Chapter Text
Jimin has always been the perfect alpha, and she’s always known it.
She didn’t really have a choice, as the only alpha born alongside her omega brother. She grew up naturally big and strong, and as far as she can remember, has always been talented athletically. In school, she was the first to volunteer to be the leader of every group project, quickly became head of the basketball team, and even ended up as prom king alongside the most popular omega.
Ever since she learned what it meant to be an alpha, she embraced it wholeheartedly, and that became who she was: strong in every sense of the word, able to take any kind of physical or emotional pain without showing weakness. Even when training was so brutal that she collapsed from exhaustion or when her father chose his work over her, she faced it all with squared shoulders and her head held high as she pretended to be unaffected.
She’s also always known that she loves omegas. Comes with the territory of being an alpha, but it’s something she’s never struggled with. She loves how small they are, soft and gentle and blushy when she flirts; she loves taking care of them, loves the way they submit to her so easily once she gets them in bed, and above all else, she loves how fucking sweet they smell.
So imagine Jimin’s surprise when she enters her new dorm and the prettiest omega she’s ever seen is standing there, messy blonde hair framing her delicate face, drowning in an oversized shirt that makes her look even smaller than she is.
Jimin is starstruck, because why is this literal angel standing in my new dorm?
When she asks exactly that, the girl claims to be her new roommate, introducing herself as Kim Minjeong.
Jimin feels like she’s getting pranked, like Aeri put the omega up to this to mess with her or something, but the girl isn’t laughing; no one jumps out with a camera and a gotcha!
The omega just stands there looking adorably shy and awkward and Jimin kind of wants to kiss her or sink her teeth into those soft-looking thighs that are exposed by the girl’s tiny shorts. But this unfortunately isn’t the time for that, so she steps forward to smell her better, because if she’s insisting that she lives here, then that means…
There’s no way this girl is an alpha, Jimin thinks as she breathes in the enticing scent of sugary citrus fruit.
She’s met alphas with a citrusy aroma before, but it has always come alongside a complimentary scent like pine or birch or spice; not straight sugar that pairs with orange to smell like delectable candy that is almost making Jimin’s mouth water.
She takes one more step closer and then it finally hits her, a light earthy fragrance, so faint that it might as well not even be there.
It’s like her brain is working in overdrive as she tries to process the fact that this is, in fact, an alpha standing in front of her. Which shouldn’t be possible, because everything about her is screaming omega in Jimin’s face.
Then she realizes she’s been staring like a certified freak for god knows how long, quickly snapping herself out of it and stumbling through the rest of the interaction until she’s finally alone in her room.
As she unpacks, she can’t stop thinking about Minjeong: her delicate voice, petite, huggable frame, the unsure way she said I’m an alpha too, like she didn't even believe it herself.
‘Cause she’s not, Her brain whispers, and she has to reprimand it and remind herself that Minjeong’s not an omega. She’s an alpha and Jimin does not have a crush on her because Jimin has always been and always will be straight. The only reason she may have been attracted at first is simply because she thought Minjeong was an omega, that’s all.
She’s probably met thousands of other alphas throughout her life and has never been attracted to a single one, it just doesn’t make sense why that would change now.
So she tries to be as normal about it as possible, but it’s hard. It’s hard when Minjeong talks about her admirable dreams of being a game developer, or when she pouts and whines about Jimin’s teasing, or calls her unnie so adorably.
Despite her efforts, Jimin just can’t resist doting on her, whether it’s wiping her face or feeding her or paying for everything whenever they go out. She realizes how bad it is when the girl randomly becomes distant, and her absence from Jimin’s life is so unbearable that she pathetically texts Minjeong that she misses her.
She tries distracting herself with the omegas she’s fucking, but ends up feeling guilty every time she comes home and sees Minjeong sitting on their couch all cozy with a book or a video game. It makes her feel like a cheating spouse shamelessly returning from a secret rendezvous with her mistress. That sentiment is strongest the evening of her basketball game, when she has to ditch Minjeong and their movie plans, the pained expression on the girl’s face unforgettable.
