She groaned, resting her head at the bus’s window.

Looking down at her phone, she sighed at the number of messages from her best friend. Jung Eunbi wanted to tell her that, yes, she was aware today was the first day of their senior year and that she was supposed to be at school for the opening ceremony an hour ago. But she couldn’t because she had just run out of internet data.

“Well, isn’t this day going marvelously,” she gritted, throwing her cell phone inside the hamburger themed backpack she had gotten from her brother. Eunbi was pretty sure he meant it as a joke, but she had really liked it. “I’m sure it can’t get any better.”

The day had started good. Eunbi woke up ten minutes before her alarm rang, took a shower and prepared her lunch—two lunch boxes filled with fresh and tasty food plus a bottle of juice—in time to have breakfast with her family and leave to take the bus. Everything was going fine. That’s it, until her baby sister punched her bottle of milk off her chair. The bottle’s cap was loose, and it opened, spilling milk on the table and on Eunbi’s uniform. The baby laughed while she had a minor mental breakdown, not listening to her mother saying that she still had time. Eunbi ran up to change, but what was her surprise to see that her other uniform was currently in the washing machine.

After a lot of yelling and a silly fight with her brother, she got his old uniform and hoped it wasn’t too big for her—except it was. She didn’t have time to do anything about it, though, and just left home carrying her backpack and lunchbox. Eunbi was sure she looked ridiculous with her face flushed and droplets of sweat making her bangs stick to her forehead, but at least she was there in time for the bus, she thought as she ran to the bus stop.

The bus was indeed there. It was leaving and even if she screamed, trying to make it stop, it didn’t. There was an old lady sitting and looking at her like she was a lunatic and although Eunbi was a very polite girl, she glared at the woman and asked what she was looking at. Eunbi felt terrible seconds later as her adrenaline went down, but it was too late to apologize as the old lady entered in a bus.

Her bus arrived, fortunately, ten minutes later and she hoped, she prayed that she didn’t got stuck in traffic. Eunbi got her phone and opened the browser to see if the streets were clear, ignoring the unread messages. As she clicked on the link that said there was an accident at the main avenue, a message popped up saying that she had consumed a hundred percent of her data.

So here was she. Stuck in a bus for more than an hour, with no internet and late for her first day. Eunbi whimpered thinking of her perfect curriculum being stained by such a silly notification and how there was nothing she could do about it. She resisted the urge to bang her head on the window and hugged her backpack. “I’ll get there in time for the homeroom, I’m sure I will,” she mumbled to herself, trying her best to be calm.

As if the Universe had taken pity on her, she managed to get to school minutes before her homeroom and, after explaining her situation to the nice coordinator, Eunbi got a clean female uniform and a warning note plus the duty of cleaning the classroom for three weeks. She headed to her class as soon as she could and let her shoulders slump in relief to see Hwang Eunbi standing by the window, glowering at a short boy.

“I may be an omega, but you won’t alpha voice me, boy,” she said, unaware of the whole classroom looking at her. “This seat is Eunbi’s so walk away before I make you.”

A smile crept on her face as she walked towards them. “First day and picking fights already, Eunbi-yah?” she giggled, while her friend turned to her with a frown.

“Finally, you’re here,” the girl shooed the boy with a hand and ignored his indignant protest, taking the other’s hand and sitting her on the chair in front of her desk. “You’ve never arrived so late; what happened?”

Eunbi sighed, “this is by far the worst morning I’ve ever had, Ddin. Can you believe—”

Before she could start to describe the number of events that had happened to her, the omega’s voice was brutally interrupted by a strong, citrus scent, which took over her nostrils—no, it took over the whole class. Harsh intakes of breaths filled the classroom as everyone turned their heads to the door. Expectation grew inside her, an unknown feeling creeping on her back. There was something off, something weird about that scent. Eunbi had never felt something like that.

Their teacher opened the door. Teacher Lee Hanseul was a short, chubby man with caramel skin, who always offering smiles to his students. However, when he stepped into the class, Eunbi noticed how pale he was, face contorted in discomfort.

And behind him walked the cause of it.

