Chapter Text
Yeon Sieun is an omega.
This is a well known fact to everyone in Class 1-6 of Byeoksan Highschool. Yeon Sieun has all the physical characteristics of what one might think of as a typical omega; a smaller stature, a weaker constitution, soft almost feminine features. Pretty for a boy. Ask anyone and they would agree.
In an all boys school filled with hormonal horny teenagers, he's the closest thing they have to a girl. Male omegas are rare. The whole grade has eight omegas. Sieun is the only one in their class. It's only natural the other boys look at him with a mixture of lust and trepidation. It's been hammered into many of them to treat omegas with a measure of respect. This wasn't always the case but South Korea has shaken off its old world mantle. Since the early 80s there had been a push for omegas to be treated more fairly. A cultural and paradigm shift fostered by government initiatives and new laws. Omegan status and rights has become a sensitive subject that requires careful handling.
All this means that for the most part, most of the boys give Yeon Sieun a wide berth. It helps that he's unusually reserved and quiet. Keeps to himself. Always has his head buried in a textbook. Studious.
Some of them try to treat him with a degree of normalcy but quickly find that Yeon Sieun isn't interested in interactions of any kind.
Then there's Jeon Youngbin and his little noisy gang that just don't seem to know when to quit.
Don't seem to know when to shut up either.
With an annoyed grunt, Sooho lifts his head from his pillow, blinking blearily at another taunting session happening near the front of the class. Youngbin looms over Yeon Sieun, smirking and saying something along the lines of… something. Sooho isn't really listening. Smirk, smirk, some shit talk, smirk again. It's like watching a kid in kindergarten pulling on the pigtails of his crush. It wasn't cute then and it's downright pathetic now.
Sooho is tempted to go over and tell Youngbin to get a life. Christ, can't he see the guy isn't interested? Sieun's face is obscured from his line of sight but the omega doesn't seem intimidated or bothered.
He never is. That Yeon Sieun is a weird one.
Whatever.
Either way, a larger part of Sooho doesn't really care. So long everyone keeps their hands to themselves. No bad touching. That kind of shitty behaviour needs to be nipped in the bud.
He watches the scene unfold a little longer. There's a lot more looming and threatening but apart from that, it doesn't look like it'll escalate. Besides, even if he is an omega, Yeon Sieun seems like he can hold his own.
Sooho shrugs and drops his forehead back down onto his pillow. He slept four hours last night. If he doesn't make up for it now, the sleep deficit is only going to get bigger.
He doesn't have time for boring highschool drama.
–
When he was thirteen, Sooho hit a growth spurt. In the same year he presented as an alpha which came as no surprise to anyone who knew him.
Word somehow got around the neighborhood, and people started turning up to offer their congratulations. Even the older kids in his gym, shook his hand and patted him on the back like he had just gained entry into some exclusive club. It was a bit embarrassing. Sooho didn't really feel any different. He was still the same kid, a little too tall now for his age, loud, boisterous, with too much energy. But the attention was nice. It was puzzling but not a bad feeling. For the first time in a long time, Sooho had felt just a little bit special.
"What's all this? Why aren't you all training?" Coach had boomed when he came over to see what the excitement was all about.
Sooho told him and got a cuff on the back of his head for his trouble.
"So what?" Coach had growled at all the boys present and proceeded to list all their weak points one by one until they hung their heads, ears and cheeks burning red.
Later, he had taken Sooho aside to talk to him.
"Listen, Sooho, just because you're an alpha now, doesn't mean you can act however you want. I've seen too many kids letting their status get to their heads. It affects their performance. You're an athlete. A martial artist. First and foremost, you're Ahn Sooho. Alpha, or beta or omega, everyone is the same when they're in the ring. You remember that. Respect your opponents, respect your peers. That's what martial arts is about."
"But there aren't any omegas in our gym," Sooho had pointed out and winced when Coach lifted his hand to cuff him again. But instead, that warm large palm landed on his shoulder.
"Right now, there isn't. But you never know." Coach smiled. "I've met some real good omega fighters. You're still young. There's a lot you haven't seen." He patted Sooho's shoulder. "Just focus on your form. You've got a long way to go."
And that was that.
In hindsight, Sooho would be able to appreciate how much influence Coach had on his perspective on things. He was wrong about Sooho having a long way to go in MMA. Sooho gave it up the following year after his injury put a dent in Grandma's savings and her peace of mind.