Then there’s the night they make sushi together, when she really is just trying to teach Minjeong, but gets a little carried away with how well she can smell her and the way the smaller alpha fits so perfectly in her arms.
She’s been telling herself that all of these things are just her being a good roommate and maybe a bit of a co-dependent friend.
Even when they end up jerking off over the phone, she explains it all away and ignores the fact that by the time she came, she was only thinking about Minjeong’s cute moans and what she might’ve been doing to herself just two doors away.
She does her best to go on pretending nothing is amiss, but the final straw comes when Jimin is literally fucking an omega; as she’s trying to get herself to finish, all she can think about is Minjeong and how she sounded when she came and what she’d look like taking Jimin’s dick, and it pushes her over the edge, spilling into the condom and pulling out as she realizes what she just did.
Maybe I’m not straight?
“Excuse me?” The omega she’s with turns to face her, taken aback, because apparently Jimin said that out loud.
After profusely apologizing and assuring the omega that their sex was amazing, she hurries home and locks herself in her room, sitting in bed with her laptop and pulling the blanket over herself to hide from the world as she types.
Am I really stooping this low? She asks herself as she stares at the quiz on her screen.
“Are you attracted to Alphas, Omegas, or Both! Find out NOW!!!”
Jimin heaves a sigh of defeat and clicks the button to begin.
“Do you find strong, musky scents attractive?”
“Do you find soft, sweet scents attractive?”
“Would you enjoy having a gentle, submissive partner?”
“Would you enjoy having a dominant, protective partner?”
Jimin rolls her eyes as she chooses answers one by one; the questions are all so bland and obvious, this shit was probably made by some bored twelve-year-old.
Twenty or so questions later, she gets her results:
“Attraction to Omegas: 100%”
“Yeah, I fuckin’ knew that already, dickwad,” Jimin curses at the screen as she continues reading.
“Attraction to Alphas: 0%”
“I knew that too, goddamnit!” She throws her head back in frustration, “Then why…”
She closes that godforsaken quiz and types:
most attractive alpha celebrities
What shows up confirms what she already knows, she’s not attracted to any of them: they’re too big, too muscular and intimidating, too… alpha.
alpha thats pretty
The results are a little better this time, some of them are pretty, Jimin can admit.
alpha thats pretty female and small
The alphas she sees now do kind of look like Minjeong: small frames and soft features, until Jimin realizes that’s because they all look like omegas.
alpha thats
Jimin hesitates as she watches the cursor while it blinks, like it’s mocking her existential crisis.
alpha thats an omega
She stares at the words for a moment too long, like she’s actually considering it, before slamming it shut, “That’s not even fucking possible.”
She pulls herself out of her blanket cocoon of shame and decides that dumb quizzes and useless internet searches aren’t enough: she needs to do field research.
---
Jimin takes in a shaky breath as she enters the nightclub. She’s obviously never been to this part of Itaewon, but it was the first place that popped up when she searched for gay alpha clubs. The trashy music is way too loud, it smells like alcohol and sweat, and the neon strobes are flying around so fast she’s already feeling a migraine develop.
She sits at the bar and orders nothing but a Sprite, since she definitely needs to stay sober for this, and sips on it as she turns to scan the dancefloor, looking for someone she could be into. None of the alphas pique her interest until she spots a female alpha at the other end of the bar: her hair is blonde, but a lot longer than Minjeong’s; she’s striking but there’s also an elegance about her. Jimin imagines she’s probably a CEO or something along those lines.
Abandoning her soda, she straightens her shoulders and goes up to the woman, sidling up to where she’s sat on a barstool. She hesitates, realizing that she doesn’t really know how alphas are supposed to flirt with each other, settling with a safe, “Hey, what’s that you’re drinking? I’ll buy you another.”
The alpha shamelessly eyes her up and down before quickly downing the rest of her drink, “We both know where this is going, so let’s skip the bullshit and just get to the good part.”
