tamed - nct, shotaro x nct

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"we need three mics on stage!"

"coming right up! osaki!! three mics!!"

the so-called japanse male nodded immediately before dashing backstage to grab three more mics and equipment. he was very careful with the stuff he was carrying because he knew very well he could be a clumsy mess at times, and all of the things he had in his hands right now was so pricey that if he came to break one of them, he could end up not being paid for a few months - and he obviously didn't need that.

"here, sir." shotaro declared, stepping on stage towards the male who had called him. "three mics."

"perfect."

the mics were snatched from his hands and the two mcs immediately started equipping themselves, also helping the female idol that was here for the interview.

"OSAKI!!" the loud voice of shotaro's boss rang again in his ears. "they need you in the camera section!"

"i'm on it, sir."

this was a normal day in shotaro's life. his boss wasn't the most sympathetic man out there, always yelling and complaining, but never doing the work himself. shotaro was almost sure that the man did not know his first name, but he didn't mind; not when he was paid a lot for doing everything he asked for.

money was important for the japanese male, and earning big amounts of it meant a lot to him. not because it allowed him to spend it in pretty pastel clothes or sweet treats, but because it could help his sister pay rent.

since their parents' death, shotaro and hikari had been orphans living on their own, and making their own money. hikari was older when this occurred, and so, she could start working almost immediately thus giving her a stable income. but it wasn't the same for the younger brother. shotaro was 13 when he became an orphan, and no one accepted him in any kind of company at that time. so, until he turned 15 and could find a first low-paying job, shotaro had had to stop his studies – that neither him nor his sister could afford – and to wait patiently at home for his sister to come back and feed him.

these two long years during which he had had to see his sister coming back home late at night and utterly tired had broken shotaro to the core, which is why the younger male started working as soon as his 15th birthday came up, to help his sister and make sure she wasn't slowly killing herself with work.

since he was 15, shotaro had worked in various cafés and bakeries, first for cleaning duties, and then to take orders or serve drinks and food at the tables. he wasn't particularly a fan of being a waiter, but it paid well, so he continued doing it – of course, working in a few places at a time to make more money.

around a year ago, shotaro had found this assistant job in a media company that did live reality shows with korean music artists, and the wage was so high that shotaro immediately jumped on the occasion, applying for the job less than an hour after the job-search note was published.

and so, since then, shotaro had been working both as an assistant there and in a popular café in town called 'sweet delight', the two salaries allowing him to pay half of the rent.

"okay! cut! it was great!" the stage manager exclaimed as the two mcs and the idol on stage waved the camera goodbye, signalling that they had finished whatever show they were filming.

the whole team clapped as a big congratulation to everyone, and as soon as they stopped, assistants and technicians started running around, putting everything back in its place and cleaning the stage and backstage area – the faster everything was done, the faster they could go back home...

shotaro had been tasked to get back the mcs and idol's mics and bring them to the electric room where they would be put on their charger to charge overnight for their next emission the next day. he was back in the filming room right after putting the mics on their charger, helping technicians and assistants to clean the electrical equipment and the props around and on the stage.

thanks to their motivation to go home early, everything was perfect after fifteen minutes, making the japanese male sigh. he couldn't wait to go back home and take a hot bath to relax before going to bed and sleeping a long and peaceful night – his shift at 'sweet delight' the next day only started at 2pm, meaning he had his whole morning to sleep or rest when his heat was supposed to kick in the next few days.

"osaka!!"

the japanese male frowned, turning around to face the woman that had just shouted in his direction.

"h-huh... me?" he questioned.

"yes, you, osaka. i need you to do me a favour."

"m-my name is osaki." the boy stuttered, correcting the woman that he had seen a few times on set.

"oh?" she seemed surprised. "aren't we calling you that because you're from japan?"

the japanese male tried his best to keep his cool, heaving out a sight before shaking his head.

"what did you want to tell me?" he asked.

"oh, yeah." the woman placed one of her hands on shotaro's shoulder. "i need you to take my shift tomorrow morning. i need to be somewhere else and i cannot come to the filming, so i need you to replace me."

"w-well... i'm sorry, but- "

"you'd be saving my life, osaka." she failed to name shotaro correctly again.

"but i- "

"thank you osaka, i'll ask the boss to pay you double for that. you're saving my life!"

and with that said, she ran away, gripping on another colleague's arm to tell him a meaningless story.

the japanese male sighed, pulling out of his pocket the crumpled piece of paper on which he wrote his working hours of the week. he added the 4-hour shift that his colleague had just transferred to him on this list, not bothering to write down that he was supposed to be paid double for that – such promises had already been made to him, and he had never seen twice more bills landing in his wallet before.

sure, he should have accepted this shift since he knew he needed a bit of rest before his shift at the café the next day, but what could he do about it? he couldn't argue with people and disagree with them. of course not, he was an omega.

omegas had always been weak beings.

they were at the very bottom of the social ladder, far beneath betas and alphas, and it was obvious that natural selection was coming for them. if alphas represented around 1% of the world population – a number that was slowly increasing – omegas were much rarer – scientists would estimate them to represent 0.1% of the world population – and this second gender was meant to disappear in the next millennials.

the natural selection that made omegas disappear was funded. omegas were powerless and weak, unable to argue with anybody or to refuse anything. this explained mostly why the braking news about rapes or kidnappings most of the time involved omegas; because they couldn't defend themselves, not that they didn't want, but they just couldn't.

every single omega was constantly endangered in this awful world until they found themselves a mate. this mate – who was none other than an alpha, the secondary gender on top of the social ladder – became the omega's protector, and the simple trace of their bite or their scent on the omega prevented the weaker gender to be attacked, as if it marked the omega as a belonging of the alpha who would kill anyone disrespecting them. the bite mark created during the mating of an alpha with an omega had an undeniable effect on the weaker gender, making the omega gain more trust in themselves and be able to argue or disagree with another person, and even refuse advances of another alpha.

one problem, though.

shotaro hadn't found his mate yet, meaning he was still vulnerable.

and if omegas' usual vulnerability wasn't enough, shotaro was supposed to have his heat in the next few days, making him twice more vulnerable than usual.

god, he really needed to find himself a mate.