The beta nodded, turned on her heel, and dashed back to her friends, who waited with open arms to receive her. Jimin bit his lip, looking down at his feet. The spell was broken. The students passed on as if nothing had happened. No one would mention it again-- seeing an alpha reject hopefuls was too common to merit gossip.

At Half-Moon High alphas were ridiculously nice. Whether it was the strict rules against harassment or simply luck, all of the alphas(not least of all the popular ones) were charming, witty, and kind... and the omegas couldn't believe their luck.

Literally.

Omegas avoided hopefuls. The mere sight of an alpha with a rose was enough to send them scattering down the hallway. It didn't matter how nice the young alphas were, male or female. Alphas had never recovered from their bad reputation, earned over millennia of abuse and oppression. Alphas still raped, murdered, and tortured those of lower ranks-- it was all over the news every night. The way the alphas at the high school acted was nothing short of suspicious.

So the omegas avoided them. Constantly.

Jimin slipped into his classroom, moving to sit with the omegas in the back corner. One of them, Jungkook, shot him a shy smile, then leaned in.

"Got caught in the corridor?"

"Yeah," Jimin said softly, setting his books on the desk and resting his arms on top of them. "It was right by my locker."

Jungkook hissed in sympathy, crossing his arms and shooting a glare toward the door. "How were the pheromones?"

"Not that heavy, actually."

"Lucky you." Jungkook slumped further down onto the desk, mumbling something under his breath.

"What?" Jimin asked, leaning closer.

"I got stuck in a corridor with my mate," Jungkook repeated.

Now it was Jimin's turn to hiss in sympathy. Jungkook looked exhausted. He'd never mentioned who his mate was, but he expended a lot more energy trying to avoid them than Jimin.

"Have you been sleeping?" Jimin asked, reaching out to poke under his friend's eye.

"No," Jungkook mumbled, swatting him away. "Can't."

Jimin sucked in a breath. "Is it the dreams?" he said, lowering his voice as alphas trailed in. "I take pills for that, they work really well."

Jungkook shook his head. "I just... I feel like I'm being really stupid," he said. "I've even caught him around corners or talking with his friends in empty hallways. He seems so nice..."

"How do you know he can't smell you?"

"I've been taking suppressants since the day I manifested. I don't even know what I smell like."

Jimin's heart clenched. Despite knowing that it was necessary, it hurt to think of hiding from his mate. He reminded himself that that was how it worked, that Omegas had to do it to keep themselves safe, but it didn't do much.

All he wanted was to get up and go punch an alpha. They were nice, weren't they? Maybe one of them would let him do it. If he said it was stress relief, they might...

Jungkook tensed suddenly, letting out a soft hiss.

"What?" Jimin said, glancing at the teacher.

"He just tried to link," Jungkook whimpered.

Jimin's eyes widened. "What kind of idiot--"

Jungkook waved him off, but Jimin still fumed. Anyone with half a brain knew that linking with your mate before marking, while they were on suppressants, created serious pain for said mate. He tapped his fingers on the desk, glancing at the clock, though the lesson had barely started. Alphas were stupid. So, unbelievably stupid.