Chapter Text
“You’re all set! Now all you’ll need to do is come back in a few weeks for your first round of medical exams.” The caretaker sitting at the front desk smiled up at Seonghwa. “Congratulations on your insemination ritual registration.”
The omega returned her smile with a lopsided quirk of the lips and a muttered “thanks”.
“Next in line, please!” she said, gaze still on Seonghwa, yet looking straight through him. He took it as his cue to leave, following the pale blue tiled flooring to the elevator. The line of other omegas his age curved around the corner of the hallway, each with a different expression on their face. Some happy, excited, and others serene, as if it was just a matter of course for their life’s timeline.
And it was, in a way.
“Seonghwa, do you want to stop by the cafeteria first before going back to the lounge?” his personal caretaker asked, sliding into step at his side. He shook his head.
“No thanks, Sooyeon. I was standing for so long, my legs are a bit tired.”
Sooyeon looked at him with an understanding smile and nodded, leaning forward to press the elevator call button. “It’s not every day that you get to see all the other omegas your age, though. Were you able to catch up with any of them? See any ex-classmates?”
Seonghwa chuckled, “Yeah, I did. But you know, everyone was so focused on the ritual and their prospective first mate, it was hard to actually reminisce.”
The elevator dinged, drawing their attention away. The silver doors opened and more omegas with their caretakers filed out, leaving the space empty for just the two of them. The back panel of the elevator was glass, opening up Seonghwa’s view to the grand scale of the omega facility. White-clad walls towered high above their heads, as far as the eye could see. Below, just a couple floors under the medical examination floor, was an indoor greenery. Seonghwa assumed nature on the outside looked similar, well-crafted and maintained in its lush green foliage, but it was impossible to know for sure.
“So what about you? Are you excited to see your list of mates?” Sooyeon asked once they were situated and ascending slowly.
Seonghwa tapped his forehead on the glass panel, eyes never leaving the tops of the canopy as it shrunk. “Who knows…”
His caretaker maintained her cheerful tone, used to her omega’s disinterest in conversation. “Well, I think you’ll have a good, long list to choose from. Your birthing charts were all top grade, I’m sure news of you have spread to even the richest families in the inner city. Oh—oh, wouldn’t that be so romantic? Having your first mating with a hero of humanity!”
“Yeah…”
Romantic. That was a word used a lot between the omegas just now.
”I can just envision seeing my alpha in person for the first time, our eyes locking. That will be so romantic!”
”Isn’t it totally romantic that so many alphas submit applications specifically to mate with you on your insemination ritual? How can I possibly choose, I want all of them!”
Seonghwa frowned, turning the word over in his mind. He had read about it in some of the surviving books from the last era. Love and romance were popular topics even back then, to the people who had no worries about repopulation and genetic superiority. But their ideas of romance were broader, in concepts that didn’t attach themselves to duty, to an inherent attraction of omega and alpha; instead, love bloomed through actions, the first brush of a hand, unexpected eye contact in a crowd.
The last era had no pheromones, no physical way of understanding why they were drawn to the people they mated with. They just did, and that was what Seonghwa decided was romantic.
The feeling of weightlessness subsided as the elevator came to a stop on a floor indistinguishable from the rest. They stepped out, Sooyeon quickly aligning her feet on the blue tiles that snaked around the floor, matching the shade of her uniform.
“You can go ahead to your room to rest. I’ll prepare you something light to eat. Oh, we also need to start planning your prenatal diet. The Hill put out a notice last month that our city rations of skeever meat are at an all time high, so more pregnant omegas are allowed to add it to their diet,” she said, almost doubly excited at the mention of the meat she had never tasted. “So much to think about! Seonghwa, you’re gonna be the happiest omega at the insemination ritual!”
Before he could really answer her, Sooyeon skipped off, following the trail of winding blue tiles with practiced precision. After all, all caretakers were trained to stay on the line when in omega living spaces, and she had been attending to Seonghwa since they were both pups. She could dance around the entire facility with her eyes closed if she wanted.
Suddenly alone, but more thankful than ever at the fact, Seonghwa tiredly dragged his feet down the hallway to his room. There really was too much to think about, and starting this chapter of his life became a weight on his shoulders that he couldn’t shake off even if he tried.
The white walls seemed to stretch on for miles, only broken up by the sliding doors to each omega’s bedroom. It was dull and boring and monotonous, but it was all Seonghwa knew. Rather, it was all any omega in the facility knew. The world outside was lawless and wicked, not fit for the precious subgender that would save humanity to wander around.
As he walked through the quiet hall, passing the gossiping pairs of omegas that littered the space, he thought about a lot of things. Mainly, his duty. All of society’s duties.
Earth was once a peaceful, abundant place that welcomed life, evolution, development…Back in the pre-modern calendar system, the year 2150 had been humanity’s greatest. The age of scientific ingenuity was here, all wars ceasing thanks to the Conglomerate Faction’s creation. Countries, states, monarchies, unions–everything had become one under the Conglomerate and the SDG extension goals were met bit by bit. World hunger was eradicated, jobs became abundant for all walks of life, class systems evened out, genetic diversity changed to genetic reclamation, and the population rose to 13 billion. It had been perfect.
And then it wasn’t.
Seonghwa had read about this in a history book produced by the Hill, shelved in the corner of the communal library. By 2200, that garden of Eden utopia became too hard to manage. To ensure the world population had rations to eat, the poultry industry began cutting into the caged hen numbers and using them for meat, dwindling the output of eggs and new chicks at an astonishing rate. The oceans were fished for every last drop, clearing everything from the deepest blue whales to the surface sand fleas. Cows, horses, sheep, goats, and anything with red flesh soon followed. Until nothing was left.
