Chapter Text
Jeon Wonwoo was a late bloomer.
His parents, both betas, hadn’t been particularly concerned when Wonwoo showed no signs of presenting during his teenage years. It was only when they took him in for a routine hormone test, more out of thoroughness than worry, that the results came back unexpected.
Hormonal markers consistent with omega designation.
But for some reason, his body was taking its time.
At first, it hadn’t bothered him much. Everyone had their own timeline, and presentation was just another step in life, like learning to ride a bike or starting a new semester. But as time passed and more people around him settled into their secondary genders, Wonwoo began to feel the quiet pressure of being left behind.
Some nights, when he was alone in his room, Wonwoo couldn’t help but wonder. What would it feel like to finally present? Would he feel more complete? More… himself?
He’d considered bitching, just to speed things up. It was a common enough phenomenon for late bloomers like him.
But the idea was complicated for him. Was he supposed to force something that should happen naturally? Wasn’t that like rushing a flower to bloom before its time? Moreover, the procedure required an alpha’s assistance, and Wonwoo wasn’t close to any alphas. He had friends, sure, mostly betas and a few omegas, but no one he trusted enough for something so intimate, so personal.
So he’d shoved the idea aside and focused on what mattered now, like the quiz waiting for him tomorrow.
Wonwoo had spent the last hour buried in a book at the library, his eyes scanning the pages as he tried to focus on the quiz material. As he flipped a page, a voice interrupted his concentration.
“Mind if I sit here?”
Wonwoo looked up to find an alpha standing beside the chair next to him.
Not just any alpha though.
Kim Mingyu, with his brown hair that caught the afternoon light like a halo, tall and charming and broad-shouldered. The campus heartthrob. Architecture major. Star player on the university’s soccer team. Volunteered at the local youth center teaching kids math.
Basically perfect, which meant Wonwoo had admired him from a distance the way one might admire a particularly impressive building: appreciation without any expectation of interaction.
And now Mingyu was asking to sit at his table.
“Uh, no. Go ahead.” Wonwoo managed, trying not to sound as startled as he felt.
Mingyu nodded, giving a brief, polite smile before sliding into the seat beside Wonwoo.
He seemed completely at ease as if this was the most ordinary thing in the world. He didn’t make any small talk or try to engage Wonwoo in conversation. Instead, he pulled out a stack of papers, spreading them out on the table and getting to work on some task.
Which Wonwoo was grateful for. With no need to fill the silence, he simply returned to his studying.
When Wonwoo packed up his things an hour later, he contemplated if he should say something before leaving.
“I’ll go first,” Wonwoo decided to say with a slight nod, a tentative smile pulling at his lips.
Mingyu turned to him and returned the smile effortlessly. “Alright. Take care.”
“You too,” Wonwoo replied.
And that should’ve been that.
Except Mingyu was there the next day, sitting in the exact same chair as yesterday, right beside his favorite spot by the window.
For a split second, Wonwoo considered the possibility that he might have to give it up. He’d grown attached to that corner and he’d mourn it if he had to let it go. Might as well study at home now that his quiz was over.
But then Mingyu turned to him and smiled. “Mind if I sit here again?”
Wonwoo’s pulse jumped, but he managed a calm, “Sure,” hoping Mingyu didn’t notice the way his fingers tightened around the strap of his bag.
It became routine. Wonwoo would arrive at the library around four after his afternoon classes. Mingyu would appear sometime between four-thirty and five, always asking politely if the seat was available even though they both knew it was always empty, always settling in with that same easy manner.
They didn’t talk much. Sometimes Mingyu would ask to borrow Wonwoo’s pencil, or Wonwoo would need to shift his papers to make room when Mingyu spread out materials for whatever project he was working on.
But mostly they just existed together. Studying, working, occasionally stretching or rubbing tired eyes. The silence between them was never awkward. It was the kind of comfort Wonwoo had never expected to find with an alpha. With anyone, really.
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The ramen shop had been Wonwoo’s to-go for a year.
Tucked away on a side street three blocks from campus, easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it. No sign, just a small door that led into a narrow space with exactly six seats at a worn wooden counter.
The owner was an elderly woman who had to be at least seventy-five but moved around her tiny kitchen like someone half her age. Her ramen was transcendent, rich broth, springy noodles, melt-in-your-mouth chashu pork.