But Coach was right about everything else.
–
"Hey, Sooho. Ahn Sooho."
Usually the only time anyone deigns to wake Sooho is for lunch or when school is over. The teachers have long written him off. Naturally, when Doksu shakes him awake, his mind jumps to lunch break. It takes him a moment to notice the group of baseball players clustered at the door. One of them is asking him about a Naeun.
Sooho knows at least three girls by the name of Naeun. Who knew Naeun was such a common name.
“Naeun? Park Naeun? Lee Naeun?”
“Son Naeun, you bastard!" Baseball guy yells, like Sooho has committed the worst crime in history forgetting his girl's name,
“Oh right, her. She kept messaging me so we just had a meal together. I'm not interested in her. She's not my type.”
Instead of being placated, Baseball Guy explodes. His aggressive scent telegraphs his intentions even before he starts swinging. Some people really have their priorities all mixed up. Shouldn't the guy be going after his girlfriend for approaching another guy? Sooho's the innocent party here.
The bat narrowly misses Sooho’s head as he rolls out his chair, dancing backwards from the wild swings, amused. It's actually pretty funny watching Baseball Guy flail his bat around, his small pointed face scrunched up in anger. He counts six people but if anyone asks later he's going to tell them how he took on the whole baseball team, all fifteen of them, reserved players included.
Sooho makes quick work of the team. Baseball Guy lunges forwards badly and it barely requires any skill at all to grab his head, twisting his ear in a pinch.
“Hey, aren't you guys athletes? What kinda behaviour is this?” Sooho chastises. He can tell they aren't listening. They're too wide eyed and shocked, moving in a loose circle around him. Sooho's seen in a documentary once how a pride of cowed, bleeding lions surrounded an African buffalo. Regardless of their secondary gender, highschool boys really are just a bunch of animals. The sad part is some of them actually know him from when he subbed out one of their players early in the season.
"That's enough, okay?" He releases the sputtering guy.
It isn't, apparently, enough because Baseball Guy comes at him again with renewed violence and chucks his bat at Sooho like he thinks he's Batman.
Heh.
That's a funny pun. He should have said it aloud. But the moment has passed. Sooho's kinda annoyed now. Batman charges forward with zero finesse and a pathetic attempt at a punch which Sooho side steps easily. His fist connects in a solid jab and the guy goes down like a sack of potatoes.
"That's a top alpha for you," someone murmurs in awe as Sooho dusts himself off.
“Hey, take him to the nurse’s office and if anyone mentions my name, I’ll kill you,” he directs to the remaining baseball players. They don't seem happy about it but they comply. Most of them are betas. Now that they've had the shit kicked out of them, they grudgingly fall into line.
It's only then he notices he's right beside Yeon Sieun's desk.
Huh. He really is kinda cute is Sooho's first thought as their eyes meet. Yeon Sieun hasn't moved from his seat amidst the ruckus, doesn't even seem fazed, not a single change in his scent. If anything he looks slightly annoyed as he gazes at the floor pointedly.
Sooho follows his line of sight until he spots the fallen pencil case. "Oh, was that me?" He stoops to pick up the pens, stuffs them back into their case and hands the whole thing back to Sieun. "Sorry." The incessant staring is getting to him. Even this close,Yeon Sieun smells almost like nothing. Maybe he's on blockers. He seems the type.
"Why would you even fight in a classroom?" Yeon Sieun asks, not without a smack of disdain. His face however remains deadpan when he turns back to his book, dismissing Sooho completely.
Wow. A bit of a jerk too.
But also he has a point. Sooho eyes the overturned table he had kicked, its owner shuffling over to pick up his books, and goes over to help with a loud apology.
Yeon Sieun doesn't turn around, he's back to his notebook, head down.
Sooho spares one more look at the back of his head and decides he's not worth the hassle.
–
A senior once told Sooho that omegas were nothing but trouble.
Sooho had countered that it was an unfairly prejudiced take, and Woojin-hyung had insisted, "I'm right! There's a Joseon saying, ‘to court an omega is to court a thousand years of disaster’."
"I've never heard of that before,” Sooho snorted. “You're making shit up."
