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It all starts because of Seungkwan.
In the past five years that Seokmin has been eligible for the local mating run, he’s never gone. Seoul is too crowded and busy for a proper mating run anyway, too much steel and iron for the fresh breath of trees that makes running worth it. But Seokmin is aware that there are large annual mating runs that anyone can join as long as they follow the rules and play fair.
Seungkwan, too, has never been to a mating run – but that doesn’t matter too much for him, since he’s been dating a younger beta named Hansol quite happily for the last three years. Which is why Seokmin is confused when Seungkwan corners him at his job at the local bookstore on a Friday evening two weeks before the mating run is supposed to take place. Seokmin knows, because the store gets an uptick of people coming by to look up books on old mating run rituals. A bunch of them end up at the dynamics section of the bookstore. Jeonghan makes him set out all the dynamics books in the front of the store on purpose despite never wanting to be mated himself.
It’s on one of these busy days that Seungkwan begs him to join the mating run for him.
Not literally for him, but – “Hyung, please. When do I ever ask you for anything?”
“But I don’t want to run,” Seokmin frowns, tagging another set of books to put out for sale. “I never have. Aren’t you and Hansollie getting mated anyway? I thought it was a for-sure thing.”
“It is,” Seungkwan says stubbornly. “But I want to do this. I always have! Haven’t you ever wondered what it’s like? The omegas that come out of it never say anything about the whole experience.”
It’s true. Seokmin’s own parents always share secretive smiles when they think about their own mating run. His mom turns to his mother and kisses her on the cheek after, like a secret shared between them, and Seokmin always gags and runs away before he can think of something truly atrocious. Like his parents mating. Ew.
He shrugs again, setting the books aside. After a moment, he chirps, “Why not ask Jeonghan-hyung?”
Jeonghan, the owner of the bookstore, would much more prefer to live in lazy glory than to prance through the woods in some old traditional ritual. He thinks all of it is a tad bit dumb and outdated, but he always encourages Seungkwan to go if he really wants to, citing that it’s his choice. Jeonghan himself doesn’t ever seem too interested in mating, however traditional or not, himself. So, the moment that the suggestion comes out of Seokmin’s mouth, he already knows what the answer will be.
“I just… don’t want to go in alone,” Seungkwan admits. Seokmin is aware that he’s the only other omega friend that Seokmin has, and they’re not even in the same year. Seeing the way Seungkwan’s ears turn red, his fingers fidgeting in front of him as he looks absolutely chagrined at having to ask, Seokmin feels his heart soften.
If he were Jeonghan, maybe, he’d have an easier time saying no. Then again, he isn’t Jeonghan, and Seokmin has never been able to truly say no or turn down Seungkwan – or any of his friends, really – when they’re genuinely asking for his help.
“Okay,” he sighs in the end, smiling weakly as Seungkwan brightens at him.
So, from one muddle-hearted moment of weakness, Seokmin finds himself tumbling down a rabbit hole of great proportions.
First of all, the mating run in Seoul is much larger than he thought, but it’s also someone smaller than he originally assumed it would be. There really aren’t a lot of people here, but they come in all ages and sizes; Seokmin sees young, rounder faces of people who might have just turned twenty to some older people that look more laid back and less nervous. There are betas and alphas just as there are omegas, all of them wearing a mandatory scent suppressant patch in order to make sure that they’re not clogging up the place.
Seungkwan informed him that the whole run was actually split into two days. They’re at the first day of the run, which is taking place in a large hotel ballroom. Everyone gets a sturdy bracelet, apparently for the run tomorrow, each labelled with a specific color – blue for omegas, red for alphas, gold for betas. There’s a switch in the back for emergencies.
“If you’re injured, or find yourself in a position where you want to leave, just press the button here.” A sweet-faced beta named Jisoo shows them all how to find the button at the edge of the bracelet where it’s easily accessible. Could be bitten, even, if one arm is out of order. “As always, you’re free to leave the mating run at any point in time. The point isn’t to force anything, but to let yourself be open to something new and see if it will take. If it doesn’t – well, then it just doesn’t.” A smatter of laughter, some nervous, sprinkles through the crowd. Seokmin appreciates the chill take to it, though.
They go through a couple more protocols, including a packet of clothes they’re handed by a coordinator based on their bands. Seungkwan squeezes the side of his arm in excitement, finding Hansol in the crowd and waving at him. Seokmin also waves, leaning down to whisper, “Why didn't you invite him over?”
“Are you crazy, hyung?” Seungkwan scoffs with a smile to his beloved boyfriend. “It’s bad luck to meet before the run!”
… Alright then.
The basic premise of the mating run is reminiscent of older traditions, where omegas would find themselves in the thick of the forest at the dead of the night. The moon and her goddess were their navigation, and she blessed couples to everlasting loyalty if they found each other under her gaze. A pretty, romantic tale, one that he liked a lot as a child before he grew up a bit more and realized how disadvantageous it is, sometimes, to be an omega.
It’s just the kind of thing that Seungkwan likes, though, so Seokmin shouldn’t be so surprised in hindsight that he would ask for this. Hansol also goes along with most of Seungkwan’s shenanigans, just happy to be there.
Jisoo goes around explaining the parameters of the forest that they’re going to be prancing around in, where they can go and where they can’t, as well as all of the safety rooms if anything were to occur. He stresses on the importance of consent, and that everything in this mating run is under the assumption that as a society, they’ve all progressed past the point to completely rely on their base instincts. Some of that seems particularly pointed toward a group of alphas sitting in one corner of the room. Therefore, this was just a dip into a fun way to meet someone, like a mixer. Except with mating.
They’re allowed to touch their instincts, to follow the line of the horizon and run to chase after scents that appeal the most to them. For omegas, it’s a way for their pursuer to prove their worth. Jisoo explains blithely that while not uncommon, most people decide not to mate in the forest, only to catch each other and decide if they’re a good partner for the other. Anything was welcomed, though, as long as they did it safely.
