Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Yunho did not like being pissed off.

For him, irritation was a tangible thing, a thick black clot that lodged itself in his chest and seeped throughout his whole body, viscous and choking.

He didn’t like the way it tingled under his skin, making his hands twitchy at his sides and all his movements too sharp or too strong. He didn’t like the way it made him ill-humored and distant, making him bite at people who had done nothing wrong. He didn’t like how it squashed the light all around him, seeping the joy from his every day life and draining the energy from every room he walked in.

Yunho especially didn’t like being pissed off at Hongjoong.

He could deal with being mad. All he needed was to remove himself from the situation and either lock himself in his room for a few hours or work it off in the practice room. His members knew to leave him be until he reappeared himself, calmer and ready to talk about what had upset him. And if he didn’t return, some sweet soul (usually San or Seonghwa) would come find him and talk him out of whatever emotional spiral he’d managed to work himself into.

What he couldn’t deal with was the perpetual anger that would fill him whenever his Hongjoong-hyung was within thirty feet of him.

Which, unfortunately, was quite often.

Living in the same dorm and working so closely together meant that the eight of them never really got a break from one another, but this was especially true during comeback season. And not just any comeback season, their first comeback season. Yunho was well aware of how important their first comeback was as artists, and they’d all been practicing and rehearsing and perfecting day in and day out for weeks in preparation for their first comeback showcase.

Showing their charm as a group was vital right now—beyond that, their group had intentions of forming a pack once they’d all presented. Of course, Hongjoong and Seonghwa were the only ones currently presented, but the rest of the group would not be far behind.

Yunho knew he needed to get his shit together, and fast.

Easier said than done—Yunho didn’t even know why he was so angry at Hongjoong. To him, it felt like he had just woken up sometime last week and suddenly every little thing that Hongjoong did was designed specifically to aggravate him—the way he instructed them during recordings, the way he corralled them into the vans for practice, the way he nagged about them eating enough, the way his voice sounded when he pitched ideas at concept meetings.

Logically he knew it wasn’t true, that Hongjoong was living his life just as he always had and Yunho was the one who had changed. But it was getting so bad that even hearing Hongjoong’s breathing would piss him off.

The first day it had been manageable. Yunho had been able to chalk up his mild irritation to his achy body. The days at work had been getting longer lately, it was normal to feel a bit annoyed when their leader announced their schedules in the morning. Of course it was okay to feel a bit frustrated at the workload, even if that frustration was a bit misplaced if it was directed at Hongjoong himself.

But Yunho could handle it.

The next few days, however, Yunho’s definition of “handling it” was getting looser and looser.

His usually easy smile was getting harder to maintain when Hongjoong was around. He could be goofing around with the members, easy and carefree, and then Hongjoong would appear and Yunho’s joyfulness would vanish instantly. He’d stand up straighter and his fists would clench at his sides and that poisonous rage slowly growing inside him would curl up in his chest.

Once, he’d been laughing over dinner with half of the members, all of them delighted to have been let home early. Wooyoung had made them copious amounts of junk food in celebration. Thankfully this comeback did not require them to show very much skin at all, so they didn’t need to worry so much about dieting.

Yunho was telling the table a story about Mingi back when they were still in school, the super embarrassing one about a mishap with an octopus in a market. Fueled by Jongho and Wooyoung’s wide grins at the tale, Yunho dodged Mingi’s screeching attempts to get him to shut the fuck up right now Jeong Yunho!

The table got more and more rambunctious as the story continued, and the house echoed with their cackling laughter. Maybe that’s why Yunho didn’t hear the front door opening.

He was just getting to the best part of the story, the part where they had to call Mingi’s mom, when Yunho heard bags being set on the kitchen counter. He turned to see who it was, and his smile dropped.

Hongjoong was standing there with a stupidly fond smile on his face as he watched them. The alpha was busying himself with the shopping bags, obviously not trying to intrude, but still enjoying the presence of his members and future pack.

And Yunho could only glare.

“Yah, Yunho, then what happened?” Wooyoung asked.

Yunho turned back to the table, where Jongho and Wooyoung were still staring at him expectantly, smiles wide. But Yunho had lost all enjoyment in the story. He felt like he was moments away from doing something needlessly explosive, like throwing something or punching a wall. The switch from happiness to this was so jarring it made his head hurt.

“Yunho?” Wooyoung asked, looking a little concerned.

“Um, yeah,” he mumbled. “Mingi, you tell the rest. I’m…I’m gonna go to my room.”

“What?” Jongho said incredulously. “Why?”

Yunho gathered up his bowl and utensils and stood up. “Thank you for the food Young-ah, it was delicious.”

He dashed away, feeling a little like a coward as he pretended not to hear the calls of his name in his retreat.

“Yunho!”

“What the fuck was that?”

“Is he okay?”

Hongjoong’s voice. Yunho gritted his teeth as he closed his door behind him.

No one came to look for him the rest of the day.

It got worse after that. Yunho would be fine and then Hongjoong would be mentioned, or worse, show up, and suddenly he didn’t know how to behave. He tried to catch himself and leave before he did or said anything stupid, but everyone was starting to notice his not so subtle escapes.

“You’re being annoying,” Mingi told him in the hallway at work.

“What are you talking about?” Yunho said, defensive.

“You keep getting these weird mood swings and it’s hard to be around you.”

Yunho could feel his ears heat at the bluntness. “Okay, well first of all—”

“Or it’s like you don’t want to be around us,” Jongho agreed. “We’ll be fine and then suddenly I look over and you’re just…gone.”

“Figuratively and physically,” Mingi nodded. “Either you’ve closed yourself off or you literally leave the room.”

Yunho gaped, flustered and feeling cornered. “Well sorry if I’m a little nervous for our first comeback,” he said, deflecting. It didn’t work.

“Mmm, I don’t think that’s it though,” Mingi said. “What’s going on with you?”

“You’re being cranky and it's really killing the vibe,” Jongho said.

“Nothing’s wrong!” Yunho snapped. Mingi and Jongho gave him dry looks. Yunho took a deep breath. “Look. I’m sorry that I’ve been feeling off lately. I’ll try harder to keep a level head, and I promise that I won’t let this affect me at work, okay?”

“But what is it?” Mingi pressed. “If you’re upset about something you should talk to—”

“I’m not upset,” Yuhno cut him off. “I told you, I’m just a little stressed about the comeback. I’ll get through it, don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”

Jongho squinted at him disbelievingly. “If you say so hyung,” he finally said. “Well if you ever want to stop being dumb and ‘handle it’ properly, you know where hyung’s room is.”

Yunho had to physically restrain himself from making a face. He barely managed not to sound pissy as he bid the two goodbye and marched down the hallway in the opposite direction. He could handle it. They thought he couldn’t? Fine. He’d show them.

The next few times he was trapped in a room with Hongjoong, Yunho tried to put on a brave face and push through it. He could be a normal person around Hongjoong. He’d been doing it for three years, now shouldn’t be any different.

Except that it was. Brute forcing it did not work, and Yunho snapped at Hongjoong every time he was addressed.

“Yunho, do you think you could help me—”

“I’m busy, go nag somebody else.”

“Yunho, careful, you smudged your makeup.”

“Well maybe I like it this way, huh? Back off.”

“Hey Yunho, have you seen my hightops?”

“No, what am I your maid? I don’t keep track of where you left your shit.”

His outbursts were always quick and bright, and after each one he would stare down Hongjoong in challenge, waiting for him to do something. But his hyung always just held his tongue, looking at Yunho with an odd expression. Then he’d take a deep breath before returning to what he was doing.

That in itself was infuriating. Yunho could hardly stand it when Hongjoong looked the other way. It made his anger blaze even hotter, made him want to do even more to piss Hongjoong off, anything to make his hyung feel even a fraction of the rage he was feeling every day. It wasn’t fair that Yunho was feeling so unstable and that Hongjoong barely even seemed to care.

Work was getting harder. How did one avoid a coworker that you did everything with? He tried not to let his little problem affect his performance at work, but he could feel his control on that slipping quickly.

He slammed his coffee on the table a bit too hard when Hongjoong told him he was first for hair and makeup. He shot glares at Hongjoong during their English lessons. He ignored Hongjoong’s advice during vocal practice and grumbled loudly when Hongjoong handed out their schedules.

So. It was getting a bit out of hand.