Wonwoo went every once in a while, and Grandma always greeted him with a warm smile and questions about how he was, if he was sleeping enough, if school was treating him well.
It felt like having family, even though Wonwoo’s actual family was a few provinces away and he only saw them on major holidays.
When Wonwoo was halfway through his bowl and heard Grandma’s cheerful voice calling a familiar name, he froze mid-slurp.
“Mingyu-ya! You’re here!” she exclaimed, her tone as warm and excited.
Curiosity got the better of him, and he subtly turned his gaze toward the door. Sure enough, standing there was none other than Kim Mingyu.
“Grandma!” He greeted the grandmother with equal enthusiasm. “It’s been too long. I missed your ramen.”
“And I missed seeing your handsome face! You’ve been neglecting me, haven’t you?” she teased as she motioned for him to take a seat.
Mingyu laughed. “Never, Grandma. I’ve just been busy.”
As they chatted, Wonwoo quickly returned his focus to his bowl, hoping that Mingyu wouldn’t notice him.
But then Mingyu took the seat right next to him.
It wasn’t until Mingyu settled in and turned slightly that their eyes met.
“Oh,” Mingyu said, blinking in recognition before a smile tugged at his lips. “Hi, Wonwoo.”
Grandma, who had been bustling behind the counter, paused and looked between them. “Oh? You two know each other?”
“No—”
“Yes—”
They both turned to each other, startled by the opposing answers.
Wonwoo felt his face heat up slightly, while Mingyu’s expression shifted into something amused. “Well,” Mingyu said and chuckled awkwardly, “I guess it depends on how you look at it.”
Grandma raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean? You do or you don’t?”
Wonwoo sighed inwardly. “We’ve run into each other before,” he clarified, trying to sound casual.
Mingyu nodded, a faint smile still lingering. “Yeah, at the library. And now here. Small world, huh?”
“Very small,” Wonwoo muttered, focusing on his ramen again to hide his embarrassment.
Grandma chuckled, clearly entertained by the interaction. “Let me get started on your usual, Mingyu.”
As she moved away, Wonwoo replayed the alpha’s earlier words in his mind.
“You know my name?” He asked quietly.
Mingyu blinked, then smiled faintly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ah, yeah. I asked around.”
Wonwoo’s eyes widened slightly, and Mingyu seemed to notice Wonwoo’s surprise before quickly changing the subject. “So are you a regular here too? Grandma seems to know you pretty well.”
Wonwoo welcomed the shift in conversation. “I guess so. I come here when I’m craving ramen. It’s been a while since my last visit, though.”
Mingyu grinned. “Same. Her ramen is the best. I’ve been coming here since my first year.”
Grandma returned with a steaming bowl, setting it down with a satisfied nod. “Eat up, Mingyu. Big boys like you need plenty of nutrients to stay strong.”
Mingyu chuckled sheepishly. “Thanks, Grandma. I’ll eat well.”
The sight of Mingyu’s bashful smile tugged an unexpected laugh from Wonwoo. For a brief moment, Mingyu turned to look at him and widened his grin.
Then Grandma’s attention shifted to Wonwoo, her tone turning concerned but doting. “And you, Wonwoo, you eat so little! You’re going to waste away if you keep this up.”
Flustered, Wonwoo mumbled, “I eat just fine, Grandma.”
Mingyu somehow found the scene hilarious. He laughed, the sound rich and warm, and Wonwoo turned to glare at him half-heartedly, only making the alpha laugh harder.
Grandma, oblivious to Wonwoo’s embarrassment, turned her focus back to Mingyu. “You make sure he eats properly, yes? Take care of each other!”
She said it with the particular conviction of elderly women everywhere who had decided that young people needed looking after, and neither Wonwoo nor Mingyu had the heart to correct her assumption that they were closer than they actually were.
“Yes, Grandma,” Mingyu said solemnly, and when Grandma returned to her kitchen, he leaned slightly toward Wonwoo and murmured, “I think we’ve been adopted.”
Wonwoo surprised himself by laughing.
