt as if a charm had worked on him because of a little kiss they shared.

Beomgyu traveled back to all the moments of Yeonjun confessing shamelessly for the past month, he thought of the way the older smiled so brightly when he looked at Beomgyu, the faint sweetness of his scent that clung to Beomgyu for hours after being near him. 

Beomgyu also went through the aspect of Yeonjun in his dream, the wet heat of his mouth in the dream, lips stretched around his cock as though he’d been made for this, for him.

Beomgyu’s pace stuttered, breath catching.

“Yeonjun..”

The name tore out of him before he could choke it back. He pressed the heel of his free hand against his mouth, muffling the sounds that kept spilling, shame crawling hot up his neck. His strokes turned uncontrollable, his hips jerking helplessly and thighs trembling as the tension coiled tighter and tighter.

Relief. 

When he came, it was with Yeonjun’s face burned into his mind. 

Beomgyu lay there with his wrist aching and disgust settling cold where heat had been seconds ago. He stared at the ceiling like it might offer answers, like it might erase what he’d just done, what he had just thought of. 

But nothing could change the truth.

He had rejected Yeonjun. He’d sworn he ididn’t want him, not once, but all throughout a whole month of Yeonjun’s trials. Yet here he was, trembling, ruined by the thought of him alone.

The days following the final rejection were hard for Yeonjun, he had to manage his gigs while feeling the lowest possible. Taehyun was there to help, of course, but now, Taehyun had changed and the change was noticeable to Yeonjun, he no longer agreed with Yeonjun’s every statement and advised him strictly instead.

Each mention of Beomgyu gained Yeonjun a lecture from Taehyun and Yeonjun was tired of it, he had to move on from the pretty alpha, but he was all he could dream about. 

Yeonjun worked on figuring out if he actually likes the boy but trying to distinguish between his actual wants and his unrealistic desires to have everyone pleased by him was tough for him.

Despite all of that, Yeonjun reestablished his venture of going to parties and coming back with a different person every day. Taehyun didn’t argue with him about this, he acknowledged it as Yeonjun’s way of coping up.

But even that started to feel like punishment.

Every stranger’s hand that traced his body left him emptier. Every kiss tasted wrong, every moan he forced out sounded like a lie, which it was. He laughed in their faces, let them think they’d pleased him, only to slip out of bed before dawn, washing away their scent with water that ran rushing down his back. Someone else’s scent infuriated him, and it was all because of an alpha he wasn’t even mated to.

A single kiss with the slap of a rejection did that.

The mirror became his enemy as well. He’d stand in front of it with damp hair dripping onto his collarbones, stare into his own red-rimmed eyes, and wonder if this was all he was good for — being wanted for a night, discarded the next, nothing more than a body that smiled too easily. The past resurfaced again and again when Yeonjun caressed his stitches, and it made him feel unwanted, undesirable.

Taehyun caught him once, sitting on the bathroom floor with the shower still running, fully clothed and shivering.

“Hyung,” he said softly, crouching beside him. 

“You’re supposed to live your life to the fullest, set your own expectations for yourself, you’re not supposed to cry over what others think of you..”, he had said.

Yeonjun pressed the heel of his hand against his eyes. “I don’t know what else to do. I-“,  his voice cracked, his throat was burning. “I can’t stop thinking about him, Tae. I hate it. I hate me for it. That boy did nothing about me, we didn’t even have sex, but he reminds me of jaemin and I..I just want him to like me like I wanted jae..”

Taehyun held his own tears back, Yeonjun was in such a poor condition, Taehyun wanted to take all of it away and give it to the shitty alphas. He just placed a hand on Yeonjun’s shoulder, grounding. “Hyung, maybe it’s time to stop chasing people. Stop expecting them to come to you as well, take a break, live for yourself, for once. You have a long time to deal with alphas”, he said softly.

“It’s time you drop your fixations and do what you actually want..ask yourself what you actually want..”

The words lodged deep in Yeonjun’s chest. Because what he wanted…he already knew. He’d known it every night he curled into someone else’s arms, pretending they were Beomgyu.

And it terrified him more than anything that a boy Yeonjun had never known before a month or two, had such an impact on his life. And maybe, it was just what Yeonjun made out of him, but the effect was unmatchable.

On a Friday evening, when Yeonjun was supposed to be at a party, he was at his apartment, with Taehyun. 

Yeonjun was sitting at the edge of the couch with his knees drawn up and cheek pressed into the cushion. The television was on but muted like a flicker of light against the dark. Taehyun sat across from him on the armchair, scrolling absently on his phone, never really looking at the TV screen. 

The sound of the door unlocking broke the quiet. Soobin stepped in with his hair damp from practice, and bag slung over his shoulder. He hesitated when he saw them, there was a shift in his eyes — taehyun noticed — and, his gaze lingered on Yeonjun.

Yeonjun didn’t look at him until he was called. 

“Yeonjun hyung,” Soobin said, setting his bag down carefully, like he was afraid of startling him. “Can we talk?”

Taehyun glanced between them, then set his phone aside. He didn’t leave, he crossed one leg over the other and leaned back, silently declaring he was staying.

Yeonjun didn’t answer right away. But a few seconds later, he gave the smallest nod possible.

Soobin sat across from him, on the low sofa, close enough that their knees almost brushed. He exhaled slowly, grounding himself. “I know it might sound abrupt or weird coming from me, at this time. But it’s been long due, I owe you an apology. For…everything. For the way I’ve been treating you.”

Yeonjun blinked at him, expression unreadable. “Why now?” His voice was hoarse, like he didn’t expect anything real.

Soobin hesitated. He thought of Beomgyu’s words in that cramped dorm room, sharp and unyielding. Being his brother gives you no right to make his decisions for him. He swallowed. “I..talked with Beomgyu.”

Yeonjun’s breath caught, eyes flashing with something like panic, but Soobin hurried on. “I didn’t go there to hurt him or to beg him to..I don’t know. I was angry, yes, but… he made me realize things I didn’t want to see.”

Taehyun leaned forward slightly, his eyes narrowing, but he stayed quiet, Taehyun had understood that Beomgyu was not a bad guy, he was, maybe, too right.

Soobin continued, voice low. “I thought I was protecting you. That if I controlled things, kept you away from people like him, I was saving you from getting hurt, but all I did was make you feel alone. And… I don’t want to continue doing that. Not anymore, not when I know how I am actually acting like a catalyst when it comes to you being hurt or feeling down, hyung.”

Yeonjun’s lips parted, but no words came out. His hands fidgeted in his lap.

“You don’t need me as your guard dog,” Soobin said, his throat thick. “You need me as your brother. Someone who’d listen to you, advise you but not reprimand you about something that was never your fault. I want to be someone who’s there when you fall, not someone who tells you where not to step.”

The silence was heavy, broken only by the hum of the nearly-muted TV.

Finally, Yeonjun let out a laugh, a little genuine but still so tired. “You sounded a little like Taehyun just now.”

Taehyun raised an eyebrow. “Took him long enough to catch up, I can’t believe you rarely ever listened to what I had to say about this but it took Beomgyu a single conversation and here you are!”, he said with no bite.

Soobin gave him a faint glare, but there was no bite to it either. He looked back at Yeonjun with his eyes soft. “Yeonjun hyung… I know you’re hurting and I can’t take that away. But I want you to know… you’re not unwanted. Not by me, not by taehyun. Whatever happens with Beomgyu; whether it ends here or not, you’re still ours. You’ll always be chosen here, at least when it’s taehyun, and now, me too.”

That broke something in Yeonjun. His eyes glossed over, tears slipping down his cheeks before he could stop them. He pressed his palms into his eyes, shaking his head. “Why does it feel like I’m always too much for everyone? Like I’m asking people to love me, be there for me. Why…”

Soobin reached out, wrapping his hand around Yeonjun’s trembling wrist. Taehyun moved too, placing a steady palm between his shoulder blades.

