Once Jeonghan had eaten to Seungcheol’s satisfaction, he went to the living room and lit the fire. The omega was still shivering, though the shaking in his hands had stopped. The least Seungcheol could do was make him comfortable.
Jeonghan trailed him from the kitchen to the living room, hovering in the doorway while Seungcheol worked.
“How are you feeling?” Seungcheol asked over his shoulder.
“Better,” Jeonghan said, adding, “Still shaky, like I’m cold.”
“Your heat is building slowly, I’d guess that’s pretty normal. I think what happened earlier has probably knocked you back a bit.”
“You mean those guys hassling me by the river?”
“Assaulting you by the river.” Seungcheol wasn’t going to minimize what had happened.
“But they didn’t…”
“They put their hands on you. That makes it assault.”
“But I was in heat. They were just…”
Seungcheol stood slowly, turning to face Jeonghan.
“It’s no excuse. An omega in heat doesn’t mean the alphas around them can’t control themselves. It’s all on them. You did nothing wrong.”
He’d keep telling Jeonghan that as often as he needed to hear it.
The omega shivered again, head to toe, and wrapped his arms around his waist. He looked scared and miserable. No omega should feel like that just because they were headed into a heat. Seungcheol had never slept with an omega during one, but he knew alphas who had. Some of the stories were made up, exaggerations to stroke the alphas’ egos. The ones he suspected were real all said the same thing: heat was hard on an omega but could be the most rewarding sexual experience they and their partner ever had, if it was handled right. Seungcheol didn’t plan on handling anything.
Jeonghan hadn’t asked, and he was worried an offer would be seen as a request. But there was a big difference between offering comfort and offering sex. He would gladly give Jeonghan the former, if only to settle him so he could get through his heat easier.
“How about we sit down together on the couch? You’re cold, and the fire will help, but body warmth would be better. The physical contact wouldn’t hurt, either.”
Jeonghan blinked at him. “Are you offering to cuddle?”
“If you like. That’s all, though. No pressure.”
He watched as the omega considered his offer, surprised by the longing on Seungcheol’s face.
“If it’s not too much trouble.”
“No trouble. You kept me company when I was having a bad evening. The least I can do is return the favor.”
“That was different.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
The fire had taken, so Seungcheol added more firewood. Then he grabbed a blanket he’d brought from upstairs and took a seat on the couch. Jeonghan sank down next to him a few seconds later. His swiftness was followed by indecision as he sat tensely, leaving a few inches of space between them.
“It’s just me, Jeonghan.”
Except, that wasn’t exactly true, was it? In that moment, they were Seungcheol and Jeonghan, but they were also alpha and omega. Their compatibility, which Seungcheol had been aware of from the moment he’d first caught Jeonghan’s scent, seemed all the more obvious now.
YOU ARE READING
𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚́𝐧 || 𝐉𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐥
FanfictionAn omega without a home. An alpha without a family. They need a pack-they just don't know it yet. Seungcheol put everything he had into fulfilling his father's ambitions, almost dying in the process. After a year spent recovering, he has one thing...
