Chapter 4 (1/1)

He was left alone for hours, or so it felt, and he didn’t remember if he’d fallen asleep at some point or just dozed off lightly, but he sat up startled when someone knocked on his door.“Jaehwan-ah… Dinner is ready, if you want some.”It was Hongbin, and Jaehwan decided that since Hongbin was home, he could venture out. As soon as he opened the door, the first one to approach him was Hakyeon, though. He had to force himself not to flinch away when Hakyeon skidded to a halt right in front of him.“Jaehwanie, how are you?”Jaehwan blinked up at him, confused.“I didn’t know if you were sleeping or just wanted to be left alone so I didn’t come to disturb you, but-… How are you doing? Hongbin said you had some cuts that had to be stitched up…”Jaehwan shrugged.“I’m fine.”Hakyeon frowned.“Are you sure?”Jaehwan nodded, but Hakyeon didn’t look convinced. He didn’t press the issue, though, and Jaehwan missed the meaningful look Hakyeon and Hongbin exchanged behind his back. Dinner was a silent affair, and Jaehwan wanted to disappear in a deep, deep hole, since he felt it was all his fault. In fact, he was sure it was his fault, it was because of him that Jon had been fired. Someone they’d been training with and some become friends with over fourteen months, had been fired because of him, the newbie, the omega that had been there for barely three months. They simply must hate him now…He hurried to eat his meager meal, as always eating less than the alphas around him, and waited quietly until he was allowed to get up and leave. Hakyeon didn’t dismiss him, though, not even when he split the clean-up chores between the rest of them when they’d all finished eating. And he didn’t give Jaehwan a chore, either.“I-… I can do something, too, Hakyeon…” He piped up quietly, even though what he really wanted was to put as much distance between himself and the rest of them. Hakyeon shook his head, though.“You’re hurt.”Jaehwan lowered his head.“It’s not that bad…”“It’s bad enough. You’re not going to strain your injuries any more than necessary.”Jaehwan bit his lip, shrinking in on himself.“May I leave?” He asked quietly, almost shy, and Hakyeon gave him a long, contemplative look that Jaehwan missed since his gaze was fixed on the table in front of him.“I need to talk to you, so don’t lock yourself in. You can leave, though.”Jaehwan got up, bowed, and left. Hakyeon frowned after him. Why was Jaehwan bowing to him?It didn’t take long before Hakyeon came to Jaehwan’s room, though, knocking softly and closing the door behind himself when he was invited in.He was quiet as he approached Jaehwan and sat down next to him on the floor.“Hey… I need you to be honest with me and tell me seriously how badly you’re injured, Jaehwan. And if you need anything.”Jaehwan didn’t meet his gaze.“It’s ok… I don’t need anything. I’ve already caused enough trouble…”Hakyeon frowned.“That’s nonsense, Jaehwan…!”Jaehwan shook his head though, fixing Hakyeon with an intense gaze.“It’s my fault all of you have it harder now, because I’m around. It’s my fault Jon snapped and got fired. It’s my fault you all lost a fellow trainee and friend today. It’s my fault we’re all a day behind schedule now and have to work harder to make up for it. How is that not causing trouble?!”Hakyeon’s frown had darkened, and Jaehwan almost shied away from him.“It’s not your fault at all that Jon is an entitled ass; what happened with him was all because of him; not you. He brought this upon himself, it wasn’t you!”Jaehwan scoffed.“Right. Are you going to tell me the trouble you got into would have happened just the same if I wasn’t here, too?”Hakyeon stayed quiet for a moment.“How do you know I got in trouble?”Jaehwan shrugged.“You’re more tense and stricter than usual. Since CEO Hwang took you away first I figured that was why.”Hakyeon sighed.“CEO Hwang reminded me insistently of my duties as a leader, because I failed at it.”Jaehwan peeked up at Hakyeon.“How so?”“I failed to inform him of the bullying that happened between us trainees. And I failed to protect you.”Jaehwan frowned.“You are being forced to play snitch and tell on your fellow trainees and friends?”Hakyeon shrugged.“One of my duties as a leader is to make sure everyone follows the rules established in the contracts, reinforce those rules, and if necessary see that those who keep infringing the rules meet their deserved punishment. I foolishly believed that Jon would change his views and behavior once he got to know you better, and thus ended up risking your health. And that’s inexcusable.”Jaehwan didn’t meet his eyes, and silence settled over them for a while.“Hakyeon… Did you get punished, too?”Hakyeon tensed slightly, and it was all the answer Jaehwan needed. He sagged in on himself.“I’m sorry…”Hakyeon sighed.“Jaehwan, I didn’t get punished because of you, but because I didn’t do what I was supposed to do!”Jaehwan frowned, slight anger rising in him.