IMPORTANT: I don’t know how to integrate this into the story, but I think that there are a few things that I need to explain further. There are packs, headed by an alpha of course. These packs are essentially, extended families, so I’ll be calling some members aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, even though they aren’t biologically related. And like all families, the number of alphas/betas/omegas differ. Male betas can impregnate omegas, but female betas are infertile. I mentioned population control in the previous chapter, so also means that the human population is significantly smaller than in our own world. So this makes Dongwoo even rarer and even more precious. :)

Sunggyu was leaning back in his desk chair, arms behind his head and eyes closed. And although he was in his office, behind his eyelids he was in a different world. It was snowing. He always liked the cold, but he mostly liked because it meant that he could stay indoors and not feel guilty. He could be stagnant. And maybe that’s why visualizing this snowy day was such a fantasy. He had appointment after appointment, a mountain of paperwork to fill, and small conflicts that he needed to smolder. And this day-dream snow lodge was his refuge.

But his day dream didn’t end there. As he was on a sofa with a wool blanket covering him, just watching the snowfall, a soft voice echoed in his head, “Sunggyu-ah.” It was his mate. A faceless, amorphous blob for now, but a warm one. The mate crawled under the blanket with him and wrapped itself around Sunggyu. The faceless head rested its head on his shoulder. “It’s so cold,” his mate spoke with a shiver.

Sunggyu wiggled his eyebrows. “Should I warm you up?” Sunggyu leaned in closer to his imaginary mate. And as he leaned in closer and closer, a nose and a pair of lips appeared on the formerly faceless head. But with that something else appeared: a stomach turning stench. Well, this wasn’t a part of his fantasy.

His eyes fluttered open, and he almost fell backwards in his chair out of fright. “Yah! Get that away from me!” he yelled as he pushed the container away from under his nose. Then he frantically rubbed his nose and blew out air forcefully from his nostrils to dispel the horrid stench. He glared at the man sitting on his desk, who was laughing in glee as he screwed the cap back onto the container. Sunggyu had his nose buried in the sleeve of his white coat. “What the hell is that?”

The man shrugged as he studied the container and watched the dark yellow liquid slosh back and forth in it. “I don’t know. Looks like a urine sample,” he spoke in a slick voice as he placed the container back on the desk. “I just wanted to see if you could smell it.”

“Yah, Myungsoo-ah, my sense of smell is superior to yours,” Sunggyu argued pulling himself up straight. “And put that back where you found it! I have a system!” he complained, pointing at the urine sample.

Myungsoo got up from the desk to return the sample back to where he found it without a fight, mostly. “Right, hyung. Your nose is stuffed up most of the time. I’m surprised that you can even breathe,” he remarked, putting the sample back on the shelf with the others and turned back to Sunggyu with a cheeky smile.

“I can breathe just fine,” Sunggyu combated and sniffed loudly. Unfortunately for him, he was suffering from a cold and his nose was actually congested, which resulted in a smug looking Myungsoo, who thought that he had won the argument as his hyung kept sniffing.

“Fine. You can breathe, but your sense of smell…”Myungsoo said and broke into a laugh.

“It , I know,” Sunggyu finally relented to the other. He crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes were fixed on the blue carpet of his office. “I just can’t smell one thing,” he mumbled. Then he lifted his eyes and meet Myungsoo’s. “But I can smell everything else.”

Myungsoo nodded in agreement as he sat back down onto Sunggyu’s desk. “Of course! Hyung is jjang,” he gave his hyung the thumbs up and encouragement he needed.

Sunggyu laughed and asked, “So did you come here just to make fun of me? I have a lot of work to do. I do run this clinic.”

“Let’s eat lunch! I’m starving,” Myungsoo lamented as he rubbed his belly, frowning. But the frown morphed into a small smile. “And you know what Mom always says: a pack that eats together, stays together.”

“Didn’t you hear me? I have a lot of work to do. I don’t know if I can. I’m sorry,” Sunggyu apologized as he patted Myungsoo’s knee. He then pulled back. “Besides, it’s my mom, not yours.”

Myungsoo’s frown returned, and he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “But we’re a pack. Isn’t she my mom too?”