Soon enough, Jimin’s being dragged through the crowd to the bathroom, where alphas are already fucking in one of the stalls, their grunts and moans echoing off the grimy tile.
She’s heard how alpha on alpha sex goes; it’s a violent back and forth of trying to dominate each other, as no alpha would ever willingly submit to the other. What it comes down to is physical strength, which one can force the other into submission.
The stall door is locked behind them and Jimin’s instantly shoved against the wall so hard that it knocks the air out of her lungs, and before she can even recover, the alpha crashes their mouths together and immediately demands access with her tongue, strong hands holding Jimin’s hips in place as she starts grinding against her.
She can feel the alpha’s erection against her thigh already, but that’s not the problem. The problem is everything else: how aggressively the alpha is trying to control the encounter, how rough her touches are when she slides her hands under Jimin’s shirt, the way she smells like whiskey and smoky firewood instead of sweet fruits and sugar.
Jimin tries to ignore all of it, but the alpha’s scent has gotten so thick and intense that it feels like she’s choking on it; she musters all the strength she has to push the alpha off of her.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do this,” she gasps as she makes her way to exit the stall, but then the alpha yanks her back in and pulls her close, growling, “The least you could do is get on your knees so I can fuck your throat.”
“Go fuck yourself,” Jimin snaps back, ripping herself free of the grip, and sees fury fill the alpha’s eyes. Before she knows it, a fist collides with her face and she stumbles backward, barely managing to gain her bearings and dodge the next swing before striking in return. The alpha is momentarily stunned as she holds her face, so Jimin takes advantage and runs as fast as possible, out of the bathroom and the club until she’s stalking down the dark street towards home.
She doesn’t stop until she locks the door behind her, chest heaving and adrenaline still pumping.
“Unnie! I was wondering when you’d-” Minjeong looks up from the couch and shock instantly laces her features, “Oh my god, what happened to you?!”
She jumps up and pauses on her way towards Jimin, “Why do you- smell like that?”
Jimin almost wants to laugh; she can only imagine how awful she smells, smoke and sweat and alcohol and the scent of that fucking alpha clinging to her.
“I, uh- went to a club with some friends and got into a fight with another alpha.”
‘Your mouth, it looks bad,“ Minjeong hurries to the kitchen, quickly wetting a small hand towel, “Come here and let me-”
Her instincts kick in automatically before she can think about it, “I’m fine Minjeong, it’s just a little-”
“No,” Minjeong cuts her off, sounding uncharacteristically firm and unyielding, “I’m done letting you pull that on me, come sit on the stool, now.”
Jimin is so shocked that all she can do is listen, trudging over and sitting down.
Minjeong silently brings the towel to her face and begins cleaning up the blood.
“Why can’t you ever admit when you’re in pain?”
It’s the exact question she asked the night Jimin burned her finger, and she feels the urge to snap again, but Minjeong looks and sounds so heartbroken that she can’t.
“It… it was just how I was raised, I guess,” Jimin winces as Minjeong dabs at her mouth, “It was ingrained into me, became who I am.”
“Tell me about it?”
Everything in Jimin is insisting that she shut down, keep her armor airtight and not let any emotion bleed through, but it’s Minjeong asking, and that sweet, imploring gaze makes her too weak to keep it all in anymore.
“My father was buddies with my coach from high school, told him not to go easy on me,” she begins, “I had no choice but to get used to ignoring the pain: pretending I was fine when my father forced me to overstuff myself at every meal so I could gain weight, or when my old coach made me stay for hours after practice to run drills and sprints across the court until I vomited or passed out.”
“Whenever I failed a bench press, he would let the bar fall and crush my neck on purpose before helping me, as a penalty for not being strong enough,” Jimin gives a self-pitying laugh at the memories, “I could never complain about any of it because they would only punish me in response.”
Minjeong stays quiet as she listens, moving on from Jimin’s lips to wipe the sweat and grime off her face with the cool towel. It feels nice, she thinks, letting herself be taken care of for once.
