After Wooyoung left the room Seonghwa fell into a silent state. The result he got back from Wooyoung's blood tests were nothing less than worrisome. The drug they found in his blood was something new, something worrying. During none of the tests he ran was he able to identify the substance, so it was possible that it was brand new, one that hit the market recently.

For it's properties he deducted it was an omega heat inducer, but seeing how Wooyoung was still releasing pheromones weeks having taken it raised to drug to a height of unexpected hazard. He had no idea how the drug altered his body, and he wasn't even sure Wooyoung didn't become an omega because of it. Sending the results to higher ups was too risking in this case. The only people he could rely on were those of Jung Group.

A synthetic omega heat inducer. 

The case felt bigger than he thought. 

---

"What did you say?" Wooyoung asked with disbelief. 

"I meant it." San replied.

"I- do you really think that was the right thing to say at a place and time like this?"

San hesitated and bit his lower lip.

"I was afraid you might slip away."

Wooyoung thought his ears were playing a prank on him. Just what was this conversation? He was disappointed in everything - himself included. Minutes ago he wanted to kill this person with his own two hands and now he was contemplating on forgiving him? It was just miserable.

As he watched the taller one the realization hit Wooyoung in the face that in the past weeks he was constantly thinking about San, in the most shameful ways possible. He was used to having awkward conversations with his one night stands but this felt so different compared to those.

Embracing a change was difficult.

San couldn't make eye contact with him. He kept eyeing the ground, his shoes, his hands,  the walls, the tiles down the corridor, but not Wooyoung. Cheeks dusted pink, biting his lips he was totally out of it.

"Could you stop?" Wooyoung asked then, in a low tone. 

He started walking down the corridor and evidently San had to follow.

"What do you mean?"

"Biting your lip."

San raised a brow.

"It's annoying" Wooyoung added. "It remind me just how big of a player you are."

San stopped and grabbed Wooyoung's arm, pulling him back as well.

"What are you talking about?"

"I saw the teeth marks on your lip, it's obvious the girls you sleep with left them there."

San was flabbergasted. Girls he sleeps with? Girls? He sleeps with? Girls??? He couldn't escape the laugh that bubbled up from his chest as he looked at Wooyoung's grumpy face. He was just too cute. 

"Why are you laughing? You should be crying. I should be crying, oh wait, I already did that" he added in a sassy tone.

San raised his left hand and placed it on Wooyoung's cheek.

"You got it totally wrong. I'm biting my lips because of you."

Wooyoung's lips parted but at the same time he rolled his eyes.

"How cheesy..."

"Not like that. It's because of your pheromones. They keep on lingering around you, and just one whiff of them makes me go totally crazy. I bite my lips so that I manage to keep my sanity."

Wooyoung's eyes went as wide as two plates. Just how shameless was this person? Admitting to getting horny by another man's smell in broad daylight? In a public facility too? He couldn't believe he got himself into this mess. 

"Oh come on. We're both men."

"You clearly didn't mind it when I was holding you."

His lips fell agape from the shock, face as red as a tomato.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm just stating a fact. I'm surprised at this day and age there are still people like you."

"Like me? What does that mean?" Wooyoung asked but regretted it as San stepped closer as well, their faces now inches apart. He averted his gaze for a second.

"It means people who can't accept the existence of secondary genders, and how they shape our lives."

"Oh yeah? And how does it shape your life? You're just an other one of those high and mighty perfect alphas who can go around and fuck everyone without consequences because you're on the top of the food chain, while I would get slut shamed on the streets if anyone knew I became an omega? My friends, my previous partners would all be ashamed of me prejudicially."

"You wanna know how it shaped me?"

"Yeah."

San leaned in. Their lips were only a breath away.

"It shaped me in a way that I want to rip your clothes to shreds every single time I lay eyes on you. It shaped me in a way that your mere thought sends shivers down my spine and makes my blood go south and my brain go foggy. That a mere whiff of your scent makes me want to bite your nape. That I want to hold you for so long we'd become one entirely." 

Wooyoung couldn't help but gulp. He felt a strange sense of familiarity at San's closeness, and involuntarily wanted to lean in and taste his lips. He pulled his ears back lack a scared cat, and tried to step back to get away but his legs got tied together in his clumsiness, and he would have fell back if it wasn't for San holding his waist. The touch sent shivers down his whole body and he was sure San could feel it too. His face was so flushed from being fluster a tear threatened to escape from his right eye.

"Pervert."

San laughed and let him go.

"I'm only saying the truth."

"Yeah... I guess. But must you have said it in such a... vulgar way?"

"I'm sure many even more vulgar things have left those pretty lips of yours before."

"Do not flirt with me. We are not a thing."

"Why aren't we?"

"Are you seriously asking that?"