Sunggyu sighed as he watched Myungsoo grow more disgruntled. Essentially, Myungsoo was his brother now, but his parents were still alive. Hell, even Myungsoo’s own biological brother, Moonsoo, was still alive. But his familial pack had fallen apart. Myungsoo’s father had been the alpha of the pack; his mother was the omega. Myungsoo also had some Uncle and Auntie betas (Uncle Jungyeop and Auntie Kyunglim and their mates). Myungsoo himself was a beta too, but Moonsoo wasn’t. He was an alpha, and when Moonsoo reached adulthood, like all alphas, he vied for command of the pack. Of course, Moonsoo couldn’t sway the betas whom had been loyal to his father for decades, but Myungsoo was still up for grabs. And instead of choosing between his father and brother, Myungsoo ran away. For two years, he roamed the country, exploring both the land and himself (while also practicing his photography). He was a lone wolf. However after those two long years ended, Sunggyu found Myungsoo at his doorsteps. Evidentially, Myungsoo grew tired of being alone and decided to settle himself into Sunggyu’s pack, Sunggyu whom he had known his whole life and lived just across the street (which was great because Myungsoo also missed his original pack).

Finding your own pack was a natural part of growing up. It was a milestone, just like being potty-trained, losing your first tooth, and graduating from high school. So what happened to Myungsoo wasn’t out of the ordinary, and Sunggyu had a feeling that his close dongsaeng would want to form a pack with him. But Sunggyu was the weird one. He was nearly thirty and was still living with his parents, his original pack. He was a beta. His father was also a beta. Sunggyu was also still on good terms with his alpha, Uncle Hyungdon, who pretty much left him alone unless the elder wanted to tease and play around with his ‘nephew.’ But one by one, Sunggyu’s ‘cousins’ left the pack, even his noona had left and mated with an alpha. Soon, Sunggyu was the only pup left. It was just him and the elder members of the pack, until Myungsoo joined a few years ago.

So, yes, they were family, and yes, Sunggyu guessed that his mother was now Myungsoo’s. “What do you want to eat?”

Myungsoo perked up. “Are you buying?”

Sunggyu scoffed. “We’ll put it on the pack’s credit card.”

“Call!” Myungsoo agreed, jumping off from the desk. “Oh! Can we go to Uncle Jungyeop’s restaurant?”

Sunggyu chuckled, taking off his white lab coat and placed it on a hook. “Do we go anywhere else?” he joked as he put on a black hoodie. “Let me just tell my secretary that I’m going out.” Sunggyu then walked out of the office with Myungsoo close on his tail, but stopped abruptly outside of his office doors where his secretary’s desk was located.

“Doctor?” she asked expectantly.

“I’m going out to lunch with Myungsoo. I should be back for my afternoon appointments,” Sunggyu announced to her.

She nodded cheerfully and looked past her employer to the man standing next to him. “Have a lovely meal,” she spoke in a voice that Sunggyu knew was more pleasant than usual.

Myungsoo smiled and nodded. “You too,” he returned. The girl giggled bashfully and tucked a piece of hair behind her ears.

“Alright, we’ll be going,” Sunggyu said, pulling Myungsoo down the hall with him. After he was out of earshot of his secretary (whom he knew would be eavesdropping), he scoffed. She had been putting on such a front, acting so lady-like. Sunggyu was used to her being brash, blunt, cursing at him for being lazy and at her slow computer, but every time Myungsoo would come around, she would blossom into a delicate flower. “Yah,” he nudged the other. “I told you that Minyoung liked you. If you’re interested, I can even tell you when she’ll be going into heat next.”

Myungsoo shook his head and pushed back at his hyung. “No, no,” he emphatically turned him down. “I don’t want to get a mate before you do, hyung.”

Sunggyu stopped, feeling his stomach drop. “But Myungsoo…you know that I can’t…”  

“Hyung,” Sunggyu looked up at Myungsoo calling to him. “You don’t need an omega. Not all betas even mate with omegas. It’s all a part of…”

“Population control, I know. It’s my f***ing job,” Sunggyu cursed, but he couldn’t help it. Myungsoo was treading on sensitive territory, and the younger knew it too. This wouldn’t be the first time Sunggyu had snapped at the other. But Myungsoo had a habit of bull-heading a subject, not knowing when to drop it.

“Hyung,” Myungsoo began again.

“You know, Myungsoo. You know that it’s all  pheromones.”

