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It took some time for Cha Euijae to adapt to life as an awakened. His life had been turned upside down, suddenly nothing made sense. It took some getting used to.
It had been his aunt’s idea to hide his identity. Not his real aunt, the one he adopted (who adopted him?) on the Day of the Rift. In the years since, he often felt thankful for her quick thinking back then. Amid the chaos of the rift, of the monsters, her own awakening, she had kept her wits enough to look at him, young and overwhelmed, and tell him to protect his identity.
Euijae remembered, as clearly as if it had happened just earlier that very day, the way she held him, her grip strong, yet her thumb caressing his shoulder gently.
You’re strong. We need that. But don’t let them use you. Be careful, kid. A pause. Her lips pressed tight together. A frown. Don’t let them know you’re an omega.
In the years since, Euijae did his best to keep that a secret. Back then, there weren’t many highly ranked hunters around. And from those, there weren’t many omega awakeners either. None above C, none in their country.
Which made hiding that part of his identity trickier. Once he awakened, normal suppressants were useless. He hadn’t had to use them before awakening, that is, so he could only assume they would have worked before. And with the world in such chaos, there was no way someone would be wasting time trying to develop new suppressants when there were so few awakened omegas about.
That meant that his first heat was a mess, starting just as he entered a dungeon. With his heightened senses, with so many alpha hunters… He was glad they had sent him alone. He was also glad for his Soundless Step skill, which allowed him to leave the dungeon quietly without anybody noticing.
He laid in bed for a couple of days after, burning up with an uncomfortable fever, his mind fighting his body – demanding it to get over it, reminding him he had places to be, monsters to kill. His phone wouldn’t stop ringing, and his aunt had to come up with increasingly suspicious excuses for his absence. While the world burned. While he burned up, a feeling twice as unpleasant due to the overwhelming guilt on top of it.
Three days later, when he was able to get out of bed without getting drenched in sweat and slick, he went straight back to work, clearing dungeons so fast the Bureau was barely having time to follow protocol. He had to sit down to a very lengthy and angry reprimand from the Director afterwards.
With suppressants being useless, Euijae was grateful for his aunt, who managed to find useful equipment for him. The most noteworthy item was a scarf made with dungeon materials that helped conceal his scent so well that people assumed he was a Beta. Which was good. Even if he could hear whispering here and there.
How odd that our Rank 1 is a Beta…
I thought he’d be an Alpha.
Right? It’d make sense. That’s a bit disappointing…
Well, nobody is perfect, right? No wonder he hides his face. I’d also be embarrassed.
Euijae didn’t like to think what kind of comments they’d make if they knew the truth. Regardless, as with everything else, he got used to that. The years passed. The West Sea Rift happened.
And now…
Well, ever since he woke up in this new world where he wasn’t needed anymore, ever since he decided to live his own life and work as a part-timer for a soup restaurant… None of that had been an issue.
Kind of.
He was still an omega, and although his memories of the West Sea Rift were barely there at all, he had a feeling he hadn’t had to deal with heats for a long while. Almost six months after his return, he hadn’t noticed any telltale signs of one, and he was glad. To be honest, since heats were supposed to happen every three months or so, he knew maybe he should go see a doctor, but that would open a whole new can of worms. Why fix something that’s not broken, right?
Besides, although eight years had passed, and the world was a completely different place now… Awakened omegas were still rare, and most of them didn’t really work as hunters. It was a baffling concept to him — to have awakened powers but not to be needed as a hunter; to be able to focus on other superfluous career choices.
… Anyway, the point was that this meant there was still no proper research in terms of awakened suppressants for omegas, so what would be the point in going to see a doctor? It wasn’t as if they’d be able to help in any way.
His biggest concern at the moment was that, without his old equipment, lost forever amid the gray, endless fields of the West Sea Rift, or access to hunter markets to buy new ones, it was much harder to hide his type.
Thankfully, his scent was weak, which meant most customers at the restaurant just assumed he was a beta. However, the more attentive ones, or the ones who weren’t customers but rather annoying inconveniences in his life, such as Lee Sayoung, caught on with his scent and clocked him as an omega. Most of them were polite enough not to comment about it to him, though he often heard the whispering behind his back.
