Chapter Text
Knock Knock
The knocking started just as Matthew was opening his third suitcase.
He was still unpacking after spending summer break in Canada with his family. Everything in the dorm looked exactly as he remembered: bunk bed, cream-yellowish walls, wide space, and a long desk big enough to fit his laptop and monitor. With every piece of fabric out of his suitcases, he missed home. No detergent in Korea smelled the same as the one his mom used, or maybe it was her natural scent infused into the clothes that brought the unmistakable feeling of nostalgia to his chest.
Being a film student meant needing space, his camera equipment alone took up half of his closet and when inspiration hit at 2 AM, the last thing he needed was a roommate griping about the noise. Matthew couldn't imagine sharing a space with someone else. While everyone else was struggling with their roommates and their questionable habits, he had the privilege of living alone.
His parents were footing the bill for this privacy, which wasn't cheap for an international student. They'd insisted though—told him to focus on his studies instead of dealing with drama. Sometimes being the baby of the family had its perks.
Another knock on his door. Who could possibly be visiting on the first day back? Everyone was busy unpacking today. Matthew shoved a pile of t-shirts aside and walked over the door. His first guess was Hao, he'd mentioned stopping by later. But this knock felt different. More insistent.
Knock Knock
“Geez, I'm coming,” he shouted, just loud enough to be heard from outside the room. He twisted the deadbolt and pulled the door open.
The guy standing there was tall. Like, annoyingly tall, observing him with an unreadable expression. Was he trying to intimidate him? His features were soft, he looked young—maybe even younger than him—but something about his build and the way he carried himself, made Matthew's instincts prickle.
“About time,” the stranger said, and before Matthew could speak, the guy gave him a last look from head to toes and stepped right past him into the room, dragging a dark brown suitcase behind him as if he owned the place.
Which he absolutely did not.
A sharp scent hit Matthew a second later, and he instinctively took a step back. He reeked of Alpha pheromones.
“Hey! Who are you?” Matthew spun around on the spot, already annoyed. “You can't just come into someone else's room!”
The guy barely glanced over his shoulder. “What are you talking about?” he asked, taking off his hoodie and tossing it on top of Matthew's bed. “So, top or bottom?”
Seok Matthew, 23 years old, film student and a very much dominant omega despite his size, widened his eyes at the question, stunned for a second too long.
“Excuse me?” His heart skipped not just one, but probably two beats.
“The bed… Do you want the top or the bottom bunk?” the guy said, like Matthew was being deliberately dense.
“What do you think you're doing? This is a single room!” Matthew reached for the doorknob ready to escort this lunatic out of his space.
“No, it's not. I got assigned this room,” the guy didn't look surprised or embarrassed. “But they didn't give me a key yet. I'm supposed to get it tomorrow.” He said, as if it was the most casual thing in the world.
“Not possible,” Matthew snapped. “I specifically paid for a private room,” Seok Matthew crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently. Why was this guy still there?
“Then you should take that up with housing, because look here,” he shoved a paper card in front of his face. “See what it says?”
The paper looked official. It even had the University's official wet stamp.
Room 101, Park Gunwook/Seok Matthew .
“That's my name, by the way. In case you were wondering,” the guy added with a smirk before turning back to open his suitcase on the floor.
“I don't care what your name is. You're not staying here.” Matthew muttered, pointing his finger at him and planting himself firmly between Gunwook and the closet.
There were a hundred reasons why he'd requested a single room, but the most important reason of all, was currently climbing on top of this stranger's open suitcase.
Gia.
His baby cat.
He was a lovely 10-months-old-Siamese, with big blue eyes and cream-colored fur. Small enough to hide under a pillow or fit in the kangaroo pocket of his hoodies. He had adopted him at the end of the last semester. His family in Canada had no idea, so when he was away visiting them, his uncle took care of Gia and promised to keep the secret.
No one at the school—except for his friends, knew about him. No one could.
“Oh my god,” Gunwook said slowly, “Why is there a cat jumping on my clothes?” Now Gunwook was the one crossing his arms. “I'm pretty sure it's not allowed.”
