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Sungho sits on the balcony under the warm afternoon sun, watching with hawk eyes the head of his royal guard throw his head back with a boisterous but quiet sound, indulging in whatever funny thing one of the other guards had said. The group is too far from the balcony for Sungho to hear whatever they’re talking about that sparked such a reaction from Woonhak. Something inside him burns at the sight of Woonhak acting so carefree around those males when he always acts so uptight around him.
Jealousy burns inside him, his citrus scent so strong and bitter that could choke anyone standing nearby.
Kim Woonhak and him used to be close in the past, friends growing up together in the castle, always playing and clinging to each other in ways that some would say only future mates would – and for the most part of Sungho’s childhood, he believed that Woonhak would be his future mate, keeping the younger boy close to as his feelings for him developed into something beyond friendship and brotherhood. He still remembers the walks through the garden, the sleepovers in his chambers, the jokes that only they could understand, the childish promises that he holds on tight even if it means nothing anymore.
What a strange thing to reminisce about a past that Sungho seems to be the only one clinging to.
He was the first one to present. As expected from someone with royal alpha blood running through his veins, Sungho was met with the presence of his secondary gender a few days after his seventeenth birthday. An usual situation for most of the members of his family, to present so early and as an alpha nonetheless, their dominant genes so powerful that it couldn’t wait to show itself to the world. Sungho wasn’t surprised when he woke up feverish and craving for Woonhak’s company, he spent his whole life before that moment planning how things would go between them. Woonhak would present as an omega or even a beta somewhere after his own presentation and they would mate instantly, made for each other since the moment they came out of their mothers’ wombs.
Everything seemed perfect in his head, a fairytale coming to life like the ones that his mother used to tell him before bed.
But all of that changed when Woonhak completed nineteen and presented as an alpha instead of an omega or a beta like Sungho planned. Now that he thinks about it, he should’ve seen it coming. The Kim’s are distantly related to another royal bloodline, made of alphas that used to fight against Sungho’s bloodline before they were subdued. Sungho was happy upon knowing about his best friend’s secondary gender despite it all, that meant Woonhak could sign for the royal guard program and fight by Sungho’s side when he became a king, he could protect the prince and stay by his side for a long time.
Still, the reality of his secondary gender shattered the fantasies that Sungho clung to for so long. An alpha cannot be mated or claimed by another alpha. Sungho would never be able to mate Woonhak and live the dreams he had for them – and maybe that’s why they’re called dreams, things that will never become true. His reality lies in the knowledge that he’ll never be seen as a member of the royal family without a properly marked mate by his side, an omega or beta that can carry heirs and be Sungho’s support on the sidelines.
In the beginning, he was set on making things work with what he had. Who cares if Woonhak is an alpha and cannot be mated by another? They could still make things work somehow, he’s not about to completely give up his feelings for the boy – a boy that now is a man, a man that has Sungho’s heart. Sungho still feels the same, still wants to drown in Woonhak’s candied strawberry scent and drink up all the soft and pretty noises the alpha makes. Sungho still wants the lingering scent on his sheets and his skin, the wet kisses and the warmth that Woonhak exudes whenever they’re close.
But as it seems, the other alpha had different plans for their future.
Woonhak had visions for the future, ones that didn’t match at all with the ones Sungho has. The first thing the alpha had said as soon as he emerged back from his chambers after his first rut, is that things would never change between them. They would still be friends despite everything, their romance wasn’t even anything serious to begin with. Sungho was devastated but tried to understand the younger; it’s better to have Woonhak as a friend than not have the man around him at all. The second thing he said was that he was accepted on the royal guarding program, but that he wasn’t doing the training on the castle as expected.
It’s a well-known fact that Woonhak would one day become Sungho’s right hand man the same way his father did to the Alpha King. The Kims have served as royal guards for many centuries, it wasn’t unusual that Woonhak would choose the Kims’ estate as his training ground, a place where he could grow into a skilled knight. What most people had no idea was that their friendship was slowly breaking like a frayed rope, and Sungho could do nothing but watch his best friend quietly but surely distancing himself.
With each day, Woonhak looked more like someone that Sungho’s mind made up rather than a real person that he had so many memories with.
Once the training was officially done and Woonhak moved back in the castle to become Sungho’s shadow and to aid the prince whenever he needed, Woonhak looked like an entirely different person. Quiet and withdrawn, not making eye contact or speaking directly to Sungho without being explicitly ordered to do so. His smiles and laughter were nowhere to be seen, the boyish and warm brown of his eyes replaced by indifference and coldness. The Woonhak that walked by his side looked nothing like the one Sungho fell for, the carefreeness from before replaced by tenseness.
At first, he thought all this was because Woonhak had grown up, turned into a more reserved person due to his important duties as Sungho’s guard and intense training. A voice in the back of his head said that this treatment and the new personality was a product of Woonhak despising Sungho with the time away. Back then, he ignored the voice with all the strength in his mind. Nowadays, he thinks that if he had actually listened to it earlier, it’d prevent him from all the ugly feelings that reside inside him.
One whole year passes by like this, filled with stilted conversations and awkward silences that leaves an angry and desolate hint at Sungho’s citrus scent – even his brother complained about how Sungho’s scent left them unsettled instead of feeling comfortable like it used to. He had to deal with the cruel reality that his friendship with Woonhak is completely in shambles, burning in flames and becoming ashes right in front of his eyes. He was ready to accept that Woonhak became a new person, people change with time and duties put on their backs. Sungho himself isn’t the same boy that Woonhak talked to before moving back to the Kims’ estate for training.
Imagine his surprise when he came to learn from the people around that Woonhak remains the same boy he used to be even with four years of harsh training and with his new responsibilities in the castle. The same funny and warm and kind soul he used to be before presenting, an alpha so understanding and caring and boyish that he managed to get all omegas and betas swooning over him. All those words acted like a bucket of cold water thrown into Sungho, freezing him to death. It didn’t make any sense to him.
How can Woonhak remain the same to everyone but look and act so strikingly different when it comes to Sungho?
After that, Sungho began to wonder where Woonhak hides his real self when he’s around, to where goes the warmth and kindness that everyone gushes about in the castle’s hallways but that Sungho has never seen again.
As he watches Woonhak from above, Sungho decides he cannot take any more of this treatment coming from his old best friend.
Earlier that day, he had to pay a visit to Duke Lee in order to see how his future royal advisor was faring – Sanghyeok caught a flu and was escorted back to his family estate, leaving Sungho alone for a few days until he gets better. It goes unsaid that the two hour ride to the Lees’ estate was unbearable, suffocating silence and palpable tension hanging between Woonhak and him as their horses galloped side by side, and another two more hours on the way back. All of it spent in the same way, Woonhak hasn’t looked his way for a second, looking more like a statue rather than a man made of flesh and bones.
Sungho has never experienced something so torturous ever since the four years Woonhak spent away from the castle, not a single letter delivered from the Kims estate addressed to him.
The moment their horses arrived at the castle’s courtyard, Woonhak jumped from the saddle and escorted Sungho back to his chambers in silence, scurrying away like a frightened hostage as soon as the prince’s chamber’s door was visible. Sungho stood still in the large hallway, heart clenching painfully in his chest and scent so off-putting that anyone would think he’s sick. It hurts to the point that Sungho feels like Woonhak is wedging a blade on his chest constantly, making it bleed as red as the alpha’s eyes.