Yunho had tried to figure it out. He’d stayed up all night playing video games to distract himself, he’d put in more hours at the practice room, he’d gone on plenty of walks around the city to get some fresh air. He’d even tried to cry it out of himself, hoping for some sort of catharsis, but nothing was helping.

He got home from work late one night, tired and ready to sleep for at least a week. Everyone else was already home, save for Jongho who had needed to stay behind for an extra vocal lesson. The living room light was on and he walked in, feeling like a zombie. Wooyoung and Yeosang had set up Smash Bros and were having a rather heated match.

“Yunho!” Yeosang called from the couch, aggressively punching at a controller. “Great, you’re home, hop on, I need help busting Woo’s skinny little ass—”

“Uh, I take that as a compliment, actually,” Wooyoung hollered. “Flat ass was all the rage in the west—”

“Key word was,” Yeosang said. “Does this look like 2002 to you?”

“Well at least I have a bigger—”

“Boys.” Yunho tensed at the third voice. Hongjoong sat at the far end of the couch, buried in his laptop. “It’s like, ten o’clock, can you at least try to be quiet?”

The TV made a sad game over noise, and Wooyoung stood up and cheered. “How d’you like the taste of my flat ass now, huh?”

Yeosang groaned dramatically. “You’re the worst and I hate you,” Yeosang said. “Yunho, pleeeeease help me obliterate his ego?”

Yunho clenched his fists, glaring at Hongjoong who wasn’t even looking at him.

“No thanks,” he bit out. “I’m gonna go to bed early. See you guys in the morning.”

“C’mon, just one round?” Yeosang wheedled, but Yunho had already turned away.

“Leave him be Sangie,” Wooyoung grumbled. “He was never going to play with us anyway.”

“What? Why wouldn’t Yunho want to play with us?”

Yunho closed the door to his room, trying to calm himself down. And by that he meant opening YouTube and drowning himself in nonsense until he fell asleep.

When San confronted him that night, Yunho was at a loss for what to say.

“Hey,” his roommate asked. “Is everything okay with you?”

Yunho didn’t even glance up from where he was in bed scrolling mindlessly through his phone. He knew what San was asking, but for some reason he wanted to play dumb.

“Yeah,” he said, like his voice wasn’t completely flat while he said it. “I’m fine. Why?”

“Yunho…”

Yunho peered over his phone to see San fidgeting in the doorway. He was drowning in a giant hoodie, tugging at his sweater paws anxiously like he was nervous to venture further into his own room.

Yunho sighed.

“Fine,” he said, sitting up. “C’mere.”

He opened his arms invitingly, but San still hesitated. Damn, he must have been particularly foul today if San didn’t want a hug.

“Sannie, c’mon,” Yunho said, suddenly needing the reassurance that his roommate didn’t hate him.

Eventually San padded forward, settling into Yunho’s lap. Yunho wrapped his arms around him, hooking his chin over San’s shoulder and squeezing his tiny waist. San fit so perfectly in Yunho’s embrace—it calmed something in him, and his earlier tension bled away.

“I’m sorry,” Yunho mumbled, running a hand up San’s back. He could feel San’s little hands ghosting over his shoulder blades. “You’re right, I’ve been pretty awful.”

“You’ve been so grouchy,” San said “It’s making me sad.”

Yunho let out a long breath. He didn’t want Sannie to be sad.

“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I just…I haven’t been feeling like myself lately.”

San pulled back so he could look Yunho in the eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly. He ran his fingers through the short hair on Yunho’s nape comfortingly, scratching there lightly just the way he knew Yunho liked. “Is it too stressful? Or did someone say something?”

Yunho ducked his head, abruptly feeling guilty to be touched so lovingly and to be looked at with such concern after being such a dick all week.

“No, it’s not that,” he mumbled. “I really don’t know what’s going on Sannie. I just feel so mad all the time, and I can’t figure out why.”

“Are you mad at me?”

Yunho looked up sharply.

“No, no I could never be mad at you,” he rushed to reassure.

“So it’s really just Hongjoong-hyung then.”

Yunho froze, feeling caught. He was ashamed of the instant wave of rage that filled him at the mere mention of their hyung’s name. It must have shown on his face, because San’s eyes got even sadder.

“What happened Yuyu?” he asked, tucking his hair behind his ears. “You and hyung usually get along so well…did he do something to make you so upset?”

“No, I just…” Yunho swallowed. He really didn’t know how to put what he was feeling into words.

His behavior made no sense. Yunho adored Hongjoong—he held his hyung in the highest respect, constantly in awe of how talented he was, of how hard he worked for them. So for Yunho to suddenly flip a switch and all but ice Hongjoong out completely was a huge shock, especially to himself.

“Do you think you’re changing your mind?” San asked tentatively.

Yunho squeezed San closer. “No, not at all,” he whined. God, he felt so helpless right now. “I want this so bad Sannie. I want to be a part of this group, of this pack, more than anything. I swear I do.”

“Okay,” San soothed, petting his shoulders. “Then have you tried talking to hyung? That could help.”

“What am I supposed to say?” Yunho asked. “‘Hey, every time I see you I want to punch you in the face for no reason, mind helping me out with that?’”

San blinked. “You…want to punch Hongjoong-hyung in the face?”

“Yes? No.” Yunho groaned and scrubbed a hand down his face. “Kinda? I just—I just want to fight him. Which sounds so awful, I know, but I feel so aggressive when he’s around, and it’s like I want to throw him to the ground but I don’t actually want to hurt him, y’know?”

San looked at him blankly.

“...No.”

Yunho sighed and hid his face in San’s neck.

“I know it sounds crazy,” he muttered. “And I feel crazy. I don’t like being mad at Hongjoong-hyung, I love him, I really do. But lately it feels like I can’t control myself.”

San gently pet through his hair. “I’m sorry that you’re feeling this way,” he said softly, “but I’m also kind of glad that you’re just as confused as everyone else. I was scared that something horrible had happened.”

Yunho shook his head against San’s shoulder.

“But,” San continued, “I think this is even more reason to go talk to him. You know how much Hongjoong-hyung values communication. He would want to help you.”

Yunho groaned. “I’m not sure if I can.”

“Then ask Seonghwa-hyung to be there too,” San said. “You’re not feeling this weird aggression towards him are you?”

“No.”

“There you go,” San said. “Besides, betas are supposed to be good negotiators, right?”

Yunho sat up with a small smile. “I’m pretty sure that’s sexist.”

“Nuh-uh,” San said, sticking his tongue out. “I could be a beta, you never know. Then I could say whatever I want ‘cause I’m it.”

“Uh huh, as if you could be anything other than an omega.”

“Hey!” San complained, poking Yunho’s side. “Is that because I’m small? Now who’s being sexist, huh?”

San shrieked as Yunho retaliated the poke with pokes of his own, making sure to get his ticklish ribs and underarms. San squirmed and writhed, but Yunho held firm, tickling him mercilessly even when they both toppled over onto Yunho’s bed. Eventually Yunho flopped over and laid flat on top of his smaller roommate, crushing him into the mattress.

“Not fair!” San squealed, trying unsuccessfully to shove Yunho off. “You’re heavy!”

“No I’m not, you’re just very squishable,” Yunho said solemnly. “Besides, I want you to sleep with me tonight.” He rolled to the side so he could see San’s face. “Please?”

San propped his head up on his hand. “Do you promise that you’ll talk to Hongjoong-hyung tomorrow?”

Yunho sighed dramatically. “...Yeah, fine. I’ll talk to him.”

San’s wide smile almost made the apprehension worth it. Almost.

“Good. I’m gonna go shower and I’ll be right back,” he said, hopping out of bed. “Can we watch a movie before we go to sleep?”

“Whatever you want Sannie,” Yunho smiled.

He laid back down, trying not to feel like he’d just made a promise he couldn’t keep.

Yunho never got the chance to talk with Hongjoong.

The next day was entirely dance practice. It was one of their twelve hour days, where they would only see the sun in passing glimpses in the early morning, and the moon would greet their sweaty, aching bodies as if to mock them. It was a day where if they thought too hard about the time, the exhaustion would never leave them.

Their choreographer left after four hours, leaving the rest of the day for the members to conduct their self-guided practice. That meant their breaks would be self-guided as well, and as much as Hongjoong valued rest, he also valued hard work. Yunho knew that there would be very limited opportunities to talk to him today, but he’d promised San, so he would try.

“I want us to really nail the formation right now. Yunho, can you guide us through the bridge again?”

Yunho tried his best not to glare too harshly at Hongjoong through the practice mirror.

