Reality Check 2

"Hey Joseph!" Sangcheol waves at the omega waiting at the park for him. The man waves back, giving him a sweet smile, and the alpha looks around the table for the other omega - it is already four o'clock, Haneul should be done with his last class as well. Though, it shouldn't matter since he will be joining them soon anyway, Sangcheol cannot help but feel a little awkward with just him and Joseph there. Because, he never spent time alone with Joseph. 

Even after their night of drinking, he still doesn't know how or what to talk to the other about. Because truth be told, if not for Haneul, he will never even think about being friends with someone like Joseph – soft-spoken, book-smart guy whose sense of humour is hard to understand. Not to mention, he is a foreigner and Sangcheol always try to avoid them because, well, his English sucks.

"So… you guys decided where to go yet?" Sangcheol finally tries to start the conversation, not wanting to sit in silence and show his slight discomfort. Opening the notes he wrote on his phone on the omegas' 'Korean stuff bucket list' which Haneul forced him to join, the alpha looks over to Joseph's print-outs to cross-check. It seems, the two have decided on their next adventure - the hot spring; which honestly, Sangcheol does not recommend considering the hot weather. 

"We're not going here." Sangcheol comments as he flips through some of the long list of hot springs Joseph compiled. Which, is actually rather amusing because, the hot springs in the list are all over Korea, and there is no way he is going out of Seoul just for a bath. Also, Joseph got the natural hot springs and mere bathhouses mixed up.

Well, to be fair, the man probably does not know the difference just yet. 

"But this is one of the best ones." The gentle guy replies, showing him another list he printed of the top hot springs to visit in Seoul, which, again, are incorrect. Confirming their actual intention, and explaining the difference to the confused guy, Sangcheol then proceeds to tell him why he won't recommend the ones in his list – one, they are the more luxurious ones, not the kinds students like them will be able to afford just to take a bath and two, they won't be able to really experience what 'Korean commoners' would at such facilities as they will probably be filled with foreigners and rich aristocrats. 

"We'll just go to the one nearby. There's actually-"

"I don't wanna get naked with people from our college. No way. Urgh." Both the males turn their heads at Haneul's voice, caught off-guard by the sudden appearance. Sangcheol feels his heart skips a bit, grinning at the omega as Haneul takes his seat beside the other male.

Wait, something is off. He can smell an alpha nearby. Sudden wariness takes over and the oldest of the three scans their surrounding briefly, just to make sure where the stranger is. There are a few alphas, but none of them are close enough to give such vivid scent… which means…

…Haneul. 

The scent is on Haneul. 

Haneul slept with someone. Last night. He thou-

"Yah, we're from the same college." The soft voice followed by Haneul's familiar laughter interrupts the alpha's thought. Realizing how unreasonably hurt he is at the mere thought of Haneul and another considering they are nothing but mere friends, Sangcheol forces himself to do the same and laughs along with them. 

Well, he tried to. 

No matter how he tries to not care, the lingering smell of this unfamiliar alpha makes him feel uncomfortable being here. He cannot focus on anything the other two is talking at all. He cannot hear anything. 

Haneul was with him yesterday. They were messaging each other last night. Did Haneul sleep with the alpha this morning?

Who the hell is this alpha??

"Why?" Haneul suddenly asks, surprising Sangcheol. The latter looks back at the omegas, noting their expressions. The two are expecting him to answer something, he is not sure of the question. Maybe they were talking about why he is not paying attention? 

"Why not here?" Haneul points at the piece of paper a few times, laying his head down on the table trying to peek at Sangcheol's face. The alpha shakes his head a few times, trying to get himself to snap out of the distraction. He takes the paper and holds it in front of him, covering the omega's face. 

"It's uh, not cheap and uh, I don't think normal folks go there." He puts the document back down and stares at both the omegas, "You won't be able to eat your eggs and stuff."

Fuck. There are some marks on Haneul which are visible momentarily as his shirt moves around while he shifts his position. Sangcheol turns his head away, trying not to make it obvious that he noticed it. He can guess the other is conscious about it as well because Haneul fixes it once in a while to make sure his shirt stays put. 

Feeling himself getting enraged, Sangcheol takes a deep breath, trying to distract himself from what is happening. He can hear the two talking, but chooses to look somewhere else. 

His mind is in a mess. And the reason confuses him. 

Because Sangcheol is sure he is hurt right now. He feels betrayed. He cannot even look at Haneul in the eyes right now let alone laugh with him. 

He feels like throwing punches right now.

He thought Haneul is not seeing anyone. No, he is sure the guy isn't because just a few weeks prior, Haneul clearly told them he was single. Did he find someone from then? Haneul would have told him, right? Okay, maybe not, but he would at least told Joseph, right? 

Yeah. Seeing that the other omega is not saying anything about the scent and the obvious love marks means that Joseph knows about it. Which means he was the only one kept in the dark. 

Sangcheol let out a soft scoff, realizing how stupid he is. He is just included in their little pack to help them with their little project, the two never thought about sharing every bit of themselves with him in the first place. Why the fuck did he think Haneul was showing interest in him in the first place? So pathet-

  "-right? Hey," again, the other two are demanding his attention. Sangcheol closes his eyes a few times, hoping he can pretend to be sleepy, just so he can find an excuse if they are to ask what is wrong with him. "You can drive right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, so we're gonn-"

He should ask. Just to clarify things. Because he would hate to be the only one not knowing what is happening. Since they will still be spending a lot of time together until the list is all done, he deserves to know some things about the two. Haneul did the same thing the night they went drinking and just went for it. And since the two omegas practically do anything they want with him without even the slightest bit of humility, he is allowed to do the same right? 

Yes, he should definitely ask about the alpha. 

"So you're… you found someone?"