Chương 22: The Game 2

'Ryuu-hyuuung!!' Jeongmin calls loudly as they reach the group of friends and opens his arms wide, hugging the man who pats his back lightly. 'Tae-ah! Good game!'

Minwoo stands behind Jeongmin nervously, he must make a good impression since all the others are staring at both of them, even Seo Wonho. 'Minwoo, Ryuu-hyung, the team captain.'

'Hey, you're the MVP! Nice game!! I'm Ryuu, or Sangcheol.' the man offers his hand and Minwoo shakes it, smiling widely. He expected a hesitant and challenging welcome, but the man is warm, and he likes it. The man and Jeongmin starts talking about something, and Minwoo starts to steal a few glances at Wonho. The latter is laughing with the others, hand pointing to an embarrassed Chansol, his nose scrunched.

This is bad. Not only is the guy sexy as hell, he is also cute. And remembering how Wonho is collecting pebbles that night, he is also adorable.

How the hell can someone be cute, sexy and adorable at the same time? Look at that cute nos-

'Minwoo?' the dazed alpha feels a slight pat and turns towards the owner of the voice. Jeongmin is smiling at him, but has a slightly firm grip on his shoulder, telling him to snap out of his trance. He realized Sangcheol is looking at him expectantly, and bows slightly, showing respect as both a junior, and a new alpha, although he doubts the other knows about the latter. Jeongmin then casually introduces him to the others, and each of them greets him briefly, like it is natural of Jeongmin to do so. Maybe it is. Seeing the guy is famous for being overly friendly.

'Seo Wonho…' He is quite surprised by the man's deep voice, even more than his. From the beautiful face, one would expect a slightly higher tone, something like the omega with pink hair beside him. He is not expecting that bass.

'I'm Kim Minwoo from the medical department.' The alpha feels slightly warm as he realizes he only introduced himself to the guy. And his voice was a bit shaky, very unlike the confident guy he is. Unfortunately for him, that didn't go unnoticed based on Jeongmin's and Sangcheol's laughter.

Seo Wonho...

He feels another pat on his back and again, realizes he is staring. Jeongmin pulls him a few steps behind, forcing him to look at the main alpha of the pack. He doesn't even realize he is heading towards Seo Wonho if not for the pull. Being around the man just makes him act unconsciously.

They talk for a while, something Minwoo has no interest in, but still decides to focus on listening. A few minutes later, Chansol joins in the conversation, catching him off guard. If the kid talks about him being an alpha, things will turn out bad for him. He will have to explain why he is hiding his scent, and he doubts Sangcheol would appreciate it, as the older alpha seems like the overly protective kind, even more so when his mate is around.

Thankfully Chansol doesn't even notice him hiding it - whether he doesn't realize Minwoo is an alpha in the first place, or he just doesn't care. Minwoo releases a sigh of relief, turning around to see that Seo Wonho is no longer there.

He looks around and sees the man heading towards the exit with the others.

Shit, if he let this chance slip, he may not have another chance! 'I, urh… I need to use the toilet.'

#####

Wonho tries to stay calm but he keeps feeling as if someone is watching him. He just wants to get out of the hall as soon as possible and get some fresh air to calm his head. 'Wait just a second, I have to give Cheollie something first.'

'Owh yeah. I forgot my bag!' Mengyao tells him before running back to the locker room. Wonho stiffens slightly, secretly wishing Junjie will not leave his side. He doesn't want to make it obvious but there are so many people at the hall and he is still uncomfortable being in public alone.

As if sensing his dread, 'Yaah! Mengyao! Get mine too!'

Wonho relaxes his muscle as soon as his best friend screamed. He feels a gentle caress on his back and flinches a bit, slightly shocking his friend who has concern written all over his face. 'You okay?'

'Yeah… yeah. No. I just feel like someone's watching. It's nothing.' He gives a quick look around and notices his friend doing the same, only, Junjie is scanning the whole hall intensely. After making sure no one is watching, he pulls Wonho behind him slightly, his hand gripping the other's rather firmly. There is then an awkward silence between them, both not really saying anything. Not knowing what to say.

