Chapter Text
Felix had no idea who this guy was.
They attended the same college; Felix knew that much, given the fact that they were both seated in the dining hall. Maybe they shared a lecture hall? But the classes were always so large that he couldn’t recall. Mutual friend, maybe? No… he wouldn’t have known him by now. Who was this kid?
The stranger was cute at least. Dimpled cheeks, fluffy hair, sharp yet soft eyes. He had a deep scent that screamed ‘alpha’. It was comparable to the forest in a rainstorm as it subtly crept through the scent patches on his neck. He was broad, too, but Felix had to look closely to tell because of his slouched posture. He seemed to fold in on himself, a bit unsure and timid, but his eyes told a different story. They were determined and locked on one thing: Felix.
“Are you gonna say something or…?” Felix eventually broke the silence that had carried on for too long to be comfortable.
This seemed to pull the stranger out of whatever world he was lost in. His sharp eyes went wide as his lips parted. "I- ba- oh- uh," he blabbered, but not a single proper word came out. His chest deflated with a defeated sigh as his face turned beet red. "Fuck…" he mumbled as he hid his face behind his hands.
"Take your time," Felix spoke slowly, trying to provide this stranger with some sort of support. In all honesty, Felix had no idea what to do. He was left looking around, hoping a friend would show up and save him from the thick, awkward air. Of course, they weren't around when he needed them. All he could do was politely sit and wait for this awkward alpha to speak up.
At least this was a first for Felix. He'd never met an alpha that didn't have something cocky to say. Even his close alpha friends could be full of themselves sometimes. It comes with their nature. This one, though? He seemed nervous, timid even. Maybe he just wasn't the social type.
Felix's eyebrow raised when the alpha finally removed his hands. Instead of staring at Felix like before, his eyes looked everywhere else as he took in a deep breath. As he slowly exhaled, his gaze returned to the omega.
"Yang Jeongin," The alpha finally spoke, but he winced slightly when he realized he didn't say all the words he was supposed to. "My name is Yang Jeongin."
Felix slowly nodded his head as he tried to be supportive and not completely weirded out by this kid. "Nice to meet you, Yang Jeongin. I'm Lee Yongbok, but I go by-"
"Felix. I know who you are," Jeongin interrupted, causing Felix's face to distort in a seemingly creeped out way by how quickly the alpha tried to back track. "Sorry- we uh, share a class and uh. Your name was announced with the information about the run?"
Oh, right. The run.
"You're joking, right?" Hyunjin asked as he leaned over the table, nearly knocking his americano over to get a closer look at Felix's expression with the hope he could see the corner of Felix's lips curl up like they do when he lies. "Please say you're joking."
"I'm not! Come on, don't you think it's kinda romantic? People fighting for you?" Felix suggested as he reached over to move Hyunjin's americano out of the danger zone.
"You know what's romantic? Someone falling in love with you and courting you properly! And you know what else? Falling in love with them, too!" Hyunjin disagreed as he grabbed his drink from Felix to sip it aggressively.
"I think it's kinda romantic-" Jisung spoke up from beside Hyunjin, immediately gaining a death glare from the long-haired beta.
"That's because you're a freak," Hyunjin interrupted with an accusatory point of his finger. Jisung paused before he nodded his head in defeat and held his hands up like he had been caught.
"Listen, I am just tired of waiting around to find someone. I think this might be the best way to let fate have its way," Felix reasoned with a shrug of his shoulders.
"What if you get stuck with someone horrible? There are too many risks to this, you know it." The beta always had a strong voice of reason, but Felix was uncertain if this was advice he wanted to listen to. He had this urge in the pit of his stomach to run, like it was written in the stars for him. It was his fate to run. Maybe it was just his instincts taking over, but weren't they there to listen to in the first place?
"I need to run," Felix eventually spoke, "I'm willing to take the risk. I don't think this is going to be a mistake. I feel like this is what I have to do."
After a sigh and a long pause, Hyunjin slightly nodded his head.
"I'll sign up, too! We can do it together," Jisung announced, though everyone knew at the table he had different reasoning than Felix. He really was just a freak.
"Oh, yeah, right," Felix slowly nodded his head as he pieced together the whole reason why the timid alpha was sitting in front of him.
"I wanted to ask you for your permission."
…
That was a first.
"My… permission?" Felix slowly questioned with a single raised eyebrow.
"Yeah. Is it okay if I run for you?" Jeongin clarified as he shifted in his seat. He seemed antsy, like he was eager to know the answer.
This time, it was Felix who couldn't find his words. After signing up, he wasn't expecting anyone to ask for his permission to chase him. It wasn't customary for an alpha to ask for permission. They just. Did it. Felix always heard that it was more of a surprise to know who was running, unless someone was overheard being cocky about it. Alphas didn't ask. It wasn't a thing. This wasn't a thing.