“You’re not too much,” Soobin whispered firmly. “You’re just you and you’re so loveable, I’m sorry I’ve never told you how proud I am of you, enough, but I have always believed that way”.

Taehyun added, with his voice steady, “And if someone can’t see that, hyung, it’s their loss, not yours. But, you shouldn’t generalise it as well, not everybody is blind like people in the past were, maybe, you just don’t wish for anybody to see you.”

Yeonjun shook his head, his shoulders shaking as he cried, now were not the silent tears of exhaustion, but the raw kind, messy, all over his face and making it tough for him to breathe. 

For once, he didn’t try to push them away. He let himself fold into his brother’s embrace, with Taehyun grounding him on the other side.

And in that quiet living room, with the barely muted TV flickering in the background, Yeonjun finally let himself believe, just a little, that maybe he wasn’t alone and he shouldn’t believe so as well.

Chapter Text

After a week of getting over the final rejection Yeonjun went back to university. The same as before, he was like a flower for the honey bees. Nobody cared to ask where he had gone for the past week but everybody wanted to know if he was free for the day. 

Yeonjun also talked to his manager and got back on track with his gigs. There had been times where it took him more than just a week to comeback but it was much easier this time with Soobin and Taehyun. 

Had he finally gotten over Beomgyu? Now that was a question nobody knew the correct answer of. 

Taehyun and Soobin had been careful enough not to bring his name up for the last week, whenever Soobin had to talk to Beomgyu he had made sure he was away from Yeonjun’s sight and Yeonjun’s hearing radar. 

A new thing Yeonjun started was expressing himself. He let others (Taehyun and Soobin) know how he felt so they could help him understand how he did and why he did. Now, Yeonjun had always been stubborn about dealing with his own feelings but after a long time, he had realised that he needed help, and he would’ve signed up for therapy if he had the time, but right now, Soobin and Taehyun were doing it for him.

One thing that didn’t change was Yeonjun being like honey to everyone in his range, and so, there came days when Yeonjun would just be out, partying, and getting the best of his mind. 

One of those days was today, Yeonjun was coincidentally in front of one of the basement computer labs, which he had no connection with, but hey, the rebound was also supposed to be a comp sci nerd, only then he’d feel the satisfaction. Sadly, there were no more nerds that Yeonjun found cute, but fortunately, the satisfaction was still attainable if the environment became a factor. 

And so, there Choi Yeonjun was, relentlessly waiting for this business dude who was pretty suspicious about them meeting in front of the computer lab. Yeonjun was dressed super pretty, he was ready to put on a show no matter how stupid it was, he didn’t even think about Beomgyu noticing him — okay, maybe he did, because the first thing he checked for after coming to the lab was if the said alpha was anywhere near the territory. Beomgyu was sitting in the chosen lab, with his headphones on, working on a lab computer, with that ugly coding journal of his. 

Slowly, the lab was getting close to vacant, and the alpha, Lee Intak, had arrived. The moment he walked in front of the door, he started showering Yeonjun with compliments, talking about how much he, and the entire university, had missed his presence. These alphas and their mating rituals. 

As soon as Yeonjun realised the entire act had Beomgyu’s attention, he pulled the very talkative alpha into a kiss. University students kissing in a classroom is tolerable, what’s better is them shifting to a corner or somewhere private, but choosing to do such stuff in front of a lab is stupid, and daring in entirety. 

Intak was quick to follow Yeonjun’s lead, his hand trace Yeonjun’s beautiful back like he was touching art, he was gentle with him, experienced even, but it wasn’t as warm, the kiss didn’t have it, it didn’t make him feel like the boy who was trying his best not to look did with one feisty kiss. 

Soon, Intak brushed Yeonjun’s teeth with his tongue, a plea to let him in, and Yeonjun did that as he wrapped his arms around the alpha’s neck, pushing himself closer to the boy. The kiss was never ending, and surely it was a kind of experience but Yeonjun wasn’t satisfied, not until he saw Choi Beomgyu with his head in his hands.

The kiss was broken when they heard someone clear their throat, Yeonjun pushed intak away, trying to fix his own clothes and hair. It was a TA, “Guys, I know you guys have your own needs and stuff, but can you not block the entrance? Please be either inside or just not here. And if you have some job to do in the lab, I don’t think you’ll be able to continue this..”, he said pointing at Yeonjun and Intak.

Yeonjun was quick to pull on a smile, “Ah! I forgot, I was here to work on coding! I need to code something about greedy algorithms?”

The TA shrugged and opened the door for Yeonjun whilst Intak was too dazed to do anything at all, so the TA motioned him to leave, which he did, after yelling, “Text me later!”, to Yeonjun.

Yeonjun walked inside and dropped himself on the chair beside Beomgyu’s. The only greeting that came from Beomgyu was him shifting his chair away, Yeonjun felt untouchable and not in a good manner. But hey, he was still near that enchanting scent which was still covered by scent patches by the way.

“Hi, Beomgyu”, Yeonjun said brightly, before turning his own computer on. Beomgyu looked at him, he really looked for a moment and then nodded, “Hello”.

“What are you doing?”, Yeonjun asked, Beomgyu finally removed his headphones, “trying to analyse a dataset about interpersonal relationships”, Beomgyu commented and somehow it sounded like a taunt for Yeonjun, but Yeonjun didn’t mind much, he just nodded and laid his head down real close to Beomgyu’s mouse, looking up at Beomgyu’s screen. 

“That’s a lot of numbers..”, Yeonjun mumbled in awe, earning a nod from Beomgyu.

Then there it was, the silence. Nothing had changed really, it was still Yeonjun trying and trying, and Beomgyu not wanting him to do so. Yeonjun didn’t understand why his feet got him here. 

“Are you well?”, Yeonjun heard Beomgyu ask when he was playing solitaire, he dropped his mouse and completely turned to look at Beomgyu, another sentence from Beomgyu and he’d be in his lap. 

“I..yes. I’ve been trying to be. Don’t worry, a kiss from you won’t be the death of me”, Yeonjun joked, earning a sad look from Beomgyu, “I’m sorry about that by the way, I was just very frustrated that day. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you..”

Yeonjun nodded proudly, “I’m glad you understand now, if only you’d have tried to understand my importance too..”

Beomgyu sighed and continued working on his dataset while Yeonjun laid his head down, watching him work, “Do we ever really know what you want?”, he mumbled softly, sounding sleepy. 

Beomgyu gave him a quick glance before shrugging, “Go on, you can continue speaking. I know it is a rhetorical question.”

“I never know what I want, I am always so focused on having everything, I don’t even know if I want it or not.”

“That’s pretty obvious with the way you were devouring that boy’s mouth”, Beomgyu commented.

“Did you not like it?”, Yeonjun mumbled, closing his eyes, earning a scoff from Beomgyu, “Why would it matter even if I hated it?”

Maybe Yeonjun didn’t reply because he didn’t know how to, or maybe he had fallen asleep and Beomgyu was still the stupid-not-attracted-to-yeonjun alpha for him. 

After an hour, Yeonjun didn’t choose to wake up still and Beomgyu was nearly done with his work, he took his time, in his luck, to stare at the sleeping omega, but thereafter, he realised what he was up to and texted Soobin about the situation. 

“You’re pretty pretty, Yeonjun hyung. And I know getting attracted to you is canon, but I really can’t afford to when I know you’d just play with me until it’s not fun anymore and then leave. I don’t want to be abandoned, I’m sorry”, Beomgyu said, caressing Yeonjun’s hair, the omega seemed pretty tired with the way he was in drool-inducing sleep. He then removed his jacket to drape it around Yeonjun. 

Beomgyu packed his things up and took a look outside to see it was already dark, he texted Soobin.

Yeonjun hyung is in the lab, should I drop him home? He fell asleep. 

