CHAPTER ONE

Hakyeon yawned, scampering across his new bedroom and rushed down the stairs, remembering that he had to go school supply shopping with Wonshik, his ever first human friend he made when they first reached their new home. Wonshik lived next door to their apartment, and the younger boy had invited him over to go to the mall—a human shopping place, Hakyeon had learned—to go shopping for some clothes since the younger was very lonely at the time and so was Hakyeon. 

He was seemingly approachable and they soon hung out twenty-four, seven every day of the week. Of course, Hakyeon had barely been in Seoul for four days, but they were still the best of friends, as of now. Wonshik had many other friends, of course, but he had to leave them in Daegu to move to Seoul. And Hakyeon felt bad for him, especially when he felt the same way whenever he had to leave his closest pup friends behind in the pack.

So now, Hakyeon was roaming the apartment’s corridors, bumping into his siblings now and then since they had their eyes glued immensely on their phones. And since Hakyeon was still fifteen and his parents didn’t think he was old enough to have one, he lived wireless, literally. Hakyeon grabbed an apple from the countertop, bidding his mother a goodbye before he dashed out the doorway, smiling happily. 

Standing in front of Wonshik’s door, Hakyeon inhaled a deep breath, clearing his throat as if he was about to do something that was going to change the world completely. But, no. That wasn’t it. He was nervous, afraid to mess something up like he usually would with other humans that he had interacted with while he was roaming the mall’s many stores, amazed with the many things that were sold there. 

Wonshik had bought Hakyeon a snapback which was basically just a cap, but Hakyeon was completely dazed with how you can use more than one word for one object. Humans are complicated, he had decided when he got home. The younger boy also spent a lot of his money on Hakyeon and the Omega pup in return, treated the younger boy to a dinner at his house, which his mother had already agreed to. Of course, he family was completely weird, but the next day, when Hakyeon visited Wonshik at his house, he found out that his family was way more normal than Wonshik’s. The younger boy’s brother was streaming something on the television while Wonshik’s sister was spreading a pound of makeup on her face.

What baffled him was how they were doing that, at the dining table as their parents were eating. Wonshik had his arms wrapped around his girlfriend’s shoulder and pulled her close into his arms. Hakyeon sat quietly at the table, nibbling on a piece of beef while he awkwardly watched the people around him, all rowdy and noisy. 

“Oh, you’re ready to go?” Wonshik questioned after opening up the door, shocking Hakyeon, who jumped back, holding his heart with wide eyes. “Sorry about that. My parents say that I could kill someone if I wanted to. Anyway, you’re ready? The mall just opened and it’s pretty empty, I like it that way.” He chuckled aimlessly. 

“Me, too,” Hakyeon replied shortly, the foreign sounds rolling off his tongue. Wonshik nodded, his eyebrows furrowing as if he was confused with something, bewildered even. Hakyeon nervously shifted in the position he was standing, biting on his lower, plush pink lip. “Ready to go?” He asked, words stiff.

“Say, are you foreign to Korea, or something?” Wonshik questioned, pushing out the door for the Omega to exit out of. Hakyeon thanked him silently, keeping quiet until the younger felt as if it was an unanswerable question. But, he never gave up. “You don’t sound like you’re that familiar with Korean, are you?” He asked. Hakyeon stuttered as he opened and closed his mouth, trying to speak. 

“Actually, yes. I’m not that familiar with Korean.” Hakyeon replied unsurely, using his hands to express what he was trying to say. “However, my mom wanted me to visit my hometown—which is Changwon, by the way.” He laughed it off and Wonshik nodded. It seemed like an eternity before they had gotten to the mall. 

Honestly, it was completely empty and less noisy than it was a few days before when Hakyeon went with Wonshik. And truthfully, Hakyeon really did like it this way. Humans talked too much and they were always questioning him about his skin color. Honestly, what’s wrong with his skin color? What utterly confused him were the questions about his skin, as he thought about before. Hakyeon had to ask. 

