Chapter Text
Jeongin has always been too much.
Too sharp, too observant, too aware of every sound and scent crowding the air.
By six, he could tell when someone was lying by the way the room changed—fear smelled like copper and burnt sugar, shame smelled like damp paper.
By eight, he could read emotion faster than words.
His mother used to call it a gift, though not always kindly.
She’d smile too tightly and remind him that good boys didn’t snarl when they were frightened.
When the other kids flinched at his stare or his sudden stillness, she’d murmur, try to be less.
He’s spent most of his life trying.
Even now, the world reaches him through scent before it ever touches his eyes. Seoul smells different from Busan—steel instead of salt, rain instead of tide—but it still hums beneath his skin the same way. He filters through it like a diver controlling breath: inhale, exhale, survive.
His alpha hums low, a steady drum behind his heartbeat.
Too many scents. Too loud.
Jeongin agrees.
Keep it contained.
Crowds are the worst. Perfume, sweat, pheromones—each one a new knife. He’s learned to keep his hands in his pockets and his expression blank so no one realizes the quiet is just restraint.
They mistake his silence for patience, his stillness for calm.
They don’t know it’s control—the leash he keeps on the part of him that wants to snarl, protect, claim.
He’s gone years without losing that control.
Until today.
…
Jeongin never thought he’d feel grateful for his part-time job at the coffee shop. He only took it to pad his wallet and fill the silence that followed him from Busan. Serving espresso let him talk to people without making any promises, and the sharp, bitter scent of roasted beans drowned out everything else.
His boss—a mellow beta who’s learned when to look away—lets him step out back whenever the smells get too heavy. Jeongin’s been close to his wolf since childhood; teachers used to warn his parents about “early alpha presentation.” Once, when he was five, he bit a boy for stealing his shovel in the sandbox. A sign of things to come, they’d said. He still thinks the kid deserved it.
People like tidy boxes. Alphas protect, betas mediate, omegas nurture. Jeongin doesn’t fit neatly anywhere—too territorial to be diplomatic, too careful to be soft. His heightened sense of smell turns ordinary pheromones into land mines. Most omegas are cloying, most alphas reek of pride, and betas leak emotions they don’t even know they’re feeling.
By noon the café is unbearable: burnt milk, sugar syrup, a dozen overlapping heartbeats. He clips his nose shut, grits his teeth, and lasts another hour before his vision starts to pulse at the edges.
He flags a coworker, grabs the trash, and slips out the back door.
Relief hits like cold water—fresh air, rain, silence.
He pulls off the nose clip and breathes. For five whole seconds, the world is bearable. Then his foot catches on a bag, he stumbles, and the scent-locked plastic splits open.
“Perfect,” he mutters, brushing grit from his palms. The air should stink of spoiled cream and cardboard. Instead—
Lemon bread.
Warm sugar and sunlight, clean linen, the faint edge of salt. Not the fake bakery smell that clings to syrup bottles—real lemon bread, like his grandmother used to bake on humid Busan nights with the windows open to the sea.
The scent winds through him, soft and golden. For once, the world stops biting.
His alpha goes still.
Mate?
Jeongin swallows.
Patience.
He digs through the torn bag until his fingers close around a crumpled napkin. One inhale, and the alley disappears. Sweetness. Warmth. The faint tremor of exhaustion beneath it all—omega, fragile, perfect.
Jeongin presses the napkin to his nose and exhales a low, shuddering growl of relief that vibrates down to his teeth.
For the first time in years, breathing doesn’t hurt.
He stays there, crouched between the dumpsters and the hiss of the city, and just inhales. The scent winds through his head, quieting everything that usually screams. The coffee, the exhaust, the sour human noise of Seoul—it all fades until only that golden lemon warmth remains.
This is what silence must feel like.
His fingers tighten around the napkin.
An omega.
Find them.
The command comes sharp and certain, a growl that curls through Jeongin’s spine.
Not yet.
He presses the napkin flat against his thigh, trying to ignore how his pulse stutters.
We don’t even know who they are.
Then we’ll learn.
It’s almost funny—his alpha, for once, not demanding blood or dominance, just clarity. The first clear order that’s made sense in years.
…
Jeongin has always been a tracker.
When other kids were learning multiplication, he was learning how fear smelled like iron and how guilt left a sour trace in the air hours after a lie. His mother called it “a gift,” though never with pride—always with warning. Too much.
By sixteen, the local police called it “useful.”