What is he doing there?

Well, it’s better if you ask him yourself, hyung.

Wait for me gyu, I’ll come pick him up. 

Beomgyu watched Yeonjun sleep until Soobin came through, all sweaty from running. 

“Hey, you should trust me more, I wasn’t going to hurt him, you could’ve taken your time hyung”, Beomgyu said, standing up from his chair. 

“Ah, I was just..you know how I get about hyung these days, gyu”, Soobin tried to explain and Beomgyu nodded, completely understanding it. 

“Well, there he is, the sleeping beauty!”, Beomgyu cheerfully gestured at Yeonjun. “How did he even fall asleep? You didn’t knock him out, did you?”, Soobin joked and Beomgyu glared at him, “When have I ever knocked somebody out?”, Beomgyu whined. 

Soobin tilted his head, “I do remember you punching an opponent who was shit talking about Yeonjun hyung after his cheering facade in our match!”

“Come on hyung, take him and go”, Beomgyu picked his own stuff up.

“Do I just wake him up like that?”, Soobin asked, trying to approach Yeonjun. Beomgyu stopped him mid-way, “You got your car right? Just carry him out!”

“Oh yeah? And what am I, your bellman?”

“Can you stop talking and pick him up?”, Beomgyu sighed, rushing Soobin to just do anything. 

Soobin bent down to pick Yeonjun up, but the omega started whining, “Beomgyu..”

“I’m not Beomgyu, I’m your dearest little brother, Soobin, pay me some respect, Yeonjun-ssi!”, Soobin said, trying to pick Yeonjun up piggy style, Yeonjun rubbed his eyes, trying to get a look at Soobin. 

Soobin held him straight, but Yeonjun looked confused and honestly, adorable. Beomgyu looked at him with widened eyes, and when their eyes met, Yeonjun straddled towards Beomgyu, throwing himself on him. “Home..”, he mumbled, Soobin tried to control his laugh, looking at Beomgyu’s surprised response, with his hands going around Yeonjun naturally. 

“I..Soobin hyung…”, Beomgyu looked at Soobin with what should I do?  eyes, Soobin shrugged, “honestly, pick him up and help me out since he’s so addicted to you!”, Soobin remarked before taking Beomgyu’s stuff from his hands and heading out. Beomgyu sighed, piggybacking Yeonjun and following Soobin to the parking area which was at the complete different side from the computer science department. 

“Great. First you make out with some rando in front of me, then have me carry you”, Beomgyu mumbled, and just as he did, he felt Yeonjun’s arms tighten around his neck. 

Soobin looked back, “Yo, what’s taking so long, is it too hard to pick him up?”

Beomgyu faked a smile before kicking Soobin’s shin and getting ahead of him towards the car. He carefully dropped Yeonjun off in the passenger seat and then snatched his stuff from Soobin’s hands, “You’re welcome.” 

Soobin held Beomgyu’s hair and dragged him back to the car, “Get it bud, I’m dropping you till the dormitory gates!”

“Wow thanks, you’re so kind..”, Beomgyu yelled, getting inside. The dorms were a 15 minutes walk from the parking area, so Beomgyu was grateful Soobin stopped him but hey, dorms were really close to Comp Sci Dept and he could’ve just gone back from there, it was Soobin’s fault eventually to have gotten him there. 

“Thanks though, Gyu, I really couldn’t have done it without you”, Soobin said sweetly, earning a gagging noise from Beomgyu who then proceeded to stare at Yeonjun from the rear view mirror, his heart bouncing each time Yeonjun swayed because of a speed-breaker. 

“Gyu, I never asked you, but don’t you see even the slightest bit of chance of you being friends or more with my stupid brother?”, Soobin asked, taking a smooth turn. 

It was like the cat really got his tongue, what would he even say?

“Hyung, you know I don’t do casual”, Beomgyu said. Soobin remembered that one celebratory party at which a drunk Beomgyu told everyone that he dates to marry and was made fun of by every single body present in the room.

“Oh yeah, I date to marry, but seriously, no spark?”

“Yes sparks, no security.” Beomgyu commented and it seemed like the end of the conversation because they had reached, and Beomgyu got out, “Bye hyung, thanks for dropping me off, take care of your brother!”, Beomgyu said, waving and running up the stairs. 

“Yeah, I will”, Soobin mumbled to nobody. 

Soobin pulled up in the driveway to have Taehyun walk out the house and towards the car, “Last I talked to Yeonjun hyung, he told me he was going to get home early, we were supposed to meet up at 5, it’s 9PM, what happened?”, Taehyun asked, looking at the backseat from Soobin’s side of the mirror.

“Help me get him”, Soobin said, getting out.

Taehyun woke Yeonjun up, a little groggy Yeonjun walked inside yawning. “Thank god you woke him up, he’s been a pain in the ass today”, Soobin whispered. 

“What happened?”

“He slept on Beomgyu apparently”

“Did you just say Beomgyu?”, Taehyun asked with an offended expression and Soobin nodded, “Beomgyu didn’t do anything, come on!”

“Soobin, you’d probably think even jaemi-”

Soobin stopped Taehyun, “Stop stop, you can not compare the two boys. It wasn’t anything serious today by the way, it was pretty wholesome actually, I went to the computer lab after receiving his text about hyung being there and guess what I saw?”

“Hyung crying? That’s what Beomgyu does to him..”

“No! He was asleep, but Beomgyu..that little punk was looking at him like he was his world or something..”

“The infamous alpha gaze, that’s such a common thing with that species around Yeonjun hyung, what’s new?”, Taehyun asked, looking for Yeonjun who didn’t ever come out of the washroom.

“Well, we’re talking about the ever so unaffected choi beomgyu here, so that’s different..”

“But, let’s not bring him up in front of hyung, okay?”

“He literally carried him to the car, but okay..”, Soobin walked to his own room, a bit disappointed by Taehyun not getting his ideology.

After a few minutes Taehyun called Soobin to go to Yeonjun’s room, apparently the omega had some announcement to make.

“I’m starting therapy tomorrow”, Yeonjun announced as the two boys sat in front of him. Soobin looked at Taehyun who smiled, then back at Yeonjun who was waiting for affirmations.

Soobin hugged the boy, “I’m proud of you, I’m sure it’ll help you, hyung”, Yeonjun nodded against his brother. Taehyun smiled, “Let us know if we could be of any help and we’re always here to hear you out!”

Yeonjun nodded, “Today..I think I went ten steps away from all the progress but I don’t want to risk it anymore and maybe one day I’ll be someone who would be worthy of more than just a kiss..”

The insecurity and the want reflected from Yeonjun’s statement but none of the boys commented on it, they just convinced Yeonjun to watch a movie with them and did so. 

Beomgyu’s dilemma had worsened, the boy who had always known what he wanted suddenly didn’t anymore. If he had given complete control to his sub-gender, he’d honestly be at Yeonjun’s feet at the moment, apologising for the whole rejecting act and begging him to give him a chance. 

Beomgyu wasn’t stupid, he knew how attractive Yeonjun was and how appealing he was to his alpha. But again, Beomgyu wasn’t stupid, and he knew he couldn’t give in to this stupid infatuation because it’d crush all his goals and principles.

But he sat in his dorm room, his mind blurry from the day’s events and his chest calling at him to do something about the business major Yeonjun was kissing.

Now, he understood that your sub-gender could be the death of you. Beomgyu was an alpha, sure, an athlete even, but he was a scaredy cat, more like, too kind to punch a guy. So he’d probably be back from a fight all bruised and beaten up. 

Beomgyu shut his alpha up, making him see the reality and went to sleep, because he couldn’t do anything else that day. 

“Look who’s out like a zombie that was hit in the head!”, yelled a voice in the library. Beomgyu woke up, rubbing his eyes, “Who…it’s a library good god..”

