Archive of Our Own

 🔪

See, the thing about large friend groups is that everybody in the friend group isn’t always friends. No matter the intentions the greater circle ends up cliqued up, creating all these venn diagrams of relationships: this person is close to that person, who's dating this person, and that person’s the ex of this person and so on and so forth. The more entangled people get, the more trying it is to make sure everyone stays on amicable terms. These complicated friend group clauses apply to many a person in the circle, but Donghyuck and Jaemin are a special kind of complicated because their issue is simple.

They just don’t like each other. 

No one knows what happened, no one understands where the animosity began, and the hope that one day they’ll at the very least be civil with one another dwindles with every interaction. It’s gotten to the point where even mentioning the other is going to be within the same twenty foot radius garners a reaction of blatant irritation. 

They don’t get along, and everyone is tired of trying to figure out why. Every time they ask, Donghyuck says:

“He’s a dick.”

And Jaemin says:

“He’s a fucking liar.”

Neither of these responses make sense to anyone around them. They’re simply untrue to the other people involved in the situation, but they’re operating under the assumption that Jaemin and Donghyuck haven’t spoken past hellos. They don’t know that every time they’re in the same space, bitter and harsh words are exchanged, dirty looks are given, and any moniker of respect is dropped immediately to deal with the other. 

They operate like this for months on end. It appears that this is the way it’s always going to be, but time changes all things; the status of Donghyuck and Jaemin’s relationship cannot and does not stand against father time. 

The beginning of the end starts in Mark’s and Donghyuck’s apartment. 

🔪

Mark collects a number of wine bottles from the fridge. He debated early on if they were gonna set out hard liquor, but decided against it because they were aiming for a calm night. And he doesn’t remember a single night that wine drunk resulted in knock down drag out fights – so wine it is. Donghyuck pops up out of nowhere, the scent of cherry blossoms giving him away, lurking behind Mark as he’s gathering the heavy glass. He doesn’t wait for the omega to ask the question he’s asked an inconceivable amount of times since they agreed to hosting this little get together, “He’s coming because he’s my friend.” 

Mark backs away from the fridge, and kicks the door closed with his foot. He walks from the kitchen to the living room, several bottles pressed tightly against his chest, with Donghyuck hot on his heels, saying for the nth time that night, “Okay and?” Mark stops at the coffee table and turns to Donghyuck, who easily gets the message and starts pulling bottles out of his arms, neatly arranging them across the surface of the hardwood, “I’m your best friend, don't my interests matter?”

Mark exhales slowly and deeply, as if that’ll be enough to restore his patience, “Okay first of all, you and I both know that’s manipulative, and that if push comes to shove I will and have always had your back.” Donghyuck pulls another bottle out of his grasp, “Second, I’m not gonna sit here and exclude him from something everyone is invited to. And third, and most importantly, and irritatingly, you refuse to expand on what your issue with Jaemin is. So as long as you’re gonna keep this little beef of yours with him going, and not tell me why – any issue you have with him doesn’t matter.” 

“I told you why,” Donghyuck pulls the last bottle from his grip and practically slams against the table top, “He’s a dick.” Mark holds his breath expecting the glass to shatter, the potential mixture of red wine and blood putting an even more grim marker on this conversation. 

Luckily the bottle remains intact. 

“But fine,” Donghyuck has a firm grasp on the neck of the bottle, the bones of his knuckles press against the paper thin barrier that is his skin. And then he lets go. He lets out a sigh that mimics Mark’s earlier one, “Invite him, butI’m letting you know right now, the second he says something to me I don’t like, I'm dealing with it here and now. Cool? Cool.”

Then he smiles as if nothing happened, humming to himself as he goes back to the kitchen, leaving Mark alone in the living room. 

And Mark wonders what, exactly, did he just set himself up for.

🔪

Jeno, for what has to be the 100th time, is once again spending the first part of his night standing in Jaemin’s doorway with a death grip on the door handle, and his head to the ceiling as if God will take him out of his misery, and strike him down where he stands, if he looks long enough. 

It’s Jaemin’s voice that gets him to look away, “Just go without me and save yourself the time of telling me to get dressed,” and it immediately makes him want to go back to begging God for an intervention. He sounds way too exhausted for someone in his early twenties, “Why can’t you just do this?”

Jaemin stays facing his computer, fingers smoothly dragging across his keyboard, “Because, you’re gonna expect me to tolerate his. . .” he pauses in an almost thoughtful manner, “behavior.”

“So? This isn’t about him. This is about you.” The rapid clicking of keys stops, and Jeno can feel the irritation before he can smell it, but the hint of a storm tickles his nose sooner rather than later.  “You were invited and never officially said you weren’t going, so now you have to go.” Jaemin turns around in his chair, and his demeanor is carefully and so utterly falsely calm that Jeno gears up for an actual argument. 

“I told you I wasn’t going.”

“What’s that got to do with canceling with the person that actually invited you?” All he gets is an eye roll in response, and Jeno finds himself swallowing his own anger, “Just make this easy and get ready.”

“Or what?” Jaemin laughs, and it sounds completely manic, “You gon beat my ass? Great idea, then I’d really have an excuse not to go.”

Jeno would be lying if he said the idea never crossed his mind. Throttling Jaemin just for fun sounds like a good idea with each day that passes, But he knows Jaemin doesn’t respond to violence like a normal person does, and there’s an easier way to get him to go along with what he wants.

“Alright, fine, you don’t have to go, but I’m not covering for you. The first person that asks me why you didn’t come, I’m telling them it’s because you’re a fucking five year old that can’t get over his weird hate boner for everybody’s favorite omega.”

“Really,” Jaemin raises an eyebrow, “And you think they’ll believe that, after all the other lies you’ve told for me?”

Jeno lets go of the door handle to lean casually against the doorframe, “Well I don’t really lie, and, like you pointed out, the only lies I tell are for you. But it’s not that unbelievable that you would do this. They’re not dumb Nana, they know you two have this little,” he waves his hand in an empty gesture, “unnecessary war goin’ on. You’ll be the bad guy, and Haechan will know he’s won.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?”

He shrugs, “Take into account your alpha pride, my general irritation with having this same conversation every few days, and don’t forget to factor in how petty I’m feeling right now.” He rolls his head against the door frame, before putting eyes back on Jaemin, “You tell me, is it a promise or a threat?”

They stare at each other silently, the only noise the buzzing of the light in the quiet space before Jaemin lets out a groan deep in his chest. “Alright, alright. . . I’ll go.” Jeno smiles, all his annoyance melting away for the kind sweet puppy smile he’s best known for. “Thank you!”

It takes Jaemin ten minutes to get himself together and meet Jeno by their front door. Jaemin’s humming to himself, and Jeno can’t stop himself from commenting, a teasing smirk in place, “See, look who's in a good mood?” 

Jaemin sing songs in response, “Just because I agreed to go, doesn’t mean I agreed to be civil.” He finishes the night altering statement with a vaguely threatening smile, and breezes past Jeno, whose left to hope beyond hope that things don't go disastrously wrong, 

🔪

Like most things that end terribly, they start out perfectly fine. 

Donghyuck’s happy that they agreed to hold this little get together, and that there’s enough booze and food to cater to twenty plus people. He’s flitting around the room talking to all the people he hasn’t had the chance to catch up with in more than a few weeks. He ends up in a ridiculous conversation with Ten, Renjun, and Yangyang all because Yangyang asked the incredibly convoluted, I only care about this topic because I’m drunk , question of:

“If light’s the fastest thing in the world, how come the dark always gets there first?”

Ten started off by calling him an idiot.

But Donghyuck said, “Well I think it’s a fair question.”

Ten replied, “That’s because you’re drunk.”

Yangyang defended himself and Donghyuck saying, “How is it not an interesting question?! What actually is darkness?”

Renjun finally got his own two cents in by actually answering the question, “Darkness is the natural state of things.” 

But that seemed to only raise more questions because Ten, who was originally uninterested, then asks, “So does that make light unnatural?”

“Well no –” Donghyuck took another sip, “‘cus the sun exists and shit– that’s as natural as it gets. . . right?.”

“Again, darkness is the natural state of things.”

Ten interjected with, “Okay fine, but how do you know that?”

Renjun had uselessly waved his hands around, wine splashing violently against the sides of his glass, “Because the sun is made of things, the dark isn’t.”

And the moment right before they dissolved into bickering Yangyang had stepped closer to Renjun, eyes narrowed, and whispered, “ But how do you know? ” After that it was just a free for all of scientific theory, conspiracy theories, with a number of drunken giggles and cackles thrown in the mix. 

It’s in the middle of this interaction that Donghyuck feels the air around him shift, and that’s how he knows he’s here. It’s ridiculous how quickly he becomes aware of the shitty alpha’s presence. He’s embarrassed to admit it, but he always knows when he’s in the room, and he was able to tell the second Jaemin walked through the front door. The biting scent of salt water and vanilla clash almost violently with everything else in the room and it puts him on edge. 

He can already feel his shoulders tensing up, other senses becoming hyper aware of the alpha. Jaemin’s voice carries across the room, worming its way into the omega’s ear, “Of course I am, Jeno blackmailed me.” 

Donghyuck hears Mark let out that high pitched giggle of his and Donghyuck’s hit with the overwhelming need for a drink. 

He slips away from the conversation with a forced laugh and weaves his way through a number of people to get back to the coffee table. He scans the bottles, looking for his favorite, and when he doesn’t find it he heads for the kitchen. He’s still hyper fixated on Jaemin being in the same room, can feel his presence seeping into every corner of his space and it’s pissing him off. Each step away from the trio has him spiraling through every interaction he’s had with the alpha that’s rubbed him the wrong way. 

And each and every one of them is so fucking stupid.

He stops in front of the fridge and pulls out one of the bottles Mark and him agreed to keep for themselves. His fingers mindlessly work the wire on the bottle, twisting and twisting and twisting, all the while his brain runs a mile a minute still thinking about the utter amount of bullshit he’s allowed himself to be subjected to. Jumping from one memory to the next, fully aware of how they’re all petty, unnecessary battles, neither of them needed to fight, but Donghyuck found it impossible to stop himself. 

Gun to head, he knows he couldn’t have even attempted civility. The condescending tone, the patronizing smirks, the neverending smartass comments, the constant poking – it all drives him up the wall. At the end of the day, it boils down to their fundamental differences: Jaemin doesn’t give a fuck about people, and Donghyuck does. 

He starts re-examining one of their first encounters. What was originally a light hearted, informal, tell me about yourself session, became some weird passive aggressive argument about gender roles. 

Donghyuck had agreed to meet a handful of people for lunch, and, at the time, he didn’t know anything about Jaemin besides his name and that Mark had befriended him. Donghyuck figured he couldn’t have been that terrible if Mark had easily accepted him into the group. And Donghyuck’s always been friendly, always easy to talk to, rarely meeting someone that wasn’t charmed by him, so he didn’t think dealing with Jaemin would be that much of a challenge. 