“You wouldn’t have had to tell on a friend if I hadn’t provoked his behavior!”Jaehwan jumped when Hakyeon’s hand slapped the floor next to him heavily.“Lee Jaehwan, would you stop apologizing for existing?!” Hakyeon all but shouted at him, making him shy back, staring at the leader with wide, startled eyes.“If your mere existence is enough for people like Jon to behave like total assholes, then that is their problem, not yours! You have the same right to exist like the rest of us, for fuck’s sake!”With that, Hakyeon got up and left, but his words resonated with Jaehwan for hours on end. They would stay with him for the rest of his life, in fact, resonating in his head even years later when he was about to apologize for things that were out of his control. They were what he held on to when he felt like a burden, and what helped him stand up for himself when life dealt him it’s most unfair hands.More than anything, though, they helped him through the following days, when he had to endure especially Hajoon’s venomous looks when he was being exempt from the harder training sessions to have time to heal, when he had to watch Hakyeon work off his punishment and come home late and more exhausted than ever, and when he had to recur to Hongbin’s help more than just a few times to tend to the cuts he couldn’t easily reach.His resolve to hold on to Hakyeon’s words threatened to falter often, though, especially a few weeks later when they were joined by a new group of trainees. Four boys had been casted and were to join them, almost doubling their numbers and putting a new strain on their living and training situation. All four boys were alphas, and even though Jaehwan had felt horribly outnumbered before, he had learned to deal with it over time. Now, though, he was constantly surrounded by eight alphas, and he felt like a rabbit in a fox den. As much as Hongbin and Hakyeon’s presences comforted him, it stood in no relation to how much the four new ones unnerved him.There was one of them, Taekwoon, whose mere gaze was almost enough to send him running. He was eerily quiet, but his gaze seemed to bore right through his soul, and he was terrified. Another one, Wonshik, often studied him from afar, expression unreadable, and Jaehwan’s stomach knotted uncomfortably whenever he noticed. The third one, Nakhun, treated him as if invisible, and it was by far the most comfortable option for Jaehwan, while the last one, Jeojung, downright terrified him with his hungry gazes and suggestive grins, standing too close and brushing against him whenever the situation allowed it. More than once Jaehwan actually fled, feeling like vomiting when he locked himself up in a toilet stall or practice room, Jeojung often loitering in front of it until someone found them and Jaehwan felt safe enough to come out again.To make it worse and as inevitable as the tides, Jaehwan’s heat came again, too, without him noticing it at first.Back at the dorm after a long day, Jaehwan noticed that when Taekwoon passed close to him on the way back from the bathroom, the older froze for a moment, staring at him with his way too intense gaze, and then rushed away to lock himself in the shared bedroom and not come out again for the rest of the evening. Jaehwan later suspected he had picked up on it first, and he was grateful the older alpha had left him alone.After him, it was Hongbin who picked up on it while they were washing the dishes.“Jaehwan, you’re… your heat…” He mumbled close to Jaehwan’s ear, and dread rose in Jaehwan. He was on the opposite side of the dorm from his room, and there were five alphas in the living room he had to pass through to get there. He dropped the plate he had been holding back into the sink, turning to Hongbin with terrified eyes.“Shit… What should I do?”Hongbin bit his lip, trying to breathe through his mouth to not be affected too much by Jaehwan’s scent.“Wait here. I’ll try to lure the others out of the living room.”Jaehwan waited, nervously finishing washing the dishes to distract himself until Hongbin slipped back into the kitchen, freezing in the doorway and slapping a hand over his nose and mouth, eyes widening.“Holy shit, Jaehwan, why are you-… Never mind. Come, quick, before it gets any worse. There are only three left, we should be fine…”They weren’t, though, Jaehwan realized quickly as they stepped out into the living room, three pairs of eyes already fixed on them as they blocked the way through the room.Hongbin stepped in front of him protectively, but it didn’t deter any of the three from staring at them.“Come on, guys, let us through. Jaehwan needs to get into his room.”Jeojung tilted his head at that.“Why, though? He can keep us a little company, instead.”Hongbin narrowed his eyes at him.“Jaehwan isn’t here to keep anyone company! Get out of the way, you’re making him uncomfortable!”Jeojung grinned, running his hand down the front of his pants.