Rough Rut
It had been about a week without Junseo. He'd had to be excused from practice, and schedules had been planned around him. It wasn't something worrying; it was a normal occurrence. 'It' being his rut.
Junseo had been in his room with his door locked for most of the time. The alphas' side of the dorm closed off to the omegas. It wasn't because they weren't allowed there while one of the pack's alphas was going through a rut, especially not Junseo, but as to not make the rut longer and more painful, they all agreed to keep omega pheromones away for the time.
As Junseo was coming out of the haze of the rut, he cringed, feeling his sticky sheets cling to his damp skin. The idea, though, of doing laundry and even changing his sheets, was too heavy on him. His feeling of inadequacy, being an alpha with a strong instinct for mating and also fathering pups and yet not having done that yet, it stuck. Fortunately, he knew how to handle the feeling of depression that would hit after a rut. It was trained into his routine at this point.
He got up, unsticking his sheets from his glowing skin. He had to hold onto his shelf, as he got woozy from doing so, reminding him of how little he's been eating and drinking. The rest of the pack, mostly the leaders, would make sure to make and bring him food and liquids, both packed full of nutrition and electrolytes, to make sure he was getting what he needed. Most of the time, it was Dongil preparing it and Changmin placing it outside his door.
He threw on some shorts, leaving any tops behind, as well as underwear, knowing that they'd just get unnecessarily gross, as he was just going to take a shower anyway. He carefully looked outside his door, seeing if they'd left him something in the hallway. He didn't find food, but instead found a note saying "food in fridge for you <3". He smiled a tired smile, pocketing the note to keep with him. He made his way to the kitchen, quickly grabbing a sportsdrink to get some of his energy and strength back. He thought about getting the food, but the feeling of his sweaty body had him postponing that for later.
The shower was nice. Feeling fresh and clean was sorely needed. Junseo made a mental note to buy a pack of wetwipes for his ruts. He left his shorts on the floor of the bathroom, quietly apologising to the others for doing so, knowing that he didn't need to. They all understood. Going into his bedroom and finding a soft pair of pyjamas was fine, but then his eyes fell on his bed. He could strip it of the dirty sheets and sleep on a naked bed. It was something he'd done before he was in the pack. But seeing his bed being empty and the air heavy with silence, he couldn't help but want to cry. He didn't want to be alone, not when he was stuck being reminded of the lack of a mate with him. He felt the ache in his chest get stronger. Today was not the day. Instead, he walked out, quickly swinging by the kitchen to get the chicken dish somebody had set aside for him.
Lune was cuddled up in the nest-like mattress, pillows, and blankets-situation he'd built underneath his raised bed. He was watching Single's Inferno on his tablet, calmly following the actions and stories of the people in it, when he heard a soft knock on the door. He smiled as he got up, having been waiting for Junseo to come and find him. When he opened the door, he saw the big, freshly showered man, although with the way he was hunching over, he didn't look so big.
"C'mere." Not much more was needed, as he swiftly took the food from Junseo, the larger boy crashing into his arms. He slowly got both of them over to the nest, himself down first, and then Junseo on top of him. He set the food on the tiny table that was beside the comfortable setting and wrapped his arms around Junseo, bringing his face to his neck, letting the alpha be comforted by being pressed into his scent glands.
Junseo let out a shaky breath, finally feeling like it was safe enough to breathe and relax. He nuzzled his nose into the soft, warm neck of Lune, loving the feeling of the older's pulse thumping against his forehead. Lune's scent was the most calming out of everyone in the pack; a mix of clean linen and summer rain. It was barely noticeable normally, but with his nose pressed into the scent gland like that, the smell washed over him.
Lune let his hands run over Junseo's hair, petting him. He had paused the reality programme, knowing that Junseo could need to talk a little. "Was it a tough one?" His voice was soft and low in volume. He could feel Junseo's eyelashes flutter against the skin of his neck before he nodded slightly. Lune wrapped his arms around the body lying on top of him and took a deep breath, happy when he felt Junseo match it, taking deep breaths together.
They breathed together for a little before Lune spoke up again. "You're not a bad alpha." He felt Junseo's body tense up, but held him tighter, lifting his head a little to give more access to his scent. "You're not. You're battling with your instincts so much. They tell you that another rut without a mate makes you a defective alpha, but you're not." Junseo burrowed further into Lune's hold as he listened. His alpha had never stood a chance at blaming him when Lune told him that he was okay like this.
When they were all first becoming a pack, Junseo was a mess every time he had a rut. Being a group of people didn't constitute being a pack, but most naturally formed one as they found family and closeness within their group. They'd been worried about him, as he had depressive episodes every time he went through a rut, and he hadn't been quite forthcoming about why. When he finally told them, they were all quick to validate his feelings and support him through it, telling him that his instincts weren't who he was, that he was much more than that. But he never quite believed them fully. It was only when he came to Lune one night, absolutely broken after an intense rut, pushing him into a cycle of yearning and self-loathing. He broke down to the hyung, but at some point, Lune was able to placate and soothe Junseo's alpha, something no one else had been able to do.
"I'm not a bad alpha," Junseo spoke, words muffled as he didn't pull away from the nook his head was slotted into. Lune smiled and started petting the younger's hair again. "Far from it." He felt Junseo's eyelashes against him again, this time fluttering shut.
It didn't take long before Lune was able to coax Junseo to separate from him a little, to feed the larger boy, and then pressing play on the show he had been watching after asking if Junseo wanted to watch it with him. The younger had nodded, but as soon as his food was eaten, he cuddled into Lune's neck again and soon after fell asleep there, the show softly playing in the background and hands softly luring him deeper into relaxation by gently stroking his back.
