Chapter Text
“Now remember, up close it might be easier to tell this is synthetic. For your safety and comfort we recommend using this in addition to a scent patch.” The woman who was explaining all of this spoke rapidly. It was clear that while she did a good job at acting the part, she didn’t really care about how things went for him. Yeosang was just another sale for her and she knew this spiel like the back of her hand. She sold the product well of course. He was buying it afterall. Still, it would have been nice if he had someone who was truly in his corner for once.
Yeosang was not feeling at ease, and he was sure by the way her nose crinkled whenever she drew near that this was obvious. It wasn’t really her business if he was reeking of distress, if his scent was turning acrid the longer he was in the building. All she cared about was that no one at her boutique got caught selling artificial scent. This was the first person in the city he had talked to since moving and it stung that it was such an uncomfortable situation. He knew nobody here and nobody knew him, but that was preferred. He had no past to speak of, more secrets than truths. It was better that way. It was safer.
Nobody could know he was an omega, and that had to start long before he stepped foot into any college classroom.
The woman leaned in closer, voice dropping low. She was intimidating, her gaze narrowing in on him, eyes flickering to his neck like she wasn’t afraid to bite down and make him submit. It was enough for him to wonder if he was making a mistake, if being in this close proximity to an alpha alone was a bad idea. “Remember, if you rat us out, there will be consequences,” she all but hissed.
Yeosang swallowed, the gulp audible in the sudden quiet of the room, and nodded. “O-of course.”
The closer she got, the more of her scent got lodged in the omega’s nose. It was honestly intoxicating. It was heavy and warm, an all consuming thing that reminded him of the earthiness of tobacco and the softness of sandalwood. If he wasn’t scared shitless, he would probably be turned on. He was always particularly sensitive to smells. He got overwhelmed by people’s scents easily. He was easily swayed by their emotions when they were detectable in the air. He got aroused by good smelling alphas all the time. It was annoying.
Scent was an odd thing. It told so much about the people around. Scent told the world that Yeosang was an omega, and an attractive one at that. He smelled like light florals and honey, something soft and powdery. It was a cozy scent, calming, but it made him a target. Nobody took him seriously. They didn’t care about his intellect or skills. They cared that he was pretty and could be bred. They cared that he could carry pups and make an alpha feel like a big shot for it. The best thing Yeosang could do, according to the world, was be the submissive mate to an alpha.
Yeosang didn’t want this. He knew he could do so much more - be so much more. He was smart enough and skilled enough and wise enough to make something of himself and he had every intent to do so. Damn anyone or anything that got in his way. He was shown time and time again that any anti-discrimination laws were useless in practice, so all he could do was take matters into his own hands.
That’s how he found himself in such a shady boutique on the outskirts of the city in the middle of the night. He had found out about it in an encrypted chatroom full of like-minded omegas that were looking out for each other. They all wanted to hide themselves away. Mostly for protection, though some were seeking the means to live how they felt they were born to - as an alpha or beta. Yeosang wondered sometimes if his life would be better if he was truly an alpha, if he was like the group that felt they had been born into the wrong body, or if he was just playing the system for a better life. At the end of the day, he didn’t care much for all the things being an omega entailed. He didn’t like to submit. He didn’t like the helpless feeling of desperation during his heats. He supposed an alpha’s ruts wouldn’t be much different though. Just less… wet.
Things must be easier for alphas who want to be omegas, Yeosang thought. He wasn’t sure how common it was, but surely there were some out there. All they needed was a willing alpha to bitch them and that was that. It was probably an uncomfortable process, but weren’t all paths to get what you want uncomfortable? Yeosang was willing to go through great lengths to get what he wanted. He was willing to put himself through discomfort and pain and risk and shut out entire aspects of his life’s potential just for this one thing. It didn’t bother him in the slightest either. He needed to do this and so he would.
The boutique had been working with him for over an hour now, designing the perfect mix of scent that could be layered over his natural one to make him smell like an alpha. It was a tricky (and costly) thing. Most in his situation settled for being mistaken as a beta, but Yeosang wanted something more powerful. He wanted to be a leader. He wanted to be in charge. Betas were treated well, but alphas were always the first pick and he wanted to be first.
