Chapter Text
“I’m sorry, am I boring you?” The girl’s voice brought Minhyun back from his daydream. He realized she must have just asked a question or something. He hadn’t really been hearing anything she was saying. “Is there something you would rather talk about?”
“No, it’s my fault I was just thinking about something I have to talk to a professor about later.” Minhyun quickly made an excuse. In truth, he had been a bit bored, but that wasn’t her fault. He just hadn’t been very interested in going on a date with a girl younger than him by a substantial margin who he had never met before and knew nothing about. He had only gone along with it because it felt rude to cancel something that his parents had already arranged.
“Oh, I’m sorry for taking up your time today then,” the girl said, face flushing red. “I imagine you’re probably really busy.”
“It’s fine.” Minhyun said, feeling the awkwardness increase. “Have some more tea.” He poured her a cup in attempt to somehow fix the situation.
“Th-thank you!”
Minhyun felt worse as the girl happily accepted the cup. He didn’t even remember her name but there he was giving her false hope. He couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to be in her position, being an omega desperate to find a match before the government forced her into one. If Minhyun was a good person he would take her as a mate just so she wouldn't have to worry about ending up with someone who wouldn’t treat her well. But Minhyun wasn’t a good person, at least not to that degree. Even though it was expected of him as an alpha, he didn’t want to find a mate and make her bear his kids. At least, not yet. No one was going to force him into a marriage, but that didn’t mean his parents wouldn’t try to set him up with omegas from eligible backgrounds.
Minhyun hadn’t expected the girl to be so young, barely more than a child, probably only pronounced as an omega less than a year ago. He supposed he shouldn’t be that surprised, the government had recently changed the law to allow young omegas to be claimed by interested officials with or without parental consent. Before, omegas couldn’t be claimed by the government until they were at least twenty, but now the minimum age had been lowered to seventeen. Minhyun remembered how stressed his parents had been trying to find a good match for Sujin before she turned 20; nowadays, that pressure was even more intense.
Only alphas had the right to participate in government. Betas could vote in certain elections, but weren’t allowed to hold any powerful government positions. Omegas had no legal power whatsoever. Since alpha/omega pairs had the highest chance of producing alpha offspring, omegas were tightly controlled by the government as tools to breed the next generation of alpha leaders. Alphas were allowed to marry as many omegas as they wanted, in addition to taking partners of other genders too if they so chose. Minhyun knew that he was lucky to be an alpha, but he hated all the pressure to find a mate. He was twenty-three and didn’t feel ready for that much responsibility, nor was he really interested in omega girls, or perhaps, girls in general. It was fairly common for alphas to take lovers of the same sex if they wanted, or even claim same-sex omegas. They couldn’t reproduce, but even beyond breeding, omegas were largely seen as lesser beings for alphas to claim and have their way with.
*
“I take it you aren’t interested in Chaeryeong?” Minhyun’s mother asked him after they said their farewells.
“I- no, how could you tell?” Minhyun admitted.
“You weren’t even looking at her when you said goodbye to her just now.” She answered lightly.
“She wasn’t bad.” Minhyun explained, absently running his fingers through his hair. “Just young.”
“All unmatched omegas are these days.” Minhyun’s mother pointed out.
“I know,” Minhyun sighed. “I just want someone closer in age to me.”
“You’ll probably have to go for a beta then.” Minhyun held his breath at this mother’s words, expecting a reprimand to come next. “And that’s fine. You’ll have less chance of having alpha offspring, but if it makes you happier why not?”
Seeing the look of surprise in Minhyun’s eyes, she smiled and took his hand.
“You have the freedom to choose who you want. That’s a gift you should cherish, Minhyun. It’s more than I or your sister had.”
Choosing was a privilege. The words stung at Minhyun.
Growing up Minhyun knew that he would likely pronounce as an alpha or an omega once he hit puberty. His parents were an alpha-omega pair so there was close to zero possibility that he could be a beta. When alphas and omegas bred their offspring almost invariably had the same secondarily genders; beta offspring from such unions were very rare, just as it was rare for beta-beta pairs to produce alphas or omegas. When Sujin pronounced as an omega and a frantic rush to find her a mate followed, Minhyun learned that alphas had a better lot in life. He should be thankful to be one, should be thankful to be destined to be the slaver rather than the enslaved.
“I know your father has been putting pressure on you to find a mate and make an heir for the company’s sake,” Minhyun’s mother continued. “But I want you to know that you don’t have to follow that path if you don’t want to. Just because he’s an alpha that doesn’t mean everyone else has to do everything he says, or at least, it shouldn’t.” She said bitterly.
