Chapter 18: Trouble

Hyun stood in the park at the water fountain hosing his shoes down. Ha-joon stood a few feet away. He tagged along with Hyun because he felt bad.

He couldn't understand it though: Why he had gotten so sick all of a sudden.

His head pounded a bit as he watched Hyun shake-dry his shoes.

"So you were with that punk all afternoon?" Hyun broke the silence.

"Uh. yea" Ha-joon softly replied. It felt awkward talking to him after the two held a screaming match in the park a couple of days prior.

Hyun didn't respond to Ha-joon's answer.

"It was a date". Ha-joon added. He could have sworn he saw Hyun stop moving before continuing his attempt to dry the shoes.

"I can pay for-"

"Don't bother". Hyun snapped. He still hadn't looked at Ha-joon.

"Why did you come to my home?"

Hyun just shrugged.

Ha-joon sighed. The conversation was going nowhere and it was getting late. He turned his heels.

"I came because I heard you were with him". Hyun finally spoke more than three words.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything." He still hadn't turned around.

Ha-joon drummed up his own courage and walked right behind Hyun. The smell of alcohol and cigarettes came off him.

"You shouldn't smoke and drink like this, it's a heavy smell coming off of you. How much did you do?"

"Who are you? my mom? besides I should say the same about you."

Ha-joon was confused. He smelled his arm. Was it the barf? did he sweat?

"I Forgot, A broken Omega can't smell that bastards Pheromones."

Ha-joon frowned.

Hyun stood up and turned facing Ha-joon. He had a horrible glare on his face, his eyes had bags under them from lack of sleep.

"That bastard put his own message all over you, 'stay back he is mine'"

"Why should I believe you?" Ha-joon crossed his arms. The both of them could feel this was going nowhere.

"Look, I'm sorry about your shoes. I'll get you money for them as an apology."

Hyun didn't say anything. He continued to just stare at Ha-joon.

"I'm heading back now, I see there is nothing more to say between us". Ha-joon turned and walked away.

Hyun threw his shoes to the ground.

"Ha-joon you idiot..."

----

Sunday seemed like a blur and Monday came right around the corner. For the majority of the day on Sunday Ha-joon stayed in bed. Between him getting sick and Byun showing up on his doorstep: he was just exhausted.

Su-bin slid in the seat next to him.

"Morning Ha-joon!"

"Morning Sunbea". Ha-joon gave a weak smile.

"What's the matter? are you sick?"

"I don't know. But Sunbea how do YOU feel? You didn't get sick Saturday night did you?"

Su-bin thought for a moment.

"Not that I can recall. Why? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now. I think maybe it was the wine, I'm not much of a drinker anyways." Ha-joon laughed.

"Take care of yourself, I'm here too if you need me", Su-bin reassured him once again.

Ha-joon nodded.

"Also, if you're ever up to it, I'd like to take you on another date", Su-bin leaned over and whispered in his ear.

The butterflies came back in the pit of Ha-joon's stomach.

"O-okay", Ha-joon stuttered in response. He was completely flustered.

----

Classes had ended for the day. Ha-joon, instead of treading home like he usually did, instead went the opposite direction. He planned to take the rest of the day to do some shopping. He was running a bit low on some items and the area was well known for its shopping district.

Traveling by subway he made it to the shops. There was a lot to look Olathe. Ha-joon took his time wandering around and checking out what was for sale. He was in total bliss when he was pulled back to reality.

"Hey, you smell REALLY good", A strangers voice came right up beside him.

"Huh? do I?" Ha-joon took a quick whiff at his clothes: they didn't smell any differently than they normally did. Ha-joon awkwardly thanked him and briskly walked away.

"That was weird." He said to himself. He checked again and couldn't smell anything different.

Having been a bit creeped out Ha-joon decided to just head back home.

While sitting on the subway it happened again. A stranger sat next to him and started to hit on him.

Ha-joon stood up and walked to the other side of the car.

"What is going on?" He questioned. He stood still a moment. He didn't feel any different. His breathing was normal, he wasn't feeling feverish.

"I don't think it's my heat." He counted on his fingers how many days had occured in the month so far. Counting back from his first heat he figured he still had a couple days before he was supposed to have his routine one.

Another person bumped his shoulder: they gave him a smile.

"I gotta get off of this train", Ha-joon groaned as he moved again.

Exiting the train station he couldn't help but notice some people were looking at him. This made him even more self concious and made him walk faster.

Making his way to a public restroom he shut the door behind him and locked it.

"I've gotta call someone, somthings not right". He rummaged around his bag for his phone.

"Where is it?!" He gritted his teeth. A sudden thought occurred to him, He left it on the table at the school. His arms dropped to his sides.

"Crap. what do I do now?" He asked himself.

"It's gotta be my pheromones, there's no other explanation. But why?"

Ha-joon started to weigh his options.

Leaving now would risk more people smelling him since it was a packed area. Either that or wait a while for the area to clear before leaving: which left the dangers of whatever and whoever snuck around at night.

Laying the lid down he sat on the toilet seat.

"I should wait it out a little. Maybe if I practice my breathing I can control the output."

Ha-joon sat there using the same breathing techniques he was taught. He hoped it would be enough.

Enough time had passed that it was starting to get dark. Ha-joon slowly unlocked the door and peeked his head out. It was definitely quieter.

He went outside, the area was nearly empty.

"Perfect" He said as he jogged towards the direction of home.

Huffing and puffing he rounded another corner.

"just a few more blocks to go" He urged himself on.

He rounded another corner.

A hand shot out from one of the corner streets and yanked Ha-joon in the dark alleyway.

Falling to his bottom he massaged his bruised arm.

"What the h-" He looked up and he felt the blood drain from his body. His heart sunk as he looked into three pairs of eyes peering down at him.

"He there cutie" One of the people grinned maliciously.

Ha-joon scrambled to his feet and tried to make a run for it. He was met with the same strong force and pulled back into the group of people.

"Listen little Omega, we're just a group of nice guys trying to help you out" One of the men laughed seductively.

"We know how hard it is for you all so we can offer some relief". He Gripped his arm tighter.

He was in big trouble.