Just Different (1/5)
Title: Just Different
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: knotting, smut, public fingering, dirty talk, self lubrication, age switches (basically I mess with all their ages), rimming, brief angst (can it even be called that?),
Length: 53,193
Summary: Jongdae comes from Alphas. It’s what he grew up preparing for. Of course that meant that he wasn’t prepared when his life went in the complete opposite direction of all.
Prompt #: 299
A/N: I got 14K words into this and said ‘I’m not even halfway through this am I and here I am, 50k words later. Also I saw the word ‘quarterback’ and decided to add the highschool and college life and this completely blew up? Pls enjoy
"I'm going to be an Alpha when I get older! Aren't I daddy? Like you and mommy?" Young Jongdae looks up with a hopeful gleam in his eyes and his father leans down to pat his son's head.
"Of course you are, Jongdae. You're going to be strong and powerful."
"Yay!" Jongdae then takes the juice that his dad offers him and sips it, holding it in both hands so that he doesn’t drop it. "Is, is, is Minseok going to be an Alpha too?" Jongdae starts his sentences just like someone his age should, with many stutters as his lips move too fast for his brain.
"Mhm. Alphas run on your mother's side of the family. I'm an Alpha too! That means you and Minseok are more likely to become Alpha's like mommy and daddy."
Jongdae grins and runs over to his older brother, who is sitting at the dinner table eating his breakfast. School starts in an hour so their father is trying his hardest to get everything ready for the boys. Their mother prefers them to have packed lunch, which is what their father is trying to do but his son is distracting him. "Did you hear that Minseok! We're both going to be Alphas!"
Jongdae is six, and his elder brother Minseok is eight. Minseok is going through that young period where he likes to act more mature than his actual age. "Yeah, Jongdae. I know. But we can be other things too. Like Betas and Omegas."
"No!" Jongdae crosses his arms and stomps his legs, and his father sees the impending tantrum so he rushes to finish packing their lunches before he has to go and calm his youngest child down. Their mother is in the bathroom getting ready, so he can't rely on her for much help at the moment.
"Alphas! We're going to be Alphas! I don't want to be a stinky Beta or Omega! They're stupid."
Now this is where his father has to step in. He doesn't know where Jongdae has been getting those thoughts, but they need to stop, now. "Jongdae." his father chides. "You never berate or insult someone because of their status, do you understand me?" Jongdae looks down to avoid eye contact with his father, but he will have none of that. "Jongdae, look at me."
Jongdae turns around, expression angry. "I said, you do not make fun of someone because of their status. Do you understand me?"
Jongdae and his father have a bit of a staring contest, and it ends with Jongdae nodding his head and mumbling, "I understand."
"Who has been putting those thoughts into your head? Huh."
Jongdae doesn't answer, so Minseok speaks up for him. "Some of his classmates. I hear them talking at recess."
Their father shakes his head and tuts. "Jongdae, if your friends are being mean to people, then you'll have to stop hanging out with them. Don't you ever let me hear you talking like that again, okay?"
Jongdae nods his head before running upstairs to his room. "Let me know if he keeps on doing that, okay Minseok?" he asks his oldest child, who says, "Sure daddy."
Later that night, when the boys are sleep and Mr. and Mrs. Kim, Dohyun and Seoyun are in bed, Dohyun is finally able to bring it up to his wife. "Jongdae was saying the meanest things at breakfast." This instantly catches his wife's attention and she looks away from her book to listen.
"He was putting down Betas and Omegas. He said the meanest things about them. Saying they stunk and that they were stupid. Minseok said it's the kids he's hanging around. Seoyun, I know we didn't raise our child to be that way."
"You're right, Dohyun. We're going to have to keep an eye out on him, yeah. Maybe we should talk to his friend's parents? See if they know why their children are saying things like that?"
"We could, but maybe would should see if Jongdae stops first. Usually people saying that stems from the home life. Let's go to bed, we'll see how this plays out."
"Hello, is this Mr. Kim? Jongdae's father?" the caller ID said it was the school so this can't be good news.
"This is he."
"Ah, yes, Mr. Kim. There has been an incident at school concerning Jongdae… we'd like you to come to discuss what has happened. Your wife has already been called and is on her way." Dohyun groans away from the receiver and looks at the time. Three more hours until school is scheduled to end. He's going to have to leave work four hours early. "I'll be there. Thank you for calling me."
Dohyun gets permission from his boss to go, and soon he's running out the door and starting his car. He's concerned about his son, and gets to the school in record time. He recognizes his wife's car parked nearer to the entrance and jumps out to get inside as quickly as possible.
He signs in at the reception desk and the kind Beta informs him that the rest of his family is already in the principal's office. The principal's office. His wife and son are sitting across from the principal, who motions for him to take the empty seat to Jongdae's life. His wife is on Jongdae's right.
"What is this about?"
"Jongdae here, got into a fight with one of the other kids today. In the classroom." Dohyun takes in a deep breath and his looks down at his son, who can probably feel the anger radiating off him. At that age, they still haven't developed the ability to smell emotions.
"Jongdae. What was this about."
"He was being mean to me!" Jongdae whines.
"How so?" Seoyun calmly asks her son, though she is clearly as upset about this as Dohyun is.
"He was saying that I was going to grow up and be a Beta or Omega, and making fun of me. Saying I was going to be weak." Jongdae tells them. "He knows I don't want to be one of those. He kept mocking me. Saying I was stupid."
The principal's expression changes to one of concern. "This isn't something that we encourage here at the school. We try and teach the kids about quality throughout the statuses. It doesn't matter which clan they come from, we always tell them that they're all equal and will be equal when their status becomes known. Is this something that has stemmed from the home life?"
"No no," Seoyun quickly dismisses that thought. "At home we encourage the same thing as the school. We have just recently found out about Jongdae's concern about statuses. He wants to become an Alpha like his father and I. Our other son told us it's because of the kids he has been hanging around with during recess. We don't know who they are though."
The principal's lips thin. "Either way, this is going to require discipline. It wasn't as serious to me suggesting out of school or in school suspension, since I am sure you two have jobs you have to attend to. So, I'm proposing a week of before school detention for Jongdae. He'll be here in a classroom, and he won't be able to have recess for the entire week."
"What!" Jongdae's head shoots up. "That's not fair. What about Junghoon?"
"Junghoon will get his own punishment, Jongdae. You should be concerned about yourself. You need to understand that there are other statuses and that all are equal. You let them get the best of you, but it was because of your own beliefs. If you didn't think Betas and Omegas were lower than Alphas, you wouldn't be in this situation. I expect to see you here tomorrow morning at seven thirty."
Jongdae rides home in Seoyun's car while Dohyun waits around in the parking lot for school to get out for Minseok. No point in wasting gas. He tells his son, when he gets in the car, about what happened with Jongdae and Minseok frowns as he hears this. "That's a stupid reason to get in a fight."
Dohyun laughs at his sons very blatant words. "It is a stupid reason to get into a fight. Hopefully the detention sets Jongdae straight." When they get home Seoyun tells them that Jongdae has went in his room for timeout, and that he won't be coming back out until dinner, which is fine with Dohyun.
For the next week Dohyun and Seoyun alternate with taking Jongdae to detention, and after the week they sit and ask if Jongdae has learned his lesson. Jongdae nods his head and says, "The detention actually made me cooler. Everyone thinks I'm tough, so it won't be a problem!"
Seoyun and Dohyun make eye contact and they share the thought that it, in fact, taught their son nothing.
Years later, when Minseok wakes up one afternoon from a nap in rut, it only solidifies Jongdae's thoughts that he's going to be an Alpha for sure.
-
"Did you hear about that one guy, the really tall one. Face almost never shows emotion?" Jongdae's friend, Hanbin, asks. Jongdae taps his chin as he thinks of the person in mind.
"Is he in our grade?" right now Jongdae and Hanbin are in the changing room, getting ready for football practice. He pulls the practice jersey over his head as Hanbin says, "Yeah."
"Zitao?”
"No, this one is Korean. Sehun. Oh Sehun."
Jongdae thinks about it hard enough. "Sits with Kim Jongin and Chanyeol?"
"Yeah." Hanbin nods as he pulls his own jersey on over his head. "His status came. He's been gone a week. Came to school smelling all sweet."
"Whoa, that dude? An Omega? I would've pegged him for a Beta at the very least." Jongdae sits on the bench to pull on his shoes. He takes his time tying his laces up tight, because the last thing he needs is to trip over his own shoelaces as they're practicing. Their first game is next week, so everyone has been practicing their hardest.
"Exactly. Good thing he looks so tough. No one is going to step on him."
"Maybe you should take an aim at him?" Jongdae jokes and Hanbin scrunches up his face.
"Nah, not my type. Besides, I have someone else in mind."
"Really? Do tell." Jongdae wiggles his eyebrows and Hanbin playfully hits his shoulder. "Not telling yet. I don't want word getting out to him before I've had a chance to make my move."
"I can keep a secret." Hanbin stares at Jongdae who looks away with a laugh. "Alright, you got me. Hope all goes well for you."
"Thanks. Hey, maybe you could go after Sehun? I've heard that he's got an amazing ass. But I haven't been looking at it." Hanbin assures. "I only have my eyes set on one person's ass. It's glorious."
"You know that I'm not an Alpha yet. Besides the fact that I can't smell anything yet, I won't seem appealing to him until I do. Besides, I'm sure I can find a different Omega. One of the cheerleaders, maybe?" Jongdae grabs his helmet and tosses Hanbin's his. Jongdae stands because they have to go out to the field to start practice.
"You know they swoon over you, Jongdae. I'm kind of jealous." Hanbin jokes as they walk out the locker room.
"They're just going to have to wait until my first rut hits, aren't they? No use in swooning over a person who hasn’t presented yet."