“Yeah, that’s my job, isn’t it?” he snapped.

The low chatter of the room stopped. The members all looked at him disbelievingly. But Hongjoong just pursed his lips and motioned for everyone to get into position.

Yunho caught San’s disapproving gaze in the mirror, but he huffed and ignored it. He’d get to it when he was ready, dammit. For now he focused on pulling himself together enough to do his job.

Which he did, thank you very much. He pushed through the ache in his limbs and the pounding in his head and he guided the group through another two hours of practice before Hongjoong called for a break. As soon as the music stopped, Yunho went straight for the AC. He turned it down as low as it would go, standing right underneath the vent. It was so hot in here today, wasn’t it?

No one came to talk to him during the downtime, which Yunho supposed was fair. He’d been grumpy since he’d woken up this morning. He’d been closed off at breakfast, snappy in the vans, and just now he’d been straight up rude to Hongjoong. He felt like a dark cloud that no one wanted to approach. It was not a pleasant feeling, but Yunho couldn’t make it go away. His whole body was buzzing with restless energy, and he was scared that he’d blow up on the first person that tried to approach him.

Suddenly parched, Yunho downed his entire water bottle in one go, letting some of it run down his face and neck to cool him down faster. He finished it with a gasp, but decided that it wasn’t enough. He waved a little at Seonghwa, who kept peeking at him from across the room, and gestured that he was going to go get a refill.

The hallways weren’t that much cooler than the practice room. Shit, he knew it was wintertime, but did they have to make the whole building so hot? Maybe he should talk to the staff about that.

He drank another bottle’s worth of water before returning to the practice room. Their break would be ending soon, and Yunho had more energy to work out. Even though he was still kind of achy, he didn’t feel tired. That was good—they still had six hours left to go, and Yunho would gladly accept whatever secret energy reserve he’d accidentally unlocked.

But when he opened the door to the practice room, a little cooled down and ready to get back to work, what he saw boiled his blood so quickly he thought his head was going to explode.

Hongjoong was scenting everyone.

Now, this was not a strange occurrence. Since he’d presented last summer, Hongjoong had discovered that scenting helped calm him down when he was stressed or nervous. Even though they weren’t an official pack yet, it helped settle his instincts. The members enjoyed it too. Hongjoong wasn’t usually an overly touchy person, and any excuse to be physically close to their leader was welcome, even if they couldn’t really smell him other than the vague sense of warmth that marked him as an alpha. It was a good bonding experience for everyone.

But today it made Yunho see red.

He stormed across the room right up to where Hongjoong had Yeosang in his lap and was methodically nosing along his neck.

The alpha looked startled at his approach.

“Yunho, what—”

“Would you stop fucking doing that?” Yunho nearly shouted. He just barely held himself back from throwing his water bottle on the ground.

Seonghwa was immediately on his feet. “Jeong Yunho I swear if you don’t—”

“What the fuck is your problem?”

A hush fell over the room at Hongjoong’s tone. If Yunho had been in his right mind, he would have felt extremely guilty at the way that Yeosang flinched down into Hongjoong’s chest.

Hongjoong gently squeezed Yeosang’s shoulders to prompt him to move. Then he was on his feet, right in Yunho’s face.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately, but I am still your hyung and you will speak to me with respect.” He pressed a finger into Yunho’s chest. “You will not yell at me, do you understand?”

Yunho curled his lip, but said nothing.

“I’ve tried to be patient,” Hongjong continued, “to try and let you come to me on your own. I’ve turned my head to all the glares, all the times you’ve left the room when I come in, all the times your face goes cold the second you see me. But you just kept getting more irritable! And every time I try to talk to you I just get dirty looks and backtalk!”

Yunho opened his mouth to retaliate, but Hongjoong cut him off.

“And the worst part Yunho?” Hongjoong said, taking a step forward. “Is that I don’t even know what I did! One day we were fine and the next you suddenly decided you hate me?”

“I don’t hate you,” Yunho growled, even if everything about his posture and body language said otherwise.

“Then what is it?” Hongjoong exploded. “You aren’t communicating with me at all! And this?” Hongjoong gestured wildly to the room, where the members were watching the exchange with wide eyes. “This isn’t going to work if you can’t get your shit together and fucking talk to us when you’re upset. Are you having second thoughts about the group? Is that it?”

“No!” Yunho yelled, balling his fists at his sides.

“Then I ask again: What the fuck is your problem?”

Yunho sucked in a breath. He’d never seen his hyung look so angry. Well, not exactly—he’d never seen his hyung be so angry at him.

The rest of the members looked similarly upset. Seonghwa was still standing and had taken a couple steps forward like he wasn’t sure if he should step in or not. Mingi and Jongho were staring at him in shock, Wooyoung was comforting Yeosang, and San…San just looked disappointed.

Yunho looked back down to Hongjoong and gave him a small grin, feeling deranged.

“Fuck this,” he said, and walked out.

The hallways were warmer than before, but Yunho was barely paying attention. He walked aimlessly through them, picking directions that had the least amount of staff milling about. His body thrummed with adrenaline, something twisted in him pleased to have finally gotten a reaction out of his hyung.

That was what he wanted, right?

He’d finally gotten his fight, but instead of satisfaction or catharsis or whatever he’d expected, Yunho just felt…lost. He’d been hoping for something to happen, something that would make him feel better and settle the angry thing inside him, but nothing had changed. If he was being truthful with himself, he felt even worse than before.

Hongjoong’s face flashed before him, his eyes wild and his teeth bared in a snarl. Furious.

Yunho stopped. His breath caught and his throat started to tighten. Hongjoong was mad at him, and he had every right to be. Yunho had been a horrible packmate and a horrible friend.

That…that wasn’t what he wanted.

Yunho’s vision blurred.

Fuck, fuck he could not start crying now. He was at work, he was supposed to be working, not…whatever the hell he was doing.

A few treacherous tears slipped out anyway. He couldn’t help it—Hongjoong had yelled at him, but he’d yelled at Hongjoong first, and what did he even gain? He’d gotten his fight, so why did he still feel so restless? And the way everyone was looking at him…they all probably hated him now. Everything had gone so wrong.

Yunho sniffled pathetically as more tears dripped down his face. He couldn’t be seen like this. He stumbled his way to the nearest bathroom, relieved to find it empty. Fuck, why was it so hot in here too? Did the company decide to turn the whole building into a sauna?

He braced himself on the sink and turned the tap on as cold as it would go. The image in the mirror was not pretty. His face was blotchy from crying and his hair was matted to his forehead with sweat. His mouth hung open as he panted, trying to catch his breath as his sobs increased but also to just get more air.

Yunho’s head spun. He splashed some water on his face, but it barely helped. Damn, he’d left his water bottle somewhere too. He was so thirsty.

He straightened up from the sink and was almost bowled over by a wave of dizziness. That…wasn’t right. He hadn’t danced that hard, had he?

He stumbled back until his back hit the wall of a stall. He slid down to the floor, panting at the heat. The tile was cool, but Yunho wasn’t about to lay on the bathroom floor. He struggled to get his shirt off, finding it soaked through with sweat. He dropped it haphazardly, a little disgusted.

He was considering taking his tank top off too when a wave of something rolled through him. It was hot and it was aching and it made Yunho’s eyes roll back and his back arch off the wall. It seemed to last forever, catching in his chest and stomach and making his legs twitch helplessly. He panted through it, open mouthed and moaning, completely overwhelmed. Something was definitely wrong with him. Was he sick?

He whined as it passed, body tense and fists clenching. There was a heaviness between his legs and he looked down. He was hard. The outline of his cock strained through his sweatpants, twitching against his thigh. What the fuck? What was wrong with him?

He hissed when he touched it. It was so sensitive that it almost hurt, but once he started he couldn’t stop. He pawed at his aching dick over his clothes, too scared to actually take it out. This was still a public place.

Another wave rolled through him, and Yunho sobbed. He felt so awful. His body hurt and his dick ached and his head was spinning and it was just so hot. He’d left his phone in the practice room, so he couldn’t even call for help. He was terrified of what was happening to him and he was completely alone.

And all Yunho could do was cry.

It could have been minutes or hours before someone found him.

Yunho was startled out of his daze by a smell. It was clean and fresh, and it really smelled so good, but Yunho didn’t know who it was. Then he heard the footsteps and was immediately on alert. A stranger. Someone was coming.

There was a knock at the door.

“Yunho?” That was Seonghwa-hyung’s voice. “Pup, is that you in there?”

