╰─➤ in your eyes, i see something to believe in,
                  your hands are like a flame,
                      your palms' the sweetest pain

➳༻❀✿❀༺➳

renjun was stressed.

while the others assured him donghyuck's training was going quite well, and that he wasn't the defenceless kitten that had arrived a few months ago, he still wasn't satisfied. he'd never had to look out for an omega before, especially one as vulnerable and sweet-scented as hyuck, and it was causing his anxiety about the mid-summer reception to peak.

he sat quietly in jeno's office, in an armchair by the corner of the room while his master finished up with a phone call. his mind was elsewhere, a million miles from this place and the book left unread in his arms.

"hmm, yeah. i know," jeno sighed, twisting in his rotating chair slowly and looking over a document in his hand as he did. "no, that's your job. keep the prison full, alright?"

the omega tried to draw his attention back to his novel, but his focus was waning badly. he squeezed his eyes shut and slammed the book closed. this wasn't working.

"then find a way," jeno grinned to himself and spoke only in a sickly sweet, saccharine voice which was far more terrifying than exerting his alpha tones. "good boy, bye bye." he hung up and tossed the phone and the paperwork onto the table before sitting back and pressing his hands to his face. "i'm so sick of people."

"mhm, me too."

"let's go live on a rock, yeah? us and the dolls and let's never meet another human again."

renjun actually liked that idea quite a lot, but in order to buy a large rock, maybe an island, one would have to speak to yet more people. it was quite a vicious cycle. "as charming as that sounds, i fear i might kill one of us if we don't have separate spaces."

"point taken," jeno agreed and lowered his hands to look at his doll. he stared for a moment, making renjun shift in his seat and wonder what was up. "you're so pretty, jun."

"thanks."

"why'd you stop reading? stuck on a word?"

the omega had hoped he wouldn't bring it up, but he supposed he needed to address this concern sooner rather than later. the reception was in three days. "no...it's about donghyuck. i don't think he should come with us to the party."

"oh? why's that," the leader chuckled and started to organise some files into groups. "i've heard he's coming along nicely."

"that may be so, but at the end of the day he's a pretty omega with less than half a year's training and pheromones that even i, a fellow omega, cannot resist. jen, this is a recipe for disaster."

"you're being paranoid. he's on the pill," he said, with a matter of distaste that not only he felt. "he's protected in that sense—"

"it's not fool proof!"

"—he's got us, as well," jeno added. "and we are most certainly fool proof."

"why is nobody seeing the red flag right now?!" renjun hissed, standing up quickly and stomping over to slam his hands down on the desk, leaning over the younger man angrily. jeno chose not to point out that the vanilla and cherry scent rolling off him right now was ruining the image. "i thought you of all people would be concerned!"

"i'm always concerned," the alpha hummed and leaned forward as well, resting his chin against his two intertwined hands. the proximity left no room for backing out. "do you think i wanted you, my first omega, to go to parties at the start? fuck, it's been a year and a half since you got here and i still get chills watching you off on your own. but you'd have thrown me across a room and into a wall if i denied you what i gave the others. hyuck may not be as violent as you, but i want him to trust me and like me and telling him he's too weak for the reception and that he's under house arrest would shatter what i've been working on."

"it's better if he's mad and safe than happy and ruined."

"that's not your decision to make. in fact, it's his."

renjun's nails scraped against the wood of the desk as he fought to remain composed. when he kicked up a fuss and everyone else was calm, he felt like a child. "i want to test him then. that's my job, isn't it? to keep track of his progress while the others train him?"

"you're being salty."

"i'm being cautious. permit me to examine him."

"hmmm, let's see. what does he get if he succeeds?"

"a gold sticker."

"the reception. he can go to the party."

"whatever," renjun waved it off, "but if he fails even one aspect of his training, i don't care if it's fumbling the names of gang leaders or skipping a dance step, he's not going."

"you're being too harsh," jeno stood up and this time used his dominant genes to push renjun down just a little. he hardly had to do this, but sometimes his dolls forgot. "only his fight training. test everyone, but chenle's work will be the only one graded."

"and you're being to lenient," renjun choked, the scent of his master making his knees weak. he started to lean against the desk for support now and jeno placed a gentle hand on his cheek, slowly leaning in and forcing the boy to meet his gaze.

"i'm doing what's best for all of you, all the time. your maternal instincts are kicking in, but he's not a baby," he murmured softly and touched their noses together. the scent was overpowering.

