"tell me this isn't what i think it is." taeyong growled as he pulled onto jaemin and jeno's collars to have a clearer view of the marks on their necks.

the leader inspected every centimetre of the reddish marks, furrowing his brows as he counted the number of teeth that had torn the flesh open.

"it depends on what you think it is..." jaemin stated, immediately receiving a slap on the back of his head.

"what the hell have you two been doing to get marked by shotaro?!" taeyong asked.

"nothing, really. he asked us a few questions, and said that he thought the 22 of us were mates, but we explained how we couldn't mark each other." jeno said calmly. "and then he asked us to show him, and right after he said he wanted to try something and he bit us both."

"so, he knows that he's your mate?" taeyong asked.

"no." jaemin shook his head. "the mark disappeared like an alpha mark right after the bite. but then, a few minutes later, the spot started to burn a lot, and when we looked at each other, we realised that the marks had appeared. so, no, he doesn't know."

nct's leader heaved out a sigh, rubbing his forehead with his palm.

"this is unbelievable..." he stated. "do you really think he's your mate?"

"well... i can tell you for sure that his bite was nothing like an alpha bite." jaemin informed.

"yeah. you can't imagine how amazing it felt..." jeno nodded in approval.

"spit it." the leader growled, slightly jealous that jaemin and jeno could get a mark from the omega that the 22 alphas had had their eye on for the past week.

"it was... magical..." jaemin smiled, thinking about the sensation again. "the second his teeth sank into my flesh, my heartbeat became mad, and i could feel all the flow of blood accelerating in my vessels. damn, i could have died because of how powerful his bite was..."

"jaemin's right." jeno approved. "his bite made me feel so weak and yet so powerful at the same time... it was so pleasing but truly overwhelming. i don't think i have something i can compare it to... it was better than anything that could ever happen to us... and-"

"okay, stop." taeyong shut the two younger alphas up. "i am already envious enough, don't make me do something stupid."

jaemin and jeno immediately shut up, nodding at their leader obediently as the alpha heaved out a nth sigh.

"what do we do, then?" jeno asked, breaking the silence.

"there's nothing to do." taeyong replied.

"but, taeyong, he's our mate. and he could be the others' too!" jaemin explained. "shotaro said that he though we were mates, and we all agree on the fact that something unites us, whether  it is a mate bond or not."

"maybe shotaro is the missing puzzle piece." jeno gasped. "maybe he's what unites us. he's our mate. the 22 of us. this would explain why both jaemin and i were able to be marked by him when usually omegas have 1 alpha mate."

taeyong rubbed his temples. "this could be a reason... and actually, this could explain a lot of things..."

"so, what do you think we should do?" jaemin repeated jeno's previous question.

"you guys do as if nothing had never happened. you keep it a secret from shotaro AND from the others. i will talk with namkyu about it, but in the meantime, i want no one else to know about this, understood?"

jaemin and jeno nodded in sync, both readjusting their turtlenecks to hide the bite marks that were causing so much problems.

"don't worry, boys, everything will work out."

α

"nooooo... already?"

"can't he stay a bit longer?"

"namkyu, please..."

"we want him to say longer..."

"one week was too short..."

"namkyu..."

"i'm sorry boys, but that's the way things were supposed to be. shotaro has to leave today, and i promised his sister he would be back before 5pm and it's already 4:30pm, so we'll definitely be late."the manager informed parting shotaro's shoulder as the omega stood in front of the 22 alphas who all looked like they had been de bribed of their will to live at the thought of the omega not living with them anymore.

it had only been 7 days since shotaro had started to live with them, but nct had gotten so attached to the omega, as if his presence was meant to be among them. they all had enjoyed this week very much, and the sole thought of their happiness leaving them was enough to make them depressed.

"you guys have 5 minutes to say goodbye to shotaro, and then we're leaving." namkyu informed. "and don't look like abandoned puppies, shotaro won't die tomorrow, so you'll still be able to see him, he simply won't live with you anymore."

shotaro took a few steps towards the members, immediately being embraced in a tight hug by the 22 alphas.

"we had so much fun living with you for a week." one of them spoke.

"yeah, we're definitely going to miss you."

"a whole lot."

"you brought us so much joy and happiness."

"thank you for everything."

the omega smiled shyly, nuzzling deeper in the hug, and unconsciously releasing comforting pheromones that slowly started overpowering the heavy smell of sadness and grief that was floating in the air because of the alphas. in a matter of seconds, shotaro's pheromones had reached the boys' noses, penetrating their systems and making them feel better instantly, as if they were slowly realising that this wouldn't be a final goodbye, but simply a 'see you later'.

"thank you for taking care of me. this week with you was amazing in every way, and i am so sad myself that i have to leave. thank you for everything you did to me, you guys really are perfect."

and if it was possible, the boys' embrace around shotaro tightened, and left lingering in the air a mix of happy and sad pheromones that got masked really quick by the smell of love.

α

"hika, can you answer the door please?! someone just rang!"

hikari gasped at her boyfriends words, jumping off the couch without pausing the show she was watching.

in a matter of seconds, hikari was at the door, pulling it open and letting out a scream of happiness at the sight of her little brother.

"shotarooooo!" she bounced on her feet, throwing herself in the arms of the omega she had missed so much.

"hikari... we called each other yesterday..." shotaro let out as his sister embraced him in a bone-crushing hug.

"i know, but i missed you so much."

the omega smiled, nuzzling himself more in hikari's arms. "i missed you too..."

just next to them, namkyu smiled at the cute interaction between the two siblings, hawoon soon joining him as he appeared in the doorframe.

"thank you for bringing him back safe and sound." hikari smiled at nct's manager as soon as she pulled away from the hug.

"you're welcome. nct took good care of him, don't worry."

"aww..." hikari pinched her brother's cheek. "how lucky, getting close with nct..."

"i think it's safe to say he enjoyed his stay at the nct dorm." namkyu added, smiling again at the cute omega.

"he sure did." hawoon nodded, his eyes on shotaro who couldn't stop smiling.

their conversation lasted a few minutes more, and soon, namkyu greeted the three of them goodbye and left back to the dorm in his car as shotaro, hikari and hawoon got into the comfort of their home.

"so, how was it?" hawoon asked excitedly, impatient to know shotaro's thoughts on his favourite idols.

"it was... amazing." shotaro replied with a dreamy smile as he recalled all those moments he had shared with the alphas, and how well they had taken care of him.

if one week ago you would have told him that he would enjoy living with 22 alphas, shotaro would have laughed at you, loudly and disrespectfully - even though he was an omega and hated to disrespect.

but now, seven days after, going back into the nct dorm was the only thing he wanted. he had loved being there so much that he even wondered how he would survive now without their flirty comments.

"how were the boys?" hikari asked. "we're they as beautiful at home than they are on stage? oh my god! did you see one of them bare chested?"

"y-yeah, they're all very handsome..." shotaro nodded, chuckling at his sister's fangirl attitude.

"so, you truly enjoyed yourself there..."

there was a silence. a long one during which shotaro revived the whole week he had spent with nct in fast-motion. each smile, each attention, each gesture... he saw them all during this two-second silence that seemed like an eternity to the two nct fans.

"you can't even imagine..."