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Being in heat was the worst thing about being an omega, in Somun's humble opinion.
Scratch that, being in heat was a real bitch.
Sure, he was still in pre-heat, but still; being in heat was a bitch.
"You okay?" Ms. Chu entered the room and promptly scrunched her nose at the hotness. She was holding a tray, probably bringing his breakfast. Somun shakily exhaled and sent a thumbs up her way.
Ms. Chu chuckled, "You don't have to lie, you know." she said while walking over to his bed.
"I feel like shit." Somun groaned. Ms. Chu 'tsked' and made her way over, promptly leaving the tray on Somun's bedside table. The beta gently removed the now dry cloth from Somun's forehead and dunked it into a bowl filled with water. She wrung it out, gently dabbing Somun's face with it. The omega sighed contentedly and closed his eyes.
"Watch your language." Ms. Chu silently reprimanded. Somun cracked an eye open and looked at the elder beta, "But I do feel like shit." he retorted.
Ms. Chu pursed her lips and stopped. Somun lightly whined at the loss of contact and blushed when he realized what he just did - fuck, he really is clingy when in heat.
"If only there was a way to remove some of your pain." Ms. Chu continued dabbing Somun's face with the damp cloth, "I'd do it."
"It's fine," Somun immediately refuted, "just taking care of me is enough. I know how clingy I can be when in heat."
Ms. Chu laughed lightly, "Are you embarrassed?"
"I'd be lying if I say no."
"Don't be." Ms. Chu leaned back, dunking the cloth in the bowl again. "Motak and I were wanting to baby someone anyway."
"Motak ahjusshi?"
"Mhm." Ms. Chu hummed, wringing out the cloth and placing it on Somun's forehead, "he pretends like he doesn't care, but among all of us, he's the one who keeps on fretting over you."
Somun laughed lightly - the image of Motak fretting over him seems absolutely ridiculous, maybe because the man always felt like the type of mentor who's cool; but it did make his heart warm to know that Motak, of all people, actually cares about him.
The first day he met Motak, he felt scared of the alpha. He wanted to run away immediately, afraid of what the alpha might do to him. As time went by, however, Somun stopped thinking of Motak as an alpha, but as his father-figure; the soft smiles he sent whenever Somun and Hana were bickering, the pats and affectionate touches he gave whenever Somun improved on something felt like something a father would do anyway.
"I know you can't keep anything down yet," Ms. Chu broke Somun out of his thoughts, "so I'm not going to make you eat anything. If you want to, however, there's food here. You can just text anyone if you need something."
Somun laughed, "Thank you."
Ms. Chu gave him a motherly smile, "Anytime."
Somun smiled at her for the last time, before his heat hit and he closed his eyes.
-
"How is he?"
Ms. Chu jumped in surprise, turning around to see Motak who was looking at the closed door worriedly. Ms. Chu sighed, gently pushing Motak away.
"For someone who claims to not care about him, you seem worried."
"I'm not!"
Ms. Chu raised an eyebrow, "Really?"
"Okay fine." Motak grumbled, sitting down on one of the many chairs in the restaurant, "I'm a bit worried."
"A 'bit'?"
"Okay, a lot." Motak rephrased, "how is he?"
"He said he feels like shit," Ms. Chu chuckled, pulled a chair over and sat down, remembering how pitiful Somun looked - which was honestly cute, "he's sleeping right now."
For once, the alpha seemed stumped, "So. . . there's nothing we can do to help?"
Ms. Chu snorted, "Aside from bringing him food and letting him sleep? No."
Motak sighed, running a hand through his hair. The alpha's eyes roamed around the restaurant, zeroing on the fact that there was no certain beta in sight.
"Where's Hana?"
"I sent her off to buy some of Somun's favorite snacks," Ms. Chu waved a hand, "she should be back soon."
Motak pursed his lips and sighed. His head dropped down, suddenly finding interest on his hands. His fingers fiddled together, trying to find something to ease his heart - sure, Somun would be okay, but sue him, he couldn't help but get worried.
"You still worried?" Ms. Chu chuckled, patting his shoulder, "Somun will be fine."
"You spent quite some time in there," Motak observed, "will he really be okay?"
Ms. Chu snorted, "Will it ease your heart if I send you there to bring Somun some food for lunch?"
Motak's left eye twitched. As much as he hated the proposal, it definitely would ease his heart to do that.
"Come on then," Ms. Chu stood up and groaned, "help me cook something."
-
The moment Motak stepped in, his nose scrunched at the smell of sweat and the hot temperature. The alpha closed the door, the white plastic bag rustling in his arm. He sighed deeply, eyes glaring at the mere curtain keeping him away from the pack's omega.
Motak walked over, gently pulling the covers away and suddenly felt sorry.
Somun twitched in his sleep, eyes slowly fluttering open. "Ahjusshi?" He groggily called the alpha out. Motak silently shushed him, placing the plastic bag on the bedside table and silently thanked Hana for cleaning up earlier.
"I brought you some food," Motak whispered, removing the cloth from Somun's forehead, like Ms. Chu asked, and placed it in the bowl full of water.
"Ahjusshi," Somun coughed weakly, "can I get some water?"
"Ah, of course." Motak pulled out the water bottle from the plastic bag, with little to no noise at all. He's read somewhere that an omega's senses were raised from 1-10 when in heat, and he didn't want to take the chance to aggravate Somun's suffering any further.
Motak opened the cap and helped Somun sit up. The older raised the bottle to Somun's lips, remembering Ms. Chu's statement of omegas being too weak to move when in heat. The pack omega gratefully drank from it.
"Done?"
Somun nodded, sighing shakily and laying back down. Motak closed the bottle, wringing out the water from the forgotten cloth he put in water. The alpha placed it on the omega's forehead. Motak turned to leave, knowing that his work was done and that he would be needed later.
"Ahjusshi." Somun called out weakly. Motak stopped, looking at the omega.
"Do you need anything?"
"I-" Somun blushed, coughing slightly, "I was wondering if you could stay with me. . .?"
"What?" Motak pointed a finger at himself, confused, "me?"
"No one's around except you." Somun snorted, "I feel cold."
"Shouldn't you feel hot?"
"If I do, I wouldn't have this much blankets." Ah. So that's why he looked like a child - the numerous amount of fluffy blankets made him look like a baby.
"But it's alright if you don't want to," Somun blabbered on, "I mean, I understand-"
"Scoot over."
"What?"
"Scoot over, kid." Motak repeated. Somun, although confused, scooted over. Motak closed the curtains, walking over to the youngest. The alpha sat down on the bed, pulling the covers up and settling beside the omega.
"Ahjusshi. . ." Somun started quietly, "what are you doing?"
"You said you felt cold." Motak deadass replied, gently pulling Somun closer until the omega was pressed snug to his chest. Briefly, Motak wondered where the damp cloth was, but he decided he didn't mind - right now, what he needed was to help Somun.
The kid felt hot - literally. Shaky breaths, the sweat on his forehead, literally everything about this cuddle felt uncomfortable. For Motak, however, he didn't mind any of those - this was the best thing that happened to him. Motak felt his heart melt when Somun lightly nuzzled his collarbones, smelling the alpha's rainforest scent.
"Thank you." Somun contentedly sighed.
Motak's lips quirked to a smile. The alpha then pressed a light kiss on the omega's crown. "You're welcome."
With that, the alpha and the omega drifted off to sleep, surrounded by the scent of rainforest.
And if Hana took a picture of them snuggling and used it to blackmail Motak every now and then, no one needed to know.