There were a bunch of officials that sat by the edges, counsellors, first aid, as well as civil officials in case anyone wanted to register their mating right then and there. Seokmin tries not to think about how Seungkwan and Hansol won’t be the half of people who are looking around to meet someone new, but rather in the half of people who have brought their significant other for the thrill of the hunt. And the relatively ease of process to mate; usually, otherwise, it’d be a hassle and a half.
Seokmin looks over at Seungkwan with his eyes narrowed. “You brought… condoms, right?”
“Hyung,” Seungkwan hisses back, flushing red to the tips of his ears. “Can you not – ugh. Yes, okay, but they also provide them here.” With a huff that’s both cute and obnoxious, he turns away as if pretending he doesn’t know Seokmin. “God, you’re so embarrassing.”
Seokmin pinches his side. If he’s so annoying, why did Seungkwan plead him to come? Regardless, Seokmin thumbs the curved edge of the bracelet that they were all handed and finds himself pleasantly surprised at how his first ever mating run will seem more muted than he thought it would be. No doubt it had been different when his parents first ran, but Seokmin had thought way worse of the whole experience. Ignorance begets fear, and all that.
To his excited surprise, he also sees some familiar faces in the crowd. After the first event, they were free to walk around the ballroom and mingle. Fresh fruit and snacks are offered along with drinks, and it’s over the juice bar that he hears a familiar accented voice go, “Still drinking like a nun, Seokminnie?”
Whirling around, he finds Minghao standing with his hands in his pockets, a smile so wide on his face that it almost looks out-of-character for him. In college, Minghao liked to tote himself as the sensitive and expressionless type, but Seokmin could always make him laugh no matter what the situation. After they graduated, Minghao ended up doing his graduate degree back in China, and as they both grew busy, it was natural to fall out of contact.
Seeing him isn’t awkward, though; Seokmin yells his name in excitement and immediately bounds his entire body forward, letting Minghao take the brunt of his body weight.
Minghao’s scent of red wine and dark chocolate, decadent for a beta, surrounds Seokmin like a warm hug. His hands pat Seokmin’s lower back before they pull away. He looks good, glowing with health, his glasses a little askew.
“What are you doing here?” Seokmin suddenly finds that any hesitations he had about coming here are promptly wiped out. Reconnecting with Minghao might just make everything worth it. “I thought you were in Shanghai!”
“Junhui still works in South Korea, though,” Minghao says, referring to his long-time boyfriend. “I came back permanently, actually. Just a week ago. I was thinking about reaching out to you but when I called, the number was dead.”
“Oh yeah, yeah, I changed it last year.” Seokmin puts his phone out for Minghao to put his contact back in. “So is Junhui-hyung here too?”
“He’s somewhere around, he saw some other people that we knew from college.”
“What? Who?”
Minghao leads them over to a corner so that they’re not blocking access to the assortment of snacks. Seokmin is surprised to find that his orange juice hasn’t spilled a drop. Guess there’s something to say about growing up and gaining greater hand-eye coordination. He can still remember the time he and Minghao snuck out from their respective dorm rooms to get drunk off of 300 won bottles of wine in the quad, giggling to themselves over stupid youtube videos.
“Well, Seungcheol-hyung, for one,” Minghao hums. “But he’s not running, just helped Jisoo-hyung put the whole thing together. Also Wonwoo – do you remember Jeon Wonwoo, from the AV club? He’s here too!”
They chat for a while, catching each other up in the small time they have to bask in each other’s presence. Minghao makes Seokmin promise to call him immediately so he can have the other’s number, and that if they’re close enough to grab a cup of coffee sometime soon. Seokmin promises to not be a stranger with a laugh, even though it had been Minghao who fell off the face of the planet first.
Junhui joins them a moment later, immediately bounding over with a bright smile. He looks just as enthused to see Seokmin as Seokmin does to see him, and they hug it out right there. Junhui is one of the few people, alpha, omega, or beta, to be taller than him. Seokmin chortles at the feeling of being smothered before the other pulls away.
“I didn’t know that you were single, actually,” Junhui admits, pulling away and patting Seokmin’s shoulder.
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone thought that you and Mingyu would get mated after senior year,” Minghao explains, leaning into the arm around his shoulder. “I’ll be honest, even I thought that.”
Some parts of Seokmin freezes at hearing that name after nearly four years. He coughs, feeling his laugh come out more strained than he’d like it to be. “Ah, well, Mingyu and I were always just friends, you know? Besides, he was dating someone else when we graduated.”
“What, really?” Minghao frowns. “Why did I – “
“It was really good to see you guys though,” Seokmin rushes to add, feeling a tsunami of relief flood through him as his phone begins to ring. Seungkwan’s name blares across the front in bright, white letters. He’ll have to thank Seungkwan twice over now, Seokmin thinks with a grimace. Once for bringing him here to meet up with Minghao, and the second for getting him out of a sticky situation. “I have to go back before Seungkwan throws a fit at me. Call me later?”
“Of course,” Minghao reassures him, waving as Seokmin picks up the call and threads through the crowd of people.
Junhui turns to Minghao, worried. “Does he know that Mingyu is here, though?”
-
Hearing the name ‘Kim Mingyu’ doesn’t send Seokmin on a tailspin, per say, but it is a name that he hasn’t heard in a couple of years. He can still recall the sharp sting of coffee hitting his tongue the first day of classes, eighteen and awkward in his own skin, shuffling into the large classroom where no one seemed to look at him. In one respect, that was quite nice. In another, Seokmin felt lost as to how to make friends. He was determined to make sure his college experience wouldn’t mimic his last few years of high school.
Perhaps he should have been more careful, putting that thought into the universe. As soon as he settled down and brought out his computer to type up notes for his first class, the sound of the door opening rang loud through the lecture hall. Almost everyone turned their head to look at the interruption, including Seokmin, to see Kim Mingyu; at the moment, very tall and handsome upon first impression.
