Chapter Text
Jisung
Jisung desperately needed to find a man. Well, he didn’t want to call himself desperate , per say, but he really did need an alpha. Ever since his best friend, Minho, had gone and mated with his other best friend, Chan, last year (he was happy for them, he really was!), he hadn’t had anyone to help him with his heats, which had steadily been getting worse even before Minho had entered his sickeningly cute, committed relationship. He’d gone to see a specialist, who had told him that he was one of the lucky omegas that just happened to have extremely painful and debilitating heats, and that an alpha’s knot and pheromones during his heats would ease the symptoms. That was great and all, but there was one glaringly obvious problem: Jisung didn’t have an alpha.
He didn’t exactly fit the omega beauty standards that appealed to most alphas, either. Sure, he was petite and slim, but he bordered on scrawny and didn’t exactly have many desirable curves aside from his small waist. He thought his face was attractive enough, but he was usually seen as cute or pretty rather than beautiful or sexy. And his hobbies weren’t exactly conventional omegan hobbies. He was a music production major and spent the majority of his time sitting in a dark studio with his two alpha friends, drinking a concerning amount of iced americanos and writing lyrics for hours on end.
He’d figured his only potential partners, given his reclusive lifestyle, would be the alphas in his classes. It sounded simple on paper: he just needed to meet a nice alpha, date them for a while, and then make plans to mate at the annual mating run. The problem with this plan was that Jisung was also unfortunately inexperienced in the world of dating, hell, in socializing. When he was with his close friends, he was loud, confident, and outgoing, but around strangers, his anxiety often got the best of him and he would shyly keep to himself. He’d never even been on a real date, because that would of course involve meeting someone and then working up the courage to have a real conversation with them, which he thought sounded daunting and frankly, unrealistic.
At the age of twenty one, his only sexual experiences had been with his aforementioned best friend, Minho, who had helped him with his heats in a strictly platonic, friends with benefits, way (fellas, is it gay to regularly get fingerbanged by your best friend?) before mating with Chan.
So his love life had been looking rather bleak and hopeless, even before he met Seo Changbin. After that, well. Jisung still had the same unfortunate situation, but now he figured his chances of finding someone were even lower since he couldn’t tear his eyes from the older alpha long enough to even try to look at other prospective mates.
When Jisung had first started at the university three years ago, he’d had no one until he met Chan in one of his classes and the older alpha had quickly become his closest friend, the pair of them sharing a passion for songwriting and music production and spending countless hours writing songs together. A few months before Chan had graduated last year, Seo Changbin had transferred to their university from one in the city and Chan had met him in a class. He was a year older than Jisung but was in his year in school, and when Chan introduced them, the trio had clicked instantly.
It was rare for Jisung to immediately feel so comfortable and at ease with a new person, but Changbin just had an easy air to him, a sort of relaxed, happy confidence that was utterly magnetic. He was also an incredibly respectful alpha that treated Jisung as a whole person rather than as just an omega. It sounded like the bare minimum, but was unfortunately not the norm. Jisung had never heard Changbin raise his voice in anger (though he yelled often with excitement and was generally loud), and he never used his scent to intimidate or expected Jisung to submit to him.
Jisung had also thought that the short alpha was the most handsome man he’d ever seen, with his fluffy black hair, bright eyes, and a cute scar on his chin. He had a rich, bitter dark chocolate scent that Jisung kind of wanted to drown in, not to mention he was incredibly muscular. So muscular. Changbin was the definition of a gym bro, his dedication to his daily workouts resulting in a broad chest and shoulders, and the most muscled arms Jisung had ever seen. The alpha’s bicep was literally the size of Jisung’s head and he wanted Changbin to choke him or slam him into a wall and… anyways.
Shameless, unhinged thirsting aside, the trio had quickly fallen into a routine of meeting daily in their rented studio space a block away from campus to write and record music. After Chan graduated, not much had changed since he had decided to continue to work from their studio and began writing songs for idol groups in the city. The only difference was that now it was just Changbin and Jisung walking to classes together every morning. They would meet on the street corner between the alpha and omega dorms and walk the remaining few blocks, chatting about anything and everything.
Jisung remembered the first day that they’d walked to class without Chan. It had been a crisp autumn morning, and Changbin had been wearing a black beanie, his fluffy hair peeking out from underneath, and he carried a tote bag over one strong shoulder with a mess of wires threatening to fall out.