They had him volunteer in the missing-persons department—handed him scraps of clothing sealed in plastic bags and told him to follow. They thought it was training. They didn’t realize they were teaching him peace.
Because for Jeongin, tracking was quiet.
No crowding scents, no screaming instincts—just one line of focus through the noise.
Follow. Breathe. Find.
Every successful trail ended in a deep, clean exhale that left his alpha purring with satisfaction.
We’re built for this.
He hadn’t disagreed then. He still doesn’t now.
The napkin in his hand trembles faintly as he lifts it again. The scent is soft, citrus threaded with human warmth—an omega’s pulse caught in fibers. His alpha hums low, reverent.
They smell safe. They smell ours.
Jeongin swallows the noise that threatens to escape him.
Patience, he tells himself again, but even he can hear how thin the word sounds.
He tucks the napkin carefully into his jacket pocket, the motion deliberate—ritualistic almost. He can already imagine tracing it later, memorizing the weight and fold and fibers, the single quiet thread that will lead him through the city.
For once, the chaos in his head feels ordered.
He can breathe. He can see.
We’ll find them, he promises, standing and brushing dust from his knees.
His alpha stretches under his skin, content.
We’ll keep them safe.
Jeongin glances once toward the street, the hum of traffic beyond the alley. The air already feels cleaner, thinner, touched by lemon light.
Always.
It only took Jeongin a week before he picked up a trace of that ambrosial scent once again, causing him to pause in his tracks. It had been around 2:00 AM on a random Tuesday and Jeongin had been making his usual rounds around different areas that were close to campus. Although Jeongin had been living in Seoul for about two months at that point, his alpha didn’t feel comfortable enough with the region yet. Jeongin found it hard to sleep in unfamiliar territory and so to remedy that, he had been spending his nights scouring the different streets and neighborhoods around campus and building a mental map of sorts. He was just about finishing a two-mile radius of his latest area of exploration when he caught the scent.
Jeongin remembers how he inhaled again and held onto that freshly baked lemon bread scent and he remembers how he only exhaled once he determined that the scent was coming from a nearby building. The omega was so close, the scent was so strong, Jeongin wanted a taste.
Follow it.
Who was Jeongin to argue with his alpha. And so he tracked it, ignoring the zing of stimulation each inhale of that luscious scent brought to his core.
Ever since he was introduced to the scent of this omega, it was easy for Jeongin to ignore distractions, he’d never had an easier week at the coffee shop. Every time he would get overwhelmed he would just remind himself that there was an omega who was waiting for him. An omega who needed him.
Sometimes, when the mere thought alone didn’t calm him down enough, Jeongin would signal for one of his self-imposed breaks and go to the back alley. Once there, he would take out that crumbled napkin he’d kept in his pocket and he’d shove his nose straight into the source of that lemon bread scent that had been keeping him in a chokehold. He’d hold himself there, he kept himself rooted in that scent until his inner alpha stopped its pacing.
Jeongin had a prize to find, an omega to treasure. Jeongin couldn’t be a good alpha for this omega if he let the overwhelming scents of some miserable customers distract him from that goal. Thankfully though, it seemed Jeongin wouldn’t have to rely on that napkin alone any longer..
It didn’t take him long to find the source of the scent and soon enough Jeongin had found himself staring up at a window on the second floor of an apartment building. The window was cracked open just a sliver, probably so that the omega inside could enjoy the sounds of the night. Or at least he assumed that was the reason as if it was an air conditioning issue or a lack of concern for their own safety, the omega would have fully opened the window.
Still it’s not safe, our omega is not safe.
Jeongin felt himself growl in agreement. He didn’t like that the omega had left his window unlocked. What if some other alpha found his scent? What if some other wolf took the cracked open window as an invitation?
Jeongin remembers how he reminded himself that he didn’t have a right to protect the omega yet and how he turned his focus to the area surrounding the omega’s apartment building. There had been a convenience store, a couple shops, a couple office buildings, many other apartment complexes, and a large park across the street. Jeongin immediately headed closer to the park and saw that it was at the epicenter of the whole block of apartment buildings nearby. The park had many different grass fields, many walking paths, bike paths, a variety of different sport courts, and even a couple different play structures for kids. Jeongin had liked the layout, he liked that many of the grass areas were in a depression and that there many were benches along the sidewalks that would allow onlookers to observe whatever area of the park that they desired.
