Starstruck

            Kyuhyun woke overheated and sweating.  Ryeowook was pressed against him, arms wrapped around him and legs entangled with his own.  As his memories from the day before came back to him, he realized that it was certainly an improvement on how he’d woken up the morning before.  Ryeowook wasn’t about to flip out on him the moment he woke up.  In fact, he could potentially go back to kissing him again and Kyuhyun had never found himself in that position before.  Yes, he tended to kiss Ryeowook on the cheek.  Sometimes, when he was feeling particularly brave and Ryeowook didn’t have a boyfriend, he’d even peck him on the lips.  But the other night, while they were drinking, was the first time he’d ever really kissed the little omega.  Kyuhyun never trusted himself not to take things too far in the past.  What a valid concern!

            But considering the consequences—that they’d slept together and were suddenly mated—he couldn’t exactly feel sorry that any of it had happened.  Ryeowook hadn’t abandoned him.  In fact, it sounded like the omega was willing to try out being mated.  Part of him was a little angry at himself for not giving over to his desires years ago.  Maybe they wouldn’t have wasted so much damn time dating other people.

            The alpha pressed his lips against his mate’s forehead as his thoughts ran away with him.  There were no emotions coming from Ryeowook.  He was sound asleep and wasn’t in the middle of a dream, apparently.  But he could feel Ryeowook’s hard member against his thigh.  It wasn’t exactly unheard of for either of them to get a little , sleeping in the same bed together.  When it came down to it, Kyuhyun was still an alpha and Ryeowook was still an omega.  They’d never slept together before the other night, but that didn’t mean the alpha was miraculously immune to the fact that his best friend was the iest omega he’d ever seen.  He’d woken up with a hard on more times than he could count and was forced to rush to the bathroom and take a cold shower, reminding himself that Ryeowook was strictly off limits. 

            Technically, he still was.  Kyuhyun had promised the little omega that he wouldn’t do anything to him unless he asked for it and he meant to keep that promise.  It still reassured him to know that the little omega got , sleeping in bed with him though.  Perhaps it wouldn’t take very long until they were in a real relationship.  Of course, he would feel a little better about it if his mate officially broke things off with Yesung first.  It irritated him that he hadn’t yet. 

            His hand came up and began to play in Ryeowook’s hair as the little omega nuzzled against his chest in his sleep. Kyuhyun suddenly felt a little drowsy again and oddly , since he’d been angrily thinking about their old K.R.Y. member, when he caught a hint of blackberry in the air. 

            The alpha held his breath immediately and quickly disentangled himself from his mate.  He threw the blankets off and rushed for the door.  Once he was outside the room, he took a couple deep breaths.  It was better, but he could still faintly smell Ryeowook’s mating pheromones in the air.  He was accidentally releasing them in his sleep?  Was that because they were newly mated?  He decided he needed to look up more details about what newly mated wolves went through, just as soon as he was a safe enough distance from his mate not to him in his sleep.  That wasn’t going to endear Ryeowook to him any.  He headed back to his room to change, not wanting to leave the apartment in a t-shirt and some sweatpants that reeked of Ryeowook’s mating pheromones, and then walked out the door. 

            There weren’t many places he could go, especially at five in the morning.  He needed to stay within a couple blocks of Ryeowook or they would both suffer.  There was a café within range, but he felt pretty sure it wasn’t open for another hour yet.  Or he could head to the upper dorm.  He’d have to make up some bull reason for going up there so early in the morning, but he had a talent for lying to his hyungs. 

            He ran up the stairs and knocked on their door.  Then he waited.  Nothing happened.  Yes, it was early.  The sun wasn’t even up yet, but usually Eunhyuk was awake until about six in the morning before he headed to bed.  When he was with Donghae, they often stayed up later, writing music.  Kyuhyun knocked again, a little louder.  This time, he heard running and Eunhyuk swung the door open. 

            “Hey!  What are you doing here?” he asked, a little breathless.

            Kyuhyun gave him a pointed look.  “I could ask you the same thing.  This isn’t your apartment.”

            “I’m always here,” he said, wiping his sweaty head with his tank top.  Even in the middle of winter, Eunhyuk barely put on much for clothes. 

