Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jake is sure that it’s a joke when their manager tells them their debut date.

It has to be a joke. He’d been sure that they wouldn’t be officially debuting until at least late December, if not in January. There’s no way they have enough time to finish everything still on their plate in two months. The members of Enhypen were chosen less than a month ago, their fandom name was just made public today , and they’ve just barely started the process of picking a leader. They have songs to record, dances to perfect, and music videos to shoot. Not to mention that debuts mean busy schedules, being on camera all the time, and everyone’s eyes being on them even more than they already had been since June. Debuts are hectic and time consuming all on their own, and their management seems to have decided to make it way more difficult by picking November 30th as the date. 

Needless to say, Jake is a bit thrown off when most of the other members seem to express excitement at how soon they will be debuting. The staff move on to discussing Heeseung and Jay, specifically that they will be given medication to induce their ruts a few weeks before debut to ensure that they don’t go into rut during the middle of debut. This only confuses Jake further; they’ve clearly put thought into the issue, and yet seem to have missed the most glaring concern. Jake glances around at the other members again, but most of them still look excited as the managers talk. Sunghoon has a neutral look on his face to the untrained eye, but Jake can see a small crinkle in his brow and that his eyes are a little wider than usual, staring directly at the table in front of him, so he clearly has similar worries. Jake supposes that it’s not really the other members’ fault that they haven’t realized. Most of them haven’t known each other long enough to know these kinds of small but potentially critical details about each other. 

“The date we’ve decided will work best for the start of their ruts is one month from now, November 9th, so make sure to prepare the rooms in your apartment properly before then. We’re going to try and have minimal involvement with that, since we want you to be able to bond as a pack properly, and too many staff being present might throw things off. I think that’s everything for now though, do any of you have questions?” their manager asks. Jake nervously glances one more time at the other members, but most of them are shaking their heads. Sunghoon’s eyes are still glued to the table. Jake steels his nerves and raises his hand.

Their manager nods at him. “Yes, Jake-ssi?”

Jake licks his lips nervously. “What about Sunghoon and I?”

Several staff and the other members all look at Jake quizzically. Sunghoon chews on his lip, and Jake can practically see the lightbulb go off in Jay’s head when he buries his face in his hands, unable to hide the instant stress. Their manager raises an eyebrow.

“What about you and Sunghoon?” he asks. Jake huffs.

“You’ve decided what to do about Jay and Heeseung-hyung’s ruts, but not what you’re going to do about Sunghoon and I’s presentations. I turn 18 on November 15th, and Sunghoon does on December 8th. Don’t you think that might create a few issues if we’re debuting on the 30th?” he asks, struggling to keep his tone polite. The room goes dead silent, other than a single dramatic gasp from Sunoo. Their manager’s eyes go wide before closing all the way, immediately stressed the way Jay had been moments before. Jake glances once more at Sunghoon; his eyes still haven’t moved from the table.

Jake clearly doesn’t have to spell it out any further: most people present around their 18th birthday, and so having two members turning 18 that close to their debut is a massive risk. Nearly a third of people present on their actual birthday, and another half present in the week before or after, but anyone within a month of their birthday is considered to be of presentation age. Earlier presentations are also not uncommon; Jake could present tomorrow and it would be considered early, but not abnormal. And unlike heats and ruts, which only last a few days and are entirely absent for betas, presentations occur for all second genders, can take upwards of a week to finish, and often have long recovery periods. Jake doesn’t know the full details of how presentations work—he likes physics, not biology—but he knows it involves the body adjusting to its new reproductive system, and as such they are usually very painful and tiring. The most difficult part, however, is the adjustment phase that comes when the presentation is over. It generally takes several weeks, or sometimes even months, for newly presented people to learn how to control their scent and to calm their raging hormones, all made more difficult by being constantly bombarded with new scents from every person they meet. It’s common for newly presented people to be constantly on edge until their bodies settle into the changes, so it is genuinely critical that presentations are not something taken lightly.

He’s genuinely baffled that their staff somehow overlooked this information. How did they just forget that not one but two members would be presenting around the date they’d picked for debut? Jake would likely still be in recovery, and Sunghoon would probably end up presenting on their actual debut date, knowing their luck. That’s even assuming that they are able to present naturally; if they go ahead with inducing Jay and Heeseung’s ruts, and he or Sunghoon end up being omegas, then being within smelling proximity of two rutting alphas would almost certainly be enough to trigger their presentations. It’s not difficult to trigger a presentation, especially with theirs already being so close, but triggered presentations are often even more taxing than natural ones since it forces the body to speed up the process. The thought of having his presentation coaxed out of him by another member makes Jake’s spine tingle uncomfortably, and he hopes it doesn’t come to that.

Several staff members are having whispered but heated arguments with each other and their manager. His eyebrows are still pinched together and his eyes are covered by his hand. The discussion feels like it takes five hours to Jake, though he knows that it is likely closer to five minutes when the manager finally lets out a loud sigh and shoos away the other staff. He sets his hands on the table, leaning forward onto them as he speaks. 

“I do appreciate you bringing that to our attention, Jake-ssi. I’m not sure how something so important got overlooked. Having said that, we’ve already made a lot of deals and plans under the assumption that you would all be debuting on the 30th, and it’s too late to break most of them now without costing the company a lot of money, so we have no choice but to go forward with that as your debut date.” Both Jake and Sunghoon start to protest, but their manager raises his hand and they fall silent again. “I promise I will do everything I can to make your recoveries as quick and easy as possible so you don’t have to miss anything. But there is really nothing we can do at this point until you both present, and I will be expecting you both to put your everything into this debut until that day comes. I won’t allow either of you to fall behind because of this.”

Jake is rarely one for dramatics but right now he wants to scream . Although he knows that his manager is just being realistic, he also feels like he’s being scolded for something that isn’t even his fault. Why is he being made to feel guilty when it was the staff who made a mistake! It shouldn’t be his responsibility to make up for lost time by ‘working harder’ when he’s been mentally accounting for his oncoming presentation since his name was called back in September. But he doesn’t say any of this, and he doesn’t scream. He and Sunghoon instead silently nod, visibly upset about the situation but aware that it is a bit out of their hands. 

Jake takes one more glance at his members. All of them are looking directly at either him or Sunghoon, their eyebrows furrowed in pity. 

“That’s that then,” their manager says, straightening his posture. “You’re dismissed for today. Make sure to sleep well for dance practice tomorrow.”

The members stand and silently gather their things before exiting the room, walking towards the main entrance with a few chaperoning staff following behind them. Now that he’s had a few minutes to let the realization fully hit him, Jake mostly feels numb and drained. He wants to go back to the dorm and sleep away that entire conversation.

Jake jumps slightly when he feels an arm slide around his shoulders and a body press into his right side. He looks up to see Heeseung, who is avoiding making eye contact, but still has that same expression of pity on his face. Despite being a very cuddly person, Jake has been resisting being too affectionate towards his new pack, still a bit unsure of what lines he wasn’t supposed to cross. But he is feeling self indulgent, and encouraged by the fact that Heeseung was the one to initiate it, so he wraps his arm around his middle and leans on him just a little as they walk. 

The next two months were going to be a nightmare . 

~ * ~

“Thank you for saying something the other day, by the way.”

Jake looks over at Sunghoon as he speaks. They’re sitting beside each other in the back of a travel car, heading home after a long day of dance practice, their second in a row. Niki is sitting in the row ahead of them while the other four members are in the other car, but he’s got his headphones in and is playing something on their Nintendo Switch. Jake raises an eyebrow. 

“For saying something about what?” Jake asks. Sunghoon scratches the back of his neck and Jake watches a bead of sweat drip down his forehead; they’ll all be fighting over the shower when they get home, sweaty and smelly after hours of dancing.

“At the meeting. About our presentations.” Jake’s eyes widen in understanding, and both of them flush slightly at the topic at hand. It has been a few days since then, and everyone has stayed blissfully quiet about it, which Jake appreciates. He knows they’ll need to discuss how they’ll handle it all at some point, but Jake isn’t ready to acknowledge the reality of his oncoming presentation just yet. “I was panicking when they told us our debut date and didn’t say anything about our presentations, but I didn’t know what to say.” 

“It’s no worries. I did it for myself as much as I did it for you, so really there’s no need to thank me,” Jake insists. Sunghoon smiles shyly.

“Well I appreciate it anyway. Sometimes I’m not sure what I’d do without you, you know. You’re a really good friend, Jake-yah, even just by accident.” Sunghoon seems to hesitate, so Jake just waits and watches him quietly. Eventually he leans over and tentatively bumps their sweaty temples together. Jake’s heart leaps into his throat; it’s the first time anyone from his new pack has initiated a pack gesture, and it feels very right that his first one is with Sunghoon, despite that neither of them are capable of scenting each other. He struggles to suppress a grin as he rushes to reciprocate it, wanting Sunghoon to know that what he’s done is okay. Sunghoon’s anxious smile widens into a genuine grin as he feels Jake nuzzle back. 

“You’re a good friend too, Sunghoon-ah,” Jake says, suddenly feeling a bit overwhelmed by how much he loves his friend. Sunghoon has become so much more open and emotional with him just in the few months they’d known each other, and Jake doesn’t think he’s ever been so close with someone before. They’d clicked with each other so rapidly back on I-Land, and they’re shockingly similar in personality. He reaches out and grabs Sunghoon’s hand, causing him to jump, but he quickly relaxes and holds his hand back. “I’m really happy we’re both here. I mean, I think you were always going to debut, but I’m really glad I’m here with you.”

Sunghoon squeezes his hand. “You were always going to debut, too. If it was meant to happen any other way, you wouldn’t be here now,” he says, sounding oddly sure of himself. Jake’s chest feels tight, so he bumps their temples together again to loosen it. 

They fall into a comfortable silence after that, holding hands and their damp temples resting against each other, until the car pulls back up to their apartment. They peel away from each other as Niki starts to shut off his game, and Jake hopes his cheeks aren’t as red as they feel. Niki pulls his headphones out of his ears, but levels a glare at Sunghoon and Jake as he’s about to open the door of the van.

“I dibs using the shower first since you guys made me listen to you be all sappy on the way here. My headphones aren’t soundproof you know,” he says, his voice even in spite of his accusation. Sunghoon splutters awkwardly and Jake’s cheeks are definitely bright red. Niki doesn’t wait for a response, opening the door and heading towards the building. Sunghoon and Jake quickly climb out and chase after him, protesting all the way back to their dorm.

They let Niki have the first shower. 

~ * ~

Jake is feeling light the evening after Heeseung’s birthday VLive. With how busy they have been in preparation for their debut, it was fun to just spend time being silly with his friends. It certainly went a lot more smoothly than their surprise for Heeseung had a few days prior, in which his cake was accidentally knocked icing-down onto the floor, so on that basis alone, it was a massive success. The ruined birthday cake had been a rough way to start the first birthday they were celebrating as a pack, but since it was Heeseung’s own fault it had been sent to the floor, he had been pretty good natured about it. 

Spending several days with Heeseung as the centre of attention has Jake’s mind on their eldest more than usual. Sometimes Jake feels like he doesn’t give enough credit to Heeseung for how much weight he carries on his shoulders, particularly since their group had been officially formed. Heeseung is a youngest child at home, and occasionally still has a hard time hiding that fact; sometimes Jake can see it on his face that he still isn’t used to being the oldest, nor is he used to how much responsibility being the oldest entails. Even on I-Land, despite how often other competitors looked up to Heeseung, it was still acknowledged that he was far from the oldest one there. Up until the very end, all of them looked up to K, Hanbin, and Seon as their respected eldest hyungs, and every once in a while, Jake can tell that Heeseung misses having that buffer. But Heeseung’s dedication always pulls through above all else, and so over and over again he steps up to the plate as is expected of him. 

Their management is still in the process of picking a leader, making them all take a bunch of personality tests and such to try and decide on the best person for the job, and Jake would have to be blind not to consider Heeseung as a top contender. He knows a lot of their fans are of the same opinion, and even their management has been hinting that they’re expecting Heeseung will get the role. Heeseung often took the leader position while they were competing, and many times led them to victory in the process. Heeseung was good at anything he put his mind to, and had more than once assisted other leaders when they were struggling. It was also pretty common for an older member to be the leader, and Heeseung was the oldest, on top of being an alpha of course, so to anyone with eyes, he was the clear standout choice as their leader. 

But in spite of all that, Jake was also hyper-aware of how much of a mental toll it had taken on Heeseung every time he had taken on a leadership role while on I-Land. Even months later, the memory of Heeseung crying and pleading for him to come back when he had been voted off after the first challenge is hard to shake, and Heeseung hadn’t even been the leader for most of that challenge. Losing four members the following challenge had hurt his heart even more deeply since he was the leader that time, especially since one of them was nearly Jungwon. He became less and less interested in taking leadership roles as the show went on, and now Jake wonders whether he would even accept being the leader if it was offered to him. Being the eldest as well as their centre seems like enough responsibility for him. 

Like Jake, Heeseung had seemed lighter tonight though. He had spent the whole VLive genuinely smiling and laughing, melting away the focused and serious expression that had started to become permanent since preparations for their debut had started. Being spoiled by his pack and getting immense amounts of love from their fans seems to have brightened his mood in a way that Jake hadn’t seen from him in weeks. He also seemed pleased to have won nearly all of the games they’d played during the VLive, continuing to uphold his status of being oddly good at everything he tries. Jake is just happy to see his hyung happy. 

Upon arriving back at the dorm, they all spent a bit more time together celebrating and eating cake, able to act a bit more silly and carefree now that their fans were no longer watching them. Jay was the first to crack and announce he needed his sleep just past midnight, and Jake followed suit about half an hour later, bidding his other five packmates goodnight as he left them laughing in their living room. He manages to find sleep with relative ease, but the bliss doesn’t last for very long; for whatever reason, he finds himself completely awake at three o’clock in the morning and can’t seem to make himself fall back asleep. He tosses and turns for nearly thirty minutes before deciding his efforts are useless and reluctantly getting out of bed. He decides to try and track down some tea to hopefully reset his body so he can go back to sleep.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, he is surprised to find Heeseung still sitting there, playing something on their Switch, likely the newest FIFA game he’d received as a birthday gift from their staff. He has the sounds playing out loud, but the volume is down to almost zero. There is a bowl of what appears to be ramyeon in front of him, about half empty and lacking any additions other than the flavour packet it came with. He jumps slightly when he finally notices Jake, but Jake kindly decides not to mention it. Since it’s his birthday.

“Jake-yah, what are you doing still awake? It’s 2am you know.”

“I could ask you the same question, birthday boy,” Jake retorts, and Heeseung has the self awareness to look a bit sheepish. Jake rolls his eyes fondly. “I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. I was going to make some tea to see if it helps.”

Heeseung nods in understanding and turns off his game as Jake flicks on their electric kettle. “Do you want some of my ramyeon? I don’t mind sharing if you want,” Heeseung offers before taking another bite himself. Jake’s eyes light up.

“If you really don’t mind, then sure,” he says, coming closer to where Heeseung is sitting. He goes to take Heeseung’s chopsticks from his hand when he quickly pulls them out of reach. Jake’s eyebrows scrunch together as he looks at Heeseung’s face; his expression is annoyingly neutral.

“Sorry, Jake-yah. I just don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. It wouldn’t be good if I created tension in our group before we’ve even debuted,” he says cooly, though his cheeks are now tinted pink. Jake’s eyebrows only furrow further in confusion at this, but after a few seconds it clicks and Jake’s own cheeks flare red.

Heeseung has just offered him food. Which is considered a courting gesture, especially when also sharing utensils.

“ Hyung , it’s not weird for packmates to share food and utensils. Besides, I haven’t even presented yet, so stuff like that doesn’t count for me,” he says defensively, trying to ignore his burning cheeks. Heeseung laughs, which only makes Jake even more tense.

“Do you want to share my chopsticks that badly, Jakey?” Heeseung teases, a wide grin on his face. Jake narrows his eyes and turns to go grab his own pair of chopsticks, but Heeseung just laughs louder and grabs his wrist. Jake pretends to fight him as he’s pulled back, and Heeseung holds out his chopsticks for Jake to take. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! You can use mine, just don’t go around telling anyone.”

Jake snatches the chopsticks and finally eats a bite of ramyeon. The noodles are kind of soggy, but it still tastes perfect. “Why would I even tell anyone? That would be weird for me to bring up.” He lifts more into his mouth, and only then notices that Heeseung’s hand is touching his hip. “None of them would even care, anyway. Like I said, it’s not weird for packmates to do stuff like share food or utensils. All of us used to do it on I-Land all the time.”

Heeseung nods thoughtfully, taking the chopsticks to eat another bite for himself before giving them back to Jake. “I guess I just want to be cautious. Like I said, I don’t want to create tension in the group before we’ve even debuted.”

Jake’s cheeks flush pink again. Does Heeseung seriously think he had been trying to flirt or something? “I mean, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, hyung. I swear I wasn’t… coming onto you or anything, but you can tell me if I’m crossing a boundary.”

Heeseung gives him an odd look before snorting once. “It’s not you I’m worried about, Jake-yah,” he says in an equally weird tone, and suddenly Jake feels like he has missed something important. He takes another bite of ramyeon to mask his concern. “Just forget I said anything, I don’t even know why I brought it up.”

Jake decides to take the out that Heeseung has offered him, eating one more mouthful of ramyeon before giving the chopsticks back to Heeseung and moving towards the kettle that clicked off a few seconds before. He avoids looking at Heeseung, feeling a bit awkward with him after that interaction, though he can still hear the telltale slurping of ramyeon being eaten as he plunks a tea bag into a mug and adds the boiled water. 

Jake hears something shuffling behind him and turns around just in time to come face to face with Heeseung. Heeseung isn’t really that much taller than him, but when they’re this close—close enough that Jake has to tilt his head up to make eye contact—he feels kind of tiny in a way that he’s not sure he likes. 

“I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable either, Jake-yah. I know you weren’t trying to come onto me , as you put it,” he says, his tone sincere and expression apologetic. Jake finds himself unable to break eye contact, his heart rate slowly increasing the longer he stares. 

“It’s really fine, hyung,” Jake says. “I know it was just a joke, I obviously wouldn’t flirt with anyone from our pack.”

At this, Heeseung looks genuinely surprised. “You wouldn’t?”

“No?” Jake says, his eyebrows furrowing. Heeseung’s surprise seems to grow.

“Oh. Huh. Alright, well that’s good to know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Nothing, nothing!” Heeseung laughs, finally backing away from Jake. “Well, I think I’m going to bed. You should go back to sleep soon too.”

Jake huffs, still a bit put off by Heeseung’s comments seeming to suggest that maybe he was into someone. He decides to ignore this, though, and nods. “Yeah. After my tea, I will,” he says, pulling the bag out of his mug and tossing it in the garbage. Heeseung nods back and heads towards his room, leaving Jake alone in the kitchen. Jake sips his tea in silence until the cup is empty, and then retires back to his own bedroom. And although he does manage to go back to sleep, his dreams are plagued by a tall figure asking, “ you wouldn’t ?” over and over again while Jake’s dream self struggles to respond. 

~ * ~

Jake watches fondly as Sunghoon and Sunoo bicker in the kitchen. He’s sitting at their island and eating leftover japchae from ordering out the night before, while the two in front of him are arguing about who should get what from the remaining leftovers. 

“Come on, Sunoo-yah, why can’t you just eat the bulgogi ? It was tasty!”

“Then you eat it! I was the one who ordered the tteokbokki and I left some on purpose so I could have the rest today, so I want to eat it!”

“Surely you can go one day without eating tteokbokki -”

“You don’t even like tteokbokki that much, you protein monster!” 

The bickering has mostly been light, but Sunoo seems to be getting genuinely frustrated; Jake wonders if he should step in, knowing that Sunghoon isn’t always great at reading social cues. Sure enough, Sunghoon still has a wide grin on his face, always finding it fun to tease Sunoo a little, but just as Jake is about to say something, he sees Sunghoon’s expression soften a fraction before he dramatically rolls his eyes and hands the container of tteokbokki to Sunoo. It is quickly snatched out of his hands. 

“ Thank you, ” Sunoo says, narrowing his eyes, though he doesn’t look upset anymore. Once both of them have reheated their meals, Sunghoon takes a seat next to Jake while Sunoo retreats to their bedroom. Jake bumps Sunghoon’s shoulder with his own as they eat. 

“One of these days you’re actually going to piss him off, you know,” Jake says, though he keeps his voice light and teasing so that Sunghoon doesn’t take him too seriously. Sunghoon snorts and grins. 

“I can’t help it, he’s so cute and funny when he’s angry. It reminds me of how Yeji reacts when I tease her,” he says, shovelling bulgogi and rice into his mouth. “And Sunoo knows it’s just a game.”

Jake grabs a piece of bulgogi out of Sunghoon’s container, and Sunghoon doesn’t do anything to stop him. “I’m just saying. I know Sunoo doesn’t really mind, but he can also be sensitive. You don’t want to hurt his feelings for real or anything.”

“I haven’t yet, have I?” Sunghoon says flippantly. His grin slowly turns into more of a smirk. “Besides, Sunoo loves getting my attention. He has a crush on me or something.”

Jake’s head snaps in Sunghoon’s direction, his eyes wide as saucers. “Wait, seriously? Sunoo likes you? Like for real?”

Sunghoon laughs and shrugs, ignoring the question for a few seconds to instead eat more food. “I don’t know. Jay told me that he thought so back in August, but I kind of think he is full of shit.” 

Jake ponders this new information. He’s known Sunoo even longer than he’s known most of his other pack members; his very first performance on I-Land was with Sunoo after all. Sunoo always had a lot of admirers even as a trainee, a result of his pretty appearance, but Sunoo said that he had to reject them all since he was too busy focusing on training and didn’t want to be distracted. He finds it difficult to imagine that same Sunoo falling for someone during the most stressful time in any of their lives.

“Jay is usually full of shit,” Jake finally says, and Sunghoon laughs again. “Seriously, who even has time to think about dating or whatever right now, or when we were on I-Land? We already have a million other things going on, I’d never be able to juggle that as well.”

Sunghoon gets a weird look on his face that Jake can’t identify, but it is quickly replaced by another wide smirk. “Well, Jay would know all about that too.”

Jake balks. “What? Does Jay like someone too? Since when ?” Sunghoon stares at him incredulously, and Jake feels self conscious that he’s getting that look from Sunghoon .

“You seriously don’t know? Aish , Jake-yah, and everyone says I’m the one who is bad with emotions,” Sunghoon bemoans, burying his head in his hands. Jake snorts and smacks his arm playfully. Sunghoon sits back up. “He and Jungwon are into each other. I don’t know how you didn’t know, they’re always all over each other and started sharing pack gestures back in like, July. Jay refuses to actually do anything about it because Jungwon is unpresented, but they’re both pretty terrible at hiding it.” 

Jake does his best to school his expression so that Sunghoon doesn’t make fun of him any further, but he’s genuinely taken aback by this new information. How had he missed something like this? He considers himself to be pretty close with Jungwon and especially Jay; guilt starts to creep up on him for not knowing about this. What kind of pack member was he if he didn’t notice what was apparently a very obvious open secret?

“I… I don’t know how I didn’t notice either. I guess I just wasn’t really thinking about, like… dating stuff while we were competing,” Jake says, suddenly eager to put more japchae in his mouth so he doesn’t have to keep talking. He’s being honest though; although he’d heard other people gossiping about it in passing during I-Land, Jake hadn’t been thinking about relationships at all since he’d arrived on set. It seemed a little pointless to potentially fall for someone you may end up separated from in the end, and he had been far more focused on putting his everything into his daily improvement. Jake had been critiqued more than once on I-Land for lacking the polish that the more experienced trainees possessed, so he put everything else out of his mind while he was there. There simply hadn’t been space for romance on his list of concerns, and it never occurred to him that not all of his colleagues would be on the same page as him about that. So he never even thought to pay attention to who the other boys showed interest in. 

Sunghoon laughs stiffly and has the weird expression on his face again. “Really? You didn’t notice… anyone you would want to date on I-Land? There were a lot of attractive guys competing,” Sunghoon inquires, and the way he says it has Jake on high alert. 

“I mean yeah, I have eyes , of course I noticed that a lot of people there were hot. I just didn’t think about actually dating anyone while I was there.” Jake studies Sunghoon for a few more seconds, his eyes narrowing. “Did you ?”

“No! Of course not, I was focused on debuting too,” Sunghoon splutters, though his cheeks turn red and his voice is defensive in a way that Jake doesn’t find particularly convincing. His mind goes back to the little spat that just occurred in the kitchen, and Jake fleetingly wonders if the feelings that Jay suspects of Sunoo are perhaps reciprocated. But because Jake is a very good friend, he chooses to believe that Sunghoon is being honest with him, despite his body language very much saying otherwise. 

“Well, apparently I don’t pay close enough attention to our friends if three of them have crushes on someone and I didn’t even notice. I need to be more observant,” Jake says. Sunghoon relaxes as Jake drops the subject and starts eating up the last of his rice. 

“It’s probably just two, I don’t think Sunoo actually has a thing for me. Jay just tends to project his weird romantic feelings onto other people,” Sunghoon says. “And now that you know to look for Jay and Jungwon, you’ll never miss it.”

Jake nods, somewhat reassured. Hopefully Jay and Jungwon are as obvious as Sunghoon claims they are, because he is going to feel like the biggest idiot on earth if he still can’t tell that they like each other after being told directly. It’s bad enough that Sunghoon had to tell him, he doesn’t know how he’ll live it down if he still doesn’t notice anything. 

Sunghoon suddenly holds up the last piece of bulgogi from his container, clearly offering it to Jake. Jake raises his eyebrows. 

“Oh, I don’t want to take the last piece from you-”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about that. I’m offering it to you.”

“But-”

“ Jaeyun-ah , just take it.”

Jake’s jaw snaps open obediently at Sunghoon’s firmer tone, and Sunghoon feeds the bulgogi to him, visibly preening afterwards in spite of his efforts to hide it. Jake can’t help the part of him that finds this sweet, Sunghoon really is cute despite claiming otherwise. He grabs Sunghoon’s shoulder and pulls him down slightly to nuzzle his cheek, and Sunghoon seems even more pleased by this. 

“Thanks, Sunghoon-ah, it was really tasty,” Jake says when he’s swallowed, smiling gently. Sunghoon’s responding smile reaches his eyes and Jake’s chest throbs.

“You’re welcome, Jake-yah.”

~ * ~

Jake feels extremely stupid for never having noticed Jay and Jungwon’s behaviour. 

Now that he is on high alert about it, he wonders how he ever missed it to begin with. They are practically glued at the hip, always standing close or touching each other in some way; it’s not even uncommon to find Jungwon sitting directly in Jay’s lap. They greet each other in the mornings by bumping their temples together or touching their noses to each other’s necks, and Jake frequently sees Jungwon pressing his nose into Jay’s cheeks, a gesture preferred by those who are unpresented. They do it so naturally that it’s obvious they have been doing it for a while, despite the fact that Jungwon isn’t able to scent yet. 

Jake also notices the level to which Jay spoils Jungwon. Jay has always been known for being generous with his money, even as a trainee, so every member of their pack has been gifted at least a few items from him. But while out shopping with them on one of their rare afternoons off, Jake realizes that Jay has paid for almost every single purchase Jungwon has made that day without batting an eye, despite Jungwon’s many attempts to protest.

“Hyung, you really don’t need to buy that for me-”

“But you like it, don’t you? And it looked cute on you.”

“I mean yeah, I do like it, but you’ve already paid for a lot of things today, and I don’t really need another sweater.”

“Don’t worry about how much I’m spending, I like buying things for you.”

“ Jay-hyung- ”

“ Jungwon-ah. ”

The two narrow their eyes at each other, but in the end Jay does buy it. 

After that incident, Jake also starts to notice how often they wear matching clothes. They have several matching sweaters and light jackets, as well as a handful of matching bracelets, shoes, and other accessories. They don’t often wear their matching items at the same time, but Jake can see the way Jay’s pupils dilate whenever he sees Jungwon wearing some sweater or hat that he paid for, and Jungwon preens at the attention. 

The longer Jake watches them for, the more it seems like they are actively courting each other already, which does feel odd when Jungwon hasn’t presented yet. It’s not abnormal for presented people to court someone unpresented—assuming they’re still within a close age range, which Jay and Jungwon are—but the majority of people avoid it since there’s no way of knowing how their partner will present, and unpresented people are still considered young.

It’s only upon closer observation that Jake sees the ways in which Jay pulls away. Sometimes when they’re cuddling on the couch, a near blissful look on both of their faces, he’ll catch Jay press his nose against Jungwon’s neck and then immediately look guilty, quickly making an excuse and gently peeling himself away from a pouting Jungwon. He’ll see Jay glance at Jungwon every thirty seconds or so whenever he eats anything, but never once does he actually offer Jungwon any of his food. As much as his eyes glitter when he sees Jungwon wearing something he paid for, he often looks anxious when Jungwon goes further and straight up wears his clothes, and he never wears any of Jungwon’s clothing. For all the time he spends fawning over Jungwon, he also seems to have drawn a line that he is unwilling to cross.

Jungwon always looks a little disappointed when Jay pulls away like this, but he never gets upset or pushes back, seeming to understand that Jay has reservations. He is always quick to brush it off and school his expression, getting right back into whatever else is going on around them. Jake has always thought of Jungwon as being focused and mature for his age, but the cool way he handles such an odd situation genuinely surprises and impresses him. Perhaps Heeseung isn’t the only member of his pack that he hasn’t been giving enough credit to.

~ * ~

Jungwon is picked as their leader.

In the end, none of them are really that surprised about the outcome of the selection process. As expected, Heeseung had also been a top candidate for the role, but he had ultimately turned down the opportunity due to the weight he was already carrying as their eldest and their centre. The fact that Heeseung had already cracked under the stress of being a leader more than once on I-Land was not brought up, but Jake imagines it was also in the back of his mind as he rejected the offer. Management had agreed with him, concerned that Heeseung would be under too much pressure if he was also their leader on top of everything else, and so the role was officially given to Jungwon. 

Jungwon is initially very surprised and apprehensive when he is given the role of leader, and then even more surprised when the rest of the members seem to agree that he is the best choice in spite of being second-youngest. Everyone is very aware of Jungwon’s maturity and responsibility, so his ability to be their leader isn’t even a question. They all take turns expressing that they support the decision and promising to help their young leader in carrying such a burden, and Jungwon quickly warms up to the new position. 

He takes the role seriously right away, determined to prove that he will be a good leader despite the fact that nobody has doubted him so far. Jake is confident that no other member would have been as suitable as Jungwon, fully aware that he certainly isn’t cut out for it. Niki is still too immature, Sunghoon too awkward, and Sunoo too playful. Jay probably would have worked out fine, but he’s also easily riled, and so Jungwon’s calm and collected demeanour is still preferable. Jake thinks that Jay is better as a sort of second in command anyway, particularly with their leader being Jungwon of all people. It makes Jake confident that Jungwon’s burden as leader will never become too much for him, knowing that Jay will always be right next to him to lend a shoulder when it’s needed. 

And yet, Jake notices a shift in Jay and Jungwon’s dynamic after Jungwon is made their leader. Jay becomes even more apprehensive of his actions, more anxious when Jungwon wears his clothing, has become stiff when they share pack gestures, can barely be in the same room as him while eating. Although it’s clear that it’s related to Jungwon’s newly appointed role or leader, Jake isn’t sure why this has been a catalyst for his increased discomfort. So he decides to ask the person most likely to be in the know.

“Sunoo-yah,” Jake calls, taking a seat beside him on their couch. Sunoo looks up from his iPad, pausing the drama he was watching and taking out his headphones as he smiles.

“Hey, hyung! What’s up? You look nervous,” Sunoo says, his eyes narrowing slightly but the smile still on his face. Jake’s cheeks flush; he’s not used to initiating gossip about his pack members.

“Ahaha, yeah… I just. I was wondering if you knew anything about, like…” Jake runs a hand through his hair, thoroughly embarrassed about what he’s trying to ask. He reminds himself that he’s asking for the good of their group, of their pack , and takes a moment to be thankful that Sunoo is so patient. “Do you know what’s going on with Jay and Jungwon? Jay has been acting… weird.”

Sunoo’s smile drops a fraction. “Ah… that.” He sighs and runs a hand through his own hair. “I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely sure what is going on from Jay-hyung’s end. But I know Jungwon is… not taking it well. He came to me pretty upset yesterday and asked if I knew whether or not he had done anything to make Jay-hyung upset.” 

Jake nods, his heart aching for Jungwon. He’s noticed it as well, even though Jungwon hasn’t been as obvious about it as Jay when they’re in a group; maybe it’s because he has been too busy with his new leader duties when they’re all together, or maybe he’s just better at masking his feelings compared to Jay, who wears his heart on his sleeve. But even despite his efforts, Jake can see the hurt in Jungwon’s eyes whenever Jay avoids eye contact or leans away from an attempt at a pack gesture. 

“I don’t know what goes on in Jay’s head sometimes,” Jake says, trying to sound light, but he doesn’t think he’s successful. Sunoo chews on his lip.

“Wonie has so many new responsibilities, it feels unfair that Jay-hyung would pull away now when Wonie really needs him most,” Sunoo says. His round face hardens into a more serious expression. “It has always sort of bothered me that he acts like he’s courting Wonie when I know he has no intentions of actually doing it, and this is why. He overthinks everything so much, I knew it would eventually end with him hurting Wonie somehow.”

Jake’s mind flashes back to his conversation with Heeseung, where he’d expressed concern about creating tension in their group before they’d even had a chance to debut. And while the worry had been somewhat misplaced in Jake, he now sees why Heeseung would want to avoid it so badly; even this amount of tension feels crippling, especially knowing that their leader was one of the people involved. 

“I’ll talk to Jay about it. We can’t let them keep going like this, it’s going to hurt all of us, but especially them,” Jake says finally. Sunoo’s eyes snap to his face, his eyes wide. 

“You’d do that for us?”

Jake smiles through a confused expression. “Of course, Sunoo-yah. We can’t just let them keep hurting, we’re a pack now. That means we take care of each other, right?”

Sunoo’s body relaxes at this, his face morphing into one of his cute squishy smiles. “Right. We do.” Sunoo’s expression slowly becomes a little shy and apprehensive; his eyes flit around Jake’s face, and Jake feels confident that he knows what Sunoo wants. “Hyung… since we’re a pack now, like you said… i-is it okay if we-”

Jake cuts him off by rubbing his nose into Sunoo’s cheek gently, nosing for a few seconds before shifting to bump their temples together. Sunoo looks very pleased and doesn’t hesitate to nudge him back, so Jake feels that he has made the correct guess about what Sunoo was trying to ask for. Sunoo moves to press his own nose into Jake’s cheek before pulling away completely, his sweet smile practically glowing. Jake smiles back.

“We’ll get them sorted, Sunoo-yah.”

~ * ~

It’s not until another few days later that Jake gets the opportunity to talk to Jay. He thought it would be relatively easy considering they are roommates, but with their debut now less than a month away, most of their waking hours are spent eating, singing, or dancing, and both he and Jay are generally quick to fall asleep once their heads hit their pillows. 

They have just finished up a day of filming for the Given-Taken music video, so all of them are once again dead tired and ready to go home to sleep. In spite of this, Jake is determined to talk to Jay tonight, unwilling to let the issue carry out for much longer; Jungwon has been looking worse and worse every day, his shoulder sagging a bit more, the bags under his eyes a little more prominent. Jay doesn’t look great either, his leg bouncing anxiously whenever he’s sitting and unable to keep his eyes focused in one place for more than a few seconds. Jake can’t stand to see them like this any longer, and especially not so close to their debut. 

As they head towards the vans, he grabs Sunoo by the elbow as subtly as possible. Sunoo jumps a little, but relaxes when he realizes who it is. Jake leans in close to his ear, still trying not to catch anyone’s attention.

“I want to try getting Jay alone to talk to him before he falls asleep, can you think of a way to make sure he showers last?” Jake whispers. Jay is weirdly good at convincing everyone else to let him shower first or second, allowing him to sleep as early as possible. Sunoo purses his lips and narrows his eyes for a few seconds before turning into a sneaky grin.

“I have an idea. We need to be in the same van as him though, and you’ll need to steal his phone.” Jake nods, trusting whatever Sunoo has in mind. 

The pair of them watch Jay like a hawk as he walks towards the vans, waiting until he has picked one to race in behind him before anyone else does first. Jay sits in the middle row, so Jake quickly steals the seat beside him while Sunoo climbs into the far back. Heeseung follows behind him and closes the van door, signalling that they can leave. Once they’ve been on the road for a few minutes, Jake turns to Jay.

“Jay-ah, can I use your phone to play games or something? Mine died earlier and I really want to play a game, I’m bored,” Jake lies smoothly in his best begging voice. Jay looks at him with a raised eyebrow, so he also uses his puppy eyes. “Please?”

Jay scoffs. “Surely you can survive one car ride without playing something?” he says. Jake lets out a more deliberate whine, trying to mimic what a young pup would do to get their own way, but it comes out wrong and suddenly Jay looks very on edge. He also hears Heeseung make an odd, strangled noise, but chooses to keep his eyes on Jay.

“Jongseong-ah, please -”

“ Okay , fine,” Jay quickly relents, his face bright red as he hands Jake his phone. Jake furrows his eyebrows at this, but decides to ignore the weird behaviour in favour of playing on the phone. He chooses something silly, a generic matching game similar to a thousand other matching games, and starts to become genuinely absorbed when he sees a message coming through in their group chat from Sunoo, closely followed by several others.

ENHYPEN 🔥

[sun ☀] dibs on first shower!

[maknae] u can’t dibs the shower before we get to the dorm!!!! not fair

[sun ☀] too late I just did

[maknae has left the chat]

[hee-hyung] niki omg

[maknae has been added to the chat]

[wonie ❤] yah!!!!! don’t leave the chat!!!!!!!

[maknae] FINE i dibs second shower then!!!!!!

[hee-hyung] third

[hoon-ah] THIRD

[wonie ❤] fourth!

[hoon-ah] FOURTH

[hoon-ah] FIFTH

Jake suppresses a snort at the same time that he hears Sunoo and Heeseung snicker behind him; Sunghoon is notoriously slow at typing. Jake closes the chat, marks the most recent message as unread, then closes the game as well.

“Thanks, Jay-ah. I think I’ll live until we get home now,” Jake teases, handing Jay back his phone as he rolls his eyes. He watches Jay open his phone and check his messages, an annoyed expression crossing his face before he starts typing. Jake feels his phone buzz in his pocket a few times, but doesn’t pull it out so his lie isn’t called out.

Sunoo skips off to their bathroom happily once they’re back at the dorm, a whining Niki trailing behind him. Jake goes to his room right away and plugs in his phone so he has an alibi for looking at it. He opens up the group chat to see the messages Jay left.

ENHYPEN 🔥

[jay-ah] sixth

[jay-ah] jake can go last since it’s his fault I answered so slowly

[niki-san] ?????

[jay-ah] he borrowed my phone to play games bc his is dead

[jay-ah] kids these days who can’t even go a few minutes without a cell phone 

Jake snorts and sets his phone back down just as Jay wanders into their room. He looks exhausted but he also looks sweaty, makeup smeared around his eyes and dripping down his neck, so Jake is confident he won’t go to sleep without his time in the bathroom.

“Sorry I lost you out on your bathroom time, bro,” Jake says, feigning sheepishness. Jay rolls his eyes, but doesn’t look genuinely annoyed. 

“It’s whatever, I’ll survive one night of going almost last.” 

They fall into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, but Jake is feeling a bit impatient, not wanting his opportunity to slip away. 

“Jay-ah, can I ask you a kind of… personal question?” he asks tentatively. Jay gives him yet another confused look, but still nods his head. 

“Yeah, sure. What’s up?” he asks. Jake steels his nerves and rips it off like a bandaid. 

“Why have you started avoiding Jungwon? Like, more than usual.”

Jay instantly freezes in place, his head slowly turning to look at Jake. His eyes are owlish and his cheeks are blossoming red. 

“I… I don’t know what you-”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know, Jay-ah,” Jake says, his tone a bit sharper than he intends which causes Jay to flinch. Jake softens his voice again. “I’m just concerned. For both of you.”

“Why?” Jay snaps defensively. “You aren’t even involved, so why does it matter to you?” His tone is angry, but Jake can see the pain shining in his eyes. 

“Because Jungwon is hurting,” Jake says gently, and Jay’s shoulders sag heavily as he sits on his bed. “So are you. And I care about both of you, you’re my pack , stupid. Of course it matters to me.”

Jay stays silent for a few seconds, his bottom lip quivering in a way that makes Jake think he may start crying. But he doesn’t, he sucks in a deep breath and begins to talk.

“I… I’ve always felt kind of bad about my… thing with Jungwon. Ever since we met, I knew something about him was different for me. We just connected right away, I’ve never clicked with someone like that before. Even when we’d only known each other for a few weeks, it felt like we’d been friends our whole lives. I’m sure you know what I mean,” Jay says, a little grin on his face. Jake does know; that’s how it was for him and Sunghoon too, even if it wasn’t romantic the way it was with Jay and Jungwon. “And every time I tested the waters a little, initiating pack gestures or cuddling with him or whatever, he was really receptive to it, and it made my alpha go nuts. But I was so hyper-aware of his age, too. I’d only just presented a month before we started filming, and suddenly all my new hormones were going haywire for someone who hadn’t even presented yet. I felt like a creep .” 

Jay seems genuinely distressed as he speaks, so Jake does what feels right: he stands, climbs into Jay’s bed, and rubs his nose against Jay’s temple, a pack gesture most often used to comfort others. Jay freezes, and for a terrifying second Jake thinks he has overstepped his boundaries and is about to get rejected, when Jay melts into him, shifting so that their temples are rubbing against each other as they sit. Jake resists the urge to preen when Jay’s alpha accepts the gesture; getting acceptance from a presented pack member is much more serious and official than from unpresented pack members since they can actually smell others’ scents, so it makes Jake feel like he is genuinely being accepted into their pack. But this isn’t about him right now, it’s about Jay.

“You’re not a creep for liking someone who hasn’t presented yet,” Jake says with a tone of finality. “I totally understand if you don’t want to, like, court Jungwon until he has presented, but please know you’re not a creep for wanting a relationship with him.”

Jake wraps an arm around Jay’s shoulders, and Jay nods slowly, inadvertently rubbing their temples together again. “Thanks, Jake-yah. I do have a habit of getting into my own head about these things.”

“You do. And it’s hurting Jungwon this time, you know.” A guilty look creeps back onto Jay’s face. “He likes you too, and he’s used to you giving him all this attention, but you’ve cut him off cold turkey. What gives?”

Jay hesitates before speaking. “I feel like I was sort of living in a bubble with Jungwon up until he got picked as leader. I felt guilty about… kind of courting him, but it made me so happy and him so happy that I was able to ignore the guilt. But after he was picked as the leader, it was like something clicked in my brain that all of this was real, and that people will be watching us.” Jake nods and rubs their temples together more deliberately. “It also made me realize I wasn’t being fair to Jungwon. I’ve been acting like I’m courting him even though I have no intentions to, at least not yet, and it’s not fair to him for me to do that to him.”

Jake nods again thoughtfully. “I get that, and I do think it’s responsible of you to back off if you’re not actually going to act on your feelings. But you’ve already started something with Jungwon now, and the fact that you’ve started giving him the cold shoulder when he doesn’t know why is hurting him.” He squeezes Jay with the arm still wrapped around his shoulders. “I know it’s going to suck, but you have to talk to him about this. Jungwonie already has enough going on with his new leader position, and now his favourite person is avoiding him. That’s not fair to do to him either.”

Jay is quiet for a long time before he nods in agreement. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right, I should talk to him.” Jay sits up a bit straighter so that there is some space between them, and Jake removes his arm from around his shoulders. “…Thanks Jake. It was good to get perspective from another person, I really mean it.” 

Jake has another question burning in his mind, but he’s not sure if it’s rude; he decides to just go for it. “If it’s okay for me to ask—and I swear, no judgement regardless of your answer—would it change anything if Jungwon presented as an alpha?”

“No,” Jay says, not hesitating for the first time in their conversation. “That kind of thing isn’t important to me. I’ll want Jungwon no matter what.”

Jake nods and smiles but doesn’t say anything else, letting them just sit in silence for a few minutes before Jay speaks up again, a pink tint on his cheeks.

“By the way, something… happened earlier with you… it… I-I kind of think…” Jay looks rather flustered, a rare look for him, and Jake raises an eyebrow. “Just make sure to keep tabs on how you’ve been feeling, okay? Since your presentation is getting close.”

Jake’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. Why was Jay bringing that up now ? He seemed to have been trying to imply that Jake had done something in specific to warrant a warning, but he had no idea what it could be.

“Jay-ah, what-”

“I’m going to find Jungwon and talk to him. Niki is probably still in the shower, I’m sure I can say everything I need to say before it’s his turn,” Jay says, standing abruptly and leaving without another word. Jake sits in Jay’s bed, staring at where he’d just disappeared for a few seconds, before getting up as well and laying back in his own bed. 

He lifts the collar of his shirt up to his nose and inhales deeply. For some reason he’s disappointed when he doesn’t smell anything.

~ * ~

Jake has been feeling on edge ever since the first of November, but it’s only been getting worse with each passing day. He is hyper aware of how close his birthday is, just a week away now. Their staff also decided to go forward with inducing Jay and Heeseung’s ruts, which was planned for tomorrow. Jake isn’t sure how he feels about that, knowing that it is almost guaranteed to tip him or Sunghoon over the edge if either of them are omegas, and then what will they do? Much like how the staff had told them that they wouldn’t be involved with caring for a rutting Heeseung and Jay, they made it clear that they would not be helping with anyone’s presentations either. Their manager also seems to be convinced that he and Sunghoon will both be alphas or betas, in which case having two rutting alphas in the apartment technically isn’t an issue. Jake is less confident on the matter, but he doesn’t push it. 

Even more than himself, he’s started to become concerned for their newly appointed leader. One of his new duties is communicating with their staff about pack-related happenings, so it is him who gets the daily texts and phone calls asking if anyone has presented or gone into rut. They also expect him to be the primary one helping Heeseung and Jay prepare the rut rooms. Naturally the rest of them also help, aware that their staff are asking a lot of Jungwon when he himself is still well over a year away from presenting, but they do so carefully in fear of hurting their young leader’s ego. His status still seems fragile, not even public knowledge yet, and none of them want to make him feel like they don’t trust him before he’s even had a chance. 

The night before Heeseung and Jay’s ruts are supposed to be induced, Jake finds himself helping Heeseung prepare his rut room. Sunghoon and Niki are out re-recording some of their vocals for Flicker, and Jay is being assisted with his own rut room by Jungwon and Sunoo. Jay and Jungwon did have a discussion about their relationship according to Jay, and while Jake hasn’t been privy to what exactly was spoken about, they seem to have found a nice middle ground: they are back to sharing pack gestures and sitting close to one another without Jay pulling away, but they don’t fully snuggle and Jungwon has stopped taking Jay’s clothes. They both seem much happier with their arrangement, even more than they were before Jay pulled away, and Jake feels pleased with himself whenever he thinks about it. 

In terms of the plan for their ruts, both Heeseung and Jay have been given a pill that they have been instructed to take around midnight, and then to go to sleep in the rut rooms. Their ruts will be in full swing by morning. The rooms are essentially as prepared as they can be; staff have repeatedly assured them that the heat and rut rooms in the apartment are both sound proof and scent proof, which is yet another reason that management seems unconcerned that their ruts could cause Jake or Sunghoon to present early. Scents are what trigger a presentation, so although Jake and Sunghoon won’t be able to help this time around, they shouldn’t present as long as they stay out of the rooms. 

The decor of the rooms is pretty bland, featuring a large bed taking up about a third of the room with a table beside it and a very bright light in the middle of the ceiling, though both alphas have brought in smaller lamps that aren’t as harsh. Heeseung’s room has a sloppily-made nest built on the bed that Jake is currently working on making nicer; it’s a job usually undertaken by omegas, but their pack doesn’t have any, so everyone has just been doing their best to do what they can. Heeseung has confided that the nest is mostly just a symbolic gesture anyway, since their pack is still young. Unpresented people all have a pretty similar scent, often described as being powdery and clean, and while Heeseung assured that he can tell the difference between all of the pups’ smells, he has also admitted that his nest’s scent has mostly been dominated by Jay’s contributions.

Jake is secretly just happy that Heeseung and Jay’s alphas haven't rejected the nests entirely. While smelling the scent of pack members is generally a good way to bring a pack closer together, especially when a member goes into heat or rut, in young packs there is also the possibility that someone will end up getting put off by a scent and subsequently reject that individual as a pack member. Situations like that can be extremely difficult to repair, and for idol packs frequently result in people having to leave the group, so the fact that their alphas seem to have accepted all of the scents so far is fortunate. 

Other than the nests, both rut rooms are also packed with water bottles and snacks like protein bars for when they are lucid enough to eat or drink them. Jungwon and Sunoo have been tasked with occasionally checking on them both to make sure they are actually eating and drinking, as well as to generally take care of them as needed. Sunghoon and Jake have been barred from helping due to the proximity of their presentations, while Niki is not allowed because he is too young, though he’s still been helping with setting up the rooms and donating items of clothing to their nests. 

Jake is fixing one of the walls of the messy nest when he feels someone brush up against him. Unsurprisingly, he finds Heeseung sitting beside him, a fond look on his face. Jake smiles.

“What’s up?”

Heeseung laughs lightly. “Not much. Just thinking about tomorrow.”

Jake’s smile drops slightly. “Why? Are you nervous?” he asks, his voice laced with concern. Heeseung shakes his head, running his hand through Jake’s hair. 

“Nah, just going over a mental checklist of things I still need. I’ve already dealt with a few ruts, they’re honestly not that bad. Presenting was way worse.” Heeseung quickly seems to realize his mistake as Jake’s eyes noticeably widen. “N-Not that you should be nervous! I won’t lie, it does kind of suck, but it only happens once and then it’s over. Everyone goes through it.”

Heeseung smiles at him and pats him on the shoulder. Jake can feel his body relax at the gesture and he manages a smile back. “Thanks, hyung. It’s too bad you’ll probably be wrapped up in your own stuff when it finally hits me, I could probably use another pep talk closer to when it happens,” Jake says. Heeseung’s grin grows even wider.

“You never know, Jakey. Ruts only last a few days, and your birthday is still a week away. I might be done before you present, then I can give you another of my world-class pep talks,” Heeseung says, slinging his arm around Jake’s shoulders. Jake snorts and shoves him away playfully. Heeseung laughs as well, but his expression hardens slightly as he calms back down. “Honestly, I’m more concerned about when you guys will present. I still can’t believe they didn’t just postpone our debut by at least a few weeks, there’s no way you and Sunghoon are going to be in the right headspace by then.” 

Jake’s smile drops, as does his gaze. “I’m worried about it too. I really hope that everything will work out alright but… I don’t know, I just have a bad feeling. I don’t think it’s going to be as smooth as our manager seems to.” Heeseung nods. 

“Well, all of us will do what we can to make it go over well. None of us want you or Sunghoon to struggle or fall behind.”

Jake nods and allows himself to lean into Heeseung’s side, craving physical touch in the face of how much stress he feels. Heeseung wraps his arm around Jake’s shoulders, hesitating for a moment before nuzzling the top of his nose into Jake’s temple. It’s the first time he and Heeseung have exchanged a pack gesture, so Jake can’t help but immediately preen a little over it; he’s pleased that Heeseung’s alpha has also accepted him as a pack member. He tentatively presses back, wanting to make it clear that he’s accepting the gesture. 

They sit like that for a few minutes before Heeseung pulls away. Jake holds in a whine, knowing that they still have work to do before tomorrow, so they can’t just sit and cuddle all day, as much as he would rather do that. Heeseung stands and says he’s going to grab a few more water bottles, leaving Jake alone in the nest. He does his best to focus on straightening out the various blankets and hoodies and pants that make up the majority of the walls, wanting to make it as nice as possible, but sitting alone in the nest makes him feel like his stomach is on fire. 

He glances towards the door Heeseung just left through before picking up one of the pillows at the head of the bed. Jay’s warning from a few days prior rings through his head as he puts it up to his nose and inhales deeply, but he is disappointed to find that it just smells of laundry detergent, same as usual. He tentatively rubs the pillow against his neck before smelling it again, but it still smells of nothing. Jake throws it back into place, his cheeks burning; he won’t be able to smell or create pheromones until he presents, so he’s not sure why he was even compelled to try. He can feel the flush all the way up to his ears, and goes back to aggressively fixing the nest.

Chapter Text

There’s something almost ominous about the knowledge that two members are in rut, only a door separating them from the rest of the group. Jake feels on edge whenever he has to walk through their main hallway, convinced that at some point he will accidentally hear something he’s not supposed to or a door will fly open to reveal Jay or Heeseung looking feral, but it never happens. Not a single sound ever escapes, and the only people who open the door are Sunoo and Jungwon, who always make sure he and Sunghoon are a safe distance away first. Jungwon stays perfectly professional every time, but Sunoo always takes the opportunity to crack a few jokes about how his hyungs are acting like animals or how he’s seen more of their bodies than he ever expected to. His teasing also gets directed towards Jungwon when their leader returns from assisting Jay for the first time, his cheeks on fire and looking extremely flustered; Jungwon quickly suggests that Sunoo be the one to help Jay exclusively, and Sunoo agrees through his cackles. Jake is suddenly glad that he’s been barred from helping, not sure how he would handle seeing Jay or Heeseung like that. 

It’s around noon when Jake notices it. 

He’s once again anxiously walking through the hallway, heading to his bedroom to grab his phone charger, when he notices a smell in the hallway. It’s not particularly pungent, and it’s a bit difficult to put his finger on what it is; he can catch hints of spices and something woody among other smells he can’t quite place, and there’s a weird edge to it that is completely lost on him. He doesn’t dwell on it too much though, as it’s possible that Sunoo purchased a weird new perfume or something, and that thought allows him to ignore the several alarm bells going off in his head.

Despite reassuring himself that the smell means nothing, Jake avoids going back into the hallway for the rest of the day, instead keeping himself busy with preparing plates of cut up fruit and other snacks for Jungwon and Sunoo to bring to their alphas, or playing video games with Niki in the living room. If any of the others notice, they don’t say anything, though he gets an odd glance from Sunghoon when he holds his breath while walking to the washroom. Fair enough, maybe that was pushing it a little too far. 

It’s not until he’s heading to bed that Jake finally re-enters the hallway and walks past the doors to the rut rooms. He tells himself it’s in his head when the smell seems even stronger, but decides to lock the door to his and Jay’s room when he realizes that he can still smell certain notes of it within the room. He considers sending a text to one of his other members just to warn them about what might be happening, but he doesn’t want to worry them if it’s in his head, caused by his anxiety about presenting.

Jake’s heart pounds as he crawls into bed, and as he falls asleep, the only thought circling through his brain is alpha . 

~ * ~

Jake wakes up in more pain than he’s ever felt in his life. 

He can’t hold back the cry of pain that escapes him upon waking, instinctively moving onto his side and curling into a ball as he clutches his abdomen. It feels like someone has stabbed him with a red-hot knife just below his belly button, and his entire body tenses as he tries to cope with the searing pain. He can feel an ache near his tailbone as well, and several more spots throb all over his body: on his neck, his wrists, his temples, behind his ears, his chest, and his thighs among many others. His entire body is in a horrible symphony of pain, and he finds himself unable to contain his pained noises. 

The room also smells overwhelmingly like leather and some kind of mulled drink, even more than it had when he went to sleep, and he finally puts together that the unidentifiable edge from before is the smell of an alpha. He’s not entirely sure how he knows that, but there isn’t a doubt in his mind about it. His subconscious begs for him to move closer to the source of the smell, which seems to be Jay’s bed, but he’s in such excruciating pain that his body simply won’t listen to him. 

Jake has no idea how long he has been laying there for when he hears his door handle rattle. Whoever it is seems to realize the door is locked, and instead tries knocking. “Jake-hyung, what’s going on? Are you okay? Can you open the door?” Although Jake can hear the words, he’s too overstimulated to process whose voice it is. He opens his mouth to respond when all of a sudden the pain surges and his voice is cut off by a wail of agony. There is a more urgent knock after this and frantic calls of “Hyung! Hyung, please open the door!” but Jake can’t even find the willpower to open his eyes, let alone get out of bed.

Whoever is outside the door suddenly lets out a startled noise, and then his door handle is rattling far more violently. He hears shouting and snarling from several different voices, none of which he is able to identify, followed by what sounds like a physical altercation and then silence. The voices return to a normal volume and eventually disappear, and then everything outside the door goes quiet again. A few minutes later, there is another, gentler knock on the door. 

“Jake-hyung, you really need to come and open the door, okay? It’s not good for you to be in there alone. I know you’re hurting a lot right now but we really don’t want to have to break down the door.” The voice speaking to him is pleasantly calm, which is far better than the scuffle that had taken place not five minutes ago. He feels compelled to listen, in spite of everything. 

It takes all of Jake’s willpower to just sit up, and it pulls another loud cry of pain from him. He sits on the edge of the bed and sucks in a few shaky breaths while still clutching his abdomen. His head is spinning and the pain is so bad he feels like he’s about to be sick, but he can still hear the voice cooing and encouraging him from behind the door. He immediately stumbles when he finally manages to stand, his side smacking forcefully into the wall, but he doesn’t fall over. Using the wall to brace himself, he makes his way to the door at a snail’s pace. The second he is close enough to do so, he leans over to unlock the door and then instantly crumbles to the ground, unable to exert himself any further.

Jake hears the door swing open, close enough that it scrapes against his leg, and someone with a smell like baby powder crowds into his space, cupping his cheeks and wiping away tears that he didn’t even realize were tracking down his face. His vision has gone blurry from pushing himself so hard, so he still can’t tell who it is that he’s speaking to, but something about their scent lets him know that they are from his pack, and that alone is enough to make him feel calmer. They lean in further to touch their foreheads together, and he hears them start cooing as he does his best to reciprocate the pack gesture.

“You did such a good job, hyung, thank you for helping me. Me and Jungwonie are going to help you settle into a heat room, okay? Your presentation started last night, so you need to be there so we can keep you safe.”

Something clicks in Jake’s head as he is spoken to by his pack member. He has been too focused on the pain to even consider why it was happening, so hearing the words presentation and heat make everything fall into place: Jake is presenting as an omega. The realization makes him acutely aware that the seat of his pajama pants are wet, and for the first time he feels just slightly embarrassed about probably looking like an absolute mess in front of another member. He lets out a small, involuntary whine, but is shushed by his pack member.

He allows his pack member to help him stand, leaning most of his body weight on them as they pull him out of the room and start shuffling him down the hallway. There are two figures standing further down the hall, each in front of a door. One of them just seems to be keeping guard, but the one closest to him is actively holding their door shut. Jake is also able to smell the alpha scents from the day before, far stronger and more appealing now that his presentation is in full swing. Having now smelled one in isolation, he’s able to better identify the other: bergamot, and a rich wood like mahogany. The overwhelming scent of two rutting alphas makes him feel lightheaded, and he clings tighter to whoever is helping him walk. It forces another sound out of his mouth, but this time it is not one of pain, but a loud, heated moan. Everyone’s heads snap in his direction, and his spine tingles with horror when he realizes what he’s done, slapping a hand over his mouth in a moment of clarity. He’s not even given time to be properly embarrassed, though, as he is quickly dragged into another room.

The room is off-puttingly sterile, much like how the rut rooms had looked before they were settled into. All of the walls are white, illuminated by the same bright light in the middle of the ceiling. The room itself is actually pretty small, even smaller than the rut rooms had been, but there is still a large mattress taking up a majority of the room with a table beside it. But to his heat-addled brain, all Jake can focus on is that the room is too big, too bright, and completely scentless. Jake whimpers as he is gently placed on the floor beside the mattress. Part of him realizes that he is still able to smell leather and bergamot from the hallway, though right now the bright light along with his body pain is enough to distract him from it. 

“I know it’s kind of awful in here right now, hyung, but I’m going to help you fix it, okay? I’m going to get some stuff for your nest, I’ll be gone for just a few minutes.” Jake’s pack member starts to walk away from him and panic rises from his stomach like bile. He doesn’t want to be left alone in this terrible room, still in severe pain. 

“N-No, don’t leave!” he calls, his voice cracking. His pack member pauses at the door. “Please, I don’t want to be alone.” If he wasn’t so preoccupied by the pain, he would wince from how pathetic he sounds. His pack member seems to hesitate, watching him carefully from where they have stopped, but in the end they turn and leave anyway with a fleeting apology, closing the door behind themself. Jake crumples into a ball on the floor as they go, wailing even louder than before as his entire body screams in pain. All of the most painful spots throb together, like an agonizing heartbeat, and a headache also starts to form behind his eyes from how bright the room is; Jake genuinely starts to worry that he is going to die.

It feels like he has been abandoned for hours when his pack member finally returns with a massive laundry basket overflowing with stuff. They drop it right away and scoop Jake into their arms at the sight of him, apologizing profusely as they alternate between touching foreheads and nuzzling against his cheeks and temples. Jake can’t find it in himself to be upset, just pleased that they have returned. Jake also finds that the pack gestures ease his pain slightly, and his muscles are able to untense just a fraction. Once Jake is no longer actively crying, his pack member steps back again. 

“Okay, hyung, let’s get you settled,” they say, beginning to move hastily. With all of Jake’s senses so dimmed other than his sense of smell, it’s a bit difficult for him to figure out what exactly they are doing, but they seem to be focusing mostly on setting up the mattress. They put several layers over top of it before dumping out the rest of the laundry basket and beginning to arrange everything into a proper nest shape. Once they seem satisfied with this, they start pinning strings onto the walls surrounding the bed, and attach something lightly see-through and drapey to the ceiling that makes the bed seem more enclosed. They finish by stacking a bunch of items onto the table next to the bed, then they return to Jake.

“I did a lot of research into omega nests since I thought it might be useful eventually, so I hope you like it, hyung,” they say, pulling Jake back up into a standing position. His body protests the movement, but it doesn’t last long as he is quickly helped onto the bed. Instantly his body relaxes as he realizes it is full of scents, an entire nest made of his pack’s clothing. The drapery above him also mutes the bright light, making it much more bearable. He presses his nose into a wall of the nest, ignoring that he’s probably acting kind of weird about it, and inhales deeply. He has a flashback to his conversation with Heeseung about the smell of unpresented people and now understands; although still identifiable as coming from different people, the majority of the scents coming from the walls of his nest are something akin to baby powder. However, he can also smell items from their two pack alphas, and that helps his body relax further. 

As Jake runs his nose along the wall, he comes upon a sweater that he has to assume belongs to Heeseung, since it’s entirely different from the alpha scent in his room. It’s his first time smelling Heeseung’s scent on its own, and he can’t seem to stop himself from pressing it into his face, nearly suffocating himself with it. A small whimper escapes him without his permission, and his other pack member is quick to remind him of their presence. 

“Okay, I’m going to take that as my cue to leave. Me or Jungwonie will be back later to bring you something better to eat, so be good until then, hyung.” His pack member leans over and nuzzles his cheek one more time before clicking something as they prepare to leave. They turn off the overhead light as they exit the room, and Jake realizes that they had strung up fairy lights around the perimeter of the room, leaving him in a blissfully dark cocoon of clothing and fabric. 

Jake curls back up into a ball with his face still fully pressed into Heeseung’s sweater, able to slowly relax as the scent helps to ease the pain, and ignoring the fact that he suddenly has the urge to shove his hand down his pants. 

~ * ~

Jake has completely lost his perception of time since entering the heat room. The first hour or so had been the worst part, his body overwhelmed by the scent of two rutting alphas that were only a few doors away, but then the smells dissipated and his body was finally able to settle just a little. Now all he can focus on is how much pain he is in, only occasionally trumped by surges of arousal that seem to have no rhyme or reason. The first time it happens, it takes Jake a while to do anything about it, the small rational part of his brain acutely aware that his other pack members have still been coming in to visit him, usually to make him drink water or to wipe the sweat from his forehead with a cool cloth. He feels like he might actually die of embarrassment if one of them walks in on him jacking off, as much as his body screams for him to do something to alleviate the pain in his dick. 

Finally, after fighting against himself for what feels like far too long, Jake reluctantly slides one hand down into his underwear, laying on his side and partially curled into a ball. The relief is immediate, and a loud whine escapes his lips as he starts to gently pump his hand up and down. He’s horrified by how soon he finds himself nearing his orgasm, his entire body on edge within seconds, and it only takes a few more pumps before his vision goes white and he’s coming violently into his pants, his loud keen dampened by the fabric surrounding the nest. He’s never come this hard in his entire life, and his mind goes completely blank, finally focused on something other than the pain wracking his body for a few moments. He sucks in a deep, stuttering breath as he comes back down, his heart jackrabbiting in his chest.

After the few seconds it takes for him to recover from the most insane orgasm he’s ever had, Jake immediately feels embarrassed for how quickly he came, like he was just touching himself for the first time. He realizes that he’s still hard, and the slide of his come-covered pants does not feel great against his dick. He also notes that the back of his pants are now drenched with slick, sticking unpleasantly to the backs of his thighs, and that’s enough for him to shuck off his bottoms entirely. He throws them on the floor, only afterwards considering that Jungwon or Sunoo is going to see them lying in a wet pile the next time they visit him, but his focus is elsewhere; he needs to come again or he’s going to go nuts. 

Jake rolls onto his back and grabs his cock again, able to stroke it a bit more firmly now that the initial arousal has been satiated. He initially tries to suppress the whines and moans building in the back of his throat out of habit, until he remembers that the rooms are sound proof, which he knows is actually true since he never heard anything from Heeseung or Jay when walking past them. The thought of the two rutting alphas makes his hormones spike; he allows himself to moan loudly as he squeezes the base of his cock, and his arm flails around in search of the sweater he’d practically shoved up his nose the day before. He presses it back into his face when he finds it and inhales deeply, whining as he pumps his dick faster. Heeseung’s scent isn’t specifically arousing to him, but it smells like an alpha that Jake trusts, an alpha that Jake knows is in rut , and that’s enough to send his omega brain into a frenzy.

Jake feels a throb in his gut that has him moving instinctively, rolling from his back onto his knees, his forehead and nose pressed directly against the bed with Heeseung’s sweater in between. He focuses his hand on the head of his cock, letting out stuttered whines as he thumbs the leaking slit, and he feels the deep throb again. His cheeks start to burn as he realizes that what he’s feeling is the need for something inside him, for his hole to be opened up by an alpha, and even just that fleeting thought makes the throb more uncomfortable. He feels slick dripping down his legs, the back and inner parts of his thighs completely covered in it, but he can’t bring himself to actually touch himself there. Despite knowing that it is part of the deal as an omega, the idea of touching himself that way still feels like too much right now.

Jake continues to play with his cock, rapidly pumping it as his breathing picks up, until he comes into the mass of blankets and sheets below him. It’s just as blinding as his first orgasm, causing him to instantly collapse onto his stomach afterwards, but he feels much more settled this time around, in spite of his omega whining about still feeling empty. He feels like he’s boiling and his shirt is now sticking to his body from the sweat, so he lets it join his pants and underwear on the floor. Unable to care about the come below him or the slick still covering his thighs, Jake curls back up into a ball and falls asleep. 

~ * ~

Jake is woken back up by the sensation of a cold, wet cloth running over his skin, and the soft voice of one of his pack members. 

“Jake-hyung, wake up. I know you’re sleepy, but you really need to eat something now, okay?” the voice coos, and after a quick sniff in the air, he can tell it’s Sunoo who is there. Although he’s still too overwhelmed for his vision and hearing to fully function, it only took a few visits for him to be able to distinguish the difference between Jungwon and Sunoo by smell; they both share the powdery scent of a pup, but they also have unidentifiable undertones that are distinct enough to tell apart. He can also tell by the way they handle him. Jungwon is a bit more clinical but anxious, hesitant before he makes a move but firm and sure once he’s decided what to do. Sunoo never hesitates, but uses a much gentler hand and often talks in a soft tone as he does his duties. Jake can’t always tell what he’s saying, but hearing a member of his pack talk calmly to him always soothes his frazzled nerves. 

Jake opens his eyes a crack as Sunoo continues to talk before snapping them shut again, groaning as he finally registers that his body pain has returned full force. Sunoo’s gentle hands running over him with a cold wash cloth feels nice against his burning skin, cooling his chest and arms before dipping lower to his stomach and then his thighs. Jake whines and tries to push his hand away, embarrassed as it registers that he is not only naked, but that Sunoo is trying to clean the gross mess of slick from his thighs. 

“Oh, shush, hyung,” Sunoo tuts, ignoring Jake’s feeble protests. “You’re going to get a rash if you let that sit on your legs, you’re lucky you don’t already have one with how long you waited to take your pants off.” Jake feels like he’s being scolded by his mother as Sunoo says this, and a small whimper escapes him. Sunoo pauses in his cleaning when he hears the sound to rub his nose against Jake’s temple, and despite the fact that Sunoo can’t actually scent him, the gesture makes Jake feel lighter. “We’re a pack now, hyung. That means we take care of each other, right? There’s no need to be embarrassed.” Sunoo’s voice is sweet, and something about his words allow Jake to relax into his touch.

Sunoo finishes wiping off his body before Jake is assisted in sitting up so that he can be fed. He invites Sunoo into the nest so that Jake can lean against his shoulder as cut up pieces of melon, strawberry, and tangerines are placed into his mouth, as well as half a protein bar and a full bottle of water before he refuses any more. Sunoo stays with him for a little while longer after that, petting his hair gently and letting Jake press his nose into his neck; the smell of a pack member helps distract from the pain, even an unpresented one. Eventually though Sunoo pulls away, telling Jake that he has other stuff he needs to do now, and that Jungwon will come and visit him in a few hours. Jake suppresses a sad whine as Sunoo places a kiss on his forehead before leaving him alone once again. If only this could be over soon.

~ * ~

When Jake wakes up next, it’s not from the gentle touch of one of his dongsaengs trying to feed or clean him. It’s a loud, violent bang as his door flies open and hits the wall, startling him from his slumber. He sits up slightly to see a relatively large figure standing in the doorway, though his fuzzy vision still isn’t able to pick out who it is. He inhales to try and see if he can figure it out by smell, and immediately his body is overtaken by arousal.

Whoever is standing in the doorway is an alpha. An alpha in rut . 

The smell doesn’t actually help him identify who it is; the person smells like expensive coffee and vanilla, like they’ve just come out of a fancy cafe, so he knows it isn’t Heeseung or Jay, but his senses are going too haywire for him to think of who else it could be. All he can process is that they smell good, really good. He can’t tell if it’s just because this alpha is directly in front of him, but this smell is far more appealing to him than Heeseung or Jay’s. 

The alpha takes a single, almost robotic step closer to him before pausing, and Jake lets out an involuntary, high-pitched sound that only omegas are capable of, his body screaming to beckon this alpha closer. The reaction is immediate, the alpha moving right up to the edge of his nest before stopping. Jake still can’t see who it is, but he whines again, begging the alpha to get into his nest, to help him feel good. The alpha reaches out a hand, about to touch Jake’s leg, when a sharp voice rings out from the doorway.

“ Hyung ! Get out of there now !” an angry voice commands, as a second figure rushes inside and grabs the alpha by the forearm. All hell breaks loose as this happens, the alpha snarling and snapping at the other person as they aggressively pull on his arm; Jake is able to smell that it is Jungwon. Despite being unpresented in the face of an extremely aggressive alpha, Jungwon does not hesitate to growl and posture back, not letting go of his arm but struggling to actually make him move. A third person that Jake identifies as Sunoo appears as well, and he immediately jumps in to help Jungwon, grabbing the alpha by his other arm and pulling as well. He is a bit more startled when the alpha snaps at him, but lets out a small snarl of his own in response. The two of them manage to pull him a few feet away from the bed, and that’s when Jake realizes what they are trying to do. Tears spring to Jake’s eyes as he weakly sits up and starts to frantically beg. 

“No! Alpha, please don’t leave!” Jake wails, his pheromones spiking as the alpha looks back at him and lowly grumbles, Omega, my omega , under his breath. Jake crawls to the edge of his nest, sitting up on his knees and reaching out with one hand before making another omega noise. The alpha’s scent spikes and his pull against the other two people becomes even more violent, his snarling even louder.

