Chapter Text
unsha’s meetings with celebrities he sponsored had always bored ivan. who knows why unsha always took his adopted son along, it wasn't like ivan could identify rising talents who were worth investing in, nor did he particularly care for celebrities - but for some reason, unsha always took him along.
it was mind-numbingly boring, until he met till.
till was like a firecracker - he looked unassuming at first, just a grey mop of hair and a scowling face, until you lit a fire under his ass and he started snapping, with loud curses and bright, angry eyes. it was truly fascinating.
the first time they met, ivan had run away from the meeting, not bothered to sit by unsha’s side like a good little boy for three whole hours. he was only eight, after all. unsha’s assistant had tried to stop him, but ivan was small, and ivan was fast. it took him no time to flee and get himself hopelessly lost in the big anakt entertainment building.
the sound of shouting caught his attention, and when he rounded the corner, he saw it.
a boy with messy grey hair was caught in a fight with another boy, both of them snapping at each other like wild dogs. for ivan, who was raised with perfect manners, it was like something out of a television drama. however, one thing was clear - the boy with the grey hair was cute, and he was winning.
he crept over to a girl with pink hair, who was watching the two boys anxiously. “what’s going on? why are they suddenly fighting?”
the girl with pink hair must’ve mistaken him for someone else, because she answered without even looking at him. “ah, pine was insulting me, and till gets angry so easily… i told him to stop already, but i don’t think he heard… what if the managers find us? till, stop fighting, use your words, i told you you need to stop fighting everyone who insults me…”
ivan wasn’t quite sure what drove him to step forward and ask: “hey, grey hair. do you want help?”
grey hair, or rather, till, paused mid-punch to look at ivan with a sneer. his eyes were - shockingly - also grey. “what, you think i look weak? you wanna get hit too? you gotta stand in line.”
ivan couldn’t stop himself from smiling, his heart pounding in his chest with something akin to excitement. “no, i’m sure you can handle yourself. go till! fighting!”
the poor guy who had been relentlessly getting hit - pine - took advantage of the pause to shout “hey, weirdo, what’s wrong with you! you should be helping me!”
ivan made a face at him, which made till stare, much to his delight. hiding a smile, ivan turned around and left, leaving the young trainees of anakt entertainment feeling rather lost.
the next time they met was almost eight years after. it was quite disappointing, considering ivan had spent quite a significant portion of his time playing the role of unsha’s well-behaved son in meetings, only to never even catch a glimpse of till on his overly long excursions to the toilet. he’d only ever bumped into the pink haired girl, the first time by accident, then he learned she had a routine - every week, she had piano classes near the meeting room, so they would meet every week. she would not bring till, but he learned a lot about him from her - her name was mizi, she’d been scouted because she played piano well, till was one of her best friends, he was a prodigy at playing guitar and was the best at writing lyrics, but he had a temper so fierce that even freddie the guitar teacher was scared of him…
ivan learned enough about the other trainees at anakt entertainment that he could pass on information to unsha, but the only one he cared about was till.
(nothing good ever came for free, though. even though mizi had never asked, ivan had decided his sister sua would be a worthy trade for more nuggets of information about till, and for mizi to pass on some information about him to till, just enough to make the other boy curious. mizi had just presented as an alpha, anyway, and sua an omega, so that would work out somehow, right? he had a feeling they would get along.)
funnily enough, ivan had planned on skipping this meeting, but unsha mentioned “rock band”, and “debut”, and who could be more fit to debut as the guitarist of a rock band than till?
obviously, ivan was right. the upcoming band ‘garden’ would consist of mizi, who would play the electric keyboard, hyuna, a tanned young woman with brown hair, would play the drums, and till - cute, irritated looking till, with a bedhead that seemed to go overlooked - would play the guitar, just as ivan predicted. they would also all sing, and ivan could not deny wanting to hear till sing.
for now, hearing him talk would have to suffice.
and maybe playing footsie under the table.
they had both grown much taller since they last met, which meant that whenever ivan crossed his right leg over his left, his right foot would bump against till’s foot. it was fun to tease till, to tap his feet under the table with ivan’s own, while gazing innocuously at him where everyone else could see. till tried to hide his scowl - how charming - and kicked ivan in the shin.
