The next morning, Jungwon laid in bed, his own this time around, and thought about the past week's events.

He almost felt like laughing when he thought about how fate decided to royally screw him over, after he thought he got everything he ever dreamed for when he won ILAND with his pack.

Now, every morning, he felt like a drug addict that secretly had to take pills to function.

A bottle of suppressants was buried in his bag and one hidden in his room. Scent neutralising spray and patches right next to them.

His bandmates, and roommates unfortunately, were still fast asleep.

Jungwon tried to be quiet as he sat up and opened said bottle to take one of the blue round pills without being seen.

They tasted slightly bitter on his tongue, but he tried not to think about it as he washed it down with a little water from the bottle he had prepared last evening next to his bed.

His skin around his neck still felt slightly irritated, itching every now and then, but it didn't burn on touch anymore. So this time, when he went to the bathroom and sprayed the neutraliser on his sensitive scent glands, the Omega didn't hiss. He didn't even make a face as the cool mist slowly absorbed into the skin.

He probably shouldn't find pride in something like that, but he couldn't help but feel a rush of adrenaline run through his body, as his face stayed impassive. If he kept this up, no one would suspect a thing.

So he was a little proud. And maybe he was a little too hopeful.

Because when he sat down next to a tired Sunghoon on the couch, he felt his Omega stirr anxiously.

While his cycle had been oppressed, his hormonal reactions to his everyday life definitely hadn't succumbed to the medicine.

The hyung line was looking at him. All of them held a cup of something hot in their hands, likely coffee - though he suspected that Jake was actually drinking hot chocolate, but he wouldn't call him out on it - and fiddled with it nervously until Jay finally took it upon himself to break the silence.

"Did you sleep well?" Jungwon knew it wasn't what he had meant to ask, but he also couldn't figure out why they had cornered him on the couch like this.

Jay, Jake and Heeseung were sitting in front of him on chairs they had stolen from the kitchen table, and Jungwon almost felt like a kindergartener, sitting in a circle with his kindergarten friends.

With the exception that the little circle felt more like an intervention about to happen, rather than the beginning of a children's game.

"Just like always." Jungwon answered warily, eyes switching from one face to the other as he stared at the olders.

Wasn't it his job as the leader to scold them If they did something wrong? So why were they looking at him like that?

The probing eyes made his skin crawl.

"Are we having a team meeting that I didn't know about? Do I need to get the others?" Jungwon asked, still worried about how nervous they seemed.

Besides not liking being stared at like a science project, he was starting to get worried about whatever was worrying them so much.

"No, no there's no meeting." Jake reassured him.

"We just wanted to talk to you a little." Sunghoon elaborated and awkwardly tapped a hand on Jungwon's knee, in what was probably meant to be a calming gesture.

Okay, so that meant Jungwon had done something. And a short recap of yesterday led him to believe he knew what this was about.

"Is it because I growled at you? I swear that wasn't on purpose. I just didn't notice you and got spooked..."

Jake had a guilty look on his face, while Heeseung began to look a little uncomfortable. So Jungwon was right.

"We know you didn't mean to growl at Hyung" Jay spoke up, face contorting as if he was uncomfortable with what he was about to say.

"We just think that maybe you're growing up a bit more lately."He looked like he really didn't want to be there at that very moment.

"And that maybe you haven't noticed it yet, but you have been acting a little different the past weeks..." He trailed off after that.

Were they accusing him of acting like a teenager right now?

"And even though you didn't mean it... maybe another part of you did?" Heeseung now asked carefully.

Jungwon blinked repeatedly.

Oh. Oh.

They were accusing him of being in pre-rut. They thought they were breaking it to him right now, that his presentation was near. Which likely meant... they wanted to have that talk with him.

The you are going to go through some changes and your body and mind will want more mature things and that is totally normal and okay kind of talk.

It was a little late for that now. And while they were likely about to tell Jungwon about how he could always come to them with whatever problems he had with.. becoming an adult, his Hyungs looked much more in need of an emotional support buddy in that moment.

For all parties involved, it was for the best to cut this as short and painless as possible.

"So what are you saying exactly?" he kind of wished he also had a comfort cup of coffee to fondle with right now.

"We aren't trying to accuse you in any way, okay? But with the stages and the comeback coming up, we thought maybe it would be better to maybe help you control your urghhm.. urges a little."

"What Sunghoon is trying to say" Heeseung mercifully took over now, obviously feeling pity for how out of his comfort zone the boy seemed "is that it would be a good idea to get your wolf to warm up to me a little more before you actually present. Just so we can avoid any issues once you do. I don't want you to feel threatened by me. We're pack."