“Good morning, class. We have a new student today,” he announced, placing his bag on to the table. “This is… Kim Sojung. She is a little older than you guys and I hope you can welcome her well.” The teacher didn’t spare her a glance as she stopped in front of the class. “Can you introduce yourself, Kim Sojung?”

The girl was tall, taller than Choi Yuna, one of their friends and that was saying a lot. She was wearing the uniform and her long, blonde hair fell on waves over her shoulders. Her hands carried her brown bag in front of her legs. However, her eyes—dark brown irises with a sharpness that Eunbi had never seen before, never had thought to see in her life—looked like they could kill.

What made Eunbi inhale and hold her breath, though, was the strong scent now even more present on the classroom, asserting dominance and somehow intimidating everyone, regardless of their ranks.

“She’s an alpha,” someone whispered in awe behind her and, yes, that girl right in front of them was a female alpha.

Eunbi wasn’t sure she was thinking rationally.

“Yes,” Kim Sojung’s voice resonated and even the slightest sound of a leg bouncing stopped. “I am an alpha.”

She looked stoic, making it impossible to Eunbi decipher what she was feeling at such commentary, but one thing was certain, Kim Sojung stood as tall as an empress. She looked untouchable, superior, scary.

“Nice to meet you,” Sojung started, seemingly unfazed by the wide eyes and omegas shrinking on their seats. “I’m Kim Sojung and I believe I’m older than most of you by two years. I was on a health break for a couple of years and I hope we all can get along well.” She stopped for a moment, eyes scanning the students before her. “Please, don’t… hesitate to come talk to me.”

Sojung leaned forward, bowing for a short moment and Eunbi couldn’t breathe.

“Very well… you can sit there, Sojung,” the teacher pointed to the back of the classroom, a seat near the wall. “Let’s start this year, then, students,” he said and began rambling about the responsibilities and duties seniors had, but Eunbi was sure nobody listened to it.

Not with a female alpha in their classroom.

Eunbi her lips unconsciously; the scent was slowly subsiding, but it was still there and there was nothing to take her mind off it. Female alphas were as rare as adamantium. While betas and omegas were evenly distributed between genders, it was a fact most alphas were males. There wasn’t a study on why females weren’t born alpha as often as the opposite gender, it was just how things were and people grew used to that. That being said, it was, for a fact, the first time they had ever seen one.

Sure, news appeared from time to time about female alphas, but they didn’t bring the best information. Often, female alphas were classified as ruthless, manipulative and unpredictable. The media, especially the most conservative channels that still preserved alpha, beta and omega behaviors as something unchangeable, presented female alphas as nothing less than worrisome beings that shouldn’t be treated as equals.

Eunbi never thought much about it. With Ddin as her best friend, she quickly grew attached to the idea of people being who they are regardless of rank and biology. Bad news about female alphas were just bad news and not something that should be associated with a rank. However, it was true that they weren’t common—hell, they were less than two percent of the population. Sometimes, Eunbi looked at female alphas as victims of tabloids and preconceived ideas, but it wasn’t like she had contact with one—she didn’t know how they were for real. To feel empathy for something that you know nothing about is hard.

Kim Sojung, although very impotent and slightly intimidating, looked… normal. At least that’s what Eunbi kept saying to herself, hoping to forget about the girl’s presence and trying to pay attention to class. She’s a classmate, who cares if she’s an alpha, stop thinking about it, Jung Eunbi, stop thinking about it. The omega held back a grunt and closed her eyes. Just stop.

“Pst.”

Eunbi jumped on her seat and turned around with a glare. “What is it, Ddin,” she whispered, “you almost gave me a heart attack.”

Her friend smirked. “Oh, you’re pretty jump-y, Eunbi. Is everything okay?”

“Shut—oh my God, shut up. We’re going to be scolded,” the short-haired girl hissed, turning around and facing the blackboard. The teacher, writing something, didn’t seem to have noticed them yet.

“Fine,” she could practically hear the other rolling her eyes. “Want to lunch at the rooftop today?”

“Yeah, okay, now stop talking.”

