Chapter Text
The first time Duang saw him, he was rushing to his 5 o’clock.
His last class had dragged on, making him late to get food, then Jamie had called to tell him he had accidentally left some of his supplies in Duang’s car, which Duang agreed to get for him, which made him late to get back onto the main campus, and now he was here.
Point being, he was behind schedule. He had a good five minutes left before he’d get to the classroom and according to his watch, it was already 4:57.
Of course, being on a university campus, Duang was hardly the only student racing to their classes.
Which was why someone caught his attention as he crossed the street. The man looked equally stressed and in a rush, his brows taut and bangs aggressively swishing back and forth as he speed-walked across the street.
At first the man had caught his attention for one simple reason: He was absolutely breathtaking.
His bangs framed his soft features perfectly, his plush lips were bright pink from the way he was actively chewing on them, and his hips swayed in a way that drew in Duang immediately.
But then he realized the other reason why he stood out so much, that being that he was walking the opposite direction.
While every other hurried student was headed towards the class buildings, he was clearly going away from them. Duang was curious. If he himself wasn't late, he may have been curious enough to stop him and ask.
As they passed on the crosswalk, Duang caught a faint whiff of the man’s pheromones. A fresh mochi like scent radiated from him, distinctly omega, and Duang was hooked.
He turned around to walk backwards as they passed each other, trying to prolong the scent while watching him as he continued to speed away toward the nearby parking lot.
Duang was totally awestruck. If love at first sight was real, he just experienced it, he was sure.
He smiled widely as the man disappeared from his sight, already dreaming up a future in which they were acquainted, or perhaps, more than that. He pulls his hands up to his chest, clutching his shirt dramatically. As he drops his head, acting as though he had died from his own heart’s erratic beating, he catches sight of something.
His watch, which now showed it was 5:00.
Right. He was already late, and now he’s gonna be even later.
Pulling his phone out of pocket, he sends a message to Pae and Jamie asking them to cover attendance for him and takes off toward the nearby art buildings.
Qin was freaking out. He had specifically chosen this professor for his 3:30 class because people said he was always very structured and never kept the class past an hour, even when he should have.
But now, here he is, stuck at the back of the classroom, professor still droning on about an artist Qin has honestly never heard of, and staring at his watch that clearly showed it was already 4:49.
Just then, the professor scanned the classroom.
Most students looked annoyed or bored, but then he noticed the one that looked like he was about to freak out. Qin’s leg was bouncing aggressively under the desk and he was checking his watch repetitively.
Seeing the clearly stressed student, the professor glanced at his own watch and gasped, realizing what time it was.
“Oh my word, sorry class. I must have lost track of time. Class dismissed.”
With that, Qin shot up, threw his things in his bag, and was out of the class before anyone even had a chance to stand.
He checked his watch for the millionth time and saw that it was now 4:55. He was still a good three minutes away from his car, and his destination was another seven minutes away. There was no way he’d get there before his pick up time.
He sped up, practically jogging through the campus building and courtyards. As he reached the streets, he paid no mind to the other students rushing in the opposite direction, he had something more important to focus on. He had never been late before, he wasn’t sure what the consequences would be, and frankly he wasn’t ready to face them.
If they charged him, he would be put out on his usual budget, and if he was the last one? He doesn’t even want to imagine it, he already knows it would break his heart.
Finally reaching his car, he throws his stuff in, starts up the vehicle and darts off without further delay.
Duang finally made it to the classroom and found his two best friends sat at the back of the classroom. Duang tried to quietly navigate to the spot between them, crouched as he snuck back, when the professor called on him.
“Duang.”
He shot up, standing stick straight before turning towards the professor military style. He tilted his head dramatically and overexaggerated a smile.
“Yes sir?”
“Why are you late?”
Duang gasps dramatically, pulling his hands up to his chest to dramatize it.
“Sir, I’m not late, I was here! But my friend,” he dramatically motions to Jamie, “needed some of his supplies so we could whole heartedly participate in your class, so I graciously went and got them for him.” He brought his fisted hands to rest on his hips, looking like a proud child.
The professor just sighed.