“Hyung, stop ! You need to leave ,” Jungwon yells at the alpha, his voice urgent, but the alpha continues to resist them. “Niki-yah! Niki, please , you need to come help us!” 

A fourth figure appears in the doorway, quickly takes in the situation, and springs into action, moving in behind the alpha and pushing on his back. With three people now working together, they manage to pull the frantic alpha out of the room, the others shouting over each other as their voices grow distant and then disappear entirely. Jake stares at the open door to his heat room, his body shaking like a leaf and his breathing heavy as he slowly rocks back from a kneeling position into a sitting position. He is shocked to find the bedding soaking wet against his ass, and he realizes that there is a genuine puddle of slick underneath him. It’s perhaps not surprising, giving that his entire body is now pulsing with arousal, the smell of the alpha still pungent in his room and out into the hallway. He opens his mouth and laps at the air, like he might be able to taste the scent on his tongue, but of course it doesn’t work.

Suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that he was so close to an alpha, a rutting alpha who was going to take care of him , and now that chance has been snatched away from him, Jake’s body crumples into a ball on his side and he begins to wail , loud, ugly cries that come from his chest. He cries and screams and begs , hoping Sunoo or Jungwon will hear him and bring his alpha back, but they don’t reappear. 

His body hums with pain and arousal, once again demanding to be filled, and this time Jake is unable to resist the pull, rolling onto his back. He reaches a hand down past his cock and rubs a finger over his soaked entrance, panting raggedly as the first one slips inside. The tension in his body instantly relaxes as he gently pumps the finger in and out of the wet mess, taking almost no time before pushing in a second and then third. His body opens up easily at the intrusion, and Jake wonders fleetingly why he waited so long to do this. His fingers start to move faster, his panting turning into frenzied moans, when suddenly they brush against a spot that makes him gasp loudly and his back arch up off the bed.

Something in his mind is screaming that he shouldn’t be doing this when the door is still wide open for anyone to see him, but an even bigger part of him, his omega, is screaming more, I need more, I need alpha . Jake’s movements become erratic as he tries to focus on that same spot, his toes curling and untouched cock throbbing. He can still smell the alpha, his scent lingering in the room and coming through the open doorway. For a brief moment he pretends that his fingers belong to someone else, that his alpha is looming over him, that he’s about to be filled by his cock, and that thought is what sends him over the edge. A loud keen escapes him as he arches high off the bed again and his mind goes blank, come landing on his stomach in ropes. His body still trembles as he comes out of his high, and despite feeling the satisfaction of finally being filled by something, his omega continues to cry out in distress. Alpha, where did alpha go, I need alpha’s cock , cycles through Jake’s mind, the scent of the rutting alpha clear as day, and once again he begins to cry.

He’s not sure how long he sits there for, pathetically sobbing and begging for his alpha to come back while lying in a pool of his own come and slick, when someone appears once more in his doorway. They quickly come inside, close the door behind them, and come up right to the nest, taking Jake’s face into their hands. They press their forehead against Jake's, gently wiping his tears and snot away without concern for how disgusting it is, and Jake figures out that it is Jungwon around the same time that he realizes he’s being spoken to. 

“Hyung, hyung , I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry, I should have realized what was happening sooner and prevented that. Please forgive me, hyung, I’m sorry ,” Jake hears Jungwon sniffle as he rubs their foreheads and temples together, continuing to ramble out apologies over and over. The sliver of rationality left in Jake’s brain notes that this is his first time exchanging a pack gesture with Jungwon, but he’s too overwhelmed to linger on the thought. Jake whimpers softly and Jungwon’s grip on his cheeks tightens. 

“Alpha,” Jake whines, pressing his forehead back into Jungwon’s to reciprocate the pack gesture; that seems to calm Jungwon down a little. “Wonie, where is alpha? Please, please , he needs to help me.”

Jungwon starts to tremble slightly, but doesn’t let up on the calming gestures for Jake. “He had to leave, Jake-hyung. He couldn’t stay here, it wouldn’t have been safe for you, for either of you.” 

Jake begins to hyperventilate as he processes Jungwon’s words. “B-But I can smell him. He’s still here, why can’t he come back? Why won’t you let him help me?” Jake’s whining becomes loud, desperate , and he clings to Jungwon as sobs wrack his body. “Please, please , Jungwon-ah. Please bring alpha back. It hurts so bad, I need him to come back.”

“I can’t bring him back, hyung, I can’t . I’m so sorry, I’m sorry I let this happen,” Jake feels something drip onto his cheek before it is hastily wiped away. Jungwon sniffles and lets go of Jake’s cheeks to climb up into the nest, pausing for a moment in case Jake rejects him from his space, and moving further in when he doesn’t. He sits against a small pile of pillows and pulls Jake into his arms to rest on his chest, petting his hair and continuing to softly apologize repeatedly as Jake wails and sobs into his shirt. He leans his cheek on the top of Jake’s head, still sniffling between apologies.

Jake isn’t sure how long they sit like that for. It genuinely feels like days to him, only broken up by Jungwon occasionally forcing him to eat or drink, or whenever the alpha smell becomes too much and Jake can’t hold back from pleasuring himself again. Jungwon leaves the nest to give him some privacy, but he doesn’t actually leave the room; he simply sits on the floor next to the door, quiet enough to let Jake forget he is there. He’s much too far gone to feel embarrassed about acting this way in front of Jungwon, and Jungwon never says anything about it when he returns to the nest.

Sometimes they hear what sounds like a scuffle coming from outside the room and Jungwon’s arms will tense around Jake, which in turn puts him on edge as well, but nothing ever comes of the noises. Then later on there is more scuffling, like there is a small crowd of people in the hallway, and Jungwon suddenly springs up. 

“I’ll be right back, hyung, they’ll probably want to talk to me,” he explains. Jake whines in protest, but Jungwon ignores him, giving a quick nuzzle to his temple before exiting the room. The pain in his body throbs as he is left alone, and he instinctively curls back into a ball. He can hear people talking, can smell the scent of his alpha momentarily get stronger, can hear his alpha growling, and then the voices fade away, and the smell of the alpha fades with it.

His alpha is gone. He’s been taken away.

Jake once again wails in despair.

~ * ~

Jake completely loses track of time after that. Everything becomes a repetitive routine of being in pain, being fed, being cleaned, and jacking off. The bedding underneath him slowly becomes increasingly damp, and Heeseung’s sweater has spent so much time tucked in directly beside him that it hardly smells like him anymore. Jungwon continues to visit him, constantly apologizing for something despite the fact that Jake’s heat-addled brain can’t remember what he’s apologizing for. At some point, Jungwon brings a small slice of cake instead of the usual plate of fruit, and he sings as he alternates between feeding bites of it to Jake and taking bites of a second slice he brought for himself. Jake isn’t sure what the cake is for, but the sugar makes his head buzz pleasantly and Jungwon’s singing makes his body relax. 

Jake also notices another pleasant smell start to come from the hallway at some point. It smells floral, like roses and blossoms, and it makes Jake feel calmer whenever he catches a whiff of it. He becomes increasingly lucid as the days drag on, the pain in his body easing from almost unbearable to just a deep ache, and his need to be pleasured becoming less and less frequent. Every time he manages to sleep, Jake prays that he will wake up and it will finally be over.

~ * ~

When Jake eventually does wake up and feels like it’s completely over, his first thought is that he has never felt this terrible before in his entire life. 

Above all else, he feels disgusting . He is still fully naked and covered in a humiliating amount of bodily fluids, giving his body a sticky sheen from head to toe, in spite of Jungwon’s best efforts to keep him clean. The bedding under him is similarly soaked with slick and sweat and whatever other substances his body has produced. He desperately wants a shower, or at the very least to get out of the puddle under his body, but all of his muscles are aching to the point where he’s worried that if he stands up, he might just immediately collapse onto the floor. 

Jake isn’t exactly sure how long it’s been since his presentation started, and if he’s fully honest, most of his memories since then are a little fuzzy around the edges. He obviously remembers feeling extremely horny and getting himself off more times than he can count, and even more than that, he remembers being in an excruciating amount of pain, even worse than the full body aches he’s feeling now. He also remembers feeling lonely; his body had been begging for the presence of another person, of an alpha, though he also knows his dongsaengs had really done their best to visit him frequently. He can remember smelling Heeseung and Jay, and also recalls nearly coming into contact with a third alpha. His cheeks start to burn as he puts together the puzzle pieces of what had probably happened that night, and guilt burns in his chest at the thought of their maknaes having to deal with that on their own. 

The need to thank and apologize to his younger members finally spurs Jake to sit up, determined to get into the shower and then find them. He wrinkles his nose at the revolting squelch that comes from under him as he sits up, and again when he feels something wet dripping down his body in several places once he’s partially vertical. He slowly rises to his feet, gripping the bed when necessary until he’s sure his legs won’t give out from under him, though every one of his muscles still screams in protest. He quickly realizes that using anything to cover his body is going to feel wretched when he’s covered in so much… everything. As much as he would rather die than have any of his members see him in this state now that he’s aware enough to be embarrassed about it, he decides that risking a naked mad dash to the bathroom is still preferable to having a towel wrapped around his damp body.

Jake slowly opens the door to the heat room he has been occupying, peeking just his head out to confirm that the hallway is empty. He then sprints down the hall and into the thankfully unoccupied bathroom, all but slamming the door behind him. He wastes no time before getting into the shower, not even waiting for the water to fully warm up before getting under the spray. When he opens his shampoo, he becomes a bit overwhelmed by the smell of it, and is reminded how strong his new senses are. He washes his hair twice and his body four times before he feels clean, and after he gets out and does his usual skincare routine, he feels mostly like himself again. 

After he is clean, Jake finds himself stepping back until his full body is visible in the mirror and dropping his towel on the floor. He examines his reflection in the mirror, trying to identify the signs that he has presented. Jake has read a lot of stuff online saying that omegas usually have noticeably broader hips and thicker thighs after presenting, but he feels like he mostly looks the same, which he finds mildly disappointing. He is also a little surprised with himself about how calmly he is taking his presentation, since it isn’t uncommon for people to panic about their second gender once the presentation haze wears off. Though he supposes that he never had any particular expectations about his second gender, so it would have been a mild shock regardless of how he turned out. More than anything, it was daunting to be the oldest omega in their pack, and potentially the only omega, depending on how the others eventually present.

Yes, right, the others. He is supposed to be going to find them.

After brushing his hair and teeth, Jake wraps a towel around his body and makes his way back to his and Jay’s room. He has the fleeting thought of whether or not he and Jay would be allowed to stay roommates after his presentation, but that is an issue for later. 

Jay is not present when he enters the room, but Jake can definitely smell him. The room has a lingering powdery smell that he doesn’t recognize, so he assumes it’s his own scent from before he presented. He can also smell Sunoo’s scent on his bed, likely because it has clearly been washed and redressed since he was last in the room. He is grateful that Sunoo had done that for him; it would have been unbearably gross if he’d returned to his bed and found it covered in crusty, week-old slick.

However, the overwhelming smell of the room is Jay’s, and Jake is now able to appreciate how much the scent suits him. It smells like fine leather and a whisky that has been mulled in autumnal spices, a perfect fit for their member with expensive taste. Jake is also relieved to realize that he doesn’t feel particularly attracted to Jay’s scent now that it’s not tinged with rut and he isn’t in heat. There is definitely a certain amount of pull just by virtue of him being an alpha, but it isn’t sending him into an aroused frenzy or anything, which makes him feel better about their living situation. 

Jake gets dressed into loose fitting sweats and a t-shirt, not ready to wear clothing that will rub too much against his still-sensitive skin, before finally going on the hunt for Jungwon and Sunoo. Once he’s back in the hallway, he takes note of a sweet, floral scent that he hadn’t picked up on earlier in his rush. He recalls being able to smell it during the latter part of his heat, but he’s still unsure of what it's from. His newly developed instincts are telling him that the scent belongs to another omega, but he’s not sure why there would be another omega in the apartment. He supposes that it could be Sunghoon, but Jake feels extremely confident that the unidentified alpha he’d had a close encounter with was a presenting Sunghoon. It seems much more likely that he isn’t yet skilled enough to interpret his new instincts properly, and someone had just bought a candle or something to try and mask the hormonal scents that he’s sure flooded the hallway because of him; the thought of that makes the guilt rise back into his throat. 

As he walks through the apartment, he's a bit unnerved by how quiet it is. He starts to wonder if maybe everyone else is out when he comes upon Jungwon sitting alone on the couch in the living room. He is scrolling through his phone, though he has an oddly blank look on his face that makes Jake’s anxiety spike. He clears his throat so that he doesn’t scare Jungwon, and immediately his eyes snap up to look at Jake. Jake smiles shyly, and is relieved when Jungwon sends him a small, relieved smile back. 

“Hyung! You’re awake,” Jungwon says, his voice cracking from disuse. He stands up as Jake makes his way closer, and Jake ruffles Jungwon’s hair affectionately. 

“Yep! I still feel kind of weird, I won’t lie, but I at least feel… lucid. Mostly normal.” Jake leans in to hug his dongsaeng, a gesture which is quickly reciprocated, and finds himself instinctively pressing his nose into Jungwon’s temples; now that he’s no longer in heat, Jungwon’s light, powdery scent makes Jake feel more protective of him. “You visited me a lot, right? My vision was pretty bad while I was out, but I remember smelling you pretty often.”

Jungwon chuckles. “Yes, it was mostly me making sure that you were eating and drinking enough. Mostly because I was really the only one who could visit you. Niki was really jealous, he kept begging me to let him help but I obviously had to say no.” Jake’s grin grows even wider; Jungwon is so mature for his age, and Jake has no doubts that they have picked the right person as their leader. He also has no doubts that Niki would have been upset that he couldn’t help, but at only 14 years old, he’s not nearly old enough to assist with pack ruts or heats. He would have been in over his head.

“Well, thank you for taking care of me. I’m sure I wasn’t always easy to handle, and I know I put you in a stressful position a few times,” Jake says, somewhat sheepish. He rubs his nose against Jungwon’s temple again. “You did a great job, leader-nim.”

The complement seems to release something in Jungwon, as he instantly sags into Jake’s arms. Jake holds him a little tighter to keep them both from falling over, rubbing his back gently. As the two of them stand there for a few moments in silence, Jake processes something that Jungwon said. 

“Wait, Jungwon-ah, you said that you were the only one who could visit me? Why didn’t they let Sunoo visit me too? I remember smelling him at the start of my presentation, but he stopped coming to see me,” Jake asks. Jungwon suddenly tenses back up in Jake’s arms before his body begins to tremble. Jake pulls back from the hug to see tears forming in the corners of Jungwon’s eyes, and his earlier thought of Jungwon’s maturity disappears into thin air. He looks like an exhausted and overworked child, and Jake’s urge to protect his dongsaeng, one of their pups, returns in full force. He lets those instincts take over, reaching out to cradle Jungwon’s face in his hands and nuzzling his temple again. This only makes Jungwon cry harder, his hands grabbing at Jake’s elbows and arms like he is worried Jake will move away from him. Jake can’t help but be alarmed; Jungwon isn’t someone who cries easily.

“Hyung,” Jungwon whimpers, his voice watery. “It… the last week has been so hard. Everything fell apart so fast and I had to do so much of it by myself , and the managers all expected me to know what to do because I’m the leader , but I’ve only even been the leader for a few weeks, and I’ve never dealt with people in heat or rut before-”

“Wonie-yah,” Jake coos, interrupting his rambling. Jungwon takes in a few shaky breaths and sniffles while Jake brings their foreheads together in a more comforting pack gesture and rubs his thumbs along Jungwon’s cheekbones. Some of the tension in his body seems to release. “Jungwon-ah, why were you dealing with all of that by yourself? What happened to Sunoo?” 

Jungwon lets out a stuttering breath, backing away slightly from Jake to wipe his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater. Jake grabs one of Jungwon’s hands and gently pulls them to the couch. Jake sits first, Jungwon curling up into his side with Jake’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, and waits patiently until Jungwon is ready. “It’s… a long story. I don’t know how much you remember, but you ended up presenting the day after they induced Heeseung-hyung and Jay-hyung’s ruts.” 

Jake snorts. “Yeah, I remember that part.” Jungwon smiles as well. 

“Just checking. It turns out that the heat and rut rooms in our dorm actually aren’t as scent-insulated as the staff thought, so their scents got into the hallway and triggered your presentation. The staff have said that they’ll have them repaired for next time.” Jake nods at this; he remembers being able to smell Heeseung and Jay from the hallway. “The staff decided to move Jay and Heeseung to a different location instead of you, since it’s more important for omegas to be somewhere familiar during their heats than it is for alphas, and all three of you were acting crazy since you could smell each other, especially before we got you into a heat room, so keeping them here wasn’t an option. Luckily they had Jay-hyung and Heeseung-hyung out of here within an hour, and took them to a rutting centre.” 

Jake buries his face in Jungwon’s hair to hide how red his face is. “I’m so sorry Wonie-yah. What a nightmare for you to deal with.” 

Jungwon snorts. “It’s not your fault, hyung, it’s not like you did it on purpose. That wasn’t even the worst part, anyway.” Jake lifts his head again, giving Jungwon a look for him to keep talking. “Well, like I said, the heat and rut rooms aren’t very well insulated, so your smell also got into the hallway. And then the day after you presented, Sunghoon-hyung started acting weird and aggressive.”

Jake closes his eyes and lets out a long, loud breath through his nose. Ah . His suspicions had been correct then.

“I had to call the staff back so they could find a place to move Sunghoon-hyung, but the rutting centre that they brought the other hyungs to was full, and they didn’t want to take him to a different place since that one is specifically for idols, so it's safer. They had to wait until a room opened up there, and nobody from management came to our dorms until they had a spot for him, so Sunoo-hyung and I had to watch you. I was with you, and Sunoo-hyung stayed with Hoonie-hyung. It… it was bad . We had to drag him out of your room, and both of you were acting feral. You just kept crying, and you didn’t understand why I wasn’t helping you. You were acting like I was torturing you.” Jungwon curls deeper into Jake’s side as he recounts this part of his story; Jake hears another faint sniffle. “Niki was also upset, because we had to ask him for help moving Sunghoon out of your room, so he knew exactly how badly we were all struggling, but he couldn’t do anything else to help. It took over thirteen hours before they were able to move Hoonie-hyung out of the dorm.”

Jake’s arms tighten around Jungwon’s shoulders. “You both did a really good job, Wonie-yah. I know I was acting… irrationally at the time, but I have no doubts that you did the best you could. Sunoo, too.” Jake rubs his cheek and nose against Jungwon’s temple, unable to ignore his new instinct to keep scenting his stressed pack member, despite the fact that Jungwon can’t smell it. Jungwon still nuzzles back, visibly preening at Jake’s words. 

“Thanks, hyung. That genuinely means a lot to me.” Jungwon is quiet for a few moments before he sighs and continues. “I wish that was the end of things. They moved Sunghoon-hyung in the middle of the night because of how long it took, and the next day everything finally seemed fine. We just had to take care of you, which was easy once the alphas were all gone. But then the next night, Sunoo-hyung woke up crying because he was in pain. He also had a really bad fever, so Niki and I were going to give him some medicine and help him back to sleep, until I noticed that the bedding under him was, to put it bluntly, wet . And he started asking us to bring Sunghoon-hyung to him.” 

Jake sits up abruptly to make eye contact with Jungwon, his own eyes practically bulging out of his head. “Are you telling me that Sunoo also presented? But his birthday isn’t for, like, seven months! He’s nowhere near presenting age!” 

Jungwon sighs and nods. “I know. But hyung… thirteen hours . He spent thirteen hours in that room. With Sunghoon-hyung .” Jake’s eyebrows furrow as he tries to make sense of what Jungwon is implying, and after getting a somewhat pointed look, it clicks into place. A presentation as early as Sunoo’s is abnormal, but not impossible. Spending time with an alpha in rut can jump start an early presentation in an omega or vice versa, but it still usually requires spending the entire time together, and even then it doesn’t always work. Unless, of course, the alpha is someone that the unpresented omega is actively interested in courting, in which case even a few hours can be enough. Seven months is still much earlier than normal even under these circumstances, but it’s not unheard of. 

Jake takes a minute to process this information. He recalls his conversation about this with Sunghoon, and is a little bit irritated that he has to concede that Jay was right about something. “It’s funny, Sunghoon has made jokes to me about Sunoo being interested in him, but I don’t think he thought it was actually true. Though neither did I, I’ve never noticed anything that would make me think he’s into Sunghoon.”

Jungwon swallows loudly. “I knew. Sunoo-hyung told me when we were still on I-Land that he thought Sunghoon-hyung was attractive, and ever since we debuted, he’s come to me whenever he’s worried that he’s making his crush too obvious. He’s really been putting a lot of effort into keeping it a secret.” Jungwon starts sniffling once more, and Jake quickly moves to cradle his face and touch their foreheads together. “I knew and I still let him stay with Sunghoon-hyung. I didn’t know how to say no to him when we were both so stressed, and I didn’t think he could present that early. But I could have stepped in and I didn’t.” Jungwon is crying again, and Jake becomes overwhelmed by how much his young leader has been burdening alone.

“Jungwon-ah, you couldn’t have known. Seven months is really early, most early presentations are only four or five months before-”

“But I did , I did know!” Jungwon cries. “I knew it was a risk even when I let him do it, and now he’s presented early! What if he’s mad at me? Sunghoon-hyung is probably going to figure out how Sunoo-hyung feels because of this, and it’s my fault. Niki has been a wreck too, he was holding it together with everyone else even though he was upset that he couldn’t help, but after Sunoo-hyung got moved into one of the heat rooms, he started avoiding me and I heard him crying a few times. As much as he denies it, we all know that Sunoo-hyung is his favourite.” Jake laughs once, but it sounds a bit hollow even to himself. It’s hard to keep things light when Jungwon is nearly inconsolable. “I feel like I’ve already failed all of you as a leader.”

“That’s not true.” Jake immediately cuts him off. “There was absolutely no way of knowing that this would happen the way it did. Sunghoon and I were probably always going to end up presenting together, even if they hadn’t induced Jay and Heeseung-hyung’s ruts, and none of us could have predicted that Sunoo would present so early. Management is more to blame than you are, if they hadn’t been so impatient about debuting us, then this probably would have all happened much smoother. And as much as I love Hoonie, he’s also not the sharpest tool in the shed. We can come up with a way to keep Sunoo’s secret from him.” Jungwon snickers at this, and Jake finally lets go of his cheeks to instead pull him into a hug, which he does not hesitate to reciprocate. “Like I said, you did a great job, leader-nim.” 

Jake feels Jungwon smile against his neck. “Thanks, hyung.” They pull away from each other after a few moments, and Jungwon grins. “Oh yeah, by the way. Happy belated birthday.”

Jake can’t help but let out a loud, genuine laugh. In the grand scheme of everything that has apparently happened, his actual birthday seems very trivial. “Thanks, Jungwon-ah. How long ago was my birthday anyway? I have no idea what day it is, to be honest.”

“Three days.” 

Jake considers this information. He was out of commission for eight days then; a little longer than average for a presentation, but still perfectly normal. “Where is everyone else? It was kind of creepy walking around with the apartment so quiet.”

“Heeseung-hyung and Jay-hyung have been staying at a hotel since their ruts ended, since management was concerned about them moving back in while there were still two omegas in heat, and as far as I know, Sunghoon-hyung is still at the rutting centre. Niki has been spending a lot of time at the studio since Sunoo-hyung presented, and Sunoo-hyung is still in one of our heat rooms.” Jungwon gives Jake a weird look. “I’m surprised you didn’t smell him.”

Jake thinks back to that scent that he had thought smelled like another omega. Heat rises to his cheeks; apparently, it did belong to another omega and his instincts had not been tricking him. 

“I think I did smell him, actually, I just didn’t realize it was him at the time.” Something embarrassingly maternal suddenly flares in Jake’s chest, and he feels the need to see and comfort Sunoo, having just experienced the agony of a presentation himself. “Can I visit him?”

Jungwon nods vigorously. “Yes, of course! It would honestly probably be good for him to get a visit from another omega,” Jungwon says, starting to stand. Jake feels a pleasant coil in his stomach at the comment, his omega glad to be needed by another pack member. 

He follows Jungwon down the hallway towards one of the heat rooms, the smell of roses and blossoms getting stronger the further they go. Jake notes that, although the smell isn’t appealing in the same way the alphas’ scents had been, he still finds it pleasant and soothing. They eventually stop at the room next to the one Jake had been using, and he takes a moment to internally cringe at how his room still smells like an omega in heat; he’s grateful that Jungwon can’t smell it. He’ll have to do some laundry once he’s done visiting Sunoo.

“Okay, ready, hyung?” Jungwon asks, bringing his focus back. Jake nods. 

The smell is intense when Jungwon opens the door, enough that it momentarily distracts Jake from everything else. Although the heat smell is similar to the one coming from his own room, Sunoo’s heat smell fills him with a deep, instinctive desire to seek out his packmate to comfort him. Jungwon takes a step into the room and Jake follows, closing the door behind them. The need to console Sunoo grows tenfold when Jake hears him let out a small whine. 

“J-Jungwon-ah,” Sunoo whimpers, sitting up slightly. His nest is visually similar to the one he had made for Jake, being made up mostly of clothes from other pack members with drapey fabric attached to the ceiling and a small lamp as the only light source. Jake makes a mental note that they will have to invest in a few more sets of fairy lights, since they had provided much more ideal lighting than the lamp and he didn’t want to have to fight over them if he and Sunoo ever went into heat at the same time again. He also realizes that Sunoo is naked, which Jake is surprised to find he’s unbothered by. He supposes it’s a mix of empathy, having just been in the same position only a day before, and the knowledge that Sunoo has also seen him naked. It’s a bit too late for modesty. 

“Sunoo-hyung,” Jungwon coos, and Sunoo makes another small, omega noise that instantly has Jake more alert. “I have Jake-hyung with me, okay? He’s finished presenting and wants to help make you feel better.” The two walk up to the bed as Sunoo sits up sluggishly, trying to get onto his hands and knees. Jake’s anxiety spikes when he notices that Sunoo is staring directly at him with wide eyes, though it quickly dissipates when Jake realizes the look is something more akin to relief than anything alarming. He seems relatively lucid too, which has Jake assuming that he’s nearing the end of his presentation. 

Once at the edge of the bed, Jungwon sits next to Sunoo but without climbing in any further. Jake hesitates to get into the nest at all, not wanting to intrude on Sunoo’s space if he doesn’t want Jake there. But the second he is within reach, Sunoo reaches out and grabs the front of Jake’s shirt, pulling him even closer until their foreheads are touching. Jake instinctively breathes in deeply as they make contact, and his senses are flooded by Sunoo’s scent, floral and slightly distressed. Jake feels like he’s going into sensory overload from how intense it is to scent a pack member who has also presented, but he knows he has to stay calm for Sunoo’s sake.

“Jake-hyung…?” Sunoo says, his voice watery and unsure. Despite seeming mostly awake, Sunoo’s eyes are a little glassy, so Jake assumes he can’t really see well.

“Hey, Sunoo-yah,” Jake says gently, his movements slow as he brings his hands up to cup Sunoo’s cheeks and stroke them with his thumbs. Sunoo takes a deep, shaky breath, his body visibly relaxing on the exhale; his scent becomes stronger, but the distressed edge begins to wane. Jake begins to actually rub their foreheads together instead of just having them touch. “How are you feeling? Is there anything I can do for you?”

Sunoo’s grip on his shirt tightens. “Cuddle with me. Please, hyung?” His dazed eyes are wide and pleading, like he might burst into tears if Jake said no. As if Jake could do that.

“Of course, pup. Whatever you need.” Jake climbs in carefully, trying not to jostle any of the walls of the nest, before leaning up against some pillows in a reclined seated position. Sunoo all but climbs into his lap, wrapping his arms around Jake’s middle and pressing his face as deeply into Jake’s neck as he possibly can; Jake can feel the bridge of Sunoo’s nose and the flutter of his eyelashes right beside the scent gland on his neck. Once Sunoo is settled, Jungwon cuddles up against his back, and Sunoo lets out a content sigh in response. 

“Thank you,” Sunoo says softly. “You smell safe, hyung.”

Jake’s heart feels like it's about to burst, and his omega preens both at Sunoo’s words and from being so immediately and intensely accepted by a pack member. His need to comfort Sunoo had overridden any anxiety he’d felt about potentially being rejected now that they could smell each other, but it had definitely still been present. The fact that Sunoo had not even questioned Jake as a pack member fills him with more relief than Jake can really articulate. Everything about the current situation just feels right and good; cradling and cuddling Sunoo in a nest until he no longer smells upset feels like scratching an itch. Every once in a while he uses the arm wrapped around Sunoo’s shoulders to run through Jungwon’s hair as well, just to make sure he’s feeling okay after his long ramble on the couch. 

Jake isn’t sure how long they sit there together in silence. Sunoo sighs softly every few minutes and somehow presses even closer to Jake’s neck. His scent also flares every time he does this, though he smells calm and happy, which makes Jake happy too. After the fifth or sixth time it happens, Jake can’t help but ask what it’s about.

“You okay, Sunoo-yah? Your scent keeps getting stronger every few minutes.”

Sunoo giggles. “Does it? Sorry, hyung, I can’t really tell how I smell. Your scent is doing it too, it gets more intense sometimes. It’s nice.”

Jake’s cheeks flush when Sunoo says this. He obviously hadn’t realized that his scent was fluctuating too; Sunoo was probably just reacting to his scent. 

“Oh. Sorry, Sunoo-yah,” he mumbles, though Sunoo just assures him again that it’s fine. Suddenly, a critical question pops up in Jake’s mind. “What do I smell like?”

Jake can feel Sunoo’s eyes crinkle against his neck and assumes he is smiling. “Hmm… the best way I can describe it is beachy. Like saltwater and driftwood, the way the air smells when you’re close to the ocean. And then lemongrass or vetiver or something like that.” Jake can’t contain his grin, pleased at this new information. ‘Beachy’ feels fitting. “What about me, hyung?”

“Like flowers,” Jake answers quickly, and he can feel Sunoo’s smile again. “Definitely roses, and then some kind of blossom. I don’t know my flowers well enough to be able to smell anything more specific.”

“That’s okay. Thank you for telling me, I think it sounds nice at least.”

Jake nods against Sunoo’s head. “You smell nice, I promise.” 

Jungwon huffs. “I want to have a smell too,” he mumbles. Sunoo laughs.

“You do have a smell. You smell like a baby,” he teases. Jungwon narrows his eyes as Jake stifles a snicker. Sunoo isn’t really wrong. 

“ Yah , be nice! You also both smelled like babies a week ago.” 

Jake smiles and presses his cheek into the top of Sunoo’s head as he continues bickering with Jungwon. He closes his eyes, basking in how nice it feels to be wrapped up with his young packmates, and briefly wishes they could just stay there forever.

~ * ~

Sunoo’s heat breaks the next day. Much like Jake, he retreats to their bathroom to wash off his presentation, and Jake finally goes to do his laundry; he’d found it difficult to leave Sunoo once they were tucked up beside each other, so he has yet to return to his own heat room and clean up. He does his best to suppress the embarrassment as he throws the mountains of bedding and clothing into the washing machine, grateful when he can return to the heat room to take down the canopy and the fairy lights. 

Sunoo eventually emerges from the bathroom, his scent clean and hair once again fluffy instead of sticking to his forehead from sweat. Jake calls out a greeting as Sunoo goes back to his own bedroom, and it suddenly occurs to Jake that Niki still hasn’t come home. He asks Jungwon about it, and is informed that Niki had slept overnight at the dance studio. He claimed it was because he had stayed too late dancing, but both Jake and Jungwon are suspicious that he just didn’t want to return to the apartment knowing he’d basically still have to be alone.

“I told him that Sunoo-hyung’s heat broke, though, so he should be back today,” Jungwon reassures. Jake nods, unable to not fret over their maknae. 

Once Sunoo is dressed, he follows Jake’s lead and starts to tidy his heat room. Jake helps him in spite of his embarrassed protests, and soon both of the heat rooms have been completely tidied, with their laundry room full of smelly sheets and clothes. 

“Niki finally texted me back,” Jungwon calls from their kitchen, his voice laced with relief. “He said he’ll be home in about 20 minutes, give or take.”

“Okay, awesome,” Jake says as he and Sunoo enter the kitchen. “Do you guys want me to make some lunch? I don’t think I can stomach another meal of just fruits and granola bars.” His dongsaengs cheer and nod, so Jake heads to their fridge. It’s pretty barren—he doubts Jungwon had time to even think about grocery shopping—but there’s eggs, and a few different vegetables that are still edible but definitely need to be eaten, so at least he can serve ramyeon with more than just the noodles. 

Jake begins to cut up bell peppers, mushrooms, and green onions while Jungwon and Sunoo sit together at the island and chat; Jungwon mentions that Niki also wants ramyeon when he gets home, so Jake returns to the fridge to pull out a fourth egg. Jake is basking in the bliss of just existing with his packmates, finally settling into something normal after ten days of chaos, when Jungwon suddenly breaks the peace. 

“So… what explanation are we going to give to our manager about what happened this week? The hyungs are all asking about it too,” Jungwon says, his eyes on his phone. Sunoo’s scent immediately goes sour, and that only makes Jake’s own stress increase. “All of them have been patient so far since they are aware that I’ve been… busy , but apparently Sunghoon-hyung’s presentation ended last night as well, so they’ve been asking when the alphas can come back.” 

Sunoo is dead silent, and Jake isn’t sure if it’s due to his presence, or if Sunoo just genuinely can’t think of a response. Sunoo likely doesn’t know that Jake knows about his crush on Sunghoon, so he tries to remain casual as he continues cutting vegetables. It is unsurprising that their alphas and manager are concerned and confused about what had happened to make Sunoo present so early, but it is also likely that Sunoo doesn’t really want his feelings broadcasted to the entire pack or their staff. Not to mention that they’ll have to make executive decisions about what to tell the public about their presentations; he’s hyper aware of the rumours and scandals that would spring up if Sunoo’s presentation was made public.

“I don’t care if we tell any of them the truth, to be clear,” Jungwon says quickly, resting a hand on Sunoo’s shoulder. “It’s technically pack stuff, so management doesn’t need to know if it won’t affect us as artists. But we do have to tell them something .”

Sunoo is still floundering, and Jake’s need to protect him comes back in full force.

“I mean, I don’t think we should tell anyone who doesn’t have to know,” Jake says, startling both Jungwon and Sunoo. “I assume that our managers and alphas already know there was a… situation between Sunghoon and I, and if they don’t, then it’s fine if you tell them. If we say that Sunoo ended up being in close contact with one omega in heat and three alphas in rut, including one who was acting basically feral for 13 hours or whatever, then it’s not unbelievable that his hormones would have gone haywire as a result. I’d believe that.”

Sunoo stares at Jake, his eyes wide. Jake smiles as he finishes cutting up the vegetables and goes to fill a pot with some water for the eggs. 

“Sunoo-yah, as much as I love Hoonie, he is a bit of a dumbass,” Jake says, and Sunoo laughs at this, big and genuine. “I really don’t think you need to worry much about what he’ll think about your presentation. The guy has elevator music in his head.” Both Jungwon and Sunoo are cackling now, and Jake is glad to have lightened the mood again. 

“That’s very true. I don’t think management would question that either, they’re unlikely to jump to the conclusion that any of us like each other,” Jungwon says. Sunoo scoffs.

“Well, that’s wishful thinking on their part if that’s true, considering how many of us do already. Also basically every pack of idols ends up with multiple couples, it’s almost inevitable,” Sunoo says, waving his hand around dismissively. “I’m more worried about our other packmates finding out. I feel like that would make everything awkward, and I don’t want to do that to us. And if our manager knows, they’ll definitely find out.”

Jake and Jungwon nod quietly. Jake places the eggs into the now-boiling pot before putting another pot of water on the stove for the ramyeon, though he doesn’t turn it on yet. 

“Well, I promise I won’t say anything, Sunoo-yah,” Jake says, turning to make sure he’s looking Sunoo in the eye as he says it. He feels like he has to be more reassuring on this front, since it’s pretty common knowledge that he and Sunghoon are best friends and so rarely keep secrets from each other. “I would never do anything to make things awkward or embarrassing for you. Or to jeopardize your friendship with Sunghoon.”

Sunoo’s smile softens, a fond twinkle in his eye. “I know, hyung. You’re very reliable.” 

They return to normal chatter after this, Jungwon starting a long text to send to their manager and another to the alphas. Sunoo shows Jungwon pictures on his phone every once in a while as Jake peels the eggs that have finished boiling. Jake makes a mental note about the fact that Sunoo’s scent flares up whenever he laughs at something on his phone, and it makes him self conscious about his own smell; clearly Sunoo doesn’t know how to control his scent, but neither has Jake, and that is likely going to cause problems once the alphas come back home. 

Jake is about to put the ramyeon into the boiling pot of water when he hears the front door click open. Despite already knowing it’s likely Niki, he can’t help the instinct to sniff the air for their scent. Sure enough it’s the smell of a pup, one he vaguely recalls being in his nest.

Niki appears in the kitchen after a minute, but he freezes when he realizes everyone is staring at him. His eyes widen as they shift back and forth between the omegas, and Jake can smell that he’s a bit overwhelmed by being reunited. Jake is positive that Niki will go to Sunoo first—as Jungwon had said, he’s Niki’s favourite—but he suddenly surges forwards to Jake. Niki is sometimes picky about being affectionate, but now he doesn’t hesitate to get into Jake’s face, pressing his nose into Jake’s cheek. Jake smiles and shifts them slightly to rub their temples together instead, which makes him aware of how tall Niki has gotten. He knows Niki has grown a few inches since the beginning of I-Land, but now he and Jake are almost the same height. 

Niki’s cheeks are pink when he finally pulls back. “It’s good to see you, hyung,” he says, his eyes scanning up and down Jake’s body like he’s looking for something. Jake can’t imagine what it would be, but he eventually gives a satisfied nod and turns towards Sunoo. 

Sunoo grins, making Niki smile as well. He moves into Sunoo’s space and allows the other omega to scent him too, so Jake takes the opportunity to put the ramyeon into the boiling pot. The three maknaes all start to chatter as they greet each other, only stopping when Jake puts bowls of ramyeon in front of them. They all quickly thank him before digging in; it might not be as good as something he could cook from scratch, but Jake doubts that any of them have eaten anything hardier than he had since he first presented, and none of them complain. 

All of them fall quiet as they eat, clearly more interested in filling their stomachs than talking, though once again Jungwon breaks the silence by announcing that the alphas will be returning in two days. Although Sunoo is calmer this time, Niki stiffens and his scent becomes bitter. 

“Oh,” he says, his voice tight. “Like… all of them? Is that enough time?”

Jungwon rolls his eyes. “Niki-yah, we’ve already talked about this-”

“Okay, it’s fine . Nevermind,” Niki huffs, becoming much more focused on his food. Jake subtly gets Jungwon’s attention and raises an eyebrow, flickering his eyes to Niki for a second. Jungwon mouths ‘ I’ll tell you later ’ in response. 

They all wash the dishes together when they’re finished eating, which Jake appreciates, then Niki announces he needs to shower after being at the dance studio the entire day and night before. Once he has disappeared into the bathroom and Jake can hear the water turn on, he descends upon Jungwon, who is sitting back on the couch.

“So, what’s up with Niki?” he asks, getting straight to the point. Sunoo sits on Jungwon’s other side as their leader flounders a little, clearly not actually wanting to answer.

“Niki was really scared by what happened with you and Sunghoon-hyung,” he says finally. Jake feels his chest constrict. “Like I said, we ended up having to ask him for help since Sunoo-hyung and I weren’t able to move him with just the two of us, and he was… well, he was feral . He growled and postured at us, and was physically aggressive, but both Sunoo-hyung and I were prepared for that behaviour given the situation. It was still scary, but we could let it go when it was over. But I guess Niki has never really seen an alpha act like that before.” 

Jake feels like he’s about to be sick . 

“He was mostly worried about you, hyung. Even though we wouldn’t let him help once Sunghoon-hyung was in his rut room, he sat outside your door until the staff came to take him away completely,” Sunoo adds. It doesn’t make Jake feel better in the slightest. “I didn’t realize it was still bothering him, though.”

Jungwon nods a little slowly. “Yeah. He kept asking if alphas acting like that is normal, if the two of you will be safe when they come back, if Jake and Sunghoon should switch rooms, stuff like that. I kept trying to tell him that it’s fine and that it was only because you were both presenting and could smell each other, but he didn’t seem convinced.” Jungwon looks at both of them a bit more seriously. “Please don’t treat him weirdly about this though, I’m really doing my best to convince him that everything will mostly go back to normal.”

Sunoo and Jake both agree to keep it to themselves, but if Jake scents Niki as soon as he’s out of the shower and asks if he’ll sleep in Jake’s bed instead of Sunoo’s tonight, then that’s nobody’s business but his own. 

Chapter Text

Jake’s eyes are fixed on the entrance to their main hallway. It feels strangely ominous again, the same way it had just after Heeseung and Jay had gone into rut, only this time it’s due to the fact that their three alphas are all standing out in the hallway waiting for permission to come into the dorm. Jake is sitting on the couch in the living room with Sunoo, Jungwon, and Niki, and all of them are more tense than they’d like to admit. It had been decided that all three alphas coming in at once would likely be too much for the newly presented omegas to handle, especially Sunoo who had yet to come into contact with an alpha since presenting, so instead they were going to come in one at a time. This would allow for everyone to have a little more control, and lessened the chances of something going wrong.

Jake is sitting in the centre of the couch, Jungwon curled up on one side of him and Sunoo on the other with Niki squished into Sunoo’s other side. Jungwon has his phone out, staring at their group chat which has been left untouched for over a week; it’s the longest they’ve gone without anyone messaging it since they first became a pack.

“So, who are we going to invite first?” Jake asks. He doesn’t really have a preference, so-

“Jay-hyung,” the other three answer simultaneously, startling Jake. He looks at them all a bit oddly. 

“Alright, that was easy enough. Can I ask why?” Jake asks. Sunoo and Jungwon share an awkward glance, looking like they are trying to convince the other to explain. 

“He’s the only one who didn’t act like a weirdo about your presentation,” Niki finally says. Jungwon and Sunoo both suppress a giggle while Jake’s cheeks flare red; he obviously knows about what happened with Sunghoon, but he hasn’t been made aware that something had occurred with Heeseung as well. Niki then grins slyly. “Plus Jungwon-hyung deserves to see him as soon as possible after the week of hell you guys put him through.”

“ Yah !” Jungwon yells, leaning across Jake and Sunoo to smack their maknae on the arm. They all snicker at him as he begins typing on his phone, doing his best to hide his blush. “ Whatever . I’m going to tell him to come in.”

Jake feels like time stops as Jungwon hits send and closes his phone, tucking it back in his pocket. He realizes that they haven’t really planned out what they’re going to do once Jay is actually in front of them, and he begins to feel a bit frantic.

“You should greet him first, hyung,” Jungwon says. That only scares Jake more.

“What? Why me?!”

“Because you’re the oldest. Obviously.”

Jake doesn’t have time to argue further, because the front door opens.

Despite his attempts at protesting only seconds before, Jake instinctively finds himself standing up to place himself in front of his younger members. His heart rate spikes as he hears the door click shut and registers the smell of an alpha. He hears Sunoo inhale sharply behind him and figures that he can also smell Jay; his first time smelling an alpha directly. There’s no doubt that it’s Jay—Jake recognizes the scent of leather and mulled whiskey—but despite having been accepted by the alpha before presenting, he’s terrified that it won’t turn out the same now. His brain also provides the image of Sunoo being rejected by Jay, and for some reason that scares him even worse.

Jay enters the living room and immediately stops in his tracks, giving Jake a weird look. Jake realizes that he’s taken a somewhat defensive stance, his feet far apart, muscles tensed, and fists clenched. He forces himself to relax, and that makes Jay less uneasy. 

“Sorry,” Jake says, trying to lighten the mood. “I’m really not used to this yet.”

Jay smiles and Jake feels his chest loosen. “It’s fine. I’m not really either, to be honest. This is pretty different from when it was just me and Heeseung.”

Jake nods in understanding. His heart hammers again as Jay takes another step forward, but he forces himself to stay calm externally. When they are less than a foot apart, Jay stops, and Jake feels a bit less self conscious when he notices that Jay smells as anxious as he feels. Jay seems to be too nervous to make the final move towards him, so Jake takes the initiative and closes the gap. 

He presses his nose into Jay’s cheek, and is instantly overwhelmed by his scent. Jay smells so strong, the only sensation he’s able to identify at all is the smell of leather and mulled whiskey. Jake belatedly realizes that nose-to-cheek is more of a gesture that pups do, so he moves his nose from Jay’s cheek to his neck. They both let out a small breath as their scents get even stronger and Jake finds himself starting to feel light-headed from how overwhelming it is. After a few seconds, Jake pulls back and is relieved to see Jay still smiling at him. Now reassured, Jay leans in again to rub their temples together, and Jake’s omega finally settles at the returned pack gesture. He also registers that Jay smells a bit like coffee and bergamot as well, and it dawns on him that he’d probably already done this with Heeseung and Sunghoon before they got here. 

“Welcome back Jay-ah,” he says when they separate; his hands are holding onto Jay’s arms just above the elbows, a fact Jake did not realize until stepping away. Jay laughs.

“Thanks, Jake-yah.”

His gaze drifts to behind Jake, and Jake turns to see that Sunoo is now standing too, fingers fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Jungwon is also giving Jay a very longing stare, but seems to understand that Sunoo going first is more important. 

Jake watches carefully as Jay walks around him and towards Sunoo, acting even more cautious towards the younger omega. It’s odd to see the usually-confident Sunoo so anxious, but Jake understands why; meeting pack members after presenting is already nerve-wracking enough after a normal presentation, let alone while in Sunoo’s situation. Sunoo’s hands are shaking by the time Jay is up close to him, and Jake wonders if they have even shared pack gestures before. Jay is the one to move first this time, pressing his nose into Sunoo’s temple, and the omega immediately relaxes, leaning into Jay’s touch. Jake spares a glance towards Jungwon and Niki, who both seem relieved that the pack introductions with Jay have gone smoothly. 

Sunoo’s nose ends up in Jay’s neck before he pulls away, both of them now smiling and bodies relaxed. Jay’s smile then morphs into a smirk as he reaches up to ruffle his hair, Sunoo whining in protest. 

“Well, aren’t you full of surprises,” Jay teases, causing Sunoo to turn red. Jake recalls that Jay had been the one to inform Sunghoon about Sunoo’s crush, so he assumes that Jay is fully aware of why Sunoo presented. “I’m kind of glad it happened this way though, it would have been shit for Jake if he was the only omega among three alphas for another seven months.”

Jake snorts. “I would have been fine -”

“Yeah, but it’s still easier this way, right?” Jay insists. Sunoo smiles.

“I’m glad too.”

Jungwon suddenly lets out a small whine and instantly Jay is beside him on the couch, scooping him into a hug. Sunoo and Niki laugh, but Jungwon is too busy pressing as much of his body into Jay’s as possible to be embarrassed. 

“Jungwon-ah, good job taking care of the pack,” Jay says, his tone much gentler than it had been with Jake or Sunoo. Jungwon whines again.

“They better fix the damn heat and rut rooms, I don’t want to be left alone like that again,” Jungwon mumbles into Jay’s shoulder, making him laugh too. Jungwon attempts to rub their necks together, but Jay shifts so that his cheek is against Jungwon’s neck instead. Jungwon thankfully doesn’t seem offended. Eventually Jay settles into a seated position on the couch, Jungwon nestles into his side with arms wrapped around his middle, before Jay lifts his other arm out towards Niki.  

“Niki-yah, good job from you too,” he says, and Niki’s eyes widen. “I heard that you were asked to help a few times, even in spite of your age. I’m proud that you were able to step up to the plate when the pack needed you, pup.”

Niki stares at Jay owlishly for a few seconds before scooting towards him and melting into his side. Jay smiles and bumps their temples together.

“Thanks, hyung. I appreciate it,” Niki mumbles.

“Of course.”

The five of them talk for a few minutes, settling into each other’s scents well, before Jungwon pulls his phone back out. 

“Should I tell someone else to come in now?” he asks cautiously. Jake looks over at Sunoo, and they share a look before both nodding at Jungwon. “Do I even need to ask who we want next?”

“It should be hyung,” Jay says. Jungwon and Niki nod in agreement. “I think he was kind of hurt you didn’t ask for him first, though he understood why.” 

“And Sunghoon-hyung should go last,” Niki says under his breath. All of them pretend not to hear; Jake assumes that Jungwon has filled Jay in about Niki’s concerns with Sunghoon.

Jungwon begins typing on his phone, and Jake fleetingly hopes that Sunghoon won’t send himself into a nervous spiral while he’s waiting alone in the hallway. He doesn’t have long to dwell on the thought, though, because he hears the door click open and shut, and a new smell begins to spill into the apartment. Nobody has said anything about it this time, but Jake assumes he should go first for all the introductions, so he keeps his place a few feet in front of everyone else. 

Jake finds himself able to stay relaxed even as Heeseung comes into view, now knowing what to expect. Heeseung’s scent also isn’t as pungent as Jay’s, so Jake’s head is a little clearer. Heeseung is more confident as he enters the living room, not hesitating to come closer as his eyes land on Jake, and only stopping when they’re close enough to touch each other. He looks like he is attempting to suppress a grin, although not very successfully, and there is a sparkle in his eyes that makes Jake feel slightly self conscious. Heeseung looks like he wants to speak but isn’t sure what to say, so Jake speaks first.

“You’re looking at me weird.”

“Am I?” Heeseung says, though he doesn’t sound surprised. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Jake rolls his eyes playfully. “Come on, tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Nah, I don’t want to embarrass you.”

“Why would it-”

Jake is cut off as Heeseung suddenly closes the gap between them, leaning down to brush their temples together. Once again, Jake is overwhelmed by how much stronger his scent is when they are actively scenting each other; it still isn’t as intense as it had been with Jay, but he’s unable to focus on anything other than Heeseung’s scent and the warmth radiating off his skin from the places they are touching. He jumps slightly when Heeseung’s hand gently grabs his jaw, tipping his head back slightly so he can press his nose into Jake’s neck. The action sends a shock down Jake’s spine, and he becomes extremely aware of the fact that they still have an audience. So much for not wanting to embarrass him. 

As soon as Heeseung is satisfied and lets go of Jake’s jaw, Jake moves forward to brush his own nose into Heeseung’s neck, both to reciprocate the gesture and to hide his burning cheeks. He’s a bit more playful about scenting Heeseung than he had been with Jay, using his nose to push on his jaw and tip his head back as well. Heeseung snorts and grins more fully, pulling away after a few seconds. Jake smiles back, relieved that things don’t seem to be awkward between them in spite of whatever happened while he was presenting.

Someone lets out a strangled cough behind them and they both turn to face the rest of the pack. Everyone is averting their eyes, other than Jay who has his narrowed at Heeseung, and Jake wonders again how serious Heeseung had been about wanting to not embarrass him. Heeseung, however, is unphased by Jay’s glare and coolly brushes past Jake to move towards Sunoo. The younger omega’s eyes snap to Heeseung when he hears the movement, looking even more anxious than he had been with Jay, which Jake assumes is because Heeseung and Sunoo aren’t particularly close. Not that they aren’t friends, obviously, but they probably spend the least amount of time together out of everyone in the pack. 

Like Jay, Heeseung is much gentler with Sunoo than he had been with Jake, able to see how nervous he is. He leans down to rub their temples together softly, and although Sunoo shrinks into himself just a little bit at the touch, he does still nuzzle back. As Sunoo moves to press his nose into Heeseung’s cheek, there seems to be another visible exhale of relief from the entire pack; two successful introductions down. 

Heeseung eventually moves on to the other pack members sitting on the couch, flopping beside Niki and laying almost on top of him as their maknae protests loudly.

“Ahhhh, I missed you guys! I’m so glad to be home,” Heeseung says, rubbing his nose against Niki’s cheek. Although he continues to complain, Niki nuzzles him back. 

“It’s good to have you back, hyung. We missed you too,” Jungwon says, leaning over Jay towards him. Heeseung grins and leans over Niki, causing him to whine even louder, and quickly bumps temples with Jungwon. When Heeseung straightens out again, Niki wriggles out from beside him and moves to sit beside Jungwon instead, making them all laugh. Heeseung settles in comfortably beside Jay instead, who leans over and whispers something into his ear. Heeseung snorts and turns his head to respond, though not quite as quietly.

“You consider it ‘causing problems’ to greet a pack mate?” he says, raising an eyebrow. Jay gives him a pointed look before rolling his eyes, but he bumps their temples together too. 

“You know what I’m talking about, hyung-”

“I’m going to tell Sunghoon-hyung to come in,” Jungwon says suddenly, interrupting whatever Jay was about to say. The tension in the room skyrockets; Jake’s heart pounds, Sunoo’s scent goes sour, and Niki actually growls under his breath. Everyone’s eyes snap to him, and his cheeks flush red. 

“S-Sorry. I swear I didn’t do that on purpose…” he mumbles. 

“It’s okay, Niki-yah. But don’t do that when Sunghoon gets here,” Heeseung says, his tone gentle but firm. Niki avoids eye contact with him. “I know I wasn’t here when he presented, so I didn’t experience whatever you went through, but we all know that’s not what Sunghoon is like. He probably already feels bad enough about it.” They all nod solemnly, and Jungwon finally pulls out his phone to text their final packmate. 

They all wait for a few minutes after Jungwon tucks his phone away, but the door doesn’t open. Jake looks away from the hall and back towards the pack, an eyebrow raised. They all glance around at each other, then collectively at Jungwon. Jungwon shrugs and retrieves his phone again, checking their group chat for a message.

“Sunghoon-hyung read the message, but he hasn’t said anything back,” Jungwon says, this time keeping his phone out in case a message does come through. “I’m not sure what’s going on.” They keep waiting, a full five minutes passing before Jake genuinely starts to get concerned. He takes another look at Jungwon, but he just responds with another sheepish shrug. 

“… is nobody else worried about why he hasn’t come in?” Jake asks, breaking the tense silence that has fallen over the room. He glances at each of his packmates, but all of them have their eyes averted in different directions. He narrows his eyes and lets out a frustrated huff. “Well I’m going to go see if he’s okay,” Jake says a little harshly, turning back towards the hallway. At this, Niki and Heeseung sit up abruptly, and Sunoo’s eyes widen.

“Hyung, wait-”

“Jake-yah, is that-”

“Are you sure-”

“It’s fine ,” Jake snaps, and everyone falls silent. Heeseung, Jay, and Sunoo sit up a bit straighter and avert their eyes, while Jungwon and Niki noticeably shrink in on themselves. He narrows his eyes at a particularly guilty-looking Heeseung. “ You’re the one who said that we all know Sunghoon isn’t normally like that, and that he probably already feels guilty. So stop acting like he’s a ticking time bomb. Sunghoon is our friend .”

The others all nod stiffly as Jake turns and strides towards the hallway. He thinks he hears Niki whisper to Jungwon, something akin to, “ why do I feel like I just got scolded by my mom, ” but Jake is far more concerned about the still-missing Sunghoon. 

Jake hurries down the hallway and to the front door, his anxiety only building every second that he still hasn’t seen Sunghoon. It’s not until his hand is an inch away from the door handle that he hesitates, the faint scent of coffee and vanilla hitting his nose from the other side. It makes the fact that he’s about to be face to face with Sunghoon feel much more real. His mind involuntarily flashes to his only other encounter with this scent, and his cheeks flush red at the memory. He pushes it out of his mind though, knowing he needs to focus on the Sunghoon on the other side of the door. Sunghoon is his best friend, and he refuses to let anything get between them. 

Jake grabs the handle and pulls open the door. He is startled to see Sunghoon standing almost directly in front of it, as though he had been leaning his forehead against the wood. Sunghoon also jumps back in surprise, his gaze dropping when he realizes who is standing in front of him. All of his muscles are tensed and his body is trembling, so Jake wastes no time in moving to comfort his friend. He steps closer so he can shut the door behind them and keep their conversation away from prying ears and noses; Sunghoon takes a step back that is twice as big, and Jake’s heart aches. 

“Sunghoon-ah,” Jake coos. He reaches out to touch Sunghoon’s arm, but the alpha’s scent goes bitter and he flinches away from Jake’s touch. Jake frowns deeply, as Sunghoon has never been one to reject Jake’s physical affection, and tries once more with slower movements. Sunghoon allows it this time, Jake’s hands landing on his biceps so that he can rub them gently. “Sunghoon-ah, what’s wrong? Everyone was worried when you didn’t come into the dorm.”

Sunghoon still refuses to actually look at Jake, his eyes glued to the floor, so Jake moves his hands up to Sunghoon’s cheeks and forces him to look up. His cheeks flair red when they momentarily make eye contact, and he quickly averts his gaze again, but he doesn’t make any attempts to pull away. Jake can still feel him shaking, how uneven his breathing is, and the bitter tinge to his scent has become almost acrid. Jake deflates, his concerns for Sunghoon proving to be warranted. Everything else—their packmates, the band, his own presentation—immediately becomes irrelevant in comparison to his need to console his friend.

“ Hoon-ah . You know I’m not upset about what happened, right?”

Sunghoon does pull back from him at this, turning away and pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. Jake moves back closer to him, the need for physical contact with his friend violently clawing at his chest, and leans his cheek on Sunghoon’s shoulder. He’s relieved when Sunghoon doesn’t try to shrug him off. Sunghoon takes his hands away from his face.

“You should be upset,” Sunghoon says finally. Jake realizes how much he missed hearing Sunghoon’s voice. “ I’m upset. What I did to you was… it was really bad. And I attacked the pups. How is everything supposed to go back to normal between all of us after I’ve done that?” His face crumples and Jake rubs his cheek aggressively against Sunghoon’s arm, reaching out to link their hands together. 

“We all know you weren’t yourself when it happened, and none of us blame you for it. I won’t lie to you, Niki is still a bit freaked out,” Sunghoon’s shoulders sag a little at this, and Jake squeezes his hand in reassurance, “but Jungwon and Sunoo have forgiven you. And I have forgiven you. So please don’t keep dwelling on it, okay? Please .”

Sunghoon finally, finally turns to look at Jake, analyzing his expression. Sunghoon has never been the best at reading other people’s emotions, but Jake has always been a bit of an open book, especially to Sunghoon. Apparently he’s satisfied with whatever he sees on Jake’s face, because his body relaxes and the bitter edge to his scent dissipates. Jake smiles gently and pulls on his arm, tugging him down until they can rub their temples together. 

Sunghoon’s scent isn’t as strong as Jay’s or even Heeseung’s, but as soon as their temples touch, it goes wild . Jay and Heeseung’s scents had surrounded Jake like mildly overstimulating blankets, but Sunghoon’s feels like it’s soaking directly into his pores, clogging his throat to the point that it’s almost suffocating. Much like he had during his heat, Jake feels like if he stuck out his tongue he’d be able to taste the coffee and vanilla, though he doesn’t follow through with testing it this time. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jake is aware that his reaction to Sunghoon’s scent should probably be alarming, but he’s too focused on how calm and safe he feels while practically choking on the smell of his packmate.

At first glance Sunghoon seems to be far less affected than Jake, who feels like he is bordering on hyperventilating, but his laboured breathing suggests that he’s simply putting far more effort into staying cool and collected, clearly still not trusting himself completely around the omega. Sunghoon slowly shifts their positions so that they’re standing directly in front of each other instead of side to side, his movements careful as though he’s worried Jake will suddenly shove him away. Once he seems confident that Jake isn’t going anywhere, he rubs their temples together a bit more insistently and the hand that isn’t still intertwined with Jake’s moves up to cup his jaw. For a moment, Jake is sure that Sunghoon is going to tilt his head back the way Heeseung had, but instead he slides his hand further down to Jake’s neck and gently rubs the scent gland there with his thumb.

The action catches Jake a little off guard, and he gasps involuntarily from how nice it feels. He closes his eyes and leans into the touch, his free hand coming up to hold Sunghoon’s forearm in its place. Jake is startled as he begins to find himself lightheaded, and further taken aback when he finds himself able to smell ocean water and something like vetiver; it takes a few seconds to realize that this new scent is himself . He does everything in his power to try and reel his scent back in, thoroughly embarrassed that his pheromones are so out of control that even he can smell them, but he can’t seem to find a way to make them calm down. Sunghoon, however, has a little smirk spreading across his face, and he ducks down to press his nose into Jake’s neck directly over the spot he’d previously been massaging with his thumb. It takes all of Jake’s willpower not to let out a truly humiliating noise, but a very omega whine still manages to escape. He ducks his head in an attempt to hide his flaming cheeks, and the movement causes their necks to rub together.

Sunghoon responds almost automatically with an alpha noise, a rumble from deep in his chest that Jake can feel vibrate against his front— god , when had the entire fronts of their bodies become pressed together?—but the sound seems to snap Sunghoon out of his stupor and he takes a hasty step away. Jake feels dizzy from the sudden loss of contact, and he is grateful that Sunghoon doesn’t let go of his hand or else he might genuinely fall over. He does his best to regain his composure, entirely unsure what to make of what just happened, but Sunghoon doesn’t say anything about it, so Jake decides he doesn’t need to either. Maybe having a reaction like that is normal when newly presented alphas and omegas scent each other for the first time; it’s not like Jake is well informed on all the minute details of second genders. 

When Jake feels like his breathing is even again and his scent lessens enough that he can no longer smell himself, he looks back up at Sunghoon. His expression is mostly neutral, though his eyes are glittering with satisfaction, and Jake makes the active decision not to read into that at all, even though it makes his own heart beat like a frantic bird is trapped in his chest.

“Well. Are you ready to go back in, then?” Jake asks, relieved when his voice sounds perfectly normal. Sunghoon squeezes his hand once and nods. 

“As ready as I’m going to be,” Sunghoon says, the anxiety creeping back into his voice just slightly. Jake smiles.

“It’ll be fine, I promise,” Jake assures. “Also, please be nice to Sunoo instead of teasing him. Just this one time, please? He’s already been really on edge about seeing all of you, since his presentation was… unprecedented.” 

Sunghoon’s expression softens. “Yeah, of course. I guess I owe him that much, since it’s kind of my fault he presented.” Jake stiffens automatically, alarm bells going off in his head. Did Sunghoon not believe their story about why Sunoo presented? Did he figure out how Sunoo felt about him? Had Jake underestimated his- “It sounds like all of the hormones in the house affected him pretty badly to begin with, but my… outburst was the final straw. I didn’t even know it was possible to trigger early presentations.”

Jake lets out a quiet exhale of relief and thanks every god he can think of that Sunghoon never paid attention during any of his biology classes. 

“I know Sunoo doesn’t blame you for what happened, it was really more of an accidental collective effort,” Jake says coolly. He isn’t a fantastic liar, especially to Sunghoon, but his hyper awareness of how badly he needs to keep this secret pushes him to lie better than he’s ever lied before. “I think he’s mostly just in shock that it happened at all, and he’s been anxious about how you guys will react, so be gentle with him, yeah?” Sunghoon nods, an understanding look on his face. 

Jake’s gaze turns towards the door handle and he stares for a few seconds, suddenly nervous about going back inside. He knows that he and Sunghoon will smell way more strongly of each other than Jake had with either of the other alphas, and he can  feel embarrassment already creeping in at the knowledge that everyone is going to know that he and Sunghoon were a bit overly enthusiastic about greeting each other. 

Well. He can’t do anything about it now. 

Jake grabs the door handle and pushes open the door. 

They enter the dorm quietly, Sunghoon toeing off his shoes as Jake closes the door behind them. Jake can smell Sunghoon’s scent going bitter again, so he gives his hand one last reassuring squeeze before letting go, not wanting another reason for the rest of the pack to tease them. They make anxious eye contact for a few seconds before Jake gestures towards the hall, and they begin to move deeper into the dorm. 

Jake enters the living room a few steps ahead of Sunghoon, halting awkwardly in his tracks when he finds five sets of eyes all immediately on him. Sunghoon tentatively peeks out from behind him, and the bitterness to his scent starts to disappear when none of their pack members start growling or posturing at him. Jay and Jungwon even manage small smiles, which seems to make him relax further. 

Sunghoon’s eyes eventually land on Sunoo, which spurs him to move further into the room, his shoulders brushing with Jake’s as he walks past. Jake watches them carefully from his spot in the entrance to the living room; Sunoo is unable to look at Sunghoon, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and Jake has to suppress the instinct to charge in front of Sunghoon to comfort him. He’s grown used to taking care of Sunoo over the last few days, but he knows that this final introduction is integral to their pack, so he has to wait it out. 

Jake hears Sunghoon call out Sunoo’s name much more sweetly than usual, obviously taking Jake’s request for him to be nice very seriously. The tone finally gets Sunoo to look up at Sunghoon, the muscles in his body relaxing when he sees Sunghoon’s calm smile. Sunghoon’s movements are slow, clearly less confident than Jay and Heeseung had been, but he leans down and gently brushes his nose against Sunoo’s temples. Despite still looking like he’s about to be sick from nerves, Sunoo leans in to meet Sunghoon’s greeting before they even make contact, and once again Jake is grateful that Sunghoon is probably too oblivious to read into that. 

The other two alphas are not, however; Jake glances at Heeseung to see his eyes glittering mischievously, like he has just been told a very juicy secret. Jay is also suppressing a smirk, but apparently he has known about Sunoo’s feelings since I-Land, so maybe that’s not surprising. Niki is still entirely oblivious, looking more like he’s about to fall asleep on Jungwon’s shoulder. Jake ignores the urge to coo, knowing he’ll be given the gears about fawning over their youngest, but he sees Heeseung and Jay’s eyes flicker in his direction for just a second, so he’s pretty sure his scent gave him away.

Jake brings his focus back to Sunghoon and Sunoo just in time to see Sunoo shifting so that their temples brush together for a few moments before he turns to nose at Sunghoon’s neck. He seems pleased when Sunghoon lets him do this, as does the rest of the pack, when Jake sees him tense up just slightly. Jake’s eyebrows furrow, concerned about what would cause such a reaction, when Sunoo’s eyes lock with his, his expression at first accusatory before morphing into something closer to defeat. Then he breaks eye contact, pulling away from Sunghoon to give him a sweet but tight smile.

Jake’s eyes widen as he considers, for the first time, that the alphas would not be the only ones who could smell how heavily he and Sunghoon had scented each other in the hallway. Sunoo would definitely also be able to tell. Sunoo, who has such a significant crush on Sunghoon that he’d presented seven months early.

Jake genuinely thinks he’s about to be sick.

The gaze of all three alphas snap towards Jake, which makes him aware of what his own scent must be doing. He does his best to smile and force his body to stop producing negative pheromones or whatever is going on, and eventually the alphas all relax. 

Jungwon abruptly stands up, causing Niki to startle awake with a small whine. Everyone snickers and coos as he shifts to lean against Jay instead. 

“Well let me be the first to say, I’m happy to have everyone under the same roof again! This was literally the worst week of my life and if all of you do that to me again, I’m resigning as leader and making Niki do it,” Jungwon says, using his best leader voice. Everyone looks sheepish as he speaks, other than Niki who is sleepily protesting that he’d be a great leader. “Having said that, management is going to kill all of us if we don’t get back into debut prep, so I’m going to go over our schedule for the next two weeks since you’re all here already.” 

Now everyone is protesting. Despite knowing that their debut is in just nine days, it seems that everyone would much rather spend their time settling as a pack. It’s a normal desire, considering most packs spend weeks properly integrating people after presenting, but one they don’t have the luxury of indulging. They’d have to wait until after their debut was finished to get their pack affairs in order. 

Jake jumps slightly when he feels someone brush up against him. He looks to see that Sunghoon has sidled back up to him, and he finds himself unable to suppress the urge to lean into him more, Jake’s head easily falling onto Sunghoon’s shoulder. Sunghoon reciprocates the gesture, leaning his cheek onto Jake’s head. 

Jake does his best to focus on Jungwon’s voice and ignore the smell of rotting flowers. 

~ * ~

Jake has never been worked so hard in his entire life. The days following their reunion are gruelling, their staff working them to the bone in an attempt to make up for all the days that were unexpectedly lost to their hectic series of ruts and presentations. More than once he has felt like he’s on the verge of collapse by the time they get back to their dorm late at night, and he’s endlessly grateful for his other pack members. Their eldest and youngest members always insist that Jake, Sunghoon, and Sunoo shower first, knowing that they’re still dealing with the stress of being newly presented on top of everything else and need more sleep as a result. It had been easy for Jake to ignore the lingering tired aches in his body before they had gone back to their debut schedule and just spent most of their time cuddling on the couch, but now his body is in so much pain, he feels like he’s back in the midst of his presentation.

There’s also the growing issue of scents, just to add another thing for them to all stress about. Sunghoon and Sunoo’s scents are so all over the place that Jake often finds it difficult to focus on anything else, and he wouldn’t be surprised if his own scent is the same. Their scents spike when they are tired, when they’re stressed, sometimes just when they’re too close to another member. Even Heeseung and Jay are affected, despite both being far enough past their presentations to have a hold on their own instincts; Jay frequently has to leave during their dance practices to “get some air”, and Heeseung is practically glued to Niki and Jungwon, clearly trying to use their more neutral smells as a buffer. 

The breaking point comes after another exhausting day of dance practice; all of their vocals have been recorded, the filming is long done for the Given-Taken music video, and they only have one day left of shooting for Let Me In, so day-long dance practices have become most common. Sunoo is showering first, which is now pretty standard. Jay and Heeseung are in the kitchen bickering about dinner—Heeseung is in favour of just making ramyeon since they’re all tired, but Jay is insistent that they’ll start getting sick if they have ramyeon for the fourth day in a row—while Jungwon and Niki are watching some recordings from their dance practice to make notes for the next day.

Jake finds himself curled up on the couch next to Sunghoon, with as much of their bodies touching as is physically possible and his nose in Sunghoon’s neck. Finding Jake or Sunoo touching Sunghoon in some way nearly all the time has become standard in their home, as all three find that the physical contact lessens their body aches. Sunoo and Jake both know that Jay or Heeseung wouldn’t mind helping either, but the contact is beneficial for Sunghoon as well, so he often ends up seeking out the omegas anyway.

Jake has been doing his best the last few days to ignore the way his heart pounds and aches whenever he has his after-practice cuddle sessions with Sunghoon. Even more so, he hopes that Sunghoon hasn’t noticed, considering their bodies are pressed so close. Jake is too nervous and embarrassed to analyze the implications of how flustered he feels every time they touch or subtly scent each other. Besides the awkwardness it will create if it isn’t mutual, there is also guilt constantly gnawing in the back of his mind because of Sunoo. He isn’t sure he could live with himself if he hurt his pack mate like that. 

Jay has just begun the process of making kimchi jjigae for them—much to Heeseung’s dismay—when Sunoo emerges from the bathroom, smelling very clean and wearing his pajamas. Jake and Sunghoon start to pull away from each other. 

“You can go next, Jake-yah,” Sunghoon says, groaning as he stretches his arms above his head. Jake shakes his head quickly. 

“You’ve let me go first for the last three days, Sunghoon-ah. You should go first today,” Jake insists. Sunghoon starts to protest, but Jake won’t hear it. He smirks and cups Sunghoon’s cheeks, squishing them until he starts to whine. “Let me take care of you too. You’re still my dongsaeng, after all.”

Sunghoon scoffs and pulls out of the grip, rolling his eyes as Jake snickers. “That’s not how the word dongsaeng works. And you’re only three weeks older than me anyway.”

“It’s a critical three weeks, that’s a lot of life experience,” Jake insists. “But for real, please shower first tonight. You worked hard today and have earned a shower.”

Sunghoon’s eyes scan over Jake’s face, their bodies now far enough apart that they aren’t touching at all. Sunghoon lifts one of his hands, gently brushing a piece of hair out of Jake’s face with the tips of his fingers, and Jake finds himself taken aback by such an affectionate action. He feels his heart trying to crawl out of his throat, and it takes all of his focus to swallow it.

He can’t keep ignoring this. He really likes Sunghoon. He wants Sunghoon to court him.