And unfortunately for Seokmin, he sat right next to Seokmin’s mostly untaken bench. The eyes followed with him, causing Seokmin to snap back to looking at his laptop screen, the blinking cursor left off where he had trailed after an errant thought.
The eyes felt like pinpricks and needles on him. Kim Mingyu sorted out his books all while drinking quickly from his bottle of water, presumably after rushing to be here. Seokmin shuffled a little bit, wishing that the seats weren’t connected, and that he could move one more seat down.
It wasn’t that Kim Mingyu was ever rude to him, or even mean. After that first day, Seokmin always saw him early in that class, but he would always come at the very beginning of class, dragged down by fatigue and a new schedule and work load. After a week, Mingyu was a well-known name throughout the music department, particularly for his idol-worthy visuals and voice. He was always surrounded by people, so Seokmin never worried about having to sit next to him again.
In the meanwhile, he made friends with Minghao, a transfer student that he ended up sitting next to in the front row of their lectures. He looked smart, and Seokmin offered to have a study session, only to have Minghao come to him and blankly say that he hasn’t understood half of the lectures so far. Seokmin can only remember laughing so loud that it rung clearly throughout the hall, causing some people to look toward him. He couldn’t think about that, though, not when Minghao also smiled broadly in response.
So, for the first year of school, Seokmin had little to no interactions with Mingyu. He faded to the back of Seokmin’s attention, filed away as the handsome alpha that everyone in their department liked; someone that Seokmin had been forced to work with and be in the presence of by the general nature of their tiny department and how often everyone hangs out. Through these drinking sessions and karaoke outings, though, Seokmin met Junhui, Jeonghan, and Soonyoung.
When Seokmin starts his second year, things begin to change.
It starts with the optional dance class that he takes, as per Soonyoung’s persuasion. Seokmin just needs to finish a course in the physical education sector, something that gets him to move, but he’s not the best at sports. Soonyoung told him chirpily, over ddeokbokki and glasses of seltzer, that he should sign up for one of the beginner dance courses. They’re fun, a way to move, and they’re pretty much necessary for dance majors to take too. There’s a bunch of them in different disciplines of dance, but Seokmin decided to stay neutral go with street dance and hip hop.
The first day he came into the dance room, it was packed with people, all the way up to the walls with heads and bodies. Seokmin immediately felt claustrophobic at the amount of people that were here, stepping back out of the room as a barrage of scents and sweat came tumbling toward him.
The one thought that runs persistent through his head as he hits a body jarringly behind him, unaware that there had been someone waiting to enter after him, is: am i in the wrong room?
His shoulder aches for a brief second, having hit something sharp and hard. Seokmin stumbles away, already blurting out his apologies, when a warm hand holds onto his arm and holds him in place. Seokmin looks up to see Kim Mingyu, his hair pulled back into a cap, looking at him with worry.
“Are – are you okay?”
He blinks. Nods in a kind of daze. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He looks pointedly at the hand on his arm, wondering if it was too rude to slip out of someone’s hold when they were just trying to help you. Mingyu, like most alphas, runs hot, and his palm burns where it meets Seokmin’s skin. Mingyu follows his gaze and immediately takes his hand off, quickly apologizing.
So that’s why there’s a crowd. Kim Mingyu tends to have one following around him, filled with new fans of his face, even though he himself seems a tad bit uncomfortable about it. Seokmin has heard that Mingyu is nice, a bit of a pushover, which is something that he can’t personally see in the alpha. Then again, it’s not like Seokmin has really talked to him.
That changes, as if Seokmin’s thoughts have jinxed the universe into pushing him into Mingyu’s space. A random whim of their dance instructor has them pairing up with each other for the rest of the semester, helping each other stretch and then eventually, prepare a dance routine together. There was no rhyme or reason to the pairings; alpha with alphas, betas with omegas, omegas with other omegas. Completely random. They were the only alpha-omega dance duo in the entire class, and so without fail, Seokmin bore a brunt of attention completely unprecedent just by the nature of being near Mingyu.
Perhaps this was when things went wrong.
He never expected Kim Mingyu to be… Mingyu. He was awkward, like he didn’t know how to handle all of his limbs and his large shoulders. Often bent down to meet Seokmin’s eyes even though he didn’t have to. He didn’t treat Seokmin any different from his other friends, slinging an arm around him and letting himself be hit in return when he’d rib Seokmin a little too hard. He cooked meals whenever Seokmin stayed over at his dorm a little too long, because they realized that they share two other courses together, and spotted him on coffee and a muffin more often than Seokmin can recall.
Slowly, before his eyes, Seokmin remembers seeing past the first impression of Mingyu’s height and his stupidly symmetrical face and seeing the way he’d chortle when he laughed, how he hated horror movies and heights just as much as Seokmin, and how the smallest dragonfly could make this nearly two-meter man shriek. They spent more time together, only skipping a few days in between for holidays or for their other friends, but even then, their friend groups had begun to meld together.
Suffice to say, their final project – a duet dance where they both complained of their popped joints – went off without a hitch.
That friendship lasted Seokmin until junior and senior year. Many same-aged people joined their ring of friends; Minghao, for example, was always close – Jaehyun, Bambam, Chan and Jungkook – but in the end, something always kept them coming back for each other.
That was, until Seokmin foolishly told Jeonghan and Soonyoung of his feelings.
He’s never been very aware of himself, but Seokmin knows a crush when he feels one. And his crush on Mingyu grew exponentially by the start of their fourth year together. Jeonghan and Soonyoung, along with a couple of other people they knew mutually, all looked at Seokmin’s drunken confession of his feelings with aplomb; Jeonghan even went so far as to say, yeah, we know. We’ve always kinda known. And then, with a smirk, It was as clear as seeing Mingyu’s crush on you, actually.
Call him dumb, but Seokmin actually let himself believe it. The fleeting touches, the way Mingyu would automatically search for some part of him to touch, how they’d share clothes and food and stories and stresses and laughter. So Seokmin built himself up to confess, or at least tell Mingyu about his feelings at the end of the year, when things weren’t so stressful.
