Chapter Text
˙ ✩°˖🍋🍦☀️ ⋆。˚
"You have to hit every single beat, got it? I know it's fast, but there's a fine line between dancing to the music and letting the music swallow you up, go it?"
"Yes, Hyung."
The chorused answer always makes Minho's lips twitch with pride, though he ducks his head to try to hide the gesture; it doesn't matter, Felix looks for it every time, and he catches it every time. His own yes, Hyung sounds a little sassy to his own ears, but it's just because Minho refuses to admit how pleased he is to have been ultimately promoted.
A TA before senior year! Felix had bragged to the pack, shaking Minho back and forth where they both stood in the middle of their living room. Dance team captain, too!
It's not that big of a deal, Minho had groaned.
It literally is, though, Felix had huffed, and then he'd shoved Minho forward. So everyone needs to get this man a drink and a thousand compliments STAT.
Of course, their friends had been all too happy to fulfill Felix's wishes.
He knows Minho didn't expect to be brought in as a replacement TA for their dance technique class, but after the Gala – where his choreography for the Dance Team as well as his own performances were praised to the high heavens – and Jiwoo's detainment, the class needed a TA, and Minho was clearly the best option.
They all got their laurels after the fact. Jisung, Changbin, and Chan were giddy post-conversation with a creative director from one of Seoul's biggest production companies. Innie's voice was, of course, lovely enough to have him swarmed with members of the Fine Arts department, all of them desperate for collaboration (and when Jeongin looped Seungmin into the mix, the Omega could only manage to feign irritation for all of a second).
Felix himself was overwhelmed with the praise he received – not just from other students and the department staff, but from industry professionals. Minho all but dragged him from circle to circle, and he kept a heavy hand on Felix's shoulder, as if worried he might run in the face of the praise. To be fair, running had been Felix's instinct.
That first dance, a choreographer had said, nodding at Felix. The trio? Your expression was … well, it was otherworldly. Whatever you were thinking about during that piece? I'd keep it top of mind for future performances.
Felix felt confident that his blush must have reached from the tops of his ears all the way down to his toes; he couldn't help but glance at Hyunjin when she said as much. I love you too, mouthed across a sea of darkness and glimmering spotlight.
He doubted he'd be able to keep his love for Hyunjin anywhere but top of his mind.
Within a week, he decided to declare a double major. He didn't tell Minho. He only mentioned it to Hyunjin an hour before the scheduled meeting with his advisor. And he couldn't – still can't – decide if he's an idiot for wanting to add more to his plate, or if his plate has simply gotten a little bigger; big enough to admit that with the number of dance credits he's currently taking, it would almost be sillier not to declare a dance major along with his culinary arts major.
He's still not great at asking for help all the time, but he's gotten better. And in the areas where he hasn't gotten better, Hyunjin and their friends have developed a keen awareness of when Felix is pushing himself. Sometimes, he hardly recognizes he's working himself a little too hard, and all it takes is a text from Innie or Seungmin (come game plz!!) or a raised-brow glance from Chan in the practice room doorway (how about you come back to ours and we order some food, hmm?) to have him shaking off his perfectionism.
Other times, though, that pressure (self-administered, he can recognize that now) feels like something to cling to. If he's not breaking his legs (metaphorically, of course) to prove himself, does he even belong here at all? It's all too easy to get lost in the spiral of self-criticism.
That's when they send in the big guns; well, one of the three big guns. Namely: Minho, Hyunjin, or Dumpling.
Well, Dumpling is always a package deal with someone else. All it takes is a single glance at his big, kitten eyes and the suggestion that he might miss Felix, and Felix is crumbling with guilt.
Minho takes a more direct approach. Sometimes, he just glares at Felix through the dance room mirror until Felix feels so uncomfortable that he can't dance anymore. Sometimes, when that doesn't work, Minho will cup a hand at the nape of Felix's neck, and the reminder that Minho is his pack Omega will make him hesitate enough to be convinced.
If all else fails, Minho just hoists Felix over his shoulder (he's surprisingly strong) and carries Felix – protests be damned – out of the fine arts building and straight to Jisung and Hyunjin's apartment. He seems to get a sick sort of satisfaction from what he calls Yongbok delivery, and Hyunjin and Jisung always seem a little too amused when they see Felix draped (usually in defeat, at that point) over Minho's shoulder.
He works too hard, Minho loves to chorus.
But from where Felix stands (or rather, lies, flat on his back with breaths heavy and limbs already thrumming with the promise of a wonderful soreness come this evening), Minho does not seem all that concerned about Felix over-exerting himself. He runs their technique class with an iron fist.
Minho walks over, his shadow eclipsing the fluorescents of the studio lights. Even silhouetted, Felix can tell by the teasing tilt of Minho's head that he's smirking.
"Tired already? We still have dance team practice after this," Minho teases, nudging Felix in the side with his toe. Felix whines and swipes at Minho's ankle with a put-upon hiss. "Are you leaning into the kitten accusations now?"
"If you can't beat 'em, I guess," Felix grumbles, and he lets Minho pull him upright. "You're intense as a TA. My whole body feels like it got hit by a bus."
"Do you want me to drop out–?"
"No, literally never," Felix cuts Minho off. "I just like complaining. Let me complain."
"You and Hannie and Hyunjin are the three most whiny people I've ever met," Minho tuts.
"You love us, though," Felix smiles up at his Hyung. Minho huffs.
"Unfortunately, I do. Now where's your water-"
Minho's question is cut off by the sound of the door opening, and his face melts into an expression of unsurprised amusement. Felix amps himself up for the Herculean action of turning his head, but then he smells it.
Whiskey. Chili. Blood orange.
His fated mate.
Felix jumps to his feet. He doesn't even need to look, just follows that gut-deep connection between them, throws himself in the air, and lets Hyunjin catch him.
"Oof!" Hyunjin grunts, one arm wrapping around Felix's waist as he catches his balance. Felix buries his face against Hyunjin's neck, nose brushing the scent patch whose purpose exists only for others, given no amount of scent patches or neutralizer has stopped them from smelling each other yet. Hyunjin laughs, burying his face in Felix's neck right back. "Trying to tackle me?"
"I'm not that heavy," Felix grumbles, pulling back to pout at Hyunjin. Hyunjin rolls his eyes.
"Maybe it's all that sugar coursing through your veins. Makes you dense–"
"Dense?" Felix scoffs, but he's having a pretty tough time keeping a smile off his face. Teasing and being teased, their shared common tongue. Hyunjin rests Felix back to the ground, but Felix slumps against him, letting Hyunjin support more of his (apparently sugar-dense) weight. Hyunjin immediately runs a wide hand up and down his back, then scratches at the nape of Felix's neck. It's a little pathetic how quickly a purr starts to bubble up in his throat.
"Minho kicking your ass?" Hyunjin asks softly.
"Yes," Felix whines. "Being mean. Beat him up for me, Alpha."
"Aw, Sweetheart," Hyunjin matches Felix's breathy tone with a semi-forced growl of his own. "Alpha is, unfortunately, cognizant of his well-being and his own life – namely, that trying to fight Lee Minho would result in said life being ended."
Felix snorts and pulls back. "Oof, way to shatter my narrow-minded view of subgender hierarchy. It's too much for my fragile, Omega brain."
It took a little after the Gala for everyone to get on board with Felix's brand of coping – namely, humor. To be fair, it took Felix a minute to get back on board as well. The gala itself passed happily, easily, without much fear on Felix's part. He and Hyunjin were a little too busy floating in the mutual 'glow of their fatedness', to quote Jisung. It wasn't until that night that the reality sank in. Felix had fallen asleep almost as soon as he hit his pillow (or, more realistically, he'd started to fall asleep mid shower, Hyunjin's solid body and deft hands the only things keeping him properly upright), pleasantly achy from dancing and with his nose pressed right against Hyunjin's scent gland. He'd woken mere hours later, a scream lodged in his throat and his limbs stricken in the memory of paralysis.
"You're okay, you're okay," Hyunjin's voice had reached him as if from underwater, or, rather, as if he was at the surface, and Felix was drowning in ghosts of his past. The memory of Jiwoo's confident sneer melted with the shadowed grin of that Alpha in his childhood bedroom. "Lix, Sweetheart, Angel – you can move, there's no voice, you're safe–"
Hyunjin later confessed that he didn't even realize he was pushing soothing pheromones. They hit Felix not like something to control, but like a gentle hand held through a wall of fog; an offering of accompaniment through the fear.
"Sorry," Felix had gasped. "Sorry, sorry–"
"Why the fuck," Hyunjin had whispered, thumb brushing away the tears Felix hadn't realized had formed, "are you apologizing?"
"I'm sorry I froze," Felix found the words spilling from his lips. "I'm sorry that I needed you to get me. If you hadn't – if he had – Jinnie, he was going to have me lie about you–"
"You didn't, though," Hyunjin whispered. He grabbed Felix's wrists gently, so close that Felix could count his sleep-clumped lashes. "You didn't. But Lix, even if … even if I hadn't come in time, it still wouldn't have been your fault."
"But your scent," Felix babbled, "you're already nervous about it – and it would have been a lie, but it'd be my word against his–"
"Felix," Hyunjin said, squeezing his wrists like he could stem the flow of Felix's panic. It kind of worked. "It would not have been your fault. Say it - say it wouldn't have been my fault."
"I-it wouldn't have been my f-fault," Felix echoed.
"None of it has ever been your fault," Hyunjin added.
"None of it has ever been my fault," Felix echoed again, even though Hyunjin didn't request the repetition. Hyunjin smiled anyway and tugged him into a hug. "Are you okay? After everything tonight?" Felix asked.
"I mean, it wasn't fun," Hyunjin admitted, chin hooked over Felix's shoulder. "When I smelled your scent, it was like time slowed down. And then when I saw him with you – saw that he had you under – I saw red. I really – I've never felt like that before. Never felt that … that–"
"Angry?" Felix guesses, pulling back to study his boyfriend. Hyunjin shook his head, eyes narrowed in consideration.
"In control, I think," Hyunjin eventually answered. He let the words hang like he was testing out the truth, then nodded. "Yeah. Like, a part of me wanted to kill him. Might have actually killed him, if he hadn't released you. But it was more like … like I was so aware of you, and of my Alpha, and that he would back down. Because I wasn't giving him the option of not."
