Chapter Text
Daeyoung has always had a hard time around Sion.
Now that’s not to say he dislikes his hyung. No, in fact it's the complete opposite. He’s proud of him, almost like he’s his third older brother, and he loves being taken care of by Sion despite most likely being number 1 on the list of people Sion likes to tease. Riku likes to say denial is a river, Daeyoung-chan, but Daeyoung is sure it’s a him problem, as in: Daeyoung is the problem.
See, Daeyoung is an omega.
Again, that’s not to say he hates being an omega or anything. He loves being an omega! And he loves cuddling with his fellow omega Riku, loves being on the receiving end of fond stares and quiet concern from his favourite (and only) beta Yushi. Sion is the group’s oldest alpha, which does make things a tad bit more difficult for Daeyoung when he’s interacting with him. It’s not like it's an omega thing, either, because Riku and Ryo have no problem hanging around Sion or spending long periods with the alpha.
Here’s something that Daeyoung needs to point out. It’s a well-known fact that Daeyoung can’t smell himself that well compared to the regular person. He’s a little more desensitised to it, as everyone is to their own scent, because it's your own and you smell yourself all the time, but Daeyoung has always had a weak nose. Other people though, they can smell him fine and dandy as they do themselves, which one, makes them better at controlling their scent and two, reading other people’s moods.
It’s an open secret that Daeyoung wears a fig-scented body mist, carries it with him to the point it got featured on their ‘Melt inside my bag’ content. It’s so well-known that said body mist is still sold out, and Daeyoung is glad he’s the type to buy a few and keep in his stash. That wasn’t the starting point – perhaps a catalyst – but it was during the filming of this content that the members had pointed out that his fig-scented body mist was a concept.
The pups didn’t smell it simply because they weren’t of age then, so naturally they had a weaker sense of smell, and were just drawn to Daeyoung’s comforting nature rather than any natural instinct or need to scent. He’s still surprised they thought his fig-scented body mist was all a concept. After all, they still can’t pick up his natural scent.
It was a joke, of course. Obviously he doesn’t smell like that. Daeyoung’s an omega, and his natural scent is different, which is the purpose of said body mist: to cover it. Daeyoung’s scent is a mellow, sweet vanilla that curls around you and makes you feel like you’re floating on a cloud of yummy custard cream (That’s what Yushi told him). Daeyoung’s scent is bright, like him, and like fluffy cotton candy that melts in your mouth but not that sugary (That’s what Riku tells him).
Back to the thing: Daeyoung is an omega.
It’s the 21st century, and no one has any expectations of who can be what sub-gender and what each sub-gender is supposed to look like in its human form. But Daeyoung sees the flicker of surprise in their eyes when he reveals he’s an omega, the subtle way they try to sniff him, only to furrow their eyebrows when they only pick up the fig scent. He is what they would classify as typical alpha-build. Afterall, stereotypes exist for a reason.
But other than his naturally alpha-leaning build, Daeyoung has quite the regular omega-like sweetness in his scent. Growing up, he’s been told by his brothers that his vanilla scent is sweet, sugary, and overall very comforting to be around. His brothers are alphas, and his parents are too, and he’s been nothing but well-loved and babied in his family. His experience with a family of alphas should put him in a favourable position, but getting closer to Sion has been difficult to say the least, physically and in all other senses. Plus his aversion to looking handsome men (read: Sion) in the eyes has yet to be trained out of him. His tendency to avoid looking at him is only overlooked because Riku is arguably much worse at maintaining eye contact with the leader.
Though with that comes another problem, which is Daeyoung’s own staring situation. He can’t look Sion in the eye, but he has perfectly functioning eyes himself, and he likes to use them to admire handsome men (read: Sion). So yes, sometimes he does get caught on camera swooning staring at Sion’s good looks, and yes, his members have pointed it out. And okay, Daeyoung has to admit he is a little intimidated by Sion’s alpha energy – he always has an intense look in his eyes when Daeyoung locks gazes with him, and his strong, cedarwood ocean scent, warm and salty, always makes Daeyoung shiver in a good way.
The Riku in his head starts in a tinny voice, the little menace, what does ‘in a good way’ mean?
