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Chapter Text

Over a thousand years ago, the first second gendered wolf was born.

The beast inside used to be soothed by the moon, drawn to a slumber only when fulfilled by the moon goddesses love that shimmered under moonshine.

The moon goddess grew fond of the creatures, for they thirsted for blood and terrorized others, but purred under the moonlight. They found calm within the blue-tinge of the night sky. 

As a reward, as a sign of her love, they were gifted the most expressive gift a goddess could have possibly given—

Omegas. 

Most creatures themselves were built to be instinctual, bloodthirsty, savage, they were built to be alphas, but, occasionally, there had been a breed in which their instincts came secondary to the mind. These were betas. 

It was within these betas that the moon goddess found hope that the most gentle of breeds, the newest ones, would be cared for.

Omegas were gentle. They were mesmerizing. They were built out of love, blessed by the touch of the moon goddess and sprinkled with moonlit kisses. 

They were too enchanting. 

The worst mistake the creatures had made was mistreating a gift from the moon goddess. Mistreating these enchanting wolves, taking advantage of their sensitivities, and their scent. 

Overpowering such gentle, loving, and caring omegas and staking price on their worth with a bloody claiming bite labeled, ironically, a moon bite for the way it healed like two crescents nestled in the crook of an omega’s neck.

The moon goddess would have loved this, she did love this, until things got out of hand. Until the small population of omegas she'd gifted were being slaughtered. 

Alphas were strong, they were the majority, and many did not take into account how gently they needed to hold an omega, touch one. They were built to harm, not to love.

Omegas needed love.

They did not need the bruising grip of alphas fighting over them, nor the sting of teeth constantly tossing their smaller forms about, and the moon goddess grew angry. Livid. 

She couldn't believe her gift was being mistreated in such a way, that what she had blessed was being killed before many pups had even been born.

As a lesson, she stopped blessing pups. 

The moon goddess only blessed one in every hundred wolf pups as an omega, and it had been this way for centuries. An omega would be the rare gift she intended them to be; they would be treated as she wished them to be, and alphas and betas would have to do as she wanted. 

They had to treat the omegas as golden gifts. 

In a world overrun with terrifying alphas and betas that did their best to survive around monsters, an omega was the moonlight. 

Only a few packs were granted an imprint that bonded an omega to them.

It was very rare for an incomplete pack to earn one, and even more rare for an omega to be imprinted on under such distressing circumstances—

“Don't fucking look at him, he's not for sale.” 

“Baby, baby. It's okay.” 

An imprint was oftentimes the cause of many of the feelings an alpha felt, it tugged a physical bond inside of the alpha, forced them to pay attention to everything the omega felt whether or not they were near one another, but there were no words to explain the way it felt to look into those wide, fearful chocolate eyes and have your emotions plummet.

It always felt like the world was falling apart when Jungkook was afraid.

“Hey,” Taehyung continued to soothe, shifting up onto his knees to tug Jungkook into his arms, hands running up and down his spine and running his nose along the omega’s cheek, “Ignore them. Ignore it. Look at me, baby. Look at alpha only, we'd never let anything hurt you. Hm? You know Jimin is just worried when it gets dark. Close your eyes. Go to sleep. We love you, puppy.” 

Those words were more than true. 

It hadn't exactly been Taehyung or Jimin's plan to imprint. They'd never been alphas who wanted to imprint. 

Then came along Jeon Jungkook. 

Jungkook, who had such sparkly eyes. Who had the prettiest button nose. Who had the cutest laugh and the kindest heart. Who smiled so hard his cheeks met his eyes. 

Jungkook, who had two black eyes when they met him. Who'd been running so fast he stumbled for words and nearly passed out. Who was so thin his bones poked at his clothes. Who had such a hard life that he had two grown men in tears from the first glance. 

Jungkook, who still wore the same old black hoodie and sweatpants from that day. Who had rips in his clothes and was dirty, but so, incredibly beautiful.

Jungkook. Who'd been on the streets for exactly three days before they'd met. 

That had been six months ago. 

Six months ago, when Jimin and Taehyung, too, had run away from home after their parents refused to accept that the duo cared for one another in a way much more than two alphas should. 

It was uncommon for alphas to feel the connections that they did. Jimin and Taehyung had been friends since high school, but they'd known relatively soon that what they felt wasn't quite friends, they'd even gone as far as to call each other soulmates. Once they'd met Jungkook, it became clearer that their bond was one meant to pull. To force them into a pack. To have many alphas to protect Jungkook. 

Jungkook was always first. He deserved to be first. He deserved every single penny they spent getting him a winter coat. He deserved all of the sleepless nights they stayed up watching over him. Despite never asking for anything, Jungkook deserved everything.

It was hard to give him what he deserved when their home was a dirty pile of blankets, two backpacks, and a handful of random toys and books.

Jungkook deserved so much more.

“I'm okay.” 

Taehyung looked at Jungkook immediately, eyes flickering away from Jimin, who was pacing a foot away and chewing on his lip as he counted cash they'd snatched from an older woman’s wallet earlier. They weren't proud of this. Not at all.

They'd tried, for a while, to get jobs, but no place wanted to hire anyone without any paperwork and neither Taehyung or Jimin had thought to bring along birth certificates when running away. They'd tried it all just to get off the streets. They'd tried to enroll in universities, but had no proof of high school completion. 

They'd stayed at homeless shelters for a while, but having an omega around drew too much attention and, although they'd never discuss it with Jungkook, it made Taehyung and Jimin feel even worse about the situation, because an omega should never have to be there in the first place.

Jungkook was their responsibility and seeing him like this was incredibly painful. It didn't matter how many pretty eye smiles Jungkook gave, or how giggly he'd get every morning, or how many times Jungkook said he loved them and that they were doing their best. 

That pain was always there. Sitting deep inside.

“‘m okay.” Jungkook slurred sleepily, nose scrunching up into that gorgeous, dewy-eyed smile that he gave when he was really sleepy. “Is alpha okay?” 

And Taehyung's chest suddenly felt lighter as he adjusted his arms around Jungkook and sighed, so fondly, while cupping his cheek, “Always. Alphas are always okay.” 

Sometimes, Jungkook argued with them when they said things like that. When they lied or tried to lessen the pressure of their situation. Sometimes they argued so much that Jungkook burst into tears and tucked himself into the furthest corner until he cried himself to sleep and Jimin had to tuck him in. 

It wasn't one of those nights. 

Jungkook only hummed tonight and mumbled a soft, “Kiss,” while closing his eyes and tilting his head back. 

Taehyung pressed a kiss to his lips, and another to his chin and his nose and the side of his jaw until Jungkook laughed sleepily and shifted to curl up on their blankets with his cheek on the alpha’s thigh and fingers running comfortingly along Taehyung's torn jeans. 

It felt like yesterday that Jungkook blushed and shied away. Like the way he did when they'd first suggested he sleep with them, he'd turned bright red and fumbled an excuse about being dirty and smelling which hadn't been true at all because Jungkook always smelled like vanilla and a tinge of milk, a scent meant to entice protective instincts in other sub genders. 

Holding Jungkook always felt like the first time. He was always so warm. Always so soft. Jungkook always felt so perfect pressed up against them. To the point where they used to fight over who got to hold him. 

They used to have a lot of petty fights like that at first. Omegas weren't common, and it was even less common to imprint on one, so the possessive instincts used to be really strong. 

They were still there, but much less often. They both recognized that protecting Jungkook was much more important than petty arguments. 

“Tae?” 

Blinking hard, fingers laced in Jungkook's hair, Taehyung looked up at Jimin who immediately moved to take a seat beside him on the blankets, hair sprawled around messily and visibly greasy. 

Just by his worried tone, Taehyung frowned. “Yeah?”

Jimin reached over to pet Jungkook's hair off of his forehead, raking fingers through his locks around Taehyung's fingers while tilting his head in thought, hesitant, “We have enough to rent a motel room for a night, maybe two, but I was thinking… we should save it for his birthday.” 

Immediately, Taehyung's eyes widened, “It's almost September?” 

“I didn't realize either,” Jimin admitted, face falling, shifting to press his shoulder into Taehyung's, “Fuck. I don't know how much longer we can do this. It's going to snow in a month. It's getting too fucking cold- we might have to… you know… they have those community centers where they take in omegas… they'd take him…” 

“Don't say that.” 

Taehyung's voice was quiet, but it came out as a hiss, “I told you. I'm not doing that. We aren't leaving him at an omega center all alone. I don't give a fuck. I'm not-”

“So you'd rather he freeze to death?” Jimin snapped. Taehyung didn't reply, but his face was devastated, so Jimin quickly backed down with a frown and a much softer tone, “He wouldn't go anyways. I'm sorry. It's a stupid suggestion, I just don't want him to have to be out here in the snow. I don't want any of us to...”

It was a stupid suggestion, so Taehyung didn't even try to deny that, but he did lean his head on Jimin's and curl his fingers around the other’s that laid on Jungkook's hair. It was quiet for a moment.

“We'll get a motel soon,” Jimin promised, shifting to lean back against the wall and running his teeth over his bottom lip anxiously, “We need to shower and get a good night of rest and-”

“You want to have sex.” 

Jimin's ears went red at the sudden comment, caught off guard, but he chuckled and elbowed Taehyung all the same, snorting as he teased, “As if you don't. It's been a long while, hasn't it?” 

Taehyung wet his lips and hummed an agreement, eyes running over Jungkook's big hoodie and the way it slipped down the omega’s shoulder and revealed smooth, golden skin. It had been a while, because they'd never risk exposing Jungkook’s slickened scent to the public. 

Sometimes the omega tried to seduce them. It was always cute cooes and blushing cheeks, so it was more them complimenting Jungkook's seductions rather than giving in, not because they didn't want him, because fuck—

They had to be blind not to want Jungkook; he was the most perfect person on the planet, so much so that even his soft breathing sounded like gentle hums. Even though they'd only had him once, Jungkook was addicting, but there were many more important things to consider other than knotting their omega. (But they were alphas and Jungkook was an omega, so their thoughts strayed more often than either of them would admit aloud.) 

“We should buy more water tomorrow,” Taehyung said instead of commenting on that topic again. As much as he wanted to discuss it, thinking too much about it would only bring up a problem they couldn't deal with right now. “Drink the rest of it. You look pale.” 

“Don't parent me, I'm the oldest.” 

“Shut up and drink. And I'm going to keep a look out and make sure nobody bothers us tonight, you're sleeping tonight, Chim.” 

“Bossy,” Jimin scrunched up his nose in disapproval, but he did chug down the rest of their water bottle before he shifted on his knees to scoop up Jungkook. The omega wasn't a light sleeper unless he was having a nightmare, so Jungkook didn't wake up all of the way despite Jimin manhandling him to lay down properly.

Jungkook just whined a quiet, sleepy slur of, “... hyung…” and curled a hand into the edge of Jimin's collar, soothed by a handful of shushes and Jimin's warm scent of caramel filling his lungs as the alpha wrapped him up in his arms. 

The omega made a contented noise before purring under his breath in a way that made Jimin beam and press a kiss against his ear while murmuring, “We're here, bunny. Always here. Sleep well. Love you.” 

Then, Jimin shifted to reach out over Jungkook's back with an empty palm until Taehyung was giving him a small laugh and leaning down to fit his cheek into Jimin’s hand and complaining, “You don't smell nearly as good as Kookie does.” 

“Oh god don't even get me started about you, Tae.” 

They both laughed, and, despite their teasing, Jimin did tug Taehyung down into a kiss, nuzzling against his nose for a second before letting go with a quiet, “I'm really sorry.” 

Jimin didn't need to say more. They both knew what he was sorry for. 

“Stop apologizing. I don't regret anything.” Taehyung rolled his eyes and leaned down to press a kiss to the back of Jungkook's neck, smiling when the omega rumbled with a fit of teeny purs, “Plus, we wouldn't be able to hear that if we hadn't come out here, now would we? Now be a good boy and go to sleep.” 

“Tae,” Jimin complained, both a growl and a laugh, “Don't talk to me like you do Kookie, we both know that I could take you down.” 

“Debatable.” 

Chapter Text

“Because it's going to rain soon and you're sounding congested, Taehyung. Don't argue with me.” 

“You really don't need to go.” Taehyung argued quietly. 

“Hyung!” 

Jimin laughed and spun around to wait for Jungkook when he heard the omega’s shuffling steps. Jungkook always thought he was quiet. Always tried to be, but the truth was Jungkook made a lot of noise.

The omega was dreamy-headed. He got lost in his thoughts so much that sometimes he tripped over his own feet, and when he was really out of it Jungkook would just do that pretty, wide-eyed stare out at nothing. 

When asked what he was thinking about, which was often, Jungkook always had something silly and sweet to say. (“Oh! ‘m just thinking about what would happen if we had no towns - it would be like the caveman days, right… wait… wait, no… we could be like pirates! Live in the sea… that could be fun… but what if we get sick…”) 

“Bunny,” Jimin cooed under his breath, immediately catching the omega and tugging Jungkook into his chest before cupping his cheeks and running thumbs below his sleep-swollen eyes, “Good morning, pretty baby. We didn't know you were up.” 

And then there was that smile. The one where Jungkook's dimple popped out and his bunny teeth pressed into his bottom lip. 

Jimin visibly softened up, not that he had been rough around the edges before, but Jungkook had a way of melting even the slightest bit of tensions away. Even though six months had passed since the very first giggly smile, it was hard to get used to such a look. One that made his heart jump and his body relax. 

Honestly, neither of the alphas were sure that the feeling was ever going to go away. 

The alpha was so distracted by it that he nearly missed Jungkook's very groggy, “Where are you going?” 

“Beautiful,” Jimin replied, fondly, pressing a kiss to Jungkook's nose and releasing a breath, leaning their foreheads together, “Alpha is going to get Tae some medicine, he doesn't feel well.” 

Taehyung sniffled rather loudly from his spot, tugging the blankets over his shoulders, and rolling over as if to punctuate that statement. Jungkook frowned and his voice grew very quiet, “Tae Tae is sick?” 

That tone coming from Jungkook was like a jolt of lightning burning down his spine and it wasn't the first time they had to hear Jungkook worry, they'd heard much worse from the omega before; this was nothing compared to the pure burn of fury that followed a single tear from Jungkook, but the idea of worrying Jungkook was enough to make Jimin backtrack.

Jimin knew he wasn't alone in that feeling when he saw Taehyung shoot to sit up and quickly wipe away his runny nose over Jungkook's shoulder.

“Oh, baby,” Jimin clicked his tongue as he pulled out of the hug to smooth down Jungkook's messy hair, “It's just the flu, I'll get him medicine, Kookie.” He pressed his lips together and thought for a moment, “Alpha needs to… make some money, which is why I wasn't going to have you come, but if you want…” 

Stealing was shameful. They knew that. They didn't want to do it, but there wasn't exactly a choice.

“I want to help. Hold on, alpha.” 

Jimin floundered for words, immediately stuttering out a protest, but by then Jungkook was spinning on his toes and trudging over to the blankets. “Jungkook…” 

The omega ignored him and he tugged a jacket out and plopped down to tug his torn boots on, ignoring Taehyung reaching over to grab his wrist until the alpha scooted closer with a quiet, “Baby…” and pressed a kiss below Jungkook's ear, nuzzling into his jaw and —

“Alpha, no.” 

Taehyung tore himself away immediately. Not because Jungkook said it in any way rudely, nor upset, it was a mere mumble, but when Jungkook said no, he meant no, and they'd promised him they'd never make choices for him. He'd already had too many things chosen for him despite only being nineteen years old. 

Still, Taehyung felt a guilty look slip onto his face out of reflex and he quickly whispered an apology. 

Jungkook frowned to himself, tugging his second boot on before quickly turning to throw a leg over Taehyung's lap and snuggling into his nose, warning a sharp, “Kookie, he's sick,” from Jimin. 

“He's right,” Taehyung turned his head away and gently shifted the omega off of him, “Don't get so close, pretty. We don't need you getting sick too.” 

None of them pointed out that they'd probably all get sick considering it was getting colder out and they slept all cuddled together. They tried not to talk too much about the situation. Well, the alphas tried not to while Jungkook was around, knowing how much Jungkook preferred this over where he'd been before. 

Jungkook pouted up a storm, whining and whimpering in such a dramatic fashion that Jimin gritted his teeth together at the same time Taehyung sighed and reached over to curl fingers around the omega’s nape with a scolding, “You're riling us up again, Jungkook. You know alphas don't like when you whine, but you know we're right this time. Jimin will give you enough love for both of us. Now, are you going with him or staying here?” 

Jungkook could be a tad childish. He was only nineteen, nearly twenty, but he hadn't always been like this. 

The first three months had been rough. Jungkook jerked away. He burst into tears. He apologized too much. And, sometimes, he still did those things. He undermined himself every single day. He beat himself up inside and, occasionally, outside too. 

Their omega had a lot of troubles, they did too, but Jungkook… Jungkook needed a lot of attention. A lot of love. Every time he reached out for love, it felt like they were winning, because Jungkook hadn't always been this way. Quite the opposite really. 

There were still things they didn't know. Things Jungkook hadn't wanted to share with them, but they knew enough to know to never speak to Jungkook harshly and to never scold him if not for good reason—

The same reason as to why Jungkook had a bad arm - the left one - and he babied it more. The same reason why Jungkook used to stay up all night just staring at them, taking in their scents, like they were going to jump at him any second despite feeling their pull. Or how Jungkook apologized for things that weren't his fault. 

The reason why Jungkook found it hard to say I love you back. Because, for some, it was easy to mutter out those three words, but not Jungkook. 

“‘m sorry.” Jungkook raised his head, frowning, eyes looking worried, “... are you angry?” 

“With you? Never.” 

Jungkook smiled, just a tiny bit, a bit of hesitancy to his gaze, fingers drumming on Taehyung's thigh and gnawing at his lip before he whispered, “... gonna go with Minnie… um, can you… you say it?” 

The alphas gazed at him incredibly fondly, but Jimin let Taehyung have his time and waited patiently when Taehyung began his quick, long-winded cooes.

“It? Hm? About how beautiful you are? How much alpha loves you? Because it's a lot. More than I can explain. More than the stars love the moon. More than I did yesterday. But I can't say I love you the most right now, because…” Taehyung paused and chuckled under his breath when Jungkook giggled all happily as he waited for him to finish, because he'd heard this rant many times before, “When tomorrow comes, I'll love you even more.” 

Jungkook burst into a pink blush and giggled every single time, and today wasn't any different, the only difference was that instead of leaning into Taehyung's cheek with a giggly request for kisses, he nuzzled into the alpha’s knuckles.

A minute passed and so did Jungkook's happy noises, soothed by Taehyung scratching down his nape, before Jimin was finally breaking them up with a gentle, “Taehyung, try and get some sleep, we'll be as fast as we can. Hopefully we can eat something good later.” 

The reminder of their circumstances made Jungkook immediately move to stand up, brushing a hand over Taehyung's shoulder and launching at Jimin's waist with a rushed, “We have to go get Tae Tae medicine, hyung.” 

And that, they did, preferably before a bunch of people got on with their day and came snooping around their hiding place behind a bookstore downtown. It was very early; one of the downsides to being homeless was that the second the sun was up, you were up too, because it was so hard to sleep with all of the light. 

With another goodbye, Jimin accepted Jungkook's hand and the duo began walking down the street with the alpha rubbing Jungkook's fingers between his own to warm them up. 

“Hyung?” Jungkook began softly, scratching at his hair - the action made Jimin mentally remind himself that Jungkook needed to wash up soon. Jungkook would never complain about anything, but having good hygiene while homeless was hard. “The cold is going to make Tae even worse, isn't it?” 

Jimin didn't want to answer that. He knew if he denied it, Jungkook would call him out on his lie, and if he agreed then Jungkook would be even more upset. 

He opted not to respond to that and instead press a kiss against Jungkook's temple and tug him across the street with a soft, “Alpha is going to use the bathroom very quickly, can you wait alone?” 

They always took turns waiting with Jungkook to keep the omega comfortable, but the cafe Jimin was tugging him up to was a familiar one. It was one of the only places opened before nine and one of the only ones that allowed people to use the bathrooms without having to buy anything. 

It was incredibly embarrassing to do, but sometimes they used the bathrooms to clean up if it'd been a long while since they'd managed to get a motel room for the night. Hygiene was the least of their thoughts most days. 

The worry list was always: Jungkook, food, water, clothes, then hygiene. 

Nonetheless, they did try to stay clean with wipes. And there had been times where they had motel rooms for multiple days, the alphas always spent the entire time sleeping soundly with locks to keep people out. Jungkook usually busied himself by watching television or spending hours in the shower. 

“I'm not a baby. I can be alone for a little bit.” 

“Mhm.” Jimin acknowledged, holding the door open, “But you are alphas’ baby, so get rid of that pouty lip, baby, and I'll be right back.” 

Jungkook scrunched up his nose at having been caught with a pout, but quickly spun around and headed for the closest booth to the bathroom door, eyes wandering. 

The usual employee wasn't at the counter this morning, but when they walked in she typically barely acknowledged them anyway. Teenagers always seemed to hate their lives when they worked customer service. 

Sometimes Jimin commented about it. Pointed out how lucky they'd feel to have a job if their situations were reversed. Sometimes he grew very frustrated about it, especially on days where someone pointed out their dirty clothes or blatantly ignored them as though homeless people were beneath them. 

Jimin got defensive and angry. Taehyung got embarrassed. Jungkook… Jungkook just didn't care anymore. 

The omega would take this, refilling water bottles in bathroom sinks and laying on worn rags instead of a bed, over his previous situation. Taehyung and Jimin were here and they made everything better, so Jungkook didn't mind the comments or the disgusted glances or the way his stomach was rumbling—

God. He was hungry. 

Wetting his lips, Jungkook began to bounce his knee as he eyed the glass case of baked goods. It was open. It looked like they were in the process of refilling it. 

The counter was still empty, no employees in sight, but Jungkook could see behind the counter that there was an opened door and light on in the far back of the cafe. They must not have heard them come in, which meant they'd likely not notice-

No.

Jungkook curled his nails into his pants and glanced at the bathroom door. His stomach was really hurting, but even more so he knew that Taehyung and Jimin had to be even more hungry than him. They always chose much smaller things from the convenience store than what they got for him - Jungkook pretended not to notice. 

He pretended not to notice a lot of things these days, like how bony Jimin felt when he cuddled into his ribs. Or how Taehyung tended to wait until he thought Jungkook wasn't listening before complaining to Jimin about his headaches. 

Jungkook was good at pretending. He'd grown good at it. He didn't have to pretend much with the alphas, but sometimes he did. 

Pretending he didn't want to walk over and shove a bunch of muffins into his pocket was very hard though, because his stomach was calming down just thinking about eating and Jungkook really wanted to be helpful. 

It wasn't him that stole things much. Usually Jungkook distracted, which wasn't hard to do as an omega at all. All he had to do was sit in the corner and smile and look away a few times, and Taehyung or Jimin always intercepted before anyone could approach him. 

Nervously, Jungkook shifted to stand up, eyes flickering to the opened doorway behind the counter before approaching the sliding case. 

Surely a few muffins wouldn't be a big deal. His alphas stole much more important things before, like whole wallets and purses if they were left unattended for too long. A muffin or two, or three… those weren't a big deal.

Just as Jungkook grabbed one and moved for another, two things happened. 

One, the light at the end of the hall turned off. And two, Jimin stepped out of the bathroom saying, “Baby?” and even though it hadn't been loud. It sounded like it because the cafe was so quiet except for the gentle music in the background. 

“Hello?” 

Jungkook already had a second one in his hand by the time there were steps coming out of that doorway and by the time Jimin was cursing aloud and realizing what was happening. 

“Excuse me? Hey! Hey, you can't-”

It took one glance up at the walkway towards the counter for Jungkook to meet narrowed, irritated eyes, for the omega to drop the muffins on the ground, spin around, and try to make a run towards the door, stopped only by Jimin's hand around his wrist and quiet shushing. 

“Baby. Jungkook,” Jimin whispered, voice firm, petting back the omega’s hair and shushing, “Jungkook. I need you to breathe. Breathe. You're fine. I'm right here.” 

Neither of them seemed to notice the alpha that had stiffened up in front of the counter, nor the panicked look crossing his face. Jimin cared only about Jungkook's panic. Not about being caught stealing. Or the alpha lingering. Nothing at all.

At least not until there was a clear of a throat and a rather panicked looking alpha blurting out, “God. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry- do… do you want something to eat?” 

Only then did Jimin's face contort into confusion, he shifted to tuck Jungkook into his chest while the omega caught his breath, fingers running over Jungkook's nape reassuringly. 

The other alpha was tall. Large. Much larger than him, so that alone was one reason why Jimin stiffened up so quickly upon looking at him. A second reason why was because he was, seemingly, incredibly interested in Jungkook. 

Too interested. 

His eyes were locked on the omega, but not scanning his body or leering. He was just looking at him. At the holes in his clothes and the dirt on his pants, he looked incredibly regretful upon looking at Jungkook's shaky shoulders. He was only interested in the omega’s physical and emotional state rather than much else. 

No. No fucking way—

“Oh for fucksake,” Jimin hissed out, earning the alpha’s attention, shifting towards a booth and pointedly shielding Jungkook’s face from the alpha, “No goddamn way. Don't tell me you just imprinted on him. This isn't happening today…” 

The stranger cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair under Jimin's harsh gaze. It wasn't that Jimin was intimidating, he wasn't, but considering what had just been thrown out on the table they were all worried. 

(Jungkook, of course, was much too busy trying to breathe than thinking about much else.) 

“So, are you hungry?” 

Jimin glanced at the hand motioning towards the glass case before back at the man, eyeballing his slacks and untucked white button down. He didn't look like an employee. Didn't really look like he belonged here in such an outfit. Or with such a handsome face—

What the hell?

“What's your name?” 

“Seokjin. Kim Seokjin.” Relaxing, Seokjin smiled just bit, incredibly aware that Jimin was watching his every move, “I'll tell you anything you want to know, but we should get your… mate,” there was a pause as though he was waiting for protest. When there wasn't one, Seokjin seemed to smile even harder before continuing, “And yourself something to eat. What do you like? Hyung will get it for you.” 

Chapter Text

The last thing Seokjin expected this morning was to stumble across a pair of pups trying to steal from him. 

It wasn't all that often that he decided to go into one of his cafes early and try out a new tea brew before officially stocking up all of the locations. Hoseok was the one who'd suggested he do it, likely because he grew sick of being forced into being his taste tester. 

Seokjin also hadn't expected to imprint today either, but that gentle blanket curling around in his heart hadn't been there an hour ago, but it was most certainly there now. 

It was clear the rest of his pack could feel it too, because his phone was going off every few seconds on the edge of the table and Seokjin could tell that Jimin - the young alpha had reluctantly given him their names after his second sandwich - noticed it, because he glanced at the table each time. 

Jimin was going to be difficult to deal with. Seokjin could tell right away that he was going to be the kind of alpha that barked and bit and snarled when he was even slightly upset. Like Yoongi. 

Seokjin debated on calling Yoongi as soon as Jimin pretended he didn't hear him ask for their names the first time, but he didn't want to scare the duo anymore than needed. It was clear that they didn't need anymore to worry about at this second.

They were filthy. That much was obvious to anyone. 

Jimin's hair was unkept. His clothes were torn and dirty. He smelled like caramel and sweat. Seokjin felt a little bad because after staring at him for a long while, the younger alpha had tugged his hood over his head self consciously, but Seokjin hadn't been judging him. 

He'd been worrying over him. 

Jimin was very thin and pale. His lips were chapped and anxiously gnawed away at. When he'd reached for his drink, Seokjin saw healing scabs on his knuckles and after that Seokjin found it much easier to look at Jungkook instead, because his stomach began to churn looking at those wounds and wondering what could have happened. 

Jungkook was—

Jungkook was like a sunset—

He was hard to describe in words, because he was so many things. He was golden. And beautiful. And comforting. And looking at Jungkook for too long felt like at any moment he was going to disappear and it forced Seokjin to savor every moment and every little thing he did.

Within the past thirty minutes, Seokjin learned that Jungkook liked to break cookies up to eat them. That he only liked sweet drinks. That he preferred chicken over ham. And his eyebrows moved a lot when he really liked the taste of something. 

Seokjin had also learned that Jungkook was very sensitive and it took him a long time to calm down when panicked. And that he liked his nape to be touched very gently. And he didn't really use his left arm as much as his right. And Jungkook was very hesitant to even look at him. 

When he did look at him, Seokjin always made sure his expression was schooled into a gentle smile rather than as excited as he felt. 

The pack had discussed it before - the reason why they all felt connected. 

It wasn't often that so many alphas felt this strong of a pull towards one another, so they'd all assumed that one day there had to be an omega being the cause of such a feeling. They hadn't expected another alpha. 

Especially one as young as Jimin, who didn't even look like he had facial hair, let alone could take care of an omega all by himself. 

Okay, maybe Seokjin was projecting and sizing Jimin up a little bit, but there weren't really any competitive feelings that bubbled up when looking at the alpha. Just this very strong, familiar, ribbon wrapping around his chest and trying to tug them closer. 

The bonds an imprint inflicted were hard to explain, but the feeling Seokjin had when looking at Yoongi or Namjoon or Jimin felt like the tide rolling over sandy beaches, quiet and gentle. 

The feelings Seokjin felt when looking at Jungkook were akin to the crest of a wave sinking back down into the middle of the sea, it was constant, and bumpy and rough. And if there was even a single smidge of a change within the constant stream of crashing feelings, it drew his attention immediately. 

“Are you going to get that?” 

Seokjin blinked at Jimin, and the alpha merely pointed at the phone going off on the table, commenting, “You must be a busy person.” 

Jungkook glanced up through his hair, but didn't say a thing. He hadn't said a thing. Jimin spoke for him a lot, and when Seokjin tried to address him directly, Jungkook shied away. 

“I own these,” Seokjin sighed and reached out to fiddle with his phone, “All of the Kim Cafe and Kim Kitchen locations are mine.” 

“But you look so young?” 

“They were inherited,” Seokjin snorted and glanced at Jimin once before muting his phone and tossing it onto his side of the booth and reaching over to start piling the duo’s wrappers onto a tray, “Plus, you can't really talk about age, can you? How old are you, pup?” 

Jimin frowned and the small pout to his lips was cute even if addressing him as pup seemed to annoy him, but before he could respond there was a shrill, high-pitched squeak cutting into the air.

It made Seokjin's hair stand up on every inch of his skin and, based on how fast Jimin jerked to check on Jungkook, he was not used to the noise either. 

“Baby.” Jimin worried, cupping Jungkook's cheek and smoothing away crumbs from his chin, “Hey. Look at me. Are you okay? What happened?” 

Jungkook looked like he was about to cry. His entire face fell and his eyes glazed over. He leaned closer to Jimin hesitantly, voice incredibly quiet and shy, but so, so enchanting, “... we ate it all. Tae Tae… Tae Tae won't have any… I-I can't believe - we… we ate it all… hyung-”

“Hyung will get you more,” Seokjin cut in. He didn't mean to interrupt, but Jungkook was beginning to look seconds away from another panic attack, “You can have as much as you want,” he assured.

Jungkook looked at him with round, glassy eyes, like he wasn't sure he believed him. There were cookie crumbs all over his bottom lip and the front of his hoodie and Jungkook just looked… he looked so small. And innocent. And lost. 

“You're just hungry, aren't you?” Seokjin cooed at him. Hand inching closer towards Jungkook's messy chin, “When's the last time you ate, sweet thing?” 

Before Seokjin got a response, and before his fingers brushed Jungkook's skin, Jimin was cutting in between them with a rather rough and sharp, “Don't touch him,” that made Seokjin grit his teeth.

There was a second there where Seokjin worried his instincts would take over and he'd hurt the younger alpha, but he wasn't a pup and he had to reign in those possessive urges. Plus, there wasn't an ounce inside of him that wanted to hurt Jimin. 

It was visibly clear that Jimin didn't want to hurt Seokjin either, because despite his big bark, Jimin's chest rose and fell rapidly, like he was more panicked than he was angry, and his eyes were blown wide.

He was scared.

More scared than he was angry. 

Seokjin backed down immediately. He shifted to lower himself and allowed Jimin to see his hands at all times and said, carefully, “I'm not hurting him. I'm not hurting you. Alright? I've imprinted on him too, Jimin. We don't need to do this. We're not arguing. Or fighting. We are just talking. We're talking, pup. Don't scare our omega more.” 

Jimin sucked in a few hard breaths and despite Seokjin mentioning scaring Jungkook, the omega didn't look scared, he just looked worried and he cuddled into Jimin's nape so that one eye peeked out so he could eye Seokjin. 

“Hyung,” Jungkook whispered, “Tae.” 

Tae. Seokjin mentally made a note to mention the name later, when Jimin calmed down, because he didn't think questioning him more was the right move. 

Instead, he slowly got up and walked to the counter to grab a bag and begin to pack practically everything that was behind the glass. Not saying a word or glancing at them, giving the duo space.

It seemed at least one of the two was interested in him and what he was doing, because there was a very quiet whisper that Seokjin couldn't understand and it made him lift his head to check on them. 

Jungkook was now sitting sideways on Jimin's lap, feet hanging off the side of the booth and the alpha was tangled all around him, rubbing his stomach and breathing into his nape, eyes on Seokjin, weary. 

