Chapter Text
He curled up further into the corner not wanting to face reality. Maybe if he just closed his eyes it would all just go away, in his mind he could pretend that he was somewhere else, that he wasn’t hurting, wasn’t feeling this way. Jungwoo just wanted to be at peace for once, he wanted to go back to the time when he was young and his parents still cared about him. He could practically feel his mom’s soft caress, his dad’s strong arms. When he was young, he thought that they were invincible. Apparently he had been wrong. They were just as susceptible to the vices of the world as anyone else.
One of the handlers grabbed him by his arm and hauled him to his feet. Jungwoo’s shaky legs gave out from underneath him, but the handler just kept on walking, dragging his too-skinny body behind him until Jungwoo finally managed to regain his footing. Not that it mattered, the handler didn’t care if he had to drag Jungwoo or not; after all he was just a lowly omega, good for nothing.
As they continued down the hall, the absence of scent made Jungwoo’s head fuzzy. You’d think that after all this time he would’ve gotten used to it, but it was as unsettling as ever. Omegas were naturally more perceptive to smells, they relied on them to know how their packmates were feeling, how to best help others, but, like everything else, the facility took that small comfort away from them. The omegas weren’t even allowed to see each other—every omega was kept by themselves in a tiny closed off room; Jungwoo had only ever caught glimpses of the others. That was a special kind of torture. They had no one to rely on, no one to bond with, no one to go to, no one to even smell.
It was designed this way, it kept the omegas weak, susceptible, more likely to be passive with their alpha. Jungwoo had heard stories of omegas that were so touch and scent starved that they just let their alpha do whatever they wanted, even taking the mating bite on the first night. Others had gone crazy. Everyone had heard the horror stories of omegas ripping their hair out, screaming at all hours of the night, desperate for something .
Jungwoo understood it, there were times that he had wanted to scream, cry, run away, do anything to relieve the stress that built up in his body day after day, but he didn’t, couldn’t. He just laid there, curled up into a little ball in his freezing cement cell waiting for it all to end.
And this was it. They were turning down a hall Jungwoo had never seen before. Maybe they were finally going to end it all. There was no way an alpha would want him, he was too tall, too skinny. Omegas were supposed to be short, all soft and curves, but Jungwoo was the opposite and the handlers never let him forget it:
“An alpha’s never going to want a freak like you.”
“I can’t even stand to look at you, you’re so ugly.”
“If an alpha even ever gets you, it’ll be a big mean one, someone who can put you in your place.”
These statements were usually accentuated with a harsh kick to his ribs or a slap across the face. They weren’t supposed to leave marks on the omegas, but no one seemed to care about Jungwoo. He was worthless, no good, a horrible excuse for an omega. He had been in the facility for 5 years and no one ever let him forget it:
“An alpha could never love an omega like you,”
“Most omegas are gone within a year, especially with how young you are,”
“No one has even asked to see you in all this time,”
“You’re just going to die alone,”
“No one wants you, you’re worthless,”
They were right. He was a useless, good-for-nothing omega. Omegas were made to please alphas and he couldn’t even do that. His picture and description online hadn’t even been appealing to anyone. Not for five years. Jungwoo didn’t know what would be worse: the sterile, degrading facility, or an alpha who would beat him and use him. In the facility he would be led to a premature death, wasting away, slowly going crazy from the lack of scent, lack of touch, lack of communication. But, an alpha would make his life a living hell. He would have no freedom, would be forced to do whatever his alpha wanted. Either way he wouldn’t have a life worth living. Some days Jungwoo wondered why he even tried anymore, there was no point to it, he was going to have an awful life no matter what, so what was the purpose in living, in trying?
He was thrown into a room unceremoniously and was instantly struck by something he hadn’t experienced in five years: someone’s scent. More specifically, the scent of an alpha.
The alpha was standing in the center of the room, a confident and imposing figure. He was shorter than Jungwoo, but a lot more muscular. Everything about him screamed power.
When Jungwoo was thrown into the room, he was instantly completely and utterly overwhelmed. He had never properly smelled an alpha before, ever since presenting he had been in the center. Now, the man’s deep woodsy scent was invading his senses, making it impossible to think. Jungwoo couldn’t even stand up. He just sat on the floor where he had been thrown and looked up incredulously at the alpha. His mind was going a mile a minute and he couldn’t think. The man was saying something to the trainers, but Jungwoo couldn’t hear him. He was drowning, floating away somewhere in his head. His mind was high above his body, no longer on earth.