He was proven wrong from the very beginning of the conversation. 

“Hey.” He remembers Jaemin hadn’t verbally responded to that, just briefly stopped scrolling on his phone to raise a hand in greeting. He found it rude, but he brushed it off. Maybe it’s just a bad day , he thought. He pressed on with trying to engage Jaemin and offered, “ Let’s play twenty questions. ”

Jaemin had smiled, but that was the first time his sarcasm was directed Donghyuck’s way, “Are we pretending to be twelve?”

Again, Donghyuck had just brushed it off, even managed to laugh, “ Does it matter? Just indulge me. ”

They played back and forth for a while, with Donghyuck asking the questions, Jaemin answering, and immediately asking Donghyuck the same question in return. Not really how it was supposed to be played, but again, Donghyuck figured it didn’t really matter because he, at the very least, got Jaemin to engage. Even so, he remembers being irritated by the fact that Jaemin never quite put his phone down.

That was until Donghyuck was expected to answer a particular question of Jaemin’s.

“Alright, your turn, what do you want in the future?”

“I want to start a catering business, but I honestly rather just be a housewife.”

Donghyuck always felt slightly. . . weary answering that question because it’s not a generally accepted one. Most people think he’s joking when he’s as serious as he can get. 

Jaemin was one of those people. 

At first he laughed and then said, “Same,” and because Donghyuck isn't an idiot, he knows Jaemin’s joking. 

“No, I’m serious.”

This was when Jaemin had put his phone down, and fully looked at Donghyuck. He could see that he thought he was insane. 

“Why would you want that?” 

“Because it’s how I was raised, and what I prefer. . .?” 

“Are you asking me, or are you telling me?”

To this day Donghyuck regrets the light tilt in his voice. How he ended the statement sounding so unsure of himself when it’s pretty much the sole thing Donghyuck’s dreamed of since he was a child. Yes he always had goals, yes he always had backup plans, but his ultimate plan was to settle down and live his little 1950s housewife fantasy – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

He covered his tracks, and immediately deflected, “Why are you interrogating me on it?”

Jaemin had shrugged, the picture of nonchalance, “I don’t know you sound real defensive for someone that claims to know what they want.”

And Donghyuck was defensive. He barely knew this guy and here he was doing this deep examination of Donghyuck like he was his fucking therapist. “You sound real interested in my decision making skills – you tryna make them for me?”

Then Jaemin had laughed, and Donghyuck still wishes he had smacked the cocky smirk off his face, “Sure, I’ll play the stereotypical knothead alpha to your dumb omega.” He remembers Jaemin, closing in on the invisible line that had been drawn across the table the second the questions got too personal, “Would you prefer that?”

Donghyuck had leaned back, slightly stunned, “Wow, you’re kind of a dick.”

Jaemin never got the chance to respond, the rest of their group had just arrived, but Donghyuck had long lost his appetite, and he wanted nothing to do with Jaemin. He grabbed his bag and got up to leave, it was Sungchan that asked where he was going, and because Donghyuck has never been good at controlling his mouth when he’s angry, he said the first thing that came to mind, “I’ve gotta go study, wouldn’t wanna be the stereotypical dumb omega right?”

He remembers Jaemin laughing, a cheerful, “Bye Haechanie!” directed at his back and that was the last time they attempted pleasant conversation. 

The memory of the incident is  just as infuriating now as it was then. He smells his scent flare up, a rush of dead flowers circles around him and he sighs in defeat. He puts the bottle down, and gives himself a second to breathe. He scrubs his hands over his face, pulls at the lengths of his hair, and then sighs again. He tries to clear his mind, focus on the task at hand. He’s convinced he may have rubbed his fingers raw with how many times he’s un-twisted and retwisted the wire covering the cork. He sets about un-twisting the wire one final time, and removes the foil. He grips the cork and tries to shimmy it out of the bottle. He’s always had trouble with these, and the longer he works the cork the more it cuts at his nerves. He’s getting increasingly frustrated and it’s getting pathetic. Here he is, getting closer and closer to throwing a tantrum because he can’t get a bottle of wine open and a bad memory.

 He tugs, and pulls, and twists, and presses up, and nothing’s working. 

He reaches a point where he can feel the irritating pressure of tears building behind his eyes when the final straw happens.

“Awww does the little omega need help?”

🔪

Jaemin was greeted and welcomed in by Mark at the door, but it was the clear indication that he was invading Donghyuck’s territory that had his smile shifting from artificial to sincere. For as much shit as Jaemin talked about not wanting to be around the omega, it’d be dishonest to say he wasn’t enjoying ruining Donghyuck’s night with just his presence.

His opinion on Donghyuck is complicated to say the least. He doesn’t hate him like everyone thinks he does. His feelings towards Donghyuck are best labeled as an interest. He takes interest in Donghyuck’s ability to somehow manipulate everyone around him into believing he’s sweet. Jaemin knows that the personality the omega shows everyone is a put upon act, so every chance he gets, he pushes and pushes and pushes until Donghyuck shows himself. 

And he can’t wait to do it again today. 

He bides his time, spends the first few minutes staying close to Jeno, letting him guide whatever conversation he’s worked them into. He would smile and laugh, throw in a joke or two on occasion, but constantly had his eyes scanning the room for the omega. It didn’t take long before he found him giggling with Renjun, Ten, and Yangyang. The longer he watched Donghyuck the more annoyed he looked, and Jaemin couldn’t help but smile. He tracked him throughout the room; watched him leave the conversation, look for another drink, and eventually slink off into the kitchen. 

Jaemin does nothing with these observations for some time. He continues to stand by Jeno, and engage in conversation with whoever happens to cross his path. It’s after the second brief encounter that Jaemin makes a move toward the kitchen. 

Jeno shoots out an arm and grabs at him, “Where are you going?”

“The kitchen,” Jaemin smiles, “but I’m betting you knew that?”

“C’mon Nana, why are you doing this?”

Jaemin finds amusement in how demoralized Jeno sounds. It’s funny that he thought Jaemin was gonna manage to get through the night without menacing Donghyuck at least once. “I told you I had no intention of being civil, and I keep my promises.”

“Jae–”

He tugs himself free, “Bye bye!”

He walks in behind Donghyuck slowly, and stays in the entrance and just watches him. He runs his eyes across his figure. He can see how tense his shoulders are, how tight he’s gripping the bottle, and even with his hair covering most of his face, Jaemin can make out the grimace staining his usually delicate features. 

He’s not sure how long he stands there, but it has him thinking about the first time he saw Donghyuck. And he’s not talking about the brief instances he saw him on campus, smiling and laughing with his friends, but the first time he saw who Donghyuck really was.

It was one of those times Jaemin would wander the campus late at night, or early in the morning, however someone chooses to label the hour. Either way it was always just him, the moon, and whatever animals felt comfortable enough to brave the world with no humans about. 

He remembers on that particular night, the campus was still in the middle of a heavy reconstruction period. There were whole sects that were cut off to the student body; caution tape and orange traffic cones blocking off some of his prefered paths. But Jaemin never particularly cared for the barriers, he would just casually breeze past them, ducking under the bold yellow tape without a care in the world. So, on that night, like any other night – he did just that. He avoided walking on the new cement, instead walking on the cracked and dug out dirt next to it. 

He was walking past an obnoxiously large blue tent – the kind that seems to be caving in on the sides, covered in all kinds of dust and dirt – when he heard voices. Most days, Jaemin would have just walked right past it, but he’s always been too curious for his own good, too unconcerned with his own well being, that he walked right up to the tent. 

A quick peak inside reveals what looks like some couple who may have some kind of outdoor sex kink.

“Baby, why are we out here?”

“Hmmm, I thought it was a little dangerous but private enough to be safe.” 

He remembers planning to leave. He’s not into voyeurism, but something about this encounter was. . . off . He remembered finding it strange that Donghyuck wasn’t touching the alpha even though he was practically swaddled in his hold. His hands were firmly held behind his back, chin tilted up in a way to keep the alpha from fully reaching him. Nothing about it read: promiscuous omega wants to be fucked at a construction site.  

So he waited, watched, and listened some more. He stayed out of sight, a single eye peeking in through the flap of the tent. 

“Private?” He doesn’t think he could ever forget the cockiness in the unfamiliar alpha’s voice, how he laughed too loud, and all too proud. “For what?”  

It happened quickly, and any other person would have had the sense to leave. To understand that this is not something they wanna see, not something they should see. That there was a chance of serious consequences for staying behind and seeing what happened next.

Jaemin watched this Donghyuck, swing his arm out from behind him, and smash a wrench across the alpha’s head. 

And Jaemin was rooted to the spot – absolutely enamored. 

He watched the omega toss the wrench aside, and turn away from the alpha clutching the left side of his face.

“The fuck was that for?!”

Donghyuck didn't answer immediately, too busy digging through a bag that was left laying next to an idle workbench. He pulled out a metallic bat, and Jaemin couldn’t tell in the low light of the tent how old it was, but the ease at which the omega swung it was practiced and familiar. 

After a few swings, he took slow and deliberate steps towards the alpha, who he thought may have had the fear of God coursing through his system. “What– what are you doing?!”

Again, the omega didn’t answer, he just swung. Jaemin watched the bat move in a swift and graceful arch, the head of the bat smashed into the alpha’s kneecap. The action had produced a sickening crunch, the newly injured alpha had screamed in pure agony, and Jaemin remembered his heart started beating so fast a new flush of warmth colored his cheeks.

“I told you, from the very beginning, don’t fuck with me.” This Donghyuck sounded so – serene. Like he was completely in his element, and Jaemin was fascinated. “And I guess you thought it was a game.” He swung again, and there was another audible crunch, another agonizing scream, and Jaemin felt his heart may beat out of his chest and fall at the omega’s feet. “So I decided to play.” 

And he swung again.

And again.

And again. 

The alpha was sobbing by then, screaming out in pain, warbling out these desperate pleas of:

“ HELP! PLEASE SOMEBODY! ”  

And Donghyuck. . . Donghyuck had mimicked him – mocked him for looking for an escape, screaming at the top of his lungs:

“ HELPPPPP! PLEASEEEEE, SOMEBODY HELP HIM! ” And then he laughed. A heinous cackle, so full of amusement and childlike joy it sent goosebumps sprawling across Jaemin’s skin. “You hear that? How there’s no one there? Nobody’s coming for you. There’ll be nobody to help you until morning.” He gently ran the bat across the alpha’s battered body, “It’s just you and me right now.” He stopped once he reached his ribcage, “But I like hearing you scream,” and leaned his full weight into the bat, digging the head into the mess of broken ribs and battered flesh, “So scream all you want.”

It was then that the alpha threw up. Even his retching sounded painful, like it was putting his body into overdrive and again all the omega did was laugh. He stopped physically assaulting him, just walked around him, only touching him when the alpha’s moans and desperate tears had quieted down too much for his liking. 