Felix's breath had caught. The smell of sleepy lemon-vanilla sugar – sharpened by his fear as it had been – melted into something more liquid. Hyunjin raised a brow, the corner of his lip twitching.
"Shut up," Felix hissed.
Hyunjin ignored him. "Did that turn you on?"
"I said shut up," Felix whined. "It's … I don't know, it's hot that you got all Alpha in a romantic, self-assured way, okay? Sue me."
Hyunjin's smile only widened. Felix loved him like this – so truly himself, so at one with his wolf. Really, Hyunjin seemed to be the only one between the two of them who had ever doubted his Alpha.
"You're soft and you're romantic and you're gentle," Felix explained, relishing in the blush each word elicited. "But you're also hyper-protective and strong and … and confident. You should be confident, at least. The second that door opened, even though I couldn't move, I knew I'd be okay. Safe."
"Safe?"
"Safe."
Hyunjin's scent bloomed happy, and Felix bit back a coo at the image of his Alpha, tail-thumping with joy.
Jiwoo had, unironically, set up his own downfall by trying to record Felix's forced lie of an accusation. Felix was indeed called to give a statement about what had occurred and, to his shock, was also asked about the night of the party. He'd been anxious, but had still dared to ask if any other Omegas had stepped forward with accusations.
Thankfully, the answer from the cops was no. Terrifyingly, though, they'd found a nightmarish amount of content on his phone that made it clear a not yet needed to be tacked on. Online chat rooms about getting someone scent drunk, conversations about how to make an Alpha Voice last, podcasts and articles, and thread after thread about the softness of today's Alphas, the nerve of modern Omegas.
He was expelled within twenty-four hours of the Gala.
He wouldn't go to jail for life, Felix knew that. Technically, he didn't touch Felix, so it wouldn't be a long time to serve in prison. He would, however, live the rest of his life with a stamp to his name: offender.
Good luck working in the dance industry now, Felix had thought smugly. Not such a fragile Omega after all, huh?
"You look way too pleased," Hyunjin – currently, present Hyunjin – pinches his cheek. "You have that murderous glint in your eyes."
"Learned it from Minho-hyung," Felix winks. Hyunjin half-laughs, half-shudders. "Wait, why are you here? Your class doesn't start for another forty-five minutes, right?"
Hyunjin rolls his eyes, digs into his tote bag, and pulls out a water bottle. "You forgot it at mine, and I have a vested interest in you not dehydrating yourself before you're too focused on dance. No, Lix, don't pout – you're literally the most stubborn person on the planet."
"He really is," Wooyoung bounds over, San on his heel. The cluster of bodies pulls Minho's attention, too. Felix grumbles as Wooyoung pinches his cheek. "So much stubbornness in such a short body–"
"This is slander and abuse and some kind of phobic, I'm just not sure which," Felix huffs. He reaches out to take the water bottle from Hyunjin, who holds it straight up above both their heads. Felix scoffs, tries once to reach for it, then scoffs again. "What happened to a vested interest in my hydration?"
"My vested interest in making fun of you outweighs it, I'm afraid."
"You walked all the way here to bring him his water bottle while there's a perfectly usable water fountain right outside this room," Minho clarified, deadpan. Wooyoung gets out a soft aw, then elbows San in the stomach.
"Why don't you do shit like that for me?"
"For one, we're barely ever not together," San points out. "And for another, it'd be quicker to count the items you do remember to bring for your classes than the items you forget."
Hyunjin takes pity on Felix and passes him the water bottle. His hand lingers as he passes it over, a brush of fingertip against the inside of Felix's wrist, just enough to coax more of Felix's scent into the air. Felix smiles knowingly at him, the teasing edge certainly melting.
"Don't bother comparing yourselves," Minho says. "They are fated mates, after all."
Wooyoung raises his brows. "Fated mates? Really?"
Felix knows he's probably blushing. Hyunjin is, at the very least.
"Yup," Felix says softly. It's simultaneously a fact he wants to scream from the rooftop, and a fact that feels like bragging. Look, he wants to say, this is my Alpha, and he's soft and strong and smells like a dream, and the universe itself decided we're meant to be together.
"Huh," Wooyoung tilts his head, smile both teasing and genuine. "Good for you."
"Thanks," Hyunjin says. He taps the side of Felix's water bottle and leans down. "Seriously, Lix. Drink. You need water to combat the sheer amount of sugar in your body."
Felix can't help it. He cocks his head and puts on a pout. "Thought you liked how sweet I am?"
Hyunjin's scent doesn't spike so much as it deepens and curls. Felix loves the fact that he's the only one who can smell the effect of his words. He really, really loves the fact that his words affect Hyunjin at all.
"Oh," Wooyoung snorts, clapping Minho on the shoulders. "Oh, I do not envy your living situation."
"Please, he and Jisung owe me for life," Hyunjin snorts, and Minho splutters indignantly. Hyunjin ignores him and taps the water bottle again, gaze closer to pleading this time. Felix makes a show of rolling his eyes but takes a sip. As soon as the water hits his tongue, he realizes how thirsty he'd been. He realizes how hot he feels, too, not necessarily feverish but certainly overheated.
He takes another greedy sip. Hyunjin hums smugly.
"Well, my job's done," he says, dropping a quick kiss on Felix's head. "Have a good rehearsal, Sweetheart."
Felix bites his lip as Hyunjin walks out of the room, then leans after him, hanging off the door frame.
"Hey!"
Hyunjin turns on the spot. His hair fans out behind him, head already tilting in that particular way it always does when Felix calls for him. The sight robs Felix of his breath.
"Yeah?" Hyunjin asks. Felix shakes his water bottle.
"Thanks, Alpha – hey!"
Minho grabs him by the neck of his shirt and pulls him back in, much to everyone's amusement but Felix's.
"You're officially cut off," Minho sighs. "We have choreo to learn, and you're going to be off beat if you're lovesick the whole time."
"Like I said," Felix huffed. "Evil, cruel TA."
˙ ✩°˖🥃🌶️🍊 ⋆。˚
The text from Jeongin comes when Hyunjin is half a block away from Sunshine Sweets. Hyunjin pauses, reads the text several times, and then frowns.
Baby Alpha: your boyfriend's in a mood, plz come scent him or something ??
Baby Alpha: he didn't even eat ice cream when i offered it
A mood? Felix? A bad mood at Sunshine Sweets, land of all things pink and, most importantly, all things saccharine?
That's … disturbing.
Felix has gotten better at accepting help. He's more willing to slow down, to take a breath, to be dragged away from a one AM baking marathon or from a sweat-fogged practice room mid-run through. The one thing he hasn't budged on is work. He admitted to Hyunjin that he knew it was probably insane to keep his shift schedule at Sunshine Sweets the same as it was before he was a double major, but he 'can't help it, Hyunjinnie' – he loves the ice cream parlor, and he loves that their friends are endlessly fond of working at the corner tables during his shifts, and he loves working with Jeongin (and gossiping when things are slow).
Plus, it's apparently 'special.'
'Special?' Hyunjin had teased. Felix had blushed, that pretty pink blossoming over his cheeks, and said:
'I don't know, I kind of met my fated mate there. So it's special.'
Hyunjin couldn't argue with that. Besides, he finds that he works better at Sunshine Sweets than almost anywhere else, and he's had a surprising amount of sketching to do as of late.
Since the Gala, he's been busy – and for the first time, it's at a professional level. His photo of Felix was, apparently, the talk of the evening (he'd been a little distracted with the words fated mate, fated mate rolling around in his skull). As such, he'd been shocked when a man approached him towards the end of the night and said:
"Hwang Hyunjin, yes?"
Hyunjin had nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Your painting – it's beautiful. Really, I've never seen anything like that. The depth of the colors, the complexity of the textures, and then that camouflaged portrait amidst it all? It must have taken quite a while to build that skill set up."
Hyunjin had probably been blushing, but he'd smiled. "Thank you. I've been painting for basically my whole life, but it was the first time I painted with that …"
Passion? Love? Adoration? Intensity?
"Freedom," he settled on, and the word felt incredibly right when he'd said it. The man had smiled knowingly.
"May I ask – who is the man in the photo? What was the inspiration?"
Hyunjin's eyes found Felix instinctively. He was giggling, still flustered and pleased, with Jisung and Changbin – who were no doubt teasing him for Hyunjin's down-badism and the painting it resulted in. The man followed his line of sight and smiled.
"Your mate?"
"Fated," Hyunjin had bragged, unable to help himself. He cleared his throat, a bit embarrassed to have offered the information with such gusto. "I painted him in the, uh, colors of my scent?"
"Wow," the man whispered. "I … well, I'm assuming the answer to my first question is now going to be a know, but would you ever consider selling it–?"
"No," Hyunjin said firmly. The man laughed.
"I figured as much. That being said … do you do commissions?"
That was how Hyunjin found himself now – an actual, commissioned artist. The man – the gallery owner – offered him a frankly insane amount of money and asked if Hyunjin thought he could replicate the style of the painting of Felix, but in honor of the man's late wife. So far, it was going well. So well that it all felt kind of stupid, if he was being honest. Another commission was on the horizon, and both promised to be displayed in the gallery for at least a month.
A real artist, Hyunjin had whispered to Felix one night, dazed and stunned and a little disbelieving. A real, paid artist in a gallery.
You were always a real artist, Felix had whispered back. People are just noticing now.
He'd planned on heading to Sunshine Sweets, getting some sketching done for the second of his commissions, and then walking Felix back to the Omega dorms before locking himself in the studio to finish up the first commission. He's on a time crunch, after all, so if he wants to see Felix before midnight, it'll have to be at the parlor. Felix woke up before him that morning and dashed off to his patisserie class. Hyunjin had barely been awake, and he tries now to remember if his boyfriend had seemed irritated or sad.
He remembers mumbling a sleepy love you, Lix, remembers the gentle press of lips to his own, and a soft giggle of love you too, Jinnie. Felix's scent had been its ever-sweet self, a little tired given the early hour but perfectly neutral otherwise.
When he walks into Sunshine Sweets, though, he sees – or rather smells – exactly what Jeongin was getting at.
