Everyone was looking at him weird. They were grinning mischievously the moment Soonyoung stepped on the bus but Seokmin asked him to ignore them. How could he ignore them when even the guy in front of them was peaking in between the seat, revealing his small eyes. ‘You like muscles?’

‘Yah! Stop it Jooheon-hyung!’ Seokmin suddenly screamed and the other laughed. That was the first time he heard their voices. They had been whispering since he first arrived. ‘Why are you guys acting like this?’

‘My muscles’ the biggest. Wanna see?’ Wonho suddenly stood up and was about to lift of his shirt before Seokmin ran and stopped him. Soonyoung could only stare at them, baffled by the whole scene. He looked around, trying to distract himself before his eyes interlocked with the beautiful girl he saw at the café way back. She was smiling back at him and Soonyoung bowed lightly. ‘You gay?’

‘Noona! Why are you guys like this??! Stop! He’s scared!’

‘We’re just excited to see a new face. Mianhae Soonyoung-ah.’ Hani apologized and Soonyoung felt a light pat on his head. He looked up to see the man in front of him smiling sweetly, revealing his dimples. ‘I’m Jooheon. Muscle guy’s Wonho. Nice to meet you uri Soonyoung-ie. We have the same eyes.’

Exhaling deeply, Seokmin finally returned to his seat and everyone continued to introduce themselves. It seemed that besides Soonyoung, everyone else was a part of the team, some as cheerleaders. Suddenly realizing the fact that he would be left alone at the bench while everyone plays and cheers, his eyes widened. ‘They’re not gonna cheer today. Just relax.’ Seokmin put his palm on the omega’s eyelid to close them. ‘We need energy to play. Let’s sleep.’

‘Sleep?’

‘Minki-hyung’s gonna start playing games with people still awake. You better close your eyes.’

True to his words, someone started to clap his hands and ran towards the front of the bus. Soonyoung shut his eyes as tight as he could. Everyone was as hyperactive as Bam Bam. He wondered how Seokmin could stand being with them for so long. He would’ve run away the first few minutes.

*****

As stupid as they seemed back in the bus, everyone looked really cool playing basketball. Soonyoung learnt their names and positions, as well as the rules from Hani and the others, and in no time, he could enjoy the games with the team. As promised, Seokmin gave him the team’s jacket so he blended really well with the rest of the supporters. He also got a plastic balloon stick from the one of the girls that they used to clap and make exaggerated movements with.

‘Shoot! Shoot! Awhh…’ He sighed when the alphas missed the two-pointer, failing to break the current tie.

‘Gwenchana Lee Seokmin!’ Soonyoung looked around to find the owner of the voice. It wasn’t one of the girls. Glancing quickly through the crowd, he caught a glimpse of someone familiar. Choi Yuna, that cheerleader. What was she doing here? Her team wasn’t even playing! What was with the overly excited cheer? Jeez.

‘Lee Seokmin! GANBARE!’ He screamed back, knowing fully well the alpha’s fondness towards Japanese culture. He saw a slight smile and smirked. He won.

*****

The game finally ended with a last-minute two-pointer from Jooheon and Soonyoung jumped with joy with all the other supporters. That was really a close one, the other team was really aggressive. Seokmin hurt himself in the middle of the game so he wasn’t as agile. He switched position with the larger senior mid-game, which was the best decision. They won the semi-final. Another match to go.

Soonyoung really wanted to join them again if it was out of town. The venue will only be decided one with the other team so there was a 50-50 chance it would be at their own court. If it comes to that, Soonyoung would not go. Hopefully it would be in another province.

Everyone was heading back towards the bench for a quick rest before shower, Seokmin was walking slowly behind. The alpha waved at someone with his bright smile and he trailed those gaze back to the high ponytail. Choi Yuna.

