ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

matthew feels like he's high.

he smells the scent of brown sugar enveloping his whole body. it was a scent that shouldn't have been there. he let out a soft groan, rubbing the back of his head. had he drank last night? he couldn't recall what had happened at all. it was strange how jiwoong's scent was filling his whole room. and why was the bed so warm? why was there a feeling of someone's limbs all over him and weighing him down?

the omega's eyes shot open, quickly getting up and pushing the supposed stranger off of him. that stirred the alpha up from his sleep who let out a groan when his body rolled off the bed when matthew had pushed him off. the omega let out a yelp, covering his mouth when he had realized what he had done and who it was.

"j-jiwoon hyung?," matthew's jaw fell as he scrambled over to look over the other side of the bed where jiwoong was busy rubbing his aching butt, "what're you doing here?"

"good morning to you too," jiwoong grumbled, letting out a snort as he got himself up. matthew's cheeks flushed when he realized that the older was wearing only his boxers, making him look down at his own self to realize that he had somehow gotten himself into his pajamas.

oh right. he went drinking last night. he almost got raped. jiwoong saved him. he kissed jiwoong again. he cried. he got mad at the alpha. wait—

jiwoong found out he was an omega?

he had just realized he hadn't seen jiwoong ever since his heat. why wasn't jiwoong going feral over it? why wasn't he interrogating him and getting mad over the fact that he was hiding his secondary gender the whole time to the older?

"you were drunk last night," jiwoong spoke up, rubbing the back of his head to straighten out his hair, "and i wasn't going to let you go home alone in," jiwoong pointed at the skirt that he was wearing last night that was sitting on top of his pile of folded clothes, "that."

the younger bit his bottom lip, pulling the blanket over him. he wished he could dig a hole and burry himself inside of it. he cleared his throat, in hopes of praying that he would be able to change the conversation with whatever he said next.

"did . . did anything else happen?," matthew mumbled, though loud enough for the alpha who had sat back down on the bed next to him to hear, "why aren't you wearing anything?"

jiwoong smirked, turning his head to look at the omega who was clueless, "why? did you expect me to use you again and then leave you? i'm not that much of an asshole."

"that's what you always do anyways."

jiwoong's smile faltered, gaze wavering down as he realized how hurt the omega sounded. he felt a painful stab against his heart as he got up from the bed and headed over to where he had put his clothes last night. thankfully matthew's place had a washing and drying machine that he could use.

"you threw up all over me," jiwoong said, glancing back at the omega whose expression seemed to have softened after hearing that, "did you really think that drinking without eating beforehand was a good idea?"

matthew rolled his eyes, pushing the covers off of him to start to get off the bed, "i was just having fun. you're always in my business when you don't need to be," he was heading towards the door until the alpha quickly got up and grabbed him by the wrist, pinning him against the door.

"you're telling me that having a random alpha touching you and making you uncomfortable was fun?," jiwoong raised an eyebrow, lowering his head down to meet the omega who was refusing to look at him, "he made you uncomfortable, chu. he could've raped you—"

matthew grabbed at the older's hand that was gripping his wrist tightly and yanked it off. he massaged his wrist, glaring up at the older who was still towering over him, "and? so what if he did?," matthew wanted to swallow his words. instead, he wanted to thank the older for coming and saving him if anything.

"is that so?," jiwoong chuckled, lifting up matthew's chin so that he would look at him, though the younger's eyes were still looking down at his arms. regardless, matthew had probably forgotten that his scent was able to to basically tell the alpha how he was feeling. jiwoong didn't smell a hint of despite in the younger's words anyways, "you're really bad at lying, matthew."

the omega let out a huff, cheeks flushing as he swatted the older's hand away. he was quick to slip away from the older and open the door behind him to head to the bathroom and stop his racing heart. he slammed the door behind him, leaning against it and slowly sliding down until he was sitting on the floor of the bathroom with his hand over his beating heart. how could jiwoong just easily read him like that?

but he knew he shouldn't be falling for jiwoong's charms. he wasn't supposed to like the alpha. he swore that he wouldn't associate with the older any more, yet the older kept on butting into his problems and coming into his life. as much as he hated it, he couldn't help but be intrigued about why the alpha was doing all of this.

he thought that jiwoong had put on his clothes and left when he finished washing up in the bathroom, but instead was met with the smell of pancakes. it hit him right in the nose, blending in with jiwoong's brown sugar scent as he headed towards the kitchen to see if it was actually jiwoong who was cooking all of this.

jiwoong, who had just poured the last of the batter into the pan, looked up at him and smiled, "come eat."

matthew raised an eyebrow but couldn't help but be intrigued. he slowly walked over and peaked his head from behind the older to see that the alpha was actually making pancakes. the cold alpha who looked like he wouldn't set foot in the kitchen ever in his life, was making him pancakes? he couldn't help but let out a soft snort.