The truth was: Sunggyu’s sense of smell . It truly . He couldn’t tell the difference between alphas, betas, and omegas by scent. Also, he couldn’t sniff out areas very well that were ‘marked’ (‘marking’ territories was now considered to be a primitive practice, but gangs still marked their territories in seedier parts of towns. And because Sunggyu couldn’t smell these, he had accidentally wandered several times into dangerous territories). But worse of all, he couldn’t smell pheromones, even the strong scent of discharge secreted by omegas when in heat. He had even been locked in a room with an omega in heat before (Hyungdon had called it an ‘experiment’). It was a scent that was supposed to be irresistible. He was supposed to feel an insatiable need to mate with the girl, but all he felt was pity for the poor girl that somehow got roped into Hyungdon’s experiment ‘for science.’ He wrapped a blanket around the girl tightly (half to comfort her and half to bind her grabby hands to her body), and then he banged on the door until someone opened it and let the two of them go. That day his pack finally accepted his disability (and that day he had also met Minyoung, who thankfully was a lot less handsy after she had taken some suppressants to control her heat).

But Sunggyu couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t understand it. Was it because his father was a beta and not an alpha? No, more and more litters were cropping up from beta-omega couples. And none of the babies had a disability like his. Anosmia? No, he could smell fried chicken from miles away. In fact, it seemed like the only thing he could sniff out well was food. A dysfunction in his nether regions? Nope, that was operating fine, trust him, but just never when it was supposed to. No, the only answer that made sense was: population control. The year he was born, there was a great swell in the birth rate. This resulted in the highest percentage of female betas in centuries…and in Sunggyu’s disability, he supposed. He was guaranteed by his nature as a beta that would not produce off-spring. He might be aual

He might be, but he wasn’t entirely convinced because he still felt this desire to find a mate, to fall in love. He wanted someone to care for him just like in his fantasy, which might only ever be just a fantasy. Because Sunggyu also wasn’t convinced that he could form any lasting bond with anyone, if he couldn’t react to pheromones.

And because of all of this, Sunggyu devoted his life to researching this subject, searching for the answer. He had yet to find an answer, article, or textbook to satisfy his curiosity, but all of his studies weren’t completely fruitless. He now ran his own fertility clinic, where his unique disability had become an advantage because he could easily handle chemicals and heat-ridden patients that would send non-omega doctors into a tizzy. But not Sunggyu. Never Sunggyu.

He then felt a pat on his shoulder, and he lifted his head to see his dongsaeng smiling encouragingly at him. “Don’t worry, hyung. I’m sure that you’ll find somebody,” Myungsoo spoke in a gentle tone.

Yea, well, that makes one of us.

“Please hand me your ID,” the woman commanded from behind the desk and stretched out her hand towards Dongwoo. The omega searched through his duffle bag and pulled out his wallet. Slightly trembling, he handed it over.

“Jang Dongwoo, beta,” he declared with a yawn. “Ah! I’m so sleepy,” he lied attributing his tremors to fatigue rather than nervousness. He breathed a sigh of relief as the lady returned the ID without a second thought.

For the last few years, ever since he moved to this town with Taehwan and the Nam brothers, Dongwoo always hid the fact that he was an omega. It just made things easier. In this small town, he was the only male omega. Actually he was the only male omega in the region (well, there was always the possibility that they were hiding like he was). And because of that, Very few establishments were prepared to accommodate his….needs. In this case, the changing room at the local sauna. He obviously couldn’t invade the omega changing room, filled with women suspicious about his presence. And they preferred to keep omegas separate from the others, just in case one of them would go into heat.

Taehwan graciously got a fake ID made for Dongwoo and even provided him with cologne and rinses that would make Dongwoo smell like a beta. No one was ever the wiser, especially since Dongwoo was always on guard, controlling when he went into heat and requesting vacation for those weeks. No one ever suspected. And why would they? Dongwoo held the ID card in his hand as he walked over to the male betas’ changing rooms. He watched as his fingers caressed the edges. He then watched as his thumb ran over his information. Him being a beta also meant that his relationship with Taehwan wasn’t public. Alphas mate with omegas, and Dongwoo supposedly wasn’t one. Taehwan just introduced him to everyone as just a regular member of his pack. No one special. Just a plain old beta. Outside of his pack, no one ever knew about them.

Dongwoo changed his clothes and entered the hot room. He couldn’t shake off this cold feeling. The broken bond had shaken him to his core, even though it had been broken for over a week now. He was fragile, in body, mind…spirit. It wasn’t as bad as the night that it happened, when he mated with Sojin. It felt as if he had been split into two. One half of him was set on fire, and the other half was just, dead. Ever since then, when the fever died down, he was cold. But getting thrown out that night, it reopened that wound. And Dongwoo didn’t know if he could heal fully. How deep the scar would be.