Seokjin decided to ignore those searching eyes. He knew what Jimin was doing. He would be careful who he let around Jungkook too, if he were Jimin, especially considering what they were going through, whatever that may be.

Clearly, it was nothing good judging by how they'd scarfed down food. Or how scared Jungkook looked when he'd begun to clean up. Or just by how tired Jimin seemed to be. Seokjin couldn't mention it yet, it wasn't his place to. 

First, he needed Jimin's trust. 

Then, he could work on everything else. 

At least Jungkook didn't seem to be as weary of him as the omega probably should be, but Seokjin understood most of the omega’s interest in him was stimming from the fact that he'd offered them food more so than anything else. Jungkook didn't really even blink twice when imprinting was mentioned, food was his priority. 

He was a hungry, hungry omega, and knowing that pained Seokjin. 

“Do you want to pick?” Seokjin asked softly, “You can come pick what you want, sweetheart. Anything you want.” 

Jungkook bit his lip and glanced at Jimin, when the alpha didn't so much as blink away from staring Seokjin down, the omega asked, “Really?” 

Seokjin chuckled and placed a bag on the counter and stepped back a bit, “You can take as much as you want, Jungkook. Al-hyung will let you take anything you like.” 

Jungkook tugged his sleeves over his hands nervously before he came walking over. His jeans were all torn on the bottom edge because they were too long, and his hoodie looked too thin and worn out for the coming winter.

Seokjin didn't say anything, he just glanced at Jimin to see if he noticed his slip up. The alpha likely did, but didn't comment. Seokjin was pretty sure if he referred to himself as alpha to Jungkook that Jimin would snatch Jungkook out the door and disappear without a trace, because it only confirmed that Seokjin wanted Jungkook to acknowledge him as his alpha. 

And Seokjin did. He'd never lie about wanting that. Would never say otherwise. Because the idea of his imprint wanting him as a mate already felt like a dream. 

Jimin must understand exactly how he felt right now. 

Jungkook sent him the cutest nervous smile Seokjin had ever seen before accepting the bag and moving to collect food while Seokjin twisted his lips and eyed the knots within long hair that needed a good brush; he'd give anything to sit Jungkook down and do something with those messy locks. 

“Twenty-one.” 

Seokjin looked back at Jimin. 

The alpha was standing now, which made Seokjin swallow hard. They were going to leave. 

“I'm twenty-one,” Jimin finally answered, “I turn twenty-two this year, Kookie is turning twenty soon.” 

At the mention of his name, Jungkook lifted his head and when he looked at Jimin it was like all of the stars in the night sky settled down in his eyes. Jimin didn't even need to say a word, Jungkook was cooing, “Alpha,” and grabbing one last sandwich before jumping at him like an excited bunny. 

Now that did make jealousy stir in his stomach. 

“I'm twenty-six,” Seokjin replied, trying to sound casual, “Do you have a place to stay?” 

That was a step too far and he knew it the second Jimin turned to pull Jungkook's hood over his forehead with a soft, “Do you need to go to the bathroom before we go?” 

Jungkook scrunched up his nose and leaned into Jimin's cheek with a soft, whiny, “Alpha, Tae.” 

Finally, after having heard the name a bunch of times, and desperate to keep them here, where it was warm and safe, Seokjin asked, “Tae? Who is Tae?” 

“My alpha!” Jungkook exclaimed like it was the best thing he got to say all day, “Tae is-”

“We have to go,” Jimin cut him off, arm squeezing Jungkook's waist, “We have things to do.” 

“But…” Jungkook frowned, “But maybe Seokjin hyung can-”

Seokjin heard his name and momentarily felt like he was sitting on clouds, only zoned in on Jungkook and the silky smoothness to his voice, before Jimin was saying, tone too firm for Seokjin's liking, “Not now, Kookie.” 

“Hey…” 

Seokjin had no idea why he butted in. He didn't know anything about them, he just knew he didn't like the way Jimin kept cutting Jungkook off, or the whine in the omega’s voice, but he didn't have an excuse. He couldn't scold Jimin. 

That would ruin every bit of respect Seokjin had, hopefully, earned in Jimin's eyes, so instead he did what he hoped wouldn't anger the alpha more.

He threw himself at his bag hanging behind the counter with a swift, “Hold on, just a second,” Seokjin swallowed down the possessiveness he felt as he continued to think about how he was going to just let Jimin walk out the door with Jungkook. Let Jungkook leave.

Jungkook was his imprint. Wouldn't be with him. What if he got hurt? What if the omega got sick? What if he was hungry? What if what if—

“I'm giving you my number, in case you need anything,” Seokjin blurted when he heard Jimin shift, rummaging in his wallet, “Anything. Anything at all. Alright?” 

Finally, looking up with a stack of cash in his fist and his company card, Seokjin held it out to Jimin. “If you call me, it's no questions asked. I don't need to know anything you don't want me to. The only thing I ask is that if you call, the first thing I need you to tell me is that you guys are safe. And I'll get you whatever you need.” 

Jimin didn't move immediately. He pressed his lips in a line. Seokjin tried to feel him out, read his expressions, but the only thing that he felt was his chest felt very heavy and he wasn't really sure what that meant. He couldn't tell if that was his own anxiety or Jimin's. 

“Okay.” 

After a good few seconds, Jimin accepted it, he sighed and nodded at Jungkook with a very quiet tone that sounded a bit forced, “Say goodbye, baby bunny. We need to get going.” 

Jungkook was taller than Jimin, but he looked so small tangled under his arm like that. Like there was no place he'd rather be than with the alpha. 

“Thank you,” Jungkook smiled - it seemed his smiles were always sparkly and coo-worthy - and bowed his head, “I'm sure we'll see you again, hyung. Thank you so much, we really really really appreciate it! Just wait until I tell Tae about this, he won't believe it at all!” 

Seokjin brightened up considerably. Maybe Jungkook wasn't as quiet as he thought. Or as shy as he thought. 

He nearly reached over to brush a knotted strand of hair from Jungkook's face, but decided against it just to lean back against the counter and reply, “I'm looking forward to it, sweetheart.” 

Jungkook let out a happy sound and took the money from Jimin with a soft, “Alpha, I'm gonna go tell Tae!” 

They must not live too far away, Seokjin internally noted, because Jimin didn't say a thing about Jungkook running off by himself. 

Once it was just the two of them, Seokjin saw the way Jimin's hands clenched and unclenched and how tight Jimin's jaw seemed to get, but the younger alpha also seemed to be struggling for words. The fact that he didn't run off yet suggested there was a lot he wanted to say. 

Seokjin didn't expect his first words to be so quiet and soft, especially considering how aggressive his stance was, but they were gentle and even shaky when Jimin finally got out, “I'm trying to take care of them.” 

A scream or a yell would have been expected, so Seokjin's jaw visibly dropped in shock and he quickly straightened up and replied, “I wasn't judging you at all. I can tell you're doing a very good job. Jungkook adores you, anyone can see it.” 

Jimin licked his teeth and ran a hand through his hair, avoiding his eyes, he whispered, “I can't fucking believe this.” 

“That you have to share him?” 

Seokjin honestly didn't know what Jimin was referring to, there were many things that the other could be referring to, but it obviously wasn't that, because Jimin actually chuckled. He didn't smile, but it was a laugh just enough for Seokjin to see that his front tooth was slightly crooked. 

That was cute. 

“Share him? No. I already share him,” Jimin shook his head, “I can't believe that Jungkook got imprinted on by such opposites…” 

Oh.

It was difficult to keep his face from falling when Seokjin realized what Jimin was talking about. How different they were. Where Seokjin had so easily thrown money at them and given away food. Things that, obviously, Jimin struggled to get for them.

Seokjin had just completely undermined his authority as an alpha. Completely engraved that idea that he had much more than Jimin did. That he could provide when Jimin couldn't. 

And Jimin was scared. Worried. Insecure.

“Jimin,” Seokjin whispered, “You do realize this isn't just about him, you know that, right? This isn't your pack against mine. It's not a competition. I want to take care of you too.” Very softly, voice as gentle as could be, he added, and maybe he shouldn't have, “You're just pups, Jimin, and there's nothing wrong with letting your pack take care of you. I have three other alphas who would love to take care of you, Jungkook, and Tae.” 

He didn't get to find out whether adding that in had been a mistake or not, because the second he muttered Tae, Jimin was cursing rather loud and frantically, gathering the bag of food Jungkook had abandoned in his excited hurry and worrying, “Taehyung. God, I'm so stupid.” 

And, just like that, Jimin was gone. 

Seokjin sucked in a breath and shifted to sit down on the floor, fingers massaging his forehead.  

What the fuck just happened? 

Chapter Text

“... but I'm hungry.” 

“Jungkook,” Jimin sighed, growing frustrated as he collected the soggy hamburger from the omega with the same words he must have said at least four times in the past few hours, “You can not eat this. It's been sitting here for two days. How many times do I have to tell you? Go sit with Taehyung.” 

The omega humphed and screwed up his face in an angry pout, not moving from his spot on the corner of the blankets.

Overwhelmed and frustrated and angry, Jimin finally snapped, pointing at the blankets where Taehyung was laying with a coat over his head trying to sleep and ordering, “Go. Now.” 

Jimin didn't yell. He'd never yell at Jungkook. But he did say it much more sternly and rudely than he should have and immediately regretted it. He was incredibly overwhelmed.

Taehyung wasn't getting any better. In fact, he'd gotten worse the past four days.

The cash Seokjin had given them came and went rather fast, seeing as they'd grabbed as much medicine they could get without a prescription at the pharmacy and some more blankets and food. Taehyung wasn't getting any better and that on top of Jungkook's sudden moodiness was a lot to handle. 

The omega wasn't normally demanding. He never asked for anything and wouldn't even say whether or not he was hungry, but recently he'd been complaining and demanding and whining a bunch. 

Needless to say, Jimin was bubbling up inside under all of the responsibility. Plus, he'd never been the most patient out of the alphas - that was Taehyung through and through. 

“Jimin!” 

Jimin released a breath at the same time Taehyung was pulling the coat off of his face and mustering up the best pissed off expression he could, which was incredibly hard to do seeing as how sick he felt. 

It showed too. His face looked rather pale and he'd been having a hard time eating despite the food they'd been able to get. He'd thrown up a few times last night and was shivering and boiling. 

Taehyung coughed and shifted to lay on his back, releasing a quiet breath and touching Jungkook's thigh with a gentle, tired, “He didn't mean it. Come to alpha, baby.” 

Jungkook did, eyes wet, shoulders hunched, and lips pressed together. He tugged the blankets back and sank into Taehyung just to hide in his neck and let the alpha tiredly pet his hair.

Taehyung was really sick. They all knew it. His hands looked shaky and he said everything went black the last time he'd tried to walk around. The alpha really shouldn't have to clean up Jimin's mistakes. 

“... mad at me?”

“Oh, baby,” Taehyung rumbled, wetting dry lips, eyes closed and curling his fingers into Jungkook's locks, “Don't cry. He's not mad at you. You're such a good boy. We're never mad at you. Even if we ever fight, we'd never hurt you.” 

Jimin swallowed down the frustrated and guilty tears that welled up and yanked his hands out of his hair - and likely a few strands  - before trudging over to kneel down beside them, one hand pressing to Taehyung's forehead and checking his temperature and the other against Jungkook's locks.

“Jungkook,” He began softly, “You don't have to, you know you never have to do anything you don't want to, but I want to apologize. So, if you want to, would you please look at me so I can do that? Yes or no, beautiful? I'm not mad either way.” 

They had to be very clear with Jungkook during times like these. When they raised their voices around him, or the omega thought they were upset with him. It wasn't the first time they'd had arguments with Jungkook, their relationship wasn't perfect, but each experience was a learning experience.

Next time, Jimin would try to explain exactly why he was upset before bursting on Jungkook.

“Yes…” 

Jimin released a relieved breath when Jungkook sat up, shifting to give the omega some space as they always tried to do when he thought they were angry with him. Immediately, Jimin felt sick to his stomach due to the few tear tracks on his cheeks. 

“Thank you. Thank you, baby.” 

Jimin swallowed and glanced at Taehyung, checking on him, but he honestly wasn't sure if the other was asleep based on how still he was laying. He complained that the light hurt his eyes, so he hadn't seen Taehyung awake much during the daytime at all. Jimin felt completely worried and panicked, and he wanted to fix this as soon as possible. 

“Jungkook,” Jimin quickly turned his attention back to Jungkook, “The reason why I didn't want you to eat that is because it's been sitting out here for two days and you could get very, very sick eating old food like that. Do you understand why that makes me so worried?” 

The omega sucked on his bottom lip, wet eyes darting around for a moment, but the second Jungkook reached over to accept Jimin's hands in either of his own, the alpha knew his response even before he said it, “Yes, alpha. B-But you yelled at me. I don't like that.” 

“I know. I know you don't,” Jimin grimaced to himself, “I apologize for yelling at you, I am very frustrated with everything right now. I understand you're hungry, I'm hungry too, and I apologize for ignoring you when you said you were hungry the first time, but I need you to calm down a bit until I can figure out what to do. It was my mistake yelling at you and in the future I will explain these things to you before getting upset with you. Do you forgive me?” 

“I forgive you… and I'm sorry for bothering you a bunch today,” Jungkook squeezed his hands and looked guilty, “I just wanted alpha’s attention. Do you forgive me too?” 

Of course Jungkook would want his attention. Or any attention really. Omegas thrived off of an alphas’ attention. It was built in them to constantly seek it out. 

It was difficult to give it to him when Jimin was the one staying up day and night to watch over them, Taehyung was sleeping most of the time, and even when Jimin laid beside him he was just thinking about what they needed to do next with it getting colder and colder out.

“Jungkook. Kookie… baby,” Jimin whispered and cupped his cheeks, “Of course. Of course I do. I love you and I'm sorry I didn't give you enough attention. I love you, pretty bunny.” 

He pressed a kiss, then two, against Jungkook lips until the omega smiled enough to show his teeth and was sinking down into the blankets with his leg draped over Taehyung's hips, murmuring, “Want to take a nap? Or we can visit the library and play games?” 

That would be nice. The public library was a short walk away and it was free to use their computers. On days it rained, they just tucked themselves inside and watched YouTube or played games all day. There was just one problem with that idea. 

“I'd love to,” Jimin said honestly, pressing a kiss against Jungkook's ear before shifting to feel Taehyung's head again. 

He was sweating and it was clear the alpha had fallen back asleep due to his lack of reaction or response to his touch. It was worrying how one second he was speaking and the next he was dead asleep like this. Even more scary, Taehyung was a koala when asleep and right now he didn't even have the energy to roll over into Jungkook's scent and seek out his own mate.

“But,” Jimin wet his lips and began to tug Taehyung's covers over his chest, “I have to make a phone call and I need you to do something very special.” 

Jungkook perked up. Round eyes big. “Special?” 

“I need you to be in charge for a short while and I'll bring you some food,” The alpha did feel bad about bribing Jungkook, “I'm sure you'll do a very good job watching Tae while I'm gone. Can you do that? Alpha won't go unless you're comfortable doing that.” 

 “I can do it!” 

Jimin shifted to grab his backpack by Taehyung's feet and dug inside until he found his pocket knife and shoved it into Jungkook's hand before gripping his chin between two fingers and pressing a soft kiss against his mouth, pausing just long enough for the omega to lean into his nose and whine softly for more.

As much as he wanted to give Jungkook more - couldn't really recall the last time they'd shared any kisses lasting more than a peck, or the last time he'd pinned the omega down until Jungkook was all squirmy and whiny for more - he couldn't. 

“I love you.” Jimin quickly jumped up, “I'll be very fast. Just sit here and love on Tae, you're very good at giving love.” 

Jungkook smiled big and leaned down to press his cheek on Taehyung's chest, watching Jimin grab his jacket. And as cute as he looked - which was very cute - Jimin had to tear himself away. 

It wasn't like Taehyung to sleep so much. Or to just sit there while Jungkook cried. Or to not lean into the omega's luring scent. He was really sick. 

Jimin didn't like the idea of leaving them alone like this despite all of the times Taehyung complained that he was too overprotective of them, especially Jungkook, but he didn't have a choice this time and immediately turned to rush down the street.

Honestly, a lot of pride was going down the drain having to do this, but Jimin had been thinking about this for days now. From the moment they'd left the cafe. 

They'd only briefly spoken about it, mostly because Taehyung had been in and out of sleep a lot lately, but Taehyung had been rather quiet when Jungkook rambled on and on about the food they'd gotten for him and how they had some money now. 

Taehyung didn't speak up much when Jungkook talked about Seokjin, and it wasn't hard to imagine why, but it did shock Jimin a bit. He'd never taken Taehyung for the jealous type. They had argued, of course, they had their possessive moments, but he and Taehyung were very close and got over things quickly. 

Jimin hadn't really wondered how Taehyung would respond to the thought of having to share Jungkook, he'd always thought the other knew there would be more that would imprint on Jungkook, it was only rational to realize such a thing considering omegas always had many mates. 

It seemed Taehyung didn't like the idea too much, because he always twisted his lips up when Jungkook so much as muttered Seokjin hyung and he never had anything to ask about the subject, despite there being a lot to discuss. 

It had been just the three of them for six months, almost seven, and they'd grown used to things being that way. 

But even Jimin knew when enough was enough and all of his pride was out the window - they had no food. No money. No medicine. And Taehyung was very sick. At this point, Jimin was ready to throw himself down onto his knees and do whatever Seokjin wanted just for some help.

Which was exactly his plan the second he threw himself into the phone booth on the corner, hands shaky as Jimin grasped one of the coins in his pocket.

The phone rang three times. Each ring made Jimin feel like his heart was about to jump outside of his chest. 

“... hello?” 

It sounded like Seokjin had been sleeping. He sounded groggy. Jimin grimaced and curled his hand around the wire of the phone. He didn't even know what time it was, honestly, it was probably very early. It was cloudy today so it was hard to tell. Nobody really came out on gloomy days like today so it was difficult to tell by how busy the streets were too. 

He must have waited too long, lost in thought, because there was an annoyed sigh before Seokjin repeated himself, “... Hello?” 

And Jimin's voice shook. 

All of his pride sank through his shaky fingertips and he could practically feel his instincts rearing up in the back of his mind begging him not to do this, but Jimin was so tired. 

“H-Hyung?” 

“Jimin.” Seokjin suddenly sounded much more awake, “Jimin. Are you alright? Is-”

Jimin could feel the burn of tears threatening to well up as he leaned his forehead against his fist, “Jungkook is okay.” 

There was a pause and some shuffling before Seokjin said, very carefully, “I'm happy to hear that, but are you okay too?”” 

“Listen, I really need your help,” Jimin wet his lips and refused to answer that, “Taehyung. H-He, um, he's really sick. Hyung. I'll pay you back somehow, I just… I really need your help right now.” 

“There's nothing to pay me back for. I said we would take care of you guys and we will. Just give us a chance to prove it. Let us bring him to the hospital, alright? Is that okay?” 

Jimin nodded and pressed his lips together in an attempt not to cry, but he'd never seen Taehyung like this and he had no idea how Jungkook was going to handle this. 

“Jimin? Are you still there? Where can we meet- no, Yoongi, shut up- I'm talking, hold on-” There were a handful of muffled arguments on the other end that made Jimin suck it up. He was an alpha for fucksake. He shouldn't have to rely on them for this sort of thing. “- sorry about that. They're just worried. Where can we meet, pup?” 

Jimin liked calling Jungkook puppy much more than he liked hearing it, but when Seokjin said it like that, caring and calm, he wondered if he could get used to it. 

Chapter Text

Honestly, when Seokjin said he was going to bring his pack along, Jimin sort of expected a bunch of alphas just as intimidating as Seokjin had seemed last time they'd met. 

Considering they'd pulled up into the parking lot with a Mercedes Benz and a Jeep, Jimin expected a lot of judgemental eyes roaming him and his torn clothes and disgusted looks once they got close enough to him. 

The last thing he expected was a trio of alphas dressed in sweatpants and pajamas immediately greeting him as though they'd known him forever and seemingly not even caring about how dirty he was. 

They really didn't seem to have the same sort of boundary issues that Seokjin did, because they'd been on him before the eldest had even gotten their names out.

“Alright, kid,” Hoseok ruffled up his hair for the second time. Just like the first time, Jimin didn't move to fix his greasy hair back how it was, too shocked to do so. “Which way?” 

“Um.” 

And that was the first thing he muttered to the alphas, mostly because Jimin had so many things going on and all of their scents were so strong and, well, overpowering in his nose. It'd been a long time since he'd been so close to other alphas. Surprisingly, he wasn't feeling instinctual or threatened by their scents.

Likely because the only thing running through his mind right now was Taehyung and the fact that—

“Fuck,” Jimin finally hissed, “Jungkook is going to be pissed,” he swallowed and adjusted his hands in his pockets, “I fucked up. I fucked up-”

“Jimin,” Namjoon cut in quietly, dimples sinking into his cheeks and shoulders shrugging beneath his thick puffer jacket, “Everything you did was for good reason. You need to remember that.” 

There was a long silence before Seokjin stepped forward and tapped beneath Jimin's chin, a soft, playful action, “Which way, pup?” 

Wordlessly, Jimin pointed to the corner bookstore. It wasn't far, just a few meters away, but he took longer to start walking than Seokjin which left him with the only one who hadn't been all too talkative yet. 

Yoongi wasn't scary per say. When they'd exited the cars, he'd nudged Jimin in greeting, but didn't say a word. The fact that he hadn't spoken yet and that he just looked at him simply made Jimin a bit more insecure because he wondered what the alpha was thinking when he looked at him. 

It seemed the older alpha had very little shame in hiding his cat-like eyes either, because he scanned Jimin a bunch of times before finally mustering up a quiet, “So what should we expect?” 

Jimin sent him a confused look. 

Yoongi raised his brows and nodded towards the building, “Your omega.” 

Your omega. Not our omega. Not the omega. Jimin noticed that. Noticed that Yoongi acknowledged he had no claim over Jungkook despite being fully aware the second he turned that corner and saw Jungkook that gravity was going to pin him on the Earth purely for the omega.

Jimin liked the subtle gesture. And he liked talking about Jungkook. The omega was just such an easy person to rave about, because he was amazing, and he was currently the only common ground that they had right now. 

“Jungkook,” Jimin relaxed for a moment, “He's, well,” He laughed softly, “Jungkook is-

“Go away! Go away or I'm gonna hurt you!”

Tensing up, Jimin quickly ran around the others. He took to throwing an arm out in front of Seokjin to silently stop him from approaching and sucked in a breath when he saw Jungkook's huge, terrified eyes and the knife open in his shaky hand. 

“Baby.” Jimin sighed regretfully, immediately moving to rip the knife from his grip and tug Jungkook into his arms, “Are you okay? I'm sorry we scared you. You did a great job watching Tae though, didn't you? Good boy.” 

Jungkook couldn't be swayed into his cooes and coddles today, his eyes were big and worried as he looked over Jimin's shoulder. Once the alpha realizes what he was looking at, Jimin let him go to begin throwing things into a backpack, requesting, “Jungkookie, pick what you want to bring with us, please.” 

The omega didn't reply, but when Jimin looked up at Namjoon and Hoseok and Yoongi he recognized that look. The dazed, slightly lost, almost tearful look. The one look Jimin didn't recognize and hated was the one on Seokjin's face.

He knew how this must look to them. 

The black pavement was filthy and all of the clothing and blankets on the ground hardly made for a good bed. Their was trash littering the area, mostly their own, and the entire situation must look absolutely pathetic to him. 

Jimin jerked away with a fallen expression and picked up a jacket, tugging down the blankets from Jungkook and saying, voice much more hesitant and quiet now, “Put this on, please.” 

Only then did Jungkook stumble out of his thoughts and listen, slipping an arm into the jacket and uncurling himself from the covers with a very confused, “Where are we going?”

It was silent as Jimin opted not to answer and shifted behind Jungkook to cup the back of Taehyung's head and try to shift him to sit up. The alpha grumbled a tired sound, but otherwise just let Jimin attempt to move him. An unsuccessful attempt seeing as Jimin could barely shift him. Another thing he failed at doing. 

“Let us do it,” Hoseok requested suddenly, waiting for a response before daring to step closer, “It's faster if one of us carries him.” 

Jimin looked visibly distraught when he sat back, giving a single nod before Namjoon immediately moved to pick Taehyung up. He did so easily, like Taehyung weighed nothing at all, and he did so whilst never looking away from Jungkook whom was now slipping his shoes on and pouting at being ignored. 

Jungkook immediately looked alert and scared when he saw Namjoon walking away with Taehyung, “What's happening? What- Tae?”

“Jimin,” Seokjin cleared his throat and put a hand out towards the backpack in his grip, “I think you have other things to worry about, hyung will carry it.” 

Hand running through his hair, Jimin didn't give up his bag and he didn't so much as glance up when Jungkook let out a very tiny, heartbreaking whimper and asked, again, this time much more tearfully, “Alpha… w-what's happening? Is… Is Tae okay? Is- Alpha…” 

Jimin couldn't handle this right now. He couldn't do this. His head was hurting. His body was sore. His insides were bubbling up as Jungkook began to cry and Jimin was just done. He was tired too. He wanted to cry too. 

If he hadn't convinced Taehyung to tell their parents their plans of forming a pack together, then they wouldn't have been disowned. If he hadn't suggested they leave that night, they wouldn't have forgotten all of their important paperwork. If he hadn't been such a horrible hyung, then maybe Taehyung wouldn't be so sick right now. Maybe Jungkook wouldn't be sobbing. Maybe Seokjin wouldn't be pleading out his name like that—

“Jimin, I can't.” Seokjin shook his head to himself, “I'm sorry, but I can't just sit here listening to him cry, please explain to him,” he stepped closer to the duo and reached out for Jimin's arm, but the alpha jerked away.

Jimin almost tripped over his own feet to get up and practically threw himself away from the blankets, tears sitting in his eyes and expression hollow as he began walking to the cars, completely bypassing Hoseok and Yoongi until the latter grabbed his keys and walked after him. Jungkook cried harder. Cried out his name, sank into the blankets and ripped out everyone's heart with the way he was struggling to breathe. 

To say Seokjin was shocked would be an understatement, but there was no way he was going to sit by and let Jungkook cry like this. 

He glanced at Hoseok one time, sharing a pained look before Seokjin hesitantly scooted closer to the omega, voice quiet and soft, “Sweetheart. Jungkook. We can explain. Let hyung explain, sweet thing. Can you breathe laying like that? I want to help you, but I'm not going to touch you without permission.” 

Seokjin's fingers twitched beside Jungkook's forearm. He really wanted to touch him. Comfort him. To his surprise, Jungkook did stumble out a reply despite crying so hard, he even tried to suck in deep breaths and calm down. “W-Whe-re- T-Tae- Ji-min?” 

“Hyung,” Hoseok pulled his eyebrows together, “Should I go get-”

“Sh. Sh… don't do that to yourself, sweetheart,” Seokjin reached out to grab Jungkook and tug him into his lap, unballing the omega’s hands that scratched at the inside of his palms. To his surprise, Jungkook went so easily, even sinking back into his chest and leaning into the gentle rocking of his body, “Let's not do that. Hyung can explain it all. We’ll explain it all, calm down.” 

Jungkook was such a good boy. He didn't try to scratch at himself again and he tried his hardest to quiet down and breathe, but sometimes his breathes came out in bubbly sobs and Seokjin shushed them away as best he could. At least until Jungkook was quiet enough to speak to.

Only then, there was a part of Seokjin that didn't want to begin speaking, because he knew that as soon as he was done Jungkook was going to be out of his arms and by god Jungkook felt so perfect laying against his chest.

It seemed that same train of thought was shared, because the first thing Hoseok said when he knelt down to get a better look at Jungkook was, “Good boy. You're such a pretty thing, aren't you?” He clicked his tongue as though overwhelmed, “Just gorgeous, Bambi.” 

Jungkook hiccuped and wiped his eyes. While neither of them verbally said anything, the alphas visibly and silently cooed over him, with Seokjin rubbing his stomach soothingly. 

“Want to talk?” Seokjin mumbled, voice silky, eyes locked on Jungkook's profile, “I'm sure you noticed that your alphas have been very stressed out lately, hm? You're a smart pup, I know you noticed.” 

The omega looked rather tired now which wasn't shocking after such a hard cry, and his throat was raw much like his eyes, but Jungkook still replied, “T-Tae was t-tired.” 

“Good boy. That's a good boy,” The cooes came out immediately, practically as soon as Jungkook opened his mouth, so fast that Hoseok looked rather embarassed when Seokjin met eyes with him, but it didn't stop Hoseok from continuing with a soft, “Hyungs are going to take him to the hospital, because Jimin was very worried about him, so he called us.” 

Jungkook's nose scrunched up and for a second there was a moment of silence before the omega promptly burst into tears again stumbling out a long winded, “A-Alph-as,” and twisting in Seokjin's arms to wrap around him like a koala.

The alpha sighed under his breath, arms wrapping around Jungkook to rock him and sinking his chin into his shoulder while Hoseok grabbed onto his forearm to help him stand up. 

“They love you, little one. They're just overwhelmed right now. I know, we know you feel abandoned, but you're not. Al-hyungs are right here. We're going to watch over you pups from now on… aish,” Seokjin sighed and cupped the back of Jungkook's neck when he felt the omega begin to go limp against his shoulder. “You're just pups,” He whispered fondly, “That's right, go to sleep. You're safe.” 

Very quietly, picking up the other backpack on the ground, Hoseok chided, tone rather upset, “Probably the safest he's been in a while.” 

Seokjin didn't respond to that, but he did run a hand around Jungkook's hair and continue shushing the omega even long after it was clear he'd fallen asleep. 

Chapter Text

Yoongi was the kind of person that watched more often than he spoke, because you could learn a lot about a person just by watching them. 

For example, he could practically see right through Jimin. 

Jimin's shoulders were pulled up to his ears, his elbows resting on his knees. His hood slipped down his forehead; he'd pulled it up as soon as they entered the hospital in an incredibly self conscious fashion. Since they'd arrived, he'd been sitting in the waiting room doing absolutely nothing but watch Jungkook.

Even though the omega had been asleep when they'd arrived, he hadn't looked away. Not even when Seokjin had opted to cradle him much like a baby, with soft hands petting down his cheek and a soothing shushing, nor when Jungkook woke up.

Yoongi understood, he did, all of them had an eye glued to Jungkook. He couldn't deny that he looked back at the omega each time he so much as saw a twitch in his peripheral vision nor that his heart sank when Jungkook awoke with a shrill startle rather than gently and comfortably. 

Watching Jimin, however, gave him a lot more information about both of them, because despite being imprinted to the omega, Jungkook was much harder to read. 

Mostly because Jungkook gave very little expressions to go off of. Seokjin had practically raced to set him down the second Jungkook began to stir, worried and restrained, it was hard to back off of the omega and even though Yoongi hadn't even touched him yet, he could imagine that putting Jungkook down was difficult. They all knew this wasn't going to be the cute, easy, kiss-at-first-sight, imprint stories they showed in movies. 

They weren't going to be allowed to just scoop Jungkook up and expect the omega to bask in the hundreds of kisses begging to be placed on the tip of his shiny, rounded nose. 

Jimin didn't have to say aloud that he wouldn't allow that, his gaze said everything. The way his eyes glanced at them wearily when they so much as leaned closer to Jungkook said everything. 

The pain on his face when Jungkook turned to look at them said everything. 

“-is that so? You like toys, don't you? Aren't you so cute?” 

The clock ticking in the corner of the waiting room was loud, it was well past noon now, luckily this hospital wasn't too busy seeing as it was a weekday and the only other waiting people had left a short bit ago with a near judgemental look at them after looking at Jungkook. 

The looks that practically screamed, “You'd let your omega live like this?” 

Yoongi had no idea how Jimin just ignored those looks, the implications of such looks, because yes the omega was dirty and thin, but anyone could tell that Jungkook was (normally) a very happy omega. 

It was really overwhelmingly clear, because Jungkook wasn't all that hesitant with them, he didn't speak much, but when he smiled it was dimples and sparkly even if it wasn't a full blown beam. 

Jungkook turned to look up at Namjoon and Jimin immediately shifted to sit up in his chair, eyes roaming over Namjoon in a gaze described only as warning. 

“It's too hard,” Jungkook tilted his head to the side from his spot sitting on the carpeted floor, holding out his Rubix Cube, “Hyung, how much longer?” 

“I can-”

“Jungkook-”

Both Jimin and Seokjin began to talk at the same time and then it went silent. Awkward. Jungkook didn't seem to notice, he curled his arm around his stomach and pressed his cheek against the metal leg of the seat he'd abandoned. 

After a silent stare between the two, Seokjin wet his lips and instead addressed Jimin with a quiet, “Are you hungry?” 

It wasn't exactly him backing down, but it wasn't him staking claim over Jungkook either. 

If he wanted to do that it would be entirely easy to do. To speak over Jimin. To refer to himself as alpha to Jungkook. To tug the omega into his arms. To go out of his way to show just how much he could provide the things that Jimin couldn't. 

Jimin pressed his lips in a line and didn't answer, instead he slipped out of his chair with a quiet sigh and sank down onto the floor on his knees. Jungkook immediately looked away from him, clearly mad.

“Hey,” Jimin glanced at Namjoon nervously, which made sense considering four alphas were watching him carefully, before back at Jungkook, “Can we talk?” 

