Chapter Text
Song Mingi knows exactly one thing. He should not be presenting in the middle of a concert. He really shouldn’t be. But the way his skin is slick with sweat, and the scent of chocolate and marshmallow that drips off him in hefty waves, He is sickly aware of all the ways he is exposed in this space, on this stage, in this arena. The gladiators must have felt this decades ago. Thousands of fans watching as he feels himself stumble to his knees, gasping… the way the voices grow muddy in his ears… He curses himself for not being able to notice any signs or- well, maybe did…
———————————————
The morning of the concert, Mingi woke up in his shared hotel room way too early. He glanced at his phone, blinding him in the dark room, at 3:30 AM. Great. Just great. His alarm wasn’t supposed to go off till 6:30. So he tried shutting his eyes and going back to sleep. That should do the trick…
Maybe it was Yunho’s snoring, or the soft ticking of a clock that rests on the nightstand next to him, but he can’t will himself to fall back asleep. So with a sigh, he sits up. The bed creaked just a bit too loudly, Yunho shifting in his sleep. He pauses. Maybe he really should head back to sleep… But when Yunho settles again, he shuffles to the connected bathroom.
Once inside, he shuts the door and flicks on the light, taking a moment to let his eyes adjust, squinting to handle the bright lights. Once well adjusted, he can’t help but stare at his figure in the mirror. A mop of black hair on his head, messy from sleep, flushed cheeks, a soft sheen of sweat. If he didn’t know any better, he would've said he looked like he just got finished having sex or running a marathon. At this rate, the marathon one was more feasible for him. In all honesty, who wants to do it with someone unpresented. Even their youngest, Jongho, had presented as an alpha. He really was the slowpoke of the pack.
The Korean fans were sure to remind him of that. Some of them claimed that because he couldn't truly be recognized as a member of a pack in this state, he shouldn’t be a part of the group as a whole. Hongjoong and Seoghwa did a good job at helping him avoid those comments, but even interviewers would question his presentation status.
Some fans even liked to guess how he would present. Lots of people say that because of his size and his voice, it was clear he would be an alpha… Others said that because he was tame outside of performances, he should be a beta. He was rarely ever recognized as an omega, though, and anyone who ever tried to bat for him in that regard was immediately shot down by other random people on the internet. He just didn’t quite fit in.
With a splash of water, he is feeling a bit more awake and somewhat less self-deprecating. Under his skin, he can feel the buzz of… something. He marked it as excitement, or maybe even anxiety, for the show they had coming up that evening.
It was the first stop in the US. Atlanta was going to be a fun show, but it always made him a bit anxious starting off a concert. The US stops were always his favorite, much more lax with expectations than many other locations. The US always had fewer rules, less weight to be perfect; he could actually have fun on the stage and not worry about fans saying he should leave because of his lack of sub-gender (a common issue he had when he was in Korea).
He grabs a towel, dries off his face, and takes one last glance at himself in the mirror before deciding to head down to the hotel's gym. Maybe he could run for a bit to get this jittery feeling away.
He manages to get out of the bathroom, dressed in some workout clothes, and out the door without waking up Yunho. He swears that the older could sleep through a tornado and earthquake at the same time if he wasn’t careful.
Mingi starts his walk down the long hallway; fluorescent light glaring down at him. They made him a bit uneasy in that way, almost medical-
He bumps into someone. Almost his height- he wasn’t really paying attention tell he backs up and sees his pack omega. Park Seonghwa, as dazzling as ever, in his own pair of sweats and a compression shirt. He holds Mingi out at arm's length, a bit confused.
“What are you doing up, Mingi-ya?”
Mingi blinks for a moment; it takes him a bit longer than usual to process the words the older omega says to him.
“Mingi?”
He speaks, voice raspy from the lack of sleep.
“…was gonna go to the gym-“
“At almost 4 in the morning?”
Seonghwa dropped his arms to cross them over his chest and raised a brow. Mingi wasn’t sure how, but their oldest always had a way to make him feel like a disappointment- not that he would ever tell Seonghwa that, he would probably pamper him to death if he did. Instead, for now, Mingi gives him a small nod.
“Couldn’t sleep. Too nervous.”
Now that the oldest seems to understand, letting his tense stature fall into something a bit more lax.
“Ah, Mingi, I know you’re nervous, but you need to sleep. It’s gonna be a long day otherwise.”
Mingi gives another small nod and turns his eyes to the floor, its horrid patterns seeming much more interesting than the oldest face at the moment.
“I just wanted to get a small workout in, see if I can wear myself out?”
It’s phrased as a question, as if he is asking his hyung for permission to go to the gym. Seonghwa just nods and smiles at him; it’s gentle, genuine, the kind of smile he only gives to Mingi when they are alone and he is in need of reassurance.