After several minutes, Dongwoo’s mouth grew dry, and he took it as a sign that he was in there for too long. He was getting dehydrated. He clenched his fist. The tips of his fingers were like ice. Still, it was time to leave.

Dongwoo then sat down in the open room, watching the others who had come with their packs. Some formed massage trains, others were curled up in a corner, sleeping in a pile. Most were idly chatting. Maybe this was a bad idea, Dongwoo thought. With every turn of his head, Dongwoo was being reminded of the family that he left behind. So he closed his eyes. That didn’t help either. The image of Taehwan and Sojin standing together, as a unit, was burned into his mind. But, Dongwoo would’ve had to have been a fool if he hadn’t seen it coming. And he was smarter and more astute than people gave him credit for.

Sojin had always liked Taehwan too, almost as long as Dongwoo had. She was just better at hiding it. But Dongwoo had always been aware of it. She couldn’t hide the shy smiles and the blooming blush on her cheeks whenever the alpha was near. Neither of them acknowledged their mutual crushes. Neither of them thought that they stood a chance. Then the party happened, and Dongwoo mated with Taehwan. And he didn’t see Sojin for a least a month afterwards. But then she showed up back at his side, acting as if nothing had changed and still filling in his role as a close friend. When he announced that he was moving, Sojin decided to come along, claiming that she could find her pack there. Well, she technically did.

And Dongwoo would have also been blind not to see the subtle glances Taehwan always threw in her direction, the lingering touches, and even light sniffs. The alpha returned her affection. It wasn’t just a physical attraction either. The two complimented each other. It was obvious that they were mean for each other, and Dongwoo had stolen Taehwan away. It was obvious that Taehwan was never supposed to be his.

At that thought, Dongwoo felt tears gather in the corner of his eyes. No. He won’t be that one lone wolf, crying in the corner of the sauna. He tried hard to dam them up inside, but he felt the pressure grow behind his eyelids and his nose beginning to run. He never had complete control over his emotions, even moreso now when he’s already weak.

Whack!

“Geez! I didn’t hit you that hard.” Dongwoo rubbed his sore head and turned to see Woohyun, also wearing the usual sauna garb even with the towel wrapped around his head like lamb ears. The beta was peeling the shell of the hard boiled egg that he had just cracked on Dongwoo’s head. Woohyun side-eyed him carefully and then grinned as he joked, “There’s no need to cry over that.”

Dongwoo lunged at the other, wrapping his arms around Woohyun in a tight hug.“Nam-goon!” he exclaimed with his voice shaking a bit. The tears began to fall.

And so did Woohyun’s egg. “My egg!” Woohyun cried as he tried to peel Dongwoo off of him (half-heartedly) and failed. He grabbed fruitlessly at the egg rolling on the floor.

Dongwoo then let go, picked up the egg, and stuffed it into Woohyun’s open mouth. “There!” he said with a slight laugh. He sniffed and began to dab away the tears. Woohyun tore the towel from his head, and still chewing, he began wiping his friend’s tears. Once Dongwoo had a better grip on things, he gestured at Woohyun to stop and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I left the pack too!” Woohyun responded excitedly as he wrapped the towel around his neck.

“Why? Why? Why?”

“What do you mean: why?” Woohyun almost sounded offended. He then put his arm around the omega’s shoulders. “You’re my best friend,” he spoke softly. “I mean, hyung is alright, but there’s no reason to stay if you’re not there.” He rubbed his hand up and down Dongwoo’s upper arm. “And why didn’t you tell me hyung was cheating on you?”

“Ah, that,” Dongwoo croaked, throat tightening again. Woohyun had known that something was wrong with Dongwoo almost the moment that the bond broke. And Dongwoo had lied, claiming that it was a really bad case of the flu because, “I didn’t want to cause trouble.” Then he looked up, staring at the beta directly. “Besides it was Sojinnie.” Woohyun looked away and played with the hem of his shorts with restless fingers. Woohyun had liked Sojin, just as much and just as long as Dongwoo liked Taehwan. And just as fruitless. Dongwoo and Woohyun foolishly hoped that Sojin had followed to mate with Woohyun and join the pack that way. And Dongwoo believed that Sojin honestly had tried with Woohyun, but her heart just wasn’t in it; it wasn’t his. The three of them had been close friends for so long, only to be torn apart in one of the worst ways possible, leaving all three heartbroken.