Sitting on the balcony, he wonders what he did wrong to deserve such a treatment from Woonhak.
Now, watching in mixed emotions and with his own eyes as Woonhak goofs around with the other guards, showing off his pretty smile and unabashed laughter, Sungho has the confirmation he needed to let his pent-up anger flow freely in his scent and heart.
From the distance, Woonhak’s brown eyes look just as bright and sparkly as he remembers, familiar in a way that makes Sungho’s heart ache with longing. Woonhak talks animatedly with the guards, moving so much that his brown hair ruffled with each shake of his body. Everyone pays attention to him, laughing and becoming enchanted in a way that only Kim Woonhak manages to elicit in people.
Sungho watches and watches until the ugly feelings flare inside him like a fire in the garden, spreading around and dangerously burning everything to ashes. Woonhak hasn’t changed at all. He only changed when it comes to being close to Sungho, and Sungho is to be blamed for making the younger change into a completely different person.
Sadness dissolves with the acidness of annoyance and rage, letting go of any good feelings as Sungho begins to see red. It grows into a dangerous thing that has no control, a beast ready to annihilate a whole village. Sungho gives total control to his inner alpha, moving fast through the castle’s hallways to get to the garden, ignoring the bows and greetings from the servants around, mind clouded by the task of confronting Woonhak once and for all. To demand the truth, even if he has to rip it from the alpha’s mouth.
Sungho is officially tired of this push and pull game of theirs that never seems to reach an end.
The guards are the first to notice Sungho’s presence as he stops behind an excited Woonhak. Usually, he would acknowledge the bows and greetings, even engage in small and meaningless conversation with the people around. Sungho is known for being the most polite Alpha Prince this kingdom has ever seen. Today, he dismisses everyone instead of bowing back and greeting them like equals. The guards scatter instantly, probably intimidated by the prince’s poisonous citrus scent and the deep shade of red glowing on his pupils.
“Kim Woonhak.” Sungho calls before the alpha can reach after the other guards, probably confused by the sudden withdrawal from his peers.
“Alpha Prince?” Woonhak stutters with a yelp, turning around to come face to face with the fuming prince. He takes a single second to compose himself, kneeling right in front of Sungho and adding in a more serious tone, “How can I be of service, Your Highness?”
Sungho feels the anger clouding any remaining politeness inside him, his inner alpha almost in full control.
“Stand up straight and talk to me as equals, you coward!” he practically shouts, striding forward in two steps, burning any distance between their bodies. Sungho grabs Woonhak’s jaw with one hand and almost yanks his face up, forcing their gazes to meet.
“Your H-Highness–”
“Don’t call me that.”
And he doesn’t mean to throw his pheromones in every word that leaves his lips or movement of his body. As someone coming from a long lineage of dominant alphas, Sungho was taught from a young age to never let his dominance in full display, to show it in small portions for the sake of not accidentally overwhelming whoever is around. Sungho has never acted like this before, never allowed his inner alpha to speak louder than his human side, always collected to default. But this time, it proves to be impossible. Sungho has held back for too long, control slipping from between his fingers like sand.
He can see the overwhelmness in Woonhak’s face, his eyes are so wide and full of panic that they might come out of their sockets, lips parting in shock over the display of dominance over him. The younger tries to look away, shaking like a leaf at the mercy of the garden’s wind, seeking a way to flee from the shackles of Sungho’s pheromones like he’s been doing this whole time. Sungho doesn’t give him space to do it, staring straight into his brown eyes with ones filled with crimson. It’s a silent warning for Woonhak to not dare run away this time.
Then, a loud whine erupts in the middle of the silence between them. An out-of-place sound, one that comes from the back of Woonhak’s throat, one that an alpha would never do in the presence of another – even if it’s someone above ranks, or a dominant one like Sungho. The sound startles both at the same time, Sungho lets go of the man’s face in an instant, stepping back in surprise. Woonhak jolts on his feet, ears turning the same shade of red as the one in Sungho’s eyes, slowly spreading over his cheeks and neck before he drops his face to the ground and avoids Sungho at all costs.
“What in the name of the goddess was that?” Sungho demands, clouded by confusion.
For a moment too long, he thinks he imagined that sound – nothing in his mind understands or believes in what his ears just heard. In no way would the head of his royal guard, an alpha known among the people in the court to be the strongest of them all, submit so easily and quickly to another alpha. And not just any alpha, Sungho of all; the one that Woonhak is supposed to protect with his own life if needed.
Maybe it’s a trick of his mind. Sungho hasn’t been in his right mind for quite some days because of the lack of answers to Woonhak’s strange demeanor towards him,
They both stay frozen for a beat, chests heaving for different reasons – Sungho’s in a mix of surprise and confusion, Woonhak’s from sheer embarrassment. Sungho’s fingers burn at the tips, the place where he held Woonhak’s face, a sensation that he completely forgot of over time. The first physical contact they share since Woonhak came back from his training, the first time he dared to look straight into Sungho’s eyes. And he can’t take the sound and image out of his head, the whine followed by the way Woonhak has kneeled in front of him, such dirty and disgusting thoughts invading his head like parasites before he shuts them off.
The anger vanishes completely, mind grasping at anything and coming empty-handed from lack of what to focus on. All of a sudden, Sungho has so much to unpack that he almost regrets seeking for answers in the heat of the moment.
“I–” Woonhak starts, but cuts himself off immediately after. He shifts in place before coughing and pushing out a proper answer. “It’s nothing, Your Highness.”
A lie, the thing that Woonhak has been offering him, always tied with avoidance and silence right after. The same feeling of a knife plunged in Sungho’s back, twisting deeper and deeper as the seconds passed by. Woonhak vividly looks like he doesn’t want this conversation to last any longer, still staring at the ground instead of the prince. Sungho doesn’t feel the same anger that was moving him before, his inner alpha slowly calming down, the red of his eyes going back to his original brown.
If Woonhak doesn’t wish to talk, they will no longer talk. Still, Sungho needs at least one more answer before he stops pulling at his side of the fraying rope of their friendship.
“Why do you hate me, Woonhak?” Sungho asks, sounding more defeated than anything else. It’s a display of weakness for an alpha like him, but he doesn’t care – Woonhak has seen him in this state more than once before they presented.
“Hate?” Woonhak says, tasting the words with displeasure on his face. “I don’t hate you, Your Highness. I could never do such a thing to you.”
“Then why?” Sungho asks without a pause after the younger’s answer. “Why can’t you even breathe around me without looking like I’m about to rip your throat out? I thought you said we would still be friends after your presentation, I thought things would never change between us.”
He carefully watches Woonhak’s face, observing the way he presses his lips together in a thin line and squeezes his eyes tightly shut. His fists clench and unclench several times until he makes up his mind and opens his eyes again. This time, Sungho can see the confidence sinking back to him – the way he squares his shoulders and finally looks him in the eye out of his own volition rather than being obliged to do so.
“Your Highness, I take my duty as your guard very seriously,” he replies, but the confidence his body exudes doesn’t seem to be reaching his voice. It almost sounds like Woonhak is trying to convince himself and Sungho at the same time. “I cannot act distracted when it comes to your protection.”
That’s far from the truth, and far from what Sungho wants to hear. He cannot deal with the way the younger keeps piling lies above lies for no reason. Annoyance tastes like bitter oranges on top of his tongue and lingers until Sungho goes back to the same state of mind he felt back on the balcony, watching a completely different Woonhak compared to the one standing in front of him now.