“Alright, if you insist,” Sunghoon relents, bringing Jake’s attention back to him. He stands up and heads to the bathroom, and Jake takes the space to calm himself back down. He’s sure that his scent is going nuts, and it would be very embarrassing if someone else noticed. 

Jake glances towards the kitchen. Sunoo has his arms wrapped around Jay’s middle as he cooks their dinner, rubbing his cheek against Jay’s shoulder blades. Jungwon is also now hovering around Jay, trying to sneak a taste of the jjigae and getting scolded after each attempt, while Niki has started playing something on the Switch. Heeseung is sitting beside their maknae, watching him play, when he suddenly looks up and makes direct eye contact with Jake. He gets a soft smile on his face and stands up, making his way to the couch and plopping down where Sunghoon had just left.

“Hey, Jake-yah. How are you feeling?” he asks. Jake makes a noncommittal noise.

“I’m fine, hyung. Tired like everyone else.” He groans as he stretches out his legs. “My entire body is so sore, I can’t wait until the presentation aches finally wear off.”

Heeseung nods and hums, looking contemplative before eventually speaking. “I’m not busy right now or anything, if you want to cuddle until Sunghoon gets out of the shower,” Heeseung offers. Jake takes a moment to consider; although he does prefer to cuddle with Sunghoon, his omega is desperate for contact with an alpha and is far less picky. 

“I would really like that.”

Heeseung scoots a little closer, lifting up an arm so Jake can curl into his side. They’re not as close together as Jake had been with Sunghoon, but his omega settles down again from the contact, and the pain in his muscles relaxes back into just a dull throb. He lets out a small breath and subconsciously presses himself closer.

Jake isn’t sure how long they sit there for, both quiet as noises keep coming from the kitchen. Jake can hear Niki and Jungwon discussing the video game Niki is playing, as well as the sounds of Jay cooking. Heeseung starts gently petting his hair at some point, and it’s all so lovely and peaceful that Jake finds himself on the verge of falling asleep.

And then someone growls. Loudly .

Jake’s eyes snap open and his body tenses. Heeseung’s arm around him tightens and Jake instinctively curls into him further. There is another, even angrier growl, and Jake finally thinks to look up to see who it is. His eyes nearly pop out of his head when he glances up and sees Sunghoon standing a few feet away, his eyes a little unfocused but fixed on Heeseung. 

Heeseung stands at the second growl, putting himself between Jake and Sunghoon. Sunghoon’s lip curls back, exposing his sharp canines. 

“ Sunghoon-ah ,” Heeseung says in a tone that is calm but laced with warning. Jake belatedly realizes that both alphas are posturing at each other. “That’s enough.”

Sunghoon continues to stand his ground, and the air becomes tense. Jake can smell that Jay and Sunoo are both alarmed by what is going on, but nobody moves to intervene. After a few more seconds, Sunghoon’s eyes fall to the floor and both alpha’s bodies relax. Sunghoon mostly looks embarrassed now that he’s snapped out of whatever had overcome him, and he mumbles a small apology to Heeseung before quickly retreating to his room. Jake notices that Heeseung’s hands are shaking.

Jake stands up, surprised to find his own legs a bit shaky. In the kitchen, Jay is standing defensively in front of their maknaes, jjigae abandoned for the moment. Niki looks like he has seen a ghost and keeps whispering frantically at Jungwon, who is doing his best to calm him down despite also having his cell phone pressed up to his ear. Jake jumps slightly when he feels a touch on his arm, but it’s just Heeseung. 

“I’m really sorry about that, Jake-yah,” Heeseung murmurs. “Are you okay?”

Jake nods stiffly. His eyes follow Jungwon out of the room as whoever he was calling picks up and he leaves to have a private conversation. Jay and Sunoo have taken over the task of calming Niki, who seems to be getting increasingly agitated. 

“Yeah. Yeah I’m fine, hyung,” Jake says, though his voice is too shaky to be convincing. “I’m going to shower now, if that’s okay.” Heeseung nods and pats his shoulder once before heading into the kitchen, helping Sunoo with Niki so that Jay can bring his focus back to the jjigae . 

Jake feels out of it as he walks to the bathroom, his movements robotic as he undresses and turns on the water. He does know that it’s commonplace for alphas in the same pack to challenge each other, particularly when a pack is young and a hierarchy hasn’t been established, but the fact that Sunghoon had challenged Heeseung while they were cuddling…

Jake shakes his head and begins to wash his hair somewhat aggressively, trying to get away from where his mind was headed. He needs to stop reading so deeply into everything Sunghoon does, especially since his actions are likely just the result of a poor handle on his new instincts. He should be keeping his focus on their debut, which is less than a week away now. He doesn’t have the time or mental space for this.

As Jake washes the shampoo out of his hair, he thinks back on the conversation he’d had with Sunghoon weeks ago about I-Land, and how he’d been confused with how any of the competitors were able to think about relationships when they were under so much pressure. And as he considers the way Sunghoon makes him feel, how he might just be willing to put everything on the line if it meant waking up to the smell of coffee and vanilla every day, how Sunghoon is one of the only reasons he’s even still pushing through the stress he’s currently facing… he thinks he gets it. 

~ * ~

The next day, an exhausted Jungwon informs everyone that their schedule for the day has shifted. They were meant to be wrapping up filming for the Let Me In music video, but Jungwon says he’s been speaking to their management, and it was agreed upon that their new plans have become more important. All of them are curious about what it is, only to be thoroughly embarrassed when Jungwon finally tells them.

“Our manager has hired someone to help you guys learn to like… chill out and control your scents and instincts and all that stuff. We know it’s really difficult during the first few weeks after presenting, but you have to get a handle on yourselves in the next five days. Especially if we’re going to keep Sunoo-hyung’s presentation under the radar until June,” Jungwon explains. It had been decided to keep Sunghoon and Sunoo’s presentations a secret until seven days past their birthdays in order to create the illusion of everyone having normal presentations. This means that they only need to keep Sunghoon’s status hidden for about two weeks, which will be relatively easy, but keeping Sunoo’s a secret for seven months is going to take some work. Jake’s status has already been made public, since they’re ten days past his birthday at this point. He’d cringed at the photo their management had taken of him to include in the announcement—the soft, cutesy pose they’d requested was stereotypical for omegas and not something he was used to—but their fans had gone crazy for it. Jake is just glad they let him call his family first so that they didn’t find out through Twitter. 

This is how they find themselves in one of the meeting rooms of the HYBE building, a middle-aged alpha woman that none of them have ever met standing in front of them. Everyone looks mildly uncomfortable at the situation, though some more than others. Heeseung, Jay, and Niki had tried to protest that they didn’t need to be present for such a thing, but Jungwon said that it was to be a pack affair, leaving no room to argue further. Sunghoon is pale and his eyes are glued to the table; Jake assumes that he’s blaming himself for this meeting after his outburst the day before, despite the fact that both omegas have also had issues with controlling their scents. Jake is also suspicious that he’s been overly doting towards Jungwon and Niki ever since he presented and everyone is just too nice to point it out. 

“Hello, Enhypen, thank you for inviting me to see you,” the woman says. She bows to them, and they reciprocate the action. “I’m Dr. Kang Myunghee. I understand that you’ve been having some issues with your pack, is that correct?”

“We’ve just had a lot of sudden changes,” Jungwon says, a bit defensively. “We had three people present in four days, and we’ve had trouble settling back into our routine. And it’s been distracting to all of us to have three people trying to figure out how to control their instincts.”

Dr. Kang nods in understanding, her eyes scanning their pack members. “Yes, that makes sense. I will spend most of today focusing on instinct and scent control, then. It is a skill that comes naturally after a few weeks, but it can also be taught as long as you all pay attention.” There is a small sigh of relief from all of the members. “I also think it would benefit your pack to have a clearer hierarchy. I’m sensing that this hasn’t really been established.”

The table immediately falls into an awkward silence. Eventually Jungwon pipes up again. “No, we haven’t exactly sat down and discussed it or anything. I’m our leader, of course, but I know that doesn’t serve the same purpose.”

Dr. Kang nods again. “Yes. Having a full hierarchy is a bit outdated and unnecessary, but packs generally benefit from having a head alpha and omega, especially young packs like yours. It can be counter-intuitive, but having established heads often creates stability and diffuses some of the rocky emotions that come after presenting.” Everyone’s eyes start flickering around the table, looking at their potential candidates for the positions. “It does generally default to the oldest alpha and omega in the pack, but it’s up to you.”

Jake’s heart rate spikes as he realizes what is about to happen; there are only two omegas in their pack, after all, and he is the oldest. Head alphas and omegas do less than they did back when packs regularly fought each other hundreds of years ago, but it’s still a bigger responsibility than Jake ever expected to be given. Both head alphas and omegas are mostly in charge of keeping the harmony in the pack, so it makes sense that the doctor would recommend they assign the roles, but Jake doubts that their other omega is going to want such a role. He makes eye contact with Sunoo, whose eyes are as wide as saucers. He shakes his head at Jake, the movement small but frantic. 

“Well, I’m okay with being head alpha, assuming nobody has any protests,” Heeseung says, startling Jake back into the conversation. Nobody does protest, though Sunghoon once again looks a bit pale. “And I think Jake-yah is best suited for head omega, too.”

Jake wants to protest, but everyone is already nodding in agreement. “Are you guys sure? I know it’s just between me and Sunoo-yah, but-”

“Jake-hyung,” Jungwon interrupts, his voice weirdly gentle. Jake’s mouth falls shut. “You should be head omega.”

“You’ll be fine, Jake-yah. Trust me,” Heeseung says, and he sounds so earnest that Jake can’t bring himself to argue any further. 

“Okay. Yeah, alright, I’ll be head omega.”

Dr. Kang smiles and takes a seat at the head of the table. “Excellent. Well, now that we’ve sorted that out, let’s start by discussing how to control your scent.”

~ * ~

Jake is surprised by how exhausted he feels by the end of their lessons. It’s not the same kind of exhaustion that comes after a day of dance practice or even shooting for a music video, but there are sore spots all over his body where various scent glands are located, and he has a massive headache from how hard he’d had to focus for the majority of the day. But in spite of all the aches and pains, Jake genuinely feels like he has a decent handle on his instincts now, knows how to reel his scent back in when it gets out of hand, and how to prevent it from getting out of hand in the first place. Sunoo and Sunghoon have also done a good job with their lessons, so Jake really hopes that all the tension among their pack members will finally start to ease up. 

Unlike the newly presented members, Niki and Jungwon are extremely antsy by the end of the lessons, having had nothing to do for the entire day while the rest of them sorted out pack issues. As a result, they’d stayed behind to do some extra dance practice, and also managed to convince Jay to join them. The other four head home, ready to eat dinner and head to sleep after a mentally taxing day. Once they’re all back at the dorm, Jake starts to reheat the leftover jjigae from the night before on the stove top and puts some rice into their rice cooker while Heeseung and Sunoo head into their bathroom to do their skincare routines. 

When the other two have disappeared, it takes all of ten seconds for Sunghoon to become latched onto Jake’s back, arms wrapped around his chest and cheek resting on his head. Jake instantly relaxes into his hold, happy to get some physical affection. His omega also feels calm for the first time all day, pleased to be cuddled up to an alpha after a particularly stressful day of overworking his new instincts. He can’t help but find it sweetly domestic too, like they’re a couple cooking together after spending the day apart at work, but he quickly banishes the thought away. He doesn’t need to ruin a nice moment with his friend by wishing it was something more. 

Sunghoon pulls away when he hears the bathroom door open, disappearing to do his own skincare routine as Heeseung enters the kitchen, sitting at their island. Jake continues monitoring the jjigae as it reheats, wishing Heeseung would come closer and cuddle with him too. His omega is whining about no longer being in contact with an alpha, but after what happened the night before, Jake isn’t brave enough to ask.

“So,” Heeseung says, bringing Jake’s focus back in. “how are you feeling after today?”

“Honestly, pretty good,” Jake says honestly. “I finally feel like I have some control over my body again, which is a good feeling. It’s been stressful to know that my scent and behaviour has been out of whack but not knowing how to fix it.” 

Heeseung nods thoughtfully, and Jake turns back to the jjigae to stir it. “That’s good. I hope Sunoo and Sunghoon are in the same boat so we can really buckle down these last few days. It feels like we still have so much work to do.” 

Jake sighs and nods in agreement. There’s something else that has been festering in his chest too, and Heeseung feels like the most appropriate person to talk to about it.  “I’ll admit, I’m also a little intimidated by becoming head omega. I know it’s not that important of a position in a pack anymore, but it’s still more responsibility than I expected I’d ever have. How will I even know what I’m supposed to do?” Heeseung doesn’t respond, and eventually Jake turns back around to look at him. He has a fond, contemplative expression on his face.

“You know how when I came back into the dorm for the first time after your presentation, you said I was looking at you weird?” he asks. Jake raises an eyebrow, unsure where Heeseung is going with this.

“Yeah, I remember.”

“It’s because the first thing I saw when I came into our living room was you standing in front of our pack’s pups and our younger omega, looking completely ready to defend them if you had to. And all I could think about was what a good head omega you already were.” Heeseung looks a little embarrassed to be admitting this, averting his eyes away from Jake. “Maybe it’s just because I was already subconsciously aware that I was head alpha, so I was looking for it, but every time you’ve spent a few extra seconds fixing Jungwon’s clothes, or snuck extra food onto Sunoo’s plate, or when you put us all in place about our behaviour towards Sunghoon, I already knew you were our head omega. And so did you, even if you didn’t consciously realize.”

Jake is unsure how to respond to that. He’d been doing his best to ignore his new instinct to baby their maknae line even more than usual, feeling like there wasn’t much harm in indulging and that nobody was likely to notice anyway. He hadn’t considered that it might be caused by something deeper than normal omega instincts, that he had subconsciously already accepted the role of head omega and had been acting on it the entire time. 

“That… that’s actually really reassuring,” Jake says. Although he’s still a bit nervous about the role, he feels better knowing that their head alpha seems to think he’d already been doing the job anyway. It makes him more confident that his instincts will tell him what to do even when he’s at a loss. “Thanks, hyung.”

Heeseung finally looks back at Jake, his smile a little brighter. “You’re welcome, Jake-yah.”

Jake turns off the heat on the stove just as a bickering Sunoo and Sunghoon emerge from the bathroom, both of them with damp skin. They sit at the island with Heeseung as Jake scoops rice into four bowls and carries them to his packmates. He’s too lazy to do the same with the jjigae , so he just puts the entire pot in the centre of the island for them to share from and then sits beside Sunghoon. They all waste no time digging in, the other three taking turns thanking Jake for preparing it. Jake brushes it off; Jay made the jjigae , and it’s not like warming it back up or making rice was hard. 

Once again Jake is overwhelmed by how lovely and right it feels to be sitting and eating with his pack members as they talk about what they would be doing in the morning. The sound of their giggles, the look of their smiles, the short bouts of silence as everyone focuses on eating, it all made Jake feel like he was where he was meant to be. He just hopes that none of them notice the pleased look that appears on Heeseung’s face after Jake reminds them to leave some jjigae for their other packmates, and even more so the blush that rises on his own cheeks as a result.

Chapter Text

As challenging as the months leading up to their debut were, they have literally nothing on the exhaustion of the weeks following their debut. Most days Jake feels like he’s having an out of body experience, unable to process the fact that there are already crowds of people coming to watch them perform at their debut stages, people chanting their names, people buying their albums. In between their performances, they go live for Sunghoon and Niki’s birthdays, though they’re all too drained to do anything more exciting than just eating cake together afterwards. The music video for Given-Taken also gets more views than they’d dared hope for, and it only makes Jake more excited for when the video for Let Me In gets released. It’s all thrilling and exciting but also tiring beyond belief. 

They’d just come home from filming an episode of Weekly Idol, which had been a lot more fun than Jake expected. The hosts were funny and kind, and had put all of them at ease so that they were able to enjoy themselves fully. Jake is sure he’d made a fool of himself multiple times during the filming, particularly during his ‘secret talent’ of eating quietly, but he’s too exhausted to be embarrassed about it. He’s just glad he didn’t get asked to sing the Ottoke Song, Sunghoon and Heeseung did a good enough job of being cringey during that segment. 

Now back at the apartment, Heeseung is taking the opportunity to order dinner for them all. Jay had insisted he’d cook dinner again, but he has been cooking almost every night in spite of being as tired as the rest of them, not trusting anyone else to cook anything more complex than ramyeon or rice. However, Jungwon had successfully convinced him to shower first so that they could order in while he was busy. 

Jake is on his phone, scrolling through his newly made secret Twitter account. It hadn’t taken long for him to want to know what Engenes were saying and doing on Twitter, but he didn’t want to accidentally do something stupid on their shared account, so a secret account became a necessity. After just a few seconds of scrolling, it becomes clear that the announcement for Sunghoon’s presentation had gone out earlier that day; their fans are talking about little else. He begins scrolling through the responses and is relieved to see that most Engenes are being kind and supportive towards him. 

However, one particular comment sticks out among the sweet ones. “ im surprised that he presented as an alpha, he rly seemed like an omega on i-land lol ” it reads, a video attached underneath. Jake knows he shouldn’t indulge intentionally antagonistic comments like this, but he can’t move past his curiosity, so he lowers his volume to zero and clicks on the video. It’s a series of clips from I-Land, some filmed professionally enough that they are clearly from the aired episodes while others are grainy and seem more like they were taken from the live streams. Most of them are clips of Sunghoon daintily pushing his hair behind his ear or making cute facial expressions. A few feature submissive gestures towards the alphas competing, mostly K and Heeseung. Another is him appearing to examine his features before playfully panting like a puppy; Jake remembers this happening, during a conversation about the chokers several of them were wearing, including Sunghoon. 

And then there is a clip of Sunghoon reclining on a bed, dressed in the same outfit as the puppy clip. His legs are crossed, his left hand sandwiched in between his thighs while someone else touches him; Jake thinks it could be Geonu, but their face isn’t visible. Suddenly Jake appears, climbing onto the bed behind Sunghoon and also taking the opportunity to squeeze his thigh. Sunghoon seems unbothered, only moving his legs to cross them tighter over top of his hand after Jake taps his thigh a second time.

Jake closes the video. He realizes that his scent is going just a little crazy and quickly pulls it back in before it catches anyone’s attention. 

Jake glances towards Sunghoon. He’s sitting on the couch, a sleeping Sunoo curled into his side as the two of them wait for their turn in the shower; Jake and Sunghoon are both mostly past the need for physical touch that comes after a presentation, but Sunoo isn’t quite there yet and still keeps himself glued to one of their alphas when they are somewhere private. Sunghoon looks relaxed, but every time he moves to touch Sunoo in some way, he’s just a little robotic about it. He pets Sunoo’s hair awkwardly, touches his arm like it doesn’t come naturally to him. Jake isn’t sure if it’s just because it’s Sunoo, who Sunghoon has a somewhat complicated relationship with, or if he acts that way towards Jake too and he has just never noticed because he can’t observe Sunghoon when he’s that close. 

He looks back down at the video link, no longer playing but the thumbnail still on his screen. As much as Jake wants to deny it, a lot of Sunghoon’s actions in the video really did seem like those of someone who was months away from an omega presentation. A bit submissive, a bit soft and gentle, a bit cutesy in spite of Sunghoon’s rejections of being a cute person. Jake couldn’t imagine it for him now, having seen and smelled him as an alpha, but it really seemed like Sunghoon had been under the impression that he’d present as an omega. 

Jake sighs. Just another thing he apparently was too oblivious to notice during their time on I-Land. 

~ * ~

The curiosity plagues Jake’s mind for several days. He really wants to know Sunghoon’s feelings about his own presentation, a question that he’d never even thought to ask in the midst of their debut preparation. It was one of the first questions he and Sunoo had asked each other when both of them were feeling lucid again; Sunoo had admitted that he wasn’t really surprised about being an omega, having guessed it would be the case, while Jake expressed that he hadn’t been anticipating anything either way, so it would have been a mild surprise no matter what, but that he also wasn’t disappointed or anything. 

However, finding the time to be alone with Sunghoon is challenging when their schedules are so packed with debut activities. They’re constantly with the rest of their pack, and the bedroom arrangements do nothing to make it easier since Jay and Sunoo are usually the first ones asleep, meaning both of their rooms are quickly occupied. Jake isn’t even really sure how he’d bring up the topic, since it’s kind of personal and Sunghoon is still a relatively private person. 

And then, the moment is presented to Jake through the most annoying means possible: they are all moved out of the dorm while their heat and rut rooms are being repaired. 

It couldn’t be less convenient in every other aspect of their lives; being moved out of what had become a real pack den to them was stressful, let alone having it happen in the middle of their debut , but it was also extremely necessary. The last thing they needed was another disaster caused by the fact that their heat and rut rooms weren’t scent-proof, so the repairs being done were definitely needed. They were assured it shouldn’t take that long, since it was only four rooms that needed to have new walls and insulation put in, but it still means that they’ll be spending about four days living in a hotel while their dorm is undergoing repairs. 

They’re given three rooms with two beds and one private room, so they decide that it would be most fair to randomize who gets each room. Niki ends up being the lucky one to pull the single room, causing him to dance around and tease his hyungs about his luck. The rest of them then draw roommates. Jungwon demands to go first and ends up drawing Jay, though part of Jake is suspicious that he is telling a white lie so they can room together. Sunoo goes next and draws Heeseung, leaving Jake and Sunghoon in the last room. Jake can’t help but feel like the universe has intentionally handed him this opportunity, finally getting the chance to interrogate Sunghoon about his feelings regarding his presentation. 

The two of them enter their hotel room, ready to crash after another long day. Jake is put off by the sterile smell of the room, already missing the den since it smells like their pack… but it is also admittedly nice to only have to share the bathroom with one person. After the two of them are both showered with their skincare routines done, they crawl into their respective beds to spend some time scrolling through their phones.

Jake looks over at Sunghoon, who is lying on his side facing towards him. Now that he has the opportunity to talk with him about his presentation, he feels anxious about bringing it up. But he knows that he’s going to regret missing this chance, so he digs in to find his courage.

“Sunghoon-ah,” he says, his voice a bit softer than he intends. Sunghoon looks up from his phone, and Jake is a bit embarrassed when his heart rate picks up just from making eye contact. Jake mulls over his words for a moment, wanting to make sure he asks the right question. “Do… do you like being an alpha?”

Sunghoon’s eyes widen a fraction before dropping to look at the bedding. Jake can see him swipe his tongue over his teeth anxiously, clearly also considering his words carefully.

“I don’t dislike it. There’s good stuff about it I guess,” he mumbles, not really sounding all that convincing. Jake raises an eyebrow.

“Were you surprised or anything? Like, did you expect to be an alpha?” Jake asks. Sunghoon looks even more alarmed by this question, so Jake backtracks a bit. “Sunoo and I talked about it after our presentations, but I never really had a chance to ask you. But you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

Sunghoon sets his phone face down on the bed, although he continues to avert his eyes. “Well you go first then. Do you like being an omega? Were you expecting to present as one?” Jake rolls his eyes. Usually he’d retort with ‘I asked you first’ , but clearly the subject is touchy for Sunghoon, so he’ll indulge. 

“Being an omega is… it’s good. Not to be TMI, but my presentation was kind of gross, and I’m not really looking forward to going into heat, honestly,” Jake admits, wrinkling his nose. Sunghoon’s cheeks turn red. “But the maknaes all spend more time around me now, which is cute and nice. And being head omega means I’m allowed to boss all of you around a little. Though I haven’t put that to good use yet.”

Sunghoon smiles a little at that. “You should. What’s the point of being head omega if you don’t hold it over everyone’s heads?” he asks. Jake snickers.

“Nah, I don’t want everyone to start resenting me.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “I didn’t really expect to be an omega I guess, but I honestly didn’t expect anything . My second gender was never something I really cared about, so I never thought about it that hard. I figured I had equal chances of being anything. So I wasn’t surprised when I presented as an omega, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had been an alpha or a beta either.”

Sunghoon nods thoughtfully. Jake stares at him expectantly until he raises an eyebrow. 

“What?”

“I said what I thought about my presentation! It’s your turn now,” Jake insists. Sunghoon sighs a bit dramatically, staring at the wall ahead of him with an oddly focused look. He squints his eyes just a little before speaking.

“Did you know I helped Heeseung and Jay through their presentations?”

That… is not what Jake had been expecting him to say.

“No, I didn’t. They’ve never really talked to me about their presentations before.”

“Well, I did. Obviously they both happened back when we were still trainees, and the company didn’t really do anything to help with anyone’s cycles or presentations the way they did on the show,” Sunghoon explains. Most of the presented contestants had at least one heat or rut while on I-Land, and they’d just get pulled for a few days so that it didn’t disrupt anyone else. One contestant had even presented while on the show, though he’d been at Ground when it happened while Jake was at I-Land, so he wasn’t exactly sure how it was handled; maybe he would ask Sunoo about it. “But trainees are competitive. Almost nobody wanted to help Heeseung when his happened, because it meant giving up training time. Except for Jay, who was stupidly selfless even back then, and then he roped me into it too. We did the same thing for his first rut.”

In spite of his words, Sunghoon has a fond smile on his face, and it makes Jake smile too. Of course their Jay would never let Heeseung go through his presentation alone. “That sounds like something Jay would do,” Jake says. Sunghoon nods. 

“Jay presented about a month before filming, on his birthday, and it lasted for eight days. I was so stressed because we were supposed to be practicing our routine, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t let Jay go it alone either. So I was his main caretaker through his presentation. Heeseung wanted to help too, when he found out, but he wasn’t really allowed since they were trying to keep us separated until filming started.” Sunghoon falls silent, looking contemplative again. His pause is just long enough for Jake to remember what his original question had been, and it makes him curious about where Sunghoon is going with all of this. “Something about being there during their presentations… I can’t explain it, but in my heart I knew I was doing something I was supposed to be doing. Which I guess is kind of weird, but even now I don’t think I was wrong.”

Jake waits patiently for Sunghoon to continue, but he seems a bit stuck. “You should trust yourself. If you knew it was right, then it probably was,” he eventually says, hoping to prompt Sunghoon into speaking more. 

Sunghoon nods again, though his expression has become spaced out, so Jake isn’t convinced he was actually listening. “My parents used to talk about my presentation. When I was little and still figure skating, I mean. They were always supportive of my skating stuff, they never made me feel like I was doing something silly. But I heard them talking to other adults, saying that they thought… they thought I’d be an omega. Because what future alpha wants to be a figure skater? They weren’t upset or anything, they were just being realistic, in their eyes.” Sunghoon suddenly makes direct eye contact, and Jake’s heart aches a little when he sees the pain in Sunghoon’s expression. “After Jay and Heeseung’s presentations, I thought it felt right because both of them are alphas. That it was my omega brain already reacting to alphas in rut. It just confirmed what I’d already thought about myself for years. And it didn’t bother me, I was fine with being an omega, even happy about it sometimes. But then I presented, and I was an alpha, and I had no idea what to do with myself. I felt out of control and violent and scary . I knew I was scary, because I was scared of me.”

Jake isn’t really sure what to say. He knows Sunghoon feels guilty about what happened, but he didn’t realize the full extent of it. And it’s odd to hear the alpha admit he really did think he was going to be an omega up until he presented. 

“I’m sorry that was your experience, Sunghoon-ah.” Jake wavers a little, unsure if it’s appropriate to ask his next question. “Do you still wish you had been an omega? Now that you’ve presented as an alpha?” Sunghoon shrugs.

“Sometimes. I still… it feels like I have no control over myself. I get so angry , and I don’t like that about being an alpha. You and Sunoo seem to have your emotions way more in check, and I’m jealous of that.” He looks Jake up and down once, and it makes Jake feel just a little self conscious. “But if I was given the choice to become an omega, I don’t think I’d take it. Not anymore.”

Jake nods stiffly, his mouth a little dry. “Well. That’s good at least. I’m sure you’ll get even more comfortable with it in time.” Sunghoon nods back.

“Yeah, I’m sure I will.” Sunghoon starts to shuffle around a little bit until he has gotten under the scratchy hotel blankets. “I think I’m going to go to bed now, I’m tired after today. Goodnight, Jake.”

“Yeah. Yeah, me too, today was exhausting. Goodnight, Sunghoon,” Jake mumbles a bit robotically as he also gets under the covers before leaning over to shut off his light. And as he falls asleep, Jake repeatedly reminds himself not to think too deeply about what Sunghoon’s new motivations for wanting to be an alpha might include. 

~ * ~

The repairs end up taking five days in total, and they are all finally able to move back into the dorm on Christmas Eve. Jake hadn’t even realized how tense his body had been until he walked into the apartment and all of his muscles instantly relaxed for the first time in days. He and the other members all shuffle around each other as they take off their coats and boots, putting them back properly before heading to their respective rooms to unpack their duffle bags. As he walks through the halls, Jake catches several strange scents, presumably from the people who had been repairing their heat and rut rooms. It makes Jake feel embarrassingly territorial, and he has to put all of his effort into not letting his own scent go crazy to try and cover it. That is until he takes in another breath and realizes that all of his presented packmates’ scents have gotten much stronger, clearly also doing their best to rid their den of the offending scents. Jake smiles fondly to himself and allows his own scent to become stronger as well until the only thing he can smell is his pack. 

Jake begins unpacking his bag right away, feeling strangely frantic and antsy as he puts his things back where they belong. Jay has also begun unpacking, although at a much more leisurely pace. Jake is unsure what has him feeling like his skin is crawling, especially now that the den smells fine again. He takes a seat on his bed, mostly to avoid pacing since that would almost certainly annoy Jay, but the second he makes contact with the bed, his omega makes it clear what has him feeling so on edge. 

Build a nest , he thinks to himself. I still feel unsettled, I need a nest . 

Heat rises to Jake’s cheeks at the thought; he hasn’t been driven to build a nest since his presentation, but that’s clearly what his omega needs to calm back down after several days in an unfamiliar space. He isn’t completely sure what to do with the desire, having little knowledge of how to actually build a nest, but he knows that it generally starts with collecting materials that smell like his pack mates. 

It would be easiest to start with Jay, considering he’s still unpacking his bag just a few feet away, but Jake has no idea how to make such a request. Would it be weird of him to ask for nesting materials outside of his heat? He’s genuinely not sure. He stares at Jay’s back, trying to find the right words, when Jay suddenly turns around and looks directly at him. 

“Did you know you smell like ozone when you’re upset? Kind of like a thunderstorm,” he says casually. Jake blushes and averts his gaze, calming his scent as much as he can. “Well, what’s on your mind, then?”

“I… Would it be weird if I built a nest?” Jake eventually asks, finding that easier than directly answering Jay’s question. Jay’s expression softens. 

“Nah. I think it would be pretty normal considering we were away from home for a few days.” Jay licks his lips a little nervously, but easily pushes through whatever he’s feeling, never having been one to hold his thoughts back. “If you want anything from me for it, you can just take whatever you want from my bag. I don’t care.” And then he turns back around to continue unpacking, giving Jake the veil of privacy. 

Jake fleetingly thinks about how grateful he is to have so many sweet and understanding packmates who know exactly what he needs at a given moment, despite only having been a pack for a few short and busy months. Jake stands up and approaches Jay’s bed, rifling through his bag until he finds a few t-shirts that he deems acceptable for his nest. He glances at Jay, only a foot away but still dutifully averting his eyes. Jake smiles and closes their distance, grabbing Jay’s shoulder and pulling him down until Jake can nuzzle their temples together for a second before returning to his bed, throwing Jay’s shirts into the centre. Jay doesn’t say anything, but Jake can see a gentle smile on his face as he leaves to seek out nesting materials from everyone else. 

Jake starts by going to Heeseung’s room. His door is open, so Jake peeks in and sees him sitting at his computer desk, headphones already covering his ears and his duffle bag still sitting completely packed on his bed. He appears to be opening a game that is in the middle of updating, though Jake isn’t positive which one. He knocks on the door and Heeseung turns around, smiling and pulling his headphones down. 

“What’s up, Jake? Everything good?” he asks, clearly already seeing the apprehension in Jake’s face. Jake nods, but still struggles to make the words come out. He wishes Heeseung could just read his mind and be the one to offer like Jay had. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just, ah, wondering i-if I…” Jake’s chest tightens as Heeseung watches him carefully, an eyebrow rising as he struggles to spit out his words. “Could I borrow, um, some clothes? Like, that you’ve worn recently.”

Heeseung stares at him for a few seconds like he doesn’t understand what Jake has asked. Then his eyes seem to glint as a pleased smirk spreads on his face, though he cuts Jake off from seeing it in its full glory as he turns back to face his computer. Jake can hear a voice coming from his headphones, calling out “ Heeseung-ah! We’re waiting for you, hurry up! ”, though Jake isn’t sure of whose voice it is. 

“Yeah, of course. Just take whatever you need, Jake-yah,” Heeseung finally responds, snapping Jake’s attention back to him. Jake is suddenly grateful that Heeseung has turned back around, making it less embarrassing as he descends upon the duffle bag and begins to rifle through it. He eventually settles on one t-shirt and one of Heeseung’s oversized hoodies, then quickly takes his leave. It feels like his cheeks are burning, but he’s not brave enough to touch them and check. 

Jake finishes by going to the younger members’ room, finding only Niki and Sunoo there. Niki snorts when he notices Jake, holding a sweater that is clearly several sizes too big to be his considering it was already big on Heeseung. 

“You too, hyung?” he asks, his tone teasing. Jake narrows his eyes at this comment, and Niki points towards Sunoo’s bed in response. The younger omega appears to be in the middle creating his own nest, which instantly makes Jake feel less weird for wanting one. 

“Be quiet Niki-yah,” Sunoo chastises, ignoring Niki’s protests of, “ I didn’t even say anything to you! ” in favour of climbing out of his nest to grab his half-unpacked duffle bag to hand it to Jake. “Feel free to take what you want if I can go pick out some stuff of yours.”

“Deal,” Jake agrees without hesitation, snatching the duffle bag. Sunoo briskly leaves while Jake sets the bag on the floor, pulling out a few of Sunoo’s shirts before setting the bag back where it had been before. Then he turns to Niki to give him an expectant look. Niki rolls his eyes. 

“ Yes , hyung, you can take some of my stuff, too,” he says, his eyes going back to his cell phone where he appears to be texting someone. Jake rolls his own eyes, but makes his way to Niki’s bag and selects a few of his shirts too. He goes to Jungwon’s bed next, though he has already gone to the trouble of putting all of his things away, so he ends up having to go to the laundry basket for his contributions. Luckily it had been emptied before they left, so the only items inside are Jungwon’s. Niki makes a mildly disgusted noise as Jake fishes clothes directly out of the laundry basket, but Jake chooses to ignore it; Niki will understand eventually.

Just as Jake straightens back up, Sunghoon enters the bedroom, his damp hair suggesting he’s just showered. He stops when he realizes Jake is there, raising an eyebrow as he takes in the sight of him standing over their laundry basket with an armful of dirty shirts and sweaters. Jake feels his cheeks heat up again, knowing that there is no other way to interpret what he’s doing. 

“S-Sunghoon, I-”

“Can I… did you want something from me too?” Sunghoon asks stiffly, the tips of his ears also turning pink. Jake nods, not trusting his voice. Sunghoon turns to his bag, but instead of giving it to Jake to look through, he goes through it himself until he finds a shirt he seems satisfied with. He turns as if he’s going to hand it to Jake, but his eyes seem to focus in on one of the items already in Jake’s arms and then he’s returning to the bag. Sunghoon continues to rifle through it until he pulls out a sweater and two more t-shirts, then finally faces Jake and holds them out for him to take. Jake takes them a bit gingerly, his omega getting overly excited that these items are being offered to him, specifically selected by Sunghoon for him to take. 

“Thanks, Sunghoon-ah,” Jake says, startling himself with how soft his own voice sounds. Sunghoon studies him for a moment before giving a satisfied nod.

“No problem,” he responds before turning back to his duffle bag and starting to unpack it. Jake lets out a small breath through his nose and shuffles the pile of clothes in his arms, as it has grown a bit too large and awkward to carry easily. He catches Niki’s gaze as he does this and his heart aches a little when he realizes that their maknae is glaring towards Sunghoon’s back in an accusatory way. Jake sighs quietly to himself but makes his exit, knowing that it isn’t the time or place to interrogate Niki about his lingering distrust towards Sunghoon.

Jake makes his way back to his and Jay’s room, throwing everything down on his bed and immediately going into arranging the clothing items near his pillows. He does his best to let his instincts take over for the task; it’s his first nest after all, and he hasn’t done a bunch of research about nesting techniques like Sunoo has. His omega seems much more confident, however, as Jake finds himself shifting things around instinctively, bunching up items in specific ways and evenly distributing them by scent and texture. Jake’s ears flush a little when he realizes that Sunghoon’s hoodie has ended up where his face usually goes, but he decides not to think deeply about it. He hears Jay snort behind him, and he turns around to raise an eyebrow. Jay is staring directly at him and his nest, making Jake feel self conscious. 

“What? Is my nest ugly or something?” Jake asks. Jay quickly shakes his head.

“No, no, nothing like that. Your nest looks fine,” he reassures. Jake is slightly unnerved by how calculated his gaze looks. “Did you have a nice time rooming with Sunghoon?”

Jake narrows his eyes, positive that Jay is teasing him, despite his even tone and innocuous question. “Yeah, it was fine,” he answers carefully. It’s not untrue; he and Sunghoon didn’t discuss anything else heavy like during their first night, but they’d had lots of other fun and lighthearted conversations, and Jake’s omega had preened over having a space that just smelled like him and Sunghoon. But that wasn’t any of Jay’s business. “Why do you ask?”

Jay shrugs, still annoyingly nonchalant. “I just figured you guys would enjoy having a room by yourselves, that’s all.” Jake rolls his eyes.

“Cut the act, Jay-ah. What are you getting at?” Jake asks harshly. Jay finally cracks, a smirk taking over his face.

“I mean, you and Sunghoon aren’t exactly subtle. I figured you guys were just being private about your relationship, but it feels stupid to keep acting like I haven’t noticed,” he says cooly. Jake gives him a confused look, his heartbeat rapidly increasing when he realizes what Jay is implying.

“D-Do you think Sunghoon and I are courting ?” Jake asks incredulously. It’s Jay’s turn to look confused now.

“Yes?” he says, sounding equally incredulous. “Are you guys not courting?”

“ No! ” Jake says, his voice going up an octave. He takes a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down; the last thing he needs is to completely lose control of his volume and have anyone else hear this conversation. “Why would you even think that?”

Jay’s eyes are so wide they look like they’re about to fall out of his head. “Jake, please tell me you’re joking. Surely you know how you two act around each other.”

Jake obviously knows. It’s constantly on his mind, wondering if it’s only him who sees it or if Sunghoon thinks about it too. “Nope. Please elaborate for me.”

Jay rolls his eyes. “You guys share food all the time. He never complains when you steal his clothing. You always smell more like each other than the rest of us. I mean, look at your nest right now, Jake-yah,” Jay rambles, pointing an accusatory finger at the sweater piled up near where they both know Jake’s face is going to go. Jake’s cheeks flush pink as he stammers weakly, but Jay pays no mind to it. “Actually, let’s talk about how you smelled the day we came back from our presentations. It literally smelled like you guys had been necking in the hallway or something. Or what about the time that Sunghoon growled at Heeseung-hyung because he was cuddling with you-”

“Okay fine! I get it, can you shut up now?” Jake snaps, throwing a pillow at Jay. Jay ducks out of the way easily, then tosses it back when he sees the regretful look on Jake’s face. Jake narrows his eyes again, but tucks the pillow back into where it had been in his nest. “ Fine . I… Maybe I like Sunghoon. But… but I don’t think he returns my feelings or anything. He just doesn’t know how to handle his hormones and stuff yet.” Jay scoffs at Jake’s dismissive response.

“ Please . I’ve been through the same hormonal shit as Sunghoon, and I wouldn’t have growled at an older, higher ranked alpha over just anyone,” Jay insists. Jake smirks a little at this.

“What about for Jungwonie?” Jake asks in a baby voice, taking his opportunity to shoot back at Jay. His ears turn pink, but his expression stays cool despite the tease.

“This isn’t about him right now. My point is that if you wanted to court Sunghoon, he’s made it pretty obvious that he wants to court you too,” Jay says. “So maybe you should consider it. You know, if it would make you both happy.”

Jake stares at Jay, trying to get a read on whether or not he’s being messed with, but Jay seems to be completely sincere. Which makes sense, really, as Jay is known for being almost cripplingly honest. Additionally, Jay seems to be hyper aware of everyone else’s love lives, having correctly guessed that both he and Sunoo were interested in Sunghoon, so Jake has no reason to think that he’s wrong about Sunghoon’s feelings. Not to mention the fact that Jake himself has questioned Sunghoon’s feelings on multiple occasions… and yet he can’t shake off the anxiety that Jay is wrong and he would be making a fool of himself if he asked Sunghoon to court him. And that’s not even touching on the guilt he would feel about courting Sunghoon while knowing that Sunoo was also interested in him.

“… I’ll think about it,” Jake finally says, wanting to placate Jay despite his apprehension. This seems to be enough for Jay though, as he gives a satisfied nod and stands up to grab some baggy pajamas from one of his drawers.

“Good, I’m glad to hear that. Well, I’m going to hop in the shower before anyone else beats me to it then,” Jay says. Just as Jay is opening their bedroom door, a terrifying thought pops into Jake’s head.

“Jay-ah, does anyone else think Sunghoon and I are courting?” Jake asks, his blood feeling like ice in his veins. Jay pauses to glance over his shoulder, his eyes glinting as he shoots Jake a little grin.

“Who knows? See you later, Jake-yah.” And then the door closes behind him.

Jake stares at the door for a few seconds before stiffly returning to his half-built nest, pointedly ignoring Sunghoon’s sweaters as he continues working and desperately hoping that nobody else has misunderstood his relationship with Sunghoon. 

~ * ~

“I’m worried about Niki.”

Jake looks up from the pot of ramyeon he is cooking for himself and Heeseung, the alpha leaning back against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. Ever since their accidental meeting on Heeseung’s birthday, it had become increasingly commonplace for the two of them to have late night ramyeon snacks together, and tonight was another of those nights. Jake cooks more often than not, mostly because Heeseung claims that it tastes better when he does it. Jake thinks he’s just a bit lazy, but it’s rare that he has the opportunity to spoil their eldest member outside of this, so he never pushes against it.

“Oh? Just in general, or over something specific?” Jake pries, poking the ramyeon a little with a pair of chopsticks. Heeseung sighs.

“I’m talking about his behaviour towards Sunghoon,” Heeseung elaborates. He doesn’t need to explain further than this; Jake knows what he’s talking about. In spite of everything, Niki has been continuing to act apprehensive and cagey towards Sunghoon, as though he is likely to have another emotional blow up at any second. Jake wants to be sympathetic, understanding that what happened during his and Sunghoon’s presentation had been quite distressing for Niki to witness, and that the minor altercation between Sunghoon and Heeseung hadn’t helped, but it’s been making things increasingly tense in their pack. Sunghoon had also obviously noticed Niki’s behaviour, and as a result, he’s become increasingly reserved in a way that Jake finds upsetting.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed it too,” Jake says, turning off the stove as he deems the ramyeon finished. Heeseung grabs two bowls from their cupboard and hands them to him so he can dish it out. “I feel like I only ever notice it when it’s not a great time to discuss it with him, but I have been thinking that one of us should talk to him about it. Have you mentioned it to Jungwon?”

Heeseung doesn’t say anything right away, and when Jake turns to hand him his bowl of ramyeon, he looks a little sheepish. He takes the bowl and goes to the island to sit, Jake close behind.

“Yes, I spoke to him about it earlier today, actually. That’s why I’m mentioning it to you, both Jungwon and I agreed that it would probably be best for you to talk to him,” Heeseung explains before finally taking a bite of his ramyeon. Jake’s eyes widen in surprise.

“ Me ? Why me?” he asks, genuinely baffled. “Surely one of you would be more suitable. Would our mathyung or leader not make a better impact?” Heeseung raises an eyebrow.

“Jakey, you’re our head omega. Of course you’d be best suited.”

The answer makes Jake’s heart pound. He can’t really dispute it either, considering that mitigating behaviour issues among pups is typically taken on by head omegas. Pups also tend to be more receptive to corrections from omegas, especially head omegas, so Jake can see why he’s being asked to bring it up when Heeseung frames it like that. 

That doesn’t mean he’s excited for it though. 

Jake whines into his ramyeon. “I feel like I won’t even know what I’m supposed to say. What if he thinks I’m being mean? Or I hurt his feelings by accident?” The grin Heeseung gives him in response is comfortingly fond and reassuring.

“I doubt that will happen. You’re better with your words than you give yourself credit for.” Heeseung pokes at his bowl, looking a little like he’s waffling over his next words. “Plus, I think it would mean more to him coming from you. It’s you he’s most concerned about, so I think he’d be more lenient with whatever you tell him, even if it’s not quite the right words.”

Jake wants to ask Heeseung why Niki would be worried about him of all people, but when he thinks about the two instances with Sunghoon… he knows already. So instead Jake lets out a small, laboured sigh and nods his head. 

“Alright. I’ll talk to him soon.”

~ * ~

The moment ends up presenting itself the next morning. Jake is awake at a decent time, considering his late night with Heeseung, so there is still an hour before he has to get ready for their day. After using the washroom, he enters the kitchen to find Jungwon talking animatedly to Jay as they eat their breakfast, the latter looking like he’s on the verge of falling back asleep but his eyes still completely fixed on Jungwon. Jake decides to leave them be for now and moves towards the living room instead. He is surprised to find a rather miserable-looking Niki curled up by himself.

“Niki-yah, you’re up early,” he says, sitting down beside him. He leaves a bit of room in case Niki wants to be left alone, but he immediately lets out a little puppy-ish whine and shifts so he can lay his head in Jake’s lap. Jake laughs and indulges him, gently petting Niki’s hair. “It doesn’t seem like you want to be awake.”

Niki whines again. “Sunoo-hyung kicked me out of his bed for being ‘too restless’ this morning,” he mumbles dejectedly. Jake snorts.

“Why didn’t you just go back to your own bed? Or into someone else’s bed?”

“Jungwon-hyung was already awake.”

Jake chooses to ignore the fact that Niki did not give an indication on what was wrong with his own bed; Niki rarely sleeps there, so he’s not that surprised. However, his previous conversation with Heeseung suddenly comes back to him when Niki also doesn’t mention Sunghoon, and he realizes that this might be the only opportunity he has for a while to talk to Niki in a way that isn’t contrived. So he briefly laments how many awkward conversations he’s had to have since joining his own pack, and then steels his nerves to have another one.

“Well, I’ve been meaning to talk with you anyway, Niki-yah,” he says, trying to keep his demeanor calm. Niki instantly tenses, and Jake jumps into damage control. “Not about anything bad, I’ve just been worried about you.”

Niki relaxes, his head nudging against Jake’s hand where it has slowed down with petting him. “Worried about what? I’ve been fine.”

“It’s in my nature now to worry about you,” Jake says, once again attempting to make things light hearted as he resumes petting Niki’s hair. “Plus, you have a habit of keeping your worries to yourself. So now I have to be proactive about these things.” 

Niki snorts and closes his eyes. “I promise nothing is going on, hyung.”

Jake bites his lip, trying to figure out the kindest way to phrase his question. He decides that it’s going to end up a bit messy either way, so he might as well just go for it. 

“Even between you and Sunghoon?” he asks carefully. Niki’s eyes snap back open, his face going pale. Jake instinctively places a hand onto Niki’s stomach, both to soothe him and to prevent him from bolting away. “You’re not always the best at hiding it, Niki-yah.”

Niki averts his gaze, placing his cheek on Jake’s knee. “I… I don’t want to be upset with Sunghoon-hyung. But I can’t… whenever I see him, especially when he’s around you, it’s all I can think about.” Jake doesn’t ask him to elaborate, already understanding what he’s referring to. “He was scary . I’ve never seen someone act like that before. Like an actual animal.”

Jake nods thoughtfully. “I understand why you feel that way. But it only happened because we were both presenting and could smell each other. It won’t happen again because alphas have longer cycles than omegas, so we won’t be dealing with it at the same time.” Although Jake does his best not to make a big deal of his explanation, Niki groans and turns to bury his flushed face into Jake’s stomach the second he starts talking about heat and rut cycles. “Not to give you an impromptu sex talk. Maybe you already knew all of that.”

Niki groans louder into Jake’s stomach. “ Hyung , is this really necessary? I know it’s important for me to know this stuff or whatever but still…” he says, his voice muffled. Jake laughs and ruffles his hair.

“I know it’s a bit awkward, but like you said, it’s important. Especially now that you’re part of your own pack,” Jake says, glad that Niki is at least listening. He hears another dramatic sigh before he feels Niki nod for him to continue. “I promise that what happened with Sunghoon won’t happen again, Niki-yah. It just happened because of bad timing, and because our heat and rut rooms weren’t smell proof. We’ll be better prepared in the future.”

“Well what about when he growled at Heeseung-hyung?” Niki asks defensively. “He wasn’t in rut when that happened.”

“It happened less than a week after his presentation, it can take a while to recover from that. Don’t you remember how clingy Sunoo and I were? We were all dealing with it in different ways,” Jake reminds him patiently. Niki nods, but doesn’t say anything else right away, though Jake is able to tell that there is still something on his mind. 

“Can’t you, like… trigger a heat or rut though? I’ve heard lots of people talk about that before,” Niki finally asks. Jake’s stomach tightens at the question and he’s suddenly glad Niki isn’t looking at him.

“That can happen, yes, but only for people who are mutually interested in each other. Usually people who are courting,” Jake says. “So you still don’t need to worry about us.”

Niki falls quiet again, his nose still pressed into Jake’s abdomen until he slowly sits up to curl into Jake’s side instead. Jake puts an arm around his shoulders as he lays his head in the crook of Jake’s neck. In spite of Niki’s physical size—he and Jake are officially the same height now, although Niki claims he is taller—he seems little cuddled up into Jake’s side like this. Jake doesn’t voice this thought out loud though, knowing it would likely push Niki away.

“Hyung,” Niki says eventually, his voice small. “You really promise it won’t happen again?”

Jake smiles gently and leans his cheek on Niki’s head. “Yes, I promise. So try your best to trust Sunghoon, okay? I would never put you in a position to get hurt, Niki-yah.”

Niki nods into Jake’s neck, hair tickling Jake’s cheek, but doesn’t say anything else. After a minute or two, he realizes that Niki’s breathing has slowed slightly, suggesting that he has probably fallen asleep. Jake can’t help but grin fondly at their cute maknae, instinctively reaching up to pet his hair as he snoozes on Jake’s shoulder. 

Jake just hopes that their conversation was enough to help fix whatever had been broken between him and Sunghoon. 

~ * ~

Things don’t get better right away, but within a few days, there is a noticeable difference in Niki’s behaviour towards Sunghoon. He goes out of his way to sit beside Sunghoon when they’re all together, he doesn’t send him any more dirty looks, and he doesn’t tense every time Sunghoon is close to Jake. It comes to a pleasant peak when they have a rare afternoon off, and Niki asks if Sunghoon will go out for lunch with him. Sunghoon immediately agrees, even offering to pay despite not knowing where they’re going to eat yet. Jake can see the joy and relief radiating off of him despite his neutral facial expression, clearly happy that Niki is no longer acting cold and avoidant towards him. 

The improvement doesn’t just affect Sunghoon and Niki, though. Everyone is more relaxed during interviews when they don’t start with Niki picking a seat as far away from Sunghoon as possible. Their dance practices are more fun when Niki and Sunghoon can be heard bantering playfully during their water breaks. And Jake thinks his heart is going to beat all the way out of his chest when Jungwon sends him a morning text containing a photo of Niki curled up against Sunghoon’s front, both of them still deep in sleep. 

He finds himself cooing fondly over the photo a few days later during another late night ramyeon session with Heeseung. It is difficult for Jake to not have the photo constantly open on his phone; he’d even briefly considered making it his phone lock screen if he didn’t think the other guys would tease him about it endlessly if any of them saw it. Heeseung leans over when he hears Jake’s quiet noises, trying to see what he’s looking at. Jake helps by tilting the phone screen towards him. 

“Jungwon sent it to me a few days ago,” Jake explains. Heeseung smiles when he sees what the photo is of. 

“It’s been a big relief to see them spending more time together,” Heeseung agrees as Jake brings his phone back. He leans over his bowl to slurp up another mouthful of ramyeon—once again prepared by Jake—before continuing to speak. “I assume you spoke to Niki about it, whatever you said seems to have done the trick.” 

Jake nods, his eyes still glued to the photo of Sunghoon and Niki. Sunghoon’s arm is loosely draped over Niki’s shoulder, and both of their expressions are relaxed; Jake honestly cannot get over how cute and soft they both look. “Yeah, I did. I’m really glad it went over well.”

“Of course it did,” Heeseung says, his tone completely serious. “You’re our head omega after all.” Jake can feel his cheeks turning pink as he finally looks away from the photo and back at Heeseung. As usual he looks completely neutral, a skill that Heeseung is irritatingly good at. He never looks embarrassed about the things he says to Jake, despite the fact that they frequently make Jake feel like he has something stuck in his throat. 

“I guess so,” he relents. “I feel like I never really know what I’m supposed to be doing as head omega, but I seem to be doing an okay job in spite of that.”

Heeseung nods as he takes another bite of ramyeon before a little smirk creeps onto his face. “You just have good instincts about it. It’s like you were made to be an eomma .”

Jake instantly starts coughing as he chokes on the mouthful of ramyeon he’d been about to swallow. Heeseung cackles as he pats Jake’s back through his coughing fit, though he does his best to be conscientious of his volume since some of their packmates will already be sleeping. Eventually Jake straightens up, his previously pink cheeks now a deep red both from coughing and embarrassment over Heeseung’s comment. 

“ Hyung , oh my god do not say that,” he hisses, using a hand to try and cover his flaming cheeks. He’s not sure if he’s more embarrassed that Heeseung said it at all, or because his omega responded to it so positively . Despite how Jake feels about being jokingly referred to as a mom, internally his omega is preening at what is being interpreted as a compliment. He tries his best to keep that information to himself, but based on the fact that Heeseung is still smirking gleefully at him, his scent is probably giving him away. “I can be head omega without being everyone’s mom, you weirdo.”

Jake is extremely thankful when Heeseung decides to drop the topic there, instead going back to focusing on his ramyeon. Jake does the same, letting the soup and noodles warm him from the inside as he empties his bowl. When both of them have finished eating, Heeseung stands to collect their dishes and place them into the sink, leaving the task of cleaning them for the morning. Jake also stands, and together they head to the hallway in silence so they can both go to bed, shutting off the lights behind them as they go. 

As they approach the bedrooms, Heeseung suddenly reaches out to grab Jake by the wrist. Jake jumps slightly from the unexpected touch, but quickly relaxes again, turning towards Heeseung with a raised eyebrow.

“We should do a VLive together sometime. Like, just you and me,” Heeseung says. His voice is a bit softer than Jake is used to, but Jake chalks it up to the fact that it’s late and their packmates are likely sleeping. “I think it would be really fun to do one together.”

Jake smiles at the request, shifting Heeseung’s grip on his wrist so that they are instead linking hands. He squeezes Heeseung’s hand once. “For sure, hyung. Let’s do it.”

Heeseung relaxes into a sleepy grin, squeezing Jake’s hand back before letting it go. 

“Awesome. I’ll keep you posted on a date.”

~ * ~

By far the most boring part of being an idol is having to attend so many meetings. Jake is aware that they are important and necessary and everything, but that doesn’t make them any more exciting to sit through. This one in particular is regarding their next comeback, which they had first been informed of a few weeks before. That meeting had been far more exciting, mostly explaining the concept for the EP and showing off a bunch of moodboards for the MVs and their costumes, as well as the titles of all the songs that would be featured. But this meeting is more focused on timelines and logistics, which is far less engaging; only Jungwon is diligently taking notes and clearly listening intently, the rest of them in various stages of zoned out. Jay, Sunoo, and Heeseung are at least trying their best to look interested, but Niki is clearly doodling on his notepad and Sunghoon is staring into the middle distance, which Jake refuses to admit that he finds a little endearing. 

Jake listens to their manager for short periods, but keeps unintentionally zoning out until he remembers he really should stay focused and brings himself back into the discussion. His attention is snapped back more fully when he hears his own name.

“Jake-yah, we all thought you did a really excellent job on the intro and outro tracks for Border: Day One, so we’re going to have you do them again for this EP,” their manager explains. Jake grins, pride filling his chest for being acknowledged as having done something well, even if it was something as simple as what was essentially a spoken word piece. “We also thought that the additions from Jay-ah added some interest to the outro, so we’re going to be doing the same for the intro of this EP. However, we will be including Heeseung-ah this time instead, just to keep things a little fresh.”

“Me?” Heeseung says, immediately interjecting. “Is the intro not in English this time?”

“No, it will still be in English,” their manager confirms, raising an eyebrow. “That won’t be an issue, correct? You’ve sung English lyrics many times already, this isn’t any different.”

Heeseung doesn’t say anything else, but is clearly apprehensive about being given this task. Jake understands his concern; despite their manager’s words, the intros and outros aren’t really the same as having a few English lyrics scattered throughout a song, and it will be a lot more obvious if Heeseung messes up any pronunciations in the intro than it would be in a normal song. Not that Heeseung’s English is poor—he undoubtedly speaks the best English out of their members after Jake and Jay—but he’s far from fluent, and doesn’t have a lot of confidence in his abilities yet. 

Once the conversation has moved on to something else, Heeseung leans towards Jake from his spot to Jake’s immediate left. Jake leans towards him as well, trying not to make it too obvious that they’re whispering during a meeting.

“You’re going to have to help me with the intro if I’m being featured. I want to make sure my English sounds good so I don’t embarrass myself,” he whispers into Jake’s ear. Jake smiles and turns to look at Heeseung, leaning in further so that he can respond.

“Of course, hyung. Your English is fine though, don’t worry about it too much,” Jake says, trying to sound as reassuring as possible while whispering. He pats Heeseung on the knee a few times before turning back towards their manager to focus back in on whatever they’re talking about now. 

A few seconds later, Jake suddenly has the feeling that someone is looking at him. He scans the room, glancing at the staff and his packmates, until he eventually finds the culprit. Sunghoon, currently sitting directly across from him, is no longer staring into the middle distance but directly at him, an odd expression on his face. His eyes are blazing, even as the rest of his expression remains mostly neutral, and Jake finds he has to look away, unable to hold contact with such an intense expression. He tries to think of what would cause such a severe look to grace his face, but nothing comes to mind. 

~ * ~

“What were you and Heeseung-hyung talking about during the meeting?”

The question catches Jake a little off guard, as he hadn’t expected Sunghoon to speak. The two of them are at the gym, having decided to go once the meeting was over to work off some of the pent up energy after sitting for several hours without much of a break. Jay and Niki had also joined them initially, but they went back to the dorm after Sunoo messaged the group chat saying he was ordering dinner and asked if anyone else wanted anything. 

Jake sets down the weights he is using, needing to pause and think for a moment to even recall what Sunghoon is referring to, but eventually his memory catches up. “Oh, he was just asking for me to help him with our intro song, once we get the lyrics for it. He’s nervous about speaking in English,” Jake explains. Sunghoon nods, accepting the answer easily, but still seems to have something on his mind. He doesn’t voice it right away though, instead going over to the pull up bar as Jake picks his weights back up. They both make their way through several sets with different weights and machines before Sunghoon finally speaks back up. 

“I never realized you were so close with hyung,” he says, hovering over Jake as he spots him during a set of bench presses. Jake once again has to set the weight down and sit up in order to properly process and respond to what Sunghoon has said, his chest heaving from the exertion. 

“I mean, I like to think I’m pretty close with everyone in our pack now,” Jake says honestly. There’s definitely some people he’s closer to than others, and his relationship with Sunoo has recently become… awkward , but he genuinely loves all of his packmates more than he ever expected he would when he first agreed to compete on I-Land. “Hyung and I got pretty close while we were at I-Land, and even now we spend a lot of time together. Plus we like to eat ramyeon together at night sometimes.” 

Sunghoon suddenly tenses, his coffee scent going bitter for a moment before evening back out. “Oh. I, uh, didn’t know that you guys did that.”

“It’s still a new thing,” Jake says dismissively, choosing to ignore the odd behaviour. “It was a coincidence the first time, but we’ve started doing it more often for the last month? Maybe six weeks? It’s just nice to hang out together when the house is quiet.” 

“Well, that’s… that’s nice for you guys,” Sunghoon says, his voice tight as he puts his hands onto the support bars of the bench press and leans on them. He seems fidgety, unable to figure out how to express what he’s thinking, and between that, his still-tense posture, and the small flare up in his scent…

Is Sunghoon jealous ?

It feels ridiculous for Jake to even consider such a thing, because surely Sunghoon knows that he is Jake’s best friend before everyone else, but he also knows that Sunghoon is a bit more socially inept than the average person after having missed out on proper socialization during his formative years. So maybe Sunghoon really does need the reassurance that he is not being replaced by Heeseung. With this in mind, Jake swings one of his legs over the seat of the bench so that he is straddling it while facing Sunghoon, and scooches forward until he is able to lay his crossed arms on top of the bar. He rests his chin onto his arms and makes a show of blinking sweetly up at Sunghoon, who is now looking down at him from where he has been leaning onto the support bars. The tips of Sunghoon’s ears flush pink, and that only makes Jake grin. 

“You’re still my favourite though, Sunghoon-ah,” he says in a silly, babyish tone, trying to keep things light while also doing his best to reassure his friend. It must work, because Sunghoon relaxes again, his body slumping forward just slightly as he does. He leans forward even further until he’s able to touch his forehead against Jake’s, and Jake eagerly sits up straighter so he can reciprocate the gesture, rubbing their foreheads together until Sunghoon smells just a little bit beachy. 

“You’re my favourite too, Jaeyun-ah,” Sunghoon mumbles, his voice much softer than Jake’s had been. It sends an electric shock through Jake’s heart, and he instinctively presses himself even more firmly into the pack gesture. Sunghoon initially allows it, but eventually pulls back, standing up completely so that he’s no longer leaning against the bench press. “Let’s grab our stuff, we should probably head home.”

Jake nods, his heart feeling too soft to argue. He stands up to collect his things and laments that he hadn’t brought a warmer sweater as he packs his bag, but is surprised to find Sunghoon standing there when he turns back around, holding out his own hoodie. Jake stares at it for a second before glancing up to Sunghoon’s face, raising an eyebrow. Sunghoon’s cheeks are dusted pink, and he holds the sweater out a bit more insistently.

“Sunghoon-ah, I can’t take your hoodie when the weather is-”

“I’ll be fine,” Sunghoon interjects. “I’m better at handling the cold from figure skating, and alphas run warmer than omegas anyway.”

Jake examines Sunghoon’s face once more, but his expression is mostly just embarrassed. “Are you really sure?” he asks shyly. Sunghoon responds by rolling his eyes, closing the gap between them and sliding his hoodie over Jake’s head himself. Jake quickly raises his arms, allowing Sunghoon to slip the item of clothing onto him until Jake is completely surrounded in the soft fabric and Sunghoon’s coffee and vanilla scent. The sweater is far too big for Jake, but he finds it very cozy. Once it’s on properly, Sunghoon pulls up the hood over his head, adjusting it slightly when he seems unhappy with how it is placed. Eventually he is satisfied, stepping back a little and making eye contact with Jake. His cheeks are still pink. 

“Please just wear it for me, okay?” Sunghoon asks, his voice soft and vulnerable again in a way that Jake so rarely gets to hear. Jake isn’t sure where Sunghoon’s behaviour is coming from, but the urge to be scented by him comes back more forcefully than it ever has before, so Jake crowds back into his space and noses at his jaw, a small omega whine slipping out without Jake’s permission. Sunghoon is on him before Jake even has the chance to be embarrassed, his nose rubbing against Jake’s temple while his thumb gently pets the scent glands in Jake’s neck and along his jaw. Jake’s body starts to go slightly limp as he clings to Sunghoon’s sweaty t-shirt, his own nose pressed directly against the scent gland near the base of Sunghoon’s neck. He breathes deeply, inhaling Sunghoon’s scent until he starts to feel a bit lightheaded, at which point he finally pulls back so that they don’t make the entire gym smell like coffee and sea salt. Sunghoon moves away when Jake does, his pupils blown wide as his eyes scan over Jake slowly.

“We should go home,” Jake says, trying to use a firmer tone but not really succeeding. Sunghoon nods anyway, his hands coming up to fiddle with the hood of the sweater once more.

“Yeah. Let’s go home.” 

~ * ~

Costume fittings are something that always sound kind of boring in Jake’s head but end up being very fun. It’s definitely tedious to get in and out of a bunch of clothing while someone pokes and prods at his body, pinning the garments to fit better and marking the places where they lay awkwardly, but it’s also fun to see himself in a bunch of cool clothes that have been made to fit him specifically, maximizing how attractive they look on his body. Their next comeback necessitates several outfits, all of them very different from each other but still with the vampiric undertones that are meant to be present in all of the concepts. 

Currently Jake is being fitted for a princely outfit, all white ruffles with  a navy coat and gold accents. It makes him look elegant and regal, which are words that Jake never thought he would use to describe himself, but they’re fitting when he looks into the mirrors and sees a prince looking back. The stylists are pinning the pants a bit closer to his waist and adjusting some things on the shoulders, but for the most part the garment seems to fit him well; the benefit of having clothes made to his exact measurements, he supposes. Soon enough they are working it off of him, being careful of the places they have marked and pinned, until he has been stripped back to his undergarments. He is then dismissed to allow the next person to have their turn being fitted. There are four pairs of stylists working on them, but with each of them having so many outfits to get through, each pair is still trying to work as quickly as possible.

Jake throws on a loose t-shirt and shorts that will be easy to take off again, then grabs a water bottle and sips it as he takes a seat, watching his packmates all take turns being dressed in various clothing items. Niki steps up to get fitted into his princely outfit, Jay is getting fitted into what looks like a school uniform, and Sunoo is wearing a pair of leather pants and a loose, white shirt with black prints all over it. But, of course, the one to catch Jake’s attention the most is Sunghoon. His black jeans are decorated with o-rings down the front, he’s got a leather fingerless glove on his right hand, and silver chains hang stylishly off of his belt and neck. One of the stylists is busy pinning yet another chain to the black and white striped t-shirt layered over a collared black shirt while the other makes notes about potential hairstyles and mentions to Sunghoon that they’re likely going to keep his hair black for this comeback. Jake had been informed of the same earlier in the day, that his hair would be dyed from its current brown to a black colour once they started shooting for the MV and concept photos.

Jake has a hard time taking his eyes off of Sunghoon. He looks so good in the dark colours and silver jewellery that it makes Jake’s head spin, and he has to put all of his effort into not letting his scent go crazy. As is, he feels like one of the stylists is giving him the side eye, but nobody says anything to him directly. 

“What are you staring at, hyung?”

Jake jumps in his seat as Jungwon seems to materialize beside him and speaks out loud, scaring Jake out of his Sunghoon-themed daydreams. “N-Nothing, Jungwon-ah. Just relaxing until it’s my turn again.”

Jungwon nods thoughtfully, giving Jake a little knowing smile. “Right, of course. Not staring at anything in specific then. Especially not Sunghoon-hyung in tight pants.”

Jake’s head whips in Jungwon’s direction, doing his best to hide the fear that floods his body. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know exactly what I mean, hyung,” Jungwon says. “You’ve been doing a terrible job hiding the fact that you’re staring at him. You’re lucky he’s facing a different direction or he’d definitely know.” Jake rolls his eyes. Of course he’d never be able to hide anything from Jungwon, their seemingly omniscient leader, although Jake doesn’t rule out the fact that Jay could have simply told him. Jay is shockingly good at keeping secrets, unless it is Jungwon he has to keep them from, in which case he generally crumbles like tissue paper.

“Am I not allowed to admire the appearance of my packmates? These costumes are really cool, and all of us were picked to some degree because we are attractive,” Jake says defensively. Jungwon scoffs. 

“Stop playing stupid with me. Jay-hyung told me that you and Sunghoon-hyung aren’t courting, but I’m not blind enough to believe that you’re not interested,” Jungwon snarks. Jake groans at the confirmation that Jungwon has been gossipping about him with Jay. “It’s becoming a bit painful to watch, if I’m being honest. Niki is the only one who seems to be completely in the dark about it, it would be so much easier for all of us if you just got together.” Jake lets out a frustrated sigh. It comes out a bit louder than he intends, so he hushes himself a bit more than necessary when he responds. 

“I don’t get how all of you are so confident that Sunghoon and I are interested in each other,” he hisses exasperatedly. He decides to ignore the fact that he’d confessed as much to Jay already, which means Jungwon also probably knows about that. “Are Sunghoon and I no longer allowed to be friends without being accused of wanting to court now that we’ve presented?”

“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response,” Jungwon says, sounding a bit frustrated. His eyes scan over Jake’s tense form for a few seconds before narrowing into an accusatory glare. “You know what? I don’t even believe that you don’t see it. You know that Sunghoon-hyung likes you too, you just refuse to admit it. He’s basically already been courting you, but you’re resisting it. So what is it then, hyung? What has been holding you back?”

Jake freezes at the accusation. Jungwon hasn’t exactly hit the nail on the head; there is still a massive part of Jake that is terrified that everyone is misreading Sunghoon’s behaviour, especially considering Sunghoon’s rough understanding of social cues. But there is without a doubt another factor that has been holding Jake back from being able to take the final leap of faith and asking Sunghoon to court him. He has been desperately trying to avoid thinking about it, as the guilt makes him feel borderline nauseous whenever he does, and the phantom scent of rotting flowers always ends up following him for hours. 

“… It’s Sunoo,” Jake eventually mumbles, slumping a little in his chair. He finds himself unable to look at Jungwon, his eyes instead fixing onto Sunoo as their stylists fiddle with and swap out different rings and earrings. Jake is struck for a moment by how pretty Sunoo looks in the tight pants and flowy button up, and it makes him feel even more guilty. Sunoo deserves the entire world and Jake wishes he could somehow hand it to him. “Even if… if Sunghoon did like me back, how am I supposed to do that to Sunoo? Sunghoon told me that Jay first mentioned Sunoo’s feelings in August. August , Jungwon. And you said you knew during I-Land too.”

Jake finally looks back at Jungwon. His expression has dropped completely, instead just looking a little sad now. “Oh. I see.”

“Jungwon-ah, he likes Sunghoon enough that he presented seven months early,” Jake says, his voice becoming a bit strained. He swallows thickly. “I just… I don’t know how I could even consider courting Sunghoon knowing that Sunoo would have to watch us be together. I think the guilt would eat me alive.”

Jungwon stays silent for a long time. Jake takes the opportunity to reflect on his current relationship with Sunoo. It is another thing he’s been mostly trying to ignore, doing his best to treat Sunoo as normal in spite of the fact that the younger omega has become increasingly avoidant towards him ever since he smelled Jake’s scent all over Sunghoon the day their pack was reunited. He’s more subtle about it than Niki had been towards Sunghoon, as Sunoo is nothing if not a professional who is able to put his feelings aside when the setting calls for it, but Jake can always feel the underlying tension when they interact. Jake has been trying to figure out how to approach the issue, not wanting there to be a rift between him and Sunoo, but he honestly has no idea what to say. How do you apologize to someone for being interested in the same person as them?

“Hyung,” Jungwon says, startling Jake out of his thoughts. “Can I be honest with you for a second, no judgement or anything?”

“Of course,” Jake responds without hesitation. “Always, Jungwon-ah.”

“If you decide not to court Sunghoon-hyung, it’s not going to magically make him like Sunoo-hyung, and it’s not going to make Sunoo-hyung’s sadness go away,” he says. Something about his words make Jake feel like a puppet that has had its strings cut off; having someone voice the thought out loud lifts a weight off of his shoulders, and yet he doesn’t know what to do with the freedom of it. “Sunoo-hyung is upset because he knows Sunghoon-hyung wants to court you . Choosing not to court him isn’t going to make him feel any better, it’s just going to make all three of you miserable.”

Jake lets his words sink in. He hates how right Jungwon sounds, able to make Jake’s apprehension sound stupid and overly dramatic. And yet… “Sunoo already has become more closed off towards me because of this, though. I don’t want the tension in our team to get even worse,” he says. Jungwon nods thoughtfully. 

