A few days later, there's another omega meeting. Yeosang is especially worried about this one because they will get their blood type results back, along with a list of the alphas that their type matched with.
Since mates are always together, Riverside decided that this new blood-typing part of the mating process would fit nicely if one person out of the couple were to get hurt, they would know that their mate is a perfect match. This was their thought-process when they were coming up with a new step.
Yeosang understood the whole process, having always been told about it from his mother and also from Wooyoung. Yeosang smiles when he thinks back to when Wooyoung was first telling him about mates and how excited he was for the future when he would get his own mate.
Growing up, Yeosang wasn't so sure about the whole mating process their pack went through. Yeosang couldn't understand why everyone couldn't just pick their own mates. He knows that deep down he only really wondered that because of his undeniable attraction to Wooyoung, his best friend. He's always looked up to him even though they're of the same age. Wooyoung has always been outspoken and full of confidence, all of the things that Yeosang knows he lacks. That's what started it all, admiration. The wanting to be like him. Who would've guessed that wanting to be like someone could lead to just wanting to be with that person? That the liking his attributes led to liking him as a whole, in a different way than he should.
Yeosang's excitement about getting a mate dwindled as he aged, understanding more and more about how he needs to rid himself of this crush he has on Wooyoung. Yeosang isn't even sure if he wants a mate anymore, knowing he won't be as happy as he could've been.
"Yeosang," Eunmi pokes her head into Yeosang's room, "Wooyoung came to go with you to the meeting tonight."
Yeosang looks up at the mention of Wooyoung's name, and wouldn't you know it... There he was, the happiest smile he's ever seen looking back at him. Yeosang immediately perks up from his previously questionable thoughts, but they still simmer in the back of his mind. Eunmi slides the door shut, leaving the two alone.
"Yeosangie~" Wooyoung starts, excitedly jumping onto Yeosang's bed with him, "Are you excited for tonight? Tonight is when we get our list of potentials! They're going to tell us about each of them, just as they're doing with the alphas."
Yeosang half-listens to what Wooyoung says, getting distracted by their scents of vanilla and jasmine mixing in the air around them. Yeosang's eyes are a bit glazed as he looks at Wooyoung, "Really?"
"Yes, really! It's all so exciting, isn't it?" Wooyoung continues, still in a happy tone, until he sees Yeosang's disinterest and then he frowns, "Is something wrong, Yeosangie?" He puts his palm to Yeosang's forehead, seeing if he feels warm.
Yeosang smiles and shakes his head, "I'm okay, and no I'm not sick," he says as he swats his hand away from his forehead.
"Good. otherwise, I would have to stay here and take care of you," Wooyoung laughs, laying back against the wall.
"Hey, I'm not so bad!" Yeosang retorts, "I never get sick, and even if I did I would get better instantly."
"Sure you would. From what I remember, the last time you were sick you were stuck in bed for a week and couldn't come out to play!"
Yeosang sighs, "Wooyoung, that was about 5 years ago."
"My point still stands. I won't allow you to get sick like that again, okay?" Wooyoung looks into Yeosang's eyes, feeling a slight tug within his chest.
Yeosang nods, having to shy away from Wooyoung's prolonged eye contact.
"Do you think my potentials will like me...?" Wooyoung asks after a moment of silence between the two.
Yeosang sighs, it breaking his heart whenever Wooyoung worries someone won't like him, "Woo, you're incredible. There's no way they couldn't like someone like you. You're so kind and caring... So handsome and headstrong... So perfect."
Wooyoung's heart pounds when he hears how Yeosang describes him. Perfect?
"Ah, sorry. I'm serious, though, Wooyoung. You have nothing to worry about in whether or not your matches will like you. They most definitely will," Yeosang tries to sweep what he said under the rug, it feeling like he just swallowed a rock.
"What do you hope your matches are like?" Wooyoung asks suddenly, becoming curious of Yeosang's preference.
Yeosang looks down, nervously messing with his hands as he thinks. What does he hope his matches are like? He wants to laugh at himself, "I hope that they're someone that makes me want to be a better me, like you do."
Wooyoung smiles warmly when he looks at Yeosang, standing up from his bed, "I think you're the best already, Yeosangie. Come on, let's go see our matches," He says as he holds out a hand for Wooyoung to grab.