Although he’d felt quite at ease with Changbin since meeting him, he had still been somewhat shy around the handsome alpha and he didn’t think they’d ever hung out without Chan. He’d raised a timid hand in greeting.
“Hi.”
“Morning, Ji.” Changbin had grinned warmly at him and they’d fallen into step with each other, Changbin animatedly telling Jisung about the new song that Twice had released, his breath fogging into little white puffs in the cold air.
After that walk and the several classes that they’d had together that day, Changbin passing Jisung ridiculous rough sketches of their professors reimagined as various woodland animals inspired by an earlier passionate discussion about Bambi , he’d felt safe, comfortable, like he could be wholly himself around the alpha.
That afternoon in the studio he’d drunk one too many coffees and had been literally bouncing off the walls as Chan determinedly remained focused on the song he was writing. Changbin had watched Jisung’s antics with a warm smile before downing the rest of his own triple espresso and setting his laptop aside.
“Hey, Jisungie,” he said, pulling out a bag of grapes. “Catch!”
Jisung had tried and failed miserably to catch the grape in his mouth, leading to them taking turns tossing grapes at each other and keeping score of how many they managed to catch (Changbin won with eight successes to Jisung’s six). Poor Chan had hunched down in his seat and diligently clicked away at the track he was working on even as several grapes missed their mark and bounced off his head or went rolling across the desk, Jisung and Changbin cackling manically at each failed attempt and Jisung falling a little more in love every time Changbin laughed like that.
After that day, Changbin had invited Jisung to join him at the gym every evening. Jisung supposed he liked working out, but not to the extent of going daily. He compromised on twice a week with Changbin, which soon became three times when he realized that going to the gym meant being able to sneakily watch (read: shamelessly ogle) the alpha in his tight muscle tee, biceps bulging and dark hair dripping with sweat. It drove him even crazier when Changbin would spot him while he struggled with the weights, callused hands brushing over his arms and back to professionally correct his form. Jisung wished he would touch him a little less respectfully, and often fantasized about the alpha lifting him up to pin him against the wall, or throwing him down on the weight bench and… ahem. Naturally, Jisung had become a big fan of the gym.
Jisung knew that his crush on Changbin was probably painfully obvious, even to Changbin himself. Jisung really didn’t want to make his friend uncomfortable, especially when Changbin had given no indication of acknowledging, much less reciprocating, the attraction. So he tried to act as normal, as hey-we-are-just-bros, as possible around Changbin, but it was just so hard . The alpha could be doing the most mundane thing, like tying his shoe or eating a snack, and Jisung would catch himself staring and grinning like a lovestruck fool.
Just the other day, Changbin had taken off his hoodie while working on a track with Chan, and Jisung had been unable to keep from watching, his eyes glued to the strip of skin revealed where the hem of Changbin’s shirt had ridden up a few inches. His stomach was so cute , a little swell of softness over a hint of abs that Jisung wanted so badly to sink his teeth into. God, he was like a Victorian man seeing a sliver of ankle, but really, how could he respond any differently? The alpha was so strong and broad but also looked soft and squishy- Jisung wanted to climb him like a squirrel climbs a tree, get crushed beneath his bulk, choked between his thighs, lie cushioned atop all those muscles, rest his head on those glorious pectorals… yeah. Jisung was down bad.
Minho definitely knew, what with his ability to read Jisung like an open book, and he was pretty sure Chan knew even if Minho hadn’t told him by now. The older alpha knew Jisung well and definitely knew that the new sweetness of his caramel scent whenever Changbin was around was a sign of his embarrassing, inevitable arousal. Jisung swore he’d probably been horny since the moment he met Changbin, but of course Changbin was a gentleman and had the decency to pretend he didn’t notice in order to save Jisung from humiliation.
They spent most of their time together, attending classes in the morning and afternoon and eating lunch together on campus, then joining Chan at the studio and going to the gym in the evenings. With each day, Jisung fell a little harder for the alpha, but in the nearly two years they’d known each other, Changbin had never treated Jisung any differently than he treated Chan- friendly, comfortable, sometimes teasing, though perhaps a little more gently because it was natural for his alpha instincts to urge him to care for an omega that he was close with, and he also knew that Jisung could be a little sensitive at times.