“Yea, I know,” Woohyun admitted. He cleared his throat and looked back at Dongwoo. The grip on Dongwoo’s arm tightened. There was a stern glint in Woohyun’s eyes. “But whatever happens between you two affects the rest of us. He’s the alpha, and you’re the omega,“ he lectured. And Dongwoo was well aware. Because of his careless, they had to quickly and haphazardly form a pack. But a strong pack is built upon the bond between the alpha and his mate. In their case, the bond was always tenuous. Now they were reaping the consequences. There was a rift, and the pack was crumbling apart.

“Not anymore,” Dongwoo said with a resigned sigh.

Woohyun then leaned in close, with the tip of his nose grazing the back of Dongwoo’s neck. He sniffed the other. “Nope still are. You reek of it,” Woohyun teased as he pulled and grimaced.

“I do?” Dongwoo asked anxiously as he sniffed himself. This would be the last thing he needed, his beta cover being removed.

“Merong!” Woohyun stuck out his tongue. Dongwoo breathed a short sigh of relief but also shoved his friend. Woohyun wasn’t bothered by it. He nudged the omega. “Hey! Follow me,” he ordered in a whisper and gestured at the other to follow him. Woohyun then stood up and began to walk away. Dongwoo was a bit slow to follow (leaving the hot room was the last thing he expected), but he quickly got up and caught up with Woohyun in the betas’ locker room. When inside, Woohyun waved him over to the locker. He had a large duffle bag in his hands. And the sneaky grin on Woohyun’s face made the hairs on the back of Dongwoo’s neck stand on its ends. Whatever the beta had done, it obviously wasn’t kosher, so Dongwoo approached with great caution. Woohyun’s eyes darted back and forth, to make sure no one else was still watching and ped the bag, revealing small stacks of cash filling the bag. “Look what I got before I left! I emptied out the pack’s joint banking account before I left,” Woohyun whispered excitedly as he quickly zipped up the bag again, hiding the money back in his locker.

“Yah! Nam Woohyun!” Dongwoo exclaimed, reaching to take out the bag. He couldn’t believe Woohyun had taken the money. ‘Stolen’ would actually be the more appropriate word. They weren’t technically part of the pack before, and there was no way that Taehwan had given him permission. Dongwoo didn’t even want to know how Woohyun had convinced the bank teller to give him all of that money without a fellow member of the pack present….without the alpha present (but knowing Woohyun there was probably lots of slick words, winks, and ‘accidental’ grazes).

Woohyun ripped the duffle bag from Dongwoo’s grip and curled his body around it, protecting it as if it was his pup. “It’s the least Taehwan-hyung can do for us after having us put up with all of his ,” he argued.

Dongwoo huffed, “But the baby.”

That seemed to bring the beta back into reality. A guilty expression flashed across Woohyun’s face. “Okay so we’ll leave a couple thousand and…”

“Nam-goon!” Dongwoo cut his friend off. “We can’t!” Dongwoo reached for the bag again.

The beta was too quick. He folded onto the floor, completely hiding the bag under his body. And then he actually growled at Dongwoo and bared his teeth. “We can! And we will!” he insisted, looking up at the omega, who was still standing, defiantly. After staring at each other for a few seconds, both waiting for the other to yield, Dongwoo finally did, like he usually did. He sat down next to Woohyun with his hands raised, showing that he wouldn’t try to take the bag again. Woohyun then straightened up and rest his back against the lockers, and Dongwoo did the same. Woohyun side-eyed his friend and scoffed, “F**k, Dongwoo…Ever since you got with hyung, you’ve been so god damn accommodating.” The tone of his voice was almost like he had expected Dongwoo to put up more of a fight. “You’re too nice, and he took advantage of you.”

“No, he didn’t,” the omega denied.

“No?” Woohyun challenged, cocking an eyebrow. “How about when he made you move from Guri to his hometown out in the middle of f***ing nowhere?”

Dongwoo shook his head, “But he has a lot of land there and…”

Woohyun interrupted. His voice was growing louder and angrier, “Or when you wanted to study Oriental medicine but he said getting a business degree was more useful?”

“But he had a point…” Dongwoo argued with a shrug.