Before Yunho could shout a warning, Seonghwa opened the door.

Yunho was too relieved to see his hyung to be embarrassed about the state he was in. He tried to call out to him, but all that came out was a grumbling sound from deep in his chest.

Seonghwa looked visibly alarmed to see him. He put a hand over his face, like he was trying to block out a smell. Which, that seemed rude.

“Oh, pup,” Seonghwa said sadly, inching his way forward. Yunho growled—growled!—at him, startling both himself and Seonghwa. But there was a stranger nearby, Yunho couldn’t be so vulnerable while there was a threat around, no matter how good they smelled.

“Yunho, love, what’s wrong?” Seonghwa said. “Let me help you.”

Yunho realized he was snarling at his hyung. His teeth had bared without him even noticing. He dropped it immediately, ashamed.

Seonghwa tentatively held out his wrist.

Yunho leaned forward, sniffing it cautiously. And oh, that amazing smell was coming from Seonghwa. It was fresh like a spring breeze and cool enough to soothe the heat trying to suffocate him. He grabbed Seonghwa’s wrist and dragged him forward into his lap. His hyung came with a startled yelp, but he let Yunho wrap him in a tight embrace and press his face into his neck. Yunho lapped at the skin there, coaxing out more of that lovely scent.

“Yunho, baby, can you talk right now?”

Yunho grumbled. Who needed to talk when Seonghwa’s scent was so nice?

“Okay, that’s okay. Wow, this explains so much actually. I mean, we still need to talk about it but…” Seonghwa sighed. “Poor pup, you must be pretty overwhelmed right now, hm?”

Yunho licked at Soenghwa’s neck some more. His teeth were starting to itch.

“I’m going to call Hongjoong now, okay? He’s going to help, and we’ll get you home and take care of you, alright?”

Yunho hummed absently. Home sounded nice.

Seonghwa shuffled around a bit, cautious when his squirming pressed on Yunho’s dick a little too much and earned a sharp growl.

“Shh, just stay like this,” Seonghwa soothed, pressing Yunho’s face back to his neck. Yunho calmed instantly.

“Joong?” Seonghwa was saying. “Yeah, I’m here with him. You need to come here right now. He’s presenting, Joong. He’s in rut.”

Yunho quickly stopped paying attention. All he needed was to keep his pretty beta safe right here in his arms where no one could get him, and everything would be okay.

Hongjoong didn’t like yelling.

It made his boys flinch back and go quiet when he raised his voice in anger. He hated seeing his members with those sad expressions, cowed even if his ire wasn’t directed at them. It made him feel brutish to have to yell, like he was succumbing to some undesirable part of himself.

Hongjoong especially didn’t like yelling at Yunho.

Yunho who was his first friend, his first teammate, and his first love. Yunho who was so sweet and earnest and hardworking, a strong person that Hongjoong could lean on when things got hard. Yunho who was amazing at what he did and inspired Hongjoong to work even harder for him.

Yunho who had been a huge dick to Hongjoong specifically this week.

It took Hongjoong a shamefully long time to calm down after his outburst. He tried not to let his frustration bleed out onto the other members. He knew everyone was already stressed from the upcoming comeback and he didn’t want to make it worse for them. So he paced around the practice room a few times, taking deep breaths and reminding himself to behave like a leader over and over again.

When he felt stable enough, he checked on Yeosang. His pup didn’t like yelling, and Hongjoong went to apologize for scaring him. He checked on all of his pups individually, asking for forgiveness for his behavior. Thankfully they seemed okay, if not as shocked as Hongjoong at Yunho’s attitude.

Seonghwa gave Yunho twenty minutes to cool down before he went looking for him. Hongjoong thought that was reasonable. He wasn’t sure Yunho would be ready to talk to him right now anyway.

So Hongjoong watched him go, content to settle down with his pups and continue scenting them. He needed the reassurance more than ever.

“Hyung?”

Hongjoong opened his eyes from where he was taking his time scenting Mingi.

“Yeah Sannie?”

San seemed a little nervous. “About Yunho…well, I talked to him a little bit last night.”

Hongjoong leaned forward in interest.

“Was he as much of an asshole then as he was just now?” Jongho asked.

“Hey,” Mingi said softly.

“Just speaking facts,” Jongho shrugged.

“Only for a moment,” San admitted. “But then he opened up to me a bit. He doesn’t know what’s going on with him either, hyung. He seemed really upset.”

“What’s upsetting is him yelling at Hongjoong-hyung during practice hours,” Wooyoung grumbled, still holding Yeosang’s hand protectively.

“Young-ah,” Hongjoong chided gently. “What do you mean Sannie? What did he say?”

“Well,” San said, fidgeting with his hoodie strings. “He said that he really wanted to…fight you, I guess? But not hurt you or anything, he just was feeling really aggressive towards you specifically.”

“...I see.”

“But he said he still loves you,” San said quickly. “He seemed really sad that he was feeling this way. I told him to talk to you about it, but well. He never really got the chance I suppose.”

Hongjoong opened his mouth to reply when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. He picked it up on the second ring.

“Joong?”

“You find him Hwa?”

“Yeah, I’m here with him. You need to come here right now.”

The urgency in Seonghwa’s voice instantly had Hongjoong on alert.

“Why? What’s wrong? Is he okay?”

“He’s presenting, Joong. He’s in rut.”

Hongjoong’s jaw dropped. Holy shit.

“We’re in one of the bathrooms. He’s super instinctual right now, try to hurry.”

“Yeah, of course, I’m on my way.”

He hung up the phone, aware that all of his pups were now looking at him with varying stages of alarm.

“Hyung, what’s going on?” Yeosang asked. “Is Yunho-yah okay?”

Hongjoong sighed, running his hands through his hair.

“He’s alright, I just need to go take care of him. It looks like practice is gonna be canceled for the rest of the day.”

Before anyone could speak, he stood up. “Wooyoung, do not make me regret this, but you’re in charge until either me or Hwa gets back.”

Wooyoung frowned. “Okay? I’m loving the faith in me but sure.”

Hongjoong rolled his eyes and ruffled San’s hair. “Thank you for talking to me Sannie, everything makes a bit more sense now. Everyone, be good. I’ll be back soon.”

Hongjoong didn’t need to look very hard. There was a burning smell that was so thick he almost thought it would set off the smoke alarms. He followed his nose to the bathroom it was coming from after sending a text to their manager explaining the situation.

He took a deep breath before knocking at the door. Seonghwa had said Yunho was very instinctual—that could mean anything. This was Yunho’s first rut; they had no idea what his instincts were going to be like. But if he was anything like Hongjoong, he would be possessive as hell, so Hongjoong prepared himself to calm a territorial and potentially aggressive alpha.

He knocked twice before letting himself in slowly.

Yunho sat on the floor, arms wrapped securely around Seonghwa sitting in his lap. He was a mess. He had stripped down to his tank top, but he’d practically soaked it through with sweat. His fringe was plastered to his forehead with it, beads of sweat dripping down his temples. His face was blotchy red and streaked with tears and his lips were bitten bloody from his sharpened teeth.

None of that stopped him from expressing his immediate displeasure. Yunho’s eyes were piercing as he snarled at Hongjoong, teeth bared and wary of the intruder. He growled low in his throat as Hongjoong entered, holding Seonghwa even closer. Hongjoong realized he was humping Seonghwa rather frantically, something that didn’t stop even when Hongjoong shut the door behind him.

The burning scent was so thick here Hongjoong had to fight the urge to cover his nose. Yunho’s rut had hit him like a forest fire, and the scent of it rolled off of him in waves.

“Are you alright Hwa?” Hongjoong asked first.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Seonghwa said. He held Yunho as best he could, petting his arms and trying to soothe him. “He can’t really speak yet, but he hasn’t done anything other than scent mark me and grind on me a little.”

Hongjoong took a step forward, and Yunho growled louder.

“We need to get him home, Joong,” Seonghwa said softly.

“I know,” Hongjoong agreed. “Yunho, are you trying to knot right now?”

Yunho grunted, his hips speeding up against Seonghwa’s clothed ass.

“You’re gonna hate it if you do that,” Hongjoong warned. “Having your first knot in your pants won’t feel good. There'll be nothing to lock into and you’ll just get even more upset.”

But Yunho wasn’t listening. He glowered at Hongjoong defiantly, gripping Seonghwa’s hips more firmly so he could get more leverage to grind up onto him. Seonghwa didn’t seem to mind, petting through Yunho’s hair and trying to shush the low growling.