Jisung sometimes wished that Changbin would just tell him to give up already, to dash any smidgen of hope that remained, but he also knew that Changbin was an incredibly kind, sensitive person that would never, ever do that. So they continued as they were, neither acknowledging Jisung’s massive crush because Jisung knew neither wanted to risk ruining their friendship.
So…yeah. In summary, Jisung really needed to find an alpha, but he was kind of in love with Seo Changbin, who did not reciprocate his feelings, and he really couldn’t see himself being able to get over Changbin enough to even look for another alpha even if he suddenly became socially adept enough to attempt flirting with one. And Jisung would, never, ever consider telling Changbin anything, because mentioning his feelings would probably make Changbin uncomfortable and make their relationship weird. He really did love what they had, loved spending time together even just platonically, and he thought he would die if he did anything to mess that up and lost his comfortable, easy, friendship with Changbin.
Jisung flopped over dramatically on Minho’s couch, having just word vomited the entire situation to his friend (minus the issue about his heats getting worse without Minho’s help, since he absolutely did not want to make Minho feel guilty or worry about him). The older omega was watching him thoughtfully, utterly unsurprised by Jisung finally admitting to his crush, one hand absentmindedly tracing his scarred-over mating bite.
“Aw, Jisungie,” he said with a sigh, stroking a hand comfortingly through Jisung’s hair. Jisung leaned into the touch with a pathetic little whine.
“I know you probably don’t want to think about this right now, Sung, but the mating run is coming up again.”
Jisung groaned. It was already April, and the summer solstice, the day of the mating run, was approaching rapidly. Minho was right- he really did not want to think about it. “That’s your first anniversary with Channie,” he said instead. “How’re you gonna celebrate? Ooh, maybe you could buy some new lingerie?”
Minho flushed scarlet, lobster red, and Jisung gasped in delight. “Oh my God, wait, did you buy it already? You totally did!”
“I thought we were talking about you,” Minho grumbled, though his lips quirked up slightly.
“Show me your new lingerie and then we can keep talking about me,” Jisung bargained.
“Fine,” Minho sighed with what Jisung knew to be pretend reluctance, climbing gracefully to his feet and leading the way to his bedroom, which smelled so strongly of both his lilac scent and Chan’s cedar that it made Jisung’s head spin.
Jisung perched on the edge of the bed as Minho unearthed a white box from the depths of his closet and disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door.
“Hey!” Jisung protested. “Why’d you close the door?”
“Hush, perv,” came the muffled reply. “You’ll just have to wait for the grand reveal.”
Jisung huffed, “Fine, fine,” and waited impatiently, tapping his foot against the floor.
“What do you think?” Minho asked a few minutes later, stepping out of the bathroom. Jisung’s jaw dropped. Minho wore only a set of black lace panties complete with matching stockings and garters. The lace hugged his shapely, well muscled legs and was tantalizingly translucent, revealing hints of the creamy skin underneath and allowed for the barest glimpse at the dark curls covering his pussy. Minho smirked at Jisung’s expression, leaning one hip against the doorframe and allowing Jisung to look his fill.
“Oh my God , Minho, you look so sexy. Chan is going to maul you,” he said with a laugh, dragging his gaze appreciatively along Minho’s body.
“That’s the plan,” Minho said smugly.
“Are you sure you and Chan aren’t into polyamory?” Jisung asked, only sort of joking. He’d walked in on the couple fucking more times than he could count, sex crazed fiends that they were, and it always left him feeling more than a little hot and bothered and maybe slightly envious. “Or maybe a threesome?”
Minho laughed. “I thought we were talking about you and your crush on Changbinnie?”
Jisung groaned. “He doesn't see me like that. I get horny around him, like, constantly and he’s never so much as blinked at my scent.”
“Do you want to actually try to seduce him?” Minho asked, pursing his lips thoughtfully and casting a critical eye over Jisung like he was analyzing his potential for successful seduction.
Jisung sighed despondently. “I don’t think I’d be very good at that.”
“Hmm,” Minho conceded. “And there’s no one else you want, is there?” It was a statement, not a question, but Jisung still shook his head in response.
“Well,” Minho said slowly, “If there’s no new developments with Changbin soon, we’re going to need to start coming up with plans for you to get through the mating run this year.”
