The Claimed Omega

Minwoo frowns, puzzled at the question. He never thought of the reason. Because after all, the why doesn't matter; what mattered is that it happened, and Wonho was hurt. But he has to admit, that night was weird - how the alphas were circling him without a bit of conscience. Heck, they even howled like some uncivilized barbarians.

'He had a burst of pheromones which the alphas mistook as heat. Every alpha around him tried to mate with him.' Minwoo shifts in his seat. Just hearing this makes him uncomfortable. He knows how scared Wonho felt that night because he felt it too. The horror, the confusion. The hopelessness. The desperation. The darkness. He felt it too.

'The doctor said it would be stronger during his actual heat. That's why he's terrified of it. But when it happened, you weren't affected by it. That's proof enough for me.'

'If only everyone else are as trusting as you.' Minwoo tries to mock the other. He cannot trust anything coming out of Sangcheol's mouth right now. It is too different from how he imagined things would go. Sangcheol should be the hardest to please, not the easiest. There must be a catch.

'They don't know how hard it is to be an alpha. They think resisting an omega is as easy as resisting food.'

So that was it. The catch. Who would have thought the reason why they would never get along became the one reason Sangcheol is now on his side?

Feeling relieved, his own wall breaking just a little, Minwoo scoffs, 'That's not even comparable.'

'It's not.' Both the alphas sigh simultaneously, remembering how hard it was the first time they were near a free omega in heat - Sangcheol, during the time he was a free alpha, and Minwoo, before he had to learn to control himself. And both are thankful of their current situations with the former being bound to his mate, and the latter being a noble with excellent self-restraint in his DNA.

Feeling relaxed enough for a small smile, Minwoo finally looks at the older alpha. He is not showing any sign of hate or aggression at all. He is really, laid-back. Seeing the younger's expression, Sangcheol gives him a big assuring grin. And out-of-the-blue, Minwoo's face drops again. 'I left him there.'

Sangcheol drops his too, but quickly picks it back up, forcing himself to smile a bittersweet smile. 'Isn't it ironic? I left him too. We almost lost control of ourselves so Chansol and I left. We were afraid we would hurt him, and ran away. The only ones who knew what the alphas were capable of doing, ran away to save themselves, and left Wonho with the two clueless betas.'

Minwoo cannot believe his ears. All this time this alpha in front of him was acting all high and mighty, as if Wonho is his when the fact is, this was all his fault. That night might not have happened if Sangcheol was brave enough to protect Wonho until the end.

'Yeah. To tell you the whole story, we were all with him. And to be honest, we didn't leave because we were afraid of hurting him. I left him because I was afraid of him. I am mated, and he still affected me. Chansol was already as drunk as the others. So I admit, I had no right to treat you like shit. I'm sorry.'

This is unfair. Minwoo knows he should hate this apologetic, pathetic alpha in front of him but he cannot. He just can't. All he can feel is frustration, but there is no outlet. He needs to let go. He wants to scream or curse at the man. But this is not the situation to do so.

'I almost killed him.'

'You did what you had to. His circumstance is just special.'

Fuck. Why isn't Sangcheol triggered by that? Why does he have to be so supportive??

Feeling his face warming up, Minwoo pulls his cup near his lips and gulps. 'I didn't know he'd react like that to a bonding.'

'Yeah. I know. Nobody would. Heck, those cops threatened to throw us to prison cus they didn't believe us.' Sangcheol laughs bitterly at the memory, surprising Minwoo who is still in the process of blaming himself. 'Fucking cops.'

The noble is shocked to hear that. He knows about the cops coercing Wonho to sign the stupid agreement, but he never heard about his friends being threatened to be put into jails. Hearing that, he finally realizes how chaotic that night was, after he left.

Not the apocalyptic sight he saw, but the aftermath.

Like Wonho said, Minwoo stopped the attack, but the ones who had to clean up after him were his friends. The cops, the doctors, the parents, the university; what they had to go through, he didn't.

'Wono, that night, he just presented.' Minwoo remembers Junjie saying something close to that when they beat each other up, 'I think that was less than two hours after his sudden present. Other omega's would've been fine with the bond. Wono is just, not capable of accepting it yet. It wasn't your fault.'

Sangcheol looks up to him, catching him off-guard and Minwoo shifts his gaze. 'I, for one, am thankful for what you did. You did great.'

His face feels numb. No, to be exact, the muscles of his cheeks, right below the eyes are vibrating, and that is all he can feel. Minwoo doesn't know what to say to that. Biting the inner walls of his mouth as he moves them around, Minwoo purses his lips.

'Minwoo, let's be friends.'

He wants to leave.

He needs to leave.

Suddenly standing up, Minwoo hastily brings out his wallet to take out some bills.

'It's on me.' Sangcheol tries to reject it but Minwoo doesn't want to argue so he walks away. 'Sangcheol, thanks for the talk. I- see you around.'

Pulling out his car keys, Minwoo starts the engine and drives away.

Anywhere. He doesn't really have any place in mind. He just needs to get away.