Chapter Text
Hyunwoo checks the clock above the corner counter for the umpteenth time that night before sharing a concerned look with Minhyuk. They’re both worried sick. It’s unlike the young omega to be late. He would always call and let them know if he would be running late or if he wasn’t coming that night.
Jooheon is a regular at their diner. A smart boy who moved into a small studio apartment in the area about eight months ago. He was fresh out of university and had just gotten his first job in the city so he had to get himself a place. It was his first time living on his own but he was in a good neighborhood. Not that it's an expensive or luxurious area or anything, no, it's the people who are good. Everyone has got each other’s back here.
Hyunwoo owns a small diner. He always loved food ever since he was a kid and his favorite time of the day was when he got to help his mom around the kitchen. So when he finished school, he turned the small shop his dad owned into a cozy little diner. It was a cozy place and served good meals and it had its regulars. Hyunwoo knew all his regulars by name and would welcome everyone warmly. That said, it wasn’t a secret that he had a soft spot for the omega who had recently moved into the neighborhood.
Jooheon was so shy the first time he came into the diner, but Minhyuk, the manager, was able to melt his ice quickly and the boy became a regular. He’d eat there at least three or four times a week and almost always on Fridays. It was a fixed thing at this post. He’d leave the office around 6 and was at the diner around 6:40 and would always order his favorite dish so they’d usually keep his table empty and make sure his food was ready on time for him to arrive. this Friday night, though, he didn’t show up without calling.
The alpha was anxious and fidgeting all evening. He had a bad feeling in his gut.
“Did you try calling him again?” Minhyuk asks.
“Yeah, like a dozen times!” Hyunwoo snaps at the beta but immediately regrets it. “I’m sorry, Min.”
Minhyuk smiles in understanding and pats Hyunwoo’s arm. “It’s okay. I know you’re worried.”
“What if…What if something’s wrong? His phone goes straight to voicemail…”
Minhyuk’s eyes go wide in fear. “Are you saying…?”
Hyunwoo shakes his head and tries to swipe that awful image out of his head. “Fuck- I don’t know what I’m saying.” He sighs. “I just…I have a bad feeling.”
Minhyuk looks at the clock again. They have a couple of hours before closing but there aren’t too many people at the diner left.
“You should go look for him.”
Hyunwoo blinks. “What do you mean? I don’t know where he lives!”
“Not the specifics but he did mention that he walks by Ms. Go’s flower shop every morning and that he buys groceries from uncle Jeon’s. We know the general area.”
“What am I supposed to do when I get there? The shops there are probably closed by now, there won’t be anyone I could ask about him.” Hyunwoo shakes his head and starts pacing.
“Trust your instincts, Hyunwoo.”
So Hyunwoo does. He leaves Minhyuk at the shop with the rest of the employees and the few remaining customers and goes to look for the omega. He walks past the closed blinds of the flower shop and sighs. The supermarket Minhyuk mentioned is about a block away so he makes his way there.
Hyunwoo peaks into every corner and ally as he walks, trying to pick up the omega’s scent. He can’t help but imagine the worst case. What if Jooheon got mugged on his way to the diner. What if a group of creeps found him walking alone… he shakes his head. He can’t think like that. Jooheon has to be okay. He has to be. Not because of some selfish reason like Hyunwoo hasn’t had the chance -or the balls- to tell him he’s in love with him. He has to be okay because he’s the kindest soul Hyunwoo has ever known. He’s hardworking and honest and cares so deeply for the people around him.
From what he's told them, Jooheon didn’t come from a rich family, they were the kind of people who always had to be careful with how much they spent and usually made barely enough to cover all their expenses. The omega worked his ass off to get a scholarship and get into business school, even though that wasn’t where his heart was at. He’s always wanted to be a musician, to make music and write songs, but he knew that type of work wasn’t something he could make real money out of. He had to make money and help his family so that’s what he did. He had bought his first keyboard from an old second-hand shop after saving up for years and then had to spend weeks trying to fix the few broken keys. He taught himself most of what he knew and then learned a few more tricks from friends at the university. Hyunwoo remembers the first time Jooheon played him one of the songs he produced and how shy and flustered he was. The song was like nothing Hyunwoo has ever heard. It was beautiful and Hyunwoo remembers the melody vividly. He catches himself humming to it every now and then. Hyunwoo remembers the look on Jooheon’s face when he told him how amazing he thought the song was. The omega almost curled in on himself and his scent grew so sweet Hyunwoo could almost taste it.