Last year, Minho had given Jisung his own hiding spot in a cave that he’d carefully set up for himself, which was how he’d ended up being chased by several alphas and eventually mated to Chan (Jisung still felt incredibly guilty about the whole situation- Minho had been in danger because of him - even if Minho and Chan were quite happy together now). This year, Jisung would be on his own, and he hated to admit it, but the ever approaching, impending date had caused his anxiety to increase to the point that even his doctor had noticed and prescribed a higher dose of his Lexapro.
“Yeah.” Jisung blew out a breath and let himself fall back to lie on his back in Minho and Chan’s bed, wriggling around to get comfortable in the soft blankets that smelled strongly of cedar and lilac, of pack. Minho joined him, cuddling up against his side and wrapping an arm around Jisung’s middle, still wearing his lingerie.
“I’m so sorry, Sungie,” Minho said quietly, his tone filled with the sorrowful understanding that only a fellow omega could have for how difficult it was to be forced to participate in the mating run year after year until you were caught and forever bound to an alpha.
Jisung pressed his nose into Minho’s scent gland, still fascinated with how his scent had changed to hold a hint of Chan’s after they mated. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Min. And who knows- maybe I’ll get lucky like you did and mate with, like, the perfect alpha.”
“So, Changbin?” Minho teased, and Jisung growled and clamped his teeth down on Minho’s shoulder in retaliation. Minho growled back playfully and rolled over on top of Jisung, their cuddling session devolving into a clumsy wrestling match.
Jisung was losing, pinned down by Minho’s strong thighs and begging for mercy when they heard the sound of the front door opening and Minho shrieked, launching himself off of Jisung and fleeing into the bathroom.
“What the…?” Jisung was left bemused by Minho’s reaction before he realized that the older omega was still wearing his lingerie that he’d gotten for Chan’s anniversary surprise.
Chan stepped into the bedroom and paused, eyes widening in surprise at the sight of Jisung in his bed when he’d probably been expecting his mate.
Jisung grinned and posed seductively, putting on a ridiculous high pitched voice. “Oh, hello, Daddy! It is I, your beloved Minho. I’ve been so lonely, home alone all day while my sexy alpha was at work.” He devolved into giggles as Chan rolled his eyes at the display and there was a muffled thump as Minho threw something at the bathroom door.
“Was that supposed to be my voice, Han Jisung? I do not call him daddy. Just you wait until I get out there,” came Minho’s affronted and slightly terrifying reply through the closed door.
Chan looked between Jisung and the bathroom door suspiciously. “What are you doing in there, Minho?”
“Top secret omega things,” Minho replied coyly, opening the door just wide enough to slip through and closing it firmly behind him, now dressed in the loose sweatpants and t-shirt that he’d been wearing earlier. Chan still looked confused, and Jisung looked on in amusement as Minho easily distracted his alpha by looping his arms around Chan’s neck and pulling him in for a sweet kiss.
Jisung wished, not for the first time, that he’d been the one to actually set them up so he’d be entitled to bragging rights for the rest of their lives. He’d tried to introduce them, goddamn it, but of course they’d met on their own and ruined his grand matchmaking plans. He consoled himself with saying ‘I told you so’ as often as he could without making a complete nuisance of himself, but it was much less gratifying than ‘you’re welcome’ would’ve been.
Petty regrets aside, he really did love their little pack and he couldn’t believe the stroke of luck that had led to one of his best friends mating with his other best friend.
~
Two months until the mating run
Jisung’s heat arrived on schedule a few weeks later. It was just his luck that he was the type of omega to have a cycle that came like clockwork, but was practically torture. He would much rather have unpredictable, irregular heats like Minho’s that were mild and conducive to catnaps and lazy, gentle sex. No, of course Jisung got to spend a miserable three days curled up in a tight ball in his hastily built, pathetic excuse for a nest, writhing in agony and crying out for Changbin, Alpha , desperately craving that dark chocolate scent.
When he woke up on the morning of the fourth day, the burning desperation having eased, all he could do was roll over onto his stomach and bury his face in the blankets to block out the bright sunlight streaming through the windows, whining pitifully at the stabbing pain in his temples. Everything hurt. Everything. His belly was still cramping painfully, his muscles ached from the tension that they’d held as he thrashed in pain, and his cunt throbbed dully from his clumsy, frantic fingers pawing roughly at his entrance to satisfy the burning need to be filled.