He was making his way straight to Soonyoung though, who was waiting to hand him a towel. Smiling happily, the omega put his hand back on his lap when the alpha was stopped by the cheerleader who handed him a bottled water. They chatted for a while, him peeking towards the omega sometimes before continuing to give his attention towards the girl. Everybody else was leaving to grab some food but somehow Soonyoung decided to stay. He didn’t know the others that well to be spending the whole time with them anyway. Might as well wait for the stupid-face, no matter how long it takes. Hopefully not too long.

Soonyoung traced the floor with his feet, bored to death. He looked up towards the pair, they were still talking except she now had her hand on his upper arm, gently rubbing it. Soonyoung frowned. That was so inappropriate.

Seokmin lift that particular hand and rubbed the back of his neck, she had to pull her hand back as a result. The male peeked back at Soonyoung who glared at the pair. Realizing his own action, the omega quickly looked away. Seokmin smiled softly and excused himself.

The sitting man started to panic seeing Seokmin heading towards him. He needed to look busy. Because he did not care. Taking out his phone, he started to play snakes. ‘Did you enjoy the game?’

‘It was fun.’ He answered monotonously, not looking up towards Seokmin. The latter laughed, amused at the pretense. He was obviously the most excited amongst their supporters, screaming each of the members’ names like they were in a concert or some sort. It was so out-of-place, yet so refreshing to hear.

‘Dokyeom-ah! I’m going now…’ The girl called back at Seokmin and Soonyoung slightly tensed up. However, the alpha only waved back and thanked Yuna for coming to support them, not bothering to converse further. Soonyoung glanced at the girl who bore a slight disappointed look. He felt a bit bad about it, but mostly, he was pleased.

‘You thirsty?’

‘A bit. Yeah.’ Soonyoung was about to take out his own bottled water he always carry around out of habit but before he could do so, the alpha already offered to buy them some light meal with soda. Not really wanting to reject the offer, but feeling a bit guilty for making the other do all the work despite his injured condition, he stood up to go together but was pushed back down. ‘Just stay here. And here. Play something better than snakes.’ Seokmin passed his phone. Soonyoung pretended like he was annoyed.

Soonyoung stared at the man’s disappearing back, still feeling like he needed to buy them something instead but shook the feeling away. He might get lost. He didn’t know where everyone was buying those fries and stuffs. They must’ve been here before. Finally unlocking the phone, he noticed the wallpaper of the smartphone. It was his failed selfie. It would be creepy if it was someone else, but he found himself blushing.

‘Owh . Sorry! Hope you don’t mind me making that the wallpaper.’ He flinched at the sudden voice of the alpha from behind him. The man returned with their food in separate bags. Soonyoung cleared his throat and passed the phone back to the owner. ‘It’s kinda embarassiing. I don’t look good.’

‘That was the cutest one. You really went all out with the selfies.’

‘I was bored.’

‘You .’

Soonyoung pouted a bit and took out his own phone. ‘You guys don’t have the back mirror. How do you even take a selfie? Smartphones are hard.’

‘Pfft… Are you serious??’ Seokmin chuckled bemused, slightly triggering the omega who had a passion with selfies. He was good at taking selfies. He was skilled. That was rude. ‘Come here. Lemme show you.’ Seokmin turned to the front camera, surprising the omega. Bursting in laughter, much to the latter’s embarrassment, Seokmin took a selfie together.

‘Nobody told me about the front camera.’ Seokmin laid down on his back, not even trying to stop his giggles before hearing some footsteps coming closer towards them.

‘Kwon right?’ Soonyoung looked up at the owner of the voice, feeling like running away the moment their eyes met. He flashed a forced smile, wanting to pretend they didn’t know each other but that was impossible, not when Seokmin had heard her calling his name. She bowed lightly to the alpha before taking her position in front of Soonyoung, wanting to say more than a hello it seemed. ‘You’re a part of the team too? Congratulations by the way.’ She added to Seokmin who only smiled in response.

‘Ani… I’m a supporter. My…friend…’ He swallowed the last word, not confident enough with the term.

