If time was used as a comparable constant of measurement, then one’s plans never seemed to travel as fast as its natural predator: change. Unexpected occurrences were bound to happen, except some were much worse than others.

Despite this natural occurrence, many still refused to accept this concept. Others ignorantly believed that their human defenses are strong enough to battle against unforeseen events. Xiumin was unfortunately… one of them.

Xiumin never thought his first heat was going to hit him so early in the middle of nowhere. The tales of cruelty told in scathing tones by the older omegas only made him all the more petrified. The solid foundations of the ABO hierarchy were so deeply woven into the fabric of their society that he knew he was only going to be another broken creature who suffered in silence. 

An entity like himself who did not belong to the hegemonic classes had no right to protection. Hermeneutic injustice was almost like a key ingredient that went into the making of this world. After all, if marital was seen as a rare honour bestowed upon the omega, then it would be impossible for an assault to be deemed as a crime.

Xiumin’s best option was to be claimed by a bypassing alpha who might at least keep him as his second or third child bearer. 

And as we said, unexpected occurrences were bound to happen, except some are much worse than others. In other words, some turn out to be quite a pleasant surprise.

After all, the omega certainly wasn’t expecting someone to take him to a hotel and do…..

Well, nothing. Absolutely nothing except for pass out on the couch.

He now had nothing but pure respect for the man in front of him. 

‘What self-control he has’ thought Xiumin, ‘I wonder if he’s a purebred Alpha’. 

However, now that Xiumin thought about it, this person was certainly strange. When he had secretly taken a sniff whilst the other was asleep, he couldn’t smell anything. What was even more weird was that the man wanted to be addressed by his supposedly first name and not ‘Alpha’.

“S-sehun. I’ll do anything to repay your kindness.”

There was a long pause before he received an answer, “Really?”

“Y-yes.” The man’s questioning tone suddenly filled Xiumin with great unease. A rush of norepinephrine pumped through his blood, stimulating a fear response from the amygdala. Xiumin’s elaborate imagination of a sadistic Alpha did nothing to help comfort his weak mind. 

“Tell me where Clevery St is. I want to go home.”

Xiumin’s anxiety disappeared as quickly as it came, only to be replaced with even more profound confusion. 

“Uh, S-sehun. We don’t have a street named Clevery.”

“We do. I’ve lived there for six years already.” 

“Um. Maybe your house is on Street 1 to 8. I-I-I don’t know the names of any of those streets. I-It’s probably there.”

“Why?”

“A-all the Alphas live there. A-aren’t you an A-alpha, S-sehun?”

* * * * *

Memory was such a mystifying creation of the human mind, they were like snapshots of life stored so neatly in rolls of film tapes. They served as reminders of one’s existence and for self validation. 

It is  the undefinable variables that conjure the core of the human spirit which makes the mind unconstrained to any forms of methodological formulas or numbers. Sometimes, no matter how hard one tries to remember something, the shattered pieces of flashbacks never seem to tie seamlessly back together. Other times, one could simply skim the car plate in front of them and be able to recall it for weeks to come. Humans tended to remember the disturbing things, the frightening ones, the life changing milestones, or in other words, the unforgettable moments of their existence. However, for Sehun, his placid lifestyle left minimal room for earthshaking surprises, so for some reason his ‘unforgettable moments’ somehow came in the form of his incredibly annoying colleague Chen.

If Sehun was ever in the showbiz business, he would definitely give Chen his own television series for it would be guaranteed to be a bigger hit than the Big Bang Theory and last longer than Home and Away. Unfortunately, Sehun somehow found himself being the co-star to the eventful episodes of ‘Chen’s reality show’. Out of these, one of the most characteristic episodes had to be the magazine.

If there was one thing that could still send shivers up Sehun’s spine, it was his memory of that particular working day.

* * *

“Hey Sehun. Sehun. Sehun. Sehun!”

“I have told you many times that one time will suffice.”

“Aw come on! It’s not my fault you rarely listen to me when I call your name once. You should really ditch that cold facade of yours and start spicing up your personality Sehun. Sehun. Sehun.”

“Don’t forget my position in the company is by no means lower than yours. But anyways, go ahead and come at me.”

*Smack* A crisp clean sound resounded throughout the office floor followed by a cry of pain.