"i never said...he was," the raven-haired boy gritted his teeth. half of him wanted to run away and hide, escape the oppressive pheromones permeating the office. but he knew jeno and he didn't want to lose.

"do we have a deal, renjun?" the alpha sighed and pulled away, dissipating his smell to more manageable levels. if he was up close to him any longer he worried he might pull him straight over the table and have him.

"it only benefits you..." he said, fists balled by his sides making him look like a little kid again. the giant t-shirt jeno was starting to recognise was his and the baggy trousers didn't help.

"so you have that much faith in his skills and still we're having this argument?"

"ugh, fine! fine! i don't care anymore, if he gets mauled by other mafias," he made sure the fact was clear, "then that's on you!"

"and i'll take full responsibility." jeno sat down and resumed a posture of pure peace and calmness. "when will you test him?"

"tomorrow. i'll give him time to prepare."

"how generous of you."

renjun wasn't sure whether he wanted to throttle the man or be glad his temper was always so even. it did take a lot to make him angry, and if that wasn't the case then he'd be in shambles right now...probably on the desk. he dreaded the thought of such a parallel universe's argument. "i'm leaving."

"it's nearly lunchtime. go round up the others and let's get these tests done quickly."

"why is that always my job?!" he snapped as he grabbed his book and started to wander out.

"you're the most charming."

"i'm going to kill him," he whispered under his breath and left the room. if he didn't obsessively love jeno, he wondered if he'd ever actually win their arguments.

>>>>>

"no, look. you're holding it wrong," mark sighed and stopped his gentle dance movements to fix the fan in donghyuck's hand. "it's originally a girl's dance, right? so be feminine." he drew out the word and bonked the omega over the head with his own fan. it had blades in it, and hyuck wondered if he sometimes forgot that.

"why are we doing this anyway? in what situation would i need to know a korean fan dance?"

"it's not about the dance, it's about the grace," mark continued and moved in slow, fluid motions as if not even air could defy him. his fan was so much prettier too, than the plain, wooden, brown one he'd been given for practice. the beta's was his special weapon and therefore matched mark in almost every way. "i'm trying to show you how to hold yourself in front of others."

"i've never once see you or the others act graceful," hyuck folded his arms. "you're a zoo."

the other promptly ignored him. "look, shoulders back, spine straight, eyes always down. it's easy when you know what to look for."

donghyuck gave up stalling and decided to try again. he flicked the fan out into its spread form and stepped back as slowly as possible while drawing it across his face, focusing solely on the steps.

"that's much better, hyuck. don't hide your face too much, though," mark praised. "yes! that's it."

the sandy-blonde slid his foot forward again and pushed his arms out in a sweeping motion, shoulders relaxed as he'd been told and hoping his back was straight. he actually thought he might have it when the doors to the empty ballroom clicked open and jisung wandered inside.

"very nice," he smiled and jogged over to them before pausing right where they were. "i was bored and thought you might be here."

"your intuition is as sharp as always," mark hummed and started to dance again, this time a little more fervently with stronger, harsher movements. he stepped well back and clipped his fan open, the sharp edges shimmering under the light as he slices it through the air, causing a breeze to lift hyuck and jisung's fringes. they watched soundlessly.

every movement held the grace and elegance he'd been looking for in donghyuck, and he made no mistakes, no falters. his loose pants shifted with him in every step and created the illusion of skirt if you didn't look hard enough. mesmerising.

"when do i get that good, though?" the omega whined.

"you don't. i haven't either," jisung admitted and snatched his wooden fan off him. "but," he stepped back and began the same dance hyuck was learning, "you can come close. the fan is to direct attention, and if you make sure the intended audience is watching the fan," he explained, catching hyuck out and keeping his eyes firmly on the prop, then leaping forward at him in one, gentle movement, he jabbed the fan gently against his stomach, "you can kill them or enchant them and they won't even know."

the blonde gasped, stumbling back and staring at him wide eyed. "that's crazy."

"nobody ever said we were sane," jisung smirked and fanned his face cutely.

"as educational as this all is, we should keep practicing the basics," mark hummed and took the wooden one off jisung to give it back to his student. "from the top, shall we?"

the door sprang open again and this time chenle walked in. he looked pale as a ghost. "oh thank fuck, i wasn't sure where you were, hyuck."

"what's wrong?"

jisung barked out a laugh, "hah, i'm so smart. this was the first place i tried."

"not now, child. the adults are talking," chenle waved him off and finished walking over beside mark. "renjun's on a war path, jeno told me. says he doesn't want hyuck going to the reception and that he's testing his fight skills tomorrow."

