In late January, Hitomi called Minjoo to deliver several servings of chicken to the usual studio. The order that started from one serving of a party meal increased to three after Hyewon forcefully stole the phone away and started to order more and more. Her uncle was astounded when Minjoo reported the delivery request to him.

It was Minjoo’s turn to be astounded when her uncle brought her a very large package box that was impossible for her to carry with only a bicycle. She was good at balancing things despite her clumsy streaks, but this was too much.

“Uncle… How am I supposed to bring them?”

Her uncle grimaced after realizing Minjoo couldn't deliver the items with a semi-broken bicycle. “You can take my car?” He offered, jabbing his thumb to his locker, where his car key was located.

“You sure?”

Her uncle playfully glared at her. “Don’t hurt my baby.”

“Alright.” Minjoo thanked him and turned around to leave with the orders. But before she could do it, her uncle stopped her.

“Change your clothes first,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “That was your girlfriend ordering, right?”

“But my shift—”

“I’ll be fine! Go have some fun with your precious Tomi!”

“Uncle!”

--

The ride to Hitomi’s studio was long. Too long. Minjoo wasn’t sure why it took so long to reach there? Was it because she hadn’t met the Omega for a couple of days and she was experiencing withdrawals, and now that she was going to meet her again after what she deemed as eternity, she was excited out of her mind?

“Whipped,” her wolf told her, its voice teasing. Minjoo was actually surprised to hear her again. Her Wolf laid dormant ever since the last photoshoot was done last week. The last time Minjoo met Hitomi—that would change soon, by the way.

“You’re back again,” Minjoo commented out loud, smirking a little as her Wolf chuckled. “How’s your hibernation?”

“Same old, same old,” it answered, yawning as it stretched its imaginary wolf body. “But you’re getting too relaxed for my liking without all these part-time jobs messing with your sleep schedules.”

“I’m still working my off in Uncle’s restaurant.” Minjoo laughed, shaking her head in disbelief at the disappointed tone of her wolf. “Plus, I’m a model now; I need my beauty sleep!”

Her Wolf growled at her. “I hate it here,” it grumbled, as it pranced around her mind. “Back in my time, we use our free time to hone our skills as a warrior; not to catch up some sleep!” It growled and Minjoo must have been hallucinating, but she could feel her Wolf was poking her slightly rounded belly. Very slightly rounded belly. She must admit she had gotten a bit lazy with her work-out, with how focused she was on her studies. “Look at this! No warriors have this kind of flabby stomach full of fat!”

“I’m a university student,” Minjoo countered, mocking. “I’m not a warrior. Besides, sleep is very important and this is a healthy amount of fat my tummy has!”

Her Wolf raised its head high arrogantly as it snorted, dismissing Minjoo’s reasonable excuses. “Sleep is for the weak.”

Minjoo laughed again, ending the conversation as she unbuckled her safety-belt and picked up the large delivery box on the shotgun seat. “We’re here.” She muttered, wondering why her voice sounded so giddy as she opened the door.

The receptionist, a lady that was a well-acquaintance of hers after her frequent visit and jobs, greeted her with enthusiasm. “Minjoo! Nice to see you again!” She greeted Minjoo, her lips parted into a huge smile.

The Alpha tipped her cap, smiling sweetly at the older woman. “Good evening, Seola-unnie.” She raised her delivery bag for Seola to see. “Here to deliver Her Majesty’s request.”

“Of course, of course!” Seola laughed. “The lift is still broken, unfortunately. But the good news is, the lights on the stairs are fixed!” Her smile disappeared into a concerned frown as her gaze fell to the big and obviously heavy delivery bag. “Are you sure you can carry that alone? I can help you bring that to Kwangbae-nim.”

“Don’t worry,” Minjoo assured her, smiling as she heaved the heavy delivery bag full of meals to her back. She pushed her glasses higher to her nose. “I’m an Alpha, remember? I’m strong! And besides, I could use some exercises!”

“I could use some exercises!” Minjoo wheezed, stepping on the last step of the stairs before letting out a loud scream of fatigue. Her Wolf laughed at her, it’s throaty laugh vibrating through her skull.

“Weak,” it said, circling around with its mouth bared into a mocking grin. “Don’t die yet, you still have an Omega to claim in the future.”

“I’m not going to claim Hitomi.” She countered in her mind, glaring at the wall as she cracked her joints. If her Wolf wasn’t a nagging old granny or a highly assertive cupid, Minjoo honestly didn’t know what it was.

“I never said you’re going to claim that Omega,” Her Wolf countered before disappearing again.

Minjoo only rolled her eyes and pushed the door separating the staircase and the corridor open, surprised to bump into Hitomi this soon. The Omega was about to ascend the stairs, going up to her office upstairs.

