No one could've guessed.

With his docile, amicable nature everyone simply assumed him to be an Omega, at most a Beta – or so he seemed during their early debut days.

They really should’ve seen it coming though, how as the days slowly dwindled down to his coming of age day, Yugyeom became increasingly hard-headed and non-submissive, but that had been written off as Yugyeom being his usual bratty teenager self. Physically the youngest had filled out exceptionally, shoulders widening out and chest broadening, tall sturdy frame now towering over even the head Alpha Jae Bum, but the older ones merely chalked that up to mere puberty as well.

The signs had all been there, flashing like neon lights in big, bold words but grossly misread (or perhaps, the truth denied?).

And so when Yugyeom finally turns 18, everyone is taken aback when, on top of the lack of a heat, the younger began radiating powerful Alpha vibes.

Jackson is the unfortunate one who discovers this. He is oddly awakened in the wee hours of the morning on the 17^th despite it being Tuesday and them not having any schedules planned. The sky beyond the window is still pitch black but he doesn’t think too much about it – can’t, since his brain hasn’t begun to work properly yet – and figures it’s just one of those days where your body clock gets ahead of your brain, after so long of being wired to function on minimal rest. No matter how much he tosses and turns sleep is eluding him and he eventually gives up, stumbling out of the bedroom sleepily and wandering into the kitchen to grab some water. He barely notices the curled up lump on the couch, wrapped in blankets with a tuft of copper brown hair sticking out from the top – Bam Bam must’ve been so tired he knocked out outside again – on his way back to his room when he finally catches a whiff of a completely foreign smell lingering in the still dormitory air.

Warning bells blare like a foghorn in his head: There’s an unfamiliar, possibly dangerous presence lurking in the apartment; foreign, intimidating and Alpha. It catches him so off-guard, fight-or-flight response so deeply triggered the drinking glass nearly slips from his hand.

With his brute strength Jackson could’ve easily faced the intruder head-on otherwise, but not if it’s Alpha, not when he’s an Omega, young, unmated and vulnerable.

He rushes back into the safety of his bedroom and shakes his roommate awake with enough intensity to mimic a mini earthquake. Mark immediately catches onto the new scent, Alpha senses far more finely-tuned than Jackson’s, and commands the blonde to stay out of the way until the potential threat is assessed before slipping out, shutting the door firmly behind him.

As if I would want to prance around the dorm right now and get caught in the crossfire, Jackson thinks snarkily, before sinking onto his haunches on the floor.

But something feels amiss; the clues simply don’t add up. The blonde tries to run through the sequence of events in his head: Bam Bam, having just returned from a work trip to Thailand, was the last to go to sleep the previous night, so exhausted he simply crashed on the couch instead of going back to his room. Given his flight timing, that was probably at slightly past two in the morning, barely four hours ago. No intruder would’ve been stupid enough to break in with Bam Bam sleeping outside, which means this must’ve taken place before 2AM but after 11PM, which was when they went to bed after briefly celebrating Yugyeom’s birthday in advance.

Oh, right. November 17^th, Yugyeom’s 18^th birthday. And then the pieces of the puzzle click. He leaps to his feet the same time he hears a loud thump and a panicked shout from the other side.

Jackson throws the door open and decides what he sees before him deserves to go down as the most epic and memorable incident in GOT7 history.

Yugyeom is lying sprawled on the floor in the corridor, Mark straddling his legs and their faces are so close together, tips of their noses brushing, that it almost looks like a scene taken out of a drama had the elder not been armed a broom – where did he even get that from? Don’t they use a vacuum cleaner to clean the dorm? – in one hand and the other pressing the younger down by the shoulder.

Meanwhile, Jae Bum is standing at the side, looking partially bewildered but also somewhat amused, and Young Jae is peaking out from a slight gap in the door, mouth agape. Jin Young is by the threshold of his shared bedroom, unsure of what to do, and Bam Bam is loitering around in the background, quilt draped over him like a cape.