Jongdae is by all definitions a late bloomer. He's a Senior in high school whose status still hasn't come. Almost everyone else in his grade has come to terms with what they are. Jongdae is one of the few handful who still hasn't woken up in rut. Yes, rut, because Jongdae just knows he's going to be an Alpha.
When Minseok's status as an Alpha became known two years ago, when Minseok was a Junior, it had pretty much solidified Jongdae's thoughts about becoming an Alpha. His father, mother, and brother were all Alphas. The odds were in his favor.
When Minseok woke up in his rut, which freshman Jongdae couldn't tell because people aren't able to smell anything of that sort until their status comes out, which is when they reach physical maturity, his parents had rushed to his room.
Jongdae had been way more excited about Minseok becoming an Alpha than Minseok was about becoming an Alpha. In fact, in the ten minutes that he saw his brother throughout his whole rut, Minseok looked like he was seconds away from ripping his brother's head off at the conversation that they were having.
Minseok had quickly kicked him out and had gone back to doing what Alphas without mates do when they're in rut. He masturbated until he was too tired and it felt as though he had rubbed his own dick raw. Even after the rut had passed and Minseok was more his normal self, he didn't change a bit.
As they enter the field he winks at the cheerleaders who practice as they do. A few of them giggle and wink back and wave. Jongdae is able to do that to them, without smelling like Alpha yet. The right grin and the correct words can have people falling to his feet.
Not literally, but Jongdae likes to think that's what happens. He really can woo them though. Most of the time though, he can't tell what he's flirting with. He can't smell anyone's status, so he has to rely on his friends not joking around and telling him their correct status.
"Alright boys!" Their coach yells once everyone has gotten on the field. "The game is next Friday! You all know what that means! We work hard and we don't let up. We're going to put those boys in their places! Right?"
"Right coach!" the team all yells in unison.
"Alright. You know the drill. Line up into positions. I'll tell you when to start!" as they start to line up the coach touches Jongdae's shoulder. "Push yourself Jongdae, but we don't need you passing out, alright?" the Alpha's and Beta's on the team, they’ve all presented their status, have more stamina that he does, so sometimes it's a struggle to keep up with them. "It was one time coach."
"Yes, but I don't want your mother's wrath on me again." Coach laughs and pats Jongdae's back and sends him on his way.
The practice lasts a good three hours, and by the time that they're done Jongdae knows he smells bad. They all do. Except for the cheerleaders, who have finished their practice and sat down to cool off and watch the football players finish theirs.
As the players head towards the locker room to shower and get ready to go home Jongdae hears his name being called. It comes from the direction of the cheerleaders and he makes his way over as one of them waves at him.
"Excuse the smell." Jongdae grins and some of the cheerleaders giggle. "What can I do for you lovely ladies and gentlemen?" Their school offers a co-ed cheer team.
"We were just watching you practice, and we think you did really well, Jongdae." One of them speaks up.
"We just know you're going to win us the game!" one of the pretty Omegas, Taeyeon, tells him. "Anyway, we're having an after party when the game is over. You want to come? It's at my house."
Jongdae grins and nods. "I'll be there, thanks for the invite Taeyeon."
"No problem. See you tomorrow at practice."
"See you then." Jongdae has to run off and hurry to shower because he needs to get home before six, because his mother may just claw his head off if he comes home late another day. When he gets in the shower he quickly gets the rag that he leaves at school and soaps it up and starts to scrub his body.
"What was that about?" Jongdae is right next to Hanbin and he grins, "Taeyeon invited me to the after party next Friday. You going to that?"
Hanbin nods as he lathers his own towel. "Yeah."
"The person you liking going to be there?" Jongdae questions and Hanbin looks away. "Ah, so they are! Is that the only reason you're going?"
"No, Taeyeon's cool to hang out with. Plus, all the team is going." Hanbin rinses his hair off and turns off the shower and Jongdae who has rinsed all the soap off his body does the same. "Are you going to at least tell me if this person is a guy or girl?"
Hanbin is clearly mulling over this valuable information, because Jongdae is a tricky bastard and can figure out a lot of things with just the tiniest of information. "Guy.
Jongdae grins and he can tell that Hanbin instantly regrets telling him this. "I swear Jongdae, if you by some miracle figure out who it is, don't embarrass me."
"Don't embarrass you. Got it." Jongdae wraps the towel around his waist and he and Hanbin head out to the locker room to get dressed back in their regular attire. They talk as they get dressed and Jongdae says goodbye to the team as he rushes out to get in his car.
His drives as fast as he can without getting pulled over and pulls into the driveway with minutes to spare. When he walks in his father yells his greetings from the kitchen where he is no doubt cooking dinner. His mother is sitting on the couch watching TV and she picks up the remote to bring the time up on the screen.
"What is this? My son at home on time for once?" she grins as Jongdae rolls his eyes. "Whatever mom. You know how long practice can be."
"Or were you just flirting with the cheerleaders again?" his mother can read him like a book even when she's watching TV. "I know my son, Jongdae."
Jongdae has just put his stuff up in his room when he hears his father yelling that dinner is finished. Jongdae is starving after practice and runs down the stairs as fast as he can. His father really knows how to cook, so does his mother to be honest, and he chows down his food in record time. He even manages to swallow down some seconds."
"Was practice hard today?" Dohyun asks as he watches his son shove his face.
"Yea dad. You know I practice a lot." Jongdae has been on the team since he was a sophomore. He has worked so hard that he's even gotten a partial scholarship to go to the same college that his brother goes to. Minseok got his own full scholarship by playing soccer.
"Don't tire yourself out, alright Jongdae? We know the big game is coming up, but if you work too hard you could tire yourself out and not be able to perform very well."
"I know Dad, don't worry about it. I'll balance myself."
"If you say so."
-
They won. Jongdae is in the middle of the group hug and the crowd is going wild. Jongdae scored the winning touchdown. The cheerleaders are doing their cheer as loud as they can, the prideful smiles on their faces.
"Fuck. We won! Jongdae, we won!" Hanbin is yelling in his ear and Jongdae can only nod. Jongdae is definitely going to be the talk of the school come Monday. The other players crowd around and lift Jongdae up into to air, yelling in celebration.
Jongdae won their first game of the season. The scored the winning touchdown. It feels great. Over the shouts of the team, cheerleaders, and the crowd, Jongdae hears a faint, “Alright kids, put him down, we need to take pictures.”
The losing team is already getting everything and everyone ready to leave. They’re gone by the time Jongdae’s team is done taking pictures. Jongdae makes his way over to his parents, who hug him in congratulations as he tugs off his jersey. They had already been informed of Taeyeon’s party, so he hands them his jersey to let them know that he’s going to be headed away.
“Alright, be careful Jongdae. If you for whatever reason can’t drive, call and have one of us come and pick you up, alright?” Seoyun hands Jongdae his keys out of her purse and gives him the plastic bag that contains his change of clothes.
“Have fun.” Dohyun waves Jongdae off as his son goes to join his friends.
Jongdae drives Hanbin and a few others to the party in his car, with the promise that they’ll find their own means of getting home so that Jongdae doesn’t have to waste any gas getting them around town.
The party is lit seeing that Taeyeon’s parents are out for a date night. Or maybe they’re out of town. Jongdae can’t remember what she said, though she’s not worried at all about the two of them coming home to find a bunch of drinking teenagers and a semi trashed house.
Jongdae also finds out who Hanbin likes, as he snuggles up to a male Omega that’s part of Dance Club. He knows who the guy is, Koo Junhoe. He had stole the talent show last year as he sang and danced. He probably danced into Hanbin’s heart without even knowing it.
Jongdae wishes that he could enjoy the party to the fullest, but he doesn’t want to spend the night, and he knows not to drink and drive. Jongdae always tells himself that he’ll be able to catch up on all the partying next year, when he’s in college and in a fraternity. Then he won’t have to worry about driving home drunk.
“You enjoying yourself, Jongdae?” Taeyeon dances her way over, to be a hospitable hostess.
“Yeah, it’s really fun. It’s a shame I can’t drink though.”
“Why not?” she laughs as she sips on her own wine cooler. “Everyone else is.”
“I have to drive home tonight.” He explains, and she nods.
“You could always spend the night. We have plenty of guest rooms.” Taeyeon informs Jongdae and waves her wine cooler in the air in greeting as a few people walk by, calling her name. “You should have more fun.”
As appealing as that sounds, he promised his parents that he’d come home. It would look bad if Jongdae called and told him that for whatever reason he was unable to make it. “Nah, I’ll pass. Maybe next time, Taeyeon?”
She shrugs before walking off to converse with more party guests.
Around midnight Jongdae decides that it’s time to go, so he goes around to a few friends so they know he’s going. He walks up to Hanbin, who is leaning against the wall, talking to Junhoe. Hanbin is, without a doubt, wasted. Junhoe stands there, perfectly composed, listening to his rambles.
“Hey, Hanbin. I’m going now. Get home safe will you?”
“Yeah, this cutie is gonna drive me home, aren’t you?” Hanbin wiggles his eyes at Junhoe, who rolls his eyes in return.
“Sure.”
Jongdae also makes sure that Taeyeon knows that he’s leaving, and she gives him a friendly goodbye peck on the cheek before watching as he started the car and pulled away. The door was shut by the time he got to the end of the street.
The light in the kitchen is on when Jongdae gets home, something his mother usually does to make sure that Jongdae isn’t coming home in the complete darkness. He toes his shoes off, goes to the kitchen to turn the light off, before going to the bathroom to wash up.
He makes it into bed around two, and he views his friends’ snapchat stories before going to bed, thinking of how great the night was and how amazing his last year of high school is treating him.
-
Jongdae's alarm wakes him up for school. It's Thursday, so Jongdae has to get up an hour earlier in order to get to school on time. On any Thursday before a game the team goes and has a talk in the morning about who they're playing, so they aren't kept too late after practice ends.
