Work Text:
The easiest way for Seoho to notice when Geonhak has woken up early to go to the gym is Dongju. He'd either accidentally wake Seoho up while desperately trying to cling to Geonhak so he doesn't leave or, even worse, turn around to cuddle Seoho instead. Today seems to be the latter as Seoho wakes up, drenched in sweat, hidden under the cover with Dongju pressed against his back tightly. He stays still for a few moments, willing the sleep out of his system before untangling his limbs from Dongju's strong hold without trying to wake him up. Dongju and Geonhak have always been overly touchy with one another and him. It's not like Seoho hates it either, his tolerance for physical touch is just very low. Both Geonhak and Dongju have always been accepting of that part of him, letting him sleep on one side of the bed while they huddle up together on the other side. He's grateful about it (most of the time) but once in a while, it makes him feel lonely. Like he's disrupting a relationship and forcing himself into one where he doesn't belong. But he never voices these thoughts out.
After taking a quick shower, he goes to wake up Dongju who's still sleeping peacefully in their king-sized bed to get ready for the day. The scent of tangerine lingers on his hands as he brushes it against Dongju's neck, helping him put on his scarf, before the two of them walk out of their house with their hands interlocked.
The early cold November air sent a chill down Seoho's spine as they both stepped out of the house. A thin layer of snow covered the streets as snowflakes danced in the sky. Dongju placed his head against Seoho's shoulder as they walked towards the company's building. They both worked there, had met each other a while back there and continued to work as usual after. The company wasn't far away, they'd always walk there together while Geonhak would take the one car they shared to visit the gym before going out to his own workplace.
Seoho places their interlinked hands in his pocket to saviour the warmth. He bumps into Dongju who's stopped walking to stare through the windows of an open store. The window was decorated with all sorts of Christmas stuff. Fake Snow on the window board, snowflake stickers across the glass, a small Santa Claus with his reindeer and a decorated Christmas tree.
"We still don't have a Christmas tree, do we?" Dongju asks, taking his eyes off the window to look at Seoho.
"No, we don't." Seoho shakes his head slowly, he'd forgotten about Christmas. It would be their first Christmas together ever after becoming a couple. He'd celebrated it with Geonhak once, way back when the both of them were just roommates before they'd even caught feelings for each other, but this year would've been the first since Dongju is with them.
"We'd have to get one then," Dongju says as he starts walking towards the direction of their work, dragging Seoho behind him. "Dongmyeong thinks we should spend it again together, but I'm not sure."
"Just invite him over to ours then."
"You sure?" Dongju asks as he turns around to look at Seoho. "It would be our first Christmas together, I wouldn't want to invite him if you guys weren't okay with it."
"I'm fine with it," Seoho says as he musters his best smile. "I'm sure Geonhak would be fine with it too."
"I'll ask him later."
Christmas preparations start early for them, thanks to Dongju who already started getting ready for the holidays in mid-November. Playing Christmas songs to lighten the mood, buying all sorts of decorations and constantly revising the plans for their Christmas dinner. It started with inviting his twin Dongmyeong, then adding his boyfriend Harin and then including Dongju's own best friend Hwanwoong before lastly inviting Hwanwoong's other best friend Keonhee to the mix.
It's early December when Dongju drags Seoho and Geonhak out with him to shop for their Christmas tree (which they had only gotten a day prior) decorations. Dragging Geonhak away from his workout equipment or Seoho away from his webtoons is only a feat Son Dongju can achieve.
They walk through the store's aisle, Dongju checking out all their decorations and occasionally asking for Seoho's opinions before letting Geonhak carry all of them. ("Why aren't you asking for my opinions?" "I trust Minnie-Hyung more than I would ever trust your artistic values.") Seoho stops at one aisle, it's much less a shelf filled with decorations but rather one with different kinds of present ideas. His eyes fall on the section with books, the manhwas specifically. He knows he's not here to buy new ones, nor to buy them for anybody else as intended, but his curiosity gets the better of him. He feels the presence of someone behind him and as he turns around he's greeted with the sight of Geonhak looking over his shoulder to look at the same manhwas Seoho had looked at earlier. He gives Seoho a sweet smile and before either of them can say anything, Geonhak's smile drops into a concerned frown and he's running towards the direction Dongju had been going.