“Okay Duang, you weren’t late,” Duang pumped his fist in victory, “but next time, just walk in like normal. Sneaking around like that does nothing. You may as well be an alpha with the way you draw attention.”
Duang’s eyes went wide and he nervously spat out a quick “Okay krap!” before speeding over to his seat.
His two friends laughed at him as the professor began his lesson and assignment explanation again.
Qin parked his car and rushed over to the buildings entrance as fast as possible. There, he spotted a daycare teacher squatting on the patio with a pouting child.
“He’s not, but I’m sure he’s almost here Dara.”
Qin’s heart hurt seeing the little girl looking so sad, so he approached slowly, greeting the teacher when she spots him, and squatted down to match the child’s height.
“Dara.”
The little girl looks up and her expression changes immediately, pout changed to a bright smile as she runs over to him.
“Daddy!” She jumps into his outstretched arms.
“Hi baby, sorry I was late.” He peppers the toddler’s face in kisses, and she giggles before getting fed up with it and pushing him away.
She brough one of her small fingers up, shaking it in his face.
“Daddy bad.”
Qin felt terrible, the little girl was clearly joking with him if her smile was anything to go by, but the knowledge that she knew he was late and did something “bad” was deeply unsettling for him.
“Yeah baby, daddy was bad. I’m sorry.”
He stands, putting her small figure on his popped hip.
“I’m so sorry for being late, the professor let class out late and then-”
The teacher laughs, stopping Qin in his tracks. He searches the teacher’s chuckling form, trying to figure out what was funny.
After a few moments, she collects herself and shakes her hand in front of her.
“I would hardly call this late, it’s only been five minutes, there’s still plenty of kids here.”
Qin was confused.
“But. It’s only the two of you out here?”
“Well that would be because this little one,” she reaches out to poke the toddler’s arm, who laughs and hides in the crook of Qin’s neck, “was insistent that you were here cause she’s always gone out with the first round of kids. She thought I was lying when I said you weren’t here, so I had to bring her out to show it was true.”
Qin’s expression stays flat, but he brings a hand up to Ploy’s head and begins stroking her hair. “So I wasn’t overly late?”
“Definitely not. We appreciate all the parents that get here on the dot, but we know life happens. About half of the class gets picked up closer to fifteen minutes after. Your few minutes was hardly anything, really don’t worry about it.”
Qin lets out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Okay, thank you.”
The teacher bows, hands pressed together in front of her and Qin bows in response, then they exchange brief goodbyes and head out.
Duang’s class was about halfway through and the three of them were working intently on the paintings in front of them. They were laser focused on the task at hand, paying no mind to anything but the brush on the canvas.
Duang tilted his head and lifted his shoulder to rub at an itch on his neck without breaking his flow. The action seemed inconsequential, a habit that was second nature, but it’s effect was immediate.
To his right, Pae’s back shot up straight, the omega reacting instinctively. He whipped his head to look over at Duang, and noticed what had forced a reaction out of him.
Barely visible above his high collar, the small transparent patch on the crook of his neck was rolled back, only half applied now.
Trying not to draw too much attention, he kicks a leg out toward Duang. When he doesn’t react, Pae picks up his spare paintbrush from his cup of water and chucks it at him.
This time, Duang jumps, not expecting the flying object, and looks up.
“Oii! What-”
Pae’s eyes went wide and he brought a finger up to his mouth to hush him.
Luckily, the three of them being noisy was nothing new, so no one in the classroom paid it any mind.
Unluckily, the unfamiliar scent of a deep roasted cocoa was beginning to cause a few students to look around.
Panicking, Pae shot up from his seat, cheeks slightly flushed, and said “Professor, Duang feels sick.”
Duang looks at him confused, but he steps behind him and pushes his head down while. Then, before grabbing Duang’s arm and pulling his hand up to his face, he looks over to Jamie with wide eyes and points at his neck, mouthing a quick “Scent patch!”
Luckily, their years of friendship seems to have turned into telepathy, as he seems to understand immediately.
Grabbing his bag and joining Pae behind Duang, he also places his hand on the back of Duang’s head to keep it down while simultaneously covering the rolled up patch.