"Sorry, you can say no if you want," Jeongin spoke again when Felix didn't say anything, his posture sinking a bit more as his fingers shifted the lunch tray in front of him.
"Oh! Sorry," Felix spoke quickly when he realized he left the poor alpha in silence for too long. "Yeah, sure. You can run if you want to. You didn't have to ask for my permission or anything," he clarified.
Jeongin's posture finally straightened slightly the second he heard an approval leave Felix's mouth. His eyes were brighter as a smile pulled at the corner of his lips. "Cool, yeah, awesome," he spoke quickly. "I just, yeah. Wanted to make sure because I plan on winning."
And there's the cockiness.
"See you later," Jeongin stood up and left before Felix could say anything else. Though after a couple of steps, he realized he forgot his tray and quickly did a U-turn to grab it with an awkward smile just to leave again.
"Who was that?" Felix broke his gaze from the alpha walking away to see Jisung taking the now-empty spot in front of the omega.
Felix, who was still in shock over the interaction, blinked a couple of times before answering. "Yang Jeongin? He's running," he mumbled before looking back in the direction where Jeongin once was, but now was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, another omega?" Jisung questioned as he took a bite of his rice.
Felix craned his neck to try to spot Jeongin. "No, an alpha," he answered nonchalantly.
Jisung coughed, his hand shooting up to ensure rice wasn't about to fly out of his mouth. "Sorry, what? An alpha? Is he running for you? Wait- what did he say to you? Felix, tell me everything! Was he cute? Did he look strong?" Jisung questioned quickly. He paused when he noticed that Felix was still looking elsewhere. "Earth to Felix!"
It took Jisung waving his hand in front of Felix's face for him to finally bring him back. "He's not winning," he stated. If anyone listened close enough, they could pick out the slight disappointment in his voice.
Jisung's lips parted as his eyebrows came together. "Huh?"
"Ji, he asked me for permission," Felix explained.
Jisung blinked, "Huh?" he repeated.
"He asked if he could run for me! I told him yes, but…" Felix sighed. "You should have seen him, Jisung. The only alpha thing about him was his scent… he held himself like a sad shrimp." Maybe he was being a little mean, but he was just mad that someone so sweet wasn't going to win. He seemed so clumsy and insecure. There was no way that an alpha who held themselves as that could win in a run. It would break his heart to see a sweet alpha get hurt.
"I see…" Jisung slowly nodded his head. "Did he… at least seem determined?"
Felix shrugged again as he glanced down at his food to poke it around with his spoon. "Kinda? He said he asked because he plans on winning."
"Okay, at least he is determined, then! Determination goes a long way," Jisung paused to shove food into his mouth, pushing it into his cheeks so he could speak again. "Like in Undertale!" He added matter-of-factly with a confident nod.
"Right…"
Jeongin was definitely going to get killed.
The day of the run, Felix found himself to be more nervous for Jeongin than he was for himself. As he stood on the plush grass of the field that transitioned into dense woods, he looked at Jeongin's competitors. While some of them were scrawny and didn't have a chance, the rest were jacked and stood with their shoulders square and their eyes focused on either him, Jisung, or the two other omegas that were running. Despite being 50 yards ahead of them, Felix could feel the tension in the air. Everyone was ready to fight.
He hadn't been able to spot Jeongin yet, though. Did he chicken out? Was he not coming? Felix didn't understand why, but he felt a ping of disappointment when he didn't find the alpha. After Jeongin asked to run, he didn't even show up?
Felix scanned over the line of alphas and betas once again. He spotted Minho, who was a good friend of his and Jisung's. He was a bit shocked at first, but when he noticed the intense gaze locked onto Jisung, it made sense to him why he was there. Freak for freak behavior. For both of their sakes, he hoped Minho would find Jisung.
After looking away from Minho, Felix spotted an alpha in the middle of the line whose dragon eyes were sharp and burning straight into Felix's. His posture was tall, overpowering, and terrifyingly intimidating. While alphas around him were jumping around and shaking off their limps to warm up for the run, this alpha stood with one foot more in front of the other in a stable stance, ready to pounce and take off at any moment. His torso was bare; the sun was still high enough above the horizon for Felix to be able to make out his defined muscles.
Despite nearly stumbling back from the dominating stare, Felix held his gaze as he realized that this alpha was familiar to him.
It was Jeongin.
Felix suddenly felt shy under his stare, closing the sheer white robe tighter around his bare torso. Though this moment only made Jeongin's head tilt animalistically, as if he was creating a new goal to rip the robe right off the poor omega.
"The run will begin in one minute! Omegas, you will receive a minute head start before the chasers are released! Get ready!"
Felix heart pounded in his chest as he finally broke the intense eye contact and turned around to face the tree line. Even after he turned, he could feel the burning of Jeongin's gaze in the back of his head. His stomach bubbled from anxiety, and he felt a lump in his throat from fear. Fear that Jeongin would catch him, but also fear that he won't.
Alpha… please catch me.