“Be sure you still get up in time… okay?”
Mingi nods, and before he knows it, Seonghwa is tucked away into his room with Hongjoong. Mingi can’t help but let out a soft laugh. Mom and Dad. No wonder. He makes his way to the gym.
After the gym and a much-needed shower, he manages to get back into bed around 5. The buzzing hasn’t gone away yet, but he is so tired from sprinting at the gym that his body manages to crash out in its own, and before he knows it, he is fast asleep.
————————————————
Mingi is shaken awake by a flustered-looking Yunho; there is way too much light filling the room for it to be 6 am, and with the way his best friend is shaking him up, something must be wrong. So he sits up quickly, only slowly starting to realize his whole body is drenched in sweat, and a manager is yelling at Yunho through the phone.
“What’s going on?”
Yunho mutes the phone call; the manager is still yelling at them in the background.
“We… may or may not have overslept and are now three hours behind-“
Three hours?! Didn’t he have an alarm set for 6:30?! He checks his phone, now much more awake than he was earlier that morning when he had woken up. Upon glancing at his alarms, he realized he accidentally set it for 6:30 PM instead of AM. He looks at Yunho, who looks down at him. Mingi is sure that if he could smell the older's scent, it would be wafting off him in waves of frustration and annoyance.
But he brushes that aside for now, noticing the soft buzzing under his skin hadn’t gone away. It makes his brows twist in confusion. Yunho grips his arm tightly- there is no time for him to be wondering about the strange sensation. Instead, he is yanked out of bed and rushed to get ready. He is somewhat put together when a manager finally arrives and drags him and Yunho out of their hotel room and into a van to get them to the venue. The car is silent, tense, Yunho clearly frustrated with him, the managers clearly frustrated with both of them, and Mingi still stuck on that weird buzzing sensation.
When they finally arrive at the venue, the others are already on the stage and stretching, clearly ahead of schedule. Hongjoong, the pack alpha, clearly frustrated about something, is pacing on the edge of the stage. Seonghwa seems… oddly unbothered. Yeosang is attached to Jongho's hip, talking excitedly with his hands about what’s probably a book he was reading. Jongho looks ready to give him the world. San and Wooyoung seem to be… wrestling? If that’s what you can even call it? San has wooyoung over his shoulder and is patting his butt like he claimed his prize. When the manager calls out, Hongjoong hops off the stage and walks over… angry… and by the way Yunho's head tilts back and he lets out a soft whine, it’s clear their park alphas' scent was angry and probably a bit concerned.
“Where the hell have you two been?”
“We overslept-“
“Clearly.”
Hongjoon's tone has Mingi on edge again, his stomach twisting anxiously at the thought of having disappointed not just his captain, but his pack's leader. His voice is quiet when he speaks.
“Sorry, hyung.”
Hongjoong's shoulders soften as he turns to Mingi, clearly doing his best to seem a bit calmer with the younger.
“It’s fine, pup, go grab your In-ears and your mic and meet with the others on the stage while I talk with yuyu, okay?”
Mingi gave a small nod and made his way backstage. Everyone seemed to be so gentle with him today… he wasn’t really sure why. But he wouldn’t complain; he was kinda enjoying the gentle treatment from everyone. It made his shoulders relax, his mind calm down. Now if only he could figure out the damn buzzing…
In-ears and a handheld mic grabbed, he headed towards San and Wooyoung. Wooyoung was still dangling off San’s shoulder when he approached.
“Find yourself a new bag, Sannie Hyung?”
San laughed, loud, boisterous. He smacks a hand down on Wooyoung's ass, playful.
“You like it? It’s new, though I might have to return it- this one’s got an attitude.”
Wooyoung thrashed around a little bit, whining about stupid alphas and their strength as Mingi laughed. He turned his head and glanced at Yeosang, who was still in the midst of his very important retelling of his current book fascination, as Jongho looked at him like he held the world in his hands. It really made Mingi think.
Wooyoung and Yeosang were perfect omegas in his eyes. Both of them are small, cute, and excitable. They really seemed to fit the role of Omega that they were taught in schools at a young age. If Mingi were to ever present (and stop being a medical anomaly), he was sure he would never be an omega. He wasn’t exactly small… he really wouldn’t classify himself as cute… he was kinda just there. Now, glancing at San and Jongho, he didn’t think he was fit to be an alpha either. They were both strong, they both took good care of their omegas, they seemed to have it all under their control at all times. Mingi really didn’t like that- control. He preferred to place that into someone else’s hands, much less pressure than having it himself. At this point, he would take being a beta and go on with his day.