“No.” 

“Baby,” The alpha whispered, shutting his eyes for a second and sucking in a breath before putting his hands out towards Jungkook, palms up, “Okay. Let's do this Taehyung's way. Truth time. Hands, please.” 

Jungkook glanced at him through his bangs, and must have noticed how desperate Jimin seemed, because he did reach over for his hands and released a huffy breath. 

Jimin wet his lips and shifted closer, hands curling into Jungkook's and knees pressing together. He glanced over Jungkook's shoulder again and his voice went hushed, like he didn't want to be overheard. 

It was impossible not to listen and there was really nowhere to go. Well, there was, they could give them a minute, go sit outside, but… it was too hard to do that. To leave the pups here alone.

Yoongi didn't move a muscle, not even when Jimin looked at him, and it was very clear that they weren't going anywhere. 

Clearing his throat, Jimin didn't look at them again, “I made a mistake,” he said honestly, “Not telling you I was worried about Taehyung was a mistake.”

“You didn't trust me.” Jimin grimaced at the accusation and, honestly, it was hard to tell if the way Yoongi felt his heart sink was because of the grimace or the whine in Jungkook's voice. “Y-You said w-we wouldn't keep secrets.” 

“Jungkookie,” Jimin soothed, but his voice was shaky, “Take a deep breath and alpha will explain to you why I didn't say anything. I can't apologize to you properly when you're crying, baby.” 

“You wouldn't have t-to if you didn't keep secrets…” 

Okay, that sinking feeling was likely a combination of Jungkook's sniffly tears and Jimin's heartbroken expression, because it was growing so strong that Yoongi saw Hoseok shift in his seat and look away. 

Who knew pups would be this painful to have around. 

“I hear you, I'm listening to you,” Jimin promised, lips growing trembly and barely managing to keep hold on Jungkook's hands, barely managing to hold himself together really, “I am listening to you, Jungkook. I hear you. I understand and I agree that I decided something without your input and it was very wrong of me, do you want to hear me? Yes or no, I'm not upset.” 

It was the small details of the conversation that made Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows together and glance around to see if anyone noticed too. Namjoon looked relatively confused and Seokjin was watching them too carefully to pick up anything, but Hoseok had never been good at mastering his expressions and he was incredibly lost much like Yoongi felt.

It wasn't the context of the conversation that confused them. It was the way Jimin was handling it that was confusing. Not that it was in any way wrong, it wasn't, at all. 

… it just wasn't what one would expect of pups as young as them. 

It was much too proper of a conversation. No yelling. No talking over one another. Jimin had his time and Jungkook had time to speak. It was very clear. It was the proper and healthy way to work out issues and yet Yoongi felt a little sick watching it.

Something made them communicate this way.

This wasn't how people their age communicated, they had learned how to do this. Something made them learn how to communicate so clearly. 

Jungkook's lip poked out and his eyes were wet when he replied very softly, “Yes, alpha,” he sniffled, “I'm sorry for not letting y-you talk.” 

“Oh no, baby,” Jimin shushed, leaning closer to nuzzle into Jungkook's nose, “You are. You are letting me talk. You're such a good listener, bunny.” 

The omega smiled a tiny bit, replying with his own nuzzle at Jimin's cheek before sitting back, fingers tightening around the alpha’s. Jimin sighed, “The reason why I didn't tell you was because I knew you would be very worried and, honestly, as much as I try to, I can't always be strong for everyone. Taehyung is very sick right now and it's hard for me to take care of you and him all by myself,” His eyes flickered to Namjoon for less than a second before back at Jungkook, “I apologize for not telling you. I do feel very bad about that, but I have never lied to you and I'm not going to lie to you now and say that I regret bringing Taehyung here. I regret upsetting you and I regret not telling you, but I still believe this was the best decision. Do you understand and forgive me?” 

“... ‘m not upset we had to bring Tae in,” Jungkook whispered, “Just upset alpha didn't tell me, I was really scared, hyung…” Jimin swallowed very hard at that, but before he could reply the omega was throwing himself into his chest with a soft, “I forgive you, alpha.” 

Jimin relaxed immediately, tugging Jungkook into his lap and pressing a handful of kisses on his cheek and ear, “I keep making a lot of mistakes lately, I'm sorry. I just want to protect you, Kookie.” 

Whether or not Jungkook heard his muffled words was up in the air, because the omega did a complete 180 and was curling up in Jimin's lap like he hadn't been in tears moments ago and whining, “I'm hot, alpha.” 

Now he was just getting all the attention and cuddles he missed out on and laughing when Jimin playfully tugged on his collar with a quiet, “Aish, alpha has to do everything, huh?” 

“Taehyung isn't here to do it,” Jungkook pouted dramatically as Jimin grabbed the edge of his hoodie and helped him out of it, the omega continued to ramble and milk all of his attention, “So Jiminie has one job and it's to take care of me.” 

“Is that so?” 

“Yup,” Jungkook scrunched his nose up, “And it would be really mean of me to do it myself, then alpha wouldn't have a job to do any more.” 

“Oh, very sweet of you to give me something to do, baby bunny.” 

When Jimin began to nibble at his cheek and wonder playfully if Jungkook was sweet tasting too, Yoongi looked away, but not too far.

For a second, he looked at how thin Jungkook really was without his hoodie and in his thin white - or what was probably once white - shirt. His arms really were thin and small, his collarbones and shoulders themselves looked way too bony. The omega looked like he hadn't eaten in days, but based on the things he'd heard and seen of Jimin, Yoongi highly doubted that was the case. 

The chances that Jimin looked even worse once he took off his jacket were very high. There wasn't a second of doubt in his mind that these alphas had taken care of Jungkook to the best of their ability. 

The alpha practically worshiped the ground Jungkook walked on, and just based on their interactions, it was easy to assume Jimin would've found a way to get him anything he needed. 

“- excuse me?” 

Hoseok jumped onto his feet before anyone else, turning to the nurse in the doorway who, again, seemed to take a moment too long scrutinizing the duo hugging on the floor. It was moment enough for Hoseok to step in front of them with a rather swift, “Is he awake?” 

The nurse looked at him then, blinking a few times while nodding before she motioned vaguely at Jungkook and Jimin, “He is. Are you sure they don't need to be seen too?” 

It wasn't a bad idea to do so, but it wasn't the time. 

“Taehyung!” Jungkook smiled and quickly jumped up as though he hadn't even heard her suggestion, the complete opposite to Jimin's downcast expression, “Let's go!” 

And just like that, Jungkook was taking off down the hallway and ignoring Hoseok's quick, “Jungkook-” only for the alpha to take off after him. 

Seokjin waved off the nurse with a quiet thank you and grabbed Jungkook's hoodie off of the ground, eying Jimin and the way he stayed sitting on the ground before he nodded his head at Namjoon and they started to leave. 

Not without Seokjin sending Yoongi the smallest of nods towards Jimin. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. Yoongi had already seen enough of Jimin to know exactly what kind of person he was.

Jimin was a carer. He was the kind of person who cared for everyone, who put everyone else first, and forgot how to care for himself. Jimin was going to run himself into the ground before even considering taking a break.

“Come on,” Yoongi drawled, reaching down to grab Jimin's sleeve gently, “Don't you want to see your pack?” 

The younger alpha released a gruff noise and ran a hand through his hair before he finally started getting up. Jimin did accept his hand for help doing so, but Yoongi was pretty sure that had more to do with the fact that his muscles were shaky more than him wanting help. 

Still, it gave Yoongi a chance to turn his hand over and look at the marks on his knuckles. When Jimin realized, he snatched his hand away and stuttered for words, eyes big and caught. 

Only Yoongi didn't ask. He didn't care to ask. It was easy to imagine where all of those scratches and scabs and marks came from. They lived on the street, anything could have caused them.

Jimin side eyed him as they began down the hallway, but it grew more testy when Yoongi began speaking with a quiet, “So, how long have you know Jungkook?” 

“Almost seven months.” 

Yoongi could feel his gaze burn into him, waiting and defensive. Looking for a chance to jump into a fit of warnings. Only Yoongi wasn't really like Seokjin, he wasn't going to pretend he didn't notice or beat around the bush with questions they both knew weren't important right now. 

“So it's been like this for seven months,” Yoongi said suddenly, bringing Jimin to a stop. He turned to look at Jimin, “Whether you realize it or not, we're all bonded now, and I can understand how strange that is to grasp, but I'm not going to sugarcoat this, so I'm just going to say this bluntly. You're just a pup.” 

Jimin visibly grew stiff. 

“I know you've been trying your hardest. We can all see that.” Yoongi reached out for Jimin's head, petting down his hair, “But you're a pup looking after other pups. Hyungs are here now. For anything you need. Jin hyung won't say it, so I will: there's nothing wrong with being a pup.” 

It was quiet for a second and Yoongi almost started to walk away before Jimin finally spoke, words mumbled, “I'm an alpha.” 

Yoongi chuckled, smile lopsided, and nudged Jimin’s jaw as though the alpha wasn't seconds away from crying, as though he were teasing and playful despite this conversation not being either of those things. “You're still an alpha. Still Jungkook's alpha. You'd just be an alpha with a much bigger pack. Think about it. Let me know what you think when you figure it out. I'm pretty sure there's nothing your omega wants more than to see his two favorite people at once. Dry those eyes, pup, everything is going to be fine.” 

Chapter Text

Pneumonia. 

Taehyung had a very bad case of pneumonia and yet as soon as Jungkook entered the room with an excited squeal, the alpha had been all boxy smiles and cooes. As though he didn't have needles in his arm and look completely worn out.

Still, despite how sick the doctor has explained him to be, the alpha was beautiful. 

Truthfully, none of them had a chance to actually look over the trio, and it was difficult to really judge appearances when all of them looked, well, dirty, but they were still so beautiful.

Even more beautiful together, because they looked happiest all together. It must have been the first time they saw a real smile on Jimin's face.

“- is that so?” Taehyung chided, laughing in a breathy fashion when Jungkook forced himself into his side and nuzzled sweetly into his cheek, “Well, I missed you too, baby.” 

“Alpha was asleep,” Jungkook giggled and rolled his eyes, thin arm wrapping around Taehyung's waist and pressing a kiss to his jaw, “How can you miss me when you were sleeping?” 

Taehyung scrunched up his face in thought and playfully nudged Jungkook's nose with his own, “Oh it's very possible. I sometimes miss you even when you're right here.” 

The omega beamed and leaned in for a kiss and that was when Namjoon averted his eyes, shifting in the doorway to turn out towards the hallway and listen in on Seokjin and Yoongi muttering to the doctor, a short haired, older, beta with worry written across her face from the moment they'd carried Taehyung into the ER. 

“Streptococcus pneumoniae is common among homeless people, they spread it amongst each other, oftentimes without even noticing. In most people, it doesn't turn into pneumonia, but the body has a hard time fighting off germs when… so malnourished. We will prescribe antibiotics for the other two as well.” She paused, then looked more hesitant, “I don't typically suggest these sort of things, but you should have the omega checked for ST-”

“He wasn't a prostitute.” 

Yoongi’s voice came out firm and gruff, but he quickly sucked in a breath to calm himself down. She hasn't been accusing or judging, but it was understandable that was what she thought Jungkook to be.

It was incredibly rare for an omega to be on the street. There were centers for them. Omegas weren't as common as they once were, so if they needed help there were much more options than for alphas or betas. 

“Oh I-”

“We appreciate the concern,” Seokjin cut in swiftly, calm, but an edge to his tone, “And we will bring our pups back for another check up, but right now we'd really just like to pay for his treatment and discuss what medications we will need to give him.” 

“Hyungs?” 

The alpha startled for a second at Jimin's voice, worried that maybe the other had overheard their conversation. Perhaps that he'd just heard Seokjin proclaim our pups, but Jimin didn't sound angry.

The younger alpha was sitting on the corner of Taehyung's bed and touching the other’s hospital gown, petting along Taehyung's bony shoulder. “How long does he have to stay?” 

Originally, they'd figured Jimin was going to be the most intimidating of the trio that they'd have to deal with. He was fiercely protective and quick to snap. 

Jimin’s reaction to them was nothing compared to how quickly Taehyung's smile slipped when he was forced to acknowledge their existence. A blank look took over his face so fast that it rivaled Yoongi and that warning look he gave when they bothered him too much.

It was blank, and not necessarily warning, but the hand that curled tight around Jungkook's shoulders was.

“We aren't sure yet,” Hoseok replied honestly, giving a small smile and moving to grab one of the spare blankets off of the counter. They were thin and rough fabric, but considering the trio were homeless, they knew none of them would mind, “But we do know at least tonight, he'll have to stay here, so it's best to get comfortable.” 

Hoseok wasn't really the kind of person that cared about tension or any sort of threatening looks. Considering he'd dealt with years of Yoongi’s, Taehyung’s was nothing. 

He approached the trio easily, ignoring the raised lip, growly expression Taehyung gave him and spreading the blanket out utop Jungkook and Taehyung's laps, asking Jimin casually, “Are you going to lay down too? We’ll get more blankets.” 

Lips twisted, Jimin didn't reply, likely because a tiny grumble rang out and all eyes were turning on Jungkook and his embarrassed smile as he curled a hand around his stomach. 

Hoseok tsked under his breath, fingers just barely brushing Jungkook's arm, “Hungry, Bambi?” 

The omega had his cheek pressed hard against Taehyung's chest and looked hesitant to respond, but he ended up nodding a bit and chewing on his lip before mumbling, “... I'm sorry… just hungry-”

“Jungkook,” Jimin began with a soft sigh, but Hoseok continued with his soothing tone and began to pet Jungkook’s side. 

“You're sorry?” He frowned, “Why would you be sorry you're hungry. You sweet pup. That's why we're here, so we can take care of you guys, hyung would love to get you guys something to eat,” Hoseok paused only when he realized the eyes staring into him and quickly glanced between

Taehyung and Jimin, “Of course only if your alphas are okay with that.”

Jungkook didn't wait for confirmation or not, he gasped and rolled out of the bed with a quiet, excited, “Hamburgers?” 

Hoseok didn't acknowledge it for a long moment, he looked at the alphas, and of course they weren't going to say no to their hungry omega. 

“Alright,” Jimin sighed and moved as if to climb down, but Taehyung was already shifting to the side of the bed with a swift, “I need to stretch anyway.” 

Namjoon almost pointed out that Taehyung shouldn't be moving at all, but he figured the alpha would immediately growl at him if he did. Hoseok looked weary and grabbed the wheelchair from behind the door, earning a glance from Taehyung before Jungkook cooed, all sweetly, “Alpha, now it's my turn to take care of you.” 

Taehyung got into the wheelchair after that without fuss, sending Jungkook and Hoseok two completely different looks, with a beaming grin at the omega who whisper cooed about pushing him and whether or not the cafeteria had hamburgers and a stern look at Hoseok.

Hoseok didn't notice it, or didn't care, he just grabbed a blanket and laid it across Taehyung's lap and answered Jungkook with a quiet, “If they don't, then hyung will order it for you, puppy. Don't worry, you'll get a hamburger tonight.” 

Jungkook made a happy sound and happiness radiated all over Namjoon's body, causing his lip to slightly quirk up and warmth to swim around his insides. 

Just as they began to leave, Namjoon heard Yoongi outside the doorway, voice uncharacteristically soft as he chided, “Where are you running off to, angel? Are we going on a walk now?” 

“It's dinner time, hyung! Tae is up, now we can get food-”

Seokjin popped into the doorway and tugged it closed behind himself, cutting off the rest of the omega’s silky sweet cooes and immediately moving to place a plastic bag of medicine bottles on the bed. 

Knowing Yoongi, the alpha went with them only to get a feel of Taehyung, but Namjoon was pretty sure that was going to be hard even with someone as observant as Yoongi. 

Jimin seemed the much easier option to deal with right now, and seemed to be the one who formed most of the decisions, so Namjoon smiled at him as calmly as he could as he took a seat on the corner of the bed and grabbed the receipt while Seokjin sorted the medicine into three piles. 

The youngest alpha in the room didn't ask why there were three, he just looked exhausted, and rubbed his temple when Seokjin opened one and held out a pill to him, requesting, “Take this, pup.” 

Jimin did. Didn't fight it. He just looked too exhausted to fight right now. 

“I'm assuming these are Taehyung's?” Namjoon asked as Seokjin got Jimin water, sweeping the biggest pile back into the bag, “Can Jungkook-”

“Jungkookie can't hold onto them himself,” Jimin said suddenly, shocking both of the older alphas when he climbed onto the bed, settling cross-legged in the middle, and began to read the bottles, “He forgets too much. Tae usually has to give medicine to him.” 

“Then hyung will set a schedule for all of you to take them,” Seokjin said softly, thigh almost touching Jimin's knee when he, too, settled on the edge of the bed, “Do you have any injuries that need to be seen by a doctor, Jimin?” 

Lips pursed, Jimin shook his head and refused to look up from reading the bottles despite not understanding what they were. Seokjin didn't really either, but throwing out money for antivirals and antibiotics wasn't a problem. They didn't know what the trio got up to when outside.

“Do you know if Jungkook does?” 

Jimin always only seemed to want to respond when it had something to do with Taehyung or Jungkook, less so when it had to do with himself, “Not sure. Kookie doesn't tell us things like that, thinks we'll worry too much. And he's right. We do worry a lot, but I think he's okay. When Jungkook gets sick, he gets quiet, he's not quiet, so he's okay.” 

Namjoon shared a worried glance with Seokjin, because his gauge of whether or not Jungkook was quiet meaning he was sick wasn't exactly an accurate measurement of health, but they didn't comment on that.

Instead, Seokjin carefully reached over for Jimin's knee, and when the alpha didn't jerk away or protest, he whispered, “We're going to pick up some new clothes for you guys tonight.” 

“What's the point?” Jimin's lips spread into a lopsided smile, but it wasn't a happy one, it was sarcastic, so was his snicker, “Tomorrow we go back outside an-”

“We know you don't want to come with us,” Seokjin shushed, not at all offended by his attitude, “Not yet. So we already booked you guys a hotel to stay at. As long as you want, Jimin. Honestly, we just want to help you.”

Namjoon would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed knowing they wouldn't come with them. They were going to need to spend a lot of time together to get through these walls and not living together only further separated them. 

Plus, knowing they were still alone left a bad feeling bubbling up in his stomach. 

“You didn't.” 

“We did,” Seokjin replied, moving to pull out his phone, “Look. We picked one with-”

And Jimin sobbed. 

The alpha knelt over his own lap and didn't seem to care that he was practically spread across Seokjin's lap as he cried into the blankets and curled fists into the bedding. Even his cries sounded so tired, they weren't loud, they were quiet and rough. It was easy to tell Jimin had been holding them in for quite a while. 

“Fuck, hyung look,” Namjoon worried, eyes running over Jimin's back and the way his spine was clearly peeking through his sweater. 

Seokjin pressed his lips in a line and reached down to gather Jimin's waist and tug the alpha into his chest, fingers brushing hair from his face and shushing, “We know. We know, pup. It's okay to cry. It's alright. We're pack and we're going to take care of you. That's what hyungs are here for. I'm going to keep telling you that.” 

Jimin cried and cried and cried until he was sucking in harsh breaths and finally, after what was probably five minutes, choking out, “W-What cost?” 

“What do you mean, sweetheart?” Seokjin continued to pet his hair.

“I mean,” Jimin looked to be struggling to speak, wetting his lips, “You know. I-I mean what cost. What is it… I-you can't have Tae or Kookie. I just… only me. Don't tell them. I can- whatever you want, I'll-”

Namjoon felt like he was going to be sick and immediately jumped up and away, the complete opposite reaction to Seokjin who held Jimin tighter, but there wasn't exactly a correct way to respond to Jimin's train of thought. 

They were disgusted, most certainly, but not by Jimin. Jimin was beautiful. Anyone in their right mind would be able to see that. Even through his greasy hair and cracked lips it was clear that he was a very beautiful person. 

But he was a very vulnerable person too. On his last limb. Trying to survive. And even though they knew that he might only say such things because he knew they had a bond, the idea of Jimin saying such things to the wrong people was incredibly horrifying. 

It would be so easy to take advantage of these pups.

“No. No. That's not,” Seokjin tried to calm down by taking on a deep breath, “Jimin. There is no cost. Why would you say that? Did something happen before? I need you to tell hyung right now. Did someone do something to you? Touch you? Hurt you? Or the others. Did-”

“Hyung.” 

The only reason Namjoon cut in and stopped Seokjin from saying more was because of the rather loud laughter growing closer and closer. He too wanted answers to all of those questions, but Jimin was already wiping his tears away and moving to curl up under the blankets and feign sleep. 

How quickly he moved away was painful, like Jimin didn't want either of the others to see him so close, or so vulnerable. 

Seokjin barely had time to reach over and rub his side before the door swung open and Jungkook was bouncing in with a big grin and giggly eyes, “Hyungs look!” 

At least someone was in a good mood and, for the most part, it seemed like Jungkook was always in a good mood. Jungkook certainly helped even out the atmosphere. 

“You got your burgers?” Namjoon chuckled and gasped, feigning shock when he glanced at Yoongi setting down the fast food bags by the door, “You must have been a very good boy, Yoongi hyung doesn't carry just anyone's stuff.” 

“Last time I asked, he tripped me,” Hoseok complained playfully, shooing Jungkook into letting go of the wheelchair. 

Taehyung looked at Hoseok through his hair when the alpha offered him his hand, then turned his head the other way as though he didn't see it, instead watching Jungkook unreadably.

Jungkook laughed with his whole body, he shook and flopped his hands. It was cute. 

Almost as cute as the omega taking it on himself to crawl across Seokjin's legs, not seeming to care about personal space, and wrapping arms and legs around Jimin, muttering, “Ah, Jiminie… you can't sleep without eating, silly boy.” 

“You can't call me silly boy - you're a silly boy.” 

Jungkook giggled and sat back just enough so Jimin could uncurl, feigning a yawn as he did so. 

The omega was resting his calf across Seokjin's lap and didn't even seem to notice, not until the eldest cooed a sound and reached out to brush Jungkook's hair behind his ear, whispering, “Hyungs were just telling Jimin all about where you'll be staying for a while. The bed there is big enough for all three of you.” 

Jungkook's eyes went big, “... bed?” 

“And a big shower. And a big bathtub. We’ll get you some clothes…” Seokjin hummed and raked fingers through Jungkook's hair, down his cheek, “Hyungs will take very good care of you pups.” 

Jungkook squealed and tossed himself at Seokjin, making the alpha beam and gather his small form in his lap, whispering a handful of praise into Jungkook's hair. “Sweet boy. You love cuddles, don't you, hm? Hyungs have a lot of love to give you, beautiful.” 

Underneath all of the omega’s excited cooes was a growl. Just loud enough for the alphas to hear, but not aggressive enough to spur anyone else into growling back.

Taehyung had his jaw tight as he tugged himself to stand up, holding his IV stand and eyeing Seokjin.

“Tae,” Jimin tried, softly, “Come here. It's okay.” 

Seokjin continued to pet Jungkook's hair. Hold him. Stroke down the side of his neck and accept Jungkook's tiny purrs into his shoulder. 

Taehyung's jaw shifted before the alpha suddenly said, “Jungkook, let's eat dinner, baby. Your alphas will give you love after.” 

Maybe Jimin really wasn't going to be the problem after all. 

Chapter Text

“Baby don't-”

It was too late, Jungkook was already running clear across the hotel room and flopping face-first into the bottom of the bed, gathering the black covers in his fists and muffling an excited scream into them.

“- get them dirty,” Jimin finished his sentence and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

Laughing, Namjoon pushed the hotel door open all of the way to let everyone in, immediately walking to the closet on the wall and digging inside with a quiet, “I'm sure they have spare bedding around here somewhere, don't worry about it.” 

Jimin looked at the older alpha as though he had something to chide, but before he could Jungkook was squealing again, it echoed off of the tiled bathroom and within a second the omega was bursting out and across the room to toss himself at the closest one to him.

It turned out to be Hoseok's back as the alpha was unbagging the clothes they'd gotten them, but as soon as thin arms looped around him he was spinning around and tugging Jungkook into a hug right back, sucking in a breath and brushing a hand down the omega’s spine.

“I take it that means you guys like it.” It wasn't really a question, but Yoongi mused it while he leaned on the wall, watching Jimin silently aw at the small living room area. 

To be fair, it was a very nice hotel room. They'd chosen one big enough for all three of them, with a nice bathroom, and a big television. Seokjin figured those were things they'd missed an awful lot. It was just missing a few important things. 

“Jimin,” Seokjin began, eyes struggling to flicker away from Jungkook’s giggling as Hoseok pinched his cheek playfully and sent the omega into a fit of excited laughter. 

Jimin spun around to look at him, lip between his teeth and fingers clutching the end of his shirt. He didn't look Seokjin directly in the eyes, instead nodded while looking at the alpha’s sweater. 

Seokjin clicked his tongue at the submissive gesture, finger pressing beneath his chin to lift his head, “Hyungs want to give you one more thing,” the alpha reached into his pocket, pulling out a solid black card, “You didn't think we'd forget to feed you guys, hm? You can use this for anything. Clothes, food, toys. Anything.” 

“I- hyung…” 

Jimin's eyes looked wet, but they both knew he would refuse to let the tears fall so long as Jungkook was in the room; he didn't reach out for the card immediately, but he didn't have to.

Just when Seokjin was about to convince him to take it, Taehyung was squeezing between them, face unreadable, but he took the card from Seokjin without word and then promptly went to sit on the couch with a loud, “Jungkookie, come pick out something to eat.” 

The omega went running off to Taehyung instantly, oblivious to Hoseok's twisted lip upon being abandoned. 

It wasn't surprising really, Taehyung didn't say much, but when he did it nearly always was him calling for Jungkook when the omega was near another. Clear jealousy, but not a single person called him out. 

Taehyung hadn't so much as said thank you for the hospital trip, or the hotel, or all of the medications they'd bought, but they didn't need a thank you from him to know he was grateful. 

It showed, like when he'd watch Namjoon listen to Jungkook's endless cooes and wait a few moments longer before calling the omega over, or when the doctor explained everything about their medications and Taehyung allowed Yoongi to be the one that convinced Jungkook he had to take them. 

It was the small things, like letting them take care of Jungkook for even a moment, that let them know he was grateful, because they all knew neither Jimin or Taehyung had to let them get close to Jungkook at all. 

It helped, of course, that Jungkook was a very friendly omega. He drank up any and all attention, and just seeing how eager he was for love was bittersweet. 

Like this morning, when he'd been dragged out of sleep with messy hair and practically falling asleep sitting up, Taehyung and Jimin hadn't told them to leave while they put Jungkook's new socks on and loved him awake. 

Being allowed to see such private moments certainly felt special, even if Taehyung side eyed them every moment of it. 

There was one thing the alphas didn't seem to understand though - that they wanted to take care of them too, not just Jungkook.

An alpha was instinctually inclined to take care of an omega, that much was true, but Jimin and Taehyung were just pups—

They didn't exactly feel like competition, even if they probably should considering Jungkook was sitting on Taehyung's lap and not any of their own. 

“Alpha,” Jungkook cooed, straddling Taehyung's lap, arms curling around his neck and pressing his giggly smile against Taehyung's, “What do you want?” 

And then there were small moments, like this, where Taehyung's personality threatened to shine through, because it seemed as though everyone melted a little under Jungkook's attention. 

“What do I want? Hm…” Taehyung pretended to think for a moment, hands smoothing down Jungkook’s hips. 

Taehyung didn't even need to answer that, he playfully nuzzled beneath Jungkook's jaw and the omega squirmed and pretended to swat him away with a whine of, “Alpha, I meant food.” 

“You're not food?” 

Jungkook laughed and sank over into Taehyung's shoulder, making the alpha laugh, shifting to curl a hand into Jungkook's hair and bury is nose into the omega's shoulder. Even though it was quiet, everyone could hear Taehyung's deep voice whisper, “Happy?” 

“Mhm!” 

“Yeah?” Taehyung hummed, scratching down Jungkook's nape gently, “Should we get you in a hot bath, would that make you even happier?” 

“Alpha first.” 

“No. You always get to be first, baby.” 

There was plenty of hot water for them all to shower and then some, but nobody commented. It seemed that for a moment both of them forgot there even was an audience until Jimin was grabbing some of the towels off of the stack on the counter and bringing it to them.

Taehyung lifted his chin up to look at him, the small smile on his face didn't change, still just as content. 

“You two go first,” Jimin requested, “I need to talk-”

“No. You can take him,” Taehyung shifted to sit up, cupping Jungkook's face, “Why don't you go start the water, bunny?” 

Jungkook pouted his lips out, eyes big, and Taehyung sighed out a quiet, warning, baby, before pressing a firm kiss onto that pout. One that Jungkook took as an invitation to kiss more, melting into Taehyung's lips until the alpha was swiftly sitting up and holding his cheek in order to kiss him deeper. 

The second that Jungkook was curling a hand around Taehyung's jaw, Seokjin was clearing his throat very loudly. 

The room was beginning to smell like excited omega and the idea that Jungkook was that easy to rile up had to be tucked away. 

Taehyung's gaze immediately shifted, more dark, as he ran a hand down Jungkook's spine, over the curve of his tailbone before whispering, “Go ahead, Kookie. Make yourself pretty for alpha.” 

Now that was unfair. 

Nobody said anything until Jungkook was running for the bathroom, but when the silence was cut, the elder few were a bit shocked it was Jimin who grabbed the card off of the table with a scolding, “Was that necessary?” 

Taehyung merely shrugged, “I mean, if they kept their eyes to themselves it wouldn't be an issue…” 

“They can't help it.” 

“Oh, now you're all for this, huh? Want to get rid of Kookie so easily? No wonder you wanted to put him in an omega center.” 

Jimin glowered at Taehyung and immediately there was a defensive edge to Yoongi’s voice when the alpha stepped closer with a swift, “You wanted to what?” 

It wasn't their business. They didn't need to know everything that happened in the past, nor the decisions they may or may not have considered. It was the imprint rearing up at the idea, the thought, that they'd considered leaving Jungkook somewhere.

Jimin didn't reply to that, but Taehyung's face turned incredibly angry when he turned to look at Yoongi, “Oh please, as if you wouldn't have considered the same. We were fucking homeless. Jungkook at least deserved a bed. You haven't even thought of that, too busy wanting to knot my fucking-”

Taehyung was cut off by Jimin grabbing his jaw and turning his face back towards him, leaning in to collect his lips in a soft, but attention demanding, kiss. 

Alphas kissing wasn't supposed to be so calming, but it was. The kiss wasn't met with the same heat that came when Jungkook kissed Taehyung, the alpha didn't look somewhat delirious with need and tug Jimin down into anything more. He wasn't driven to kiss Jimin like he was Jungkook; didn't feel the imprint steer his mind. 

“Stop fighting.” 

And just like that, Taehyung was pursing his lips and looking thoroughly scolded, folding up his knees to his chest and sighing as he leaned back against the couch. 

Jimin sent him one last warning look before finally taking a seat beside him, motioning at the other couch and mumbling, “So how's this going to work?”

The four hovering around the hotel room moved to sit down, but none of them replied immediately. Seokjin just sort of looked at Jimin, elbows on his knees, and Yoongi was busy staring right into Taehyung's glare. 

Namjoon wet his lips before clarifying, quietly, “With the imprint?”

Lips pursed, Jimin leaned over to rub his forehead, words muffled, “Jungkookie doesn't go places with people he doesn't trust, so if you want to bring him places we have to-”

“Why would we take him somewhere without you guys?” Hoseok frowned, “You two are imprinted too, right? We're a pack.” 

At that, silence was met again, but this time it wasn't tense or anything of the sort. Jimin just sort of glanced through his hair and chewed on his lip. He looked a little shocked, but didn't say anything.

Taehyung was still scrutinizing them like he didn't quite believe a word they said, but he didn't comment and it was rather clear he wasn't going to, because he also didn't say a word when Seokjin turned his phone towards them and said, quietly, “Order something, pup. You need to take your medicine on a full stomach.” 

It went rather quiet when Taehyung accepted his phone and leaned back in his spot, slumping into Jimin in a way that left him practically on his lap while Jimin took it upon himself to turn the television on, looking way too invested in looking through every channel.

It lasted a bit before suddenly the bathroom door was thrown open and startling everyone.

Jungkook came sulking out, hair soaking wet and sticking down on his face. He had a pout on his face and obviously hadn't taken to drying himself off that well, because his clean shirt and plaid pajama bottoms were sticking to his wet body. 

His waist was so small. To the point that it was worrying. And his hair sticking down to his face was cute, but the fact that without all of the oil and grease and dirt on his skin allowed them to properly see the beauty that was Jungkook was distracting. Nearly as distracting as his scent and they vanilla spread—

“My hair is knotted,” Jungkook whined, flopping the edge of his sleeve in the air and motioning to the brush in his hand, “It won't stop tangling… I think I gotta cut it… help.” 

“Can I do it?” 

The words came out before there was much thought, but Hoseok didn't take them back, he just motioned towards Jimin and Taehyung and muttered, “You guys should probably clean up too. I mean,” he cleared his throat, “Before dinner, it's best to wash up.” 

Taehyung snickered, “Sure you don't just want to-”

“Okay.” 

Taehyung turned on Jimin with narrowed eyes, “What?”