In 2210, the Conglomerate deemed the situation irredeemable. Relocating to space was no longer on the table, either, considering rations were scarce even for the top brass. They would all die by February of the following year, scientists calculated. And so, a drug was put into production.
The alpha gene.
Taking the strongest males with the best genetic synchronicity, they planned to develop a superhuman race. A body that could nourish itself and run off of limited calorie intake, permanent muscle maintenance, and a brain that could use 3% more function. If nature failed humans, then technology never would, and those last era humans began their forced evolution.
The book had said as much, leaving a message in the last paragraph of the article that etched into every reader’s memory.
This was not the apocalypse. This was humanity’s greatest invention yet.
Seonghwa punched in the serial code to his room and let the door slide open. The air conditioning hit him in full blast, a remnant of his night routine that he didn’t have time to re-adjust before the radio announcement came in for omegas on the Z-98 floor to report to the medical floor.
In stark contrast to the plain whiteness of the outside, inside his room felt like home. All four walls were doused in a light pink, with polaroids, fairy lights, and plastic plants hanging in organized clumps. His bed, as all omegas were given per their unique nesting traits, was a large circular mattress with raised edges, allowing for a multitude of pillows and blankets to spill around the space without falling off. He gratefully fell into its warm embrace.
The omega subgender was an afterthought in the process of humanity’s rise over nature. The first generation of alpha gene users held enough of their previous functions to birth children, who by the luck of science, were also birthed with the alpha gene. It wasn’t until these first children grew up to produce children of their own that the abnormal side effects began to show. After all, the drug was developed in haste with no rounds of substantial testing before it was implemented. The cracks started to show.
These new superhumans…were almost 90% infertile.
By the time the second generation had reached their 20s, the world population had dropped to a staggering 7 billion. Almost half of the entirety of humanity, gone. But scientists were delirious with finding a solution to the infertility problem, taking their additional bought time to produce multiple trials and variations. It was then, 15 years later, with the population lingering above the 4 billion mark, that the next series of drugs were released to anyone with the money.
Alpha. Beta. Omega.
Three new shots that would each channel different traits and specialties into the superhuman body. Society still needed laborers, not everyone could return their fertility level to solid percentages, and so sacrifices had to be made. The alpha subgender pushed a step forward in their brawn, heightening their 5 senses to almost animalistic precision, all at the expense of a near 95% infertility rate. Betas, on the other hand, maintained their physique to handle the harsher environment, but instead specialized in brain capacity. This option was developed for the ensurement of science in the future, and not many normal citizens opted for the shot.
Omegas, lastly, were the ultimate solution to the fertility problem. With a whopping 99% fertility rate, this subgender became walking gods among men. Both male and female omegas born in subsequent generations would grow a uterus, able to birth despite the outer appendages they carried. No other scientific feat in history would be able to rival the production of the alpha gene and the omega subgender. Even now, in Seonghwa’s time 300 years into the future, that fact never once wavered.
It was his duty to birth, be impregnated over and over in his lifetime, all to one day restore humanity to what it once was.
Not long after he settled into his nest, a knock came at his door. Sooyeon must have brought the food. Too lazy to stand, he leaned over to grab the remote control at his bedside and pinged the door open, revealing his caretaker with a tray full of small dishes.
“Thanks, I was just thinking how I’d be able to balance the food while unlocking the door,” she said as she rolled in, walking freely now that the tiling gradiented into a solid blue.
“How did you knock then?” Seonghwa raised an eyebrow, sitting up to meet her halfway when she set the tray down on the rim of his mattress.
“Foot.”
“Ah.”
“I was chatting with the other girls in the breakroom, guess what they said!” she squealed while placing a spoon in the omega’s hand. “You know how a few years ago, they experimented by letting some insemination ritual participants take their omega home with them? Well, it turns out they interviewed the omegas and found that the satisfaction rate was more than enough to rerun the trial for this year!”
Seonghwa reached for the bowl of warm soup, stirring the cabbage through the clear broth. “That’s great, everyone was worried the outside city would be too much for them.”
“Yes, yes, turns out, the mate they went home with made sure their living quarters were up to the standards of the facility. Two of them who live in the inner circle even have a window in their room!” Sooyeon placed a hand over her heart, feigning a swoon. “Romantic, isn’t it? So Seonghwa! Isn’t this an amazing chance for you?!”
He calmly looked up from his soup, light green eyes scanning her blushing cheeks. “You know, for a beta, you almost act like it’s you participating in the ritual in a few months.” The girl huffed and crossed her arms at his dull reaction.
“I’m excited for you, since you never show interest in all the great opportunities given to you.” She thinned her lips in mock annoyance. “Your genes are strong for an omega, taller than average, definitely prettier than average, and you were a top student. You think an omega like that isn’t the desire of all alphas? Just you wait, you’ll be flipping through your mate applications and every single one of them will be a city hero ready and willing to take you home!”
“I doubt it. Who would want to settle with one omega, when they could just keep applying every few years to get the freshest batch? It’s not like their families particularly need their birth mother around.”
Sooyeon looked a bit frazzled at his wording, calling other omegas younger than him the “freshest batch”.
“Seonghwa…you really believe that?”
Shoot. He didn’t mean to say it with that implication. But it was true that he felt a certain way about the system, one that he really should not have given that he’d seen first hand how effective it was. The textbooks, the data–they all pointed to how perfected the current facility operated, how ingenious the insemination ritual was to provide every citizen in their city a chance to have children.
But it was all devoid of emotion, devoid of the romance everyone so adamantly claimed it had.
He was a cog in the machine. It didn’t matter if he was offered a better life by being moved from one cage to the next. That was all an omega was supposed to be, a cog.
He shook his head, moving to awkwardly take a bite of a potato wedge. “No, sorry. I think I’m just tired. It’s already time for my afternoon nap, anyway, so I’m a little bit out of it.”