Which had been fine…
…Until he was forced to fake a new grade in order to continue hiding his true identity.
Once it came to light that he was a D-class, things changed.
Customers who never exchanged more than the necessary words would linger, ask questions, and rudely release pheromones to try to get his attention. Sometimes it’d get so bad that he’d feel sick – dizziness and nausea creeping up on him, souring his mood. He put up several posters prohibiting this kind of behavior, but even so, there were always some smartasses trying one thing or another.
And maybe it was this flood of pheromones that ultimately triggered something and reminded his body that oh yes that’s right heat time.
Things had gone so off track, and he had been trying so hard to focus on his routine and keep things in check, that he didn’t even notice the first symptoms.
He thought he had been more sensitive to alpha pheromones because he was stressed – it was possible. Stress was the one thing he thought of when anything out of the ordinary happened.
Brain fog? Stress.
Lethargy? Stress.
Increased hunger? Stress.
Sudden random thoughts of missing Lee Sayoung’s sweet scent when everybody else’s was too strong in ways that bothered him? Stress, too, definitely.
Euijae only started to suspect that something might be off when the way in which the alpha customers talked to him changed drastically.
“Part-timer, you smell so good today!” — who says that when paying their tab?!
“I’m sorry for such a big order, I can help you clean up!” — weird, they always ordered that amount of food anyway.
“Do you need anything? I’m free all week!” — overall, just a weird thing to say when asked What can I get for you?
But ultimately, Euijae did not want to believe the obvious signs. He needed explicit confirmation to accept what was happening. Unfortunately for him, the confirmation came the next lunch shift, when he was rushing this way and that way to make sure his hungry patrons wouldn’t burn the place down. He had been feeling slow and heavy and like the air was damp the entire morning. He had even checked to make sure he had not accidentally activated any weird curses or items. This was easy to hide, though, so he did, and went on with his day.
“I’m sorry to ask, but are you well?”
Euijae had been distracted, moving in autopilot, and he barely registered the question. He blinked at the customer in front of him. “Huh?”
“Sorry. I don’t mean to be weird, it’s just that your face is flushed… And, well…”
Euijae cut him off with a polite smile. “Oh. I’m ok, don’t worry about it.”
Minutes later, an overpowering dizziness forced him to lean on a table; in his distracted state of mind, he didn’t hold back his strength, and with the force of his hand, the table tipped towards him violently.
Strong arms held him before he could hit the ground. The bowls and cups that had been on the table didn’t have the same such luck, and the sound of their shattering filled the restaurant.
Then, silence.
Euijae blinked slowly at the figure holding him, his brain too foggy to even process embarrassment. The face staring at him was pale, filled with concern.
Euijae found himself frowning at it. At that familiar and worried face. Because it wasn’t the familiar face he wanted to be seeing so close to his own. His scent, warm and friendly and laced with cigarettes, was inviting, but it was wrong. It wasn’t the scent Euijae wanted. It wasn’t sweet enough.
Unaware of his thoughts, the man helped Euijae stand up and, always polite, let go of him as soon as it was clear Euijae wouldn’t fold under his own weight.
“Are you hurt?” Jung Bin’s voice was calm and composed.
The entire restaurant seemed to be holding its breath. Euijae looked around, not really seeing anything, and touched his own face. It was warm. No. It was hot. He took a deep breath and immediately regretted it.
The air was filled to the brim with alpha pheromones, so packed he could barely breathe, so packed that he felt cornered, his body reacting in ways he didn’t exactly appreciate, and only then did he connect the dots.
“Oh.” He mumbled. Shit. His eyes fell to the mess of broken glass and ceramics, and immediately his mind was struggling against his body again. He should clean that up. He should focus on the things that he had to do. “I should…”
“Please, don’t worry about it,” Jung Bin’s voice was polite, but it wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order. He smiled, looking at something behind Euijae for an instant before turning his gaze back to him. “Why don’t you go rest up at the back and call your mate?”