“Beomgyu-ssi, I didn’t think you were the type of student who’d fall asleep in libraries just before the end sems”, Beomgyu looked up to see a familiar face. 

“Chaeyoung noona..”, he smiled, standing up and hugging the woman, then regretting because he had probably been sleeping for the whole day, there’s a possibility he could be stinking.

Beomgyu pulled away, “You’ve gotten so slim, and by the way, I’m here to talk to you about something important”, she said. Beomgyu nodded, “let’s head out? You know that I really don’t like the attention you’re bringing for the both of us”, Beomgyu said, packing his stuff.

“Sure thing, vice captain for the football team who is man of the match frequently and has all the attention to himself”, Chaeyoung mocked before heading out. Beomgyu followed him.

They headed to the main cafeteria, Beomgyu got coffee for both of them, and he knew he still wasn’t free of the attention. Beomgyu caught Soobin looking at him, he waved, Soobin gestured at Chaeyoung from far, Beomgyu mouthed, “Friend”, and Soobin signalled that he’d meet him later. 

Beomgyu sat down and Chaeyoung was suddenly all serious, “Okay, so, here’s the thing. I like you. I have since highschool days but now it’s intolerable and I think, we..or you can maybe help me out with this!”, Beomgyu widened his eyes and then laughed out, “I’m not laughing at your feeling noona, but me? Seriously? Your little dongsaeng you used to bully through highs here years?”

“Hey, that’s my love language. You know it!”, Chaeyoung fought back.

“Sure, that’s..well, why now noona? Did the heavens finally tell you that the one you’ve been looking for has been here all along?”, Beomgyu questioned, all eased up. 

“I..you’re the only one. I think you’re the perfect alpha, Beomgyu. One that every omega needs, you’re quite like us, you actually listen, and you’re hot, and..I don’t know, I want something permanent. I know you’re good at it Beomgyu, I know you’re good at permanency”, Chaeyoung basically begged. 

“Noona..”

“Please Beomgyu, I know you’ve known about my bias towards you since forever. I transferred to the geography department just because of you, I like you, just be my boyfriend.”

The days before end sems were always bad especially for students who hadn’t done anything in the whole semester, somehow passed the internals because of their popularity and were in the final year – Choi Yeonjun, was all of the above. The boy had drowned himself in fashion history and all kinds of fabrics for his year end project, Taehyun and Soobin had been busy with their finals as well.

It had been two weeks Yeonjun had been doing therapy and all the more he had realised how much he wanted Beomgyu, though he had tried his best to stay away from casual hookups, he had let himself be free sometimes, to actually clear his head out.

Beomgyu had been going pretty viral on the college forums for being seen with Chaeyoung, a transferee and an idol trainee, the news had got to Yeonjun’s ears and he had let his feelings about it slip out in a conversation with Taehyun.

“So, an idol trainee with no security of their own future can guarantee permanency but I cannot?”, he had questioned and Taehyun had reminded him of progress.

Taehyun had later talked to Soobin about the same and Soobin didn’t defend his best friend and only confessed about the younger alpha being distant recently, but that was who Beomgyu was during exam season. He was a nerdy worm who’d just stay tucked in his books for days. 

Soobin tried to bring Chaeyoung up in a conversation after their annual prize distribution in the football club, and Beomgyu looked confused, “Why is everybody so interested, hyung? Is it because noona is an idol trainee?”

Soobin couldn’t answer because before he had thought of anything, Chaeyoung came by, stealing Beomgyu away. Soobin had realised, more than being curious about Beomgyu’s relationship with the woman, he missed his best friend.

Taehyun and Yeonjun had realised that Yeonjun’s favourite coping method was painting people badly in his head, so Taehyun had told Yeonjun to just think bad stuff about Beomgyu but Yeonjun had given up on trying to hate the alpha and focused on his exams.

End-sems went through it all, and the annual party at the nearest bar from the university, held a lot for the future.

Chapter Text

There’s something hauntingly poetic about deja vu, about being there before. This second chance for something you thought you never missed reminds us that maybe time is not linear, maybe it has its loops. 

Beomgyu remembers. 

He precisely remembers the first time he experienced this party. 

The day he scented Choi Yeonjun.

Today was another such day, except, it was a post-exam party and at a club, and Beomgyu wasn’t so against parties anymore. His views were altered by the party last time, because he got to have Yeonjun, even if it were only for a few moments. 

Today was different, Beomgyu was dressed up, he remembered the way Yeonjun had approached him that night and he did not show up in his jersey again. He was wearing a classic leather jacket outfit. He also figured his scent patches were annoying Yeonjun with the way Yeonjun had eyed them on that night, so he toned down on them. Didn’t remove it completely because he had once triggered an omega’s heat because of his scent — an omega he didn’t even know. 

Beomgyu had come to the party because of Soobin’s convincing powers and partially because he wanted to see how Yeonjun, who had disappeared on him for a week now, was doing. He didn’t expect Yeonjun to be stuck on him still and he knew that wouldn’t be the case, as he had generalised from how Yeonjun had been according to other people — according to Yeonjun’s brother. 

Now, with his phone in his hand, he looked around the hall to get a glimpse of anyone he knew — Soobin and Kai, Yeonjun, or even Yeonjun’s beta friend. He spotted Yeonjun.

Yeonjun, in a black sheer blouse.

Yeonjun, in a skirt. 

Yeonjun, with hair longer than before.

Yeonjun, looking like he was having the time of his life.

Yeonjun, in the arms of another man.

Beomgyu held back a sigh, he should’ve assumed this as well. He had told himself countless times that he shouldn’t be worrying about Yeonjun considering his image, but he couldn’t help. How fair was it to judge Yeonjun only according to what all he had heard about him? So he didn’t, or he tried not to. 

Maybe it was a push on his shoulder — because beomgyu was blocking the entrance — or just his trail of thoughts ending that brought him back to the present. 

Beomgyu ignored the bittery feeling in his chest and decided to enjoy a party. Drink, maybe. 

He found himself sitting at the bar counter, still thinking about the imagery, wondering how he felt so similar to what he felt when he saw Yeonjun in the computer lab with that stinky guy, wondering why it stung harder this time. 

“Hey pretty, you’ve been sitting here for an hour now, would you like to tell me what you want?”, the bartender asked. Beomgyu smiled, “Water?”

He earned a scoff, “Who drinks water at a party?”

He remembered something similar in Yeonjun’s voice from Soobin’s party. 

“What do you suggest, then?”, Beomgyu asked and the bartender, whose tag read JK, shrugged. 

“Tell me, are you brooding over an omega?”, he asked, busy mixing some ingredients for a pina colada. 

“Not really. Just reminiscing about some moments of trouble”, Beomgyu shrugged. 

“Want to get drunk?”, he then asked, which was difficult to interpret because of the loud music but Beomgyu was too focused. 

“Not really, got to drive back”, he answered, taking a look around, in hopes he would find familiar faces. 

“Here’s a banana milk for you”, the bartender pulled something from below the counter, earning a soft smile from Beomgyu.

“Thank you for this”, he greeted and got up, taking along with him the small banana milk. 

Beomgyu walked out of the area, in some place like a corridor for some fresh air, only to find out couples crowding the place. He was left with no option but to go back in. 

He walked past Yeonjun who probably caught his scent because he turned to look at him in the middle of his talk with an alpha, and Beomgyu just greeted him with a downward smile before moving his way through the crowd to where he could find his friends.

And, he spotted Kai's blonde head soon. To his surprise, Kai and Soobin were with Taehyun who looked like he was in a bad mood because when Beomgyu greeted him, he was ignored. Beomgyu gets it though, he had sincerely rejected Taehyun’s best friend regularly for a month and then kissed him and ended it.

Taehyun seemed to be chill around Kai though, and it looked like a new reveal to Beomgyu, he was still a bit fussy around Soobin though, who was busy trying to talk to all the omegas Beomgyu could see around. 

