Chapter Text
When Seungmin met his roommate for the first time, he wasn’t expecting them to be a beta. Alphas, betas, and omegas each had their own dormitories, but if an alpha or omega didn’t care, betas could room with anyone. It was common in many universities, as they usually encouraged diversity and thought that betas could help alphas and omegas with many things. They only prohibited alphas and omegas from rooming together for health and safety reasons.
Seungmin had said that he didn’t mind who he roomed with when he filled out his housing forms, but he knew that very few betas wanted to room with omegas. Many people thought that they were too clingy or too much work, and they also thought that alphas were too aggressive and controlling. They were all stereotypes, and Seungmin hated how society perceived their subgenders.
Despite that, Seungmin didn’t like the idea of meeting alphas. He had only had one experience with an alpha outside of his family, and it wasn’t a good one; he didn’t get hurt, but he realized what his parents were talking about when they told him how aggressive, rude, and protective alphas could be. Some stereotypes were true half of the time.
His roommate’s name was Yang Jeongin, and they were both first years. Seungmin was just glad that he wasn’t rooming with one of his seniors; he had heard stories of seniors pressuring their juniors into things and making fun of them, especially at his university.
Seungmin arrived at his dorm room a few hours after they were allowed to show up, and he wasn’t sure if Jeongin would be there or not. He didn’t have very many belongings with them, so lugging it all up to his room wasn’t too difficult. He found his room quickly and opened the door.
It was a basic dorm for two people - one bed on each side of the room with accompanying desks and storage, a bathroom to the right, and a large window on the back wall. It was spacious enough that Seungmin knew he wouldn’t feel trapped or claustrophobic, but not too large for him to feel small himself.
He immediately noticed the right side of the room, clearly taken by someone. There were books and a laptop on the desk, a couple of plushies on the bed, a backpack on the floor, and opened drawers. Jeongin must have arrived already.
Seungmin closed the door behind him and moved to the left bed, then he heard a thump from the bathroom. He looked at the doorway and saw a shadow before a boy popped out with disheveled hair and narrow eyes.
“Hello!” The boy walked up to Seungmin with a bright smile. “I’m Jeongin! You must be Seungmin, right?”
Jeongin held his hand out, and Seungmin shook it, nodding.
“Uh, yeah. I’m Seungmin.” He wasn’t expecting such a hyper roommate, but he could probably get used to it.
“Nice to meet you! I got here about an hour ago, so I’ve just been unpacking my stuff. We should definitely get to know each other after you unpack!” Jeongin’s smile was so bright. How was it so bright?
“Okay.”
Jeongin wasn’t put off by Seungmin’s mild reply and just returned to the bathroom, probably unpacking his toiletries. Seungmin was a little off-put, though; he didn’t know what to expect from Jeongin, and he wasn’t sure if he liked his level of happiness or not. Seungmin knew that he could become equally as excitable once he got to know the other boy better, so hopefully Jeongin could help him come out of his shell.
Seungmin sighed and turned around, putting his bags on his bed. He only had three backpacks packed with his things, and it was mostly clothing. He didn’t have a complex skincare routine or shoe collection like some others did, so he only brought the necessities.
He started pulling clothes out of one of his bags, each one folded delicately, and Jeongin came back from the bathroom.
“Is that all you brought?” he asked, sitting on his bed. Seungmin glanced at him before going back to his backpack.
“Yeah. I don’t need much.”
Jeongin hummed. “Can I give you a nickname?”
Seungmin turned at the suddenness of the question, but he nodded. “As long as it isn’t absurd, sure.”
“Can I call you Minnie?”
Seungmin was surprised when his heart jumped as the nickname left Jeongin’s mouth. No one had called him that before, but he liked how it sounded with Jeongin’s voice. He was glad that he was wearing scent blockers.
“Um… Yeah. Sure,” he stuttered. Jeongin didn’t seem to notice.
“Okay, Minnie! You can call me whatever you want. I don’t care.”
“Okay… Jeonginnie.” It sounded too casual and friendly coming out of his mouth after knowing each other for five minutes, but Jeongin’s personality made it easier. He was very easy to talk to.
Seungmin assumed that Jeongin smiled, but he continued unpacking his bag.
“What’s your major?” Jeongin asked. “Mine is photography.”
Seungmin fully turned around at that. “Mine too!” He flushed when he realized how excited he sounded, but he couldn’t help it. He had been nervous about being alone in his classes, but now he knew that he would be fine if Jeongin was there.
Jeongin’s eyes widened. “Really? Oh my gosh! I don’t know anyone else who's taking it.” He flopped back on his bed dramatically. “You just saved my life, Minnie.”
Seungmin giggled. “No, you saved mine. I live an hour away from here and don’t know anyone.”
“Oh.” Jeongin rolled onto his side and propped his head up to see Seungmin. “I live about twenty minutes from here. My packmates are older than me and they’re either rooming with each other or in a different dorm, so I told them I’d find a new roommate. I’m glad it’s you, though. You’re nice.”
Seungmin coughed. “Your packmates?”
Now it was Jeongin’s turn to be flustered. “Oh, uh… yeah. I have three. They go here too, but they’re in other departments. Lixie hyung and Sungie hyung are in our dorm building, and Jinnie hyung is in the alpha dorms.”
Seungmin nodded. “That’s… cool.” He cringed at his own awkwardness. “Is it not… difficult, being away from them?”
