They were almost near the exit to Soonyoung’s hometown and the omega looked nervous, contrary to the beginning of the journey where he kept singing and playing at the passenger seats. The moment the name of his district appeared at the road sign, he started to lose all that energy and kept on twitching every now and then while looking out the window. He was biting lower lip before turning to the driver.

‘Hey… can we stop somewhere first? We still have some time right?’

Seokmin looked at the time. It was almost three o’clock and it was summer so they do have a few more hours of daylight. He didn’t mind stopping either, because it would mean more time with the omega. ‘Sure. Where to?’

‘Hairdresser. I want to dye my hair black.’ He answered while still eyeing the road and laughed nervously. ‘My grandpa will freak out if he sees this blond hair.’

Seokmin was surprised but was also pleased at the same time. Although blond looks good, no great on the omega, black suits him better. And he also wanted to see the black-haired Kwon Hoshi from the orientation party. ‘Alright. I want to dye my roots too.’

After almost an hour at the salon, they bought some simple food and continued their journey. Soonyoung seemed to relax a bit, but he was still quiet. Seokmin tried to converse with him but the other seemed too distracted with his own thoughts to reply. The alpha didn’t really mind that much though, because in all honesty, he too was nervous.

Sending Soonyoung home marks the end of their trip. Their escape from reality.

In less than 2 hours, their relationship would change completely and he could not expect to what. They might be an official couple, they might continue only as friends, or Soonyoung might found out about his lie and regretted the trip completely. He might decide to cut off all contacts after today.

Anything could happen and he had to prepare for the worst.

Before long, Soonyoung asked him to stop, just beside a fruit farm. ‘Right here. I’ll walk home from here.’

‘Are you sure? Where’s your house?’ Seokmin looked around, a bit disappointed that the omega did not trust him enough to let him send him straight to the door.

‘It’s just right there.’ Soonyoung pointed somewhere but the alpha could only see more trees. ‘Don’t worry. It’s just a short walk. Goodbye then… and thanks… for the trip and other stuffs.’

‘Wait, Soonyoung!’ Seokmin called desperately before the other left for good, ‘Are we gonna see each other again?’

The now raven-haired male bit his lips again. He never meant to go that far. The purpose of the trip was just to see Shinee, and before that he even had planned to cut off all contact with the alpha before. Even if he had enjoyed getting to know the other right before his heat, their friendship was only days, or weeks old. And yet he had gone further with the man than he ever did with his own lover

He did not dislike the alpha but he still like, no love his boyfriend. Or whatever their relationship was. ‘I don’t know. I have a lover so where does that leave us?’

Seokmin dreaded that answer. He was not a fan of ambiguity. It’s either white of black for him so Soonyoung being this confused was really bothering him. He knew he needed to give the man more time but he needed clarity for himself. At the same time, he was afraid that the man might choose the worse choice because he still wanted to see Soonyoung, even if the omega decided to run back to his lover or whatever. ‘Someone who helps each other.’

‘Friends don’t have with each other.’

‘Are you sure about that?’ Soonyoung gulped. He would never know if that was true or not because he never had friends before, but some omegas in his dorms seemed to sleep around a lot. And that was not only a one time thing either. He once saw an omega making out with the same guy around the bushes late at night almost every day, only to see her with another man on during the day. And he also saw her going on a date with another during one of his part-time jobs. So, if that was normal, then he was the only one who didn’t know about this ‘type’ of friend.

‘Soonyoung, I like you and I love hanging out with you. If you regretted what happened…’ Seokmin paused, thinking hard for the right choice of word to use, ‘…can we at least be friends? Just friends. Nothing more.’

‘But we slept together.’

‘And it didn’t have to mean anything. I told you that before we did what we did and I’m sticking with it. That… was just an alpha helping out a distressed omega.’

Soonyoung still bear that troubled look but his expression softened a bit. ‘I need to go now.’

Seokmin sighed and laid his head on the stirring wheel. That did not seem like a good sign.

‘Wait here for a bit.’ The omega continued, much to his delight. Seokmin raised his head and watched as Soonyoung disappeared in between the trees. He couldn’t help but laughed. All this time he imagined the guy running into the woods during the trip, and now he actually did it.  Thankfully though, into an orchard. After a few minutes, Soonyoung ran back out with some fruits in his arms. ‘Yaah, open the door.’

Seokmin did so in a rush, welcoming the smell of juicy peaches placed by the omega on the drivers seat. ‘I don’t have plastics bags.’

‘What’re these?’

‘Peaches duh.  A thank you gifts for the trip. It was… really fun.’

‘Is this yours? Did you steal them?’

‘I stole them.’

‘Yaaah!!!!’

The omega laughed loudly from the over-reaction he anticipated so much. ‘…from my grandpa. You better hurry up cus I saw him just now with a the big scissors.’ He described the tool with his hands to scare the alpha.