They ate together, and for the first time, they actually talked, though nothing heavy. Mingyu asked about Wonwoo’s journalism major, expressed admiration for anyone who could handle a lot of long reading (which Mingyu had apparently struggled through the mandatory humanities courses in his first year of architecture). Wonwoo asked about soccer, learned that Mingyu had played since middle school, that he liked the teamwork aspect more than the competition.
“Though competition is fun too,” Mingyu added with a grin.
It was… easy. Natural. By the time they finished their ramen and Grandma refused payment from both of them (“Next time, next time! Today you are my guests!”), Wonwoo realized that maybe they actually were friends.
Or at least, becoming friends.
Even though he tried very hard not to notice how good Mingyu smelled. Clean alpha scent like cedar and something crisp, almost like the air after a thunderstorm.
He assured himself he wasn’t going to get weird about this, not when things were going well.
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Mingyu wasn’t at the library.
Wonwoo had arrived at their table at his usual time to find it empty. He’d waited, pulling out his project, telling himself that Mingyu was probably just running late.
Four-thirty came and went. Then five. Then five-thirty.
The chair next to Wonwoo remained empty.
Mingyu had a life outside of their library sessions. Soccer practice, classes, friends, probably a significant other he didn’t mention. He didn’t owe Wonwoo his presence just because they’d fallen into a routine.
Wonwoo hadn’t even noticed when the afternoon bled into evening. He glanced at his phone and jolted in disbelief.
Eight already. Four whole hours, far too long than he usually stayed.
He packed up his things and told himself he was just going to head home, make dinner, sleep.
He was halfway down the hallway when the scent hit him.
Alpha in rut.
It was unmistakable. That thick, heady musk that made something deep in Wonwoo’s belly clench with instinctive response. Stronger than any alpha scent he’d encountered before.
Wonwoo should’ve turned around. Should’ve left immediately, found a professor or a safety officer, someone equipped to handle this situation.
Instead, he followed the scent.
It led him to one of the smaller lab rooms tucked at the end of the hall. The lights inside were on. The door was closed.
“Hello?” Wonwoo called softly, knocking once.
No response.
The scent rolled under the door in thick waves, making his head swim. Wonwoo swallowed and tried the handle. It didn’t budge.
“Hey,” he said more firmly. “You okay in there?”
Still nothing.
Wonwoo frowned, fingers tightening around the handle as he tried again, a little harder this time.
“Don’t—” a voice rasped from inside. “Don’t come in.”
Wonwoo’s breath caught.
He knew that voice.
“Mingyu?” he said before he could stop himself.
Silence.
“…Wonwoo?” Mingyu sounded startled, strained. “You need to leave. Now. I’m—fuck, I’m in rut, you need to go.”
Wonwoo pressed his forehead briefly to the door. “When did it start?”
“Hour ago. Maybe more.” Mingyu let out a shaky breath. “Unexpected, this shouldn’t—Wonwoo, please. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Even through the haze, even clearly panicking, Mingyu was trying to protect him. Something warm and sharp twisted in Wonwoo’s chest.
“Do you have your phone? Can you call someone?”
A bitter laugh came from the other side of the door. “Dead. I was in the lab all day. Forgot to charge it.”
Fuck.
Campus policy flashed through Wonwoo’s mind. An alpha in rut couldn’t stay here. Someone would notice. Someone would report it. And Mingyu was in no condition to move safely, not like this.
“You can’t stay here,” Wonwoo said quietly. “If someone finds you—”
“I know,” Mingyu cut in, voice rough. “I’ll figure something out. Just—go.”
Wonwoo closed his eyes, and an idea formed.
Terrible, reckless, completely inappropriate.
He swallowed hard. “I could help.”
Silence.
“…What?” Mingyu sounded disbelieving.
“Just for some release. To take the edge off until we can get you somewhere safe.”
“What? No. Wonwoo, no, I can’t ask you to—”
“You’re not asking. I’m offering.” Wonwoo was surprised by how steady his voice came out. “I’ve… I’ve done this before.” A lie, but Mingyu didn’t need to know that. “It’s just biology. Just relief. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”
“You don’t have to—fuck,” Mingyu’s voice broke, followed by a low sound of distress. “I can handle it.”
Wonwoo didn’t think that was true.
“Let me help,” Wonwoo said again, softer this time.
