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“Alright everyone, let's calm down.” Chan hushes everyone down like the pack alpha team leader he is after Seungmin has exited and the chaos erupts once again. “Seungmin is right. It’s not a big deal and it doesn’t change anything. We’re still a pack.”
“Yeah, a pack with four alphas and one omega.” Jeongin pointedly says.
“Way to leave the betas out.” Felix pouts.
“You know that’s not the point. The point is that this is going to change our whole dynamic when it comes to cycles! How is Seungmin going to handle everyone on his own?” Changbin frets.
“Because he won’t be.” Chan says firmly. “We have managed just fine thus far. Just because Seungmin is an omega doesn’t mean he’s obligated to help out with our cycles. He’s still Seungmin and still a precious member of our pack.” Chan puts his hand out, waiting expectantly for the rest to follow. “Agree?”
The rest of the members let out a chorus of agreement as they all put their hands together.
“Cycles aside, will we be alright? None of us really have much interaction with omegas.” Jeongin voices out after they have all sworn to keep it in their pants. “Don’t omegas have specific traits that we need to look out for?”
“Well, we’ll just have to learn.” Chan assures, patting Jeongin on the shoulder. “Each time one of you presented we had to readjust our dynamics too, Seungmin is no different.”
“We can all research tonight!” Hyunjin proposes with vigour. Later he would be the first one to grow bored and fall asleep.
“That’s actually not too bad an idea.” Minho pulls out his phone and gets comfortable on the couch. “Might as well since we’re all here already.”
Murmurs of agreement ripple through them once again as they all find a spot to sit and pull out their phones. They were going to be the best pack an omega could have, they would make sure of it.
Well, at least their hearts are in the right place.
-
As with any newly presented person, their scent glands will develop to full maturity and their unique scent identity will become apparent.
It’s an ordinary practice day, or as ordinary as it could get when Seungmin had dropped the bomb of his presentation on them the day before. They originally wanted to reschedule the whole thing to give Seungmin time to rest but he had insisted he was completely fine and refused to let it happen.
“Guys, I was diagnosed as an omega, not with the flu. Please calm down.”
So they all reigned in the mother hen instincts and followed Seungmin’s request, though not before they had spent the night secretly searching up whatever they could find about omega presentation and crossing out Seungmin fainting in the middle of the day as a possibility.
Jisung arrives first with Jeongin in tow, giving himself a well deserved pat on the back for his punctuality. And of course, where punctuality is mentioned, there is bound to be Kim Seungmin nearby.
“Morning,” Seungmin yawns as he casually saunters in next.
“Morning Seungmin–”
And then it hits them, the potent scent of jasmine. It feels like a shockwave to Jisung’s entire system and from the look on Jeongin’s face, it must feel the same for him too. The effect on his body is embarrassingly instantaneous.
“Seungmin!” Jisung calls out in panic, getting a quizzical look from Seungmin in return. “You–are you in heat?”
“No?” Seungmin’s quizzical look turns into one of pure confusion. “I’m perfectly fine.”
“Are you sure?” Jeongin tacks on. Jisung can see the plastic of the coffee cup in his hand crinkling from how hard he’s gripping it.
“Yes, I think I would be aware if I am in heat.” Seungmin rolls his eyes. “It doesn’t normally happen so fast after presentation anyway. Oh right, I need to go find our manager to arrange my doctor’s consultation.”
Seungmin bounds past them out of the room and another waft of alluring jasmine hits them both in full force. Hyunjin happens to be at the door when Seungmin trots past and from the way Hyunjin visibly tenses as his nostrils flare, Jisung and Jeongin are not out of their minds.
“What the fuck.” Hyunjin mutters as he walks in, eyes still boring into Seungmin’s back.
“Don’t get hard. We still have practice.” Not like Jisung is doing much better. Hyunjin shoots him a look with narrowed eyes.
“Is he in heat or something? He smells so good.” Hyunjin mutters in disbelief, he surreptitiously tries to adjust his pants, the grey sweats aren’t doing him any favours though.
“He’s not. We asked.” Jisung feels marginally more comforted that Hyunjin is in the same boat as them.
“Maybe it’s an alpha thing. We should ask the betas when they come.” Jeongin offers. That makes sense, the omega crazy lust driven alpha stereotype had to come from somewhere right? Maybe they are all just being degenerate creatures. Right on cue, Felix walks in.