“Fine,” Hongjoong said, suddenly out of patience. “If this is how you want your first knot, go ahead. Don’t come crying to me when you don’t like it. But you don’t get to have your second one until I give it to you, do you understand?”

Yunho just bared his teeth and ground harder into Seonghwa. Hongjoong leaned against the door, arms crossed and extremely unimpressed. He raised his eyebrows indifferently when Yunho's growls stuttered into little whimpers.

“You close already pup? Go ahead, make a mess of your underwear if you want, but don’t expect me to clean you up.”

Yunho keened high in his throat, his brow furrowing and his lip catching between his teeth. It was cute that Yunho made the same face when he came even while in rut. Seonghwa held him through it when Yunho’s hips stuttered, soothing him with sweet nothings. Shh, it’s okay puppy, you’re okay, I'm right here.

Seonghwa automatically reached down to massage Yunho’s knot through his sweatpants, knowing it would be aching right now.

“Leave it be, Hwa,” Hongjoong commanded. “Let him whine.”

Seonghwa looked at Hongjoong uncertainly, but ultimately obeyed.

Yunho writhed on the floor, moaning desperately as he tried to grind his knot into a lock that wasn’t there. He looked at his lap despairingly, pawing at the growing wet patch on his gray sweatpants.

“I told you that you’d hate it,” Hongjoong tutted. “You didn’t listen. Now let go of your hyung and get up so we can go home.”

Yunho’s eyes snapped back to Hongjoong, growling loudly and tightening his grip on Seonghwa.

“Puppy, you’ve gotta let me go now,” Seonghwa tried, but Yunho only growled louder.

“Let go of your hyung, Yunho,” Hongjoong said lowly. “I won’t tell you again.”

Yunho glared at him, eyes entirely too bright as he nosed into Seonghwa’s neck, laving his tongue over the scent gland. There was a flash of teeth.

Hongjoong marched over in an instant, uncaring of the sharp growl that he incited from Yunho. He grabbed Yunho by his hair and yanked him away from Seonghwa’s neck, baring his own fangs and giving a loud, deep growl.

“This is my packmate,” he snarled. “You don’t get to mark him until I say so, am I clear?”

Yunho whimpered lightly in his hold, but his arms went slack enough for Seonghwa to finally crawl out of his lap.

As soon as Yunho’s neck was open, Hongjoong pushed his head forward and bit down on the skin of Yunho’s nape. Yunho struggled in his grip, but Hongjoong just bit down harder until he finally went lax. He latched in tight, making the bite as deep as possible without actually breaking skin. Yunho whimpered after a while, little pitiful whines that had Seonghwa glancing at Hongjoong in quiet anxiety.

Hongjoong let go and licked his lips, satisfied to see a nice, dark red mark in the shape of his teeth. He gently set a boneless Yunho back against the wall, his harsh grip on his hair turned gentle.

Yunho’s eyes were teary and his lips shiny with drool. He kept hiccupping out little whimpers, a welcome difference from the snarling growls, thoroughly scruffed.

“There, isn’t that better?” Hongjoong said, swiping away a few stray tears that leaked down Yunho’s blotchy cheeks. He pressed a kiss to Yunho’s forehead. “Hyungs are gonna get you home now, and we’ll take care of you properly, yeah?”

Yunho nodded slowly, like the question had taken a little time to seep in.

“Manager-hyung is outside with the van,” Hongjoong said. “I’m going to get the pups ready to go and I’ll meet you both there, okay?”

He looked to Seonghwa to confirm, giving his beta a soft peck on the cheek. Seonghwa took it gratefully, then immediately went to fuss over Yunho.

“Oh, puppy,” he said. “You’re okay love, I’m right here, my baby alpha. Can you walk? Do you want hyung to carry you?”

Hongjoong left them to it, making a mental note to advise the staff to air out this bathroom.

Chapter Text

By the time Hongjoong got back to their van, Yunho was sulky again.

He wasn’t growly or aggressive yet, but he was noticeably sullen. He crossed his arms when Hongjoong entered, turning to hide his face in Seonghwa’s neck for comfort.

That was fine. He’d just been scruffed pretty intensely, some moping was entirely normal. Besides, Hongjoong could deal with a sulky pup.

He just hoped they could get home before the next wave of Yunho’s rut picked up.

The pups were informed of what was happening and had taken a separate van with instructions to wait until the hyungs had gone inside with Yunho before following. They were to stay in the living room until someone called them, and they were to leave the MATZ room well enough alone. Otherwise, they had the rest of the day off. Sannie had predictably pouted at being left out of important pack bonding stuff, but he was easily cheered up when Yeosang offered to play Fifa with him.

Their manager got them home in record time, wishing them a hasty good luck before quickly driving off. Hongjoong couldn’t blame him. Yunho’s rut scent was starting to drive him crazy too.

Yunho didn’t let Seonghwa hold him on their way up the elevator, nor on the walk through the hall. Seonghwa looked concerned, but let it be. Yunho was getting more standoffish by the second, glaring at Hongjoong like he’d personally deleted all his save files in Spider-Man.

“Go to the room,” Hongjoong ordered once they got inside. Yunho obeyed with a huff, storming down the hall to the MATZ room and slamming the door behind him.

Hongjoong sighed. “Can you go make sure he doesn’t try to trash the place?” he asked Seonghwa. “I’m just going to gather some supplies in case we need to be in there for a while.”

Seonghwa nodded. “I hope he doesn’t get aggressive again,” he worried. “The pups will be right there, and these walls are hardly soundproof.”

“I won’t give him the chance,” Hongjoong said. “I think I’ve got an idea of what’s going on, don’t worry.”

Seonghwa nodded again, and then left to go make sure Yunho didn’t break his budding collection shelf.

By the time Hongjoong had gathered an adequate amount of water and high protein snacks, he heard the tromping of five pairs of feet scurrying towards the front door. He hurried to his bedroom, not particularly in the mood to answer all his nosy pups’ questions.

He entered his room confidently, unflinching when Yunho started up a low growl again. Yunho stood as far away from the door as possible, tucked in the corner by Hongjoong’s desk and half-hiding behind the bunk bed. Seonghwa sat on the bed, looking very annoyed.

“Get on the bed, Yunho.”

“No.” His voice was a little garbled, but Yunho’s defiance was clear.

“Fine, then we’ll do this on the floor.”

Hongjoong took a step forward, and Yunho growled in warning. He crouched low into a defensive stance, eyes tracking Hongjoong’s every move.

Hongjoong stopped in the middle of the room. Clearly Yunho felt threatened, and Hongjoong wasn’t trying to make his pup feel unsafe.

“Yunho, talk to me,” he sighed. “I’m trying to help you, but I can’t do that if you keep challenging me.”

Yunho growled again, and he took a step forward, body hunched like he was preparing to lunge. Hongjoong held his ground.

“You told me explicitly that you wanted me to be your pack alpha and that you wanted to submit to me. Has that changed?” Hongjoong asked calmly. “Because if so I can gather the pups and we can fight for the position right now. Do you want that Yunho?”

Yunho’s growl stuttered out uncertainly, and he straightened up. He glanced towards Seonghwa still sitting on the bed.

“I…” he grumbled. “No.”

“Okay,” Hongjoong said easily. “Then clearly you’ve been unsure of your place in the pack lately, but I’m going to show you. I just need you to listen to me.”

Yunho hesitated, looking unsure how to process all this information. He opened his mouth a few times like he wanted to say something, but then his eyes rolled back and his knees wobbled. His dick strained in his soiled sweatpants, visibly twitching. Forest fire burned in Hongjoong’s nose.

“Oh, baby,” Seonghwa said, getting up to go comfort him. But Hongjoong held his hand up.

“Here’s what’s going to happen: I’m going to fuck you,” Hongjoong said. Yunho’s eyes flew open. “I am your alpha, Yunho, and I’m going to mark you to remind you that you are mine. You’re going to take your fucking like a good pup, and I’ll give you another knot.”

Yunho growled lightly, but didn’t offer any protest.

“Come here,” Hongjoong ordered. He leveled Yunho with a calm, even stare as his pup fidgeted, clearly trying to decide if he would obey.

Then slowly, meekly, Yunho trudged his way to the center of the room.

“Good boy,” Hongjoong praised. “Now get on your knees.”

“Why?” Yunho said, just to be stubborn.

“Because I told you to.”