Jeongin remembers thinking back to the cracked-open window of the unknown omega he desired. He had figured if the omega had found the sounds of the night soothing, then he assumed that the omega would also find the fresh air of the park to be comforting during the day.
Jeongin then vowed to return to that park every single day until he found his omega. And he remembers how he did exactly that. For the next four days he returned to the park and sat on a bench that was both next to the bike path and gave him an extremely distant view of the front entrance of the omega’s apartment building.
If the omega were to approach the park, then they would have to come from that one direction, Jeongin was sure of it. He also made sure to come at different times of day, not only because of his own work schedule but also because he didn’t know the omega’s daily routine.
Jeongin’s alpha was growing agitated as the days wore on and what made matters even worse was that the lemon bread scent had almost completely disappeared from the napkin. Jeongin knew he wouldn't forget that scent, but that didn’t mean he was alright with losing what little traces he had left of the source scent.
Luckily, soon enough on the sixth day of his efforts the Moon Goddess finally saw it fit to reward Jeongin. He remembers how on that Monday he decided to come to the park a little later than he usually would. Jeongin had taken the early shift at the coffee shop that morning and so he had stopped home to change into some gym shorts and a compression shirt before heading to the park.
After spending so much time there over the past couple of days he had found that he quite liked the different variety of running trails that the park offered. It was quite impressive for a park in the middle of a city.
He didn’t get there until about 3:00 PM in the afternoon and he remembers being quite annoyed at how the wind was coming in from behind him as he approached his preferred bench that placed himself opposite of where he assumed his omega would be approaching from. The wind was annoying because its direction would only serve to amplify the scents from behind him and distort the scents coming from those in front of him, and as a result it would confuse his senses and might make it harder for him to decipher the proper location of his omega if they were to enter the area.
Now, Jeongin still blames the wind for interrupting his chances of finally seeing this omega undisturbed. But luckily his inner alpha had been one step ahead of him. For when Jeongin had finally arrived at the bench where he intended to take a seat, his alpha stopped him.
They are here. Our omega, they are watching us.
Jeongin remembers how he automatically straightened his posture, and immediately scanned the area in front of him.
Where?
He was on the hunt. He had felt desperate, his head had been throbbing, his urge to find this omega was stronger than his body’s need to inhale oxygen.
The grass field, straight ahead.
Jeongin had looked where his inner alpha had guided him and felt himself swallow as he found the eyes of the most beautiful omega he’s ever seen staring straight back at him.
Ours.
Jeongin agreed. All of his senses dulled as he let his eyes scan up and down the omega who was sitting on a picnic blanket with friends—two alphas: one coffee scented the other cinnamon, one other omega: cherry blossom scented, and none of whom were important—his short brunette hair was highlighted by the sun and did nothing but bring more attention to the male omega’s beautiful brown eyes that were wide and staring back at him. Jeongin couldn’t help but let his own eyes trail down the omega’s tall nose and land on his full pink lips. He wanted to bite them. He wanted to bite him.
Jeongin felt no shame as he looked back up into the omega’s eyes and let his alpha come forward as he inhaled the fresh source of his favorite lemon bread scent. Jeongin felt his alpha rumble in pleasure as he watched the omega lift his nose and nostrils flare in response, the male’s own omega blue flashing in what was clear approval.
Ours.
Something about the omega’s scent didn’t behave the way it should have. It pulsed like it was holding its breath—steady, clean, too even. Most omegas changed notes with every feeling; this one muted himself, like soundproof glass.
Jeongin’s wolf didn’t like that kind of quiet. Silence meant something had been taken.
He remembered once, years ago, the smell of blood in a studio stairwell—someone else’s, not his. He hadn’t flinched then either. He’d just cleaned it up, methodical, calm. Some people prayed. Jeongin removed the stain.
Jeongin was so caught up in this omega that he unconsciously took a couple steps forward, to do what he didn’t necessarily know, he just needed to get closer. In fact, Jeongin was so hooked on that lemon bread scent that he neither heard the multiple warning calls for him to move out the way nor did he smell the beta rapidly approaching him without a care in the world.
“Changbinnie! Look at my bike! It’s pink!” the shouts of a beta—who radiated a scent of cashmere infused desperation and adoration—only registered to Jeongin mere seconds before what would be his impending doom.
“Hyunjin watch out!” A distant shout.
“Hey dude move out of the way!” That one had been closer.