‘Teammate. He’s not feeling well lately so he couldn’t play.’ Seokmin lied, catching him off guard. She nodded before turning her attention back to the omega, him back to her but he could swear he saw some change in the alpha’s expression. Somehow he didn’t like it.

‘Owh! That’s a shame! I might never get a chance to see you play then! Unless our team play against each other again…’ She commented with a pity smile, sincere smile, the one she always show Soonyoung back when they were young before looking behind her towards her leaving team. ‘Owh gotta go! Nice meeting you, Soonyoung!! Would’ve been good if we can talk longer…’

‘Yeah. Same, Yerin.’

‘Bye then!’ She hopped up the bench towards the stairs, waving at him while making her way out. Soonyoung waved back shyly. Everything went silent.

‘We should go too.’

‘Y-yeah.’ Soonyoung agreed, wondering why the alpha didn’t ask anything about the omega girl just now. Of course, he could just not have any interest, but he did lie to her for him. Wasn’t he at least a bit curious? Either way, he was thankful the alpha didn’t pry further. It wasn’t something he like to share with others. His only concern was whether the words about him being out with an alpha will get out to his grandfather.

The ride back was silent, minus a few chitchats by the ladies and a few supporters. Most players, including Seokmin, had their eyes closed due to exhaustion. Soonyoung stared at the headliner of the bus, worrying about his unexpected meeting but decided it was out of his control. Yerin was not the problem - she was one of those people who wanted to be friends with him. Her mother was. He could just pray for the best. Turning his face towards the alpha, he closed his eyes to free himself from the thoughts. The journey took another hour and a half, he might as well sleep in this silent atmosphere.

‘Hey hey hey! Let’s party!!’ Mink draped his arm around Soonyoung’s shoulders, excitedly pulling him toward the other members. Not really knowing anyone beside Seokmin, the omega looked back at the man who was making his way out of the bus. ‘Dokyeom-ah!’ The raven-hair senior made a drinking gesture with a clicking sound.

‘I’m gonna pass today… My knee’s killing me.’ He replied, pulling his duffle bag, ‘Sorry. Have fun!!’

‘Really? Okay. You’ve worked hard! Rest well!’ Soonyoung was about to walk towards Seokmin before the beta senior pulled him back. ‘You’re joining us.’

‘I have morning class…’

‘Tomorrow’s Sunday cutie.’ He winked. Soonyoung looked away.

‘I meant, part-time job.’ Owh how he just wanted to go back right now. Some people are just so persistent. He wasn’t the type to mingle with strangers, this was not his league. Staring helplessly back at the alpha, he pouted.

‘Soonyoung can’t drink. He’s a bad drunk.’

‘I can’t drink. I’m a bad drunk.’ He repeated what the alpha said, pulled the hand away from his shoulders and smiled sheepishly before making his way to the latter. ‘Have fun. Congratulations!’

‘Thanks.’ He whispered to Seokmin and the man grinned back.

‘I’m too tired to handle them today too. They can be troublesome when drunk.’ He whispered back and Soonyoung nodded softly, feeling attacked personally by the statement. They were walking together toward the bus stop.

‘Does it hurts? Your knee?’

‘It’s just a sprain. It’ll hurt more tomorrow.’ Seokmin laughed while the omega frowned, knowing really well how that feels like. ‘You wanna drink?’

‘I’ll throw up again.’

‘Don’t get drunk then.’

‘Why drink then?’

‘Bonding time Soonyoung. Friends drink together.’ Soonyoung mouthed an ‘O’, nodding his head while walking beside the alpha. He didn’t know any good place so he could only follow. They ended up in a simple street stall owned by an old lady. ‘Ahjumma! One soju and two beers!’

‘Why one?’

‘You can’t handle soju. Don’t even try.’ Soonyoung pouted as the other laughed. Somehow, his laughter was not as bright.

‘You okay?’ He asked away, thanking the lady who brought their alcohols. Seokmin only gave him a weird look before drinking his beer straight from the can. ‘Yah! Put that down! We should do a geonbae!’