He would have, if it weren’t for the fact that Mingyu went into a relationship by the end of senior year.
Seokmin, embarrassed but also a little heartbroken, sheltered back into his shell like a hidden crab. He couldn’t believe he let himself believe everyone else, that Mingyu could really, truly like him. It felt like a joke. Mingyu never treated him any different than any of their other friends, except for being a little touchy, but that was because they were together all the time.
Finals hit, and then graduation, and Seokmin slowly slipped away. Mingyu had gotten an offer to work in a music company overseas, and Seokmin attended his going-away party with tears and smiles, surreptitiously looking around for Mingyu’s new partner. He saw no new faces, but it didn’t mean anything. Seokmin promised to keep in touch, and then never did, citing business until their communication slowly died.
Just like that, Seokmin’s first love dissipated into dust.
-
Most of those thoughts about Mingyu have already faded; like tinted, vintage photos with either too much exposure or too much fade, Seokmin barely heeds those feelings anymore. It’s been nearly four years, after all, and things have changed. He feels a little foolish coming back to his old feelings, as he always does when it comes to Mingyu’s name, but it was just a crush. He hopes Mingyu is doing well, and thinks that if he ever met him again, he’d probably be able to speak to him normally.
In the hotel room he shares with Seungkwan, Seokmin erases all thoughts of tall alphas and lets Seungkwan slip into bed with him, despite having one of his own, nerves present in the lines of his face and how tightly he holds onto Seokmin. He’s unnecessarily worried about the mating run, even though both he and Seokmin know that Hansol could pick him out a crowd.
Regardless, sometimes the heart isn’t a reasonable thing. Seokmin pats his hair until he falls asleep, arms slung across Seokmin’s middle, wishing that he could have someone pat him too. Almost abruptly, he misses Jeonghan, who would make fun of him lightly for wanting affection but would never take it away from him regardless.
In the morning, Seungkwan claims that he’s not hungry, but Seokmin persuades him to have some fruit from the breakfast buffet anyway. He himself doesn’t usually eat breakfast anyway, invested in making sure that his brain is awake. They’re latecomers, as everyone else is already dressed and ready for the run.
The parcel of clothes he and Seungkwan were given yesterday contained a set of clothes usually fair for omegas; a pair of shorts or pants, a large shirt, and not much else. Seokmin feels weirdly naked without underwear, but Seungkwan chatters on about how it was provided to people who wanted them. Something about being comfortable in the forest. Regardless, he follows Seungkwan into a crowd of other omegas, led by the beta Jisoo from yesterday, to a clearing.
Seokmin pats the bag around his shoulder, which contains really just a book that he nabbed from the bookstore to bring with him and a first aid kit if need be for his clumsy self. Seungkwan protested at first, but when he saw other people bringing small bags as well, he let it be. Similarly, Seokmin didn’t really expect to converse with anyone. He was there for Seungkwan’s moral support and moral support only. He planned on finding a nice corner near a river and reading for a couple of hours before walking back to the base. He’s already gotten a good scent of the place just in case he needs to follow his nose back.
Most of the rest is a blur, probably because Seokmin doesn’t really pay much attention to it. He’s thinking about how long he’ll have to stay in one place, with his back aching, and if he’ll be able to sleep on the way back.
They all line up at the edge of the woods, the horizon staring down at them with her foggy darkness. It’s well in the morning, perhaps a bit before dawn, and the sky is still dark and cloudy. It smells of dew and pine, something sweet in the air, perhaps the crowd of omegas affecting what’s really in the air. It’ll be hard for any alpha or beta to find them, having to pick apart their scents from one another like a mass, tangled web.
Seokmin presses a gentle kiss against Seungkwan’s head right before an official raises his palm in the air. “Stay safe,” he frets, pulling away when Seungkwan just nods wordlessly, his eyes asking Seokmin to do the same.
The hand goes down. Omegas take flight into the woods, disappearing in the brush of trees and air, slipping into the darkness as if made for it. Seokmin partakes only for the first few minutes, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he takes one, indulgent moment of simply running, feeling twigs and dirt beneath his bare feet and wind in his hair, cold air seeping into his lungs. It’s invigorating, almost, a weightless type of joy that presses him to go a bit further than he originally expected himself to go.
He decided to wear the shorts, so there are barely-there scratches on his knees and legs when he finally slows to a stop. His heart beats in an effort to catch up; here, he closes his eyes and inhales deep, the way his mother taught him to when he was very young. In the distance, he hears a burbling brook and smells the pungent, crisp scent of water, perhaps a fresh river. He follows his senses to a small stream, barely a meter wide, deep enough to submerge his ankles in.
There’s enough space between the canopy of leaves and tree branches that sunlight will filter in through quite prettily once sunrise happens. Until then, Seokmin will have to take care not to strain his eyes. Maybe he could take a nap, he muses, but then throws that thought away as silly and foolish. It may be a mating run, and everyone may be beholden to rules to be proper, but that doesn’t mean everyone will follow them.
If that’s the case… he sets his bag down next to a rock and sits at the river bank on a patch of moss, dipping his feet into the warm water and sighing in pleasure. If only the water were a little hotter, he thinks, he could pretend that he’s at a bathhouse. Thankfully he’d gone for the shorts for easy running. Longer pants would have, no doubt, gotten stuck on something.
He doesn’t have any disillusions about someone finding him. Seokmin’s own experience hasn’t been good, but it hasn’t been bad, either. Not many people seem to be interested in an omega like him: tall, a bit too slender for his own good, broadly shouldered but with finer features. Loud but also shy, a bit wanting for affection even if he seems too big for it. He’s had a long time to come to terms with the fact that he’s not like other omegas he knows. For the most part, he never really truly thinks about it, and so it never quite touches him the way it used to when he was younger and that was all you’d hear from everyone around you. Now, people are too absorbed in their own lives, so Seokmin is too.
