Chapter Text
Seungmin's ideal world had many problems to overcome. Economic inequalities, political problems, wars, hunger—many problems that many people would describe in the same way. Seungmin was potentially aware of them. How could he not be? That was one of the main reasons he chose law. To ensure justice, to create a world where everyone lives peacefully and equally. But Seungmin had decided to focus much more on one of these problems. He had broken them down, tried to find the root cause, and finally made a decision.
At the root of every problem lay the Alphas.
His action plan had developed around this, shaping everything he had experienced and observed since childhood around this plan, and engraving it in his mind like a motto.
"What are you doing?" Jisung had asked. They had met at their usual cafe for lunch. Seungmin liked to think of himself as having a very select group of friends. Okay, actually they weren't very select, but they were Omegas after all. This always put them one step ahead in Seungmin's eyes. They lived in the same dorm. Seungmin shared a room with Changbin, and Jisung shared a room with Chan, and their rooms were right next to each other. This made them almost inseparable, even though they were in different departments.
“I’m working on my project.” It was very important, very, very important.
“What project?” Chan asked. “I thought your department only required memorizing a few laws or something.”
“Ah, right. Not for this class.” Changbin instantly put his head down on the desk, unable to suppress a groan as he said, “Please don’t ask.” What was coming was obvious.
“What is this project about then?” Jisung asked. Changbin’s prayers to God, as usual, went unanswered. Though, he didn’t fully believe in God until he met Seungmin. It was just because of Seungmin that they had been interacting with each other so much lately.
“I’m glad you asked,” Seungmin said with great seriousness. Then he began to explain.
“It’s a project about all Alphas starting their lives in prison. The moment we realize a kid is an Alpha, we put them in prison. Then they go through rigorous training there. They stay there until a jury of Omegas approves that they’ve passed the training.” Changbin had already started banging his forehead on the table.
“So how many people are on the jury?” Chan asked curiously.
“I haven’t decided, Chan. It doesn’t seem that important.”
“How many ‘yes’ votes do they need to get them out of prison?” Jisung asked.
“All of them, of course.”
“Can we stop encouraging him? He’s becoming more and more unstoppable.” Changbin pulled the papers in front of Seungmin, who could only reach out and say, “Hey…” “You can’t deny this is a great project.”
“Seungmin, your next project will be about genocide, and we need to stop it. The world is suffering enough because of it. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not a fascist, you idiot.”
“I wouldn’t say no to Hyunjin going to jail,” Chan said thoughtfully. Seungmin and Changbin turned to him at the same time and spoke simultaneously.
“Look, that makes sense.”
“Shut up, Chan.”
Seungmin, of course, knew that some plans would never come to fruition. It was all a dream. But still, he lived for a world where Omegas had more rights. Maybe when he became a lawyer, he could even put a few Alphas in jail. Time would tell.
--
The hockey team had a certain routine. They practiced four days a week, early in the morning, working their hearts out to better represent the university. They were generally a harmonious team. Everyone got along well. Of course, like any team, there were exceptions. Because, you know, when the number of people increases, disagreements are inevitable.
“How about I take you out to dinner?” Hyunjin grinned shamelessly. No one could bring down his self-confidence. He had been rejected so many times that it had become a habit, an addiction he couldn’t quite name.
Maybe he was a masochist. Who knows. There was no one normal here.
“What do you suggest?” Chan asked. Hyunjin instantly perked up. That same hope, that same spark, ignited and turned into a great fire every time Chan spoke to him. That’s why he kept circling Chan like a mosquito drawn to a light.
“A new barbecue restaurant has opened. I wanted to try it. What do you think?”
“I’m vegan.” Chan spoke with a blank expression, not a single change in his facial muscles.
“Chan, you’re not a vegan or anything. Oh my God! We’re wolves. We hunt rabbits for sport.” Hyunjin was on the verge of losing his temper. Chan was driving him crazy. In the best and worst ways.
“So you’re this kind of Alpha. You don’t even respect my food choices.” There was a glint in Chan’s eyes, an incredible pleasure in watching Hyunjin collapse.
Maybe he was a sadist. We don’t know.
“Besides, I’m older than you, you idiot. Speak to me respectfully.” Hyunjin wanted to be very respectful to him. He wanted to open doors for him, pay for his meals, respectfully run his hands through his hair, respectfully take him to bed. He would do all of this very respectfully.
“If I call you hyung, will you go out with me?”
“No.”
“Baby, don’t be like that.” He was very close to throwing himself on the floor and stomping his feet. He felt like a child having a tantrum in a supermarket. He wanted to lie on the floor and stomp his feet and cry.
“What can I do to make you go out with me?”
“Maybe I’ll go out with you if you shave your head.” Now, Hyunjin loved his hair. It was healthy, beautiful, and complemented his artistic personality. The moment Chan said that and walked away, Hyunjin was already mourning something big. That night, he cried into his pillow, looked in the mirror and cried again, stared at his razor and cried once more, and cried even more after finishing his razor.
The next day, when Minho and Felix came to support him, placing their hands on either shoulder, Chan just stared blankly for a few seconds, grimaced, and said:
“I said maybe.”
As soon as Chan went to join his other teammates, Hyunjin turned to Minho.
“Get this done. Right now.”
That night, he watched two romantic comedies back-to-back and continued to cry.