Ddin murmured something under her breath but stayed quiet for the rest of the period. Eunbi lost count of how many deep breaths she took, trying to low her heartbeats, but apart from that, the classes until lunch were uneventful.

The omega just hoped it remained like that.

The bell rang and soon enough the two of them were sitting alone on the rooftop. Students avoided the place during Fall and Winter since the wind was quite cold, but both omegas liked it a lot. Eunbi often brought a picnic towel with her to make it easier for them.

They sat down and opened their lunch boxes.

“Well, that was something,” her friend snickered. “I never thought I’d see a female alpha in my life before, let alone share homeroom with her.”

Eunbi let out a noncommittal hum.

“What? Don’t tell me you weren’t surprised. It was pretty obvious by the way you stared at her that it was damn surprising,” the girl poked her shoulder and Eunbi rolled her eyes.

“I’m not saying I wasn’t surprised, Ddin, it’s just that… I don’t really know what to say about her,” the omega stabbed her rice with her chopsticks, “it was really surprising. Female alphas are not common, for sure, but… at the same time I don’t feel like…”

“Like… what?”

Eunbi sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t know.”

Ddin quirked an eyebrow. “You seem more affected than I expected, actually.”

“What?” Eunbi winced at how high-pitched that came out. “I mean, yeah, I was surprised, but just as everyone else. Just as much as you!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” her friend scoffed. “But, really, she’s damn pretty. I’d say even gorgeous. I thought I was looking at model when she entered the classroom. Besides, she looked quite strong, don’t you think? Like, not strength strong—though, she probably is physically strong too—but I feel like she could look at anyone and make them crumble to pieces. She’s…” Ddin chuckled, “kind of scary. Even the teachers looked intimidated and she didn’t open even once.”

That was true, Eunbi thought. “They could’ve been more professional, though. I don’t say the others, but at least Teacher Lee Hanseul could’ve looked her in the eye or something. He was saying things about welcoming her properly, but he couldn’t even do it himself.”

“You’re right,” her friend agreed, mouth full of rice. “But I don’t think that she felt bad about it. If anything, she must be used to it. I mean, she sounded pretty fed up when she introduced herself—it’s like she’s done this a lot.”

“You think she sounded fed up?” Eunbi mused, settling her chopsticks down.

“Totally. Didn’t you hear the way she said the word alpha? I don’t blame her though, it must be really annoying having people look at you differently because of your rank.”

Eunbi nodded thoughtfully. To her, Sojung had sounded flat, but Ddin was probably right. After all, no one even tried to disguise their astonishment when seeing her.

“I just wonder why she was on a sick leave,” Ddin continued, munching on her food. “Two years is a lot to just be out of school.”

Before Eunbi could comment on that, the rooftop’s heavy door opened with a loud screech. They turned their heads towards it, but it wasn’t like they needed to. Eunbi inhaled the strong scent of oranges and waited for the tall figure to appear.

Kim Sojung stopped in her tracks as her eyes caught the two omegas sitting a few meters away. Eunbi felt her friend squirm on her seat, but she remained motionless. The omega felt a slight change to Sojung’s scent, as if it had become sour, but it was gone as quick as it came. It was uncomfortable, the way they caught each other’s eyes and stared unwavering for two long seconds before Sojung visibly clenched her jaw. The alpha gave them a curt nod and looked forward, walking towards the farthest spot on the rooftop—which wasn’t saying much as the area wasn’t that big.

Eunbi doesn’t know why, but she couldn’t peel her eyes off Sojung. She attentively watched as the alpha sat down with her food, back facing them, and quietly started eating. Her friend elbowed her not so lightly and hissed, “what the are you doing? Stop staring, Eunbi.”

That was probably a good idea, but… she simply couldn’t.

Eunbi swallowed, feeling the strong scent turn into something tangible under her skin. It was as if her limbs were itching, thousands of needles being softly pressed against her skin, and she just couldn’t stay still. The omega closed the lids of her lunch boxes, placed one on top of the other and grabbed her chopsticks. Ignoring the surprised gasp that the other omega let out, Eunbi stood up. Just like that, her feet moved on its own, mind blank as she made her way towards the alpha.

