Chapter Text
Now : 11:56pm
In the back of his mind, he is still aware of himself. His name is Till, he likes rock music. He's got an art scholarship to a prestigious college. He's on a final year school trip with his classmates. He used to have a crush on his classmate and friend, Mizi. The last thing he ate was badly burnt s’mores. His cock, straining against his school trousers, his teeth aching, the excessive sweating, the scent burning in his lungs, it's all a biological reaction. He's not an animal.
___________
Till knew when he woke up that today would not be his day. There were signs. His ear pods stopped working on one side. He chipped his carefully painted nails on the bus seat’s metal. The mosquitoes were biting and he was sweating buckets in his stuffy uniform….
To make matters worse, some silly idiot on the bus over sprayed their perfume, and now the whole bus smells like it was doused in the sweet fragrance of anemones and tulips. It made Till's head hurt.
The only good thing that happened the whole day ? their only chaperone and teacher in charge of the field trip–Mr Urak tripping on a rock during climbing and breaking his leg. Till smiled his first smile of the day as he watched Mr Urak get carried off on a roll bed. Hope you can never use that leg to walk into a classroom ever again, bitch.
They were going to take Mr Urak back on the bus for emergency care, so the students were expected to behave themselves and wait for another chaperone to arrive.
The students, ofcourse, were excited and rambunctious, cheering as they watched the bus drive away. Till doesn't understand what's got everyone so excited, a group of over fifty hormonal teenagers left stranded alone in the middle of where of the woods– a fucking perfect recipe for disaster.
He almost considers faking sickness so he can leave too, but that means he has to share a ride with Mr Urak alone, so Till refrains. He doesn't trust himself to not take the opportunity to murder his incapacitated homeroom teacher.
Till just sighed and got to setting up his tent. He's got his phone on him, even though the signal here was terrible, so it might not be so bad if people leave him to his own devices so he can hole up in his tent until it's time to go. It's not like his classmates are raring to talk to him, anyway.
There was excited chatter all around him. The others were all sharing tents in twos and threes, just picking and choosing as they wanted since there's no teacher to force them to go by roll and seperate the troublemakers.
“ Hey, how long do you think It’d take for the new teach to arrive? “
“ I don't know man, the ride was so long ! I thought my knees would retire before I do”
“ Yeah, and not to mention some bitch stinking up the bus with her pheromones. Gosh, who comes to a field trip at the start of their heat without blockers! ”
“ Bro, is that what it was !? No wonder my dick was hard the entire ride–”
“ No way, there's an omega in heat on our field trip !? ”
“ Oh man, I wonder which of us will get some action tonight–”
Till tuned them out after that. He hooked up the tent fabric to the nails. It was hard, as the mud beneath them was slippery ... .So the perfume he was smelling in the bus was actually an omega in pre-heat. Till did think the scent was strong to the point of being dizzying, but they also smelled so good, like red poppies.
His feet slipped on the mud and Till stumbled, about to fall face first into the dirty ground, his tent coming undone and about fall to fall on him–great, this is all he needs to match series of unfortunate events that he calls life--
A strong, warm hand wraps around his waist, catching him. Dark hair and smooth skin entered the field of his vision. The hands steadies him, the other hand smoothly holding up the tent from falling.
“ Are you alright ? ” Ivan asked him. Till nodded mutely. The guy grinned at him, flashing his snaggletooth as he let him go. But instead of moving away to his group of friends, Ivan picked up the hammer to straighten Till's tent, hooking the nails.
“ I-I can do that by myself.” Till muttered.
“ Yes, but it's faster with two people doing it. Let me help, man. ” and he went about hammering the nails.
Ivan is the captain of their football team and the most popular guy on campus. With his tall alpha build, athleticism, good grades, good temperament and friendly behaviour, it isn't exactly surprising that everyone in school wants him one way or the other. The teachers praise him, the other Alphas and boys in class admire him, the girls crush on him–even now, Till's ears could pick up the girls giggling and whispering to each other about how strong his forearms looked, glinting in the sun as he worked.
He's what society expects from a dominant, elite Alpha. Till felt dizzy just being in his proximity, the sweet scent of red wildflowers filling his lungs…..
Wait. Wildflowers….? Till sniffed the air again, confused. Why was he smelling the same scent from the bus, near Ivan ? Was the omega in heat Ivan's partner….?
The other boy was talking to him. “ All done now ! Hey, don't hole up in your tent and come out to play with us, ‘kay ? This is a one time opportunity for all of us to hang out as a class, so I'll come looking for you in the evening s'mores. You gotta come! ”
Till grunted, not meeting Ivan's eyes. The scent was getting thicker, cloying and confusing him. He felt his mouth moisten instinctively. Can this guy go already!? Was he trying to show off that his omega is tempting as sin !?
When the other boy finally walks off to his group of friends, taking away the tantalizing scent with him, Till finally breathes. He climbs inside his tent, zipping up the flap so he's alone in the dark. He settles into the corner of the tent, leans against his bedroll and turns his music up.
_____________________
Hours later, Till woke to the sound of knocking against his tent.