--
Felix liked to describe himself as sunshine. He was someone who defied the established Alpha mold, challenging those patterns with his unique character. He never confined himself to a label. He got along well with everyone, prided himself on his sociability, and knew everyone loved him. Well, almost everyone. Felix never imagined he would ever think he hated someone. The very thought of hating someone was a far cry from his reality. But Felix almost, I mean almost, thought he hated that Omega. This wasn't because of their fierce competition for first place in their department. It stemmed from their minds working in complete opposition, defending opposing viewpoints on almost everything.
If Felix said that tree was green, Changbin would spend a week studying light refraction, figuring out all the color theory or whatever, trying to prove that damn tree wasn't green.
They would kill each other.
Felix wouldn't be able to graduate from the Literature department he so passionately enrolled in because he would rot in prison. Or in a grave. It didn't make much difference.
“Tolstoy, with his work War and Peace, presents us with a panorama. He writes about life, nature, love, and humanity as they are. In Dostoevsky's works, we only see people suffering. But in Tolstoy's works, people live...”
Felix really didn't want to interfere. He really couldn't help it. He felt as if someone was sticking needles into his body. So when his sarcastic laugh echoed loudly in the classroom, the teacher immediately turned to him. As if he had been expecting it.
“Mr. Lee. Do you have something to say?”
It was almost a tradition. The class seemed to eagerly await the argument between the two.
“Yes, Mr. Kim. I disagree with what our friend said. Tolstoy doesn't write things as they are. He filters things through his own moralistic lens before writing them. He tries to teach us lessons. But literature doesn't work that way. In Tolstoy's understanding of literature, everything is close to perfect. But the human soul is not perfect. It is broken and fragmented. Dostoevsky shows us exactly that.”
Changbin stared at him, his eyes narrowed, his face bright red. This was such a familiar sight for Felix that he couldn't help but feel a deep pleasure.
“Perfect? I don't think you've ever read the psychological breakdowns of the characters in Tolstoy's novels. Dostoevsky only conducts his own ideological battles through his characters. Broken and tattered? Only ideologies clash there.”
“Ha! I guess you haven't read Dostoevsky properly…”
Then this argument continued for another half hour. Everyone in the class watched their flushed faces and rising voices. Finally, Felix slammed his hand hard on the desk in front of him.
“Fuck Tolstoy. Dostoevsky is the true man.” Changbin instantly took a deep breath in shock.
“Rude.”
“Okay,” said the teacher. “I think that's enough for today. We'll continue next week.”
Yes, one of them would become a murderer. But when? Only time would tell.
--
Minho couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe how he'd gotten himself into this situation. Maybe a few times in his life he'd been in incredibly difficult situations, but he'd always found a way out. But there was no way out of this. First, Lee Minho was a proud Alpha. He never went back on his word, never shied away from a challenge. Second, Hyunjin was on the verge of exploding, and Minho loved his friends, even if he didn't show it. Third, Kim Seungmin was annoying.
All of this combined, and at eight-thirty in the morning, near the law school, Minho found Seungmin exactly where he expected to find him. The boy was on a bench. He had a megaphone in his hand, and Minho wanted to smash it. But he was still there. Just thirty days. Thirty days later, all of this would be over.
“Did you know that Omegas have a 45% lower job placement rate than Alphas? Companies avoid hiring Omegas because they don’t want to give them maternity leave. But the government also wants to increase the birth rate. Now I ask you, if you don’t give your employees maternity leave, how do you plan to increase the birth rate?”
Forty-five percent? Minho thought. My God. That was a high rate. Wait a minute. That wasn’t the point. He needed to stay focused. So he calmly walked towards the bench where Seungmin was standing and stopped right in front of him, waiting for the boy to notice him.
“And did you know that most research in the health field is done on Alpha bodies and that medicines are produced according to them? We are treated as second-class citizens even in the health system. To fix this, I expect you at my march in Seoul Square tomorrow evening.”
Minho just stood there, staring at him, and when Seungmin lowered his gaze, the expression of disgust that instantly appeared on Minho’s face almost made Minho roll his eyes.
“Seungmin.” Confident, shoulders straight. Minho knew he was a handsome Alpha. Despite Seungmin's displeased expression, he was sure Seungmin thought so too. No Omega he'd pursued had ever rejected him. And Minho was certain. Seungmin was like that because he hadn't found an Alpha who wanted to be with him. Every Omega wanted an Alpha. Seungmin was never an exception.
“Let's talk about the university hockey team,” Seungmin continued speaking through the megaphone. “Did you know there’s only one Omega on the team? Let’s put a stop to the discrimination against Omegas in sports. We can be on teams too.”
“Oh my God!” Minho couldn't stand him. “There’s only one Omega on the team because only one Omega showed up for the tryouts, Seungmin. Now, if you’ll put down that megaphone, I have something I want to ask you.”
Seungmin looked at him suspiciously. He’d only met Lee Minho face-to-face a few times before, and even then he’d chosen to turn away. They’d never spoken. Seungmin didn’t care whether he spoke to him or not. His presence here was strange. So when he got off the bench and stood in front of him, his mind was filled with nothing but questions.
“Do you want me to tell Chan something? You can text him,” he said. Nothing else was on his mind. He knew Minho through Chan, and nothing else about him. So he couldn’t think of anything else.
“No. I wanted to talk to you.” Seungmin frowned and looked at him.
“About what?” he asked.
Seungmin could have expected anything. Minho could tell him anything. Maybe there was a bug in his room and he decided to ask for help because he was afraid of bugs; Seungmin wouldn’t have been surprised. Or maybe he wanted to define himself as an Omega now; Seungmin was really open-minded, he could accept that. But he absolutely never expected this.
“I like you. Go out with me.”
And that was the beginning of Seungmin’s personal nightmare.