Several weeks had passed since Hongbin met Taekwoon, since then the beta decided to pick up boxing. He bought a set of gloves and started to take novice level classes from the same coach that taught Taekwoon (with the other's recommendation, Hongbin wouldn't stalk to find something like that out). Although, due to the differences in their skill levels, Hongbin did not see the elder at his classes. It was fine since the two would often accidently meet up at the gym Friday evenings or nights to train and spar. The first couple weeks of this Hongbin tried to convince himself he was not hoping to run into the other and wrote it off as accidental, but it soon became an unsaid agreement between the two to meet up on Friday nights at the gym.

Hongbin was preparing to go out to the gym once again until Hakyeon spoke up. "Fess up Hongbin, who are they?"

"Hmm? What are you talking about hyung?" Hongbin asked, zipping up his bag.  

"The person you keep seeing on Friday nights, the one who got you into boxing."

"No one, it just looked cool so I wanted to try it," he tried to shrug off, feeling his pulse quicken and stomach drop. The beta did not have a good feeling about the direction of this conversation.

"Binnie," the elder started, smiling overly sweetly which only meant bad things were in store, "you're too nice to be violent. Now be honest or else I'll simply follow you to the gym to meet this person."

"I told you, it's no one."

"Why are you lying? Did your mother raise you like that? Are you trying to make your mother cry?"

"Aish you're so annoying," the beta groaned. He took a moment to have a mental debate. He did not want the other to know about Taekwoon. If Hakyeon knew then he wouldn't hear the end of the other's nagging. On the other hand, having Hakyeon meet Taekwoon would be practically humiliating. The former would probably scare the other off before anything began. Not that he wanted something to begin between Taekwoon and him. Deciding it would be less painful to simply fess up then and there, Hongbin spoke vaguely, "It's just this guy I ran into a while back at the gym, he does boxing and got me into it."

"What's his name?"

"Taekwoon."

"What is he?"

"An alpha."

"Is he cute?" Hakyeon asked with a mischievous grin.

"What's it to you? You have a boyfriend already!" Hongbin  all but yelled, feeling flustered by the interrogation. Admittedly, Taekwoon was a highly attractive man and that Hongbin found himself attracted to now and then, but  he would certainly never confess it aloud, especially to his friends.

"Who has a boyfriend?" Wonshik asked, out of the conversation.

"Don't worry about it," both Hongbin and Hakyeon said at the same time.

"Just get your gym bag and shoes, we're going to the gym with Binnie," Hakyeon cooed, shooing off his boyfriend to follow his directions.

"Why?" the alpha questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"To meet Hongbin's boyfriend!"

"Oh ok, cool," Wonshik grinned, going off to get his stuff. "Is he cute?"

"What does it matter what he looks like? And I thought you weren't going to go!" Hongbin pointed out, taking a better look at the elder and noticed that the other was already wearing training gear. Which meant that the bastard had planned on going since the beginning.

"Oh... I lied," Hakyeon sing-song, smiling brightly as he went to slip his shoes on. Wonshik stepped out, already for the gym. "Now let's go meet your boyfriend you've been keeping from us."

"He's just a hyung, nothing more."

"Oh so you're going for the older guys I see."

"I- just... Hyung stop," Hongbin pleaded, rubbing his temples as the three of them left for the gym.

"Older guys can be pretty hot you know," Wonshik added in with a grin which was promptly responded by a punch from Hongbin. "Ouch! Dude that hurt!"

The beta grinned at how his new hobby was already paying off.

~

"Aish, why does it stink so much here? Don't they have air fresheners? What about air conditioning? Aaahhh, I think I'm going to have a heat here," Hakyeon complained, fanning himself as the trio entered the gym.

"You can always go back if it's that bad," Hongbin offered, partly hopping that the omega would decided to leave.

"No! I shall brave this place for the sake of meeting this mysterious Taekwoon!"