She studied him for a while longer before sighing, dropping the tray off on the table and wiping her hands. “If you say so. I just…want you to be happy, Hwa. You know that.”
“I do.” He felt a pang of guilt.
They knew each other like the back of their hands, so it was no use hiding anything. Still, certain things were better left unsaid.
“I heard an omega from floor W-99 was looking for you. Should I let him know you’re going to rest?” Sooyeon graciously dropped the topic, preparing to leave.
Seonghwa looked up at that, curious. An omega from W-99? That was a floor above him, and he really only knew a few omegas by name if they attended the same classes during their schooling years. There was only one person he could think of, and his heart suddenly jumped in excitement.
His Sangie!
“Wait, I’d like to meet him today. If you see his caretaker, please tell him to meet me in the greenery in two hours.”
She gave a nod and a sound of affirmation before shutting off the main light of the room and slipping out, mumbling something about how his sparkling eyes don’t hide a thing.
Finally done with his meal, Seonghwa placed the dishes onto the tray and lay back into his nest. Hugging a long throw pillow over his chest, he stared up at the ceiling, no longer able to think too hard as the weight of exhaustion washed over him.
He signed up for the insemination ritual today, a flick of a pen that sealed his fate. Although it was a registration of free will, the world expected it of omegas and they were raised to believe as such, so it was more of a formality than anything. In a few months, he’d be transferred down into the mating ward and induced with his first dose of anti-pheromone blocker. And then, under the invisible watch of caretakers, the mate of his choosing would walk into the room and he’d inhale pheromones for the first time, causing the biological response known as “heat”.
He would be bred, and then he would give birth. His entrance into adulthood.
Back in his schooling days, his initial reaction was aversion, disgusted at how his peers shook with anticipation. They were just pups themselves, but already dreaming of the pups they’d bear. And sure, when they took their field trip up to the baby care ward and saw those little worms swaddled in blankets, Seonghwa had the instinctual kick of motherly love, but his longing for his own body’s agency struck him even harder. He wanted none of this.
But now, nearing the age of 21 and finally closing the chapter of his adolescence, all he felt was a dull, buzzing numbness. He was tired. There was no point in resisting the inevitable.
And with those emotions brewing in his chest, he drifted off into sleep.
~~~~~~
The facility’s greenery was modeled after parks in the last era. It spanned the entire lower floor of the building, open and breathable in the center of the octagonal structure. Although the biological diversity was minimal between the plants it offered–only species taken from the outside environment that remained safe–it still held an enchanting beauty that came in waves per season.
It was the one place Seonghwa felt like he wasn’t in a cage. It had gotten a bit warmer in recent months, and the blueflags were in full bloom across the grass, mottled purple and white heads swaying in the artificial breeze. The canopy stood firm and tall above his head, sparse, but welcoming as it covered the incessant white of the floors above.
“Good afternoon,” called a sweet voice from afar as Seonghwa walked across the pebbled pathway. Yeosang’s bright figure sat on a bench, looking almost like a statue in the way his pale skin caught the dappled light.
“Sangie,” Seonghwa greeted, walking over to him. “I heard you were looking for me, what’s up?”
They came into a hug naturally. It had been a few weeks since they last met up despite the ample free time allotted to them each day. Most omegas of different floors never mingled unless in school or at special events organized by the caretakers. By chance, they had met in classes and despite their year age difference, took to each other like magnets.
“Nothing urgent, I just wanted to chat now that life’s catching up to you,” Yeo said into his shoulder, muffled through the mixture of their hair. Seonghwa flinched before pulling back with a smile.
“That’s true, you must’ve been able to hear the noise of all the omegas on my floor heading to the registration today. So, you only remember your hyung when something big happens, huh?”
Yeo pouted at the accusation, “N-no! I always think about you, it’s just that I can’t convince my caretaker to grant a visit often…” Seonghwa grinned and ruffled his hair before helping him smooth it back out.
“I know, I’m just joking. When I heard that you asked for me, my mood lifted more than you can imagine. Today was draining, to say the least.” Seonghwa moved to sit down on the bench, taking in a deep breath of the slightly humid and warm air. With his eyes closed, he could almost envision himself outside in the sun-kissed fields he would never know.
The omega next to him shifted to touch the tips of their knees together. “I wanted to ask you about that. You’re finally turning twenty-one in a few months, just the right age for the ritual. I’d ask you about the process, but I still have over a year to go until my turn. Just tell me anything–how you’re feeling about it, or…whatever comes to your mind.”
Seonghwa…really didn’t want to discuss this matter more than he already had been mulling it over in his head.
He sighed, a quiet exhale that did nothing to self-soothe, but he figured this conversation would become an inevitable repetition in these next few months. “I’m…curious to see who will apply for me, I guess?” He started off with the hottest topic among other omegas. “From tomorrow, they’ll begin sending my information out to shortlisted participants. I should be getting the applications back sometime within the next two weeks.”
“That’s exciting! I can already tell that you’ll be this year’s most sought after pick,” Yeosang nodded, looking proud and haughty over his friend’s potential as if it were his own. Perhaps any other omega would feel flattered at those words, but not Seonghwa, and it was hard to pretend he was.
“Maybe you'll connect so well with the alpha that you end up having twins! Or triplets!” the younger continued, lost in his imagination and glee.
“Sangie, I—” don't want that. Seonghwa bit his tongue before it was too late, swallowing the words he was about to confess.
He couldn’t say that he loathed the future to come; admitting such was practically going against the government and society as a whole. But most of all, he knew that Yeosang desperately wanted to start a family of his own, to be pregnant with his own flesh and blood pups. He had said as much throughout their time together in school, starry-eyed and convinced that eating all of the tasteless potato mash at lunchtime would help him grow up faster.
