TIC TIC.... TIC TIC TIC... 

 

SeungHyun's cell phone alarm clock started ringing before the sun even appeared on the horizon, he yawned loudly and went straight to the shower, completely ignoring the disheveled figure next to him, after a shower of water so cold it felt like a rain of needles on his skin, he finally felt clean and in the drain along with the smell of sweat and cigars were all the details of the night before.

SeungHyun was a playboy, a Casanova, and everyone knew it, including the boy with the big dove eyes who stared in his direction as he came out of the closet and walked toward the door.

- Good morning, babe! - said the embarrassed boy.

- Well, I am late, you can sleep a little longer if you want, my assistant is working from my living room and can give you a cab fare if you need it. - SeungHyun gave him a quick nod and finished. - I am not your baby.

 

 

The way to the gym would be smooth if he could stay away from his cell phone and the unbearable Amazon advertisement that showed the same face in all apps, but if he was honest with himself, he would never have peace while he was in Korea. JiYong's face was everywhere, on the side of buses advertising a line of sportswear, on flyers in pharmacies advertising odor-blocking soaps for Omegas seeking peace of mind, there was a whole cart on every subway train in Seoul with his face selling sneakers, T-shirts, vests, and sports jackets, making SeungHyun only get around by driving his private car. The last straw was when he entered the commercial building that housed the deluxe gym to meet his personal trainer, and on the giant screen behind the receptionist he saw the Omega's face smiling as he jumped ropes in ultra-short shorts while a beautiful Alpha girl lifted weights next to him.

By this time in the morning the gym was a jungle already, intense physical activity increased the Alpha's odors and hormonal loads, and even with filters and odor-blocking sprays it was not possible to completely rid the place of the strong Alpha pheromone and the mix of scents that was the presence of so many of them together, Their nature was competitive and this was directly reflected in the intensity of their scents, something that was imperceptible to the Betas, who in turn made up 60% of the population, but which for the Omegas could range from joy to total despair, depending on the situation, after all there was no hormone inhibitor for Alphas, only for Omegas, just as oral contraceptives only exist for women.

 

The way an Omega interacted with Alphas and Betas was entirely up to them, some were indifferent, others loved the attention and competitiveness they could inspire, some even preferred to interact exclusively with Betas or other Omegas, which was increasingly accepted and encouraged by the world, it was a victory. 

Physical fights between Alphas also became more and more rare and did not differ from those that usually happened between Betas since the beginning of time, this was possible thanks to Alpha and Omega friendly spaces where you could come to fulfill your bestial desires without disturbing society and this included: Martial arts academies, sports academies, gyms like the one SeungHyun was in, bath and massage parlors, nightclubs with a focus on each subgenre or with their own rooms and staff to control any feral Alphas, the Omega special spaces are most commonly libraries and debate halls, political parties, and university wards.

For SeungHyun it was extremely confusing to understand how two such different groups had been chosen by nature (or by Betas in laboratories) to find such an intense and maddening connection in each other's bodies, for the young enologist the smell of Betas was indifferent to him and other Alphas, but the smell of Omegas was always sweet, it was impossible for any of them to smell bad, but some smelled so good that they could be used as the most cruel of drugs.

Even the most delicious smells could not drive an Alpha or Omega crazy, they are human beings and rational, people have a critical sense and make choices, being attracted to someone in the current period of the world did not justify crimes or barbarism, these were committed every day by Betas with no sense of smell or sharp hormones and also by equally cruel Alphas and Omegas.

 

The competitiveness of omegas was usually driven by intelligence and professional victories, as this subclass was traded and sold by alphas and betas as objects and slaves for many years, while the competitiveness of alphas was measured by hormonal intimidation and smell, when two alphas face each other and approach each other in a few minutes, the weaker one gives in and looks away and as you can imagine, reader, these interactions happened every 5 minutes in the gym and ranged from fights over who would use a device first to who would go up to a person they were both interested in and ask for their phone first, after all in the 21st century it is the desired person who chooses the partner and not those interested in courting.

SeungHyun always tried to be discreet, he was never interested in showing himself to be the most virile of the Alphas, but he always liked to look good, he liked people coming to him, even if they were other Alphas, he never made sub-gender distinctions. 

But right now he wasn't at all satisfied with being in this gym and having to deal with the reality of existing in the omegaverse, his head was exploding from so much hangover, the weight his personal trainer kept adding to the machine he was using was burning his arms, his cell phone kept notifying him of a series of messages from the young Alpha he had rejected earlier and who was probably learning to deal with a blow off for the first time in his life, the workout was dragging on and as if this early morning couldn't get any worse. 

He went to get an isotonic drink from the machine and JiYong's face was stamped on it, each flavor starred a different Omega and there were only two boys, him in a strawberry drink, pink like the color of his hair and another gorgeous boy, but this one with blonde hair staring in a pineapple flavor bottle, the others had female models, he clicked on the pineapple one and before he could run out back to his car he heard the voice of a dear friend:

 

- Hyun Hyung! - The voice came, followed by a loud slap in the middle of the elder's back. - I knew this was the only place to find you, may I ask why you stopped answering my messages as soon as I heard that you returned from France?

- Nam... - SeungHyun tried to think of an excuse, but unfortunately there was no way to fool his cousin. - You know me.

- Do I ? - Namjoon quickly pulled his cousin's arm and leaned in to sniff his wrist more intensely. - Argh, you stink of alpha pheromone and it is not your own!

- Exclusion is no fun.

- I admire your courage, unfortunately my inclusion level goes from O to B at best, alphas only give me stress, headaches and lust for blood, never for lovemaking.

- I wouldn't rule it out before trying.... - SeungHyun smirked darkly.

- Well, that might come true, look. - Nam pulled out his cell phone and forwarded a private message with an invitation and the location of an Alpha club. - Yoongi is planning my bachelor party and it can't be without my cousin and best man! SeungHyun Hyung, you know you're a brother to me and we're also the only Alphas in the family after my father left, I won't take no for an answer.

- Wednesday?

- Yes, sir! 11:00 PM! - Nam says before rushing off to the locker room - See you there! But be discreet, neither my mother nor my fiancée know about this bachelor party. It's an exclusive hip-hop club for the upper class alphas, but it also has exotic dancers, betas and omegas, mostly women, but I heard there are also pretty boys... - Nam smiled and winked, he never judged his cousin's preferences.

 

- Fine! - The young oenologist took a deep breath, it was bad enough having to meet the whole family at the wedding that would take place in a few days. Even before arriving in Korea he had ignored emails, messages and phone calls from his mother and aunt about when he would be getting married, as well as photos of countless young Korean girls, betas and omegas from friendly families who wanted to meet him as soon as possible, he really thought that his cousin's engagement would calm the ladies down, but in fact the effect was the opposite. If he had to be the ladies' bargaining chip at the wedding then be it, but he would also be extremely out of place at the bachelor party with so many younger Alphas.