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Seungcheol noticed it before Jeonghan did. In fact, the eldest is almost sure that the majority of his bandmates realized it before Jeonghan did. The omega can’t be blamed though; when your body is constantly letting out pheromones against your will that your own nose can’t really pick up, the people around you tend to have the upper hand on interpreting your emotions.
However, pheromones aside, Jeonghan made it pretty evident that he was feeling off. He had been acting out from the moment he woke up. His attitude started with him refusing to get out of bed, despite knowing his sleepiness could cause them to be late. He then nearly threw a fit when he and Soonyoung had to be seperated when they split into different cars based on their secondary gender, even that’s a common way they’re split up.
After he had to be scolded for goofing off during practice for the third time in twenty minutes, Seungcheol was determined to keep an eye on the omega for the rest of the day.
By the time the thirteen of them were ready to head back to the dorms, most of the alphas and some of the betas had an idea of what was ahead for the omega. He’d been clearly acting up all day, his smell souring significantly as the hours passed. He had many opportunities to ask for help or to talk to someone, but he seemed to think he could get through whatever this was alone.
They pile out of the cars one by one, most quietly muttering to eachother in the dim lights outside of the building. Jeonghan was noticeably antsy, waiting behind the others so he could walk next to Seungcheol. Whether it was subconscious or not, the omega always felt more comfortable with the alpha and tonight was no different. The first round of showers are already running by the time the two eldest enter the dorms and close the door behind them. Seungcheol leaves Jeonghan in favor of heading to the kitchen to finally eat a real meal. He hears the omega greet the others, and the alpha sighs.
“Do you think it’s preheat? Or just an off day?” Seungkwan, who Seungcheol hadn’t even noticed walk in the room, wonders out loud.
Seungcheol shrugs, “I’m not sure, hopefully once I get him settled he’ll open up.” Settling the omegas wasn’t a rare occurrence, nor was it a taboo topic amongst the members. There was something in omegas’ biology that made them easily wound up, needing to be stabilized again, usually at the hands of an alpha.
“It’s been a while since he’s gotten like this, huh?” Seungkwan asks the older alpha who nods in response. “well, the night’s not getting any younger. And you know he won’t go down easy.”
They all know how stubborn the eldest omega can be, even though he knows he needs it. Seungcheol knows the younger alpha is right and he stands up after finishing his glass of water, ready to find Jeonghan and deal with this before the omega’s behavior gets worse. His plan is to shower with the omega, which will hopefully relax him enough that the alpha won’t have to resort to a physical punishment to realign the younger. He knows Jeonghan hates being punished, he finds it embarrassing despite dealing with it since he presented when he was a teenager. Still, before they became a pack, the members had many long discussions about what the dynamics would look like, and the omega fully agreed to the traditional ways of discipline for omegas. He admitted that despite his complaints of it being embarrassing to be spanked or put in time out in front of his dongsaengs, that the added element of discomfort made it all the more satisfying when he was finally able to go under. Nothing drove him deeper into subspace than that, so the relief he felt afterwards was always worth it.
Seungcheol finds the omega sitting on his bed, Wonwoo, Mingyu and Jihoon hanging on the other bed, chatting with the omega. All four of their heads turn at the sound of the head alpha knocking on the doorframe, mainly alerting the omega of his presence.
“Hey Jeonghan, it’s our turn to shower.” Seungcheol starts casually, expecting resistance from the omega which he gets in the form of an eye roll.
“Come on, Han.” Seungcheol tries again, only to be met with complete silence this time. He sighs deeply, keeping his inner alpha in check despite being faced with such blatant defiance from his omega. He tries again, ever so patient with the younger, but Jeonghan seems to be set on using the silent treatment to get his way.
“Jeonghan-ah, there are other members waiting. It’s our turn, you need to ge-“ Seungcheol, and everyone else in the room quite frankly, is shocked when the omega cuts Seungcheol off.
“Maybe I don’t want to fucking shower, Cheol!” Jeonghan all but shouts at the alpha, finally turning his body to face him. Seungcheol knows the omega is reaching his breaking point, his face showing immediate hesitation as soon as the curse leaves his mouth.
“Yah! Jeonghan, language! Are you trying to be punished? Seungcheol almost can’t believe how bold Jeonghan is being, but then again this isn’t nearly as bad as he’s gotten in the past. Jeonghan may be an omega but he’s still one of the more feisty members. It’s one of the most charming things about him, Seungcheol thinks. But right now he’s just about as omega as he can be, looking up at the alpha while his face quickly reddens at the mention of being punished. He glances at the other members in the room who, for what it’s worth, are doing their best to ignore the present conversation. He knows they can all hear what’s going on, and the fact that they know he needs them in the room to go fully into his omega headspace makes his head start to feel fuzzy.