Yeosang nods, taking his hand to help him stand up, "R-Right!" He exclaims, feeling a bit embarrassed about what he had said to Wooyoung previously.
Wooyoung and Yeosang leave the house, making their way to the building where the omega meetings take place. The weather has gotten chilly recently, so Yeosang crosses his arms and sticks close to Wooyoung to stay warm as they walk.
"Uhm... Who do you hope you get matched with, Wooyoung?" Yeosang asks, wondering about his answer since he seemed so excited to see his list.
Wooyoung thinks for a moment as they walk, "Hmm... I think that anyone in our pack would be a good match, just like I had said the other night, but I would hope not with Lee Sunghee. I don't like the way he presents himself as he does. He thinks he's so high and mighty just because his father is the head alpha of the pack. Don't you remember how he would always boss us around when we were in our classes?"
Yeosang remembers back to their younger school days and he nods, "I remember him... He really didn't like me so much, did he?" Yeosang tries to laugh it off, but he won't forget how it seemed like he had some kind of vendetta against him.
"He would always single you out and pick on you the most. Ugh, I really don't like him."
Yeosang just nods and continues walking, starting to become afraid that Lee Sungwoo will be on his list. That's the last thing he would want. He hasn't really thought about him much since those days, but it's hard to keep him fully out of his mind since he's always out and about. Yeosang tends to ignore him when he's out walking around the grounds.
"I bet you're going to get matched with Ha Dongwoo," Wooyoung says after a while of walking, his giggling making his warm breath able to be seen in the air, "He's always admired you."
Yeosang playfully shoves himself into Wooyoung, "He has not!"
"Has too!" Wooyoung shoves back, a smile from ear to ear on his face, "I've noticed it since we were young. He always looked at you while he was sparring, it was almost like you were his good luck charm since he would always win. He always would stand up to Sungwoo with me when he would pick on you."
Yeosang scoffs and shakes his head, "Have you ever thought that maybe he was looking at you during the sparring, Woo?"
Wooyoung firmly shakes his head, "I know it was you. I mean, look at you," He pinches Yeosang's cheeks, making them turn even rosier than they already are from the cold, "You're the cutest little omega Riverside has, after all!"
Yeosang makes a pouty face and moves away from Wooyoung, tightening the cross he has on his arms, "Am not."
"Mhmmm..." Wooyoung pokes his sides, smirking, "Admit it, or else this time you will be the one making a fool of yourself in front of everyone!"
Yeosang furrows his eyebrows when Wooyoung tries poking his sides, knowing that's a ticklish spot for him. He moves further away, seeing a family wearing white robes, "Wooyoung, come on..." He knows that they're from Chrysalis, so he's a bit embarrassed to be playing with Wooyoung like this.
Wooyoung wraps his arms around Yeosang as soon as they get to the front doors, keeping him in place as he tickles him, "Who's the cutest?"
Yeosang can't contain his laughter for long, soon he bursts out in tears from laughing so hard, "I-I am!" He concedes, hating being tickled.
Wooyoung stops and ruffles up Yeosang's hair, "I'm glad you're aware, then."
Yeosang sticks his tongue out at Wooyoung, but he straightens up when he sees Wooyoung open the door and enter without him, so he hurries behind him.
"Hey, don't leave me outside!"
Wooyoung chuckles, not turning around to look at his best friend. Instead, he goes and sits where they sat at their last meeting. All of the omegas being there already and waiting around for the elder beta to come in with the lists of all of their matches.
Yeosang trudges his way over to Wooyoung and sits down, still keeping that pouty look on his face. Wooyoung is already talking to one of the other omegas, which leaves Yeosang to his own thoughts while he waits. Ha Dongwoo was surely looking at Wooyoung back then, right?
Yeosang smiles to himself when he remembers how one time he and his mother were working in the bakery late trying to clean up when Dongwoo had come in asking if they were still open. They technically weren't, but they let him come in anyway...
~ Flashback
Yeosang is startled by a knock on the door of the bakery, standing up from behind the counter to see his classmate Ha Dongwoo standing on the other side of the glass. The boy shows a toothy smile and waves at Yeosang before pointing at the door handle.