“As for what Yunjin said, about my father not giving a shit about me,” Jimin closes her eyes, “She only knows about that because the weekend of Chuseok, coach held a nice dinner for all the players and their parents; I was the only one who showed up alone since my father had some party to attend, which meant my mom had no choice but to be his plus-one.”
“It’s how he’s always been: only cared about money and status, only looked at me when I came home with a shiny trophy or showed up to one of his corporate events with a pretty omega as my date.”
“You’re so much more than that,” Minjeong’s voice is soft and lovely and Jimin has to squeeze her eyes closed harder to keep from tearing up.
“I’ve never been treated like more than that,” She tries to not let her voice crack but fails, “He only wants me for showing off to his friends, omegas only want me for sex or money or bragging rights.”
She’s never opened up about this to anyone, the way she feels like nothing more than a commodity sometimes, and it suddenly feels too vulnerable.
She opens her eyes and tries to sound casual, “Sorry, this is stupid, I don’t know why I’m-“
“You don’t have to be so strong and untouchable and perfect all the time, unnie.”
As she says it, Minjeong is so incredibly sincere that Jimin wants to believe her, but it feels impossible.
“It’s all I've ever been.”
“But you.. you don’t have to try to be anything with me, you know that?” Minjeong sets the towel down and takes one of Jimin’s hands into hers, “Whenever you’re hurting, or need to talk about your feelings, promise you’ll come to me from now on, okay?”
Jimin doesn’t trust her voice not to waver, so she just nods, and then Minjeong’s free hand comes up to cup her cheek, thumb reaching out to brush over her busted lip.
The caress is so warm and the pad of her thumb is so soft and Jimin wants to kiss her so badly that she’s practically vibrating with it.
She has to stop and remind herself that she literally just confirmed it at the club; she’s not attracted to alphas at all.
I even went out and tried it. I was just confused and I’m straight and I care about Minjeong as a friend a normal amount.
---
Well, she thinks it’s a normal amount, until she comes home a few days later and the dorm is oddly silent.
Knowing that the other alpha should be home by now, she drops her bag on the couch and calls out, “Minjeong-ah?”
When she doesn’t hear a response, she knocks on her roommate's door, “Sergeant Kim?”
She hears a weak, “I’m- busy, unnie,” and what sounds like sniffling.
Alarm bells immediately go off in Jimin’s head, “I’m coming in, okay?”
Minjeong doesn’t reply, and she opens the door to find her curled up in bed under a pile of blankets, looking so tiny and fragile that it makes her heart ache.
The girl’s eyes, nose, and cheeks are red from crying, and all JImin wants is to wrap herself around her and protect her from everything.
Instead, she sits on the edge of the bed and asks, “What happened, Minjeongie?”
Minjeong hesitates, but eventually starts, “I… I was on the way home from class, and there was a group of alphas in the courtyard tossing a football. When I walked by, one of them came up to me and she started flirting.”
“Oh, she thought you were…”
“Yeah, but I didn’t want to tell her the truth and upset her, so I just said I wasn’t interested. She still wouldn’t give up so I tried telling her I already have an alpha, but then she said that since I don’t have a mark it must not be that serious and she still has a chance to steal me.”
“Asshole…” slips out without Jimin meaning it to, and Minjeong just offers a weak smile before continuing.
“Then she grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go, so I got scared and finally told her I was an alpha; she didn’t believe me at first but when she realized it, her friends all started laughing and making fun of her for being gay.”
“She got angry and took it out on me instead, yelling and calling me names, saying it’s my fault for looking like an omega and tricking her. I finally ran away and came back here and I just… I guess I got used to not dealing with it so often.”
“You’ve been bullied before?” Just the thought of it makes Jimin’s blood boil in her veins.
“It’s kind of a long story,” Minjeong gives a self-depricating laugh, “A long, depressing story.“
“Well, I’ve got no plans tonight,” Jimin tries to lighten the mood as she claps once, “Lay it on me, Minjeong-ah.”