The pause stretched. The scent thickened. Then—
A click.
The door unlocked.
Wonwoo pushed it open carefully.
Mingyu was slumped against the wall, hair damp with sweat, shirt half-unbuttoned, face flushed deep red. His pupils were blown so wide his eyes almost looked black, and his hands were clenched hard at his sides like he was holding himself together by sheer force of will.
And there was no ignoring the way his slacks strained, the prominent bulge unmistakable.
Mingyu looked wrecked.
“You shouldn’t have stayed,” he murmured, voice hoarse.
Wonwoo met his gaze, heart hammering. “I know.”
For a long moment, Mingyu just stared at him. Then something in his expression crumbled, that careful control fracturing.
“Okay,” Mingyu whispered. “Then… bathroom. Down the hall.”
It took effort to get Mingyu upright. The alpha’s legs were unsteady, and he had to lean on Wonwoo as they made their way down the hallway. The bathroom was single-occupancy, thankfully, and Wonwoo locked the door behind them as Mingyu slumped against the sink.
The fluorescent lights were harsh, and Wonwoo could see every line of strain on Mingyu’s face, could see the way his hands shook as he started fumbling with his belt.
“Let me,” Wonwoo said, and Mingyu dropped his hands obediently.
This was happening. This was actually happening.
Wonwoo’s own hands weren’t entirely steady as he undid Mingyu’s belt, popped the button of his slacks, drew down the zipper. The scent of rut intensified, musk and sweat and something uniquely Mingyu that made Wonwoo’s mouth water despite himself.
He pulled Mingyu’s slacks and boxer-briefs down together, and—
Oh.
Mingyu was… impressive. Longer and thicker than Wonwoo had expected, flushed dark with arousal, already leaking from the tip. His knot was beginning to swell at the base, and Wonwoo knew from biology classes that it would fully inflate during orgasm, designed to lock an alpha inside their partner.
Not relevant right now. He wasn’t going to take Mingyu up his ass no matter how much his treacherous body wanted it.
Wonwoo sank to his knees on the cold tile floor. Mingyu made a strangled sound above him.
“Wonwoo, you don’t have to—”
“I want to.” And God help him, it was true. Wonwoo wanted this, wanted to help.
Wanted to make Mingyu feel good.
Wonwoo wrapped one hand around Mingyu’s shaft, and the alpha gasped, sharp and desperate. He was so hot in Wonwoo’s palm, and when Wonwoo stroked experimentally from base to tip, Mingyu’s hips bucked.
“Sorry, fuck, sorry.” Mingyu’s voice was wrecked. “Trying to—control—”
“It’s okay,” Wonwoo murmured. “You don’t have to control it. Just… take what you need.”
He leaned forward and licked a stripe up the underside of Mingyu’s cock. Mingyu’s moans echoed off the bathroom tiles. His hand came down to tangle in Wonwoo’s hair. Not pushing, just holding, grounding. “Oh fuck, Wonwoo—”
Wonwoo did it again, learning the shape of him, the salt and musk and that indefinable alpha flavor that made something primitive in Wonwoo’s brain light up with want. He licked over the head, caught the bead of precome on his tongue, and Mingyu’s entire body shuddered.
Between Wonwoo’s own legs, his cock twitched, demanding attention, but Wonwoo ignored it. This wasn’t about his pleasure.
He opened his mouth and took Mingyu in.
“Oh fuck, oh—”
The sounds Mingyu made were breathy and unrestrained and just incredible. Wonwoo took him deeper, relaxed his throat the way he’d read about, and Mingyu’s grip in his hair tightened.
“So good,” Mingyu panted. “You feel so—fuck, your mouth—”
Wonwoo pulled back to breathe, stroked with his hand where his mouth couldn’t reach. Mingyu was leaking steadily now, precome making everything slick and easy. The knot was swelling larger, and Wonwoo brought his other hand up to grip it gently, squeezed in rhythm with his strokes.
Mingyu’s reaction was immediate and visceral. “Ah—yes, the knot, please—”
Wonwoo obeyed, working the knot with one hand while he took Mingyu’s length back into his mouth. Found a rhythm. Bob his head, stroke the knot, pull back to breathe and lick and then take him in again. Barely registered his glasses slipping down his nose, too distracted by the heat and the way his pulse roared in his ears.