‘Why did you do this to me?’ Seokmin started the engine in a rush, put on his sunglasses and pulled up the window. He drove straight forward, looking at the side mirror to a grinning Soonyoung, looking happy and so adorable.

At least they didn’t end the trip in a bad way. This might work out.

*****

Soonyoung entered the house after lingering around outside for a while. Upon hearing his grandmother’s voice, he finally gained the courage to open the door. ‘Soonyoung-ie! You’re back!’

‘Halmeoni, harabeojie.’ Soonyoung greeted each of them. His grandmother enveloped him in a warm hug, pinching his cheeks tightly it hurt a bit. His grandfather on the other hand, did not even turn his head away from the television, only giving him a grunt of acknowledgement. Soonyoung was uncomfortable with the cold treatment, although it was expected from the way he had left the house almost half a year ago. He gave his grandmother a comforting smile and headed upstairs towards his room to avoid being in the same place as his grandfather.

Coming home was hard for him. He was excited but he also predicted this kind of treatment since his grandfather had strongly disapprove of him going to Seoul to pursue dancing. The old man always wanted him to work at the farm to inherit the place. His staying in the village also meant that the old man can keep an eye on him which was suffocating for Soonyoung. That was the reason why he was eager to leave this place in the first place. To gain his freedom.

Naturally, they fought right before he left for university and never really made up since. He only contacted his grandmother every now and then.

‘Soonyoung-ie, come down and eat. I made your favourite dishes.’ He heard his grandmother’s  gentle voice calling him. He felt the shift on the bed and the warm hand rubbing his back.

Soonyoung lifted his head. He wanted an assurance that he was welcomed and his grandmother’s smile gave just that. She held him close for another hug, and Soonyoung did the same, enjoying the smell of the old lady he missed so much. She was getting thinner which was probably his fault because he was not there to ease the workload at the farm.

‘Harabeoji wanted to know who the driver of the green car was.’ Soonyoung froze. His grandfather saw them. After he went far enough to ensure Seokmin was parked further away from the house.

His grandfather always over-react over his friends. He recalled that one time he was slapped when someone told his grandfather that he was getting overly friendly with the village’s other omega kids even though that was his first and only attempt to make friends outside of school. Once, when an alpha kept pursuing him even after rejection and the words got to his grandfather, he was lectured for an hour and was warned not to himself around, hurting his confidence. He was then sentenced to strict curfews.

Soonyoung tensed up and tried to think of an excuse to not get himself in trouble. ‘H-he lives in a town nearby. The bus tickets were sold out so I got him to give me a ride back.’

‘I’ll tell harabeoji that. So now, this is going to be only between us. Who is he?’ His grandmother gave him a suggestive smile, causing him to relax a bit and chuckled at the silliness.

‘A friend.’

‘Just a friend? I can smell him on you…’ the old lady, also an omega unlike his beta grandfather, teased. It was a light and playful gesture but it still made Soonyoung nervous because Seokmin was nothing more than a ‘friend’.  It would have been better if he was his boyfriend but he wasn’t and Soonyoung doubt the old lady will understand him being with someone he did not plan on being mates with.

She was not as strict as his old man, and he trusts her with his life but she was still conservative, enough to make him afraid that she would turn away from him if he told her the truth.

‘Special friend.’

*****

Since the journey back to his hometown will take at least another three hours, Seokmin decided to have dinner here. Apart from wanting to taste the local specialty, he was also curious of the place where Soonyoung grew up in. It was a small village, and people seem to know each other very well. Seeing how happy the kids were playing on the streets, he wondered what kind of child Kwon Soonyoung was. Looking at how hyper that fluff was, maybe he had been a really naughty one who likes to play pranks and spend time playing outside, busy getting his clothes dirty. He would love to see the sad look on the child Soonyoung getting scolded for that.

It was not really a surprise seeing peaches and nectarines being sold in bulks at a cheap price, considering there were lots of fruit farms in the village, which includes Soonyoung’s grandparent’s. He bought a box of each for his home and thanked the overly friendly ajumma who kept wanting to introduce him to her daughter. She was quite persistent that Seokmin literally had to walk away as fast as he could with those heavy boxes like a thief, too scared to look back. It was a shame since there were lots of delicious street foods there and he had wanted to try them all.

Entering another small shopping district, he decided dinner to be at a small bibimbap shop. He remembered Soonyoung saying how delicious the bibimbap was in his village, especially the owned by an old ajusshi near the corner, and unless there were more old-ajusshi-owned-small-bibimbap-shop-at-the-corner, he hoped he was at the right one.