The lemon-vanilla-sugar that hovers above all the other aromas in the parlor is noticeably annoyed; the citrus a little under-ripe, the vanilla a little artificial, the sugar a little cloying. Jeongin stares at him meaningfully from where he's 'cleaning' a table (aka, pretending to clean a table while he chats with Seungmin and Changbin, who have already taken over their usual table)
"Where is he?" Hyunjin asks. Jeongin sighs and jerks his head.
"Just ran to the back to get more coffee beans. Seriously, I've never seen Felix cranky before. Fix it."
"It's disconcerting," Changbin agrees, pen tapping on the edge of his textbook. "Obviously, I know he gets sad sometimes, but he's being …"
Hyunjin raises a brow at Changbin, then Jeongin, and then finally at Seungmin. Seungmin winces.
"I believe the word Changbin might be looking for is bitchy?"
Hyunjin growls before he can stop himself. Seungmin groans.
"Not, like, to anyone actually. It's still Felix, I don't think he could be rude to someone if we paid him. But his vibe is kind of … "
Seungmin shrugs, like he knows bitchy will set Hyunjin off again. Hyunjin opens his mouth, prepared to push for an example of said bitchiness as the very least, but then the source of that sickly, irritated scent storms back into the front of the shop, a massive bag of coffee beans in hand.
Oof. He does look irritated. There's a furrow at his brow and a narrow slant to his eyes that reminds Hyunjin of an animal itching for a fight. His shoulders are bunched high to his ears, and his mouth is twisted in a pout that's less adorable pleading and more insistent swallowing of snappiness. However, the second he sees Hyunjin, the sugar blooms more authentically in the air, and his lips unfurl into a smile.
"Hyune!" he calls happily. "What are you doing here?"
"Figured I might as well sketch with a view," Hyunjin says, throwing in a wink. Jeongin, Seungmin, and Changbin groan – Seungmin says something about shameless flirting right in front of my affogato – but it's worth it to see Felix get flustered. Hyunjin immediately moves behind the counter to take the coffee beans from him. Felix huffs.
"I was managing that just fine, you know."
"I know," Hyunjin shrugs, heaving the bag onto the counter. "I like helping you, though. Besides, my muscles aren't just for you to grope at."
Felix looks torn between arguing his ability and being amused. In the end, amusement wins out with a small, thin snort and a quick squeeze to Hyunjin's bicep. "They're not? That's news to me."
Hyunjin leans against the counter, and Felix immediately starts prepping a cup of coffee. Hyunjin knows there's no use in saying that Felix doesn't have to, nor that Hyunjin probably owes him a good chunk of money at this point. Instead, he watches his boyfriend brew the iced Americano like it's second nature.
"Your flavor's doing well, by the way," Felix says. Hyunjin raises his brows and glances down the tubs of ice cream. Sure enough, Captain Bitter is already fairly empty. "Told you your scent was lovely. Clearly, I'm not the only one who thinks so."
Huh. There's … there's an edge to Felix's voice. Hyunjin's instincts prickle with awareness.
"I still can't believe you made my scent into an ice cream," Hyunjin says. He'd been shocked when he found out – and it was Jeongin who blabbed, because Felix was a little embarrassed to admit he'd spent an hour past his shift's end trying to figure out the perfect balance of whiskey, orange, and a dash of spice to replicate Hyunjin's scent.
"Still can't believe you won't eat it," Felix teases, but the joke comes out a little thin – like the banter was instinctive, but his heart isn't in it. Hyunjin frowns, then glances at the table of their friends. Jeongin waves his hands through the air as if to say see what I'm talking about? He reaches into one of the cupboards, then groans. "Dammit, where the fuck are the filters?"
"I can go grab some from the back–" Jeongin starts, moving forward, but Felix waves a hand.
"It's fine. They're probably buried in the storage closet; it'd take forever to explain where they are. Just man the shop if anyone comes in, okay?"
Felix storms to the back, the door shutting behind him with a soft, but heavy, thud. Hyunjin stares open-mouthed.
"Damn," he says. "I … okay, yeah, I see what you meant."
Jeongin sidles beside him behind the counter and sighs, fiddling with the speaker until music starts to float through the parlor. "Yeah, I was hoping you knew what was going on with him. He's been like this since I got here."
"I have no clue," Hyunjin murmurs nervously. "I–"
The familiar jingling of the bell has them both turning, Jeongin parroting in a classic, customer-service voice: "Welcome to Sunshine Sweets."
The man who walks in looks equal parts unnerved to have been greeted so immediately and intrigued by the shop. He's familiar, but only in the way strangers become familiar if you walk past them enough times on a college campus.
"Hi," he says, walking up to the register. "Um, do you sell coffee?"
"Sure do," Jeongin nods to the machine behind him. "We're, uh, actually grabbing coffee filters, but if you're willing to wait a minute, we can help you out. Or, if you want, you can sample some flavors?"
The man glances down the line of flavors. Hyunjin catches a whiff of his scent. Fruity and floral, not immediately identifiable but distinctly Omega. "Uh, sure. Any you recommend?"
"I guess it depends on what flavors you like," Jeongin says, grabbing a sample spoon and positioning himself behind the flavors. "Sometimes it helps to think of what you'd order at a bar."
The Omega hums in consideration. "Usually I get a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned."
Jeongin bites back a laugh and reaches towards Captain Bitter. Hyunjin finds himself a little curious to see firsthand how his flavor goes over. The Omega accepts the spoon from Innie, gives it a sniff, then looks back up.
"Wow, this smells really interesting."
Jeongin snorts and jerks his head towards Hyunjin. "It's actually based on his scent."
The shift is instantaneous. The uninterested Omega looks Hyunjin him up and down, and his posture changes. Hyunjin feels his eye twitch as the Omega leans over the counter and tilts his neck, giving Hyunjin a clear look at his uncovered scent gland. He pops the wooden spoon into his mouth and groans appreciatively. It's far too close to a moan to be anything but intentional.
"Oh wow, this is your scent?" the Omega asks. He makes a show of licking the sample spoon, or maybe he's just savoring it. Hyunjin's not not used to being hit on, but he's also over- and underestimated behaviors before, reading into smiles or missing lingering touches.
Hyunjin glares fleetingly at Jeongin, who, to his credit, looks properly guilty.
He settles on neutral affirmation.
"Uh, yeah, it's my scent. My boyf–"
"Wow, it's so good," the Omega cuts him off. "I've never tasted something like this before. It must have taken a lot of work to get the flavors accurate."
Definitely flirting, Hyunjin is confident now. But before he can open his mouth and say yeah, my boyfriend's pretty well acquainted with my scent and taste, thanks very much, the man in question squeezes in front of Hyunjin and smiles simperingly. Hyunjin nearly jumps – he hadn't heard Felix return. Then, he nearly winces; Felix's scent is no longer a maybe-annoyed smell, but a pissed-off bouquet.
"Oh, it was a lot of effort," Felix says, voice pitched higher than normal, a clip to his words. He mirrors the Omega's posture, and with Hyunjin still standing behind him…
Well, it's not the most family-friendly position in the world. Still, Felix tilts his head, and Hyunjin can tell he's smiling with his teeth on display.
"Believe me, I put in the work to make sure I got the taste just right."
Felix practically purrs when he says it. Hyunjin can feel his blush burning a trail from the tips of his ears and down his neck, but frankly, neither Omega is paying attention to him right now.
And, perhaps more frankly, seeing Lee Felix jealous is … far from the unattractive.
"Sounds like a lot of work for ice cream," the Omega snips. Long gone are the batting lashes and stretched neck. He stares at Felix like he wants nothing more than to dive over the counter and strangle him.
But Felix – sweet, sunshine Felix – just eyes the Omega with a disinterested flicker of his eyes. "Maybe for some people. I take ice cream pretty seriously."
The Omega bares his teeth just slightly, and Felix's scent lashes in response. Hyunjin might be all aboard the let Felix fight his own battles train, but he has a pretty vested interest in ensuring that his Omega doesn't get physically attacked, especially not at his place of work.
"I can get you that coffee," Jeongin says, grabbing the coffee filters Felix had, apparently, dropped directly onto the ground. Felix cocks his head.
"Will that be all?" Felix asks. He swears Seungmin whistles at the … well, there's no other word for it, at the bitchiness in his voice. The Omega glances at Hyunjin one last time and clicks his tongue.
"Apparently."
Felix rings up an iced coffee and spins the iPad towards the Omega. The Omega doesn't look away from Felix as he taps his phone, nor as he takes his coffee from Jeongin. It's only when he's nearly at the front door that he looks at Hyunjin, lips wrapping around the straw of his drink.
"Good luck with that one," he says pointedly. The door jingles shut, but the sound is overwhelmed by a growl. Felix surges forward, and Hyunjin barely catches him with an arm around his middle.
"Whoa, Lix," he gasps. Felix fights him for a split second, and he's surprisingly strong. "Easy there, Angel."
"Don't easy there, Angel me," Felix huffs, whipping towards Hyunjin with a scoff. "Did you see how he looked at you?"
"Yeah, I did, but–"
"And oh my God, the spoon?" Felix continues, crossing his arms. "Who acts like that–?"
"You're very right," Hyunjin continues, and God, he's deplorable because Felix isn't just jealous, he's seething, and why is that the hottest thing Hyunjin's ever seen? "But Lix, he–"
"And that 'must have taken a lot of work to get the flavors right'?" he pitches his voice up in imitation, whirling towards Seungmin and Changbin, who look equal parts amused and terrified. "Please, like he would know the first thing about making Hyunjin cu–"
"Sweetheart," Hyunjin presses his hand over Felix's mouth before Felix can start articulating exactly how he's tasted Hyunjin before. Felix tenses, then his whole body slumps back, a frustrated whine muffled behind Hyunjin's palm. Hyunjin removes his hand and gently massages at the bunch of Felix's shoulders. "Hey, look at me."
All it takes is his hands around Felix's waist, and Felix moves like air, turning so easily in Hyunjin's hold. He's still settled on his hip, arms still crossed, expression still vengeful. Hyunjin rests his fingers beneath Felix's chin and tilts his head up. His eyes are a little shiny, a twinge of sadness shimmering amongst the anger.
