Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s always fun for Jeongguk to see if they scent him first or see him first; he has to tell himself that anyway, otherwise he feels like shit when a pretty omega spies him across the room, moves closer to interact with him, then catches a whiff of his scent and stutters through small talk like it doesn’t matter to them (it almost always does). It’s one thing when it happens somewhere like the library, where he can chat to another omega about almost anything else, but it’s another thing at a club when the said omega has to be on top of him to distinguish his own scent from anyone else’s. By then, their intent is usually obvious, and it’s awkward to stop grinding on each other because they’ve just now realized that Jeongguk is actually omega.

It doesn’t bother him enough to give up the gym time or try and make himself look smaller in any way; Jeongguk knows he looks bigger than a lot of alphas, but when his therapist in high school recommended physical activity as a healthier coping mechanism than some of his other choices, Jeongguk went all in and now couldn’t give it up if he wanted to. Besides, it’s nice to be useful to Taehyung or Jimin if they’re getting heckled; he can’t always stop it. He too, after all, is of the same status, and any alpha that’s going to harass one omega won’t have qualms about harassing a second omega, but they usually scamper off slowly as they eye his biceps and unwavering eye contact. In some ways, he gets it worse when they realize; he’s had alphas call him a Frankenstein of an omega - put together all wrong. Makes no sense.

He’s an easy target, not to bodily push around, but to verbally assault, for sure.

It is what it is. It’s affected him in more ways as he’s gotten older, now almost done with school. Alphas aren’t super interested in dating him because he looks like one, and omegas are still heavily stigmatized for dating other omegas, which means that Jeongguk’s potential dating pool is mostly beta, which is already so limited in numbers. He’s fumbled his way through dates and mostly sorry hook-ups, but it’s only with graduation looming that he finds himself increasingly worried about being lonely when Jimin leaves to tour and Taehyung more than likely settling down soon with his alpha.

Jeonnguk sighs, pushing himself off the bar. It’s fine. It is what it is. He’s still got some older friends who’ve made the city their home and aren’t going anywhere; Namjoon, for one. Said alpha is awkwardly dancing at the edges of the dance floor, close enough that Seokjin isn’t going to complain about him not dancing, but not overly involved either. Jeongguk grins and slides up next to Namjoon, startling him, but laughing when he sees who it is.

Hunched over, Jeongguk tries to come up under his arm and bat his eyelashes at the alpha in the most exaggerated fashion possible. Namjoon throws his head back and laughs; it’s a stupid reminder that years ago when they met, Jeongguk pined over Namjoon for months. Actual pining. It was awful - for both of them - because Jeongguk had never liked anyone like that before and Namjoon was in the beginnings of his relationship with Jin, and without clear confirmation or a possible scent mark from the omega, things were awkward and both of them too nice to clear the air. Jeongguk was a blushing mess his freshmen year because of it, and Namjoon went through a new existential crisis because of it. Jin helped them out, once he met Jeongguk and immediately clocked the situation.

“Awwwww, my little baby freshman cutie pie!” he’d squealed, grabbing Jeongguk by the cheeks. “My boyfriend, Namjoon, has told me all about you!”

There had been a lot of emphasis on the word boyfriend, and Namjoon subsequently spit out his drink at said time all over both of them. It was gross, but Seokjin just looked fond, and Namjoon looked downright besotted, so Jeongguk had been left in the middle of said crush for most of his freshman year feeling like an idiot.

Years later, and Namjoon and Seokjin are mated and even married, despite Namjoon’s pontification about how unnecessary Western marriage on top of mating was. He gave it up with one well timed look from his mate-to-be, and if Seokjin didn’t earn the title of bridezilla then Jeongguk’s world was a farce. After the two were happily settled, the jokes started in. They might joke about it too much, for Namjoon’s sake, especially when Seokjin threatens to move Jeongguk in as his sister wife, to which his mate gently chides him for joking about such a thing.

At the time, Jeongguk thought they were all way too young for such things, but now he’s faced with Taehyung and Yoongi’s impending mating. It would be any day, he was sure - Taehyung was moving in officially at the end of the month, and while Jeongguk didn’t know Yoongi as well as Seokjin or Namjoon, he knew the alpha well enough to know what a huge deal cohabitation was for him. Seokjin burst one of his eardrums when he heard the news, assuring Taehyung that, “That’s as good as marriage for Yoongi!”

It was the shyest Jeongguk has ever seen Taehyung after that; all night, he went both and forth between curling around Yoongi or flitting away to pretend like he didn’t need to be glued to his side. Yoongi honest-to-god blushed that night, and Seokjin crossed it off his Yoongi bingo card much to Namjoon’s dramatic sigh when his best friend kicked him under the table, up until that moment unaware of said bingo card.

When Jeongguk asked if Seokjin made cards for others in the group, he replied of course. When he asked if his hyung made one for him, Seokjin just smiled and said, “Oh, sweetie. Yours was the first I made.”

Jeongguk didn’t know what that meant. Sure, he hasn’t dated anyone in front of his friends. Sure, he’s kind of a homebody and doesn’t have any friends outside of the five of them. He’s also the youngest and last to graduate or do anything super exciting, unlike Namjoon who’s volunteered for every cause under the sun or Seokjin who travels everywhere, but that can’t be held against him.

All to say that at least Jeongguk has what friends he has, despite his bumbling beginnings with Namjoon, currently slinking away from the dance floor and back to the bar. Jeongguk follows him, takes a shot with him, then watches as his mate comes around and without breaking stride, takes him by the arm and then they’re both gone.

Now it’s just past midnight, which is officially an acceptable time to leave a club, as promised by Jimin before he vanished, the hardest of the group to track with such slight stature. Jeongguk knows he’ll be fine on his own, and if not, where there’s Jimin there’s Tae close behind, and with Tae, Yoongi. Jeongguk doesn’t spook easily, but Yoongi still scares him as much as he loves him.

Problem is, Jeongguk barely makes it out the door before the group of waiting alphas pounce. They’re always there, waiting and hoping that a drunk omega will take them up on their offers as they leave, but tonight there’s a couple in particular who close in on Jeongguk as he exits. They clearly didn’t get a look at him before they crowded in, because they do the classic double take when they see him, but despite the confusion written all over their faces, they continue on with their bit.

“Hey, baby,” the closest alpha croons, propping an elbow up on the wall and leaning into Jeongguk’s space as the second alpha crowds him towards the other. “Just look at you, sweetcheeks. Smelling like that, but looking like that. Wow.”

Jeongguk rolls his eyes, ready to plant his elbow into the one alpha’s side to step around them, but before he can, someone else is there - another alpha he’ll have to deal with he guesses, but said alpha weaves his way between Jeongguk and the alpha trying to steer him into the alley.

“Sweetcheeks, really?” newcomer alpha says, sneering at the other alpha. “What year is it?”

“Funny, given no one asked your opinion or invited you to this party.” The alpha on the wall pushes off of it, and the two try to corral both Jeongguk and the new alpha together.

“No one’s invited you to anything, pup, and I know that because I’ve seen you outside this club almost every night for the past two weeks. Now bounce.”

The bigger alpha of the two, the one who was trying to crowd Jeongguk originally, growls, leaning in the newcomer alpha’s face. He doesn’t flinch back despite this alpha being on the smaller side of alphas. Smaller than Jeongguk for sure, although not as small as Yoongi. Jeongguk jolts at the unpleasant scent rolling off the angry alpha - it’s not only his pheromones, but also the stench of alcohol that does it - and said smaller alpha half turns to glance at him, smart not to turn his back on the other two completely, but glancing over Jeongguk as to make sure he’s okay.

“They put a finger on you?”

“I - I - well no,” Jeongguk stutters. Normally, this is where he insists he’s fine, he’s got it handled. He does have it handled, is the thing - he can take both of these alphas on his own without a problem, even if it turns physical, which he doesn’t think it would have even, but now there’s a posturing alpha match in front of him, and he’s a little foggy brained, because this new alpha releases smoothing scents of burnt sugar and orange. His nose is slightly turned up, his mouth a unique shape he’s never seen on another person before. Details that Jeongguk wouldn’t bother to notice in most situations, let alone late at night outside a club, but right now he can’t look away and he can’t form a coherent answer.

Now, Jeongguk’s never played blushing omega before - he’s never needed to, but right now he stands back as new alpha stands up straighter, turning and snarling back at the other two. He honest-to-god lets his posture shrink and makes himself smaller as the alpha growls, “I’ll give you one last chance to beat it before I drag you out of here.”

“As if you could,” one alpha growls back, and the other, from behind him, snickers suddenly.

“Look at them,” he says. “An alpha and omega made for each other.” And Jeongguk knows immediately what he means by that; he’s sure the smaller alpha does too, because if scents were taken out of the equation, most would assume that the person trying to posture in front of him was the omega between them.

Whatever. Jeongguk’s used to it, and he’s about to stand up straight and say something, but a large group of clubbers pour out of the exit closeby right then, and the alphas all loosen in their standings as new scents and sounds of raucous people join the scene. One of them releases a familiar squawk of indigiance.

“Jeon Jeongguk, you did not tell me you were leaving!” And then Seokjin shoves one of the alphas out of his way without glancing at them, pushing up into Jeongguk’s side. He’s unsure if the other omega is aware of the situation he’s walked into or whether he just doesn’t care.

It’s why he loves Seokjin.

Both of the alphas standing across from them look at each other, then at the three others in front of them. Behind them even Namjoon hovers nearby, clearly trying to gauge what his own reaction should be.

“Whatever, let’s go. I’m hungry,” one of them says, elbowing his friend. They stick their hands into their pant pockets then scuttle away, eyes down to the ground. Namjoon watches them until they disappear from sight, and Seokjin turns to Jeongguk. Before he can say anything, the last standing alpha, his supposed knight in shining armor, takes a half step closer.

“You okay, sweetheart?” And okay - wow. Jeongguk’s been treated like this before technically, but never before has he been so okay with being addressed by omega sweet names. Usually they were said sarcastically towards him, but this guy genuinely means it. “Did they hurt you?”

Jeongguk feels Seokjin bristle next to him, but Jeongguk watches mutely as this alpha peels off his jacket to wrap it around his shoulders, and Jeongguk just lets it happen. “This okay? It’s brand new - shouldn’t have much scent on it yet.”

Seokjin looks between the two of them, now trying to keep a straight face. When Jeongguk only looks at his feet, still looking and feeling small, Seokjin asks for him. “Thanks for taking care of our Ggukie. What’s your name, handsome?” Seokjin lays it on thick, confusing the alpha who clearly glances over at his mating bite.

“Ugh, it’s Hoseok.”

“Nice to meet you, Hoseok-ssi. I’m Kim Seokjin, you’ve met our Jeongguk, and just over there is my pacifist mate, Kim Namjoon. Thank you again.”

Namjoon joins them now that the others are gone.

“It’s no problem,” Hoseok says, all bravado gone now. He looks painfully awkward, rocking back and forth on his toes.

“Our Ggukie here really appreciates it,” Seokjin says, because he can’t resist. “Don’t know what he would have done if you didn’t intervene. Right, Gguk?”

Hoseok rubs the back of his neck, and now Jeongguk is blushing because his mouth won’t work to say anything. He shrinks up further and further and thinks back to his high school days when he was a scrawny kid who couldn’t string a sentence together. He’s worked hard to overcome his natural shy demeanor, to make friends and put off omega stereotypes, and here he is now.

Seokjin cackles in delight, “BINGO. Oh my God, bingo!”

Hoseok jumps at the volume of Seokjin’s laughter, glancing between the two omegas. Namjoon brushes up against Jeongguk’s other side, gently offering his own familiar scent, at this point probably realizing that the thing most bothersome to Jeongguk this evening was none other than his own mate.

“Well, I need to get going,” Hoseok says cautiously. Jeongguk shrugs off the jacket that he’d placed over him for the moment - it’s too small, he can tell. If he were to try and pull his arms through it, he’d rip out the shoulders. Before he can hand it over, Seokjin scoffs.

“Wait, where are you going? Are you gonna let an omega walk home alone this late at night? By himself?”

“Hyung!”

“Seokjin.”

Seokjin ignores both Jeongguk and Namjoon, maintaining very direct and continuous eye contact with Hoseok. He narrows his eyes slightly, and Hoseok starts nodding frantically. “Of course not. Of course I’ll walk him home, even if he doesn’t know me at all.” He raises his voice towards the end of that statement, trying to lock eyes with Jeongguk.

Jeongguk makes it to Hoseok’s knees, but that’s as far as his eyes travel.

“Great! I would do it myself, but my mate had too much to drink and needs the extra help home,” Seokjin leaves Jeongguk’s side to grab at his husband, who is clearly mostly sober, and pulls him along. Jeongguk sways without them there, but Hoseok gently grabs his arm to hold him up. “Gguk, text us when you’re home!”

And then the two of them leave, just straight up leave, even if Namjoon is trying to drag his feet and interrupt Seokjin’s schemes. He stumbles around enough in his hold that Jeongguk supposes it could be mistaken for drunk behavior instead of his usual clumsiness.

Jeongguk’s heart races, not in fear - he’s wrapped up in the alpha’s scent, even if he was correct in saying it wasn’t dowsed in it yet, but his vision softens enough that he knows he’s affected by it. Jeongguk still rationally knows he is able to defend himself if needed. No, it’s not fear that makes his heart race; he’s just suddenly so nervous he’s nauseous.

“Wow,” Hoseok whispers quietly, and it takes a moment, but then Jeongguk realizes that Hoseok is feeling up his arm under the jacket. “You, ugh, must work out.”

Jeongguk squeaks; it’s an actual squeak. Hoseok looks up at him, moving up and under so he can look Jeongguk in the eye. “You okay, honey? Long night, huh?” Because now Jeongguk trembles, just faintly, but enough that Hoseok must feel it. His body doesn’t feel like his own in this moment, and he’s so glad that none of his friends are around to witness the betrayal.

They’re all subject to their biological needs and whims, and Jeongguk has made peace with his own body and gender, but he’s heard all these romanticized stories about omegas reacting to their future mate without knowing it, without realizing it, as if true love could only exist between one omega and one alpha. It’s bullshit, Jeongguk knows it’s bullshit, but here he is, frozen to the spot and wondering if he’s going to survive the night with any dignity left.

“Jeongguk, right? Can you look at me, sweetheart?” A hand gently tips his head up, which is ridiculous. Jeongguk’s taller than this guy. When he meets Hoseok’s gaze, the alpha smiles so sweetly at him, and Jeongguk is sure if he doesn’t remove himself from the situation soon, he’s going to start leaking.

“Let’s get you home, yeah? You look ready to faint. Is it okay if I - ” Hoseok makes a gesture that Jeongguk doesn’t quite compute, then the alpha moves to his side to help support him but also force him to move from where he’s rooted himself. They slowly walk out of the alley, then Jeongguk forces himself to pick himself up and head off in the direction of his apartment. Hoseok stays by his side, brushing against him, but not quite as plastered against him so Jeongguk can breathe.

Jeongguk still doesn’t say anything to him. He chews his lips, wants to explain himself - he’s not normally like this, he isn’t this omega, etc. It’s not even believable now, even if it is the truth. Fortunately, he doesn’t live so far away, even by foot when you’re still shaking. Jeongguk pulls up short of his building and looks back down at his feet.

“This you?” Hoseok asks and Jeongguk nods. “Good. That’s good, honey. I want you to go inside now, and text your friend that you made it home. Then I want you to take a shower and put yourself to bed, alright?”

Hoseok quietly removes the jacket from Jeongguk’s shoulders, guiding him the last couple of steps up to the door with a hand on his lower back. If it were any other alpha, even Namjoon, Jeongguk would have taken said hand off.

“Stay safe, okay, Jeongguk?” Hoseok removes his hand, takes one step back, then with a small smile turns and starts his own trek home. Jeongguk whips his eyes up to watch the retreating figure.

“Wait!” It’s the first time he’s really addressed the alpha, stuttering earlier aside. Hoseok turns, a look of genuine surprise over his features. Jeongguk wants to get closer, wants to be as upfront as he is about anything else, but he stays huddled by the entrance when he softly says, “Thank you.”

Jesus. It slips out, because Jeongguk was raised to be polite, but what even? The guy did the bare minimum, right? He shouldn’t need to thank an alpha for not joining in on sexual harassment, but then Hoseok smiles at him and Jeongguk has to clutch the door to keep his knees from giving in and collapsing on the ground.

“You’re welcome, Jeongguk-ssi. Have a good night.” He bows his head and turns back on his way, all still smiling. His scent wafts through the air, cutting through any others still lingering in the space around them. Jeongguk is glad he’s leaving, doesn’t want the alpha’s eyes on him any longer, and yet he wants to throw himself at his feet so he never looks at any other omega again.

The feelings of nausea claw up his throat. Jeongguk stumbles through the entrance and up the stairwell, too anxious to wait on the shitty elevator. When he makes it to his unit, he opens the door and finds Taehyung perched on their kitchen sink with a mouth full of cereal, frozen at the front door violently hitting the wall as his roommate bursts in.

“Ughhhhh. Good night? Bad night?” he asks, nostrils visibly straining to pick through all of Jeongguk’s smells. When Jeongguk finally looks up at him, Taehyung flies over to him, hands on both cheeks and scents him aggressively. “My baby! What happened?”

What happened indeed. Jeongguk has no fucking idea.

Chapter Text

“Jung Hoseok is twenty-five, lives in Insadong, and teaches dance full time, with a part time barista gig on the side,” Seokjin says, sipping on the iced americano he brought into the restaurant, although he keeps the mimosa he ordered ready in his other hand.

“How do you know that? Already?” Jeongguk’s not awake enough for this. He rolled out of bed less than an hour ago when Namjoon called to tell him they’d pick him up for brunch. Jeongguk neglected to tell him that he’d forgotten the brunch plans, despite it happening now most weekends, a habit Seokjin picked up from his travels and forced his mate to adhere to.

Namjoon just sighs; Jeongguk wonders if Seokjin was up all night running down his resources to find everything possible out about the alpha. He would expect nothing else of Jin.

“I met the guy less than twelve hours ago, hyung. What the fuck?” Jeongguk complains, head aching despite the fact that he didn’t even drink as much as usual the night before. Might be his lack of water intake during the day; he’d fallen into bed with the thought of, shit. Not a single ounce of water was drunk this day.

“Did you think I was going to waste precious time when my baby finally woke up and realized he was an omega after all?” Seokjin tsks, switching to his mimosa. Namjoon just buries his face in his cup of coffee, procured from the restaurant they were actually dining at.

“I wonder how long he’s had those jobs. Unusual choices for an alpha,” Namjoon poses, and both of the table occupants turn to face him with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, alphas don’t usually last long in customer service jobs. They’re usually forced out, not because they can’t do the job well, but because - ”

“Bias goes both ways,” Seokjin and Jeongguk parrot. Yes, yes - poor alphas aren’t always trusted to work the commonplace jobs like baristas, their pheromones and posturing often seen as obtrusive in such places.

“I am a teacher after all,” Namjoon whispers in awe, really only to himself.

The empty chair next to Jeongguk that he relies to keep himself propped up with is suddenly yanked from under his elbow. He gasps and flounders, almost dropping into the lap of the new occupant.

“You’re thirty minutes late,” Jeongguk gripes as Jimin sits. He’s got huge sunglasses on and a headscarf wrapped all the way around his chin and hair; it’s dramatic and bold. The kind of thing Jeongguk could only ever dream of wearing with such confidence.

“I had things to do, JK.” Jimin snatches up Jeongguk’s drink, which is all as well given how shitty Jeongguk feels at the moment. Now that there are three omegas, young ones at that, sitting together at a table with one alpha, a few people glance their way, especially when Seokjin speaks. The volume is always impressive, but indoors in a quiet restaurant it can be deafening. And objectionable.

Jeongguk groans. “No. Please no.”

Jimin just smiles, “Yes! Jeonggukkie, do you know how lucky you are? When our dear sweet mother hyung messaged me last night about our invincible, don’t-need-no-alpha Jeongguk acting like a damsel in distress over a couple of runt alphas all because of another alpha wanting to play knight in shining armor, I would have dropped everything to make this happen.” Jimin pulls Jeongguk in by the collar of his shirt. “Everything, Jeon Jeongguk. However - you must be fated or some shit, because as luck would have it I know just the alpha in question. Can you believe?”

Jimin squeals, then Seokjin squeals. They sound like two omegas at least three times their age right now, and Jeongguk wishes the waitress hadn’t already taken their order so he could make a quick exit. “You’re going to get us kicked out of here,” Jeongguk complains. He can see his two omega friends silently communicating, eyes locked intensely and bold smiles on their lips.

“Yah, what do you think I have him for?” Seokjin asks, Namjoon frowning. He’s quick to pick up a piece of a scone and shove it into Namjoon’s mouth as a peace offering though. Jeongguk thinks of the night before, and how nervous his hyung looked around the other alphas. He snorts, thinking about Namjoon dealing with any confrontation.

“Anyway, I not only know your Hoseok-ssi,” Jimin says, smirking, “but I know him pretty well.”

Jeongguk bites down the urge to shout really? Seokjin squirms in his seat in happiness, chugging down the last of his coffee. “Where do you think I got that information from?” he asks.

“I dunno. The internet? Which blesses us all?” Jeongguk guesses.

“Nope. Just me. Your Jiminie!” Jimin claps his hands twice. “Okay, down to business now.” He removes his sunglasses with a flourish and whips his blonde hair out of the scarf, sliding it down to his neck.

“Ugh, I wish Tae were here to back me up,” Jeongguk moans. Stupid roommate and best friend getting a boyfriend.

“Game face, Jeongguk,” Jimin says, but he’s opening up a menu to search for his breakfast.

“My baby is all grown up!” Seokjin delights. “I really thought you might end up with us. The three of us would make it work, wouldn’t we, honey?”

“There is no right answer to that question,” Namjoon replies.

“You learned.”

Seokjin and Namjoon playfully nudge each other with smiles and feet, acting very much like a new pup couple in love, but this Jeongguk doesn’t think it’s gross anymore. He doesn’t even protest when Seokjin moves from his seat to his mate’s lap, insisting he’ll move back when the food comes. Jimin leans over into Jeongguk’s space while the other two make a lot of eyes at each other. Jeongguk worries for a moment that Seokjin might be going into heat soon, but there’s no way that even the most progressive alpha like Namjoon would have let his mate leave the house if he were.

“Hey, Gguk.” Jimin places a hand on his. “You like him, right? Seokjin isn’t just making stuff up? Because - Hoseok is a good alpha. A really great guy in general. We’ve moved in the same circles for years now, and I think he could be a really good match for you. If you want.”

For as much as their group thrives on the dynamic of bickering and joking, they all have their soft spots, and Jeongguk can feel the sincerity radiating off of Jimin in this moment. His knee jerk reaction is to deny any interest in dating anyone - it’s what he’s been doing for years.

“I don’t know, hyung. It happened so fast, when we met. It’s not like I got to know a single thing about him, but - ”

“But what, Gguk?”

“But, some part of me reacted to him. In a way that I’ve never before.” Jeongguk chews his lip, aware that Seokjin and Namjoon have quieted down and are listening again. “You know me. I’ve never backed down from alpha bullshit, but last night when Hoseok-ssi showed up, I just did. I didn’t mean to exactly, but now I can’t imagine seeing him again. Will I become a whimpering mess again? Someone I don’t recognize, or like? Or what if I am more myself, and he’s put off by the fake omega?”

“Hey!” Seokjin interjects. “How many times have I told you to knock it off with those names!”

“Seokjin’s right. Calling yourself a fake omega isn’t fair, Jeongguk.” Namjoon sighs. “I know what other people have said to you, but there’s nothing wrong with the omega you are. You’re perfect. Anyone would be lucky to call you pack.”

“We’re lucky to call you pack,” Seokjin insists.

Jimin squeezes his hand. “Ggukie, I know Hoseok, like I said before. He’s not your typical alpha, either. Trust me when I say he’d fit in with our group.”

“Yah! What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jimin giggles. “Well, none of us exactly fit the mold we were given, right? Look at your mate, Jinnie. Who do you think is going to be the primary caretaker of your pups, and which one of you is willing to negotiate the price of a car?”

Namjoon brushes some of Seokjin’s hair behind his ear, kissing the shell of it. He looks so soft, holding his husband dressed in all pink. “Out of all the alphas that courted you, you chose me.”

Seokjin starts to look a little flustered; it probably has more to do with the audience than anything else. A lot of spectators at other tables now, but hey. He started it.

When their food comes, Seokjin does not actually remove himself from Namjoon’s lap, and they share their mix of staggering towers of pancakes and Joon’s omelet between the two of them. The conversation has moved on, but it’s when they’re all finished and paying that Jimin leans over once more into Jeongguk’s personal space.

“Coffee?” he asks. “I know just the place, and those two got some beforehand without us.”

Jeongguk never says no to coffee - it’s his senior year now, and he’s gone the full gambit of having no taste for it to sugary sweet lattes to now anything and everything that might be caffeinated. So he says yes.

He should have known better. Jimin had told him, hadn’t he?

The cafe Jimin leads him to isn’t close - in fact, they pass so many other coffee spots, both familiar and unfamiliar, that Jeongguk is a little miffed by Jimin’s particular tastes that day. It’s cute, sure - when they walk in, it’s clearly new and meant to look trendy with the white walls, an accent blush pink pattern on some of them, and a whole host of plant life that Namjoon would love - but there are other cafes like it on their side of town.

Then they make it to the counter, and Jeongguk freezes. A deer in headlights. Or, maybe more aptly, like one of the rats by his dumpster when he takes out the trash.

“Uh.”

“Jung Hoseok!” Jimin greets his friend brightly. Hoseok stands on the other side of the counter, wearing a denim apron with pink straps. His hair is softer today, no product in it for clubbing. It fits the aesthetic of the place, especially with his sunny yellow sweatshirt under the apron.

“Park Jimin,” Hoseok says, a very obvious fondness detectable in his voice. Just how well did they know each other, Jeongguk wonders. “Been a bit.”

“Yes, but apparently we just missed each other last night! I heard all the details from my friend, who I think you met - Jeon Jeongguk.” Jimin physically has to drag him up to the counter beside him.

Hoseok - well, he smiles, would be the simple way to put it, but in reality it’s like every bit of cosmic light being directed right at Jeongguk and he stumbles standing still. He’s never seen someone smile like that before, let alone an alpha.

Namjoon would kill him if he heard that thought. Jeongguk breaks out in a cold sweat. Or maybe the sweat is because of the megawatt light bulb blinding him and cooking his insides all at once. He’s unsure. Whether it’s the look on his face or the way his scent fluctuates, Hoseok stops smiling to ask if he’s okay. He even reaches across the counter, as if to touch his arm, but he stops himself.

“Fine. I’m fine,” he squeaks.

“Our Jeonggukie can be a little shy at first,” Jimin coos, actually pinching his cheek. Jeongguk yanks himself out of his friend’s hold with a scowl, but Jimin just cackles.