There are a range of rocks sunken in to the side of the river. He wonders if he should take any to show Jeonghan back when he’s home, as some kind of souvenir. Jeonghan would get a kick out of it. So would Soonyoung, really. They’re smooth and round, washed clean by the clear water, glittering under the thick fog of dawn. He keeps two in his bag for safe keeping.
There’s a bit more light now, so Seokmin supposes that he’s been here for at least an hour already, lost in his thoughts. Peeks of orange and red grow over the horizon, signaling the beginning of morning. He cracks open his book and falls into the temptation of sinking into a different world, unaware of the sounds of others flashing past him. They’re all background noise, either running from a potential mate until they’re caught or trying to discern an attractive scent from the air.
Staying here for a bit longer isn’t too bad, he muses. He’ll stick around for another hour before claiming he was too cold and that he didn’t want to be there anymore. If anything, he’ll just press the button on the bracelet that was given to him and cite that he felt ill or uncomfortable.
At least, that’s what he thinks he’ll do.
See, Seokmin hasn’t always had the best of instincts, but that doesn’t mean he’s completely bereft of them. Growing up in a fairly small town with an alpha sister and kids who liked to pick on him has made his sixth sense sharp. And now, as he flips another page in his novel, the unmistakable crawl of something – someone – behind him makes him stiffen.
He whips around, rapidly looking through the trees. Nothing. The wind whistles through the leaves like they’re hollow boned, and Seokmin sees nothing in the inner cartilage of the forest. Just darkness, shadows of small animals and vines, making up monsters that he always closed his eyes to as a child. Even now, with enough experience in the woods and the light rising behind him, Seokmin is unnerved. Every instinct is screaming at him, stilling his fingers on the closed cover his book. He turns around again, checking one more. Even with the visual affirmation that there is no one there, he feels seen.
More than seen, really. Like his every move is being watched. Stalked. Instead of the strange fear that should run through him, something else does, like a silver of thrill not unlike the rush of adrenaline from earlier. His throat bobs as he swallows thickly, snapping to attention the moment the bushes to his left rustles once more. He holds his breath with bated anticipation, sweat curling over the curve of his neck and shoulder –
A thick white rabbit jumps into the clearing, hopping towards Seokmin. Almost abruptly, like the strings have been cut from his hypothetical puppet shoulders, he slumps.
With a hand outstretched, he welcomes the bunny closer to the water. “You scared me,” he laughs, louder than he expects to. The rabbit doesn’t pay heed, jumping forward until the soft furry nose of his burrows into Seokmin’s palm. He’s always been good with animals.
It’s just that –
It’s just that the feeling has not gone away, not completely. And when the rabbit freezes in place, so does Seokmin, both of them staring for a brief moment at the unbroken line of trees.
And together, as one, they make a break for the thicket.
It’s an instantaneous response, but there’s a slightly different flavor; Seokmin expects to be scared, really, but his head is screaming at him to runrunrunrun but it’s not a terrified kind of running. Instead, there’s an almost nameless, basal level of satisfaction, of expectation, like some small part of Seokmin is running to see if you can catch me can you catch me can you catch me? It’s confusing and blurry and intense, like a hand has reached inside his lungs to grasp at his breath and steal it right out of his chest, and he swears –
He swears that there are footsteps following right behind him, catching up to him, falling into the footfalls of soil he leaves behind as he runs and escapes even though he wants to be caught but if he escapes doesn’t that mean that they’re not strong or fast enough to catch him? And if they’re not strong or fast then how good could they possibly be –
Seokmin breaks into the clearing with a muted gasp.
Still breathing hard, working off a high so intense that it’s overwhelming. Seokmin presses a hand to his chest and wills his heart to calm down, wondering why – why – why he doesn’t feel like it’s over –
From behind him, the sound of a twig cracking makes Seokmin whirl around.
Standing in front of him is Mingyu, so similar yet so different from what Seokmin remembers of him. He used to be skinnier, lankier, Seokmin thinks; a feat, considering how big everyone considered him to be in college. His hair falls in dry bangs in front of his eyes, not a single line of sweat to be seen on him, as if he’d taken a walk through the forest instead. But he’s wearing similar clothes to Seokmin’s, linen pieces that are easy to breathe in.
Seokmin takes in the details of him in a flurry; defined biceps, large hands, a neutral expression on his face as if he’s not as surprised to see Seokmin after four years of silence as Seokmin is to see him. He’s also barefoot. There’s something distinctly off about him that Seokmin can’t quite but his finger on, and it sets an itch behind his teeth that he can’t quite put a name to. And in Mingyu’s hands is the book that Seokmin had been reading, not a scuff to be seen.
It’s too much all at once. Seokmin’s mouth opens and closes for a moment. “Min-Mingyu?”
The alpha in front of him tilts his head to the side, as if hearing something. His eyes are still lowered, and Seokmin can’t see them through the thin veneer of darkness that has yet to dissipate. He dearly wishes that sunrise would come sooner so he can see the expression on Mingyu’s face.
He sounds the same, though, maybe a bit more mature, when he responds. “You left this back there.” He holds out the book that Seokmin had been reading, forearm extending into the space between them.
Seokmin wants to grab his novel, still confused, when everything in him shouts to stop.
It feels strange because in college, Mingyu never used his scent to affect anyone. The only time he couldn’t control it was in his rut, since he was young and his ruts were infrequent, and Seokmin had never seen him rut. He imagines that it’s much like his own heats, but he’s never felt the need to ask an alpha, and he’s sure the experience is as varied per person as it is for omegas. But this – this heaviness cloying the space between them, the thick scent of smoke and citrus, like a burnt orange tree, hangs heavy in the air. It’s Mingyu, he realizes, it’s Mingyu giving off that scent.
You left this back there. As in, Mingyu had seen him at the stream.
