Marking / Bonding / Imprinting
These works feature some kind of marking, bonding, or imprinting that intrinsically ties an individual to another as a primary source of conflict or simply a key element. Examples may include biting the nape of the neck in an omegaverse story, meeting a fated partner, etc.
Manga Review | Wails of the Bound ;β by Keri Kusabi
Beta Feels Overprotective Over Omega Subordinate
Manga Review | Wails of the Bound by Keri Kusabi
Company Chief is an Omega and Uses It to His Advantage
Manhwa Review | Surge Towards You by Cheongyeon
Title: Surge Towards You
Cheong-ho is a prolific athlete. He’s an Olympic-grade swimmer, but his position is constantly questioned with his diminishing records. His condition would be better as an alpha if he would have sex with an omega, but his fear and repulsion toward omega pheromones make it impossible. Due to a traumatic event in his childhood, Cheong-ho can’t stand being around omegas, which is part of why he loves to swim because they can’t trigger him in the water. With suppressants, he can achieve his goal of being a professional swimmer, but with them being banned as performance enhancers and considered doping, Cheong-ho’s future in the sport is bleak.
At the end of his rope, he tries exposure therapy to overcome his repulsion. While in a park, he encounters someone hanging out on a bridge. The person looks unwell, which leads to them passing out and falling into the water below. Without hesitation, Cheong-ho jumps in to rescue them, but upon pulling them out of the water, he discovers that it is an omega in heat. Strangely enough, he isn’t put off by them, but the reason is even stranger still: they’re odorless. The person he rescued is Olympic figure skater Yi-rim, a “defective” omega with odorless pheromones.
Yi-rim has never been able to attract an alpha since no one can smell his scent, and, as such, he assumed his life would be lonely until he met Cheong-ho. Cheong-ho needs Yi-rim, and Yi-rim will give anything to be with Cheong-ho, even at the risk of his heart.
Manhwa Review | I’m Yours, Blood and Soul by GyaGa
Title: I'm Yours, Blood and Soul
Deok Bokhee is a vampire. At least once a week, if not more, he goes out to the clubs on the hunt for his next meal. He ends up with an impressive catch that leads to a steamy moment in the bathroom, then evolves to an even steamier time in a hotel room. The two are very compatible, which makes this meal all the more delectable. Bokhee is just about to take a bite of his prey when, out of nowhere, the man he’s in bed with sprouts little black wings. As it turns out, the man he thought was a human is a demon, also on the hunt for a meal.
Kim Mariam is that demon. While the sex was great, the prey wasn’t what he expected. Thankfully, vampires are just as edible as humans, if not more so, since vampires are immortal and have multiple souls inside them, thanks to their own hunger, often causing the death of others. So, Mariam isn’t all that put off, but Bokhee seems to be beyond disgusted. After Bokhee goes off to shower, Mariam takes a moment to rifle through Bokhee’s belongings, discovering an unusual bottle among his things. Thirsty and not worried about what’s in the bottle since he’s immortal, he gulps it down.
Unfortunately, that was a bottle of Bokhee’s 500-year-old vampire blood, and whoever drinks it creates a link with Bokhee that will make it so Bokhee can only drink from that person. Bokhee is beyond upset, as the only way to break the link is for one of them to die. As a demon, Mariam will never die, and Bokhee is not interested in dying. So these two are now forced together, and while Bokhee desperately wants out of this contract, Mariam seems all too happy to be linked to the resistant vampire. All while they are struggling to deal with this new connection, there is a serial killer whose murders resemble a vampire killing, and that puts Bokhee in the crosshairs of the police.
Manhwa Review | Pian Pian by HAESIN
Title: Pian Pian
This occurs in the nameverse, where individuals eventually manifest their soulmate’s initials somewhere on their bodies. If the two ever meet and consummate their connection, they will be bound to each other forever, unable to be with anyone else for the remainder of their lives. The connection is so deep that being separated from your soulmate can cause irreparable health issues. This is a scary but romantic notion that Suha wants to live for himself desperately.
It’s especially important to Suha, as he has saved himself for his soulmate since their initials manifested on his body as “GHB.” Most people get the initials on a normal body part, like their arms or legs. Maybe even their back. Suha, however, has his in a particularly unique and embarrassing spot: his genitals. That made the intensity of his need for his soulmate all the more vital, hoping that one day he’d be able to give his first time to his soulmate and have them be the first person to see their initials on his body.