"He was hitting on you," Felix whimpers. Hyunjin hums softly and brushes his thumb along that particular heart-shaped freckle.
"I'm sorry, Angel."
"It's not your fault," Felix scoffs. "It's that Omega's fault, my scent is all fucking over you–"
Felix turns back to the door like he's genuinely considering chasing the Omega down. Hyunjin's amusement and deplorable attraction are quickly simmering away in favor of concern. Felix knows that Hyunjin gets hit on a decent amount, just like Hyunjin knows Felix gets hit on too.
Felix isn't just a little jealous. He's distressed.
What the fuck is going on?
"He might not have smelled your scent on Hyunjin, Lix," Changbin suggests gently. Felix inhales sharply, but Changbin continues, voice even. "You started working here because the parlor masked your scent, right? So I guess it goes both ways – the Omega probably didn't smell your scent because the whole parlor smells like, well …"
"Sugar," Seungmin finishes dryly.
Felix's affront melts in realization, and then he hangs his head. "Oh. Oh, yeah, I … I didn't think about that."
Hyunjin pulls Felix into a hug. Felix buries his nose against Hyunjin's scent gland far more desperately than he normally would in public. No one calls him on it.
"He was still bitchy, though, right?" Felix mumbles. Hyunjin squeezes him tighter.
"Definitely bitchy," he says. "Do you want a milkshake to make you feel better?"
Felix stiffens, then shakes his head. "I don't really feel like ice cream right now."
"Okay," Hyunjin says. "That's okay."
But Jeongin catches his eye. He looks objectively scared.
Lee Felix snapping at a flirty Omega is one thing.
Lee Felix saying no to ice cream?
The world might be coming to an end.
˙ ✩°˖🍋🍦☀️ ⋆。˚
Felix slams the dorm door behind him. He knows it's petulant, especially given the fact that he has no clue what to make of the irritation thrumming through his body. He just doesn't understand – everything is good. School's good, his friends (pack, pack, pack) are good, life is good. So why did he wake up with an urge to snap at anyone and everyone who looked at him the wrong way? Who looked at Hyunjin?
That Omega. Felix is a little terrified at the fact that he was genuinely ready to launch himself over the counter in his jealous, possessive rage.
He huffs again, if only to hear the sound of his own frustration out loud, and kicks off his shoes. Minho's are already by the door, his dance bag hanging from a peg. Felix shrugs off his own backpack and dance bag, but he can't bring himself to hang them tidily.
Dumpling pads over to him, tail lifted happily. That, at least, cracks Felix's mood – not entirely in half, but a fissure of sorts. Felix scoops Dumpling in his arms and buries his face in the soft fur of his scruff.
"My little molecule," he coos. Dumpling meows once, and Felix knows he can't technically speak cat-language, but he certainly recognizes Dumpling's feed me now before I tear up your favorite sweater meow. "Okay, okay, let's get you fed."
"Bbokie?" Minho calls. "That you?"
"No, I'm a serial killer," Felix responds. "I'm here to serial kill you."
He finds Minho in the kitchen, Jisung at the counter. Jisung beams when he sees Felix and opens his arms; he hesitates, though, when Felix leans against him.
"What?" Felix asks. Jisung's nose twitches, but he shakes his head.
"No-thing," he says unconvincingly, the word stretching. Felix huffs again, doesn't push, because he might be annoyed at the world, but he doesn't want to take that out on Jisung. Jisung raises a brow at the sound. "You okay?"
Minho turns on the spot, spatula raised. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Felix says, grabbing a can of Dumpling's food and fishing a clean dish from the cupboard. Dumpling screams and stretches up the length of Felix's leg (or as much as he can reach, so close to Felix's knee at best). Felix snorts, scoops the wet food into the bowl, and brings it over to Dumpling's food mat. Dumpling practically dives into the dish, scarfing down the food like it's been days since he last ate, not a matter of hours.
Felix watches him for a fond moment, but soon enough, the prickling irritation is back under his skin. He reaches into the fridge and pulls out a protein shake for himself, hoping hangryness is the cause, but his nose wrinkles when he takes a sip.
"I thought you liked peach," Minho asks, glancing at the flavor.
"I … do," Felix says. He massages his hand over his abdomen, where a grip of pain had stirred momentarily.
"So what's wrong with it?"
"It's too …"
Felix cuts himself off. His answer would be wildly inconsistent with the person he's been his entire life. His answer would make Minho panic and Jisung, well, also panic, and then they'd call Hyunjin, who is supposed to be painting tonight. And Hyunjin would come to him, to help, to confirm Felix's well-being with his own two eyes.
Felix loves him. But Hyunjin wanted to take tonight to paint, and Felix isn't actually unwell. He's just in a bad mood. Besides, he has heaps of scented clothes in his room; he's confident that it'll take a single whiff of Hyunjin's scent to clear his mind.
"I've just had too many of the shakes, I guess," Felix lies.
Because the answer? The shake tastes too sweet. It tastes too sweet, and Felix has never thought that something was too sweet before.
Minho frowns and brushes Felix's hair behind his ears. Felix's skin prickles, but he still leans into the touch, the Earl Grey and cardamom, as well as lingering blueberries and basil, soothing some of the tension in his chest. "You smell annoyed."
"Just … woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I guess," Felix shrugs. "I'm gonna take a nap."
"You want me to make you some dinner? We have plenty."
"Or you can hang out with us," Jisung offers. "We're just going to watch a movie."
Damn his friends – his pack-mates, or at least they are in his mind – for being so lovely. And damn whatever mood has possessed him, because as much as he'd love to drape himself amongst Minho and Jisung's scents, he'd rather not infect their evening with his huffiness.
"It's okay, Ji. I think I just need to crawl into my nest and die."
"Please don't," Jisung suggests lightly.
"Want me to bring Dumpling with me?" Felix asks.
"Only if you want his cuddle powers. But otherwise, I'm severely lacking in the kitten department."
Felix nods and then brings the shake with him to his room, even though he can still taste the artificial burn of sugar on his lips. The memory of it makes his gut ache again, and he's probably just having a hunger pang, but he knows he won't be able to stomach anything.
He flips on his fairy lights, strips off his clothes until he's left in a loose t-shirt and his underwear, and crawls into his nest. He pulls the hoodie Hyunjin left by his pillow that morning, but he has to bite down a whine when he shoves his nose against the fabric. It's not enough. Really, Felix must be developing Biblical levels of greed if a freshly-scented hoodie isn't enough to satiate his need for Hyunjin's scent.
He looks for any item of clothing he might have in his nest with more of Hyunjin's scent, but as soon as he starts the hunt, the whole nest feels wrong. He whines again, hands trembling as he dismantles the entire thing, but each item of clothing he places only heightens his desperate sense of distress.
Finally, the nest is done. It's still – fuck, it's still not right right, but that horrible sense of wrong is gone at least. He lowers himself gently into the middle and hugs Hyunjin's hoodie to his chest. Is the AC busted? He swears it's as hot as a summer day in Sydney. Despite that, he doesn't let go of Hyunjin's hoodie.
Hyunjin. Hyunjin, Hyunjin, Hyunjin. Felix's breath catches when he remembers the way Hyunjin crept into his nest last night; they'd both been running on fumes all day – consequence of busy days of classes and matching hangovers from a hangout at Chan and Changbin's the night before – but Hyunjin still lowered himself over his body and took his time dismantling Felix until he was gasping and gripping the sheets, overwhelmed with pleasure to the point of tears.
His breath hitches again. That heat beneath his skin seems to spike, like a wave of flames across his body. He shifts and squirms on his nest; he's tired and cranky and the last thing he wants to deal with is being uncomfortably turned on on top of that. It's not that he couldn't touch himself, rather that any orgasm he's had by his own hand and not Hyunjin's feels like a whisper of pleasure in comparison.
He presses his thighs together, but the movement only heightens his awareness – both of his arousal and of the slick between his thighs.
Wait, slick?
Felix whines again, the distant realization that something is happening too hazy amidst the growing wave of heat-pain-desire-more heat that seems to be pulling him under, or burning him to a crisp, and why the fuck is it so hot–?
Oh, he suddenly thinks. It's hot. I'm hot. Feverishly hot.
Familiarly hot.
Fuck.
˙ ✩°˖🥃🌶️🍊 ⋆。˚
It's two AM when Hyunjin jolts awake. He's hunched over the easel, still in the studio. It's a position that will surely wreck his back, his neck, or it would if he weren't busy waking his way into panic.
Distress. He feels it tugging at him, like someone hooked the concept of desperate, unfulfilled need behind his sternum. He jumps to his feet, and he doesn't even know where he's running.
Only that he runs.
He finds himself outside of Minho and Felix's dorm, knocking against it until his knuckles feel like they might split. Because something's wrong, and it's wrong with Felix, and the mere concept is enough to have him half-feral.
Minho opens the door. It's clear he's been awake for a bit – in his pajamas, but frazzled and alert. Hyunjin pants, breathless from his run, and Minho looks surprised and yet not.
"How did you know?" Minho starts, but Hyunjin cuts him off.
"Hyung, what the fuck is–"
The scent hits him somewhere behind his solar plexus, and any words he may have had are lost to the maelstrom of lemon-vanilla-sugar-sugar-sugar.
Minho stares at him, wide-eyed.
"Hyunjin," he breathes. He looks over his shoulder and down the hall, a fleeting glance that only makes the white around his irises wider. "Um, it's probably not a great time."
Sweet. Sugar. Sucrose. Clouds of it, really, nebulized sweetness. Molten and dripping and calling to him.
Omega. His Omega. Fated, yes, and also in heat.
"Felix," Hyunjin rasps, somehow, and ultimately a useless thing to say. Every instinct is already firing on a thousand; it's like with Jiwoo, but all the more and ten times better. His vision feels sharper, pulsing at the edges like his entire body knows he needs to find, to protect, to please, to fill–
"Hyunjin!" Minho is shaking him, he realizes. His hands are strong on his shoulders. "Hey, come back to me. I – ugh, where the fuck is Chan when you need him–"
Rationally, Hyunjin knows why Minho is frazzled. He has an Omega in heat, said Omega's Alpha at the doorway, and a complex web of trauma and insecurity between them both. Hyunjin takes a deep breath and holds it – he needs to have a clear head. He needs to not let that haze of sugar cloud his judgment. He needs to look Minho in the eye, ask him what he can do to help, and accept the fact that the love of his life might need a nest sans-Alpha right now–
He's halfway to convincing himself, and Minho's visibly halfway to a full-blown anxiety attack, when a door slams open down the hall. They both freeze. Hyunjin leans forward past the doorway, but even that action isn't fast enough for Felix's apparent warpath.