“No.” He says smartly, his inner omega whining, its desire to surrender growing stronger by the minute. It’s always hard to give in at first, his pride getting in the way of his instincts. He can smell his own scent souring, and he knows the alphas in the room have surely picked up on it too. He can’t help but squirm, his head getting foggier by the second as his instincts threaten to take over. Seungcheol can see the omega’s eyes start to lose focus, and then regain clarity a moment later as if the younger was fighting it. He asks for his color to which the omega replies with “green, I guess,” his final attempt at resisting his instinctual needs. The alpha gently takes Jeonghan’s chin in his hand at that, forcing the omega to look up at him.
“We don’t do ‘I guess’ in this, omega. What is your color?” He deliberately addresses Jeonghan by his subgender, and the effect is immediate. The omega lets out a high pitched whine from the back of his throat, his face reddening to a point where it feels hot to the touch. Seungcheol can see the internal battle finally end as Jeonghan’s eyes flash blue for a second, his shoulder sagging slightly as the fight leaves his body.
“Green, alpha.” Seungcheol internally sighs in relief.
The alpha releases his grip on the younger’s chin, moving up to stroke the back of his neck, “Good boy,” he repeats a few times, wanting to ensure that Jeonghan has an easy slip into subspace. Seungcheol takes the spot next to the younger on the bed, pulling him so most of his body is resting against the alpha, soaking up the relaxing pheromones the elder was putting out. After a few minutes of this, the quiet chatter of the three others lulling the omega into a relaxed state, Jeonghan finally speaks. He moves his head up from where it was resting next to Seungcheol’s scent gland, letting out an unconscious whimper at the sudden loss of the soothing scent, and looks up at the alpha.
“Alpha, can we shower now?” Jeonghan’s voice is so impossibly tiny that Seungcheol can’t help but coo. The omega’s eyes have completely glossed over, and he looks so vulnerable, Seungcheol feels an overwhelming need to protect and care for him. But something tells him the omega needs a proper spanking to feel settled tonight. His scent hasn’t changed much and he’s tensed up again slightly.
“Not yet, omega. Do you think you deserve to be punished after the way you acted today?” Seungcheol keeps his voice soft, letting out soothing pheromones to keep the younger calm.
The omega whines again loudly, enough to grab the attention of the three others across the room. Seungcheol catches Mingyu’s eye and the younger alpha sends him a soft smile. Jeonghan lets out another, quieter, whine at the loss of his alpha’s attention, and immediately Seungcheol’s eyes are back on him. The leader hears a faint chuckle coming from the other bed at the omega’s endearing actions.
“C-can you get Shua?” Jeonghan’s voice is getting softer by the second. If he’s going to get spanked, he at least wants his Joshuji with him. He used to be too embarrassed to have his same aged friend see him like that, but he soon realized having the comfort of his best friend was more important. And besides, Seungcheol was usually the alpha doing the punishing, and he was Jeonghan’s age too. There was nothing the omega could really do about it, but he didn’t find it too bad.
Seungcheol smiles down at him, pushing a strand of hair behind his ear as he nods, “Of course,” he looks up at the other bed, where only Jihoon and Mingyu are now, Wonwoo having just left for his turn in the shower.
“Will one of you get Joshua?” Jihoon looks up from his phone and nods, ruffling Jeonghan’s hair on his way out of the room. The door opens again in a second and Joshua walks in, shutting the door behind him. The omega reaches out for him and the American makes his way over in a flash, his hand finding the boy’s nape and stroking there.
“Hi, hyung.” Joshua speaks softly, not wanting to disturb the omega’s delicate mindset. Jeonghan practically purrs at the attention, his eyes closing as he shifts in Seungcheol’s lap.
“Alright Jeonghan, Joshua is here. Come on,” Seungcheol does his best to ignore the whine Jeonghan lets out at that.
The alpha positions them so Jeonghan is standing in between the elder’s legs, facing him. The omega uses one hand to grip onto Joshua’s, his other hand holding onto Seungcheol’s shoulder to keep stable. The alpha slips his hands beneath the waistband of the boy’s sweatpants, sliding them along with his boxers until they fall to the floor. Seungcheol rubs his hands up and down the sides of Jeonghan’s legs, hoping to comfort him a little bit. The omega shifts from one foot to the other, squirming now that his lower half is exposed to the cold air.
Seungcheol grabs his hips and gently guides him down so he’s laying flat over the alpha’s knees. Mingyu decides now is the best time to remind the omega of his presence, and he hops off the bed and crosses the room, sitting next to Seungcheol to be closer to Jeonghan. He pulls the omega’s head into his lap and strokes his hair, smiling softly when the elder purrs below him.