They settled on a woodsy-citrus mix that made the powdery notes of his natural scent more subdued, more neutral. The florals seemed sharper and less airy. And of course, there was the distinctive scent of alpha, something unexplainable but instantly knowable. It covered up his natural omega signifier well. All in all it wasn’t the most stereotypical alpha scent, but it smelled natural enough, so much so that it caught Yeosang off guard as soon as he put the mixture on. If he smelled that scent on a passerby, he would instantly know that person was an alpha. He was impressed by the craftsmanship.
Generally speaking, it was against the law to hide your subgender in any way. It was seen as a safety risk. Nobody wanted alphas to infiltrate the safe spaces of omegas and cause damage. Nobody wanted omegas to seduce an unsuspecting alpha when they let their guard down. In actuality, those were bullshit reasons and everyone with half a brain knew it. Really it was a means of control. There had been an ongoing political battle for decades of push and pull, of relenting to let omegas have more and then taking that away the next chance they got. It was a miracle that Yeosang could even vote. In some more conservative parts of the world he wouldn’t even be able to attend university like he was now.
What he was doing was risky. The next morning was his first class of his college career, the first chance he would have at reinventing himself. If this scent thing was going to fail, it would fail spectacularly. He had no choice but to take the plunge and hope for the best. Worst case scenario he could be institutionalized. Jail was less likely for a “crazy” omega like him who went through such great lengths to deceive the people around him. He would be thrown into a padded cell and given a slew of medications for the rest of his life to “balance him out.” He wondered what really went on in those places. It couldn’t be good.
Yeosang was mostly on autopilot as he handed over the cash in exchange for the small bottle of perfume. It would last a while, hopefully long enough that he could make up the cash to get the next one.
“Did you get your ID fixed?” the woman asked lazily right as he was about to leave. He had never learned her name. He wasn’t sure if she refused to give it as a safety measure or if she just deemed him too unimportant to indulge.
Yeosang nodded a little, glancing around out of instinct. “Got it done before I moved.”
She nodded and held out her hand. “Let me see. I’ll do you a favor and let you know if it’s a good fake.”
This took the man by surprise. It was a moment before he was able to collect himself and reach into his pocket for his wallet. He handed the card over carefully. “Got my birth certificate done too. But that’s an easier forge, so I’m sure it’s fine.”
She looked everything over, turning it this way and that, holding it to the light. “Seems pretty legit. Must have paid a pretty penny for this.”
“Between your services and that, I’m flat broke,” the man sighed. She grinned at him and handed the card back. It wasn’t a pleasant grin.
“You better fix that before you have to come back,” she chuckled.
“That’s the plan.”
___
“Now that we’ve gone over the syllabus, I’m going to pass out a quiz. It’s just to get an idea of what you know already so we can focus on what we need to in the coming weeks,” Dr. Park explained as he started giving each row of students a stack of paper to pass down. “You’ll have about twenty minutes to complete it and then we’ll go over the answers.”
Jongho sighed a little, vaguely annoyed. He was hoping the first day of classes would be more easy-going, especially since he was only taking intro courses. It seemed his professors were too excited to get going for that to be the case. He started rifling through his bag for a pencil as the page reached its way to his desk.
The pretest wasn’t anything too difficult. It was all stuff he knew about, more or less, from his high school bio and health classes. He wondered if there were any students in this class that were unfamiliar with this stuff. It was their bodies afterall, so he would hope they’d know. He felt pleased with himself as he filled in the last bubble. It was only a few minutes after that the professor collected the pages again. He perched himself at the edge of his desk with a small smile, running his fingers through his pink hair. He had a nice smile. A comforting smile. An omega smile.
“Alright, let’s get through these quickly. Question one: how many components to scent are there?”
There was a beat of silence before he called on a student randomly. Jongho shuddered. He hated that sort of thing. The student, a rather nervous looking girl who he assumed to be an omega based on her posture, shrugged a little. She introduced herself as Jiwoo when asked. “Three?”
“That’s right,” Dr. Park said brightly. “Can you tell me what they are?”
“Well, there’s smell, and there’s pheromones? Like when you’re in heat or rut?”
“Correct. Do you know the third?”
“Subgender?”
“Not quite,” Dr. Park said gently. He seemed so nonjudgmental that Jongho felt himself relax a little, but not entirely. He hated being called on and the possibility still remained that it would happen. “There’s smell, like you said. That is the unique scent notes that help us distinguish one another. Pheromones are the next category. Some of these are detectable to us and some are not. We can smell if someone is an omega or an alpha or a beta but we cannot smell where someone is in their hormonal cycle. Still, our bodies know this subconsciously- yes?”