Because Felix is moving like a man on a mission, and Hyunjin knows inherently that he'll go anywhere he's led, do anything that would help, say anything if it meant bringing a smile to those perfect, cupid-bow lips.
"Bbokie–" Minho starts, but Felix slips past him. Hyunjin can only stare as Felix reaches a hand out, grabs his wrist with surprising force, and says:
"Nest."
He's beautiful. He's blown pupils and sweat-sheened skin, heavy breaths that sound close to growls through his open mouth.
"Lix," Hyunjin begins. "Are you sure? It's your, uh-"
He looks anxiously at Minho, who steps back, looking equal parts pained and proud.
"You heard him," he shrugs. "He wants you in his nest. Do you want to go?"
It's an authentic question: do you want to spend his heat with him? Do you feel up for this?
The answer is the most pathetic spike of whiskey ever created. Some of that pain overtakes the pride in Minho's expression.
"Next," Felix growls again, and then he's pulling Hyunjin down the hall. Hyunjin barely spares Minho a glance, finds Minho already grabbing Dumpling's carrier with a surprisingly soft smile.
Felix's room smells … strong. It's clear that Felix has been crashing headfirst into the symptoms of his preheat, probably since Hyunjin saw him at Sunshine Sweets. The door closes behind him, and Hyunjin barely has a second to turn before he's got an armful of sugared, feverish Omega.
Felix doesn't seem so much like he's trying to kiss Hyunjin as he is trying to climb his body. His hands plaster over every inch of Hyunjin's body – his back, his arms, his shoulders, his hair. It's less of a kiss and more of a desperate exchange of breath.
"Whoa, Sweetheart-"
Felix purrs into his mouth, and Hyunjin grins proudly. Still, he puts his hands on Felix's shoulders and holds the omega at a distance – a whopping two inches if that.
Felix whines at the lack of contact. He looks up through his lashes, and Hyunjin nearly clenches his chest in his hand. He's got those eyes on, the eyes that twinkle and shimmer, enormous and doe-like and all-consuming.
"Hyune," Felix whispers.
"I know, Sweetheart. I'm just … are you sure? It's your heat. I know that's a … I wouldn't be upset if you didn't want to spend it with me–"
"Alpha."
Oh. Hyunjin shuts his mouth so fast his teeth clack. Felix runs his hands up his torso, fingers dancing along the edge of his collar. Each brush of skin is fire-hot. Felix runs those ember-tipped fingers up his neck, across his cheek, presses against Hyunjin's mole with the pad of his thumb.
"Alpha," he whispers again.
"Yeah?" Hyunjin asks. He's not asking for Felix to clarify. Hyunjin knows he's Felix's Alpha. Fuck, the universe knows it too. What he's really asking for is confirmation: that Felix wants him here, that Felix knows what exactly he's doing by bringing Hyunjin towards his scent-soaked nest.
"Please," Felix whispers. He looks so desperate, so small, beneath the ferocity of his need. "Please, Hyunjin, need your knot, please–"
Need your knot. Hyunjin doesn't hear anything past those words, a heady ringing in his ears that correlates with a burst of his instincts. Felix is still whimpering, begging, pawing at Hyunjin with his eyes heavy-lidded.
"Please, Jinnie, Alpha, need you – nothing's helping–"
God, he's beautiful. So wanton, and in the dim glow of Felix's fairy lights, Hyunjin can make out the shininess on his inner thighs where his slick has surely been pouring out of him. He inhales deeply and swears his teeth ache.
In one swift motion, he has Felix in the air, an arm hooked under each thigh. Felix gasps, then moans, and Hyunjin swallows the sounds. Felix wraps his legs around Hyunjin's waist and rolls his hips. Hyunjin groans at the feeling of Felix's cock - hard and hot beneath his underwear – and the dripping wetness of his slick. So much slick, too – Felix rolls his hips again and again, grinding himself against Hyunjin's rapidly-hardening cock. Hyunjin tightens his hold and drags Felix down with more purpose. Felix's head falls back with a desperate, broken moan.
"Fuck, Sweetheart, just like that," Hyunjin pants against Felix's shoulder. He mouths at Felix's scent gland, almost dizzy with the pheromone-thick burst it elicits. Felix trembles and shudders as Hyunjin continues to rock Felix against him. "So wet, yeah? Just need to cum, is that it?"
Felix whines. "N-need you. Couldn't c-cum without you. Fuck, Alpha–"
Hyunjin gasps when Felix grinds down more desperately, rolling himself over Hyunjin's throbbing cock. The image is nearly enough to push him over the edge. Felix, heat slowly but surely pulling him deeper, desperately touching himself but unable to find release. Did he use his fingers? Were they too short–?
"Please," Felix whimpers. For a moment, Hyunjin is sure Felix is begging for his knot again, but then he sees his face. His mouth is dropped open, tongue nearly lolling out. His breaths are coming faster and faster, his hips falling out of discernible rhythm. He stares at Hyunjin with those eyes – those fucking eyes that hold galaxies – that could make anyone fold in an instant. "Please, Alpha-"
"You gonna cum, Angel?" Hyunjin asks. Felix nods so fast that his hair comes free of its ponytail. Hyunjin moves Felix's body with more purpose. "Fuck, so good – cum for me, Lix, let me see you cum–"
It's almost instantaneous. One more role of his hips and Felix is shaking against him. There's so much slick seeping through Felix's underwear, but also through Hyunjin's pants. He feels the heat of it against his cock.
"So pretty, Felix," Hyunjin croons, working him through it. "So pretty cumming for your Alpha."
He didn't mean to say it, but it's so right he can't find it in himself to feel embarrassed. Especially not when Felix's entire body jolts, another rush of slick soaking the frantic between them. Hyunjin's breath gets stuck somewhere in his throat, all awe and want.
Your Alpha. He said Your Alpha, and Felix reacted like he'd been knotted.
He crushes their mouths together, and Felix practically purrs into the kiss. It's frantic, its tongue and teeth and noises Hyunjin didn't even know he could make. His jaw aches, the urge to sink his teeth into Felix's skin overwhelming in a way that should be terrifying but somehow isn't.
Felix pulls back first, blinking rapidly. Hyunjin can tell that he's regaining some lucidity, the orgasm likely clearing a bit of the heat haze away. It won't last; he's in the thick of it, but he's slightly more man than animal, at least in this moment.
"Hyune," he says in a whisper.
"Hey," Hyunjin whispers back. He's still holding Felix, still keeping them pressed together. Felix's cheeks go even redder when he shifts and feels the amount of slick between them. "So pretty," he repeats. "Prettiest Omega in the universe."
"Yours," Felix stammers.
"Mine?"
Felix's pulse is a jackrabbit in the hollow of his throat when he looks Hyunjin dead in the eye. "Your Omega."
Your Omega.
Felix, despite the onslaught of heat pheromones, despite the fact that Hyunjin can already see his eyes going glassy with another wave of need, manages to smile that coy, teasing smile of his. "You liked that."
"Yeah," Hyunjin admits. "And I love you."
Felix whimpers and pulls Hyunjin back into a kiss. Hyunjin walks them over to Felix's nest and lays Felix down gently. Felix whines when he pulls back, a protest on his kiss-swollen lips.
"Thought you wanted something from me, Sweetheart?" Hyunjin teases. Felix stares blankly for all of a second before he nods frantically.
"Please, Jinnie, need your knot," the words tumble from his mouth as he digs his fingers into the waistband of Hyunjin's sweatpants. "Please, Alpha–"
"I've got you," Hyunjin helps shove his sweatpants down and kicks them towards the corner of Felix's room. His shirt follows a second later. He's slower when he pulls Felix's t-shirt off his body, though Felix is scrambling to get the soaked briefs off his legs. Hyunjin inhales deeply, savoring the sex-drenched sugar. He nudges Felix up the next and dips his fingers into the dripping mess between Felix's legs. "Oh, Angel, you're so fucking wet."
"For you," Felix whimpers. His eyes are shiny with tears, and Hyunjin's cock – slapped hard and dripping against his stomach – twitches at the sight. There's hardly any resistance when he buries his finger up to the knuckle in Felix's hole, so he slides in another. Felix writhes at the contact and tries to fuck himself back on Hyunjin's hand for more, but Hyunjin keeps him in place with a flat palm on Felix's stomach, his thumb centimeters from his own cock. It's shiny with his release, but already fully hard again. "Ssh, Sweetheart, let me take care of you. I'll give you my knot, I promise, just gotta let me stretch you a second, yeah?"
"Hyung," Felix whines. Playing absolutely filthy, and if Felix wasn't mid-heat, Hyunjin would absolutely call him on it.
"Fuck, you're unreal," Hyunjin whispers. He makes quick work of stretching Felix – it's probably not quite as much prep as he'd use otherwise, but Felix is drenched with slick, looser in heat. Hyunjin pulls his fingers out. Felix's slick has already dripped down them, over his palm and his wrist. He licks a stripe of that heaven-sent slick, then uses it to stroke himself. Felix's entire body twitches at the sight, but then he drops his legs to the side as Hyunjin climbs over him.
"Hyung," Felix whispers again.
"I know," Hyunjin says. "Don't worry, Sweetheart. Hyung will take care of everything."
And then he buries his cock in the tight, wet heat of Felix's body.
Felix throws his head back and cums with a moan. Hyunjin gasps, hips stuttering at the eroticism of the sight. Felix, who had seemingly been chasing an orgasm and unable to reach it, came just from the sensation of Hyunjin fucking into him.
He's never been with an Omega in heat, but Felix has always been sensitive. He squirms and writhes from the slightest touch. It's not hard to get him worked up. Still, he doesn't cum from the mere sensation of something filling him, or a hand on his cock. Hyunjin decides then and there that he'll be wringing as many orgasms from Felix as possible, for as long as Felix will allow him.
