The egregious antithesis

2. THE BREAKING POINT

CHAPTER 2

THE BREAKING POINT

Chan enters the dorm room quietly. He stayed back after practice ended to rehearse some more but didn't get very far. Chan has no idea why he has these slumps of sorts now and again where his body just becomes the most uncooperative it has ever been. And the exhaustion and body pains are something he struggles to cope with.

He is just toeing off his shoes at the entryway when Junhui and Seokmin come out of the living room. "Are you guys going somewhere?" the youngest asks, noticing his hyungs are in a hurry.

"Mingyu, Jisoo and Soonyoung are starting their ruts," Jun offers in lieu of an explanation as the two alphas quickly brush past him and exit the apartment before the beta can answer.

Oh. That's why the alphas had been so clingy and Soonyoung was stricter than usual during dance practice. Chan feels guilty for forgetting despite noticing last week that their ruts were coming when he checked his calendar. His mind has been all over the place recently.

But then another problem comes up. Jeonghan and Jihoon were still in the recording studio when Chan had left the company. The pack is two omegas down during a rut cycle. It will be taxing for Minghao and Seungkwan to handle this. He has to talk to them. Let them know and see if they need any help.

Chan doesn't usually partake in the heat or rut cycles. He stopped at some point. He can't remember the last time he was in the pack den. He knows he hasn't stepped foot in the new one they have in this apartment; which is built in the unit that Wonwoo and Mingyu share, simply because they had the most space with only two people. It had taken a month to customize and construct the den to accommodate such a big pack.

The beta had stopped joining the pack somewhere during their stay at the previous dorm, most likely in the earlier stages. He doesn't see the point in it. He never really gets involved, nor does he feel welcomed enough to get involved. Sure, he had mated after presenting before Seungcheol gave him the mating mark and he had joined the rest during their cycles at the beginning too.

But something changed and there was suddenly a wall between him and the others. It had taken Chan's past self a ridiculous amount of time to realise that it was probably due to his sub-gender. Not dominant enough like an alpha nor submissive enough like an omega. He probably fails to pleasure both the sub-genders.

He still needed to let his members know about the absence of the two omegas.

Quickly slipping on some slides, Chan rushes out of his apartment taking the stairs and rushing down to Mingyu and Wonwoo's floor. He sees Seungkwan in the corridor, calling out the omega's name. The vocal stops, fingers hovering over the keypad, looking at him in question.

Like he doesn't expect him here because the beta does not belong in the pack den – Chan's brain unhelpfully supplies making him gulp uncomfortably.

"Kwan-ah I just came to let you know that Jeonghan hyung and Jihoon hyung are still in the studio. It's probably not my place but do you and Hao hyung need any help tonight?"