He cut his explanation off to call on a man in the back of the room whose hand shot up. “What do you mean we can’t smell that? It’s pretty obvious when someone is in heat or something,” he asked, confused.
“What we are smelling then isn’t the hormones, it’s the side effects of the heat or rut. We also can’t tell how close someone is in their cycle before they enter pre-heat or pre-rut. What we are smelling then is the third category of scent - the temporary aspects that tell the people around us how we are feeling, our condition. This includes emotional markers and signs of distress or arousal. This does segue into our next question wonderfully, however. Question two: what is the scientific term for a heat? You?”
Of course he was pointing right at Jongho. He mentally cursed himself for sitting in the front row. “Estrus,” he said with a small huff. He wasn’t embarrassed exactly. He knew the answer, but he hated having to do things he didn’t want to do. It made his skin crawl. It felt like submission and at the end of the day, his alpha instincts were always pressing into his mind whether he liked it or not.
“Yes, indeed. True or false: omegas in a pack will eventually sync their heats with each other?”
“That’s true, but alpha’s can’t sync their ruts,” Jongho offered.
Dr. Park looked pleased. “Jumping ahead there,” he chuckled. “But yes, that’s true. And that has to do with those pheromones we mentioned earlier. However, alphas’ ruts can be synced in a way, just in the opposite direction. In a pack, their ruts will eventually stagger so there’s no overlap. The theory is this has to do with resource acquisition, but we’ll get to that when we go over chapter three. Okay, next question: what is a ‘fated mate’ and are they real?”
The next two students he called on didn’t have the answer. There was an awkward amount of silence for Jongho’s liking. He sighed to himself and raised his hand. Dr. Park motioned for him to speak, a pleased glimmer in the man’s eye. “A fated mate is someone whose pheromones are compatible with yours. They sort of fit together? But they’re not real, not in the way we hear about in fairytales. You could have multiple fated mates.”
The professor nodded along. “Exactly. In fact, there can be people compatible with you that aren’t good as a mate at all. Pheromones have markers, similar to blood types, that make people compatible with each other. This means you’re more susceptible to their scents. Would anyone like to guess why this would be?”
The shy girl from earlier, Jiwoo, raised her hand tentatively. “Is it to establish packs?”
“Yep. But, these days packs aren’t a necessary part of life, and I think we can all agree that choosing your friends and mates is a much more nuanced thing than simply smelling good. Biology doesn’t dictate everything.”
Jongho’s mind drifted as the professor started asking about the biological functions of heats. He wondered how society got to this point, that packs were no longer seen as necessary. It was rare that true packs were formed. It was usually just immediate family that stayed together until the kids were old enough to leave on their own. So many people these days weren’t even having pups if they were even mating. He didn’t think he’d be happy living like that. He longed for connection, for closeness. Truly, he was a lonely person. He always had been. Maybe it was because it was so hard for others to understand him. His scent wasn’t very strong and the emotional indicators that Dr. Park mentioned never seemed to come through as easily as they did others.
His smell was weird in other ways. He smelled like an alpha, of course, but the scent wasn’t what you’d expect from one. It was too gourmand, too sweet. It had deep, rich notes of coffee and chocolate, a slight bitterness that tried to counteract the saccharine qualities, but ultimately came off as confusing. He didn’t mind his scent one bit, but sometimes he wished he smelled like leather or the salt of the sea, something that wouldn’t make others think twice about him. Then maybe he wouldn’t be such an outcast. He didn’t want to be a lone wolf. He had plenty of close friends, friends who were so important to him it hurt, but whenever they were apart it felt like the whole world was against him.
No one could really figure out if scent notes were hereditary. He supposed that would be something Dr. Park would talk about eventually in this class. It seemed there were some families that were consistent, but across the board this didn’t hold true enough to be thought of as fact. His family had a lot of similar smells. His dad’s scent was coffee-heavy too, but with notes of rum and cedar. His mother’s reminded him of a chocolate croissant. It was warm and buttery and soft, cozy and sweet, a perfect scent for an omega. He was a mix of his parents, so much so that they thought his scent wasn’t coming through at all for a long time, worried that he was missing important milestones in his growth. He liked the scent. It smelled like home. But, when he hit puberty and presented as an alpha, things were just a little off. It confused people.