Seonghwa, watching his boys, notices Mingi’s clear spiral and calls him over.
“Mingi-ya, baby, come here, would you?”
Mingi gives a small nod and shuffles over. Seonghwa wraps a strong arm around his waist and hums softly. He was quick to relax into the touch with his own sigh, leaning his head against the older's shoulder.
“Tell me, what’s got you so late this morning? Did you oversleep?”
Feeling caught and a bit guilty, Mingi nodded. Seonghwa wouldn’t help but chuckle at him. The big baby.
“I warned you, sweetheart… though I’m sure Yunho is getting the brunt of the consequences this morning.”
Mingi pulls back from the other's shoulder, eyes wide, anxious.
“What- but it was my fault- Hyung should be yelling at me-“
He starts to head in that direction when Seonghwa grabs him and chuckles, pulling the youngest into a hug. Mingi takes in a deep breath, and it’s almost like he is inhaling a bakery, a sweet vanilla scent coming from the other. It was soothing in a way. Seonghwa's voice was calm and smooth when it came out.
“Aish- mingi- pup- it’s okay. I already talked with Joongie about it. Yunho should’ve set his own alarm rather than relying on yours. It’s okay. It’s okay.”
Maybe it was the vanilla scent, or maybe the sweet words, but when Mingi took in another deep breath, his anxiety seemed to calm down again. A bit confused, he looks towards the others' eyes.
“Hyung… are you wearing a new perfume?”
Seonghwa, now also confused, shakes his head no.
“No, I’m not- why?”
“Just… curious? Maybe I should’ve taken you up on that offer of perfumes.”
The oldest lets out a hearty laugh and sighs, ruffling his hair as the Hongjoong and Yunho return from their “talk”. Hongjoong seems to have calmed down, and Yunho still seems a bit irritated, but not nearly as flustered as he was this morning. Without much more chatter, they start that morning's rehearsal.
———————————————
Practice went without a hitch, or at least without much of one. Mingi and Yunho were still waking up and managed to bump into their members a few times before actually getting down some of their sets for that evening. Some of the members (by some means, everyone but Jongho and Hongjoong) went out to lunch afterwards. Mingi, however, decided to hang back and take a nap in their dressing room, more tired than usual, but he blames that on the lack of sleep from this morning. When he curled up on the couch, Jongho came over and sat by his head, not even asking before picking him up a little to set his head on his lap. He stays quiet, but Mingi takes in deep breaths as he lets the scent of Cedarwood lull him off to sleep.
A few hours later, he wakes up to soft arguing. He can clearly point out the voices of Hongjoong and Seonghwa and chooses to keep his eyes shut. He isn’t usually one to snoop, but it wasn’t often that they would bicker, and he felt anxious not knowing if they were okay.
“Can’t you smell it?”
“Smell what, Hwa?”
“His scent. It’s… It’s changing. I think it might be time”
“Or he changed perfumes? I don’t want to say anything until we know for sure. You… you know how he can get when it comes to this sort of thing.”
There’s a sigh; it probably comes from Seonghwa.
“I know I just-“
“We won’t say anything for now, okay? We will keep an eye on him.”
“But-“
“No. We won’t say anything. Understood?”
Hwa, voice seeming a bit dejected.
“Understood alpha”
There is another sigh. Mingi assumes this one’s from Hongjoong.
“Hwa-“
“No. I heard you loud and clear. No talking about it.”
There’s another sigh before a soft closing of a door. Seonghwa probably left… Mingi couldn’t help but feel bad. He has a sixth sense for knowing when his hyungs were talking about him. Always feel like the burden of their group. But he couldn’t help but be confused. His scent? He couldn’t smell much of a difference…
The shift by his legs on the small couch told him that Hongjoong decided to rest there, and he fell back asleep under the watchful gaze of his pack alpha.
————————————————
When he woke up again, Hongjoong and Jongho were gone, his head resting on Seoghwa's lap. Their pack omega was petting his hair gently, whispering to get him to wake up. His eyes blinked open.
The room was too bright, too loud, despite the large lack of people. And his stomach twisted with anxiety. Where was the rest of the pack? Why weren’t they here? With him? He felt anxiety before, but nothing like what was crippling him now. He needed all his people here together-
Seonghwa must have noticed because he shifted Mingi’s head so they were looking at one another. He knew his hyung was intuitive, but this was at a whole new level.
“Hey there, pup, what’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Where is everybody?”
Seonghwa gives him one of those gentle smiles, and the anxiety dies down a bit.
“Want me to get them for you, Mingi-ya?”
He nods. He wants them all here. He wants them here right now. It’s a crime that teleportation isn’t real-
Seonghwa pulls out his phone and sends a quick text to their group chat. The chimes that follow make it known that the group saw it. Seonghwa hums.
