Chapter Text
The bell chimes, alerting Soobin to a new presence in the shop.
Or, presences.
One glance at the door has him internally cringing, and Arin’s laugh from where she’s making a smoothie is not helping. Soobin feels vaguely betrayed. No, actually, scratch that - it’s not vague.
He’s been horribly betrayed.
Sucking in a breath, Soobin debates the merits of even working today and considers just saying screw it and ducking behind the counter to hide, but the last time he’d tried that, they’d found him immediately and started cooing at him like he was cute. Like his poor but valiant attempt to avoid them was something they found endearing.
He can’t even run to the back room, either, because Arin is literally zero help. She used to be, before enough time had passed and she seemed to deem the whole situation more funny than threatening. It hadn’t taken long at all until Soobin realized he’d been abandoned. Abandoned by her to his cruel, unyielding fate.
But if he hides in the back room for long enough, she’ll have to work the register, right? She couldn’t knowingly leave it empty, right? Right?
He’s just turning to make a break for it to test his theory, when a voice calls across the café and stops him in his tracks. He’s doomed.
“Hyung!” Beomgyu bounces up to the counter easily, carefree and confident like he owns the place. Which, Soobin now knows, he probably could.. Really easily, if he wanted.
Soobin is still half turned and a step away from the counter because he’d been mid-escape, and he debates just continuing into the back room anyways. He takes another step while he’s internally debating it.
But if he does that again, Beomgyu might follow him back like last time, and getting cornered is not in his heart’s best interest. Even though the alpha is shorter and younger, he definitely knows how to use both his almost sickeningly beautiful looks and his stupid humor to make Soobin flustered, and it’s endlessly annoying. How is that even fair? It’s not. Not at all.
So instead of continuing his attempt at freedom, Soobin sighs, and lets the monotonous customer service voice and expression he’d perfected over the months he’s worked here slide into place. Maybe if he goes into work mode well enough, he can dissociate and forget who’s visiting. It’s not likely, but he can dream, right? He’s trying to, while he still can before he hopefully dissociates successfully.
“Hello. How can I help you?”
Beomgyu pouts at him. Soobin is determined to not be affected. He has a body to mentally vacate, thank you.
“Aw, come on, aegiya - why so cold? We’re here to visit you.” Yeonjun purrs, coming up behind Beomgyu and resting his head on the smaller alpha’s shoulder, all the while never letting his gaze stray from Soobin. It’s an easy display of affection that is as endearing as it is intimidating. Yeonjun always carries a predatory glint in his eyes, after all; Maybe because he looks so much like a fox that he just default looks like a predator? Maybe because he’s their head alpha? Maybe because he knows exactly what such displays mean, and how they tempt Soobin down to the bones of his instincts. He doesn’t ask.
(Maybe because he knows they’ll tell him anything he wants to know. )
“Yeah, hyung! We missed you! I was really hoping you would come to our movie night.” Kai says, leaning against the counter top and closer into his space. The blonde is practically bouncing in place as he radiates the puppy-like energy that has Soobin horribly endeared. Maybe Kai was the worst of them to try to ignore. Everything about him has Soobin wanting to pat his hair and squish his cheeks and -
“Maybe you can come this weekend instead, hyung? I can get that anime movie that just came out - you were mentioning how you wanted to see it before.” Taehyun’s the last to reach the counter, but his eyes immediately lock onto Soobin’s just like everyone else’s. The attention is blatant and unapologetic, and suddenly the counter doesn’t feel like enough of a barrier between them.
Soobin’s teeth catch his bottom lip, only to release it just as quickly when all the alphas immediately zero in on the action. Heat immediately floods his cheeks, and he drops his gaze in order to avoid the looks they’re giving him.
Stupid. Stupid stupid. And he shouldn’t even feel bad about not going - he never said he would in the first place, anyways. They’d just announced it to him, like they always do, when they’d wandered into the cafe the other day. He’d refused them then, and they’d left him with an open invitation regardless. The fact that he’d needed to pick up an extra shift at the convenience store was just a perfect excuse to tell his brain in order to stop himself from going.
It was definitely better that he didn’t. He needs to keep his distance from this group.