Jongho didn’t have the fondest memories of when he first presented. His first rut caught him by surprise. He thought he had been coming down with a cold, so when the fever set in he didn’t think anything of it. After that he was too delirious to question what was going on anyway, to wonder why he felt so out of the ordinary and had no other symptoms of illness. He remembers being so overwhelmed with the feeling of loneliness that the memory of his first rut stung even to this day. He remembers crying into his pillow, everything seeming fuzzy and odd. He felt so awful. All he could do was writhe under his blankets and pray that the feeling of his skin crawling would stop. Eventually it did when he figured out what role his dick was playing in the equation. That’s when he realized what was happening. It was the first time in his life that he thought to himself that being an alpha was terrible.
It was common for parents to keep the subgender hidden from their kids. These days, now that technology allowed for it, babies were tested right away and thus began the official documentation of one’s subgender, years before they actually presented. Many parents want to shield their children from those expectations, especially if they’re an omega. It makes it safer for them too, in a way. Jongho’s parents were never secretive about it, but Jongho was never weird about being an alpha, so it balanced out. He never felt entitled to anything because he would one day present as an alpha. He never felt entitled to it now that he had presented. It meant he was also more prepared for his first rut than many of his peers. He knew what to expect and once he understood what was happening it was mostly smooth sailing.
It was uncomfortable sailing, but it was smooth.
Overall, he wasn’t convinced he liked being an alpha. There was so much bullshit that went on with it and he never seemed to fit in which was hard for an alpha. He was expected to take the lead, to be confident and charismatic and charming. He wasn’t any of those things really. He mostly kept to himself. It was easier that way, to avoid the constant ire from other alphas at his behavior. If it wasn’t for the friends he had made in high school, he wasn’t sure he would have made it this far in life, but when they weren’t around he kept his nose down and tried not to make trouble. He thought that was what was best for an alpha anyway. He didn’t like how common it was for them to degrade others just for the high of superficial victory. He didn’t like the way they threatened his omega friends with everything from social to physical ruin. Maybe that’s why he had omega friends to begin with. He always got along better with them than other alphas.
To him it made sense. His instincts were to protect omegas, especially the ones important to him. He didn’t want to dominate them. He didn’t want to force them to submit. He definitely didn’t want them to think they were only good for providing pleasure, for being just another conquest. It disgusted him. He had only ever met one other alpha who didn’t hold these beliefs. Sure there were some who were nice and kind, but the more you talk to them the more you realize they think these sorts of things without even realizing, that they secretly dislike omegas just as much as the next guy. Jongho had stopped trying to make new friends. It was always more trouble than it was worth when he knew that it would end in him losing more faith in humanity. So he kept to himself and tried to keep his interactions with other alphas to a minimum.
There was only one person who had ever pulled him away from this behavior. It was the only time he ever gave into his instincts entirely and it was to try to tear his face off. They had gotten into a few scuffles over the years, but always for good reason, always to stop him from being disgusting to his friends. The last one he remembers started after he had taunted Yunho for being with a “pathetic excuse for an omega.” His name was Seojoon and he thrived off of being the center of attention and people fawning over him. Jongho never paid him any mind, so he must have decided he would force his focus one way or another and the method that worked worked a little too well. Jongho had almost gotten kicked out of school for getting into too many fights. He suspected the only thing that saved him was the school’s reliance on him to win their soccer games.
This is what Jongho was thinking about as he made his way to his next class, the last one of the day. It was a business class that he wasn’t thrilled to be in. He wasn’t convinced it would be something he would enjoy, but it was a safe option. He wanted to have a safe option, to save himself from any financial stress and more importantly to be able to provide for a pack one day. He wanted that more than anything.
Jongho found an open seat in the front of the room and sat down. He glanced around at the others in the room while he waited for class to start. Even with scent patches, the overall smell of the room was alpha-forward. He didn’t see a single person who looked like they might be an omega. There were maybe a few betas, but the majority of the room carried themselves with the bravado of an alpha. His eye caught a familiar face and he frowned, his teeth clenching. Seojoon. He had to fight his alpha to not growl at the man from across the room. They locked eyes briefly and the man smirked before turning back to his entourage that were listening to him with rapt attention, probably telling the latest story of his yacht parties. Jongho was fairly certain they were all fake anyway. If he was that rich, why the hell was he at this mid-tier college where all of his high school classmates ended up instead of some prestigious university?