"Yes, and don't say because we are two men because I know. I can vividly remember your naked body and how you moan my na--"

"Okay fucking stop. Are you crazy?" Wooyoung clasped a hand over San's mouth. He nodded slightly as an answer, signaling that he in fact, considered himself a little crazy. "You can't be serious. I'm a man!"

"And you think I care? I go fucking insane if I just think about you."

"You... are you confessing?"

"What if I am?"

Wooyoung didn't know how to act. Yes, he received many confessions before but all of them were from girls who liked him or girls who he slept with and started liking him. They were all the same. They caught feelings because of how handsome he was, or how good he was in bed but their feelings were always very shallow and not enough for Wooyoung. And now there he was, a head taller than him, nothing cute about his build or his features, he was masculine and hot, raw and passionate - basically the polar opposite of what Wooyoung considered to be his time. And even then, he didn't feel the need to push him away. He even felt like he should consider San's confession. The energy San emitted, it was so different than everything Wooyoung ever knew, he felt like the pray of a carnivore and he enjoyed it.

"San I– this is really new for me, you, my whole secondary gender, dating... I'm not sure if I'd be able to date a man." He said, and for the first time ever since he started refusing confessions, he felt genuinely sorry.

"I'm not asking you to date me."

"Then what....?"

"If you want to date me or not, that's entirely up to you. I just had to let you know my feelings. Your friend surely educated me on the topic while you were inside." San replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Wait what? The two of you know each other?"

"I mean yeah? He was the one who called when I was holding you, and I told him where to come and how to get you, because I knew I had to leave or else I'd do things we'd both regret, but I felt bad for it so I asked Yeosang to come."

Wooyoung facepalmed so hard it would definitely leave a mark.

"My god."

"What?"

"I had no idea about that and was rude to him for like no reason other than that he has been ghosting me ever since."

"He hasn't been replying to your texts since he found you in the classroom?" San asked, surprise seeping from his voice.

"Yes. And not only to my texts, to my calls either. After he took me home we talked then he suddenly left and ever since then there was no word about him, and now he just shows up here..." Wooyoung wanted to put two and two together but something was missing. "I need to go to his house right now." He blurted out and stormed out the door.

Getting a cab was one of his many talents, with just a wave of his hand one already pulled over. He was half inside when San grabbed his wrist.

"Will I see you again Jung Wooyoung?"

Wooyoung's heart skipped a beat and he smirked.

"If we need to meet again, we will" he said coyly and closed the door of the car.

San watched as the vehicle slowly disappeared from his sight and let out a frustrated sigh.

---

Wooyoung knew the way to his best friend's house like the back of his hand. He's been there many times before, so it was only natural for him to be so sure. However, when he stood outside the white fence, his nerves got the best of him. If it wasn't for Yeosang's mother to open the front door while he was standing outside he'd have already left.

"Wooyoung? Is that you? What are you doing standing there, come in!" She chirped in a lovely way that made his heart ache for his own mother.

"Hello Mrs. Kang. It's been a while" Wooyoung said shyly, kicking off his shoes.

"It sure has. Yeosang is in his room, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

Yeah, sure.

Wooyoung nodded and went upstairs. He could hear faint music seeping out from his friend's room as he stood there, biting the tip of his thumb. What was he even going to say? He came here on an impulse.

Knock knock knock.

No answer. He picked up the pace of the knocking, and put a little more force in it.

Knock knock.

"Mom I told you I wasn't hungry!"  Yeosang's voice was frustrated on the other end of the door.

Wooyoung felt a rush of fear wash over his body but he shrugged it off.

"It's me Sangie, Wooyoung."

The music stopped. Rattle of a chair disrupted the quiet, and the rushed noises of throwing things from one place to the other. Then footsteps got closer to the door. When it opened, it revealed an awkwardly smiling Yeosang.

"What are you doing here? I had no idea you'd drop by" he pretended everything was okay between them, but his eyes radiated sadness.

"I felt bad for acting that way towards you." Wooyoung said, and stepped into the room. It seemed neat and tidy but he was sure Yeosang just shoved some stuff into his closet a few seconds ago in a try to clean up before the guest enters.

"You did?"

Yeosang's voice was surprised, and it made Wooyoung's skin itch. He said those words with a tone indicating the fact that he didn't even consider Wooyoung would feel bad for acting like a little shit.

"Of course. You're my best friend." Wooyoung said and turned back towards him. 

Yeosang eyed the floor. He closed the door and now was lying against it. His face was slightly flushed - it seemed to be a new habit of people who surround Wooyoung. He fidgeted with his legs uncomfortably.

"Ok stop it right fucking now." Wooyoung blurted out. His brows were furrowed from frustration and that broke Yeosang's heart.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? I mean you ignored my texts and calls for days and then you randomly showed up made a scene and left when I told you to! Just what is going on?"