Ddin’s calls were muffled; Eunbi felt like she was underwater, inhaling more and more of that scent as she halted right in front of Sojung. The alpha slowly raised her head, biting on her sandwich and finally looking at Eunbi. Their eyes met and albeit Sojung looked unperturbed by Eunbi’s presence, the omega caught on a subtle change in the alpha’s scent— even if it was too small to interpret it.

“Can I help you?” Certainly, Sojung was polite and her expression didn’t show annoyance or anything of the sort, but Eunbi still had to hold the urge to take a step back. Her voice… her voice is really something else.

Wordlessly, Eunbi shook her head slowly, denying it.

Sojung’s brow slightly furrowed. “Then, why…?”

Clearing , Eunbi tried to not breathe too deeply. “I just wanted to, um…”

“She just wanted to know how you were liking the school. Eunbi is just really that caring.”

Ddin’s voice arose from behind her, startling her. The omega draped an arm around her shoulders and offered a side smile to the alpha.

With a noncommittal hum, Sojung nodded. “It’s been just a couple of hours, but I can say it’s a nice… ambience. Thank you for worrying…?”

“I’m Hwang Eunbi,” her friend helped and jerked her head towards Eunbi. “And she’s Jung Eunbi.”

Sojung raised both eyebrows. “You two have the same name?”

Ddin shrugged. “Sadly. But it’s fine, but it can be really confusing when people call us. You can just call me Ddin, though, it’s my nickname. I wanted Eunbi to call me SinB, but she insists on calling me this old —”

“That’s because I’m your childhood friend, how can I just start calling you by some artistic name like that,” Eunbi complained, lips pursing out at the mention of her refusal to use her friend’s stage name. They bickered about that subject numerous times. “Also, SinB is a really random name.”

“No, it’s not! Everyone in my dance class calls me that, you’re the only one—”

“Excuse me, girls,” Sojung interrupted them and Eunbi’s eyes widened at the small smile playing on her lips. “But I don’t think you should be wasting your lunch time on this.”

“You’re absolutely right, Sojung-ssi,” Ddin promptly laced their arms together. “We’ll let you—what are you doing, Eunbi-yah?”

The omega slowly sank to the floor, sitting on the ground and placing her lunch boxes in front of her. Eunbi’s voice was small when she spoke, “if you don’t mind… can we lunch here? It’d be weird to… be in the same place and sit so far… away.”

Eyes casted down, she could neither see the way her friend gaped nor how Sojung slowly blinked. Eunbi couldn’t see, but she could feel how awkward the atmosphere became and she was already cursing all her life choices at that moment when Sojung cleared .

“Sure, suit yourself.” Eunbi could feel the burning gaze of the alpha on her as she opened the lunch boxes’ lids and got her chopsticks. “But I don’t mind if you stay away as well, you don’t have to force yourselves—”

Ddin sat down beside her and opened , ready to answer something.

But it was Eunbi’s voice that was heard. “If we want to go away, we will, Sojung-ssi. I’m not forcing myself to anything.”

Eunbi looked up from her lunch and their eyes met. A chill ran down her spine, feeling the sharpness of Sojung’s dark eyes scan her. The way the alpha held her gaze, unwavering and silently, stirred something inside her; something that she had never felt before. Eunbi didn’t avert her eyes this time, though.

Kim Sojung chuckled.

“Do as you wish, princess.”

“Eunbi did what?” Choi Yuna screeched, stopping on the middle of the sidewalk, looking at the omega like she had grown a second head. “No way, you’re not serious. Nuh-uh. Sweet, shy and cute Jung Eunbi did not just invite herself to lunch with the school’s new alpha. New female alpha for that matter!”

Ddin cackled. “She so did!”

Eunbi could feel the headache coming.

After lunch, they returned to the classroom in silence. The other students were clearly on edge due to the alpha’s presence, but it was less because of her scent and more of because her sole existence. In fact, Eunbi suspected the alpha to be forcefully tuning down her scent, but people just couldn’t forget about her. Eunbi wouldn’t blame them, though; that would’ve been really hypocritical of her. Of course, it’s not like the omega was trying to think about Kim Sojung—the alpha’s face just popped on her mind at every ten seconds.