Seungcheol rubs the omega’s bottom, “Okay puppy, alpha’s going to spank you 10 times, okay?” Jeonghan nods, grunting a little bit in response.
Seungcheol continues, “Do you know why you’re getting punished?”
Jeonghan swallows thickly, turning his head in Mingyu’s lap to try to see Seungcheol better. His face is beet red, as expected, pupils blown out wide and the smallest amount of drool on his chin already.
“I was bad all day long, and I didn’t wan-wanna shower and I yelled and c-cursed at alpha.” The omega’s words are so quiet they’re barely understandable, but Seungcheol knows he tried his best. The alpha reaches over and pets the back of his head, rubbing his nape where he knows the boy likes it.
“Good job, omega. That’s right. Now, what’s your color?” Seungcheol’s hands find their way back to Jeonghan’s bottom, rubbing in circles to warm up the skin. When he hears the omega respond with “green”, he waits a few seconds before delivering the first three spanks in quick succession.
Jeonghan tenses up and lets out a loud yelp at the first smack, gripping tight onto Mingyu’s arms in front of him. Joshua has come up to sit on Seungcheol’s other side, gripping onto the omega’s ankles to keep him from thrashing completely out of the alpha’s lap. Seungcheol deals the next few spanks, the omega whining louder and louder as he goes. Mingyu has gone to leaning down to speak soft encouragements into the omega’s ear, still raking his hands through his hair when Jeonghan doesn’t have a death grip on them.
“Only a few more, okay puppy?” Seungcheol delivers the last spanks, making them a little lighter than the previous ones. His aim isn’t to hurt Jeonghan, just push him to a point where he can fully decompress. As the leader and head alpha, it’s his responsibility to make sure the omegas don’t get too wound up, for their own safety. An omega who goes too long without being properly settled is in far too vulnerable of a state to be going out in public, or doing anything safely really.
However, that doesn’t means it hurts any less seeing Jeonghan crying after something like this. He’s immediately scooped up, the three boys wrapping him up in between them. Seungcheol scoots back until his back hits the headboard of Jeonghan’s bed, and the four of them situate themselves there. Jeonghan doesn’t so much as lift his head from Seungcheol’s neck, the rest of them moving around him to make sure he’s the most comfortable he can be.
“Oh, omega, you did so well. You’re such a perfect omega, so good for us.” Seungcheol repeats these words like a mantra while rocking the omega back and forth in his lap. Jeonghan continues crying, letting out little sobs here and there that break the other’s hearts. Seungcheol leans down to scent him, not stopping until his neck is coated in the elder’s scent. Mingyu and Joshua both have their hands on him somewhere, rubbing soothing circles and whispering soft praises as well.
The leader reaches over to grab some previously stocked wipes and a water bottle on the bedside table. He gently takes Jeonghan’s face in his hands, wiping up the tears and drool covering most of his flushed skin.
Jeonghan’s scent has finally cleared up, now so sweet it’s almost sickening to the alphas, whose scent glands are the most sensitive out of the subgenders. The turnaround is exactly what Seungcheol was hoping for though, the instant and immense relief the omega would feel after a settling like this. By how sweet his scent is, the leader can tell the omega’s heat is probably a day or two away. Even better that this happened now, Jeonghan’s heat will go much smoother now that his headspace will be clear and clean.
The four of them are in their own little scent bubble; they don’t even notice the door opening and Wonwoo and Soonyoung walking in. Wonwoo taps Joshua on the shoulder, and the elder startles slightly before turning around and smiling at the alphas. The others have noticed their presence as well, however Jeonghan is back to being buried in Seungcheol’s chest.
“We’re just checking in, lots of whining and crying. How are you doing omega?” Wonwoo asks, his voice softening as he leans down to smile at the omega.
“Alpha~” Jeonghan purrs as Wonwoo rubs his hand against the omega’s scent gland. Almost immediately Jeonghan closes his eyes and rests his head back against Seungcheol, causing the rest of the members to chuckle at how cute their omega hyung is. After a few minutes it appears Jeonghan really is asleep, and Seungcheol debates just letting him sleep, but the omega still needs to shower. They practiced for hours today and the boy hates to go to sleep in sweaty clothes. Mingyu and Joshua leave to shower themselves, leaving Wonwoo and Soonyoung with the two eldest.
Seungcheol bounces Jeonghan gently, waking him up. “Come on Jeonghan, we still need to shower. Up we go.” Seungcheol stands up with the younger in his arms, the two other alphas in the room standing ready to assist if needed. Jeonghan clings to the leader, too sleepy to care what’s happening now. All he cares about is getting back into bed as soon as he can. The four of them leave the room, crossing the hallway towards the bathroom.