Minjeong gives a small smile before asking, “Do you ever wish you had a time machine, so you could go back?”
“Uh, on the rare occasion I miss a shot on the court? Or when I bombed an exam last week, maybe.”
“I mean like, way back. Sometimes I wish I could go back to before I learned about how our society works,” Minjeong sighs, “The earliest memory I have is from when I was four years old; I was shopping for a new backpack with my dad, and I picked out a white one.”
“Your favorite color,” Jimin interrupts automatically, and Minjeong smiles softly.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t just white, it had pink flowers, and I thought they were pretty; my dad tried to get me to pick a black or blue one instead, but in the end he let me have the one I wanted.”
“He sounds nice.”
Minjeong just nods, “Well, then we got home, and when my mother saw the backpack, she got mad- like, really mad. She started yelling at my dad, saying that I was an alpha, and he should have known better than to let me pick a backpack for omegas. She went on and on about how no one would respect an alpha with flowers on their backpack, how he was setting me up to become a- you know, the bad word for gay."
“Oh, god.”
“It’s kinda funny, I didn’t even know what alpha meant at that point, just that I was one and already doing a pretty bad job at it. Then the next year was first grade, so I had that class, you know, the one where they teach you about all of it, the hierarchy, the social roles.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“We learned about alphas, how they’re powerful, leaders, aggressive, protective, possessive, and all I could think was, that’s not me, not any of it. God, we learned about the different scent palettes next, and turns out I wasn’t even doing that right either. All the other kids noticed too, how wrong everything about me is and-”
“Nothing is wrong with you, Minjeong-ah,” Jimin cuts her off before apologizing, “Sorry, you can go on.”
“And that’s when the bullying started; When I came home and told my brother about it, he told me I was what they call a runt: a weak, incapable, reject alpha. It only got worse as the years went on, when all the other alphas got their growth spurts and I didn’t. The bullying became more… physical.”
“Did they hurt you?”
Minjeong doesn’t make eye contact as she nods, and Jimin’s fists automatically clench. If she had that time machine she’d go back and stop anyone from ever bringing any pain to the angel sitting in front of her. Or at least make them pay for it.
Minjeong’s voice rips her out of her thoughts, “You know I’m gay, right?”
“What? I- I mean, well, I would never assume-“
“It’s okay, unnie. I figured it out myself in high school, when I realized that there was an upside to being bullied by other alphas all the time.”
“How could there possibly be an upside?”
“The upside was that they were at least giving me attention; being so attracted to alphas, the pain was almost worth just getting to have them look my way.”
Jimin never would have thought of it that way, but she supposes that it makes sense.
“There was one day in the locker room, when the alpha I found… most attractive, she pinned me to the lockers. She was saying the most vile things you could think of, but all I could focus on was how close she was, the way she smelled, her breath on my lips. Her grip felt so strong holding me there, and it hit me that if she was my alpha, she’d be able to protect me, to take care of me…”
There’s a lengthy pause and Minjeong looks at her hesitantly.
“What?” Jimin asks, curious.
“The thought turned me on so much that I got hard.”
“Sorry, you what?!” Jimin blurts out disbelievingly.
“Yeah, pretty messed up, huh?” Minjeong gives a dry laugh, “You’ll never guess how she reacted to that.”
“Uh… she kissed you and then you guys fucked against the lockers?”
Minjeong scoffs, “They beat me up so badly that when I got home, my dad wanted to go to the police and report it.”
“Did you?” She asks, even though she has a feeling she already knows the answer.
“My mother said what she always did: it would make me look weak, that I needed to grow thicker skin and deal with things myself if I wanted them to stop.”
Minjeong pauses again before continuing, “It got to a point where I considered hurting myself.”
When Jimin jolts at the admission, she quickly adds, “Don’t worry, I never did it. Apparently a reason people self-harm is so the physical pain will distract from everything else; But I was already in so much fucking physical pain, I figured adding on to it would be pointless.”
Jimin is rendered speechless, not knowing how anyone’s supposed to even respond to that.