He belatedly grinds into Felix's body, the tip of his cock pressing insistently against Felix's prostate. Felix moans again.
"Oh, look at you, Angel," Hyunjin whispers. He runs his hands down Felix's body, pinching at a nipple and then running a thumb along Felix's scent gland. His teeth ache again. He nearly gasps when he sees that Felix's cock – still dripping with his release – isn't softening. If anything, it's harder.
"Feels so good," Felix gasps. He rolls his hips again, fucking himself on Hyunjin. He looks wild and feral and so beautiful. Hyunjin thrusts into him again, less punishing in the light of his orgasm, but Felix chases it. "So deep, Hyung, I can feel you everywhere."
"Me too, Sweetheart, me too," Hyunjin murmurs as he picks up a pace. Each drive of his cock into Felix's body brings another sinful moan to Felix's lips, and a growing heat in Hyunjin's belly. Really, he's surprised he's lasted this long – what, with Felix's heat thick in the air, with the way Felix writhes beneath him, with his filthy, punched-out words. "Yes, fuck, right there – fuck, Hyung, s'good, so good – Alpha, please–"
"Anything you want," Hyunjin pants. He's fucking Felix so hard that the bed frame is probably punching divots into the wall, but he'll pay the security depot ten times over; so long as it means dragging Felix over the cusp of another orgasm, preferably one that has him clenching around Hyunjin's knot.
"I love you," Felix pants. His eyes snap open, and Hyunjin nearly tumbles off the bed. Because it's Felix, clear-gazed and lucid, but no less fervent. His hands grasp Hyunjin's back, nails definitely drawing blood. "I love you, I love you–"
"I love you too," Hyunjin says. It's easy as breathing, really. "I love you too, Felix – you have no idea."
"I do," Felix says. "I really do."
And somehow, Hyunjin gets what he means. I do, because it's the same for me. I do, because I feel it too – this connection between us, this thread that we couldn't break if we tried.
Felix notices the knot growing before Hyunjin himself even does.
"Please," he barely breathes. "Give me your knot, please, Hyunjin. Please –"
He freezes for a split second; he looks Hyunjin dead in the eye. He looks so sure of himself, so sure of the two of them.
"Please," he says, "bite me."
Hyunjin's hips stutter and slow.
"What?" he whispers.
"Bite me," Felix repeats, just as sure. "Claim me, mate me, make me yours."
Hyunjin swears his teeth sharpen. His hips snap forward, the movement unconscious. "Felix, are you sure–"
"Yes," Felix cuts him off. He drives his hips forward, meeting Hyunjin in his thrust, and they both moan when the action pushes Hyunjin even deeper. "Yes, fuck, I've never been more sure of anything in my life. If you're sure, though, if you want it too–"
"I've never wanted something more," Hyunjin growls.
Felix moans like he's been carrying something heavy for a very long time and has finally found a place to put it down.
"Give me your knot, Alpha," he whispers, "and then make me yours."
Hyunjin's body moves like it's always known what to do. His thrusts grow sharper, deeper, possessive somehow. And Felix blooms beneath him, his muscles clenching as he gets closer to his third orgasm.
Three samples, Hyunjin thinks deliriously. Felix smiles like he too is remembering the sign, the argument, and then the turn of phrase during their first night together.
When his knot brushes Felix's rim, his Omega gasps, eyes wide and mouth dropped open yet again.
"Yeah?" Hyunjin whispers. And maybe he should say something more poetic. Something about how Felix's freckles are like the night sky spilled over, or how Felix makes him feel like an Alpha because he made Hyunjin realize he's always been an Alpha, or maybe how it's really ironic they both hated their scents for different reasons, given the fact that they're about to forever carry sweet and savory in tandem.
But he just says that – yeah?
And Felix nods. A tear slips down his cheek. "Yeah."
Hyunjin pulls out of Felix to the tip. When he thrusts back in, his knot pops past the rim of Felix's body.
It happens fast, objectively, but Hyunjin swears time slows down for them.
Felix tilts his head to the side, Hyunjin to the other. He lowers his mouth to Felix's neck, all but gasping at the rush of Felix's scent as his teeth bite down, pierce flesh.
For a moment, it goes quiet. All of it. There's not Hyunjin, not Felix, just something that reminds him of sunlight, of the wind, of the shimmer of a galaxy. Something beyond both of them, and yet wholly the two of them. The bond.
His orgasm tears through him as the knot locks their bodies together, and the second Felix feels Hyunjin's release, his entire body is shaking in pleasure, cock spurting onto his chest. Hyunjin's vision doesn't white out; he doesn't leave his body; he's more in his body than he's ever been before, and the pleasure is all-encompassing, overwhelming in a perfect way. He cums, and it just doesn't stop – rope after rope filling his Omega, who clenches around him, whimpering and sobbing and moaning, and Hyunjin is too.
It takes him a moment to realize that the sounds coming from his tongue are words; well, one word:
"Mine," he whispers against the mating bite. "Mine, mine, my perfect, wonderful Omega."
"Mate," Felix corrects him, breathless as he shivers. Hyunjin's thrusts slow, but he doesn't pull out. His hips rock until the sensitivity starts to be too much, but still, he stays buried to the hilt.
"Mate," Hyunjin echoes.
He feels him. Feels Felix. Feels the glow of his pleasure, the bursting sense of this is right that floods his body. Hyunjin feels his love like a living thing, nestled in his chest.
"My mate," he whispers.
He should get up, clean them, get Felix water. But Felix is already asleep, purring so deeply that Hyunjin has no other option but to follow him into dreams as well.
˙ ✩°˖🍋🍦☀️ ⋆。˚
He's never had a better heat.
For one, he's a thousand times more lucid than normal between waves, and he knows it's because of Hyunjin. Sure, there are moments where the fever and the pain spike, and he feels more animal than human, but Hyunjin's scent cuts through the sensations each and every time.
Of course, the result of his scent is Felix moaning and whimpering, whining, begging for Hyunjin to knot him again. Hyunjin is, thankfully, more than happy to provide for his Omega.
My Omega, he keeps saying, and every time he does, Felix thinks he might fly with the sheer glee he feels. Because he is Hyunjin's Omega, and Hyunjin is his Alpha, and the very concept is enough to have him slicking again.
Compared to previous heats, the three-day affair is short. When he's not being, frankly, an absolute menace, he's a puddle of sleepy purrs. Hyunjin seems just as happy to tend to Felix in those moments as he is when Felix is begging for a knot. He gets Felix food and hand feeds him (–come on Sweetheart, just a little more and I'll give you what you want. You need your strength–). He runs him baths, carries him the short distance to the bathroom, and washes him so softly and tenderly that Felix bursts into tears (–shit, Lix, are you oka– aw, Angel, you're so sweet, let me take care of you –). He's so considerate when it comes to Felix's nest, always making sure Felix is the one to take it apart so they can change the sheets, then praising him endlessly once it's put back together (the most lovely nest I've ever seen, how did I get so lucky–).
When Felix opens his eyes four days later – morning sun streaming through the window and the smell of Lemon and Whiskey so strong in the air, Felix half-expects to see it floating in the light like a palpable mist – it's not to cramps or to overwhelming heat or to slick pooling between his legs. It's to the simple sound of birdsong, to a cool and calm quiet in his mind, and to the perfect ache of a mating bite on his neck.
Felix bites his lip to keep from squealing, but even that action has Hyunjin stirring. He's wrapped around Felix like he's guarding something, his nose pressed against his scent gland, above his mating bite. Felix turns slowly and sighs, his scent bursting sweet and syrupy with satisfaction at the sight of the matching bite mark on Hyunjin's neck.
My mate, Felix tests the words out in his mind. My Alpha. My mate. My Hyunjin.
His chest feels like it's going to explode, and maybe it's that very emotion that causes Hyunjin's eyes to open. He's rumpled with sleep – his hair always gets so adorably messy, Felix hopes he never starts tying it up – but as soon as his eyes slide from Felix's own and down to his neck, he smiles.
"Morning," Felix says.
"S'first morning you haven't woken me up by climbing on top of me," Hyunjin teases softly. Felix rolls his eyes and groans, cheeks heating.
"I don't seem to recall you complaining."
"Oh, I was certainly not – nor would I ever dream of – complaining," Hyunjin laughs. He pushes Felix's hair away from his face, then lets his hand trail down to his neck. Felix shivers when Hyunjin's thumb brushes against his mating bite. "Fuck, every time I look at it, I want to pinch myself."
"I think I'm right there with you," Felix admits. He stretches, joints cracking. "Damn, I'm sore. What'd you do to me, Alpha?"
"You're insatiable," Hyunjin groans, but Felix can feel – holy shit, he can feel – the thrum of Hyunjin's arousal through the bond. Hyunjin must see Felix's intake of breath because he grins. "Crazy, right? The first time I felt you through the bond, I, uh, may have panicked a little. And maybe called Chan-hyung because I was convinced I did something wrong."
Felix laughs, and the sound is high and bright. "Stop, no, you didn't. Oh my God, Jinnie, didn't you take sex-ed?"
"I was a little distracted with you trying to choke yourself on my dick, in case you were curious!"
"Just wait until your rut, Hyunjin," Felix pokes him square in the chest. "We'll see if you're the picture of holy celibacy, huh?"
"You'd …" Hyunjin starts breathlessly. "You'd really want to stay with me during my rut?"
Felix's jaw drops. He surges forward, kissing Hyunjin in a bruising press of lips, then pulls back to flick him in the forehead.
"Ow!" Hyunjin tuts.
"We're mated, you knothead," Felix rolls his eyes. "Of course I want to help you through your rut."
"Mated and he still calls me a knothead," Hyunjin monologues to the ceiling. But Felix can feel Hyunjin's stomach-flipping giddiness as the word mated. "How are you feeling, though? Like, post-heat and everything."
Felix takes stock of himself. Sore, to be expected. Tired, but in a pleasant, boneless way. Hungry and thirsty, without a doubt, but much less severe than his last few heats had left him. And more than anything, happy. So, so happy that he swears he could stick his tongue out and catch grains of sugar from his swirling scent alone.
"I'm great," Felix says. His stomach growls, and Hyunjin raises a brow. "Okay, I could eat, but I'm … I'm so happy, Hyunjin."