While Suha’s dream has always been to be with his soulmate, after seeing Chef Calix online, he also wants to become a chef. He feels so strongly about this dream, particularly about Calix, that he goes right to the restaurant where Calix works so he can learn under his tutelage. Working with Calix is just as amazing as Suha imagined, but it has an odd side effect. For some reason, Suha can’t stop having wet dreams with Calix as the star of the show. As a result, working alongside the chef has been awkward, to say the least, and with Suha always imagining himself with a woman, it’s even stranger that he would be so drawn to Calix like this. Can Suha refrain from giving into his lust, or will he forgo his promise to his unknown soulmate and pursue Calix instead?
Manga Review | Delinquent Omega Belongs to the Beast King! by Kumagoroshi
Title: Delinquent Omega Belongs to the Beast King!
Rintaro is a delinquent in a city that is steadily being overrun by crime. He has a unique sense of justice, trying to clean up his home even while being on the wrong side of the tracks himself. While fighting off some muggers going after a fortune teller, Rintaro picks up a strange mirror reflecting the image of a fantasy kingdom he’s never seen before. Just as he’s about to ask the fortune teller what he’s seeing, the mirror sucks him inside, transporting him to the very fantasy land that it depicted.
Once there, he’s faced with a scenario not all that different from the one he left behind. A man is bound and being robbed while two criminals shake him down for all he’s worth. Rintaro isn’t going to just let this slide, so he does what he always does: dispensing justice with his fists. He has no problem doing so until his body suddenly revolts against him. As it turns out, in this new world, there are different genders: alphas and omegas, and Rintaro happens to be an omega. Before the criminals take him, the man bound on the ground frees himself and picks up where Rintaro left off, saving Rintaro.
Rintaro is beyond thankful for the man, but it’s hard to be thankful for long when Varuna, the man in question, turns out to be the lord of the land, and he believes Rintaro is his fated mate. Rintaro’s new body is all too happy to go along with Varuna’s stimulation, but Rintaro’s mind isn’t ready to accept it just yet. Can Rintaro learn to accept his new role in this world, or will he run away to try and forge a new path?
Manhwa Review | Gold Gray by Lee Green
Title: Gold Gray
Lee Rain has dreams of becoming an actor. He can sing, dance, and act, but having grown up poor and under mysterious circumstances, he’s had to claw his way up to achieve the bare minimum, much less his dreams of stardom. Along with the daily struggle of surviving, Rain has an odd ability to smell what he calls “perverts.” They smell so good; unfortunately, they are drawn to Rain like flies. Frustrated, Rain has finally saved up enough for a hail Mary. He plans to drop everything and travel to the United States, hoping to make it onto Broadway or die trying.
On the other side, there is Won Lukas. He’s a perfect alpha, bred and raised from the finest stock to take over Roenjoy industries one day. Unfortunately, following his father’s death, Lukas learns of a disgusting stipulation left in his father’s will for the company. The next president will be the child that can produce an alpha heir. The only way to create a perfect alpha is by an alpha having a baby with an omega, but due to a pandemic that swept through the world, omegas went extinct.
But Roenjoy has a seedy underbelly. Hidden from the public eye, they have managed to create artificial omegas, which they raise from fetuses to adulthood, and upon giving birth, they die within a week to prevent the secret from getting out. Lukas is prepared to artificially inseminate an omega to take his role as company president. Unfortunately, the building where all of the omega research took place is destroyed by none other than Joshua, a subpar alpha and Lukas’ half-brother. With his brother vying for his position, Lukas is desperate to find an omega and make an alpha heir, but with all of the known omegas gone, there is little to no hope until Lukas meets Rain.
Manga Review | Your Love Belongs to Me by Honoji Tokita
Title: Your Love Belongs to Me
Mochizuki and Ishio have a lot in common. They are both captains of their respective martial arts teams, have secondary sexes, and hate each other. Mochizuki is an omega, and Ishio is an alpha, but they aren’t drawn to each other. The only reason they interact at all is that they are forced to share a dojo, which results in numerous skirmishes between the teams. To assert their dominance, the two captains spend much of their time trying to embarrass or fight each other, with little to no success.
One day, while Mochizuki changes in the dojo, Ishio walks in on him. It is then that Mochizuki notices how shy and nervous Ishio gets around him when it comes to anything remotely sexual or affectionate. With this new insight, Mochizuki changes his method of harassing Ishio, which entails hugging, cuddling, and all but sexually assaulting him. Naturally, Mochizuki is beyond pleased with this development until Ishio makes it clear:
If Mochizuki isn’t careful, Ishio might just mark him as his.