Yeosang sees that he's asking if he could come in and he's not sure what to do, so he looks back in the back to see if he can see his mother, but he can't see her from his quick peek. Yeosang goes to the door, unlocking it and opening it to look up at Dongwoo, "Wow, it's cold out here..." He starts, surprised at the chill that hits him as soon as he opens the door.
Dongwoo chuckles and nods, "You don't have to say that twice, haha. I suppose you're not open, are you...? From the locked door and all," He jokes, his smile never leaving his face.
"Ah, no," Yeosang nervously looks around, "We just closed, actually... But what were you wanting? Maybe I could make it quickly for you," He thinks for a moment about how long most of their goods take and it shouldn't be too long.
"I was coming to get a small loaf of bread for my family. Really? I could help you!" Dongwoo says, his voice starting to chatter towards the end of his sentence.
Yeosang notices the chattering and his eyes widen, stepping back to let Dongwoo in from the cold, "Come in, come in, it's too cold out there."
Dongwoo crosses his arms for warmth and comes into the warm bakery, smelling all of the sweet scents wafting throughout.
"Mom!" Yeosang calls, "One of my classmates are here. Is it okay if I make something else really quick?" He asks, knowing that bread isn't particularly quick, but a small loaf shouldn't be too bad.
"That's fine, sweetie. I'll be out from the back in a little bit, okay? Don't cause too much trouble," Yeosang's mother Eunmi responds.
Dongwoo chuckles again when he hears Yeosang's mother from the back of the bakery, "Looks like we're on our own for this one."
Yeosang nods as he gets out all of the ingredients, "I'm the one who normally makes all of the bread loaves, anyway. Could you get me out one of the large bowls?" He points towards a cabinet while he puts all of the ingredients onto the wooden table.
Dongwoo does as Yeosang says and gets out the big mixing bowl, putting it beside the ingredients Yeosang laid out.
Yeosang immediately gets to work measuring and mixing all of the ingredients, noticing how Dongwoo won't take his eyes off of him. He eventually mixes everything and pushes the bowl over to Dongwoo, looking up at him, "Could you knead this with your hands? I can continue cleaning if you do."
"Of course," Dongwoo smiles and takes the dough out of the bowl, kneading it with his hands against the table. Yeosang smiles warmly as the boy begins to knead, starting to clean all of the dirty bowls and cups they had used that day. After a few minutes, Yeosang comes back to Dongwoo.
"Alright, that should be good for now," Yeosang says as he takes the dough from Dongwoo's hands, their fingers brushing against each other. Yeosang puts the dough into the bowl and covers it, "Now it has to rise... This will take the longest, but after that, it just has to bake and it's good to go!"
The tips of Dongwoo's ears redden as he feels Yeosang's fingers brush against his own, "I can help you clean now, Yeosang. I didn't know it was this much work to make just one loaf of bread, I feel bad for making you go through all of this when you were closed."
Yeosang looks over at Dongwoo and smiles, "It's really okay, Dongwoo. I don't mind at all, but yes, you can come help me."
Dongwoo comes over to Yeosang by the sink and begins washing and drying the bowls as a team with Yeosang.
Eunmi comes back up to the front and sees her son with one of the alphas in their pack, "Oh," she smiles, happy to see her baby around an alpha, "Hello. I'm Yeosang's mother, you can call me Eunmi."
Dongwoo turns to her and reaches out a hand, but he quickly takes it away since it's dripping with water from cleaning, "Ah, sorry... I'm Ha Dongwoo, Yeosang's classmate."
Eunmi giggles, finding his interaction endearing, "Oh, yes. I've heard Yeosang talk about you before," she notices how Dongwoo looks back over to her son and it warms her heart. Does this boy have a crush on her son?
Yeosang turns to them and is visibly embarrassed, "I have not..." He says, not wanting Dongwoo to start picking on him like Lee Sunghee does. He doesn't think that Dongwoo is like that, especially since he's always been one to defend him with Wooyoung, but he can't be completely sure. He's never really hung out with Dongwoo before, other than now.
"Honey, it's okay. Are you two making bread?" She asks as she sees the covered bowl with the dough rising inside of it, "It's looking about ready to be put in the oven."
