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ahn keonho knew he had fucked up the moment he heard martin’s yell from down the hallway.
the sound was loud in what had, for once, been a quiet dormitory and had each individual stopped within their tracks: james at the kitchen table with a spoon of cereal raised to his mouth; seonghyeon’s head snapped up from what had been hunched over a handheld gaming device; juhoon within the doorframe of the bathroom, the flush of the toilet audible; and keonho, frozen on the couch with phone in hand.
“who was in my room?”
gradually, keonho sank lower into the cushions of the couch.
the footsteps that started down the hallway towards the living room grew louder with each hurried step, and keonho continued to sink as he prayed to some higher being that the couch would pull him in and then out of existence.
“well?”
martin had stopped just beside the couch, the omega’s face and neck flushed with a pink tinge. whether that was from the sudden influx of emotion or the warmth of the room was anyone’s guess. he looked to each of the members with arms crossed.
“what happened?” juhoon asked first, his calm beta disposition prominent as usual.
martin’s gaze snapped to juhoon as if the other had confessed, “was it you?”
“it was me,” keonho quickly cut in, and sat up. he wasn’t about to let anyone take the blame for something he knew was his own fault.
the look directed towards keonho caused him to swallow hard. martin wasn’t just upset, he was angry.
“i was only in there for a moment to grab everyone’s dirty laundry, hyung. i promise i didn’t touch anything,” keonho said, as he assumed martin was upset with him for having entered his room without asking first.
martin was the only omega within the group, and therefore had a bedroom all to himself. it was for personal and safety reasons, the staff had said, though martin was known to pull any and all of the members into his room when the desire for a companion was strong. he liked to be held, and took advantage of each opportunity given.
“you touched my nest.”
“what?”
“my nest. you ruined it, keonho.”
“no, i didn’t. i told you, i just-“
martin grabbed his wrist and pulled, forcing the youngest off of the couch and to follow him back down the hallway to his bedroom. he stopped in the doorway and dropped keonho’s arm, a finger pointed into the room.
keonho wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to be seeing that was wrong. martin’s room looked how it always did. his mattress pulled from its frame and pushed into the corner where several blankets and pillows were bunched up in what looked to be no particular formation, a desk underneath the window and a nirvana poster on the opposite wall.
the bed had been even worse earlier: a mess of dirty clothing that was wound around the edges. keonho had found one of seonghyeon’s favorite workout hoodies, the smell of dried sweat so strong it had made his own nose wrinkle; james’ favorite banana plushie that looked as if it had had the life beaten out of it years ago; a couple of pairs of boxers that could be anyone’s; juhoon’s favorite light-wash denim jacket.
he’d gasped upon finding his own articles of clothing, a grey and black plaid pullover and a soft, dark pair of joggers, “i’ve been looking for these!” and added them to the pile he had gathered to take directly to the laundry room.
“hyung, the clothes were dirty and your bed was an absolute mess. it was gross.” keonho regretted the words once he looked to the omega. martin’s anger had immediatly fallen, a look of pure hurt having taken its place instead.
and as keonho was stupidly prone to do, his lips continued to move with the wrong words, “look, it’s not that big of a deal. you’re just overreacting.”
“right,” martin replied, voice tight. he pushed past keonho, and without another word shut the door abruptly in his face.
keonho stood there frozen, unsure of what had even just happened. he wasn’t wrong, martin was being overdramatic. it was just some dirty laundry that shouldn’t have even been in his room to begin with.
he slowly walked back to the living room where three sets of eyes locked onto him instantly.
“bro, what the fuck did you do,” seonghyeon sighed, his game abandoned on his lap as he stared at keonho, unimpressed.
“i just— i literally was only trying to help.” keonho stuttered, “i mean, have you guys seen his room? also, martin-hyung is being ridiculous. who gets that upset over laundry?” he rambled now to defend himself.
“keonho,” james’ voice was flat, “he’s in pre-heat.”
and that was all it took for keonho to realize just how much of an idiot he truly was. the clothes weren’t just in the nest, they were the nest. most of all, they were meant to be dirty. to be so doused in each of their respective scents that all martin would think of each time he crawled into his nest was pack, pack, pack.
juhoon gave a humorless chuckle, “did you really tell him to his face that his nest was bad?”
“i mean, i said it was… gross,” keonho winced as he repeated the word from earlier.