"Are you okay?" Seoho hears as he hurries after Geonhak, who was already standing beside Dongju and had his arm slung over his shoulder. Geonhak looks concerned, rubbing his hand on Dongju's shoulder as Seoho stands beside them totally confused and out of place. Dongju looks completely calm in Seoho's eyes and yet he can still feel the heavy scent of mint cling around them. Geonhak for once looks like the actual alpha he is, trying to take care of his omega (his, not theirs) and Seoho has never felt as out of place as he does now. Almost like he's a stranger watching two lovers interact. The three of them haven't bonded, but Geonhak and Dongju are each other's true mates meaning they - unlike Seoho - are connected far more than he ever will be. Being able to tell each other's emotions is just one of the few things Seoho can never have. He should feel happy for them (and he does), but there's a feeling inside of him that's eating him alive.
"I'm fine," Dongju says, swatting away Geonhak's arm from his shoulders. "Just feeling a bit light-headed, that's all."
"Are you sure?" Geonhak asks, this time placing his hand around Dongju's waist to pull him closer. Dongju nods. "Let's pay first and get you home then."
"But I just said I was fine!" Geonhak hands the decorations he held in one hand to Seoho and then drags Dongju towards the check out with him.
"You don't need to lie." Seoho hurries after them. He can feel the stares of strangers on him as he follows after Geonhak and Dongju. They must be a funny group to look at, a distressed alpha with his omega and their plus-one beta friend because that's what Seoho is in the end, just a bonus to an already existing couple.
After paying for everything (Geonhak had taken out his wallet to do so but Seoho was quicker), Geonhak hands him the car keys as he sits with Dongju at the back. He shouldn't feel as left out as he does.
Turns out, Dongju was sick. It wasn't until the next day that the symptoms started to show. Hiding underneath three different layers of blankets despite all the visible sweat on his body with a high fever. Seoho had almost feared that his heat had come earlier than usual - especially after Dongju admitted that he'd run out of his suppressants 3 days prior and forgot to get a new pack - if it wasn't for the sour undertone of Dongju's tangerine scent.
Seoho and Geonhak were standing in a pharmacy, searching for the same pack of heat suppressants that Dongju usually uses. The original plan was to send Seoho out to get them while Geonhak looks after a bedridden Dongju, but he'd come running after Seoho only 2 minutes later because Dongju wouldn't stop being moody and telling him to leave.
Seoho walks up to the clerk, standing behind the cash register with Geonhak in tow.
"Hi, do you need any help?" The clerk looked up as Seoho approached him. He was around their age, maybe a few years younger, as he looked up at them with a bright smile.
"Do you have any heat suppressants?"
"We have all sorts of different suppressants. Those for unmated Omegas, mated and just general ones. Are you two mated?"
"No, they're not-"
"Yes, we are." Geonhak interrupts Seoho as he slings an arm over his shoulder. Seoho doesn't have to look up to know that Geonhak has his one golden smile on and before he can even deny it, the clerk nods and walks off to one of the rooms behind him while telling them to wait.
"We're not even mates," Seoho whispers under his breath as he finally looks at Geonhak who's looking intently at the door, waiting for the clerk to return. "You're not even mates with Dongju."
"Triviality"
The clerk returns with 3 different packages that he places right in front of him. None of them look like the ones Dongju usually uses. The clerk points at one of them and starts explaining the ins and outs of the suppressant, looking directly at Seoho. It's not the first time he's been mistaken as an Omega, his vanilla scent often leaning more towards the sweet side of a typical Omega, unlike Dongju's strong tangerine scent. But it's the first time he's been mistaken as one with Geonhak beside him and it makes him feel just as awkward as all other situations had.
"Don't you have a general pack?" Seoho asks, interrupting the clerk as he pulls the sleeves of his sweater over his hands, unsure what else to do with them. Geonhak's hand lowers from his shoulder down to his waist and pulls him in closer. He doesn't say anything. "The ones with like... green pills."
The clerk bucks down to retrieve a different packet and just as expected, it's the one Dongju usually uses. "These?"
Seoho nods and the clerk goes into detail about the pills, explaining it to Seoho like he's a first-time user when the pills aren't for him and he's pretty sure Dongju knows how they work considering he's been using them for a while. Seoho pays for it and hurries out of the pharmacy after thanking the clerk.
Geonhak catches up with him as Seoho is walking towards the car, parked outside not too far away from the pharmacy. It had been snowing the entire time while they were out, the car was covered with a fine layer of snow. Seoho fumbled for the keys in his pocket, his sweaty hands had turned frigid cold. Warm hands pressed over his as he finally fished his keys out of the pockets. Seoho looked at Geonhak. Despite being the quick one to push away any sort of skinship, Seoho let Geonhak's hand rest on his, letting him warm his cold hands.
