MIND GAMES-JIHAN

ii

Ever since he was a child, Jisoo had been coddled and babied. Maybe it was because he was always small for his age, only reaching up to some of his friend's shoulders. Or maybe it was because he was shy. He preferred playing by himself in the big fields by his house than talking to other kids. Any interaction with children his own age always ended in him clutching onto his mother's hand and hiding behind her skirts. Whatever the reason, he was always treated like he was fragile, like he was made of glass.

His mom dressed him up in pretty clothes, teaching him how to do hair and makeup. His brothers would do everything he asked them to, even carrying him around on their shoulders like he was royalty. His dad would to brag about him, talking about his "lovely little Jisoo" to all of his colleagues

Everyone knew he would present as an omega. His mom, his dad, his brothers, even his friends. They all knew he wasn't a beta, even when he didn't present until he was fifteen, two years after everyone else in his school had presented. He hated presenting late. So many conversations ended in "It will make more sense when you present," and "Oh, you won't understand, you're still a child."

But nothing made more sense when he presented. Suddenly he was thrust into a world of mates and scents. All everyone seemed to ever talk about was who they thought was attractive and who they wanted to mate with. Jisoo didn't want to mate with any of the alphas. They were loud and aggressive, and seemed to think the only way of solving things was violence. But he wanted to make his parents proud. And is that meant mating with an alpha, that is exactly what he would do.

He began to wear makeup daily. Just enough to make his naturally pretty features stand out. He laughed at the alpha's jokes. He accepted their gifts and flowers. He let them think he wanted to be with them.

Heats were horrible. He would wake up with his whole body was on fire, his brain fuzzy, with an intense pain in his core. He would cry all day, crying for his parents, his friends, his brothers. Anyone who could stop this one stop train to fear and hurt. Big sobs would rock his body as he would bury himself deep inside the covers, begging that his body would stop this.

He knew his family were rich. They had enough money to send him and his brothers to a private school, and enough to send his brothers to college. Not Jisoo though. Omegas didn't go to college. Sometimes he wished he could have been a Beta, could have gone to college, been a student, been to parties and made friends. Everyone he knew from his childhood seemed to forget about him completely once they left home. He's tried texting them, but all that had come back were short, one word replies, or even just leaving him on red, or not reading the texts at all.

He thought that would be his life forever. Being the cute little Omega everyone liked but no one wanted to actually be friends with.

But it wasn't.

It had been a normal day, he had been sitting in his room, dressed in his pyjamas, playing animal crossing and ignoring the ding of another notification on his phone. Probably just his mom checking he was okay for the third time that morning. That was when his dad had walked into his room.

For most people, this would be normal, but not for Jisoo. Mr Hong was the CEO of some important tech company, and was never home much. No one really knew what he did when he wasn't home. When he was home he was a whirlwind of activity, playing football with Jisoo's brothers, bringing Jisoo gifts from far off parts of the world, telling his wife that she was beautiful.

But here he was in Jisoo's room, with no announcement of his arrival in LA.

He sat down on Jisoo's bed wrapping his arm around Jisoo's shoulders. There was a moment of silence. Jisoo didn't exactly know what to do or say.