So he shakes his head instead, but still can’t bring himself to regain eye contact.
“Ah. No, I - I have assignments I need to work on this weekend.” It’s not a lie, either - Soobin does have assignments that he’ll be working on, and he still needs to cram for the test coming up. It’s worth too much of his grade for him to be negligent.
Wait, now that he’s thinking about it, is there another test he’ll need to study for? It feels like there is, but Soobin can’t remember, so he’ll need to check his calendar. But will he have time to study and finish his assignments? Maybe he’ll have to drop a -
“-ung!”
Soobin jolts backwards at the hand waving in front of his face.
Kai is leaning against the counter, brows furrowed as he lowers his hand.
“You okay, hyung? I think you spaced out for a sec.” Soobin blinks, before giving himself another quick shake of the head in an attempt to clear it.
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine, Kai-ssi. Do you want to go ahead and order now?” Kai frowns at his response, and Beomgyu disconnects from Yeonjun and walks over.
“I will! Soobin-hyung, can I get… Hm…” He pretends like he’s actually thinking about what to order, but Soobin knows. Knows that the request about to come out of Beomgyu’s stupid but stupidly pretty mouth is -
“Can I get your number?”
Heat immediately floods his cheeks once more, and he has to mentally yell at himself to keep it together. His traitorous heart is racing in his ears like it always does in response to the shameless flirting, and Soobin tries very hard to tell it to calm down.
“I can’t do that, Beomgyu-ssi. If you aren’t, um, planning to order off the menu…”
The younger is pouting at him again. He doesn’t let himself be swayed.
“Aw, c’mon! How can we plan our dates if you don’t text us?”
“We’re not dating.”
“Yet.”
Soobin takes a deep breath in for patience, and almost immediately regrets it when that just has the alphas’ scents flooding his senses.
And okay. Even with the whole ‘thrill of the hunt’ and ‘boredom’ aspects of this whole situation, it would be stupid of Soobin to deny how… Attractive this group is to his instincts. Their scent has him almost craving to roll in it and be claimed by it. Being in their presence is a constant example of stupid biology and stupid hormones all rolled into one dizzying cocktail of temptation that Soobin is not about to take a sip of.
So he plasters his customer service smile back on and pushes forward. He will not be tempted by this cocktail of very very very attractive people.
“Sorry to disappoint, Beomgyu-ssi, but that will not be happening. Now, I’m afraid if you’re not going to order, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
And yet, instead of looking offended or even mildly annoyed, Soobin’s threat of evicting him from the premises only seems to make Beomgyu look… Excited. Happy. There’s a glint in his eyes that he is more than happy to pretend he’s never seen and hope against hope disappears from his memory forever.
The others only look amused, too, which just adds to Soobin’s dilemma. Why are they like this? So weirdly stubborn? It doesn’t make sense. Soobin just wants to finish his shifts quietly and in peace, gosh darnit.
“Wow, Beomgyu-hyung is getting kicked out!” Kai gasps dramatically, and even though he says it lightheartedly, the words just make Soobin feel stupid. Right. Like someone like him could evict people like them.
“Shush! Soobin-hyung would never - I’m his favorite! His soulmate!” That gets a snort from Yeonjun.
“Don’t get so full of yourself, Beoms. Binnie’s favorite is me.”
“No way, I met him first!” Kai whines at them, “I should be his favorite! And - and he even gave me a plushie for my birthday, so that just proves it!” Ah. Right. One of his many, many mistakes when he’d first been getting to know them.
“Hi, hyung, I’m sorry they’re being loud again. Please ignore them. Is it okay if I order?” Taehyun is staring at him with those wide and endlessly kind eyes, and Soobin is actually, against all odds, a weak man. Taehyun being the only one not involved in the ongoing squabble makes him feel like finding solid ground. The calm helps Soobin to sink into his customer persona just a tad further, which does wonders for dulling his surroundings, so, success!
“Of course, Taehyun-ssi. What can I get for you today?”
Taehyun takes just a longer moment to scan the board, in which time Beomgyu mutters a painfully obvious ‘your number!’, before ordering. He orders for their whole group, it seems, ignoring the complaints and whines of ‘I wanted to order from Soobin!’ that immediately begin springing up from behind him once the others catch on.