“I eventually felt like there was no way to make it end, unless…” Minjeong hesitates as she stares down at her own hands, "Unless-”
“Don’t,” Jimin’s voice breaks as she cuts her off, fighting the tears pricking behind her eyes, “Dont fucking- I can’t- I don’t want to hear you say it.”
She can’t even fathom it, the idea of Minjeong not being here, having never had the chance to meet each other. There would’ve been no grocery trips or movie nights or video games, no fluffy blonde hair or adorable pout or gentle voice telling her it’s okay to be weak sometimes.
The thought of losing her terrifies Jimin so much that she can’t resist pulling Minjeong into her arms, holding her as tightly as possible just to confirm that she’s still here. They’ve never hugged like this before, and Jimin severely regrets that fact as she revels in the feeling of holding the smaller girl close, how right it feels.
“What I’m trying to say is, the bullying here is practically nothing in comparison, I’m used to it by now.”
“It’s not something you should have to be used to, Minjeong-ah.”
“Maybe I deserve it.”
Jimin can’t even believe what she’s hearing, releasing her from the embrace, “What could you have ever done to-“
“Haven’t you been listening? I wouldn't have had to go through all this if I could’ve taken everyone’s advice and changed, just done a better job at being an alpha.”
“I don’t think you need to change anything, I think the greatest thing about you is that you never did,” She takes Minjeong's hands in hers, “After everything that happened to you, I would’ve understood if you shut the world out; built up walls and pushed everyone away to protect yourself from being hurt again.”
She should probably stop talking before she reveals too much, but she goes on anyway, “But you didn’t, you didn’t let them turn you cold. You stayed warm and soft and kind and you let people in, you… you let me in.”
They’re so close and looking so deeply into each other’s eyes, that the urge to kiss Minjeong comes back even stronger than before.
She has to scold herself, You’re not an idiot like Aeri or an asshole like that prick that hit on her, you know she’s not an omega.
That doesn’t stop her from wanting, though. She wants nothing more than to push Minjeong down on this bed and leave kisses all over her body until she realizes how incredible she is and how devastatingly wrong the world has been about her.
Jimin suddenly remembers a detail from Minjeong’s story, and grabs her arm to roll the sleeve up, revealing exactly what she expected: bruises on her wrist in the shape of fingertips from when that piece of shit wouldn’t let her go.
The sight makes her so furious that she feels dizzy with it, but she forces herself to stay as calm as possible so that her scent doesn’t spike and scare Minjeong.
“It’s not that bad, I just bruise really easily,” Minjeong tries to reassure her, “Why do you think I barely have any t-shirts or shorts?” She gestures to the pajama shorts she’s wearing, “I bought these the first day of summer break, once I was finally free.”
Jimin’s hardly listening, still too zeroed in on the blemish tarnishing Minjeong’s perfect skin, “The alpha from earlier, do you know her name?”
Minjeong tilts her head in thought, “No, I’ve never met her before today.”
Damn it. Of course it won’t be that easy. But if there’s a will, there’s a way.
She smiles and tries to act nonchalant as she asks, “Well, whenever someone bullies you, let me know, okay? It’s good to get it out of your system.”
Jimin wasn’t there to protect her back then, but she is now, and she’s sure as hell going to make sure every asshole on this campus knows what happens when you fuck with Kim Minjeong.
---
Minjeong doesn't think too much of it when Jimin asks to know about anyone who bothers her; she goes along with it and finds that venting does kind of make her feel better instead of bottling it all up.
That is, until she’s walking to class and sees the bully from the other day coming towards her with the same group of alphas as before. One of the other alphas spots her first and nudges the bully, tells her something, and then they all snap their heads to Minjeong, hurriedly whispering among themselves before turning around and practically running away.
Her mind naturally goes to Jimin, but that’s impossible, right? She hadn’t even been able to tell her the alpha’s name.
She tries to forget about the strange encounter, but then it happens again.