Jongdae reaches over and grabs his phone off the nightstand and pulls it off the charger before sliding the icon to turn the alarm off. He stretches out and listens in satisfaction as his joints crack. He then throws the blankets off his body and sits in his bed.
It isn't until he stands up that he realizes something is off. His room smells different. Did his mom sneak in and spray some air freshener? No, no air freshener smells like this. And it is deeply embedded in his room and as he reaches for a shirt to sniff it smells nothing like the usual laundry detergent that his parents use when they wash laundry.
He throws the shirt down and thinks about taking a shower before he has to go to school. Now that he thinks about it, he's extremely hot. A cold shower will probably be best, plus it'll wake him up. He yawns as he exits his bedroom to go down the hall to the bathroom that in across from Minseok's empty room. On the way there is a thermostat and he gives it a brief glance. It's not any higher than it usually is.
Jongdae is in the bathroom with the door shuts when he realizes what's going on. He looks in the mirror with a huge grin. He's finally matured. November of his senior year of high school and he's finally an Alpha. Something seems off though, but he pegs it up to his body going through changes. He must be in the early stages of his rut because he isn't trying to rub one out yet.
It's best if he takes his shower soon, so he can hop out and tell his parents to call him out of school for the week because yes his status had finally come and he would be able miss a week of school every other month when his rut hit. He takes his shirt off first and admires himself in the mirror. He knows that his muscles will come much easier now that he's an Alpha. Next is the sweatpants that he sleeps in and he notices a wet spot on them, though faint. It isn't in the front where his half hard cock would be leaking precum.
His eyebrows come together in confusion as he takes off his boxers. The wet spot on his boxers is in the same place that it was on his sweatpants. The part right under his ass. But that can't be right, because he's an Alpha, and Alphas don't have that coming out their asses. Jongdae is hesitant as he reaches behind himself with shaky fingers and drags them down his ass crack. Wet. The shaking of his fingers intensifies as he pushes it deeper to his asshole, and with dread he feels the slick coming out from the source. There is no denying it.
He's not an Alpha. He's an Omega.
This is the worst thing that could happen to him. This isn't how his life was supposed to go. He was supposed to be an Alpha, go through college playing football with a pretty Omega cheerleader on his arm. Now here he is, the Omega. He's surrounded himself with Alphas, and now he'll be the sore thumb out.
So he does what he thinks will get his frustration out. He yells and screams and kicks the cabinet door that's under the sink. He must have woke his parents up because he hears a thud as one of them presumably falls off the bed and the other one is running towards the bathroom. They knock loudly. "Jongdae? Are you okay?" his mother sounds worried sick and Jongdae yells, "No, I'm not okay! My life is ruined!"
"What's w-" his father's words cut off as he undoubtedly smells his son's new scent. Oh. "Jongdae, listen to us, it's not as bad as you're making it out to be."
"Not as bad? Not as fucking bad!" he's so distraught that he doesn't hold his words back. "I spent my whole life thinking I was going to be an Alpha, my whole family are Alphas. The odds were in my favor, and look at what happens! I go against the odds and become this." he hisses out the words.
"Jongdae, come out. Let's talk about this."
"No, go away. I don't want to see anyone."
"But Jongdae, we have to help you. You're in heat, we can smell it. You're going to need to deal with this soon, before it fully hits you."
Jongdae remains silent as he slumps down on the toilet with his hands covering his eyes to try and keep himself from crying. But it isn't working and the tears push past his shut eyelids to end up in his hands. He doesn't respond to their further inquires and he hears one of them whisper that they're going to call Jongdae out of school for the week.
He starts up the shower and turns the dial all the way to cold, because in the fifteen minutes that he had been in the bathroom the temperature seems to have risen tenfold. He steps in and stands under the cold spray with his eyes fixed on the water going down the drain.
After twenty minutes of just standing in the shower Jongdae finally tries to actually wash his body, to get rid of the scent and as he starts to lather up the towel a sudden surge of arousal hits him and he drops the soap and hunches over in the shower. It's so intense that he feel as though he can't breathe, and the warm slick coming out his ass is a brutal reminder of what he is.
"Jongdae?" he hadn't expected his mother to still be standing outside the bathroom. "Are you okay?"
The surge hits again, more intense and he groans and falls down on the floor of the shower because it had taken all the strength out of him. He hits his elbow on the way down and he groans even louder. "Jongdae?" his mother is pounding against the door but he can't answer through the pain of his elbow and arousal.
The door opens moments later and the shower is shut off and a towel is wrapped around his shivering body. Funny, he didn't think he was that cold. His mother furiously wipes him off and his father leaves the room and comes back with a change of clothing for Jongdae.
"My baby, are you okay?" she uses a different towel to dry off Jongdae's hair and his father pulls a shirt on over his head after it's been towel dried sufficiently. Jongdae allows them to treat him like a small child again as they dress him without fuss and they look over his elbow which is clearly bruised.
They stand and look at each other as their son remains limp on the toilet seat. He isn't going to make the effort to leave the bathroom by himself, so his mother picks him up and carries him to his bedroom. She doesn't want to leave her son at a time like this so she sits him on her lap and pets his hair, and the shock of his situation finally seems to hit him and he turns and nuzzles himself in her neck and lets out a sob.
"Jongdae, baby, don't cry. It's not that bad honey."
"I'm an Omega!" he wails.
"Yes, but that doesn't change who you are. You're still our son, you're still Jongdae, the quarterback of Seoul High football team. You're perfect, you know that baby? No one is going to care that you're an Omega. We still love you the same, Minseok is still going to love you the same. Your friends aren't going to treat you any differently."
"But-but. I don't want to be an Omega."
"We understand, Jongdae, but you not wanting to be an Omega is not going to change the fact that you are one." Dohyun leans down and pats his son's head. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to accept it. You're still the same you. Understand?"
It takes much calming down, but Jongdae is left alone and tucked in his bed. His parents have told him that if it gets to be too much then he should handle it. His mother even offered to go out and buy him a toy to help it pass by faster. He had refused and snuggled deeper into his bed sheets.
The days pass by in a blur of sweating out his clothes and his slick soaking his sheets. He's sure his parents are tired of having to do the laundry every day but Jongdae refuses to do anything to relieve his heat. He refuses to touch himself.
On Monday he wakes up to someone poking his cheek. He's ready to bite the finger off because the heat had died down enough for him to go into a restless sleep when he sees who the finger is attached to. "Don't you have school?" he asks his older brother, who is sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at Jongdae.
"Nothing I can't miss. Besides, it's Tuesday, I only have one class. Mom and Dad called me, before you ask. They couldn't take another day off, so it's up to me to make sure you're okay until they get home." Minseok points at the water that he had placed on Jongdae's bed stand. "I brought that, you need to stay well hydrated."
"Thanks." Minseok has to drive hours from his college to get there, so Minseok must’ve really cared if he’s here.
It's quiet for a few seconds as they stare at each other and Minseok finally asks, "How are you doing?"
"Shitty. How else would I be doing?"
Minseok shrugs. "It'll get better when you find someone to help you out."
"As if I'd want that."
"Oh, denial? The great Jongdae doesn't want to admit that he's an Omega? That in order for his heat to be shortened he's going to need to take a cock up his ass? I know you've spent most of your life thinking that you'd be the one to stick it in someone, but come on Jongdae."
"I was just so sure, Minseok. I was so sure that I was going to be an Alpha. And look at me. No knot, but slick coming out my ass." Minseok listens as his brother whines even more and eventually Jongdae tires himself out and his eyes are fluttering shut and Minseok can leave and go to his room and take a possible nap and text people.
The heat breaks the following Saturday and Jongdae is more than happy to leave his room and take a long and hot shower. His parents had taken the liberty to prepare a large meal, since Jongdae hadn't eaten much when he was in heat and they watch silently as he snarfs his food down.
When he's finished he's ready to go back to his room to finally get a good night's rest when his father clears his throat. "Jongdae, we need to talk." Jongdae really wants to say 'no' but the look on both of his parent's faces says this isn't one of those arguments that he can just skip out on.
He settles into his seat in the kitchen and his parents look at each other as if they're trying to figure out how to start this.
"Jongdae, this may be a little late, but we need to have the talk." Dohyun starts. "You are so well versed in the way of being an Alpha, that you never looked into the possibility of you becoming anything other than that."
"As you know, now that you've matured, you're able to smell things. Emotions, statuses, that sort. You'll also be able to tell if an Alpha is in rut or if another Omega is in heat. The things that comes with this is that you have to be careful. Others are going to be able to smell if you're in heat, and if you're aroused." his mother sighs. "This means you're vulnerable to Alphas. You can't let them take advantage of you. Your being in heat, and around Alphas and Betas isn't a good thing. The only reason you were fine here is become we're family and it doesn't affect us."
"You also have to be careful of Alphas in their ruts, because their smell can draw you in. Do you understand what you being an Omega means, Jongdae?" Dohyun leans forward and puts his arms on the kitchen table as he looks at his son. Jongdae nods. It means he's going to have to be careful the rest of his life, or at least until he finds a mate to protect him. He was supposed to be the one protecting his sweet Omega mate, but now he has to be protected. He hates himself just a little bit.
"Can I go?"
"Yes, but we'll talk about this more later."
-
Jongdae is trying to think of a good excuse to bullshit his way out of not going to school today. He can't say he's sick, he can't say he's in heat. In the end he's just plainly honest and tells his parents he doesn't want to go to school because he's scared of how his friends will react and if they'll treat him differently, because he's been ignoring all their texts, and Hanbin's texts asking how it feels being an Alpha now.
His parents brush his concerns off and tell him that he should have nothing to be concerned about because real friends will treat him no different in finding out that he's an Omega. Their reassuring words don't do much as he drives to school, actually following the speed limit and not going over. In fact, when he parks in the lot he really doesn't want to get out.