Jeongin didn’t care though, he couldn’t bring himself to move. He found himself trapped in the gaze of the prettiest omega he’d ever seen. In fact, Jeongin distinctly remembers watching as those beautiful eyes shifted their expression from shock into fear in the same moment that Jeongin’s right side had been slammed into by the beta on his bike.
It fucking hurt. There was no avoiding it, Jeongin got knocked down hard and ended up on the edge of the grassy knoll next to the bike path, the beta was also thrown off his bike, and Jeongin has no idea where the male or his bike landed. He could hear the other breathing though so he assumed the male was somewhere nearby.
On any other given day if Jeongin found himself to be bowled over by an ignorant beta on a bike, he would be pretty pissed. But right now, Jeongin, in pain, on his back in the middle of the park, finds himself to be pretty happy.
We found our omega.
That we did.
Jeongin closes his eyes, while he is happy he can’t help but notice that his head is starting to throb.
“Shit, um, I’m sorry man. I didn’t really notice you,” he hears the beta say, voice shaking as if the guy is trying not to cry. Jeongin can smell how the other’s cashmere scent feels more thick now, worry and pain dampening the enthusiasm and adoration he’d been radiating moments earlier. Betas don’t have any means of controlling their own pheromones well so there is nothing holding back the guilt that is embedding itself into this beta’s strengthening scent of cashmere..
“It’s okay,” Jeongin finds himself responding, surprised that he means it, “I didn’t notice you either.”
Jeongin wants to smile as he smells the guilt lessen from the beta’s scent in response to his words. However, it’s at that moment that his pain filters out enough for him to register all the scents emanating from the small crowd that he can hear gathering around them and Jeongin can’t find it in himself to put that extra energy into anything apart from keeping himself calm.
Perhaps we were too focused on our omega.
Jeongin appreciates that his wolf is also putting in effort to calm down and distract him. It works.
I don’t regret it.
But now our omega saw us get injured. He’ll think we’re weak.
At least he was watching us.
Jeongin can feel his inner alpha roll his eyes but he honestly feels too blissed out to care.
I found him, our omega.
“Move it people! This is my friend!”
“Get lost! We’re helping them!” the same voice shouts again seconds later, this time louder. They are moving closer.
A group of footsteps break themselves apart from the crowd that dissipates in response to the shouts and Jeongin mentally thanks the voices for saving his olfactory senses from further assault. He still decides to keep his eyes closed, not wanting to add any visual stimulation to the mix with his pounding headache.
“Oh my gosh are you okay Hyunjin? Jinnie?” a low-pitched voice asks. Jeongin can smell wilted cherry blossoms and he knows the worried scent and corresponding voice belongs to the other omega that had been on that picnic blanket. Now that the omega is closer, Jeongin picks up on the traces of sandalwood woven into his scent that classify him as mated.
“Do I look okay? It hurts!” the beta, whose name he determines must be Hyunjin, whines. Jeongin notes that Hyunjin’s cashmere scent lightens just the barest bit, and he assumes that the beta is probably happy to be in the company of his friends.
“Hyunjinnie, do you need me to kiss it better?!!” he hears a loud voice shout in a light tone. Jeongin scrunches his nose at the strong coffee scent that comes along with it. Jeongin has to give the alpha props though because his tone is notably jovial compared to the mass amount of protective pheromones that the alpha is currently radiating. Jeongin inhales again and notes that the cashmere beta is not scent marked. It is interesting considering the overbearing sense of worry that this coffee scented alpha seems to be trying to hide. Jeongin can’t help but be grateful for that though, the only reason Jeongin can tell the other alpha is affected at all is because his coffee undertone keeps spiking, and no other wolf is a match for Jeongin’s sense of smell. Still, Jeongin respects that the alpha is at least attempting to reign in his scent. He supposes it is because he doesn’t want Jeongin to feel threatened as he, a stranger and an alpha, has been put in quite a vulnerable position by Hyunjin, who is a random beta. The other alpha probably is worried that Jeongin might retaliate against the beta or express anger in some way.
“Yes please Binnie! I don’t think I can walk!” Jeongin hears the beta whine. The whine is cut off though quite quickly by a sea of cackles and the sounds of lips smacking against cheeks. He wants to roll his eyes as the beta’s earlier emissions of desperation and adoration reignite themselves. Jeongin figures Hyunjin has a crush on this coffee scented alpha.
