Years had passed since that distant afternoon in their high school classroom.
Hanjae walked through the streets of Seoul, dragging behind him the exhaustion of an endless day. In one hand he clutched a bag with ramyeon and a few snacks, in the other his phone pressed to his ear.

“Yes, Professor. Of course, I’ll make sure to hand out the copies with the general information to everyone.”
He stopped, waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green.
“All right, see you tomorrow.”
He sighed and hung up.
Why on earth had he agreed to become the class representative?

His mother’s insistent voice still rang in his head:
“You need to be the representative! It’ll be essential to build useful connections for your future!”
Not that she had been wrong… but still, it was exhausting.

Arriving in front of the same gray building as always, Hanjae looked up. The light in the living room was on.
He didn’t smile. He closed his eyes, fishing in his pocket for the keys.
“Look like they are already home?”

As soon as he opened the door to his apartment, he wasn’t surprised to find two pairs of sneakers by the entrance, along with his own.

“Welcome back! I thought you’d never show up,” Jiwoon said, meeting him in the hallway.

He had changed a lot since he was a kid. The round, sweet face had sharpened into something sculpted, almost chiseled from marble. His body too: taller—he even stood a few centimeters above Hanjae now—and imposing, muscular.
Not that Hanjae was frail. Athleticism was a defining trait of alphas.
But unlike him, Jiwoon was a dominant. And it showed—not only in the intensity of his pheromones, but in the sheer strength of his physique.

“Hanjae?” Jiwoon waved a hand in front of his face. “Are you okay? Do you have a fever?”
He brushed Hanjae’s hair off his forehead, then did the same to himself.
“Hmm… no, you don’t feel hot.”

“I-I’m just a little tired,” Hanjae answered quickly, stepping away.

“Hanjae! Hii!”
The melodic voice of Minji didn’t catch him off guard.
“Hi, Minji!” he smiled, wrapped in one of his usual hugs.

“We thought you’d gotten lost in the teachers’ office,” Minji laughed, letting him go.
“Well, one of these days I really might disappear under piles of photocopies and forms.”

Hanjae slipped off his jacket and shoes while Minji was already peeking into the grocery bag.
“We waited for you! Today’s the episode where I’m a guest… you can’t miss it!”

“Oh… that was today?” Hanjae blinked, surprised. He had probably been told already, but he had forgotten.
“Damn, if I’d remembered, I would’ve stayed at the library…” he thought, forcing a smile.

“Wow, Minji! You’re really on your way to becoming a famous idol!”

The omega’s face lit up, bouncing on his toes like a child.
“When I’m famous, I’ll take you both to Hawaii, how about that?”

“You’re paying?” Hanjae laughed, following him toward the living room.

“Of course! And you can order all the expensive food you want!”

Minji plopped onto the couch, and Jiwoon immediately sat beside him, his arm already curling around his omega.
Hanjae, instead, settled into the armchair next to them, his gaze fixed on the TV, though he could hear Jiwoon whisper:
“Forget the pool suite… book the bedroom with the sturdiest bed in the hotel.”

Between giggles and flirting, Minji started the recording of the show he had filmed a few weeks before.
Laughs with the Idol was one of those silly variety programs where young idols were subjected to ridiculous games.
The typical kind of show you watched while eating dinner. Nothing spectacular, but still a good start, considering Minji had debuted only a year ago.

Hanjae stared at the screen.
He tried to follow the game rules, tried to laugh at the right moments.
And yet, even without looking directly, he was painfully aware of the couple on the couch.
A kiss on the temple, a whisper, a hand slipping over a waist.

He stood up. Too abruptly.
Jiwoon turned immediately. “H-Hanjae? You okay?”

“Ah! S-sorry!” he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “I just remembered I have some emails to send!”

Minji pouted.
“I promise I’ll finish it tomorrow morning, okay, Minji?”

“All right,” the omega smiled. “But I want a chocolate croissant too.”

“Idols are allowed to eat junk food?”

“Well… my agency doesn’t need to know about it!”