‘Ommo. Too late!’ Soonyoung took the can away before pouring it into the glass. Seokmin took the other can and started drinking. ‘Yah!’

‘Well then. Too late for cheers now.’ The omega let his jaws hang in disbelief and squinted his already small eyes. Seokmin pushed it back up before handing him the glass. ‘Let’s just drink. No formality.’

‘Can I order some food? I wanna eat ramen.’ He in his runny nose and moved his mouth around quickly for relief. ‘Hot food during winter!’

‘It’s still autumn.’

‘You talk too much.’ Seokmin grinned at the sudden aggressiveness of the omega. Always like that when it comes to food. The slightly shorter male order two portions without asking the other and basically shrieked in excitement when the food arrived, which was a bit silly. ‘You look like you never had ramen before.’

‘Not in this kind of place. This is so cool! Like in the dramas.’ Soonyoung stuffed his mouth with it right away, screaming in pain as the hot soup burned his tongue. ‘HOTTT!’

‘Calm down. The ramen won’t go anywhere.’ The alpha took a sip and look around the place. In the dramas? Cool? This was the most typical place to have alcohol. Most school students had their first taste of the poison at this kind of stalls. During their high school days, his friends and he always hang out at the nearby ahjumma stalls for the cheap food and soju since the old lady didn’t mind them being underage.

‘Aahhh this is delicious!’ Seokmin took a slurp and nodded. It was not bad. Delicious? Meh.

‘You’re so over-reacting!’

‘I’m feeling the atmosphere. We’re like the bros in those dramas.’ Bros… Seokmin cleared his throat and ate his ramen without any words. Realizing the sudden tense mood, the omega laughed stiffly, ‘I mean… I always wanted to experience something like this. Ha. Ha. Ha.’

‘Where do you usually drink with your pals then?’

Soonyoung forced a smile and looked towards other customers, ‘I never drink with my ‘pals’. The dance team always drink at BBQ restaurants.’

‘Owh…’ Seokmin cursed inside. He remembered the omega talking about that during their trip. That was so uncalled for. ‘Soonyoung-ah. That-‘

‘It’s okay. I’m experiencing it right now. It’s nice. Let’s geonbae.’ The medic student clicked their cans together and took a big gulp, so did the dancer. ‘Ahjumma! Two more beers!’

‘Yah! You can’t drink another can!’

‘What’re are you talking about? I’m still good. One more?’

‘Once you start to turn red, you stop.’

‘Yea…’ Soonyoung mocked him and continued eating his ramen. ‘Uhmm!! SO GOOD!’

‘Better than that ahjusshi’s? The one at the corner? His ramen was ‘out-of-this-world’’ Seokmin used the exact word the omega used to describe the taste of his favourite hometown ramen place. The other shook his head, making a discontent face, ‘Ahjusshi’s the best!’

Seokmin laughed at that cute gesture. ‘Yeah. You’re right. It was good.’

‘You went there?’

‘Yup.’ He opened the newly arrived can. Recalling the interesting meeting with the local ladies, he decided to tell them to lighten the mood. ‘The ahjummas’ are scary though. I had to run away from them. Twice. Once while carrying the box of peaches. Another while eating ahjusshi’s ramen.’

‘Really? Did they say anything?’

‘Nothing important. They just seemed like they knew everyth-‘ Seokmin remembered what one of them was trying to say about the Kwons before the old man stopped her. Looking up towards the omega, he noticed the tensed jaw. ‘You must know everyone in your town right?’ He tried to change the subject.

‘Yeah. Everyone knew each other. Everything about each other.’

‘Seems like a good town to me.’ He decided to end the conversation with that. Soonyoung didn’t seem pleased at the mention of his town. ‘I didn’t even know my neighbours. Hehe.’

‘Isn’t that better? They won’t treat you any different because of what your parents did then.’