“I think that whether you court Sunghoon-hyung or not, your issues with Sunoo-hyung are only going to be resolved if you talk to him about it,” Jungwon says, patting Jake on the shoulder. “Sunoo might still be upset and a bit distant, but at least you will both understand each other’s perspectives better.” 

Jake nods, knowing Jungwon is right. He needs to suck it up and figure out how to discuss this with Sunoo. Continuing to ignore it isn’t going to be good for any of them. “I’ll do my best, Jungwon-ah. I promise I’ll try.”

Jungwon smiles, leaning over to rub his cheek against Jake’s affectionately. Jake can’t hold back the immediate smile that takes over his face at the more juvenile pack gesture; their leader really is so intelligent and mature in spite of his age.

One of the stylists suddenly calls out to Jungwon, gesturing for him to come over to the spot that Jay has just vacated. Jungwon taps their temples together one last time before standing and heading over to get fitted into his school uniform costume. Jay takes Jungwon’s place beside Jake, slouching deep into the seat and crossing his arms. He looks kind of like a sleepy old man, and Jake has to restrain himself from giggling at the thought. 

“What were you and Jungwon talking about?” Jay asks a bit gruffly. The tone confirms to Jake that he is probably still upset that they had to get up so early and that Jay would rather be sleeping. Hopefully Jay will be able to go to bed earlier tonight. 

“I was getting some advice, actually,” Jake admits easily. Jay raises an eyebrow as he gives a more inquisitive look towards Jake, who gives him a grin that is somewhere between teasing and loving. “Our leader is very intelligent, you know.”

Jay’s face is immediately overtaken by an extremely fond smile, and his eyes leave Jake so that they can fix back onto Jungwon. “Yeah. I do know.”

~ * ~

Sunoo has been texting someone.

It’s not really that out of the ordinary to find him texting people outside of their pack; while the rest of Enhypen has largely lost contact with their pre-debut friends, either due to how long they’d been idol trainees for or because they had to move overseas, Sunoo is still close with the majority of his friends from before debut, and as a result, he speaks with many of them regularly. Sometimes on their precious few days off, Sunoo will even go out to brunch or a movie with them. 

This doesn’t really seem to be the same, though. Never has Sunoo raced to grab his phone so quickly after it buzzes, and now he always has a pleased grin on his face as he types out a response. Sometimes Jake will catch him laughing quietly at one of the messages he receives, and one evening he even hears the unmistakable sound of Sunoo speaking on the phone. He sounds light and happy in a way that he still rarely does with the other members of their pack, even after living together for over four months. Every time Jake thinks about it too much, it makes his chest feel heavy with guilt that Sunoo is still so closed off from them. 

And yet the far more selfish side of Jake can’t help but notice that it very much seems like Sunoo has an interest in whoever he is talking to… perhaps even a romantic interest. Which may imply that he is no longer interested in Sunghoon, and so Jake would be able to pursue him without feeling guilty or awkward about it. The thought starts to eat away at Jake every time he hears Sunoo’s phone go off, to the point where it’s becoming genuinely distracting.

Jake does his best to pretend that this isn’t his main motivation when he finally asks Sunoo about it. They are all getting their makeup done in preparation for a photoshoot when Sunoo’s phone buzzes in his lap just as his and Jake’s stylists step away to work on someone else. He snatches it up quickly, holding it close to his face and grinning as he reads whatever it says. Jake had initially been a little anxious about being seated beside Sunoo for their makeup routine, given the current tension between them, but now he’s grateful that he has the opportunity to follow his impulses. 

“Who are you texting, Sunoo-yah?” Jake asks, trying his best to sound casual. Sunoo’s smile goes a bit shy, and Jake internally praises himself for not making his ulterior motives obvious.

“Just one of my friends,” he says dismissively, as he usually does when texting one of his friends. It rarely does much to elaborate further, since none of them have met Sunoo’s friends from before their debut. “Actually, it’s someone you probably know. He competed on I-Land.”

At this, Jake perks up a bit more fully. An I-Land contestant? Now this was an interesting development. “Oh, nice! Who is it? I'm sure I know them if they were on I-Land.”

“Jaebeom-hyung.” Sunoo’s voice softens just a little as he responds, which only makes Jake feel even worse for not actually remembering much about Jaebeom at all. They were together on I-Land for just a short period, and really only competed in one test together, so they hadn’t had as much time to get to know each other.

“I didn’t realize you and Jaebeom were that close, it’s nice that you keep in touch,” Jake says. He now wishes that he did know more about Jaebeom; he can’t even remember what his subgender is, although Jake is pretty sure that he had already presented before the show began filming. Meaning he is at least a few years older than Sunoo.

“Yeah, he’s been in the process of changing his legal name to Echan, but he finalized everything today. I saw he posted an instagram story about it, so I wanted to text him saying congrats,” Sunoo explains. “He’s also been back to writing songs, I think he’s going to try and join or make a producer team.”

“That’s awesome, you’ll have to congratulate him for me,” Jake says. It’s cute that Sunoo is so happy for his friend, his face radiant and eyes glittering like he physically cannot contain his pride for his friend as it spills out of his expression. Jake can’t help but envy Jaebeom just a little bit and hopes that he appreciates Sunoo properly.

Sunoo laughs brightly, glancing back down at his phone as it buzzes again. “Sure, hyung, I’ll let him know.” He falls silent as he starts typing on his phone, and the pause allows Jake to consider how good of an idea it would be to voice what he actually wants to know. In the back of his mind he knows it’s a risk, but it’s also going to keep eating at him if he lets it go.

“So Sunoo-yah,” Jake starts, his hands already starting to grow sweaty. He is immediately filled with regret, no longer sure he wants to ask, but Sunoo is already looking at him expectantly, and Jake’s mouth works faster than his brain. “Is Jae-, or, uh, Echan someone who is like… special to you? Or just a friend?” 

Sunoo doesn’t answer right away, his eyebrows instead furrowing in confusion, until eventually a look of recognition takes over his face. Panic starts to rise into Jake’s chest as Sunoo sits a bit straighter in his chair and avoids looking at Jake as his expression becomes more neutral; Sunoo has clearly understood what Jake is actually asking, but is trying to be mature about it.

“No. Echan-hyung is just my friend,” Sunoo says evenly. He goes to pick at his nails, but seems to think better of it and sets his hands on his crossed knees instead. Jake wracks his brain for what to say that can fix this, but his mind has gone completely blank. And when the smell of dying flowers hits his nose, Jake’s omega goes into a full frenzy. 

“Sunoo-yah, I didn’t mean-” 

“Hyung,” Sunoo interrupts, his tone suddenly serious, and Jake’s voice dies in his throat. “I knew that eventually we would end up talking about this, but I sort of hoped you would just ask me directly. Bringing it up like this…” Sunoo trails off, taking a deep breath in to calm himself back down. Jake is starting to feel desperate.

“Sunoo-”

“Next time, don’t act like we’re talking about something else,” Sunoo continues, as if Jake hadn’t said anything. “Don’t lie to me about what we’re discussing. And maybe don’t try bringing it up when we’re about to do a photoshoot.”

Sunoo stands up abruptly, still avoiding Jake’s gaze as he brushes past to find a seat next to Jungwon and jumping into whatever discussion he is having with Niki. It isn’t long before he is laughing alongside them, and while part of Jake is glad that Sunoo still does have friends he enjoys being around in their pack, he can’t help but agonize over how quickly he managed to push Sunoo away, especially for admittedly selfish reasons. He sighs deeply and covers his eyes with one hand, trying to suppress the tears now threatening to ruin his makeup.

What kind of head omega can’t even talk to the other omegas in their pack?

~ * ~

After spending several days feeling awful about his interaction with Sunoo, Jake feels like he could cry from relief when he gets a text from Heeseung simply reading ‘VLive stream with me tonight?’ Jake wastes no time sending back an enthusiastic ‘Yes, absolutely!!!’ , already feeling a bit better at the prospect of spending an evening talking to Engenes with his hyung.

The day seems to drag, but Jake knows it’s only because he’s excited to spend some time with Heeseung. Alone time with anyone has become precious and rare with how much they’ve been working, especially since starting work on their next comeback, and Heeseung often makes Jake feel settled in a way that nobody else in their pack is quite capable of. He’d never admit that to Heeseung, not wanting him to take it in a weird way, but right now Jake is craving time with him even more than usual.

Jake feels like he’s nearly vibrating out of his skin by the time their workday is over. Their maknae line get into one van to head back to the dorm, all of them just wanting to rest for the evening, while the rest of them head to the HYBE building instead. Jay and Sunghoon are heading to the gym, which is relatively commonplace for them, and Heeseung is the one to explain that he and Jake are doing a VLive together. Sunghoon’s eyes flash with something for a moment—perhaps annoyance or jealousy, but it’s not really clear—and Jake has to put all of his effort into not letting his omega preen over it.

The live goes by so fast that Jake doesn’t even realize how long he and Heeseung have been streaming for until it’s suddenly time for it to end. Soon enough they are back at the dorm, quietly bickering over who is going to make their ramyeon so that they don’t disturb their sleeping maknaes. Jake had just been about to fill one of their pots with water when Heeseung began protesting, insisting that he would make it.

“Come on, Jake-yah, just let me do it.”

“Hyung it’s fine, I swear I don’t mind! I told you I enjoyed making it, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but I said I would do it tonight!” Heeseung insists, snatching the packets of ramyeon off the counter and holding them up above his head like he’s defending a basketball. Jake’s mouth falls open, taken aback by Heeseung taking advantage of his height for something so silly. “Don’t you trust me? I can cook ramyeon just fine.”

Jake narrows his eyes towards the ramyeon held well above his reach. “Well now you’re just playing dirty.” He sighs dramatically and holds out the pot, which Heeseung takes with a pleased grin. “I suppose you can make our ramyeon tonight.”

Heeseung quickly busies himself with making their late night snack of choice as Jake takes a seat to watch for once. “Thanks for going live with me tonight,” Heeseung says as he puts the pot of water on the stove. “It was a lot of fun, our Engenes brought up some funny topics.”

“They did. I was happy they got to hear you speak some English, you’re really getting a lot better at it,” Jake says with a smile. Heeseung is facing away from him to look at the stove, but Jake can see his ears turning pink. “We have lots of international fans, I’m sure they loved hearing you speak English.”

“My English isn’t that good yet,” Heeseung says. “But I do need to get better at it for our next comeback. I really am going to need your help for the intro song.”

“Sure, hyung. We can find time to practice soon,” Jake agrees easily.

They settle into a comfortable silence for a few minutes as Heeseung babysits their pot of ramyeon. Jake closes his eyes, enjoying one of the few moments of genuine quiet they seem to get in their noisy dorm. He doesn’t open them again until he hears the sound of Heeseung’s footsteps getting closer, followed by the click of a bowl being placed onto the island where he’s sitting. He gives Heeseung a grateful smile before he digs into the bowl, only now realizing how hungry he is. It actually tastes really good; maybe Jake should get Heeseung to cook more often.

“So, Jake-yah,” Heeseung says as he scoops up a mouthful of ramyeon as well. “Be honest, do you really think I’m the most attractive member of Enhypen, or were you just being sweet for the camera?” His tone is teasing, so Jake rolls his eyes.

“What kind of question is that?” Jake asks, trying to get Heeseung to back down from it, but he just continues to look at Jake expectantly. “I mean yeah, I was being honest. It would be kind of pointless to lie about something like that.”

Heeseung looks really pleased at this answer, which Jake will admit is kind of cute. “That’s very nice of you. I was serious when I said it about you too, just so you know. Sunghoon and I used to gossip about you when we were trainees, the hot new guy from Australia who looked like a foreign actor.”

Jake scoffs and takes another bite of ramyeon. “This again, hyung? Are you really serious about all of that?”

“Yes! I swear we did,” Heeseung insists, stirring his noodles in his bowl. “Sunghoon was particularly bad about it. When we first saw a picture of you from your profile, he acted like he was seeing light for the first time. Or whenever we crossed paths with you, he’d become a stuttering mess. It was honestly pretty embarrassing to watch.”

Jake has no idea what to do with this information. His omega is extremely pleased that Sunghoon had taken such an interest in him even when he was still a trainee, but it’s also pretty difficult to believe. Their cool and collected Sunghoon, getting flustered over him ?

“I really feel like you’re lying to me. There’s no way that’s true,” Jake says. Heeseung falls quiet for a second, a focused look on his face, until finally he smiles again.

“How about this then,” he says, fishing his last mouthful of ramyeon out of the soup. “Back during the first day of filming for I-Land, I almost laughed out loud when I first saw Sunghoon. Because somehow, out of everyone who was already there, Sunghoon had managed to get a seat right next to you. He was probably more excited about that than he was to be on the show.”

Jake shakes his head. Somehow this scenario Heeseung has described seems even less likely, but Jake does remember Sunghoon and Jay coming to sit beside him during that first day. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t also instantly attracted to Sunghoon, so it would be hard for him to forget that first moment when Sunghoon sat down next to him. The fact that Heeseung can also recall this detail is what finally allows Jake to accept it as true, despite how ridiculous it sounds.

“Well, how lucky for both of you that we ended up being in the same pack, then,” Jake teases, making Heeseung smile and roll his eyes. He doesn’t look like he’s going to respond at first, until his sweet smile starts to morph into a cheeky grin.

“Yep,” he agrees easily. “Both of us are super lucky to have the perfect eomma for our pack now.”

Jake immediately smacks Heeseung on the arm, his cheeks flushing pink as Heeseung snickers. “Would you cut it out with the eomma thing? If someone else ever overhears you, I’m quitting Enhypen and leaving you to be pack head by yourself.” Heeseung grins as he says this and points an accusatory finger.

“Ah, ah! Your words this time, not mine,” Heeseung taunts. Jake’s eyebrows furrow for a moment before his eyes widen somewhat comically, making Heeseung laugh. “What was it that you said tonight? ‘It feels like I’m their mother’ . Like I said, it just comes naturally to you, Jaeyun-ah.”

Jake throws a balled up napkin at Heeseung, too embarrassed to even feel proud when it hits him directly in the middle of the forehead. The latter grins as Jake avoids making eye contact entirely, doing everything to pretend he isn’t as red as a tomato.

“Shut the fuck up and just eat your ramyeon, idiot.”

Chapter Text

Jake blinks his eyes slowly, trying to clear his vision as someone gently shakes him awake. It’s early enough in the morning that there isn’t any light coming through the blinds, so Jake can’t see who is trying to wake him up even as his eyes start to feel less blurry. He instinctively breathes in to smell who it is instead, and is shocked when the smell of roses and blossoms hits his nose.

“Hyung,” Sunoo whimpers quietly, his hand fisting in Jake’s blanket. “I don’t feel well.”

Jake takes a moment to process Sunoo’s words. “Do you need medicine or something?” he asks dumbly, his words coming out a bit slurred. He hears the rustle of Sunoo shaking his head.

“Can… can I just sleep with you? Please?”

Jake lifts up the corner of his blanket without hesitation, letting Sunoo crawl in beside him. Sunoo snuggles right in until his nose is pressed directly into the scent gland in Jake’s neck, and Jake nuzzles his temples in response. The younger omega relaxes as Jake pets his hair, breathing in Jake’s scent until he eventually falls asleep, and leaving Jake feeling extremely pleased. It’s a little strange that Sunoo would come to him of all people when their relationship has become slightly strained, but Jake isn’t going to complain. There is a sense of relief that comes with getting to snuggle with Sunoo, knowing that regardless of what is going on between them, he will still seek out his head omega in times of stress.

Now that Sunoo is sleeping, Jake tries to actually assess what is going on with him. He feels a little warm, his cheeks flushed and a thin sheen of sweat forming on his forehead, but he isn’t sniffling or wheezing in his sleep, so it doesn’t really seem like a cold. He also doesn’t smell any different, other than a little distressed, so Jake decides that whatever is going on can wait until tomorrow and curls his arms around Sunoo, allowing himself to also fall back asleep.

~ * ~

Jake wakes up alone in the morning. He almost wonders if he’d just imagined Sunoo climbing into his bed in the middle of the night, but his flowery scent is still pungent on Jake’s bedding. Suddenly Jake is worried that his illness became even worse in the night, so he hastily stands up to go look for him. He notes that Jay is already awake as well, his bed lying messy and empty, so hopefully if anything has gone wrong, Sunoo at least isn’t alone.

Jake wanders through their dorm, trying to push himself to move quickly despite how his sleepy body protests against it, but it doesn’t end up taking very long to find Sunoo. Jay is in the middle of cooking something for breakfast, looking slightly more awake than Jake feels, as Sunoo clings onto his back. His eyes are closed, almost appearing to be asleep if not for the fact that he is rubbing his cheek into the space between Jay’s shoulder blades. Ignoring their small rift in favour of his concern for Sunoo, Jake approaches the pair of them.

“Sunoo-yah,” he calls, his voice still a bit rough from sleep. Clearly Sunoo is no longer invested in being upset with Jake, because he immediately responds with a small whine, unwrapping himself from Jay to instead move into his head omega’s embrace. Jake nuzzles his temple on instinct, reaching up to put a hand on Sunoo’s forehead. “Are you feeling any better this morning? You still feel like you have a bit of a fever.”

“I’m okay,” Sunoo mumbles, his words muffled by Jake’s shoulder. “I’m honestly just kind of tired. I feel like I could sleep for a week, even though I got tons of sleep last night.”

“I would also argue that he’s acting kind of clingy,” Jay pipes up, which makes Sunoo scowl. Jake laughs lightly, but holds him a little tighter so that he doesn’t get embarrassed and try to wiggle away. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it, you’re just not normally this cuddly.” Sunoo huffs.

“Whatever. I’m fine.”

Jake decides not to press any further for now, and instead pulls him and Sunoo towards their island. He sits down in one of the chairs while Sunoo stands in front of him, arms wrapped around Jake’s chest while Jake’s are around his neck. The rest of their pack slowly wakes up as well, each giving Sunoo an odd look but ultimately not saying anything about his behaviour, and soon enough they are all sitting around the island as Jay serves them breakfast. They eat together with small amounts of chatter between them; Jake tries to think of what they have scheduled for the day, but he can’t remember anything other than that they need to be ready by 10am.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jake notices Sunoo subtly spoon some of his rice onto Jungwon’s plate when he isn’t looking. It’s yet another behaviour that Jake can’t help but find odd; Sunoo is a good eater, and it’s rare that he is trying to give his food away. Jake keeps this to himself, not wanting to embarrass Sunoo when he was clearly trying to be sneaky about what he’s just done, but he keeps it as another mental note of things that seem off with him.

Everyone eventually stands to put their dishes in the sink and get ready for the day. Jake does his best to pick an appropriate outfit based on what Jungwon is wearing, trusting him the most to know where they’re going and how to dress properly for it. After getting dressed, he heads towards the bathroom to do his skincare routine, but finds that Sunoo and Niki are already inside. He waits patiently by the door, knowing there’s not really enough space for three people in their bathroom, and listens to them talk.

“I’m impressed by how much better your skincare routine is now, Niki-yah. I still remember on I-Land where all you did was use water to wash your face,” he hears Sunoo tease. Niki whines, a slightly puppy-ish sound.

“ Hyung , don’t bring that up,” Niki groans. “I always take your skincare advice.”

Sunoo doesn’t respond right away, but even from the door Jake can tell that his scent has changed subtly, but he can’t put his finger on what the difference is. “You should try this serum today,” Sunoo finally says. “I can tell your skin is a little drier than usual because of the cold weather, this would help with that.”

Jake peeks into the bathroom at this point, unable to help himself as he sees Sunoo showing Niki the bottle before putting some on his hands and applying it to Niki’s face himself, carefully explaining his technique as their maknae listens attentively. Sunoo has to reach slightly upwards to spread it across his cheeks and forehead, and once again Jake is struck by just how tall Niki is getting; he’s undoubtedly several centimetres above Sunoo now, the gap definitely noticeable. Sunoo’s expression is focused as he explains how the product works, but his eyes become extremely fond as Niki asks questions or for Sunoo to repeat some of the information. The scene is very sweet, and Jake is glad he got to witness it.

Although everyone babying Niki a little isn’t anything new, Jake can’t let go of the fact that Sunoo’s scent still doesn’t smell right, even if it doesn’t smell particularly upset or even sick, so clearly something about the exchange in the bathroom was connected to whatever was going on with Sunoo. Jake considers this in conjunction with some of the other things he’s observed: the biggest red flag being, of course, that he is generally feeling tired and unwell, and appears to have a fever. Even as he’d been helping Niki in the bathroom, his cheeks were flushed and his eyes were a little droopy, as though he was struggling to stay awake. Then there’s the clinginess, the fact that he was sneaking food onto Jungwon’s plate, and his scent changing while giving Niki a little bit of extra attention…

… Jungwon and Niki. Their pups .

Jake’s heart rate starts to pick up. Ah . So that’s what’s going on.

Jake forgoes his skincare to track down Heeseung, who he finds in his room getting dressed. He looks up as Jake appears in his doorway, raising an eyebrow when he sees the alarm on Jake’s face.

“You okay, Jake-yah? You smell off.”

Jake moves further into the room and closes the door behind him, not wanting to accidentally be overheard when it’s only a hunch. “I think Sunoo is in preheat.”

Heeseung’s expression immediately becomes serious. “What makes you think that? Isn’t it kind of early for him to go into heat? It’s only been three months since you guys presented.”

Jake shrugs. “It’s normal for the first few to be off schedule. But he’s been clingy, lethargic, has a fever, and I’ve noticed him being more attentive than usual towards Jungwon and Niki. Those are all signs of preheat, aren’t they?”

Heeseung releases a small, stressed sigh as he rubs his eyes with his fingertips, taking a moment to consider the information Jake has just presented to him. “Yeah, yeah they are.” He eventually moves his hands away, looking into the middle distance for a second before turning to look back at Jake. “Does he know?”

“I don’t think so,” Jake says. “I came to tell you first so I could get a second opinion.”

“Well, I think you’re probably right about it,” Heeseung says. He gives Jake a somewhat expectant look, but Jake isn’t sure what exactly he’s expecting. “… So you should probably tell him. Like, as soon as possible.”

“What?! Why do I have to do it?” Jake whines, making Heeseung roll his eyes a little.

“Jake-yah, you know why.” He does. Head omega duties. “You did a great job with talking to Niki, this is the same kind of thing.”

Jake groans, flopping dramatically onto Heeseung’s bed. “Why does being head omega mean I have to have all of the awkward conversations? I basically had to give Niki a sex talk, you know. Why don’t you ever have to talk to anyone about this stuff?”

“I do,” Heeseung says, making Jake raise an eyebrow. “Just because you’ve never seen it doesn’t mean I haven’t done it. The only difference is that I’m responsible for talking to our pack’s alphas, while you talk to our omegas and pups.” Jake has never considered who would talk to Jay and Sunghoon if they went into prerut or started acting out like Niki had, but it made sense that Heeseung would be the one to do it.

“… I guess,” he mumbles, face squished into a pillow. Heeseung’s gaze softens a little.

“If you really don’t want to do it, then I can tell him instead. But I do think that he would probably prefer to hear it from another omega over me, especially our head omega,” he says. And in spite of his apprehension, Jake knows that Heeseung is right. The idea of being told by one of their alphas that he had gone into preheat sounds horrifically embarrassing, and he knows it would be the same for Sunoo.

“… I can do it. You’re right that it would be better coming from me,” Jake relents, sitting up so he’s sitting on the edge of the bed. Heeseung smiles.

“I’m sure it will go fine, Sunoo isn’t likely to make things more awkward the way I’m sure Niki did,” Heeseung reassures. Jake laughs; he’s not wrong about Sunoo or Niki. “But you really should tell him soon. If things are usually off-schedule for the first few heats, then we should assume his preheat won’t last a full five days either. Just to be safe.”

Jake nods. “I’ll go find him and tell him now, then.” He stands up from the bed and is about to turn and leave, when Heeseung startles him by stepping forward and leaning down to touch their temples together. Jake leans up instinctively to nudge Heeseung back, not having anticipated a pack gesture but also happy to receive it. Heeseung’s hand comes up to cup the back of his neck so he can nuzzle Jake a bit more firmly, and suddenly it goes from a normal pack gesture to proper scenting, his smell overtaking Jake’s senses. Something tingles pleasantly in Jake’s chest, until he realizes that it’s not just a feeling but a genuine physical sensation. His eyes snap open—when had he even closed them?—and he steps away abruptly as he makes himself stop purring. Jake has never once purred since moving to Korea, since it’s something that only occurs when feeling extremely safe and relaxed, so it’s a little embarrassing that it happened during such a normal interaction. Jake peeks up at Heeseung, who appears to be doing his best to suppress a pleased grin.

“Good luck then, Jake-yah.”

“Thanks, hyung,” Jake says, his voice a little tight. He quickly makes his exit to track down Sunoo, as well as to escape a mildly humiliating situation before Heeseung says something about it. First he goes back to their bathroom, but it’s now occupied by Sunghoon and Jungwon. Jake makes a mental note that he also still needs to do his skincare, but finding Sunoo is more important. Nobody is in their bedroom either, but in the living room he finds Sunoo curled up in between Jay and Niki on their couch. Jake approaches a bit nervously, all three of them watching him curiously as he approaches.

“Sunoo-yah,” he says, doing his best to just tap into his instincts and not let his nervousness get the best of him. “Can I talk to you for a minute? Like, just you and I?” Sunoo eyes him warily for a moment, but seems to realize that he can’t say no without causing a bit of a scene, especially since Jay and Niki are already looking pretty suspicious at the request. Jake belatedly realizes that Sunoo is probably assuming he’s trying to continue the conversation from the photoshoot.

“Sure, hyung,” Sunoo finally says. He stands up slowly, clearly not pleased to be leaving his comfy spot on the couch, but reluctantly follows Jake to his and Jay’s room. Jake closes the door behind them as Sunoo moves to sit on Jay’s bed and crosses his arms. “Well, what did you want to talk about?” Jake leans against the door and runs a hand through his hair.

“Sunoo-yah, I think you’ve gone into preheat,” he says, deciding to just cut to the chase. He can see the immediate alarm on Sunoo’s face, but as he takes a few moments to process, the look fades into realization.

“O-Oh,” Sunoo says eventually, starting to look a bit anxious. Jake instinctively reaches out to touch his upper arms to reassure him, and Sunoo grabs onto his forearms in response. “I… I think maybe you’re right. I don’t know how I didn’t notice…”

“It’s only your first one, you wouldn’t know to pay attention to the signs of it,” Jake says, rubbing his arms gently. “I only noticed because I was still concerned about you being sick.”

Sunoo nods but doesn’t move any further, simply letting the information sink in for a few minutes as Jake continues to rub his arms. Eventually he stands up, squeezing Jake’s forearms once before letting go. Jake drops his hands too. “Well… I guess I should tell everyone else, just in case anything happens,” Sunoo mumbles. Jake nods as well, deciding not to mention that Heeseung already knows. Sunoo stalls for a moment before leaning in to tap his temple against Jake’s, giving him a little nuzzle. “Thanks, hyung.”

“Of course, Sunoo-yah. Always,” he says, reciprocating the gesture before Sunoo can pull away. Jake wishes he was brave enough to say something else, to try apologizing for what he’d said at the photoshoot and have the conversation properly instead, but there’s not enough time before they have to go, and he doesn’t want to ruin a nice moment.

Sunoo inhales instinctively as they exchange pack gestures, but pulls back a little sharply and gives Jake an odd look. Jake is about to ask what’s wrong, anxious about what he has possibly done to upset him again, when Sunoo shakes his head and leaves the room.

Jake decides to let it be; he’s done his duty as head omega, and he still needs to do his skincare routine. The bathroom is blissfully empty when he enters, allowing him to do his skincare in silence, and by the time he’s finished, everyone else seems ready to go. They’re all relatively quiet as they grab their things and leave the dorm to go meet their travel cars waiting outside. As they walk, Jake does his best to analyze the behaviour of his packmates as they walk, and judging by the slight air of awkwardness, he’s guessing that Sunoo has already done the rounds of telling everyone what is going on.

As they reach the cars, everyone seems to hesitate to get into either car. His packmates seem to subconsciously understand that they need to prioritise Sunoo’s comfort if he’s in preheat, but nobody is brave enough to ask him what he wants. Instead they all hover around the cars, eyes flickering to Sunoo and then away again while their staff all stare at them, clearly confused.

Jake sighs internally. Head omega duties .

“Sunoo-yah,” he says, lowering his voice to keep the discussion private, while also aware that everyone is currently quiet enough that it’s likely futile. “Is there anyone specific you want in the car with you?”

Sunoo hesitates, considering his answer carefully. When he finally answers, he leans in even closer and all but whispers his response. “You and Niki,” he says before giving Jake a nervous glance. “And Sunghoon-hyung. If that’s okay.”

Jake doesn’t even take a moment to consider it. “Sunghoon, Niki-yah, come ride with me and Sunoo,” he calls, playing it off as cooly as possible. Both immediately follow behind the omegas, not questioning why they have been requested, nor do their other packmates as they climb into the other van, although Jake notices that Niki is doing his best to hide a pleased grin. Jake sits in one of the middle seats, and watches curiously as Sunoo decides to climb into the back. Sunghoon enters next and cautiously moves into the back as well, as though anticipating that Sunoo might tell him no, but it doesn’t come. He settles beside Sunoo as Niki sits beside Jake, and with that they hit the road.

At some point during the ride, Jake glances into the back seat to find Sunoo has shifted to snuggle into Sunghoon’s side, the bridge of his nose pressed against the scent gland in his neck with Sunghoon’s arm slung around his shoulder. Sunghoon has an unsure expression on his face, although he is thankfully relaxed and calm otherwise, but Sunoo looks a little sad in a way that fills Jake with guilt. But even worse is the guilt he feels at how immediately angry he feels his omega become at the sight of another omega—one in preheat no less—cuddled up to what he perceives as his alpha. Jake knows that as head omega he should be prioritizing Sunoo’s health and well-being, not to mention that Sunghoon is not his alpha, so he forces himself to turn back around and let it be. It takes all of his physical strength to restrain himself from growling and posturing at Sunoo; even just keeping his scent calm starts to become more difficult after a few minutes.

Jake nearly jumps out of his skin when he feels a hand grab his own where it’s balled into a fist on the seat. Niki isn’t even looking at him, is probably completely unaware of the nasty thoughts Jake is trying to drown out, but as he opens his palm and lets Niki lace their fingers together, he is surprised to find how quickly it calms him down. His omega is suddenly much more focused on getting affection from their pack’s youngest pup, and Jake is much more focused on pretending that the emotions he’s currently feeling couldn’t be described as ‘maternal’. When Niki finally shifts enough that Jake can see his face, he’s a bit taken aback to see that his expression is sad, a stark contrast to the poorly concealed grin he’d been sporting outside the car. It leads him to believe that the hand holding is actually more for Niki, but for the life of him Jake can’t think of what would have suddenly soured their maknae’s mood.

Jake shifts to look out his own window and gives Niki’s fingers a squeeze, knowing that it wouldn’t be fair to question him in front of Sunoo and Sunghoon. He gets a squeeze back and is mildly reassured that Niki will tell him when he’s ready.

~ * ~

It doesn’t take long for everyone to stop feeling awkward about Sunoo’s upcoming heat, as the instinct to keep him safe and comfortable soon overrides everything else. Jake does his best not to hover as often as he feels the need to, but their alphas have no such concerns, constantly pampering him and providing him with physical affection. As his heat gets closer, Sunoo also seeks out more attention from the alphas, as it helps his omega with feeling settled to be touching them in some way.

Three days into Sunoo’s preheat, they have a final costume fitting—which is thankfully much shorter than their last, as none of the garments require any further adjustments—and then are given the rest of the day off. Sunghoon, Jay, and Niki decide to go to the gym, as has become habit, while the rest of them head back to the dorm to relax. Heeseung and Jungwon quickly disappear as they arrive home, but Sunoo seems to be hovering nervously around Jake as he makes his way through the apartment towards their kitchen. Jake doesn’t want to pry, hoping that Sunoo will open up when he’s ready, but after several minutes of him flitting around while Jake tries to decide what to make for lunch, he assumes Sunoo wants him to start.

“Did you need something, Sunoo-yah?” he asks. Sunoo’s cheeks flush pink.

“Um… yes,” Sunoo responds, his voice a bit shaky. Jake turns to fully face Sunoo. “I, um, want to start nesting and was wondering if you could help me.”

Jake can’t suppress his grin at the request. He steps forward and takes Sunoo’s face in his hands, squishing his cheeks until Sunoo whines for him to stop. “Of course, I’d love to help build a nest with you.”

Sunoo pulls away from Jake’s grip on his cheeks, trying to look annoyed in spite of the fact that he’s also smiling. “Okay, great! I’m sure I could do it by myself if you didn’t, but I thought it would be nicer for you to join me.”

“Yes, absolutely, just let me make us lunch first.” Jake is about to return to his quest of searching through their cupboards for lunch when he decides to spoil Sunoo instead. “Is tteokbokki okay?”

Sunoo nods enthusiastically and rubs his cheek against Jake’s. “Yes please! Thank you, hyung.” When Sunoo steps back, his pink cheeks have returned. “… Is it okay if I sit with Heeseung-hyung for a bit though?”

“Sure, I’ll call you guys when it’s ready,” Jake says, knowing Sunoo is likely in need of more physical affection from their alphas, and so Sunoo heads off to track down Heeseung. As he leaves, Jake can’t help but be thankful that Sunoo is willing to spend time with him at all even though Jake had hurt his feelings not that long ago. Ever since that conversation, Jake has been feeling increasingly guilty that it is still going unaddressed, but it is so difficult to find a good time to talk privately, and Sunoo had made it pretty clear that the timing was critical.

Jake gets to work on making their lunch; he’s never made tteokbokki before, but he knows they have frozen rice cakes in their freezer, and he’s fairly confident that it won’t be hard to make a sauce. After pulling out the rice cakes to thaw, he looks up a few recipes until he finds one that sounds both delicious and easy, and then gets to work. In the end it doesn’t take that long to prepare; the most time-consuming part is cooking the sausages he decides to include so that nobody complains about a lack of protein.

After adding the final garnishes of scallions and sesame seeds to the bowls he’s dished out, Jake goes searching for his packmates. He runs into Jungwon just as he’s coming out of the shower, and finds Sunoo right where he said he’d be with Heeseung. The computer in his room hums softly, suggesting Heeseung had probably turned it on to play games, but he’s now on his bed with Sunoo all but in his lap as he pets the omega’s hair gently. Both of their heads turn to look at Jake, and they start to peel away from each other as he explains that lunch is ready.

By the time they arrive in the kitchen, Jungwon is already eating. They sit and all eat together in relative silence, only interrupted by Sunoo repeatedly telling Jake that he did a really good job making the tteokbokki . After they all finish, Jungwon explains that he’s been called to a meeting with their manager and will be back later, while Sunoo gives Jake a somewhat expectant look. Jake smiles.

“You ready then, Sunoo-yah?” he asks. Sunoo nods, while Heeseung raises an eyebrow.

“Am I still needed?” Heeseung asks.

“No, it’s okay, hyung,” Sunoo says as he stands up. Heeseung nods and stands as well.

“Cool. I’ll be in my room if you guys need me then.”

“So, is there anything in specific you want me to do, Sunoo-yah? I’m all yours,” Jake says once Heeseung is gone. He stands up and collects everyone’s dishes, but doesn’t bother actually cleaning them for now, instead just placing them in the sink.

“Well I still need to collect items from everyone to actually make the nest with, so while I’m doing that maybe you can get the bed ready? Like with sheets and the stuff on the ceiling,” Sunoo suggests. Jake nods easily.

“Sure, sounds good. I’ll meet you in one of the heat rooms then. Do you want to use the same one that you used when you presented?”

“Yes please, hyung,” Sunoo says. “I’ll meet you there, then!”

Sunoo heads off to find nesting materials, pulling out his phone as he goes. Jake goes first to their linen closet, mostly full of towels and bedding, and pulls out the sheets that they had bought exclusively for heats and ruts, as well as some more basic comforters and the thinner materials for the ceiling. When his arms are completely full of fabric, he brings the material to the heat room Sunoo presented in and sets it all down on the floor. He starts by adding a sheet made of thick, waterproof plastic—it was one of the first things they’d bought after their presentations were over—and then layers two softer sheets over top of it. Then he begins hanging the thin material around the ceiling to close in the top of the nest and make it feel smaller. The fairy lights are already hung up around the room; they’d bought a second set of them too, and they were now permanently placed in the heat rooms so that they’d have soft, less direct lighting.

Jake has just finished pinning up the canopy when he notices that his phone is lit up from where he’d set it on the table. He picks it up and opens their group chat, which has several unread messages.

ENHYPEN 🔥

[sunshine] I’m collecting nesting materials

[sunshine] so if there’s something you don’t want me to take then speak up now!!!

[niki-san] just leave my bedding pls hyung

[leader-nim] ^^^ same

[jay-ah] take what you want idc

[hoonie-yah] I want to wear my blue sweater again so not that

[hoonie-yah] but you can have it after if you want it

[jay-ah] wait not my favourite blanket actually

[hyungie] just come here I’ll give you some stuff

[sunshine] okay thank you everyone!!

[sunshine] also too late I already took your blanket, sorry jay-hyung

[jay-ah has left the chat]

[niki-san] LOL

[sunshine] HYUNG IM SORRY

[jay-ah has been added to the chat]

[leader-nim] HYUNG!!!!! DON’T LEAVE THE CHAT!!!!!!!!!!

Jake snickers as he reads through the messages, and Sunoo appears in the doorway just as he sets his phone back down on the table. He’s carrying so many clothes and blankets that he can barely hold them all, quickly dropping them all down on the floor next to the comforters. Jake notes that some of his own items are there in the mix as well.

“Everything looks great so far, thank you hyung,” Sunoo says as he takes in the bed and canopy. Jake’s omega preens from being complimented on his nesting skills, even if all he’s done is create the base of the nest.

“I’m glad you think so,” Jake says. “Do you want help with the rest of the nest too? I don’t want to get in the way of how you want things arranged.”

Sunoo considers this for a few moments. “You can probably set up the comforters, I just want them to be the bulk of the walls. And you can place the stuff from Jungwon and Niki, I don’t care as much about where their stuff is,” he finally decides. Jake nods and the two of them get to work. They work in good harmony, and Jake finds that he instinctively has an idea of the best places to put everything to suit Sunoo’s needs. Sunoo seems to be working much more meticulously than Jake did on the one nest he’s made, weaving items next to each other carefully and staring at them critically for several seconds before either deciding he’s happy with them or moving them. Jake does his best not to take too much notice of how Sunoo is arranging his things, as it seems a little nosy, but it’s also hard to miss how he has concentrated most of Sunghoon’s belongings near the head of the nest, exactly the same way Jake had.

Jake wonders briefly whether now is a good time to try talking to Sunoo, or if it would just ruin the calm mood they currently have. He also doesn’t want to upset Sunoo just a few days before he’s supposed to go into heat, but-

“Is something on your mind, hyung?” Sunoo asks, startling Jake from his inner monologue. He is facing away from Jake, arranging a blanket that is almost certainly the one Jay asked him not to take. “Your scent went kind of weird.”

Jake takes an extra second to consider where he wants to start. “… Sunoo-yah, I’m really sorry about what I did at the photoshoot,” Jake says honestly. Sunoo’s movement stops, and he continues to face away. “It was unfair and underhanded of me, and I should have just talked to you about things properly instead of trying to do it like that.” Sunoo continues to stay silent, but Jake doesn’t say anything else to push for an answer; he knows he isn’t owed a response.

“Thank you for your apology, hyung,” Sunoo says eventually. “I know you didn’t really mean to hurt my feelings, but you did.”

“I know, and I really am sorry. I shouldn’t have even brought it up, especially when we were in the middle of something,” Jake says. Sunoo finally turns around, sitting down on the bed and pausing in fiddling with the nest. Jake follows his lead and also sits down.

“I’m not really upset that you brought it up. I knew that it was going to have to be addressed eventually, even though neither of us wants to.” Sunoo laughs humourlessly, shaking his head. “Even now we’re not actually saying it out loud.” They both fall silent, staring at each other.

“Both of us want to court Sunghoon,” Jake finally says, his cheeks flushing red. Sunoo nods, smiling wryly.

“Both of us want to court Sunghoon-hyung,” he agrees. “So, what are we going to do about it? Or at least, what are you going to do about it?”

Jake blanches. “What am I going to do about it?” he asks, baffled. Sunoo rolls his eyes.

“Hyung, be serious,” he says, and suddenly Jake feels like he’s having a repeat of his conversations with Jay and Jungwon. “Both of us like Sunghoon-hyung, but he only likes one of us, and it’s not me.”

Jake runs a stressed hand through his hair. “I am less confident about that than you are, but everyone else seems to think so as well,” Jake shyly admits. Sunoo nods, looking a little defeated, and Jake quickly jumps to try and fix it. “But Sunoo-yah, I would never start courting Sunghoon if it would upset you. Our relationship and keeping the stress out of our pack is always going to be more important to me.”

“That’s not really fair of me either, though. If both of you want to court each other, then what authority should I have to stop you? And I also want you guys to be happy.” Sunoo smiles gently, in spite of the sadness in his eyes. “If Sunghoon-hyung had been interested in me instead, would you have asked me not to court him?”

“No,” Jake answers without even thinking about it. “No, I’d never do that to you.”

“Well that’s how I feel too, hyung. I won’t lie, it does hurt and makes me sad, but that’s for me to work through,” Sunoo says with a tone of finality. “Please don’t hold back because of me. But please also understand if I am sometimes a bit distant if you do start courting.”

Jake smiles gently. “Of course, Sunoo-yah. And the same goes for me too, if something happens between you and Sunghoon, don’t worry about me.” At this point, Jake will admit to himself that Sunghoon being interested in Sunoo has a pretty low likelihood, but he’s trying to be kind.

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” Sunoo says, though his expression suggests that he also thinks it’s unlikely to happen. He goes silent for a moment, looking a bit unsure, before he speaks up again. “I’ll be honest, I’ve known that Sunghoon-hyung liked you since we were on I-Land, but I didn’t realize you were interested in him too until the day he came back from his presentation. Now I don’t know how I missed it.”

Jake blinks once. “Since I-Land ? How did all of you see these things as far back as I-Land when I still feel like I might just be imagining things now ?” he says incredulously, lowering his voice when he realizes how loud he’s become. “Also, I hadn’t fully accepted that I was interested in Sunghoon until, like, a week after our presentations were over. In my defense. So you knew before I did.”

“I wish I could say the same. I tried so hard to ignore it and focus on the competition, but I just couldn’t. The amount of embarrassing things I did on national television because of him…” Sunoo shakes his head, covering his face with his hands for a moment as he tries not to relive his time on I-Land. “And it’s just the way he looks at and talks about you, even back then. He was really bad at hiding it. I know we’ve all avoided watching the rest of the show after we saw the first episode together, but you should at least watch some clips on YouTube or something. You might be able to see it now.” Jake nods slowly. Maybe he will do that at some point.

There is a bit of an awkward silence for a few seconds. “I guess we should keep working on your nest,” Jake says eventually. Sunoo clears his throat and agrees, and the two silently go back to work.

It takes another hour or so before Sunoo announces that he’s happy with the nest. It’s honestly a really beautiful nest, and Jake feels a sense of pride that he took part in building it, even though he knows it mostly looks that way due to Sunoo’s work.

Sunoo looks at Jake and smiles brightly. “Thank you for helping me, hyung. It’s perfect.”

“You did most of the work, but I’m happy to have helped,” Jake says. He is still admiring the nest when he feels Sunoo move into his side, nosing against Jake’s temple. Jake grins and turns them so that he’s able to give Sunoo a proper hug; affection like this is a rare treat from Sunoo, and he wants to savour it.

When they finally pull out of the hug, Jake just stares at Sunoo for a few seconds, a little overwhelmed by how much love and affection he feels for his packmate. The lingering guilt over the situation with Sunghoon comes back tenfold, the thought of hurting their youngest omega making him feel a bit sick. He rests his forehead against Sunoo’s, letting out a short exhale.

“What’s up?” Sunoo asks, pushing his forehead against Jake’s too. Jake whines.

“You’re really not upset with me for also liking Sunghoon?” he mumbles. Jake feels Sunoo’s hands cup his cheeks, forcing them to make eye contact.

“No. I assume you didn’t do it on purpose,” Sunoo teases, touching their noses together. “Besides, how could I get upset with someone for seeing all the same things in him that I see?”

Jake groans and moves his head into the crook of Sunoo’s shoulder to hide his soft expression. “Sunoo-yah, you’re way too nice. You should be meaner to me about this.” Sunoo laughs, the sound thankfully genuine. 

“We’re a pack, hyung,” Sunoo says, petting Jake’s hair gently. Jake’s chest fills with warmth. “We take care of each other, even when it hurts.”

 ~ * ~

The entire pack is extremely on edge when the Seoul Music Awards arrive due to the fact that it is happening during Sunoo’s fourth day of preheat, despite also being excited about potentially getting an award. Jake struggles to shake off the fear that Sunoo will suddenly go into heat while they are on stage, instantly negating their so-far successful goal of hiding the fact that he had already presented, and their head omega being on edge seems to only increase everyone else’s anxiety. Jake and Heeseung try to convince their management to let Sunoo just stay home for the event, but they don’t budge, knowing how important it is for all of them to be present after being nominated for an award while still early in their careers. Jungwon reluctantly agrees that their manager is right, and so they cover Sunoo in as many scent blockers as he will allow and go to the award show. 

The decision ends up being smart, because they win Rookie of the Year and do have to go on stage to receive it. Thankfully Sunoo does not go into heat, and their entire pack remains perfectly presentable and professional through the whole ordeal. Although the second they get into their vans at the end of the event to go home, Sunoo tears the itchy scent blocking patches off and snuggles up next to Jay like he’ll suffocate without his nose glued to an alpha’s neck. 

Sunoo becomes increasingly restless over the following few days, spending more and more time in his nest with whichever alpha he manages to drag inside with him to cuddle. Jake also makes sure to visit him regularly, checking that everything is okay and to see if his heat has finally hit, but his preheat refuses to break. On the sixth day of his preheat, Jake walks in to find Sunoo alone in his nest, crying and scratching at the scent glands in his neck; the entire room smells of rotting flowers, along with something pungent that smells almost like heat scent, but not quite. Having since done his research after presenting, Jake knows that this smell means Sunoo is within 24 hours of his heat hitting, but likely much less. He immediately climbs into the nest and pulls Sunoo in close, petting his hair and letting the younger omega cry into his shoulder until his distressed scent evens out. 

“It feels like something is stuck,” Sunoo says, his voice still watery. “Like my body is ready to go into heat but it just hasn’t . And I feel like I’m bothering the alphas by asking them to be here when I’m not even in heat yet…” Guilt eats away at Jake over the fact that there’s nothing he can do to help induce Sunoo’s heat when he sounds so uncomfortable. 

“You’re not bothering anyone, Sunoo-yah. They may not say it out loud, but the alphas love being asked to help. It makes them happy to be needed by their omegas,” Jake coos, nuzzling Sunoo’s temple. He continues to hold and scent Sunoo until he shyly asks for Jake to find one of the alphas instead. Jake agrees quickly, not wanting Sunoo to think he’s offended by the request, and takes his leave to go looking for someone else to take care of Sunoo. He happens to find Sunghoon first, eating some lunch at their kitchen island as he watches a dance video on his phone. His face is bare and his hair is slightly damp from a recent shower; he looks so soft that Jake has to resist the urge to request affection for himself, instead taking a moment to remind himself what he’s there for. 

“Sunghoon-ah,” he calls, and the alpha’s head lifts to meet his gaze. His cheeks are puffed out due to being full of ramen as he blinks at Jake quizzically; fondness throbs in Jake’s chest. “When you’re done eating, can you go sit with Sunoo-yah for a bit?” 

Sunghoon quickly nods as he swallows his mouthful of food. “Yeah, of course. I’m almost done, I’ll be fast.”

“Thank you, apparently I’m not much help anymore. Being head omega only counts for so much,” Jake jokes. He is about to walk away to make his own lunch, but pauses for a moment, recalling the reason Sunoo had presented so early in the first place and the state the younger omega is in. Maybe the omega just needs a gentle push towards his heat, in which case, Sunghoon is their best bet. “Please make sure you do a good job scenting him, okay? He’ll never say it to you guys because he doesn’t want to seem rude or demanding, but he’s not really doing well right now, and I think that being properly scented would help.”

Sunghoon, ever blissfully ignorant, doesn’t question this request at all. “I’ll do my best. I haven’t been scenting him as much as I could be I guess, just because I didn’t want to overwhelm him or anything. Nobody has ever really explained to me how to take care of an omega in preheat, so everything I do is kind of a guess.”

Jake laughs. “It’ll come with time. But for now, I’m sure you could scent him a bit more thoroughly.” Sunghoon nods in agreement, and Jake wanders off to make lunch for himself. After a few minutes, Sunghoon slurps up the last of his lunch, places his dishes in the sink, and disappears down the hall to go sit with Sunoo. Jake eventually settles on also making ramyeon for himself, which he cooks and eats in the blissful silence of their kitchen, followed by washing both his and Sunghoon’s dishes.

Once the kitchen is tidy again, Jake goes to curl up on their couch, knowing that his time to just relax without guilt is limited with Sunoo’s heat so close on the horizon. He scrolls through Twitter for a few minutes, but quickly becomes bored with it and swaps over to YouTube instead. He skips a few videos that are being recommended to him, not finding them particularly interesting, before he recalls Sunoo suggesting he watch clips from I-Land of him and Sunghoon. 

Jake stares at his phone for a few seconds, not feeling brave enough to outright type “ jake and sunghoon iland ” into the search bar, but unsure of what else he could look up. Eventually he settles on “ enhypen iland clips ”, and is relieved when several promising videos pop up. He clicks on one that seems to be focused specifically on clips of the members who debuted in Enhypen, and is surprised when the first clip is of him and Sunoo, walking down the path towards the building that was their home for several months; Jake had sort of forgotten that he and Sunoo’s group was the first to arrive on site. He skips through the first few clips since they’re not really what he’s looking for, then even further because it starts to show the first elimination when he, Jay, and Niki all got sent to Ground, and he doesn’t think he can handle watching his friends cry. 

Jake finally stops on a clip of Sunghoon, appearing to be washing the dishes, mostly because he hears another contestant say his name. “ Sunghoon-hyung, ” a young voice says, the subtitles listing the speaker as Taeyong. “ Are you close with Jake-hyung? ” Sunghoon confirms this to be true, when suddenly Sunoo appears in the shot as well. “ You guys got close already? ” he asks innocently. His expression is neutral and curious to the average viewer, but seeing as Sunoo is now his friend and packmate, Jake can see the jealousy seeping out. For some reason, Sunghoon’s response to this question is, “ Jake is cute, ” which makes Jake’s heart pound so hard that he has to pause the video to let it calm down again. The fact that this clip aired on international television— god , Jake’s parents and brother and friends all probably saw it—suddenly makes Jake feel like he’s about to throw up from how much he likes Sunghoon, who was apparently out declaring his affection for Jake to the world even when he’d been temporarily eliminated and the risk of them not debuting together at all was at an all time high. 

Jake finally presses play on the video, only to quickly pause it again when he hears Sunoo respond with “ I’m probably much cuter than he is, ”, although he’s not sure if he is pausing to laugh or to cry at Sunoo’s statement. He wasn’t at all offended, considering Sunoo is much cuter than him in his opinion, but where did he find the bravery to say something like that, and to someone he liked no less? How were all of his packmates able to act so shamelessly when they knew they were being filmed? He had seen memes about Jay, both of him ugly crying and his anger, resentment, shame stuff, but for some reason this clip feels infinitely more embarrassing than any of that. Eventually he presses play again, and is relieved when the rest of the clip makes him cringe far less. Sunoo attempts to apologize when Sunghoon becomes awkward, followed by proclaiming that he also hopes to get close with Sunghoon, which seems to surprise him. 

The guilt starts to rise in Jake’s chest again at the thought of Sunoo being so desperate to be close to Sunghoon even back then, so he is relieved when the clip switches. This time it’s Sunoo speaking with a different contestant as they eat some lunch. Jake isn’t sure who it is at first, but it quickly clicks that this is the friend who Sunoo texts pretty frequently, Jeong Echan. Now that he’s looking at a video of him, Jake remembers him a bit better: that he was nice and soft spoken, as well as that he ended up being one of Sunoo’s choices for his phone call prize, but Jake still can’t recall what his second gender was. Compared to the previous clip with Sunghoon, Sunoo looks carefree and relaxed with Echan, and Jake takes a moment to be grateful that Sunoo had a friend like this while he was competing. 

When the clip ends, Jake skips forward again until he sees another one of Sunoo with Echan, now interested in their relationship on the show. This clip is of Sunoo’s elimination, which Echan seemed more teary and upset about than Sunoo did. Jake notices Sunoo subtly brushing their temples together as Echan goes in for a hug, asking for Sunoo to take care of himself on Ground, and Jake can’t help but find the action a bit shocking. It never occurred to him that there would have been competitors on the show who began to see and treat each other as packmates in spite of the high risk of getting permanently separated in the end. But Sunoo had clearly just shared a pack gesture with Echan, and Jake can also recall Sunghoon saying that Jay and Jungwon were sharing pack gestures during filming as well. Jake really had been oblivious to the relationships going on back then. 

After watching a brief clip of Sunoo sweetly taking a crying Taki’s hand to lead him to Ground, Jake finds he needs to fast forward again so bile doesn’t start rising in his throat. It doesn’t take long for him to stop again though, as he once again hears his name. He backs up a few seconds, and can’t help but smile when he hears Sunghoon’s voice say, “ I hope Jake comes back ”, followed by Jungwon responding with “ I think Jay and Jake will come back ” and Sunghoon agreeing. Which makes his heart ache all the more when it then shows his and Jay’s return, and him immediately getting wrapped up in a hug by Jungwon and Sunghoon. Eventually it also shows Sunghoon saying “ Seriously, I missed you ” to Jake, his voice heavy with emotion, which Jake can’t help but find cute. Seeing all of these moments condensed really did make it seem obvious that Sunghoon had been very affectionate and adoring towards him even back on I-Land. 

Jake begins skipping forward again after feeling an embarrassing amount of jealousy when a clip pops up of Jungwon announcing “ Our mom is back! ” about one of the omegas that had been competing; he has no desire to analyze the implications of his omega getting jealous about someone who was now his pack’s pup calling someone else ‘mom’. He focuses on finding clips of just him and Sunghoon, which quickly become abundant. A clip of him trying to bother Sunghoon by climbing into his bed and poking him with a toy, but instead Sunghoon has an incredibly fond expression on his face. Sunghoon getting teary over Jake’s video message. Sunghoon proclaiming a golden retriever he’d seen during his prize trip looked like Jake. Sunghoon trying to comfort him after he received bad critiques, in which it looks like Sunghoon almost went in for a forehead-to-forehead pack gesture, but chickened out at the last second. Sunghoon cutely grabbing at his hand before Jake stupidly asks if he wants to arm wrestle. The final straw for Jake is the clip of Sunghoon saying he’d want to meet Jake’s sister out of everyone on I-Land, meant to be a hypothetical feminine version of himself. 

Jake finally has to close the video completely at this, his mind feeling a bit fuzzy from all of the videos he’d just watched. Many of them were things that had happened in front of him, and yet at the time they hadn’t seemed romantic the way they do when he’s watching them back-to-back as a third party. Several others were interactions that had happened while he was at Ground—he still can’t believe that Sunghoon had called him cute when Sunoo asked about their relationship, and the more he thinks about it, the more that interaction makes him feel guilty all over again—and now that Jake is aware of these moments, he can’t stop thinking about the implications of them all. Especially in conjunction with everything else that has happened between them since then. 

Jake thinks back to what Sunoo had said to him while they were building the nest. “ It’s just the way he looks at and talks about you. ” Jake can definitely see what Sunoo was talking about, and it makes him just a little self conscious. How many other people on I-Land had been watching them interact and thought they were interested in each other? How many Engenes had been watching the show and had that thought? But most importantly, how had Jake been so blind that he’d missed it all when it first happened? How could he have ever doubted Sunghoon’s feelings when he’d made them so obvious from the beginning?

Sunghoon likes me , Jake thinks, for the first time feeling fully confident about it. He buries his face in his hands to hide his grin as his heart pounds in his chest. Sunghoon wants to court me . 

“Holy shit , what the hell are you watching?”

Jake jumps when Heeseung’s voice suddenly breaks the silence of the room, his phone falling from where he’s set it on his lap and clattering to the floor. His head whips towards where Heeseung is standing in the door frame of their hallway, his eyebrows scrunched up and his nose covered up by the back of his hand. “Huh?” Jake asks a bit dumbly, not having processed what Heeseung had asked him after being surprised out of what felt like a genuine revelation. 

“I asked what you were watching on your phone. Whatever it was clearly had your full attention, the living room smells like a beach, Jake,” Heeseung says, his tone teasing despite the hand still covering his face. Jake can feel his cheeks flushing a violent red, and suddenly he becomes aware of the fact that he can smell his own scent with shocking clarity from how many pheromones he’s released. He does his best to reel it in, feeling a little humiliated at being caught losing control of himself so badly in the middle of the living room just because of a YouTube video. He has no idea how to answer the question of what he was watching, because there is nothing Jake wants to do less than admit that he was acting like this over clips from I-Land of Sunghoon calling him cute and chickening out of initiating a pack gesture. 

“It… I was just…” Feeling the blush creeping down to his neck, Jake decides to abort his attempts to respond in favour of posing his own question. “Do you remember much about Jeong Echan? I mean, Jaebeom? From I-Land?” Heeseung raises an eyebrow at this, but apparently decides to just indulge Jake’s diversion. 

“Yeah, he was nice enough. My age, good singer, kind of quiet,” he says, his expression focused as he tries to think back on what else he can recall. “He’s Sunoo’s friend, isn’t he?”

Jake nods, impressed that Heeseung knew that. Maybe he and Sunoo are closer than Jake has given them credit for. “Yeah, he is. Sunoo has told me a bit about him before, and it made me feel bad that I didn’t know more about him.” Heeseung nods in understanding, and Jake takes a moment to be pleased with how well his diversion worked. “What is his second gender? I assume you know just from having smelled him.”

“He’s an omega. I remember his scent being really sweet, like straight sugar and fruit or something. I’m surprised you didn’t remember that, he went into heat during the sec-” Heeseung suddenly cuts himself off, his eyes widening. While Jake appreciates the attempt to save his feelings, he already knows where the sentence was going. During the second challenge . While Jake was at Ground. Heeseung clears his throat and averts his eyes. “He went into heat during the show. So definitely an omega.”

“Cool. I’m sure Sunoo is glad to have another older omega to rely on. I don’t really think I count for much, considering he and I presented together. Sunoo even beat me to his first heat,” Jake jokes. Heeseung gives him a sad, sympathetic look, but he doesn’t argue. “Maybe I should see if Echan is willing to adopt another younger omega to show the ropes to.”

Heeseung opens his mouth to respond to this when suddenly a loud bang comes from their hallway followed by some frantic footsteps. Sunghoon appears in the entrance of the hall, looking very much like he’s just seen a ghost; his eyes are wide and panicked, and his face is completely pale. Both Heeseung and Jake stare at him quizzically while Sunghoon stands there awkwardly, shaking just slightly. After a few seconds of this, he finally speaks up.

“I-I, uh, I think that, um, Sunoo’s heat has maybe started,” he stammers. Jake is instantly on his feet, quickly brushing past both alphas to go see Sunoo. He can hear Heeseung speaking gently to Sunghoon, presumably calming him down from his panic over seeing an omega go into heat in front of him, but Jake doesn’t register any of the words as he rushes down the hall. Once he is in front of the door to the heat room, he first notices that Sunghoon hadn’t closed the door all the way in his haste, and so Sunoo’s unmistakable heat scent is seeping into the hallway. 

Jake doesn’t waste any more time and enters the room, momentarily taken aback by how strong the smell is; it’s even more intense than it had been when Sunoo presented, although he doesn’t find it unpleasant. More than anything, it just increases Jake’s drive to help his packmate. Once he is right up close to the bed, he can see Sunoo curled up in the middle of the nest, shaking and panting while laying on his side. Jake tentatively climbs in, pausing to make sure Sunoo is okay with him being there, and proceeding forward when no negative reaction comes. 

“Sunoo-yah,” he coos, gently petting Sunoo’s hair out of his face. Sunoo whimpers and leans into the touch, so Jake continues with the action. “How are you feeling, pup? I know your heat just started, but is there anything I can get for you or that you want help with?”

Sunoo doesn’t say anything right away, clearly needing a moment to collect his thoughts, so Jake waits patiently for his response. “C-Can you help with my clothes? Please? I need them off,” Sunoo eventually says, doing his best to sit up a little bit. Jake is somewhat relieved by the clear and specific request, as it seems that Sunoo is far more lucid and aware than he or Jake had been during their presentations. Jake pulls him up into a sitting position before helping him strip off his top, followed by his small shorts and underwear. Sunoo lets out a small sigh of relief as he is freed of his clothing, but it is quickly followed by a pained whimper as he doubles over before laying back on the bed. Jake’s cheeks flush pink as the smell of slick hits his nose; Sunoo probably won’t want him to stick around for much longer.

“Are you okay for now, Sunoo-yah? Can I get anything else for you?” he asks, running his fingers through Sunoo’s hair one more time. Sunoo once again takes a few seconds to respond, but when he finally does, Jake feels his stomach drop a little. 

“S-Sunghoon-hyung… Jake-hyung, I need… you have to help me,” Sunoo says between pants, his tone urgent as he reaches out towards Jake. Jake nods in understanding, shifting so he can take Sunoo’s outstretched hand.

“Do you want me to go get Sunghoonie for you?” Jake asks gently as he squeezes Sunoo’s hand. He can’t lie, his omega is thrashing angrily at the idea of Sunghoon helping another omega through their heat in any sense, but Jake would also never deny Sunoo anything, especially at a time like this. If Sunoo wants Sunghoon with him, then Jake will call him back without question. 

However, to Jake’s surprise, Sunoo responds by practically crushing Jake’s hand with his own, his eyes widening in fear. “ No , no, please hyung. Don’t bring Sunghoon-hyung here, please ,” he says frantically. Jake’s eyebrows furrow in confusion as Sunoo’s eyes begin to water. 

“Sunoo, why-”

“I thought… I thought I’d be able to handle being around him during my heat. But just now, when he was here, he smelled so … hyung he would know . I wouldn’t be able to hide it from him. Not now, not when I’m like this,” Sunoo whimpers, tears now streaming down his face. Jake’s expression softens again as he leans in to nose gently at Sunoo’s temple, wiping his tears with his free hand. Sunoo nudges back against the touch. “I want him to come back so bad , but he can’t. He just can’t. Hyung, please , you have to make sure he stays away until my heat is over.”

Jake balks the second he processes exactly what Sunoo is asking of him. Despite Sunoo voicing his fears of Sunghoon realizing his feelings, Jake hadn’t registered that this would mean Sunghoon would have to stay out of the heat room for Sunoo’s entire heat until it was voiced out loud. And as much as Jake genuinely wants to do anything he can to help Sunoo, excluding a pack member from helping with a heat or rut without a very good explanation would be a massive insult. There is no way for Jake to follow through with this request in a way that isn’t going to hurt Sunghoon’s feelings to the point where it would put their entire pack on edge again… or at least no way that isn’t also considered rather distasteful. 

“How? How can I do that, Sunoo-yah,” Jake asks, starting to feel a bit panicked himself. He tries to tap into whatever head omega instincts he supposedly has, but even his instincts can’t seem to pick between keeping the harmony among his pack members and following through with a specific request from the younger omega. “It took so long for Sunghoon to feel like a part of our pack again after our presentations, how am I supposed to tell him you don’t want him here after that? It’s just going to make everything-” 

“Do anything,” Sunoo interjects, his wobbly voice snapping Jake out of his mild frenzy. The younger omega is shaking, and his wide eyes are full of what could only be described as terror. “Whatever it takes, hyung, you need to do it. I promise it’s okay, as long as it keeps him out. Please, please .”

Jake stares wide-eyed at Sunoo, trying to find a sign that he understands what he is actually asking Jake to do. Besides the fact that it would be seen as incredibly rude towards Sunoo, Jake also doesn’t really want to get any more commentary from Jay or Jungwon, and the only option he can think of is certainly going to wrench that door wide open again. Unfortunately, the only thing Jake can read in Sunoo’s expression is panic and desperation, which makes him much, much more reluctant to take on the request… but Jake simply can’t say no to Sunoo. Not when he is crying and begging Jake’s help. So he breathes out slowly, leans forward to bump his forehead into Sunoo’s, and nods. 

“Okay. Okay. Whatever you need, Sunoo,” he relents. Sunoo squeezes his hand once before letting out another small whimper that is quickly followed by the smell of arousal and slick getting even stronger. Jake takes that as his cue to leave, placing a small kiss on Sunoo’s temple. “I’ll be back later to visit you, okay pup?” Sunoo nods and lets go of his hand.

Jake quickly leaves to give Sunoo privacy, making sure he actually closes the door to the heat room all the way behind him. He makes his way back down the hall towards the living room where he’d left Heeseung and Sunghoon, and with every step he can feel the anxiety in his body rising as he processes what exactly he is about to do. Simply telling Sunghoon he can’t see Sunoo during his heat isn’t a viable option. And since Sunghoon is not at risk of going into rut from smelling Sunoo’s scent, considering he hadn’t done so when Sunoo first went into heat, there is really only one other way to keep him out of the room.

And that is if another omega stakes a claim on him.

Jake can feel his cheeks and neck heating up just at the thought of it. Staking claims is already not a commonly used practice anymore, but doing it against a packmate is considered aggressively territorial, especially against someone in heat or rut who likely wants to see all of their other packmates at some point. But it’s also a guaranteed way to convince Sunghoon not to go into Sunoo’s heat room, assuming it works.

Sunoo asked me to do anything , Jake tells himself as he walks back into the living room. Sunoo said it was okay as long as it worked. I’m doing this for Sunoo.

Heeseung and Sunghoon are still in the living room, now both sitting on the couch and having a thankfully calm discussion. Jake is pretty sure they’re talking about a video game, but he’s both too frazzled and too focused on trying not to look frazzled to figure out which one. Both pause and turn to look at him when they notice he’s there, Heeseung standing up. 

“How is he? Is Sunoo okay?” Heeseung asks, sounding extremely concerned. That gets Jake to crack a smile; he sometimes forgets that Heeseung also has head alpha instincts. He’s acting more like Sunoo has suffered an injury than gone into heat.

“Yes, he’s fine. I would just leave him be for at least an hour or so,” Jake says, trying to give both of them a pointed look. It must work, because both of their cheeks flush. “I’d also message our group chat to let everyone else know if neither of you have done that yet.” 

Heeseung immediately pulls out his phone and starts texting as he sits back down on the couch, while Sunghoon stands up and moves closer to Jake. 

“Thank you for stepping in for me so fast,” Sunghoon mumbles, obviously a little embarrassed about his initial reaction to Sunoo going into heat.

“No worries, just doing my job or whatever,” Jake replies, doing his best to hide his nerves with humour. He’s not confident it works. “Would it actually be okay if we talked alone? Not about anything bad,” Jake quickly clarifies, already sensing Sunghoon getting anxious at the request. Sunghoon nods. 

“Yeah, of course.”

Jake grabs Sunghoon by the wrist and tugs him towards his and Jay’s room. He is relieved when Jay appears to be absent, now vaguely recalling him mentioning that they needed to go grocery shopping before Sunoo went into heat since none of them would want to go once it had started. After pulling Sunghoon inside and shutting the door behind them, Jake drops Sunghoon’s hand and sits down on his bed, patting the spot beside him. Sunghoon slowly takes a seat next to him, and Jake feels his heart rate start to increase again. He can’t think of how to start a conversation that will end the way he needs it to, but Sunghoon ends up speaking first. 

“So, is Sunoo really doing okay? He seemed a bit… wild when I left him,” Sunghoon asks. Jake smiles at his concern, but allows himself to lean a little bit into the jealousy his omega feels knowing that Sunoo was acting ‘wild’ over his alpha. Just so that his instincts can take the lead in this endeavour. 

This is for Sunoo. For Sunoo.

“Yes, he really is okay,” Jake reassures, moving himself a bit closer so that their sides are pressed together. He does his best to look somewhat flirty, looking upwards at Sunghoon through his eyelashes, and Sunghoon’s scent flares. “He was just surprised by how intense it was. He settled in fine once the initial shock had passed, and after I helped him just to get comfy.”

Sunghoon nods, his cheeks now dusted pink. “G-Great, I’m glad to hear that,” he says, his voice slightly shaky. “You’re always doing a lot for our pack, Jake-yah.”

Jake can feel his own cheeks start to flush. “I’m just doing my job, it’s nothing special,” he mumbles, but Sunghoon shakes his head.

“No, you’re a really good head omega. You don’t give yourself enough credit for it, but you always know what to do or say when we need you. I feel like our pack would be a mess without you,” Sunghoon says, his hand finding Jake’s on the bed and sliding their fingers together to be lightly interlocked. Jake stares at Sunghoon in awe, his heart rate rapidly increasing as his omega preens at the complement. Feeling overwhelmed by how much he adores Sunghoon, he allows his instincts to completely take the reins and leans in to rub their temples together a bit more insistently than is normal. Sunghoon does not protest at all, though, immediately reciprocating the gesture. After a few seconds, Jake suddenly remembers the reason he’s stolen Sunghoon away and feels a bit bad for already making it self-indulgent.

I’m doing this for Sunoo , he justifies. He told me to do it.

Just scenting Sunghoon like this isn’t enough, though. Not to stake a claim. So Jake does something that he has never been brave enough to do, despite the fact that Sunghoon has already done it twice, and reaches out to rub the scent gland in Sunghoon’s neck with his thumb. He isn’t exactly sure what he expects the reaction to be, but Sunghoon audibly gasps, the sound quickly turning into a low rumble from his chest as his scent doubles in strength. Pride swells in Jake’s chest as he lifts his other hand so that he can thumb at both sides of his neck at once, shifting so that their foreheads are pressed together instead of their temples. He can feel Sunghoon’s breath picking up a little as it fans across his cheeks. 

I’m doing this to help Sunoo.

“You think I’m a good head omega, Sunghoon-ah?” Jake coos. Jake does his best not to cringe at the line, finding it just a little embarrassing to say out loud, but it seems to work because suddenly Sunghoon’s hand is on his thigh, squeezing it just a bit harder than is polite to do to a friend. “I’m a good omega, right?”

“Y-Yeah,” Sunghoon rasps. His scent starts to develop an aroused edge and Jake feels like his throat is closing. “Yeah, you are, Jake.”

Jake shifts so that he is sitting up on his knees and uses his hands to tip Sunghoon’s neck back just enough to start nosing at the spot he’d previously been rubbing with his thumb. Sunghoon lets out another alpha rumble and Jake instinctively responds with an omega whine. 

Sunoo asked me to do anything.

Sunghoon’s hand on Jake’s thigh suddenly turns into hooking his hands around both of his thighs and pulling him forward so that he is hovering over Sunghoon’s lap. The show of strength drags another involuntary whine out of Jake, Sunghoon responding by squeezing Jake’s thighs one more time before sliding his hands to his waist instead. Jake pants into Sunghoon’s neck as he tentatively allows himself to actually sit and put his weight onto his lap before going back to nosing at his scent gland. He tries to find the right thing to say next through the fuzziness starting to cloud his head, but Sunghoon starts speaking again instead.

“You’re so good, Jake. God, I feel like all I ever think about is how good you are,” he says, his voice low and mumbly as though he’s not actually intending for Jake to hear his words but unable to keep his thoughts inside his head. His hands squeeze Jake’s waist once. “Don’t you know how good you are to me?”

Sunoo promised it was okay.  

Jake licks a stripe over the scent gland in Sunghoon’s neck. “I do, alpha.”

