Chapter Text
“1, 2, 3RACHA get the spotlight!” Jisung, Chan, Changbin said in unison as their stream went live.
bbokari^^: haiiiiiii boys °ʚ(*´꒳`*)ɞ°
“Hi, Lixie,” Jisung couldn’t help a giggle that sprang out. Felix watched almost every stream yet he still insisted on saying “hi” (in its many kawaii variations) to them each time.
“Quick, everyone act surprised that the Rancher is here,” Chan said with a smile, his eyes turning into cheery crescents.
chatter1: HI RANCHER
chatter2: hai rancher <3
chatter3: haha heyyy rancher *louder than everyone else*
“Keep this up and we’ll think you’re only here for Felix,” Changbin said with a mock-stern expression and a raised eyebrow.
chatter4: plz don’t lump me in with them my heart beats only for 3RACHA
chatter2: noooooo i luv u guys u know that
chatter2: i just also happen to enjoy the streams rancher also watches
“So… every stream, then?” Jisung asked wryly.
bbokari^^: well EXCUSE ME for needing to watch streams to lasso the best clips ( •̀ - •́ )
Jisung couldn’t help but laugh along with the rush of laughing emotes from chat at Felix’s ranching pun.
“Okay,” Chan cut in with a clap. “Before we spend the rest of stream trying to convince our chat to watch us instead of fawning over Felix, why don’t we tell them what we’re doing today, boys?”
“As some of you may have guessed by the spread in front of us,” Changbin said in his faux-announcer voice (the one Jisung didn’t find secretly a little charming, nope, not one bit) and gestured to the many paper bags of take out in front of them, “we are doing the 100 chicken nugget challenge!”
chatter1: oh I just know this was Han’s idea
chatter5: lmfao han suggested this for sure, i can feel it in my left kneecap
“Some of you may be wondering – why? Well, we are too, frankly,” Chan said slyly, as if he hadn’t agreed to the idea heartily. He turned slightly in his chair to look at Jisung, who had to steel himself slightly for the weight of the alpha’s eyes on him. “So, since this was your idea, Jisung-ah, why don’t you explain how eating one hundred chicken nuggets is something we’re reacting to?”
chatter3: LMFAO CALLED IT
chatter6: han suggested an eating challenge, fork found in kitchen
chatter2: omg we have our first Jisung-ah of the stream
chatter2: chansung nation rise up
chatter5: wtf they’re real people why tf are you shipping them
chatter5: besides this is obviously a binsung household
bbokari^^: LMFAOOOOOOO
Jisung glanced away from the chat, having worked hard to pretend the shipping comments didn’t make him want to blush.
“I don’t know why you’re throwing me under the bus like you two didn’t agree before I could even get through my entire pitch,” Jisung said, raising an eyebrow and looking first left, then right, to stare pointedly at the two alphas.
“Okay, well -” Changbin started, trying to defend himself.
“You see, actually -” Chan cut in, spluttering.
“Uh uh, don’t let them fool you chat, I walked into their apartment two days ago and was like ‘hey, what if we tried the 100 chicken nugget challenge on stream’ and they were both cutting me off to agree before I could say anything else.”
chatter6: binchan agreeing to han’s idea automatically, fork found in kitchen
chatter4: bro do you send messages that say anything other than fork found in kitchen
chatter2: not changbin and chan immediately folding and then trying to cover it up
chatter2: WE KNOW WHAT U ARE U YEARNERS
leebit: lol pathetic
Glancing in both directions, Jisung could see both alphas had gone a little pink in the face from the teasing. Their scents picked up ever so slightly, causing small waves of chocolate and wood smoke to wash over him.
“And if you had let me finish,” Jisung said, adopting an arch tone, “then you would have heard my incredibly well thought out justification that we’ll be reacting to how we feel during and after eating our body weight in chicken nuggets.”
