Hey y'all
Don't be afraid to comment, yall give me motivation to write as well as remind to write, so don't be a silent reader ^^
He woke up with a gasp, eyes flying open, shooting to sit up, hand coming to his neck. He gasped when another way of electrifying pain pulses through his veins again. Getting up, he staggered to the bathroom, ripping off the bandage on his neck. Looking in the mirror, the mark was still red. Another, breathtaking, chest tightening sensation overtook him, making him grip on the edge of the countertop, taking a deep breath as a strong sense of longing washed over him after the painful wave that seemed to run through his blood.
"Fuck..." he whispered. His body was itching to touch another, at the back of his mind a voice was telling him to go, to be near, to be close to his mate.
His mate.
His mate. He groaned, finally straightening and began his usual morning routine, but a certain person kept plaguing his thoughts; Sicheng. His voice, his face, his body, his scent, his touch. He wanted to stop, but the pulses of longing and pain coming from his shoulder keeps bringing him back unwillingly.
Mindlessly cleaning the living room, he looked towards the Tv stand, looking directly at the cabinets below, where he remembers storing candles from gifts. He left the broom leaning against the couch, watching towards the Tv stand. He dug through the surprisingly large amount of candles, before pulling one out, breath hitching as he whispered the label. "Winter Campfire."
Grabbing a lighter, he went back to his room, sat at desk, where all his study materials from yesterday laid opened. Careful not to set anything else on fire, he lit the candle, setting it against the wall at the edge of his desk. Close, but a tad bit away.
He fidgeted with his phone as he waited for the smell to come through, then it hit.
It wasn't as strong as Sicheng's, didn't have that certain alpha musk that always intertwined with not that warmth, but nonetheless, it smelled so similar. He took a deep breath, sighing as the ache of his mark eased a bit, and he turned back to his study materials, finally able to concentrate on studying rather than Sicheng.
💋
He stretched as he walked out the exam hall, students flooding out the building around him. That was his last exam of the day. Walking into the main campus area, he looked around, trying to spot his friends so they can go out for dinner, as they planned.
Luckily he didn't have to search for long as he spotted Johnny, Taeyong, and Doyoung already coming towards him.
"Yuta, I got some gossip I'm sure you'd love to hear." Johnny immediately said once in earshot, throwing an around his shoulder, and he had to hold back a wince as his heavy arm land right atop his mark.
"Hm? So tell then." He replied, trying to hide the fact that he was grinding his teeth. The mark was still tender, hurting too touch, like a dark bruise would, flesh no longer bleeding but still an angry red and slightly swollen. He wore turtlenecks under hoodies, using scent blockers excessively, he's found himself having to use more and more, as if his scent was fighting to show off it's new undertone scent.
"Hm.... I'll tell you when we eat." Johnny teased as they walked.
"Hyung, how were your exams?" Doyoung asked, diverging the topic.
Yuta groaned, "I never want to do another ever again." He complained light heartedly as they headed to a nearby cafe they frequent. Truly, he really didn't. Not this week at least. While the aching and pain has eased up slightly, it's only when he smells and drowns himself in the scent of the candle similar to Sicheng's scent that the ache ebbs away. Every exam he took, it's taken him longer to finish these days than in the past years, the ache distracting. He was so glad it was Thursday and that tomorrow was the last day for exams.
He so looking forward to eating out with his friends, having good food, chatting, a great distraction from what happened last week—
"What?!" He coughed, choking on a sip of his latte.
"Yeah, didn't you hear? Sicheng broke up with his girlfriend, Haseul-"
Jungwoo interrupted Johnny, "No, Haseul broke up with him." He stated, which earned a 'oh yeah' from the taller.
"How, how do you know that?" Yuta asked as casually as he could, but really, he felt queasy. The mere mention of his name made his skin tingle. Why did she break up with him? Did she find out? No, how could she-
"I'm close with some of his teammates, and Haseul has been sobbing all day about how Sicheng cheated on her and even mated with the affair partner." Johnny revealed, which seemed to be new information as the rest of group gasped at it.
"That, and that Haseul yelled at him when Sicheng tried to talk to her in the middle of campas earlier." Jungwoo added. "I saw it happen."
Taeyong's jaw dropped, hand over his mouth, "Really? Not only cheating- but he also mated with them? Marked and all?" He asked, in disbelief, to which Johnny and Jungwoo nodded.
As the others asked questions in shock and Johnny and Jungwoo answered with what they knew, Yuta was silent, pale, feeling sick to his stomach. He listened at the words his teammates speaks. Every negative word about Sicheng, the cheating, the unknown affair partner... he felt sicker and sicker. He felt disgusting, being the subject of their criticism without them knowing, faced with the harsh words said without them knowing that they were aimed at him.