Soobin doesn’t pay mind to that, though, and just dutifully punches in the orders. Something his treacherous mind does pay attention to, though, is the way Taehyun orders. Like always, his voice is a soothing caress against his ears, and Soobin hates that it makes him want to keep listening.
The younger also has this way of placing his orders that makes sure he lists everything in the order that’s easiest for Soobin to enter into the system. It’s nice and considerate and makes it so much easier than some of the wild orders he’s already put in for the day.
“Anything else?” He asks when Taehyun falls into a pause, and purposely ignores the way Beomgyu is almost vibrating in place. If he has to hear that stupid pick up line one more time, he’s quitting and letting Arin deal with this mess of a pack. And moving away. Just for good measure.
“Yes!” Kai pipes up, surging forward once more to reach the counter, “Hyung, can I get a bunny bread? Please? The taro flavored one!” His eyes are playfully wide and he looks so unfairly cute as he pleads up at Soobin that he has to sternly remind himself to not pat the younger on the head.
“Of course, Kai-ssi. Is that all?”
When they chorus their agreement - sans Beomgyu, who is still wiggling his eyebrows and has absolutely zero right to look so pretty doing something so incredibly stupid - he finishes their order on the screen and purposefully taps the cute, pretty little ‘no tip’ button prompt before turning it back to Taehyun. Who frowns.
“Oi, you took it away again! That’s not fair, Binnie.” Yeonjun pouts, while Taehyun once again tries to tap at the screen a couple of times in an effort to return to the previous screen. Their system, thankfully, is just outdated enough to not allow take-backs, which usually is to Soobin’s wallet’s detriment, but this time it’s a blessing.
The last time he’d, stupidly, let them choose a tip option, his manager had pulled him aside and asked about a ‘discrepancy in the system’. He’d been humiliated when the money had hit his account, and had taken it back out in cash in an effort to give it back.
Which had, predictably, lead to him being cooed and fussed over as they refused to let him return it. They’d tried to tell him that it was just them trying to take care of them like they should, but that had only had Soobin practically throwing it in an effort to return it. In the end, it had ended up in a little jar tucked safely underneath his bed because he knows it’s an amount that they probably didn’t even blink at, but it’s enough that if they were to ask for it back he wouldn’t be able to without saving for a bit.
It had given him a bit of anxiety before, because he hadn’t wanted them to think he was taking advantage of them, but now it’s more like an annoyance.
So now he plays his battles smarter.
“I’m not sure what you’re referring to, Yeonjun-ssi. You’ll see all the normal prompts for using your card on-screen.”
Yeonjun, still pouting, pulls out his black card and taps it against the screen without even a second glance at the total.
“Mean. You won’t let us get anything for you, and now we can’t even help you get something for yourself? People are going to say we’re horrible alphas, Binnie.”
“Ah, good thing I’m not someone you have to worry about caring for, Yeonjun-ssi.”
“Of course you are, hyung. We worry about caring for you every day.” Taehyun says easily, as if the statement was such a casual and natural thing that it required no second thought whatsoever.
Soobin’s cheeks heat traitorously. They, of course, don’t miss it his reaction and press on like a cat that caught the canary.
“We would do it more, if you’d let us.” Beomgyu hums, elbow on the counter as he rests his chin on his hand. “Take you to all the places you wanna go, get you all your favorite foods - Heck, Yeonjunnie-hyung has been dying to take you shopping, too.”
At the mention, Yeonjun pouts at Soobin directly once more.
“It’s getting cold! Soobinnie, you’re going to catch a cold if you keep walking around in those thin sweaters every day. Hyung just wants to make sure you don’t get sick.”
“But if you do get sick, I’ll take care of you! Promise!” Kai has his puppy eyes on again, and Soobin is starting to feel a little overwhelmed. His instincts are preening at all the attention he’s getting - the assurances these alphas give of wanting to care for him - but he’s just as quick to remind himself that it’s not for him to have.
“That’s not -“ He tries, but now it’s Taehyun’s turn to chime in.