Yunho held his challenge for a moment longer before complying. Once he was on the floor, Hongjoong grabbed the back of his neck and pressed on the scruff bite there. Yunho sucked in a breath and his shoulders dropped.

“You’d do well to remember to treat your hyungs with respect,” Hongjoong said, situating himself behind Yunho. “Seonghwa, come help me prep him.”

Yunho remained pliant when Hongjoong pressed his face down onto the carpet into presenting position. He didn’t move when Hongjoong shucked his sweatpants down, and even whimpered when he heard the click of the lube bottle open. Seonghwa held his hands, both as a comfort and as a precautionary measure. Just because Yunho was being sweet now didn’t mean he would stay that way.

Hongjoong got it, he really did. Rut could be intense, and it threw your instincts all over the place. Hongjoong was honestly proud of Yunho for obeying him after only one scruff and some stern words. Hongjoong couldn’t blame Yunho for trying to resist submission, but Hongjoong also knew that his good boy was in there somewhere. He just had to coax him out.

Predictably, Yunho’s instincts picked back up when Hongjoong pressed his first finger to his hole.

Yunho growled and tried to rise to his elbows, wiggling away from the offending finger. Hongjoong just rumbled and pressed onto his scruff again, keeping Yunho in place. Yunho kept wiggling, trying to arch away from Hongjoong’s touch.

“Hold still pup,” Seonghwa said gently, holding Yunho’s wrists together so he couldn’t reach back and slap Hongjoong away. Yunho kept grumbling, letting more growls bubble out of his throat. Hongjoong kept massaging his rim, spreading lube all over the area to get ready to stretch him.

When Yunho’s squirming got too much, Hongjoong smacked his ass with his clean hand. Yunho yelped and stilled.

“Be good,” he scolded. “Either you tell me to stop and we can discuss another way for you to submit like adults, or I’m going to keep going until you can get yourself under control and stop behaving like a little bitch.”

When no verbal protest was given, Hongjoong pressed his finger in to the second knuckle.

Instantly, Yunho’s growls turned to whimpers. He stopped typing to struggle out of Seonghwa’s grip and instead clutched at the hands holding him down. He pressed his hips back into Hongjoong’s probing finger, whining at the feeling of something inside him.

“There you go,” Hongjoong murmured, adding another finger. “There’s my good boy.”

Yunho moaned when Hongjoong started scissoring his fingers. Seonghwa pet through his hair gently, letting the baby alpha squeeze his hands and whispering reassurances. Yunho was tight—whether that was from his new alpha biology or just that it had been a while, Hongjoong wasn't sure. Either way he was going to make sure his baby was thoroughly stretched out.

Hongjoong pressed in with a third and Yunho gasped, but he stayed good and let Hongjoong work. He held his position up until he could take four fingers with ease. He canted his hips back into Hongjoong’s shallow fingerfucking, panting and moaning into the carpet.

Then Yunho’s body shuddered and tensed. His hole clenched around Hongjoong’s fingers like a vice and the burn of his scent deepened. He whined high in his throat, pitiful. Both Hongjoong and Seonghwa were there in an instant, shushing him and petting him soothingly.

“What is it, pup?” Hongjoong said softly. “Tell Alpha what you need.”

“Alpha…” Yunho whimpered. His hands curled into fists by his head. “Please…help me?”

“Of course baby, Alpha’s always here to help you,” Hongjoong promised, kissing Yunho’s lower back lightly. “We’re going to get you out of those clothes, and then I’ll give you what you need.”

Yunho hummed, letting Hongjoong pull back so he could undress him.

“Hwa,” Hongjoong said. “Could you prep yourself? I don’t want his next knot to be in the air.”

Seonghwa nodded and shucked off his pants, reaching dutifully for the lube. He eyed Yunho’s cock hanging heavy and useless between his legs.

“Damn, he’s even bigger now,” Seonghwa said appreciatively. “Wooyoung is going to have a field day.”

Yunho, rut dazed and sensitive, turned his head to follow the smell of Seonghwa’s exposed arousal. He tried to nose at where Seonghwa was rubbing his own lubed-up fingers along his perineum, his beta cock hard along his hip, but Hongjoong grabbed his pup by the back of the neck.

“Ah ah, behave,” he warned. “If you want to put your dick anywhere you’ll be good and earn it.”

Yunho whined and nodded. “Yes, please, please I’m sorry, I’ll be good—”

“You are good, love,” Seonghwa promised. He gave Hongjoong a stern look when he pressed a finger inside of himself. “Be nice Joong.”

“I am being nice,” Hongjoong said. “He’s getting a knot.”

He pulled his fingers out and wiped them carelessly on Yunho’s discarded sweatpants.

“Hands behind your back,” Hongjoong murmured, pulling his own dick out of his sweatpants. If the thick rut pheromones weren’t enough to have him hard and leaking, the visual of Yunho splayed out beneath him, ass high and a flush spreading from his neck down to his shoulders certainly did it.

Hongjoong took Yunho’s wrists in one hand and lined his cock up with the other. He hissed when he began to slowly push in—hell, he was still so tight. Yunho’s whines rose higher in pitch the deeper Hongjoong sank into him, ending on a little sob when Hongjoong finally bottomed out.

“Alpha…Alpha,” Yunho cried. His mouth hung open and drool spilled freely on the carpet. “Please, I’ll be good…”

“Shh,” Hongjoong hushed. “I’ll give you what you want.”

He pulled back so that just the tip was still inside, watching the way Yunho’s hole fluttered around his dark cock, then thrust back in all at once. He reveled in the broken moan that spilled from Yunho’s pretty, gaping mouth. He started off slow, fucking Yunho deep and jolting his lithe body forward on each thrust. Hongjoong brought the hand not pinning Yunho’s wrists to his back to press Yunho’s face into the floor by the back of his neck. Yunho actually did cry at that—a broken sob that went straight to Hongjoong’s throbbing dick. The scruff bite seemed to pulse under Hongjoong’s palm, though perhaps that was just Yunho’s deepening flush.

Hongjoong kept fucking him, leaning forward so his weight pinned Yunho even more. And Yunho was so, so good. Tears leaked out of his hazy eyes and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. He took it like a good pup, not a hint of resistance as he submitted to his alpha’s mercy.

Hongjoong picked up the pace, delighted in the way Yunho’s eyes squeezed shut. His moans staccatoed in time with the slap of Hongjoong’s hips on his, higher and higher in pitch.

“Alpha…” he slurred. “Alpha…knot….”

Hongjoong reached underneath him and wrapped a hand around Yunho’s heavy cock. Yunho cried out like he was being murdered, which was a little startling to say the least, but Seonghwa was there, holding his head and running his wrist under Yunho’s nose to calm him down. Hongjoong felt at Yunho’s cock—Seonghwa wasn’t kidding, it did feel bigger; he was going to have to try that out sometime—and sure enough, there was a hardness forming at the base.

“You ready Hwa?” Hongjoong asked.

Seonghwa nodded, and Hongjoong released Yunho’s hands and sat him up. Yunho came slowly, completely boneless in Hongjoong’s hold, but he gasped when the new angle pushed Hongjoong even deeper into him.

Seonghwa pressed forward, capturing Yunho’s slack lips in a kiss that he could barely return. Seonghwa licked hungrily into his mouth and swallowed all his desperate little noises.

“Alright puppy,” Hongjoong said. “Let hyungs show you how to use that dumb cock of yours.”

Yunho nodded feverishly, and Seonghwa pulled away to lay down on the floor. He grimaced at the mess on the carpet—laying in spit and precum couldn’t be exactly pleasant. But Yunho looked at him like he was afraid to touch, like he couldn’t believe he was allowed.

“Go on, you can touch him,” Hongjoong prompted.

Seonghwa spread his legs invitingly. Yunho hesitantly put his shaky hands on Seonghwa’s hips, eyes glued to the glistening, gaping hole on display just for him.

“You gonna be good pup?” Seonghwa asked, taking Yunho’s twitching, leaking cock in his hand. “You gonna give me your knot?”

Yunho sobbed when Seonghwa lined himself up and sank down. The beta took it slowly, eyes fluttering at the stretch. Yunho whined helplessly, hips twitching involuntarily as he finally got a nice, wet hole around his aching cock.

“Fuck, Yunho,” Seonghwa groaned. “So big, nghh—you’re filling me up so well.”

Yunho shuddered when Seonghwa’s ass was finally flush to his hips. Seonghwa’s legs tangled with theirs and he looked up at Yunho with adoration.