"My point is, if you wanna succeed in sports, forget about being in a relationship. It's unnecessary weight. If you wanna win, you gotta have a clear head but a frustrated body. I don't masturbate for one week before a fight. A steel dick shows a steel will." He stood up canting his hips a few times and flexing his muscles.
Sooho had pulled a face. "You're crazy," and remembered to add on hyung before Woojin noticed he had dropped the honorifics.
Woojin needn't have worried. Sooho mostly had sports and martial arts on the brain back then Sure, he had fantasies, like most teenagers going through puberty, his ideal partner coloured by the amount of omega-centric porn out there but porn wasn't real life. Sooho's social circle was big enough for him to realise that.
Then the money his parents would send home every month, which had been dwindling in amount and less consistent every year, had stopped completely. Grandma had a fall. Sooho got an injury which was bad enough to land him in the hospital. He walked in on Grandma crying over the phone one night, about bills, and her good-for-nothing daughter, and Sooho.
Fantasies were all good and all but reality was different.
–
"Look at him. Running like a fucking zombie. It's true, huh? Omegas really are physically useless. Only good for a fuck."
"Nah, he looks like a shit lay. He's got zero sex appeal. Out of all the omegas in this school we get saddled with the worst one."
"I hear Kim Jaeyoung in Class 1-2 will let you –" A lewd gesture. Snickers fill the air and Sooho tunes them out, pushing up his sleeves.
The sun beats down on all of them, pleasantly hot. Sooho stretches out against the brick stairs, watching Yeon Sieun drag his feet around the track in his undershirt before attempting another slow jog. The guy clearly never moves more than a walking pace in his life. It's all to do with stamina and exercise and zero to do with his omega status.
Youngbin's friend with the bad mullet cut does an exaggerated mimic of Sieun's run to raucous laughter from his friends. Their classmates chuckle and shift uncomfortably while others gaze at Sieun without joining in. No one bothers so say anything to defend him.
Sooho squints up at the sky. It isn't really a tough decision to aim his sneaker at the guy's head. He isn't doing it for Yeon Sieun. Mullet Head is just annoying.
The shoe finds its target as neatly as a three point shot into a basketball hoop. Youngbin and his friends turn to glare at Sooho in unison. "Bring it back," Sooho orders, keeping his tone casual. He's stepping on toes, he knows. Mullet Head is technically Youngbin's pack. And Youngbin, sorry excuse that he is, is still an alpha.
But Sooho's top dog in class.
For the longest time, Mullet Head wavers, looking between Youngbin and Sooho until finally Youngbin gives a tight almost imperceptible nod, his glare skewering daggers into Sooho. Mullet Head, who is called Jungchan, hands Sooho back his shoe, shoulders up and head bowed. If he had a tail, it would've been hanging between his legs. The deferential behaviour is overkill but Sooho doesn't really care. He doesn't have a point to make except that he would kindly like them to shut up which they don't. But at least they keep it low, their heads huddled together, mouths opening and closing conspiratorially.
He looks at his watch and wishes Yeon Sieun would hurry up and finish his lap soon so Sooho can finally go back to sleep.
–
"Sooho! Ahn Sooho!"
It's Doksu again.
Sooho ignores the rapid hammering on his cubicle's door. He's showered and changed back into uniform and he's considering if he has time to use the bathroom before the next class when Doksu's frantic knocking has his bowels retracting.
"Hey, Ahn Sooho! I know you're in there." The banging continues. "You gotta co – oh." Doksu stops his fist short of smashing Sooho's nose.
"Can't a guy take a dump in peace?" Sooho grouses, slamming the cubicle door behind him. The other boys in the bathroom are starting to take interest in their conversation.
Doksu ignores him, talking so fast his words are a jumbled rush. "You gotta go to the lobby. Yeon Sieun is picking a fight with Youngbin and his gang. You gotta help him. He's an omega. They're gonna snap him in half like a… like a KitKat," he finishes lamely, staring at Sooho with round imploring eyes in his round face. It's not particularly effective.
"He'll be fine. They won't hurt an omega. It's a crime." Sooho washes his hands and heads out, Doksu and some of the other boys not so subtly tailing him hoping to see some action.
"Are you serious?" Doksu splutters. "This is Jeon Youngbin we're talking about! What happened to your - to your sense of ch-chivalry?"