For what felt like an hour, Beomgyu just sat there, being talked about, by the senior omegas who found their way to him because of Soobin. 

Soobin always did that, talked to omegas and left them for Beomgyu to talk to, to talk to other ones. He was not rightly interested in anyone, anyone but, yeah, alright, Beomgyu wasn’t allowed to talk about that. 

Beomgyu closed his eyes because of how tired he was hearing about how he was probably the second hottest member on the football team for sure. First was Soobin ofcourse. 

He didn’t want to know. 

He opened his eyes to find Yeonjun sitting beside Taehyun on the couch in front of him, eyeing the omegas around Beomgyu. Beomgyu sat back up properly and cleared his throat, he looked around and signalled Kai for help. 

Kai got the clue and rushed towards him, “Guys, I think Soobin hyung just gestured for someone to go there, I don’t know who though”, he said and heard must be mes like an echo. 

Finally, Beomgyu was free. Or not. Because now, two ferocious cats were looking at him like he was guilty. 

“Why didn’t you bring your girlfriend today?”, Taehyun asked and Beomgyu thought he wasn’t obligated to answer that. 

Unfortunately, Taehyun asked a lot of questions but Beomgyu chose to stay silent and have a staring competition with Yeonjun instead.

Their spree was broken by an alpha who wrapped his hand around Yeonjun’s shoulder before sitting beside him. Yeonjun looked startled and he leaned into Taehyun to feel away from the alpha. Now, Yeonjun was enjoying himself with different people since Beomgyu entered the party, but he didn’t look this uncomfortable before. 

“Would a dance be a lot, Yeonjun-ah?”, he had said and Yeonjun had flinched. Taehyun was about to say something when Beomgyu got up and said, “I think so”

“Who are you and why would you think so?”

Beomgyu looked at Yeonjun who blinked his eyes. 

“I think a dance with my omega is something only I can have tonight, so please..”, he looked at the alpha who stood up and looked at Yeonjun.

Yeonjun nodded and stood up as well, “Anything for you, alpha”, he replied as he placed his hands on Beomgyu’s shoulder.

Beomgyu guided him through the crowd and towards the dance floor where Yeonjun pulled his hands away. 

“Is he looking, still?”, Yeonjun asked and Beomgyu didn’t bother to take a glance at the guy to check that, before answering, “he totally is, let me help you out”

“Thank you”, Yeonjun muttered, before placing his hesitant hands back on Beomgyu’s shoulder. Beomgyu wondered where the confident, shameless Yeonjun went, but he knew it was because he had turned the boy down so much, and because everyone had told him he had no chance with Beomgyu, he had probably given up.

Did you give up? 

Have you given up on me? 

Beomgyu thought he had no right to question that because what exactly did he want? Want Yeonjun to start acting like a desperate omega again? He didn’t want Yeonjun to do that, not for him, him who didn’t even know what he wanted.

So Beomgyu just let this dance happen, for once. He didn’t know what he wanted for the long term, but he did know he wanted this for now. 

The pretty older omega in his arms, just for some time. Because, Beomgyu can dream about this, but he cannot dare to want this, he isn’t allowed to want this. 

While Beomgyu lets his trail of thoughts explore the other dimension, he completely misses out on how Yeonjun looks at him as their bodies move together to a slow song that plays in this celebratory party. Like he doesn’t want this but wants this the most, like he doesn’t want to be held but all he wants is to be held by Beomgyu. Like he longs for Beomgyu’s touch. 

And Beomgyu would let him tonight, let himself too. There would be no rules tonight. 

Beomgyu placed his hand around Yeonjun’s waist, who let out a little noise — something like a gasp — following it. Beomgyu looked up to see if had done something wrong but Yeonjun just blinked at him, like he was permitting him to. Yeonjun’s grip on Beomgyu’s shoulders tightened as well, earning nothing from Beomgyu. 

Maybe Beomgyu didn’t feel anything or, maybe he was too good at controlling himself. 

Before Beomgyu could let himself be loose he found Soobin and Kai watching him. Kai had a small smile on his face, and Soobin’s expression was unreadable, but he was definitely not against this.

Beomgyu suddenly didn’t know what to do with his hands. Who even was he, as a young alpha to put hands on the campus’ most beautiful omega. The other wolves could eat him raw for this. 

“Why are you helping me out, baby bear?”, Yeonjun asked and the nickname did something to Beomgyu. It always had. Yeonjun says it so easily, probably says it to anyone, but that doesn’t lessen its impact.

“I always have, why are you asking me just now?”, Beomgyu asked, his hands awkward around Yeonjun’s waist. 

“Because then I thought you were interested in me, but you’re so adamant about rejecting me, I cannot assume that being the case”, Yeonjun said, a pout resting on his lips.

“I just think it’s my duty to”, Beomgyu said like a fact. 

“I can help myself if that’s the case. I can protect myself, and even if it is a duty, it’s my alpha whose duty it would be to protect me. You’re not responsible for that”, Yeonjun pulled away. Beomgyu held his wrist and looked at Yeonjun again, as if asking for permission. Yeonjun sighed and pulled his hand away, “Stop it, don’t touch me if you’re going to keep looking at me with your obedient eyes after doing that”, he spat and Beomgyu smiled.

He would let Yeonjun go if he had to. He would let Yeonjun do whatever tonight. 

Yeonjun walked backwards, bumping into some other alphas, Beomgyu’s fingers might have itched a bit but that’s for him to keep it known to himself. 

Before Beomgyu could think about anything else, Yeonjun was not in his line of sight anymore. Beomgyu was now back at the bar. 

“You smell different”, the bartender said with a stupid smirk on his face. 

“I do”, Beomgyu replied. He knew, it’s not like Yeonjun wore scent patches. Yeonjun didn’t care about all this.

“Did you get friendly with some omegas?”, JK asked and Beomgyu shook his head, “Not some. Just one. Not friendly..I..”

“What is it? Listen, talk to me about it, I’m pretty experienced in this push and pull thing, being an omega myself”, he shrugged. 

Beomgyu widened his eyes, “You don’t look..I’m sorry. I should stop generalising things about people without getting to know them”, Beomgyu shook his hands nervously.

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it. Do you want to talk about yourself?”, It's still not right even if you’re used to it, Beomgyu thought.

When JK thought Beomgyu was hesitant he shrugged, placed his shaker away, “Let me talk about myself then, maybe you’d feel a little more comfortable?”

Beomgyu nodded, crossing his arms on the table and placing his chin in his palms. Adorable.

“So like, the guy I am ridiculously in love with is older than me, and, an alpha. I was messing around my whole life before I found him. He was just, so different?”

Beomgyu nodded. 

“So I started shamelessly chasing after him, I barely cared, and he just kept rejecting me or friend zoning me, like I wanted him to bed me but he was a kind of person who’d textually put you to bed, sing you lullabies, make you sleep and leave”, Beomgyu chuckled but all of this sounded oddly..similar.

“What happened next? Are you guys together?”

“Yeah, he’s my husband now, we got married last year. Funny turn of events happened when I was in heat and he offered to help me. I knew no alpha, not even that tough guy would be able to resist me after watching me in my heat. I looked—”

“I would prefer it if you kept the details to yourself, JK-ssi”, Beomgyu awkwardly said and JK laughed, “It’s Jeongguk, by the way! Also, call me hyung if you feel comfortable now”

Beomgyu nodded, sipping some water.

“So, yeah, then he kind of acknowledged his own feelings”, Jeongguk said, in a tone which reflected he was probably reminiscing about the old times.

“That’s..how did you feel after that?”, Beomgyu asked curiously and before replying Jeongguk got a drink ready for someone else.