Yeosang and Dongwoo nod at once, and when his mother says it looks risen enough, Yeosang goes over to check. It does look ready. He uncovers the dough and puts it into one of the bread molds and puts it into the oven, "It should only be twenty minutes or so... Sorry for keeping you here so late, Dongwoo."
Dongwoo shakes his head, a bright smile still on his face, "No, no, don't worry. I'm the one that came in so late for a loaf of your bread," He turns his attention towards Yeosang's mother Eunmi, "Mrs. Eunmi, I'm really sorry for disrupting your night. I said this to Yeosang a few minutes ago, but I didn't know it was such hard work to work in a bakery. I have great respect for you two. You're the ones everyone in the pack goes to for baked goods, after all."
Eunmi nods in respect to Dongwoo, "Thank you so much. I truly love what we do here and my little Yeosang is such a good baker, himself! It must run in our blood," She jokes, picking on her son.
Yeosang stays silent, his ears and cheeks turning rosy from the embarrassment. Really mom? Right in front of his classmate?
"He's amazing. I watched him whip up this bread so quickly, it was incredible," Dongwoo says, his words coming out like honey.
Eunmi has a knowing smile on her face and nods, "Well, I'm going to head back to the house. You two lock up when you're finished, okay?"
Yeosang nods, "I will, mom."
Dongwoo and Yeosang finish cleaning up the bowls and also around the whole bakery, making sure everything is neat. Yeosang is sitting on the counter and Dongwoo in a chair sitting at it.
"How professional of you," Dongwoo says, smirking.
Yeosang rubs his eyes sleepily, "Hey, listen... It's after hours, it's fine."
The alpha's heart beats faster as he looks at the sleepy omega on the counter, finding his sleepy face extremely cute, "If you say so."
Ring ring ring
The timer for the loaf of bread goes off and Yeosang quickly hops off from the counter and pulls out the bread, letting it cool for a bit and then he wraps it up. After preparing it, he turns around to give it to his classmate... Who is already standing up, right behind him with that same goofy smile on his face. How can someone be this cheerful at this hour of the night?
Dongwoo takes the loaf of bread from Yeosang, "Thank you so much, Yeosang. I guess we can finally go home, huh?" He looks out the window, it being pitch black outside, "I can walk you home."
"Ah, you don't need to do that..." Yeosang says shyly, rubbing the back of his head.
"No, no. I want to, I'd like to make sure you make it home safely."
Yeosang hums, nodding after some hesitation, "Okay," He agrees, turning off all of the lights still on in the bakery before he and Dongwoo exit.
A cold chill hits them instantly once they step outside and Yeosang crosses his arms close to his body to keep himself warm. Dongwoo glances over at Yeosang as they walk, "You don't live far, right?"
Yeosang shakes his head, he lives just a minute or so walk away from the bakery.
Dongwoo smiles, "Good, I would hate for you to get sick."
Yeosang doesn't know what to say, never having been in this type of situation before other than with his best friend Wooyoung. Wooyoung would probably thank Dongwoo for caring so much about Yeosang in the moment, so it makes Yeosang feel happy and at home with the alpha.
They get to the front of Yeosang's front door, "Th-Thank you for taking me home, Dongwoo. I hope you and your family enjoy the bread we made," He shivers as soon as he begins to speak.
"It's no problem at all, Yeosang. Thank you for staying open so late for me," Dongwoo chuckles and gently pats Yeosang's shoulder.
Yeosang shivers at Dongwoo's touch and he nods again, hating how awkward he knows he's being right now.
"Goodnight," Yeosang says quietly and then goes into his house, closing the door behind him and he takes a deep breath.
Dongwoo looks longingly at the door after Yeosang goes in, "Goodnight..." He shoves his free hand in his pocket and begins heading back to his house with the loaf of bread.
~ End of Flashback
Wooyoung waves his hand in front of Yeosang's face and Yeosang jumps up, being startled out of his daydream.
"Wake up, Yeosangie~ They have our match results," Wooyoung says excitedly, laying his head on Yeosang's shoulder and nuzzling into his neck.
"They do?" He looks up to the front and sees the elder beta coming in with a small box full of letters.
They do.
End of Chapter Five