“I agree with Yeonjun-hyung, hyung. You’re going to get sick if you aren’t careful enough. Especially because your immune system is probably already down with how busy you between working and school. Are you sure you’re eating enough? Sleeping enough?” Soobin’s cheeks flush at the words, and he takes a step away from the counter as Taehyun’s words hit just a little too close to home.
It’s good that they don’t know about his second job, at least. He’s pretty sure these pretty alphas would explode if they found out the full extent of Soobin’s current workload. He really doesn’t want to deal with how much of a scene that would be.
He also can’t help feeling a little… annoyed that these people are trying to waltz into his life and dictate what he should and shouldn’t do - how he should and shouldn’t dress. Is it just because he’s an omega? No. Yes. Obviously it is, and that thought makes some nasty bit of frustration in the back of his throat well up once more.
He didn’t ask for their attention - has been actively trying to get rid of it, after all the trouble it’s caused him - so why should he care that they’ve decided to make him their new pet project? That they’ve decided to care about him?
It makes his heart ache with the still lingering betrayal. Burn with embarrassment at his own stupidity. Soobin wants them to just leave him alone.
“That’s none of your concern, Taehyun-ssi.” The alpha frowns at his response, but just as he opens his mouth to respond again, a new person joins the line behind them. “Now, please, if you’re finished ordering, you can wait over in the pick-up area for it to finish.”
They don’t protest, seeing as how there’s another customer actually in line now, but Kai pouts at him when they begin to meander to the other side of the cafe.
Some of the tension he’d been holding in his shoulders drops, and he plasters on another customer service smile before helping the lady through a routine coffee order. It’s over quickly, and Soobin is quick to start helping Arin with the drinks before the alphas can swoop back in on him again like vultures.
He can hear them murmuring to eachother - can feel them looking at him - and Soobin fights down the jittery feelings that spark in his stomach at the thought.
“All good, Soobin-ah?” Arin hums softly, a note of teasing in her words, and Soobin nudges her playfully in retaliation.
“No, alphas are stupid.” He mumbles, which gets a laugh out of her as she finishes the macchiato and starts on the next drink.
“Of course they are - they’re alphas. But watching them throwing themselves at you is pretty cute, you know?”
“No, I don’t know.”
Arin snickers at his plight. Rude. His noona is a traitor.
“Oh come on, Soobin. Lighten up - it doesn’t have to mean anything, so you should at least have fun with it while you can, you know? Get some good food out of it before their attention is onto the next omega,” Arin grins, leaning closer to whisper even lower as she elbows him, “Maybe get a good lay out of it - “
“Noona!” He chokes, horrified, cheeks absolutely blazing at the thought.
“What? I’m just saying! They’ve got a kind of reputation going for them, you know? It wouldn’t hurt for you to get some stress - “
“Noona, please -“
“- relief every once in awhile. Especially when you know it’ll be good. Four on one would be great for getting some of that stress melted away.”
Soobin is so confused on why Arin is talking about this when the subjects of said conversation are in the same building, and he hunches into himself in embarrassment. If they were to hear, Soobin knows they won’t hesitate to tease him into oblivion about it.
“I - I’m not - absolutely not!” He tries, ears burning and hands shaking just a little as he begins packaging the bunny bread. He doesn’t let himself linger on how he tries to make it look as nice as possible without looking suspicious. It means nothing.
(He also pointedly ignores the other pastry that he slips into the bag alongside it - this one penguin shaped. Habits are hard to break, he supposes, and as much as Soobin wants to keep his distance, he’s at least self aware enough to admit how stupidly weak he is for Kai. He likes the way the youngest alpha’s eyes light up when he sees another silly shaped pastry with his order. It’s stupid and irrational, considering Kai could all the food he could ever want without a second thought, but Soobin chooses to ignore that fact.)
He absolutely refuses to entertain thoughts of her teasing, because if he doesn’t then something might slip through his scent blockers and Soobin would be screwed. Those are thoughts strictly for when Soobin is holed up in his dorm, alone. Not in the middle of his shift, where he can still feel the four alphas’ stares on him.
Arin just shrugs nonchalantly as she finishes up the last drink and sets it on the tray before turning away. Soobin panics.