“you are such a dumbass,” james muttered, the clink of his cereal bowl loud as it was set into an empty sink. “have fun with the damage control on that one. martin literally spends hours rearranging the clothes in his nest until they’re exactly where he wants them.” as the oldest alpha of the group, james knew their omega’s antics better than anyone else.
the immature part of keonho wanted to argue, to insist that he hadn’t known. after all, his alpha presentation hadn’t even fully been a year ago yet.
but deep down he knew that would just be an excuse. the truth was that he hadn’t paid enough attention to any of these things about martin, about their omega.
keonho felt awful, the weight of everything he had said finally sunk in.
but worst of all had been the look on martin’s face when he’d criticized the nest.
the terrible feeling only amplified when keonho trudged pitifully to his shared bedroom with seonghyeon later that night, and he could hear the soft hitched breaths of crying as he passed martin’s closed door.
xx
ahn keonho didn’t sleep at all that night.
he tossed and turned; stared up at the ceiling; watched the rise and fall of seonghyeon’s torso on the opposite side of the room as the other alpha slept undisturbed. he tried to keep his mind preoccupied with anything that would stop it from straying back to the omega just down the hallway, but nothing stuck.
and morning came just as rough as keonho knew it would.
his body screamed as he forced himself to get up a little past 7 a.m. the sunlight that streamed in through the window had been cutting right across his face anyway and refused to allow any further chance of sleep.
everything was on auto-pilot as he got ready for the day: getting dressed, using the bathroom, washing his face and brushing his teeth. keonho didn’t actually come back to himself until he was stopped just outside of the kitchen, having paused at the voices he heard within.
“he didn’t mean to mess up your nest, tin-ah. you know that, right?” juhoon.
“doesn’t make what he said hurt any less.” martin’s voice was tired, scratchy in a way that signified that he had also had a terrible night. the sound of poured coffee filled the quiet for just a moment before juhoon spoke again, “i take it you didn’t sleep well.”
“what was your first guess?” martin replied sarcastic, almost mean, but he sighed and it fell to its regular tone, “‘m sorry, jju. i just— i wish i could explain it better. how it feels to not have anything of the pack’s in my nest. it makes me feel so vulnerable and, and like i’m not safe, and i hate it.”
“especially because it’s so close to your heat.”
“exactly.” martin sighed.
“i could have came to your room last night, or you to mine. you didn’t have to be alone.” juhoon said.
“it doesn’t matter anymore.”
keonho had been so fixated on the conversation that he didn’t register the shuffled sound of a chair or the footsteps from the kitchen until martin stood directly in front of him, startled at the sudden sight of the youngest alpha.
“hyung,” keonho spoke out first, hesitant. his heart stuttered at the sight of the omega: deep pink blotches on his cheeks, eyes red and exhausted, and blonde hair mussed up in so many different directions.
there was a pause as their eyes met. and in that moment keonho wanted to apologize for everything: for messing up the nest, for the hurtful things he had said, for making martin feel unsafe, for making him cry. but mostly, for being a terrible alpha when martin only deserved the best.
instead, the silence was loud.
and so martin said nothing as well and brushed past keonho to return to his room.
xx
ahn keonho was going crazy.
it had been two days since martin had spoken to him.
48 hours since keonho had been an absolute ass and stuck his foot in his mouth. he should have choked himself with the appendage instead.
whether it was a good idea or not, he had decided to take matters into his own hands. which was how keonho found himself at the gs25 just down the street, conveyor belt filled with all of martin’s favorite drinks and snacks, as well as a pint of ben & jerry’s cookie dough ice cream.
james was the first to run into him once he had returned to the dormitory, plastic bag in hand with all of the goods. the oldest alpha’s eyes had dropped to the contents of the bag, eyebrows raised before he smirked knowingly, “finally alpha’ing up instead of moping around like a kicked puppy, i see.”
“hyung,” keonho groaned, and shot him a glare. james wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t need to say it like that.
once he had the items safely hidden away and in their respective places, the next order of business was clothing. to which he collected at a fiendish rate throughout the day: juhoon had just returned from a walk and keonho stole the scarf wrapped around his neck; seonghyeon barely stepped off the gym treadmill before keonho pulled the damp hoodie free from his torso; james was thankfully the easiest, as he had several well-loved plushies hidden within his bed that were all smothered in his strong, alpha scent.
keonho dug through his own laundry hamper, in search of the clothes he’d worn during their most recent dance practice just a day ago. and as he threw them onto the pile he’d collected, a small primal part of him curled happily at the idea of their being more of his own clothing than the other member’s. of martin’s nest smelling the most like keonho.