“Your body weight, maybe,” Changbin teased, poking his side to make him squirm. All three started laughing and Jisung couldn’t help the way his scent sweetened ever so slightly, his marshmallow twining in with Changbin’s chocolate and Chan’s wood smoke.
Then his phone let out a soft chime. Jisung felt Chan stiffen next to him and his scent took on the barest acrid note.
“Oh, sorry guys, I thought I silenced my phone before we started, my bad,” Jisung said in a rush as he fumbled for the switch to turn his phone to silent. He was confused why Chan had reacted that way – rarely a stream went by without one of them forgetting to silence their phones. He wasn’t confused when he looked at the chat, though.
chatter4: OH MY GOD WAS THAT THE SCENTR NOTIF
chatter7: HAN ON SCENTR CONFIRM?!
chatter2: SCENTR?!?!!!??? STFUUUU
chatter1: omg this was NOT on my bingo card gang
chatter5: han how do u even KNOW what SCENTR is oh my god
puppym: lmfao can’t wait to hear about this in the group chat for the next 3 months
From the corner of his eye, Jisung could see Changbin had also tensed, his eyes locked on the chat. He tried to keep his scent from souring to reflect the anxiety he was feeling from their reactions. His omega whined inside him, upset at having upset the two alphas. It warred with his vindictive side, which was glad the two had heard the notification. He was only on the app (which he hadn’t even wanted to do) because he’d been hopelessly pining after the two of them for so long that it was starting to affect him physically. He cringed thinking about his last heat. It didn’t help that the longer his pining went on, the more likely they were to sort out their shit, realize they were in love with it each other, get together and leave Jisung all by himself, and ride off into the proverbial sunset. Well, so what? the vindictive part of him whispered. So what if they know? Nothing was going to happen before and it’s definitely not going to happen now. Jisung tried to ignore his omega’s reaction to this, who was still uneasy at the idea of even considering potential mates aside from the two alphas on either side of him.
“Seungmin, I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Jisung said, trying for a breezy, unbothered attitude. “There’s literally nothing to talk about.” Jisung felt the weight of heavy gazes landing on him from both sides and forced himself not to look and continue on like nothing had happened.
puppym: lol sure
puppym: now where’s my welcome you cretins
bbokari^^: oh my god you can’t just call them cretins seungmin
leebit: yes he can
chatter1: yes he can
chatter1: THANK YOU SEUNGMIN
chatter4: thank you seungmin<3
chatter7: thank you seungmin!!!!
chatter2: thank yooooou seungmin (*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ꕤ*.ﾟ
puppym: acceptable
puppym: now u three, chop chop
Jisung couldn’t hold back a chuckle at Seungmin’s typical antics and was relieved to hear it echoed on either side of him, even if their collected scents hadn’t gone back to normal yet.
“Thank you, Seungmin, for deciding to be the only one to study abroad in college and also demanding we keep up our hang outs,” Chan said, pretending to be annoyed.
“Yeah, thanks for demanding we still rap for you even though you just make fun of us,” Changbin chimed in.
“Thank you Seungmin for giving us undeniable proof that you love us, no matter what you say,” Jisung said in a sugar-sweet tone, even going so far as to bat his eyelashes directly at the camera. The two alphas burst out laughing and Jisung couldn’t help but join them when he read Seungmin’s next message.
puppym: you’re on thin ice han jisung
“So,” Jisung said, clapping his hands and glancing at his two best friends. “Should we eat some nuggets?”
Like almost all of Jisung’s dubious life choices, it had been Felix’s idea. They’d been laying on the floor of Jisung’s living room, staring up at the ceiling and two glasses of wine deep. Jisung clearly remembered how Felix had thrown his leg over Jisung’s, offering some of the contact that both their omegas craved while tipsy.
Jisung had spent the night up until that point working up the courage to tell Felix how his doctor’s appointment earlier that day had gone. They’d been best friends for so long now that Felix knew not to push him and wait for Jisung to bring it up himself. So far, Felix had told a (somewhat long-winded, though Jisung would never say that to the other omega) story about how he’d been trying to surprise Jeongin and Hyunjin (with Seungmin’s help on video chat, his first mistake) and he’d almost set fire to their kitchen.