“Uhm, can I just ask what’s… going on?” Young Jae finally says, daringly pushing his way out of his room.

“It’s Yugyeom!” Jackson and Mark cry out simultaneously before turning to look at each other.

“Yes, it’s me, the same maknae you’ve had for the past two years. Tadah,” Yugyeom deadpans. “Surprise.” A glare from Jae Bum effectively shuts him up. Above him, Mark squirms uncomfortably.

“Uh, you’re going to need to be more specific. It’s Yugyeom what?” Young Jae wrinkles his nose as he sniffs in Yugyeom’s direction. “Yah, maknae, are you using some new cologne or something?”

Jin Young and Jae Bum exchange looks. The Omega shrugs unhelpfully, much to his mate’s chagrin, before padding off to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Jae Bum sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He can feel the outset of a migraine already.

“Everyone go wash up and gather in the living room,” The leader eventually decides, running a hand through his mussed bed hair. “This is going to take a while.”

And Jae Bum was right, because no one is ready for the addition of a third dominatrix into the group. The company staff had to scramble to organise emergency -ed for the new Alpha whose previously attended class for submissives is now irrelevant. It is a slow and clumsy transition, reconfiguring the new power dynamics in the team, but at least Bam Bam is a Beta and Omega Jin Young in the adjacent room is already mated, and that saves them the extra hassle of having to swap roommates.

To minimise drastic changes Jae Bum has decided that the maknae will remain on the lower end of the power hierarchy. like before, even behind the Betas, until he finds himself a mate. Jin Young, being the leader’s mate, still ranks third in command after Mark. Thus, apart from the maknae being more assertive than before, nothing else has really changed for the others. For Jackson though, Yugyeom turning out to be an Alpha signifies a complete change in dynamics between them. He can no longer play the age card on the youngest and being both an Omega and unmated he now falls last in power order.

It also means he’s the only one affected whenever Yugyeom’s mood swings to polar ends – which tends to do so unsurprisingly often, because Alpha or not, he’s still a bratty, angsty teenager. New and unskilled implies erratic bursts of emotions whenever the youngest loses his temper, amplified to the Omega who bears the brunt of the negativity, much like an emotion sandbag. Whenever that happens remnants end up sticking with him for the rest of the day, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste on his tongue even long after the actual feeling washes off.

The unsettling feeling returns when he’s returning home from a Star King recording. From the moment he steps out of the elevator he senses it, growing with intensity until it’s practically overwhelming, radiating from the other side of the door when he reaches the outside the apartment. He freezes, instinct compelling him to spin on his heel and hightail out of the building, but he’s dog-tired and his traitorous hand punches in the passcode and his feet move before he can stop himself.

It is so overpowering Jackson's knees turn weak the moment he steps into the dormitory to find the place empty safe for the youngest Alpha and the two elder ones conversing in low whispers in the living room. The apartment absolutely reeks of Alpha, strong enough to make Jackson so giddy, as rolls of authority wash over him, compelling the Wolf within him to submit, he needs to grab onto the doorframe to keep himself steady.

He can pick out their three distinctive characteristics in the mix of scents – Jae Bum’s unyielding sturdiness, Mark’s tender and homely warmth, and Yugyeom’s acute, unnerving foreignness. The last can’t help but raise his hackles, body and mind instinctively putting up a barrier. But underneath it all is the unmistakable hint of challenge interwoven between the three scents, thin string stretched so taut their tempers are going to snap anytime.

Not before Jackson blows, though.

“Do you mind?” Jackson hisses, unnecessarily venomously to mask his growing anxiety. Power tripping always tired him out the quickest since he’s on the receiving end. “You guys know I’m nearing my cycle. What if the pheromones accidentally trigger my heat?"

“We have something to talk to you about.” Jae Bum says solemnly. Usually his demeanour does nothing to dampen Jackson’s constant uptension both on and off-camera, because the blonde knows the redhead acts the way he does only because he is merely trying to fulfil his role as pack leader, and under the serious façade is a childish twenty-one year old who loves to crack silly jokes and play around. But something’s off this time round.