"Chivalry?" Sooho barks out a laugh. "What are you on about? Since when do you care about Yeon Sieun?"
Doksu colours. "I'm not an alpha," he mumbles and adds dejectedly. "And I'm fat. I don't stand a chance."
"So what if I'm an alpha?" Sooho fires back. "You know what would be a better idea? Get a teacher. Go on. The staff room's just over there."
Doksu gives him a disbelieving stare and when all Sooho does is raise his eyebrows, he shakes his head and makes a dash down the hall, shouldering his way through the small crowd, trailing disappointment all the way.
Sooho snorts.
Despite his words, he saunters towards the lobby purely out of curiosity and sure enough, there's Youngbin's lackey number two, choking a struggling Yeon Sieun against a vending machine. Lackey Two is so engrossed in turning Sieun blue in the face, he doesn't even notice Sooho walking right up to them until Youngbin and Mullet Head start backing away.
"Hey," Sooho says as the guy's grip slackens and Yeon Sieun takes a ragged breath. "Both of you. Move. I wanna buy a drink."
Lackey Two hesitates but ultimately decides it's not worth getting his ass kicked today and steps back, releasing Sieun. The smaller boy rubs his throat with one hand, panting. His usually pale face is flushed a worrying red. Sooho side-eyes him while choosing his drink and waiting for the machine to dispense a can of lemon flavoured soda. Even in distress and with their close proximity, he can scent nothing off Yeon Sieun. It's kinda weird. Kinda unsettling. Every omega Sooho has met still carried a very mild scent underneath their blockers.
A ridiculous amount of aggressive pheromones has him wrinkling his nose. When Sooho turns around, Jeon Youngbin is right up in his face, drawing himself to his full height and snarling, "You really think you're better than us, don't you?"
"No," Sooho grins leisurely, feeling his own hackles rising at the challenge. "Not at all." He can hear the vending machine dropping his can into place.
Youngbin's lips curl up, jaw popping. His breath smells like cigarette smoke and seaweed. "You think this is going to get you that tight omega's cunt? Look at him. He's got crazy eyes. I wouldn't fuck him even if you paid me."
Sooho's hand shoots out to grip the back of Yeon Sieun's collar before the other boy can launch himself at Youngbin.
"Let me go," Sieun says, dangerously soft. Outwardly Yeon Sieun's expression hasn't changed and he's not fighting to break out of Sooho's hold but Sooho has a dark feeling the guy is a hair's breadth away from going ape shit and tightens his grip.
"What's going on here?"
Sooho releases his hold on Sieun's shirt immediately just as Youngbin whips his head towards the discipline teacher. Slowly, he shuffles a step back, eyes darting murderously at Sooho once before he breaks into a placating smile. "Just catching our breath after P.E., sir."
"Why aren't you boys changed yet? Get moving," Mr Nam snaps, hands moving to his hips. To his credit, he actually spots Sieun among them and zeroes in on him with some concern. "Yeon Sieun, are you alright? These boys giving you trouble?"
Everyone's gaze flits to Sieun.
"No, sir," Sieun replies in his usual inflectionless tone. "We were just talking."
Mr Nam eyes all of them. He's not dumb. It's obvious to anyone something happened. An omega surrounded by the only two alphas in class. Sooho can guess what's going through Mr Nam's head but the man doesn't press further. Instead he says, "Those of you still in sports attire, get changed. Now. The rest of you, back to class."
Entertainment over, Class 1-6 disperses, muttering and chatting among themselves about what they'd seen. Behind Mr Nam, Doksu gives Sooho a thumbs up.
"I knew you'd step in," Doksu quips, falling in beside him as they trudge back to class.
"Yeah, yeah." The moment Sooho gets to class, he sprawls into his seat. Across the classroom, Yeon Sieun has pulled on his grey hoodie, the rigid lines of his back towards Sooho. "Don't talk to me until school's over," he tells Doksu, fishing out his pillow. He flattens himself on top of it and nearly drifts off, before remembering he left the damn can of soda in the vending machine.
It's likely gone by now.
–
Sooho bought the motorcycle himself, with money he had saved up working as a part time waiter for more than half a year. It was second hand but pretty neat. Nearly mint condition. The ahjussi who sold it to him had thrown in a bit of a discount when he heard Sooho planned to use it for work.