“So, to make up for it, I made like three batches of brownies once we aired all the smoke out,” Felix said with a melodramatic sigh. “They still haven’t let me live it down. Every time I go to help one or both of them in the kitchen they tell me my job is to set the table and look pretty.” Jisung let out a laugh at this and felt Felix laughing next to him.
“Oh, no – what a shame that you don’t have to help cook,” Jisung joked, reaching over without looking to poke Felix in the side.
“Hey!” Felix yelped, swatting at him. “How am I supposed to get better if I don’t practice?” Jisung could practically smell the wheedling tone sneaking into Felix’s vanilla scent he was laying it on so thick.
“Fine, you can come over here and practice, you menace. We can work on it together,” Jisung said with a put upon sigh.
“You’re the best, Jisungie!” Felix practically squealed, rolling over a few times to throw his upper body across Jisung’s in the world’s laziest hug. Jisung flopped one of his arms over Felix’s back and the two omegas lay there in a content silence for a few moments, their scents blending together to make the room smell like a sugar rush.
“The doctor told me I need to spend my next heat with someone,” Jisung said with no preamble. Felix stiffened slightly, but gave no other reaction. He brought one of his hands up to Jisung’s head to run comforting fingers through his hair and scratch lightly at his scalp.
“What else did she say?” Felix asked in an even voice, saving his reactions and thoughts for when Jisung finished getting through what he needed to say.
“She said the most likely reason why my heats have been getting worse is because my omega feels unconnected. She said it’s fairly common with omegas who’ve been single for a long time without a heat partner.” He took a breath before the next part, not wanting to voice it, but knowing his sunshine twin wouldn’t judge him for it. Besides, it wasn’t anything Felix didn’t already know. “She also said it can happen to omegas who spend too long yearning. It can make their omega feel unstable to have someone who they view as their mate or… mates not be there when their omega needs them and is most vulnerable.”
“Oh, Jisungie,” Felix said softly, hooking his chin over Jisung’s shoulder and bringing his second hand up to join the first in his hair. “How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know, Lixie. When I asked her more about the yearning she said that the only outcome is to basically stop yearning either by becoming mates, if the feelings are reciprocated, or to move on. She told me my heats will only continue to get worse as long as my omega feels unconnected.”
Jisung’s heats had been getting worse over the last few years – getting steadily longer (his last heat had lasted a full week, when normal heats were supposed to last 2-3 days) and with cramps that were so bad they wracked his whole body and left him shaking. His last heat, which he’d just finished a week and a half ago, had been so bad he’d spent the last two days curled around a pillow, sniffing a shirt from Changbin and a hoodie from Chan, unable to even use any of his heat toys, just whining pitifully into the fabric. The last day he’d called Felix and begged him to come over. The other omega had rushed over, panicked at Jisung still being in heat. He’d taken one look at Jisung and immediately understood, waiting for permission to enter Jisung’s nest and then soothing him through scenting and massaging his muscles that were wrung out from days of brutal cramps. Felix fed him broth and pain pills for the cramps before rocking him to sleep, still clutching the clothes the alphas had given him for his nest, along with the rest of their pack. He’d woken up with tears dried on his cheeks and his heat finally broken.
After taking what was maybe the best shower of his life and sitting down on his couch to eat fried chicken with Felix, Jisung had said “I think I need to go to the doctor” at the exact same moment that Felix said “I think you should go to a doctor”. They’d stared at each other, frozen for a second, before bursting into laughter, the tension broken. With his feet tucked under Felix’s legs, he’d nibbled on a piece of chicken with one hand while booking a doctor’s appointment on his phone with the other hand.
“What do you think about the options she mentioned?” Felix asked slowly, bringing Jisung back to the present.