The next thing he knew, the alpha was helping him to his feet and leading him out the door and through the hallway. Jungwoo was too overwhelmed to even properly pay attention. His inner omega was trying to adjust to the sudden change, trying to catalogue what an alpha smelled like after being deprived of any sort of scent for years.
Then they were outside and Jungwoo was squinting against the sunlight, senses becoming even more muddled. He hadn’t seen the sun in years. He’d forgotten how bright it was, how much warmth it created.
There was also the sound of cars rushing by on the street. The smell of gas and trash and the millions of people who lived in the city. Birds were chirping, car horns were honking, people were talking, and it was all too much. Jungwoo’s body couldn’t handle all of the stimuli. He felt his brain begin to shut down.
He stumbled and the alpha steadied him, the touch of skin on skin surprising him, “Be careful there.” The alpha’s voice was deep and imposing. It reminded Jungwoo of all the horror stories he had heard from handlers. He was going to be hit, beaten up, used, broken. A small, pitiful whine forced its way out of his throat.
The alpha suddenly stopped, looking at him intently, “Are you okay?”
He was in trouble. The alpha was looking straight at him, his gaze tearing him apart. Jungwoo had messed up and now he was in trouble. He shouldn’t have whined, should’ve just kept his mouth shut. Been quite like a good omega. Omegas were meant to be seen, not heard.
Jungwoo dropped to the ground and curled up into a ball, bracing himself for the hits that would doubtless follow. But, no sharp pain followed. Instead, the alpha knelt by his side, speaking softly. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. I promise I’m not going to hurt you, you didn’t do anything wrong. My name is Jaehyun and I promise I will never hit you or anything. You’re safe now.” A calming scent surrounded Jungwoo, but he still didn’t move from his ball on the pavement. He had heard too many stories of alphas who broke their promises, goaded their omegas into trusting them just so they could break them all over again. No, Jungwoo wasn’t going to move from his protective ball.
Jaehyun sighed, “It’s okay, I promise. I won’t hurt you. I just need you stand up for me, please? It’s not safe for you to be laying down in the middle of the sidewalk and we’re almost to the car. You’ll be able to lay down in there.”
Jungwoo didn’t move.
Jaehyun let out a heavy sigh. “Okay, I’m going to pick you up, alright? I promise I’m not going to hurt you or anything, but it’s cold outside and how much your shaking is scaring me. We really need to get you to the car.”
Jungwoo hadn’t even realized how cold he was until Jaehyun pointed it out. Now he was painfully aware of how every single bone in his body was freezing, how the cold wind cut through his thin clothing.
He let out a pained whimper, instinctively leaning into Jaehyun’s warm touch as the alpha easily lifted him up.
“You’re so light, did they even feed you?” Jaehyun muttered to himself as he walked to his car, Jungwoo’s face buried in his chest. The poor omega seemed so overwhelmed and cold and tired that Jaehyun just wanted to wrap him up in a nest of blankets and make him feel as safe and as at home as possible; however, he knew that it was going to take a while for Jungwoo to adjust to his new life and even longer for him to trust anyone, especially an alpha. Johnny said it had taken a full week for Ten to even talk to him and another month before he let Johnny hug him. Granted, every omega was different, but Jaehyun was pretty sure it was going to take Jungwoo a while to come out of his shell.
When they reached Jaehyun’s apartment, Jungwoo finally woke up from where he slumbered in the back seat.
“Hey, let’s go inside, okay?” Jaehyun slowly opened the car door and motioned for Jungwoo to get out.
Jungwoo was confused. He didn’t know where he was or how he had gotten there. He was surrounded by colors and strange scents and he didn’t know what to do. There was that alpha motioning for him to get out of the car, but he didn’t want to. The car was safe.
“Jungwoo, can you please come inside with me? It’s going to get cold out here.”
He didn't want to go. He really didn’t want to go, but the alpha wanted him to. He had to do what alphas said, otherwise he’d be punished. So, Jungwoo slowly climbed out of the car on shaky legs and followed Jaehyun into his apartment.
The minute Jungwoo entered the doorway he was hit by a wall of smell, Jaehyun’s smell. The alpha’s scent permeated every object in the apartment, making Jungwoo’s eyes water uncontrollably.