His deliveries start at seven pm lasting till way past midnight, often to the wee hours of the morning. The later the hour the higher the rates, which was fine by Sooho. He’s got a system figured out. Traffic at one a.m. is less crazy too and Sooho likes the freedom of driving through the streets at night with all the bright neon lights the city has to offer. Seoul never really sleeps. It sometimes feels like he’s been to every apartment, establishment and house in Seoul, and yet there’s always somewhere new each night.
Today, for instance, he’s at Dongbaek apartment, block one-o-two, unit nine-o-two. 102, 902. He’s had it memorised. 102, 902. It's a pretty run of the mill block of apartments. Not one of those super fancy ones in Gangnam and Itaewon. Sooho rings the doorbell and waits. Whoever lives in unit 902 is sure taking their time answering so Sooho rings it again. People have ordered food and fallen asleep before.
“Who is it?” someone asks through the door.
“Delivery.” Sooho has the tone of voice down to a T at this point, projecting just loud enough to be heard but not so loud that he’s going to wake the neighbours.
“I didn’t order anything.”
Please don’t be drunk. “Yeah? This is the right apartment.” He glances at the receipt again and sure it is - 902.
The door opens. Sooho’s brain does a double take.
It’s Yeon Sieun, staring at him with eyes gone wide with surprise. It’s the most emotion he has ever seen on Sieun’s face which would have been funny if Sooho wasn’t equally caught off guard.
Sieun smells incredible. As far as natural scents go, it's faint, as quietly unobtrusive as its owner but he smells so good Sooho's thoughts evaporate after the first exclamation of what the hell, it’s you. The only other time he's felt so aware of his physical body was during his final round in the first taekwondo junior competition he had joined. He remembers it vividly. Right now, he can feel his heart racing, pumping, blood rushing through capillaries into his cheeks, his ears and face hot, pulsing, pounding, chest going tight, the stomach muscles clenching.
Sieun glances down at the plastic bags in Sooho's sweaty hands and back up. “I didn't order any food.”
“Uh”, replies Sooho stupidly. He fumbles for the receipt and reads the address. “Isn’t this Dongbaek Apartment, block 102, unit 902?”
“This is block 101.”
“Right, my bad,” Sooho croaks, mouth so dry his throat clicks audibly when he tries to swallow. “Can you… get me some, uh, water?”
“Why should I?”
It's a good thing Yeon Sieun's special brand of assholery yanks him back to earth with the force of a crashing comet.
“Hey, we're classmates, aren't we?" Sooho insists. "You didn't even thank me for saving your ass.”
“I never asked for your help,” and it's delivered so matter-of-factly that Sooho can't even get offended. But still, rude.
“Come on, can’t you spare a glass of water for a friend? What if I pass out from dehydration? Don’t you think you’re being a bit of a hardass over some water? You’re just standing there while I’m dying over here.”
Sieun mouth goes tight like he's holding back a sigh and a massive eye roll but he turns back into the house, leaving the door open in an unspoken invitation which Sooho doesn’t take. He’s kinda afraid to step in. What if the whole place smells like Sieun? But he can’t work his helmet off, hold onto the food and drink water at the same time so he takes a deep breath, holds it and crosses the threshold.
There doesn’t seem to be anyone else at home. That both seems a blessing and a curse. He recalls his MMA senior Woojin telling him that in Joseon times, the family of an unwed omega were legally allowed to give an alpha ten lashes if they were caught visiting alone. No wonder Sieun seemed a little wary.
Sooho plucks off his helmet and settles it on the floor with the plastic bags of food. He’s barely sat his ass down when Sieun returns with a quarter filled bottle of water which Sooho gratefully accepts and drains. “Thanks, I’ll buy you three bottles tomorrow,” he promises, getting to his feet. Shoving his helmet back on, he hastily hands the empty bottle back to Sieun.
“You look red,” Sieun points out. He’s wearing a shirt that says OPTIMIST CLUB and isn’t that the most ironic thing Sooho has ever seen.
“Who? Me? I’m fine. You’ve saved me. Guess we’re even,” Sooho babbles. Sieun’s scent is really distracting. Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to stick around. He needs to get out as soon as possible. He wants to shove his whole face into Sieun’s neck and breathe him in like fresh laundry brought in from under the sun. The thought makes him notice the red bruises circling Sieun's throat and his guts tighten in a completely unpleasant way.