            “Why are you all sweaty?”

            “I was practicing some dance moves for our new song.  I don’t like what we do in this one part and I’m trying to come up with something different.”  Eunhyuk claimed. 

            “At five in the morning?  There’s no way Leeteuk and Heechul are letting you play music at five in the morning.  Why are you lying?” Kyuhyun asked, walking into the kitchen. 

            “Quit changing the subject.  You’re the one who’s avoiding telling me the truth.  Why are you up here when you should be downstairs sleeping?” he asked, his hands on his hips.

            Kyuhyun opened the fridge, looking around for food.  “I’m avoiding Ryeowook for a little while,” he said.  It was still the truth and, since overhearing their argument yesterday, he knew his hyung would believe it. 

            “Yeah, but Ryeowook doesn’t normally get up this early!  You could have left at eleven and been safe,” Eunhyuk pointed out, sneaking his arm past Kyuhyun and grabbing a soda.  He opened it and drank down half of it. 

            The upper dorm had no decent food, just an assortment of to-go containers.  They didn’t have the advantage of having two people who liked to cook living with them.  Kyuhyun often took that for granted unless he came upstairs to visit for a stretch.  They never had anything decent to eat.  But Heechul had a carton of orange juice sitting on the top shelf.  The question being, was it worth risking his life over?

            “Unless Yesung stops by again,” Kyuhyun pointed out, taking out the orange juice.  “He usually has Friday mornings off since his mother opens the café.  And I don’t want to see him.  That’s the whole reason we’re fighting,” Kyuhyun said.   Heechul never woke this early in the morning.  He expected to be gone long before the omega got up to eat breakfast.

            “You two fought about Yesung?”

            “Well, you knew they’d gotten into a fight on Wednesday night.  Right?  And then he ditched Ryeowook at the restaurant and I had to go pick him up,” Kyuhyun explained, grabbing a glass from the cupboard.

            “Sungmin told me a little about this yesterday,” he said, nodding.

            “So, I told Ryeowook that he shouldn’t date a jerk like that.  He should find someone who treats him better.  And Ryeong got mad at me because, apparently, I’m the reason the two of them started fighting in the first place,” Kyuhyun continued, pouring his juice. 

            Eunhyuk leaned against the counter and tilted his head to the side.  In his world, it was late at night and he was trying to absorb all this without losing the alpha in conversation.  “Why are you the reason?”

            “He got mad because Ryeowook decided to make plans to have dinner with my parents and I tomorrow night and thought that he should have asked Yesung about it first,” Kyuhyun said, returning the carton of juice to the fridge. 

            Eunhyuk frowned.  “I’m not sure if I agree.  They haven’t been dating that long.”

            Kyuhyun returned to the counter and picked up his juice, taking a sip.  “And he accused Ryeong of caring more about me than him.”

            Eunhyuk winced.  “The truth hurts sometimes.  It’s true though,” he admitted, taking another drink of his soda.

            “You just wait until Yesung finds out we got drunk and slept together afterwards.”

            Kyuhyun thought Eunhyuk was going to die!  The alpha began coughing so violently—as he’d been in the middle of drinking his soda at the time—that Kyuhyun thought he was going to cough up a lung in the process.  He’d sprayed soda out of his mouth and all over the floor and he was doubled over, his eyes watering, trying to breathe properly. 

            Kyuhyun walked over and pat his back.  “I’m sorry, Hyuk.  That was bad timing.”  Then he went to the sink and found a washcloth, crouching down to clean up the soda all over the floor. 

            The other alpha watched him, his face red and his eyes watery, and he leaned over the chair.  “You and Wook…you really slept together?”

            Kyuhyun nodded, continuing to clean up his mess.  “We did.”

            “How was it?”

            The young alpha smiled, thinking back to what he could remember. 

            “No, don’t tell me!” Eunhyuk quickly changed his mind.  “You’ll tell me too much and I don’t want to almost die again.  Just tell me what happens now.”

            The younger stood up and walked back over to the sink, rinsing out the washcloth.  It felt wrong not to tell Eunhyuk the truth.  They lived together and had always shared their secrets and concerns.  But if he told Eunhyuk, the alpha almost always told Donghae, who would easily tell the rest of the members, whether he meant to or not.  Donghae had a way of accidentally spilling secrets.