He couldn’t sour the idea for him, not with his own issues.
“I…want to take a walk around the garden, if you’ll join me.”
Yeosang settled down from his high, but the excitement lingered in his tone when he agreed to the request. “Sorry, getting ahead of myself. Let's go for that walk.”
Seonghwa stood numbly as he marinated in his uneasiness, feeling always a little off-balance these days.
They both sauntered through the pathway just wide enough for two, silence falling between them.
The greenery had different sections; the “outdoor” section with the flower field in the middle, and a large looping walkway that toured through various man-made terrains to reflect the once widely explored earthly biomes. The path they walked led them through East Asia’s bamboo forests, feather-shaped leaves making a light crunch under their boots. It was their only source of mental getaway, to feel like they weren't living in an age of apocalypse when the white walls began to bear down on them. And it was Seonghwa's favorite place.
“It just doesn’t feel real to me yet,” Seonghwa said after feeling awkwardness creep into their prolonged silence, “that I’ll be moved out of my room soon. I don’t think I’ll ever get the chance to see it again, not while in the pregnancy unit, at least.”
“Mmm, I didn’t think about that. I know we’re so used to packing up and moving floors every year, but this time you’ll be going to a completely different wing of the facility…I’ll be lonely,” Yeosang turned to him, seeking comfort in the other by coiling their hands together.
In truth, he didn’t hold much attachment to the room he was currently in. After all, once the insemination ritual participants left their floor, the rest of the floors above would transfer one down. It was more of the familiarity of routine that he’d miss, that there was an expected and calculated outcome every turn of the year. That he knew Yeosang was somewhere near, just above his head when he had insomnia and stared up at the ceiling for hours.
And as much as Yeosang was the clingy type, Seonghwa in turn greedily absorbed his shared warmth.
“I’ll miss you more than you will ever know,” he whispered, just for the two of them to hear in the expanse of forest.
The conversation had naturally trailed away from the day's main event, much to Seonghwa’s relief. “Speaking of which, will you be working in the kitchens again next year?”
Yeosang thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. “No, you heard about the excess skeever meat in the stock house, right? They're gonna employ alphas and betas to accurately distribute the cuts so more people can have it.”
“You mean they kicked your division out of the process?”
“Yeah. But I don't mind it. No more stinky day shifts chopping bones to stew. You know that I'd get back to my floor and have to sprint to the bath before the smell could fester in my room? Unbelievable!” Yeosang mimed ripping his clothes away as if they were coated in the unique musk of raw skeever meat.
Seonghwa laughed at the image fueled by the younger's gesticulations. Working in the food storage division was one of the higher status jobs an omega could be placed in, but it would also come with its demerits, it seemed.
“Then I'm glad, no more of that for you. Did they say where you'd be moved to then?”
“Not yet, but I'm assuming something in the fabrics division.”
“I was in the fabrics division a few years ago,” Seonghwa mused, recalling the calluses that littered his fingers and palms back then, “it's not hard work, but tedious. Gives you lots of time to chat with your teammates, at least.”
Yeosang's pretty laugh echoed between the bamboo shoots. “You say that, but you're definitely not one to make small talk.” Seonghwa's expression softened and he gave the other's hand a squeeze.
“I said it gives you the option to, not that I did.”
Now that they had shifted to a more mundane topic, Seonghwa's nerves eased rapidly. It was the closest the buzzing of a million thoughts came to a full stop, and he could almost breathe again, ignoring the pit in his stomach in exchange for taking in the beauty of the greenery and the younger omega’s company.
He was thankful that Yeosang called him out today. No matter the circumstance, the younger always had a knack for reading Seonghwa’s mood, even if he wasn’t physically around to see it. It was like he had some sort of telepathy, but he never showed it in conversation. Instead, he’d simply always be there when Seonghwa needed him most.
The bamboo walk was a short one, and the neatly trimmed sprouts dispersed to allow for the next biome to meet at its edge. They walked into the flatlands of their home terrain, pools of water trickling through carved streambeds between their footings. The city they belonged to was set in the steppes of Old Kazakhstan, just a few miles north of the abandoned metropolis of Almaty. Perhaps the Hill wanted omegas to have a sense of belonging with the rest of the city, and established a mimicry of the outside scenery for them to associate with home.
To Seonghwa, it was more beautiful in a sense that it was true to reality compared to all the other biomes on display. And in the same vein, it was more tragic.
There wasn’t much there at all, except for low-lying grassland that lit up the indoor space in a golden hue. The pathway softened as the stone slabs transitioned into dirt and baby fluffs of grass tickled at their ankles. Seonghwa liked it a lot. If there weren’t cameras watching from every angle, he would have slipped off his boots to cop a feel of the world in its natural state.
“I’m glad we got to hang out,” Yeosang piped up after their conversation lulled, not looking away from the swaying grass in front of him. Seonghwa followed his gaze out into the field.
“Yeah,” he said, tapping his thumb on the back of Yeosang’s hand from where they were connected. “Me too.”
And if there was ever one thing he couldn’t force himself to lie about, it was how important the younger omega was to him.
~~~~~~
The applicant list arrived at his door earlier than expected.
Sooyeon tapped the back of her pen on the clipboard, then passed them both to the resting omega. A week had passed since the registration; Seonghwa knew this moment would happen sometime earlier rather than later, he just didn’t expect this soon, and he sat up with difficulty.
“I briefly looked over it, you’ve got twenty of the city’s highest ranking officials in there,” she said. That made him falter for a moment before accepting the list, fingers hesitant to even flip open the first page.
“Out of how many overall?” The booklet was quite hefty.
“Fourty, give or take. It was heavily monitored and reduced from all the applicants.” Sooyeon thinned her lips into a straight line, the light form of a dimple appearing on her left cheek. “Surprisingly, you came in second among the most requested. Another omega half a year older than you accepted well over fifty.”