Sweet…
Hyunwoo stops dead in his tracks. His nose is picking up the scent of honey and coconut somewhere nearby. It’s Jooheon. Hyunwoo would recognize it among a hundred different scents. He walks forward but the scent weakens so he walks back. He can’t pinpoint where it’s coming from and wants to shout in frustration. His own scent flares and he can sense it souring.
“ Trust your instincts ” Minhyuk’s voice echoes in the alpha’s head.
He closes his eyes and fills his lungs with air and lets his senses guide him. And it works. He turns back a few steps and turns right into a narrow alley. It’s dark and empty but the further Hyunwoo goes the stronger the scent gets. He can now pick up the hints of sandalwood in Jooheon’s scent that are usually not easily detectable. The scents are strong and pungent. Too strong. Almost as if…
Hyunwoo stops. There’s a dumpster a few feet ahead and he knows Jooheon’s hiding on the other side of it. The alpha checks his phone and his suspicion is confirmed. There’s no service here. He approaches with careful steps so he doesn’t startle the already terrified omega. Amidst the thick scent of Jooheon’s heat, Hyunwoo can pick up the distress pheromones.
He finds the omega sitting on the ground, hugging his knees to his chest with his face hidden behind them. Jooheon starts to shake upon hearing footsteps coming near, which means he didn’t pick Hyunwoo’s scent. So the alpha crouches in front of him with a few feet between them.
“Joo? It’s me, sweetheart,” Hyunwoo calls in a soft tone.
Jooheon’s head snaps up and his teary eyes lock onto Hyunwoo.
“H..hyung?” He whimpers, his bottom lip trembling.
Hyunwoo tries to let out calming pheromones. There wasn’t anyone around for miles, they were safe. His senses were getting sharper already.
“Are you alright? Are you hurt?” the alpha asks even though he’s pretty sure the younger isn’t injured. He would’ve sensed it.
Jooheon shakes his head. “N..no. I’m just…”
In heat.
“I know sweetheart, I know.” He croons, fighting the urge to just pick the omega up and take him to safety. Jooheon isn’t his omega. Hyunwoo would never do that without Jooheon’s permission.
“We were all so worried about you when you didn’t show up and we couldn’t reach you…”
“I’m.. I wasn’t supposed to… this soon. It happened when I was on my way. I couldn’t walk home or to you like this so I just… hid here…” he sniffs. “I… I was so scared, hyung…”
Hyunwoo suppressed the growl his alpha is threatening to let out. He wants to protect Jooheon. He wants to hold the omega and bury his face in the crook of his neck and breath his sweet intoxicating scent. He wants to scent him and-
“It’s alright, love. I’m here now, you’re safe. I promise.”
Jooheon visibly relaxes and nods.
“I’ll take you home, okay, sweetheart? We can’t call anyone here, there’s no service.” Hyunwoo explains while he takes his jacket off.
He wraps the jacket around Jooheon’s smaller frame and turns around on his knees. It takes the younger a few moments to push himself off the wall and wrap his arms around Hyunwoo’s shoulder but he eventually does and Hyunwoo carefully stands up and hooks his arms under Jooheon’s knees.
“Can you tell me which way is your home?” He asks, trying to keep his tone even and neutral. He can feel Jooheon’s hardness pressed into the small of his back and the warmth of his slick that’s spreading on his clothes. Hyunwoo isn’t sure the sweet scent will ever come off his clothes at this rate but he’s not sure if he even wants to get it off.
Jooheon points in the direction with his finger and then buries his face into Hyunwoo’s neck. Hyunwoo’s jacket should mask the scent at least a little bit.
Hyunwoo feels Jooheon’s heartbeat slow down as the omega calms down. He must feel safer now.
It’s a good fifteen minutes walk to Jooheon’s building and it’s not easy for Hyunwoo to walk like that. He’s extremely aroused and alert at the same time. It feels like his alpha is clawing at his inside for him to do something. He’s ready to fight anyone who tries to come near them and he’s seconds away from letting out a primal growl.