He knew Seojoon was attending this school and he was already dreading the amount of interaction they would have to begin with. They were, once again, on the same soccer team as he found out the previous week when they all met up to introduce themselves and make a game plan for the season. He was hoping the universe would at least spare him from having to share a class with Seojoon, but it seemed he wasn’t that lucky. At least the lecture hall was large enough he didn’t have to be too close.
About two minutes before the lecture was due to start, it finally got to the point that the classroom was full enough to force someone to fill the seat next to him.
He heard the interaction from across the room. Seojoon stood close to a man who had been chatting with the group when Jongho had walked in. “Sorry there are no open seats over here,” he said just a little too loudly. “You seem like a decent guy. It’s a shame you’ll have to sit next to that.”
The man let out a sharp laugh, something between astonishment and indignance. “I think I’ll manage,” he chuckled. It wasn’t long before he made his way to the other side of the room.
Jongho sighed as he glanced at the man who sat there, feeling a tad on edge. He was strikingly beautiful with bright, kind eyes and soft features. It was the sort of face that you don’t see very often, and he was surprised to find it on an alpha. He would have assumed him to be an omega on looks alone, but his posture and mannerisms demanded too much and his scent confirmed that he was no omega. He smelled dark and woodsy. Jongho could tell it was a complex smell even through his patch. It had a bit of sweetness to it - honey perhaps - that made him want to keep smelling it.
He smelled good and he smelled a little odd. Jongho liked that. It reminded him of himself.
It was enough to let his guard slip down and he decided to be polite and introduce himself. “Hey,” he said quietly, getting the man’s attention. “I’m Jongho. You?”
“Uh, Yeosang.” He seemed taken aback, almost like he wasn’t expecting to be talked to.
“You a freshman too?”
“Yeah.”
Jongho nodded and readjusted in his seat, getting comfortable. It didn’t seem like Yeosang was the talkative type, so he let it go. Soon the professor was grabbing everyone’s attention to start class anyway.
Dr. Kim wasted no time in passing out the syllabus and setting some ground rules for the class. It seemed he was going to be a bit of a hard ass. He was strict about class start times and late work. Jongho was going to have to pay attention. Between this and his bio class, he was expecting his first semester to be a bit tedious.
“Alright, last thing before we begin with our first lecture,” Dr. Kim spoke loudly, his voice commanding the room. It was hard to ignore him anyway with his bright red hair and bold fashion. He didn’t look like a professor, but he looked good and he looked authoritative even with his smaller stature. He wasn’t overly muscular and he was a bit on the shorter side, but it was clear he didn’t take shit. It was clear he was an alpha. “I’m going to be level with you. I suck at remembering names,” he chuckled. “So, wherever you’re sitting now is where you’re stuck for the rest of the semester. That also means the person next to you will be your mandatory partner for all group assignments, so I’d recommend getting to know them.”
Jongho glanced at Yeosang. The alpha had an expression that mirrored his own feelings of dread, his scent spiking in an unsettling bitter way before being reigned back in. He turned to face Jongho and gave a small, awkward smile accompanied by a half-hearted shrug.
Jongho had no clue how this would pan out, but he didn’t have the best feelings about it. He was getting odd energy from the other alpha. He didn’t have much time to process any of it though because Dr. Kim was already starting to write on the board and commanding that they open their text books to the first chapter.
Class went by smoothly after that. There was plenty of information being crammed into his head to stop him from worrying about any potential annoyances of working with Yeosang throughout the semester. As the lecture was ending and students started shuffling their things together, antsy and impatient, Dr. Kim got their attention again, snapping his fingers and raising his voice.
“Class, real fast. I know you’re itching to leave, but this is important. I know a lot of you are freshmen so I want to make sure you all know how to fill out an absence request with student affairs for heats and ruts in order to protect yourself. I will not tolerate late work or unexcused absences, so if you do not let the office know, your grades will start to slip and fast. Otherwise I’m very flexible with this sort of thing and I always try to get materials together for you so you can more easily catch up when you get back. My mate would have my head if I didn’t. Does anyone not know where to find the form or how to fill it out?”
There was a collective murmur in the class to verify their knowledge. Dr. Kim walked over to a few students and helped them find the page on the school’s website while the rest of the class started falling into chatter. The class was soon dismissed. Jongho appreciated his concern. His ruts were usually short lived and manageable. He didn’t love them by any means, but physically they were easy and the idea of stopping a natural process of his body made him feel gross, so he had never bothered to get a suppressant for them. The real issue was how they made him feel emotionally. They always hit him hard in that respect. Jongho wondered if that was just a him thing, if his alpha instincts were just unusual, or if other alphas felt that way too and just never discussed those details. He never dared to ask.