But Seonghwa didn’t process her words, too tunnel-visioned in on the front cover page lifting ever slowly to reveal the first applicant. Within this book, he would be allowed to check off a single alpha, and they would become his first mate. It was, perhaps, the only real choice an omega was offered in the process of the insemination ritual.
“Do you want me in here with you while you look through that, or should I wait outside?” His caretaker had the understanding that this was a very personal moment, but Seonghwa shook his head.
“No…stay here with me, please.” His tongue felt dry and heavy in his mouth.
His eyes scanned the first alpha’s picture, a formal headshot in black and white with his name etched in clean bold letters underneath. Just below came a bullet-point paragraph detailing his attributes, genetic lineage, and worth in society. As if to make it an easier visual for the omega, the profile gratefully added a star chart with 5 stars for each category.
But Seonghwa didn’t read any of it. The urging in his mind had already told him to move on, not even give this application the time of day, as if his subgender could tell from a glance that he was unsatisfactory. And that made his rational mind feel sick.
The next few applications were skipped in quick succession, regardless of the star chart indicating their value as prospective mates. Sooyeon looked up from her tablet at that, hearing the flick of paper echo too quickly in the otherwise silent room. “Are you even reading them?”
“Not really,” Seonghwa admitted, continuing to flip as his subconscious directed. The caretaker sighed.
“I knew this would happen,” she said, “but sure, you have the rest of the week to run through it over and over until you find someone. Just…take a glance at the heroes, okay?”
That made Seonghwa look up. “There’s heroes in here?”
“At least three. I told you there were the top alphas in there earlier, remember? Some of them are military.”
Humanity’s heroes–a title worn only by the strongest and most decorated military alphas in the city. It wasn’t something to take lightly, either. In a world where plants doubled in toxicity and the remaining animals tripled in size and deadliness, a hero was someone who fought against those odds and came out on top.
There was an ever-present need to defend the city from rising herd populations, and there would always be alphas who fought to protect the common folk to their death out there. Seonghwa had learned about the different species and flora just outside of the city walls in classes; the great armadillo being the one that, once slaughtered, immediately rewarded an alpha with the title of hero. Armadilloes of the past were small, timid creatures that evolved a thick shell for protection. That was no longer the case in their era. Instead, they could grow to the size of a teenage human and held a violent aloofness when their territory was encroached on. They also moved in herds wherever the terrain held resources, which just so coincided with where the city’s activities were.
Great armadillo leather had passed through the fabrics division a few times when Seonghwa worked there. They could be made into armor or specialized clothes, but the production process to wear down the solid bonds into bendable material was grueling. Many omegas had to take rest days after working with the material, and he had been no different after he finished sewing a backplate into a jacket.
There was always a sense of disbelief that an alpha could take a monster like that down, so seeing it in person created a sense of disparity between the subgenders—an omega like him wouldn’t even dream of such a feat.
And those exact alphas, according to Sooyeon, were vying to mate with Seonghwa?
He returned to flipping through the booklet, now with a keener eye to the words written in blurbs. Alpha farmer (two stars). Alpha guard trainer (four stars). Alpha food processor (one star).
Alpha hero (five stars).
Seonghwa felt the air leave his body. The paper suddenly felt like weights in his hands and he gripped it with extra force to steady the trembling.
Name: Choi Jongpyo
Age: 49
Position: Military 1st division, rank 4
- Patriarch of the Choi family of the inner circle
- On record, he is credited for slaying 7 great armadillo
- Has 6 children, all above the age of 10
- Interested in taking omega Seonghwa home with him
He didn’t know which piece of information to linger on, what with each bullet point stabbing another hole in his lungs until he could hardly breathe. This was a bigwig, perhaps one of the most important people in the entire city outside of the Hill. And he wanted to claim Seonghwa as his personal omega to carry his children forever.
The blood flowing through his veins seemed to still, then reverse its route back into his heart, leaving frost on each of his limbs. He knew what life he’d live if he accepted this hero. A miserable one. An alpha with such an ego would surely intend on having as many pups as possible to carry out his bloodline, and he would have naturally been aware of Seonghwa’s own genetic making when selecting for an omega.
In the rules of applying for a child within the city, one could not submit an application two years in a row; there was a gap of minimum three years to retain fairness and provide postnatal omegas a recovery period.
If Seonghwa went home with him, those rules could not be enforced.
Without fully registering his body’s actions, the pen came down and scribbled a sharp X over the box that denied the application. Then he ran over the lines a few more times until his answer could be seen with a passing glance.
“Seonghwa?” came Sooyeon’s voice, concern fraying the edges.
“Nothing, it’s fine.” He turned the page, momentarily closing his shaking eyelids before facing the next applicant.
Over the course of the booklet, two more heroes appeared, and Seonghwa’s shoulders tightened an impossible amount. The tension there sitting in pools that would leave knots when he came down from his panic, a painful physical manifestation of the turmoil under his skin. He flipped and flipped, crossing off name after name until he turned the page again and found the clean brown surface of the clipboard.
“....”
That was it. He knew his rational mind wouldn't sway, but there was not even a single alpha his subgender yearned for.
Bile threatened to spill from that realization and he tossed the clipboard to the ground like it burned him. Sooyeon startled up from her chair and ran to him, patting his heaving back as he hunched forward in pain.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Shhh, it’s okay…” she pressed her palm between his shoulder blades and thumped it rhythmically, guiding him to follow her timing with his inhales. “Don’t look at that anymore. You’re all right. Do you want me to run a bath for you?”
Seonghwa coughed his way through some sobs and let himself fall into her embrace. “I just want to be a beta—” He fought the tears from spilling, but it was past the point of overwhelming. He was losing himself. “I just–just want to live freely. I don’t want a mate!”