“I should probably grab the bike right?” a new voice asks and Jeongin recognizes it as the same one who broke apart the crowd around them moments prior. Moments later his scent filters through and Jeongin identifies it as belonging to the cinnamon scented alpha who he remembers had been sitting somewhat close to his own lemon bread smelling omega on that picnic blanket, actually. Jeongin’s inner alpha wants to growl at the thought.
“No Jisung, let’s just leave it in the middle of the bike path,” the coffee scented alpha’s words break Jeongin away from that line of thought.
“Rude,” the cinnamon scented alpha huffs. Jeongin takes another inhale and finds himself relaxing as he realizes the cinnamon alpha’s scent has a distinct note of vanilla. The alpha, Jisung, is mated to and marked by an omega. What’s interesting though, to Jeongin at least, is that like the cherry blossom omega whose alphas mate’s scent was interwoven with his own, Jisung’s scent also had vanilla woven into it. However, unlike the cherry-blossom smelling omega, Jisung radiates a clear stream of his own omega’s vanilla scent on top of their combined scent. The only reason his omega’s scent would be so strong on him is if the alpha had been freshly and thickly scent marked by his omega. Jeongin finds this interesting as it is a practice more commonly performed by possessive alphas to their own mates. Usually a combined mated scent is enough to warn everyone off of bothering whatever half of the pair they meet. However, there are always going to be assholes out there and so some partners find it better to be safe than sorry. Jeongin is curious about the type of omega who would have such a strong inclination to protect and mark their partner on top of their mating bond. He’s even more curious to know why the strong kick of vanilla doesn’t make him want to gag, as the scent is very sweet.
The vanilla is nothing compared to the smell of his own eventual omega’s lemon bread scent. Jeongin knows he will do whatever it takes to win over this omega.
He is ours.
I know. It’s meant to be.
Finally.
Jeongin personally hasn’t been able to stand a theoretical partner’s scent long enough to go beyond a one night stand. He saw absolutely no reason to court or date someone whose scent sickened him. He honestly had little to no hopes for finding a mate, he figured he’d be suffering the rest of his life alone in solitude away from society and the accompanying scents. That all changed as soon as he caught that fateful trace of lemon bread on that stupid napkin. Jeongin has always been possessive, he knows that he will want to covet his omega’s scent all to himself as soon as he is allowed to get his hands on his omega. He plans to beg his omega to let him scent mark him, he hopes his omega will scent mark him in return and sit on his face until he’s crying in satisfaction. Jeongin wants a lot of things and so he really hopes this omega will consider him and let Jeongin take care of him and protect him and serve him and—
“Changbin, let me take him,” the deep voiced omega says and Jeongin hears the coffee-scented alpha sigh. Jeongin quickly calms himself and pulls back his own saltwater scent that had started accumulating.
You are pathetic.
I am you, literally.
Well WE are currently lying on our back in the middle of a park with our eyes closed surrounded by strangers and all you are thinking about is how to get your hands on our omega who can’t even be our omega yet because you have not introduced yourself.
So….maybe I’m a little pathetic.
Jeongin assumes that the others have shuffled around while he was stuck in his pondering over Jisung’s mate and his own lemon bread smelling omega. Jeongin realizes he needs to get his shit together, he doesn’t even know Jisung. His alpha’s right, he hasn’t even met this omega yet though he thinks the sight of him alone could bring him lasting pleasure. Jeongin also is starting to remember that he was just slammed full force by a bike because his blistering headache is getting worse and it is starting to worry him that the back and top of his head is starting to feel wet. He thinks the handlebars of the bike must have hit him.
“Alright Felix, come and hold him then,” the coffee-scented alpha, who Jeongin now knows is named Changbin, rumbles. Jeongin proceeds to listen as clothes start to rustle and he hears the shuffling of footsteps. Jeongin hears the alpha approach him with a sigh and decides to inhale to gain an updated read on the scents of the pair. Jeongin can still sense the worry in Changbin’s scent but notes that his protective pheromones have decreased exponentially. Hyunjin still smells like he is in pain, however, it seems that the lingering sense of anxiety and guilt have almost completely vanished, which Jeongin supposes is a good thing.
“Hey Hyunjin!” The sounds of a bell ringing and the wheels of a bike turning against the grass follow Jisung’s approach and Jeongin cringes away from them both. The movement causes him to let out a small groan, only now realizing that his entire right side is throbbing with pain. Jeongin brings his left hand up to rub circles on his right shoulder, the area where he feels the pain the sharpest. He winces as he pulls his legs closer to himself and registers the shocks of pain that radiate down from his knees. Jeongin figures he’ll be sore for days.