Daeyoung doesn’t want to unpack that. Not when Sion would find excuses not to be alone with him, not when Sion absolutely hates the way he smells. Not when Sion would have much preferred he was a beta like Yushi, probably, or an alpha like Sakuya. Again, Sion has never said any of this out loud, but it’s all in his actions, and Daeyoung would like to think he was somewhat observant. Oftentimes, Daeyoung is one of the members who would opt to stay after practice ended to fix the details in his dance, or get some vocal practice in. Most times, when Yushi or Riku stayed, Sion would happily join in and help Daeyoung with the bits he was struggling with. On the other days, when Yushi and Riku chose to go straight home after practice, Sion always headed off with them, leaving Daeyoung to practice alone with a pat on the back. Daeyoung has even tried to face his problems head on by asking his hyung out for a meal, but he was rejected when Sion stated stiffly that he had plans to stay back and practice that day, and the next, and the day after that.
In Daeyoung’s head, it started right before he had presented. As with all omegas, his presentation begins with the uncomfortable sweating, the dull ache in his lower belly, and the itch to lie on the coldest surface ever, or nuzzle into the safest person’s neck. For most pups, who present in the comforts of their homes, they would ache for their parents, or whoever in the family the presenting omega felt safest with. Sometimes it was another omega, sometimes a beta they grew up with, or it could simply be the head alpha. For Riku, who presented before Sion, there was no one, so buried himself in the blankets he brought from home, his family’s scents long gone, but still bringing a bittersweet comfort to his changing body.
For Daeyoung, who presented after Sion, Riku, and Yushi, this somehow became Sion’s burden. That day, Daeyoung had felt awfully sick, his brain fuzzy and hands clammy. The pressure in his lower belly felt weird, so he didn’t voice it out, but he called out his sickness and took extra breaks to stay hydrated. Hours trapped in the practice room meant it started to stink up with their mixed scents, and Daeyoung, who usually couldn’t pick up anything, started feeling dizzy with need. A surge of uncontrollable want rose inside him, and he looked up meeting eyes with Sion. He couldn’t quite place what the need was, but in hindsight he knew it was the need to nest and be safe with his family.
“Hyung, I…” Daeyoung licks his lips, hesitating. He himself wasn’t sure what he wanted, but he needed Sion’s attention.
At his call, Yushi and Riku, both slumped on the sofa, turn to look at him with bleary eyes. Despite their state of lethargy, both looked ready to bolt towards the sick boy calling out for them. But when Daeyoung parts his lips, he calls for Sion.
“Sion hyung…” Yushi and Riku share a look, and when they look at Sion, he has his fists clenched by his sides, standing stock-still in the middle of the practice room. Sion takes a deep breath, and with an intense look in his eyes, catches Daeyoung’s gaze.
“He’s presenting. Riku, go help Daeyoung back to the dorms. Yushi, watch the pups. I’ll let the managers know-” Sion starts shouting out orders, and the boys scatter, but the older omega runs into an immediate problem.
“I don’t… Riku-hyung, I want Sion-hyung, hyung where’s Sion-hyung going?” Riku asks if he’s feeling okay, but Daeyoung’s not sure, and he’s getting anxious the more he tries to think about it. “I don’t know, I don’t feel so good, but I think… I don’t know. It feels weird,” Riku hushes him, and scoops Daeyoung up into his arms, grabbing the nearest towel to dab at his face.
“My baby, Daeyoung-chan, it’s alright. You need alpha nearby don’t you? I’ll grab your alpha for you, hush now.”
Riku turns sharply back at Sion, and gestures with a nod of his head towards the presenting omega. “Pack omega’s orders. Come care for your new baby omega.” Sion bites his lip, about to refuse, but Riku shakes his head. He says something Daeyoung doesn’t register.
It’s all pretty fuzzy, with him knee-deep in presentation and whatnot. But this part, for some reason, Daeyoung remembers clearly.
“Riku, I can’t, his scent…” Daeyoung closes his eyes, dizzy with something he can’t identify, but his heart clenches at Sion’s words, confused. His scent? There’s some murmurs, a little bickering between his two hyungs, before he hears a little spray and is enveloped in the scent of fig – his favourite body mist.
“Well, I just did you a favour, but at least let him smell you, you idiot. Get a hold of yourself, you’re such a fucking mess, hyung.”
The next thing Daeyoung registers is cold – Riku is leaving him – then a warm body replaces him. A woody scent, tinged with a salty tang, consumes him, and then his nose is smushed into a hard shoulder. He resists the sudden urge to unlock his jaw, break through the tenseness and bite into the skin presented to him, the skin that smells so divine. Instead, he presses his nose into the bare flesh, taking a deep inhale before relaxing into his Sion hyung’s arms.
