"So... how was your night out, Stupid Omega?" Tiffany inquired the next morning. The girls were gathered for breakfast, and a subtle dryness in Tiffany's tone prompted furrowed brows from Sunny and Yoona. Taeyeon, however, seemed oblivious to it.

"It was good. I met a dear friend of mine," Taeyeon replied casually.

"Just a friend?" Tiffany asked, not entirely approving of this mysterious friend.

Taeyeon nodded. "Yeah, just a friend. Why?"

"Just curious," Tiffany replied, her gaze lowered. "You're an omega after all." Taeyeon blinked. "So, I think you should be careful when going out at night."

"You don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself," Taeyeon said with a cheeky smile, earning a teeth-gritting reaction from Tiffany.

"Anyway, you're not going to ask how my night was?" Tiffany redirected the conversation.

"I'm not interested," Taeyeon stated while spreading butter on her toast. Tiffany felt a surge of frustration.

"You're not?"

"Why should I? It's your life. You're free to do whatever you want without people sticking their noses into it," Taeyeon said, taking a nonchalant bite of her toast.

Tiffany lowered her eyes, feeling her breath grow heavier. Why did this girl have such an effect on her?

"Do not care about others' opinions about you or what you do. You'll end up just limiting yourself or, even worse, bringing yourself down. That's never good," Taeyeon said, sipping her coffee. Tiffany blinked, sensing her heart beating faster.

"In the end, doing what you like and want is what matters the most," Taeyeon continued, her words still failing to ease Tiffany's tension. "And I'm sure you liked what you did last night, didn't you?" Taeyeon added, not hiding the suggestive undertone, prompting chuckles from Yoona.

Tiffany remained silent because, truthfully, she didn't like what she did. Though was common in her life, last night's encounter left her feeling dirty and pathetic. Acting out of jealousy, getting involved with a near stranger—Tiffany acknowledged that it was a low point for her.

"You're really different," Tiffany remarked suddenly, her tone subdued.

"For an omega?" Taeyeon quipped, raising her brows and echoing a previous comment Tiffany had made.

"Not just different from other omegas, but from most people," Tiffany admitted honestly.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Taeyeon responded, nodding her head.

"It is," Tiffany affirmed, and a smile, revealing Taeyeon's endearing dimple, appeared. Tiffany hadn't noticed it before, but now it captivated her. "She's so ing attractive," Tiffany thought to herself. "That friend of hers is really lucky." The realization irked her, and her hands clenched into fists, her heart beating faster with anger and jealousy

"Excuse me," Tiffany abruptly spoke, standing up, aware that Taeyeon and others might notice her shifting mood. "I need to go back to my room."

~~*~~

As the days passed, Yoona's suggestion that Tiffany's alpha instincts would eventually overlook Taeyeon's presence proved entirely unfounded. On the contrary, Tiffany's instincts had become hyper-aware, not just of Taeyeon's scent but also of her mannerisms, patterns, and habits. She found herself noticing intricate details about the omega, a realization that even she found unsettling. Tiffany now knew that, despite being in charge of cooking dinner and breakfast, Taeyeon wasn't the most proficient cook, often forgetting ingredients or adding them in excess. She was aware that Taeyeon occasionally slept with socks on, even when the temperature didn't warrant it. Notably, for someone considered a homebody, Taeyeon possessed a remarkably fit and thin physique.

At work, concentration eluded her, hindering her ability to generate ideas for the fashion magazine she worked for. Still following the general advice of her friends, Tiffany tried to  avoid interactions with Taeyeon in the dorm. However, this strategy wasn’t really helping her cause, leaving Tiffany frustrated and angry. 

The next Saturday night, when Taeyeon left to meet her "friend” one more time, Tiffany succumbed to jealousy and impulsively hurled a bowl against the wall, shattering it into pieces.

"Tiffany!" Sunny intervened. "Listen to me! You've got to talk