“W-Wait, Noona, you aren’t going to -“
“They’re here for you, Soobin-ah, remember?” She smiles, waving him off, before starting on the lady’s order.
Traitor.
Soobin misses when she’d comply with hiding him away and lying through her teeth about his whereabouts. Now she sells him out without a second thought.
Huffing in resignation, he turns to the pick-up area to see all of them waiting eagerly like some silly group of puppies. It’s not endearing. He tells himself it makes them look stupid.
“Soobinnie! Thanks so much!” Yeonjun gushes, while the rest of them begin to take their drinks.
“Ah, hyung! It’s a penguin this time!!” Kai breathes, looking way too excited about a buttercream filled roll as he looks into the plastic. “Thank you so much! I love him!” If he were to track all the stars that fell from the sky, Soobin swears he’d find them all hiding in Kai’s eyes. The way the alpha is bouncing on the soles of his feet and holding the little package of carbs like it’s heaven sent is enough to have Soobin looking away.
“Oi, this is blatant favoritism, Soobin-hyung! It’s so obvious you like Kai the best!” Beomgyu whines, staring at him pleadingly.
Before, Soobin would’ve ruffled his hair in amusement and teased him for his silly reaction. Now, he keeps his hands firmly at his sides.
No touching. Not anymore.
“Aish, hyung, you know Soobin-hyung is soft for the maknae - Kai got a head start on all of us, remember?” Taehyun hums, staring at Soobin with a look that has him wanting to put another sweater on for how exposed it makes him feel. “We’ll just have to work a lot harder, won’t we, hyung? Gotta make you want us just as much.”
Soobin takes a sharp, inaudible breath at the words. The way that they’re immediately accompanied by the alpha’s heavy, hot stare has the nerves in his stomach twisting. And maybe something else. His face heats again.
He hates it here. Why couldn’t he just dissociate into customer service mode?
“A-Ah, Taehyun-ssi, I’m… Not sure what you’re referring to. But if that’ll be all…”
“Kicking us out already? But we’ve barely even seen you, Binnie.” Yeonjun has his full, perfect lips jutted into an expression that Soobin knows is supposed to help the alpha get his way. He refuses.
“I apologize, Yeonjun-ssi. However, I’m in the middle of a shift, and -“
“Then let us take you out after you get off! We can go wherever you want!” Beomgyu tries, moving so that he’s standing directly in front of Soobin. “We can go somewhere to sit down, or we can get take out and go back to our place? Or yours if you want -“
“Ah, no, I don’t -“
“And that way we can make sure you’re eating properly, hyung! You really look like you’ve been getting so skinny recently.” Kai is frowning when he speaks, concern painting his features openly as he takes in Soobin’s state once more.
“That’s none of your concern -“
“We do need to make sure you’re eating enough, baby.” Yeonjun hums, cutting them both off. The playful indignation he’d had before is gone from his face. In its place is a heavy stare and a composure that makes Soobin’s mouth dry. “Need to make sure you’re taken care of, you know? You’re important to us.” Yeonjun is leveling him a warmwarmwarm look that screams alpha concern. It’s a look that Soobin had let himself preen under, before. Had giggled stupidly at and playfully tried to shy away from even as it had his instincts singing. Had had his cheeks warm and his thoughts plagued.
He knows now, though. Knows better than he had before.
He looks away.
“No, Yeonjun-ssi, I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.” When someone tries to protest his words, he continues on. “Thank you for visiting us today.” Soobin says, pulling out his best poker face. Letting them know how much of an effect they have on him would only make them more persistent, after all. And Soobin had already decided that this was a group he shouldn’t be involved with.
He chances a glance up at them through his lashes, and isn’t surprised to find them all frowning.
“Okay, I guess if you say so… but I’ll be back for more cute bread soon, hyung! And I still want to make sure we get you some good food! You always give me extra bread, it’s not fair if I can’t give you anything in return.” Kai insists, and Soobin sighs as the youngest leans in as if it’ll convince Soobin of his words.
He manages a noncommittal shrug, because he’s definitely not about to be committing to these plans, but that seems to be enough for Kai.