His body jolted as his screams tore out of his throat with abandon. “I don’t want to have pups forced into me!”
Hands came over his mouth, cupping his cheeks and steadying his head from lashing around. “I know, Hwa. I know it’s been so hard on you—I should never have let it come to this when I knew how you felt.” Sooyeon almost sounded as frantic as him. “But you need to listen to me right now, it’s not safe for you to say those things so loudly. You need to get a hold of yourself and stay with me, okay? Stay with me.”
The omega couldn’t respond, only let out a wail so harrowing and sad that it broke her heart.
“I know, Seonghwa,” she repeated, and she would continue to repeat it infinitely if it could take away some of his pain, “I know.”
…
It took the full turning of the long hand on the wall clock and the steamy water of a scented bath to calm him back into his body. All he felt when he returned was a bone-deep exhaustion. He raised his hands from the water, now pruned from the length of time he sat in the tub, just watching droplets escape back into their home below.
It was so much harder to come to terms with the reality he had desperately denied in his head when the cogs began turning, making use of his birth within the community as his subgender was created to. There were only five weeks left until the ritual. Each second passing until that singular dreaded moment fell in tandem with the water droplets in his hands, and Seonghwa was powerless to stop it.
“I’m coming in with a towel.” Sooyeon rapped at the door. “I would like to talk with you about it, but you’re scheduled to go to the medical floor for your exam soon.”
Seonghwa lifted his head to the door slowly, not even bothering to brush away the heavy lengths of black hair as they clung to his jaw and neck. The sight Sooyeon walked into was less than ideal, with her eyes meeting his bloodshot ones.
Wordlessly, she unfolded the towel in her hands and held it out. He cooperated and stepped out from the tub, letting himself be wrapped in the soft fabric like a hug.
“I did my best to push your appointment until their last slot for the day, but I’m afraid this isn’t something you can skip out on for the time being,” she explained, tucking the corner of the towel in place to keep it from falling. She moved to attend to his hair next, and he just stood there, taller than her by a head, empty.
“They’re going to check your blood content levels and then inject the monitor chip all in one go. It’ll just be two or three minutes. Then we’ll come right back here and you can rest,” she went on. “Can you be strong for me for just a few minutes, Hwa?”
He didn’t reply. He didn’t have to, because it was just another illusion of choice. No one in the system would take no for an answer.
He got dressed in his plain white shirt and pants, both a loose and breathable fabric. It felt like nothing over his naked body, hiding none of his soft points. And then, when his caretaker deemed him presentable enough, they left the room.
The medical floor was nearly emptied out by the time they arrived. All omegas who had signed up for the insemination ritual were to have full body check ups. In the past, it would involve multiple rounds of testing and blood work, but with a new invention, those tests were eliminated altogether. The health chip was a tiny metal machine that monitored every necessary vital and relayed it in real time to the medical archive.
All Seonghwa had to do was sign in, follow the caretaker to the back, and get the chip injection.
“Will you be okay? I can go with you—”
“I'll do it as it's usually done.” Seonghwa cut her worrying off, too tired to placate her. “Just wait for me here.”
Sooyeon looked at him for a while then relented. “I'll be right outside.”
He walked over to the front desk and filled out his name in the sheet left on the counter top. The caretaker behind the desk looked him up and down but chose not to comment on his appearance, just collected the form and typed at his computer for a while.
“You're due for a chip today and a physical at the end of the week,” he said, standing and ushering Seonghwa to follow. “The healing process will change depending on where you'd like the implant. For shoulders and thighs, it'll take three days with minimal bruising. Wrist and neck will be slightly longer from bruising, but the tenderness will fade quickly.”
Seonghwa thought for a second. “On the wrist, then.” The caretaker nodded and checked a box on the form.
They arrived at a corner room and Seonghwa sat on the exam table while the caretaker busied himself with prep. The air was colder there, as if biting at his skin. His hair hadn’t fully dried yet, and he could feel the damp roots at his scalp stealing his heat.
“Here you go. I’m going to rub some alcohol over the area to clean it, then you’ll feel a slight pinch when it goes in.”
“Thank you,” he said numbly. His eyes still held the reflection of the bathwater around him, his hands up and the drip, drip, drip of his last free moments slipping by. And then, in a flash, the injection was over. He didn’t realize the needle even touched his wrist yet by the time the bandage was wrapped around it.
“All done. Now, I’m going to activate it, and you’ll notice a faint glowing blue light. That’s how we know it’s working properly. If it turns red, please inform your caretaker immediately,” the beta said robotically, as if he had said the same line a thousand times that day.
Just as his words fell, Seonghwa looked down to examine his pale wrist. One blink. Two blinks. And then a steady blue light about the size of a bead sat under the layers of flesh. He felt sick again.
“May I leave?” he whispered, no longer able to tear his eyes from the horrible sight. He ran a finger over it, pressed down until the crescent of his nail indented his skin, but the light remained. Fighting nausea, he stood with a wobbly gait and made his way back to the front, not waiting for the caretaker’s assent.
Sooyeon stood waiting for him with her back nestled right up against the corridor wall. The whole floor was tinted blue, but perhaps she was also feeling a little overwhelmed, needing the familiarity of her daily routine to keep her grounded. When she saw him emerge, she jumped up and rushed to his side.
“Did it go well?” She scanned his neck before dropping her gaze to his bandaged wrist. “Oh, so you chose to get it there.” Her chewed bottom lip thinned as she held back a comment on the placement, but Seonghwa could see right through her.
Why there, where you will be constantly reminded of it?
He didn’t have an answer for his decision, either. It had just felt right. It would mock him for the rest of his life, but at least it was his choice to put it there.
“Let’s go back up.” He feigned ignorance to her burning eyes, taking the lead to trudge towards the elevator.