His own arousal was becoming impossible to ignore. His cock throbbed inside his pants, straining against the zipper, and it sent sparks through his nervous system. He silently prayed to the gods above that Mingyu didn’t notice how desperately, humiliatingly turned on he was.
Thankfully Mingyu’s eyes were squeezed shut, his head thrown back, completely lost to sensation. When he spoke—
"So perfect, so good for me, such a sweet omega—”
—Wonwoo moaned around Mingyu’s cock, couldn’t help it, and the vibration made Mingyu cry out again.
He’d never been called that before. Never been acknowledged as omega, never heard those words in that tone. Reverent and possessive and tender all at once.
Something inside Wonwoo cracked open.
He doubled his efforts, taking Mingyu as deep as he could, swallowing around him, working the knot with firm squeezes. Mingyu was babbling now, words spilling out in a constant stream.
“Hahh, yes, just like that—gonna come, Wonwoo, I’m gonna—can I? Can I come in your mouth? Please, please let me—”
Even drowning in rut, even desperate and shaking apart, Mingyu was asking permission.
Wonwoo pulled off just long enough to gasp, “Yes, please, want it,” and then Mingyu was coming with a shout that probably carried down the hallway.
“Aahh!”
The first pulse of come hit the back of Wonwoo’s throat, and he swallowed instinctively. Alphas in rut came harder and longer than usual, and Mingyu was no exception. Wonwoo did his best to take it all, swallowing again and again, some of it escaping to drip down his chin.
Mingyu’s knot had fully inflated, too large for Wonwoo’s mouth, and he focused there instead, squeezing and massaging as the alpha shook through the aftershocks of his orgasm.
“Hahh—oh, oh fuck…”
Gradually, Mingyu’s trembling eased. His grip in Wonwoo’s hair loosened, became a gentle caress instead.
Wonwoo pulled back carefully, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and adjusted his glasses. Looked up.
Mingyu was staring down at him with an expression Wonwoo couldn’t read. Raw and vulnerable and intense. His pupils were still blown, rut nowhere near finished, but there was clarity there too. Awareness.
“Wonwoo,” Mingyu said, voice hoarse. “You…”
He seemed at a loss for words.
Wonwoo stood up on shaky legs, his knees aching from the cold tile. He tugged his shirt down where it had bunched around his waist and discreetly adjusted his jeans, trying to hide what strained against the fabric.
“We should get you home,” he said, aiming for practical. “Do you think you can make it to a taxi?”
Mingyu nodded slowly. He was still hard despite having just come, but the desperate edge had dulled somewhat. “Yeah. Yeah, I can manage.”
He tucked himself back into his slacks with careful movements, wincing slightly. The knot had deflated enough to make this possible, if uncomfortable.
Wonwoo pulled out his phone, ordered a taxi. “Where do you live?”
Mingyu gave him the address, and Wonwoo typed it into the app. Five minutes away, it said.
They made their way outside in silence. The cold January air was a shock after the overheated bathroom, and Wonwoo watched Mingyu breathe in deeply, some of the flush fading from his cheeks.
The taxi pulled up. Wonwoo helped Mingyu into the back seat, tried not to think about how the alpha’s scent clung to him, how he could still taste him.
“Wonwoo.” Mingyu caught his hand before he could step back. Those brown eyes were intense, searching. “Thank you. I don’t… I can’t… thank you.”
“It’s okay,” Wonwoo said, even though his heart was pounding and his body was still screaming for relief and nothing about this felt okay in the sense of normal or casual. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too.” Mingyu squeezed his hand once, then let go.
Wonwoo closed the taxi door and stepped back, watched it pull away from the curb and disappear into traffic.
Then he stood there on the sidewalk, shaking slightly, acutely aware of his slightly damp underwear and the way his cock still pulsed with need and the fact that he’d just had Mingyu’s cock in his mouth and swallowed his come and been called sweet omega in that voice—
Wonwoo pulled out his phone with trembling hands and ordered another taxi.
He needed to get home.
He needed to get these jeans off before the wet spot became visible.
He needed to get his fingers inside him before he went insane from the throbbing.
And he needed to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do now after doing something so reckless—for Kim Mingyu, of all people.