Then he took a deep breath, walked away to put the bat back in the bag, and made to leave. Jaemin knew he was playing with fire, lingering for as long as he did. But Donghyuck was showstopping, deserving every ounce of his attention. 

And everyday he’s happy he stuck around.

Donghyuck was walking past his victim, when a hand snaked around and grabbed the omega’s ankle, “Pl-please. . . don’t– don’t– don’t”

Donghyuck leaned down, and gently caressed the alpha’s face with a gloved hand. His voice was so soft, so sweet, so goddamn gentle, Jaemin could hardly breathe, “Don’t want me to leave you alpha?” He watched the alpha nuzzle into the embrace, and a thought Jaemin would have several times after this night floated across his brain for the first time:

I wish that was me.  

Donghyuck stayed there for a while, petting him, cooing at him, oozing the soothing scent of freshly bloomed cherry blossoms – and just when things had seemed to calm. Just when Donghyuck appeared to have gotten over whatever had started him on this rampage, he stood up, and stomped on the arm holding him hostage.

Something about that assault was more brutal than the first. It was as if there was a new level of rage unleashed on the alpha. 

“You sorry,” he kicked him in his ribs, “pathetic,” he kicked him in shattered shins, “piece of shit,” he stomped on the fingers that were once slithered around his ankle, “excuse of an alpha.”

Donghyuck was breathing heavily by the end of his second outburst, and yet a false calm had soothed out the twisted snarl of his face. Jaemin watched him carefully lift his foot to the alpha’s chin, and using the toe of his boot, tilted the alpha’s head back to expose his neck. 

Jaemin felt the second hand humiliation.

Felt the shame of being left open and exposed.

He felt personally degraded watching Donghyuck, an omega, hover over an alpha he had battered, bruised, and broken. 

And then Donghyuck had sealed Jaemin’s obsession with a threat that he’s sure was a promise. 

“If you tell anybody I did this to you,” the omega had gracefully dropped his foot to rest delicately against the column of the alpha’s throat, “It’ll be the last time you tell anybody anything.”  

And from that day forward Jaemin was determined to not only see it again, but to be on the receiving end of it. 

It took time. 

He spent days looking for his name – night after night pouring through the student directory, class rosters, the school website before he finally came up with a first and last name. He spent weeks after that remembering Donghyuck’s schedule – creating an organizer dedicated to tracking what times he was in class, how many hours he spent in the library studying, how many times a week did he get meals alone or with people until he had everything on record. And from that moment to this one right now he worked on worming his way into Donghyuck’s inner circle. He started with the omega’s roommate, and slowly but surely became an integral part of his friend group, all the while spending all his energy on becoming the greatest nuisance in Donghyuck’s life. 

Everything about Jaemin puts Donghyuck in fight or flight mode, and Jaemin can’t wait for the day Donghyuck decides to truly fight back. 

So, when Jaemin continues to stand there and watch the omega struggle with this bottle of wine, he can see how the subtle inconvenience is wearing him thin, can see how that carefully crafted bubbly personality is losing to the aggression he keeps under lock and key. . . 

So Jaemin shoots his shot. 

“Awww does the little omega need help?”

🔪

Jeno’s sitting on the couch, next to Doyoung, professing his love for the omega for the 100th time in their history when the sound of shattering glass in the kitchen catches everyone’s attention. The glass rattles and bounces off what sounds like metal, but it’s Donghyuck’s voice that demonstrates just how dire the situation really is. 

“That is the last fucking time.”

Jeno turns to face the kitchen to see Donghyuck shove Jaemin out of the doorway and walk into the living room. He heads straight for the speaker and turns it off with red stained hands. The color smears on the speaker and drips on the floor, it’s dark and viscous, and Jeno’s not so sure it’s just wine.

“Wait, wait, wait–” It’s Mark who tries to speak to Donghyuck, while everyone else, Jeno included, stands around like a petrified herd of deers, “What’s happening?”

Donghyuck sounds as calm as calm can get, and it’s as confusing as it is terrifying, “Get out.”

“Hyuckie–”

He says it again.

 “Get out.” 

Mark tries again to intervene in some meaningful way, tries again to figure out what went wrong, “Why–”

But this time, whatever device Donghyuck was using to keep from imploding disappears, he throws the speaker down, the hard metal and plastic crashes against the floor and buoys off the floor uselessly. The room is smothered in the scent of burning blossoms. It’s overwhelming to the point of choking on it, as if the petals are clogging his windpipe. 

Jeno’s never seen Donghyuck like this, never heard him raise his voice in any way other than excitement, but what comes out of Donghyuck is pure and raw.

An unfiltered rage.

“ GET OUTTTTTT! ” 

That’s what gets Jeno, hell everybody, to start moving even as the image of Mark’s face going ghostly pale while holding his hands up in surrender is plastered to the forefront of his mind. A number of people have already walked out into the hallway, the front door left wide open for a quick escape. Jeno makes his way to Jaemin, and hisses, “ What did you do?!”  

Jaemin doesn’t even have the decency to pretend he’s innocent. He just smiles like everything is right in the world. And it’s not like Jeno really has time to ask anymore questions, so he just latches onto Jaemin’s arm and starts to roughly pull him along. 

The both of them are almost out when Donghyuck intercepts them and rips Jaemin out of his grasp. 

“He stays here.” 

Jeno splutters, looking for any excuse to get them both out of there like Donghyuck had commanded, but he’s got absolutely nothing. He just stands there gaping like an idiot, a steady stream of umms and uhhs spill uselessly from his mouth. At some point it’s Mark that grabs him, and attempts to drag him away.. 

“Jeno, we need to go.”

He can hear the pleading in Mark’s voice. The desperate edge to his words that says they need to get out of there, but Jeno is stuck to the floor. He’s completely pinned down by the look on both of their faces. He barely recognizes Donghyuck, and Jaemin – Jaemin looks disheveled but fine . There’s this mysterious red stain on his shirt but he looks fine . Everything about this is fucked up and Jeno’s forced to come to terms with the fact that his best friend is in his element. The realization that something about this situation suits Jaemin more than anything has Jeno on the verge of a meltdown.

“ Now , Jeno.”

“You should listen to him.”

Donghyuck walks towards them and Mark pulls at the alpha harder in response, throwing his weight into it. Jeno stumbles behind Mark, tripping over his feet as he’s guided out the door. The second they’re out of the apartment Donghyuck slams the door behind them.

Jeno just stares at everyone left floundering in the hallway. He’s having a hard time wrapping his brain around everything that’s just happened. He has so many questions he needs to ask, so many questions he needs answered , but his mind’s blank. There’s nothing for him to fully latch onto. He’s mentally and physically barred from where he needs to be.

He manages to cling onto a singular thought, stuttering gracelessly through the sentence, “Wh-wha– what just. . . why did– what was that?” 

He looks at Mark bewildered, and he’s not the only one to do so. 

Everyone turns to Mark as if he holds the key to everything, but he looks just as distraught as everyone else, if not more. He runs his hands over his face, under his eyes, rubs his nose, pulls at his hair, anything to try and ground himself – but none of it seems to be working. He looks around the crowded space helplessly before saying something completely unexpected, “It’s rare, extremely rare . . . but that’s not necessarily new for him.”

Jeno, who left his best friend in the room with this psycho version of Donghyuck, pushes for more information, anything that’ll tell him the outcome will be okay, “So what now? If it’s happened before, tell us – tell me – what happens now?”

Mark jumps through a range of expressions, all a millisecond long; he speed runs through irritation, sympathy, indifference, and then settles on suspicion. “He only gets like that when someone pushes him to it, so what did Jaemin do?”

Jeno flails his hands uselessly, “Fuck should I know?!” 

“Well how ‘bout you figure that out before you start jumping to conclusions.”

The statement has Jeno’s own hackles rising, but before bad can turn to worse they hear Donghyuck bang on the door from the other side, accompanied by a muffled yell, “ Get the fuck away from the door!” 

It causes everyone to jump, a new dose of panic settling over the group. It’s Taeyong’s overly weary sigh that gets them to focus, “Let’s head to our apartment, and figure out what to do from there, okay?” Then he turns and starts walking away.

Jeno and Mark silently follow the group, side by side, away from the potential crime scene. It’s only when they’re out of earshot of the door does Jeno ask the burning question.

“What are they gonna do to each other?”

“I don’t know.”

🔪

Watching Donghyuck bow, bend, and break is intoxicating. 

It happens quickly. He loses himself so completely in the wave of fury that he slams the bottle into the sink, and the glass crashes and shatters againsts it's interior. "That is the last fucking time!" It's loud and unsettling, dozens of shards rebounding off the hard surface. One of them flies up and slices the length of Donghyuck’s right palm but he's so far gone he doesn't react to it. He throws whatever managed to survive into the sink before stalking over to Jaemin, his scent was already thick, but Jaemin can feel his lungs being clogged with it. It's painful, how hard it is to get his lung to expand and collapse with each trying breath. It's a literal version of hanahaki disease, and Jaemin's fucked up enough to enjoy burning from the inside out. 

He doesn't want it to end. 

Donghyuck’s, bloody, wine covered hand presses into his chest. It's sticky and warm, but it's what the omega whispers in his ear that makes him shiver, "You’re done." Donghyuck shoves him out of the doorway, and Jaemin watches him walk away. His footsteps are light, an almost sensual roll to his hips as he makes his way to the speaker, and he can't but stare after him. 

He turns off the speaker and Mark goes running up to Donghyuck, blocking his view of the omega's face. 

"Wait, wait, wait– What's happening?"

Jaemin anticipates the next few minutes with bated breath. Even with not being able to see Donghyuck's face, he feels completely aware of his form. He can hear the quiet drip drop of his blood staining the floor, and he knows deep in his bones that the omega looks halcyon. 

"Get out."

Mark shifts his weight, Jaemin sees the subtle movement in his feet, a small shuffle away from Donghyuck. It hits him like a ton of bricks that Mark's scared -- that he's barely managing to stand his ground in front of the omega he's known his entire life. 

"Hyuckie--"

Donghyuck unleashes some of the rage intended for Jaemin. He throws the speaker to the floor, and it’s so loud to Jaemin. The resulting crack against the floor beats at Jaemin's eardrums, and has him flinching from his spot across the room. But it's the shrill scream he lets out, the one intended for horror movies, that lets him know this is everyone's final warning. 

“ GET OUTTTTTT! ”

It's then that everyone seems to fully comprehend what's happening. People start filing out in the rushed and clumsy way terrified people do. He watches how some of them clip against the doorway trying their damndest to get out -- get away from the omega threatening their right to life. 

It's Jeno that gets him to focus on someone other than Donghyuck. The hold on his arm is bruising, fingers harshly digging into the pale flesh of his forearm. The words hissed at him, “ What did you do?!”  

It's accusatory as Jeno's ever been, and it tickles his soul that he can't deny his wrongdoing. He doesn't try to hide his enjoyment, he smiles at his best friend in an appeasing manner -- but there’s not a hint of an apology coded in the slow spread of his lips. 