            “Where’s Donghae?”

            “Showering.”

            “If I tell you a secret, you have to promise me you won’t tell him…or anyone else.  It’s just between you and I,” Kyuhyun said, looking back over at his roommate.

            “What is it?” Eunhyuk asked, suddenly feeling concerned.  He knew instinctively when Kyuhyun had something weighing on him.  It was rare and it worried him.  Eunhyuk always felt as if he should take care of the maknaes and was disappointed when he couldn’t keep them happy or safe.

            “You promise?”

            Eunhyuk nodded.  “Not even Hae.”

            The alpha took a deep breath and another drink of his juice, steeling himself for the confession.  He’d not had to admit it to anyone yet.  Victoria had guessed what bothered him the day before.  “While we were having , I marked him.  We’re mated.”

            Eunhyuk’s eyes went wide.  “Did you mean to?”

            “Neither of us really know the answer to that.  We were drunk and we don’t remember.  But you already know that I’m in love with him,” Kyuhyun reminded him.  “It’s Ryeong that flew off the deep end about it yesterday, but he’s starting to calm down.”

            Eunhyuk reached up and ruffled his hand through his hair, deep in thought.  “Wow.”

            Kyuhyun drank some more of his juice.  “Yep.”

            They stood in silence a moment.  Then Eunhyuk began to speak.  “In light of that, I should probably tell you something as well.  I—”

            “What the hell is all the racket!” Heechul complained, walking into the kitchen. 

            Kyuhyun downed the last of his orange juice in one gulp and set the glass into the sink, filling it with water.  “Good morning, hyung!”

            “Don’t good morning, hyung me!  Why are you two up here making noise instead of your own damn dorm?  If anyone wants to come up here at five in the morning, I’d rather it be Ryeowook or Sungmin.  At least one of them would make me breakfast!”

            “I could make you breakfast,” Kyuhyun offered.

            The omega glared at him.  “I don’t feel like throwing up this morning, maknae.  Now shut up or go back downstairs.”  The sleepy omega headed back out of the kitchen and down the hall just as Donghae walked into it, a towel still wrapped around his neck from having dried his hair.

            “What did I miss?” he asked, giving them curious looks.  “I heard a lot of noise.”

            The two alphas shook their heads.

            “Really?” he asked, looking disappointed.  He gave Eunhyuk a pointed look.

            “My can of soda exploded and made a mess,” he explained.  “Kyuhyun wants to know if we want to walk to the café and get coffee and breakfast, once I’m done showering.”

             Donghae’s eyes lit up.  There really was nothing to eat in the upper dorm.

            “We should probably get something for Heechul and Leeteuk while we’re there as well,” Kyuhyun said, still eyeing the hallway suspiciously.  Usually Heechul threw a bigger fuss than that.  Was it just because he was tired?  How long had the omega been in the hallway before he entered the kitchen?  How much had he heard?

            Donghae headed back to his bedroom to get dressed while Eunhyuk walked to the bathroom to take a quick shower.  Kyuhyun walked into the dark living room.  He still couldn’t perceive any noticeable emotions from Ryeowook.  The little omega was sound asleep and would likely stay that way for several more hours, unless what he said to Eunhyuk was true and Yesung did come over early in the morning.

            Although they hadn’t spoken about the matter, Kyuhyun felt almost certain that Ryeowook had told Yesung that he didn’t want to see him yet.  He didn’t know when his mate planned to face his boyfriend, but it eventually had to happen.  Although Kyuhyun wanted Ryeowook to officially end things with Yesung, he also didn’t want his mate meeting with him alone.  But it would probably be awkward if Kyuhyun was there as well.  What a mess!

            The sunlight was streaming in through the windows by the time that Ryeowook woke.  He was a little upset to wake alone but caught the scent of his own mating pheromones still lingering in the air and had a feeling he might know why Kyuhyun wasn’t there.  In fact, he could tell that the alpha wasn’t in the apartment.  The bond wasn’t super strong.  He must have taken a short drive or something. 