He ducks down and pretends he's on his phone so he doesn’t have to make eye contact with the people passing in front of his car. At 7:30 though he has to get out of his car if he's going to make it to class in time, thus hopefully avoiding more attention.
But the second he gets out the car and heads into the school heads start to turn. He sees them sniffing the air, trying to figure out where the new scent of Omega is coming from. Jongdae is holding his breath because his sense of smell had been assaulted when he got out the car, and he couldn't even begin to think of what it would smell like inside of the school with less air circulating.
But as he hurries his way to class he does have to breath and he breaths in a little and it's like a punch to his Omega, it's so overwhelming, the smell of all the Alphas and Betas, that he actually becomes slightly dizzy and tips over and leans against the wall to regain his bearings.
He doesn't see one of his cheerleader friends approaching him until she puts a hand on his arm. "Jongdae, are you okay?" she smiles as Jongdae opens his eyes and nods. "Yeah."
"You've been out for a while, just wanted to make sure. We missed you, you know. It-" she cuts herself off and Jongdae is filled with dread as she starts sniffing the air around him. Her face falls with realization. "Oh. Oh." Jongdae wants to shake his head because this is the end. The word will be spread around and everyone will know before lunch.
"I'll see you at lunch, alright?" Jongdae doesn't wait for the answer as he pushes off the wall and heads to class, but he sees her pull out her phone out the corner of his eye. Yeah, he has until lunch.
Jongdae sits down at the lunch table, ignoring a few stares from his teammates. He does feel the increasing amount of stares on him so he looks up and goes, “What?”
“Jongdae, is that you? Or did you spend a helluva lot of time with an Omega?” Hanbin leans forward to confirm his guess.
“Yeah, it’s me.” Jongdae looks down at his tray.
“Whoa. Dude. I thought for sure you were going to be an Alpha.”
“I know, Hanbin.” Jongdae’s appetite leaves as soon as this is said. “I thought I was going to be one too. But you see? Life sort of shits out on you sometimes. Whatever, I’ll get past it. Nothing’s going to change because of what I am.”
“Right.” Hanbin looks away as he says this, and leaves Jongdae to his own thoughts.
-
Nothing changes at first. And then, it slowly starts to happen. Jongdae’s usual spot at the rectangle lunch table is taken up increasingly often by someone. Whenever he does get to sit with them, the conversation will often die out.
As much as they try not to show that it’s because of him, he knows that it’s because of him.
What hits him the hardest though, is when he has to stay after for football practice. He has to go in and change after all the Alphas and Betas on the team get done, cutting off his practice time. It sucks, because a good ten minutes he could spend practicing with his team is wasted getting dressed.
Fewer and fewer of his teammates are talking to him. Even Hanbin, his best friend, has slowly started to drift away. He slowly stops waiting with Jongdae, who has to change after practice last. He slowly starts talking to the other players more. Jongdae has noticed Hanbin becoming closer to a basketball player, Jiwon, and eventually Jiwon is who takes up Jongdae’s seat at the lunch table.
What really hits the nail on the head, the final nail into his social life coffin, is when he overhears Taeyeon and a few of the other cheerleaders talking about a party going on at her house. Because Jongdae has to wait for the last football player to come out, he approaches Taeyeon once she’s distanced herself a little away from the rest of the squad.
“Hey, Taeyeon.”
“Oh, hey, Jongdae.” Taeyeon is as awkward as she could be, slowly trying to walk away from Jongdae.
“I heard you’re throwing a party on Saturday?”
“Oh. Yeah.” Taeyeon looks dumbly at Jongdae’s expectant expression. “Sorry I couldn’t invite you, my parents have a strict cut off on the amount of guests. Otherwise…”
“Oh, no, it’s cool. Respect your parent’s wishes.” Jongdae waves goodbye, but his hand is completely ignored as Taeyeon turns and makes her way over to the rest of the squad who has paused to see what’s holding up Taeyeon.
Jongdae feels his heart stop once he hears, “He actually thought I was going to invite him.”
-
He sits in his coach's office and as his coach sits across from him he wipes the sweat off his hands. "Yes coach?" he doesn't know what this private meeting is. They have conditioning in a few minutes and Jongdae should be getting ready to start.
"Ah, Jongdae. As you know, we're not officially in football season right now. No games, no after school practices until the spring comes." Jongdae nods. Of course, it's been like this since he was a Sophomore .
"Yeah, we're just conditioning now. Why coach? Something new coming up next season you wanted to tell me about?"
Jongdae watches as the coach shifts uncomfortably in his seat. "Yes, this is about next season. You need, Jongdae, since last month, your time with us has been cut a little shorter. You have to wait for the rest of the team to finish dressing before going to ready for it yourself, then you have to leave later, after we’ve cut off practicing. You're missing valuable time."
"It's nothing I can help, coach. Besides, I’ve been working more after everyone leaves. I even work when practice is cancelled." Since Jongdae’s social life had become nonexistent, there’s nothing more he can do besides practice harder.
"Yes, which is why I'm coming to this conclusion. You've been the team for three great years Jongdae, but I'm afraid to say now it's a bit uncomfortable for the other players, with you being…" he lets the unsaid word hang. Omega. It's because he's an Omega.
"I don't think I quite understand what you're getting at, coach."
"Well, Jongdae, I, along with the rest of the team, think it would be best for you to take a break from the team next season."
Jongdae has to let what Coach just said process in his mind and he goes, "What? Are you saying what I think you're saying? You're kicking me off the team?"
"Not kicking, but yes, we'd like you to stop playing for us."
"Next season would be my last season. Coach. You can't do this to me!" Jongdae slams his hands on the desk. "I've been on this team three years. Three fucking years of my life. And you're telling me that you want to kick me off just because I'm an Omega?"
"Biologically, you aren't going to be able to go as long or as hard as you have been. We don't want you to injure yourself."
"Bullshit. This is bullshit.” Jongdae takes a breather as he remembers something, “Wh-what about my scholarship? I got a scholarship by playing football. Are you just going to let them take that away from me?"
Coach shakes his head, "No! I'm sure that if you explain it to them, they'll let you keep it."
Jongdae has had enough and he pushes away from the desk. "I- I can't believe this. You're kicking me off this team? After all the wins I helped this school gain? I can't fucking believe this." Jongdae is hit with the unwelcome smell of pity and he withdraws away from the coach as he stands and tries to wrap a comforting arm around Jongdae.
"Did you wait until now to tell me? Did you know for a full month that you wanted me off the team, just to tell me a week before Christmas? The last day of the semester, so you wouldn't have to see me for three weeks? This is low, coach. I hope you're happy with yourself. Fuck you. And fuck them." Jongdae pulls the door of the office open and brushes past all his ex team members who were undoubtedly standing outside the office and listening. He doesn't even bother to get his things, he just grabs his keys and makes towards his car.
"You are all assholes. You know that?" he stops and looks behind him. "Were any of you really my friend, or did you just like me because of the way I played?" Jongdae is met with the glares of all the Alphas and Betas on the team. "You know, have a Merry fucking Christmas because you just ruined mine."
Jongdae stops in front of Hanbin, who reaches an arm out. “Sorry, Jongdae.”
“Don’t you fucking say sorry to me. You could have fucking spoken up, but you didn’t. And I know you didn’t, because you would have told me about this whole fuckover that just happened. Leave me the hell alone, and have fun spending your time with Jiwon. I hope you don’t fucking stab Junhoe in the back like you did me.”
Hanbin watches, stunned, as Jongdae power walks out the room.
Jongdae speeds the entire way home so he can just be alone. His life is ruined. They've just ruined his life. He's not on the team anymore. They fucking kicked him off the team. He brushes past his father who greets him at the door and immediately goes to the bathroom to shower to cool off. It doesn't help, in fact it just leaves him to his own thoughts.
Am I not good enough? Is this what it really means to be an Omega? People don't believe you're strong enough to do anything? Jongdae ignores the tears coming out his eyes and lets the stream of water from the shower wash them away.
He goes to bed as soon as he's out the shower even though it's only seven. He ignores his parents calling him down for dinner and furrows deeper under the blankets to try and escape the real world. He dozes off and wakes up to the dipping of his bed.
When Jongdae looks up he sees Minseok leaning down over him. "Okay, spill it Jongdae. You came home early, missed dinner, and wouldn't take to any of us. On top of that, the house is infused with the smell of your misery. What happened?"
Jongdae looks away from his brother and mumbles into the pillow.
"What?"
"They kicked me off the team. Because I'm an Omega."
"Who is they? You’ve got to be joking, right? You’ve been on that team as early as you could get on it. They wouldn’t just kick you off like that, for a stupid reason.”
"Coach and the team. And yeah, they did just that.”
Minseok is silent as he gathers Jongdae up in his arms and lets his brother wipe his tears and snot on his shirt. "Three years Minseok. And it takes them less than a month to decide that they don't want me. I've worked so hard, and now look at what is at risk. My scholarship, I have no friends. My life is going down the drain."
Minseok mumbles encouraging words into his brother's ears. "No friends? I’m sure you have some."
"No, the ones that I thought were my friends are the main ones laughing behind my back. When I walk past them I hear their whispers, I hear everything they say. They mock me and say things I used to say before I was an Omega. Even Hanbin turned against me. My best friend Minseok."
“Look, Jongdae, don’t let them get you down. I’m sure if we tell Mom and Dad what happened, they’d call the school up and have this looked into. This is discrimination.”
“I don’t want them looking into it. It’ll just make the team hate me more. I just want to be left alone to deal.”