Jeongin shrugged. “I can still see them a lot, especially Lix hyung and Sungie hyung. I’m probably going to call them every night so they don’t worry about me too much.” He laughed quietly and Seungmin noticed how fond he sounded. “Besides, my hormones and instincts are different since I’m a beta. Lixie hyung is a beta too, and we are more comfortable being away from the others than they are being away from us.”
That made sense.
“What about you, Minnie? Do you have a pack?”
Seungmin looked down at the clothes in his hands, sitting on his bed. “No, I don’t.” He didn’t mean to sound as upset as he did; he didn’t have a familial pack nor a found pack, but he would never let that stop him, especially not while at university.
Jeongin was silent for a moment. “Oh… Well, that’s okay. I know you’ll find someone eventually. If you want to meet Sungie hyung sometime, I bet he’d love to meet you. He’s an omega too, but he’s the only one in our pack, so he’d probably like to meet someone new. Lixie hyung too.”
Seungmin found that a little appealing, but he felt like it could be overstepping. If ‘Sungie hyung’ was the only omega, he didn’t want their alpha to get protective if he got too close to him. Every alpha was different, of course, but in Seungmin’s experience, they usually didn’t let many outsiders get near their omegas. Some were overprotective of their betas too, but Seungmin assumed that Jeongin’s alpha wasn’t like that considering he was rooming with a stranger.
“Um… yeah. Maybe sometime.”
Jeongin nodded and changed the topic.
“What are your hobbies?”
Seungmin started putting his clothes into his drawers. “I like photography, obviously. I also like singing and watching baseball. I used to play it when I was younger. You?”
“I like playing video games and taking walks outside, especially when it’s nice out like it is today. You know, Sungie hyung is a music major, and he writes music with two of our friends. They rap and sing and upload it to SoundCloud. If you ever feel like doing anything like that, I can ask them for you.”
“Ah, that’s okay. It’s just a small hobby.”
“Do you want to eat dinner together tonight? We can get to know each other better.”
Seungmin was a little puzzled. “Don’t you want to eat with your packmates? I’ll be fine on my own.”
“But I want to be with you.”
Jeongin was interesting. He spoke so fondly and admiringly about his mates, yet he seemed perfectly content being away from them for a whole day or more. Seungmin knew that he was a beta, but he thought that betas still had urges and instincts to be with their pack. Maybe not?
“Oh, um… Okay, then.”
“Unless you don’t want to. You don’t have to eat with me.” Jeongin got a little shy all of the sudden, and Seungmin felt like he said something wrong. Was it his tone?
“No, no, I want to. We can eat together.” It wasn't like he had anyone else to eat with anyway.
They ended up eating pizza that night as they settled into their dorm room. Jeongin insisted on paying for it, much to Seungmin’s dismay, and he told the beta that he would buy something for him later. Jeongin was content with that.
After they ate, they both lay on their own beds and continued talking. Seungmin had never talked to anyone this much in his life, but he found himself enjoying it - enjoying connecting with somebody.
“I don’t mind if you want to take off your scent blockers while we’re in the dorm. My nose isn’t very strong anyway, and I know you’d feel a bit better.”
Alphas and omegas were encouraged to wear scent blockers during school, and many of them wore them out and about as well. They were patches that they put on their scent glands like large band-aids, so they weren’t difficult to put on and take off. The only problem was that after a whole day of wearing them, they would start feeling a little uneasy until they took them off. When they let their scent free, there was a sense of relief, like a weight lifting off of their shoulders. Seungmin didn’t wear them too often because he was a homebody, but he had figured that he should for his roommate’s sake.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I mean, unless you’re not comfortable with that. I’m chill either way.”
Seungmin thought for a moment before taking off his scent blockers. He had been wearing them for twelve hours, so the relief he felt was immediate, making him sigh. He looked over at Jeongin and saw the beta’s eyes widen.
“You smell so good.”
Seungmin blushed. His scent was a mixture of vanilla and caramel, but he had never had someone comment on it. His parents never told him if they liked it or not, and he didn’t know if he smelled different to other people than he did to himself.
“Um… Thank you?”
Jeongin looked sheepish. “Sorry. I just… I don’t smell many people’s scents that aren’t pack members. I can’t smell yours very well, but it’s… a good scent.”
Seungmin didn’t know what to think of that. It was a good thing, though, right? Jeongin liked his scent, and he found his inner omega preening at the compliment.
Seungmin nodded awkwardly and stood to throw his patches away. When he sat back down on his bed, Jeongin’s phone rang.
“Shit, that’s my hyungs.” He must have forgotten to call them, too busy talking to Seungmin.
“Should I leave?”
Jeongin glanced at him. “No, it’s fine.” He found his phone under the multitude of blankets on his bed, answering the call and flopping onto his back. Seungmin awkwardly lay back down, trying not to eavesdrop.
“Hey, hyung… I just forgot to call you. I was talking to my roommate… His name is Seungmin. He’s really nice.” Jeongin glanced at Seungmin, but the omega wasn’t looking at him. “Yeah… Twelve? Okay… Love you too, hyung. Good night.”
The call wasn’t as long as Seungmin had expected it to be. “That was Lixie hyung. I’m going to eat lunch with my mates tomorrow. You can come if you want, but…”
Seungmin shook his head. He wasn’t comfortable meeting Jeongin’s pack like that, especially so soon into their friendship. He was surprised how comfortable Jeongin was with him after a few hours, even inviting him to meet his pack. He had never thought that anyone could be that laid back.
Seungmin slept well that night, relieved to have a friend and happy that his freshman year wouldn’t be too terrible with Jeongin at his side.