“Good. Honestly, knowing that he cared so much for me when he didn’t even know he had feelings for me made me think how nice of a person he is, but then, I was so jealous thinking if he was like that for everyone”, Jeongguk rambled and Beomgyu smiled, “That hyung sounds so familiar to me, I am glad you guys have something of your own finally”

“Would you like to talk about yourself now?”, Jeongguk asked and Beomgyu nodded, “I find an omega attractive, I came to accept that to myself only a few days ago, but, everyone finds him attractive, maybe I am just a late riser”, Beomgyu shrugged and Jeongguk wanted to pinch Beomgyu’s cheeks. 

“You’re cute. I think this is just how Yoongi hyung felt about me. I’m not leading you onto some path or anything but I feel like there are similarities in our stories..”, Jeongguk shrugged and Beomgyu scoffed and looked around. 

“Hyung, I think-”, he was cut off by his phone ringing. Jeongguk signalled him to go outside and pick up the phone. 

Beomgyu realised he had lost track of time talking to Jeongguk because it was past 12 already, it was Soobin calling him and not calling him for the first time it seemed. 

Soobie hyung (18) missed calls

Beomgyu panicked when Soobin didn’t pick his call up. Did something happen? 

Beomgyu was relieved, “Hyung, what’s wrong? Where are you? 18 missed calls is crazy!”

“Oh, Beomgyu. I have a request, please, please do it for your hyung..”

Beomgyu chuckled, “Hyung, what kind of prank is this? You know I’d do anything for you”

“Please head to my house right now, please gyu”

With that, Soobin ended the call and Beomgyu was scared, he knew it could be a prank but Soobin sounded too worried and genuine. 

Beomgyu wanted to tell Jeongguk that he was leaving but considering the urgency of the situation, he left their next meeting up to fate. 

After a short drive, Beomgyu parked in front of Soobin’s house and rushed to ring the door bell. 

Kai opened the door and didn’t answer when Beomgyu asked what this was all about, he just stepped aside and let Beomgyu in.  

As soon as Beomgyu stepped in, he knew something was wrong, because something smelled wrongly right. 

Soobin was agitated about something and held Beomgyu’s shoulders desperately as he saw him.

“Beomgyu, please..”

“Please what, hyung?”, Beomgyu asked.

He saw Taehyun walking out of Yeonjun’s room. Taehyun who had a look on his face that depicted him as a cat who was being protective of his newborn kittens.

He walked up to Beomgyu and Beomgyu could feel the stingy, distressed smell even more now. 

Taehyun dragged Beomgyu to the couch and made him sit down. Beomgyu was ready for some talk because of the way Taehyun had looked at him when he offered Yeonjun a dance. But Taehyun just sat down on his knees and physically begged, Beomgyu was even more panicked now. 

“Beomgyu, please help my hyung out, he keeps calling for you..”, Taehyun begged, on his knees. Soobin and Kai helped him get up and Beomgyu looked at them with a confused reaction, “Is Yeonjun hyung sick? Should I bring him some medicine? Some food? What does he want, I can get it for him”, Beomgyu said, standing up.

“You”, Kai said with an airy voice and Beomgyu gulped, no wonder the scent did something to him.

Choi Yeonjun was in heat. 

Choi Yeonjun, an omega, was in heat.

An omega was calling for Beomgyu.

In, his, heat. 

Beomgyu’s alpha was roaring in the back of his mind, it felt like an achievement of some sort to Beomgyu’s veins as with the way his blood pressure increased. Soobin sighed, “Beomgyu, I trust you. I trust you with everything and with the way Yeonjun hyung is calling out for you, I think he does too, can you please..I mean I know this is not right when you’ve probably never even done this but..”

“I will, I will do it, my alpha won’t let me live if I don’t see him right now”, he groaned. 

Taehyun nodded impatiently and dragged Beomgyu towards Yeonjun’s closed door. Beomgyu stopped in between, “wait, no, let me know first, what do I have to do? How do I prepare for this? I- I haven’t done anything like this before!”

Taehyun shook his head, “he is in pain, you idiot! Just be with him, let him be in your scent, it will help”, Taehyun persuaded him and pushed Beomgyu inside Yeonjun’s room. Beomgyu heard something — Taehyun locking the room. 

Beomgyu trembled before he turned around. It wasn’t supposed to be this haunting, he was there to help Yeonjun. Yeonjun who was his best friend’s brother, Yeonjun who was an omega in need. 

“Alpha..”, he heard a whine and he closed his eyes, his hand found the door handle and he just held the door in hopes the door would ground him, help him be calm and composed like he always is.

But who was Beomgyu kidding, his mind told him that he might be able to see the Yeonjun from his dirty dream today. The dream which forced Beomgyu to get off thinking of Yeonjun. 

Beomgyu gulped, and he pledged it was the last time he was doing that, and he also pledged a few more stuff about beomgyu rules and integrity and violations. 

“Beomgyu…”, he heard Yeonjun say and oh, it made his heart so messy, he felt like a child just scribbled on his paper heart and poked the pencil’s lead a bit too hard in some places. 

“Yeonjun hyung, hi”, he was ready for this. He had made up his mind, he’d be careful with Yeonjun after everything Yeonjun had been through — as he’s heard of from soobin.

“Hi, please come closer..”, Yeonjun replied, he was in his senses, it seemed. 

“Am I allowed in here? I have heard omegas are very-”

“You’re the only thing that’s missing, please”, he begged, his voice was breathy, he was probably out of air. 

Beomgyu turned around, pushing his shoes away and looking at the nest, “It’s pretty”, he commented, the comment came without a thought but he heard Yeonjun’s scent flare at it, a little less pungent now. 

“Am I supposed to come there?”, he asked, looking through the bundle and pointing at Yeonjun who — Yeonjun was a whole new topic to talk about.

Yeonjun looked like someone Beomgyu or anyone would have dirty dreams about, he always did, but more particularly today. His hair was a mess, his outfit from the party was still on, his legs were shining from the skirt that had ridden up his hips and Beomgyu couldn’t look away. 

“Please”, Yeonjun said. 

Beomgyu nodded and climbed in, Yeonjun’s arms were physically aching for Beomgyu and Beomgyu let it be. 

“I don’t know why you are here, but I knew if I died like that my last wish would be for you to be here”, Yeonjun cried and Beomgyu shushed him, “I’m here, I’ll help you, hyung. Don’t worry about it”, he said.

Yeonjun nodded, “You’re too nice and I know this is like I will be using you, but..but I can’t help it..my omega calls for you..”, tears fell off his eyes and he placed his head on Beomgyu’s shoulder, Beomgyu hesitantly caressed his back. 

“It’s alright, I’ll be here”

“Bear with me beomgyu, please, my heat’s going to hit any moment now”, he said and held Beomgyu’s jacket for support. 

Beomgyu hummed and looked around the room, it felt like Yeonjun, a little too sophisticated but still messy here and there. 

It took a few minutes when Beomgyu smelled something new, with the way Yeonjun looked at him with rosy cheeks, he knew what it was. 

Yeonjun started removing his own clothes because of the heat. Beomgyu pulled away and looked at him, unsure of what to do.

“Do you need help?”, he asked politely and Yeonjun impatiently nodded, so Beomgyu pulled Yeonjun’s skirt away, unlocking the buttons like he was so experienced — he was just lucky. Next he pulled off Yeonjun’s sheer blouse, revealing his pink nipples and maybe Beomgyu felt that it was inappropriate for him to get a view of that, he looked away.

Yeonjun then tugged onto his jacket, “off”, he demanded, looked at the ceiling and Beomgyu nodded, “how much do you want me to take off?”, Beomgyu asked. 

Yeonjun did some thinking, even if he were in no right mind to do that, and then said, “just the jacket”, and Beomgyu obliged. Yeonjun took the jacket from Beomgyu and then placed it below his hips, Beomgyu widened his eyes and then cleared his throat.