That wasn't what he'd expected.

Jungwon nodded as a sign he understood the word his oldest Hyung said, but he still needed a little more of an explanation of what they wanted him to do, before he could comprehend what they were really asking of him.

"So... what do you want me to do?"

"Let Hyung scent you before our group activities." Jake paused to find the right words "Your wolf will know your part of his pack that way. And maybe it won't see him as a threat that way." The alpha  proposed.

"Since were not pack bonded yet, it really helped me deal with my alpha when the instincts got too much."

Jungwon vaguely remembered when Enhypen was formed and the alphas were constantly at each other's throats about the smallest things.

Once Heeseung had bought the wrong kind of ramen (because the other one was out of stock) and jakes wolf took that as a personal insult, as everyone knew he preferred the red ones.

It only lasted for about a month, but being confined in a dorm, having to spend day and night with another alpha who you unconsciously registered as your competition for the months prior in a survival show, could do that to you.

Enhypen was a makeshift pack. They all loved each other like a real pack, but they weren't really formed under normal circumstances. So they decided to wait for everyone to present before they bonded as a pack.

They had all agreed that they wanted everyone and their wolfs to make that decision consciously and consensually. But that also meant that up until then, their wolfs lived in constant fear of rejection and territorial behavior, especially the alphas.

Jungwon wondered how Sunoo felt. How he would feel about this.

But with how his heat had gone, he had a feeling his Omega had already accepted them as his ride or die.

"I really don't think that's what this is Hyung" Jungwon voiced his thoughts. But Jay interfered before Jungwon could try to explain himself once again.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt to try, right? We normally do it anyways so what's the harm in trying a little more frequently, hm?"

Right, the only thing hurt would be his sanity if he had Heeseung so close to him regularly.

But as he couldn't really argue with that logic without exposing himself, Jungwon nodded in defeat.

"Okay"

------------------------------------

The rest of the day went on as if that conversation had never happened. Jungwon had played games with Niki, went on a walk with Sunoo and was now laying in Jay's bed, watching an anime with said bed owner.

He had missed this, off days, doing nothing but at the same time everything. All the things his busy schedule usually didn't allow for.

As the episode ended, Jungwon turned to his side. It was almost 2am and their practice session before noon demanded for him to go to sleep soon.

But Jongseong seemed to be very much aware of their upcoming practice. So much so, that he was already fast asleep, breathing in and out in a deep rhythm, right into Jungwon's face.

I quiet laugh escaped his lips as he saw his hyung and Jungwon decided it was time for him to take his leave as a yawn threatened to surface.

Careful not to wake Jay, or Jaeyun his roommate - as it was the best to separate all the alphas and omega in their group to give all of them a sort of hiding place when it all got too much-  Jungwon sneaked out of their room and into the hallway.

He debated getting a big glass of water for the next morning, since he would have to take his suppressant soon again, but he didn't even get that far.

A low light shone into his face as the door across from Jake and Jay's opened slightly and a head poked out into the hallway.

"Jungwon?"

"Hmmm" He hummed in confirmation.

Heeseung stood in the doorway to his room, capturing Jungwon like a deer in the headlights.

Funny, Jungwon's mind unhelpfully complied, as normally Heeseung tended to resemble deers more.

Heeseung looked at him for a second, as if contemplating something.

Then he tilted his head slightly and nodded into the direction of his room, where the soft sound of k-rnb greeted Jungwon as he reluctantly followed his Hyung's request, sitting down on the edge of his bed as Heeseung sat across form him, on his gaming chair, that was rotated to face Jungwon.

"Did you finish your movie night?" Heeseung asked him, and Jungwon tried to focus on his voice instead of the smell of the blanket under him.

"Jeongsaeng-hyungie fell asleep" He answered, amusement tinting his tone.

Heeseung laughed, perfectly white teeth showing, and nose scruntching ever so slightly. "Of course he did."

Jungwon nodded, smirking at the thought. "He always does. He's the one to ask and then he's the one to end up falling asleep before the movie ends."

After talking (gossiping) a little longer about their band member, Jungwon kindly returns the question, "What were you up to, Hyung?"

Heeseung turned to his computer and lowered to music a little.

When he turned back around, the previous smile was gone and replaced by a more serious expression.

"I was waiting for you" Heesung admitted.

Jungwon lifted an eyebrow.

"What for?"

"Practice starts again tomorrow." He paused. "I thought it would be best to try what we talked about this morning. Just in case."