"what? why?" donghyuck frowned. "i'm all good."

"yeah, but not good enough. i've haven't tested you enough yet myself. this isn't a fair fight."

"okay, before we lose our heads, what's he testing me on? like what kind of skills?"

"that's the problem," chenle hissed, "he didn't say! jeno just found me, warned me, and i came here. i'm stressing out."

"but you're not affected, le. don't worry, it's just me."

"we want you to come," the three of them yelled simultaneously. hyuck was taken-aback, rather touched.

"i have two scenarios for tomorrow, and they're not pretty," chenle said after a moment of silence. "first, you're pitted against renjun himself and he will either do everything in his power to stop you from going or show mercy cause he cares—"

"the former is more likely."

"—and the second is that he pits you against criminals and expects you to kill them. which is not happening."

everyone went quiet and looked at the floor in thought. those scenarios did indeed sound nasty.

"and i wouldn't be taking a break, you guys," the chinese boy piped up once more. "he's testing everyone. your training, i mean. i don't know when—"

the doors creaked yet again and the four of them went rigid as the remaining three members started to walk though — renjun to the front. "ah, here you all are. what's with the meeting we weren't invited to?"

mark cleared his throat and stepped forward calmly. "what brings you guys here?"

hyuck caught jeno's gaze from across the room, and he gave him an apologetic smile. well, there wasn't much he could do if he'd made a deal. beside him, jaemin was looking quite upset.

"pop quiz time, ladies," renjun folded his arms and they all walked towards them together. "i'd like to see hyuck's progress, it's been months now."

"wait, all of a sudden?" jisung scoffed. "you can't do that."

"i can. it's my job."

the four teachers were seething, including jaemin who slowly edged around to join them. the tension was nearly palpable, and the struggle was with coming to terms with the fact that they loved renjun, he had good reason to be doing this, but he was being unreasonable.

"whatever. who's first," jisung sighed.

"you, if you're so willing," the omega smiled innocently. "how's the acting coming along?"

donghyuck stepped over to join jisung's side and rested his arm on the taller boy's shoulder. "so well. amazing. swimmingly, one might say," he made the 'okay' sign with his fingers.

"entertain me, then."

everyone pulled chairs down from the sides of the unused ballroom, dragging them to sit down on and waiting impatiently to see how this went. jaemin tapped chenle and mark's shoulders from behind, giving them a look before whispering "this is madness, right? what's jeno thinking?"

"he must have faith or something," mark murmured back. "i'm so confused."

jisung stood still as a statue and watched as renjun walked in a slow circle around donghyuck, as stunning and maddening as ever. "okay," the omega began, "i'll give you scenarios. and if jisung has done his job right, you'll know signals too."

"i know a few."

"you should know them all," renjun glanced at the youngest harem member and arched his brow. jisung gave him the middle finger. "right, sit down. we're imagining you're at a table at a party, and you're jeno's plus-one during a one-on-one conversation. jisung will give you a signal from afar, you have to respond accordingly."

donghyuck took a deep breath and nodded slowly as he thought about it. he had technically gone over mission signals, but they were hard and there were a lot. he knew about five by heart but he hid his anxiety behind a calm, serene smile that probably pressed the older boy's buttons. he wouldn't go down easy.

jaemin handed him a chair, and he sat down, back straight and chin up. mark was smiling hopefully with such a strong start, but hyuck tried not to get distracted and focused solely on what jisung and mark had taught him, for this was a mixture.

jisung trailed away, somewhere beyond the small audience to create a somewhat realistic crowd like at a party. donghyuck pretended to be listening intently to something someone in front of him was saying, eyes flickering back and forth between the invisible person and where jisung stood quietly.

and there it was. his hand by his waist with his two fingers splayed subtly. it was hard enough to spot behind everyone's heads, but that was the point, and he made sure not to make it obvious that he'd seen it.

donghyuck started to touch his ear, the one jeno had pierced for him months ago. not that he'd known this would happen, but he'd taken the stud out two days ago and thought to put a hoop in and had forgotten. how convenient for his little skit.

slowly, concern started to creep across his face convincingly. he look around him, dropped his hands towards his shoulders to check there and then turned to where jeno would've been beside him. "please excuse me."

"what's the matter?" jeno said from the audience, playing along.

"i've lost my earring. i just want to take a quick look around."

"it can't be that important, love, we're mid-conversation."

"it's the one from the first set you got me. the gold one," donghyuck played the helpless ditz well, standing up slowly and turning to their imaginary company, "i'm really sorry about this. i'll be back soon." he bowed respectfully, brushing a hand where invisible jeno's shoulder would've been and started to walk about, looking about halfheartedly, and heading towards jisung.