“So you learned how to lie too in your time away,” Sungho scoffs, taking Woonhak by surprise with another spurt of pheromones. His alpha is back, howling with anger over the lies, spilling pheromones everywhere like a freshly-presented teenager. “You? Protect me? Kim Woonhak, you can’t even look into my eyes without shaking like a frightened omega.”
Woonhak swallows, his pride stabbed with a knife. “Your Highness–”
“You cannot meet my gaze for more than a few seconds, cannot be by my side without running away the moment your duties are over, cannot even speak my name without stuttering like a pup.” Sungho cuts him off, voice dangerously calm for the way his alpha is ready to jump at Woonhak and rip the truth from deep in the man’s throat. “Yet, you stand in front of me and claim that you’re ensured of my protection, and that’s the reason you have been acting the way you do. It sounds pathetic, Kim Woonhak.”
“With all respect, Your Highness, but I went through a very serious and harsh training for four years in order to ensure your protection in the future. You weren’t there and you know nothing about what I’ve been through,” he argues back, candied strawberry finally making an appearance – faint, hidden beneath the faux confidence mingled with his nervousness.
This is probably the longest Sungho has kept eye contact with Woonhak since he came back from training in the Kims’ estate. A strange peak on their scents makes them mingle together in a refreshing and sweet smell, a beverage made to get anyone drunk.
“I know that, Woonhak.” Sungho exhales, inhaling candied strawberry and letting it cling to his nostrils. “I spent four years waiting for a letter and a return from you. Would you be smart enough to guess what I earned from my supposedly best friend after four years of complete silence from his side? Even more silence, added with avoidance and coldness.”
“I beg for your forgiveness over not reaching out and staying in contact with you, Your Highness,” Woonhak says, looking for ways to finish their conversation but finding himself stuck in the same place. Sungho raises one eyebrow in challenge, making the younger alpha’s gaze drop down again in avoidance. “But I’m not avoiding you like you claim I’m doing.”
Sungho shakes his head, an eye-roll followed by an annoyed huff. Woonhak hasn’t even realized that his actions are completely contradicting to the words he keeps sputtering in vain. For a beat, Sungho wishes he could go back in time and prevent the younger to become a knight, to prevent their friendship’s demise.
For a powerful alpha like Sungho, having royal guards assigned to him is merely a formality that his kingdom uses to give space for skilled wolves, to give them a chance to savor the castle’s glory and give them a sense of pride over fighting for the prince’s safety. Sungho was raised to be powerful, red eyes a sign of his pureblood and dominance – alpha’s from other lineages don’t have glowing red eyes like his, Woonhak’s barely glowed the same crimson. Other royals have more than one guard parading around them, but Sungho chose to only have Woonhak back when he had the chance to choose, because in his head it would be enough if something ever happens.
They would fight side by side and protect each other when needed. But hearing from Woonhak’s voice that his avoidance and frightened demeanor are his ways to protect him makes Sungho’s alpha almost hysterical with rage. How dare Woonhak use such an excuse for his cowardly reasons?
“You don’t even believe in the lies that come out of your own mouth,” Sungho retorts, citrus overpowering candied strawberry, as bitter and dangerous as a venom. “But I’ll give you a chance to prove yourself to me, Kim Woonhak.”
Woonhak raises his head at the prince’s last words, looking at him with slightly furrowed brows and lips closed in a thin line. Sungho knows there’s only one way to rip the truth out of the younger, like they used to do in the olds days before presenting into two alphas and shattering their bond. It’s hilarious how even in a situation like this, Sungho’s alpha still finds joy in spending time with Woonhak.
“If you can protect me so well as you claim, let’s spar once the sun sets,” he continues after getting the other alpha’s attention, staring intently and royally at him, like a prince to a knight. “Prove me that you’re doing your duty as you claim to be and not avoiding me for your own, selfish reasons.”
Woonhak’s frown deepens, a retort about to slip through his lips. “Your Highness–”
“You’re not entitled to make a choice, Woonhak.” Sungho cuts him off quickly, one hand raised to silence the knight before he can say anything against the prince’s orders. An order, not a request to spar. Sungho isn’t giving him any choice like he used to do in the past. “My patience is running very thin when it comes to you. You better be in the sparring room at night or else there will be consequences. I might be a good person, but I can be very cruel once I reach my limits.”
Sungho turns away from Woonhak, walking back to the castle before he can hear whatever the knight is ready to spill in complaint – maybe he wouldn’t even say anything, since Woonhak has no words to say when it comes to Park Sungho. For now, he can only hope that Woonhak’s real reason for his new demeanor won’t be as crushing as everything that he’s been feeling lately.
As soon as the sun sets and the darkness of the night engulfs the bright skies, Sungho stands in the middle of the training room. In more comfortable clothing and with a sword in his hands, he waits for Woonhak to finally set down whatever has been happening between them. The sparring won’t be only a way to prove Woonhak’s value because Sungho knows that the alpha is more than skilled to protect him from danger if it ever arises. No, the sparring is to show if Woonhak will have the courage to look him in the face for more than seconds before running away like a frightened rabbit.
It’s a test, one that will lead to the patching of their friendship or to the official end of it.
The wooden doors fly open a few seconds later, a chest-heaving and slightly sweaty Woonhak standing in the entrance with his eyes slightly widened. Sungho stares at him with an emotionless face, even though his heart picks up a few beats at the sight of his first love. Woonhak shouldn’t look as handsome as he does, and Sungho shouldn’t be so affected by that. Still, old feelings are hard to let go – especially ones that Sungho has no intention of letting go anytime soon no matter what his anger tells him to do. Woonhak bows as soon as he closes the doors behind, head down in submission and back bent in a perfect display of politeness.
“You’re late,” Sungho says, voice echoing in the large and empty room. “I said when the sun set, and it had settled minutes ago.”
“Forgive my lateness, Your Highness,” Woonhak says, keeping his head down. His voice sounds a little airy, probably still catching his breath from the sprint he did in order to get to the training room in time. “The First Prince demanded my help with something.”
“You’re my guard, not his,” Sungho states, a wave of possessiveness taking over him. Since when Woonhak put his brother’s orders above his? Sungho feels his scent spiking up, but he tries to hold it back. “My orders shall be put first when it comes to you.”
Woonhak swallows, and Sungho watches the slight shudder that goes through the younger’s body. “Forgive me once again.”
“Get in position, Kim Woonhak,” he announces, walking to the opposite end of the room. “Make up for your lateness by showing me your value as the head of the Alpha Prince’s guard.”
Woonhak only straightens up when he hears the sound of Sungho’s steps reaching an end, walking to his own side of the room. The sparring dummies neatly lined up in front of the stone brick walls, the center area completely empty for them to spar as much as Sungho wants. Woonhak sheds himself from the cloak and his real sword, picking up the wooden one that Sungho left for him on the ground. Without the chasms that make him the head guard, Woonhak looks exactly like the boy that Sungho used to spar with before their lives changed completely.
It’s a deja-vu of some sorts, and Sungho has to hold back from not bitterly laughing at how much they both changed.
“Ready?” he asks, and Woonhak replies with a single and possibly hesitant nod.