‘Soonyoung. I didn’t mean,’

‘I couldn’t be friends with alphas and betas because they’d say I’m myself. I couldn’t be friends with omegas because those ahjummas were afraid I’d try to have a forbidden relationship with them. I-‘

Seokmin frowned, he never expected something like this to have happened to this ball of sunshine. Granted, the man was always along and always seemed awkward with other people, but he was also warm and fun with the team members during his off time. Now that he thought of it, Soonyoung never really talk about other people when they were on the phone. In private, does he even have other friends? ‘Soonyoung-ah… you’re here now. You have friends...’

‘I wanna go to karaoke too! I wanna drink and smoke behind my grandparent’s back too! I wan- I’m sorry.’ He wiped his teary eyes and drank the broth straight from the bowl. ‘Ahjumma! One more ramen!’

‘You okay?’

‘Yeah. Sure. Let’s celebrate! Congratulations! Yay!’ Soonyoung raised his can for another toast but Seokmin was not buying it. He really felt bad for bringing up the man’s hometown. He should have noticed his reluctance to touch on the subject all this while.

‘I’ll make a toast for your freedom then. You’re now free to make lots of friends!’ He clicked their cans together but could notice the few moments of reluctance of the other before he quickly forced another smile. ‘Why the face?’

‘Nothing. The beer’s a bit bitter.’

‘Soonyoung…’ he sighed. He really wanted to know what he did wrong so he wouldn’t have to make it again. The man never told anything this private to him, Seokmin didn’t want this to end in misunderstanding. He wanted to know everything, even if it was the not so fun childhood of the omega. ‘I’m your friend. Friend tell each other everything.’

‘No they don’t.’

‘Best friends do. We’re best friends right? Bros?’ He cringed inward just saying those words. He didn’t want to be best friends or bros with the omega but they need a label. A lover was already someone else’s. Seokmin wanted to be the next best thing.

‘You’ll think I’m weird. I just think too much, it’s nothing. Really. Let’s finish eating. You need to rest.’ The alpha sighed, he didn’t know if he wanted to force the man to say it or just let him keep it to himself. He didn’t want Soonyoung to bear all the sadness alone when he could share it. Seokmin might be able to lessen his pain. Resting his hand on the other’s head, he gently rubbed it before returning it to his can. ‘I-… The girl we just met…’

‘The girl? At the court?’

‘Her mom hates me. She’s nice but her mom hates me. If she knew I was with an alpha she’d tell everyone and- My harabeoji’ll know. I-‘

‘If she tell her mom then she’s not that nice after all right?’

‘But my harabeoji…’

‘He’ll be glad you finally made friends.’

‘You don’t know him.’

‘But you love him. So I think he’s a reasonable person. Or you can just run away from home and stay with me. We’ll get married and shove it in his face.’ Seokmin grinned brightly and felt a force straight to the face, pushing his head backwards.

‘YAH! That was a stupid suggestion!’

‘Revenge is best served raw.’

‘What’s raw about that?’

‘We’ll give him babies. Raw meat.’

‘YAAAH!’ Soonyoung rubbed his runny nose with the tissue and almost threw it at the alpha for trying to make another ‘innocent’ dirty joke. Seokmin messed with his hair instead, somehow finally feeling relieved that the man was now sincerely laughing. He would like this to happen often. It seemed that Soonyoung would only open up like this with alcohol. Like during their barbeque at the trip. Either this, or he goes wild and seduce the alpha.

Either way, Seokmin gain something.

He should invite the man for drinks more often.

To be continued….

Hoshi finally shared his childhood story with someone! Just FYI, this was his first time telling someone else about it. He was always afraid of rejection because of his imperfect past but our Dokyeom was just so understanding he felt really comfortable ^^

More to come but I’ll need some time to think of the storyline so I don’t drift away again. Lol. I just moved to a new place so I need more time to unpack before starting to write again. I’ll try my best though! *Bows apologetically.*

Anyways as always, please do comment to show your support ^^ I really appreaciate it! Love you guys so much!!!!