he didn’t know where this sudden urge came from. it was like an instinct that had been newly awakened within and he wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about it quite yet. but keonho tamped it back down before it could gain too much momentum. things weren’t about his own needs or feelings right now, they were about martin.
it was early evening when keonho finally had everything that he needed, and he would be lying if he said that he wasn’t nervous. what if hyung is still mad? what if he takes one look at everything and slams the door in my face… again. these thoughts plagued keonho’s mind.
time to alpha up, james’ words echoed in his head, as cringe as they were.
before he could talk himself out of it, keonho stood in front of martin’s closed door, arms full. he could smell the strong honeyed citrus scent that always accompanied the omega’s heat, and wondered if martin was fully in heat or just on the edge of it still. in keonho’s defense, it was hard to tell, as martin was just as cuddly during his heat as he was outside of it.
keonho knocked.
“yeah?’
“can—“ keonho cleared his throat so that he didn’t stutter, “hyung, can i come in?”
there was a pause after the recognition of the voice. and keonho realized that this was it. this was the moment his omega was going to reject him once again and he’d have to shamefully go crawl back to his own room to lick at the metaphorical wounds.
“yeah, come in.”
the words had keonho’s alpha yipping in joy, though he would never admit to such a thing.
as soon as keonho had pushed open the door, the mouthwatering scent doubled. it was so much sweeter within the room, the smell coating every nook and cranny only to wrap around keonho as soon as he was fully within. he leaned back against the door as he shut it and stood stock still at the sight of martin.
the omega simply sat in his nest, a pair of headphones around his neck and a macbook open on his lap.
of course he is working when he is literally in heat, keonho chided internally.
a ratty grey nike crop-top hung from one of martin’s shoulders, smooth, sharp collarbones on display while the trim of his waist was also visible from the dark joggers that sat low on his hips. the uncovered skin was the softest sheen of peach pink, and keonho had to push back the immediate thought of how badly he wanted to sink his teeth into that sweet skin.
“do you need something?” martin hadn’t even looked up from his macbook, eyebrows furrowed with concentration.
“hyung, i’m sorry.” keonho decided to just rip off the band-aid.
the words finally caused martin to look up. for a second it seemed as if he were about to tell keonho to go, but the moment he caught sight of everything in the youngest’s arms he froze. “what are you doing, keonho?” his voice had just the slightest hint of fond exasperation underneath.
“for you.” was all keonho could manage to say. he came forward and set everything just in front of the nest that martin was comfortably nestled into.
whatever you do, do not go into the nest until martin invites you in, keonho remembered the warning seonghyeon had given him several months ago, a mark still visible on the alpha’s jawline at the time, he will hit you and not feel bad about it.
keonho kneeled down and began to take the snacks and beverages out of the bag. he set them in a neat pile just within the vicinity of the nest. “i got you some ice cream too. so, if you want that, i can go grab it as well.”
“keonho.”
“and i also got a little bit of everyone’s things.” he pushed the pile of clothing closer. “ i know it’s not exactly everything you had in your nest earlier, but, from what i can tell, everyone’s scents are pretty strong on them. and if you also want, i can—“
“alpha.”
the word caused keonho to snap to attention, a flourish of pride welling in his chest at finally hearing the name fall from martin’s lips. “yes?” his eyes were fixed on the omega, unwavering.
martin had closed and set his macbook aside along with the headphones, a hand extended towards keonho, “come here.”
“wait, really?” keonho looked down at the border of the mattress, as if there were a force field present that prohibited him, “but it’s your nest.”
“yeah, and i want you in it. now get in here.” martin smiled, tone playful.
their fingers intertwined and martin easily pulled him in.
he situated keonho as if he were just another part of the nest: pressing against his shoulders until he was lying back against the large plush pillows, grabbing at blankets to pull and wind them around their bodies, and finally, settling down against keonho with arms wrapped around his waist while he nestled his head into the alpha’s neck.
“you didn’t have to do all of that,” martin said once he was perfectly situated.
“i wanted to,” keonho murmured. he felt stiff within the nest, nervous that he would make one wrong move and martin would kick him out. as the youngest alpha of the group, he hadn’t exactly had much experience with martin’s heats, or even being in the nest.
“well, thank you,” the omega said softly, breath hot against keonho’s neck. he rubbed his nose against the skin there and placed a gentle feather-light kiss. “you’re a good alpha.”
and that was all it took for keonho’s body to finally relax, for the weight that had been on his shoulders from the past two days to disappear.
sweet reassurance from his omega.
ahn keonho, you’re a good alpha.