“Mate? I—” don’t have one, is what he wanted to say, but Jung Bin placed a hand on the small of his back and gently coaxed him forward, towards the backroom.
Suddenly, a loud voice filled the restaurant: “You heard the part-timer, you animals, he has a mate, now buzz off!”
Euijae turned his head and saw an angry Honeybee waving the customers away. Even as they left, their gazes were all fixed on him, staring. For a second, he thought they were angry. His brain took a few more seconds to realize the anger was not at him, but rather at Honeybee and Jung Bin. They were hungry, and the two of them had just taken away their tasty, luscious meal.
Once he was alone, Euijae stared at his phone, at the open chat with Lee Sayoung. He looked at the last messages, none of which Euijae had replied to, and his thumbs hovered over the keyboard. Should he send a message? What would he even say? Why would Lee Sayoung care?
… Oh, right, they had a deal, didn’t they? He typed a message.
[12:45] Cha Euijae: I can’t work for you
Staring at it, he realized some information was missing, and he didn’t want to deal with an interrogation later, so it would be best to clarify it.
[12:46] Cha Euijae: today
Right. But since it was a heat, and his heats usually lasted three days, he should better also cover for the upcoming days as well.
[12:46] Cha Euijae: this week
Ok, that was all he had to say. Euijae stared at the screen, wondering what Sayoung would be doing at that time. He was usually the one pestering him with texts, so Euijae imagined he always had his phone close at hand. Not receiving a reply right away, then, was frustrating. He was considering sending another message when his phone buzzed with a reply:
[12:55] Lee Sayoung: why
It was a fair question.
[12:56] Cha Euijae: I’m sick
[12:56] Lee Sayoung: what
Euijae’s phone started ringing. He stared at the screen for a few seconds, reading the name over and over while wondering if it’d be a good idea to pick up the call. He concluded the best option would be to ignore it, but he accepted the call and placed the phone to his ear anyway.
Lee Sayoung was speaking before he could even say hello.
“Do you need to go to a hospital? I’ll send Seo Ming.”
Euijae sighed. Even over the phone, Sayoung’s voice was like honey. Euijae blinked at the thought. What was that? Since when did he think of Sayoung’s voice that way?
“There’s no need. I’m fine,” he dismissed.
“Oh, my bad, I must have forgotten what sick means.”
Ah, there was the sarcasm. How could Euijae think of his voice as sweet when he spoke like that?
“I’m just—” he rolled his eyes. “I should just stay home, is all.”
“Why?”
“I…” for some reason, he felt embarrassed talking about it. All the years of hiding being an omega, he grew used to deflecting those questions. Euijae bit his lip.
“It’s just…”
“Out with it.”
“You should be more respectful, you know?” Euijae groaned into the phone.
“You’re the one making a big deal out of something. What, are you on heat?”
Euijae hesitated. He parted his lips to deny it, but the word that came out of his mouth instead was—“Yes.”
Silence.
Euijae moved the phone away from his ear to make sure the call was still connected. It was. He placed the phone against his ear again.
Silence still. Then:
“Where are you?”
“At the restaurant.”
“Working?!”
“No, not anymore,” Euijae sighed. His body was heavy, he was sure he would be able to fall asleep quickly, even with the daylight and even without playing any ASMR videos this time, before that feverish feeling started, at least. “Jung Bin and Honeybee helped clean up, and I closed the restaurant.”
“They’re there with you?” If poison could be heard, Euijae was sure he would have heard it in that question. It was dripping with it.
“They told me to lock up and left.”
“You’re alone then?”
“Yes, and I’m fine. I just wanted to let you know I won’t—”
“You’ll spend your heat there?”
“I do live here, so yes.”
Silence again.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Sayoung said.
Euijae rolled his eyes. “Where would I even go? I just said—”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
What?
“What?”
The call ended.
Euijae stood up suddenly, his heart racing. Why would he come over? Why would he—his face flushed as his brain started to create a series of images of what could happen once Sayoung arrived. He immediately sat down again, holding his phone tight with both hands. He couldn’t think of anything else, and the images in his mind refused to go away.