Jooheon’s thighs start to tense up every now and then. Hyunwoo can feel him twitch in his soaked pants against him. But Hyunwoo says and does nothing.
“Hyung…” Jooheon mumbles with his face still pressed to Hyunwoo’s neck. “ It hurts… ”
The alpha halts, his legs freezing on their spots and refusing to move. His breath was coming out like a huff. Every cell in Hyunwoo’s body was telling him to let his alpha take over. Claim his omega. Take him right then and there. Bury his knot inside him and breed him.
But he pushes through it all and doesn’t let it fog up his brain. He can’t lose control. “I know, love. We’re almost there.” he breathes, almost choking up and tries not to breathe too deeply. The less pheromones he inhales the better.
Jooheon mewls and squirms, making his hard dick rub against Hyunwoo’s back, almost making the alpha’s eyes roll back.
It’s another five minutes before they get to the omega’s apartment, although it felt like hours for both of them.
Jooheon, with much struggle, pulls his keys out of his pocket and gives them to Hyunwoo when they reach his door on the third floor. Hyunwoo ignored the elevator and climbed the stairs like Jooheon weighed nothing. He wasn’t tired. Quite the opposite, he was brimming with energy.
He unlocks the door with relatively steady hands and lets himself in. Jooheon doesn’t seem to be in a state to walk. Not until after the first wave passes at least.
“Where-”
Jooheon interrupts him before he finishes and points towards the hallway on their left. “My b-bedroom.”
Hyunwoo holds his breath as he walks towards the omega’s bedroom which will be his nest. Smelling an omega in heat and smelling their nest where they’ve spent multiple heats in are two different things.
The alpha has had quite some experience with a few omegas since he presented but never in his life had he felt the urge -need- to take care of an omega in heat like this. He can feel sweat trickling down the sides of his face and neck. His skin is on fire.
He sits at the edge of the bed so Jooheon can get right down onto his nest but the omega doesn’t let go.
“Hyung…” the omega whines in a small voice and tightens his grip around Hyunwoo’s shoulders. “Don’t leave…”
Hyunwoo swallows and closes his eyes to gather as much strength as he can and unwraps Jooheon’s arms from around him. The omega is too weak and too far gone in heat to resist him.
When Jooheon is safely lowered onto his bed Hyunwoo slips off and turns around to kneel in front of the omega. It’s the first time Hyunwoo is actually seeing Jooheon clearly since he’s found him. It was too dark in the alley to see his face but he looks… sinful, in the most ethereal way possible. That doesn’t even make sense and yet here Jooheon was with his impossibly red lips that were swollen and shiny from the omega’s incessantly biting them. His full cheeks were rosy and his sweet almond-shaped eyes were glassy and hazy. Jooheon’s hair was damp from sweating and his curls were all over the place but Hyunwoo couldn’t help but think he was the most beautiful boy he’s ever laid eyes on. so sweet... so lovely...
“Jooheonie, sweetheart… you’re in heat. You can’t make a decision like that when you’re so far gone…” Hyunwoo explains. He can’t even bring himself to let the boy down at once. He’s physically unable to.
“I’m… I’m not, hyung! I want you…please… ” Jooheon pleads and his pouty lips tremble.
Every second Hyunwoo stays it gets harder to resist. His blood feels like molten lava in his veins.
“My precious honeysuckle, I would be lying through my teeth if I said I wasn’t dying to have you right now.” Jooheon’s eyes widen and sparkle in hope and excitement. “But I know how special your heat is… I just-” Hyunwoo pauses and sighs before finishing his sentence with a heavy heart. “I don’t want you to regret this later.”
Jooheon shakes his head frantically and reaches to hold Hyunwoo by the collar to make sure he wouldn’t leave.
“No no, Hyung, please… Listen to me!” he pleads, eyes filling up with tears.
Hyunwoo cups the omega’s cheeks and caresses his round rosy cheeks with his thumb. “I’m listening, sweetheart.”
“I was on my way to the diner to tell you- I…” he says with a shaky voice and starts stumbling over his words. “I went back home to change into something cute because I was going to…”
Hyunwoo is confused but he doesn’t rush the omega. He waits patiently and assures Jooheon that he’s listening.
“I was going to confess to you tonight, hyung.”