“Next time use this to warn someone,” Jisung’s voice sing-songs and Jeongin hears the bell ring again. The ringing causes his headache to rear up in intensity and Jeongin can’t help but let a small growl escape him as he moves his hands back to the ground beneath him, clutching at the grass in order to try to regain some sense of control over his current situation.
“Jisung cut that shit out and put the bike down,” Changbin barks and Jeongin smells how the alpha’s stress is starting to accumulate.
“Okay fine,” Jisung huffs and Jeongin almost winces as he feels the impact of the bike hitting the grass reverberate slightly. He didn’t realize how close the others were. With his enhanced sense of smell he can usually smell everyone within a 15 foot radius of himself, almost the same as if they were right in front of him. Right now, though, the pain and clamor of the situation are a bit disorienting.
“Oh shit,” Jeongin can smell the concern that momentarily thickens Jisung’s cinnamon scent as the male hovers over him, “We should probably check on this other guy I think I see blood in his hair.”
That explains why his hair feels wet. Now that Jeongin tries to focus on it, he thinks he can feel the pool of warmth that has been gathering at the top of his head start to slide down the front of his forehead. He loves how the platinum blonde has suited him, but Jeongin supposes blood does show up rather easily since it is such a light shade.
“Fuck mate, are you okay?” He hears Felix, the deep voiced omega, ask him. The voice wasn’t right next to him so Jeongin assumes that the male is still holding Hyunjin.
He keeps his eyes closed, trying to decide how to answer.
“Hyunjin! How the hell did you not see him?!” Changbin’s shout interrupts him before he can respond.
Jeongin bites his lip, all these sounds and smells are getting a bit too much and his head hurts like a bitch.
Melodic laughter flutters over him, it acts like a balm to his soul.
It’s him.
“Are we really surprised that Hwang Hyunjin made a fool of himself?” Jeongin wants more than anything to hear more of that voice. He tries to turn towards it but as soon as he lifts his shoulder to do so Jeongin feels a sharp pain run all up and down his right side.
“Fuck,” he groans and raises his left hand to clutch at his head.
“Hey kid, are you okay?” Jeongin hears Changbin ask. He can tell the alpha is right next to him.
“I’ve been better,” Jeongin replies, hoping that the response will keep the alpha from coming any closer. It does, but it also somehow manages to make his headache even worse, which is more annoying than this other alpha calling him “kid.”
“Minnie, don’t come over here, he’s an alpha,” Jisung’s voice says from nearby.
Jeongin can’t think straight. He’s grateful that Changbin is refraining from making contact with him because Jeongin knows he would absolutely flip his shit if the alpha or anyone were to touch him when he was feeling this out of sorts.
“I’ll do whatever I want, Jisung,” the sound of this beautiful voice alone is enough to start to ease the ache behind Jeongin’s temple. Then the delectable lemon bread scent breaks through the fog of the other concerned scents and Jeongin wants to howl in victory.
Our omega, he’s here.
Jeongin opens his eyes and gets rewarded with the sight of his beautiful omega hovering over him, biting his lip and scanning Jeongin’s face up and down.
Jeongin scans him in return. This omega’s face is the type that should be on billboards around the world, the perfect mix of handsome and adorable. The omega’s chocolate eyes are full of joy and curiosity, his lashes are long, his nose is tall, his lips are pink, and Jeongin thinks he could live the rest of his life happily if this omega is the one who looks back at him every day.
“Hi… um,” the omega starts and pauses, licking his lip with a smile before trying to clear his face into a more neutral expression. Jeongin wants to kiss him. Instead he watches for a moment, takes another inhale of the omega, and he catches the extra notes of amusement that mix in with the omega’s baseline scent. It seems that this omega is actively trying not to laugh at his misfortune.
Cute.
Let’s keep him happy forever.
Agreed. Whatever it takes.
“You can laugh,” is the first thing that comes out of Jeongin’s mouth.
The omega blinks at him.
Jeongin blinks back. He can’t help but wish he wasn’t so damn awkward.
“It’s okay,” Jeongin quickly adds in an attempt to reassure the other, growing nervous as he watches the omega continue to blink in surprise.