Seokmin goes against every single thought in his head hissing at him to runrunrun he doesn’t deserve you like this and takes a step toward Mingyu. Almost immediately, Mingyu’s gaze snaps to his single step. A predator waiting for someone to fall into his trap.
Seokmin turns tail and runs.
He scrambles through thicket and branch, not caring how it scratches at him, some part of him running in the thrill and the other in confusion and a third part of him, smaller, in satisfaction, working his legs to the best of his ability – sprinting across uneven ground and softness. He feels more than hears Mingyu coming up behind him at an increasingly quick pace, always having been more athletic than Seokmin, with a single-minded focus. For a moment they’re nothing but an alpha and an omega running from each other, running against each other backlit by the woods and their cacophony of quiet and loudness in juxtaposition.
That thought gets cut off with a yelp as Seokmin is jarred into stopping, a heavy hand and an even heavier body reaching out to clutch onto him. They go down in a mess of limbs and leaves, all tangled up in each other. Seokmin ends up on his back after rolling around once or twice, groaning as he comes to a rest.
Mingyu is situated nearly on top of him, his one of his hands encircling Seokmin’s wrist and pinning it to the forest floor. He looks ruffled, breathing heavily as he presses his forehead against Seokmin’s. This close, his eyes gleam with a flash of dark maroon, so different from their usual brown. This close, the scent of burnt orange is powerfully intense.
And then, Mingyu says, “I caught you.”
It’s a reminder that brings everything back into focus: the mating run. Actually running, Mingyu watching him from the stream, the realization of it all causing a hard thump in his chest as his brain scrambles to put together or accept the pieces. Mingyu’s other hand holds himself up over Seokmin near his head. He can see the little mole on Mingyu’s nose in perfect precision. Seokmin had forgotten about that mole.
And he’s close, way too close. Seokmin puts a hand to his chest and pushes him away slightly, laughing awkwardly as the other hand is caught in his grip. “I – yeah, I guess? Maybe you should, um… let go now.”
How this usually goes: they get caught; they tumble around. They introduce themselves to each other, check the other for any accidental scratches and wounds, laugh it off to prevent awkwardness. If there’s a connection, they’ll talk on the way back to base and maybe even spend the rest of the day together.
How this goes, with Mingyu, is with the alpha narrowing his eyes, moving so that the bridge of his nose trails down from Seokmin’s cheek, to his jawbone, to his neck; tracing the line of his open throat to the junction of his neck and shoulder, right where the most sensitive part of Seokmin is. Digging his face into Seokmin’s scent gland, mouth pressed in an open bite, sending a shiver down Seokmin’s spine. Making him realize that Mingyu had no intentions of taking it slow and easy.
“Mingyu – “
He looks up at his name, the downturn curve of his mouth so jarringly like the Mingyu Seokmin once knew, all puppyish, peeved displeasure. “I caught you.”
“I… yes, you did.” Mingyu makes a pleased sound. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you acting so weird?” He squirms in place, wanting to escape from the sizzling heat of Mingyu’s body, his heavy warmth.
Well, he did, up until Mingyu laughed dry and a little bitter, mostly disbelieving, right into Seokmin’s ear. “I caught you,” he repeats here, more present that he had been before. His fingers squeeze Seokmin’s wrist so hard he feels like it’ll bruise. A fissure of heat rises in him at the thought even as he makes a noise at the pressure. “After all these years, I finally caught you.”
“What?”
Seokmin doesn’t have time to say much else when Mingyu’s mouth is insistently, eagerly on his own. His mouth is dry but firm against Seokmin’s, demanding attention, maybe also a little desperate. He licks the seam of Seokmin’s mouth and moves the other hand to slip under Seokmin’s back, pushing the small of his back up so that he’s arched against the forest floor. The movement makes him lightheaded, heightens the kiss and its sensation to a different plane. Mingyu kisses like he wants to devour Seokmin whole.
After that, it’s nearly impossible to not lose himself to the sensation, to the way Mingyu lifts him up with one hand to sit on his lap as he splays his palm on the warm skin of Seokmin’s back. His wrist has red handprints in the shape of Mingyu’s fingers, and the pain is drowned out the sheer pleasure of Mingyu nipping at the corner of his mouth, moving from the sweet corner of it to his neck. It’s hard to breathe. Seokmin is caught up in the way Mingyu presses their bodies close together, separated by a single layer of linen, how he uses teeth to nick at Seokmin’s neck until he’s sure it’ll turn into bruises the next morning.
His scent is almost overwhelming, covering Seokmin whole, the familiar scent somewhat comforting, and yet another part of him is purring in satisfaction: at being caught, at having such a fine alpha catch him, of having proven their worth for Seokmin and being able to follow through –
Fucking ridiculous, he swears at himself, that’s not – oh, it’s so hard to think when Mingyu’s hand slips his shirt up and pushes it up to his nipples, leaving them out to pebble in the cold air. He flushes darkly at his goosebumped skin, all on display for Mingyu, and how pushing up the front of his shirt lets Mingyu see the way he’s tented in his shorts, a slight bulge pressed against Mingyu’s stomach.
Mingyu’s eyes trail down to it. He trails one hand down Seokmin’s side, brushing hands over Seokmin’s naked skin down to his hip. Despite what Seokmin thinks, though, he only grips him a bit harder, shifting a little under Seokmin and then pausing as he feels – as he feels how wet Seokmin has gotten.
Then, Mingyu looks at him, meeting eyes. His lashes are still thick, but even in the man that Seokmin sees now, there’s a boy that had once been his friend, his first love. He only proves it to be true when he says, “Tell me to stop.”
Seokmin opens his mouth, mouth parting briefly, and Mingyu watches the swell of his bottom lip. When he says nothing, no words slipping from his mouth, his eyes go wide and round.
In a moment of heightened emotion, all of them so intense and terrifying and yet so easy, Seokmin slips the emergency bracelet that had been on his hand down onto the ground. A declaration, if there ever was one.
Mingyu follows its loss, swallowing, lunging forward to crush Seokmin to himself and kiss him senseless.