“I need your scent please”, Yeonjun said next and Beomgyu nodded, he sat on his knees, in front of Yeonjun who softly tore off his scent patches and digged his nose in Beomgyu’s neck, Beomgyu held his waist for support. 

“You smell like home..alpha..”, Yeonjun murmured as his tongue nibbled onto Beomgyu’s gland and Beomgyu only closed his eyes. 

“Can you..lift me up?”, Yeonjun asked as he let Beomgyu stand up in his white — barely buttoned — shirt and denim. “Yes ofcourse, what do you want me to do?”

“Take me to the bed, be with me”, Yeonjun said, placing his arms in the air and Beomgyu obliged once again, picking the omega in bridal style, carrying him to his bed.

“Kiss?”, Yeonjun asked and Beomgyu gave him a tight lipped smile before nodding.

What are you even doing, Choi Beomgyu?

He leaned in onto Yeonjun’s bed before the omega pulled him towards himself, “You look so hot, Beomgyu”, he said before his lips met Beomgyu’s and maybe that was a planned action because Beomgyu’s alpha told him to do something about it. 

Beomgyu groaned and sat on the bed, he picked Yeonjun up, dragging him into his arms and kissing him like he did in his dream. Yeonjun wondered why Beomgyu was such a good kisser, but maybe Beomgyu was just sincere and passionate. Yeonjun, now only in his panties, found his place in Beomgyu’s lap. 

Beomgyu’s hands never left Yeonjun’s waists and Yeonjun’s stayed around Beomgyu’s neck like a chokehold. 

Yeonjun finally pulled away for some air and then the pain hit him, Beomgyu sensed the uneasiness on his face and laid him down, “How do I make you feel at ease, pretty hyung”

Pretty? Pretty hyung. Me? He called me pretty? with every thought that trailed off from Beomgyu calling Yeonjun pretty, Yeonjun felt slick drop in motion. 

“Touch me please”, he begged and Beomgyu nodded, hurrying down to hold Yeonjun’s hands in his hands as he started traversing Yeonjun’s body with little kisses. 

“Did you like it that time? Me scenting you?”, Beomgyu had asked and he was sure he heard a purr. Beomgyu chuckled, “You are adorable with your flushed neck, you were back then, you are right now, pretty omega”, he said as he teased Yeonjun’s scent gland. 

“Alpha..gyu..”, Yeonjun moaned.

“Shush, let me take my time, you wanted me to touch you right? I’ll touch you like a fever dream”, he said, before tracing Yeonjun’s chest with his fingers, his lips still determined about ruining Yeonjun’s neck. 

Beomgyu slowly got down to kiss Yeonjun’s nipples and Yeonjun fluctuated when Beomgyu did so, very politely, like a few pecks around them since Yeonjun was too dazed to guide him. 

And then Yeonjun’s navel, he saw a tattoo. 13 it said and Beomgyu smiled, kissing the tattoo which led him to the hub of thee scent. 

Beomgyu looked up to see Yeonjun’s reaction who was biting his lips, begging Beomgyu to let go of his hands and Beomgyu did, so Yeonjun grasped Beomgyu’s hair, and Beomgyu let him.

“Down there too”, Yeonjun said. Beomgyu scoffed, “Aren’t you so desperate? Are you even in heat, hyung?”

“Do you not see the sweat around me?! Not smell my slick, you asshole!”, Yeonjun yelled. 

There was a knock on the door, a muddled sound of, Is everything okay?

Beomgyu pushed Yeonjun’s hands away and yelled, “Yes, Soobin Hyung, everything is fine!”, before pulling away Yeonjun’s panties.

“No alpha has ever taken so long to get here, Choi Beomgyu”, Yeonjun sighed, still in pain. 

Beomgyu shrugged, “See, maybe I’ll see myself out and send an alpha who will get here faster than I did!”, he stood up and Yeonjun sat up with widened eyes, “You cannot leave me like this!”, he yelled. Beomgyu smiled, “Oh but I can, hyung”

“But you’re here to help me! If you leave me, that wouldn’t be help..please..I am aching..”, Yeonjun laid down, spreading his legs. 

Beomgyu sighed, “Do not disrespect me again, please”, he said. Because the thought of other alphas around Yeonjun did something to him which could’ve led to him losing his compose. 

“I won’t, I’m sorry. You’re the only alpha I think of when I go to sleep these nights, the only one I can think of, the only..only alpha who has this affect on me..you’re the only one I’ll allow to have me whole”, Yeonjun cried and Beomgyu cleaned his tears before re-establishing his position in between Yeonjun’s legs.

He bent down and placed kisses around Yeonjun’s vagina, letting some of his slick get on his lips.

“You taste so good”, he said and Yeonjun moaned as Beomgyu slid his tongue in there. 

Yeonjun’s breath got heavy and Beomgyu pulled out, more slick came drowning Beomgyu’s lips and Beomgyu licked some of it off. Yeonjun held Beomgyu’s face and kissed him.

“Tell me beomgyu, how are you so unaffected by me? Do you have other omegas? What about your..that girl..”, Yeonjun held Beomgyu’s collars, Beomgyu held his hands gently, placing Yeonjun in his lap again, “I do not have other omegas”, he said, it was now his turn to dig his nose in Yeonjun’s neck.

“She is my childhood friend, we haven’t gotten where you think we have. She just confessed to me like you have been doing for more than a month”, Yeonjun’s heart ached as he remembered it. 

“And unaffected?”, Beomgyu held Yeonjun’s hand and placed it against his hardened self, Yeonjun’s eyes widened, his mouth went dry, “Can..knot me!”

“I..”

“Please alpha”

“I think that’d be too much for me”

“Please Beomgyu please”

“I..can’t”, Beomgyu got up from the bed and Yeonjun knew that Beomgyu was a synonym for rejection now. He came because Yeonjun called for him but that didn’t signify that Beomgyu wanted him, Beomgyu’s alpha did not want his omega. 

Yeonjun’s omega kept chanting the rejection like a prayer and Yeonjun’s vision blurred, his head went numb, he could barely feel Beomgyu’s touch on himself anymore and it ached. He wanted Beomgyu’s heat near him, he wanted Beomgyu to shadow him, to be with him, to be in him. 

But Beomgyu was standing like a coward in front of the bed, looking away from Yeonjun like he was in deep thoughts himself. 

It didn’t even take a minute for all the rejection to pile up and hit Yeonjun’s chest with a pang because he let out a sob, a loud, heartbreaking sob and Beomgyu looked at him with so much worry on his face. He lunged back onto the bed, his arms caged Yeonjun again, “Hyung..?”

It was sobbing at first but now it was pathetic crying, wailing, begging for Beomgyu and Beomgyu was a poor man, a poor man in front of the omega in need. The omega his stupid alpha was starting to recognise as his. 

Beomgyu pulled down his pants and steadied Yeonjun, “Calm down and I’ll let you have me, yeah?”, he soothed and Yeonjun’s chest bloomed with something so visibly pink, he nodded desperately, cleaning his tears.

Beomgyu sighed, “Fuck, you’re so pretty like this. I cannot even think straight, but hear me out”, he held both of Yeonjun’s hands, looked him straight in the eyes like he was trying to teach something to a little kid.

“I’ve heard from Soobin that you do let people make you feel good but you have your boundaries. I want to be respectful towards your boundaries..I mean, I wanted to be. Isn’t knotting you like crossing a boundary?”

Yeonjun’s lips turned down and he let out a ridiculous cry, “You’ve already scented me, you asshole. You claimed me in front of all that audience, now you can’t even knot me?”

“There’s a huge difference between scenting and-”

“Fuck, do you not think I am pretty enough?”, Yeonjun yelled and Beomgyu let out another sigh, letting go of Yeonjun’s hands, he stood up and removed his boxers. 

“On your knees”, and Yeonjun shook his head, “Want to see you”

Beomgyu scoffed and pushed Yeonjun against the bed, “don’t forget about this”, he muttered against Yeonjun’s skin. 