"whats so funny?," jiwoong chuckled, dipping his finger in the raw batter and smearing matthew's nose with it, making the younger yelp. the older let out a low chuckle turning back to tend to the pancake that almost burnt on one side and quickly flipping it over while the omega beside him was blushing furiously.

"not funny," matthew grumbled, wiping his nose with the back of his hand and heading over the sink to wash the batter off. he couldn't put his finger on it. why was jiwoong acting all kind and friendly? he must be dreaming.

jiwoong smiled to himself, quickly wiping it off when he realized what he had done. he was smiling. smiling at the boy he swore he wouldn't fall in love with. he slipped the pancake off the pan and onto the plate, then making matthew a plate of his own. he cut up strawberries he found in matthew's fridge earlier and drizzled maple syrup that he found in the boy's pantry.

to say matthew inhaled the plate down was a given. he had no idea pancakes could taste that good. maybe it was because he felt so hungover that warm, homemade food that reminded him of home back in canada made him feel comfort. jiwoong watched the boy, chuckling from time to time when he heard the boy let out a moan in content at how good it was.

"you like it?"

matthew nodded, wiping his lips with the napkin as he dropped his fork on the now empty plate, "i didn't know you could cook, hyung."

"there's a lot of things you don't know about me," jiwoong shrugged, cutting his pancake and stabbing with his fork. he brought it up in front of the canadian to feed him, "open."

matthew raised an eyebrow, shaking his head as he softly pushed the boy's hand away, "y-you eat it, hyung. i'm already full."

"i said open," jiwoong raised the fork higher to matthew's lips. the omega couldn't help but let out a sigh, opening his mouth and letting the alpha feed him anyways. jiwoong's lips curved into a smile as he saw the boy unwillingly, yet willingly, eat the rest of his food as he fed it to him slowly.

if matthew gains weight, he'd blame it on jiwoong.

the rest of his morning felt unreal. he was frantically texting ricky and hanbin, telling him what jiwoong had done for him and how the alpha was still here and hadn't left yet. he was basically cleaning matthew's house as the omega lounged around, eyes following the older's every movement. he wondered why the older didn't question him about being an omega. how was jiwoong so calm?

and of course he had to jinx it. just as he thought jiwoong was going to leave when he had picked up his helmet from the table in front of him, the older had stopped in his tracks and turned around on his feels to face matthew who had looked up at him from the couch. he swore his heart skipped a beat when he felt the older lean down, hand on the back of the couch as he leaned towards the younger.

"j-jiwoon hyung," matthew gulped, feeling the older get closer and closer as he turned his head away to avoid the older's gaze on him. jiwoong's scent was telling him that something was up. he didn't even need to look at the older to know that there was tension between them, "are you leaving now?"

the alpha his helmet down on the empty spot beside matthew, using his, now, free hand to grab matthew's chin softly and turn his head so that the younger was facing him now, "why are you avoiding me, huh?," jiwoong chuckled, "is there something you want to tell me?"

"not at all," matthew cleared his throat, wrapping his hand around jiwoong's wrist to push it away but to no avail. he glared at the older who had an annoyingly teasing look on his face, "what?"

"so were you ever going to tell me that you were an omega?"

matthew's eyes widened, then softened as he let out a breath and started to get up, "you weren't meant to find out—"

jiwoong was quick to grab the younger by the waist and throw him back onto the couch, making the omega yelp in surprise and puzzled at the older's doings. jiwoong pinned the boy's arms down on each side of his head, making sure that the boy wouldn't run anywhere until he got an answer.

"j-jiwoong! let me go!," matthew's cheeks burned red in embarrassment when he realized he couldn't free his arms from jiwoong's grip. he was an omega now, and jiwoong was probably laughing at how he was struggling like a fish out of water to get out of his grasp, "so what if i was an omega? you don't have to meet me anymore!"