The reaction is immediate, the hands on Jake’s waist moving to instead curl around his middle and pull him closer until their fronts are completely pressed together. Sunghoon groans loudly as Jake continues laving his tongue over the swollen scent gland, occasionally stopping to nip at it gently instead. Sunghoon’s arms tighten even more around him and the slight shift in position it causes suddenly makes Jake extremely aware of the fact that Sunghoon is hard. As thrilled as Jake’s omega is about this discovery, it is also a harsh reminder that all of this is completely real and honest for Sunghoon, while Jake is doing it with ulterior motives. And yet he also can’t help but still feel guilty for enjoying it when it was supposed to be for Sunoo’s benefit. 

Jake’s nips at Sunghoon’s neck become a bit more aggressive and insistent. Sunghoon’s hips jerk upwards in response, grinding his erection into Jake’s ass, and for a moment Jake completely forgets how any of this is supposed to be helping Sunoo in the first place.

I… I want Sunghoon for myself. I don’t want this to be about Sunoo.

Jake feels tears welling up in his eyes, and hates that he’s not sure if they’re being caused by his sincerity or his guilt. “Sunghoon-ah, alpha, please don’t visit Sunoo during his heat. Please, I want you to only keep your eyes on me,” Jake finally says. The words burn his mouth on the way out. 

A hand grabs Jake under the chin just as the tears start to stain his cheek. Sunghoon forces them to make eye contact, and in spite of how heavily the room smells like arousal, his expression is soft and adoring. 

“My eyes are only ever on you, Jaeyun-ah.”

Jake feels like he can’t breathe.

Sunghoon is mine. My alpha. 

He ducks his head back into Sunghoon’s neck at the confession to hide his flaming cheeks, crushing his nose directly into his scent gland; it looks red and angry from Jake’s ministrations, already starting to bruise. Without even thinking about it, Jake shifts again so that he can rub the scent gland in his own neck against Sunghoon’s. He gets a loud, guttural groan in response, and the sound makes Jake’s cock jolt.

“S-So don’t go then. You’ll stay with me instead, right?” Jake asks, needing more confirmation in spite of how explicit Sunghoon has already been. He feels Sunghoon laugh once before nuzzling Jake’s temple with nose. 

“Of course. All you ever had to do was ask me,” Sunghoon says, his tone gentle and vulnerable in spite of how heated things have become. Jake’s heart pounds so hard he feels like he can hear it, both from the confession and from the knowledge of what comes next. 

Sunoo I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.

Jake bites down on Sunghoon’s scent gland. Hard . Hard enough that when he lets go a few seconds later, there is a visible imprint that does not appear like it will go away for at least a few days. Sunghoon gasps and groans loudly as he bites down, and upon letting go, Jake gives it a few gentle licks in apology before leaning back to look at the pseudo-mating bite. Even just the sight of it makes him feel a little faint.

I staked a claim on Sunghoon. I really did it.

And then the bedroom door opens, and Jay walks inside. 

Before Jake even has fully processed that he and Sunghoon have been walked in on, Sunghoon has slid him off of his lap and back onto the bed, quickly brushing past Jay with a mumbled apology and disappearing out the door. Jay’s eyes linger on the doorway Sunghoon has just left through before slowly turning to look at Jake. The embarrassment of the situation starts to settle into Jake’s stomach as he slowly wipes away the tear tracks off his face and sniffles, unable to even look at Jay. After a few seconds of just staring at Jake in shock, Jay dramatically rolls his eyes and lets out a loud, disappointed sigh as he closes their bedroom door again. There’s absolutely no denying what Jake and Sunghoon had been doing before his arrival; their room is completely saturated with aroused pheromones, and it would have been almost impossible for Jay to miss what was now a purple welt on Sunghoon’s neck. 

Jay eventually sits on his own bed, shaking his head and looking very much like he wants to say something but can’t find the right words for it. It makes Jake feel a little like he’s waiting to be scolded by one of his parents for doing something stupid… which technically, he has, regardless of his reasoning for doing it. Jake’s cheeks and neck flare bright red as he turns away from his roommate to face the foot of his bed and pulls his knees up to his chest, both to make himself feel smaller and to hide his own half-hard erection. Jay continues to sigh and tut to himself, every sound putting Jake more and more on edge. He wishes that the floor would open up beneath him and swallow him whole.

“You know, Jungwon mentioned to me a little while ago that you were holding back from courting Sunghoon because you felt guilty about Sunoo,” Jay says eventually. His body language is calm and casual, but his tone is judgemental and cold. “I thought that was understandable, since we all do what we can to protect Sunoo. Especially you, since your presentation. But Jesus Christ, Jake, this…”

Jake might genuinely throw up. “Jay, I swear to you, I was only doing it because-”

“Because what? Because Sunoo has gone into heat? Because you suddenly started feeling threatened when you were supposed to be taking care of him?” Jay snaps, far more heated than Jake had expected. He shrinks even further in on himself, the guilt over how much satisfaction claiming Sunghoon had brought him burning in his gut. But even more than that, he can feel his own anger starting to boil at the accusation that he’d only done it out of jealousy. “Staking a claim against one of your packmates is already pretty fucking low, Jake, but doing it while Sunoo is going through his first heat is insanely selfish of you.” 

Jake’s head whips towards Jay at this. Something in his scent must change, because Jay turns to properly face him as well, his eyes now wide with shock. Jake feels almost like he’s no longer in control of his body as he slowly uncurls himself from the fetal position he’d been in and stands up, walking closer to Jay’s bed until he is towering over him. 

“Selfish? You think I staked a claim on Sunghoon during Sunoo’s heat to be selfish ?” Jake hisses. Jay flinches. “I did that because the first thing Sunoo did after his heat started was cry and beg me to keep Sunghoon out of his heat room because he was petrified that Sunghoon would find out how he felt when he had so little control over himself. What would you have suggested I’d done instead, Jay? What else could I have said to Sunghoon that wouldn’t have immediately wrecked his confidence about his place in our pack. Again .”

Jay finally breaks eye contact, looking like he wants to respond but floundering about what to say. Jake doesn’t let him say anything at all, adrenaline now coursing through his veins.

“Obviously I feel guilty about staking a claim on Sunghoon. Obviously . And I feel even worse knowing that I subconsciously enjoyed it. Every time something like this happens, it makes me feel horrible , because what kind of ass wants to hurt the people they love?” Jake can feel tears welling up in his eyes all over again, but he doesn’t stop. “Did you really think I’d be completely heartless towards Sunoo? That I don’t care about his feelings at all? They’re all I fucking think about, Jay. So honestly, I would appreciate it if you and Jungwon would trust that I know what I’m doing and just leave me alone about my love life.”

Jake instantly feels a release of tension when he’s done talking, so intense that it makes him gasp for air and he nearly stumbles backwards. When he looks back at Jay, he is surprised to find him with his face pointed downwards towards the ground, chin tucked into his neck and his shoulders pinched up towards his ears like he is trying to make himself look smaller. It is undeniably a submissive gesture, which makes Jake’s head reel. That is until he also catches how the room smells; the scent of ozone is thick and has an aggressive, dominant edge that is impossible to ignore. Jake’s eyes widen as he processes what has happened. 

I’m head omega. My rank is higher than Jay’s and he submitted to me.

Adrenaline surges through Jake all over again at the realization that he has the ability to make his packmates submit to him, even the alphas. And while regularly he would never use this against his packmates, even if he had been aware of it, the anger and frustration at his situation bubbles up one final time. 

“Get out,” Jake snaps, and immediately Jay is on his feet and out the door, closing it harshly behind him. Jake continues to stand, breathing heavily and hovering awkwardly over Jay’s bed as he feels his hands tremble. After what feels like forever to Jake but was likely only a minute or two, he turns around and gets back into his own bed, curling back up into the fetal position he’d been in before. 

Jake glances at the clock Jay keeps on his bedside table; less than two hours ago he’d been sitting on the couch, having the wonderful realization that his feelings for Sunghoon were reciprocated. 

Jake presses the tips of his fingers into his eyes and does his best to muffle his sobs.

Chapter Text

Jake genuinely isn’t sure how long he sits in his bed and cries. It feels both like seconds and hours, although by the time Jake’s breathing goes back to normal and he wipes the tears and snot off of his face, Jay’s bedside table clock says it’s been about forty-five minutes. His chest feels heavy and aches with guilt and frustration about everything that just happened, about everything that has been happening since November. Jake uncurls his legs, achy and stiff after being pulled into an awkward position for so long, and stares at his floor. He feels both empty and like he’s about to burst from the seams, and the only thing he can think about is how none of this is right, for him or for any of his packmates. Being in a pack isn’t supposed to make him feel this way; it’s supposed to make them all happier and life easier. Being head omega is supposed to make him feel important and valued, but right now it feels like a massive burden. Being in a courtship is supposed to be blissful and right now he can’t even pursue it without feeling crushed by guilt. 

Jake can feel his heart rate increasing in spite of the fact that he hasn’t moved.

I don’t want to do this anymore. I need to fix this. Now.

Jake ignores that his face is probably red and splotchy as he stands abruptly, throws his door open, and enters the hallway. He then stops and stands there a bit dumbly as he realizes he’s not even sure who he wants to talk to, let alone where they are in the dorm. However, he does know that they will at least be present, as it is unlikely that anybody will be leaving now until Sunoo’s heat is over. Jake sniffs the air and listens carefully to try and place his packmates, and after a few moments, he’s pretty sure Jay and Jungwon are in the kitchen with Niki in their living room, while Heeseung and Sunghoon are in their respective bedrooms. Jake doesn’t think he can stand to even look at Jay just yet, which also eliminates the possibility of starting with Jungwon or Niki, and he isn’t sure he’s prepared to have a proper discussion with Sunghoon yet either. Which leaves only one option.

Still almost entirely on autopilot, Jake approaches Heeseung’s room, hesitating for half a second before entering without so much as knocking. Heeseung is, unsurprisingly, on his computer playing a video game, but quickly pauses and turns around to raise an eyebrow at whoever has entered his room so rudely. The embarrassment of bursting into Heeseung’s room this way quickly settles in Jake’s stomach the moment they make eye contact, but it doesn’t last long because Heeseung’s expression quickly shifts from annoyance to concern when he sees Jake’s very disheveled appearance. Heeseung abandons whatever game he was playing in favour of ushering Jake inside, who closes the door behind him and then moves further into the room before finding he can no longer hold back all of the thoughts clouding his mind.

“Hyung, I think I might have just done something bad,” Jake says, his voice wavering as his tears suddenly threaten to return. Heeseung’s gaze softens as he steps closer to Jake, looking like he’s going to touch their foreheads together until he pauses and pulls back again. He instead reaches up to pet Jake’s hair. 

“Is this about what happened with Sunghoon?” Heeseung asks gently, but his tone does not stop Jake from immediately tensing, his cheeks flushing bright red. 

“Oh my god, does everyone already know? Fuck , I really thought I would have time to-”

“Jake, Jake,” Heeseung coos, grabbing Jake’s cheeks and tilting his head up so that they make eye contact again. Jake falls silent as his muscles slowly relax. “I only know because I ran into Sunghoon in the hallway when he was coming out of your room. Which is probably for the best, because I was able to chat with him before anyone else saw.”

Jake lets out a small breath. “Oh. Okay,” he says, his voice still a little airy from the nerves. “What did you talk to him about?” Heeseung snorts. 

“Well, it’s not like Sunghoon will be able to appear in public with that on his neck, so I gave him suggestions on how to keep it hidden until it fades,” he says, his tone teasing. Jake groans and tries to pull away from his grip, but Heeseung only holds his cheeks tighter. “I also told him to do his best to hide it from Niki. I don’t want to restart the tension between them, and I think seeing the bite mark would probably give him a heart attack. He won’t be able to smell it anyway, so I think it’s for the best if we just don’t let him know about it.”

Jake honestly hadn’t even thought about Niki’s involvement in all of this, but as soon as Heeseung mentions keeping it away from him, he’s instantly grateful and relieved. He really doesn’t want to drag their maknae into his messy relationship drama. 

“Thanks, hyung. I really appreciate that,” Jake says. He fidgets a little as he considers what he wants to say next. “And also thank you for not getting upset with me about all of this. I was really nervous I’d get yelled at again.”

Heeseung smiles and squeezes Jake’s cheeks a little, making him whine in protest. “I trust that your omega knows what it’s doing, even when you don’t always know what it’s doing,” Heeseung says before raising an eyebrow. “Unless you really did just feel territorial, but you don’t really seem the type.”

Jake finally pulls his flushed cheeks out of Heeseung’s hands. “I’m not . I just… Sunoo asked me to keep Sunghoon out of the heat room, and I didn’t want to put a bunch of tension back on Sunghoon after he just settled things with Niki, but I panicked and couldn’t think of any other way to do what Sunoo asked without upsetting Sunghoon and-”

“So you thought it was better to put the tension on yourself instead?” Heeseung asks, interrupting Jake’s train of thought. The question catches him a bit off guard. 

“I didn’t… I didn’t really see it like that when I did it. I thought maybe Jay or Jungwon would give me a hard time, but I was just trying to do what I thought would be best for Sunoo and Sunghoon. I didn’t really think about how it would affect me until afterwards,” Jake mumbles. “I feel like every time I try to think about myself first, I just end up doing something selfish… although these days it seems like that happens even if I don’t think about myself first.”

“You’re always so hard on yourself. Honestly, it would probably be to everyone’s benefit if you just committed to being a little selfish sometimes,” Heeseung says. Jake isn’t really sure what he means by this, but before he can ask, Heeseung’s expression shifts into something more serious, although he also seems to be trying to hide a smirk. “I will say, what surprised me the most is that you’d leverage Sunghoon’s interest in you like this. I didn’t expect you to ever claim someone you’re not interested in, even to help out another pack member… You know, since you said you’d never court anyone from our pack.”

Jake frowns for a moment before his eyes widen comically as he recalls the conversation he had with Heeseung all the way back in October. He’s suddenly somewhat grateful that he’s already flushed bright red so that Heeseung can’t see him blushing about this too. “I think I actually said I wouldn’t flirt with anyone from our pack, not court,” he says defensively, though he’s unsure why he feels defensive about this. Heeseung shrugs. 

“I mean, it’s kind of implied,” Heeseung says. As is usual, he looks infinitely more calm than Jake feels, which only makes Jake even more flustered. “Flirting tends to be a step in the process of courting, so no flirting generally means no courting.”

“I-I’m allowed to change my mind, you know,” Jake says, trying his best not to become snappy since he knows it will only make him look worse. Heeseung finally cracks another grin and snorts. 

“I’m just pulling your leg, Jaeyun-ah,” he says evenly. “I mean, I’m not that shocked or anything. I’ve known since you presented that you wouldn’t be sticking to that for long.”

Jake wants to be surprised by this, but at this point, he’s ready to accept that everyone knew about his feelings for Sunghoon before he did. Maybe he really isn’t as observant as he thought he was. “You and everyone else, apparently.”

Heeseung laughs and glances back at his desk for a second before turning back to face Jake. “Well, it’s been an hour and a half since you gave Sunghoon and I a one-hour warning. I’m going to go check on Sunoo.”

Jake is taken aback by the sudden change in topic. “Really? I know I was the one who gave you the warning, but it was more of a formality. I sort of assumed you wouldn’t actually be rushing to see him or anything. Sunghoon certainly wasn’t,” Jake says, raising an eyebrow. 

“I keep telling you, I have all of the same instincts that you do when it comes to worrying about everyone,” Heeseung says matter-of-factly. “Of course I want to see Sunoo, my alpha has been on edge about it ever since Sunghoon said he’d gone into heat.”

Jake nods in understanding. “Right. Head alpha stuff.” Heeseung smiles and nods back. 

“Head alpha stuff.” 

The pair of them exit Heeseung’s room, Jake mentally preparing to apologize to Jay while Heeseung moves in the opposite direction towards Sunoo’s heat room. He is halfway down the hallway when a thought sends fear like ice down Jake’s spine, something he hadn’t even thought to consider up until now. 

Head alpha stuff . 

“Hyung!” Jake calls. Heeseung quickly turns around at the alarm in his voice, raising an eyebrow. Jake swallows thickly; he’s had a lot of embarrassing conversations since becoming head omega, but having to do this with Heeseung, his hyung and head alpha, makes it even worse. “Please… please don’t, um-”

“Please don’t…?” Heeseung prompts, clearly becoming impatient rather fast. 

“Don’t have sex with Sunoo. Please,” Jake finally spits out. For once Heeseung looks as embarrassed as Jake, a red blush creeping up his neck and his eyes widening a fraction. Nobody has acknowledged it out loud yet, but it’s not uncommon to ‘help’ packmates during ruts and heats, not with romantic intentions but just because it’s difficult to see someone you love in pain. And because the drive to help packmates is even stronger in head alphas and omegas, they tend to be the most common candidates for the task, so the thought that Heeseung might have sex with Sunoo during his heat isn’t entirely outlandish. But Sunoo had only considered the potential need for birth control a few days into his preheat, and then had been somewhat picky about the brand he wanted to use. As a result, it had only been shipped yesterday and would likely be in transit until Sunoo’s heat was already over. “He hasn’t taken any birth control, and I’m pretty sure he will kill you if you get him pregnant, assuming Jungwon doesn’t kill you first.”

Heeseung nods stiffly. “Right. Thanks for the warning, Jake-yah,” he says before disappearing down the hall. He knocks on Sunoo’s door once but doesn’t wait for a reply before opening it. Jake can hear him softly coo out “ Hi, Sunoo-yah, ” before the door closes, and is mildly embarrassed by how endearing he finds it. 

Feeling a bit more relaxed after being able to talk to Heeseung, Jake slowly makes his way in the other direction towards their kitchen and living room. He first sees Niki laying on their couch; it looks like he’d been playing a Zelda game on their Switch, but at some point had fallen asleep. Jake moves closer until he can hear Niki’s soft breathing and see the character on his screen swaying and stretching idly. He carefully picks up the console from where it sits on Niki’s chest, saving his game and turning the Switch off before setting it on the coffee table in front of their couch. Their maknae looks so young and soft in his sleep, and it takes all of Jake’s willpower not to baby him even further by covering him with a blanket or straight up carrying him back to his bed. 

Instead he turns towards the kitchen, where Jay and Jungwon have stopped whatever conversation they’d previously been having and are now both eyeing him from their spots at the island. They both have empty bowls in front of them, suggesting they’d eaten lunch, and Jungwon’s body is fully turned towards Jay, although now his head is facing Jake. In spite of Jay’s reservations about doing anything close to courting Jungwon before his presentation, the two continue to struggle with maintaining any sort of concrete boundaries, so finding them all but curled up together like this is somewhat commonplace. 

Jake momentarily contemplates asking Jay if they can talk in private, but it’s obvious that Jungwon is already aware of everything that has happened, and Niki is sleeping anyway, so instead Jake takes a seat across from them. He stares at them both a bit hesitantly, his mind going blank with what he should say now that he’s being scrutinized. 

“Jay-ah, I’m really sorry,” he says, figuring that’s the safest place to start. “Both for, um, making you submit to me and for getting angry at all. Your accusations made sense given what information you had, and my reaction to them was… disproportionate .”

Both Jay and Jungwon continue to stare at him, letting his apology settle in the space between them. Jake realizes that neither of them actually look angry, just hesitant.

“It’s fine, Jake-yah,” Jay eventually says. Jungwon’s expression suggests that he does not think it is fine, but Jay laces their fingers together and that placates him for the moment. “Regardless of whether or not my assumptions made sense, they were still only assumptions, and it wasn’t fair of me to say all of that without hearing you out first. But I do appreciate the apology, and I forgive you.”

Jake feels like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. “Thank you-”

“I also didn’t realize how much you were dealing with and how much it was weighing on you,” Jay continues, surprising Jake. “Obviously this thing going on with you, Sunghoon, and Sunoo has been a lot more stressful for you than Jungwon and I realized, especially with you being head omega. We’ve sort of been acting like it’s a burden for us and the pack to watch it go unresolved, without first acknowledging how it’s been a burden to you. We should have just let you deal with it however you needed to.”

Jake is horrified to feel tears immediately spring to his eyes at Jay’s words, to which Jay and Jungwon quickly move to either side of him so they can pet his hair and nuzzle his temples. He tries to protest and brush them both off, embarrassed by how emotional he’s being, but neither of them will have it.

“Thank you,” he says again, sniffling and wiping away the offending tears before they can actually fall from his eyes. “I really appreciate that, genuinely.”

“Also, for the record, I do actually think that claiming Sunghoon was the best way you could have fulfilled Sunoo’s request,” Jay admits after a few more seconds. Jungwon once again looks like he disagrees, but Jay ignores him. “I think any other way would have made Sunghoon feel insecure, or made his relationship with Sunoo tense. Or both. So the way you did it was probably the right way, even if it seemed kind of extreme at first.”

Jake whines and rubs his eyes with his hands. “Even if I kind of enjoyed it?”

Jay snorts. “As long as your primary motive was to keep the peace in our pack, then your secondary motives are none of my business.”

Jake drops his hands and looks up at Jay, who is watching him fondly and still petting his hair. A glance towards Jungwon shows that he’s still a bit more apprehensive, lips pursed and eyes slightly narrowed in spite of the fact that he is also carding his fingers through Jake’s hair. 

“What’s on your mind, Jungwon-ah? You look unsure,” Jake prods.

Jungwon sighs and pulls on the strand of hair he’s currently petting, not enough to hurt Jake, just enough to make him complain about it a little. “I’m struggling to accept that there wasn’t a more… diplomatic way to handle the situation. Maybe it’s because I haven’t presented yet, so I can’t fully understand the instinctual aspects of it,” he admits. It hurts Jake a little that Jungwon doesn’t see his side of things, but he does understand how it must look from an outside perspective, especially with the knowledge that Jake genuinely wants to court Sunghoon. “But if Jay-hyung says it’s fine, then I’ll take your word for it.”

Jake leans up towards Jungwon, which Jungwon readily responds to by touching their temples together. It’s a relief to Jake that Jungwon is still reciprocating pack gestures in spite of his concerns. “I appreciate that you’re at least trying to understand. Thank you, Jungwonie.”

Jungwon is quiet for a few seconds before a cheeky grin starts to creep out. “I do think it’s kind of cool that Jay-hyung submitted to you, though,” he says, his tone suggesting that he thinks it’s as funny as he thinks it’s cool. He and Jake both snicker quietly while Jay looks a little affronted. 

“Excuse me, I didn’t think it was very cool,” Jay says. Jake coughs to try and cover up his laughing. 

“I really am sorry, I genuinely didn’t know I could even do that. Like I knew it was possible for head omegas to make others submit to them, but I thought it was something you learned over time with practice, not an instinctual thing,” Jake says. 

Jungwon grins even bigger, doing his best to hide it in Jake’s hair. “Well I think it’s… interesting that you can make anyone submit to you if your rank is high enough,” he says, eyes sparkling as they shift up to look at Jay. Jake also glances back towards Jay, who is making pretty intense eye contact with Jungwon with a raised eyebrow. The implication that Jungwon is making has clearly not been missed: that regardless of what he ends up presenting as, Jungwon’s position as their leader will give him the ability to make Jay submit to him. Jay doesn’t look particularly impressed, but he also doesn’t look offended.

“I think it’s nice that Jay is willing to eventually court someone who outranks him without his alpha feeling threatened,” Jake says, his tone genuine in spite of the underlying tease. Jungwon immediately smacks his arm, hissing out a small “ oh my god, hyung, shut up, ” but Jay just snorts. 

“Yeah, I guess you would think that’s nice, huh?” he laughs. The statement takes Jake aback, and for the first time he considers that if he outranks Jay in their pack, then outside of Heeseung, he currently outranks everyone in their pack. 

Including Sunghoon. 

The thought of Sunghoon submitting to him in any way immediately makes Jake cringe just a little, followed by some mild guilt for how much he dislikes the idea. It’s a bit old fashioned, but Jake really feels like he would prefer his courtmate to maintain the dominant position in their relationship; maybe being head omega makes him subconsciously desire a more traditional courtship arrangement. He decides not to dwell on it too much, making a mental note to simply never make Sunghoon submit to him. Jake can’t imagine a situation where that would ever happen anyway, but he will be even more cautious about it now that he’s aware it could happen. 

Jay raises an eyebrow at him, making Jake suspect he did not do a stellar job schooling his initial expression at the thought of having a more submissive courtmate. “Oh? I hope you’re not getting cold feet before your relationship has even started.”

Jake shrugs, doing his best to play it off. “The person matters more to me than rank. Sunghoon’s position in our hierarchy has nothing to do with why I like him.” 

“Speaking of your relationship with Sunghoon, what are your plans for when the claim fades? I think you’ve made your feelings pretty clear, so what comes next?” Jungwon asks, his eyes wide and curious. There is a rustle of fabric from below them—Jake belatedly realizes it’s the sound of Jay’s shoe giving Jungwon a nudge, reminding him of their earlier promise to leave Jake alone about his relationship—and Jungwon quickly backtracks. “N-Not that you have to tell us if you don’t want to. Up to you.”

Jake rolls his eyes; his packmates really are so nosy. However, he does understand why they are so curious now that he has staked a claim on Sunghoon, because being claimed tends to cause people to become extremely clingy, protective, and affectionate towards whoever claimed them. And although it admittedly sounds very appealing to have Sunghoon constantly all over him, Jake also knows he will constantly be second-guessing whether any of Sunghoon’s actions are genuine, or if they’re just from the claim. It’s also considered inappropriate to start courting someone while they have a claim staked on them, since a claimed person will never reject the advances of the person who has claimed them. So until it fades, which will take about a week, Jake and Sunghoon’s relationship is essentially at an uneasy standstill. 

“I have no idea,” Jake finally admits. If he’s being perfectly honest, he’s mostly just tired of everyone constantly expecting him to be the one to move things forward. He knows Sunghoon is a little socially inept, but surely he can’t be that oblivious. “I feel like I made my feelings pretty clear, so I think I’ll just let Sunghoon decide what he wants to do with that information. I did my part in furthering our relationship, even if it was a bit… unconventional. It’s his turn now.” Jay and Jungwon both nod in understanding, or at least with the understanding that Jake is not in the mood to be questioned further. 

“Fair enough. I hope it goes well then,” Jungwon says, slowly leaning in to lay his head on top of Jake’s. Jay ends up following suit, and the three of them fall into a comfortable silence. The longer Jake sits there, the more relaxed and happy he feels, soaking up the attention and affection from his packmates. He is on the verge of falling asleep when Jay’s voice breaks the silence, causing him to open his eyes. 

“I’m really glad I’m in a pack with you guys,” Jay mumbles softly. Jake closes his eyes again, unable to stop himself from smiling. 

“It’s funny, I was just thinking the same thing.”

~ * ~

Jungwon and Jay eventually decide that they also want to go check on Sunoo, leaving Jake alone in the kitchen. He decides to start cooking dinner for everyone despite it being far too early, just because he needs to occupy his mind and also it will probably be nice for Jay to have a break from cooking for once. He’s not quite as good at cooking as Jay, but he’s sure he can at least not burn their dorm down as long as it’s nothing too complicated. He opens their fridge for inspiration and is pleased to find it very full, courtesy of Jay’s shopping trip. The cupboards are similarly well stocked, and eventually Jake settles on making japchae . It’s something he orders in sometimes but has never made himself, and yet he feels oddly confident that he can do it. It’s just noodles, meat, and vegetables, right?

After setting all of the ingredients he thinks he will need on the counter, Jake quickly becomes intimidated and decides to look up a recipe. Once he finds one that claims to be “ simple and authentic ”, he gets to work, first preparing meat and then starting to cut up the vegetables. It ends up taking much longer than he anticipated, but everything smells so good that Jake almost wishes it was dinner so that he could eat some. In the end it takes about an hour before he’s finally putting the massive container of japchae into their fridge for later and is able to start tidying the kitchen again, but his mind is blissfully empty of negative thoughts.

Jake is in the middle of washing the dishes, quietly singing an English song to himself, when two arms wrap around his middle. He stiffens at first, not expecting the touch, but relaxes when he realizes he’s being cocooned by the smell of coffee and vanilla. 

“Sunghoon-ah, what are you doing?” he asks, trying and failing not to sound excessively fond. Sunghoon’s nose drags up the back of his neck and it makes Jake shiver.

“Nothing,” Sunghoon eventually mumbles, his tone much sweeter than normal. “I just missed you. I really wanted to be touching you.” Jake shivers again as Sunghoon’s breath ghosts over his neck; clearly the bite has also turned Sunghoon’s filter all the way off. 

“In the kitchen?” Jake teases, but Sunghoon’s hold around him only tightens. Jake rinses the soap off the last pan, sets it in their dish rack, and dries his hands. Then he turns around in Sunghoon’s arms so that they’re facing each other and lightly rests his hands on Sunghoon’s shoulders. Sunghoon’s hands drop to grip Jake’s waist, pushing him back until Jake is pinned against the counter. The edge digs into Jake’s lower back, but he can’t find it in himself to care with Sunghoon so close to him, looking soft and fond. He also notes that Sunghoon has changed into a black turtleneck, high enough that it covers the bite mark Jake left on his scent gland. “It’s only been a few hours, you can’t have missed me that much.”

“I did,” Sunghoon insists, moving to nose along Jake’s jaw instead. Jake obediently tips his head back to give Sunghoon more access to his neck, and a rumble comes from the alpha’s chest in response. “It felt like my skin was crawling. I couldn’t stay away any longer.” 

Jake responds with a small chirp, the sound completely involuntary from the happiness bubbling up in his chest. His omega already is thrilled with how much affection Sunghoon is giving him, and then it escalates into a proper scenting session as Sunghoon’s nose rubs against the scent gland in Jake’s neck. His head spins as Sunghoon’s tongue softly licks over the spot, and he can’t think straight but he knows he’s happy, happier than he’s ever been just from scenting Sunghoon. Maybe claiming bites also affect the person who made the claim, Jake isn’t sure, but right now being with Sunghoon feels so right to him that he starts to forget why he can’t ask Sunghoon to court him right now.

An affronted gasp from behind Sunghoon snaps Jake back into reality. 

“In the kitchen ?” Jungwon asks, sounding completely scandalized. Sunghoon turns around and is embarrassed enough that his cheeks flush a deep red right away, but not enough for his hands to drop away from where they’re resting on Jake’s waist. Jake, however, feels like he cannot get away from Sunghoon fast enough, thoroughly embarrassed about getting caught scenting him for the second time in under three hours. He tries to pry Sunghoon’s hands away from his body, which Sunghoon allows without complaint, and swiftly moves out of the kitchen and into his bedroom, ignoring both Jungwon and Sunghoon calling for him. 

Once he’s alone and his mind has had a chance to clear again, Jake honestly isn’t even sure why he was so instantly filled with panic when Jungwon saw him and Sunghoon. They were just scenting, albeit a little intimately, but surely that’s not really a surprise when Jake has just staked a claim on him. Jungwon probably wasn’t even shocked that they were scenting, just that they were doing it in a public area of the house. But the more he considers it, the more he starts to realize that it’s once again the claim itself that is the issue; the idea that Jungwon saw him scenting Sunghoon, saw him unabashedly enjoying something that he said was to protect Sunoo, makes him feel nauseous. Even in spite of Jay’s reassurances that he was allowed to have secondary motives as long as his primary motives were well intended, he hates the idea of anyone actually seeing him indulging in those secondary motives.

Jake’s skin is crawling. He needs to see Sunoo right away.

He’s not entirely sure what he wants to do when he sees Sunoo. Maybe confess about the claim, maybe bed him for forgiveness, maybe just cuddle his dongsaeng until the guilt subsides. 

It’s not until Jake’s hand is on the door handle to Sunoo’s heat room that he realizes that he has been heavily scented by Sunghoon, and the last thing he wants is to show up to Sunoo’s nest smelling like that. So instead he doubles back to the bathroom for a shower, scrubbing his skin almost raw until he’s confident that Sunghoon’s scent is gone. Then he redresses and goes back to the door of Sunoo’s heat room, quickly entering the room without remembering to knock first. It’s only once he’s inside that he considers that he may be interrupting Sunoo… dealing with his heat, but after one glance at the bed, Jake is pretty sure he’s actually sleeping. 

Jake does intend to just let him keep sleeping, but once he’s up near the edge of the bed, Sunoo starts to stir, likely able to smell that someone has approached his nest even in his sleep. He blinks his eyes slowly until he realizes who is there. 

“Hyung,” Sunoo croaks, already sounding a little haggard after just a few hours. “Come up into my nest, please? Can you hold me?”

“Of course, pup,” Jake coos, climbing up and gathering Sunoo into his arms. He’s already so sweaty and still looks drowsy, but all Jake can think about is how sweet he looks. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine. It hasn’t been that long yet, hyung,” Sunoo says with a small smile. Then he looks up at Jake with the biggest puppy eyes Jake has ever seen from him. “Hyung, you did what I asked, right? You promise Sunghoon-hyung isn’t going to come in here? Please, hyung, I won’t be able to handle it if he does.”

Jake can feel his heart racing as Sunoo asks his questions. He tries to figure out the best way to tell Sunoo what he’s done, to admit to claiming the person that Sunoo also likes, to convince Sunoo that it was for him , it wasn’t something Jake did out of jealousy. But the words won’t come, and Sunoo is still staring at him expectantly. 

“Yes, pup. Sunghoon isn’t going to come in here, I promise.” 

… He’ll tell Sunoo when his heat is over. 

~ * ~

It’s almost weird to Jake how normal everyone else is able to be about him and Sunghoon. In spite of how much everyone had gone out of their way to reassure him that it was fine, that they didn’t really care about the claim (or at least were willing to accept that it had happened), Jake can’t help but feel embarrassed and guilty every time he’s caught acting a bit too pleased over Sunghoon offering him food or forcing a sweater over his head or suddenly appearing at his side to hold and scent him. None of his other packmates ever seem phased or surprised by it, nor does Sunghoon seem to care, but that’s likely just the claiming bite clouding his judgement. But the moment anyone witnesses him and Sunghoon acting a bit too affectionate with each other, it generally results in Jake taking another shower until Sunghoon’s scent has been washed away and then checking in on Sunoo, telling the younger omega how much he loves and appreciates him until the guilt subsides.

It goes on like this for the next two days, with Jake fluctuating between feeling the happiest and guiltiest he ever has before. He keeps telling himself that it will all be fine once Sunoo’s heat ends and they can have a proper conversation, but as Sunoo’s heat starts to wane, Jake only finds himself even more anxious. He repeatedly tries to remind himself that Sunoo has already encouraged him to court Sunghoon, and also told him to do anything that would keep Sunghoon away during his heat, but he just cannot shake the feeling that claiming Sunghoon was a major breach of trust. Jay tells him that he needs to calm down about everything at least once an hour, probably as much out of annoyance as wanting Jake to be reassured, but his mantra of “ it’s just Sunoo, he’s going to understand, Jake, he always does, he loves us, ” doesn’t do much to soothe his nerves. 

On top of everything else, Jake is also finding himself increasingly concerned about Niki, mostly because Niki has been making himself pretty scarce since the first day of Sunoo’s heat, opting to stay at the dance studio for fourteen hours or more every day as opposed to staying at home with the pack. At first Jake assumes it's because he’s young and feels awkward and embarrassed about the knowledge that one of his own packmates is in heat, but he comes home late one evening just as Jake is leaving Sunoo’s heat room, and instead of looking flushed and nervous, Niki mostly just looks sad. It’s the second time he’s recently seen Niki looking mysteriously upset, and it frustrates Jake that he doesn’t have a better idea of what is going on inside his maknae’s head. He really needs to have another chat with him soon.

In what are likely the final hours of Sunoo’s heat, Jake finds himself completely unable to sleep despite it being nearly 2am from the stress of everything. He’s already done the dishes, the laundry, cleaned the bathroom, and cooked a filling meal for them all to eat for breakfast, since Sunoo will be undoubtedly starving after only eating fruit and protein bars for three days, but now Jake is out of things to occupy himself with. As a result, he is just sitting on the couch and staring at the floor, his mind slowly filling with anxious and guilty thoughts about how angry Sunoo might be at him when he finally comes out of his heat and finds out what Jake has done.

And then the front door clicks open. 

Jake is snapped out of his thoughts as the powdery scent of his maknae starts to float down the quiet hallway. There are gentle shuffling sounds, likely Niki toeing off his shoes and setting down his gym bag that he will inevitably forget is there and abandon for four days. Soon enough Niki is appearing in the hallway entrance, looking a little surprised to see Jake still awake. 

“Hi, hyung,” Niki says, his voice hushed. “Why are you still awake? It’s kind of late.”

“Shouldn’t that be my line for you? You’re the maknae here,” Jake says, his tone teasing. Niki smiles in return, walking further into the living room and sitting down next to Jake. “I was just… waiting for Sunoo. His heat will probably be over soon.”

This seems to perk Niki up a little. “It will? How soon?” Jake chuckles. 

“I’m not sure. It could be any time now, but it also might still be a few hours,” Jake says. Niki visibly deflates again, and Jake can’t stop himself from prying; something is eating at his pup. “Niki-yah, are you okay? Like, really? Please don’t lie to me, I’ll know.”

Niki tenses, his eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights. He flounders for a few seconds, clearly wanting to just give Jake an excuse or brush off his concerns, but eventually he cracks. “All of you guys actually see me as one of your packmates, right?”

Of all the things Niki could have said, this was perhaps last on Jake’s list of guesses. He immediately grabs Niki’s hand in his own, squeezing it tightly. “What? Niki, of course we do. All of us do. Why would you even ask that? Did someone say something to you? Have you been reading weird things on Twitter again?”

“No, nobody said anything,” Niki quickly assures. “I just… whenever pack stuff happens, I always end up feeling like I’m getting left out of something. I know when you guys all presented, it was really hard for all of you, and for Jungwon since he had to deal with all of it. But it also sucked that I wasn’t allowed to help with anything . I couldn’t see any of you, I couldn’t help with giving you food or baths or whatever, I couldn’t even offer anything with a strong scent for your nest.”

Jake can feel his heart starting to split in half. “Niki-”

“And I know , I get that I was only fourteen and so you guys didn’t want me to see all of that stuff,” Niki says, rolling his eyes. Jake has to suppress a probably inappropriate laugh; Niki says ‘fourteen’ with the exhaustion of an elderly man, as though he’s not still only fifteen now. “But it still feels bad being the only one who isn’t allowed to do anything. I want to feel like I’m part of the pack too.” 

Jake waits a few seconds to make sure Niki is actually done this time. “Niki-yah, I promise you that we all see you as an equal pack member. Also, you are absolutely not missing anything that exciting. Heats and ruts and presentations aren’t exactly fun.”

“But they’re intimate ,” Niki says, his cheeks flushing pink from his choice of phrasing. “You all got closer after you presented. Something was different between you and everyone else, even Jungwon-hyung. But you all still treat me exactly the same as before. I don’t want to be left behind or to not be as close as the rest of you because I had to sit alone on the couch while you guys were getting closer every time someone went into heat or rut.”

Jake wants to argue further. He wants to tell Niki that it isn’t true, that he doesn’t treat Niki any differently than the rest of the members in their pack… but part of him knows deep down that Niki is right. They do all treat Niki differently, especially since their disastrous presentations and how poorly Niki handled the parts of it that he had been exposed to. They walk on eggshells with him, as though Niki might have a melt down at any hint of the interpersonal drama going on between them or suggestion that pack stuff has happened. Niki still doesn’t even know that Jake has staked a claim on Sunghoon. 

While Jake is still trying to decide what to say, another soft click sounds from somewhere down the hallway, followed by a hurried scamper and another door shutting. Jake sniffs the air and is relieved when the scent of roses and blossoms hits his nose. 

“Sunoo’s heat is over,” Jake says quickly, wanting to continue their conversation and not divert away from it, but this comment instantly commands all of Niki’s attention.

“Was that him? You could smell him?” he asks, his eyes glittering with excitement. Jake smiles and nods. 

“Yeah, it was definitely him. He’s probably taking a shower, heats are…” he wonders for a moment if he should continue saying what he’d been intending to, but Niki is now looking at him expectantly, and he just made a big fuss about how he was being treated differently. “… Kinda gross. And very wet. Showers afterwards are a must.”

Niki flushes an even deeper red and his head snaps in another direction so that he doesn’t have to look at Jake, but he doesn’t whine about the admission. “I see.”

Jake tries to shift in a different direction. “You seem very excited to see Sunoo,” he comments, just saying the first thing that comes to mind. This does not seem to do anything to help Niki’s embarrassment. 

“Yeah, I guess so,” Niki says, trying too hard to be nonchalant for it to be believable. “I mean, you guys all got to visit him a bunch, I haven’t seen him in three days.”

Jake smiles and considers his phrasing carefully. “You know that it’s okay if you missed him, right? It’s normal to miss people you’re in a pack with when you haven’t seen them in a while.” 

Niki stays silent for a few seconds. “… I did miss Sunoo-hyung. A lot,” he eventually admits, before turning to glare very seriously at Jake. His blush has made its way up to his ears. “But don’t tell him that! He’ll let it go to his head.”

Jake is unable to suppress his laugh at this, earning a frustrated smack on the arm from Niki. “I won’t! I swear I won’t,” Jake promises, but he is still smirking and chuckling, so Niki doesn’t seem to believe him. They get into a slightly more heated argument for a few minutes, first bickering about whether or not Jake can be trusted to keep Niki’s secret, then slowly shifting topics until they find themselves debating over which of them is better at playing soccer.

“Niki-yah, just accept that I’m better than you. I have three years of extra life experience, it’s only natural that I’d be better,” Jake says, making Niki huff with frustration.

“That doesn’t mean you have three years of extra soccer experience! Plus my age doesn’t stop me from being a better dancer than you, so how is soccer different?”  

“Don’t bring dancing into this, that’s not even relevant to soccer! And I do have more soccer experience, I was on a soccer team!”

Niki opens his mouth to continue arguing when the sound of the bathroom door opening interrupts him; immediately Niki is on his feet and disappearing down the hallway. Jake is endeared by his enthusiasm and quickly stands up himself, wanting to see Sunoo as well, but he ends up stopping at the entrance to the hallway because he absolutely refuses to interfere with the sweet moment occurring just outside the bathroom. Niki is standing in front of Sunoo while the omega cradles his face, Niki’s own hands gently gripping Sunoo by the elbows. Sunoo is cooing through a fond smile and rubbing their foreheads together, and both of their eyes are shut. Niki also has a bright smile on his face. It almost feels silly now that the maknae had been so worried about Jake telling Sunoo that he missed him; Niki has already made that pretty clear.

Eventually they both notice that Jake is standing there. Sunoo pulls back and smiles brightly; his hair is dripping a little onto his clothing, but he clearly looks better and cleaner than he has in days. 

“Hi, hyung! You’re both up awfully late, shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Sunoo asks, his tone verging on chastising. 

“I figured your heat would break soon, and I didn’t want you to be alone when you did,” Jake explains, which Sunoo quickly accepts. “And I assume Niki was just heading to bed?”

Niki frowns and looks like he wants to protest, but when he sees the pointed looks on both of the omegas’ faces, he rolls his eyes in defeat; clearly neither of them are willing to let their maknae stay up any later. “Yeah, fine. I’ll see you both in the morning then.” 

After a moment of hesitation, Niki shyly bumps temples with Sunoo one last time, making both of them smile. Once he has retreated to his bedroom, Sunoo turns back towards Jake.

“So, did you really stay up so that I wouldn’t be alone, or was there something else going on?” Sunoo asks. Jake sighs.

“I did stay up because I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t wake up alone… but I may have also had additional motives,” Jake admits, his own choice of words making him cringe. Sunoo nods and looks at him expectantly to continue. “I just really need to talk to you about something important, and I didn’t want to ignore it or beat around the bush this time.”

Sunoo nods again. “Sure. Do you want to help me dismantle the heat room so we can talk there? I know it’s kind of gross-”

“No, it’s fine,” Jake says. “I’ll come help.” 

The pair quietly make their way down the hall and into Sunoo’s heat room, not bothering to close the door since they will be going in and out to make trips to the laundry room. The room smells pungently of flowers and slick and sweat, and Sunoo looks momentarily unsure of where to start before moving to start ridding the bed of its several layers of sheets. Jake decides to deal with the canopy.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Sunoo asks. Jake can’t help but feel a bit of déjà vu; only days ago he’d been having a similarly serious conversation with Sunoo while building this same nest. He hopes that it will end the same way too, but his fingers aren’t crossed.

“On the first day of your heat, you asked me to make sure that Sunghoon wouldn’t come into the room while you were in heat,” Jake says nervously. Sunoo hums.

“Yes, I remember,” he says as though this recap wasn’t really needed. “And I assume you did, because he never came in.”

“Yeah,” Jake agrees. His stomach is doing somersaults. “Yeah, I did.”

Jake stalls for a few seconds too long and Sunoo sighs in exasperation. “Hyung, just tell me what happened. Clearly it’s bothering you,” he presses. Jake takes a deep breath. 

“I claimed Sunghoon,” Jake finally blurts out, his hands shaking. 

Sunoo doesn’t respond right away. Jake is faced away from him and finds that he can’t turn to look, terrified that he’s once again back to square one with Sunoo. He waits for the smell of rotting flowers to hit his nose and tries to stay calm enough that he won’t go into a frenzy when it happens.

“Okay.”

Jake spins around and looks at Sunoo, baffled. “O-Okay?”

“Okay,” Sunoo repeats. He hasn’t even paused from piling up the damp blankets and sheets, his expression completely neutral. Jake is floored .

“What do you mean okay ? I claimed him! While you were in heat! How can you not be even a little upset with me?” Jake asks frantically. After three days of working himself up over this, Jake cannot seem to accept such a calm reaction. Sunoo finally looks towards him, giving him a judgemental glare through narrowed eyes. 

“Why would I be? Like you said, I asked you to keep him out. I think a claim was a smart and effective way to do it,” Sunoo says, not a trace of a lie in his face or voice.

“B-but… but you also-”

“ Hyung ,” Sunoo interrupts, his tone patient but with an underlying exhaustion. Jake closes his mouth; Sunoo is very good at shutting him up. “We already talked about this. I said it was fine for you to court Sunghoon-hyung, I wasn’t lying to you or anything. And when I told you to keep him away, I assumed you’d do something like this. That’s why I asked you .”

Jake… really has no idea what to say. He’s played this scenario over in his head a hundred times since claiming Sunghoon, and in spite of Jay’s many, many reassurances, he genuinely never envisioned Sunoo being this calm about it. Sunoo turns back to Jake when he doesn’t respond, having gone back to cleaning while explaining his feelings.

“Listen, hyung, I get that you have, like… a hero complex about this situation or whatever because you don’t want to make me upset or uncomfortable. I was hoping that you’d be able to move past it once I told you that I would be fine if you courted Sunghoon-hyung, but apparently I didn’t make myself clear enough,” Sunoo says. Jake almost feels like he’s the dongsaeng being scolded by his hyung, and for a moment he envisions Sunoo as their head omega; he probably would have done a better job than he’s previously given himself credit for, but Jake’s omega also immediately rejects the idea. “So, let me make it as clear as I can, okay? You should court Sunghoon-hyung. It would even make me really happy if you did, because you are both my friends and I want you guys to be happy. In fact, constantly feeling pitied is so much worse, I would rather just feel bad about it on my own. So please, please stop worrying about me, stop feeling bad for me, and stop apologizing . Just court Sunghoon-hyung in whatever way feels right to you and trust that I am fine and handling my own feelings about it. Okay?”

Jake stares wide-eyed at Sunoo for a few seconds, processing everything that has just been said to him. And then he is flying towards the younger omega, wrapping him up in a hug around his neck and aggressively scenting him until Sunoo is laughing and trying to shove him away.

“I’m so sorry, Sunoo-yah,” he says, sniffling to keep the tears at bay. “I was so caught up in how I thought you would feel about everything that I didn’t consider that how I was acting might just make you feel worse. I should have just trusted that you were being honest when we talked about this last time instead of assuming you were sparing my feelings.”

Sunoo smiles and shifts so he can rub their temples together too, reciprocating the pack gesture. “It’s okay, hyung. I know it was only done out of love… and head omega hormones.”

Jake pulls back to frown deeply at Sunoo, ignoring that his cheeks are probably flaming. “Excuse me? Head omega hormones ? Are you trying to downplay how much I care about you?”

“No. But only a head omega would worry this much about hurting another pack mate even after talking about it,” Sunoo says with a laugh before his little smirk turns into a full teasing grin. “Tell your omega that he’s not my mom.”

Sunoo cackles as Jake attempts to scold him once more, and the sound soon has Jake laughing as well until a very sleepy Jay appears in the doorway to tell them to shut up.

~ * ~

Their managers grant them one more day off to feel regulated after a pack disruption, which all of them are grateful for since the next thing on their schedule is their very first fan meet, and the last thing they need is for Engenes to catch on to what they’ve actually been doing for the last few days; Sunoo’s second gender is still a secret to the public. They all make the most of the extra day: Jungwon does another shopping trip for groceries, Jay and Heeseung go to the gym to work off three days of pent-up energy, and Sunoo recruits Jake to help him finish the laundry that they hadn’t finished the night before. Niki also offers to help with dismantling the nest, but Sunoo rejects the offer, his cheeks flushed a light pink, so Niki dejectedly goes to the gym with Heeseung and Jay. 

And Sunghoon makes the most of his day by staying glued to Jake. 

Jake knows it’s still just because of the claim—the bite mark has already significantly faded, but until it completely disappears, the effects of it will continue—but he’s trying to help Sunoo clean his nest, and Sunghoon constantly trying to scent him is making it far more difficult than it should be. Part of the issue is definitely that it’s Sunoo , and as much as Jake is really trying, he’s still struggling to take Sunoo’s words to heart that it’s okay for him to have a relationship with Sunghoon. He does his best to only indulge in Sunghoon’s affection whenever they’re alone, like in the laundry room when Jake is taking blankets out of the washing machine and switching them to the drier, or in the kitchen after offering to make lunch for all of them, but Sunghoon doesn’t have the same hangups and happily clings to Jake’s back regardless of who is around. 

And true to his word, Sunoo doesn’t so much as flinch whenever Sunghoon suddenly starts nosing at Jake’s neck or when Jake reappears in his heat room smelling strongly of Sunghoon, and that is enough to finally start putting Jake’s mind at ease that courting Sunghoon isn’t going to destroy their pack. By the end of the day, he finds himself able to just relax into Sunghoon’s arms instead of feeling the need to squirm away for fear of Sunoo seeing.

It becomes a little more challenging once they’re back to their regular schedule, since Sunghoon obviously can’t be so clingy during their fanmeets. However, he is immediately plastered to Jake whenever they go backstage, getting as much cuddle time in as possible before they have to be on stage again. They go home afterwards and surprise Jungwon with a cake that they’d made in advance for his birthday, which is enough of a surprise that it almost moves their young leader to tears. Jake keeps himself pressed into Sunghoon’s side as they eat their cake, suppressing the urge to just climb right into his lap; the one person he’s continued to be exceptionally cautious around with Sunghoon is Niki, so sitting in his lap isn’t really an option with Niki a few feet away. Keeping this a secret has opened a new type of guilt in Jake after their discussion about their maknae feeling left out of their pack, but he really thinks it would be best to talk to Niki first instead of letting him find out because Sunghoon physically cannot keep his hands off of Jake due to a claiming bite.

Once they’re finished with their bathroom routines and ready to go to bed for the evening, Sunghoon all but begs Jake to share a bed for the night, feeling exceptionally deprived after two days of restraint and unwilling to be separated. Jake shoots Jay apologetic puppy eyes, and Jay rolls his eyes in response.

“Whatever, but I’m not sleeping in there tonight then,” Jay grumbles, taking his favourite blanket to presumably either sleep with Jungwon, or on Heeseung’s floor. Jake hopes Niki won’t question why they’re choosing to share a bed, but it seems he’s too preoccupied with asking to share Sunoo’s bed to even notice. Jake quickly shuffles Sunghoon into his bedroom, and they waste very little time before getting into bed. For a moment Jake is struck with the fear that Sunghoon might be expecting them to do something sexual, since they’re alone and in Jake’s bed. And it’s not that Jake doesn’t want to, but he knows it would be wrong to do it when Sunghoon is still claimed. It never ends up happening, though; Sunghoon just gets into the bed, laying on his back and urging Jake to lie down with him so that they can go to bed. Jake eagerly curls up onto his chest and falls asleep to the scent of coffee and vanilla pressed into his nose.

The feeling of Sunghoon shifting underneath him is what eventually wakes Jake up in the morning. He feels exceptionally well-rested, like Sunghoon’s presence had been the best sleeping pill imaginable, and when he manages to slowly blink the sleep out of his eyes, he’s pleasantly surprised to find Sunghoon already looking at him. For the first time in days, Jake feels like he is able to truly relax with Sunghoon. So much of his focus had been going to making sure that he and Sunghoon were acting appropriately around everyone else that he couldn’t allow himself to fully lean into all of the attention he was getting, but alone in his room, with Sunghoon looking soft and sleepy and the first light of morning just barely streaming through the blinds, all Jake can think about is how badly he wants to kiss him. 

Jake opens his mouth to say good morning when something else catches his eye, causing him to interrupt himself. “The bite is gone.”

Sunghoon reaches up to rub his neck where the claim had been, and sure enough it is back to being perfectly smooth; there isn’t so much as a blemish. “It is. I guess that’s good, the managers would probably stop brushing it off if we insisted on high necks for me again today.”

Jake flushes, dropping his gaze. “Sorry, that was probably annoying for you.”

“It’s fine,” Sunghoon says easily. When Jake glances back up, he has a gentle smile on his face. Jake wants to kiss him so bad . “But I guess I don’t have an excuse to hold you all the time anymore.”

Jake snorts. “You don’t need an excuse, just hold me whenever you want.” He pushes himself up off of Sunghoon’s chest until he is kneeling and able to stretch his arms up into the air. Sunghoon’s eyes rake over his body as his shirt rides up, and Jake wants to kiss him. He wants to kiss Sunghoon, and he wants Sunghoon to court him now that the claim is over. So he does his best to make that intention obvious. “It’s better for us to not have an excuse anyway.”

Sunghoon sits up on his elbows and gives Jake a weird look. “What do you mean?”

It takes all of Jake’s energy not to roll his eyes; he forgot just how dense Sunghoon can be sometimes. He will have to try making himself clearer. “Don’t you like us better like this too? When both of us have clear heads and… a-and can be honest about how we actually feel?” Jake asks. He leans back onto his hands so that he’s closer to Sunghoon while feeling like his heart is going to beat all the way out of his chest.

He wants to kiss Sunghoon so badly.

Ask to court me, Sunghoon, ask to court me.

Sunghoon is silent for a few seconds, an unreadable expression blooming on his face. Jake watches him expectantly until he suddenly sits all the way up, so fast that for a glorious moment Jake thinks that he is about to get that kiss, but instead Sunghoon grabs his shoulders and gently pushes him further back. Jake’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“I… y-yeah, I guess. Me too,” Sunghoon says finally, quickly sliding past Jake and out of the bed. Jake tries to grab his wrist as he stands up, but he’s moving too fast. 

“S-Sunghoon-ah, are you okay?” Jake asks, feeling a bit frantic from how strange he’s acting. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” Sunghoon mumbles in response. “We just have a long day, I should probably go get dressed. I don’t want to make us late.”

Jake practically jumps out of bed as Sunghoon makes his way to the door, completely lost about what caused the sudden switch in behaviour. “Sunghoon-”

“I’ll see you later, Jake-yah.” And then Sunghoon is gone. Jake stares in shock at his closed bedroom door. 

Did… did he just get rejected ?

~ * ~

“Jungwon-ah you said he likes me!”

“He does!” Jungwon says, grabbing onto Jake’s hand. The pair of them are hiding out in one of the heat rooms, mostly so that Jake can loudly vent without them being overheard or disturbed. “Hyung, I swear I wouldn’t lie to you. And it wasn’t just me, right? Sunoo-hyung and Jay-hyung thought so too. There’s no way Sunghoon-hyung doesn’t want to court you.”

“Then why has he been avoiding me since yesterday morning?” Jake asks, feeling like he could burst out crying. Ever since their very strange exchange, Sunghoon has been avoiding him like the plague, doing everything in his power to not stand or sit near him, and leaving immediately whenever they’re left alone together for even a second. Only during their early birthday live stream for Jungwon did Sunghoon pay any attention to him at all so as to not worry Engenes, but otherwise he goes out of his way to stay as far from Jake as possible. It has been eating Jake up, knowing that he must have done something to upset Sunghoon but not knowing what it was. “The only thing I can think of is the claiming bite, Jungwon-ah. What if he’s mad about it? If he never liked me, then he probably thinks I’m a weird possessive creep now.”

“No catastrophizing on my birthday,” Jungwon scolds gently. Both of them are currently also eating bites of Jungwon’s second birthday cake in between talking. “I’m positive that Sunghoon-hyung likes you, okay? Something else had to have happened.”

“But what ? What did I do?!”

“I…” Jungwon lets out a tired sigh, and Jake immediately feels bad. “I don’t know, hyung. I don’t know.”

Jake sighs. “… I’m sorry Jungwon. I just don’t know what to do… I thought I was finally going to start courting Sunghoon and now he won’t even talk to me.” Jungwon nods.

“I understand. It’s a frustrating situation to be in,” Jungwon agrees. “I’ll talk to Jay-hyung and ask him to try talking to Sunghoon-hyung about it, but he’s really hard to get that kind of information out of.” Jake is about to thank Jungwon for the offer when he notices that Jungwon looks a bit more haggard than usual, particularly after mentioning Jay. He has bags under his eyes, a small frown on his lips, and his shoulders sag once he has brought up Jay; he really seems to be upset beyond what Jake’s relationship with Sunghoon is likely to cause. He isn’t even really eating his cake, just stabbing it with his fork over and over.

“Jungwon-ah, are you okay?” Jake asks. Jungwon’s eyes widen and he quickly straightens his back. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“You just look… I don’t know. Unwell. Did something happen to you ?” 

Jungwon sighs and curls his legs up to his chest, pulling his hand away from Jake’s. He looks like he’s not sure he wants to share what he’s thinking, but eventually relents. “After the live stream yesterday, the managers pulled me aside for a private meeting.” Jake nods, remembering that happening. It seemed somewhat sudden, but he just assumed it was something leader-related. “I, um… I got in trouble for being ‘too affectionate’ with Jay-hyung during the live.”

“ What ?” Jake says, genuinely baffled. “What exactly is ‘too affectionate’?”

Jungwon shrugs dejectedly. “I was just touching him a lot, I called him cute, I gave him the challenge where he had to smile and act happy whenever I said anything.” Jungwon rolls his eyes. “And it probably didn’t help that Sunghoon-hyung guessed I’d pick Jay-hyung for that one. I guess all of it together was considered too much, so I was given a warning that I can’t act like that with him anymore.”

Jake completely forgets about any of the issues he’s been having with Sunghoon in favour of being furious on Jungwon’s behalf. “We’re packmates, all of us are going to be affectionate to a certain extent with each other. Also you and Jay have had a close bond since I-Land, and Engenes love it. Getting mad about it is so stupid.” 

Jungwon shrugs again. “I guess, but…” he sighs loudly and rubs his face with the palms of his hands. “I’m supposed to be the leader and set a good example for everyone, even though most of you guys are my hyungs. What kind of leader am I if I’m getting in trouble for being too affectionate? What if our managers decide they’ve made a mistake and demote me?”

Jake snorts. “I’d like to see them try. You haven’t even presented yet and all of us have already accepted you as our pack leader, and that’s going to trump anything our managers try to do. Also who would they replace you with? You’re meant to be our leader.”

Jungwon smiles gently, leaning in to rub his temple against Jake’s. “Thanks, hyung. It means a lot to me.” Jake happily reciprocates the gesture and Jungwon smiles even bigger. “And I hope whatever is going on with Sunghoon-hyung settles soon.”

“Thanks, Jungwon-ah.”

~ * ~

“Jake-yah, do you have time to help me with my English a bit more?”

Jake sits up from where he had slumped over onto the island to look at Heeseung, who is holding a stack of pages in his hands. They’d been introduced to their brand new songs for their next comeback first thing that morning, and spent the next twelve hours in the studio learning how to sing them. Jake definitely doesn’t have all of the lyrics memorized, and probably won’t for another week or two, but he really likes how all of them sound and is excited to eventually record and perform them. The excitement of it all left everyone riding a high for the entire day, combatting how otherwise long and tiring it was. 

However, while everyone else had spent the day bouncing off the walls, Jake started to feel just a bit unwell about halfway through the day. He had been able to push through it for the sake of everyone else, not wanting to put a damper on their enthusiasm, but by the time they got back home late in the evening, Jake felt like he could sleep for a month, and his back was aching on top of that. His mood was further soured by Sunghoon announcing that he was going to hang back and go to the gym; he claimed that he wanted to make the most of his adrenaline rush, but Jake knew he was still just avoiding him. Despite the passage of an entire week and Jake’s multiple attempts to confront him, Sunghoon had been continuing to do everything in his power to ignore Jake at all costs, and the frustration of that mixed with feeling a bit sick had Jake wanting nothing more than to rest alone in his room.

Except that Jay had the same thought and came to rest in their room, which ended up attracting Jungwon into the room, and then Sunoo, and then Niki, at which point all four of them were chatting up a storm just feet away from where Jake was trying to rest. At that point Jake felt so overstimulated by all of their talking that his skin started to crawl, so he retreated out to their main living space with the excuse of wanting a snack. He’d initially gone to lay on the couch, but found that he was too warm laying there, which is how he’d ended up at the island, cheek pressed against the cool countertop. 

“Sure, hyung,” Jake mumbles as he rubs his eyes to help wake himself up. Heeseung had been very self conscious of his English pronunciation while they were practicing their intro track together, in spite of Jake’s many reassurances that he sounded perfectly fine. “Is there anything specific you want help with?”

Heeseung takes a seat beside Jake and sets down one of the lyric sheets, scanning over it slowly. His lines have been highlighted in bright pink; it’s the only track where they’d already discussed line distribution. “I still don’t think I’m saying festival of blood correctly,” he says, intentionally butchering the words a little to hide whether or not he’s actually saying them wrong. “And this word, there’s , I feel like I’m always slurring it.”

“Well there’s is a contraction, so it will sound a bit slurred. You said it fine just now,” Jake says, looking down at the piece of paper to read over the lines. “Repeat this part again for me? Festival of blood .”

Heeseung repeats it out loud a few times, this time putting in actual effort to copy the way Jake is saying it, and Jake nods approvingly. After a few minutes of this, Heeseung turns to Jake and narrows his eyes. “I’m not going to sound Australian when I say it now, am I?”

Jake scoffs, feigning offense. “Excuse me, what’s wrong with sounding Australian? You should have asked for Jay’s help if you wanted an American accent,” he says as Heeseung snickers. “Honestly, though, I think festival of blood sounds mostly the same in an Australian accent as it does in an American one. So you’re probably fine.”

Heeseung nods, then looks back at the paper, repeating his lines under his breath. Jake rests his cheek back on the counter and closes his eyes, suddenly hit with another wave of fatigue even worse than the last one. He lets out a small breath of relief when the cold countertop touches his shockingly warm cheek, but does his best to otherwise hide how he’s feeling. Except he clearly doesn’t do a very good job, because a minute later Heeseung’s hand is on his forehead. Jake’s eyes flutter open as the touch sends a weird electric shock through his body, and he instinctively pushes back insistently against Heeseung’s hand to encourage it further. Heeseung responds by starting to pet his hair, and it takes all of Jake’s willpower not to whine loudly from how nice it feels. 

“Are you feeling okay, Jakey? You look a bit sick, to be honest,” Heeseung says as he gently tucks Jake’s hair behind his ear. Jake huffs and closes his eyes again. 

“I don’t know. I’ve just been feeling kind of off for the last few hours,” he says. 

Heeseung doesn’t respond immediately, his hand pausing in its movements. “Off how?”

“ I don’t know ,” Jake repeats, not really in the mood for being questioned. He does wiggle his head a bit though, prompting Heeseung to continue petting his hair. “I’m just tired and my back hurts. And I feel a bit warm, like I might have…” A small grin spreads on Jake’s face as he realizes the opportunity he has. “A fever, fever, fever, fever .”

Heeseung snorts and tugs on Jake’s hair as he sings out their new lyrics. “You can’t be that sick if you’re still able to make stupid jokes,” Heeseung teases, making Jake giggle. He once again goes silent for a few seconds before taking his hand out of Jake’s hair completely. “Jakey, can you sit up for a second?”

Jake whines in protest, but does as he’s asked, though his eyes stay shut. He waits for Heeseung to give him more instructions, only to be startled by the feeling of Heeseung’s hand on his jaw and then gently tilting his head back. Jake’s eyes snap open as he feels Heeseung’s nose brush against his neck, sniffing at his scent glands for just a second before he pulls away completely. It feels very reminiscent of the first time Heeseung scented him after he presented, although he’s grateful that at least there isn’t an audience this time. Jake is sure his cheeks are bright red, and he fleetingly resents that Heeseung always knows exactly what to do to make him feel embarrassed. 

“W-What was that for?” Jake asks. Heeseung puts a hand on his thigh.

“I think you’ve gone into preheat.”

Jake blinks once. Twice. Then groans loudly and slumps defeatedly in his chair like he’s been told he has multiple days straight of dance practice. Heeseung gives his thigh a pat, then removes his hand. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Are you sure?” Jake asks desperately. 

“I mean, I think so? It would explain the fever and lethargy,” Heeseung reasons. “And your scent smells a bit like Sunoo’s did while he was in preheat, though not as strong yet. Plus you and Sunoo presented, what, two days apart? So it makes sense that your heats would be close together too.”

“I guess,” Jake mutters. He’s still not happy about it though. “I don’t feel mentally prepared at all . I honestly kind of forgot I’d go into heat at some point.” Heeseung laughs. 

“Sorry about your luck, I guess. And that you have to deal with your first heat already,” Heeseung says. It makes Jake envious for a moment; while omegas go into heat every four months, alphas only go into rut every six months, so Heeseung, Jay, and Sughoon aren’t due for another rut until sometime in April. “I won’t lie, I was going to try to convince you to make ramyeon for us once we both got sick of hearing me speak in English, but since you’re going into your first preheat, I will treat you and cook for us tonight.”

Jake smiles and rests his cheek back on the countertop as Heeseung stands up to start cooking. “You would have been waiting for a while, I like hearing you speak in English. It’s already improved a lot, you know.”

Although Jake’s eyes are closed, and the sound of boiling water has filled their kitchen, Jake can still hear the smile in Heeseung’s voice. “Thanks, Jake.”

~ * ~

Being in preheat is both much worse and much easier than Jake was expecting after watching Sunoo go through it. He has the same fever, and the lethargy as well, but feels far less clingy towards the alphas than Sunoo seemed to be. Although he definitely appreciates the increased affection and attention from Jay, Heeseung, and especially Sunghoon, it’s very rare that he finds himself seeking them out on his own. Often just wearing one of their sweaters is enough to keep his omega calm and assured that his alphas are nearby. It may also be related to the fact that now Sunghoon can’t seem to keep himself away from Jake, constantly hovering nearby and watching him carefully in contrast to how heavily he was previously avoiding him. He still won’t be alone with Jake and speaks to him as infrequently as possible, but Jake doesn’t even care. His omega preens at even that much attention, happy to be getting anything after several weeks of minimal contact with Sunghoon, but it does also make Jake wish even more that Sunghoon would just explain what is wrong instead of dancing around him like this. 

However, while Sunoo was never drawn to do more than provide Jungwon and Niki with a bit more attention than usual, Jake feels like he’s going to have a panic attack if he’s away from their pups for more than an hour or two. Neither of them minds it much, happy to soak up all of the extra affection and food that their head omega feels the need to lavish upon them, but it does become a problem when Jungwon is called into a private meeting with their managers and has to leave for several hours. He does his best to text Jake every half hour or so, reassuring him that he’s still fine and there’s no need to worry, but they still end up having to cuddle for almost forty-five minutes after Jungwon gets home before Jake feels settled again. 

On the third day of Jake’s preheat, they are thankfully given a pretty easy schedule with just a meeting for them to review their upcoming obligations, of which there are many with a comeback on the horizon. All of them have to have their hair cut and dyed in preparation for multiple massive photoshoots that will eventually result in concept photos, photocards, and other album inclusions. They also still need to film the final episode of Enhypen&Hi Season 2, and they’ve been asked to each come up with a few ideas for the upcoming show on their YouTube channel, En-O’Clock. Although they’ve been asked to focus on ideas that are achievable within the HYBE building for the first season, they’ve also been asked to think of bigger ideas that require more planning time for future seasons of the show. They’re each given a two-month calendar listing all of the dates for styling, photo shoots, filming, and costume fittings for their second music video, followed by a quick meeting with their stylists to do final confirmations regarding their hair and makeup for each concept, and then they are sent home. Jake is grateful for the much shorter day; the previous one had been mostly dedicated to learning some of the choreography for their title track, which was very fun, but very physically exhausting. 

As Enhypen exit the HYBE building, Jake is a bit surprised to see two travel vans waiting for them. For the last week or so they’d been lucky enough to get a larger van that was able to fit all seven of them, but apparently that luck has run out and they are back to two vans. The rest of Enhypen are silent as Jake stares at the cars, knowing that they will be expecting him to pick who he wants in his van. He knows right away who he wants—Sunghoon, Jungwon, and Niki—but before he can even open his mouth to voice this, Jake feels a hand on his elbow. He glances to his left to see Heeseung looking down at him with a somewhat serious expression.

“Make sure you’re choosing with your head,” Heeseung whispers, as though he’s just read Jake’s mind and isn’t a fan of his choices, and it’s enough to make Jake pause and think very seriously about the three people he’s selected. If he goes into heat in the van, and Sunghoon really does like him despite his recent actions suggesting otherwise, then it will send Sunghoon into rut, and if that happens, then having Jungwon and Niki be the other two people in the van will definitely not end well. He and Sunghoon would likely just terrify their pups while also having nobody to actually stop the situation from… escalating. And although Jake thinks it’s unlikely that his heat will start this early, nor is he as confident anymore that Sunghoon likes him, it’s also better to be safe than sorry. So he decides to adjust his choices just slightly.

“Sunghoon, Niki, Heeseung-hyung, come with me,” Jake says. Just as they’d done with Sunoo, nobody questions Jake’s decision as they walk to their respective vehicles. Sunghoon climbs in first, sitting in one of the middle seats. Jake is about to sit beside him, his omega itching to curl up next to the alpha and finally soak up some proper attention from him, when once again a hand tugs on his elbow and someone’s breath ghosts the back of his ear.

“Jake-yah, I’m serious about thinking with your head. Your scent is different than it was this morning, I don’t think sitting with Sunghoon is a good idea,” Heeseung says calmly. Alarm shoots down Jake’s at this comment, and before Jake has time to think about it any further, he climbs into the back seat instead. Sunghoon surprisingly looks hurt by this, the emotion quickly overshadowed by something angrier as Heeseung also gets into the back and wraps an arm around Jake’s shoulder. Niki takes his seat next to Sunghoon, oblivious to the high emotions now coursing through the rest of the van, and then they’re on the road. 

Heeseung’s claim that his scent has changed has Jake far more on edge than he wants to admit, since it presumably suggests that he is in the final hours of his preheat. After Sunoo’s preheat took so long to break, Jake was convinced that he’d have the same amount of time to get ready, so the fact that his has come on so fast has him worried; he doesn’t even have a nest prepared yet, only the basic sheet and comforters have been set up in his heat room. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and opens his chat with Sunoo, typing out a request to help build a nest as soon as they’re back at the dorm. Sunoo replies back in seconds with a “ sure, hyung! I’d love to help ” and a bunch of cute stickers. 

Jake is about to go to their group chat to make an open request for nesting materials when the pungent smell of vanilla and slightly bitter coffee hits him, so strong he actually has to cover his nose with his hand. He’s embarrassed by how appealing it is to him despite the fact that it’s all but burning his nose, his omega instantly becoming excited by the smell of his favourite alpha; he’s felt horrifically deprived of Sunghoon’s scent, having been cut cold turkey after a week of nearly 24/7 scenting, so the sudden wall of it makes Jake feel like he’s going to melt into a puddle. The scent is so strong that it almost smells like Sunghoon is trying to scent him from across the car. Jake tries to keep his breathing even as the smell gets continuously stronger, but he’s sure Heeseung can feel him practically shaking under his arm after only a minute or two. Jake feels a throb low in his stomach when another wave of the scent washes over him, and that is enough to force a small whimper past his lips.