That’s all it takes for both to spring into action, wooden swords clashing against one another as they try to disarm the opponent. For someone that seemed visibly hesitant at first, Woonhak seems to get into it rather quickly as his sword almost kisses the prince’s leg. Sungho feels euphoric by it, his inner wolf howling inside at how compatible they still are when it comes to sparring, just like it used to be before they presented.
Sungho with raw power and Woonhak with the agility of his training, a waltz of power and desperation to prove their worth. A dance that Sungho wishes would never end, and that Woonhak seems to be sharing the same opinion.
The adrenaline from sparring spurs them on further, skins grazing and blows landed without the intention to hurt. It’s not a real fight per se – if it was, Woonhak would be wheezing on his back minutes ago, Sungho took pride in his sparring skills. It’s like a memory from a forgotten past as they swipe at each other and miss, laughing freely at close calls as sweat drips from their skins and seeps into their thin clothes. Sungho feels giddy at that, like a child playing with his best friend again, and Woonhak looks at him with the same mischievousness he used to sport back then.
It’s fun and light, until it isn’t anymore.
Woonhak lands a blow that is supposed to be playful. Sungho accepts it and uses the chance to grab the younger’s arm and throw him against the wall. Woonhak lands on the ground with a loud thud, panting heavily, looking a little dazed at the sudden aggressiveness. Sungho smiles victoriously, and that seems to spark something inside Woonhak. He wipes the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and gets up, forgoing the wooden sword on the ground and clenching his fists as he pounces in Sungho’s direction.
Honestly, Sungho was expecting a fight to eventually happen between them when he decided to call the younger to spar. A sick part of his brain hopes that this can fix whatever made Woonhak treat him like a stranger, that punching the prince will make Woonhak’s alpha finally accept Sungho’s alpha. Because that is his last hope, and he knows that some alphas take time to warm up to others – Sungho himself has fought his brother in the past too, and now they have a good relationship. Sungho hopes and hopes, and suddenly nothing else makes sense.
As he stares back at Woonhak, his brownish hair pushed back and those pink lips parted, crooked teeth showing up and cheeks flushed from exertion as he tries to lunge at the prince with the intent to hurt, Sungho feels like he’s being punched straight on his guts. Woonhak is so handsome, even in the low lighting of this practice room, even with the tiredness seeping into his bones and features, even with everything that happened between them. Woonhak is so handsome and Sungho is in love, in ways he never felt before in his life for anyone other than this same boy.
Sungho wants to kiss Woonhak rather than keep fighting, but he can’t go back on something that he started in the first place.
“You’re so infuriatingly handsome,” he says, words spilling from his mouth before he’s able to lock them in the darkest corner of his brain. “It annoys me.”
He dodges the attack by grabbing Woonhak’s arm and pulling him even closer, bodies almost pressed together in ways they haven’t been in so long. In that one second of time, face to face and eyes locked on each other, Woonhak’s defense completely crumbles right in front of Sungho’s eyes. The alpha’s breath hitches, a moment of vulnerability that could be strangely mistaken as desire. Woonhak suppresses it as soon as it is revealed, hoping that Sungho hasn’t picked up whatever was pouring out of him. It’s not enough, Sungho’s alpha sees it and reacts before the human part of him can.
In a blink of an eye, Sungho is on top of Woonhak, pinning the younger onto his stomach with his teeth at the back of his neck, biting down strong enough to subdue but not hard enough to leave a mark that will be eternal. Woonhak’s wrists are pinned down at the sides of his head and Sungho’s hips are pressed against the other alpha’s to keep him in place. The position is a little too compromising, one that they’ve never found themselves into before. Sungho feels his pheromones losing control, making his mind hazy and unable to unpack how they went from supposedly-friendly sparring to whatever this is.
Candied strawberry fills his nose and he knows his citrus scent must be getting Woonhak in the same state of mind, but Sungho tries to fight it. He shakes his head and ignores how delectable Woonhak smells, trying to keep his thoughts in place because he needs answers more than anything else. He needs to know why Woonhak looked at him with desire out of nowhere, why his scent is so strong when it should be the opposite.
“Stop fighting your instincts!” Sungho snarls accusingly against the skin of his neck, voice dropping to a growl as Woonhak struggles against his hold. His scent feels off, almost as if he’s not only struggling physically but emotionally too, trying to hide away from Sungho. “Why are you avoiding it? Why are you avoiding me ?”
Woonhak visibly shudders at the low register in the other alpha’s voice. Sungho tastes something that he never felt before, coming directly from Woonhak. Submission, emanating from the alpha’s entire being in the shape of a cloyingly-sweet tinge in his scent; Sungho can almost smell the way Woonhak’s inner wolf is screaming to be claimed by him. Without the restraints and with no way to run, Sungho has Woonhak under him like an open book. A book that sings about mutual desire and keeping a distance in order to hide his true feelings, something so childish – something so inherently Woonhak.
Still, it makes no sense for Sungho. Not when he has been nothing but welcoming, not once hiding his own feelings for the younger, not when he’s been waiting for Woonhak to be his.
“I have to!” Woonhak cries out. His secret finally in the open for Sungho to use it in whichever way he wants. “I’m an alpha.”
“And why does that matter?” Sungho demands, not letting up as Woonhak continues to struggle.
Something deep inside tells him to not move away, to not give Woonhak space to get free and run away. If Woonhak manages to flee, this conversation will be avoided forever and Sungho is too far in this pit for answers to go back to five more years of silence and avoidance from the younger’s part. Sungho forces himself to breathe as much as he can, trying to calm down his racing heart and allowing his scent to be more comforting and confrontational, in hopes that this will make Woonhak relax and finally open up. He adjusts so that his face is no longer pressed against the back of the alpha’s neck, allowing the younger to turn his head so his cheek presses against the practice room floor.
Sungho can see Woonhak’s tear-streaked face as clear as day, and it hurts him more than being stabbed a million times.
“Have you ever seen an alpha willingly submit to anyone? Another alpha on top of that?” Woonhak admits with shame, sobbing like a baby. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I don’t know why you make me feel like this whenever you look at me.”
“Woonhak–”
“It’s so shameful!” he says through gritted teeth, trying to hold back his tears but failing miserably. Sungho keeps his pheromones as light as he can, coaxing Woonhak out of his shell. “Even being friends with me will only bring you shame.”
“I couldn’t care less about others,” Sungho says, his free hand hovering over Woonhak’s scent gland. He should touch him, he could touch him; but Sungho knows that in this state, in this situation, it’ll do more damage than help. A single touch would be enough to have Woonhak struggling again. “None of them matters to me when it comes to you.”
“Sungho-hyung, don’t…” Woonhak sighs, defeated and tired, like the weight of the truth and the sparring finally dawned on him. “Let me go so I can go back to my dut–”
“Do you love me, Woonhak?” Sungho interrupts, asking in the most soft tone he can muster in the moment. “And don’t think about how our biology makes us incompatible or how people will react. Be honest with me and with yourself. I just need to know this one thing, just this.”
Silence, heavy and suffocating, like a blanket on top of his body during the scorching summer. The only sound in the room being panting and the quiet sobs the younger alpha lets out sporadically. Woonhak stays silent for several long minutes, enough for Sungho to second guess his choices, enough for him to realize that maybe he got ahead of himself and read everything wrong.
In those painfully long minutes of silence, Sungho decides that maybe he should give up and let Woonhak go, to act like this conversation and the sparring never happened, to leave the memories that he keeps clinging to back in the past where they belong.