“This place reeks of alphas.”
The words made Euijae blink awake. At some point, he had lain on his side on the bed, knees bent, still holding the phone, and had drifted off. Now, blinking slowly, he raised his face until he saw a pair of intense purple eyes.
Everything about him was intoxicating.
His eyes. The sharp jaw, the beauty mark under his lip—and his scent. When Euijae breathed in, Sayoung’s scent was everywhere. Intense. And sweet. Intoxicating. Had it always been this intense? Had it always enveloped him so completely? Had it always made him close his eyes and smile a small, content smile?
“You can’t stay here alone,” Sayoung was saying. “Come with me.”
“To where?”
“My place.”
Euijae’s heart skipped a beat. “Oh.”
“C’mon, up,” Sayoung said, pulling his arm. Euijae didn’t protest. “It’s not safe for you to be here. There’s some weirdos around.”
“The only weirdo here is you,” Euijae mumbled as he stumbled to his feet.
“Sure, hyung. Can you walk?”
“Of course I can walk, I’m not dying.” Still, he sighed when Sayoung placed a hand on his waist, and leaned closer to him.
Sayoung then pulled a piece of paper from his suit’s inner pocket and tore it in half. The scenery in front of them shifted at the same time. Euijae felt dizzy enough not to complain and ask why Sayoung was using such a rare item for a thing like this. Besides, they were now inside Sayoung’s apartment, and it was like he’d been pushed underwater, floating in so much of his sweet scent that he could focus on nothing else.
Euijae moved when the hand on his waist pulled him forward, and he sat down when hands on his shoulder pushed him down. His breathing was irregular and it was hard to focus. Looking up, he was met with a pair of cold purple eyes and pursed lips. Euijae moved his hand up, reaching for his face…
And he moved away.
“You can stay here,” he said. His voice was cold. Euijae watched as he moved across the room. The curtains were already closed, and the room was dark, illuminated by soft and muted yellow lights. Sayoung disappeared into the closet and walked back carrying folded pajamas and towels. “Use these. You know where the bathroom is. If you need anything else, text me.”
Euijae blinked.
“Where are you going?”
Sayoung stared at him. His frowned eyebrows all but said are you stupid?
“I’ll bring you water, and I’ll be off.”
It was hard to control his scent and how much his feelings would go out with it when he felt this feverish. Usually, Euijae would hide his disappointment and confusion and betrayal. Right now, he didn’t care. He was disappointed and confused and betrayed. Why would Sayoung do all that and bring him here only to then leave him again? It’d be better to just leave him at home, then…
Sayoung, who clearly could read all that as if it were written across his forehead, sighed and turned to leave.
With no hesitation, Euijae stood up and grabbed his arm.
“Why? Why bring me here and then—”
“I know heats take a toll on an omega’s brain, but even then you should know the answer to that,” he said, pulling his arm away.
Euijae frowned. “Don’t be rude.”
“I’m not being rude, you’re the one being stupid.”
Euijae moved to punch Sayoung’s arm, as he often did, but Sayoung caught his wrist. They stared at each other for what felt like forever. Euijae’s body felt like it could melt under his gaze.
“Go to bed,” Sayoung said. It was a command. Everything in Euijae wanted to obey. Yes. Go to bed. But he knew he’d be alone. He knew he’d get used to it… But it’d be cold. He was tired of cold and he was tired of alone. He was tired of the fever and the anguish. His eyes filled with angry tears.
“Don’t do that,” Euijae hissed.
“Do what?”
“Order me around. You have no right.”
“Don’t I? You’re the one who texted me to tell me about your heat,” Sayoung smiled.
Euijae couldn’t take that anymore. The words escaped him before he could even think about what they meant. “Because I thought you wanted me!” he freed his arm from Sayoung and stepped back, staring at him.
Something shifted in Sayoung’s scent. The room grew colder. His voice was low when he spoke. “Hyung, do you have a death wish?”
Euijae blinked. Sayoung took a step forward and, instinctively, Euijae took one backwards in response. His scent was predatory now. Intoxicating as before, but different. There was intent in it.