“Sunghoon-ah,” Heeseung finally says, his tone laced with warning. “Knock it off.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Sunghoon snaps back, despite the fact that all three of them can tell that it’s obviously not true. Heeseung lets out a low growl, his own scent flaring slightly to emphasize his authority, but this only seems to make Sunghoon angrier.

“I said knock it off . Jake is in preheat, be respectful,” Heeseung says, shifting his hold on Jake to tuck him a little further into his side. The increasingly strong scent of two alphas fighting for dominance has Jake feeling lightheaded, and despite knowing he should probably tell them that, he’s starting to find it difficult to string the right words together. 

“H-Hee… hyung, I-”

“I said I’m not doing anything, ” Sunghoon says, finally turning around so he can bare his teeth and growl back, much louder than Heeseung had. Jake suddenly remembers that Niki is also in the car, anxiety spiking when he glances towards their maknae to see him looking terrified, his body leaned as far away from Sunghoon as possible. 

“ Yes you are , and you know that you are,” Heeseung says, raising his voice just slightly and releasing even more of his dominant scent; Jake gasps, but nobody seems to notice. Sunghoon pauses at the accusation, and Heeseung softens. “You don’t have anything to prove to me, alright, pup? Just calm down.”

Sunghoon avoids looking Heeseung in the eye. “… I know, hyung, I’m sor-”

“ Hyung ,” Jake wails softly, grabbing Heeseung’s thigh in a death grip. All eyes snap to him. “H-hyung, s-something is wrong.” Jake’s thoughts are too scrambled to be any more specific. He is vaguely aware that he must have gone into heat, but he is also pretty sure that Sunoo was far more lucid than he currently feels, and that fact alarms him even through the haze in his head. It doesn’t help that instead his mind is mostly a mess of jumbled, discordant thoughts: that everyone is being too loud, and he doesn’t want to be in the car, he wants to be in his nest , and as much as he feels safe being curled up next to an alpha from his pack, he wants to be curled up next to his alpha, who is so close to him and smells so good but there is a seat between them, and also his pants are wet -

“Jakey,” Heeseung says, interrupting his train of thought. His arm tightens around Jake but his tone is still calm and collected, which allows Jake to relax again. “Just hold on, okay? We’re almost home.”

“Hyung, what’s wrong?” Niki asks, his eyes wide with concern as he turns more fully to look at Jake. He tries to open his mouth to respond, wanting to reassure his maknae that he’s okay, but he’s once again lost control of his words. He instead reaches a hand out, which Niki quickly takes, but it doesn’t seem to actually calm the pup down at all. Niki instead turns to Heeseung, looking at him for answers.

“Niki-yah, you need to call Jay and tell him that Jake has gone into heat, okay? He’ll understand what to do,” Heeseung says. Niki frantically nods and pulls out his phone while Heeseung turns towards Sunghoon. His face has shifted into an eerily blank stare, and Heeseung positions himself to be slightly more in between him and Jake. “Sunghoon-ah? Do you feel okay?” Heeseung asks, sounding a bit more on edge than he’d been with Niki or Jake. Sunghoon doesn’t respond.

“-Jake-hyung’s heat started…” Niki’s voice comes back into focus. “… No, he’s sitting with Heeseung-hyung, why?”

A low growl rumbles through the car at the same time that Jake smells it: Sunghoon’s scent of expensive coffee and vanilla becomes laced with arousal and the undeniable scent of rut. As he slowly looks up to make eye contact with Sunghoon, his omega immediately becomes excited to a point beyond his control, every cell in his body begging him to rip himself away from Heeseung and climb over the seat into Sunghoon’s lap. However, in response to the growl, Heeseung’s grip on him only tightens even further and he curls himself even more around Jake’s body to put a barrier between him and Sunghoon. Jake lets out an involuntary, high-pitched cry, and the grip he still has on Heeseung’s thigh tightens to the point that he is probably going to leave bruises. Upon hearing the pained noise, Sunghoon’s growl turns into a fully feral snarl at Heeseung, one which Heeseung quickly returns. Jake instinctively cowers away, uncomfortable being caught between a pair of fighting alphas.

And yet, in between the anxiety he feels about the tense situation erupting around him, one thought plays on repeat in the still-aware part of Jake’s mind: Sunghoon likes me back, Sunghoon likes me back.

“Sunghoon, stand down ,” Heeseung snaps, once again releasing his dominant scent in an attempt to make Sunghoon more agreeable. It does make Jake feel even more lightheaded and unaware of his surroundings, but Sunghoon continues to snap and growl aggressively even as Heeseung attempts to make him submit. The only thing stopping the younger alpha from jumping over the seat is his seat belt, which he is too heated to figure out how to undo. 

“ My omega ,” Sunghoon seethes, baring his teeth at Heeseung. “ Get your hands off of my omega .” Jake is embarrassed when his heart flutters from the demand, and even more so when he feels himself getting wetter. The knowledge that both alphas can probably smell him slicking up from their fight has Jake’s final sliver of awareness wishing the ground would swallow him whole.

The scent only seems to make Sunghoon even more aggressive and snappy towards Heeseung, though, which in turn causes Heeseung to become even more defensive. Somewhere in his subconscious, Jake knows that Heeseung is trying to protect them both, as well as Enhypen’s reputation, but right now all he can think about is how badly he wants Sunghoon to take care of him, to fuck him full until they’re knotted together. Jake continues to whine and cry, weakly pushing against Heeseung’s hold so that he can get to Sunghoon, while the alphas continue to growl and posture at each other as best they can while confined inside a car.

A small whimper is what finally breaks Jake’s attention away from the alphas. He looks to see Niki with tears streaming down his cheeks and looking absolutely terrified, his eyes darting back and forth between the two alphas as he tries to lean almost out of his seat to get away from them. He still has his phone pressed to his ear, suggesting he is still on the phone with Jay, but he is visibly shaking and seems too petrified to move or even say anything. Everything else stops in Jake’s mind, his omega now fully focused on Niki.

My baby is scared. The alphas are scaring my baby.

“ Enough ,” Jake snarls, first making eye contact with Sunghoon and then turning to do the same with Heeseung. Instantly they both fall silent, staring wide-eyed at Jake. He’s surprised to hear the authority in his own tone, and even more surprised that both of them respond to it so fast.  “Stop, no more of that.”

Heeseung and Sunghoon stare at each other awkwardly as Jake watches them both carefully. He glances at Niki, who still seems guarded, but at least is no longer actively crying. Jake goes to reach out to take his hand again, but Heeseung mistakes the action for him attempting to reach towards Sunghoon and once again tightens his hold on the omega to stop him. Sunghoon lets out a low rumble at the action, not even a full growl, but it’s enough to set Jake off. He immediately turns and growls directly at Sunghoon.

“ I said enough ,” Jake hisses, his voice once again full of dominance to make his point clear. Sunghoon tucks his head in, submitting right away to the authority of his head omega despite his earlier defiance to Heeseung, and although a large part of Jake is pleased that another one of his packmates has acknowledged his place in their pack hierarchy, he struggles to ignore the part of him that cringes at the sight of his chosen alpha submitting to him.

Jake is about to make a second attempt at comforting their maknae when suddenly the door to the van is wrenched open; Jake hadn’t even noticed that they had stopped moving. Niki practically flies out of the car, clearly wanting to get away from everyone else in the van as fast as possible, and then Jay appears. Without stopping to even ask questions, he reaches into the van and grabs Sunghoon by the back of the neck, tugging him out like a pup in some serious trouble. Jake lets out a loud wail and tries to wrench himself away from Heeseung so he can follow them, but Heeseung holds him in place and shushes him gently until his body crumples up in defeat. Then Heeseung quickly follows Jay, running to catch up and wrapping a hand around Sunghoon’s bicep to help lead him as well. Sunghoon resorts back to growling and snarling at both of the other alphas, but neither seem to pay him any mind as they drag him into the building, completely focused on just getting him back to the dorm.

“Come on, hyung, your turn,” Sunoo says, startling Jake away from Sunghoon’s retreating figure. Jake sniffles and realizes that he had started crying at some point. “I was just giving them a bit of a head start so that we don’t end up in the lobby or elevator together.” He takes Jake by the hands and leads him out of the car far more gently than Jay had with Sunghoon. Once out of the car, Jungwon also steps in to help, as Jake can barely even hold himself up, let alone walk, and Sunoo can’t carry him by himself. They shuffle Jake inside and up to their dorm, thankfully not running into anyone on the way there, including their own packmates. 

Once inside the dorm, Jungwon and Sunoo immediately pull Jake towards one of the heat rooms, not even bothering to undress themselves at all. Jake whines and weakly asks to be brought to his alpha when he catches Sunghoon’s lingering rut scent in the hallway, but both of his younger packmates just shush him. They are about to go into the heat room that Jake used for his presentation when they are suddenly accosted at the doorway by Niki. Jake’s heart immediately breaks all over again when Niki leans in close to his face, looking completely and utterly betrayed. The tear tracks on his face aren’t dry.

“Hyung, you promised me this wouldn’t happen again,” Niki says, clearly trying to sound angry and accusatory but mostly just sounding devastated. “You said I could trust Sunghoon and that I didn’t need to worry about you. You promised .”

Jake can’t even think of what to say in response, but Jungwon quickly jumps in and whisks Niki away, whispering something to their maknae that Jake has no hope of hearing. Sunoo takes the opportunity to pull Jake the rest of the way into the heat room, depositing him on the bed and turning on the fairy lights already strung up around the room. Jake whines again from the lack of an actual nest, and Sunoo gives him a small cuddle in response. 

“Okay, hyung, I’m going to get stuff to build your nest with. Just stay here and do whatever you need to feel comfortable,” Sunoo says, pulling Jake close enough to rub their foreheads together for a moment before disappearing back out the door. 

For a few moments, Jake feels completely lost. Sunghoon’s rut scent is still making him feel a bit dazed, the scent of it clinging onto his clothing due to their close proximity in the car, and the confusion clouding his mind makes it difficult to figure out what he wants other than Sunghoon’s cock. Eventually he starts stripping himself bare, throwing most of his clothes onto the floor, but piling his shirt and sweater up near his head. Slick coats the back of his thighs, and despite knowing that Sunoo isn’t going to take that long to get him nesting materials, he feels like he’s going to collapse if he doesn’t get off.

Leaning himself forward so that his hips are in the air and his face is buried in his own clothes still covered in Sunghoon’s rut scent, Jake doesn’t hesitate to take his cock in his hand and start stroking. He gasps loudly as he envisions Sunghoon’s hand around him instead, breathing in the alpha’s scent as he starts picking up the pace. It doesn’t take long for his omega to start begging for something more, begging to be filled up by his alpha’s cock. Feeling far less anxiety about it than he had during his presentation, Jake listens to the request immediately and reaches behind himself to rub the rim of his slick entrance with his fingers. He moans softly as he pushes one in, quickly realizing that he is already open enough to take at least two and slipping in another. The feeling of his fingers stretching him open is far more satisfying than the hand on his cock, and so all of his focus goes towards speeding up that movement. 

In only minutes Jake finds himself sobbing, already on the verge of an orgasm. He pretends it’s Sunghoon behind him, vigorously fingering him open while telling him what a good job he’s doing, that he’s going to look so pretty stretched on his knot. Jake gasps and keens just at the thought of Sunghoon being here with him, the scent from the shirt and sweater feeding into Jake’s fantasies of his body getting locked onto Sunghoon’s cock and pumped full of come. He moves the hand still weakly holding onto his dick to his stomach, pressing on it like he might be able to feel a cock or the swell of come filling him up, and he’s almost disappointed to find it flat. Loud whines echo through the bare room as he adds a third finger and rubs the tips into his prostate.

“My omega,” Sunghoon’s voice suddenly rings through his head, much more clearly than his previous fantasies, as clear as it had been when he’d said the words in the car. “ Get your hands off of my omega.”

Jake cries out as his orgasm sneaks up on him, his entrance clenching around his fingers as he comes. He expects it to be as intense and mind-blowing as his orgasms had been during his presentation, and although it does still feel better than a normal orgasm, for some reason it doesn’t feel quite as earth-shattering as he recalls them being. Perhaps Jake had just been misremembering, his memory clouded by how overstimulating presentations are.

He still breathes heavily as he slowly comes down from the high of coming, pulling out his fingers and cringing at the feeling of even more slick dripping down his thighs into the crevices at the back of his knees. He slowly moves back into a sitting position, ignoring that it feels kind of gross due to the amount of slick pooling under him, and tries not to be embarrassed about how quickly he’d managed to get himself off, considering Sunoo has yet to make a re-entrance. He definitely feels clearer of mind now that he’s had an orgasm, especially now that he can no longer smell a rutting Sunghoon… and yet he can’t get past the feeling that something is still missing.

~ * ~

Knot, alpha, please give me a knot!

Jake wails in near agony as he works four fingers into his soaking wet entrance, tugging roughly on his own hair with his other hand as he lays on his back in the middle of the nest he and Sunoo built together only hours earlier. After his initial orgasm in the empty bed, every subsequent wave of arousal had gotten stronger, and each orgasm became less satisfying while his omega begged not just to be stretched open, but to be knotted . It took him a few hours to figure out what was wrong, but it eventually clicked that his omega was not simply requesting to be knotted, but demanding to be knotted, and Jake was not going to feel any true relief until it got one.

It finally reached the point Jake is at now, writhing in discomfort as he desperately tries to convince his omega to accept his fingers in replacement for an alpha’s knot. He has already orgasmed three times in the last twenty minutes or so, but none of them were even close to satisfying, and he’s unsure how much longer he can take the pain of feeling so empty . He sobs and weakly lifts up his pelvis from the bed slightly, hoping that a change in angle will help, but it doesn’t really. His cock twitches and his hips jolt as he roughly massages his prostate, trying to coax out another orgasm as quickly as possible, but when it finally comes, he still doesn’t feel any better. He sobs loudly as his cock barely softens and his omega continues to beg him for something he cannot give it. 

Jake slowly sits up, slowly resigning to the fact that he will have to suffer through this misery until his heat is over, when there is a knock on the door. He tries to make himself look as presentable as possible as the door opens to reveal Heeseung holding a plate of fruit, but immediately the alpha can tell that something is not right. 

“Jakey, what’s wrong?” he coos, setting the fruit down on the table next to the bed and moving right up to the edge of the nest so he can cradle Jake’s face in his hands. It had initially been Jake’s intention to keep this problem entirely to himself, too embarrassed to admit that his omega was throwing a temper tantrum over not being knotted, but Heeseung’s gentle touches and concerned tone instantly make his resolve crumble and tears well back up in his eyes.

“I… My omega…” Jake attempts, unsure how to breach such an awkward topic. His desperation eventually wins out. “Hyung, I need a knot so bad . Nothing I’m doing is making me feel any better.”

The confession only seems to make Heeseung confused. “Don’t you have something to help you? Sunoo has a few toys that do that kind of thing, I assumed you would too.”

Jake chooses to ignore the fact that Heeseung knows anything about what kind of sex toys Sunoo owns. “No, I-I don’t have anything like that, I’ve just been using my fingers,” Jake confesses even more shyly. Heeseung’s face softens into a look of pity as he rubs his temples against Jake’s.

“Puppy, you didn’t get anything at all to help with your heat? No wonder you look so miserable,” Heeseung says gently. Jake whimpers softly, shifting a little in discomfort. “Why didn’t you buy yourself any toys or something?” 

“ I don’t know, ” Jake whines, trying to nose his way closer to Heeseung’s neck, both to better smell his scent and to hide his own embarrassment. “I told you, I-I kind of forgot I would even be going into heat, i-it didn’t even cross my mind that I’d want something like that.”

Heeseung hums and lets Jake rest his nose against the scent glands in his neck, slowly curling his arms around the alpha’s shoulders as Heeseung’s hands eventually move to rest lightly on his bare waist. Jake keeps waiting to feel awkward or uncomfortable, considering he is naked and that he just confessed something pretty personal and humiliating to his hyung, but instead he feels safe and soothed being held by his head alpha.

“Well, I’m afraid all I have brought for you is fruit,” Heeseung says eventually, gesturing to the abandoned plate still sitting on the table. Jake is admittedly pretty hungry and definitely feels ready for a snack, but before he can answer, he realizes that Heeseung has started smirking, doing his best to hide it by burying his nose in Jake’s jawline. “Maybe if you’re lucky, I will bring you the other thing you’re craving next time,” Heeseung says into his neck. Jake does his best to shove himself away from Heeseung as the alpha laughs and clings to him even harder. 

“Be quiet and feed me my fruit, you jerk,” he grumbles, avoiding eye contact. He feels Heeseung grin against his neck.

“Whatever you want, Jaeyun.”

~ * ~

Jake is in the middle of taking a sip of water after waking up from a short nap when he hears a knock on the door. He turns towards it to see Jay cautiously entering the room, relieved to see Jake both awake and not jacking off. He closes the door behind him and walks up to the edge of the nest.

“Hey, Jakey. How are you feeling?” he asks. Jake shrugs.

“I’m fine. Just resting for now,” he says, trying his best to look normal, whatever that means while he’s in heat. Jay raises an eyebrow, not looking convinced of this. 

“Okay. You just… you look a bit… I don’t know. Haggard.” Jake hates how perceptive Jay can be. “I don’t know, I just feel like Sunoo didn’t seem this exhausted when he was in heat.” Jake shrugs again and reaches out for Jay to get in the nest. Jay slowly climbs in and settles against one of the walls of the nest so that Jake can cuddle up into his side. Jake doesn’t really want to admit to a second person in his pack that he has been struggling to feel relief because his omega has been begging him for an actual cock and, more importantly, a knot, but he also knows that Jay is unlikely to be judgemental or weird about it. 

“If you want the truth, it’s because I didn’t prepare properly for my heat, and don’t have the right stuff to feel… uh, satisfied,” Jake says, hoping that will be enough detail for Jay to follow what he’s trying to say. Jay has a quizzical look on his face for a moment, but just as Jake is about to relent and be more explicit, his expression smooths out and he nods in understanding. His cheeks flush a bit pink, but he otherwise shows no sign of awkwardness.

“I see. No wonder you look haggard then,” he eventually says, making Jake snort. They fall into a comfortable silence and Jay lets out his scent a bit more strongly, which Jake appreciates; his omega feels much calmer being scented by an alpha from his pack. After a few minutes, Jake looks up at Jay and is surprised to see he has a pained expression on his face. Maybe he felt weirder about Jake’s admission than he’d let on initially.

“Are you okay, Jay-ah?” he asks, startling Jay. Jay quickly nods.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just…” He flushes much darker red, looking more embarrassed than Jay tends to ever look; he is pretty shameless. “I was just thinking that if you… if you wanted help so that you could feel better, I can do that. But I wasn’t sure if it made sense to even offer.”

Jake is embarrassed by how seriously he considers the offer. His omega is immediately begging him to accept it, thrilled that an alpha is offering to knot him even if it’s just a friend, but Jake agrees that Jay’s hesitation was probably correct. Jake is pretty sure that Jungwon would never forgive him, and Sunghoon likely would not take it well either.

“I genuinely appreciate it, but I’ll pass,” Jake says, and Jay instantly relaxes. “I don’t think I could handle the fallout if we had sex. Also I’m not on birth control yet.”

Jay nods. “I was thinking the same thing, but my alpha was making me feel like I would be failing you as a packmate or something if I didn’t at least offer.” Jake smiles gently.

“Well scenting me is all I need from you, tell your alpha to leave you alone.”

They once again fall silent, scenting and cuddling up together for the better part of twenty minutes until Jake starts to feel a wave of lust starting to settle over him. He tries to brush it off, much happier to be snuggled up to one of his packmates and dreading having to have another unsatisfying orgasm, but eventually the smell of arousal and slick hits Jay’s nose.

“I’ll take that as my cue to give you some privacy,” he says, making Jake whine.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he mumbles, moving away from Jay’s torso so that he can climb out of the nest. “I hate whenever you guys leave. Like, I don’t want any of you to be around when I’m dealing with this part of being in heat, but I also always wish I wasn’t alone.” Jay’s hand is on the door to the room now, but he turns to smirk at Jake before opening it.

“You don’t want any of us around? Not even Sunghoon?”

Just the mention of Sunghoon immediately has Jake’s cock hardening, and he has to swallow down a moan that tries to slip out. “ Please don’t talk about him right now, oh my god.”

Jay laughs. “Sorry, sorry, I’ll leave you to it. Good luck, Jakey.”

As Jay exits the room and closes the door behind him, Jake rolls over onto his hands and knees. He whimpers as his hand comes into contact with his dick to stroke it gently; it feels almost raw from how many times Jake has jacked off already, which is frustrating when he considers the lack of relief he feels after every orgasm. He immediately cuts to the chase this time, reaching behind himself to ease two of his fingers into his slick entrance instead. A low moan slips past his lips at the feeling, although once again, it doesn’t feel as good as he hopes it will. His fingers simply aren’t enough and his body knows it, but he doesn’t have any way of making himself feel as full as his omega is begging for. He is once again on the verge of tears, wishing so badly that he could just cut his losses and go to see Sunghoon, who is in rut and would fill him up properly, would knot him, would knock him up-

The door to the heat room opens and Jake all but falls over in his attempt to not be seen fingering himself by whoever has just walked in. He quickly sits upright and sees Heeseung closing the door behind him. 

“Hyung,” Jake calls out weakly. He wants to get upset over the fact that he was potentially just seen with his fingers up his own ass and scold Heeseung for coming in without at least knocking, but he doesn’t want to acknowledge it either on the off chance that Heeseung didn’t see. Although even if he hadn’t, it’s pretty obvious what Jake was up to; the entire room smells like arousal and slick, too potent to not be fresh. “Jay just visited me, like, five minutes ago,” is what he eventually settles on, the implication of And he left because I got horny crystal clear.

“I know, I have something for you and figured the sooner I gave it to you, the better,” Heeseung says as he gets closer to the bed. He tosses something about the size of a Kleenex box into the nest a few feet away from Jake, then starts backing up again. “I promise it’s brand new and everything. Just don’t tell Sunghoon where you got it from, I value my life.”

Despite claiming to fear for his own safety at the thought of Sunghoon finding out about the mysterious item he’s just gifted to Jake, Heeseung honestly looks quite pleased and amused as he takes his leave before Jake can even respond. Jake furrows his brows as he glances down at the box still waiting on his bed, gingerly picking it up to read the label and almost immediately wanting to follow Heeseung out of the room so he can punch him. 

It's a vibrator. A knotting vibrator. 

Jake stares at the box in horror for a minute, absolutely shocked that one of his packmates has gifted him a sex toy. He wants to throw the box on the ground and leave it there out of spite, but a much louder part of him is begging him to open the box and get busy using it. After another minute of waffling, Jake shamefully opens the top and pulls it out. He’s initially a little surprised by how easily it seems to pop open, but after pulling out the actual vibrator, it’s clear that it’s because the box has already been opened, as the toy smells like it has been cleaned. Heeseung had said it was brand new, so Jake is forced to picture the alpha not only picking it out and buying it for him, but also going out of his way to clean it , and he’s not completely sure how that makes him feel. He does his best to just push the imagery out of his mind entirely.

Jake does a once-over of the vibrator once it is in his hands; it’s dark purple in colour, and definitely much thicker and longer than his fingers. There are two buttons near the base, and the very simple instructions on the box explain that one is to make it vibrate at varying speeds, and the other is to make it knot. He throws the box onto the floor, knowing that if he wastes any more time reading the instructions instead of just using it, he will embarrass himself out of going any further. And he hates to admit it, but he absolutely wants to go further with it. 

Jake feels his cheeks flush as he gets back onto all fours with his hips high in the air. He reaches behind himself and almost gasps with shock just at the feeling of the vibrator’s head bumping against his entrance, as even that much feels infinitely better than his fingers. Slowly he pushes it inside, the movement easy with how much slick he is producing and from how many times he’s already fingered himself open, and Jake is so shocked by how incredible it feels that no sounds come out when he opens his mouth, just shaky breathing. He expects it to hurt at some point or to need to pause to get used to the feeling, but the moment never comes, and quickly Jake has the vibrator all the way inside. A low moan is pushed out of him as the tip bumps into his prostate, and it prompts him to pull it out again so he can push it back in. Immediately he moans even louder, his omega thrilled to finally, finally be filled up with something that at least resembles a real cock, and suddenly Jake can no longer find it in himself to be upset or embarrassed by this gift.

Jake pants and groans as he speeds up the pace with the vibrator, instantly addicted to the feeling of it. His cock leaks precome onto the sheets below, and although part of him wants to touch himself there too, another part is telling him that he just needs to focus on the cock inside him, that alpha giving him a knot is how he’s meant to come. Just the thought of an alpha has him imagining that Sunghoon is over top of him, that it’s Sunghoon’s cock inside of him instead of a vibrator. He whines loudly, wishing he could feel the weight of Sunghoon’s chest against his back and the slap of his thighs against Jake’s. His free hand flails around until it finally lands on one of Sunghoon’s t-shirts that Sunoo had collected for him, and he immediately shoves it into his face and breathes deeply until Sunghoon’s scent has settled into his lungs. The sound of Sunghoon’s voice fills his head as he speeds up the movement of his hand even more. 

“My good omega,” echoes in Jake’s ears, so real to him that he almost feels like Sunghoon must actually be there with him. “You’re such a good boy, taking my cock so well. Do you want me to fill you up, omega? Do you want my knot?”

“ Yes ,” Jake cries out into the empty room. “Alpha, please, I want it so bad!” He’s not doing as good of a job with keeping the vibrator moving anymore, his mind too clouded with lust and his body shaking too badly, so he finally fiddles with it until he manages to turn it on. Jake wails loudly even just from the lowest vibration setting, his eyes rolling back as he manages to massage it against his prostate. 

“Come for me, omega,” Sunghoon’s voice croons in his head. Slick drips excessively down Jake’s thighs. “Come for alpha and I’ll give you my knot.”  

Jake keens and comes into the sheets below him, his body trembling as the toy continues vibrating against his prostate through his orgasm. His omega is begging for a knot, and somewhere in the back of his mind Jake knows that this vibrator can give him one, and after a bit of fumbling he manages to press the other button. He gasps loudly as the base of the vibrator starts to swell up, stretching him more than he really thought was possible, but it feels so good and so right that Jake nearly blacks out; he can’t imagine how he has previously gone without it. As Jake shakily turns off the vibrations, all he can think about is how, for the first time since the start of his heat, he finally feels satisfied and calm. He almost feels like he could fall asleep.

Initially he thinks he will just take it out when he feels ready to, but after twenty minutes passes without Jake feeling so much as an ache, it finally occurs to him that the knot of an actual rutting alpha often lasts for half an hour or more, and he’s too embarrassed to indulge his omega that much in case he gets another visitor. So he presses the button again to deflate the knot and slowly pulls the vibrator out. He tosses it into the nest, although not too far away because he knows he will absolutely want to use it again, and reluctantly admits to himself that he’s grateful that Heeseung put aside any embarrassment he likely felt while buying a vibrator for a packmate in order to help him feel better. 

And, above all else, he does his best to ignore his omega as his head is filled with the desire to not just be knotted next time, but filled up with come.

~ * ~

After three very long days of being in heat and repeatedly fucking himself open on his new vibrator, Jake’s heat finally breaks. He wakes up feeling groggy, but satisfied that he is definitely not in heat anymore, so after giving himself a few minutes to wake up more fully, he starts to make his way out of his damp nest. He decides to bring the vibrator with him, oddly nervous to leave it where someone might find it, before he shuffles down the hallway towards the bathroom. Once he is clean again, he makes his way to his room so that he can hide the vibrator deep in one of his drawers, and put on clean clothes for the first time in several days. For some reason he doesn’t expect Jay to be in the room, and so it startles Jake when he is. 

“Holy shit, you scared me,” Jake says, tugging his towel closer to his body and doing his best to hide the vibrator behind his back. Jay laughs. 

“This is literally my room,” he teases. “I’m glad to see you back to normal though. After Sunoo’s heat, I thought I knew what to expect in terms of how everyone’s behaviour would shift while you were gone, but it was totally different with our head omega absent. You really do keep everyone else much calmer.”

Jake smiles fondly. “Thanks Jay-ah. I’m glad my efforts are visible,” he says. Jay falls quiet for a few seconds before suddenly switching topics. 

“… Sunghoon’s rut also broke like an hour ago, you know,” Jay says, acting nonchalant about it as Jake’s eyes widen. “He’s already started cleaning his room, so he’s around the dorm. And I was kind of thinking I would take everyone out to dinner today, but I would totally understand if you and Sunghoon wanted to stay in. Since your heat and rut just ended.” Jay gives him a rather pointed look, and Jake immediately clues in to what is actually being offered.

“… Yeah, I don’t know if Sunghoon and I would be ready yet, we might just stay home,” Jake says, playing along. Jay shrugs and nods easily, and if Jake was wearing something other than just a towel, he’d be giving Jay a hug. “Thank you, Jay-ah.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Both of them fall silent, still looking at each other. After a few seconds, Jake is the one giving Jay a more pointed stare. Jay raises an eyebrow.

“What?” he asks. Jake rolls his eyes.

“Can you turn around or close your eyes or something? I’m getting dressed.”

“I literally just saw you naked a few hours ago.”

“I was in heat! It’s not the same!”

“I offered to have sex with you-”

“Jay-ah! Turn around!”

“ Fine , you prude.”

~ * ~

After his discussion with Jay, Jake jumps right into tidying his heat room. Eventually Sunoo shows up to help, as does Jungwon, while Jay and Heeseung busy themselves with helping Sunghoon; Niki has once again made himself scarce, disappearing to one of the dance studios in the HYBE building. Only once does Jake cross paths with Sunghoon while they’re cleaning, almost physically running into him while entering the laundry room just as Sunghoon is exiting. Sunghoon looks a little lost and unsure of what to say, but he also looks freshly showered and soft and Jake wants to kiss him. But he can’t, despite finally knowing for sure that mutual feelings are there. Not yet.

“We’re going to talk after we’re done cleaning everything. Today,” Jake says with some assertion, and Sunghoon immediately nods his head in agreement. Jake smiles gently. “I don’t want to keep dancing around this with you, Sunghoon-ah.”

Sunghoon’s expression softens, and he reaches out to hold Jake’s hand in one of his own. “Me either, Jake-yah. I’m really sorry I-”

“No,” Jake interrupts, pulling his hand away from a startled Sunghoon. “If we start now, we won't finish anything else. Cleaning first.”

Sunghoon laughs, a sincere and cute laugh. “Alright, cleaning first.”

Both of them return to their cleaning routines, and once both rooms have been tidied, and all of the remaining dirty sheets and clothes have been piled into the laundry room, Jay loudly announces that he’s taking everyone out to dinner. Sunghoon and Jake both politely decline while Sunoo, Heeseung, and Jungwon happily get dressed to go out. The moment the door closes behind their packmates, Jake turns towards Sunghoon, unable to wait another second to have this conversation.

“Let’s go to the living room, Sunghoon.”

Jake leads the way, hyper aware of Sunghoon’s presence behind him as they move to the living room and sit on opposite sides of the couch to one another. Jake is honestly grateful for the space between them because he’s genuinely not sure how much more he can control himself around Sunghoon knowing what is about to happen. 

Jake opens his mouth, fully expecting Sunghoon to become shy and difficult to get words out of, as it is pretty standard behaviour from him, but before he can actually speak, he gets interrupted.

“Jake-yah, I’m really sorry,” Sunghoon says, his expression pained. Jake freezes, already thrown off by where this conversation has started. What could Sunghoon possibly be sorry for? “I… it was wrong of me to make assumptions about how you felt about me. I-I don’t have the best social skills and don’t even know how I feel most of the time, but I knew my feelings for you were strong, and sometimes I thought maybe your feelings for me were too, but other times I thought I might just be misunderstanding you… And then you claimed me and I thought I finally had a real answer and could start… b-being more affectionate and treating you like we were courtmates, but when the claim faded, you said you liked me better that way… ”

Jake feels so stupid. Of course his sweet, oblivious Sunghoon would misinterpret his words like that. “Sunghoon-ah-”

“I’m still so embarrassed that I treated you like that when you didn’t even want me to. I felt awful every time I looked at you and remembered all that stuff I said and did,” Sunghoon continues, not even noticing Jake’s attempt to get his attention. “And then I made it worse by going into rut just because I smelled your heat… Hyung and Jay managed to stay calm but I went feral like some kind of out of control creep… I just can’t stop making you uncomfortable-”

“ Sunghoon-ah ,” Jake says more assertively, finally cutting off his rant. Sunghoon looks like he’s on the verge of tears while Jake is just… baffled . “Sunghoon, please tell me you’re joking. I’m begging you, you can’t be serious.” Sunghoon flushes red, looking even more upset.

“Why would this be a joke? I wouldn’t lie about my feelings, and of course I’m sorry for putting you in such an awkward position,” he says defensively. Jake isn’t sure whether to laugh or cry; Sunghoon genuinely still doesn’t know how Jake feels. Not even going into rut because of Jake’s heat was enough to tip him off. 

Jake has never wanted to kiss him so badly in his life.

“No, Sunghoon, that isn’t what I mean,” Jake says, trying his best to stay calm. He shifts onto his knees so that he’s just a fraction closer to Sunghoon. “Don’t you know that your rut can only be triggered by an omega in heat if the omega also likes you back? The feelings have to be mutual for your rut to get triggered like that.”

Sunghoon’s eyebrows furrow for a moment before they start to widen almost comically, a look of shocked recognition spreading on his face. “B-but… but you said after the claim-”

“I said I liked us with clear heads, so we could be honest about our feelings. I liked how you treated me while I had a claim on you, but I wanted you to treat me that way outside of the claim too, not just because I forced you to by biting you,” Jake says, his heart pounding as he starts to crawl forwards to get even closer to Sunghoon, who is completely frozen on the other side of the couch. “Besides, why would I have claimed you in the first place if not because I wanted you?”

“I… I-I don’t know. Omega hormones?”

Jake snorts and decides to ignore how much Sunoo was a factor. “Not this time. I just didn’t want to share you,” Jake says coyly. He’s now directly in front of Sunghoon, who is near hyperventilating from the revelation he’s having. And although Jake had been hoping that Sunghoon would be able to make the final move, he’s quickly accepting that that isn’t going to happen; he’s going to have to hold his alpha’s hand through this confession. “I can see now that from your perspective I’ve been giving you some pretty mixed signals, Sunghoon-ah. So I’m going to make this as clear as possible for you, okay?”

Sunghoon swallows thickly and nods his head. Jake smiles softly and climbs into his lap, cupping his cheeks so that they have to make eye contact. “Sunghoon-ah, please court me.”

Instead of a proper response, Sunghoon swoops in to kiss him. Immediately Jake sees fireworks behind his eyelids, his omega frantic with excitement over finally getting a kiss. Sunghoon’s arms awkwardly shift to wrap around Jake’s waist, pulling him as close as possible to his own body, and after a few seconds, Jake feels a wet tongue licking along his lips, trying to get into his mouth. He parts his lips pliantly, and despite the fact that it’s wet and sloppy and their teeth clack together and they both clearly lack experience, Jake has never felt happier or more electric in his life. His skin ignites with flames everywhere that Sunghoon touches, and his coffee and vanilla scent permeates Jake’s lungs. Sunghoon’s tongue messily licks at Jake’s, spit dripping down both of their chins, and even though Jake should find it disgusting, instead it draws out a wanton moan that Sunghoon eagerly swallows. The hands Jake has on Sunghoon’s cheeks slide back along his jaw until they’re behind his head so that Jake can tug the baby hairs at the nape of his neck. 

Sunghoon pulls Jake even closer to his body, making Jake aware of the fact that Sunghoon is hard. He is reminded of just a few weeks ago when they were in a similar position, Jake just seconds away from claiming him while hovering over his erection. In that moment he’d wanted to grind on Sunghoon’s cock until he could feel the alpha come undone under him, and now he’s been given a second chance. So he doesn’t waste it.

A loud gasp comes out of Sunghoon’s mouth followed by a choked cry as Jake grinds insistently onto his dick, finally breaking their kiss. Jake lets out his own whine of pleasure from the feeling of having Sunghoon’s cock, warm and hard and real , pressed against his ass after three full days of fantasizing about how good it would feel. As Jake continues to rub himself into Sunghoon’s lap, Sunghoon presses his nose into the scent gland on Jake’s neck and groans, shifting to instead lave his tongue over the spot until Jake can smell sea salt and vetiver, his own scent noticeable even to himself. Slick starts dripping down to Jake’s perineum, and he desperately hopes against all odds that Sunghoon can’t smell it. But Sunghoon instead shifts again so that he can go back to kissing Jake even harder, licking at his lips and sucking on his tongue while his fingers start to dip into the back of Jake’s pants. 

Suddenly Jake pulls away, his hand flying to grab Sunghoon’s arm and stop it from going any further. The action surprises Jake as much as it does Sunghoon; he’s genuinely not positive what just happened to himself internally, but all at once he felt like alarm bells were going off in his head, his omega telling him that he needed to stop and not go any further, and he simply listened to the instinct without questioning it. But now, looking at Sunghoon’s shocked and humiliated expression, Jake regrets not taking one extra second to do it more cautiously. 

“S-Sorry, I just got, um, overwhelmed,” Jake says, trying his best to act nonchalant so that he doesn’t freak out Sunghoon any further. He slowly lets go of Sunghoon’s arm, and raises himself up a bit so that his ass is no longer making contact with Sunghoon’s lap. “I don’t want to rush our relationship or anything.” 

It’s a bold-faced lie. Jake would love to ride Sunghoon as though he didn’t just come out of his heat a few hours ago, but his omega is still protesting about going any further, and Jake isn’t willing to risk not listening to his instincts. And Sunghoon, being the caring courtmate he is, does not ask any questions and simply accepts that Jake has asked not to go further.

“Yeah, no problem. Your comfort is most important to me, Jake-yah,” he says, his eyes glittering with affection. Jake wants to kiss him so badly, and then remembers that he absolutely can, so he leans down to place a much gentler, chaste kiss onto Sunghoon’s pretty lips.

“Thank you, Hoonie,” he says sweetly. Then he starts to climb out of Sunghoon’s lap so that he doesn’t get excited all over again. “Come on, courtmate. I want dinner.” Sunghoon beams affectionately and Jake can’t help but reciprocate it. They’re courtmates .

Jake heads to their kitchen while Sunghoon makes a detour to their bathroom that Jake does his best not to think too hard about. By the time he’s returned, Jake has decided that he actually doesn’t feel like cooking, so instead they order something in for dinner and snuggle back up on the couch instead. It’s a much calmer interaction this time around, taking turns scenting each other and pressing small kisses into each other’s cheeks and noses and lips until their food arrives. They briefly consider sitting at the island to eat, knowing they’ll get scolded if they spill on the couch, but neither feels ready to sit even half a foot apart. So they settle into their spots again and eat their meals while feeding each other small bites. Jake feels euphoric . 

They eventually move to the kitchen, opening a few windows in the living room to let that part of the communal space air out before everyone else gets home, considering it is now permeated with the smell of coffee and sea salt. Jake is trying to convince Sunghoon to move to his bedroom, where they will have at least the veil of privacy and also won’t stink up yet another common area, but he’s having trouble getting Sunghoon to even let him escape from where he’s been pinned against the counter. 

“Sunghoon-ah, come on, let's just go to my room,” Jake says, but there’s no real strength to his request as he places his hands against Sunghoon’s chest. Sunghoon’s hands tighten around his hips and push him back even more insistently against the counter. 

“Hm, but I kind of like how you look right here,” Sunghoon says, his cheeks flushed pink. Despite how many times they’ve kissed since making their relationship official, Jake wants to ask for a thousand more to help him cope with how cute Sunghoon looks while trying to flirt.

“Don’t you think I’d look better pinned against something else?” Jake asks, fluttering his eyelashes. His weird nerves from earlier have faded, making him extremely eager to climb back into Sunghoon’s lap, and Sunghoon doesn’t bring up his earlier claims of wanting to take things slow. Instead he lets out a soft, excited exhale, leaning in to scent Jake’s neck again. Jake opens his mouth to make another argument in favour of moving towards the bedroom, when he suddenly picks up another scent, strong enough to indicate that someone else is in the dorm, maybe even the kitchen. And by the time he realizes who it is, they have shoved their way between Jake and Sunghoon’s bodies, causing Sunghoon to stumble back a few feet.

“Get away from Jake-hyung,” Niki snaps harshly, letting out a small growl and doing his best to mimic posturing despite the fact that his instinct for it hasn’t developed yet. Sunghoon stares back at him awkwardly, unsure of how to respond to this unexpected outburst; his alpha is obviously feeling a bit offended due to being growled and postured at over his courtmate , but Niki is also a pup. He’s not going to take on a challenge from a pup.

Luckily, Sunghoon is spared from making a decision, because Jake very quickly jumps in, his entire face and neck beet red as he grabs Niki by the scruff of his neck; this conversation has also waited long enough. “Niki-yah, you and I need to talk,” he says, the authority of a head omega lacing his tone. Niki bows his head right away and obeys, allowing Jake to direct him forward as they both brush past Sunghoon and down the hall into the main bedroom used by the maknae line and Sunghoon. The second Jake lets go of his neck, Niki ducks away and spins around to give him an accusatory glare. He opens his mouth to speak, but Jake beats him to it.

“Niki-yah, what were you thinking, challenging an alpha like that? That could have been incredibly dangerous, you’re lucky it was just Sunghoon and not someone who would hurt you,” Jake scolds. Niki scoffs and rolls his eyes. 

“ Just Sunghoon , as if hyung is any good at controlling himself,” Niki sneers. “He’s always growling and posturing and pinning you into things. He went into rut because of you, I don’t get how you can be so calm about all of that. I was protecting you!” 

Jake holds in an extremely stressed exhale as Niki goes on about Sunghoon. He was sure that he’d made it clear under what circumstances a rut would be triggered by an omega’s heat, but apparently it hadn’t clicked, or somehow Sunghoon being an outlier made more sense to Niki than the idea that Sunghoon and Jake might want to court each other.  

I need to get Sunghoon and Niki signed up for biology lessons. Or sex ed. Or both.

“Niki-yah,” Jake says calmly, reminding himself over and over in his head that Niki was just trying to protect him and really had meant well. “You remember me telling you that heats and ruts can only be triggered when there’s mutual interest, right?”

Niki flushes a light pink. “Y-Yeah, I remember. But you said it mostly happens with couples who are courting! You and Sunghoon-hyung-”

“Are courting,” Jake interrupts. His omega gets excited at the verbal admission, especially since Niki is the first person he’s said it to other than Sunghoon. Niki’s eyes widen in genuine shock. “To be clear, we weren’t courting when his rut was triggered, but we are now. Because we both like each other.”

The confession seems to take a moment to compute in Niki’s head. “… O-Oh. Okay,” he says eventually, licking his lips awkwardly. “Does… does everyone else know already?” The question makes Jake start to feel a bit bad that he hadn’t just spoken to Niki about all of this sooner; it certainly wasn’t going to help him feel more included in the pack.

“Yeah, they do,” Jake admits. His heart aches when Niki deflates just a little. “B-but only because they figured it out on their own, Niki, I never went out of my way to tell any of them that I liked Sunghoon. And you are the first person I’ve told that we’re courting.”

This makes Niki perk up instantly, an excited sparkle flashing in his eyes. Jake decides he can never bring up the fact that he probably won’t actually need to tell the other members because they will already know. 

“… Well I guess I’m happy for you then. And I’m sorry I growled at Sunghoon-hyung,” Niki mumbles, his gaze dropping to the floor. Jake smiles fondly and steps closer so he can grab Niki’s cheeks and rub their temples together. The gesture is enthusiastically reciprocated, which makes Jake smile even bigger.

“It was coming from a good place. Thanks for trying to protect me, aegi ,” Jake says. He doesn’t notice his own slip up right away, but Niki does, backing up to narrow his eyes as Jake starts to sweat a little.

“What did you call me?”

“N-Nothing-”

“Yes you did-”

“I said pup, I call Sunoo and Jungwon that too-”

“ No ,” Niki says insistently. “You called me aegi . You don’t use that with Jungwon or Sunoo-hyung.” Jake sighs; he’s not even sure where the word came from. He subconsciously does think of Niki as their baby sometimes, because how can he not think that way about their maknae? But it’s not a nickname he ever uses even in his head.

“S-Sorry, I have no idea why I said that. I swear I won’t say it again,” Jake says, prepared to grovel for forgiveness if necessary; he really doesn’t want Niki to feel demeaned or belittled by a weird nickname. Niki is silent for a few seconds, causing Jake’s anxiety to rise even further. Eventually he lets out a small huff and leans back in to signal that he wants Jake to scent him some more. Jake quickly obliges. 

“It’s fine,” Niki says finally, closing his eyes. His cheeks are once again dusted pink. “Just don’t say it in front of anyone else. I don’t want anyone else thinking it’s fine to call me that.” Jake nods his head and suppresses a grin, understanding what Niki is implying. 

It’s fine if it’s you. 

Chapter Text

Jake slowly blinks his eyes open, feeling groggy as he wakes up from a nap. Enhypen had all been given one more day off after his heat and Sunghoon’s rut had ended, since the following weeks would be completely dedicated to preparing for their next comeback with very little downtime. Jake had elected to spend the day relaxing in order to fully recover from a shockingly intense heat and the high emotions that came with asking Sunghoon to court him, despite Sunghoon’s begging to join him at the gym. As much as Jake didn’t want to be away from Sunghoon for even a second now that they were finally courting, he felt like he would crumble away into dust if he left the apartment, so Sunghoon eventually relented and went with Heeseung and Jay instead. Jake had been sure to sneak in several kisses before letting Sunghoon leave, much to his alpha’s delight, but the second the alphas had left, Jake crashed into Sunghoon’s bed for a very much needed nap. 

As Jake wakes up more fully, he realizes that someone else is in the bed with him, curled up against his chest and snoring softly. A quick sniff lets Jake know that it’s Niki, which makes it infinitely harder for Jake to will himself up and out of the bed. Really there’s nothing Jake would love more than to spend an entire day snuggling up with their youngest pup, but his stomach is loudly asking to be fed, and he can only ignore it for so long. Despite the fact that Niki won’t be able to smell it, Jake takes a few minutes to scent the maknae, gently running his nose and temples along the pup’s jaw and temples until he smells as much like vetiver and the ocean as he does baby powder. This soothes his omega enough that he is finally able to get out of Sunghoon’s bunk and go to the kitchen to make himself a meal of some kind. 

Although Jake knows he should make something more balanced for his meal for once, the allure of ramyeon overtakes his sleepy body, and soon he finds himself placing a block of noodles into a pot of boiling water. A few minutes later, he’s sitting at the island slurping up noodles and spooning spicy soup into his mouth, happy to enjoy his meal in relative silence; besides his eating noises, the only other sound is the faint rushing of the shower. He closes his eyes, his body slowly relaxing until he truly feels like he could go back to sleep. Without opening his eyes, he picks up his bowl to take a bigger sip of the soup. 

“So did you and Sunghoon-hyung have sex yesterday?”

The sudden break in silence makes Jake gasp, causing the soup to go down his throat the wrong way. He coughs violently as the spice stings his trachea, the spluttering only becoming more intense as he finally processes what he was even asked. Jungwon watches him calmly, leaning forward onto crossed arms across the counter from Jake as he patiently waits for his question to be answered. When Jake finally manages to clear his throat of the ramyeon soup, he shoots a glare towards his pack leader. 

“ No !” Jake hisses, his cheeks flushed red. He’s not sure if it’s from the coughing or the confession. “Oh my god, Jungwon-ah, why would you think that?! And why would you ask?!” 

“I was just curious, jeez ,” Jungwon says, rolling his eyes. “Jay-hyung got a weird look on his face when we got home last night, and I could tell it was because he smelled something but he wouldn’t tell me what it was. And it felt rude to ask Sunoo-hyung, just in case it was that you had sex.”

“It would have been rude to ask Sunoo, leave him alone about Hoon and I,” Jake scolds, ignoring Jungwon’s protests of I didn’t ask him, don’t get mad at me! “But no, we didn’t have sex. Not that it’s even any of your business, you nosy brat.”

“I’m your pack leader, it’s my job to be nosy.”

“Not about our sex lives!”

“ Whatever ,” Jungwon drawls, rolling his eyes again. “So are you going to tell me what happened then, or do I actually need to ask Sunoo-hyung?”

Jake sighs. “You’re so pushy,” he scolds again, though Jungwon remains unphased. “We did do… other stuff , so that could have been it. But there was also another altercation between Niki and Sunghoon, and I think that’s more likely to be what it was. I took care of it, though, so it shouldn’t be an issue anymore.”

Jungwon nods thoughtfully. “I’m glad you guys got to talk to Niki about it, or at least you did. He was a bit of a mess during your heat, he kept asking to visit you and hung around the door to your heat room the whole time. It wasn’t until your heat was almost over that he left the apartment like he did with Sunoo, although I think that was more because he was avoiding Sunghoon-hyung. I really almost lost my resolve and let him visit you, it was really sad, hyung.” 

The image of Niki sitting outside his heat room and begging to see him makes Jake’s heart crack in half. He suddenly feels incredibly guilty about having left while Niki was still napping, so much so that he decides he will invite Niki to sleep in his bed tonight, despite the previous plans to share his bed with Sunghoon. Surely his courtmate would understand his need to occasionally give Niki a little extra attention.

“It’s only a few more months until he can help,” Jake says. “It will be nice when he can finally be included. I feel bad that he can’t.”

Jungwon nods again, falling silent for a few seconds before speaking this time. “So… why didn’t you have sex with Sunghoon-hyung?”

“ Oh my god , Jungwon-”

“I’m just saying! It would have been a good opportunity, and it will probably be a while now until you get another one,” Jungwon says matter-of-factly. And he’s right, Jake knows he’s right, but he can’t find it in himself to admit that his omega spiraled into a panicked frenzy the second they started doing anything more intense than just grinding through their clothes. He’s been telling himself that it’s probably very normal, just caused by the jitters that come with being a virgin, but he can’t help but be just a little worried that there is genuinely something wrong with him. 

“We just didn’t want to. There’s no need to rush into anything, our relationship is more than just the physical stuff,” Jake says defensively. Jungwon looks unconvinced, but just as he’s about to comment further, the front door opens and the scent of their pack alphas floods into the apartment. Jake breathes out a soft sigh of relief.

Jay and Heeseung are bickering about something as they slowly take off their shoes and coats, but Sunghoon quickly sheds his outdoor clothes and rushes up to Jake. At first Jake thinks that Sunghoon is about to kiss him, which Jake isn’t sure he’s ready to do in front of everyone else yet, but instead the alpha presses his nose into Jake’s temple and nuzzles him gently. Jake reciprocates the gesture easily, ignoring the way Jungwon wrinkles his nose dramatically at the display of affection.

“Do you feel better after working out?” Jake asks, a mild tease in his voice. Sunghoon’s main motivation for a workout was the need to burn off the remaining alpha hormones after his rut, so it was as much of a necessity as Jake’s afternoon nap. Sunghoon nods, moving to bury his nose into Jake’s neck, which makes Jake laugh and reach up to run his fingers through the alpha’s sweaty hair. “Sunghoon-ah, you were only gone for a few hours.”

“I still missed you,” he mumbles against Jake’s collarbone. Jungwon groans, finally deciding he’s had enough.

“No being gross in public spaces,” Jungwon scolds, moving away from the island and into the living room as Jay takes a seat on the couch. Jake rolls his eyes but gently pushes Sunghoon away from his neck, smiling as he whines in protest. 

“Do you want some of my ramyeon?” Jake asks, picking up some noodles in his chopsticks and holding them out for him to take. Sunghoon opens his mouth so that Jake can feed him, and Jake’s omega purrs happily at the accepted courting gesture. He takes another bite for himself as he hears the bathroom door open, followed by a short conversation between Sunoo and Heeseung; he can’t hear exactly what is being said, but it’s presumably about the fact that Sunoo just finished showering and Heeseung would like to shower next. Jake is about to offer Sunghoon another bite of his lunch when another voice interrupts him.

“Sunghoon-hyung, is it okay if we talk?” Niki asks, his voice much softer than normal. Jake hadn’t even noticed his entrance to the main living space, but it was likely only in the last few seconds judging by the pup’s still-ruffled bed head and sleepily squinted eyes. Sunghoon straightens his posture back up so that he’s no longer leaning into Jake.

“Yeah, of course, Niki-yah. Do you want to talk here, or in our room?” he asks.

“Maybe in our room…” Niki says. Sunghoon nods and lets Niki lead the way back to their bedroom. After the pair have disappeared down the hall, Jake quickly stands up and follows them, abandoning his lunch for the moment. Despite knowing it’s a little wrong to eavesdrop on his packmates, he’s too invested in Sunghoon and Niki’s relationship being repaired to wait until he can interrogate Sunghoon later. The door to the maknaes’ bedroom has been closed, so Jake presses his ear right up against the wood so that he can hear. The voices are muffled, but he can still make out their words.

“-for growling and yelling at you,” he hears Niki say. “I really didn’t know that there was anything going on between you and Jake-hyung and I just wanted to protect him. But I should have talked to you about it first instead of assuming the worst.”

“It’s okay, Niki-yah. I can appreciate that you were doing it out of concern for Jake, and I’m glad he has other packmates to rely on,” Sunghoon responds. “It’s not your fault that you didn’t know, you were just doing what you thought was best for the pack.”

“Yeah, but I still ended up being mean to you for no reason. Again ,” Niki insists. “I want us to have a good relationship, hyung.”

“Then let’s have a good relationship,” Sunghoon says easily. “Let’s just pretend none of that stuff happened, yeah?”

“… Okay. If you’re sure that it’s okay, then I want that too.”

Jake smiles to himself, relief washing over him as he heads back to finish his lunch. He silently hopes to himself that this marks the end of the issues between Sunghoon and Niki, and when he invites the maknae into his bed that evening and finds that he smells strongly of coffee and vanilla, he’s certain that they will be fine.

~ * ~

Jake gasps as Sunghoon grabs him by the thighs, swiftly lifting him off the ground and pinning him to the wall of the public bathroom they’re in. Their mouths connect aggressively, Jake’s arms wrapping themselves around Sunghoon’s neck to hold him in place as Sunghoon’s tongue licks its way into Jake’s mouth. His thighs end up hitched onto Sunghoon’s hips, keeping him stable despite his feet being off the ground. Teeth hit teeth, hands squeeze a bit too tightly, something on the wall digs uncomfortably into Jake’s back, but all of it only adds to the thrilling urgency of the situation. They only get ten minutes before they have to go back to dance practice, and Sunghoon had immediately dragged Jake away so that they could spend all of them making out in the bathroom. 

Every unexpected sound has Jake stiffening in Sunghoon’s arms, unable to shake the fear of getting caught kissing here; they’re at the HYBE building, so any number of other idols or staff members could walk in at any time. Sunghoon doesn’t seem to share the sentiment, now busy nosing his way up and down Jake’s neck until he finds a scent gland to lick. Jake tries to voice his concerns, but when he opens his mouth, an embarrassingly loud moan comes out instead. He does his best to cut off the noise, his ears flushing red as he envisions one of their sunbaes walking past the door and hearing him moaning like a whore just from kissing. 

“S-Sunghoon-ah, what if someone comes in,” Jake manages to choke out, a softer whine escaping as Sunghoon nips lightly along his jaw. It’s gentle enough that it won’t leave any marks, but the feeling of Sunghoon’s sharp fangs scraping against his skin makes the hair on Jake’s neck stand on end. 

“It’s fine, Jake-yah,” Sunghoon coos, adjusting his grip on Jake’s thighs to hitch him up just a little higher. The movement makes Jake inhale sharply. “Nobody ever even uses this bathroom, don’t worry about it.”

Sunghoon reconnects their lips, the kiss much sweeter and more reassuring this time. It helps to calm the anxiety building in Jake’s chest until he can only think about how much he likes kissing his courtmate. Eventually the alpha starts to pull away, causing Jake to whine in protest. Sunghoon laughs as Jake’s thighs squeeze his hips insistently. 

“I thought you were worried about being caught. Don’t you want to stop?” Sunghoon teases. Jake shakes his head frantically, his fingers burying themselves into Sunghoon’s hair and gripping tightly as he takes his turn running his nose along the column of Sunghoon’s neck. A low rumble vibrates from Sunghoon’s chest.

“ No , I want more, Sunghoon-ah, please ,” Jake begs prettily, his tongue dragging over the scent gland just under Sunghoon’s jaw. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jake is very aware of the minutes ticking away; it’s honestly very possible that ten minutes have long since passed, but for some reason it seems infinitely more important for him to keep kissing Sunghoon. He starts to consider how easy it would be to try grinding into Sunghoon’s lap at this angle, if it would be possible for him to-

“ Oh my - Are you fucking kidding me?”

Jake gasps in horror as Sunghoon drops him at the sound of the door swinging open and another person’s voice echoing loudly through the bathroom. He grabs Sunghoon’s arms for stability, just barely saving himself from falling onto his ass as Sunghoon’s body ends up supporting most of his weight. He looks towards the door and sees Jay standing there, looking both disappointed and a bit disgusted at what he’s just walked in on. Jake feels his cheeks burning, and he’s sure Sunghoon looks much the same. 

“J-Jay-ah-” Jake stammers, but he’s cut off as Jake shakes his head.

“Please don’t make any excuses, I have no interest in hearing them,” Jay says harshly, and Jake quickly snaps his mouth shut. “You’re both just lucky it was me who walked in here and not any other person in this building. Both of you are still idols, you know, can you at least try to act like it? Being a bit affectionate is one thing, but save that for when you’re at home.”

Jake nods his head stiffly, unable to make himself speak as shame climbs up his throat instead. He feels Sunghoon nodding as well, making no attempt to speak to Jay either. Jay shakes his head again as he turns and leaves the bathroom without using it, muttering why does it always have to be me under his breath. Jake and Sunghoon slowly turn to face each other, the shame building in Jake until he can’t face Sunghoon either. He instead buries his face in Sunghoon’s chest and lets out an omegan whine, the sound finally breaking the tension and allowing Sunghoon to let out an embarrassed laugh. 

“Oh my god… Sunghoon-ah ,” Jake groans as Sunghoon pets his hair. “I told you we were going to get caught, that’s so embarrassing… How am I supposed to look at Jay tonight, we share a bedroom.”

“Sorry, Jake-yah,” Sunghoon says, pushing Jake back so he can cup his cheeks and rub their noses together. He doesn’t sound sorry in the slightest; if anything, he sounds almost elated. “I can’t help it, I want to kiss you all the time.”

Jake sighs happily as Sunghoon starts kissing across his cheekbone. “I know, so do I. But we have to be careful, too.” In spite of his words, he stands on his tiptoes until Sunghoon kisses him on the lips again, clinging onto the alpha’s elbows until he lowers himself away. “No more kissing during dance practice.” Sunghoon huffs. 

“One more? Please?” he pleads, leaning down to brush their lips together lightly as he makes a show of pouting. Jake rolls his eyes at this, but pulls him back down for one last proper kiss before they return to their packmates.

~ * ~

Jake is very careful at their following dance practice to keep Sunghoon at a very respectful distance, only allowing for the occasional pack gesture and rejecting his suggestion to go to the bathroom together again during their first break. As dejected as Sunghoon looks every time Jake pushes him away, he never complains out loud and makes it clear that he understands why Jake is acting distant. Neither of them want to make their packmates uncomfortable, nor do they really want to make their relationship known to their choreographer, so keeping things low key while not at home really is for the best.

They’re nearly three hours into practice, most of the members taking a quick water break while Niki and Heeseung watch their last run through of Fever on the iPad with their choreographer. Sunghoon ends up slouching onto the ground next to the spot Jake selected, chugging back his water until the bottle is almost empty. 

“I feel like these dances are way harder than the ones from Border: Day One,” he says, breathing heavily both from the dancing and from downing most of a water bottle in one go. Jake nods in agreement, taking a sip of his own water. “Your form looked really good today, I was really impressed, jagiya .”

Jake freezes, slowly turning to look at Sunghoon to see if he’s noticed what he’s said; it’s the first time either of them have used a pet name. In fact, the topic of pet names has never come up between them at all. Is that even a normal thing to have a discussion about? Do most people just start using pet names with their courtmate without asking about it first? Jake isn’t sure, and now it’s kind of too late to even ask. 

Sunghoon also seems to be frozen, his eyes wide and fixed on Jake to judge his reaction. Jake does his best to smile reassuringly once he notices, not wanting Sunghoon to be hurt, but for some reason the pet name doesn’t actually sit well with him. He honestly isn’t sure why, especially because he’d always thought that he’d like for his partner to call him by cute pet names, but now that he’s actually heard one directed at him, it doesn't sit right. Sunghoon seems to have an unsure expression on his face as well, but he doesn’t say anything about it, so Jake decides not to say anything about it either. 

“Thanks, Sunghoon-ah,” he says finally, despite the fact that he paused far too long before answering for it to not be weird. Jake is thankfully saved by their choreographer, who announces that their break is over.

Another two hours of dance practice pass by smoothly; they’d switched to learning Not For Sale after struggling through Drunk-Dazed, and it luckily had been much easier. When they take another quick break before moving back to the choreography for Fever, Jake is the one seeking out Sunghoon this time. The alpha is sitting next to Niki as their maknae replays a recording of their dance, pausing to point out a part where Sunghoon’s feet weren’t in quite the right place and explaining where they should be for next time. Jake doesn’t say anything as he lays down on the floor next to them, resting his head on Sunghoon’s thigh and closing his eyes as the alpha gently cards his fingers through Jake’s hair. Neither of them acknowledge Jake otherwise, focused on fixing the small errors in the choreography.

As Jake lays there listening to his packmates talk to each other, Sunghoon calling him jagiya plays in his mind on repeat. He feels guilty that he didn’t like it, although he also can’t help but notice that Sunghoon hasn’t used it again in the hours since. Maybe he was right in thinking that Sunghoon also didn’t like it, but maybe he’d just noticed Jake’s discomfort, in spite of his best efforts to hide it.

Jake wonders for a moment if he should follow Sunghoon’s lead and try out a pet name; maybe he’d enjoy using them more than he liked hearing one. What one should he use though? Do couples tend to use the same pet names for each other, or should they each have their own? Did Sunghoon use jagiya because he likes it best? And in retrospect, maybe Jake just didn’t like jagiya , but another name would have been fine? How would he know if he was using a pet name that was wrong? Did most people even worry about these things to this degree?

Jake opens his eyes and looks up at Sunghoon. It’s a terrible angle; Jake is able to see directly up his nose and notices a small patch of stubble on the bottom of his chin that he missed while shaving, and yet all he can think about is how much he likes his courtmate. Suddenly none of his anxieties about the pet names matter; surely if his words come from a place of adoring Sunghoon, then any pet name he ends up using won’t be that bad.

Suddenly Sunghoon shifts, gently attempting to shuffle Jake off of his lap so he can stand up. Jake sits up, although not without a little bit of whining. “I’m just going to refill my water, I’ll be right back,” Sunghoon says. This reminds Jake that his own water bottle is close to empty, so he quickly snatches it and holds it up towards his courtmate.

“Would you be able to fill mine up too, babe?”

The second the word is out of Jake’s mouth, he realizes that he was very, very wrong. There are, without a doubt, bad pet names. 

Jake feels shockingly overwhelmed by how much he doesn’t like the sound of the word babe in his own voice. His stomach is instantly flooded with regret, wishing he could snatch the word back out of the air and put it back into his mouth where nobody can hear it. It does also cross his mind that this feels like a very extreme reaction to using a pet name; surely it shouldn’t make him feel this uncomfortable, even if he doesn’t like it, right? 

The discomfort of the situation is only amplified by the second mistake Jake has made, which is to use the pet name in front of another packmate, only made worse by the fact that it’s Niki in specific. Their maknae looks disgusted and horrified from having to bear witness to this very mild act of affection; if Jake wasn’t more concerned with his own embarrassment over what he’s said, he’d probably be laughing. 

A glance back up at Sunghoon shows him to be once again nearly frozen, his movements stiff as he leans down to take Jake’s water bottle from his hands. He starts to walk towards the door, presumably to go to the water bottle refill station, when he turns back around and stands back in front of Jake. 

“Can we actually go to the bathroom? Just to talk, I promise,” Sunghoon says, quickly clarifying his intentions as Jake starts to protest for fear of Sunghoon swaying him into another public make out session. Jake notices that Jay has moved closer to them at some point and is now giving both of them an accusatory glare at the mention of going to the bathroom together. Sunghoon narrows his eyes back in response. “I said just to talk.”

“Just keep in mind that you don’t need to touch each other to talk,” Jay warns, Niki gagging dramatically in response. Jake cuffs Niki on the back of the head—not hard enough to actually hurt him, just enough for him to whine out ow, hyung! while trying not to laugh—as Sunghoon scowls deeper and drags Jake away. 

Sunghoon pulls them along back to the bathroom they were in before, but he makes no move to kiss Jake once they’re both inside. If anything, he looks a bit awkward and unsure of what to do now that he’s brought them here. Jake initially assumes that this must be about the pet names, until it suddenly occurs to him that he may have been projecting his feelings onto Sunghoon about the situation. Maybe Sunghoon loves them and now he’ll either have to have a conversation admitting that he hates them, or live with nicknames that he hates for the foreseeable future. What if he tells Sunghoon the truth and it hurts his feelings? Jake isn’t sure he’ll be able to live with himself if he makes Sunghoon upset, even by accident-

“Jake-yah, are you okay?” Sunghoon suddenly says, stepping closer so that he can cradle Jake’s face in his hands. Jake feels his pulse racing against Sunghoon’s palm and is surprised to notice that his heart is pounding. “Your smell suddenly got… bad.”

Jake snorts, finding it cute that Sunghoon doesn’t have the vocabulary to describe the way his scent changes when he’s upset. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just overthinking.”

Sunghoon nods and licks his lips. He opens his mouth for a moment before closing it again and letting out a stressed sigh. After another short pause, he tries again. “Was it okay when… How did you feel when I called you jagiya earlier? Please be honest.” Jake flounders for a few seconds, unsure of how to give a neutral but honest response, but Sunghoon takes that in itself as an answer. “You didn’t like it, right? It didn’t seem like you did.”

“It wasn’t bad ,” Jake quickly defends, but Sunghoon looks unconvinced. Jake sighs. “But it… it wasn’t good either I guess.”

Sunghoon nods again. “I kind of felt the same about you calling me babe. It wasn’t terrible… but I didn’t love it.” His expression falls to something less neutral and more sullen, and suddenly Jake wishes with every cell in his body that he did love the nickname. “Is that weird? Aren’t we supposed to like using pet names and stuff now that we’re courting?”

“No, not necessarily,” Jake says, tone once again defensive. He’s actually not sure if that’s true—maybe their dislike of pet names is extremely weird—but he refuses to let Sunghoon feel that way about it. “Lots of couples don’t use them, right? Jay and Jungwon don’t.”

“Jay and Jungwon aren’t actually courting, though.”

“Don’t let Jungwon hear you say that or he’ll chew you out,” Jake says, his tone light but sentiment serious. In recent weeks, Jay and Jungwon’s relationship had become just a little strained again due to Jungwon wanting to become an official couple while Jay was still being resistant to starting a real courtship. Their relationship, both present and future, had become an extremely touchy topic as a result. Jake isn’t entirely sure how this issue had come back up between them, considering Jay’s claims that they’d discussed and settled it already, but that was also four months ago now; perhaps Jungwon’s feelings have changed since then. “Either way, though, just because other people use pet names doesn’t mean we have to. If neither of us like them, then we don’t like them.”

Sunghoon nods, his features gradually smoothing out to be more neutral again. “I guess you’re right. There aren’t rules about the right way to date someone… at least not that I know of,” he says, making Jake laugh as he seems to momentarily contemplate the possibility that such rules really do exist. “… I felt bad after I said it. I knew right away that you didn’t like it, and then I felt bad that I hadn’t even asked you first. I never want to make you uncomfortable, Jake-yah.”

“It’s fine, Sunghoon-ah. I promise I wasn’t upset, mostly just taken aback,” Jake reassures, leaning up to press his nose into the scent gland under Sunghoon’s jaw. Sunghoon responds by nuzzling into Jake’s temple. “We’re both figuring things out together. Sometimes we’re going to make each other a bit uncomfortable by accident, but as long as we talk about it afterwards, it’ll always be fine, right?”

Sunghoon’s lips brush against Jake’s temple as they spread into a gentle smile. “Right.”

They stand in the bathroom together for another minute, enjoying having a little bit of alone time. But eventually Jake decides they do have to be responsible, letting out a small sigh. 

“We should probably head back before Jay comes looking for us,” he mumbles. “He’s going to accuse us of making out again if we take much longer.”

Sunghoon’s smile turns into a smirk. “We could always just prove him right-”

“Absolutely not,” Jake says, his cheeks flushing as he pulls himself away from a laughing Sunghoon. “You may have thought it was funny last time, but I have to share a room with him, and if I have to hear one more lecture about kissing in public before bedtime, I’m going to start sleeping on the couch.”

~ * ~

Vocal practice is a bit more challenging than any of them expect. The whole fiasco with Jake and Sunghoon had caused the actual songs to take a serious backseat, so despite the dances still looking good, none of them have any lyrics memorized yet. And while all of them are feeling the ramifications of not reading over the lyrics regularly, Jake is feeling it worst of all as he stares at the spoken word pieces he needs to know for the intro and outro in addition to their four new songs. At least he knows bits and pieces of Drunk-Dazed, Fever, and Not For Sale from dance practice; he feels like he’s reading the outro for the first time. 

“ Multiple dimensions wait for us, there might be a world where day and night coexist … Fuck , I’m never going to remember all of this,” Jake groans, burying his face into the lyric papers as he slouches on the wall he’s leaning up against. As flattered as Jake is that he’s being given the opportunity to do the intro and outro on this album too, it’s biting him in the ass a little bit now that he has two extra sets of lyrics to memorize.

“You’re looking stressed, Jakey,” Heeseung’s voice says from above him. Jake moves the papers to look up at him, making sure to put on his biggest pout. Heeseung laughs. “I take it things aren’t going well?”

“How the hell am I supposed to remember all of these weird lyrics? Thy fair imperfect shade through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay , I’m pretty sure most of that isn’t even real English,” Jake complains, smacking his lyric sheets on the floor. Heeseung laughs again and takes the lyric pages from him to read them over. 

“I’m sure you don’t actually have to memorize these, Jake-yah,” he says matter-of-factly. “It’s not like we ever perform the intro or outro tracks live, you just have to know them for recording.”

Jake snatches back the papers. “Well someone could have mentioned that to me forty-five minutes ago when I started practicing,” Jake snaps, flipping the page so he can start reading the lyrics for Mixed Up instead. “Did you need anything, hyung, or did you just want to watch me suffer a little bit?”

“Hey, if anything I just saved you from any more suffering,” Heeseung protests, a wide grin on his face. “I did actually want some help though, I wanted to go over my parts for the intro song to make sure my English still sounds right.” Jake raises an eyebrow. 

“You’re asking me when one of our actual vocal coaches speaks English?” he questions. Of the three vocal coaches they’re working with today, one of them is as fluent in English as Jake, and even has an American accent, so technically he should be the ideal person to ask for help. But as Jake glances towards him, he realizes that the poor man is already in the middle of slowly enunciating the word carnival over and over for Sunoo and Sunghoon, who can’t seem to get it right, while Niki sits on his other side incorrectly repeating the word party to himself. “… Alright, he does seem a bit occupied right now. Let’s hear it then.”

Heeseung recites his part of the intro song from memory, which annoys Jake just slightly since Heeseung had just said that they didn’t need to memorize them, but he can’t deny that his pronunciation is really strong. It’s obvious that Heeseung has still been practicing while the rest of them were slacking, either that or this is once again a situation where he’s unnaturally skilled at everything he does. 

“That was great, hyung!” Jake says enthusiastically. He always likes to make a big deal of it whenever one of his packmates speaks in English, not wanting them to be discouraged from trying again in the future. “Your pronunciation has gotten so good in the last few months, your English is really impressive, you know. I honestly don’t think you should worry at all about the intro, it sounds perfect.” The tips of Heeseung’s ears flush red, and Jake can’t help but think that it’s cute. 