“C’mon baby,” he said softly. “Give it to me.”

Hongjoong thrust harshly up into Yunho, making all three of them moan.

They fucked him like that, Hongjoong thrusting him forward and Seonghwa fucking back down on his dick. Yunho could only cry and hold on to Seonghwa’s hips. The stimulation was overwhelming him, turning him into a babbling, drooling mess. Hongjoong licked along his neck, laving his tongue along the scruff bite but also sucking new marks into the curve of his shoulder.

“Mine,” he growled in Yunho’s ear, possessive.

“Such a pretty pup,” Seonghwa said. He was breathless from the exertion but his voice was fond. “Look so good like this, so pretty submitting to your alpha.”

Yunho just whimpered and squeezed Seonghwa’s hips tighter.

“Alpha,” he cried. “‘M gonna cum…”

“Go ahead baby,” Hongjoong hummed. “You’ve been good, you’ve earned it.”

Yunho looked to Seonghwa despairingly.

“Please? Can I knot?”

“Yes, yes,” Seonghwa panted. “Give hyung your f-fat knot—oh, shit—”

Seonghwa’s back arched as Yunho rammed his swelling knot in all at once. The beta’s cock twitched on his stomach, and Seonghwa tugged on it desperately. It didn’t take long for Soenghwa to shudder and for cum to leak out around his fist. Hongjoong watched in satisfaction as his eyes rolled closed and his mouth fell open with pretty, breathy moans.

Yunho hunched over as Seonghwa’s hole spasmed around his dick. He shook with sobs, holding Seonghwa tightly as his orgasm ripped through him. He panted little thank you, thank you, thank you’s into the beta’s neck as he came, knot swelling to its full size and locking the two of them together. Hongjoong stilled his thrusts, gritting his teeth against the mind-numbing feeling of Yunho’s tight hole squeezing his sensitive cock.

They held Yunho together as he came down, Seonghwa hugging him tightly and Hongjoong draped across his back. They whispered praises and reassurances to him, telling him how good he had been, trying to coax him down into a clearer headspace..

Yunho’s scent mellowed out from forest fire to a pleasant, homey hearth. Hongjoong breathed it in, indulging in the warmth and the base scent that was so undeniably Yunho.

But Yunho was still sniffling. He wiggled his hips back onto Hongjoong’s dick, making him hiss.

“Alpha… knot, please?”

Hongjoong looked at him incredulously. “But you just knotted pup. Do you need another one so soon?”

“Your knot,” Yunho whined. He looked over his shoulder and gave Hongjoong his best pleading, teary puppy eyes. His face was streaked with tears and snot and drool and a flush had settled high on his cheeks. There was an imprint of the carpet on the side of his face. “Alpha, please? I want it, I need to be yours, please give it to me.”

“You are mine,” Hongjoong promised, kissing along his jaw. “But Yunho, you’re still so tight. I don’t want to hurt you, pup.”

“Please?” Yunho begged. “Try to make it fit? I’ll be so good, I promise.”

Hongjoong met Seonghwa’s eyes uncertainly. This was new territory—it wasn’t impossible for an alpha to take a knot, and surely if Yunho was asking for it it was okay right?

“Alright, I’ll give it to you,” Hongjoong said. “But you have to be patient while I stretch you some more.”

Yunho swore that he would, and Seonghwa brought his face down into his neck to calm him. Hongjoong retrieved the bottle of lube and upended it where he and Yunho were connected. He slowly added in a finger next to his dick, biting his lip at the tightness. He could barely move it. Hell, maybe this wouldn’t work after all.

But Yunho relaxed, and eventually Hongjoong was able to slide his finger in and out. He had to remind himself to take it slow as he added more—his own dick throbbed where it was still inside Yunho as that pretty hole opened up for him. He was not expecting to get to knot today, much less knot Yunho, but here he was, balls deep in his pretty baby alpha who was begging him for his knot. Sue him if he got a little excited.

“Ready baby?” Hongjoong whispered after he could fit four fingers in.

Yunho nodded into Seonghwa’s neck. “Yes, yes, please give it to me, make me yours.”

And who was Hongjoong to deny his precious pup?

Hongjoong fucked into Yunho harshly, his restraint cracking from being made to wait. He pressed Yunho all the way down so he was laying on top of Seonghwa on the floor. Seonghwa hissed and angled his hips up, still hanging off of Yunho’s knot.

“Shit Joong,” he panted. “He’s twitching so much—”

But Hongjoong was barely listening. His pretty pup felt so good around his cock, so soft and wet and made just for him. Lube squelched loudly between them. It coated their thighs and dripped down onto the ruined carpet, but Hongjoong didn’t care. He was focused on watching his dick slide in and out of Yunho’s puffy red hole. His knot was already starting to form, the swell of it catching on Yunho’s rim with each pass.

“Alpha, please,” Yunho cried. He trembled all over in sheer anticipation.

Hongjoong pressed forward to lick along his neck some more, coaxing out more of that warm, woodsy scent. He moaned desperately, thrusting harder and harder until the growing knot couldn’t slide out anymore. He carefully placed his teeth over Yunho’s swollen mating gland, just enough to soothe the itch, and gave one more thrust up as his knot expanded.

Hongjoong sucked on the gland hard as he came. He wanted to bite down, to claim his baby alpha right here and now, but he resisted. He would wait until his pack could all do it together, but the fantasy of it had cum flooding into Yunho’s sloppy hole just the same.

Yunho sobbed as the knot locked them together. His back arched as much as it could in their position and his eyes rolled back in his head. Then he went limp, falling into Seonghwa’s waiting arms.

Seonghwa swore, lip between his teeth. “He-He just came again.”

Hongjoong rumbled happily, releasing Yunho’s neck and letting them all come down. Hongjoong was feeling especially good about himself. Even if he didn’t have a mating bite yet, Yunho had been thoroughly claimed as his. Everyone would see the bruise on his neck, and Yunho would smell like him for days after being knotted and filled with his cum.

“Mine,” he growled.

Yunho keened.

“So good,” Hongjoong hummed, nuzzling into Yunho’s nape. “Such a good pup.”

But Yunho shook his head, hiding in Seonghwa’s neck.

“No, I’m not,” he whined.

Seonghwa and Hongjoong exchanged concerned glances.

“Pup—” Seonghwa tried, but Yunho cut him off.

“I’m not good. I’m rude, and disrespectful—”

“Yunho—” Hongjoong frowned.

“I yelled at you, hyung,” Yunho said miserably. “I’ve been so mean, giving you backtalk and making everyone feel bad. I made Sannie sad, I scared Yeosang and I ruined your scenting time even though I know you like it, and I disrupted practice and everyone was so upset, a-and you all probably hate me now—”

“No, Yunho,” Hongjoong said firmly. “You were a brat, yes, but no one hates you.”

“But I was so awful!” Yunho cried. “I was so angry for no reason and I took it out on you, and I wish I could take it all back. But I can’t and I just—I’m so sorry, hyung.”

Hongjoong’s heart squeezed at Yunho’s sniffling little cries. He longed to gather his baby alpha up in his arms and kiss him all better, but the three of them were still locked in place by two knots, so he settled for kissing down Yunho’s spine while Seonghwa held him close instead.

“Baby,” Hongjoong said softly. “I’m sorry that you were feeling so bad. I wish that you had come and talked to me or Hwa about it, but I understand that it was hard. I’m just glad to know what’s going on, I was worried about you.”

“But—you were so mad—”

“Yes,” Hongjoong said easily. “I was. I didn’t understand your behavior and it made me upset to see you pull away from me so drastically. I snapped on you in the practice room today, and I regret that, but you were getting on my nerves. I think that your actions have definitely earned you a punishment.”

Yunho whimpered pathetically, and Hongjoong kissed the shell of his ear.

“Don’t worry love, we can talk about it when you’re out of rut. Right now I just want you to focus on me, yeah?”

Yunho nodded sullenly.

“Good,” Hongjoong continued. “I think I understand what’s going on. You were getting ready to present, and your instincts didn’t know where you fit in the pack. You’ve been acting out to try and get me to correct you, but I just kept letting it go. I’m sorry that I didn’t notice and that I unintentionally neglected your needs. I will do better in the future as your pack alpha and I’ll strive to be someone you can trust to take care of you.”

Yunho looked over his shoulder at him with wide eyes.

“But you do already hyung,” he said. “You do so much, you take such good care of us.”