it hurt, but ivan smiled wider, keeping his facade of perfect innocence even when unsha looked at him suspiciously.
you’re weird, till mouthed. his face was just a slight bit red.
how cute.
till, as if sensing ivan’s growing affection, shifted a little bit closer to mizi, and away from ivan’s line of sight.
two years after, ivan presented as an alpha. ruts were generally nasty business, but ivan spent his without too much trouble - he had unsha’s expensive drugs, after all, and his trusty till body pillow. it didn’t smell like till, whatever till would present as, if anything, but ivan could dream. for now, imagining till moaning and writhing on his knot, cursing ivan’s girth and scratching lines down his back, would have to be enough.
a few days after, he found out from mizi - who had started a secret relationship with sua a few months ago - that till had presented as an omega. apparently, his first day of his first heat had been terrible, without space to build a nice enough nest in the small dorm given to him by anakt entertainment, or anything scented by an alpha he wanted.
ivan spent two hours pestering mizi for till’s address and immediately mailed him a knotting toy, wrapped in a few clothes ivan no longer wore, but still carried enough of his scent.
the day after that, ivan received a message from an unknown number, with two words: FUCK YOU.
according to mizi, that was till’s number. and according to hyuna, who was the first to see till after his head, till had looked a lot better than he claimed to feel.
somehow, ivan was ‘friends’ with till now. they could talk without mizi’s interference, and till was, to everyone’s surprise, faring relatively well with ivan’s relentless teasing. their relationship was good enough that till would invite him to the band’s shows, and make a staff member ask ivan to go backstage afterwards so till could meet him without suspicion, because they were friends now, somehow.
yes, it had to be said multiple times. because ivan still didn’t quite believe it himself. he was fully aware of his slightly different personality - he said it was because he was adopted, unsha wasn’t exactly a great father figure - but somehow, till had decided ivan was worth his time.
so ivan was now a friend of till’s, who also happened to collect all of till’s merch, and had more till plushies and till body pillows and till standees and till-scented perfumes than a normal friend of till’s should. or even a normal fan of till’s, but ivan supposed splurging on one’s idol’s merchandise was fine if one was essentially an adopted chaebol heir.
ivan could smell till coming before he even saw him - the scent of star anise permeated the air, warm and spicy with an undercurrent of sweetness. it was perfect for till, who burned bright and hot like a star and bit like a rabid dog, but had an awkward, gentle side if you knew how to withstand all the biting.
(till had bitten him on the arm that one time ivan had hugged him from behind by surprise. ivan wouldn’t say he dislikes having till’s teethmarks on him, and he might actually like having till mark him like that, but till had looked so utterly miserable afterwards that ivan felt bad. till still called him crazy when ivan offered to bite till back, though.)
till was hot and sweaty from jumping around and singing his lungs out under the bright stage lights, and ivan stared unabashedly as the omega lifted his shirt to wipe his face. his stomach was soft, unlike ivan’s - ivan had the naturally more toned body of an alpha, and the abs of an alpha who went to the gym a lot because the omega he wanted liked touching abs and was embarrassed about it, so the alpha had to shamelessly offer every now and then as a treat. ivan watched sweat drip down from till’s chest, roll down, and disappear into the waistband of his pants. his cock did a little twitch in his pants.
“can you give me that if you’re done with it?”
till blinked, dabbing at his nose with the hem of his shirt. “give you what?”
ivan couldn’t stop staring at the sweat-stains. maybe it was a sign of another upcoming rut. “your shirt.”
till squawked, his shirt falling back down to hide his stomach as he clutched his chest. ivan mourned the loss of the soft, pale belly. “what the hell, ivan? don’t just say stuff like that out of nowhere!”
ivan stepped closer, lowering his head so he could bump his chin against till’s shoulder. it would not be proper to nose against his scent glands, not out here in the open, but till smelled so nice, and ivan’s sense of propriety was splintering. not that he had much of one in the first place, but still. “but you smell good.”
till scoffed, patting the top of ivan’s head like one would placate a pet. ivan couldn’t help making a happy little noise - he would be a good pet for till, bark for him, lick his fingers, rut against his legs, maybe. “if you want some of my stuff for your next rut, you can just tell me, you know? it’s- it’s whatever, it’s fine, i don’t mind. it’s not like i’ll wear most of this stuff again once the new album comes out and we have to do promotions with entirely new outfits.”
ivan could tell till was blushing, even without looking. there was a hint of something just a little bit sweeter in his scent. “you make my ruts better,” he promised. he would put those scented clothes to good use.
till spluttered and pushed him away. “not in public, you dog!”
ivan beamed, unable to resist the urge to tease till more, to make his cheeks glow red, to make his scent sweeter, spicier, just how ivan liked it. “then can i tell you that in private?”