He sat up groggily, and opened up the zip. It was Hyuna, their class rep. “Roll call.” She explained. “ The teachers have not yet arrived and it's almost time for dinner.”
Dinner already ? He's slept for so long. Till blinked again and took in the frazzled expression on Hyuna’s face. She looked extremely troubled, like she's on the verge of panic.
Till isn't close with all his classmates, but there's a few he cares for. Mizi and Hyuna among them. Hyuna never treats Till differently from her own little brother, Hyunwoo.
So he asks, a tinge of his worry showing in his tone. “ What's wrong ? Did something happen ? ”
Hyuna bit her lip, like she's debating whether she should tell him or not. Then, “....you should be warned anyway since this affects you as well. It's a classmate…….they are in heat. Like full blown. Tried giving them some of the other omega’s suppressants but they are too far gone.”
Till blinked. Oh. He was not surprised by it though, every Alpha on the trip could smell their pre-heat. Still, he understood how dangerous this situation was for them. Stranded in the woods in heat, surrounded by rutting teenagers at the peak of their hormones– it was unsafe in the least. Disastrous, probably. No one can escape the biological urge to breed and most Alphas are disgusting creatures.
“ Did you not call for help ? This does warrant an emergency, you know “
Hyuna glared at him. “ You think I'm stupid ? Check your phone, the signal went out for everyone ages ago. So all of us are stuck here cut off from the outside, and there's an omega in heat among us. I made Mizi and the other omegas take their tent far away from the others to isolate them, but even I can't hold off this many Alphas for long ! ”
Alphas can't be exposed to heat pheromones for long hours without going feral or into pheromone shock. One omega in heat and dozens of Alpha stranded in close quarters for longer than a few hours ? That'd be a sure way to recreate the hunger games.....
Hyuna sighed, placing his hand on her temples, as if they ached. “ To make matters even worse, this is their first heat.”
Till's eyes widened. First heat means…who has their first heat in their senior year of school !?
Hyuna curled her face into her hands and Till was finally catching her panic. “ Yeah. It means one of us have to fuck a knot into him, or we all die here.”
Till thought about something. “ Hey, wait. This actually works out, earlier, I smelt their scent on Ivan, I think he's their lover. Did you ask them or Ivan ? It's only natural that an omega would want their lover, who they can trust to keep them safe….”.
Hyuna looked at him strangely. “ Till….the omega in question is Ivan. It's Ivan who is in heat”
__________________
Outside, the atmosphere was more subdued than it was in the morning, with everyone huddled in groups around the campfire. The sky has gone a light purple, visible between the cracks of large trees creeping like whip cracks. The birds were flying overhead, returning to their abodes as the sun set. There were s’mores crackling over the fire and music playing from somebody's speakers, but it seemed halfhearted. Everyone was tense, like they were waiting for something inevitable to happen.
It was all Till could do to distract himself with these thoughts, since if he didn't, he'd have to focus on other sensations. He could see why some of the people in the crowd were shifting, twitching and scratching at their glands. The scent was at its thickest, infiltrating every nook and cranny for miles. His instincts railed against him, demanding he bite, claw and claim.
Till didn't need his pants tightening to know what was that. This was one intense heat, even if Hyuna hadn't woken him up, Till’s Alpha would have responded to the scent calling out to him, begging for somebody, anybody to relieve the heat.
Mizi came up to him, a S’more held her in her hands. Sua, Mizi’s Alpha and ever present shadow followed behind, looking unaffected unlike Till and the other bachelors.
Mizi held up the marshmallow to his face, demanding he open his mouth. Till obeyed, like he always does with Mizi. He could see that the situation was bothering her deeply. There were dried up tear tracks under her eyes, her lips wobbling. She and Ivan were close friends, after all.
“ I hate this,” Mizi told him, “ I don't like the way they talk about Ivan, Till ! I wish I can just take him far away from here, this–it's so horrible! ” The pink haired girl buried her face into her hands, sobbing again. Sua curled her hands over her shoulder protectively, but even she seemed to be at a loss for words.
Till leaned down to place a comforting kiss on Mizi’s forehead. “It will be okay” he muttered to her, then he turned to Sua. “ hey. Ivan took his secondary gender test way back in 9th grade, how could this happen now ? You don’t….know anything ? ”
Sua and Ivan were cousins and Sua’s sister raised them both together after Ivan’s parents died early, so they grew up as siblings.
The dark haired girl shrugged, but there was a worried glint in her eyes for people who knew where to look. That much emotion coming from Sua for someone who isn't Mizi means volumes. “ He was an Alpha until like 5 hours ago. Though, I think he has been feeling sick since last week, since he told unnie that he's been taking fever meds. But there was no indication of……this being the reason.”
It's not like secondary gender conversions are completely unheard of. But it was mostly betas who present as Omegas. A male Alpha, a dominant one at that, suddenly presenting as an omega is just absurd and not within the realm of possibility.
The people around them were still talking in huddling whispers, but Till could ignore them. It was a bad situation and it is scary to be stuck here in the forest, with no way out until help comes.