            Ryeowook headed for the shower immediately, eager to wash off the smell of the pheromones.  Although it would also wash off all scent of Kyuhyun from him as well, which tended to stick to him if he’d been lying in bed with the alpha for hours on end.  And he secretly loved the smell of Kyuhyun.  He would sometimes sniff the pillows after the alpha had slept in his bed.  It really was a wonder that it had taken them so long to sleep together, he realized. 

            After washing up, he took the time to style his hair and put on makeup.  He wasn’t exactly planning on heading anywhere that day, but it never hurt to look one’s best, especially if you suddenly found yourself with a new mate and wanted to get your way.  He’d be lying if he didn’t admit to noticing the way the alpha looked at him sometimes, especially when he’d taken time to look good.  And the alpha couldn’t keep his hands off him.  He never had been able to. 

            After getting dressed, he headed to the kitchen to eat some fruit and make some coffee.  He checked his phone again, ignoring the multiple messages from Yesung.  He didn’t want to deal with his boyfriend yet.  Then he decided it was time to make Kyuhyun a cake, as he’d promised, to celebrate getting his part in Singing in the Rain. 

            Just as he was gathering the ingredients together on the counter, there was a knock on the door.  Ryeowook sighed, looking over the supplies.  He might not have enough sugar and it was highly doubtful that the upper dorm would have anything he needed to make food with.  But then again, Heechul did like to add sugar to his coffee.  There was a slim chance.

            When the knock sounded again, louder, Ryeowook headed for the door.  He looked through the peephole and groaned when he saw that it was his boyfriend.  Of course, if he’d read through his text messages, he probably would have known Yesung was headed over.  Thankfully, Kyuhyun was conveniently gone.  But for how long?

            Ryeowook opened the door and walked out into the hall, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at his boyfriend.  “I thought you weren’t going to speak to me until I figured out what I wanted?”

            Yesung exhaled a deep breath.  “I regretted what I said almost immediately after I said it,” he confessed.  “I shouldn’t have blown up at you about wanting to spend time with your best friend.  I know that you two are close and there’s nothing romantic between the two of you.  I was just acting jealous.  But it wasn’t very nice of you to call him up when we were on a date and I really would like you to spend more time with me.  I feel like you spend most of your free time with Kyu.”

            “Honestly, I should be the one apologizing, but I wanted to have this conversation when I had more time to spare.  You deserve an explanation, at the very least,” Ryeowook admitted, looking down at his feet.  Guilt was such a hard emotion to confess to.  No one liked to admit to being wrong and hated to think they were capable of hurting another person, but that was exactly what Ryeowook had done.  Although, for the most part, it was unintentional.  He always knew he’d felt a strong attraction to Kyuhyun, but because of their friendship, he never thought he’d act on it.  Perhaps his other actions were not guiltless, such as spending his free time with the alpha, focusing on him more, and having a more physical and emotionally involved relationship than he should, with someone you simply call a friend.  But he had not meant to hurt his boyfriend or cheat.  That was accidental.  And he had perhaps even been pushed into the position by Yesung’s accusations of feeling more for Kyuhyun than he believed he did. 

            “What are you talking about?” Yesung asked.  “Let’s go inside and talk.  Or do you want to go to my place where we can be alone?”

            “Only if you want to die,” Ryeowook muttered.  “No, I can’t talk long and, trust me, it will just be best if you don’t come in.  What you said about me the other night—that I focused more on Kyu than you—was absolutely right.  We shouldn’t be in a relationship together if I care for someone else more than you.”

            “Wookie!” Yesung cried out, trying to interrupt him.  “What are you getting at?”

            “You deserve better than me,” Ryeowook explained.  “Not someone who cheats on you the moment you turn your back.”

            Yesung grasped Ryeowook’s arms.  “What did you do?”

            “I slept with him,” Ryeowook confessed.  “I’m sorry.  After our argument, I began to wonder if you weren’t right about Kyu and I, so I had to find out.  I needed to know if we would be better as lovers than friends.  I’m sorry I hurt you.  I was drunk.  If I would have been sober, I wouldn’t have gone about it like that.”

            Yesung took deep breaths and his eyes filled with water.  “If you were drunk and didn’t mean to, then that means there’s still a chance for us.”