Jimin shushed him and tugged at his arm, “Just let them-”

“What are you-”

“It's so knotted, hyung…” Jungkook began, puffing out a breath that made his bangs move out of his eyes, plopping on the couch and dropping the brush in Hoseok's lap, “Do I smell bad? I tried to scrub scrub scrub, but then my skin hurt.” 

There were eyes burning into them, watching the way Namjoon shifted just a bit closer and how Yoongi suddenly turned attention onto Jungkook's sniffly nose. Seokjin replied easily when he noticed Hoseok was a bit shocked and buffering. 

“You're perfect,” Seokjin promised, reaching over to tug Jungkook's pant leg further down his ankle, “How short should we cut it, little prince?” 

“I'm not a prince!” Jungkook giggled, “I'm an omega!” 

“You can be both, can't you?” 

“... you're silly, hyung.” 

Chapter Text

The thing about being an omega was that Jungkook got a lot of attention, and anytime he wanted it, typically Taehyung and Jimin were there to give him it in handfuls. 

Only the alphas had been asleep all day.

Jungkook couldn't sleep well. It was only their second day at the hotel, but he was having a hard time getting used to it. He wasn't exactly as sleep deprived as the alphas who'd only woken up around noon to check on him and take medicine. 

He'd basically had to entertain himself all day, which was a big deal for him. 

Jungkook had watched movies, ate way too much pizza, took a nap, showered… he'd done everything. Now it was pushing ten at night and he was bored. 

He couldn't sleep. Not only because the bed felt way too big and neither of the alphas was cuddling him (they were so asleep they barely moved), but because he'd slept so much already.

The alphas, however, didn't sleep much. Jungkook couldn't really remember the last time he'd even seen Jimin asleep. He was always up when the omega got up and already moving on with the day before any of them. 

Needless to say, Jungkook was very happy when he heard the keypad outside of their door beeping very softly and heard the rustling of a paper bag.

The omega practically threw himself over the arm of the chair and squinted into the darkness, the television barely making any noise in front of him.

Yoongi smelled of coffee and that was the first indicator of who it was, the second being because the alpha cursed when he accidentally made his bag rattle a bit loudly and that was most certainly Yoongi.

Jungkook had fallen asleep the night before, so he didn't really know what the alphas had decided to do, all he knew was he was very lonely.

“Hyung…” The omega released an excited noise, nuzzling his chin into the couch. “What’re you doing here?”

Yoongi relaxed rather quickly, grinning all lopsided, hair tucked back into a beanie and swiftly removing his coat, “I thought you'd be asleep, I just thought I'd come check on you guys. Everyone else asleep?” 

“Alphas are sleepy.” 

Yoongi laughed at how hard Jungkook pouted, eying the way the omega curled around a couch pillow before humming and finally coming closer. Jungkook beamed and scooted over, pointing at the square beside him. 

“I'm guessing you were a very bored omega then,” Yoongi mused, “Why aren't you going to sleep, sunshine?” 

“I slept all day,” Jungkook ended that with a dramatic sound and scooted closer to promptly drop his cheek into Yoongi’s shoulder, shocking the alpha. 

But at the sign of permission, Yoongi was promptly wrapping Jungkook up in his arms, even going as far as to tug the omega onto his lap and making Jungkook smile wide and big. Everything about such a look spurred on his instincts. 

Jungkook was happy in his arms. 

“Alphas sleep lots,” Jungkook murmured, pouting and dropping his cheek down to Yoongi’s collarbone. “I think they were really tired… because they took care of me so much.” 

That was likely true, and although Jungkook sounded upset about it, Yoongi knew the others definitely didn't see things that way at all; protecting Jungkook was second nature. Doing whatever their omega needed came easily.

Yoongi only just now understood all of those discussions about omegas. How just their scent could soothe even the most angry alphas. Being around Jungkook felt like breathing in fresh air for the first time. 

“I'm sure they don't regret a thing,” The alpha assured, fingers gently brushing over Jungkook's collarbone, eyes running over the sharpness of his jaw, “It makes alphas very happy to have an omega to take care of.” 

“Even if I bug alphas a lot?” 

“I'm sure that's why you got six of us, more of us to bug.” 

Jungkook laughed, a full body laugh, and squirmed a bit until Yoongi was wrapping an arm around his waist and chuckling at his antics, fingers running over the side of his stomach in a soothing pattern. 

They fell into a quiet silence, with the television softly running in the background. Jungkook had a habit of chewing on his lip when he watched television, eyes big and fingers curled limply over Yoongi’s wrist. 

It was comfortable. So comfortable. 

Yoongi couldn't help look at him more, study him, because observing was something he was incredibly good at - at least he thought so.

Jungkook was a very difficult person to read. 

Most people wouldn't grow so quick to crawl into someone's lap, or be okay with so much attention, but Jungkook wasn't most people. He was certainly influenced by the imprint, but Yoongi couldn't really see any sort of hesitance which was a bit worrying to the alpha if he were being honest.

Of course he loved that Jungkook wanted to be around him, that the omega was comfortable enough curling on his lap, but he didn't know if the omega was naive, or he just felt their bond. 

“I brought snacks,” Yoongi whispered softly, petting Jungkook’s side, “Do you want some?” 

“Don't wanna move.” 

The alpha smiled and laughed, “Do you like attention this much, or just alpha’s?” 

Jungkook turned to look at him then, eyes shaped like tiny crescents just to lean in and press the tip of his nose against Yoongi’s jaw, sweet and gentle, before cooing, “Like alpha’s attention.” 

For a moment, Yoongi short circuited. Didn't even realize he'd referred to himself as such until Jungkook was mumbling it. It sounded completely different from the omega’s lips than his own.

Maybe Jungkook wasn't as innocent as he assumed, but the omega could have fooled him considering he looked so, entirely, innocent when he tugged his legs up into Yoongi’s lap, too. Forcing the alpha into holding all of him. 

“Yeah?” Yoongi grinned and clicked his tongue as he shifted to cup Jungkook's cheek, “Pretty omega.” 

Something in Jungkook's gaze shifted, for a mere second, not long enough for Yoongi to comment, but long enough for the alpha to notice. Then, the omega was smiling all prettily again and leaning into his palm akin to a puppy seeking pets. 

Jungkook truly was just a pup, so small and vulnerable. 

Wetting his lips, Yoongi struggled to form words for a moment, eyes running along Jungkook's mouth. His thumb brushed along the edge of his bottom lip. The omega didn't flinch back, stared right at him as Yoongi just looked. 

Jungkook was truly beautiful. All round eyes and shiny smiles, absolutely distracting. Enchanting. Yoongi found himself leaning closer before even thinking about it.

“-Jungkook?” 

The alpha sucked in a deep breath and immediately jerked to look over the back of the couch, a guilty look in his eyes despite having not done anything. 

“Alpha?” Jungkook also didn't move from his grip, so Yoongi considered it okay to continue holding him even if he knew Taehyung wasn't the most comfortable with them (an understatement).

It was clear that Taehyung was half asleep with the way he didn't really notice Yoongi and went straight to sitting on the couch, rubbing his eyes and murmuring a very soft, “Come ‘ere, baby.” 

Jungkook did, reaching out for Taehyung's shoulders and straddling his lap. 

Yoongi sat still, quiet, as it was apparent the other alpha didn't seem to notice him. It would be concerning and make Yoongi question Taehyung's instincts should he be near anyone else, but the fact the younger alpha didn't react to him was only reassuring.

Taehyung wasn't instinctually defensive near him. Smelling him. Even though he tried to pretend so, instinctually he wasn't. 

“Alpha,” Jungkook cooed while petting the alpha’s hair from his face, leaning into Taehyung's nose and beaming when the alpha didn't so much as open his eyes.

Taehyung reacted so gently, eyes closed and humming contently as he bundled Jungkook's shirt up in his hands. He breathed out rather harshly, tired and sick, but sounded much better than before his hospital visit. 

“I love you.” 

The omega smiled so prettily and Yoongi felt the way his heart jerked in his chest in response to Jungkook's happiness at Taehyung's statement. 

And, in a way, Yoongi was jealous.

He was jealous that Taehyung got to hold Jungkook like that. Got to bundle his shirt up and pet the soft skin of his waist. That Jungkook seemed to love the alpha with everything. That the omega he imprinted on fell so easily into Taehyung's hold like Yoongi wasn't even there.

And he was jealous that Taehyung was so calm with Jungkook. That Taehyung allowed Jungkook to do whatever he wanted with him. That Taehyung leaned into Jungkook’s hands with absolute trust and respect and allowed the omega to see him, an alpha, so soft.

Yoongi was just jealous. Of the time they'd missed out on. On the bond they'd likely never get to fully understand. Of the fact that the pups would always love each other much more than they'd be able to compare to.

It wasn't a competition, but sometimes it felt like it.

Especially during moments like this, when Jungkook pressed a kiss against Taehyung's lips and the alpha didn't so much as open his eyes when he curled a hand around the omega’s nape and tugged him into a harder kiss that made Jungkook squeak.

And, honestly, Yoongi had no idea what to do when he could hear their lips meeting and the soft, contented sighs pass between them. The wet, sweet kisses that grew more intense. He could see Jungkook's hands grow tighter —

And just as Yoongi wondered, perhaps inappropriately, whether or not Jungkook was going to slicken, Taehyung was settling hands on Jungkook's hips to calm him down with a gentle, muffled, “You're needy for everyone tonight, hm?” 

Yoongi stiffened. 

So maybe Taehyung wasn't as oblivious as he thought.

“Alphas,” Jungkook corrected, a tiny pout on his lips. They were slightly red now and a bit swollen. “Want alphas.” 

“Well,” Taehyung whispered, curling fingers into Jungkook's hair to tug him down into a hug, “Alphas want you too, bunny.” 

Their attention, Yoongi had to tell himself, because while Jungkook was innocent, completely so, it would be easy to misunderstand his intentions as something more. Especially after how fast he was to kiss Taehyung in a less than innocent fashion. 

Still sitting silent, Yoongi shifted just a bit to lean on the arm of the couch and Taehyung immediately looked at him. Not necessarily with any negativity in his eyes, just acknowledgment.

The younger alpha did shift to sink more into the couch, hands trailing up and down Jungkook's spine and there was a possessiveness in that action, but he didn't glare at him or anything of the sort and it was more than Yoongi expected. 

“Did you rest a lot today?” Yoongi tried, crossing his arms over his chest to keep them to himself. Jungkook's shirt was yanked up on his hip and begging him to tug it down, he had to restrain himself. “And take all of your medicine?” 

The omega across Taehyung's chest was looking at Yoongi, eyes round and a bit tired, cheek squished into Taehyung's collarbone. He said nothing, but smiled when Taehyung's deep voice rumbled out.

“Jungkook took all of his medicine.” 

“That's good,” Yoongi drawled, “But I was asking about you.” 

Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows a bit, but he didn't say more. Yoongi didn't push him to say more. He still looked exhausted and sickly, and now he looked confused.

Yoongi didn't like how confused he looked at such a simple question. 

“I think you misunderstand us,” Yoongi murmured as he unfolded his arms, leaning a bit closer to the duo, “I think you misunderstand what all of this is, pup. You think we want your omega,” there was a pause as he glanced at Jungkook, caught the omegas teeny tiny smile, “And we do want that. Want him to be safe and happy. Want to protect and love him,” Yoongi looked right at Taehyung, “But that doesn't mean it's just him that we want those things for.” 

There was no visual reaction. Taehyung was so, incredibly, good at not showing anything. At pretending he wasn't paying attention. So good that even Yoongi had a hard time picking anything up. 

Luckily, Jungkook wasn't the type to hide anything at all. The omega seemed like the type that when asked, are you crying? he'd probably start crying even if he hadn't previously been doing so. 

Jungkook was a very gentle and emotional soul, so Yoongi wasn't surprised at all when the omega cooed a drowsy, happy sound and squirmed to throw himself across both of their laps. He laid down with his cheek on cheek on Yoongi’s thighs and body across Taehyung's. 

“Stay here, alphas. ‘wanna… I wanna sleep here…” 

Taehyung didn't run away. Yoongi would accept that. 

Chapter Text

“- and, and!” Jungkook grew incredibly excited, flopping his sleeves back and forth, “I really, really love hot chocolate too, but I hate coffee! It's so gross, blah…” 

“Is that so?” 

The omega bounced on his feet and hardly blinked when Namjoon brushed hair behind his ear before moving to tug the omega back under his arm. 

They wanted to take the pups out after they'd stuck to the hotel room for days, but it was understandable that they didn't want to go far. Or outside of the room much at all. 

In fact, everyday the oldest alphas stopped by to clean up their trash and check to make sure the pups took all of their medicine and perhaps, if they were lucky, get a smile or two out of the trio.

Jungkook was very easy to get smiles out of, he even ran to the door all giggly and ready with a rant that typically was about a movie he'd watched or, sometimes, food he'd eaten. 

Jimin, too, was very welcoming these days. Always rather okay with them, even, like today, he seemed rather happy.

“Jungkook,” Jimin began, moving to stand over the omega, not really blinking twice at Namjoon coddling the omega in favor of grabbing Jungkook's long sleeve, “Baby, what did I say about clothes too big for you?” 

Jungkook whined, slumping into Namjoon's side dramatically, “If it's too big, I have to roll it up… or else I'll fall…”

“That's right,” Jimin agreed, leaning over to smack a kiss against the bridge of Jungkook's nose and then sighing upon looking over the back of the couch and groaning, “Taehyung. Get up. It's almost dinner time. You've been laying there all day.” 

And Taehyung was, well, less than welcoming.

The alpha blatantly refused to interact with them really, which was hurtful in itself. 

“Tae Tae! Come here, hyungs wanna eat dinner together!”

At least Jungkook had a huge heart and always tried to drag the alpha out of his shell. It always worked too, because everyone was putty for the omega. 

Taehyung sighed as he rolled over in bed, groaning while he moved to get up, complaining without even looking, “Bunny, you're driving me crazy today. Give me my shirt back, sneaky baby.” 

So that was probably why Jungkook smelled more alpha than omega today and why Jimin continued to scold him for wearing something twice his size. Either way, it was cute, and Taehyung's complaint was chided rather playfully.

Giggling, Jungkook turned his head to hide in Namjoon's shoulder, earning a large hand covering his head and running through soft locks. 

The front door opening was enough to make Jungkook pop up with an excited squeal and cry, “Hyungs!” 

The eldest three coming through the door had bags of food and other goodies. They'd taken off an hour before with a mumbled mutter about dinner and some necessities, but Jungkook acted as though they'd been gone forever. 

“Hyungs! Hyung!” 

“Ah,” Seokjin dropped his bags and laughed as he collected Jungkook in his arms, lifting the omega off of his feet and snuggling him to his chest, “You missed hyungs that much, hm? Sweet boy.” 

“What would happen if hyungs didn't come back? I didn't even get a goodbye hug.” 

Seokjin shared a concerned look before pressing a barely there kiss onto Jungkook's hair, squeezing him once very tightly and whispering, “Hyungs will always come back. Now give hyungs love and then we'll eat.” 

Jungkook nodded, grinned, and tossed himself at Hoseok the moment feet touched the ground, earning a playfully surprised expression from the alpha who swept him up with a loud, “I missed you too, angel!”

Taehyung sighed and fixed his hair from his eyes, falling into Jimin's side and wrapping around the other tiredly, closing his eyes when a kiss was pressed to his temple. 

Yoongi pressed his lips together, hugging Jungkook who'd been passed off to him, mumbling, “You should probably go wake up your alpha, hm? He looks like he might sleep in his food.” 

Jungkook burst into a fit of giggles, but did listen and spin around to pounce at the alphas, fitting himself perfectly on one leg of each of them and wrapping arms around them. The omega didn't even say words, just nuzzled into Taehyung's cheek with a handful of happy sounds.

“I love you, baby.” 

Taehyung sounded so, incredibly, genuine. Handled Jungkook so gently that it was easy to forget that this was the alpha that pretended they didn't exist.

Truthfully, they understood. 

If things were reversed and they were the ones that had found Jungkook first, got to hold him like that, kiss him, then the chance that they, too, would be on high alert about newcomers joining would be high. If they'd had half a year of having the omega to themselves, they wouldn't want to share him with more people either. 

Still, that didn't mean Taehyung's actions didn't hurt. 

“Come eat,” Seokjin ordered gently, unraveling bags onto the coffee table, “Together. Everyone.” 

“Yay!” 

Jungkook's enthusiasm was incredibly heartwarming to see; even if it was just over food, seeing the omega happy brought a smile to everyone's face. Taehyung wasn't excluded from that at all. 

“Hey,” Yoongi hummed and leaned on the arm of the couch, making Jimin blink away from watching Taehyung slowly move to follow the omega. Immediately Jimin looked a bit sheepish and wrung his hands together nervously, “Hey.” 

Yoongi quirked an eyebrow up at his behavior, but the elder brushed it off and wrapped an arm around him, tugging him towards the table, “You look like you slept well.” 

Jimin smiled, just a small smile, and chuckled, “Probably more than I should.” 

“You needed it.” 

That was likely more than true. Jimin looked like a dead man walking, but now there was an energy about him. A feeling. Jimin just felt much happier now. 

By then, Jungkook was already settling up against Hoseok at the table, smiling that huge cheesy smile when Seokjin cooed at him and brushed his long hair behind his ear with a soft, “We know, you're very cute, puppy.” 

It didn't really matter what Jungkook had said or done, just that the pup was very cute and there was no reason to ask what he was referring to, because even just sitting there blinking those big eyes made him look absolutely coo-worthy. 

The eldest did peel himself away, reluctantly, to begin giving out burgers. It wasn't the most healthy food, but it was Jungkook’s favorite thing at the moment, so everyone was compromising on their own health for a little bit to keep the omega happy. Hopefully, just until they could move the omega in and make dinner everyday, but right now that was proving a conversation very difficult to start in fear that either of the alphas would find that too much. 

The truth was they were just pups and couldn't live inside of the hotel forever. It wasn't a long term solution, it was just better than having them on the streets.

“We have only two days of medicine left.” 

Everyone looked up at Taehyung for the sudden statement, the alpha was reaching for a drink and avoiding their eyes, “Three doses of my antibiotics. Then, I'm finished too.” 

It was so unexpected that nobody spoke for a full minute, just looking at Taehyung because it felt like they rarely even heard his voice. 

“Do you feel better?” Hoseok worried instantly, arm resting over the back of Jungkook's chair, but looking worriedly at Taehyung, “We can call the doctor if you feel you need more medication.” 

Taehyung didn't reply for a moment, he picked at his food for a minute, hair covering his face, but when he sat up it was with an unreadable look and replied, “I was just mentioning it so that we can get out of here soon.” 

Get out of here. Taehyung said it as though it was firm and final, like he'd only been here out of obligation. Like he'd rather be on the streets. Now that hurt.

Yoongi was on him in less than a second, “You want to get out of here.” He paused, keeping his tone level, “As in: you are tired of this hotel, or you want to go back on the streets?” 

“No!” 

Jungkook’s plea put everyone on edge, even more so when the omega whimpered and dropped his food in favor of quietly sinking in on himself, twisting around the bond between them in a way that suggested Jungkook was seconds from crying. They didn't really need to feel that, they could see his eyes growing glossy. 

“Oh, no. No. Bunny,” Jimin began, shushing across the table, moving to get up, “Alpha will fix it. D-”

“Alright. Alright, Sh,” Seokjin reached over to offer Jungkook his arms, and when the omega lifted a hand towards him he was sliding him into his lap, soothing, “Nobody is going back on the streets. You're not. Jimin is not. Taehyung is not. Nobody is.” 

“Sounds like somebody wants to,” Yoongi said under his breath, not loud enough for Jungkook to hear over Seokjin’s cooing and the omega whining, but enough for Taehyung to hear on Jimin's opposite side. 

Jimin was stiff when he turned to Taehyung with warning eyes, “Tae. Shut up. They've done so much for us-”

“We don't know anything about them,” Taehyung hissed out. His jaw was tight as he shoved away his chair from the table. Despite Jungkook being so upset, the alpha didn't seem to give it any thought as he growled, “And we're supposed to trust them? And what? Let some strangers just come in and change everything?” 

Standing up, Jimin pointed at him, speaking rapidly and rather hushed as though Jungkook wouldn't here, but they all could, “Taehyung. I can't do that anymore. I can't. And you're not going to take Jungkook back out there, not when there's something so much better here. I'm not letting you go out either. So just stop. It's time to fucking stop. Be realistic, I'm tired of being the only one having to be realistic! If we go out there, we're going to die out there.” 

Taehyung looked infuriated. He looked furious, and yet his voice was very quiet when he whispered, “You're picking strangers over me? You're letting them make choices for us, rather than talking to me?” 

“That isn't even a choice. We're not going on the streets again.” 

“And if I prefer that?” 

“I love you, Tae, but you…” Jimin wet his lips and looked both anxious and apologetic, “but not taking Jungkook out there. You're not being rational.” 

It was quiet for a moment. Taehyung's hands clenched and unclenched, the alpha pulled his face together in an angry, and tearful, way. 

It wouldn't be surprising if the youngest alpha grew threatened by such words. If Taehyung lashed out, because this was Jungkook, and they were imprinted, and the thought of not being near an imprint was enough to keep an alpha up at night. (Seokjin understood, because he didn't sleep for days after meeting them). 

So it wouldn't be completely shocking if Taehyung acted physically, but he didn't. Didn't have a chance to when Namjoon was clearing his throat quietly and whispering, “I love music. And books. And collecting figurines.” 

The statements sounded completely strange at the moment, but Namjoon continued with a tiny smile and pretended he didn't feel nauseous with all of the tension in the air, “Yoongi hyung can play the piano and guitar, so the house is usually never silent. Jin hyung spends a lot of time testing out new recipes for the restaurants and cafe branches, so we always have a lot of food around. Hoseok spends a lot of the time just taking care of everyone. Cleaning up when hyung forgets to. Nagging us about laundry,” Namjoon chuckled, “Staying up way too late cleaning the house, then forgetting it's four in the morning and watching movies too loud.” 

A small giggle sounded and it was impossible not to look at Jungkook. The omega looked teary, but he looked like he felt a lot better with Seokjin's arms wrapped around his shoulders and the lower half of his face tucked behind the alpha’s arms in a way that made only his eyes visible. 

It, unfortunately, was also the noise that made Taehyung break out of his stupor and practically run into the bathroom seeing as it was the only room with privacy. 

Jimin sighed rather loudly and grabbed the back of his empty chair, whispering, “I'm sorry. I- we never fight. It's just that we… I think, uh,” he bit his lip and glanced at Jungkook, “We never really discussed this out loud before. Of course we assumed there'd be more alphas for him, it was just something we didn't really have time to talk about. It's nothing against your pack.” 

“Our.” 

Jimin looked at Hoseok confused just as the alpha was smiling and holding out Jimin's half eaten box of fries, “Our pack,” Hoseok corrected, “Eat. You don't have to explain anything to us. Just eat.” 

“Okay, hyung. Thank you. We really appreciate it. Tae too, even if he won't say it right now.” 

“You don't have to thank us for anything. Ever. We are a family.” 

Hoseok didn't say we're going to be a family, he said we are a family, Jimin would remember that. 

Chapter Text

“You messy pup!”

Giggles were growing to be a familiar sound. And, to be honest, Seokjin wasn't sure if he'd ever grow used to the sound of Jungkook's laughter. It was always met with squirms and happy, scrunched nose smiles. 

It was okay if they didn't get used to it, because it didn't seem like Jimin or Taehyung had grown used to it either seeing as every single person looked at Jungkook when he laughed.

Hoseok had Jungkook squirming across his lap. The alpha had been trying to fold up some of the clean laundry they'd brought for them from where they'd washed them at their home, but Jungkook wasn't having not being the center of attention and his claim of helping was more so him ruining the folded piles. 

That was okay too.

“You're making this much more difficult than it needs to be,” Hoseok scolded playfully, tickling under Jungkook's chin. 

The omega squealed a giggle and turned to hide his face in Hoseok’s stomach, laughing. Hoseok chuckled and dug fingers deep into his locks, scratching gently at his scalp and tsking, “We can fold them later, angel. You want attention, hm? Come here.” 

“Pup.” 

For a good moment, Jimin didn't even move, continuing to look at Jungkook and Hoseok while eating his sandwich until Seokjin laughed under his breath and took a seat on the coffee table in front of him, startling Jimin out of his stare.

“Pup,” Seokjin repeated, leaning over to clean off Jimin's chin where there was sauce. “Can we talk?” 

Jimin's eyebrows shot up and the alpha quickly moved to wrap up the rest of his foot, nodding quickly and mumbling a rather soft, “Of course, hyung.” 

There was movement on the opposite end of the couch where Taehyung sat with the remote in hand, tapping it against the arm of the couch, but watching closely.

“Okay, first,” Seokjin began softly, reaching out to fix Jimin's shirt that pulled over his bony collarbone, “How are you feeling? Do you need to go back to the hospital?” 

For a moment, Jimin didn't reply, he just leaned into Seokjin's touch in such a way that the elder cooed under his breath and grabbed Jimin's hand to hold onto. Then, at the touch, the younger alpha quickly began with a quiet, “Jung-”

“You. I'm asking about you, I'll ask Jungkook later.” 

Jimin cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck with his free hand, “I feel good. Just tired and… really hungry all the time. Mostly tired.” 

“It's only been two weeks, that's expected,” The eldest murmured, “But we'll give it some more time and go back if we need to, okay?” 

Jimin smiled and it was rather cute the way his eyes looked like crescents and he ducked his head when he nodded. “Okay.” 

“And you need to eat more.” 

“Yes, hyung.” 

“And try to not worry over everyone else too much,” Seokjin hummed, reaching over to pet Jimin’s hair back from his eyes, smiling, “Don't think Jungkook doesn't tell us everything. Told us how you woke him up at midnight because he forgot to take his vitamins.” Jimin growled under his breath, Seokjin laughed and added, “He likes to talk a lot. We'll know all your secrets soon.” 

Jimin rolled his eyes playfully, but didn't add more. Just let Seokjin hold his hand and looked rather bashful about the entire situation. Even more so because the eldest picked up his hand and looked at all of the little healing marks on his knuckles. 

The only distracting thing was the eyes burning into them, but Seokjin pointedly ignored them. Not because he didn't want Taehyung's interest, but because he wanted to see how interested Taehyung was.

And, based on the stare, it was very interested.

Yet when Seokjin turned to look at him Taehyung looked away and pretended he hadn't been looking at all. 

“Alright,” Yoongi cut in, tablet in hand, and the alpha didn't seem to care if it was Taehyung or not, he sat on the arm of the couch right next to Taehyung and the younger didn't move away despite how Yoongi was touching him. “So, I was thinking about this for the restaurant.” 

The alpha turned around the tablet to show a cup logo design. 

Seokjin scrunched up his nose, “We did blue last winter, maybe we should try something new.” 

Taehyung shifted a bit, straightening up, then glanced at Jimin as he uttered, sounding hesitant, “Jimin is good at art.” Jimin looked called out and reached over to shove his leg, blushing. 

It made Namjoon look up from his book, between the duo, before commenting, “Jimin should do it then.” 

Jimin looked rather sheepish when Yoongi cleared his drawing and handed him his tablet, biting his lip as he shifted to sit cross legged, “What's it for?”

“New drink. It's a fruity tea,” Seokjin hummed, “Yoongi and I made it. Spend a lot of time making new foods and drinks for the Kim Kitchen branches. When you guys move in, you can be our taste testers.” 

“... moving in?” 

Jungkook's laughter quieted as soon as Taehyung said such a thing, practically going stiff in Hoseok's hold while the alpha was holding him tight and mumbling, “It's okay, baby. It's okay. Calm down.” 

“Moving in,” Taehyung laughed under his breath, tone slowly rising, “We never discussed that. We never-”

“Did you think you were going to live here forever?” Yoongi drawled, tone not upset, but a bit amused, “Just live off of pizza and burgers?” 

Taehyung narrowed eyes on him and his face pulled together irritably, shifting to sit up and look at Yoongi with a clenched jaw, “Would you let us live like that or would it bother you that Jungkook was with us and not with you?”

“Tae!” Jimin called at the same time Jungkook turned to hide in Hoseok's neck, whimpering. “Kookie doesn't like yelling, lower your voice.” 

“What's that supposed to mean?” Yoongi began, standing up and looking at Taehyung confused. He wasn't yelling, but did sound irritated, “Why do you keep mentioning him? Yes, we're imprinted, but that doesn't mean we don't care about all of you-”

“Oh shut up!” 

Now Taehyung was moving to stand up, hands clenched and eyes looking wet and teary, but he couldn't seem to form any words as he stared Yoongi down. He just sort of looked at him. Glared. Eyes wet and lip trembling.

Yoongi looked right back at him. Scanning the alpha’s glassy eyes. Taehyung was an alpha entirely different from Jimin. 

Where Jimin was cute and gentle looking, cheeks more rounded and eyes crescent, Taehyung had all chiseled features. The alpha wasn't cute in the way Jimin was, he was handsome in a way hard to explain. He looked like he wasn't real at times because of how handsome he was. 

“You think we only want Jungkook, we know,” Seokjin muttered, voice calm and soft, “You're wrong.” 

Taehyung's chin trembled and his eyebrows pulled together at the same moment he looked moments from crying and, well, Yoongi didn't think. 

He curled a hand around Taehyung's cheek and tugged him into a kiss. It wasn't exactly thought through before it was done which was why Yoongi retreated rather quickly, only for Taehyung to blink at him once, tears in his eyes, and reach for him again.

Then, Yoongi pulled him into a much a firmer kiss, hand gently curling around Taehyung's jaw and brushing away the warm tears that met his thumb. 

“It's been a long time,” Jimin whispered, “Since we had anyone that cared about us like this. Enough to do this. It's just been us for a really long time.” 

They didn't need to explain themselves, not really at all, because it was easy to assume it had just been them for quite a while. By the way they moved together it was clear. Taehyung and Jimin were in sync with everything they did, attached at the hip. When Taehyung went to shower, Jimin put clothes inside the bathroom. When Jimin woke up, Taehyung handed him a hairbrush. Then, together, they'd take care of Jungkook.

It was entirely clear they'd been the caretakers, when really they were the ones that needed a caretaker. 

“Sh. It's okay,” Yoongi whispered under his breath, pulling Taehyung into a hug, “It's okay, baby. It's okay.” 

Taehyung cried, letting Yoongi pull him into his lap on the couch and baby him. Petting his hair and letting Taehyung nuzzle into his chest in a way not dissimilar to a pup at all with how hard he was crying. 

“Tae.” Jungkook worried, whimpering, “Tae…” 

“He's okay. He's fine,” Seokjin soothed the second Jungkook began to stutter out his whines, “Don't worry, puppy. Don't worry.” 

“Here,” Namjoon murmured, “Come here, little one. Let's calm down.” 

Jungkook whimpered when he crawled out of Hoseok's lap to climb his way into the chair with Namjoon, sinking down and hiding in the alpha’s chest, but watching Taehyung carefully.

Yoongi, although quiet, seemed to be incredibly good at comforting other people with the way he soothed Taehyung and kissed his hair, mumbling to him quietly.

“I-I'm sorry.” 

“No, don't.” Yoongi muttered immediately, petting Taehyung's hair back, pressing a kiss against his temple, “You did nothing. Nothing at all. Hyung is here.” 

“I…” Taehyung swallowed, shifting to look up at Yoongi, “I just… even my parents didn't want me, I can't-”

“We want you.” Yoongi frowned, combing Taehyung's hair from his face, “I want you.” 

The younger alpha looked at him like he didn't quite believe him, biting his lip and staring at him, fingers loose around Yoongi’s shirt. They stared at each other for a moment, a very heavy moment, before Yoongi repeated, “I want you, Taehyung.” 

“Oh, shit.” 

In less than a second, Hoseok was standing up to move and grab Jungkook as soon as the scent of pheromones began to fill the air, blocking the omega’s view the second Taehyung leaned up to kiss Yoongi again, this time with much more furocity.

“We can't let Jungkook stay here with them like this… his scent would be too much for us,” Seokjin worried, grabbing a blanket and turning to Jimin, “Come on. Let's take you two to see a movie, let's let them work things out.” 

Jimin stared at Taehyung and Yoongi, eyes huge, but seemed to realize the implication of Seokjin’s words and jumped to his feet, grabbing his shoes, “Kookie, let's see a movie. Anything you want, baby.” 

By then, Namjoon already had Jungkook in his arms wrapped up, the omega was whining about Hoseok covering his eyes, but as soon as he heard the word movie, the omega was awing, “Can I have candy and popcorn too?” 

“Anything you want,” Namjoon promised, wetting his lips as he spared a final glance at the two on the couch. 

It was clear Yoongi was restraining himself and waiting for them to leave, his fingers hovered over Taehyung's shirt, but otherwise he tried to keep the younger calm by kissing him with just as much furocity as Taehyung was showing him. 

An impatient furiosity. 

As soon as the door shut, Yoongi was pushing Taehyung gently onto the couch, fingers pushing up the younger’s shirt and swallowing his quiet moan, nipping at his bottom lip. 

Taehyung was normally aggressive, but the way he was holding onto Yoongi was as if he needed this attention, it suggested he had absolutely no idea how deserving he was of any sort of affection. Much less from an alpha older than him. One who wanted to take care of him.

Taehyung needed this. This solid proof that they didn't care if he, too, was an alpha and they shouldn't want him like they wanted Jungkook. 

The feelings weren't exactly the same. With Jungkook things would always be different. But there would always be this same adoration and pull to Jimin and Taehyung no matter how hard they fought it. 

Taehyung was their pup now. If this was how they had to show him they cared about him, then Yoongi had absolutely no qualms about doing so. 

Taehyung was gorgeous, that was an undeniable fact. And he smelled so sweet, like many pups did; he didn't have a scent that screamed alpha which made it easier for Yoongi to fight against his instincts and focus on feeling instead. 

“H-Hyung.” 

Plus, it was nice to hear that. It was difficult to be sexual with the others too often seeing as alpha instincts could be difficult to deal with when they all smelled so strongly of alpha. That and they didn't have an omega around or scent of one that calmed anyone down, so it was often just a fight of dominance. 

Taehyung didn't fight at all. He arched into him and let Yoongi remove his shirt, biting his lip and watching the elder sit up to mess with his pant button. He looked a little worried and was flushed. 

“Hey,” Yoongi muttered, clicking his tongue at such a look and leaning down to press a kiss to Taehyung's chest, nosing against his skin gently, “I'll take care of you, pup. We're a pack.” 

Taehyung gave a stiff nod, but Yoongi shook his head, “Say it and hyung will take care of you.” 

“We're a pack.” 

Yoongi hummed an approving sound, kissing Taehyung's jaw while undoing his jeans. He was met with a rather muffled snarl when nipping at the younger alpha’s neck, but Yoongi merely laughed at how fast Taehyung gave into submitting.

“Cute,” Yoongi chided, making Taehyung huff and shift to push him a bit until he could settle on the elder’s lap, pants undone and arms wrapping around his neck.

Taehyung kissed him roughly, fingers undoing the buttons of Yoongi’s top and sucking on the elder’s lip.

Hissing under his breath, Yoongi grabbed Taehyung's hips to grind against him. He smiled when the other moaned into his mouth which then made Taehyung huff and move to hug him closer, burying his face in Yoongi’s shoulder.

“You sure you're an alpha?” 

“Shut up and touch me already.” 

“Want me to tell you how beautiful you are too?” Yoongi hummed, kissing Taehyung's shoulder, fingers playing with the soft hair at his nape. The younger was still very thin. Thin enough for him to feel all of his ribs. “Fucking gorgeous, Taehyung.” 

Taehyung sat against his thighs, shifting to look at Yoongi, lips swollen and bitten red. “You really mean that you'll take care of us?” 

Yoongi smiled lopsided, “All of you. Right now I just really want to take care of you, baby. Let hyung take care of you, hm?” 

Taehyung's smile was blinding. It was such a cute rectangular shape; Yoongi had only ever seen it from afar. It was much more beautiful up close. “Okay,” Taehyung replied, laughing under his breath, “Because in order to take care of Kookie you have to try really hard to get approval from me.” 

“You're a harsh judge, hm?” 

“The harshest.” 

Yoongi wrapped both hands around Taehyung's thighs to pick him up, “Good thing you picked me to show you then, because I happen to think I'm the best at sex.”

“We'll see about that. I have been with an alpha before and Jimin is really good.” 

Yoongi mused that Taehyung’s laughter when moved to the bed gave him feelings that weren't all that dissimilar to when Jungkook laughed. 

Chapter Text

The movie Jungkook had picked was a children's movie and seeing as it was now dark out they ended up being the only ones in the theater.

Jungkook was excited about being the only people there and practically took ten minutes to choose their seats, but despite the movie playing he was more interested in his snacks.

“Hyungs?”

Everyone turned to look at Jimin with the exception of Jungkook who was pulled together in his seat with popcorn in one hand and a soda in the other, both clutched to his chest, holding both despite Hoseok having told him numerous times that he could use the cup holders.

Jimin twisted his lips, “Do you think Tae is okay? I mean, we never left him alone before.” 

“Yoongi hyung will take care of him,” Hoseok promised immediately, reaching over to wrap an arm around the back of Jimin's chair, “You don't need to worry about things like that. He won't hurt Taehyung. We'd never hurt you guys, even during sex.” 

It was dark in the theater, but the way Jimin ducked his head was a tell-all that he was blushing. That and the way he rubbed his thighs nervously and chuckled. 

“You two don't get all worked up too,” Seokjin warned playfully, “At this rate, I'll have to just take Jungkook out by myself if you pups can't control yourselves.” 

Just to tease Jimin more and add to his blush, Hoseok pretended to be annoyed and reached over for Jimin's leg, palm curling around his thigh and complaining, “Hyung is such a cockblock. Ignore him.” 

Seokjin laughed when Jimin turned to hide in his armrest, but Namjoon was laughing even louder and cutting into the tension. 

“Guys. Look at Kookie. Aish… what are we going to do with this omega?” 

Jungkook who had been bouncing on his feet and chewing handfuls of gummies five minutes ago was now asleep. His popcorn spilled out a bit on his lap and, luckily, his drink was only just now beginning to tilt. 

It seemed when Jungkook was tired it hit him fast. 

“Shit. Jungkookie,” Jimin worried immediately, jerking to stand up, “Sorry. Let me just-”

“Why’re you saying sorry?” Seokjin sighed, reaching out to grab Jimin's shirt and tug him back, “I'm so tired of hearing that, Jimin. We are your hyungs. We'll take care of all of you. It makes us happy to take care of you guys. Sit down. Hyung will take care of it.” 

“But I-”

Hoseok clicked his tongue and grabbed Jimin's wrist, tugging the alpha’s hand into his lap and curling their fingers together, “We know it's hard to not take care of him, but you've spent more than enough time worrying over him. Let us do that. We want to. Just relax. Watch the movie.” 

Jimin didn't watch the movie, he gnawed on his lip and watched Seokjin move Jungkook's snacks onto the floor and gently move to untangle the omega’s legs. Jungkook liked to ball himself up. Always did. He liked to make himself tiny. Almost like he was most comfortable hiding in a ball. 

“Sh. Sh.” Seokjin mumbled under his breath when Jungkook sniffled, hand curling around the omega’s jaw to hold his head up while Namjoon stood up, “Alphas are here, my love.” 

Namjoon quickly moved in to grab Jungkook, hand curled around the back of his neck and the other behind his thigh. As soon as Jungkook sucked in a breath he was clinging with a tiny whine not dissimilar to a koala. 

Seokjin put the armrests up so Namjoon could sit back down and Namjoon seemed to have absolutely no issue with holding Jungkook even if he couldn't sit all the way back due to the omega having locked his ankles around his back. 

He didn't complain at all and just went back to watching the movie while petting Jungkook's hair and occasionally pressing a kiss or two against the omega’s head. 

“Here,” Seokjin murmured, moving to take his seat on Jimin's other side, holding out the snacks, “Eat up, baby.” 

Jimin didn't feel that primal need to snarl claw at the back of his throat due to the fact Jungkook seemed so comfortable sleeping on Namjoon's shoulder. In fact, he wondered if this was what it felt like to truly be relaxed. It'd been so long since he was relaxed that he forgot what it felt like.

He took the snacks and didn't take his hand back from Hoseok. 

***

“You feel okay?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Can hyung sit here?” 

Taehyung rolled over, hair messy and shirtless. He rubbed his eyes and wet his lips, looking a little confused as he blinked at Seokjin. 

The eldest cooed at him and sat down, shifting to pet Taehyung's cheek and down his bare shoulder, “I'm sorry for waking you up, Yoongi went to shower and didn't want to leave you alone. I wanted to ask if you ate before bed.” 

The younger didn't reply for a good minute. He closed his eyes and Seokjin pet over his temple and hair, waiting patiently until Taehyung muttered, “Kookie?” 

“We got another room because it still smells strongly of pheromones,” Seokjin admitted softly, “Jungkookie can't sit through a full movie. Fell asleep holding his popcorn. Joon and Hobi are sleeping next door with him,” He paused and cupped Taehyung's cheek, brushing his thumb back and forth, “How do you feel, baby?” 

“I like that.” 

Seokjin laughed under his breath. They'd never really spoken to Taehyung when he was sleepy, or much at all, but he rivaled Jungkook's sleepy cuteness in how he nuzzled into Seokjin's hand and didn't even open his eyes until he added, “I'm okay, are you okay, hyung?” 

“I'm very okay.” Seokjin practically cooed, leaning closer when Taehyung opened his eyes, “Very happy. Are you happy?” 

Taehyung didn't reply to that and instead smiled. He seemed to be waking up a little bit more. And immediately grinned wide when he felt the bed dip behind him and was met with Jimin's familiar scent curling around him as the alpha nuzzled into the back of his neck.

“Hey,” Jimin rumbled, kissing his nape, “Next time you have to come too. You'd love it. Have to carry Kookie out though.” 

Taehyung laughed, rolling over to wrap arms around Jimin, naked back to Seokjin who immediately eyed the small finger bruises in his skin. They were alphas, so it was bound to get rough, but Taehyung having low vitamins likely made them appear more than they would otherwise.

It still wasn't a good feeling to see the pups bruised, so Seokjin immediately pulled the blanket over him and moved to hover over them. 

Jimin was just petting Taehyung's cheek, but he glanced at Seokjin with a grin before back at Taehyung just as the alpha mumbled, “I miss Jungkook.”  

“I know,” Jimin replied quietly, leaning in to kiss Taehyung's nose gently, making the alpha laugh. “This is probably how hyungs feel all the time, right?” 

Seokjin hummed a confirmation, leaning down to press a kiss against Jimin's hair and then Taehyung's after a moment of deliberation, “Always. Sort of hurts a bit, but I'm getting used to it.” 

Taehyung frowned as he turned to Seokjin, “You shouldn't have to, I'm sorry. We can go-”

“Pup,” Seokjin shushed under his breath, moving to curl fingers into Taehyung's hair, petting softly, “You don't have to say a word. We understand. Just let us take care of you from now on, that would make us happier than anything.” 

The youngest alpha stared at him for a minute, chewing on his lip, then whispered under his breath, “Are we going to go to your home soon?”

“Our home and yes.” 

Jimin grinned and threw an arm around Taehyung's chest, kissing below his ear and commenting softly, “You smell like hyung, it's nice.” 

“It is nice,” Seokjin agreed, wetting his lips and adding gently, “But we need you to shower before we can bring you to Jungkook. I, um,” He bit his lip, “We don't want to lose self control if he slickens. We never want to hurt any of you. His arousal might be a bit too much and we don't know how experienced he is or if he'd want to…”

The way both of them just continued to stare was nerve racking. 

Until Jimin laughed, softly, not at all mocking but more so amused, “You want to sleep with him.” 

“That's not-”

“Jungkook is very inexperienced,” Jimin continued, sounding teasing, “Never really spent time around others, let alone alphas, until we met. And we haven't had many opportunities for much-”

“That must be why he's so friendly,” Seokjin muttered, “At least with us.” 

All at once the teasing smirk pulling at Jimin's lips was wiped clean and Taehyung stiffened before shifting to sit up, tugging the blankets over his naked lower body and sighing as he threw his head against the headboard.

“What?” Seokjin worried.

Jimin glanced at Taehyung but the other was closing his eyes and crossing his arms. Obviously not wanting to be involved.

In the end, Jimin settled on sitting up and shifting to the end of the bed, gnawing at his lip in a way that suggested he was upset before the alpha mumbled, softly, “Just… Just be gentle with him.” 

Instantly, Seokjin was shifting to grab Jimin's hand, “Do you want to tell me something, pup?” 

He didn't have time to reply to that, because Yoongi was coming into the room from the bathroom, smirk pulling at his lips and drying his hair. The alpha was all smiles as he approached Jimin, obviously not noticing the tension, and leaned over to kiss his temple. 

“Why are you guys still awake?” 

Taehyung immediately was aware again, making Seokjin want to snicker at how he suddenly seemed much more interested in Yoongi, but the atmosphere didn't allow for it. 

Yoongi seemed to realize that too after a lack of response and instantly turned to Seokjin, “What are you guys talking about?” 

“I know about as much as you do.” 

Clicking his tongue, Taehyung said, under his breath, “We just want everyone to be careful with Jungkook. That's all. He's already dealt with too much.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Yoongi snarled out, but immediately sucked in a breath and shifted to climb on the bed, reaching out for Taehyung, “What do you mean by that, baby?” 

Taehyung didn't reply, just leaned into Yoongi’s hold until the elder was leaning down to kiss him, but Yoongi wasn't the type to get distracted by a few kisses and immediately pulled back and repeated himself. 

Jimin turned to Seokjin, very obviously just trying to change the subject, “I'm tired, hyungs. Can we do this later?” 

When it came to Jungkook, the idea of later was hard to process because instincts demanded to know everything. Still, though, they dropped it, because the pups clearly didn't want to talk about it at all. 

“Okay,” Yoongi said, pressing another kiss against Taehyung's mouth and squeezing his waist, “You. Go shower,” then, he shifted down and unpromptedly cupped Jimin's cheek to press a kiss smack on plump lips, “And you, go to bed. I'll go check on our mate.” 

“Bossy,” Seokjin rolled his eyes playfully and got up, petting down Jimin's hair and pointedly ignoring the sheepish look on his face, “But he's right. Tomorrows going to be a long day. You're going home.” 

Home. 

Now that sounded like a daydream. 

Chapter Text

“What are you thinking about?” 

“Hyungs.” 

In the front seat of the car, Seokjin glanced in the rear view mirror just as Hoseok was reaching into the backseat to pinch Jungkook's cheek fondly. The omega squeaked and turned to hide in Namjoon’s arm.

It had taken convincing for Jimin and Taehyung to separate themselves and allow for Jungkook to ride in their car without them, but it was less about wanting to separate them all and more about proving they trusted one another.

Taking care of Jungkook was a very good way of showing that they were trustworthy. 

If Jimin and Taehyung trusted them to take care of Jungkook, that was the ultimate sign of trust. The ultimate goal, because, sure, they allowed for them to coddle themselves, but the instincts that bubbled out when Jungkook was around were another kind of instinct entirely. 

They all understood that, because even though they'd only known each other a few weeks, the instincts cooed when Jungkook so much as sniffled. 

Taking Jungkook, personally, to his new home was more than they could ask for.

And perhaps they were milking the chance to coddle the pup without eyes carefully watching or one of the two alphas jumping up to take care of Jungkook before they could.

“What about hyungs?” Hoseok pried, pinching Jungkook's knee and laughing when the omega shifted as best he could into Namjoon. “Tell us, baby.” 

Jungkook immediately went all smiley at the coo, sitting back and playing with his seatbelt as he mumbled, “... just like hyungs…” 

“We like you too,” Namjoon grinned, clicking his tongue and fondly leaning over to press a kiss against Jungkook's head, “That's why we're giving you so many things, Kookie. You even get your own room.” 

“I don't like sleeping alone…” 

“That's okay, you can just use it for games.” 

Gasping, Jungkook turned to grab Namjoon, eyes big, “Really?” 

Chuckling, the alpha kissed the center of his forehead and then reached down to unbuckle him, “Come see for yourself, puppy.” 

Their home wasn't exactly modest. 

Seokjin's family had owned their restaurant and cafe franchises for a long while, so he'd never been money-less. It showed in the two stories of their home and the big, wood-floored entryway. 

It was cute, though, how careful Jungkook was when entering and hovering fingers over the wall like he was scared to touch anything. 

Hoseok laughed under his breath and bent down to untie the omega’s new shoes, having to grab Jungkook's ankle and remove his shoes himself, “Alright, bunny, you can hop off wherever you want.” 

Jungkook beamed and walked off towards the stairs only to take one step up before sniffling, hard, and then gasping as he spun around and put hands out, “Food?” 

Seokjin snickered and they all began to laugh, “Come here, sunshine. Didn't know you were so hungry, hyung is sorry you haven't eaten yet.” 

It was still rather early in the day, but Yoongi, Taehyung, and Jimin had taken off a good hour earlier because they'd wanted to wait for Jungkook to wake up, but the omega was rather sleepy up until half an hour ago, well past lunch time.

“Hungry,” Jungkook whined, leeching onto the eldest and burying his face into his shoulder. “I'm starving, alpha…” 

Alpha.

There it was. That confirmation Jungkook acknowledged them as alphas or saw them in any way intimately. And fuck if that didn't feel like pure Heaven then there was nothing closer to it. 

“Well, alphas will feed you, my baby,” Seokjin promised, sneaking a kiss onto Jungkook's ear and petting down his spine while moving into the kitchen.

As soon as they were close enough, chuckles and laughter filled the air along with the smell of meat and oil. 

More chuckles added in as soon as they noticed the beers around and the fact Yoongi was standing between Jimin's legs and holding his blushing face, noses nearly touching, as Taehyung laughed hysterically at the duo across the island holding his beer. Yoongi was good at that. Charming people. And it seemed Jimin wasn't very good with too much attention. 

“Alphas!”

Immediately, all of the trio were jerking their heads to look at Jungkook. The only issue with their reactions came from Taehyung and Jimin, who yanked back as though they shouldn't have been so comfortable in the first place.

Jimin practically barreled around Yoongi to rush at Jungkook with a swift, “Baby, don't worry-”

Jungkook was already tossing himself at Taehyung, the alpha picking him up with an excited laugh and placing the omega on the countertop, “Good morning, pretty. I missed you too, baby bunny.” 

“Alpha,” Jungkook crooned all sweetly, excitedly, palms flat on Taehyung's chest and nose scrunched up, nothing more than a soft, sweet, “Alpha,” and an excited noise. 

It was clear that they hadn't spent a single morning apart in a long, long time, and it was adorable to watch the way Jimin moved to migrate towards them, but it was jealousy inducing.

“Alphas can't kiss you right now,” Jimin soothed when Jungkook leaned closer for kisses, cupping his cheek and kissing softly at his cheek instead. “We were drinking, but everything is okay, baby doll. We're not drunk.” 

Jungkook pouted and shook his head, leaning in, “Still want kisses.” 

Taehyung chewed on his bottom lip and shared a worried look with Jimin over Jungkook's head before sighing and taking his chin between his fingers and leaning in to press a kiss to the omega's lips.

Jungkook pulled away with a grin until he wet his lips and then his smile slipped right off and Taehyung sighed, pressing an apologetic kiss, then two, onto Jungkook's temple. “‘m sorry, baby. We didn't think.” 

“... ‘s okay,” Jungkook gave a toothy smile, but it didn't meet his eyes, “Alphas should have fun too. I like when you're happy.” 

Seokjin raised his eyebrows at the trio just as Hoseok came wandering over with a loud, “Ah, you guys convinced hyung to make lunch? Good pups.” He pressed a kiss on Taehyung's hair and then Jimin's on his way to the fridge.

They didn't seem to notice, because they were staring at Jungkook as the omega slipped off of the island and wandered over to the bowl tray of fried rice with a comment of, “Alphas, can I have some? I'm hungry.” 

“You're hungry?” Yoongi chided, moving to wrap arms around Jungkook's back and rubbing over his stomach, “Good thing hyung made you food, baby doll.” 

As the others moved to grab beers and plate food, Seokjin watched the way the youngest alphas didn't reach for their drinks, or touch them again, instead they looked rather hesitant when watching the others drink and go about chatting. 

Seokjin decided to approach after a good few minutes, by then Jungkook had settled himself on a stool and was busy eating rice. 

“Hey,” Seokjin murmured, curling an arm around Taehyung's shoulder, pressing a quick kiss against his cheek, “Did Yoongi show you two around?” 

Jimin grunted a confirmation, not even looking at him, gnawing at his bottom lip.

Seokjin clicked his tongue and reached out for his chin, “What's going on, pups? Do you like it-”

“We like it,” Jimin said quickly, eyes growing big as he spun around, “Hyung. I promise. We really, really like it. We do. I swear.” 

Immediately, Seokjin was shushing and reaching out for his cheek, urging him closer, whispering, “Baby. Even if you didn't, we would never just throw you out on the streets, you understand that, right? Look at me, pup.” 

Jimin nodded, but it was stiff. Seokjin sighed and leaned in to press a gentle kiss on his lips. Barely even a press of their lips, but the younger alpha sighed under his breath and relaxed like it was all the reassurance he needed.

Taehyung, who was squished between them, looked hesitant as he murmured, “It has nothing to do with you, or here, it's just… being drunk,” He wet his lips, “Jungkook doesn't like that. Well, not that he doesn't… it's just…” 

He trailed off and after a moment Seokjin frowned and went to ask about it more, but there was a croon of laughter bubbling out of Jungkook that made everyone look at him.

The omega was leaning across the table, empty plate next to him and giggling despite nobody  being near him or coddling him. He just leaned sleepily on the counter and laughed to himself.

“What's this?” Yoongi chuckled, shifting to lay a large palm over Jungkook's hair, “What's going on, angel?” 

“‘m happy!” Jungkook chirped, eyes nearly closed from how hard he was smiling, “I'm in a kitchen! I had homemade food. I'm happy.” 

Something as simple as that and Jungkook looked akin to having won the lottery, just over some food and a kitchen. It was sweet, but there was no way they could pretend it wasn't even the least bit concerning. It was. Jungkook should be this excited about some fresh food. 

“If you like the kitchen,” Namjoon smiled, dimpled and big, “Just wait until you see your room. Come here, baby.” 

Jungkook smiled the hardest he had all day - which was a feat - and wrapped around Namjoon akin to a koala. “Can I see alphas’ rooms?”

“How about we tuck you in for a nap first, hm? You sound tired.” 

“Can I sleep in alpha’s room?” 

Namjoon laughed and kissed his hair a handful of times, promising Jungkook could under his breath and murmuring a gentle, “Alpha would love it if you slept in my room, puppy. You don't need to ask. Everything here is yours.” 

Omegas were very sensitive, that was a fact, they were sensitive to smells and emotions. Very sensitive alphas, but also latched onto them, needed their care and scent. The way Jungkook needed so many of them, the way he absolutely relished being near an alpha.

They'd hated to admit it, but Jungkook was more clingy than any other omega. Not that they disliked it, but it was clear something was up.

“I should- I'll…” Taehyung cleared his throat, “I'll go with them.”

Jimin sent him a frustrated look when the other quickly rushed behind Namjoon, then immediately leaned forward and rested his forehead against Seokjin's chest, groaning, “Just ask. What do you want to know?” 

“First, sit down,” Hoseok commented, pushing a stool towards him, “Then, tell us what's up with Kookie. Your face when he walked in said a lot.” 

The youngest alpha in the room did take a seat and he sucked in a breath before reaching over for his beer again, twisting the can around and murmuring, “Jungkook's parents. They fought a lot. Like… actually fought. Hitting. Punching. He said that's all he could remember growing up. Drinking. Yelling. Hitting.”

Instantly, before he even finished his thought, the room was filled with snarls and growls at the thought of Jungkook even being exposed to that, but Jimin continued as though he heard nothing, eyes closed and jaw tight. 

“The day that his parents turned the aggression on him, he left. He'd always known it would happen, but... When we found him, it had been three days since that day and he'd been so… god, so bruised up. It's still fresh, so we're still trying to work him through it all, but it's not easy. Jungkook- he… he's just never had someone, you know? His alpha parent is supposed to take care of him, protect him, and he never got to see that. That's why we're so easy with him. Whatever he wants, you know? Whatever he needs. Jungkook needs to know we're his alphas and we'll take care of him no matter what. That's important to us - Taehyung and I.” 

The kitchen grew rather silent, but not because there was a lack of responses. Simply because if anyone verbalized their responses it would be going against the one thing they'd just learned was important - be gentle. 

It was incredibly hard to be gentle when learning such a thing. When you learn someone you were supposed to protect - imprinted on - had experienced things they shouldn't have. When you learn they'd never been shown proper love and care. 

Nobody said anything, but they didn't need to. 

It wasn't just important to Taehyung and Jimin that Jungkook knew he could ask them for anything, or cling until he grew tired, or talk their ears off even into the next day. 

It was very important that everyone knew they loved one another. 

“I think we need to have a pack discussion about some ground rules,” Hoseok muttered after a long minute, reaching over to take Jimin's drink and muttering, “But for now, go lay down with the other pups. Take a nap and let hyungs talk, baby.” 

Jimin didn't reply, but he did lean into the kiss below his ear before practically running up the stairs. 

Chapter Text

“Swimming, swimming, swimming-”

“You, baby-”

Jungkook squeaked and burst into happy noises when arms wrapped around his waist and a nose nuzzled into his neck.

“- are not going swimming for a while,” Hoseok finished, face buried in the omega’s shoulder and fingers running gently down Jungkook's shirt, smoothing down the sleep-rustled fabric. 

It was snowy outside and freezing cold. The last thing they'd expected was for Jungkook to want to roll out of bed, but the omega wasn't very easy to predict sometimes. 

Jungkook had plopped himself in front of the sliding glass back door and had been watching the snow cover the blue tarp across the built in swimming pool for the past twenty minutes while Seokjin went about getting breakfast together. 

Taehyung and Jimin still slept a lot. They still slept in the same bed, too, with Jungkook squished between them. They had for the past three days, but everyone knew it would take more than three days to settle in. 

They did, however, find themselves growing a bit jealous at the time the duo spent monopolizing Jungkook. They didn't let the omega leave their sight, really. 

Even if they didn't comment on Jungkook calling them alpha or the fond kisses or nuzzles they gave the omega, there was still caution in their gazes. 

It had been a month, they'd only known each other for a month, and they understood where the alphas’ protectiveness was coming from, but it was irritating that the only time they had to coddle Jungkook without judging eyes watching them was first thing in the morning.

The omega woke up around eight everyday since he'd gotten here, was likely used to waking up when the sun came out and forced him awake, with the exception of when he stayed up late watching movies, but sometimes Taehyung and Jimin didn't get up until well past noon unless they smelled breakfast. 

It was nice to know they were comfortable enough to relax, but it wasn't easy to have only a few hours alone with Jungkook. 

“But alpha…” Jungkook pouted, throwing his head back to look at him, “I love swimming.” 

“And I love a healthy imprint,” Hoseok argued, pressing a kiss to Jungkook's nose before patting his hip, “Come here, let's get you some vitamins while we wait for hyung to finish.” 

Jungkook did get up, letting the alpha tug him to the counter and set him utop it beside where Seokjin was cooking some eggs. The omega whined, “But I don't like them. They taste weird.” 

“They're good for you.” 

“Why does everything good for you taste like dirt?” Jungkook complained, “If dirt is good for you, how come people don't just eat that instead?” 

Cackling, Hoseok turned an amused look on him while Seokjin laughed and chided, “Baby, nobody said anything about eating dirt but you. Your thoughts are getting ahead of you, puppy.” 

Nose scrunched, Jungkook stuck his tongue out at him. The alpha laughed under his breath at the omega’s antics, Seokjin moved to grab a plate and mumbled, “If you take the vitamins, alpha will give you banana milk after.” 

“Deal.” Jungkook said instantly, swinging his feet, “I love vitamins.” 

“You cheeky omega,” Hoseok laughed fondly, bringing Jungkook a few pills, “Don't you feel better now? Look at you, getting healthier and healthier.” 

He pinched Jungkook's cheek softly as the omega took his medicine, earning a hand swatting at him, but Jungkook was still smiling, so Hoseok merely laughed and kissed his jaw before hugging the omega while Jungkook took his medicine. 

Seokjin glanced at the duo a handful of times as he played the breakfast, smile slowly pulling more and more at his lips when he noticed Hoseok gently fix Jungkook's hair back. 

They were so, incredibly, happy to have an omega to take care of, but Jungkook wasn't their only gift. Having pups around gave them many opportunities to coddle them, take care of them, and even though Jimin and Taehyung would likely never admit it - they knew they, too, wanted to be taken care of. 

Alpha pride sometimes didn't allow for those admissions.

“Are you still tired?” Hoseok whispered, hands holding Jungkook's cheeks, smiling, “You slept well, didn't you?” 

They knew he did. Jungkook barely even got up for dinner and when he did, he'd clung onto Namjoon. The omega had clung onto Namjoon all day to the point where Taehyung and Jimin opted to curl up beside both of them to rest.

“Of course he did,” Seokjin laughed under his breath, “Namjoon is very warm, isn't he?” 

Jungkook blushed, making Hoseok coo at him when the omega turned his head to look away shyly. 

“Ah, Jungkookie likes our Joonie, hm?” 

“Hyung is warm.” 

“Warm.” Seokjin smirked a bit, “And very cuddly and handsome, right?” 

The omega pressed his lips together, cheeks flaming red, and gave a small nod, tugging his shirt over himself a bit and mumbling, “Like all alphas.” 

Hoseok pressed a kiss to his head before moving to help Seokjin pull out drinks, replying with a flirty, “Well, alphas like you, gorgeous.” 

Immediately, Jungkook started to swing his legs a bit, nibbling on his bottom lip shyly and giving a small laugh. He looked very shy despite the fact they knew how often Taehyung and Jimin flirted with him. 

This was still very new to him, they all understood that, but there was a degree in which they wished Jungkook wouldn't consider them different from them. They'd missed out on so much and knew it. 

“My alphas,” Jungkook began, and there it was - that sinking feeling of jealousy - because Jungkook looked so adoring. Spoke of Jimin and Taehyung like they built the world for him. Like there was nothing and nobody at all who could even come close to them and it did hurt. And they understood why, but it didn't change the jealousy that occurred. 

Everytime Jungkook sounded like this, so in love, they paid attention immediately, wishing and wondering if maybe one day he'd speak of them in the same way. 

“One time,” Jungkook smiled to himself and rubbed his knees together, “We were underneath this bridge,” his smile slipped the smallest bit, like it was a bad memory too, but quickly continued with a tiny smile, “Jiminie and Tae got in this fight. Just once.”

Frowning, Hoseok pulled out one of the island chairs, “What about?” 

“Um,” The omega tucked his hair back, fiddling, “This alpha nearby, he said I was gorgeous, offered us some food. Hyungs were arguing about taking it, I made them more upset because I wanted it so badly and… I- I don't, um,” Jungkook pressed his lips together and shrugged, “I don't know why I'm telling you this. It just reminded me a little… I'll.. I'm talking too much, ‘m sorry, alpha.” 

“No. No, you are not.” Seokjin said firmly, shushing under his breath and putting down the plates in hand to approach, “Don't ever think that for a second. We love hearing your voice, and knowing anything you'd like to share with us.” 

Jungkook eye smiled, but looked like he didn't quite believe him, so Seokjin grabbed his chin softly and added, “And we'll always have food for you, no matter what.” 

And maybe this was wrong, but it was the only way to show they could provide for Jungkook. In a way Taehyung and Jimin never could. It was their only way of showing Jungkook they could give something he didn't have. 

Pride had a hand in it, sure, because Taehyung and Jimin had already given Jungkook so many fucking things that in the omega's eyes it was a no-brainer to go tunnel visioned when they entered the room. 

“Yeah?” Jungkook's eyes turned into little crescents again, “I'm really lucky that nice alphas imprinted on me.” 

“Anything you ever want, baby. We'll get for you,” Seokjin promised, curling fingers into Jungkook's nape and gently unraveling a few small knots. 

The omegas nostrils flared as he sucked in a handful of breaths, obviously taking in his scent and the proximity and, perhaps, even picking up on the smidge of more than interest bubbling up in Seokjin's scent. It was more than natural, he was an alpha and Jungkook an omega, his imprint, they were very attracted to him. 

“Alpha…” Jungkook whispered, Seokjin could hear the tinge of nerves in his voice, “I think-”

“- hyung! Hyung- why-”

The laughter booming down the stairs cut Jungkook off. Yoongi’s deep, drawl of a laugh sounded awfully loud especially for the normally silent morning.

“I told you, hyung is not scary,” Namjoon laughed brightly, speaking as he was the first to stumble down into the kitchen, straightening out his hair and heading straight to the coffee pot without so much as looking up, “He clings worse than anyone else.” 

That point was proven correct when Jimin stumbled out next with Yoongi hanging on his back, arm locked around his waist and nuzzling into his nape. Taehyung's laughter about the situation seemed very childish, made the alpha look five years younger which was pretty ironic considering he'd been the one that scared them the most.

“Yoongi hyung is a cat,” Hoseok snickered, “Comes into your arms silently, then won't leave.” 

At the comment, the newcomers acknowledged them, and at first all was fine with Jimin's tired smile at everyone and Taehyung's deep giggles. It became rather tense the second Namjoon was muttering a very sweet, “Jungkookie, good morning.” 

There was a moment where Seokjin did not leave his spot standing between Jungkook's knees, and that was what had Jimin's smile growing a tad hesitant. 

Taehyung didn't seem to notice and if he did, he didn't care, but that likely had to do with Hoseok teaching over for the pup with a very fond, “Aish. Did you roll around last night, look at your hair, puppy.”

“Kookie.” Jimin whispered and it sounded worried, rushing around the counter. 

He likely expected Seokjin to tug himself away when he approached, because Jimin eyed the elder for a moment before he leaned onto the counter and rubbed Jungkook's side, “I'm sorry I overslept. I-”

“I was here, Jimin,” Seokjin cut in, softly, hand still petting gently over Jungkook's neck, “I wake up early everyday. We played for a bit and he watched the snow while I made breakfast.” 

“Yeah,” Jungkook beamed, “It's snowing a bunch! It's so nice to listen to it from inside.” 

Jimin swallowed, guilt swirling up inside.

