Rating/Warning : none

Sooo, it's been a long time. Thank you for waiting. A short update for today. I have one more for tomorrow. Enjoy.

On the day of his graduation, Kim Kai had finally reverted back to his real name. The entire school pretended not to notice the violent twitch the Headmistress made when the MC called out ‘Kim Jongin’. Jongin walked to the stage, received his diploma, shook hand with the Headmistress and teachers and walked off the stage to return to his seat.

He had two weeks of down time, to just unwound, relaxed and enjoyed some free time. Then he returned to his books and studying in the public library to prepare for the college entrance test. Sehun was studying along with him and even if the purebred Alpha wasn’t exactly the diligent type, he put forth his best effort.

Sehun really wanted to do well on the entrance test because he wanted to go to the same university as his hyungs. It happened to be the same university Jongin was aiming for too. Jongin had a mixed feeling about it. On the one hand, he was excited to spend his college life with his best friend; on the other hand, he could really live without Sehun calling him ‘Sleepy Nini’ in public. In the end, they both passed the test and they celebrated by going out to have chicken and bubble tea.

Jongin missed the first day of Uni. He was too excited the night before and ended up having trouble falling asleep. He finally fell into slumber somewhere around 3 in the morning. His mother also forgot about the date, thinking that he was due to attend his class on the following week. When Jongin finally roused from sleep, it was because his mother pounded on his door, waking him up for lunch.

Jongin bolted up and checked his phone, only to find 15 missed calls and 23 new texts from Sehun. He cursed himself for putting his phone on vibrate while he scrambled to get ready. He showered and got dressed on record time. His mother was looking at him strangely when he ran down the stairs and almost fell on the middle of the staircase in his hurry.

“Jongin?” His mother called out when Jongin bypassed the dining room and went straight to the foyer.

“I’m late Eomma! This is my first day!” Jongin answered frantically as he hastily put on his shoe.

His mother glanced at the clock and saw how late it was. Just then, Jongin’s stomach grumbled loudly.

Both mother and son stared at each other and Jongin’s mother sighed.

“Stay home for today, I’ll take you to campus tomorrow. Now come eat lunch.”

Jongin’s shoulders slumped but he took off his shoe and followed his mother to the dining room. He reminded himself to call Sehun back after lunch. He tried not to feel too bad about it. It wasn’t like anything much happened on the first day anyway.

*****

On the second day of Uni, Jongin’s mother was all prepared. She woke Jongin up in time and made sure he showered, dressed and ate breakfast before she drove him to the campus. She offered to accompany him to the administration office but Jongin vehemently refused. He was a college student now for crying out loud.

Sehun was already waiting for him near the gate, and the purebred Alpha had a eating grin on his usually stoic face.

“You overslept on your first day and you expected me to stop calling you Sleepy Nini? Not gonna happened anytime soon brother.” The pale boy chirped while slinging an arm around the tan boy.

Jongin groaned and shrugged Sehun’s arm off. “Not funny Hunnie.” He retorted.

Sehun cackled. “If you think calling me Hunnie is going to embarrass me, you’re dead wrong. In fact, I like it.” He hooked his hand around Jongin’s elbow and walked with their sides pressed together.

Jongin sniffed the air and noticed several new scents enveloping Sehun. “Whoa, you’re scented.” He exclaimed.

Sehun grinned. “My hyungs. They smell good right?”

Jongin scoffed. Sehun was a purebred Alpha alright because to Jongin, the scents only screamed danger. He sniffed some more and his brows rose up in surprise. Underneath the layers of strong aggressive scents, there was a sweet smell, like sugar floss and fresh strawberry and first day of spring. Jongin leaned closer to Sehun’s face and the sweet smell was strongest around his cheeks.

“Your face smells so sweet.” Jongin remarked when he drew away.

Sehun smiled. “That’s Kyungie hyung’s smell.”

Jongin knew all about Sehun’s two hyungs. The trio was famous on their old high school and Jongin heard plenty of stories about the spitfire Omega. Jongin hadn’t expected the Omega to smell this wonderful. He was about to lean in for more of the addictive smell, but they had reached the administration office.

“I have first period free so I’ll wait for you out here okay.” Sehun said as Jongin knocked on the door.

“Okay, thanks Hunnie. You’re the best.” Jongin bump his fist against Sehun’s shoulder and entered the office.

Inside, Jongin was welcomed by a middle aged receptionist. He introduced himself and sheepishly explained that he missed first day of school. The receptionist was nice; she smiled and looked up Jongin’s name on her computer. She printed out Jongin’s schedule and his student ID card. He bowed his head and thanked her before making his way out. Sehun who waited for him was leaning against the wall near the door; his attention was fully riveted on his phone.

“Come on Sehun.” Jongin called him.