His hand slips from Seokmin’s hip to under his thigh, sinking into the meat there. Seokmin, too busy with winding his arms around Mingyu’s neck to prevent himself from falling backward, groans at the way Mingyu kneads the muscle there with single minded devotion. His fingers slip toward Seokmin’s core, slipping into the crease of his thigh, ghosting over his cock and moving to the sweet slit right below. Where he’s wet, the fabric sticking to the skin of his cunt.
Mingyu, horribly, presses one finger against Seokmin, pushing a bit of linen right into him. The fabric is coarse and not at all like Seokmin’s own fingers; even the single fingertip of Mingyu’s feels like at least two of his own. He cries out, automatically pulling up and away from the sensation, clinging closer to Mingyu until the alpha’s head is pressed to his chest. He could hear Seokmin’s heartbeat here, he realizes.
“I won’t hurt you,” Mingyu soothes, going back down there again. “I’ve waited so long for you; I won’t hurt you. I’d rather die myself.”
“What – what do you mean?” Seokmin shudders through the sensation, whimpering when Mingyu curls a finger around the hem of his shorts and jerks them away from Seokmin’s skin. These were meant for the heat of the run, regardless, and so the fabric rips easily under Mingyu’s ministrations. “You said something like that earlier, too, like – “ Like he caught Seokmin years after chasing him, which is just – which is just – untrue.
Mingyu pauses. “You ran away from me,” he says simply, mouth forming the words against Seokmin’s chest, right at his breastbone. “I never understood why, and for a while, I agonized over it – but it’s okay, because I figured that no matter how far you ran, I’d always try to catch up to you.”
Seokmin pulls away to look at Mingyu, shocked. There’s none of that red from before, none of that alpha aggressiveness, just all – Mingyu, warm-eyed, looking at Seokmin like he’s seen sunrise.
And then he leans them both down so that Seokmin lies flat on his back against the grass, having it tickle his ears. His face feels incomparably hot, and if Seokmin were to see himself in a mirror now, he knows exactly what he’d see; redness climbing from his nape to his cheeks to his ears, dyeing it all pink.
Mingyu presses a soft, sweet kiss against his belly button, pressing one hand on his stomach, before hitching Seokmin’s leg over his shoulder. An indignant noise slips out of his mouth until he realizes that this position leaves him open to Mingyu’s mouth, who glances at him with a growing smile before he presses a kiss to Seokmin’s hardened cock.
“Cute,” he chuckles, pressing his mouth down, down, until he’s at the base of Seokmin’s dick and he feels like he’s about to explode; but it’s nothing, not at all, compared to the feeling of Mingyu’s mouth on his cunt, pressing sweet kisses against his opening before he licks at Seokmin’s core, working his way inside of him, gathering gasps and a long-drawn out moan from Seokmin as his body goes taut. Everything about the experience: the way Mingyu holds him, weightless and easy, his mouth warm and wet against Seokmin, the sky dancing in color above him; all of it coalesces into bright, pure white feeling as Seokmin comes untouched.
Mingyu realizes what’s happened a moment laughter, pulling away for a breathless moment to laugh, “Jesus, you’re sensitive.”
Reeling from the aftershocks of being barely eaten out and touched, Seokmin whimpers at his voice. His legs are moved from Mingyu’s shoulders to curl around his waist; Mingyu watches him in rapture, meeting his eyes as he dips one finger inside of Seokmin, gently tapping against his cunt and soaking his finger in Seokmin’s wetness before pressing inside.
Oh, he’s large, fingers thick and wonderful; he seems to work his way inside Seokmin with resistance, but it’s nothing that he doesn’t seem to enjoy, simply watching as Seokmin squirms under him and grips the dirt underneath him, trying to get a hold of himself. He’s shuddering from the aftershocks of pleasure when Mingyu curls his finger up and touches pure white-hot pleasure inside of Seokmin, instinctively forcing him to moan and arch his back, hips high, pushing insistently against Mingyu’s finger.
“It’s only been one,” the alpha says, marveling, “I – god.”
Seokmin blinks through the tears that has risen to his face, not even paying attention to when Mingyu gently pushes another one into him, so entranced by the way Mingyu leans over to kiss him once more with everything he has. Seokmin pants against his mouth, rocking down on Mingyu’s finger as if he’s – he’s –
There’s a third, then, joining the others as Seokmin feels full. The stretch burns deliciously, and he wonders if he’s somehow stumbled into his heat early, because there’s no way he would ever get this wet so fast normally; there’s almost no lube needed, not with the way Mingyu slips easily into him. It’s deliriously good, even with just his fingers.
Mingyu holds onto Seokmin’s hand, wrapped securely around his neck, and pulls it down to the bulge between Mingyu’s legs. “One more, just to make sure it doesn’t hurt you,” Mingyu mumbles against his mouth, leaving Seokmin to wonder what in the world he’s talking about when his hands brush over – holy shit.
Mingyu gives him one more finger, leaving it all inside of him as Seokmin pants with exertion, winded with the thought of Mingyu’s cock. It had been large, larger than his own for sure, and now that he looks, he can see the shape of it standing proud under Mingyu’s pants. Nothing hiding it, no jock strap, no boxers to leave it as a bulge. Seokmin’s eyes glued on it makes Mingyu remember what he had been doing all of this for, slipping down the pants over his slim hips. He reveals a hard line of abs down to where his cock stands to his stomach, almost as thick as Seokmin’s forearm. He has a mushroom head and one thick vein down on the back, balls heavy, the base of it already swelling.
Seokmin remembers color and a blur when Mingyu pulls his fingers out and replaces it with his dick. Seokmin sees and feels the head of it resting against his opening, flexes just to feel it kiss Mingyu sweetly as his own mouth would, and notes the exact moment Mingyu seems to lose himself to the same ecstasy running through Seokmin now.