He must’ve fallen asleep again, exhausted as he was, for the next time he blinked his eyes open the light was dimmer, more rosy pink, and he felt marginally more rested. His skin was sticky and crusted with dried slick and sweat. Ew. He managed to push himself up halfway to a sitting position, but froze and slumped back down as an intense wave of dizziness swept over him, his vision filling with dancing black spots.
His phone was plugged in within reach on the nightstand, and he eyed it for a minute, truly conflicted. He’d been doing fine managing his heats on his own, really, he had, but he thought this one might’ve been the worst yet. He couldn’t remember much of anything that had happened except for pain, pain, pain, hot, alone, couldn’t remember if he’d eaten or drank, and he was so tired. He felt fragile and wrung out, and he didn’t think he could stand to be alone for another minute.
He carefully reached for his phone with trembling hands, moving slowly and deliberately so as not to trigger that awful dizziness, and let out a little cry of relief when Minho picked up on the first ring. “Sungie, hey! Did your heat go okay?”
Jisung opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a wretched, broken sob of both relief at the familiar voice and anguish that Minho wasn’t here .
“Jisung? Are you okay?” Minho sounded so worried, and Jisung whined, feeling immeasurable guilt that he was so weak , that he couldn’t just handle this by himself and stop bothering his best friend.
“Minho,” he whimpered, hot tears streaking down his cheeks, his head pounding so badly he could barely think straight. “‘M sorry, I just. It was bad.”
There were rustling sounds and rapid footsteps from the other end of the call, and Minho said breathlessly, “Oh, Jisungie. I’m coming over right now, okay? Hang on, baby.”
“Kay,” he croaked, curling up tightly once more. Minho kept talking, but it was as if he heard the words echoing indistinctly from the other end of a tunnel, his mind filled with a buzzing static. He didn’t know how long it had been when the soft, fresh scent of lilac tinged with a hint of cedar filled his nose, and there were cool, gentle hands on him.
He sighed, leaning into the touch and blearily blinked his eyes open. There was a pale face swimming above him in his blurry vision, and hands tugged at him, pulling him up to cradle him against their chest.
“Jisungie,” Minho was saying, patting his cheek carefully with a blessedly cold hand. “Can you hear me, honey?”
“Mmm,” Jisung hummed, and Minho pressed the rim of a plastic bottle to his lips.
“Can you drink this for me?” Minho sounded calm, too calm, but his lilac scent was edged with worry.
He just wanted to go back to sleep, to slip into that dark place where nothing hurt, but… he also wanted to be good for Minho, wanted to fix whatever was making the other omega smell so concerned. He took a few small sips of water before realizing just how thirsty he was and greedily swallowed the rest of the water in huge gulps.
“Jisung, baby, can you talk to me? Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
Jisung tried to think through the haze. What was wrong? Everything was wrong. He felt guilty for bothering Minho, and the absence of a dark chocolate scent in his nest was still glaringly obvious. He felt like an unwanted omega and a bad friend, plus his body hurt, he was so dizzy, his head was pounding, he was still thirsty, and he still felt so hot .
“Hurts. Feel… feel bad,” he managed, unable to pick apart all the overwhelming sensations to articulate what exactly he was feeling, turning his face into the cool skin of Minho’s neck and sucking in a deep breath of his soothing scent.
Minho cursed softly and Jisung could feel him rummaging in his pocket for his phone.
“Hey, Channie.” Minho’s voice remained soothing but even with his foggy mind, Jisung could hear the urgency in his tone. “I think Jisungie needs to go to the hospital.”
Jisung couldn’t hear the reply, but he whined at Minho’s mention of his mate. Chan. Where was Chan? He wanted his other packmate there, too, maybe having the alpha there in addition to Minho would stop this awful loneliness that threatened to tear him apart from the inside.
Minho stroked his hair and pulled Jisung’s face closer to his scent gland. “I don’t know!” He sounded more panicked now, stammering slightly. “He’s- he’s sort of awake but he can’t keep his eyes open, and he looks awful. Oh God, Chan, he’s burning up and he’s really pale and thin. I… I don’t think he ate anything during his heat.” There was a muffled whimper, and Jisung felt a spike of alarm at his packmate’s distress. He raised one hand, his arm feeling so, so heavy, and patted what he thought was Minho’s shoulder in comfort.