Seungkwan passes them, and he sends Seungcheol a smile. “So it was preheat huh?” Jeonghan’s scent is growing sweeter and stronger by the minute, it's clear he’ll be in heat within 24 hours. Seungcheol nods and Jeonghan hums, shifting a little in the alpha’s arms.
“I bet you feel so much better after that then, don’t you puppy?” Seungkwan asks softly, leaning forward and running a hand through Jeonghan’s hair. The omega nods against Seungcheol’s chest, his lips curving to form the sweetest, smallest little smile. Seungkwan chuckles softly, thinking how drastic the difference an omega’s behavior can be from before and after being settled. It’s amazing. The younger alpha sends well wishes to the rest of them and goes back to whatever he was doing before he got stopped by the cutest interruption possible.
Seungcheol places Jeonghan on the closed toilet seat, kissing his forehead before letting go of him to start the water. The omega lets out a keen when he loses contact with the alpha, and immediately Seungcheol latches back onto him, switching spots with him and pulling the younger into his lap. No alpha wants to hear their omega make a sound like that. With one look, Soonyoung starts the water and Wonwoo gets enough towels for them out of the cabinet. Seungcheol rocks the omega back and forth until he’s calm again, whispering praises in his ears to remind him that he’s a good omega.
Once the water is at a good temperature, Seungcheol stands up, sitting the omega back onto the toilet seat. He kneels in front of him, pulling the socks off his feet, giving his knee a kiss while he’s at it. That makes the omega let out a giggle, and Seungcheol’s heart flutters. The alpha stands again and gently pulls the shirt off Jeonghan’s upper body, leaving him completely bare and shivering. Wonwoo is waiting next to them to keep Jeonghan steady while Seungcheol strips to get in with the omega. This isn’t the first time they’ve done this, and although they only have two omegas in the group, nights like this occur more often than you’d expect. But with so many alphas and only two omegas, the two of them are always very well taken care of.
Seungcheol is ready quickly, and he takes Jeonghan back in his arms, leaving Wonwoo to get ready to shower with them. The head alpha leads the omega into the shower, keeping him out of the spray to prevent water getting into his eyes. He pushes the omega’s hair back, titling his head up a little to make eye contact.
“You’re really far under, aren’t you Jeonghannie?” Jeonghan can’t even seem to verbalize an answer for a minute, but then he’s distracted by the curtain pulling back and Wonwoo entering the shower. The younger alpha walks up and Jeonghan immediately presses his body up against him, purring loudly into his skin. The omega needs as much physical contact as possible during preheat, and it’s never anything sexual at this stage. He just wants to be close with the members, which is why they always try to end punishments with showers. It’s all connected, and since they’ve been doing this with him since they became a pack in 2015, they know his behavior and what he needs usually before he does.
They clean him and themselves quickly, Jeonghan basically dead weight at this point. Seungcheol turns the water off, and they step out to meet Soonyoung who’s waiting with a big fluffy towel for the omega. He steps into it and sighs softly, snuggling into himself. The two other boys dry themselves off quickly while Jeonghan is assisted by Soonyoung. In a minute, Seungcheol comes back to the omega and wraps him in his arms.
Jeonghan snuggles deeper into the alpha’s neck, “Thank you, alpha” He says with a sniffle. He does feel so much better, like his whole body is at peace now, whatever was inside of him that was so bent out of shape is finally relaxed.
Seungcheol rubs his back over the towel and kisses him on the forehead in response. This interaction is customary for the two of them by now, the same actions repeated every time Jeonghan is punished by the leader.
“Let’s get you dressed.” Seungcheol says, and Jeonghan immediately sticks his hand out for the alpha to hold.
They find their way to the elder’s room, and Seungcheol leads the younger to sit on his bed to wait while he gets dressed.
“Ow!” Jeonghan yelps once his bottom comes in contact with the bed. He completely forgot about his, now surely bruised, bottom.
“Oh, omega, I’m sorry. Here, lie on your belly.” Seungcheol pats the omega’s bare bottom once he does as he’s told, running out of the room to get some cream for the welts. He comes back in and smiles when he sees the omega in the same position, waiting obediently for him.
“Good boy, here, it might be a little cold.” Seungcheol gives him a few seconds to prepare before slathering it on the omega’s skin. The boy hisses quietly, whining more out of relief than out of pain. Seungcheol continues praising him until his whole bottom is covered and the cream is starting to soak in.
Jeonghan is getting sleepy again, his eyes drooping as his face is squished sideways on the bed. He’s mindlessly playing with a loose thread on the sheet, feeling like he’s melting into the bed as Seungcheol continues to rub the cream into his sore behind.
As he’s finally slipping into dreamland, the last thing he remembers hearing is Seungcheol’s soft voice wish him a goodnight.