Matthew froze, then lunged toward the door and shut it before anyone passing in the hallway could hear or see his cat.
“That's none of your business,” Matthew responded tightly, watching how the guy was bending over to pick Gia and hold him against his chest.
Gia didn’t protest. In fact, he purred and licked the stranger's chin.
“You're kidding,” Gunwook said, cradling him like it was natural for him. Maybe it was. “Is this your emotional support animal or something?”
“Put him down,” Matthew snapped, trying to reach out.
“Oh, how cute. Would it be even cuter if I reported your owner? Cute little kitty,” Gunwook crooned to Gia in a baby voice, which made Matthew want to gag.
Cringe .
“Don’t you dare!” Matthew rushed to take away his baby cat from the hands of that monster.
“You're breaking the rules and I'm a really good student. I can’t get in trouble for living with a cat in the dorms,” Gunwook's voice tone was so undeniably arrogant. “Unless…”
“Unless what?” Matthew kissed Gia while hugging him strongly, he would never give up to his baby cat, but he can't get expelled, not with the amount of money his family was investing on his education.
“I can keep your secret but it's gonna cost you,” Gunwook's smirk was annoying Matthew in so many ways.
“Are you blackmailing me?” Seok Matthew furrowed his eyebrows hesitantly. This guy came out of nowhere, demanding to stay in his room and now he’s threatening him.
“I wouldn't call it Blackmail. Just a mutually beneficial arrangement.” He said, walking around the room carelessly.
“Being a nice person it’s not enough for you?” He asked, his eyebrows were twitching and he was getting really exasperated with every second of the stranger student inside his room.
“Well, you’re asking me to keep a big secret. I think it’s only fair for me if I get something as big in return,” Gunwook said with a smirk on one side of his lips. He kept unpacking his clothes and walked toward the closet trying to figure out what side was supposed to be his, mainly because the entire closet was messy and full of clothes scattered on the shelves, while the omega was grumbling behind.
Matthew sighed and gave up to the argument, for now. He crouched down and gently placed Gia on the floor. “What do you want?” The cat quickly ran and jumped on one of the shelves, his curiosity was stimulated by the stranger's intrusive presence.
Gunwook's hand reached down to Gia’s spine. He leaned into his touch, purring again, like he'd known him since forever.
Matthew hated that.
“I tend to fall asleep in class, so I need someone to take notes for me.” Gunwook turned around, his hand falling on his side leaving Gia still wanting more.
“Fine, you can take my notes. Is that all?” he rolled his eyes, partially annoyed by how Gia was actively pawing at Gunwook for more attention. Traitor.
“And since I’m always sleepy… I need my coffee first thing in the morning,” Gunwook realized Gia was almost falling from the self just to get his attention so his hands were back to action.
“Sure, coffee.” Seok Matthew didn’t have time or patience for these stupid demands but he'd do anything for Gia.
“I’ll probably need someone to help me edit my projects,” Gia climbed up on his shoulder, the claws trespassing the white tee he was wearing.
“What major are you in? I don’t really have time to go to other classes.” Matthew crossed his arms again, he wasn't going to lower his guard against the man in front of him, who was, annoyingly walking around with his cat on the shoulder.
“I’ll take that as an offense,” he turned around once again to face the closet, deliberately moving Matthew’s stuff to the left side. “I’m a film student just like you.”
“So you knew who I was this whole time?” Matthew blinked.
“I thought you knew too. I'm always sleeping in class, but I've seen you around. It's not exactly a big department..”
Matthew opened his mouth only to close it again, then shrugged his shoulders. “Okay dude, calm down. I’m not the most observant person.”
“Whatever you say. Oh and I prefer being on the top by the way.”
“Huh?!” Seok Matthew stared thrown off by his request. The alpha in front kept walking around with a cocky smirk. There's no way he wasn't doing that on purpose.
“The top bed. What are you even thinking?” Gunwook asked, tilting his head like he was the confused one, but still smiling. Evil smile.
“I don't know,” Matthew shot back, “You tell me”
“Tell you what? You think just because I'm an Alpha I want to get involved with any Omega?” Gunwook slowly moved his body toward Matthew, eyes locked on him and his torso slightly leaning over Matthew.