Turns out, Jongdae really wanted to be left alone. He didn’t even come out of his room on Christmas willingly. He hadn’t opened his gifts with much excitement, and after thanking his parents and brother, and saying that he hoped they liked what he gave them, he disappeared back into his room.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: knotting, smut, public fingering, dirty talk, self lubrication, age switches (basically I mess with all their ages), rimming, brief angst (can it even be called that?),
Length: 53,193
Summary: Jongdae comes from Alphas. It’s what he grew up preparing for. Of course that meant that he wasn’t prepared when his life went in the complete opposite direction of all.
Prompt #: 299
A/N: I got 14K words into this and said ‘I’m not even halfway through this am I and here I am, 50k words later. Also I saw the word ‘quarterback’ and decided to add the highschool and college life and this completely blew up? Pls enjoy
"I'm going to be an Alpha when I get older! Aren't I daddy? Like you and mommy?" Young Jongdae looks up with a hopeful gleam in his eyes and his father leans down to pat his son's head.
"Of course you are, Jongdae. You're going to be strong and powerful."
"Yay!" Jongdae then takes the juice that his dad offers him and sips it, holding it in both hands so that he doesn’t drop it. "Is, is, is Minseok going to be an Alpha too?" Jongdae starts his sentences just like someone his age should, with many stutters as his lips move too fast for his brain.
"Mhm. Alphas run on your mother's side of the family. I'm an Alpha too! That means you and Minseok are more likely to become Alpha's like mommy and daddy."
Jongdae grins and runs over to his older brother, who is sitting at the dinner table eating his breakfast. School starts in an hour so their father is trying his hardest to get everything ready for the boys. Their mother prefers them to have packed lunch, which is what their father is trying to do but his son is distracting him. "Did you hear that Minseok! We're both going to be Alphas!"
Jongdae is six, and his elder brother Minseok is eight. Minseok is going through that young period where he likes to act more mature than his actual age. "Yeah, Jongdae. I know. But we can be other things too. Like Betas and Omegas."
"No!" Jongdae crosses his arms and stomps his legs, and his father sees the impending tantrum so he rushes to finish packing their lunches before he has to go and calm his youngest child down. Their mother is in the bathroom getting ready, so he can't rely on her for much help at the moment.
"Alphas! We're going to be Alphas! I don't want to be a stinky Beta or Omega! They're stupid."
Now this is where his father has to step in. He doesn't know where Jongdae has been getting those thoughts, but they need to stop, now. "Jongdae." his father chides. "You never berate or insult someone because of their status, do you understand me?" Jongdae looks down to avoid eye contact with his father, but he will have none of that. "Jongdae, look at me."
Jongdae turns around, expression angry. "I said, you do not make fun of someone because of their status. Do you understand me?"
Jongdae and his father have a bit of a staring contest, and it ends with Jongdae nodding his head and mumbling, "I understand."
"Who has been putting those thoughts into your head? Huh."
Jongdae doesn't answer, so Minseok speaks up for him. "Some of his classmates. I hear them talking at recess."
Their father shakes his head and tuts. "Jongdae, if your friends are being mean to people, then you'll have to stop hanging out with them. Don't you ever let me hear you talking like that again, okay?"
Jongdae nods his head before running upstairs to his room. "Let me know if he keeps on doing that, okay Minseok?" he asks his oldest child, who says, "Sure daddy."
Later that night, when the boys are sleep and Mr. and Mrs. Kim, Dohyun and Seoyun are in bed, Dohyun is finally able to bring it up to his wife. "Jongdae was saying the meanest things at breakfast." This instantly catches his wife's attention and she looks away from her book to listen.
"He was putting down Betas and Omegas. He said the meanest things about them. Saying they stunk and that they were stupid. Minseok said it's the kids he's hanging around. Seoyun, I know we didn't raise our child to be that way."
"You're right, Dohyun. We're going to have to keep an eye out on him, yeah. Maybe we should talk to his friend's parents? See if they know why their children are saying things like that?"
"We could, but maybe would should see if Jongdae stops first. Usually people saying that stems from the home life. Let's go to bed, we'll see how this plays out."
"Hello, is this Mr. Kim? Jongdae's father?" the caller ID said it was the school so this can't be good news.
"This is he."
"Ah, yes, Mr. Kim. There has been an incident at school concerning Jongdae… we'd like you to come to discuss what has happened. Your wife has already been called and is on her way." Dohyun groans away from the receiver and looks at the time. Three more hours until school is scheduled to end. He's going to have to leave work four hours early. "I'll be there. Thank you for calling me."
Dohyun gets permission from his boss to go, and soon he's running out the door and starting his car. He's concerned about his son, and gets to the school in record time. He recognizes his wife's car parked nearer to the entrance and jumps out to get inside as quickly as possible.
He signs in at the reception desk and the kind Beta informs him that the rest of his family is already in the principal's office. The principal's office. His wife and son are sitting across from the principal, who motions for him to take the empty seat to Jongdae's life. His wife is on Jongdae's right.
"What is this about?"
"Jongdae here, got into a fight with one of the other kids today. In the classroom." Dohyun takes in a deep breath and his looks down at his son, who can probably feel the anger radiating off him. At that age, they still haven't developed the ability to smell emotions.
"Jongdae. What was this about."
"He was being mean to me!" Jongdae whines.
"How so?" Seoyun calmly asks her son, though she is clearly as upset about this as Dohyun is.
"He was saying that I was going to grow up and be a Beta or Omega, and making fun of me. Saying I was going to be weak." Jongdae tells them. "He knows I don't want to be one of those. He kept mocking me. Saying I was stupid."
The principal's expression changes to one of concern. "This isn't something that we encourage here at the school. We try and teach the kids about quality throughout the statuses. It doesn't matter which clan they come from, we always tell them that they're all equal and will be equal when their status becomes known. Is this something that has stemmed from the home life?"
"No no," Seoyun quickly dismisses that thought. "At home we encourage the same thing as the school. We have just recently found out about Jongdae's concern about statuses. He wants to become an Alpha like his father and I. Our other son told us it's because of the kids he has been hanging around with during recess. We don't know who they are though."
The principal's lips thin. "Either way, this is going to require discipline. It wasn't as serious to me suggesting out of school or in school suspension, since I am sure you two have jobs you have to attend to. So, I'm proposing a week of before school detention for Jongdae. He'll be here in a classroom, and he won't be able to have recess for the entire week."
"What!" Jongdae's head shoots up. "That's not fair. What about Junghoon?"
"Junghoon will get his own punishment, Jongdae. You should be concerned about yourself. You need to understand that there are other statuses and that all are equal. You let them get the best of you, but it was because of your own beliefs. If you didn't think Betas and Omegas were lower than Alphas, you wouldn't be in this situation. I expect to see you here tomorrow morning at seven thirty."
Jongdae rides home in Seoyun's car while Dohyun waits around in the parking lot for school to get out for Minseok. No point in wasting gas. He tells his son, when he gets in the car, about what happened with Jongdae and Minseok frowns as he hears this. "That's a stupid reason to get in a fight."
Dohyun laughs at his sons very blatant words. "It is a stupid reason to get into a fight. Hopefully the detention sets Jongdae straight." When they get home Seoyun tells them that Jongdae has went in his room for timeout, and that he won't be coming back out until dinner, which is fine with Dohyun.
For the next week Dohyun and Seoyun alternate with taking Jongdae to detention, and after the week they sit and ask if Jongdae has learned his lesson. Jongdae nods his head and says, "The detention actually made me cooler. Everyone thinks I'm tough, so it won't be a problem!"
Seoyun and Dohyun make eye contact and they share the thought that it, in fact, taught their son nothing.
Years later, when Minseok wakes up one afternoon from a nap in rut, it only solidifies Jongdae's thoughts that he's going to be an Alpha for sure.
-
"Did you hear about that one guy, the really tall one. Face almost never shows emotion?" Jongdae's friend, Hanbin, asks. Jongdae taps his chin as he thinks of the person in mind.
"Is he in our grade?" right now Jongdae and Hanbin are in the changing room, getting ready for football practice. He pulls the practice jersey over his head as Hanbin says, "Yeah."
"Zitao?”
"No, this one is Korean. Sehun. Oh Sehun."
Jongdae thinks about it hard enough. "Sits with Kim Jongin and Chanyeol?"
"Yeah." Hanbin nods as he pulls his own jersey on over his head. "His status came. He's been gone a week. Came to school smelling all sweet."
"Whoa, that dude? An Omega? I would've pegged him for a Beta at the very least." Jongdae sits on the bench to pull on his shoes. He takes his time tying his laces up tight, because the last thing he needs is to trip over his own shoelaces as they're practicing. Their first game is next week, so everyone has been practicing their hardest.
"Exactly. Good thing he looks so tough. No one is going to step on him."
"Maybe you should take an aim at him?" Jongdae jokes and Hanbin scrunches up his face.
"Nah, not my type. Besides, I have someone else in mind."
"Really? Do tell." Jongdae wiggles his eyebrows and Hanbin playfully hits his shoulder. "Not telling yet. I don't want word getting out to him before I've had a chance to make my move."
"I can keep a secret." Hanbin stares at Jongdae who looks away with a laugh. "Alright, you got me. Hope all goes well for you."
"Thanks. Hey, maybe you could go after Sehun? I've heard that he's got an amazing ass. But I haven't been looking at it." Hanbin assures. "I only have my eyes set on one person's ass. It's glorious."
"You know that I'm not an Alpha yet. Besides the fact that I can't smell anything yet, I won't seem appealing to him until I do. Besides, I'm sure I can find a different Omega. One of the cheerleaders, maybe?" Jongdae grabs his helmet and tosses Hanbin's his. Jongdae stands because they have to go out to the field to start practice.
"You know they swoon over you, Jongdae. I'm kind of jealous." Hanbin jokes as they walk out the locker room.
"They're just going to have to wait until my first rut hits, aren't they? No use in swooning over a person who hasn’t presented yet."