Jeno doesn't bother asking anymore questions, just jerks him away from the spot Jaemin's dug his heels into. They make it a few feet, the open door threatening him with a retreat the alpha doesn't want. He makes a move to try and step back, pulling away from Jeno so he can stay with Donghyuck, but he doesn't have to do anything before the omega snatches him up by the back collar of his shirt. 

He chokes on his own spit when he's yanked away, the material rubs against his skin in a burning manner. He's pulled behind Donghyuck, discarded to an out of sight position like trash -- it makes Jaemin's cheeks flush all over again.

"He stays here."

From up this close, turning his attention to anyone else is impossible. Donghyuck's within less than an arm's length, blocking everyone from getting to Jaemin. And Jaemin -- Jaemin is perfectly content to stay right where he is. Almost every noise is being washed out by his own heartbeat, and the sound of Donghyuck’s blood spilling from his palm to the floor. Each drop crashes against the floor, a neverending flood of everything promised to him. He can barely hear Mark over the rushing in his ears, a muffled, “Jeno, we need to go.” The longer he's forced to stay there the harder it is to remain still. The urge to touch sets off a spastic rhythm in his hands -- fingers twitching at his sides. 

“ Now Jeno.”

It's Donghyuck's voice that pulls him out of the drowning– 

“You should listen to him.”

Only to set off another round of water torture. 

Jaemin watches Donghyuck put one foot in front of the other, in a silent threat. Mark grunts with the effort to get Jeno to move, and they're out. 

Donghyuck slams the door.

And it's just the two of them. 

Jaemin can’t help but be excited. He has spent countless hours whittling down Donghyuck’s resolve, went months pretending to have an issue with every aspect of the omega’s personality, and it finally paid off. He can feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins, can feel how his instincts are telling him he’s in danger and that he should run, but he has no intention of leaving.

Not until Donghyuck lets him.

The omega turns on him, and shoves him into a chair, “Sit down.” The touch leaves another bloody imprint on his chest– and Jaemin’s in so deep he can feel it sear a brand on the unharmed skin beneath. He stays silent, and watches Donghyuck pace in front of the door. He walks five feet towards the kitchen, pivots, walks five feet towards the bedrooms, pivots, and repeats. The entire time he’s silent, eyes closed, as if he’s waiting for whatever feelings that’s rushing through him to pass. 

The quick, but rhythmic, steps give Jaemin a bit of peace. He finds his heart rate slowing, the light tremors in his fingers begin to subside, and his breathing evens out – no longer a series of rapid, painful inhales followed by long exhales. 

It doesn’t last very long. 

Donghyuck slams his fist into the hardwood of the door, Jaemin flinches at the violent movement – a giddiness fills his heart like a kid in a candy store. “ GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THE DOOR!” The omega stays there, staring the door down. Jaemin’s not sure what he’s doing, but an educated guess says he’s waiting until he can’t hear anybody lingering outside. Jaemin hasn’t been able to hear anything. All he can focus on is his own heart rate, and everything associated with Donghyuck.

The omega leaves him sitting alone in the living room, and goes back to the kitchen. He returns with two shot glasses and a bottle of Bacardi Black. He takes a seat on the couch, the end that’s closest to Jaemin, and pours himself a shot. He slams the glass down on the table, and pours himself another one. 

And because Jaemin lacks self preservation skills, and can’t help but guarantee that Donghyuck doesn’t get his anger in check, he drops yet another smartass comment. 

“You know, they say you shouldn’t mix your liquors.”

Donghyuck knocks the second shot back, and slams the glass down again. This time he fills both glasses, liquor spilling over the lips of the rim, “Shut up, drink,” and slides the second glass towards the edge of the table. Jaemin reaches for the class, and feels his own twisted smile grace his face when he sees the glass is smeared in Bacardi and Donghyuck’s blood. Jaemin licks around the entirety of the glass, pink tongue gathering everything the omega’s left behind and gifted to him. He gives himself a second to recognize the mixture of metallic and dark liquor before he takes the shot and puts it back on the table. 

Donghyuck watches him while he does it, wearing that same dead tranquility Jaemin was utterly fascinated with all those months ago.

“You’re a fucking freak.”

Jaemin howls at that, “Oh he speaks. Who– 

Donghyuck cuts him off, “Shut up, drink.”

Again, the omega ends up smearing the glass in blood and bacardi, and again, Jaemin licks around the glass, before taking the shot. 

Donghyuck scoffs at the action, and pours himself another one, but this one he just holds in his hand. He rocks and tils the glass to and fro, before waving the glass in the alpha’s direction, “Y’know, you made this really difficult. I had already decided I was tired of you, but your – let's say status – posed a bit of a problem.” He takes the shot, but instead of slamming it down, he places it gently on the table. “We’re in the same group, your friends are my friends, yada yada yada.” Jaemin recognizes how blase Donghyuck sounds about the whole situation – as if  explaining to Jaemin the irritation he’s caused is beneath him, “But then tonight happens, and instead of being in a setting where we’re fully alone. . .” he sighs, sliding the bottle from his left to his right, putting a faulty plug on the injured palm, “you finally pushed me to the brink in a house full of our friends. 

“Now. . .”  the omega drinks from the bottle directly this time. The liquid swishes against the interior of the bottle, and the light color separation suggests it’s almost empty, “now they know I have this little – let’s call it an anger problem – and dealing with you would cause more problems than your worth.” 

Plush pink lips wrap around the head of the bottle, and he takes another pull. Droplets of the dark rum spill past the seal of his lips down his chin, but Jaemin’s eyes are drawn to the blatant ignorance of his injured right hand. He’s still slowly trickling blood from the gash on his palm, the only thing keeping it from leaking is his grip on the bottle. 

“So, what am I supposed to do with you now Jaemin?”

Jaemin knows what he wants Donghyuck to do. He recognizes on a base level that he’s nervous, and yet he’s not scared. He wants Donghyuck to do him the service of putting the fear of God in his heart. 

“I knew you were crazy, Donghyuck flinches at the word, and Jaemin knows he’s hit a nerve, “but it’s something else to see it up close.”

“I’m perfectly rational. Would you be happy to hear a constant stream of bullshit from one singular person for months on end?”

Jaemin, slides up in his chair, “No one gets this angry over a few smartass comments,” he leans forward just enough to be in striking distance, “At least no one normal .”

Donghyuck hums low in his throat; he raises the bottle to Jaemin, a show of cheering to the life of the alpha, before taking yet another drink from the bottle. This one lasts longer than the others. There’s a steady roll to his throat until the bottles empty, and then his lips slip off the rim. He makes this obnoxious smacking sound, a little oof , to denote just how harsh the burning liquid was on him. Then he tests the weight of the bottle in his hand, letting it dangle between his fingers–

He tosses it up–

Catches it by the neck–

And then he’s smashing the edge of the bottle against the table. 

He slinks off the couch looking every ounce the hemme fatale he is. He fully closes the distance between the two. The jagged edges of the bottle are pressed up against Jaemin’s neck, just below his adam's apple. And again the alpha has another shiver forced out of him by the casual tone of Donghyuck’s voice. “You thought that was crazy? I can really show you crazy, you wanna see it?”

For the first time throughout his entire history with Donghyuck, Jaemin’s speechless. His throat is dry, his tongue feels heavy, and that desperate need to be scared, to feel afraid, has been fulfilled. 

He’s fucking terrified. 

The bursts of violence are always unexpected, like the omega’s playing a game of cat and mouse with him. He’s fully enraptured in the erratic, manic behavior of Donghyuck. His brain has to move at warp speed to suppress his attraction and acknowledge the danger Donghyuck poses. He’s being threatened, undeniably in a precarious situation, and yet he can feel a half chub form in his groin. 

He doesn’t think he has long until it becomes impossible to ignore, and he’s sure Donghyuck will realize long before he gets to that point. 

“For once I’m telling you to talk, and you can’t? Speak.”

He swallows around the lump building in his throat, and a new dose of fear and arousal strikes his heart and dick. The scent of his interest picks up and slithers up his nose – the heady scent of roaring roaring salt water – when the pointed tips of the glass slide across the delicate skin of his neck.

“ Speak.”

And again Jaemin doesn’t open his mouth. All he can do is stare up at Donghyuck, and the longer he looks, the more sure he is that the omega knows. He sees the recognition in the omega, sees the devil spark in Donghyuck’s eyes. 

The sly twist of attraction and satisfaction haunts the doll face hovering above him.

“ SPEAKKKKKK! ”  

He grips up Jaemin by his hair, yanking his head further back, and digging the bottle into his throat. The jagged glass breaks through the skin about 2 centimeters deep, and Jaemin thinks he may be in love. 

"Yes, yes I wanted to see it." He's breathless, gasping the words out like his life depends on it.

It damn well might.

"I wanted to see you do it again."

"What do you mean by again? Explain." 

Jaemin sees something resembling human, flash in Donghyuck's eyes, like the alpha's made him nervous. It's gone as quick as it comes. Jaemin watches in real time how the omega's inner self gets swallowed whole by the predator that comes prowling back to the surface.

But it's enough time for Jaemin to regain his footing. 

He's not looking at God or the Devil incarnate, but an omega. 

One that he has leverage over. 

Enough leverage to force submission on him. 

Jaemin smiles, "I'll explain," Jaemin tilts his head into Donghyuck's hand, and for the first time all night, he willingly loses sight of the omega and closes his eyes. "But only if you remove the bottle." He nuzzles into Donghyuck’s hand, a quiet rumble sounding out of his chest.

"You think you're in a position to be making demands?" Donghyuck laughs. That same maniacal giggle he heard that night, and Jaemin’s dick swells, "You're a joke."  

And this time, it's Jaemin's turn to laugh. His comes out as a delirious cackle, jaw dropping open dangerously close to the cracked glass. "Maybe, but I know more about you than you think I do." Jaemin leans forward and pushes himself slowly out of the chair. The glass that's already embedded in the skin presses just the slightest bit deeper, the terror  that was suffocating him, the arousal that had him pinned, begins to let him breathe easy. 

“I tell a lot of jokes, but not this time.'' He draws himself to his full height, but let's Donghyuck maintain his hold on him. The hand in his hair stays locked in place, his right shoulder carries the weight of Donghyuck’s left arm, and he's still got his head slightly tipped back so as to not be stabbed through the jugular. "I know about the alpha in the tent Haechan-ah."

And again, Jaemin sees the demon retreat, but it doesn't go back to its cage. 

"You're lying."

"Am I? I watched you wail on him with a baseball bat. And when he begged you to stop, begged you for help. . . I watched you stomp on him over, and over, and over until a grown man cried like a toddler. The best part was the end, when you put your boot on his throat. I remember what you said,”  Jaemin smirks, “do you?"

The omega doesn't respond, but the demon has retreated to its cage. The Donghyuck standing before him is still dangerous, still violent, but this Donghyuck is forced to do his bidding. 