“Don’t worry,” he mumbled.
“Thank you, Jisungie,” Minho said, and Jisung wanted to purr with pleasure but couldn’t quite muster the energy when Minho added, “You’re doing so good, baby.”
Chan must’ve said something else on the phone because Minho said, “Okay, will you come pick us up? Yeah. Love you.” Then Jisung was being adjusted in Minho’s arms, one arm sliding under his thighs and the other wrapping around his back. “I’m going to lift you up now, okay, Sung?”
Jisung was too tired to get out a verbal reply, but he remained trustingly limp in Minho’s hold, and his packmate rose to his feet with a small groan of effort. His grip on Jisung remained tight and secure, but the shifting of positions set Jisung’s head spinning and his ears began to ring before a tidal wave of darkness came crashing down over him and everything went black.
The next thing he knew, there was a steady beeping sound steadily cutting through the haze of unconsciousness and the scent of rich, bitter dark chocolate. He instinctively moved closer to the smell, sighing happily as it engulfed his senses, bringing with it the assurance of safety. Slowly though, he became aware of other scents: lilac and cedar were most prominent, but beneath those scents of pack was a sterile, unpleasant scent that reminded him of a hospital? weird, and a few unfamiliar scents that made Jisung’s nose twitch in annoyance. Hushed voices came from a few feet away and he forced his heavy eyelids to open, bright white light flooding his vision. He winced at the sharp pain it sent shooting through his head and decided that maybe he’d like to keep his eyes closed for a while longer.
“Changbin?” he asked into the darkness, barely recognizing the gravelly sound of his voice as it grated roughly from his throat.
The voices went quiet and quick footsteps moved closer to Jisung. The lilac scent grew stronger, and he sighed in relief, “Minho.”
“Jisungie, I- How are you feeling, honey? The bed dipped as Minho must’ve sat next to him- oh, he was lying in a bed- and the older omega’s warmth pressed against his shoulder.
Jisung hummed thoughtfully. His body ached dully and his mouth was uncomfortably dry, but overall he supposed he felt more or less okay. “I… what happened?”
Minho was quiet, and Jisung cautiously blinked his eyes open again. Minho’s face hovered over him, dark eyes intently focused on Jisung and a little concerned furrow between his brows. Finally he said, “Your heat was really bad this time.” Oh. He remembered, now. Nothing was too clear, but he remembered the all-consuming pain and heat, remembered begging desperately for someone, Alpha , to make it stop, remembered being devastatingly, agonizingly alone .
Minho continued, “It doesn’t seem like you were able to eat or drink much, so you were pretty weak and your fever wasn’t going down. Channie and I brought you to the hospital and you’ve been asleep for almost two days.”
That was… a lot, so Jisung just asked again, “Changbin?” The alpha’s rich chocolate scent was so close, and Jisung wanted to see him so badly, wanted Changbin to wrap him up in one of his amazing hugs and then everything would be fine.
“He’s not here right now, Sungie.”
“But… I can smell him?”
“The doctors told us that your omega was in a really fragile state after your heat, so they recommended that I get you as many pack scents as possible to soothe your omega and make it easier for your body to recover. Changbin brought some of his hoodies for you and he was sitting with you until a few hours ago- we made him go home to sleep since he looked like a zombie.”
Jisung was horrified to feel his eyes welling with tears, ridiculously touched that Changbin had done that for him, had brought him his clothes and sat with him while he slept.
“Oh,” he said dumbly, trying to silence his omega who was howling victoriously, convinced that the alpha had chosen him, was courting him. Stupid, stupid. He’s just doing what any alpha would do for their packmate, their friend. He lifted one of those delicious smelling hoodies from where it’d been carefully arranged on his pillow and buried his nose in it with a contented sigh. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this, shouldn't be indulging his foolish omega’s desires, but he decided that he’d just blame it on his weak-willed state after his heat. He was in the freaking hospital, so who was he to deny himself just this small scrap of comfort?
Minho was watching him knowingly, and he grumbled at the perceptive gleam in Minho’s eyes and the little smirk playing about his mouth. “Shut up,” he muttered, tugging at Minho’s sleeve.