“Only fair, I’d say, since he’s making me uncomfortable, too; If you know what I mean…!”Jaehwan tried to hide further behind Hongbin, stepping closer, and Hongbin balled his hands into fists as a wave of his scent washed over him.“I’m being serious; get out of the way and let Jaehwan through!”Jeojung laughed, and Hajoon crossed his arms defiantly, too.“I don’t think so…” The first chuckled, taking a step towards them, and a low growl sounded in the room.Jaehwan couldn’t make out who it came from, too distracted by both fear and the wave of heat that rolled through his body, making him break out in a cold sweat.“Hongbin…!” He whispered desperately, but the young alpha stood frozen with his back to him as he tried to assess the situation in front of him.Jeojung and Hajoon were not going to let them through, and he didn’t know where Wonshik stood, other than in the way. There was no way for them to make it through the room. Hakyeon should be home soon -in fact, he should already have been there- but he didn’t know how soon, and there was no way he could hold himself up against the three heavier and bulkier alphas in front of him.The only thing he could do was-…He twirled around in the same moment movement came into the other three, grabbed Jaehwan and opened the door closest to them, pushing Jaehwan through it and slamming it close behind the two of them, hoping it would hold until Hakyeon came home.Unfortunately, he had chosen the door of the linen cabinet, and he found himself pressed closer to Jaehwan than he’d ever been before. It was too late, though, as they heard and felt something heavy collide with the door, followed by a chorus of angry growls and snarls.“What the fuck, Wonshik, get out of the way or you’ll lose your head!”“Try me!” Wonshik growled back before angry snapping followed, pained grunts and yelps and the sound of bodies hitting walls and the floor.Hongbin and Jaehwan barely noticed any of that, though. Hongbin’s alpha scent had long since clouded over every sense Jaehwan possessed, spurring his heat on faster than ever. Hongbin, on the other hand, stood frozen, arms still protectively around Jaehwan as the omega rested against his chest, not daring to move a single muscle or do even so much as breathe.Eventually, though, the lack of oxygen became too much, and Hongbin had to inhale deeply. Jaehwan’s scent filled his lungs, and involuntarily he tightened his hold on him, his head sinking to the omega’s shoulder and nose burying against his neck to inhale the sweet, taunting scent with a desperate whimper.Jaehwan didn’t mind at all, feeling like wax in Hongbin’s arms and molding to his form perfectly in the cramped space, mindlessly tilting his head to the side to allow Hongbin all the access he could wish for.Hongbin couldn’t think through the haze of Jaehwan’s scent, his lips parting to mouth at Jaehwan’s neck and taste the sweet and salty skin there, eventually travelling up to find Jaehwan’s lips that parted all too willingly with an incredibly sweet moan as they invited him in.Never before had Jaehwan felt so at peace during a heat, and he was more than ready to lose himself in Hongbin, even if every square nanometer Hongbin touched of him had him on fire and spurred his heat on, hotter and stronger than ever before. He leaned heavily against Hongbin, clutching at the fabric covering his back and pressing his body against Hongbin’s in all its length. He moaned breathlessly into the kiss wanting Hongbin to be closer, closer, even closer… Their clothes to be gone and Hongbin to be everywhere on him, around him, inside him-…They didn’t register the noises outside the cabinet, nor their end. They didn’t even notice the door being yanked open, but there was no way they could miss the hands that fisted on the back of the neck of both their jumpers and pulled them out of the cabinet and apart.Instinctively, Hongbin twisted out of the hold, ready to fight whoever it was, but Hakyeon’s dangerous growl had him drop his aggressive stance immediately.“Do you strive to make my life that much harder than it already is now?” The leader growled, relaxing his hold on the whimpering Jaehwan ever so slightly while glaring at Hongbin.Hongbin looked a mixture of sheepish and heated, still, hair disheveled and breathing labored, and Hakyeon couldn’t really fault him.“You. Cold shower. Now!” He turned to Jaehwan, who looked as if he would collapse to the floor the instant Hakyeon let go of him and not waiting to see Hongbin scamper off to do as told.“And you, to your room. Can you even walk?”He ended up half dragging Jaehwan to his room, where he left him on his bed. Jaehwan’s heat had never been as intense that fast, and it wasn’t leaving him unaffected, either.His anger was tangible in the air around them and he didn’t speak to anyone that evening. After Hongbin had showered, he locked the other alphas in their shared bedroom, leaving it to them to tend to the three injured ones while he sat in front of the door, guarding it.