His ruts made him feel horribly alone and the deep ache in his chest was hard to ignore, even after it physically ended. It made him depressed leading up to it and a bit afterwards. If he wasn’t paying attention to his calendar, that was usually the telltale sign. As it stood he had about a week before his next pre-rut would start to kick in, so he was dreading having to adjust to his new life as a college student while also feeling like he could cry at just about anything for almost three weeks straight. The timing was awful. At least it being so early in the semester meant the next wouldn’t interfere with any exams.
He slung his bag over his shoulder and stood, watching Yeosang do the same. “Hey, Yeosang? If we’re going to be working together a lot for this class, do you want to exchange numbers now?” he asked casually, taking his phone out. He tapped at his phone idly to pull up the contact creation screen.
The other alpha stared at him with a slightly raised brow, his scent getting more acrid by the second until it was almost too much to bear. “Uh, maybe next time,” he said hurriedly. He turned to leave quickly, effectively stopping all possible retorts Jongho could make.
Jongho rubbed at the bridge of his nose, already feeling more stress than he could handle on his first day of classes. God, he hated alphas. They were so self serving and rude. Was being civil really so difficult for him?
___
Yeosang needed to get out of there and fast. He had never been in a room with so many alphas at once and the smells were overwhelming him. Even with patches it was too much. He was used to things being a little more even, used to having some comforting omega scents to soothe him a little, keep him safe. He was going to have to get used to this sort of thing and fast.
It didn’t help that the alpha who sat next to him smelled good. Really good. It was distracting. Every time he opened his mouth to speak, Yeosang’s brain had all but short circuited. He had the kind of confidence that Yeosang wished he could draw up from the depths of his being, the kind that screamed that he didn’t care about anyone or anything. There was something in his demeanor that made him wonder how much was show. He wouldn’t have been so talkative if he really didn’t care. He even asked for his number.
Yeosang should have taken the time to give it to him. He could have held out another thirty seconds in his discomfort to list a few digits before leaving. He must have come off as rude. Maybe that helped with the act though. In his experience, alphas were always rude, especially with other alphas and betas. The way they acted with omegas was bad in a more conniving and sinister way. He didn’t think he’d be able to do that, but acting like he was better than other alphas? That would be easy.
He would have to start talking to the other alphas to make that apparent. He would need to get close. Jongho seemed nice enough, but Yeosang could tell that he wasn’t the best option socially. He seemed like a good guy, interesting even, and Yeosang was jealous of him in a lot of ways, but he wanted things to be convincing. He would have to pick a different target.
When he got to his next class, the last one of the day, he quickly spotted a familiar face. It was the guy from his business class. He had been commanding the attention of everyone around him, standing tall in the middle of the room while they waited for class to start. Already there were a few people flocking to his side in this new environment. This was a pre-rec class so the distribution of sub-gender was a lot more neutral and Yeosang already felt more relaxed. That would be helpful for this to go well.
He sat nearby, close enough to be noticed but not close enough to intrude, not close enough to seem like he was seeking attention. It worked immediately, the alpha looking him up and down, sizing him up from where he was perched on the edge of the desk a few seats down. Yeosang didn’t look directly at him, just relied on his sense of smell to clue him in on the man’s interest and opinion. Things stayed neutral which was good. He didn’t seem to think Yeosang was a threat but also didn’t think he was beneath him.
“Hey, it’s you again? Cool.” the alpha noted, nodding his head in Yeosang’s direction to make it clear he was talking to him. The other alphas and betas that hovered around him let their eyes track to the man, scuffling a little to not be in the way of the alpha’s view.
Yeosang nodded. “Yeah, it seems like we’re going to have a few classes together. I didn’t catch your name before...”
The alpha moved closer, offering his hand to shake. “Seojoon.”
“Yeosang. Freshman?”
Seojoon hummed his affirmation and sat down in the seat next to him. “Business track. Gotta take over my father’s company one day, afterall.”
That made sense. He seemed like a rich prick, acting like the world revolved around him. Yeosang didn’t even want to acknowledge the prestige he was flaunting so he switched gears smoothly. “Dr. Kim seems… interesting,” he said with an amused smile. “Weird way to conduct a class. Can’t believe we’re stuck in the same spot all semester.”