He wanted the day to be over.
“Seonghwa…do you think…you’d be happier–no, nevermind. Forget I said anything.” Sooyeon forced a smile onto her face when they arrived at his room. “Thank you for pushing through. I’ll bring you dinner in a few hours.” And with that, she turned off the main ceiling light and left the omega to his devices.
~~~~~~
“Do you think—” Yeosang looked up from the book he was idly flipping through. “there are other cities with different omega care systems?”
Seonghwa was just wondering mindlessly out loud, not really thinking about what he was saying until he noticed his younger friend tilt his head.
His condition had improved significantly since he last saw the application booklet, a few days passing uneventfully. In that time, though, he had cooped up in his room for so long that Sooyeon demanded he go out and interact with other omegas. So there the two were, loitering around the open library space.
“You mean, how they live within society?” Yeosang asked.
Seonghwa shrugged and leaned back onto the beanbag, sinking into the sand with a soothing crunch. “I guess. They never really explained it much, and there’s not really any resources about other cities in the books here, so…just musing. Are we really doing everything the right way?–and all that.”
His fingers unconsciously came up to brush over the patch of skin that glowed blue.
Yeosang scrunched his lips in thought, the long strands of chestnut brown hair sweeping over his cheeks. “I mean, I’d say we have it pretty good here. I can’t really picture another civilization that would treat omegas as anything less than the future of their children. Maybe in other regions they hold different traditions, but you can’t really say one is more correct than the other.”
Right to the point, sound reasoning. It was such a Yeosang answer.
Seonghwa sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He reached up to run a finger over the spines of books, stopping randomly to pull one from the shelf. He didn’t really intend on reading it, as he had pretty much read every book in the library over the years, but he paused as his eyes registered the cover’s title.
On the Superhuman Oddities, Those Who Refused the 2nd Shot (circa 2245)
He blinked, suddenly piqued in interest, and he thumbed through some of the early pages.
It was about the evolution of the human race, their first ancestors with the alpha gene and the subsequent invention of the subgender shot. It relayed the details of how many of the survivors with the alpha gene simply didn’t have enough money to purchase the highly sought-out subgender series and continued to live in the harsh environment with their slightly advanced bodies. Some, eventually, were able to save up money in the following years to make the transition into different evolutionary paths, and others watched as their family bloodline tapered out.
But then, Seonghwa found a particular chapter entitled “The Refusal”.
“Sangie, do you remember anything about humans not taking the subgender shot on purpose?” he asked tentatively, suddenly not trusting his memory of his time in school. His heartbeat resonated in his ears.
“Hmm…just that some people couldn’t afford to buy it, not that they didn’t want it,” came the reply, and he trusted it. Yeosang and Seonghwa were once known as the top students of the recent omega generation; they would be hard pressed to be mistaken between the both of them.
“Right…”
He unconsciously registered that this book probably wasn’t meant to be on the shelves here, wasn’t meant for omegas to read. His hands shook as he turned the page, eyes scanning the words rapidly as if a caretaker would appear out of nowhere and snatch it up before he really understood its contents.
“Why, what’s up?” he heard Yeosang ask, the rustle of his clothes as the other scooted in to peek over his shoulder. They both read it together.
There was a movement of humans who, once evolved with the alpha gene, no longer accepted the advancements of science. Citing the inhuman nature of forcing misogynistic practices onto a biological level, these groups of superhumans parted ways with the dominant cities. They moved to lesser settlements and refused the company of alphas, betas, and omegas altogether. There, they created their own ecosystem, living as they had for the past 15 years before the shot series.
Through the generations, their numbers dwindled, as their birth rates remained at historic lows. The surviving camps moved farther and farther into the mountains and deserts, completely erasing any traces of their presence. It is currently unknown their true numbers, with a count from 2500 stating a total of 6 settlements with no more than 20 members each. If they are completely wiped out, it is just another testament to the necessity of scientific evolution in our current world.
There were superhumans who never awakened a subgender…Seonghwa could hardly believe it. None of the other books in the entire facility even hinted at the possibility. He had naively thought that, like the natural evolutionary tree of homo sapiens, all the failed and weaker branches died out with time. But now, it was very possible that the remnants of the early superhuman race lived among them, out far in the overgrown and dangerous outer world.
People who, unlike him, had no genetic duty to uphold.
Instantly, every cell in his body rang out with a singular selfish emotion; jealousy. It overpowered even his breath, causing him to sputter through an exhale.
Those people didn’t have to worry about being born perfect enough on a mitochondrial level to mate with like omegas, or strong enough to defend the whole of society like alphas, or having to hold the survival rate of humanity on their shoulders like betas did—they simply…they simply were allowed to exist. And it was unfair—so fucking unfair that they likely got to experience romance as it should be, undisturbed by pheromones and genetic predispositions and duty–
“Seonghwa…hyung…!” Yeosang waved a hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his stupor. He looked up at the omega’s deeply knit eyebrows as he hovered over him.
“It’s nothing. I’m fine. I was just…shocked,” he tried to collect himself, but the nagging feeling of resistance remained lodged in his chest cavity.
He shouldn’t have read the book. All it did was take his internal struggles about his identity and rip at them even more. It gave him so much; a glimpse into the world he’d never known, knowledge about superhumans who had no subgender that he’d never be, and a misplaced sense of hope that he’d never reach.
It was like a blessing, but so much more like a curse. Because something new grew inside of him, taking root in the folds of his brain like a parasite.
What if…he could leave the city? Find one of those encampments and live his life among them? Freely, without the ever present weight of motherhood on his shoulders.
It was impossible, he knew that well, but it was tempting to imagine. Even if it hurt to.