"nice escape. i like that idea," chenle clapped once hyuck reached his teacher. "remind me to go to a party without an earring."

"it was well executed, you must admit," jeno added. "his face was perfect."

"all in a day's work," jisung bowed.

"that was all me," hyuck kicked his ankle.

renjun pursed his lips, definitely impressed and not happy about it. "yes, you did a good job. leaving a conversation to meet with members without suspicion is important." he looked away and held his forearms over his waist. "nicely done."

"yes!" jisung pumped his fist in the air. "i'm a wizard!"

"one more," renjun interrupted the short-lived celebration. "i want to see you battle alpha pheromones. we're exposed to them all the time, you and i. the mafia ilk at the reception will find it fun to see how weak we are, how easy it'll be to seduce us. show me they're wrong without acting out."

"how?"

the other omega tilted his head to jeno, who seemed perturbed. "go on, master. act like a cocky alpha and put him under pressure. you're so good at using pheromones."

"still salty, my love."

"i hold grudges," he huffed and watched as the leader got up and walked over to donghyuck. the two eyed each other, and the younger boy realised it had actually been a while since he'd gotten to spend time with him.

"alright, dance time," jeno grinned and took one of hyuck's hands to lead him, the other on his thin waist. to complete the look, the blonde had his free hand to the man's chest and he wore a decently polite face that betrayed only a hint of irritation.

"i'm being called," donghyuck started, following the steps all the same as naturally as possible, making mark proud. he was practically on the edge of his seat. "it was nice meeting you—" attempting to tug his hand free failed and jeno only pulled him closer.

"i didn't hear anything." he excreted beautifully alluring pheromones, surprising the omega even though he'd been expecting them and causing him to falter a little. the smell of cedar and sandalwood was so powerful and masculine he nearly melted to the floor.

they continued to dance, though donghyuck was still trying to work out how to escape this one politely. his stomach was starting to burn in that way when he was turned on but his head was playing through a hundred ideas. he finally decided to go with his gut feeling and let it play out or else he wouldn't succeed and pounce on jeno instead.

"you," he suddenly rose up on his toes and brought his and the alpha's faces closer together, "are playing a dangerous game, mister." he tried to consciously release his own pheromones, combatting the woody smells with fruity smells. "i'm a taken man."

jeno smiled cutely, in awe of his beauty and terrible at hiding it. he pushed his face closer, speaking nearly against the omega's lips. "and i'm an impatient one."

oh no, hyuck panicked, feeling his trousers start to get uncomfortable around his skin and his shirt rub against his chest. wrong time to be forced into heat, but maybe that was the point that sneaky renjun was trying to make.

he stepped back, breath heavier than ever and he tried his level best not to turn and ruin the scenario by yelling at renjun. this was harder than he'd thought it'd be.

jeno tried to reel him back in, good at the clingy shtick he'd been ordered to do. the smell was getting to strong and the feeling of concerned eyes on him from the others only propelled him to want to succeed harder. "tell you what," donghyuck breathed airily, hardly recognising his own voice as he was once again against his leader and still trying to push him away. he was spun and pulled back to press his back to jeno's chest, where he leaned down to whisper against the shell of his ear.

"tell me what?"

hyuck shivered, tilting his head forward away from the feeling of his muscles through his shirt. "i can s-see you later." shit, i stuttered. he subtly shot his eyes to renjun before returning them to the ground. the other was looking pensive and a little stressed, probably wondering if he was going to win this one.

jisung had his hands in prayer position, resting them against his mouth as he watched intently.

jeno wrapped his strong arms around hyuck's front, head down by his now as they spoke between themselves. "how much later?"

how much later...the blonde was getting dizzy, but i want him now...no! snap out of it! "after the party. later." jisung and mark had always said that if he was in a situation alone with someone powerful, make 'later promises' to get out of there and they would handle the rest. well, this better have worked.

"how can i trust you?" jeno pressed. he was teasing at this point, he too seemed just about ready to explode.

"who knows..." donghyuck sighed, trying to inhale a bit of air, but it was polluted with cedar and sandalwood. "we'll see."

the alpha hummed, pulling away slowly and ruffling his blonde hair. "deal."

donghyuck exhaled a sigh of relief and quickly ran to a window and opened it. "fuck!"

"it's over," mark groaned and clapped thankfully. "god that was looking dodgy for a minute there."