Jongdae is by all definitions a late bloomer. He's a Senior in high school whose status still hasn't come. Almost everyone else in his grade has come to terms with what they are. Jongdae is one of the few handful who still hasn't woken up in rut. Yes, rut, because Jongdae just knows he's going to be an Alpha.
When Minseok's status as an Alpha became known two years ago, when Minseok was a Junior, it had pretty much solidified Jongdae's thoughts about becoming an Alpha. His father, mother, and brother were all Alphas. The odds were in his favor.
When Minseok woke up in his rut, which freshman Jongdae couldn't tell because people aren't able to smell anything of that sort until their status comes out, which is when they reach physical maturity, his parents had rushed to his room.
Jongdae had been way more excited about Minseok becoming an Alpha than Minseok was about becoming an Alpha. In fact, in the ten minutes that he saw his brother throughout his whole rut, Minseok looked like he was seconds away from ripping his brother's head off at the conversation that they were having.
Minseok had quickly kicked him out and had gone back to doing what Alphas without mates do when they're in rut. He masturbated until he was too tired and it felt as though he had rubbed his own dick raw. Even after the rut had passed and Minseok was more his normal self, he didn't change a bit.
As they enter the field he winks at the cheerleaders who practice as they do. A few of them giggle and wink back and wave. Jongdae is able to do that to them, without smelling like Alpha yet. The right grin and the correct words can have people falling to his feet.
Not literally, but Jongdae likes to think that's what happens. He really can woo them though. Most of the time though, he can't tell what he's flirting with. He can't smell anyone's status, so he has to rely on his friends not joking around and telling him their correct status.
"Alright boys!" Their coach yells once everyone has gotten on the field. "The game is next Friday! You all know what that means! We work hard and we don't let up. We're going to put those boys in their places! Right?"
"Right coach!" the team all yells in unison.
"Alright. You know the drill. Line up into positions. I'll tell you when to start!" as they start to line up the coach touches Jongdae's shoulder. "Push yourself Jongdae, but we don't need you passing out, alright?" the Alpha's and Beta's on the team, they’ve all presented their status, have more stamina that he does, so sometimes it's a struggle to keep up with them. "It was one time coach."
"Yes, but I don't want your mother's wrath on me again." Coach laughs and pats Jongdae's back and sends him on his way.
The practice lasts a good three hours, and by the time that they're done Jongdae knows he smells bad. They all do. Except for the cheerleaders, who have finished their practice and sat down to cool off and watch the football players finish theirs.
As the players head towards the locker room to shower and get ready to go home Jongdae hears his name being called. It comes from the direction of the cheerleaders and he makes his way over as one of them waves at him.
"Excuse the smell." Jongdae grins and some of the cheerleaders giggle. "What can I do for you lovely ladies and gentlemen?" Their school offers a co-ed cheer team.
"We were just watching you practice, and we think you did really well, Jongdae." One of them speaks up.
"We just know you're going to win us the game!" one of the pretty Omegas, Taeyeon, tells him. "Anyway, we're having an after party when the game is over. You want to come? It's at my house."
Jongdae grins and nods. "I'll be there, thanks for the invite Taeyeon."
"No problem. See you tomorrow at practice."
"See you then." Jongdae has to run off and hurry to shower because he needs to get home before six, because his mother may just claw his head off if he comes home late another day. When he gets in the shower he quickly gets the rag that he leaves at school and soaps it up and starts to scrub his body.
"What was that about?" Jongdae is right next to Hanbin and he grins, "Taeyeon invited me to the after party next Friday. You going to that?"
Hanbin nods as he lathers his own towel. "Yeah."
"The person you liking going to be there?" Jongdae questions and Hanbin looks away. "Ah, so they are! Is that the only reason you're going?"
"No, Taeyeon's cool to hang out with. Plus, all the team is going." Hanbin rinses his hair off and turns off the shower and Jongdae who has rinsed all the soap off his body does the same. "Are you going to at least tell me if this person is a guy or girl?"
Hanbin is clearly mulling over this valuable information, because Jongdae is a tricky bastard and can figure out a lot of things with just the tiniest of information. "Guy.
Jongdae grins and he can tell that Hanbin instantly regrets telling him this. "I swear Jongdae, if you by some miracle figure out who it is, don't embarrass me."
"Don't embarrass you. Got it." Jongdae wraps the towel around his waist and he and Hanbin head out to the locker room to get dressed back in their regular attire. They talk as they get dressed and Jongdae says goodbye to the team as he rushes out to get in his car.
His drives as fast as he can without getting pulled over and pulls into the driveway with minutes to spare. When he walks in his father yells his greetings from the kitchen where he is no doubt cooking dinner. His mother is sitting on the couch watching TV and she picks up the remote to bring the time up on the screen.
"What is this? My son at home on time for once?" she grins as Jongdae rolls his eyes. "Whatever mom. You know how long practice can be."
"Or were you just flirting with the cheerleaders again?" his mother can read him like a book even when she's watching TV. "I know my son, Jongdae."
Jongdae has just put his stuff up in his room when he hears his father yelling that dinner is finished. Jongdae is starving after practice and runs down the stairs as fast as he can. His father really knows how to cook, so does his mother to be honest, and he chows down his food in record time. He even manages to swallow down some seconds."
"Was practice hard today?" Dohyun asks as he watches his son shove his face.
"Yea dad. You know I practice a lot." Jongdae has been on the team since he was a sophomore. He has worked so hard that he's even gotten a partial scholarship to go to the same college that his brother goes to. Minseok got his own full scholarship by playing soccer.
"Don't tire yourself out, alright Jongdae? We know the big game is coming up, but if you work too hard you could tire yourself out and not be able to perform very well."
"I know Dad, don't worry about it. I'll balance myself."
"If you say so."
-
They won. Jongdae is in the middle of the group hug and the crowd is going wild. Jongdae scored the winning touchdown. The cheerleaders are doing their cheer as loud as they can, the prideful smiles on their faces.
"Fuck. We won! Jongdae, we won!" Hanbin is yelling in his ear and Jongdae can only nod. Jongdae is definitely going to be the talk of the school come Monday. The other players crowd around and lift Jongdae up into to air, yelling in celebration.
Jongdae won their first game of the season. The scored the winning touchdown. It feels great. Over the shouts of the team, cheerleaders, and the crowd, Jongdae hears a faint, “Alright kids, put him down, we need to take pictures.”
The losing team is already getting everything and everyone ready to leave. They’re gone by the time Jongdae’s team is done taking pictures. Jongdae makes his way over to his parents, who hug him in congratulations as he tugs off his jersey. They had already been informed of Taeyeon’s party, so he hands them his jersey to let them know that he’s going to be headed away.
“Alright, be careful Jongdae. If you for whatever reason can’t drive, call and have one of us come and pick you up, alright?” Seoyun hands Jongdae his keys out of her purse and gives him the plastic bag that contains his change of clothes.
“Have fun.” Dohyun waves Jongdae off as his son goes to join his friends.
Jongdae drives Hanbin and a few others to the party in his car, with the promise that they’ll find their own means of getting home so that Jongdae doesn’t have to waste any gas getting them around town.
The party is lit seeing that Taeyeon’s parents are out for a date night. Or maybe they’re out of town. Jongdae can’t remember what she said, though she’s not worried at all about the two of them coming home to find a bunch of drinking teenagers and a semi trashed house.
Jongdae also finds out who Hanbin likes, as he snuggles up to a male Omega that’s part of Dance Club. He knows who the guy is, Koo Junhoe. He had stole the talent show last year as he sang and danced. He probably danced into Hanbin’s heart without even knowing it.
Jongdae wishes that he could enjoy the party to the fullest, but he doesn’t want to spend the night, and he knows not to drink and drive. Jongdae always tells himself that he’ll be able to catch up on all the partying next year, when he’s in college and in a fraternity. Then he won’t have to worry about driving home drunk.
“You enjoying yourself, Jongdae?” Taeyeon dances her way over, to be a hospitable hostess.
“Yeah, it’s really fun. It’s a shame I can’t drink though.”
“Why not?” she laughs as she sips on her own wine cooler. “Everyone else is.”
“I have to drive home tonight.” He explains, and she nods.
“You could always spend the night. We have plenty of guest rooms.” Taeyeon informs Jongdae and waves her wine cooler in the air in greeting as a few people walk by, calling her name. “You should have more fun.”
As appealing as that sounds, he promised his parents that he’d come home. It would look bad if Jongdae called and told him that for whatever reason he was unable to make it. “Nah, I’ll pass. Maybe next time, Taeyeon?”
She shrugs before walking off to converse with more party guests.
Around midnight Jongdae decides that it’s time to go, so he goes around to a few friends so they know he’s going. He walks up to Hanbin, who is leaning against the wall, talking to Junhoe. Hanbin is, without a doubt, wasted. Junhoe stands there, perfectly composed, listening to his rambles.
“Hey, Hanbin. I’m going now. Get home safe will you?”
“Yeah, this cutie is gonna drive me home, aren’t you?” Hanbin wiggles his eyes at Junhoe, who rolls his eyes in return.
“Sure.”
Jongdae also makes sure that Taeyeon knows that he’s leaving, and she gives him a friendly goodbye peck on the cheek before watching as he started the car and pulled away. The door was shut by the time he got to the end of the street.
The light in the kitchen is on when Jongdae gets home, something his mother usually does to make sure that Jongdae isn’t coming home in the complete darkness. He toes his shoes off, goes to the kitchen to turn the light off, before going to the bathroom to wash up.
He makes it into bed around two, and he views his friends’ snapchat stories before going to bed, thinking of how great the night was and how amazing his last year of high school is treating him.
-
Jongdae's alarm wakes him up for school. It's Thursday, so Jongdae has to get up an hour earlier in order to get to school on time. On any Thursday before a game the team goes and has a talk in the morning about who they're playing, so they aren't kept too late after practice ends.