“Do you know why people are asking about my skin, is it supposed to be offensive?” He questioned, voice small and quiet as Wonshik scrolled through the aisles, pulling out packets of notebooks and a few pencils. The younger boy shrugged at the Omega’s question, hesitant to answer the older’s question. “I don’t know,” he said. 

“Hakyeon, what do you want to get? I have notebooks and binders, a few pencils…” Wonshik trailed, counting the amount of things that was in the basket. “Do want something to eat? We can go to the supermarkets if you want.”

Hakyeon hummed a reply, clearing his throat awkwardly. “You know, Hakyeon.” Wonshik trailed, a voice stern, yet soft at the same time. Hakyeon perked up, and if he had ears, they would’ve been standing up straight by now. “You really need a boyfriend, Cha Hakyeon. Have you always been clingy, or is it just in your nature.” Wonshik joked, mocking the tanned boy by clinging to his slim waist, something that Hakyeon would most definitely do. And yes, it was in his nature.

Being an Omega wasn’t easy. It called for importance whenever an alpha is missing and Omegas are the ones practically giving birth, no matter what gender they were. And most of them—like Hakyeon—were wimpy because of the fact. Being clingy? It’s something Hakyeon was practically made for. However, Hakyeon refused to get a so-called boyfriend. His sister, Cha Sooyeon had already gotten a boyfriend and the worst thing about the guy was that he was a completely useless person. 

“A boyfriend? No, thank you.” Hakyeon replied, a disgusted expression painted on his face. He wasn’t going to grab out some guy who couldn’t even earn a good grade on his report card. After all, Hakyeon had some high-quality personal preferences for someone so young. “My sister’s boyfriend is already a complete jerk to me.” Hakyeon sneered to no one in general, rolling his eyes. 

“You can’t just base people off of him!” Wonshik exclaimed, ruffling the older’s hair. “Look at me, I’m a perfect boyfriend, aren’t I?” He suggested, using his hand to gesture towards himself. The older boy scoffed, rolling his eyes in a diva-ish way before swatting the younger’s hand away from his shoulders. 

“Yeah, you’re girlfriend is very lucky,” He replied sarcastically. “Having a boyfriend who only showers for seven seconds every day is something everyone wants, huh.” He sighed, slumping his shoulders. Wonshik glared at the blue-haired boy, pushing the said male down onto a small bench nearby. 

Hakyeon stayed sitting silently, watching the two-legged humans scramble around with shopping bags dangling by their sides. He felt alone, even if Wonshik was by his side, there was just something weird about the atmosphere. Maybe he felt homesick, missing the many alphas that he could’ve chosen from instead of a mere human here in Seoul. Boyfriends weren’t what he expected. 

He needed a mate, like his sister’s ex-mate who turned out to be hooked on some type of animal drug the human veterinarians, had thrown out. Now, Sooyeon was hanging around that one human, and Hakyeon couldn’t be more jealous. He felt alone and it was harder to find a mate when no one could relate to him. 

Even Kim Wonshik was already taken, and he was the weirdest odd ball Hakyeon had ever seen. However, she didn’t fit with him. She was too proper, like a rich girl. Wonshik needed someone equally as weird as him, maybe even weirder than that. But, definitely not himself. Hakyeon never wanted to date his friend, especially his very first human friend at that. Life’s hard… He sighed mentally, sighing. 

“Come on, let’s go to a nearby grocery store or something.” Wonshik declared, pulling Hakyeon up by his slim hands. The boy trailed behind Wonshik, keeping his head down in deep thought. “I’m starving,” Wonshik exclaimed, and Hakyeon felt the same way. He barely ate anything for breakfast because of the rush. 

“Can’t we just eat at the food court?” The tanned boy asked, eyes curiously wide. His voice was lazy and tired, lackadacious even. “It’s way closer, isn’t it