"Yuta Hyung, what do you think about it?" Yangyang asked him, munching on a cookie.
All eyes were on him, watching and listening for his reaction.
He shrugged carelessly, "He's an asshole for cheating on him, even more so for mating the bitch while in a relationship." He said, sipping his latte as if his aching mark wasn't increasing in pain at every word he said. "He's even more of an ass for marking them. I always knew he was am asshole but didn't think he'd be this much of an ass." He said, tone the same snide, annoyed way he always spoke about Sicheng, the only difference being the increasing pain from his shoulder, the way he felt sad. Hearing such situation and others thoughts, he felt so utterly disgusted with himself, yet... he also felt slightly... relieved? hearing what happened between him and Haseul?
"Whoever his mate is now, she's kind of a slut... everyone knows -both our and their campus- that Sicheng and Haseul are dating, I feel bad for Haseul." Jaehyun remarked eating a sandwich, feeling sorry for the girl.
Yuta nodded, unable to look anyone directly in the eyes as he spoke, "Yeah, whoever it is is a real whore, going for someone in a relationship. Hope they get their karma, as does Sicheng."
💋
"It's Wednesday, only two more days of exams, I got this." He told himself as he flopped down onto his bed after changing into some sweatpants and a regular tshirt, neck free from the turtleneck he's been wearing. His mark wasn't hurting as much as he thought it would, with being far from Yuta and not seeing or touching the Japanese in days.
He supposes it makes sense though.
How? Well, he hasn't really attempted to clear out their scents from his bedroom, the lingering scents of rut and bittersweet vanilla hung in the air and clung to his bedsheets. He took a deep breath of the pillow he'd lain his head on, his aching shoulder calming a bit, much more tolerable now.
He sighed, muscles relaxing with the scent around him. Exams were fucking much more difficult when your shoulder is throbbing and you long for someone you hate. Why did I insist on having him mark me back? Why must I be so nice? He paused, thinking back to the time he 'accidentally' broke the Japanese's arm two years ago when they were freshmen. Okay maybe not nice- Why must I be so impulsive? He sighed. Maybe he shouldn't have felt pity and shouldn't have let him mark him back... but the pure panic on the ravenet's face and big teary eyes were enough to make his post-rut, post-mated brain decide easily.
He closed his eyes, he'll just take a nap and sleep it off, it's fine, everything'll be alright—
"Sicheng?"
A voice startled him, instantly jerking to stand up, turning towards the intruder with bared teeth growling. Finally seeing who it was, he calmed. "Ah, Haseul, you scared me."
"I can see that..." she said, trying to giggle but it sounded forced. She sniffed the air, "Why does it smell like... vanilla... it's so sweet... I can still smell your rut, you don't have a vanilla scent..."
Sicheng froze. "Uh... I was trying to clear out the smell but it–"
He watched Haseul's face of confusion contort into horror and she interrupted his poor excuse, "Sicheng... wha-what is on your neck...?" She asked, eyes the size of moons.
"Uh..." he covered his neck with his hand, but it was already too late as she realized with disgust and horror that what she saw was true.
She marched up to him with anger, sadness, and tears in her eyes and yanked his hand from his neck, giving her a clear view at the red bite mark on his neck. A bite mark that signified that the bearer was mated, usually given during sex.
Last time she checked, they haven't had sex in a weeks, much less were mated.
"It makes sense now..." she whispered, more to herself than to Sicheng, who still hears it from the close proximity. The vanilla scent, asking me not to help him with his rut...
The hand that gripped his wrist shook. "Haseul, it's not-" he started, heart pounding, but she cut him off.
"Sicheng! Have- Have you been cheating on me?!" She shouted, voice raising by the second. "No! Don't even answer! I already know! You have been! And you fucked her during your rut didn't you?" She assumed, angry, hot tears running down her cheeks, fists clenched by her sides. "You didn't want me to help you because you already had someone right?! And you fucking mated with them? You fucking asshole! You cheater!" She screeched, rightfully so. "We're done! I thought we'd end up together, but I guess you just couldn't keep your dick in your pants huh? I hope you're happy with that omega bitch!"
His head flew to side as a sharp slap landed on his cheek. He brought his hand up to touch the stinging skin, watching as Haseul stormed out his room and his apartment in tears and sobs, yet no sadness or regret filled him as he watched her leave. His heart didn't break nor shatter nor bleed nor hurt. As he took deep breath, that particular vanilla scent eased his tense muscles, he realized with mixed feelings why.
He never really loved her anyway.
_________
Thoughts? 👀
💚🌱