Seokjin understood, he did. Honestly, if he'd been taking care of Jungkook for so long, he'd feel useless having someone swoop in also. 

But when would they earn enough trust to engage with Jungkook as they wanted. On their own terms. 

Truthfully, they were growing impatient. It was hard to be in their own home with at least one set of eyes watching their every move. Taehyung was easy to distract, he seemed to take a very big liking to Yoongi and Yoongi to him, but Jimin… 

Jimin was hit and miss. 

Sometimes he was accepting. Sometimes he wasn't. It was hard to tell what exactly the alpha wanted of them. 

Perhaps, maybe, the alpha only thought they'd take care of them and expect nothing in return, and that was true to a degree, but allowing them to have contact with their imprint was an expectation they had. It was the least they were asking for.

They weren't asking for anything more other than to sit with Jungkook every once in a while. To hold him. To coddle him. Anything Jungkook wanted. 

If Jimin fell into them in the same way Taehyung was beginning to, then that would be even better, but the alpha was so hard to read.

“Hyung took care of him, baby,” Seokjin assured, voice even, and it was a tad warning.

Jimin wet his lips. “I have to get him in a bath. Tae and I-”

“I can do that too.” Seokjin muttered, “After he eats, we can do that. Together. Or I can do it.” There was a long silence between them despite the chatter in the background before Seokjin reached over for Jimin's nape, stepped closer to whisper to him, “And hyung can do it for you too, puppy. That's what we want to do for all of you. We're your hyungs.” 

Seokjin pressed a kiss to Jimin's temple and stepped away, letting the alpha immediately move to wrap Jungkook up in a hug. The omega did look confused, an adorable little furrow to his brows.

However, at breakfast, Jimin allowed Yoongi to tug Jungkook closer for a quick kiss onto his cheek and didn't so much as side eye them, so Seokjin supposed they were all trying. 

It took much longer than a month to change old habits, Seokjin was just hoping it wasn't regret he saw in Jimin's eyes when Jungkook leaned into someone else.

Chapter Text

Settling in was supposed to be easy, but it was incredibly hard.

Jimin found it really hard to do, because he was used to being alone. To being in charge. He was used to being the one responsible for everything, to tugging Jungkook out of the sun just so the omega could sleep a little longer. To making sure Taehyung didn't try to sneak Jungkook his own food.

He had always been the one responsible for everyone else, the one making the most decisions, and it was hard to let someone else take control of things from now on.

It was hard to go from being the eldest, most influential, to being knocked down to the near-bottom. 

Jimin was possessive over both Taehyung and Jungkook, he felt responsible for them, he felt wanted when they turned to him for advice and support, he loved being the person they turned to, but it was definitely exhausting. 

As exhausting as it was, Jimin missed it. He saw the way Taehyung looked at the others and how Jungkook had begun to seek out their attention - it was what he was afraid of… being forgotten.

It certainly felt he was invisible tonight.

Things had been fine. They had steak for dinner, something Taehyung had eaten a good three servings of, and settled down for a movie at Jungkook's request. 

The omega, of course, had passed out the first hour. Now he was sprawled on the rug curled into Namjoon’s thigh snoring softly. Jungkook had always been a quick sleeper and he wasn't the reason Jimin found himself shifting irritably from his corner of the couch.

Taehyung was. 

The alpha had always been an attention seeking type. Even in school, he'd been the one loud and proud and friendly. He'd been the one with secret admirers and considered charming. Taehyung was charming, he was beautiful, and Jimin knew very well that he always got what he wanted.

It hurt that Taehyung wanted attention and didn't turn to him for it. Taehyung always did. If Jungkook wasn't awake or available to cuddle, Taehyung came to him.

Now, Taehyung went to Yoongi. 

Yoongi had this charm that was difficult to describe. He seemed as though he didn't care, but when you had his attention it was as though nobody else was around, like you were all he could see. 

Taehyung hadn't been the type to ever see anyone but Jimin and Jungkook, always oblivious to anyone flirting with him, but he seemed to really like Yoongi doing so.

Jimin was jealous and he knew it. The scary part was that he didn't know if he was more jealous of Taehyung or Yoongi, all he knew was that when Taehyung leaned in for what must have been his tenth kiss in the past few minutes, he snapped.

“Jungkook is sleeping,” Jimin hissed, “You don't need to keep up with that charade. He's asleep. There's nobody to convince.” 

Immediately, everyone turned to look at him.

Taehyung had gone stiff, his hands froze where they were curled into Yoongi’s thigh and the second he shifted to awkwardly curl into his own cushion, pointedly not touching Seokjin nor Yoongi on either side of him, the eldest sent Jimin a scolding look. 

“Convince who?” Namjoon wondered aloud, hand shifting to gently cover Jungkook's ear, “Of what?” 

Jimin scoffed, turning his entire body away, facing towards the television, “Jungkook is already interested in you guys, you don't need to worry about that, just… nevermind.” 

Hoseok was closest to Jimin, but he didn't outright reach over to comfort him even though it was apparent to everyone that it was jealousy running his mouth.

“How many times do we need to prove to you that we want you too-”

“Oh stop!” Jimin did raise his voice as he turned to look at Yoongi, but he lowered it when Jungkook shifted a bit in his sleep, hushing himself. “As if alphas like you would take interest in alphas like us.” 

It was quiet a moment longer. Taehyung shifted and cleared his throat, then moved to stand up, but Seokjin grabbed onto his wrist and tugged him down into his lap, “No. We're going to talk about this.” 

Taehyung gnawed at his lip, sending Jimin an apologetic look as he leaned into Seokjin, “Chim. I really think that they're serious-”

“You really thought our parents would accept it too, but how'd that turn out?” 

As soon as the words flew out of his mouth, Jimin grimaced. He ducked his head and tugged his knees closer to hide into.

It was wrong to say that when it had been Jimin whom convinced Taehyung to tell his parents they were planning on forming an official pack together. Taehyung had been sure his parents wouldn't mind, but Jimin was the one who brought it up first and they'd both been wrong. 

Two alphas forming a pack together was fine if there was an omega there, because everyone knew packs engaged in intimacy with one another. It was a strong belief that alphas shouldn't do such things together. 

“Oh baby. Tae…” Seokjin worried as soon as the alpha burst into tears, tugging him closer and shushing, fingers brushing through his hair and rubbing down his back.

Jimin jerked back in surprise when he felt a hand touch in him, felt Hoseok begin to pet his hair and—

Why? 

Why was the alpha trying to comfort him when he'd been the one to make Taehyung cry? Sure, he was crying too, but he'd been the one at fault. The one that should be yelled at and scolded, just like how he'd yelled at Taehyung. 

That didn't happen. Instead, Hoseok clicked his tongue as he reached out for Jimin as though pitying, shushing in the same sort of soothing action he'd done when Jungkook whined about hitting his knee earlier. 

“Alright,” Hoseok shushed, scooting closer until Jimin was pressed against his side, “No more fighting. We're going to talk. What's going on, Jimin? You need to talk to us.” 

Jimin sniffled, shifting to sit up, tears running down his face. He took one look at Taehyung and shook his head back and forth, “I- Tae. I didn't mean that. I'm sorry. I didn't.” 

Yoongi shushed him, elbows on his knees, looking rather upset, “Pup. First we want to know why you're upset, then we can discuss apologies. We need to understand why you're upset first, that's very important, Jimin. We've seen how you deal with Jungkook when he's upset, now we need you to do the same for yourself, alright? Come here.” 

Jumping up, Jimin carefully but quickly rushed around to him; before he sat down, Yoongi grabbed him and tugged him onto his lap, hands holding onto his thin waist and making sure Jimin was looking at him only while straddling his lap. 

“Okay,” Yoongi began, running his hands down his hips, “Talk to hyung, baby. What made you so upset?” 

Jimin moved to try and look at Taehyung, but Yoongi tsked and gently cupped his cheek, leaning closer, “I know you feel bad, Jimin, but hyung wants to know why you're upset to begin with. How can we fix it if we don't talk about what happened? Please talk to me.” 

It was difficult to discuss these things with one person, let alone so many, and Jimin knew that Yoongi was trying to lessen the pressure by allowing him the illusion of talking to him only. 

But all he could think about was Taehyung and why he'd said that to him and why—

“I- I didn't mean it,” Jimin cried, sobbing really, completely dropping into Yoongi’s chest, weightless, “Was my fault. Not T-Tae. Was mine. I g-got us kicked out. It was me. W-Was m-me.” 

Yoongi shushed under his breath and wrapped both arms around him, hand combing through his hair. It was clear they wouldn't get to the bottom of this right this second, not with both of them dissolved into tears.

Taehyung looked more upset now than before and he was beginning to stop crying as much, looked more angry than sad, but it truly came as a surprise when the youngest alpha sat up and cried, “You don't get to blame me just because you're jealous, Jimin! You're just mad that hyungs do a better job than you ever did! You're mad we don't need you anymore!”

Now that was something that made them all fall silent. Of course they thought those things, could assume Jimin felt incompetent, but they'd never discuss it out loud in fear it would make things awkward. 

Jungkook jerked awake with an alert expression, whimpering a scared noise and nearly instantly Namjoon was attempting to calm the omega down, but there was fear written all over his tired face.

It took less than a second for Jimin to pull himself away, not a word falling from his lips. 

“Jimin?” Hoseok frowned, standing up, “Jimin, hey-”

“Alpha?” Jungkook's voice came out labored and scared, he tripped over the blanket on the rug as he jumped up, “Alpha? Jiminie?”

Jimin's entire body visibly tensed up, but the alpha only paused for a second before reaching for his jacket and boots in the entryway, instantly making everyone jump up in a panic. 

“Jimin!” 

“Let's not be rash.” 

“Baby, don't do that.” 

“It's freezing,” Hoseok was closest to the door, and was immediately wrapping a gentle hand around Jimin's wrist, “It's freezing cold outside, let's just go upstairs. Sleep on it. We can talk in the morning.” 

Jimin barely even reacted. He wasn't scowling or frowning, he was just crying, tears silently falling down his cheeks as he replied, “Things won't change by morning. Nobody needs me here. Tae is right.” 

Then, he brushed Hoseok off of him and unlocked the door, letting in a huge gust of icy air. 

There was a shock in the air, but it only lasted for as long as it took for Jimin's boots to crunch snow beneath them before there was the shakiest, most heartbreaking, “Hyung!” bursting the bubble of silence.

It was followed by frantic, barefooted steps and nobody was fast enough to stop Jungkook from running out into the snow in just his long shirt and plaid pajama bottoms. 

“Hyung! Hyung! Alpha, no-” 

Jimin instantly spun around to grab Jungkook at the sound of his feet, jaw tense and visibly shaking, but not more than the omega whose teeth were chattering already, “Go back inside right now, Jungkook. Right now.” 

Jungkook cried, screeching out this terrified noise and struggling against Jimin in an attempt to latch onto him, but the alpha knew the omega. Knew if Jungkook latched on, he wasn't letting go, so Jimin held his wrists tight enough that Jungkook couldn't grab ahold of him. 

“Wh-Where are you going?” Jungkook cried, “What happened? I-I wanna go too. Wanna come. Alpha, I w-wanna go with you.” 

Jimin was trying his hardest to keep a straight face, he was, but this was Jungkook. And he was crying and he had one fucking job and it was to make sure the omega was never sad or hurt or scared—

And he couldn't even do that. 

They were better at that too. 

“I wanna go too!” Jungkook sobbed, knees shaking, yelling as much as he could, and even though he didn't truly know what was happening and even though Jimin hadn't replied to him yet, he seemed to know. Knew something was very wrong. “Wanna be w-with you! Lemme come, I wanna come!” 

Jungkook began to yell and sob in such a way that made the rest of his words incoherent and his legs gave right out on him, making him sink right into the snow in the yard. 

Jimin's face screwed up, the alpha was crying audibly once more, “‘m sorry. I'm sorry. Jungkook…” 

He took a step back and by then everyone was piling out of the doorway except just one person. Jimin moved back more, eyes worried and shocked and ashamed when they met Hoseok's, but also warning. 

Hoseok didn't approach him, even though it had been obvious he'd been intending to, instead the elder's face turned incredibly pleading. “Jimin. Don't. Don't do this-”

“J-Just for a little while, it's just…” Jimin wet his lips and looked at Jungkook, shaking his head, “Get up, baby. Baby please go in-” he reached out as though to grab him, but seemed to think better of it. 

“Jungkook. Jungkook, it's freezing,” Yoongi worried, stepping up behind the omega and bending down to wrap arms around his waist, “Come on, you're going to get sick-”

“Let go of me! Let me go!” Jungkook began to kick and scream and sob, clawing at the snow, “Alpha!”

That sort of pleading was infuriating, so it was aggressive when Namjoon rushed to help Yoongi collect Jungkook and said, accusingly, “Jimin. You can't do this to him.” 

Jimin sobbed harder, shaking his head and turning to stumble towards the sidewalk, tugging his hood over his head and struggling to even walk through the frozen streets. 

Jungkook was still yelling as he was taken inside, but that grew silent once the door was shut. 

“Jimin.” 

The alpha visibly flinched at the hand curling around his wrist, rearing back in shock at Seokjin, still in his pajamas, no shoes, no jacket, just his keys and bag in hand. 

The eldest didn't look angry either, just worried as he took Jimin's hand, pulling, “Come on. We'll take the car wherever you want to go.” 

“I- you…” Jimin sniffled, hard, “But I just… I- you should go take care of them-”

“You said it's just for a little while,” Seokjin smiled as though nothing at all was the matter, “They'll be fine without us for just a little while. Plus, I'd much rather be with you. Making sure you're okay.” 

Chapter Text

There weren't many places they could go this late at night, so Seokjin improvised as best he could considering Jimin didn't want to go back and it was icy cold out.

This wasn't exactly the kind of thing he'd imagined when he'd thought of showing the additions to his pack one of his restaurants, but it was all Seokjin could think to go to.

Seokjin had taken Jimin to the newest restaurant location he owned, one a good hour from the home, but the nicest one. They'd been planning to bring the trio here, specifically into the exact booth they sat in right now, but not like this. 

They planned on setting up candles and making sure they had fresh flowers on the table and that the long curtains were closed for privacy, but all of that seemed like such a faraway thought now. After tonight, a lot of things had become uncertain. 

Jimin wasn't crying anymore. He had been. He sobbed in the car, he'd hit the dashboard and rubbed his eyes raw. He'd curled his nails into his hands so tight Seokjin worried he'd bleed, but the elder didn't say a word about any of that behavior.

He could only imagine how Jimin felt after the events before Jungkook had run after him, but after seeing that… well…

Yes, Seokjin was upset with him. 

He was upset with Jimin for making Jungkook sob like that. For having to hear that heart wrenching wail. Seeing Jungkook pout was something painful, the events of earlier could have caused any of them to lash out physically at anyone else had they not been Jimin. (Hell, lesser packs still would have lashed out if their omega was crying like that.) 

On the other hand, Seokjin was upset for Jimin too.

Jimin was afraid of being replaced, and Seokjin was trying to, in a way, replace him, so the eldest would never lie and say otherwise. Taehyung had just thrown it back at him and taken it too far by saying they did not need him. 

In the end, they were all in the wrong. It didn't matter who started it, or who continued it. It just mattered how they would fix it.

“I was overwhelmed.” 

“How so?” Seokjin hummed under his breath, looking up from his hot chocolate to Jimin. The other wasn't looking at him either, he was just holding his head in his hands, leaning heavily onto the table, eyes down. 

“It's all such a change. I just,” Jimin paused, “Taehyung is… he's perfect, you know? He's beautiful, smart, and funny. Anyone can see that. He makes people fall in love with him so easily. I've always been a little jealous of that. Everyone loves him…” 

Seokjin shifted to sit up more, hoping Jimin would mirror his stance of looking directly at him if he did it first, because the past hour of sitting here and avoiding looking at one another was not going to cut it. “So you were jealous of Taehyung getting a lot of attention?” 

“No… I don't know,” Jimin sighed and rubbed his forehead, grimacing, “I don't really know what I was thinking. It was like… a combination of things. I'm jealous and worried and scared… everything. I don't know. It feels like yesterday it was just the three of us against the world and now there's… well,” Jimin glanced up, “... you.” 

When he saw that Seokjin didn't look offended or mad even the slightest bit, he grew more comfortable to sit up and talk. 

“And you're just so…” Jimin laughed, but it was hollow, he ended up trailing off and shaking his head, “Taehyung is right. They don't need me anymore. The only thing I ever did was get them into trouble anyway. Cost Taehyung his home. Never did enough-”

“Jimin,” Seokjin leaned across the table to take his hands, “I'm not trying to take your place. I'm trying to let you be the pup you should be. You're young, you shouldn't have all of this responsibility on your shoulders, you shouldn't have so many worries.” 

Jimin pressed his lips together and his face pulled together as though he was going to cry, but he'd cried so much already that his breath came out shaky and he held Seokjin's hands tighter, but he didn't cry.

“It's just s-so much, you know? I would stay up and… I'd just hear Taehyung's stomach growling even in sleep. A-And I'd a-always have to wake Kookie up when he had a bad dream. And I had to stay up and make sure nobody stole our things. Even when I tried to sleep I couldn't, I couldn't sleep when I had to think about how we'd get money tomorrow. How we'd get food… I-I can't just stop worrying about those things, not even now and… how… how can Taehyung just stop worrying like that?” 

“Because he was never you, pup,” Seokjin chided softly, giving a small shake of his head, “Because he was never you. Never had all of the responsibility. He wants to be taken care of, you're still holding onto the past. And there's nothing wrong with either of those things. You can hold onto the past and allow us to take care of you. There's nothing that changes the past and, Jimin,” Seokjin shook his head and chuckled softly, “If you think for one second that they forgot the past, then you're wrong. You're so wrong, baby, because you saved Taehyung's life and Jungkook looks at you like you're the entire world. They know that without you, they would not be here. They love you, Jimin.” 

Jimin went to reply, but all that came out was this sob of a noise that had him dropping his head in his hands and Seokjin moving to sit beside him, offering him his side.

The younger did curl up into him. Allowed Seokjin to pull him into his lap and comfort him as best he could. 

“Even tonight,” Seokjin whispered, “Jungkook was willing to leave with you. No questions asked, not even a glance at anyone else, all because he saw you crying. Saw you upset. He trusts you with everything, Jimin. He would never ever forget about you, or pick us over you. I know it might feel like that sometimes, but it isn't. It's not a competition. I want to learn to see you exactly how Jungkook does. I want to learn how to love you, too.” 

Jimin went silent, face in his knees and head leaning against Seokjin's chest. The elder wrapped arms tightly around him and buried his chin in Jimin's hair. 

“Do you want that too?” 

“... yes, hyung.” 

Seokjin smiled, pressing a kiss to his hair and another to his temple as he nosed his way down Jimin's cheek, kissing along his skin until the younger puffed out the tiniest of laughs and looked at him. Eyes swollen, red, and the skin around them was irritated from all of his rubbing. 

“You know, one thing still confuses me,” Seokjin whispered, “You're jealous of Taehyung when you have no reason to be. You're beautiful too, Jimin, and gentle and caring.” 

“... really?” 

Seokjin chuckled softly, cupping his face, “Of course. You have no idea how badly we've been wanting you to reach out to us. I don't know about the others, but,” He paused to brush Jimin's hair out of his face, smiling, “I could see myself falling in love with you easily.” 

Jimin smiled, releasing a small laugh under his breath and dropping his eyes for a moment in a sheepish fashion, fingers fiddling with a string on his jacket.

The elder made a quiet cooing sound before leaning down to press his lips against Jimin's lips, smiling when the other instantly reached up to cup his jaw right back, responding to the kiss with a breathy, needy sound and pulling the kiss deeper. 

Seokjin was more than willing to give him the attention he wanted, long fingers digging deep into his locks and breath coming out heavier the longer they refused to pull away from one another. 

The only reason Seokjin pulled away was because Jimin shifted as though to pull him in more, his hand running down his chest and the elder was not going to take advantage of him, especially not when he was so emotional tonight.

Luckily, Jimin didn't seem to take it the wrong way when Seokjin pulled back and kissed his cheek instead, allowing them both a moment to breathe. 

“Is everyone mad at me?” 

“More worried than mad,” Seokjin replied honestly, “Do you want to-”

“I need more time.” 

Seokjin leaned back a bit, looking a bit upset, but Jimin continued softly, murmuring, “I want to get my emotions in check,” he added, “I want to figure out what to say to Taehyung and Jungkook. I can't go back right now. It's too much. I just… I need a day or two. I understand if you can't stay, I just-”

“No. No,” Seokjin sighed, “No, baby. I'm here. I'm here for you.” He shifted Jimin off of his lap to grab his phone, then shifted back to him, immediately taking him back under his arm, “Let's see what hotels are open this late for booking, hm?” 

Jimin was just staring at him when Seokjin peeked down at him, so the eldest pinched his cheek softly and said, “What is it, pretty?” 

“Nothing,” Jimin immediately looked at the phone, cheeks red, “Just… I think I could fall in love with you too, hyung. That's all.” 

“If you aren't by the time we go home, I'm going to consider our date as failed and try again twice as hard next time.” 

“Is this a date?” 

“Mhm. Starting now.” 

Chapter Text

For an entire day, Jungkook did nothing at all. 

He stopped crying after he'd fallen asleep doing so, then woken back up only to stare at the wall and completely ignore everyone. Even when Hoseok had explained what happened and promised Jimin would be coming back, he'd barely blinked.

The omega wouldn't eat. He wouldn't go back to sleep. He didn't want to even move. Jungkook was here, but he wasn't. 

It was scary. 

Jungkook was such a happy omega. He loved to laugh and play and love. Jungkook loved to give affection, but not today. Not when Jimin wasn't around.

There were only three things he'd said since they left: yes, no, and Jimin. 

Even then, it felt like pulling teeth trying to so much as get a response out of him. It hurt to know they weren't enough to get Jungkook out of his shell. That even though they were around, Jungkook wanted someone else, but they couldn't be too upset.

Jungkook didn't want Taehyung either. And that said a lot. 

“- and I was upset.” 

Taehyung said, sitting on the floor beside the pile of blankets Jungkook laid on. He'd been just laying on the floor until Hoseok went and brought him blankets and tugged him over. 

“You and I both know I love Jimin to death, Jungkook. I don't know why I said that. I was upset. Please, just…” Taehyung sighed and offered his hands to him, “Please? Jimin would want us to-”

As soon as he touched Jungkook, the omega was snapping at him, face screwing up into an infuriated one and yelling, finger pointing, “You made him go! You, you-”

Jungkook sat up on his knees and shoved Taehyung away from him, not hard at all, but the alpha flinched as though it had been extremely hard. The omega proceeded to slap away the hands he'd offered and yelled, “I don't want you! Go away!” 

“Jungkook!” Yoongi cried, shocked. The trio on the couch who had been watching jumped up and moved towards them. 

“I don't wan- I don't want you!” Jungkook began to cry as soon as Yoongi scooped him up into his hold, but despite how aggressive he'd been moments ago, he just began to sob instead of fighting against the alpha. 

“Taehyung,” Namjoon worried, grabbing his face, “Are you alright?” 

It was a horrible question, because he was far from alright. His imprint had just pushed him and told him to go away. Not to mention his best friend was gone because of him. Taehyung was anything but alright.

“It's okay,” Taehyung whispered, eyes wet, “It's okay. Jungkook… he… when he's upset, he gets aggressive. It's okay. He used to be like this a long time ago, we started… We talk to him when he's upset now. It's-it's fine,” he swallowed, hard. “He just never knew better until we taught him. Jimin is… he's better with him than me.” 

“I'm sure that's not true,” Hoseok argued, glancing away from where Yoongi was rocking a sobbing Jungkook in his hold to Taehyung, “He loves you both. Anyone can see that, he loves you and looks up to you. You know him the best.”

Taehyung sucked on his lip, giving a stiff nod, but the alpha looked like he was trying to gather himself as he rubbed harshly at his eyes before sucking in a breath, shifting to stand up. 

“There you go,” Namjoon encouraged, “You're the only one who can cheer him up right now, you can do it, Tae.” 

It was hard. 

Jimin considered Taehyung better at calming Jungkook down, but Taehyung considered Jimin better. Usually they did it together and if not together with the support of one another. 

Taehyung was pretty sure if Seokjin were here that even he would have a better idea of how to deal with Jungkook right now than him. In fact, Yoongi seemed to be fine holding the crying omega instead, but Taehyung understood they wanted him to fix what he was responsible for breaking. 

“W-Want Jimin-”

“I know,” Yoongi soothed, pressing a kiss to Jungkook's ear, rocking him in his arms now sitting on the couch, “I know. Hyungs know, baby doll.” 

Taehyung wet his lips and sucked in a breath as he approached, hesitant as he took a seat on the arm of the couch, “Jungkook-”

The omega immediately began to flail a hand at him, not trying to hit him, but trying to shoo him away yet not caring if he hit him in the process. 

“Ah, none of that. No hitting. Nothing like that,” Yoongi said quickly, grabbing Jungkook's hands on his own, holding them down on his chest, “We are never ever hitting each other. We don't hit when we're upset, Jungkook. Do you understand?” 

It felt like scolding a child, it truly did, but Jungkook was certainly a special case and they had to handle this situation gently. They knew his past, knew the omega likely saw nothing wrong with getting aggressive when he was angry because it was all he grew up learning.

Jungkook was still so young, he could still learn otherwise. They could still teach him a lot. Only good things, hopefully.

Yoongi jerked his head to look at Hoseok when he saw the other move closer as though to help, eyes worried, but shook his head, tightening his hold on Jungkook's hands. 

The omega cried and squirmed and it did hurt. It hurt so fucking bad to see him like this when he could be giggling and smiling, but they had to deal with the bad situations too. 

“No, hold on,” Yoongi ordered of the other, shifting to take Jungkook off of his lap and put him on the opposite end of the couch. Immediately, as soon as he moved to pull away, Jungkook tried to scramble and grab onto him. 

Yoongi had a firm look on his face, shaking his head, “No. If you're going to hit, I'm not going to hold you. You know better than to hit, Jungkook.” 

Jungkook cried harder, sinking into the couch and burying himself into the cushions, absolutely sobbing. 

It was overwhelmingly clear Jungkook had absolutely no idea how to regulate his emotions and react when he was angry. It made sense, omegas tended to feel things very extremely, very happy and very sad and right now Jungkook was very angry. 

Pair an extremely upset omega with a violent past and you were bound to get an explosive combination. 

Truthfully, it hurt more to watch Jungkook's meltdown than to be hit by him. They were supposed to be able to calm him down. Jungkook was their imprint and they were supposed to take care of him, but right now they were doing a horrible job at it and their two best soothing alphas were gone.

“Hyung, I can take him-”

“Not until he's finished,” Yoongi shook his head and put a hand out at Taehyung when he stepped closer, “Hear that, Jungkookie? Alpha wants to hold you, but you have to calm down first and promise you won't hit anyone.” 

The omega went quiet, breathing hard into the cushions. Taking that as a good sign, Yoongi reached over to pet back the hair covering his face, cooing at how red his face had gotten and how teary it was. 

“Finished?” Yoongi asked softly, brushing away a few tears. “Ready to listen to Taehyung?”  

Jungkook nodded, sniffling.

“There we go,” The alpha cooed, tugging him to sit up, reaching over to smooth hair from his face and pressing a kiss to his forehead. “There's that pretty face. What a good boy, listening so fast.” 

No matter what, Jungkook liked their praise. Liked their attention. So upset or not, he still leaned into Yoongi’s kiss. The elder didn't let him grab onto him though, he held Jungkook's palms to ensure that as he got up the omega didn't launch at him as Taehyung took his spot. 

Jungkook did whimper when Taehyung took Yoongi’s spot, but he'd calmed down a lot. 

It didn't help that Taehyung still found himself speechless even sitting right in front of him. He'd told Jungkook every apology in the book. He didn't know what else to say. 

“I-”

“‘m sorry f-for hurting y-you,” Jungkook hiccuped, shoulders shaking, starting up with tears again. “I hurt you, ‘m s-sorry. D-Do you s-still love me?” 

“Bunny. Bunny,” Taehyung whispered and reached out to grab Jungkook immediately, bundling him up in his arms, petting down the omega’s neck. “I love you. I love you and I'll always love you. Sometimes we make mistakes and it's okay, we still love each other. We learn. I love you so, so much.” 

Jungkook nodded and sucked on his bottom lip, but all it took was a teeny tiny scrunch of his nose and Taehyung knew he was going to sob before the tears even came out. 

“Come here. Come here, baby.” Taehyung sighed as the omega collapsed into his chest, crying loudly in his neck. “I love you. I'm sorry about all of this. You're right, it was my fault. It is. Don't think for a second it was because of you, Jimin loves you with everything. He's coming back. Soon.” 

“Actually.” 

Hoseok looked very hesitant, clearing his throat and standing in the corner of the living room, phone in hand, “Someone heard our little omega was very upset and wants to talk. Are you okay to talk?” 

Jungkook gasped and sat up quickly, bloodshot eyes widening and nodding frantically, “I'm a good boy, alpha.” 

Normally, such a claim would make them all coo and immediately flood him with praise, but there wasn't time for that when the omega was accepting the phone already and turning his body away from everyone else as though he was having a secret conversation.

“A-Alpha?” 

“Hi, beautiful. I know it's not who you want to hear,” it was Seokjin, “But I wanted to talk to you first, make sure you were alright, Jimin is here. He thinks you're upset with him.” 

Jungkook's eyebrows pulled together and he immediately began to shake his head and stutter as tears fell down his face, everyone in the room could hear their conversation, but tried to keep their distance. Taehyung did reach over to pet his spine, but otherwise let the omega continue without interruption. 

“Hyung,” Jungkook cried, releasing a small, wet, chuckle, “I miss you. I miss you both.” 

There was a long pause for a moment before Seokjin chuckled, sounding slightly taken back, “We miss you. I miss you, baby. I-I… i'm sorry, hyung didn't expect you to say that-”

“I hit Taehyung,” Jungkook balled up, curled together tightly and shoved into the corner of the couch in such a way he was basically hiding in the cushion, whispering, “I know I'm bad. I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry- I'm sorry, please come back-”

And the second Jungkook's voice grew shaky and near sob-like, Taehyung was shifting to wrap arms around his back, tucking himself into Jungkook's back. There was shuffling on the phone.

“Don't cry. Baby bunny. My bunny. Don't cry, baby boy. I love you so, so much.” 

Jungkook began to smile but it was all wet and teary and upset. “Alpha…” 

“Hi, baby.” Jimin, too, sounded in tears. He chuckled at the excited tone, sniffled and cooed, “My gorgeous omega. Alphas love you so, so much. With everything. You're my good boy. Our little angel. I love you.” 

The omega grinned, giggling despite his tears, and began to rub his foot excitedly back and forth on the couch, “Imma good boy?” 

“The best, baby.” Jimin promised, “And I'm sorry. I'm sorry about all of this. I love you and I love Taehyung, I'm going to come back tomorrow morning. Promise.” 

Jungkook squealed a happy sound, jerking to look at Taehyung with huge, excited eyes and whisper-yelling, “Hyungs are coming back!” 

Both Jimin and Taehyung began to laugh at the same time, because it hadn't been quiet at all, and because Jungkook began to squeal excited sounds and roll around the couch.

(Jimin didn't need to see to know Jungkook was up to something cute, he knew the sound of his happy omega very, very well.) 

Chapter Text

“How do I look?” 

“Beautiful, bunny.”

Jungkook bounced on his feet from his spot in front of the window, balling up his shirt in his fist while Hoseok fixed his hair out of his face. The omega was up bright and early this morning.

Even though they had no idea when Seokjin and Jimin would be coming back, Jungkook dressed his prettiest with a big pastel blue sweatshirt and black bottoms. He'd brushed his hair way too many times this morning and asked about a hundred times if he looked nice.

Jungkook always looked nice. Always looked pretty, so there was no need for all of that, but everyone indulged him.

“Lunch is ready,” Yoongi said as he entered the living room, wiping his hands off on a small towel, “Should we eat after they-”

“Alpha.” 

Jungkook's smile was huge, it had been since yesterday. The omega jumped off of the step he was on and hopped excitedly towards the alpha, curling hands around Yoongi’s arms and asking, “Do I look pretty?” 

Yoongi swallowed. Hard. Mostly because Jungkook wasn't the one that typically approached them, normally they were the ones running after the omega and tugging him close for attention. 

They weren't Taehyung or Jimin, Jungkook didn't come running at them for hugs and cuddles. Typically they sought the omega out, invited him closer. 

“Just beautiful,” Yoongi swore after a moment, earning this excited coo from Jungkook. 

The omega bounced on his toes, throwing arms around Yoongi’s waist and squeezing tight as he mumbled, “Wanna be really pretty when my alphas come back.” 

That chest-squeezing feeling of jealousy lasted a moment before Yoongi realized Jungkook had said alphas—

“They're going to be absolutely amazed,” Taehyung said from the armchair, obviously not as phased by the comment as Yoongi felt, fiddling anxiously with the edge of his sweater as he said, “You'll have to get in all of the kisses and hugs you missed when they get here, alright?” 

Jungkook screamed this happy sound and went bounding over to the back of the couch, rolling himself over the back in a way that made everyone laugh, with Namjoon turning around at the feeling of the omega behind him to sweep Jungkook's hair from his face. 