*
“How was it?” Jonghyun asked when Minhyun returned to their shared apartment. They had been good friends since middle school. They had gone to high school and college together too. Now, Minhyun was in grad school while Jonghyun working trying to save up for grad school because as a beta he didn’t have the same access to scholarships as alphas did and his family didn’t have the money to pay out of pocket. Even though Minhyun could easily afford his own place if he wanted, he had eagerly agreed when Jonghyun asked to be roommates. It was nice to come back to someone who knew him well and didn’t give him any special treatment for being an alpha. Jonghyun would never lie to him just to stroke his alpha ego like most of the world tended to. He was honest with Minhyun and challenged him whenever he felt Minhyun was out of line.
“She was fifteen.” Minhyun told him, throwing himself down on to the couch beside Jonghyun. “I don’t want to marry a child.”
“She’ll have to marry someone though.” Jonghyun reasoned. “You could’ve just done it for her sake. It’s not like you can’t take as many mates as you want.”
“There has to be some way to protect omegas besides essentially creating a personal harem of little girls.” Minhyun huffed. He knew Jonghyun was right but the idea of claiming people like that bothered him. He wanted to have a mate who would think of him as a partner and equal, not a master. Even though he had more rights, a better salary, and a higher place in society as an alpha, sometimes Minhyun really envied Jonghyun’s life as a beta.
“Maybe.” Jonghyun shrugged. “But do you have one?”
“No.” Minhyun admitted quietly. “I know I should do something but…”
“Marry a bunch of omegas to keep them safe would only be a temporary solution anyway.” Jonghyun said. “It wouldn’t really change the faults in the system.”
They talked about the issues within Korea’s current alpha-dominated political regime together a lot. Minhyun enjoyed discussing it with someone as passionate and well-informed about it as Jonghyun. He often thought about how unlucky it was that Jonghyun hadn’t been born an alpha. If he just had more power he could probably lead the fight for equality and help build a better world for everyone. Minhyun tried to use his own alpha privilege to do what he could but he often wasn’t sure how to do so effectively. Really, he should’ve been born a beta and Jonghyun an alpha. It was a huge waste that it had happened the other way around. Unfortunately, Jonghyun came from a family of betas, so really it had been no surprise when in their second year of middle school Jonghyun pronounced that way. Unlike when Minhyun pronounced as an alpha, there had been no fanfare when Jonghyun pronounced. Betas might have a better life than omegas, but what they had was still a long way off from the privileges alphas enjoyed.
“I’m going to sleep first, I have the early shift at Starbucks tomorrow.” Jonghyun yawned. “Good night.”
Minhyun couldn’t help the way his eyes followed his friend as he slid off the couch and disappeared down the hall. Sometimes Minhyun wished that Jonghyun could be his mate. No one else understood him as well. But if they were to formally join, Jonghyun would essentially become Minhyun’s legal property because he was an alpha. Minhyun couldn’t do that to his most cherished friend. Jonghyun probably doesn’t see him that way at any rate.
*
“Minhyun?”
Minhyun jumped as he heard Jonghyun’s voice call out to him as he was brushing his teeth.
“What is it?” Minhyun asked after hastily spitting out toothpaste and turning around.
“Have you seen my vitamins anywhere? I can’t find them.” Jonghyun asked, stood in the doorway.
“I haven’t.” Minhyun told him. “Maybe just pick up some more at the store tomorrow if you still can’t find them?” He suggested.
“Y-yeah, I guess I’ll do that.” Jonghyun said slowly, rubbing his neck. Minhyun allowed himself to hold his gaze on Jonghyun for a few seconds longer than was platonic before turning back to the sink to continue getting ready for sleep.
That night Minhyun had trouble falling asleep. The face of the young omega girl, accompanied by Jonghyun’s words kept cropping up in his thoughts. She’ll have to marry someone. Maybe it was selfish of Minhyun not to take mates when he could be protecting omegas from potential abusers. But when Minhyun thought about taking a mate, Jonghyun was the only one he could imagine a future happiness with. But that was selfish too. Pursuing Jonghyun wouldn’t make his family, Jonghyun, or anyone apart from himself, happy. He and Jonghyun were both males and thus wouldn’t be able to have kids and produce the heir his family wanted. Becoming an alpha’s mate would cost Jonghyun most of the little freedom he had. No matter how much Minhyun wanted it, being with Jonghyun wasn’t an option.
Sighing to himself, Minhyun rolled over, shutting his eyes and trying to quiet his thoughts enough to get to sleep.