"you barely came up with a plausible reason," renjun pestered. "not all of them are so lenient. and what idiot uses their own pheromones against a horny alpha?"

"yeah, word of advice," jeno agreed, "don't use those next time. i have exercised enough self restraint today to earn an award. alpha of the year."

"gold star," jaemin sent him a finger heart. jeno caught it and kissed the imaginary gift.

"i had no idea what to do," hyuck breathed in the summer breeze and fanned his face. "no more tests like that. i'm literally hard now, thanks so much."

"i can help—" jisung offered but renjun clapped his hands to order more attention.

"you passed those. i'll give you that. what do you want to be examined for next? bearing in mind, i'm letting you and chenle off until tomorrow for fighting."

the blonde omega wanted to scoff at such little time to prepare, but he'd done well enough so far that he was on a victory high. "history and gang lore and all that. something i can sit down for."

"have you studied?" jaemin quirked his brow and looked uncertain.

"a little. like somewhat." donghyuck thought for a moment and shook his head. "no, not really." the beta cupped his face in his hands and made a high, whiney cry-like noise.

"hey, hey, i'm nearly finished the book!"

"nearly," the elder fake-sobbed.

"before we do this," donghyuck quickly added, fanning his face now with the wooden fan he'd dropped off by the chairs, "can i like...take a bathroom break?"

"and leave us out of the fun?" chenle gasped. "absolutely not. just come here, we'll help."

"unbelievable," renjun pinched the bridge of his nose.

"none for you then," hyuck poked out his tongue and wandered over to pull jeno towards the group with him.

the raven-haired boy's eyes narrowed and he pouted adorably. "you're so unserious! im genuinely trying to protect you and you can barely concentrate for more than a minute."

donghyuck stopped in his tracks, turning around to face him properly now and tilting his chin up challengingly. "that's right, i'm not serious. i've been serious and miserable my whole life and finally something interesting happens and you want me to be scared again? renjun, we're omegas. we will always be scared. we'll always fear for our wellbeing, for our lives. but i don't care anymore. i trust you. i trust everyone. if i have to have one more sleepless night wondering what will happen tomorrow, i'll go mad."

the elder of the two gritted his teeth.

hyuck continued. "hey, if you've got my back, i've got yours." his shoulders relaxed and he finally let go of some of the pent up anger he'd been harbouring towards him. "you're the only omega i have," he added, "and i'm yours too. so we can both have fun, right? we've got someone watching our backs."

renjun breathed out slowly through his nose, releasing his will to fight him any more than this. hearing things like that just made him want to protect him more, and keep him from those who could possibly ruin him. the smile they'd miraculously brought to his face was still too easy to destroy, and his body was so fragile. he would know, for his own had been taken from him in the worst possible way. "i don't want you to go there."

"and that's fine. i'll just have to pass all these exams and you can tell me all about why it's a bad idea." he thought for a moment, a smile creeping across his face. "if i'm so unserious," he stretched out his arms, "then make me serious."

"lee donghyuck," the elder snarled, walking over in two strides and pulling him close by his collar, "at least think before you speak."

oh, he did though. not long and hard, but he definitely thought a little.

he leaned forward and captured renjun's lips in a hard kiss, eating up all the words the shorter boy kept trying to say and engulfing him in a tight hug. he really did smell like cherry and vanilla, making him feel calmer, and more lenient.

jeno strolled to them quietly and planted a kiss to hyuck's forehead, causing the omega to break away momentarily. "i propose a temporary truce," the blonde chuckled, ignoring the weak, irritated fists renjun hammered against his chest in his embrace. "i quite literally don't know how much longer i can pretend i'm fine."

"say less," mark rubbed his hands together and was followed by the rest as they all crowded around donghyuck and renjun.

"don't kiss me like that when i'm angry," renjun whispered to the other boy while the others all talked loudly amongst themselves about plans and the best positions on the harder floor. "it makes me weak."

"i already said i would be there to hold you when you're weak," donghyuck responded kissed him once more, deeper, needier. "you don't need to keep doing it all on your own. we're the same, you and i. and at the end of the day, when everyone else betrays us and the world stops spinning, we'll still be the same."

renjun swallowed the lump in his throat, unable to answer and look at his face. he wasn't even sure what it was he was feeling. "you're the worst person i've ever met. you've ruined everything. you've ruined me."

"you were already ruined when i found you," he scoffed and pushed his forehead with his finger playfully. "what you're experiencing right now is being fixed. say thank you."

"never."

"i'll get it out of you one day."

➳༻❀✿❀༺➳

...to be continued

double update 👀