“I’ve always loved you, Sungho.” Woonhak whispers, still trembling under the older alpha but sounding more confident than before. “Even before our presentation. There’s not a time in my life where I didn’t love you.”
It should be considered shameful how relieved Sungho feels as soon as he hears those words – an alpha shouldn’t feel this happy over another alpha admitting feelings for him. Sungho decides that he doesn’t care, that nothing else matters besides Woonhak’s confession, besides their requited feelings and the future that they can have together. Sungho feels over the moon, the same way he felt when he first presented and had the hopes that Woonhak would be an omega, the same way he felt when he say Woonhak coming back to the castle after four years, the same way he felt when they first kissed back when they were unpresented teenagers.
“We can figure something out, Woonhakie,” Sungho reassures him, both in words and scent, engulfing Woonhak in a citrus that feels nauseating, all his emotions poured into the younger a little too quickly.
“It’s not that simple, hyung,” he says, voice weaker compared to before. Something in his scent feels off, but Sungho can’t point it out with how strong his own seems to be overtaking the place. “You don’t understand.”
“Explain to me, then.” Sungho pleads, sounding a little too desperate even to his own ears. “Talk to me, Woonhak.”
“You make me… You make me feel like I’m–”
Woonhak suddenly cuts himself off, gritting his teeth once again like he can’t allow the words to be spoken out loud. Sungho startles when the younger suddenly manages another attempt to escape, throwing his entire body into it. With the way their hips are pressed together, Woonhak accidentally grinds back up against Sungho’s crotch. The sudden stimulation makes the prince hiss, catching him by surprise. Sure, it’s not uncommon for him to get a little aroused while fighting, especially when he comes out victorious. But something about fighting Kim Woonhak and ending in such a position with him, having his ass directly pressing against his bulge, has Sungho’s restraints reaching its limits.
A strong gust of pheromones comes out, a heavy scent that makes Woonhak let out a whimper – a sound so desperate and needy that has Sungho groaning and almost throwing his head back. The younger alpha’s face goes bright red with embarrassment, more tears streaming down his cheeks as he unashamedly presses up against Sungho’s crotch again. Not an accident this time, not in a struggle to get away from the older alpha’s grip.
No, this time, Woonhak presses back with intent, his own pheromones flooding in the room, candied strawberry sweet and mouth-watering.
Sungho has grown around alphas’ scents and pheromones, especially in a family made mostly of dominant alphas. He has smelled those same pheromones a hundred of times, it’s the submission one that sometimes is full of pride and a desire to fight back. But Woonhak’s scent lacks all of that, it’s something that Sungho never sensed before. Utter submission from another alpha, Woonhak is giving himself completely to him without the intent to fight back.
It’s absolutely dizzying, it makes Sungho feel more drunk than any liquor the castle could ever offer. His inner wolf gets equally drunk from it, but not because Woonhak smells like freshly-baked pies in the kitchen. It gets drunk from the control that the younger alpha handed to him willingly, with no desire to bite back or to pretend that he doesn’t want this. Woonhak can no longer hold back his lust and desire, not with the way their bodies are pressed close in a way they never have been since their presentation. Woonhak’s walls crumble completely and Sungho can finally see the reason behind all these years and months of no contact, of avoidance, of silence and coldness.
Woonhak’s alpha reacts to Sungho the same way an omega in heat would, ready to be knotted and claimed.
The realization that Sungho has managed to make Woonhak, a powerful alpha with a prideful bloodline, want to be treated like an omega renders him completely shocked. It’s not unheard of that Sungho’s pheromones could make any alpha submit to him if he put them all out, but never before he had another alpha acting this way – wanting the things that Woonhak wants. It’s too much for a moment, Sungho can’t muster a single coherent thought as the younger keeps pushing his ass against the hardening tent in Sungho’s slacks.
One thing is clear, Woonhak can’t stop seeking the friction despite how ashamed he feels by letting the older see him in this state, unable to hold back now that he finally got what he’s been dreaming of for so long. Sungho can smell the conflict in the younger’s scent underneath the arousal, how disgusted and embarrassed Woonhak feels, how he probably wishes that Sungho will take full offense of his behavior and push him away. And maybe Sungho should be doing that, because no alpha would ever submit so willingly to another like this, would desire another to the point of acting like this.
Against the expected, Sungho doesn’t feel like doing any of those things because he feels equal pleasure in seeing Woonhak act in such an unabashed and selfish way. Gone are the inhibitions, gone are the fantasies that Sungho would make up in his mind to sate his alpha during ruts, constantly thinking about Woonhak in such moments. Sungho doesn’t care about morals or ethics or what’s considered abominable to society; all he cares is the pleasure coursing through him and the sureness that Woonhak not only loves him back but also wants him just as badly.
“I’m so sorry, hyung.” Woonhak says between sobs, shaking like a leaf at the mercy of harsh winds.
Sungho gets lost in the moment, completely unaware of how his silence only renders Woonhak more uneasy. The incessant shaking and the sudden quietness from underneath instantly brings Sungho back to reality, eyes focusing down on Woonhak. It rips another whimper from the younger, a sound that goes straight to Sungho’s hardening length. Woonhak is sweating profusely, and not from hours of sparring but from arousal. The redness in his face spreads to his ears and neck, dusting the skin in a shade that makes him look adorable. Sungho takes a whiff from him, smelling sweet but still an alpha even when he trembles with need.
A dormant and visceral desire to fuck Woonhak senseless takes over Sungho’s body, his cock twitching in interest.
“My body just keeps reacting like this whenever I’m close to you,” he admits quietly, embarrassed beyond repair. “And it’s so fucking embarrassing and shameful. I tried to stay away so you wouldn’t be ashamed of my behavior but I can’t control it. I–”
“You want this,” Sungho murmurs in awe, not registering any of the babbling nonsense coming from Woonhak.
He can’t help the mischievous grin that tugs at the corner of his lips at the knowledge of Woonhak’s desire for him. Maybe his intentions towards the younger shows up through his scent because Woonhak shudders under him, biting back a sound that resembles a gasp. Without warning, Sungho grinds back down against Woonhak, his hardness pushing at the fabric between their bodies and fitting snugly into the dip between Woonhak’s asscheeks. The dragging causes the younger to release a deep whine that makes Sungho’s body burn entirely, taking over my pure desire. Woonhak’s pheromones clog the room and intensifies everything inside Sungho tenfold.
Submissive, sweet and ready to be claimed by a dominant alpha like Park Sungho.
“You want me, ” he repeats deliriously, breathless as he continues grinding down against Woonhak. Slowly and teasing, enjoying every jolt and shake from the younger’s body against his own, every sound he tries to muffle by biting down on his lower lip, every waft of his scent directly into Sungho’s nose.
The last time he felt this urgency to fuck someone was on his first rut, when he deliriously begged for people to bring this same boy, that is now a man, into his chambers; inner alpha screaming for Woonhak’s scentless body to warm and calm him down. Now, he feels the same thing but worse, and no one can stop him this time.
“Hyung–” Woonhak chokes on whatever he was going to say, whimpering instead of using words. The honorific doesn’t go unnoticed – Sungho doesn’t even remember the last time he heard Woonhak calling him that instead of Your Highness or Alpha Prince.
It feels good, it makes him want to fuck him until all that comes out of Woonhak’s mouth is pleas of hyung .