"is that so?," jiwoong raised an eyebrow, "don't you like me? if you didn't like me then why would you let me do all of these things to you?"

matthew was caught off guard, eyes wavering nervously as he felt his whole body heat up by the mere question that jiwoong had asked, "b-because . . . . .," he bit his bottom lip, trying to figure out a good excuse to make up, but to no avail. he was flustered at how jiwoong could read him so easily. what had he said when he was drunk?

jiwoong chuckled, loosening his grip on matthew's wrist and bringing his free hand down to caress the boy's cheek softly, "so, are you sure you don't want me to see you?"

matthew felt his heart beat against his chest, the sound filling his ears as every little touch the jiwoong did sent a tingly feeling down his spine. he could feel his own scent spike, turning sweet and creamy as he adored having all of jiwoong's attention onto him. that was until he realized what he had been doing.

"don't touch me," matthew slapped jiwoong's hand away, suddenly changing his demeanor and making jiwoong frown. the omega got up, pushing jiwoong off of him and walking off. he expected jiwoong to grab his hand and pull him back, but a sense of disappointment washed over him when the alpha remained where he was. he stopped in his tracks, turning his head to the side, enough to see the alpha in his peripheral, "don't— don't see me again either."

the words felt heavy coming out of his mouth, yet the alpha obliged anyways. he knew it wasn't good for him to be associating himself with jiwoong even though he wanted him. jiwoong would never feel the same back.

or so he thought.

jiwoong had been riding his bike around everywhere ever since he left matthew's place. it was reaching midnight and he had been making laps on the highway, letting his head take him anywhere. yet, his mind was still filled with thoughts of matthew, wondering where he went wrong. the speed didn't matter as long as his head wasn't thinking about how fast he was going or where he was going.

that was until he was starting to get back to his condo he shared with gyuvin and hao where his bike had started to run low on gas, forcing him to pull over and fill up his tank again. he let out a sigh, heading back home much to his distaste. he was greeted by gyuvin who was lounging on the couch when he had gotten home, busy facetiming ricky who appeared to have been making something.

"jiwoong," gyuvin's head popped up from the couch as he heard the front door open and the older alpha head in with his helmet resting on his hip, "you're home late. what happened after last night?"

jiwoong shrugged, putting down his helmet next to gyuvin's and hao's and slipping his shoes off, "nothing much. i only took matthew home after that asshole tried to rape him."

gyuvin's eyes widened, quickly muting himself on facetime and putting his phone down to walk over to jiwoong, "keeho did that?"

"keeho?," jiwoong scoffed, heading over to the kitchen to get himself a cup of water, "is that what that asshole's name was?"

"he didn't seem like someone who would do that," gyuvin frowned, tapping his finger on his chin as he leaned onto the table beside jiwoong, "was it bad?"

jiwoong nodded, chugging down a cup of water and letting out a long sigh afterward, "matthew was a mess. thank god i found him in time before that alpha could do anything to him," he rubbed his temples to calm himself down before he could remember what had happened last night again and get himself all worked up, "fuck, gyuvin, i don't know what to do."

"what do you mean?," gyuvin asked, looking at the distressed alpha worryingly. he could smell the alpha's scent start to spike, and he's never smelled jiwoong that way unless he was stressed about school, his family, or— matthew.

hao seemed to have noticed the strong scent coming from the kitchen and headed out to see the two alphas next to each other, "what's going on? is your rut coming, jiwoong?"

"i don't think so," jiwoong shook his head, "fuck, hao, gyuvin, i don't know what to do. i don't know why i'm suddenly in all of matthew's business. why am i always finding myself caring about how he feels and caring about who talks to him? fuck, he's an omega, too," jiwoong let out a sigh, dropping his head as he leaned his back against the edge of the table, hugging his body with his arms.

he didn't understand why he was so bothered when he shouldn't have been. matthew was confusing him as well. he couldn't tell if the boy really did like him or not. what if the omega truly hated him and was only being nice because gyuvin and hao were his best friends' boyfriends? matthew should've hated him for using him completely and leaving him, and having the audacity to come back into his life.

the alpha didn't know how to act around matthew. he should've left him alone after cutting ties with him and using him for his rut. he should've never came back after finding out that he was an omega. but matthew was just so endearing that he couldn't help but come back.

"you're in love."

jiwoong's head shot up to look at hao who was standing in front of him with his arms crossed, "love?"

"you finally realized it, didn't you?," gyuvin smirked, smiling in triumph as he nudged the alpha's shoulder with his own, "he's got you feeling things right? so what if he's an omega?"

