"hika... i'm going to work!" the omega exclaimed, his hand on the door handle as he was about to leave the place him, his sister and her boyfriend lived in.

"sho? did you say something?" hawoon appeared next to him, his hair still wet from his morning shower.

"yeah. i'm leaving. i start working in half an hour." shotaro repeated what he had said in a barely audible voice before. "where is hika?"

"she's having a shower, but i'll warn her, don't worry." hawoon smiled, ruffling the omega's hair adoringly.

shotaro purred, his eyes closing slightly as he leant into the touch, feeling like he needed love and attention.

"your forehead is burning..." hawoon pointed out as his hand left the boy's hair to be placed on his forehead. "and your cheeks are flushed... and your eyes- sho, is everything alright? you look sick."  he added worriedly.

"yeah, it's just my first day of heat." the pastel purple lover announced with a sigh.

"oh." hawoon blinked, not that familiar with the omega cycle of live despite living with the boy for a few years. "did you take a mini-pill to lessen the heat? do you want me to get it for you? where do you store them?"

"no, i didn't take any." shotaro shook his head. "but they made me really sick last time, so i don't want to take them anymore."

being an omega wasn't easy everyday.

heats occurred every five weeks, lasting between 4 and 7 days, and they were the time when omegas were the most vulnerable and defenceless. at that time of the month, omegas produced more pheromones, and were hit by extreme tiredness and when they grew older, extreme need to mate or to have sexual encounters - but thankfully, shotaro had never experienced such intense desires yet. and if making them vulnerable wasn't already enough, heats made other beings aware of the omega's presence, causing alphas and even sometimes betas to smell the divinely mesmerising scent produced by the omega's pheromones and to get attracted to them like powerful magnets.

thankfully, there were ways to prevent omegas to be the centre of attention while on heat and to get attacked - or worse, raped - by any hungry alpha who would have smelled their addictive sweet scent. while on heat, omegas had two options: suppressants or mini-pills.

suppressants were pills that omegas could buy in any pharmacy and take while on heat to suppress their scent. problem though, the pill didn't reduce the heat, meaning that the sick feeling in the omega's body was still present, but imperceptible for other beings.

mini-pills required a prescription given by a doctor, making them less accessible. those pills were more efficient for omegas with heavy heats since they helped lessening the symptoms of the heat, but left the scent intact to other people around the omega. they were highly demanded by omegas, but sadly, they weren't the best solution for everyone as they could have many side effects, which is why the doctor and the omega would need a few appointments to define which brand of mini-pill was the more adapted to each omega.

but the worst part of these omega medicines  was that suppressants and mini-pills weren't compatible and needed to be taken with at least a 2-day gap if the omega didn't want extreme sickness and a multiplication of heat symptoms.

so, yeah, being an omega may not be easy, being an omega in heat was even worse.

"do you want me to accompany you to work, then? that way you won't be alone." hawoon asked, genuinely concerned for the omega male.

"thank you so much, hawoon, but i don't want to bother you, really." shotaro sook his head as his eyes widened at the thought of taking some of his sister's boyfriend time.

typical omega behaviour; shotaro would rather put himself in danger than bothering another person. omegas always tended to make others' well-being pass before their safety.

"you're bothering me more by going to work on your own than by letting me accompany you." hawoon stated immediately. "wait for me, i'll put on my shoes and tell hikari that i'm accompanying you."

and shotaro didn't have enough strength to refuse the gesture. and even if he hadn't been in heat and had had the strength to do so, he wouldn't have been able to refuse it anyway, because he was an omega after all, and omegas could never refuse the proposition of a beta or an alpha.

α

"i don't know what to do with you guys anymore. i am seriously thinking that it would be better for me and my stress level to just quit that job and get hired as the manager of a beta band because i can't deal with that shit anymore!"

as the beta manager threw his tantrum, the five members of nct that he had forced to accompany him to grab some drinks stared at him unfazed.

after becoming calmer than betas right after the reality show they had filmed three days ago, the alphas' behaviour had gotten completely out of hand, and the manager had had to intervene in their fights quite a few times. and this had inevitably caused him to get hurt in the process which explained why he had a metallic bar taped to his nose; to support it after being broken by one of mark's - or was it lucas? - fist.

"don't you guys have anything to say?" namkyu asked, facing sungchan, donghyuck, renjun, sicheng and taeyong that had accompanied him to a café nearby to grab some drinks.

"yeah." renjun snorted. "none of this would have happened if donghyuck hadn't been a bitch and stolen my phone."

"are you kidding me?! it's jaemin who took your phone!"

"liar! i saw you taking dick pics with it!"

"i was not!"

"yes you were!"

"and as if you were complaining about getting a donghyuck dick pic?! last time i fucked you, his name was the only thing leaving your mouth!" taeyong joined the verbal fight.

namkyu let out a long groan as he turned around and slammed his head on the counter where the workers were placing the finished orders. there were already 15 glasses, meaning that they only needed to wait for 8 more before they could leave the café, and namkyu dreamed of nothing more right now.

a fit of cough made him lift his head and stare at the worker wearing a pastel purple sweater. the boy who looked rather young and tiny was coughing his lungs out as his cheeks were flushed beet red while he tried preparing his nth drink of the day.

"suck my dick right now, asshole! and we'll see whose name i'll be screaming!" renjun growled louder than before, making the manager turn on his heels immediately.

"SHUT IT, NOW!!" namkyu yelled, not caring if all of the people inside the café stopped their conversations and activities to stare at them. "i can't deal with your shit anymore, so listen to me, and listen well, because i won't be repeating myself!! if you guys don't calm down and stop fighting day and night, i'll find a fucking way to start a scandal about you and leave the company so that you'll have to work you asses out to go back to where you are right now!" he continued, throwing meaningless threats. he could never harm nct this much, they were too important to him. but at the same time, he needed them to feel a bit pressured if he wanted them to calm down with their fighting, and he hoped this one would work.

actually, it seemed like it was working for the moment as the five nct members present in the café were dead silent, with their backs straight and their heads lifted.

"so, for the love of god, shut the fuck up for five minutes while we're waiting for our drinks because i promise you i can crack right here and now if you don't listen to me! and i swear that you don't want that because- hey! are you even listening to me?!" the manager interrupted himself seeing as the five alphas seemed distracted by something as they started looking around the café and smelling the air.

"that scent..." sicheng let out, taking a few sniffs.

"it's so good..." sungchan nodded, his eyes closing for a second.

"but what is it?" tarting frowned as the others shrugged, still looking around and searching for the source of the divine scent.

"guys, i was fucking talking to you!" namkyu growled out of frustration.

but there was nothing to do, the five boys had finally set their eyes on what appeared to be the person that smelt so good, and who seemed to be standing right behind namkyu.

"lavender..." the five nct members breathed out at the same time.

namkyu turned on his heels again, his eyes falling on the cute boy wearing pastel purple clothes and holding two glasses in his hands.

and before the manager could question anything, the lavender boy's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and his body went numb, making him fall down to the ground, unconscious.