“Hey Lix! We need your opinion.” Jisung calls out. “How does Seungmin smell to you?”
“Don’t even get me started.” Felix collapses on the practice room sofa looking exhausted. “He’s been smelling like a damn dream the entire morning. I already had to jerk off once in the shower.”
“You mean to tell me he’s gonna be smelling like that normally ?” Jisung asks incredulously. All of their faces blanch.
They’re doomed.
-
Most omegas will nest. Nesting refers to the act of an omega collecting items that comfort them and keeping them close to their resting quarters. If the omega is mated, these items are typically belongings that carry their mate’s scent. This is an action that helps calm and regulate an omega and can occur in or out of heats. Some omegas can be territorial about their nests, though this is not the case for all.
Like other omegas, Seungmin is no exception to nesting, though all things considered it's fairly subtle. It starts with Seungmin stealing all the extra blankets from the other dorms.
“Do you need anything else, Seungmin-ah?” Changbin asks when he helps to haul them over.
“Not right now, hyung. I just want to test things out.” Seungmin answers, eyes calculating as he assesses the stack of blankets on his bed. “I might start asking for clothes later though.”
“If you need anything else just say the word.” Changbin reaches out to ruffle Seungmin’s hair and as Seungmin unfolds one blanket to layer over his sheets. He scrunches his nose and moves it to the other end instead. Changbin has no idea what he’s doing but stands there to provide moral support.
“Say, I’m going to the gym tonight. I can bring over the hoodie I’m wearing later if you want.” Changbin quips, suddenly remembering the article they read together in their panic after finding out Seungmin’s secondary gender. Omegas are supposed to nest with clothes saturated with their mates’ scent right?
Instead, Seungmin whips around with his face crumpled in pure disgust.
“Why on earth would I want your sweaty hoodie?”
Colour Changbin confused.
“But I thought omegas nest with their mates’ clothes! Like, the smellier the better!” Changbin protests. That's what they read! That’s what he heard from his other friends too!
“Let me get this straight.” Seungmin looks at him deadpanned. “You want me to put your sweaty, stinky, gym germ-y, hoodie on my beautiful clean pristine bed. Me. Who refuses to lie down on my bed before I have showered and changed if I went out.”
Changbin’s mouth opens and closes but no sound comes out. Seungmin raises an eyebrow at him.
“Think carefully, hyung. There is a correct answer.”
“Yeah, sorry. I just thought, you know–I mean, I don’t know.” Changbin fumbles out in defeat. Seungmin giggles and goes over to latch onto him. He loops his arms around Changbin’s neck teasingly.
“I know, hyung. You just want to help. Thank you.” He pecks a kiss onto Changbin’s temple in a rare sign of affection. Changbin’s heart rate instantly spikes. Seventy percent of the time Seungmin gets all up close and personal with him it’s usually to provoke him so this is a surprise. This is also a real test of Changbin’s mettle when he has to resist the urge to pick Seungmin up and pin him to the bed.
Impressively, Changbin controls himself, excuses himself to go to the gym, and works off all the energy he’s accumulated. The scent of jasmine clings to his hoodie.
Anyway, back to Seungmin, who, as with everything, is methodical and detailed in nesting.
“Chan-hyung, can I take this?”
“Hyunjin, I want that.”
“Jisung, do you need this?”
“My dearest Minho-hyung whom I love, give me that.”
Seungmin is demanding but scrutinising. Only clothes that are both doused enough with their scents and sufficiently clean to his standards make the cut. Most of the time, it ends up being their sleep clothes that end up in Seungmin’s grabby hands and one puppy eyed look later, ends up in his bed.
Pretty soon, Seungmin’s nest is decked out. And it’s hardly messy in the way one would imagine a nest to be–Seungmin is still Seungmin after all. His regular sleep pillow and bolster remains where it is, his head area clear from anything. To the left Minho’s blanket lays tucks into the side, where one of Hyunjin’s copious amounts of plushies sit, wrapped in one of Jeongin’s cardigans. Along the right side is a pillow stuffed with Changbin’s shirt, Felix’s scarf, Jisung’s sweater, and Chan’s hoodie–Seungmin found great displeasure in seeing clothes strewn haphazardly along his bed even if they were appealing to his nesting instincts. Instead, he has blankets arranged to encompass his bed area and he regularly invites members into his bed to cuddle, tucking them in with said blankets so that afterwards they become perfumed with the scents of his mates. Jeongin suspects he has an entire schedule for it. Despite the increasing amount of items, Seungmin’s bed remains neat and organised. It’s so Seungmin, it’s perfect.
