So.

Mino is positive he's ed up big time.

That fine line, invisible to eyes, both and mind, the one that matters the most, he ing crossed it. He knew he'd done it when he felt the silence Seungyoon had left behind so oppressive that Mino escaped the studio as soon as Seungyoon had gone.

It's insane how Seungyoon's haunting silence can encroach him. He wonders if he can fix this up.

He wonders and wonders and wonders until he actually wonders it aloud in front of Seunghoon, "How do you say sorry."

Seunghoon blinks, his face illuminated with a white glow from his phone as he sprawls across the couch. "You... just say 'sorry'?"

Mino grimaces, "Great answer but not helpful." Then he drapes himself over Seunghoon's side on the couch.

"Gimme a break. I don't know the context here."

Mino hums, contemplating. Might as well spill it out. Seunghoon is many things, but he's not an about dynamics. There's a reason why Betas like hanging out with Seunghoon, after all.

It's not as though Seunghoon isn't proud to be an Alpha. It's just that he doesn't flaunt it openly.

"Hyung, how well do you understand Omegas?"

Seunghoon stops typing on his phone. "This is about Seungyoon, isn't it."

"How did you reach to that conclusion?" Mino feigns oblivious. "I mean, I know the number of male Omega students on our campus is quite small, but there are others. Other than Seungyoon. I think there's one guy  from the music department—"

"You said 'male Omega'." Seunghoon is undeterred by Mino's rambling.

Mino gasps. "Apparently, I did. Did I?"

"It's adorable that you don't even realize how frigging drawn you are towards him." Seunghoon huffs a laugh.

"Answer my question, hyung." Mino pouts.

"You're lucky that I'm generous and fabulous," Seunghoon smirks, shoving a thumb into his own chest in proud. Mino rolls his eyes. Seunghoon carries on, "To answer your question, nope, not really. I practically have zero knowledge on Omegas apart from what the Internet provides."

"You shouldn't be proud of it." Mino frowns. "How can you not know them, I mean, you're a people pleaser. People hang out with you all the time."

"I'm an Alpha. Male Omegas generally don't like hanging out with people like me. People like us." Seunghoon levels him with a look like he just uttered the understatement of the year.

It's probably true in this case because yeah... That makes sense.

"But Seungyoon hangs out with us," Mino points out.

"Hang out with you, you mean," Seunghoon emphasizes. "Seungyoon probably doesn't give a about dynamics, but that doesn't mean that he can ignore his Omega instincts."

"Like he has to wear a collar most of the time? Wearing his sweater, even though it's ing hot?"

"Not to say that I agree with the ancient tradition, but the collar is meant to protect their scent gland from getting bitten. It's a necessary measure because the marking bite should be only given with their consent. Otherwise, that's simply a ," Seunghoon explains. Then adds, "Courtesy of Wikipedia—all hail Hydra, eh, I mean, the Internet."

Mino hums.

"Well, I don't know about his sweater, though." Seunghoon shrugs. "That's just probably him."

Mino's brain turns its gear after the brief explanation. Fine, he can accept the collar. Doesn't mean he has to like it, though. The sweater remains a bother to him. Maybe he should ask Seungyoon himself.

Yeah, he can do that. After he gets past the awkwardness. Yep, that.

"Wanna get out?" Seunghoon suggests, patting Mino's thigh. "No use to dwell on that since we have no clue here."

"How about Jinu-hyung?"

Seunghoon checks his phone. "He got the closing shift tonight. So I've got time till... 3, I think? Don't worry, he'll text me."

"...Fine."

...

The club is especially loud that night. The music booms noisily. The dance floor is crowded. People are bathed in neon lights, mainly dominated by green. Seunghoon rocks the dance floor with his impressive moves while Mino nurses his beer at the round table.

A server comes by his table to clean up the empty bottles. Mino glances at him. A Beta, perhaps. He looks so young, with that messy, bleached hair. Like he shouldn't be here.

Mino looks away. None of his business anyway.

Another crazy twist from Seunghoon on the dance floor, and the crowd cheers. Mino chuckles to himself, amused. Seunghoon whoops at him. Mino raises his beer in acknowledgement.

Out of nowhere, a guy in a dark jacket drops into a seat across the table. Surprised, Mino blinks at him. The light is too dimmed for Mino to recognize the face, but he can make out the shape of a grin.

"Hi," the guy says.

Mino blinks again. "...hi?"

"Alone?"

"No, with a friend." Mino points at Seunghoon on the dance floor.

"Wow, he's got moves, alright," the guy whistles. "Just a 'friend', though?"

Huh, Mino gets the message between the lines—this guy wants to get some. And really, who is Mino to refuse the offer? He smirks. "He's basically a family to me. Plus, he's got eyes on someone else. You, on the other hand, how about you?"

The guy mirrors Mino's smirk. "Alone. Wouldn't say no to a good company, though."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Should we go to the back alley?"

"Eager, aren't we." Mino raises a suggestive brow.

The guy slides out of the stool. "Don't want to have my prey gotten snatched away, that's all."

"Wow, prey. Edgy, much?"

"You have no idea, babe."

For some reason, Mino catches a glint in his eyes, but he chalks it up to the atmosphere they're having at the moment. Mino follows him out and into the night air.

The remnant of the hot day still lingers. The back alley is poorly illuminated with the light from the door. It's more than enough for a brief fun, though. A simple needs no good lighting, anyway.

Mino skips to the asphalt. He turns around with a playful grin, only catch a faint blur of a fist flying in his direction, and Mino jumps back in the nick of time.

"The ?!" Mino staggers backwards as not to double over from the sudden shift in his balance.

"No hard feeling, baby, but I've gotta punch some senses into your skull." And the guy throws another punch.

Mino manages to grab the flying fist and locks it in his clutch, tight. The guy attempts a hook at Mino's chin. Mino avoids it with a hair's breadth. He punches the guy square in the jaw, strong enough to make the guy hiss in pain.

Angered, the guy knees him in the gut. A breath knocks out of Mino from the impact. He barely sees a punch before it lands on the side of his face. The impact rattles his skull. Pain blooms across his head. Mino is blinded for a moment, and he doubles over on the ground.

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter