Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Damn, it’s so cold!”

Yoongi mumbled to himself as he tried to adjust his beanie and scarf. It was December, not his favorite time of the year weather wise, but work wise, it was great. There were many events in the city and that meant more work opportunities for him.

Yoongi was a piano student in his last year. He managed to go a prestigious (and expensive) university thanks to a scholarship for “extraordinary talents”, so he left his home in Daegu and went to Seoul 4 years ago, dreaming to become a pianist who captured the heart of a large audience. He worked part time as a pianist in a Jazz-bar, the perfect work where he could do what he liked and earn a bit money for it.

“Hyung! Over here!”

A tall figure dressed in all brown waved to Yoongi from a table at the corner of the coffee shop. It was Namjoon, his new best friend. They met a few months ago at a scholarship meeting at the beginning of the semester. Namjoon was a year younger than Yoongi, a double major in economics and cosmology who also got a scholarship for “extraordinary talents”. People needed financial aid for this school, unless they were from a rich family like 95% of the students there, Yoongi thought.

“Sorry I’m late, how long have you been here?”

“Only like 10 minutes or so. Work ended late?”

“No, but I had a quick check with my doctor.” Yoongi removed his gloves, his hands were a bit cold.

“Anything serious?”

“No, I’m in the middle of my scheduled suppressant break, so she wanted to make sure I’m doing okay. And I am.”

Yoongi answered casually while looking through the menu, an unnecessary act since they both knew he was going to order an Americano anyway. Namjoon was an alpha, but he was very understanding and respectful toward omegas, and even though they had only known each other for a few months, they were close enough to discuss such things.

“So that means your heat is coming soon? Do you know when?”

“Probably later this month, uhg, just the thought of it is so unpleasant already.” Yoongi noticed his friend’s face looked a bit worried. “What is it? You’re thinking about something?”

“Hmn, well, I want to ask you a favor, but the timing might be a bit off.”

“Spit it out!”

“My cousin who is also a good friend of mine, has his birthday on the 30^th. He loves piano, so I’m thinking maybe you could play a piece or two at his party?” Namjoon gauged Yoongi’s reactions closely, he knew his hyung didn’t like parties, “I know you don’t like parties but just this one, please?”

“Party is one thing, but that time, you know, my heat may come around that time and I would rather stay home.”

“Of course I’m not gonna ask you to leave your place in the middle of the heat!”

“Namjoon, it might be worse if I went to the party and got my heat there instead,” Yoongi shuddered at the thought of all the alphas who would be at that party, and his unsuppressed heat was just the worst.

“Don’t worry hyung, if there’s any sign that it’s starting, I’ll put my life on the line and deliver you home safely!”

Namjoon was an alpha himself, but he had already formed a bond with a very beautiful omega named Kim Seokjin whom Yoongi had met a few times, so he was not affected too much by the pheromones of other omegas. And Yoongi trusted him.

“I trust you, but still, parties are so annoying, I’d rather be working at the bar.”

“Hyung, there’ll be many rich people who enjoy classical music there, you might find a lot of work opportunity you know.”

“Hmm…..”

Yoongi was still hesitating, and Namjoon knew it was time to use his triumph card.

“You know what they have there? I bet you’ll like it.”

“What?” the older didn’t seem to be interested.

“An original Steinway Teague grand piano.” Namjoon watched with amusement as Yoongi’s eyes opened wide and his tiny mouth in a perfect O shape, a look of pure disbelief.

“You’re kidding? An original? You don’t mean a replica?”

“O.RI.GI.NAL. You’re interested now?”

“I mean I trust you to be smart but do you know how much that costs? Is your cousin a chaebol kid or what?”

“Uhm, yeah, he is?!”

“What? And you’re his cousin? Are YOU rich?”

“Not bad, I guess?!”

Yoongi drank half of his coffee. Now that he thought about it, the two of them never talked about family background, he just assumed Namjoon was also from an ordinary family since the younger took the scholarship. He didn’t even consider the possibility that his friend didn’t NEED the financial aid.

“Hah, and all this time I thought you were the same as me.”

“Why would my background make any difference between us? Anyway, hyung, so the party?”

“I’ll go. The 30^th right? Any idea what I should play?”

“Bach should be fine. I’ll come pick you up.”

They parted ways after Yoongi fixed the scarf and jacket on his smart but clumsy friend. He had done that many times but he never noticed those items were all brand names. Silly him. But Namjoon never acted like a rich kid, or at least not like the annoying rich kids flooding their school. Yoongi didn’t like those.

Yoongi got back to his rented room at 11pm. His first love, an old brown piano, greeted him and he greeted back “Hello there sweetheart.” He got changed quickly, turned the heat up a bit, grabbed his music sheets and sat down on the bench. His hands quickly turned the pages, he knew exactly where the ones he wanted were. “Bach huh, good taste,” he recalled his conversation with Namjoon. He was excited to play the Teague, he had never seen one in person. The thought was so pleasant it chased away his worries about the stupid heat.

Yoongi presented 3 years ago, at the beginning of his second year in college. He had classes on genders in junior high, and even though he did not care much about which one he would be, he was enthralled by the idea of fated pairing, of a special someone meant only for him. He realized he was a romantic. The university had a good support and healthcare system and he was introduced to an omega specialist, who remained his doctor till this day.

His first few heats were awful, painful even. Yoongi didn’t like the feeling of being at the mercy of physiological events and having no control over his own body. He also disliked the slick and the insane urge to stuff himself with some big and long things. His doctor told him that it was quite common to get “help” from some betas or alphas and that would make the heat go away faster and much more bearable. But Yoongi was a romantic, he only wanted his fated one in him, thank you very much. So the doctor gave him suppressants instead and those pills were heaven-sent, Yoongi thought. Goodbye stupid heats, farewell stupid horny feelings. But after a year, he started having random fevers and pains, which his doctor said were suppressed heats and those were not good for his body, especially his reproductive system. Yoongi freaked out. The best thing about being an omega for him was the ability to bear kids with his fated alpha and he didn’t want to lose that. So he was put on scheduled breaks: every 4 months he would stop taking suppressants for 2 months, so he had 2 heats per year. Still terrible heats, but better than risking his future children. He usually spent the heat week mostly home, unable to do much else other than suffering alone.

“December 30^th, huh, I don’t have a good feeling about that…” Yoongi thought as he finally went to bed after playing the piano.

Closer to the date, he was getting more and more anxious. He felt tired more often, mood grumpy, his back hurt, and the random flares up of temperature became more frequent. All the telltale signs were there. It was coming, the stupid heat. But the Grand Teague! Yoongi wanted to play it. He had been practicing on his on piano and even asked his teacher to let him use the grand piano they had at school, the teacher gladly agreed. And then there was Namjoon’s cousin, he might be expecting this right? A young chaebol son who liked Bach and was his best friend’s cousin, probably not a bad guy; Yoongi did not want to disappoint him on his birthday.

++

“Hyung, you’re ready? I’ll be there in 20!” Namjoon’s voice sounded cheerful over the phone.

“I’m good, ready whenever you’re.”

If Yoongi was to be honest, he had started having doubt when the day began. His body didn’t feel good. But there was no way he was going to back out of this now, so he prayed that Namjoon kept his promise of looking after him in case anything happened. He was still praying when the doorbell rang.

“Good evening hyun…. OMG look at you! You look gorgeous! Aww!” his best friend cooed loudly and smiled, cute dimples showing. Yoongi felt a bit embarrassed by the sudden praise.

“Is Seokjin-ssi with you? He’s not gonna like you praising people like that!”

“Oh, he had to attend something this afternoon, so he’ll go to the party later. And I’m just stating the truth, you look great hyung, let’s go!”

Yoongi looked good if he might say so himself. He was wearing a red velvet jacket with sparkling embellishments, white satin shirt with bow, black pants which were a bit tighter than standard dress pants. He was going to wear one of this standard performing black suits but decided that might be too dark and boring for someone’s 20^th birthday.

He noticed right away that Namjoon was driving a different car, a much more expensive looking one compared to his usual car. During the ride, Namjoon kept telling him that it’d be a fun party, and people would definitely love his music. That put Yoongi at ease.

“Holy…!” Yoongi couldn’t quite hide his shocked face when they arrived at a lavish mansion packed with beautiful people in fancy clothing. He subconsciously held on to Namjoon; even in this panic mode there was no way he missed the way people addressed his friend as “young master”. Too many alphas at this place, Yoongi could tell; he usually didn’t like being in a room full of alphas, and in his current state, he disliked it even more. Namjoon seemed to have noticed.

“Hyung, are you okay? You’re feeling uncomfortable?”

“I don’t know, but, I have a feeling it might come soon, I’m worried,” his hand clutched Namjoon’s jacket a bit tighter.

“I’m here. I told you before right, if it comes, I’ll take you home right away,” Namjoon took his hand and squeezed lightly.

Yoongi was taking comfort in the reassuring presence of his friend when a voice startled him. A beautiful voice.

“Namjoon hyung, good evening. You’re not with Jin hyung?”

The beautiful voice belonged to a beautiful boy, Yoongi noted.

“Kookie, Jinie said he would come later, he had some stuff do to.”

The boy walked over to them and bowed politely; Yoongi took his own hand out of Namjoon’s.

“Hyung, this is?” the boy had noticed Yoongi, he seemed a bit shy and not looking directly at the older.

“Oh, let me introduce. Hyung, this is Jungkook, he is a childhood friend of my cousin and me. Kookie, this is my musical genius friend, Yoongi hyung.”

“So you’re Yoongi hyung!” the boy’s face lightened up, his eyes shone brightly and his front teeth were showing in a smile, he looked like a bunny, a cute bunny, Yoongi thought. “Namjoon hyung talks about you a lot, you’re going to play the piano today right? I’m very excited.”

The boy clapped his hands in excitement and Yoongi liked him already, he liked it when people were excited about music. He took a better look at the boy: Jungkook was a few cms taller than him but not as tall as Namjoon, his handsome face still had that innocent look. He also didn’t smell like anything, so probably not presented yet.

“Hi, I’m Yoongi. Glad to know you’re excited for the music.” He extended his hand and Jungkook shook it with both hands and bowed again. Very well-mannered kid.

“Oh, there’s extra reason for his excitement though,” Namjoon noted and Jungkook looked away shyly, “he wants to sing a song and would like to ask if hyung could accompany him on the piano…”

“Of course!” Yoongi answered a bit too quickly, “you have wonderful speaking voice, I believe your singing voice is great too!”

“I’ll leave you two to it then, I’ll go greet some people, okay? Kookie, you should take him to the piano room.”

And with that Namjoon disappeared into the crowd; gotta say hello to all of his rich friends. Yoongi totally forgot about his incoming heat, he was just too excited. Not only was he going to play the Teague, he now had a beautiful singer with him.

“Oh my god, it’s beautiful!”

Yoongi was immediately captured by the grand piano, he couldn’t believe he could actually play it.

“Can I actually play this one?”

“Of course, hyung, it has not been used much but Namjoon hyung insisted that he has found someone who deserves to play it. And I believe him now.”

“What are you saying, you never heard me play before.”

“I just know it, you and the piano belong together, I can feel it.” The boy sent him another bright smile and Yoongi’s heart was weak. This party might actually be good.

He sat down, carefully opened the keylid. The shiny mahogany felt good under this fingers, but the ivory keys felt even better. He took tentative steps and sat down, feeling comfortable as if he had had this piece of art for years.

“You’re not using music sheets?” Jungkook was a bit surprised.

“No need,” Yoongi smiled and started playing. The sounds were unreal. He closed his eyes and let the music take over, his body moved slightly as his fingers danced over the black and white keys, a content smile on his face. He was not aware of the adoring look on the face of the young boy.

“Wow that was amazing, you’re amazing, hyung!”

“Thank you. So what song do you want to sing?”

“I want to sing I’ll be your love”.

“Okay, just sing it for me once and then we do it together, okay?”

And the boy started singing and Yoongi fell in love with the voice, clear, bright, beautiful voice, no breaks whether it was high or low notes, and that song was not an easy one. Yoongi actually started playing at the start of the second verse, he recognized the song and one verse was enough to grasp the boy’s style. They finished their little rehearsal, feeling content. Someone then came to ask them to go back to the main room and said the piano would be brought out later.

“Let’s go see Taehyung hyung, OMG he’s gonna love your playing, everyone will!” Jungkook spoke as he lead Yoongi back out.

“Who are we seeing?”

“Taehyung hyung? Wait, Namjoon hyung didn’t introduce you two? Come on, this hyung. Taehyung hyung is my childhood friend and the owner of this party, it’s his birthday!”

The name sounded familiar somehow. Taehyung? And he’s Kim Namjoon’s cousin? He couldn’t be that Taehyung could he?

“Wait, are we talking about Kim Taehyung, heir of the Kim conglomerate?”

“Yes! Hyung, you know him?”

“No, I heard his name somewhere before.”

Yeah, Yoongi heard a lot about that person, not just his name. Kim Taehyung, an alpha born into a chaebol family, he attended the same school as Yoongi and Namjoon but often not in class. Yoongi heard that he was only admitted because of his family and that he was a playboy who cared about chasing skirts more than anything else. The kind of rich kids that Yoongi disliked the most.

“Hmm, let’s do that after the performance. You can go now of course, I’d stay here.”

“No I’ll stay with you until after the song. I can see him whenever, he’s probably busy talking to people anyway.”

Yoongi was secretly happy that Jungkook decided to stay beside him. He didn’t want to be on his own with all these unknown alphas around, and he also wanted to spend more time with this boy he just met. He started to wonder where Namjoon was when a familiar voice could be heard over the speakers. “Ladies and gentlemen….”

So his best friend was the MC of this party, he did a great job. Many people were introduced, with well-known last names and expensive clothing and expensive gifts. It was an entirely different world.

“And now, it’s my turn! As a gift to my dear cousin, I’ve invited someone who I believe is the finest pianist of our generation, and he’s going to play the Grand Steinway Teague. Let me introduce my friend, Min Yoongi hyung. Hyung please come to the stage!” Namjoon waved to him. Good thing Yoongi was used to performing; he wasn’t very good at talking to people he didn’t know, but performing in front of them was a natural thing.

So he stood up and walked to the stage as people applauded loudly. He took a bow before starting to play. The grand piano was like his friend already, he felt at home on the keys while the audience felt at peace on their seats. Namjoon was immensely proud, while Jungkook was convinced that his performance, no, their performance would be a great success with such a talented pianist accompanying him. A talented and very pretty one. When the music stopped, it took all the guests 20 seconds of silence before they all stood up and gave Yoongi a standing ovation. He smiled at them, feeling happy.

“How. About. That?!” Namjoon’s spoke into the mic again, “That was my dear friend Yoongi hyung with his gorgeous music, you can thank me later everyone. But that’s not all! A special gift is awaiting you my dear Taetae, and it’s definitely a treat for all people here as well. Jungkook-ah, your turn!”

Jungkook stood up and all eyes were on him immediately, he blushed a little because of the attention, feeling slightly nervous. But then he looked to the stage and saw Yoongi smiled and nodded at him and he was absolutely cheerful again. With a nice “Happy birthday hyung!” he waved at the guy at the center table, Yoongi’s eyes followed in that direction and saw the notorious Kim Taehyung who was surrounded by pretty girls. Their eyes met for a second and Yoongi looked away immediately, he felt weird, but tried to focus on the music instead. He gave Jungkook a thumb up, and when the boy started singing, all his weird feeling went away. He only felt the music and the gorgeous voice.

Rapturous applause filled the room after their performance. They both bowed to the audience and Jungkook was so happy he wrapped Yoongi in a hug.

“Thank you hyung!”

“You did great, Jungkook-ah.”

Yoongi was surprised with how familiar they were acting, they just met! But it seemed right? He was lost in thoughts and didn’t say anything.

“Oh I’m sorry, I got a bit carried away…” Jungkook let go of the older, a bit embarrassed, he was usually not that brave especially toward people he just met. But it felt right? He then noticed something.

“Hyung, you feel a bit hot, are you okay?”

So it was not just his imagination fueled by the high of the performance, Yoongi thought. His body felt warmer and he could smell all the stupid alpha scents in this room. Thank god Jungkook didn’t smell like anything, otherwise it would be quite hard to be this close to him. Yoongi knew it was the damn heat, it was coming. He needed to go home.

“I’m actually a bit tired, I should leave soon.”

“Uhm, let’s go say hi to Taetae hyung quickly and then you can go? You still haven’t talked to him, right?”

“Okay, and I need to talk to Namjoon, he brought me here.” Yoongi’s body was burning up gradually as he spoke, “Do you see him?”

Jungkook looked around and saw Namjoon so he called out to him. Namjoon waved back, but then he saw someone and ran away with a simple “Be right back!”

“Oh, Seokjin hyung just arrived, so we probably won’t see Namjoon hyung for a while. Can you wait?”

What great timing! Yoongi had nothing against Seokjin but why did he choose this moment to show up?

“Let’s just go to Taehyung-ssi first then.”

So they made their way to the center of the room while answering all the people who praised their performances. Yoongi was self-conscious thanks to the meaningful looks some of the alphas gave him. They probably smelled his soaring scent, he had to get out of this place quickly.

“Taetae hyung, I brought Yoongi hyung here!”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Kim Taehyung. Your performance was fantastic, thank you very much.”

Taehyung stood up to greet them and now Yoongi could see his face upclose, the guy was drop-dead gorgeous. He extended his hand and Yoongi shook it, noticing the guy’s hand was a bit bigger than his which was a rather rare thing.

“I’m Yoongi, Min Yoongi, it was a great pleasure for me. And happy birthday.”

Their hands touched and something like electricity ran through Yoongi. A scorching heat pooled at his core and his pulses became faster. He was very aware of the cedar wood scent from the alpha, did it just get stronger? The hell was this, he had been in this room with all these alphas for 2 hours, why did it feel different now? And judging from his facial expression Taehyung felt something too.

Taehyung scrunched his nose a little, a heavenly camellia scent was drowning out all the scents from the pretty omega ladies around him. The alpha scrambled through various ideas for an explanation while his hand which was holding the male omega’s hand didn’t want to let go, it even moved a bit towards the wrist so that his long fingers could brush and press on the scent gland there. And when Jungkook, his childhood friend and innocent boy Jeon Jungkook, put his hands around Yoongi’s shoulders and asked him if he was okay, Taehyung felt a sudden urge to push the younger away. He was always very generous and gentle toward Jungkook, why now, why this feeling of jealousy?

Jealousy.

And then it hit him.

It hit him hard. The fact that he was holding the hand of his fated pair: a male omega. He stared at the shorter boy’s face, yes he was quite cute but definitely a man. Pretty cat eyes held his gaze, didn’t dare to look away. Tiny pearly teeth bit on rosy bottom lip. Don’t do that sweetie you’ll hurt your pretty lips. A voice inside him almost got out. Taehyung freaked out, why the hell would he even have that thought?

“Why does it have to be a plain and boring dude like you?”

That was the voice that actually got out, low and intimidating. The hand in his trembled, a wave of pheromones hit him and Taehyung realized something else, that this male omega, his male omega was going into heat.

“I’m, I’m sorry!”

Yoongi snatched his hand out of the taller boy’s grip and ran off. Yes he just ran off, only bothered to say “Excuse me” 3 times when he bumped into people. What was that? An alpha he just met called him plain and boring? Yoongi usually didn’t care much about what people said about him but this time it hurt. And the heat didn’t help, his entire body was on high alert, all senses heightened and the alphas in the room became much scarier in his eyes. Namjoon, where was that traitorous dude? The fuck happened to “I’ll put my life on the line”? He went to see Seokjin right? Of course the fated pair had priority.

Behind him, a shocked Taehyung stood still for 10 seconds then grumbled “That dimwit, the hell he’s thinking running off alone in that state!” he wasn’t sure if he was worried or mad.

“What state hyung?” Jungkook was just as stunned.

“What you asked? An omega in heat…”

And at that Jungkook bolted away. Yoongi was going into heat? That was why he was hot and wanted to go home? Jungkook had not presented so he couldn’t sense all this, but one thing he knew for sure was that it was dangerous for Yoongi to go out alone like that. Taehyung didn’t move from his spot and most people were surprised as well. But then he remembered that it was his birthday, meaning the 30^th of December and the weather was merciless.

“Kookie grab some jackets!”

His childhood friend got the idea right away so he made a quick detour and took 2 most readily accessible ones. Jungkook was a fast runner and Yoongi didn’t get very far, in fact he just reached the front gate where the gate keepers were asking him if he needed anything. Thankfully both of the keepers were betas. Jungkook caught up in a flash.

“Hyung, hyung how are you doing?”

“Jungkook-ah, I, I need to go home,” Yoongi was feeling better thanks to the fresh air, but now he was cold. The younger put a jacket on him, a dark brown Gucci wool coat that smelled like cedar wood. The scent was comforting, so was the warmth.

“I understand, I’ll take you home yeah? Can you walk?”

“Yes, I’m not that far gone.”

“I can carry you, you know,” an innocent bunny smile.

“Thanks, but no need for that yet.”

Jungkook could actually smell the camellia on the older now, and it smelled great. Sweet and elegant. “How fitting!” he thought. But there was more important matter to attend to. Jungkook didn’t have a license, his personal driver drove him here but that guy was also an alpha and his hyung probably wouldn’t like that. Waiting for taxi was another option but also not very appealing. He noticed that Yoongi was okay with the two gate keepers so he looked at their name tags.

“Youngmin-ssi do you drive? Can you give us a ride?”

“I can drive, but I don’t have a car.”

“We can use my family car. And don’t worry about your shift, I’ll take responsibility.”

“Yes, Jungkook young master.”

In his hazy state Yoongi could still register the conversation clearly. So this young boy here was also a rich kid, but he was the type of rich kids that Yoongi could be friend with, like Namjoon, and unlike that person. That person who smelled like cedar wood.

They got to the car and Jungkook waved his driver off, saying he had to tend to a friend and that he would come back later. Yoongi gave his address and off they went. Honestly that was the best he could hope for with the heat: a friend who had not presented yet, and a beta driver. Being in such closed space with an alpha without doing anything would be excruciating. He quivered in his seat even though his body was hot and subconsciously leaned closer to the boy next to him. Realizing his own action Yoongi felt embarrassed, the stupid heat always made him feel small and want to be pampered. He shrank on to himself instead, hands hugging his elbows. Jungkook looked at him, worried.

“Hyung, how are you? Hang in there please?”

“I’m, I’m good.”

“Youngmin-ssi, are we almost there?”

“Yes, young master, should be there in 5 minutes.”

Silence filled the car again. 5 minutes, such long 5 minutes. Yoongi was extremely anxious because he could feel the hateful dampness at his backside. Damn slick don’t you come now, he cursed silently, he’d better not coat the seat in this nice expensive car with his slick.

And they arrived. Thank goodness Yoongi had his keys with him and not in this jacket with was still at the mansion. He fumbled with the key but managed to open the door and Jungkook helped him inside. Despite his soft bunny look the boy was actually strong and sturdy, Yoongi noted.

“Sorry I can’t really offer you a drink right now, thank you so much for taking me home.”

Jungkook took a quick look around the room: the walls were white and baby blue, an old brown piano at a prime position in the living room, kumamon plushies scattered on the couch.

“No problems at all hyung. Can I help you with anything? I’m sorry I don’t know much about dealing with this…”

“I might need something, but probably not from you…”

“No no, I mean…” the kid realized what his previous question sounded like and he was embarrassed, “do you, do you need to call anyone or like, Namjoon hyung?”

“Why him? That traitor left me alone there… No it’s fine, there’s no one to call, I can get through this alone, I’m used to it. Thanks for asking though, you can go now.”

Yoongi would love to have the younger accompanying him at other times, but not when he had to do some embarrassing stuff which was better done without an audience.

“Okay, hyung, I’ll go now. Can we, can I still talk to you in the future?”

The boy was fidgeting around on his spot, fingers absentmindedly playing with the hem of his jacket. Yoongi found him very very cute, unlike that person who smelled like cedar wood. Talking about cedar wood, this jacket that Yoongi had been wearing smelled like that too, and for whatever reason he believed it would help with his stupid heat. Also the item must smell like him now and its owner might not appreciate that.

“Of course we can talk. Uhm, Jungkook-ah, this jacket, can I keep it for now? I’ll return it later.”

“Oh, for sure hyung. That looks like Taetae hyung’s jacket, he has a million of those.” Jungkook laughed, “I’ll leave now. Goodbye hyung.” He wanted a goodbye hug but given his hyung’s condition that was probably inappropriate, so he pushed the idea aside and bowed before getting back to the car which still smelled like camellia, and Jungkook relished in it.

Yoongi locked the door. He felt the sticky and slimy substance soaking his underwear, it was gross. He couldn’t wait to get in the shower although he knew very well the damn thing would be back in no time at all. He cranked up the heat so he could wear just a big sweater without pants and not freeze to death. He stood in the middle of his bedroom and started looking around for stuff he could use for a nest. Yoongi was never very keen on nesting, but instinct always won over and his instinct kept telling him a nest was better than a bed. His nest was usually quite small, it just had to accommodate one person anyway. He heard that other omegas built their nests with clothes that felt and smelled nice to them but Yoongi’s stuff smelled like himself and there was nothing special about that.

Ohhhhh. Something that smelled nice? Yoongi just happened to have one with him tonight. He walked back to the living room and grabbed the dark brown wool coat and rubbed his cheek against the material. He chose to ignore the information that the coat might belong to that arrogant rich dude and just accepted the fact that it smelled great and Yoongi wanted it in his nest. Okay so that was the nest sorted. Now where was that embarrassing box of toys that he kept hidden somewhere in this apartment?

++

Jungkook came back to the Kim’s mansion, still feeling a bit warm and fuzzy, the image of cherubic cheeks flushed pink and dreamy feline eyes stuck in his head. That was to say nothing of the scent; Jungkook had not presented yet and it already smelled that good to him, no wonders the alphas in the room were all staring at his hyung earlier, even his childhood friend seemed quite affected. And he knew Tae didn’t like male omegas that much. Well Yoongi hyung was just so pretty, Jungkook decided.

“Kookie, how’s hyung?”

Namjoon was the first to ask; he was a bit too happy to see his mate and wanted to go greet him but when he took Seokjin back to the main room to congratulate Tae everyone was in a bit of a fuss, people whispering and mumbling about omega and heat and running away. Namjoon could smell camellia lingering in the air and he got it right away. He grabbed Tae's arms and asked him where his hyung went, and when he just got a snappy answer “that stupid omega ran off” Namjoon had been ready to leave immediately, but Tae told him Jungkook had run after the omega. And now that the kid came back, he rushed out to ask.

“I took him back to his place, he said he would be fine and sent me off. He also called you a traitor, hyung.”

“I am. I promised him I would take him home immediately if the heat came…”

“That dimwit knew his heat was coming and still came here?” Tae grumbled from his seat, people couldn’t read his stern expression.

“Taehyung, he’s 2 years older than you, almost 3 if we count the months, show him some respect. And I asked him to perform, I had to bail him with the Steinway, I thought you’d love the music.”

“Thanks but I didn’t ask for it, hyung.”

“Taetae hyung, why are you so mean to him, what did Yoongi hyung ever do to you?”

What did he do to me? Being a male omega who happened to be my fated pair, that’s what he’s done to me. Tae couldn’t say that, he would not say that, that was just a biological mistake. His grumpy face threw people off and the girls around him were trying to cheer him up. Their constant “oppa” “oppa” suddenly sounded so annoying and their various smells so discomforting. Tae covered his nose with his hand which still smelled like camellia from earlier. This was a much, much better scent, he noted.

“Oh by the way hyung, I think I gave Yoongi hyung your jacket. I just grabbed it randomly, he said he would give it back.”

“He can keep it, I don’t care.”

“Oh, so hyung’s jacket is still here, remind me to take it before I leave okay?”

“Yes, hyung, we don’t trust you to remember things like that.”

“Yoongi hyung’s probably mad at me already, I should at least bring him his jacket.”

Namjoon looked guilty, he felt really bad about this situation: he asked his hyung to come here, knowing fully well how much the older disliked parties and talking with strangers; he’d bring him the jacket once the heat was over. But unknown to him, his cousin was going to thwart his little effort. Taehyung quietly went to coat room when people were busy with the dances and drinks, and among the numerous black winter coats he could easily smell out the one he wanted and took it to his room. Poor Namjoon would never find it.

++

(note: "I'll be your love" is a wonderful song full of love and hope and belief, if you don't know it already please check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y85Ri7ebGc8 song starts at 1:10 )

Chapter Text

Kim Namjoon was what people would call a born and bred genius, his parents were insanely smart and successful business people so he had both superior genes and perfect education. He went to America for high school, thinking that was a cool thing to do at the age of 15 but as he decided to take over some of his family businesses in Korea he came back for college. It was more about studying the environment and culture than about actual college stuff but of course it didn’t hurt that college was actually fun. He blended well with everyone, and without him telling them, people wouldn’t guess that he was a chaebol son, he seemed more klutz than posh if he was honest. He didn’t plan on hiding his background, the topic just never came up.

Coming back to Korea for college was also a blessing because Namjoon had met two amazing people: the first was Kim Seokjin, his fated pair. He met Jin 2 years ago in a rather funny situation: he was buying candy bars with the hope of exchanging the wrap papers for a small Ryan doll, however the shop keeper said some dude just bought ALL the candies left in the store. What kind of selfish person would do that? It was the last day of the exchange program and Namjoon was not gonna let that slide, especially with his Ryan doll on the line. So he went around to check on the “selfish dude” and went all like “Can you spare some of the candy bars for me? People want dolls too you know…” The guy turned around and dear lord he had the most handsome face that Namjoon had ever seen (and that said a lot because his cousin Taehyung was widely considered the most handsome face in the world); he was wearing a fuzzy pink sweater and holding a bag full of candy bars.

“But I haven’t got all the Disney princess dolls!”

And that was K.O. for Namjoon; they realized they were a fated pair shortly after and had been happy together ever since.

The second person that Namjoon was glad he met was his current best friend who might as well be his soul mate: Min Yoongi. He met him at a reception ceremony for students with “extraordinary talents”. His hyung was a musical genius and played the piano extremely well. Namjoon was more of a hip hop fan but he appreciated great music of all genres. They both enjoyed reading and discussing philosophy, drinking coffee at a small and quiet coffee shop. Over the months they had known each other, Namjoon also learned that his hyung was a romantic omega who was still waiting for his fated pair, a kumamon maniac, and an adorable tsundere. Whoever the fated pair was that person would be happy to have his hyung, Namjoon thought.

Now he was contemplating his sin towards said hyung in the coffee shop they frequented. He had texted Yoongi on the 31^st and then the 1^st too, using “Happy new year” as an excuse to text. His hyung didn’t reply for a while so Namjoon was worried, but he finally got a text back on the first evening of the new year which read “Happy new year to you too, traitor.” That meant the normal hyung was back.

After the party Namjoon couldn’t find Yoongi’s jacket anywhere and it was late so Taehyung told him he would contact later if he found it, it was his house anyway. It had been a few days and his cousin still hadn’t called. Namjoon doubted the guy actually cared enough to look for it.

“Namjoon hyung!” a cheerful voice called out to him as a pretty boy with bunny smile walked over to his table, “Wow nice shop, how did you find this place?”

“Yo Kookie! I didn’t find it, Yoongi hyung took me here and it’s been our coffee place ever since.”

“What are you drinking?”

“Expresso. Want one?”

“No, too bitter for me.”

“Kid.”

“I am!”

Jungkook ordered a latte like he always did and looked around the coffee shop once more. It had a vintage vibe, cozy and quiet, definitely suited someone like Yoongi. Oh how he wanted coffee dates with the pretty hyung too!

“Talking about Yoongi hyung, how’s he doing?”

“He texted me the other day to say happy new year traitor, so he’s fine.”

“Haha that’s cute.”

“So Kookie, what do you want to talk about today?” Namjoon shot the kid a knowing smile.

“What was that hyung? Do I need a reason to meet up with you?”

“You don’t need one, but you have one, so tell me.”

“Really, nothing gets pass you. Uhm, do you know if Yoongi hyung gives piano lessons?”

“Not currently, why? Do you want to learn? I thought your parents tried to get you to learn before?”

“I didn’t like those teachers.”

“All 10 of them?” Namjoon faked an incredulous look.

“Yes all 10 of them. Don’t mock me hyung, I really couldn’t learn much from them but if Yoongi hyung teaches me I’ll be a good student!”

“I can ask him, he’s busy though, he has part time jobs and stuff.”

“Make it a job offer then, you can talk business with anyone, right, hyung? Please!”

“Wow someone is desperate! You like Yoongi that much kiddo?” Namjoon still teased but he was not one to say “no” to such perfect begging puppy look.

“He’s a musical genius, I want him to teach me!”

“Okay okay, I’ll ask him, but I can’t promise anything.”

++

Kim Taehyung had everything one would ever want. Or so people thought. An elite alpha born into one of the biggest chaebol around, loved by his family and well known to outsiders. He was smart, despite all the talk about how his family bought his university admission for him; you couldn’t grow up with Kim Namjoon and Jeon Jungkook and not be smart. He was also extremely handsome, loved the arts and surprisingly good at sports.

What he didn’t like? The business stuff that always took all of his father’s attention.

What else he didn’t like? His father.

His father was a workaholic. Taehyung never understood why his dad had to go to America to “develop a new business” when they already had an empire of hotels and resorts and casinos and everything related to those in Korea. Okay maybe expanding the business was a good idea but someone else could’ve done it right? His father really should not have to be there in person 24/7 right? Was work so important that he didn’t come home for his son’s 20^th birthday?

No the birthday was a trivial thing, Taehyung was definitely not mad about it, he had expected that.

What he was mad about happened 5 years ago when his mom passed away. She had been really sick for a few days and people had notified his dad about her condition. He said he would wrap up his work and go home asap but he didn’t make it in time. And Taehyung never forgave him.

His mom was his entire world, he loved her and idolized her. The reason he agreed to be the heir was because it was his mother’s last request and he had promised her that. So despite his careless-playboy image, he had been quietly and diligently learning about the family business. He enjoyed homeschooling with his private tutors more than going to school but his father insisted that “those schools are filled with your future business partners” so he still enrolled. And where the hell did the playboy rumors even come from? Girls flocked to him on their own, he just didn’t chase them away.

Kim Taehyung was a romantic who believed in the beauty of fated pairing. He had an ideal type too, someone who was just like his mother: a lady of elegant beauty and grace, gentle and caring who loved Taehyung and loved the arts. Among all the girls around him, and there were many of them, no one came anywhere near. He had been waiting for his fated omega ever since the day he presented a few years ago. His Mom always told him, it didn’t matter who it was, he should treasure his fated one with all his heart because there was only one such person in the entire world. Taehyung had waited for and dreamed about that person for years.

Only for that person to be a man.

Taehyung flopped down on his bed, sprawled. He had nothing against male omegas per se, Namjoon’s mate Seokjin for example, was a great person and very beautiful as well; but for his own mate he had always thought (or wanted that) it would be a lady. His family was built on perfect gender dynamics: strong and handsome male alphas and caring and beautiful female omegas. It had been that way for generations and he naturally thought that was how it should be. What was he going to do now? He just met his fated pair. His dreams and ideas were shattered.

He had enjoyed the performance, it was the best piano he’d heard since his mom last played that Steinway for him. He had thought the pianist was cute, with his porcelain skin and rosy tiny mouth and silky black hair. But once he realized the unexpected truth he was so shocked that he turned rude.

He called his fated pair a “plain and boring dude” the first time they met.

But who could blame him?! He didn’t expect his omega to suddenly show up at his birthday party and then suddenly went into heat and suddenly ran away! Everything was so sudden. Like that sudden surge of camellia which was seriously the best scent he ever smelled. He rolled over and grabbed the jacket on his bed, smelling the sweet scent of its owner. Biology was a scary thing; Taehyung had never thought he would hide a man’s jacket in his own bedroom, nor had he thought he would feel jealous towards Jungkook over anything. But that night when his childhood friend had his arms around Yoongi’s shoulders Taehyung was so pissed.

Min Yoongi huh. He was Namjoon’s friend and a musical genius. That was all he knew about his mate. How come Jungkook was so friendly with his mate?

His mate, his mate.

What the hell, Taehyung would not accept this. Screw biology, if they would simply never meet again that shouldn’t hurt right? Taehyung threw the jacket to the corner of his king size bed, a bit more gently that he should. But he couldn’t fall asleep. It had been a few nights and he couldn’t fall asleep until he clutched onto the black jacket that smelled like camellia. He was cursing his new obsession when the phone rang, it was his cousin.

“Yo, Tae, you’re sleeping?”

“No hyung, what’s up?”

“You know, that jacket, have you found it?”

“Uhmm, no hyung, sorry, I can’t seem to find the thing. Do you have to give it back right away?”

“Well, I’m meeting up with Yoongi hyung tomorrow, I’m trying to apologize you know?”

“Can we just buy him a new one?”

“Come on Tae, you just resort to buying things too quickly. I don’t mind buying him things but it’s just better to give him his jacket back. He tends to keep things in those pockets.”

“I’ll look again and let you know tomorrow.”

“Okay, g’night Tae.”

“Goodnight hyung.”

Taehyung dropped the phone on the mattress. Come on it’s just a jacket, he thought. But the point about keeping things in the pockets made sense.

Things huh?

Tae knew he probably should not look, but he did anyway. “Let’s see…” there wasn’t much actually, a candy bar, lip balm, pocket tissues, and a colorful business card. Well actually not a normal business card but a music bar address card that read “D-Town”. He made the connection quickly, Yoongi was a pianist, this place was a Jazz-bar so he probably worked there. Taehyung grabbed his phone again and texted a buddy who knew a lot about bars and stuff.

“Hi Bogum hyung! Can you do me a solid and check out this bar called D-Town, there’s a pianist named Min Yoongi and I want to know when he’s there. Any extra info on him is great too.”

Message sent. 

+++

“Hyung I’m very, very sorry!” Namjoon bowed as he extended his arms and held up a limited edition giant Kumamon plushie, “please take this as part of my apology!”

Yoongi had wanted to stay mad at his friend for longer but he couldn’t help laughing. It was a cute and interesting sight, Namjoon was bowing so deep his face was inches away from the table and the plushie was held up high like a sacrifice to a god. And of course how could he say no to such a rare collection item? So Yoongi took the doll and hugged it tightly.

“I’ll take it, I might still be mad you know.”

“How about a lucrative job offer then, hyung, will you forgive me?”

“You’re really a business kid, talking deals all the time. Why didn’t I notice this before?! Okay what is it?”

“Being a piano teacher, very good student, blank check payment.”

“Blank check?”

“You fill in whatever you want.”

“Wow, sounds fishy. And I’m busy anyway.”

“You can decide the schedule. And hyung, I’m thinking, your competition is coming up, right? Why don’t you just take this job and stop working at the bar, that way you can focus more on preparation?”

So Namjoon remembered. Yoongi had told him about the biannual national classical music competition that Yoongi was going to participate in. He was the ace of the school this year and it was true that working at the bar took a lot of time.

“This offer is too good to be true, are they begging me to teach or what?”

“That’s actually quite accurate. You might like them just as much though,” Namjoon said with a knowing smirk and a wink, he knew he was going to seal this deal and his hyung would not be mad any more.

“Who is it?” Yoongi squinted his eyes with a customary pout on his lips.

“Jeon Jungkook.”

“What?” Yoongi’s heart was dancing.

“It seems he’s mesmerized by you, ah uhm, by your musical talent and he wants you to teach him how to play the piano. And if that’s not appealing enough, there’s still the blank check you know.”

“Dealt. Why didn’t he ask me though?”

“Oh the kid is shy, I think you noticed already. And he doesn’t have your number.”

“Give me his number, I’ll call him.”

“Hyung is so pro-active.” Another wink. “By the way hyung, about the jacket…”

Yoongi was a bit startled by the mention of “jacket”. It was the one thing that had been bothering him the last few days, that Gucci jacket that he deemed essential for his nest, now covered in fluids.

“What about it?”

“You know I want to bring your jacket back for you but I couldn’t find it after the party and Taehyung also didn’t find it. We can get you a new one, I just hope you don’t keep anything important there.”

Oh so not that jacket.

“Actually, I have that guy’s jacket too but it’s not in a good condition to give back. I know his is much more expensive than mine but can we consider it a trade?”

“I don’t think Tae would mind that at all, he has a million of those. I’m just curious what happened to it….” Namjoon looked at his hyung with inquiring eyes but the older quickly looked away, blushing. “Oh god don’t tell me you used it for your nest!”

“Not so loud Namjoonie! I, I was in a hurry so I just used whatever available okay?”

“Hyung you’re the best!” Namjoon burst out laughing, his cousin would never imagine what his clothing was used for. “Okay I can talk to him. I don’t think he even remembers that you have his jacket.”

“Good.”

+++

Jeon Jungkook was a boy full of potentials. His basics were all very good: he was smart, very well-mannered, handsome, born into a rich family with caring parents. His potentials were not yet realized simply because he had not found things that he was really interested in or any reason to pursue life without holding back. He was only 18 anyway, and his parents had yet to pressure him into succeeding.

His family was in the hotel and restaurant business, so naturally his parents knew Taehyung’s. In fact the two boys met at a dinner party that their parents attended. Jungkook was a very shy kid and he didn’t talk much to anyone, so a business party was not something he enjoyed. But Tae talked to him first and somehow they just hit it off, that was how they became childhood friends. Jungkook was really grateful to the older for taking him out of his shell and just being nice and generous towards him all these years. Thanks to Tae, Jungkook got to know Namjoon as well, and the young boy had something like a celebrity-crush on Namjoon. Jungkook was so sad when Namjoon left for America, he even cried, but now his hyung came back, and the amazing connections grew when his hyung introduced him to Yoongi.

Jungkook was rolling around on his bed on a fine Sunday afternoon and giggling like a teenage girl (well he was still a teenage boy) when he thought about Yoongi and how they met at the birthday party. Yoongi was 4 years his senior but he looked younger, and shorter, and cute, and pretty. Yeah, so pretty. And the way he played the piano! That was the most beautiful music Jungkook ever heard in his life, so he was really hoping Yoongi would agree to teach him. Namjoon still hadn’t updated him on that quest.

And he got a phone call.

“Kookie, are you free? Come play Overwatch with me!”

“I’m free, lemme grab a taxi or something.”

“Huh, where’s your driver?”

“Oh, it’s Sunday, hyung, I told him to take the day off, I didn’t plan on going anywhere today.”

“No, you stay home then, I’ll come over.”

Jungkook quickly got up and cleaned his clothes off the bed. He had a habit of throwing his clothes on the bed, both Namjoon and Taehyung had complained about it before so he tried to make it a bit more organized before his hyung came.

“Hi hyung, come on in! How are you?”

“Dead tired.” Taehyung dropped down on Jungkook’s bed, long limps didn’t move an inch afterwards.

“Too much to learn yesterday?”

“You can’t even imagine….. I was grilled all day on portfolio management. It was like half a semester worth of stuff in a day. I’m beat.”

“Sounds tough. But you’re doing well overall with your study right?”

“I don’t want to talk about that. You’ve got everything set up? Let’s play!”

They sat down on the floor and played games from there, with snacks and drinks promptly served. Tae seemed to get some of his energy back; he enjoyed playing games with his childhood friend, during such time he could forget about most things, including all the tiring business stuff and a certain pianist who had been on his mind more often than he wanted.

Jungkook admired his older friend a lot. He kinda knew about the situation with Tae’s mom and the reason why the older disliked business, and because Jungkook knew all that, the way Tae had been working hard to be a worthy heir was even more admirable. The young boy was happy to have such great hyungs, Taehyung, Namjoon, and possibly Yoongi too. He hoped.

Their playing was interrupted by a phone call, it was Namjoon and Jungkook bolted to the phone in a flash, he sensed good news.

“OMG really, thank you hyung you’re the best!!!”

That was all Taehyung could hear. He knew it was Namjoon but he had no idea why he called and what made Jungkook so happy. He wouldn’t have to wonder for long though, he knew the younger would tell him right away. He always did.

“Hyung, I’ve just got the best news! Oh god I’m so happy!!!” Jungkook walked back to his previous spot with a spring in his step, obviously joyous.

“Just tell me already.”

“Yoongi hyung agreed to teach me how to play the piano! I was worried he wouldn’t do it, but Namjoon hyung really knows how to ask.”

Taehyung felt like his heart stopped beating for a few seconds just from hearing that name. He could already imagine the two of them sitting close on a piano bench and Yoongi, his mate, guiding his childhood friend over the keys, and Tae was sure as hell he didn’t like that thought.

“Why now? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t try that anymore?”

“That was before I met Yoongi hyung! He would definitely give amazing lessons, I can tell, and, well, I like spending time with him.”

“How do you even know that? You just met?” Tae was getting more and more annoyed by the seconds.

“I, I just know it, you know? We did talk for a bit at your birthday party, Yoongi hyung knows a lot about everything, and he has a good way of conveying ideas. And, and he’s very pretty too….”  

Taehyung turned sharply to look at his younger friend, who was blushing like crazy. Hey now, don’t just go around calling my mate pretty like that, the older thought. Damn how could Tae be so possessive over a guy he barely knew? But rationale was not working here, he just felt so freaking bitter about Yoongi spending time with another guy who obviously had a thing for him. Didn’t matter if said “another guy” was his childhood friend.

“That guy has that much free time? Or did you use some kind of baits?”

“Not bait! Well, I mean Yoongi hyung is working some part time job so I asked Namjoon hyung to give him a blank check in case his job clashes with my request, like, I can’t ask him to give up his precious time for free…”

“Oh, so that’s it. Money talks to most people, good move Kookie.”

“Hyung! Don’t make it sound like that!”

“You’re too young and naïve, people would take advantage of you.”

“Yoongi hyung is not that type of person, I’m sure. And why are you so harsh on him?”

“Nothing, just don’t like him. So when will the lessons start?”

“In 2 weeks, so that they could find someone to replace him at his current job.”

Jungkook resumed the game but it was clear his mind was elsewhere. Taehyung had known him for forever and he had never seen his friend looking like that, all sheepish smile and blushing and giddy. Normally Taehyung would tease him for it, an 18 year-old having a crush on someone for the first time should be something quite cute, but not when the crush was Tae’s omega. He wasn't sure if he should let Jungkook know. He had thought he would not act on this fated pairing thing, but he just couldn’t be fine with letting the younger get too close to Yoongi. Wait, Yoongi should not have a thing for Jungkook right? Arggg Tae was so pissed, he was going to see some of his lady friends tonight.

+++

Tae couldn’t sleep. It was 2 in the morning and he had been trying to fall asleep but it didn’t work out. He had some intense studying sessions and also visited a number of his family hotels in the last few days and all that, but that was not the reason.

A few days ago, he went to that D-town jazz bar after his friend Bogum told him that Yoongi had his shift that day. Tae wanted to have a better “assessment” of his fated pair, this time from afar, so that his judgement wouldn’t be clouded by camellia. He was unpleasantly surprised to find out that the pianist was extremely popular, judging by how excited people were to see him performing. Tae was keeping a low profile, drinking by himself at the bar but that didn’t stop him from hearing what other people, other alphas, were talking about. Some of them were genuinely praising Yoongi’s musical talents, but many others were praising his beauty, and some even went as far as to say stuff like “he’s an omega, and I heard he’s not marked yet…” “I wonder if I have a chance…” “his camellia scent is amazing you know…” Tae was almost angry just from listening to those dudes, but he tried to cover his true feelings by denial. What’s so good about that guy anyway, he thought before downing another shot. He dutifully ate his own words just minutes later when he found himself staring in admiration at Yoongi glowing on stage. He had thought Yoongi only played classical music, but the pianist could truly rock anything. Yoongi thanked the audience and announced his departure from the job, saying he really enjoyed working at the bar, but he had other important things to take care of and his schedule was too tight. He genuinely looked like he liked this place, and yet he was willing to leave the job to teach Jungkook? Tae would rather the reason for that being the blank check, but deep down inside he knew it wasn’t that. And that was worse, because it meant feelings were involved.

So now Tae was lying awake on his bed, thinking whether he should go back to that bar for Yoongi’s last performance, which would be next Sunday. He suspected the reason he wanted to go was to keep an eye on all those alpha fans of Yoongi. There would be a little meet and greet after his performance, as a way to show appreciation to people who had been supporting him there, that was what Yoongi said. Tae found that totally unnecessary, and potentially “dangerous”. He reasoned with himself, swept any feeling under the rug with a simple “I just don’t like people touching what’s mine.” With that, he went to grab that black jacket that still smelled like camellia, knowing it should help him sleep better.

++

“Namjoon hyung, can I go with you?”

“Huh, you want to go to the bar?”

“I want to see Yoongi hyung playing the piano there, can I? I won’t drink anything, you know I don’t even like alcohols to begin with.”

“That’s not the problem Kookie, I’m just surprised you want to go a bar. Yoongi hyung really changed you after one meeting huh? Hyung is so powerful…” Namjoon winked and teased his young friend. He had never seen Jungkook like this; even when they first met years ago when the boy had a celebrity crush on Namjoon, the older knew Jungkook just admired him, nothing more than that. But the boy was clearly smitten by Yoongi, love at first sight? Oh this was so cute, Namjoon thought.

“So can I go?”

“Sure, I’ll take you there, just stick to me okay?”

And that was how Jungkook found himself in a bar for the first time in his life on a nice Sunday evening. It was more crowded than he expected, but he soon figured out why. Most people were there to see Yoongi, his hyung was rather popular and deservedly so, he thought. What surprised him even more was the sight of his childhood friend.

“Taetae hyung, I didn’t know you’re into jazz?”

Taehyung turned around upon hearing the familiar voice, he didn’t expect his cousin and childhood friend here. Good thing he wasn’t alone.

“Oh Kookie, Namjoon hyung, you’re here too? I was tired of lessons so Bogum hyung dragged me here.” He gave his buddy a kick under the table as a signal to play along.

“Hello guys! How’s it going? I was impressed with Yoongi-ssi talent at the birthday party so I wanted to see more. I didn’t wanna go alone and Tae said he was bored…”

“Good timing hyung, today is Yoongi hyung’s last performance here,” Namjoon sat down next to Tae, he noticed his cousin was a bit nervous, something was rather off here. They ordered some drinks and chatted about random stuff, then Namjoon’s phone rang.

“Oh, hyung? How are you?”

“Yeah, I’m at the bar. Kookie’s here too.”

“Really, see you then.”

Namjoon realized his companions were staring at him, expecting some sort of explanation so he told them just that.

“Yoongi hyung said he’s coming to see us before the performance.”

And the observant genius noticed how Jungkook looked upon hearing that: the boy was both happy and flustered, how cute; but wait, somehow his cousin seemed rather worked up as well?

Tae didn’t expect any of this. He was planning on quietly and secretly watching over the performance and the subsequent “dangerous” meet-and-greet, not on meeting Namjoon and Jungkook here, and especially not on seeing his fated pair face to face. But it would be strange for him to run away now, and well, it was too late anyway. Yoongi walked toward them, dressed in an oversized T-shirt and skinny jeans, long silky bang parted showing a bit of his forehead. Tae found it absolutely unnecessary for the shirt to be that big, even if it was quite hot inside the room, there was no need for the damn thing to be so loose, looked like it was gonna slip off those shoulders with minimal movement.

“Hi Namjoon!” Yoongi had a bright smile on his face, all gummy and sweet, “Jungkook-ah, you’re here too?” the smile turned a bit shy. Tae was annoyed at that; then the pianist saw him and the smile disappeared altogether, and Tae was disappointed.

“Oh, good evening Taehyung-ssi. And this is?”

“I’m Bogum, Park Bogum, Taehyung’s friend. I was at his birthday party and your performance was amazing, I couldn’t get enough so I came here for more.”

Bogum extended his hand and Yoongi shook it politely. He looked rather happy, Tae noticed. Was it the praise? His friend Bogum was very good at that, the guy was a real lady-killer, and looked like it worked on guys too. Not just any guy though, it was Taehyung's omega, and he didn’t like it.

“Thank you for coming, Bogum-ssi. I hope you’ll enjoy the performance later. Excuse me but I need to borrow Namjoon for a bit. Namjoon-ah, can you come with me? I need some help.”

“Sure thing, hyung.”

Namjoon gave the guys a “Be right back” then followed Yoongi somewhere. A little while later he came back; green tea, his own scent, was rather strong, and the other three could smell camellia on him and 2 of them were not happy about it.

“Everything’s fine hyung?”

“It’s nothing really, Yoongi hyung just asked me to scent him.” Namjoon answered casually and sat down, two of his friends were rather not okay with it though.

“What??” Jungkook and Taehyung said simultaneously.

“Oh, you guys know there’ll be a meet-and-greet later today right? The majority of Yoongi hyung’s fans are alphas and hyung is quite nervous about it, so he wants some counter measurement.”

“Ha! If he’s so nervous why even doing it at all? I bet he actually enjoys all the attention.” Tae clicked his tongue as he took another shot. This was a great night, haha, he was jealous of Jungkook and then Bogum and now Namjoon, over this male omega who didn’t even spare him an etiquette smile.

“Tae, don’t say that. Hyung has worked here for 2 years, people love him and he appreciates their support. He just wants to show his gratefulness you know.”

“It’s just for show anyway.”

Taehyung’s unusual harshness towards Yoongi surprised his friends. Jungkook couldn’t take it anymore.

“Hyung, why are you being like this? I’ve asked you before, what did Yoongi hyung ever do to you? If you don’t like it here, there’re other places you know.”

“So now you’re protecting him? How grand!”

Tae almost said “you don’t have the right to protect him” but he held back, realizing if he was going to claim so called right for himself then he should be protecting Yoongi, not sitting on his ass and badmouthing his mate.

“Kookie, Taetae, stop, both of you. I’ll kick you out myself if you two don’t behave.”

So they managed to quiet down and enjoyed the performance. Yoongi was flawless, and the audience was in love. The following meet and greet was actually quite peaceful since Yoongi’s fans respected him; even when the courting intention was evident with some of the alphas, they didn’t go overboard. Whether or not that was the effect of having Namjoon scented him, Yoongi was glad everything went well. He was walking backstage when cedar wood scent caught him by surprise. The hateful chaebol kid was blocking the narrow hallway.

“May I ask you to move?” Yoongi intended to glare at the guy but just one look, their eyes met and he immediately looked away.

“Was it fun to have all those alphas ogling at you like that? I bet you loved it.” Tae had his hands in his pockets, fingers moving around absentmindedly.

“Wha… yeah I loved it. So what? It has nothing to do with you.”

“You like being scented by your friend too?” Tae moved even closer, he could smell Namjoon on Yoongi and it felt so wrong. The only scent that should be on Yoongi, besides his own heavenly camellia, was Taehyung’s cedar wood, he thought. And damn it, to have the green tea scent lingered for this long, how freaking thorough was his cousin with the scenting??

“By a friend I trust and respect? Yes. Are we done with this talk? I need to go.”

 “No, no we’re not.”

“I think we are. Why are you doing this? Is this because of your jacket? I’m sorry about that, I’ll save up and buy another one for you, it might take a while though but you have my words.”

WTF? His omega thought Taehyung went out of his way to come to this bar and confronted him because of a coat? Was Taehyung the only one bothered by this fated paring thing?

“Wait, you don’t feel anything when you’re with me?” Tae grabbed the pianist’s wrist forcefully. He could feel the hand trembled and the pulse fastened under his fingers; a rush of camellia washed over him and Tae was pleased. But that sensation was short-lived as Yoongi yanked his hand away.

“Oh I do, I can feel that you hate me, you’ve made it quite clear. Now please excuse me, I have friends waiting.”

Yoongi stared at him, and when Tae didn’t move, he pushed him aside and walked away, leaving the younger frozen on his spot. “Friends” huh? Must be Namjoon and Jungkook. But Yoongi was his fated pair right? How could the older not feel anything towards him? Wait, was Yoongi not even aware that they were mates?

Taehyung would have stood there longer if not for Bogum’s call. Yeah he should leave this place. Screw biology, why did he even come here? He’d go home and throw that damn jacket away and never meet this guy again. Life would be back to normal.

He wished.

Chapter Text

The first time Yoongi went to the Joen’s mansion, he was pleasantly surprised. It was huge of course, but it didn’t overwhelm or scare him. The style had an elegant simplicity to it, and Yoongi liked that. Jungkook eagerly led him to the piano room with a big arched window looking out to an English styled garden. The older took a look around the room, not a bad place to be, he thought, then he laid eyes on the piano and quickly walked over. The younger followed.

“This is my piano. It’s not a grand; my previous teachers said it’s easier to start with an upright.”

“They were right. I have one at my place too.”

“Oh I remember seeing that.”

Jungkook remembered that time he took Yoongi home when the older went into heat at the birthday party, and from the shy look on Yoongi’s face, he remembered as well. Hyung is so cute, the boy thought.

“So you had other teachers in the past? How far did you go?” Yoongi quickly resumed the music talk to avoid unnecessary memories.

“I went through the basic music theories and notes and such, I can read music sheets too. But when it comes to actually playing, I can’t do much.”

“Wow you know a lot already, that makes it easier for me then.”

Yoongi started by explaining in details various parts of the piano, how they worked, how they contributed to the resulting sounds, he insisted that a pianist should know the inside out of his piano. Jungkook swallowed every word. Then the older showed him where the notes were on the keys, how to move arms and hands and fingers effectively, with demonstrations. Jungkook sat by his side on the bench, following his moves with attention and then carefully repeated them. Yoongi would correct the boy when he deemed necessary but the younger didn’t make many mistakes. Yoongi had indeed got himself a very good student. They ended the first lesson with a children song, line by line, and then the full song.

“You’re a natural, your tempo and movements are very good.”

“You’re a natural teacher, hyung, my previous teachers can’t compare!”

“Don’t say that, everyone has his own method, their methods just didn’t suit you well, I guess.”

“Well that means you, ah uhm, your method suits me the best, yay!”

“Practice a lot, okay? I’ll test you next time.”

“Can’t wait for next time, hyung.”

Jungkook insisted on sending Yoongi home but the older refused. He was a grown man, he knew how to get home; he appreciated the thought (and the attention) though. The younger was telling the truth when he said he couldn’t wait for next time, he just saw Yoongi off and he missed him already. Jungkook walked back to the piano and played once more, traces of camellia still lingered around.

+++

“Hi Namjoonie! Oh, hello Seokjin-ssi, how’re you?”

“Hi, I’m good. And Yoongi-yah, you can drop the “ssi”, call me hyung.”

“Really? Okay Seokjin hyung.”

“Hmm, just Jin is fine, I’m used to Namjoon and his friends calling me that.”

“Jin hyung, do you like coffee? I never heard Namjoon mentioned anything about that, I know some more romantic shops than this one, if you would like…”

“Thanks, I’m alright with coffee, not crazy about it though. I’m here because I want to see you.”

“See me?”

“Yes, Joonie told me the story behind the birthday party. I didn’t know he was supposed to be your guard so I talked to him for too long. I’m sorry, must have been bad to get your heat with all those unfamiliar alphas around.” Jin apologized with a sympathetic look.

“It’s not your fault in any way hyung, you’re so kind. I’m back on suppressants now, so that should not happen for a while.” Yoongi surprised himself with how open he was to Jin already, the older omega just had that comforting aura around him that made it easier to talk about anything, “and that time Jungkook escorted me home safely, nothing bad happened, so it’s all good.”

“Oh, talking about Kookie, how’s the teaching going hyung?” Namjoon finally got to say something.

“It’s going well, he’s a very good student, soon I’m probably not needed anymore.” Yoongi chuckled, then a bright smile on his face as he talked about the young boy; this did not escape Namjoon’s sharp eyes.

“He’ll always need you,” the shrewd genius teased and enjoyed the look of embarrassment on his friend’s face, “you have so much to teach him, and that boy’s one diligent student.”

“You’re teaching him Yoongi-yah? For how long?”

“It’s been 3 weeks I think? I enjoy teaching him, and it doesn’t take much time so I could spend more time preparing for the competition.”

“That’s right, the competition, how are you doing with that hyung?”

“I’ve talked to my teachers about what to play, we’re still arranging things but I have a good feeling about it.”

“You’re the best, you’re gonna win, and I’m gonna tell the whole world you’re my friend!”

“Easy there Joonie, you’re putting pressure on him. Yoongi-yah, I missed your performance at the party, please play something for me at some point, yeah?”

“Sure hyung, my pleasure.”

++++

Yoongi was feeling good. He just finished a nice session at school, going over some ideas he had for the competition. His teachers helped him out with the arrangement of the piece and the result turned out quite well. There was still a lot of work to be done on that, but so far so good. And then afterschool he got to see his best friend at their usual coffee shop. Namjoon’s mate Seokjin was there too. He was surprised to see the older omega, and really moved when Jin apologied for keeping Namjoon away at the birthday party, something that wasn’t his fault. Jin was such a nice person, and very handsome too, the two of them made a perfect pair. The beauty of fated pairing struck again!!

Fated pairing.

There was a sudden pang of pain in Yoongi’s chest when he thought about that. No, no, of course he wasn’t jealous of his buddy or anything, he was genuinely happy that Namjoon found such a wonderful mate; it was just that seeing those two so happy together made Yoongi feel bad for himself.

He had suspected it at the birthday party, there was no way a random alpha he just met for the first time could make him so flustered just because their eyes met, could make him tremble in something like submission just because he held his hand. Not to mention the cedar wood scent which was way too comforting AND arousing for such a snob rich kid, or the fact that Yoongi needed that Gucci jacket which smelled just like said snob rich kid in his nest. Yoongi had tried to blame it on the heat, but when he met the guy again at the bar, he couldn’t deny it anymore. The impact that guy had on him even after the heat was gone could only meant one thing.

Kim Taehyung, the guy Yoongi dreaded, was his fated pair.

Who hated Yoongi.

It was so painful, that realization, and it hurt even more when Yoongi went for some food and drink with Namjoon and Jungkook after his last performance at the bar. The stark contrast between the guy who hated him and the boy smiling by his side, the enormous gap between who he was destined for and who he wanted to be with, between what his body reacted to and what his heart craved for. That night he cried for first time in a while.

Oh screw biology, screw destiny! Why did Yoongi even think about that guy now, it made him all irritated. He’d never meet that guy again and that should be it. It was a good day and Yoongi would not let Kim Taehyung ruin it, so he made a detour and went to his favorite restaurant.

“Hi uncle Lee!”

“Oh, Yoongi-yah, haven’t seen you in a while, busy?”

“Yes, but I stopped working at the bar so my schedule’s bit more flexible now.”

“You quit? Is that why money’s tight and you haven’t eaten out much?”

“Oh don’t worry uncle, I found a different job now, loving it. I’m preparing for my competition, so busy again.”

“That’s right, the competition, you’ve told me before, it’s this year. Good luck with that. What do you want today?”

“The usual, but take away please, I’ve lot of homework to do so I can’t stay.”

“You’re such a lamp skewer’s addict, how lovely, wait a bit alright?”

The chef went to cook and Yoongi sat down at a nearby table, waiting. He was a frequent at this shop and had made friend with Mr Lee, who treated him like his own son. None of Yoongi’s friends liked such food though, so he couldn’t eat with them here. Would be nice if he could come here with Jung…

“Your food’s ready son! Comeback soon yeah?”

“Sure uncle, I’ll try to come more often. Thank you!”

Yoongi could smell the enticing aroma from the bag and his stomach was rumbling already. He couldn’t wait to go home and eat this before working on his review paper on different musical schools in the 18^th centuries. He still needed to find more references for that, Yoongi thought while waiting at the crosswalk, then he noticed an old man standing next to him with lots of bags. The man was looking at the coming traffic, seemingly anxious, then he mumbled “Oh no it’s here already…”

Yoongi followed the man’s eyes and saw a bus coming. The crossing light went green and the old man tried to pick up all his bags but he just had way too many, seemed heavy too.

“Let me help you.”

Yoongi smiled at the old man and promptly picked up most of the bags and carried them to the bus stop, then brought them onto the bus before getting off. The old man was very happy but he didn’t even get to ask Yoongi’s name since the younger needed to catch another bus. The pianist felt happy again, he just helped someone and now he could go home and enjoy his food.

+++

Taehyung had not been to school in a while, but he still had to show his face sometimes, and today was one of those times. Class was boring as always, and even the beautiful female omegas who used to be somewhat entertaining had become boring as well. They were so damn noisy “Oppa I missed you,” “oppa you’re so handsome as always”, not to mention both their natural scents and their perfumes reeked. He couldn’t wait to get out and go home.

As he walked to his car, Tae wondered why he was so annoyed by the scents of those girls. Oh who was he kidding, he knew the exact reason. Ever since he met that person, he only craved his smell; only camellia smelled good, everything else sucked. He was so pissed after that encounter at the jazz bar that he actually locked the damn jacket in his drawer and threw the key away. But he learned over the subsequent days that he missed that scent a lot. So much so that he decided to get some actual camellias in his room. Good thing they were still in season. They didn’t smell exactly like that person, of course not, but it was something.

Oh, talking about the devil, wasn’t that Min Yoongi right there? What. A. Coincidence.

Ignore him. Go home Kim Taehyung. You don’t like him.

That was what Tae tried to tell himself, but when the omega was getting out of his sight his feet were quick to follow. That was how Tae found himself in full disguise (aka a face mask and a hat) in an unfamiliar but rather nice coffee shop, eavesdropping on 3 people. He couldn’t look at them, he knew all three of them so it was too risky, he just heard something about Yoongi enjoyed teaching Jungkook and something about a competition; his brain also took note when Yoongi said he was back on suppressants and Tae had to cover that up with a thought “what does that have to do with me anyway.”

Then he followed the omega to a street restaurant, a far cry from the Michelin star places that Tae often went to. He could have a better look at the omega this time while pretending to browse the menu from a table. It appeared Yoongi was a frequent at this place, and there he went talking about his current “nice job” again, looking all happy and Tae was annoyed. The pianist then sat down to wait and looked at his phone. He was bundled up in a huge coat and a fluffy scarf, how cute.

How cute? Tae told himself to go get his eyes checked.

As the pianist took his food and walked out, Tae rushed to the counter to say “Same thing that guy just ordered please, I’ll be right back” then followed his omega out. He saw him helping an old man with some bags, then waited at the bus stop across the street before boarding one. Tae got back inside the restaurant, just in time for his lamb skewers. This is actually quite good, he thought.

+++

Jungkook was overjoyed. He just played a medium-level song perfectly and Yoongi promised to take him to his favorite restaurant as reward. “It’s nothing fancy like young master is probably used to, but I think it’s good,” the pretty omega teased. Jungkook knew for sure it’d be good, he believed Yoongi had good taste in everything. The young boy wondered if he would suit his hyung’s taste. OMG where did that embarrassing thought come from?! He covered his face in embarrassment even though it was just him in his own room.

But seriously though, would he? He had not presented yet, he didn’t even know what he would be, although most people around him said he would definitely be an alpha. That would be great wouldn’t it? Yoongi was an omega, such a perfect and unmarked omega whom Jungkook liked very, very much. Recently he had been able to smell more of his hyung’s gorgeous camellia scent and it filled him with happiness. Was it because they spent more time together? When they first met Jungkook couldn’t really smell him, well not until he went into heat.

Ohh that time when Yoongi went into heat.

Jungkook clearly remembered the look on Yoongi’s pretty face, his heavenly scent, and also his words when Jungkook asked if his hyung needed anything.

“I need something, but probably not from you.”

Oh please, Jungkook would give him anything he wanted, anything. But could he? He wanted to present soon, if he turned out to be a beta or, well, an omega just to cover all bases, then he could try to back out before he was in too deep with his feelings.

But before that, he had a date, or that was what he wanted to think, with Yoongi, so he was happy. He was actually waiting for Yoongi at the usual coffee shop, drinking his latte, and reading the current issue of HBR. He was starting to learn more about business and management and stuff so his parents told him to read a lot. He was still reading when Yoongi arrived.

“Hi Kookie, sorry practice lasted longer than I thought.”

“No problems hyung, how was practice?”

“Tough, but good, I have finally settled on an arrangement.”

“I bet it’s awesome, can you play that for me at some point?”

“Uhm, sure, why not? Next class?”

“That’ll be great. Should we go?”

“No need to rush, finish your drink first.”

Yoongi was trying to catch his breath when he saw the magazine Jungkook just put down on the table.

“What’s this? Oh, Harvard Business Review right? I saw Namjoon reading this several times.”

The older picked up the magazine and shifted through the pages, he was actually quite interested in this. Management was an art in itself, he thought. Jungkook was watching him, and the boy was going to explain how his parents had started to guide him into the business world when he noticed his hyung had stopped on a page for a while. It wasn’t even an article but an advertisement page.

“You like that watch, hyung?”

“It’s very pretty don’t you think? Must cost a fortune though.”

Yoongi saw the empty cup in front of the younger boy so he told him to wrap up and go. He didn’t notice Jungkook quickly folded the corner of that ad page before putting the magazine back in his bag.

As it turned out, Yoongi had finally found his lamb skewer friend. Jungkook loved the stuff, and he had an amazing appetite, even the Mr Lee, the chef, was surprised to see someone eat so much. He was happy of course, not only because he sold a lot but also because it was the first time Yoongi took someone there.

“Yoongi-yah, bring your handsome friend back next time yeah?”

“I will Uncle, his name is Jungkook. And Kookie, you’re paying next time.”

“There’s a next time? Yay hyung!”

Jungkook was beyond delighted. Yoongi didn’t even react to Mr Lee saying “your handsome friend”, as if he agreed with that statement. Hooray!

++++

It had been a while since Taehyung had free time to play video games with Jungkook. The younger was excited when he called and asked him to come over. While Tae was miserable with the heavy schedule and the realization that he had actually stalked his fated omega, his childhood friend seemed like he was having the time of his life, talking non-stop about said fated omega. According to him, Yoongi was the best pianist ever, best teacher ever, prettiest omega ever. Tae was not done being annoyed when Jungkook suddenly stopped his seemingly endless praising.

“Taetae hyung, I want to present soon. You know I never cared what I would be, but now I want to be an alpha.”

“Trust me, you’re 99.9% alpha. But what’s with the sudden change?” Tae asked but he already had an inkling what the reason was.

“It’s Yoongi hyung. I want to be his alpha.”

“Rea..really? You must be blinded by the music.” Tae clicked his tongue, at least there was nothing abnormal about praising Yoongi’s musical talent, everyone agreed on that.

“Well the music is great of course, but I’m serious hyung. I, I like Yoongi hyung, I want to be with him. He wouldn’t have to spend his heat alone anymore…”

“Alone, what do you mean alone? He must have presented a few years ago, no omega survives that many heats alone.” Tae was shocked but he tried to act normal.

“You don’t know! Yoongi hyung really never had anyone help him, and, and I talked to Namjoon hyung too, he said Yoongi hyung is still waiting for his fated alpha, so he doesn’t want anyone else. If only that could be me, you don’t even know I pray every day that I could be his alpha...”

Tae wasn’t sure what he felt at that moment. Or more precisely, he knew what he felt, but not sure which feeling was the strongest. The alpha in him rejoiced at the knowledge that his omega was still unclaimed, in every sense of the word, but he felt bitter about how things had turned out between them; he couldn’t just make a 180 and start courting, yet he couldn’t let go completely either. He felt both jealous and guilty toward Jungkook, who could so openly voice his feeling without any hesitation or internal conflict, who got along a bit too well with Yoongi, and who was certainly not Yoongi’s fated alpha.

“Hyung, what’s wrong, say something?”

“Oh, nothing wrong, just, I think you should save those prayers til later…” Tae only realized he had gone quiet for too long when Jungkook called out to him. This was his childhood friend whom Tae cherished like a little brother, he didn’t want to say anything mean to him so he changed the topic. “Do you want to play another round or do something else?”

“Something else actually. Would you go buy a watch with me?”

“Huh, a watch? You’re tired of your smart watch already? I told you, real business men wear real watches, not those electrical toys.”

“Nothing wrong with my smart watch, but yeah I want to buy a real watch this time.”

“Sure, any idea what you want?”

“I want a Rolex.”

“Good choice kid.”

Tae took Jungkook to the exclusive Rolex store that he frequented. The kid looked around excitedly, eyes as sparkly as those shiny timepieces on display. The store manager immediately recognized Tae and walked over to greet him.

“Taehyung-ssi, what a great honor. How can we help you today?”

“Oh, it’s my dear friend here who wants a watch.” Tae looked at Jungkook, smiling.

“Welcome to Rolex. We’re honored to have you here. May I help you with choosing, or do you want to browse through the collection?”

“Actually I have a certain model in mind. Do you still have this?”

Jungkook pulled out his phone and showed the manager a picture. He had even thought about bringing the magazine with him but figured that would look quite lame so he looked for the watch on their website first.

“That is our latest limited edition model, I believe we have one left. This way please.”

Tae also followed the 2 of them to check out the watch. It was a modern classic, simple yet classy. He praised his friend’s good taste and class. You got to be of a certain class to buy a $10 000 Rolex as your first watch (Tae never considered smart watches as watches). But then Jungkook told the manager he needed to gift wrap the watch, paid for it and then left happily.

As soon as they got in the car, Tae had to ask.

“Wow, a gift? Namjoon hyung’s birthday is quite a while a way, so is mine….”

“That’s true. But Yoongi hyung’s birthday is next week.”

“What??” Tae fumbled with his keys. His omega’s birthday was a few days away and he just learned that fact! Wait, why would he care? “Your parents would surely be happy if they knew you spent 10 grands on someone you’ve just known for a month.”

“2 months, hyung. And it’s my money, I decide what I do with it.”

“Yours? Where from?”

“I played on the stock market. Namjoon hyung taught me.”

“What? He never even mentioned his investment stuff to me!”

“Hyung, you’ve made sure everyone knows you don’t like such things. Anyway I’m happy I could buy this with my own money, Yoongi hyung would like it. I hope.”

“Yeah. Whatever.”

Tae slammed his foot down. The car roared and rocketed away.

+++

It took Taehyung a few days to temporarily forget the birthday gift thing. 10 000 bucks was a lot to most people but not much to them chaebol kids. What really struck him was how dedicated his 18 year old friend was, earning his own money to buy the gift.

“I want to be with him. I want to be his alpha.”

His alpha huh? Jungkook wanted to be Yoongi’s alpha? He couldn’t, right? Or could he?

Why the fuck not?

The realization hit Taehyung hard. Yoongi was his fated pair, but that didn’t guarantee anything. An omega could still resist biology and choose an alpha he or she actually wanted right? And Yoongi seemed like the type who defied destiny. He already powered through his heat alone for God knew how many times.

“Yoongi hyung is still waiting for his fated alpha, so he doesn’t want anyone else,”

What if he wanted someone else now? Since the fated alpha, aka Taehyung himself, had been nothing but a rude ass jerk to him. The alternative must seem much better right? Taehyung rarely saw the omega, but still he had seen enough to notice how Yoongi’s eyes gleamed and his smile turned sweet whenever he was with or talking about Jungkook. The boy had not presented yet, but as Taehyung said so himself, Jungkook would definitely be an alpha, a strong rival. It was absurd to think of his childhood friend as a rival but that was becoming more and more realistic.

When it came to status or abilities or look, Taehyung didn’t think he would have to worry. But those things didn’t really matter when Yoongi thought Tae hated him. Oh how could he hate him? Such a talented, hard working and kind hearted person? Not to mention so pretty and adorable? Even if they were not fated pair, Tae would love to have such a friend. No, if only they were not fated pair, Tae would have already befriended him.

That was it, let’s be friends! They were both close to Namjoon and Jungkook now, would be weird if they keep hating each other right? Tae calmed himself down with this new resolution, being friends would be fine, if they could actually be friends.

++

“Tae! How on Earth do you know this place?” Namjoon was in disbelief when his cousin asked him to go to a coffee place and it turned out to be his and Yoongi’s favorite shop.

“A friend of mine showed me.” That was smooth, of course Tae couldn’t say “I know cuz I stalked Yoongi”.

“You have such friend? Hahaha”

“You know I have lots of friends hyung, some of them outta know a nice coffee place.”

“How’s it going? Heard you’ve started to do some actual business stuff. Stressful?”

“You don’t say. It’s tougher than I thought. I’m spent.”

“You still had time to play with Kook and took him shopping though, good friend.”

“I can’t say no to him. Talking about Kookie, you taught him trading? And not your own cousin?”

“Come on Tae, you both are like my little bros, he surprised me too with his request. He asked me when Yoongi hyung’s birthday was and suddenly went “Hyung I need 10 000 dollars, help!” I thought he meant to lend him some which was super weird, but he actually wanted to earn his own money. And he was damn good for a beginner. That boy is whipped you know… Tae? What’s up?”

“Uhm, hyung, I want to know too, when’s Yoongi’s birthday?”

“I told you he’s older than you, mind your honorific. And it’s the 9^th, why?”

“I’ve never thanked him properly for his performance at my birthday, so I thought maybe a birthday gift or something…”

“Oh you also mean an apology gift for being an unreasonable jerk towards him, no? Listen Tae, you are my cousin and I like you a lot, but Yoongi hyung is my best friend and not only that, he’s the sweetest person around, I won’t let you bully him.”

“I’m… I know I was bad okay? That’s why I’m trying to make peace. Do you know if he, uhm, hates me?”

“I don’t know, I avoid talking about you when he’s around, I know that much.”

“Hyung, help me please? Is there something he really likes?”

“Lemme think. He’s working on a thesis about classical music of the 18^th century and he’s been trying to find this book but it’s old and rare…”

“Which one is it?” Tae was keen, he had a good feeling about this.

“One sec…” Namjoon pulled out his phone, “this one, I was googling it the other day, I wanted to get him this book as a present but I couldn’t find it…”

“Thanks hyung!!!” The crescent moon eyes appeared, meaning Tae was joyous.

“You have it? No way?!”

“Yes way.”

+++

 Tae was feeling rather pleased. He just called his butler to check if the book was indeed in his Mom’s collection as he remembered. His Mom loved classical music and she had quite an impressive library. Taehyung was usually very protective of everything his Mom left behind but just this one time he was willing to give one away. It was for his fated pair, he was sure his Mom would have allowed, or encouraged him even.

He was going to go home after talking to Namjoon but since he was happy and had some time to spare, he went to his childhood friend’s place instead. Gonna surprise the boy.

“Good afternoon, Taehyung young master. Our young master is having his lesson right now. I could go inform him.”

“Huh? Is he home schooling now?”

“No, young master has his piano lesson today. Please have a seat, tea and snacks will be served right away.”

How could Taehyung forget about that? But he wasn’t keeping track of Jungkook’s schedule, he just thought it’d be nice to spend some time with his friend. Tae sat down with a blank face as the butler set up the table. He had been here so many times that all the staff knew his taste. As the butler was about to send a maid to inform Jungkook of his arrival, Tae stopped him.

“It’s alright, I’ll do it.”

“Uhm, young master, that’s a bit…”

“It’ll be fine, it’s me. That room is not locked right?”

“No it’s not. But please let me do it.”

“I told you it’s fine.”

Tae walked pass the butler. Somehow that attitude annoyed him. Why couldn’t Tae do it? Did Jungkook tell them not to disturb his precious lecture time with Yoongi or what? Tae was getting pissed all by himself, not even looking where he was going. He knew this place like his own house, he and Kookie used to play hide and seek and they had explored every corner of this huge mansion. He arrived at his destination in no time, and after standing still for a while, he pushed on the door.

His eyes immediately turned to the two people on the piano bench. Too close. Their silhouettes were connected. The snow-covered garden outside the window was so blindingly bright, yet the music was so soothing, so light. Tae could recognize some parts, sounded like what his Mom played in the past. Obviously Yoongi was playing; Tae believed Jungkook had talents but there was no way his friend could be this good.

“Wow hyung that was amazing!!! Is this the final version? It’s awesome you’re gonna win!”

The young boy was clapping his hands in excitement, then he stood up behind Yoongi and gave him a back hug. The moment was disrupted when Tae knocked on the already-opened door and cleared his throat. Jungkook quickly let go of Yoongi and turned around.

“Oh hi hyung? Didn’t know you were coming! Come on in.”

“Yeah I was around so just thought I’d stop by. Didn’t know you have lesson today. Good afternoon, Yoongi-ssi.”

“Good afternoon.”

“Hyung, why don’t you wait here, I’ll go grab some stuff and then I’ll show you my new talent. I played that song so well Yoongi hyung even treated me some lamb skewers!! Just a sec alright?”

Jungkook almost ran out of the room, he was excited to show his childhood friend his progress. Tae chuckled, the boy almost certainly just went to get some food and drink, he was not the type to call the servants for that. Tae was left alone with his fated pair who was still sitting on the bench, not looking at him. So Yoongi took Kookie to that street restaurant huh? More unnecessary information, Tae thought as he approached the pianist, his mean face was back without him knowing.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself, Yoongi-ssi.”

“I was, until you arrived.”

“You left that bar for this right? You’re smart; easy work, good pay.”

“Yes. I’m smart. And Jungkook is a good boy, unlike a certain someone.”

Yoongi said that and of course Tae knew he was referring to him, but the omega still didn’t look at him. Taehyung grasped his wrist tightly and pulled, forcing him to look his way.

“You, you know what we are, right?”

“We? What we?” Yoongi was taken aback, but quickly regained his composure; he was not going to play this stupid destiny game here, especially with Jungkook coming back soon. He gathered his strength and got out of Tae’s grip, and glared at him.

“I’ll tell you what we are. We are a mismatch.”

Chapter Text

The birthday party was everything that Yoongi could ask for: A small group of close friends, food and drinks, and music. Namjoon came early to help him with decorations which surprised the omega a bit since he expected his best friend to come with his mate.

“Where’s Jin hyung?”

“He’s busy preparing a little present for you, he’ll come latter. Why you asked?”

“Nothing, just thought you two would come together,” Yoongi said nonchalantly as he set the table.

“Haha, we’re past that early stage when we felt the need to show up at every party hand in hand. It’s like once the bond is so deep you’ll always feel connected even when your mate is not with you. It’s crazy how that works, but it’s pretty cool I guess.” Namjoon chuckled as he finished taping the string of balloons on the wall; he turned around to see Yoongi stood still at the table, seemingly lost in thoughts. “Hyung?”

“Ah, oh, yeah fated paring is crazy right. I’m happy for you, when’s the engagement party?”

“We haven’t talked about that yet. Jin hyung is in the middle of taking over control of his family’s hospitals, so I’ll have to wait at least till that’s done.”

“Wow, Jin hyung is full of surprises. No offends but I thought he was a very traditional omega when I first met him.”

“Well I thought he was a selfish-but-very-cute figurine collector who bought all of MY candies when we first met hahahaha. But yeah Jin hyung is amazing, he runs companies like the best alphas and runs the kitchen like the best omegas!”

“Well aren’t you the lucky one!”

“Yes I am. But you know who’s also lucky?”

“Who?”

“Your mate, whoever that is. They wouldn’t believe their luck cuz my Yoongi hyung is the best!”

Namjoon walked toward Yoongi and gave the shorter a quick back hug. The omega swatted his arms away, saying something like he wouldn’t want Jin to retract his present upon seeing Namjoon hugging him like that. How ironic, “lucky”? He was sure Taehyung wouldn’t call himself “lucky.”

The doorbell rang to distract him from his not very happy thoughts and there came Yoongi’s friends from the music department, Tablo and Kihyun. They gave him his hugs and presents and introduced themselves to Namjoon.

“I’m Tablo, I teach composition and music history at the Music department.”

“I’m Kihyun, I study modern art and music, same age as Yoongi, you can call me hyung.”

“Good evening, seonsaengnim, Kihyun hyung. I’m Namjoon, I study economics and cosmology. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, you’re Yoongi’s genius friend right? By the way you can call me hyung too!” Tablo reached out to shake his hands. Namjoon was surprised, like, this man looked young but he was still a teacher at their school right?

“Yes you can Namjoon-ah. Tablo hyung has harassed those close to him into calling him hyung outside of school. He’s only 34, young enough.” Yoongi gave them some water.

“34? No wonder you look young, seonsaen.. uhm, Tablo hyung. How long have you been teaching?”

“About 10 years I think?”

“10 years?! Wow!”

“He was made full professor at 25, can you believe that. Why are all the people I know geniuses?” Yoongi made a fake wondering face.

“Well, because you are one Yoongi-yah, like attracts like you know!” Kihyun playfully patted Yoongi’s back.

“Are you including yourself among the geniuses? Shameless!”

Laughter filled the small living room. Yoongi was loving this, this light hearted and cozy atmosphere. He could go on just like this, surrounded by people he loved who also loved him back. Who needed a mate, especially one that clearly didn’t want you?

The doorbell rang again and Yoongi was ready for some more happiness. Seokjin came with a huge box which smelled really good. He gave Yoongi the box first before he could hug him and then hugged his mate. He told Yoongi to open the box carefully and the younger promptly followed the instruction, excitement evident on his face.

Namjoon introduced his mate to the other 2 guests, not forgetting to show off their rings which earned him a gentle smack from Jin.

“OMG Jin hyung this is amazing!!”

Yoongi’s happy cheer startled the guests, they quickly came over to see what he was talking about. Still inside a box on the table was an awesome looking birthday cake, meticulously decorated in a musical theme, and the smell was just divine, insanely sweet and yet not overwhelming but very pleasant.

“That’s my present, good enough for you to play the piano for me today?”

“You made this? Hyung you’re awesome! Of course I’ll play, I’ll play anything you want! Namjoon you lucky bastard, you’re in for treats like this your whole life?!”

Everyone was showering Jin with compliments for his baking skills when the final guest arrived. Yoongi cheerfully went to open the door because he knew who this was.

“Good evening hyung,” Jungkook greeted him with a bright smile. The omega closed the door and then one glance at what the young boy was carrying made him blush.

“Good evening everyone,” Jungkook realized other people were already there, he could easily tell he was the youngest at this party, so he bowed deep with both hands occupied, a bit awkward but endearingly cute.

“Hyung, this is for you, uhm, happy birthday.”

The young boy handed Yoongi a rose bouquet and a pretty gift bag, and both of them were shy for whatever reason. Namjoon just couldn’t help it but leaned in and whispered to his mate: “A dozen red roses? Kookie is so obvious, it’s cute!” to which Jin whispered back “Your single red rose with heart-print ribbon was worse, darling.”

They all gathered at the table, food and drink ready, Jungkook got over his embarrassment rather quickly thanks to the cake. Another round of introduction and they happily ate away. The music people in the room treated everyone to some fine piano, and then Namjoon suggested Jungkook to sing a song for Yoongi and the boy reluctantly agreed, the hesitation was mostly due to his heart beating too fast. He finally gathered his courage and sang while stealing glances at the birthday boy. Tablo loved his voice and kept saying the boy could make a great singer with some vocal training.

Finally, they got to the gift opening. Seokin gave Yoongi a present in addition to the cake, it was a peach-rose silk blouse, very pretty and the older omega said “Everyone should own something pink.” Namjoon gave him a jacket, he probably still felt bad about not finding Yoongi’s old one. Tablo gave him a rare music book that he got through some “connections” while Kihyun gifted him a handmade leather-covered music sheet notebook “for when you finally get to composing” with his name on it. Yoongi grabbed Jungkook’s gift bag and took the thing out. It was small but fancy giftbox tied with gold and white ribbons. This time Jin was the one to whisper “He’s so obvious” when he noticed the young boy fidgeting on his seat. Yoongi slowly opened the pretty little box, feeling kinda nervous for unknown reason.

“Oh my goodness!”

He stared at the shiny timepiece inside the box, he recognized it right away, the one from the magazine. He didn’t expect Jungkook to remember it, let alone actually buying it. He didn’t know the price but it was Rolex, must be too expensive for a birthday present.

“Jungkook-ah, I can’t accept this.”

“Why hyung? You don’t like it anymore? I’m sorry…”

The young boy was now fidgeting for a different reason, was he too rushed with his present? Hyung didn’t like it? Oh god what should he do now, he gave his hyung a present hyung didn’t like, he was such an idiot.

“No, it’s not like that, I like it, I really do, but you should not spend this much on a present, I mean I’m happy with the flowers you know.”

“Hyung, just take it. Kookie worked hard for this, don’t let him down.”

Let him down? Yoongi didn’t have the heart to do that, especially when Jungkook looked like a kicked puppy right next to him. So he closed the box and put it aside.

“Okay, I’ll take it. Consider it your tuition paid. Man, ain't I one hell of an expensive teacher?!”

“But hyung!!”

“End of discussion. Thanks Kookie.”

Yoongi thought he was done with the present but there was one left. He picked the thing up and looked around the table.

“I have one more? Some of you gave me 2 presents?”

“Oh that’s from Taehyung, he wanted to thank you for your performance at his party, and to apologize for other things.”

Say that to my face then, Yoongi thought. He was going to put the present down but Namjoon thought otherwise.

“Open it, hyung, you’ll like it.”

Other people seemed to be expecting that as well so Yoongi had no choice. His eyes widened the moment the saw the book inside.

“No way, where did he find this?” the omega was beyond delighted.

“Man, I thought I got you a rare book but this one is truly a gem, I tried too but no luck, they told me the last copy went into some private collection a while ago.” Tablo stood up to have a better look at the book.

“That must be from Auntie’s collection! Taetae hyung must like Yoongi hyung more than he let on, he never let anyone touch anything from Auntie’s collection before, even I only got to look at those things!” Jungkook was surprised too, he never thought this day would come.

“Wait, Taehyung? You mean the notorious 2^nd year Kim Taehyung? You know him, Yoongi?” Kihyun said in disbelief, they’d been friends since 1^st year and his buddy never told him he knew people from that circle.

“Uhm, kinda? I mean he’s Namjoon’s cousin, I knew him through Namjoon.”

Cue another round of more detailed introduction and Kihyun couldn’t believe he was in the same room with the heirs from 3 of the biggest corporations around. They all seemed like very pleasant and friendly guys though, as expected of Yoongi’s friends.

“Tae had wanted to come but he said there was an unexpected board meeting today. Those emergency meetings are difficult to skip, especially when you’re just starting your managing role.” Namjoon gave an explanation for a question Yoongi wanted to ask but did not.

Liar, he just didn’t want to see me, why bothered with the present? Yoongi thought, but he couldn’t deny that he was delighted to get the book.

The party was over, everyone was happy, everyone got a goodbye hug from the birthday boy. Jungkook didn’t want to let go but Namjoon’s snickering pulled him out of his hazy state. He elbowed his hyung with a low “Stop laughing hyung!”

After he was done with cleaning, Yoongi sat down at the table and looked at the presents he got. They were all very nice, everyone was so thoughtful. Right in front of him were the watch and the book: one a fancy item that he wanted but didn’t really need, presented to him in a pretty giftbox by the person who worked hard for it; the other was a rare item that he actually needed but the person who gifted it wasn’t even there.

Story of his life really.

+++

After Taehyung got back from Jungkook’s place, he regretted everything he said. Why was it that he couldn’t behave himself around his omega? His mean and sarcastic side came out without giving him a warning, creating a rigid façade behind which his trembling heart could hide. He had wanted to try to befriend the pianist, yet he lost his balance and fell in the abyss of denial again.

He had wanted to ask Namjoon to let him tag along to the birthday party, to give Yoongi his present and ask for forgiveness. He actually went as far as calling his cousin, but then before he could ask, the conversation swirled toward a familiar name.

“Yoongi hyung’s birthday can’t come soon enough, I can’t wait to see how flustered our baby Kookie’s gonna be.”

“What do you mean hyung, why would he be flustered?”

“You know that watch you went to buy with him? That’s his present for Yoongi’s hyung. Then the other day he asked me if it was weird to give a friend red roses for their birthday.”

“You totally said it was fine didn’t you?”

“Of course! Tae, he’s gonna show up at hyung’s door with red roses and a tiny pretty gift box! If I didn’t know better I would think there’s a ring inside and he’s going to propose, hahahhaha! Wait, you should see this, why don’t you go to the party with me? You already got a present prepared right?”

“Ah, uhmm, about that, I was going to ask you a favor. Can you bring him the gift, cuz I have an emergency board meeting that day, might last long. That’s why I called”……

There he went and lied again. But what else could he do? He wasn’t sure he could handle seeing that little proposal scene that Namjoon just described for him. The worst part was that he could imagine Yoongi saying Yes. So he didn’t go the party, didn’t want to see things that might hurt.

His lie came true though, he actually had an emergency board meeting that lasted till 11pm on March 9^th.

He came home, dead tired, went to the piano room and fell asleep there. In his dream, he saw a scene from the past: his mother playing the piano to 15 year-old him, and as the music stopped, she turned to him with a gentle smile. “Taetae, remember to treasure your fated pair if you get to meet them, there’s only one such person in the whole world.”

Then she disappeared and Tae woke up, his hand fell hard on the keys, making a startling loud noise.

++

Yoongi was feeling the pressure of being a student in his last year. He had a competition to prepare for, a thesis to write and other classes to take care of. He had to admit the book that Taehyung got him was a big big help, and whenever he used it, which was pretty much every day, he remembered what Jungkook said “Taetae hyung must like Yoongi hyung more than he let on” and he felt a bit of something at that. Maybe relief? Yeah it must be relief, like, it was still better to have people not-hating you right?

To add to his stressful situation, his body had decided it didn’t want to cooperate. After the terrible heat during the New Year break, he was back on suppressant and thought that it would be fine, however he got suppressed heat every month, and each one worse than the last. He was worried, and pissed, so he went to see his doctor. After considering his symptoms she asked very seriously.

“Yoongi-ssi, have you, by any chance, met your fated pair?”

From the way he dropped his head when he said “yes”, the doctor got the idea that things didn’t go well. She advised him to work it out though, because, as she said “before you meet your alpha, your body is in a neutral state, not knowing if it will come in contact with the body it was created for. But once you meet your fated pair, due to pheromone exposure and all that, the body switches to an expecting state as it anticipates the alpha. The more you two come in contact without actual sexual activities, the worse your heat would be.”

He had asked if there was a way to stop it, and her first reaction was “Why would you want to do that?” then she told him they could switch to a stronger suppressant, but she strongly advised against it. Yoongi laughed bitterly. The only reason he even went through with the suppressant breaks was so that he wouldn’t harm his reproductive system, he had wanted those babies with his alpha! But now though, what was the point? He still wanted the babies, but the alpha… When he was still deep in thoughts, the doctor gave him another bottle of pills.

“It’s birth control pills. Please take them, just in case.”

He took the pills, no questions asked. He understood.

“Agrrrr!” Yoongi shook his head violently and took another sip of his coffee. He should stop think about that, today he had some free time before his afternoon classes so he had asked Jungkook to go shopping with him. The kid was beyond excited and Yoongi was happy to hear his cheerful voice over the phone. He was playing some game on his phone when it buzzed.

“Hyung, I’m sorry, some family stuff came up, I can’t go today. Do you need a ride? I asked Taetae hyung to go with you, he’s at school so he should get there soon.”

What did Yoongi just hear? Oh no Jungkook-ah why would you do that? Yoongi totally understood that his young master friends, this included Namjoon too of course, had rather busy schedule; he was not mad, surely disappointed though. But why did the kid ask that guy to go with Yoongi? He could totally go alone. Or like, he would rather go alone in this case.

“Hyung?”

“Oh, yes, don’t worry about me, just attend your family business. You shouldn’t have asked Taehyung-ssi though. Just tell him not to come, I’m sure he’s busy.”

“He’s already on this way I think? He only has one lecture at school this morning, it’ll be fine. You know, I keep thinking after your birthday that you two could be friends. He’s like my brother, I’d like you to be friend with him, if that’s okay….”

There went the pleading voice again and Yoongi couldn’t say no. Damn, so much for trying to stay away from the fated pair.

++

Tae had a new resolution. After he woke up from his dream, he decided to listen to his mother and tried to be on better terms with Yoongi. Even if nothing really came out of their non-existing relationship, it would still be better if his fated pair didn’t think Tae hated him, precisely because Tae did NOT.

He was thinking about apologizing or saying something nice the next time they met, which would be soon given that Namjoon and Seokjin’s engagement party would be next week. Taehyung also told himself to be mentally prepared for the sight of Yoongi and Jungkook being all smiley and happy together. Be prepared so that the green eye monster wouldn’t come out and wreck his efforts again.

He didn’t expect to be able to see Yoongi this soon though. After attending another boring-but-I-have-to-be-there-for lecture, he was wondering what he should do for the rest of the morning when he got a call from his childhood friend asking him to go shopping with Yoongi in his place. Tae wasn’t prepared, but he said yes nevertheless. His brain cleverly swept away the “Those two have another date planned” thought and replaced it with the “Now I have a date with Yoongi” thought. It was funny how he quickly looked at himself in a shop window to check his clothes. What was he doing? He was Kim Taehyung, he could wear pajamas to parties and people would still scream over his good look. It was even funnier how Jungkook carefully described the coffee shop where Yoongi was waiting, Tae knew that place well, thanks to his stalking efforts. Not that he would ever say that though.

So here he was, reluctantly pushed open the coffee shop front door, feeling nervous like it was his first date. Wait, it was actually his first date? And with his fated pair no less! Okay, nervousness forgiven.

“Good morning, Yoongi-ssi.”

“Hello, Taehyung-ssi.”

The omega even stood up to greet him. Yoongi was wearing a white T-shirt and cream-colored cardigan, he looked so soft. They both sat down, it was kinda awkward since it was the first time they met with just the two of them.

“Uhm, Kookie asked me to go with you…”

“He told me that too. Uhm, I mean if you don’t wan…”

“So where do you want to go? What are we buying?”

Tae knew what Yoongi was going to say and he didn’t let the omega say it. He wanted to go with him so they were definitely going together. He noticed Yoongi wasn’t looking at him and the omega's fingers moved absentmindedly around his coffee mug. Was he nervous, or was he uncomfortable? Tae realized he should try harder if he wanted his omega to stop being so on guard around him.

“I’m free this morning, maybe I’ll buy something too. Oh, that book, have you read it, do you like it?”

“Oh, the book,” the pianist immediately looked up, “Thank you very much, it’s a great book, such a rare one as well. How do you know I wanted that?”

“I asked Namjoon hyung. I wanted to give you a birthday present, and also a thank you present.”

“For what?”

“For your amazing performances at my birthday party. And, uhm, for not punching me even though I’ve been rude.”

Tae voice went lower and he bit his lips nervously, waiting for Yoongi’s response. He had never asked anyone for forgiveness before so it was a new experience.

“You’re smart, you asked the right person. Consider us clear, okay?”

“Where are we going then? I’ll take you there.”

“To Dongdaemun market. I doubt there’s something of your taste there, but that’s okay, I am the one doing the shopping.”

Yoongi meant to tease him and was acting a bit smug and Tae was delighted with that. If Yoongi was okay with teasing him then maybe they were off to a good start?!

“Understood.”

Tae answered with a playful saluting pose and Yoongi actually laughed. He laughed! How refreshing! How pretty! Tae would like more of that please. He earned one when he was searching for “Dongdaemun” in Google Map and Yoongi was dying with laughter, only stopped to say “Young master doesn’t know where Dongdaemun is? Why am I not surprised!” The ridicule would normally make Tae mad, but coming from a giggling Yoongi? No complaints at all. Not to mention the fact that since they were in a closed space, aka his car, together, Tae could smell Yoongi’s delightful camellia scent and that was just pure bliss. Yoongi noticed Tae staring at him and went quiet. They didn’t say anything for the rest of ride.

Taehyung had to park his car a bit far away from the entrance since parking place was hard to find. Even though it was a black car, his S-class stood out among a bunch of family SUVs and hatchbacks. “Still better than Namjoon’s flashy sport cars” Yoongi thought. He led Taehyung to the market, the alpha looked around, taking in every new and strange detail which was foreign to his brand-named world. He actually looked like an excited young boy who couldn’t wait to run off to the first stall he laid his eyes on but he held back because Yoongi didn’t say it was okay yet.

“Yoongi-ssi, what do you want to buy?”

“You know Namjoon’s engagement party is next week right? I want some new accessories for the occasion, I like them.”

“You mean jewelry? Sounds like fun.”

“Yeah, jewelry. Let’s go in, don’t get lost!”

Yoongi teased him again and Tae faked a disapproving look. The older seemed to know this place well, he went straight to the accessory area with Tae followed closely behind, he really wouldn’t be able to find his way in this maze of shops. Thanks God for Yoongi’s scent though, Tae could follow him even with his eyes closed.

One thing Tae learned about his fated pair from this trip was that Yoongi loved jewelry. The omega was in his own world, happily tried on one piece after another, and after a while, he seemed to have settled on a necklace with a pendant that showed his zodiac sign but still deciding between two dangling earrings. He finally turned to Tae, holding the two earrings up.

“What do you think? Which one looks better?”

“Which one do you like?”

“I like both.”

“Then buy both.”

“No, I’m broke this month, can’t go over budget too many times.”

“Just take them, I’ll pay.”

“No! My birthday was last month and you already gave me a present. Feel free to buy things for yourself though. Okay, which one?”

 “Well then,” Tae was feeling bold, he took one of the earrings and put it on Yoongi, the sudden intimate touch made the omega flinch and avert his eyes while biting his rosy lips. Pretty. “This one, I think this looks great on you.”

Maybe Tae was seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses, but he could swear Yoongi blushed a bit at the compliment. Hmm, and what was this sudden sweetness in his scent? Omegas really thrived off compliments didn’t they? Seeing his fated pair all giddy like that made the alpha preen, so he took the necklace and put it on Yoongi as well. The omega was too stunt to react.

“And it goes well with this necklace. A pair. There, you look really nice like this.”

Tae was all smiles when he put his hand under his chin and stared at Yoongi with adoration. Now he understood all those novels and movies where the male characters said they loved buying jewelry for their lovers. He felt like he would gladly buy anything for Yoongi, all the pretty things that matched his pretty omega, if it meant he could see him like this, and especially if he got to put those things on Yoongi.

“Okay, I’ll take this one then.”

Yoongi finally said as he willed his body away from Taehyung, putting more distance between them. His phone rang and he fumbled with it a bit before holding it properly.

“Oh Jungkook-ah, you’re still busy?”

“No don’t worry, I’m pretty much done, I got what I wanted.”

“They’re cute, we can go next time. Now get back to work okay? Bye!”

A smile crept its way on Yoongi’s lips as one disappeared from Tae’s. There was something heavy sinking in his chest. He looked at the assortments of stuff on display and picked up a necklace, similar to Yoongi’s but with his sign instead.

“You’re getting one too Taehyung-ssi?”

“Yes, it looks interesting.”

“Different from your usuall stuff right? Okay let’s pay and go.”

Tae opened his wallet to pull out his card, and this got Yoongi laughing at him again.

“Put your cards away, young master. They only do cash here. Okay I’ll pay for yours.”

Yoongi seemed like he was in a good mood while Tae was just embarrassed. What was the point of carrying several platinum cards when your omega had to pay for your little purchase? Said omega couldn't stop laughing though, so maybe it was worth it?

They were walking toward his car when Tae noticed the omega stopping and looking around.

“Yoongi-ssi, the parking lot is this way?”

“I know, but there’s a bus stop right there. I can go straight to school from here, I have class this afternoon. You don’t right?”

“I can take you to school though?”

“Thank you, but I’d rather not be seen getting out of your car there, I don’t know if you know this but your fan club could be scary.”

“Uhm, I’m sorry about that? But I own you money though, how about we going to eat, on me. You must know a few places here right?”

“I do, but the places I like they don’t card. Hahah, that was funny, I should teach Jungkook better so he won’t become a card-only young master. You can give the money to Namjoon or Jungkook, I’ll get it from them.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Well then, thank you again for today, and for the book too. Goodbye Taehyung-ssi.”

“Goodbye.”

Tae couldn’t say much, he just bowed lightly and watched his omega walked away. Jungkook this, Jungkook that… ugh, this “being friends without being jealous” thing was more difficult than he thought. Yoongi also didn’t say “See you” or “You can pay me next time” but “you can give it to Jungkook.”

Of course Yoongi expected to see Jungkook before he would ever see Tae right? Ha ha ha. But at least he looked like he had fun today? He laughed and even blushed? Tae didn’t know anymore, he just squeezed the tiny bag containing his new necklace really hard. What was he going to do with this? Oh right, he should wear it to the party next week.

Yeah he would totally do it.

Chapter Text

“Damn that was close!”

Yoongi sat down at a bench outside the main building of the music department, trying to calm his heart. He was doing that on the bus ride too but it didn’t seem to work. What was wrong with that guy Kim Taehyung, why did he suddenly become nice? Yoongi wasn’t prepared to meet him at all and as a result he was put through a rollercoaster of emotions even though all they did was going to buy some accessories. Well, to an outsider that would appear to be the case, but things were different in the omega’s eyes. At first he was a bit annoyed that Taehyung even agreed to go with him, then he was uncomfortable when the alpha showed up, but that quickly went away since the guy mentioned the music book and then lo and behold, he even apologized! Yes the infamous Kim Taehyung actually apologized to Min Yoongi, and looked quite sincere doing it as well. Yoongi was not the type to hold a grudge against people so he let it go.

It would have been fine if that was as far as things had gone, but no, the guy had to act like a clumsy-but-adorable kid around Yoongi, and dear Lord, the pianist was weak against that, his best friend Namjoon also fell into that category, even though deep inside Yoongi knew that both of them Kim cousins were super smart. Yoongi’s big brother personality came out and he became soft and more lenient on the younger. But even that much would have been fine, there was nothing wrong with feeling like a dotting big brother, Yoongi was older than Taehyung after all.

However the big brother time was short lived, as Yoongi was quickly put back in his place: an omega who was all too eager to purr at the smallest act of affection from his fated alpha. Taehyung totally took him by surprise when he put the earring on him, his moments so gentle and his smile so sweet and he praised Yoongi and he looked like he was fond and proud of Yoongi’s appearance? It also didn’t help that Yoongi’s ears were his weak spots. Then the alpha just had to continue putting more stuff of him and compliment him and Yoongi silently cursed himself for feeling like the main female character in one of those soapy romance movies who was ecstatic because her man got her some jewelry. He cursed but he couldn’t help what he felt though, both physically and mentally. Seriously it was just too hard to deal with Kim Taehyung, whenever he was around, Yoongi became a mess.

Thank God Jungkook called him, the call kinda pulled him out of his haze, and for whatever reason Taehyung also toned down his alpha act afterwards. He even looked a bit dejected(?) at some point and that made Yoongi feel bad but he quickly discard the thought. He didn’t do anything wrong, not at all.

He got through his lessons and to divert his thoughts to some happier thing, he went to his favorite lamb skewer place for takeout. Nothing like good food and some rest to make one happy again! He chatted for a bit with chef Lee, got his food and left the shop feeling happy. Then he saw a somewhat familiar scene, an old man with a lot of bags waiting near street light. He was the same man Yoongi helped out previously, and the young omega was going to do the same thing this time.

“Let me help you with those!”

He extended his hands with a smile and the old man looked up, he recognized Yoongi too.

“Oh, it’s the kind young man again, if you don’t mind, please.”

Of course Yoongi didn’t mind, so he carried the bags over to the bus stop on the other side of the street just like last time, and waited for the bus with the old man. He kept looking at all the grocery bags, that was a lot of food, too much for one old gentlemen, and curiosity got the better of him.

“Sir, do you mind if I ask what are you buying this much food for? It was the same last time too.”

“Oh, you don’t have to call me sir, gramps should be fine. And all this food? This is for a young boy, he loves the things I cook.”

“Your grandson?”

“You can say so.”

The smile that came with that answer was a bit sad so Yoongi decided not to ask any further. The bus arrived and he carried the bags on board before excusing himself. Once again they didn’t even exchange names.

+++

Tae sat down at the desk in his office, a big room with large glass window overlooking Seoul’s skyline. It had been a few days since he met his omega and work had been almost unbearable but for once, he was thankful. He was too busy to think of anything else. The board had planned to make him vice president after they finish buying the 4^th biggest hotel chain in the country, but that had not gone very well since the financial data of that chain were messed up and now antitrust people were having a field day trying to break the deal. It wasn’t anything new with such a big chaebol like the Kim Corporation but it was still a headache to deal with, especially for someone as young as Taehyung. But he was gonna do it, he was the heir of his family; even though business was not his passion, he had promised his mother to become a man who could carry the family name with pride.

That said, in rare moments like this when he was allowed a short break, all alone in this polished room, his thoughts inevitably went towards that one person. The hearty laughter, the sweet scent, the shy but happy look which was directed at Tae for a precious few seconds before it was directed to someone else, even when that someone else was on the phone.

It hurt to think about it that way, but it was the truth, the fact that his omega put his childhood friend before him. It hurt more precisely because it was Jungkook, of all people; someone so close to him, so sweet and kind, and innocent, that there was no way Tae would do anything deliberately to hurt him. So Tae drank the last drops of his coffee, trying to appease himself with the thought that he at least made peace with Yoongi, that their relationship had improved in whatever direction. He had to get back to work and then think of something to give Namjoon and Jin as an engagement gift. Life was coming at him in full swing.

He worked around the clock for a few days to make amends to the original deal and finally managed to come up with a feasible plan which he then ran through with the financial people before giving it to his subordinates to take care of. He could finally go home in time for dinner.

“Young master, thank you for your hard work. Your bath is ready.”

The butler and maids welcomed him back at the mansion. He wasn’t really in the mood for much conversation, but he made an effort anyway.

“Thanks. I’d like dinner in 40 minutes.”

“Yes. Oh, young master’s favorite meat stew has arrived. Would you like to have it?”

“Of course,” Taehyung immediately cheered up, “isn’t like 2 days late this time?”

“The chef wasn’t feeling well so he couldn’t finish it by the usual date, but he’s doing better now.”

“Okay, tell him I give my regards, and that my invitation still stands, okay?”

Tae spent some time relaxing in the bath, then called his friends around the world to find some rare, couple versions of the most interesting figurines out there. Namjoon and Jin were both crazy about those so that would make a good gift. With that settled, Tae could enjoy his favorite meat stew for dinner. This was a special dish that only his Mom could make, after she passed away, various famous chefs had tried to recreate the taste based on Tae’s description but nothing came close. He was dejected but one day, his butler told him they found a chef who knew how to cook it, and Tae was delighted. It tasted exactly the same as his Mom’s stew. He never got to meet the chef though, apparently the guy decided to keep his identity hidden. Tae couldn’t push him, so he told his people to let the chef know that he was welcome to the Kim’s mansion anytime. The chef never came.

+++

“What are you being nervous for?” Yoongi asked as he fixed the tie on Namjoon, “pretty much everyone knows you two are a pair, we all knew this day would come. And you’ve been shoving your engagement ring onto people’s faces for 2 months, why acting like a maiden now?”

“Hyung, don’t tease me, I know that everyone knows! But this is like, official, you know? Like officially official.” Namjoon tried hard to explain, and tried even harder to stop himself from messing up his carefully styled hair.

“Okay I know I know, now let’s go out there and be on your best behavior okay? Man, I can’t believe I am the one to remind you of your socializing duty, all those businessmen scare me.”

“It’s okay hyung, you can stay with me.”

“Are you crazy, Namjoon-ah you’re so nervous you’ve gone mad. It’s your engagement party, if there’s an omega next to you that should be Jin hyung, not me. It’s okay I’ll find Jungkook.”

“Oh, I’m being ditched for Jungkookie, poor me,” Namjoon was quick to tease, “So, hyung, how are things going between you two?”

“What things?” Yoongi almost blushed, “We’re fine, he’s a good kid, good student, good friend.”

Before Namjoon could tease him more, Yoongi pushed the taller boy out of the dressing room. Today was his best friend’s big day and Yoongi had come early to the venue with him to offer mental support. Jungkook had suggested that they could go together but Yoongi actually ditched him for Namjoon; now that the preparation was done, the omega couldn’t wait to go find his sweet bunny boy. He let Namjoon go out first, then waited for a bit before walking out himself. Maybe he was being too cautious but the fact was that not everyone knew he was Namjoon’s best friend and he would rather not make any headlines from being seen with the alpha in such close proximity.

Talking about alphas, this place was full of them, just as expected. At Taehyung’s party there were many alphas as well, they were mostly young and rich people from the chaebol kid’s social circle. This party though, since it was the engagement of two heirs of two big families, many older and powerful alphas were around. They were not just any alphas, they were the alphas who had been at the top for a long time, they carried a certain aura that made Yoongi feel extra small and helpless. He was usually quite a strong omega, but this was just too much. Anyway he had to get out and find Jungkook.

That was what he thought when he stood at the door of the dressing room, encouraging himself to walk back to the main hall. He had checked his appearance in the mirror, he looked fine, of course not as expensive as those omegas who accompanied the alphas in the room, but not too out of place either. He straightened his back and stepped out. However his confidence was cut short when two people overshadowed him soon after. Alphas.

“Hello there pretty, what are you doing here all by yourself? Where’s your alpha?”

The two men were in their 40s, they blocked Yoongi’s way and their leering eyes said that they were up to no good. The omega willed his body to not cower in fear and tried to speak in a calm voice.

“Would you please let me pass? All the dressing rooms are free if you want to use them.”

“We were going there, but we’re not in a hurry. Why don’t we talk more?” One of the dudes got closer to Yoongi and his instinct was telling him to flee. “Oh, he’s unmarked! How rare, such a pretty omega is unmarked?” the dude talked to his accomplice then turned to look at Yoongi again.

“Oh, I see, are you one of those omegas who come to big parties like this to find company? How about going to that dressing room with us for a bit?” the other guy was making eyes at him and Yoongi felt sick.

“I’m not one of those, now please let me pass, my friends are waiting for me.”

“Oh friends? You have more beautiful omega friends with you? Introduce us?”

“Please stop.”

“Truth is no one is waiting for you right? We still have time before the ceremony, don’t be shy pretty. Wow you smell so good.”

The man leaned in closer and his stupid alpha scent sent Yoongi chills. He was almost frozen but when a hand reached out too close to his face, he was ready to risk it all and fight back.

But then the hand stopped. Or more like it was stopped by a strong grip on the wrist. Warm cedar wood told Yoongi who came to his rescue and he had to fight the urge to turn around and bury his face in the strong chest.

“I am waiting for him. Or was. Now you should go back before the party starts.”

Taehyung stood behind his omega, he was boiling with rage as he tightened his grip on the damn pervert’s wrist, but as today was a joyous occasion, breaking people arms might not be the best thing to do, so he let go, or more like he threw the dirty arm away.

“Who are you kiddo?” the guy rubbed his wrist and grumbled.

“Hey stop it, you don’t know him?” the other guy elbowed that dude and whispered before turning to Taehyung, pleading, “Good evening Kim Taehyung ssi, we didn’t know you know him. Please excuse us.” He proceeded to pull the other guy away, who was still bitter about the whole thing and he mumbled while still in earshot. “Should’ve told us you’ve got a big fish already, little omega.”

Yoongi flinched at the remark, he never ever thought of getting close to all these boys to make money, they were his friends and they just happened to be rich. He shrank onto himself, hugging his elbows and feeling all upset and sad. All this didn’t escape Taehyung’s eyes and nose.

“Hey you two,” he called out to the disgraceful alphas, “I’ve changed my mind, I think you can excuse yourselves out of this party without security’s help.”

After they went out of sight, Taehyung quickly walked in front of the omega to better look after him.

“Yoongi ssi, are you okay? Do you need to rest?”

“I’m, uhm, I’m fine, thank you Taehyung ssi. Is it okay for you to chase them away like that?”

“Of course it is, they are just some unimportant good for nothing dudes, I don’t know how they even got here. And this is my family’s hotel so I can tell them to get lost if I feel like it.”

Tae slowly extended his hand in front of Yoongi as an invitation, and after some hesitation the omega took it. After his unfortunate encounter with those random perverted alphas, some physical contact with the fated pair was magically calming to Yoongi. Well that was how fated pairing worked, they both knew that. Tae held his hand gently but firmly, protective and reassuring.

“Taetae hyung, why did you just rush off like that, I couldn’t keep up!”

Jungkook’s voice shattered the fragile moment, Yoongi was fidgeting and Taehyung got it, he let go of the hand. The youngest looked at Tae with a confused look, but as he turned to Yoongi he quickly realized something was wrong.

“Yoongi hyung, what happened, are you okay?”

Jungkook put his hands on Yoongi shoulders and leaned down a bit so his face was leveled with Yoongi’s. In Taehyung’s eyes, the move was so natural that it hurt. His omega didn’t say anything so he answered for him.

“Some baldies made a pass at him, you should guard him carefully today.”

“What?! Who are they? Where are they?!” the young boy almost yelled, but Yoongi placed his hands on Jungkook’s arms to placate him.

“It’s okay Kookie, Taehyung ssi chased them away. And I’m fine.”

“No you’re not, you look upset hyung. You must have been scared, I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

They shared a bit of a look and Jungkook pulled the omega into his arms, repeatedly saying he would stay with him throughout the party, voice as soft as a whisper. Again, the whole scene was just so painfully natural that Tae had to excuse himself.

“Well, I’ll leave Yoongi ssi to you then, Jungkook-ah, let’s talk later okay?”

“Sure hyung!”

“Uhm, see you later Taehyung ssi.”

Oh, so at least his omega had gotten out of the embrace to say goodbye to him, Tae mentally chuckled. He bowed slightly and walked away, his right hand came up to touch the Capricorn pendant on his new necklace. Yoongi was wearing his Pisces one.

+++

The party was a splendid and joyous occasion. Bar the thing with the two perverted alphas, Yoongi actually enjoyed it. There was good food, and music, and wine. It wasn’t well known but Yoongi was quite a drinker. Namjoon and Seokjin were both insanely handsome in their formal attires, they managed to be both serious and cheerful, and of course, genuinely happy. Yoongi knew his best friend, regardless of his earlier nervousness, once he was up there with his mate, he became the charming and confident Kim Namjoon again. Yoongi was delighted with how things had turned out; oh, and Jungkook kept his words of staying by Yoongi’s side the whole night, being super cautious of their surrounding and super attentive of Yoongi. After a while, the omega felt the need to address that piercing gaze.

“Jungkook-ah, I’m fine, really, you don’t have to watch over me like that.”

“I’m watching you because you’re fine, hyung, you look so fine. This blouse is your birthday gift from Jin hyung right? Looks very pretty on you.”

“Uhm, thank you.” Yoongi’s face was gonna match his shirt’s pink shade at this rate.

“And I see you’re wearing the watch.”

The boy looked quite shy when he peeked at Yoongi’s wrist with the shiny Rolex wrapped proudly around it.

“Yes, uhm, I finally have a chance to wear it, it’s beautiful, thank you Kookie.”

“Only beautiful things suit you, hyung,” the shyness was replaced by a bright smile. And seriously Yoongi didn’t know how this boy could say such embarrassing things with such a straight face, he was no match for this baby bunny.

He felt relieved that the boy was happy though, as that had not been the case the past week. After the sudden “family business” that he had to attend on the day of their planned shopping trip, Jungkook appeared to be quite upset. When Yoongi asked about it during their piano lesson, the boy tried to evade the issue and just told the pianist that he would take care of it. He did comment that it was a ridiculous thing but that was all Yoongi knew, and he also didn’t want to dig too much into such private matter.

He was going to reply to Jungkook’s compliment with another thank you when the boys perked up, seemed like he had spotted something or someone.

“My parents are over there, let’s go greet them hyung!”

Yoongi wasn’t prepared for it when the boy just stood up and waved to him to follow. Oh god, meeting his parents? This was so sudden.

Wait, why was Yoongi thinking about this as if he was seeing his in-laws or something? That was so stupid. He thought about some more appropriate connection between them and yeah, he was Jungkook’s teacher, he could just say that.

“Dad, Mom!”

“Kookie, you’ve enjoyed the party so far?”

“Yes, Namjoon hyung and Jin hyung look amazing together don’t they?”

“Of course, I’m so happy for them. Oh, and this is?”

Mrs Jeon looked at Yoong with a smile. He had been to the Jeon’s mansion many times but never met the owners, such busy people weren’t likely to be home in the afternoon. He bowed politely before introducing himself.

“Good evening Mr and Mrs Jeon. I’m Min Yoongi, I am Jungkook’s piano teacher. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, seonsaengnim, good evening, nice to meet you. You’re Namjoonie’s best friend and musical genius right? I’m sorry I have not greeted you at our place before. Thank you for teaching Kookie.” Mrs Jeon seemed like a very sociable person, she smiled a lot.

“You don’t know how hard we tried to get him to learn before but it didn’t go very far. I was so surprised when he played for us the other day, he could play so well already, all thanks to seonsaengnim. Do you mind me asking how old you are?”

“I’m 23, Mr Jeon.”

“Great, that means you can drink. Let’s celebrate our meeting and Joonie’s engagement with a toast.”

The three grown up people grabbed their glasses while the young boy pouted and said he wanted to drink as well.  

“Here, you can have this Kookie, it’s apple juice.”

Tae appeared almost out of nowhere and offered his childhood friend a glass of juice, much to the boy’s protest. Truth was that Tae had every intention of avoiding getting too close to his omega but he couldn’t not greet Jungkook’s parents once he saw them.

“Good evening Uncle, Auntie, it’s been a while, how are you?”

“Taehyungie! We’re good. Oh look at you, even more handsome than before, if that’s possible!” Mrs Jeon gave the boy a hug while her husband opted for a handshake.

“I’ve heard you’d be vice president Kim soon right? How’s the deal going?” President Jeon had always rated his son’s friend highly.

“It’s alright Uncle, a bit tough but I think I could manage.”

“Come on darling, no business talk in such a party. Boys, just looking at Joonie and Jin fills me with happiness.”

“They sure look very happy Auntie.”

“I can’t wait for your party, my dear, one day you will find your fated pair and be happy just like them!”

Mrs Jeon patted the boy’s arm, she wished all the best for her son and his friends, all the happiness in the world. Tae stole a glance at Yoongi who looked away quickly. The irony in Mrs Jeon’s well-intended words couldn’t hit any harder.

“Sir, please don’t come any closer!”

The fearful voice of a girl nearby caught everyone's attention, they all naturally looked in the direction the voice came from. Looked like some alpha couldn’t keep his hands to himself again. Jungkook was about to stand up and go help but Tae was faster. Not only faster, he was determined to be the one.

“Kookie, let me do it.”

The serious tone startled the young boy a bit, but that was nothing compared to how shocked he was when that girl turned around and he could see her face. He understood why Taehyung was so worked up.

The girl looked like a carbon copy of Taehyung’s late mother.

Chapter Text

Yoongi’s nervousness went away quickly, Mr and Mrs Joen seemed like very amiable people, no wonder their son was such a remarkable kid, although from how Yoongi saw it the young boy was much more reserved than his parents. Maybe because he was still young; one day he would be walking around these parties talking to friends and acquaintances and business partners non-stop just like how Namjoon and Jin and, well, for that matter, Taehyung, had been doing.

Yoongi’s brain made that connection to Taehyung on its own but this time the omega was not mad at himself for thinking about his alpha, the guy saved him earlier. There was no denying that Yoongi had thought the younger looked very cool back then, it was surprising that even in his panic-stricken state Yoongi still had the mind to admire how strong and reliable his alpha was, and Tae even had the understanding to offer his comforting hand to Yoongi and let the omega choose to hold the hand. No rushed touches, no unnecessary words. For the first time, Yoongi thought about him as a man of stature and understanding and not the usual “chaebol kid” “young master” or “that Kim Taehyung” tags that Yoongi had been using for Tae so far.

“Here, you can have this Kookie, it’s apple juice.”

The alpha’s voice announced his arrival at their table and Yoongi jumped a little. Why was he here? Yoongi wasn’t ready to be in his presence again, not quite yet. Maybe he should say thank you? He hadn’t said it properly, how rude of him. But then Tae carried on talking to Mr and Mrs Jeon and Yoongi just listened.

“I can’t wait for your party, my dear, one day you will find your fated pair and be happy just like them!”

Yoongi jumped again at the mention of “fated pair”. Right, except for Tae and Yoongi themselves, no one else knew they were a fated pair, it also seemed like neither of them wanted to make that public. “Be happy?” Just like Namjoon and Jin? The possibility of that was so low that Yoongi wouldn’t even consider it.

Would Taehyung though?

Anxiety filled Yoongi’s stomach as he thought about the most likely answer to that question, which in his mind was a firm “No”. He looked up, attempting to steal a glance at the alpha but then their eyes met. Panic, he looked away immediately.

“Sir, please don’t come any closer!”

A high pitched voice called for their attention and Yoongi looked and quickly realized it was somewhat similar to what happened to him earlier, just that this time the victim was a young lady, presumably an omega, and a very pretty one at that.

“Kookie, let me do it.”

Tae’s voice grumbled low and it sent shiver down Yoongi’s spine, it was the kind of voice that made people submit and his body just reacted too readily to it. He would have been busy scolding himself for feeling that way had it not been for the shocked expression on Jungkook’s face. What was it? Was it Tae’s voice, the disgraceful act of that unknown alpha, or the pretty girl? Yoongi feared the last choice for a second but his rationale prevailed and he crossed out that thought, because Jungkook’s parents appeared to be just as taken aback, if not more.

From their seats they looked at Tae walking fast toward the crime scene, dismissed the culprit to security and escorted the young lady to a quieter table. His demeanor was gentle but the surprise look was still evident on his face.

“I can’t believe it! Darling, you saw that too right? Her face?” Mrs Jeon looked at her husband in disbelief.

“I know, she looked just like Sunmi-ssi when she was young, I can’t believe it either.”

“Let’s go over there, I have to talk to her. Oh my goodness is this fate? I can’t even imagine how Taehyungie feels about this.”

Mr Jeon seemed a bit reluctant but his wife was determined so they left the two boys at the table. Yoongi couldn’t help asking.

“Jungkook-ah, may I ask who Sunmi ssi is?”

“That’s the name of Taetae hyung’s late mother.”

“Late?”

“Yes, auntie passed away 5 years ago. Right, we never talked about this, I guess it doesn’t hurt to tell you but back then he was hurt so deeply he didn’t talk to anyone for a week, not even me. I never saw him like that, he’s the most cheerful and sociable person that I know but that time he completely shut off. It was painful to see him in that state, I was so scared.”

“He must love his mother a lot…”

“That’s for sure, she was, or I might say, still is, the biggest love of his life. It’s a bit complicated, but his father is always busy working and he doesn’t have any siblings, so auntie was pretty much his only family. After that one week of shutting himself down, he suddenly called me over and told me he would become the heir of the Kim family. I was surprised.”

“Why? Wasn’t it set already?”

“No, hyung had been very against it, he disliked business and had tried to push that duty onto his cousins but he’s the favorite grandson and his grandfather kept the spot open for him. He told me he promised his mother that, and the next day he went to see his grandfather to official take up the responsibility like a real man. He studied hard, learned the trades, met people in the industry, it has been tough but he kept smiling and pushing forward. His partying is mostly to unwind and keep connections with important people, I don’t know how some people could make nasty rumors out of that. Hyung doesn’t really care though.”

“Maybe because of all the girls around him…” Yoongi spoke in a very low voice, probably didn’t mean to be heard but Jungkook caught it anyway.

“The ladies come to him on their own, who could blame them though,” Jungkook even laughed a bit at this but he quickly resumed a serious face, “a few years ago, when hyung presented as an alpha, he told me his dream of finding his fated one, he has an ideal type you know? A lady who is just like his mother, and he said he would work hard like his grandfather, and to a certain extent, his father, to be a strong and reliable alpha, the head of the Kim family who stands proudly next to a great omega like his grandma and his mom. I am so shocked because that lady just now looks just like auntie Sunmi from what I remember, and seems like my parents agree.”

“I see, an ideal type huh. No wonder…”

“No wonder what hyung?”

“Oh nothing, I hope the young lady is alright. Man I hope there’s a screening for perverts so we can get rid of them.”

“That’s right, from earlier, you’re doing okay now?”

“I’m good, I was a bit shaken but thanks to Taehyung ssi nothing bad happened.”

“Hyung, maybe we should go address that young lady? I’m genuinely concerned, but also I have to say I’m curious.”

“Me too, let’s go then.”

Yoongi didn’t know why but he felt like seeing more of this young lady. As he and Jungkook walked over to join Tae and Jungkook’s parents, the term “ideal type” kept echoing in his mind.  Kookie’s parents were being attentive to the girl, asking her how she was doing while Tae just, well, stared.

“My sincerest apology, for this to happen at our place is unforgivable, you’re welcome to a free stay at any of our hotels of your choice,” Taehyung finally said something other than “Are you okay?” to the girl.

“There’s no need. Uhm, you said “our hotels”?”

“Oh I should have introduced myself first, I’m Kim Taehyung from Kim Corporation.”

“My name is Yeongmi, Heo Yeongmi. Nice to meet you Taehyung ssi, thank you again for helping me. And thank you Sir and Madam for your kind questions, I’m doing fine now.” The girl stood up to bow to Mr and Mrs Jeon, she obviously had the manners down.

“That’s good to know then,” Mrs Jeon smiled at her, she was resisting the urge to ask if the girl knew Tae’s mother; she couldn’t help but looked at her rather fondly though. Her son’s arrival diverted her attention for a bit.

“Kookie, you’re here too?”

“Yes Mom, Yoongi hyung and I are worried too, I hope the young lady is doing alright?”

“I’m good, thank you for asking.”

Yoongi could have a better look at the girl now and no doubt she was very pretty, beautiful even, with her small face, elegant features, long black hair and slender figure. She was looking at Jungkook, maybe to assess the new comer, and then turned to Yoongi and their eyes met. Somehow her eyes seemed a bit sharper than earlier but that might have been just Yoongi’s imagination. Something else that might have been his imagination was how Taehyung flinched a little when Yoongi’s arm accidentally brushed the alpha’s. They both looked away from each other quickly and Yoongi subconsciously moved away from Tae which brought him closer to Jungkook. The younger boy took it as the omega was still not comfortable at this party and so he put his arm around his shoulders to comfort him, just for a while.

“I’m really fine, please continue enjoying the party, I can take care of myself now.”

Yeongmi said that but she was trembling a little as she hugged her elbows and shrank onto herself.

“Are you cold, Yeongmi ssi? If you don’t mind you can have my jacket.”  

Taehyung proceeded to take off his jacket and in the process, a small item fell out of its inner pocket and a flash of something like mild horror took over the alpha’s face for a fraction of a second.

“What is this? A dried flower?” Jungkook picked up the thing from the floor in confusion and then sniffed at it.

“Camelia?”

Yoongi flinched at that. So did the female omega who threw him a quick glance for good measure. Yoongi didn’t understand a thing.

“Uhm yeah, I’ve been into this lately,” Taehyung gave a brief reply before taking the dried flower back.

“Thank you, Taehyung ssi, I’m good, I think I should leave, I have people to take care of me.”

“Alright, I understand. Hopefully we could still talk in the future.”

The girl excused herself and left, leaving people in a state of disbelief, although no one seemed to want to talk about it openly. The Jeons knew how much of a shock this must have been to Taehyung, since they themselves were spooked enough about it. Yoongi still didn’t know how he felt after hearing the story from Jungkook but he knew he wasn’t too happy about it. And what was with the flower in Tae’s pocket?

“Alright, that was a mess, I don’t know how all these perverts got in here, I want to eliminate all of them.” Tae commented to break the silence and also to diffuse the obvious tension.

“Them? There were more?” Mr Jeon was unhappy.

“Yes, Dad, some guys made a pass at Yoongi hyung earlier. Just talking about that makes me mad.”

“Seonsaengnim is quite the pretty one, you’ve got to be careful okay? Are you doing alright now?” Mrs Jeon sounded genuinely concerned.

“I’m good, thank you very much. Uhm, this might sound a bit off but would you please not tell Namjoon about what happened to me? I mean nothing serious actually happened and today is a big day for him so he shouldn’t be concerned about all that.”

They agreed with him and went on separate ways after promising more talk in the future. Yoongi insisted he didn’t need people escorting him home when Jungkook tried to talk him into it. Seriously, just because some baldies cornered him once at a party didn’t mean he suddenly became a princess who needed knights around all the time. Before he left, Taehyung seemed to be a bit hesitating about something, then he finally looked Yoongi in the eyes.

“I meant what I said, those accessories really do look good on you. Good night, Yoongi-ssi. Bye, Kookie.”

And he was off before Jungkook could make his observation.

“Oh god, Taetae hyung is wearing a similar necklace to yours! I want one too, please!”

Yoongi couldn’t believe it. He didn’t know because the item was hidden under Tae’s collar and also because he simply didn’t expect it. Not at all. Who would have thought that Kim Taehyung would wear a 20 dollar necklace to such a fancy and important event like this?

“Hyung? Can I have one? Did you buy it on your shopping trip with him? Looks like I really missed out …”

“We can get one for you, don’t be sad Kookie.”

The little one cheered up again but somehow Yoongi couldn’t seem to get Taehyung’s words out of his head. On his way back home too, the omega kept thinking about the necklace, the dried camellia, and the girl who might just be his fated alpha’s ideal type. Nothing made sense and his head hurt.

++

It was one hell of a roller coaster of emotions for Taehyung, that party was. Before it started, he was already in turmoil because he knew his omega would be there, his childhood friend would also be there and those two would likely to be stuck together and be on their usual lovey dovey behaviors. He had threw himself into work to keep on being busy and distracted; he also personally oversaw the party preparation. It wasn’t part of his job but since it was for Namjoon and Jin, Taehyung was adamant that everything was flawless.

And yet that happened, and to his omega no less. He was a bit surprised (and pleasantly so if he had to admit) when Jungkook told him that Yoongi had refused to go to the party with the younger boy, only to spot the omega being harassed by some unknown guys. The moment he saw his omega shivered in fear, his entire being was taken over by pain and rage. Even though Yoongi had tried to look calm and hide his fear, and Taehyung admired him for that, his scent didn’t lie. When that bastard was about to touch his face, Tae was ready to break the guy’s hand but he let go because he didn’t want to make a ruckus at such an event but that dude really had to test his patience again by mentioning “big fish”. So that was why Yoongi was so upset, it wasn’t just a physical attack but they dared to violate his dignity as well, and that was just unforgivable.

And then he realized something. That he himself had been unforgivable, because in his earlier days when he just met Yoongi, in his desperate attempts to further push Yoongi away from his “ideal type”, he had even thought of something similar, because why else would a male omega of quite humble background got attached to Namjoon and Jungkook so quickly; his frantic brain didn’t even take into account how Namjoon had a number of friends outside their chaebol circle, or how Jungkook was so lovely that most people would take to him once they saw through his initial shyness. But of course he quickly learned that it was a crime to even think that Yoongi might be a gold digger, his omega was a sweet and caring person who helped random old men he saw on the street and refused to let Tae paid for his little purchase (which embarrassingly Tae wasn’t even able to do).  

Tae knew he didn’t quite have the right to act high and mighty but he still had the responsibility to protect and so he did. Something inside him broke when he saw how shaken Yoongi was and he immediately decided that fear wasn’t a good look on the pianist, he much preferred Yoongi shining on stage, Yoongi happily buying his food, and of course Yoongi beaming prettily when Tae complimented his look. He had the urge to hug and comfort his omega but felt he wasn’t in a good position to do so, so he just extended his hand and waited for Yoongi to take it.

The moment Jungkook arrived on the scene, Taehyung knew to let go of that hand, he walked off, feeling the pendant on his new necklace icy cold against his skin.

He didn’t plan on talking to Yoongi again during the party, he was just doing his rounds when he saw Jungkook and his parents talking to Yoongi. That was another thing he would never have. His mother had passed away and he doubted his father would care to talk to his friend like that. He stood still to observe the scene and quietly admired how good Yoongi looked with his silky hair slightly parted showing a tiny bit of his forehead, a subtle shade of orange brown shadow adorning his cat eyes, his naturally curved upper lip made it easy to see his two front teeth when he smiled just a little. The omega was wearing a pink silk blouse which accentuated his subtle curves and complimented his shining complexion, and black skinny pants that highlighted his slender legs. Pretty. Taehyung also noticed the accessories the omega was wearing, the dangle earring that he helped pick, the “couple” necklace, and the shiny Rolex. Taehyung smiled, trying to swallow down the bitterness rising in his throat.

And then Mrs Jeon had to mention the fated paring thing and both of them avoided each other’s gaze so fast it hurt. But Taehyung didn’t have time to reply to her before she appeared.

Tae couldn’t believe it.

A girl who looked just like his mom, with the same elegant features and calm demeanor. The resemblance struck him so hard he didn’t gave a second thought to how he didn’t feel quite as mad as when Yoongi was in trouble earlier. He didn’t learn much about her, just a name, but information should not be that hard to find, not with his connections and money.

The situation was confusing enough, and then he dropped the camellia. Recently he had randomly gotten this feeling of urgency, almost like a craving smoldering under his skin, sometimes deep inside his gut. It was vague, he didn’t know what it was but it was strong nevertheless. He tried to make it go away but nothing worked, only camellia calmed him down a bit. So he kept adding pot after pot of the flower in his room, and camellia had made its way to his office before he decided to just keep some on him. He didn’t know what people would make of that fact, it was rather strange but he couldn’t help it. At least no one questioned him out loud.

Over the next few days, he had people look into the girl: Heo Yeongmi, 19, adopted daughter of the Heo family who ran a financial firm. She was in America for high school before coming back to Korea, quite a smart girl with excellent school records and artistic credentials. He didn’t look too much into the circumstance of her adoption since that was a really private matter, but aside from that, nothing really stood out, maybe except the fact that she was doing homeschool exclusively instead of going to uni for connections like most of them rich kids did. Taehyung was intrigued though, just when he was going through this whole thing with his fated pair and his childhood friend, someone who, at least based on look and basic info, seemed rather close to his ideal type appeared. It was still too early to say it was some sort of twisted fate, but it was interesting nevertheless.

++

“Jin hyung, Namjoon hyung, thank you for helping me today.”

“No prob Kookie, wow, this gave me some nostalgia… School visiting is kinda fun right?”

“So, what do you think? Do you like it?”

“Yes hyung, that was good, just as I expected.”

Jungkook gave the engaged couple a bright smile. He was supposed to start university this fall, and being a smart (and rich) kid he had several choices. The obvious one would be to join Namjoon and Taehyung and Yoongi at their school, but he didn’t want to make the decision just because of that so he asked Namjoon to take him on a school trip and Jin wanted to tag along since he had some rare spare time. Namjoon of course didn’t object, if anything it felt like the two of them were taking their kid to school and he secretly loved it.

“And it’s convenient right? The school of management is rather close to the music department,” Namjoon loved teasing the younger one, “and there are full of nice and kind people in that building…”

“That’d better be the case,” Jungkook abruptly cut off his hyung, “I wouldn’t be able to stand it if something happened to him again.”

“What? What was that? Something happened to Yoongi hyung? When? Why didn’t I know about this?” Namjoon fired a bunch of questions and Jungkook knew he just had to let him know.

“Uhm, two alphas cornered him near the dressing room at the party, but don’t worry hyung, Taetae hyung chased them off.”

“I told him he should stick to me but he insisted I got out first. Why didn’t anyone tell me anything?”

“Joonie, knowing Yoongi I think he asked people not to. Same reason why he didn’t want to tag along beside you, he just wanted you to focus on our party. Jungkook-ah, how was he?”

“I think he was a bit shaken by it, Taetae hyung had to hold his hand to calm him down. If I ever saw anything like that again I don’t know if I could stop myself from breaking some bones.”

The sharp voice and cold eyes were new to Namjoon and Jin, they never saw the young boy like this before. It seemed he had developed a strong protective instinct over Yoongi, but that wasn’t all that was surprising among the details he just told them, Jin looked like he was musing over something as he furrowed his eyebrows but eventually let it go without asking.

“I’ll apology the next time I see him. By the way Kookie, I heard from Tae that you recently had a talk with your parents and you were upset about it? Is everything going alright?”

“Oh, that… It’s fine, it’s just…”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, I just want to make sure you’re doing well, feel free to ask me or Jin hyung if you need anything okay.”

“About that, hyung, this might be strange but may I ask, how did you know you are each other’s fated pair?”

The earlier dark and gloomy look was completely gone, replaced by a faint blush. It was cute.

“We just knew? Like once you meet your fated pair your body will tell you. Although the signals vary from pair to pair but you can definitely tell, some people with stronger connection can tell something different just from making eye contact, but for most people physical contacts like hand holding could be telltale, and there’s the scent too. In short, you’ll just know it.” Jin smiled fondly as he finished his explanation, undoubtedly he had just had flashback from his earlier days with Namjoon.

“I see…”

“Why are you interested? Anything to do with your family talk?”

“Well, my parents told me they have a list of people they thought I should meet after I presented, that it would be nice if one of those turned out to be my fated pair. I don’t know if they were joking or not, but it was absurd even for a joke. I haven’t even presented yet, and even after I do, I’m not going to meet a bunch of random people like that, it’s not a job interview.”

“I think uncle and auntie just want you to have more exposure to people, and I’m sure those people are not random choices. You’re quite a late bloomer, and while there isn’t anything wrong with that, you’ve also never showed interest in anyone outside of friendship. They probably want to help you find your mate faster, although I agree that it’s rather unnecessary.”

“I know right? And I don’t need to find them anyway….”

A shy smile crept up on his face and the two hyungs nodded knowingly. Lately their dongsaeng had been a bit different from his usual self, he seemed listless or distracted at times and strangely easily agitated at other times. He wasn’t too happy when Namjoon mentioned the zodiac pendants that Yoongi and Taehyung were wearing at the party even though he was the one who asked Tae to go with Yoongi. Both “lethargic” and “snappy” weren’t adjectives people would associate with Jungkook. Especially people who knew him well like Namjoon and Jin, so they just smiled back at him, no questions asked.

“Here’re your orders,” a waitress came to their table with their drinks, she carefully placed the glasses down with the practiced skills of a veteran, and yet when she handed Jungkook his drink, the boy almost jumped out of his skin.

“I’m sorry sir, are you okay?”

The waitress looked both concerned and confused and understandably so since she didn’t do anything wrong or different from how she usually did her job.

“I’m fine, absolutely not your fault or anything, thanks.”

Jungkook moved his torso a bit away from the waitress, the move was subtle but his hyungs could see, they also saw the flinch on the boy’s face.

“You’re doing alright Kookie?” Jin asked once the girl left.

“It’s okay hyung, it’s just, the tangerine scent kinda put me off for whatever reason.”

“Tangerine? You mean the waitress just now?”

“Yes hyung, ugh, it’s probably because I haven’t been well lately, it’s weird.”

“How about me? Are you okay with my scent?” Jin asked tentatively, he had a feeling he knew what it was.

“I’m good around you, why you asked? I’ve always been fine with you.”

“What about me then?”

Namjoon took his turn and closed into the boy’s personal space, voice low and stern, eyes cold and Jungkook immediately glared back and squared his shoulders and the alpha quickly relented.

“I’m sorry if I spooked you but I just wanted to test it. You should finish your drink quickly, we’re taking you home.”

The younger was a bit confused but he trusted his hyung, not to mention the fact that he actually wanted to go home. He felt a bit feverish and fidgety and would rather spending time in the comfort of his room.

“I think you’re presenting, Kook-ah, your physical symptoms and your reactions to omegas and alphas are trademarks of a presenting alpha, so, welcome to adulthood.” Namjoon gave the younger a reassuring smile while taking care to keep a bit distance between them.

“Really? Wow, finally…”

“Yeah, finally, it’ll be fine but you should take it easy for a few days, do you have plan already?”

“Not really hyung, oh but I have piano lesson today.” Jungkook felt his cheeks heated up a bit at that thought because piano lesson meant seeing Yoongi.

“You’ll have to cancel it, given how things are he’s the last one you should meet in the next few days, he will understand.”

“I guess so,” Jungkook was in a daze, there was a bit of tension pooling inside him and even though he understood what Namjoon meant, he couldn’t shake off the thoughts about Yoongi, about how Yoongi could potentially be his now that he was becoming an alpha.

They kept quiet for the rest of the ride; Jungkook kept fidgeting on his spot as some sweat started to gather on his temples. He was alone at the back seats; for a presenting alpha, the presence of another alpha could feel threatening and that of an omega could be anything from uncomfortable to triggering. Namjoon and Jin were already bonded so their effects were alleviated, still they opted for some distance for the boy’s shake.

The grown up couple delivered the boy home and briefed the head butler about the situation. The middle aged man showed a bit of both excitement and relief, it was clear the Jeons had been waiting for this. Namjoon talked to Jungkook a bit more, as an older alpha who was close to the boy he was in a good position to give advice and he did it as gently and friendly as he could, not to trigger any unnecessary competitiveness. Before leaving, he said one last thing.

“Kook-ah, it’d be best if you don’t think about him too much.”

It’d be best, but it’d be hard as well. Very hard.

Because for Namjoon it was simpler, he presented when his heart was not possessed, his body did show the reactions of a presenting alpha but those craving and longing weren’t directed at anyone, they were vague and all over the place. But for Jungkook it was different. His longing had a name and a face and a scent.

He dropped down on his bed, listless yet restless. So he was finally presenting as an alpha. An alpha! A designation which didn’t hold much meaning in the past but now it had become special. He was an alpha, and Yoongi was an omega, he had a chance! Talking about Yoongi, Jungkook still had to let him know about the cancelling of today’s lesson and after much consideration he opted for a message instead of a call.

A group of beta maids were put in charge of tending to his requests and serving meals and drinks. He didn’t ask for much, he would rather not to be in contact with people. He only wanted to see one person but Namjoon advised him against it and he trusted his hyung on this. But it was hard not to think about Yoongi. It didn’t matter what Jungkook did his thoughts always found a way back to the omega pianist. He missed him, a lot.

Which led him to wander to the piano room and boy he was in for a shock! Everything in this room smelled like camellia, like Yoongi, from the keys and the bench that his hyung graced every time he was here, to that sofa where Yoongi sometimes took a quick nap, looking defenseless and ethereal. Jungkook wasn’t able to smell people’s scents very well before, he could pick up Yoongi’s because he pretty much trained himself to do that. But now it has become his nature to sniff out the lovely scent from every item that Yoongi had touched, and his whole being reacted to it. He quickly went back to his room. The next few days were a bit of an exhausting affair with Jungkook being unable to follow Namjoon’s advice of not thinking about Yoongi too much. It could never be too much, the newly presented alpha thought, until that image of Yoongi when his heat hit flashed back in the boy’s brain and he came hard, a certain name fell from his lips and pictures of clouded cat eyes and parted lips and flushed porcelain skin reeled behind his eye lids.

So it could be too much.

At some point the maids received an order to deliver several pots of blooming camellias to their young master’s room.

Eventually the symptoms wore off and he came back to normal, or a new normal to be more accurate. It actually didn’t feel that much different since everyone had always expected him to be an alpha, and while he was now able to tell everyone’s scent and biological role it didn’t really change things for him. The real difference might only be felt when he met that one person he had been yearning for. That was what Jungkook thought when he was dressing up for a lamb skewer date with Yoongi. The older said he would treat him for a coming-of-age kind of gift. There was no reason for it to be awkward right?

Or at least Jungkook thought he would try to make it not so.

Chapter Text

Yoongi came back from Namjoon’s engagement party not knowing how he felt. Seeing how happy Namjoon and Jin were reminded him of what he was missing out on: the kind of wholesome completeness when one could be together with one’s fated pair. He had known that for a while but this time he saw it in a new light. So far, he had only thought about how he himself felt, how painful it was for him but now he realized for the first time the obvious truth that it must have been the same for Taehyung, that the guy had also been waiting for that special someone, that if the fated pairing wasn’t working out for Yoongi then it also didn’t work out for the alpha.

And then there was the story about Taehyung’s mother; Yoongi didn’t expect anything like that. From what Jungkook told him, Taehyung had shown amazing maturity for a 15 year-old: to lose his most beloved person and still kept his promise of taking upon a position of insane pressure. Yoongi didn’t know that much about business but it wasn’t rocket science to figure out that being the heir of the Kim Cooperation was a tough job. Despite everything that he lost that guy still had one dream which Yoongi had then inadvertently destroyed. So when that omega lady showed up, Yoongi had thought that maybe there was still thing to salvage, he thought that he hoped for Taehyung to find some to fulfill the dream even if the fated paring didn’t work out.

But he was wrong. Once he saw Tae with the beautiful lady he actually wasn’t happy. When Tae offered her his jacket Yoongi remembered the Gucci coat he still kept and a voice inside his head unironically said “Don’t go around giving people your clothing just like that.” He was silently scolding himself for thinking unreasonable things when the camellia fell out of the alpha’s pocket.

A camellia flower.

And then the female omega threw Yoongi a look he couldn’t decipher, he just felt it wasn’t filled with good intentions. The next few days he kept thinking about the meanings of all those things but he couldn’t make a good interpretation. His head hurt and he decided to focus on things that were easier to understand: the fact that Jungkook and his parents were very nice to him and that Yoongi still had a music competition to prepare for. He had made some alterations to the composition and he wanted to show Jungkook the new piece after today’s lesson.

Well that was the plan.

Yoongi was at home when he got a text message from Jungkook.

“I’m sorry hyung but we’ll have to cancel today’s lesson. I’m probably presenting, Namjoon hyung and Jin hyung said so. They also said I’m an alpha. Don’t worry I’m doing well, I’ll stay home for a few days and let you know when it’s over.”

Jungkook was an alpha. It wasn’t the biggest surprise in the world by any means, people had always said the boy would be an alpha but now it was actually happening and Yoongi told himself not to think too much about it. Why would things be any different between them? He had long decided that he would be a good hyung, a good teacher, a good friend to Jungkook, and nothing else, nothing more. It wasn’t an easy decision but it would be for the best, he wanted the boy to have the kind of happiness that Namjoon and Jin had, and not the twisted mess that he and Taehyung had.

He and Taehyung. That was the second time he put himself and the alpha in one term, the first one was when he told Tae “We are a mismatch”. Mismatching hurt. Yoongi wanted Jungkook to find a matched one. His fated one.

That afternoon he kept thinking about Jungkook, which in his defense was a natural thing because they were supposed to have lesson today. He knew he should not be worried because Namjoon was there and Namjoon should have told Jungkook all the right things. That said, Yoongi couldn’t focus on whatever he was doing so he decided to go grocery shopping to divert his mind, and he was actually out of food.

The trip to the store helped clear up his mind a bit. Yoongi liked this shop, it wasn’t the closest to his place but they sold good stuff at good prices. He reached the meat section and saw a somewhat familiar face. Right, the old man who always bought lot of food to cook for his grandson!

“Good afternoon Gramps! We meet again!”

The sudden call seemed to have startled the old gentleman a bit but as soon as he saw Yoongi’s bright gummy smile his expression softened and he smiled back.

“Oh isn’t it the kind young man?! You shop here too?”

“I do, they have good things here. I see you’ve got quite a lot already. You’re cooking the usual dish?”

“That’s correct. It’s about time I cook more for him, I just need meat and I’m done with shopping. How about you?”

“That’s all that’s left for me too. You seem to be very careful about the meat, you must be looking for a particular part?”

“Yes.”

The old man just smiled and looked at the available selections again before he settled on a big chunk. As they walked out of the store, they both looked at what the other had bought and inevitably noticed the difference.

“You didn’t buy much young man.”

“I’m a student Gramps, quite broke this month too.” Yoongi shrugged and smiled, he didn’t mean it as a complaint really, it was nothing out of the ordinary for normal students, a.k.a those not from affluent families.

“I have an idea, if you have time would you like to go to my place? It’s not too far away by bus and I want to thank you for helping me several times already. I live alone.”

“Really? Could I go? Thank you Gramps!” the smile was brighter than ever, “Oh, please excuse my rudeness for not introducing myself, I’m Yoongi, Min Yoongi.”

“Yoongi? Pretty name you’ve got there.”

Yoongi took some of the bags from the man and they boarded the bus and arrived at their destination in no time. The old man lived in a small and normal-looking house from the outside, but it was well-equip and elegant inside. Yoongi liked the autumn color palette used for the interior and furniture, it gave a nice and welcoming warmth. And to top it off, there was a piano in the living room! Yoongi’s eyes immediately lit up as he spotted the lovely instrument and this didn’t go unnoticed by the owner of the place.

“Yoongi, do you like piano?”

“I do Gramps, I’m actually a piano music student, it’s the love of my life.”

“How wonderful! Could you play a piece or two for me?”

“Sure, but don’t you play?”

“No, my daughter in law used to play that for me, she’s no longer around though.”

The sad look flashed over the man’s face made Yoongi’s heart ached. He was a bit curious but of course he knew this was a private matter and he wasn’t close or anything to the man yet. He just told him his name like minutes ago! They changed the topic to cooking instead which was a much more cheerful talk. Yoongi was actually a decent cook, he just didn’t have the time and the resources to whip up fancy dishes, but this old man was like a proper chef who cooked with heart. He did everything with easy yet also with care and love. It was evident that he was rather fond of his grandson whom he was cooking this for. And Yoongi noticed.

“You must love him a lot, your grandson.”

“He’s a good boy. He’s gone through a lot but he’s strong and caring, more than most people care to know.”

There seemed to be some sort of circumstances going with this family but Yoongi didn’t dig on that. He was content with having something nice to do this afternoon since the lesson was cancelled. The man showed him how to cook the meat stew and Yoongi loved it, saying he would try to cook it at home. They ate and talked about various things but mostly art: the young one about music and the older about painting. As the old man was brewing tea in the kitchen, Yoongi took the liberty to sit down on the piano and played his favorite piece, he figured he was already granted permission.

“Wow, you’re good at this!”

The man reappeared carrying a tea pot and some cookies, Yoongi flashed a big smile in place of a thank you and continued playing a few more songs before he was called over for tea.

“You’re more than good at this, no you must be a genius. It’s been a long time since I heard someone playing so well.”

“Thank you very much Gramps, I can play more if you want to hear.”

“Of course, ah, uhm, how about this…”

The man went to look for something and came back out with a notebook. Not just any notebook, it was a music sheet book. He carefully turned over the pages before handing it to Yoongi.

“If you don’t mind, could you play this song for me?”

Yoongi took the note with both hands and held it carefully like a treasure. And as he read it, he realized it was actually a treasure, a musical treasure. His eyes were glued to the sheets and he could already hear the music in his head, the flow, the changing keys and tempos, whoever composed this had laid out their heart on these pages. And he found his eyes watering a bit.

“Are you okay Yoongi, you don’t have to do this if you don’t…”

“No Gramps, I’m fine, I’m just incredibly touched. This is amazing.”

“You know?”

“I can hear it already, and I know a lot of thoughts and emotions were put into this. Ahh, look at me being so lame, let me pull myself together and I’ll gladly play this for you.”

He drank some tea and took his time before taking the sheet to the piano, put it down solemnly and sat down, fixing his posture before placing his hands on the keys. It seemed like a sacred act somehow. And he played like he lived in the music, like he was in the mind of this composer yet he knew nothing about them and what made them able to write something like this. But he knew it was something really, really powerful.

As the music stopped, silence filled the room. Yoongi turned around to see the old man wiping away tears from his eyes with his trembling hand, he quickly dashed over and held his other hand. When the trembling subsided, teary eyes looked up at him.

“This song, my daughter in law wrote this for my grandson when she found out she was pregnant. She had a weak body and doctors said she would be in danger if she kept the baby. But she said she was prepared for anything as long as the kid could be born safely. And she wrote this song, and played it almost every day through her 9 months. It was a miracle that they were both healthy after labor, and she kept playing this song all those years afterward, until it was finally time to say goodbye.”

“She sounded like an amazing lady.”

“She was. When she became critically ill a few years ago, I lamented how God could be so cruel to someone so nice, and you know what she said? She smiled and told me that God had given her 15 extra years to be with her son, she couldn’t have asked for anything more than that. She even tried to play this song once more with a tiny travelling keyboard from her sickbed, and I never saw anyone stronger and more beautiful than she was at that moment.”

“I would’ve loved to meet her, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Somehow I think she would’ve loved to meet you too, I know this sounds weird since we barely know each other but I feel at easy around you the same way I did around her.”

They finished their tea and snacks and cleaned up, exchanged contact information and promised to meet more often. Yoongi left the place feeling like he had learn a lot more about life in an afternoon than he had in years, about the power of love and music, family bonding, how life was both ephemeral and eternal. He couldn’t keep the song out of his head. Yoongi had long thought about composing but he always felt he didn’t have enough life experience to write music that could touch people’s hearts. He wondered if he would ever be in a situation to create a song that powerful, like that lady did.

The more he thought about that song, the more he felt like he was lacking as a musician. His technical skills was undeniably good, and people often praised the emotional aspect of his performances as well yet he doubted he could produce music that moved strangers to tears at the first listen, or in case of people who could read music sheets, from the first read. The reason, Yoongi thought, must be because he had not experienced life enough, life outside of school and music halls, life that involved falling in love and raising a family, life that enclosed both real happiness and real sadness.

With that frame of mind, he turned to the piece he was working on for the music competition, making changes here and there until he was satisfied, it took him a few days. He needed a change for fresh air when his phone buzzed. A message from Jungkook.

“Hello hyung, I’m good for lessons now, all done with presenting! ^_^ ”

Yoongi smiled reading that, seriously that boy was too cute even if it was just a text message. A good boy should be rewarded, and Yoongi missed him, really, so he didn’t think much before he texted back.

“Good, let’s welcome you to this new world with some good food. Going to chef Lee’s place with me?”

The “Yes” responds couldn’t come any faster.

+++

Jungkook breathed in and out deeply before pushing open the door of the restaurant. It was rather funny how his nose automatically registered various scents from the people on the streets, it had been a few days and yet he still found it a bit odd. He knew it would pass, of course it would, he was just new to this. What he wasn’t new to was Yoongi’s scent, that was what he was thinking when he saw the omega from outside the shop. Yet once he set foot inside his whole body seized. The place was small, and all he could smell was Yoongi and, well, cooked meat. Reminding himself of his “don’t make it awkward” plead, he steadied his stance and walked over with a bright smile.

“Hyung, have you been waiting for long?”

“No, I just got here actually, how are you?”

“I’m good, I mean I feel normal so that’s good right?”

The newly presented alpha bowed before pulling a chair out and sat down, everything was the same as usual, as how it should be, just that the heightened sense of smell made the boy a bit sensitive. His numerous camellia pots at home were nothing compared to how fragrant the person in front of him was.

“I’m sorry we had to cancel the lesson, you said you were going to show me the new piece right? I really wanted to listen to it.”

“Nothing we could do about it right?” Yoongi smiled, seriously this boy was saying sorry for presenting? “And that actually gave me time to do some extra work on it, I believe it’s much better now so you’ll get to skip the not very good one.”

“No hyung, I actually want to listen to all versions, I want to know what you changed, there must be a story behind the changes and I’m curious about that, not just the final piece.”

“Story huh? Well, I met a nice grandpa who told me a moving story about his daughter in law and his grandson and that got me thinking a lot. Anyway, enough about me, how was your school visit? You went with Namjoon right?”

“Oh that, you remember. Yes I did, Jin hyung was there too, I felt like a kid going to school with his parents. It was good, I like the school a lot, and you and Namjoon hyung and Taetae hyung are all there too.”

“I’ll graduate soon, but that’s beside the point, as long as you like it then it’s good. What are your other options, you must have some right?”

“Uhm, yes there are others, both home and abroad, but I never thought about going that far away. I like being close to people important to me.”

“Yeah, being close would be nice…”

Yoong didn’t finish the sentence when chef Lee approached their table with all their favorites.

“Here, I made one of these extra large as a gift to the handsome young man. Yoongi, you got the usual one.”

“Uncle, am I not handsome?” Yoongi faked a hurtful look and chef Lee just laughed.

“You are, but don’t lie and say that the word handsome doesn’t fit him better. And he’s still growing, he needs to eat a lot.”

“Thank you, I’ll grow up to be a good man and I’ll always remember your skewers!”

The chef laughed out loud at that and returned to his kitchen, leaving the two boys to continue their lunch talk. Yoongi wanted to tell Jungkook the story that the old man told him, but he felt that it was a private matter which shouldn’t be told to just anyone so he didn’t. He observed the boy a bit, nothing changed as far as he could tell. And why would anything change? Presenting was a normal biological thing, people didn’t become different people because of it.

“Interesting isn’t it, your scent?” Yoongi finally said.

“Uhm, what about it hyung?” Jungkook was a bit nervous; while he had been aware of Yoongi’s camellia for a long time, his own scent just appeared and he had no idea if Yoongi liked it or not.

“You don’t really like coffee, but you smell like it, like vanilla scented coffee.”

“Do you, uhm, do you like it?” Jungkook almost blushed as he tried to voice out that all important question.

“I like coffee, you know that.”

Okay, so blushing was contagious.

They talked more about Jungkook’s school visit, what he wanted for university and even afterward. They joked that they wanted to open a lamb skewer restaurant together and chef Lee jokingly scolded them for trying to steal his business. It was all well and good, until it was time to say goodbye. Jungkook didn’t want to leave his hyung yet but there was no reason to prolong the “date” any further.

“See you hyung, have a good day.”

The younger one reached out his hand and then retracted it, feeling a bit awkward. He obviously looked like he wanted the usual closeness though, so Yoongi just did it for him, the omega reached up and patted the boy’s shoulder lightly.

“Come on, you don’t have to stay away from me just because you’re an alpha now, unless you actually want to.”

“Of course not hyung, I’ve had enough of being away from you the past few days, it was awful!”

Jungkook was quick to deny any reference to him not wanting to be close to Yoongi, nothing could be further away from the truth! He placed both of his hands on the omega’s forearms, holding him in place securely. He should have known that Yoongi wasn’t serious when he said that but whatever, it didn’t hurt to make it clear. A startled Yoongi looked up at him with starry eyes and Jungkook’s heart skipped a beat. He still didn’t know what Jin meant by “you’ll just know it” but he didn’t care all that much, fated or not, he knew what his heart wanted.

He went home, delighted that he got to spend time with Yoongi and that his hyung didn’t dislike his new scent.

“I like coffee, you know it.”

Kyaaaaa!!! Jungkook was almost squealing as he rolled around on his bed, feeling all giddy. Honestly the whole presenting thing was exaggerated, he didn’t suddenly change his view toward Yoongi to that of an alpha looking at an omega, he was still Jungkook and Yoongi was still his hyung, the dynamics between them didn’t change. Or it was just that the younger one was already in too deep before he presented that he couldn’t fall any deeper than that.

Just back to his home but Jungkook still wanted to talk to someone; he wasn’t that much of a social butterfly but staying in his own room for a few days without talking to the closest friends he had was still a bit much. Not to mention he had things that he wanted to ask which he almost asked Yoongi but managed to stop himself. Things like “do you believe in fated pairing” or more to the point “do you think we could be…” Ahhh why would he even thought about asking that, that would be so brazen!!! Jungkook just became an alpha, there were so many things he wanted to talk about but not everyone was a suitable audience, so he grabbed his phone and texted his childhood friend and voila! He actually replied immediately saying he was coming over.

+++

Taehyung woke up at 12pm. It was very rare for him to oversleep given his tight schedule but for once, the busy workload was the reason for this long slumber. He finally, yes finally got that acquisition over the line, his first big deal at the company since official taking a managing role. It was super tiring but he couldn’t deny he felt a bit satisfaction when it was done, a very pleasant sort of satisfaction. Guessed the business blood ran in his veins after all. He got out of bed, took a shower, had a nice lunch then cared for his various camellia pots. He was so used to their presence now that they didn’t remind him of Yoongi 24/7, camellia was camellia after all, still a lovely flower whether his fated pair smelled like it or not.

Only after all that did he take a look at his phone. Missed calls from Namjoon and Jungkook? Oh they sent some messages after that too.

“Yo Tae, Kookie is finally presenting so your alpha self should not go provoke him okay? :D”

“Hi hyung, uhm, I’m kinda presenting so can’t see you for a few days. I’ll let you know when it’s clear.”

Neither of them specified the boy’s assignment but Tae didn’t even think about it. Of course the boy was an alpha, there was no other way thus no need to specify. So it was finally happening huh?  Just half a year ago, Taehyung was still teasing his childhood friend with the “once you present you’ll find a mate and ditch me oh I’m so sad” accompanied by a fake hurt look. Now though, that probably wasn’t a joke anymore and the hurt look would not be fake, if he ever let people see it.

He still cared a lot about Jungkook though, always had and always would, so he wondered how the boy was doing. Presenting could be either a fairly casual or horrendous event depending on the person. When Tae presented he wasn’t too much in pain and the general “I could gladly go hump a lamp post” sentiment was also kept in check, and when it flared up he would file it into the “hormonal talk” folder and then took care of himself in the bathroom. He had no specific person he desired so everything was just a physiobiological fog. Whenever the fog cleared up enough for him to think, he only thought of how to be a proper alpha and not someone like his father who didn’t even come home for his wife’s last minutes.

How about his childhood friend? Did he had someone he desired? Was it not a fog but certain face and voice and body and scent?

Ha, why would Tae even ask? He knew the answer. He tried not to think about how his childhood friend was probably dreaming about his fated pair while presenting, not think about the possible fantasies that might pop up in the new alpha’s mind, fantasies that involved a male omega with porcelain skin and pretty cat eyes and rosy tiny lips.

Fantasies that might well leave the realm of imagination and become reality.

That thought hurt more than he wanted to admit.

Tae flopped down on his bed, hands absentmindedly plucking the petals from a camellia flower. The petals dropped on him like fallen tears.

The next day he had a day off as a reward for his efforts with the deal. It was kinda strange that he felt like he had nothing to do even though he had dreamed of a day off when he was buried in work. He didn’t want to go to school, couldn’t hang out with Jungkook since the boy was presenting or with Namjoon because his cousin was busy helping out with the IPO of a “unicorn” start up. He was so bored when he texted his buddy Bogum.

“Hyung, I’m bored, are you free? Wanna go somewhere?”

He got an “okay”.

They went to a restaurant, big but quiet with room for privacy. Bogum was a good friend that Taehyung trusted and called out for help when he needed to, even when the help was just to pass a boring day. He felt like he could relax more and be a 20 year-old boy in front of him, it was different from his other close friends. Namjoon was his close friend, but also his cousin who treated him pretty much as equal. Jungkook was his close friend, but an also an innocent 18 year old to whom Taehyung happily played the role of a big brother. Bogum treated him like his dongsaeng, even dotted on him quite a bit while keeping the whole thing casual and comfortable.

“I heard you’ve done with the deal, great job bro, congrats.”

“Thanks hyung, it almost took my life force out of me, the results were quite nice though, can’t say I wasn’t pleased with that.”

“I always believed you’d pull it off, you’re Kim Taehyung after all, hahaha. So why you called me today? Where’re Jungkook and Namjoon?”

“Namjoon hyung is busy working, Kookie’s busy presenting.”

“Presenting, as in…? Oh my, finally, alpha?”

“Of course, what else?”

“Right right, we’ve always known. If anything, the way he recently got stuck on that pretty omega pianist was telltale. I saw them at Namjoon’s engagement party taking to Jungkook’s parents. They looked good together.”

“Tsk, didn’t they?” Tae gave a short reply before ducking his head down and took a sip of his iced tea, not wanting his friend to see the reaction on his face.

“Hey you’re okay? I’ve always wanted to ask, is there something between you two, I mean with Yoongi? You asked me to check out his work place before and your behavior when we went there was rather off too. You don’t like him?”

“Uhm, no, there was some sort of misunderstanding between us, it’s okay now, I apologized to him already so we should not be on bad terms.”

“You apologized? Well that’s new, but it’s not like you’ve done anyone wrong to the point of having to apologize. So what’s the deal with him and Jungkook? Man, anyone with eyes could tell that boy is whipped.”

“How could I know? Can we stop talking about them now?” Tae finally snapped and this surprised his friend a bit.

“My my, I know you don’t like male omegas much but aren’t you fine with Jin hyung? Or having two of your closest friends with male omega mates too much for you?”

“Can we please stop with this topic?!!”

Taehyung put his glass down rather forcefully and Bogum stopped talking altogether, a shocked expression on his face but he regained his composure quickly, so did Tae.

“Sorry hyung, just not in the mood to talk about that.”

He didn’t mean to snap like that but he couldn’t help it; Bogum got it so wrong, he wasn’t displeased with the talk because he disliked male omegas, it was just he couldn’t swallow the whole “mate” thing. “Yes hyung it would be too much because he’s supposed to be mine” the voice in his head was getting too loud so he talked about something else to change the topic.

“Hyung, do you know what happened at that party?”

“Huh, what? I heard some commotion but I had to leave early. What happened?”

“I, I saw a girl who looked exactly like my Mom. It was shocking, I didn’t know what to say or do for a few minutes.”

“Really? She looked like your mother? How?!”

“How much? A lot, like spitting image like. How that happened? I’ve no ideas.”

“Have you looked into her background, I bet you did. Anything standing out?”

“Uhm, not much at the moment, she’s an adopted daughter of the Heo family who runs Heo Financial. She’s not going to school at the moment, only home schooling, seems the proper young lady from a good family.”

“Do you want me to look more into this? I’m the expert you know, and well, can’t say I’m not curious so I might look even if you don’t ask.”

“Well then I’ll ask so that you’ll have an excuse. Can you find some info on Miss Heo Yeongmi for me hyung?”

“With pleasure.”

They finished their lunch, went to the suburb in the afternoon before saying goodbye. Taehyung could have hung out a bit longer but unfortunately Bogum had work in the evening, he was actually quite busy despite how carefree he appeared to be. Tae didn’t have to sulk for long though, since as soon as he got home, his butler informed him that his favorite meat stew had arrived, ready for dinner. He never knew why the chef was so adamant about not showing himself, but at least he continued to cook this for Taehyung. What was Tae going to do if the man stopped providing him food? That scenario was just so heart breaking.

After a few days of rather boring post-deal paper work and one random lesson he had to attend at school, he was called to a casual meeting with some of the board members. They talked about the already approved plan of promoting him to vice president which should now go ahead since the hindering deal was officially done. While most people would be ecstatic with such a career change, Taehyung wasn’t particularly moved by it. He would eventually take over the group, he had promised his mother that much, so he was going to do it regardless of what stood in the way. It wasn’t exactly what he desired, he simply steadily moved forward on a path that he had pretty much envisioned. The board, on the other hand, was undeniably pleased with this development, especially since they could start showing off the heir of the Kim family to the world. Well, whatever floated their boat.

As soon as he got back to his office, he got a message, Jungkook.

“Hi hyung, I’m cool now, come play when you can yeah?”

Now this was what Tae needed, some chilling time with his childhood friend, he missed him. He drove straight to the Jeon’s mansion without going home to change and the staff there was a bit surprised to see him arriving in full business suit.

“Taetae hyung I missed you!!!”

A big and smiling bunny ran toward him and he welcomed the boy with open arms, and as they shared a warm hug Tae took a sniff.

“Coffee? Interesting.”

“Why?”

“Cuz you don’t really like coffee but you smell like it.”

“Wow, you two said exactly the same thing!”

“Who?”

“You and Yoongi hyung.”

The boy pushed himself out of Tae’s arms, still looking at him with bright big eyes and innocent smile and yet the older could feel his own heart sank a bit. So they already met. He didn’t have time to reply since the boy kept talking rapidly, seemingly very excited.

“Hyung treated me lamb skewers! It was so good, always so good! Oh, let’s go to my room yeah? Do you wanna play games?”

“Sure.” The smile came out a bit forced, Tae hoped his friend didn’t notice. He felt bad for feeling this way but he couldn’t help it, he just made a mental note to not let whatever it was that he felt for Yoongi come to the surface and ruin his time with his precious childhood friend. As they came up the stairs, Jungkook cheerfully talked about this new game he just bought and how he was going to “destroy” Tae at it like he did with most other games they played. The older smiled, a real one this time.

“Did you come here straight from work? You must be very busy these days,” Jungkook commented as he set up the game, “I’ve heard the promotion will be official soon?”

“Yeah, they’re kinda making a big deal out of it for no good reason, press con and interviews and all that, I’m not a celebrity you know.”

“You kinda are though? And I do think it’s a big deal, hyung, it’s the chance to officially introduce the future head of the group to the general public. But I guess that makes it tough for you then.”

“Yeah.”

Tae just dropped down on one of the bean bags, stretching his body a little. He felt good in the presence of his friend, carefree and comfortable, there’s nothing here that reminded him of the outside world with worries and stress and competiti-

His train of thoughts was cut off as he laid eyes on the new yet familiar objects in the room. New because he never saw them here before, familiar because he had the same things. And he was pretty sure they were brought here for a somewhat similar reason as well.

Those pots of blooming camellia.

Chapter Text

Yoongi stood in front of his wardrobe, not sure what to pick. The last time he had to choose clothes was Namjoon’s engagement party but that time it wasn’t about him. This time, even though the occasion was nowhere near as glamorous, it was about him.

Since their piano lessons were resumed Yoongi was very excited about showing Jungkook the latest version of his competition song, the younger had very good ears and Yoongi was hoping he could give some recommendations. That was supposed to be all that was to it, but then Jungkook called him and with a bit of hesitation the boy managed to ask him out for dinner, saying he wanted to return the favor because Yoongi treated him lamb skewers. And who was Yoongi to say no? So here he was, thinking whether or not he should wear the casual clothes he usually wore for lessons or something a bit more dressy. While Jungkook was not a showy type of chaebol kids, he was still a young master and who knew what kind of a place they were going to? Yoongi actually asked, but the boy refused to answer. In the end the pianist chose a white button-down shirt with embroidery and black pants instead of jeans. He still wore his Pisces necklace.

Jungkook greeted him at the front door. The boy was wearing a dark grey T-shirt and black pants, nothing overly formal and Yoongi wanted to laugh at himself for thinking too much about this. In the closed space of their lesson room, Jungkook looked at him, or maybe not just “looking at him” and more like “checking him out”, with serious eyes that almost made Yoongi blush.

“You look great today hyung,” the eye smile was still almost purely innocent.

“Uhm, that, I wanna show you the final piece today, so I’m dressing up a bit, making it more real.”

Yoongi wasn’t sure if the alpha bought that lame excuse but the boy seemed excited about the music and he was keen on getting through the lesson quickly so that they would get to the competition piece.

“Listen carefully and tell me what you think later okay?”

Yoongi sat down, with the music sheet in front of him. He had changed some key parts in the composition, he made all those changes while thinking about his own life’s experiences, the shattering of an overly-romantic dream, the fear of having to let go of a happiness which was within reach and yet he was so scared to embrace it. And as he played he could feel the alpha’s eyes drilling holes on his back.

His hands on the keys had stopped moving but there was no sounds from Jungkook, no clapping, no comments, so Yoongi suddenly felt unsecured. Had he made any mistakes? Was this new version not as good as the previous ones? He didn’t turn around and just stared at the keys instead. He made no moves until Jungkook kneeled down next to the bench.

“Hyung?”

“Was it bad?” Yoongi still didn’t look at Jungkook.

“It’s great hyung, how could it be bad? But, somehow, it’s very, very sad,” the alpha moved closer and took Yoongi’s hands, “Hyung, what’s bothering you?”

And just like that, Yoongi’s heart skipped a beat. Those used-to-be-doe-eyes were now looking at him with such care and longing, accompanied by clear voice that seemed to have gone a tone lower, hands holding his firmly yet gently, and Yoongi got scared. He was scared he would mess up the balance he had worked hard to establish, he almost looked away but that would have made it more obvious that something was bothering him, so he tried his best and managed to keep his eyes on the younger.

“Nothing really, it’s just the competition is really close now so I’m a bit nervous I guess.”

“Oh, it’s like 2 weeks away right? Don’t worry hyung, I’ll be there cheering for you, I could bring some pompoms with me too!”

“Silly you,” Yoongi couldn’t help laughing, “It’s classical music, not a sport festival, you being there is good enough for me.”

“Of course I will, Namjoon hyung should be there too. Wait, I should ask Taetae hyung? He loves piano, he’ll probably go if he’s not busy.”

Yoongi involuntarily flinched at the mention of the name, he hoped Jungkook didn’t notice.

“He’s very busy these days though, right? Don’t bother him with things like this.”

The young alpha looked like he was about to say something about that but stopped.

“Hyung you know what? It might sound selfish but I enjoy being the only audience when you’re performing. It’s almost like you and your music belon-” Jungkook caught himself saying something a bit too daring in his own opinion and immediately looked away, “We still have some time before dinner right? Do you mind going to a place first?”

“You wanna go somewhere?”

“Let’s go to Dongdaemun hyung, I want the necklace that you and Taetae hyung have! I asked you before do you remember?”

“You still remember that? I sense someone being jealous here” Yoongi laughed out loud now, this child-like Jungkook was easier to deal with than the mature one, Yoongi wasn’t used to that one yet. He didn’t mean much by “jealous”, it was just supposed to mean the kind of jealousy a kid felt when his sibling got a nice toy and he didn’t.

“What if I am? And of course I remember, you’re wearing it right now. Come on hyung, I’ll treat you to dinner so buy that for me.”

There went the puppy eyes and Yoongi couldn’t say no, and in all honesty, that sounded like a very good deal to him so he nodded and smiled as an answer. Jungkook was beaming, he ran to his room to get his jacket but didn’t wear it, and kept smiling as he walked Yoongi out to the garage.

“We can call a taxi or something, no need to bother your driver.” Yoongi said as they approached the numerous cars in waiting but he quickly noticed that there didn’t seem to be any drivers.

“Well, I don’t think he would mind at all,” Jungkook smiled proudly as he took a smart key out of his pocket and pressed the button. The “bip bip” sound drew Yoongi’s eyes to a car and his first thought was that “I’m going to Dongdaemun in a black Merc again”, his second thought was about to form when Jungkook opened the door.

“Your driver, Jeon Jungkook, happy to be at your service,” he said with a bow, and Yoongi smiled again.

“You got your license?” he asked once they were inside.

“Yes hyung, so I could take you anywhere you want.”

“There’re more uses to your license than that.”

“Yes, but this is the important one.”

Jungkook was even more of a child than Tae once they reached the market, Yoongi decided. Well that was to be expected since he was 2 years younger after all, it was just that his mature behavior earlier kind of threw Yoongi off guard so the omega had to readjust a bit. But this was the old Jungkook and Yoongi knew how to deal with him. The younger one bought himself a load of black and white T-shirts, being in awe of how cheap they were, but he insisted that Yoongi paid for his Virgo necklace. The older didn’t complain.

“Where are we going now?” Yoongi asked while buckling himself in place.

“To a restaurant, I hope you’ll like it.”

They arrived at a family restaurant, Yoongi quickly got out of the car because he had a feeling Jungkook would open the door for him if he let that happen. He wasn’t a lady, he didn’t need that treatment.

The younger grabbed his jacket and quickly put in on, not wanting his hyung to have to wait, and Yoongi got to witness an instant transformation from a boy to a man and he wasn’t sure how to handle it. “Clothes make the man” they said, but still how could just a suit jacket made such a difference? Sure Yoongi had seen him in full dress suits before, but he preferred this more casual look, made Jungkook look cooler.

“Let’s go in hyung,” the cool young man invited with a smile while Yoongi was still lost in his admiration.

“Sure.”

The omega was glad he dressed up a bit, it was a family restaurant but a high class family restaurant at that, he also noticed the manager seemed surprised to see Jungkook but the man didn’t say much other than the standard greeting. Obviously the alpha had made reservation, he seemed to have put in quite a lot of thoughts into this.

“I’m happy that you invited me to dinner, but what’s the occasion?”

“No occasion hyung, I just wanted to. You treated me food many times, I want to feed you too.”

They talked about random things with ease, including how Yoongi recently got interested in photography and Jungkook said he also found it very interesting. The subjects were different though, while Yoongi wanted to take pictures of sceneries, the younger preferred people.

While they were waiting for their full course, Yoongi asked what his friend thought of new version of his song, other than it was sad.

“I think you could change some parts, like you can just make people feel, no need to break their hearts.”

“Mind telling me where?”

“Uhm, would be easier if I have the sheet.”

“It’s in my bag in the car, if you don’t mind you can get it.”

Of course Jungkook didn’t mind so he went to get it, leaving Yoongi alone at the table. The pianist looked around for a bit, admiring the interior design of the place. There were many paintings on the walls, mostly still-life and scenery. Yoongi recognized some of the pieces, like that haystacks one, there was a series right? He turned around, trying to find the remaining ones. One, two, three… it was like treasure hunting and he loved it, four, fiv-

His quiet counting stopped as his eyes landed on a certain person. Right there, under the fifth haystacks painting, was Kim Taehyung. Sitting across him was the young lady they saw at the party, what was her name again? Yeongmi? Yooongi turned back so fast his neck hurt.

Jungkook came back right after that, smiling.

“I’ve got it hyung, oh and you know what, I just learned that Taetae hyung is here too!”

“Is that so…” Yoongi clearly didn’t sound as excited as his dongsaeng but Jungkook didn’t seem to have caught on that yet, he was busy looking for his childhood friend.

“Hmm, let’s see, where is he.. Oh, found him.”

“Jungkook-ah, don’t bother him.”

“I won’t hyung, he has company. It’s Yeongmi-ssi, we saw her at Namjoon hyung’s party, do you remember?”

“Oh that young lady, yeah I remember.”

Yoongi just answered nonchalantly, he wanted to change topic quickly before he said things like “Oh the one who might fit Taehyung’s ideal type? How could I forget that?!”

“So, where do you think I should make the changes?” the omega quickly changed the topic, and he got what he wanted: Jungkook focused on the music sheet instead and was busy pointing out things here and there.

Yoongi got what he wanted, or so he thought.

“Good evening, Yoongi-ssi. Hello Kookie.”

Taehyung stood next to their table, half a step behind him was the young lady. She bowed and greeted them, looking beautiful in a simple yet classy long dress. Yoongi wasn’t sure but he thought there was a flash of an icy cold expression when she looked at him, it lasted only a fraction of a second.

“Surprised seeing you here hyung, thank you for choosing our business!” Jungkook smiled fondly at his childhood friend.

“Your place is excellent, I should visit more often,” Taehyung smiled back, though his smile wasn’t as convincing.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your dinner, I saw you two and I just wanted to greet you and thank you again for being nice to me the other day.” She smiled, also a not convincing one if Yoongi might say so. Somehow he didn’t feel at ease around this young lady.

“No such thing Yeongmi-ssi, I’m glad to see you again, hope you’re doing well,” Yoongi replied politely while wondering if his own smile was convincing. His hands were subconsciously moving over the music sheet and that seemed to have caught the girl’s attention.

“Thank you, I’m doing great. Excuse me but is that a score you have there Yoongi-ssi? I see your name on it, did you write this? I heard you are a musical genius.”

“It’s nothing really,” Yoongi didn’t want to show the girl his song for whatever reason.

“You’re right, hyung is a musical genius, he wrote this song for his upcoming competition and I’m telling you, it’s awesome.” Jungkook on the other hand didn’t miss any chance to praise his teacher.

“I’m sure it’s a great song. Well, it is very nice to see you again. Please continue enjoying your date.”

The three men all reacted to the word “date”: Jungkook might have blushed a bit, Yoongi flinched and Tae averted his eyes. And it seemed like Yeongmi was observing them.

After the two had returned to their table, Yoongi still thought about the “date” thing, was he on a date? It sure looked like it. So, were those two also on a date? Screw that Yoongi didn’t want to care, he should think about something else.

“You said “our business” earlier? Your family runs this place?”

“Yes hyung, it’s one of our restaurants, so if you find something not satisfying, just tell me.”

“No no, everything’s perfect, I’m just curious that’s all. So one day you’ll run all these diners? Must be tough work, but seems interesting.”

“I want to open my own places too, but that’s something for the future, I’m still learning about business in general and the service segment in particular. Look hyung, the food is here!”

Two waiters came over with dinner on silver plates and one of them stayed to serve. Jungkook wasn’t happy about the fact that he was still a few months shy off 19, so he couldn’t drink, to which Yoongi just laughed “Drinking doesn’t make a man you know.” They talked about what kinds of restaurants they like, Jungkook made Yoongi promise to visit whatever place he would open in the future and the older yielded, but only on the condition of special offers since he probably wouldn’t have that much money to dine at fancy places.

“I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.” Jungkook said in a serious voice, obviously trying to imitate Don Vito Corleone and Yoongi laughed heartily at his facial expression.

“Hyung, you like Godfather too?”

“Namjoon made me watch it, it’s quite interesting actually. And he uses that phrase quite often too, saying many CEOs love it.”

“You watch movies with Namjoon hyung?”

“Yes? Do you think we just discuss philosophy every time we meet?”

“Woa that sounds so nice.”

And dinner time passed just like that, Yoongi said he would consider the changes Jungkook suggested and he would play the revised piece after their next lesson. By the time they stood up, Taehyung and Yeongmi were already gone. It was raining outside so a waiter said he would walk them to their car but Jungkook just borrowed the umbrella instead. He drove Yoongi home, got a goodbye hug for his effort and went home with butterflies dancing in his stomach.

The days after that, Yoongi would work on the music whenever he had time, and once again he realized that Jungkook had very good musical sense, those changes that he suggested made the music better, in the way that it was still sad and emotional but didn’t seem like it would suffocate people. Whenever he worked on his music he would think about Jungkook and it was a bit scary to him how matured the alpha was at times. Of course he was still 4 years younger than Yoongi, nothing was gonna change that, and he was still mostly bubbly and cheerful but there were moments during that dinner date for example, when he looked at Yoongi in a way that made his heart flutter. Or the gentle way that he treated him, it made Yoongi wanted to be spoiled and pampered and he was embarrassed for having such thoughts. He was the hyung, he should act like one.

Being friends with people like Namjoon and Jungkook also gave Yoongi a much better view of the so-called chaebol kids, a title that often meant rich spoiled brats. Sure they were rich but not all of them were spoiled. His friends were all working hard, learning and working at the same time while bearing the enormous pressure of succeeding their family businesses. Jin, and Taehyung too, belonged to this group of excellent heirs. Talking about Taehyung…no, let’s not talk about him, Yoongi told himself.

With a new version of the song ready, Yoongi wanted to play it for someone but all of the people he trusted on this matter were busy, even Kihyun wasn’t available. Bored, he was about to cook lunch when he got a call. It was the old man, he said he was going to make the stew and if Yoongi was free he could come over. Yoongi said yes so fast.

It was always comfortable around the old man, Yoongi thought, and since he was also an omega, he was like a grandpa and a grandma in one, if that made sense.

“You know Gramps, I’ve practiced your recipe several times, it’s such a good one, even I made quite good stew based on it.”

“Recipe is not everything you know, the cook is the one who decides the taste of any dish. Wait, do you want to try making it this time? I’ll help.”

“I don’t mind but are you sure Gramps? This is for your grandson isn’t it?” Yoongi looked up from the cutting board, a bit surprised.

“Don’t worry I’ll watch over you, and if anything I can always make a new pot you know, we could share this one and make a new one for him, although I don’t think it’d be necessary.”

“If you say so, let’s do it Gramps!”

As they cooked, the old man told Yoongi a little bit about himself, he used to be a chef and had a small food stall. The place was tiny but business was good since people loved his food and he loved serving them. Yoongi asked why he wasn’t doing it anymore and he said he had back pain so standing for a long time wasn’t an option.

“It’s such a waste Gramps, I’m sure people would love your food, like they did back then.”

“Well, if one day you open a restaurant, I could give you all of my recipes, Yoongi-yah.”

Yoongi just laughed when he heard that, a restaurant sounded nice but he was a pianist and he had a dream to fulfill.

“Wow this is good Yoongi-yah, I’ll just send this,” the man said as the tasted the food.

 “I’m not very confident, from what you told me your grandson seems to love this dish, it’d be bad if he doesn’t like this.”

“Come on, trust me he’ll like it. Let’s have lunch first though.”

They ate and talked about food and new deals at that grocery shop they both frequent, and the old man told Yoongi more things about Seoul decades ago through the stories of people who ate at his food stall.

“I was always careful about the ingredients so I bought them at a certain place even though there were other shops closer to my place. My back started to hurt when I was in my 40s and then carrying things around became more difficult.”

“My goodness Gramps, and you still shop for a lot of things these days, why don’t you get a cart at least?”

“OH, oh right, why didn’t I think about that? Maybe I’m just so used to carrying things. But you know what, thanks to that I got to meet 2 lovely people.”

“Who are they?”

“My daughter in law, and you. Interestingly I met her almost the same way I met you, I went shopping, struggled with my bags and she helped me carrying them home. She was a nurse at a nearby hospital, she was on her way home when she saw me. After that she came over often and we became close. One day my son visited me when she was there and you know what, they knew they were fated as soon as their eyes met.”

“That’s just like a movie, how romantic…” Yoongi smiled but it wasn’t a happy smile, “Gramps, do you think fate always works like that?”

“No, but it could. Back then it didn’t work out well for many male omegas like myself, I hope things are better today for you. It might be too personal but have you met your fated one by any chance?”

“I have.”

Yoongi remembered the first time he laid eyes on Kim Taehyung, who was surrounded by pretty ladies at his lavish birthday party, and that strange feeling he felt when their eyes met, it was strong enough to make him panic and looked away immediately. Did they too, know it from the start? He was lost in thoughts when the old man spoke again, he seemed to have read Yoongi’s expression and knew that things weren’t going too well.

“Fate isn’t everything you know. It is strong, no doubt, but when it comes to pairing, 2 people together can fight fate, 1 alone is a losing battle though. If fate is on your side, and you have each other you can fight the world. I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but you can work it out, don’t lose hope.”

“Thanks Gramps. Talking about your daughter in law, she wrote that song right? It’s amazing that a nurse could write such a song.”

“Oh, about that, she came from a well-off family and had proper education and played piano since she was young. She wanted to become a musician but it wasn’t encouraged among the ladies, and then her family business went down, so she had to give up on that. She was an amazing young lady you know, born into riches and yet so humble and hard working, never complained when she was suddenly thrown into the life of commoners.”

“Such a pity she was gone so soon, I would have loved to meet her…”

“That was the sentiment of most people, but not herself. She told me her life was short but filled with love so she didn’t regret anything.”

Yoongi stood up and walked to the piano, he asked quietly “May I?” and the old man just nodded. As he played the song both of them were deep in thoughts. The older was probably reminiscing the past while the younger was mulling over more recent affairs. Only when the song was over did the old man realize something.

“Wait, I didn’t give you the sheet?!”

“It’s okay, the song wrote itself into my heart, that’s how good it is. By the way Gramps, I have this new song, would you listen to it and tell me what you think?”

“Sure, I could listen to you playing all day.”

So Yoongi played his own song this time and got all compliments, the stand-out one was “it has just the right amount of sadness.” When he mentioned it was a song he wrote for the upcoming competition and how important that event was for him, the old gentleman seemed to be thinking about something, then he told Yoongi to wait and disappeared for a while. He came back, holding a beautiful small box.

“I don’t know how to say this, but, would you take this? Consider it a good luck gift.”

“Is this something important to you? I couldn’t really…”

“No you take it! I’ve held on to this for a while without actually using it, about time it adorns another lovely person.”

The young omega took the box and open carefully, it was a jewelry box and inside was a brooch, an elegant and expensive looking brooch with sparkling stones and lustrous pearls.

“Another person”? Don’t tell me this belonged to your daughter in law?” Yoongi looked at the man’s reaction and he knew he guessed it right, “Shouldn’t your grandson have this? I can’t take this Gramps.”

“Well technically it belonged to me first, I gave it to her then she returned it to me so I could give it to anyone I see fit. Come on, it’s just going to stay in my drawer otherwise anyway, it suits you, you should take it.”

The grandpa wouldn’t take no for an answer so in the end Yoongi had no choice but to accept the gift. He felt like he had done nothing to earn such affection and he promised he would treasure the brooch.

++

Taehyung got back from Jungkook’s place feeling all drained. He had fun playing games and Jungkook had destroyed him in those games just like the boy said, Tae also got to complain about the busy work load and unwanted attention from the press – things that he couldn’t say in front of his colleagues. It was all well and good but he couldn’t get those camellia pots out of his mind, especially since he had them in his own room as well. Their introduction into Jungkook’s room meant that the younger alpha craved that scent in the same way Taehyung did. Tae also couldn’t get Jungkook’s happy face out of his mind, the face he made when he told him Yoongi’s answer to his question about his scent.

“I like coffee, you know that.”

That was a not-very-roundabout way to say he liked the scent, right? Tae wondered how Yoongi felt about his scent. Tsk, why would that matter anyway.

He got back to work, now that the deals had gone through, they moved on to the actual merging process and there would be a big event at the newly-accquired hotel to celebrate the incorporation of that chain into the Kim group. It’d also be an event where Taehyung would take center stage for the first time as the new vice president of the group. He wondered if his father would attend.

Again, why would that even matter? He got no love, not from his biological father, not from his fated pair, only his mother loved him and she did that with all her heart.

One day his secretary told him a lady named Heo Yeongmi called, and he brightened up a bit. Honestly he still didn’t know much about her but it was a good thing to be able to see his mother’s face, kind of.

The girl said she thought the free-stay offer was a bit too much and she couldn’t accept it, but if he would be available for dinner then she would happily comply. So dinner it was then.

They made it to the restaurant despite the forecast for rain. This place was among the ones Jungkook’s family owned, known for its cozy, family-friendly atmosphere so it wouldn’t suggest anything, unlike those romantic places filled with tables for two. They didn’t know what to talk about first, so some business stuff to break the ice since it was a topic they were comfortable with. She seemed to know a lot and Tae imagined she might enjoy talking to Namjoon since his cousin was also in the finance sector. The alpha looked up a bit and on the wall right next to their table was a replica of one of Monet’s haystacks paintings.

“Taehyung-ssi, you like that painting?”

“I do, I like the whole series, how he explored and expressed the effects of light on those haystacks.”

“I see, seems like I have found a fellow Impressionism enthusiast.”

“Wait, you’re a fan of the impressionists too? Which artist do you like best?”

And just like that, they changed their topic to art. Taehyung had already known that this young lady was into art thanks to his background check on her but her understanding of the topic still impressed him. It was a pleasant conversation yet sometimes he thought she was carefully assessing his reactions and that made him a bit self-conscious. Her gaze fell on his collar several times but there wasn’t anything interesting to see there, well, except for his Capricorn necklace. At one point he felt like she wasn’t the only one looking at him, so he turned around and sure enough, there was someone else. Not just anyone though, it was his dear childhood friend. And his fated pair was there too.

A date.

No, I’m here with Yeongmi-ssi and we aren’t on a date.

No no, Taehyung, you know you can’t compare things like that. It doesn’t work that way.

By the time he was done with this self-conversation, Jungkook already focused back on Yoongi and it didn’t seem like he would have to interact with them.

Or so he thought.

“Taehyung-ssi, isn’t that your friend Jungkook-ssi over there? He’s with someone though, ah, Yoongi-ssi, he’s also your friend right? I really want to greet them, they looked after me at the party too. Can I?”

“Oh, of course,” Tae didn’t expect Yeongmi to do that, and then he realized even if she went on her own Yoongi would know he was also here anyway, so it’d be weird if he stayed at the table, “I’ll go with you.”

And that was how Tae found himself interrupting the date of his childhood friend and his fated pair, and he didn’t feel very good about that, even with a beautiful girl who looked just like his mother by his side. They talked a bit but the brief conversation just flew over his head, he didn’t register anything much except how good Yoongi looked and smelled and that if he could he would rather stay there than going back to his table. But he went back to his table, of course, right after Yeongmi mentioned the obvious.

“Please continue enjoy your date.”

She probably saw him averted his eyes.

Back at their table, Yeongmi talked about the music competition since she saw Yoongi’s sheet. Usually Taehyung would be interested in the topic but this time he wasn’t in the mood, not until she asked if he would be there.

“I don’t know yet, I’d love to but I might be busy.” The standard ambiguous answer.

“Oh of course you’re very busy, I just thought you might go since your group is sponsoring the event.”

Taehyung was surprised, he didn’t even know that but he keep a straight face and said he would seriously consider it. The alpha tried to focus on his conversation with this young lady but for the remaining of their time there, he was very distracted by a certain person who kept flashing his bright gummy smile while looking like he was having the time of his life. He felt like he was not doing a favor for either himself or Yeongmi, and thus was relief when they could leave. Going home in the rain would feel better than this, he thought. He offered to drive her home but Yeongmi insisted she didn’t want to bother him more than she already had.

“At least take this umbrella then, Yeongmi-ssi, it would be bad of me to let you get sick from the rain.”

“What about you then?”

“Don’t worry about that, I’m driving, remember?”

He laughed and said goodbye before turning around and ran to his car. Behind his back, Yeongmi looked at the umbrella with disdain eyes. The item has the Kim family’s name and emblem on the handle. She almost threw it down onto the pavement but then stopped.

The young lady tightened her grip around the object and walked away in the rain, umbrella unopened.

Taehyung arrived home exhausted, not from work but from trying to hold back his emotions, he did his best to look normal during that one minute when Yeongmi dragged him to Jungkook and Yoongi’s table, to appear casual as if he didn’t care or didn’t dislike what he was seeing. He might have succeeded with that. But during the remaining time of dinner, he had tried again to not appear like he was totally distracted, and he might have failed. Yeongmi was a mysterious character, she seemed to be observing and deducting things all the time, it made him feel nervous and careful around her even though it was only their second meeting. Or it could be just that he was not in a good mood and that affected his perception. Objectively speaking, she was an all-rounder: pretty, smart and talked well. It was just something about her that threw Tae off and he didn't know what it was. He still liked looking at her face though.

Taehyung didn’t have much time to ponder about what her intention was, or whether she had an intention at all for that matter, since he had that big event coming up. It would be the first big event that Taehyung led as the new vice president of the group, all eyes would be on him. He didn’t like all this extra pressure but he never looked away from it; he always remembered his promise to become an alpha who could carry the family name with pride.

That said, he was just informed that his grandfather, the current head of the family, Kim Byungchul, would also be at the event, together with his grandmother Kim Mijin of course. Taehyung was the favorite grandson but still, their presence signified how big this ceremony was and he wanted nothing less than a perfect event. That was why he was mulling over the plan at the dinner table when his butler came in with the surprised treat: his favorite stew! The timing couldn’t have been any better, Tae thought, so he put the papers aside, no work should come in between him and his meat stew.

“Hmmm.”

“Is something the matter, young master?”

“There’s something different about the taste.” Tae commented as he felt the meat melted on his tongue.

“Is it not up to your expectation?” His butler looked a bit worried.

“No, no, it’s good, very good. Just a tad bit different, I don’t know what it is but I like it.”

He smiled and continued eating, maybe the chef was experimenting with the way he cooked it. Seriously, Tae just wanted him to accept his offer to become the Kim family’s head chef, or at least agree to meet him so Tae could thank him in person.

About the event, the company handled invitations but Taehyung still personally invited his guests, some of whom weren’t only his friends but also likely future business partners, like Jungkook and Namjoon for example.

“So, it’s kinda a big deal for me, please come and give your support.” Tae said as he and Namjoon and Jungkook managed to hang out for lunch for once, “Jin hyung is invited too of course.”

“As if he would sit out of this,” Namjoon laughed.

“Uhm, are you, uhm, inviting Yoongi hyung?” Jungkook asked tentatively, and Tae just wanted to avoid this topic, but he had to answer.

“We aren’t particularly close you know, he might be busy, isn’t his competition like a week away?” Tae was proud of himself for coming up with two excuses at once. “And didn’t Namjoon hyung mention that he doesn’t like parties?” wow, another one.

“You actually remember all these things about Yoongi hyung, I’m impressed.” Namjoon half joked, half being honest and he could swear he saw his cousin flinched.

“It’s just one evening right? I think he could go, he could go with me you know.” Jungkook voice got smaller and smaller.

“Ohhh, I see, you want to bring him to the event as your plus one, right? I smell someone being whipped.” Namjoon didn’t miss a chance to tease his younger friend, then both of them turned to Tae, waiting for his answer.

“Of course he could go if he wants to, I’m not going to turn away your friend, you know.”

Jungkook immediately cheered up, Namjoon, on the other hand, seemed to be bothered by Taehyung’s slightly grumpy face but he didn’t say anything. The only thought in Tae’s mind was how to avoid his grandparents getting involved with Yoongi, they were super sharp and could sense things that other people couldn’t, and he really didn’t want the first people to find out that Yoongi was his fated pair to be his all-powerful grandparents.

It was D-day, and everything was good so far. Taehyung was born to be a business star anyway, he handled all the guests, all the media, all the praises and congratulations with calmness, struck up new connections and potential new deals with charm, and avoided the ladies’ approached with grace. In the past, even though he wasn’t interested in any girl, he didn’t chase them away but now he had zero tolerance for such thing. Recently, the scents of non-bonded omegas irritated him, and not in a good way. Well, except for one person’s scent of course. He still hadn’t seen that person tonight and may it continue that way, Tae thought as he escorted his grandparents around the room and talked to bigwigs from different families. His grandpa looked super proud to show off his beloved grandson to his acquaintances, and they seemed to be equally impressed.

“Hey look Taetae, isn’t that Namjoon over there? I haven’t talked to him in a while, and Jin is there too.” Mr Kim Byungchul pointed that out, much to Tae’s horror. “Let’s go over there for a bit, shall we?” He turned to his wife and she nodded and smiled.

It wasn’t usual for such a famed and feared person to go to a table full of youngsters, but since Namjoon was also a well-loved grandchild of him, Mr Kim didn’t mind. He also didn’t mind most of the other young people there since he knew them: Jin was now also a family member, Bogum was an interesting character, very bright and capable too of course, and Jungkook was the well-groomed heir of the Jeon family, and who was that next to Jungkook? There was a face Mr Kim didn’t recognize there.

“Good evening Grandfather, Grandmother, how wonderful to be able to see you today!” Namjoon was the first to notice the group approaching their table. The rest of them was quick to follow with their greetings as well.

Yoongi was understandably confused since he didn’t know them but from the way his best friend addressed them he could figure it out. And dear him, the aura of this couple was amazing, as expected from such people. He bowed and greeted them too.

“It’s my first time seeing you but from your excellent companies, I expect an excellent young man. What is your name?” Mr Kim’s voice was low and steady, but his eyes looked kind so he didn’t seem all that scary.

“My name is Min Yoongi, Mr Kim, I’m a piano student. It’s an honor to meet you.”

“He is my best friend, Grandfather, and not just any piano student, he is the best pianist of our generation I believe. I also believe he was going to win the National Musical Competition this year.” Namjoon introduced proudly, although in Yoongi’s view, his friend said too much.

“Are you a Yeoheung Min? As expected of Namjoon to befriend a person of great lineage and ability. So you came with Namjoon today?”

“No Grandfather, he’s my best friend but he came with Jungkookie today, right Kookie?”

Namjoon was on top of his teasing game again, he was actually not scared of his grandpa at all and was just being himself. Jin told him off for teasing Jungkook too much while the youngest alpha was embarrassed, Yoongi didn’t know what to say and Tae just wanted to pull his grandparents away as soon as possible. Once again, his plan of avoiding Yoongi failed, and it was particular bad this time because he had been on edge lately and being this close to his fated omega wasn’t doing his sanity anything good. He finally couldn’t stop himself and stole a glance at Yoongi and an item caught his attention, so much so that he had to take a step closer to make sure it was what he thought it was.

“Yoongi-ssi, do you mind telling me where you got that brooch from?”

Tae’s question grabbed people attention and directed it to the shiny accessory on Yoongi’s shirt. The omega was nervous when all eyes suddenly turned to him.

“I got this from a friend.” His voice was rather low, especially since elder Kim also looked at him with a shocked expression but Yoongi tried to not look intimidated.

“This brooch belonged to my mother, could you give it to me?” Taehyung took one more step and now he was right in Yoongi’s personal space, it took him a few seconds to adjust to being this close to the omega, but right now his mind was focusing solely on the elegant piece of jewelry.

“Come on hyung, Yoongi hyung said he got it from his friend, how could it be auntie’s?” Jungkook was quick to step behind Yoongi with a supporting hand on his shoulder.

“Kookie, I can’t be wrong about this. This was my mom’s favorite jewelry, it even has her initials on it.”

“Taetae is right, Jungkook-ah, this is indeed Sunmi’s brooch. Yoongi, could you tell us how you got it? It’s an important family matter for us.”

Mr Kim still spoke with his low and steady voice but now his eyes seemed less kind. His wife, who had been quiet so far, still didn’t say anything but she did turn her eyes away for a second when her husband was keen on questioning Yoongi. The young omega wasn’t sure what else he could say, he couldn’t just tell the whole story about the old man right? But wait, didn’t Gramps say the brooch belonged to his daughter in law? What was going on here? Yoongi couldn’t think clearly with all these eyes looking at him expecting answers.

“I gave the brooch to him, is that okay Byungchul-ssi, Mijin-ssi?”

A voice broke the deadlock and startled them all. Yoongi knew the owner of this voice, and it clearly looked like the older Kims knew too.

Chapter Text

Yoongi got back from the old man’s place feeling quite good, he had some fun time cooking, ate good food and listened to interesting stories. The more he heard about the lady who wrote that song, the more he craved to meet her but that was impossible. He thought about her son who grew up with such love and good music, who seemed like a very sound boy based from his grandpa’s words. Yoongi wanted to meet him, maybe.

He was cleaning around his place when he got a message from the old man.

“I told you so, Yoongi-yah, my boy loves your stew.”

And Yoongi smiled brightly at his phone; that’s the best news he got today, the other things he got were various utility bills and he didn’t like those. Truth to be told his budget was rather tight these days, once he was done with the competition he should pick up a new job, Yoongi thought. He didn’t regret not using the blank check Jungkook gave him but that also meant he had been teaching without payment and his wallet wasn’t very happy about that. Oh well, he would figure something out, now he had to go to school.

Tablo and Kihyun lent him their ears as he practiced the new piece and they loved it, only minor alterations of a few notes and it’d be perfect, they said. Yoongi was packing his stuff when he got another text, this time from Jungkook.

“I’m waiting for you outside the gate, let’s go coffee hyung.”

Okay so that boy was just gonna show up as he pleased huh? Yoongi wasn’t complaining though. As he approached the gate, he quickly noticed many omegas, mostly girls but some boys too, were whispering and pointing and giggling. He followed their admiring gaze and found out that the subject of their admiration was no one other than Jungkook, dressed in all black like he usually was, one hand holding his phone and the other hanging off his bag’s strap. The young alpha had always had stand-out physical features, that much Yoongi knew, but ever since he presented, there was this new attractiveness about him that drew people, especially omegas, to him. Yoongi found himself blended into this crowd; he too, was an omega looking at that fine alpha with adoration. The only difference, and a big one at that, was that he actually knew him.

“Hyung!”

Jungkook’s face brightened up and he gave a big smile as soon as he spotted his hyung. Yoongi returned the bunny smile with a hearty smile of his own. And he realized that he didn’t blend into this crowd, he stood out because he was the only one Jungkook called out to. There was more whispering behind his back as he strode toward the smiling boy, something along the line of “who is that omega” “how lucky he is” and so on. Yoongi paid those words no mind.

At the coffee shop, Yoongi noticed the bag Jungkook was carrying. It wasn’t a normal bag but more like a box.

“Kookie, is that your camera bag?”

“Yes hyung. Oh, right, I almost forgot, I wanted to show you some of the photos I recently took.”

The alpha took his camera out and showed Yoongi some very well-taken pictures of both people and sceneries. The older showered him with compliments before giving the camera back.

“They are all very good, but I guess people is still your strong hold, I like the way you capture people’s expressions,” he smiled softly, like a mother praising her child for a job well done.

“Probably because I’m fascinated by people’s faces, you know, like the face you’re making right now.”

Jungkook raised the camera up and shot. Yoongi was surprised, and then embarrassed when he heard the word “beautiful” falling off the younger’s lips as he looked at the photo fondly.

“I don’t know what to do with this picture.”

“Delete it.”

“No way! I’m torn you know, I want to keep it for myself but I also want to show it off to the world.”

Yoongi didn’t respond to that, he just looked out the window.

“Uhm, hyung, tomorrow’s evening, are you free?” Jungkook finally got to the main point of this coffee trip.

“Yes? Why?”

“There’s an event. Do you know Taetae hyung just helped his group bought the 4^th biggest hotel chain in the country? They are unveiling that merging tomorrow, kinda unveiling him as the official heir of the group too.”

“So? We aren’t particular close you know.” Yoongi got panic and he wanted to get out of this quick, but somehow Jungkook just laughed.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because you two keep saying the same things. You and Taetae hyung I mean. Anyway, please go with me hyung, everyone is going with someone and I’d be alone, I’m sad, please.”

“Jungkook-ah, those places don’t suit me, I don’t fit in there. You don’t even know if he want to see me there.”

“I asked, he said you could go with me!”

“Is that so….”

Jungkook was smiling brightly but Yoongi’s heart sank a bit at that, he totally expected Taehyung to say things like “we aren’t close” but he didn’t expect his alpha to say he could just go with some other alpha. Maybe because that “other alpha” was Jungkook; Taehyung looked rather normal when they met at the restaurant the other day right? Wait why was Yoongi even thinking about this, maybe that guy just didn’t care at all whether he was there or not, much less whom he was going with.

“Hyung? You’re okay?”

“Ah, uhm yeah I’m good. What time should we leave tomorrow?”

“You’re going? Yay! It starts at 6, so I’ll pick you up at 5:30 okay? If we got there early we can just hang out with Namjoon hyung and Jin hyung.”

“Oh, right, I forgot you got your license.”

“How could you forget your personal driver, that’s cold hyung.”

Yoongi playfully smacked Jungkook’s hand when the younger faked a hurtful look. It was okay, Yoongi could just treat this as a chance to hang out with his friends at a fancy place, he thought.

The next day as he stood in front of the mirror and fixed the little bow on his high neck white top feeling all fired up, Yoongi suddenly realized what he was doing. He was being a total dramatic soap opera character who “dressed up to show their ex what they missed out on.” The not-funny thing was that he didn’t even have an ex, he had nothing really. There wasn’t anything between him and Taehyung, except for this so called fated paring thing which, so far, they had done a good job on overlooking. Yoongi looked at himself in the mirror and shook his head hard. Silly him, he shouldn’t have to look pretty for any alpha, he would just be pretty for himself and enjoy this night out. With that thought he put on a bit of make-up, chose his accessories and fixed his hair. There, all good.

Jungkook picked him up right on time and as soon as he saw him, the alpha didn’t hold back on his compliments. Yoongi just smiled and accepted it as what he deserved. The conversations were short and easy and everything felt comfortable like how things should be. They arrived at a 5 star hotel shortly after, with red carpet rolled out to the gate. Jungkook looked at him as if he wanted to do something, but then just said “Let’s go in, hyung” before they entered the main hall where gigantic and elaborate flower arrangements lined up along the walls. There were many people, elegant or lavish in their appearance but all exuded an air of richness.

Just when Yoongi thought he would never get used to this kind of atmosphere, he heard the sounds of cameras snapping and saw people with big lenses pointing at them. They all had ID cards hanging off their necks, so probably press people, and only then did Yoongi notice how many of them there. It was really a big event, just like Jungkook had said. The alpha put his arm on Yoongi’s back and shielded him away from the flashing light; behind their backs, those photographers were whispering among themselves. “Isn’t that young master Jeon Jungkook of the Jeon group?” “Who is that with him?” “Are they a couple?”

Yoongi never thought just being seen together with a friend who happened to be a young master would be this big of a deal. Imagine people found out about him and Taehyung…. No no, there wasn’t anything for them to find out right?

Jungkook asked a waiter something and turned to Yoongi, smiling.

“Namjoon hyung and Jin hyung already arrived, they are at table 15.”

“Okay, let’s join them then.”

It wasn’t difficult to find those two handsome boys, they really stood out. “Now THAT’s a picture-worthy couple,” Yoongi thought, especially because they were actually a couple, a happy, soon-to-get-married, fated-pair couple.

Namjoon spotted them and smiled brightly, not forgetting to give Jungkook some wiggly eyebrows. Jin was more affectionate and swallowed Yoongi in a hug.

“My, my, Yoongi-yah, look how pretty you are!” the older omega stared fondly, “lucky me I met Joonie before you did, it’s madness how he spends that much time with you without falling for you.”

“Hyung, you only say that because you’ve never seen us at each other’s throat arguing about things no one cares about,” Yoongi laughed. He and Namjoon? That was just one big NO. Besties? Yes. Romantic partners? Eh, uhm, no.

“Those are important issues hyung!” Namjoon gave Yoongi a disapproving look, “Spare me, but for others I agree it’d be hard for them to spend that much time with Yoong hyung and not fall for him.”

Namjoon obviously had a certain young alpha in mind when he said that, but the first person to respond wasn’t Jungkook.

“I want to agree to that statement,” and here came another handsome guy, Park Bogum, “Good evening everyone, you all look fantastic today.”

As the guys greeted him back, Yoongi tried to remember where he had met this alpha before, right, he came to the jazz bar where he used to work. This guy was a flirt, Yoongi thought, but he was so good at it and had no bad intentions so the omega didn’t mind.

The actual official part of the event was done rather quickly, with the hotel chain’s CEO giving a speech about the merger and the promising future of their chain as part of the Kim group, then a member from the Kim corporation’s board of directors saying a few words before introducing “the future leader of the group, who already successfully led this important strategic deal”. Yoongi could see Namjoon and Jungkook’s faces brightened up as they looked at a certain Kim Taehyung taking the stage. His presence alone demanded everyone’s attention, Yoongi’s included. The omega listened to his alpha talking about his gratitude towards people who helped out with the deal and with his work in general, about his belief in the prosperous future of the group and about his promise to do his best and make sure they got there. Even though Yoongi was not a business person, he understood why Taehyung was the heir of this powerful family, and if he had the right to be proud of the alpha, Yoongi would definitely be.

Food and drinks were served right after. The guys talked about various things, like Namjoon and Jin’s plan for marriage, Jungkook going to university, Yoongi’s upcoming competition or Bogum’s interesting work as a partner at a big law firm. It was comfortable being around these people and Yoongi wouldn’t mind the evening ending just like that. But things were never easy for him.

“Good evening Grandfather, Grandmother.”

Namjoon suddenly straightened his back before bowing deep and Yoongi turned around. In front of him was an elderly couple and one step behind them was Kim Taehyung. Yoongi had never seen these people before but from the way Namjoon greeted them, were they his and Taehyung’s grandparents? Yoongi suddenly felt nervous and the way Taehyung blatantly avoided looking at him didn’t help, but he tried to remain calm and also greeted the powerful couple.

“Are you a Yeoheung Min?”

As expected of a man of such power to notice people’s linage. Yoongi had not heard the name of his clan in a very long time. Yes he was a Yeoheung Min, but being a descendant of a powerful clan of the past had little to no effects on his life, that was why he paid it no mind.

Mr Kim had that aura around him that commanded people’s respect but after just a few sentences the young omega didn’t think he was that scary. He had kind eyes, maybe even a bit sad. Yoongi was hyper-aware of his grandson though. If Taehyung was going to avoid him like that, then Yoongi would comply, while disregarding his body’s screams about his fated pair being right there. He remembered what his doctor said, that the more he spent time near his alpha, the stronger his body’s reactions would be. It wasn’t like Yoongi was seeking him out on purpose or anything but one way or another they just met, like right freaking now…

“This brooch belonged to my mother, could you give it to me?”  

Taehyung was just an arm reach away from his now, with those serious eyes flicking back and forth from his face to the brooch on his chest. Jungkook put a hand on his shoulder and even though Yoong appreciated the support, it wasn’t doing much to help his racing heart and his overworked brain. This brooch belonged to Gramps’s daughter in law, but Taehyung and his grandfather both said it belonged to his mom. Yoongi didn’t think any of them was lying, which meant that Taehyung was Gramps’ grandson? But both his grandparents were here? There must be a complicated story behind this and Yoongi didn’t want to be the one to spill anything. Mr Kim said that this was an important family issue to them and the young omega couldn’t bear all these questioning look much longer.

“I gave the brooch to him, is that okay Byungchul-ssi, Mijin-ssi?”

Yoongi knew this voice, and the old man was behind his back, speaking to the powerful couple with such stern voice as he looked Mr Kim straight in the eyes. Tae’s grandfather seemed to be taken aback while his grandma appeared to be a bit calmer.

“Good evening, Jungsik-ssi, what a surprise seeing you here. How have you been?”

“I’m doing alright, thank you for asking. And don’t worry Mijin-ssi, I remember our promises, it’s just that Yoongi is my dear friend and I don’t want him being troubled because of our problems. And I’m here to congratulate Taehyung on his accomplishments.”

The old man was very calm while Mr Kim remained speechless and “their” grandson couldn’t hide his confusion.

“Please excuse me but may I ask who you are?”

“I’m your chef,” the man smiled gently at Taehyung, “Did you enjoy the stew?”

“Wow, you’re the chef? I finally get to meet you, thank you so much for cooking for me all this time,” Taehyung eyes smiled as he bowed down. “Yes it was great, there was some slight difference in the taste but I loved it.”

“You could tell? That’s some crazy taste bud you have there. Well it was different because my friend Yoongi here made it this time, right Yoongi-yah?”

The old man probably didn’t notice Yoongi’s little attempt at stopping him from saying that. Too late anyway. Taehyung looked at him with an undecipherable look and the omega just smiled nervously.

“Taehyung-ah, your mother entrusted that brooch to me, and I gave it to Yoongi because I think it suits him well. Your grandparents should not have any objection to this,” the man gave the couple a quick look before turning back to the young heir, “I have a present for you to make up for the brooch, I think you will like it.”

Taehyung was speechless while this grandfather didn’t fare much better, clearly this old man here had some power over Mr Kim Byungchul, which was an unfathomable thing for many people.

“Oh, okay, thank you very much. May I ask what it is?”

“This is something you’ve known since you were a child, but you probably don’t want to share it with too many people. Could you find a private room with a piano?”

Things were getting stranger and stranger and no one except for the old man knew what was going on. Namjoon was the first to react, he just said “I’m on it” before leaving the table. Since he was Taehyung’s cousin, he was also part of the big family and thus he probably felt some sort of involvement in this. The tall boy came back shortly after, with a hotel manager who clearly didn’t expect to be facing this group of powerful people. As he was about to lead them to the requested room, the old man stopped them.

“I’m sorry but this present belongs to Taehyung alone, could you all wait here? Oh don’t worry Byungchul-ssi, Mijin-ssi, I already said I remember our deal, I won’t say any unnecessary thing.”

Taehyung turned around to look and his grandfather and Mr Kim just nodded, signaling him to go.

“Yoongi, can you go with us?”

“Me? Is that really okay Gramps? Didn’t you just say…” Yoongi was just as confused as everyone else, but now even more so because he was called upon.

“You’re an exception.”

The two youngsters followed the mysterious old man and the hotel manager to a private room on the second floor, and behind closed door, the man told Taehyung to sit down before directing Yoongi to the piano.

“Yoongi-yah, could you play that song now? I didn’t plan on showing myself but since I already did, I want to give him this gift.”

Yoongi could see the man’s eyes started to well up and he could never say no. He was sure that Taehyung was the man’s grandson, there was no other explanation about this, and so this was the song that Tae’s mother wrote for him, that explained why the old man said the gift belonged to Taehyung only.

“Of course. Why don’t you take a seat as well, Gramps, everything is fine.”

He took the man’s hands and squeezed them slightly before letting go. The man smiled and nodded, he took a chair near the door and sat down without a word. Silence reigned before heartfelt music filled the room. As Yoongi played, he could only thought about what the man told him about Tae’s mother and after matching that with what Jungkook told him, he understood why Taehyung loved her that much, and why his ideal type would be someone who resembled her. If Yoongi couldn’t fit that mold, then the very least he could do as the fated pair was to play this song for him with all he had. He didn’t realize he was crying until a tear rolled down his cheek.

Yoongi didn’t expect applause, of course, but this silence was unsettling. He wanted to know how the men were doing but he waited and waited and both of them still remained silent. He was about to turn around when he heard footsteps and a tall figure shadowed over him.

“How do you know this song? Mom never played it outside of the house, even my grandparents have never heard this.” Tae’s voice was a bit unstable, the alpha was clearly shaken and Yoongi didn’t dare to look up so he just sat on the bench, fingers intertwined absentmindedly.

“Gramps showed me the music sheet, I didn’t know this was your Mother’s song for you, I just thought it was beautiful. Don’t worry I’ve never played it to anyone except the old man, and I never will.”

Yoongi didn’t have to look up to know that the alpha was staring at him, he felt exposed and vulnerable, emotionally.

“Yoongi-ssi,” Taehyung called him, and Yoongi looked up involuntarily, “Why are you crying?”

Suddenly, a big hand came up to his face and wiped the tear away, leaving behind a burning heat on Yoongi’s cheek and the omega didn’t know what to do about it.

“Don’t cry, I don’t like seeing you crying.”

“You’re crying too.”

The stillness of the room was broken by the sound of the door being closed. The pair looked around only to find that the old man was gone.

“Can we stay here a bit longer? I don’t want to go out yet,” Yoongi mumbled, he needed time for his heart to calm down and his face to look less he had been crying. Taehyung’s silence meant he agreed. The alpha went back to his chair and breathed out sharply.

“Yoongi-ssi, could you tell me something about that grandpa? Anything? How does he know my family? Please, this is really important to me.”

“I know it is, but, it might be important to him too, don’t you think? I will ask him and if he’s okay with it, I promise I’ll tell you.”

“I guess you’re right. How do you know him?”

“Just by chance, I saw him on my way home and he had a lot of shopping bags so I carried some for him. It happened a few times so we became close and I started visiting him at his place.”

“Oh, so that time-” Tae immediately stopped when he realized what he was saying.

“What is it Teahyung-ssi?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“By the way I’m not telling you where he lives.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“You look like you’re going to. Anyway let’s go back, people are probably waiting for us.”

Yoongi stood up and walked toward the door with Taehyung following behind. Before they reached it, the alpha suddenly called out to him.

“Yoongi-ssi!”

“Yes?”

“Uhm, thank you, for the song.”

“No, I should thank you for letting me play it, it’s your song after all,” Yoongi smiled but he wasn’t super happy, all the things he thought about earlier when he played the song came back to him, and he had to look away from the alpha. With one deep breath to stable his voice, he finally managed to say what he had been thinking since they entered this room.

“I hope, you can find someone like your mother. I understand.”

Taehyung didn’t reply, so Yoongi braved himself and continued. He took the brooch from his shirt and held it up in his hand.

“This brooch, you should have it. You could give it to-”

“NO.”

Yoongi couldn’t finish his sentence as Taehyung interrupted him, the alpha closed Yoongi’s hand around the brooch with his bigger hand.

“I took back what I said earlier. Mr Chef was right, it suits you, so you keep it.”

Yoongi froze. He didn’t expect this, and clearly wasn’t prepared. He was burning up, either from the heat of Taehyung’s palm or something entirely his own, he couldn’t tell. Being this close wasn’t good, let alone the contact.

“You should put it back on before I do it for you.”

The hand left, but the heat didn’t. Yoongi panic a little as he remembered how much he reacted when Taehyung put that earing on him on their shopping trip. This guy could be surprisingly gentle at times and Yoongi didn’t know what to do with that information. He probably took after his mother, she sounded like an incredibly gentle person, the omega thought as he put the brooch back on his shirt.

“Shall we go back, Yoongi-ssi?”

“Yeah.”

Their group of friends were waiting for them at the table and their faces lightened up when they came back. The same thing couldn’t be said about Tae’s grandparents whose faces were rather taut.

“Grandfather, Grandmother, we’re back.”

“Taehyung, where’s Jungsik-ssi?” Mr Kim asked in a stern voice but somehow he sounded like he was trying to make it that way to cover up some other emotions.

“He left us in there before we knew it. Did he not come back out here?”

“Knowing him, he probably left this place already. If he doesn’t want to see us, he won’t,” said Mrs Kim who seemed to be calmer than her husband throughout this event, then she turned to Yoongi. “Yoongi-ssi, did Jungsik-ssi tell you much about himself?”

“Just some, Mrs Kim, but he never mentioned your family. I didn’t know you’re acquaintances.” Yoongi was not so stupid that he didn’t realize what Mr Kim was actually worried about, and what he said was the truth anyway. Whatever story Gramps had with this powerful family, Yoongi didn’t know, but he knew for sure now Taehyung was his grandson. He wasn’t going to say that though.

“Please tell him we send our regards, and that he could contact us if he needs anything. Well, the young people should continue enjoy the night, we older ones are going to head home. Taehyung, you can stay with your friends, you don’t have to accompany us.”

Mr Kim said before leaving with his wife. After bowing to them, Tae thought he should at least talk to his cousin a bit so he did, just random things about life and work. He chose to stand a bit far away from his fated pair, yet his attention kept drifting towards him as the scent of camellia drifted to nose, his palm still felt the warmth of the omega’s hand.

Yoongi was not doing much better even though he tried his best to look the part, and his quiet demeanor didn’t quite escape Jungkook’s eyes.

“Hyung, your face is red. Your eyes are red too, are you doing okay? What happened?”

The young alpha had his hand on Yoongi’s back and again, the pianist appreciated the supporting gesture but he couldn’t help noticing how easy the touch was to deal with. He didn’t flinch, didn’t jump, unlike when… No he had to stop thinking about that.

“I’m fine, it’s nothing really.”

“I’m curious too, that grandpa said he had a gift for Taehyung right? Why did he ask you to go with him?” Namjoon joined in the conversation, he had been dying to ask all these questions for a while now. Yoongi looked at his fated pair as if to ask for permission, and Tae just took matters in his own hands.

“It was a piano chord so he wanted Yoongi-ssi to play it. The two of them know each other.”

“Oh is that so. Isn’t it interesting that when it comes to you and Yoongi hyung, there’s always some piano music involved?” Namjoon smiled, he thought it was a totally normal and light hearted observation to make (and it was true) but somehow both his cousin and his best friend seemed to have gone a bit stiff at that, while his fiancée gave him a look as if he wanted him to drop the topic. He was going to make Namjoon drop the topic.

“Well it’s good that Taehyungie had his present, now it’s time for me to promote my new place, not like I want to see any of you there but if you or someone you know needs any healthcare service, check out these new clinics I just opened…”

And so Jin got them to talk about something else, not about “Taehyung and Yoongi” and both of them felt relieved. Tae excused himself soon after, saying he should tend to other guests. Jungkook asked Yoongi again if he was actually doing fine and the omega decided that he should just be honest and say no. So they also excused themselves, leaving the engaged couple and Bogum at the table.

“I don’t know if I’m reading too much into this, but don’t you think there’s something strange between Taehyung and Yoongi?” Jin asked the other two.

“OMG you think so too hyung? I thought I was the only one.” Bogum exclaimed.

“So you see that as well. You’re close to Tae, do you know something? Of course you don’t have to tell us anything confidential.”

“I actually don’t know that much hyung, I asked him before, he said there was some misunderstanding between them and that he had apologized to Yoongi-ssi already. It clearly doesn’t look like things are normal between them though.”

Namjoon didn’t have much more input to this conversation but he agreed with what had been said. His cousin had been unusually cold toward his best friend from the start and he just couldn’t explain it. He really wanted that whatever issue to be dealt with quickly. Those two were very dear to him and he wanted them to be happy.

+++

For someone who was deemed to live a life filled with many lavish events, Taehyung had quite an experience with them lately. It seemed like he always went through a rollercoaster of emotions at parties, since when did it start?

Right, since his birthday party, since Yoongi stepped into his life. That time he went from enjoying a sublime piano performance, to being shocked by the sudden appearance of his fated pair and, well, disillusioned by the fact and the fated pair was a guy and looked nothing like his mother. This time, he went from being shocked at the sudden appearance of the brooch on Yoongi, to crying after a sublime and emotional piano performance, and, this was the most important part, marveling at the realization that his fated pair was much more similar to his mom than Tae ever thought.

He met Yoongi half a year ago, half a year filled with stupid mistakes and bad sleep and internal fights and yet he was so oblivious. It took one sentence from his fated pair for things to fall into place.

“I hope, you can find someone like your mother. I understand.”

The moment he said that, Taehyung froze. All the events were connected in his head and he realized that the person in front of him was the closest to his mother that he would ever find. The image of Yoongi wearing his mother’s favorite brooch and playing his mother’s song for him only, with tears streaming down his face was burned into Taehyung’s heart. It burned, and it hurt, because Yoongi’s words sounded like he had given up on them, if they were even anything to give up in the first place. Those tears, pretty as they were, hurt him, and before Tae knew it, he was wiping them away from that pretty face. Yoongi’s cheek, he noted, was incredibly warm and soft. He wanted to keep his hand there forever, to keep Yoongi close, especially because he knew his omega also felt something at the touch. The pianist might not have said anything but the scents never lied, the two of them were fated after all. But his hand had to leave because it didn’t quite have the right to stay, didn’t matter how much the lingering heat burned his palm. He had intended to keep his hands to himself after that but then Yoongi had to give the brooch to him.

And Taehyung straight up panic. It was always his fault that things didn’t work out between them, because he always said things without thinking, always pushed Yoongi away before he knew he wanted to keep him closer. Like that first time they met, he said some rude sh*t just to end up hiding Yoongi’s jacket in his bedroom, or like this time, he told him to give back the brooch just to end up wanting to personally put it on his shirt. The difference was that, while Yoongi just ran off the first time, now he faced him and gave back the brooch. No, it wasn’t just the brooch, it was like the omega wanted to give back to him what little connection that they had. And Tae clearly didn’t want that. He wasn’t sure what he wanted, but not that.

So he closed his hand around Yoongi’s, threatened to put it back on by himself and it worked. Yoongi’s hand, Taehyung noted, was warm and trembling slightly. It was definitely a man’s hand but pretty nevertheless. And he also noted that while he had been restless and edgy when he tried not to be too close to Yoongi earlier in the dining hall, now that they were this close in this private room, he felt at peace. However he didn’t get to enjoy that peaceful feeling for long because as soon as they stepped out of the room, Yoongi slipped away from him.

The event was such an emotional occasion because of all the things related to his mother and all questions that Tae had went back to the old man who suddenly showed up. Who was he? He was clearly not just a chef, judging from the way he talked to Tae’s grandparents as equal. He mentioned a promise and it seemed to involve Tae himself. He had his mom’s brooch and more importantly, the music sheet of the song. How did all those things happen? There were many strange things about that man but the strangest thing, to Tae at least, was how he felt inexplicably comfortable around him, there was a kind of familiarity that was almost impossible to be felt around strangers.

And that man knew Yoongi. When the omega was explaining how they met, Taehyung almost let it slip that he had stalked his fated one before, fortunately he realized that and stopped after “that time”. Yeah that time he followed Yoongi around and saw him helping an old man on the street, who would’ve thought they would all meet up together?

He let out a long sigh and flopped down on his bed, feeling no strength in his limps. It was uncommon for him to feel this tired in the morning, probably he was drained after all that thinking and a not very good sleep. The quiet room was disturbed by an alarm from his phone. Right, he had to go to school today. In contrast to the popular belief that the vice president of the Kim group could get out of classes, it was precisely because he was now officially the new face of the group that he had to do things carefully and keep a good image. With that thought, he rolled out of bed and dragged his feet to the bathroom.

Breakfast was served promptly at his request, and the butler seemed a bit happier than usual. Mr Kang had worked for his family since Tae was small and the young master knew him quite well.

“You seem to be in a good mood today.” He commented casually but still looked at the older man with expecting eyes.

“Well, I am. Young master have you seen today’s newspapers? You look so good on the front pages, all the articles were full of praises. Lady Sunmi must be very happy and so am I.”

Tae asked for one of those newspapers and Mr Kang couldn’t have showed it to him any faster. Honestly, Taehyung didn’t feel the craze, there wasn’t anything exciting about seeing his own face on the news, he thought. But if this made his mother in heaven happy then he was glad he did all that.

Tae realized he had underestimated the power of the press when he arrived at school, surrounded by a crowd of people cheering his name. Girls and guys, they were all quite excited to see him, some of the girls who he used to talk to sometimes were rather brave and approached him with newspapers in their hands, the newspapers with his face on the front pages. He suddenly remembered that time when he offered to drive Yoongi to school after their shopping trip and the omega had said he didn’t wanted to be seen like that by Tae’s scary fan club. Were these people from his “fan club”? He didn’t plan on being a celebrity so he didn’t need such a thing.

He really wasn’t in the mood for this rowdy reception so he just threw around some etiquette smiles and tried to force his way through. His eyes darted around in an attempt to not look at anyone in particular so that they wouldn’t imagine unnecessary and untrue things, and in the process he spotted a familiar figure trying to get out of the crowd.

So Yoongi had class today too.

With that knowledge, the alpha tried to get through his lesson as fast as possible, he wanted to talk to Yoongi. The older had said he would ask the chef about whether he could tell Tae some of the story. Well that was a real reason, but also an excuse because he simply wanted to talk to him, whatever the topic, maybe he could try to stage it as a coincidence that they met or something…

He was still planning when his feet carried him to the music department. Tae had never been to this part of the school before and he had no ideas where Yoongi might be, or if he was still here for that matter. Realizing that the pianist should be somewhat well-known in this department, Tae put his social skill to work and asked some students where he could find his omega.

“Yoongi-hyung? I saw him earlier but I don’t know where he is now. Oh, that’s Tablo’s seonsaengnim over there, he should know.”

With a thank you, Tae looked to the direction the student just pointed at. Music people were really amazing huh? A professor looked that young?

“Good morning seonsaengnim. I’m sorry for bothering you but do you know where I could find Yoongi-ss- hyung?”

“Yoongi? He should be practicing in the music hall. Are you his friend?” Tablo asked while being amazed at his student’s ability to befriend very handsome guys, and then he realized something. “Wait a minute, are you Kim Taehyung? You gifted him that rare music book for his birthday right? He really liked that one, good friend you are!”

“Oh, I’m glad he likes it,” Taehyung smiled, he had expected something else when his name was called out like that, but Yoongi’s friends were really different, they didn’t really care about the vice president of the biggest corporate around but only about the Kim Taehyung who gave Yoongi a nice birthday present. “Could you please tell me where the music hall is? I’m sorry I don’t know the music department too well.”

“No problems, just go straight ahead and turn left at that violin statue over there and go up the slope, the music hall is the big building on the right with an arch front door.”

“Thank you very much.”

Tae bowed and thanked Yoongi’s teacher. Now that he mentioned it, Tae did give Yoongi something from his mother’s collection. He did it as an apology but it wasn’t forced at all, just the thought of Yoongi using and liking that book made him quite happy.

He found the building easily. There was a sign with directions to different rooms and another with schedules for the performance hall. Nothing was planned for the day so Yoongi was probably there practicing. He followed the signs and got to the room in no time at all and quietly slipped in through the back door. There were a number of people in here, probably all students in the department, so he wouldn’t stick out as the only audience.

Yoongi was already sitting on the bench, it was quite far away so Tae couldn’t see his face clearly but he seemed very focused. The pianist looked at his audience and bowed before turning back to his instrument.

For 5 minutes Tae sat there without moving a muscle. His whole being was tuned to the beautiful sounds filling the room and before he knew it, he felt something in his eyes. This song, was it about them? It didn’t seem likely that Yoongi would write a song about them but somehow Tae felt he was involved in the music. It was a beautiful song, no doubt, but incredibly sad. He only got out of his own world when people around him started whispering among themselves, they were saying things like they expected no less from the school’s ace and that they believed Yoongi would win the competition this year. Tae agreed. There were some people closer to the stage and one of them came up to Yoongi and the two discussed something, probably some suggestions about the performance. His omega nodded a few times and the other guy patted his shoulders before going back to his seat, they seemed close.

After playing the song a few more times, Yoongi took a break and then played some songs on request, probably as a way to thank people for spending time with him during practice. Those students sitting right in front of Taehyung looked among themselves hesitating, before they all smiled the happiest smiles and moved up closer to the stage. A girl asked her friends in a small voice “Do you think I could ask him to play Chopin? Dear me that would be awesome!” and her friends encouraged her before coming up with other composers. And somehow Tae liked this, he liked it that Yoongi was being appreciated, idolized a bit even. It was quite a contrast to that time when he visited the D-Town bar for Yoongi’s last performance there. Back then when Tae was outright pissed because of that mostly-alpha crowd of fans surrounding his omega. Looking back, he was embarrassed by his own actions and thoughts, but to his defense, some of those alphas actually had the gut to discuss things like whether Yoongi was marked. It wasn’t their place to talk.

As Yoongi prepared to wrap up the session, Tae sneaked out first and slipped into the bathroom. Once inside he pulled out a small spray bottle from his bag. It was a scent neutralizing spray, the most effective one out there according to Jin. It was really convenient to have a cousin-in-law who was a boss in the healthcare industry, you could get your hands on the best stuff. And why was he doing this? Because he had just decided to tail his omega and he had to do something about his scent; Bogum had told him after the event that it was getting very strong. Other people may be fine with it but Yoongi might be able to detect him and that wasn’t good for his stalking mission. Who would’ve thought he was such a stalker?

He kept a good distance from his omega but even from here, it wasn’t that difficult to notice something was off with Yoongi. The pianist looked down most of the time, his shoulders slumped and his right hand kept twisting the strap on his bag. He was walking toward the bus stop but then looked at his watch and turned around. Tae pulled his face mask up higher, not wanting to be discovered by either Yoongi or one of those fans that he had somehow acquired.

Yoongi stopped by his favorite coffee shop to buy a coffee, then went to the lamb skewer restaurant, and Tae knew both of those places thanks to his previous stalking efforts. He picked a table that wasn’t too close so that he wouldn’t be seen, but not too far so that he could still catch a bit of the conversation between Yoongi and the chef.

“You’re alone today? Where’s your handsome young friend?”

“Uhm, yeah, it’s just me. It’s not like I always come here with him.”

“That’s true, I guess I just miss that boy? He always eats so happily, I like seeing that. You seemed happy when he was around too.”

“Is that so…”

Yoongi looked down again and the chef leaned in, he seemed worried.

“Did something happen between you two?”

“No!” Yoongi was quick to deny, though he clearly looked troubled, “nothing really, uncle, we’re good.”

“Well, if you say so.”

The chef left Yoongi with his plates and to go back to cooking and Tae also got his food soon after. There was a young waitress working at this place and she was clearly smitten by him, Tae just hoped she didn’t know who he was.

Yoongi was the only customer who was served by the chef himself. The middle age man came back to the omega’s table with a small plate.

“Here, for you. Cheer up!”

“What is this uncle? I didn’t order..”

“Haha don’t worry it’s on the house. It’s nothing fancy, just the tit-bits that ain’t suitable for the skews.” The chef laughed and pulled out a chair.

“Thanks uncle.” Yoongi smiled.

“Your competition is less than a week away right? You should eat well. What are you gonna do after that?”

“I’ll look for a new past-time job while finishing my final requirements.”

“Huh? Don’t you have one now? The one you said you liked?” Mr Chef looked surprised, then he furrowed his eyebrows. “Is the pay not good?”

“Funnily enough there’s no payment, uncle.”

“What? What kind of heartless exploitation is that?”

“No no, it’s not like that uncle. I chose not to take payment. My student gave me a very expensive gift when I just started, so it seemed wrong to take more than that. The thing is, I can’t eat the gift.”

Unlike Mr Chef who was still quite confused, Tae understood everything perfectly. Not using a blank check he earned with his quality work was a very Yoongi thing to do, the alpha thought as he chomped on the juicy meat. Yoongi was about done with his food, and Taehyung wondered what he should do next. He could continue tailing him, the pianist may visit that old man and Tae could learn more about the man. No no, Yoongi already said he would ask for permission first. Or maybe Yoongi would go straight home and Tae could.. NO, that was just creepy. And it wasn’t like he didn’t have other ways to find out where his omega lived. So in the end, he decided to stay and finish his food while watching his omega saying goodbye to the chef.

“Good luck with your competition, if I wasn’t busy with the shop I would totally go.”

“I know you’re always cheering for me, that’s enough already, and of course I’d come for some food if I win anything.”

“Of course! You can take Jungkookie with you, I need to keep an eye on him since he might start a rivaling shop! Hahaha.”

The chef didn’t really mean anything by that but Yoongi’s expression looked fallen a bit at the mention of the name. Teahyung didn’t know what happen but clearly something happened. Whatever it was, he knew one thing for sure, he didn’t like that sad look on his omega’s face. He felt helpless because he couldn’t do anything.

Tae ordered some more skewers to take home, he wanted to give them to Mr Kang, his butler. Realizing he had left his car at school, Tae let out a rather long sigh. He didn’t quite fancy walking back now that he wasn’t tailing his omega anymore and then he thought of something. There was a bus stop just a few meters away from the shop and he thought “Why not?” The guidelines were actually easy to follow, he found the number of the bus he should take, confirmed that with a passenger who was waiting there and also asked her if he could buy ticket on the bus. Tae clearly didn’t hide the fact that he had never taken a bus here before. In the past, he wouldn’t have had enough small change for a ticket, but now he had learned his lessons and always kept cash in his wallet. Right, he still owned Yoongi 20000 won.

His butler welcomed him at the front door with a rather strange expression, the closest description would be one of relief.

“Welcome back, young master. Young master Jungk-”

Mr Kang didn’t finish his sentence as the person in question just bolted toward Tae.

“Hyung! Taetae hyung.”

The boy put his head on Tae’s shoulder, and although the older just had a brief look at his face but it was enough to tell that the younger alpha was upset by something. What had shaken his little brother? Taehyung questioned and his mind answered that for him with flashback of Yoongi’s sad face.

So something happened, for real. He felt a pang in his heart but he wasn’t sure for whom it was hurting.

With a supporting hand on the boy’s back, Tae spoke softly.

“It’s okay, Kook-ah. Hyung’s here. You can talk to me.”

Chapter Text

“Just come in first.”

Tae opened his room’s door and gently urged his childhood friend inside. Jungkook quietly followed the instruction and as soon as he got in, the younger alpha flopped down on the bed, clutching a pillow, only got up when Tae offered him a glass of water.

“So, do you wanna tell hyung what’s up?”

The boy drank his water slowly, he seemed to be hesitating a bit, which was new because he always spilled his heart to Tae. The older waited patiently, truth to be told, he was mentally preparing himself; he knew this was Yoongi-related so most likely Tae-related as well.

“I, I don’t wanna be an alpha anymore.”

“Why not?” Tae asked to keep the boy going.

“It’s Yoongi hyung. He said he couldn’t be my omega, and if it’s not him, I don’t want anyone else.” The boy’s eyes were glued to the glass of water which he was squeezing tightly in his hands. “He said he had met his fated pair. Poor hyung, waiting all his time just for the dude to a jerk.”

“A jerk?!” Tae was surprised by his own loud voice. “Did he, I mean did Yoongi-ssi say that too?”

“Well, he didn’t say that, but hyung, only a jerk would say rude things to a person they meet for the first time, fated or not. And it was to Yoongi hyung of all people! He’s the kindest, prettiest person I’ve ever known, if only it was me…”

They both went quiet. Tae wondered what else Yoongi told Jungkook, aside from that first encounter. Well, didn’t really matter, what matter was how they were going to proceed from here.

“What are you gonna do then? You are an alpha, you can’t change that fact.”

Silence again. After what seemed like an eternity, Jungkook talked first.

“Hyung, do you believe in fate?”

“I, I don’t know anymore. My parents were fated, look at what happened. My grandparents are not. And they are still together.” Tae had a sad smile on his face as he looked at his mom’s picture on his desk.

“Wait, your grandparents are not? I thought…”

“Oh, this isn’t supposed to be public information. People just assume so because that’s how it should be. I thought so too, but one day my grandma told me the truth. So fate isn’t everything you know.”

“But you have always believed in fate though, right? You’ve been waiting for your fated pair too?”

“Oh, that, yeah, because of my mom. I always think my dad did her wrong, but until her last moment she still said she loved him and that she had been very happy. I don’t get it, but I trust her. What about you?”

“Me? I don’t know about fate, but I believe in love. I may not be his fated one, but if he ever loves me, I’ll fight fate, that’s what I think,” Jungkook’s face lightened up a bit, but he quickly looked down again, “That’s a big IF though.”

“What if you meet you fated pair later?”

“Hyung, do people fall in love just because they are fated?”

Jungkook answered Tae’s question with a question of his own, and the older decided to stop his inquiry. His mission right now was to placate his upset younger brother, not to stop him from his quest, whatever the quest might be.

“Well, do what your heart tells you. You know I always pray for your happiness,” he walked over and patted the boy’s head. He used to do this a lot when they were kids, before Jungkook caught up to his height.

“Thanks hyung, I know you’re the best!”

The bunny smile came back and Tae’s heart breathed a sigh of relief as he ruffled the younger’s hair. His moment of peace didn’t last long though.

“Hyung, did you just get those? I didn’t see them last time.”

Tae’s eyes darted to where Jungkook was pointing to. Ah, those, those blooming camellia flowers.

“Uhm, I had taken a liking to flowers lately.”

Jungkook had a bit of a questioning look but he didn’t pursue it, instead he asked about something else.

“And that box of food you have there, it smells a lot like lamb skewers.”

Tae totally forgot that he had taken the food to his room instead of giving it to Mr Kang, he was too concerned about Jungkook.

“I happened to take a liking to that too, was going to give Mr Kang some since he loves food. You’re welcome to have a share of course.”

“Really? I love lamb skewers!”

Jungkook happily stood up, ready to go eat the food and only then did he realize he didn’t even take off his jacket all this time. Tae shook his head and Kookie smiled as he clumsily took the thing off in a haste. Some paper fell out in the process.

“What is this?” Tae asked as he picked the thing up, although on second look, he didn’t have to ask.

“Oh that, Yoongi hyung forgot it at my place after our last lesson, looks like he made a few changes to the song again. I was going to give it back but I wasn’t quite ready to face him yet, that’s why it was there.”

“Oh, okay. Let’s worry about that later, we should go eat first, these skewers wouldn’t taste as good if we let them wait too long.”

And so Tae put the music sheet on his desk, with a book on top to keep it from flying away. And it stayed there for 2 days because both alphas forgot about it.

+++

When Jungkook asked him if he was doing okay at the event, Yoongi decided he should be honest for once and said he wasn’t. Usually he would have lied and said he was fine and stayed there longer but after the emotional rollercoaster he had been through that evening, he had had enough and would rather go home. He felt bad about making Jungkook leave with him; he could have called a taxi but he knew for sure the younger would never agree to that. So in the end the alpha escorted him out of the fancy building while trying his best not to be rude to people who wanted to chat. Those press people with big cameras had another go at taking their pictures and whispering behind their backs. Yoongi was too tired to care.

On their way back, Jungkook kept stealing glances at him and Yoongi just couldn’t take it anymore.

“If you want to ask something just ask, I won’t be mad.”

“I am that obvious huh?” the boy smiled, “You know, that mysterious old gentleman, I can’t help being curious. How do you know him?”

“Do you remember that time we couldn’t have lesson and I made some big changes to my song? I told you that I met an interesting old man who told me an interesting story. That was him.”

“OMG really? You just happened to meet him and he just happens to be an acquaintance of Taetae hyung’s grandparents? What a small world we live in!”

The boy face clearly showed that he was intrigued by the story. Well it was a fascinating story indeed, with many details still in the shadow. It was true that Yoongi just happened to meet the old chef, who turned out to be his fated pair’s grandpa. What a small world they lived in. Maybe it was all fate.

“You didn’t tell me how you met him though.”

“Oh, it wasn’t anything special. I was going to Chef Lee’s place, I saw him walking with like 4 huge grocery bags so I carried them for him, somehow that happened several times and he invited me to his place and we became friends.”

“You’re so nice hyung. Wait, what was he doing with 4 big grocery bags? Does he have a big family?”

“No, he was just buying stuff for a huge pot of meat stew,” Yoongi answered a bit too quickly and he regreted it, surely Jungkook was gonna bring that up.

“Oh, right, he said he was Taetae hyung’s chef, so he’s the one who’s been making that legendary stew,” at this, Jungkook abruptly turned to look at Yoongi with big, big eyes, “and he also said you made the stew once?” Yoongi was right, he really brought that up.

“I didn’t know it was for Taehyung-ssi. Gramps taught me how to make it and he really wanted me to try cooking it that time, so I did.”

“I hope you will cook for me one day,” the alpha smiled before his voice got a lot smaller and came out barely audible, like a whisper, “or many, many days…”

Yoongi didn’t know if Jungkook looked at him when he said that, the omega was busy looking out the window.

Jungkook wanted to walk him to his front door but Yoongi refused, saying the younger shouldn’t leave his fancy car on alone on his part of the street at this hour. It was a lame excuse of course, to which the younger responded that if the neighborhood was that unsafe then all the more reason he should escort the omega. Yoongi had to relent and let the alpha fulfill his escorting mission.

“Hyung, you’re really fine right? If you were uncomfortable I will not bring you to parties anymore. We can just go get coffee and food or take some photos…”

“I’m fine,” Yoongi quickly cut him off, “Don’t say it like it you did something wrong because you didn’t. In the future too, if I really don’t want to go somewhere I won’t, so don’t blame yourself for anything.”

“That’s good to know then,” Jungkook looked at him with smiling eyes, “because I never want to do anything you don’t like.”

Yoongi didn’t know how to respond so he remained quiet until they were at his door. Should he invite him in? It was still early in the night so it wouldn’t be inappropriate, but what would they talk about? And Yoongi was really drained and he wanted to be alone and sort out his emotions.

“Well, thank you for today as always. Have a good night.”

“You too hyung, rest well,” those big eyes looked at him as if they wanted to say something more, but Yoongi didn’t dare to interpret. As the boy bowed and then turned away, Yoongi felt a bit of guilt, like he hadn’t done enough for the younger, and even more so because he shouldn’t be getting this much from the alpha in the first place. All this care and dedication should be reserved for Jungkook’s fated one who was out there somewhere, the person who would feel their skin burned at the slightest touch from the alpha. Yoongi knew that sensation, he had been through it twice this evening.

He didn’t even bother to change out of his fancy clothes before dropping down onto the big sofa in his living room, clutching one of his many Kumamon plushies. Tonight he had cried, and Taehyung had wiped away his tears. Tonight he had tried giving back the brooch, and Taehyung had been adamant that he kept it. Both times, when the alpha touched him, his skin burned and his heart raced in his chest. He hated it that he had no control over his body, hated it that he felt Taehyung’s presence all too strongly, that the alpha’s cedar wood scent enveloping him when they were that close felt incredibly soothing. He hated the gentle side of the alpha which he didn’t show very often but whenever he did it made him feel things.

When Yoongi gave Tae the brooch, he had almost made up his mind that somebody else should have it. Someone closer to Tae’s ideal type, someone, someone like that young lady Yeongmi for example. Didn’t people say she looked exactly like Tae’s mother? The two of them went to dinner together right, maybe more than once too, looked like they talked about a lot of things that one time Yoongi saw them. Yoongi smiled bitterly, he wouldn’t even know what to talk to his alpha about for 5 minutes, let alone a whole dinner. They didn’t know much about their fated pair, didn’t make any effort to, and yet they kept running into each other. Was this all fate?

He rolled to his side and thus was looking at his piano. Namjoon was right, when it came to him and Taehyung, it seemed like music was always involved. The piano was his first love, he wasn’t sure who his second love was, or would be.

Life was back to normal as long as he didn’t meet his fated pair, Yoongi thought. No fancy parties, no fancy clothing, no powerful people, no photographers taking pictures. The other day Tablo and Kihyun gave him some suggestions and he had incorporated them to the song, the subtle differences were really interesting. Yoongi often made a cringed face whenever Kihyun boasted about his geniuses but the guy really knew his stuff.  Happy with this new version, Yoongi decided he would play it after the lesson today.

Jungkook was a very good student, Yoongi thought if the boy was serious about music he could make it quite far. Soon there wouldn’t be much left for him to teach, just about time the competition would be over and Yoongi could look for a new job as he planned. He wouldn’t mind still playing the piano with the young alpha though; it was no longer work, it was simply quality and enjoyable time. He was going to bring that up but somehow Jungkook kept looking at him with this undecipherable look in his eyes and the omega didn’t quite get the chance. Surely the alpha had always looked at him rather fondly but this time it seemed more intense? Yoongi didn’t know how to interpret the look, and so they got to the end of the lesson where Yoongi usually played a different song each time; and today, for some reason, he picked “A time for us.” Why? He wouldn’t know. It was such a sad, sad song. And Jungkook was watching him closely, still with those intense eyes.

The music stopped and footsteps closed in. Before Yoongi knew it, arms wrapped around his shoulders as the young alpha leaned down and gave him a back hug.

“What is it Kookie?” Yoongi asked because it looked like Jungkook wasn’t going to say anything.

“Did you watch Romeo and Juliet? The version where this song was played?”

“I did. Sad movie.”

“Do you think it’s their fate that they ended up like that? It’s so cruel.”

“They ended up like that because Mr Shakespeare thought that it would make a good story. He was cruel.”

In his head, Yoongi thought Jungkook was right, it was all fate’s fault, fate was cruel but he didn’t say it: 1. This was about Romeo and Juliet, he shouldn’t take it personally, and 2. Better steer the conversation away from this troublesome topic. Maybe Jungkook would get the idea and talk about something else. Or maybe not.

“This room is now my favorite room in the house, that used to be my bedroom but this is now the undisputable winner. Do you know why hyung?”

Yoongi didn’t say anything because he knew the younger would continue anyway.

“Because it smells like you, when I’m here it’s like I’m with you and I love it. I love it when I’m with you.” The alpha talked with a smile as his arms still wrapped around Yoongi. “I asked Jin hyung and Namjoon hyung about it, about the fated paring and they both said they just knew it. Hyung, do you think it’s true? Fate, I mean.”

“It’s true, it does exist.”

“So, we- about us, I..” Jungkook moved to sit down on the bench next to Yoongi, hands now holding on to his shoulders as he faced him, an earnest- or even desperate look on his face.

“We’re not.” Yoongi said dryly, he tried to sound calm as he looked straight at the younger’s face. He had to do this right otherwise it wouldn’t be convincing. It was hard though, no doubt.

“How do you know?!!!”

“Because I’ve met my fated pair.”

And at this point Yoongi no longer had the strength to look at Jungkook so he turned away to hide his troubled face. The alpha let go of him, stood up and then just flopped down on the floor, arms over his eyes.

“How long ago was that? Wh-what he’s like?” his voice was shaking. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t ask, don’t mind me, I’m just…”

“He’s probably not a bad guy, but he doesn’t like me.” Yoongi kept staring at the keys cuz he couldn’t bear seeing Jungkook being sad.

“How is that even possible?”

“It definitely is. I mean he made it quite clear I wasn’t to his liking when we first met. Well at least he was straight forward about it, so I wouldn’t have any unnecessary hope about the whole fated pairing.”

Yoongi’s voice dropped lower and lower, the entire journey from that first meeting until now played out in his mind like a sad romance movie, he was grateful enough that they didn’t meet a tragic end like Romeo and Juliet, he wouldn’t dream of a happy ending.

“D-do you like him?”

“I don’t know. When it comes to him, I just don’t know anything anymore.”

 And silence befell them again. After a while, Jungkook managed to sit back up on the floor, and Yoongi managed to gather enough strength to face him.

“Ha, so fate doesn’t always work, and to think I was looking forward to this,” the alpha spotted a sad smile.

“Yours will be fine, I think. Mine is just a bit twisted, or maybe I just don’t live up to his expectations…”

And Jungkook was back on his feet in a flash, he kneeled down next to the bench and grabbed Yoongi’s hands.

“How could that be?! Hyung, you’re perfect, if it was me I’d-”

And Yoongi shut him down with a finger on the lips.

“You’ll find yours, they would be a great person and you two will have a happy ending like Namjoon and Jin hyung. I just happen to be on the wrong side of destiny.”

“Is that why you never talked about it?”

“I don’t think he wants people to know, and I’m not particularly fond of publicizing a bond that wasn’t supposed to be there either.”

“Hyung, I’m sorry, I-”

“Why are you saying sorry? Come on let’s stop talking about this.”

Yoongi stood up and patted the boy’s shoulder. He smiled too, saying everything was fine, everything would be fine, but the alpha didn’t quite believe it. Didn’t matter to Yoongi right now though, he wanted to leave. Good thing the lesson was over so he left the mansion with a heavy heart. He didn’t get to play the new version of the song or tell Jungkook about his plan to find a new job.

The alpha looked at the closed door and he started singing.

“A time for us, someday there’ll be

When chains are torn by courage born a love that’s free…”

+++

Yoongi went straight home after the lesson, not in the mood to go anywhere or see anyone. He should stay in his room and drown in his sorrow.

So he finally said it. That he had met his fated pair and that person wasn’t Jungkook. It was only the second time he mentioned his fated one to another person, the first time was to the old man. Everyone else still thought he was still waiting for his romantic dream to come true: a fated love, a happy ending, a kid… Yoongi wondered what he was waiting for now, or if he was even waiting for anything at all. Life happened, it didn’t wait for anyone.

He never intended to say it but at the risked of getting confessed to he had to do it. He saw that earnest look in Jungkook’s eyes and thought the fated paring was the only thing that would deter him. And everything that he said was true, it was just that he wasn’t prepared to say it, wasn’t prepared to see Jungkook hurt or to hear his pained voice. But it was better to do this now than to have everything falling apart in the future. If he accepted his feeling, and one day his fated pair appeared, what would happen then? If those two fall in love, he would be the one who’d be hurt. And knowing Jungkook, if the alpha felt anything for his fated omega, which was very likely, then Jungkook would feel very guilty towards Yoongi. If Jungkook rejected his fated omega because of Yoongi, then the pianist would feel guilty toward that person who would no doubt be very disappointed. Yoongi knew how it felt when your fated one rejected you, and he didn’t want someone else to be in that situation. If he accepted those feelings now, everyone would end up being sad, so he chose the other option, to hurt the alpha a bit now so in the future, the number of sad people would be just 1. He wouldn’t feel guilty because that one person would be him.

But after all that said and done, Yoongi was devastated, if those tears rolling downs his cheeks right now were any indication. He cried a lot these days, so lame. And tonight, no one wiped the tears away.

Yoongi woke up the next day feeling dead tired. He didn’t sleep well, and really wanted to stay home for the day but he had practice planned. It was in the main music hall at school and the plan was posted last week so it was likely that people in the department would show up. It would be very unprofessional of him not to go. So he quickly ran through the morning routine before grabbing his bag. Shuffling through its contents, he let out a disappointing sigh. He couldn’t find the music sheet, must have forgotten it at Jungkook’s place. What a nice start to the day. Well it wasn’t like he couldn’t play without it, just that he made some changes and it would be easier to keep track of all the changes on one sheet. “Whatever!” he thought as he closed the door.

The universe was against him today, Yoongi decided. Because as soon as he got off the bus, he saw a huge crowd blocking the gate. The hell were they thinking, interfering with people’s movements like that, so inconsiderate! The pianist got all grumpy, he wanted nothing to do with these people but he had to force his way through because the other gates were a long walk away, and this one was also the closest to his department. Sighing again, he started squeezing through a maze of omegas, wondering who they were swooning over this time. The answer came quickly, in the form of an all-too-familiar face adorning those newspapers the omegas were holding and waving. And the real person just had to choose this time to show up as well, judging from all the cheering of his “fans.” Yoongi had to get away fast, he didn’t even bother with “excuse me”.

The practice went well. Tablo couldn’t stay because he was busy, but Kihyun and some of his friends were there to give feedback. Quite a number of other people showed up too and Yoongi felt grateful so he played some songs on request to show his appreciation. It brought back memories of the time when he worked at the bark, people often tried to get him to play more and the captain of the band joked that they should make a “Yoongi encore menu” with the most expensive items and fans could only request for encore if they ordered from that. The pianist smiled a bit, working there was a fun time.

As soon as he got out of the music hall his mood dampened again though. Screw the low budget, Yoongi was gonna treat himself to Chef Lee’s delicious lamb skewers. But guess what? The nice uncle kept asking about Jungkook, which clearly didn’t help with his mood. Yoongi thought again, the only way to make himself feel better was to get this heavy feeling out of his system, and if that was not possible, then being able to confide in someone would help. A nice and understanding person who he could trust… Yoongi pulled out his phone.

“Gramps, are you home? Can I come over?”

++

“Have a seat Yoongi-yah, I’ll make tea.”

The old man was as nice as always, Yoongi immediately felt calmer in his presence. The younger omega sat down on the couch and looked around a bit. Dear him, there was no escaping this huh? Yoongi thought as he saw the neatly folded newspaper on the table, the one with his alpha’s face on the front page. The difference in this case was that it made sense that such a thing would be here, of course Gramps would have newspapers featuring his beloved grandson. And that thought got Yoongi out of his trance since a question he had thought about since the event party had popped back into his mind. He picked up the paper, read through the article and thought his alpha deserved all the praises.

“Here, chamomile tea for you, people say it has a calming effect.”

“How do you know I’m not calm?” Yoongi asked as he took the cup with both hands.

“Of course I know, Gramps knows everything Yoongi-yah, you looked and smelled upset when you showed up here.” The old man took his seat next to Yoongi on the couch, “Is it about love? You can tell me if you want.”

The younger didn’t say anything, just sipped his tea quietly. He trusted his Gramps, of course, he just didn’t know how to start. And then the newspaper on his laps called for his attention again, so he pointed to it.

“Uhm, before that, may I ask about this?”

 “Oh, I know you will ask,” the man laughed, “how about this Yoongi-yah, I’ll answer your question but you’ll have to answer mine.”

Now this was a deal Yoongi would take, he wanted to share his burden anyway, in fact he was quietly thanking the old man for giving him an opening.

“Okay Gramps, is he our grandson?”

“He is. Yoongi-yah, is he your fated alpha?”

“He is,” the pianist quickly admitted, “How do you know though?”

“I saw you two together, I’ve seen many fated pairs and you two were really obvious, or at least to me. I have exception sense of smell, with regard to both food and people, and when you two were close your scents soared. But mostly I guessed it from the way you looked at each other, you didn’t even know when I left the other day right? I felt like I was intruding on you two…Wait, did he make you sad? This boy!”

“Gramps, he didn’t do much, really. It’s just, things are not working out between us, more like there was never anything much to begin with.”

“That song, the song you wrote for your competition, is it about you two?”

“Is that also obvious Gramps, now I’m worried, I’m not being as discreet as I thought I was,” Yoongi laughed, he wasn’t happy though, “it’s not his fault that he doesn’t like me, at least not in a romantic way.”

“What about you then, do you like him?”

“I… I don’t know Gramps. I don’t hate him, I can say that much.”

“Is there someone else then?”

Yoongi went silent.

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, you already answered my original question, so our deal was already done, don’t force yourself.”

“No, no Gramps, it’s not like that. I came here because I want to talk, it’s just rather complicated…”

“Is it the boy who was with you at the party?” the old man waited for a bit before answering his own question, he guessed it that much and the look on Yoongi’s face told him he was right. “Told you Gramps knows everything. I also know that boy is very much in love with you, just from the look of it. Do you like him?”

“I, I think I do, but I also think I should not. His fated pair is out there waiting for him somewhere, I’m not gonna interfere with his happiness, he deserves it. Mine is already gone but his is still intact, I don’t want to be the one who breaks it. If I end this early then it will hurt less later. I…”

Yoongi went off in a rant as he poured out his thoughts until words got stuck. The old gentleman hugged him and patted his back, trying to comfort the younger one.

“It’s okay Yoongi-yah, but don’t say it like you don’t deserve your own happiness. Fate isn’t everything you know, as long as two people genuinely love each other, that’s in itself is happiness. You have to be sure about it though. Now I’m not asking this just because he is my grandson, but what makes you think Taehyung doesn’t like you?”

“He never says he doesn’t like me, but he did say I was plain and boring when we first met. He was really cold towards me too, only recently did we reach kinda-friendly terms; he doesn’t make much of an effort to get near me, if anything he does quite the opposite. He seems okay whenever he sees me with Jungkookie as well. I learned that he has an ideal type and it’s fair to say that I’m not-”

“That silly boy has a serious case of mother complex you know!” the old man exclaimed even before Yoongi said what the type was, guessed he really did know everything.

“I understand Gramps, from what I have heard about his Mom it makes sense he would feel that way. I, I genuinely wish he could find such a person. It’s not his fault that I’m his fated pair. I tried giving the brooch back to him so that he could give it to that person but-”

“Oh stop that I’m so annoyed with you right now!!!” the gentle old man suddenly raised his voice and Yoongi was startled, so he just looked at him with wide eyes. “Stop saying it’s not his fault it’s not his fault, it IS his fault that he made you upset. You care too much about others’ happiness, think about yourself too. And I gave you that brooch, so you keep it!”

The man made an angry face before sipping his tea and fanning his face with his hands. And Yoongi just laughed, a real one this time. Hearing that lovely sound, his Gramps smiled.

“I’ve never seen you that worked up before, you could be quite scary when you want to Gramps.”

“It’s because of you silly young people. You’re silly because you think sacrificing your own happiness is the right thing to do, and Taetae is really silly because he can’t see the good thing right in front of his eyes. Except for the fact that you are a man, you’re very similar to Sunmi, kind and caring and talented and pretty. Wait, that silly boy called you plain? I’ll tell his father to bring him to an eye doctor!”

“His father you said?”

“Oh, right. You told me your story, I guess I should tell you mine too. Yes, his father, or my biological son. It’s a long story, so let me grab some snacks for you.”

The old men went to the kitchen and came back with a tray of various dried fruits. Somehow he seemed quite chilled about all this while Yoongi was waiting anxiously. So Tae’s father was not his grandma’s son? Now this was a big deal, compared to this, his little romance trouble seemed like nothing.

“Hmm, where should I start? I’m not a Seoul native, I came from Daegu, just like you, I just don’t use our dialect much anymore. My parents were both chefs and we had a small family restaurant at home. Back in those days, people got married quite early, if they got to meet their fated pair, great, if not, they would settle down with someone, usually a person who also didn’t find their destined partner. Male omegas like myself didn’t have it too well, we either never met the person, or worse, we did, but those alphas didn’t want to have a male wife. I was the first case, I waited and waited but that person never showed up. My parents started to get worried and encouraged me to consider some of the customers who, as they put it, were kind enough to want to know more about me. My romantic self wouldn’t be okay with it, so I left home and went to Seoul, both to open a store and to find my fated one. I managed to do both, I opened a small shop which was rather popular as I told you before, and one day, my fated one walked in to the store. It was Mr Kim Byungchul.”

“I knew it from the start and it seemed he did too. We started going out soon after, I just knew he worked for some corporation, not that he was the only son, and thus, only heir to the Kim family. Then one day he went to the store for dinner with a grumpy face, I asked him why but he lied and said it was just a work problem. His current wife, Mijin-sii came in soon after, with a bunch of body guards dressed in black suits. I was shocked. She was only 20 back then, Byungchul was 23 and I was 25.”

“Oh so he’s younger than you?”

“He is. That was part of the problems too. I was a male omega, older than him and came from a normal background, there was nothing distinctive about me. Compared to that, Mijin-ssi was a beautiful young lady and came from a very powerful family. In fact, up to 40% of the current asset of the Kim family came from that marriage. That day she came and told him he could have let her know if they changed the venue of their dinner and that she didn’t mind a smaller restaurant at all. She stayed for dinner and was very well-behaved. Even though Byungchul was still grumpy, I couldn’t help thinking that they looked good together. After that he told me everything about his family situation, that his parents had chosen her as his fiancée but he would reject the marriage and that there was nothing I should worry about. That brooch that I gave you, was his present to me when he said all that and I believed it. It was just coincidence that I got my heat that very same day and we ended up doing it, I was happy about it all, to be honest. I was even happier when I found out I was pregnant, even without marriage, how silly of me. I was going to tell Byungchul but before I could do it, the news about his engagement to Mijin-ssi was all over the papers, so I shut my mouth and go back to my place to cry. I closed the shop for a few days and I didn’t see him at all. Back then there was no cell phone, no internet, so I could afford to drown in my sorrow alone. The next time I opened my door, he was outside, fainted, looking like a corpse. I tried to call for help but no one was there, I tried to carry him but I couldn’t. Just then, Mijin-ssi arrived. I collapsed too because of the stress and so her people took both of us to the hospital. That was how they found out I was pregnant. Byungchul apologized, saying the families made the announcement on their own, he didn’t agree to anything, that he had been trying to meet me and all that. I knew he was saying the truth, but after it all I realized how powerless I was, and someone like Mijin-ssi would be a much a better fit. So I closed my shop and moved to a different place but starting the business again was difficult and pregnancy didn’t help. Somehow Mijin-ssi managed to track me down again, she came to see me, and you know what, she even kneeled down in front of me.”

“She did what?” Yoongi almost choked on his tea.

“Hard to imagine right? But she did. She said she couldn’t bear seeing Byungchul being sad anymore and that she was going to call off the engagement, she just hoped I could take that place. But how could I? If she actually did it, what would people think of Byungchul and his family? So I asked her if she really loved him and she said yes, that was why she was doing all that. I told her as long as she loved him, then it was okay, I would pray for their happiness. But she was concerned about my baby, and honestly, I was too. I wasn’t in the best shape to take care of him. A male omega, not married, with a kid, wasn’t the best situation to be in. I couldn’t care less what people thought or said about me, but my kid shouldn’t have to ensure the hardship. Mijin-ssi suggested they could provide for the baby, but she felt sorry because if it was a boy then my kid should be first in line to inherit the business. Then I came up with a crazy idea.”

“Don’t tell me you gave-” Yoongi was shocked.

“Yes I did. I thought about all the things my kid should have as a member of the Kim family and compared that to the unstable life he would have with me, so I chose what I thought was better. I told her if she was sincere about caring for me and my child, then why wouldn’t she make it her child instead? I knew it was a crazy idea, but it was even crazier that she agreed. I talked to Byungchul, that if he didn’t agree I would disappear and he would never ever get to see his child. Soon after that, they got married in one of the biggest events ever, and Mijin-ssi went through the troubles of faking her pregnancy. It was common for rich people to give birth at home so it was not too difficult to stage the fake labor. And that was how Tae’s father, Kim Hyungchul, was born into the Kim family.”

“What about you then?”

“I moved in to take care of my kid and kept staying there for a few years as a nanny. It was a rather awkward situation though, so I decided to leave. I got that piano as a parting present, I didn’t play but Byungchul used to play for me, so I asked for it as a final goodbye. I had made up my mind that it was for the best, but my son Hyungchul was a very smart kid and somehow he found out the truth, so he started visiting me at my new place frequently. I made him promise not to say a word to anyone and he agreed, not without complaining though. And then as I told you before, he met Sunmi at my place and fell in love with her. However, and this is why I am still mad and Byungchul and Mijin, Sunmi wasn’t welcomed into the family. Her situation was a bit different from mine, her weak physical condition was the main reason, especially the part where childbirth would put her life, and even the baby’s too, in danger. Such an in-law would affect both the image and linage of the family. Hyungchul was mad, he said he didn’t need the family, that he wouldn’t make the same mistake his father did, so he moved out and lived with me. He married her and the three of us lived together, we were not rich but every day was happy. Hyungchul took an office job, Sunmi helped me with the restaurant and played the piano whenever she had time. They took a big gamble when they decided to have a kid, Sunmi said she wanted to try no matter what the consequence. And then we were blessed with Tae and she wrote that song like I told you before, and played it every day for him. Her pregnancy was difficult and I got increasingly worried, if anything happened we might not be in the best conditions to take care of her and the baby, yet when I mentioned they should move back to the main house, both of them refused. Their attitude somehow angered Byungchul, and again, I am still mad at him about this, them father and son didn’t even talk to each other. Mijin-ssi, on the other hand, was more understanding, but she couldn’t single handedly decide everything, and because Hyungchul left the house rather early, he didn’t have the same position and power that her children had. So she suggested a deal, that they moved back to house immediately so Sunmi was taken care of, and if in the future, he could open a branch in the US at least as big as the one they could’ve gotten through another business marriage, then the main house would officially register and announce both Sunmi and myself. Sunmi agreed to this before her husband did. She said she didn’t care much about her position, he was already Hyungchul’s official wife and Tae’s mother, whether or not she lived to see it, but she wanted some recognition for me. And I cried so much at that. I never cared about my position, still don’t, but I wanted a better, safer life for them all, so I just thanked her and wished her good luck. I gave her that brooch as a parting gift, maybe I was being petty, I wanted to remind my fated one every time he saw the brooch that he had done something wrong and he’d better fix it. My son Hyungchul wasn’t too keen on that deal with Mijin-ssi but Sunmi was, when the opportunity for a US adventure finally arrived, she made him promise that no matter what happened, he had to fulfill his side of the deal. On the very same day when she passed away 5 years ago, a very important transaction was taking place, one that could derail his 6 years of efforts if it went wrong. And Sunmi, as sick as she was, was on the phone, urging him to get it done, that she would die unhappy if it was because of her that the deal fell apart. Hyungchul tried his best to close it and then went home, but he didn’t make it in time, and Taehyung still holds a grudge against him because of that. But we can’t explain, because explaining it would mean explaining my existence, which he shouldn’t know of, at least not yet. I promised Byungchul and Mijin-ssi that I wouldn’t spill anything, and honestly, why would I? My grandson doing well is the most I could ask for, whether or not he knows I exist doesn’t really matter.”

“What a story. So that’s why I’ve never seen Taehyung’s father, is he still in the U.S.?”

“He is. He told me work is going well though, he might come back sooner than expected. I’m just sad that his relationship with Taetae is not good. I really hope that they could work it out soon, they are all I have, I don’t want them to be at odds with each other. It was because of me, if only back then I-”

The old man was getting emotional and this time it was Yoongi’s turn to comfort him.

“It’s not your fault, you did what was best for your family, I really admire you Gramps, you were very strong. I believe Taehyung will understand if he knows the full story. I admire his mom too, what a great person she was.”

“She was indeed, and as I said, you are very much like her, of course with our own flavor. My silly boy just doesn’t know what a great gift fate has given him yet, don’t hate him okay?”

“I told you I don’t.”

“Yoongi-yah, between those two boys, just follow your heart. As long as your feeling is absolute, you’ll find your way through. Of course I want to root for my grandson but as your friend, I want you to put your happiness first. By the way, sorry for dumping all that on you, I told you it was a long story.”

“No Gramps, I’m happy you trust me enough to share it. That kinda put things in perspective for me too, seems like I’ve been worrying too much about my trivial things.”

They hugged it out and made some light dishes afterwards. Yoongi went home that day with a changed viewpoint.

Chapter Text

“Yes, bloom for me. At least I still have you guys.”

Taehyung whispered to his camellia trees as he watered them. He never allowed the maids to take care of these flowers, they were his and his alone. Camellia was the flower of faithfulness and longevity, used in weddings to wish the couple a “happy every after” marriage. How ironic, the alpha thought. The pure white flowers glowed at him, oblivious to his melancholic mood. When he got them, he thought of Yoongi and picked the white one, pure and elegant.

The camellias in Jungkook’s room were red, like flames, passionate and unreserved. Maybe Tae could learn a thing or two from his younger friend, to live life without holding back too much. But unlike Jungkook, Tae had unfortunately formed templates for his life, how his love should be, how his career should be, so once his fated pair crashed into his life without warning and messed up the plans, he didn’t quite know how to react and ended up doing it all wrong.

Tae recalled what Jungkook told him and how the boy looked when he said that. He remembered Yoongi’s sad face the other day too. Did telling Jungkook that he had already had a pair hurt Yoongi that much? Was it because the pair was Taehyung? Or was it more likely because the pair wasn’t the younger alpha? Tae felt a sudden pang in his chest at that thought. He wanted happiness for Yoongi, and for Jungkook too of course, but what about himself? What did he actually want? What would be the right thing to do? Just backed out and prayed for their happy ending? Or jumped in and figured out what’s what? So many questions. He wasn’t sure about this whole “scarify one’s happiness” ideality, but he was yet to find resolution. There was one thing he was sure about though: if he couldn’t match his childhood friend’s feelings for Yoongi, then he was not gonna win even if he tried fighting. So he wasn’t going to jump straight in, he wanted to test it out a bit.

He had gotten quite used to his new role as the vice president, work was busy of course, but it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. “Now where’s that report that I was looking at..” Tae mumbled as he rumbled through his desk. He found the report, and something else too.

“Oh, this is…”

He remembered now, Jungkook left this music sheet here, Yoongi’s song. Somehow they had both forgotten about this.

Or maybe not, Tae thought as he looked at the name on his phone’s screen when it rang.

“Hyung, have you left for work yet?”

“No Kookie, I’m still home. What’s up?”

“Uhm, I forgot Yoongi hyung’s song at your place? Do you know where it is?”

“I do, just found it actually. I can send someone to bring it over.”

“No no, no need for that. I have some stuff to attend near your head quarter, I’ll come around noon.”

“Noon? Then let’s go grab a bite or something. If you’re free of course.”

“Sure, see you then hyung.”

Seriously? Just right after he found the sheet? Tae didn’t know if this was funny, but when it came to Yoongi, he and Jungkook often collided. It was like in the movies or dramas, the main character always “accidently” found their crush together with their rival. No no, what rivalry…Tae shook his head.

After changing and gathering his stuff, the alpha stopped in front of his desk, hesitating. After a while, he reached for the drawer, took a dry camellia and put it in his suit’s pocket.

Tae went to work with the music sheet in his briefcase. Namjoon was right, when it came to the two of them, some music was always involved. That sounded so misleadingly romantic. Well, whether romance was involved or not, he really wanted to listen to more of Yoongi’s playing piano. Wait, his fated pair was going to play in front of an audience pretty soon right?

“ I just thought you might go since your group is sponsoring the event.”

That was what Yeongmi said that one time they went for dinner. Right, the Kim Corporation was the big sponsor of this competition, Tae could easily get tickets if he wanted to. And he wanted to go, since this event seemed to be very important to Yoongi, he should at least attend to support his fated pair. Haha, who was he kidding? What “support” was it if Yoongi didn’t even know he was there? It was more like Tae was just doing this for himself, in the pursuit of the truth behind his own feelings. So he called the PR people and asked for a ticket, which was delivered to his office 5 minutes later. Tae stared at the item and then absentmindedly put it in his pocket. Time to work.

Lunch time came and Tae took the music sheet with him, ready to go out. As he stood up from his chair, reception called and said a lady named Yeongmi called and asked if she could come to return an umbrella. Umbrella? Oh, the umbrella he gave her after dinner that time, seriously she didn’t have to. Tae thought for a second and said he would be at a coffee shop in a few minutes so if it was more convenient she could just go there. The receptionist quickly transferred his words.

Tae was waiting for Jungkook at the coffee shop and had nothing to do so he took the sheet out and looked at it. He could actually read music notes, his mother taught him, but he wasn’t so good as to be able to feel the music just from the notes. Not that it was necessary though, since he had actually listened to Yoongi playing this, the song which he had an inkling that it was about the two of them. Tae tried to match the notes to what he had heard while basking in the sunshine of an early summer day.

A shadow fell over the table and Tae turned around to find his mom’s face. Seriously this wasn’t the first time but it still surprised him to see Yeongmi. The face was reeaaallllly similar, but unlike his Mom who liked pastel colored clothing, this young lady always wore black.

“Thank you so much for the other day, I’ve come to return the umbrella.”

“You shouldn’t have to bother yourself with such trivial thing, thank you Yeongmi-ssi.” Tae stood up to greet her and to accept the umbrella, somehow the atmosphere was a bit strange.

“A trivial thing?” Yeongmi had a rather cold smile on her face, or maybe Tae was just imagining thing. “No, Taehyung-ssi, anything with the Kim family emblem on it is far from trivial.”

Tae wasn’t sure if he should ask Yeongmi if she had eaten, it was lunchtime and they were at a restaurant, wasn’t it natural to ask? He didn’t really feel like it though, this was supposed to be a quick lunch with his childhood friend and he had work to do soon after… the train of thoughts was cut off when his phone rang.

“Hyung, where’s that coffee place? Seriously this food and drink area round your head quarter is like a maze.”

“Where are you?”

“Just two blocks from your hotel, right in front of a camera shop. I thought I could find the place and then I got lost. Even my google map is confused.”

“Should be close actually, just turn left at the next corner and...”

Tae stood up and walked to a more visible spot to look for his friend, or to make it easier for Jungkook to find him. As he looked left and right for the younger, Yeongmi stood still on her spot until her eyes landed on the piece of paper on the table. She knew that sheet, that signature, the same sheet she saw at that restaurant. With effortlessly swift movements she took out her phone and snaps some pictures. Another cold smile flashed on her face.

“Hyung, how do you even know this place? Do you just go out for lunch every day and try a different store each time?”

“Sounds about right actually, if I could get out I would, even though the hotel’s chefs aren’t bad at all.”

“Tough life you hav-“ Jungkook stopped his sentence as he saw the young lady, “Good day Yeongmi-ssi. I didn’t know you were here, am I interrupting?”

“No, of course not Jungkook-ssi. Glad to see you.”

They both bowed to greet each other and then Jungkook saw the sheet on the table and grabbed it.

“Oh here it is, I’ll put it away before I forget again. Yoongi hyung probably doesn’t actually need it, but I want to give it back to him just in case.” He smiled, though the smile was still a bit reserved.

“Is that Yoongi-ssi’s song for the competition?! How exciting, it will definitely be quite a spectacle, this event.”

“Oh, that’s right, Yeongmi-ssi, you asked me about the competition last time. Do you want to attend?” Tae recalled their dinner conversation and the young lady seemed quite fond of classical music.

“I’d love to, I will have to work out a ticket though, isn’t it invitation only?”

“Here, you can have this,” Tae reached in his suit pocket and took out his ticket, almost dropped his camellia in the process but managed to shove in back in, “My invitation. I’m sure Yeongmi-ssi appreciates real arts.”

“Can I really? Thank you very much, I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Uhm, have you had lunch yet? If you don’t mind you can have lunch with us?” Jungkook asked.

“Thank you, but I have plan already, I was about to leave before you arrived. Please enjoy your meal.”

She bowed and took her leave with a smile on her face. She had already told her people to get a ticket for the competition, but it didn’t hurt to have a special admission ticket from the vice president himself. This was going to be fun, Yeongmi thought as she tightened her grip around her phone. Some interesting scenes from the hotel merger announcement ceremony flashed back in her mind. The truth was that she was also at that party and got to observe that group of handsome young men from the shadow. Her main target was the young vice president of course, so her eyes never left him for long. And if one watched closely enough, one could quite easily the tension between the infamous alpha and the omega pianist. Yeongmi had a hypothesis and so far all evidences screamed “Positive!” She could hardly wait till that competition. What “fated”? What “bond”? Yeongmi dreaded even the words themselves, fated pairing was the evil of creation.

Back at their table, Tae asked Jungkook how he was doing and why he was around the area. The younger said he was feeling better and that he understood there was no use being devastated over something he couldn’t change.

“I’m not giving up though,” the younger alpha said as he browsed through the menu. “Unless Yoongi hyung says it to my face that he doesn’t want me or that he is in love with his fated pair, I reserve my right to try and fight.”

“You’re unexpectedly strong.” Tae replied, voice a bit too dry for his own liking. Big, round eyes looked at him a bit surprised, but the gaze quickly softened.

“Just because I never had to fight for anything before doesn’t mean I can’t do it when the time comes.” The bright, innocent smile accompanying those words wasn’t able to subdue their power. So Tae changed the topic.

“What are you doing over here today?”

“Oh, there is this event about several different undergraduate programs in the States, my parents really wanted me to attend so I thought why not. It’s all day long though, a bit tiring.”

“Good thing you can get out a bit for lunch then.”

Tae smiled and urged the younger to eat. They didn’t have much time before both had to go back to their business. Tae was going to mention the competition and that he was going, but he decided against it. What was the point of doing that? Announcing that he was trying to support his fated pair? Whom he didn’t get along well in the eyes on his friends? That would just be awkward.

+++

It was D-day. After all these months of preparation, writing and re-writing and endless practice and numerous revisions, Yoongi finally had a song he felt comfortable with. No that wasn’t right, he wasn’t comfortable with it, it wasn’t meant to be a comforting song. It was painful and sad, but he lived it and he was going to live it out on stage. Dressed in standard performing attire, he sat down at his old piano, ran his fingers over the keys before closing the lid and left his apartment.

He arrived at the venue with his music friends, Tablo and Kihyun, who were betting on which composer would be most frequently featured this year. They had a quick check of the instruments like all contestants did and then got a surprise visit from Mr An Sunghoon, one of the previous winners of the competition who was also a pianist.

“Min Yoongi-ssi, am I correct? I’ve heard about you. Good luck with your performance! And Tablo, you didn’t age at all! Or should I call you seonsaengnim?” The famous musician laughed heartily.

“Thank you very much.” The younger pianist didn’t know what else to say, he was in awe.

After Mr An had left, Yoongi turned to Kihyun, eyes wide.

“He knows me?!!”

“I told him,” Tablo chimed in, “I’ve known him since college, we’re good friends.”

Yoongi was quite in shocked, though he shouldn’t be since it wasn’t surprising that his genius teacher knew a famous musician. Tablo told them some more things about Mr An, who just came back from a world tour following the release of his new album. It wasn’t that Yoongi didn’t know many past winners went on to become revered names in the field, but seeing them in person on the day of the competition made him feel it in his every bone. Tablo saw the look on his face and pat his shoulders gently.

“It’s okay, you are great too.”

The young professor helped Yoongi fix his bow before they went to the main hall, ready to take their seats. The contestants and their schools’ representatives sat at the front, separate from the audience.  They weren’t sitting for long before some rather loud whispering from the audience turned their attention to the entrance. Kihyun elbowed Yoongi slightly with a sly smile “Oh, it’s your fancy group of friends bro!” It wasn’t their fault that they attracted attention whenever they went, especially when they walked in a group like that, Yoongi thought as he turned to look as well. There were Namjoon, Jin hyung, Jungkook, Tae-, no, no Taehyung. Why did he even think the alpha would be there? There was no reason for him to come even if he was good friend with those three, and he had work, of course, how could Yoongi forget about that! He felt silly with this pointless internal conversation, so he stood up and waved to the guys.

“Good morning, seonsaengnim, hyung,” Namjoon greeted first. The three heirs dressed in business casual, like most of the audience did, it was just that their outstanding physical features and aura made them stand out.

“It’s been a while since I got to hear you play! I’m very excited, and good luck Yoongi-yah.” Jin, as an omega, allowed himself a heartier greeting as he pulled Yoongi into a light hug. The younger didn’t complain at all, it was comforting being near another omega, compared to this otherwise all-alpha group. No matter how close Yoongi was to them, sometimes biology still had its say. As Jin let him go, the pianist finally turned to Jungkook who was looking at him with the same endearing eyes, as if that conversation never took place. Yoongi actually didn’t see him since, there was this one time the younger called him and asked if he wanted his music sheet back but he declined. Somehow he still felt a bit awkward and yet Jungkook was facing him straight on with unwavering affection.

“Good luck hyung, just play like you usually do and people would all fall in love.”

Hey now that was unfair, he shouldn’t just mention falling in love like that, Yoongi almost squirmed. But now wasn’t the time to be flustered.

“Thanks Kookie, thanks everyone. I’ll do my best.”

He smiled, genuinely. It didn’t matter what was going on with his love life, as long as he had all these great friends, he had a good life, Yoongi thought. Namjoon grasped his hand and gave it a light squeeze and Jungkook followed suit, probably thinking “if Namjoon hyung could do it then I can do it as well.” Yoongi considered it an act of pure camaraderie support. As his friends went back to their seats, Yoongi took a deep breath and sat down. The event was finally starting.

With the orchestra playing in the background, a famous professor from the National Music Academy took to the stage and gave the opening remark. It was short and to the point, highlighting the rising popularity of classical music among the general public, and the important role of this generation of musicians to continue spreading that love while keeping the “class” in “classical”. The head judge was next, he focused on the importance of this competition and name-dropped some of the past winners who went on to have amazing career. Finally, a representative from the Kim Group expressed the group’s honor to support this event, and that they were glad to have Mr An Sunghoon to give a performance.

“Wow, really?! So he isn’t just attending, he’s performing too!” Kihyun exclaimed quietly.

“As expected, anything related to the Kim group is a level higher.” Tablo just shrugged his shoulders, his old friend usually declined invitations after his world tour, guessed this time was just special.

“Whatever, I’m just excited to see him performing this close,” Yoongi smiled broadly, his eyes were glued to the artist on stage, who was bowing to the audience before sitting down at the grand piano.

“Thanks everyone for the honor. Truth to be told, I was going to play one of my new songs from the album, but I was given a song written specially for this occasion, and it is a beautiful, beautiful one. So please enjoy.”

Yoongi was beaming with excitement.

And then the music started and his smile disappeared.

He couldn’t believe his ears. Neither could his friends, they were all frozen on their seats.

“No way, no way, no way….”

Yoongi’s shaky voice was all they could hear before the pianist ran out of the room, clearly shaken. Kihyun stood up but Tablo held his arm.

“Don’t act too harshly, you’re an alpha.”

The younger nodded before leaving his seat in a rush. He knew exactly what Tablo was on about, when an omega was in a very stressful or emotional situation, it was best to leave them with another omega; alphas weren’t the best options, unless…

“Don’t follow him, please let me do it.”

A person stopped him in the hall way, his voice serious and powerful, and somehow, convincing. Which was weird because that person was also an alpha like Kihyun. He recognized that face, it was the talk of the town for a while, all the omegas were crazy about him.

Kim Taehyung.

+++

After giving his ticket to Yeongmi, Tae had asked for a general audience ticket so he could just arrive and go to his seat quietly without fanfare.  Well it was difficult since some girls recognized him, but he quickly made a “Shhh” move and put his hands together, begging. So they let him go without making a ruckus while giggling among themselves. He looked around, all the people who should be there were there, and he saw the mysterious Mr Chef too. The last few days because his talk with Jungkook, Tae had kinda forgotten about the whole thing with Mr Chef, he was definitely going to check up on that after this.

He sat back in his seat and soaked in the atmosphere. It was strange how he felt anxious even though he wasn’t the one performing, and no, he wasn’t actually that worried about being seen, he just rather not. The front rows were still empty, meaning the contestants were all backstage. Tae looked at the side doors nervously, wondering from which one his fated pair would emerged. As people started coming out, he spotted Yoongi immediately, looking perfect in his performing suits. Tae had never seen him like that, he had seen him played in his casual clothing and his pretty red velvet jacket that he wore at Tae’s birthday party, yeah that party where it all started. The clean black suit gave the pianist a simple yet elegant look, and he seemed comfortable in it, like he was in his elements. Tae recognized the two people who were with him too, surprisingly he knew quite a number of people in Yoongi’s circle; his stalking efforts did pay off. Oh and here came his group of friends, or, well, their group of friends who were attracting the attention of the audience members. Even Tae himself was quite charmed by his cousin and his cousin’s fiancé. Namjoon and Jin were the combination of a Wall Street power couple and a Hollywood power couple. Which made sense, since both of them were A-class business men with the look of A-class actors. Tae wondered how he and Yoongi would look like… oh wow don’t get ahead of yourself there Kim Taehyung, he mentally slapped himself.

There was his childhood friend too of course, a lovely boy who had grown up into a handsome young man. And the three of them walked straight to Yoongi, and talked to him, and hugged him, and held his hands. Tae felt the urge to go up there as well, but what would he say? He wasn’t the same as those guys, he had no good reason to see Yoongi before his performance, and the very fact that he needed a reason at all spoke volume about the gap between them. So he stayed on his seat and watched people surrounding the pianist, feeling jealous of not just Jungkook, but also Namjoon and Jin, and those friends of Yoongi as well, jealous of how comfortable they all were around his omega, while Tae, despite of or maybe because of the fact that he was the fated alpha, had been reduced to this mess of unspoken words.

The small crowd went back to their seats while Yoongi settled down to his, turning his back on Tae as he looked to the stage. Tae looked at his watch, it’d be time soon. His omega was the third contestant to perform tonight, but the fourth performer, because there would be an opening performance by one of the past winners, a renowned pianist. Taehyung actually knew this artist, the man had performed at his home several times before per his mother’s invitations. This was really going to be a spectacle event.

The opening ceremony began soon after, with short speeches from relevant people. The alpha listened carefully while imagining how his omega must have felt in that very moment. He must be nervous, but probably with a sense of pride as well, to be representing his department in this prestigious competition. How Tae wanted to just sit next to him and hold his hand, to use the magical calming power of a fate pair to make his omega feel better! His thought strayed off a bit until he heard a round of applause as Mr An Sunghoon took to the stage, bowing to the audience before sitting down at a grand piano. A night of amazing music was going to begin for real.

For real-

…

Tae was speechless. Just a few notes and he was already speechless. “This can’t be!” a voice screamed in his mind. He stayed on his seat for 5 more seconds to confirm it, but he needed no more confirmation as Yoongi staggered off with his hands covering his face. Tae bolted to the nearest door and found Yoongi’s friend running after him.

“Don’t follow him, please let me do it.”

He used the most sincere voice possible and looked straight into the other guy’s eyes, another alpha, before following his omega who tried his best to make it to the rest room without breaking down. It wasn’t even jealousy or possessiveness, he just knew what his omega needed right now.

The rest room was empty since the ceremony just started. It was empty except for a pianist sitting on the floor, hugging his knees. Tae didn’t know whether it was his footsteps or his scent that caused the omega to look at his direction. If it was the scent, well, he was totally doing it on purpose. He kneeled down next to Yoongi, and from this distance, he could clearly see the hurtful look on his face and how much his whole body was shaking. Not that he didn’t know before hand, but seeing this clearly really, really hurt.

“It’s my song, my song, mine…”

“I know.”

“My song, I wrote it myself, I practiced, I..”

“I know.” Tae tried to say it as gently as possible, while letting his scent permeate more and more.

“So what if you know?” teary eyes finally look up at Tae as shaky voice pierced through his heart, “everyone else now thinks it’s not my song. But it is, it is..”

“It’ll be okay, Yoongi-yah, I’m here. You’re not alone in this okay?”

The alpha proceeded cautiously by first taking Yoongi’s hands in his, and as he felt no resistance, pulled the omega into his arms. It was a rather awkward position to hug since they were sitting on the floor, but this would do for now. Tae held the pianist in his arms tightly without saying anything until the shaking stopped. This close, he could probably feel my heart beating, the alpha thought.

“But what about the song, that song is mine, now I can’t use it anymore,” Yoongi stirred to look up at him and Tae loosened his hold a bit.

“Just play another one,” he smiled gently.

“Which one?”

“My mom’s song. You know it by heart right?”

“What?” Yoongi was so surprised he pushed Tae off in one swift moment, keeping him at arm length. “B-but that song is yours, right? I can’t possibly… in front of these many people…”

“It’s okay if it’s you. I think Mom will agree too.”

Tae looked straight into Yoongi’s eyes as he said that, sincerely, he had no other intentions than to help his omega and make him feel better. The pianist looked away though, so Tae just reached out and brushed his hair slightly.

 “Now let’s get back out there yeah? Your puffy cheeks are cute but puffy eyes probably aren’t that great, so don’t cry hyung.” Tae stood up first and pulled Yoongi up with him.

“Who’s crying?” a defiant gaze and pout.

“Nobody right?” Tae smiled as he hugged the older’s shoulders, feeling exceptionally brave. And Yoongi, flustered as he was, just looked straight ahead and not looking up since he wanted to avoid the alpha’s eyes. As such, his eyes landed directly on Taehyung’s neck, where a 20 dollar Capricorn necklace could be seen.

“You’re still wearing this?”

“I like it.”

He brushed some stray hair strands from Yoongi’s face and smiled at him while holding his hands, saying it’d be okay once more before heading back out. The omega stood there, perplexed. Fear and anger were gone, he was just purely flustered and confused by Taehyung’s actions.

Yoongi wasn’t the only one confused. Just before Taehyung left, another person was outside, watching them in shock. Well okay Jungkook was glad that Yoongi was doing better, but why was he with Taehyung? He thought the two of them didn’t get along, but they seemed super close like that, almost too intimate to interrupt. The younger went back to his seat, looking rather stunt.

 “How’s hyung?” Namjoon was very worried.

“He’s doing better, I think he’d be fine.” The young alpha seemed a bit lost still.

“I told you not to go, listened to your senior,” Jin shook his head.

Right, Jungkook had wanted to go after Yoongi immediately when he saw the omega leaving his seat, but Jin stopped him, saying “now is not the right time.” Did his hyung know something he didn’t?

“Jin hyung, how did you know? What did you know?”

“I’ll tell you later. Or maybe they will.”

Chapter Text

Tae got back to the main hall as the 1^st contestant was about to finish her performance and as she did, applause filled the room. People used this rare chance to talk among themselves, because talking while someone was performing was extremely rude. And Tae listened. While there were generous praises, quite many people were saying they felt sorry for the girl who had to play right after that magnificent display by Mr An Sunghoon, after that magnificent song. “Magnificent huh, you’re right,” the alpha nodded to himself. Tae knew he had to do something about that song but he’d only do it after Yoongi’s performance of course. Now that he had done his job trying to comfort his fated omega, Tae had the mind to wonder if anyone had seen him running after Yoongi and if that “anyone” happened to be one of his friends. And as if people could hear his question, Jin turned around and looked at his direction. The older omega was rather far away though so Tae couldn’t really see the look on his face.

As the time for Yoongi’s performance was approaching, Tae felt his heart pounding loudly in his chest. He couldn’t get that surprised look on Yoongi’s face out of his mind, the face he made when Tae suggested that he should play that song, couldn’t get over the fact that his omega was so sweet he remembered that promise about not playing the song for anyone else except Taehyung. Even in his most desperate situation, the pianist valued that promise more than the prestigious musical event which he had spent months preparing for. Tae was definitely touched and moved, and maybe he felt something a bit stronger too. Something strong enough to make him think nothing of sharing this song to the world, the song he used to be so possessive over. “It’s okay if it’s you,” Tae said that. And he could swear every word was true.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our third contestant tonight is Mr Min Yoongi from KNS academy. The song he is going to play is untitled, but I can tell it’s going to be on everyone’s mind after tonight. Please welcome Mr Min!”

 The brief introduction was followed by a round of applause. Yoongi was a rather well-known name among musical students, and he was the ace of his school this year so it was fair to say people had been looking forward to his performance. The audience was whispering among themselves, the “untitled” song definitely got their expectation going. Tae wondered if the original song Yoongi wrote was untitled, or if the pianist said that to the announcer after he had to change song. Wait, now that Tae thought about it, he actually didn’t know the name of his mother’s song!! All these years he had simply thought of it as “Mom’s song” or “my song”, and it wasn’t like he ever mentioned it to anyone else, so a name wasn’t really necessary. Well, now wasn’t the time to ponder about that, his attention was called upon as his omega took to the stage, his stance stable and his gaze confident, and Tae knew in his heart that everything would be alright.

The pianist bowed to the audience before sitting down on the bench and placed his hands on the awaiting keys. Tae watched on with utmost fondness and then he saw it: a smile briefly appeared on the omega’s face for a fraction of a second before he pressed the keys.

Just like that, Yoongi played the whole song with his eyes closed while the audience kept their eyes open in awe, some had difficulty doing that as they fought back the tears. The music was flowing through their hearts, and except for those beautiful notes that the pianist was playing, the hall was submersed in a sort of comforting silence that one rarely experienced. It was the sort of comfort a young boy used to find while listening to his mother playing the piano on a warm Sunday afternoon, then fell asleep and woke up to find her smiling as she patted his hair gently. This kind of nostalgic recollection had been hurting Tae in the last 5 years, but now, for the very first time, he recalled his childhood memories with a smile. And Yoongi was smiling too, as he finished the song. The omega sat still for a few more seconds before standing up and bowed to the audience, who gave him a standing ovation. Tae looked at the people around him smiling with tears in their eyes, and he quietly thanked his mother, thanked God, and thanked Yoongi too. Quickly, he got out of his seat and then saw his friends doing the same, they were definitely going to see Yoongi. The Kim’s heir wanted to do the same of course, but he had some other business to attend to. He was going to talk to Mr An Sunghoon.

“Good evening, Mr An, may I have a few minutes of your time?” Taehyung spoke politely with a smile. After spending sometime in the business world, especially in the service sector, he had perfected his diplomatic smile. But the one he was using here was quite genuine since he knew the renowned pianist quite well.

“Oh, isn’t it young master Taehyung?! Glad to see you, you’re such a handsome young man now, the last time I saw you you were still..” Mr An stopped his sentence, probably because he didn’t want to bring up the topic of Taehyung’s mom, it might still be a sensitive one.

“Yeah, the last time was 6 years ago at my Mom’s birthday party wasn’t it? You played a splendid collection that time, I still remember,” the young heir smiled again, defusing the older’s concern.

“Are you here to represent your group? I didn’t expect the vice president to be here in person.”

“Not really, I have a friend performing today, so I want to support him.”

“Your friend? Oh, right, why am I surprised, you love the piano, wouldn’t be strange for you to have friends doing music. May I ask who that is? And don’t worry I’m not part of the judging panel, nor am I going to tell them anything.”

“I never doubt your professionalism Mr An. My friend is Yoongi, Min Yoongi.” Tae said the word “friend” with some mixed feelings while he watched the changes on Mr An’s face, the feeling the older was giving off could be described as “pure delight”.

“Oh my goodness really?! He’s a gem, and that song he played? Absolute masterpiece. Tablo told me about him before and I had to say I had great expectations of him, but he totally blew all that away. I haven’t cried during a performance in a long time, but I did today.”

“It was amazing right? What about the song you played though? What do you think of it?”

“That one was quite something too, I don’t know how your event people found that one but it’s definitely a rare treasure, like a new voice in music, I would love to know the composer.”

“Yoongi wrote that one.” Taehyung answered slowly as he observed the absolute confusion on Mr An’s face.

“Wait what? He did? Someone from your organizing people told me it was a song written specially for this competition and that the sponsor would like it to be the opening song. That was a last minute request and I only agreed to change my plan because it was such a good song.”

“He did write it for this event, in fact, it was going to be his competing song. Now, please tell me more about this someone who gave you the song.”

**

Yoongi looked at himself in the mirror. Thank God he didn’t actually cry because that would make his face look awful; he was going to though, before his alpha showed up.

Right, his alpha. Any other person, especially alpha, would have only added to his stressful state, but his fated alpha was different. The shock Yoongi received when he heard his song being played by another person was so big his brain almost shut down; he ran out of the main hall in a blank state, feeling betrayed but he didn’t know by whom. Maybe by fate, fate betrayed him. He slumped down on the floor in the bathroom, too shocked to cry. The pianist shrank down on himself, hugging his knees. He felt so small and helpless. He felt lost. In just 15 or maybe 20 minutes, it would be his turn. What was he going to do? The unanswered question scared him so much his body wouldn’t stop shaking. His eyes were closed, and his ears too, he couldn’t hear anything.

But his nose didn’t.

And he smelled something, a familiar and comforting scent.

Cedar wood.

Yoongi looked up in the direction the scent was coming from and saw a person. The person was standing next to him, blocking the blinding light from this sight. The person kneeled down, his warmth and scent permeating through the air and surrounded the shaken pianist in a protecting blanket. Such reassuring presence made the last dam holding off Yoongi’s emotions crumbled, and he started mumbling his thoughts out loud in broken sentences.

“It’s my song, my song, mine…”

“I know.”

“My song, I wrote it myself, I practiced, I..”

“I know.” The alpha repeated his statement and at other times Yoongi might have thought that was just an arrogant know-it-all attitude, but not now, not when the cedar wood was slowly but surely soothing his wound. But it wasn’t enough though, Yoongi thought as he remembered the situation he was in. 

“So what if you know?” the tears were threatening to fall out, “everyone else now thinks it’s not my song. But it is, it is..”

“It’ll be okay, Yoongi-yah, I’m here. You’re not alone in this okay?”

“Yoongi-yah?” Did he just call him “Yoongi-yah?” Any other time and Yoongi would have reminded him of their 2-year-and-9-month age gap, but not now, not when he felt relieved just by hearing “you’re not alone.”

And then the alpha took his hand, firmly but not forcefully. As their hands touched, a sort of pleasant warmth seeped through his skin and he liked it, in fact he would like more of it if possible. And as if his fated pair had read his mind, the younger pulled him into his arms. Yoongi didn’t mind the awkward position, all he cared about was that he felt welcomed and protected in those arms. The younger seemed very calm and collected throughout all this so Yoongi was a bit surprised to felt his thumping heartbeats. Before he knew it, his body had stopped shaking and his mind was clear enough to think about what to do next.

“But what about the song, that song is mine, now I can’t use it anymore.”

“Just play another one,” a gentle smile greeted Yoongi when he looked up.

“Which one?”

“My mom’s song. You know it by heart right?”

“What?! B-but that song is yours, right? I can’t possibly… in front of these many people…” the pianist didn’t quite believe his ears, he also had not forgotten that he himself made a promise of not playing that song for other people.

“It’s okay if it’s you. I think Mom would agree too.”

The alpha looked straight into Yoongi’s eyes as he said that, those big eyes were so earnest, so powerful that the omega had to look away.

 “Now let’s get back out there yeah? Your puffy cheeks are cute but puffy eyes probably aren’t that great, so don’t cry hyung.” Tae stood up first and pulled Yoongi up with him.

“Who’s crying?” Yoongi felt a bit embarrassed now.

“Nobody right?” a brighter smile this time and Yoongi felt weak, so he let Tae hug his shoulders; not like the touch felt bad anyway. He didn’t quite know what to say or where to look, but he didn’t dare to meet the younger’s eyes so he just stared at his neck instead. There, a 20 dollar Capricorn necklace was lying proudly. Yes, Kim Taehyung, the vice president and heir of one of the biggest chaebol around, still wore the cheap necklace that Yoongi paid for.

“You’re still wearing this?”

“I like it.”

The alpha looked at him again, smiling as he brushed some stray hair strands from Yoongi’s face. He held his hands and said some encouraging words again. And he left, leaving Yoongi alone there with his racing heartbeat.

The omega checked his look in the mirror once more before heading back out. There was no way he was gonna lose with this song, but winning or losing wasn’t even important anymore. Yoongi knew in his heart that as an artist, and as a person who knew the story behind this song, he had to do it justice. He had the honor of playing this song to the world for the first time and he had to do it right. But he wasn’t worried, not one bit, he just knew everything would be alright. As he came back to his seat, his teacher and friend immediately looked up with worrying looks on their faces. They had the right to, and they probably wanted to ask something, but Yoongi just gave them a reassuring smile and nodded before sitting down. No questions were asked.

 He wasn’t sitting for long before he had to go backstage to prepare. It was strange how his feelings changed. When he still had his own song to play he was anxious, but now, after going through all that and getting permission to play his alpha’s song, the anxiety was gone. Yoongi felt calm, he was determined to do a good job but felt that it would come naturally, no need to strain himself.

And with that state of mind he stepped out under the spotlight, as his name was called and people applauded him to the stage. He closed his eyes, and a scene played out behind his eyelids, a scene where a young and beautiful lady sat down at her old piano and patted her baby bump endearingly. And Yoongi smiled a little before his hands started to dance on the keyboards, just as the lady started to play it for her little one. He felt like he was playing a duet with her, and at the end of it, the lady turned to look at him and said thank you. What he felt at that moment was absolute serenity.

The tranquil moment was soon disrupted by rapturous applause from the audience. Yoongi stood up and bowed, he was moved that people were giving him a standing ovation. No this wasn’t just for him, this was for lady Sunmi too. He looked up and scanned the audience quickly, Tablo and Kihyun were close to the stage so he could see their smiling faces quite clearly. There were Namjoon and Jin and Jungkook, all clapping and smiling as well. And where was… Yoongi’s eyes were looking for a person and just when he found him, the person stood up and left his seat.

Out in the hallway, Yoongi was met with his friends’ embraces. First was Jin, with his omega privilege, then Namjoon, who was overjoyed especially since he was so worried earlier. As he said his congratulation, his nose scrunched a little but he kept smiling. Jungkook didn’t hug him, the boy just held his hands.

“That was amazing hyung, I didn’t expect anything like that, even from you. I guess the world is much bigger than I know.”

“No Kookie, the world is quite small…” Namjoon commented casually but he got jabbed in the ribs by his glaring fiancé.

“OMG Yoongi!! Where did that come from? How long have you been hiding this treasure from me?” Tablo almost yelled but he remembered to keep it nice and quiet.

“Sorry Tablo hyung, it is a treasure indeed, but not mine, I was just keeping it for someone else,” Yoongi smiled. As expected, everyone was blown away. Understandably, the pianist thought as he remembered how he cried the first time he read the music sheet for this song.

“Well, tell that someone we’re grateful they let you play it then, it was quite an experience.” Kihyun patted his shoulder, “and I’m glad you’re all okay now.”

“Oh right, what should we do about your song hyung? It’s your song, we can’t just let it go like that?!” Jungkook remembered the issue with the song, he was furious when he heard its debut earlier by someone who wasn’t Yoongi.

“Not now Kookie, actually I’m not even that concerned over it. I can talk to Mr An Sunghoon to clear that up later, or maybe Tablo hyung can help me with that, they are friends. Now I’m just glad that I gave a good performance, I hope everyone loved the song.”

“How can they not?! You did great Yoongi, I’m proud of you.” Tablo said it for everyone else and he gave his student a quick shoulder hug before urging them to go back in. It would be impolite to miss other contestants’ performances.

As they went back to their seats, Yoongi noticed two things: 1, Jungkook seemed unusually down, and 2, the omega was kind of disappointed not to see a certain person. He had thought they could meet when he saw him leaving his seat earlier, guess not.

The rest of the evening flew by in a delightful way. Yoongi didn’t feel like a contestant anymore, he had one job: to deliver the song to the world in the best way possible and he did, so he just spent his evening listening to really good music played by very skillful artists. His calm aura seemed to have rubbed off on his companions, as both Tablo and Kihyun no longer wore the worrying look on their faces, all three of them, as music people, were simply having a good time.

“Now is the moment we’re all waiting for. Let’s welcome Mr An Sunghoon to the stage to announce the winner of this year competition.”

The renowned artist went up the stage with a red envelop. His eyes were gleaming with excitement.

“I know everyone is waiting for this but please let me say a few words to everyone who played today. As someone who has been here before, I know what this means to all of you, I know how hard you’ve been preparing for this and I want to make sure you know that all of you did a great job. I’m not trying to be diplomatic, it’s been a long time since I got to enjoy so much good music, and this evening has filled me with great hope and belief in the future. So regardless of the result, please continue marching forward with you unaverred hearts and continue to bring great music to people. The future is bright.

Okay I’m not going to let you wait any longer,” Mr An smiled as he opened the envelop, “the winner of the 39^th National Classical Music Competition is: Min Yoongi from KNS Academy. Congratulations!”

“Yes you did it buddy!” Kihyun turned to Yoongi with a blinding smile and gave him a quick hug before patting his back and urged him to stand up. Tablo just smiled and nodded at him. Yoongi scanned the audience again, and this time he found Tae, although he was quite far away, Yoongi guessed he was smiling too.

A person from the Kim Corporation handed him the award and the head judge gave him a commemorative medal on his suit lapel. It was so surreal and real at the same time. Months of preparation had gone into this one night so of course Yoongi was joyous, but the last minute change and how that happened had made him a lot calmer than he would have been otherwise. The head judge then gave a final closing remark, thanking the audience and the sponsor for their support, thanking the judges and the contestants for their hard work and he echoed Mr An’s sentiment from earlier, that he had great hope in this generation of young musicians. At this, he looked at Yoongi’s direction again.

“Mr Min, thank you for your contribution to the competition, Mr An just informed me that the opening song of this year’s event is your work. It was very professional of you to not let this be known before the final decision. I shall take this chance to encourage all music students to explore composing. Playing is fantastic, but writing your own music can really take it to a new level. I hereby close this year’s event and hopefully everyone will continue to support the next competition. Once again, congratulation to all!”

As everyone clapped and cheered, people started to come on to the stage to congratulate the winners. Even people whom Yoongi didn’t know were congratulating him and thanking him for the great music. The pianist was surrounded by admiring audience members while his friends were beaming with pride.

“Kookie, let’s go to your family’s restaurant, we have to celebrate this, my treat!” Namjoon was clearly in a very good mood.

“Good idea Joonie! Kookie, you pick the place, you should know best. Seonsaengnim, Kihyun-ssi, you are coming too of course,” Jin liked his fiancé’s plan. He knew that after this night, some questions would be asked of Tae and Yoongi, but that could wait for now.

“Thanks everyone,” Yoongi was smiling happily. So all well that ended well, right?

They gathered their belongings and chatted on their way out. Jungkook made a call to one of his family’s restaurants to make sure everything was ready so he was a few steps behind. As he looked back, Yoongi was still lingering at the entrance of the main hall.

“Hyung, what are you looking for?”

“Uhm, no, nothing really, let’s go.”

Yoongi’s face wasn’t saying “nothing” though and the young alpha had an inkling of what, or more likely who, the omega was looking for, but he said nothing and just walked Yoongi out to the car park to join their group of friends.

In a black limousine parked nearby, a young lady was sipping her red wine with a rather mysterious smile on her face.

“My lady, it seems that young master Kim Taehyung is not in that group of people,” the driver spoke to her from his driving seat.

“I know, I expected that much, he’s not out in the open about his relationship with that pianist yet.”

“I clearly saw him running after the pianist earlier though. My lady, I don’t quite understand, why are we doing this if the guy still won in the end and the two of them seemed to have become closer? Don’t you want to break them up?”

“You think about this too simply, Butler Kang. If they are not a couple, breaking them up doesn’t mean anything. I also confirmed their fated pair status through this, so it was a good move. And the pianist deserves to win this, didn’t you hear him play? That was a splendid performance.”

“I understand now. Would you like to have dinner outside or should I go back to the mansion?”

“To the mansion, I’ll have dinner there.”

“Yes, my lady.”

**

The celebration dinner was a happy event, as it should be. As soon as they reached the restaurant, the manager came over to greet them and led them to their table, which had been suitably decorated for the occasion.

“Hyung, what do you like? This is all for you so we can get whatever you want,” Namjoon said as he pointed to the menu Yoongi was holding.

“You can choose for me, I’m still a bit elevated after all that.” The pianist smile, it finally sank into him that he won, because earlier he didn’t even think about the result that much so he felt quite normal, but now after all that said and done, he had to come to term with his status as the 39^th winner of this prestigious competition.

While everyone was busy looking for dishes they like, Yoongi downed his glass of water. He didn’t even know he was thirsty before, but he clearly felt hot and drying up now.

“So, Yoongi-yah, I can’t hold this anymore,” Tablo said from the seat next to him, the music people were sitting together, “the song you played, who wrote that? How come I don’t know such a masterpiece exists?”

Everyone turned to look to Yoongi, of course they had all been asking this question in their heads for the last 2 hours or so.

“Uhm, well, you’re not the only one who doesn’t know, Tablo hyung, so don’t feel bad about it. Before tonight, only 5 people knew this song, including me. I have the permission to play it tonight, but I don’t know if I can tell its story yet, all I can say is that it belongs to a, uhm, a friend of mine.”

“And he let you play it because your song was taken? Well, tell him I say thanks. If he had other songs please one day let the world hear them too?”

Tablo was laughing heartily and drank his iced tea. Yoongi didn’t know how serious the professor was with that last question, but it made him sad, thinking no such songs would ever be written again. He didn’t notice the look on the faces of his heir friends, who knew already who that “friend of mine” was.

They dropped the topic afterward as food was served and cheering filled the air. The atmosphere was festive and friendly, but every once in a while, Yoongi felt some eyes on him and he looked up just to find Jungkook looking away real fast.

“Okay, that was great, thanks everyone,” Yoongi said as they were getting ready to leave.

“The honor was ours, Yoongi-yah, you were amazing today, I can’t say that enough. So, seonsaengnim and Kihyun-ssi are taking you home right?” Jin was still holding the pianist’s hands, he had developed quite a fondness over the younger omega.

“Yes hyung, so you two are taking Kookie home?”

“Ye-..”

“Actually no, hyung,” Jungkook cut off Jin sentence and promptly apologized, “I’m sorry Jin hyung, but it’s more convenient for me to use the restaurant car, I mean my place is the opposite direction from Namjoon hyung’s so..”

“Oh, okay, that makes sense. Well then, I hope we can all get together again soon. Good night!”

Namjoon helped his younger friend out with that. Of course he had no problem driving the boy home, the “opposite direction” thing was probably just an excuse but he understood that Jungkook might want some time alone. The younger heir didn’t look the happiest and Yoongi seemed to have noticed that as well, but no one said anything further. They bowed, and hugged, then parted way.

“So, Jinie hyung, how long have you noticed this? About Tae and Yoongi hyung I mean,” Namjoon asked once it was just the two engaged people in the car.

“After Jungkook told us about what happened at our engagement party I guess. He said Taehyung protected Yoongi and comforted him afterward right? Remember Yoongi must have been scared and shaken because of those bad alphas, and then to feel safe with another alpha? One that didn’t seem to get along well with him?”

“Oh, so that was why you looked concerned at the time. I’ve known them for longer than you and I didn’t notice, silly me.”

“They have been very discreet about this right? I notice because I am an omega, I know how differently omegas feel about their fated pair compared to all other alphas. The thing is, except me, it looks like all their other close friends are alphas, so no one suspected them.”

“Still, I have to say I’m a bit shocked. I really didn’t expect this at all, Taehyung and Yoongi hyung? They behave nothing like a fated pair, I mean I was over the moon when I met you and then learned that we are fated, but Tae…I love Tae, make no mistakes, but I don’t like the way he has been treating Yoongi hyung ever since they first met.”

“That’s just what we see right? Like today, we didn’t see how he acted towards Yoongi, but we know he did it right given the results.”

“I’m still so confused, why they have to be like that in front of people though? Yoongi hyung is rather quiet around people he just knows, but it was very uncharacteristic of Tae to be rude to people when he first meets them.”

“It’s likely that they knew it from the start, about their fated pairing, that was why the reaction was so strong. I don’t know Taehyung well enough to speculate about his reasoning, but I am sure he cares about Yoongi. The fact that at the end of the ceremony it was announced the opening song was Yoongi’s song, that must be his doing as well.”

“Oh man, that just makes it more complicated then, if he actually cares…”

“What do you mean?”

“If he doesn’t like him for real, then it would be a bit easier for Jungkookie you know, but if Tae does care then, what are the three of them gonna do?” Namjoon asked with a long sigh, and he rarely sighed.

“That, only the three of them can figure that out.”

“Are we gonna tell Jungkookie about this?”

“Of course not, it should not come from us, and I think he might have some idea already.”

***

The car ride home shouldn’t be that long but it seemed like it lasted forever for Jungkook. The young alpha sat still at the back seat, staring at the window but looking at nothing in particular. It should be a good night, the music was good, the food was good, the smiles on Yoongi’s face were good… but he just couldn’t get that scene out of his mind. He really should have listened to Jin and not run after Yoongi, but he couldn’t. How could he just stay still and do nothing knowing that his hyung was hurt and in need of a helping hand? So he just ran after him, not knowing what he was going to find and how hard it was to take.

As he cautiously approached the bathroom’s door, he heard a familiar voice, and it wasn’t Yoongi’s but his childhood friend’s. 

“It’ll be okay, Yoongi-yah, I’m here. You’re not alone in this okay?”

“Yoongi-yah?” Did Jungkook hear it right? Since when did Tae call Yoongi “Yoongi-yah”? A part of Jungkook’s brain was telling him to leave but he couldn’t help it and peeked inside. The young alpha immediately regretted his decision. There, on the floor, his alpha childhood friend was holding his beloved omega in his arms, firmly but gently, while looking at him with utmost tenderness.

“My mom’s song. You know it by heart right?”

“What?! B-but that song is yours, right? I can’t possibly… in front of these many people…”

“It’s okay if it’s you. I think Mom would agree too.”

At this point, Jungkook’s legs carried him back out to the main hall on their own. Too much information and all of it was new to him. The hugging might be explained by the fact that Yoongi was hurt and Tae wanted to comfort him, he was a nice and caring person after all, Jungkook should know this better than anyone. But auntie Sunmi wrote a song for Tae? And somehow Yoongi knew the song by heart? And Tae was telling him to play that song? Jungkook had known the guy for years and his love for his mother bordered on mother complex, given how possessive he was about everything related to his mom. But “it’s okay if it’s you”? What was that all about? Not that Jungkook didn’t think Yoongi deserved the world, but those words, coming from Kim Taehyung himself, were really something else.

That image of them was carved into the young alpha’s mind, so clearly it hurt. And it didn’t help that when he went to congratulate Yoongi after his performance, he could still smell cedar wood on the omega. Jungkook sank back further on his seat and rested his head on the soft cushion, eyes drilling holes into the car’s roof. Yoongi in someone’s arms, Yoongi smelling like someone else… all that was stirring up something in the young alpha and he didn’t like it. For the first time in his life, Jungkook tasted the bitterness of jealousy, and it was particularly hard to swallow because that someone else was Taehyung. He was not supposed to be jealous of Taehyung over anything, ever. But he was, he so was.

He opened and then closed the door to his room quietly. He wasn’t the type to do things forcefully just because he was in a bad mood. Inside, blooming red camellias greeted him, bright like flames. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and took a deep breath. He had to take a shower. But there was no escaping the red flames, because in his bathroom too, camellias were blooming and they looked even more striking against the white marble background. Jungkook stepped behind the glass door and turned on the shower head and let the warm water jets stream down his face, secretly hoping they could wash away some of the pain he was feeling inside.

While the pain was still there, his mind did clear up a bit. He thought back on all the things that happened between the three of them, about all that had been said.

“Because I’ve met my fated pair.”

“He’s probably not a bad guy, but he doesn’t like me.”

“He made it quite clear I wasn’t to his liking when we first met. Well at least he was straight forward about it, so I wouldn’t have any unnecessary hope about the whole fated pairing.”

Those were the things Yoongi told him before about his fated pair. There was something in there that Jungkook should catch, and he was trying. He tried to scan each words in his brain before zooming in on that part.

“when we first met”

What happened when Yoongi and Taehyung first met?

…

“Why does it have to be a plain and boring dude like you?”

There was something breaking inside Jungkook.

So they knew it from the start.

Or at least Tae knew it. All this time.

And Jungkook even talked to him about it, about his feelings for Yoongi. And what did Tae tell him that time? “I will pray for your happiness.”

Jungkook didn’t know if his childhood friend was praying or not, but the younger alpha was clearly not happy now. That bitterness he had tried to swallow earlier was now trying to find its way back up his throat. To say that he had been played would be too harsh on Tae, cuz Jungkook knew in his heart that the older genuinely cared about him, but he couldn’t help feeling like a fool.

“Do you like him?”

“I don’t know. When it comes to him I just don’t know anything anymore.”

That conversation with Yoongi echoed back again, and Jungkook was screaming inside.

“Hyung? Do you know now?”

***

The day after the competition, Yoongi woke up with a blank mind and tired body, like how people would describe a hangover, and it was weird because he didn’t even drink alcohol. He felt a bit hot so he checked the air con, which was still set at a cool 25 degree. Strange.

The omega left his bedroom and went to living room. There, a lovely shiny trophy greeted him and brought back the devastating low and the incredible high of the night before. He picked the little thing up and held it carefully in his hands, eyeing the embossed letters. “1^st place winner – 39^th National Classical Music Competition”. And he smiled. It took him a while to get here, and it wasn’t easy, there was trouble even at the very last minutes. But he wasn’t alone, he had friends supporting him throughout this journey, and in the future, too, he hoped they would be there for him.

“You’re not alone in this Yoongi-yah.”

The pianist shook his head, why was he thinking of that first thing in the morning. And then he realized, he had not say “thank you” to Taehyung yet. He owned the alpha a big one this time.

The morning routine concluded with breakfast. Food calmed him down, he always liked food, but he felt unusually hungry this morning so he set up a full table and happily chomped away. It was okay, he just achieved something big so he could allow to spoil himself a little. After filling his stomach, the omega thought about what he should do next. He wanted to tell Gramps and Chef Lee about the good news, he also needed to find a way to bring up the topic of his part time job with Jungkook without making the boy sad. Now that Yoongi thought about it, something about the alpha felt kinda off the evening before but Yoongi didn’t quite know what it was. Oh and he should also discuss with Tablo about his graduation plan, and found a way to thank Taehyung for his help. Yoongi realized he didn’t have his number, nor did he know much about his fated pair. On top of all this, he should visit his personal doctor, this month was the time for the stupid suppression break again. Ahh, so many things to do.

But first, he would tell Gramps. So he took his phone and called.

“Good morning Gramps.”

“Good morning, Yoongi-yah, and congratulations!”

“Thank you gramps. So did you come? I didn’t see you yesterday.”

“I did, just didn’t want to add to your pressure so I was being quiet.”

“So, since you were there, you know I played lady Sunmi’s song…”

“Yes, and you played so well, I was in tears.”

“I just want you to know that Taehyung told me I could do that…”

“Hahaha, what are you talking about? Are you thinking I might be mad about this? Of course not. I am glad that when people could finally hear it, they could hear it in all of its beauty, thanks to you.”

“Thank you gramps.”

“Why are you so formal today? If you have time, you should come over, we could cook something together to celebrate.”

***

After talking to Mr An Sunghoon, Tae got some interesting information. Mr An said a guy with a special admission card met him back stage and said he was a member of the event committee. Then the guy bring out some music sheet, saying that the Kim family had personally asked a composer for an opening song and that they would love the song to be performed by Mr An. The renowned artist was planning on using one of his own songs, but he agreed to change plan not only because it was a request from the main sponsor but mostly because the song itself was so good. Tae didn’t comment anything, just thanked him.

Back on his seat, he tried to pay attention to the other contestants but he couldn’t help thinking about what he was told. There was only one person outside of the organizers who had a special admission ticket. The same person also happened to be the only one outside of their group of friends who had seen Yoongi’s music sheet.

Heo Yeongmi.

Tae didn’t want to point finger too quickly but all this was too much to be purely coincident. And the young master felt obliged to deal with this because he was the one who gave her that ticket, he was also the one who carelessly left the sheet out in the open. He had to deal with this. And then Tae remembered that he had actually asked Bogum to look more into her background.

As soon as the award ceremony was over, he headed out. He had wanted to congratulate Yoongi in person but maybe they had already spent enough time together earlier, and maybe the pianist would rather spend more time with his other friends. The alpha took out his phone.

“Hi hyung, are you free now for dinner? On me. Please.”

Kim Taehyung didn’t ask for a favor very often. When he did, it was hard for people to say no.

Half an hour later at one of their usual dining places, he was joined at the table by his older friend.

“Taetae, sorry about the wait but you should really let me know earlier next time.”

“Thanks for coming hyung, it was just, uhm, something urgent came up so I want to talk to you.”

“It’s okay bro- Wow man, you reek!” Bogum scrunched his nose as he sat down, he had smelled something earlier but this close, the scent was very strong.

“What? Do I?” Tae seemed a bit surprised.

“Well, I mean your scent is nice, but you’re releasing enough cedar wood aroma for Hermes to make cologne for a year.”

“Is it that strong? No wonder people have been looking at me weirdly for a while.”

“You’re not even aware of it?”

“Uhm, I kinda had to do it on purpose earlier, just didn’t think it would last this strong and this long.”

“So, what’s the matter? You said something urgent came up so I’m a bit worried now.”

“We can still order first though, then talk as we eat, sounds good?”

“Fine by me.”

They ordered some food and drinks before coming back to the issue at hands.

“So hyung, do you remember I talked about a young lady named Heo Yeongmi before? Did you get anything on her?”

“Oh, that girl. Of course I did. As you said, nothing about her seemed concerning, except for her adoption into the Heo family, so I looked at that. And it was strange indeed.”

“Please tell me more.”

“She was adopted at the age of 9, so 10 years ago. Usually when rich family adopt kids, they really want the kids to be part of their family, so they pick much younger kids and raised them. 9, therefore, seems a bit unusual. Mr Heo had both sons and daughters before adopting her, so it wasn’t because his family really wanted a daughter either. I had my people looked into his actions and it turned out he had been tracking someone down for years before adopting her.”

“Hmm, interesting. Was she at an orphanage before? Anything special about that place?”

“She was, but only for 1 month. Isn’t that strange? People there said that they were informed anonymously that a young girl was living alone without a guardian and they should look after her so they brought her to the orphanage. She resisted at first, and was gloomy the entire time she was there. She didn’t hang out with anyone, just spent all her time reading books.”

“So she was probably living with someone before moving to the orphanage right?”

“I think so too, but no lead on that yet.”

“How come Mr Heo knew about her then?”

“They don’t know. They just remembered that Mr Heo contacted them and asked if they had taken in a 9 year old girl and even showed a picture of Yeongmi. Then he came over, talked to her for a really long time before she agreed to be adopted. She was home-schooled and then studied abroad before coming back to Korea.”

“Such a mysterious story, I don’t even know what to ask,” Tae commented as he casually sliced his steak.

“Did something happen with her?”

“It could be. Hyung, I really don’t want to accuse people, and this foggy history of her really doesn’t help.”

“Come on, what happened? Tell me will ya?”

“She might have done something bad, and that hurt a person who doesn’t deserve to be hurt, ever.”

“Are we talking about Yoongi-ssi?”

Bobum was staring straight at him and Tae stopped eating. In fact he just froze. He knew his friend was sharp, as expected of an elite lawyer, but what with this straight-at-the-target shot?

“How do you know?”

“I don’t know, I just guessed. But it wasn’t hard you know, these days every strange thing coming from you seems to revolve around him.”

“Ha, it’s that obvious huh… But anyway hyung, please continue looking into this for me.”

“Even if it’s not for you I would. I’m intrigued, my inquiring instinct has been triggered.”

The older lightened up the mood a bit with his hearty laugh. This was why Tae enjoyed spending time with him, Bogum knew how to alleviate the tension in the most natural way. Tae then shared that Yoongi just won 1^st place at the competition and Bogum was groaning because he missed it due to a case. They talked more about various things before saying goodbye.

“Hey Taetae, just so you know, if there’s anything you want to talk about you can always call me alright?”

The older alpha patted his younger friend’s back with a smile before driving away. Tae was happy he had such good friend. Just then, his phone buzzed: a message, from another good friend. It was Jungkook, Tae smiled at the name on this phone, but the smile was replaced by a confused look as he read the short message.

“Hyung, are you free tomorrow? We need to talk.”

Chapter Text

“Hyung, are you free tomorrow? We need to talk.”

Jungkook hit the “send” button with calmness, and he got the answer he expected, a Yes. Tae was busy these days but the competition was held on a Saturday, meaning the next day would be Sunday so there was a pretty good chance his childhood friend would be available.

The young alpha surprised himself with how composed he was about all this. He could have been mad or angry but he wasn’t. Of course it would be a blatant lie to say he wasn’t sad or disappointed, but he loved and trusted those two too much to think that they would ever hurt him, at least not deliberately. But it was also precisely because he loved them that he had to clear up this confusion in his heart, he wanted to be able to look at them with unreserved affection again, so he had to talk, and it would be easier to start with Tae.

“Of course, how about lunch? I’ll let you pick the place,” was the reply he got. Tae had always made time for him regardless of the reason.

“Can we eat at your place? It’s been a while since I visited.”

Jungkook thought for a bit before answering. He wanted to have a candid conversation about some really private matter, so doing that at home would be better than outside. And it had to be Tae’s place because Jungkook’s parents would be home the next day and it would be weird for Tae to come over and not spending time with the whole family.

++

“Welcome young master Jungkook. Young master Taehyung is waiting for you.”

The butler greeted him at the front gate of the Kim’s family mansion and just like that, Jungkook walked straight inside and went to Tae’s room. He knew this place like his own house, just like how Tae knew the Joen’s mansion inside out. Jungkook had always thought that it wasn’t just the houses but also the persons, or personalities that were common knowledge between them. Now he wasn’t so sure anymore.

He stood in front of the door and knocked, slowly for the first 2 and followed with 3 quick ones. It was their code.

“Oh hey Kookie, come on in!” The boxy smile was bright and wide as ever as Tae greeted him.

Jungkook took a look around the room, the last time he was here was after he had that talk with Yoongi and was kinda rejected, at that time he was really sad and didn’t make much of his surroundings. But this time, his mind was in a strange state of clarity and the blooming white camellias capture his attention.

Of course they are here because of Yoongi hyung. Silly me never thought about that.

The younger alpha had a sad smile on his face. Why did he never make that connection, especially when Jungkook himself had done the exact same thing for the exact same reason? These camellia pots, that dried camellia that fell out of Tae’s pocket that one time, they all made sense now.

“Do you want to play games? Or should we just eat?” Tae asked while looking for his game consoles.

“I’m not here to play games hyung.”

The answer came out calm, but dried, and a bit cold and it startled Tae a bit.

“O-okay, let’s just eat then. And you said you wanted to talk right?”

“Yes, so can we use the private dining room? I have something really important to discuss with you.”

It was rare to see Kim Taehyung so confused, but he definitely was now. Nevertheless he still requested the room Jungkook wanted and also told his people that he didn’t need anyone there to serve them.

“Hyung, were you at the classical music competition yesterday?” Jungkook asked in a nonchalant way as he fixed the napkin.

“Huh? Uhm, yeah I was. You know it’s my favorite genre right? Just didn’t want to make a big deal out of it due to the sponsorship and all that.”

“What do you make of it?”

“What I think? It was great, everyone played so well and Yoongi-ssi was the deserved winner.”

Oh, so it’s Yoongi-ssi again now. Jungkook didn’t know what kind of face he was making. If it was in the past he would have been happy to know that his childhood friend thought highly of his beloved hyung, but now… Argg, he so wanted to scream, he hated having to think twice about everything Tae said when it came to Yoongi.

“Yes he was. But I was surprised when the song he prepared for the event was played as the opening song. Did it surprise you too?”

“Of course, I couldn’t believe my ears for a few seconds,” Tae answered casually but in his mind he was thinking about Yeongmi and whatever objective she might have for doing all this. When he snapped out of his detective mode and looked up, his childhood friend was staring at him.

“Hyung, how did you know it was Yoongi hyung’s song?”

Silence befell the room, and although Tae didn’t want to say anything, he knew it was his turn to talk.

“I happened to be at the music department when he had his practice, quite many people came to see him actually.”

“You normally don’t stay at the university more than you have to, did you have some business at the music department?”

“No, not really. Hey Kookie, what is this all about? You said we needed to talk, did something come up? You know you can tell me anything.”

“I’ve always done that, I told you everything, so you should too, hyung.”

“What do you mean?”

“Arg, I can’t take this anymore,” Jungkook sighed in frustration as he carefully put his utensils down and his friend did the same, now they were looking straight into each other’s eyes.

“Hyung, please tell me honestly, Yoongi hyung’s fated pair is you, right?”

Time almost came to a standstill but the two of them could clearly hear that the clock was still ticking, counting each second that passed in silence.

“Yes,” the confirmation finally came, even though they both knew the moment the question was asked that a yes or no answer was not really what was being sought here.

“Are you mad at me?”

“Not really, I’m just, well, sad. And feeling a bit foolish as well.”

“I don’t think he would tell you, so how do you know?”

“It doesn’t really matter right? But I don’t want to keep things from you, yeah he didn’t tell me anything more than what I already told you before, that one time when he said he had met his fated pair. I did see you two yesterday though. And for your information, Jin hyung noticed this before I did, probably for a long time as well.”

Jungkook said all that with a sad smile on his face and that was painful to look at.

“Are you not gonna ask me why I kept it from you?”

“You have your reasons, and there’s no need to ask right hyung? Since you’re going to tell me now anyway.”

This confrontation was more civilized that Tae had feared, he was lucky his childhood friend was such a well-mannered and level-headed guy. They were already at this point, why bothered hiding anymore?

“First of all Kookie, don’t blame Yoongi-ssi. Everything was my fault. He and I never talked about this, we never talked much actually, except for that one time I went shopping with him, and, well, yesterday. You remembered when you told me about your conversation with him, and you said that his fated pair was a jerk? I wasn’t too happy about that description but maybe I am a jerk, have been one from the start.” This time, Tae was the one with the unhappy smile.

“No no, hyung, I didn’t mean it like that, I didn’t know it was you…”

“See, this is one of the reasons why I didn’t want to tell you,” Tae shook his head, “You are too nice to me, you think too highly of me. If it was someone else then he’s a jerk, but if it’s me then I’m not a jerk?”

“But, but what’s wrong with that? You’re like a brother to me, of course I think of you highly…”

“Kook-ah, that’s great, most of the time, but not in this case. You told me you believed in love, that you would fight right? Are you gonna fight differently now that the no-name fated pair turns out to be me? I’ve known you long enough to know that you might even think about forfeiting, but I also know that you’ll not be able to let it go until you give it your best so…”

“Forfeiting? Isn’t that what you have been doing?”

Jungkook abruptly cut off Tae’s speech, it looked like he could hold it no longer.

“Worse still, you don’t even let people know that you’re forfeiting, but hyung, do you seriously think that no one will ever find out that you two are fated? Let’s just say that somehow I ended up together with him, and then one day I found out about this, how do you think I would feel? Do you think I’d be happy knowing that I only got him because you didn’t even try?”

Even though the younger still managed to keep his composure and didn’t say anything out of line, the frustration covered up under that challenging tone startled Tae. His younger brother had never talked back to him like this. But the older was not gonna sit there and say nothing.

“You’re right and also not right. While it’s entirely possible that I would give up my chance for you, I’m not sure it’s the case here, since I kinda threw my chance away from the very beginning,” Tae averted his eyes from Jungkook and looked down at his plate instead. He stayed still for a few seconds before breathing out heavily and starting to slice the juicy meat which had now gone cold. “This is the other reason, probably the main reason as well, why I didn’t tell you about the fated paring. I didn’t have confidence that it would work out.”

Jungkook didn’t believe his ears, this was something new to him. The Taehyung he knew, and most people knew, was always confident and always so sure of what he was doing. But the person sitting in front of him now, with down-casted eyes and melancholic aura, was anything but that.

“How, how would you know that?”

“Do you remember that one time I went to your house when you had piano lesson? That time Yoongi-ssi told me he thought we were a mismatch. And I couldn’t say anything because all I did up to that point had pushed him away from me. He has come to believe that biology played a cruel joke on him that the fated pair he has been waiting for turns out to be me.”

“Wasn’t that what you thought too? When you first saw him on your birthday?”

“Yes. So much for my ideal type and everything. I was so shocked I became dumb.”

Both of them stopped talking for a while, and then Jungkook also picked up his knife and fork and started poking at his food.

“You’re really silly hyung,” the younger finally said, “before you wonder if I’d be too nice for my own good, or if Yoongi hyung really thinks you two are a mismatch, you must be sure of your own feelings. I can only make a good decision if I know how you truly feel, the same goes for Yoongi hyung. So tell me, how do you feel about him? Do you love him?”

All the movements stopped and they were just staring at each other. Tae was a bit flustered, he knew those eyes were demanding answer but he wasn’t sure what to say. Jungkook was right, this was his biggest problem.

“That, I don’t know. I clearly do not hate him.”

“Hyung!!” Jungkook dropped his knife and the item made a loud noise as it hit the plate, “Are you trying to make me mad? You even gave him your mother’s song and you’re still saying you don’t know?”

“Sorry if that upsets you, but Kook-ah, I genuinely don’t know. You asked me before whether people fall in love just because they’re fated, right? I can’t be sure if I care for him that much because of the pairing power, I also can’t be sure if that connection was also the reason he accepted my helping. I’m just…”

“What difference does it make anyway? There’s no doubt your feelings will be affected to some extent because of the pairing, so what?”

“Kookie, why are you telling me all this?”

“Oh don’t worry hyung, I’m not forfeiting. I told you before right, unless Yoongi hyung says it to my face that he doesn’t want me, I’m not giving up. But I also don’t want you to yield to me. I want you to be sure of your feeling, let Yoongi hyung know it and if in the end he chooses you, I’ll take it like a man. Hyung, I know you consider me your younger brother and have always treated me as such, but I’m no longer a kid who needs protection. If he ended up choosing me, I’d feel at ease knowing that you did what you could and not giving up because of me.”

Tae felt like he almost teared up but he tried not to, he still wanted to hold on to whatever left of his big brother image.

“My goodness Kookie, since when have you become so matured? I apologize for not taking you for the man you are, but trust me everything I told you today was true, including my confusion. I didn’t try to evade the problem or anything. I am going to give it the most serious thought and I’ll talk to Yoongi-ssi, and to you too.”

“That’s better hyung,” Jungkook breathed a sigh of relief, he had been straining himself a bit too, “uhm, I don’t know if this is appropriate, but how did Yoongi hyung know auntie’s song?”

“Oh, that, I really want to know the story behind that as well. He told me that Mr Chef gave him the score but he didn’t tell me anything more than that.”

“Mr Chef?”

“Oh, the old gentleman at the merger announcement event, do you remember?”

“Ah that old man, wait, so he knew auntie? Who is he?”

“I’d love to know, he must have been very close to her, because aside from Mom, only my father and I are supposed to know that song. But he doesn’t simply know it, he has the score sheet, which he showed Yoongi-ssi.”

“Wait, so that song was the present he gave you that time?”

“Correct.”

“You still haven’t found out his identity?”

“It seems like Yoongi-ssi actually knows, but he said he had to ask for permission before saying anything, and I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to Mr Chef since. I also do not want to go full detective-mode on him, that seems disrespectful, so I’ll wait.

“I think that’s the right thing to do. Wow so much happened. How’s your work hyung? Everything’s going okay?”

“Just the usual stuff, I’m used to being busy now. What about you, still going to join me at the university?”

“Yes hyung, I prefer KNS over studying abroad. Feels like it’s not time to go oversea yet.”

“And at home? How are uncle and auntie?”

“My parents are doing well, I just hope they stop it with their silly idea though.”

“Huh? What silly idea?”

“Oh, I haven’t told you about this. Haizz, somehow they thought introducing me to a bunch of omegas to help me find my fated one faster was a good idea, so they gathered information on all those people whom I’ve never met before and gave me a pile of profiles to go through. Like, it’s not a job interview, what on earth are they thinking?”

“Well, they probably just want you to have more exposure to people, especially omegas, since you presented kinda late and you have been sticking to only me and Namjoon hyung throughout adolescence. Of course they didn’t know much about Yoongi-ssi…”

“Namjoon hyung said pretty much the same things. Haizz, it’s still silly though. And why are they in such a hurry anyway? I’m 18, not a 48 years old bachelor.”

“A 48 years old bachelor? Hahaha,” Tae laughed out loud, it felt so good to be able to laugh comfortably around his childhood friend again. “Whatever the case, I’m sure they only have your best interests in mind.”

The food was all cold by now so Tae had his people serve them something new. The atmosphere was light again, as if such serious conversation didn’t happen. But of course neither of them forgot.

“About what I told you earlier, can you promise to take it seriously?” Jungkook gave his friend a reminder as they were waiting for deserts.

“Yes, I promise you, not as your childhood friend, but as a man to a man, I’ll make sure that myself, and you, and him, know my true heart.”

“And I promise not to go easy on you,” Jungkook smiled. It wasn’t mean to be a challenge between enemies, it was a promise between friends to do their best so they wouldn’t have any regrets, regardless of the result.

The younger alpha had to leave afterwards since he wanted to spend time with his parents on their rare day off, so he finished all the sweets and fruit and tea before heading out. As he was about to leave the private dining room, Tae suddenly held his arm. Jungkook turned around, it looked like his hyung still had something to say.

“What is it hyung?”

“Jungkook-ah, thank you.”

There was a bit of surprise on the younger’s face before it brightened up with a bunny smile.

“What are you saying? You’re my big brother, whatever happens that will not change.”

“Haha, today you seemed more like the big brother than me, little bro.”

+++

Yoongi had wanted to visit his Gramps right after he texted him, and it was Sunday too, should have been perfect if not for his stupid body acting up. He felt lethargic and upset, for whatever reason. Well, it wasn’t “whatever reason”, it must be the omega nature acting up since he was on suppression break this month. It was just that this time seemed worse than usual, so he promised to meet up with the old man later and then called his doctor’s office. It was Sunday, so he left a message for her instead, asking if he could visit the next day.

Having no desire to cook nor to leave his place, he ordered some food to be delivered and spent the rest of the day just lazing around. It had been a while since he was this idle, and regardless of the condition of his body, Yoongi realized that he could really use some rest.

Came Monday and he woke up, feeling better, there was more strength in his limbs as he crawled out of bed. The trophy, now proudly stood behind a glass wall in a nice case, greeted him and put a smile on his face.

As expected, people surrounded him with congratulations and praises as soon as he entered the vicinity of the music department. Yoongi tried his best to reply and thank as many of them as possible, but he couldn’t help feeling like he wanted to run away. It wasn’t because he didn’t like the attention but more likely because of the scents of the alphas in the crowd.

“Come on guys, let him breathe. There will be other chances for your good wishes so no need to rush.”

“Ah, good morning seonsaengnim!”

The crowd of students spread out a bit as their genius professor arrived; Yoongi could breathe a sigh of relief here. Tablo kinda saved him.

“Uhm, thank you so much everyone, but if it’s okay may I leave now? I have something to discuss with seonsaengnim.”

The young pianist took his opportunity and of course his peers couldn’t say no, so he waved goodbye to them and followed Tablo to his office, taking care to keep a distance between them.

“I guess you wanna talk graduation plan?”

“Yes,” Yoongi sat down after his teacher, “so this is what I would like to do…”

They had a productive talk and Tablo gave him good advice on what to do next with his career, and Yoongi was very grateful to have such an excellent teacher. Now the omega had to find another expert to give him advice on the condition of his body.

“Good morning doctor Chang.”

“Good morning Yoongi-ssi, how are you today?”

“I’m doing better than yesterday, and, uhm, I’m sorry for calling your office on Sunday.”

“No need to sorry, I’m your doctor, I should take care of your health. Okay, let’s do some quick check first.”

She measured his temperature and pulse rate and blood pressure, which all turned out to be normal. Yoongi wasn’t surprised, he didn’t feel feverish and his heart wasn’t drumming in his chest, but there must be something abnormal here.

“Although those checks were normal, your scent seems stronger than usual. This month is your scheduled suppression break, so it must be the incoming heat that’s taking a toll on your body.”

“I guessed that much, but doctor, I don’t know, this time it seems strange, like a lot stronger? I usually don’t feel this uncomfortable around alphas until the day the heat actually hits, and it should still be like a week away or so.”

“So you mean you can feel it already?”

“I pretty much had to run away from a group of friends earlier, and had to keep a good distance from my very nice professor as well, they are people I know and I still felt upset.”

Doctor Chang seemed to be thinking about something for a bit, before asking again.

“This might be a bit personal but how are things between you and your fated pair?”

“Uhm, that, I still met him every once in a while.”

“When was the last time you met him?”

“On Saturday.” Yoongi suddenly felt embarrassed for no good reason, this was his doctor and she was just asking questions for diagnosis purposes.

“Did anything happen?”

“No, not really. I mean I was in a stressful situation and he kinda comforted me through that, but, like, we just hugged, nothing else happened.”

“It might be because of that,” the doctor pulled out her prescription notes and then looked at him again, “Do you still remember what I told you before? The more you meet up with your fated alpha without doing anything, the worse your condition will be.”

“I couldn’t help it. It wasn’t like I met up with him on purpose or anything,” the words came out of Yoongi’s mouth a bit too rushed, it sounded like he was trying to explain something that didn’t need explaining.

“Please calm down Yoongi-ssi, I’m not blaming you, and even if you do see him on purpose there’s nothing wrong with that. The thing is your body doesn’t know about your intentions, all it cares is that the paired alpha is right there and it craves for him. And you said he managed to comfort you right? That just served as more proof, to your body at least, that he was the right one.”

“What do I do now then? Anything? Or do I just wait for the heat to come and pass?”

“Is that what you want? Given the symptoms this time, it could be way worse than your previous unsuppressed heats, which were already on a level of their own.”

“I can use some pain killers or something, right? Or is there some way to better prepare for it, since I still have a few days?”

“A few days…Wait, Yoongi-ssi,” the specialist abruptly turned to Yoongi, “you said you two just hugged right? Did he do anything else to comfort you?”

“Wha-, no, really, nothing else happened,” the pianist was taken aback by his doctor’s change in demeanor, “if anything, his scent was rather strong and honestly I found that comforting. Is there something wrong doctor?”

“You know, Yoongi-ssi, the scent is just a qualitative measurement of the pheromones, so stronger scent just means a higher level of those biological chemicals. It looks like your fated alpha has used his pheromones to calm you down, which worked. But now that the stressful situation is over, the other effects of those chemicals become prominent.”

“E-effects?”

“In short, they can either make your heat come earlier, or more intense, or both. In your case, you and your fated alpha have had limited contacts so these effects are likely stronger since your body is not used to his pheromones.”

Yoongi so wanted to curse, but he didn’t. He was even naïve enough to think that the calming effect of the fated pair was quite convenient. It turned out nothing was ever that easy.

“I can give you pain killer,” Dr Chang finally said when her patient didn’t look like he was going to say anything, “but it’s not a good solution, there’s some kind of pain for which such pills are useless. Your personal life is up to you, but as your doctor, I sincerely think you should get help from someone, continuing like this is not the best option.”

Yoongi thanked his doctor and took the pain killers anyway. This coming week was gonna be great, huh? It was like life wanted to keep him on the ground after the incredible high of winning the prestigious artistic competition so now he had to deal with such painful carnal issue. But being a rather practical person, Yoongi quickly thought about his plan, if the heat was gonna be here anytime now, he’d better get as much done as quickly as possible. He had to restock his fridge first, because even getting delivery would be difficult if the heat was strong.

At the thought of grocery shopping, Yoongi thought about the old man, maybe they could cook something together and then he could take some home. That sounded like a good idea so he called and put the plan into actions.

++

“Hello Gramps! I’m here, and I have ingredients.”

“Hey there Mr 1^st place winner, congratulations!”

Chef Jungsik greeted him at the door and he smiled brightly. It wasn’t the first time Yoongi thought about this but he really felt comfortable here, he felt at ease, at home. The old man helped him get the stuff into the kitchen while looking at him with a concerned expression.

“Uhm, Yoongi-yah, are you feeling unwell?”

“You notice?” The young omega wondered if it was really that obvious. “I’m just a bit tired. My heat should be coming this month and it’s causing problems already.”

“Is it usually bad?”

“Yes Gramps, very much so. Even though I only have to put up with it twice a year but it’s just so bad that two times are still too much.”

“Twice a year?”

“Oh, I’m usually on suppressions, but I take two breaks per year from those pills, my doctor said that it’d be better for my body this way.”

“Ha, we didn’t have that back in the day. Modern medicine is really something.”

“But it doesn’t really matter once the heat comes though Gramps, no medicine can help with that.” Yoongi just sighed in defeat as he cut the meat.

“Yeah that’s true, the only real help is-...hmm, I should get more carrots,” the old chef awkwardly changed the topic as he realized he almost mentioned something sensitive. Of course it was no secret what kind of help he meant, but since he knew the situation between Yoongi and Tae, he felt like he shouldn’t say that.

Yoongi knew that too of course, but he made up his mind already, he had managed to get through his previous heats for a few years already, this coming one should be no different. It’d be tough but he’d be fine. At least that was what he was telling himself.

The old man showed him a new recipe and they made quite a lot of food, enough for Yoongi to take home with him. They ate and talked about various things but eventually came back to the topic of that song.

“I was so worried when I heard Mr An played your song, I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what you should do.”

“The same for me Gramps, I almost lost it,” Yoongi almost shuddered when he remembered the despair he felt at that time. He never wanted to go through that again.

“But all well that ended well right? I was so proud you know, of Sunmi, of you, and well, of Taetae too. I knew he wasn’t a bad boy.”

“Yeah he wasn’t… I felt bad to let the MC introduce the song as untitled though, but I still don’t know the name so…”

“Oh the name of that song? It’s Hope” chef Jungsik smiled broadly, “It was Sunmi’s hope for her son, the hope that she was willing to trade her life for.”

“She was really an amazing person,” Yoongi smiled too, “Uhm, talking about Taehyung-ssi, I still haven’t thanked him, and I feel bad about it.”

“Just call him or something, he’ll be glad if you call I’m sure. Or if you really feel like it you can make the stew for him again.”

“I don’t have his number.”

“Huh? Oh, uhm well, I can give it to you.”

“You have his number?”

“I don’t, but I’ll ask my son for it.”

“You mean Taehyung-ssi’s father? No need Gramps, I’m friend with both his cousin and his childhood friend, I can get it from them, it’s easier that way.”

“Actually, you’re right. But I’ll still ask my son anyway. By the way Yoongi-yah..”

“Yes?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing really. Just thinking what kind of food we should make next time, but of course we’ll have to wait till after your heat.”

The old man looked like he had wanted to say something else but Yoongi decided not to push him. He wasn’t the type to push people anyway. They spent the rest of their time talking about different styles of cooking and Mr Jungsik even showed him his cookbook which seriously looked amazing. Yoongi left his place with a full stomach and a delighted mood.

++

After getting home and resting, he decided to tidy up the apartment a bit, cleaning and rearrange some stuff. It was kinda messy since he was busy and had not paid much attention to his little shelter. He was eagerly moving around and then stopped when he reached out to the glass case where his most precious possessions were kept.

Inside, next to the sparkling trophy was a pretty gift box. After staring for a while he picked the pretty thing up and opened it, revealing a shiny Rolex. It surely brought back a lot of memories, from the birthday party when Jungkook gave it to him with such a shy smile on his face, to the most recent time Yoongi wore it, which was the hotel merger event. It was no coincidence that every time the omega wore this gift he was with the gift-giver. He wanted to show the younger that he treasured his present, but he didn’t have many chances to use a $10,000 watch aside from those fancy parties which the alpha invited him to. Right, from the time Yoongi got this beautiful timepiece till now, in those few months, Jungkook had turned from a not-yet-presented boy to a fine fine alpha, one braved enough to bring up the question of fated pairing straight to Yoongi’s face.

“No, we are not.”

“I have met my fated pair.”

Yoongi closed the box and placed it back inside the glass case. Recent memories had not been that happy, and Yoongi still had not had a good talk with Jungkook after that conversation. The omega stopped his cleaning efforts and just dropped down on the sofa, hugging his kumamon. What did he want to achieve by saying all that to the young alpha? Obviously, it was to make him give up. It would be better that way of course, Yoongi thought. Jungkook was too nice, and too young too, to get stuck with someone who wasn’t his fated pair. He was 18 and just presented for like two months or so? There was still so much time for his fated pair to show up, what right did Yoongi have to tie the alpha to him now?

That was Yoongi’s reasoning and he managed to convince himself. But he still didn’t have the courage to say “my fated alpha is your dear childhood friend, and even though we are not that close or anything, I still can’t get together with you” nor did he have the heart to say “I don’t like you.”

Because it wasn’t true.

Whatever the case, maybe his rejection worked? Because at the competition, Jungkook wasn’t as affectionate as he used to be. He was still sincerely nice and obviously still cared, but he seemed much more reserved with his actions. More importantly, he didn’t look happy and Yoongi didn’t like that. On Saturday night, he was lost in the thick of the emotions he felt about the competition so he didn’t quite grasp the situation, but now that Yoongi thought about it, he could have done more to cheer the younger up.

Wait, he could still do it right? He could do something for Jungkook. Regardless of what he could be to the younger, he wanted to make the boy happier. It was always the younger who took care of him, now he wanted to give back too. So he came up with a little plan. First, he needed to ask Namjoon when Jungkook’s birthday was. Then, he should text Kookie and ask him to go to Chef Lee’s place for lunch the next day. After receiving positive answers from both of them, he felt much better and happily resumed his cleaning duty.

+++

Morning came and Yoongi woke up with headache and rising temperature again. It was no good, the damn heat. But he should still have time, the omega thought, and he would not let this get into his way. He had a good plan for today, maybe after lunch he could ask Jungkook to help him with some shopping duties since the day before he only bought enough food to cook with the old man.

Thankfully the symptoms wore off after a while and once he was done with breakfast and coffee, he felt much better. The coffee really helped. And Yoongi liked the smell of coffee.

Dressing up for the day, he went with the casual look, it was summer so no need for too many layers. In fact he couldn’t bear the heat, he felt hot enough as it was. Then he rumbled through his desk and drawers and bed but couldn’t find his watch anywhere. It was so weird, he always put his watch on the desk near his bed, but it was nowhere to be found now. Yoongi liked wearing watch, he would feel lacking if he went out without one. He tried looking for it in the living room but still couldn’t find it. His eyes kept wondering about and then stopped on the glass case.

Why not?

And so, Min Yoongi, a not well-off student wore a $ 10000 Rolex and boarded a bus to Dongdaemun market. He laughed at the thought that if people noticed the crown logo on the watch, they’d probably think it was a counterfeit. But it was alright, he wasn’t trying to show off or anything, he just wanted a watch and since he would be having lunch with the one who bought it, it was actually a nice thing to do. He couldn’t stop thinking about his usual watch though? Where did it go? After giving it a long and hard thought, a light bulb went off in his head. He must have left it at the old man’s place after taking it off to cook. He would call him later to confirm but now was time for some shopping.

Yoongi smiled as he picked up a Virgo pendant necklace. Jungkook had said many times that he wanted one, and now was a good time to get him one. His birthday was still a bit far away, not to mention that a $20 necklace would seem like a flimsy birthday present especially given the fact that Yoongi was wearing a $10000 present from the same guy. But for an I-want-you-to-cheer-up gift, it was absolutely perfect. So the omega bought the thing, asked for a card to write something and put the two items in a small paper bag adorned with a yellow ribbon. He left the shop feeling delighted. Checking his watch, it was 11 am already, he should get going.

The bus meandered through crowded streets packed with restaurants. Yoongi stared out the window, it was about lunch time so people were coming to these places in droves. The high-end restaurants on the next street didn’t look as busy, since obviously less people could afford to eat there. Look at them, all fancy cars and fancy clothing and good-looking faces. Like those two people right there for example-

The omega’s eyes opened wide. The bus already went pass that place and he could only look at those people for a short time but there was no doubt about it, they were Taehyung and the omega lady, uhm, Yeongmi. Yoongi suddenly felt unhappy, and he wanted to slap himself for it. He was the want who said he hoped Tae would find someone like his mother and he knew Yeongmi fitted Tae’s ideal type better than he ever would. Was he being a liar when he said that? Yoongi shook his head. He tried hard to stop feeling disgusted about himself and focus on his plan today instead. He wanted to cheer Kookie up, he even brought a gift; they were going to have lunch together with really good food, have a nice talk, and maybe do some shopping afterward. It was such a good plan.

“Hi Yoongi-yah, here to collect your congratulation food?” Chef Lee greeted him with open arms and gave him a warm hug. The man smelled like lamb skewers, which was not a bad scent even with the omega’s heightened sense of smell.

“Yes uncle, I’m gonna eat so much I’ll become a whale.”

“Haha, I doubt you can do that, but you’re welcome to try. And congratulations on your award, I was never in doubt.”

“Thank you Uncle.”

Yoongi went to his table. Jungkook wasn’t here yet but there was no rush, Yoongi could wait, he had time today.

“I’ll give you an ice tea first. Sorry it’s a bit hot in here, maybe I should invest in a better air con,” the chef made an effort to personally serve his special guest today, as he put a glass of tea on the table he noticed the little paper bag. “Oh, what’s this? A present?”

“Yes Uncle.”

“For whom? Hey don’t tell me some admirer gave you this on your way here.”

“Haha, you sure know how to joke. No it’s my gift for Jungkookie.”

“He’s coming too? That boy can really eat well. But wait, why are you giving him a gift, shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“He’s been feeling down lately so I want to cheer him up. Besides he’s given me enough gifts already.”

“Sweet boy isn’t he.”

Mr Lee laughed and then left again, leaving Yoongi at the table. Having nothing to do, the pianist decided to call his Gramps to ask about his watch.

“Hi Gramps, sorry to bother you but do you happen to see my watch?”

“Yes, I was about to call you actually. It’s here, do you need it soon?”

“It’s okay, I have another one. I’ll pick it up next time I-”

The phone dropped down onto the table making a loud noise. Yoongi hands were shaking, his whole body was shaking. He tried to reach for it but he was so dizzy he knocked the glass over. The item fell and shattered on the ground.

“Yoongi-yah what happened?”

Chef Lee ran out from behind the counter as he heard the noises to find his young friend clutching onto the table, breathing hard. Yoongi’s eyes were half open and his face red, glistering under a layer of sweat. And it wasn’t because of the bad air con. The middle-aged man had seen this kind of symptoms before and the soaring camellia scent made it clear without a doubt. “Thank God I’m a beta, but I need to hide him from other customers quick,” he thought before picking Yoongi up.

“Sorry about this Yoongi-yah, but you shouldn’t be out here.”

The chef carried the young omega to a small room at the back of the shop and poured a glass of water for him but Yoongi seemed really out of it. Not sure what to do, he left him there and locked the door before going back out to look for his phone, which was ringing. On the screen it said “Grandpa Jungsik”. Mr Lee picked up, he needed to talk to someone about Yoongi anyway and somehow the name “Grandpa Jungsik” gave him a positive feeling, like this should be a good person to talk to.

“Hello-”

“Yoongi-yah what happened? Are you okay? Wait, you don’t sound like him, where’s Yoongi?”

“Hello, please calm down and listen,” the Chef quickly walked to the back of the shop, he didn’t want others to hear, “are you Yoongi’s grandfather?”

“Uhm, not biologically, but I’m his friend for sure, please tell me is he okay? What happened?”

“He went into heat and kinda passed out for now. His condition seems bad though.”

“Where is he? Is he safe?”

“Don’t worry I’m a beta, and I’m his friend too. He’s at my skewer restaurant on 5^th street, the address number is 356B. Could you pick him up or something? I don’t have any of his friend’s number.”

“Of course, please take care of him for a bit longer.”

The Chef waited anxiously and the clock was ticking. He was thinking about closing the shop for the day because camellia had started to leak out of the room. If any of the guests was alpha it would be bad. He was on his way to turn to the outside sign to “CLOSE” when a person came almost crashing in.

A very handsome person who smelled like cedar wood.

+++

Jungkook was so happy when he got Yoongi’s message. It was about the right time too. After his candid talk with Tae, he was much better and even felt bad for being so gloomy in front of Yoongi before. But whatever happened, here they were and the pianist even invited him out to have lamb skewers together. Maybe he made his hyung worried, how lame, Jungkook thought. Before he could become someone closer to Yoongi, he was already not a good dongsaeng, especially so when he could only get out of his “how to open a new restaurant” training this late.

As he started the engine of his car and joined the busy streets, Jungkook felt more and more at fault by the minute. But he shouldn’t speed though, no matter how much he wanted to get to 5^th street quickly, he had to drive carefully. And by driving carefully, he had enough time to notice a flower shop. Thinking he should apologize for all his “guilt”, the young alpha stopped by for a bit and picked up some flowers. He felt a little giddy, like a young boy buying flowers for his date. Wait, he was a young boy buying flowers for his uhm, not-yet-date but whatever. He left the shop feeling happy.

With confident strides he walked to the restaurant as fast as he could after parking his car, holding a colorful bouquet of various pretty flowers. A dozen roses would be too obvious, and Namjoon laughed at him for doing that at Yoongi’s birthday so he went for a different option. People on the street looked at him with admiringly, especially the omegas. He paid them no attention since there was only one omega in his mind and heart.

The moment he opened the door, something changed. There were still traces of camellia in the air, sweet sweet camellia which smelled a bit different from the usual Yoongi. And when Jungkook realized it was the same smell as that one time he escorted Yoongi home because the omega went into heat, the alpha almost crashed into the counter.

“Chef Lee, where’s hyung?”

“Jungkook-ah, someone took him. I wasn’t going to let some guy just take him away like that, but he said he was Yoongi’s fated pair and even gave me his ID card as token of his sincerity, here you can see…”

Jungkook didn’t have to see the ID card, in fact he couldn’t see the ID card, couldn’t see anything at all. He dropped his head onto the counter, a million questions running rampant in his mind. Why? Why did this happen? How did Tae even know? How late was Jungkook? If he could just get here earlier things would be different. Wait, how different? What would he do if he was to be with an in-heat Yoongi? What would he be allowed to do? Damn it why did it have to be Tae of all people? And when they just had that honest talk and all…

“Here, Yoongi said this was for you.”

The chef’s voice pulled him out from the mud of unanswered questions. Jungkook looked up to see a small paper bag with a yellow ribbon. He thanked the chef and took it, shaky hands slowly opened the bag.

A glistering Virgo pendant necklace. And a small greeting card.

“I want you to be happy.”

Chapter Text

Taehyung was surprised when his childhood friend texted him and said that they needed to talk. In the past, if Jungkook wanted to meet he would just say “hey hyung let’s meet” or “are you free”, something along those lines. But “we need to talk”? That sounded way more serious than what Tae found comfortable. But he wasn’t one to say no, not to his younger brother and especially when he didn’t even know what this was about yet.

The boy came and the moment he stepped into Tae’s room, the older alpha could tell something was different. The smell of vanilla scented coffee was stronger than usual too, and alphas didn’t use their scents around one another for any purpose other than confrontation or intimidation.

“I’m not here to play games hyung.”

Okay, no games then. Tae led his friend to the private dinning room, feeling more confused than ever. As the conversation unfolded, he felt like he was undergoing an interrogation conducted by his younger friend and the uncertainty in his heart was growing by the second. He knew Jungkook was enthralled by Yoongi but to throw these many questions at him when the meal just barely started?

“Yoongi hyung’s fated pair, is it you?”

This question cleared up everything asked up until that point, but it also raised so many other questions.

“Yes”.

Now that Tae thought about it, this was the first time he ever admitted that fact. He had never said anything to quite the same impact; even to Yoongi, Tae had never said “I’m your fated alpha.” As the two of them kept on talking, Tae said a lot of things that he had never said before, not even to himself. And while he surprised himself with his own honesty, he was even more amazed by Jungkook. His childhood friend whom he had known for years had become so matured, so thoughtful. It was like raising a child, one day you suddenly realized he had become an adult who no longer needed your protecting arms. But it wasn’t time for Tae to be a sentimental parent, it was time for him to grow up.

“Do you love him?”

A question he had subconsciously, or maybe consciously, tried to evade all this time, was thrown straight at him.

“Do I love him?” he asked himself and an answer vaguely emerged from the depth of his heart.

“Does he love me?” he asked again and got no answers, all he saw was a thick fog.

Shaking his head, Tae refocused his eyes on the pile of documents on his desk. He was at work, he shouldn’t be thinking about his personal stuff here. These documents were sent by his father’s team in America, they were making strides towards the end goal of capturing market share over there. Whatever Tae thought of his father in a family context, he had to admit that the older Kim was an excellent business man.

He went over the details listed there, there were lots of fascinating facts that should be reviewed meticulously, he thought. And then reception called.

“Vice president, a lady named Heo Yeongmi called and said she would like to talk to you. How do I proceed?”

The name rang loudly in Tae’s head. After all that happened, she was the one to make the first move again? Tae had been wondering about her motive; she should not know Yoongi personally, why did she target him? Whatever the reason, he didn’t want any such undesirable situation to happen again. He had to talk to her.

“Connect her to my line.”

“Yes sir.”

After a brief overly-polite conversation, they agreed to meet at a restaurant on 1^st street. Tae didn’t know what to make of this, it seemed like people loved to call him out and surprised him these days.

The sidewalks were full of lunch-going people but this high-end dining street was not so bad. Yeongmi just arrived too, neatly dressed in all-black like she usually was. As always, she looked beautiful, but rather cold and mysterious. They walked into the restaurant with the alpha a step behind, he was weighing his options and considering exactly how he wanted to ask her about the thing with Yoongi. She seemed to be relaxed and in control, which was what Tae found a bit alerting about this lady, it always looked like she had everything planned out.

“Thank you for having lunch with me, I know you are busy.”

“Don’t mention it, I was surprised when you called, but I should probably have expected it right, Yeongmi-ssi?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I should have expected you to contact me, since you went out of your way to set up the thing at the music competion last Saturday.”

“Oh, that, it was a spectacular event right? I enjoyed it very much, how about Taehyung-ssi?”

She said all that with a smile, her expression didn’t change the slightest when Tae mentioned the competition. As he thought this young lady was scary. He was thinking what to reply when his phone buzzed, a call from an unknown number. His heart went “thump” really loudly for a second and he felt like he had to answer this call.

“Hello?”

“Taehyungie, it’s me Jungsik the Chef. You have to help Yoongi, he went into heat and passed out at the skewer restaurant at 356B, 5^th street.”

“I’m going,” the alpha hung up and immediately stood up, almost knocking his chair over in the process.

The mention of Yoongi’s name, and then heat, and then passed out, all in a short string of words, sent Tae’s head into turmoil. He didn’t hear much after “skewer” but it was okay, he knew the place.

“I’m terribly sorry Yeongmi-ssi but I really have to go now, let’s eat together again some other day.”

He didn’t even look at her, just left a blank check on the table before rushing out. Looking at the direction of the car park, Tae quietly cursed. Why the hell did he park his car that far away- Wait, he shouldn’t drive. He was still okay now, but he didn’t trust himself to be able to drive properly later, so he got a cab instead. Once inside, he quickly proceeded to take care of things, better did that now before he got too muddled up with Yoongi, so he dialed his secretary.

“Mr Son, please tell people at the Royal to open the VIP entrance for me and wait for me there immediately. I need a top floor room and keep the floor free if possible, if not then at least the neighboring 6 rooms should be free.”

That hotel was the closest of his family properties and people there knew how to provide some secrecy.

“Please wait here I’ll be back right away,” he told the driver as they stopped near the restaurant. Tae ran so fast he almost crashed into the front door just when the owner was about to open it.

“Damn!”

Tae cursed under his breath, hairs on his skin started to stand up. This man here smelled like Yoongi, his nose automatically reported to him; the man was a beta though, thanked God.

“Mr, where’s Yoongi? How’s he?  Grandpa Jungsik told me to get him. Is he okay?”

“And you are?” the Chef seemed confused.

“I am his fated pair,” Tae said and then followed his nose and walked toward the back of the shop with the chef trailing behind him. “This is no good, I can’t leave him here,” said Tae as he stood outside the small room, “please open the door.”

“I, I can’t just give him- I, I don’t even know you.”

“My name is Kim Taehyung, I am his fated alpha and I have to take care of him, please at least let me see him first, is he in a bad condition?” Tae was dying to get to his omega, the camellia scent was leaking out of the room, the pheromones were getting to him and he had to try hard not to turn rude.

“Kim Taehyung? Don’t tell me you are…”

“Yes I am from the Kim Corporation, here,” he opened his wallet and took out his ID card, “you can keep my ID card for now, please, can I see hyung?”

The man finally relented and opened the door. Tae felt dizzy for a second as he was hit by sweet, sweet camellia. Yoongi had passed out so his pheromones were not in full blown, but in a 4 meter square room, the concentration was high enough to send any alpha mad, not to mention the pairing impact. This room was so damn hot right now, the alpha thought as sweat started to collect on his forehead. His head cleared up when he looked at Yoongi’s lithe form on the bed, it hurt to see him suffering like that. Taehyung came closer and kneeled down. The omega breathed hard, his chest heaved up and down heavily with each short puff of hot air that emanated from his nose, sometimes his mouth. Tae reached for his hand and gave it a good squeeze. An electric shock ran through his whole body and probably Yoongi’s body too, since the omega suddenly opened his glassy eyes to search for something. He stopped searching when he saw Tae’s face. Smaller hand gave the bigger hand a light squeeze back.

“Yoongi-yah how are you? I’m here, it’ll be fine, you’ll be fine.”

“It hurts.. can’t breathe…”

 Short phrases came out weak and shaky, the hand Tae was holding was as hot as red coal.

“Uncle, can I take him? Please?” Tae tried his best to remain collected as he asked the chef one more time.

“Uhm, I- ah, Yoongi, do you want to go with him?” Mr Lee turned to look at the young omega, whose suffering was clear to everyone’s eyes. He saw a weak nod.

“I will carry him, can you help me open doors?”

Tae asked but he already picked Yoongi up from the bed. The omega had too little strength to wrap his arms around the alpha so he just clutched at his suit with his shaking fingers.

“Don’t worry I won’t let you fall,” Tae bent down a little to give his omega a kiss on the forehead, that seemed to calm him down a bit and Yoongi just snuggled closer to Tae and buried his face in the alpha’s chest.

All those little actions just drove Taehyung insane. He was insanely happy, but also insanely insatiable. There was urge, there was desire but they were in public and the priority was to get Yoongi to somewhere with privacy, somewhere more comfortable.

Mr Lee opened the front door for them, and then the taxi’s door too. It was quite a scene as a tall and handsome young man bridal-style-carried another young man and walked through the crowded lunch time side walk. Eyes were on them, and some cameras too. Tae knew and he couldn’t care less.

The chef waved goodbye to them with a simple “Take care” and a concerned face. He was probably worried since he didn’t know Tae personally but still let him take his precious friend away.

“Where to, Mr?”

“To the Royal hotel, please stop at the back entrance on Main street.”

The taxi driver looked at them a bit strangely when Tae put Yoongi down on the back seat then got on with his job immediately. Just the scents of them were enough for him to get the picture and most people knew not to mess with an alpha who was protecting his in-heat omega.

Tae held Yoongi in his arms throughout the short drive, his over-driven hormones wanted him to touch, to kiss and to do more to the omega, but his protection instinct also told him that his omega was clearly not in a good condition and they both needed a safe environment to spend his heat. It was incredibly tough with Yoongi holding onto him for dear life but Tae managed to get through the drive while keeping the contacts to a minimum level of light strokes on the omega’s cheeks and hands. He had no idea how awake Yoongi was, but he made sure the omega knew he was right there by his side.

When they were almost there, Yoongi suddenly stirred in his arms and it startled the alpha. No, not just the motion, it was the scent. Something had changed, the already sweet scent suddenly took on a note of concentrated sugar, like it was covered in a layer of dripping honey.

Could this be…

Before Tae answered himself, the car stopped. The young heir glanced at the meter and gave the driver 3 times the amount with some to spare. As he was about to pick Yoongi up, the omega looked down at his closed legs, mumbling loud enough for Tae to hear.

“I can’t, Taehyung, I, uhm, the-“

The alpha’s eyes trailed up his omega’s legs and Yoongi’s squirmed under his gaze, legs closing even tighter, while the scent of camellia nectar kept assaulting Tae’s senses. He didn’t need to see the dampened patch on Yoongi’s jeans to know what the problem was, he took off his suit jacket and draped it over the omega.

“Here, this should be fine, I’ll carry you to a room quickly, it’ll be fine alright?”

He made quick work of picking the embarrassed Yoongi up in his arms and carried him to the entrance where his secretary was waiting. Mr Son, an accomplished beta in his early 30s, had been entrusted with helping Tae to become a fine businessman but he didn’t expect to be taking care of the boss’s personal life as well. When he got the phone call earlier, he really didn’t expect the vice president to be carrying an omega in-heat to the hotel. Even for a beta, the pheromones from this couple made him feel edgy, but he kept it professional.

“Cancel all my plans today. Maybe tomorrow too, just to be safe.”

“I understand.”

Tae took the VIP reserved elevator to his room. Mr Son accompanied him to the top floor, where all rooms had been closed off from booking, so they had this floor all to themselves. He left after getting an “I will contact you latter” from his boss. The taciturn secretary was relief, he didn’t think he would be able to stand being with those two much longer.

The door closed behind their backs as Tae laid Yoongi down on the soft king-sized mattress. The omega was fully awake and alert now, he knew they had come to a hotel, he knew Tae had brought him to a hotel bridal-style all the way. He felt so embarrassed.

“How are you? Do you want anything?” the alpha asked him from above, eyes gleaming and beads of sweat were rolling off his forehead. The low voice sent shiver down Yoongi’s spine, he was literally shaking while trying to cover himself with Tae’s jacket.

“Uhm, I mean, do you want food or like, a shower?” The alpha seemed to have sensed that he had unconsciously been too alpha there, so he changed the tone, but he couldn’t just ignore the smoldering heat inside himself. Could his omega be scared of him or what? They needed to decide on things quickly when both of them could still hold a proper conversation.

He got a glass of water and handed to Yoongi but the omega didn’t take it, he was busy holding onto the jacket and didn’t seem to want to let go of it, if anything he appeared to have taken some fondness in rubbing the items.

OHhh.

Tae got it now, his omega wasn’t trying to hide under the clothing item, he just wanted the scent of its owner and was even subconciously scenting the thing. This realization made Tae super brave all of a sudden, he sat down near the edge of the bed and bent down, face inches away from Yoongi’s.

“Hey, let my jacket go. If you want my scent, I’m right here.”

With each word, his face edged further down and the flustered look on his omega’s face spurred him on even more. Cat eyes opened wide to look at him as pearly tiny teeth bit down on rosy bottom lip. This look was the same as the one Yoongi had when Tae first held his hand at the birthday party.

“Hey don’t do that you’ll hurt your pretty lips.”

And those were the same words he had wanted to say that time but couldn’t. This time though, he said that smoothly with a smile as his hand reached out to cup the cherubic cheeks, soft and burning hot. As the omega listened and stopped biting his lips, Tae ran his thumb over the soft flesh, smoothing out the faint teeth mark there.

“Lemme scent you.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Tae started to rub his wrist against the older’s neck, where the scent gland was. A burning sensation spread over his skin, and it was clearly not just from the friction. Yoongi squirmed and tried to stop the tiny noises that started to rise up from deep in his throat. His right hand which had been clutching onto Tae’s jacket finally let go of the item and lied restlestly at his side, fingers moving around subconsciously.

“Here, is this better?”

Tae noticed and captured the restless hand with his. Glassy eyes looked at him as if silently asking “How do you know?” The alpha knew more than that.

“You can scent me too if you want,” he brought the hand up to his neck and smiled encouragingly. The omega hesitated for a bit but he couldn’t resist; scenting the person felt better than scenting that person’s jacket anyway. The skin contact felt good, very inciting but also calming in a way.

“When I first held your hand, I subconsciously wanted to scent you too, in fact I actually did, just a little bit,” the alpha continued to be the only one talking, his hand moving deftly around Yoongi’s neck, savoring the fastening pulse underneath, “You smelled amazing back then, and even more so now.”

He ducked his face down further and got his nose closer to the source of the heavenly scent. As his lips slightly grazed over the soft skin, not on purpose, Yoongi suddenly pushed him away with his left hand.

“Wha-“

Tae caught his wrist, or more like, he caught an item on Yoongi’s wrist.

A shiny Rolex.

Tae knew this Rolex, he was there when his childhood friend bought it.

And he let go, hand dropped. There was a reason why his omega wore this watch today. There was a reason why he was at that restaurant in the first place.

“I understand, sorry.”

He let go of the other hand too, and stood up. Yoongi immediately sat up and reached out to catch the alpha by his shirt.

“Wh-where are you going?”

He sounded hurt? Ah, this was what people often talked about right? If an in-heat omega was to be left alone by their alpha they would feel abandoned and sad.

“Nowhere, I’ll stay here, don’t worry. You should get changed though, your clothes are drenched in sweat, must be uncomfortable.”

Truth to be told, Tae was holding on to the very last threads of his rationality here. Both physically and mentally, he didn’t feel very good. He was kinda rejected earlier, then saw something that remined him of another alpha, and his own rising temperature and pulse rate and irritated temperament meant he was going into rut. There was no way he wasn’t, the pheromones from an in-heat fated pair were too strong. What should he do? He didn’t want to leave Yoongi, but if he stayed…

The omega finally got off the bed and meekly moved toward the bathroom. Tae drank a full glass of water and thought about something he could do, anything. He kept thinking, and then took his phone out.

“Hello Mr Son, please-

++

Yoongi’s body hurt. And it was on fire. His head was all muddy and everything seemed blurry. He had no strength in his body, even opening his eyes seemed like a lot of work. From the tiny opening of his eyelids, he tried to figure out his surroundings, it was an unknow room, tiny, and smelled like roasted meat. Oh, so he was still at Chef Lee place. He faintly heard the voice of the chef offering him water or something but he was too out of it to respond. He did want some water though, his body was drying up with the heat, every last bit of fluid seemed to have evaporated in the form of dried sweat. Staying awake hurt, so he passed out again.

Some unknown time later he woke up. No, more like something woke him up. Something more pleasant, something comforting. Cedar wood. He came. Yoongi felt his hand being held, a pleasant warmth spread from it, which was strange since just seconds earlier he had felt so uncomfortably hot he wanted to jump into the ocean. The omega opened his eyes, searching, his eyes were watery so things appeared blurry, only that person’s face was in full focus, handsome as ever.

“Yoongi-yah how are you? I’m here, it’ll be fine, you’ll be fine.”

Oh he was here for him. Would everything be fine, could Yoongi trust him? He wanted to.

“It hurts.. can’t breathe…”

The struggling omega voiced out how he felt, it was true that his inside was twisting and turning, crushing his lungs and made it hard to breathe, or at least that was how he felt.

 “Uhm, Yoongi, do you want to go with him?” The worrying uncle asked and Yoongi could only nod weakly. It felt better to be with his alpha, he wanted to be with his alpha.

Everything became blurry again as the sunlight of a summer day was too bright for him. He tried to hold on to Tae’s jacket with his shaking fingers.

“Don’t worry I won’t let you fall,” the alpha bent down and gave him a kiss on the forehead.  The action calmed Yoongi down but also made him embarrassed. Being carried princess style and kissed in public in broad daylight? That was a first for him. But given his situation, he couldn’t afford to be too picky since he couldn’t deny he felt safe and and comforted in the younger’s arms. The scent was just so soothing and he wanted more of it so he buried his face in the alpha’s chest.

Staying close to his alpha actually helped improve his condition, the twisting pain seemed to have worn off and his mind had cleared up a lot as well. He didn’t know what to say though, so he stayed quiet during the drive. Tae didn’t say anything either, he just kept touching his cheeks and hands, and even though the touches were light and brief, Yoongi could still feel his skin tingled at every single point of contact. That, together with the body heat and scent of the fated alpha, drove him closer to the edge and the heat leaked out of his body in liquid form.

“I can’t, Taehyung, I, uhm, the-“

Yoongi tried to close his legs together as tightly as he could, but of course that did nothing to stop the slick, nor did it stop his alpha from eyeing him and figuring out the problem.

“Here, it should be fine this way, I’ll carry you to a room quickly.”

The alpha covered him up with his jacket and Yoongi felt nice even though the damn slick still made him uncomfortable. It felt nice to be taken care off. There was someone waiting for them at the entrance, Yoongi took it as the man worked with Tae.

Finally, he got what he wanted, a big, quiet, private room with a huge and comfy bed. The room was very nice, probably cost a lot. The ivory-collored bedding gave off the scent of impeccable cleanliness, which would be super nice most of the time but it wasn’t the best scent right now. A better scent came off the jacket in his hands, Yoongi thought as he held on to the item and subconsciously moving his wrist over the exquisite fabric.

“How are you? Do you want anything? Uhm, I mean, do you want food or like, a shower?” Tae asked him with changing tones, low and suggestive at first, and then it became a bit gentler. Yoongi liked both. He would like some water but when the alpha gave him a glass, he was really reluctant to let go of the precious jacket. And after a moment of confusion, Tae suddenly smiled and in the blink of an eye, his face was mere inches away from Yoongi’s.

“Hey, let my jacket go. If you want my scent, I’m right here.”

With each word, his face edged closer and Yoongi was super flustered but he couldn’t close his eyes or look away. Tae’s perfect eyes were holding his gaze so intensely, so demandingly that the omega didn’t dare to not look back. He felt like saying something but he didn’t know what so he just bit down on his lip instead.

“Hey don’t do that you’ll hurt your pretty lips.”

Such a flirty line but said so smoothly with a gentle smile made Yoongi’s heart race in his chest. And it didn’t slow down at all when Tae cupped his burning cheek with his big hand and a thumb came over to brush on his lip.

“Lemme scent you.”

Wait what, no no Yoongi wasn’t ready for this. The only time he was scented before was when he asked Namjoon to do it for him at the jazz bar, but of course that time he was fully prepared. This time he was unprepared, in heat, and on the same bed with his fated alpha. He didn’t have time to react or give an answer as Tae immediately started scenting his neck with his hand; the rubbing motion, though not rough, burned his skin like hot stones in a massage shop. That meant it was hot and it felt good.

Yoongi squirmed, trying to stop the tiny noises that started to rise up from deep in his throat. Tae knew well enough to placate the omega with a reassuring hand, knew well enough to let Yoongi scent him back. The older started moving his hand around Tae’s neck, tentatively at first and then faster and more assured. The skin contact felt good, very inciting but also calming in a way. The omega felt more relaxed now, but he also started to want something.

“When I first held your hand, I subconsciously wanted to scent you too, in fact I actually did, just a little bit. You smelled amazing back then, and even more so now.”

Tae’s words reminded Yoongi of the first time they met, such bitter memories, he remembered that time like it was yesterday, how firmly Tae held his hand, the harsh words, how he ran away, how Jungkook ran after him-

Oh God, Jungkook-

It felt like an invisible hand had smacked his head when Yoongi remembered that he was supposed to have lunch with the younger, that Jungkook should have gotten to the restaurant and didn’t find him there…  

Cedar wood interfered with his thought process again and so did the light touch of Tae’s lips on the sensitive skin of his neck. Out of reflex, he pushed the alpha away with his left hand.

“Wha-“

Tae caught his wrist, long fingers wrapped around the shiny Rolex. The alpha looked at Yoongi’s wrist and the look on his face changed, he suddenly looked sullen? After a few seconds of time-standing-still silence, he let go, arm dropped listlessly by his side.

“I understand, sorry.”

Tae let go of Yoongi completely and stood up, and Yoongi panic. He didn’t know why but he didn’t like looking at the alpha’s back like this so he tried to reach up and caught the younger’s shirt.

“Wh-where are you going?”

“Nowhere, I’ll stay here, don’t worry. You should get changed though, your clothes are drenched in sweat, must be uncomfortable.”

The alpha stopped and turned around to look at him again, those big, big eyes no longer looked demanding, they just looked sad. Yet he still tried to placate Yoongi. The omega felt so pathetic.

He didn’t know if he should say sorry. But sorry about what? What did he do wrong? Maybe he shouldn’t have pushed him away earlier? But it was just so sudden and he wasn’t ready to be kissed like that. Not even real kiss but whatever…

Yoongi decided to take his monologue to the bathroom. He finally managed to let go of the jacket and meekly moved toward the bathroom per Tae’s suggestion. Only after getting inside did he realize that he didn’t have a change of clothes, guessed he was gonna use the bathrobe then. Honestly it would be more comfortable that way, with the damn slick and all that. It felt strange, taking a shower at a 5-star hotel with your alpha waiting in the room. That sounded more suggestive than it actually was.

He couldn’t deny how refreshing it was to finally get rid of the clothes that had been sticking to his damp skin for a while now, and to clean off the slimy substance on his backside and legs. Now that he thought about it, maybe Tae could use a shower too, the alpha had been sweating a lot as well; not that Yoongi thought he smelled bad or anything, quite the opposite.

Dressed in only a bathrobe, the omega felt rather bashful, so it took him a while to finally get out of the bathroom and quietly got back to the room. Tae was sitting on the love chair near the coffee table, legs spread. Ah, those laps looked comfortable… Yoongi mentally slapped himself for having such a thought. He continued to watch on quietly. The alpha kept wiping his sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, he was sweating profusely even though the room was cool. Tae’s hand alternated between wiping sweat and gripping the armrest of the chair ever so strongly.  Every few seconds, he breathed out heavily with his eyes squeezed shut. So the younger was suffering too, was he going into rut??! Yoongi didn’t know if he was excited or scared. He heard about alpha’s rut before, it could be quite strong for some of them, just like how heat was for some omegas, like Yoongi for example. Was it bad for Tae to stay here with him? His heat obviously made it worse for the alpha.

“Hello Mr Son, please bring me some emergency suppressions.”

“No, not for him, for me. Yeah, the strongest ones you can find, and I need it asap.”

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine, just do it.”

Yoongi gasped quietly and for whatever reason he just moved back to the bathroom and hid there for a while. The things he just heard! Tae was asking for emergency suppression for himself? Yoongi knew such pills existed for both omegas and alphas, but people usually used them when they got the early symptoms of heat and rut starting, not when those biological events already started. The really strong pills might be able to do something but they were very bad for the bodies and thus were strictly prescription-only. No doubt rich and powerful people had a way to get them on demand but still, not a good choice.

Why would Tae do that?

Because he didn’t want to with Yoongi?

Because Yoongi pushed him away earlier?

He looked like he was going to leave earlier right, before Yoongi kinda indirectly asked him to stay. He could have left and relieved himself with some other omega right??

No, no, not with some other omega, no….

Yoongi slumped down on the floor, back against the door. He didn’t like that thought, it was so upsetting. But then he remembered that this shouldn’t be Tae’s first rut, which meant he had them in the past and he must have done something to deal with all of those as well. And Yoongi understood that there was no shortage of omegas who would throw themselves at the alpha like fire flies to a flame. But now because Tae had to stay with an omega who rejected him, he had to take those pills? Something was wrong here.

The omega finally dragged himself out of the bathroom again, he couldn’t stay in there forever anyway.

“Uhm, Taehyung…”

“What is it hyung? You feel unwell anywhere?” the alpha put down the water glass he was drinking and stood up and walked towards Yoongi but then he stopped a good few steps away, face scrunched. And good lord, his scent was so strong and so good Yoongi wanted to become a fire fly.

“Ah no no. Oh, uhm, the bathroom is free so you can take a shower too if you want.”

“Oh, good idea. If you want anything while I’m in there you can call room service, I have requested for only beta female staff to serve this room.”

The alpha disappeared into the bathroom and Yoongi dropped to the bed, hugging Tae’s jacket again. And he thought. Wasn’t this what he had been waiting for all these years? He had always wanted his first time to be with his fated alpha, that was why he had suffered alone through all his previous heats, not wanting anyone else to touch him. Now that he was finally together with his fated alpha, and in a hotel room on top of that, yet his alpha had to take emergency pills? Yoongi failed as an omega here.

There was no doubt his body felt happy to be with Tae, it was how it supposed to be right? Biology had encoded them to be a pair that fitted together like lock and key, but was there anything more to them than that? Yoongi tossed and turned on the bed while still hugging the jacket, and something hit him, physically. Rumbling through the pockets he found his phone. Tae must have brought it here from the restaurant since the omega was too out of it to remember anything. He checked the phone, there were missed calls from Gramps but none from Jungkook.

Did he expect to get some? Ha, he should have known better right? Jungkook got to the restaurant and it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out what happened to Yoongi, and it was understandable why the young alpha didn’t call. Yoongi just sighed as he put this phone on the bedside table, next to his Rolex which he took off earlier. He understood now, even though Tae had not done much to him other than scenting, he understood that no one else could make him feel the same. Once the body knew the touches of a fated pair, it accepted no others. And he was not going to let Taehyung take those pills.

Just when he thought about that, the alpha came out of the bathroom, dressed in a matching bathrobe with Yoongi’s. And boy did he look good! Like, he always looked good but this was an entirely different level. But he didn’t come to Yoongi, instead the alpha went to the door. Yoongi panic a little but then calmed himself down, it wasn’t like Tae would leave the hotel looking like that right? Shortly after, he came back in, holding something small in his hand.

Yoongi swiftly walked to Tae and caught him off guard, taking the small package from the alpha.

“Wait, hyung, not that, give it back to me please!!”

Yoongi didn’t listen, he ran to the bathroom, dumped the red pills down the toilet and flushed them away, right in front of Tae’s shocked face. The alpha couldn’t hold it any longer, he took long and quick steps towards Yoongi, hands pining him down by the shoulders against the bathroom wall.

“Do you know what you just did? I need those pills.”

Each word came out with a grunt and the piercing eyes scared Yoongi a little, if he was to be honest, he was trembling slightly. But he didn’t regret it.

“No you don’t,” the omega gathered his courage to look up and put his hands on the alpha’s chest, “I’m right here, and I need you too.”

“You-, are you sure about this?”

“If you want to, I mean, with me, I do want this,” Yoongi tried to stay calm but his heart was thumping as his hands moved from Tae’s chest to his neck.

“How could I not, I’ve been dying to all this time,” the alpha had his big hands on Yoongi’s lower back while holding his gaze, “to the point where I needed those pills to stop myself.”

Tae’s face moved closer and closer to Yoongi, and when he was just a few cms away, he pulled back. Yoongi didn’t know if a hurtful expression showed up on his face but he definitely felt pain.

“I want to do this correctly, our first kiss should not be in here,” the alpha smiled as he picked his omega up bridal style and carried him back to the bed and laid him down gently. From above, he smiled again as he brushed Yoongi’s slightly damp hair from his forehead.

“Good God, you’re so pretty.”

“So I’m not plain anymore?”

A flash of pain showed up on Tae’s face when Yoongi reminded him of what the alpha had said the first time they met. He was so, so wrong back then.

“I was wrong, I’m sorry, please forgive me. I’m the plain one, my thinking is so plain, I’m so dumb,” Tae stared at Yoongi and apologized before burying his face in the older’s chest, breathing in sweet, sweet camellia. He could feel his omega jumped a little bit at that and could hear his heartbeats as well.

“Don’t say that, how could you be plain. People always rave about how good looking you are,” Yoongi smiled a bit at how the younger talked himself down. For a few seconds there he didn’t look like Yoongi’s alpha but like a young child who was saying sorry for his unjust tantrum. The omega gently patted the soft hair resting right under his chin but then Tae looked up.

“I don’t care about people, but what do you think?”

“I think you are very handsome.”

“And you are very pretty.”

The alpha crawled up a bit and cupped Yoongi’s face in his hands while looking at him with eyes full of desire. The child from earlier was gone, this now was very much Yoongi’s alpha. He leaned down to kiss his forehead, his temple, his cheek, and finally captured the tiny rosy lips in a tender kiss. He had to wait a bit before Yoongi kissed him back, gently at first and then more forceful. The intensifying scent meant the heat had started to take over.

Tae let go just enough for some air before diving in again, then moved down to the inviting neck, and further down to capture whatever flesh he could reach above the bathrobe’s collar.

“Can I?” he asked with fingers on standby, ready to remove that last piece of barrier.

“You can go all the way, so stop asking,” the omega answered meekly, his blushing face looked like a pink camellia.

That was all the alpha needed to proceed with his mission of removing the robe: he untied the knot, then carefully opened the fluffy piece of garment, his hands were shaking because with just one more move, the body of his omega would be revealed to his hungry eyes. Tae swallowed hard and finally spread open the robe.

“Wow….”

Hungry eyes readily drank in the delicious sight in front of them before they roamed over Yoongi’s naked body from head to toes, taking in every little detail. The omega squirmed and bashfully closed his legs. Probably realizing doing that didn’t really hide anything, he tried to cover himself up with his hands while closing his eyes so he didn’t have to look at his alpha. The thing was that, without the alpha, the heat would have made his body so sluggish and pained he wouldn’t be able to think much, but now that Tae was right there, Yoongi’s body was so alert it responded to every little thing the alpha did, even when all he did was looking.

“Hey now, isn’t it a bit late to hide yourself from me?”

“How could I know? I’ve never showed myself to anyone, I..”

“Right, I’m so honored to be first to be blessed with the sight of your beautiful body,” Tae kept on staring though and Yoongi had to turn his face away, another fultile attempt at hiding his blushing cheeks.

“Look at me please?” the alpha reached down to cup Yoongi’s face with his large hands and gently turned his head so they were really facing each other. Inching in ever closer, he felt his heart was gonna jump out of his chest with how fast and loud it was beating. Searching for a confirmation in the pretty cat eyes, he took it as a “Yes” when the omega nodded ever so slightly and closed his eyes.

Their lips touched again.

Those rosy lips were as soft as Tae had imagined, they were also warm and inviting. He had wanted to keep it nice and slow for a bit more, but once he was allowed in, there was no stopping. Nibbing, sucking, licking, the motions got rushed and the movements were rough. People said that exchanging bodily fluids could drive a pair insane for each other. They were right.

Yoongi kissed him back too, looked like the omega finally let himself go a little. His arms went up to wrap around Tae’s neck, delf fingers wandered through his hair, twisting and pulling. The alpha moved his mouth down the exposed torso and dressed up the milky skin in kisses, some gentle, some rough. Now that there was no clothing left to get in his way, his hands were free to roam over every inch of his omega’s body, lips free to reach and nib anywhere and they soon found a perky nipple and latched onto it, tongue flicked around playfully. He could feel Yoongi’s body squirmed and arched up under his, while the pull on his hair just got delightfully stronger. Such encouragement. Tae gave the tiny nub in his mouth some nibbing before sucking on it real hard while giving some attention to the other nipple with some kneading.

“Ahh…”

The omega arched up onto him again and Tae could clearly feel his thing hitting him. The alpha sat up to take in the sight of his omega spawling under him, glistering in sweat, silky hair dampened and messy, hazy eyes dreamy and unfocused. His slightly swelled chest was heaving up and down heavily with each voiceless moan escaping his tiny mouth.

“You are so damn pretty,” the alpha licked his lips as he ran a finger from Yoongi’s collar bone to his belly button, “You’re just perfect.”

Tae untied his own bathrobe and removed it in one swift move, revealing his toned body and his rock hard member. The omega eyed him over and got all flustered.

“Yoongi-yah, your shy face is absolutely adorable, but if you don’t stop being so shy in front of me, we’ll not get anywhere.”

“I- I can’t help it okay? I’m not used to this at all!” the omega pouted and that just made him all the more adorable, “if you don’t want to do this anymore, you can stop.”

Oh now it was a double attack of pouty lips and puffing cheeks and Tae just want to coo out more praises, but he had something even better to do.

“I don’t want to stop, and neither do you,” the alpha suddenly shifted his body and nudged Yoongi’s thighs apart with his own, hand grabbing the omega’s erection, “not when you’re already his hard, and this wet.”

Tae’s words seemed to have opened the floodgate and slick poured out from the omega backside, honey-scented camellia drenched the bed sheet underneath and some got on the alpha’s hand too.

“Wow..” he exclaimed excitedly while staring at the slimy, glistering substance on his hand, “this is quite something…”

“I- I’m sorry..”

“Why are you saying sorry? This is amazing, you smell devine, I’ve never been happier in my life,” the alpha cooed as his coated fingers made their way to Yoongi’s entrance. “This is okay?”

He paused to asked, and upon getting a nod, he carefully pushed one inside. He had to be patient; though Yoongi appeared to be plenty wet already, it was still his first time and he should be prepared. His finger didn’t meet much resistance so he added another, and then another one and probed around. It was tight, warm and wet inside, every slightest movement was lubricated by the plentiful amount of slick the omega was producing.

Long fingers were opening him up at increasing pace and Yoongi squirmed, he was panting hard, hands clutching the bed sheet, toes curled blissfully.

“Enough, Tae, I can’t-”

“We must get you ready.”

“I am ready, please,” he begged, hands moved onto his alpha’s thighs, encouraging him. His eyes followed the movements of his hands and they soon landed on the very potent package the alpha was spotting. He swallowed hard.

“Oh gosh you don’t have to beg, I’ve been dying to be inside you.”

Tae quickly put a condom on himself and maybe he was imagining it but he could swear Yoongi glared at the rubber thing with an offended expression on his face. He gave his omega a full and deep kiss on the lips before lining himself up at the entrance. The tip caught on to the rim like magnets. Yoongi was twitching like crazy, and the alpha could feel he was being pulled in already and he just couldn’t bear it anymore. Slowly but steadlily, Tae pushed himself in; though it was tight, the slick made it a lot easier, or maybe it was the fact that Yoongi was opening up for him. They were a fated pair after all.

“I’m all in. Are you okay?” Tae finally looked up to check on his omega, oh good lord, that face wasn’t just okay, “Oh, you are,” he smirked contently.

Yoongi felt like his organs were being rearranged to accept the alpha, and as scary as that sounded it actually helped, he didn’t feel like there was something alien intruding him, it felt more like a missing part of his own body had finally returned.

“You’re doing great, I’ll move now okay?”

His moves were well-timed at first but they got more frantic as they both chased their release. With his hand the alpha gave some attention to Yoongi’s neglected member and after just some pumping he could feel the flesh wall clamped down on his own part really tight.

“Taetae, I’m close..”

“Go ahead, you can come.”

The omega started to move in sync with the alpha’s thrusts and it didn’t take long for him to come over his own stomach and Tae’s hand. The orgasm squeezed the alpha over the edge as well. He stayed still through his own high and waited for Yoongi before attempting to pull out.

“No, don’t…” the omega reached down and held Tae’s hand.

“O-oh, do you want one more time?”

“You don’t?”

“Of course I do, is your body okay though?”

“It will be, if you give it enough attention.”

“Just lemme change this real quick then…”

Tae gestured to the filled condom and there he saw it again, Yoongi’s heated look towards the contraceptive item. And that hateful look was still there the next few times the alpha covered himself up, if anything it only got more intense. His omega refused to say anything about it though.

After a few more times Yoongi finally stopped demanding for more and Tae breathed a sigh of relief. Not that he ran out of stamina or didn’t want to do it anymore, he was just worrying about the omega exhausting himself; they didn’t even have lunch yet.

“Let’s eat something and rest a little, okay?” he suggested and got a nod.

Room service was called and Tae only allowed people in as far as the first hall behind the room’s main door. Even the air in this room now smelled like their bonding and he didn’t want anyone to disturb that special atmosphere. Yoongi happily ate away, he was hungry. Towards the end of the meal he got tired and sleepy, probably because he used to much force on his body.

“Don’t wear yourself out too much, you should rest a bit once you’re full.”

“Thank you. Yoo too, need some rest, no?”

Tae thought the omega was just concerned about him but when Yoongi tugged at his sleeve and looked at him with drowsy cat eyes he got it.

“Let’s go together then.”

He smiled and took Yoongi’s hand and led him back to bed. They fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Yoongi woke up a few hours later, drenched in sweat and slick. He got out of his robe as fast as he could, feeling no embarrassment over his nakedness, no time for that. His head felt so dizzy he couldn’t think straight. His entrance was twitching uncontrollably, making lewd noises as slick continued to pour out of him. To his side, the alpha had his eyes closed, maybe he was tired? They did several rounds earlier after all, and to think that Yoongi was still not sated with all that, how crazy. But whatever, the body felt how it felt, and at this very moment it felt like being filled again.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Tae yawed as he opened his eyes to the sight of the omega sitting on his thighs, hands busy working his now-awake member to full hardness. That shiny slippery substance on his hands, oh god that couldn’t just be his precum… “OMG are you using your-”

“Yes, convenient isn’t it? I finally found a good use for this damn slick,” Yoongi’s eyes were gleaming, he looked somewhat mischivious? And the tone was different somehow. Anyway his effort seemed rather redundant now since just the idea of the omega using his own slick to rub on Tae got the alpha as hard as a rock.

“I think I’m ready to go now, you don’t know the kind of things you’re doing to me.”

“Oh yeah? But I think I do know, and I’m gonna do more.”

The omega felt strangely proactive, this was his heat, he was gonnna do it his way. So he climbed higher up Tae’s body and lifted himself up a little.

“Hyung, wait, the condom..”

“Screw condoms, I’m so sick of them already, you have to touch me directly,” he smiled, or smirked? as he sank down onto Tae’s “like this.”

Yoongi worked his hips pretty hard and the alpha grunted. The older felt in control for a few seconds before large hands came to grip at his hips.

“Remember you asked for this,” deep voice grumbled from the alpha as he stabled his omega above him, before speading the ass cheeks open and started to pound into him relentlessly. “Damn you’re right, screw condoms, I should have done this from the start.”

The sounds on skin slapping on skin and moans and hard breathing echoed in the room. Yoongi’s precum was leaking all over Tae’s stomach but for some reason he couldn’t come.

After a while, Tae turned Yoongi around while still inside and lowered him onto the mattress. While having the omega bouncing on top of him was very nice, doing it from behind showed more dominance, all alphas liked being dominating during their rut. And this way, he had full view of his omega’s back side, from his nape to where they were being connected, not to mention he could reach deeper this way too, it felt good. It was crazy how hot it was inside the omega, it was like he was running a fever, literally. The way Yoongi came on to him earlier didn’t seem like him, but then again, the current Tae, who was forcefully thrusting into his omega, didn’t seem like himself either. Biology was taking over their normal selves and it was a bit scary.

“Ahh, Tae, no, why are you still growing?”

That was a good question. Tae smirked as he said that in his mind like how he responded to questions during business meetings.

“Because my omega isn’t satisfied yet, I have to try harder,” he gave a really hard thrust to demonstrate his point, and he took Yoongi’s hand and pressed it on the omega’s belly, searching around, “here, can you feel me inside you?”

“Tae, Tae I can’t come, why can’t I come…” Yoongi was almost sobbing now, his pulsating body trembled around Taehyung.

“Patient, sweetheart, once I blow my load inside you, you can come.”

The usual Tae would have cringed at his own line there, but alpha Taehyung was pretty happy with that performance. He could feel his thing started to swell so he quickly pushed the growing knot inside Yoongi, which was not difficult at all since the omega’s body was so accepting.  

 “Tae, what is that?” there was a hint of fear in Yoongi’s voice.

“Don’t worry, it’s my knot, can’t you tell? This will take care of your heat.”

Tae threw away his dominating alpha character at the sight of Yoongi’s trembling body, he carefully laid them both down to their sides to make for a more comfortable position, arms around Yoongi’s belly. The omega held on to those protecting arms, he breathed in and out slowly as his body continued to adjust to the growing size inside him.

The alpha peppered Yoongi’s skin in light kisses, from his shoulder blade up to his nape. The nape looked so delicious right in front of his eyes, right in front of his mouth to. He wanted to taste it.

“Don’t! Don’t bite! Whatever you do, don’t bite me,” the omega was quick to cover his neck with his hand when he felt lips on his neck.

Though he was kinda sad with this rejection, Tae understood that it was too soon for a bonding mark, so he kissed Yoongi’s fingers instead. Still, as he came deep inside his omega, instincts still urged him to bite something. That was how he got teeth mark on his own hand.

Yoongi’s body became tense as it was filled up with Tae, and finally the omega found his release, his satisfaction. His body finally relaxed, but also exhausted.

“Tae, thank you.”

“How are you?”

“Good, but sleepy.”

“Go to sleep then.”

“Like this?”

“You mean with me inside you?”

“….”

“I mean we have to wait a bit for it to go down, so if you want to sleep, go ahead.”

He did as he was told and closed his eyes. Sleep came to him on its own. Tae stayed away for a bit longer, it was not easy to sleep with a knot waiting to go down, so he spent his time admiring Yoongi’s sleeping form. Eventually he was able to pull out and decided to clean up a bit then dressed both of them in new robes before hugging his omega to sleep.

The next morning, the alpha woke up feeling sated though a bit tired. His whole body tingled just from remembereing how good it felt to be with his omega, his fated omega. However, the contentment didn’t last long as he quickly realized Yoongi wasn’t beside him on the bed. He sat up abruptly and looked around. People talked a lot about how sad omegas felt when their alphas left them alone during heat, but alphas didn’t feel any better if their omegas abandoned them after so much intimacy. Calming himself down, Tae thought Yoongi just went to the bathroom or something. He was wrong. His omega was out on the balcony, sniffling a little bit, then wiped something off his face. He was crying. Taehyung’s heart couldn’t bear the sight of that. His instinct was telling him to walk over, to take the sobbing omega in his arms and assured him that everything would be okay. But his head was telling him that there must be a reason why his fated pair decided to go out there to cry alone. And he kinda knew what the reason was about. He wanted to cry too.  

Wrapping himself up in his robe, Tae looked around the room. It was a very big, presidential type of room, with everything honorable guests would need, and maybe all the things they wouldn’t need as well. Only now did he notice there was a piano in the room. His people probably picked this room because they knew he loved piano. He sat down on the bench, how long had it been? His mother was the only person on Earth who had ever heard him played, and since she was gone he had no desire to touch the keys again, it was just too painful.

Tae took a deep breath, and pressed. It felt a bit awkward at first since it had been so long, but he quickly found the touch again. He might know only one song but it was a song that meant the world to him.

“No matter who they are, you must treasure your fated pair, because there is only one such person in the whole world.”

Ever since he heard those words from his Mom, Tae had had a very clear plan: found his fated omega, loved and treasured her, and be happy together forever after. But that was just fairy tale stuff that only few lucky people were blessed with; here he was, alone in this big and empty room while his omega was crying and there was nothing he could do about it. Because he knew, the reason for those tears didn’t involve just the two of them.

“You play?” Yoongi asked from right next to him, seemed like he had stopped crying.

“Only this song,” Tae didn’t dare to look up. He was going to finish this first before talking.

 “Your body’s okay?” he asked, hands still rested on the keys.

“It’s good,” Yoongi answered in a small voice, it was difficult to tell if he was happy or sad from his voice.

“Are you okay?” Tae finally turned around and looked straight at his omega.

Silence.

“I’m sorry,” said the alpha.

“For what?” his omega seemed a bit confused.

“Sorry that it was me, you wanted someone else didn’t you.”

“No, you helped me, I should thank you. I had waited for years for this, you did nothing wrong. And, well, I’m sorry too, you probably didn’t wanna do it with a plain boring guy like me.”

“I didn’t say that!”

“Not yesterday, but when we first met, when you were actually conscious, you did say it. It’s fine, I know myself, I’m not the refined lady you’ve been waiting for.”

Yoongi didn’t mean to make it sound bitter. Since a while back, he had come to term with the fact that his alpha had an ideal type, and he understood why as well. Lady Sunmi was such a great model to build one’s ideal type after. He had thought he would be able to say all that with more calmness, but then he remembered he saw Tae and Yeongmi going out for lunch the day before. He didn’t know how the alpha learned about his heat but now that the emergency was over, he should let things return to how they were supposed to be.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Tae desperately tried to explain, again, because he really did not mean it like that. At that time, he was just trying to put the man off, and his own shock over randomly meeting his fated pair had caused him to act stupid. And he thought they had cleared this up the day before but guessed not. He remembered how Jungkook sometimes called Yoongi “pretty” and how the omega preened at that. When Tae did the same thing last night, how did the omega actually feel? He smiled back, right? But that was probably just a biological thing and no doubt the now-sober-Yoongi believed all those praises were nothing more than hormonal talk.

“I told you it’s fine, I dragged you into this, you had to leave work because of me. But I’m better now, you can go back to work.”

He dragged him? Tae vividly remembered he was the one who physically carried Yoongi all the way here. But nothing he said now would change Yoongi’s mind huh? It seemed like the omega had set himself up in some kind of melancholic state that was hard to break into.

“Your heat, how long is it usually? And how bad?”

“4 days. I never dealt with it this way before so I can’t be sure, but I hope last night took care of it already. Whatever left should not be unbearable, I’m fine on my own. You don’t have to bother with me anymore.”

“I, I can stay with you if you want?” Tae tried to hold Yoongi’s gaze but the omega turned away instead.

“No need. And actually, by “anymore”, I mean from now on. My doctor said if the fated pair is around, the body will react and my heat could get worse, so it’s better if we don’t meet. I mean that’s what you want too, right?”

Tae wanted to say “I’ll happily take care of all your heats from now on” but he just couldn’t. Yoongi was not gonna believe him. Especially when it looked like the omega had his heart somewhere else. But he wondered what the omega planned to do after this, obviously he was not running into Tae’s arms, but it didn’t look like he was going to Jungkook either. If he needed time to sort this out better, Tae could wait, as long as his omega had not picked his childhood friend over him.

“If you don’t want to spend your heat with me, it’s okay, it’s your decision to make and I honor your decisions. But if you ever want to, I’m more than willing to be there whenever you need me.” Tae sat down on the lovechair, looking at his omega tenderly.

“Do you want breakfast? My treat, as a thank you,” Yoongi finally said from his spot on the bed. “We’ll have to use room service though, I don’t feel like going anywhere just yet.”

“Room service is fine, you won’t be able to pay though.”

“What? Is it that expensive here? Oh right, this is a 5 star right.”

“Well, I don’t know about the expense, but you’re my guest and this is my family hotel, so they won’t let you pay.”

They waited for service in silience. At some point Yoongi thought it was too much so he took over the piano and played some pieces. Tae just listened with a sad smile on his face. This sounded so good on paper: sharing a room with his fated omega, who looked absolutely stunning in an ivory-colored silk robe while playing the piano for only Tae to hear. But in reality, the big gap between their feelings left a stain on the other wise perfect picture.

Room service came with full course breakfast and Tae also sent their clothes for laundry. And the beautiful-but-stained scene continued to unfold, who knew sharing breakfast after a night of love making could be so sad. But even with that frame of mind, the alpha wasn’t prepared for what his omega was going to say.

“Taehyung, may I ask you a favor?”

“Of course, what is it?”

“Could you lie to Jungkookie?”

“Wha-what?” Tae was confused, and he didn’t know what was coming but he already knew it would hurt.

 “If he asks you, could you say that you like me? You’re like a real brother to him, he’ll listen to you. Once he’s calmed down you could just say it didn’t work out between us or something…”

The omega looked sad with his downcasting eyes, lips stretched thin. Tae bit his lips hard, he didn’t think Yoongi thought of the situation as being this grave. He put his utensils down and breathed in heavily. His alpha aura made the omega startled and stopped moving altogher, he just stared at Tae, didn’t dare to look away.

“I can’t lie to him anymore, I don’t want to. But I will tell him I like you, because it’s true.”

Chapter Text

“If you need time to sort out your feelings, I am willing to wait for you forever. But please know that I do like you.”

Yoongi sighed. Here he was, alone in this gorgeous presidential room in a 5 star hotel, thinking about the words his alpha left him with. He had somehow persuaded Tae to get back to work, saying things like he wouldn’t do anything more with him even if he stayed, and that he would be fine on his own. The alpha reluctantly left after telling Yoongi he could stay for however long he wanted, and if he wished to leave, Mr Son would take care of it. And of course Yoongi wanted to leave, he didn’t have any other business here.

“Where to, Mr Min?” asked the serious looking secretary.

The omega gave him his address. He had wanted to go somewhere else at first, but since the heat was not over yet he would just go home and hide for the next few days.

Yoongi was surprised for a second that the secretary knew his name, but he quickly realized that the man probably knew more than that. Mr Son was a beta, and even though he had a very serious looking face, somehow he gave off a comforting aura. This was probably why Tae let him take care of this, in addition to the alpha’s trust in his right-hand man. Mr Son didn’t say anything throughout the drive but when they were about to reach their destination, he spoke up.

“Here is my card, I have written my private number on the back, please feel free to contact me if you need anything. And, it might not be my place to say this but the vice president is really serious about you.”

Yoongi thanked him and accepted the card; he made it to his front door without problems, and out of the corner of his eyes he could see Mr Son watching on until the omega got inside safely before leaving. Dragging himself to bed, he fell down, tired because of too much emotion. It felt strange to be this physically-well on the second day of the heat period, usually he would be twisting and turning in pain in his tiny nest, too drained and horny and exhausted to do anything, let alone thinking. But this time, his body was doing alright, just a bit sluggish and some random dizziness, but no fever, no more passing out, no unberable pain. He understood now what people meant by “getting help”, and he didn’t just get help from anyone, it was his fated pair that he did it with.

He did it.

He finally did it.

And it felt amazing to be honest, he felt full, sated, completed. Just thinking about that sensation gave him goosebumps, the sensation he felt from being connected with that person, from becoming one with the one person his body was made for. But he also felt like he didn’t quite deserve that, he was being unclear all this time, to himself, and to those two alphas as well. It was like he had become one of those annoying female leads in soapy dramas who were vague about their feelings and made all the male characters running around in circles. He didn’t expect a confession from Tae and now that he had thought about all this, did he hurt his fated alpha by mentioning Jungkook after all they had done the day before? Maybe Tae was right, maybe Yoongi really needed some time to sort out his own feelings.  

That said, right now he needed to rest so he went to the closet and pulled out some clothes for a nest, and there it was, covered in a protective bag, the brown Gucci coat, which had been dry cleaned and no longer smelled like Tae. This was the same nest he used to make yet now it seemed lacking, something was missing. Maybe Yoongi should have let the alpha scented him before he left.

After holding out in his apartment for a few days, Yoongi finally emerged. He was out of food, and he had to go to school and review his thesis with Tablo. He still had not gotten his watch back, so he had to go out without one this time. No more wearing Rolex.

++

“I want you to be happy.”

How could such nice words cause so much pain? Jungkook laughed bitterly, one hand held on to the restaurant’s counter to keep himself balanced. Fate had played him hard. To fall in love with the fated pair of his best friend was bad enough, plus he never had a clear chance even though he tried to play by the rules, always tried his best to be honest and honorable in his approach. But he realized now what the term “fated pair” meant, it really meant that fate would always push the pair together and creat chances for things to happen between them. To say that he was at a disadvantage was a huge understatement.

“Are you doing okay?” the chef asked, he must have been concerned by the young alpha’s behavior.

“Please don’t worry Uncle, I’m okay. Sorry but I don’t have appetite anymore, maybe some other day.”

He bowed and left the place with his head hanging low. Not looking where he was going, he bumped into someone.

“Oh I’m so sorry, are you okay?” He immediately apologized.

“I’m fine, more like, are you okay?” the person asked. The voice sounded nice and kind.

“I’m just, not at my best right now,” the young alpha stared at the bouquet in his hand, his vision almost became blurry but he held it in. “Here, for you, as an apology.” He gave the person the flowers, bowed and left. Thank God the car wasn’t that far away.

“Hey, wait, what-” the person held on to the flowers, confused, but smiled anyway.

It had been a few days since and he had been coping surprisingly well. At 18, Jeon Jungkook had found out he was a much stronger person than everyone, including himself, would expect. In this arena of love, where he had been a pure novice, he had been tossed around, and hurt, and scarred, but here he was, not whining, crying or screaming, just quietly staring at the little necklace that his unfulfilled love gave him. So much happened in such a short time, confessing, being rejected, finding out Tae and Yoongi were fated, getting back on his feet, having a heart-to-heart talk with rival alpha and then getting shoved aside by fate yet again. Previously he had never lost hope, he had always thought there was still chance for him and as long as he had a chance, no matter how slim, he would try his best. But this time, he really felt at a loss.

Worse, he couldn’t talk to anyone about it. Tae had always been the one he consulted everything with, but this didn’t belong to “everything” so he kept his mouth shut. However, bottling things up like this wasn’t healthy, and even for someone as calm and collected as Jungkook, he felt like he was going to blow up soon. After all, he was still an 18 years-old, first time loving someone and the pain it caused was as great as the love itself.

“Oh I still have other friends right…”

The first one he thought of was obviously Namjoon, but on a second thought, Jin would be a better choice. Although he wasn’t as close to Jin as he was to the alpha Kim, but for this matter, he wanted to know what an omega would think. Not to mention that Jin was the first person to notice the thing with Taehyung and Yoongi, that said something about his observation power and his understanding.

It was difficult to secure an appointment with Jin due to the older’s very busy schedule but Jungkook finally maganed to meet up with his senior.

“Good afternoon hyung, sorry for taking your time.”

“It’s fine Kookie. I was just a bit surprised that you want to see me alone, I guess you have something you want to consult an omega about?”

“Nothing gets past you hyung. Uhm, before that, have you seen Taetae hyung lately?” the younger asked a bit hesitantly, he didn’t know what face to make or what kind of voice to use.

“No, both Namjoon and I have been swallowed up by work, so we haven’t seen him in a while, in fact, the last time was Yoongi’s competition. Oh, okay, this must be about Yoongi right?”

“A lot happened hyung. Oh man where do I even start?” the alpha breathed in sharply, it still hurt just to talk about this. “So, I asked Taetae hyung directly if he was the fated alpha, and he admitted it. We had an honest talk, and though hyung was still confused about his own feelings, he promised to take things seriously and be honest about it, that both of us would deal with this issue like real men, that we would do our best and then accept whatever result.”

“That was very nice of you two, especially you Kookie, I bet you were the one who initiated the talk.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, hyung, no matter how nice I am, guess I’m just no match for fate,” the young alpha sighed and lowered his gaze.

“What happened?”

“I was supposed to have lunch with Yoongi hyung the other day, I was so happy, but, but when I got there,” Jungkook paused to find his voice again, “the owner told me hyung went into heat, passed out and Taetae hyung had taken him away.”

“Dear me… I can’t imagine what it must have felt like for you, must have hurt a lot. I admire you for being this strong Kookie, you’re amazing. Is there anything I can do for you? Just tell me okay.”

“I, I just wanna ask… if a bite happens during the heat period, that’s it right? The bond, I mean.”

“Correct.”

“I thought as much. Well, honestly speaking, what happens between them is up to them, I have no right to say anything but…” the boy looked down at his drink, he looked so small all of a sudden, so lonesome and painful.

“But you have the right to have a clear answer from them both,” the older patted the sad boy on the shoulders, eyes kind but voice stern, “If they get together, they should tell you loud and clear. I’m starting to get frustrated as well; for everything you have done, you deserve better.”

“I’m not asking for anything, I wish for their happiness more than anything else, if that happiness can be attained by them being together, I’ll accept it. But yeah, you’re right, I do want an answer.”

“I take it you haven’t talked to them since?”

“I don’t know how hyung.”

“Maybe that goes for them as well. But, Kookie, say, they do talk to you, and then what? What are you gonna do?”

“Wait for my broken heart to heal I guess. I don’t know how long it would take though, I had never been in love before,” the forlorn look on the young boy’s face really pulled at Jin’s heart string and the omega just wanted to wrap him up in his arms and tell him everything would be okay.

“I know that right now is not the best time to talk to you about fate, but I believe fate must have someone special destined for you, you deserve all the happiness in the world.”

“If only my fated pairing would work out like yours and Namjoon hyung’s.”

“Patience is a virtue you know, and you’re just 18, don’t lose hope in love yet.”

“Thank you hyung.”

“Everything for you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me, even though I’m fairly busy I’ll try my best to make time for my lovely dongsaeng.”

Jin insisted on treating the younger to a light meal afterward and Jungkook knew well enough not to turn down the older’s offer.

He felt better after talking to Jin. The omega was a very good listener and gave good advice; he seemed to know just the right things to say to make people feel better without sounding like an over-protective parent. Jungkook went home with a brighter outlook than it had been for days. However, his pleasant mood didn’t last that long, because that evening, right after dinner, his mother called upon him for a little talk. Walking down the the stairs from his room, the young son wondered what it was that his mom suddenly needed his attention for, and upon seeing the pile of profile cases on the table in front of her, his mood dropped like a stone.

“Kookie, sit down, let’s talk for a bit,” Mrs Jeon smiled as she signaled her son to sit down.

“Mom, I already told you, I’m not interested in any of them.”

“Why, they’re not good?”

“They are all very pretty and talented and have excellent background, I’m just not into this whole candidate screening thing. If we’re fated, then surely fate will bring the person to me, no?”

“Well, that’s the ideal case, but it doesn’t always work that well, there are people who never meet their fated pairs in their whole lives. And it doesn’t hurt if we give fate a nudge, right? By the way these are new,” her face brightened up as she gestured to the pile of documents, “I just got them, might be more interesting than those you’ve seen before.”

“Mom, it doesn’t matter who they are, I’m already…!”

“You’re already what? Don’t tell me you’ve found them already?!” her eyes went all big and round with expectation.

“No Mom, I havent’,” Jungkook gave a sad smile, he couldn’t mention Yoongi just to say that the omega was fated to his dear childhood friend, “Anyway, Mom, may I decline this set up? I think it’s a bit disrespectful to these omegas as well.”

“If that’s the case then,” Mrs Jeon looked at her son and spoke with serious voice before giving him a file, “just one, just meet one of them. And don’t worry about being disrespectful, because this person wanted to meet you, he even made his own profile.”

“Just this one, and just once?” the alpha reluctantly took the file from his mother.

“It’s a start, but yeah, if you really hate it after meeting him, we can drop this project.”

“Mom, you made it sound like work just now, what project, do you have an action plan and risk assessment and everything all done as well?” he finally laughed, okay, meeting one omega once was not the end of the world, he also didn’t want to make his mom unhappy.

“It’s my own mother project, risk is low, if you don’t find your fated pair through this you might still gain some new friends, but if you do find the one, wow.”

“I think we can use some expectation management here Mom.”

Mrs Jeon let her son go back to his room after confirming he would meet up with this omega, the time and place was to be decided later. The young son went to his room and promptly dropped the file into a random drawer.

++

Yoongi spent a few days looking over his thesis before going to school to discuss it with Tablo. He had been working on this for a longtime, partly because he knew the competition would take up a lot of his time and attention. The main draft had been finished a long time ago but he had also been editing the documents as new ideas came up.

“Yo bro, you disappeared right after the contest, not used to fame?” Kihyun greeted him with a pat on the shoulder when they met at the school gate.

“I’ve no problems with fame, just my heat.”

“O-oh, that’s rough. Well anyway, glad to see you again. Here to review your thesis?”

“Yeah, you too?”

“Yep, about time isn’t it? How’s yours?”

They kept on chatting casually while walking to the music department. Yoongi felt a bit strange to mention his heat, but then he calmed down, knowing that unless he talked more about it himself, none of his friends should be so insensitive as to ask about such topic.

Parting ways with his friend, Yoongi went to Tablo’s office. The young professor was waiting for him. They went over the details in the thesis, and as expected of an excellent student like Yoongi, there wasn’t much to fix.

“By the way Yoongi, the national orchestra will hold their anniversary concert this month, and the director told me he would like to have some guest musicians from the younger generation to perform with them. Do you want to?” Tablo asked with a smile, he knew the answer already.

“Oh my god is that true seonsaengnim? You know I would say yes before they even asked!”

“Well, that’s good then. I think it will be a good chance to develop your career after winning the compeititon. You should get in contact with them directly and discuss things further.”

“Thank you!!”

With that good spirit, the omega decided to go visit his Gramps. Back then he just suddenly disappeared like that, the old man must have been worried. And Yoongi wanted to get his watch back too.

+

“Yoongi my dear, how are you doing? I’ve missed you,” the old chef opened the door and immediately gave his young friend a warm hug.

“I missed you too Gramps, I’m sorry I didn’t visit you.”

“No no, your conditions are more important. You’re fine now right? The heat was not too harsh on you right?”

Yoongi was taken aback.

“I’m alright now, but Gramps, how do you know about my heat?”

“Uhm, that, come here and sit down, I have something to confess.”

The old man pulled Yoongi over by the hand and showed him to the sofa. The young omega complied while being rather confused.

“Okay, so, I was the one who called Taehyung to come get you. We were talking on the phone, remember? And then I heard some loud noises and you stopped talking. I called back many times and finally the chef there picked up, telling me you passed out because of your heat. I thought about going there myself but there wasn’t much an old omega like myself could do for you in such situation, and I don’t know any of your friends, I…”

“It’s okay Gramps, I’m not mad, I know you did it for me. Taehyung, uhm, he took good care of me too.” Yoongi could understand the old man’s view on this and it was true that he wasn’t mad, just that it was a sensitive topic, especially given the status quo.

 “Is it, uhm, okay between the two of you now?” the grandpa asked tentatively, the truth was that a few days after the incident, he did contact his grandson to ask about Yoongi but all he got was “he should be okay now.” Needless to say he was worried but he couldn’t probe more than that, he was just a chef to his grandson anyway.

“That, we kinda decided that we needed some time to think things through, so the situation now is just, well, nothing’s really happening.”

“I see, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, to think things over carefully I mean. Well, that’s that, so is there any special dish you want to have today?”

They steered their conversation towards more cheerful topics, such as Yoongi’s graduation plan, what kind of music he wanted to make in the future. The pianist also shared the good news that he might be performing with the national orchestra later that month and invited his older friend to come if all plans went well. For his part, Gramps told Yoongi that his son was making the final steps towards fulfilling his side of the deal with the Kim family, meaning he could clear up the misunderstanding with Tae and also, the old man and lady Sunmi could finally get their official places in the family.

“Oh my goodness Gramps, that’s like the best news ever!”

“Save that for when it actually happens, but yeah, I was never in doubt.”

++

Yoongi had been meeting up with people one by one but he still hadn’t met Jungkook. It wasn’t just about a missed lunch, he owned the young alpha a lot more and he wondered how he could ever make it up to him. But he couldn’t hide forever, he had to do something, like having an honest talk with the boy could be a good start.

It had been a while since he came to this coffee shop. He used to come here a lot more often and now that he had some free time, he planned to do it again. He wanted to have this talk at a quiet and private place, but he also wanted to have other people around since he wasn’t quite ready to be alone with the alpha just yet.

“Hello Kookie,” he smiled sheepishly upon seeing the young alpha, he looked a slightly bit thinner? There was also something different in his manner, like he had become calmer and more toned-down; not that he wasn’t a calm and collected young man before but something was just different.

“Hi hyung, it’s rare to see you out so early in the morning.”

“Well, trying not to get in the way of your day, and somehow I’ve become a morning person recently.”

“Really? Is that actually possible?” the younger laughed, but see, even the laugh was more toned-down now, “How are you doing?”

“Uhm, fine I guess. What about you? I’m sorry about last time.”

“It’s okay now hyung, what happened happened,” the alpha’s face changed at the mention of “last time” but he quickly switched back, Yoongi still noticed though, and he decided just to go with it.

“So, I guess you know about me and Taehyung.”

“I do,” Jungkook still felt a pang in his heart to say that, but he was glad that the omega no longer evaded the issue, he wouldn’t evade it either so he looked up and faced Yoongi properly.

“I’m sorry for having kept it from you, there was some misunderstanding between us two and I thought it wouldn’t work out, so I tried to sweep it under the rug.”

“Is it cleared up now? Whatever misunderstanding there was I mean.”

“Uhm, yeah, for the most part. He likes me and, I like him. We’ll be fine.” Yoongi secretly cursed himself for not being able to say it more convincingly.

“Hyung, are you happy?”

The important question came, with piercing eyes staring straight at him and Yoongi wanted to look away but he held his nerve and looked back at the younger.

“I will get there, and so will you. I want you to be happy.”

Jungkook closed his eyes for a second and focused on regulating his breathing. Guessed this was the official rejection he was waiting for, but somehow it wasn’t as strong as he had wished. There was something off with his hyung but he didn’t quite know what.

Just then Yoongi phone buzzed and the omega excused himself to check the message since it was from Gramps, they didn’t have plan to meet up today so why did the old chef contact him?. The pianist’s expression changed to one of confusion and worry upon seeing the message and that made Jungkook worried too. On the screen it read “Have you seen the news?”

“Oh my god, look at this, Dispatch has done it again!” The rather loud noise from some girls at another table got their attention.

“I didn’t know they follow business people too,” another girl said.

“They usually don’t, but he is just like a celebrity right? So handsome and rich and he has a fanclub too.”

Yoongi listened to their talk and he just knew he had to check this news. Typing “Dispatch” into the search bar and the full first page of results talked about just one thing.

“The heir: Kim Taehyung seen holding an in-heat MALE omega.”

“Hyung, stop looking at that,” Jungkook so wanted to snatch the phone away from his shocked hyung. But there was no escaping it.

“Hey look, it’s on the news too,” the girls whispered as they stared at a screen in the coffee shop, looked like the morning news had caught up with this new development. Yoongi abruptly stood up and walked closer to the screen to listen. They were showing the front page of Dispatch, with a picture of Tae carrying Yoongi into the taxi. The omega’s face wasn’t visible since he was burying it into the alpha’s chest, but everyone could tell he was a guy.

“Next, on something that has just gone viral, Dispatch has broken the news that the Vice President of the Kim Corporation, also the official heir of the Kim family, Kim Taehyung has been photographed as he carried a male omega into a taxi. According to the news agency, witnesses said the omega appeared to be in heat. His identity is still unknown and no statement has been released from the Kim. If it’s true that the man is Kim Taehyung’s partner, it would be a break from the tradition of the Kim family. Either way this is an interesting case to follow, since the famous heir is known to have not been in an official relationship despite various rumors.”

“Hyung, leave it, let’s go back,” Jungkook was standing right behind his hyung who must have felt quite shocked to see his picture splashed all over the media like that, especially since he was in a vulnerable state when the photo was taken.

Yoongi didn’t say anything and just quietly walked back to their table. The alpha was just a step behind, watching his hyung’s back. Unintentionally, his eyes wandered off to the omega’s neck.

There was no bite mark.

“Jungkook, is this normal for you guys? Being followed by photographers and such,” Yoongi asked while staring blankly at the drink on the table.

“Uhm, not really, I don’t think so, for example I believe no one is interested in following me. But Taetae hyung is a bit different, he’s really famous, like a celebrity.”

“Is that so…, it’s not surprising that people pay attention to him, but for them to have camera ready right at that time is scary,” the omega kept on twisting the coffee cup in his hands but he wasn’t drinking.

“In this case I think it’s more likely that someone who happened to be at the scene recognized him and took pictures and then Dispatch got them. But regardless of how they got it, what are you gonna do?”

“It depends on him right? I mean this affects him way more, people don’t even know it was me but everyone knows it’s him. What do people usually do in cases like this?”

“There’re two ways: clearing it up, or just keep quiet and wait for things to pass.”

“Clearing it up?”

“Yes, either admit or deny the news publicly.”

“I see…”

“Although you just said this affects him more, I still think you two should deal with it together, it’s about you both, not just Taetae hyung you know. And you just won a prestigious award so it’s not correct to say nobody knows you.”

“You’re right, I should talk to him. Oh but I can’t meet up with him, people might see. Uhm, could you give me his number?”

Yoongi was so taken aback by the news he didn’t consider how his question might sound strange to Jungkook, nor did he notice the flash of confusion on the younger’s face.

“O-okay, of course.”

After getting the number, Yoongi could only thought about going home and called Tae and talk things over. He felt bad about not spending more time with Jungkook though.

“I’ll talk to him later. By the way Kookie, I might get to perform with the national orchestra later this month, if you want to go I could send you invitation once things are finalized.”

“The national orchestra? It’s their 60^th anniversary this year right? This is big news hyung, congrats! Of course I’ll go.”

Yoongi stared at his phone. Before coming back to his place, all he could think of was that he was gonna called his alpha immediately to ask about the tabloid, but now he hesitated. He never proactively called Tae before, that was why he didn’t even know his number, and if he called what should he say? Or more like, he was nervous about what Tae was going to say.

“Either admit or deny the news publicly.”

This news didn’t seem to be very favorable to Tae’s image or that of his family; Yoongi didn’t dare to look online to see what people were saying but dating news in general wasn’t good, unless the partner was from a matching background and was appreciated by the public. And to be caught in such a situation made it worse.

Tae wasn’t going to deny it right? He said he liked Yoongi and all that. But if he was going to admit it, people would definitely try to find out Yoongi’s identity, was the omega ready for that?

“What the-“

He blurted out as his phone suddenly rang and startled him. Caller: Taehyung.

“Hi hyung, how are you? I didn’t want to interrupt your thinking time so I haven’t called since but..”

“Yeah I saw the news.”

“Oh, so you know.”

“I do, and I know it’s bad for you. You can deny it if you want.” Yoongi said that and got hurt by his own words.

“I don’t want that hyung, I was indeed carrying my fated pair in that picture, they didn’t publish anything wrong,” the alpha sounded very calm.

“Or you can wait till people lose interest, right?”

“Hyung, you don’t want to make this public, right?” there was a hint of uncertainty creeping into Tae’s voice.

“I, I am not ready, I’m still thinking you know. You said you would give me time.”

“Okay, I’ll try not to let it effect you, but I will not lie.”

“I’m not telling you to lie, you can do whatever you want.”

“What I actually want, and I’m more than willing to do, is to tell the world you’re my fated pair.”

“….”

“Are you trying to use the press to pressure me?” Yoongi asked after a long pause.

“No, no I don’t mean it like that, please hyung,” and the alpha was quick to deny the accusation.

“You don’t have to explain to me, I already said you could do whatever you want.” And he hang up.

The omega felt frustrated. Why was Tae being like that? What happened to “I will wait for you forever”? Yoongi said he would think about their situation and their relationship but it would be very different to do that with the whole world scrutinizing on him. The only time the pianist would want the world’s attention was when he was performing on stage, other than that, he’d prefer them to leave him alone, especially when it came to such private matter. How could his alpha think about this so lightly? Or was this the easiest option on the list? Like damage-control or something along that line?

The day passed with Yoongi trying to ignore the issue by focusing on editing his thesis based on what Tablo told him, but his mind couldn’t focus. Even though there wasn’t even much to edit but he couldn’t get anything done. He finally gave up and grabbed his phone and went on Naver.

No surprise Tae’s name was trending on the platform, there was a lot of discussion. People were having fun speculating about Yoongi’s identity, the nature of their relationship; many expressed disappointment over the fact that such a perfect alpha had been taken away, many surprised because Tae was with a male omega, while many others thought it was probably a one-time thing.

“He must be from an affluent family, other wise how did he even know the Kim’s heir?”

“That area is full of cheap restaurants so he might not be THAT rich.”

“How lucky is that omega to have his heat taken care of by Kim Taehyung himself, I don’t even dare to dream.”

“I heard his cousin is Kim Namjoon from Kim Financial, who is also betrothed to a male omega. Maybe it’s finally the time for male omegas to rise.”

“Namjoon’s fiancé is Seokjin from Kim Healthcare though, right? Omega or not, he is a perfect person, you can’t compare a random no-name omega to such a fine man.”

“Could we possibly be looking at a case of modern Cinderella?”

“Cinderella is no longer around, only gold digger my friend.”

Yoongi didn’t want to read anymore. Actually it wasn’t like he went online because he wanted to read people’s comments, he was just curious if Tae actually made an announcement. But he gave up, social media was such a toxic place, especially for someone who was the topic of a front-page Dispatch breaking-article. Yoongi didn’t sleep much that night.

++

“If he asks you could you say that you like me?”

That was what Yoongi meant by “lie to Jungkook”? How could he think that Tae’s feeling for him was a lie? That, and the fact that his fated omega was thinking about his childhood friend right after they joined their bodies pierced through Tae’s heart. Did Yoongi think Tae was immune to pain?

“Maybe he just needs more time,” was what the alpha thought; everything happened in such a short time after all and maybe Tae himself could use some thinking time as well. He kinda tried to not-so-subtly say that he would like to stay with his omega from now on, to not only take care of his future heats but of everything else as well, but Yoongi shot that idea down pretty quickly.

“Okay then, I’ll leave. But could I scent you once more before I go?”

“Hmm, thanks but no,” the omega thought about it for a second before refusing. “Your lingering scent may trigger me later,” the pretty smile made the rejection less harsh.

So Tae left Mr Son there to take care of the omega while the alpha himself went back to work. Of course he didn’t want to part way with his fated pair at all, the pairing attachment, especially after such intimacy, worked both way and if he could he would rather stay in bed with his other half and cuddle him all day, maybe a bit more than just cuddling. Okay, he’d better not get ahead of himself here.

“Mr VP, maybe you would like some of this?” the thoughtful secretary offered Tae a bottle of scent-neutralizer at the door. Tae looked at the item then reluctantly took it.

“Later, I want to smell like him for a bit longer.”

Somehow life had been throwing things at him nonstop, Tae thought on his way back to the office. He just improved his relationship with Yoongi a bit thanks to the music competition, then was confronted by his childhood friend and the two alphas somehow managed to not ruin friendship but then this heat thing happened. He admitted that fate had played a card in his favor which may seem unfair to Jungkook; but to be honest, with his omega suffering pain and dripping in pheromones, waiting to figure out everyone’s feelings wasn’t even an option at that time.

He told himself to focus on work but he couldn’t stop thinking about his childhood friend. Part of the reason was that he was reviewing a plan to revamp the restaurants in a number of his family hotels and naturally he thought of Jungkook since the Jeon family had been in the dinning business for generations. This could be a good chance for the younger to learn more about the business. Well, maybe he should wait a bit before resuming his big brother role; things couldn’t get more awkward between them than they already were now.

And then there were the things with Yeongmi and the old chef, such curious characters they were, and Tae was pretty sure each of them had their own agenda. He didn’t know what the agenda was but it must involve him and his family somehow. And Yoongi too, because he was his fated omega, had been dragged into all of this.

He didn’t see his friends for quite a few days since he was busy matching up the main group’s plan in Korea with this father’s development of the new brach in the US. He went over the developepment stages and something caught his attention. 5 years ago, the project went into a crucial phase which included, among other important things, the securement of the land required for new hotel building. It was very rare that such a golden piece of land was open up and one simply couldn’t afford to miss such a chance.

But one also couldn’t not see his wife before she passed away.

Tae was still so conflicted, but from a business point of view, his father’s team had done a great job; after that crucial phase, they kept on making strides and moving forward with the project. He could learn a lot from them.

One day Tae went to work, expecting it to be just another normal busy day but something was different. Employers looked at him somewhat differently and he just couldn’t think of any reason why.

“Mr VP, I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Mr Son, good morning. What happened? Something seems off.”

“Here is what happened, please see for yourself.”

The secretary opened his phone and showed Tae the breaking news. The alpha’s face became stern.

“How did they get this?”

“Looks like someone took the picture at the scene and later gave it to Dispatch. The tabloid didn’t contact our PR people for settlement beforehand, it seems like they really wanted to publish this.”

“Oh god I need to talk to Yoongi,” the young heir quickened his steps to his office.

“About that, before we clear this up, could you please be careful? This is a hot topic right now so people must be on to you.”

“Good thing his face isn’t shown in the picture, people should not bother him.”

“Mr VP, I’ll take this chance to ask. Is Mr Yoongi your partner?”

“Things are a bit complicated, but yes he is my fated omega. I will not let anyone harm him,” Taehyung looked straight into his secretary’s eyes as he said that, meaning he was dead-serious.

“That’s good to know. We need to decide how to deal with this, I assume you want to consult Mr Yoongi’s opinion first right? But please refrain from meeting him, not yet.”

“Okay, I’ll just call him then. I’ll tell you this now just to be clear, what he wants to do has priority over all else. But, uhm, say, if I was to own up to this and announce our relationship, would that affect the group’s business in any way?”

“It would. The Kim group is a family business and you are the official heir of the whole group, so your personal life matters, especially if it’s your fated pair we’re talking about.”

“Do you reckon people would react badly to it?”

“It’s hard to tell, if we could do a proper announcement with both of you present and be nice and happy, it wouldn’t be too bad. Mr Min is a respectable person in his own right, I believe the public will come to look at him fondly. If we cannot properly clear it up, or the relationship between you two doesn’t appear to be as good as people expect, the fact that the picture was taken during his heat period would be scrutinized.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know later what we decide, for now, we should just be quiet.”

Tae didn’t quite get it, why would people be interested in this? And to start with, he didn’t do anything wrong or to be ashamed of, he was taking care of his omega, if anything that was an alpha’s responsibility. The only problem was between Yoongi and Tae themselves, if they were a happy couple like Namjoon and Jin, there would be no problems with announcing it to the world. But they were not, and it was quite likely that his omega wouldn’t like the idea of making it public.

He kept on thinking until he couldn’t take it anymore and decided to call Yoongi. But…

“Are you trying to use the press to pressure me?”

Oh god, Tae didn’t think he deserved to be misunderstood at any given chance like this, whatever he said tended to be misinterpreted by Yoongi. Maybe when it came to his omega, Tae’s articulate businessman speech just all went out the windows. At the beginning of their relationship, or probably it wasn’t really a relationship at the time, he had wanted to keep their bond a secret and that made Yoongi insecure. This time Tae didn’t want to make the same mistake again, didn’t want Yoongi to think he still had reservation about them being a pair. Yet when the alpha had come to terms with this blessing, his omega was the one who wanted to keep things under wrap.

The alpha almost wanted to bang his head on the table over frustration but before he actually did it, an idea flashed up. Could it be that Yoongi thought Tae was doing all this for business reason? It was true that what he wanted to do fitted well with what his secretary deemed the best “damage control option” but he really just wanted to show his commitment to Yoongi. He felt so lost, so he texted his cousin-an alpha with a perfect relationship- to ask for some advice.

“Wow, dinner at your place, it’s been quite a while,” Namjoon said as he sat down at the dinning table.

“You’re just too busy hyung, if not, you can just come whenever you want. What are you up to these days?”

“Pot’s calling kettle black here, you’re quite busy yourself. And Jin and I are looking for a place.”

“You two buying a house? Is the wedding plan finalized?”

“Not quite yet, but we don’t have to wait till the wedding to buy a place you know. But anyway, have you talked to Yoongi hyung about the Dispatch thing?”

“I did. I want to make an official announcement, but hyung doesn’t like making it public, he even asked if I’m trying to use the public to pressure him, I’m just so lost.”

“Pressure him? Pressure him into what?”

“Uhm, into accepting our relationship, probably,” the younger Kim sighed in defeat.

“What? So you two are not..?”

“We’re like in our thinking time you see. He wants some time to consider things so I said I’d wait.”

“Okay, did you confess?”

“I said I like him,” Tae admitted and all he could see on his cousin’s face was the word “DISAPPOINTED” written in bold capital letters.

“You like him? Taetae, that’s such a weak confession. Lemme tell you something about Yoongi hyung, he is very careful when it comes to the matter of the heart. Even though I’ve not known him for years, I know there is no shortage of respectable alphas who are charmed by him, but he never paid attention to any of them. He had been waiting for his fated pair, namely you, for years. And then you came but you did your best to distance yourself from him. I know you tried later and maybe improved your standing to that of a friend, but that didn’t mean he could completely shake off his earlier disappointment. And then when things were just lukewarm like that, the heat thing happened, and both of you just couldn’t help it. For hyung, it must have felt like he was at the mercy of fate, had no control of his own life and love, and now during his thinking time, you suddenly told him you wanted to make your whatever relationship public. You appear when it’s convenient for you while all you gave him was an unconvincing “I like you.”

“No no it’s not like that hyung, I-“

“I know, I’m just telling you what it looks like to Yoongi hyung,” Namjoon’s voice softened when he saw the look on his cousin’s face. The younger alpha was simply devastated.

“It’s that bad huh? I guess I’m still consciously holding back.”

“Why? Something bothering you?”

“I-, I don’t think he loves me.”

“Come on Taetae, you think about this all wrong. You can’t be like “love me first then I’ll love you back.” If you want to pursue him then you have to do your best first, regardless of how he thinks of you at the moment. And, I’m all for gender equality and smashing stereotypes but we are alphas Tae, we don’t sit around doing nothing and wait for our omegas to love us, nor do we throw half-hearted confessions at them.”

“What do I do then?”

“Show your commitment. And if you really love him, tell him so, make him believe in you. You are his fated pair, that’s an unparralled advantage if you ask me.”

Chapter Text

Yoongi woke up at 5 in the morning again; it was true that he had somehow became a morning person, something which the omega had thought was impossible. Maybe it was the strain and stress from this Dispatch thing that was impacting him. No no, not just that, it was the whole thing with Tae and their let’s-think-it-over relationship. It had been 3 weeks since the fateful heat day and about 4 days since the Dispatch article came out. He had heard nothing from Tae, neither directly nor from the news, so he assumed the alpha was probably following the waiting-for-it-to-pass approach. “Fine by me,” Yoongi thought; except for the two of them and some of their closest friends, no one knew it was him in the photo anyway. He had been avoiding Tae due to fear of getting caught so it was really a good chance to put some distance between them…

That said, the omega couldn’t deny that he felt a bit lonely, and from time to time, he felt this urge to be near the alpha, to feel his touches, to be engulfed in warm cedar wood. It must have been the fated pairing connection doing weird things to him, Yoongi thought. However, he also felt there was something else, something more tangible that was physically pulling at his core and begging him to go to his fated alpha. He was not gonna give in to it, whatever it was.

Sitting down at his piano, he thought about the upcoming concert with the national orchestra. He would be joining them to perform some of the classic pieces and of course that in itself was already a huge honor. The cherry on top of this delicious cake was that he got to perform a song of his choosing, with the orchestra supporting him. And he wanted to play his own song, the one he wrote for the competition. “Hope” was Tae’s song, but this still-unnamed song was Yoongi’s alone.

As he played, his emotions became more and more convoluted, and the something inside was pulling at him even more strongly, begging him even more desperately to seek out his alpha. Yoongi stopped, hands frozen on the keys, eyes unfocused.

“The one thing I want, and I’m more than willing to do, is to tell the world you are my fated pair.”

Those words resounded in his head and he couldn’t continue playing, so he decided to go out for a quick coffee. The fresh air helped clear his head.

Waiting in line for his order, the pianist took a look at this surrounding. Modern technologies really had changed people’s behavior, and not necessarily for the better. Look, even in a group of friends, each person was glued to a smartphone, imprisoned by whatever displayed on the screens…

“OMG what is this?!” a rather loud exclaim from a girl startled Yoongi.

“What is it?” her friends all inquired with curious eyes.

“Kim Taehyung is holding press con at 10, and it’s broadcasted online.”

“Really? Must be about the Dispatch thing, let’s watch it together!”

Wait, what? A press con? Yoongi didn’t hear anything about this. He raced to grab his order once it was ready and went home in a flash.

What was the alpha going to say? It had been a few days and Yoongi was sure things would pass just like this, ambiguous and unsatisfying, but no real harm done. He grabbed the phone and almost dialed but stopped. He already told Tae that the younger could do whatever he wanted, and honestly, even if he still had the right to interfere, Yoongi didn’t really know what he would prefer. He didn’t like the status quo but wasn’t sure in which direction to steer it forward. He quietly turned off the phone and opened his computer.

His heart was thumping louder and louder as the designated time approached. So many microphones on the table, so many cameras and reporters. Yoongi sat on his couch, fidgeting, hands holding onto his kumamon impossibly tight. He almost jumped as the people in that pressroom turned their heads in unison at the arrival of the one person everyone was waiting for. His fated alpha, the one and only Kim Taehyung, in his formal business attire entered the room, followed by his competent secretary.

“Good day everyone, I am Kim Taehyung. I would like to thank all the reporters for attending this conference and thank everyone who is watching for your time. I want to make an announcement first, then you can ask questions and I will answer those I deem not too private. I apologize beforehand for not being able to answer some questions. Is that okay?”

The alpha paused to look at his audience then back to the camera, he looked and sounded calm. With no objection, he continued to speak, voice deep and steady.

“Regarding the recent Dispatch article about me, I can confirm that the person pictured was indeed me, and I was carrying my fated omega, who is a man. Since this is about my private life and my fated pair doesn’t like public attention, we would like to keep his identity hidden.”

Yoongi didn’t quite believe it, the alpha had repeatedly mentioned “fated” without flinching, he said it as calmly and firmly as a newscaster on a 7pm news program.

“That’s it, any questions?” Tae appeared to smile for a fraction of a second as he looked at the stunned audience. It took a good 10 seconds before someone asked.

“You two are fated, so is he your official partner?”

“I don’t like the word “official”, it implies there are other, unofficial ones. I only have one partner.”

“How did your grandparents react to this news? I mean it’s a bit different from your family tradition, right?”

“We don’t have such tradition, it just happens that I am the first alpha in the family to have a male omega as the fated pair. As for my grandparents, I have informed them about this press conference and they gave me the go ahead.”

“It was said that you didn’t, uhm, how to say, favor male omegas before. Was that true? If yes, did it affect your relationship?”

“It was true,” Taehyung paused a bit before continuing, “I want to clarify that I respect male omegas like I do to anyone else, it was just that I never thought my fated pair would be a man. You may say that he changed me if that doesn’t sound too canny.”

“Are you sure that your feelings, or may I say the changes in your view points and feelings, weren’t simply the result of the fated pairing connection?”

This question may have touched a sensitive nerve and the alpha stopped to think. Other people in the room nodded as if to say “good question, I wanted to ask that too.” Yoongi, now sitting still on his seat, was holding his breath. Such a scary question, one that he should think about carefully as well. But not now, now he was only concerned about what Tae would say.

“It might have been because of fate that I met him, but I love him because it’s him.”

He said all that loud and clear, and as Yoongi looked at the screen he felt like the alpha was looking straight at him and his heart almost stopped. Unconsciously he had a hand covering his mouth as if to stop a scream.

“What do you think of your fated pair?”

“He is a sweet person, very kind-hearted, talented and caring.”

“Are you two bonded?”

“…..” the alpha seemed taken aback a bit but he regained his calmness. “I’ll pass on this one.”

There was a pang of pain in Yoongi’s heart, and somehow in his stomach too.

“Do you think your relationship will have any impact on the future of the Kim group?”

“This is a broad question, while I certainly did not expect this level of public interest in my personal life, I will do my best to continue to improve myself and be a worthy successor to this amazing legacy that previous generations of the Kim family have left in my hands. That is to say, regardless of the status of my personal relationship, my focus and effort on business will not change.”

“Any timeline on the wedding, Mr Kim?”

“A wedding?” another brief pause, “well, that depends on my fated pair. I want to ask the press to kindly refrain from probing into this issue too much, but rest assure that something as big as a wedding would probably not be kept under wrap.”

The alpha looked at the direction of his secretary and Mr Son quickly stepped forward after looking at his watch.

“Our sincere apology but the Vice President has schedule shortly after. I hope he has answered the most likely to be asked questions, further inquiries can be sent to our public relation department.” Mr Son announced while eyeing the audience, who looked like they understood that the Kim heir didn’t want to talk to them anymore.

“Thank you everyone for your attention. I shall excuse myself, our PR representatives will continue to work with you afterward.”

Tae bowed before leaving. While his answers still left the biggest question “who is that omega” unanswered, but his conduct no doubt left a strong impression to the reporters and viewers.

To one special viewer, “that omega” himself, the impression was so strong his heart had not calmed down even a few minutes after the broadcast had ended.

“I love him because it’s him.”

That was strong wasn’t it? And he said that at a press conference; the alpha really didn’t exaxerate when he said he wanted to announce to the world that Yoongi was his fated omega. But this wasn’t quite the same, since what he basically said was “I have a fated omega and I love him,” the world still didn’t know who the omega was. Tae had made an important announcement which, publicly, would affect the alpha way more than it did to the omega, Yoongi realized that much. He looked at his turned-off phone, wondering if Tae would or already called him, but he was too scared to turn in on, feeling inadequate in the face of such a strong confession. And what else, he was afraid to hear that deep voice talking directly to him, because just now, just from listening to the press con, his body shuddered all over. He had been feeling this urge to be with the alpha, not in a sexual way, he just wanted to be close, within touching distance, maybe touching, the skinship would be great, the scent too. Just thinking about that made his stomach feel warm. So scary, Yoongi shuddered again, he grabbed a light blanket and hid under it on his couch.

When he came out of the blanket it was already 4 pm. His sleeping habit had been a bit weird, he had become a morning person at the price of being rather sleepy in the afternoon. His phone still lied idly on the table and after staring at it for a while, Yoongi finally picked it up. There was a message from Tae, probably from before the broadcast.

“I am done thinking, I’m gonna say it like it is. But you don’t have to rush, take your time.”

Yoongi let his head fall back on the sofa, the hand that was holding the phone dropped flat on the cushion.

“What do I do now?” a barely audible question left his mouth.

The next morning, he woke up early again, feeling a bit cold despite it being summer. Must be because of the early hours, the omega thought. Looking at his phone, no calls or messages. His friends must have many things they wanted to say to him after yesterday’s press con but they probably didn’t want to touch on such a sensitive topic just yet. Stretching his body for a bit, he became more awake and started to walk around in his living room and eventually came to sit down on the bench of his piano again. And he played “Hope,” thinking about how lady Sunmi used to play this song at the old chef’s place while looking endearingly at her baby bump. The pianist wondered if he could actually make that now-grown-up baby happy.

Breakfast came with hot bread and slightly sweet barley tea, and morning news. Yoongi had taken an interest in following business news ever since he became close with his heir friends. He watched on casually until an image of his fated alpha showed up on the screen and he stopped eating to focus on what was being said.

“New trading session on the Seoul Stock Exchange witnessed a fall of 1% for the Kim Corporation. This is likely a result of yesterday’s surprise press conference by the Vice President of the group. Analysts say that the uncertainty over the future of his relationship with his fated pair led to concerns among investors about the family situation. We will keep a close eye on this development.”

Yoongi’s eyes opened wide. A 1% drop didn’t sound like much but for such a big corporation that must have been a lot of money. “Uncertainty” they said. That was because of him, right? since Taehyung was fully committed in his announcement and he said he was done thinking in the message too. Yoongi was so conflicted, he didn’t know what to do. Maybe it was time to talk to someone about this, someone close to him and knew all this stuff well.

“Hey Namjoon-ah, when do you have time? Can we talk for a bit?” he called.

“Actually tonight should be fine, I’ll come pick you up.”

“O-okay, didn’t expect you to be available today. I’ll wait for you then.”

The omega hung up and then prepared to go to the grand theatre, he was invited to come watch a practice session of the national orchestra, as part of the preparation for their anniversary concert. He was excited and decided to do his best to not think too much about the matter with his fated pairing.

But there was no escaping it. Wherever he went, whether it was at the bus stop, on the bus, or even at the theatre, someone was mentioning the story. The coffee shop and grocery store were no better, people were having fun gossiping and some of the things they said were not very nice. They questioned the legitimacy of their relationship, saying Tae must have done something really bad for it to not work out because if he did everything right, why would the fated omega not madly in love with him yet? They questioned why an established couple would let the heat get that bad, unless they were not established to begin with. They questioned if Taehyung actually took the omega away against his will, they doubted if it was concensual and all that. Yoongi was sick of listening to all the nonsense, he wanted to scream at their faces that “That was me and Yes I agreed to it all!” but of course he couldn’t say anything. No words came out, there was only this bitter taste that he could feel on his tongue and the twisting pain in his stomach.

He went home and waited for Namjoon to pick him up, it had been a while since the last time they hung out. The alpha came around 7 in his black Audi, dressed casually in a dark navy T-shirt and dark brown pants. Yoongi smiled at the sight of his best friend, he had missed him. Also, judging from the way he dressed, they were not going to any fancy restaurant which was absolutely fine with the omega.

“Where are we going?” he asked once inside the car.

“My place, of course, we can’t have the talk we’re going to have at a public place right?”

“Right. And I’ve never been to your house before, I’m excited.”

“I want you to visit before it’s no longer my house,” the alpha smiled, dimples showing.

“What? Why? It’s your family house isnt’ it?”

“Yes, you’re right, it will still be my family house, but for my house, Jin and I will move to our own place soon.”

“Ah, so it’s like that. When?”

“When we find a place we like.”

They arrived at the Kim family mansion soon after. Not lavish like Taehyung’s place or elegant like Jungkook’s home, this resident had a modern, Western style like those belonging to Hollywood stars. The host led his friend to a dining room where some maids had been waiting. The maids promptly moved to finish setting up the table and food display before being dismissed.

 “I apologize for not talking to you much lately, you’ve been through a lot,” the alpha said casually as he served some of the food onto Yoongi’s plate.

“No need to apologize, you’ve been waiting for me to come to you right? I’ve always appreciated your thoughtfulness. Still didn’t expect you to be available when I called though.”

“Well Jin and I were going out for dinner tonight but he bailed out due to unexpected business matter. I was going to sulk and drool on it and then you called.”

“It’s tough when you’re both so busy. Anyway, I’m supposed you know all the stuff that has happened to me recently right?”

“More or less. But I don’t want to put words in your mouth, so I want to hear directly from you.”

“Tae and I being a fated pair, did that surprise you?”

“Of course, but once Jin told me about it, it just clicked, everything that had happened before suddenly made sense and I felt like an idiot for not noticing it sooner.”

“Since when did Jin hyung notice?”

“He said he suspected something since he learned that Taetae protected you from the bad guys at our engagement party. He only confirmed it after the music competition when it became rather obvious though.”

“That far back? He’s amazing isn’t he? Anyway, I, I’m sorry for keeping it from all of you. It was just Taehyung didn’t seem like he enjoyed or appreciated the fact that we were fated. He knew it since we first met at his birthday party and he looked really disappointed, shocked even.” Yoongi sighed as he sliced off another piece of steak, the meat suddenly became a bit less tasty.

“Hyung, I’m not trying to make excuses for my cousin, but I think you should know a bit more about his situation. Our family has always had hetero couples, and as the official heir, it was drilled into him that that was the best set up. More importantly, he adored his late mother with all his heart, and wanted to find someone like her.”

“I know that much.”

“You do?”

“I mean I did not back then, but I do now, even before you told me I mean. I heard lady Sunmi was an amazing person so no doubt he loved her that much.”

“She was indeed. I’m glad you know that, but you probably don’t know this. Since Tae put so much hope and faith in the fated paring, just like you, he had been waiting for his fated person all these years. Despite all the rumors and all the omegas that always swarmed around him, whatever he did with you was his first time.”

“What? You’re serious?” the omega looked up abruptly, his eyes wide.

“I’m dead serious. So, in short, you two have been faithfully waiting for each other, saving yourselves for you fated pair, I admire you both.”

“That, uhm, maybe because of the heat…”

“For an alpha, Tae has amazing control over his body and can maintain his reasoning for quite a long time. We have run into omegas in heat before and he was always the one to notice and got us away from potential troubles. Of course the heat of a fated pair is on an entirely different level but I doubt he would give in just because of it.”

“You’re right. You know what, he even tried to use emergency pills to stop his rut.”

“He did? Which one?”

“The red one. I threw them away though, I know they are bad.”

“Thank god you did, that silly boy, red pills? The hell was he thinking, if Jin knew this he would give that kid the scolding of his life.”

“I was taken aback you know, he would go that far to avoid doing it with me, yet later he did say he wanted.. I-“

“Of course he wanted, he was just afraid that you didn’t. Hyung, tell me, how do you feel about him?”

“I, I learned now that he is a good person and he has showed that he cares about me. Uhm, sometimes I feel like being close to him too, but I’m not sure if it’s the pairing power or not.”

“Come on hyung,” Namjoon shook his head and looked into his friends’ eyes. “Forget the pairing for a moment, just tell me what you think of him.”

“I think he is kind, he is caring in his own way, a strong and capable person, a responsible and reliable man, though sometimes he got excited over the most trivial things, like a child still.”

“That sounds about right,” the alpha smiled broadly, before putting his serious face back on, “I’m glad that you see him for who he is, so what’s the concern?”

“I’m not sure where this more favorable view came from, I didn’t see him like this before but I do now, is it because we are fated?”

“Oh stop it, why are you so bogged down by the fated thing? People who are not fated, say, 2 betas, come to love each other the same way too, as they get to know the other person better, their feelings are developed. First impressions don’t last forever you know. The way you’re thinking about this almost makes fated pairing sound like a bad thing.”

“So you never wondered if your feelings for Jin hyung were pre-programed by fate?”

“What? No, of course not!” Namjoon seemed shocked by the question, “If I wasn’t so fond of you I would say I was offended by that question. For me, being fated to him is the best thing ever, I don’t care where the feelings come from, I never question them. It’s like, scientifically, human’s emotions are created when certain areas of the brain are stimulated, it’s a pre-programed physiological thing, but that doesn’t make the emotions any less real.”

“I see.”

“Both of you are so insecure,” Namjoon shook his head before sipping his wine.

“Both? You mean Taehyung too?”

“To tell the truth, he also came to me for advice after the Dispatch news came out. He was so unsure of your feelings toward him that he didn’t dare to make a move.”

“I know, it’s all my fault, and I even got mad at him.. What did you tell him?”

“I told him to grow some balls and be clear about his own feelings first. Seemed like he did. You saw the conference right?”

“I did,” somehow the omega blushed a little bit a this, “he really did say it loud and clear.”

“Do you believe him?”

 “I, I think so. He also texted me saying that I could keep on thinking about it.”

“I know you’re thinking about this. Okay, what about Jungkook?”

“Wh-what?”

“You can’t leave things like this forever. I believe you’ve never openly talked about whatever it was between you two so you can do it now, you know you can tell me everything. You won’t be able to reach a conclusion about Tae if you don’t know what it is you feel for Kookie.”

“I like him, a lot, and I’m happy when I’m with him. It might have been a crush-at-first-sight kinda thing, but the crush got crushed soon since I soon realized I’m fated to Tae, meaning I could never be that special person to Kookie. That, and the fact that my body reacted crazily to my fated pair, whom Kookie considers a brother, just left me no choice. I have decided quite a while ago that I would try to remain his friend, and nothing more. It was painful but I have managed, somehow.”

“That kid is seriously in love with you, you know.”

“I do. I already owned him a lot, so I have to make sure if I end up with Tae it is because I truly love him. It would be wrong for me to leave the kind-hearted Jungkook for someone I’m not truly in love with.”

“I see what you mean. I think you’re right, Kookie wishes for your happiness more than his own. I know it’s not easy for you, and you’re doing your best too. I just want you to think about it based on your feelings only, stop worrying about the fated pairing so much.”

“I’ll try. So, Namjoon-ah, regarding Taehyung’s press conference, I saw on the news this morning that the stock price fell. Is it serious?”

“Don’t worry about it hyung, it’s just a temporary thing. Investors’ short-term decisions can be influenced by such news but their long-term plans are based on hard economic data and as long as the group maintains or improves its growth and profits, money will flow in.”

“I see, that’s good to know. But still, this must put pressure on him, right? Not only outside pressure but from the family too. Like, your grandparents, do you know how they reacted to all this?”

“I actually don’t. I know that Tae went to see them but no one knew how that meeting went.”

The omega looked like he was focusing on some thought, his eyes darted around, eyebrows forrowed.

“Hyung, you know what, Taetae is not the type of person who worries about what people think about him, unless that person is really special. In this case, he only cares about you and what you think, so as long as you can work out your feelings for him, he’ll take care of the rest of the world. He might be young but he has been the official heir of the family for 5 years now, he is used to the pressure.”

“I understand, talking to you really opened my eyes. I don’t know much about the world you guys live in, and not much about him either. Guess I still have lot to learn.”

“You’re welcome anytime hyung. You are my best friend, Taehyungie is my cousin, and Kookie is like my little brother, I wish for nothing more than happiness for all of you.”

“Okay, I’ll do my best. Now we should focus on eating, delicious food is getting cold,” Yoongi smiled a little as he gestured to all the dishes on the table, and his friend agreed.

At the very same time, in another mansion, a young lady was also having dinner, served by her long-time butler. Her foster parents were out for business gathering.

“My lady, now that Mr Taehyung has admitted it publicly, what are we going to do next?” Mr Park, the bulter, asked politely as he poured some more wine.

“He has more guts than I thought, I feel like I’m actually helping them to get closer by getting that photo released. But you can tell from the way he didn’t give any firm statments about their future that things aren’t really that good between them. Fated pair? How sad.”

“Sad? Excuse me but isn’t it good that things are not going well for them?”

“You still don’t get it,” Yeongmi chuckled, but she didn’t look amused, “a bad relationship will break by itself, what’s the fun in that? I want them to be ruined, emotionally. The Kim family ruined my mother’s life, and mine too, I’ll never let them off.” Her eyes turned ice cold as she tightened her grip around the wine glass.

“My lady, pardon my opinion but I don’t think anything good will come out of this-”

“Know your place!” she raised her voice and cut him off. “Thanks to them I never had a father and my mother hated me! Someone like you will never understand.”

“I apologize, please forgive my rudeness,” the butler bowed deeply and didn’t raise his head until he heard from his master.

“Okay, I shouldn’t have yelled at you, sorry. From now on have some people tailing that pianist, I want to know his detailed schedule and activities, don’t spook him though.”

“I understand.”

++

Taehyung had always wondered how his cousin was so much more matured than he was even though they were only one year apart in age. Their recent talk only deepened this notion, but of course he was not complaining, he felt very grateful to have such a great senior who didn’t hesitate to tell him things like how they really were and then gave him valuable advice. Especially when it came to relationship issues, Namjoon seemed to know exactly what to do in whatever situation, probably why things proceeded so well between him and Jin. There were some similarities between their stories, both were fated pairs and the alpha Kims were both fated to an older omega. But that was where the similarities ended: while Namjin enjoyed a harmonious pairing with confirmed feelings from the beginning, Taegi suffered a twisted fated filled with uncertainty. But..

“We are alphas, Tae.”

Right, Kim Taehyung was an alpha and he had to up his game, he had to behave more like an alpha. An alpha who could take responsibility for his actions and showed his omega his heart.

The day after the talk, he went to work, feeling like a new person. He carried out his VP duties as impeccably as ever, but with a new sense of confidence that made his employees unable to hide their admiration. Not that people had forgotten the Dispatch news but enough time had passed for them to realize that whatever the reliability of that news, Taehyung had been a very capable boss.

One reason for this new determination was that, right after dinner with Namjoon, Tae had contacted the butler of the main house to ask for an appointment with his grandparents. Earlier this morning, he was asked to come over for dinner with the elder Kims. Time to put his plan in actions.

“Mr Son, I have some plan I would like you to prepare for,” he called upon his capable secretary.

“At your service, Mr VP.”

“Regarding the Dispatch article, I want to hold a press conference.”

“I understand, what time are you planning on?” Mr Son seemed surprised at first but his voice remained calm and steady.

“Tomorrow, 10 am.”

“That soon? Pardon me but does the Chairman know about this?”

“He will, I’ll talk to my grandparents tonight. And don’t worry, whatever happens with the talk, I will still hold the press con, so you can inform our PR people to get things ready.”

“I’ll proceed immediately. One last question if I may, is Mr Min attending with you?”

“No, he isn’t,” Tae answered calmly with a brief smile.

+

For such a big family full of busy people, the elder Kims saw their grand children quite often. Tae actually met them just a few days before the news broke but he had not talked to them since. People might find it strange that the powerful old couple had not called upon their heir to discuss this yet, but Taehyund understood. They were waiting for him to come to them on his own, which was exactly what he was doing now. He had not done it earlier because he wasn’t sure what to say but now he knew.

“Good evening, young master. The master and the lady are waiting in the 2^nd dinning room.”

“Thank you. Oh, I brought a gift, tell the kitchen to warm this up,” Tae smiled as he handed his favorite stew over to the butler. Now that he thought about it, his grandparents had never tried this dish before.

The young heir walked through the white marble hall, it was so quiet that his light footsteps were the only noises he could hear. The main house had always been a bit too solemn for Tae’s liking but his grandparents were kind to him so it helped. His home was not that far away so he used to come over here to play when he was small and his grandparents treated him to delicious snacks and fun stories and games. Only quite a lot later did he realize that those stories and games were all carefully chosen as education materials to develop him into a suitable heir. It was not a bad thing though.

“Good evening, Grandpa, Grandma,” he bowed and greeted the elders.

“Come on in Taetae, we’ve been expecting you,” Mrs Kim smiled at her grandson.

“There you are, come sit,” Mr Kim talked in a low voice as he gestured Tae to come closer. The young Kim promptly complied.

They were behaving rather normally, no noticeable difference from how they usually were. Taehyung got the cue and so he also tried to be as normal as he could. After some usual formality, they settled into a more casual conversation. It wasn’t like Tae wasn’t nervous, he was, but since he had made up his mind about what to do next, the uncertainty was taken out of the equation.

“This stew,” Grandpa Kim was delighted with the dish his grandson brought but he also seemed a bit concerned, “Where did you find this?”

“This is a special stew that Mom used to make for me. For a long time I couldn’t find anyone who could make it and I was sad. But latter our staff found a chef who could cook it… Oh, right, we all met him at the merger announcement event, Chef Jungsik, do you remember? I didn’t even know his name or face prior to that.”

This time not only Mr Kim but Mrs Kim was also a bit taken aback, the grandson seemed to not have noticed though, he continued with his narrative since he had an agenda of his own.

“It’s very delicious isn’t it. Better still, recently, there has been another person who knows how to cook this, and I hope he could continue to make it for me in the future,” his voice lowered a bit toward the end as he looked at his grandparents to gauge their reaction.

“Who is it Taehyungie?” Mrs Mijin asked after taking a sip of her wine. Tae looked at her, then at Mr Kim and he finally opened his mouth after taking a deep breath.

“My fated pair. He and Chef Jungsik are friends, it looks like the chef has taught him.”

There was a rather long silience as the elder Kims took in the information. Of course they had expected their heir to talk about this issue but the way he casually and quite naturally mentioned his fated pair like that was beyond their expectation, not to mention the new fact that the fated omega knew Mr Jungsik- wait, was this..?

“Don’t tell me your fated pair is the pianist we met at that same event?”

“That is correct, grandfather. His name is Min Yoongi, also the pianist who won this year national classical music competition.”

“Undoubtedly he seems like a remarkable person. How did you two meet?”

“At my birthday party last year, Namjoon hyung asked him to perform,” Tae was pleasantly surprised that both of them were taking this rather well, not once had they mentioned the irrelevant fact that Yoongi was a male. Really, the media was making too much out of this non-existing “tradition” of the Kim family.

“Oh, I remember now, he knew Namjoon first right?”

“Yes, they are very close, you can say they are best friends,” the young heir became more and more relax, it seemed not much more than introducing your partner to your family, except that the partner wasn’t there and that they have a public relation issue to deal with.

“That’s reassuring to know, Namjoon is very matured and has good eyes for a friend.”

“Grandpa, you are not against this?” Tae was genuinely surprised, he wasn’t complaining though.

“I have nothing against him in person, I would like to know more about him but I think that it will naturally come in the future. And, well, I’ve learned my lessons to not interfere with others’ lives,” Mr Kim looked at his grandson and smiled gently, before getting a bit more serious. “But Taehyungie, you’re the official heir of this family and you have to do things right. A tabloid article is not a good way to announce your relationship, and this is not only about outsiders. You might not know this but your uncles and aunties have asked me questions, so even in our own family, we have to set things straight.”

 “Since you finally told us about him, you must have decided on what do to next. So, what’s the plan?” Mrs Kim added.

‘I do have a plan and today I’m here to let grandpa and grandma know. I’m holding a press conference tomorrow to clear up this issue.”

“I see, if you have thought carefully about this then go ahead. I just want you to know that the public reaction might not be what you wanted, but then again it will be a valuable experience for you. I also hope that Yoongi understands what it means to be your partner. I don’t want to put pressure on him but the pressure is an inherent part of getting involved with the Kim family.”

“Taetae, if you need anything from us just let us know okay,” Mrs Kim reassured him.

“Thank you, honestly speaking I didn’t expect this much understanding,” the young heir smiled brightly, his face lightened up, befitting the image of a beloved grandson.

“Silly boy, we’re family, of course we support you. And you’ve done nothing wrong, so all the more reason for us to stand by your side.”

“We did your parents wrong, we can’t make the same mistake again,” grandpa Kim suddenly sounded quite sad as he looked away into the distance, face solemn, before he refocused on his grandchild, “if your heart lies with Yoongi, then by all means go after him, you don’t want to regret later.”

At this, Mrs Kim turned to look at her husband and he caught her eyes and reached out to hold her hand. Right, he did have regrets, but none of them was her fault. If anything, she had been doing her best for the sake of the Kim family.

“By the way Tae, does Mr Jungsik know about you two?”

“I believe he does. Uhm, should he not? He’s one the few people who know and I don’t think he’s the type to spread rumors around.”

“Of course he’s not,” Mr Kim was quick to agree, ‘I was just curious. If Yoongi told him about this then it’s likely that he has told the boy some of his stories as well…”

“Stories? What stories grandpa?” Tae was a bit confused by his grandfather’s concerns.

“Ah, it’s nothing. By the way, when things settle down, you can invite Yoongi to our place, I want to talk to him more. It’s only proper for us to greet family,” he smiled.

Family? A bit too soon for that… Tae thought, the thought gave him some unpleasant feeling but he quickly shoved it aside, he was really happy that his grandparents were so supportive.

“I will do my best,” the grandson smiled back.

Taehyung left the main house at a reasonable time for bed after getting a “Goodbye and goodluck” hug from his grandparents. They were very affectionate towards their favorite grandchild after all, but it was the way of life in the Kim family that you have to deal with your problems yourself, so they would not interfere with this issue and let Tae handle it. And he was going to handle it the alpha way. Namjoon would be so proud.

“Welcome back young master. I hope you had a pleasant time with the great master and lady,” his butler greeted him at the front door.

“It was great. Oh, the thing that I asked you, is it done?”

“Yes young master. Your bath is also ready at anytime.”

“Thank you.”

Tae went to his room and s walked traight to his desk. He had asked his staff to unlock the drawer of this desk, the very drawer he had locked with his own hands and threw the key away. He opened it carefully like opening a treasure box, somehow feeling a little anxious.

And here it was, the item that he had wanted to lock away. The alpha took Yoongi’s jacket out and looked at it lovingly. This jacket that his fated omega left on the night they first met surely brought back memories. Not all pleasant memories, but it was the very first evidence that Taehyung couldn’t let go of his destiny. He would not hide it anymore, both the jacket and his feelings. Smiling broadly, he took the item and hung it in his closet. He was ready.

 +

The conference room was packed with reporters. Kim Taehyung stepped into endless flash lights and an array of cameras capturing his every movement. He bowed before taking his seat. He would get this done properly so he wouldn’t regret it, just like his grandfather and cousin had said.

“Thank you for coming, my name is Kim Taehyung.”….

Tae kept it calm for the most part of the conference, he tried to answer questions without giving away identifiable information about Yoongi. But some of the questions still got him. It hurt to mention the uncertainty of the future but he couldn’t blame anyone for this current predicament. He was yet to tell his fated omega a proper confession so it was too early for a bond or wedding plan. His grandfather also talked as if Yoongi had already agreed to be part of the Kim family but Tae didn’t have the heart to say “I can’t promise that, sorry grandpa”. He couldn’t promise, but he could try.

As he went through the questions, he wondered if Yoongi was watching this broadcast, there was a pretty high chance that he was, so at times Tae would look at the cameras as if he was looking at his fated omega, sincerely and lovingly. Laterd his PR people would tell him that his expressions were on-point but he knew it wasn’t just for show. And he hoped his omega knew that too.

“You did a fabulous job, Mr VP. Would you like to have lunch at the office or…?” his secretary asked once they were out of the spotlight.

“Why should I have lunch in here? I will go to our cafeteria, there’s no need to hide, especially from our own people,” the young heir smiled calmly as he went through the financial plans on his desk, time to get back to work. These plans had been updated based on new data from his father’s team who were going to close their last merger and acquisition deals in the U.S. He worked diligently with a heightened focus, only interrupted by a text from Namjoon.

“Good job bro.”

People in the cafeteria were surprised to see him there but they quickly greeted him with big smiles and he replied just as warmly. He hoped to build trust among his employees and that would not be attained by running away or hiding.

The next day, as he found out about the stock price drop, he frowed for a few seconds before resuming his usual expression. No one liked to see their company’s stock fell, but he knew this was a temporary thing, that it would pass. He was sure he did the right thing and that was enough.

“Is that so, I see. Keep monitoring the situation okay?” Mr Son was on the phone and his usually serious face looked even more stern.   

“Anything serious?” Taehyung asked once the beta put down his phone.

“Not really Mr VP, the PR staff is monitoring public’s reaction after yesterday conference and some people have bad things to say.”

“Is that all? People can think whatever they want to think, we can’t stop them. And honestly I don’t care, it’s my personal life and only Yoongi hyung’s opinions matter.”

“May I ask have you contacted him or vice-verse yet?”

“No, I’ll give him some more time, but I will surely be more proactive than I was in the past,” Tae was talking to his secretary but he was also talking to himself, like a pledge to do things right.

++

Yoongi was furious. He was an idiot for going online, something that would always end badly. Last time he did this was after the Dispatch news came out and he was the one who was attacked by bad comments. People didn’t even know who he was but they bad mouthed him anyway, calling him names and imagining things that Yoongi himself would never think of. But this time, somehow people had bizarrely turned their poisonous tongue towards his fated alpha.

“So the little Cinderella guy actually doesn’t want him, something must be wrong with Mr Heir.”

“Don’t people usually just hook up after things happen like that? There’s something off here.”

“I said this before, no alphas in a committed relationship would let their omegas’ heat got so bad in public. I would say they’re not even in a relationship.”

“He says they are fated but it’s might purely be a physiological thing in this case, a.k.a lust.”

“He probably thought doing it during the heat would close the deal but things didn’t go that way so now he had to lower public expectation of a wedding.”

“Look at that drop in stock price, he’s probably regretting it now.”

“Guess he’s gonna go back to girls now that this doesn’t work out huh? I mean only the fated pair is special, everyone else is the same so it doesn’t matter who.”

This was all so stupid, especially that last comment. What Tae did was basically a public confession and people somehow managed to think otherwise. Yoongi really hoped what Namjoon said was true, that Tae didn’t care at all about what people said because they surely said some unpleasant things.

“I love him because it’s him.”

Yoongi suddenly remembered his alpha’s words and the way he looked when he said that, and his body trembled. He was so easily worked up these days, getting angry easily, getting lonely easily and getting horny easily too. Then he realized something, it had been around one month since his heat which meant he should be back on suppressants, needed to rebalance his hormones. The omega promptly stood up and went to grab his medicine.

There we go, he thought after taking some pills. It must have been fate that the first and last times he met his alpha were both when his heat started. 6 months apart and he had gone from running away to doing it all the way, yet it was still an undefied relationship.

He was about to go prepare something for lunch when he felt a sudden twisting pain in his stomach making him almost fell over. Leaning on the cupboard to support himself, he put a hand over his belly on reflex. It felt like things were churning inside, and something was coming up, up-

The omega ran to the bathroom as soon as he realized what was happening, in time to puke out everything.

Damn that was terrible. He didn’t eat anything weird, just the usual stuff and he cooked things carefully himself, so it couldn’t be the food. He didn’t have a good feeling about this. He tried to book an appointment with his doctor but her schedule was full until the next day and he couldn’t say his case was an emergency. Yoongi ran through the list of the things he had taken during the last 24 hours and only one thing stood out: the suppressant. But that shouldn’t be, right? It was the same medicine he had taken before.

With that confused and worried state of mind he went on the internet again. Google knew everything and it told him that suppressant rejection was actually a thing, but it only happened to new pills or after the person’s body changed.

“In the case of omegas going back on suppression after breaks, the most common cause of rejection is pregnancy.”

Chapter Text

Pregnancy.

Pregnancy.

Yoongi stared at his computer screen, his mind went blank. For a good minute he couldn’t think of anything but eventually he had to wake up from his stupor. Grabbing his wallet, face mask and a cap, he went out and a short while later came back with 2 pregnancy tests.

Standing in his bathroom, the omega’s hands were shaking as he waited for the result to show up.

Positive.

He quietly went back to his bedroom and lay down, staring blankly at the ceiling. He had no appetite for lunch now. After a while, his hand came to rest on his belly, which looked and felt the same as always, but now carried a new life within.

Even without the tests, he was already 95% sure of the result. He was knotted during his heat, by his fated alpha no less, the chance of pregnancy was just too high. The now-pregnant omega smiled bitterly as he remembered the fact that his doctor had actually given him some birthcontrol pills a few months ago. That bottle was left unused.

The subtle changes he had experienced in the last few weeks all made sense now. Yoong sighed. He had always wanted to have kids, but this timing was just not good, he and Tae were not even in a relationship, he was barely out of school, no career yet, now he had to take care of a fragile seed of life…

A sudden pain cut off his train of thoughts. Immediately he patted his belly lightly, mumbling in a soft voice, “It’s not your fault baby, it’s all mine.”

Then it dawned on him that this new life that he had created and was now carrying, was tightly bonded to him, physically and emotionally, he had to treat it right. It was his baby. And that started with feeding it right, meaning feeding himself, so he went to the kitchen to make food.

As he cooked, his thoughts went to the child’s father, his fated alpha. He didn’t want him to know, not yet. Things were complicated enough as it was, and a baby, a baby was such a big issue! If Taehyung knew, how would he react? He said he loved Yoongi, but was he ready for a kid? Was he going to call off Yoongi’s thinking time and just claimed both him and the baby? The omega felt like his control over his own life had been taken away bit by bit until there was nothing left. Anyway, he would keep this a secret for now, first of all he had to go see his doctor.

But unknown to the new dad/mother, there were already cracks in his plan.

“My lady, I have an important report.”

“Go ahead, this is about Min Yoongi?”

“Yes, he just bought two pregnancy tests.”

“Ohhh, interesting, now this is very interesting,” Yeongmi laughed silently. Her butler was a bit concerned because of the cold smile.

“My lady, it’s likely that he’s pregnant right? With this their bond should grow stronger just like you wanted.”

“Likely? It’s certainly the case. The fact that he had to check means he wasn’t on birthcontrol, it’s definitely positive. Tell your guys to tail him closely and put a bug on him.”

“A bug?”

“I don’t care how, on the bus maybe, just put it on him. I want to hear his conversation with his doctor.”

“I understand.”

“Oh, one more thing, find out if there’s any summer program at the music department, give me the schedule.”

Yeongmi smiled contently, she was gonna crush them all. Figuratively and physically. She took a sip of tea before going back to assessing her family’s porforlio.

++

“Yes, you’re pregnant, for about four weeks,” the doctor looked him in the eyes, no judgement, just sympathy.

“I figure that much.”

“How are you feeling Yoongi-ssi? Any morning sickness or discomfort at certain food or drinks or scents?”

“Not yet, so it’ll become like that?” the omega felt nervous.

“That’s common with pregnancy, your body changes to accommodate the baby, lots of hormones are at work. It takes a while to get used to, some people never actually get used to it.”

“Is that so? I don’t feel like much has changed yet, just that I’ve become a morning person and get very drowsy in the afternoon. Uhm, is there anything I can do to alleviate the symptoms you’ve mentioned, if and when they appear?”

“Yoongi-ssi, this might be a bit personal, but I need to know if you’ve been in contact with the baby’s father?”

“He’s my fated alpha, and no, I haven’t seen him since, well, you know, since we made the baby.”

“I am not trying to tell you what to do with your relationship, but from a doctor’s point of view, it’s better to have him by your side, for you and for the baby too.”

“What do you mean for the baby?” Yoongi didn’t care much about the “for you” but he immediately sat upright at the “for the baby” part.

“A new life is fragile, especially the first 3 months. The father’s presence gives its some sort of protection, which is difficult to explain. It’s easier to explain the impact he would have on you though, his pheromones could balance your hormones and put your body in a much more stable state, which is good for the baby of course. And in your case the effects are stronger since you two are fated, he could tell the differences right aw- Wait, he doesn’t know you’re pregnant?”

“No, even I just found out yesterday.”

“That won’t do Yoongi-ssi,” the doctor shook her head, “I’ve been your doctor for a few years, I know you’re a strong omega, a strong person, but there are things that you should not do alone. I remember you telling me you wished for a kid or more with your fated one, that was why we put you on suppression breaks in the first place. I don’t know what happened between you two, but since the baby is here, please consider everything carefully.”

“I understand doctor, I will.”

“For now, your conditions are alright, I’ll give you some supplements for new mothers, please come for regular checkups and of course, visit the doctors if anything happens.”

The specialist smiled gently at him and Yoongi felt a bit better, he thanked her, took his stuff and left. He zoned out on the bus, thinking about what he was told. It made absolute sense that the baby needed its father, but, but Yoong himself wasn’t quite ready to let this out yet. Everything happened so quickly, so suddenly, he never seemed to be able to catch his breath, he could barely keep up with his own life. His hand subconsciously wandered to his belly again. “Sorry baby, could you wait just a little?”

The days after, Yoongi tried to keep it as normal as possible, he went about his daily routines just like how he used to, with the addition of taking supplements and regularly checking himself, or more specifically, checking his belly. He had become conscious of the fact that he was know carrying a new life within himself, the baby he had been dreaming of, his baby. He tried to be more careful when moving around, as the doctor said the first 3 months tended to be the riskiest. Yoongi wasn’t very physically active so at least he didn’t have to change his habits too much. He did have some difficulty getting used to the other changes though. Sometimes he felt pain or nausea, sometimes his tempers changed abruptly, his energy levels too. One minute he felt like moving around doing everything, the next minute he would feel super sluggish and rather sleep than lifting a finger. But all of that was still the easy part, the tricky bit was when he suddenly felt lonely. He was with his baby, and still lonely. He imagined when his belly would become bigger, it would be difficult to move around, to work, to care for himself and the baby. And there was the inevitable question of when to let people know because obviously he couldn’t hide the baby bumb for too long. At moments like that, he craved for someone, no, not someone, just one person.

What would he do though? Called him and said “I don’t know if I love you but just so you know we’ve made a baby”? Or maybe a short text “Hi, I’m pregnant” would do the job. Imagine if the press got hold of this news, “20 year-old dad! THE HEIR knocked up his partner,” that would make a good title. And then he realized, Taehyung was 20, he was no doubt very matured and responsible, but still 20, that was young. Yoongi wasn’t that much older, but he doubted the young alpha had planned to become a parent at his age. Everything about this was just so confusing.

He was deep in thoughts when his phone buzzed.

A message from Taehyung. And a photo. Yoongi’s heart suddenly felt warmer.

“How are you hyung? I’ve missed you. I saw these and I thought they would look good on you.”

The picture was of the alpha holding up a pair of dangle earings with sparkly decors that looked like floating snowflakes. They were pretty. So was the hand holding them. The alpha’s face wasn’t visible though, and Yoongi kinda wanted to see it. No, he really wanted to see his face. And so, shoving the weirdness he felt aside, he texted back.

“They’re very pretty. Show me your face, I wanna see”

“Should I come visit you?” the reply couldn’t come any faster.

“A photo will do,” the omega felt embarrassed by his own request, he wanted to take it back but he couldn’t, and he still wanted to see Tae’s face.

A few minutes later, he got what he wanted. The photo showed Tae’s handsome face, smiling. Yoongi smiled at his phone, it felt stupid to smile at his phone, but he did anyway, not like he had a choice, he just felt cheery. He looked at it more carefully, it looked like Tae was in his office, not surprisingly. There were so many documents on his desk, and what was that plant he had in there, camellia?

Camellia.

Yoongi almost gasped. There was one distinct incident in which Taehyung and camellia were linked, that one time at Namjoon’s engagement party, a dried camellia fell out of the alpha’s pocket. Yoongi still remembered how Tae looked a bit flustered when Jungkook picked up the flower and how quick he was to get it back. Just how long had the alpha been holding on to those flowers which smelled like Yoongi?

His thought was interrupted by another message.

“May I have your picture too, if that’s not too much to ask 😊 “

The omega breathed in sharply, no it was not too much, it was just fair that he returned the favor, so he proceeded to take a selfie, trying different angles until the photo didn’t look weird to him. After hesitating for a bit more, he finally hit the send button. This felt so strange, he felt nervous, and it didn’t make sense. It was just a picture, he sent it because he asked for one first so he was giving back one. Logical. Common sense. Nothing to dwell on. And yet his heart was beating fast, and he felt warm inside.

“Beautiful as always <3 “

Silly Tae. Yoongi put his phone down. He didn’t reply, he didn’t want to think about this any more.

The next day, the pianist went to the grand theatre for a meeting with the orchestra, the conductor wanted to know how he would like to play his piece, and of course he would get to learn his supporting role when they performed some other classic pieces. The musicians were very nice and as expected of the national orchestra, everyone was super talented and professional. The sessions went without glitch and Yoongi was glad he was given this opportunity. And when he played his still-untitled song, somehow, he didn’t feel as much pain as he used to. The feelings were still strong, but less painful.

He got home at a comfortable 6pm, enough time for a shower, reading books and cooking dinner.

Bzzzzz bzzz

He picked up the phone. Taehyung. More text and photo.

“How was your day? Not sure you want to see my face but I want you to see my face anyway.”

The photo was of Tae in his office again, smiling again, handsome again. Yoongi laughed quietly, just because he asked for a photo one time now he was going to get one everyday? He couldn’t deny the fact that he just felt a bit happier when he saw that face though. There was a sandwich on Tae’s desk, he must be very busy to be eating in his office like that. Looking at the steaming pot on his stove, Yoongi almost thought he should give the alpha some better food.

And just like that, Tae kept sending him a photo a day, and sometimes Yoongi would feel generous enough to send one back. They didn’t talk directly, just texting. It was much easier this way.

++

“It might have been because of fate that I met him but I love him because it’s him.”

The words echoed in Jungkook head. He watched Tae’s press conference, it was clear now that Tae and Yoongi weren’t official yet, the way his childhood friend spoke indicated that nothing had been decided, nothing had become “official”. Well he had guessed something similar when he saw the omega’s nape without a mark at the coffee shop. Yoongi even asked him for Tae’s number, meaning he didn’t know! The things that had happened before that, including the heat, weren’t things that any of them had control over. On the day of the heat, Yoongi was going to see Jungkook, not Tae, but…

But what happened happened.

He recalled the face Tae had when he said those words at the presscon, the older alpha had been nothing but resolute, that look in his eyes, Jungkook knew he was serious, he meant what he said, he had found his resolution. It took a lot of determination and gut to declare that in front of people, especially given the status of their relationship and Tae’s obligations as the heir of his family, but he did it.

But Jungkook loved Yoongi too.

And even though he thought the omega knew it, it was just a quiet understanding, since Kook never said it loud and clear. And he wanted to, he wanted to talk to Yoongi about it, like really talked about it, not just Yoongi pushing him aside at the lightest hint of a confession. The young alpha wanted to have that talk, even if it would 99% end in a bitter rejection, at least he would be able to walk away with less of a heavy heart.

“Young master, it’s about dinner time, please join the master and the lady.”

“Thanks, I’ll be down right away.”

His parents were home today? He didn’t know that.

“I can’t keep this in anymore, Kookie, do you know Taehyungie’s fated pair? He must have told you right?” Mrs Jeon asked after they all settled down at the table, her eyes lit up as she looked at her son expectingly.

“Uhm, not really Mom,” Jungkook answered reluctantly.

“Really? I’m not asking you to tell me who he is, just whether you know him. I’m so curious, he must be an amazing boy, and probably very pretty too, like Jin,” she smiled.

“Jin is handsome, I wouldn’t call him pretty,” Mr Jeon corrected his wife, “but otherwise I agree with you, I can’t say I’m not curious about this person.”

“The presscon! I couldn’t see it live but I did watch it later, he did so well, I can’t believe he’s still just 20.”

“That’s the vice president of the Kim group for you. I hope things work out soon so we can meet this fated person that Taehyung cares so much about.”

Mr and Mr Jeon shared this agreement and continued enjoying their dinner, but they soon realized their son had been awefully quiet.

“So Kookie,” Mrs Jeon turned to him, “both of your close friends have found their fated pairs, have you looked at the profile I gave you last time?”

“I’m sorry Mom, not yet.”

“Come on now, you said you would meet him right? How about next week, I heard he will be back in the country, but I don’t know the exact date yet.”

“Uhm, he seems busy, maybe..” Jungkook spoke hesitatingly.

“No maybe Kookie. I told you he wanted to meet you, and you have agreed with me. Clear you schedule, I’ll set the date once I have more info.”

Mrs Jeon sounded determined and Jungkook couldn’t say no. And she was right, he did agree to do this. He did not wish to discuss this any further, lest his parents got back to the topic of Tae and his mysterious fated pair.

Dinner was over and after a bit of family time, Jungkook excused himself and retreated to his room, where camellias no longer bloomed red. They weren’t in season anymore and his room seemed a bit plainer, emptier without their presence. He thought about what his mom said, it was true that the two closest friends he had, Namjoon and Taehyung, had both met their fated omegas, the former had an envy-worthy relationship while the latter had just recently realized his feelings. Jungkook wanted to confess too, but at this very moment, his resolution seemed to be wavering a bit. His childhood friend, who had been carrying a family burden since his younger years, who was the target of public scrutiny and sometimes unjust criticism, continued to march on relentlessly ahead, and Jungkook didn’t want to get in his way at all.

No.

NO.

That wasn’t it.

They had talked about this, they had agreed to face this like real men; and quietly walking away without making things clear simply wasn’t the Jeon Jungkook way of life. Also, he wasn’t trying to get in Tae’s way, he wanted liberation for himself and his heart. And maybe for Yoongi too.

He continued to think about it for a few more days and decided to talk to Jin. The older had told him in their previous meeting that he could lend him an ear anytime. Namjoon was really the luckiest guy in the world to have such a partner.

“Oh Kookie, what’s up?” somehow Jin’s voice sounded like he was shocked to hear from the young alpha.

“Hyung, how are you?”

“Yeah, I’m good. You too?”

“I’m alright. Uhm, are you free any time this week? May I talk to you for a bit?”

“Sure thing. Lemme check real quick…How about the day after tomorrow? We can have dinner together.”

“That’s great, thank you hyung.”

++

Taehyung couldn’t wipe the smile off his face, he kept smiling at his phone for the longest time before finally, and reluctantly, put it down. Mr Son, the usually quiet and mind-his-own-business secretary, couldn’t help asking.

“Mr VP, you look happy. Did something good happen?” he asked as he placed some more documents on the alpha’s desk.

“Yeah, Yoongi just asked for my picture, and he sent me one of his,” Tae’s eyes traced the words in the documents carefully through happy eyes.

“That’s a good development, I’m glad. You must be missing him a lot.”

“I am, but I’ll wait. Patience is a virtue.”

Taehyung didn’t quite believe it. It started as a moment of bravery on his part when he sent a photo of some earings to his omega. Earlier that day, he had a business meeting at a premier jewelry chain who wanted to open stores in some of his family’s hotels. Naturally he took a look at their products and something caught his eyes. A pair of white gold earings with dangling snowflakes cladded in sparkly diamonds. He immediately thought of Yoongi and purchased the pretty things on the spot.

He was just hoping for some comment, any comment from Yoongi, and guessed what? He was asked to send a photo of himself, because apparently the omega wanted to see his face. He was so supprised he didn’t know what to do for a good minute or two. He was never a big fan of selfie, rarely if ever took one, but for Yoongi, he was willing to do anything.

There, sent.

Could it be that Yoongi, somehow, uhm, missed him?

Well then it was only fair that Taehyung asked for something in return right? Right?

And so he did, and he waited anxiously. Nothing happened for a while and he got nervous, maybe he was getting ahead of himself, maybe that was too much to ask…

Bzzz bzz..

Tae had never checked his phone that fast. Yoongi did send him a photo back. And wow, how lovely he was, with fluffy hair that framed his face, rosy cheeks that seemed to have gotten a bit rouder, sparkling eyes and even a smile! Tae wanted to see him, to touch him, to feel him… but he had to be patient. Such a difficult virtue to attain.

And somehow they kept texting and trading photos the days after. Well, “trading” might be a bit inaccurate, since most of the time it was just Tae who sent the selifes, but every once in a while he would get one too. He saved them in his phone and looked at them whenever he felt tired. Even when he was super busy and had to make do with a sandwich for dinner in the office, just a few words from Yoongi made the evening much more bearable.

One day, when he just got back from lunch, his phone rang. It was Namjoon.

“Hi Tae, busy now?”

“Not really hyung, I’m just back from lunch.”

“We’re at your place now, wanna meet?”

“We? You mean Jin hyung too? Of course I always want to see you, is my office okay?”

“Sure, we’ll be there in a sec.”

It was not common to see the two of them together during work time, so Tae was a bit curious, but whatever, he loved seeing them.

“Wow, nice office Mr VP!” Jin exclaimed and gave his in-law a hug.

“Thank you, hyung, please have a seat. It’s a pleasure having you at our place, business meeting?”

“Yeah, I have talks with some insurance companies regarding a new contract with our hospitals,” the healthcare guru quickly settled himself down, he looked at-home.

“Oh, so Namjoon hyung must be your special counsel on the financial terms, right?”

“Correct,” his cousin smiled broadly, then shrugged his shoulders, “and it’s interesting to talk to those people, insurance isn’t that far from finance actually.”

“Okay enough with the business talk, I’m not here for that,” Jin shushed his fiancé, “I’m here to commend Taehyungie on a job well done.”

“Huh?” the younger alpha looked confused.

“That press con Taetae, it was splendid! I didn’t watch it live due to work but I did watch right after that when I went to grab a bite. Well done, that was the most alpha I’ve seen you.”

“Really? You really think so?” Tae looked up, hopeful, because if an omega of high standards like his cousin-in-law approved it, then it was more likely that another omega would think highly of his performance too.

“Yes,” Jin nodded as he looked straight at the youngest Kim in the room, “so, what happened after that, any progress?”

“Uhm, maybe you could call this progress or maybe not, but I’ve been texting him everyday for a while now.”

“You’re in contact, of course that’s good. But you haven’t seen him in person?”

“I told him I would give him time, so I’m trying my very best to make do with just texting. Also, even though I don’t mind the press at all, Yoongi hyung might, so I don’t want people to come on to him.”

“That’s thoughtful of you, I’m sure he appreaciates it,” Namjoon also chimed in to support his cousin.

“But you know what, it helps that I have his photos too, not just words.”

“Photos?”

“Actually,” Tae started smiling just at the thought of what they had been doing, “I’ve been sending him a picture of mine everyday, and sometimes he would send back one of his, like this one.”

He was so excited he almost hummed when he grabbed his phone and opened the “Tsubaki” folder. There were 6 photos inside. He didn’t hesitate to show them to the engaged couple, they were among the very few people who knew the story, and they were his friends and family.

“Haha, how cute, he really likes this angle huh?” Jin laughed.

“Yoongi hyung is not a big fan of selfies, but he tries hard for sure, the pics all turned out great,” Namjoon explained.

“Tsubaki?” the omega was curious, and his fiancé was going to explain but he decided to leave it to his cousin.

“Uhm, it’s Japanese for camellia.”

“Ohhh, I see,” Jin smiled as he continued to look at Tae scrolling through the same 6 photos for the n^th time, then suddenly his eyes opened wide and he took the phone in a snap. “Please give me this for a sec.”

He said that but the phone was already firmly in his hands. He scrolled back to a previous photo and zoomed in. There was no mistaking this. Closing the photo, he returned the phone to its perplexed owner.

“You said you haven’t seen in since, uhm, since the last time you met right?”

“Yes hyung, is anything the matter?”

“Uhm, no, nothing really. Well since he seems willing to keep in contact with you, it’s a good sign. Consider this the courting period since you two didn’t really have much time to get to know each other before all these things happened. Hopefully it doesn’t take too long before you can say your confession directly to him.”

“Yes hyung, I’ll do my best.”

“Well, it’s about time I get back to my business, lovely to see you,” Jin stood up and the other Kims followed suit.

“No need Tae,” Namjoon spotted the look on his cousin’s face which said he would see them off to the conference room, “you’re busy, we can get there ourselves.”

“Well then, see you.”

The younger bowed and got back to work, how nice it was to be able to talk about Yoongi openly like that. But the way Jin looked just now confused him, the older seemed really concerned there. Was it something with Yoongi’s pictures? Tae opened the folder and looked again, but he couldn’t see anything but a lovely omega, his lovely omega.

On their way back to the conference room, Namjoon couldn’t help asking.

“Jinnie hyung, what was that just now? Something wrong with Yoongi hyung?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s wrong, don’t worry too much. Let’s just hope things work out and he knows what his heart wants.”

“Right,” Namjoon nodded, he wanted to ask more since it was rare for Jin to look shocked like when he saw whatever concerning thing in Yoongi’s pictures, but he knew if Jin didn’t want to talk about it then no use asking.

On the passenger seat, the older Kim looked focused. There was no mistaking it, those bottles in the background of one of the pictures were pregnancy supplements, specifically for male omegas. Most people would overlook such a small detail, but for a healthcare boss who wrote his thesis on obstetrics, that was an important bit of information. So Yoongi knew, but Tae didn’t. This was a new level of frustration but at least the two of them were keeping some contact, so maybe Yoongi planned to make the news known once they became closer. And he looked healthy in the pictures, he was taking care of himself, that was good too. The only concerning thing was the fact that Yoongi and Tae weren’t seeing each other in person, meaning the pregnant omega didn’t have any physical contact with the child’s father. That was not good.

And Jin worried about Yoongi’s mental state too, you never knew how pregnancy affected people and maybe he was overthinking it but this was Yoongi’s first child, the father was not actually around, and given the secrecy of the whole affair the pianist probably couldn’t confide in other people. Jin really wanted to give him a hug.

He was still mulling over it the next day when his phone rang. It was Jungkook, another person entangled in this love and fate affair. The boy wanted to meet and talk, and after checking his schedule, Jin said they could meet 2 days later. This must be about Yoongi, Jin just knew it. These youngsters, he wished they could find a way out of the mess and into happiness.

“Jinnie, I still can’t stop thinking about those pictures of Yoongi hyung. What did you see that made you shocked like that?” Namjoon ask 2 days latter when they met up for lunch.

“Hmm, well, I did see something, but as I told you, it’s not necessarily bad. And it’s not that I want to keep things from you, I just feel this is something Yoongi himself would announce once he’s ready. Is it really bothering you that much?”

“Well, since you said it’s not bad, I tried not to think about it. But hyung just called me, he wanted me to go with him to university tomorrow at 10. He sounded worried, scared even, and it’s strange that he made the request just one day earlier, he usually gives me more time to arrange my schedule,” Namjoon’s voice turned serious and he stopped eating to look straight at his fiancé, “and somehow I have a feeling this might be related to whatever you saw in those photos.”

“You will go with him right?”.

“I will, time is tight but I think this is serious, it almost sounded he was begging me to go with him, I can’t leave him alone.”

“That’s the right choice, whatever the cause, he shouldn’t be alone facing any stressful situation now. But you said you two are going to your university? I wonder how that relates to that…” Jin looked a bit confused, “but anyway, look after him okay? If you need me for anything just call, my schedule is fairly light tomorrow.”

“Okay. Haizz, why do things keep happening to him? He’s such a kindhearted person. I hope nothing serious happened. Anyway, what’s your plan for tonight? Sorry we can’t have dinner together.”

“No worries, I have another date.”

“Oh really? Who’s that?”

“Jungkookie, he called me on Wednesday, saying he wanted to talk. I’ve become his office consultant I think,” Jin chuckled.

“He’s made a good choice then. Well, Jungkookie too, such a caring boy with a such a pure heart, I hope he’ll be happy too.”

Namjoon really meant that and Jin agreed. The couples had been giving advices to those three and although they’d tried, things still didn’t look like they would untangle anytime soon.

After finishing his work, Jin drove to the restaurant Jungkook had booked for them. It wasn’t one of the Jeon’s restaurants, because according to the young alpha he didn’t want the staff there to pay too much attention. Jin wasn’t late but when he arrived, the alpha was already there.

“Good evening hyung,” he got up and bowed to greet him, impeccable manner as always.

“Hi Kookie,” Jin smiled and gave him a shoulder hug.

The greeting exchanges were short and they quickly moved on to the main topic once ordering was done.

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

“I’m going to confess hyung, for real this time,” Jungkook said in the most earnest voice.

“Confess? You mean you haven’t?”

“Well, I think I alluded to it, but I wouldn’t call it a confession. I only asked him if he thought we could be a fated pair, that was way back then before I learned the truth. And he just said no and told me to find my happiness somewhere else. I mean I understood it was a rejection, and I wasn’t going to say anything more on the topic, but, but..”

“But you saw Taehyung’s press con and changed your mind?” Jin helped the younger out when he seemed to be hesitating.

“Yes. I’m not trying to compete with him, not really, but seeing him being honest and upfront like that, I think I should do the same. I’ve told you, and Namjoon hyung, and even Taetae hyung, about my feelings toward Yoongi hyung, and yet I’ve not said it directly to the man himself. I know my chance is slim, if it’s still there at all, but I still wanna do it. Then maybe I can make a clean break, maybe.”

“I think that’s the right thing to do,” Jin felt a pang of pain in his heart, knowing that a now-pregnant Yoongi would definitely turn the boy down, regardless of feelings, but if they could make clean break, even though it hurt, it would still be the right way to go, “You have any idea when or how?”

“That I don’t know yet. The last time I met him was when the Dispatch news came out, I’m thinking maybe I could call him first or something, I wonder if he finds it awkward to see me now…”

“I know he’s going to uni tomorrow morning, 10 to be exact” Jin said and immediately regretted it, he still didn’t know what the thing making Yoongi worried was, it might be a bad idea to get Jungkook involved, “Namjoon’s going with him, so maybe you can meet up. It would be less awkward since it’s not just the two of you.”

“Tomorrow? Hah, how ironic is the timing,” Jungkook sighed and Jin looked understandably perplexed, “you know the ridiculous thing my parents tried to do?”

“Ridicul- ohh, the omegas’ profiles? Are they still trying to get you to meet those candidates?”

“Yes. I already said no so many times, but my Mom insisted. I’ve managed to negotiate the number down to just one, and I’m seeing him tomorrow.”

“Is that so, you parents are really keen on this huh? Well, of course you don’t have to see Yoongi just yet, he would be busy taking care of some business anyway.”

“No, I am seeing him,” the alpha seemed determined, “I’m tired of the delays and roundabouts, I will just take things as they come and carry out my plan. I’m prepared for the heartbreak, and meeting some other omega for dinner afterward couldn’t make it much worse. Maybe if they see me all melancholic, they would lose interest and I wouldn’t have to participate in such meetings anymore. Convenient.”

The talk was interrupted by the arrival of their food. Jin quietly watched his dongsaeng taking a sip of his tea before taking the knife and fork out, the boy looked like he was trying to be strong and that made Jin’s heart ache. It was true that the Jeon’s heir was a strong person, but to hear the words “I’m prepared for the heartbreak” from him was still a sad, sad thing.

“Whatever the outcome, I know you are doing your best and you deserve all the happiness in the world. It hasn’t come yet, but it will, I’m sure of that. And remember, I’m always willing to lend you an ear and give you hugs and whatever else in my power.”

“Thank you hyung, I know I can count on you, you’re the best. A big reason why this is so hard for me is because it involves Taetae hyung, normally I would run to him even if it’s the smallest of trouble, but this time I can’t.”  

The boy looked down and Jin just had to reach over and squeezed his hand. The older meant what he said, he wished all the happiness in the world for Jungkook. This young alpha here didn’t deserve the pain he was going through, actually, all three of them didn’t. It was just a cruel twist of fate that had led them to where they were.

++

It was Wednesday and Yoongi was excited since he just finished a good practice session with the orchestra. Both as a lead performer and a support, his playing was applauded by the seasoned musicians, the conductor praised him too, saying that was just what he expected from the winner of the National competition.

And that made Yoongi think about something. That time, if it wasn’t for Taehyung, he wouldn’t even be able to perform, let alone winning anything. He didn’t question it at the time, but now that he thought about it, how did Tae know that the song Mr An played was his? When he met Kihyun after the competition, his friend said he was surprised to see the Kim heir rushed after Yoongi. Aside from his own apartment, Jungkook’s place and Gramps’s place, Yoongi had only played the song during practice at school. Did Tae come to see his practice? For real? It looked like there were a lot of things the alpha had done concerning Yoongi but the omega had no clues of and this realization made him flustered.The two of them seemd to have a natural knack of keeping things from each other, like right now, Yoongi was keeping a very big secret from Tae, the fact that he was carrying their baby.  

However, he soon learned that someone knew his secret.

He returned home feeling upbeat and carrying quite a lot of food. He was going to make the stew, he kept seeing Tae’s photos with some sort of fast food or takeouts, so he wondered if this special dish would help the alpha eat better. Gramps said he only sent it over once a month and he was rather tired these days so he wouldn’t cook it. The pianist ignored the fact that he seemed to care too much about how his alpha was eating, and just reasoned that he was going to make some for himself, so he may as well make more and share some to the Kim heir.

That was the plan. Until he saw an envelope slipped under his apartment’s front door.

He immediately sensed some bad news, he had a mail box, why would anyone do this? There was no name or anything else written on the envelope, it was normal office style that one could buy anywhere. After putting his grocery away, he sat down on the couch, staring at the ominous object. Eventually, he picked it up and opened it after taking a deep breath.

His heart almost stopped as soon as he saw the words.

“I know you’re carrying Kim Taehyung’s child. Come see me at the storage room of the Music department on Friday at 10 am.”

His hands were shaking. How did anyone find out about this? What was their motive, what did they want from him? And of all places, why at the music department?  Oh, right, it would be natural for Yoongi to be there, so people wouldn’t suspect anything. But who was this and why were they doing this?

Whoever this was, the omega understood that this was a threat, if he didn’t go, they would probably do something bad. After he tried his best to keep his pregnancy under wrapped, at least for now, he didn’t want someone else to make a fuss about it. If anyone was going to announce it, it should be Yoongi himself. He would go see this person.

But he was scared.

Somehow he felt really scared. It wasn’t just because he would have to talk about his pregnancy with someone other than his doctor, but the person behind this letter must be up to no good. But what could they possibly want from him? If it was money they were after then threatening Taehyung seemed like a much better option. It couldn’t be a personal enemy either, he couldn’t remember offending anyone. He kept thinking but no reasonable explanation came up, and he felt a pain in his belly.

“It’s okay, baby, mommy will take care of everything,” he whispered as he patted his still-flat belly. He didn’t sleep well that night, and the next morning, he called Namjoon.

“Hey Namjoonie, I know you’re busy but can you please clear an hour or two tomorrow morning?”

“Please lemme check, I have a meeting at 8, it might take up to an hour. Do you need me for something?”

“I have to be at the music department at 10, and I don’t want to go alone. This is weird but could you go with me, please? I’m sorry about the inconvenience,” the omega pleaded, his voice filled with guilt and a lot of fear.

“Oh, okay then, let me arrange my work, I’ll call you back asap okay?”

Yoongi waited for the phone anxiously. He knew he was being unreasonable, suddenly asking someone as busy as Namjoon to escort him during work hours. But he was the only one he could trust in this situation, because, lest the cat got out of the bag, Namjoon being the one discovering it wouldn’t be too bad. Not to mention that his presence somehow made the pianist feel safer and calmer.

“Hello hyung, it’s okay, I’ll go with you. Should I pick you up?”

“Yes please, if that’s not too much to ask.”

“Of course not, then I’ll probably get to your place around 9:45. I’ll text you when I leave my office, okay?”

“Thank you so much Joonie, I own you big time.”

“Don’t say that, anything for you hyung, see you tomorrow.”

“See you, sorry and thanks again.”

Putting his phone down, the omega felt back on his couch, breathing hard. He had a really terrible feeling about this, but at least with Namjoon going with him, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. All morning, Yoongi couldn’t focus on any work so he decided to distract himself by cooking. He had not touched the ingredients he bought yesterday, which were meant for the stew.

Cooking this dish took a long time, but it was exactly what Yoongi wanted now. Doing something he liked for hours and distracting himself from the worrying prospects of tomorrow. He made a lot of food, and then thought about how he could give this to his alpha. Their place probably had lots security screening regarding what was sent there.

Oh, right, Mr Son! Yoongi had his number. This wasn’t anything serious but the secretary did say to call him if he needed anything right?

So he just texted, worrying of bothering the man if he was to call.

“Hello Mr Son, it’s Yoongi. I’ve made some meat stew, the one Taehyung usually eats. How do you reckon I could give it to him?”

After a while, he got a call back.

“Yoongi-ssi, if you don’t mind then I could pick it up directly and bring it over, I figure that’s the easiest and also fastest way.”

“If you don’t mind then please help out, uhm, and please don’t tell him,” Yoongi was a bit hesitate.

“I shall come over as soon as I’m done with work, probably around 7.”

“I’ll wait for you then, thank you so much.”

The man arrived on time, in his unassuming grey Hyundai. They had a brief conversation, mostly the usual “how are you doing” but before he left, Mr Son told Yoongi in his serious and sincere voice.

“I just what you to know that the vice president is very happy that you’ve been keeping contact with him. I’ve never seen him so openly joyous as when he looks at his phone recently.”

He bowed and left with the food. The timing was a bit off, maybe Tae wouldn’t have it for dinner tonight, but anyway Yoongi was glad that the alpha would have some good food. He tried not to think about the fact that he was a bit happier because he was the one making that good food. Closing the door behind his back, the omega talked to his belly again in his whispering voice.

“Well, I can’t let you father eat sandwiches everyday can I?”

Chapter Text

Friday came with heavy clouds shrouded the Seoul sky. Yoongi woke up with a strange state of clarity, his mind and body were on high alert. The meeting was the first thing on his mind as soon as he opened his eyes, and with it came a wave of anxiety, but he calmed himself down for the sake of his baby; the little one didn’t deserve to go through so much stress so early. With that same mindset, he willed himself to get up and prepare breakfast, gotta feed the baby. It was an incredible feeling, knowing that a life is growing inside you; Yoongi knew already that he would be a dotting parent even though the child was not born yet.

He was eating when his phone buzzed. He thought for a second that it might be related to the meeting later and got scared, but it wasn’t, it was Tae.

“Thank you so much for the stew, I love it <3 <3”

The photo this time was of the alpha next to the food, he had the V sign up and a huge boxy smile on his face. So he had figured it out, of course, how silly of Yoongi to think that just because he asked Mr Son not to mention it Tae wouldn’t know who made the food. As far as he knew, only Gramps and he could make this dish, and Gramps already sent this month portion over, so only Yoongi left. Whatever, this photo helped, Yoongi felt calmer looking at this face, imagine how it would feel to be with him in person and not just texting… No no, the omega shook his head, this threat was aimed at him, he would not let Taehyung get involved, at least not yet.

“Eat properly, even if you’re busy.”

That was all he texted back before continuing with his breakfast. He looked down at his belly and spoke softly.

“Your father got his food, we should eat too.”

He ate, cleaned up and got changed. Nothing too fancy, he preferred comfortable clothes these days. He settled down on the couch again, feeling restless and his thoughts were a mess. At time like this, one thing helped: his piano.

Yoongi sat down and opened the key lid. This brown piano was his guardian, it had been with him through all his difficult times, and here it was, an ever-present presence. He didn’t even think about what song to play, his fingers were already moving in the notes for “Hope”. The image of lady Sunmi playing this song to her baby, Tae, flashed in his brain and Yoongi could swear it was almost like a religious experience. It was almost like she was talking to him, telling him to take care of himself and the baby. This chid he was bearing also carried her bloodline and he was playing the song written by its grandmother. This was the song that nurtured and protected Tae, the song that brought the two of them closer, the song of love and hope. So much that it overflowed. And somehow Yoongi thought he understood her now, from the point of view of a mother wishing the best for her child.

Suddenly his hands came down hard on the keys making a loud sound. A realization just came to him, and it was a scary one. He wasn’t rich, the bad guy probably didn’t want money from him. He didn’t have a high social status or big influence so they shouldn’t be threatening him to get a favor either.

What if they wanted Yoongi to get rid of the baby?

He shivered at the thought. No that was ridiculous, this was his baby, no one touched his baby! No matter what happened, he would protect the little one, definitely.

He waited for a bit longer before Namjoon called, the alpha was leaving his office and arrived soon after in his dark grey buttoned-up and black dressed pants and leather shoes. As soon as he got in the car, Yoongi nose was pricked by green tea, Namjoon’s scent. It was strange since he never reacted this strongly to his friend’s scent before, if anything he rarely noticed it because he was so familiar with the alpha. But now, his body just seemed very aware that there was an alpha next to him, and it didn’t feel bad, it did calm him down a bit but it felt like something was lacking because the alpha wasn’t the one the body wanted. Must be a side effect of pregnancy.

“Hyung, what’s with your scent?” Namjoon asked with a surprised look on his face.

“Huh, do I smell bad?”

“No, that is not even possible. You smelled incredibly sweet, like a lot sweeter than your usual scent, it’s just, well, different, in a good way.”

“Is that so,” the omega smiled a little, he couldn’t tell his own scent had changed. Must be another side effect of pregnancy.

“We’re going straight to the Music Department, right?”

“Yes, please.”

“Uhm, you know, I’m worried, somehow. You sounded scared when you called me and I just can’t get it out of my head. Is everything okay?”

“Well, nothing bad happened yet, I just don’t want to be alone now. I feel bad for taking up your time though, I’m sorry.”

“Come on now, stop with that. If I can I will always make time for you, not to mention Jin hyung wanted me to take care of you too, so no worries.”

“Jin hyung? He is just the best isn’t he.”

Yoongi laughed, for a brief moment he managed to feel a bit more relaxed. He thought about the older omega, who somehow always knew him best despite their limited interactions. Jin was the first to figure out the fated pair thing, and now that Yoongi was pregnant, he even told his mate to look after Yoongi? Wait, there was just no way Jin knew this too right? Silly him, how was that even possible?

They reached the parking lot of the school in no time, and Yoongi’s heartbeats became faster and faster as they walked toward the gate. There was still a bit more of walking to the music department and his nervousness grew and it must have been obvious to Namjoon.

“Hyung, you’re okay? What’s next?”

“Uhm, I have to go see this person, who asked me to come to the storage room at 10, so I’ll go there.”

“Okay, I’ll go with you.”

With the talking stopped, the alpha had an arm around his friend’s shoulder, trying to placate him. Namjoon was utterly confused, why would anyone want to see his hyung at a storage room? That sounded shady as hell. And the way Yoongi acted didn’t indicate that it was a nice invitation, more like an order, or even a threat. But his hyung was the nicest person ever, there wasn’t anything that people could use against him, except that…

“Hyung!” Namjoon pulled Yoongi back by the arm as they reached the music department. Looking around and seeing no one close enough to hear them, he talked in a low but clear voice, “Hyung, is this about Taehyung? Is someone threatening you?”

Yoongi’s eyes opened wide in surprise and uncertainty. Surprised because his friend had somehow figured out part of the problem, and uncertain about what he should do next.

“Correct, am I not? You have to tell me more then, this involves not just my best friend but also my cousin, you have to let me in on it.”

“Namjoon, I, it’s not just that, it’s not that simple. I can’t let people know this..”

“Even me? And Tae? Are we among the “people” you’re talking about? And what is there to hide anyway?”

Guilt ran rampant in Yoongi’s heart as he saw how worried Namjoon was, but his friend didn’t know that there was still thing he wanted to keep for himself, even if just for a bit longer.

“I’ll tell you, eventually. I am sorry, just let me go see this person first.”

“No, what if they’re dangerous? I’d never forgive myself if someone harmed you when I’m right here!” the alpha clutched onto his friend’s shoulders with both hands a bit more strongly than he intended to, his voice low and forced.

“Namjoon?!” Yoongi trembled slightly, it wasn’t common to see Namjoon like this, he had never gone so alpha with him. Was it that serious? Of course Yoongi understood the situation from his own point of view, but given what Namjoon knew, what made the alpha so worked up?

“Did I scare you? I’m sorry,” his tone changed back to the usual calmness though still had a hint of strain. “that said, I’m not leaving your side.”

Yoongi knew he couldn’t talk back so he just led the way to the storage room. Not many people knew this place actually, even Yoongi himself only knew it because he was part of the event committee and had used this room for props preparation before. Beside him, Namjoon was quiet. The young heir was deep in thought but he also kept glancing around, his alert was high. He didn’t explain to Yoongi because he didn’t want to make his friend more anxious than he already was, but if this suspicious someone knew about Tae and Yoongi and was using it as a threat, it could be very serious. Namjoon knew first hand what sorts of danger the super rich faced, and this person might be targeting his vulnerable hyung as a roundabout to get to Tae because they knew Taehyung was a tough one to aim at directly.

“Okay, we’re here. The room is right there,” Yoongi pointed to a door a few steps away from where they were standing, then he turned to look Namjoon in the eyes, “I know you’re worried about me, but could you wait outside? I will keep the door open, you can look, and if you sense anything bad you can interfere, but just let me talk to them first okay? Please?”

Namjoon squinted his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed, but eventually he gave in. “Okay, make it quick, I still don’t like this at all.”

As they stood at the door and Yoongi was about to open it, Namjoon pulled him in for a hug. A waft of green tea surrounded the omega, soothing him.

“Thank you,” he whispered, and walked inside.

From his spot Namjoon actually had a pretty good view of the room. It was spacious and mostly empty. He saw his hyung walking toward a table in the middle of the room. There was a man sitting there. His back was facing the door so Namjoon couldn’t see his face. They seemed to be exchanging some short conversation before Yoongi sat down on the chair next to the man. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening, which, in ifself, was the unusual thing about this. For all the anxiety leading up to this moment, not much was going on there, or at least, not that people could see.

He was still observing when his phone buzzed, he expected Jin but it was Jungkook instead.

“Hyung, Jin hyung told me you went with Yoongi hyung to university today. I am around, so can we all meet once you two are done?”

Hmm what was this? Namjoon knew that his fiancé had become Jungkook’s official consultant, but today wasn’t really a good day for a meeting. That said, the boy must have gathered his courage to get here, it didn’t feel right to dismiss him.

“Hyung is still busy, but you can wait at the music department if you want, I’ll call you as soon as we’re done.”

That should be okay, if everything went well, then they could all have a drink and breathe a sigh of relief. Namjoon put his phone back in his pocket. 15 minutes had gone by and no one else arrived at the scene. This was becoming stranger and stranger, could it be a prank?

“Oh my god are you okay?”

The man in the room shouted and Namjoon rushed inside. An ominous feeling took over him. Yoongi had his head on the table, both arms hugging his belly tightly.

“Hyung, are you hurt? What happened? I’ll take you to the hospital!”

The omega looked up at him, his breathing ragged and his eyes were red. His right hand reached up to clutch at the alpha’s sleeve while the left one still placed on his belly.

“Namjoon, help, baby, save my baby…”

A tear rolled down his face before he lost consciousness.

Namjoon brain was running so fast he felt he was going to short circuit. There was so much unclear here and some of the known data sent him into shock but one thing was clear: his hyung was pregnant and in danger. He picked him up in his arms and was on his way out when the man rushed after him.

“Namjoon, I’ll go with you.”

The young alpha didn’t even have the chance to look at the man face but this voice, and the way he talked to him so familiar like that… He turned to his side to look and confirm for himself.

“Uncle?” Confusion spread over like a dense smoke over Namjoon’s head and he wanted to ask so many questions but now wasn’t the time, “Let’s talk later.”

With quick and firm steps the young alpha carried the unconscious omega out of the building and toward the parking lot. Behind him, the middle aged man dutifully followed with a stern expression on his face. In his hand, a bottle was squeezed tight.

As the group made their way out, eyes were on them; people must have been wondering what happened. Namjoon paid them no mind, until a one of them bolted toward him, it was his younger friend.

“Oh god what happened to him?”

Jungkook was shocked, he was quietly waiting for his hyungs like a good boy and then all of a sudden he saw Namjoon carrying Yoongi over like that. Fear took over him, and the only comforting bit of knowledge was that Namjoon was with there, Namjoon should know what to do. Wait, he wasn’t the only one, there was some one else there, someone he knew.

“Uncle Soohyung? Just, how?!”

The man acknowledged him but didn’t say much more. Namjoon did say something though.

“You carry him, I’ll call Jin, and my car is this way.”

“I think my car is closer,” Jungkook took the omega in his arms, his heart was being squeezed tight in his chest.

“Okay let’s use yours.”

Namjoon quickly took his phone and called Jin.

“Hey how’s Yoongi?” his fiancé asked before he even said anything.

“Something happened, he passed out clutching his belly..”

“Oh god the baby!! Bring him to SCC, it’s the closest, I’ll be waiting.”

“Okay, we’ll be on our way.”

There was no time to ask questions or to be surprised at the fact that Jin knew. Their priority was Yoongi’s safety.

“Can I come with you?” the older man asked.

“Yes please, Uncle.”

Namjoon took the wheel and drove to the hospital. On his way, he couldn’t hold back his question anymore.

“Uncle, what exactly happened there? How come hyung passed out like this?”

“I was waiting for someone, seemed like he was too, so we waited together. I offered him some water and he took it, and then that happened.”

“Do you have the water sample with you?”

“I do, I took it.”

“I assume it wasn’t your water?”

“It’s not, it was given to me when I was waiting. I did drink it myself before giving it to him.”

 “We’ll give it to the doctors later,” Namjoon said as he took a turn and stopped at the hospital main gate. Jin was already there with staff and a gurney.

Jungkook quickly carried Yoongi over and put him down, his face was pale. The staff took the gurney over to an emergency room, where the best doctor was waiting. Jungkook, though panic and overwhelmed by worry, still recognized that they were at the gynecologics department. He kinda guessed part of the story, and it wasn’t pleasant, but now wasn’t the time for that.

As soon as the gurney was pushed pass the door, Kim Taehyung rushed over. He asked no questions and tried not to get into the doctor’s way, but he wanted to be close.

“Seokjin-ssi has told me, you can stay with the patient, actually it’s better that way. You can hold his hand,” doctor Suwon, the head of the department said, and Taehyung did just that.

He sat on the edge of the bed, taking Yoongi’s hand in his and placed both their hands on top of the omega’s belly. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He whispered, voice strained.

“Doctor, we had examined the drink the patient took, it contains a heavy dose of CMx”.

“Someone can still got hold of that? This is bad, we need to do a exchange blood transfusion to clear the toxin. Do a quick blood test for the patient and contact the blood room immediately.”

“Please do that, but I believe he is O minus,” Jin said, since Namjoon just called him to inform that.

“That’s a rare one,” the doctor shook his daaed. we might not have enough on hand. Anyone here is O minus?”

“I am”, two voices said simultaneously.

“Father?” Tae was surprised, he didn’t notice his father was there until then. But the doctor quickly cut off their conversation.

“Amazing! I can’t believe we have two! And both of you are blood related to the baby, so less potential complication this way. Please have your blood tested just in case and prepare for blood drawing right away.”

The tests came back all good. Tae was still holding Yoongi’s hand while the doctor did some examination, he had tried his best to remain calm but the fact was that he was scared.

“Doctor, they will be okay right?”

“I’ll do my best,” the doctor said, before looking at both him and his father, “He needs quite a lot of blood though, is it okay with you?”

“Please take as much as you need,” Tae said quickly and his father echoed with a short “Yes, please.” The Kims shared an undecipherable look, each had many questions of his own but both was very concearned about Yoongi and the baby.

They moved quickly through the preparation, and Tae alone was allowed to stay in the room afterward. He was praying to his mother in his head, he was blaming himself for taking it easy while Yoongi was carrying their baby and facing all this danger alone.

“I’m sorry I haven’t taken good care of you, please be okay so I can make it up to you. I want to be a good husband, a good father too.”

And that brought his thought briefly to his father, when did he come back to Korea? Why was he with Yoongi? How did he let all this happen to his in-law and grandchild?

Outside the room, Namjoon, Jin, Jungkook and father Kim were waiting. While anxious about the operation, Namjoon decided to use the time more efficiently.

“Uncle, why were you at the university? You said you were waiting for someone, who was it?”

“Truth is I don’t know. I only got back to the country yesterday and someone sent me a cut-out message asking me to go there.”

“This must be the same person who threatened Yoongi hyung to come as well,” Namjoon concluded, “to directly take on our family like this, this person is of no ordinary background. Do you have any lead Uncle?”

“I do actually. I mean, look at this yourself,” father Kim took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it over to his nephew.

“What?” Namjoon reaction to the message got the other two young men curious, and they leaned over to read it.

“Kim Soohyung, you killed my mother Moon Haesun. Come atone for your sin. I’ll be waiting at the storage room at KNS’s music department. 9:30am tomorrow. If you don’t come, I’ll take it from your son instead.”

 ++

Taehyung’s day had started just fine, in fact he was in quite a good mood. Before breakfast, the butler happily informed him that they had gotten an extra delivery of his favorite stew this month. “Hooray” was his first reaction, but he was curious, this had never happened before. And even though stew wasn’t really a morning dish he still asked for a bit of it.  Tae figured it out as soon as he tasted the food and his smile grew and grew until it couldn’t get any bigger. This was Yoongi’s stew, it was slightly different from the Chef’s. It was a sublte difference but he could tell ever since the first time his fated pair made this. He whipped out his phone and took a selfie and sent it to his fated pair.

“Eat properly, even if you’re busy.”

 Yoongi texted back shortly after, and even though it was just a short sectence, it was filled with care. It sounded like what a mother would say. Maybe a wife too.

“Who brought the food this time?” he asked the butler.

“It was your secretary, Mr Son.”

“Oh I see, thank you.”

Tae was super happy, Yoongi cared enough about him to go out of his way to make this stew and contact his secretary to have it delivered. It was true that Tae had been very busy lately and thus his eating had not been very good; somehow his omega noticed and tried to make it better. In addition to the delicious treat, the action in itself meant the world to Tae.

Thanks to that, the young heir was energetic and cheerful. But then he thought about his mother and somehow his mood shifted. Mom used to make this dish, and sometimes Tae would watch her as she went through the meticulous preparation and she would tell him various stories to fill up the hours. She told him stories about her younger years, how much she loved the piano. Back then it wasn’t common for females to pursue the musical career, especially those from well-off families, so she had teachers from KNS to hom- tutor her. Every once in a while she would get to visit the music department to attend some event and she loved it. The very school his fated pair now attended, his mother loved that place. Tae realized a while back that the two of them did have things in common. Maybe it was a fate thing, fate took her away from him too early, so it sent Yoongi so that he had someone to love. His thoughts went back to Yoongi, and there was a sudden sense of unease that he couldn’t explain.

It was 7:30 am when his phone rang. He was surprised to see Jin’s name on the screen. His anxiety grew. What made his cousin in law call him so early?

“Good morning hyung.”

“Morning Tae, sorry for calling you this early. But this is important, please clear you schedule this morning after 10, I need you to be readily available.”

“O-okay, I’ll see into that, but why…” Tae was confused.

“You have to make sure!” Jin said with such urgency and seriousness, “I know I own you an explanation, but the situation is unclear right now. What I can tell you is that Yoongi might need you and if that happens, I want you to be ready.”

“What’s going on? Is he okay?”

“Nothing happens yet, and Namjoon will be with him, so at least there’s that.”

“That’s true, but why didn’t he let me know if there’s a chance he would need me?”

“Tae, Yoongi must have his reason, and you also have to consider the current situation that you two are in. But I’ll keep you posted.”

“Okay, thank you hyung for letting me know. And for taking care of us.”

A good minute after hanging up and the alpha was still puzzling over the conversation. Yoongi, what was he going to do? Would everything be okay? Why the secrecy? Tae understood that Namjoon was Yoongi’s best friend and that his cousin was a very smart and capable man, but still, he didn’t like this feeling of being sidelined.

“Hello Mr Son, please clear my schedule after 10 this morning, short engagements can be moved earlier if possible.”

The morning hours passed by and his mood became more and more edgy. He had a feeling that this whatever business that Yoongi was tending to must involve him or his family. And he felt bad. As the fated alpha, he had not provided his omega with much love and care but already brought him all sorts of troubles. He sat in his office with a muddled-up mind, all the data and figures on his computer screen didn’t register with him at all. By 9:30 he had to admit he was in no mind for work.

“Hyung, are you busy? Could we talk?” he almost begged on the phone with Jin.

“I’m at SCC, not really busy, you can come if you want.”

“I’ll be on my way then, see you later.”

The drive from his office to the Seoul Centre Clinic was short and yet it felt so long. Yoongi was on his mind the whole time. His Yoongi, the sweet and caring Yoongi, what if something was to happen to him and Tae knew nothing about it? What could he do, how could he make things better?

A nurse showed him the way to Jin’s office. Jin usually spent time working at the hospitals his family owned and thus had an office in each of them.

“Good morning hyung,” the younger bowed as he was showed to the table.

“Morning, Tae. Have a seat,” Jin poured him a glass of water.

“Thanks hyung. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I came.”

“Well, truth is I didn’t had much work done either. You want to know the story, right? I feel bad for making you worry over nothing concrete but I couldn’t shake off the feeling.”

“I understand, we all care about him so much. Please tell me what you know.”

“Basically, Yoongi suddenly asked Namjoon to accompanying to the university today. Looks like he has some sort of appointment at 10. It’s rare for him to make a request at such short notice, and according to Namjoon, he seemed very anxious, a bit scared even, about this. I also think it’s strange to be that worried because they are going to university, what could be so worrying about university? We all know how good he is at everything music related, so it must not be that.”

“I see, that’s really weird I agree. But you reckon he might need me?”

“Uhm,” Jin was torn about how much to let the younger know, if his worries turned out to be nothing, then spilling the beans about Yoongi’s pregnancy would be an insensitive thing to do, “you’re his fated pair, whatever happens, your presence should have a positive impact.”

“It’s at 10 you said? So 5 more minutes.”

The two men fell silent. Jin’s phone on the table in front of them had become the sole subject of their attention. 5, then 10, then 15 minutes latter, still nothing.

“Hey Taetae,” Jin spoke, eyes still on the phone.

“What is it hyung?”

“Are you, are you ready to start a family with Yoongi?”

“That’s my dream. I have even talked to my grandpar-“

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Their little talk was interrupted by the phone. Jin snatched the thing up at light speed.

“Hey how’s Yoongi?” he asked immediately.

“Something happened, he passed out clutching his belly..”

“Oh god the baby! Bring him to SCC, it’s the closest, I’ll be waiting.”

Looking at Jin’s reaction, Tae knew something not good had happened, and that was bad enough, but “baby”? What baby? He dared not to interrupt Jin though, the older was making a phone call.

“Yoojin-ssi, please prepare an emergency room in the A3 building, the patient is pregnant, about 2 months, male omega, he has passed out and is being brought in. Please ask doctor Jang Suwon to be on standby, if he’s not available then call doctor Lee Changmin. I’ll get the patient to the room.”

After giving instruction, Jin turned back to look at a stunned Taehyung.

“Hyung, Yoongi is pregnant? My baby, I have a child… What happened? You said he passed out?”

“That’s true, Namjoon is bringing him here. I don’t have the details. You should go to the emergency room and wait there.”

Jin called a nurse to take Tae there and then went on with preparation. The alpha walked in brief steps, his heart was heavy. They made a baby, that should be a happy thing, but learning about it under such circumstance was just cruel.

The hospital staff let him wait in the room after asking his relation to the patient.

“I am his fated pair and the baby’s father.”

It felt unreal to say all that, especially the later half. He had a pair, and now a baby too, but they were both in danger. What happened? Who hurt them? Tae was gonna find the bastard and ..ugh, he was so worried and also so mad.

“Excuse me Sir,” a middle age nurse was standing next to him, she had a gentle voice and kind-looking face, “I know it’s a stressful situation but I think it’s better if you can calm down a bit. You’re a very strong alpha, and your mental state affects those around you, your pair and child even more so.”