Hongjoong smiled. “Thank you baby.”

“I really am sorry,” Yunho mumbled. “I didn’t mean it, and I shouldn’t have been a… a brat just to get some negative attention. I’ll gladly take my punishment.”

“Good pup,” Hongjoong said. “I forgive you. Thank you for apologizing.”

“Though,” Seonghwa chimed in, “I believe you still owe a few to the pups, don’t you think?”

Yunho looked miserable at the idea, but he nodded. “Yes, I do.”

Seonghwa chuckled a little. “Don’t look so sad, Yunho. They’ll understand, I promise.” He cupped Yunho’s cheek and gave him a quick kiss. “In fact, I’ll go get them right now. As nice as your big alpha knot is, I’d like to get off the floor.”

Yunho blushed and nodded. Seonghwa gingerly pulled himself off of Yunho’s softening knot, grimacing when a flood of cum and sticky lube immediately spilled out, dirtying the carpet further. Yunho’s eyes—and maybe Hongjoong’s too—locked immediately onto the gaping, pink hole that fluttered lightly in the air.

Seonghwa caught them staring and laughed. “You can have it again later, baby,” he said. “I promise I’ll be here to take care of you through your whole rut. I’m sure your alpha will be a gentleman and take you to the bed so you can be more comfortable, hm?”

While Seonghwa stood and stretched his legs, Hongjoong gathered all 180cm of lanky baby alpha into his arms and sat back on his heels. He had to be careful, they were still connected after all, but he managed to hook his arms under Yunho’s knees and rise to his feet. It wasn’t particularly graceful, but Yunho’s ears immediately turned red at the show of strength, and he covered his face with his hands. Hongjoong would have felt proud of that if he didn’t need to focus on waddling over to the bed without dropping his pup.

Seonghwa threw his pants back on and left the room as Hongjoong settled Yunho on the bed. The bottom bunk was hardly big enough for just the two of them. They’d have to figure something else out when the rest of the pack presented, but Hongjoong wasn’t going to worry about that right now.

After some adjusting, Hongjoong finally had an armful of soft, pliant pup, both of them lying on their sides in the soft blankets. He was sure his satisfaction was noticeable in his scent, and could you really blame him? He had a warm bed and a pretty pup stuffed full of his knot. Life was good.

Yunho sighed when Hongjoong dragged his tongue along his neck, paying special attention to the light bruise on his unclaimed mating gland.

“I love you, hyung,” Yunho murmured.

“I love you too,” Hongjoong said. “Always.”

“Thank you for taking care of me. You’re going to be the best pack alpha.”

Hongjoong was glad that Yunho couldn’t see the way he preened at the praise.

Yunho rumbled lowly, testing out the range of his vocal chords and the broader subvocals he could access. It wasn’t purring, exactly, but the vibrations were comfortable in his chest, and paired with Hongjoong doing the same at his back, it lulled him to a sleepy state.

Today had been confusing, scary, and exhausting. He was glad to have his hyungs here with him to help him through his rut, because he could already tell this was going to take a lot out of him. Knotting Seonghwa had helped a lot, but he still felt hazy and his body was still sore. Hongjoong explained that it was a side effect of the rut fever and that he would feel better when the next wave hit him.

Yunho yawned. He hoped the next wave would wait a little bit. He wanted a nap.

The door opened and the rest of Yunho’s future pack trailed in quietly, hesitantly. Yunho curled in on himself a little, and Hongjoong kissed his nape comfortingly.

“Be gentle,” Seonghwa warned softly.

Mingi approached first, because of course he did. Yunho’s anxiety lessened when his best friend kneeled in front of the bed.

“Are you okay Yun?” he asked, eyes wide at the state Yunho was in.

“I’m okay,” Yunho said.

“How do you feel?”

Yunho considered. “A little… floaty. I don’t know how to describe it, but it feels nice.”

“Are you really on hyung’s knot right now?”

Yunho flushed. “I—what?”

“Holy shit, you are!” Mingi said. “I thought Seonghwa-hyung misspoke. Damn Yun, way to take it.”

“Um…thanks?” Yunho squirmed under the attention. Hongjoong, unhelpfully, rumbled a laugh behind him.

“Woo, you owe me twenty,” Yeosang said. “Told you he wouldn’t be a beta.”

“Yeah fine, sure, but look at his cock,” Wooyoung said. “It really did get bigger.”

Yunho shoved his hands to protect his dick from five pairs of very curious eyes. “Guys, c’mon!” he whined. “You can’t just say things like that!”

“First dibs,” Wooyoung said casually, like that was a normal thing to say.

“What? No fair! Second dibs!” San said, raising his hand in the air like he was in school.

“No dibs!” Seonghwa interjected. “You’re all ridiculous, I swear.”

“So, Alpha,” Jongho said conversationally. Both Hongjoong and Yunho looked up, and Wooyoung burst out laughing.

“Oh my god, you have got to do that more often.”

“Yunho alpha, does this mean you’re feeling better?” Jongho asked. “Less like you’re going to yell at hyung during practice again?”

Yunho winced. “...Yes. I’m sorry that I’ve been so snappy lately. I was making everyone upset and disrupting our group. It wasn’t fair of me to stress everyone out like that.” He looked to Yeosang. “And I’m sorry for yelling. I hope you all can forgive me.”

Yeosang shrugged and gave him a little grin. “Sure. Honestly I didn’t notice something was up until today, so. No hard feelings here.”

“Well, you were pissing me off a little bit, not gonna lie,” Jongho said. “But I get it. Maybe next time do something normal like bite somebody instead of shoving a stick up your ass.”

“Since when is biting normal?” Mingi scoffed.

“Well Wooyoung does it when he’s upset,” Jongho said.

“Yah, that’s hyung to you,” Wooyoung grumbled. He tried to smack Jongho’s head but the maknae ducked out of the way. “And biting is totally normal. Yuyu, I’ll forgive you if you promise to fuck me stupid the second your rut clears.”

“Okay,” Seonghwa said, clapping once. “That’s enough. Pups, give Yunho a kiss and leave him be.”

There were a few whines of protest, but eventually they all lined up to give Yunho goodbye kisses. They were sweet and indulgent, and each one squashed more of his anxiety until he was sighing in contentment. His dick still ached and his body was still hot, but with every kiss and reassuring whisper from his group, he knew that his pack still loved him.

San was last, and he squirmed onto the bed as much as Seonghwa would let him to give him his kiss.

“How do you feel, really?” San whispered into his mouth.

Yunho exhaled slowly. His eyes were starting to get heavy, but he kept them open to look at his pretty, pretty Sannie.

“So much better,” he promised.

San’s smile was blinding. “I’m glad. I love you Yuyu.”

“I love you too Sannie,” Yunho mumbled.

San kept kissing him until Seonghwa pulled him back by his hood.

“Alright, let him rest.” Seonghwa raised an eyebrow at San’s pout. “If you want kisses, I’m sure Mingi or Young-ah will happily grant them to you.”

“But I want Yunho kisses,” San sulked, but he let Seonghwa pull him away. Their hyung corralled all the wiggly pups out the door, each of them trying to get one more glance at the baby alpha.

“Sleep well Yunho,” Yeosang called.

“And thanks for getting us out of practice!” Mingi added, waving his hand as Seonghwa firmly shut the door.

Yunho sighed and snuggled deeper into Hongjoong’s arms. He meant what he said to San—he really did feel better. The black clot of anger in his chest had completely dissipated, and he rumbled in satisfaction, happy to be held by his hyung like this again. Seonghwa joined them on the bed, and it really was a tight squeeze, but Yunho didn’t mind. He liked the closeness. It reminded him of where he belonged—right here, in between his hyungs who loved him.

“Alpha?”

“Yes, love?” Hongjoong rumbled.

“Am I still your good boy?”

Hongjoong rumbled louder, licking a long stripe up Yunho’s neck to the tip of his ear.

“Always,” he said. “You are always my good boy.”

“Our good boy,” Seonghwa corrected, kissing Yunho’s forehead.

“No, mine,” Hongjoong growled playfully.

Seonghwa rolled his eyes. “You’re so possessive it makes you look stupid. I’m his hyung too, dumbass.”

“Absolutely not, this is my pup.”

Yunho smiled in between them, letting his eyes fall closed. This was familiar. He let himself drift off, warm and content.

“Would it kill you to share?”

“It would actually.”

“Fine, you’ve just been demoted to last in line to try out Yunho’s alpha cock.”

“Hey!”