“Minmin,” she greeted her cutely, tucking a strand of her hair back. “You’re here.”

Minjoo nodded dumbly. Was it her or did Hitomi become so incredibly pretty in the span of a week of not meeting her?

“Uh, yeah.” Minjoo coughed to her fist, wondering why her cheeks were burning. “I’ve got your orders. Where do I place it?”

“In the room on the far left. I’ll show you.”

Minjoo smiled a little. “Okay. Thanks.”

Hitomi returned her smile. “No problem.” And then very naturally, Hitomi wrapped her arms around Minjoo’s free arm. “Come on.”

--

Hitomi didn’t knock before she pushed the door open, and in a loud voice she announced: “Our fuel has arrived!” and that got several enthusiastic cheers coming from the Team. Minjoo hauled the delivery bag to the nearby table and started to unpack one by one. She paused a little when a familiar young girl was scampering off to her and decided to just stand there, watching her with critical eyes.

But she was there to work and continued to unpack until the delivery bag was empty. The young girl was still standing there as Chaeyeon made her payment and crushed Minjoo with her hug when Minjoo told her they received a discount.

“Join us for dinner, Minjoo-ya!” Invited Nako, patting the empty seat next to her. “Your shift ended already, right?”

Hitomi wrapped her arms around Minjoo before the Alpha could say anything. That made the young girl’s eyes bulge out in surprise, and Minjoo’s whole body stiffened. “Yeah,” Minjoo answered, stiff. “B-But Hitomi-”

“I kinda want to kidnap my Prince away before anything happens next,” Hitomi continued with a sultry voice, leaning her head to Minjoo's bicep. She looked at the young girl who was still looking at Minjoo in silence, and then quickly moved her gaze to a certain person. “But of course, it’s rude. What do you say, birthday girl?”

Chaeyeon’s face flushed, noticing Hitomi's gaze was on her. “Hey! That was like two weeks ago!”

“Yes but you’re paying for our dinner,” Hyewon reasoned, taking a bite off her boneless chicken greedily. “Might as well be your second birthday party.”

“Call!” Yuri drunkenly said, raising her drink dangerously high in the air. The content was spilled a little, and Yujin screamed when it splashed to her eyes. “It feels like we’re back to college!”

“Is that even a beer?” The young girl asked her in worry, sitting at another empty spot next to Minjoo, while Hitomi sat near Yuri to stop the Beta from chugging the suspicious drink.

Minjoo shook her head, eyeing at the drunken lady now belting random notes of random songs. “No, I assure you, that’s only a coke.”

The young girl grinned. “By the way, I’m Wonyoung. Your girlfriend’s favorite cousin.” She smirked. “It sounded so presumptuous, but it’s the truth- I’m her only cousin.”

“I’m Minjoo,” Minjoo said easily, not minding Wonyoung’s haughty attitude. “Your cousin’s… girlfriend.”

“Minjoo-unnie,” Wonyoung grinned to her, baby Alpha fangs proudly showing, “At last we meet. Hii-chan unnie talks about you, a lot. Not many are good things, but not bad things either. ”

“...Wait, you’re Hitomi’s baby cousin?” Minjoo eyed her. “I thought you were… smaller.”

Nako perked up at the world ‘small’.

“Age-wise, I’m still small,” Wonyoung said flippantly. “But height-wise,” she offered a haughty smirk as her eyes glowed a bit golden, fresh scent of rose oil poking Minjoo’s olfactory senses as if to challenge. “I guess I’m more of an Alpha than you?”

Minjoo’s Wolf bristled, popping out from the darkness of her mind to snarl at this brazen young Alpha. “How dare this pup!” Her Wolf growled angrily. “I don’t like her! Do something to defend your honor, Minjoo!”

But Minjoo stayed put. She took the cup offered by Hyewon and downed it in one-shot. As she put her cup down, her eyes glowed red, rose and cedar filled the room in a split second. It wasn’t too strong of a scent, but Hitomi, who was an Omega, noticed the battle between the two Alphas instantly the moment she smelled something else besides the chicken.

To Wonyoung’s and Minjoo’s Wolf's surprise, Minjoo only laughed lightly. Her eyes were still red, and her scent still filled the room, easily dominating Wonyoung’s own. She took up to the challenge, but not the aggressive way.

“I’m looking forward to the day it will finally come true,” Minjoo said silkily, patting Wonyoung’s shoulder with a lopsided smirk. “If Alpha hierarchy is determined by someone’s height, wouldn’t that mean Yujin here-” she pointed at Yujin who easily towered everyone else, “is more of an Alpha than you?”

“I-” Wonyoung opened , but when she was unable to formulate any witty remarks, she deflated and pouted her cheeks in defeat. “Alright, you win.”

Minjoo chuckled, toasting her empty cup to Wonyoung’s, “That’s what I thought!”