“No need for all the compliments, but I’m glad you thought it was good,” Heeseung says, his voice softening. Jake rolls his eyes at the display of humility. 

“You don’t have to act humble, hyung, it’s okay to admit when you’re good at something,” Jake insists, but Heeseung shakes his head.

“That’s not what I meant,” he says. He takes a moment to consider his next words. “… I just don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.”

The statement gives Jake a weird sense of déjà vu, but he can’t pinpoint why. He also isn’t sure at first what Heeseung means, until the alpha gives a somewhat pointed glance towards Sunghoon, now fighting with the word never as their English-speaking vocal coach tries not to look frustrated. Jake narrows his eyes at Heeseung and scoffs. 

“Hyung, come on. Sunghoon isn’t going to care about me being nice to our packmates,” Jake says dismissively, annoyance rising in his chest as Heeseung looks unconvinced.

“He’s already displayed a lot of possessiveness towards you, I’m not sure if I believe that,” Heeseung says. “I just don’t want to make him uncomfortable.”

“You won’t. Sunghoon was only acting possessive before because we weren’t courting yet, he’s completely fine now,” Jake insists. Heeseung hums, and the annoyance turns into a burning frustration in Jake’s gut. “Sunghoon knows better than to act like that now.”

“I just-”

“Hyung, it’s fine! Sunghoon doesn’t own me, I can compliment whoever I want,” Jake finally snaps, although he does his best to keep his volume under control so that nobody else in the room becomes privy to their discussion. Heeseung stares at him for a few seconds before shrugging nonchalantly, a little smirk spreading across his face.

“I mean, if you really want to compliment me that badly, who am I to stop you?” Heeseung says, doing his best to hide the glee in his tone. Jake immediately turns to face away from him, unwilling to let the alpha see how quickly his words have caused Jake to turn red. The effort ends up being futile, because he can hear Heeseung snicker behind him. 

“I take it back. You better shut your mouth before Sunghoon tries to kick your ass,” Jake says, standing up from his spot against the wall and brushing past Heeseung. It’s not really his style to use his courtmate as a threat, but Heeseung was the one to bring him up, so he doesn’t feel bad about it. He ends up settling beside Sunghoon, who has been left to his own devices for the moment while their English coach helps Niki and Sunoo with the word understand . Sunghoon doesn’t notice him at first, evident by the fact that his scent is still extremely bitter, which Jake chalks up to the fact that he’s currently mumbling you’re not for sale over and over to himself with a scowl on his face. Jake can’t help but smile fondly.

“It sounds great so far, Sunghoon-ah,” Jake says, making him jump. Immediately the alpha’s scent brightens, which only makes Jake smile bigger. “I can tell you’ve been practicing your English.”

“I haven’t ,” Sunghoon grumbles, leaning on Jake’s shoulder as the omega laughs. “Ugh, why don’t they just get you and Jay to say all of the English parts?”

“Because we all have foreign Engenes who love us, not just Jay and I. They want to hear you tell them that they’re not for sale,” Jake says earnestly. Sunghoon snorts.

“Whatever. I guess it’s not that bad, it’s just a few words per song,” Sunghoon relents. “Will you listen to what I’ve practiced so far and tell me if it sounds okay?”

Jake nods happily. “Yeah, of course, Hoonie-yah,” he says, the nickname making the alpha’s cheeks flush a cute pink. He leans his cheek onto the top of Sunghoon’s head and listens as his courtmate recites every English lyric he has in their comeback, and pushes away any thoughts of the possibility of Sunghoon being jealous.

~ * ~

“Jakey, have I mentioned how pretty your new hair looks yet?”

“This is only the twentieth time now, Sunghoon-ah,” Jake says, attempting to sound a little annoyed at Sunghoon’s constant compliments but unable to make himself sound serious. Their stylists had finally restyled all of their hair just a few days before, wanting their colours to look as fresh as possible for the photoshoots that would be happening over the next few days. Jake, who had been previously sporting fluffy brown hair, now has sleek black hair with just a bit of length in the back while keeping the front shorter. His certainly isn’t the most drastic change for hair—Niki’s hair is currently a dark purple, while Sunoo’s hair has been bleached to a sandy blonde—but Sunghoon can’t seem to stop obsessing over the change.

“Well you deserve to hear it again. It looks so good on you, Jake-yah,” Sunghoon says. Jake is seated on a makeup chair, doing his best to keep his focus on his cell phone, but Sunghoon pushes for his attention as he nuzzles his way into Jake’s neck. The nuzzling slowly morphs into small licks against his scent glands, causing Jake to subconsciously release his scent, and then eventually full-blown kisses and nips. Jake suppresses the urge to moan, not wanting to catch the attention of any staff who may be lingering nearby them instead of near the photoshoot. 

If it were earlier in the day, Jake would have immediately shoved Sunghoon away; they are currently shooting concept photos, as well as pictures for album inclusions, and the last thing Jake needs is to have to explain how his hair and makeup got so messed up halfway through the photoshoot. But it’s nearly the end of the day, all of the photos already taken other than some unit photos with Heeseung and the maknae line that had been added last minute, which are still being taken. Jake’s makeup no longer needs to stay perfect and his hair is free to get messy, although that still doesn’t necessarily mean that making out with Sunghoon on set would be a good idea. 

In spite of this, Jake doesn’t even attempt to stop Sunghoon when he leans in for a proper kiss, his hands resting on Sunghoon’s chest as the alpha leans on the arms of the flimsy makeup chair with far more faith in its ability to not collapse under the weight of two people than Jake has. The back of Jake’s neck tingles with anxiety as he obediently opens his mouth for Sunghoon to lick inside, hyper aware of how much more open and exposed they are in the dressing room of a photoshoot than they had been even in the HYBE bathroom. And as much as there’s an undeniable rush from the idea of getting caught, Jake is now familiar with embarrassment that comes with it, and it’s not something he’s interested in repeating. He gently pulls himself away from Sunghoon, who quickly busies himself with kissing Jake’s neck again.

“Sunghoon-ah, we’ve been through this,” Jake starts with a short gasp, instinctively tipping his head back as the flat of Sunghoon’s tongue drags over his scent gland. “W-We can’t… I don’t want to get caught-”

“It’s fine, Jake-yah,” Sunghoon coos, lips dragging up the column of Jake’s neck as his hands rest on the omega’s hips. Jake whimpers and squeezes his eyes shut; he’s starting to feel less embarrassed about the idea of being caught, and more embarrassed about how worked up he feels just from kissing. “You just look so pretty, I couldn’t keep waiting.”

Their lips reconnect, at first just a small brush of lips but quickly turning back into Sunghoon sucking on Jake’s tongue and nipping at his bottom lip until Jake stops trying to argue that kissing is a bad idea. Jake knows he needs to stop, that he needs to make Sunghoon listen and understand why they really shouldn’t be doing this, but his omega is overwhelmed by how lovely it is to get affection and attention from his alpha, and he can’t bring himself to stop. 

Until there is a knock on the door. 

It’s all the warning they get before the door to the dressing room swings open, although it’s still enough time for Sunghoon to spring away and into his own makeup chair, both of them doing everything in their power to appear as though they hadn’t just been making out. Jungwon walks into the room first, followed closely by Niki. Both look blissfully unaware of what had just transpired only moments before despite the fact that Sunghoon’s cheeks are flushed and Jake is still struggling to regulate his breathing. Just as Jake thinks he and Sunghoon may have gotten away with it, Sunoo also joins them, and it is instantly obvious that he knows exactly what Jake and Sunghoon had been doing. His nose twitches as he instinctively sniffs upon entering a new space, and his eyes dart up to lock with Jake’s as he picks up on their mixed scents and the mild arousal tainting the air that the two pups aren’t able to smell yet. 

Jake is still getting used to not feeling guilty whenever he’s affectionate with Sunghoon in front of Sunoo, his head omega instincts constantly wanting to protect his younger packmate, but Sunoo always keeps his word of never acting jealous or upset. Even now, he looks perfectly neutral despite knowing that the two of them were kissing just seconds earlier, and it stops Jake from feeling too bad about it. 

“I know I told you guys not to be gross in public, but you don’t have to stay two metres apart at all times,” Jungwon jokes, pulling Jake back away from his thoughts. The comment makes him realize just how far apart he and Sunghoon are now that they’re both in their individual makeup chairs. It definitely makes them seem mildly suspicious, but Jungwon doesn’t seem to be trying to imply anything. “None of us are going to care if you act a little close, you know. We all know you’re courting already.”

“Just not too close,” Sunoo says from where he stands behind Jungwon, his tone teasing but eyes clear with the message of I know what you guys were doing . It’s meant in a cautionary way, warning them that they need to be more careful and discrete if they genuinely don’t want their relationship to end up becoming public. 

Jake jumps when something touches his back, but quickly relaxes when he realizes it’s Sunghoon’s hand; he hadn’t even realized that the alpha had stood back up. “We’re just trying to be respectful,” Jake says, leaning into Sunghoon’s hand as it gently brushes up and down his spine. “We don’t want to make any of you uncomfortable.” Jungwon waves a hand dismissively.

 “As long as you keep it family-friendly, none of us are going to care, hyung,” Jungwon insists. Niki looks like he disagrees, but he doesn’t say anything. As usual, Jake waits for a similar reaction from Sunoo, but he just nods in agreement with Jungwon. 

Sunghoon sighs dramatically. “If you guys want to see Jake and I kiss that badly, you can just say so and we’ll do it-”

“ No ,” Niki finally speaks up, his nose wrinkled. Sunghoon snorts. “I think you guys already kiss in front of us often enough.” That makes everyone laugh, mostly because they have yet to kiss in front of their packmates without it being an accident. 

“You just think that way because you’re still a baby, Niki-yah. You’ll think it’s nice one day,” Sunoo coos, cupping Niki’s face in his hands so that he can squish his cheeks.

“I’m not a baby,” Niki huffs as he pulls his red face out of Sunoo’s grasp. There’s a slight growl in his voice, but it’s the underdeveloped growl of a pup, so it only serves to make Sunoo laugh. “I don’t care about other people kissing, I just don’t want to see them kissing. It’s like seeing your… whatever , I just don’t want to.”

Curiosity burns in Jake’s chest over what Niki had almost said; he’s suspicious that it was something along the lines of like seeing your parents kiss until realizing it would only further Sunoo’s accusations of him being a baby. He contemplates what other things Niki may have been trying to say as Niki and Sunoo go to their own vanities to collect their personal items, Jungwon explaining that they are indeed heading home for the evening once Heeseung tracks down Jay. 

Jake hops off his chair to grab his own things off the vanity in front of him, already excited to wash all of the makeup off his face and get into bed as soon as possible. He glances up and happens to notice Sunoo’s reflection in his peripheral vision, and much to his distress, finds the younger omega with a forlorn look on his face. His bottom lip juts out just slightly into a soft pout, his eyebrows scrunch together, and his eyes are ever so slightly glossy with tears. It’s clear that he’d intentionally turned away so that nobody else would see his loss of composure, not accounting for the mirror to expose it anyway. 

Jake wants so badly to go over and comfort him. He wants to cradle him and apologize and ask what he can do to make him feel better. But he doesn't want to bring attention to Sunoo when he so obviously wants to keep these emotions private, and even more so, he can’t help but hear the younger omega’s words repeating over and over again inside his head.

Trust that I am fine and handling my own feelings about it. Okay?

And so, as much as it pains Jake to do so, he doesn’t say anything.

~ * ~

At their next concept photoshoot, Jake’s only mission is to avoid kissing Sunghoon on set. As much as he loves kissing his courtmate and wishes he could do it all the time, it’s absolutely not worth the consequences of getting caught, and he needs to put his foot down about it. He knows Sunghoon is only being pushy because he can tell that Jake wants it just as much as he does, so hopefully a bit of resolve from Jake is enough to put an end to it. 

They’re in the middle of taking unit photos after taking all of the solo shots other than Sunoo’s, on account of him running a bit behind for touch-ups to his hair. Jake isn’t entirely sure what kind of touch-ups are being referred to, but they sound pretty major considering he is now several hours late to the photoshoot. Sunghoon and Jay are off getting their makeup touched up as they wait for Sunoo to arrive, as he is part of their unit, while the other four all pose together.

Another round of photos gets taken, the staff carefully shifting them into just the right poses between shots, until the photographer seems happy with what he’s taken. Jake springs up to check the proofs, followed closely by Heeseung, Jungwon, and Niki. They all huddle around the camera to see how the pictures have turned out, and are all quite pleased with how cool they look together. The photographer compliments them and thanks them for being so cooperative, then tells them to rest for a little while as they wait for Sunoo to arrive for the remaining photos. 

As they walk back to the dressing room, Heeseung gently tugs on Jake’s elbow until he turns around, the pair of them falling a few steps behind Jungwon and Niki as the two youngest debate what could be taking Sunoo so long. Jake raises an eyebrow as Heeseung smiles and lets go of his arm.

“Our unit photos turned out really well,” he comments, just casual enough that Jake is immediately suspicious of where he’s headed with it. “We look like a little family.”

Jake splutters as he tries to think of how to respond to that. It’s not really a true statement; there was nothing familial about the cool and mildly grungy concept of this particular photoshoot. “What are you talking about? How did posing with a fridge make us look like a family?”

Heeseung laughs. “I wasn’t talking about posing with the fridge in specific,” he clarifies, slinging his arm around Jake’s shoulder. “But it was our pack’s head alpha and head omega posing with our pack pups. It’s cute, right? Like a family.”

Now that their photos have been framed in such a way, Jake can’t unsee it. He’s grateful that Niki and Jungwon can’t smell what’s going on behind them, because he immediately loses control of his scent for a few seconds as his omega preens over the thought of them looking like a family , that he could be perceived in some way as mother figure to his younger packmates. He reels his scent back in as quickly as he’d let it go, but he knows it’s already too late the second he sees a triumphant smirk on Heeseung’s face. 

“Yeah, I guess you could look at it that way,” Jake says, trying to play off his momentary slip up like it didn’t happen. “Some Engenes would probably think it’s cute if they knew we were the pack heads.” 

Heeseung laughs again, leaning in to brush his nose ever so slightly against Jake’s temple. Electricity shoots down Jake’s spine at the action, and it causes Jake to suddenly wonder when he’d last shared a pack gesture with Heeseung; as far as he can remember it was during his heat, nearly a month ago now. 

“I’m sure a few of them have already figured that out, eomma ,” Heeseung says, lowering his voice. Jake swings a fist out to hit him, but Heeseung has already darted out of the way and into the dressing room, making it impossible for Jake to follow through on his punch without having to explain to everyone else why he was upset in the first place. He quickly abandons his plan as he enters the dressing room, instead opting to join Sunghoon where he’s sat on the couch near the back of the room. Sunghoon smiles and opens his mouth to speak when both of their phones buzz at the same time. Jake pulls his out of his pocket, Sunghoon leaning over to see what message they’d both received as Jake’s phone starts buzzing over and over.

ENHYPEN 🔥

[sunshine] I’m on my way over!!!! I’ll be there soon!!

[leader-nim] okay, see you soon! travel safe pls

[niki-san] wow took u long enough 🙄 u couldnt have been faster???

[sunshine] be nice you brat

[niki-san] weve been waiting foreverrrrrr hurry up

[sunshine] sorry that perfection can’t be rushed 💅

[niki-san] sure lol whatever u say

[sunshine has left the chat]

“Yah!” Jungwon suddenly yells out loud, making both Jake and Sunghoon jump. They look up at their leader, who is pointing an accusatory finger at Niki as their maknae cackles. “Look what you did! You better apologize to Sunoo-hyung once I add him back in!” Heeseung and Jay, both of whom are standing behind Jungwon, do their best not to laugh alongside Niki as Jungwon begins to type frantically on his phone. 

ENHYPEN 🔥

[sunshine has been added to the chat]

[leader-nim] DO! NOT! LEAVE! THE! CHAT!!!!!!!!

[sunshine] sorry wonie-yahhh 🥺  

[niki-san] sry for being rude to u sunoo hyung 

[niki-san] jungwon hyung made me say that

Jake is still watching his phone, smiling as he sees Sunoo start to type, when suddenly Sunghoon is tugging him off the couch. He raises an eyebrow as Sunghoon pulls him away, their other packmates too distracted by their group chat to notice, until he’s dragged them in behind some kind of curtain hung only a metre or so away from the wall; Jake hadn’t even realized this space was here, having assumed that the certain was hung up directly against the wall. They’re still in the same room, close enough that he can still hear Niki snickering and Jungwon scolding him, but physically they have been completely concealed. 

Jake stifles a small gasp as Sunghoon leans over and starts to nose up his neck. He should have expected that this would be the alpha’s motivation for hiding them away, and yet he still feels caught off guard. His omega begs to submit and let Sunghoon take things further as he’s pressed into the wall, but Jake knows that he can’t let this happen anymore.

“Sunghoon-ah, stop it,” he says, trying his best to keep his voice hushed as Sunghoon’s tongue laves over the scent gland in his jaw, just below his ear. “I don’t want to kiss outside of our den anymore.”

“Jakey, come on. I can tell that you’re already worked up, just let me take care of you a little,” Sunghoon whispers, making Jake’s cheeks flush as he tries to push Sunghoon away. 

“I’m not worked up -”

“Your scent says otherwise.”

Jake is genuinely a bit surprised to hear this, unsure of what Sunghoon is talking about until the word eomma echoes through his head. “Hyung was just teasing me earlier about our unit photos, I’m fine, Hoonie.”

Sunghoon’s coffee scent goes bitter so quickly that it makes Jake’s breath hitch, his omega instantly panicking that he’s somehow done something to piss off his alpha. Despite not even being sure what he’s done, Jake instinctively tries to release some of his own scent with the intent of soothing Sunghoon and making his scent go back to normal, and that seems to make Sunghoon realize that he’s let his scent go. He quickly reels it back in, pressing his chest against Jake’s as he lets out an apologetic rumble.

Jake is about to question Sunghoon’s behaviour when the rest of their pack starts to make a loud commotion, paired with the scent of roses and blossoms to suggest that Sunoo has finally arrived on set. Deciding to forgo the conversation in favour of greeting their packmate, Jake brushes past Sunghoon and quickly joins everyone else, Sunghoon close behind. Jake breaks out into a smile as he realizes why everyone is fawning over their youngest omega: his hair, which had been a sandy blonde the last time Jake had seen him, was now a snowy platinum blonde, almost white in certain lighting. He looks almost angelic with the hair colour, even just in his street clothes. 

“ Woah , Sunoo-yah, that hair colour suits you so well,” Jay says, gently tugging on a strand of it. Sunoo swats his hand away, but is unable to hide his grin. 

“Thank you, hyung. I don’t think it will be easy to maintain, but it looks pretty,” Sunoo says, clearly trying to downplay the way their pack fawns over him despite also looking extremely pleased with his new hair colour. Niki especially looks taken with Sunoo’s new hair; his eyes are wide and mouth slightly open, despite having been silent thus far. Eventually Sunoo catches his gaze and raises an eyebrow. “Well, was it worth the wait, Niki-yah?” 

Sunoo’s tone is light and teasing, clearly meant to be a callback to their earlier argument over text. Being directly addressed seems to snap Niki out of whatever stupor he’d been in, his cheeks flushing pink as he finally turns away from Sunoo and rolls his eyes for dramatic effect. “Yeah, I guess so. Your new hair looks nice, hyung.” Sunoo preens and presses his nose into Niki’s temple, which he grumbles about despite eagerly nuzzling Sunoo back. 

Jake watches his blushing maknae fondly as Sunoo finally gets whisked away for makeup and wardrobe, and does his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut that he’s witnessing yet another thing that is never going to end well. 

~ * ~

It’s not like Jake has never noticed before that Niki has a special adoration for Sunoo. As much as their maknae denies it, he’s terrible at hiding how much he loves their youngest omega, constantly teasing him and clinging to him whenever he has the chance. He instinctively gravitates towards Sunoo, like a little planet trapped in the orbit of a bright sun, and seems lost during Sunoo’s heat cycles when they have to be separated. And yet in spite of all this, it has only just occurred to Jake that Niki’s feelings might be more significant than just having a favourite hyung, that he might have romantic feelings towards Sunoo.

Once the thought strikes him, Jake feels as stupid as he had once he found out that Jay and Jungwon were in a pseudo-courtship. Niki does absolutely nothing to hide his feelings, like he wouldn’t be able to contain them even if he wanted to. Jake feels a bit guilty at first for how long it took for him to realize, since he’s pretty sure it’s just because he can’t picture their maknae, their baby , having romantic feelings for anyone. Which is silly in retrospect, because most people develop their first crushes long before they’re fifteen, but Jake can’t help but feel that Niki is still far too young to be interested in dating.

However, nothing about the possibility of Niki having a crush on Sunoo eats away at Jake as much as the knowledge that Sunoo definitely still likes Sunghoon. The whole situation makes Jake unsure about how he’s even supposed to feel about it. Is it wrong and selfish of him if he hopes Sunoo starts to like Niki back? Or would it actually be selfless of him, to hope that two of his packmates find love in each other? What are the chances that Sunoo would eventually move on from Sunghoon and develop feelings for Niki anyway? 

Would both of them accuse him of letting his head omega hormones take over if he ever admits that the idea of them courting makes his teeth itch?

In the end, none of it really matters, since Niki is clearly hellbent on keeping it a secret despite his lack of discretion. Even now, at their final photoshoot for their album, Niki has been struggling not to openly ogle at Sunoo the entire day. Jake gets it, considering how pretty Sunoo looks with his white hair brushed back off of his face and dressed in their princely costumes, but it makes him wonder how Sunoo hasn’t already figured it out himself. Maybe he has. 

Jake is pulled from his thoughts by the touch of a hand on his lower back. His eyes meet Sunghoon’s as the alpha smiles down at him. They’re currently alone in the dressing room, Jake having gotten distracted while trying to track down his water bottle. 

“Hi,” Jake says sweetly. He wants to lean up and offer a pack gesture, but he’s also acutely aware of how much makeup is on his face today, and that his foundation would probably leave a noticeably darker spot on Sunghoon’s temple. “How did your solo shoot go?”

“I think it was good, I was happy with all of the photos at least,” Sunghoon answers. His fingers gently grip Jake’s chin and tilt it upwards just a little, enough that Jake is sure he’s about to get a kiss. He doesn’t, but the way he instinctively leans up and the sudden burst of excitement in his scent makes Sunghoon grin. “I was supposed to come get you so that they can start taking the unit photos once Jungwon’s solos are done, but maybe it would be better for me to keep you here with me instead.”

Jake preens, nearly reaching up to snag the kiss he feels cheated from until he remembers his previous resolve about not kissing at photoshoots anymore, as well as his concern about their makeup. Sunghoon seems disappointed by Jake’s hesitation, bending down closer as though their height difference might be the only barrier Jake is struggling with. However, the thought of having to make up an excuse to the makeup noonas how his lip colour ended up on Sunghoon’s mouth is enough to make Jake’s skin crawl, like he can suddenly see his name plastered across every news website and gossip magazine in South Korea. He ends up taking a step further away from Sunghoon until they’re not touching at all anymore, and that really puts Sunghoon off. Jake whines softly, like someone else in the empty room might hear it otherwise, but it doesn't seem to affect the alpha at all.

“Sunghoon-ah-”

“I get it, it’s fine,” Sunghoon says. “I know we have to be professional, obviously , but how come it’s always you pushing me away? You could at least pretend that you want to kiss me a little.”

“Because you’re always the one trying to drag me into a dark corner,” Jake accuses, but his tone is fond. He reaches up and brushes his thumb across Sunghoon’s lower lip until the alpha playfully bites down on it. A shiver runs down Jake’s spine. “The real problem is that if I even just pretend that I want to kiss you, I’ll end up losing my cool and actually kissing you. So I promise it has nothing to do with me not wanting to.” 

Sunghoon’s eyes glint at the confession. “What I’m hearing is that I could still convince you that we should kiss,” he purrs, his hands finding Jake’s waist and squeezing. But he doesn’t make any further attempts to follow through, despite the fact that Jake can smell how much he wants to. Jake smiles and runs his hand over Sunghoon’s chest until he releases an alpha rumble, the sound vibrating against Jake’s palm. 

“Once we’re back home, we’ll make up the lost time,” Jake promises, and Sunghoon rumbles again in response, louder this time. “But here, I’m supposed to be setting a good example as head omega. Which means no kissing in the change rooms.” Sunghoon snorts.

“A good example for who? Do you think Sunoo is going to start kissing every alpha he sees if he can tell we’ve been kissing?” he teases, letting go of Jake’s waist as the omega laughs.

“Maybe, you never know with him,” Jake says. He grabs Sunghoon’s hand and pulls him towards the door so that they can head back to the photoshoot; Jungwon’s solos must be almost done. “Technically I’m also setting a good example for Niki and Wonie, too. You know, setting the standard for behaviour in case either of them present as omegas.”

“You’re taking your role as head omega pretty seriously,” Sunghoon comments, his odd tone making Jake raise an eyebrow. 

“Of course I am. I don’t want anyone to think I’m slacking off or whatever,” Jake says, not sure why Sunghoon seems to think it’s strange. He is forced to let it be, though, as they enter the main photoshoot area and are immediately overwhelmed by makeup noonas touching them up and scolding them for taking so long to come back. Jake tries his best to apologize, but they just tell him to be quiet so they can finish fixing his lip tint. 

Once the makeup noonas are satisfied, Jake is quickly tugged away and towards a fancy dining room set, where the photographer and many assistants immediately start moving him around. Niki and Jungwon are already there, clearly having been selected as his unit partners once again, and a lot of effort is put into making sure they’re all in just the right position to contrast with each other. There is a lot of shuffling and reshuffling, but eventually Jake ends up sitting in one of the chairs with Niki perched on the table and Jungwon slightly behind him. Jake’s hand darts out as Niki scoots back a bit more on the table, grabbing one of the pastries that Niki just about sat on.

“Niki-yah, be careful, you don’t want to ruin your costume,” Jake scolds gently. Jungwon snorts as Niki’s cheeks flush red and he averts his gaze. Jake is about to ask Jungwon what’s so funny when the photographer calls their attention back, commenting that this position is perfect. Jake sets the food back down and focuses on getting good photographs.

Heeseung and Jay are standing nearby watching the photoshoot as it happens. Jay’s eyes are, unsurprisingly, mostly glued to Jungwon, but Jake is surprised when he immediately catches Heeseung’s gaze. He gives the alpha a raised eyebrow in between photos, trying to communicate his confusion without speaking, but all it takes is for Heeseung to grin with a little sparkle in his eye for Jake to catch onto what he’s thinking. Jake has to put every ounce of his willpower into not glaring or flushing bright red as Heeseung’s voice from a few days ago rings in his head loud and clear.

We look like a little family.

The way that he has been posed, sitting at the head of the table with their two pack pups just a little bit behind him, suddenly makes Jake feel like he couldn’t look more obviously like their head omega if the words had been tattooed onto his forehead. Jake swallows thickly and takes a moment to be thankful that Niki and Jungwon can’t smell him, because his momentary loss of control over his own scent could not be more obvious. He’s extremely thankful when the photoshoot wraps up from there, quickly darting away and firing Heeseung the accusatory glare he'd been holding in. Heeseung just laughs quietly, which only serves to make Jake feel even more weird about it all. He’s still not sure whether it’s more embarrassing that Heeseung is constantly making jokes about him being motherly, or that his omega likes it so much.

Sunghoon and Sunoo finally make their appearance, the assistants now going to work on posing them with Jay and Heeseung at the other end of the dining table. Jake watches as each of them are seated into chairs, then pulled back out of chairs as the photographer changes his mind. Eventually they settle on having just Heeseung and Jay seated, with Sunoo and Sunghoon posed in behind Heeseung. As Jake’s eyes fondly land on Sunghoon, he’s surprised to see his alpha looking just ever so slightly agitated; not enough that the average person would notice, but he’s Jake’s courtmate , so of course he knows. He frowns, wondering what could have put Sunghoon in a bad mood, when his thoughts are interrupted by the photographer. 

“Sunghoon-ssi, can you put your hand on Heeseung’s shoulder?” the photographer asks. Sunghoon’s jaw tightens just a little before almost instantly releasing, but he does as he’s told. “Perfect, now everyone just hold their pose here.”

Jake is baffled. He keeps watching, trying to understand why Sunghoon seems upset, but everyone else seems calm and normal about the photoshoot. It does strike Jake that this photo has been framed in a way that seems to accentuate Heeseung’s position as head alpha. Much like Jake had been in his unit photo, he’s seated at the head of the table with their two youngest presented members behind him, and Sunghoon’s hand on his shoulder only serves to make him look even more like a figure of authority. He can’t help but wonder if it was done intentionally, as some kind of inside joke about him and Heeseung being the pack heads. 

The second the photographer calls for a wrap on the photoshoot, Sunghoon’s hand flies off of Heeseung’s shoulder like it was burning him. He is off the set in seconds, brushing past Jake so fast that the omega almost doesn’t hear his comment of meet me in the bathroom before he disappears. Jake rolls his eyes and takes a moment to contemplate whether going to the bathroom with Sunghoon is a great idea, since half the time being in the bathroom together results in making out, but Sunghoon’s odd behaviour is enough to convince him to go. 

Jake follow’s Sunghoon’s scent to one of the bigger, single-person washrooms and knocks on the door. Sunghoon tugs him in and quickly locks the door before pinning Jake up against it with far more force than the omega is used to. Before he can wonder if Sunghoon is about to kiss him in yet another public washroom, the alpha instead bends down and starts to rub their necks together. However, it’s still enough that Jake’s scent floods the bathroom instantly and he lets out an involuntary moan, the sound echoing far too loudly in the boxy washroom. The aggressive scenting makes Jake’s legs tremble, his hands clinging to Sunghoon’s biceps as he hurries to reciprocate. Eventually the alpha calms back down, settling for just rubbing their temples together gently.

“Are you okay?” Jake finally asks, his voice managing to stay calm despite the fact that his heart is racing. Sunghoon nods against his temple. 

“Yeah, I am. Sorry about that, I just… I don’t know. I just needed you to smell like me. My alpha was freaking out,” he admits. It doesn’t really make Jake feel any less worried, since it’s not all that normal for a person’s wolf to panic for no reason. “I promise I’m fine now, Jake-yah. I’m sorry if I made you worry.”

“It’s okay, I just want you to be well, Sunghoonie,” Jake says, pressing his nose into Sunghoon’s neck. He wants to question his courtmate a bit more, push for more answers, but he’s also sure that they’ve been gone for just a bit too long for-

There’s a knock on the door. 

“I absolutely do not want to know what you’re doing in there, but whatever it is, you need to wrap it up. I want to go home,” Jungwon’s muffled voice says, clearly annoyed. Jake’s neck prickles with embarrassment. 

“We’re not even doing-”

“I said I don’t want to know! Just hurry up and come back to the change room.” 

Jake sighs and looks up at Sunghoon as he hears Jungwon walk away. The alpha looks equally embarrassed to have been caught by Jungwon, even though they weren’t even really doing anything. It endears Jake enough that he finally cracks and grabs Sunghoon by the chin, pulling him down for a chaste kiss until the alpha’s body relaxes again. Jake grins as Sunghoon starts to rumble instinctively. 

“Let’s go home, Sunghoonie. And I promise I really will make things up to you soon,” Jake says. Sunghoon grins and gently kisses Jake’s forehead.

“I’ll look forward to it, Jakey.”

~ * ~

“Do either of you want to go out for dinner tonight with Sunoo and I?” Jay asks, cutting through the silence of the car ride back to their dorm. They’d just finished a long and gruelling dance practice, as they only have a few more days until they film their music video for Drunk-Dazed, and they need the choreography to be perfect before then. Jungwon and Niki both turn around to look at Jay where he’s sitting beside Jake in the back, Niki raising an eyebrow. 

“Where are we eating?” he asks, and Jay shrugs. 

“Not sure yet, I’m letting Sunoo decide,” he answers. “I’ll pay for both of you.”

“I’m in then,” Jungwon responds easily, Niki nodding in agreement. “Thanks, hyung!”

As this quick conversation happens, Jake feels his own heart rate start to increase. Usually he’d be hurt that Jay seems to be excluding him from their dinner plans, but tonight is his and Sunghoon’s one month anniversary, and his packmates being out of the dorm really opens up the options for what they could do together tonight. He jumps when his phone suddenly buzzes in his hand, turning it over to read the notification as it flashes across the screen.

[jay-ah] happy anniversary. you're welcome 

Jake glances up at Jay’s face; his expression is neutral and he’s avoiding making eye contact as hard as he can. It makes Jake smile, and he can’t help but lean over and bump their temples together. Jay nudges him back, but stays quiet.

They climb out of the car as it arrives at their building, the other car arriving a minute later. Jake frowns when only Sunoo and Sunghoon climb out; he is pretty sure that Heeseung had also come out to the cars with them. 

“Where is hyung?” Jay asks, echoing Jake’s sentiments. 

“He got asked to stay back last minute to work more on the vocal track,” Sunoo explains. “They wanted him to hear the current vocal mix and have him sing more background vocals.”

Jake nods, and is about to suggest they head to their dorm when Jay interrupts. “Well, if we’re going out to dinner, we should probably just head out now instead of wasting time going upstairs. Unless one of you needs to shower, I showered before we left.” The maknae line all assure that they had also showered at the HYBE building, so Jay nods. “Cool, let’s go then.”

The four of them wave as they pile back into one of the cars, leaving Jake and Sunghoon alone in front of their apartment building before either of them can even process what’s happened. Eventually Jake turns to look at Sunghoon, giving him a winning smile. 

“Should we go inside then?”

“Yeah, I’m getting cold out here.”

They’re mostly silent as they travel back up to their dorm. Jake flinches in surprise when Sunghoon suddenly grabs his hand during the elevator ride, but he quickly relaxes again. It really is rare that they get to show even small amounts of affection like this, and getting to hold Sunghoon’s hand during a moment of privacy in the elevator only makes him more excited that they’ll have the dorm to themselves. 

The pair shuffle inside after Sunghoon unlocks the door, shucking off their coats and shoes slowly as the fatigue starts to hit. They end up collapsing together onto Jake’s bed, Sunghoon on his back as Jake happily curls into his side, running his nose up and down the alpha’s neck. Sunghoon sighs in content, the sound turning into an exhausted groan. 

“I haven’t been this tired in months,” Sunghoon mumbles, a short and quiet rumble escaping him as Jake’s nosing turns into licking over the scent glands in the alpha’s neck. Jake hums happily as Sunghoon’s arm curls around him to gently pet down his spine. 

“That’s too bad that you’re so tired, Hoonie,” Jake coos, his lips brushing over Sunghoon’s neck as he speaks. “It really is a shame, since I was thinking that we could do something fun for our one-month anniversary while everyone is gone, but-”

Jake is cut off with a gasp as Sunghoon suddenly rolls over top of him, his long legs trapping Jake’s as he shifts so that he can nose at the omega’s neck. His own tongue drags across Jake’s scent glands, drawing out a much louder whine than they have previously had the luxury of allowing. With the upcoming release of their next mini album, they haven’t had the time to do anything with each other besides some heated kissing and scenting, and even then, it’s been rushed and quiet due to sharing their small space with five other people. Not to mention that they had to keep their voice in good condition up until the vocal recordings were finished, which was only three days ago. 

The more Jake thinks about how deprived he feels of his alpha, the less he can blame Sunghoon for wanting to drag him away during every photoshoot they’ve had. 

“Yeah? What were you thinking we could do, Jakey?” Sunghoon asks, pulling on the collar of Jake’s shirt until he can nip at the omega’s collarbones. Jake lets out another soft moan, his back arching up as Sunghoon’s hand once again grazes his spine. “Are you finally making good on your promise to make things up to me?”

“If that’s what you want,” Jake responds breathily. Sunghoon leans back to look at his face, and Jake already looks so devastatingly pretty that Sunghoon has no choice but to kiss him. Jake grins and holds Sunghoon’s face in his hands, pulling him deeper into the kiss until the alpha’s tongue is in his mouth. Eventually Sunghoon pulls away, already looking completely dishevelled, and Jake only grins wider. “I know it’s what I want.”

Jake pushes on Sunghoon’s shoulder until he’s moved off the omega and into a seated position against the wall Jake’s bed is shoved up against. Jake climbs into the alpha’s lap, perching himself just above Sunghoon’s crotch as he once again cups his face and kisses him. Sunghoon is quick to wrap his arms around Jake’s waist, tugging him closer and down more firmly into his lap. The sound of rustling clothes and wet kissing fills the quiet room, Jake gasping as Sunghoon’s hands move to squeeze his ass through his pants. Sunghoon takes the opportunity to push his tongue back into Jake’s mouth, so Jake willingly opens his mouth even wider. 

Jake’s arms snake around Sunghoon’s neck, hands burying themselves into the alpha’s dark hair and gripping so hard that it’s likely painful. However, Sunghoon rumbles loudly in response to the tug, the vibrations coursing through Jake’s body due to their entire fronts being pressed together. Jake whines directly into Sunghoon’s mouth, the noise high and omegan, which only results in Sunghoon’s rumble turning into a full possessive growl. He pulls away from the kiss to instead lick up and down Jake’s neck, giving most of his attention to the scent glands near the omega’s collarbones. Jake’s head tips back, loud moans bouncing against the walls and sounding even louder. He wishes with every fibre of his being that he could beg Sunghoon to bite him, to suck harshly until a hickey is left behind, anything that would leave some kind of mark that screams I’m taken, I have an alpha , but he knows that soft kissing and frantic licking is all they can afford to do as idols. 

“I want to mark you up so bad,” Sunghoon groans, as though he can read Jake’s mind. His sharp teeth scrape against Jake’s neck as he speaks, and Jake shivers in his lap. “I wish everyone knew you were mine, Jakey.”

“Me too,” Jake pants, wiggling in Sunghoon’s hold until he’s been freed just enough to grind down onto Sunghoon’s cock. Both of them moan loudly at the feeling, Jake’s own dick starting to harden just from the feeling of Sunghoon’s pressing into his ass. He doesn’t stop his movement, instead beginning to rock against the alpha rhythmically as Sunghoon’s hands grab at his waist to help tug him down even more firmly. “ God , I want you so bad, Hoonie.”

Sunghoon smirks, moving to gently nip at the scent gland near Jake’s left ear; it’s not exactly what Jake wants, but it still makes his heart jump. “Didn’t you say before that you wanted to go slow, Jake? You’re not really acting like it right now,” he teases. Jake whines and only speeds up his movement. Sunghoon gasps, the smirk falling from his face as his hips buck upwards to meet Jake’s. Jake doesn’t even notice the alpha’s desperate behaviour, though, too caught up in his own head. 

“I-I do, but I just…” Jake’s eyes widen in embarrassment and his hips stutter as he realizes he can feel slick starting to leak out and drip down his skin, but he quickly finds his rhythm again. Despite how much of him finds it just a little humiliating that he gets wet whenever he’s horny, right now he’s far more focused on giving Sunghoon an orgasm. He lets out a little chirp, trying to distract Sunghoon from his momentarily odd behaviour and the smell of slick. “I just want you so bad, okay? Do you want me to go slower?”

The threat barely leaves Jake’s lips before Sunghoon is tugging him close again, growling and biting Jake’s collarbone a bit more harshly as he thrusts upwards against Jake’s ass. Initially it had been Jake’s intention for them to undress at some point, but he’s so overwhelmed by how good it feels just to rut against each other, even through their clothes, that he isn’t sure they’ll make it that far. 

“ No ,” Sunghoon says, shifting so he can kiss Jake properly on the mouth again. Jake sighs contentedly as Sunghoon kisses his way back to the omega’s neck before resting his nose there for a few moments, just deeply breathing in the scent that Jake has long since lost control over. “I mean, if you wanted to go slow then that would be fine. But I’m very happy with this pace.”

Jake smiles at the admission. He starts to increase the speed of his rutting again, having slowed down when Sunghoon grabbed him, and uses the grip he still has in Sunghoon’s hair to pull the alpha away from his neck. Sunghoon growls, not really realizing why he’s being separated from Jake’s scent gland, until his neck is tilted back far enough for Jake to join in on scenting his courtmate. He licks his way up Sunghoon’s neck, nipping at the scent glands in his collarbone and behind his ears until his alpha is gasping, hips bucking up involuntarily. His hard cock presses right into Jake’s ass, hot even through the layers of fabric separating them, and all Jake can think about is how badly he wishes it was inside him. Just the idea has another rush of slick pooling in his underwear.

It’s only seconds later that Jake feels Sunghoon’s hand dipping into the back of his pants, the scent of slick drawing him in like a moth to a flame. Jake’s heart pounds in his chest as he sucks on Sunghoon’s collarbone to avoid thinking too hard about the fact that the alpha might be about to finger him, but just as Sunghoon’s fingers reach low enough for the tips to come in contact with his slick, his omega suddenly goes into a frenzy. 

Stop, stop, stop, stop! his omega wails, so desperate and urgent that it takes all of Jake’s willpower not to immediately listen to it the way he did the first time it happened. He’s sure that he must stutter for a moment, but he does his best to play it off by eagerly shifting back to kiss Sunghoon again. The alpha doesn’t seem to notice a thing.

Jake does everything he can to ignore his panicking omega as he continues to grind onto Sunghoon’s cock, because despite whatever hangups his omega has, Jake wants nothing more than to get off with his courtmate. He does end up prying Sunghoon’s hand from his underwear, curling their fingers together sweetly so that he hopefully doesn’t question why Jake is stopping him before rutting into Sunghoon as fast as he can manage. This calms his omega a little, but it’s still much more frantic than usual. 

“Jakey, I’m-” Sunghoon suddenly gasps out, his eyes squeezing shut tightly. Jake kisses the underside of his jaw. 

“Come for me, Sunghoonie, I want to see,” Jake coos, surprised by his own honesty. His own cock is getting harder with every thrust down onto Sunghoon’s dick, straining painfully against the front of his pants, and it feels like all of his scent glands are throbbing in time with his heartbeat. It’s instinct that leads him to lean down and rub their necks together, and instantly the smell of coffee and vanilla increases tenfold, so strong that Jake keens and his omega stops panicking. 

“Jake, Jake ,” Sunghoon whimpers, his bucking hips jerking erratically as the omega continues rubbing their necks together and his hands all but crushing Jake’s hips. The alpha tries to snarl possessively, but his voice pitches up in pleasure at the same time and he ends up sounding too soft and cute for Jake to find it even a little intimidating. And then Sunghoon’s hips stutter one last time, and the smell of come floods Jake’s nose. 

Inside! Jake’s omega suddenly wails, now whining and crying for a completely different reason than before. I want alpha’s come inside, want alpha’s cock. The image of Sunghoon fucking him for real enters Jake’s mind, and the idea is so appealing to his desperate omega that almost immediately he comes in his own pants, a high cry filling the empty room as he grinds into the damp spot on Sunghoon’s crotch. As he comes down from his orgasm, he tucks his flushed cheeks into the crook of Sunghoon’s neck as though the alpha might be able to tell how bad Jake genuinely wants his cock unless he hides his face. 

Neither of them move right away, both shakily panting and clinging to each other as they come down from their orgasms. Jake tries not to think too hard about the fact that he came just from the feeling of Sunghoon’s dick through his pants and a bit of scenting, and hopes that the alpha is too blissed out from his own orgasm to notice. Eventually, Sunghoon grabs Jake under the thighs and lifts him up enough for them to shift back into the position they started in with Sunghoon on his back and Jake snuggling into his chest. Jake really does his best to just lay nicely with Sunghoon for as long as he can, but he can feel the come and slick in his underwear starting to dry, and it doesn’t exactly feel nice. 

“Sunghoon-ah,” Jake whines. “I feel gross.”

Sunghoon laughs and shifts his nose into Jake’s neck. “I can clean you up if you want,” he says before licking a stripe up the omega’s neck. Jake flushes and huffs as he realizes what Sunghoon is implying. 

“I want a cloth, you creep,” Jake chastises, though he gives himself away by his scent, laced with interest and pleasure at the thought of Sunghoon licking up the slick on his body. Sunghoon grins against his neck, but doesn’t push his luck. 

“I’ll be right back, then,” Sunghoon says, dragging himself out from under Jake and exiting the room, his gait a bit awkward as he tries to ignore the sticky mess in his own underwear. Jake sits up and grimaces as he feels just how wet he is; it’s not as bad as when he’s in heat, but this is definitely the most slick he’s ever produced outside of his heat. Sunghoon returns a few minutes later with two damp cloths and a pair of pajamas for himself. 

“Thanks, Hoonie,” Jake says, smiling sweetly as he reaches for a cloth. Sunghoon hands one to him, then grabs him by the chin and places a quick peck onto Jake’s forehead. Jake’s smile widens and he leans up, sitting up on his knees as Sunghoon immediately caves and gives the omega several kisses on his lips this time.

“ Needy ,” Sunghoon teases before kissing him one more time. Jake doesn’t deny it.

Sunghoon steps away again and starts to strip his clothes off right away. Jake is a bit taken aback by how easily he does it, but follows his lead and stands up to pick out his own pair of pajamas. He tugs off his top and does his best to be respectful by not staring at Sunghoon as he changes, but he can’t help a few sneaky glances. Sunghoon is frustratingly attractive; his skin soft-looking and smooth, with the exception of a few pretty moles dotting his arms and back. Eventually he drops his pants and underwear as well, and Jake’s heart races. He’s in the middle of wondering if it makes him a creep to want to see his own courtmate’s dick and how rude it would be for him to try sneaking a peak when Sunghoon’s voice breaks the strange silence that had overtaken them. 

“I don’t care if you look, you know,” Sunghoon says, forever in tune with whatever is on Jake’s mind. “We’re courting, so it wouldn’t be weird if you did.”

Jake swallows thickly and looks towards Sunghoon, his eyes laser-focused on Sunghoon’s face as he tries not to immediately look somewhere else, but it doesn’t take more than a few seconds for him to crack and glance down at Sunghoon’s cock. For some reason Jake thought it would be some kind of life-changing moment to see it, but he’s oddly relieved to find that it looks like an exceptionally normal dick. Definitely bigger than his own as a result of Sunghoon’s alpha presentation, but not some scary monster cock the way he’s seen in porn. 

Feeling a bit braver at the sight of his alpha’s nude body, Jake takes off the rest of his own clothes as Sunghoon starts to wipe himself down with the other damp cloth. He can practically feel Sunghoon’s eyes roving over his body as he also starts to clean himself, wiping away the sweat and come as quickly as he can. Sunghoon’s scent flares with arousal as he runs the cloth down to his ass to wash off the slick, which only makes Jake’s neck heat up.

By the time they’re both clean and in pajamas, Jake feels tired enough to go directly to sleep, but Sunghoon insists that they should have something for dinner first. They end up ordering in since neither of them feel up to cooking, and then take turns feeding each other after it arrives. The empty containers end up on the floor beside Jake’s bed once they’re finished eating, and then they’re back to being curled up and on the verge of sleep. 

“Happy one month, Hoonie-yah,” Jake mumbles against the alpha’s chest. Sunghoon pets his hair, brushing his bangs away from his face, and places another kiss on his forehead. 

“Happy one month, Jake-yah.”

~ * ~

An excited buzz fills the air as Enhypen arrive at the set of their music video for Drunk-Dazed; it’s the first day of a three-day shoot, and Jake knows the process is going to be a blast just based on the concept photos they’ve been shown and the vibe of the song. All of them are hyper aware of how important it is for them all to put their whole effort into the next few days so that their music video will be as incredible as they envision it, that this will be what sells their next comeback. Jake is also excited to see whatever Sunghoon has been secretly preparing for a few weeks now for the video, the only information that he knows so far being that it’s some kind of dance solo. 

Their stylists waste no time in whisking them away to do their hair and makeup, Jake and Heeseung being pulled into the makeup chairs first. Niki and Sunoo also arrive a few minutes later, already dressed and in makeup due to having been called in a few hours earlier to film a scene that only featured the two of them. Jake isn’t sure how long he’s in the chair for, allowing himself to zone out a little as the makeup noonas doll him up, but eventually he’s ushered away so that they can start on Sunghoon next. He stops for a moment to take in his appearance, and is pleased by how cool he looks between the subtle, smokey eye makeup and the slits in his eyebrow. 

“Do any of you know where Jay and Jungwon went? I’m going to be ready for one of them in a few minutes,” one of the stylists working on Heeseung asks, brushing a lip tint onto the alpha’s lips while her partner adjusts the clips in his bangs. Jake glances around the dressing room and is surprised to find that both of them have indeed mysteriously disappeared. Sunoo and Niki also look around in confusion, neither of them having noticed the pair leave either. “Can one of you three go find them for me? We don’t really have time to waste.”

“I’ll go take a look around, I’ll probably be able to find them faster,” Jake says, making reference to the fact that he will be able to pick up on their scents if they’re nearby. Niki and Sunoo nod, neither mentioning that Sunoo could also help since none of their stylists know that he has already presented. “I’ll be back in a minute, noona.”

Jake leaves the room, sniffing occasionally as he walks down the corridor past the many staff and crew working on set. He eventually picks up on Jay’s much stronger scent and follows it down a more secluded hallway, Jungwon’s scent becoming easier to pick out as the number of other people milling around starts to dwindle. He eventually comes to a door marked with the words Boiler Room , their scents strong enough that Jake is positive they’re inside, but as he lifts his hands to knock so that he doesn’t interrupt anything he might not want to see, he realizes he can hear them talking. And as much as Jake doesn’t want to be nosy… he does press his ear to the door so that he can hear what they’re saying.

“-isn’t very leader-like behaviour, you know,” Jay’s voice says. Jungwon huffs. 

“We could have been back already if you hadn’t made such a fuss,” Jungwon retorts. There’s a small pause and Jake wishes he could also see them to know what’s going on.

“Jungwon-ah, don’t you want our first kiss to be somewhere special? Why settle for the dingy backstage of a music video?” Jay says, his voice much softer. That takes Jake aback; he’s genuinely shocked to hear that apparently Jay and Jungwon haven’t even kissed yet. 

“The set of one of our music videos is special. Please , hyung, Jake and Sunghoon-hyung have kissed at every photoshoot we’ve been to this month, why can’t-”

“Because they’re courting , Jungwon-ah, and we’re not.”

The immediate silence is potent enough that Jake forgets to be embarrassed about the fact that Jungwon just made a snarky comment about him and Sunghoon. What Jake wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall in that boiler room.

“You’re right. We’re not ,” Jungwon eventually responds, his voice icy. Jay sighs.

“Jungwon-ah, come on, we’ve talked about this-”

“ You’ve talked about it, but my feelings about it are never important. You keep making decisions for both of us by assuming you know me better than I do-”

“Jake-yah, is that you?”

Jake jumps and spins around to find two very tall people looking at him curiously. At first he isn’t entirely sure who he’s looking at despite the fact that they’ve addressed him casually, suggesting familiarity, but once he realizes who it is, his posture immediately relaxes and a grin spreads across his face. 

“EJ-yah, K-hyung! What are you guys doing here?” he asks brightly, tentatively moving closer to them. He’s not entirely sure how he should approach his friends now that he’s part of an established pack rather than being packless as he’d been on I-Land, but neither of them seem to have the same concerns. EJ quickly wraps him up in a hug, giving Jake the opportunity to inhale his scent of lavender and jasmine; very clearly another omega. Once that information registers in Jake’s mind, it occurs to him that he did already know that, as EJ’s presentation had ended only two days before the finale of the show and he’d almost thrown up after their performance of Into the I-Land as a result.

“We were asked to have a cameo in your music video,” EJ explains eagerly, grabbing Jake’s hand so that he can rub their wrists together. It’s a more casual type of gesture mostly used between friends from different packs, and Jake feels his heart swell up knowing that EJ still considers them to be close enough for that. “It’s related to another thing we’ve been offered to do, but it’s still kind of under wraps right now and not set in stone, so we can’t say too much.”

“Oh, that’s really cool! Have you seen anyone else yet? I’m sure they’d be excited to see you,” Jake says, turning his attention more towards K. He’d forgotten just how tall the older alpha is, and he’s a new kind of intimidating now that Jake can also smell him. He has a sweeter scent than alphas typically have despite it also being quite earthy; some kind of sweet herb mixed with a woodier version of vanilla. Jay would probably know.

“Yeah, we filmed a scene with Sunoo and Niki a little while ago. We were actually looking for the rest of you, and I thought I could smell Jay this way,” K says, suddenly reminding Jake of his original mission. 

“It’s funny you should say that, I was actually just looking for Jay and Jungwon,” he says, raising his voice a little so that he knows they’ll hear him through the door. “Our stylists were wondering where they got off to and will need them very soon.” 

EJ and K both give him an awkward look, but Jake quickly leads them away towards their dressing room, not wanting to embarrass the pair still hiding in the boiler room. He does his best to distract them both with chatter about the other members and how excited they’ll be to catch up with some of their I-Land friends after so long, and prays that whatever is going on between Jay and Jungwon doesn’t negatively affect their music video.

~ * ~

Jake wakes up pinned to his bed by a heavy body despite having definitely fallen asleep alone. He initially assumes it must be Sunghoon, since that’s the most typical culprit when he wakes up with an extra person in his bed these days, but a quick sniff lets him know that a different alpha has curled up on his chest in the night. Despite being glad that all of his pack feel so comfortable with him, he takes a moment to lament how long it’s been since he was able to go a full night without someone crawling into his bed, then lets it go so he can take care of his packmate. 

“Jay-ah,” he mumbles, running his fingers through the alpha’s hair. It’s very unusual for Jay in particular to willingly share a bed with another person, and on the rare occasion that he does, his person of choice is always Jungwon, so Jake is a little concerned that something could be wrong. “Is everything okay?” Jay huffs and snuffles around until his nose is pressed into the scent gland on Jake’s neck, clearly not very awake yet. 

“Hungry…” he eventually grumbles, which makes Jake laugh.

“Let’s go get breakfast then,” Jake says, gently shoving the sleepy alpha off of him. Jay groans and lifts himself up, allowing Jake to take his hand and lead him into the kitchen. Jungwon, Sunoo, and Heeseung are already in the kitchen when they arrive, sharing several banchan between themselves. Almost right away Jungwon moves out of his seat and is all over Jay, anxiously petting his hair and checking his temperature with his wrist. 

“Jay-hyung, what’s wrong?” he asks as Jay leans his head into Jungwon’s neck. Jake takes the opportunity to steal Jungwon’s seat at the island and start eating what is left of the banchan , although he is also mindful to leave some for Jay for when Jungwon is finished fussing over him. 

“’m fine,” Jay mumbles, shifting to scent Jungwon somewhat aggressively by rubbing his temples into Jungwon’s neck and jaw. Jungwon stiffens, clearly not expecting Jay to be so openly affectionate in front of their packmates and so soon after they’ve had an argument, but he doesn’t protest or push him away. “Where are Sunghoon and Niki? Why aren’t they here too?”

“They’re still sleeping,” Sunoo responds quickly, also looking concerned for Jay and his strange behaviour; while Jay has always been pretty openly affectionate with everyone, and especially with Jungwon, this level of clinginess is very unusual. Jay straightens up just a little, and for a moment it looks like he is about to go wake up their other packmates himself, but Heeseung picks that moment to stand up from his own seat and intervene. 

“Jay-ah,” he calls, pulling the younger alpha away from Jungwon. He leans in to offer a pack gesture and Jay takes it without hesitation, smacking their temples together roughly and scenting Heeseung as intensely as he’d been doing with Jungwon. Heeseung smiles and reciprocates the gesture. “Jay-ah, I think you’re in prerut, pup.”

Jay flinches away from Heeseung in surprise, his cheeks flushing deep red. Jake is also taken aback, confused about how he and Jay both failed to immediately identify the signs of prerut when they have three alphas in their pack who have all gone into rut at least once. However, after thinking about it for another second, it occurs to Jake that he hasn’t actually seen any of the alphas go into rut naturally before. Heeseung and Jay both had their last ruts induced with medicine, and Sunghoon’s had been triggered by Jake, so none of them had ever gone through prerut while part of the pack. In fact, after doing some quick counting in his head, Jake is fairly certain that this is probably Jay’s first natural rut, and as a result, his first time experiencing prerut, which would explain why he didn’t realize what was going on.

Jake does his best to think back to his sex education classes and recall the main signs of prerut. Aggression is one of them, but it’s usually aimed more towards people outside of the pack, so it hasn’t really shown itself in Jay. He’s pretty sure that increased appetite, a need to scent pack members, and the desire to ‘herd’ pack members are all common signs as well, though, and Jay seems to be showing all of those. 

“I’ll call our managers,” Jungwon says, disappearing down the hallway as he pulls his cell phone out of his pocket. Heeseung takes the opportunity to coax Jay into laying his head on his shoulder so that the younger alpha can try to relax again. About ten minutes later, Jungwon is emerging back into the common area, a groggy Niki and Sunghoon on his heels. 

“Why did you wake us up? We didn’t need to be awake for another half hour,” Niki whines, laying his head on Sunoo’s shoulder. Sunghoon similarly glues himself to Jake, who sweetly offers him bites of banchan . Jungwon shakes his head. 

“Change of plans. A car is being sent to us right now so that we can go to dance practice as soon as possible. If Jay is in prerut right now, then his rut is likely to end up hitting right when we were supposed to be shooting the music video for Fever, so our managers are pushing up the shooting dates to this Tuesday. We have to make sure we have the choreography completely down by tomorrow if we want to be prepared, so we need to leave ASAP,” Jungwon says matter-of-factly. Everyone stares for a moment before quickly scrambling to get ready as quickly as possible. It’s not a shocking outcome; there’s absolutely no way Jay would be able to dance or even be on set during his rut, but having to exclude him from a music video wouldn’t really make a great impression so early on in their careers. 

In less than twenty minutes, they’re all dressed, clean, fed, and on their way to the HYBE building. Jake hadn’t really been given the luxury of fighting for a seat beside Sunghoon today, and as a result he’d ended up in the back of a car with Jungwon, Heeseung sitting alone in the row ahead of them. They’re all quiet as the car moves, still processing the major shift in their schedule now that they have to work around Jay’s rut. It also occurs to Jake that if Jay is going into rut, Heeseung will likely be close behind, as their last rut was induced on the same day, so he makes a mental note to keep an eye open for signs of prerut in Heeseung as well. 

“Jake-hyung,” Jungwon says, breaking the silence. Jake glances towards him, letting Jungwon know that he’s listening. “What does Jay-hyung smell like?”

Jake struggles to suppress a little smile. “I’ve definitely told you how Jay smells before, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”

Jungwon huffs. “Can you just indulge me? I’m your leader, you know.” Jake rolls his eyes.

“Sure, leader-nim,” he teases, earning a small glare from Jungwon. “He smells like high quality leather, and mulled cider. He smells fancy and expensive.” Jungwon sighs wistfully, but doesn’t say anything else for several minutes. 

“It’s hard being in a pack where almost everyone is presented. Harder than I thought it would be, anyway,” Jungwon says eventually, his tone much softer. Jake suddenly feels a little guilty for teasing him. “I always feel like I’m being left out of stuff, even though I know it’s not on purpose, and usually isn’t true at all. And it’s hard to feel like a real leader when I don’t have any actual authority.” 

“You do have actual authority, Jungwon-ah. We all take you seriously as our pack leader,” Jake assures, but Jungwon just shakes his head.

“I mean, like, biological authority. I couldn’t make any of you submit to me, even if all of your wolves really do know I’m your leader. It just kind of sucks,” Jungwon explains. Jake doesn’t know how to respond to that. “I thought I’d at least get more time with Sunoo-hyung being unpresented. I never thought he’d present that early.”

“Just be thankful you’re not Niki,” Jake says. He feels guilty immediately after he says it, but he also doesn’t feel that he’s lying, so he doesn’t take it back. “You only have ten more months of waiting, Niki has over two and a half years.”

Jungwon nods enthusiastically. “And at least I can participate in heats and ruts. I feel bad that Niki is going to get left out again during Jay-hyung’s rut, but I’m glad I can help.”

“No,” Jake says, flinching in surprise when Heeseung chimes in at the same time with the same sentiment. Jungwon seems to be genuinely taken aback by this reaction from both of them, his eyes flicking between the pair as he crosses his arms.

“Excuse me? What do you mean no?” Jungwon asks indignantly. Heeseung scoffs and turns around to look at him. 

“Why do you think, Jungwon-ah? It’s hard enough keeping Sunoo’s second gender a secret, we’re not going to risk having to do it with you too,” he says, his tone resolute and edging on authoritative. Jungwon narrows his eyes, clearly a bit offended that Heeseung would attempt to show dominance towards his leader, particularly after having just admitted it was an insecurity of his.

“My presentation isn’t for another ten months, that’s three months further away than Sunoo-hyung was. And a few short visits isn’t the same as thirteen hours straight,” Jungwon insists. Jake can tell that he’s doing his best to also be authoritative, but it just doesn’t have the same effect when he’s still unpresented, even if he is the leader. Jake is starting to see why Jungwon’s confidence in his position is a bit shaky. “Besides, I’ve already visited Jay-hyung during a rut before, why is it suddenly different now?”

“Well for starters, that was six months ago, and I wasn’t worried about you presenting sixteen months early,” Jake says. He’s honestly a little bit surprised he even has to explain any of this, having sort of anticipated that Jungwon would already know they wouldn’t be letting him see Jay this time around after everything that has happened since his last rut. “But Jay also didn’t react well last time, Jungwon-ah, and it’s not going to be any better this time around.”

Jungwon flounders. “B-But-”

“ No ,” Jake and Heeseung say again, this time both using their dominant voices to end the conversation. Jungwon’s mouth finally snaps shut, but he fumes and pouts more than Jake has ever seen from him before; it’s out of character for Jungwon to act so petulant, but it only further reminds Jake how young he really is and solidifies that keeping him away from Jay is the right decision for the time being. 

Jake sighs as Jungwon pointedly refuses to speak or make eye contact for the rest of the car ride. He can’t help but feel a little bad for using the pack hierarchy against someone who is meant to be their leader, especially when it had been pointed out only minutes before that Jungwon doesn’t have any tangible authority yet, but he is also very serious that he doesn’t want any more early presentations. And being, as blunt as possible, he also doesn’t really feel like being tasked with ripping Jungwon away from a rutting Jay if the alpha suddenly decides to take Jungwon as a mate during a visit. 

One day Jungwon will appreciate it. At least he hopes so.

~ * ~

The first day of filming for Fever goes without a hitch, as Jay’s prerut is still in the middle stages, so it’s still relatively easy for him to push his symptoms aside and focus on his work. The staff also do their best to be conscientious of the fact that he’s in prerut, making sure to offer him a snack every half hour or so and staying quiet whenever he needs to take a break to be surrounded by the rest of Enhypen for a few minutes until his alpha is reassured that his pack hasn’t strayed too far away. He acts a bit awkward towards Jungwon, oscillating between being clingy and standoffish, and while it’s pretty clear that Jungwon finds the behaviour a bit frustrating, he does a good job holding it together for the filming. 

Things are a bit shakier on the second day, as Jay had woken up feeling much more irritable from his rut starting to close in. It’s only amplified when he realizes that Niki is already gone to film a solo scene, his alpha so on edge at the thought of their maknae being somewhere alone that it takes Jake and Heeseung nearly half an hour to get him to relax. Even then, he doesn’t fully calm down until they finally arrive on set and he is able to take a few minutes to aggressively scent Niki, growling at any crew who come too close until he’s finished. Jake apologizes to them profusely, but they all reassure that they aren’t offended; it’s understandable that an alpha going through their first prerut would be so bent out of shape over such a young pack member disappearing.

Once the fiasco with Niki is done and Jay settles down, their stylists finally intervene to start on their hair and makeup. Jake and Jay are who they start with, since cleaning up their eyebrow slits requires just a little bit of extra time, and as a result Jake finds himself the first one finished. He’s quickly dragged away to change into his outfit, the rest of his packmates trickling in as their makeup and hair is also deemed finished. Jake stands off to the side of the room as he waits for everyone to get into their clothes, and is soon joined by Sunghoon. 

“You look pretty today,” Sunghoon says, quiet enough for only them to hear it. Jake laughs, but can’t help but still smile. 

“You say that every day no matter what I’m wearing.”

“That’s because you look pretty every day,” he insists before moving to stand in front of Jake rather than beside him. The omega immediately tenses, as he really isn’t in the mood to argue with Sunghoon about kissing on set today, especially not in a room still full of people, even if all of them are distracted. But the alpha lifts up his hands in surrender the moment the omega’s scent becomes agitated. “I swear I won’t try to kiss on set today. But I would like to scent you, if that’s okay?”

Jake softens and nods his head, so Sunghoon leans in to brush their temples together. He’s very gentle as he does so, partially to avoid messing up their makeup and partially so that none of the crew become suspicious of how much they smell like each other; it’s normal for packmates to scent each other, but not to the same degree as courtmates. 

“This is nice,” Jake says quietly. Sunghoon smiles. 

“It is,” he agrees. He gives Jake a slightly firmer nudge. “I know it’s not his fault, but my alpha has been a bit grumpy about you smelling so much like Jay. I’ve been trying not to let it bother me, but it’s hard.”

Jake nods in understanding; Jay has been very aggressive about scenting everyone in the pack, and it’s particularly strong on Jake because they also share a bedroom. Even though it’s just Jay being hormonal and wanting to keep his pack safe, Jake can empathize with why Sunghoon’s alpha would feel a bit threatened. 

“Jay will probably want to sleep in his nest tonight, you should sleep with me since he’ll be gone,” Jake offers, only realizing what he’s said when Sunghoon snorts. “I meant go to bed , we’re not doing that with everyone else in the den.”

“I’m happy to do whatever kind of sleeping you want, Jake-yah,” Sunghoon says, laughing again when Jake shoves him away playfully. They’re both still snickering as they’re joined by Sunoo and Jungwon, who are talking rather animatedly to one another. Jake opens his mouth to greet them, but just as they get close, he notices Sunoo’s body tense up like he’s been electrocuted. It’s only for half a second, so fast that it would have been easy to miss, but enough that it causes Jake to pause. He wonders for a moment what could have caused a reaction like that, but it really doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots: it’s because he and Sunghoon had just scented each other. 

“Are you excited for us to film our parts soon, hyung?” Sunoo asks brightly, completely ignoring what had just happened. Jake decides to drop it as well and match Sunoo’s energy.

“Of course! We’re going to kill it,” Jake responds eagerly. Sunoo smiles, but doesn’t add anything else, instead looking at his phone and unlocking it to text someone. Jungwon and Sunghoon are already caught up in their own conversation, so Jake decides to keep pushing with Sunoo. “Who are you texting?”

“So nosy, hyung,” Sunoo teases, but there’s no malice in his tone. “It’s just my friend Echan-hyung, I told him we’re filming a music video today, so he was wishing me good luck.”

Despite the positive sentiments, Jake’s heart rate spikes on the aggressive emphasis Sunoo puts on the word friend , a clear callback to the last discussion they’d had about Echan. Sunoo is pointedly still looking at his phone and avoiding Jake’s gaze, and that’s all he needs to know that Sunoo is aware that Jake saw him tense up at the realization that he and Sunghoon had been scenting. Jake isn’t sure what an appropriate response is, considering Sunoo had asked him to just let him deal with his feelings on his own, so he ends up not saying anything, and then he and Sunoo are being dragged away to shoot their part of the music video. 

They’re pulled into a room covered in tiles like some kind of barren bathroom before being abandoned again for a few minutes so that the directors can finish setting up the camera. The need to say something to Sunoo builds up in Jake’s chest like there’s a tree trying to grow out of his throat, but Sunoo ends up beating him to it. 

“If you’re about to apologize, don’t bother,” Sunoo says, his voice like a hiss as he tries to stay quiet enough for no staff to hear. It’s obvious that he’s very done with having these conversations with Jake, where he has to beg to be ignored.

Jake subtly shakes his head. “I wasn’t going to apologize,” he says defensively.

“It looked like you were. And kind of smelled like it too.”

“Well I was going to say something , but not an apology.”

“What was it then?”

“… I don’t know,” Jake admits, and Sunoo rolls his eyes. For some reason, that just serves to make Jake frustrated. Sunoo opens his mouth to retort, but this time it’s Jake who speaks first. “Sunoo-yah, I’m really doing my best to respect what you asked of me. I haven’t said anything to you since last time, have I? But how can you expect me to just… not ever feel bad at all about this?”

Sunoo’s crosses his arms. “Just try. It can’t be that hard.”

“Sunoo-yah,” Jake calls, a soft omegan tone that immediately has Sunoo’s eyes on him. Despite the younger omega’s cold words, his eyes are desperately sad. “Don’t you understand how much I care about you? Of course it’s hard.” 

Sunoo’s lip trembles as they stare at each other. But at that moment, their director stands up and says they’re finally ready to film. Sunoo sniffs delicately.

“I don’t want your pity, hyung,” he snaps, and then he’s gone.

Jake is blindly placed where he’s needed for the recording as the director starts to explain what the concept for this scene is. He starts to feel a bit like he might be sick as the director says things like “you and Sunoo are struggling to communicate” , and “you keep trying to get through to Sunoo, but it’s not working” , but somehow Jake manages to stay professional and act out the scene. The director compliments him after the first take for how well he managed to capture the emotion they were going for, but for once it does nothing to make him feel good about himself. 

Suddenly there is a camera much closer to Jake’s face, being held by one of their more personal staff. “Jake-ssi, we just need some footage for the behind-the-scenes video, okay? Can you explain to us what’s going on in this scene with Sunoo?” she asks innocently. Jake swallows and nods his head, doing his best to relax as she records. 

“We’re shooting a scene where Sunoo and I talk with a wall between us. I want to talk to Sunoo across the wall, but Sunoo can’t hear me when I speak…” he says, putting all of his energy into keeping his voice stable. He realizes that he’s not smiling and does his best to squeeze one out. “I’ll try my best to look desperate.”

Chapter Text

Much to everyone’s relief, Jay’s rut starts the day after they wrap up the filming for Fever. When Sunoo emerges from the rut room to announce it has started, Jake is a bit surprised by the sudden urge to visit and check on him the same way he’d experienced during Sunoo’s heat, although he also heeds the warnings of the other alphas who suggest they all wait a while to give Jay some privacy first. It also strikes Jake that he hasn’t actually seen any of the alphas in full rut before, other than his encounter with Sunghoon during his presentation, although he personally doesn’t count that since he doesn’t really remember it. He’s not entirely sure what to expect and wonders if it will feel more awkward than it had been seeing Sunoo in heat, but decides it’s ultimately not important. Jay had visited him during his heat, he can power through any awkwardness to see Jay during his rut. 

A few hours after Jay’s rut starts, Jake ends up in the kitchen cutting up strawberries and apples while Jungwon peels a tangerine. He tries not to be too outwardly jealous that Heeseung had won their game of rock-paper-scissors to see who would get to visit Jay first, doing his best to ignore that he feels like his skin is crawling from how bad his omega wants to see Jay. At the very least he’s able to find solace in the fact that he’s visiting next, hence why he’s preparing a snack for him with Jungwon. They have been working mostly in comfortable silence, only broken by the sounds of the knife hitting the cutting board and the skin of the tangerine separating from the soft inside, until Jungwon lets out a little sigh.

“So Sunghoon-hyung doesn’t have any issues with you visiting Jay-hyung?” Jungwon asks; he speaks quietly, but the prior silence filling the room makes it feel loud enough to echo off the walls. Jake glances over at Jungwon for a moment, but he is still overly focused on the tangerine in his hands, carefully picking off every little string of the pith still clinging onto the flesh of the fruit like he’s about to be scored on his ability to perfectly clean it. It’s obvious that Jungwon is still a little bit upset with Jake for not letting him visit Jay, but at the very least, the question feels like a bit of an olive branch. 

“No, I already had a talk with him about it. He understands that it would be hard on me to not visit, and he knows Jay isn’t a threat to our courtship,” Jake says. He looks at Jungwon again to find that he’s now carefully examining Jake’s face, so Jake lets his expression soften into a small smile. “Both because I’m not interested in Jay, and because he knows Jay doesn’t like me either. He wants someone else.”