“It took awhile to figure out but everything started falling into place pretty easily.” Seungmin smiles contentedly, cuddled up with Felix and Hyunjin. He made them surrender both their shirts upon coming into the nest, for maximum scenting apparently.
“I don’t think omegas plan out their nests as psychotically as you.” Hyunjin comments. Seungmin makes a non committal noise.
“What can I say, I’m not like other omegas.”
-
In the first few weeks of presentation, it is normal for an omega to become more sensitive to temperatures. This is not to be confused with signs of pre-heat (see article 4), but rather an indication of the omega’s hormones calibrating in their body.
When Minho walks into the Seunglix dorm one unsuspecting afternoon, he does not expect to find Seungmin sprawled out on the couch in next to nothing.
Or well, next to nothing by Seungmin standards.
“Hi hyung,” Seungmin mumbles, not even bothering to lift his head.
“Hi puppy, what’s got you dressed so scandalously on a regular Wednesday afternoon?” Minho muses, coming over to tousle his hair then teasingly push the thin tank top up his back.
“It’s too hot.” Is all Seungmin says, unreactive to Minho’s actions. It’s not really that hot, Minho is in a sweater and Seungmin tends to get cold easily. Resting his hand against Seungmin’s back he finds that Seungmin is warm but not sweaty. Probably an omega thing then.
“Aigo, look at this cute butt. I didn’t know you had shorts this short, Seungmin-ah.” Minho claps a couple of slaps to his ass. Short is an understatement, it’s rare to see Seungmin in anything shorter than knee length but these shorts cut high up his thigh and when he’s lying down on his stomach like this, it hugs the curve of his butt snugly. Minho kind of wants to yank the shorts down, half because it would be really funny and half because that’s what the simmering in his gut is telling him to do.
“They’re Lix’s, I borrowed it. All my clothes feel too stuffy.” Seungmin whines, drawing a knee up to his chest. It makes the shorts hike up enough for a supple curve of cheek to peek out. Minho wants to take a bite.
Minho isn’t daft, he’s clearly aware of the effect it has on him and despite their divorced couple skit going on, he’s keenly aware of how attracted he is to the other man. But personally, he isn’t really one to rush on his carnal instincts when Seungmin seems unaware of his state and miserable about his body’s condition.
Plus, the more he feigns ignorance the longer Seungmin remains oblivious and the longer he can stare. Seungmin is prone to covering up once people start noticing and making a big deal out of it.
And most importantly, Minho is a sweet guy who cares for his mates.
He reaches out to feel Seungmin’s forehead. “Any other discomfort aside from feeling warm?” The younger shakes his head and leans into Minho’s hand. “Then first things first, gotta get some water in you.”
Seungmin looks up with big puppy eyes.
“Okay hyung.”
The bratty bantering Seungmin is fun to tease, but it’s cute to see the docile side of him once in a while. Minho lets out a huff of endearment and ruffles his hair one last time before getting up to fetch a big glass of water.
“Once you’ve cooled down you should get a bit more dressed, Seungmin-ah.” Minho calls out from the kitchen as water dispenses. “The others will definitely jump you if they see you like this.”
“What was that hyung? I can’t hear you well.”
“Nothing.”
-
More so than other sub-genders, omegas tend to rely on scents to regulate. Studies have shown that there is a correlation between the mental well-being of an omega and regular (but not excessive) scenting from their mates. It therefore recommended for pack members to regularly scent their omegas—though the standard of what is regular is unique to each pack.
Chan being Chan, regretfully arrives late for their pack movie night that they had so painstakingly carved out time for. But that wasn’t the fault of his own, when work had to be done work had to be done and he’d much rather be the one to bulldoze through it than have it fall through to his members. At the very least, it was something that was resolved within an hour and he was off back to the dorms. Fried chicken in hand, Chan impatiently waits the ten seconds it takes for the elevator to reach their dorms.
“Chan-hyung!” A couple voices overlap when he walks through the door. “Chicken!” Also makes its way into the sound cloud. The rest of the pack had gleefully declared that Chan should pay for it as an apology for being late, as if Chan would ever allow someone else to pay regardless. A smile immediately breaks out on his face.
“Sorry for being late.” He greets as he begins unpacking the delivery boxes while Minho gets up to get serving plates. “Have you guys picked a movie yet?”