            Ryeowook shook his head.  “No, I…I went about the whole thing the wrong way.  I admit that.  I never should have slept with him while I was still dating you.  I’m sorry.  But Yesung…you were right about Kyu and I…we—”

            Yesung shook him.  “Don’t say it!  We’ve never even been together.  You wanted to wait!  How do you know how you feel about him when you’ve never been with me?”

            Ryeowook tried to pull away from him.  “Let go.”

            “You never even gave us a chance!” Yesung angrily cried, his grip tightening on the omega’s arms.  “Did you ever really care for me at all?”

            “Please let go,” Ryeowook pleaded.  “I’m sorry, I really am.  But I don’t feel the same way about you as I do about him.”

            “You never even tried,” Yesung said, pulling the little omega close and kissing him hard.

            Ryeowook tried shoving Yesung away, but he held firm.  Almost immediately, he heard a low, deathly growl from down the hallway.  He’d been too preoccupied dealing with Yesung to notice Kyuhyun’s emotions gaining intensity, but he certainly felt them now.  Kyuhyun was utterly pissed off and jealous.  And apparently, he’d returned to the dorm just in time to see Yesung and him kissing. 

            Yesung’s lips broke away from his and he glanced down the hall, hearing the threatening growls.

            “Let go of my mate!” Kyuhyun shouted.  Standing right behind him were Eunhyuk and Donghae, but just as surprised to see Yesung and Ryeowook down the hall.

            Yesung looked at the omega with startled eyes.  “Mate?”

            “Mate?” Donghae questioned from behind Kyuhyun.  He looked over at Eunhyuk.  “Is he talking about Wook?”

            When Kyuhyun began running down the hall, Eunhyuk swore and began chasing after him.  Yesung finally thought of his own safety and let go of Ryeowook, starting to back down the hallway.  Just before Kyuhyun reached Yesung, Eunhyuk caught the younger and slammed him against the wall.  “No, you don’t!”

            Yesung fled down the hall, out of sight.

            “Come back here!” Kyuhyun growled, struggling against Eunhyuk, who was hard pressed to keep him under control.  “You’re dead!”

            “You’re not killing him,” Eunhyuk insisted.

            Ryeowook walked over and grabbed onto Kyuhyun’s arm, trying to catch his attention.  “He didn’t know we were mated, Kyu.  I hadn’t told him yet,” Ryeowook explained. 

            “I heard you tell him to let you go,” Kyuhyun barked back, still angry.  If he’d heard that much than at least Kyuhyun knew that he hadn’t willingly kissed Yesung.  It would keep his mate from being angry at him, but that wasn’t about to calm the alpha down any.  Even before they were mated, Kyuhyun had acted possessive of him.  It was clearly going to be worse now.

            Ryeowook took a deep breath and decided to do the only thing he could think of that would distract the alpha.  Although he wasn’t entirely sure if he was ready to face the consequences.  He released his mating pheromones.  After just the first inhale, Kyuhyun fell back into the wall as if he’d been struck.  He quit struggling against Eunhyuk, his limbs going limp, as if suddenly drugged.  His eyes turned to Ryeowook’s, his pupils tinting crimson as his gaze locked on the little omega. 

            “I have him now, Hyukkie.  Thank you,” Ryeowook said, pulling Eunhyuk away and pushing him towards Donghae, who was still staring at them in disbelief.  Both their former members caught the scent in the air and walked away, knowing that they didn’t want to interrupt what was about to happen.

            Kyuhyun took deep breaths.  “What have you done?”

            Ryeowook moved in closer to the alpha and wrapped his arms around his neck.  “I handled the situation.”

            “I can’t control my reactions when you use your mating pheromones, Ryeong,” he warned.  Ryeowook could feel the conflicting emotions inside his mate.  He could tell that Kyuhyun was struggling to keep control.

            “Then let go,” Ryeowook said, leaning in and pressing his lips against his mate’s.  And that was all the alpha could take before his control slipped.

Two updates today because I feel bad that I didn't get much accomplished last week.  Work was rough and I ended up working six days because we're short on people.  So, you might not get as many updates until things settle down a little. 

I confess, I think I might like how Ryeowook handles situations.  Comments?