“Your dick is cute. Big enough to make me cry about wanting it”, Yeonjun chuckled like a drunk man and Beomgyu chuckled, “You’re cute”

He held Yeonjun’s waist and without any more wait, because of Yeonjun’s I can take you, Beomgyu fucked him like that. 

“How much more do I have to wait?”, Beomgyu asked impatiently, his thighs were red because of Yeonjun’s weight and Yeonjun was marking his chest at the moment. 

“Till it grows to its full potential”, Yeonjun answered, still sweaty from the heat and Beomgyu nodded, “Does it hurt?”, he asked, rummaging his fingers through Yeonjun’s hair that covered his nape.

Yeonjun looked up and smiled, “I can handle it”, Beomgyu shook his head, “Can I make it better?”

“Yes”

“How?”

“You can just try hard enough. Make the pain worth it”

“Worth it? In what scenario would such pain be worthy?”

“I don’t know, I think I’ll feel like it was worth it if I’ll be full with your pups by tonight”, Yeonjun snickered, earning widened eyes from Beomgyu.

“I..I cannot afford..”, Beomgyu mumbled, earning a light smack on his shoulder, “I felt you getting hard, don’t go all serious on me”, he complained and Beomgyu shrugged, “My alpha liked it, blame it on him! I personally have no plans for kids”

“I feel it coming, come inside me please and I’ll set you free!”, Yeonjun announced so loudly that Beomgyu had to oblige. 

Beomgyu did come inside, but he was not set free, he fell asleep with his arms around Yeonjun after cleaning everything up, despite wanting to stay surrounded by the scent of Yeonjun’s heat, but he woke up when he felt eyes boring into him when he was barely two hours into his nap.

Beomgyu turned on the bedside lamp and rubbed his eyes to get a sight of Yeonjun, he was sitting on his knees, watching him with his kitten-like eyes and Beomgyu sat up too, “Does it hurt?”

“It’s hitting again for I am getting so horny even by the scent of you”, Yeonjun remarked and Beomgyu sighed, “You’ll break my dick, hyung”, he lunged forward to pull the covers off and Yeonjun took it as a signal to get above Beomgyu, who only had his clean boxers on. 

Beomgyu shook his head, “My dick is recharging right now, you’ll have to wait, you greedy omega”, and Yeonjun’s pout deepened, his eyes reflected heat and he let out his pheromones which translated as deep desperation and want. 

“Can we just not..like hug and make this better?”, Beomgyu dumbly questioned.

“Just..lend me your thighs please”, Yeonjun said, taking his pajama off and shifting to make his place on Beomgyu’s lap again and Beomgyu let him be, straightening his back against the headboard. 

Then Beomgyu felt it on his thigh, and he felt the heat till his lemur, Yeonjun’s clothed scent hub, stuck onto his thigh. 

Beomgyu looked up at Yeonjun as he placed his hand on his waist, his chest heaving and Yeonjun smiled at him, “You’re so pretty, baby bear”, Beomgyu chuckled, “Get moving, you need to get some rest too”, and Yeonjun obliged, he starting moving.

Beomgyu gulped, he could feel Yeonjun’s underwear sliding with his slick when Yeonjun moved and his generous moans filling his ears when he did so.

“Why did you keep this on, I’d suggest..”, Beomgyu said glaring at the underwear and Yeonjun slapped Beomgyu’s chest, telling him to shut up. 

But then, Yeonjun did realise Beomgyu was right, “Are you strong?”, he asked, earning a glare from Beomgyu.

“Did you not witness my strength when I fucked you into sleep?”, he snarled and Yeonjun cursed at him. 

“I did, but do you have..can you tear this off, I don’t want to get off”, he asked and Beomgyu scoffed before reaching the underwear and tearing it off. He pulled it from under Yeonjun and looked at the wet mess before throwing it to a pile of dirty clothes. 

“I’d keep it in my alpha nest if I could”, Beomgyu remarked before lowering his hands to Yeonjun’s hips and Yeonjun widened his eyes, “You cannot say things like that..”

“I’m sorry, I..I probably shouldn’t let my alpha get the best of me..”, Beomgyu stuttered and Yeonjun grinded against him once, slow, before leaning onto his ear, “Your alpha this, your alpha that, don’t lie to me baby bear. You cannot blame your alpha for everything when you’re in your right mind”

“You think you’d sit on my lap with a pink pajama shirt on and nothing else, grind onto me and I’d be in my right mind?”, Beomgyu whispered.

Yeonjun pulled back to look at the boy, “Then tell me, if your alpha wants all this, what does Beomgyu want? My little saint?”

Beomgyu sighed, looked around for an answer and then looked up at the omega, “Beomgyu wants to kiss some pretty boy who is sitting in his lap”, Beomgyu said and Yeonjun held back a smile before pecking Beomgyu’s lips.

“What else?”, Yeonjun questioned and Beomgyu pouted because that wasn’t a kiss.

“Wants to mark omega’s neck”, Beomgyu gnawed and Yeonjun dragged himself closer, leaving a slick mark on Beomgyu’s thigh as he bared his neck as an offering. Beomgyu created a master piece, one that would not be for exhibition but for his eyes only.

“And?”, Yeonjun continued and Beomgyu hummed before thinking, it wasn’t that there was nothing, it was that he was choosing it out of a pool of his desires. 

He then lifted two of his middle fingers up, “Wants to...”, Yeonjun gasped, oh he loved the boy he was sitting on, loved this totally new side of him. 

“I think I just came because of that”, Yeonjun said, lifting himself off and cleaning the release with his shirt, Beomgyu smiled, “I think you can come again?”

Yeonjun shrugged, “depends on how well you do!”, he exclaimed and then let out a shriek when Beomgyu manhandled him and pulled him just to push him on the bed and hover over him, finally settling on his feet. 

Beomgyu teased Yeonjun a bit before inserting two of his fingers straight inside Yeonjun’s entrance, and looked at Yeonjun with a smug look on his face as he moved them in a demonic motion.

“Why the fuck are you so good with this? Do you secretly fuck a lot?”, Yeonjun yelled, Beomgyu covered his mouth, “Use your mouth only when you feel like calling for me, otherwise, I don’t like you being unnecessarily disrespectful to me”, Beomgyu taught like a teacher. 

“I’m good with instruments by the way”, he says casually and then pushed in deeper, earning a sound of pleasure from Yeonjun, “and I think it’s the strength of athletic hands that I can feel you coming all over my hand”, Beomgyu cocked his eyebrows and Yeonjun hid his face letting out a fake sob. 

Beomgyu pulled his hand out and cleaned it with tissues from the bedside table. He so wanted to taste Yeonjun again but he was too tired to rinse his mouth this time.

Despite his tiredness, he lifted Yeonjun up and brought him to his nest before cleaning everything else up and moving the basket of untidy clothes into the bathroom. 

He then looked for another pair of clothes for Yeonjun, earning a remark in the lines of why are you going through my stuff which he replied to with something in the lines of I didn’t see you complain when I went through your body which was met with silence ofc. 

He handed a new set of clothes to yeonjun and bent down to take a look at him, “I don’t want you to get more stuff dirtied, so please sleep this once and let’s deal with your horniness tomorrow”, he got up and found Yeonjun clinging to his leg, Beomgyu sighed and looked down to be met with the similar kitten eyes.

“Sleep with me?”, Yeonjun said and Beomgyu was about to complain when Yeonjun yelled, “Like, sleep sleep. Not..yeah..please.”

Beomgyu nodded, sliding into Yeonjun’s nest which was more comfortable than the bed, waiting for Yeonjun to change his clothes and when Yeonjun did, he found himself crooked beside Beomgyu’s body, both of them asleep and Yeonjun’s nose tugging into Beomgyu’s neck.