“No. Jisung and Changbin-hyung are arguing about it.” Seungmin pipes up, Felix is resting against his shoulder. “Any preference?”
“None so long as it's not horror.”
“HAH!” Changbin declares triumphantly in Jisung’s face. Their bickering fades into white noise as it usually does while Chan continues distributing the food. Oh how he loves his pack. Once he’s done, he’s delighted to find a free spot next to Seungmin open.
“Seungminnie!” Chan squeals as he tackles Seungmin a bear hug upon diving on the sofa. Seungmin lets out a squawk while Felix makes a tactical retreat into Jeongin’s side instead. It’s been so long since Chan got to spend time with them outside of work, particularly Seungmin.
“Hyung!” Seungmin whines, high and nasally, but makes no attempt to escape. Chan has always taken that as a sign that he likes it, and now with Seungmin presented, he has confirmation that he does like it from how his scent blooms. His little baby member is just so cute.
“Why, let hyung cuddle you for a bit!” Chan wheedles like he’s talking to Berry, pulling Seungmin onto his lap and burying his face into Seungmin’s neck. Gentle wafts of jasmine greet him. Seungmin scoffs and turns away but his ears are red.
“Do whatever you like.”
And so Chan does just that, nuzzling against Seungmin and taking the opportunity to scent him, plant kisses, and cuddle him for all the lost hours. Seungmin, as per usual, goes limp in his arms and lets Chan do whatever he wants.
At least, that’s what Chan assumed happened until he realises Seungmin hasn’t made a snarky quip or protesting whine for far too long. Chan pauses and shakes him by the shoulder.
“Seungmin? Did you fall asleep–” His sentence dies midway when Seungmin’s head lulls back and he’s met with groggy unfocused eyes. “Seungmin?? What happened? Are you okay?”
Chan’s sudden exclamation gets the attention of the other pack members and their heads all swivel towards them. Seungmin just blinks at him slowly, entire face red, and head swaying back and forth as if he has no energy.
“Seungmin?” Minho steps up immediately and reaches out towards the younger. Seungmin turns at the sound of his name but doesn’t respond except for a feeble sound from the back of his throat, looking at Minho with the same dazed eyes. He looks like he’s about to fall asleep at any moment. And that’s when it clicks. “Oh my god. Did he get scent drunk?”
“What??”
Seungmin barely ever gets drunk on alcohol, it’s hard to imagine him like this ever. The rare sight is incredibly cute and shoots arrows through all their hearts, enough for them to put a pause on the panic.
Just a pause though.
“Scent drunk?? How much did Chan scent him for that to happen?”
“The alpha leader pheromones were just too much to bear it seems.”
“It wasn’t that much!” Chan frets as he quickly lays Seungmin down on the couch. “I mean, a little more than usual but definitely not enough for him to get drunk off of it. I think? Oh my god, I’m so sorry Seungmin!”
“Okay Chan-hyung, calm down.” Changbin speaks up. “No need to panic. Omega tolerances are lower than alpha and beta ones anyway.”
“But still, I don’t think it’s supposed to be so much lower. I was next to them the whole time, Chan wasn’t scenting him excessively.” Felix frowns. “At least not more than I did earlier.”
“Wait.” The pieces in Minho’s brain begin to connect. “Who scented Seungmin today?”
“I did in the morning.” Jisung pipes up.
“So did I.” Jeongin.
“I did it too.” Changbin adds followed by Hyunjin’s confirmation of “Same.”
“And so did I.” Minho pinches the bridge of his nose.
“So we all scented him in one day? No wonder he’s like this now!” Changbin slaps a hand on his forehead.
“But I thought it was good for him!” Hyunjin justifies. “The article said he needs it to regulate!”
“Yeah but not all of us at the same time.” Minho sighs, even he would get overstimulated by that. “Anyway, someone search up what we need to do.”
“Roger!”
“Oh god what if we need to take him to the hospital?”
“Should we call manager-hyung?”
“Is naver a reliable source?”
“Stay with us, Seungmin!!”
Idiots . Seungmin thinks to himself amidst the chaos around him. The fogginess of his state is not enough to stop his rational brain from piping up upon seeing his mates’ shenanigans. All they need to do is let me rest for an hour or so.
But then again, Seungmin smiles to himself in amusement as the fretting continues around him, that's what makes their pack so fun.