Jongdae reaches over and grabs his phone off the nightstand and pulls it off the charger before sliding the icon to turn the alarm off. He stretches out and listens in satisfaction as his joints crack. He then throws the blankets off his body and sits in his bed.
It isn't until he stands up that he realizes something is off. His room smells different. Did his mom sneak in and spray some air freshener? No, no air freshener smells like this. And it is deeply embedded in his room and as he reaches for a shirt to sniff it smells nothing like the usual laundry detergent that his parents use when they wash laundry.
He throws the shirt down and thinks about taking a shower before he has to go to school. Now that he thinks about it, he's extremely hot. A cold shower will probably be best, plus it'll wake him up. He yawns as he exits his bedroom to go down the hall to the bathroom that in across from Minseok's empty room. On the way there is a thermostat and he gives it a brief glance. It's not any higher than it usually is.
Jongdae is in the bathroom with the door shuts when he realizes what's going on. He looks in the mirror with a huge grin. He's finally matured. November of his senior year of high school and he's finally an Alpha. Something seems off though, but he pegs it up to his body going through changes. He must be in the early stages of his rut because he isn't trying to rub one out yet.
It's best if he takes his shower soon, so he can hop out and tell his parents to call him out of school for the week because yes his status had finally come and he would be able miss a week of school every other month when his rut hit. He takes his shirt off first and admires himself in the mirror. He knows that his muscles will come much easier now that he's an Alpha. Next is the sweatpants that he sleeps in and he notices a wet spot on them, though faint. It isn't in the front where his half hard cock would be leaking precum.
His eyebrows come together in confusion as he takes off his boxers. The wet spot on his boxers is in the same place that it was on his sweatpants. The part right under his ass. But that can't be right, because he's an Alpha, and Alphas don't have that coming out their asses. Jongdae is hesitant as he reaches behind himself with shaky fingers and drags them down his ass crack. Wet. The shaking of his fingers intensifies as he pushes it deeper to his asshole, and with dread he feels the slick coming out from the source. There is no denying it.
He's not an Alpha. He's an Omega.
This is the worst thing that could happen to him. This isn't how his life was supposed to go. He was supposed to be an Alpha, go through college playing football with a pretty Omega cheerleader on his arm. Now here he is, the Omega. He's surrounded himself with Alphas, and now he'll be the sore thumb out.
So he does what he thinks will get his frustration out. He yells and screams and kicks the cabinet door that's under the sink. He must have woke his parents up because he hears a thud as one of them presumably falls off the bed and the other one is running towards the bathroom. They knock loudly. "Jongdae? Are you okay?" his mother sounds worried sick and Jongdae yells, "No, I'm not okay! My life is ruined!"
"What's w-" his father's words cut off as he undoubtedly smells his son's new scent. Oh. "Jongdae, listen to us, it's not as bad as you're making it out to be."
"Not as bad? Not as fucking bad!" he's so distraught that he doesn't hold his words back. "I spent my whole life thinking I was going to be an Alpha, my whole family are Alphas. The odds were in my favor, and look at what happens! I go against the odds and become this." he hisses out the words.
"Jongdae, come out. Let's talk about this."
"No, go away. I don't want to see anyone."
"But Jongdae, we have to help you. You're in heat, we can smell it. You're going to need to deal with this soon, before it fully hits you."
Jongdae remains silent as he slumps down on the toilet with his hands covering his eyes to try and keep himself from crying. But it isn't working and the tears push past his shut eyelids to end up in his hands. He doesn't respond to their further inquires and he hears one of them whisper that they're going to call Jongdae out of school for the week.
He starts up the shower and turns the dial all the way to cold, because in the fifteen minutes that he had been in the bathroom the temperature seems to have risen tenfold. He steps in and stands under the cold spray with his eyes fixed on the water going down the drain.
After twenty minutes of just standing in the shower Jongdae finally tries to actually wash his body, to get rid of the scent and as he starts to lather up the towel a sudden surge of arousal hits him and he drops the soap and hunches over in the shower. It's so intense that he feel as though he can't breathe, and the warm slick coming out his ass is a brutal reminder of what he is.
"Jongdae?" he hadn't expected his mother to still be standing outside the bathroom. "Are you okay?"
The surge hits again, more intense and he groans and falls down on the floor of the shower because it had taken all the strength out of him. He hits his elbow on the way down and he groans even louder. "Jongdae?" his mother is pounding against the door but he can't answer through the pain of his elbow and arousal.
The door opens moments later and the shower is shut off and a towel is wrapped around his shivering body. Funny, he didn't think he was that cold. His mother furiously wipes him off and his father leaves the room and comes back with a change of clothing for Jongdae.
"My baby, are you okay?" she uses a different towel to dry off Jongdae's hair and his father pulls a shirt on over his head after it's been towel dried sufficiently. Jongdae allows them to treat him like a small child again as they dress him without fuss and they look over his elbow which is clearly bruised.
They stand and look at each other as their son remains limp on the toilet seat. He isn't going to make the effort to leave the bathroom by himself, so his mother picks him up and carries him to his bedroom. She doesn't want to leave her son at a time like this so she sits him on her lap and pets his hair, and the shock of his situation finally seems to hit him and he turns and nuzzles himself in her neck and lets out a sob.
"Jongdae, baby, don't cry. It's not that bad honey."
"I'm an Omega!" he wails.
"Yes, but that doesn't change who you are. You're still our son, you're still Jongdae, the quarterback of Seoul High football team. You're perfect, you know that baby? No one is going to care that you're an Omega. We still love you the same, Minseok is still going to love you the same. Your friends aren't going to treat you any differently."
"But-but. I don't want to be an Omega."
"We understand, Jongdae, but you not wanting to be an Omega is not going to change the fact that you are one." Dohyun leans down and pats his son's head. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to accept it. You're still the same you. Understand?"
It takes much calming down, but Jongdae is left alone and tucked in his bed. His parents have told him that if it gets to be too much then he should handle it. His mother even offered to go out and buy him a toy to help it pass by faster. He had refused and snuggled deeper into his bed sheets.
The days pass by in a blur of sweating out his clothes and his slick soaking his sheets. He's sure his parents are tired of having to do the laundry every day but Jongdae refuses to do anything to relieve his heat. He refuses to touch himself.
On Monday he wakes up to someone poking his cheek. He's ready to bite the finger off because the heat had died down enough for him to go into a restless sleep when he sees who the finger is attached to. "Don't you have school?" he asks his older brother, who is sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at Jongdae.
"Nothing I can't miss. Besides, it's Tuesday, I only have one class. Mom and Dad called me, before you ask. They couldn't take another day off, so it's up to me to make sure you're okay until they get home." Minseok points at the water that he had placed on Jongdae's bed stand. "I brought that, you need to stay well hydrated."
"Thanks." Minseok has to drive hours from his college to get there, so Minseok must’ve really cared if he’s here.
It's quiet for a few seconds as they stare at each other and Minseok finally asks, "How are you doing?"
"Shitty. How else would I be doing?"
Minseok shrugs. "It'll get better when you find someone to help you out."
"As if I'd want that."
"Oh, denial? The great Jongdae doesn't want to admit that he's an Omega? That in order for his heat to be shortened he's going to need to take a cock up his ass? I know you've spent most of your life thinking that you'd be the one to stick it in someone, but come on Jongdae."
"I was just so sure, Minseok. I was so sure that I was going to be an Alpha. And look at me. No knot, but slick coming out my ass." Minseok listens as his brother whines even more and eventually Jongdae tires himself out and his eyes are fluttering shut and Minseok can leave and go to his room and take a possible nap and text people.
The heat breaks the following Saturday and Jongdae is more than happy to leave his room and take a long and hot shower. His parents had taken the liberty to prepare a large meal, since Jongdae hadn't eaten much when he was in heat and they watch silently as he snarfs his food down.
When he's finished he's ready to go back to his room to finally get a good night's rest when his father clears his throat. "Jongdae, we need to talk." Jongdae really wants to say 'no' but the look on both of his parent's faces says this isn't one of those arguments that he can just skip out on.
He settles into his seat in the kitchen and his parents look at each other as if they're trying to figure out how to start this.
"Jongdae, this may be a little late, but we need to have the talk." Dohyun starts. "You are so well versed in the way of being an Alpha, that you never looked into the possibility of you becoming anything other than that."
"As you know, now that you've matured, you're able to smell things. Emotions, statuses, that sort. You'll also be able to tell if an Alpha is in rut or if another Omega is in heat. The things that comes with this is that you have to be careful. Others are going to be able to smell if you're in heat, and if you're aroused." his mother sighs. "This means you're vulnerable to Alphas. You can't let them take advantage of you. Your being in heat, and around Alphas and Betas isn't a good thing. The only reason you were fine here is become we're family and it doesn't affect us."
"You also have to be careful of Alphas in their ruts, because their smell can draw you in. Do you understand what you being an Omega means, Jongdae?" Dohyun leans forward and puts his arms on the kitchen table as he looks at his son. Jongdae nods. It means he's going to have to be careful the rest of his life, or at least until he finds a mate to protect him. He was supposed to be the one protecting his sweet Omega mate, but now he has to be protected. He hates himself just a little bit.
"Can I go?"
"Yes, but we'll talk about this more later."
-
Jongdae is trying to think of a good excuse to bullshit his way out of not going to school today. He can't say he's sick, he can't say he's in heat. In the end he's just plainly honest and tells his parents he doesn't want to go to school because he's scared of how his friends will react and if they'll treat him differently, because he's been ignoring all their texts, and Hanbin's texts asking how it feels being an Alpha now.
His parents brush his concerns off and tell him that he should have nothing to be concerned about because real friends will treat him no different in finding out that he's an Omega. Their reassuring words don't do much as he drives to school, actually following the speed limit and not going over. In fact, when he parks in the lot he really doesn't want to get out.