And then he was back in the apartment in a nest he didn’t make. After four long days of discomfort, he visited the company doctor, Riku in tow, to take several tests before returning to their dorms, officially declared an omega. The members release the party poppers on him when he enters, cheering and feeding him cake. Ryo and Sakuya are on him the minute he’s sat, trying to sniff out his scent. Riku is familiar with Daeyoung’s new scent, having cared for him while he was hiding in his nest and cleaning up after his baby’s first heat. Yushi, given the proximity as housemates, has also gotten himself used to the newly presented Daeyoung. Sion is there, two seats away from Daeyoung, grinning happily and clapping as the pups guess what Daeyoung smells like now. He reaches over Sakuya, ruffles Daeyoung’s hair, mumbles a ‘congratulations kid’, and shuffles back to his spot.
But what Daeyoung remembers vividly is not that moment of celebration. He remembers this: When he was vulnerable and needed Sion the most, Sion had recoiled, backing away and commenting on his scent, refusing to offer comfort. He couldn’t stand to smell him, and needed to cover up Daeyoung’s natural scent before he could stand to get close and offer his support. He didn’t need more convincing to come to a conclusion on what Sion felt about his presentation. He wonders if Riku had presented first, how would Sion have reacted?
After his presentation, Daeyoung spends two weeks in Daegu trying to absorb the familiar scents at home. His whole immediate family is made of alphas, and he buries himself in their scents as much as he can while given the opportunity. Their company, with his doting brothers and affectionate parents, indeed bring some comfort after the whole ordeal, but he’s reluctant to admit to them that the short time away from home has left him too used to the comforts of the WISH dorms, of his hyungs’ warmth and the pups’ milky scents, of the ocean and cedarwood that faintly lingers on the collar of his shirt. He presses his nose into the fading scent, pushes the shirt he wore from Seoul into the corner of his bed, right next to his pillow, lest he fall into a restless sleep.
As Daeyoung lies in his childhood bed, eyes closed in a fruitless attempt to sleep, he wishes he had presented at home, just so he could have prevented himself from revealing to his members – to Sion – that his most trusted alpha was someone who was so uncomfortable with him, omega or not. The week before he returns to Seoul, Daeyoung makes a bulk order for his favourite fig scented body mist. When he arrives back in the dorms, he unboxes the bulky package, and lines the bottles and bottles of the body mist in neat rows across his cabinets.
༺☆༻
The room is quiet where Daeyoung sits, camera set up and recording for his behind-the-scenes prep ahead of his variety show appearances. He tinkers with the keys as he hums again, warming up after a short break, jotting down notes on how to improve his next attempt to do the song justice. These variety appearances are rare opportunities the company bestows upon him, and Daeyoung does not want to let his members down. He’d only trained three short months before debuting, after all, so he lives in his favourite vocal practice room for whatever amounts of practice time he can get in between the busy WISH schedules.
He fights back the urge to cough, uncapping his bottle for another swig of water. His fingers are a little cramped, because he’s been practicing for a bit, but he powers through it and cracks open the new bottle, chugging down the liquid.
His hands are shaking, and he drops the bottle by mistake, spilling across the floors. God, he can’t seem to do anything right these days. He grabs at a bunch of tissues, wiping up the spillage. The water starts to look a little murky, and he blinks a few times before getting closer to check.
The door opens behind him, and Ryo’s voice echoes in the tiny room. “Daeyoung, are you done with practice?” He hears the door shut, and in a few steps the other is right next to him, tissues in hand. He hears him ask about the spill, but the voice is a little fuzzy in his ears.
“-Daeyoung?” Ryo is right in front of him, eyebrows almost meeting in a worried frown. “Hyung, your nose is bleeding. Did you skip your meals?”
Ryo is a lot sharper than he normally pretends to be, and he eyes his hyung, pressing a bunch of extra tissues into his cold hands before wiping away at his nose.
“Hyung, is it your cycle? Should I call Riku?” Ryo pauses, and the silence is heavy. Ryo has no idea about the cycle calendar, or their agreed upon protocols and who to call, but he looks Daeyoung up and down and seems to decide they need to summon their pack omega. Or their leader. “Should I call Sion hyung?”
Daeyoung’s head snaps up at that and he shakes his head to indicate no, but it only makes his ears pound even harder. All of a sudden, the world is spinning around him. He must’ve skipped a couple of meals the past few days, but he didn’t think it would get to him so quickly. He’s still taking his supplements, so it shouldn’t have been an issue. If only he didn’t spill that bottle of water.