“What,” Jackson shoots back snappily. Hr’s still slightly miffed because of the impromptu Alpha-only gathering and he’s going to show it.

“Come here.” The command leaves no room for discussion.

Jackson is about to comment on the atmosphere when he sees the dangerous glint in the leader’s eyes that seem to pierce straight into his soul – as though Jae Bum’s already seen through the blonde and knows what he’s planning to do – challenging him to disobey. It unsettles him. He steels his nerves, dropping his backpack by the door, and pads over to the trio in his thick woollen socks.

When he nears, Jae Bum, seeming to detect his discomfort, tilts his head to the empty spot by his side, gaze softening. Jackson preens at the sign of approval and skips the final steps over, curling up on the couch and moulding himself into the leader’s larger frame naturally. A sharp glance towards the other two Alphas sends them retreating quietly into their bedrooms, leaving the pair alone to converse.

Jae Bum throws an arm over Jackson and draws slow circles on his shoulder, relaxing him further, but the younger can sense the rigid tension in the elder.

“Where are the rest?”

“I got Jin Young to bring them over to 2PM’s dormitory for the night.” Jae Bum answers stiffly, adamantly not meeting the other’s curious gaze as he stares straight ahead. “Like I said, I have important things I need to discuss with you. I figured you deserve to hear it first without them hanging around and eavesdropping in the background.”

“It involves the other Alphas?” Jackson asks, even though he already knows the answer, and receives a nod in response.

 “What is it?” The Omega probes gently.

“I… I had a meeting with the company representatives earlier today.” Jae Bum starts hesitantly. Jackson thinks he hasn’t seen the leader this apprehensive since freaking out over accidentally imprinting on Jin Young four years ago and knows this can’t possibly be a good sign. “The CEO wanted to talk to me to about your finding a mate.”

The blonde bristles, a flurry of unpleasant memories flooding his mind.

Jackson had already been of age when he was put into the team. With Jae Bum and Jin Young being mates and Bam Bam and Yugyeom displaying distinct signs of being Betas – even the final addition of Young Jae, who is a Beta, didn’t change anything – Mark had been the sole unmated Alpha available whom the company showed very clear intentions of pairing him up with. Mark, whom he’d always regarded as a kindred spirit and his closest confidant.

He understands the importance of being mated early; the entertainment industry is a jungle, an all-you-can-eat buffet. Young, unmated and Omega, even if he’s pumped with hormone suppressants to mask his scent, Jackson is prime target for the jaded, vulture-like seniors who are absolutely waiting to pounce on fresh meat. Mark knows too, and even if it simply were for the sake of survival to one and the mere notion of helping a best friend out for the other, they really did try to make the matching work.

In fruitless attempts to develop romantic affections for each other they forced themselves to go on dates and even increased physical contact by upping the skinship. Unfortunately the heart wants what the heart wants, and even though it’s already been two years, nearing three, two careful years of Mark hovering protectively around Jackson in the presence of other idol groups and the blonde donning Mark’s clothes when the elder couldn’t be physically present to mask his scent, their Wolves are still refusing to budge.

There doesn’t appear to be a possible matching in sight in the near future, too, but of course the company’s still insistent with pushing through with the plan.

“Hyung,” Jackson says quietly, “Mark and I are really trying. I swear, we are. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Mark hyung–”

“I know, Jackson, I know.” Jae Bum soothes.

“–It’s just so hard, you know?” The blonde’s voice cracks by the end of the sentence, throat choking with tears of frustration. “It’s like we’re trying and trying but we’re just not compatible. We just can’t fall in love with each other. It’s so frustrating. I don’t know what else there is to do anymore.” He hiccups and Jae Bum runs a hand up and down Jackson’s back until he visibly relaxes. “Can’t you just put in a word with the company and ask them to consider a trans-agency matching or something? I know it’s frowned upon and greatly discouraged but it’s not like there are much options left.”