Sehun looked up from his phone and placed it inside his pocket as he fell in step beside Jongin.

“Let me see your schedule.” He said.

Jongin gave him the piece of paper and Sehun read it.

“Ah, we have almost the same class. You’re free too this period and we have the same class next period. Come on, I’ll show you around.”

*****

Not long after Jongin left, the door to the administration office was opened once again. The receptionist looked up only to come face to face with a tall boy with tan skin and dark circle under his piercing black eyes. They stared at each other inquiringly before someone pushed the tall boy from behind.

“Move Zitao! You’re blocking the way.”

Zitao quickly stepped inside followed by two other boys, although one was so pretty, the receptionist almost mistook him for a girl. But the Adam’s apple on the pretty boy’s neck confirmed that he was 100% boy. The last one to enter was a dopey looking boy with a permanent smile on his face. If the suddenly wary receptionist wasn’t under the suspicion that the last boy was high, she would’ve found the dimpled smile to be nice.

The receptionist unconsciously hunched in on herself when all three boys crowded the counter. Individually, they didn’t seem like much, but together, they somehow became menacing. Then the pretty boy smiled angelically and greeted her.

“Hello Ma’am. We’re the transfer students from China, here for the exchange program. My name is Xi Luhan, and these are my friends, Huang Zitao and Zhang Yixing.”

The receptionist breathed a relieved sigh and smiled at the newcomers. She slipped back into professionalism and her fingers danced on the keyboard. She sorted everything out and within 30 minutes, the three Chinese students were officially enrolled. They got their schedules, ID cards and an appointment with the Dean.

****

Between the three Chinese, Luhan was the one with the most fluent Korean, so he became the unofficial spokesperson. Yixing and Zitao could speak Korean as well, but Yixing had an accent while Zitao always messed up his words. It also happened that Luhan was also the oldest of the Betas bunch.

Luhan and Yixing had known each other since childhood. Their fathers worked in the same company and their mothers played mahjong together. They only met ZItao during middle school, but the two were quick to accept the younger boy into their fold. It was inevitable, really, since Zitao helped Luhan when the pretty boy got cornered by some punks. Luhan was no weakling, but 8 against 1 was a far cry from fair.

Luhan was prepared to be beaten within an inch of his life, he had said his prayer, but then Zitao came down on those punks in a flurry of kicks, punches and elbow jabs. Afterward, Zitao was the last man standing with Luhan crouching beside him. The other punks were scattered around, unconscious. Zitao was kind enough to half carried Luhan to the nearest clinic (which miraculously was owned by Yixing’s mother). Yixing was there at the time and the rest was history.

*****

Despite their different personalities, Luhan, Yixing and Zitao clicked like long lost brothers. All three were Betas and they never felt the urge to form a pack, but the bond between them was only a shade away. If only one of them was an Alpha.

Judging from appearance, Luhan looked like a delicate Omega, with his pretty (but manly, he insisted) face and soft curly hair, but in reality, Luhan was a tough Beta. The opposite was Zitao. At a glance, Zitao looked like a menacing Alpha, with sharp eyes, tall body and dark eye bags that could give a panda (or raccoon) a run for its money. But when Zitao spoke, the illusion broke and reality presented itself. Zitao had a prepubescent teenage girl voice (an exaggeration, but not far from the truth) and his tendency to whine didn’t help his image any. Zitao was also shy to boot, clingy and a big cry baby. His only redeeming factor in Luhan’s eyes was his fatal martial art skills

But the dark horse of the Betas bunch was Yixing. No one could really tell what was going on inside his head. Most of the time, he had a permanent dopey smile on his serene face. Most people mistook him for a stoner because of it. What they didn’t know was behind the stoned face, lied a cunning mind and observant eyes.

If Luhan was the manly pretty boy and Zitao was the deadly shy panda, then Yixing was the hidden strategist/mastermind. Yixing’s sharp mind was unseen by public, but when he was behind closed door, his true ingenuity shone bright. Luhan and Zitao have had firsthand experience of Yixing’s scheming and they learned their lessons. Two lessons to be exact.

1. Never bet against Yixing.
2. Always do as Yixing said.

Luhan remembered that one time they all went to a bar to celebrate Zitao’s coming of age. They walked in with only enough money to buy two rounds of drink. They walked out several thousand RMB richer with new expensive watches adorning their hands. And all it took was a (intentional) missed shot from Yixing on the pool table.

On second thought, strategist/mastermind wasn’t quite fitting for Yixing. A hustler was more like it. (And they only made it out alive from the bar because of Zitao and his wushu prowess)

Zitao shuddered as he thought about Yixing’s upcoming nefarious plans while Luhan was secretly excited to see what kind of adventures awaited them in Korea.