Jaemin feels on top of the world. 

"If you tell anybody I did this to you, it’ll be the last time you tell anybody anything.” 

Donghyuck stands his ground, "And I'm just supposed to believe you?" He doesn't move, nor does he waver, and the bottle stays firmly pressed against Jaemin's neck. "How do I know he didn't tell you?" 

Jaemin smiles at that. 

A genuine one. 

"Well, despite the fact I gave you a play by play, I remember what you were wearing. You were decked in all black. Black work boots, black joggers, a black sweatshirt, black gloves, but most importantly--" 

Because he finally gets the chance to confess to his sins. . .

"I followed you home that night."

He reaches up to pull the bottle away from his neck. Donghyuck’s hold is weak, easily allowing Jaemin to move him however he pleases.

"And then I followed you the next night, and the night after that." He feels Donghyuck's hold on his hair loosening up, the painful tug feeling more like a gentle touch. "Then I followed you the days after that, and the weeks after that. . . " He pulls the bottle out of Donghyuck’s hand and tosses it onto the couch. "And then I didn't have to follow you anymore," Jaemin nuzzles into the hand resting in his hair, while making a grab for Donghyuck’s free hand, "Because I was always around."

Jaemin thinks he’ll replay the moment Donghyuck fully realized what Jaemin did to him. It doubles down on his need to have the omega. He feeds off the scent of Donghyuck’s anger, confusion– and what he knows the omega has to find humiliating – attraction. 

"I had a. . . stalker ?"

"Don’t speak in past tense and don’t separate me from it. I am your stalker." Jaemin’s sure his pupils are blown. He’s practically smothering Donghyuck in the scent of his arousal. He doesn’t see the point in hiding what he wants. The worst case scenario is Donghyuck lashing out again. 

And all his weapons are gone. 

"Why?" 

"I told you, I wanted to see you do it again."

Donghyuck shoves at Jaemin. He allows himself to move with the momentum and ends up flopping back into the chair. He finds himself laughing again, smiling with an uncontained happiness, "Do you like this angle? Do you like looking down at me?" 

Donghyuck ignores him. He rocks on his feet, just looking at Jaemin. His eyes bounce from his face, to the wound on his neck, to the obvious bulge in his jeans. He looks more and more panicked, clearly cycling through the number of things that’s gone wrong. Jaemin can imagine this is the first time Donghyuck's fate rests in someone else’s hands. 

Someone who's clearly just as broken as he is. 

Jaemin tests the waters, beckoning the omega towards him, “Come here.”

It takes some time, but Donghyuck eventually follows the command. He slowly and delicately seats himself in Jaemin’s lap, thighs bracketing the alpha’s. 

Jaemin takes a tentative hold of Donghyuck’s hips, “You scared?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

"Because you admitted to watching me commit assault and battery, confessed to spending the last year of your life stalking me, and unless im deaf dumb and blind; you got off on me threatening to slit your throat.”

"Yeah,” Jaemin runs his hands up and down Donghyuck’s back, occasionally scratching on his way down, “what are you getting at?"

"What are you gonna do about it?"

“Anything you can’t stop me from doing.”

🔪

The night ends fairly quickly for everyone once they actually get to Taeyong's and Dongyoung's apartment. The confusion and emotional exhaustion have almost everybody heading home after twenty minutes. 

But Mark and Jeno are still there, picking at popcorn kernels in the bottom of a shared bowl. They agreed to just pretend nothing's happening –  that watching Marvel movies is a better investment of their time, than arguing over whatever batshit showdown is happening between their respective best friends. 

The only time they’re forced to consider what's going on in their world, is when they're asked if they're staying over. 

Jeno responds first, "Eh, I'm not sure Jaemin's gonna want to be around people. . ."

His answer was understandable. 

Reasonable even. 

Perfectly practical. 

Mark's, however, showcased just how little faith he had. 

He speaks in terms of absolutes.

Positive that anything that can go wrong, most definitely did.

“I'm not walking into anything I can't deal with. I barely handled leaving – I’m not walking in blind."

Dongyoung laughs awkwardly, his smile showing too many teeth at one time, "Like they could do that much damage. . ."

"You saw how angry he was, do you think it's a good idea to walk in unexpected, unannounced, and unwelcomed?" 

"Yeah. . . “ Dongyoung puts down his nightly tea, “yeah, I'll get the blankets."

And then they’re left alone, dealing with the consequences of their actions. Because whether they’d like to admit it or not, none of this happens if they had just listened to the warnings they were given. Jeno relaxes deeper into his seat, head lolling across the back of the sofa, “What are we gonna do?”

Mark’s voice cracks around the syllables, “I don’t know, why are you asking me?”

“Well I don’t know either, but we need some kind of answer.”  

They jump from one bad idea to the next. 

They talk about calling them, immediately shooting it down knowing both of them have a habit of ignoring their phones on a good day. They consider sending someone to check on them, but that would involve another innocent soul into their ever growing shitshow. It’s not until Mark pitches the idea of a simple text message, probably where they should have started, before they get anywhere.

“Let’s just text 'em.”

Jeno looks at him like he grew three heads, “We already established that they don’t answer their phones.”

“Well yeah,” Mark awkwardly flutters his hands, “but we don’t need them to answer it or even read it immediately. It just needs to exist in their general space.”

“Okay, okay, okay, okay.” Jeno nods along to his words, talking himself into co-signing the idea. “We’ll start a group chat, send out a feel out text – telling them to meet us at the coffee house for lunch; and if either of them responds we’ll know that one, it couldn’t have gone absolutely horrible, and two, there’s hope that they resolved their issues.”  

“Yeah, yeah, that,” Mark wills himself to feel the confidence Jeno  does, “-- that seems like a decent idea." He points at jeno, “And remember that they don’t have to answer.”

“Right, they just have to show up."

🔪

“You threatening me?” 

Jaemin nestled himself in the crook of Donghyuck’s neck, inhaling him directly from the source. It’s infuriating to him that he’s crumbling in his stalker’s hands. He doesn’t fully understand it, and he doesn’t want to examine it.

“If that’s how you see it.”

Jaemin licks over his scent gland and Donghyuck sucks in a sharp breath – lungs clouding over with the heavy musk of raging waters. He reflexively wraps his hand around Jaemin’s throat, and pushes him back. His thumb and forefinger dig into the upper hinges of the alpha’s jaw. He can feel the slick slide of blood and raw skin adding to the mess he made of Jaemin’s throat earlier. He tries to breathe through the surge of anger, but it just adds to the dismantling of his rationale. For once, he doesn’t feel the need to tighten his grip, and strangle the life out of Jaemin. His hold relaxes just enough to border the line of harmful, “I feel like I’ve proven I’m not the kind of person you threaten.”

“That’s the exact kind of person you are.” 

Jaemin uses his hold on his back to push him in. Donghyuck is forced forward, his originally light hold on Jaemin’s throat becomes crushing. It’s a kiss that resembles a clash. His teeth clack painfully against Jaemin’s own, and Donghyuck hisses through it. He doesn’t have much time to think it through, or get his bearings because Jaemin skips all formalities and shoves his tongue as far into his mouth as it’ll go. He feels like Jaemin’s tasting every corner of his being, and he’s confused by the taste of rum and his own blood mixed with whatever makes Jaemin, Jaemin. 

“Get down.” The words are mumbled against his lips. Before he’s being sucked back in. He’s not given the chance to answer, nor the chance to decide if he’s going to listen or disobey. 

The choice is made for him, when Jaemin roughly shoves him off his lap onto the floor. The impact gives him whiplash, teeth tearing through the flesh of his bottom lip. “Should’ve assumed I just have to make you do it rather than telling you.” Donghyuck snarls at the alpha. It’s an animalistic sound that crawls up his throat. 

But Jaemin takes no interest in it. He does something far worse. . .

He laughs at him.

Jaemin stands up, and looks down at Donghyuck in a physical and literal sense. Donghyuck can sense Jaemin doesn’t see them as equals. That he’s already labeled Donghyuck as beneath him. It has the omega itching to get up and take the man out at his knees. 

Donghyuck moves to stand up, bearing his weight on his hands before Jaemin puts his socked foot on his crotch. “Stay down.” He’s hyper aware of how deceptively easy it would be to get out from under him. The pressure’s light, only heavy enough for him to acknowledge that it’s there, but he knows if he tried to push up or pull away, Jaemin would just lean his full weight into it. 

His best option is to relax into the floor. 

“I’ve thought about this day so many times.”

Donghyuck looks up at Jaemin – and really looks at him.

And Donghyuck’s forced to ask if this is what he looks like to everyone else. His shirt’s stained red in random areas, his neck is smeared in blood, and he looks happy to be there. His smile’s all teeth, but his eyes are dark, pupils so blown Donghyuck thinks if Jaemin looks hard enough he’ll be swallowed whole by them.

“What it would feel like to genuinely be scared of someone, and you did it.”

The look disturbs him on a primal level. Jaemin is very clearly a threat, and it’s made worse by the fact that Donghyuck spent months underestimating him. Jaemin knows the one thing about him he’s spent years of his life shielding from the world, and instead of running away and getting him locked up in some psych ward, he's here. Dedicating months of his life working to get to this exact position; to get to Donghyuck.  

“Have you thought about it?”

And Donghyuck is scared. 

He’s broken out into a cold sweat. He’s convinced that this is some kind of cosmic karma for all the wrong he’s done. For all the time he couldn’t reign in his anger, all the times he overreacted to something most people would consider small. This moment is his just desserts.

Jaemin is his punishment.

But God must have forgot just how fucked he made Donghyuck, because Jaemin – this version of Jaemin – is perfect for him.

“Yeah. . .'' Donghyuck grinds up against the ball of Jaemin’s foot, and shudders through the first roll of his hips, “I never thought someone’d be able to give me a run for my money.” 

Jaemin leans down, and Donghyuck’s cunt bears more of its weight. It has his eyes fluttering in a daze, teeth biting into the slippery muscle of his tongue, “I can do more than that.” And then he pulls away completely, and strips himself free of his shirt. Donghyuck can see that the handprints he left behind soaked through the thin fabric. There are vaguely pink marks of his touch emblazoned on the pale flesh of Jaemin’s torso. 

“I was wondering if it soaked through.”

Jaemin looks at it and shrugs, “Guess it did.” He drops to his knees, grabs Donghyuck by the ankles, and grips the band of his shorts and underwear. He completely ignores Donghyuck's lack of help and jerks them down past his ass. He lifts Donghyuck's legs by the ankles and pulls them off completely, and tosses them somewhere behind him. He pulls the omega in by the ankles, uncaring that Donghyuck’s shirt bunches under his back. His skin’s exposed to the hardwood floor, and it burns when he’s pulled in, a humiliating squeak sounds off when his bare ass is dragged across the floor. 

"Fuck, dont you know to be gentle to with omegas."