“That’s the big question, isn’t it?” Jisung replied with a sigh. “I mean, I don’t really like the idea of trying to move on and my omega likes it even less. Every time I think about spending my heat with someone else, it makes me feel… almost sick.” The truth was the thought left him so wracked with guilt, his omega feeling the mere idea was a complete betrayal of his alphas. It didn’t matter how much he tried to make his omega see logic, it stubbornly continued to think of Chan and Changbin as alpha.
“And…” Felix began, Jisung smelling the hesitance in the other omega’s scent before he even heard it in his voice. “What do you think about the other option?” Jisung took a deep breath before answering, having known this question was coming. Truthfully, it had been circling around his head since he left the doctor’s office. What if he just… confessed and told them? Felix had been trying to convince him for years at this point that the two alphas reciprocated his feelings, but Jisung just couldn’t see it. He’d known from the first time the three of them hung out as a trio that Chan and Changbin were nursing crushes the size of Australia on each other. Jisung both dreaded and sometimes dreamed of the day those two figured their shit out and got together. Dreaded for obvious reasons and dreamed of (on the bad days) because then there would be undeniable proof and he could pick up the pieces of his heart and finally leave limbo without having to put himself out there and be rejected by two of his best friends (and also co-workers). And, well, lately it seemed like they were getting closer to figuring things out.
“I don’t know, Lixie,” Jisung said with a sigh. “I know you think they feel the same-” - Jisung ignored Felix’s derisive snort at the word “think” – “but even if I was considering it before, it seems pretty obvious how they feel about each other now. I mean, people’s ruts don’t line up perfectly out of nowhere.” Jisung couldn’t help the bitter note that snuck into both his voice and his scent with his words.
When Jisung had come out of his Hell Heat (as he’d been calling it) there had been a flood of worried messages from their pack the longer it went on, but noticeably missing messages from Changbin and Chan in the last few days of his heat. It turned out the two alphas had gone into rut within hours of each other and were holed up in their apartment. Felix had tried to break the news to him gently and provide logic – “they’re roommates, Hannie, of course they’re in their shared apartment. Where else would they go?” – but Jisung still felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him and his scent took on a rotten note that didn’t go away until Minho showed up with Howl’s Moving Castle and demanded an omega cuddle puddle. And it didn’t help matters at all when Chan and Changbin showed up to the weekly pack dinner, freshly off their ruts and smelling undeniably like each other. Jisung had to fake a call from his parents to sneak out before his scent ratted him out.
“Well… true,” Felix acknowledged slowly. “But… I mean… isn’t it also worth noting they only went into rut when your heat had already stretched way past the normal length?” This last part came out in a rush, Felix a little nervous to voice it. (Their worst fight had come when Felix tried to convince Jisung the two alphas felt the same as him by showing him a compilation of clips from their streams and Jisung blew up at him, storming out and ignoring Felix for two days. After two days, they ran into each other on the sidewalk outside Jisung’s apartment – Felix coming to apologize and Jisung going to apologize – and tearfully agreed to never fight again.)
“I don’t know, Lix… I mean for them to go into rut without even seeing me or smelling me? Not very likely. You only hear that happening with like fated mates shit,” Jisung said dubiously. He was glad Felix was still flopped on top of him so he couldn’t see the other omega’s face. As it was, he could feel Felix’s eyes boring into the side of his neck.
“Felix, no,” Jisung said, feeling Felix take a breath, knowing what he was going to say and cutting him off. “Fated mates are so rare. Have you even ever met any? I know I haven’t.”
“…no, I haven’t,” Felix begrudgingly agreed after a long moment.
“Exactly. It’s way more likely that they’re finally getting together,” Jisung said, the bitter note growing more pronounced in his scent. He felt Felix’s sigh ruffling the hairs at the nape of his neck, but the other omega didn’t push the point.
“Okay, so if telling them is out then it leaves finding someone else,” Felix said cautiously. It was Jisung’s turn to sigh.