"We should get into the car, it's getting cold." Seoho interrupted their silence as he pulled his hands from Geonhak's loose grip. "We should hurry before Dongju starts to complain again about how long we took."
Geonhak laughs and then gets in the passenger seat after Seoho opened the car. His hands feel cold again, they start to tingle and Seoho misses the warmth Geonhak's hands had given him as they held hands in the cold. He almost wants to grab Geonhak's hands again to feel the welcoming warmth but he pushes the thoughts aside, starts the engine and drives back home with his hands holding onto the cold steering wheel tightly.
-
With Dongju falling sick and the entire Christmas preparations on his shoulder he'd almost forgotten the most important part. The Christmas presents. It's close to Christmas already and he still has no presents. He knows he shouldn't care all too much, his friends nor his boyfriends really care all too much about presents and wouldn't mind if he didn't get them anything (he'd asked what they wanted, after all) but the voice at the back of his head kept nagging him. How is he gonna be a good boyfriend if he can't even buy a simple thing such as Christmas presents?
He has his laptop open, searching different sites with only the clatter of kitchenware as background noise. Geonhak is cooking dinner and by the sounds of it, Dongju has joined in to help him. Giving Seoho enough time alone to look for good Christmas ideas without either of them snooping around.
Each website is littered with ads, all of them identical to the others.
Get your true mate this!
The perfect gift for the perfect mate!
What every Alpha should get for their Omega!
He's so close to shutting off his laptop in frustration when the door to his room opens. Seoho quickly closes the website he was browsing and switches back to his open work document - which was the entire reason he excused himself to get back into his room. Dongju's head peeks out of the doorframe once Seoho actually looks up from his laptop. He walks towards Seoho wordlessly, leaning against his chair as he glances over him at the screen.
"Dinner is ready." Dongju turns to look at him with a smile, it's only now that he notices the lack of sounds from the kitchen. The smell of freshly cooked food drafts through the open door into the room, strong enough to level Dongju's faint scent of tangerine.
"I'll join in a minute," Seoho says as he turns back to his laptop and pretends to work again. He expects Dongju to leave, so he can join him right after but Dongju doesn't leave, instead, he continues to wait for Seoho.
Seoho doesn't have to turn around to notice the frown on Dongju's face, the sweet tangerine scent having dipped into a more bitter taste. Dongju's emotions had always been easy to tell with his scent alone. So when Seoho turns around - hoping to cheer Dongju up so he would leave - he's met with concern rather than the anger he'd expected.
"Is something wrong?" Dongju asks when it really should be Seoho asking him instead. "You seem upset."
"I'm fine." Seoho shakes his head but it doesn't seem to convince Dongju in the slightest.
"Is it work?" Seoho shakes his head again, he does still have work to finish - thanks to him constantly showing it aside with a 'i'll do it later' that never happens - but it's not something that's been bothering him much. "Is something else bothering you then?"
"It's nothing."
"Hyung." Dongju crosses his arms over his chest and stands up straight, his sudden shift in tone makes Seoho finally look him in the eyes. As if softened by Seoho's reaction, Dongju drops his arms from his chest and sighs. "We've known each other for a while now, I can tell when you feel upset, hyung. You don't have to hide it from me."
Seoho opens his mouth to retribute but no words come to mind and so he closes it again, turning away from Dongju to look at his laptop screen that has long shut off. He doesn't want to think about Dongju being able to tell his emotions by his looks alone. He'd always been under the assumption that Dongju and Geonhak wouldn't care that much - not when both of them could feel each other's emotions - but he's been proven wrong, yet again.
"You don't have to tell me now," Dongju interrupts Seoho's thoughts as he continues to speak. "But please do talk about it. Don't just keep it to yourself. I'm here for you and Geonhak is too."
Before Seoho even has a chance to respond, the door to the room opens wide. Geonhak is standing in the doorframe, looking at both of them while still wearing the silly Kiss The Cook apron that Dongju had bought for him on his birthday. "Are you two done yet?" Geonhak asks as both pairs of eyes turn towards him.
"Yes, let's go-" Dongju grabs his wrist and pulls him out of his chair. "Before dinner gets cold."
