A/N: A long chapter for Kyuhyun's birthday and blurzpoo's hard work. :P 

Happy birthday to dear Kyuhyun! ^^

“How was the party on Saturday night?” Ryeowook asked, picking up a french fry from the paper bag in the middle of their circle.

Sungmin looked over Donghae’s shoulder at the other circle formed by his alpha, Hyukjae, Jongwoon and the six bodyguards, who had transferred to their school that morning. Doojoon, Yoseob and Kikwang had joined their class, while Junhyung and Hyunseung were allocated to the next class. Dongwoon, who was a year younger, joined a year one class.

As they couldn’t find enough seats in the cafeteria, they ended up on the school’s back hill with burgers and fries for a picnic lunch. The alphas and betas eventually entered a serious discussion, which the omegas decided to escape from and formed their own circle to chat.

“What party?” Zhoumi enquired curiously, gaze switching between Ryeowook and Sungmin.

“There was some party that everyone in the Youth Council was invited to. We skipped it because hyung was worried that I couldn’t adjust yet.” Ryeowook explained, scratching his neck with his clean hand. “How can you two stand wearing a collar?”

“I don’t. I take it off whenever I have the chance to.” Donghae flashed a grin, tugging at his own omega collar.

Sungmin’s eyes landed on Ryeowook’s omega collar for the hundredth time that day. Since Sungmin stepped into school today, he found out four things. One, Kyuhyun’s bodyguards had transferred over. Two, Jongwoon was also in the Youth Council, part of Kyuhyun’s team. Three, Ryeowook was claimed the morning of the day he was claimed. And four, Ryeowook received his new customized omega collar the day before – a thin platinum collar with a purple amethyst gem embedded in the front center. Ryeowook even showed them the exquisite carvings of Jongwoon’s name and his name on the side of the collar.

Other than being jealous of the affection and concern Jongwoon showered on Ryeowook, Sungmin was more disturbed by the fact that Ryeowook was claimed on the same day as him, with a difference of only few hours. It nailed that thorn of speculation deeper into his heart.

“Did everything at the party go fine?” Zhoumi threw a concerned glance at Sungmin. “You didn’t get…”

“No, nothing happened.” Sungmin cut his friend off, knowing that they have all heard of the norm of such high-social class parties – omegas being taken to bed by random alphas that took a liking to them. “Other than the fact that I got terribly drunk.” Sungmin flashed a grin, changing the conversation topic.

“You drank? Oh my, this calls for a celebration!” Donghae exclaimed excitedly, holding up a french fry. “French fries toast!”

Zhoumi crossed his fry with Donghae, beckoning for Ryeowook to follow. They turned to look at Sungmin, expecting him to complete the toast. Sungmin grabbed a fry from the bag, biting it off with deliberate actions.

“Eiiii. You’re no fun.” Donghae pulled back his fry, stuffing it into his mouth.

“Why does that call for a celebration?” Ryeowook asked with a silly grin on his face.

“Because our Sungminnie,” Zhoumi threw an arm over his neck, “had never drank before until that night.”

“Seriously?” Ryeowook’s eyes widened. “Why not?”

“No special reason.” Sungmin shrugged Zhoumi’s arm off, trying his best not to be affected by the chill that ran down his back at the way Zhoumi had called him. It reminded him of the incident with Siwon and Junhyung. “Yoseob made me drink.”

“Bet you had a horrible headache when you woke up! Yoseob always orders drinks with crazily high alcohol content.” Ryeowook spoke with experience. “I never drank with him anymore after the first time.”

“Speaking of that, let’s go have a drink when school ends! Just the four of us!” Donghae suggested.

“Don’t you have to go on a date with Hyukjae again?” Zhoumi asked sarcastically.

“Oh come on! I do make time for my friends too!” Donghae protested.

“Bet it’s because Hyukjae is busy this afternoon.”

“You’re right.” Donghae grinned sheepishly. “Hyuk has basketball practice today. I think he’s bringing Kyuhyun and the other six to meet the coach too, which means we can kidnap Sungmin secretly for a drink!”

“I’m free, I’m free too! Let’s go!” Ryeowook added in a thrilled voice.

“I can’t.” Sungmin interjected. He would be breaking four rules at one go – leaving the house without permission, traveling without his alpha or a guardian, drinking without permission and lastly, defying the order his alpha gave him last night. “Kyuhyun wants me to join back the Taekwondo club and I need to be present for practice today,” he said, forgoing the explanation of all the other rules he would be breaking if he went drinking with them.

“Since when do you follow orders of alphas this well, Min?” Donghae pouted, making his disappointment obvious to Sungmin.

Sungmin looked seriously at Donghae. “Since I got claimed.”

“Alright alright! No need to bicker and make our nice lunch moody. We can go drinking next time!” Zhoumi cut in before Donghae could make any insensitive comments.

“Yep, another time!” Ryeowook agreed, holding up another french fry. “For now, french fries toast!”

“Fine, another time. French fries toast!” Donghae held out his fry with a grin.

“French fries toast!” Zhoumi followed and they all turned to look at Sungmin again.