"You want to scent me?" Jungwon asked.

Heeseung nodded.

It almost felt childish now, how they never used to have a problem with scenting, but now all of a sudden they acted like Heeseung was asking to kiss him or something.

"Go for it." Jungwon complied as his frustration with himself grew unbearable.

The alpha rose from his seat and bridged the distance between them. He sat next to Jungwon on the bed and looked at him hesitatingly, before he pushed himself further onto it, until his back was aligned with the headboard.

"Come here"

Jungwon stared at him for a second.

Come where exactly? Next to him?

So he did, he pushed his slippers off his feet and sat next to Heeseung who was still looking at him expectingly.

When Jungwon didn't move any further, Heeseung gently guided him to sit in-between his legs, his back pressed to the older's chest as one arm held him by the waist.

For a moment, Jungwon forgot how to breathe.

Then, a warm burst of air hit his neck and the tip of Heeseungs nose made its way down from below Jungwon's ear to the place, where his collarbone and shoulder connected to his neck. His eyes fell shut in an instant. With a sharp inhale jungwon fortunately remembered oh too well how to breath again, as his breathing pattern and heart rate picked up speed.

He had to supress a whimper, or was it a purr? as Heeseung's cheek and the side of his own neck followed suit, pressing against Jungwon's scent glands, drowning all of the muted smell of the neutraliser he had so generously applied in a deep scent of everything Heeseung.

His body melted further and further into Heeseung's chest, and now he understood why the older had opted to hold him up like this.

While it had turned his brain a little fuzzy when he was about to present last week, being scented now was like every cell of his body was humming in delight. Like goosebumps inside and out, that erased every thought from his mind and took every bit of strength from his muscles. Pure bliss, that left him feeling high.

Behind his back, Heeseungs chest rumbled in content, a low sound leaving the back of his throat as he stilled, burried in Jungwon's neck, as if he appreciated the feeling just as much as Jungwon did.

The arm that was grounding Jungwon had started caressing his side, as the younger had unconciously leaned back into Heeseung's embrace.

His big hands were now drawing little shapes into Jungwon's waist, as lips brushed the soft skin of his throat unintentionally. Nothing had ever felt this good before, and he never wanted to stop feeling like this.

He didn't even think about suppressing it anymore as a noise escaped him.

He was tempted to turn around and hide into Heeseung's neck himself, breathe in his scent too, and leave his own mark on him.

How easy would it be for Heeseung to sink his teeth into the soft tissue on Jungwon's neck.

To leave a permanent mark above his scent glands, marking him as pack.

Or even right into the most sensitive part, marking him as his mate. As his Luna. His hand clenched into a fist around the blanket.

That thought alone sent his head spinning.

The thought made his insides tingle, and his neck grow even hotter as Jungwon craved nothing more than for Heeseung to bite down.

For Heeseung lips to suck marks into his skin and leave his scent forever embedded into it with a touch of his teeth.

For Heeseung to keep touching him like this.

For Heeseung to .. to ..

STOP.

He had to stop.

His eyes sprang open and his hand landed on Heeseungs leg as he pushed himself forward, head ducking to the side on relfex, to deny the excess to his neck.

A growl, deep and resonating, was heard behind him as Heeseung's arms reached for him to pull him back into the warm hug. Back within his reach.

"That's enough!" Jungwon said completely out of breath and scooted away from his Hyung a little to turn around.

Jungwon's eyes met piercing ones, like molten lava leaving his skin feeling hot wherever they landed.

Jungwon cleared his throat and he was sure he was blushing as he repeated "That should be enough."

His heart was still racing and he could hear each beat in his ears.

Heeseung's eyes closed for a millisecond and Jungwon swore he could see the outline of his tongue poking the inside of his cheek.

Then he exhaled deeply and when his eyes snapped back open, he bit down on the inside of his lip in what looked like frustration before he nodded.

"You're right." The alpha cleared his throat, "That should do the trick."

Jungwon nodded, agreeing once more for good measure.

He scrambled to a stand, not able to really fathom what had just happened and hugged his own body in an attempt to mimic the lingering touch he just lost.

As Jungwon had excused himself and practically made a run for it, Heeseung let himself fall back against the headboard, eyes once again closed, brow furrowed.

As Jungwon had pushed off of him so abruptly, Heeseung was tempted to reach back for him. Hold him down and calm him in his embrace.

But to Heeseung, it was very clear that he made Jungwon uncomfortable.