Sayoung kept moving forward, and Euijae kept moving backwards until he felt the bed against him. Only then did Sayoung grab his collar. For a moment, Euijae imagined he’d bring their faces closer and kiss him. But he kept his distance.
“Do you really think I don’t want you?” his voice was low, barely a whisper. “Do you know how hard this is? How good you smell?” he scoffed.
“Then—”
“If I touch you, you’ll die,” Sayoung said, letting go of his collar.
Euijae blinked.
… This was the reason? The poison? Even after he’d said over and over again that the poison couldn’t hurt him?
“I won’t die.”
Sayoung rolled his eyes. “Sure. I saw you coughing blood once, I’m not risking—”
“I won’t die! Listen to me, I’m immune!”
“This is just your heat talking, hyung. I’ll—”
Groaning, Euijae grabbed his tie and pulled him to a kiss. He pressed his lips hard against Sayoung’s, struggling with his grip when, wide-eyed, Sayoung tried to push him away.
“Let—go—” Sayoung tried to say, and Euijae used the opportunity to push his tongue into his mouth. The poison in his saliva tasted sweet. It made a shiver run down Euijae’s spine and, in this instance of distraction, Sayoung managed to pull him away.
He stared at Euijae as if at any second he would melt into a puddle of blood, and Euijae stared at him with a pheromone-drunk smile. He showed his own tongue.
“I’m fine, see? Your poison can’t hurt me.”
Sayoung blinked. “But—”
“So if you don’t want me, you'd better come up with a different excuse.”
Sayoung continued staring at him, waiting. Then he approached and held Euijae’s chin with a gloved hand. He moved his face this side and that, his purple eyes examining every inch of his skin. He pressed Euijae’s cheeks and forced him to open his mouth, and Euijae showed him his tongue again. It looked perfectly fine.
The atmosphere in the room shifted again.
Euijae noticed how Sayoung’s concern quickly melted into something much more dangerous. His shimmering purple eyes met Euijae’s. His breathing grew faster.
Then, without warning, Sayoung had his lips on Euijae’s again, and this time it was his tongue demanding space, a demand Euijae gladly obeyed, pulling at Sayoung’s suit as he sat on the bed.
“I hope you understand what you’re getting yourself into, hyung,” Sayoung whispered, punctuating the sentence by biting lightly at Euijae’s lower lip.
The kiss was sloppy and eager, and Euijae often found himself unable to breathe. He’d tap lightly at Sayoung’s shoulder, who understood what it meant and would move his lips elsewhere for a few seconds – to Euijae’s ear or neck, leaving bitemarks on his pale skin. But soon after, as soon as his lungs were satisfied with how much air they had, Euijae would pull Sayoung’s lips back to his. Because most of all, the kiss was hungry, a feeling they both shared.
When Sayoung’s knee pressed between Euijae’s legs, he gasped, closing his eyes tight. That feverish heat feeling had struck him in full force, and in combination with Sayoung’s scent and pheromones, he felt—he legitimately felt—like he’d melt into the mattress.
Without breaking the kiss, Euijae tried to pull up his own hoodie and shirt.
“What are you doing?” Sayoung parted the kiss to ask, his own breathing heavy.
Without opening his eyes, Euijae shook his head. “I’m hot…”
Sayoung smiled, shaking his head. He tilted Euijae’s chin up. His cheeks were red and hot, his bangs sticking to his forehead. “You sure are…”
“I’m serious. It’s too hot. Help me take these out.”
“And then what?” Sayoung teased, biting lightly at Euijae’s chin. One of his hands slithered under his shirt and found a nipple. Euijae gasped again. “Once you take these out, can I touch you?” he pressed the nipple with two fingers. “Kiss you all over?”
The soft moan that escaped Euijae’s lips was all the answer he needed.
Seconds later, Euijae’s shirt and hoodie were tossed on the floor, and Sayoung had one of his nipples in his mouth. Euijae could barely breathe, much less think. He kept alternating between This is too much! and It’s not enough!