The alpha snorted in annoyance. “Yeah, tell me about it. Good luck with that guy you’re sitting next to, by the way. I’ve known him for years and he’s pathetic. He hangs out with a bunch of creeps and losers. His personality sucks so that’s probably the only people who’ll tolerate him. I can’t tell if he thinks he’s better than everyone else or if he knows he isn’t and lashes out.”
Yeosang stifled a grimace, keeping his face and scent steady. He ignored the pang of guilt that shot through him as he exaggeratedly let out a huff. “I think it’s the latter. He seems… odd.”
The last part wasn’t a lie. Jongho gave off an energy that he wasn’t used to getting from alphas. He didn’t lack confidence but he lacked the grandiose bullshit he associated with the sub-gender. He smelled sweet and rich, delicious almost. Yeosang shook that thought away and willed his composure to stay intact. The last thing he needed was slick to start dripping down his legs just because an alpha smelled good. Thankfully Seojoon’s overbearing scent of leather and ash distracted him from the memory. It was honestly a disgusting smell.
If he didn’t know any better, he’d be worried he was entering his pre-heat. He seemed hyper responsive to scents at the moment and weirdly horny. But that couldn’t be the case. He had just started a very strong suppressant, a strength that was usually prescribed only in cases when an omega’s heat was dangerously hard on the body. It didn’t give room for breakthrough symptoms or require a yearly heat break like other suppressants did. It also helped to hide his natural Omega scent. He paid a lot of money for them, saving up during his senior year of high school to get a year’s supply from a shady dealer that he heard about on the corners of the internet he was privy to. Like much of what he was doing recently, it was illegal. These sorts of suppressants were hard to get even through a doctor. They weren’t considered safe generally. There hadn’t been much research done, but the consensus was they could most likely fuck up an omega’s heat cycle permanently. There was part of Yeosang in the back of his mind, in a part of him he never looked at for long, that wished it would.
Seojoon kept talking, having agreed with the faux alpha and decided it was okay to keep shit-talking people. “My partner is some beta I’ve known for years. Really feels like he’s been following me around. Probably is, just to get his name out there or something. I was trying to be nice and let him sit next to me, but now I regret it. I don’t wanna be stuck with that guy all semester. He’s an idiot at the best of times.” He paused to look at Yeosang more directly. “Would have been better if we paired up instead. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders.”
Yeosang wasn’t sure if that was because he was playing up a superiority complex or because he was letting the other man talk so much. He seemed to love to talk. He probably got off to the sound of his own voice. Even once the class started and they were supposed to be listening to the introduction of the course, Seojoon kept whispering to him, making idle comments about everything and everyone. It was enough to get Yeosang to start second guessing all of his life choices. Maybe staying at home and raising pups would be better than listening to this guy stroking his ego.
Class was torturous to put it lightly, and he was glad it was the last thing he had to do that day. Him and Seojoon exchanged numbers at the end of class and Yeosang lied about having to get his dorm organized before dinner to get him to leave him alone. He trudged back to his dorm building with a heavy sigh. He didn’t expect acting like an alpha would be so exhausting. Being hypervigilant about everything he did and said, hyper aware of others’ reactions, was too much. He hoped things would get easier with practice. With some luck, maybe it would become second nature to him.
Yeosang practically threw his bag down on his desk chair and plopped face first onto the bed with a groan. He was exhausted. The first day of classes was a constant stream of information and anxiety and too many twists and turns for comfort. Plus, he hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before since he was out getting his scent cover. He didn’t have any assignments yet, so he figured it would be safe to just let himself relax for the rest of the day and allowed himself to sink into the bed, seeking comfort and sleep.
When he blinked his eyes open a few hours later he felt annoyingly desperate. He had dreamed about strong arms holding him down, shoulders pressed into the mattress as he was stretched and stretched from behind. He sighed and shifted to his side, groaning at the familiar wetness pooling between his legs. He rolled his hips lazily, reaching down to slip his pants off, fingers instantly seeking out the wet needy warmth. He wanted to be filled. He needed it. Maybe libido changes were a side effect of the suppressants, or maybe it was from being around so many alphas. Either way his fingers slipped inside easily, one by one, stretching him until he was gasping for breath, small moans escaping through his parted lips.
His other hand traveled to his cock, throbbing in need. Each stroke made him shiver, ass pushing back against his fingers with fervor. “Fuck,” he murmured under his breath. He whispered obscenities as the pleasure pooled deep within him.