She’s waiting for a lecture to begin when a male alpha comes up to her. He’s been a nuisance all semester ever since they were teamed up for a project and he insulted her programming skills the whole time.
“H-hey, Minjeong,” He’s so nervous that his voice is practically quivering as he goes on, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for- for being a jerk to you and- and everything.”
“Um, alright-”
“Just- just tell your roommate I apologized and- and that I’ll leave you alone from now on, okay?”
---
“Are you beating them up or something?” Minjeong demands to know as soon as she gets home that evening, stalking over to where her roommate is stationed at the stove.
“Well, good evening to you too, Minjeongie,” Jimin casually responds as she stirs, “I’m doing great, just working on dinner, if-”
“The bullies I’ve told you about, what are you doing to them, unnie?”
“I’m not beating anybody up, I have more finesse than that,” Jimin looks at her thoughtfully, “Just… inspiring them to make wiser decisions in the future.”
“Oh, so you’re threatening to beat them up.”
“Threaten is such a strong word,” Jimin shakes her head and adds a bit of salt to the pot, “I’m informing them of the possible consequences of their actions.”
Minjeong sighs in defeat, “How did you even find her? The female alpha from that day? Did you secretly swab her DNA from my arm or something?”
“I’m not crazy, Minjeong-ah,” Jimin scolds her, “You said it happened on your way home after class; that was a Monday, when your classes end at three. So I sat in the courtyard every day from two to four, waiting to see a group of alphas throwing a football. It only took a little over a week to find the douchebags.”
“You realize that sounds even crazier than the swab, right?”
“Call me crazy, then,” Jimin shrugs as she uses a spoon to scoop up some kimchi-jjigae, “Here, taste-test!”
Minjeong wants to refuse, but it smells amazing and she’s starving, so she complies, taking the bite and admitting, “It’s really good…”
When her roommate just smiles and goes back to stirring, she continues, “Don’t do that anymore, okay? You can’t go around threatening people, you’ll get in trouble.”
“Minjeong-ah, I won’t get-”
“Or you could actually end up in a fight, and I… I just don’t want you getting hurt because of me. Please, unnie.”
Jimin looks like she’s going to protest, but then she gives in, “Fine, I’ll stop.”
“Good,” Minjeong is relieved as she watches Jimin prepare two steaming bowls of stew, “Let’s eat already so we can get back to work on the farm.”
Jimin perks up as she sets the table, “Oh, are we gonna play some Starry Vale tonight?”
“Stardew Valley, unnie…”
“Same thing, Minjeong-ah,” Jimin replies as she picks up a piece of tofu and offers it to her.
---
Even though Jimin promised not to go after any bullies from now on, part of Minjeong doesn’t really believe her. That’s why, when she’s at the library and a male alpha from her linear algebra class walks by and deliberately knocks her books off the desk she’s at, she doesn’t tell her roommate over dinner that night; it’s safer to not tempt Jimin into hunting down anyone else.
She meets the unfortunate fate of running into him again before the end of the week, in that same damn courtyard she should really start avoiding, because it must be cursed or something. She tries to avoid eye contact and keep walking, but he moves to block her path.
“Well, if it isn’t Kim Minjeong!”
“What do you want, Sunwoo?” Minjeong sighs, ready to just get this over with.
“Nothing, just having a friendly conversation,” He leans in closer and sneers, “Is even that enough for you to sic your guard dog on me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” She replies, even though she has the sinking feeling she knows exactly what he’s talking about.
“Oh yeah? Then why did Yu Jimin corner me in the fuckin’ bathroom and say she’d kick my ass if I ever bothered you again?”
“I- I didn’t ask her to-”
“You really are nothing more than a defective runt, huh?” His smile is sinister as he goes on, “Such a weak little bitch that you need another alpha to defend you.”
Having heard enough, Minjeong turns to walk away from him, but he pulls her back, gripping her wrist so tight that she can feel his nails digging into the skin.
A few people have noticed their altercation now, and she tries to yank herself free, “Let go of me-”
“How do you thank her, huh? Get on your knees and suck her off, or do you let her fuck you like the little faggot you are?”