Wonho, thankful for the affirmation and the other, anxious for any incoming offense.

It is like middle school all over again when they would protect each other from the school bullies. They had a peaceful high school life though, so it has been a while seeing this side of his friend. Funny even, considering his usual stupid demeanor.

'You trying to act tough right now?' He teases, just to break the silence.

'I am stronger than you, emo face.'

'You wanna fight me, brah?' Wonho replies, earning him a headlock from the other. He retaliates back by pretending to elbow Junjie and like he always reacted, the man pretends to fall down from the non-existent force. Then they both laugh, breaking the tension as they make their way out of the hall.

#####

Minwoo frowns at the sight. The two seems extra comfortable with each other. Are they dating? If Wonho is another omega, he would already be walking there, releasing his strong pheromones and the man will be all over him in an instant, leaving that Junjie guy behind. But he is still lacking in beta dating, and he doubts just standing there lingering around Wonho will make the man run into his arms like there is no tomorrow.

He must do something. He must not let this opportunity go-

Wait, why is he stressing about this anyway? Did he not promise himself to focus on studying and bettering himself? Did he not just swear to himself to stop playing around? A month ago?

No, but this is different. This should be different. He never felt such a strong longing like this in his life. And he only knows the man's name today.

'Hey, this is for you.' Minwoo pushes the hand on his arm forcefully, staring at the omega girl who is holding a piece of paper, giving him a sultry gaze. He hides his scent right away and stares back, warning her to leave him alone. Unfortunately, she takes that as a challenge and walks closer.

'Piss off. I'm not in the mood.' He growls, showing his teeth instinctively, making the omega stop her approach. He turns around and makes his way to the toilet, wanting to wash off the disgusting trace of the omega's touch on him.

Minwoo pumps the soap a few more time before washing his lower arm. He proceeds to scrub it with his nails vigorously before realizing what he is doing and washes the foam off, revealing a red forearm.

'Dammit.' He laughs slowly at how pathetic he is and splashes himself with the cold water to calm down. A few more minutes of intense staring at the mirror and he gets out.

Only to find someone he had been looking for.

'Seo Wonho?' He is surprised, really hoping the man sitting on the rail tapping his fingers is the said man. Because the man is now alone and Minwoo wants to use this opportunity to approach him.

Minwoo releases his breath when the other turned, revealing his sharp and refined jaws, intense gaze, and milky neck. That neck. That smooth, white neck. Wonho's throat bobs as he swallows and Minwoo gulps as a response. 'Kim Minwoo, we met just now.'

'Owh… yeah Minwoo,' the alpha simpers at his name being called in that deep voice, 'from the medical team.'

'Yes, you remember. So, urm… are you done for today? Not celebrating or anything?'

There is a silent pause and Minwoo feels himself sweating from the lack of response, 'We are… later.' The man returns his gaze to the ground and then there is another silence.

'Owh that's great. You guys played really well! Didn't expect that…' Minwoo stops himself halfway. Even if he talks about the team that way, the man is only here as a supporter. The conversation will not continue-

'Yeah they're great. They really improved a lot from last year. They are a bunch of wimps, especially Junjie and Chansol.'

Minwoo grins to himself. Wonho seems to like talking about basketball. He should try commenting on today's game. 'So-'

'YAAH! Who you calling a wimp?' Minwoo hears another man laughing loudly and turns his head to glare at the newcomer. It is none other than Junjie, holding two cans of Pepsis in his hands, one for each of them. Instantly, he feels a pang of jealousy and disappointment at their close relationship, and at his and the man's short conversation. Junjie gives him a nod and he replies with a smile, giving up for now.

Feeling defeated, Minwoo returns back to Jeongmin, wanting to cry his heart out. That would be embarrassing though, so he will most likely only annoy his friend, asking him to buy him food to make him feel better.