And he understood why Jungwon had run off when he thought about how it made his skin crawl when Heeseung and Jake had to start scenting each other. How weird it had felt and how his instinct had told him to lash out and fight for dominance over the other alpha back then. How his urges had automatically wanted to form a hierarchy.

But to think that Jungwon and his unpresented alpha had probably felt that way about him now took a piece out of his heart.

The alpha hadn't felt like that at all. He couldn't have had Jungwon close enough, wanted nothing more than to remain like that for eternity, with Jungwon in his arms.

But his dongsaeng must have hated it, according to how he had fled, he was sure. And he really hated himself for making him feel like that. But he hated it even more that he craved for more already.

-----------------------------------------

Though both of them were shaken by that night, it had unconciously started to become routine for them to get on with their "duty" of scenting every night after the others had gone to sleep.

Jungwon had come to Heeseung's room every night without fail. They didn't really talk about it and they never even asked about when and where. They just automatically fell into a rhythm of late night cuddles, as Jungwon tried to condition his mind into calling it, to keep it from wandering to other places.

The only words spoken were a hushed "Can I?" Heeseung asked when Jungwon settled in front of him. And jungwon only nodded or hummed, not trusting his voice enough in the alpha's close proximity, especially when his warm breath tickled his ear and his hair brushed against Jungwon's head.

Heeseung, however, took his silence and the goosebumps that formed on the youngers skin as a sign of discomfort.

This only changed after 2 weeks.

Not in Heeseung's room in their dorms, hidden away, but in the changing room of a music show where they were supposed to perform in 20 minutes and Jungwon was pacing through the room.

The young omega had taken an extra dose of suppressants that morning in fear of something going wrong on stage and as the medicine had made him so incredibly tired, he had washed them down with an extra strong iced americano.

The mixture of the drugs clashing in his body had made the leader so jumpy and anxious that all his senses felt heightened. It felt like his eyes were floating around in his head, and as if every cell of his body itched from the inside as his eyelid twitched in annoyance.

If he didn't get to scream into a pillow soon, he felt like he would explode.

And then, then Heeseung had entered the room. And just like that, his focus zeroed in on his Hyung, who was staring at his leader's dishevelled appearance and shaking hands.

Jungwon was too disturbed by his own state to care.

He marched right up to Heeseung and looked into his eyes almost pleadingly. He desperately needed to relax in he wanted toget onto stage and dance and sing his heart out. He needed something to stop the Nausea that crept up on him.

And the answer to his problems stood right in front of him.

But Heeseung didn't seem to get the memo as Jungwon bit the inside of his cheek, still staring at the older, almost accusingly now.

Why wasn't he doing anything?

Heeseung reached out a hand to take Jungwon's shaking fingers in-between his palms and stared back at him bewildered. He was obviously distressed.

"What's going on Won-ah? Are you okay?"

Jungwon shook his head and inched forward a bit, pulling Heeseung into him.

"Jungwon, talk to me. What is going on?"

"Please" Jungwon only replied as his arms tightened his grip. "Just please do it."

"What, Jungwon? What do you need ?"

Jungwon didn't ask for him to scent him, he couldn't. The words would not leave his mouth as he tried and he felt shameful to even want to ask for it. To rely on the alpha like that. Because he really shouldn't. Neither a puppy nor an alpha would, would they?

But as Jungwon was close enough, he lifted up onto his tip toes and pressed his face into Heeseung's neck instead, trying to get to the source of the calming scent. The alpha had started releasing calming pheromones.

"I feel like I'll explode if I don't calm down in the next minute." He whimpered, still not expressing what he needed.

But as Heeseung felt him inhale right under his ear, it became so obvious that Heeseung could have slapped himself for not understanding sooner.

Their leader was asking him to scent him. Right here in the middle of a dressing room. He came to him. He wasn't pushing him away.

Heeseung took immediate action, running his hand along the youngers back in a soothing motion as he slumped down a little to let his nose run along the younger's scent glands.

Every muscle in Jungwon's body loosened within about 10 seconds. He would have fallen, had Heeseung not held him up.

And as Jungwon finally felt like he was able to breathe again, he let go of Heeseung reluctantly, avoiding to meet the others eyes.

"Thank you." He said and turned around, feeling the alphas gaze burning his back. "I- I really needed that."

Jungwon again gave no further explanation, but from then on, he let himself seek out the other when he needed it.

He came to Heeseung during the day, before their shows and before filming. Not always, but sometimes.

And the weight on Heeseung's heart lifted as the older knew Jungwon didn't hate him.

But why had he run off that day after their Christmas break?