“You seem like it,” Matthew replied, not backing up, not even for a second.
Gunwook raised an eyebrow. “What? I was just grabbing my hoodie,” the one he had tossed on Matthew’s bed before. A faded scent coming from the alpha made Matthew turn his head away instinctively, his nose twitching like he might sneeze.
Was this Alpha so despicable to him to the point of being allergic to his scent?
Either way, this year was off to a catastrophic start.
“Do whatever you want. Just don’t touch my stuff. And stay away from me and my cat. Understood?”
“Sure,” Gunwook responded easily. “But your cat likes me. What can I do?” Gia jumped off his shoulders and ran straight to Matthew’s lap.
“He would never like you.” Matthew muttered.
His phone buzzed. It was from his friends’ group chat.
Film idiots: No Alphas allowed.
redpanda: mashu, we’re grabbing pizza with ricky.
Pizza sounded really good and his stomach was indeed growling, loud enough for his allegedly roommate to look at him with a condescending look.
mattmeow: I’m so hungry but I have some issues to attend.
redpanda: on our first day?
itsrickyshen: you’re kidding right? We miss you.
mattmeow: I’m basically stuck with an alpha and I won’t leave baby Gia alone with him..
redpanda: hello? an alpha?
itsrickyshen: how are you gonna attend classes then?
mattmeow: good question, I need to get a camera.
redpanda: why are we ignoring the issue that you have an ALPHA in your room?
mattmeow: they fucked up my single room and the office is probably closed by now.
itsrickyshen: your roommate is an alpha? lucky you, someone will finally take care of your heats.
redpanda: Shen Quanrui, this is a real problem. He can’t be stuck with an Alpha!
mattmeow: I know I can't, but I can’t kick him out tonight.
itsrickyshen: why not?
redpanda: Oh! Gia.
mattmeow: he knows about Gia.
redpanda: we’ll get pizza and head your way. He’s gonna listen to me very clearly.
mattmeow: don’t even bother, I can handle this guy.
itsrickyshen: but you’re hungry.
mattmeow: true.
Thirty minutes later, his best friends were knocking on his door. Park Gunwook had already made himself comfortable. Clothes were partially hung—partially on the shelves, desk organized, headset on and loudly chatting with some dudes from the game he was playing.
What Matthew thought was going to be a calm evening, was turning into loud noises and cussing to other players.
Gia was unbothered. He'd claimed his lap again and was napping like nothing could disturb him.
Matthew sighed and stood up on his way to the door, while Gia jumped off his lap walking hastily ahead of Matthew to greet the guests. His cat loved to be the first one at the door. Which was obviously inconvenient, considering Gia was a secret in that dorm.
Gunwook side-eyed the people who were coming into the room with two familiar sized pizzas.
“I got one with extra cheese and the other one with less,” Hao said, holding up the boxes. His eyes flicked toward the guy seated on the desk seemingly playing games.
Since there was no table in the room, Matthew brought a flat mat to leave the food on the floor.
“Oh, Park Gunwook?” Ricky said thrilled by the presence of the alpha in the room.
Gunwook finally glanced over and pulled off his headset. “Ricky?”
“Do you know each other?” Hao asked, concerned.
“I hate my life.” Matthew whined, letting himself fall onto the floor and opening a box of pizza.
“Oh yeah, he’s friends with Gyuvin. Long time no see man!” They did a dumb bro handshake or something like that. Really stupid to Matthew’s liking.
And just like that the annoying tall man ended up joining them. Eating his pizza. On his floor.
Even worse. Hao, who was supposed to “threaten him,” shut his mouth the moment Gunwook mentioned: Sung Hanbin. His crush.
The night passed in a blur. Matthew kept organizing his stuff, making sure Gia's litter, located strategically in the bathroom, was clean, and trying to keep the peace in the room.
At some point, when his friends were already gone, he yawned, taking off his sweater over his head and changed into his pajamas.
“I thought it would be uncomfortable for you to change in front of an Alpha.” Gunwook said, finally turning off his laptop.
“I may be an Omega, but I’m also a man. In case you didn’t notice.”
Touché.