"i'm scared," jiwoong admitted, running a hand through his hair and letting the locks untangle itself, "seobin—"

"seobin is seobin," hao shook his head, turning around to grab a cup from the cupboard and fill it up with water from the fridge, "matthew is matthew. just 'cause he's an omega doesn't mean he'll break your heart and trust like seobin did. is that what's holding you back this whole time?"

jiwoong pressed his lips into a line, fiddling with the drawstrings of his hoodie. he didn't want to admit that that was the reason why he wasn't interested in being a relationship with matthew in the first place. matthew truly did intrigue him, and hell, was he down bad for him.

"seobin won't leave me alone either," jiwoong grumbled, remembering when he had just kissed seobin a week ago before the party and matthew had probably seen it. he was just so worked up and angry, and he was sure the omega was hurt seeing all of that, "i've hurt matthew so much i don't know where to begin."

"maybe start by apologizing to him," hao shurgged as he walked off to his room with his cup of water, "and courting him properly this time?"

"courting?," gyuvin giggled, skipping back to the couch to grab his phone, "i haven't heard that word in a while. jiwoong hyung must really like him then," he skipped off to his room, running away from the possibility of jiwoong smacking his ass after hearing that. surprisingly, the oldest alpha didn't.

instead, he stood there blushing furiously and trying to deny every single thought of him actually falling in love with matthew.

"we are not going to another bar ever," hanbin shook his head as matthew finished his story about what had happened the other day at the bar. turns out he had told his friends he needed to tell them something important and the only time all three of them were free was during school where they were studying at the library.

"hyung, its fine," matthew reassured, shaking his head as he tapped his apple pencil against his hand, "it was just a big shock to me. and jiwoong was there to save me," he pressed his lips into a line, "as always."

ricky frowned, hugging matthew's arm from beside him, "we shouldn't have dressed you up that way. i'm sorry, chu."

matthew shook his head, smiling reassuringly, "i like the outfit. it was my fault for talking to the wrong alpha. i should've known that he was going to trick me and lead me to the bathroom. i was too drunk to realize," he let out a sigh as he patted ricky's blonde hair softly.

"jiwoong took you home too?," hanbin asked, looking up from the paper that he was annotating, "did anything happen? i swear if anything happened—"

matthew shook his head once more, "of course nothing happened! i just woke up and he was there next to me but he didn't do anything. and— and he left during the afternoon."

the omega didn't know why he was stuttering all over the place. surely, he should've just told his friends what really had happened and how jiwoong was interrogating him and making him all flustered right before he was leaving. he couldn't bring it up to tell them because he was confused. had he really said all of that when he was drunk? he wonders how much jiwoong had known.

hanbin and ricky looked at each other, wondering why their canadian friend was so flustered and stuttering all over the place.

"you sure he didn't do anything, chu?," hanbin raised an eyebrow as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand, "if he hurt you, then you can tell me and we'll report it."

"he wouldn't hurt you," ricky shook his head, rubbing his temple, "right?"

the boy nodded, "jiwoong would never hurt me. he just confuses me and makes me question why i even like him to begin with," matthew groaned, holding his head in his hands as he pulled at his locks of hair, "why did i even have to have a crush on him? it could've been anyone else!"

"he's not that bad," ricky muttered to himself, recalling what gyuvin had told him in their facetime a day or two ago. the chinese was the only one who really knew that jiwoong was starting to fall in love with matthew, and all he could do was watch and wait to see what the alpha would do. surely gyuvin and hao would help him.

matthew was sure jiwoong was going to leave him alone. hell, he hasn't seen the alpha anywhere on campus. had the alpha even been on campus? why was he suddenly thinking of the older now? turns out, matthew couldn't even take jiwoong off of his head ever since what had happened at his apartment.

he couldn't help but be bratty whenever he was around jiwoong. he didn't want the alpha to just think he was just a regular omega who was easy to pin after. he didn't even want to fit into the regular omega stereotypes even though his body and his hormones were constantly changing. he felt himself grow more fat in certain places compared to when he had been going to the gym and was on his medication.

he decided he would go to the gym after studying.

after bidding his friends goodbye and heading out of the library, he walked down the halls. he put on his headphones, muting the world around him and drowning himself in his thoughts of jiwoong and the music he was listening to. he didn't expect to find jiwoong leaning against his bike on the sidewalk in front of the school entrance. matthew stopped in his tracks, looking up from his phone. he didn't even need to look up to realize that the alpha was there. he could practically smell the alpha.

jiwoong looked attractive. at least that was what matthew and all the girls passing by him thought. the omega bit his bottom lip, shaking his head as he started to walk away in the direction of the bus stop. jiwoong was taken aback, wondering why the omega was walking away when he was right in front of him, so he quickly chased after the omega, grabbing his wrist and turning him around.