Hyunjin smiles at him. "Me too, Lix. You have no clue."
Felix would personally be quite happy to lie there for the rest of the day, soaking up clearheaded cuddles and the overwhelming joy of his mating bite, but Hyunjin sits up and pulls Felix with him. Felix whines.
"Come on, Angel. You need food, and leaving your nest would be good for you."
"Evil," Felix grumbles, but the idea of going outside is far from unappealing, not when he's been stuck inside (however satiated) for fourish days.
"I know, cruel," Hyunjin scoffs. And then, because he's the complete opposite, he scoops Felix into his arms. "Now what would you like to eat?"
Felix wraps his arms around Hyunjin's neck and looks at him expectantly. Hyunjin exhales and drops his head, his laughter a soft puff against Felix's neck.
"Really? Ice cream?"
"Be honest, are you even slightly surprised?"
"Nope," Hyunjin admits. "Alright, let's go get you some ice cream. It's a miracle you've survived this long without it."
Felix purrs.
˙ ✩°˖🥃🌶️🍊 ⋆。˚
Hyunjin got Felix the ice cream as promised; just the two of them in a technically-closed Sunshine Sweets, and once Felix had a waffle cone the size of his head in hand, they stopped by a nearby restaurant to get Hyunjin a to-go order of Dumplings.
Hyunjin hadn't expected Felix to bounce back as quickly as he has, but maybe that's the power of spending a heat with your Fated Mate. After ice cream and dumplings, they ride the high of Felix's sugar intake with a short walk; as soon as Hyunjin sees Felix starting to crash, they head back to Felix's nest and spend the rest of the day watching movies (or, in Felix's case, napping through movies and then pretending he wasn't asleep, Jinnie, I was blinking!)
He's really expecting the next day to be more of the same, but then Chan texts.
Stray Kids
Chan: Rumor has it a certain Omega is no longer indisposed
Seungmin: indisposed? is that what we're calling 'moaning so loud it's audible from the fucking elevator banks' now?
Jisung: if you heard screaming just then, it was Minho reading Seungmin's text
Seungmin: and if you'd heard hyunlix going at it, you'd understand why i'm complaining
Changbin: Chan did u text for a reason??
Chan: THANK YOU Changbin. Yes, I did – it's supposed to be nice weather out tomorrow, and if said post-indisposed Omega and his absolutely radio silent boyfriend are up for it, we could do something
Innie: hyung you text like a serial killer
Liked by seven people
Lixie: very accurate
Jisung: my sunshine twin!!
Hyunjin: And your roommate!! But that's fine, ignore me!
Innie: i can't believe i actually missed hyunjin's dramatics
Lixie: hi guys <3
Lixie: we're both down to hang!
Lixie: i missed
Lixie: you all <3 <3 <3
Liked by seven people
Innie: lix i missed you very much but holy shit i did not miss your weird ass texting style
Lixie: :(
Hyunjin: He's pouting
Innie: and i can't see it and for that reason i remain strong
Hyunjin: I'm sending you a picture
Innie: NO I'M SORRY FELIX I LOVE YOUR TEXTING STYLE !!!
Lixie: :)
Hyunjin told Felix it was a bad idea, but it was really just so he could tell Minho and Chan later that he tried to rein Felix in. In all actuality, he was banking on Felix insisting that 'no, Dumpling is just the age to be leash-trained, and he would never run away from us because we're wonderful parents.'
It's not verbatim what Felix says; he says 'delightful and responsible' instead of 'wonderful', then pulls up twelve tabs-worth of articles about the benefits of kittens being leash-trained. He smells proud, and that burst of scent has both Hyunjin and Dumpling leaning a bit closer to him.
Since his adoption, Dumpling has grown to become a whole two molecules big. Hyunjin kind of gets why grandparents always point out how tall their grandchildren have gotten, now. A week ago, when he was a few drinks past tipsy, he flopped on the ground in front of Dumpling and found himself genuinely misty-eyed at how much his child had grown.
Hyunjin's not entirely sure if Chan's plan to hang out equated with the idea to picnic (AKA, publicly drink and eat a grotesque amount of takeout) in the park, but with Spring exploding around them, he's more than a little grateful. Plus, Felix has been clinging to a sort of restlessness since his heat broke, like being stuck inside had accumulated within his body.
As he watches Felix wrangle a disgruntled Dumpling into a kitten harness, Hyunjin rationalizes that the park is a simple ten-minute walk from the Omega dorms. If Dumpling well and truly loses his fluffy-furred shit, they can just bring him back. Still, he has to admit once Dumpling is clipped into the snug harness (pink, of course, and Hyunjin feels vaguely confident that he'll end up an unofficial mascot for Sunshine Sweets), he looks pretty content. Felix brings the carrier, but as soon as they're out of the dorm and Felix unzips the top, Dumping is scrambling up his arm and perching on Felix's shoulder.
"You're like a cat pirate," Hyunjin teases, readjusting the tote bag on his shoulder; it's filled to the brim with a collection of sweets (courtesy of Felix's most recent patisserie unit, aka filled to the brim with cookies) and salty snacks (courtesy of Felix feeling guilty that he was bringing things Hyunjin wouldn't want to eat and ordering a bulk amount of chips).
Dumpling meows; Hyunjin swears the sound is eerily similar to Felix's scoffs. Now, though, Felix snorts and gives Dumpling a soothing scritch between the ears.
"Are you saying I should rock a peg leg and an eye-patch?"
"Nah. Just the peg leg."
"Dork," Felix laughs softly.
"The dorkiest," Hyunjin confirms. Felix rolls his eyes, afternoon light illuminating the fluffy white cloud of his hair, spilling lovingly across his freckles, and showing off the clearly fresh mating bite on Felix's neck. Hyunjin nearly trips over his feet. He's stared at Felix's mating bite a hundred times in the past four days, but he doesn't know if he'll ever get over it.
"You're lagging," Felix calls over his shoulder. Dumpling is batting exuberantly at one of the small braids Felix wove into his hair that morning. It's so adorable, Hyunjin wonders if he'll die.
"I'm admiring you," Hyunjin says. Felix blushes and turns away, grumbling something about sweet, knothead mates. Hyunjin can feel the fluttery pleasure Felix experiences from the compliment. He knows that the bond is hyper-strong the first few months after mating, and as a child, the concept of having his own feelings tethered to someone else's awareness used to freak him out, but now he loves it.
He absently touches his own neck, savoring the still-tender skin where Felix's teeth had sunk into his skin. Felix turns, as if he's sensing the touch, the contact, the memory.
"Do you think they'll be mad?" Felix asks when Hyunjin catches up to them.
"Mad?" Hyunjin echoes, startled. Felix shrugs.
"We kind of made a life-changing decision after having dates for a whole two months. I mean, I haven't even met your parents."
He hadn't. But Hyunjin had FaceTimed them last night. His mom had been horrified to hear that her son had mated someone, up until Felix walked into the room – unaware of the tension – and politely introduced himself.
Hyunjin hadn't known whether to be scared or unsurprised at how quickly his mom fell in love with Felix. They chatted for an hour, and when Hyunjin hung up, his Mom texted him: Well, I wish you'd introduced us to him before you two mated, but I can't say I don't get it. He's clearly head over heels for you. I'm happy for you, my Hyunjinnie.
"Minho-hyung might skin me alive," Hyunjin considers aloud. "And Chan-hyung might do his disappointed dad thing. But they put in so much effort getting us to even admit we liked each other more than friends, so I don't think they'll be too mad."
Felix nods and takes Hyunjin's hand. Dumpling hops from his shoulder to Hyunjin's.
"Besides, we have a child together," Felix snorts. "It's better for him this way."
"So true," Hyunjin nods as they enter the park. "We're making a responsible choice as parents of our two-molecule-big son."
They hear the other six before they see them – a blossoming chorus of what sounds, more or less, like screaming. When the group comes into view (splayed on two outdoor blankets with a cooler and an arsenal of snacks), the reason becomes clear: Seungmin is trying to get Changbin in a headlock, and Jeongin is cheering them on, and Chan is being held back by Jisung and Minho.
"–You're not even moving me," Hyunjin catches the end of Changbin's sentence as they approach. "Seriously, you need to go to a gym, Seungmin."
"Oh yeah?" Seungmin says goadingly. The twinkle in his eye is unnerving. "Like you could get me in a headlock from this position."
Felix exhales tiredly. Hyunjin can't blame him. It's the most transparent attempt at being manhandled Hyunjin has ever heard. And yet? It works. Changbin gasps and promptly flips Seungmin around until he can worm an arm around his neck. Seungmin's smile is horrendously sweet given the position he's in.
"Please, please stop trying to get us kicked out of this park," Chan pleads, tugging his arm free just so he can pinch the bridge of his nose.
"It's a public park, they can't kick us out," Jeongin insists.
"I don't think that's how that works, Ayen-ah," Minho says. "Besides, it's not fun anymore – I wanted to see Changbin get clobbered."
"Plus, Seungmin's enjoying it too much," Jisung adds. Changbin doesn't seem to hear, but Seungmin shoots Jisung a glare.
Then he gasps when he spots Hyunjin and Felix.
"You're alive!" he laughs. It draws the other six pairs of eyes in their direction. Innie and Jisung beam. Minho spots Dumpling and gasps. Chan opens his mouth, expression flitting from happiness at their presence to concern about the cat, to–
"Oh my God," he whispers when he spots their necks. He barely breathes. There's a burst of coffee, strong as his surprise, but Hyunjin doesn't catch any edge of negative emotion. Just fondness.
"Wait, what's –" Changbin starts, then stops. His eyes bulge. "Oh. Oh!"
It's Jisung who snaps out of it first. One second, he's staring between Felix and Hyunjin's necks like he's never seen human skin before, and then the next, he's throwing himself into both of their arms. Dumpling chirps in surprise, but quickly settles into the three-person hug.
"Holy shit!" Jisung squeals. "Holy shit, holy shit, you mated?"
"No way," Innie pushes forward next, Seungmin on his heels. Seungmin smiles and rolls his eyes.
"I can only hope this means you'll stop being as gross, but I'm pretty sure that's wishful thinking.
"Look at you two," Changbin claps them both on the back. His eyes look a little wet, and his voice sounds thick. "I'm really happy for you two."