“Maybe I could take you to that tteokbokki place we tried that one time? Or - or the chicken shop near campus!”
“Ningning, darling, if Soobinnie is going finally to let us treat him to dinner, I would prefer it if we could actually treat him.”
Oh. No.
“Yeah, you’re right, hyung!” The sparkles are back in Kai’s eyes. Soobin wants to slap them out. “Soobin-hyung, there’s also this restaurant that opened near us a few months ago! I heard it was really good - so good that it’s been totally booked out! We could go there, if you want?” Soobin blinks. Blinks again.
“You just said it was booked out, though?” His voice is horribly incredulous even in his own ears, and Taehyun waves him off easily.
“That doesn’t matter, hyung. If you give us a day you’re free, we’ll make sure there’s a table.” Ah. Right. For a moment, he’d forgotten the people he was talking to were anything but normal. His mistake. Again.
“Um, well, I hope you guys have fun with that. I should really be getting back to work now, though, so if you’ll just excuse me -“ He takes a pointed step away from them once again. At this point, he’s ready to just throw his pride away and bolt for the back room, but he restrains himself simply because of Beomgyu’s fondness for giving chase. It’s annoying, and Soobin hates how the alpha gets him extremely flustered as a punishment for fleeing. Next time, he should hide in the area where they keep their knives. He might have better luck if he’s armed.
“Okay, but I’ll be back to visit soon, hyung!” Kai says happily, and the sentiment is easily echoed by the rest of them.
“That’s not necessary.”
“Of course it is! You’ve been avoiding us so much on campus, so now we have to make sure to catch you here whenever we can!” He wants to punch Beomgyu.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but please, have a wonderful day.”
“Bye Bunny! I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, hyung. Please make sure you get some rest tonight.”
“Or else we’ll have to kidnap you and make sure you’re taking care of yourself!” Beomgyu smiles, like it’s a joke, but Soobin’s only half-convinced. It’s not like kidnapping a random, nobody of a person like Soobin would be difficult. He takes another step back. Kai nudges Beomgyu in a way that has the shorter alpha wincing.
“Hyung! You can’t just say that! You’ll scare him!”
“Aish, it was a joke! I promise!”
Nope. Soobin’s not risking it.
Ignoring the rest of their conversation about the merits and morality of kidnapping him to make sure he ‘eats enough tteokbokki and ice cream!’, Soobin turns on his heel and power walks to the back room without a single glance back.
When he’s sufficiently hidden in their supply closet, a heaving breath escapes his lungs as he slides down the door until he’s seated on the floor. He draws his knees inward, wrapping his arms around them, and gives himself a moment to breathe.
“It’s fine, Soobin,” He whispers to himself, trying to calm his heart and breaths, “They’ll get bored sooner or later. You just have to put up with it for a little longer.”
And yet, even as he tells himself that, that doesn’t stop the thought from< stinging.
He’d… Liked being friends with them. Liked the overt and affectionate attention that came from the alphas.
Soobin is a shy, insecure nobody in this town. He doesn’t fit in as an omega, and because of this mess, he can’t even properly fit in with the rest of his peers.
But it had been nice to be just a little apart of that group - just for a little bit. Had been nice when Kai would come in gushing about something cute he’d seen that day, and Soobin had been able to listen intently to the adorable alpha. Had been nice when Yeonjun had walked him to his classes, and when the older had teased him and called him cute and pretty and soft. When Beomgyu would talk about all the games he was playing and, upon discovering Soobin liked to game as well, would try to convince him to play together and began to pick up different pieces of merch (that Soobin could absolutely never justify buying) from Soobin’s favorite franchises because they ‘remind of you, hyung.’ When Taehyun would pass him a homemade lunch and insist that he tried it and ate some before the alpha would even touch his own food.
They had been like a balm on his loneliness since moving here, and now all he was left with was a hole of shame and humiliation and hurt.
He misses it. Misses them.
It’s such a shameful thing to admit, and Soobin just holds himself a little tighter. Buries his head just a little more into his arms.
“It’ll be fine, Soobin.” He repeats to himself, voice no louder than the last time he’d spoken, but all the more shakier.
“I have to be.”