“I didn’t even say anything!” protested the older omega, but he complied with Jisung’s weak movements and laid down carefully next to him, managing to avoid the IV tubing snaking along the bed and wrapping his arms around Jisung. Jisung clutched Changbin’s hoodie to his chest and snuggled closer into Minho’s embrace, the scents of pack and the warmth of Minho’s body finally settling his frazzled, worn-out omega into a contentedness that made a soft rumbling start up in his chest.
“I love you, Sungie,” said Minho quietly. “We’re gonna figure this out, okay?”
Jisung already felt himself slipping into the dark clutches of sleep, but nodded against Minho’s neck. “Love you too.”
Changbin
Changbin walked through the white halls as quickly as he could manage without getting reprimanded for ‘running’ again, his alpha restless and irritated at leaving his omega his packmate alone and vulnerable for so long. He knew Chan and Minho had been right, knew he’d desperately needed to get some food and rest, but it didn’t change the fact that he’d barely been able to stand leaving Jisung.
He opened the curtain to Jisung’s room, his alpha’s frantic pacing in his chest easing at the sight of the omega’s sleeping face, his sweet caramel scent content and relaxed. His heart squeezed when he realized that the ball of fabric that Jisung held tightly to his chest was his hoodie, the one he’d carefully scented and placed in Jisung’s bed at the behest of the doctors.
He realized he’d just been standing motionless in the doorway, staring at the sleeping omega when there was a soft snort and he tore his eyes from Jisung to see Minho blinking owlishly at him from a chair next to Jisung’s bed.
“Oh, hey Minho,” he said sheepishly, pulling up his own chair on the other side of the bed and dropping into it heavily.
Minho was smirking at him, but when he spoke his tone was hushed so as to not wake Jisung nor his own mate sprawled on the couch behind him. “Sung was asking for you.”
Changbin’s mouth dropped open and his gaze shot to Jisung’s peaceful face, still pale with dark circles under his eyes. “He- he woke up?!”
Minho hummed. “He was pretty alert. The doctors said he’s physically fine and his omega is settled now, so he just needs to rest and recover his strength since his body is so exhausted.”
They both looked down at the young omega sleeping between them, all of Changbin’s alpha instincts on edge with the need to guard his defenseless packmate. He brushed a lock of hair away from Jisung’s face, grimacing as the tangled strands snagged slightly on his fingers.
“Do you have a comb?” he asked Minho. The omega nodded, rummaging in his bag before triumphantly procuring a small black comb.
“Thanks.” Changbin began carefully working at the knots in Jisung’s hair with exaggeratedly slow movements to avoid disturbing his sleep. He’d moved on to Jisung’s bangs when the omega turned his head, pressing his nose into the scent gland at Changbin’s wrist and snuffling sleepily into the sensitive skin.
Changbin gasped and tried to pull away slowly, afraid that he’d woken Jisung from his much needed rest. But the omega grabbed his arm in both hands, his grip loose and clumsy, and pulled Changbin’s wrist to his face.
Minho cooed, snapping several photos of Changbin frozen with his arm held at an awkward angle, Jisung clutching it to himself with his nose pressed into his wrist.
“Is… is he still asleep?” Changbin whispered, unable to see Jisung's face from the angle at which he was sitting.
Minho nodded gleefully, leaning close with his phone held a few inches from Jisung’s face. “Ha, he’s gonna be so embarrassed when I show him these. Here, gimme that.” He pulled the comb from Changbin’s limp grip and resumed detangling Jisung’s hair until it was fanned out on the pillow in a perfect chocolatey halo. He snapped another photo for good measure and held his phone far out of Changbin’s reach when he made an aborted grab for it with his free hand.
“Ah ah,” chided Minho teasingly. “Look how cute you two are.” He turned the phone so Changbin could see the screen, still holding it carefully just out of reach. Minho had captured a much better angle of Jisung’s face than what Changbin could currently see, and he felt an almost sharp stab of affection at his content, peaceful expression, nose smushed against Changbin’s scent gland and sweater paws loosely encircling Changbin’s forearm.
“Send that to me?” he asked Minho, fully intending to make it his home screen wallpaper at the earliest possible opportunity.