"Thanks, Bin," Hyunjin laughs softly.
It leaves Minho and Chan. Momho and BangDad, as they so named each other in their own phones. Chan looks like he hasn't exhaled since he spotted the mating bites. Minho looks like he kind of forgot the concept of breathing even existed.
Felix steps forward. Hyunjin can feel his nerves through their bond, and he holds Felix's hand a little tighter.
"Hyung?" he asks. Who knows which one he's talking to – Chan or Minho; only that his worry is evident in his voice.
Chan breaks first, and he does so with a sob that catches himself, Felix, and Dumpling off guard. Felix barely manages to push Dumpling into Jisung's arms before Chan pulls them into a crushing hug.
"You brats," Chan sniffles. "Two months ago, you're panicking about a first date, and now you're bonded?"
"It just kind of …" Felix starts, and in his silence, Hyunjin finishes for him: "… happened?"
Felix's giggle is pretty muffled against Chan's shoulder, but Hyunjin catches it regardless.
"We thought you might be dad-levels of disappointed," Hyunjin admits. Chan pulls back and wipes at his eyes, smile a little guilty.
"On paper, it's a little crazy. But, well, you're fated mated, yeah? Plus, anyone who spends more than three minutes with the two of you knows you're, uh, a bit pathetically in love?"
"Aw, Chris," Felix smiles.
"Pathetically?" Hyunjin grumbles. Chan raises a brow. "Okay, fine, but he's very easy to be pathetically in love with!"
Felix's scent grows sweeter than any flower in the whole damn park. Then, though, it stutters, warps, pinches with aspartame.
"Hyung?"
There's no question about which Hyung he's talking to now. Minho is still staring at them both with wide eyes. Jisung takes a step forward.
"Jagi? You're freaking, well, everyone out," he says. Minho doesn't respond, but he does raise a hand to his chest. He rubs at his sternum, and Hyunjin realizes that it's not shock alone in his expression. There's confusion.
"I …" he starts. Then stops. He looks between Felix and Hyunjin again. "I feel crazy. I – my instincts are doing something."
Minho sounds genuinely disturbed. Felix gasps, but it's not a bad sound. It's a realization and a decision mixed into one. He steps forward, his hand slipping from Hyunjin's, until he's directly in front of Minho. He takes Minho's hands and looks at all of them – their little eight-some.
"It's because I'm an Omega in your pack," Felix tells Minho slowly. "And Hyunjin's an Alpha in your pack. So it makes sense you'd feel some kind of way about us mating."
Minho blinks at him. He doesn't seem that surprised; the words hit correctly in his mind.
"What?" Chan barely breathes. Felix looks at him, smiling softly.
"Come on, Chris," he says. "You think we were calling you Pack Alpha to make fun of you?"
Chan shakes his head like he can't believe what he's hearing, or else doesn't dare to let himself believe it. Hyunjin nods.
"Hyung, when I've called you for advice, it's not just because you're one of my best friends. I realized somewhere along the way that I was calling you because it mattered that my Pack Alpha–"
Chan shivers at the words, and Hyunjin grins.
"–knew how I was planning on handling a situation. I mean, ever since the eight of us started hanging out, it's felt right, right?"
Jisung sniffles and nods. "He's right. It's … it's easy. It's right."
Felix faces Minho again. "Hyung, you basically adopted me from the second you met me. And you didn't have to do any of it, but you did. You took care of me, and you understood me, and you –" Felix laughs wetly, "you absolutely mother the shit out of me, and I know it's because you care. But I think it's also because a part of you already knows–"
"You're mine," Minho cuts him off. His gaze sharpens, hits them all. Lingers on Jisung for a moment that has his lips curling, then Seungmin and Felix in tandem. "Yeah, I … yeah, you're mine. My pack."
Pack. Their pack. Hyunjin looks down at his charm bracelet, and the little infinity sign that Felix took as a number eight, and chose thusly. They'll really have to go back and get six additional charms, won't they?
Seungmin claps slowly, nodding appreciatively at Hyunjin and Felix. "What a fucking way to start a picnic, guys!"
Felix laughs and launches himself at Seungmin. Of course, per Changbin's point, Seungmin isn't exactly hitting the gym every day, so they promptly tumble into the grass.
"Lix!" Hyunjin rushes forward, and Changbin cackles.
"Oh my God, not the Alpha instincts," he snorts. Hyunjin glares as he's pulled down to the ground as well.
"Hey, Changbin-hyung, that's not fair," Jeongin tuts. "What if his precious mate gets a paper cut on a blade of grass!"
"Ayen-ah!" Felix scoffs, pulling him too. Jisung practically belly flops on top of them.
"I can't believe you're mated," he giggles. "You used to hate each other, and now you want to have each other's babies!"
"No!" Minho splutters, a hand to his chest. "Bbokie is too young to have a baby, and – oh my God, we need to get you on a higher dose of suppressants immediately–"
"So Pack Omega," Seungmin murmurs loud enough for Minho to hear. Hyunjin catches Chan's eye, the only one not yet in the cuddle pile. He's smiling at them so fondly that Hyunjin feels tears prick the corners of his eyes. He looks proud.
"Come on," Hyunjin grins. "It's not a real pack cuddle without all eight of us, right?"
Chan laughs softly. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
When he joins the throng, Innie complains that he's being suffocated to death, and Jisung teases Seungmin again for just wanting to be crushed by 'man muscle'. And Hyunjin ends up right next to Felix. He smells like them both. Like lemon and vanilla and sugar, like whiskey and chili and blood orange.
It shouldn't work.
Felix turns his head like he senses Hyunjin's thoughts.
He smiles, and it's like looking at the sun.
It shouldn't work. But it absolutely does.
Hyunjin really didn't think he was more of a kitchen disaster than Jisung, or than Seungmin, or than the unique blend of Seungmin and Felix together unsupervised.
But he's cutting limes because Jisung wanted margaritas, and Chan says something stupid, so he laughs.
And promptly slices into his knuckle.
"Fuck," he hisses, immediately sucking at the wound. Minho is there in a flash.
"You okay?"
"Just cut myself," Hyunjin winces, grabbing a paper towel and pressing it on the rapidly bleeding skin. Minho clicks his tongue and steps forward, examining the injury. "It's fine, Hyung. Shallow."
"Must hurt, though," Minho says. Hyunjin shrugs. "Here, I can go get you a banda–"
The front door flies open, and Felix all but barrels into the kitchen.
"You're hurt," he says.
Changbin snorts from the living room. Seungmin murmurs something that makes him snort even harder. Hyunjin barely refrains from making fun of their near-constant flirtathon, and only because Felix looks terrified.
"Angel, it's barely a cut," Hyunjin says, but when Felix sees his finger, he scoffs.
"That's not barely a cut! I felt it at least a little, and it hurt."
Hyunjin does not point out that Felix is a little bit of a baby when it comes to pain. He values his life, and even if Felix didn't end it, Minho certainly would.
"We're going to a doctor," Felix decides.
"Felix, I'm fine," Hyunjin says.
Felix glares at him. He raises one eyebrow.
Hyunjin sighs. "I'll get my shoes."
"Simp," Seungmin calls from the living room.
"Oh yeah?" Hyunjin scoffs. "You really want to go there?"
Seungmin doesn't have a comeback to that, and Hyunjin carries his smugness all the way from the Alpha dorms and down the street. Felix is a one-man army, shoulders set and chin lifted. Hyunjin is so busy staring at him and wondering how someone can be so cute that he almost doesn't recognize the clinic until they're being led into a room.
The same clinic Hyunjin went to when he first got hooked on an ice cream scent. Only then to realize it was the scent of an Ice Cream Angel.
"Why are you smiling?" Felix asks. He's calmer now that they're waiting for a doctor. He's still wearing his dance clothes – he must have just gotten out of rehearsal when he sensed Hyunjin's apparently life-threatening injury.
"Back when I first met you," Hyunjin starts, I –
"Hwang Hyunjin?"
The door opens, and a familiar doctor enters. She stops when she sees him, and then smiles.
"Hi," Hyunjin says. Felix tilts his head, curious.
"What brings you in this time?" the doctor asks, sinking onto a chair before the two of them. Hyunjin holds up his paper towel-wrapped finger.
"I got a minor cut," he says.
"It could have damaged his nerves," Felix insists, eyes huge. Hyunjin is deeply unsurprised to see her visibly affected by Felix's expression. "Hyunjin's an artist, so he can't risk nerve damage–"
"I'll take a look, don't worry," she assures him.
Felix hovers, then tries not to hover, then hovers some more. In the end, Hyunjin thinks the doctor is probably applying more bandages than are necessary for what looks, more or less, like a paper cut; either way, Felix's scent is sugar sweet as a result, so Hyunjin's more than happy.
"Do you have disinfectant ointment at home?" She asks Hyunjin, then Felix. Hyunjin balks – he and Jisung don't even have a first aid kit – and Felix jumps to his feet.
"Let me call Minho-hyung. If not, we can pick some up on the way home."
The doctor watches Felix dial and then press the phone to his ear. Her breath catches when Felix tilts his neck and Hyunjin's mating bite – now one month healed – comes into view. She leans towards Hyunjin, who sighs and tilts his head.
"So," she says, "I see you figured out a cure to your ASS after all."
"They really should rename it, you know," Hyunjin says. "But yeah. I did."
"I'm happy for you," she says.
Best cure in the world, he thinks, as Felix thanks Minho and turns to him, smile blinding as he announces they do, in fact, have disinfecting ointment at home. Once they've left the clinic, Felix presses a kiss to the bandaged back of Hyunjin's knuckles, then giggles when Hyunjin presses a kiss to his cheek.
"Such a knothead," he mumbles.
"Your knothead."
"Seems that way," Felix shrugs.
Abrupt scent susceptibility? Cured. Down-badism? Still terminal, but he's very much accepted it.
As for Felix's sugar addiction?
"Come on, I want a margarita," Felix tugs him down the sidewalk.
"A little sour for your taste, Angel," Hyunjin teases.
"What can I say?" Felix winks at him. "I'm learning to expand my palette."
"That's such a fucking lie," Hyunjin snorts. "You are never not going to have a sweet tooth."