“Everyone will be here soon, okay?”
He nods and turns his head to cuddle back into the older's stomach, that warm vanilla scent calming him again. He almost fell asleep- almost. But the slam of the door and the sounds of shuffling keep him up. He doesn’t move from Seonghwa's stomach, though, but for some reason, he can sense that all his pack is there with him. He really should ask everyone what new perfumes they were wearing. Yunho is the first to speak.
“Is… is everything okay?”
Seonghwa chuckles, mingi moving with the motion of the older's stomach with each hearty laugh.
“He just missed you all. Seems our Mingi-ya might be feeling left out.”
That pulls a soft whine from Mingi. Sure, he was feeling a bit left out, but that wasn’t why he had asked for everyone. Seonghwa ruffles his hair before finally moving him to sit up. Mingi doesn’t want to sit up, but he won’t argue with their oldest. Wooyoung is the next to speak, his smile somewhat blinding.
“Aww, is our baby feeling left out?”
“I’m not a baby- I’m older than you-“
But he doesn’t mention the way he likes being spoken to that way. His stomach filled with happy little butterflies. Was he really their baby? No. But he would love to be… and really wouldn’t complain about it.
That’s when a manager walked in. It was time to get dressed and head out for the soundcheck at this stop, the Atlanta stage ready and the pit full of fans. Mingi seemed to have hold of at least one member at all times during their prep time. It was mostly Yeosang, as they were the first two ready to go. They were cuddled up on the couch till Hingjoong pulled them up and out of their dressing room.
Mingi honestly didn’t know how to feel; his body seemed so much slower than usual, like the world was moving before his mind could catch up. So as Hongjoong and now Yeosang dragged him to the stage entrance, he sighed. He would just have to get through it; he had performed sick before, and he could handle it now, too.
The screams when the eight of them graced the stage were loud, honestly, it was always loud, but the US stops managed to really damage his eardrums. Thinking on it, this was only soundcheck, he could imagine there was a line wrapped around the venue of Atiny just waiting to see them. Now that made him smile; all their fans managed to make him feel a bit more normal as their group started soundcheck with one of their newer songs, "Lemon Drop."
Mingi managed to get through it, feeling a bit more normal after getting his body moving, but that odd hum under his skin was still there. Parts of him were confused, too, because the audience smelled a bit weird, maybe it was from how hot it was outside. He knew Atiny tried, but sometimes they just… did not smell good. And all the scents pushing from the crowd were starting to make his head hurt.
Seonghwa started to notice and came over to hold his arm. For some reason, the gentle touch calmed him down a bit, and they spent the next two songs holding hands and skipping around the stage while fans screamed and cheered. Soundcheck ended with cheers and excitement for what's to come.
————————————————
There wasn’t much to say about the time between the soundcheck ending and the concert starting. Everyone was rushing around to get dressed and get hair and makeup done. Mingi felt like an extra weight to them, honestly, trudging around. He felt more tired than earlier, which confused him. He had slept so much today… How could he be feeling this tired?
He shakes it off as he hops in the makeup chair; his outfit feels too tight, his body too hot. The makeup artist he was working with was even complaining about how much the poor boy was sweating. With a soft reprimand from Hongjoong, however, she was quick to quit her judgments and finish her work. Mingi felt like he wasn’t even in his body anymore. Every step taken wasn't his own. If he were more in his head, he would probably be an anxious mess, but instead, he feels a bit numb. Letting himself get dragged to the stage and start the show…
He really wasn’t feeling like himself, and it was clearly starting to concern his pack because they were constantly checking in on him, bringing him water and small snacks when they could. When the other members were doing their solos, someone else would always be attached to his side and pampering him. He loved it, and clearly, it soothed whatever was starting to burn under his skin. He felt hot, almost sick, but he would push through.
He finally got back on stage for some group numbers, and that's when it hit. His stomach churning, a sharp pain shot down his side so hard that he collapsed in the midst of a performance. Luckily, they weren't dancing, but with the way the music kept going, voices stopped, and bodies surrounded him, he couldn't help but feel exposed.
That's when it all hit him, all the scents of his pack. Their scents. His eyes shoot wide open. He could finally smell his pack. But he is only aware of one thing. He should not be presenting in the middle of a concert. He really shouldn’t be. But the way his skin is slick with sweat, and the scent of chocolate and marshmallows that drips off him in hefty waves, He is sickly aware of all the ways he is exposed in this space, on this stage, in this arena. The gladiators must have felt this decades ago. Thousands of fans are watching as he feels himself stumble to his knees, gasping… He was an Omega.