“Aren't you just an energetic-”

The doorknob began to jiggle and Jungkook gasped, jerking to sit up, actually moving to stand on the couch cushions. 

They were speaking when they walked in, an obvious anxiety to Jimin's voice, but the first thing Taehyung noticed was the fact that they were holding hands. That Jimin and Seokjin had their fingers intertwined loosely and seemed as though it was a natural thing and, well, he wondered if this feeling was what Jimin had felt a few days ago.

It certainly didn't feel good to feel as though you were replaceable. 

“Alphas!” 

Jungkook almost fell over the back of the couch, trying to jump over, and if Jimin hadn't been so fast, the omega likely would've face planted right onto the floor. 

Instead, he fell right into Jimin's arms and even then it was not close enough and Jungkook climbed into his hold to lock around him, crying and smiling at the same time, his words muffled as he frantically nuzzled the alpha’s neck and face. 

“I know, I know,” Jimin whispered, grip tight and fingers tugging away Jungkook's long locks, sucking in a deep breath, “I know, angel. I'm so sorry, Kookie. I'll never do that again-”

“I love you. L-Love you. D-Don't go, don't-”

It was silent for a moment. 

A moment that the elder four did not seem to notice as Seokjin turned to Hoseok with a laugh and a grin to tug him into a hug, murmuring, “Did you all eat well while we were gone? What did you do?” 

The silence was cut by Jungkook's deep whimpering and Jimin releasing a loud, shaking breath, hand clutching the back of Jungkook's head into his shoulder, “I love you. I love you s-so much. God, I love you more than anything, Jungkook.”

When Taehyung released a bubbly, wet laugh and rushed towards the duo whispering, “Jungkook, baby. Baby, you finally- you… say it again,” things grew a lot clearer. 

Jungkook had never told them he loved them before, which seemed like such a minuscule thing considering anyone and everyone could tell that the omega loved them more than he loved anything. 

Jimin was smiling so and holding Jungkook tightly, like he wasn't planning to put the omega down, not even for a single moment. His hand was tight in Jungkook's nape, but his grip began to loosen when Taehyung came close and his eyes grew more wet. 

“Love alphas, love alphas. Love you.” Jungkook cried and as heartbreaking as it was, Jimin and Taehyung began to laugh and cry. 

Taehyung bubbled with an excited noise and launched at them, crushing Jungkook between them and not protesting even the slightest when Jimin cupped his hair and tugged him into a kiss. 

In the corner, beside the door, Namjoon was helping Seokjin with the bag in his hands, presumably full of the clothes they'd had to buy the past two days, wetting his lips before murmuring, “They're acting surprised that Jungkook loves them, it's so obvious though.” 

“It must feel good to hear that,” Namjoon sounded jealous even to his own ears, “An imprint saying that… it must feel like you're on top of the world.”

It did.

Jimin barely managed to force himself to put Jungkook down, smoothing hands down the omega's teary cheeks and pressing another kiss to his mouth, swearing, “You know I love you even more, baby. Alphas will always love you to the stars and back.” 

Jungkook sniffled, bottom lip trembling. He looked teeny tiny cuddled in on himself on the couch with shaky shoulders, but the second he glanced around Jimin the omega was crying, “Alpha!” 

And Seokjin visibly looked confused when Jungkook jumped at him, immediately grabbing the omega but releasing a small worried noise and shushing his soft cries. 

“Oh, baby,” He clicked his tongue as Jungkook began to stutter on his cries, “I know. I know. Sh... oh, you sweet puppy..” 

The eldest, honestly, hadn't expected Jungkook to miss him all that much, not when Jimin had been gone too. 

Jungkook had begun to scent roughly at his neck, wiping his tears all over Seokjin's neck and leeching on like a koala. And although he truly hated to see Jungkook cry, there was no denying that it was touching to be scented by an omega. 

“Oh, thank you, my pretty omega,” Seokjin crooned, rocking and speaking to Jungkook as though he was a real pup. Gentle and sweet. “Alpha will smell just like you, is that what you want, hm?”

The omega gave a small nod against his neck, sniffling as Seokjin moved to sit on the couch, “... so… so if alpha goes, can smell and find you…”,

And if that wasn't the cutest thing Jungkook had ever said, then Seokjin had zero idea what was. He immediately nosed at Jungkook's temple and kissed his cheek a few times until Jungkook giggled just a bit and leaned back to look at him.

“This babe,” Yoongi clicked his tongue and leaned over the arm of the couch to nudge Jungkook's cheek. “Had a hard time sleeping without everyone here, slept only a few hours.” 

Seokjin frowned and pet his thumbs below Jungkook's eyes, but before he could worry too much, Jimin was clearing his throat and requesting, “Can we all… talk?” 

Immediately, everyone was looking at him, waiting.

Jimin went a little sheepish under their stares and rubbed the back of his neck until Taehyung reached over to grab his hand. It seemed to remind him of what he wanted to say and he immediately grabbed Taehyung's fingers and looked at him. 

“Tae. I want to say I'm -”

“You don't have to-”

“I'm really sorry,” Jimin chewed on his lip for a moment, “You're my best friend and I love you. I shouldn't have gotten so upset that you were happy. I just… I hadn't grown used to the idea of having to share you both. Either of you. It… it was wrong. You are allowed to be happy.” 

“No,” Taehyung frowned, “I was wrong. I knew you were upset and instead of talking to you, I just got mad. I- we need you, Jimin. You know that.” 

Jimin smiled, eyes slightly wet, “I know, baby. I know.” 

Taehyung laughed and launched over to cup his face and kiss him hard, smiling throughout the kiss before Jimin laughed too and smoothed his hair down to calm him down.

Jungkook, who'd been cuddling into Seokjin's shoulder, sat up with a quiet noise at the mutter of baby which made the alphas laugh and the eldest to coo at him, petting down Jungkook's back.

“Yes, you're still our baby,” Seokjin chuckled, cupping Jungkook's face and leaning in to press a kiss to the tip of his nose, “My pretty baby, hm?” 

The omega giggled, nose scrunching up and curling hands into Seokjin's shirt at his chest, “Hyungs’ baby…”

Jungkook began to giggle, smiling that scrunched nose beam of his. Jimin cleared his throat, arm around Taehyung's shoulders, “Actually, I want to say something about that too, um… Kookie?” 

“Alpha!” Jungkook squealed, utterly happy, and turned his head towards him while kneading happily at Seokjin's chest.

“Do you want them?” Jimin asked, looking a bit hesitant, “Do you want hyungs to treat you, like how Tae and I do? Do you want to be with them?” 

The others shifted awkwardly at the unexpected questions, but Jungkook barely waited a minute and began to giggle and promptly crawled off of Seokjin's lap to run at Jimin, throwing himself across both his and Taehyung's laps, but they'd been expecting him.

They'd grown used to his antics and it showed in how easily Taehyung leaned off of Jimin to catch him and immediately smoothed his hair from his face, cooing under his breath. 

“You don't have to um,” Namjoon cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, “Answer that.” 

“No, you don't have to worry,” Jimin chuckled, eyes on Jungkook as he grabbed the omega’s hips that were in his lap and tugged him more into his lap, gently rubbing his waist, “Our baby definitely wants that, huh, baby?” 

Jungkook began to blush and turned his head to try and hide in Taehyung's stomach until the alpha tsked and tugged him back to look at him, scolding, “Bunny, answer alpha.” 

The omega pouted and hide his face more, but whispered under his breath just loud enough for Taehyung to laugh, “Why don't you go tell hyungs that then, hm?” 

Shifting nervously, Seokjin sent Hoseok a reassuring look and scooted closer to him to curl a hand around his thigh when Jungkook whined but rolled off of their laps.

The omega didn't even blink, he went trudging towards Yoongi, much to the alphas surprise when Jungkook plopped himself onto his lap with red cheeks and his eyes down. 

“Go on,” Taehyung was still chuckling, “Tell him.” 

Jungkook was biting his lip when Yoongi gently lifted his chin and ran his thumb below his lip to tug his lip away from his teeth. 

“Alpha…” Jungkook drawled off cutely, ears red and nervously fiddling with Yoongi’s sweater, discreetly glancing at Taehyung and Jimin before back at Yoongi.

Immediately, Yoongi was purring, “Yes, angel. What is it?” 

There was a long pause where Jungkook cutely tilted his head to the side, pawing at Yoongi in a shy way before he leaned forward, nose brushing the alpha’s, voice barely a whisper, “Alpha… want you to kiss me too… ‘s not fair…” 

Yoongi growled under his breath as he leaned in, only pausing to brush his nose against Jungkook's, breathing him in for a moment before he curled a hand just below the omega’s ear and pulled him in.

The omega purred against his mouth, only spurring Yoongi into grabbing his hips and tugging him firmly onto his lap, taking Jungkook's bottom lip between his own. 

Jungkook was always cute, but the way he leaned even closer, like he couldn't get enough, was addicting. 

“I was wrong,” Jimin murmured, wetting his lips and eying the kissing duo, shifting to curl up beside Taehyung, “We were wrong not to let Jungkook make these choices himself. It's not up to us. It's up to him.” 

Chapter Text

“Baby boy…” 

Namjoon laughed under his breath, quietly, and watched Jungkook roll over in his sleep. He honestly had no idea how the omega had ended up falling asleep in the middle of the living room floor, but he was.

It was nearly dinner time. The television was on and Jungkook's new tablet they'd recently gotten was still playing a game and sitting loosely in his hand. 

“You silly pup,” Namjoon crooned, putting down his phone and then kneeling down to collect the tablet. Jungkook didn't even stir. “Jungkookie, you can't sleep before dinner.” 

The alpha sighed under his breath and scooped him up, gently rocking Jungkook in an attempt to wake him up, cooing, “Come on, bumblebee, get up. You can't sleep on an empty stomach. Alphas promised to feed you tons.” 

Just as Namjoon moved to sit down on the couch with Jungkook, the omega began to stir, but not actually stir, more like flail.

A loud, whining cry made its way out of his throat and Jungkook's eyes shot open at the same time that he smacked a hand on Namjoon's chest. It wasn't hard, it didn't hurt, but the omega’s reaction made Namjoon immediately worry over him.

“Baby… baby,” Namjoon worried, cupping his cheek frantically as Jungkook tried to catch his breath, “Are you okay? Are-”

“Jungkook!” 

Of course they'd heard the whimpers from upstairs, something that scared was impossible to ignore. The footsteps came storming down from around the house in seconds.

“Breathe,” Namjoon continued, shushing and pressing a kiss to Jungkook's nose, rubbing his back. “What's wrong? Baby, what's wrong?” 

By then, Hoseok was the first in the living room, air wet and shirtless as he quickly ran around the couch, eyes huge and dropping his towel onto the ground, “Sunshine, what happened? What's going on, Joon?” 

Jungkook wasn't crying, but he was breathing a bit shallow and looking tired, although not scared anymore. He just leaned into Namjoon's nose with a soft whine.

“I don't know,” Namjoon replied, tugging Jungkook in to lay on his chest, pressing a kiss against his head, “He was sleeping on the floor, so I picked him up and he got scared. I shouldn't have-”

“It's okay.” Taehyung shook his head as he climbed down the last stair step, sweeping up Jungkook's forgotten tablet, “It happens sometimes if you wake him up. He had nightmares. And gets startled.” 

“Is that right?” Seokjin worried, frowning and placing his forearms on the back of the couch to lean over Namjoon's shoulder, “Do you want to talk to alphas about it, would you feel better?” 

Jungkook didn't reply for a long moment, he sniffled instead, bottom lip sticking out a bit before he turned to reach out for Hoseok. 

“Oh, sweetheart.” Hoseok sighed fondly, accepting Jungkook into his arms and gently smiling as the omega cuddled into his bare chest.

“I just…” Jungkook bit his lip, shifting to tug his knees closer, cheek against Hoseok's chest and whispering, “Sometimes I get scared is all…” 

It was quiet for a moment and, honestly, it would be the truth to claim the elder four stayed silent assuming Jimin or Taehyung would jump at the situation and show them how to deal with it. Neither of them did, though, and it wasn't that they didn't seem concerned, they did, but it was visibly less so once they realized the omega had merely been frightened. 

“Is this…” Namjoon looked incredibly worried, scooting closer to rub Jungkook's thigh, “Is it because of your parents?” 

The omega stiffened up immediately, leading everyone to worry. 

“Alright. Alright,” Hoseok shushed, pressing a kiss to Jungkook's cheek and another to his temple. “Don't worry, beautiful. We would never force you to talk to us.” 

“They… they didn't hit me much…” Jungkook began, sucking all of the air out of the room due to that proclamation. “They were just hitting each other… and said mean things and… that I was stupid and… ugly and…” 

“Oh no. No.” 

Outraged wasn't the word they would use to describe how absolutely enraged they were at Jungkook's whispers. But it was easy to play it off and not burst due to the knowledge that Jungkook was scared of such things. 

“No, come here, baby doll,” Yoongi was one of the most emotional of them all, despite not showing it at times, which was why he was immediately taking the pup and balling Jungkook up between his legs sitting at the bottom on the couch. “You are beautiful, Jungkook. And smart and sweet. Alphas will always, always tell you.” 

Jungkook hadn't shown a smile yet and that was the most unnerving part. Their omega was happy and giggly and the cutest little ball of softness ever. 

He wasn't right now.

“Look at me, please,” Yoongi urged, cupping his cheeks and petting gently beside Jungkook's nose with his thumbs, “You are beautiful. Say it, please.” 

The omega pressed his lips together and leaned into his palms, but didn't reply and for that Yoongi clicked his tongue, “Baby, we want you to believe it. You are beautiful, Jungkook.” 

“You have to say that…” Jungkook argued, eyes down, “You're imprinted… you have to-”

“No. No.” Taehyung interrupted immediately, sounding like he'd heard this argument hundreds of times, “Remember the time we had to fight off a bunch of girls at a diner? Remember all of the times alphas got jealous hearing people talk about you? Baby, it happens so much. Everyone thinks you are beautiful, baby bun. Everyone.” 

Jungkook chewed on his lip, cuddling into Yoongi’s chest and clenching his shirt in his fists. When he looked up, it was with a tiny smile, “I'm pretty.” 

“Not pretty,” Seokjin laughed, but it was clearly mostly a chide, leaning down to scoop Jungkook up, “Gorgeous! Beautiful! I'll take pretty just this once.” 

The omega giggled and giggled as the alpha playfully forced him into a dance, spinning him around. 

“Alpha!” Jungkook was now laughing genuinely, beaming and clutching Seokjin's waist, squealing, “Alpha, I'm dizzy!”

Seokjin did stop, chuckling and cupping his face, leaning down to rub his nose along Jungkook's. The omega immediately began to scrunch up his nose and sniff at the alpha cutely. 

At such a reaction, Seokjin leaned down and ran his cheek over Jungkook's neck, scenting gently at the omega’s gland before his nose scrunched up a bit and he breathed into Jungkook's jaw. He tensed up for a moment before straightening up and looking right at Jimin. 

“Jimin?” 

“Hm.” 

“When's the last time he went into heat?” 

All eyes went bigger, Jungkook didn't seem to notice. He was too excited at the attention and was happy to be squeezed into Seokjin's chest. 

Jimin shifted, glancing at Taehyung who'd settled against Hoseok's side for help, but the other just shrugged a bit and the youngest two alphas looked nervous. 

“Never? We didn't really… think about it. How did you know..?”

“You never asked him.” Namjoon worried, but didn't sound accusational, just worried, “Oh, pups. Kookie should go in for a check up.” 

Jimin shifted in his spot leaning against the piano in the corner before Yoongi opened an arm for him and then he came rushing over to sit on the ground, curling up beside him. The elder kissed his head and he relaxed.

“Jungkookie smells a little…” Seokjin trailed off for a second, lifting Jungkook's chin to scent his jaw, wetting his lips. Jungkook beamed and jumped a bit until the alpha picked him back up, “His scent is repressed.” 

“Repressed?” Taehyung frowned, “But I can smell him from here.” 

“It should be stronger,” Hoseok explained, “Especially to us. It should be so strong we can smell him from upstairs. That way, we can smell if he's hurt or sick… right now he just always smells the same. Amazing, but not necessarily strong.” 

It was quiet for a moment as they looked at Jungkook, watched the omega nuzzle frantically into Seokjin's chest and bask in attention. 

It was true. Jungkook never got a check up when they went to the hospital. He'd been so worried about Taehyung that they'd just given him some medication to be sure he wasn't sick and some vitamins. He definitely needed to get a full work up done after living on the streets for so long. 

“Hey, baby,” Jimin sighed, “Can alphas take you to the hospital?” 

Jungkook immediately slumped, leaning back from Seokjin with a teeny pout that immediately made Hoseok chirp, “Alphas will take you for a very nice meal after.” 

“Date?” 

They laughed. Jungkook began to smile the more they chuckled and laughed at his cute antics. Only seemingly confirming the omega's request, Jungkook began to happy dance, jumping towards Namjoon to flop in his chest, “Date! Date, alpha!”

“Date, huh?” Namjoon mused, brushing back his hair, “Well, we can definitely see about that.” 

Jungkook beamed and leaned in to press a kiss against his lips, surprising the alpha, who immediately wet his lips and changed his answer with a rather quick, “We can definitely do a date. Yes. Yes we can, my love.” 

The others did laugh at him for sounding too whipped, but knew they too were rather weak when it came to their omega, so nobody verbalized it. 

Instead, they opted to just laugh when Jungkook began to coo under his breath about wearing something pretty.

“The purple sweater is pretty,” Jungkook rambled, resting his cheek against Namjoon's shoulder, “I'll wear that one - oh, but I need new shoe-”

“Anything you want, bunny,” Hoseok hummed under his breath, turning his head to kiss Taehyung's temple, “Hyungs give our pups anything they want.” 

Taehyung smiled and shifted to toss his legs over Hoseok's lap, biting his lip. “Clothes?” 

“You have a card,” Seokjin chuckled and moved to sprawl an arm out above the couch beside Taehyung. “Anything you want.” 

“Can- Can I buy a trampoline?” Jungkook gasped, “And games? And toys? And-”

“Baby,” Jimin interrupted, “We can't just-”

“Yes, you can.” Yoongi shushed, arm wrapping around Jimin's waist and tugging him back into his side, “And you will. You'll have anything you ever want. We have more money than we need. Pups, you can have anything you want. Take my card. Take anything, you're our pups. You deserve it.” 

There was barely a minute before Jungkook was squealing and bursting into an excited fit of giggles, rolling around Namjoon's lap. 

Yoongi went to add more, but before he could, Jimin was grabbing his chin and turning his face to look at him. The younger leaned in and kissed him, hard, before he could say anything else. 

That was way better than a thank you. 

Chapter Text

Jungkook didn't like hospitals.

Not because he was scared of them, just because he'd never really gone to them in the past much, so it was unfamiliar to him. Very many things were unfamiliar to him these days. 

Like the fact that he had options of what clothes to wear. And what flavor toothpaste to use, what food to eat, and what bed to sleep in—

Or even sleeping in a bed at all.

A lot of the things that felt unfamiliar were merely because it had been so long since he'd last experienced them, that he'd forgotten how it felt. Sleeping in a bed. Picking out clothes. Having many meals. Showering everyday. 

Everything felt so strange, but his hyungs were there, so it was okay. Jungkook wasn't too scared of things so long as his hyungs were around. 

That didn't mean he liked the hospital.

“How long did he say this would take?” 

Jungkook glanced up from his tablet to Yoongi in the corner of the clinic room just as Jimin shifted closer to the older alpha. Yoongi lifted his arm to wrap it around him without even blinking. That was unfamiliar too.

Seeing his alphas get so cuddly with someone other than each other and him was unfamiliar. It was nice. Jimin looked really happy to get cuddles, but—

Hey, why wasn't anyone cuddling him? 

Jungkook felt a pout pull at his lips. The omega shifted from his spot laying on the exam table and locked his tablet. He turned to swing his legs off of the side and instantly everyone was looking at him.

It was still those same worried looks they'd given him when the doctor came to draw blood and those same concerned furrowed expressions like when Jungkook had to get X-rays taken and they had to separate behind a screen due to radiation exposure. 

Honestly, the alphas seemed to dislike many of the things more than Jungkook did. They were asking things he didn't understand and, mostly Yoongi, weren't sounding very happy about the responses given.

Jungkook quickly slipped off of the cot and made a quick rush towards Namjoon, who's expression quickly went from worried to endeared as he chuckled and accepted Jungkook onto his lap.

“Ah, I see,” Seokjin drawled playfully, leaning on his elbows and cooing, “Our Jungkookie loves Namjoon a lot lately, hm? Only want to sit with Joon. Only want to hold hands with Joon.”

The omega scrunched up his nose when he giggled, a redness to his cheeks when he glanced at Namjoon, but the alpha was beaming, so Jungkook beamed back, blushing.

“Does this hurt, baby?” Taehyung sat next to Namjoon, putting down his new phone and reaching over to grab Jungkook's forearm, looking at the gauze around his inner elbow, “I think we can pull your sleeve back down now.” 

Jungkook, of course, didn't care about that. He leaned over with pouty lips and Taehyung gave him the kiss he wanted so badly while the others chuckled a few times at his cuddliness. 

They were his alphas and their priority was to take care of him. To make sure Jungkook felt okay. To make sure he wasn't hurting. To love him. 

Jungkook’s priority was to get the most cuddles as possible at all times. That was definitely doable.

Oh, and a trampoline, but that was coming soon.

“We know it's been hours,” Taehyung kissed him one more time before leaning back, fixing his purple sleeve down, “You're getting bored, we know. Any minute we'll get results back and go.” 

Jungkook hummed and shifted in Namjoon's arms to straddle his lap, looping arms around his neck and nuzzling into the alpha, “I'm okay if alphas are okay. Kisses, please.” 

And how were they to ever deny Jungkook of anything? Honestly, it would be a crime to ever say no to anything the omega requested. 

“Kisses please, huh?” Yoongi laughed fondly under his breath as Namjoon pecked the omega's face all over, making Jungkook smile bigger every single kiss he was given, “Such a sweetheart. We must have gotten the sweetest pup of the litter.” 

“You don't even know the half of it,” Jimin mused, watching Jungkook giggle, “One time it was storming. I mean pouring rain. And Jungkook disappeared - Tae and I almost lost it. We turned around for one second and he was gone. Turns out, he went into the rain just to move a stray cat out of the rain. When he came back, soaking wet with his teeth chattering, we were scolding him and all he was saying was 'I thought I was gonna die if I let the kitty get washed away! I couldn't live with myself! Really, alpha! I was gonna die!’”

The laughter flooded the room. Blending in with the giggles and kisses Jungkook was giving and the sound, the utter warmth and happiness, felt like a big blanket wrapping tight around them all. It felt like they were home.

Only they weren't. 

The knock on the door came without warning and the fact that the knock came so soon after they'd begun to become cheerful once again felt like a bad omen.

“-hello, sorry about the wait.” 

Their doctor, Shin Sungmin, was an alpha man, which in itself was one of the reasons why all of the alphas immediately became more professional and quiet upon him entering. 

Jungkook was an unmated omega, so it was hard to be in such a small space with another alpha, the anticipation of it all didn't exactly help. 

“Okay, first of all,” The doctor juggled around a few folders before noticing the cot was empty and looking around for Jungkook, motioning towards him as he began, “Your omega has been with you for how long?” 

Seokjin didn't like that tone. Not at all. He immediately said, softly, “Jungkookie, baby come here,” which Jungkook did. 

Jimin replied, confused, “We have been together over eight months. Why?” 

The doctor seemed much less tense then, he awed under his breath and pulled out some X-rays and walked over to a screen in the corner to set it up, “Your omega has some… prior injuries I'd like to ask about, but the timing does not add up for these to be that recent. See… here…” 

Jungkook's hand went clammy in Seokjin's the second the doctor turned the light on and had the X-ray lit up on the screen. It was his arm. Left arm. He always laid on his right one. He leaned with his right one, picked up things with it. Didn't do anything with his left one.

On the screen, there was a clear black spot on an area of his left forearm. The doctor was pointing at it. “This is where a previous fracture occurred. This is what happens when the break heals on its own and the bones fuse incorrectly. The alignment is slightly off which can cause future pain. These kinds of things are normally medically treated, but it is clear this one was… not…” 

The implication of it was what made everyone fall silent and look at Jungkook which, in hindsight, wasn't a great idea after what they'd just learned. 

The omega looked guilty and he was stimming with the end of Seokjin’s shirt, but as soon as he noticed everyone looking he squeaked and hid his face in the alpha's chest. 

“Baby…” Seokjin whispered, wrapping both arms tight around Jungkook's shoulders and placing his chin on his hair. 

The eldest alpha immediately looked at the doctor, eyes worried, “Please continue. He was on the streets for a while, we just want to make sure he's okay.” 

The doctor seemed to not want to which was understandable considering he now had a bunch of agitated alpha’s staring at him, but he did. 

“Well, in terms of his blood work, there are some levels that were very low, but we can send him home with medication and redo them in a months time… however,” Sighing, the doctor pulled out the stool from beneath the desk in the corner and sat down, bluntly stating, “Due to some of the things we found, we do have some things we need to discuss with him. I do apologize for being so blunt, but if Jungkook experienced sexual abuse, it could potentially set back his heat.” 

Immediately, Taehyung was on his feet, practically hissing, “We'd never hurt him-”

“Tae. Taehyung,” Hoseok shushed, curling a hand around the alpha’s nape and tugging him down into his lap, “He isn't accusing us.” 

That. Just the thought of someone else harming Jungkook was unimaginable. Unacceptable. And arguably worse than the thought of being accused of harming their own imprint—

It had happened before. There were people whom were arrested for harming their imprint. It seemed impossible to do, especially now that they had Jungkook, and they knew how horrible it felt to hear the omega so much as whine. The idea of ever making Jungkook cry, of ever seeing him in pain… it was enough to bring tears to their eyes just imagining such a thing. 

He was doing none of those things now when Seokjin reluctantly leaned back to cup his face and urge the omega to look at him. Jungkook wasn't looking at him, he was staring at the alpha's buttons on his collar.  

“Little one,” Seokjin muttered, pressing a kiss against the tip of Jungkook's nose, “We just need to know. Has anyone ever touched you?” 

It felt like forever. Like everything had frozen. 

When Jungkook finally shook his head it was with wet eyes and a whimper, immediately hiding again in Seokjin's chest and refusing to come back out. Crying a quiet, “O-Only hitting.” 

Which was not at all comforting, but it was a tad relieving. They had known about the physical abuse, because even though Jungkook claimed it had not been that bad, they had proof it was. 

Jungkook began to cry. Quietly. His ears were red and the omega was clearly embarrassed about this situation and they hated that. Hated how he'd been reduced to a fit of tears like this. 

“In that case,” The doctor began hesitantly, “If he wants to, we can induce his heat over the next month. That way, the risk of him prolonging a heat and causing harm to himself is lesser. I will prescribe you the medication, whether or not he takes it is his own decision, but… I do recommend it. If an omega doesn't have a heat at least twice a year, then the potential of future pups is vastly lowered. A male omega even less… I'll let you all discuss.” 

Namjoon mumbled a thank you as he left, but there were little words to say when Jungkook was crying and it felt like the world was spinning. 

Nothing too serious was wrong and they should be grateful because of that, and they were glad Jungkook was okay, but… it wasn't exactly nice to have to have these discussions.

“Okay.” Jimin stood up, running a hand through his hair and moving to kneel down in front of the bench Seokjin held Jungkook on, “Bunny. Can you take my hands please?” 

Jungkook was an incredibly good boy, so even though he was crying and whimpering, he did turn around to take Jimin's hands. 

“Oh… Kookie,” Hoseok whispered, watching the omega hiccup and clutching Taehyung's knee, “Why are you crying, baby bunny? Alphas are so glad you're not sick. Aren't you happy?” 

The omega nodded, hiccuping, “‘m-I'm s-sorry.” 

“Babe. Baby.” Jimin worried the second Jungkook began to stutter on cries, thumbs petting his knuckles, “Why are you sorry? You have no reason to be sorry.” 

“D-Didn't tell a-alphas-”

“No. No. Sh…” Yoongi began immediately, moving to hover over Jimin's back, hand cupping Jungkook's cheek and wiping his tears as though he couldn't stand it. He couldn't. Jungkook wasn't meant to cry. He was meant to be happy and giggly and spoiled rotten. “You have no reason to be sorry. None at all. Baby, we care about you.” 

Jungkook bubbled with a sob, leaning over to throw arms around Jimin and crying, “Wanna g-go home.” 

They had a nice date set up at one of their restaurants, they'd already called in orders and they'd all dressed nice, but none of that mattered.

“Of course.” Hoseok grabbed Jungkook's jacket off the bench, “Let's go, pumpkin. I think cuddles and pizza sound really good right about now.”

Chapter Text

seeing as the major plot for this story has been overcome and it will soon be mostly fluff, I wanted to leave a note where people could comment their fic ideas below! 

feel free to either write ideas for an ot7 Jk focused, poly, or taekook (anything as long as JK is in it lol) either here or message on twit or on CC! just sort of looking for ideas at the moment~ 

I did have a few, but it never hurts to see others pov! 

Chapter Text

“Look at this, hyung! Look!”

“We're watching, baby! We see,” Hoseok laughed, “Be careful, bunny rabbit.” 

The omega squealed a sound to confirm he was paying attention, then continued jumping on his mini trampoline they'd set up for him this morning in the open space below the second floor balcony to make sure the omega had plenty of space to play.

They'd get him a big one and put it outside when the snow melted, but Jungkook had really wanted one now, so a small one would make do.

“Jungkookie,” Seokjin laughed under his breath and brought in a tray, “Can we talk? Alpha has snacks and you can play again after some cuddles.” 

Jungkook continued jumping for a moment, “W-Will alphas play with me?” 

“On the trampoline?” Namjoon raised a brow as he walked into the entryway, stepping up to the trampoline, “It's a little small for two people, monkey.” 

The omega stopped jumping and reached out for Namjoon with hard breaths and a happy giggle, arms and legs wrapping around the alpha, “Games?” 

Namjoon hummed and kissed Jungkook's cheek, both arms beneath the omega's ass to hold him up as he carried him towards the living room, “Anyone want to play video games with this monkey later?”

“I'll play, baby bun,” Taehyung confirmed, “If you eat and take a nap.” 

“Yes, alpha sir!” Jungkook scrunched up his nose, all giggly, “Sir yes sir!”

They laughed at his antics. Namjoon nipped playfully at his jaw before shifting to dump the omega on Hoseok’s lap. The other didn't mind, of course, just continued the coddling with a dramatic growl and kissed Jungkook's pulse until the omega giggled and squirmed, “Alpha!” 

Seokjin dragged the coffee table closer and settled down on the couch, tugging Taehyung under his arm. Pressing a kiss against the other’s head, the eldest muttered, “I actually wanted to discuss Jungkook's heat. If he wanted to…” 

All eyes turned to the omega. Jungkook's eyes grew wide and he blinked a few times as though confused, “The medicine?” 

“Yes, baby.” Hoseok cooed softly, letting the omega slip off his lap in order for Jungkook to grab a cookie, “The medicine will induce your heat within a month of taking it, but it is your choice. Always your choice.” 

Jungkook's eyebrows raised up as he ate, shrugging his shoulders.

Seokjin snorted, “Bunny, what does that mean?” 

The omega finished his cookie, leaning back against the bottom of the couch and giggling as he tilted his head back to look at Jimin when the alpha pet his hair. “I don't mind.” 

“You… don't mind?” Namjoon laughed, “Babe, most omegas hate heat.” 

Jungkook just smiled. Such a pretty smile. “I don't mind. I have lots of alphas, so it's okay to have a heat.” 

So simple. As though he hadn't just given them permission to knot him, despite the fact they hadn't even had sex yet. Jungkook smiled and stood up, climbing into Jimin's lap. 

“You want to have sex with hyungs, huh?” Jimin teased, brushing fingers over the side of Jungkook's neck, “You could just say that, you little minx.” 

The omega squeaked and squirmed. “Alpha…” 

Meanwhile, the others swallowed hard, or looked rather interested in what Jungkook had just said. It was no secret the omega was breathtaking. Jungkook was such a gorgeous person, so much so that it was hard to focus on anything other than him sometimes.

Plus, of course they wanted their imprint to want them in any capacity, but especially sexually. 

“Come here,” Jimin chuckled, collecting Jungkook's chin between his fingers and tugging him into a kiss. Not just a sweet and gentle kiss, but a deep kiss.

One that made Jungkook squeak and shift to settle straddling Jimin, his hands instantly moving to curl into the alpha's shirt and collect his clothes in needy palms. A kiss that was loud, wet, and not at all innocent. 

Jimin guided Jungkook into whimpering on his lap easily, like he'd done it countless times before. Plump lips sucking gently at the omega’s, tongue sweeping Jungkook's, breathing just hard enough for Jungkook to whimper on his tongue.

“I… fuck,” Yoongi whispered, hissed more like, jerking his head to look away, nostrils flaring. “Too much.”

“He smells good, right?” Taehyung wet his lips, “Tastes even better.” 

A handful of curses rang out and they turned to look at Taehyung as though ready to scold him, but the youngest alpha was already jumping to stand up, immediately moving towards the duo. 