To an outsider, it appeared like the two friends were comforting their sick friend as he was hunched over and covering his mouth.
“Pae and I are going to take him to the bathroom so he doesn’t throw up in here, we’ll be back!”
Grabbing a confused Duang’s shoulder, he pulls him up to stand and begins walking out the door.
Pae grabs Duang’s bag and his own from where they’re hooked on the easels, and follows quickly.
Qin and Dara are standing in the elevator and riding up to the fourth floor in silence.
While Qin encouraged his daughter to be outgoing and make friends, it was only natural that she took after her father in many ways, and her quietness was one of them.
Qin smiled down at the small girl holding his hand, her head barely reached his hip and her small arm was pulled upwards slightly in order to reach his.
“How was your day?”
She tilted her head up to look at him, bringing a small finger up to her chin as she thought. “Good!”
“Did you do anything fun?”
“Yes!”
“Like what?”
The toddler just shrugged before switching her attention to the bag Qin had slung over his shoulder.
Qin just laughed, this was usually how the conversation went, but he continued to ask everyday just to see how her answers change over time.
If there’s anything he had realized the past few years, it was how quickly everything changes, and he would be damned if he was caught up by that again.
When the elevator door opened, they stepped out and were met by a small older lady, their next door neighbor.
Qin and Dara both bring their hands up to greet her, “Hi Auntie Nat.”
“Well hello darlings, I saw you two while I was on my balcony, so I came to wait for you.”
Qin smiled at the woman, bowing again to show his gratitude.
“Thank you Auntie, I appreciate you always watching her when I still have classes.”
“Oh don’t worry about it darling. Dara is such a sweet little girl, I’m more than happy to watch her for a couple hours!”
Qin chest blooms with pride for his baby. He squats down to her height and holds his arms out.
“Give me a hug before you go hang out with grandma Nat.”
She steps forward and squeezes her father tightly before pulling back and kissing him on the cheek. Qin returns the kiss on her cheek and then she steps back and runs over to the older woman.
“I’ll be back in a couple hours baby, be good.”
The child just smiles widely at him and waves with her whole body swinging side to side.
Both of the adults chuckle at the little girl’s antics before Qin steps back into the elevator, and begins his trip back to the campus.
Jamie and Pae shove Duang into the bathroom and lock the door behind them after confirming it was empty.
“What the hell are you two-”
Duang yelps as Jamie rips something from his neck without any preface.
“Hey! What was that for?”
Duang watches as Pae digs through his bag, pulling out a small box that gave him an immediate understanding of the situation.
“Oh shit! Did my scent dampener come off?”
“Glad you finally realized.” Pae rolled his eyes as he took one of the patches out of the container and unwrapped it.
“You’re lucky we’re in that class or the whole class would know you’re a fake beta by now.”
Jamie’s already holding up his phone with the camera open when Pae hands the patch to Duang to apply, which Duang does swiftly.
When the patch is flat on his skin, him and Jamie let out soft sighs of relief, but Pae lets out a deep exhale. The two look over and notice how flushed he looks, the alpha’s suddenly released pheromones clearly having taken a toll on him.
“Shit, sorry man.” Duang reaches into Pae’s bag and pulls out the mini portable fan, flicking it on and pointing it at the omega.
Pae relaxes under the cool air. After a few minutes, when he finally feels like he’s back to normal, he throws a fake annoyed glare at his two friends.
“Why did I think it was a good idea to be friends with two unmated alphas?”
Jamie throws up his hands and smiles obnoxiously.
“Don’t blame me! You’re fine with my pheromones, you just can’t adapt to his.”
Pae mocks his words, repeating them in a high pitched voice. Jamie reaches over to mess up his hair in retaliation but the alpha stumbles forward as Pae ducks out of the way.
Duang laughs at the two’s bickering.
Jamie smirks before he continues, “Plus, you technically signed up to be friends with an alpha and a beta,” he drops his arm over Duang’s shoulder, “But our poor late bloomer friend was wrong on his guess.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha. Laugh all you want Jettana.” Duang tosses his arm off his shoulder and crosses his arms, indignant pout appearing as he spoke.