“But that’s hard to grasp,” Yeosang admitted, rubbing a soothing hand up and down Seonghwa’s hair to keep him steady, “that there’s people out there living away from the rest of humanity.”
People. Not alphas, not omegas. Just people.
“Yeah…” Seonghwa said thickly. “It really makes me wonder how different life is for them.” How it could have been different if only he were born from them. If only.
Yeosang continued to stroke him, sighing a bit in pity. “Hyung, I know you don’t really like being an omega. You make it so obvious.”
Seonghwa started at that, whipping his head around to scan for any shoes walking along the blue tiling of the room. “Sangie, you can’t say that!” he whispered in a panic, tugging the omega on his shoulders to bring them closer.
“I know,” Yeosang replied, looking almost uncharacteristically serious now. His light brown eyes stared straight into Seonghwa’s, looking past their green and into his soul. “But I don’t like to see you suffering. I wanted to see how you were feeling the other day, if your mindset had changed at all, but it hadn’t. And I don’t want you to have to change it. I don’t want you to feel like you have to lay down and take a mate, to get pregnant with pups you never wanted.”
It was the most forward he had ever been, and Seonghwa didn’t know how to react at first. He felt Yeosang in there, in his mind’s abyss, scooping up his deepest desires and fears and laying them bare for the both of them to see.
“You can’t live like this. I’ve seen how much you’ve deteriorated in these past two months alone. When it’s finally the ritual day, then what?” Yeosang’s voice began to warble. And Seonghwa quickly mirrored his expression, vision going blurred with pent up tears.
“I don’t know, Sangie. I have no fucking clue.”
The younger omega shook his head, pulling his hyung by his shirt collar. “You fight. In any way you can. Even if it has to get worse before it gets better, you take any chance you can find. Look–look at what these ancient superhumans did.” He pulled at the book that had fallen to the floor at some point. “The world was heading in a single direction and they probably felt trapped in their fates as well. But look. They stood for their freedom of choice and went on their own path.”
“Seonghwa, you have to fight.”
Through the frustrated tears that glistened in Yeosang’s eyes, he searched for the other. For recognition, understanding–anything that resonated in him from those words. “Do you hear me?”
He heard him. So loud and clear. But what options were there? When could it ever be possible for an escape? But he wanted to believe so badly that there would come a time, soon, just within arm’s reach, so he grasped at Yeosang’s neck to pull them into each other’s space.
“I do,” he breathed, taking in the faint scent of the other’s shampoo. “I will—I want to fight. Fuck, I’d do whatever it takes if I could—just–just when will the chance come?”
“You’ll know.” Yeosang tapped their noses together, rubbed slightly to send tingles into Seonghwa’s skin. His voice lost its edge, becoming infinitely soft. “When it comes—and it will come—you’ll know.”
Seonghwa closed his eyes, letting the tears stain his cheeks and leave sticky trails down his jaw. And he just breathed, as if Yeosang was his sole supplier of oxygen. As if connecting with him would share his bravery and belief.
“I’ll miss you,” the younger said again, a sentiment he had repeated a few times over the past couple of meetings, and Seonghwa knew it was different this time.
“...Me too.”
…
The rushed echo of heels on the floor caused them to pull away with a gasp. Someone was coming at them quickly, and the very real possibility that a nearby omega overheard and alerted the caretakers hit Seonghwa so hard he slipped off the chair. Yeosang stood up on instinct, legs coming up in front of Seonghwa’s kneeling figure as if to protect him.
It was over. He had just expressed going against the government, going against his birth duty—there was no place for an omega with his twisted desires to hide. They’d take him. And they’d be ruthless.
At that moment, two blue uniforms swept around the barrier of the bookshelves, a male and female beta. Sooyeon.
“Seonghwa, Seonghwa, are you—” she stopped mid-sentence when her eyes landed on the pair. “What’s going on?”
Instantly, his heart began to beat again and relief flooded his entire body. If it was Sooyeon, everything was under control. Seonghwa could also see Yeosang’s knees buckle slightly when he must have recognized his own caretaker.
“Did you have another panic attack?” she asked, immediately forgetting why she came over in a rush in order to help her childhood friend. “Are you okay, Seonghwa?”
He sat back up straight, realizing that his position probably wasn’t providing any help to ease the misunderstanding. “No, I’m okay. Yeosang was giving me some life advice and we got emotional, that’s all.” Lying came so easy to him now.
Sooyeon checked his forehead temperature and did a quick pulse test, as was part of her response training, and only after confirming he was okay did she step back with a sigh. “One of these days, you’ll be the death of me.” She refastened the hair that slipped out of her loose bun, attempting to steady herself.
“Yeosang, wipe your tears away,” the male caretaker said with a flat tone, and the younger omega did his best to comply.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. Seonghwa always found the dynamic between the two strange, but they had also been together since they were pups, so whatever developed between them must have been solidified by trust.
“So, what did you guys come here for?” He decided to move away from what just happened in order to address the caretaker’s appearances. Sooyeon snapped back into herself at the reminder and reached for the clipboard she had dropped in her alarm.
“R-right, this!” She flipped through some of the loose pages and turned it to face Seonghwa. “Seonghwa, this is really bad!”
He felt almost crazy with how fast his mood spiked and fell within the past few minutes, and his heart rate accelerated in his ears once again. The paper in his view was a familiar one, a profile of an alpha applicant for the insemination ritual.
He was forced to make a choice in the end, so with Sooyeon’s assistance, they settled on a lower star alpha. She submitted the forms back to the facility directors with no issues, and all that was left to do was bide their time until everything was completed and filed.
But that low-tier alpha wasn’t the one staring back at him through the black and white mugshot right now.
Seonghwa recognized who it was, and his eyes barely grazed over the tips of the name written under it before meeting the thick red ink stamped across the page.
Mate Confirmed
Choi Jongpyo.