Ryo is kneeling next to him, and still dabbing at his bleeding nose, so Daeyoung turns to give him a feeble smile. “Hyung’s heat isn’t supposed to happen now, I’m just a little worn out, is all. Since you came by, it’s about time I head back to the dorms, isn’t it?” Ryo doesn’t answer, so Daeyoung anxiously adds, “Is it time for dinner?”
Somehow, that makes it worse, because Ryo is pouting on top of the frowning and Daeyoung is getting antsier. He’s about to say something probably more useless than whatever has come out of his mouth but thankfully Ryo cuts him off.
“Hyung, it’s 11pm… I came because it’s curfew and Saku and I have to head back.” He doesn’t say anymore, but the disapproving look on his younger member’s face has Daeyoung feeling very, very upset, and his omega is very disappointed he made Ryo unhappy. He bites back a little whine, confused at why his omega is so vocal now when it’s always been docile.
Ryo gives him a new wad of tissues, seemingly out of nowhere, and gets up to start shuffling around the room. He grabs all of Daeyoung’s things, and tosses it over his shoulder, before grabbing at Daeyoung too. Daeyoung sits confusedly at where Ryo found him, his mind, heart, and body all feeling like they were a huge ball of tangled yarn waiting to be straightened out.
“C’mon, Daeyoung. Ryo will bring you home.” Ryo turns and looks at him with a squint, or what must be an attempt at a glare, though it's not so scary coming from Ryo. The next words that come out of his mouth, though, makes Daeyoung shake a little more. “Ryo won’t let you get away with this. Ryo’s reporting all this to hyungs!”
It makes Daeyoung shake because the hyungs will worry. Riku will worry because he knows, inevitably, that these are signs of a pre-heat. And if Daeyoung’s heat is coming ahead of schedule, there must be stressors pushing his body to the brink. Yushi will worry because they share a dorm, and he could probably see the signs of lethargy on Daeyoung whenever he woke up groggy in the mornings, took a little too long in the bathroom, or quietly popped pills in the kitchen. Sion will worry, because he’s the leader, and he has to make sure all his pups are in a row and the pack is in good shape to keep pushing on with the heinous schedule the company has set up for WISH. He’ll get the intel from Ryo, Riku, and Yushi, and he’ll learn that the pre-heat is happening outside of schedule and will ruin plans. Perhaps in his current state, Daeyoung is a little much for his hyungs, and a little too worn out to value-add to their performances: Daeyoung is another one of Sion’s liabilities.
His mind is a jumbled mess, but Ryo has his grip on Daeyoung, and they make it out of the practice room just like that: Daeyoung’s things on Ryo’s left shoulder, and the omega draped across his right. For how small Ryo is and how big Daeyoung compares to his little dongsaeng, Ryo is a lot stronger and more mature than they want to think he is. They coddle and care for the pups but Ryo is growing up and he’s not unaware. He’s growing up, and he can start taking care of Daeyoung in return. They toddle across the hallway to meet Sakuya halfway, who similarly gives Daeyoung a look, before they beeline for the lift to head straight down to the carpark and into their van.
From there, Daeyoung can’t say he remembers much, except that the ride was a bit too warm before he closed his eyes. When he awakens next, he feels Ryo shaking his shoulder and helping him out of the van. They’re at his dorm already, but the pups follow closely behind him when he tries to shut the door.
“Aren’t you guys headed back?”
“We’ll shower here and hop into your nest!” Ryo exclaims, pushing Daeyoung into the dorms.
“We got permission already. Let’s meet in the biggest bed when you’re out of the shower.” Sakuya walks into Yushi’s room and into the en-suite, but Ryo holds Daeyoung’s waist lightly. Daeyoung assures him he doesn’t need supervision in the shower, and yes he’ll keep the door unlocked and make sure he sings so they can hear he’s alive.
Daeyoung is a little confused at all this special treatment, but takes it in stride as he makes his way to the bathroom to get a quick wash in, unlike his usual soaks in the bathroom.
When they’re all washed up, Daeyoung heads back to Yushi’s room to meet Sakuya and Ryo and build the nest before the chaos, but the pups are already bickering on the bed. He’s particularly curious as to how they know he feels like nesting today, but doesn’t feel like asking, so he plops onto the bed and starts shuffling about and rearranging the pillows.
It turns out he doesn’t need to ask. Ryo volunteers the info, that the hyungs had said Daeyoung was in pre-heat, after Ryo had dutifully reported their location and the happenings of the night. Hearing this, Daeyoung’s movements slow, but he forces himself to pretend the new information doesn’t affect him as he continues nudging at one of the plushies Sakuya seemed to have brought over. He thought he could hide the pre-heat a little more, let it simmer a bit before he told the members.