“It’s not my fault everyone always told me I was a total beta. What was I supposed to think? Am I to blame for not being alpha enough?”
He lowers his head, looking at the floor below him.
Jamie and Pae look at each other wearing matching worried glances. They briefly communicate through micro expressions and quick flicks of their heads, trying to gauge what’s going on.
Pae steps forward and both of them grab Duang’s arms as Jamie begins to speak.
“Duang. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to actually upset you.”
Duang lets out a hum of acknowledgment and a quiet “I know.”
The omega begins to pat his friends head and asks, “Are you okay Duang? You seem upset about something, usually this doesn’t bother you that much.”
When Duang looks up, his lips are pressed tightly and his eyes are slightly watery. Usually he would try to hide his sad look, never one to bring the mood down if he had a choice, but he knew his best friends would never judge him, so he opens up on his thoughts.
“It’s stupid, but I met this really beautiful omega on the way to class.”
He glances between the two and sees them nodding intently as he speaks.
“And I was just thinking about how it’s a real missed opportunity because I could never actually approach him like this.”
The omega in the room looks confused. Duang was a perfectly fine guy, in fact, he was a secret rare as far as his friends were concerned, so it didn’t make sense to them what he was saying.
“I mean like, what omega would want an alpha that lies and says they’re a beta? And even if they were okay with the lying, what omega wants an alpha that doesn’t know how to be an alpha?”
This wasn’t the first time Duang had voiced these concerns, but it was the first time in a while.
He was really concerned by things like this when he first had his surprise alpha presentation. No one around him expected it, and neither did he, so he was really distraught about living up to his alpha status.
That was when the idea had come up. Why not continue to live publicly as a beta until you build the confidence to wear your alpha status with pride?
But the years had come and gone, and the confidence never came.
Pae pulled him into a hug and Jamie wrapped his arms around the both of them as the omega spoke.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s 2026, no one cares about those stupid stereotypes anymore. People will love you for who you are, not what your gender is, no one sticks with the tradition anymore. If that was the case, all my exes would be alphas and all of Jamie’s would be omegas.”
His friend had a point, it’s not like any of them were very stereotypical anyways.
“Also, who the hell is saying you’re not alpha enough? I’ve never thought that about you once and I’d like to know who does.”
Jamie was nodding along to Pae’s mini speech before taking his turn to cheer up their friend.
“I’m sure whoever that omega was that has you all reminiscent would be overjoyed to have someone like you pursuing them, whether it’s as a beta or an alpha, hell even as an omega! You’re a great guy, screw all the expectations and stereotypes!”
Duang looks up at the taller alpha. “You really think so?”
They nod aggressively, “Really,” they say in unison.
“I swear that Pae and I will help you pursue this pretty omega and prove we’re right. We’re your certified wingmen!”
Pae nods and puts his hand up like he’s taking an oath. “I’ll do everything in my power!”
A single tear rolls down Duang’s cheek and he pouts dramatically. He’s really so grateful for his best friends and he can’t resist pulling them into another hug. The two feign resistance, acting disgusted at his affection, but they hardly fight it.
Pae tilts his head back and asks, “Who is the omega anyways?”
Duang stares blankly between the two of them and they stare back for several long seconds.
“I don’t know.”
“HUH?”
Duang throws his hand over both of their mouths to quiet them.
“Shhh!” He releases them, “I just saw him while I was walking to class, we were both clearly in a hurry so I didn’t talk to him.”
The two look unamused. “And how are we supposed to help you pursue someone none of us know?”
The alpha’s tone was lighthearted but judgmental.
Duang brings a hand up to scratch at the back of his tilted head and smiles widely. “We find him?”
They groan out loud, but nod, knowing they’d held him anyways.
The faux beta brings his hands up in a “Thank you” that the two dramatically accept before they step out of the bathroom.
Then Duang catches it. The faint scent of fresh mochi.
He whips his head to look in it’s direction and spots him, the beautiful omega, walking toward one of the lecture rooms with a guitar on his back and two friends next to him.
He quickly taps at both of his friends and points as subtly as possible.
“Guitar guy. That’s him. That’s the beautiful one I saw.”