Matthew woke up in the middle of the night feeling a little heated. Gia was sleeping beside his head as always, but there was a weird smell coming from the top of the bunk bed.
Was he releasing pheromones?
Matthew sat up on his bed shaking his shirt to get some air. He felt his legs weak, but stood up anyway, ready to beat the hell out of his “roommate.” He carefully climbed one of the steps of the ladder to see what was going on, only to find a completely asleep Gunwook, barely covered with the blankets.
He was releasing pheromones in his dreams.
And this was exactly why Matthew couldn’t live with an Alpha. Even he was now releasing his own stupid pheromones in contrast with his roommate.
At least, he had emergency suppressants in his backpack. Gladly they kicked in long enough for him to sleep a few more hours before his first class.
The next day Matthew left the room without Gunwook even noticing. He gave Gia a kiss and went straight to the housing office to reclaim his single room.
But what he heard was horrific.
“We are very sorry, no individual rooms are left. We’ll proceed with a refund to your parents account.” The receptionist didn't even look up from her screen.
“No!” he shouted. As much as he wanted that guy out of his room and his parents to get their money back, he couldn’t risk the slightest chance of someone finding out about Gia.
He was stuck. Stuck stuck, really stuck for the rest of the year with a fucking Alpha who acted like he wanted him to be his slave.
Maybe he should go back to Canada. Maybe he should enroll in a different University or switch to a different program.
He rushed to class knowing damn well that none of that was possible, because his parents would kill him if he threw this major away.
“I’m so screwed.” He muttered under his breath, pushing the hallway's doors open.
The auditorium was huge. He was fairly excited for this class since he saw the program.
Screenwriting I: Foundations
The professor was already there, waiting for the students to gather and take a seat so the class could begin.
Matthew found his friends laughing at something Ricky had said.
“Hey,” Hao greeted him with a kind smile and a small wave. “How did you sleep?”
“Horrible. I’m thinking of dropping school at this point.” Matthew took a seat next to him, and let his backpack fall to the floor.
“Seok Matthew you can’t be so dramatic,” Ricky rolled his eyes, twirling a pen between his fingers. For him, Gunwook was a nice guy. Nothing to be worried about, aside from the fact that he was an Alpha.
“I had to take suppressants in the middle of the night because this dude couldn’t stop leaking his pheromones. What a nightmare. And the housing office said they’re at capacity. I’m screwed. Totally screwed.”
“Oh yes, you are,” a deep voice said from behind. The taller one had only heard the last part, thankfully. When Matthew turned around in his seat, the only thing he saw was an evil smile curling at the corner of his lips. “Where’s my coffee?”
“You bastard!” Matthew almost stood up in disbelief, but he didn't want to cause a scene.
“Do I have to ask again? Where is my coffee?” Gunwook raised an eyebrow, hands in pockets.
“I went to the housing office to get rid of you, but we’re stuck together. After that I had to rush to class. Okay?” Matthew threw his arms up, highly annoyed. This is how his life's gonna be from now on.
“All I’m hearing is ‘please report me’.” Gunwook's smile widened, infuriating the boy in front of him.
“You are an asshole.” Matthew's jaw tightened, he wanted to punch that idiotic man.
“Here.” he shoved a notebook onto Mathew's desk, not caring at all about the stares they were both getting. Even their friends were speechless. “Make sure to take my notes.”
Without another word he walked toward his seat right next to a shorter guy Matthew kind of knew but had never spoken to. Kim Taerae .
“Well, I guess he can be an asshole sometimes,” Ricky said, finally breaking the silence as he pulled out his phone right away to text his boyfriend, Kim Gyuvin.
“I wish I could be texting Sung Hanbin right now,” Hao pouted, resting his face against his palm on the desk.
“Just follow him on instagram, geez. Casually reply to a story and voilá, boyfriend.”
Matthew was exasperated. His friends were a couple of egoistic losers, and his roommate was a cocky Alpha. His life couldn’t be any worse.
“If it’s so easy, why don’t you have a boyfriend?” Ricky glanced at him from over his phone, smirking.
“Because I’m not interested in dating. Gia is all I need in my life.”