But then the omega hovering over him lets out a snort of laughter and Jeongin revels in the fresh outpouring of citrus that comes along with it. In fact, he decides that this omega's laughter is his new favorite sound. Jeongin swears he can feel his own heart skip a beat and finds himself incapable of doing anything else but stare at this beautiful omega above him.
“I feel bad laughing when I can see the blood dripping down your forehead,” the omega says with a smile. He watches the way the omega flicks his own wide eyes away from Jeongin at the same moment a potent flare of lemon bread hits the air. He takes note as the omega’s scent calms down once his brown eyes find his own again.
Jeongin can’t remember how he defined beauty before this moment. Nothing compares to the light he sees in his omegas eyes. Jeongin can’t even bring himself to blink, not if it means missing a single one of his omega’s breaths.
“I think you’re lying.” Jeongin offers a smile of his own and feels his alpha pride stir in his chest at the sight of the omega’s pupils widening in response as they focus in on his lips. Jeongin watches as the omega holds his focus and he takes note of the slight addition of lemon tinged arousal that filters into the air as well. Jeongin can’t help but think that if a smile is all it takes to gain that sort of reaction out of him, then his pretty omega has no idea what Jeongin has in store for him.
“Oh, really?” The omega quirks a brow as he looks back up into Jeongin’s eyes, lips quivering in a clear attempt to hide his amusement. Jeongin thinks it’s cute that the omega keeps trying to do so.
“Yes, but I don’t blame you. It must have been pretty funny seeing your friend bowl over some innocent alpha,” Jeongin flashes his dimples at the omega. Jeongin closes his eyes for a moment to hide the inevitable pain that runs through him as he proceeds to lift his upper body enough to support his weight with his elbows. Jeongin wasn’t kidding about being able to tell the omega was lying. Sometimes it feels as if his own enhanced sense of smell gives him a glimpse into other wolves’ souls. Right now, this omega’s scent is full of merriment.
“Maybe so, but if you saw your idiot friend do the same thing I’m sure you’d also be amused,” the omega raises his brow, eyes full of mirth. Jeongin licks his lips.
He is so pretty.
He will be ours.
“Rude,” Hyunjin’s whiny tone interjects and Jeongin suddenly remembers they are not alone. He looks over to see a long limbed beta sprawled out in the lap of a blonde omega, who Jeongin immediately identifies as Felix. Both the beta and omega are absolutely beautiful by societal standards and Jeongin’s own. Hyunjin had long black silky hair and his eyes were puffy and red as if he’d been crying.
“Are you okay?” Jeongin can’t help but ask, he does feel a bit guilty that this omega dulled his senses so much that he stepped right into the bike path. While Hyunjin definitely should have been looking, Jeongin acknowledges that the situation is equally his own fault. If he had been paying attention to his surroundings, he would have had time to step out of Hyunjin’s way.
“He’s fine,” a gruff voice answers at the same time Hyunjin nods and sniffles. Jeongin looks to his right and tenses when he makes eye contact with the alpha he identifies as Changbin. The coffee scented alpha clearly spends a lot of time at the gym, his muscles bulging and biceps prominent where they stand out from his muscle tee. Changbin also, once again, starts to radiate an aura of ‘you better not touch my beta or I will fuck you up.” He looks at him in a way only another alpha could understand, Jeongin first mentally notes that the crush is returned, as he remembers the earlier adoration and desperation that radiated from Hyunjin. Secondly, Jeongin subtly nods to the other alpha to indicate he personally has no interest in retaliation against the beta. Jeongin isn’t the type to deal out unjust punishment anyway, Hyunjin did no intentional harm. Hyunjin did not deserve any punishment.
As a general rule, Jeongin tends to pick up less detailed whims and emotions of alphas and omegas because they have better control over their pheromones. Normal alphas wouldn’t be able to pick up anything from other alphas, omegas, and to a lesser extent betas other than the basics. Before this moment, Changbin had been purposely releasing his protective pheromones as a subtle warning and it is only now after Jeongin nods that Changbin finally loses the last bit of the protective edge that lingered in his coffee scent.
“Sheesh bro, your hair is turning red,” Jisung appears behind Changbin. Jeongin thinks he’s pretty attractive and despite his relatively small stature Jeongin can sense the strength in his build. Unlike Changbin, who seems to be the type to fight and win with brute force, Jisung appears to be more of a scrappy fighter. This to Jeongin, makes him more dangerous only insofar as Jeongin wouldn’t know what to expect if he had to take him on. He also is still very much curious about the possessive vanilla scented omega that Jisung is mated to, but Jeongin figures he will find out more about that once he officially lands his omega.