“When was the last time we ate something that you wanted to eat?” Woohyun was almost shouting at this point, as if he could drill his point into Dongwoo with his volume.

“That doesn’t matter,” Dongwoo matched him, decibel for decibel. They were beginning to draw eyes from other betas, lingering in the locker room.

Woohyun took note and finally lowered his voice. “It does!” he whispered harshly.

Dongwoo began to wind his finger through the bag’s straps. He wasn’t going to take it, but he was feeling more and more restless. His fingers were itching. Also he couldn’t match Woohyun’s gaze (which was intently focused on him), so the omega just watch his fingers twirl around the woven fabric. “Maybe for you,” Dongwoo finally began. “But I don’t really care about that.” He finally looked up, meeting Woohyun’s eyes. “Plus hyung’s tastes match my own, and I have a good job because of hyung. He recommended me to the company. And I like being in the country! The air is fresh, and there’s a lot of room to play and…”

“You guys never have unless you’re in heat.”

Dongwoo lunged forward and covered the other’s mouth. “Y-yah!” he stammered. He looked around anxiously. Thankfully no one heard the loose-lipped beta.

But unfortunately, that beta wasn’t done yet. He quickly removed Dongwoo’s hand. The look in Woohyun’s eyes were more serious than Dongwoo had seen in years. “And even then, that’s only sometimes.” Dongwoo narrowed his stare and opened his mouth to fight back, but Woohyun wouldn’t allow it. “Don’t look at me like that. Boohyun-hyung and I know. Like I said, what happens between you two affects all of us. We know.”

“He’s just not that affectionate,” Dongwoo whispered. It was a weak defense, but it was the only one he had. The only one that he had for years. The only one that Taehwan had told him whenever Dongwoo had wanted to get physically closer.

“But you need it,” Woohyun spoke softly. He reached over and massaged Dongwoo’s shoulder with his hand. He could quickly see his hyung melt under his touch; he could see all the tension leave the omega’s body. Dongwoo then leaned against the other. He was embarrassed. Apparently his little secret of going to Woohyun whenever he wanted hugs or other forms of tactile comfort, wasn’t so much of a secret. Woohyun had known the whole time and hadn’t held it against him until now.

Dongwoo lost. He lost this argument. They lost their pack. And he finally lost faith in Taehwan “The bond’s already broken,” Woohyun said as he leaned against the other, continuing to massage the elder. “You guys are done. There’s no need to try to protect him anymore. Let it go.”

Slowly Dongwoo could feel a lump forming in the back of his throat again. “I can’t,” he choked. He threw back his head. It slammed against the lockers but he didn’t care. He just wanted to force the tears back. “Not yet. The paperwork. He’s still my legal guardian. Your’s too.” He needed some solid ground, some logical reason for why he couldn’t let go of the alpha just yet.

“Eh, let him deal with that,” Woohyun spoke with a light tone. Dongwoo looked over to see the beta’s brightly grinning face. It made him laugh, which made Woohyun chuckle in return. “He is the alpha. His responsibility.”

“The money,” Dongwoo said, pointing at the bag.

“What about it?” Woohyun asked cautiously.

Dongwoo raised his head, revealing a mischievous grin. He wiggled his eyebrows. “How are we going to spend it?” Woohyun had been right. He’d been ‘accommodating’ for way too long. It was time that he acted out, rebelled.

And that was music to Woohyun’s ears. “Let’s go to Busan!” he suggested.

“Out of all the places, Busan?” Dongwoo questioned with a chuckle of disbelief. Woohyun nodded. “Busan?” Woohyun nodded again. Dongwoo laughed more loudly. “What, do you want to go see seagulls or something?”

“I did some research,” Woohyun began (and Dongwoo began to question how long Woohyun had been planning this escape). “And apparently the national program for oriental medicine is there. Also there’ll be more people like you! It’s so small here. Too small.” Dongwoo nodded along, agreeing with everything. “And let’s make our own pack.”

“Me and you?” Dongwoo gestured between the both of them. Woohyun nodded. “Beta and omega?”

“Yup!”

“In a big city where we don’t know anyone?”

“Not at all,” Woohyun responded as if it was something to be proud of.

“We have no place to go,” Dongwoo pointed out.

“Nope.”

“We don’t have jobs.”

“I just quit mine,” once again Woohyun said that with more pride than he should (and how long exactly had he been planning this?!).