Jisung
Jisung had had an incredibly boring day of receiving IV fluids and being kept for observation. He would’ve complained more, but had still been tired and felt safe enough with his three packmates there that he had been able to take several naps to pass the time. He’d been thrilled when he first woke up to see Changbin sitting there by his bed, slumped over in a chair with his head resting on Jisung’s bed. His rich chocolate scent was so thick Jisung could barely smell Minho’s lilac and Chan's cedar, though he could see them curled up together just a few feet away on the couch.
He attempted to push himself up on his elbows to reach the cup of water on the bedside table, but flopped back down as his arms were entangled with… another arm? Oh. He was hugging Changbin’s arm tightly to his chest, the alpha’s scent gland just millimeters from his nose.
Minho's eyes opened right at that moment like he'd sensed an opportunity to tease Jisung. Sure enough, a devilish little grin spread across his face. “You grabbed his arm in your sleep, Sung.”
“No,” Jisung said despairingly. “Really?”
“Uh huh. You wouldn’t let him go so he just fell asleep there. I have lots of photos, don't worry.” He waved his phone triumphantly in Jisung’s direction. Chan began to stir underneath Minho at the movement and without even glancing away from Jisung, Minho guided the alpha’s head to rest against his throat, and Jisung could smell the burst of calming lilac pheromones he released. Chan stilled and began to snore softly, and Jisung stared at Minho in awe.
“Nice trick.”
Minho huffed a laugh, looking down at his alpha with such a disgustingly fond, sappy look that Jisung nearly gagged. “Works every time.”
Jisung made a face and Minho stuck his tongue out at him before he suddenly grew serious. “Sung, we have to figure out something before your next heat.”
“I… I know.”
Minho brushed his sleeve impatiently over his damp cheeks, and Jisung was immediately flooded with guilt.
“Fuck, Sung, I was so worried. I don’t… I don’t want you to die,” he admitted in a cracking, fragile whisper, the sight of his watery eyes and trembling lips like a punch to the gut.
“I'm so sorry,” Jisung breathed, biting his lip in a futile effort to keep his own tears at bay. “I… I'm scared, too.”
His doctor had told him again that he needed to have an alpha there for his heats, that it was simply too dangerous to continue going without. She’d said it almost condescendingly, like it was a choice he’d made rather than a byproduct of simply not having an alpha. He’d asked if he could just spend his next heat in the hospital, but the doctor had raised an unimpressed brow.
“You could,” she’d said slowly, “but, and I don’t mean to cause offense, I can't imagine you have the funds to pay for such a long hospital stay without a justifiable medical reason.”
His mouth had dropped open in shock, in hurt, and she’d given him a flatly polite little smile. “Just spend your heat with an alpha and you’ll be just fine, Mr. Han.”
“I just… I don't know what to do,” he said now to Minho, who had been outraged upon hearing what the doctors had told him. Jisung had had to talk him, then Chan, out of going to find that doctor and letting her know exactly what Jisung’s pack thought of her so-called medical advice.
“Sungie, you have a willing alpha right there.” They both looked down at Changbin’s sleeping form, his arm still a comforting weight across Jisung’s chest. He inhaled the bitter chocolate scent like the drug it’d become to him, warring with the ever present desire to just give in to his omega and ask the alpha to be his.
“I… Min, we’re not like that,” he said hopelessly. “He just sees me as a friend.”
Minho gave him a look.
“What?” he protested, hugging Changbin’s arm a little closer.
“Jisungie… I really think you should at least tell him how you feel. I think, maybe…”
Jisung shook his head. “No, I… he… he’d probably agree to help me through my heats because he’s my friend, and he’s so nice , but I don't want pity, you know?” He swiped away the frustrated tears that had tracked their burning paths down his cheeks. “And I don’t want to ruin our friendship- I love what we have right now, even if I want more,” he admitted in a whisper, praying that Changbin truly was asleep.
“Oh honey, I don't think he’d pity you.”
Jisung sighed. “Can we just… I don't want to think about this anymore, at least for a while?” he said pleadingly. “My next heat isn’t for another four months, so…maybe after the mating run we can figure something out?”
“Yeah, of course. Channie and I are here for you if you ever want to talk, okay?”
Jisung sniffled and buried his nose in Changbin’s wrist, overcome with hormones and residual pain and gratitude for Minho’s quiet, unwavering support. “I know.”