The feeling is indescribable, especially when Mingyu first pushes into him. Wetness and fullness, like he’s truly welcoming Mingyu into him, taking him not only in body but also into the vulnerable spaces between Seokmin’s ribs where he had once locked away his heart. This is why mating feels so personal, so difficult to recreate with multiple people. When Mingyu pushes all the way into him, Seokmin feels him in his throat, squeezes down on him and asks for more, more, more, as if Mingyu has more to give, wanting all of his affection – demanding all of his love.
And Mingyu gives it to him, so close that they’re sharing breaths but not kissing, not exactly, simply existing into each other’s skin. He feels so good, curves so well inside of Seokmin like he’s made to pleasure every nerve ending Seokmin has, thick and full and stretching him to the point past pain and into pleasure. White hot, like liquid mercury in his veins. Seokmin gets addicted to the feeling nearly halfway into their coupling, nails digging into Mingyu’s back, ripping through his shirt.
And Mingyu remains locked in on his words, watching Seokmin’s mouth move, going quicker – fuller – hands on Seokmin’s waist to keep him from squirming, fucking him with a focus that is both flustering and deliriously hot.
Seokmin notes when he comes again, all of his pleasure funneled down into a single spot where Mingyu is sheathed inside of him, where he presses up inside of Seokmin in good ways, sweet ways, not moving even if Seokmin begs him to, pressed up against Seokmin’s pleasure spot just to see him tremble in Mingyu’s arms. And he does, coming with a cry that spills tears from his eyes. Mingyu kisses them as they go down, enchanted, almost, groaning as he lays his weight on Seokmin and fucks into him for real, now.
He still hasn’t come once, Seokmin thinks as he’s overwhelmed with feeling, all nerve endings bare like a live wire. Mingyu straightens up and holds onto Seokmin’s hips, dragging him further down on Mingyu’s cock to the sound of oh please wait – M-Mingyu wa – ah!
He doesn’t wait, fucking Seokmin harder, pistoning his hips in and out, in and out, cock coated shiny from Seokmin’s cunt. His cock dribbles with pre-come once again, despite having come twice before and covering both of their stomachs, but Mingyu doesn’t even seem to care. He digs his thumbs deep into the divot of Seokmin’s hips, as if writing himself into Seokmin’s bones, burrowing himself inside. Making sure that he’s always a part of Seokmin now.
And then his thrusts grow erratic, sloppy, and he shudders, groaning. His shoulders flex, mouth parting. Seokmin feels it slowly; the way Mingyu works something bigger, thicker, into him; his knot.
He can see glimpses of it, too, lit by the morning sun; Mingyu working his cock into him, Seokmin greedily taking him in, the place where they’re joined red and blooming.
Seokmin reaches out for Mingyu, a look of pleading on his face, and Mingyu leans down just as his knot fits fully inside. Seokmin has never felt so full in his life, so intensely fucked, so loved. Blanketed by an alpha’s mass, he feels small and precious. So when Mingyu shuffles against the skin of Seokmin’s neck, the one place he always seems to come back to just to kiss or bite or even trace with the tip of his nose, he makes a split second decision.
It’s not the typical posture, but it’s clear enough. Seokmin wraps his arms around Mingyu’s shoulders and bares his neck, places the thin skin of his scent gland against Mingyu’s mouth, and feels the other stiffen. Only for a brief second become he comes and comes and comes, spilling into Seokmin without end, giving him spark-hot warmth inside that will make Seokmin smell like Mingyu for days. At the same time, Mingyu’s teeth sink into Seokmin’s neck.
The sensations are too much; Seokmin gasps and then shudders, glad that Mingyu is anchoring him down, blinking as he registers the formation of a mating bond between himself and this sweet, surprising alpha. Through it, he feels more than just lust and desire; but a teeth-clenching sweetness of first adoration, a deep bottomless emotion of love, a desperation meant to be longing.
He thinks he’s beginning to understand how wrong he’d been, about ghosting Mingyu. Seokmin had a crush, but Mingyu had fallen deep, so far down that Seokmin doesn’t know how he hadn’t gone crazy with want.
“Shh,” he registers Mingyu saying, petting him gently and pressing kisses against his shoulder and cheek, “I’ll take care of you, Seokmin. Don’t worry, okay?” And when he presses one hand against Seokmin’s cheek, practically dwarfing it, Seokmin realizes that he had been crying.
“Oh,” he says, squirming on Mingyu’s cock. “You’re so stupid, Kim Mingyu.”
He doesn’t mean to say that as the very first thing after they’re mated, but Seokmin doesn’t know what else he’d do. Mingyu just gapes at him then laughs, the both of them still connected and suddenly reminded of that the moment that Mingyu jerks a little bit too far from Seokmin.
“You’re oblivious as fuck, Lee Seokmin,” Mingyu replies, sounding just like the Mingyu Seokmin has always known, pressing a kiss to his mouth that reads something like, good thing I’m the only one that’s able to catch you.
Later, when Mingyu will pull out and Seokmin will feel a rush of come spill out of him at the movement, dotting his face red with embarrassment, he’ll demand Mingyu to explain himself and his pining for four years; Mingyu will ask why Seokmin refused to talk to him after graduation, even though he had a whole plan to ask Seokmin out, see if they could do long distance, before he left; and they’ll learn that Mingyu had not been dating anyone else, but rather beget with rumors from a jealous beta who simply wanted his attention and saw how it had not been for them.
Seokmin will part his legs to let Mingyu press kisses onto his thighs and clean him up with the scraps of his shorts, glad that the shirt is long enough to hide any visual evidence. Scent wise, there was no mistaking what they had done.
It wouldn’t be easy, patching together the lost drifting pieces of their years apart and making them fit their years together, but it would, at the very least, be worth it.
(He would also forget his book, lost in the woods and its flush flora.)
For now, Seokmin just closes his eyes and lets himself sink in the weight and warmth of Mingyu's body on top of him, so close that he can feel his heartbeat through his skin, and thinks that perhaps running away led him right back to Mingyu.