"I'm not with omegas, I'm with you." Jamein pushes his shirt all the way, gathers the fabric in his hands, and pulls him up into his lap. They're up close and personal now, with his thighs resting on the alpha's. "But let's play into your little fantasy, be a good omega and lift your arms up for me sweetheart." Jaemin’s voice is mocking, always so mocking, and Donghyuck’s inner omega and aggression run into each other in a clash of the titans. 

He wants to listen.

Wants to do what he’s told.

But he just can’t.

So, Donghyuck does lift his arms, but only so he can wrap them around Jaemin's neck. He leans in and leaves a number of simple but precious kisses along his jaw. He sweetens his eyes, looks at him from under his lashes before giving him a real kiss. He leads with his tongue this time, tilts his head to the right and when Jaemin pushes forward looking for more, Donghyuck smothers a celebratory smile. He lets Jaemin tip him back far enough that he can put his weight on his feet. He slips his hands to Jaemin's waist, fingers looking for the button on his jeans. It takes some fumbling but he gets there. All it takes is a bit of pressure from his thumb for it to give. He trails fingers up from the alpha's waist to his chest, and then puts all his energy into throwing  his weight forward and to his side. 

The forceful movement has him sending Jaemin crashing against the floor. Donghyuck hears his head bounce off the floor and the resulting crack sends him giggling. He re-settles himself on Jaemin's lap. 

"Fuck, you little bitch." Donghyuck ignores him in favor of freeing Jaemin's dick from the confines of his pants. He takes his time to admire it. His cock is long, edging toward the thicker side, and has a captain hook curve to it that Donghyuck’s always loved. He raises up on his knees just enough to hover over it. He sinks down clean and quick – choking on a whimper when he’s fully seated. "Shit."

Jaemin’s grip on his hips edges on painful, and he feels like he’s being split in half. It all hurts and it feels perfect. Jaemin is stuck beneath him, watching him take what he wants, and it scratches the part of his hind brain that’s all omega. He takes his time, rocking on his cock, rolling his hips in smooth figure eights. He feels the vein of the alpha’s cock rub against his walls in an almost teasing fashion, but it’s only when he feels the head of Jaemin’s dick rub against his g-spot that he raises to his knees and fucks himself on it.

Jaemin lets him do it. Keeps his hands on Donghyuck’s waist, palms sliding along the expanse of his skin with every raise of his hips. Everything about it makes his toes curl, and he feeds into his omega’s needs. He whines, long and drawn out, pouting at Jaemin, “Look what you– hnng – did to my lip.” He doesn’t know why he wants Jaemin to acknowledge it, but he can feel it’ll send him spiraling if he doesn’t. 

Jaemin uses his core strength to sit up, he swipes his thumb across Donghyuck’s busted lip. He presses until Donghyuck accepts the digit into his mouth, the knuckle catches on the omega’s teeth. The new position makes it close to impossible to keep his rhythm, but he doesn’t want Jaemin to move away from him. The alpha uses the position to tug at the barrier of Donghyuck’s teeth and tip his head forward; he leaves a kiss far too gentle for everything they’ve done to each other on the omega’s forehead. He tilts his head to the side, and Donghyuck moans deep in his chest when Jaemin’s lips brush against the shell of his ear, "Are you sure you want someone gentle?"

And then he tries to pull away. Donghyuck bites down on Jaemin’s thumb to keep him there, and Jaemin’s eyes flash in annoyance before he roughly shoves his fingers into the back of Donghyuck’s mouth. The treatment has him gagging and tearing up, mouth dropping open to cough around the offensive digit. Jaemin uses the opening to pull his hand away, and lays down again. Donghyuck’s still trying to get past choking on Jaemin’s finger when the alpha slides his legs up and fucks up into the omega. The first thrust has him choking on his own spit all over again, barely managing to catch himself with his hands on Jaemin’s chest. 

Donghyuck's eyes flash open, and all he sees is a demon up close.  

Jaemin asked him if he wanted someone gentle, But Donghyuck's positive Jaemin doesn’t want to be gentle. He fucks into Donghyuck like he's a fleshlight. Every impact of his cock against his g-spot, every time the rough material of his jeans rub against the soft skin of Donghyuck’s thighs, every time Jaemin pinches, slaps, and bruises him -- Donghyuck gets a bit dumber. 

A bit more convinced that this is what he wants.

What he needs.

Jaemin starts talking to him, rambling in a way that the omega can't keep up with. It's a long string of thoughts and questions that Donghyuck desperately tries to keep up with, but he can't answer. 

"So much brutality in such a soft body. You know how many times I jerked off to what you did that night?" 

Donghyuck starts to feel broken down, letting out these little hiccups of pleasure like some cock slut omega. He's so focused on how Jaemin feels in him that he doesn't register how alarming everything being said to him is. He’s not even trying to answer Jaemin. He just wants to cum, and milk Jaemin for everything he’s got.

"How many times I kept imagining you standing over me." 

The man is blatantly admitting to his obsession with the omega, and he’s so dick drunk that it feels good. His core aches at the idea of being at the center of Jaemin’s mind every minute of every day. He spent years wanting to be put on a pedestal but he didnt know how good it would feel to be knocked off one and built a mantel instead, one assembled just for him.. 

“I would replay what you did from beginning to end. I could hear every single hit you landed, kept hearing the bat smash into his bones over and over and over again."

Donghyuck lets out a series of degrading moans every time Jaemin bucks into him. He’s not used to this. He’s never been so out of control of a situation, and he doesn’t want any of it back. 

"God you looked absolutely wild, and so fucking beautiful." 

Jaemin slides his hands forward and pinches at his clit. Donghyuck’s eyes well up with tears, mouth dropping open in a silent scream, before collapsing against Jaemin's chest. He's got a death grip on Jaemin's hair, and a steady flow of drool pools on the alpha’s shoulder. It's wet, bloody, disgusting, and it feels so goddamn good – he's sure he'll cum any second. 

“You were a fucking dream.” 

His cheeks burn at the sound of his own desperate whines ringing in his ears. He can feel the pressure building in the pit of stomach, and with each thrust his cunt clings onto the alpha's cock. Donghyuck can hear the slick slide every time he rams in, the popping suction cupping noise every time Jaemin pulls his cock out just enough for the head to still be enveloped in his heat. How the fat on his ass and thighs jiggles every time their skin slaps together. It's all overwhelming, driving him to the brink of sensory overload, but Donghyuck clutches onto the present moment. Hanging onto every ounce of praise spilling past Jaemin's lips. 

He doesn't think he could hold out if he tried to. He's been teetering on the edge ever since he dropped down on Jaemin's cock too hard and too fast for his own good. He's been fucked loose. Treated like a real omega, praised like a real omega, and wants to cum on his alpha’s cock like one. 

"And now I’ve got you." 

Donghyuck locks up, jaw snapping shut on Jaemin’s shoulder. He gets hit with a burst of  the warm salty taste of Jaemin’s blood spilling onto his tongue as he spasms his way through it. He sobs into the battered flesh of the alpha’s shoulder. He tries to breathe through his nose, but he can't take in any air, every muscle in his body has seized and Jaemin cradles him like he's the most precious thing in the world. 

And Donghyuck cries harder.. 

Jaemin rolls them so he's on his back, and slides back in. When Donghyuck tries to wrap his arms around the alpha, he gets thrown off. He's limp with very little strength left, he couldn’t fight if he wanted to. He’s forced to  just let Jaemin do what he wants – but it feels undeserved. 

He’s been good. 

He’s done what alpha wants. 

Why won’t he let him hold on?

Donghyuck’s sobs ratchet up yet another degree.

And Jaemin looks excited about it. "Fuck," he wraps his hand around Donghyuck's wrist, and pins them to the floor above his head, "I always wanted to see what you looked like crying." He fucks into Donghyuck like an animal. Dirty, rough jerks of his hips, each one accompanied by a bestial growl. 

Donghyuck has been fully forced into submission by Jaemin. He can feel his cock stirring through his cum and slick, how his soft walls are being carved out to only know Jaemin – only belong to Jaemin. He wants to taste Jaemin, but he's too far to kiss, and Jaemin doesn’t seem to want to. 

Donghyuck does the next best thing. He stresses the muscles of his shoulder to try and close in on Jaemin. He doesn't get far, only able to reach the base of his neck and licks a long stripe up the column of his throat. Dried and fresh blood travels up the incline of his tongue and Donghyuck clenches when the sweaty metallic fluids glaze over his taste buds. A broken, delirious moan of, “I did that ,” gets pressed into the open flesh sitting at the base of the alpha’s neck and Donghyuck whimpers when Jaemin responds with a snarl. He bares down on him, the pressure on his wrist getting worse, he feels the warm heat of his own blood spilling from one hand to the other, slipping through his fingers in a cascade. 

Jaemin hides himself in his neck, sharp teeth sink into the flesh and Donghyuck cries out in pain, or bliss, he doesn't know. The bite is deep enough that he thinks Jaemin may tear a chunk out of him. 

And the poor omega’s in so deep he would let him bite, chew and swallow him whole. 

Donghyuck sobs in his ear, "Cum in me," and for the first time in his life, he's willing to beg for it. "Please alpha."

He feels Jaemin's teeth sink into his neck again, right below his scent gland. Blood gushes from the new wound, and Donghyuck cums on Jaemin's cock for the second time. 

But the most satisfying bit is when he feels Jaemin flood his cunt. He feels painfully full. Jaemin collapses on him, and pulls away from his neck. Donghyuck can’t clearly see through his tears, but the blurred image of Jaemin’s mouth and chin covered in his blood tells him how much damage has been done. The realization triggers another round of panicked gut wrenching sobs because he’s hurt, and he doesn’t know how bad, and if he’s hurt so is Jaemin.

And nothing about this is good.

Jaemin coos at him, cradling his face, thumbs gliding across his cheeks, “You’re okay baby. Nothing’s wrong. You’re safe.” It takes some time for him to be able to hear Jaemin. It takes some time for the panic to subside, and for him to be able to take a deep breath without immediately choking out another sob. He clings onto the alpha, and he's sure he looks a mess, but he makes even more of one when he licks across Jaemin's chin, up to his lips, and into his mouth. It shouldn't even count as a kiss, Jaemin's sucking on his tongue and he's still sniffling through it trying to keep up with something he initiated. 

He stays there until he can’t breathe.  

Stays until he's shuddering through another wave of tears. 

Stays until he's light headed. 

Stays until his alpha let's him go. 

“Better?” Donghyuck nods, but he can still feel tears running down his face. “Can I pull out?” 

He sniffs extra hard to try and stop the flow of body fluids pouring out of his face, and nods again. “I just–just n-n,” he hiccups, “need a second.”

Jaemin pulls out and rolls off to lay beside him, and Donghyuck tries to calm down. The panic and adrenaline have worn off, and he’s crashing hard. The drop left him shaky and exhausted. In the mess of everything he can finally tell how much of him is hurting. He's bruised, bleeding, and sore and there's a particular brand of uncomfortable associated with leaking tears, snot, cum and slick. 