“Actually, that’s what I want to talk to you about,” Jae Bum can’t help but jump at the opportunity. Wide dewy eyes swing in his direction. “The CEO has decided to call off the matching.”

“But, Mark–”

“I’ve already spoken with him just now. He’s fine with it, so you don’t have to worry about him.” Jackson lets out a sigh of relief and it slightly loosens the knot in the elder’s chest as well. “However…” Jae Bum could feel Jackson tense up under his fingertips again.

“As you can tell,” The elder begins slowly. “Yugyeom, unlike what we initially believed, is Alpha.”

Jackson nods, uncertain.

Jae Bum takes a deep breath. It is all or nothing. “…And so the CEO wants to try matching you with Yugyeom now that the kid’s of age.”

The silence that ensues is so thick it, as the clichéd saying goes, can be cut with a knife. The pause ensues, as though the world has been brought to a standstill. The apartment is so quiet static sounds ring in their ears. Only the humming of the refrigerator and their breathing, rapid and shallow, is audible.

Time seems to stretch on for eons. Jae Bum reckons even Mark and Yugyeom are holding their breaths in their respective rooms, nervously awaiting the Omega’s game-changing response.

Jackson lets out a heavy, drawn-out breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding in. “…Okay,” He says decidedly after a minute of contemplation. “I’ll do it.”

“Really?” The pleasant surprise in Jae Bum’s voice is evident, and even though the elder immediately schools his face into a nonchalant expression Jackson can already feel the tension bleed from him. Clearly Jae Bum had been expecting the Omega to put up a fight and it amuses him some, because in retrospect he too is taken aback at how easily he’s accepted the situation.

“Are you absolutely certain?” The Alpha reconfirms, looking into the blonde’s eyes for signs of deceit. “I don’t want you to feel cornered into this. If you’re uncomfortable with the arrangement you can tell me straightaway. I’ll speak to the CEO and find an alternative solution.”

“I’m certain, hyung,” This time Jackson answers without hesitation, eyes blazing with determination. “I know what I’m getting myself into. Yes, it’s a team thing but no, I don’t see it as an obligation. In fact, I’m glad it’s Yugyeom. I’ll take him over a stranger any day.”

“Thank you, Jackson-ah.”

The Omega smiles, warm and sweetly, and it brings a smile to the leader’s own face. “I trust you, hyung.” Wholeheartedly.

Jae Bum cards his fingers through Jackson’s hair, blunt nails scraping over scalp the way he knows the younger likes it, a reward for being obedient. The sensation’s calming and brings about a drowsy effect and soon Jackson feels his eyelids drooping. His face is caked with thick makeup that does nothing to help his complexion and slicked hair sticky with gel, spray and whatever other product used to keep individual recalcitrant strands in place. He really should be heading for the shower to wash the day’s grim and dirt off but instead presses himself closer and buries his face into the wash-soft fabric of the elder’s sweatpants, inhaling the Alpha’s homely scent deeply.

 “Tired, Jackson-ah?” Jae Bum teases lightly, fingers stopping to play with the cartilage of the younger’s ear.

“No… I just like being with hyung like this…” Jackson mumbles, finally feeling the lethargy from the day’s packed schedule set in through his muscles and into his bones. “It’s nice…”

Jae Bum’s hand picks up its movement again, gently lulling the Omega to sleep. “Take a nap, Jackson-ah, I’ll still be here when you wake up. I’ll still be here.”

“I want to make you proud, hyung,” is the last thing Jackson mutters before he is brought into the arms of Selene, falling asleep atop his Alpha’s warm thighs to his humming and gentle patting.

That night, he doesn’t register the transfer from the leader’s lap into a much more foreign pair of arms that lift him up from the couch. Even after he awakes the next morning, the ephemeral feeling of resting against a sturdy chest still lingers at the back of his mind.