"If the world is going to end, please make it today."
Donghyuck sighed and hit his friend's shoulder. "Who died and made you a professional complainer?"
Chenle sweater-pawed himself. He lifted his arms and watched the cuffs of the jumper flop over. This was his new source of enjoyment as of right now, as none could be found in P.E class. It never could. "Today's the day, Hyuck. Do you think you'd be able to pull a sickie? I may or may not have a water bottle on me right now, and if you could just swallow some water the wrong way and have a coughing fit-"
"No, Le. You know that I enjoy exercising."
"Right, so then maybe I can swallow the water-"
"Or you could actually keep me company for once. And plus, since Jisung started hanging out with us, his own alpha friends have been distant from him. Well, excluding Jeno and Jaemin, apparently. Keep him company as well."
Chenle made eye contact with the alpha, who was standing a little ways away. A sigh escaped his lips like he was in pain but he obeyed his friend and put his hands securely on his hips. "Jisung, woe is not you. Don't act like an outsider." The tall boy came over in confusion, reading between the lines that he was being told to hang out with them instead of being on his own. "I am the one drowning in woe right now."
"Is he okay?" Jisung whispered to Donghyuck while the two of them watched the omega contemplate choking on water, which was in a bottle in his hand, or actually attend the P.E class.
"He hates exercise. It's ironic since he literally works a job that involves him being on his feet all night."
"...He works?"
Donghyuck nodded. "Isn't that right, Le?"
The Chinese boy looked up at them, mouth open with the water bottle tilting towards it. "Huh?"
"You work."
"Oh, yeah. I should send you the address sometime, Jisung, and then both of you and Mark can visit me."
Jisung nodded. It sounded like it would be a nice getaway from homework one night. Although, he wasn't quite sure where the omega worked. It probably wouldn't be anywhere scandalous anyway, if Donghyuck sometimes visited him.
"The cliché is real right now."
"I can't disagree with you there." Finally, Donghyuck was on Chenle's team during a physical education class. And it was all because Mr. Lee instructed them to play dodgeball. And he was on Chenle's side because the alphas and non-alphas had been divided evenly to make it a fair game. Half and half, and coincidentally, Mark and Jisung were both on the opposite team. What were the odds?
"I can't throw very far, so I'll focus on catching them. I won't let them hit you," he assured his friend.
Donghyuck gave him the thumbs-up. "And I'll make sure to throw the balls you catch at whoever was aiming at us."
"Team?"
"Team."
The game started off with classmates running at full sprint to the bisecting line to steal as many of the balls as they could. Then the objects started flying towards the opposing team like bullets. The alphas were doing most of the throwing as their arm strength was better than betas and omegas.
Chenle slunk away to the back, followed by Donghyuck, who was keeping his eyes alert. Soon enough, a ball came hurtling towards them and the Chinese boy crouched down, getting beneath it as he caught it and hugged it into his chest. "Out!" He yelled and the person who had thrown it shuffled off the basketball court to join the other spectators.
"Nice," Donghyuck applauded and turned back, waiting for the next ball to come at them. And the next one bounced, so he grabbed it and flung it towards the alpha male who had sent it over, hitting his leg. "Out!"
"We're kinda dynamic," Chenle commented. "And you seem fierce today. Perhaps it's because your hormones are beginning to go awry in preparation for your heat."
"I'll just use them to my advantage then." Donghyuck was feeling more heightened than usual. When he saw a ball coming, he would snatch it and throw it at someone as though they had just insulted him. This was not the usual Donghyuck, but seeing him lose his composure was fun for Chenle. "Heads," the sandy-blonde mentioned and his friend caught the ball.
"Out!"
Looking across to the other team, Jisung and Mark were still very much in the game but didn't seem keen on aiming their ball at the two at the back. They were avoiding them. The alphas on each team were rapidly depleting because they were front and foremost, hogging the spotlight but also making themselves perfect targets.
Chenle tossed the ball to Donghyuck and the boy launched it, watching it bounce before hitting someone. That someone picked the ball up and threw it back at them. Chenle caught it and yelled "Out!" He could get used to this. It didn't involve much unnecessary exercise. "Here," and he passed it to the other omega again, who sent it back over to the other side.
Things were going great. They managed to knock out most of the opposite team, although Mark and Jisung could say the same thing. They were even now. There was a beta or omega left with the two alphas and on Chenle and Donghyuck's team, there was an alpha left with them.
The sidelines were rather insulting towards the two omega friends. Things like: "Come on, bro! Don't get knocked out or the team will be left to those two! Probably can't throw for shit!" were directed at the alpha on their team.
Equally, the other side was being told to protect the beta or omega. Like, did she need protecting? She'd lasted this long for a reason. It was disheartening, but what made it all better was when Mark hurtled the ball at the only other teammate left on the other team. That was, the alpha. And now it was Chenle and Donghyuck versus the two boys and the girl.
"We're gonna lose!" Someone called out as though she was informing everyone of some huge event.
Chenle didn't care but Donghyuck was miffed. He wasn't often on the receiving end of inequality. "Hey, Jisung," the ravenette yelled over, drawing the alpha's attention to him. "Throw the ball." Let's just finish this quickly, I don't even want to win anymore. Donghyuck was in a similar state of hurt that they were expected to lose now that their last alpha had been knocked out of the game.
But Mark and Jisung continued to play like it was just a normal game, not going easy on them with their throws. Chenle dodged to the side and ran after the escaping ball, catching it mid-bounce after it had already bounced a few times. He passed it to Donghyuck, but he had his hands full with dodging a ball from the girl on the other team. It simply rolled towards Jisung, who picked it back up and gave Chenle a smile. He passed it to the girl to throw, who aimed it at the Chinese boy.
Donghyuck was able to snatch one of the balls and looked at who seemed like the best target, and of course, it was the girl recovering from throwing one at Chenle. In no time, she was also moving off the court to stand at the sides.
The whole vibe changed and it suddenly didn't feel competitive at all. The four boys, at this point, didn't really care who won because they were busy thinking about the irony that they were the last ones standing. Chenle picked up the ball by his feet and held it above his head, wanting to try throwing it. He looked between the two boys, who were also each holding a ball and were wondering if they should throw first or wait. So Chenle threw it. He threw it at Jisung, and as the alpha didn't have free hands to catch it, it hit his leg quite obviously and deemed him knocked out.
At the same time, Donghyuck threw a ball at Mark and the boy caught it even with the handicap of already holding one. He dropped the one he had just caught and held up the ball that he was previously aiming with. And Chenle was the only other player for him to aim at. So he threw it at him. The omega didn't see fit to continue the game and prolong the end, knowing that Mark most definitely would've caught his next throw, and let it hit him square in the chest.
It was a win for Mark. The two approached each other and chest-bumped. "Sorry dude, I didn't have a choice."
"It's okay. The game was getting a bit long anyway."
Donghyuck ran over and high-fived Chenle for his effort, while Jisung congratulated Mark and held a long eye contact with the other omega, who hopped over and held Jisung's shoulders.
"I knocked you out, and I would apologise but I distinctly remember saying that I'd crush you... And that means that I held up my end of the deal." He patted those shoulders and Jisung smiled at him like he had just said something adorable, which Chenle was sure he hadn't.
"I guess I'll just have to crush you next time."
"I guess you will."