“I see. It’s early then.” He whispers, as if he wasn’t aware of his own body and its workings. There’s a momentary silence before he feels warm hands snake around his waist, a small, soft, body pressed tight against the rigid muscles of his own.
“Daeyoung, you’re doing well. I’m proud of you, and I know the hyungs are too.” Ryo’s voice is muffled into his back, but he hears the words clearly all the same. “Let’s rest for two days before going back to the vocal rooms, yeah? The piano won’t miss Daeyoung too much.”
Daeyoung chuckles, and he feels the tears gather at his eyes, tilting his head down to hide them from the maknaes. He feels Sakuya join in to give him a hug from the side, and it makes him smile, but the wetness lingers at his eyes, all the tiredness catching up to him. He’s so emotional during his pre-heat that he can’t control the surge of emotion within him – he’s been so tired, so awake yet so unalive, going through the motions like a robot programmed with a daily routine. Daeyoung has always been a crier, but the pups know him better than the hyungs do and sometimes the things they say hit him a lot harder.
He wonders if there are times the kids think of him as immature, or a bit of a nuisance with his Feelings and all the Emotions he brings to the table. Ryo and Sakuya can sometimes be cold, or a little more realistic, and while Daeyoung himself has his moments, he can’t help but feel like he can be too much for them.
In the back of his mind his omega reminds him that no distance carved out between him and the kids could be bigger than the ocean between him and his alpha leader, and Riku’s voice in his head chides him for thinking that. No matter how much discomfort Sion may feel around him, no matter the distance, Sion is still an ever-present pillar of support that brings immense comfort to Daeyoung and all of WISH.
He stops himself from spiralling, hands finding their way to Ryo’s on his stomach. Daeyoung whispers his thanks and presses his face into their shoulders, transferring his tears onto their shirts and leaving wet stains. The trio cuddle as planned, and he closes his eyes to the sound of their breathing, bringing him into a peaceful slumber he hasn’t quite enjoyed for a few weeks.
Later that night, his lids are so heavy that he doesn’t open his eyes when the door creaks open, but he knows Yushi and Riku join them in the nest, because he wakes up to them all up in his space. Sion doesn’t join – he never does during pre-heat – but Daeyoung wakes up warm, tucked into the blankets and wrapped up in a warm hoodie smelling of ocean and cedarwood.
༺☆༻
When Daeyoung saw the opportunity, he had asked Sion what he smelt like to him.
“Like candy,” Sion pauses, his eyes carrying the same intense look Daeyoung caught regularly when they meet eyes. “Sweet," Sion grins, "and tasty.” Daeyoung almost thinks it's predatory, the way he smiled at him. Described his scent. But he blinks twice, and the look is gone. Back to regular intense Sion eyes. Daeyoung looks away.
He doesn’t know what to make of Sion’s response. He’s not sure if he was being serious, or cracking the usual jokes he did with his fellow Korean bandmate. Sion is a ferocious candy lover and has a sweet tooth that could frankly make him lose all his teeth. The other problem is that Sion is prone to staring and staring and staring until he’s squinting and glaring and looking like he’s about to take a big bite out of Daeyoung’s face if he’s not extra careful.
The biggest problem, as Riku would tell him, is, “You have a big fat crush on the big bad alpha in NCT Wish!”
“You’re Little Red Riding Hood and Sion is the big bad wolf trying to eat you. But in a sexy way.” Riku prattles on, throwing in a little ‘ang’ to illustrate the bite. “Sorry to ruin a classic fairytale.”
“The biggest problem,” Yushi joins in, “Is that you get heebie-jeebies from regular alphas on the street, but you can’t get away from this alpha in particular because it's Sion and he’s literally in your group.” Yushi counters, munching away nonchalantly at the kimchi stew that Daeyoung cooked. “And that Sion wants to eat you. Non-platonically.”
He's absurdly incorrect, because Daeyoung's whole family is made of alphas, but Daeyoung is resigned. “Well, that sums it up doesn’t it.” Daeyoung retorts despondently, and the two share a look behind his back as he ladles another serving of soup into their bowls.
Daeyoung ignores them. Not just because he likes Sion or anything like they suggested. The biggest problem, Daeyoung thinks sullenly, is that he can’t control how his natural scent has developed, and that he can do little to help Sion if his leader thinks he stinks like artificially flavoured candy. Yushi is partially right, but more in the sense that Sion has no choice but to be around Daeyoung despite his aversion to his natural scent, all because they’re stuck in the same damned group.