It's the night before Christmas. Dongju and Geonhak had already gone ahead and gone to sleep without him, the previous hours having tired them all out with the endless Christmas celebrations with Dongmyeong and their friends, who had left not too long ago. With the two of them passed out, Seoho had the perfect opportunity to pack his presents and put them under the Christmas tree they all had decorated together. He hadn't gotten any presents for the guests that had gonna shown up unlike Geonhak and Dongju who'd already exchanged their presents with them, but that doesn't really matter. As long as Geonhak and Dongju enjoy their presents Seoho is gonna be happy (and he really, really, really hopes that they'll enjoy it otherwise he wouldn't know what to think of himself anymore).
"You're still awake?"
Seoho lets one of the presents he's been holding fall onto the floor and he quickly turns around from where the voice came from. Geonhak is standing right behind him, dressed in a simple shirt and shorts (which he uses as his pyjamas) with his hair ruffled from sleep.
"It's still early," Seoho answers as he picks up the present and places it under the tree, beside the presents Dongju had already placed earlier that day.
"It's three am."
Okay so maybe it wasn't that early. But when has Seoho ever gone to sleep before four am even if he had a shift starting at six am? It is early for him and he says as much.
"Come to bed." Geonhak grabs his wrist and pulls lightly on it. "Tomorrow is gonna be a long day."
He pulls on Seoho's arm again as he doesn't move, this time a bit stronger until Seoho collides with his chest. Geonhak combs his hand through Seoho's hair. Seoho closes his eyes, the tension he didn't know was building inside of him slowly seeping out as Geonhak places his chin against Seoho's shoulder, right where his scent glands are.
"You put on a lot of perfume," Geonhak says as he rubs his nose against Seoho's scent gland.
"I didn't want them-" Seoho stops mid-sentence. He's not sure what he didn't want. Didn't want others to smell his scent? Didn't want them to judge him based on his emotions? Or maybe he just hated the contrast of his warm vanilla scent to that of Dongju's sharp tangerine and Geonhak's refreshing mint.
"Don't hide it," Geonhak says as he takes in a deep breath of Seoho's scent. "I want to be able to smell you instead."
Seoho's knees go weak and he leans against Geonhak more. He feels his cheeks heat up in shame as Geonhak places his arm around Seoho's waist to hold him uptight.
Geonhak breaks off the hug once he's gotten enough of his scent and takes Seoho's hand in his. "Let's go to sleep," Geonhak whispers with a faint smile on his face, walking towards their shared bedroom. Seoho wants to stop him, wants to say that he'd rather not sleep, wants Geonhak and Dongju to pay attention to him in a selfish way, wants their affection, needs it but his voice constricts and all he can do is hum quietly in agreement.
A shiver runs through his body and Seoho pulls the blankets closer to himself, hoping to fall back asleep but it's all pointless. Another cold shiver runs through him and he finally opens his eyes wide. The spot beside him on the bed is empty, neither Geonhak nor Dongju are there. He wraps the sheets closer to himself, hoping to preserve the warmth he'd lost when his two favourite people left the bed. He gives up after a few minutes when it was obvious it didn't work. He gets up from the bed and leaves the room in search of Geonhak and Dongju.
"Merry Christmas!"
The cheers of his boyfriends resounds as he enters the dining room. The table is decorated with breakfast served on the plates as Geonhak and Dongju stand behind it.
"You started without me?" Seoho's mood drops despite his sarcastic comment and he's sure they can tell it by his scent.
"We were waiting for you to wake up," Dongju says as he walks towards Seoho. He takes Seoho's hand in his and pulls him close for a short kiss. Before he can even mourn the loss of Dongju's lips, Geonhak places his hand around Seoho's neck to turn him around and connect their lips.
"Thank you," Seoho mumbles under his breath after the kiss to nobody in particular. Even though he's sure they must've heard the words, neither of them says anything. Dongju continuing to rub his thumb on Seoho's hand as Geonhak pats his back.
"It wouldn't be Christmas without you," Dongju says and Seoho can't do anything but nod. He couldn't imagine a Christmas without Dongju and Geonhak beside him either.
Geonhak lifts his hand from Seoho's back and places his arm around his shoulder, doing the same with Dongju as he pulls both of them closer to him. "What are we waiting for then?" Geonhak smiles, making both Seoho and Dongju smile at him as well.
"I'll open my presents first!" Seoho yells as he runs towards their Christmas tree, making the other two laugh.
"Not before me!" Geonhak yells as he runs after him.
Dongju - ever the most sensible and mature amongst the three of them despite his age - decides to join his Hyungs, ignoring the food on the table that they've spent the entire morning preparing for Seoho. Letting the day pass with laughter, fights, cuddles and kisses until their scents intermingle, leaving behind a unique scent of only the three of them together.