"i'm back." the japanese male announced not particularly loudly as he carefully closed the front door of the place he lived in.

"shotaro?" a female voice rang across the small house. "are you here?"

the young boy hummed, heading towards the living room where the voice had come from and standing in the doorway.

"yes, i'm here." he declared, lifting his hand in the air and waving it, his sweater paw flying in every direction.

"wow, how you still don't have a boyfriend with that cuteness of yours is even more a mystery than the city of atlantis."

"hawoon! stop hitting on my brother, will you?" the girl going by the name of hikari tsked, slapping her boyfriend on the arm as shotaro's cheeks became crimson.

"come on, babe... i'm not hitting on him, just stating that he's cute. and that's just observation."

hikari focused on her little brother as well, staring at each detail of his being from head to toe before facing her boyfriend again. "yeah, you're right, he's the cutest."

shotaro was indeed the cutest being to exist on this earth.

the 20-year-old japanese boy was a literal ball of fluff and adorableness, looking like the tiniest puppy because of his oversize fits despite his height of 178cm. he had been in love with pastel colours since the beginning of his life, with a slight preference for pastel purple, a colour that he wore almost every day.

visual-wise, shotaro defied the cutest otters with his light brown hair, his squishy cheeks and his killer-smile that made his eyes turn into two little crescents and never failed to make the people around him coo.

and if the way he dressed and the way he looked wasn't sufficient to make him the cutest boy on the planet, his personality sure did. the boy had such a light and melodious voice that he never rose to shout at anyone. his good manners had him being very polite and open-minded, always willing to help people in difficulty or making sure everyone was feeling fine.

all in all, more than being a cute little puppy that you would want to take in your arms and pet forever, shotaro was the embodiment of innocence and purity.

"stop looking at me like that!" the cute boy whined, hiding his face behind his pastel purple sweater paws as his cheeks reddened.

"stop being so cute, then!" hawoon replied.

"hikari!" shotaro pouted. "tame your boyfriend!"

"i'm sorry, sho, but i have to agree with him on that one. how the hell have you not found yourself a boyfriend yet?" the 23-year-old girl declared. "there has to be dozens of men waiting in line for you to spare them a glance."

"hika, you know very well that i'm not looking for a boyfriend..." shotaro sighed, his shoulders slumping. "i'm looking for a mate."

"oh, yeah... i keep forgetting about that..."

of course, a boy as cute and perfect as shotaro couldn't be just a mere human.

he was an omega. a male omega who had presented a bit more than two years ago and who still hadn't found his mate.

"anyway, what were you guys watching?" shotaro asked, changing the subject as he took tiny steps towards the couch where his sister and her boyfriend were seated.

"oh, just nct's concert in thailand from yesterday night." hikari replied. "you want to watch it with us?"

"oh, huh... i don't want to disturb your... h-huh... couple time..." the paste boy stuttered, fidgeting with his sweater paws.

the two older people raised a brow before looking into each other's eyes and then back at shotaro.

"nonsense, come right here." hikari huffed, patting the space between her boyfriend and her.

"b-but..."

"cuddle time!" hawoon exclaimed, opening his arms wide and making shotaro give in.

the omega didn't waste a second more to walk to the couch and sit down between his sister and her boyfriend, his insides melting instantly as the couple wrapped their arms around his body, making him release pheromones unconsciously.

"aren't we super comfortable like this?" hikari asked as her hand intertwined with her boyfriend's behind shotaro's back.

"yes... it's the best position..." shotaro hummed, his eyes closed and his body fully relaxed.

one of the reasons explaining shotaro's child-like attitude and innocence had to be the trauma he had lived when he was still a young boy.

at the age of 13, shotaro had had to get used to working six days a week to earn money and help his sister to pay rent after their parents' death, and this unfortunate event had pushed the younger male to cage himself in a mental bubble of childishness and innocence.

hikari had alwas been very protective of him and she had slowly started to replace the mother shotaro had lost so young. she had become hawoon's girlfriend when shotaro was 15, and the boy had been living with them since shotaro was 17. inevitably, he had become the equivalent to his father figure, the couple giving shotaro the parental loved he lacked.

"nct are so damn cool..." hikari breathed out after she had pressed the play button of the remote again, making the tv screen light up and display a group of 22 males singing and dancing together in harmony on stage.

"i can't deny that." hawoon confirmed.

"they're so powerful..." shotaro hummed, his eyes mesmerised by the boys on the screen that he wasn't used to seeing. he had never been particularly obsessed with music groups compared to his sister and her boyfriend.

hikari and hawoon couldn't spend a week without watching some kpop content and it had always been their main discussion topic. they appreciated any group, but they had both discovered nct around a year ago, and this had been a revelation. they had something different from other groups, they were more powerful and more violent with their moves or in their actions. they truly dominated the kpop industry in their mind, and this was what had brought them on the top position in hikari and hawoon's ranking.

"of course, they're powerful." hawoon rolled his eyes.

"why, though?" the younger japanese male questioned, turning his head towards his sister's boyfriend.

hawoon chuckled before ruffling shotaro's hair lovingly.

"because nct is a group made of 22 alphas."