“no!”
“then when? don’t tell me you prefer over the phone? till, i never thought you would want to call me when i’m in rut, that makes me so happy~”
“what the-! ivan! mizi, help me make him go away!”
ivan wasn’t sure what expression mizi was making from behind him, but she could hear her say, “no, not with both of your pheromones stinking up the place right now! make him go away yourself!”
“you’re stuck with me,” ivan said happily.
“damn right,” till muttered. he was scowling, but his gaze was affectionate. maybe ivan was close to achieving his dreams.
ivan was in the middle of his post-workout daydream about till when he actually spotted till out on the street. he thought he was hallucinating, honestly. who in their right mind would be out in such disgustingly heavy rain without an umbrella?
unfortunately, the answer was till.
unlike ivan, till was not the type of person to bring an umbrella no matter what the weather was, so finding him soaked to the bone, anxiously waiting for the traffic light to change so he could rush across the road from the convenience store across the street to his dorm was actually quite a common occurrence.
it didn’t mean ivan was happy at the sight of it, though. till’s white shirt was soaked through, the sheer fabric clinging to his skin and revealing the soft lines of his body. his star anise scent was spicy with anxiety, sharp and acrid enough to sting, and catch the attention of most of the alphas who happened to pass by.
ivan refused to stand for that. he would happily support till’s career, but he most certainly did not like having other half-baked alphas lusting after his till, not if he was around. he pushed past a handful of strangers to place himself by till’s side, before handing till his umbrella.
the fact that till accepted it without questioning made the corners of ivan’s lips tilt up into a smirk.
till held onto the umbrella for dear life as the wind battered them both. “what- oh, thanks- wait, ivan?”
ivan grinned, letting his pheromones leak out to ease till’s anxiety. “just hold onto that for me.”
till gawked as ivan took off his coat and gallantly draped it over till’s shoulders. there - now till was covered, and nobody could leer at him. only ivan was allowed to do that and get away with it.
“come on, i’ll walk you back.”
“thanks, but ivan, what are you even doing here?” till held ivan’s coat tighter around him, and ivan’s inner alpha reared up with a wild, possessive glee. “you don’t even live anywhere near here.”
“yeah, but the gym i go to is close.” he’d chosen that gym on purpose. it was a little more expensive, but it was close to till, and he could ‘bump into till by accident’ every so often if he timed his entrances and exits just right. “saw you looking wet and miserable when i left, and i couldn’t just leave you!”
“just say i look like shit next time.” till’s face did that twitching thing which meant he was trying not to smile. “but thanks.”
till was flushed red from the tips of his ears to his neck. ivan wondered just how low that blush went. “you know i’m always here for you, till, whether you want it or not.”
they both knew that it was the truth - ivan was there, especially when till wanted it least, usually. they had too many embarrassing moments between them, too much blackmail material, too much dancing around each other when others around, trading flirty comments disguised as insults and sometimes insults disguised as flirting. even hyuna had started to call ivan incorrigible.
“then you’re never getting this jacket back,” till warned. “i’m keeping it, it’s mine now.”
“it looks better on you than me.” ivan's heart was thumping with delight. “you should wear it during your heat.”
till seemed to blush even redder, but he still managed to meet ivan's eyes. "if you walk me all the way home, i might even let you see that."
this time, it was ivan's turn to be surprised. "are you saying-"
"i can tell you're in pre-rut. i can smell it." till smirked. "why do you think i got so many cup noodles? sex makes me hungry, but i can't eat all that on my own."
ivan intertwined his fingers with till's, holding on as tight as he could. "just don't regret it."