Sungho doesn’t give him a chance to speak again or have a single second of clarity to second guess what they’re about to do. He leans close, face pressed into the younger’s nape as he licks a stripe up the side of Woonhak’s sweaty neck, tasting the salt of his sweat and the sweetness of his scent. Candied strawberry, such an unusual scent for an alpha but that fits this alpha so perfectly that Sungho can’t help exhaling loudly as the taste reaches his tongue. Woonhak shudders again, his entire body trembling as his eyes roll back, arousal leaving him equally delirious.
“Alpha Kim Woonhak, head of the prince’s royal guard, wants to be claimed and taken by another alpha.” Sungho growls, delighted at the way Woonhak reacts by letting out more of his scent. His voice lowers down to a dangerous whisper as he presses his lips against his cheek. “No, not any alpha. No other alpha would ever claim and take you. You want to be claimed and taken only by me.”
Gone is the embarrassment from before, taken over by a desperation that looks foreign in Woonhak but makes him even more desirable. The anxious tension from years of hiding his perverted and sick thoughts about another alpha leaves his body, and he nods his head to whatever comes out of Sungho’s mouth. Sungho knows that Woonhak can feel how much he wants him back, pressing open-mouthed kisses along the underside of Woonhak’s jaw, dazed with a happiness that could rival the warmth of the sun itself.
“I want to be yours,” Woonhak admits, slightly breathless. The rough pleasure from their grinding bodies pulling out all truths from him, as easily as pulling the strings of an instrument. “I want you to make me yours like you told me you’d do before we presented. Sungho-hyung, I need you to make me yours.”
Sungho goes crazy at the way Woonhak begs for him, like any alpha would go towards an omega that wants them. The fact that Woonhak isn’t an omega makes things more arousing. Here Sungho is, having his childhood best friend and fellow alpha, begging incessantly to be his. Luck sure seems to be by his side tonight.
“Oh, Woonhakie. You were always mine, that never changed.” Sungho coos, releasing one of his wrists to snake a hand around the younger’s torso, fingers dipping into the waistband of his slacks without hesitation. “And now, I’m gonna fuck you right here and make you into my pretty little omega. Isn’t that what you always wanted, baby?”
Woonhak whines deep from his throat, but doesn’t argue about anything that comes out of Sungho’s sinful lips. If anything, his scent speaks what his mouth can’t – and the amount of eagerness that Sungho’s nose catches up has a smirk growing on his lips. Woonhak’s cock is fully hard when he finally gropes it through his briefs, Sungho can feel where the knot is already forming at the base. He licks his lips, holding back a growl at the thought of Woonhak humping the floor with a swelling knot all because of him.
“You’re so hard for me already, Woonhakie,” he teases, warm breath against the side of Woonhak’s neck, making the younger shiver. “How long have you been dreaming about your alpha taking you like this?”
It’s a little risky to be acting and speaking this way to Woonhak in a public space, where anyone else could barge in and see Sungho inappropriately touching his guard, but he couldn’t care less. Sungho drags the younger’s trousers and briefs down his thighs, forcing him into his elbow and knees, presenting himself in the most omega way a submissive alpha like him can. Sungho feels his mouth water, to the point that he can almost feel it running down his chin.
Sungho uses his own saliva to coat his hand before he leans over Woonhak’s bent body, hand sliding around the younger’s cock in an easy and delicious glide. Woonhak shudders violently at his ministrations, his scent making Sungho go as dizzy as a sip of the richest wine of their kingdom.
He takes his time with the younger, making up for all the time and chances they lost because of Woonhak’s fear. Sungho moves his hand unhurriedly to the base, wrapping it around the rapidly growing knot, massaging it with his fingers in the same way he does with himself. It’s delightful the way Woonhak’s dick twitches in his hand, steadily oozing precum from the tip as he cries out, unable to muffle his sounds when using his hands for leverage. Woonhak pushes back against Sungho, hole dragging against the rough fabric of the prince’s pants, jolting with pleasure at the sensation.
With the way Woonhak moves, Sungho has the confirmation that this probably isn’t the younger’s first time feeling such pleasure and a wave of possessiveness burns inside him. A part of him knows that Woonhak probably touched himself like this before, but the rationality inside him is slowly melting and giving way to his primal instincts – ones that tell him that Woonhak probably has been touched like this before by someone else.
If that’s the case, Sungho will make sure that tonight will break Woonhak to the point that he’ll never want anyone else to touch him like this unless it’s his hyung.
“Hyung,” he whispers, pressing back desperately. Skin hot to the touch, Sungho almost moans at the feeling of it against his body. “Please.”
“You’ve probably touched yourself before thinking about this moment, haven’t you?” Sungho marvels. “Tell your alpha how often you do it.”
“I–” Woonhak whines louder as Sungho brings his other hand between their bodies and presses his fingers against the gaping hole, dipping two fingers at once. It gives way so easily, it almost makes Sungho believe that Woonhak is truly an omega ready to be taken. “I usually do it at night before sleeping, but I did it this morning too after we came back from the Lees’ estate. I just couldn’t control it.”
Impossibly, Sungho feels more aroused at that revelation. The image of Woonhak fucking himself with his fingers almost every night while thinking about him turns to be too much for the state his mind is. Worst, the thought of Woonhak going back to his chambers and plunging three fingers inside as soon as they got back to the castle early that day, still a little loose from fingering himself at night. Never in his wildest dreams and fantasies, Sungho imagined that Woonhak would act like this in the privacy of his chambers once night falls and duties are done.
Sungho straightens up, taking one of Woonhak’s soft asscheeks in his hand, pulling it apart to watch mesmerizingly the way his hole clenches needily around the two fingers lodged inside. He has to hold back from pulling his fingers out and shoving his cock inside Woonhak in a single thrust, uncaring either the alpha will handle it or not – a sick part of him wants to do that, just to prove his ownership over Woonhak, no alpha would ever try to fuck him again. Sungho takes a deep breath and pushes those thoughts away, experimentally pressing in a third finger and making sure that Woonhak will take him without any pain.
Although it’s a tight fit, the finger slips in just as easily as the first two and Sungho can’t help groaning loudly. It makes him wonder how many fingers Woonhak pushes into himself when he’s alone, thinking that Sungho’s fingers are the ones stretching him. Woonhak gasps at the stretch, shaking so hard that his elbows give away and he has no other option but rest his head against the floor, ass up and still presented to Sungho like a good omega.
“Fuck,” he breathlessly curses, painfully hard at this point. Sungho pulls out his own cock from the confines of his slacks, rubbing it against Woonhak’s fluttering entrance before he can stop himself. “And what do you think of? Of my fingers inside you? Fucking you open slow and nice while you get more wet than an omega? Taking my knot and letting me breed you until everyone in the kingdom knows that you act like an omega when you’re under a real alpha?”
Woonhak moans as Sungho’s cock drags against him, nodding desperately at all the babbling coming from the alpha above him. He’s so wet, even though his secondary gender makes him unable to self-lubricate, and it messes with Sungho’s head; so wet that Sungho could shove himself inside without any struggle and fuck the younger until he can’t remember his own name, until Woonhak gets knotted and bred like an omega.
“Yes, yes, all of it,” Woonhak pants as he pushes back frantically. Both completely losing themselves at the prospect of finally having what they’ve been craving this whole time. “Alpha, please. You can do all that with me if you want, just– I need you so much.”
