The Claimed Omega

'Selling that hot barreh?' Wonho adds, moving his body in excitement to provoke any reaction from Sangcheol.

Minwoo can only manage to pretend to eat, not wanting to comment. He thought Wonho is the mature one, why is he making that kind of jokes, or even ask that question? Looking at the silly grin of the omega though, and the two owners brushing it off like it was nothing, Minwoo finally breathed easy.

He forgot about Wonho's weird jokes. His friends probably are already used to it.

'You think Ryuu-hyung can get any customers?' Junjie adds which earns him a whiny scolding from the oldest male. Beside him, Haneul only laughs while agreeing with Junjie. Minwoo seriously doesn't know what to do right now. He is not close enough with the older ones to laugh along with such jokes. Nor does he understand why everyone is laughing. 'Yah, you're my mate. Why are you agreeing with them?'

'You can't flirt for your life!' Haneul points at his alpha, clapping his hands as he recalls their dating days. Looking at the older omega, Minwoo smiles, just imagining the possible scenario of their courting phase. Sangcheol probably the awkward one, and Haneul the flirtatious one. Because Haneul really knows how to get people's attention; his gaze alone is tempting enough.

'Yah, share the good stuff with us.' Mengyao changes the subject, still munching on his rice. 'I wanna buy the new Nintendo.'

'Heol, you guys are unbelievable.' Sangcheol shakes his head, closing the subject. The others still laugh as they mock him but soon, they focus on eating again. Minwoo steals a glance at his omega beside him – Wonho is still grinning. Now noticing the alpha's stare, Wonho puts a piece of kimchi on his spoon, softly murmuring, 'stop staring.'

'Seriously though, this place is really cool. Is this on a rent?'

'We bought it.' Junjie coughs at Haneul's answer, quickly searching for water as he gasps for air. Sangcheol hands him a cup before adding, truthfully, 'Haneul bought it. I'm obviously poor.'

Everyone's eyes are now focused on the older omega, curious. However, they soon realize that it is not impossible, Haneul wrote a few infamous books. He also did a lot of events when he was younger, he must have received some money from that as well. At least, everyone on the table knows about it except Minwoo, the outsider. The foreigner.

'Yeah. The books. But it's our house.' The beautiful man insists, emphasizing that they own the house equally while looking at his alpha. 'I just don't wanna give him the choice because I don't wanna live in a hut in the middle of nowhere. He won't have a say if I use my money.'

'Yah, I'm gonna make more money and buy a hut!' Sangcheol playfully retorts. The two betas snort at the joke, recalling the summer trip of horror. Sangcheol's action back then must have gotten something to do with their house choice. This time, Minwoo can smile along, because Wonho told him about that event. The one where his omega burnt the rice.

Looking to his side to see Wonho's reaction, Minwoo is slightly taken aback as he noticed a bitter smile instead. Not wanting to address it right there, he turns back towards the group, enjoying the meal.

He must be imagining things. Why would Wonho react like that so suddenly?

#####

'Die bastard!' Minwoo swings the sword at Junjie's character, screaming angrily as the blue monster hammers his warrior to almost less than 5% or his health. Finally manages to escape the constant hammering, he rushes back and drinks a potion. And soon as he returns, he sees Junjie's monster using a seal which lasts half a minute. 'YOU COWARD!! STOP HIDING AND FIGHT! YAH!'

Wonho only laughs at how childish the two men are right now. Junjie is clearly bullying Minwoo who is an amateur at the game, not holding back while Minwoo, he keeps getting worked up and rushes into trying to beat Junjie's character without any planning whatsoever.

Well, at least they brought their fight into a virtual game instead of real life. He can still see them not fond of being around each other. Hopefully this will be the first step into being friends.

'YAAH!' Minwoo screams again, almost stomping the controller on the floor. Seeing that, Wonho turns to his senior who is drinking tea right beside him, 'If he breaks your controller, I'll have him buy a new one.'

#####

Getting on the bed, Wonho takes one pillow and hugs it tightly his whole body vibrates, just because. He looks at the clock which shows almost 4 a.m., and automatically yawns. Thankfully tomorrow is Sunday and he has no plan so he can sleep in. Just as he is about to enter his dreamland, he feels pressure on the other side of the bed.

'Night.' He mutters, turning his body to face the alpha. Minwoo answers him but unlike usual, where he will feel the man's hand over him, the man is not moving from his spot. Curious, Wonho opens his eyes to see Minwoo still sitting against the headboard, scrolling through his phone. His face is serious. 'Why do you have that frown?'

Thinking that Wonho is asleep, the voice surprised Minwoo. He quickly puts his phone but as soon as he does so, he realizes how suspicious that is. Sighing, he answers, 'searching for Haneul's book. Was a bit curious.'

'You found it?' Wonho asks, just because. The frown clearly meant he did. And indeed, Minwoo nods before wiping his face. 'I didn't know.'

'You're a foreigner. You wouldn't know.' Minwoo lies further into the blanket, staring at the ceiling. Reading about the older omega, he now understands why Haneul treats Wonho like he does, despite knowing what Sangcheol did that night, and why. Turns out the older alpha has more things in common with him than he cares to admit. No wonder, Sangcheol treats him kindly once he learns the truth. Because he understands.

'Did the talk about the book trigger you?' He asks his omega who seems to be in his own world as well, just staring blankly at his chest.

'Huh?' Wonho tilts his head in confusion. Did he unconsciously do something? Must be his poker face.

'You didn't look like you were enjoying the conversation.' Wonho stares blankly at the wall, trying to remember when he did what Minwoo told him. He clearly remembered actively engaging in the conversation though…

Owh. Yeah.

Now that he thought about it, there was a moment when he felt discouraged – when Haneul admitted that he was the one who bought the house. It was in no way directed to him but somehow it made him feel bad about himself. Because a fellow omega with almost the same trauma can manage to buy a house at his age, but Wonho's own career looks bleak. It reminded him about the internship offer, that he needs help to even get an opportunity for a fair fight. Despite his achievements. It made him regret his choice of career, because if things don't work out, he will be left with nothing.

Yes, he made his choice after careful consideration, but that was because he thought the discrimination was all in his mind. But when his professor, an expert in the field himself showed how worried he is, Wonho found himself scared of the future.

Sighing in his place, Wonho closes his eyes. This does not concern the alpha, he shouldn't worry Minwoo. 'It's my bitch face.'

'Owh yeah. Forgot you have that.' Minwoo chuckles, turning around to hug his lover.