He ducks down and pretends he's on his phone so he doesn’t have to make eye contact with the people passing in front of his car. At 7:30 though he has to get out of his car if he's going to make it to class in time, thus hopefully avoiding more attention.
But the second he gets out the car and heads into the school heads start to turn. He sees them sniffing the air, trying to figure out where the new scent of Omega is coming from. Jongdae is holding his breath because his sense of smell had been assaulted when he got out the car, and he couldn't even begin to think of what it would smell like inside of the school with less air circulating.
But as he hurries his way to class he does have to breath and he breaths in a little and it's like a punch to his Omega, it's so overwhelming, the smell of all the Alphas and Betas, that he actually becomes slightly dizzy and tips over and leans against the wall to regain his bearings.
He doesn't see one of his cheerleader friends approaching him until she puts a hand on his arm. "Jongdae, are you okay?" she smiles as Jongdae opens his eyes and nods. "Yeah."
"You've been out for a while, just wanted to make sure. We missed you, you know. It-" she cuts herself off and Jongdae is filled with dread as she starts sniffing the air around him. Her face falls with realization. "Oh. Oh." Jongdae wants to shake his head because this is the end. The word will be spread around and everyone will know before lunch.
"I'll see you at lunch, alright?" Jongdae doesn't wait for the answer as he pushes off the wall and heads to class, but he sees her pull out her phone out the corner of his eye. Yeah, he has until lunch.
Jongdae sits down at the lunch table, ignoring a few stares from his teammates. He does feel the increasing amount of stares on him so he looks up and goes, “What?”
“Jongdae, is that you? Or did you spend a helluva lot of time with an Omega?” Hanbin leans forward to confirm his guess.
“Yeah, it’s me.” Jongdae looks down at his tray.
“Whoa. Dude. I thought for sure you were going to be an Alpha.”
“I know, Hanbin.” Jongdae’s appetite leaves as soon as this is said. “I thought I was going to be one too. But you see? Life sort of shits out on you sometimes. Whatever, I’ll get past it. Nothing’s going to change because of what I am.”
“Right.” Hanbin looks away as he says this, and leaves Jongdae to his own thoughts.
-
Nothing changes at first. And then, it slowly starts to happen. Jongdae’s usual spot at the rectangle lunch table is taken up increasingly often by someone. Whenever he does get to sit with them, the conversation will often die out.
As much as they try not to show that it’s because of him, he knows that it’s because of him.
What hits him the hardest though, is when he has to stay after for football practice. He has to go in and change after all the Alphas and Betas on the team get done, cutting off his practice time. It sucks, because a good ten minutes he could spend practicing with his team is wasted getting dressed.
Fewer and fewer of his teammates are talking to him. Even Hanbin, his best friend, has slowly started to drift away. He slowly stops waiting with Jongdae, who has to change after practice last. He slowly starts talking to the other players more. Jongdae has noticed Hanbin becoming closer to a basketball player, Jiwon, and eventually Jiwon is who takes up Jongdae’s seat at the lunch table.
What really hits the nail on the head, the final nail into his social life coffin, is when he overhears Taeyeon and a few of the other cheerleaders talking about a party going on at her house. Because Jongdae has to wait for the last football player to come out, he approaches Taeyeon once she’s distanced herself a little away from the rest of the squad.
“Hey, Taeyeon.”
“Oh, hey, Jongdae.” Taeyeon is as awkward as she could be, slowly trying to walk away from Jongdae.
“I heard you’re throwing a party on Saturday?”
“Oh. Yeah.” Taeyeon looks dumbly at Jongdae’s expectant expression. “Sorry I couldn’t invite you, my parents have a strict cut off on the amount of guests. Otherwise…”
“Oh, no, it’s cool. Respect your parent’s wishes.” Jongdae waves goodbye, but his hand is completely ignored as Taeyeon turns and makes her way over to the rest of the squad who has paused to see what’s holding up Taeyeon.
Jongdae feels his heart stop once he hears, “He actually thought I was going to invite him.”
-
He sits in his coach's office and as his coach sits across from him he wipes the sweat off his hands. "Yes coach?" he doesn't know what this private meeting is. They have conditioning in a few minutes and Jongdae should be getting ready to start.
"Ah, Jongdae. As you know, we're not officially in football season right now. No games, no after school practices until the spring comes." Jongdae nods. Of course, it's been like this since he was a Sophomore .
"Yeah, we're just conditioning now. Why coach? Something new coming up next season you wanted to tell me about?"
Jongdae watches as the coach shifts uncomfortably in his seat. "Yes, this is about next season. You need, Jongdae, since last month, your time with us has been cut a little shorter. You have to wait for the rest of the team to finish dressing before going to ready for it yourself, then you have to leave later, after we’ve cut off practicing. You're missing valuable time."
"It's nothing I can help, coach. Besides, I’ve been working more after everyone leaves. I even work when practice is cancelled." Since Jongdae’s social life had become nonexistent, there’s nothing more he can do besides practice harder.
"Yes, which is why I'm coming to this conclusion. You've been the team for three great years Jongdae, but I'm afraid to say now it's a bit uncomfortable for the other players, with you being…" he lets the unsaid word hang. Omega. It's because he's an Omega.
"I don't think I quite understand what you're getting at, coach."
"Well, Jongdae, I, along with the rest of the team, think it would be best for you to take a break from the team next season."
Jongdae has to let what Coach just said process in his mind and he goes, "What? Are you saying what I think you're saying? You're kicking me off the team?"
"Not kicking, but yes, we'd like you to stop playing for us."
"Next season would be my last season. Coach. You can't do this to me!" Jongdae slams his hands on the desk. "I've been on this team three years. Three fucking years of my life. And you're telling me that you want to kick me off just because I'm an Omega?"
"Biologically, you aren't going to be able to go as long or as hard as you have been. We don't want you to injure yourself."
"Bullshit. This is bullshit.” Jongdae takes a breather as he remembers something, “Wh-what about my scholarship? I got a scholarship by playing football. Are you just going to let them take that away from me?"
Coach shakes his head, "No! I'm sure that if you explain it to them, they'll let you keep it."
Jongdae has had enough and he pushes away from the desk. "I- I can't believe this. You're kicking me off this team? After all the wins I helped this school gain? I can't fucking believe this." Jongdae is hit with the unwelcome smell of pity and he withdraws away from the coach as he stands and tries to wrap a comforting arm around Jongdae.
"Did you wait until now to tell me? Did you know for a full month that you wanted me off the team, just to tell me a week before Christmas? The last day of the semester, so you wouldn't have to see me for three weeks? This is low, coach. I hope you're happy with yourself. Fuck you. And fuck them." Jongdae pulls the door of the office open and brushes past all his ex team members who were undoubtedly standing outside the office and listening. He doesn't even bother to get his things, he just grabs his keys and makes towards his car.
"You are all assholes. You know that?" he stops and looks behind him. "Were any of you really my friend, or did you just like me because of the way I played?" Jongdae is met with the glares of all the Alphas and Betas on the team. "You know, have a Merry fucking Christmas because you just ruined mine."
Jongdae stops in front of Hanbin, who reaches an arm out. “Sorry, Jongdae.”
“Don’t you fucking say sorry to me. You could have fucking spoken up, but you didn’t. And I know you didn’t, because you would have told me about this whole fuckover that just happened. Leave me the hell alone, and have fun spending your time with Jiwon. I hope you don’t fucking stab Junhoe in the back like you did me.”
Hanbin watches, stunned, as Jongdae power walks out the room.
Jongdae speeds the entire way home so he can just be alone. His life is ruined. They've just ruined his life. He's not on the team anymore. They fucking kicked him off the team. He brushes past his father who greets him at the door and immediately goes to the bathroom to shower to cool off. It doesn't help, in fact it just leaves him to his own thoughts.
Am I not good enough? Is this what it really means to be an Omega? People don't believe you're strong enough to do anything? Jongdae ignores the tears coming out his eyes and lets the stream of water from the shower wash them away.
He goes to bed as soon as he's out the shower even though it's only seven. He ignores his parents calling him down for dinner and furrows deeper under the blankets to try and escape the real world. He dozes off and wakes up to the dipping of his bed.
When Jongdae looks up he sees Minseok leaning down over him. "Okay, spill it Jongdae. You came home early, missed dinner, and wouldn't take to any of us. On top of that, the house is infused with the smell of your misery. What happened?"
Jongdae looks away from his brother and mumbles into the pillow.
"What?"
"They kicked me off the team. Because I'm an Omega."
"Who is they? You’ve got to be joking, right? You’ve been on that team as early as you could get on it. They wouldn’t just kick you off like that, for a stupid reason.”
"Coach and the team. And yeah, they did just that.”
Minseok is silent as he gathers Jongdae up in his arms and lets his brother wipe his tears and snot on his shirt. "Three years Minseok. And it takes them less than a month to decide that they don't want me. I've worked so hard, and now look at what is at risk. My scholarship, I have no friends. My life is going down the drain."
Minseok mumbles encouraging words into his brother's ears. "No friends? I’m sure you have some."
"No, the ones that I thought were my friends are the main ones laughing behind my back. When I walk past them I hear their whispers, I hear everything they say. They mock me and say things I used to say before I was an Omega. Even Hanbin turned against me. My best friend Minseok."
“Look, Jongdae, don’t let them get you down. I’m sure if we tell Mom and Dad what happened, they’d call the school up and have this looked into. This is discrimination.”
“I don’t want them looking into it. It’ll just make the team hate me more. I just want to be left alone to deal.”
Turns out, Jongdae really wanted to be left alone. He didn’t even come out of his room on Christmas willingly. He hadn’t opened his gifts with much excitement, and after thanking his parents and brother, and saying that he hoped they liked what he gave them, he disappeared back into his room.