He hiccups out a few more cries, before they finally die down enough to feel okay with looking at the alpha. He turns to Jaemin and he looks just as banged up if not more. He's covered in fluid: spit, sweat, a dangerous mixture of their blood, and Donghyuck likes the look.

Up until he realizes a very important detail.

"Hey. . . you don't have hepatitis or anything, right?"

The question startles a laugh out of Jaemin. “You just finished crying your eyes out, and the first thing you do is ask me if I have hepatitis?”

“What?!” Donghyuck hides a smile through righteous indignation, “There’s a lot of blood, some of it mine, some of it yours, and I just let you fuck me raw. It’s a valid question.”

Jaemin snorts, "No baby, I don't have hepatitis." 

“Well. . .” Donghyuck’s cheeks flush at the pet name, but he blames it on physical exertion, “good.”

Jaemin rolls over on his side, and flattens his palm over Donghyuck's stomach. He drums his fingers against the taut skin, before moving to cradle his face again."You alright?" He manages to swallow the urge to flinch at the touch. His emotions have calmed down significantly, but he’s still on edge. He knows Jaemin’s impulses to hurt him are non-existent, or at the very least significantly diminished, but he’s still on edge. Jaemin rubs his nose against Donghyuck’s, mumbling out a quiet, “You’re still scared.”

“I’m not. . .” Donghyuck turns to kiss his palm, "I'm fine. Just a little jumpy, and a lot sore."

"You’re lying, but I’m just choosing to ignore it.” Jaemin pats his face, let’s clean up, and sew up your hand." He turns to lay on his back, raises his hips to pull his jeans back up, and stands up. He rolls his shoulders before he sticks his left hand out for Donghyuck to take. It shouldn't be that important, but Donghyuck feels a lottle ooey gooey about Jaemin being aware of his fucked right hand. He groans when Jaemin pulls him to his feet, finally getting off the hardwood, and having to stand just makes the stiffness in his hips that much worse. 

Jaemin has another one of those cocky smirks on his face, "You sure you're good?" Donghyuck rolls his eyes before looking away, uninterested in taking the bait, "Just carry me to the bathroom creep. 

He swings him up bridal style and it’s strange being treated delicately after everything that happened. He lays his head against Jaemins chest. His eyes stay focused on the streak of red beading down from his neck. It reflects off the light and stands in sharp contrast to Jaemin's skin. He reaches up to wipe it away, and looks up a bit higher to get a look at his neck. What he thought were just pin pricks is really more of a gash. It's a rough line, maybe about a half an inch long, across the base of his neck, stopping right before his collarbone. He thumbs across it, and Jaemin hisses in response. 

"I think you may need some stitches too."

"Probably, but there’s no point until we clean everything out. Open the door." 

Donghyuck sucks his thumb clean before he twists the handle. Jaemin kicks the door open further and sits Donghyuck in the tub. He  turns on the shower, shucks off his jeans, helps Donghyuck stand up, and joins him. 

Jaemin takes time wiping Donghyuck’s face down, and when it’s clear of everything but the steady rush of warm water he kisses him. It’s disturbingly domestic for the both of them. Donghyuck knows that they’re gonna have to talk about this. That they simply can’t exist in a way that ignores everything that’s transpired. Too much information was exchanged, too many secrets laid out at one another’s feet. What they haven’t discussed is dangerous. But in the enclosed space of his shower, Donghyuck can pretend that this is normal, and that there’s nothing inherently wrong with the current state of affairs.

Jaemin pulls away, and tilts his head back. He’s further doused in the spray of the shower head, saying out loud what Donghyuck just refused to do, “This isn’t right.” And then he turns his back to the omega.

“I know,” Donghyuck runs his fingers down Jaemin’s back, occasionally digging into the muscle, “We’ll talk about it later.” 

They stop  talking after that, just work on getting all the fluids off of them. 

Donghyuck finishes first, and uses the rest of the time to observe the alpha. He can only see his back, but the movement in his shoulders says he keeps fingering at the gash on his neck, and it causes Donghyuck to look at his own wound. He watches the water hit his hand, and finally sees the details of the slash on his palm. The loose flesh flaps under the pressure, the water washes away the dried blood stuck to the skin, and the wound finally looks less difficult. It's a simple slash, maybe 2 inches long , running across the length of his palm -- shouldn't be too hard to close up. He thinks it might have bled so much because of the adrenaline, and the pressure Jaemin put on his wrists. He moves his eyes down to his wrists, and sees the incomplete ring of a bruise. He bets if he crossed his wrist, he could complete the full circle. 

Jaemin runs his fingers through the omega’s hair, and tips his head back. He examines the bites on his neck, and hums, "Those should heal by themselves." He keeps petting Donghyuck's head, nails gently raking against his scalp, "You done?"

"Yeah." 

Jaemin turns the shower off, and steps out. Donghyuck rifles through the medicine cabinet for the first aid kit and heads to his room. He drops onto his bed, med kit carelessly laying on the top of his blankets. 

Jaemin doesn’t sit next to him, or sit at all. He stands in the center of the room, just looking around, taking in the details of the space. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Looking,” he shrugs, “I’ve never been in here before.” His eyes continue to wander until he’s seen enough. Then he goes to the dresser and rifles through it, pulling out a pair of sweatpants. He shoves his legs through each hole, snapping the band around his waist. He turns back to the dresser and keeps digging until he finds an oversized black t-shirt and tosses it in Donghyuck’s general direction. 

He plops down in the omega's desk chair, and swings it around until he’s facing the omega,"Where do you keep your cigarettes?"

"How do you know I smoke?" It takes Donghyuck some time to get the shirt on, trying to be careful to not get any cotton into the open wound on his hand. Once it's on he sees the deadpan stare Jaemin's throwing his way, and it takes a second before he understands why. But when he does, it sends a tingle down his spine. "Right. . . they're in the nightstand-- second drawer. But forget about that for right now." He pats the spot in front of him, "Come here, I'll close up your neck."

"Nah," Jaemin looks through the drawers Donghyuck just told him about. He finds the pack and a lighter easily, and tosses those on the bed too, "I'll do it myself."

"What, don't trust me?"

"I don't trust you as you are right now. Whatever kept your hands steady before is gone, I'd rather avoid being unnecessarily stabbed." 

Donghyuck can’t help but sound smug, “So you agree you deserved it?”

Jaemin laughs, “I never said that, but whatever floats your boat twitchy.” 

"You're right though. . . my hands definitely aren’t steady.” Donghyuck looks down, and sees that there’s a slight tremor to his fingers. He flexes his left hand, hoping that'll steady it, but there's still a subtle twitching. He doesn't even try with his right, knowing he'll just bleed all over the bed spread, if he closes and opens his hand, “But, it says a lot that you’re trusting me with fire right now." 

“You’d burn yourself, not me, and I think you can manage a lighter sweetheart. Now light up and shotgun me.”

“You're so fucking annoying.” He takes the gauze out of the box, and passes the rest to Jaemin. He wraps his hand a couple of times, and tears the end off with his teeth. "Is there ever a time you don't have a smartass comment?"

Jaemin, makes half an attempt to shrug, without jostling his hands too much, "Pretty much, but most of the shit I said was just me trying to get under your skin."

"We'll come back to that." He can't use his hand very well, but at least he won't stain his comforter. He grabs the pack and attempts to strike the lighter. It takes him a few times, but he manages. The first hit hits him hard, he was already lightheaded but now he feels pleasantly dizzy. He watches Jaemin in a daze, takes note of the methodical way he's cleaning the wound, and the steady in and out motion of the needle threading through the tender skin.

“I feel like I shouldn’t be surprised you know how to do stitches, but I am.”

"Mom's a nurse, and I have a history of being where I shouldn't be.

Donghyuck hums in acknowledgement, before finding his footing and getting up to lean on the desk, "Have you ever thought about breaking into my room?" He knows the alpha can't stretch or he'll just fuck up the stitching and tear the skin further. The omega takes another drag, "Get a sneak peak at what I look like sleeping," and meets Jaemin where he already is. Plush lips meet thin ones and Donghyuck exhales slowly. 

Jaemin takes what he's given, and leaves a kiss against the omega's lips before pulling away. He releases slowly, the smoke curls over his left shoulder, "I did think about it, especially whenever you would disappear early 'cause I had pissed you off." Donghyuck takes another drag, and gives Jaemin the same treatment. He sounds more choked up this time, lungs still full of the poison, "Wanted to see how you calmed yourself down." And then he exhales in a rush the same as before. "What do you do?" 

Donghyuck takes another hit, and keeps it for himself this time around. He doesn't really have an answer for that one, so he shrugs it off, "Eh, nothing special, sometimes I sleep it off, sometimes I destroy the room, sometimes I drink until I'm too gone to stand up. It's whatever comes to mind first, nothing specific." 

Jaemin sewes up the last of the wound and slathers a small layer of vaseline on the fresh stitches. "Sit down, let's get this over with." He plucks the cigarette from Donghyuck's lips and takes the last few puffs before snuffing it out in the ashtray. 

Donghyuck flops onto the bed and crosses his legs. Jaemin moves the med kit from the desk to the bed, and lights another one. He takes the first hit and flips it, the embers burn centimeters above his hand, but he holds it as if he’s unconcerned with embers falling against his skin. 

Donghyuck briefly considers flicking the butt just to see how he'll respond to being burned. 

"You gonna take it or what?" 

He shakes the thought off before taking the cancer stick. 

Jaemin grabs his right hand and unwraps the gauze. He's clearly started bleeding again because the closer to cut they get the more soaked the gauze is. Jaemin leans in for a shotgun and Donghyuck delivers. "You really did a number on yourself." He kisses the omega before pulling away to start cleaning the cut, and again Donghyuck has to fight yet another smile. He takes another drag instead, settling on sarcasm. "Yeah, well, shattering glass in my hands twice over probably wasn't the brightest idea."

Jaemin takes an alcohol wipe and starts cleaning the cut, "I don't know, I thought it was pretty cool."

Donghyuck laughs,”Yeah I realized you were fucked up when you licked my blood off the shot glass.” 

Jaemin slithers his tongue, and he giggles again. They fall silent for some time, the only sound the hiss he lets out when the first stitch goes through. It goes smoothly after that, Jaemin steadily working his way down the length of the wound. Donghyuck’s fingers occasionally twitch in Jaemin’s hold, and it reminds him of the sheer amount of anger Donghyuck felt rushing through his system. He knows that he doesn’t get angry for no reason, he’s always justified in his anger, but his response is almost always irrational. He doesn’t understand why Jaemin wanted to see that. He‘s not stupid he knows it’s scary, knows he poses a real threat to whoever happens to be on the other end of his irritation. 

So why would he want to experience that?

"Why do you like it?"

"What do you mean?" 

"Don't play dumb you know what I mean. Why do you like seeing me like that?" 