Shy? Sure. That’s not a lie, but the word shy when applied to an omega is nothing but another coded word, and Jeongguk hates it. Doesn’t want Hoseok to think of him that way. Even if appearances might be deceiving right now.

“That’s alright. I don’t mind,” Hoseok replies. Jeongguk is too busy exchanging a lot of pointed looks with Jimin to remember what he must be referring to. Does Hoseok prefer his omegas quiet and shy? Probably. Don’t most alphas? What a stupid question. Jeongguk buries his ears up into his shoulders, hunched over in his hoodie. He thinks about Hoseok’s jacket from the night before - wonders if it still smells of him at all.

“Let me make something for you, Jeongguk? I like to guess customer’s orders,” he continues. Jimin claps in excitement, but makes sure to tell Hoseok he will accept nothing less than a nonfat extra hot vanilla latte, no guessing for him, thank you.

Hoseok waves them off when they try to pay, so Jeongguk silently creeps over to an empty table to wait. When Jimin sits across from him and delicately crosses his ankles, he smiles angelically at him and waits.

“Why? Just, why?”

“Ggukie, baby,” Jimin sighs. At first, it sounds fond. Then, he realizes, it sounds a little sad. “I - thought it would be fun to bring you here, but now. Seeing it myself.” He hesitates, flushing.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed it. It’s easy to get caught up scheming, especially with Seokjin - sorry, Gguk.”

Jeongguk stares out the window until a delicate knock at their table. It’s Hoseok, putting their drinks down. He’s put them in for-here mugs, so they can admire the latte art on top. There’s a simple drawing of a cat made from cocoa powder on Jimin’s, and on top of Jeongguk’s, a white heart poured through the foam.

Jeongguk’s face goes red. “What is it?”

Hoseok hums. “I prefer people try it before I tell. That way they don’t pre-judge it.”

Jimin laughs, shortly, before Jeongguk glares. Hoseok busies himself back to the counter where more patrons are streaming in, and Jimin sips loudly at his drink. Jeongguk hopes it scolds his tongue, the extra hot motherfucker.

“Did you hear that, JK? He prefers you try it before you pre-judge it.”

Jeongguk kicks him under the table, knocking the top bit of their drinks off. Jimin protests dramatically, pursing his lips and scooping the mug up to his chest. Jeongguk pulls his hood up over his head and waits for a moment before he dares sip.

It’s - light, for a latte. There’s flavor, but it’s not overly sweet like vanilla or caramel. It’s something else - floral. A light touch of it too. Jeongguk likes it. It’s not what he would have ordered, but it’s nice.

Jimin lets him silently recover, watching his friend slouched over in his seat. Jeongguk doesn’t know what to do - he wants to leave, he wants to be alone, but also wants to enjoy his Sunday with his friend. Wants to watch Hoseok, but feels like he has to keep his face hidden now.

“Hey.” Jimin gently touches his wrist. “Do you want me to go? I think - I think he’d like to talk to you, if you’re okay with it. He keeps looking over here. I won’t leave you alone with him if you’re uncomfortable, but - ”

“I’m fine, Jimin.” Jeongguk takes a deep breath and lowers the hood. “I do want to talk to him. But - what do I talk about?”

“Oh, honey.” Jimin reaches for Jeongguk’s fingers which are desperately tugging at his earlobe. It’s one of his tells, the longest standing one, probably. “Don’t worry about that. Hoseok is a talker, and he knows when the other person needs that. Just relax.”

Jeongguk lets Jimin squeeze both of his hands over the top of the table. He leans forward to whisper: “You only get to meet someone once. I know you met last night technically, but think of this as the first time. This could be the real deal, sweetie. I want you to remember this.”

Jimin touches his forehead to Jeongguk’s. He’s pushing out calming scents, barely detectable in the rich aroma of the cafe. “Thanks, Chimmie.”

“Go get him, tiger.” And with a flourish and a wave, Jimin pushes his sunglasses back up, elaborately fluffs out his scarf before tying it around his head, then blows a kiss to Hoseok on the way out the door. When the door swings shut and Jeongguk is officially alone, he risks looking over.

Hoseok smiles and waves at him.

Jeongguk busies himself drinking. He gets to watch Hoseok work - there’s only one other employee with him, and between the two of them they stay busy, but Jimin said that Hoseok might want to talk to him, so he pulls out his travel sized journal to doodle for a few minutes while he at least finishes the drink and bides his time.

The drink disappears, and Hoseok is still busy. Sighing, Jeongguk makes up his mind to leave. What even is he doing? He feels cold and unsettled, sitting there and waiting for the attention of an alpha. He can’t quite stand as tall as he normally would as he gets up because there are other pretty people in front of Hoseok, chatting him up so easily, including a confident omega with long curls and longer eyelashes. She tosses her hair over her shoulder, but as Jeongguk makes a break for the door, he hears Hoseok.

“Jeongguk, wait!”

Jeongguk freezes, but doesn’t turn around. After a long pause, footsteps. Hoseok comes around to face him, half smiles and half concerned looks. “You’re leaving? You have to tell me first - did you like it?”

… “The drink?”

Hoseok chuckles. It’s a low rumbling in his voice, and Jeongguk’s knees acknowledge that it’s close to what his growl would sound like. “Yes, the drink. It was lavender with just a smidge of matcha - in part because of your scent, but in part because I didn’t think you’d want anything too sweet. Was I right?”

“I liked it.” Jeongguk doesn’t look up, wishes he could tug his hoodie back up.

“Good.” Hoseok sucks his bottom lip in between his teeth for the briefest moment and Jeongguk thinks that he must bring out the awkward in everyone, even this lovely alpha who didn’t ask to be bombarded at his place of work.

He shifts back and forth, eyes focused on a spot right past Hoseok’s left hip. A gentle push under his chin and he looks up. “Always trying to get you to look at me,” Hoseok says quietly, but so publicly. Jeongguk can feel the inquisitive stares of others in the cafe, but when Hoseok smiles, he has to smile in return, because the alpha’s face is so close to his that all he can see is said smile, and all he can smell is espresso on Hoseok’s breath.

“You want me to look?”

“What do you think I was doing for the past hour?” Hoseok laughs. “I’m kind of glad you missed some of my theatrics.”

Jeongguk looks at the pretty omega that slides past them, drink now in hand. Hoseok hadn’t spared her a glance, and now she’s actually giving him a thumbs up behind the alpha’s back.

“I saw you leave last night.”

“What?”

“I saw you leave last night,” Hoseok repeats. “So I decided to leave too. I figured if the prettiest person in the room was already gone, there wasn’t much reason to stay.”

Oh. “That sounds like a line,” Jeongguk says.

Hoseok laughs, the loudest yet. It’s different from his speaking voice which is naturally deep and soothing. Authoritative, biology classes say. “Well, I guess it does. But - I put a heart in your drink! That counts for something, right?”

What, like a pre-courting intent to court? What? “It was a heart in my foam. Don’t you do that for everyone?”

“Certainly not, but I see you are not impressed. I’ll step it up.”

“So you meant to put a heart in my foam?”

Hoseok frowns. “Well, yes? I put it there.” He looks so confused by this conversation, but he can’t be anywhere near as confused as Jeongguk.

“No, I mean,” Jeongguk takes a deep breath in, looking at him then looking away. “It was supposed to mean something?”

“Obviously. I saw a gorgeous omega last night, and even if we didn’t meet under circumstances we would have chosen, I still got to talk to you, walk you home. Every instinct I had was to stay with you before, during, and after. I wanted to pretend to leave my jacket on you in hopes you’d find me. My mind went down this rabbit hole - I schemed up a whole fantasy that you would find me and you’d smell like me already because you were still wearing the jacket, and you wouldn’t take it off even then because I’d insist you keep it, and you agree.”

Wow. Is this - a public declaration? Of - infatuation? From an alpha? To Jeon Jeongguk? He looks out of the corner of his eyes to see if anyone is watching, if Seokjin and Jimin are going to pop out because this is all some fucked up prank.

But Hoseok looks earnest, and he isn’t looking away.

“What’s happening?” Jeongguk has to ask.

“Well, I know what I want to happen. I want to get to know you, and maybe you’ll wear my jacket again while we do it. But, what do you want, Jeongguk?”

Hoseok has been careful not to touch him more than necessary, but Jeongguk can tell he wants to. His fingers twitch at his sides where he lets them hang - it’s supposed to be a non-threatening and open stance, the omega knows. Even in this moment there is nothing about Hoseok that is physically intimidating to Jeongguk - emotionally, well. Another story, and his heart lets him know by not just doubling in time, but tapping out in a staccato rhythm. Every third beat feels heavier than the other two. His entire body trembles, still feeling cold from before.

“I made you something,” Jeongguk whispers, pulling out his notebook again. He opens it to the page and rips it out, thrusting it into Hoseok’s hand and crumpling it in the process. He winces, but Hoseok immediately smooths it out and looks down. “You drew me something, so I drew you something, except I don’t really know what you like, but flowers seem safe. Flowers are - ”

“Romantic?” Hoseok beams. Jeongguk wishes he had sunglasses. He swallows around a dry throat. “I love them! Look at this bouquet.”

It’s just a small rough sketch in black ink, but at the bottom of the page, crammed into the corner even though there’s nothing else drawn there, Jeongguk’s written his phone number. Hoseok spots it and traces his finger over it.

“I’ll text you,” he promises. “After work, because my coworker is probably about to kill me.”

Jeongguk nods, and even after all of the alpha’s assurance, the only thing he can think is it’s out of his hands now. He made the move. He just has to walk out the door and it’s all on Hoseok, but the alpha remains standing in front of him, watching eagerly.

“I’m so glad that Jimin dragged you here. You had no idea, did you?”

Jeongguk shakes his head.

“Well, I’m ecstatic. One step closer to my fantasy,” he teases, and Jeongguk is well aware that he’s close enough to smell how flustered he is, as if he couldn’t see the omega’s pink cheeks well enough.

“I’m not usually like this,” he says. “I know - I know that’s a line too, but - it’s true.” Jeongguk wishes he could say more, tell him about how he’s dealt with alphas all his life and doesn’t need one to defend him, about how he has plans to never date one, but he’s all tongue tied and the most omega part of his brain won’t let him say another damn word.

“Okay,” Hoseok nods, completely sincere. “Do you want to show me then? Show me what the real Jeon Jeongguk is like?”

Looking back, it’s not the megawatt smile or the soft wavy boyband hair or the amazing way he smells that makes Jeongguk agree, but the fact that not once does Hoseok refer to his status. In another alpha’s mouth, they would have asked to see his real omega, but not Hoseok.

He asked for Jeon Jeongguk.

Jeongguk’s just not sure who he is in relation to an alpha, not anymore. Not when faced with an actual relationship with one for the first time ever.

Shit.

Maybe he is that omega.

Chapter Text

Update: Jeongguk is 100% that omega.

After meeting with Hoseok at the cafe, he may or may not spend the rest of his Sunday watching a cheesy alpha/omega romcom show that Taehyung binged last year, absolutely gushing about it while Jeongguk scowled and refused to watch it at the time. Is he watching it now because it’s playful with its gender roles? Because maybe the alpha in it is soft spoken with a quick smile for anyone who needs it?

Maybe.

“Ohhhhh, I love this episode!” Taehyung coos, flinging himself on top of Jeongguk. He grunts when he gets a bony elbow in his gut, but he knows better than to remove his best friend from his body. Taehyung feeds off cuddles. Actually feeds off of it like a vampire, and Jeongguk has no idea where the cuddle meter for the day might be. He knows Taehyung spent part of his day with Yoongi, but depending on how long or what they were doing, Tae might not have gotten his fill, and a Kim Taehyung on a low cuddle meter could be scary upsetting.

Yoongi has come a long way in said cuddle department, but in the beginning of their relationship it was rocky, physical affection a must-have for Taehyung and not something the alpha was used to. Taehyung confided to Jeongguk that he knew it was time to move in with his alpha only after certain walls were broken down.

“Broken in, you mean,” Jeongguk had laughed. Taehyung has that magical ability to tear through boundaries in a way that makes the other person somehow glad for it. Jeongguk owes a lot to Tae - his friendships, his sanity, his GPA. It’s a physical ache in his whole body when he thinks about living without the other omega.

Now, Jeongguk wraps his arms around Taehyung’s waist and squeezes him closer. “You smell sweeter, Tae.”

He grunts. “Preheat. It’s your fault too. I think my cycle is still trying to catch yours.” Taehyung wiggles around until his head is exactly where he wants it on Jeongguk’s chest. He blows the hair out of his face to tune into the show.

This is a new thing - something Taehyung has learned from Yoongi. How to sit in silence and be content. Or, in this case, it’s not silence - there is a show on, but that never stopped Tae before. His breathing is even and comforting on top of Jeongguk, but even in this moment he can’t help but think about what his mother would say if she saw the two of them cuddling like this. Two omegas.

Taehyung lifts his head up, offering his neck, and Jeongguk takes to it immediately. He scents Tae to his heart’s desire, wondering how many more scentings they will have together before the other moves out. Taehyung is the only person that he has allowed to actively scent him as an adult; his parents doing it while he was a kid doesn’t count, he decided a long time ago. Usually, inactive scenting from sitting close to another friend is enough for Jeongguk, but without Taehyung, he’s not sure what he’ll do now. “I can smell your sadness, you know,” the omega says.

Jeongguk rolls his eyes, but his friend wouldn’t be able to see anyway. “It was supposed to be me and you. Just the two of us, no alphas.” Jeongguk can say this because he knows Taehyung understands that he’s not actually so upset that he isn’t also happy for him and Yoongi.

“It’ll always be me and you. Forever and ever,” Taehyung says so earnestly that even now Jeongguk believes him. “I won’t even be that far, Ggukie. I will never move far from you.”

“You can’t promise me that. Once you’re bonded, you’ll have a mate to think of first. You’ll defer to what he wants,” Jeongguk collapses against the couch cushions, trying to wiggle away. Yeah, he knows he has abandonment issues, thank you.

“Baby,” Taehyung sighs.

“Stop.”

“My baby!” he says again, grabbing Jeongguk by both cheeks and kissing him on the forehead. “You’re stuck with me. Yoongi gets it. Don’t worry. We’re not going anywhere.”

Jeongguk frees himself from the other, griping quietly under his breath that he’s hungry so he can disappear into the kitchen before he gets another joking offer to be the third in someone else’s relationship. The kitchen which is just on the other side of the couch - not far enough away to save him from Taehyung’s cheery voice that follows.

“Besides, rumour has it our baby might be interested in an alpha after all,” he teases, draping his arms over the back of the couch to watch Jeongguk pretend to look through their cabinets.

“Nope. Absolutely not. I had to endure this all morning from Jimin and Seokjin. Not you too.”

“But I’m your soulmate! You and me foreeeeever!” Taehyung sings, following Jeongguk’s retreating figure down the hallway.

“Bye.” Jeongguk closes his bedroom door in Tae’s laughing face. Of course, even alone in the safety of his room he’s not spared. When Jeongguk looks down at his phone he sees it - a new message from an unknown number, and there’s only one person it could be.

With reflexes that shock even him, Jeongguk slams his phone face down on his desk before he can read what it says, heart racing for no real discernable reason.

Suddenly, faced with the prospect of what would be the closest thing to a true interest, intent to court, traditionally date, or whatever other carefully coded phrase that was in vogue these days - Jeongguk doesn’t know what to do. He feels sick to his stomach again trying to work through all the feelings that are suffocating. Worry and fear, but excitement and elation too. A thick blanket of guilt laid over all of it - for how long has he protested that he wasn’t interested in alphas? How long has he made that part of his identity as an omega, and now he can’t just shrug it off like it was never there.

Well. It’s a question he can put off for at least a day longer.

Jeongguk doesn’t read the message that night.

Or any time during the course of the next week - but hey, he’s been busy, alright? Not only is he in his last semester of school with a full load of classes, but he’s also a part time model and actor for Taehyung and his upcoming exhibit, voluntary guest and star eater of Seokjin’s YouTube cooking channel, and interning for a post-production animation studio that’s barely in city limits.

It’s easy to let his day-to-day sweep him along; it’s so busy that he doesn’t need to ponder unnecessarily friendly inquiries from alphas. Well, just one alpha. Every other alpha that Jeongguk has come into contact with over the week has been an asshole. There was one in his senior lab who asked why the trash hadn’t been taken out or any of the desks cleaned while looking at Jeongguk, the sole omega in the room, and then there was an alpha who thought he was being nice because he assumed that Jeongguk the omega needed sugar for his coffee, as if only alphas can drink black coffee.

The small things that Seokjin would fondly tsk over and tell him that Jeongguk needs to let go of, but won’t. Ever. Seokjin is just spoiled by Namjoon, which Jeongguk reminds him every chance he gets.

All to say that a week goes by and maybe Jeongguk reads the text message but never responds and doesn’t add the contact to his phone. Not yet. There’s this small part of him that wants to save it, savor it, but the larger part of his forebrain thinking knows that’s not how it works. Alphas notoriously “date hunt” until they find someone who says yes, and Hoseok is kind and handsome, maybe has met another omega who doesn’t dodge completely normal and innocuous questions like how are you midweek after ignoring the original text where they said it was nice to see you again. You know. All very normal behavior.

This all leads up to the moment that Taehyung violently assaults him with a bouquet of flowers as he walks in their front door; for a short sinking moment, Jeongguk thinks they’re breaking up flowers because he’s been forced all week to watch cardboard boxes appear in their shared spaces, but then Taehyung squeals, “Ggukie! Look at them! Aren’t they beautiful? They came about an hour ago!”

So, they’re not from Tae to him, but Taehyung is thrusting them into his hands, so they’re still for him? Maybe? “Yoongi did a nice job picking them out, hyung.”

Taehyung laughs. “They’re for you, idiot.” He bites his lip while Jeongguk carefully takes them. There’s no card or anything else attached. The flowers themselves are a mix of textures and sizes, and they’re tied together in a simple paper wrap with white and blue twine.

“These are - ”

“I know, I know,” Taehyung bursts out, anxiously rocking from side to side. “I didn’t mean to touch your courting gift, but I didn’t realize at first. They were just sitting on our doorstep, but then I caught a whiff of the scent left behind in the hall, and I started to put it together, but once I had them in my hands I couldn’t put them down because I didn’t want you to come home and realize I’d touched them and think that I was trying to get away with it, but now his scent is all gone and I’m so sorry.”

“Tae, relax, it’s fine.” It’s not as if you can properly scent something like flowers, even if it would have pleased Jeongguk’s omega brain to catch a whiff of that citrusy scent again.

“Are they from that alpha? From last weekend?”

“Yeah. I think so.” Jeongguk doesn’t tell Taehyung that he knows they definitely are because he doesn’t really want to have to talk about Hoseok in general with his friend. “Also, it’s not a courting gift.”

Taehyung makes an affronted noise as he follows Jeongguk into the kitchen; they have a giant crystal drinking glass that they’ve used as a vase before, he just has to find it. If Taehyung hasn’t broken it and neglected to tell him, that is.

“What else would you call that?”

“Flowers, Tae. They’re just flowers - they don’t mean anything special. Courting gifts are - you know, supposed to be something personal.” He leaves out the part where these flowers look remarkably similar to the drawing he made the alpha, as if the sketch were a blueprint for the future.

“Do you think alphas just go around leaving bouquets on omega doorsteps all the time?”

“Yes.”

“Well - that may be true, I don’t know, but. But!”

“But what, Tae?”

Taehyung scowls, eyes glued to the motions of Jeongguk trimming the stems and placing them in the water of said acting vase that has survived his roommate’s often flippant lifestyle.

“I just. I just want you to try,” his friend says very softly, looking equally soft and unguarded in the moment, as if he might cry any second.

“Tae, hey, come on. What is it? Why do you need them to be a courting gift, hm? It was nice of him to leave the flowers. It was. It doesn’t mean it needs to be more than that.”

“I just,” he says again thickly. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

And they both suddenly take care to not look anywhere else but each other’s faces, because there are boxes on both sides of them. Boxes of Taehyung’s kitchen items - his kettles and teas - but also boxes of Taehyung’s art lining their hallway.

“Hey.” Jeongguk comes around to stand next to the other omega. He presses his forehead into his. “You and me forever, right?”

Taehyung quickly nods, this time not even asking but diving straight into Jeongguk’s neck and scent gland. Jeongguk waits to feel if any wetness appears, but Taehyung’s face stays dry, so he gently plays with his friend’s hair until he’s done, and when Jeongguk is done scenting him in return they leave the flowers behind to cuddle in Jeongguk’s bed, because Tae’s room is too bare to stand now.

It’s a convenient excuse not to message Hoseok that night either.

Two days later and Jeongguk opens their front door to a cup of coffee on their doorstep. When he takes off the lid, there’s another heart through the foam, and the sides are warm enough that it must be pretty hot yet.

He puts the lid back on and covers it with his hand to negate the sweet scent of the drink, craning his neck to sniff the halls. Today, the alpha’s scent carries extra notes of the sugary sweetness over the orange, maybe because he’s been at work at the cafe.

Or maybe because he was happy to come see an omega, except this was left the same way as the flowers, without a knock, clearly no intention of actually seeing him.

Jeongguk dials Jimin who ignores the call on the first attempt. On the second, Jimin picks up without saying anything.

“So?” Jeongguk nudges. “It was you, right? You gave him our address? Maybe told him what time I leave in the morning?”

Jeongguk takes a sip of the drink; it tastes of cinnamon. On the other end of the line, Jimin remains silent. Jeongguk sighs. “Jimin.”

“Sorry, trying to gauge your reaction before admitting anything,” he finally admits.

“Who else could it even be, hyung? You’re the only one who knows both of us.”

“How many items has he left you?”

“Just two.”

“Just two? In less than two weeks?” Jimin clucks his tongue. “Jeongguk-ah, I should have known you’d be the world’s most spoiled omega.”

“That would be Jin-hyung.” Jeongguk rolls his eyes, now happily on his way out of the building. If he really strains, he can follow the lingering scent of Hoseok down the stairwell. “It was just flowers and a coffee.”

“Just? What do you mean, just? An alpha handmade those items for you and personally delivered them himself. I know they’re not big items, but Gguk - he doesn’t know you yet. These were things he thought you’d like based on how little he knows, because you haven’t replied to any of his messages.”

“Oh. He told you that, huh.” Guilt stirs in the pit of his stomach, and he knows he deserves it.

“Uh, yeah, he did.” Jeongguk hears the stilted anger on Jimin’s end. He continues: “I know you’re naturally shy, Gguk. I told him that. But. I can tell you like him, but Hoseok is also my friend. I don’t want either of you to get hurt. So - just make up your mind, for my sake, yeah? Text him back. Either thank him for the gifts, or gently decline, before things go any further.”

“I’m sorry, hyung.”

Jimin sighs. “I know you haven’t really dated anyone before, but you can’t ignore him, honey. I’m just confused because I know you don’t actually want to ignore him. Are you nervous?”

Jeongguk wishes he had enough bite left to remind Jimin that he’s not seriously dated anyone either, but his friend certainly has a lot more experience in navigating unwanted courting gifts and declining all sorts of offers, but he feels too guilty to say anything.

“I don’t know what to say. To him.”

“Why don’t you start with thank you?”

“Chim. Are these - do you really think these are courting gifts?”

“What else would they be, honey?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes flowers are just flowers.”

Jimin chuckles. “Oh, honey.” He laughs some more, and Jeongguk blushes so much that when he arrives at his internship the hypochondriac manager there takes his temperature before he’s allowed to sit at his desk.

He finishes the drink and finds it hard to throw away the cup.

Jeongguk still doesn’t reply to any of Hoseok’s messages. Instead, he goes back to the cafe where he works hoping to catch him, which is stupid because he isn’t there of course. He knows Hoseok teaches dance somewhere - he bets it’s the same place that Jimin used to teach before he got recruited, but he doesn’t know for sure, and Jeongguk isn’t willing to ask Jimin right now lest he have to explain why he needs to know.

It already took a lot for Jeongguk to come to the cafe, and now standing outside of it with no alpha sighting to show for it, Jeongguk can’t help but feel like it should be raining. How dare the sun have the audacity to shine right now? He really doesn’t want to go home when he knows Taehyung is out and he’ll just have to look at all the empty boxes still to be packed, but he knows Jimin and Namjoon are working still and Seokjin will give him no peace if he sees Jeongguk in person.

So Jeongguk goes to see a movie by himself, miserable and alone in a room full of couples because it’s a horror movie and everyone needs someone to hold onto. It does not appease any of the feelings of unease in his stomach, and when he gets out of the theater and looks down at his phone, he still can’t bring himself to reply to anything.

The next day is his internship day - he spends all of his Friday’s in the production office doing all sorts of various tasks. Mostly, it’s running errands, but he does get to fill in layers and backgrounds with supervision sometimes. It’s a tiny animation company that is hired out by larger ones to finish segments mostly, hardly ever hired for projects from start to finish, but Jeongguk likes most of the people in the office because they’re mostly soft spoken and way nerdier than Jeongguk even. They keep two interns a semester from Jeongguk’s department, and the office is such a small staff that he’s certain that the chances of him getting any kind of job with them permanently post graduation are almost none, but Jeongguk daydreams of security in the known. Thinks about what it’d feel like to work there more days than not.

Hyunjin, the office manager, hovers around the desk that serves as the makeshift intern station, because Hyunjin is nothing if not quiet and apprehensive of starting any conversation - reminds Jeongguk of himself just a few years ago despite how much older the beta is. He wonders if that is the root of Hyunjin’s demeanor - betas are so few and far between in the population that they are both revered and abhorred. Jeongguk doesn’t want to compare himself to the plight of betas, but he’s felt a kinship with Hyunjin from day one this academic year despite how little they speak of personal matters.

“There’s an alpha here,” he says quietly, clearly nervous about it. “He’s been loitering for awhile? When I had security ask why he’s here, he said he was waiting for you? Should I tell him to leave?”

Jeongguk blanches; Hyunjin sees it happen and quickly turns on his heel to report back to security, no doubt to have the alpha shown to the door, but Jeongguk grabs his elbow. “No! It’s okay. It’s - fine. I know him. I’m just finishing up. I’ll - collect him and leave shortly.”

“Are you sure?”

Well, no. But what are the chances it’s another alpha out there, and if he doesn’t face this head on now, how long will Jeongguk let it drag out? “I’m sure.”

“I didn’t know you were seeing someone,” Hyunjin says quietly. Jeongguk immediately bristles - in part because any mention of dating draws up his defenses, but it’s also the closest to a boss he has, and it feels weird to hear it from his mouth.

“I’m not.”

“Ah. Well. Maybe you should tell him that?” And again - if it came from any alpha’s mouth, Jeongguk would be outraged and unable to bite his tongue, internship be damned, but coming from Hyunjin it sounds a little unsure.

Whereas he would have liked to drag his feet to give himself a few more minutes of avoidance, in an effort to escape Hyunjin’s scrutiny Jeongguk logs out of the project file he has open and shuffles out the door quickly, zipping his backpack up as he goes. The office is on the third floor, and anyone without a badge would have to wait in the ground floor entrance. Jeongguk opens the side stairwell door and glances out towards the front lobby.

He’s there. Jung Hoseok. Wearing his leather jacket and leaning against the wall with his phone in hand like he’s got all the time in the world to wait on Jeongguk. In the hand dangling at his side is a rather large stuffed bunny.

Jeongguk freezes, but with the door open it’s only a moment of time - his scent carries to the alpha who’s been primed to search for it by now. He can see the moment Hoseok realizes he’s there, his shoulders stiffen and he slowly drops the hand with the phone in it before he looks up.

They lock eyes from across the dingiest ground floor of any office building in Seoul, but that doesn’t dim the effect that Hoseok has on Jeongguk’s knees. His whole body trembles fiercely before he can lock his body still. It’s painful, trying to dampen his body’s natural reaction to Hoseok. It leaves him panting for breath, body aching. A dull thud in his temper - he’ll have a headache soon, he knows.

Hoseok must know that he’s not going to take the first step; the alpha comes up quietly to his side. “Jeongguk. Hi.” He smiles so sweetly from under his wavy hair. Wavier than it’s been the other times he’s seen him.

He looks good in his jacket and his baby blue sweater under. The textures of the two fabrics contrast nicely, and Jeongguk’s eyes are drawn to the alpha’s neck where a dainty silver necklace dips below the neckline. He doesn’t quite register Hoseok gingerly putting the stuffed animal in his hand until he realizes he’s stroking his thumb back and forth in the soft faux fur for comfort. Jeongguk’s always liked soft things - that’s why he has Tae, he supposes.

“You with me, sweetheart?” Hoseok asks quietly enough that the security guard behind the front desk won’t overhear. “You’re looking a little flushed. Feel okay?”

Hoseok takes a step back, probably to give Jeongguk a reprieve from his scent, but it makes a short laugh die in his throat, because all Jeongguk has been able to smell for the past week has been Hoseok even if it is all in his wishing thinking, and putting a foot of space in between them isn’t going to do a single thing for his last remaining sanity.

Without even thinking about it, Jeongguk hides his face into the bunny. He’s not even going to ask why Hoseok is giving it to him - everyone, even strangers on the street, tell him he looks like a bunny when he smiles. The stuffed animal is soft and tan with a little white tummy, and even though it does smell faintly of the alpha - “You didn’t scent it?” he asks, failing to keep the whine out of his voice. A stuffed animal is the first thing that Hoseok has gifted him that would retain a scent.

Hoseok jerks - hands coming up. To touch him? Appease him, maybe? Jeongguk’s voice isn’t far off from distressed omega pitch, as embarrassing as it is to realize. “Oh, honey. I didn’t know if you’d like that,” he says carefully. “But - I can do you one better for now, okay?”

And then Hoseok shrugs off the leather jacket - the same one that Jeongguk wore so briefly a couple of weeks ago when they met. It’s been properly broken in now - when Hoseok places it gingerly on his shoulders, Jeongguk sways into the doorframe where he hasn’t moved. It smells too good.

“This was all a ploy to get me to wear your jacket again, wasn’t it?”

Hoseok laughs, loud and unrestrained in a way that alphas are allowed to be, but it doesn’t grate on his nerves like it might from another. Jeongguk leans forward, stooped down a little so he can peer up at him.

“You caught me. It was in my dream,” Hoseok says. “Jeon Jeongguk, are you going to make all my dreams come true?”

“Again with the lines.” Jeongguk rolls his eyes, but his smile and almost lecherous scent give him away.

“I was hoping to take you to dinner. I wasn’t sure if you’d reply if I called, so I thought this way might be easier.”

And while he’s sure Hoseok doesn’t aim to make him feel like shit, feel like shit he does. Jeongguk cringes, hunkering down further in his posture. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you. I, uh. I don’t really have an excuse, but. I.”

Hoseok takes a half step closer. “Hey, it’s okay. I hope I didn’t come on too strong. Jimin encouraged me to go for it, said you’re really shy and take some time. He assured me that you’d tell me off if you really weren’t interested.”

Hoseok gives him a wicked grin then. “So is it true, sweetheart?”

“Is what true?” Jeongguk is hypnotized by the alpha’s smile, seemingly getting closer and closer.

“You like telling alphas what to do?”

It's a double entendre, Jeongguk thinks. Is pretty sure.

Wait - what?

His mouth is a little too dry and he’s forgotten what Hoseok said already. He rasps out, “What do you want me to do?”

Hoseok laughs, although it’s close to a giggle. “Well, you’re already wearing my jacket. Do you want to hold my hand? I promise to treat you to a tasty meal, and afterwards I’ll walk you home.”

Jeongguk hides behind the bunny again, letting his hair fall forward so zero percent of his face is visible. Takes a deep breath, which even around the bunny that was previously in Hoseok’s possession smells clearer than the thickening air around the two of them in the lobby. For the second time, a whine slips out, thinking about taking the bunny home where it’ll be lost to his own scent in no time.

“What is it, honey?”

Jeongguk peeks up over the top of the bunny’s ears. Hoseok smiles even harder, if it’s possible, and he’s pretty sure the alpha silently mouths the word cute. Directed towards him.

Okay. Okay, you can do this, Jeongguk.

Bringing himself to his full height, Jeongguk lets the bunny drop to his side. He takes Hoseok’s hand himself before the alpha can do it, threads their fingers together (stiffles down the full body shiver when he feels how much warmer Hoseok’s hand is - a reminder that he’s holding hands with an alpha), and pulls the other behind him. Jeongguk marches out the front door, Hoseok stumbling a little behind him, and the evening security guard doesn’t even bother to look away.

“Right. Dinner.” Jeongguk says, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and looking both ways down the street as if he’s never been here before in his life. “I should pick.”

Hoseok raises an eyebrow, smile never having left his face. Not for one moment.

“Because I have opinions on what I eat. Not because - not because any other reason. Uh.” Jeongguk stammers, trying to think of food. What are things he likes to eat? Suddenly he can’t name a single thing other than ramen, and he really doesn't want ramen because ramen is what he eats at home when he has nothing else to eat.

“Oh, yeah? What’s this sweetheart want, huh?” Hoseok prompts him after Jeongguk has spent a full minute mentally flailing. He must notice how hard it is for Jeongguk to string together a coherent sentence with him so close, so the alpha takes a step back, as far as he can with their hands still attached. Jeongguk realizes that the grin on his face is teasing now, even if the muscles in his face haven’t shifted. He’s starting to differentiate all of this alpha’s different smiles, and there are a lot.

“I. Uh. I like.” Jeongguk sucks in his bottom lip and bites it. Food, Jeongguk. Food. Think.

“What might you normally eat on a Friday night, honey?”

Jeongguk blinks. For every time Hoseok calls him a sweet name, he loses a brain cell. Pretty sure. “Not ramen.”

Hoseok laughs. “Okay. Not ramen. How about, hmmm? Fried chicken? Barbeque? Something nutritious for this hard working baby.”

Baby.

Baby?

That was new.

Wait.

What was he supposed to be doing?

Jeongguk finds himself nodding along to nothing. Whatever Hoseok wants is fine. Yeah. It’s good.

Updated update: Jeongguk is for sure 100% that omega.

Chapter Text

They end up at an American style pizza place not too far from Jeongguk’s internship, because neither his brain nor feet want to cooperate with him. When he spots the familiar neon sign, he pulls Hoseok through the front door with no warning, cutting off the alpha’s gentle but long monologue that’s clearly meant to lull his nerves.

The alpha isn’t bothered by being manhandled, his masculinity seemingly neither affronted or offended. He just asks if Jeongguk’s been here before, to which Jeongguk nods once curtly, then asks what kind of pizza he likes, to which the omega just nods some more. He’s so overwhelmed that when they sit down across from each other, menus in hand, that Jeongguk picks a spot at the corner of the table in front of Hoseok to stare at and lets his mind wander.

Hoseok is still talking, none of it registering, so eventually he stands and slowly moves to the booth side of the table, sliding in next to Jeonnguk. “Is this okay?” he asks. When Jeongguk still doesn’t reply, still staring at the same spot, Hoseok takes his hand and traces a finger up and down each and every digit, one at a time.

Jeongguk blinks. Some of the fog in his brain thins. When he looks over at Hoseok who softly watches him, he blinks some more.

“Hi.”

Jeongguk ducks his head. “Hi.”

“This still okay?” He clearly means the proximity, choosing to sit next to him when there are seats across from him.

“Yeah. It’s just, you know. Your scent.”

Hoseok looks a little pained, leaning back away from him, starting to stand. Jeongguk grabs him, silently asking him to stay, but Hoseok just says, “Maybe you shouldn’t wear that,” nodding towards his jacket on Jeongguk’s shoulders.

“No! I - I want to. Please sit.” Jeongguk chews his lip until Hoseok does, but the alpha keeps his distance as much as possible with his grip still on Hoseok’s sleeve. “I - would still like it if you scent this.”

Jeongguk lets go of him to fiddle with the stuffed rabbit in his lap. He can see the alpha shifting in his periphery, a hand slowly taking the toy from him. “You sure, honey? I don’t wanna put you into the wrong headspace if you’re, uh, unsure. Or not ready.”

Jeongguk wants to laugh, but instead his body just trembles thinking about how badly he needs it. “I think,” he gulps. “I think it’s too late. I already look for it. Everywhere.”

Hoseok takes Jeongguk by the chin to turn his face, looking over him. There is a certain point in flirting between subgenders at which alphas and omegas catch onto each other’s scents enough that things become tunnel visioned. Courting happens, if it isn’t already, and the pair’s hormones usually start to sink up, often culminating into a synced rut and heat to biologically encourage a bonding. For some people, the effects happen quickly, resulting in bonds that might be considered rushed; Jeongguk had a classmate the year prior who went through meeting someone, experiencing symptoms, and bonding all within two weeks, one of the more extreme cases he’s seen happen. These days, there are easily available drugs to slow down or completely stop the body’s reactions, but they aren’t pleasant to take, and any kind of harmless flirting is usually abandoned as soon as the members involved catch whiff of the effects setting in.

And Jeongguk’s never dated anyone - of course the first time an alpha shows real interest his body takes over. He’s not angry about it, but maybe still upset in different ways. No matter how much he’s come to terms with his omega, the persistent thoughts of how unfair things can be continue to nag at the back of his mind.

He wonders if it’s one sided, or if Hoseok lusts after his scent the same way already, because although rare, the attachment does sometimes form unevenly, and it would be Jeongguk’s luck. Heartsick, they call it, when someone’s imprinted while the other hasn’t. Usually if someone finds themselves slipping into that headspace, it’s a body’s way of telling them they’re a match. It’s supposed to mean the other person likes you back.

But Jeongguk is unsure.

“Jeon Jeongguk.”

He is startled at Hoseok’s use of his full name.

“I am honored,” he says, so earnestly. “And so happy.” His smiles are bright, his eyes are bright, the button down left undone by three buttons is bright.

“You’re - not mad? We don’t really know each other, and I don’t want to pressure you into anything -”

Hoseok slides closer, close enough that their thighs touch under the table, his hand wrapping all the way around the bunny and Jeongguk’s hand. “It’s supposed to be an instant connection, isn’t it? The way people talk about it, all the time. Primal, or whatever. Jeongguk, I knew right away that night I wanted to court you. I know it sounds stupid or even inappropriate given the circumstances, but I wasn’t going to let those alphas anywhere near you, because my alpha already knew.”

Jeongguk knows his face is so, so red. “Why are you always blindsiding me with the sweet words?” he mumbles to himself.

Hoseok laughs. “I don’t want to play games. I’m all in. I want to court you, date you, meet everyone important to you and show you off to my family. If you want me to send you home with everything in the world scented, I am most happy to, as long as we’re on the same page.”

“So.” Jeongguk blinks, mind racing. He thinks about all the things Hoseok has said to him in the past couple of weeks. “To summarize, you want me to keep wearing your jacket?”

Hoseok just laughs some more, sounding so happy that Jeongguk’s body relaxes automatically without any doing of his own. “Yes. I would really like it if you wore my jacket often, Gguk.”

“Right. That makes - things easier for me.” Jeongguk picks his menu back up to hide his face. Suddenly, he can read again. Chuckling, Hoseok moves his hand, fingertips lightly following the contour of Jeongguk’s ear. It’s both ticklish and sensual somehow - Jeongguk shivers. “What - what do you want to eat?”

Jeongguk makes it through a shared pizza with Hoseok, stifling a nauseous feeling when it arrives at their table. It’s savory aroma competes with the sweetness of Hoseok’s scent, and by the minute Jeongguk’s brain is being wired to crave only one. In extreme cases, imprinting affects appetite with either the alpha or omega losing focus on anything other than mating.

It’s going to be an issue. He hopes the other doesn’t mind the way he leans into his side, little by little, throughout the course of the meal. The alpha keeps up his good natured stories, seemingly not minding that their conversation continues to be mostly one sided. Jeongguk eats two slices, feels good, then lets himself be swept up in Hoseok’s charming voice, feels himself getting a little drowsy.

Until he feels Hoseok fidgeting, jostling him slightly. “What? Sorry.” Jeongguk yawns.

“You must be tired, baby,” Hoseok hums. Jeongguk flushes with the last of his energy, too tired to remove himself from the alpha’s side when normally he would scramble away. Here he can tuck himself up, here he can hide his face.

His nose isn’t far from Hoseok’s gland. It’s good. It’s drinking from the source. He could fall asleep right here, even with all of the others around him at the peak of dinner rush hour, but Hoseok keeps fidgeting.

“Hey, sweetheart, why don’t you eat a little more, hm?” he whispers, a hand briefly brushing Jeongguk’s hair back. He shivers, delighted at this kind of touch for the first time, and that does wake him up a little.

Jeongguk blinks, looking up at the alpha. There’s - something on his face. “Oh,” he breathes, sitting up straight. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” It’s stupid - of course Hoseok doesn’t want him hanging all over him yet.

Hoseok looks - something else now. Guilty, sad? He’s not laughing. Hoseok is usually laughing. “You didn’t! At all. It’s just - you didn’t eat much, and I know you’re tired. We should finish, and I’ll walk you home.”

But the fidgeting doesn’t stop. Hoseok’s hands flit in between reaching for the food on the table and his lap, back to the table then towards Jeongguk’s plate, never actually settling on anything.

“Oh.” Jeongguk freezes, smiling. He starts laughing, quietly, then more and more.

“Yah! Are you laughing at me?” Hoseok asks, chuckling as well. “Look, I may not be the alphiest-alpha, but there are some stereotypes that hold true for me, and - well, I would really like it if you ate more!”

Jeongguk’s shoulders shake with how much he’s laughing, and he knows that Hoseok is pleased by it because he can smell it coming through in his scent now. He’s not hungry anymore since nerves ate up most of his stomach, but Jeongguk reaches for another slice all the same. It’s instinct for alphas to fuss over how much their omegas eat, and he guesses it’s kinda sweet at the end of the day.

Especially if Hoseok thinks of him as his omega already. Especially if he’ll help him from slipping in too deep, too fast.

It’s almost comical how much Hoseok relaxes, shoulders dropping, as soon as Jeongguk takes another bite. Even if he’s not hungry, he’s not full either - Jeongguk finishes the last two pieces of pizza, Hoseok beaming the entire time.

After he pays for their food, which he insists is because he’s hyung, not the alpha, they quietly exit the restaurant. Hoseok silently holds up his hand, and Jeongguk, hiding his face in the freshly scented stuffed toy, takes it. At this point, Hoseok is well familiar with the route to the omega’s apartment, and if they take the scenic route there, no one says anything of it.

Hoseok asks a lot of things, a lot of Jeongguk’s favorites. It’s nice, because they all feel like questions for a first date. When he asks Jeongguk what his favorite movie is, Jeongguk just shrugs. “Oh come on. A film major can’t answer this question?” Hoseok teases him, squeezing his hand.

“Have too many,” Jeongguk replies, huddling into Hoseok’s jacket despite the evening being warm enough. He’s probably starting to sweat now - for a multitude of reasons.

“Why don’t you make a list of some, and we can watch them together?” the alpha suggests. “I don’t watch a lot any more. I used to, when I had roommates.”

“It’ll be a long list.” Jeongguk is already trying to tabulate a short ranking of some of his favorite works, wondering what Hoseok might like the most. He’s been told his taste is eclectic, and none of the friend group outside of Namjoon is willing to see anything with him when Jeongguk asks, all because one time Jeongguk promised a Swedish independent film that ended up being softcore fantasy troll romance porn. He didn’t know exactly what he’d signed up for, and by extension his friends.

One time and they’ll never let him pick the movie anymore.

“S’okay, sweetheart. We got all the time in the world.”

When they reach Jeongguk’s apartment, his heart picks up. Should he invite Hoseok upstairs? What would Hoseok expect of him if he did? Would he kiss him? The thing is - he wants Hoseok to kiss him, but he’s not ready for too much more than that. He needs - time. Time to settle into his scent, curled up with his newest gift. Time to settle his headspace.

Hoseok draws to a stop near the side entrance. It’s a gate near the front of the alleyway, enough that it’s out of the way of sidewalk pedestrians. Jeongguk feels so relieved that he doesn’t have to make a decision - Hoseok gently turns him and pushes Jeongguk’s back up against the wall.

“Thank you for having dinner with me,” he says, his face so close to Jeongguk’s. He knows that their scents are both going haywire now - mixing together for something sickenly sweet.

Jeongguk gulps. Waiting. He thinks Hoseok can see it - sees that he needs to be the one to make the next step. He has, every step of the way so far, hasn’t he? Jeongguk counts every lucky star that this is the alpha that he found, someone willing to both pursue but take their time doing it, who isn’t scared of an omega who’s never dated before and has a lot of hangups about dating an alpha.

Because, even if Jeongguk hasn’t dated before, he’s kissed others. More than a few, in fact, but those kisses were all about efficiency. At first, it was about sharing an experience with all of his friends and peers who were dating. Even without any interest, he was happy to make out with someone at a bar so he could talk about it with Jimin later, even if Jimin’s stories usually took a more sordid turn and left Jeongguk in the dust.

Now, he doesn’t want to kiss just to kiss, and he doesn’t want to push himself forward to start something that he doesn’t know how to start. He wants to be kissed, stands as still as possible to make Hoseok come to him. His heart races, his palms sweat, but the alpha doesn’t make him wait long.

“Is that it, alpha?”Jeongguk whispers.

Hoseok smiles, a single finger running down the side of Jeongguk’s cheek. “What is it, baby?”

“You’ll call me baby, you’ll formally declare your intent to court, but you’re not going to kiss me?”

“Just waiting for you to ask,” he says, already leaning in.

It’s gentle, but devastating.

As soon as Hoseok’s lips touch his, Jeongguk’s knees feel weak, his mind slipping dangerously foggy, the likes of which he has only felt coming out of his worst heats. Hoseok kisses him, but keeps a distance between their bodies. It’s respectful, Jeongguk knows, but it’s also terrible. Trembling, he lifts his hands, and although his eyes are closed, he hopes Hoseok sees them, understands what he’s asking.

Two hands on his hips jerk him forward, crushing Jeongguk’s chest to Hoseok. He giggles, unable to hide feelings of giddiness. He wants to purr, he wants to aggressively scent the other, he wants Hoseok to aggressively scent him, the two of them rolling their faces around in each other for hours to come, but he can’t let go of Hoseok’s lips, catching the bottom between his teeth to keep the alpha close to him.

The alpha also chuckles, a deep rumble in his chest that Jeongguk can feel. He lets go of Hoseok’s lip, licking it. The alpha stands very still the entire time, and when Jeongguk cracks an eye open, he almost doubletakes.

Hoseok’s cheeks are flushed, the top of his chest also red where it’s visible under the collar of his shirt. He’s breathing heavily, shallowly, as if to keep himself in check, the grip on Jeongguk’s hips tighter than when they started.

His eyes are black, completely blown out.

“I’ll say goodnight to you here.”

Finger by finger, Jeongguk can actually feel Hoseok relaxing his grip, letting his hips go. The alpha takes one step back, then another. Jeongguk watches transfixed as his chest visibly heaves.

I did that, he thinks to himself.

Fuck yeah.

“I’ll text you later okay, sweetheart?” Even Hoseok’s voice sounds off, strained.

“I’ll reply this time. Promise.”

Hoseok grins, looking slightly more familiar. The black eyes directed at him keep his knees weak; Jeongguk is a little worried about making it upstairs on his own. With one hand securely around the gate, he stands up straight.

“Wait, your jacket!” Jeongguk remembers before Hoseok gets any further from him. He shrugs it off and thrusts it at him.

“You can keep it for now if you’d like,” Hoseok offers, but Jeongguk shakes his head quickly.

“I wanna borrow it again, but. I’d like it to always have your scent on it, every time I put it on.” Jeongguk looks down at his feet, back to blushing like a school kid. Wow. The small amount of confidence he felt for a millisecond is already gone.

“Next time, then. Goodnight, Jeongguk.” A brush of fingers as the alpha takes his jacket back.

“Goodnight, Hoseok.”

The alpha stands and watches until Jeongguk is inside the gate and through the door. Once it’s closed, Jeongguk gets a whiff of other scents in the stairwell of the building, Hoseok’s already fading. He whines - loudly - but at least no one is around. All through his temples and the back of his skull, Jeongguk feels a headache coming, now bereft of his alpha’s scent after taking in so much of it in a short amount of time. The longest amount of time they’ve spent together, by far.

Jeongguk peels himself off the side of the stairwell and sluggishly climbs up the stairs on all fours. He barely stands upright to get to the front door, then collapses on the other side of it. He’s shaking, body pumping out what feels like adrenaline, but he’s smiling.

Oh, is he smiling.

“What the fuck.” A hoarse whisper hovering above him. When Jeongguk blinks and looks up, Yoongi stares back with a lot of concern.

“Hi, hyung.”

Jeongguk calms down after taking a shower and with a sobering look at his desk where all of his work for the weekend lies stacked neatly. He sighs, flopping into bed. His phone has been going off steadily for the past hour, but given that it’s almost midnight on a Friday night, he knows what waits for him is mostly selfies of Jimin from the bar and Seokjin pestering him about why he wouldn’t come out.

A soft knock at the open door and Taehyung pushes into the room before he can answer. “Did hyung leave?” Jeongguk asks, although the answer seems obvious as his friend clambers onto the bed with him.

“Yeah. Said it reeked of too much ‘alpha pheromone bullshit’ to stay the night,” Taehyung teases, but Jeongguk does notice that he’s not curled up in his arms like he’d otherwise be. He must still stink of Hoseok, even after his shower.

Although much needed, Jeongguk nearly cried, washing his body off after the date. He knows he still has Hoseok’s scent on him, knows he needs to clear his head a little, but it doesn’t appease every instinct he has, which is to make a nest and roll in it to transfer as much scent as possible.

He’s glad he squashed the instinct, for now. It’s weird to have his best friend keep as much as a foot of space in between them, the other omega barely in the bed with him. At one point of retelling his day, Tae actually stops to yank up the collar of his shirt and inhale deeply.

“Is it that bad?” Jeongguk asks.

Taehyung grimaces. “It’s strong. But - you know. Sometimes it’s stronger at the beginning; extra potent to ward off other suitors, or whatever.”

While he likes the thought of wearing Hoseok’s mark, it does create a small itch under his skin. There’s no way for Jeongguk to turn off the part of his brain that absolutely hated the idea of dating an alpha, and now there’s the added discomfort of his friend on top of that. “I’m sorry, Tae. I can take another shower -”

“JK, it’s okay. Really.” Taehyung rubs his thumb across the back of his hand, smiling. “I’m really happy for you, and I can’t wait to meet him. I can’t wait to go on double dates!”

Taehyung’s enthusiasm is infectious, and the two of them giggle, the other finally nudging closer to Jeongguk as they wiggle in bed. He finishes his story about work, which prompts Jeongguk to talk about how weird his manager was at the internship when Hoseok showed up.

“I’m a little worried,” Jeongguk finally confesses, biting at his lip.

“About what? Not what Hyunjin thinks, surely?”

“What? No. I mean - I’m a little worried about - I don’t know. All of it. Smelling too strongly of Hoseok - I don’t want to make you or anyone else uncomfortable, but I also don’t know how to stop it. I want to see him again, immediately, and if it’s left up to me I will roll in his scent.”

“That’s normal, baby.” Taehyung brushes the hair out of Jeongguk’s eyes where he’s hunched over the rabbit. “And it’s really okay.”

“But. I. I don’t know how to stop myself. He seems - to be in control, but I don’t want to, I don’t know. Lose myself in it, you know?” Jeongguk wants to be in control, needs to remember what’s going on. In the best case scenario, he wants to remember every moment of his courtship, but even in a worst case scenario, he wants to remember so he can avoid the next heartbreak.

“How did you keep yourself from all the effects of imprinting when you started dating Yoongi?”

Taehyung hums, flopping down on his back. Jeongguk can see it in his eyes, the way Tae chews through words in his head before saying, “I know we’ve kind of talked around it before, but you know that not every bond is like that, right, Ggukie?”

“Well, sure. I know every relationship is different. Makes sense. Bonds are different too.” Jeongguk fiddles with his own fingers, cheeks heating up again, even just around his best friend. He knows he’s inexperienced; a lot of his peers have given him shit for it over the years, but Taehyung has always been supportive of his lack of interest in dating.

Taehyung looks over at him and Jeongguk finds it difficult to look back. “You know that Yoongi has spent a couple of heats with me now, right?”

Jeongguk nods.

“He never knotted me,” Taehyung says, chewing his lip. “He’s never knotted me, ever. And I don’t know if we’ll ever do that.”

“Oh.”

Of course, Jeongguk knows Tae. Like, really knows him, better than he knows anyone else, so he’s well acquainted with the fact that his hyung either didn’t have the same kind of sex drive as their peers or that he at least wasn’t interested in being vocal about it. But, the other thing is - he’s seen hickeys on Taehyung’s neck. Caught him making out with Yoongi plenty. He’s always liked how quiet Taehyung is about his affections for others, including his sex life.

Taehyung just nods a little. “Yeah. Our bond will look really different from others, and when we met, there wasn’t that instant pull that everyone talks about. We never went through what you’re experiencing now. It was just - different. Soft, and easy, once we got to know each other, but there was no urge to scent mark each other. We were fine spending as little or as much time together.”

“That sounds - kinda nice, actually.”

Taehyung laughs. “It’ll get better, Ggukie. Or at least, that’s what they say.”

“So, is Yoongi also - ” Jeongguk cuts himself off. Maybe he shouldn’t ask? Tae is his best friend, but he’s also so private about his relationship. Is this why? He doesn’t want to talk about it, and is it because he thinks Jeongguk won’t understand? Surely he knows that he won’t ever think of him any differently.

“Yoongi and I are similar, yes. Not totally - it’s kind of like a sliding scale, and it can change with time. We’ve done some experimenting within our courtship, and I am sure we will explore in the future some more, but overall.” Taehyung shrugs. “The physical part is the least important part to us. And I can’t say I’ll never get knotted - it’s possible. I just don’t need it.”

“When you take his bite?” Jeongguk immediately asks, then waves his hand quickly. Here he thinks of himself as progressive omega, and he literally can’t imagine a bonding without a knot. Wow. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that!”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind, since it’s you.” Taehyung leans his forehead to Jeongguk’s, his nose wrinkling from the smells. “We’ve discussed it. Maybe.”

“So your heats are - ”

“A giant cuddle fest. And bitch fest. Mostly, it’s me complaining 24/7 and hyung hand feeding me.”

Their friends were always surprised to hear Taehyung casually mention a heat that he’d spend without Yoongi, because they’ve dated for years, and with that comes a lot of heats, but plenty of omegas go through it alone, and Tae is nothing if not independent, which is why, despite how long they’ve dated and courted, everyone is still waiting for them to formally announce a bond. None of them, not even Seokjin armed with his infamous pastries, can weasel out if or when it might happen.

“Tae.” Jeongguk scoffs. “That sounds like every day.”

They both laugh. “It’s true. There’s this part of me that almost feels bad, because sometimes it feels like my heats aren’t even as bad as others. I just don’t have the same urges, and in a pinch, I could cuddle with you or Jimin for a few days and be okay.”

“Is it still different, or better, with hyung? During your heat, I mean?”

Taehyung beams, and here Jeongguk can feel it. The radiating love and affection for his alpha. “Yeah,” he says dreamily. “It’s the best with hyung. Even if we’re not knotted, it feels different when he holds me. Everything another omega might get from a knot, I get from skin-to-skin contact with him.”

“I’m so glad you have him.” Jeongguk says, although he can’t help the mournful tone seeping back in now. Taehyung rolls on top of him, pulling up the comforter around their shoulders.

“I mean it when I say that I’ll always be here for you. My bond with Yoongi doesn’t break my bond with you.”

And how casually he says it; a lot of older people could scoff at the word bond being applied to two omegas, even in friendship, but Taehyung talks about it frequently, and no one, not ever even Yoongi, has given the two of them any kind of reaction. Taehyung came into his life and Jeongguk, a kid unsure of everything and everyone at the best of times, knew that this was his person. He’d never felt so secure about anything in his life.

It was the easiest decision in the world to choose Tae over his family; when his parents came to visit for parents’ weekend early in Jeongguk’s freshman year and met Taehyung, they waited. Bided their time. But before they left, his mother took him by the arm and squeezed, hissed out a warning about being too friendly with another omega and what people might assume about them.

At the time, Jeongguk thought that maybe Taehyung was into omegas; knew he wasn’t into him, but he didn’t correct his mother. Instead, he let the line of communication between him and his parents dry out. By the end of freshman year, Jeongguk knew he wouldn’t be hearing from them anymore, and instead of going home in the summer, helped Seokjin launch his online channel and waited tables part time while sleeping on Namjoon’s couch.

It was an almost disastrous situation given his still dwindling crush on the alpha, but Seokjin always put him at ease. Cooked all three of them breakfast every morning, dragging Jeongguk to the baths on his day off. Namjoon was the first, and for the longest time, only alpha Jeongguk could really look up to. In hindsight, his crush still makes total sense to him, and he gave Jeongguk the gift of Seokjin, who in many ways became a replacement parent and the omega Jeongguk secretly aspires to be.

“Uh.” Jeongguk fake gags. “Too many emotions today. I need a break.”

They playfully shove each other with their shoulders, still curled up together where Jeongguk knows Tae will fall asleep. He’s almost completely packed now - bed taken apart with just a pillow and blanket left on the mattress roll to crash on after work, even though at this point it’d be more comfortable for him to just start staying at Yoongi’s. For the last few days of this month, Jeongguk suspects that Taehyung will live out of his room with him. To avoid the sight of his empty room, to spend more time with the other omega.

“Do you want to nest?” Taehyung asks, eyes already looking heavier.

A sharp sting of tears in Jeongguk’s eyes. The pit of his stomach drops out. “If we nest, I will never take it apart.”

It wouldn’t be good; Jeongguk would find it hard to leave a nest that they made together once Taehyung no longer lives there, and inevitably a downward spiral would start. Something similar had once happened after they moved in together and Jeongguk felt a lot of stress over both fiances and an impending sense of loneliness over Namjoon and Seokjin bonding. Tae thought building a nest together would be good for Jeongguk, but instead he stopped going to class. Stopped eating and cleaning himself. It got bad enough that Taehyung also eventually withdrew into the nest with him, and Seokjin and Jimin had to stay with them for a week while they strategically and slowly broke apart the edges to break them out of their fugal state.

It was never a good thing to mess with a nest, and it had been a sore point between the four omegas for a short period after, but Jeongguk can see looking back how necessary it had been. If they hadn’t, both Jeongguk and Taehyung could have become sick enough to cause permanent damage.

Still, one of the worst things to come out of that situation, the thing that lingers still to this day, is how much Seokjin teases about Jeongguk being their third. Namjoon just sighs about it, and Jeongguk used to feel affronted, assuming it came from a place of pity. Seokjin must want to keep an eye on him and Jeongguk just wants to forget about how bad his anxiety can be.

He’s done a lot of work on himself since then.

“Do you think you’ll build a nest when you move in?” It would be commonplace, with an omega in a new space, especially since it’s a shared space for an omega and alpha. Sometimes gifts are exchanged, but sometimes a nest is made.

“I don’t know,” Taehyung says, sounding a little dreamy again. He sighs. “I actually - well. I’ve made several nests at Yoongi’s already. You know. For the heats and what not. I’m not sure how special it would feel.”

“A nest is always special.”

Taehyung looks up sharply from where he’s wiggled halfway down Jeongguk’s chest. He would never say anything aloud, but from the outside looking in, Jeongguk totally gets why his friendship with Tae looks a little strange, and he’d be the first to admit that it looks like he plays the part of alpha protector between them.

He can see it all through his mother’s disappointed eyes.

“I’ll miss nesting with you,” Taehyung whispers, now misty eyed, and Jeongguk wants to interject, wants to assure him that they can still nest together, but even just thinking about it feels like something chafing against his skin. When he thinks about nesting in the future, he can only think about what he’s going to put out that makes Hoseok’s scent the most prominent, and that would no longer be appropriate for Taehyung to partake in. It’d only serve to make Tae feel ill.

Suddenly, some aspects of Taehyung and Yoongi’s relationship do make more sense. Tae’s nested plenty in their shared apartment since getting with Yoongi, and he’s always invited Jeongguk in. While Yoongi’s scent might be present within the nest if Taehyung made it alone, it was never overpowering.

Now, Jeongguk thinks that it was Taehyung still displaying every bit of his independence and indifference to how things are supposed to be, and Jeongguk - well, he always thought he was like Tae in that he didn’t care much what others thought. Gave up his parents to prove it.

But now.

What he imagines with Hoseok is something closer to traditional than not. After unleaning so much baggage about alpha-omega relationships, he now has to learn to accept what he might want from one.

Still, his hopes for the future cannot be weighed down by the terpredations of the past right now. He holds Taehyung tighter, squeezes his eyes shut, and dreams.

Chapter Text

“Wait, so you’re dating Mr. Jung?” The little girl blinks up at Jeongguk with big eyes and a stereotypical pink tutu around her waist, despite the more casual garb of the other dancers in her class.

“Ah, well - ” Jeongguk isn’t going to deny it. Why bother? Even kids as young as these can smell Hoseok on him.

“They’re not dating, stupid, they’re courting,” a little boy interrupts. He’s the only boy in the class, and he looks one of the youngest to boot. Jeongguk wonders how much he wants to be there.

“Well, that’s - ”

“Yeonjun, your mother is here!” Hoseok bounces up to them from around the corner of the hallway. Jeongguk had been sitting in the hall waiting for Hoseok’s class to end, but a few of the kids were still waiting for their parents to arrive.

The little boy trots off, the girl following him as well out the front door. Hoseok holds up his finger to let Jeongguk know he’ll be another moment, then disappears out the door with them. “I think carpool duty might be the most exhausting part of teaching little kids,” he admits when he returns.

With a dashing smile, he doesn’t hesitate to take Jeongguk’s hand and kiss it before pulling him out of his chair. Jeongguk trips over his own feet a little, delighted and surprised with every intimate moment.

“I’m glad I got to see the end of this class. It’s different from watching you teach your adult class.” The dance studio Hoseok works at has an observation room that is more often than not empty, so Jeongguk doesn’t feel like too much of a creep when he slinks in to wait for the alpha. Over the past couple of weeks, they’ve spent increasingly more time together, but rather than spend tons of money out, they often just hang out at the studio where Jeongguk can work and Hoseok can practice.

It’s a safer option than hanging out at either of their apartments, now that they both live alone. Jeongguk can readily admit he hasn’t processed Taehyung officially moving out, so he spends as little time at home as possible. There’s just nothing there for him, it feels like. Even his bed - he’d rather just sleep at the library curled up in a dark corner. It’s why he carries a fleece blanket in his backpack now.

Speaking of which - maybe he can ask Hoseok to scent it for him.

“I love teaching kids,” Hoseok says, stretching his arms wide above his head and twisting at the waist. Jeongguk’s eyes go straight to the slim belly there, paler than the rest of Hoseok, and like - who could blame him?

“You only teach one kid's class, right?”

Hoseok nods. “Wish I could teach more. Most of the classes here are for school age kids, of course, but parents prefer omega teachers usually. It was risky enough for them to let me have one, and there were some parents who requested a transfer immediately.”

Jeongguk frowns, about to exclaim how unfair that is, especially since he’s seen firsthand how good Hoseok is with kids, but then - he also gets it, because he might have been that parent who side eyed the alpha dance instructor too. Although, he isn’t so biased he would have yanked a kid out over it either.

“I’m sorry, hyung.”

Hoseok shrugs, good natured about it like he seems to be about everything. “You wanna try my new routine again?” He grins at Jeongguk, already syncing up music on his phone.

“I think I’d rather watch you,” Jeongguk mumbles, ready to take a seat on the hard floor so he can have the best seat in the house. One of the things he most prides himself on is the ability to pick all sorts of things up, and having watched Hoseok dance a few times now, he’s memorized some of the footwork, shyly showing off to the alpha a bit the last time he was there.

Hoseok was delighted - now he wants to earnestly teach Jeongguk, but every time Hoseok stands close for too long, Jeongguk inevitably starts tripping over himself. Now, the alpha just winks cheerfully at him before slipping right into a dance he’s working on as a freelance consultant for a girl group that shall-not-be-named. It’s fun to watch Hoseok dance something like this - it’s more hip thrusts and whipping around his nonexistent long hair, whereas something he choreographs just for himself is all fancy footwork and an almost aggressive energy that feels so distinctly different from Hoseok any other time.

It’s - a lot. And Jeongguk is only human. He has to squash the urge to whimper sometimes when Hoseok really gets into it, making direct eye contact in the mirror with Jeongguk while his chest heaves and drops of sweat slide down his neck. Physical exertion makes scents stronger, of course, and even in a room like this that already has so many scents stuffed in it, Jeongguk might suffocate in Hoseok’s alone.

And if Jeongguk squirms around on the floor a little when he thinks Hoseok can’t see - well. He’s only human, and he’s come so far already in the past few weeks. Now, Jeongguk can look Hoseok in the eye for more than a mere second before hiding his face somewhere. Now, they can have a real adult conversation (most of the time) without Jeongguk hiding his face somewhere. Now, they can even heavily make-out until Hoseok rolls on top of him, and then he has to hide his face.

Progress.

And it’s not that Jeongguk is unaware he can be shy; everyone tells him he’s a shy boy all the time, but in his past attempts at romance he often had to take the more dominant role if he wanted anything to happen, and now he can allow himself to do what feels natural.

Which is apparently hide his face when things seem too good.

It’s hard to be in a room with Hoseok all by himself; it’s why he hasn’t invited Hoseok up to his apartment yet, always letting the alpha walk him home but never inviting him in. Jeongguk just doesn’t know what he’ll do if they’re alone together somewhere private (the alpha’s workplace does not count), and Jeongguk hasn’t figured out what he wants.

He wants Hoseok - that part is easy - but they’re getting closer to the territory that Jeongguk has decidedly very little experience in. He’s imagined sex with an alpha before - mostly during heat, yes - but it’s different now. Before, he could be dismissive about those feelings, and now Jeongguk feels like a newly presented teenager. Knot-crazy for the first time, and yet when he thinks about taking one, he freezes up.

Because as sunny as Hoseok is most of the time, when he wants to smulder, he fucking smulders. It’s obvious when he’s dancing just for Jeongguk, or when he’s just kissed Jeongguk for an indecently long time given their location on the street. Jeongguk watches the alpha look over his face and his lips that he knows are swollen, Hoseok’s nose flaring as he takes in the scent of slick because Jeongguk can’t help his body’s natural reaction and he’s always been quick to slick up.

Sometimes though, Jeongguk isn’t sure if the alpha knows what he’s doing - the pheromones he pumps out, the dark look on his face. Does he understand that when his eyes go black, it’s almost impossible for Jeongguk to stay on his feet? He wants to submit, wants to drop to his knees and bare his neck. It’s so hard - both of them occasionally slipping into that headspace of want, need, mate, breed. Jeongguk really isn’t here to push out that archaic bullshit - he’s on birth control for days, isn’t sure he ever wants kids, but fuck if his cunt doesn’t throb when he smells Hoseok on his skin and watches him gently lead a kid out to carpool.

All to say that Jeongguk’s the horniest he’s ever been and he’s not sure how long he has until his next heat catches up to him. They haven’t had the conversation yet about what they want to do when one of them hits their cycle; Jeongguk doesn’t want to talk about it, because he’s almost certain he knows what Hoseok will say about it.

And it’s not just sexual intimacy that Jeongguk craves; he just wants to touch the alpha all the damn time. Holding hands isn’t enough, sitting next to each other isn’t enough. Jeongguk just wants to push him down and crawl all over him, nose him, scent him, rub every spot on his body full of his marker.

To say he’s never felt this way before would be an understatement; such displays were something he viewed with disdain before, but now he feels immense guilt over judging others before him. It’s an itch, a burn, sometimes even a physical ache in his body; he wants to formally scent his boyfriend - his BOYFRIEND, can he believe? - but Jeongguk doesn’t know how to ask. Typically, an alpha will scent an omega first, and fuck gender stereotypes, but damn if Jeongguk doesn’t wish Hoseok would take the lead on this one.

Hoseok drops to a crouch in front of him in the middle of his routine, a concerned look on his face. “You okay, honey?”

Jeongguk’s let his scent go sour without realizing, and he’s never been an omega that’s great about controlling his scent. Everyone tells him he wears it on his sleeve without hiding, but the truth is he struggles to push out the warm and inviting smells that should be easy for him.

“I’m fine. Just, you know. Nervous for tonight.”

After much needling, mostly from Seokjin, but also an increasing amount from Taehyung, Jeongguk agreed to go out with the group to a new club and introduce them all formally to Hoseok. The plan is to grab dinner beforehand, and the two of them still have plenty of time before they need to meet up with the others, but Jeongguk knows he has to get his scent under control. He doesn’t want his friends to meet his boyfriend and assume he did something wrong because Jeongguk smells like agitation and worry.

Hoseok finally cups a hand over his cheek; even casual touches like this sometimes feel like they’re being dragged out of the alpha. What is it? He doesn’t want to touch him too much, but why? Jeongguk pouts.

Hoseok laughs. “It’ll be fine, baby. I’m already friends with Jimin, and your Seokjin and Namjoon basically thrust me at you, so it’s a little late for them to disapprove. It’s really your Taehyung I need to impress, right?”

Jeongguk brightens a little at the mention of his best friend. Tae’s going to love Hoseok, he just knows it. “And his soon-to-be mate, Yoongi.”

“Ah, jealous,” Hoseok says, winking. Jeongguk flushes; how he can say he’s jealous of them mating so casually while they’re still getting to know each other is shocking. Not because Jeongguk doubts Hoseok’s intentions, it’s just.

Alphas. They play the game up until the last second, or that’s what Jeongguk’s always thought. Namjoon wasn’t like that, but Namjoon fumbled his way through his courtship with Seokjin; his omega was usually the one calling the shots, and so many of the movies and TV shows Jeongguk’s watched were like that, so he doesn’t know. Alphas either don’t know what they want and need an omega to guide them there, often seen as nothing other than conniving for it, or alphas do know what they want but pretend not to care.

Hoseok isn’t either of those things. He knows what he wants, he’s not afraid to tell Jeongguk, and he’s also leading them along. For the most part. Other than their glacial pace for things like scenting.

Most couples scent right away. Literally, before the first official date often.

Jeongguk sours again.

“Hey, hey, it’ll be fine.” Hoseok cups both of his cheeks now, kissing Jeongguk’s forehead. Irritated, the omega pulls his lips down to his for a real kiss, then pushes Hoseok roughly back. Hoseok immediately retreats, but Jeongguk pushes him again, so he’s flat on his back on the hard studio floor.

Biting his lip, Jeongguk crawls over his body, sliding his hands up and along Hoseok’s arms until he threads his fingers through Hoseok’s. He leans down so they’re chest-to-chest. “Is this okay?” he asks.

Hoseok’s eyes are dilating - not quite fully black, but close to. He gulps, slow enough that Jeongguk watches it all the way down his throat. When he speaks, his voice is raspier, and his scent sharpens. “Anything you want is okay, darling.”

“I want - I want - ” Jeongguk’s entire body trembles suddenly, and hard - like he’s been standing outside in the winter without a coat for hours.

“Shit, Jeongguk.” Hoseok sits up immediately, arms wrapping around his back, one sliding to hold the hair at the back of his neck. It’s close to a scruff, but not. Jeongguk shivers in the middle of trembling, but he can feel the difference. “What’s wrong? Did I do something?”

Jeongguk shakes his head, falling forward on his chest, partly to hide his face (closest to where he wants it), but also just to be as close to him as possible. It shouldn’t be so hard to ask, but should he have to ask? Shouldn’t his alpha want to scent him?

“Baby, you’re upset. Can you tell me why?” And it’s amazing to see how his eyes are already back to normal, his face so serious when it’s usually so smiley. Jeongguk can absolutely feel how much he cares.

“Its - it’s stupid,” he says miserably. If he tucks his nose up just a smidge higher, he’ll be face full of Hoseok’s gland.

He shakes harder.

“It’s not stupid if you’re this upset over it.” Hoseok rubs his fingers back and forth across his neck, but it’s not enough. It feels like nothing - it’s not possessive or hard enough to be a scruff, and it’s not heated enough to be even a boyfriend’s touch.

“Hoseok, stop. Stop!”

The alpha immediately puts his hands up, and Jeongguk scrambles out of his lap to pace in front of him. The dance floor has a little give to it in places, enough that it cuts through some of his frazzled thoughts. It’s dark in the hallway, getting darker in the studio. They should be leaving to get ready for their night out, but Jeongguk’s entire body is ready to sink through the floor.

Hoseok remains frozen in the same spot, just his eyes tracking Jeongguk’s movements. “You wanna be my alpha right?” he asks.

“Jeongguk. I thought I made that very clear already. Yes, I want to be your alpha. I - I don’t say this to scare you or pressure you in any way, but I think of you as my omega in every way that matters already. I know we still have a lot of milestones to hit, but…”

“But - but you don’t act like it!” Jeongguk says, voice immediately dropping into a whine. He slaps his hands over his mouth to stop it, but once the whine starts, it’s hard to stop, and he’s still shaking so much.

Hoseok leaps up - an alpha’s reassurance is what would naturally stop omega whining, a distinct noise that’s meant to call in an alpha, but he still looks hesitant to touch. Jeongguk can’t stop it when it reaches a higher pitch - this is what he means. This is what he wishes they could avoid. Jeongguk just wants Hoseok to do something - anything!

Idly, in the back of his mind, the last two rational brain cells he has left know he’s being unfair. He essentially wants an alpha to act like a stereotypical alpha, and how fucked up is he now?

“Baby, hey, it’s okay. Just tell me what you need,” Hoseok says, voice level, even if Jeongguk can see the sweat breaking out where he’s resisting his instincts to hold, have, protect.

“I want you to act like my alpha! I want you to scent me!” he yells before he can stop himself. It’s like something has just taken over his body - his omega is pulling the strings. He clamps his lips shut with an audible click, eyes huge, waiting for Hoseok’s response.

Hoseok is very still again. They both are. Slowly, he gulps, and his eyes completely blacken. When he speaks, his voice has gone deep and raspy, halfway to a growl.

“You didn’t think I was going to let you go out tonight without it, did you?”

Jeongguk shivers.

“Baby, you were never going to step foot in a club without pumping me out of your pores.”

The omega moans, neck tilting back automatically and eyes slipping shut.

Hoseok chuckles. “Baby, you’re mine now, and people will know it.”

He starts slow, at the base of Jeongguk’s throat. Hoseok’s nose tickles at first, still lighthanded, then he comes in with his lips and salvia, not delicate at all about it. He laves it on, tongue working up and down over his throat and collarbones, slowly working his way up to Jeongguk’s gland. A gentle rubbing won’t do for a proper scenting - it has to be stimulated by teeth and salvia.

Having an alpha’s teeth anywhere near your gland is enough to make a heart race, but now Jeongguk is writhing on the floor, Hoseok pining both of his hands down. He pants, open mouthed, all traces of his last whine gone. His neck feels like it might snap off with how forcefully far he’s thrown it back, but he wants and needs Hoseok to cover every inch of his neck.

“Alpha,” he gasps. “Please. Please, give me a bite. I want - just a small bite, please!”

“Shhhhh.” Hoseok keeps working on him, but his teeth only ever graze. It’s hard enough to mix their scents properly, but not hard enough to break the skin. Mating bites are deep enough to scar, but puppy bites or sometimes more properly called courting bites, despite being seen as tacky, are only enough to last a few nights the same as hickeys. “No bites yet, honey.”

Jeongguk almost whines again, he does, but his omega is so properly scented at this point that he can’t. It feels - wonderful. Euphoric, a tidal wave sweeping him off his feet that changes into a gentle current to carry him along. His thinking is foggy again, as it often gets in the presence of his alpha, but this is the happiest he’s felt in said fog yet.

With a trembling, weak hand, Jeongguk grabs at the collar of his boyfriend’s shirt, licking his lips. “Your turn.”

Technically, once an alpha has properly scented an omega, the job is done for all intentions of marking, but omega instincts love to scent their alpha just as much. Jeongguk needs Hoseok’s help in sitting up, but once he’s in the dancer’s lap he dives into Hoseok’s gland, licking and sucking. When he rests the top of his teeth there, Hoseok’s sharp inhale warns him.

“Jeongguk.” His voice is the lowest it’s been yet. Jeongguk feels wet between his legs. “Baby. Be careful.”

Jeongguk retracts his teeth and creates a tight suction with his lips, a happy chuckle turning into a low purr. It startles him and Hoseok both, the alpha squeezing him tighter in his arms.

“What did I do to deserve a sweet thing like you?” Hoseok asks, a hand playing with his hair as Jeongguk refuses to let go. Eventually, Hoseok has to gently pry the omega off his neck with a wince. “There we go. There we go. We gotta get going, honey. Your friends will be waiting on us, and I still need to shower.”

“No! Please, don’t!” Jeongguk cries, scrambling to try and get back to Hoseok’s gland.

“Honey, you did a terrific job. Ten showers wouldn’t wash you off me completely.”

What an outrageous lie. Sure, a shower or two and Jeongguk’s scent would still be there, but it still won’t be as strong if he washes himself now. “Please, Hoseok, please. For me, just. You didn’t even sweat that much for your kid’s class, please. You smell good. You smell so good. Please.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Take a breath for me, okay?” Hoseok runs both of his thumbs over Jeongguk’s cheek. “There we go. Come back up, baby. You’re fine. It’s okay. I don’t have to have a shower, I guess.”

Jeongguk trembles and trembles. He might actually tremble apart, but Hoseok holds him in his lap, occasionally making a comforting sound. The light inside the room goes out, they’re sitting so still for so long. Jeongguk’s breathing slows, Hoseok patiently waiting. This time, when he grabs his neck, it is a proper scruff. Hard, close to a pinch.

“Jeongguk. Baby. Can you stand?” They slowly move to their feet, both a little unsteady and swaying into each other. “We should get going. Are you okay to leave?”

Jeongguk can’t feel his feet, but they make it out of the studio and onto the train to meet the group for dinner at an old favorite not far from the club they’ll be attending. It’s a quiet ride, Hoseok slipping his leather jacket - maybe theirs, if a jacket can be shared with joint custody - around Jeongguk’s shoulders with the AC pounding down their backs. An older couple shuffles away from them, giving Jeongguk pause about how heavy and out of hand their first scenting was.

When they get to the restaurant, everyone else is already there, more likely than not on purpose to gossip before Jeongguk arrives. He can hear his friends from the street, their voices raucous and exuberant as ever.

“Okay?” Hoseok asks him at the door.

Jeongguk grins. “I should be asking you that. Are you ready for this? They can be - a lot.” On cue, Jimin’s shrieking laugh just about rattles the windows near the entrance.

When Jeongguk and Hoseok reach the table, things go quiet. Like, almost silent, other than the quiet murmurs of other diners. Jimin’s back is to Jeongguk, and for some reason he’s the one he focuses on. He can see how rigid the other omega’s back is, his neck almost straining. Slowly, he turns to look at the arriving couple, and it’s not the look Jeongguk was expecting to see.

It’s open worry. Bewilderment. And it’s mirrored on the faces of the rest of Jeongguk’s friends. Taehyung’s mouth is open in an exaggerated o-shape. Next to him, Yoongi’s face is pinched, devoid of his scary blank expression, and Seokjin and Namjoon both look - almost pained?

“Hi!” Hoseok steps up, their fingers intertwined. “I’m Jung Hoseok. I already know Jimin quite well, but I look forward to getting to know the rest of you.”

He bows, and when he stands back up, no one has moved. Or breathed.

Namjoon is the first to remember his manners, because of course he is. He coughs, clearing his throat. Once, then twice, elbowing his mate who blinks like a glossy eyed dead fish. Jeongguk narrows his eyes at him.

“It’s so nice to more formally meet you, Hoseok-ssi. Please sit.” Namjoon pats the empty chair next to him. There’s only one. Hmphf.

Jeongguk ends up wedged between Jimin and Taehyung across from them. While Namjoon patiently asks the other alpha about himself, Jimin hisses at Jeongguk. “What the fuck, Gguk? You fucking reek!”

Jeongguk startles, leaning away from Jimin, which pushes him closer to Tae, who scrunches his nose up in displeasure. “We’re courting. We scented before we came here. What’s the big deal?”

Jimin’s face falls flat, scarily so, reminds Jeongguk of Yoongi for a minute. When he glances over at Taehyung, he’s frowning openly. “Gguk. Your eyes are blown out. So are his. It’s uncomfortable sitting next to you both.”

Jimin cuts Tae off, apparently being too gentle with Jeongguk, because all Jimin can whisper shout is: “It’s too much!”

Namjoon and Hoseok pause mid conversation to look over at them, but Jimin plasters on a fake grin. Namjoon quickly maneuvers Hoseok’s attention back to him, and Jimin grabs Jeongguk by the front of his shirt before thinking better of it and trying to aggressively wipe his hand off on the table cloth.

“Ggukie, you told me you were worried about hurtling headfirst into this, and seeing you now is…” Tae trails off, sharing a look with Jimin.

“It smells like he’s about to mount you right here on the table!” Jimin hisses, but at least he keeps his voice lower this time. Jeongguk flushes, shrinking into his seat and stifling a whine that is sure to bring Hoseok running.

“Hyung, stop.”

“I can smell your arousal, his arousal. We’re at dinner, eating right now. We’re not at the club yet, Gguk.”

Of course Jimin calls him out on it; Jeongguk loves his friends, he really does, but he was hoping that they would go easy on him since it’s the first time Hoseok’s been around. Jeongguk knows he’s stewing in scent - he’s taken to wearing his heat panties sometimes when with Hoseok because at least they absorb his slick, but of course Jimin is going to sniff it out and say something.

“We’re just worried, Jeonggukie.” Taehyung leans in closer, because he’s a brave soul, to give him one of his most reassuring smiles. “I’m excited to spend time with him. Let’s get you something to eat, yeah? Maybe some water.”

He puts his chilly hands over Jeongguk’s cheeks. Jeongguk feels like crying again because Tae is too nice.

The meal loosens everyone up. Jimin warms back up to Hoseok, telling the table some stories of the wilder antics of some of their fellow dance crew back in the day. Hoseok keeps a pleasant smile on his face the entire time, and Namjoon more than once continues to lean in and say something to him. Hoseok even manages to make Yoongi laugh about something.

It’s going okay, despite the awkward start, all to say, up until Taehyung turns to his best friend with a piece of chicken in his chopsticks and demands Jeongguk say ahhhh. Jeongguk doesn’t think anything of it, just accepts the food and chews it until a loud bang makes him nearly choke. When he looks across the table, Hoseok’s gripping it with white knuckles watching the two omegas.

Taehyung squeaks, shrinking away from Jeongguk into Yoongi’s side. Yoongi’s eyes narrow, but Hoseok hastily apologizes and diverts his gaze. His knuckles remain grasped around the table though.

And now Jeongguk feels warm again. What is his problem? He squirms in his seat, as do Taehyung and Seokjin when his scent sharpens.

“Gguk,” Jimin says lowly.

Yoong whistles, shaking his head. “It’s bad.”

Hoseok apologizes again. “Sorry. We’ve been together all day, and it’s, you know.”

“Instinct,” Namjoon says, one hand curled around Seokjin’s crossed knee. Seokjin, who has been decidedly quiet all evening. He’s watching everything happen at the table, his hair and makeup impeccable as ever, dressed to the nines and gorgeous, and yet everything about him looks wrong. Seokjin’s energy seems to be zapped from him, his eyes a little dull and slow to track the conversation.

The realization sobers Jeongguk quickly. How long has he been sitting here, not paying attention to anyone other than himself? He wants to rush to Seokjin’s side, wants to slide into his arms and chirp at him until he tells him what’s wrong, but Jimin pushes more food onto his plate and the conversation has moved on, this time forced by Yoongi who asks Hoseok something else about his freelance work.

When their group departs the restaurant, Jeongguk slides up to Seokjin and asks if something’s wrong.

“Nothing’s wrong, Ggukie.” A tired smile and a squeeze of his hand, then Seokjin moves away from him to walk under Namjoon’s arm.

When they’re in the club watching more and more bodies pack the dance floor throughout the evening, Jeongguk tries to corner Seokjin alone. He’s been especially attached to his alpha’s side all evening.

“Jin. Seokjin. Jinnie-hyung. What’s wrong?” Jeongguk pleads, tugging at his hyung’s sleeve like a child. “Is it - is it Hoseok?”

“Oh no, baby,” Seokjin coos, but it’s lackluster. It’s barely audible. “Your alpha seems lovely, dear.”

“But you haven’t said anything all evening.” Jeongguk anticipated his hyung to be the most insufferable, and here he hasn’t made a single comment about how he smells or the hickey on Hoseok’s neck.

“Jin hasn’t felt well all week,” Namjoon confirms later in the evening. They’ve secured a corner booth to dump their jackets and drinks in between groups coming and going to dance. Currently, Seokjin leans back in the booth with his eyes closed, Namjoon sitting with him but leaning over Jeongguk so he doesn’t need to shout. “He wanted to be here for you though. He is really excited to meet Hoseok.”

“Yah! Stop already!” Seokjin says, trying to put on a show for them. He barely stirs from his slumped position. “Go out there and dance with your alpha. Jimin’s waiting for you.”

Hoseok has expertly split time between playing the part of attentive boyfriend but also hanging back with Jeongguk’s friends to get to know them, coming back and forth to the table. Currently, he’s perched on the edge of the booth sipping a drink, one hand curled around the back of Jeongguk’s neck.

“You! Take him away! Make him have fun,” Seokjin waves frantically at Hoseok to get his attention. His voice is hoarse over the house music.

Hoseok gives him a sheepish grin, looking between the two omegas. Namjoon nods at them, leaning back and hauling Seokjin into his lap. While public displays of affection are very much the norm for Seokjin, the way he makes himself as small as possible in Namjoon’s neck hits Jeongguk wrong.

He refuses to leave the table until the married couple decides to leave. They say their goodbyes to Jeongguk and Hoseok and ask them to tell the rest of their group, then hastily make their way to the exit, Namjoon supporting Seokjin’s weight at this point.

“He’s not normally like that. I’m worried,” Jeongguk says to Hoseok. It’s fucking hard to have a conversation in a club, and he’s tired from trying to have one with Seokjin for the past hour.

“I know, baby, but Namjoon is going to take good care of him.” Hoseok pushes some of Jeongguk’s hair behind his ear. An omega close to them scrunches his nose up and moves away from them. “He’s just like you described. A wonderful alpha.”

“One of the best.” Jeongguk gives Hoseok a playful look, mood still dampened but he can’t help but feel so lucky to have Hoseok by his side all day.

“One of them, huh?” Hoseok teases, sliding his hands around Jeongguk from behind.

“GGUK! Hobi-hyung!” Jimin waves and jumps up and down from the dance floor, motioning at them to join. Behind Jimin, Jeongguk can barely make out Taehyung’s figure, bobbing along to the music.

“Shall we?” Hoseok asks. “Or do you want to head home too, baby?”

Jeongguk’s brain is scrambled with the highs and lows of the day; his first very thorough and official scenting from his official boyfriend already kind of did it, but even just the past couple of hours with his friends has left him both exhausted and confused. Still.

It’s a special day. Jeongguk should dance with his boyfriend.

“C’mon.” He pulls at Hoseok’s hand. “From the way our friends act, we’ll probably clear the floor.”

When they reach Jimin, Taehyung, and Yoongi, all three of them are dripping sweat, their own scents amplified enough that Jeongguk discretely dances all up on them for brief periods of time to dilute a little of Hoseok. It makes his insides churn uncomfortably, but the only thing he can smell coming off himself is still the alpha, so Hoseok says nothing if he notices the behavior, and Jeongguk finishes the rest of the night in his arms.

It’s a lot of bumping and grinding, less anything coordinated or graceful, and yet it feels so much less personal than the rest of the day they spent together. The high of rubbing himself all over Hoseok - this version of grinding on the dance floor cannot compare. Fatigue from nerves and a long day in general have Jeongguk leaning heavier and heavier into Hoseok’s arms, the time well past two in the morning now.

“Time to call it a night?” Yoongi shouts at the group at large, all loosely formed in a circle. Taehyung is trying to keep other club goers off Jeongguk’s back, which he feels so grateful for and yet can’t be bothered to lift his head from Hoseok’s shoulder. He feels Hoseok’s answer more than hears it.

“Yeah, I think it’s time.”

Jeongguk stumbles along the club, his feet not cooperating. Jimin asks Hoseok how much he had to drink. “A few, but nothing outrageous,” he says. “I think he’s just tired.”

“Yeah, it’s way past this baby’s bedtime. Ggukie doesn’t normally stay out this late,” Tae sings, softly patting Jeongguk’s head that he’s barely holding up. Taehyung glances up nervously at Hoseok, hand still poised in his hair, before quickly shifting behind Yoongi. Jeongguk feels so out of it he isn’t sure if Hoseok did anything to warrant the reaction or not.

Is this his omega adjusting to all the pheromones and the scenting? Is that why he’s so tired? He can barely keep his eyes open.

But maybe it’s just the woes of his last year of college. Who’s really to say?

“You’ll get him home?” Yoongi asks softly, in the delicate tone of voice usually reserved for Taehyung.

“Of course. Might need to carry him home, but we’ll be fine.” The hands around his waist grip him tighter, as if Hoseok is about to hoist him up into his arms right there and then, and well. Jeongguk isn’t opposed.

“Shit. Shit shit shit.” Jimin’s fractic voice is far away then closer. “Guys, I just checked my phone, and I have three missed calls from Joon.”

Jeongguk’s eyes fly open and he pushes himself up out of Hoseok’s arms. He feels cold all over suddenly, and he knows. He just knows without being told.

“They’re at the hospital. Seokjin’s been admitted.”

Chapter Text

Jeongguk doesn’t know what to do - he flits back and forth in between the kitchen to help Namjoon prepare meals and snacks, anything to keep his hands busy, then back to haunt the doorway of the office space where Seokjin has set up a new nest.

A mourning nest, Jimin called it softly, shared just between Taeyung and Jeongguk out of earshot of the alpha in the house. Jeongguk knows that Seokjin wouldn’t have wanted to taint long term any nest built in their bedroom with the stench of his sorrow, so the obvious place for him to nest was the second bedroom which functioned mostly as an office for Namjoon, somewhere out of the way of everyday living. It is compartmentalized neatly from the rest of a well loved and happy home.

The omega hasn’t really let anyone in; Namjoon, his mate, enters to leave him food and drinks and extra nesting materials, most often his own clothes off his back, freshly scented. Seokjin will take off whatever he’s wearing and pull on what Namjoon gives him silently, adding the previous item into the nest.

He looks so small in Namjoon’s clothing - the particular sweatshirt he’s wearing now hangs down low in the front, enough that Jeongguk realizes that he’s lost weight recently, and part of Jeongguk’s ugly hindbrain wonders if that was part of the reason why.

Jeongguk and Jimin hover in the doorway, glancing shyly at their hyung who hasn’t asked for them, but they’re there all the same. He’s let Jeongguk skirt around the nest, tolerated his questions, and Jimin can sit quietly in the far corner outside the reach of the farthest blanket, but Taehyung hasn’t made it past the doorway. Seokjin grits his teeth and rolls around agitated when Tae gets too close, and while he tries his best to hide it, Jeongguk sees how hurt his best friend is over it.

The omega hides outside on the balcony to disperse and hide all of his own distressed scent; Jeongguk follows him out to hug him tightly and wipe away some of the tears. Tries to assure Tae that it’s not him - it’s Seokjin’s instincts with so many omegas around at such a fraught time, even if he’s thinking in the back of his head it might have something to do with the fact that Taehyung has spent the least amount of time with Seokjin in the past year, busy with finishing school, starting a career, and settling down with his own alpha.

Taehyung leaves that night without saying goodbye to any of them. Jeongguk immediately texts him once he realizes he’s gone, and Tae replies once he’s home, but all he says is to let him know if they need anything. They, the group, not Seokjin.

Jimin and Jeongguk stay.

“He thinks it’s his fault,” Namjoon says quietly, sitting on the couch. Jimin curls up next to him, head on his shoulder, and Jeongguk creeps a little closer on the floor, resting a hand on the top of his foot. It’s unfair that Seokjin is alone right now, but he closed the door to the office an hour ago.

“Did he say that?”

“No. He didn’t need to say it. It was written all over his face, and even if it wasn’t - his scent.” Namjoon crumples, silent tears immediately dampening not only his face, but the collar of his shirt. Up until now, Jeongguk hadn’t seen him cry at all.

Jeongguk tucks his face into the crook of Namjoon’s knee and hugs his leg to his chest. Above him, Jimin pushes their hyung’s face to his chest, pumping out every calming scent he can. “How silly of him. He didn’t know. You didn’t know. How could you know? You weren’t trying.”

Namjoon sobs, the sound piercing the space around them like a gunshot. Jeongguk jumps.

Jimin pushes on. “He’s on birth control. It was the farthest thing from your minds. It’s okay, Joon. No one knew.”

All the unhappy smells in the apartment must be reeking through the building, but Seokjin still picks up on the spike in his mate’s. Down the hall, the door creaks open and a quiet, disoriented voice calls out, “Joon-ah?”

Namjoon leaps out of their holds and rushes down the hall. He closes the door behind him. Jimin sighs heavily, pushing his hair out of his face. “Should we leave?” he asks, hand slipping down to pet Jeongguk’s hair. A need to comfort someone still driving his instincts.

“I’m staying,” Jeongguk says. He’s staying until he gets to properly hug his hyung, no matter what.

“Yeah.” Jimin smiles sadly. “Seokjin would like that, I think. But - I need to go. I can’t - I can’t miss rehearsals, not when I’m the newest dancer.”

Jeongguk nods; Jimin’s so new to the group that his placement might seem precarious yet. “I’ll keep you updated, hyung.”

It’s quiet for a long time; Jimin and Taehyung gone, and Namjoon and Seokjin locked up in the office by themselves. Jeongguk orders dinner for them, cleans up the living room and tries to air it out a little. Orders some of Seokjin’s favorite bath bombs and chocolates so they’ll arrive sometime in the next few days. When Namjoon emerges later that night, he asks Jeongguk if Seokjin can have his shirt to add to the nest.

Jeongguk nearly incapacitates himself in his haste to strip. “How is he, hyung? Can I - can I try again?”

Namjoon looks in between him and the door, then nods. This time, when Jeongguk pokes his head in behind the alpha’s back as he crosses into the nest, he can tell that Seokjin is a little more lucid. The amount of material in the nest is borderline obscene - it must be all of their closets dumped out.

“Hyung?Jin-hyung?” Jeongguk whispers softly, tempering his own scent as much as possible. Namjoon’s pumping his out, enough to cover everything in the room. It makes Jeongguk’s stomach twist uncomfortably, but he won’t be deterred. “Can I come in?”

Seokjin shuffles around from under some items before humming. Jeongguk isn’t 100% sure it’s a yes, but he cautiously steps into the nest and when Namjoon doesn’t growl at all, must be correct. He slowly approaches, waiting for a signal from either of them to stay his distance.

He makes it to the lump that is Seokjin’s body under some blankets and shirts. “Hi hyung,” Jeongguk whispers. Seokjin lifts up a corner of a blanket, and Jeongguk sees his face for the first time in a day. It’s red and blotchy, staring somewhere at Jeongguk’s chest. He takes it as an invitation to crawl under the blanket with him, fitting his body to the older omega’s.

Seokjin seems to come out of it a little more while absentmindedly nuzzling at Jeongguk. It feels strange to get such a formal scenting from him, no matter how close Jeongguk feels to his hyung, the omega he admires the most. Their friends are all aware of his feelings on scenting, and this is definitely the most he’s ever received from Seokjin, but right now he’ll welcome it with nothing but open arms.

“Gguk. Ggukie,” Seokjin says, slurring a bit. He’s pretty far down in a headspace that Jeongguk would rather not think much about, makes him feel cold to the core in a way that he might never recover from. Tears prick his eyes, and Jeongguk squeezes Seokjin harder. He feels strange about being in the middle of this particular nest right now, but until the omega or alpha kicks him out, he’s staying.

“My baby,” Seokjin whispers, and then all three of them are definitely crying if they weren’t before, because it’s unclear if Seokjin refers to Jeongguk as his baby (which he does frequently), or the now lost unborn child Seokjin didn’t get to know or dream of holding.

He can hear Namjoon swallow a sob, but Seokjin just hums softly, cradling Jeongguk’s face to his.

They stay that way through the night, and in the morning Jeongguk feels disoriented in his body because of how strongly he smells of the other two, but in particular, Seokjin. Sure, they’ve formed a loose pack with each other, but they don’t wear each other’s marks. It’s irritating to his senses, to every inner omega instinct. It’s bad enough he thinks about calling Hoseok to see where he’s at, wonders if the alpha still smells like him.

“Hey, sorry, but I …” Jeongguk mumbles quietly after untangling from the other omega and Namjoon catches him slipping out the door.

“No, it’s fine, JK. You’ve done more than enough.”

“I’ll be back, but I can’t push off school anymore or I’ll really get behind.”

Namjoon just shakes his head, smiling. “It’s okay, Jeongguk. We’ll be okay.” And when he holds one of Jeongguk’s hands in between both of his own, he knows the alpha believes it. His scent smells a little clearer this morning, refreshed. Shyly, Jeongguk gives him a short kiss on the cheek before rushing out the door.

Once he’s outside their apartment building, it almost knocks him over, how clear the air is. People walking by him scrunch their noses up, trying to figure out the sour source. It upsets Jeongguk all day, even after he’s showered and gone to class, thinking about Seokjin in that dark room breathing in the same air over and over again, a never ending negative feedback loop.

He drops off candles in addition to dinner for them, but he doesn’t stay after knocking at their door. Instead, Jeongguk swallows down the unease and nausea he’s felt all day, splurging for a taxi to take him to Hoseok’s. He prays that the alpha is home, if not he’s going to collapse on his doorstep and pathetically press his nose into the door crack to try and get a whiff.

“Jeongguk?” Luckily, Hoseok is home. “Baby? What are you doing here?” he asks, even as he pulls the omega into his arms, kissing the top of his head. Jeongguk bursts into tears, because almost as soon as the door opens, his stomach unwraps itself for the first time in over twenty-four hours.

Once he starts crying, he can’t stop. Hoseok moves him to sit on the couch, fretting over him with a blanket and water, then some tea. When Jeongguk still hasn’t stopped crying, he sits, pulling the omega into his lap and guiding his head towards his scent gland. “There you go, pup. Big breath in for me, yeah?”

Jeongguk’s close to hyperventilating by that point, nauseous again not because of the cacophony of scents but because of the amount of sobbing he’s done in a fifteen minute period. Face tucked up into Hoseok’s neck, he latches on. Physically. With his teeth.

“Careful, pup,” Hoseok warns lowly, a hand gripping the back of Jeongguk’s neck, close to a scruff without the same amount of force. Jeongguk lets go with his teeth, but laves his tongue over the gland. Hoseok’s neck is wet from saliva and tears both. It’s messy and soothes something basic at Jeongguk’s core.

When Hoseok pulls the blanket up over Jeongguk’s head, he is completely captured by his scent and his scent only. Jeongguk goes slack, mouth still open and tongue hanging out on Hoseok’s gland. “There we go,” Hoseok encourages from above the blanket.

Later, after Hoseok watches Jeongguk drink all of the three beverages placed before him in their entirety, the alpha lets Jeongguk crawl out of his lap and explain how shitty he’s felt all day. Hoseok frowns. “When you leave, you’re wearing my jacket.”

They talk around it for a moment before Hoseok asks how Seokjin and Namjoon are doing. The alpha knows only the bare gist of the miscarriage.

“They’ll be okay, but - it’s bad. Right now. They’ve never talked much about kids before, only in the super generic if we have them some day sort of way, so it was kind of - shocking? I guess. To see Seokjin like that. But. But I also get it,” Jeongguk says quietly. How unfair of him to talk about it at all when Seokjin still mourns.

“I can’t imagine.” Hoseok shifts Jeongguk up higher on his chest, fiddling with his hair.

“I’m going back, I just had to - had to - ” he looks up at Hoseok, and the alpha immediately kisses him. Thoroughly.

“I can leave you a new scented item every day, baby,” he promises. “I’ll deliver them every morning.”

Jeongguk’s stomach flips. “We’re really doing this?” It feels strange to think or plan his own future right now in light of his friend’s misfortune.

Hoseok pushes some of his hair back behind his ear. “We’re really doing this,” he agrees. “Do you want me to escort you back to their place?”

Jeongguk shakes his head no, then nods yes. “Well, I need to make a stop first.”

Later, after Hoseok insisted on cooking Jeongguk something to eat - time he wasn’t planning to spend there, but he knows the alpha has emotional and instinctual needs that need to be met too - the omega feels silly and small standing on the doorstep of his best friend. His best friend’s new apartment, because he hasn’t been able to bring himself to visit it yet.

“Bun,” Hoseok growls, hold tightening on his elbow as they approach the doorway. “I don’t know -”

“Don’t know what?” Jeongguk asks, not slowing down because he’s got places to be and friends to comfort. He knocks at the front door, smothering down his own nerves at seeing Tae’s new place, because would it be nicer than their old apartment? Surely. Yoongi made decent money and Tae himself was starting to attract clients. “I just need to talk to Tae for a minute, then we can go.”

Jeongguk just needs to see his best friend, his fucking soulmate, for a moment to make sure he’s okay after leaving so quietly from Seokjin’s. Hoseok didn’t need to accompany him, but he was a good alpha. Such a good alpha. Jeongguk shivers thinking about it, happily scented and wrapped up in his jacket. He has to knock again, and when the door opens, it’s not Tae, but Yoongi who answers.

And the alpha straight up growls at Jeongguk, so fiercely that Jeongguk jumps back about five feet. His hair is messy, his eyes black and narrow. Baring his teeth at him, Yoongi hisses.

And then the scent hits him - different from everything else he’s smelled so far today, this is powerful and potent. It’s the smell of -

“Heat,” Jeongguk gasps. “Tae-ah went into heat.” He’d been so wrapped up in himself and Hoseok’s fresh scent that he didn’t notice it coming up to the door like he should have. He’s used to Tae’s scents too - all of them, including how sharp his heat scent is, but between the shock of Seokjin’s hospitalization and perceived rejection after, Taehyung’s body put him in heat. He was due soon, but naturally he’s seeking comfort and the reassurance of his place.

Hoseok crowds Jeongguk behind him and growls in response. “Jeongguk just wanted to check up on Taehyung. We didn’t know. We’ll be leaving now.”

The alphas continue to posture for another minute, Jeongguk yanking at Hoseok’s sleeve. Beyond him, he sees a wide open kitchen with a granite island, messy with a lot of Taehyung’s art supplies, but no sign of the omega.

“I’m really sorry!” Jeongguk squeaks, but when he tries to peek around Hoseok’s shoulder, the alpha maneuvers to stay in front of him so Yoongi can’t see him. “I’ll - come back in a few days!”

Jeongguk yanks Hoseok behind him. Wow. Yoongi and Tae may not go full on knot crazy during his heat, but jeez. Yoongi is just as territorial as any alpha he’s seen - more territorial than Namjoon, for sure. He’s gone nonverbal with it.

Jeongguk chuckles in the elevator; Hoseok bristles, still on edge. “Oh stop.” Jeongguk squeezes Hoseok’s hand. “You can cut him some slack when his mate’s in heat.”

Hoseok softens, but grabs Jeongguk’s face to look at his. “Not when it comes to you, bun.”

And doesn’t that make Jeongguk want to melt into the floor. He playfully tries to nip at Hoseok’s hands, feeling lighter than he has in days. “Hyung, I can take care of myself. And I don’t need to even, it’s just Yoongi-hyung.”

Before they get to their next destination, Jeongguk makes sure to text Tae so he’ll see it whenever he’s ready to see it. Hopefully, his friend will be in a better place post heat. If anyone can soothe him right now, it’s going to be his alpha, even if the thought makes him slightly bitter.

When they get to their next stop, Hoseok means to leave Jeongguk at the door; for someone to enter a bonded pair’s home at a time like this is an especially sensitive operation, and Hoseok being only acquainted with them wouldn’t be welcome. Or so they think - Namjoon surprises them both by inviting him in.

“We’re both feeling better today,” he assures them, pouring them all glasses of water and ushering them to sit. Jeongguk can tell he speaks the truth, if only for the slight diffusing of the oppressive scent.

“I’m just gonna - ” Jeongguk makes a vague motion as he scampers down the hall to the office. The door is open, the lights on. Inside, Seokjin sits up in the nest, reading a book quietly, and he smiles at Jeongguk when he enters. Actually smiles!

“Hyung!” Jeongguk wiggles in excitement, waiting at the outskirts of the nest to be polite. Seokjin laughs, waving him in, and then there’s an omega pile in a nest that’s decidedly less potent than it was when Jeongguk left.

They happily nuzzle each other, Jeongguk too relieved to second guess it, but when they part the sweetness in the air thins out. Seokjin looks worn down and sad still, even if he’s breathing through it. “What can I do?” Jeongguk asks him.

“Nothing. You’re perfect, just like this.” Seokjin kisses the top of his head, and Jeongguk knows he’s always been like his hyung’s little brother, to be babied and loved, but right now he feels it moreso. A replacement child to put affections on.

Jeongguk’s not sure if he’s helping or hindering.

“Alpha’s here, huh?” Seokjin asks quietly. He doesn’t seem to have enough energy to move about, can see it in the way he wants to hold onto the younger when Jeongguk tries to sit back up.

But, if Seokjin wants to play the distraction game, who is he to deny it? “Hoseok wanted to drop me off.”

Seokjin smiles, tight. “My baby. Has an alpha.” He taps at Jeongguk’s cheek. Outside, down the hall, they can hear the alphas talking quietly.

“I better go say hi,” Seokjin says, trying to stand. He can’t - wobbling on weak legs. Jeongguk immediately grabs him to hold him up.

“You wanna - you wanna leave the nest? Really?” Jeongguk doesn’t want to sound too excited. This could be a great thing, but it could also backfire into something horrible.

Seokjin just hums, as if the thought of it makes him so tired he can’t move at all. When he chirps, it startles both of them. His hyung looks at Jeongguk with wide eyes, but can’t help it when it happens a second time.

Both of the alphas come thundering down the hall, drawn by an omega chirping. Jeongguk is all but pushed out of the way so Namjoon can lift Seokjin into his arms, no doubt what his omega was asking for without Seokjin consciously wanting to ask.

Hoseok hovers outside the door, anxiety all over his face. Jeongguk goes to him, nudges his head up under his chin. “Alpha,” he purrs, settling out his own boyfriend’s frayed nerves. Even if it wasn’t him chirping, the sound would have irritated Hoseok’s need to be there too.

When they leave the office, Seokjin makes Namjoon pull the door shut, as if embarrassed by the nest inside. The one they’ve all seen. A heaviness settles over them all again, as if one step forward is now two steps back, but Seokjin remains outside of the nest in his alpha’s lap long enough to eat with the group. Jeongguk can tell Namjoon feels so much better after hand feeding him, and Hoseok hovers trying to smother his own urge to do the same. Jeongguk indulges him by sipping a drink out of his alpha’s hand.

Seokjin, as unusually quiet and sluggish as he is, clearly enjoys getting to see more of Hoseok. Sussing him out some more. Another parental instinct coming into play perhaps, this evaluation of a potential mate. Jeongguk can follow Seokjin’s gaze every time Hoseok moves to touch him, tracking every motion and emotion.

At some point, he either tires out too much or deems Hoseok worthy, because Seokjin suddenly drops all pretense of social obligation to curl into Namjoon’s neck and scent.

“I think that’s my cue,” Hoseok says, standing. Jeongguk has to squash down the dramatic idea of chirping at him to get him to stay, thinks about following the alpha back to his apartment, but knows his greatest need is to be where he is.

Jeongguk spends the night curled up in Seokjin’s arms in the nest, front to front, Namjoon curled up on Seokjin’s back. In the morning, he feels a little floaty from the extreme once more. He wonders if - wonders if Jimin or Taehyung would have ever been allowed to sleep in that nest with them like that, or if it’s just him, just Jeongguk.

Outside, waiting for him on their doorstep, is a bag with a thick scarf nestled inside. Hoseok’s scent clinging to it. Jeongguk makes sure to wrap it around his neck as many times as possible as soon as he leaves. It’s internship day for him, but when he arrives the people in his office are anything but pleased to see him, it feels.

It’s fine. It’s fine, Jeongguk tells himself. Just because he’s coming into what is basically a beta safe haven - seriously, what are the odds of so many betas working at one place? - reeking, it’s going to be fine. It’ll all settle out in a few days.

But a few days later and Taehyung’s heat breaks, so the two of them make plans to meet. Jeongguk asks him to come over to his (their) place so they can be as informal and relaxed as they want, but Taehyung insists on treating him to their favorite breakfast spot, and it becomes clear why he insisted on a public settling very quickly.

“Kim Taehyung! Kim Taehyung, you didn’t!” Jeongguk shouts, but it’s joyful. There, sitting high on Tae’s neck, is a mating bite.

“Shhhh, calm down,” Taehyung laughs, glancing around at some of the other patrons in the room. The bite is still fresh - red and purple around the edges.

“How dare you not tell me!” To be fair - everyone knew it could be any day.

“We didn’t exactly plan it for this heat,” Tae says. “But we agreed awhile ago that we didn’t want to orchestrate every detail, so it’s fine.”

“It’s good, Tae. It’s really good. Things have been - yeah. It’s good.” They hold each other’s hands and knock foreheads together.

“Still you and me forever though.”

And those words coming from the mouth of a freshly mated omega give Jeongguk all the joy and hope in the world. He squeezes his friend, ushering them to their table to sit. He wants to hear all the details, but also doesn’t. Doesn’t want to be intrusive on his friend’s relationship, but also thinking about them mating makes Jeongguk think of his own mating.

Because that’s a possibility now.

They go to Seokjin and Namjoon’s apartment after, and Jeongguk watches his best friend fiddle with the collar on his shirt. As they enter, everything smells more settled and subdued now. It smells like - healing, coping. Whatever label people want to put on it. There are many things that it is, but okay will never be one of them. It just - is what it is, Jeongguk guesses.

Seokjin isn’t in the nest when they arrive - he’s sitting out on their balcony with Jimin, the two of them sitting in the afternoon sun, heads tilted up sunbathing. When they slide the door open, it’s immediate - Seokjin’s squawking and Jimin’s squealing. Taehyung doesn’t have the chance to hide the mark.

The four omegas sit outside in the sun until it goes down, and it almost feels okay and normal again even if they all feel that the foundation beneath their feet has shifted and changed. Taehyung happily keeps the attention on him for the sake of his hyung, and Seokjin keeps extra close to him to soothe any wounded feelings. When Namjoon gets home from work, he happily takes orders for dinner and leaves the omega group to be.

“So, JK,” Jimin smiles wickedly at him. “When you gonna take that knot?”

Jeongguk startles, face immediately burning red. He glances at Taehyung to see if he looks bothered, but damn. His best friend just nods eagerly.

“I don’t - wanna talk about that,” Jeongguk finishes lamely. He’s game to be poked at a little in the name of making Jin-hyung feel better, but this is one thing he cannot talk about.

“You nervous, baby?” Seokjin immediately coos, pinching Jeongguk’s cheek. His voice still sounds a little dull, a little too soft, but it’s more lively than yesterday, and light years ahead of where they were a few days ago.

“No!” Jeongguk tugs fiercely at his ear. “... Also, how do you know that I haven’t already?”

All the omegas raise an eyebrow. “Is that a serious question?” Jimin asks.

Jeongguk whines, pulling Hoseok’s scarf up to cover his face. Seokjin laughs a real laugh, and it’s music to his ears.

“It’s nothing to be scared of, honey. Just take your time. Let him get you nice and worked up, and your body will do the rest,” Jimin says, as if Jeongguk wants to hear any of this. He whips around to look at Taehyung for backup, but his friend is nodding along while stuffing cookies in his cheeks.

“What?” he asks, shrugging. “Just because I don’t want one, doesn’t mean I want to be left out!”

“On second thought, maybe I don’t want to hear about my babies having sex,” Seokjin frowns, glancing into the hall as if Namjoon will appear to back him up. Namjoon is the one who basically gave Jeongguk the sex talk, because his parents weren’t ones to have serious conversations.

“I - we - uh.” Jeongguk pulls the scarf up so it covers his entire head, as dramatically as possible, but Taehyung just giggles and pulls it down. “Look, I just wanna wait. You know. For my heat.”

Now, it’s Taehyung who startles, and Jimin looks shocked. Seokjin puts a hand on Jimin’s knee as he leans forward to say something. “Baby,” Seokjin says slowly, commanding his attention. “If you’ve never taken a knot before, heat might not be the best time for it.”

“What do you mean? That’s what a heat is for!”

Seokjin nods. “Yes, but - you know how tunnel visioned you’ll get. You won’t be able to think straight, especially not when you spend it with an alpha, which you’ve never done before. Lines get blurred. Boundaries pushed. It’s best if you have at least a practice run before the real thing.”

Jeongguk frowns. “Hoseok won’t hurt me. And besides, I know what I want. I’m giving him my consent before it happens.”

“This isn’t the eighteenth century, Gguk! You’re not expected to stay pure until you share a heat with your intended,” Jimin interjects. “Don’t you want to be able to remember your first time? Forget all about the nonsense of heat sex - it’s great, sure, but sex outside of heat is just as wonderful if not more wonderful.”

“It’s really not a big deal.” Jeongguk fidgets with his sweater paws in his lap. “I’m on birth control. I have a heat patch for when it starts. We’ll fuck and then I’ll come out of it knowing we fucked, and then I won’t be so - you know. Awkward about it. The next time.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Seokjin gathers him in for a hug. “Do I need to get Joon to give you the virginity is a construct talk again?”

“You can’t recite it by now?” Taehyung asks.

Jimin rolls his eyes. “Stay focused,” he says. “JK, what you decide to do with Hoseok and when you decide to do it is your own business, but. Just remember what we said, yeah? You’re only given so many firsts.”

“You all like to encourage me to do my own thing my way, but when I try and tell you this is what I want, you act like it’s wrong.” Jeongguk feels himself becoming increasingly agitated, his scent spiking. “Just because it seems old fashioned to you doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it. It’s what I want. I know he’ll take good care of me, no matter how out of it I get.”

Taehyung is the first to smile at him encouragingly, because of course he is. Jeongguk likes to put up walls between him and everyone else at the first sign (or with no signs) of anything combative, but with Tae there’s never a wall. He’s just always on his side.

“Of course he will, sweetie,” Seokjin says, trying to lean into Jeongguk’s side again after he moved away. “He’s a good alpha, and we will be here for you too, no matter what you decide to do or not do.”

He shoots Jimin a look, so Jimin hastily nods along. “Yeah. Yeah, of course, Ggukie. I’m sorry if - if I sounded disappointed or something. It’s not that. I just. Want you to enjoy it.”

Jimin gulps, smiling tightly. In some ways, on the opposite side of the spectrum from Jeongguk; Jimin loves to date, loves getting to know all sorts of new people in all sorts of ways, but he’s never settled into a relationship. Heat sex is a different kind of intimacy, different from casually dating around. Of course Jimin would have very different feelings from Jeongguk about it.

“It’s okay.” Jeongguk stills wants to shrivel up and hide from this conversation, but the atmosphere is dissipating now, the topic getting away from them. If Jimin wants to say anything else about it, it dies out as Seokjin says:

“I’m going to take the nest apart.”

The three others share a glance between them. “Really? Already? There’s no rush,” Jimin says, reaching for Seokjin’s hand.

“I know. But - it’s time. I can feel it. It’s - grating. On my nerves.”

“Do you want help, hyung?” Taehyung asks shyly, fiddling with one of his dangly earrings and looking nowhere in particular, afraid to hear that it might not be him that Seokjin wants help from.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think I need it.”

The omeges start at the outside of the nest and take it apart piece by piece. Jimin, Taehyung, and Jeongguk all know to wait until Seokjin starts. His hands shake as he pulls out a plushie given to him by Namjoon early on in their courting. A gift for an omega, but suitable for a young child.

Taehyung takes it from him silently when Seokjin sits there, dazed with it in his lap, for too long. They nudge their hyung along, eventually plucking items out themselves once Seokjin seems to be in a rhythm. They neatly fold and stack the pillows and blankets, make piles for laundry out of the clothing. Miscellaneous items like plushies or empty water bottles get sorted into their own spaces.

When they’re done, an hour has gone by and the room is clear of everything. It looks like - like any other office. A large desk with a computer monitor and a stack of folders on the corner. Bookshelves filled with textbooks and a half dozen coasters littered through the room for mugs.

Seokjin lingers in the doorway, taking in the room, righted to what it was before.

He closes the door.

Without another word, he trails into the master bedroom. Namjoon gives the group a smile and nod as a last acknowledgement, then he enters the bedroom and closes that door too.

“Time to head out,” Jimin says, ushering the younger two towards their shoes. “This time, I think they need their space. Just the two of them for a while.”

They all nod. Outside in the cooler night air, the three of them share a look, packed full of heaviness. Feelings of guilt, remorse, and sorrow. “I love you both,” Jimin says, grabbing a hold of them. “Sorry for - sorry.”

Jeongguk grabs the dancer in his arms and squeezes him briefly. Tae crowds in behind them and hugs them both. “Let’s make plans to get Jin-hyung out of the house soon,” Jeongguk says. “Not like - immediately. Maybe next weekend?”

Jimin nods. Taehyung beams and waves his hands excitedly. “Let’s get the whole group together for a picnic! Or we could go to the fair over by Naksan Park.”

They smile and lean into each other for a moment longer, then break away to drift into separate corners of the city. It’s so strange, to watch Taehyung walk home in the opposite direction from him, but Jeongguk knows he has an alpha at home, probably cagey and agitated at being apart from his newly mated omega. It makes him feel good about it in a way he didn’t think he could, knowing that Tae is settled into that bond, and he’s done it on his own terms, whatever they may be.

It’s just that - he realizes he’s next.

Chapter Text

After the events of that week, Jeongguk finds himself restless. He takes apart the apartment, donating or tossing a fair amount of belongings. He finds things Taehyung left behind - likely on purpose - and feels a little sick when he realizes that there is a deep urge to toss even those items, but the itch to streamline things is too strong. If it’s not absolutely necessary, get rid of it, his omega instincts reasons. Anything inside the place should smell like him or Hoseok, should function for him or the alpha only.

Once he’s got things in a rough arrangement that soothes his itch, he meticulously cleans from top to bottom. It’s not just a day long activity, it’s a days long activity; Jeongguk starts on a Wednesday afternoon after class is over, and he’s not satisfied until the following Thursday, but once he’s done he immediately feels so much better. Lighter. Like there really is a future out there for him.

He applies for graduation that week too; gets the notification that everything went through and his credits all align. If the apartment hadn’t been settled by then, Jeongguk would have been a mess, but as is, he’s happy to let Hoseok spend time in it for the first time.

Inspecting his home.

The alpha looks at everything. It’s not with judgement or any kind of even appreciative eye; it’s an alpha thing to make sure that an omega’s surroundings are fit for said omega. Hoseok unplugs Jeongguk’s tea kettle when he thinks the other isn’t looking. He smooths down an area of flooring that’s peeling. In the bathroom, Jeongguk can hear Hoseok fiddling with the tiny bathroom window, as if someone could fit through it to come in and get him.

When he’s done, his pupils are a little blown out; Jeongguk wants to sit in his lap and make them completely black. “Hyung?”

“It’s nice, Ggukie. A really nice place.” He kisses Jeongguk in the kitchen, a safe, neutral place to be. “Nice and big.”

Jeongguk gulps. “Yeah. Tae-ah paid his half of the rent through the end of the lease, so I don’t have to worry about finding a new roommate yet.”

Hoseok growls, a low thing in the back of his throat. He shakes his head, trying to stop himself, but can’t. It’s sometimes funny to see an alpha fight their instincts like that. Jeongguk smiles.

“Don’t worry, alpha. I’ll room with another omega when it’s time.”

Hoseok fidgets, looking down at their joined hands. He traces each and every finger of Jeongguk’s with his index finger. “When’s the end of your lease?”

“Three more months.”

“Ah.”

“Ah, what?”

Hoseok winces, looking guilty. “We’ll still be courting probably in three months.”

And Jeongguk smiles into Hoseok’s neck, reaching for his gland with his nose happily. Hoseok wants to mate him. Hoseok wants to live with him, clearly, but doesn’t want to rush things. Three months - that does feel too soon to think about moving in together, because Jeongguk knows he wants the bite before that, and while they’ve technically been courting for a couple of months now, mating by the six month mark does feel soon, even if it’s not the fastest.

“Hyung.” Jeongguk licks his gland. Hoseok jolts in his arms. He can’t see them, but he knows the alpha’s eyes will be black soon. “Hyung, I’ll be in heat soon.”

Hoseok’s next jolt is full bodied, rippled with a deep growl that this time he doesn't try to squash. Jeongguk leans back to take a peak - yep. His eyes are definitely black.

“When? Your scent hasn’t changed yet.”

“Soon - pre-heat is really soon.” Jeongguk bares his neck for his alpha to scent him in return. It’s harder than usual. Aggressive. Hoseok isn’t being as careful or holding himself back when his intended omega is about to be in pre-heat. He’ll drown him in his own scent to ward off other potential alphas.

“Do you need anything? Anything for school? Do you need to see your doctor?” Hoseok moves from Jeongguk’s gland downwards.

“You. I just need you,” he whispers. Hoseok stands, looking at him.

“You want to spend this one together?”

Jeongguk nods.

“Already?”

Jeongguk nods.

“You’re sure?”

“You said you’re all in, right?”

“Of course. I just - we can wait. There will be loads of other heats, sweetheart.”

Jeongguk shakes his head. “I’m ready. But I wanted to tell you. Ask you formally. Hyung, spend my heat with me?”

Hoseok smiles. It’s one of his patented smiles. He rocks them back and forth in his arms. “Of course, baby. I’ll take such good care of you.”

He spins Jeongguk in his arms and pulls his back to his front, nuzzling in happily. He’s sinking into that alpha headspace, Jeongguk can tell, so he winds his fingers through Hoseok’s hair and enjoys the intimacy of this moment. Feels the excitement for the heat to come. While Jeongguk’s never dreaded heat the way so many omegas do, he didn’t exactly look forward to them either. Now, he can.

“Hyung, I’ve never shared a heat with someone before,” he admits. Hoseok’s answering growl shakes him. “You’ll - be gentle, right?”

“Of course, baby. Anything you need. Anything you want.”

Jeongguk almost wants to laugh; although he doesn’t doubt the sincerity of these words, they ring a little hollow because Hoseok is deep in it now. It’s an alpha saying the words they need to say to soothe their omega, not Hoseok promising anything to Jeongguk, but he doesn’t mind. He already knows that Hoseok will be good to him.

“I’ve been nesting this past week, I think. Getting ready for it.”

“Such a good nest. Such a good omega.”

Now, Jeongguk does laugh, because it doesn’t even sound like Hoseok, but here he is, saying it. “Hyung. It’s usually me who’s the one getting carried away.”

Hoseok grunts, face still in Jeongguk’s neck.

“You gonna let me see your face any time soon?”

Hoseok shakes his head there. Jeongguk chuckles, smoothing a hand up and down the back of his head. Slowly, he suffers the two of them towards his couch, pushing Hoseok down into it with his butt then sitting on him. “Better?”

Hoseok’s hands flex on his hips, and it makes Jeongguk squirm in his lap. Licking his lips, Jeongguk wishes he were turned around in Hoseok’s lap so he could kiss him. “Hyung!” he chuckles.

One hand still clutching his hip, Hoseok moves the other across the expanse of Jeongguk’s chest. Slowly. Just a drag of his fingertips and Jeongguk starts to burn. Hoseok’s mouth is so close to his gland. His teeth - oh god, his teeth would just have to open and bite down, and he’s holding him in his lap like he already belongs to him.

Without realizing it, Jeongguk’s started panting. It’s a response to take in more of the alpha pheromones, his body already slicking. Now he’s squirming for a different reason, because he can feel Hoseok getting hard under him.

“Hyung,” he whines. Jeongguk can’t even track it when he goes from Hoseok’s lap to flat on his back on the couch, the alpha looming over him, face still in his neck. Jeongguk arches up into him. “Hyung, kiss me.”

It’s the definition of hot and heavy; Jeongguk doesn’t even have the space to breathe in it, Hoseok all but taking everything from him. His chest rumbles under Jeongguk’s hands the entire time because he can’t stop the growling, the purring. Jeongguk melts into the couch, his limbs growing heavier and heavier. He wants to live here, in this moment, in this headspace, where he can feel every bit of it still.

It’s the first time he’s been kissed so thoroughly that his lips tingle after. Must be swollen by now. Hoseok hasn’t been gentle per se, but Jeongguk likes this amount of rough. Thorough is maybe the word for it.

“Gguk. Baby.” Hoseok sits back on his knees, Jeongguk mindlessly following him. “Do you want to stop?”

Previously, time spent like this was abandoned because of their public location, most often in Hoseok’s dance studio, but here they could do whatever they liked. For as long as they like it. Jeongguk hums in agreement, and they shift a little further apart on the couch. It does nothing to hide the state they’re in; Jeongguk’s rumpled clothing with a wet patch and Hoseok straining at the front of his pants. They eye each other shyly and laugh, even if their lungs are full of pheromones still.

Jeongguk likes seeing it though - the physical effects he has on his alpha. Proof that Hoseok likes him, is attracted to him. It would have felt embarrassing before, would have made Jeongguk retreat and hide if it were with anyone else, but not with Hoseok who’s done and said everything possible to reassure Jeongguk that he wants this just as much and is happy to do things at their own pace.

It makes Jeongguk want to throw himself at the alpha once more. “Alpha,” he purrs, leaning forward in Hoseok’s ear. “When I’m in heat, I’ll present myself to you. When it’s time. On my hands and knees. Like a good omega. Proper.”

Hoseok jumps up from the couch. “Jeongguk! I thought you wanted to come down!”

Jeongguk laughs.

“Seriously! You can’t say stuff like that to me!” Hoseok says, voice serious. Mostly. Affection and amusement creeps in. Jeongguk just laughs some more, because what else can he do when he’s about to soak through his pants?

“Sorry, hyung.” But Jeongguk pouts and bats his eyelashes as exaggerated as possible. Hoseok shakes his head, smiling.

“I’m going to leave now. Bye.” Hoseok quickly walks through the kitchen to the front door, making a show of putting on his shoes.

“Nooooo! Stay! I’ll be good!” Jeongguk chases after him, trying to wrestle his shoes out of the alpha’s hands. They laugh, tussling about. Jeongguk is so happy to have this too - someone who can be in equal turns sweet and playful while still smoldering every omega nerve in his body.

They spend most of that weekend alone together, just the two of them. Jeongguk gets to see more of Hoseok’s place too, falls asleep on his couch and then in his bed when Hoseok asks, with uncharacteristic shyness, if he’d rather stay the night instead of taking a bus back so late. Maybe it’s not a good idea, but Jeongguk sleeps with his nose in Hoseok’s neck most of the night. In the morning, Hoseok makes him everything from an omelet to a souffle pancake to fresh cut fruit, fretting about his kitchen like a tornado. They still go out for more food, and by the end of the day Hoseok complains of a stomache so fierce that he ends getting a piggyback ride from the omega.

Once Jeongguk hefts him up higher onto his back from where the alpha tentatively crawled, Hoseok shrieks with joy, such a distinct sound of laughter that Jeongguk loves, and he wraps his legs around Jeongguk’s waist and his arms around his neck, fingers absentmindedly rubbing at the spot his mating mark will go.

Jeongguk runs then skips along the sidewalk, laughing. Hoseok laughing even louder than he. It’s a moment that feels simultaneously uncontainable and like their own bubble, all to burst when a stray alpha sneers at them.

“Just look at that. Pitiful alpha letting an oma carry him around like that,” he says, blowing smoke out at them.

The smell of euphoria fades; Hoseok, as good natured as he is, just shrugs when Jeongguk freezes. Jeongguk can feel the movement against his shoulder. The alpha drops a kiss to the top of his head. “It’s fine, Gguk.”

Jeongguk looks the other alpha in the eye, then bounces Hoseok up higher. He laughs, nuzzling in at his neck, more likely than not also starring the guy down. One of his hands squeezes at Jeongguk’s bicep.

“I love all your muscles, baby,” he whispers in his ear, and the thing is - Jeongguk isn’t violent natured by any means, but he knows he could take this alpha or any other alpha who had a problem with him or Hoseok.

“Yeah, baby. Do all the posturing for me,” Hoseok laughs. He slides off his back and threads his fingers with Jeongguk’s, swinging their hands back and forth.

Jeongguk rolls his eyes. “You joke, but had he been insulting me you would have been down his throat.”

“As is my right.”

“Yeah okay, alpha. What were you just saying about gender roles earlier?”

Hoseok just leads him away down the street, and their laughter doesn’t fade.

It’s like that all week long, a tremendous sense of closeness and almost frivolity between them. Jeongguk assumes it’s partially hormones trying to seal a bond, but it’s also undoubtedly partially them too. Hoseok is easy to be around, easy to laugh with. He talks Jeongguk down after he spends an evening upset over job applications, overcome with a looming sense of graduation dread. The alpha shows up at the door with sweets and plays with Jeongguk’s hair until he feels motivated to finish. They go back to the club they met at for fun, on a Thursday night for no reason, and this time when they see the familiar group of alphas lingering by the door, they stroll past hand-in-hand reeking of each other. On the way out, Jeongguk hoists Hoseok up into his arms and walks him out with the alpha’s chest pressed to his in a front hold. They giggle, but the group doesn’t pay them any attention.

“My family is going to love you,” Hoseok mentions idly. He’s leaving to go home soon, but he’s curled up with Jeongguk for a minute in bed before he goes.

“Oh?” Jeongguk fiddles with the edge of his comforter, thinking of his own family. The comforter is wearing thin, small holes along the inner stitching.

“They’ve always worried that I wouldn’t find someone who wants to put up with such an ‘exuberant’ alpha, is how they phrased it. They didn’t expect me to be something I’m not - a super serious alpha - but I know my dad really wanted me to find someone who could be as playful as me.”

“Are your parents like that together?”

“No.” Hoseok chuckles dryly. “That’s why it is important to my dad. My mom’s great, but I think appa always toned down a lot of his interests in pursuit of making her happy. He’s a big nerd, and when he comes to visit me without her, he wants to go see musicals and spend the day at the spa, whereas when we’re all together, he tends to want to do more of the quiet posturing. I don’t know. But! They’re still happy together. So I guess it works fine.”

“Were you ever disappointed with your subgender?” Jeongguk asks, curious.

“Not at all. I guess - it might be easier for an alpha to say that, but I really would have been fine with anything. My family actually has a higher percentage of betas in it than the national average, so I even thought there was a good chance there, but.” Hoseok shrugs. “No one seemed surprised when I presented, and I was just relieved when it was over. You? Were you disappointed?”

“Honestly, I loved it at first, but then I got older and got into the gym and everything. Got a lot bigger than an omega is expected to be and.” Jeongguk shrugs. “It’s fine. I feel like I have to defend a lot of my interests among certain groups of people, but.”

Jeongguk thinks about how good Hoseok is with little kids, and how he’s not allowed to teach more than one class with them. Everyone is boxed in with harmful notions of subgender expectations. He’s not special. He’s just glad to have met Hoseok.

Jeongguk closes his eyes and leans against Hoseok’s chest. “You sure you want to leave?”

He laughs. “We agreed to take it slow. Wanted to wait, remember?”

Jeongguk gives a dramatic sigh. “My friends think it’s silly.”

“If it’s what you want.” Hoseok shrugs. “We’ve talked about what will happen when it's time. Or - more accurately, you’ve teased me about it.”

“Can I tell you something?” Jeongguk whispers, hiding his face in Hoseok’s chest where he can’t see.

“You can tell me anything, darling.”

“I know this will just be a heat. For some people, sharing a heat is nothing, but. It’s a big deal to me. I know we’re not mating or getting married or anything like that, but to me, it feels like that,” he says slowly. “Once it happens, my omega will feel like we’re mated. I wish - I wish we could just mate when it happens.”

“Oh. Baby.” Hoseok shimmies down the head so they can lie face-to-face. “I already told you. You’re mine and I’m yours. It’s basically done.”

They kiss, but it’s sweet. It’s actually the first kiss in a while that hasn’t led to something heavier. It’s a kiss of promise and familiarity. The kind shared between every day love. Jeongguk sees him to the door, hand tucked up in the crook of Hoseok’s arm. After he slips on his shoes, he leans into Jeongguk to say:

“Sweetheart. Your scent. It’s sweeter.”

They smile together; it won’t be long now, and it’s every feeling of butterflies and giddiness in the pit of his stomach that keeps Jeongguk up at night.

That next weekend marks the official countdown until the end of school. Taehyung wraps an old fashioned paper chain in blue and silver around Jeongguk’s neck when he visits and tells him to take one link off every day. Jeongguk remembers doing this in elementary school to count down to the holidays, the idea only dear because of its nostalgic factor. It’s his last year of schooling, probably ever. Maybe not. But probably - a bittersweet feeling for the baby in his friend group, ready to prove himself like the rest of them but Jeongguk has always loved school.

Taehyung sniffs him when he visits, but doesn’t comment. The same does not go for the rest of the group when they see him on the day they pick to take their picnic. Namjoon reported to the group that Seokjin is feeling well enough for a larger social obligation outside of the apartment, so the plan had been for everyone to bring an item or two to share, but when Jeongguk arrives with his fresh strawberries and a sweet loaf, he’s not exactly greeted with enthusiasm.

“Gguk?” Jimin says tentatively, immediately moving to his side from where he’s been pestering Yoongi about something. He brushes back Jeongguk’s hair. “You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I feel fine!” he replies, setting down his bag next to the other offerings spread out on a blanket, undoubtedly Seokjin’s by the color. And he does - he even spent an extra hour in the gym that morning to make up for an hour lost earlier this week when he was with Hoseok.

Just because he immediately plants himself next to Namjoon and maybe leans in for a snuggle doesn’t mean a thing. He hasn’t seen him at all the previous week, and it’s been a fraught time, but Jeongguk blinks and realizes he’s laid down with his head on the alpha’s lap. Seokjin quirks an eyebrow above him, and bless him - he’s too fond of Jeongguk to be angry about it.

“Okay, honey, I think we need to get you home,” he says, gently pulling him out of Namjoon’s lap. Namjoon is red. “I think you’re further along than you realize and that’s not going to help.”

Heats can sneak up on people, but Jeongguk’s heats have never been too bad. They kind of fade in and out slowly, so when he woke up in the morning with some cramping, he wasn’t too concerned. Sure, some alphas gave lingering looks on his way here, a few omegas with pinched faces, but he’s got a couple days before it’ll be bad enough he’s incapacitated.

“I’m fine! Promise.” Jeongguk says, nodding his head, but it makes Jimin look even more concerned over Seokjin’s more schooled expression.

“You’re slurring your words, honey.”

“I’ll take him home,” Taehyung says, moving to pull Jeongguk into his arms. It makes him happy; other than Hoseok’s scent the past couple of months, Taehyung’s is the most familiar and dear to him. He goes in for a scenting.

“Oh, wow. He’s - ” Yoongi grimaces. Like Jeongguk, Yoongi isn’t super into formal scenting. This is the first time he’s probably seen Jeongguk go for it.

“I’m sure it’s worse now because of Hoseok,” Namjoon comments quietly. There’s a lot of rustling noises behind Jeongguk, but he’s pretty comfortable in Tae’s arms, the scent of familiar alphas and other pack mates nearby. Yoongi stands behind Taehyung’s shoulder and asks something to which Taehyung shakes his head across the top of Jeongguk’s head.

It all feels so pleasant in that moment that things fade out and soften a little; he can hear the voices just fine but can’t quite latch onto what they’re saying. When someone tries to move him, he whimpers.

“Oh boy.” That’s Yoongi? There are hands on his waist and different hands on his shoulders. Too many hands and Jeongguk doesn’t like it.

“He’s slipping fast.”

“Shit. What was he thinking, leaving this morning?” Jeongguk clearly recognizes the notes of Jimin’s voice. His is always easiest to pick out in any situation.

“It’s going to be fine, Chim. Jeongguk didn’t know. It’s - Hoseok. The new alpha in the picture. Neither of them would have known what the timeline would be.”

Someone picks him up, and Jeongguk yells. One of them curses. It’s an alpha who has him, but it’s not the right alpha. Jeongguk shakes, goosebumps erupting on the back of his skin at the same time that he starts sweating.

“ - heat patch?”

“Yeah - at home, and - ”

The voices haven’t stopped, and Jeongguk hasn’t stopped moving. Being moved. He bobs around in someone’s grip weakly protesting. He feels nauseous suddenly, can smell something sweet nearby that isn’t pack mate’s scents.

“ - I’ll get him.” It’s so hard to track the conversation, especially because Jeongguk doesn’t want to open his eyes right now with the high noon sun. It burns and tickles his skin. He tugs at the collar of his shirt.

“Whoa, hey - ”

“Let’s keep that on, honey.” Someone tugs his shirt back down his sweaty chest. It irritates his skin.

Jeongguk whines. A growl above him.

“Joon.”

“ - it’ll be faster if - ”

“C’mon!”

Jeongguk’s shaking too much, his stomach is squeezing itself into two, and he just wants to be put down, but every time he pushes at the chest he’s on all he gets is a growl.

“Joon, stop.”

“ - he’s really out of it.”

“ - not helping -”

Finally, Jeongguk can feel himself being put down. In a car? Yeah, definitely a car. There’s a new voice added to the mix and Jeongguk’s nose wrinkles at the exhaust filtering in. Someone grabs his face, and it’s not gentle.

“Jeon Jeongguk! Listen to me!” It’s Jimin, Jeongguk latches onto the tone in his voice. The high pitched whine and authority in his voice would match any alpha’s order. “Do NOT come out of this heat with a mating bite, okay? Enjoy it, but don’t…”

“ - can’t hear you -”

“I’ll get the heating patch on him, I promise!” That cuts through like Jimin’s voice, but it isn’t Jimin?

Every smell is really getting to him now. He pulls up his shirt - someone trying to stop him - but he just puts the collar around his nose and inhales. It’s mostly his own scent, a little of - of -

“Alpha!” Jeongguk cries.

“...There we go.”

“I’m getting him! Bye!”

There’s nothing for awhile; just haziness and a lot of motion sickness from heat cramping and being manhandled around. He’s in his apartment? And - it’s Tae. Taehyung is there giving him meds and fretting over him. His hands linger on his mating gland, and Jeongguk snaps his teeth at him. When he tries to help Jeongguk to his room, the younger omega snaps his teeth at him again.

If it were anyone else, they’d be annoyed and frustrated, but Jeongguk can hear his best friend giggling. “Okay, okay. You owe me details later!”

He stands at the door and watches Jeongguk collapse to his knees and pathetically crawl into his nest since he’s not allowed to come in it. Jeongguk immediately rolls back and forth in it for the scents - it’s full of alpha scent. He’s making some kind of noise he knows, open mouth and panting, whining - a lot of things. He face plants into the blanket alpha used last and stays there still for a moment.

A whistle. “It’s like watching national geographic.” Some laughter, familiar and usually soothing to his ears, then a knock at the door.

Jeongguk growls, but can’t leave his nest. Won’t leave his nest. It’s his. And alpha’s. He’ll defend it if necessary, but alpha - Jeongguk whips his head up and looks with clear vision at the door of his bedroom. The haze has lifted for a moment, because he smells him.

The doorway is empty, then it’s full of a panting Hoseok, clearly having run there, leaning against the frame and taking Jeongguk in. He looks - disheveled, hair messy and cheeks redder than rosy.

Behind him, further away in the apartment, there are some low voices. Jeongguk has this moment of clarity to recognize Namjoon - he must have been the one to deliver Hoseok to him. Taehyung says something, then it’s quiet for a moment with a locking door to signal their departure.

They’re alone now. Jeongguk’s knees shake first, then the rest of him shudders. “Alpha.”

Licking his lips, Jeongguk can see the moment Hoseok’s pupils dilate to all black looking in at him. It’s like a dam - Jeongguk feels the slick gush out and suddenly the pain in the pit of his stomach moves, his cunt throbbing. The picture of clarity he has for that moment already begins to fade, softening at the edges and tunneling inwards so that all he can see is Hoseok.

“Alpha!”

Jeongguk shifts in his nest, pushing himself up and reaching for Hoseok with both hands. He stands there, frozen in the doorway still, breathing in heavily the room saturated with sweet heat perfume. “Alpha?”

“Is it okay for me to enter, sweetheart?” Hoseok asks, sounding composed still.

And sometimes, Jeongguk has learned, it’s best to lean into tradition. To answer his alpha, Jeongguk turns around in his nest on all fours, then drops his face onto his clasped hands in front of him, hips raised up and legs spread out. Presents, like an omega to an alpha, because that’s exactly what he wants for the first time in his life.

“Oh, baby,” the alpha growls. The sheets and clothing and everything else in the nest shift so Jeongguk can feel his movements getting closer. “I’m going to take such good care of you now.”

Chapter Text

Time spent in a heat moves forwards and sideways - one moment is suspended in time, then the next flash forward ten hours. With a heat partner, Jeongguk finds it’s an even more extreme version of this. When Hoseok first arrives, the alpha is slow to do anything. He’s slow to crawl into the nest, slow to touch Jeongguk no matter how much he pleads, slow to kiss him. For an infuriating moment, it feels like a completely new person who he’s never met; because Jeongguk’s never spent a heat with someone, it’s difficult to pick up Hoseok’s changing scents over his own - omega scents will trump anything during a heat - but Jeongguk can eventually detect the alpha’s nerves overlaying the heavy lust in the air.

He’s too wound up to pump out anything calming, but he tries to take a deep breath in and hold it; he rolls out of his position to lie more comfortably on his back, coaxing Hoseok down to him. This position is at least one they’ve spent plenty of time in kissing - it lacks the overtone of Jeongguk on all fours.

“Alpha,” Jeongguk whispers, nosing up Hoseok’s throat. “Seok. Hoseok.” He licks over the mating gland under the patch there and Hoseok growls low and even. When Jeongguk opens his mouth to bare his teeth and act like he might bite, Hoseok snaps his head forward to push Jeongguk back flat, taking over by kissing up and down the omega’s neck.

Jeongguk smiles happily, dazed. With an alpha now in his presence, his alpha, his alpha who’s been courting him for months now - there is a pleasantness settling in next to the frantic feeling of heat. Their scents permeate the room, mingling and blanketing everything so Jeongguk knows that it will last for weeks. He’s never had a scented nest like this will be - it’s already so wonderful.

He alternates between turning to rub his face in Hoseok’s neck and rubbing his face into the blanket closest to him in the nest; for now, the alpha is busy doing his first job for heat: spreading his scent around so outsiders know better than to try and interrupt them, marking Jeongguk as his so another alpha won’t think he’s unattached for his heat. Primal instincts, old enough to not be needed anymore, but Hoseok’s fading fast under the heat spell, same as Jeongguk.

Jeongguk feels his body liquifying, bit by bit. It’s like he’s going to melt entirely into a puddle - or maybe it’s just the slick pooling below his hips already. He can feel Hoseok’s hardness pressed into him. First, at the bottom of his stomach, not far from where Jeongguk wants and leaves him whimpering, then it travels as Hoseok licks down Jeongguk’s chest, his shirt still on and rucked up around his armpits.

Growing increasingly impatient now that Hoseok is moving at a better speed, Jeongguk tries to sit up and remove the shirt, but the alpha growls immediately, one big hand sprawled out over his chest. Jeongguk whines, the heat in his cheeks spreading seemingly to his brain. It’s hot - it’s so hot, and Hoseok’s hands burn where they grip him.

“Hoseok. Clothing off - now.” Jeongguk struggles against the alpha keeping him down in the nest, but he must eventually understand the necessity of the request. Hoseok doesn’t let him move though; he pulls Jeongguk’s shirt off for him, then undoes his pants and pulls everything else off at once.

Once nude, Jeongguk feels a little better, both in that it’s slightly cooler and he’s one step closer to what he wants. Hoseok doesn’t undress himself; he dives right back into kissing Jeongguk’s body, swirling his tongue around a nipple. Jeongguk cries out, arching up into it when Hoseok sucks down on it. It’s never - it’s never felt like this before; Jeongguk has at least some experience in this, but it feels so much better now. Is it the heat? Probably. Everything is meant to be maximum pleasure during a heat. Is it also a little bit Hoseok?

Jeongguk’s never been this wet in his life, so probably yes. Not even during a heat. It’s already overwhelming how messy he feels; the slick coats half way down his thighs and up to his belly button already from the amount of wiggling he’s done in combination with Hoseok moving up and down his body, spreading it around. Hoseok hasn’t really stopped growling, even if it's low in volume now. He’s switched over to the other nipple, fingers lightly circling the first.

Jeongguk whines as a sharp cramp reminds him where he wants the attention; he throbs and wants to kick out his feet if not for the body settled over his. “Alpha. Alpha!” he gasps, chest heaving. Hoseok’s got both of his wrists in a hold, but when Jeongguk’s able to free one, he tugs at Hoseok’s hair so he has to look up at him.

“Alpha. I want.” Jeongguk trembles; his whole body trembles so much and Hoseok is his only stability, the only thing keeping him pinned to the floor. He weakly thrusts his pelvis up into Hoseok’s stomach. “Please. Alpha.”

“Shhhh, baby. I’ve got you.” But instead of moving down to touch him or removing his clothing, Hoseok comes up to kiss Jeongguk some more. His tongue feels both lazy and thorough in its ministrations. Jeongguk whines, but because Hoseok has shifted a little bit, he can wrap his legs up around the alpha’s waist and rock against him a little bit. The friction isn’t enough - not even against Hoseok’s denim.

Hoseok snakes a hand down between them to cup Jeongguk - finally. He gasps, rocking up into his hand as frantically as his pinned body can. Hoseok chuckles, nipping at the omega’s neck. With two fingers he gently strokes down Jeongguk’s stomach to the outside of his folds, up and down and back and forth. Jeongguk’s head tilts back on its own accord to bare his neck for his alpha, hips twitching.

He can hear how wet he is now, Hoseok’s fingers moving through it. The auditory component on top of everything else makes him gasp, heat anew, working his hips up against Hoseok as fast as possible. The coil in the bottom of his stomach grows tighter; the tips of Hoseok’s fingers brush past and broach him enough that Jeongguk immediately stops moving, stops breathing, just waiting for his alpha to enter him.

Hoseok doesn’t; in fact, he removes his hand completely. The whine that comes from the bottom of his lungs is shocking to him. Hoseok jumps, trying to calm him by running his hands up and down his torso. “Shhh, I got you, baby. I’m going to give you what you need, but first we have to get you ready, okay?”

Jeongguk struggles weakly in Hoseok’s hold; on a normal day, he’d be able to pin the alpha easily. In heat, Jeongguk’s muscles are made to relax, submit. Every part of him. He wouldn’t mind it, if the alpha was giving him what he wanted.

“Alpha,” he pants, licking his lips.

“I know, I know,” Hoseok keeps one hand on Jeongguk’s chest to keep him down, his lips nuzzling into the skin over his hip bones where he kisses. His breath moves lower, and Jeongguk stills. Soft puffs of air over his cunt and Jeongguk freezes, muscles clenching in anticipation. When Hoseok touches his lips there, it’s barely a touch, and Jeongguk is grateful for that, because he’s about to vibrate out of his skin as is.

Hoseok nuzzles his face up into Jeongguk’s heat, his face immediately doused in slick - Jeongguk has to look down and see, groaning as his walls clench up at the sight. The first teasing touch of the alpha’s tongue to his outer lips has Jeongguk squeezing his knees around Hoseok’s head.

With a second, longer swipe up through the slick, Jeongguk slowly relaxes his legs. They fall open as Hoseok slowly works up to more and more contact between his lips and Jeongguk’s cunt. The omega gasps softly, tossing his head to the side. This is something he’s tried with one previous partner, and he left it unsure if he looked forward to ever experiencing it again because of how exposed he felt, but right now the alpha with him starts out so slowly, with a touch so light it’s almost maddening. Jeongguk doesn’t know if he wants to pull him in or push him away. When Hoseok opens his mouth and really seals it over him, Jeongguk’s hips jump on their own accord and the long groan out has him melting into the floor.

The motions and the suction start to build; Jeongguk can almost get off on the visual alone of Hoseok kneeling between his legs, face buried. The tips of his hair are wet, clinging to his face with Jeongguk’s sweetest scent. At this point, the touching is more sure of itself and Jeongguk knows now that he can enjoy this particular activity. His breathing is heavier - he can taste Hoseok’s arousal on his tongue from the air around him. Hoseok has his own motion going, but Jeongguk starts rocking up into him at his own pace, panting.

“Alpha, alpha, alpha,” he chants. He feels greedy, peering down at Hoseok who cradles Jeongguk’s hips so lovingly, the tips of his fingers on one hand drawing circles close to where his mouth is. When Hoseok has to rock up to follow Jeongguk as he writhes around, he’s gifted with the mouth mattering view of Hoseok’s tented pants.

Jeongguk wants, and he wants now. With a sudden gasp, he cums, hips grinding into Hoseok’s face, his hands buried in the alpha’s hair so the other can’t move at all.

After a long moment suspended in time, muscles twitching, Jeongguk’s wrought body collapses flat back as he pants for air. Hoseok doesn’t immediately remove his mouth from him, and he’s grateful. The omega dreads the feeling of cold air on his most delicate parts right now. Wants the alpha to stay there forever. It’s only when Hoseok slowly tilts his head to rest against Jeongguk’s thigh that he can feel the first finger that’s been wiggled in.

Jeongguk whines. “Not fair.”

Hoseok chuckles. He curls and flexes the finger in him, but he can barely feel it. Jeongguk thrusts down. “More. More.”

He’s ready to be full - wants Hoseok now. Empty, empty. Jeongguk’s body slides down the nest, searching and longing for his knot. Hoseok stills him, roughly this time because Jeongguk isn’t taking no for an answer. He’s ready.

“Empty. Please. I need more.”

Hoseok slips in another finger. It’s enough of a presence that Jeongguk can really feel the stretch happening, but it’s still nothing that matters. “More!”

With a third finger, Jeongguk feels slightly sated. Hoseok pumps them in and out, slowly, so slowly, like he worked into it with his mouth and his licks. Everything feels damp, and it is. The noises - oh god, he didn’t know this would be a thing for him, but the squelching combined with the visual of Hoseok peering up at him, mouth still close to his heat - it’s a lot.

“Stop. Teasing,” Jeongguk hisses. Hoseok chuckles weakly, face still glistening. He wipes at it with the back of his free hand, then leans forward to brace himself over Jeongguk’s face for a kiss that is far too sweet for the moment. “Gimme. More.”

Jeongguk’s hips thrust up hard into Hoseok’s fingers and the alpha’s face above his winces. “Hey, hey, slow down. Don’t hurt yourself. We’ve got time - ”

“No!” Jeongguk is crying, embarrassingly enough. Not like, a little bit - all of a sudden his cheeks are damp and there is a waver in his voice. “You said - you promised me you’d take care of me!”

Hoseok doesn’t say anything even as Jeongguk continues his teary protests, just adjusts his position and scissors his fingers in and out quickly. He hits something in Jeongguk that makes him see stars and shuts him up, hands flying up to Hoseok’s shoulders.

“There you are. That’s it. Come one more time for alpha like this,” Hoseok says quietly, evenly, coated in the omega’s slick and the sweat rolling down his temples. He stops moving his hand and lets Jeongguk grind down on his own, way past the point of keeping up any tempo. Jeongguk growls, on the precipice, wants to sit up and sink his teeth into Hoseok’s neck, but before he can get to it the alpha intervenes with his free hand.

Jeongguk bites down on that hand, delirious, until his core clenches up and he fumbles for the hand curled in him, making sure to keep it right where he wants it. This orgasm shits harder, but shorter. Already, Jeongguk feels undone - tired and sticky and the small lucid part of his brain left doesn’t understand how he’ll keep this up.

The overwhelming portion of his brain seethes. “Alpha! Alpha,” he pants, trying to roll onto Hoseok. He noses at his chest where he can get to it, Hoseok still carefully holding him where he wants him.

“Ggukie, baby, be good. Alpha’s gonna knot you now, yeah? That’s what you want? A nice big, fat knot? That’s what you’ve been waiting for this entire time?” Hoseok’s voice goes on, a pleasant string of words hypnotizing the omega into relaxing, sinking back into the floor so Hoseok can maneuver him and remove his own clothing.

“That’s right, sweetheart, that’s my good baby. You’re so good, honey, and I’m so lucky. Lucky to be here and see you like this. Lucky you chose me. Lucky to court you.” Hoseok shifts around in the dim light of the apartment. Jeongguk can barely keep track of things now. His breathing has slowed, but it’s shallow, hard to think, hard to do anything. It hurts, and for a second he can’t remember why it hurts, but then he feels something slide against him and he gasps.

“Alpha!”

Hoseok’s attempts to calm him down are immediately undone as soon as Jeongguk feels his dick merely brush past his entrance. At first, Jeongguk doesn’t understand what’s happening, because Hoseok repeats the motion, and his alpha isn’t one to tease unnecessarily. Why isn’t he fucking him already? Hoseok glides up and down against his wet pussy, but when Jeongguk tries to prop himself up to see, he notices how much slick the alpha’s gathered around his cock. It glistens - it’s big and beautiful and Jeongguk’s mouth waters - wait, why hasn’t he got his mouth around it yet? It doesn’t seem fair. Jeongguk tries to get up to remedy that except Hoseok pushes him back down gently.

He stops struggling when he feels the blunt head gently push in; Jeongguk stops moving completely. “Breathe, baby,” Hoseok reminds him, getting closer to him as he leans down and pushes in so, so slowly.

Oh.

Oh.

It’s happening.

Every bit of breath in his lungs expels, his chest visibly deflating.

His alpha is here. Alpha is giving him his knot.

There are more tears, but Jeongguk feels overwhelming happiness as Hoseok fully seats himself in the omega. “There, that’s better now, isn’t it?” Hoseok lovingly pauses to push Jeongguk’s hair out of his face. With the alpha so close to him, he jolts a little when he realizes his vision is actually fuzzy. He blinks, trying to dispel it, but it doesn't go away. Looking at Hoseok now feels like looking at a lovely portrait taken not quite in focus.

“Alpha.” This time, it’s a whisper. Soft. Reverent. Jeongguk leans up to nuzzle at Hoseok’s face.

“Yeah, honey. I’m here.” Hoseok laces his fingers with Jeongguk’s over the top of his head. “You’re okay.”

This time, Jeongguk doesn’t have to ask for anything else; Hoseok tenderly shifts in him, small, shallow thrusts at first. So slowly, so easily working up to pace like everything else they’ve done. It all feels good - really good - but it’s not until Hoseok is really thrusting into him, hard enough to rock Jeongguk up across whatever he’s lying on in the nest, that he snaps back into focus, because he can feel it. Hoseok’s knot starting to form, pushing up against his entrance.

With renewed single minded focus, Jeongguk wraps his legs around Hoseok’s waist, canting his hips and opening himself as wide as possible. “Alpha, alpha, alpha!” he chants, smiling, having a hard time between looking up at Hoseok and throwing his head back. He doesn’t know where to look, feels lightheaded in how joyous he feels at this moment.

Every thrust pushes more and more slick out, it shines against Hoseok’s lower body. If Jeongguk thought he was hypnotized earlier by his alpha’s voice, it’s nothing to this, watching his cock steadily thrust in and out.

Hoseok’s hair swings back and forth, heavy with sweat. The alpha’s growling continuously at this point, gritting his teeth, eyes completely black. Jeongguk sucks in a huge breath because he can feel his walls, his very body shifting to accommodate the girth, and then before he can think much more about it, the knot pops, and Hoseok lunges for Jeongguk’s gland with his teeth.

He doesn’t bite down, and even if he did, that’s what the heat patch is there to prevent. Instead, he simply mouths at it, licking the outside of the patch as Jeongguk tries to catch his breath, feeling everything settle for the moment. Hoseok comes down to rest all of his weight on top of him, a not unpleasant blanket even with how overheated they both are. Hoseok keeps mouthing over the gland, and Jeongguk feels the knot jostle at one point, enough to realize just how snug it is. He snakes his hands up into Hoseok’s hair and strokes his back, looking up at his handsome alpha.

His voice is hoarse when he asks: “Are you okay? How do you feel?”

Jeongguk smiles at him. “I feel great. Thank you, Hoseok.” He nuzzles up into the alpha’s neck, and they shift enough to move onto their side, then again, so Hoseok’s on his back with Jeongguk wrapped up on top. Here, he allows himself to really bask in his first knot. It’s a moment of lucidity for him that he knows will pass soon - the knot will go down, and sometime shortly after that Jeongguk will start to lose the same kind of cognisant grip in the throes of his next wave.

But in this moment, it’s not just about the sexual act, but the intense feeling of intimacy that follows it. This is quite literally the most vulnerable Jeongguk has ever been with anyone; for so many years he couldn’t really fathom the idea of dating an alpha and taking their knot. It was redundant and expected, but here he is. Basking in its glow. Not to be dramatic about it, because he knows he still has heat brain, but Jeongguk loves it. He already can’t imagine spending another heat alone.

He loves bending his head down to suck one of the alpha’s nipples into his mouth, just to hear him gasp. “Jeongguk,” Hoseok warns with one sharp thrust up. Jeongguk whines at the reminder of just how deep his alpha is - but even though it stings, it’s also pleasurable in its own way. He loves all the little kisses that Hoseok peppers over his cheeks and the top of his head, one hand idly scratching his back. He loves their scents mingling together - oh god, the scent of the room. He wants to bottle it up and be buried with it.

Hoseok’s wearing his own version of a heat/rut patch to protect his gland; Jeongguk wonders if the alpha’s been carrying it around with him since his preheat started, or if it’s something Namjoon gave him on their rushed trip over. It doesn’t stop Jeongguk from licking it, focusing on the corners of it. Since he’s never spent a heat or rut with someone, he’s never experienced the patches before. They’re made to last a full week, although it's uncommon for either event to last more than five days. The corners are supposed to start to curl up over time so they’re easy to remove, but Jeongguk just needs to know how sticky they are, how hard it would be to remove one. He really tries to work his teeth and tongue over one corner in particular -

“Jeon Jeongguk,” Hoseok says, a hand fisting in the back of his hair to pull him away. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Jeongguk giggles mischievously, and Hoseok follows suit, especially since the omega immediately stops what he’s doing. He opts to lie his head back down on Hoseok’s chest for a while. He doesn’t feel too tired yet; heat pheromones will keep them both going for a while, and everything feels so nice right now.

Well. Almost everything. Everything below his waist feels - a little numb, if Jeongguk is being completely honest. He wishes he could feel every moment of Hoseok going soft, his knot going down, but in reality it’s not until he feels the alpha fidgeting that he realizes it’s done. He whines, deeply, but Hoseok hushes him, sitting up and lying Jeongguk down so he can slip out as carefully as possible. On instinct, Jeongguk clamps his thighs together when he feels some of the cum oozing out.

Even this feels good to him in this moment. Is it the heat, or is it Hoseok? Jeongguk used to cringe at so many of the related sex noises he heard, but thinking about them now from just the past hour sends a fresh wave of slick out. He whimpers.

“You did so good, baby,” Hoseok says once more, reaching for a water bottle to hydrate both of them. Because it’s his first knot, Jeongguk isn’t sure how long this phase will last before the cramping sneaks back up on him, so he knows it would be smart to eat and drink while he can, but he’s not hungry. He just wants to curl up in Hoseok’s lap from now until the day he dies.

Wow. Heat really makes him something else.

From his view in the alpha’s lap, head cushioned on his thigh, Jeongguk watches Hoseok nibble on some nuts. This could be it, he thinks. They could do this regularly, forever and ever. Jeongguk wouldn’t have to be alone anymore. Not for his heats. Not for dinners after work. He could - he could - bring an alpha home to his parents.

Hoseok mistakes the tears for something else. “Oh, hey, Ggukie. It’s okay. Let it happen, yeah? I’ll take care of you again.” He moves so they’re both lying down on their sides, face-to-face, and Hoseok starts running his hands up and down the omega’s arms and torso.

“I love you,” Jeongguk whispers. His voice is also a little ragged.

Hoseok smiles at him, radiant. He kisses Jeongguk as gently as could be. “It’s not just the heat talking,” Jeongguk promises him.

Hoseok sucks in a shuddering breath. “I know, baby. I love you, too.” They close their eyes and tilt their foreheads together. This moment isn’t made to last; Jeongguk already feels some of the heat licking up his spine, renewing the feeling he’d lost after the first knot. He’ll need another one soon. He wonders if Hoseok will give it to him immediately or make him cum several times first without it.

“This is already better than I could have hoped for. Thank you,” Jeongguk whispers.

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m your alpha now.” Hoseok smiles. “I’ll always take care of you.”

The glow surrounding the event does fade; Jeongguk is pretty regularly a three day heat kind of omega, and by the end of day two he is exhausted, Hoseok is exhausted, and the room is a wreck. The nest isn’t contained anymore, it’s kind of strewn everywhere. Jeongguk is shocked to find that doesn’t bother him, because at least now they’ve fucked on most every surface. Everything smells like them, and it pleases him enough to set him purring in the moments he can stop and think. Or, catches himself thinking.

Mostly, it’s a frantic scramble between moments of Jeongguk thinking about how sore he is and suddenly realizing it doesn’t matter, nothing else matters other than pushing his alpha down and mounting that dick right now. It’s different with a partner - now that Jeongguk is getting a knot, his body stays ready for it at all times. He’s always wet, always leaking slick everywhere, and at the end of day two Jeongguk realizes he’s never even seen Hoseok completely soft, his body also always ready to sooth the needs of an omega in heat.

If he wasn’t sore and tired to the point of irritable, Jeongguk would laugh about how ridiculous they must look. He’s carefully avoided looking into any mirror, but he knows he’s covered constantly not only in body fluids, but also in hickeys. He can tell he’s getting close to the end of his heat because he can go longer without the urge to fuck, but also he can feel just how sore he is everywhere now. The high of the first day protected him, but now so much as a muscle twitch reminds him of every time he’s taken Hoseok’s cock in the past forty-eight hours.

It’s a lot. Especially for someone like him, who had zero experience. It’s not so much an ache as all out pain, especially at day three. It’s by far the hardest day, because he still craves a knot but also tears up at the thought of Hoseok pushing into him. It’s a mental tug-of-war that Jeongguk can’t win. Hoseok, ever patient, gets him off as gently as possible in other ways, but it’s not the same, and his body knows. The longer he goes without a knot, the worse it gets.

Almost on the other side of it now, Jeongguk can think about how he’s lucky to have this, but also have experienced plenty of solo heats. He can compare the two, because honestly - they are way different. Without a heat partner, without a knot in particular, the body adjusts its own expectations. It’s kind of amazing and bizarre to think about, but Jeongguk’s heats in the past were never like this. He didn’t leak like a faucet because his body knew he didn’t need to.

Omega bodies are amazing.

What he means is - alpha bodies and beta bodies too. Jeongguk isn’t here to be elitist about his own biology, because damn if keeping a hard-on for so long isn’t it’s own kind of wonder, but Jeongguk feels weirdly proud of his body in the same way he might after a tough week at the gym. He’s so sore he’s also mad about it, but. Damn.

Jeongguk thinks about Taehyung and his lack of desire for most kind of sexual intimacy, how he’s not sure if he’ll ever take his mate’s knot. It makes more sense to him now in a way, now that he’s experienced a heat with and without a knot. Jeongguk could probably always go without it, even in heat, and be totally fine and okay with that, but the thing is - he doesn’t want to do that. More and more, he’s settled into what he wants with his partner, his alpha, as it were. It feels good to have this, to know he can have it whenever he wants now. Hoseok manages to look good even with his bedhead and stinky morning breath, and Jeongguk revels in it.

It’s still hard to reconcile the way his future looks with what he thought he wanted just months ago. He thinks about his mother and father. All they ever wanted was an alpha for their son, but they don’t deserve Hoseok.

So, day three. Jeongguk and Hoseok push their way through it in bits of giggles and groaning just as much as wanton moaning, now that the haze is lifting. Even at his most wrung out, Hoseok still gives him pleasure. Even at his body’s most spent, it feels pleasurable in the intimate knowledge that they can read each other’s body language better than ever. Hoseok’s needs are very different from his own at this juncture, and Jeongguk makes sure to let the alpha feed him whenever he offers even if the thought makes him ill. Lets him wipe him down even when the softness of the washcloth burns his skin. Acquiesces to a shower even when the omega would rather let himself pickle in the extra strong scents.

Hoseok clearly needs to be touching Jeongguk at all times, even at the dull moments when Jeongguk gets a chance to check his phone or even in sleep, Hoseok latches onto the omega’s back and nuzzles the hair at his neck. The alpha has always been cuddly, always open to physical touch, but this heat brings it out in him tenfold.

For as much as they’ve learned about their sexual chemistry in three days, they seem to both know this is it when it comes. Jeongguk doesn’t even hesitate this time, he’s so sure, and he gives the alpha no warning when the inside of his stomach feels like it’s falling through. He simply sits up, pushes Hoseok back, and sits straight down on that dick. It’s simultaneously the easiest thing in the world to do, but also hurts like a motherfucker at this point. He’s delirious both in the need to have a knot but also in the certainty that this is the last knot for this heat, and he’s ready for it to be over.

Hoseok groans, hands bracing and supporting the omega as he bounces in his lap. Sweaty and flush and still so gorgeous, he looks up at Jeongguk like he is seeing stars for the first time ever, mouth agape. “There you go, baby. Take what you need.”

“Gimme. That. Knot.” Jeongguk pants word by word. It hurts - god, it hurts. Every thrust of Hoseok’s dick feels like it’s punching his cervix now, but it’s almost over. Just this last knot, this last chance to be bred and full and make alpha happy. Jeongguk’s shaking so much he can barely hold himself up, but he wants it like this, doesn’t want to be on his back for this one. Wants to curl up on Hoseok’s chest when it pops, wants to curl his mouth around Hoseok’s neck, wants to - wants to - bite.

Hoseok sounds startled when he finishes, knot locking, and Jeongguk, triumphant, pumps his fist once in the air then collapses promptly on top of the alpha.

When he comes back to, Jeongguk sleeps on his side and it’s clearly been enough time for the knot to go down, because Hoseok is spooned up behind him. Clearly his favorite position to be in. Jeongguk wakes up because the alpha is lapping his tongue up and down the back of the omega’s neck.

Groggy, Jeongguk asks, “What are you doing?” He winces in pain as his stomach clenches in hunger - for food, thankfully.

Hoseok keeps licking his neck. “I’m really sorry,” he says around lapping. “It’s hard to stop.”

Jeongguk laughs, squeezing one of Hoseok’s hands wrapped protectively around his stomach. He can smell the shift of their scents. It’s got less spice to it, more sweetness. A job well done and the alpha wants to care for their mate. Wants to stay close in case there’s a baby. It’s biology.

“This room is wrecked.” Jeongguk sighs. Hoseok hasn’t stopped. “Hoseok.”

Hoseok hums.

“Hoseok!”

Hoseok hums some more, tongue still working.

“Alpha!”

Hoseok growls; he stops licking to clamp his teeth around the back of Jeongguk’s neck. Jeongguk rolls his eyes, but in fondness, reaching with one hand behind his head to touch Hoseok’s face.

“Alpha, I’m very hungry. You’re going to feed me now, right?” In truth, Jeongguk is too tired to eat much, but Hoseok jerks upright, standing on shaky legs to look for food. He holds up a granola bar, then a banana, then a pack of trail mix. Jeongguk shakes his head no at every one. “I want jajangmyeon. Please, alpha?”

Jeongguk has doe eyes, and he knows how to use them. Not that he needs to, because this alpha would do anything for this omega at this moment. Hoseok hurries out the door without pausing to put on a single article of clothing.

Jeongguk sighs, happily. With a little bit of space between them, things will come down quickly. By the time Hoseok finishes cooking, maybe Jeongguk will have wrangled all the nest articles into piles for cleaning. He could leave the job for later, but that’s never been him.

He doesn’t realize he’s crying until Hoseok comes back in. “Oh, baby. What is it?” he asks, quickly crouching on the floor next to him. He’s nude still under the apron. “Are you okay?”

Jeongguk nods. “Just. You know. Emotional. Lingering effects of heat are hitting me harder than I thought.” It was his first heat with not just someone, but Hoseok, and the nest was already destroyed. He didn’t have the chance to take it apart when he wanted to. It’s gone - and it’s something he can never get back.

“Sweetheart.” Hoseok slowly reaches for him, and when he doesn’t protest, hoists him up onto his feet. “Our dinner is ready. Let’s go eat, yeah?”

Dressed in his fluffy bathrobe, Jeongguk lets Hoseok feed him noodles and tries not to cry over the fact that it’s not alpha instincts driving him to do so anymore, just the kindness of every day Hoseok. It’s messy to try and feed someone else noodles; he feels ridiculously dirty sitting in the kitchen with jajangmyeon all over his chin.

Hoseok chuckles at him and kisses said chin when he’s done eating. They patter around the kitchen, because it’s way easier to clean right now, then retreat to Jeongguk’s bathroom to run a bath.

Squished together in the tub, Jeongguk sits facing his alpha. The steam rises and curls up the edges of the heat patch; he feels it happen. “Guess I can take this off, huh?”

That sparks a whole new set of tears.

“Sorry. I’m not usually this emotional.”

“You don’t need to apologize, honey.” Hoseok gently combs through Jeongguk’s wet hair. “It was a lot.”

“But not - too much?” Jeongguk sniffles, looking up to try and gauge any and all emotion on the alpha’s face.

“Too much? Baby, of course not. It was - it was everything honestly, but in the best way possible.” He smiles so sweetly just for Jeongguk. “It was a gift. Truly. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

They lean into each other, the water sloshing out of the tub and onto the floor as they maneuver. Jeongguk feels - too clean now. It’s almost gross how clean he feels. All that’s left are the patches on their neck, in many ways, the only physical barrier left between them.

Jeongguk peels his off quickly, before he can cry anymore about it. Hoseok follows suit, removing his own, placing it over the top of Jeongguk’s on the side of the tub, then cups both sides of Jeongguk’s face with his hands.

“You want to mate? With me?” he asks. “Like, theoretically. I know we’re still courting, and we should enjoy it, but you want - ”

“Yes,” Jeongguk says quickly. “I do.”

He gulps heavily and feels shy again, would rather look anywhere but the alpha’s open face. A heart shaped grin, his friend teased him when they met Hoseok. An alpha with a heart shaped grin for their youngest friend.

“Like you said, I don’t want to rush it, but. I think this is it,” the omega continues. “It feels right.”

Heat’s over. It’s not just the pheromones talking anymore. Jeongguk loves Hoseok, and he loves him back. They’ve only known each other a few months, but he knows. His friends might give him grief about it, but Jeongguk’s heard even his favorite emotionally avoidant omega talk about how he knew Namjoon was the one basically from their first meeting. Only under duress, did he divulge that, but. Jeongguk’s going to use it when he can.

“You’ll make me the happiest alpha!”

Jeongguk grins and blushes. “Ah, you’re so cheesy, hyung.”

“I love you, Jeon Jeongguk!”

Jeongguk giggles, flailing around so he can sit with his back to Hoseok’s chest. Half of the water has made its way onto the floor now, and what’s left is cold. Their three day heat induced break from reality is over, but what they’re left with feels rosier than ever before.

“Love you too, hyung.”

Chapter Text

Jimin has not stopped glowering all day. Currently, he’s the only one sitting across from Jeongguk at their table for seven in the trendiest brunch place he could find reviews of, because Jimin only has a week in Seoul before he would be traveling with his dance group again and he wanted to see up it stacked up to the place in Paris he last fell in love with.

“I can’t believe that bite,” he says sourly, pouting only because he’s the only one in their group without one. The mating bite on the side of Jeongguk’s neck is not super fresh any more, but it would be the first time his friend has seen it in person.

Jimin doesn’t even want to mate. Ever. But he sure is glaring awfully hard at Jeongguk’s neck.

Jeongguk rolls his eyes and sips at his coffee. “We’d been courting for over a year, hyung. If we waited much longer, his mother threatened to disown him.”

As if getting Hoseok wasn’t wonderful enough, Jeongguk now had the love and support of a very tight family unit, including a mother figure he only saw in the likes of television shows. They had been smitten with Jeongguk before they even met apparently, for reasons he can’t really fathom, and literally from their first meeting did nothing but pester them about mating. Lovingly.

“But you’re a baby! MY baby!” Jimin whines.

Jeongguk rolls his eyes. “No one here is a baby anymore. Hence the actual baby on the way.”

They both look over to the rest of the group, currently clustered around a wall with fake foliage and a neon sign above, clearly made to be a trap for photos tagged on social media. They alternate taking different pictures of each other, but mostly it’s around Seokjin’s baby bump. Namjoon stands behind him, face pressed into his husband’s neck and hands cradling the bump around his sides as Taehyung makes ridiculous suggestions about poses they could do to really highlight Seokjin’s belly. As red as Namjoon is, Jin absolutely glows in pleasure with a smile that has been more and more prevalent over the months as he made it out of his first trimester and now starting his third.

“Yeah.” Jimin sighs heavily, sinking back in his chair. “I can’t believe it.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty great.” Jeongguk watches Namjoon pretend to nip at Taehyung’s hand when it gets too close to Seokjin’s stomach. Taehyung grabs Yoongi and thrusts him in front of his body then proceeds to sneak a hand out anyway to touch the belly that Seokjin clearly wants to share with his friend.

Hoseok stands in the midst of the chaotic scene snapping pictures on his phone until Yoongi takes it from him and gestures for him to get in some of them.

“All I have to say is that you better not be skipping the mimosas because you’re also knocked up!” Jimin adds.

Jeongguk winces. “Definitely not. I’m too young for that.”

Jimin laughs, delighted, but they’re interrupted by Yoongi griping at them to get in the photos. They ask someone to take a group picture, all seven of them leaning in and cocooning Seokjin and Namjoon. Behind his back, Hoseok holds Jeongguk in a similar fashion, and as the woman shutters through multiple pictures, he bares his teeth and playfully clamps down around Jeongguk’s neck over his bite and winks.

Jimin gives Hoseok a stink face if ever there was one, which is funny because between the two of them Jimin kept in the most contact with Hoseok while away, their once friendly relationship transforming into best friends. Still, Jeongguk knows that Jimin hurts, often feeling left out or the last to hear of news. They all consciously try to include him as much as possible, but after two group video chats fell through, Namjoon (accidently) dropped the baby bomb without him and the group had been so wrapped up in celebration that it was another week later when Taehyung posted his own version of a baby registry in the group chat that Jimin found out.

Jimin was the first person Jeongguk called after they bonded to make up for it.

His friend spends the week visiting at Jeongguk’s apartment; the younger omega never found another roommate, instead footing the entirety of his rent for a couple months before Hoseok moved in. In some ways, that did feel quick, even if Jeongguk already knew then that he was the alpha for him, but the space was too good to give up and offered plenty of room for the two of them to host and even house visitors with a spare bedroom, and with Jeongguk’s new job he could work remotely often, so it made sense to keep the apartment when they were unlikely to find another space like it for a similar price.

If his mother knew about Hoseok, she would tsk and comment about how it’s the alpha’s job to find a home. How it is improper for an alpha to move into an omega’s space. How little he must think of Jeongguk if he didn’t even offer to find them a new place and build him a new nest.

So, Jeongguk hasn’t reached out to his family about his mating. Instead, he lets his new in-laws take out an ad in the paper to announce it, lets them host a small party to celebrate and dote on them, and yes - they too are asking about grandkids already, but unlike even some of the briefest acquaintances at the store or the well meaning coworkers, they aren’t pushy about it. More like Hoseok’s father loves to goad them about the future possibility, about how the alpha must miss working with little kids now that his freelance work has taken off and he’s too busy to teach at the academy.

“Oh my god.” Jimin freezes in the entryway to their place. “This is - wow.”

The apartment looks totally different since Hoseok moved in; they redid it together to make sure it felt like both of them. Long gone are the cool grey walls with minimal art hanging on them. Now there is a neon green accent wall across from the other baby blue spaces, hand painted flowers in corners and fuzzy pillows and blankets on the couch. They have a fake cowhide rug in the living room and one of the plastic chandeliers that Taehyung always called tacky hanging in a space that makes no sense for a big light fixture.

It’s not anything that Jeongguk could have ever dreamt up, let alone decorate himself. He loves it so much, loves how radiant his alpha looks when they eat dinner curled up together by the table or when he just has to show off a new dance move in their limited living room, pushing everything to the side and slipping around on his socked feet. It feels so much like Hoseok, like the person he never thought he needed. He couldn’t have imagined someone like Hoseok, let alone that someone being an alpha.

Jeongguk never could have imagined this. Mated. Happily. Already.

“So you really let Hobi-hyung do his thing with the place, I see,” Jimin says, slowly spinning in a circle to take it all in.

Behind him, Hoseok laughs, shuffling past with Jimin’s suitcase to set him up in their guest room.

“This is the best part,” Jeongguk says, stepping into the kitchen. When he opens all of the cabinets, the neatly organized rows of cooking materials and serving ware look like something out of a magazine. When Tae had lived in the apartment, the cabinets were piled high with things that were never assigned permanent locations and often contained non-food related items that should never be allowed in the kitchen. Not so secretly, Jeongguk thinks that some of his messiness was what prolonged his courtship with Yoongi, whose OCD was something they really had to work on together.

Jimin whistles. “Yep. I can tell he lives here. I really love that he’s an alpha that wants to look at this all the time,” he pauses to motion at the confusing amount of color in the living room, “but also needs to have all of this.” He waves his hand around the kitchen.

“If you move anything more than five degrees, he knows. And he will come for you,” Jeongguk whispers. Jimin laughs brightly.

“How long do you think you’ll stay here?” Jimin asks. Hoseok wanders out of the guest room, coming behind Jeongguk to wrap his arms around his waist.

Jeongguk shrugs. “I just got this new job I liked.” It had not been easy. Post graduation, Jeongguk fumbled between all sorts of interviews for all sorts of jobs while taking any kind of production work he could, most often related to running sound for television shows, but it meant horrible and long hours.

There had been more than one or two depressive episodes. Once, it coupled with his heat for a truly horrendous week. Jeongguk was so scared that Hoseok would leave him in the middle of it that he wouldn’t allow the alpha to enter the room when the heat started, and he ended up so sick after day four that they went to the hospital to get an IV and emergency suppressants to push out the last of the lingering hormones and expedite the process. It was not easy on his body, and even after the hospital visit Jeongguk couldn’t work for another week and a half.

That was three months ago. Even though they regularly spoke of mating before that, it was after that experience that Jeongguk knew he wanted to mate sooner rather than later. There was no perfect time - just what felt right to them, Namjoon kept insisting. He and Seokjin were so concerned over the hospital visit (made worse in part by pregnancy hormones, no doubt) that they brought dinner every night for them for a couple of weeks. Seokjin’s instincts were in overdrive; he actually tried to build a nest (“for Jeongguk”) in a home not his, and Namjoon got a little growly around Hoseok whenever Jeongguk was around.

“I think he thinks of you as his baby to protect,” Hoseok whispered during one of their visits, both of them hiding in their own bathroom while the other couple made themselves at home.

“He’s never postured like that around you before! It’s ridiculous!” Jeongguk really did not want to go back out there. “And Seokjin scented my favorite blanket!”

They all had a laugh about it after the fact. Like, this weekend at brunch after the fact, because Seokjin was hurt when Jeongguk tramped through the nest in his own home and then Namjoon got angry on behalf of his mate. No one was thinking clearly; Jeongguk still coming down from a bad heat and Seokjin on the cusp of his second trimester, then the alphas getting sore on behalf of their partners.

Strangely enough, it was Namjoon who acted a little icy to Hoseok the next time they all saw each other. Seokjin messaged Jeongguk almost immediately after they left that day to apologize and the two omegas engaged in a pun-off text battle for the following forty-eight hours like nothing ever happened. It was Namjoon who seemed most affected.

“Namjoon, for all of his zen bullshit, can't control everything,” Yoongi said at the next group gathering. “Seokjin just started his second trimester and is feeling good, but they’ve been waiting to hit that marker before they really let themselves relax in the news.”

Which, made sense. Namjoon had dropped the news right before Jeongguk’s heat. It hadn’t been a planned announcement, per se.

“Just please don’t say I am the pseudo baby they’re protecting right now,” Jeongguk said, rolling his eyes. Hoseok already teased him about it.

Yoongi and Taehyung just gave him a flat look. “You’ve always been their pseudo baby.”

“Taetae is barely older than me!”

“I’m still older!” Taehyung dropped himself into Yoongi’s lap and nuzzled at his alpha’s chin. “You’re still the baby.”

When Jeongguk’s next heat started, he was better prepared mentally and physically for it. He knew what he wanted, and reminded Hoseok almost every second of that heat that he promised to bite him, but Hoseok waited towards the end of it for a little more lucidity to kick back in. When he was young, Jeongguk always assumed he would mate during a heat if he did mate, and that heat would be his most precious one.

It’s not. Jeongguk thinks his favorite heat will always be the first one they spent together.

Namjoon cried more than Seokjin at the news. The three alphas of the group went out that weekend to celebrate and ended up in a shitty hotel room by the end of the night because they couldn’t get themselves together enough to get home, and Jeongguk and Seokjin were fast asleep at Seokjin’s apartment at the time of night they drunkenly called. Taehyung didn’t even entertain the idea of going to help the alphas out either, too busy getting in his snuggles (read: sitting with his hands on Seokjin’s belly waiting to feel something despite the older omega telling him it was too early to feel much.)

A lot happened in a year. Jimin was gone for almost all of it.

“Hyung.” Jeongguk bites his lip. “When the baby comes, do you think you’ll be able to take some time off?”

He can’t imagine Jimin not being there for it. If Seokjin functioned as his role model for the caring and nurturing side of all things omega, then Jimin really functioned as his role model for passion and drive. The problem is Jimin’s passion is so successful he’s never there anymore.

Jimin sighs. “Oh, Gguk-ah.” He fondly pushes back Jeongguk’s hair with a little smile from where the youngest sits in Hoseok’s lap, leaning back against his chest. Hoseok noses at the back of his hair in response to the soft sadness in his scent.

“Actually, I have some news.” Jimin cups both of Jeongguk’s cheeks and aggressively smooshes them together. Jeongguk growls softly and both Jimin and Hoseok chuckle. “I was going to wait until the end of my visit to tell everyone, but…”

Jeongguk bolts upright in his alpha’s lap. “You’re moving back!”

Jimin laughs. “Yep.”

“Oh my god!” Jeongguk squeals and Hoseok excitedly squeezes him. When he can worm his way out of his hold, Jeongguk lunges for Jimin, taking the alpha with him so all three of them end up in a pile on the floor. Jeongguk has to push down the urge to scent Jimin - that’s how elated he feels!

When Jimin sits back up, there are tears in his eyes. “It’s not worth it,” he says. “I found out my dream job doesn’t compare to being here with all of you. I already told them I’m not renewing my contract.”

“Hyung!” Jeongguk goes back in for another hug.

“When is your contract done?” Hoseok asks, happily rubbing at Jeongguk’s back while the two omegas embrace.

“After Sydney. It’s pushing it close to Seokjin’s due date, but I’m crossing my fingers that baby doesn’t come early.” Jimin grins. “Although knowing Seokjin he can will it to happen on the day of his choosing.”

“Oh, he already picked the baby’s birthday. It’s going to be April 12th.” Jeongguk was informed months ago.

“Why April 12th?”

Jeongguk and Hoseok shrug in tandem.

Jimin sighs. “I will try to be back by April 12th.”

“Do you have something else lined up?” Hoseok asks. Jeongguk wants to give him a little shove for being too practical at such happy news.

“Nope. I just knew I needed to be here.”

“Wanna come work with me?” Hoseok grins.

Oh. Well. That makes sense.

This time Jimin lunges for Hoseok. “Yah! Be careful with him!” Jeongguk protests, but only enough so he can worm his way back into the snuggle pile, all three of their scents happy happy happy.

In fact, Jimin moves back to Seoul full time by April 10th, but unfortunately for Seokjin, his chosen birthday for the baby comes and goes. Their kid is over a week late and weighs over ten pounds when born. Namjoon faints once and sports a nasty cut and bruise on his forehead in all of the photos from the hospital because he managed to take down an IV stand with him. Seokjin, of course, looks miraculously put together in all of the pictures.

Jeongguk hangs a couple of the pictures on their fridge, right next to one of the group shots from the day Jimin announced his move back. There are lots of other photos there - a few of just him and Taehyung from before when they lived together, but lots of him and Hoseok. One in which both Hoseok and his sister hang off one of Jeongguk’s arms each, or one in which Jeongguk tries to hide his face from the camera but Hoseok just smiles so radiately at it. One of the usually smiling Hoseok standing completely stone faced next to stone faced Yoongi (there is a followup photo of them both laughing after keeping a straight face for so long on Taehyung’s phone).

“Getting a bit crowded on the fridge, isn’t it?” Hoseok innocently asks, gesturing to the collage of photos.

“Keep your perfectionist fingers off the fridge!” Jeongguk throws himself bodily over the front of it so his alpha can’t get to it. Hoseok holds up his hands in surrender and backs away. “I know your instincts are dying to organize these too, but they’re mine! Leave them be!”

Hoseok laughs, “Alright, baby, alright.” He lasts for all of ten seconds. “I just think that we could shuffle a few around, really optimize the space - ”

“Nope! Get out! Get out of the kitchen. You aren’t trustworthy to be in here alone.”

“Sweetheart, who is going to make dinner then?”

Jeongguk pouts. “Fine. Just promise you won’t touch my pictures?”

“I promise, baby.” Hoseok chuckles. “But be honest - do you think you’d notice if - ”

“Yah!”

Jeongguk takes off after Hoseok, chasing him around the kitchen island. “Jung Hoseok!” Hoseok cackles. They go around the kitchen, once, twice, then the alpha runs for their bedroom.

“Not the nest! Hyung!” Jeongguk gets to him before Hoseok touches their bedroom nest, but they topple over into it all the same when Jeongguk reaches him. It’s the most wonderful feeling - falling into their nest, saturated with just their scents, their newly combined scent, and laughing. They spend so much time laughing.

“Aish, I love you. You and your perfectionist nature.” Jeongguk sighs, allowing Hoseok to mouth along his neck.

“You’re stuck with me. Forever.”

“Yeah.” Isn’t that wonderful?