Suddenly, one of the boys in the back stood up abruptly. “ Fuck it.” He was big and burly, one of Ivan’s team mates from the soccer team. Alpha. “ I can't stand this anymore, no Alpha worth his salt can, I'll be the one to knot him up.” He announced to the class, spreading his Alpha pheromones, clearly asserting his ‘claim’.
Another one stood up. “ Yeah. If he's an omega, why did he lie to us all this while and pretend to be all macho ? ”
“ What kind of Omega would come to a school field trip in the peak of his season? That's just asking for it…” an omega classmate loudly whispered to his friend.
Mizi glared at the people speaking, “ be quiet, why are all of you acting like hypocrites !? Ivan is our classmate and friend, why are you talking about him like this ! “ She spoke heatedly, bless her soft heart for being unable to accept a friend being unjustly slandered. The class quieted immediately as their star cheerleader and the princess of their grade chastised them.
“...Mizi, we agree that Ivan might be a victim, but so are we ! Look at this dangerous situation this has put us in, what if he makes the Alphas go feral and attack everyone! ”
“ Besides, we can argue as much as we want, but he won't survive unless he gets knotted and bred now–”
Till sighed. He brushed off the marshmallow crumbs and signaled Sua to move Mizi away safely. Once he's certained that Sua had pulled away her omega by her side, he scans the crowd.
He locked eyes with the burly Alpha that made the claim. Six feet, wide as a truck and twice as loud. A meathead, basically. Till walks up to him quietly.
The meathead sneers at him, “ waddya lookin’ at, punk ? ”
Till throws his punch, hitting him square in the face. The whole class goes quiet in shock. They can hear several people gasping.
The meathead stumbles, before snarling. There was blood dripping from his nose, “ You fucking bastard, I'll break you like a twig !” He screamed. Then he smirks, “ oh, i forgot your runty ass is an Alpha. HAHA. is that what this is ? You want to challenge my claim ? Want to fuck an ‘mega’s juicy ass all for yourself? I guess even pretty twinks like you want to use your dicks after all–”
Till punches him in the mouth next. More blood splutters. He can hear the girls scream. Some of the other guys seemed to want to rush forward, maybe to help their buddy getting beat up but Hyuna snapped, “ no. This is a claim fight. You can't interrupt.” And she might be a beta ordering around Alphas, but it was clear no one will cross her word. Hyuna was their leader.
The Alpha charges at him, swinging his fists, which hits like a meat cleaver to his chest but Till takes it. He might be small for an Alpha, fragile looking enough that he gets mistaken for an omega more often than not, but he was very good at enduring, good at taking hits.
They exchanged blows like that for a while, before Till stepped in and dislodged the other Alpha’s footing, before gutting him in the stomach. The brute falls and Till climbs over him, placing punches methodically into the flesh, feeling the skin break under the force of his bare fists. Blood splatters round him and Till wants to grin, his mouth bloody. His. The omega will be his to claim.
“ Till.” Hyuna’s voice snaps him out of it. He looks up, looks at the others gathered in a circle around them. Fear, anger, envy at what Till just won for himself, he can see it all reflected in their eyes. But none of it matters. Nothing else does.
He locks eyes with Hyuna. There was a question in hers, which was absurd, but Till doesn't blame her for not knowing. Till has never been more sure of anything in his life.
“ Ivan…and I are childhood friends.” He told his classmates quietly, as he got up, brushing the mud from his clothes but ignoring the blood smeared all over him. “ I believe I'm the closest to him out of all of us. I will take care of him and help him out, so none of you need to worry. I apologise for scaring anyone.”
There were murmurs of ascent around him, nobody daring to ask the obvious question–since when was the school’s star soccer team captain and Till, a nobody, the token loser classmate in his ‘emo phase’– close childhood friends? They've never talked a word to each other in five years of highschool.
Till didn't bother to stay and listen to the queries. He walks away, his instincts leading him. The scent was so thick now, it was choking him, his lungs felt heavy with the weight of red poppies, tulips, crimson anemones–
He made sure to scent the area around him thoroughly for miles. Nothing, nobody can come near. The Alpha will kill anything that comes close.
Till slipped in the tent, after opening the flap. He zips it thoroughly behind him. There was a lump, wrapped in many layers of blankets and scented clothes, on the floor. Till recognised Mizi's sweet scent and Sua’s cool tones. It helps to calm the heat when surrounded by the scent of pack and close friends, after all.
He carefully pulls down the blanket to reveal Ivan’s sleeping face. Till touched his forehead gently, but Ivan didn't seem bothered by his scent and presence. Rather, the sleeping boy nuzzles his hot forehead into his palm.
He was burning up. Even in sleep, Ivan's face was angelic and handsome. Till shucks off his jacket and wraps it around Ivan, before positioning himself to cuddle up next to Ivan, scenting him in his pheromones.
This was the most Till could do. Him and Ivan were strangers at best now, no matter what they were to each other in the past. He fought for him because he didn't want Ivan to get raped and taken against his will, just because his biology dictates so but….Till has no desire to go further.
The tightening in his pants, the excessive sweating, his mouth salivating– it's all a biological reaction. Till is neither an animal nor does he want sex with Ivan.
He cuddles closer to the tempting warmth, their skin touching as they breathe in each other.