Her name was Choi Jinri.

That’s what Jongdae had heard in the court gossip, one of the many tidbits he’d managed to scrape together since she’d presented and become another possible match for the young Alpha, Park Chanyeol.

It wasn’t even like he even saw Chanyeol anymore, they barely even wrote each other, since Yura had gotten married to Seungsoo she’d been too busy with her growing family to help Jongdae nag Chanyeol into replying.

And that was okay, this was okay.

“You’ll be okay.” the self-reassurance was weak considering the ache that settled low in his stomach as he fell back on to the bed, robes falling around his body in a loose pile. His 17th birthday had come and gone in a blur of celebrations tainted sour by the reality that he’d not presented yet and if he was being honest, it was still getting to him.

Thing is, he wasn’t sure if he was going to be okay. How was he meant to be okay?

He loved Chanyeol and it hurt to be so far away from him, and thinking about him with someone that wasn’t Jongdae, that just felt like an extra punch to the gut.

Because really, Jinri could make Chanyeol so happy.

And that was what had the first sob wracking through him, as the sadness pooled in his stomach and ripped through his ribcage in earnest.

Slowly, though, he felt that sadness, twist, morph and wind into something else; something that gradually ate its way through his body until he felt a burn ripple under his skin. The burn thrummed with each beat of his heart, warming his body until it almost felt like Jongdae was on fire.

The fabric of his robes scratched against his skin as he felt his temperature climb to heights he’d only felt in the throes of a childhood illness, and even then his memories were blurred by fever away at the edges. Moving as quickly as his leaden limbs would allow, Jongdae stripped, shucking his shirt and pants almost simultaneously; desperate need for reprieve wearing on his fine motor skills perhaps more than he would have liked.

A well in the sounds outside his door made its way into the periphery of things Jongdae was paying attention to when he heard shouts of his own name snaking their way under the gap between the door and the floor. Thoughts of replying to them occurred to him but were undermined when he opened his mouth to reply all that came was a weak pant and whine.

If only someone could touch him.

And if only that person could be Chanyeol.

Where he’d earlier squeezed his eyes shut in a desperate bid to hold back the tears that had been threatening to spring forth, they slammed open, realisation barrelling its way into his mind.

This was heat. God, no one had ever told him that you literally felt such a burning heat.

Wait.

If he was in heat, that meant…

That meant he was an Omega. And Chanyeol was an Alpha.

“Oh thank god.” he managed to eek out before his voice once again gave way to the desperate moans belonging to his newfound desire. Though his relief was short lived once he realised that this meant his fate was once again thrown up into the balance.

Sure, now he was an omega but that meant he had actual competition in Choi Jinri, rather than an imagined rivalry born out of childhood affections with no substantive reasoning behind it.

Now, well now he was a real contender for the marriage of Chanyeol. A fact that fell to the wayside as the first true wave of need rolled through his body.

“Chanyeol,” he whispered because god he wished Chanyeol was here, and that wasn’t just because he wanted to feel his knot (even though he did) it was because his best friend always found a way to make him feel safe. Tears welled anew in his eyes as he tried to push himself off the bed, bringing the slick that had wet his boxers to his attention.

He could do this. Chanyeol had had to do this by himself, and even if Jongdae wasn’t entirely sure of the differences/similarities of rut and heat, that was enough to drive him off the bed to begin an awkward and difficult walk to his door. There were always advisors stationed at his door and considering that they could probably smell him right now, in all likelihood there was going to be a mass gathering there now.

The swollen crowd outside his door was enough to prove him right and several people scurried off, probably to inform people that made it their business to know exactly what he was doing any given second. “I need help.” and the words came out as more of a whine than Jongdae would have liked but by now he was almost a the point where he didn’t really care.

A sing-songed of course rose up from the crowd with almost disconcerting uniformity, and that was even with Jongdae’s lifetime of experience in the castle. At least ten different people stepped forwards, their dress betraying their varying levels of authority, the highest ranked officials draped in illuminated gowns that stood in sharp contrast to the beige undergarments Jongdae had stripped to.

Jongdae was practically herded back into his room, the huddle all clamouring for his attention while simultaneously sweeping him back to his bed. He had multitudes of questions but each time he opened his mouth to ask them all that escaped were weakened whimpers. Finally, as if reading his mind and distress on of the Betas he’d seen drifting around court chimed in with a welcome, “What is it that you want Your Highness?” There were about a thousand things that Jongdae wanted, but he knew, deep down in his bones, that they could be refined to a single thing.

“I want Chanyeol.”

AN//

title: the star - EXO

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