Yeosang had never had sex before. Generally he was too focused on his life to care much for that sort of thing. Alphas weren’t usually catching his attention anyway with the way they acted. Why would he let himself be so vulnerable with someone who would treat him like shit? Still, it didn’t stop him from noticing their scents and feeling warmth shoot through him. He masturbated on occasion but it was mostly an activity reserved for heats. It was a tool, a means to an end, so he could continue about his day. It honestly irked him when his instincts took over and he started wanting an alpha to claim him, to fill him and dominate him. It made him uncomfortable if he was honest. But that didn’t stop his curiosity from wondering how good it would feel to be bred over and over, especially during a heat. Being drunk on pheromones and feverish to be used, to be knotted again and again until his body was limp. It must feel like heaven.
Just thinking about it made him gasp out a loud moan, his cum dribbling onto his hand. He panted as he came down, slowly pulled his fingers out and turned onto his back with a shaky groan. He allotted himself just a few minutes of rest before getting up and wiping the slick mess away with some tissues. He fixed his clothes, took a moment to calm down and make sure his scent was normal - still smelling enough like an alpha to not worry about anything - and grabbed his shower supplies. The dorms had small, individual rooms, but there was a communal bathroom complete with lots of shower stalls. Yeosang was thankful it was positioned right next to his room, the corner at the edge of the floor. It made it easier to slip in and out and avoid coming into contact with his peers as much.
If he was going to be found out, it would probably be in the bathroom. He didn’t have an alpha’s dick, there was more risk of slick issues, and washing away his scent cover was going to be hard to work around. Still, he needed to shower, so he’d have to figure it out.
Yeosang entered the hallways and froze, eyes widening, fixed on the man who was just exiting the bathroom. His hair was tousled, wet, dripping down his bare shoulders. He was wearing a tank and shorts, towel slung across one shoulder. There was no scent patch to block anything and Yeosang’s nose was filled with a deep, comforting warmth. Sweet and slightly bitter. Coffee and chocolate. He had to stifle a groan as slick threatened to drip down his thighs. How was he getting horny again? No alpha could smell that good.
“You’re in this building too?” Jongho asked casually, seemingly unaware of the turmoil happening in Yeosang’s head. “I’m right there,” he muttered, head nodding to the dorm across the hall from Yeosang’s. “Guess we’re neighbors. At least now I know how to get a hold of you if you’re not going to give me your number,” he added with a dry chuckle.
“R-right,” Yeosang muttered, shuffling closer to the wall to let the alpha pass. Jongho paused, glancing at the man with a curious glint in his eyes, and Yeosang had to fight his instincts to draw closer, to nose at the soft, damp skin of the man’s throat, breathing in the scent of espresso like it was a lifeline. Instead he squished himself further into the wall. “See you around,” Yeosang rushed past to get into the bathroom, not giving him the time to say anything. The shower was kept cold as he could stand, his forehead resting against the tiled wall. He let the water wash away the slick and the shame that coursed through him.
___
Jongho rubbed the towel over his hair, getting rid of the last stubborn drops of water that still clung to the strands. He was working on auto pilot while his mind was contemplating the other alpha. Yeosang was piquing his curiosity. The way he looked and acted and smelled were so interesting, so unlike any other alpha he had ever met. Especially just then. It was like the sharper qualities of his scent were faded, leaving a powdery sweet note that made the space in his chest ache. His alpha was alert but Jongho was confused by its demands. His instincts had wanted to close the distance between them and pull the other alpha close, protective and territorial. He didn’t feel that way often and never with another alpha. He was tempted to call Wooyoung or San to talk about it, but decided against it. He didn’t want to dwell too much on something so strange. It was probably just a fluke.
Besides, his attention was drawn elsewhere at the moment, to his cock that was twitching to life. It was like the smell of Yeosang was stuck in his nose and every deep breath was all consuming, fanning the fire that was building inside him. He sighed lightly and got to work alleviating the issue. His sex drive was fairly high, even for an alpha. He didn’t mind it in a vacuum, but it was often annoying and inconvenient. He had gotten really good at handling these matters quickly, his breath hitching as he found his release in just a few minutes. He cleaned himself up and pulled his shorts back up with a sigh.
What an odd day.
The next morning he entered the communal kitchen on the first floor to make coffee before he headed off to his first class, but ended up drawn to the tea instead. It might have just been an excuse to use the honey, to taste it on his tongue.