Even though this sounded like the worst and most illogical decision, it never felt more right to Dongwoo. He hadn’t smiled this much in weeks. His face was so unaccustomed to it, it felt like it was ripping apart.

“Let’s do it!” Dongwoo exclaimed.

“Sunggyu, can we talk to you for a second?”

Sunggyu had been lying on the couch of his home with Myungsoo. They were watching some cliché drama about star-crossed lovers, an alpha and female beta. It wouldn’t work out in real life, but you don’t watch dramas for realism. And Sunggyu was watching this because the lead was attractive, and because Myungsoo (who probably believed that this couple could really work out in the real world) made him.

Unfortunately, his mother called him away just as the female beta was about to get into the stereotypical hair-pulling fight with an omega, who was also vying for the alpha’s love. All a part of the twisted love triangle, or square (?), the torturous love polygon in this drama. But Sunggyu pulled himself away (and Myungsoo’s head from his lap) as he answered his mother’s call. His head was still turned towards the television when he responded, “What is it, mom?”

“Sunggyu, your father and I have been talking, and we think it’s time that you try to go find your own pack.”

Well, that got his attention. He snapped his head away from the drama and looked at his mother, dumbfounded. “But I have one now, with you,” he said sadly.

“Yes you do, and you’ll always have us,” his mother approached him and took her son’s pouting cheeks in his hands. She pushed the cheeks together until her son’s lips jutted out and his eyes were hidden behind his chubby cheeks. She smiled and chided, “But finding your own pack is a part of growing up.”

“I am grown up!” Sunggyu yelled through squished cheeks. He pulled his mother’s hands away and nodded back to the beta on the couch, who was now completely enveloped into the drama (it looked like the alpha’s mother joined in the fight). “And what about Myungsoo?”

“We’re kicking him out too,” his mother replied matter-of-factly.

“Good…I mean, what?!”

“I feel like we’re stunting the both of you,” her voice and face were plagued with worry. “Just look at Myungsoo.” The two of them looked back at Myungsoo, who now looked like he was going to take a bite out of the pillow he was holding. Sunggyu looked back up to the screen and snorted. In the drama he alpha had broken up the fight and was protecting his beloved beta, as he held her hand and they ran off together.

“When was the last time that boy has been on a date?” his mother continued. “He’s too good of a catch to be alone.” Sunggyu pulled his eyes away from Myungsoo and looked back at his mother, raising an eyebrow in a challenge. Are you sure about that?

“Mom! What about me?” he argued. “Aren’t I handsome too?”

“Yes,” she cooed as she fixed her son’s hair. “You’re my handsome little boy. But…” She bit her lip, not daring to finish that sentence.

“I’m aual,” it wasn’t the right term for what he was, but they used it anyway. Sunggyu sighed and glanced back at the man on the couch. Maybe he was holding the other back.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that,” his mother insisted.

“Right.” Sunggyu hardly believed it. It was wrong. It wasn’t normal.

“Just,” his mother began, pausing to choose her words carefully. “Put yourself out there, and Myungsoo will follow too like he always does. And you’ll both find your place.”

“I guess,” Sunggyu mumbled. I just thought it was here.

His mother then tapped him on the nose and said, “You have a month or I’m arranging a pack for you.”

“MOM!”

“Good you’re all here!” a voice boomed from the hall. Sunggyu cringed. He knew that voice all too well. He didn’t even turn around and acknowledged the aging alpha that had just burst into his home.

But Myungsoo did. He turned around on the sofa, resting his chin on the backrest. “Uncle? What are you doing here…in your pajamas?” he asked Hyungdon, who was dressed it flannel pajamas and with a pillow tucked under his arms.

The alpha wrapped his arm around Sunggyu, spinning him around to face Myungsoo. “When was the last time that we slept like a pack?” Hyungdon asked.

“Uh, I don’t know, when I was eight and it was still somewhat socially acceptable,” Sunggyu grumbled.

“Exactly,” Hyungdon responded as if it was a pity. “It’s been too long.”

Sunggyu leaned in and whispered through gritted teeth, “This is incentive for me getting my own pack isn’t it?”

“Bingo,” the alpha replied. He then let go of Sunggyu and dramatically pointed in the air. “Now everybody! To the den!” he announced and dashed out of the house.