He reaches for the door instead, turning back to say with more confidence than he actually feels, “Study hard. See you tomorrow. And be good to your mom.” And with that Sooho lets himself out, fighting the urge to run. There’s an angry embarrassed energy that won't seem to leave him. The only reason he’s not sprinting towards the elevators is because he’s holding some jjigae and he doesn’t want it to spill.
In the elevator, he take a deep whiff of the stew to clear Sieun’s scent from his nose. He has to do it twice more just to feel normal.
“Get a grip, Ahn Sooho,” Sooho mutters to himself. So what if Yeon Sieun smelled nice. All omegas smelled nice to an alpha. Nothing special about it.
By the time he drops the food off at the correct unit, Sooho has half convinced himself that he’d forgotten all about Sieun’s scent. The bruises, though, remain starkly vivid in his mind.
–
The new kid is going to be a problem. Sooho can tell just by the look of him. Pale face, glasses, and gangly limbs with no core strength whatsoever. He reminds Sooho of a sheer sheet someone forgot to peg down, about to be whipped away by even the slightest wind. His voice is so wobbly, Sooho slept through his introduction and only jerked awake during the applause.
Glasses Guy is a beta through and through.
Assessment made, Sooho puts his head back down, careful not to look beyond the new guy to the person seated on his left. Hopefully, Beta Boy will be someone else's problem. Sooho has enough problems as it is.
He dozes, tries not to think about anything at all.
It's not quite the fitful sleep he gets in the early hours of the morning, stretched out across school desks but it's better than nothing.
The bell chimes. The scrapping of chairs against the floor, footsteps and the sound of chatter are unusually difficult to ignore today. Sooho should invest in earmuffs but the teachers would probably draw a line at such blatant indifference.
Once the hubbub dies down, he tries to slip back into his half slumber but this time it's the lack of noise that has him prying his eyes open to watch the scene unfold in front of him.
"You must be insane, damnit," Youngbin's voice cuts sharply across the room. The whole class has fallen silent, watching Sieun challenge an alpha.
Again.
Sooho wants to hit them both.
He gets it. He does. Youngbin is a grade-A dickhead. And Sieun is… well, in another life, he would have been a six foot alpha with bulging muscles and crazy eyes.
But right now he's an omega. The least omega-like omega in existence probably. Sooho can't imagine him ever being submissive but he could at least be polite. Directly staring down an alpha like that is just not done.
But that's what you like about him though, a small traitorous voice quips.
Not true.
Sooho likes how he smells. There's a big difference in liking how someone smells and liking them for their personality. Yeon Sieun is just a weirdo omega with big doe eyes who smells nice.
"Why are you guys so noisy these days? You woke me up from my nap." Sooho interrupts before they can start going for each other's throats. "Can I sleep in peace? Hm? Please?"
He can smell the spike in tension from Jeon Youngbin and for the briefest moment, Sooho entertains the idea of Youngbin coming at him with Mullet Head and his other lackey who looks like he still has too much ape in his ancestry.
He could take them all on. That would be fun.
But, predictably, they back down. Youngbin mutters something at Sieun as he passes but that's all he does. The chatter picks up again. Youngbin and his friends stew in their chosen corner. Sieun doesn't even spare a glance for Sooho, just plops into his seat and pulls out a book.
Fine.
It wasn't like Sooho was trying to save him from a beating again.
He nestles back into his pillow and closes his eyes.
–
On weekends, Sooho works at a moving company run by Woojin's uncle. The employees are an ever rotating mix of professional fighters looking for some income to tide them over to the next match, down on their luck drifters, highschool dropouts and well, Woojin.
It's back breaking work but Woojin's uncle pays him the same as everyone else despite his age. He’s gotta keep his muscles in shape somehow.
“Yah, Sooho, let’s grab dinner later. My treat,” Woojin says.
“Can’t. I promised Grandma I’ll be back for dinner. Watch your step.” In Seoul, the chances of someone moving out of a house is small. Seven out of ten times, Woojin and Sooho are tackling an apartment. If they’re lucky, the elevators are working. But even then, most furniture won’t fit and they either have to take it apart or carry it down whole. There are four other guys working on the move today. They all take turns wrapping, packaging, sorting, dismantling and carrying.