Before she can respond, his hand is being wrenched off her wrist, and when she turns around- of course it’s fucking Jimin.
“Was I not clear enough when I told you what would happen if you ever laid a finger on her?”
“Oh, look, Minjeong, your big, brave alpha is here to protect you.”
Jimin takes off her backpack and throws it to the ground, along with her jacket, “Stay back, Minjeong.”
“No, please, don’t-” She tries, but Jimin is too fast, throwing a punch before Minjeong can even move.
Sunwoo staggers back from the force of it and trips, falling to the ground only for Jimin to pounce on him, striking again.
Minjeong runs over and grabs onto Jimin’s raised fist the next time she goes to punch, but Jimin doesn’t even look at her, “Let go, I warned him, and I keep my promises.”
“You could get kicked off the basketball team, or expelled,” She begs as she grabs Jimin’s chin and forces her gaze to her own, “Please, unnie.”
Jimin’s still seething, but she reluctantly gets off of the other alpha and dusts herself off, “Get the fuck out of my sight before I change my mind.”
“Oh, I will, and you know where I’m going?” Sunwoo snickers as he points to his bloodied face, “Straight to campus police to tell them what you just did to me.”
“Go ahead,” Minjeong retorts instantly.
The two alphas jerk their heads to her with a simultaneous, “What?”
“As a matter of fact, let’s go together, so they can hear my version of the story too,” She pulls up her sleeve, where the bruises are already darkening, “That you were threatening to hurt me, and Jimin only did what she had to in order to stop you.”
“I never threatened to-”
“Isn’t that what it looks like, to everyone here who witnessed you harassing me and grabbing my arm like that?”
Sunwoo looks around at the small crowd that has gathered around them, before stomping away with a muttered, “Fuck both of you.”
Jimin immediately turns to her, “Are you okay, did he touch you anywhere else-“
“I’m not doing this here,” Minjeong interrupts as she turns to make her way home, Jimin quickly gathering her things and following.
“Minjeongie, let me see-“ Jimin starts again once the door is closed behind them.
“I never even told you about him, how did you know?”
“I… I was in the library, just by chance; I was on the way out and saw what he did to you.”
“Unnie, you told me you would stop.”
“I know, and I meant it at the time but… seeing it in person, the way he treated you and the way you just took it, it made me so mad. I just wanted to help-”
“For fuck’s sake, I don’t need your help!”
“What?”
The hurt expression on Jimin’s face tugs at her heartstrings, but the feeling is overpowered by the thoughts that begin rampaging around her head in circles:
Defective runt. Weak little bitch. The alpha’s voice from earlier repeats over and over, eventually morphing into the voices of everyone else who’s called her names her whole life, Worthless. Faggot. Pussy. Pathetic excuse for an alpha.
“This is the same shit you pulled, that night with Yunjin. Why do you think it’s your fucking responsibility to protect me?”
Jimin bristles, and Minjeong notices her scent getting stronger, “What the hell did you expect me to do instead? Sit there and just watch Yunjin make you suffer? Let Sunwoo leave more bruises on your body?”
Minjeong scoffs, “Does that make you feel good about yourself, acting like you’re some hero who always shows up to save the day?”
“That’s not-”
“You think I don’t notice the way you treat me? The way you talk to me differently than all your other friends, the way you coddle and take care of me all the time like I’m a helpless little omega?”
“I wasn’t trying to-”
“You think you’re being so nice, when the reality of it is, you see me as a pathetic piece of shit just like everyone else! But I’m just as much of an alpha as you are, and I don’t need or want your fucking protection!”
Without giving the other alpha a chance to respond, she stomps into her room and buries herself underneath the covers as the tears begin to flow.
She’s not even mad at Jimin, she realizes as she sobs, gasping for air. It’s her own fault for letting everyone’s words get to her, letting them make her so hateful and insecure that she took it out on the only person who has ever made her feel safe enough to be herself.