“Excuse me, Chen. Under what proviso were you allowed to hit me?”

“What? You were the one who said ‘come at me’ a few seconds ago. And since you just so wonderfully reminded me of your manager position, I obviously couldn’t refuse such a blatant order.”

Sigh. This was why Sehun preferred to stick to his usual way of things.

“I meant come at me with the details of what you wanted to tell me. You just told me to spice up my personality or else you’ll keep calling my name three times each time we met. God damn It!”

“Oh wow, calm down there iceberg! That’s the first time you’ve ever come close to shouting. Oh my sehun, sehun, sehun, I knew my magic would work sooner or later. But, I mean, I never thought someone like you would, uh, ya know, talk slang. Anyways, back to the topic. Look at this! I got it when it was on sale. I know you’ll love it too!”

Glancing over Sehun saw a magazine with the title ABO written at the top. He wasn’t really surprised considering this was Chen so he turned back to face the papers in front of him.Chen’s long and passionate lecture went in through one ear and out the other.

(Okay, so perhaps that particular incident was so unforgettable not because of the magazine but because he got hit and Sehun planned to keep this secret to himself for the rest of his life.)

* * *

“A-aren’t you an alpha Sehun?”

Sehun didn’t think he had ever been this slow at coming to terms with something in his life.

Alpha: it was a rank not a name.

And Sehun also didn’t think he would ever regret not listening to Chen’s lecture on the whole ABO concept because now Sehun has no idea what the whole thing is about. He only remembers a few small snippets of his colleague’s long lecture.

“W-wait. Xiumin. Okay. Just forget about my previous question. I have another one. Just um… you know tell…. No, remi-.... No, clarify with me the uh… ranks again?”

“O-of course Sehun. The three ranks are alpha, beta and omega.”

“Oh god Sehun. Did you know only around 10% of the entire population are alphas? 20% are omegas and 70% are betas. Alphas at the top of the hierarchy, then betas and finally ya got ya omegas. Alpha to omega ratio is 1:2! Damn! Those bloody apex predators have even got their love life sorted.” Sehun briefly remembers Chen saying.

“Right. So do you think I look like an Alpha Xiumin?”

“O-of course. ”

* * *

Now most people would gladly declare themselves as an alpha just thinking about the benefits they would get from the rank. Easier job opportunities, more money, more power and just more everything. But Sehun’s not really what you would call ‘normal’.

Sehun immediately knew that with great power comes great responsibility, and he also knew he wasn’t ready to take on the role. All Sehun needed for now was an unsuspicious identity so he could lay low and figure out whether this was some huge-scale prank.

And what better way to keep a low profile than to belong to majority?

* * *

“Hey Xiumin. What if I said I was a beta?”

“O-o-oh my god. I am so sorry B-beta Sehun for not r-realising earlier. I-i-i-i…. Um, I’m so sorry. P-please forgive me. I didn’t mean to disrespect…. I don’t… I….”

Okay…. thought Sehun. That was not the reaction he had been expecting. Clearly the ranks were more clear cut than he expected.

“It’s okay Xiumin. You don’t have to get formal with me. I should say sorry for not telling you earlier. Anyways, uh… I may have a favour I need to ask you.”

“O-of course Sehun. What is it?”

“You see. Yesterday night, I was kind of drunk and you um… seemed even more drunk than I was so I just booked this suite to put a roof over our heads but you see… um.. I might have left my wallet at the bar. I also don’t have a home anymore.”

“Anymore?”

‘Well no ’, thought Sehun finally starting to get a bit sick of the current situation. ‘You were the one who told me there’s no such thing as Clevery St so there goes my apartment. I even kind of miss Chen now.’

Clearing his throat, Sehun said, “Well you see things are a bit complicated right now….”

“No problem Sehun! I’ve got enough money to pay another week’s stay here. B-but y-you might have to d-downgrade to a standard room. I-I d-don’t -”

“That’s fine. Thank you very much Xiumin” Sehun quickly replied.

Right Sehun. You’ve got one week to get your life sorted. Let’s get yourself a job and find yourself a new routine.

A/N

University has started so updates will be slow. Sorry! 

And thank you to everyone who has commented, upvoted and read the story! Greatly appreciated.