And he can’t hold back anymore, not with the way Woonhak keeps begging like he never did before. It’s all it takes for Sungho to sheath himself inside the younger alpha in a single, deep thrust. Woonhak cries out in satisfaction, a sound so loud that his voice echoes in the large practice room, candied strawberry exploding around like a bomb. Strangely, it shouldn’t be as pleasant as it is, but Woonhak is so loose that the dryness of Sungho’s cock goes unnoticed.
It makes him wonder how Woonhak could walk and joke around his peers while opened up like this, to spar with Sungho while his hole was so ready to be used, to be knotted, to be fucked into oblivious.
“How many times have you been ready for me to fuck you anywhere I want? How many times did you fuck yourself wishing it was me, only to stand by my side hours later and pretend that you didn’t lust over me in the loneliness of your chambers?” Sungho groans, losing himself in the tight heat of Woonhak’s hole as it greedily clenches around him with each thrust. “What a naughty omega you are, Woonhakie.”
Woonhak shakes his head, flustered at being called an omega but still pushing back to meet each of Sungho’s brutal thrusts. Embarrassingly, Sungho is already on edge with so little happening between them, his knot swells with every lewd slap of his hipbone against the back of Woonhak’s skinny thighs. It’s a dizzying sight, the way Woonhak is bent and his back ripples every time Sungho’s cock plows inside of the alpha’s warm walls.
When his knot finally starts catching on Woonhak’s overstretched hole and makes it harder to pull out with each thrust, the younger moans weakly and comes untouched, heavy spurts of white spilling on the floor underneath him, choking on his sobs and clenching so hard that Sungho has to bite down on his lips to not come along. It’s futile, especially with the way Woonhak’s walls spasms around him.
Sungho buries his cock as deep as he can, grinding his hips so that his fully expanded knot presses perfectly against Woonhak’s prostate, earning an overstimulated cry from the younger. He reaches around the alpha’s shaky body, taking a hold of his useless and aching swollen knot, fingers massaging it with purpose. Woonhak writhes in pleasure, squirming and barely keeping his body in position, tears spilling from his eyes and squeaky sounds coming from his pink lips.
His cock twitches and oozes pathetically at the overstimulation, walls squeezing tighter around Sungho, to the point that it finally causes the tight coil in his abdomen to snap. With a low groan, he comes inside and breeds Woonhak in the way he has dreamed an unhealthy amount of times.
Sungho collapses a little after that, falling onto his side and bringing Woonhak close to him, both connected by his knot. They pant heavily in tandem, and he can’t hold himself as he kisses the back of Woonhak’s neck, licking candied strawberry from the source and making the younger shiver with each press of his soft lips. Sungho grinds his knot against Woonhak’s prostate from time to time as his cock slowly milks itself dry inside the younger.
He snakes a hand over Woonhak’s taut and slightly bulged stomach, exactly where his cock is snuggled inside, foolishly trying to breed the alpha. Woonhak trembles at the touch, especially when Sungho presses two fingers over the bulge in his usually slender belly. Sungho lets out a breathy laugh, licking again at the younger’s neck, swallowing all the arousal, contentment and desire that comes out of Woonhak’s scent gland in the shape of candied strawberry.
“Such a shame there’s no womb to fill,” he murmurs absent-mindedly, drunk from the younger’s scent. His teeth scrape against the soft skin of the juncture between Woonhak’s neck and shoulder, inner alpha suddenly desperate to claim, aching with the need to make Woonhak completely his . “I wonder where it will all go when I come inside of you again and again tonight.”
“Hyung–”
Whatever Woonhak was about to say dies on his tongue before he can continue. Sungho renders him unable to speak as the hand pressing at the belly bulge sneaks up under the shirt, rubbing one of his nipples. The combination of his large length grinding against his prostate, the fingers massaging his knot and now the stimulation on his sensitive nipples has Woonhak’s spent cock going back to full hardness. He gasps wetly and writhes at the pleasure, pressing back into Sungho’s chest but not making a single move to run away from the older’s ministrations.
Sungho smiles wolfishly, delighted with how responsive Woonhak seems to get the more he keeps touching him. It doesn’t take long for him to become an incoherent, drooling mess; jolting with every single touch, stretched beyond anything he ever felt before – that same sick part of Sungho’s brain feels proud of being the only one to make Woonhak like this, a victory meant only for him with a prize that couldn’t be compared.
Woonhak comes a second time, way weaker compared to his first orgasm, crying and babbling nonsensical pleas to the older. Sungho feels sore and sensitive as his knot slowly softens inside the younger, and when he can finally pull out, he can’t take his eyes away from the sight of cum dribbling out of Woonhak’s gaping and pinkish hole. Sungho presses his cock back inside, reveling in the slick warmth and easy glide, more cum oozing out the deeper he trusts back in. It foams a bit at the rim before messily dripping down the back of Woonhak’s ass and thighs.
A sight to behold, one that Sungho fears will be forever engraved in his head. If Woonhak was an omega or even a submissive beta, all this cum would probably be inside his womb to secure a pregnancy, but he’s none. Woonhak is an alpha, so it’s natural that his body would expel those fluids. Still, he tries to clench his hole to keep the cum inside, with the intent of probably feeling it coating his walls for a little longer. Sungho has to swallow down a growl, has to physically hold himself back from pouncing at Woonhak’s pliant body and claiming him right there.
“Stop looking,” he whines boyishly, shifting with embarrassment as he feels more cum spilling from his body. “‘s embarrassing.”
“Of all the words, embarrassing is far from the one I would use after what I just saw,” Sungho says a little breathless, feeling himself hardening again at the sight and the way Woonhak sounds wrecked.
Woonhak huffs. “Shut up, hyung.”
Silence settles between them, one that doesn’t feel as uncomfortable as it used to in the past but that doesn’t make Sungho feel any less calm. Sure, he wasn’t expecting that Woonhak would magically go back to talking to him like in the past, but this strange silence makes him wonder what’s happening inside the younger’s mind. Is he regretting it? Is he planning to go back to his chambers and ignore Sungho again? Is he second guessing Sungho’s feelings towards him even when it hangs heavy in the air through his citrus scent?
Perhaps, having sex before having a real conversation about everything wasn’t the most appropriate way of dealing with months of silence and avoidance, but Sungho wouldn’t change anything – and he hopes that Woonhak doesn’t regret anything that happened tonight either.
“Never took you as one to get silent after sex,” he says lightly, hoping that the comment will make Woonhak open up.
Woonhak turns around, a slight wince in his movements and a grimace in his face before they are standing face to face. Sungho can see the heavy blush in his cheeks, the tear streaks and the glistening in his eyes, the dampness of his hair, his swollen and almost bit-raw lips. Woonhak looks so fragile at this moment, like a porcelain vase that could break if touched the wrong way. A man with the heart of a boy, innocent and insecure but still brave enough to admit his mistakes and face the consequences.
Sungho wants to kiss him, for no reason in particular other than the feelings perpetually blooming inside of him, but he holds back.
“I’m sorry,” Woonhak murmurs after a long beat, chewing on his lower lip as he drops his gaze. His face full on apologetic, and Sungho would forgive him for everything in a breath. “For everything.”