Sungmin slowly drew a fry from the bag, deliberately taking his time to eye it.

“If you eat it now, I swear I’ll—”

Sungmin held out his fry to meet with the other fries, cutting Donghae off.

“French fries toast,” Sungmin said, pulling a smile onto his face. “Cheers.”

The other three broke into a loud cheer and Sungmin took the chance to bite off all four fries still held out in the middle.

“Yah! Lee Sungmin!” Donghae yelled. “Don’t think you can eat my french fry just because you look good in your new hairstyle!”

Sungmin laughed and popped the remaining fry into his mouth.  

~--~

Sungmin slowly descended the staircase as he scanned the court for his alpha. He was supposed to meet his alpha at the front of the school after Taekwondo, but his coach had let him off early since it was his first practice after a period of time. Thus, he decided to look for Kyuhyun at the outdoor basketball court instead.

Spotting his alpha running down the court for his team’s attack, Sungmin took a seat down on the concrete steps. Kyuhyun was wearing the red jersey that he wore on the first day they met, and his name was printed on the back above the number ‘13’. His alpha’s blond hair flew against the wind as Kyuhyun sprinted down to the opposing team’s side of the court.

His alpha deftly dodged from left to right, faking his steps in an attempt to throw the defender off. With swift footwork, Kyuhyun shook the defender off, cutting in from the low post. A quick exchange of glances and the ball was passed in a bounce pass from Hyukjae. With the assist, his alpha leaped into air, laying the ball near the basket with his right hand. The ball bounced off the backboard lightly, dropping straight through the basket.

The success of the layup led to the final blow of the whistle, signaling the end of the game. His alpha’s team broke into a loud round of cheers, as they gathered around Kyuhyun and Hyukjae, who gave each other a brief hug. The excitement in Kyuhyun’s eyes as he celebrated their team’s victory brought a wide smile to Sungmin’s face.

The smile was suddenly wiped off by a basketball that was sent in his way and Sungmin caught the ball right before it crashed into his face.

“Hyung!” Dongwoon shouted accusingly, sending a smack to Kikwang’s arm.

A bright laughter erupted from the alpha as they approached the steps, stopping in front of Sungmin. “Nice catch.” Kikwang said, sending a mischievous grin at him.

Pouting, Sungmin sent the ball back at the alpha, who received it with his chest, his arms catching the ball late by a fraction of a second.

“Ouch. That hurts!” Kikwang faked a painful groan.

“Nice catch.” Sungmin retorted.

“Nice throw!” Dongwoon hopped over, raising his hand up for a hi-five, which Sungmin accepted with a grin.

“Naughty, bold omega. So we finally catch a glimpse of your true self after all the pretense at the party hur.” Kikwang dropped down to the concrete beside Sungmin, setting the ball in between his feet.

Hearing the comment, Sungmin realized that he had just acted freely towards an alpha, even attacking him with a ball. He bowed his head, his heart starting to race. “Sorry, I—”

“Nah, it’s fine. You don’t have to be so uptight with me.” Kikwang gave a hard slap to his back and Sungmin groaned. “Now we’re even.”

Sungmin scrunched up his nose at Kikwang’s grin, rubbing circles to the sore spot on his back.

“Besides, I’ve been wanting to see this side of you. Your record is impressive, you know,” Kikwang said, eyes scanning the opposite side of the court where the two teams that just played sat at.

“It’s nothing impressive,” Sungmin muttered.

“How was Taekwondo, hyung?” Dongwoon asked.

“I didn’t do much except revision since it had been some time since I last practiced.”

“You’re holding 1st dan right? You can ask any of us if you need help. I’m holding 3rd dan and hyungs are all holding 4th and above.” Dongwoon said with a proud beam.

“Does Master know Taekwondo too?” Sungmin cringed at how easily ‘Master’ rolled off his tongue. He was getting comfortable calling Kyuhyun ‘Master’, even in front of other people.

“Yep, he got to 2nd dan before he joined the Youth Council. Now Kyuhyun hyung is just too busy for it.”

“Why does he need you all as bodyguards then?” Sungmin asked absently, looking over at his alpha who was downing a bottle of water.

“For times when his omega decides to end up dead drunk.” Kikwang teased. “We’re more like his personal assistants that do everything.”

Kikwang’s words successfully caught his attention and Sungmin looked down, fiddling with his fingers. “What happened when I was drunk? Did I do something weird?”

“You were already half-conscious when Junhyung hyung carried you out of the bar. I’m not sure if anything happened since Doojoon hyung and Yoseob hyung were the ones who drove you and Kyuhyun hyung home that night,” Dongwoon answered, then turned to Kikwang. “Do you know, hyung?”

“Well, from what I heard, nothing happened except that you clung to your Master and refused to get off the car. Kyuhyun had to get off while carrying you himself because you kept pushing Doojoon away,” Kikwang paused, flashing his mischievous grin. “You’re apparently the needy type when drunk.”

The last comment sent blood rushing to Sungmin’s cheeks and he blushed, mind wildly imagining what he might have done. Distracted by his thoughts, he failed