"Just be careful," Wonshik warned, tenser than usual as he kept a protective arm around Hakyeon. The overpowering stench of alphas and with Hakyeon being the only omega in the building must have caused his mate to be on edge. Hongbin did not understand why the other was so apprehensive. While the gym wasn't as desolate as it was the night Hongbin met Taekwoon, there was only a handful of people around. Additionally, Hakyeon was not in heat and had the distinct scent of someone who was mated. Someone would have to be a fool, drunk, or both to try something with the omega.

"I'm always careful, you're the one that should be careful! I don't want you to pull a muscle or sprain something."

The alpha smiled and laughed fondly at his mate's words, feeling a bit more reassured. Deciding to tune out the conversation, Hongbin started to warm up on the treadmill. Taekwoon had yet to arrive so he was safe from embarrassment for now.

Hong was in the middle of doing planks, his goal was to do 3 minutes straight and he only had thirty seconds left to go. His whole body was shaking at this point, sweat dripping down his face as he tried to remind himself to breath. Just a bit more, he thought internally to motivate himself to push to the end. The beta was so focused on finishing that he did not sense someone sneaking up on him. With a gentle but firm push with their foot, Hongbin was knocked over before the timer ran up.

"Yah! What the hell?" Hongbin yelled, thinking that it was one of his friends trying to annoy him. Looking up to see who the attacker was, Hongbin jumped in shock. "Hyung!"

"Since when were you so rude to your elders?" Taekwoon asked, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smile but he was fighting to keep it down.

"I'm sorry hyung, I didn't know it was you!" Hongbin said, laughing as he stood up, giving a slow bow. "And I'm only apologizing because I know you can beat me up."

"Aish this kid," the elder chuckled, shaking his head.

"Oh, so this is the infamous guy you were talking about," Hakyeon chirped, skipping over to the two. Wonshik quickly followed after setting down the weights he was lifting.

"Hello?" Taekwoon greeted, raising an questioning eyebrow.

"Oh my friends decided to tag along today," Hongbin trailed off, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Taekwoon-hyung, this is my roommate, Wonshik, and his boyfriend Hakyeon-hyung."

"Yo, nice to meet you," Wonshik greeted, holding out his hand. The two shook hands with strong firm, both keeping eye contact with each other. The two alphas mentally sizing the other up.

I don't get why alphas do that, it's stupid, Hongbin thought, shaking his head some before coughing to break the tension. "So yeah, I hope those two aren't much of a bother."

Tearing his gaze from Wonshik, Taekwoon turned back to Hongbin and shook his head. "It's fine. I guess I'll just let you three do your own thing," Taekwoon trailed off with a nod, acting distant as he felt awkward around the trio who were already close friends.

"We can still practice some hyung, they can entertain themselves," the beta spoke up, not wanting the other to leave.

"Yeah. Don't worry about us, you two just do your own thing," Wonshik said, wrapping an arm around Hakyeon and pulling him over elsewhere. With his free hand, Wonshik gave the other two a thumbs up and a nod. 

"See hyung?"

Taekwoon nodded and opened his mouth to say something, however Hakyeon interjected, "Oh let's get drinks after this! We want to get to know you!"

The elder stared at the omega with incredulity, blinking before turning to look at Hongbin. "I'm guessing I don't have the choice to say no?"

Hongbin laughed sheepishly and shook his head, "No... he's quite stubborn for an omega."

"I can see that."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to. You don't drink, right?"

"I can drink, but I'm a lightweight... Though, I wouldn't mind going."

"Really?" Hongbin asked a little bit too quickly for his liking. "Awesome, well till then... we should work out right?" he asked with a shy laugh, trying to make up for his awkwardness once again. Taekwoon didn't respond verbally, he simply nodded with a slight smile and slipped on his gloves. 

~

A/N Next chapter will have and I'd probably just have it be rated M. Thank you all who have read, subbed, and commented thus far.