His hormones were all over the place, and he couldn’t control them. His thoughts were out in the air, plain for anybody with a nose to feel. He could feel Sayoung smiling against his chest.
Then, quickly, his hands moved to Euijae’s pants and unzipped them. Euijae didn’t even have time to think before his pants and underwear were piled on the floor with the rest of his clothes.
He did have time to think when Sayoung’s fingers wrapped around his penis.
“Wait—”
He moved the hand away and, for a second, Euijae thought he’d be doing as he had asked. But then Sayoung’s fingers were pressing against his entrance.
“W-wait—ngh!” A finger pressed into him, sliding in easily and sending a flood of pleasure across his body.
“Hyung,” Sayoung whispered. Euijae opened his eyes enough to see Sayoung grinning at him as he brought a finger into his own mouth – the finger that had just been inside Euijae – and biting at the glove he had been wearing. He pulled the glove out and spat it away. Keeping visual contact, he moved his hand back, now inserting two fingers. “Did you know you’re dripping wet?”
Euijae closed his eyes, hiding his face with his arm. It was too much, too much, too…!
He heard Sayoung giggle when he came. “That was enough for you, hyung?” he said playfully, moving his fingers in and out with ease.
“S-shut up, I never…”
“You’ve never been with an alpha before?” Sayoung asked. He removed his fingers from Euijae and leaned closer, pulling the arm away from his face. Euijae stared at his purple eyes – eager, hungry, intoxicating – and shook his head. Sayoung smiled. A broad, satisfied smile. “Good,” he whispered, kissing Euijae’s cheek, nose, eyelids. “Hyung’s all mine.”
Then, with newfound hunger, he unfastened his own pants. Euijae was distracted by the soft, delicate kisses across his face when he felt Sayoung entering him. He was big, too big, but Euijae’s body took him in eagerly, and Euijae found himself moaning loudly against Sayoung’s lips.
A part of him wanted to feel embarrassed and protest, but it was shadowed by the warmth of the heat – and he wrapped his arms around Sayoung’s neck, bringing him closer, as close as possible, as he filled him, deeply, entirely, over and over again.
Nothing else mattered. As Sayoung thrusted into him, painfully deeply at times, as tears filled his eyes and embarrassing sounds left his mouth, Euijae could only think that he wanted more, more.
Heats had always been painful. He had never imagined that they could be like this. He had never imagined that that painful fever could turn into such a welcoming warmth, that it could cling to him like a warm hug, kiss his neck, call him sweet nicknames, and promise to never let go.
“I smell like you,” Euijae stated. The bitemarks and bruises were all thankfully hidden under his turtleneck shirt, but the scent was impossible to hide. He smelled like Lee Sayoung to the point he feared even a beta would be able to tell they’d spent Euijae’s heat together. Four days. When Euijae closed his eyes, he could almost feel Sayoung inside him. A shiver ran down his spine again.
Euijae didn’t hate it.
He was just concerned about how to explain it. Sayoung was, after all, poisonous. And venomous. And sweet.
“Good,” Sayoung said, standing behind him in the mirror. He wrapped his arms around Euijae and rested his chin on his shoulder. “Everyone should know hyung is mine.”
Euijae rolled his eyes, but when Sayoung tightened the embrace, he sighed, struggling to hide his contentment.
“Well, everyone will have questions.”
“So?”
“So! I’m trying to keep a low profile.”
Sayoung hummed, unbothered. “Just tell them I was making sure you were safe, that I behaved, kept my distance.” The arms around Euijae’s waist tightened further. A kiss was placed on his neck. Then another. And another.
“S-stop that,” Euijae tried to wriggle out of the embrace, to no avail. “People will find that strange. Since when do you care so much about me?”
Sayoung simply smiled at the reflection in the mirror. “Since always.”
“I can’t say that!” Euijae complained.
He knew he’d have to figure that one by himself. Later. First, he’d have to deal with a clingy Sayoung who refused to let go. But between an angrily sarcastic Sayoung and a clingy one, Euijae would happily take the latter. It would just take some getting used to.