It wasn’t that Jaehyun smelled bad, Jungwoo actually quite enjoyed his deep, woodsy scent, but it was just everywhere . Jungwoo could smell nothing else except for alpha and every part of his body was screaming at him in a cacophony of voices: Submit , run , don’t move , scent him , stay far away , get closer .
It was all just too much. Too much was happening in one day; there was too much sensory input, too much change. Jungwoo’s body just couldn’t handle it anymore.
He dropped to the floor, body completely loose and pliant.
Jaehyun cursed when he saw Jungwoo’s legs give out when they entered the apartment and he barely managed to catch the omega before he hit the ground. He should’ve seen this coming; he’d heard the horror stories of omegas becoming so overwhelmed after leaving the center that they passed out or withdrew so far into their heads that it was practically impossible to get them out, but he didn’t think it’d happen to him. But, here he was, holding an unconscious omega in his arms, not sure what to do next. He wasn’t prepared for this. He hadn’t expected Jungwoo to be so thin, so touch starved, so withdrawn. His friends’ warnings had done nothing to prepare him for the current situation on hand.
He had to do something.
But what?
His original plan had been to show Jungwoo around his apartment and get him settled into his room before leaving him be for a little bit so he could get used to his new surroundings. However, Jaehyun hadn’t thought about how overwhelming the new experience and new smells would be for the poor, sensory deprived omega.
Jaehyun groaned at his own stupidity and carried Jungwoo to the room the omega could call his own and laid his unconscious body down gently on the bed. Jaehyun then sprayed the whole room with scent neutralizers—something he should’ve done much earlier. He had stripped Jungwoo’s room of decorations and only had the necessary furniture adorning the space so that the omega could decorate his room however he wanted, but he had forgotten to descent it. Stupid.
Jaehyun groaned and ran his hand through his hair. He fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed Taeyong’s number. He would know what to do. He and his omega mate, Taeil, were like the parents of the group and they had coached everyone through all of their problems. If anyone were to know what to do, it would be those two.
Taeyong picked up on the second ring, “Hello?”
“Oh thank goodness. So you know how I was going to the Omega Adoption Center today? Well, I may have come home with one. His name is Jungwoo, he’s 20 and had been there for five years already and I couldn’t just leave him there. He’s almost as tall as me and you know how omega stereotypes are—”
“Jaehyun, you’re rambling. We can talk more about this later. What’s the problem?”
“So I brought him home and he seemed really out of it, you know? Like overwhelmed and stuff like you said he’d be? And I may have forgotten to descent my apartment and he just like collapsed and now he’s unconscious on the bed and I don’t know what to do.”
He heard Taeyong sigh from the other end and then Taeil’s clear voice was speaking to him, “First of all, I can’t believe you forgot to descent your apartment or at least one room, that is such a rookie mistake and we warned you so many times.”
“I think he realizes that Taeil.” The rest of their conversation was muted, but when Taeil came back on the phone he was much calmer. “So basically Jungwoo’s body gave out on him because he felt unsafe and overwhelmed and for some reason omega biology likes to screw us over like this and—”
“Taeil,”
Jaehyun heard the omega take a deep breath to steady himself, “Sorry, yes, so this is what you have to do. Normally when an omega goes into a drop like this you would cuddle them and stuff so that they feel safe again and wake up, but since Jungwoo has been so sensory deprived for all of these years you definitely should not do that. So instead, try to wrap him up in as many scent neutral things as possible and kind of create a nest around him. Think like blankets and stuffed animals and stuff. It’ll probably take a while, but it’ll work.
“Thank you so much Taeil! You’re a lifesaver!”
“No problem, but I want to meet Jungwoo as soon as possible. Ten too. He needs the comfort of other omegas.”
“I’ll text you!” and with that Jaehyun was hanging up the phone and running to find as many blankets and stuffed animals as he could, spraying them all with descenter before wrapping up Jungwoo as comfortably as possible.
Once he deemed his work satisfactory, Jaehyun left the room to sit on the nearby couch and wait for Jungwoo to wake up.
Jungwoo cracked his eyes open, surprised to be laying on a comfortable bed, cocooned in blankets. The room was devoid of decorations, just a plain bed and dresser. There was light streaming in through a window which overlooked the unfamiliar street outside. Jungwoo slowly sat up, still confused and disoriented. Where was he?
Suddenly the events of yesterday came rushing back to him and Jungwoo scrambled out of the bed. He was so stupid. He’d probably angered his alpha yesterday with his little fainting episode. That would explain why he was all alone in a scentless room.