“I guess so,” he said, fighting a worming feeling of discomfort at the very idea. “I don’t like the idea but it seems like it’s the only option. I don’t think I can do another heat like that, Lixie.”
“I know, Sungie, I know,” Felix said soothingly, moving a hand to cup the back of Jisung’s neck.
“What about a heat hotel?” Felix asked suddenly.
“A heat hotel?” Jisung asked, surprised.
“Yeah, a heat hotel. Do you think that would help?”
“It might,” Jisung said uncertainly. “The doctor said the more connection I have with my heat partner the easier it’ll make my heat, but I guess even limited connection with a professional would be better than doing it by myself…” Jisung trailed off, surprised to find himself considering the idea.
“Plus it’s way more involved beforehand than it used to be. Remember how I went to one before Hyunnie and Innie and I got together? I met my partner like a month before my heat and we texted every day in the two weeks leading up to my heat and did phone or video calls every few days until I was in pre-heat. I felt so comfortable and we still follow each other on social media.” Jisung took all this in, considering.
“I knew you went to a heat hotel, but not like that. It sounds way better than going through it alone…” Jisung trailed off, an uncertain note creeping into his voice.
“But?” Felix prodded, rubbing a thumb against the side of Jisung’s neck, just shy of his scent gland.
“But… I know it’s silly… but I always imagined spending my first heat with someone… you know… like someone I loved.” Jisung all but mumbled the last few words, cheeks blazing bright red and his scent turning a little sour with embarrassment.
“Oh, Sungie, that’s not silly at all,” Felix reassured him. “I completely understand. There’s nothing wrong with being a romantic.” Felix starting pumping out soothing eddies of vanilla to match his soothing tone. He suddenly rolled off Jisung and sat up cross-legged, ignoring Jisung’s grumbles at the loss of contact.
“Okay, let’s brainstorm,” Felix said, clapping his hands together briskly.
“Felix,” Jisung whined, still laying on the ground. “Do we have to?”
“Jisung,” Felix said, copying his whining tone. “Yes. I love you, but we both know if you don’t plan this now, you’ll be so torn by all the directions you won’t pick one and I am not letting you go through a heat like that again.”
“Oh my god, this isn’t a literature class, you don’t have to read me like that,” Jisung whined, knowing Felix was right. He hauled himself into a seated position with a sigh. “Okay, let’s plan.”
“Okay, so talking to the boys is out,” Felix started, glancing over at Jisung, who gave him a half-hearted glare. Felix raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “And trying to find someone specifically to spend your heat with isn’t ideal.” Jisung nodded in confirmation. “And a heat hotel isn’t a complete no, but it’s not your preference.” Another nod from Jisung.
“Okay…” Felix said, resting his chin in his hand and looking up to the ceiling in thought. “Okay, hear me out,” he said after contemplating for a few moments. “What about dating?”
“What?” Jisung asked, surprised.
“Dating! Hear me out – you try going on dates just to see if you connect with anyone. If you do and you want to spend your heat with them, great! But you don’t go in just trying to find a heat partner. That’ll take some of the pressure off, right? And if you don’t find anyone by a month before your next heat then I’ll connect you with the heat hotel I went to. What do you think?” Felix’s eyes were shining and he was leaning forward eagerly. Jisung stared back at Felix, mind spinning rapidly through everything Felix had said.
“Okay,” Jisung surprised himself by saying. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do it.” He quickly found himself laying on his back again as Felix tackled him with a squeal of excitement.
“I’m so proud of you, Sungie! This is a great step forward.” Jisung squirmed uncomfortably from the praise before a flaw with their plan occurred to him.
“Just one problem, Lixie. How am I going to find dates? I’m not exactly social…” he trailed off awkwardly. To his surprise, Felix chuckled and pushed himself up to make eye contact.
“Hannie, my beloved twin, have you ever heard of SCENTR?”
Felix’s voice was so sly that across the green of the apartment complex, Chan and Changbin suppressed a shiver without knowing why.