“He’s right, you know,” Jeongin feels a warm hand brushing his matted hair away from his forehead and immediately closes his eyes and tries to turn into it, unable to stop himself.
Omega.
Omega. Ours.
Jeongin doesn’t know if he’s ever felt comfort with another person’s touch on his skin. He even shied away from his mother’s hugs as a child. But this touch right here, the touch of his omega radiates a sense of home that Jeongin knows he will never find anywhere else. Not only the touch itself but also the citrus aroma it brings too. He needs more.
Jeongin lifts his hand to try to take hold of the omega’s. He isn’t exactly sure what he was intending to do, but it didn’t matter because the onslaught of sharp pain that travels up and down his shoulder after such an attempt reminds Jeongin that he is in fact the current victim of a bike crash.
Jeongin winces and drops his hand, letting out a small growl. He doesn’t like being restricted in his movements.
“Enough with that,” his omega tuts at him.
Jeongin opens his eyes and immediately finds the furrow between his omega’s eyes and the small frown painting his lips.
Jeongin can’t have that. He pushes down the almost monstrous sense of anger that threatens to fill his chest in response to such a sign of distress on his omega’s beautiful face. Anger won’t help anything, Jeongin needs to fix it.
“I don’t mind the blood. Truly.”
Jeongin watches his omega blink in response. He wants to crawl in a hole and hide. He was trying to be comforting but instead he sounded like a creep. Still, it is true, Jeongin has never minded getting his hands dirty. Blood has never bothered him. In fact, he oddly finds the metallic copper tang a bit pleasant but Jeongin knows that’s a bit much to reveal to someone on the first meeting… or ever. Jeongin knows he’s weird, he’s accepted it. Hopefully his omega won’t mind.
“While I believe you, that doesn’t mean I like to see you hurt.” Jeongin watches as the omega’s frown shifts into a small soft smile and wants to howl in victory.
It’s time to learn his name. We need to know who owns our heart.
Jeongin supposes his alpha has a fair point. He actually probably should have asked for that a while ago.
Jeongin takes an inhale of that delicious lemon bread scent and uses it to spur himself onward. This will either go well or Jeongin might have to jam his head back into the handlebars of Hyunjin’s bike.
“Why don’t we focus on something more important?” Jeongin leans forward and places his elbows on his knees, truly doing his best to look somewhat attractive despite his current position sprawled on his ass with his blood spattered hair. Jeongin also pointedly ignores the fact that his movement causes even more blood to drip down his forehead and instead he deliberately puts his energy into purposefully scanning the omega up and down.
“Oh yeah?” The omega asks, plump lips curving upwards in a smirk. His scent blooms pleasantly, indicating that he is entertained or at least pleased with Jeongin’s efforts “and what would that be, alpha?”
Jeongin’s alpha inwardly rumbles and he feels his cock twitch and forces himself not to release an onslaught of his own pheromones in response.
Pup wants to play.
Jeongin can work with pleased. Jeongin can also think of a thousand different contexts in which he wants this omega to call him that again.
“Is this actually happening? Felix, do you see this?”
“Yeah Sungie, the guy that Jinnie took down with his bike is totally flirting with Minnie right now.”
“And Seungmin is totally flirting back.”
Seungmin.
Good name for our omega.
Jeongin smiles wide, flashing his dimples before letting it fall back into a smirk. He wants to hear the answer straight from his omega’s full pink lips.
“What’s your name, omega?” Jeongin rumbles.
Jeongin can feel his alpha vibrating with pleasure as he smells aroma of lemon bread grow stronger, the omega clearly open towards his intentions
“Kim Seungmin,” the omega answers with a smirk of his own, standing up straight.
Kim Seungmin. Kim Seungmin. Kim Seungmin.
That’s the name of the omega who’s etched himself into Jeongin’s soul.
“And yours?” Seungmin asks, holding his hand out towards Jeongin.
“Yang Jeongin,” he replies.
Jeongin takes his hand, letting the omega help pull him up so he is standing. He ignores the pain that radiates throughout his body at the movement, it doesn’t matter anymore, not with Seungmin in front of him.
“You’re so pretty,” Jeongin whispers. Seungmin blushes. The world tilts—blood loss or euphoria—who cares. He resolves right then and there that he will do whatever it takes to keep Kim Seungmin safe and happy for the rest of his life.
He is ours.