 “Are we really sleeping as a pack?” Myungsoo asked his friend. Sunggyu nodded grudgingly. “Great! Let me go change!” the younger exclaimed, sprinting off of the couch at up the stairs into his room (Sunggyu’s sister’s old room).

Sunggyu’s mother suddenly appeared at his shoulder (and gave him a bit of a fright) “See what I mean? He’s too comfortable here,” she clicked her tongue and shook her head. “That boy needs to get out more. Find a nice girl, not Hyungdon-oppa.” She patted her son’s shoulder before she left to go change as well.

Eventually, Sunggyu changed into his pajamas as well. The four of them (when his father returned home from work) went into the alpha’s house in the center of their pack’s compound, and the remaining members of the pack gathered in the Den of the house. Hyungdon and his wife had spread out enough futons and blankets for everyone. Sunggyu and Myungsoo were the youngest people in the rooms by at least a couple of decades. And when it was time for them to all go to bed, Sunggyu was sandwiched between Myungsoo and Hyungdon, who had insisted on sleeping next to his favorite nephew. The old alpha’s arm and leg was slung over Sunggyu. Sunggyu rolled his head over to the right to see Myungsoo fast asleep, and just passed him were the sleeping faces of his parents and aunt and uncle. Each face looking older than the last. When had they all grown that way? His eyes fell back onto Myungsoo. He had gotten older too. Myungsoo wasn’t the middle school student anymore that Sunggyu had first met. He now had a prominent adam’s apple and stubble along his upper lip. It wasn’t right for a man Myungsoo’s age to be a part of such an old pack. Sunggyu sighed and rolled his head over…only to see the wrinkled and drooling face of the alpha. This really wasn’t right.

They had to get out.

“Achoo!” Dongwoo sneezed loudly. He watched from the corner of his eyes as people began to back away from him. “Sorry. Sorry,” he apologized with a quick bow. He sniffed loudly and looked at his watch. Three minutes until the next train arrived. He felt his heart pick up it’s pace. A small spread across his face in spite of the growing jitters in his stomach and the snot threatening to run from his nose.

Today was his first day of school. When he and Woohyun had moved to Busan a week ago, the first thing they did was to register Dongwoo at Busan National University. It took much convincing to coerce the administer to allow Dongwoo into their new class of students, as the new year was about to start. But Woohyun had made up a sob story about how Dongwoo’s grandmother’s dying wish was for her grandson to become an oriental doctor. It had just barely worked, and Dongwoo was able to go to school again. An old face among the fresh-faced freshmen class. He would have to start from the very beginning. It was going to be a long journey.

Even longer now because he was starting with a cold and a weakened immune system. The breaking of the bond had taken a great toll on his body. He could feel the aching deep within his bones and his head felt fuzzy. The coldness enveloped him like a blanket. But he was still happy. He was still smiling. Until he found out that he used his last tissue.

“Dang it!” he cursed. He didn’t have much time to dwell on his misfortune. His train had finally arrived. He got on and squeezed himself in an open seat between the wall and a man. It was a tight squeeze, tighter than Dongwoo had anticipated, even with his slim body. Their shoulders were flushed against each other. They couldn’t move without disturbing the other. But even given all of that, it felt nice. The man next to Dongwoo felt warm. It was a slight reprieve from the chills racking through the omega’s body. Then Dongwoo sneezed again and the warm body pulled away from his side, probably from disgust.

He sighed as he looked down at the folded hands in his lap. Then something caught his eye. Dongwoo craned his head a little and saw his neighbor, fumbling through his pockets and pulled out a tissue. And right as the man was about to hand the tissue over to Dongwoo, he himself sneezed, and he reflexively covered his own mouth with the tissue. After noticing what he had just done, the man’s small eyes widened. He turned to Dongwoo. “Sorry, this was my last one,” he apologized.

“That’s okay,” Dongwoo said. For him, just the thought was enough.

A crackling announcement came over the train’s intercom. “Oh, this is my stop,” the man spoke absentmindedly. He then wiggled, gathering his bag from off the floor. He looked over at Dongwoo and gave a small smile, given the awkward situation. “Get well soon,” he wished as he stood up from his seat.

“You too…Doctor,” Dongwoo quickly added after noticing the caduceus on the man’s bag. And judging by the man’s confused expression (he had pouted and narrowed his eyes on the omega until he left the train), Dongwoo was right at guessing the man’s profession. And that made him chuckle, which later sputtered into a cough.

Maybe Woohyun was right. This will be a good home for us.