Jaemin stays quiet for a while, just methodically working the needle through the raw flesh. Sometimes he leans into a shotgun and Donghyuck let's him, occasionally letting his tongue come out to play with the smoke. Eventually, Jaemin stops everything, and rests his hands on his thighs, "I never examined it -- don't think I should -- but sometimes I think it's 'cause I like the danger."

Donghyuck snorts, "That's a gay ass answer."

Jaemin stabs him in the still yet to be closed part of his hand, Donghyuck flinches, and sets off another round of pain. He shakes the left side of his body, making this high pitched whining sound resembling a child seconds from throwing a fit.

"Don't be a dick and it won’t hurt."

"Well then don't be so cheesy." Donghyuck takes another puff and flicks his ashes on Jaemin's arm in retaliation, but Jaemin just looks at it before rubbing it off on his pant leg. "Dude. . .” He takes another puff and coughs through the exhale, “you're fucked in the head."

"Says the guy that tried to murder his stalker and then fucked him." 

"I never said I wasn't."

"Yeah, but you like to pretend that you're not,” Jaemin pauses his rhythm, “but you flinch every time I call you crazy."

Donghyuck proves his point, and flinches at the word. "Fuck off, answer my question -- a real answer this time." Again Jaemin stops everything, and just looks at him. His eyes jump around Donghyuck's face, searching for something. Donghyuck takes another hit, "Find what you're looking for?"

Jaemin shakes his head slowly, "No. . . why do you want to know that? You tryin' to scare yourself again or somethin'?"

He doesn’t fully want to admit why he’s curious about it. He doesn’t really want to admit to being a monster, and that he’s strangely grateful that Jaemin likes it. So he stalls.

Donghyuck takes another drag, and leans in to give Jaemin another hit. He lingers even after Jaemin pulls away. Nuzzling along his jaw and leaving wet open mouth kisses where he can reach, a quiet appreciation that the alpha isn’t aware of yet. "I'm not scared of you. . ." He noses across his cheek, before sighing, mumbling into the skin, "But I don’t wanna answer that right now." He plants one last kiss on Jaemin's lips before pulling away completely, "I'll tell you after you answer me."

Jaemin goes back to stitching. A slow push and pull. 

"I know I'm not stable, and being around stable people is exhausting. Everything about it takes up energy I don't have. But you-- you're an enigma. I watched you unleash hell on this guy for who the fuck knows what, and then resume normalcy without a single mistep. I like it-- I like you because you do something I can't, and it's exciting to watch." 

Donghyuck hums, and closes in on Jaemin's face again, "That was still a gay ass answer." 

Jaemin frowns and digs his nail into the last bit of the slash, "Stop fucking with me."

Donghyuck whines, "You didn't let me finish. I was gonna say it's cute."

Jaemin rolls his eyes, "Whatever."

"I'm serious," he gives Jaemin a kiss on the cheek, "but I wanted to know because I don’t get it. . .? Like fuck, you watched me committ a crime -- one that I barely managed to refrain from crossing the only line I have left to cross. And instead of running off to tell someone you became infatuated with me. Drove me to the brink and suffered the consequences of it and I still-- I still. . .'' Donghyuck takes a breath in an attempt to calm himself down, stop sounding so frantic, "For a person like me, you're as dangerous as it gets, and yet here I am-- letting you heal my wounds, and trading kisses with you."

"So what's your problem?"

"That you're not a problem. I'm trying to understand why I want you to stick around." And then he adds on the real issue, the one that’s nagging at him, “Why aren’t you scared when you should be?” 

"I don’t know, does it really matter?"

Donghyuck stubs the cigarette out in the ashtray with more force than necessary, “It does matter.”

“No it doesn’t.”

“Why the fuck doesn’t it matter?”

"Haechan, I'm gonna stick around either way." He finishes the last handful of stitches, reaching over to slather vaseline on it. "Whether you try to send me away, or keep me under lock key, I'm  not –  going –  away. I can’t fully understand you. I never will understand you. And based on the way you’re ready to start another fight, even with a fresh set of stitches, a busted lip, and bite marks on your neck – you don’t understand me.” He wraps his hand in a new layer of gauze, “What you need to get into your little head is that it doesn’t matter if you do. Learn to be okay with that because like I already said, I’ve got you." Jaemin kisses the scratchy, frayed white cloth, "I own you, and you me – end of story.

“You gonna be okay with that, or am i gonna have to make you okay with that?”

“You threatening me again?” Donghyuck crawls forward and sits in Jaemins lap, a teasing glint in his eyes, “I told you you shouldn’t do that.”

He rushes forward to give Jaemin a downright filthy kiss, it’s wet and sloppy and far too much for all the energy he’s expended in the last few hours, but Jaemin still catches him.

It’s so wrong it’s right.

Just like them.

🔪

Neither Mark nor Jeno went back to their apartments. They stole clothes from their hosts, Taeyong and Dongyoung, and headed over to the café right beside the dining hall. The place has outdoor seating, and it just seemed right that they didn't have this. . . meeting -- in an enclosed space after the events of yesterday. 

Jeno and Mark expect to get there first, both silently walking side by side, shoulder to shoulder – occasionally grazing against one another in wordless support. They hold out hope that both of them are there, but they know that there’s a very real chance that neither of them are. 

It’s already a bad sign that neither Jaemin nor Donghyuck responded.

Mark never voices the concern that Donghyuck will be there alone. 

Mark loves Donghyuck. That's his best friend, the platonic love of his life, but he knows Donghyuck has. . . issues. He should have really considered just how fed up the other omega was when it came to Jaemin and he didn't because Donghyuck refused to explain it, or himself. He's had all night to re-examine his choices and hindsight says he made the wrong one. He knows Donghyuck doesn't explain his anger on the chance that, one day, he goes too far. The less Mark knows the better, and while Mark may ride for Donghyuck through anything and everything, that's not what Donghyuck wants for him. 

He was wrong, but he can't admit it to anyone other than the omega himself. 

He just hopes he's not blindly walking into another situation he doesn't know how to deal with. 

Jeno freezes next to him, causing Mark to trip over his own feet. The alpha shoots out an arm to keep him from face planting into the sidewalk. 

"What? Why are you stopping?"

Jeno nods his head forward, "Look."

Mark looks down the block and to his surprise he sees Donghyuck and Jaemin, sitting next to one another, and they look. . . not miserable? Jaemin's laughing at the twisted expression on the omega's face before shoving the ice coffee cup back at Jaemin. He says something to the alpha, and Jaemin just smiles and shrugs, before saying something back. 

It's so wildly unexpected, that Mark looks around expecting something else about the scenario to be obviously fake. That there’s a clear glitch in the system. 

But everything around him is real. The sidewalk is solid beneath his feet, Jeno's hand on his arm is heavy, and Donghyuck and Jaemin are most definitely there and seemingly enjoying one another's company. 

"The fuck?"

"I know," Jeno looks as stunned as he is, "let's just go talk to them."

They practically speed walk to where the two of them are already sitting. All four of them just stare at one another. Mark looks at Donghyuck, then Jaemin, and nothing on their faces gives anything away. Jaemin's face looks carefully blank, and Donghyuck's face is irritatingly nonchalant. 

"You gonna sit down,”Jaemin bites at his straw before taking another sip, “or just stare at us like we're animals in a zoo?"

Mark and Jeno side eye one another before slowly lowering themselves into the chairs directly across from the newly friendly pair. 

Donghyuck giggles, "Go ahead, ask."

Jeno blurts out the million dollar question, "What the fuck happened last night?"

Jaemin leans towards Donghyuck, "We fucked." He pushes further into Donghyuck’s side, an obnoxious, ahhhh , rolling off the tongue. Donghyuck stirs his spoon through his parfait, “What he said,” before feeding Jaemin.  

Everything about this is unsettling and confusing to Mark, "Wait what? Donghyuck--"

Jaemin snickers, "Oooo he pulled out your government." 

Donghyuck clacks the spoon against Jaemin’s teeth. The metal clips the edge of Jaemin’s gums and opens a small cut. "Learn to shut the fuck up." The alpha laughs, again, without a care in the world, running his tongue over the damaged area -- but he falls quiet. "Finish your question Markles."

"You didn't want anything to do with him, and now you're fucking him? Plus yall are all lovey dovey and shit now? I'm sorry but that don't even sound right."

"Makes him sound crazy right?"

"When will you learn?"

"I've learned that it bothers you, which is why I do it."

"You're so fucking annoying."

"Not like your everything is sunshine and roses act is any less irritating."

Donghyuck whirls on Jaemin to use the spoon as a weapon again, the round tip aiming for Jaemin’s neck, but Jaemin grabs the spoon with his free hand, and wrenches it out of the omega’s grasp. He tosses the spoon onto the table top with a resounding thud. 

“No more spoon for you.”

“But my parfait.”

“Should’a thought about that.”

Mark is just left there, stunned to watch the two of them interact. They're completely distracted by one another, and he can't tell if this is good or bad. There's a clear amount of dysfunction between them, but this weird underlying sweetness that makes the whole thing borderline unbearable. 

It all seems like a bad idea but he's not sure why,

Just that it seems wrong. 

Jeno seems to finally find his voice again, "So you mean to tell me this whole thing yall had goin' on was just, sexual tension?" 

Donghyuck and Jaemin look at each other and nod slowly, using the motion to formulate one thought, “Yeah. . .” but it’s Donghyuck that speaks for the both of them, "We had a. . . talk, and now this is the case."

Jeno presses on, "What was the talk?"

Jaemin shrugs, and looks to Donghyuck, before turning back to Jeno, "I always had a thing for him, didn't know what, and now I do." 

Donghyuck gives Jaemin a sarcastically loving smile, softens his eyes, and raises the pitch of his voice, "Aw isn't that sweet?" Jamein tips Donghyuck's chin up with his hand. There's a softness to it but Mark can tell that if Jaemin kept his hand there long enough, there'd be a bruise. "Don't push it." Donghyuck rolls his eyes and jerks away. 

Mark catches a brief glimpse of an ugly black and blue mark on the side of his neck. And then it’s gone just like that, hidden away beneath a layer of clothing. He scans the rest of Donghyuck's body, and is keenly aware that he's covered everywhere except for his face and hands. His right hand is wrapped in gauze and it's another thing that has Mark wondering what actually happened. 

But all he can do is take their word for it, and hope one day Donghyuck doesn't come home wanting to put a hit on Jaemin. 

"So this was an enemies to lovers situation?"

Donghyuck’s laugh tinkles, and it’s a sound that should prove everything to be right with the world but it just leaves Mark unsettled. 

"Naturally"

"That's insane."

Donghyuck leans into Jaemin’s space, and nuzzles against his cheek, before leaving a loud and wet kiss against it. Jaemin doesn’t react to it verbally, just runs his fingers through the omega’s hair. The image is burned into Mark’s eyes, and he’s confused, happy and scared by everything about it.

The new couple look at their best friends, two of the most important people in their lives, and answer in love, sick unionson.

"We know.

🔪