Sooho and Woojin make it to the bottom of the stairs without breaking their necks, or worse - breaking the client’s carefully bubble wrapped glass table top.
“Gently does it,” Uncle Kwon says, directing them towards the truck.
“Man, we haven’t had a meal together in forever,” Woojin says, lowering the glass into position and pushing sweat-soaked bangs out of his eyes. “How’s school?”
“Same ol’ stuff.”
“You still training?”
“You ask me that every week.”
“Yeah, but are you?”
“A little,” Sooho admits. He joins Woojin for a short break, sitting in the back of the truck and chugging some water.
“I’ve got a match at the end of the month. Come support your hyung,” Woojin wheedles. “I’ll get you a free pass.”
“I’ll think about it,” Sooho hedges. It’s not that he doesn’t want to cheer his hyung on but Sooho left MMA behind like a bad break up. Even thinking about it still hurts a bit, if he’s being honest with himself. He’s been trying to do a clean break and he’s afraid going to a match is only going to fill him with bitter regret about what he had to give up.
“Damn, you’re moody.” A pause. “Relationship problems?”
“What?” Sooho answers far too quickly and knows Woojin would jump on that. “No.”
“Ah, but you’re at that age,” Woojin adds knowingly like he’s a fifty year old ahjussi instead of a twenty-five year old bleached blond, history obsessed weirdo that he is. “So who is it? Talk to me.”
“No one.” Sooho has no idea why Yeon Sieun’s face flashes through his thoughts. “I don’t even know him.”
Woojin hums. “So it’s a guy.” He chuckles when Sooho refuses to answer. “I’ll get you two tickets. You can bring your date.”
Sooho shakes his head, grinning. He can’t picture it. Yeon Sieun on a date where he barely says more than five words. What does he get up to on weekends? Is he at hagwon all day? Studying? If there ever was a guy who needed to have a little fun, it’s Sieun. Does the guy ever crack a smile? There has to be something going on under that poker face.
“Hyung, I’m serious. We’re not even friends. I don’t think he has any friends. Or wants them.”
“Well, maybe he needs one. You can still bring him as a friend.”
“He’s an omega.”
“Oh,” Woojin deflates. He’s of the strict opinion that alpha and omegas can never be just friends. Woojin is an alpha himself and has proudly dated and lost all his omega friends. In Sooho’s opinion, this just makes Woojin a lousy boyfriend. “Well, good luck to ya. You know that Joseon saying, to court an omega is to –”
“Gotta get back to work.” Sooho jumps to his feet and jogs back to the apartment, leaving a sputtering Woojin behind.
Maybe he needs one.
Yeah but does Sooho need this friendship? Yeon Sieun seems like a lot of work and Woojin isn’t wrong about Sieun being trouble. Not because he’s an omega but because Sieun is… the way he is.
He makes up his mind to stay out of the brewing drama from now on. After all, Sooho is just trying to survive highschool with minimal trauma, just like everyone else.
–
“As you all have been informed, today marks the first day of mock exams week. Please arrange your seats and sit according to your registration numbers.”
Class 1-6 shuffles their desks and chairs into place with reluctant groans and grumbles. The bustle of activity is punctured by the occasional student dragging or sliding their desk across the tiled floor, too lazy to lift it up. Finally, the desks are lined neatly and everyone glances around at their new spot, hoping a friend is sitting nearby.
“Oh, hey,” Sooho says when he ends up in front of Yeon Sieun. The kid does not look up from his revision, doesn’t even acknowledge Sooho’s existence. “Okay,” Sooho shrugs and sits down. Sieun is scentless again today which makes it even easier for Sooho to ignore him.
He passes the exam paper to the back without turning around. Once the test starts, Sooho flips through his paper, marking the questions he can answer (less than ten) and starts working on those. For all the rest, he circles B because he’s feeling the letter B today. Chances are he’s going to get some right. He’s not trying to score, he’s just trying to pass.
Test done, Sooho settles down to nap. Exams really are the best time to sleep. The class is actually quiet for once.
He must have fallen asleep, properly asleep, because he distinctly remembers dreaming of something sweet and soothing as he wakes. Sooho blinks and sits up, disoriented. He's still in class and he hasn't been sleeping all that long. It's only been thirty minutes into the test.
Then he smells it.
Sieun's scent.