"jiwoon hyung," matthew mumbled, feeling his heart almost beat out of his chest as he looked at the hand around his wrist, "what're you doing?"

jiwoong was surprised at himself, not knowing why he had even initiated a move on the younger. it was as if his body was acting on its own, moving wherever it was taking him before he could even think about moving. he quickly let go of the younger's wrist, afraid that he would hurt or make the omega uncomfortable again, and fiddled with his fingers awkwardly.

matthew raised an eyebrow, not knowing what the alpha was standing in front of him without saying anything and looking nervous, "is something wrong? do you need to tell me—"

"let's go on a ride."

"what?," matthew's jaw would've dropped to the ground if he weren't composed and holding back from being affected by the older's sayings. was he hearing things? why is the alpha in front of him suddenly asking to go on a ride?

jiwoong rubbed the back of his nape, cheeks turning the faintest tint of pink as he looked away, "be my backpack," he then brought the hand that had been behind his back in front of the younger, presenting the bouquet of flowers that he took way too much time picking out, "can i take you out?"

matthew became so flustered, looking around as the people passing by stopped to look at him to see what he would say. he put his hands up in front of him, almost saying as if he didn't want to accept the flowers and jiwoong's sudden confession, but part of him wanted to accept it. he let out a soft sigh, a small smile finally appearing on his face as he gathered his thoughts.

"i don't know," matthew shrugged playfully as he took a step forward to the alpha, "can you take me out? there's a lot of guys that want to take me out. why should i go out with you, hm?" matthew wanted to give jiwoong a taste of his own medicine. he wanted the older to see how much he's hurt him. but part of matthew was weak against the alpha, especially the way that jiwoong looked so disappointed and confused in front of him.

jiwoong swallowed his saliva thickly, feeling his ego drop as the omega in front of him became more confident and started to tease him. he bit his bottom lip, doing his best to compose himself and not go off like his inner alpha was telling him to. matthew let out a soft giggle when he smelled the faint change in jiwoong's brown sugar scent. the scent of burnt sugar filled his nostrils for a split second, but quickly changed as jiwoong let out a soft breath and ran a hand through his hair.

"matthew—"

"i'm sick, jiwoong. i don't want to be hurt by you anymore. you confuse me," matthew smiled sadly at the older whose hand holding the bouquet had dropped to his side, "i told you to not see me again. why do you keep coming back? can't you find a new fuck buddy—"

"i'm sorry," jiwoong blurted out, watching as the younger looked up at him with a confused expression, "i wanted to apologize," he looked at the bouquet that was in his hands, "that's why i was here."

matthew felt his world freeze. he would've never expected the older to apologize to him, yet alone an alpha apologizing to him. he must be dreaming.

"i want to take you out," jiwoong felt the words get stuck in the back of his throat, but he knew that if he didn't say what he wanted to say then he would never have the courage to do it again, "properly."

they've started to form a crowd around them, yet matthew felt like it was only him and jiwoong in the middle of the sidewalk. he knew he shouldn't accept jiwoong's apology. it would be a gamble. he could get hurt again. he could end up heartbroken in tears again. hanbin would never forgive jiwoong if that had ever happened. but why does he want to forgive the alpha? why did the alpha sound so sincere? he couldn't smell any scent of malicious intent behind jiwoong's words.

he grabbed at jiwoong's hand and took the bouquet of flowers out of his hand, surprising the alpha and making him lift his head up. the omega walked past the older, making the alpha turn around and watch as the canadian walked away, "where— where are you going?"

"don't you want to take me out?," matthew turned around, looking at the alpha whose eyes suddenly brightened after hearing that, "what're you waiting for?"

to say jiwoong erupted into a big smile and was trying so hard to hide it was a given. he quickly jogged over to catch up to the omega, helping him into the bike and even putting on his helmet for him. he turned the key, the sound of the bike turning on as he turned around and looked at matthew who had an arm wrapped around his waist.

"ready?"

matthew looked at the alpha through his visor, letting out a soft sigh as he nodded. he sure hoped he was ready. was giving jiwoong a second chance the right choice? guess his plans to go to the gym were cancelled now.

ᰔᩚ 𝓼𝓮𝓾𝓷𝓺𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓼
𝓹𝓾𝓫𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓭: 03/21/2024 ᰔᩚ