Jungwon immediately breaks eye contact to look back at the fruit in his hands, and Jake’s smile spreads into a grin as he notices the flush on the pup’s cheeks. He finally starts pulling the wedges of tangerine apart from each other as Jake finishes slicing up the apple, and then the plate of fruit seems finished. Jake is about to open his mouth to thank Jungwon for his help when the pup suddenly disappears from the room, his cheeks still burning. It instantly makes Jake feel guilty for what he’s said; maybe he shouldn’t have brought up their relationship when Jungwon is still upset about not being allowed to visit. But as Jake scoops up the plate and begins making his way down the hall towards Jay’s rut room, Jungwon appears again with a piece of fabric in his hand. It appears to be a thick sweater, one of his bigger ones that covers half of Jungwon’s thighs when he wears it. Jake is also pretty sure it is one of his many gifts from Jay.

“I, um,” Jungwon starts, fidgeting with the garment in his hands. “Can you check if this smells like me? I’ve been trying to wear it a lot and sleep with it and stuff since I can’t actually scent it, but I also can’t check if it worked or not,” Jungwon says, holding out the sweater. Jake smiles fondly and takes it so that he can hold it up to his nose. It definitely smells strongly of Jungwon, more than a piece of clothing would after just one wear, although the scent is still not nearly as powerful as someone with a developed scent would be able to produce. He doesn’t say that out loud though, instead nodding reassuringly.

“Yes, it definitely smells like you, Wonie,” Jake says. Jungwon’s shoulders sag in relief. “Did you want me to give this to Jay?”

Jungwon tenses up again just slightly. “Only if you think he’d like it,” he says, far more timidly than Jake is used to hearing from Jungwon. Jake just nods even more enthusiastically. 

“He will, he’d really appreciate this,” Jake assures. Jungwon relaxes once more, but still looks like he has more to say, so Jake waits patiently.

“I do understand why I can’t see him,” Jungwon mumbles. “But it sucks. I already miss him a lot, and I feel like I’m missing out on an opportunity… it’s not like I’ll be able to visit him after I present.”

Jake snorts at that. “You never know. You might present as a beta, and then as long as you promise to be safe, you can visit him as much as you want,” Jake says. Jungwon narrows his eyes. 

“What do you think the chances of that are, hyung?” he says, sounding sharp and skeptical. Jake pauses at his tone, and gives Jungwon a more serious look. For the first time, Jake wonders about Jungwon’s thoughts and opinions on his own presentation; he hasn’t really thought deeply about it himself, but now that he’s genuinely considering what Jungwon might present as, he really isn’t sure. The pup has broad shoulders and the leaderly confidence often associated with being an alpha, but he’s also short and cute with big eyes and soft features like an omega. But Heeseung has big eyes, and Sunoo has the broadest shoulders after Jungwon, so in the end, none of it is concrete evidence; it’s all just stereotypes and generalizations. There really aren’t any completely conclusive markers to go by before someone has presented. 

“I don’t know. I think it’s as likely as anything else,” Jake says finally. Despite previous discussions, he wonders if Jungwon is self conscious about what he’ll present as because of Jay, and hopes that Jungwon knows Jay will still like him no matter what his second gender ends up being. “What do you think?”

“I think I could get fired if I’m right,” Jungwon says. He looks as surprised by what he’s said as Jake feels, considering Jake thought they were still talking about Jay; apparently Jungwon has had heavier thoughts weighing on him. Jake blinks as he attempts to process this comment while Jungwon clears his throat anxiously. “HYBE has never debuted an omega leader before, and I’ve heard rumours about what happened to some of the omega leaders under Pledis after-”

“Jungwon-ah, they would not fire you if you presented as an omega,” Jake says, doing his best to sound sincere and reassuring. The reality is that Jake doesn’t actually know how true that is—omega leaders are still uncommon in the kpop industry, and HYBE in particular has historically been very strict about only allowing alphas to be leaders—but it’s not unheard of either. If anything, some newer groups were being praised for their progressiveness over having omegas and betas as their leader; there were lots of articles about it after Cravity and Treasure had debuted last year, and again just a few weeks ago after the debut of Ciipher. Jake would hope that the optics of firing Enhypen’s leader after presenting as an omega would outweigh the company’s desire for alpha leaders. “If they were that concerned about it, they would have pushed for hyung or Jay to be the leader, right?”

Jungwon huffs and crosses his arms. “I guess.”

“Besides, you could present as a beta. Or an alpha. Or maybe you’re right and you’ll be an omega. But there’s no sense in worrying about it until it happens,” Jake says. “You’ll always be Enhypen’s leader, no matter what.”

Jungwon nods, assured by the conviction in Jake’s voice. “You should go see Jay-hyung. Tell him that Niki and I miss him.”

Jake smiles fondly again. “I’m sure he knows, but I’ll tell him anyway.”

Fruit and sweater in hand, Jake finally finishes the walk down the hall and enters Jay’s rut room, quickly shutting the door behind him like the scent of the room might try to slither down the hallway to Jungwon. The smell is immediately overwhelming, but mostly because Jay already has such a strong scent, and the fact that he’s in rut only makes it that much more intense. It’s also Jake’s first time actually smelling rut scent while not in heat himself, and he’s less embarrassed upon realizing that he can’t really describe it even while lucid; it just smells like rut , not like anything else he’s ever smelled before. There are other scents in the air—come and arousal, mostly—but Jake is doing his best to ignore those, once again reminding himself that Jay wasn’t stopped by the smell of his slick.

The room itself is very similar to the heat rooms; it’s a little bigger, but is just as dark with a massive bed fitted between three of the walls, and a nest built in the middle of the bed. It was mostly constructed by Sunoo and himself, although Jay had obviously had some input, and Jungwon had also stepped in to help several times. Jake wonders if it was just because the nest was for Jay, or if he’d felt compelled to participate the same way he and Sunoo had. Maybe that’s why he’s so sure he’ll be an omega now.

Jake stops at the edge of the bed awkwardly, unsure if he still needs to wait for an invite into the nest despite the strong relationship he feels they have now. Jay is visible from the entrance, curled up on his side near one of the walls and snoring softly. Jake feels a little bad about waking him, but the alpha really needs to eat, so he lets out a high-pitched chirp. Almost right away Jay is sitting up, the omega noise alerting him right away that he’s wanted. He blinks slowly at Jake as he figures out why he’s been called, then groans as he rotates his arms to stretch out his back and shoulders.

“I come with gifts,” Jake jokes, climbing into the nest. Jay shifts so that he’s sitting with his back against one of the nest walls, then waves for Jake to move closer to him. It’s tricky moving with everything in his hands, but soon Jake is able to tuck himself into Jay’s side and start placing slices of fruit into his mouth. Jay is quiet and obediently eats everything Jake feeds him, nose squished against the scent gland behind Jake’s ear, while Jake contemplates how easy this is now that he’s doing it. The smells that he feared would make things awkward eventually fade into the background, not even registering in Jake’s head. Jay’s nudity also doesn’t bother him in the slightest, although the alpha also does seem to be somewhat conscientious about sitting in a way that somewhat conceals his dick from Jake’s view. When the plate is empty, Jake finally remembers that he also has a second gift. He holds up the sweater, practically shoving it into Jay’s nose, and the alpha’s eyes widen.

“W-Where did you… it smells so-”

“Apparently Jungwon has been preparing it for a few days,” Jake explains. Jay stares at the sweater, like he’s afraid to take it from Jake’s hands, so he holds it out more insistently. “It would make Jungwon happy if you took it. You should take it, it’s a gift from a packmate.”

Jay gingerly grabs the sweater, pressing it up to his face and inhaling deeply. His body visibly relaxes, the same way it does every time Jungwon walks into a room.

“Thank you,” Jay says shyly. Jake gives him a bright smile.

“Of course, what are packmates for?” 

They continue cuddling for a while, Jay nuzzling into the scent glands along Jake’s neck, and as the minutes tick past, Jake’s omega slowly starts flooding his mind with annoying and terrible thoughts, ones he has no interest in following through with.

Your packmate is in pain. One of your pack alphas needs help. Ask him if he wants help, you could help him. Why aren’t you helping him?

Jake had sort of thought Jay was exaggerating when he’d said his alpha was trying to guilt him into offering sex to Jake during his heat, but now he sees just how genuinely he meant that. No matter how much Jake tries to fight off the thoughts, reminding his omega that they have a courtmate and that he values not being killed by Jungwon, nothing seems to shut off the thoughts. 

“You good, Jake-yah?” Jay asks, his voice soft and rumbly. Jake nods.

“Yeah. Just getting a chance to experience what you went through during my last heat,” he says, his tone unserious. “I’m assuming you don’t want me to help you as much as my omega thinks you do, unless you’ve had some major revelations since my heat.”

Jay snorts and shakes his head, although for just one moment his scent spikes with arousal. Jake doesn’t comment on it; he’s sure he did the same thing when Jay offered to have sex with him during his heat. 

“I’m good. I’ll stick with Jungwon’s sweater,” he says. Jake grins; he’s definitely going to tell Jungwon he said that. “… Thank you for keeping him out of here, by the way. I know he’s upset about it but… I-I really don’t think I’d be able to control myself, especially if he tried to initiate something. And I don’t want him to present before he’s supposed to.”

Jake nods in agreement. “I know Jungwon doesn’t think it will happen, but after Sunoo… and I mean, that happened when his feelings weren’t even mutual.”

Jay nods. “I just wish I could make him understand why I’m trying to protect him. I know Wonie is mature, but I don’t think he’ll get it until after he presents,” Jay says with a sigh, pressing his nose back into the fabric. “It’s hard for him to see the gap between us when he’s still on the other side of it, I guess.”

Jake flounders, unsure of what to say. He’s had the same issue with Jungwon not really understanding how different life becomes after presenting, but that doesn’t feel like a very helpful thing to say.

“… It will be worth it, though. Getting to be with Jungwon eventually,” is what he finally settles on, and although Jay smiles, it doesn’t reach his eyes.

~ * ~

“Jake-hyung, can you wake up Heeseung-hyung please?” Jungwon calls out. He’s in the bathroom with Niki, both in the middle of washing their faces, while Jay prepares breakfast for everyone in the kitchen. “We have to leave in forty-five minutes. And remind him to wear something nice, we’re filming a dance practice video today.”

Jake sits up from where he had been laying on his bed, scrolling through his phone. He’d somehow managed to be the first awake today, which meant he was also ready first for once.  and had a few extra minutes to relax while everyone else was still mulling about. He stretches his hands above his head and groans as his elbows and back crack, then shuffles off his bed to go check on Heeseung as requested.

“Hyung, are you up?” Jake asks, knocking on the door. When he doesn’t get a response, he relents and opens up the door to find that it is indeed still dark in the room. He resists the urge to flick on the top light, instead slowly navigating through the room until his hand makes contact with the bedside table so he can turn on the lamp instead. Although it’s a softer light, Heeseung still responds by groaning and rolling his head into his pillow. Jake chuckles and runs a hand through Heeseung’s hair. “Hyung, it’s time to get up, come on. And we’re filming stuff today, so remember to wear something nice.”

Heeseung huffs but doesn’t move. Jake rolls his eyes, tugging on the hair between his fingers. That’s enough for Heeseung to at least roll over to face him, eyes blinking blearily as Jake continues watching fondly.

“Come here,” Heeseung rasps, reaching out a hand towards Jake, who moves without hesitation to take it in his own. He is then startled as Heeseung yanks his arm, causing Jake to stumble until he lands on Heeseung’s chest. Heeseung rumbles happily, circling his arms around Jake and rubbing the scent glands in his neck against Jake’s head. It initially shocks Jake, not having expected an impromptu scenting session, but he takes it in stride and does his best to nuzzle back from where he’s pinned under Heeseung’s arms. Although he becomes a bit suspicious when that is enough to elicit a pleased rumble from the alpha, so he worms his nose into Heeseung’s neck until it’s pressed against the scent gland on his jaw line. Two weeks ago he wouldn’t have even noticed anything different in his scent, but now he knows exactly what to look for.

“Hyung, are you in prerut?” Jake asks. The rumbling stops, and Heeseung is quiet for a few moments before he lets out an annoyed sigh.

“… Now that you say that, maybe,” he says, voice still sleepy. “I’m really hungry.”

Jake sighs and carefully pries himself out of Heeseung’s grasp, rolling his eyes when he gets a grumpy growl in response. “Don’t growl at me. Jay is making breakfast, so get dressed and come eat. I’ll go talk to Jungwon and let him know what’s going on. And remember, we’re being filmed today , so dress nice,” Jake says, petting Heeseung’s hair for a moment before standing up to go track down Jungwon. He hears the shuffling sounds of Heeseung getting out of bed as he closes the door, so he’s satisfied that he’s actually getting up.

Jungwon isn’t in the bathroom anymore when Jake checks, so he heads off to the bedroom next. He knows that their leader isn’t going to be impressed by the news; all of them were aware that Heeseung’s rut would be close behind Jay’s, since their last one was induced at the same time, but Jay’s had only ended a few days ago. Their managers will not be impressed to hear that they need more time off so close to their next comeback, and Jungwon would be the lucky one to inform them.

Jake knocks on the bedroom door for Sunghoon and their maknae line, eyes brightening when Sunghoon is the one to open the door. Sunghoon smiles back.

“Good morning, Jake-yah,” Sunghoon says. His hair looks particularly fluffy and cute, and they’re dressed pretty similarly today, both in black button-ups tucked into black jeans.

“Good morning,” Jake chirps, following Sunghoon into the room. He glances around, but Sunghoon seems to be the only one in the room. “Have you seen Jungwon anywhere?”

“No, not since he was in the bathroom,” Sunghoon says. He moves in closer to Jake, grabbing him by the hips and gently pulling them closer together. Jake grins, moving to place his hands on Sunghoon’s shoulders and standing up on his tiptoes until Sunghoon leans down to give him a kiss. Sunghoon’s smile turns into a full grin as he shifts to run his nose along Jake’s jaw, when suddenly he freezes. “Why do you smell so much like Heeseung-hyung?”

Jake sighs and attempts to rub his cheek into Sunghoon’s, trying to prompt the alpha into scenting him. “He went into prerut last night, which I discovered by getting scented while trying to wake him up. That’s why I was looking for Jungwon.”

Sunghoon still doesn’t move, even as Jake continues to bump their temples together more insistently. “Oh.”

“I know, the timing isn’t great. Our managers are going to be annoyed, but it’s not like it could have been helped. We’ll get hyung through his rut, and then we should be good to go until at least next month,” Jake says. Despite Jake’s best attempts to be reassuring, Sunghoon only seems to become even more tense. “Hoonie, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Sunghoon backs up so that he and Jake are face to face again, licking his lips as he avoids eye contact. “I just… I don’t…” He sighs glances up towards the ceiling as Jake watches him expectantly. “I would rather you didn’t help with hyung’s rut.”

Jake’s jaw drops open. “Excuse me? Why ?” Jake asks. Sunghoon drops his hands from Jake’s hips and takes a step back at the tone of his voice, and Jake has to resist the urge to step forward to get back into his space; he’s shocked that Sunghoon would make such a request, but the shock is quickly fizzling into anger. “Why would you even suggest something like that?”

“Hyung is an alpha, Jake-yah, why do you think ?” Sunghoon snaps. Jake narrows his eyes.

“You didn’t take any issue with me visiting Jay last week.”

“That’s different-”

“It’s not different-”

“Heeseung doesn’t have a Jungwon,” Sunghoon says, and that’s something Jake can’t argue with. Jay has someone else to think about during his ruts, someone he has to worry about maintaining a good relationship with afterwards, but Heeseung doesn’t. “Plus, hyung is head alpha. And you… that changes things, Jake.”

That only serves to anger Jake all over again. “So you don’t trust me around him because I’m head omega? If anything, that only means it’s even more important for me to visit him. Do you even understand what you’re asking of me? How awful it’s going to be to avoid one of my packmates during their rut when I’m supposed to be taking care of them?” Jake hisses. Sunghoon licks his lips anxiously, and only then does it occur to Jake that no, Sunghoon probably doesn’t know. It’s becoming very exhausting to have to constantly deal with packmates who don’t know the basics of sex ed. “If you’re going to get possessive all the time just because I’m head omega, you better figure out how to get over that fast, because it’s a part of me now, Sunghoon.”

Sunghoon scoffs and rolls his eyes. “ Possessive , that’s fresh coming from you. Or did you already forget what you did during Sunoo’s last heat?”

Jake’s cheeks flush, and he wishes more than anything that he could explain himself, that most of why he claimed Sunghoon was for Sunoo’s benefit, but he refuses to betray Sunoo like that. “It… that wasn’t the same, we weren’t even courting yet.”

“So you wouldn’t care if I visited Sunoo during his next heat then?”

Jake wants to scream, wants to yell the rooftops, “No! I don’t care! Sunoo is your packmate and I want you to care for him too!” , but he can’t. Because even if it’s the truth, he can’t say that out loud in case Sunoo asks him to keep Sunghoon away again during his next heat. So instead Jake flounders, unsure how to respond in a way that won’t make him sound like a complete hypocrite, but it only takes a few seconds for Sunghoon to roll his eyes. The frustration wells up in Jake’s chest as he watches Sunghoon come to his own conclusions, and without his permission, his omega surges forward aggressively.

“I’m going to visit Heeseung, and you are just going to have to deal with it. That’s final,” Jake snaps, baring his teeth before he can even think about it. Sunghoon quickly bows his head, tucking in his chin and hunching his shoulders like Jake has just slapped him. Jake’s omega immediately shrinks back, mostly out of guilt, but also from a little bit of undeniable disgust. He knows that this isn’t the first time he’s made Sunghoon submit to him, but last time he was in heat and more focused on Niki. Now there is nothing to shield him from how deeply off-putting he finds it to see his alpha submitting to him, and based on how pungently bitter Sunghoon’s scent has become, Jake is not alone in that feeling.

Jake takes a step back, his eyes wide. Sunghoon’s posture slowly becomes less tense as he backs off, but he refuses to look up. Jake swallows thickly.

“Sunghoon, I’m so sorry, I… I-I didn’t mean to-”

“Whatever,” Sunghoon says coldly, although his voice is still soft as a result of speaking with someone he’d just been forced to submit to. “I can see what your priorities are, it’s fine.”

Guilt burns Jake’s throat as Sunghoon turns on his heel and stalks out of the room. He considers going after him for a moment, to beg more insistently for forgiveness and to apologize better, but they have to leave soon, and he hasn’t even told Jungwon about Heeseung yet. So he lets it go, and resolves to talk to Sunghoon about it later

~ * ~

Jake does not get to talk to Sunghoon about it later. In fact, the moment their managers are told that Heeseung has gone into prerut, their schedule becomes so busy that Jake doesn’t even have time to think about talking to Sunghoon. They were already on a tight schedule due to Jay’s rut, but Heeseung’s prerut starting just two weeks before their comeback has only made things even more challenging. Every night when they come from dance practice, Heeseung apologizes profusely for how tired and overworked they all are, as though it’s his fault that he went into prerut and their dance coach started pushing them to the limit as a result. 

And then four days later, Heeseung’s prerut breaks into full rut, and once again their lives all halt. This time around, nobody disputes that it should be Jake visiting first due to his position at the top of the hierarchy outside of Heeseung himself… and yet as he stands in front of the door to the rut room an hour after it starts, Jake just feels a bit nauseous. 

His eyes are fixed on the door handle as he tries to will his hand to make contact with it, but his body refuses to listen to him. Despite his omega thrashing in his chest, begging him to check on his packmate and make sure he’s okay during his rut, in his mind he keeps replaying Sunghoon’s accusations over and over again. I can see what your priorities are. Is that true? If he visits Heeseung after Sunghoon directly asked him not to, is he prioritizing Heeseung over his own courtmate? Or is he just doing his job as head omega? Which one is supposed to matter to him more?

His omega wails for him to open the door. Your head alpha is in there. He needs you. 

Jake clenches his fist. What about my alpha?

The question doesn’t stop his omega from continuing to yell and cry, but it’s enough to finally snap him out of being completely frozen, instead turning away from the door and all but running back to his own bedroom. He flings the door open a bit faster than he intends to in his haste, earning a startled look from Jay who had been resting in his own bed. Jay raises an eyebrow at Jake’s reappearance. 

“You didn’t visit as long as-”

“I can’t go in there,” Jake says, surprised by how out of breath he sounds. That only causes Jay to look even more confused.

“Why? Did hyung put something against the door? Nothing in there is even that heavy,” Jay says. Jake crosses his arms as his gaze drops to the floor; he doesn’t really want to admit that he and Sunghoon had fought about something, but he also doesn’t think he’ll be able to come up with a reasonable excuse that isn’t the truth. Even the truth feels kind of lame.

“… Sunghoon and I got into an argument about hyung’s rut. Kind of,” he mumbles. Jake can’t bring himself to make eye contact with Jay, but his scent alone is only making Jake feel worse about the situation. His strong scent has gone just slightly sour at the admission, which Jake assumes is from the same confusion he feels about Sunghoon’s reservations. “It didn’t really end on a good note, but I thought that being there for a vulnerable packmate would still end up being more important to me. But now… I-I don’t know. I don’t think I can go in there knowing that Sunghoon asked me not to.”

Jay is silent for a few moments, but eventually lets out a big sigh and stands up. “Well in that case, I should go visit him instead. And you should probably go make up with Sunghoon,” he says, giving Jake a pointed look. Jake nods.

“I will, that was my plan,” Jake says. He nibbles on his lip as Jay starts to leave. “A-And Jay-ah… please tell Heeseung-hyung I’m sorry? I feel really bad about this.”

Jay nods in understanding. “I’m sure hyung will understand. Your relationship is still pretty new, so Sunghoon getting mildly territorial isn’t that weird.” It takes all of Jake’s strength not to bring up that Jay’s rut didn’t create any issues, but when he looks up at Jay, something about his expression tells him that the alpha is already thinking the same thing. Suddenly Jake wishes for the opposite, that he could rip the expression right off of Jay’s face; it makes him feel like Jay knows something about his own relationship that he doesn’t, and which doesn’t help at all with the unease he’s already been feeling about it. But before Jake can voice any of those things, Jay finally disappears to visit Heeseung.

Jake runs a stressed hand through his hair before stalking off to find Sunghoon, finding him on their couch watching a drama with Sunoo, who is enthusiastically trying to explain who all of the characters are and how they’re connected to each other while Sunghoon nods along attentively. Niki is also on the couch, but his head is resting on Sunoo’s lap and his eyes are closed; Jake assumes that he’d also agreed to watch but quickly became bored. It almost makes Jake decide to put off his apology a little bit longer, not wanting to interrupt their show, but his omega feels restless and frustrated, and he wants it to be done.

“Sunghoon-ah,” Jake calls from the entrance of the hallway. The alpha breaks eye contact with Sunoo to glance over at him, and Sunoo turns to look as well. The big grin he’d been sporting disappears, and Jake repeatedly has to remind himself that Sunoo had told him to mind his own business about his feelings for Sunghoon. “Can we talk for a minute, please?” Jake can smell Sunghoon’s scent go bitter even from across the room, but he nods stiffly and stands up, whispering something to Sunoo before walking to join Jake. Unsure of where else to go, Jake leads them into one of the heat rooms, if only because then nobody can eavesdrop on them. The room looks off-putting and sterile compared to how it looks when dressed up for Jake’s heat; there’s still fairy lights strung up and a canopy over the bed, but the bed is completely void of any nesting materials, only dressed with the water-proof mattress cover that they’d elected to leave there at all times. Jake sits on the edge of the bed, cringing at the loud sound of the mattress cover, and waits until Sunghoon joins him.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Sunghoon asks, not looking at Jake. Jake resists the urge to whine at him, frustrated by the lack of acknowledgment. 

“Sunghoon-ah, I really am sorry for what I did. I didn’t use my authority on purpose, but I feel really bad that it happened anyway. I never want to make you feel uncomfortable,” Jake says, pouring all of his sincerity into it. Sunghoon doesn’t budge. “I didn’t end up visiting Heeseung-hyung. I was going to, but I just couldn’t when I knew you didn’t want me to. Our courtship is my first priority, Hoonie.”

That finally gets Sunghoon’s attention. Hurt still swims in his eyes as he finally looks back up at Jake, but at least he is looking. “I’m also sorry. I shouldn’t have even asked you to do that, I know things are different for you because you’re head omega.” Jake shakes his head and leans in to give Sunghoon a chaste kiss on the lips. 

“No, it’s totally fine. I don’t want you to hide how you feel just because of that,” Jake insists. Sunghoon smiles and kisses Jake a bit more insistently, which Jake happily reciprocates.

“Well, I’ll admit it then… I’m glad you’re here with me and not in there,” Sunghoon says, putting his hands on Jake’s thighs and tugging until the omega is seated in his lap so that they can share a much more heated kiss. Jake smiles as he wraps his arms around Sunghoon’s neck, happy to let this be part of his apology, and lowers himself until he’s able to grind into the alpha’s lap. He’s not entirely sure if that’s where Sunghoon intended this to go, but it’s instantly met with an enthusiastic buck of his hips and a low rumble, which Jake takes as a sign of encouragement. Between the busyness of their comeback and dealing with two rutting pack members in a row, it’s been nearly a month since the last time they got to do anything more exciting than just kissing, and Jake had sort of forgotten how incredible it feels. 

As he feels Sunghoon’s cock hardening against his ass, he becomes possessed with the need to actually see and touch it rather than just feel it through Sunghoon’s pants again. He creeps a hand down the alpha’s front, slowly and deliberately in case Sunghoon tries to stop him, but he only seems to become even more excited, hands tightly gripping Jake’s hips as he moves his mouth to gently nip along Jake’s jawline. As his hand passes Sunghoon’s belly button, Jake suddenly gets nervous about just reaching into Sunghoon’s pants the way he’d initially intended, and so instead he shifts his hips back just enough that he can palm his dick first. 

Sunghoon groans loudly against his neck and bucks his hips again. Fear strikes Jake’s heart for half a second at the noise, nervous at the thought of their packmates hearing them, until he remembers that they’re in his sound-proof heat room. He breathes out and strokes Sunghoon’s cock more deliberately, fisting it though his pants as much as he can, until he finally builds up the courage to pull his pants down and touch it directly. Jake does not even attempt to resist the urge to look as Sunghoon whimpers loudly from the touch, resting his forehead on Sunghoon’s shoulder as he watches himself stroke the alpha’s cock. It’s longer than his own by a good two inches, precome already beading at the top, and once again Jake is relaxed at the thought that it feels very… normal to be looking at it, even touching it. He thinks it would have been more intimidating if it had felt like a life changing moment, but he feels as neutral about it as he had the first time he saw it, and that calms his nerves.

Jake is also very fond of the faces and noises Sunghoon is making as he fists the cock in his hand; his eyes are scrunched closed, and he keeps attempting to choke back the whines that escape his throat like he’s embarrassed about them. A few times he tries to let out more sounds more akin to grunts or growls instead, but they end up sounding forced. Jake can’t help but be a bit endeared that Sunghoon is trying so hard to not come off a certain way, but he also wants the alpha to enjoy himself. He opens his mouth, about to reassure Sunghoon that he can just be himself and make whatever noises feel natural to him, when for some reason it comes back to him that Heeseung is still in the dorm, in rut , and that’s why he’d been trying to apologize to Sunghoon in the first place. Discomfort starts to prickle at the back of his neck in a way that Jake really doesn’t like, and he decides he needs to do something more drastic to get his mind away from it. 

“Sunghoon-ah, can I suck your dick?” is what ends up coming out of his mouth. Jake is a bit surprised by his own request, and that is also when his omega finally decides it’s had enough and starts to protest. Sunghoon seems equally surprised, but it only takes a moment of shock for the alpha to start eagerly nodding his head. 

Jake sits back and takes what feels like an unsexy amount of time to decide what to do; he first considers having Sunghoon sit on the edge of the bed, but as is the case with many nesting beds, it’s actually quite high off of the ground, so both kneeling and standing wouldn’t get Jake’s mouth at dick-height. Having Sunghoon stand would also be an option, but Jake actually isn’t positive that he’d love having Sunghoon towering over him like that during what feels like a big step forward in their sex life. He eventually settles on encouraging Sunghoon to take off his pants and sit back against the wall so Jake can just lay down. It’s not ideal, and it doesn’t really feel sexy either, but it’s what he’s willing to do for now. 

After they’re both situated, Jake leans forward, still ignoring his very upset omega, and follows his initial impulse of licking the precome off of Sunghoon’s cock before wrapping his lips just around the head and sucking gently. Sunghoon’s hips jolt forward, but he stops himself before it becomes a full thrust into Jake’s mouth, which Jake is grateful for. He grabs Sunghoon’s hips and presses down on them as a precaution, then slowly slides more of his cock into his mouth. The warmth and weight of it on his tongue is more pleasant than Jake expected it to be, and it doesn’t take long before he finds himself bobbing his head. He’s only sucking on about half of it, not brave enough to take more of it yet, so he does his best to stroke and gently squeeze the other half with his other hand as he puts the rest of his focus into not gagging.

Sunghoon quickly loses his ability to control the sounds he’s making, his moans and gasps no longer restrained as Jake enthusiastically sucks him off, his omega finally calming in favour of how much he’s actually enjoying giving his courtmate a blow job. Except then Sunghoon suddenly grabs him by the top of the head, fingers weakly gripping his hair, and his hips stutter forward as he comes into Jake’s mouth. Jake immediately pulls back, mostly out of surprise, and swallows the come on impulse. Sunghoon’s eyes are wide and embarrassed, and both of them stare at each other for a few seconds as they try to decide how to address what happened.

“I’m so sorry,” Sunghoon says finally, covering his rapidly blushing face with his hands. 

“Sunghoon-ah, it’s really fine,” Jake says, doing his best to be reassuring. He’s not really sure if Sunghoon is apologizing for coming without warning him, or just for coming so fast, or maybe both. “I swear I don’t mind, it’s okay!”

Sunghoon whines and grabs Jake by the waist, pulling him closer so he can bury his face into Jake’s sternum. “I swear it won’t be like that next time…” he mumbles, and Jake smiles fondly. “… Can I do you too? Please?” It’s unclear to Jake if he’s only offering because he feels bad, and he doesn’t really want that to be the reason he gets his first blow job. Plus his omega immediately starts yelling “No!” again, and Jake doesn’t have it in himself to ignore it twice. 

“That’s okay, don’t worry about it, Hoonie,” Jake says. Sunghoon whines again.

“Not even a hand job?” Sunghoon says with a dramatic pout. Jake smiles, a bit more sure that it’s coming from a place of sincere desire, but his omega is still protesting.

“This was about you today, Sunghoon. We can do more another time, okay?” Jake says, rubbing his temple into Sunghoon’s. The alpha grumbles, but does finally relent.

“Alright. But I’m holding you to that.”

~ * ~

Heeseung’s rut breaks exactly one week before their comeback, and everything feels like a massive scramble as they continue with prep for the comeback, not to mention Jay’s birthday. Which is why Jake is unsure whether or not he’s just imagining it when he starts to feel like Heeseung is avoiding him.

Jake tries over and over to talk to Heeseung once he’s finally left his rut room, offering to help with cleanup or to make him ramen or to help check over his schedule so that Heeseung doesn’t have to worry about it, but Heeseung just brushes him off every single time. The guilt of missing his rut still burns in Jake’s gut, and he’s desperate to somehow find a way to make it up to the alpha, but every single attempt quickly gets shut down. Jake does his best to just let it go and wait, not making any more moves until the evening when they’re all getting ready for bed. He goes to Heeseung’s room to say goodnight, leaning up slightly to initiate a pack gesture. For one terrifying second, it almost looks like Heeseung is going to ignore it and reject it, but after a few seconds he leans down and brushes their temples together, just barely grazing Jake before wishing him goodnight and disappearing into his bed. Despite the reciprocation of the pack gesture, it really doesn’t feel like a win.

All of it baffles Jake to no end; it doesn’t make any sense for Heeseung to be avoiding him. Heeseung was one of the people that Jake felt the closest to in their pack, and nothing had happened in the last little while that would have sparked him to be upset enough to warrant the cold shoulder. Obviously Jake had dodged helping during Heeseung’s rut, but Jay had assured him after the first visit that Heeseung understood the challenges of being in a very new relationship, and that he wasn’t hurt by Jake’s absence. Sunghoon had also been told by Heeseung that it was fine during one of his visits. So why would Heeseung be avoiding him? Maybe Jake is just going crazy from the stress and was making it all up in his head. Or Heeseung is going crazy from the stress.

Regardless of the truth, Jake makes a point of encouraging Heeseung to sit next to him during Jay’s birthday live, hoping that spending some time sitting together will release the tension. His throat starts to close with anxiety when the alpha seems to hesitate for a moment, but ultimately he does sit next to Jake and does a good job with acting relaxed for the camera. As the live carries on, the calmness Heeseung is faking for the camera slowly melts into something genuine and natural, until eventually he’s laughing and being as touchy with Jake as he normally would. Jake also relaxes as he watches Heeseung open back up to him, and hopes that this will be the end of it. 

The only small hiccup Jake notices is the mild look of disappointment Sunghoon shoots him when he realizes they won’t be sitting next to each other, but he’s clearly already moved past it by the time he’s on camera, and then spends the rest of the live making Sunoo laugh. That also only help to calm Jake’s nerves even further; he loves every ounce of proof he can find that Sunoo is still able to have a good relationship with Sunghoon in spite of everything, so watching him laugh at Sunghoon’s acrostic poem or relax whenever the alpha slings an arm over his shoulders makes his heart feel full. 

When the live finally ends, they all return home to have an actual celebration for Jay. They order dinner so that Jay doesn’t have to cook for once, as well as serve up a birthday cake, and thankfully Heeseung continues to treat Jake as normal as the night carries on. Eventually everyone has to get ready for bed so that they can go back to their heinously busy schedule, so Jay and Jake linger in the kitchen to put away their leftovers while everyone else putters around with their nighttime routines. 

“Jay-ah, did Heeseung really seem fine when I couldn’t visit him during his rut?” Jake suddenly asks, startling himself. He genuinely hadn’t meant to say that, the thought of asking Jay having barely even entered his mind before it was exiting his mouth. Jay stiffens at the question, so Jake quickly begins to backtrack. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that, I don’t know why I even asked-”

“I mean, it was probably based on something,” Jay responds. It almost feels like a subtle encouragement for Jake to keep going, so he does.

“W-Well… I just felt like hyung was ignoring me when his rut first broke, and I couldn’t think of anything else I could have done to upset him,” Jake shyly admits. “But I know it was a busy day for all of us, and he seems fine now. I was probably just overthinking.”

Jay is silent for long enough that Jake glances over at him. He has a weird expression on his face, although he is quick to make his expression more neutral when he notices Jake staring. He shrugs. “Hyung was probably just tired. Like I said, he told me it was fine.”

Jake is about to press the issue a little, not convinced by Jay’s odd expression, when Jungwon appears in the kitchen. “There’s room for one of you in the bathroom, if one of you wants to go now.”

Normally Jake would let the birthday boy go, but this time he offers to go first so that Jay can have a few minutes alone with Jungwon. He heads towards the bathroom and finds Niki there, still applying something to his cheeks while barely keeping his eyes open from exhaustion. Jake is jealous that Niki has such a good skincare routine at such a young age; his own chin littered with acne scars from when he still lived in Australia and didn’t so much as wash his face with water unless he was showering. Instead Niki had the skin of a porcelain doll, despite being in the most hormonal period of his life outside of presentations.

Jake starts with washing his own face, then decides he wants to at least make small talk with Niki. “Jay’s live was fun tonight.”

Niki smiles. “It was. I liked dressing up in cool clothes,” he says, his enthusiasm obvious even through his sleepy tone. “I can’t believe some Engenes really thought you pierced your own ears.” Jake laughs.

“Me either. I don’t think piercings will ever be my thing,” Jake says. He tries to think of other stuff that was said during the live for him to comment on. “It was nice of you to share some of your clothes with Sunoo, too. I’m sure he really appreciated it.” Niki’s cheeks flush so pink that Jake can see it even through the thick cream he’s spreading onto them, but his chest puffs up proudly at the comment. If he wasn’t still a pup, Jake imagines that his scent would have flared. 

“I was just being a good packmate,” Niki says, trying to brush it off despite his body language. Jake hadn’t really been intending to bring up his suspicions of Niki’s crush up with him any time soon—maybe not ever—but suddenly he doesn’t feel like he can just let this go.

“Right, of course,” Jake says, tone overly nonchalant as he rubs in a product from an ampoule that Sunoo recently recommended to him. He can see Niki in his periphery, narrowing his eyes at him. “Just like how Jay and Jungwon share clothes. Or how Sunghoon shares his clothes with me. Packmate stuff.”

When Jake looks back at Niki again, he’s staring at his own reflection in the mirror. Jake starts to feel a bit bad, wondering if he should have just dropped the topic, when suddenly Niki turns his entire body in Jake’s direction and takes a step forward. 

“If I tell you a secret, do you promise you won’t tell anyone?” Niki asks very seriously. Jake nods, but that doesn’t convince their maknae. “Not Sunghoon-hyung, not Heeseung-hyung, not Jungwon-hyung. You can’t tell anyone .”

Jake raises his hands in surrender. “I swear I won’t tell anyone else, Niki. This will just be for you and me.”

Niki nods and anxiously licks his lips. “… I have a crush on Sunoo-hyung.”

Jake does his best to feign surprise at the admission; he doesn’t want Niki to know that he had even an inkling so that he doesn’t feel self conscious. “Really?”

“Yeah. Just a small one though!” Niki insists, his cheeks flaming red again. Jake pats him on the back encouragingly, once again mostly concerned with making sure he didn’t make Niki feel bad or self conscious. He wanted to make sure that Niki would feel comfortable coming to him with anything, including crushes. 

“That’s so nice, Niki-yah,” Jake coos. Niki rolls his eyes, but doesn’t shift further away from Jake. “Are you planning on doing anything about it? Do you want to ask Sunoo out on a date or anything?”

“ No ,” Niki immediately snaps. “You’ve seen how Jay-hyung is about Jungwon-hyung, and he’s way closer to presenting than I am. Sunoo-hyung would never agree to go on a date with me,” Niki says. He looks disappointed by his own words, and Jake can’t help the need to cheer him up as quickly as possible.

“You don’t know that for sure, Sunoo and Jay are different people,” Jake insists, although he doesn’t really believe it even as he says it. He’s pretty confident that Sunoo wouldn’t be interested in dating someone unpresented. Niki also doesn’t seem to believe him, shaking his head again. 

“It’s fine, hyung, I’ve always known that I didn’t really have a chance with him,” Niki says, his voice laced with the tired wisdom of an old man that doesn’t at all match his youthful voice and baby face. His phrasing takes Jake off guard, as though Niki has had a crush on Sunoo for quite some time already, and for what feels like the millionth time, Jake is forced to wonder just how long one of his friends has had a crush on another friend. Niki wavers for a moment, like he’s unsure about if he wants to share anything else, but eventually relents. “B-But sometimes I… I try to give him my clothes or share my food with him and stuff. That way he knows I would be a good courtmate… just in case.”

Jake smiles fondly as he washes his hands of the lingering product between his fingers, quickly drying them before ruffling Niki’s hair affectionately. “You never know, Niki-yah, you might be surprised. If you show off what a good courtmate you are, Sunoo might notice.” Jake realizes that he might be going a bit too far in getting Niki’s hopes up; he doesn’t want him to be heartbroken if it doesn’t work out. “But even if he never does, you can still be proud of yourself for doing what you could while being respectful. It doesn’t mean anything about you if someone rejects you.”

Niki grumbles and tries to push Jake’s hand away from his head, but he can see a little smile peaking through on the maknae’s face. Then he leans forward, tentatively brushing his temple into Jake’s; it’s rare that Niki is the one to initiate a pack gesture, so Jake makes sure to lean into it enthusiastically. He swears that for a moment Niki’s scent gets stronger, even though it isn’t possible, and then he hears another little mumble.

“I know, hyung. But thank you.”

~ * ~ 

Jake had always thought that preparing for comebacks would only get easier with time, but getting ready for Border: Carnival somehow feels even more exhausting and demanding than Border: Day One ever did. His body aches, he has a pounding headache from the lack of sleep, and he’s starting to feel more and more like a zombie as the days and hours drag on. He knows that the rest of Enhypen are feeling the same, from a mix of their unhappy scents and how visible the exhaustion is on their faces, but it finally comes to a head only two days before their comeback. After quite a bit of bickering over dinner, they all agree on ordering in sushi after Niki requests something Japanese in a small voice; they know that the stress of their comeback has been causing Niki to be quite homesick, so it was difficult to deny their maknae anything. When the sushi finally arrives, they all sit on the floor in the living room to eat it, much to Jay’s annoyance. He insists that they really should be eating in the dining room, but none of them have the energy or mental power to sit anywhere other than the ground.

Despite the room being mostly silent as they eat, the tension between everyone is palpable. Most of the day had been spent filming the Mini Olympics, and although it is now understood that Heeseung and Niki had only been doing what they were asked, everyone else is still struggling to shake off the frustration of having their domino setup ruined. Immediately after that ordeal they were sent to another particularly grueling dance practice, then to do vocal training with their singing coaches who just took it as an opportunity to pick apart every little thing they sang wrong. By the time they were back in their den, nobody was in a good mood.

The silence of dinner carries into the cleanup, all of them quietly shifting the leftovers into one container, which Jake stands up to put into their refrigerator while Jay and Jungwon compile everyone’s dishes, and Niki helps Sunoo collect the garbage. As Jake closes the door to the fridge after putting away their leftovers, he notices Heeseung staring at him from his spot at the island. It makes him a bit self conscious, wondering if he accidentally got soy sauce onto his cheek while eating or something like that.

“What, is there something on my face?” Jake asks, reaching up to rub his cheeks and nose as he walks closer to the island until he’s next to the alpha. Heeseung smiles fondly and shakes his head.

“No, I was actually thinking that this hairstyle suits you really well. It’s fluffier than what they’ve been doing with it for most of the comeback, it looks cute,” he says, reaching up to tug on a strand of Jake’s bangs. Jake grins at the compliment, having also thought the hairstyle was a nice change for the day, but before he can even consider responding, a growl rips through the air and a body appears between him and Heeseung. It causes Jake to stumble backwards just a little, and by the time he’s caught himself, he’s managed to put together what is happening.

“Can you just back off for once?” Sunghoon snarls at Heeseung, baring his teeth at the older alpha and posturing aggressively. Heeseung narrows his eyes and takes a defensive stance, although it’s not a full posture like Sunghoon is doing; a signal that he won’t let Sunghoon challenge his place in their hierarchy, but is willing to bow out of the fight Sunghoon has just started.

A fight that Jake is quickly realizing is about him .

“Sunghoon, what is wrong with you?” Jake snaps, embarrassed that Sunghoon is not only trying to pick a fight with a packmate, but that he’s doing it in front of the rest of their pack. A quick glance around reveals that everyone else has frozen in place and is now staring at them, varying degrees of shock on their faces. 

“What’s wrong is that Heeseung keeps acting like you aren’t already courting someone,” Sunghoon growls, not even looking at Jake when he answers so that he can continue glaring at Heeseung instead. “Jake is mine .”

Jake wishes the ground would swallow him up. 

“Heeseung-hyung is allowed to talk to Jake-hyung,” Niki suddenly pipes up. His shocked expression has morphed into something angrier, and Jake prays this doesn’t restart the issues between them. 

“Communication between everyone is critical for us to look good publicly, hyung. That includes between Jake-hyung and Heeseung-hyung… and you as well,” Jungwon adds while looking pointedly at Sunghoon, doing his best to use his leader voice. “It’s going to reflect badly on all of us if you don’t get your possessiveness in check.”

Sunghoon balks, clearly not having anticipated that their packmates would chime in. “I don’t care about them talking , that’s not the issue-”

“Well it kind of looks like you just snapped at Heeseung-hyung for talking,” Niki says, tone thick with judgement. Sunghoon glances around at everyone else, trying to gauge if anyone agrees with him. Jake avoids looking at him, too busy with the humiliation of Sunghoon getting this possessive in front of all of their friends. Jay is the only one who looks sympathetic rather than upset, and as soon as Sunghoon makes eye contact with him, he lets out a stressed sigh.

“Sunghoon-ah, come on-”

“Don’t bother,” Sunghoon quickly interrupts, obviously not interested in whatever neutral response Jay was about to offer. Jay sighs loudly, but backs off. So, out of options, Sunghoon turns to the only person left.

Sunoo has also been quiet the whole time, eyes glued to the floor, but they quickly flutter upwards when he feels Sunghoon’s gaze. He looks like he’d rather be literally anywhere else, but he swallows once and licks his lips as he considers his words.

“Jungwonie is right, we all need to have a clear head for the comeback,” is what he eventually settles on. Sunghoon rolls his eyes and lets out another growl in frustration. Sunoo very quickly bows his head at the sound, and that earns Sunghoon a warning growl from both Heeseung and Jay. Sunghoon rolls his eyes again, but his posture relaxes just a bit, and so finally Heeseung makes an attempt to talk to Sunghoon himself, taking a slow step forward. 

“Look, Sunghoon-”

Sunghoon immediately growls and snaps once more at Heeseung, his body tensing back up again. Everyone else goes stiff as well, scents darkening from florals and apple cider to rot and sour fruit. That’s enough for Jake to decide that he’s actually had enough of this behaviour, and in a second he has shoved himself in between Heeseung and Sunghoon. Jake scowls and steps forward into Sunghoon’s space so that he is forced to take a step back from Heeseung, and Sunghoon’s eyebrows scrunch in confusion. Jake huffs.

“That’s enough, Sunghoon-ah. Hyung and I were talking ,” Jake says sternly. “You need to stop.”

Sunghoon looks down in shock at Jake, pure betrayal swimming in his eyes. “ What ? We’re courting , why are you taking his side?”

Jake narrows his eyes and takes a step into Sunghoon’s space. “We’re a pack , Sunghoon, there aren’t any sides.”

Sunghoon takes another step away from Jake and glances around the room one more time, but everyone’s expression has become relatively judgmental, save for Jay and surprisingly Heeseung, both of whom just look a bit sad. Sunghoon’s ears start to burn bright red.

“Sunghoon-ah, please, I don’t want to fight. Can we please try to fix this?” Heeseung says calmly, offering a hand to him around Jake’s shoulder, but it is swiftly rejected. Sunghoon growls again, although much softer; it’s more of a hurt sound than an angry one.

“If you want to fix it, then fuck off ,” Sunghoon says before finally stomping off to sulk by himself on the couch. Everyone else immediately takes the opportunity to get away from the thick air that has taken over their living room, not even bothering with skincare before ducking away into bedrooms to turn in for the night. Jake contemplates going after Sunghoon, still worried about his courtmate even when he’s just been incredibly rude to the rest of their pack, but Niki starts to insist that he spend the night with Jake’s, and now Jake has no choice but to head to bed with their maknae. 

Jake does his best to go to sleep, laying still with Niki curled into his side, but he can’t let go of the guilt of leaving Sunghoon alone. So as soon as he feels Niki’s breathing even out and his body relaxes, he carefully climbs out of bed and tiptoes away to check if Sunghoon is still festering in the living room. He anticipates either finding him still alone, or for him to have disappeared to the gym to burn off his anger, but he finds neither. Instead he finds Sunghoon sprawled out in Heeseung’s lap, of all people, and crying . Sunghoon never cries. 

Jake pulls back his own scent as much as he can and keeps himself hidden as much as he can by the wall to avoid drawing any attention as he watches Heeseung gently pet Sunghoon’s hair. He thinks it’s the most vulnerable he’s ever seen Sunghoon, and it feels very meaningful that it’s Heeseung comforting him. 

“I don’t know why I did that,” Sunghoon mumbles, sniffling and avoiding Heeseung’s gaze. Heeseung moves his hand from Sunghoon’s hair to his temple so that he can rub his scent gland with the pad of his thumb. 

“It’s okay, pup. We’re gonna work through everything together, right?” Heeseung coos, his eyes softening as Sunghoon nods.

Jake decides to take his leave at that point, not wanting to intrude on something that seems pretty private. Plus, he isn’t worried about Sunghoon being alone anymore; his head alpha is taking care of him.

~ * ~

Jake feels nearly dead on his feet as he stirs the pot of ramyeon in front of him. They’re only a couple of days into their comeback, and their already busy schedule has become almost unbearably packed with interviews and performances; Jake honestly wishes he was sleeping instead, but he knows he hasn’t been eating enough in the last few days due to the stress, and ramyeon will be better than going to bed on an empty stomach again. 

Sunghoon is also plastered against his back, which makes it just a little bit trickier to make his food, but he’d take that over shooing Sunghoon away any day. In spite of his angry outburst, Heeseung had been very kind and calm towards Sunghoon the next day, and so the rest of the pack had followed his lead and treated him as normal too. There is an undeniable tension still as a result, but nobody is brave enough to bring it back up. Jake is doing his best to also treat Sunghoon the same as before, but there is a small part of him that is still a bit embarrassed and annoyed that Sunghoon snapped like that in front of everyone. There is also a mild amount of guilt that he feels that way about it; aren’t omegas supposed to be flattered and happy when their alphas defend them? Maybe it’s different when being defended from someone who isn’t actually a threat.

Sunghoon’s nose rubs against the scent gland in the back of his neck, and Jake makes a soft, pleased chirp in response, his heart fluttering from being scented in such an intimate spot. He feels Sunghoon grin against his neck before a small kiss is placed in the same spot.

“You’re so cute, Jake-yah,” Sunghoon says, his voice sleepy. “I wish we could do this all the time. I like getting to cuddle you.”

Jake smiles, but doesn’t respond out of fear that his voice might betray him; he’d actually been thinking the opposite , wishing that it wasn’t Sunghoon in the kitchen with him, but Heeseung. Making ramyeon in the middle of the night used to be their thing , but they’d just been too busy in the last six weeks or so to find time for it. However, given that Sunghoon’s outburst had been directed at Heeseung, Jake knows better than to voice this feeling any time in the near future. Late night ramyeon with Sunghoon is fine too. 

Jake is just putting his ramyeon into a bowl when the sound of feet padding into the kitchen catches his attention. He turns just in time to see Sunoo coming into the room, eyes only half open from drowsiness and cheeks still damp with skincare products. Sunghoon’s scent spikes slightly when he notices Sunoo, which Jake thinks is cute, but it quickly fizzles out when Sunoo freezes, his brain finally registering what he’s walked in on. Sunghoon has the awareness to be a little bit embarrassed about being so publicly affectionate for once, taking half a step away from Jake so that he’s just holding his waist as opposed to being wrapped around him like an octopus. Jake forces himself not to say anything, knowing that anything that might come out of his mouth in this moment would only make Sunoo upset. 

“You’re lucky it was me walking in and not Jungwon,” Sunoo says, finally breaking the tension as he averts his eyes and continues to the fridge. He pulls out a bottle of water and quickly turns around, leaving for his bedroom without another word. The speed with which he disappears only makes Jake feel worse; he’s very seriously doing his best not to baby Sunoo about his relationship with Sunghoon anymore, but it’s starting to feel like Sunoo is actually handling it worse than he was before. 

Jake sighs dramatically as Sunghoon tugs him back into his hold again, nose pressed against the scent gland behind Jake’s ear. Jake whines and tries to shake him away, still feeling a bit bad about Sunoo walking in on them snuggling, but Sunghoon won’t have it. 

“Sunghoon-ah, I want to eat my ramyeon,” Jake complains, despite how he still tips his head to the side to give Sunghoon easier access to his neck. Sunghoon hums and drags his lips down Jake’s neck. 

“Eat it then, I’m not stopping you,” Sunghoon teases. Jake rolls his eyes and reaches out to grab the bowl, when from down the hall he hears their apartment door fly open, followed by two loudly bickering voices. It’s clearly Jungwon and Jay—both from the scents and voices, and because their manager had asked only them to stay behind to talk—and they sound agitated enough that Jake is immediately alarmed. Their voices are overlapping too much for Jake to hear what either of them is actually saying, until Jungwon finally wins out.

“Don’t talk to me until you’re ready to take your head out of your ass!” Jungwon snaps, followed by another door opening and closing; based on how close it sounded, Jake would guess probably the door to Heeseung’s room. Jay lets out a loud huffing noise, clearly attempting to not actually growl, then also appears to enter into a room as another door clicks open and shut.

Jake doesn’t even realize how tense he became while listening to the interaction until he relaxes again, practically slumping in Sunghoon’s arms before quickly righting himself up again. He turns to look at Sunghoon, who is also looking just a little tense and alarmed, so Jake takes the opportunity to peel himself out of Sunghoon’s arms, his omega urging him to go check on his distressed packmates. As soon as Jake slips away, Sunghoon seems to register what is going on and attempts to pull him back, but Jake has gotten just far enough away that he can’t. 

“Jake-yah, just leave them be,” Sunghoon begs, already having connected the dots about where his courtmate is going, but Jake just shakes his head.

“It’s my job to take care of everyone, I can’t do that,” Jake insists. Sunghoon huffs and makes a short whining sound; Jake sighs and turns back to Sunghoon. “I know I gave you a bit of a pass about Heeseung-hyung’s rut, but you really will have to be understanding when I’m needed by other packmates. It’s not something that will go away, Sunghoon-ah.”

Sunghoon sighs dramatically, but does relent with a nod. “I know… I’ll get used to sharing you eventually,” Sunghoon says, slouching disappointedly against the counter. He motions for Jake to leave. “You better go check on your packmate, head omega.” Jake smiles and moves to press a small kiss to Sunghoon’s cheek, then grabs his bowl of ramyeon and disappears to his and Jay’s bedroom. Jay is laying on his bed when Jake enters, arms crossed and still fuming if his expression is anything to go by. Jake opts to sit on his own bed until he’s invited closer. 

“Should I even ask what you guys were fighting about?” Jake asks, taking a bite of his ramyeon. Jay rolls his eyes and sits up, running a frustrated hand through his hair while the other grips the comforter so tightly that it looks like it might rip. 

“We got in trouble for being ‘too romantic’ on camera,” Jay mumbles, crossing his arms again. Jake’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

“Really? Again ?” he asks dumbly. Jay looks at him in confusion, and Jake’s cheeks flush slightly. “Jungwon told me about it last time. What were they pissed about today? I’ve lost track of all the stuff we’ve filmed recently.”

“The thing we filmed with hello82. I think a lot of the stuff we said got cut by the manager’s request, but they still ended up using a clip where I made a stupid joke about wanting more hugs from Jungwon, and they were really upset with us. Especially since we’ve already been spoken to,” Jay explains, fingers flexing repeatedly around the fistfull of blanket. Jake nods along, but also doesn’t bother to hide his annoyance. 

“I still think it’s dumb that they even care about that stuff. I know that we’re selling a fantasy or whatever, but I think that just means that most Engenes wouldn’t even notice us acting affectionately or thinking too deeply about it,” Jake says. Jay stays quiet, but his expression makes it clear that he shares the sentiment. “So how did it turn into an argument?”

Jay swallows thickly and chews on his lip. “Well… Jungwon got angry at me about getting in trouble…”

Jake waits for Jay to continue his thought, but he seems stuck. “Was he just upset that you guys got scolded again?”

“… Not exactly,” Jay says cautiously. Jake furrows his eyebrows and scoops up another mouthful of ramyeon as Jay sighs. “He was upset that I still won’t court him, even though apparently we’re already so obvious about our feelings that even our manager knows, to quote him directly.”

Jake represses a laugh; Jungwon really wasn’t going to let this go without a fight. “And I assume you stood your ground, and that made him more upset.” Jay nods his head. Jake pauses in eating, setting down the bowl as he carefully considers his words. “I know I’ve said before that I understand your side of things, and obviously still think that keeping Jungwon away during your ruts is for the best… but if the only reason you’re not courting him is because you think you shouldn’t, then that’s stupid. No offense.”

“It’s not just that,” Jay says. He stares at Jake for a few seconds, cheeks turning a little red before continuing. “I’m sure you know as well as anyone that alphas can be kind of intense while courting. And doing anything with an alpha before presenting can be very overwhelming, even just kissing and stuff.”

Jake’s cheeks also flush at the small jab, but he quickly becomes distracted by the rest of Jay’s statement. “Why do you sound like you’re speaking from experience about that?” Jay averts his eyes as the blush spreads down to his neck.

“That’s not important,” he quickly dismisses, continuing before Jake can interject further. “My point is that I would never want to accidentally hurt Jungwon, in any way. I wouldn’t be able to bear it if I did something like that, even if he said it was fine.”

Jake nods thoughtfully, unable to argue with that concern. “That’s fair enough. I mean, I doubt you’d ever hurt Jungwon even accidentally, but if you’re genuinely that concerned, then I guess being cautious is best.” Jay slumps, and Jake finally picks his bowl of ramyeon back up. “Now tell me about the alpha you were seeing before you presented.”

Jay huffs and rolls his eyes again as he straightens back up. “ Fine . I’m surprised Sunghoon hasn’t already told you this, honestly. So, back when I was still a trainee-”

Chapter Text

There is an excited buzz in the air as Enhypen get ready for the day. It’s their first day of filming their very own YouTube show, En-O’Clock, and while it’s technically still work, all of them share the same sentiment that getting to do improv and be silly with each other for a few hours will be a walk in the park compared to their usual schedule of vocal training and intense dance practices. Jake has been looking forward to this for weeks now, as it’s probably the closest thing they’ll get to a true break for the foreseeable future.

All of the members banter gleefully with each other as they eat their breakfast, do their skincare, and get dressed, Jungwon reminding everyone not to spend too much time picking an outfit because there are costumes waiting for them at the HYBE building. They take turns excitedly discussing their individual character concepts for the day, followed by speculating what kind of activities they’re going to be asked to do once they’re on location. It feels like it has been weeks, maybe months since everyone was so high-energy, and Jake hopes that continues throughout the day of filming.

The only person who doesn’t seem to be matching the same level of excitement, Jake quickly notices, is Sunghoon. He’s typically one of the first people to start cracking jokes and playfully teasing their packmates whenever they have something more relaxed on the horizon, but he’s been strangely reserved all morning. Jake makes multiple attempts to question Sunghoon about why he is being so quiet, but he also doesn’t want to make a scene and embarrass him by asking in front of everyone else in case it’s something personal, so he briefly lets it go and waits for a more opportune moment. 

It finally arrives when they get into the vans. As is typical for them, he and Sunghoon manage to claim a back row together, and then happen to get followed by Jungwon, who promptly shuts the door in Jay’s face when he makes a move to climb in as well. Their leader then puts massive headphones over his ears, ones that Jake knows for a fact are sound proof because they’re what he uses when he wants to intentionally ignore the rest of the pack and have a few moments of peace. So as soon as the van starts to pull away from their building, Jake pounces. 

“Sunghoon-ah, are you feeling okay?” he asks, reaching out to take the alpha’s hand in his own. Sunghoon runs his fingers over Jake’s knuckles before properly lacing their fingers together and lets out a small sigh.

“Yeah I’m fine. Why?” he responds, not sounding the least bit convincing. 

“You just don’t seem as excited about today as the rest of us. Is there anything going on?” Jake presses. He squeezes Sunghoon’s hand, and the alpha squeezes it back as he sighs once more. He glances at Jungwon, who is completely engrossed in some video on his phone with the bulky headphones still on his head, and then relents. 

“I kind of feel like there’s still tension after my, ah, outburst last week,” Sunghoon admits, avoiding Jake’s gaze. Jake wants to be surprised that this is what is bothering his courtmate, but if he’s being honest with himself, it’s not really a shock at all. Despite the fact that the rest of the pack seemed to sort of silently agree to sweep the situation under the rug after Heeseung and Sunghoon had worked it out privately, their tight comeback schedule has resulted in very little free time for everyone to actually relax and feel comfortable with each other again. Clearly that fact had not slipped past Sunghoon. “I’m worried that it will show through during the filming today, I don’t want any Engenes to think I’m being stiff or standoffish with anyone. It’s easier to act natural during live shows since we’re mostly just performing, but this is content about us interacting and being friendly with each other. What if it’s obvious that something is going on?”

“I honestly don’t think that things will be as tense as you think they will,” Jake reassures, genuinely confident in his assertion. Sunghoon looks skeptical, so Jake pushes further. “This is our pack we’re talking about, Sunghoon-ah. Above everything else, they love you. We’re a family.”

That is enough for Sunghoon to take a considerable pause, his expression starting to relax a little but still not looking fully convinced. “Your family can still be mad at you though. Just because they love me doesn’t mean they forgive me.”

“They don’t need to forgive you. Hyung forgave you,” Jake insists. Sunghoon nods, his shoulders dropping a little. “I think for today, the best thing for you to do is be yourself without worrying about any of that. If you act like nothing is wrong, then everyone else will act like nothing is wrong too. Just be as silly and loud as you want, and everyone else will match that energy.”

Sunghoon turns to look at Jake properly. There is still a shimmer of worry in his eyes as he squeezes Jake’s hand one more time, but he does look like he agrees with the overall sentiment. “Right. Just be myself.”

Jake nods and smiles encouragingly. “Maybe even go over the top with it. Be extra silly so that nobody can even think about anything else. Completely distract them with your comedy,” he teases. Sunghoon cracks an actual smile, and Jake finally feels like he’s accomplished his mission.

“Don’t tempt me. I’ll steal the whole show if you’re not careful,” Sunghoon jokes back, and Jake laughs brightly; this is his Sunghoon.

“I’ll look forward to seeing you try.”

~ * ~

There are no proper words to describe the elation Jake feels when he gets in the van to go home and is surrounded by unbridled laughter. The day had been so much fun for all of them, truly a much needed break from their comeback activities, and as promised, Sunghoon had very much stolen the entire show. He’d taken Jake’s advice of acting over the top during his entrance, as well as during the friendship test, and the ensuing laughter had set the tone for the rest of the day. There was lots of fun teasing towards everyone, heart stickers on his eyes, goofy antics to earn more points, and earnest encouragement towards the talents of their packmates; by the end of the day, Sunghoon is back to being in sync with the rest of the pack, and all of the lingering tension with them has completely dissipated. The only time during the whole day where Jake felt on edge about Sunghoon’s concerns was during the friendship test when Heeseung started to get a little carried away with complimenting Jake, but once the moment was over, Sunghoon let it go easily.

If Jake is being honest with himself, there were also multiple points throughout the day where Sunghoon had given him mild heart palpitations. The majority of them were simple and cute things: Jake being able to appeal for points by drawing a heart on his test despite getting a wrong answer, or Sunghoon trying to answer a question about Jake before he’d even had the chance to ask it, things along those lines. But much to Jake’s embarrassment, the most impactful moment of the entire day to him personally was Sunghoon being able to identify him just by touching his hands. 

When the task had first been suggested, Jake was immediately suspicious that someone in their management team had caught on to their relationship, but he had no choice but to ignore that sense just in case it truly was a coincidence. He was also a little embarrassed that the majority of their pack voted that yes, they thought Sunghoon would be able to find his hands, despite knowing full well that they had every reason to think it would be easy for him. Then he’d been blindfolded, had his nose plugged—followed by Niki making fun of how his voice sounded with the nose plug on—and with ease was able to find Jake’s hands. And deep down, Jake knows it isn’t a big deal that Sunghoon was able to find his hands; as the alpha had explained afterwards, Jake has relatively distinctive hands with thick knuckles compared to the rest of the pack, but he still can’t help but find it overwhelmingly attractive. It plagues his mind with thoughts about his hands on Sunghoon’s body for the rest of the day, and by the time they arrive back at their den, Jake is just barely holding it together. 

It takes most of his strength not to drag Sunghoon away the second they’re though the door, instead having to put energy into sitting through an annoyingly long dinner while keeping his scent in check. The only grace that he gets is the other members being pushy and insistent about getting to do their skincare first tonight, which means that the number of people in the main living space dwindles until Jake is the only person left, with Sunghoon and Sunoo doing their skincare in the bathroom. Jake taps his foot impatiently, eyes glued to the bathroom door until finally Sunoo emerges.

“It’s all yours, hyung,” Sunoo chirps, oblivious to the indecent thoughts clogging Jake’s mind as he smiles and waves. “Have a good night.”

“You too, Sunoo-yah. See you in the morning,” Jake says, hoping his voice doesn’t sound as tight as it feels. Sunoo remains unphased and makes his way towards his bedroom, and the moment he is out of sight, Jake grabs the bathroom door handle like a man starved and flings it open. Sunghoon looks at him in surprise, two blobs of partially-rubbed-in cream on his cheeks, as Jake does his best to shut the door quietly and lock it before springing forward to kiss his courtmate directly on the mouth.

Sunghoon’s eyes widen in shock from the display, but does not hesitate to kiss Jake back with just as much enthusiasm. He is quick to grab the omega by the back of the neck to pull him even closer, and the remains of whatever cream he’d been putting on his face spread across Jake’s neck as a result. The omega doesn’t even notice, solely focused on how badly he wants to mess around with his courtmate. He soon abandons Sunghoon’s mouth and instead kisses down his neck, ignoring the taste of skincare products as his teeth scrape at his scent glands until the room starts to smell like coffee. 

“Sunghoon-ah,” Jake moans against his neck, Sunghoon groaning in response. Using the fact that the alpha was caught off guard to his advantage, Jake grabs him by the hips and manages to pin him to the sink. “I think that you deserve some kind of reward for being able to tell which hands were mine out of everyone’s during our recording.”

“I was just b-being a good courtmate,” Sunghoon says, stuttering as one of Jake’s hands drags heavily down his chest and hooks into the band of his pajama bottoms. “I… I could find your hands anywhere.”

“Well I still think you deserve a reward for it,” Jake says, nipping at Sunghoon’s jawline. He starts to shove down the alpha’s pants and underwear, waiting for a moment to see if he’ll be stopped before pushing them all the way down to his mid-thigh. Sunghoon is already half-hard despite barely having done anything, and his coffee-vanilla scent spikes with arousal when Jake takes his cock into his hand, stroking it gently. “I’ve been thinking about this all day, Hoonie, getting to put my hands all over your body. Do you think you could tell them apart only with your own hands, or could I touch you anywhere and you’d still know it was me?”

Sunghoon lets out breathy gasps with every pump of Jake’s hand, his expression starting to look a bit dazed. Jake grins and leans back in to lick at his neck, resisting the urge to leave behind a trail of marks that would leave no doubt that Sunghoon is already taken. The alpha’s hands have the edge of the counter in a death grip while supporting his body weight, looking like they might snap a chunk clean off if he holds it any tighter. 

“Are you close already, Sunghoonie?” Jake teases with a smile, laughing when Sunghoon rapidly nods his head. He tightens his hold on Sunghoon’s cock, and it draws a ragged moan from him that is a bit louder than they should really be if they don’t want anyone to catch them. “You have to be quiet, you don’t want someone to hear us, right?”

Sunghoon squeezes his mouth and eyes shut, a pitiful whimper escaping from the back of his throat as he bucks his hips into Jake’s hand. It only takes a few more strokes before he’s coming into Jake’s hand, practically choking in his attempts not to make any more noise. Jake coos into his neck and keeps pumping his cock through his orgasm, only stopping when Sunghoon reaches out and grabs his wrist. Neither of them say anything right away, the room filled only with the sounds of their heavy panting, until the feeling of Sunghoon’s cum all over his hand becomes too difficult for Jake to ignore. He’s not entirely sure what the correct course of action is to get rid of it; would it be rude to just wash his hand or wipe it off? He doesn’t want to hurt Sunghoon’s feelings, especially since he might already be feeling embarrassed about coming so quickly again, so without thinking much further than that, Jake brings his hand to his mouth and starts licking the cum off his fingers. He coyly glances up at Sunghoon through his eyelashes as he does so and tries not to wrinkle his nose at the salty taste, much more potent than it had been when he’d given Sunghoon a blow job since he’d swallowed it so fast that time. 

Jake’s heart races as Sunghoon’s pupils blow so wide that his irises all but disappear, and before he can think anything of it, Sunghoon grabs him by the back of his thighs and picks him up. Jake yelps, hands bracing on the alpha’s shoulders as he spins them around and carefully sets Jake down onto the counter. Sunghoon leans his hands onto the counter again to support his own weight, but this time effectively traps Jake in place as well. 

“Can… can I…?” Sunghoon stammers over his words, his already flushed cheeks turning an even deeper red as one of his hands shifts onto Jake’s thigh. Jake’s lungs constrict as he realizes what Sunghoon is asking for.

“You don’t have to,” Jake says, anxiety already licking up his spine from the anticipation of his omega’s inevitable panic. Sunghoon whines, leaning his forehead onto Jake’s shoulder as he squeezes Jake’s thigh.

“But I want to, Jake-yah. I would never do anything you didn’t want me to, but it’s killing me that I can never touch you back,” he says, his breath hot on Jake’s collarbone. He lifts his head back up to instead lean it against Jake’s own forehead, forcing them to make eye contact. His hand creeps further up on Jake’s thigh, and the omega’s breath hitches, to which Sunghoon smiles slyly. “I want to touch you… I want to see how you react… I want to see you fall apart, Jake. I’ve just been waiting for you to let me this whole time.”

Sunghoon’s hand pauses its movement just as it’s about to touch Jake’s dick, and without even thinking, Jake lets out a breathy, annoyed whine. The alpha’s eyes glint in interest, and Jake decides that both he and Sunghoon have waited long enough. His omega can cope.

“Then do it,” he says airily. Sunghoon does not wait for further confirmation, crashing forward to kiss Jake again while his hand immediately cups and squeezes Jake’s cock through his pants. As expected, his omega panics and protests as soon as Sunghoon’s hand makes contact, but Jake is so overwhelmed by how incredible it feels to have the alpha’s hands on his body that it rapidly becomes background noise. Jake moans into Sunghoon’s mouth, tongue darting out to lick at his lips while Sunghoon lets go of his dick to instead focus on pulling Jake’s pants off. He lifts Jake by the hips, tugging his pants down to the knees so that they promptly fall the rest of the way to the floor, and Jake jumps when the cold countertop touches his ass and the back of his thighs.

Jake gasps when Sunghoon’s hand wraps around his cock; his grip is gentle and unsure at first, his strokes so light that Jake would assume he’s being teased if Sunghoon’s expression wasn’t so focused. He suddenly looks up at Jake’s face, watching so intensely that Jake finds himself having to look away, but he can feel the flush on his cheeks spreading to his ears and neck from the attention. Still watching Jake almost analytically, Sunghoon slowly tightens his hand and starts pumping his fist around Jake’s cock a little faster. Jake is shocked by how quickly the alpha picks up on every tiny sound and flinch he elicits, his heart beating so hard that it feels like it’s taking up his entire rib cage. Sunghoon’s scent starts to get stronger, the arousal in it coming back full force. 

“Sunghoon-ah,” Jake whimpers, one of his hands shooting out to grip the alpha on the shoulder as Sunghoon’s pacing finds a sweet spot. He opens his eyes a crack to find Sunghoon is now grinning wolfishly.

“Not as tough now, hm?” he teases, pausing his stroking to thumb the slit of Jake’s cock. Jake stutters as he tries not to moan too loudly, and Sunghoon hums happily. “What do you need, omega?”

The moment the word omega leaves Sunghoon’s lips, Jake can feel himself start to slick up. He desperately wishes that he were brave enough to ask Sunghoon to finger him, but he’s worried he might actually melt into a puddle if he verbalizes such a request, let alone if Sunghoon were to follow through. 

“Kiss me, alpha,” Jake whines instead, leaning forward towards Sunghoon and ignoring the way the alpha’s scent spikes when he catches the scent of Jake’s slick. Sunghoon’s eyes soften at the request and he closes the gap between them, kissing Jake sweetly in spite of his somewhat mean taunting. Jake moans into the kiss, opening his mouth when he feels Sunghoon’s tongue on his bottom lip and fisting his hand in Sunghoon’s shirt as he feels his orgasm building. He breaks the kiss with a gasp, his eyes pinching shut as his head droops forward. Sunghoon buries his face into Jake’s neck, kissing there instead. “ Ah , Hoon-ah-”

“Jake-yah, omega , come for me,” Sunghoon coos, tongue licking a stripe over Jake’s scent gland, and that sends Jake over the edge. He keens far too loudly and comes all over Sunghoon’s hand, slick leaking out in one big rush as he trembles on the counter. Sunghoon’s scent has absolutely saturated the bathroom, clearly pleased about finally getting to have a turn pulling Jake apart for once, and that only makes it take even longer for Jake to fully calm down from the high of orgasming. He’s vaguely aware of Sunghoon licking the come off of his own hand, although he uses the other hand to help Jake stay balanced so that he doesn’t just flop into a boneless heap on the floor.