It goes unsaid what that everything means, but Sungho doesn’t need to hear Woonhak speak it in detail to know what the younger is apologizing for. He understands, and although a part of him is still angry at the months of avoidance and the years waiting for letters that were never written for him, the lovesick part of him cannot contain his happiness. Woonhak is finally back in his life the way he always should’ve been, the way it was supposed to be from the moment he stepped foot in the castle.
Woonhak is in his arms and he smells the sweetest ever and he feels warm where their skins are connected and nothing else matters.
Sungho cups Woonhak’s soft cheeks with his hands, lifting his face and eyeing deep inside the younger alpha. That same desire from before comes back in full force, to kiss Woonhak until he’s breathless and unable to run away – not that he would, Sungho is sure of it. His thumbs rub soothingly against the warm skin, taking in the sight of Woonhak’s spent and lovely face. He wishes he could push this conversation for later, but they already postponed it for too long.
“If you’re truly sorry for everything, prove it to me,” he demands, finally allowing his wishes to become true. Sungho presses their lips together shyly at first, a single peck that could be considered friendly if they were in another situation. Woonhak tastes salty and sweet, from sweat and candied strawberry, and Sungho is addicted to the point that he has to pull back unwillingly to continue his thoughts. “From now on, look me in the eyes and tell me how you feel, don’t ever look away from me again.”
With a deep breath, Woonhak nods. A sheepish smile on his lips, but soft looking and boyish like the way he usually smiles, crooked teeth showing up and everything. It looks out of place with how desperate he looked minutes ago, begging for Sungho’s cock and enjoying the dirty talk about being impregnated and treated like an omega. Sungho stores that information in the back of his head, keeping it in easy access to taunt Woonhak with it later.
It’s silent again, but this time Sungho feels completely comfortable with it.
They stare into each other’s eyes, speaking what their mouths don't feel like doing – confessing feelings that maybe won’t have the same meaning when put into words. Sungho doesn’t even mind that they’re partially naked in the castle’s training room and covered in their own filth, the room smelling like sex and pheromones that could have any other alpha twitching their noses. It’s not like anyone will barge in by now, not when Sungho is sure that the whole castle can smell his possessive citrus with a shy tinge of candied strawberry underneath.
This time when Sungho leans down to press their lips together, the kiss is far from being shy like their first one after years apart. Sungho kisses with intent, tasting Woonhak against his tongue and demanding everything the other alpha is willing to give. His inner alpha screams at him to claim Woonhak, teeth aching whenever the younger’s tongue rubs against it, cock twitching in interest at being inside of Woonhak again and making sure that the other will get impregnated this time.
It’s foolish. Sungho and his inner alpha knows far too well that Woonhak is an alpha and can’t be claimed nor get pregnant no matter how much he cums inside, but it’s a pointless desire that makes no sense and spurts him on at the same time. Sungho’s instincts tell him to leave a mark on Woonhak, to mate him and create a family with him, almost as if it’s sure that something like this would ever be possible.
Belatedly, he realises how dangerous primal instincts are, especially ones attached with primal feelings like the ones he has for Woonhak.
And as if sensing the inner turmoil happening inside the older alpha and wanting to make things more difficult instead of helping, Woonhak’s hands fly to Sungho’s nape and pulls the alpha away, guiding him down until his face is dangerously close to the collar of his damp shirt, a place where his scent is the strongest. Sungho can barely hold back from letting his instincts take over.
“Claim me,” Woonhak says, voice hushed but confident in his words. His cheeks are still flushed and it shouldn’t be so easy for him to go against his alpha nature but Woonhak doesn’t seem to mind.
“What?” Sungho exhales, feeling delirious with the strong waft of the younger’s scent directly into his nose.
“You can claim me, hyung,” he says again, smiling dopey. “I’ve… I’ve dreamed about it for years while I was away, and I know it won’t last because it’s not what it’s expected of us. I know I can’t be officially your mate, but I want you. I want to pretend that I’m your mate, at least for tonight.”
“Pretend?” Sungho laughs in disbelief, throwing his head back in hopes to free himself from the shackles of Woonhak’s pheromones taunting him. He needs clarity in this moment, especially when all he wants to do is lean down and bite so hard against Woonhak’s scent gland that the imprint of his teeth would show on the skin for days. “You are my mate, Woonhakie.”
“Then do it,” Woonhak chuckles breathlessly, head to the side, giving Sungho a better sight of his unclaimed neck. It’s submission in the purest form, a permission to be claimed, something that no other alpha would ever do around Sungho unless he forced them to. “Claim what’s yours.”
Sungho can’t help the grin that spreads on his face at how Woonhak trusts him so much that he’ll accept whatever backlash comes his way – be it from submitting so easily to an alpha or the gossip in the castle about how he enjoys being under the Alpha Prince. Sungho will stitch all mouths that speak about Woonhak, that is a promise he makes to himself as he presses kisses against the younger alpha’s jaw and neck, wet and open-mouthed, scraping his teeth against the supple skin just to tease him. Woonhak gasps, fingers curling around Sungho’s hair and pulling at the strands whenever he gets fed up with the teasing.
“You shouldn’t be saying things like this to me,” Sungho says, pressing their bodies closer at every point, limbs tangling together. He wishes he could stay like this with him all the time, forever even – a hopeful part of him fantasizes about waking up every day like this with Woonhak from tonight on. “You have no idea how much I want to mess you up until you’re completely mine. Until everyone knows that you belong to me, that you’re mine in every way possible in this world.”
“You can do anything you want with me, hyung,” Woonhak replies with a soft laugh, playing with the silk, black strands on his fingers. “I’ve always been yours.”
Sungho doesn’t need to say aloud for Woonhak to know that he also belongs to the younger, his scent speaks on his behalf. Full of happiness, fondness and love; and Woonhak knows Sungho like the back of his hand to know that the alpha would never fake his feelings like this. With that mutual knowledge and his heart almost crawling up his throat and wanting to be in the younger’s hand, Sungho presses his aching teeth directly against the juncture between Woonhak’s neck and shoulder, fangs sinking deep into the alpha’s supple skin. Woonhak whimpers at first, but it soon turns into a content gasp and delirious laughter as Sungho finally claims him like they both had dreamed since the very beginning.
When they change positions and Woonhak leaves his own mark on Sungho’s scent gland; somewhat unwillingly, the younger didn’t want to blemish the perfect skin of the prince as it was customary that royalty never had visible marks except if they were submissive betas or omegas, Sungho can barely hold back his happiness. He clutches Woonhak’s body like his life depends on it and kisses the alpha straight on the mouth, ignoring the strange taste of blood and focusing on the delicious taste of their scents together.
As daylight reaches them and a new day approaches the kingdom, the castle is in complete uproar, hushed whispers running around like a fire in a forest. Talks about how the Alpha Prince Sungho declared to the entire court during the morning gathering that he had no desire to find a mate for he already claimed the head of his royal guarding, Kim Woonhak. Everyone gasped upon hearing such a statement, completely baffled as they watched the fresh mark resting in the prince’s neck, and how much the guard smelled of citrus.
A sign of their fresh mating, a sign that the prince would be forever attached to another alpha, a sign that Sungho and Woonhak belonged to each other and no one would ever change that.
Sungho takes Woonhak’s hand and smiles before leaving the morning court gathering, receiving back a shy smile but one that hides the giddiness the younger feels. Like the promise he made to Woonhak once upon a time in the past before they presented as alphas, Sungho finally fulfills it.