Hanjae laughed, grabbed his backpack, and made for the hallway. He was about to open the door to his room when a voice called out.

“Hanjae! Wait!” Jiwoon caught up and pushed him inside his bedroom.

“Wow, your pheromones are really strong in here,” he said, closing the door. “Oh, wait, I’ll open the window—”

“No,” Jiwoon stopped him. “They don’t bother me. Actually… they’re a lot nicer than many omegas’…” he chuckled.

Hanjae held his breath.
He couldn’t remember Jiwoon ever saying something like that before. Especially about his pheromones.
“I wonder what scent he smells…” he thought, suppressing the urge to ask.

“S-so then…” he sighed, turning his back as he set his backpack on the desk.
“What is it?”

“You see… now that Minji’s career is taking off, and we’re in our last year… I was thinking…”

Jiwoon dug into the pocket of his hoodie, visibly nervous. “Here.” He pulled out a small mint-green box.

Hanjae turned around.
His eyes widened.
His breath caught.

In front of him, Jiwoon—cheeks flushed, gaze lowered—held that tiny box as if it were meant for him.
But it wasn’t. Hanjae knew better.

Jiwoon opened the box.
A ring. A delicate diamond. Small size. Minji’s size.
The opposite of Hanjae’s broad hands.

“T-this…” His voice faltered. He had to cough a few times to steady it.
“This is… beautiful, Jiwoon.”
He smiled. Too mechanically, too far from how he wanted to.

Jiwoon didn’t notice.
He lit up, thrilled.

“D-don’t start crying!” he scolded him. “Or I’ll cry too!”

And of course, Jiwoon immediately started sobbing, like a child.
He hadn’t changed that much from when they used to play together at the park.

“Damn it, come here.” Hanjae pulled him into a tight hug.
Jiwoon clung to him, face buried in the crook of his shoulder.

“What kind of dominant alpha cries over something like this?!”

“I’m sorry!” Jiwoon hiccupped. “B-but… if I cry now, maybe I won’t later!”

Hanjae burst into genuine laughter.
They both knew he’d cry again in front of Minji.

He cupped Jiwoon’s face, wiping away the tears.
“So when are you planning to ask him? Do you already have a plan?”

Jiwoon nodded faintly. “S-Saturday. I booked a table at the Shilla Hotel.”
“Christ, you’re spending a fortune.”
“Well… I’m about to marry an idol, right? I have to prove I can keep up.”

Hanjae sighed softly, brushing away the last tear on his cheek. The gesture was slow, as though trying to prolong the contact.
“Just don’t overwork yourself, Jiwoon… I don’t want to find you passed out in the hallway again, you scared the hell out of me last time.”
“I’ll be fine.”

Jiwoon leaned slightly out of his touch, but Hanjae’s hands lingered in the space between them, unsure.
“You know me. I’m tough.”
“To me you just seem like a crybaby.”
“Hey! What kind of talk is that?” Jiwoon snapped, and Hanjae let out a short but genuine laugh.

“Go on, get out of here, I still have plenty to do.”
“All right. But… just so you know, you’ll be my best man.”

“Don’t you want to ask your brother?”
Jiwoon grimaced. “He can carry the rings, if he really wants.”
“Fine.”

Hanjae followed him to the door and reached to open it, but Jiwoon stopped him, placing his hand gently against the wood.
His body was close. Too close.
“All right, what?” he whispered, voice low. “That you’ll be my best man?”

His breath brushed Hanjae’s ear, warm and sweet.
Lavender. That was the scent reaching his nose. Soft, clean lavender. His scent.

Hanjae closed his eyes for a moment. Then he slowly turned and smiled.
“All right. I’ll be your best man.”

Jiwoon looked at him for a second too long. Then he smiled too, a wide grin that lit up his whole face.
“Perfect! Then start planning the bachelor party! But I swear, no strippers!” he exclaimed, before turning and slamming the door shut behind him.

Hanjae stood still, alone in the silence.
Lavender still lingered in the air. His pheromones, restless, spun wildly around that scent.