“Thank you, I’ll try.”

“I was informed you partner is about 2 months pregnant?”

“It’s 10 weeks.”

“We’ll try our best,” she looked worried but still tried to placate him with her soothing voice.

“Please, and if you need me I’m willing to do anything.”

The nurse went back to work, leaving him to try to calm himself down. It was difficult though. Taehyung didn’t like hospitals, good thing he was rarely sick so he didn’t have to go. The last time he was in a hospital was when his mother became seriously ill 5 years ago. She was so pale and weak, Taehyung felt so useless and his cold-hearted father was nowhere near. This time, again, he was here alone and scared. He didn’t know what happened and how serious it was, but just the thought of losing another loved one made his heart almost stopped.

“Make way, make way!!”

The sounds footsteps and rolling wheels accompanied the medical staff who helped transported Yoongi to the room. Taehyung immediately stood up, he tried to keep calm and not get in the way of the staff, but he couldn’t help feeling anxious and took one step just to get a bit closer. And then he saw Yoongi lying unconscious on the gurney and his heart sank. His omega was so pale and weak, his scent was almost gone. Tae’s eyes stayed on the omega, his figure looked the same as always, nothing to suggest he was pregnant, but he was, he was carrying a baby, their baby.

 “Seokjin-ssi has told me, you can stay with the patient, actually it’s better that way. You can hold his hand,” the doctor said and Taehyung quickly did just that.

As he took Yoongi’s hand and placed both their hands on top of the omega’s belly, he was a bit shaken. Lying here was their baby whose existence was unknown to him till this morning. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He whispered, voice strained.

“Doctor, we had examined the drink the patient took, it contains a heavy dose of CMx”.

A nurse said and Tae’s attention turned back to the medical staff. He didn’t know what CMx was but obviously it was something bad.

“Someone can still get hold of that poison? This is bad, we need to do an exchange transfusion to clear the toxin. Do a quick blood test for the patient and contact the blood room immediately.”

“Please do that, but I believe he is O minus,” Jin said, and Tae instantly perked up because would you believe it, he was also O minus.

“For real?! That’s the rarest one, we might not have enough on hand. Is it possible that someone here is O minus?” the doctor looked around the room at all the people in there.

“I am”, Taehyung immediately answered, but he wasn’t the only one who said that, there was another voice. A voice he knew well.

The voice belonged to his father.

Tae hadn’t seen him in quite a while, he knew his father would come back to the country soon since the US adventure had come to an amazingly successful end, but he didn’t expect it would be this soon and of course not in this situation. So many questions but no time to ask since they were requested to get ready for blood withdrawing. An exchange transfusion required an extra large amount of blood, and when he was asked about it Taehyung didn’t hesitate at all, he would give all he could for Yoongi and their child. His father was ready for it as well, and for a second, cynicism took over and the young alpha thought his father had a duty to save the baby, it was his grandchild after all; worse, he thought about whether his father was accountable in whatever way for the state Yoongi was in… but then he shook his head, he should just be grateful that his father was here to support him. With blood.

When testing was done, all non-medical personel was asked to leave, only Tae was allowed in the emergency room. They took his blood right there, while his father went to another room for that. They hook Yoongi up to a machine to monitor his and the baby’s condition. Tae looked at the screen worryingly, he couldn’t read those signals but Yoongi’s breathing had become slower and heavier, his body heat hiked too. Usually when the body reacted to a serious infection, temperature would rise, Tae knew that much.

“Mom, please protect them.” He was praying to his mother again.

++

Namjoon wasn’t allowed in the emergency room so he waited outside. While in the parking lot he had texted some information about Yoongi to Jin, hoping to aid in the process. In the past he had met Yoongi after his medical appointments several times and the omega randomly told him things including his blood type. Namjoon remembered because it was such a rare blood group, the rarest among Asians with only about 0.1% of the population had it.  How amazing was it that Taehyung and his father both had that exact same blood type! They could save the baby, he believed. The fact that his best friend was pregnant still hadn’t totally sunk in, but he would think about that latter. Now he was invested on something else.

“Jin hyung, what is CMx?”

“That’s the name of a substance which is benign to most people but very toxic toward pregnant people, especially those in the earlier phase of their pregnancy. It was developed as a drug candidate some 20 years ago and was modeled after the substances found in Conium maculatum.”

“Wait, the was the plant that killed Socrates right?”

“Correct, it was a known tetarogenic plant. CMx has lower general toxicity but a lot higher teratogenicity and had been banned from further development and use. It goes through the blood stream of the mother to the embryo, inhibits its growth and thus stops the fetus from developing further.”

“So the baby will stay as how it is prior to poisoning?”

“Yes, but it can’t stay like that for long, without evolving, the mother’s body will register it as a dead organ and start rejecting it, resulting in abortion. If the baby is well developed enough, say, 8 months, and we know about the poisoning early, we can have the baby delivered. But for underdeveloped babies, that’s not possible.”

“So that’s why it’s so bad for people in the earlier phase of pregnancy.”

“It’s actually an uncommon thing that we know about this so soon with Yoongi. Part of the danger of CMx is that it usually takes a while for people to show symptom of poisoning due to its low general toxicity, but his body reacted right away.”

Next to them, Taehyung’s father hid his face in his palms. He was listening to their conversation and his mood got worse and worse, the aura around him was heavy.

“So I have inadvertently poisoned my son’s mate and put my grandchild in danger.” Mr Kim had his fingers in his hair, pulling hard, “what have I done…”

“Uncle, could you tell us more about what happened?”

“I was called to that place and arrived on time, at 9:30, but no one there. 5 minutes later a man came out and greeted me quite politely, saying that his master would show up soon. There was a bottle of water and about 5 emty glasses on the table. He invited me to drink and after seeing that I was reluctant, he opened the bottle and asked me to give him one of the glasses. He drank the water and told me jokingly that it was safe. Then he was gone again. I had a basic poison test kit with me too so I tested the water and drank it. At 10, Yoongi came. At first, we both thought the other was the mysterious mastermind but quickly figured out that it was not the case. We waited and waited. It was hot in there, so I offered him the water, and he took it. Soon after he collapsed in pain, that was when Namjoon came in.”

“It’s not a coincidence that you two were asked to go there in that order. The bad guy clearly wanted you to poison your in-law.”

“But Namjoon, the fact that they use CMx means they know Yoongi’s pregnant. Even Taehyung himself didn’t know!” Jin interrupted.

“I see, they don’t just know about the pairing but the pregnancy too, they probably used that to coerce hyung into coming.”

“Why the music department though? Other than it would look normal for Yoongi to go there?”

“My wife loved that place,” Mr Kim looked pained.

“And Yoongi hyung does too,” Jungkook finally said something, he had been quietly taking all this information, then he looked the older Kim in the eyes, “Uncle, who is this person Moon Haesun?”

“She is,” Mr Kim took a deep breath, “she was the lost daughter of the Moon family, she was kind of bethothed to me before I met Taehyung’s mom.”    

Chapter Text

“Moon? You mean the Moon family that controls real estate and construction? I didn’t know they have a daughter around your age,” Namjoon was surprised at the sudden mention of such a name.

“It was a complicated story, but in short what happened today is because of me even though I am confident I didn’t do anything wrong or to be regretted back then. But I do regret not knowing my son’s fated pair and the fact that they have a baby. I’ve caused him enough suffering, I don’t know how I can make it up to him this time…”

“Uncle, if it’s about knowing, then no need to blame yourself, we learned about them being a pair not long ago and the pregnancy was a secret that even Tae didn’t find out about until this morning.”

“Why is that? Are things not good between them?” Mr Kim looked at his nephew, inquiring but he sensed the hesitation right away. He saw Namjoon giving Jungkook a quick glance and how the youngest flinched slightly and he decided to drop it, “Never mind, I hope Tae could talk to me about everything someday.”

“I believe he will. Now we’ll wait for the operation to be done, other things can wait.”

++

Hospital was a special place where time seemed to be distorted by the massive weight of human life. When life and death were on the line, time ran out too fast; when waiting for a loved one to come back, time seemed to have stretched out into infinity. It was a place where we realized our limited power against what life could give and take.

Taehyung was experiencing that right now. He was lying on a hospital bed next to Yoongi, eyes trailed on the omega’s face. His features were as soft as ever, but now they were also still, frozen. Yoongi had always had fair complexion but now his face was outright pale as blood was drawn out of his body. Literally. Taehyung thought about the Yoongi that snappily responded to his rude remarks back when they just got to know each other, the Yoongi that shone on stage with face full of pride and eyes full of passion for music, the Yoongi that laughed heartily at Tae when they went shopping together, the Yoongi that cried in his arms, even the Yoongi that talked about Jungkook the morning after they made this baby… He would rather have any of those over this Yoongi.

The alpha was tired, he had given quite a lot of blood so the staff arranged a bed for him next to his omega when the exchange transfusion took place. They told him he could take a nap, but he couldn’t, he was too worried, too anxious, too scared. His fingers wrapped around Yoongi’s wrist, to be sure the arteries underneath were still pulsing. Even though doctor Jang had told him CMx was not lethal to the mothers, he still felt unsettled. When it came to hospitals, Taehyung had been through the worst before so he feared the worst.

“How is my child doing Mrs?” He asked a nurse; she was the same nurse who asked him to keep calm earlier.

“We’re monitoring the fetus’ heart rate, it was a bit erratic before but seems to have stabilized, which is good news.”

“Thank you,” Tae was going to stop there, but then he remembered something, “Earlier you said that I was a very strong alpha, what did you mean by that?”

“There are a few alphas who have strong pheromones and strong control over their pheromones. They usually don’t react much to omegas, except for their fated pair.”

“Ah, I understand. Is it genetic?”

“Yes, genetic is definitely a strong factor.”

“I see. Are we almost done with the procedure?”

“Soon, it takes a while, since it’s not just the immediate impact on your partner’s body we’re looking at, but we also have to wait to see how the fetus reacts after the new blood goes pass the placental membrane.”

“Okay, I just want to know, I don’t mean to rush anything.”

“You look quite young for a dad but I can sense your seriousness, you must love them a lot.”

“I do.”

She smiled at him upon hearing that immediate and sure answer. He acknowledged her kindness with a polite bow and then turned to look at Yoongi again, the tiny wrist was warm in his hand and pulsing. Yoongi had quite big hands with long, pianist fingers, but his wrists were small like the rest of his body. Tae remembered the first time he held this wrist at his birthday last year, he had yearned for the closeness, had craved for the scent back then without himself even knowing. The scent was weak now, but at least it had gotten stronger compared to when the omega was rushed into this room a few hours ago.

Tae reached over with his other hand and brushed his omega’s hair lightly. He struggled to see how anyone could harm this person, he was so kind-hearted and had never harmed anyone. The person who knowingly used this particular poison to hurt his child, were they after the Kim family’s lineage? And what was his father doing? Not only that, he heard Jungkook happened to be around too, though he had not seen him yet. Jungkook must have known about the pregnancy by now, how did he react? Namjoon must be feeling bad about this, he must be thinking he let this happen to Yoongi even though everyone knew it wasn’t his fault. Jin had been doing his very best too, Tae saw with his own eyes how his cousin-in-law had been beside himself with worry since morning. Everyone became involved, one way or another, and Tae would like to talk to them all after he got the positive assessment from the doctor.

Outside the room, the anxious group of those involved immediately rose at the sight of doctor Jang.

“Suwon-ssi, how’s Yoongi?” Jin was first to ask.

“His condition is stable, the baby’s too. I still can’t believe our luck, to have two O-minus donors on site was just pure miracle,” the doctor exclaimed before turning to Mr Kim, “Are you doing alright? You did give a lot of blood.”

“I’m fine, how is my son doing doctor?”

“Taehyung-ssi is okay, he’s worrying a lot, that’s all.”

“Understandably so,” Jin nodded, “are you almost done with the procedure? There’s no complication right?”

“Fortunately, all is well so far, we’ll see how they do after we’re done, and I’ll talk to them about maternal care. You know how things are with CMx.”

They gave a collective “thank you” to the doctor before turning to talk among themselves again. Jungkook seemed anxious, his voice was obviously strained, his face was too.

“Jin hyung, what did he mean by how things are with CMx?”

“Uhm,” the hospital owner was reluctant, “it is a strong teratogen, even if the fetus survives the initial attack, the probability of birth defects is significant.”

“Doctor Jang, doctor Jang please come immediately!!”

A nurse came running out of the emergency room, her face tense. The doctor turned on his heel and rushed into the room, leaving the group outside stunned.

“What happened?” doctor Jang asked, his eyes focused on the monitor. The graphs had become erratic patterns of peaks and troughs, interspersed with longer and longer stretches of straight lines.

“Increase the pressure and give the patient a dose of stabilizer!”

On the bed side, Tae stood still, too stunned to act, it wasn’t like he could do anything anyway. He just quietly got out of the way and let the medical staff do their jobs. Just minutes before, he was holding his omega’s hand when he noticed the pulses under his fingers got a lot weaker. He looked at Yoongi’s face and saw a tear rolling down his face, just when the nurses urged him to get out of their way. Their trained eyes spotted the unusual patterns on the monitor and they sprang into action, a young nurse ran out to get the doctor.

“It’s a coagulation complication,” doctor Jang told his staff, and they nodded in agreement.

“Is it global?” the head nurse was evidently worried.

“No, looks like it’s just at the womb, we need to keep his heart rate stable, and get me some blood replacement.”

They all moved around so fast while Tae stood still, his world frozen. He didn’t even get to wipe that single tear away.

+ +

Yoongi found himself in a white world. So white, nothing but white. His body felt light, yet he was lying listless on the ground like he was paralyzed. Then he looked down at his belly, it was completely flat, and felt empty, and he realized why he felt so unusually light.

His baby, gone.

He shot straight up on his legs and started running and looking. His baby, anyone, anything, Taehyung… why? He kept running and running, until his legs gave in and he fell down again, exhausted. It was still blindingly white all around him, and if based on his surroundings alone it looked like he hadn’t even moved at all. Yet the pain raging through his whole body told him that he had. He hugged his tummy, his nose felt stung, his eyes wet. He tried to fight back the tears but one still escaped.

Then he heard it, faded and light, but unmistakably it.

Hope.

He got up again, stumbling on his shaky legs, stumbling in the direction of the sound. These familiar notes that he knew by heart, how gentle, how soothing, yet how empowering, how courageous. He was listening and also playing the song in his head; he had been playing this song a lot lately for his baby. The sound became louder and clearer, giving him strength, and he started walking properly, then faster and faster, and then he was running again, guided by the music, and the hope.

And he saw her.

She was so beautiful in her white dress, with her long black hair loosely braided and tied with a lavender-ish purple ribbon. She was playing the piano while looking tenderly at an infant lying in a small crib by her side. Yoongi knew this song, he knew this piano too, he had played it before, and he definitely knew the baby, it was his baby.

He walked slowly and quietly toward her and stood by the crib. He bowed deeply and she acknowledged his presence with a gentle smile.

“Do you know this song?” she asked.

“Yes I do.”

“Then you play it, is that okay?”

“Of course.”

She got up and scooped the baby up in her arms, cooing. She signaled Yoongi to play and he abided. Every once in a while he stole a glance at her and she was smiling. She was still smiling when the song ended.

“You played very well. Here, I’ll give Jaemyung back to you. He likes this song too. He cried a lot when he got here but I played the song and he was a happy baby again.”

“Jaemyung?”

“Oh, that’s what I like to call him. I am happy that I got to spend a bit of time with him, but he needs to go back to you and Taetae.”

“Thank you for taking care of him, lady Sunmi,” Yoongi bowed again before extending his arms, waiting.

“Call me Mom,” she smiled and gave Yoongi the baby, then she patted his hair, “Help me take care of Taetae, he might be impulsive at times, but he’s a good boy.”

“Yes, Mom.”

++

The emergency room went through a state of real emergency with people buzzing around, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Yoongi’s condition stabilized. Doctor Jang signaled Tae to get close to the bed again.

“It’s okay now, you can return to their side.”

 “How are they? Yoongi, our child?”

“Yoongi-ssi condition was never too bad, but the baby got us really scared. But don’t worry, it’s alright now.”

“What exactly happened?”

“It was a coagulation issue, which sometimes happens with massive transfusion. In this case the new blood didn’t pass through the placental properly and the fetus didn’t get the fresh blood. We forced the blood through and cleared up the thick plasma there, and now blood can flow. We should be done with the procedure soon.”

“I’m not going to pretend I understood all that, but in any case, thank you very much.”

Tae bowed and then turned to his Yoongi. The pulses, the scent, the heartbeats... he checked everything before allowing himself a sigh of relief. His hand reached up to touch the omega’s check, feeling the soft and warm skin in his palm. Then he dozed off a bit after all that exhaustion.

He woke up again as he felt someone brushing his hair. While his groggy eyes took a bit to re-familiarize themselves to the light, his nose immediately picked up the only scent he ever craved. Camellia. Sweet sweet camellia. His hand was just as quick to register that it was holding a warm hand and he gave it a reassuring squeezed.

“You’re up,” Yoongi smiled at him and that alone almost made him tear up.

“You’re up,” he replied, being able to say those words was a blessing, his voice was shaky. Yoongi put his other hand on top of Tae’s, fingers folding around tightly.

“Sorry for keeping it from you, and, well, thank you.”

“Don’t be sorry, and I should be thanking you, for our child,” Tae brought Yoongi’s hand to his face, kissing it lightly.

“Jaemyung.”

“What?”

“I saw Mom. She named our child Jaemyung, she took care of him for a while and she named him. She played Hope for him too.”

Tae’s eyes opened wide in surprise, but somehow he understood all that perfectly. And he finally let go of the tears he had been holding back.

After a while, their friends were allowed in, everyone was overwhelmed with a sense of relief and Yoongi looked at each of them, one by one. Jin was holding onto Namjoon’s arm, the older omega had probably been exerting himself since morning and now he allowed himself to be emotional and relying on his alpha. Namjoon looked quite worn out too, he would probably scold Yoongi later for not listening. Right, his best friend tried to stop him from going to that room alone but he refused and now he ended up in a hospital.

Next to the couple was Jungkook. The younger looked at Yoongi too, their eyes met and he looked away. There was a pang of pain in Yoongi’s heart, he didn’t know how the alpha reacted to his pregnancy, it must have been a shock to everyone, Jungkook much more so. “Sorry” was not the answer, and honestly Yoongi didn’t think getting pregnant was a wrong thing, but he couldn’t help feeling bad. They really had to talk this out.

His eyes continued to move through the group of people and then he saw a familiar face.

“Mister?!” Yoongi finally said something, surprised to see the man he had met at the storage room again.

“Please take it easy, don’t exert yourself,” Mr Kim said and Yoongi felt calm; just as he had thought, he liked the man’s voice, it was somewhat like Tae’s but even deeper.

“Uhm, well, this is my father,” Tae said, hands didn’t leave his omega.

“Wha-,” Yoong clearly wasn’t prepared for this, he scrambled on his sick bed to find a better pose but Tae held him still, so he just bowed deeply, “Nice too meet you, I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself properly before. My name is Min Yoongi.”

“No, I should apologize for my carelessness, I’m Taehyung’s father, Kim Soohyung. You two should both rest.”

“You too, Uncle,” Jin said, “you gave lot of blood too.”

“Blood? Wait, I am O minus…” Yoongi looked at his friends. He just connected the dots in this brain, he had just had a transfusion, meaning a lot of blood was required.

“Yes hyung, and Uncle and Taetae are too, would you believe it,” Namjoon smiled.

They stopped with the back and forth thank you and sorry and managed to coax Yoongi to sleep some more. Taehyung finally left his omega’s side and they all went to Jin’s office. Well, almost all of them.

“Can I, can I stay here a little bit more?” Jungkook reluctantly asked when they were about to go, his eyes sad and pleading.

“Yes, of course,” Tae said sincerely.  

“Minhae-ssi will wait outside, if you need anything, call her,” Jin said, eyes on the name tag of the nurse who understood what her boss meant and kept out of the room.

Jungkook sat still by the bed side, eyes glued onto Yoongi’s sleeping face. The omega had always had fair complexion, and he looked even paler now, his usual porcelain skin became almost translucent yet still looked incredibly soft and supple. He quietly studied his features, the long eyelashes, the little mole on his cheek, the lips that still curved up at the corners even though their owner was resting after a medical operation. Jungkook loved the corners of Yoongi’s mouth, always subtly curved up like they were hiding a smile. Yoongi's left hand was placed neatly on his side, the right one on his belly.

His belly.

It looked mostly flat, not much to suggest there was a life inside. But there was.

Jungkook reached out to touch the hand, careful not to wake him, not to break him. Right now Yoongi looked so fragile that Jungkook was afraid he might break. When he was carrying him to the hospital earlier, he had been so scared, Yoongi was right in his arms and yet it felt like he could slip away at any moment. Jungkook had held him tightly, but he realized he could no longer hold on.

He couldn’t do much really, just brought him here and then was forced to wait and watch. The hand on Yoongi’s tummy and the tubes connected to his arm reminded Jungkook that the omega now carried Taehyung’s blood, literally and figuratively. His eyes welled up, lips trembling.

“I love you, you know that?”

“I do.”

The omega opened his eyes and looked at Jungkook. He had been up for a while. He had the option of continuing to pretend he was sleeping but he decided to wake up, he had to. He had been faking sleep on Jungkook’s feelings, and may be on his own too, for too long. It was time for him to wake up and face things head on once and for all.

The alpha jerked his hand back but Yoongi was quick to catch it and held it on his side.

“I knew, but I never said much about it, I’m sorry,” his hand was shaky, but he managed to keep his voice stable.

“Don’t say sorry hyung, I should have known to give up earlier, but I couldn’t. I love you so much, I never thought it was possible to feel so much for someone,” Jungkook turned his downcasted eyes up to look at Yoongi, his big eyes glistered, “ever since I first met you I have been thinking about you always, wanting to be with you always. I wanted to become an alpha for you, and my heart sank when you said you had met your fated pair. And it sank again, deeper, when I found out that that person was no other than Taetae hyung. I was sad, but I love you both too much to be mad. I know now that I never really had a chance, but at least I got to experience what loving someone is like, though I never got to be in love.” He said all that in one go, desperate to get those feelings out.

“You had a chance.”

“Wha-“

“You had a chance, and I crushed it. I knew we don’t belong together so I got out of the way. I was sure you would find happiness, and I’m still thinking that way, but seeing you like this really hurts.”

Yoongi squeezed his hand tighter and Jungkook felt like his heart was being squeezed too, he blinked several times to try to clear his vision from the glistering tears.

“Do you mean… tell me, please tell me honestly hyung, have you ever liked me?” he stared into the omega’s eyes, searching for answers from the deep black.

“I loved you.”

“I loved you enough to have my heart flutter when we were together, enough to make me flustered whenever you treated me nicely, enough, enough to let you go. I didn’t even want to drink coffee for a while because it reminded me of you. I took the longest time weighing my feelings and made both you and Taehyung suffer because I wanted to make sure I don’t end up by anyone’s side with half hearted feelings. I am so sorry.” His voice finally broke and he covered his face with his hands, tears leaking out under the fingers.

“Hey now, don’t cry, the little one will hate me, I still want to be a good uncle you know,” Jungkook scooted closer and pulled the omega into his arms, it had been so long since their last hug, “Taetae hyung is like my brother, I know he is a good man so at least I’m sure you’re with a good person. And he loves you...You love him too, right?”

No answer came, Yoongi just buried his face in the alpha’s shirt and sobbed. After a while, he nodded, the “I do” got muffled against thumping heartbeats, but it was loud enough.

“I’m sorry, I am so sorry,” Yoongi continued crying against Jungkook’s chest, and the alpha found himself crying too. “You will meet your fated pair, someone better than me, someone who puts you first and makes you happy.”

“Thank you, for wishing the best for me, and,” he stopped talking to push Yoongi slightly off his chest, his hands cradling the omega’s face. The cheeks were soft and burning hot in his palms, “for loving me and telling me so.”

Time stopped. Objects blurred into a white background, only sounds left. Jungkook could hear his own heartbeats loudly on top of the muffled crying. He inched in closer and closer, he could see clearly how Yoongi’s eyelashes were wet with tears, until he came too close and they became out of focus, blurred. He kept coming in closer and Yoongi didn’t back away.

Their lips touched.

Their first and last kiss tasted like tears. It was brief, chaste, and salty.

“If there is a next life, come and sweep me off my feet. Don’t let me think, and I’ll devote myself to you.”

Yoongi whispered against trembling lips.

+ +

“Okay, now anyone cares to give me an account of what happened?” Tae said as he leaned back on the big chair in Jin’s office, his eyes on his father and Namjoon.

“I guess Jinnie hyung told you. I actually don’t know much more than that, Yoongi hyung asked me to go with him to university today, and I only figured out once we were there that this might have to do with you and your relationship. I didn’t know hyung was pregnant, but it obviously looks like the offender knew and presumably used that to force hyung to come.” Namjoon answered after gulping down a big glass of water.

“I was asked to go there to, probably by the same person,” Mr Kim answered shortly.

“What did they use against you?” Tae’s eyes focused on his father now, “you don’t have time to go meet whoever asks to see you right?” His voice was serious and his father became tense.

“Hey now Taetae, don’t be rude, Uncle gave just as much blood as you did, he’s tired too you know.”

Taehyung just huffed, but he quietly agreed to pipe down a bit, though his eyes still stayed glued on his father, inquiring. The older Kim searched his bag and took out the piece of paper he had shown Namjoon earlier. His son was clearly perplexed by it.

“Killed? Surely you didn’t care enough to kill some woman right?” his eyes squinted, tracing each letters as if the answer was hiding behind those printed curves and lines. “Moon Haesun? Moon? Wait, don’t tell me this person is from the Moon family?”

“Correct. I guess I should just tell you. Moon Haesun was the second daughter of Moon Jiwon, the current head of the Moon conglomerate. She was betrothed to me against my will, but I never loved her or anything. Then I met your mother and I knew we were fated right away. Haesun did try to get back to me but I refused. Then she kind of disappeared and even the Moon family never mentioned her again. I didn’t know what happened to her. No one seems to know, it has been so long, and yet now I suddenly got this message. If she actually died, I felt somewhat responsible. I also do not want her children to think I killed her.”

“Responsible? How generous,” Taehyung gave a snide comment, his old man dared to say to his face that he felt “responsible” for some woman’s death but didn’t even come home to see his own wife before she passed away? But wait, if that woman had a child, he or she should be around Tae’s age, right? And they happened to know about him and Yoongi? Was there such a person around?

Yeah right, must be her.

He quickly grabbed his phone and stood up, the ringing suddenly seemed so long and he was getting impatient.

“Hello Tae, what’s up?” Bogum sounded joyous to get a call from his buddy, but Tae’s voice was anything but cheerful.

“Hyung, about Heo Yeongmi, I have a lead. She might be related to the Moon family, so please check up on that.”

“Yes I will, but you don’t sound so good. Is everything alright?”

“I’m not too bad, I have big news to share but I would prefer to tell you in person later.”

He put down his phone and realized people were looking at him with inquiring eyes.

“It was Bogum hyung, I’ve asked him to checked on Heo Yeongmi before, this new information is surely something that could help with his search.”

“I’m sorry but who is that?” Jin was perplexed.

“Oh, right, she was at your engagement party. She is a mysterious character, but I am fairly confident she doesn’t have the best intention toward Yoongi hyung and me.”

“And you think she is related to this?”

“She is one of the few people out side of our group who know about hyung and me being a pair. I was talking to her on the day of Yoongi hyung’s heat so I figured she would know once the Dispatch thing came out. I don’t know how she knew hyung was pregnant, but she probably found a way. Do you remember the incident at the music competition? She was behind that one too.”

“Why would she do that though? Assuming it’s actually her,” Namjoon wondered out loud, “I’m pretty sure Yoongi hyung doesn’t know her personally.”

“It’s not about hyung, it’s us, it’s the Kim family she is after. There was no way she knew hyung would be at the engagement party, but it wasn’t that hard to figure out I would very likely be there.” Tae let out a frustrated sigh and covered his face with his hands. “It’s so twisted, why does she have to have Mom’s face?!”

“What did you just say?” Mr Kim immediately asked.

“Oh, father, you’d be shocked if you saw her, her face looks exactly like Mom’s, it’s scary. She’s 19, so age wise she could be Moon Haesun’s daughter. Did Mrs Moon look like Mom too?”

“No, not at all,” Tae’s father shook his head, trying to process all the information, “tell me, where is this girl now? She must have a family right?”

“She was adopted by the Heo family of Heo financial when she was 11.”

“What? The Heo family? This can’t be a coincidence.”

“You know something? Please tell me, Dad,” Tae turned to his father, holding on to his arm.

“I think you’re on to something Tae, because Mr Heo Heejun was a very good friend of Haesun.”

They all fell silence for a while, each seemed to be following his own thoughts, then Namjoon spoke up.

“Tae, say, about the music competition, how was her behavior after that?”

“Oh, she was totally nonchalant about it, not an ounce of guilt, if anything she seemed delighted that I figured that out. She looks like the type who likes to rub it in.”

“Well then, it might be the same this time. How about this, let’s act like her plan had worked, we’ll bring hyung back to your place, everyone try to look really sad. Jin hyung, can please asked people not to mention the miracle of finding two O minus blood donors, but feel free to talk about a pregnant male omega who needed the rare blood.”

“What? Why would-?” Jin didn’t quite get where his fiancé was going, but Mr Kim did.

“Oh I see, we’ll pretend to give her what she want and she will show herself.”

“Yes let’s do that,” Tae really liked his cousin’s idea, guy wasn’t called a genius for nothing. Then his face became serious again, looked like he just remembered something. “Hmm, Kookie still isn’t here…”

“Oh, that, he just texted me saying he would be leaving first,” Jin answered, he was really wondering for himself what happened between Jungkook and Yoongi.

“Everyone needs a rest I think,” Tae nodded. He was wondering the same thing. And also, was whatever happened so bad that Jungkook chose to text Jin instead of Tae?

+++

Jungkook drove to a quiet park, found a bench and just sat there. It was early evening, there was no one around to see his red eyes and forlorn face.

His first kiss was so soft yet so painful. The kiss smelled like camellia and tasted like tear.

He kissed Yoongi.

He was supposed to feel guilty for kissing his best friend’s pair but he didn’t. After everything, that was all he could have, all that he could take with him, and he didn’t feel bad for having taken it.  When he asked to be left alone with Yoongi, he was just going to voice out his feelings, just wanted to put the burden down once and for all, yet Yoongi had to say that he had loved him. He had loved him quite a lot, by the sound of it, but he backed out. Jungkook was one part happy and nine parts angry when he heard that. No he didn’t blame Yoongi for the way things were, but he probably blamed him a bit for the way things could have been.

But then the omega cried in his arms and all was forgiven.

“If there is a next life, come and sweep me off my feet. Don’t let me think, and I’ll devote myself to you.”

People only talked about next life when they were sure this life was impossible. Jungkook’s let his head fall back, hands on his face. He felt like crying again but there was no tear left. The evening breeze rustled the leaves around him ever so softly as if it was trying to comfort him, but that didn’t work. His heart felt so heavy he had difficulty breathing. He would get over this, eventually, time healed everything he knew, but there had not been enough time yet.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

His phone buzzed and shook him awake. He didn’t really want to talk to anyone right now but he checked away.

“Hello Mom, I’m sorry I’m late for dinner. Are you home already?” Jungkook was a bit surprised that his mother called.

“What are you talking about Kookie? And where are you? Aren’t you supposed to meet Jimin-ssi today? You are so late and he left already.”

“Wha-“ his brain stopped working for a second before he realized that yes, he was supposed to meet that one omega today and he had totally forgotten about it, “oh, that, I forgot, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry to me, you have to make this up to him, ahhh this kid! Are you okay? Did anything happen?” Mrs Jeon sounded worried, her son was not the type to forget appointments.

“I’m alright Mom, I’ll go home now.”

“Okay, drive carefully.”

It took him a few more minutes to finally get up and go get his car. He genuinely felt bad toward that omega, he was clearly in the wrong here, but given everything that had happened today, he wasn’t sure he would be on his best behaviors had he gone to meet him. He drove carefully as him Mom had said, with the window down so that winds could come through and hopefully took his anguish away. He didn’t want his mother to see his dejected face.

“Good evening Mom, I’m back,” he came in and gave his mother a hug.

“Welcome back, oh, you smelled like camellia,” Mrs Jeon made a casual observation, not knowing that it hurt her son. Jungkook didn’t comment on that. “Hey, are you really okay? You don’t look well,” she was seriously worried now.

“It’s nothing Mom, maybe I’m just a bit under the weather. Is Dad home?”

“Oh, your father is busy today with the Kim’s hotels upgrading their restaurants. Did Taehyung not tell you about this?”

“Uhm, he probably did but I forgot,” Jungkook wasn’t in the mood to discuss his childhood friend.

“Anyway let’s eat, and you will have to apologize to Jimin-ssi later, he must have been so disappointed.”

Jungkook managed to sit through dinner without mentioning what happened during the day. Even if his mother asked he wouldn’t have been able to say anything anyway. The paring of Taehyung and Yoongi was supposed to be a secret, and of course the baby was too. He excused himself right after dinner and went back to his room, falling down on his bed. He was tired, physically, mentally, emotionally. He just wanted to sleep and forget everything. The phone in his pocket was uncomfortable so he took it out, and then he realized that it wasn’t just the phone, there was something else too.

It was a small paper bag with a yellow ribbon. Inside was a Virgo pendant necklace and a card that said “I want you to be happy.”

He sat up, holding the small items in his shaky hands and suddenly found it hard to breathe. When he left home this morning, he had taken this small bag with him as a good luck charm; afterall it was the only thing that Yoongi had given him. Jungkook received this bag on that fateful day, the day when fate finally took that person away from him for real. Now he realized it was never supposed to be the harbinger of good luck, because when Yoongi wished this “happiness” for him, the omega had already excluded himself from it.

Jungkook stood up and walked slowly to his desk, then opened a drawer full of dried camellias. He took one of them and put it inside the bag together with the necklace. As he picked up the card, the words on it seemed to be staring at him, asking for answer, for a resolution. The young alpha grabbed a pen and wrote below Yoongi’s words.

“I want you to be happy too,

my first and last love.”

He took one last look at it, then put it in the bag and tied the yellow ribbon before laying the bag down among the dried flowers in his drawer. As he closed it behind his back, a summer breeze somehow got in and rustled the leaves of the camellia plants in his room. They were out of season, so no flowers, no scents, only whispering green leaves.

Chapter Text

A/N: It's almost 10k, please bear with me till the end! *winks*

----------------

“Alright, the danger is over. Yoongi-ssi, please be careful and take care of yourself and the baby. Nutrition is important, resting too. And of course please keep up the regular check-ups.”

“Thank you so much,” the omega bowed and Taehyung followed suit.

He was discharged with some medicines and supplements and a long list of dos and don’ts. Namjoon had already gone over the plan with him and Yoongi was a bit taken aback by the seriousness of it all, but he listened. He had had enough of not listening to his best friend; he didn’t want to be in hospitals again, well unless not until childbirth required it.

Childbirth.

The thought gave him shudders. Even though he had been pregnant for more than two months, he had not seriously thought about giving birth. Pregnancy took different toll on different people, but most were fine, until the actuall process of labour. He heard it was very, very painful.

“Hyung? You’re okay?” Tae asked, and Yoongi realized that his face probably made his alpha worried.

“Oh, I’m fine, it’s nothing really.”

“You’ve gone through a lot, I’m sorry I wasn’t there. It was all my old man’s fault.”

“What are you talking about? You were there, you gave me blood, and your father did too.”

“He also gave you that poison.”

“Come on now, I know things are not ideal but you’re being a bit unfair to him, let’s talk it over okay?” he pledged.

“Okay, don’t stress out over it, you should rest, remember?” Tae relented. To him, what his fated pair wanted had top priority now, everything else was second. He had his arm around Yoongi’s waist as they walked to the front entrance.

Mr Son had arrived to drive them home. They both stayed in the hospital the previous night for some more monitoring to make sure it was safe to take the pregnant omega home. If he had to be honest, Tae was tired too, but he didn’t want to mention it. His father already left the night before, just a bit later than Jungkook; the older Kim probably went home to rest, and maybe to reflect on his mistakes, Tae thought.

Unknown to him, his father didn’t go back to their house but to his grandparents’ place instead.

“What did you just say? Yoongi is pregnant?” grandpa Kim was shocked, he turned to his wife who was just as stunned, then back to his son, “I haven’t even met him yet after knowing about their pairing, and they made a child without telling me? These children,” he shook his head, “how did you know then? He told you?”

“No, father, there was a situation, and I found out about our next generation in a hospital.”

“Hospital? Why? Tell me exactly what happened, now.”

Mr Soohyung did his best to give an unbiased account of the whole thing, and he saw something rare: the rage that was shown on his father’s face. Mr Kim Byungchul was not a man who often showed emotions on his face, but then again, it wasn’t often that someone managed to get this close to hurting his bloodline. Tae’s father totally expected the family’s head to be furious over such outrageous attempt, but he didn’t expect the words he was going to hear.

“This was all my fault. I forced that engament on you and years later, it has come back to hurt our innocent children. Back then I cared about the Moon family’s position, but now I couldn’t care less, if they want to meddle with us, I will show them no mercy.”

“Father, I don’t think they have a hand in this, or at least not knowingly.”

“I will talk to you and Taehyung later, Namjoon too. Now you should rest.”

“You too father, good night,” Mr Soohyung was about to bow and take a break for the day when his father called out to him again.

“Soohyung,” Mr Byungchul got his calm face back, “good job today, you were there for them. And good job in the US, I’ll keep my end of the deal.”

++

Yoongi had a deep sleep the night before. He went through the biggest scare of his life, the thought that he could have lost his baby still made his heart stop on its track, before it beat again when he remembered that his loved ones had done their best to make sure him and his child were safe. Taehyung, Mr Soohyung, Namjoon, Jin, and Jungkook too. Oh Jungkook, the confession he made, the pain he showed, the tears he cried, the kiss he took, and the incredible strength he gave. Yoongi owed him too much, so much that he couldn’t give back in this life, so he made a promise for the next. He also admitted, for the very first time, that he loved his fated pair. He didn’t know what to make of the fact that he made that first confession not to Taehyung himself, but to Jungkook.

He was drained, physically and emotionally, and he just slept after being moved from the emergency room. Taehyung insisted on staying the night, he even talked at length with a nurse about something before joining Yoongi later. The alpha didn’t talk much, just quietly rubbed his wrist on Yoongi’s. The omega wondered if his fated pair could smell coffee on him, if he did, he didn’t say anything about that.

“Everything’s fine, I’m here. You should sleep.”

“Thank you,” Yoongi held his hand and drifted off to sleep, surrounded by the warm and calming scent of cedar wood.

In the morning, they were served breakfast, all the luxury that an exclusive extensive care room could provide. As they ate, Taedhyung looked at him with a content smile.

“What is it?” Yoongi couldn’t bear the stare any longer.

“Just happy seeing you eat.”

“Oh come on, I usually eat well.”

“You should.”

“Well you should too, don’t just stare at me.”

“I’m taking you home later.”

“Sure, I think I’m good enough to be discharged,” Yoongi nodded while stuffing himself with more food, he had to feed his baby well, but then he realized the alpha was still staring at him, and his content smile got a bit even more pleased.

“I meant, my home, uhm, well, our home…” he overcame his sudden shyness with a bright boxy smile and that caught Yoongi off guard. Yes, his fated pair, the father of his baby, looked like a baby here.

“O-oh, okay.”

“I mean it’s probably safer this way, sorry for not discussing with you first, Namjoon hyung actually suggested this and, and, I want to stay with you.”

Yoongi smiled at this. The alpha didn’t have to make all the roundabout explanation, just the last 6 words were enough.

“I’m good with that. And Jaemyung would love it too.”

During the drive, Yoongi suddenly realized something. He had only been to Taehyung’s place once before, what a re-introduction this was gonna be, with him being pregnant and all. He already went through a bizzare introduction the day before, meeting Tae’s father under the strangest of circumstances and seeing his mother in a dream.

His alpha probably sensed his unease and quietly held his hand.

“There’s nothing for you to worry about. It’s just me and my father and a few staff,” he smiled and gave Yoongi’s hand a good squeeze.

“I understand that, but I can’t help it you know. I ran away last time, just to come back 10 pounds heavier later,” he attempted at making a joke mostly to distract himself, but it seemed to have a bigger impact on Tae.

“And I am the happiest man alive because you do,” the alpha shifted his hand so he could interwine fingers with his fated pair, “I’ve done few things right and many things wrong, yet to still have you beside me is a miracle.”

Yoongi was about to say “It’s not a miracle, it’s fate,” but he held his tongue. Enough with fate already.

They arrived in no time and Tae helped Yoongi get inside. It wasn’t his first time here but the omega still marveled at the mansion, at its white marble pillars, its high and vaulted ceiling, its imposing magnificence. It looked very much like a castle.

The butler came out to greet them, he looked a slightly bit surprised but quickly regain his composure. He served them drinks and waited patiently for instruction.

“Mr Kang, this is Yoongi, he’ll be staying here so please arrange accordingly.”

“Of course, young master, which guest room would you prefer?”

“Ah no, he’ll be staying in my room,” Tae said, not quite noticing the look on the butler’s face because he was busy explaining it to Yoongi, “is that okay hyung? I mean, of course you can get your own room, but all the guest rooms are far from mine, and doctor Jang said we should be close. Oh, or I could use a guest room, we could have adjacent ones…” he mumbled, worrying that it was imposing of him to suggest they shared a room.

“It’s okay, I can stay in you room if you don’t mind.”

They shared a look before the old butler couldn’t hold it any longer.

“Please pardon my rudeness, young master, but may I ask is Yoongi-ssi your…”

“Oh, right, sorry about that,” Tae beamed a bright boxy smile at the diligent man and spoke proudly, “Yes, he is my fated pair.”

“My name is Min Yoongi, please take care of me,” Yoongi bowed.

“Please raise your head! I remember you, you played the piano at young master’s birthday party did you not? What an amazing performance that was, I had not heard such beautiful music since the lady last played.”

“You should take really good care of him, he’s pregnant,” Tae smiled again, enjoying the shocked look on Mr Kang’s face.

“Oh my good gracious, what amazing news! I’ll immediately adjust the menu,” the man was beaming.

“Thank you, but please be discrete about it for the time being, this is not public news yet.”

“I understand. Young master Yoongi, please inform me or any of the staff if you need anything. I shall go make some preparations now.”

“Wait a moment Mr Kang, is my father not home?” Taehyung called out when the man was about to leave.

“My understanding is that the master went to the main house yesterday, he should be back today.”

After the butler had excused himself, Tae led Yoongi to his room. The omega was nervous but he swallowed the anxiety away and didn’t let it show. The moment the door opened, he was greeted with the familiar scent of cedar wood, and that had an immediate calming effect on him. It was a very big room, might be as big as his entire apartment, with gigantic arched windows and a spacious balcony looking down at a marvelous oriental garden with a waterlily pond under a small bridge. The scenery resembled that depicted by Monet in his famous painting, which Tae also had in his room.

“Please sit down,” Tae ushered him to a comfy love seat, “Is there anything you’d like? Should I make any changes to the room?”

“It’s absolutely fine as it is,” Yoongi wasn’t quite sure if it was natural for super rich people to always think about upgrading their already magnificent lodging, or it was just Tae trying his hardest to please him. Maybe a bit of both.

What caught his eyes in the room wasn’t the palatial interior design or the highclass furniture, but the row of camilla pots lining up the wall leading out to the balcony. He remembered seeing them in one of the pictures that Tae took at his office. His fated pair really put these plants everywhere. The thought made him blushed a bit.

They talked about arrangement and agreed that the pregnant omega should stay indoor for the next few days, someone will help pick up whatever he needed from his apartment. After making sure that Yoongi would be comfortable with the new place, Tae decided to tell him about Yeongmi and the new found clue about her connection to the Moon family and to his father. Yoongi wasn’t quite scared for himself but he was saddened to see how much grudge Tae still held against his father. He so wanted to say all he knew about Gramps and the deal that Mr Soohyung made, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t the one to make that revelation.

“You know what, I don’t think Miss Yeongmi looks that much like Mom. I only saw Mom in a dream but I’m sure she has a serenity about her that the young lady doesn’t possess. Miss Yeongmi has too much turbulence around her, she must be suffering a lot.”

“I don’t care what she’s been through, nothing could justify her actions. She hurt you and Jaemyung, I’ll make her pay,” the alpha almost cursed through gritted teeth.

“We will figure something out, don’t get too worked up about it, it’s not good for you,” Yoongi stood up from his seat and walked over and sat down next to Tae on the sofa. He was a bit hesitating, but he swallowed his nerves and looked the alpha in the eyes, “Now though, I have to talk to you about something else.”

“You can tell me anything,” Tae said calmly, but he couldn’t help feeling abit anxious; he had learned from the last few months that anything could happen, and he could be caught off guard no matter how strong his defence was.

“I talked to Jungkook yesterday in the hospital. He confessed to me. And, I confessed to him too.”

Yoongi could see Tae’s face turned blank for a second.

“I confessed, that I love you now even though I used to have feelings for him. I am sorry you weren’t the first to hear that I love you, but I feel like I owned him so much that at the very least, I had to make it clear to him, I…”

He was yet to finish the sentence when the alpha abruptly pulled him into a tight embrace, his voice shaky.

“I couldn’t care less who heard it first, I’m happy I even got to hear it at all in this lifetime,” Tae buried his face in Yoongi’s hair, his hands clutching tightly on the omega’s shoulders, “I own him a lot too, and I haven’t really patched things up with him, you are a step a head of me hyung, I really need to grow up.”

Yoongi put his hands on the alpha’s back, patting him gently. He decided to be honest with Taehyung from now on, if they were going to make this work for the sake of themselves and their child, they should tell each other everything.

Everything, except for that kiss and the promise for the next life. Those belonged to Jungkook, that was the least Yoongi could give him. He closed his eyes and breathed in the cedar wood to calm himself down.

“Say it again,” Tae pushed him slightly off to look at his face, “say it again hyung, to me.”

“I love you,” Yoongi said, calmly, with a gentle smile, fingers brushing the younger’s face.

“I love you too, I love you so much it hurts,” Tae pulled him in again and Yoongi gracefully returned the embrace.

They stayed in the moment until there was a knock on the door.

“Pardon my rudeness, young master, but the great master and master Soohyung are home.”

“Grandfather is here too? Haizz,” Tae sighed, “I appreciate his attention, but everyone should let Yoongi rest a bit.”

“About that, great master said that young master Yoongi can rest,” Mr Kang assured Taehyung.

“It’s okay, I’m not that tired, I will go greet them,” the omega answered firmly.

It was the second time that Yoongi met Mr Byungchul, and his impression of him had not changed, the head of the Kim family was no doubt a powerful man, but he had such sad, sad eyes. The omega wondered if other people also saw that sadness. Over the next few minutes, he surprised Yoongi with his apology and his gratitude.

“I’m sorry for not seeing you earlier, and for this whole mess that we’ve gotten you into. Soohyung might have claimed that it was his fault, but it was actually mine. If only I had not forced that engagement upon him… Rest assured that you and Taetae have my blessing, I have learned not to interfere with my children’s lives anymore. And I’m sure you are a lovely person. We always know our fated pair when we see them, and they are all amazing people.”

“What do you mean by we, grandpa?” Tae was curious.

“For all I know, the first child of the Kim family is always a dominant alpha. We regconize our fated pairs immediately when we meet them, sometimes just locking eyes is enough. Wasn’t it the same for you two?”

Yoongi and Tae shared a look and nodded, because that was true, that regconization had happened right here in this mansion.

“It was the same for Soohyung and Sunmi, and same for previous generations. The thing was, sometimes that fated person didn’t fit what the family was looking for, and things got messy. But as I told you, you and Taetae are free to do as you want. And I want to thank you, for being strong. You have had it tough, and you did well.”

They talked a bit more, the elder reassured the omega that he had nothing to worry about, that they would take care of everything and he should just focus on looking after himself and the baby.

“And one more thing, Yoongi, I would like to talk to your family, is that okay?” Mr Byungchul asked.

“Ah, yes, of course, let me inform them first.”

“No need to rush, I just want to let you know. We have some family issue we need to take care of before that as well,” he looked at the other two alphas and Yoongi understood, it must be the thing with Gramps.

As abrupt as their visit was, Yoongi was glad that it happened. They had nothing but nice words to give him, and more importantly, it looked like the issue between Tae and his father would be resolved, finally.

While Yoongi familiarized himself with his new environment, the businessmen of the Kim family continued with their work; news soon spread that their new flagship hotel in New York would be open with a grand opening ceremony. Everyone was hyped and worked extra hard to prepare for the event. Since they were the key player in the hospitality industry, their own special event must be impeccable, not just successful but impeccably perfect.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened for the next few days; Tae would go home immediately after work, he managed to avoid working over time even in this festive period so that he could be home with his pregnant pair. Yoongi was bored of just staying home and doing nothing, so he insisted on helping out in the kitchen. On Sunday, he pondered over morning tea.

“Taehyung, you have a piano here right? I want to play, I’m bored. And I still have a special performance to prepare for.”

“Piano? Of course, we have the Grand Teague, you remember?” the alpha brightened up at the thought of Yoongi playing the piano for him again, here, in his home.

“Right, the Grand Teague! What a beauty it is!” the pianist was equally jubilant.

“It’s all yours you know. Let’s go.”

Tae smiled and took his pair’s hand, leading him to the piano room. As they approached the room, Yoongi regconized the long hall way and large wooden doors. He had been in this room before, last time, Jungkook was the one who took him here…. No no, he had to stop thinking this way, stop associating everything with the coffee-scented alpha. It might take a bit of time, but he would manage eventually.

“I have to thank this piano, I own it part of my happiness,” Tae spoke softly, hand tracing the rounded edge of the shiny mahogany case.

“Mom used to play for you right?”

“Yeah, but it’s not just that. Didn’t Namjoon hyung use this grand piano to convince you to come to my birthday party? Without it, you probably wouldn’t have come.”

“Let’s thank Namjoon then, he’s a great friend, I’m so glad I have a friend like him.”

“Yes, he has really looked out for us, I’ve gone to him for consult many times and he only has the wisest words to say, it baffles me that he’s only one year older.”

“It baffles me that he’s a year and a half younger,” Yoongi laughed.

Yoongi was about to play when Tae’s phone rang. The alpha was a bit unhappy about it, what bad timing, but his sentiment turned to that of unease when he saw Mr Son’s name. The secretary wouldn’t be calling on Sunday morning if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

“Mr VP, please pardon the instrusion, but our opponent has made a move, there’s a video circulating rapidly on the internet that shows the scene involving Director Soohyung and Yoongi-ssi in the storage room. I have sent you a copy.”

A video? Tae immediately checked his inbox. He had never seen that storage room so it looked unfamiliar, however what was important was that his father’s and Yoongi’s faces could be seen clearly.

“What is this?” Yoongi poked his head in to see, “wait, this is, that day…”

The video showed the omega walked in the room, exchanged some quick greetings with Mr Soohyung, was offered a glass of water and then collapsed. It stopped right when Namjoon entered.

“This clearly doesn’t put my father in a good light, she is probably going for the narrative that our family is against our relationship.”

“No, it’s not just that Taehyung, this is serious, based on this video, it looks like he poisoned me and that is a felony. The police could get involved and things will get messy,” Yoongi said in a matter-of-fact way, his hands rested on the alpha’s shoulders.

“He’s right,” Mr Soohyung stepped in, he had got the news as well.

“But it doesn’t have to be that way,” Yoongi smiled, “if I just show myself and everyone knows that Jaemyung and me are fine, then there’s nothing to fuss over anymore.”

“But I don’t really want to announce our bond and our baby to the world that way though,” Tae was still hesitating. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation, it was just that he had tried so hard, no they had tried so hard to get to this point in their relationship, and to use it as a testimony was just, well, not what he wanted.

“Don’t worry son, we will only talk to the police if it’s necessary, and regardless of the video, we’re going to give you the proper announcement that you two deserve,” Mr Soohyung was very calm, he actually looked a bit happy as he turned to look at his future in-law, “Yoongi, would you go with us to New York?”

+++

Taehyung couldn’t believe his eyes. His hands were shaking, the letter he was holding was blotched with his tears.

This was no doubt his mother’s handwriting, that much he was sure of.

“Taehyungie,

I am so sorry for leaving you behind, but the fact that you’re reading this means that your father has succeeded with his efforts in the US. I have never doubted him.

I should say congratulations, not just to him, but to you too, since you’ll get to meet your grandfather. You must be confused, right? The truth is grandma Mijin is not your father’s biological mother, his mother is a chef, his name is Jungsik. Due to circumstances, he couldn’t marry grandpa Byungchul; he didn’t even get any regconition at all, no one except your grandparents, your father and I knew that he got any connection to the Kim family. But all that is going to change, thanks to your father’s hard work. I don’t care at all whether my name is in the official registry, but Grandpa Jungsik should be, he has sacricied a lot for your father, has supported our little family even when the big family turned their back on us. He deserves all the love, and so you should love him, like he loves you.

When I got sick this time, I knew I wouldn’t make it. Your father told me it might take another 10 years to get what we wanted, but I told him that that was too long. I want you to have your full family when you turn 20, and I made him promise to focus on his work. He hasn’t been able to spend much time with you because I told him so, so don’t blame him. Your father loves you just as much as I do, may be more, because he will have to do my part as well.

I’ll give this letter to Grandpa Byungchul, I trust him to only give you this when the time is right. Please don’t resent anyone, people have their own reasons, and regardless of their situations, I’m sure they all love you dearly.

Taehyungie, my lovely boy, I know I’m asking for a lot. I’m asking you to be strong and go on without me, I’m asking you to take on the enormous responsibility of being the family’s heir, I’m asking you for a lot of forgiveness. But I’m asking for all this because I know you could do it, because your heart is full of love and love is the strongest power.

So this is goodbye. Though I will be going to another world, I would look after you the best I could. Mom loves you so much, your father and you are the best things that ever happened to me, enough to make my life, although short, totally worth living. God has been so kind to me, and I pray that he would be kind to you too, and you will meet your special one and have a good life.

I will always keep you in my heart, love you,

-Mom.

Taehyung didn’t know when exactly he started crying, but he was definitely crying. He put the letter down and threw himself into Yoongi’s arms, crying like a child. The older didn’t say anything, just quietly patted his hair and rubbed his back.

Earlier, his grandfather had come to visit them in person to discuss preparation for the New York trip. That much made sense. However, Mr Byungchul suddenly gave Taehyung an envelop.

“It’s from your mother, read it carefully.”

Tae was shocked to hear that, it was out of nowhere, but it must be true because his grandpa would not joke or lie about something like this. So the young heir excused himself and retreated to his room with the letter. His fated pair had been ready to leave but Taehyung asked him to stay. He needed some emotional support.

“I didn’t know anything, Yoongi-yah, I know nothing, I was such a brat. Everyone has been doing their best and I was just running around throwing blames..”

“Now now, you’ve been doing your best too, you did what Mom wanted of you, you have been strong, you have been an amazing heir, you just need to forgive.”

“But how can I forgive when they have done nothing wrong? I even blamed Dad for hurting you and Jaemyung while in reality he saved you both? I blamed him all these years too, acting like I was the only one hurting. I never put myself in his shoes, he lost his fated pair and was hated unfairly by his only son. If I was to lose you and be hated by Jaemyung, I don’t know if I would be able to bear it…” he continued stuttering through the tears.

“You know now, and you understand now. It’s all that matters. I’m sure father doesn’t blame you. Everyone loves you, Grandpa Jungsik loves you a lot,” Yoongi continued to speak in his deep, soothing voice, his hand combing through the alpha’s hair but the younger suddenly pushed him off and looked straight in his eyes.

“You knew about this?”

“Well, not intentionally, but I learned about Gramps story a while back. At that time things weren’t going well between you and me and I was troubled by it, Gramps wanted me to talk to him so he offered to tell me his secret if I told him mine. That was how he knew we’re fated and I learned that he was your grandfather.”

“That explains why he knows the recipe of the stew and has Mom’s music sheet. What else do you know? Could you tell me now?”

“Actually I don’t know much more than this, and shouldn’t you hear this directly from Grandpa or father?”

Taehyung agreed with his fated pair on this point, a direct and honest talk was what he needed. So he stopped crying, washed his face and took a few deep breaths. When he was ready, he came to join his grandfather and father in the living room, Yoongi stayed by his side.

And they talked. Stories from years back were told, memories - some sweet some painful - were revisited. Many apologizes were said, tears were cried, promises were made. Promises to not make the same mistakes again.

“Both of us,” Mr Byungchul spoke for both himself and his son, “didn’t get to live with our fated pairs for very long and couldn’t give them the recognition they deserved, even though as dominant alphas we were blessed to recognize them when we first met. So Taehyung, Yoongi, I hope that from this generation onward, the Kim family will not have to suffer such pain anymore, especially if we can control our fate. I’m not asking for forgiveness, I just want you to live a happy life together.”

++

The next day, Taehyung drove Yoongi to Mr Chef’s place. They were careful not to draw attention. Ever since the video was posted, the entire family was put under surveillance by the press, who were keen on getting any glimsp of the family members. They were even questioned by the police and Yoongi had had to meet with some officers to prove that he was indeed okay, so when eager reporters contacted the police department, all they got was a short “We’re looking into this case.”

Chef Jungsik was surprised to see Taehyung since he was only expecting Yoongi. So many things hit him at the same time: Yoongi’s pregnant-scent and Tae calling him “Grandpa.” And he cried.

“I have been waiting for this day, I’m so glad I managed to wait till this day,” he opened his arms and Tae wasted no time running into them.

They were busy getting to know each other and made up for lost time so Yoongi allowed himself to make a tour of the kitchen, made some tea and secured some nice cookies, he knew Gramps always had those. The elder smiled through his tears at the efforts.

“He’s so kind isn’t he?” he smiled at his grandson, “I saw Sunmi in him you know. When he sat at that piano over there and played Hope, I couldn’t stop my tears. It sounded just like how Sunmi used to play on that very same piano, all those years ago..” he wiped his tears away and smiled again, even brighter, “but to think that I don’t just get a grandson but also a great grandson at the same time! You two exceeded my expectation! All these years of waiting are so worth it!”

The two stayed for lunch and it was the best lunch Taehyung had had in a long time. His grandpa and his fated pair were cooking, the alpha also helped out while listening to more stories about old times. Chef Jungsik avoided the sad memories, he only told the sweet ones.  He had no intention of dwelling on those sad and no-longer-matter things, especially when the youngsters around him were having the time of their life. To him, that was all that mattered.

“I will talk to everyone about this later, but I guess I can tell you now. I don’t want to be in the family registry. It doesn’t make sense to add me now. Add me as what? It’s just gonna mess up everything and I honestly do not need or want it, it does nothing for me now. All I care is that Taehyung has made up with his father, and you boys are happy and in love. I even have a great grandson coming. A good-for-nothing title is the last thing I need now.”

“But Gramps, father worked so hard for this you know?” Taehyung still didn’t let go.

“Of course I know, but I think he will understand. Sunmi has to have her name in the family registry, that is a must, but it doesn’t matter to me whether outsiders know about me or not. I actually prefer this quieter role. Not to mention it would be so unfair on your grandma Mijin, she is an amazing woman and she deserves love and respect, and not to have to share her official position with me.”

The youngsters finally accepted and they went back to eating, the room filled with laughter and later, with music.

++

The stage was set.

The shiny Steinway was waiting.

The audience sat at dinner tables of six, dressed in luxurious branded clothings and displayed flawless dining etiquette. Among them were the Heo family. Mr Heo Heejun couldn’t believe it when he received invitation letter to this fabulous event, and not for just him, but his family as well. He wasn’t confident that the level of business his firm had with the Kim conglomerate would get him invited, but it all turned out well. He also didn’t expect his daughter to be this happy over the invitation, she rarely got excited over things; guessed a young girl would still love this kind of extravagant events.

Next to him, Yeongmi was smiling. She was happy. She didn’t expect her father to get invited, she was even prepared to find some other way to come here, but she didn’t need to, how wonderful. But then again, they were invited to Namjoon and Jin engament party, so it probably wasn’t all that surprising. Either way, her plan had unfolded pretty well so far, except for the fact that the police kept saying “we’re looking into this case”. How long were they going to look? She even gave them the evidence! But it was alright, she was going to take matters into her own hands tonight and exposed her enemy in front of all these honorable guests. She was so excited.

Mr Soohyung stood on stage, all eyes on him. With a proud smile, he cut the ribbons covering a name plate. With a festive noise, sparkly confettis rained down around him. Outside, on the rooftop of the building, fireworks went off as the giant name outside was lit up for the first time.

“Welcome to Azalea!!” he announced, as guests gracefully clapped their hands. He continued to give a brief history of the business adventure, thanking people both in Korea and US for making this happen.

“All that work that went into securing the place of the Kim Conglomerate in the hospitality industry in the US, culminated in a network of popular destinations and services. Today, we unveal our flagship hotel in the States, Azalea. I was grateful to the team and the family for letting me name this amazing place, and I chose Azalea, in honor of my late wife, the beautiful and loving Sunmi. With everyone’s help and with her blessing, I will keep working hard and do my best to serve our guests and build upon the legacy of our family. Please continue looking after us.”

He smiled and bowed among rapturous applauds. At their hidden table, Yoongi and Taehyung shared a look.

“So that’s why father insisted on putting azaleas on his suit jacket today, I see,” the omega contemplated.

“It’s Mom’s scent. It’s a flower that most suits her, a symbol of softness and care, a reminder of sweet time spent at home, its floral meaning is to tell our loved ones to take good care of themselves and the family. I can imagine Dad having a garden of azaleas here in the US, and they always reminded him of Mom and of his dudy to take care of the family, including me,” the alpha was clearly emotional.

“Let’s plant some when we get home,” Yoongi reached over and held his hands.

“Yes, let’s do that. They will blend well with the camellias,” Taehyung regained his calmness and smiled at his fated pair, “do you know the meaning of camellias?”

“Uhm, not really…”

“They symbolize faithfulness and longevity. And they smell like you.”

“Is that so…” Yoongi blushed a little, he should go and look up what cedar tree symbolized.

They quiet down as they saw Mr Soohyung made his way down from the stage and towards the guest tables. Tae thought he should help his father out with the greetings, but he had not even stood up from his chair when a voice nearby stopped him on his track. It was her.

“My sincere congratulations Mr Kim, what an amazing place this is! Azalea is a great name, it means to take care of your loved ones right? Talking about that, how is your in-law doing? He didn’t look well in the recent video. Oh, he is probably not your in-law yet, but you know who I’m talking about.”

The mention of the video immediately got people attention. Some of them clearly had the i-was-wondering-about-that-too look on their faces.

“Thank you for asking,” Mr Soohyung showed off his best business smile, “he is doing alright.”

“And the baby? I heard he is pregnant, why don’t you share the great news with us?”

“My my, the young lady really cares a lot about us, I’m grateful, well, regarding that video, nothing serious happens, everyone is fine.”

“Is that so, I wonder why the police kept saying they were still looking into the case, if there’s nothing then they should just come out and say it, instead of feeding the reporters like this, don’t you agree Mr Kim?”

Yeongmi didn’t back down and her father was appalled, he kept trying to signal her to stop but she refused to acknowledge his efforts.

“I cannot speak on behalf of the police, but my humble thinking is that there must be something for them to investigate, something beyond what was shown in the video, like people leaving suspicious drinks around for example.”

Yeongmi’s expression changed for a split second, but she quickly got her calm façade back.

“Let’s leave that to them then. Mr Kim is a such a caring father, you even took time to visit your in-law at school. Or maybe there were other reasons I wonder.”

“Wow, I’m impressed! Miss Heo could regconize the place from a video showing just a table? Very impressive. Well, since you know already, I guess my plan for a surprise performance can’t be that surprising anymore,” he shrugged his shouders with a pleased smile and turned around to address all the people that had been observing him with utmost attention.

“Honorable guests, thank you so much for coming, and for caring about our family. As I said, today I want to honor my wife, but I also would like to introduce our new family members. You might have heard about him from my son Taehyung’s press conference a while back, and today, for the first time, let me introduce my son-in-law.”

Mr Soohyung pointed his hand toward the piano and everyone’s eyes followed. From their secret table, Taehyung escorted Yoongi to the stage, hand in hand. The two of them looked happy and glowing in their couple suits and took their sweet time to walk slowly up the steps.

“He’s in his 3^rd month so please allow him to be careful, right everyone?” the proud father smiled again.

Yoongi stood in front of the audience and took a graceful bow. He wasn’t nervous about performing at all but was nervous about introducing himself to this great crowd. Taehyung on the other hands was beaming. The alpha put a hand on Yoongi’s back to encourage him and the pianist took a deep breath, and smiled. He managed to say a few words before sitting down at the piano. He played Hope, as a tribute to lady Sunmi, then a few classic pieces, before joining Tae and his father at the table.

People had completely forgotten about Yeongmi and the earlier conversation since they were busy congratulating the Kim family and took their chance to introduce themselves to the excellent pianist. Some of them regconized him from the competition and that made Yoongi happy. The reporters had a field day as well, so much to type up.

“And you said you would tell me in person! Wow, you surprised me, bro. Congratulations!” Bogum smacked his friend hard on the arms. He was invited to the event, not just a normal invitation but a “you have to go because we need your expertise” invitation. Expertise huh? He was wondering about that, he was a senior partner at a top law firm, but after seeing that confrontation with Yeongmi earlier, he totally understood.

The event was a huge success, people loved the place and were impressed with the show. Guests were treated to an overnight stay so they could experience the many facilities and services. Two special guests were even invited to private teatime treat with the Kim family. One of them didn’t want to go.

“Why Yeongmi? You were happy to come here, do you know how rare it is to get a private invitation from them? Not to mention they still care about us even though you were rude earlier. You should apologize,” Mr Heo couldn’t understand his daughter anymore.

“They have their own motivation for inviting us, Dad, I don’t think they care about us at all, I don’t want to meet them.”

She didn’t have a choice though, since staff soon come to invite them and her father pretty much pulled her away. Fine, at least I can yell at them in person, the young girl gritted through her teeth.

The private meeting room gave off a friendly, cozy even, vibe, in line with the theme of the hotel. The Kim family members, including Yoongi, and Bogum, looked quite relaxed - a contrast to the Heo family.

“Thank you so much for coming, I shall get straight to the point. Miss Yeongmi asked me earlier why I went to the music department, the answer is that I was invited there, with this,” Mr Soohyung took the piece of message from his pocket and gave it to Mr Heo, whose face turned pale as he saw the name Moon Haesun. He immediately turned to Yeongmi because Moon Haesun only had one child. His eyes were full of shock and pain but he didn’t say anything.

“It was true that Yoongi-ssi was hit with a strong dose of CMx, a competent teratogen, and that put his baby in great danger. CMx is a rare agent, not many people use it to poison others these days, so it wasn’t too difficult for me to trace its source. The setup at that storage room could be picked apart as well,” Bogum said calmly and convincingly, as if he was dealing with a case in court, “and you know our firm pride ourselves on being able to argue any case to the desirable outcome, especially when the evidences are this compelling.”

Mr Heo held on to the piece paper with shaky hands. He looked his daughter in the eyes, “Why, Yeongmi, why?”

“You mean why CMx?” the young girl clicked her tougue defiantly and not very lady like anymore, “Did you know my mother was planning to get rid of me with that same poison when she was pregnant? She never wanted me, and why was that? Because I am not that man’s child! She threw herself at him with all she got, they were betrothed, but he swept her aside because of his fated pair! Mother was so foolish, she even got some unknown heat-inducing drug from the black market but her heat didn’t work on him but on some other guy instead. I was born as a mistake, and her hatred towards me only got worse as I grew up. And I wondered why. Until one day I told her I wanted to learn to play the piano and she hit me. She hit me and yelled at me. She said I was a curse, because not only did I have that woman’s face, I wanted to play that same instrument too. She would get drunk and talk about her past and yell at me again. Eventually she couldn’t bear looking at me anymore and left me at an orphanage. It was all thanks to them,” she pointed at the group of people on the other side of the table, “thanks to them that mother loathed me, and I don’t even have a dad!”

She stopped as she saw the look of pain of Mr Heo’s face. Okay, maybe she crossed a line there.

“You have a Dad,” Bogum continued in his professional voice, totally unaffected by her tantrum.

“Uhm, I mean, Dad is very kind and he cares about me a lot, but he is not..”

“Your biological father? This is where you got it wrong, Miss Yeongmi, Mr Heo Heejun is your biological father.”

“No, no, you’re lying!” the girl couldn’t believe what she heard, she turned to her father, who was burdened with years of pain and it showed on his face. “Say something, Dad. Tell me, it’s not true right?”

“Come here, Yeongmi, come here,” Mr Heo was fighting back tears, “I did look for Haesun, I didn’t even know she was pregnant, she just left, and hid from everyone. But she did care about you, I only found you because she sent me a message telling me about the orphanage. But I never found her. All I have is you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Would you believe me? Would you forgive me? I thought it was best that you were not reminded of the past, that you started a new life. Turns out I was wrong, all these years you have been suffering alone, I’m a failure as a father.”

They looked as if they shared each other pained and the other group thought it was time for them to leave.

“Well, we shall excuse ourselves here. Miss Yeongmi, I hope we can get on good terms in the future, if so, I shall not hold any of the recent events against you and your family,” Mr Soohyung swiftly concluded their meeting, and he didn’t mean it as a threat, he really hoped the poor girl could find her peace of mind and happiness.

“I will take better care of her, thank you for your kindness,” Mr Heo bowed. His daughter did not, but at least she didn’t retort.

As the group make their way out of the room, Yoongi turned around. He hadn’t said anything, he was also taken aback by the story but he felt incompetent just walking out on her like this, so he felt compelled to do something.

“Yeongmi-ssi, if you ever feel like it, we can play piano together. Tablo seonsaengnim has praised you highly, I would really like to.”

The girl looked at a lost and Yoongi just bowed his head slightly before talking Taehyung waiting hand.

Back from the U.S, they were greeted by a crowd of reporters. Yoongi was not used to this, he tried to smile a few times then just hid behind Tae. The fact that they no longer had to hide didn’t mean that he enjoyed the attention. But there was one good thing coming out of this fanfare: the anniversary concert of the National Orchestra suddenly got a lot of attention because Yoongi was performing. If he was going to be the center of attention anyway, why not used it for good cause? He would love it for the general public to pay more attention to classical music, for them to know that it was not just an academic genre. Yoongi would do his best for this show, he wanted to perform perfectly on stage before his baby bump got too big.

The stage was his home, his natural habitat, it was where he would be viewed solely as Min Yoongi the pianist and nothing else. He felt comfortable and he played with joy, happy that Jaemyung could share this moment with him. Obviously the look people gave him changed a bit now that they knew his story, but overall, it was his talent that they had come to admire. His friends all came to give support since they knew Yoongi would not do public shows for a while after this. It was a nice outing for everyone, though Jungkook seemed to be thinking about something else.

The young alpha didn’t make the New York trip, he had no role to play there. If it had been in the past, when Tae was still single, maybe he would have gone to hang out with him and maybe to learn a bit more about business, but things were different now. So he stayed in Korea and followed the news which was soon filled with articles and videos of the ceremony, including Yoongi’s introduction and performance.

So it was officially official now, not surprising. Jungkook faced everything calmly, but he had yet to find his inner peace. Today too, he had a bit of hesitation meeting Taehyung’s eyes. No, it wasn’t because of the kiss, but it was just, well, strange. And that was all the more reason for him to believe that his decision was the right one, and he was going to tell the group about it.

“I have something to tell you,” he spoke up as they were waiting for their orders at a post-show meal. Jungkook quickly got everyone’s attention so he smiled and continued, “I am going to study abroad.”

“Oh,” Taehyung was the first to speak, he was surprised and not surprised at the same time, other people probably felt the same, “which one is it?”

“Wharton. Do you remember I went to that event about US schools a while back? I did some research after that and I found Wharton is quite a good place to go.”

“You’re really playing it down, Kookie, it is one of the best if not the best undergrad business program, getting admission there is an amazing thing! Congratulation!” Namjoon exclaimed, better focused on the positive side here, and what he said was true anyway.

“Thank you hyung, I joined the business world later than you and three, so I thought I should give myself the best preparation I could.”

“You did great, I am so proud of you,” Yoongi smiled too, although there was something else hidden in his smile, something that he didn’t wish to identify.

“We all know a lot of people there,” Jin patted the youngest on the shoulders, “if you need anything just ask. But I have no doubt that you’ll be just fine.”

The summer went by with all of them busy. Namjoon and Jin had finally found a place that suited their taste and were moving in. Yoongi had got all of his stuff into the Kim mansion, Mr Soohyung had also gone to Daegu to greet his parents and talk about future plans. Gramps also moved in with them and Yoongi were grateful to have an older and experienced omega by his side; not to mention that the food was so good. He went to the hospital for regular check-up and so far Jaemyung had been doing well, Yoongi had been able to felt his movements lately. The first time he showed Tae that, the alpha was so happy he almost cried. Yoongi’s belly had grew a lot and he didn’t fit in his old clothes anymore so he had adopted a new habit of taking Taehyung’s clothes, they were big, comfortable, and smelled like cedar wood. One day, as he rummaged through the alpha’s closet to find something to wear, he found an unexpected thing and was dumbfounded by it.

“What’s wrong? Nothing you like?” Tae walked over when he saw his pair stopped moving, and he got the answer when he saw the thing Yoongi was holding. Now this was a bit embarrassing.

“So it is here, Namjoon told me you couldn’t find it. You have had it all this time,” Yoongi smiled endearingly at his alpha, whose face had turned a bit red, “I can’t believe you, but it’s cute, I guess?”

“Stop teasing me and pick something else, you’re not gonna fit in that anyway,” Tae started looking through his other clothes for something. Anything, to hide his embarassment. He didn’t really think about this carefully, of course Yoongi would find that jacket, and honestly, what was wrong about it anyway? Yes he kept his fated pair’s jacket in his closet, everyone did that, no?

“Well you know what,” Yoongi started looking away too, “I still have yours too, the brown Gucci one, so we’re even.”

Just like that, time went by. Things were going so well, and yet there was something nagging at him, Yoongi couldn’t understand it, but as August came and another back-to-school season began, he figured it out. That person was going to another country, and until Yoongi knew for sure that he was happy, he was not gonna have true peace.

“Let’s go to a concert!” Bogum was cheerful when he visited the soon-to-be parents, “Summer is concert time, let’s make some good memories together before Kookie goes to the States.”

“Sounds good hyung, let’s do that. I will call him, and Namjoon hyung and Jin hyung too. Wait, do you have enough tickets?”

“No prob, I have my connections you know,” Bogum said with a wink, no one should doubt Park Bogum when it came to connections.

“Well, that’s good then, Yoongi-yah, you’re good to go?”

“Sure thing, as long as this little guy behaves,” the omega smiled. He had not been to a concert in a while, and he wanted to just as Bogum said, to make some good memories together.

++

“Wow, the frenzy is real! This is what a summer concert should be like!” Namjoon was excited, he and his soon-to-be husband were really looking forward to this, among moving, preparing for the wedding, and their usual business work, to have this opportunity to unwind with their friends was a blessing.

“Trust me, they are good, I know a guy in this band and they are the real deal,” Bogum smiled proudly.

“You’re right, hyung, they’re lit, I’ve listened to them before!” Jungkook seemed excited, his bunny smile was showing.

“Lit huh? You’re not even in the US yet and you already sound like americans!” Jin teased the boy and they all laughed.

They found their way through the excited crowded and arrived safely at their seats. Tae was a bit worried about Yoongi and was particularly careful guiding him up the steps but the omega was doing just fine. They cheered with the crowd, Bogum even got them some lightsticks so they blended it perfectly.

Yoongi was enjoying the show, he enjoyed all types of good music, regardless of the genres. These guys were singing and rapping while doing immaculate choreography, they might be that one group that Tablo had mentioned to him before. To his right side, Taehyung was also enjoying the show, he even quickly memorized some parts to sing along. To his left, Jungkook seemed equally excited, he copied some hand movements from the dancing and waved his lightstick delightfully. But sometimes, Yoongi could felt his eyes on him, and he didn’t know whether he should look back or not.

The arena suddenly went dark as lights were turned off. People went quiet. The big screen showed a more melancholic VCR with slow piano music in the background. As the lights gradually turned back on, four of the singers appeared on stage, their faces were veiled in expressions of constrained despairs, befitting the music and the lyrics. And Yoongi felt his heartrate slowed, his thoughts clear and his untold pain laid bare.

“You know that I can’t

Show you me

Give you me

초라한 모습 보여줄 순 없어
또 가면을 쓰고 널 만나러 가”

Yoongi felt eyes on him again and this time he looked back. Jungkook turned his gaze to the stage as soon as their eyes met, and he sang along the singers in a quiet whisper.

“But I still want you.”