"What the fuck did you want me to do then hm?" Yeosang replied and made Wooyoung's eyes widen. 

Wooyoung was shocked. His friend never cursed. He never said anything bad to anyone, he was always just so good and so pure and now he stood there, muscles flexing, jaw clenching, eyes holding so many emotions in them Wooyoung would need several lives to fully decipher them. 

"Just what is going on with you Yeosang?"

"What going on with me? What going on with you?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

Yeosang slowly walked up to him.

"All my life, you've been a playboy, a womanizer, you got anyone you wanted you've been on top all the time, you've been the epitome of perfection, a dream a vision - and you think I wouldn't act differently after finding you passed out covered in pheromones and cum, drooling over the dick of some random dude who fucked you into oblivion instead of--" he stopped, sucking back what he was about to say.

Oh this was not happening.

"Instead of fucking who?" Wooyoung asked clenching his fists.

"Instead of the person who always had eyes for you even before you became an omega. The person who held you as you slept, the person who always stood in your shadow but never had a problem with it because at least he could be with you, even if he had to watch from the side as you had your fun. But I guess the bubble just popped."

"You... you're joking." Wooyoung's voice faltered. 

They stood face to face and he kept searching Yeosang's eyes to find the point where he was just fucking with him but he couldn't find it. He was sincere. He had feelings for Wooyoung. 

"Do I look like I'm joking to you?" He asked, cornering Wooyoung between himself and the desk. "You have no idea how much the mere thought of never being able to have you made me suffer, and have no idea how much more I will suffer just because I told you my feelings and now you're going to get scared and leave and we'll slowly become strangers."

"We will never be strangers 'Sangie."

"Don't give me hope" he said, and leaned closer, putting their foreheads together.

"You're just confused Yeosang because I'm  changing but it's okay we'll get trough this together I--"

"You think I'm confused?"

"Yes." Wooyoung breathed, voice getting so low even he couldn't hear it well. But Yeosang did.

"I'll show you just how much I mean what I said" he whispered on his lips.

Yeosang kissed him.

---

Seonghwa closed down the clinic after his last patient left. He was reducing the amount of clients he accepted because of his new contract with Jung Group. Although it wasn't Wooyoung's father who contacted him, but a man named Yunho, but he made it clear for Seonghwa just how important of a client Wooyoung was. 

The building was already quiet when he left the office, but he still ended up bumping into someone on the corridor.

"My apologies" Seonghwa bent down to pick up the papers the person dropped.

He couldn't help but ran his eyes over them. They were construction plans and sketches, sealed business documents about payments and ownership of a new shop located right opposite of Seonghwa's clinic. 

The other person stayed silent. Seonghwa wondered why he didn't bend down to pick up his own stuff, but he too froze when he heard the eerily familiar voice of who he bumped into. 

"Park Seonghwa is that you?" Said the man, and Seonghwa raised his head to look at him. But he was careless to do that. 

All of his blood froze into his veins in the blink of an eye. He felt lightheaded and almost fell on the ground but was pulled up by the other. He couldn't form words even tough he wanted to, and much less was he able to run away, even tough he desired to. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked curtly, earning a laugh from the other. 

"I came to check up on my new shop. We'll hold a grand opening ceremony by the weekend and I just wanted to make sure everything was going well with the construction, but I had no idea I'd bump into an old friend. What are you doing here? How long has it been? 10 years at least."

Seonghwa had to keep all his resolve to not hit him. Business smile plastered on his face, he stepped back a few and handed to papers to him.

"It has been 11 years and 7 months since you sexually assaulted me. In light of your actions I became a doctor specializing in rare second gender conditions to help other's overcome difficulties and not end up in my situation. Just a week ago, I secured a prominent client."

The other's face became somber.

"Sexually assaulted you? Are you crazy?"

"What would you count our history as then?"

"We were in love Seonghwa! Or at least I was in love with you! We dated and slept together."

"You bit my neck! Without consent!" The man went dead silent. Seonghwa continued. "The following day I went rushing to the doctor because I found out I couldn't smell any pheromones anymore, only to find out I was marked? I didn't even have any idea what it meant to be marked until he explained to me I will never be able to have sexual relationships with anyone other than the person who marked me, that I will never be able to smell the pheromones of anyone other than the one who marked me, that I will never be able to live a normal life because you ruined it selfishly!"

Seonghwa latched out completely. He was furious. He kept all of this in his chest ever since than, as he and his family had moved away from their old neighborhood not long after the incident occurred. 

"Seonghwa..."

"And you know what the worst part is? That I also was in love with you. Yes, we were 16, yes we were young and stupid, but if you had asked me for consent before biting me, I would have said yes, that I wanted to be with you for the rest of our lives even if I had no idea how it worked back then but I'd have agreed because that's just how much I loved you Kim Hongjoong."