Lunch didn’t do anything to help it, either. They hadn’t talked after the two omegas sat down, spreading the picnic towel once again. Eating silently, the teenagers let themselves be drowned in a bordering uncomfortable mood. But it wasn’t that bad. Ddin managed to chirp in some news about Yuna and her girlfriend every now and then, and the bell rang before they could notice. Sojung didn’t make eye contact with either of them as they gathered the lunch boxes and bottles; the alpha simply followed them back to the classroom from a two-meter distance and silently headed to her desk.

The classes passed slowly and as soon as the bell rang, the omega was out of the gates in record time with the other barely tagging along—she had successfully ignored her friend’s teasing so far and Eunbi almost thought she’d be able to escape it altogether when Choi Yuna hopped towards them and she knew she was lost.

Ddin competently filled the beta in, not letting go of one single detail and Yuna’s chin was beyond the ground when the omega finished.

“Wow, Eunbi, I never thought you had it in you,” Yuna giggled and Ddin playfully elbowed the beta. Eunbi was trying her hardest to not roll her eyes to the back of her head as Yuna continued, “I have a new image of you now; you deserve all the respect. Seriously.”

There was another wave of laughter and Eunbi groaned. “Are you guys finished because I’m—”

Her complaint died on as her eyes caught on a tall figure standing by the bus stop.

“Oh my God, isn’t that Kim Sojung,” Yuna gasped.

“It really is. Is she going to take the bus? , thank god I can go home by foot—”

Listening to that, Eunbi whipped her head towards Ddin with disbelief plastered on her face. The other omega confusedly blinked at her for a few seconds before heaving a tired sigh. “what? Don’t look at me like that, Eunbi, I’m not saying she’s bad or anything,” Ddin stressed under the accusatory eyes on her. “It’s just that well—she’s still an alpha. It’s… weird.”

“You can’t be serious,” Eunbi quirked an eyebrow. “You’re friends with Bin and Eunwoo and they are both alphas—what’s suddenly weird about it?”

“They are like my brothers, Eunbi and I—I mean it’s nothing against her…”

“But it’s a little weird,” Yuna helped Ddin and smiled nervously, taking a step closer to the omega. “We’re sure she’s a nice person! But, um, I just think I’m going to keep my distance for now. Seriously, it’s not like I think she’ll jump on us or anything, it’s just that, like Ddin said—"

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” the omega scoffed. The mood suddenly tensed as she crossed her arms in front of her. “Yah, Eunbi, you were there with us, having lunch, remember? There wasn’t anything weird about it.”

The other sighed and, looking at Eunbi like she was trying to explain something stupid to a little kid, she said, “I know, I’m not saying it was. But I just feel like it’s a little uncomfortable to…"

“This is so unfair, Eunbi,” she scoffed. “She’s just—ugh, you know what, I had a bad day. A terrible day and I seriously don’t have the strength to discuss this right now,” the omega clenched her fingers around her backpack’s strap. “Get home safely you two,” Eunbi’s tone probably had more bite to it than she wished it had, but the day had been long and the teasing plus this were pushing all the wrong buttons. “See you tomorrow,” Eunbi her heels, walking towards the bus stop.

“Yah, Jung Eunbi!”

The omega ignored her friends calls and just walked forward, asking her heart to stop beating so fast. Eunbi knew she wasn’t being completely fair to them—it was a justified opinion and it was their right to keep their distance if they wanted. But Eunbi was somehow feeling sensitive about the subject. The omega didn’t think it was nice to act like that and even if her own actions were impulsive gestures and she wouldn’t have done something like that in a normal day, she still didn’t want to condone that behavior.

Her feet stopped, a couple of meters away from Sojung. The alpha had a book in hands, eyes skimming through the pages. Eunbi couldn’t see the title, but it looked like the other girl was lost in it as she didn’t acknowledge Eunbi in any way.