He quickly made his way out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Jaehyun’s apartment was small, but nice. It all flowed together, so that you could see the family room, kitchen and doorway all at once. So, the minute Jungwoo exited his room, Jaehyun, who was cooking in the kitchen, spotted him.
“Jungwoo! You’re finally up! Come have some breakfast!”
Jungwoo nodded and slowly padded into the kitchen, cautious as ever. Jaehyun seemed to be in a good mood, but sometimes the handlers would mask their anger in smiles until you were close enough for them to pounce.
Jungwoo sat down at the kitchen counter at Jaehyun’s direction and looked down at the plate of eggs he was offered in surprise. Was this some sort of trick? The omega was supposed to cook for the alpha, not the other way around. But Jaehyun sat down in the seat next to his and started to shovel food in his mouth and motioned for Jungwoo to do the same. So, Jungwoo slowly picked up his fork and put a tiny bite in his mouth. It was good. He took another bite, then another. Soon, he was putting food into his mouth faster than he could properly chew and swallow, practically choking with every bite. It had been so long since he’d had a proper, warm meal and he was so hungry, he just couldn’t stop.
Then, there was a hand on his, halting its progression up to his mouth. Jungwoo started to strain against the force preventing him from eating. He was hungry. He needed more. It was food. It was good.
“Jungwoo.” He continued to fight against the hand restraining him. “Jungwoo, you need to slow down. You’re going to make yourself sick.
He finally snapped out of his stupor, flinching away violently from Jaehyun’s hand on his arm. He fell off of the chair in his hurry to get away from the alpha. He had just ignored Jaehyun, ignored an alpha. There was going to be hell to pay.
Jungwoo continued to scramble backwards until his back hit the wall and he curled into a ball, trying to make himself a smaller target and protect his vitals.
Jaehyun followed him, crouching down a couple feet away, holding his hands out in a non threatening way. “Hey, Jungwoo. It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you; I just wanted to make sure you didn’t make yourself sick. You were eating so fast you were starting to choke and that’s not good for you, yeah? I promise you can continue eating, just try to take it one bite at a time.”
Jungwoo was surprised. Jaehyun wasn’t mad? But he had disobeyed him, ignored him, been greedy. He’d been beaten for way less in the past, but this alpha was being passive, body relaxed, posture non threatening, trying his best not to assert dominance, to assure Jungwoo that everything was okay. It was strange. It went against everything that he had been taught, but Jungwoo somewhat foolishly unfolded himself from the wall and sat back down at the table, making sure to thoroughly chew his food before swallowing. Jaehyun sat down across from him and smiled approvingly.
A couple bites later, Jungwoo was full. “I’m sorry,” he muttered pushing the plate away, looking down at the countertop.
“Oh, no, it’s okay. You’ve been underfed for years, I didn’t expect you to finish it all.”
Jungwoo nodded, tracing patterns on the counter top, still not looking Jaehyun in the eye. He heard Jaehyun get up, gather the plates and start to put them away. Jungwoo didn’t move from his place on the chair. He felt cemented in place, butt glued to the fabric. He was scared, confused, disoriented. He didn’t know what to do. Should he get up? Help Jaehyun? Go to his room? Start cleaning? Something else? He didn’t know.
Jaehyun finished with the dishes and turned around to face him, “Hey, is it okay if some of my friends come over? It would be a couple of alphas and their omega mates. I thought it would be good for you to hang out with other omegas, but if you don’t want to that’s totally fine.”
“No, uh, I think I’d like that,” Jungwoo’s voice was small and timid as he spoke, but Jaehyun’s face lit up at the words.
“Great! I’ll go text them.”
Jaehyun ran off, presumably to grab his phone, leaving Jungwoo still sitting uncomfortably at the kitchen table. Jungwoo was still confused on what he was supposed to be doing, so he just quietly sat there, twisting his shirt in his hands. Jaehyun didn’t seem like the alphas they always talked about at the center; he acted as if he would never harm Jungwoo, but Jungwoo still didn’t fully trust him despite his seemingly kind intentions. Alphas were liars. Maybe Jaehyun was going to eventually turn on him, turn out crueler than his previous actions suggested. Jungwoo resolved to continue being careful, to be as well behaved as possible—especially when Jaehyun’s friends came over. He didn’t want to make a mistake and make someone mad. He would just have to be on his best behavior.