‘Aigoo, handsome young man. Are you here to visit a friend?’ The ajumma selling kimchi at the opposite shop suddenly spoke. Seokmin smiled at her, and since his food was still not here, decided to entertain her for a bit. Unless they were as scary as the peach lady, he actually likes ajummas. They were very entertaining and reminds him of his own grandmothers and how noisy they were whenever they meet.

‘Sending a friend.’

‘A special friend? Omega?’ She replied teasingly, making the alpha blushed. ‘Aigoo, you’re so cute! I can smell it on you. A girl? A boy?’

Just then another one joined them, standing near the kimchi stall. They were laughing at his embarrassed reaction, trying to guess which one. Apparently they knew a lot of omegas judging from the names they were spitting.

Right on time to save him from this awkward situation, his food arrived with the old man patting his shoulders and giving him a look of pity before returning back inside to watch his drama. The door was halfway open so Seokmin could actually see the interior of the small shop. On the old television set, he saw the yellow figurine of some hero and smiled. That belonged to little Soonyoung, just like he told Seokmin yesterday. He was at the right shop after all.               

‘Young man. You weren’t with that Kwon kid right?’ One of the ajummas questioned him, voice particularly close, almost surprising him. Both of them were standing right next to the shop, the kimchi lady completely abandoning her post. Her friend pushed her, and the lady scolded her lightly. ‘She guessed that Lim girl, Yoonah? But the scent is definitely that Kwon kid right?’

Seokmin cleared his throat. They were too close for comfort, it was getting too personal. Their scents should not be that distinct even after sleeping together, and would disappear in less than a day, unlike bonding where their scents would mix and linger for life. These ladies were probably just shooting in the dark but the fact this one guessed correctly kind of creeping Seokmin a bit.

They were just as persistent as peach ajumma and Seokmin decided telling them the truth will make them leave him. He didn’t want to lie by just saying some random name, afraid that these ladies might be from that household. ‘Yes, Kwon kid.’ He flashed a forced smile and pretended to look at his watch to show that he was in a rush.

‘Omo… you poor thing. That, that Kwon kid. You should watch out.’ The lady invited herself on the chair opposite the alpha, and her friend stood behind her, nodding. ‘He might be like his eomma.’

‘His mom?’ Seokmin knew he should not listen to this housewife gossips because they were obviously going to say something bad about his fox, but they were already determined to tell him something and he was not rude enough to just walk away, whats more before finishing his meal.

‘Yes,’ the other lady started to whisper. ‘His mom was an omega lover.’

‘She left her hus-’ Both of them abruptly stood up when the old man got out of his shop and cleared his throat. He gave them the stare and both the lady returned to their own stalls.

‘Don’t listen to them. Kwon is a good kid. He might be a bit hard to handle but he is not his parents.’ Seokmin nodded shyly and continued the last of his food in silence. ‘Take good care of him you hear me?’

‘Yea…’ The alpha bowed a little before returning to his car to start his journey back. He did not know what just happened but he was now a bit curious about Soonyoung’s parents and why the ladies warned him about the omega.

*****

After the silent dinner with all the family members - him and both his grandparents, Soonyoung locked himself in his room like he always did before he went to college. He stared at the ceiling like he had been doing for the past ten years since he started to live in this house.

It was too quiet. He had nothing to do. How did he managed to live here all this time?

The silence was killing him and he started to distract himself by recalling the fun trip he had until yesterday.  The trip was one day longer than his heat just to make sure he was truly done, and thankfully he was, so they had one extra to spend at the house. They went fishing like they originally planned and Soonyoung managed to catch lots of fish, although only small ones. All the while, Seokmin kept trying to catch the fish by hand after they challenged each other to a competition. Obviously Soonyoung won, as expected.

Soonyoung frowned. What he felt for Seokmin, was that his real feelings? Or was that just his intuition as an omega, attaching himself to an alpha during heat for comfort and security?

If that was true, then he was only acting like any normal omega would. He would still be like that even if it was not Seokmin who was with him. He would still crave to be touched because he was programmed to do so.

What he had with Wonwoo though, he was sure that was real. But what he had with Seokmin, that was only instinctive.

Was that why his mom mated with his dad in the first place too? Out of instinct instead of love? Was that why they didn’t work out?

If that was the case, then Soonyoung was determined not to make the same mistake. He was not his mom, and he will never be.

To be continued….

The story suddenly turned a bit dark ^^;;  And Hoshi’s really confused! I actually planned not to mention Hoshi’s lover’s name but since it was obvious who he was, and I can’t keep on calling him Mr. Deep Voice, and their relationship is also confusing for me to call him Hoshi’s lover, or boyfriend. Which was why I decided it was better to just say Wonwoo instead. Lol.

Do you wanna guess what happened with Hoshi’s mom? I don’t know if it’s obvious enough in this chapter but I plan to reveal it in the next so have fun theorizing!

As always, thank you for you comments and love!! <3<3 Will be sure to reply to your comments later!