It’s better like this, the omega thought, I have done enough for today. Looking forward, Eunbi pushed all the unnecessary thoughts to the back of her head. She had a lot of things to do at home; she needed to check if her uniform was ready as she had to return the one she was wearing the next morning, she had to do homework and help her mother with dinner and she still had to clean her room. Yes, there was no time to be wondering about useless things—

“Eunbi-ssi?”

The omega whipped her head to the right, meeting Sojung’s dark eyes. Eunbi’s mind slowly blanked. “Uh… hi.”

“Hello,” Sojung greeted her. It felt awkward, way too polite, but—thankfully—the alpha didn’t stop there. “Taking the bus home?”

“Ah, yes, that’s right. I live far away,” she sputtered. “I mean, it’s not that far, but it’s kind of far? Far enough to get the bus,” oh my God, Eunbi, stop talking. “And, uh, and you? Is your house far?”

Maybe what was playing on Sojung’s face was a smile, but Eunbi couldn’t know if she was amused or mocking her. “Not really. I’m going to a friend’s house today. She lives on the other side of the town.”

“Oh, I see,” no, Eunbi was not disappointed. “So, you won’t usually take the bus?”

“No, I won’t. My apartment is just a few blocks away, actually.”

“I see.”

“And which bus do you take?”

“Line 9.”

“Do you usually wait a lot to get home?”

“If there isn’t a heavy traffic then no. Probably thirty minutes.”

“Do you live in a nice neighborhood?”

“Kind of? I mean, my neighbors aren’t bad, but I don’t talk much to them. Mom says they’re friendly enough though.”

“And are you usually this open about your life?”

“No—what, no, I mean, uh, what?” Eunbi stuttered, feeling the heat take over her cheeks.

Sojung chuckled lightly. “Be careful, you shouldn’t be saying so much about your life like this. What if I was a thief? Or maybe a kidnapper?”

The omega couldn’t help the way her heart skipped a beat at the breathy sound coming from Sojung. “I don’t—I don’t do this often. I don’t know what happened,” Eunbi mumbled, avoiding Sojung’s eyes.

She heard the other hum. “That’s good. Wouldn’t want anyone harming you, would we?”

Eunbi frowned, feeling something turn inside her stomach. “You’re… you’re being creepy.”

There was a pause and Eunbi turned her head to Sojung. The alpha had both eyebrows up, lips slightly open. The first thing Eunbi thought was that she had said something really uncalled for, then she started panicking.

“I mean—it’s not like I think you’re creepy or anything! It’s just that the way you phrased it—no, sorry, I know you didn’t mean any bad. Damn, what the hell is wrong with me today, I’m really—”

Her rant was swiftly broken by a loud laughed and a few claps.

Kim Sojung had her eyes closed, smile bright and hands clapping as she leaned backwards. Her blonde hair looked golden under the sunset and it moved beautifully as she so heartfully laughed. The alpha looked so stunningly beautiful that Eunbi just looked, observed as the other inhaled shortly, trying to catch her breath. The scent overflowing from her so happy and so… so soothing.

“I’m, oh my God,” Sojung laughed, “I’m so sorry. Sorry I didn’t mean to laugh so hard. It’s just that you looked so adorably cute. Heavens, you needed to see your face.”

A small pout took over Eunbi’s lips. “Stop laughing at me,” her complaint was soft, though.

“I’m really sorry,” the alpha grinned. “You’re right. That was creepy of me. I won’t do it again, promise.”

Why does this feel so weird. Eunbi nodded, arms crossing in front of her chest, not wanting to let her tough act fall. “Still, you shouldn’t laugh like that at people, it’s really rude.”

Sojung just looked at her, grin slowly reducing itself to a small smile. “I won’t, princess.”

Cheeks blushing furiously, Eunbi turned at Sojung with a loud gasp. “Stop calling me that!”

“I just can’t help it,” the alpha looked at her with playful glimmer on her eyes. “Oh, that’s my bus. See you around, Jung Eunbi-ssi.”

Eunbi murmured a good bye and watched Sojung enter the vehicle hoping her face wasn’t as red as she felt it. Really, what’s up with me today. I need to get it together.

The omega sighed, a hand carding through her short hair.

I need my bed.