It was cute, the way Jungkook smelled Taehyung approaching and didn't even need to pull out of the kiss to reach over for the alpha. Well, it would have been cute had the omega not curled a hand right over the waistband of Taehyung's sweatpants and whimpered, deep in his throat, in such a way that made all of their hair stand up. 

“Baby. Babe,” Taehyung laughed under his breath, he looked a tad sheepish - likely because the older alphas cursed in hushed whispers - and he curled a hand around Jungkook's wrist to tug his fingers away. “You don't have to do that.” 

Only then did Jungkook turn his head to look at Taehyung, lips bright red and slick with spit. Jimin kissed at his jaw and the side of his neck, sniffing loud. “Tae…” 

Taehyung pet the back of Jungkook's head, biting his lip. The omega blinked at him, eyes rounded and innocent, then slipped his fingers out of Taehyung's hand, down his chest, “Yes?” 

“I-” Taehyung felt his ears go red.

“Stop acting like you're innocent,” Jimin said against Jungkook's pulse, nose running along the shell of the omegas ear, “You just don't want hyungs to think you take advantage of Kookie when he's cuddly this - when we both know that our omega is just a little sex fiend.” 

“Pups,” Seokjin cleared his throat, “We should discuss before-”

“Alpha…” Jungkook was curling fingers around Taehyung's pants, needy and pouting, “We're safe now… I want to.” 

Taehyung immediately reached down to collect Jungkook, but the omega refused to release Jimin's shirt and that only made everyone all that more turned on seeing as Jungkook was implying he wanted both of the alphas.

“I'm sorry,” Jimin smiled a tad apologetically as he stood up, cupping Jungkook's neck when the omega moved to mouth wetly at Taehyung's jaw, “It's been a long time. We haven't properly scented him, or anything in months. I just-”

“Go,” Namjoon brushed him off, staring at Jungkook, “We understand. We'll work on things for his nest and start the medication when you're finished.” 

Despite that being the truth, he sounded jealous, but that was to be expected. There was only one omega in the house and Jungkook favored Taehyung and Jimin. They knew that. It was just hard to be the outsiders all of the time.

They wanted to take care of Jungkook, of course, they wanted him to be happy, but the idea that he would be plenty happy with just Taehyung and Jimin was a hard pill to swallow—

“N-No.”

Jungkook whined, all high pitched and pouty, ankles locked around Taehyung's back.

Immediately, Taehyung and Jimin stopped bringing him upstairs and the elder of the two alphas worried, brushing Jungkook's hair from his forehead, soothing, “What is it, baby?” 

“'ts not fair…” 

“What isn't fair?”

Jungkook pouted, lips swollen and red, resting his cheek on Taehyung's shoulder, “Not fair that alphas get to get love from hyungs and not me…” 

Jimin began to chuckle, more so at such a ridiculous claim than anything, because he knew very well that Jungkook was being dramatic and that their hyungs would love to show Jungkook some love.

Taehyung bit his lip to restrain his own laugh, pressing a kiss against Jungkook's pulse, then gently setting the omega onto his feet. He leaned against the stair railing, waiting, and motioned towards the couches, “Alright then, pick a hyung.” 

Immediately, Jungkook whined, “All.” 

Now that, for Jungkook's first time in months, was too much and they all knew it. Just the smell of so many turned on alphas in a closed room would be too much for him. Having even three alphas was difficult, because they would all fight over Jungkook. 

So, of course, despite his own needs, Seokjin requested, softly, “My love, we all would love to spoil you, pup. But right now that's a bit too much. You know it is too. Just one more alpha. We can work on seeing how many scents you can handle at once.”

That sounded wrong. Dirty. Like Seokjin expected Jungkook to eventually take all of them at once, but Jungkook was their omega. It would be hard to keep them all away from him when Jungkook had a heat. They'd all come after him eventually, either to make sure he was okay, or to knot him.

Plus, it was a good idea to start entertaining the idea that Jungkook should get used to having sex with them… there were six alphas. Ones that absolutely adored the little minx. And there were six ruts to be had eventually.

So, yes, it did sound like he was just a horny alpha, but Seokjin cared about Jungkook. And he cared about making sure he was safe at all times and comfortable. 

Still, Jungkook pouted seeing as he wasn't used to not having his way immediately. The omega tugged at the end of his shirt and even stomped his foot a bit and the puppy eyes he sent almost made Seokjin say okay and agree they could all go with him.

He didn't, though. Not when the cost was the chance of Jungkook getting overwhelmed. 

The omega ended up chewing on his bottom lip and approaching the living room, rather quietly, but his eyes were down and he didn't survey the alphas. Likely because he already had an idea of who in mind.

“Alpha…” Jungkook rubbed his feet together, “Have sex with me?” 

Jimin smirked as he watched the alphas’ reactions, chiding, just to be a brat, “Baby. What did we say about being spoiled? Ask nicely for things.” 

Jungkook immediately looked up at Seokjin, stepping closer to place hands on the alpha’s knees, standing between them, “Alpha, will you have sex with me, please?” 

Seokjin swallowed, hard. Especially after just scolding the omega, he hasn't been expecting that. 

Beside Seokjin, Yoongi whistled, adjusting himself to sink into the couch, “Hyung. Get your ass up and make our baby feel good. Or I will.” 

“Baby. Kookie,” Seokjin chuckled under his breath, brushing a hand over Jungkook's, sweeping in to brush the omega’s hair from his forehead. “Alpha will have sex with you, or make love to you, or fuck you - whatever you want.” 

“Shit, hyung…” Namjoon hissed, adjusting himself opposite them.

Seokjin didn't curse all that much. Never when he spoke to Jungkook, so that alone made the omega give off a very strong wave of slickness and immediately, as soon as the scent hit his nose, Seokjin was picking him up.

Jungkook released a whimper and leaned in to collect the alpha's lips immediately, whining on his mouth and pressing himself tight against Seokjin. Stuttering and muffling on his lips, “A-Alpha.” 

To be called that, alpha, in general by an omega, felt good, but it felt twice as amazing when it was Jungkook, so to hear it stuttered out in a moan just from a kiss was, well…

Seokjin was practically speed walking towards the stairs, hands crawling up Jungkook's shirt and tongue brushing the omega’s. 

Jimin and Taehyung were walking ahead, but looked a mix of amused and mesmerized by the pair kissing. 

“Hyung,” Taehyung called, wetting his lips and eyeing the dark patch on the back of Jungkook's pants, “Plenty of time for that when we get our omega out of those wet clothes. He gets really wet, you're going to go insane.” 

Seokjin already felt half crazed and it was definitely Jungkook's fault. 

Chapter Text

Yoongi loved Jungkook, he did, but having the omega around brought a lot of sexual tension. A feeling that hadn't really been an issue before.

Sure, they were alphas, and they had a lot of hormones, but they typically burst with hormones in the form of angry arguments more so than by pinning each other down for sex. 

They had sex, of course, but they tried to be rather careful about it, and only when they were calm, because two alphas having sex was much different to being with a beta or omega.

Betas and omegas submitted naturally, without any argument, without it needing to be discussed, but alphas had this inherent need to fight for their right to top one another.

Which, usually, always came down to whomever was weaker, which was typically Yoongi.

The alpha didn't dislike it, not really, but it was hard to push down his instincts, even more so with Jungkook in the house. Even more so when the couch smelled just like the omega, the omega he should be pinning down to the couch, the omega who moaned so loudly that they had to leave the house when Seokjin had a hold of him.

That had been two days ago, and the sound still lingered, and it didn't help that the eldest absolutely refused to stop talking about Jungkook and how sweet he tasted and how prettily he mewled into—

“Fuck. Hyung.” 

Namjoon hissed and shifted to pull away from their kiss, hand cupping his lip. Yoongi immediately whispered an apology and sat up from where he had been pinned on the cushions. 

Yoongi’s eyes went big, the elder instantly shifted to cup Namjoon's jaw, “Fuck. I bit you. I'm sorry.” 

Namjoon licked over the tender spot. It wasn't bleeding, but there was a small swell where he'd been nipped. The alpha sighed, eyeing Yoongi’s bare chest down to his opened jeans. “Maybe we should just calm down. It's late anyway.” 

It was late. It was past midnight at this point. There was a movie playing on the television and the lights were off. It had been hours since the others went upstairs to go to bed, but he and Namjoon stayed up to talk for longer.

One thing led to another and the mention of heat was discussed and fuck—

Maybe it was wrong of them to get so worked up just at the thought of Jungkook having a heat, but that was their imprint and taking care of Jungkook was basically what they lived for. A heat was just an opportunity to show the omega how good of alphas they were.

“No, Joon…” Yoongi wet his lips, shifting to climb on Namjoon's lap, “I'm sorry. Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, it's just…” 

“Jungkook.” 

“Yes,” The alpha continued, sighing, but Namjoon hissed a noise and shifted Yoongi to look behind him, “No. I mean Jungkook.” 

The omega was standing on the staircase, frozen, eyes big. He was in a big shirt and boxers, hair mussed up and blanket in hand. 

“Baby boy,” Namjoon called, wetting his lips as Yoongi climbed off his lap, the alpha quickly shifted to stand up, approaching the stairs, “What are you doing up, beautiful?” 

The omega blinked. Once, then twice, before taking a few more steps down to throw himself at Namjoon's chest, blanket dragging on the floor as he wrapped around the alpha, “Hyungs weren't in bed.” 

“Did you go looking for us?” Yoongi asked, frowning, “Weren't you sleeping with hyung?” 

Jungkook shook his head, rubbing his eyes as Namjoon shifted to settle down on the couch, stepping over the pile of blankets Jungkook had laid down inside earlier to watch the movie. 

Yoongi hummed an understanding noise and scooted closer, leaning on Namjoon's arm to pet Jungkook's cheek and leaned in to kiss the omega's temple, whispering, “Well, we're here now. You can sleep, pretty omega.” 

The omega didn't look tired though. He eyed them both for a moment before dropping his blanket and sitting back on Namjoon's thighs, pressing a hand against the alpha’s bare chest. Jungkook bit his lip and blinked rather innocently between them, “What were hyungs doing?” 

Namjoon chuckled and brushed down Jungkook’s hair, “Just loving on each other, angel.” 

Jungkook wet his lips and eyed the marks on Namjoon's neck before reaching out for Yoongi, running fingers over a few purple marks on his collarbone, bringing goosebumps up on the alpha's skin, “How come you bit each other? Tae and Chim don't bite each other.” 

“It's… complicated,” Yoongi said after a moment of silence, taking Jungkook's fingers and pressing a kiss against the digits, “It's an instinct thing, we are alphas, puppy. It is hard, sometimes, to be gentle with each other. Even if we love each other, it is a struggle.” 

“But…” Jungkook tilted his head to the side, “Hyungs are very gentle with me.” 

Yoongi and Namjoon but chuckled at that. Jungoook had some qualities to him that were so, incredibly, innocent that it was hard to believe they were given such a sweet little omega to watch over considering they weren't nearly as gentle as Jungkook thought they were.

It was only for Jungkook that they were so soft and gentle, because that was the way they should be. 

“Yes, well,” Namjoon smiled, “You're our imprint, you should only ever know gentleness from us.” 

“But… maybe hyungs can show me other things sometimes?” 

It took a moment to digest what he'd said, but Jungkook wasn't even looking at either of their faces by the time they realized what he meant. The omega was looking down at Namjoon's undone jeans. At the dark patch on the alpha’s underwear and his cock that was outlined clearly through the material.

Jungkook bit his lip and kept hands to himself, fingers weaving into the end of his own shirt as he added, softly, “I think hyungs look very handsome together.” 

“You…” Yoongi laughed, incredulously, eyebrows pulled together, “You want us to show you…” 

“Just a little,” Jungkook mumbled, cheeks going pink, holding up a teeny space between his fingers as if for an example, “Hyungs are more experienced… I want to see.” 

Their imprint was asking them to engage in sexual activities in front of him. It was confirmed. Jungkook had to be the best omega in the world. The best imprint ever, because most omegas would not at all be as invested in the relationships between their alphas or betas. 

Jungkook shifted to climb off of Namjoon's lap and Yoongi immediately launched at the younger alpha to capture his lips; if Jungkook wanted a show, then they'd give him an amazing one. 

Namjoon made a rough noise and gathered Yoongi’s hips, tugging the elder down into his lap and immediately hissing a sound when Yoongi curled a hand into his hair, muffling his growl with his mouth.

There was no opposing continuing when both of them were still incredibly hard and horny and now the room smelled so fucking strongly of Jungkook and the omega was watching, wanted to see how good his alphas could be—

Yoongi moaned against Namjoon's mouth when the other cupped his erection, kissing down Namjoon's jaw to his neck, sucking hard at the younger’s scent gland, leading Namjoon to groan and jerk his hips against Yoongi’s, rutting up against him.

“Shit. Hyung,” Namjoon whispered, gathering Yoongi’s hair from his face, other hand curling around the front of his pants, “You're so hard. You like this that much? Or is it because Jungkook is here.” 

He did. Of course Yoongi liked this. Impressing Jungkook had become a big goal of the day, but this wasn't even about impressing him now. Now it was becoming a competition, and Yoongi was certainly not going to let Namjoon dominate him in front of their omega.

Namjoon growled, deep and cutting, when Yoongi grabbed his wrist and pinned it against the couch, the elder chuckled against his throat and used his weight to hold Namjoon down as he nipped at his pulse until the younger began to breathe harshly, struggling for friction against his aching cock.

Then, right when Yoongi was ready to let up on him, the couch shifted.

Jungkook whimpered, just a single noise, and leaned into the space where their chests met, the omega squirmed, “Me too. Me too.” 

“Yes. Yes. Come here, beautiful.” 

As soon as Jungkook was squeezing between their bodies, everything felt much smoother. They calmed down, worked together, and could breathe much easier. 

Yoongi kissed down the omega’s nape, while Namjoon collected Jungkook's lips in a series of wet, deep kisses. “Always space for our baby. Always, sunshine.” 

Jungkook was much more sensitive to their touch and they were much more sensitive to his than each other’s, perhaps because it was an unfamiliar hand and scent, or because this was their omega.

Their mate.

“There we go,” Yoongi whispered, slipping a hand beneath Jungkook's shirt, smiling when the omega squeaked a few teeny noises against Namjoon's lips, he took the omega’s hand, pressed it against Namjoon’s erection, “Feel your alphas. Nice, right?” 

“Big.” Jungkook moaned when he pulled back from Namjoon's kiss, fingers massaging over the alpha’s cock, leaning back into Yoongi’s chest and nodding, sucking on his bottom lip. 

“Big?” Namjoon grinned, holding Jungkook's boxer clad hips as Yoongi peeled off the omega's shirt, eyes wandering down Jungkook's chest. “Don't worry, baby. Alphas won't knot you. Not until you have a heat.” 

Jungkook squirmed at the mention of a heat, arms looping around Namjoon's neck, breath coming out in a small whimper, “Can we… here? Would hyungs be mad?” 

Maybe, but that wasn't Jungkook's problem to worry about. Plus, Seokjin had been bragging way too much, so making the living room smell of sex was something the eldest would just have to deal with.

“Never at you,” Yoongi said honestly, kissing below Jungkook's ear, then neck, wrapping an arm around Jungkook's waist to tug the omega down into the blankets on the floor.

Jungkook giggled. He laughed with cheeks meeting his eyes and a redness down his chest. Entirely too adorable given the situation. 

Yoongi sighed, fondly, and kissed down his chest. Over his stomach and nipping just enough at Jungkook’s hip for the omega to squeak and whine when his boxers were slipped off, “Hyungs too.” 

“Hyungs too. Hyungs too,” Namjoon teased softly, ridding himself of his jeans and underwear, shifting to take Yoongi’s spot between Jungkook's legs, stroking his inner thighs, “You care much more for us than yourself tonight, hm? Making alphas all riled up.” 

“Always care for alphas,” Jungkook smiled, shifting on his elbow to reach out for Yoongi’s fingers, “I like my alphas.” 

“Oh baby,” Namjoon clicked his tongue, shaking his head fondly and kissing Jungkook’s knee, then down his thigh, “We like you so much more.” 

Jungkook’s breath caught, but before the omega had much to say about the warmth of Namjoon's mouth growing closer to the source of the slick beginning to grow sticky on the blankets, Yoongi knelt down beside him and pet his bangs.

“Jung-”

“Alpha,” Jungkook didn't even look at his face, stared at his cock and wet his lips, biting his lip as he glanced at Yoongi for permission.

The alpha practically growled, shifting to straddle Jungkook's shoulders, fingers combing through his hair, “Maybe you are a little sex fiend.” 

Jungkook moaning around his cock was certainly a feeling Yoongi could grow used to. 

Chapter Text

“He has hyung fooled, doesn't he?” 

Namjoon laughed, throwing his arm around Taehyung's waist, “Of course he does. Jungkook is good at being innocent, that little minx.” 

Taehyung snickered, nose scrunching up as he took another bite of his pretzel, offering Namjoon a bite, too, but the elder brushed it off by kissing the younger alpha’s temple and steering him behind the others.

It had been Jimin's idea, originally, to go shopping. They needed to get Jungkook some materials for his nest, but Jimin seemed to be taking this as a shopping spree for himself, too. Which surprised them all a tad, but the alpha settling in enough to buy things was nice.

Good. They deserved anything they wanted. 

Jungkook didn't seem to like much of anything today though. Anytime they pulled blankets or toys out and asked if they'd be good for his nest, then omega rubbed them on his cheek then stuck his tongue out. He was being a very picky omega today.

And a very sneaky little omega lately.

Hoseok found him very cute, because lately Jungkook was a bundle of kisses and demands, which was cute, but it was definitely not very innocent of him to do and say some of the things the pup had been up to lately. 

This morning, he'd asked Seokjin to get him his medicine because he'd been too sleepy to get it himself and promised he would take care of alpha, if he grabbed it. Or, how when cuddling up to Taehyung in the car Jungkook had cupped the alpha’s cock and nipped at him all with an innocent little smile. 

Hoseok thought Jungkook was an innocent little thing, didn't truly know the little minx that he could be, so when Jimin had tried calling him out for being a tease, Jungkook whimpered and hid in Hoseok's shoulder leading the alpha go scold Jimin for misunderstanding Jungkook's affection.

Everyone else knew the omega was clearly doing all of it because he found it fun to rile them up, and because he enjoyed being the center of attention, but when Jungkook realized Hoseok would be his shield he'd stuck to the alpha like glue while still being a tease.

Jungkook was innocent, most of the time, but not today. The omega had no idea that he could rile them up with just a smile, but it was best he didn't learn that. He'd only take advantage of it. 

“Toys!”

The group quickly found themselves trailing after their omega, entering the toy store and watching him go running off to a huge basket of stuffed toys. 

“I want to look at the clothes,” Jimin complained, earning a snicker from Seokjin and a pinch to his ear as the eldest walked by and scolded, “Baby. Kookie needs to build a nest.” 

“Isn't it just blankets?” 

Technically. It was an area where an omega would lay and store all of their scents, it was very important for a heat to have an area just to comfort Jungkook. An area that was comforting enough to serve as a bed all on it's own. 

It was anything soft. Anything that could absorb their scents. Anything Jungkook deemed good enough material to lay on. 

It was up to Jungkook to decide what was and wasn't nesting material. And seeing as they were halfway through his heat medication, he would get a heat any day now. 

“Jungkook's-” Taehyung abruptly gasped and moved to pull out of Namjoon's hold to grab Seokjin's wrist before the eldest caught Jungkook's attention, “Shit. It's Kookie’s birthday soon.” 

“Are you kidding?”

“Seriously?” 

“It is soon…” Jimin cursed and ran a hand over his hair, “Next Tuesday. We have to do something big-”

“Maybe the park-”

“I don't like big stuff.” 

All of them turned to look at the omega. Jungkook wasn't looking at them as he rubbed one of the toys on his cheek. He scrunched up his nose and quickly put the toy back before grabbing an armful of one's from a different basket, approaching with only his eyes appearing over the stuffed animals. 

“I like these, can I have them?” 

Immediately, Yoongi put his arms out for the toys, leading Jungkook to pass them over before the omega smiled big and bounced on his toes, claiming, “I'm gonna have the most softest nest. Alphas are gonna be so jealous. You're gonna come over begging Kookie can I please come in? It's gonna be so nice.” 

They didn't doubt that at all; even if it were the hardest next imaginable they'd likely do that same exact thing purely because Jungkook was there. If Jungkook were there, then they would want to be too.

“Of course it will be,” Seokjin mused, cupping his head to kiss his cheek, “It is our omegas’ so it will be perfect, like you.” 

Jungkook grinned, that wide smile grin where his eyes wrinkled up, then shifted to jump at Jimin and hug the alpha tightly, purely due to happiness.

“Okay. Since you love eavesdropping,” Taehyung snorted, “Tell us what you want for your birthday.” 

“Wanna cuddle.” 

“Done.” 

“And movies.” 

“We always do that.” Namjoon furrowed his eyebrows and chuckled, “Don't you want something special? Anything at all, baby.” 

Jungkook scrunched up his nose in thought then the omega released a small gasp and pushed Jimin aside to bounce off towards a display of giant stuffed animals. He didn't reply for a long few minutes as he felt the toys, then he picked a giant jellyfish and asked, “Do you think we can put this in the living room?” 

A mix of amused laughs began, with Yoongi shoving the toys into the small cart he'd found and then moving to yank the toy from the omega. He put that inside the basket too before tugging Jungkook closer by his jeans and clicking his tongue. 

“Kookie, baby doll,” Yoongi sighed, fondly, holding his waist, “We love you and your antics, but we'd love it if you told us what you wanted for your birthday so we can prepare it.” 

Jungkook, of course, only heard what he wanted to hear and leaned in to smack a kiss onto Yoongi’s mouth, twisting out of his arms and go skipping towards the register with this rather adorable and dramatic hum of, “Alphas love me~”

The omega knew they did. Jungkook was not an idiot, he knew very well what the alphas spoke about. And ninety percent of the time it was him.

“You little rascal-”

Jungkook squealed a happy sound when Hoseok wrapped arms around his waist and tugged him back into his chest, the omega went weak with giggles and twisted in his grip to hug the alpha back.

Hoseok nipped at his ear, earning a forced whine from the omega as Jungkook relaxed into his hug. 

Pouting his lips, Jungkook whined, “Alphas are mean.” 

“Alphas just want to get this little spoiled omega of ours to talk,” Seokjin laughed, leaning into Hoseok's back to kiss his pout, brushing fingers through Jungkook's bangs to brush them back. “We just want to make your birthday very special.” 

“But alphas already make me feel special.” 

As if the words weren't enough to make everyone  feel faint, Jungkook paired the comment with a genuinely confused expression and pet Seokjin's cheek, “So I just want it to be like any other day, where everyone loves each other and we cuddle and we play games. And everyone is special.” 

“But… Jungkook,” Jimin tried, “It's your birthday-”

Jungkook scrunched up his nose and pulled back, cupping Hoseok's face and preening against the alpha’s nose, “Can we go to the restaurant now? Alphas promised we would go on a date after.” 

They did promise that. They'd agreed to do just about anything the omega asked, with no questions asked. 

“Of course, puppy,” Hoseok replied, gathering his cheek for a kiss and smoothing down his locks, “Go pick one more toy and we'll start checking out.”

The omega agreed with a giggly smile and a nuzzle into his nose before bouncing back to the giant stuffed animal display and looking much too serious as he considered his choices. 

“That little omega, I swear.” Yoongi shook his head and began to push the cart towards the self checkout.

“Kookie is just a pup,” Jimin laughed and tossed himself at Yoongi’s spine, wrapping around him, “He likes being mysterious.” 

It wasn't even that Jungkook was mysterious, not really, the omega was pretty easy to read. It was more so that the pup liked to tease everyone. And found everything amusing. He was a very happy omega and that was exactly how they wanted him, even if it was at the cost of their own sanity at times.

“Okay, puppy,” Hoseok snickered and moved to help Jungkook unbury a big turtle stuffed animal, “Let's go get you fed.” 

Jungkook smiled. Looking up at him with sparkly eyes before the omega suddenly gasped and leaned closer, “Alpha! I know what I want for my birthday.” 

“Yes, angel?” 

“Alpha.” Jungkook giggled and scrunched up his nose, “I want alpha.” 

Hoseok seemed to find him incredibly cute from the way he pinched Jungkook's cheek and nudged his nose against the omega’s, musing, “Of course. Alpha will be with you all day, beautiful.” 

Jungkook looked vaguely like he was holding in giggles as he carried his toy towards the self checkout, tossing it at Yoongi and earning a few pinches to his stomach for being so cute. 

Namjoon, Seokjin, and Taehyung, however, look incredibly entertained when Hoseok turned around to look at them. The alpha immediately narrowing the trio with raised eyebrows and a rather suspicious, “What?” 

“He meant sex.” Taehyung chuckled like he found Hoseok hilarious, tossing himself at the elder and folding himself up into his arms, “Hyung, he meant he wanted to have sex.” 

Hoseok looked confused. His ears turned red and Seokjin and Namjoon laughed when he spluttered for an excuse and finally got out, “What? Kookie? No. He's just a pup. He doesn't mean…” 

Seokjin raised eyebrows at him, “He's just a puppy, hm? Said puppy has been playing touch and run all day. He's stringing you on.” 

A moment past where the trio laughed at Hoseok's thinking expression before the alpha turned to look at Jungkook. The omega was now looking at them, clutching his new jellyfish stuffed animal, eyes rounded and smile beaming. 

“Jungkookie,” Seokjin chuckled, “When were you going to tell Hobi you were just being sneaky, hm? You little monster.” 

The omega whined and squeezed his jellyfish under his chin, accusing, “Mean! I was gonna tell him… maybe… later! Alpha ruined it!” 

Even with his squeaking anger Jungkook looked rather cute and amused, so Taehyung merely walked over to tug the omega under his arm while Jungkook continued on his playfully angry rant of, “Alphas are so mean… so mean. Can't even let me play… Ah, my life is so hard…” 

“Yes, it's very hard, Kookie,” Yoongi agreed, hauling his bags behind him, “Now make the very hard choice of pasta or pizza, then you can sulk about your very mean alphas with a full stomach.” 

“... pizza.” Jungkook paused, pointing a finger angrily, “And I want extra cheese!” 

Taehyung snorted and kissed his temple, “Ah, yes. Extra cheese makes up for all of the meanness, huh? Cheese heals all.” 

Chapter Text

Jungkook was hoarding food. 

It wasn't something they'd expected Jungkook to be doing, because he'd never gone a day without eating. Taehyung and Jimin had made sure of that, but that didn't necessarily mean the omega hadn't been hungry.

Anyone could tell that Jungkook had been a hungry omega, because despite appearing decent when they'd first met -- now the omega was absolutely healthy. His cheeks were all round and his body had filled out nicely, properly, like the healthy omega he should be. Seeing him now, like this, it was clear that Jungkook had been much more hungry in the past than they'd thought. 

Well, that and the fact that the omega had rotted fruit hidden in a Tupperware in his nest and  numerous snacks. Granola bars. Candy. Anything he'd gotten his paws on really.

They didn't notice before; they had no idea how long it had been going on.

Jungkook's nest wasn't exactly a place they ventured into without asking. The omega went in there a lot, but when he was there they typically left him to his devices because they knew it must be nice to have some omega time by himself.

Something had begun to stink, though, which was why Hoseok had stepped inside and found the omega curled up on the blankets with his tablet on the covers and lip between his teeth. 

His nest was in a big walk in closet in the living room, they'd asked if Jungkook wanted to remove the door to feel more comfortable, but the omega had hung up a bunch of glow in the dark star stickers and argued they wouldn't work if they took it off; Jungkook always got his way even though he hardly ever shut the door.

“Here for kisses?” 

“I am here for that,” Hoseok said, kneeling down to pull out the red Tupperware peeking out of the corner of the blankets. He scrunched up his nose. “And for this. Baby. What are you doing with old apples?” 

“Saving it.” 

The alpha blinked at Jungkook, the omega continued watching his show, not moving a muscle as he picked distractedly at his blankets. “For what? Yourself?”

“In case my alphas got hungry and we got no more food.” 

Oh. Oh—

“Baby,” Hoseok sighed, reaching over to lock the tablet in order to get Jungkook's attention. The omega did immediately look at him, pouting, but Jungkook was such a sweetheart he didn't ask right away or complain. 

It took the alpha a second of looking at Jungkook before forming an idea. He reached over for Jungkook's cheek, pet his thumb over the corner of his mouth before smiling, “Let's go see if they want it then, hm?” 

“Okay, alpha.” 

Jungkook giggled to himself and climbed out of the bedding, tossing himself into Hoseok's side and accepting the Tupperware. Utterly sweet.

The thing was that if Jungkook's instincts said he needed to prepare for the worst, there was nobody to convince him not to, he had to see for himself that everything was fine and he could calm down. No words were going to fix it.

“Sweet omega,” Hoseok mused, wrapping an arm around Jungkook and kissing his temple as they left the nesting room. 

“Are we gonna have a movie night later?”

“Of course, baby. We do every night.” 

“Not when we want to have sex.” 

Hoseok burst into laughter and kissed Jungkook's head in a handful of times, until the omega was giggling and rubbing his cheek against his shoulder. Scenting him ever so discreetly. 

The truth was Jungkook was possessive. Very much so. Sometimes he'd even get jealous when the alphas were loving on each other and not enough on him, but that was such a cute and ridiculous thing seeing as quite literally every single one of them revolved around him. 

Jungkook was their imprint, so overall their world did revolve around him. If he called for one of them, they stopped whatever they were doing to run to him. That was how it worked. His wellbeing and happiness was the most important, it was the one commonality between all of the alphas and, well, they were just lucky Jungkook allowed them to love each other too.

Entering the family room, the entire room was filled with the sound of Seokjin's contagious laughter. Taehyung was on his lap, muttering something to him on the couch with a huge grin. On the second couch, Jimin, Namjoon, and Yoongi were squeezed together. Doing their own things, being on their tablets or reading, but sitting together. 

“Go,” Hoseok whispered, sounding a bit sorry to have to ruin the calmness, “Give it to your alpha, baby.” 

“Jiminie!” 

Hoseok wasn't at all upset that Jungkook's correlation when told such a general thing as your alpha usually involved either Jimin or Taehyung. That was just the way things were -- Jungkook would always be their pup. Would always be the most familiar to him. It was something they just had to come to terms with.

Jimin immediately scooted to the edge of the couch, removing his hand from Namjoon's thigh to open both arms and coo, “Bunny! Are you done having alone time? Came to spend time with alphas?” 

Jungkook was beaming when he held the Tupperware in both hands, bouncing on his toes. His big clothes were hanging off of him cutely as he jumped in front of Jimin and crooned, “Alpha. I saved you food in case you got hungry.” 

Everyone looked at Jungkook, they always did when he entered the room. 

“Sweet babe,” Yoongi laughed, reaching out to pinch Jungkook's side softly. Jungkook squeaked, playfully swatted his hands away. 

By then, Jimin had accepted the Tupperware and realized what it was. His nose scrunched up and he quickly looked at Jungkook for an explanation while he placed it on the side table. “Why are you giving me a rotten apple?”

Jungkook's eyes went big. He shook his head back and forth and pouted. “It's not- it's… it's just…” His face fell, “It's three days old… I shouldn't have cut it beforehand.. I just…” 

“And it was a very sweet thought,” Hoseok cut the silence, wrapping arms around Jungkook's waist and kissing his shoulder. He rubbed the curve of his hip and said, loudly, “It's a very sweet thought, just like the granola bars and candy in your nest, but we should talk.” 

“We need to talk,” Jimin turned his head and met Taehyung's eyes. Sharing a worried look.

The other alpha was tense. His jaw clenched. He was slipping off of Seokjin's lap immediately. Taehyung sounded upset when he said, “Okay. Come here, Kook-”

“Together.” 

Seokjin did sound a tad frustrated, but not at anyone specifically, more so because they were still new to this. New to dealing with things as a whole. Sometimes Jimin and Taehyung didn't really give them a chance. 

Like when Jungkook had a nightmare last week, they'd practically forced everyone back to deal with it. It was unintentional, so they couldn't be too mad about it, but they could try to change things.

Dragging over an ottoman, Seokjin worried, “Take a seat, baby. We're going to have a talk.” 

“I…” Jungkook sniffled. His chin began to wobble like he was near tears. He flopped hands out as he plopped down, worrying. “Hyung- Hyungs gotta hold my hands.” 

“Oh, Kookie…” Quickly, Jungkook was being lifted up just enough so Namjoon could slip under him. “Nobody is upset with you. We just want you to know you don't ever need to hide food.” 

Jungkook nodded as though he understood, but his lip was shaking and he was wringing his hands together. 

“Puppy. Baby,” Taehyung began, glancing at Seokjin for a second before whispering, “Hyung. We can do it together, but you have to keep things the same. Kookie doesn't like change.” And then he was taking a seat on the floor between Jungkook's feet, reaching up to grab Jungkook's hands and petting his fingers. 

The omega seemed to grow less anxious. Still shaky and nervous, but he fully looked at Taehyung. Actually listening.

“Alphas aren't upset or angry, baby. Do you understand?” Taehyung asked carefully, looking up at the omega. “Why are you upset, baby omega?” 

“Cause… because,” Jungkook rushed out, all breathy, like in a hurry. He sniffled, “Alphas are acting like I'm in trouble-”

“Jungkook-”

“Let him finish,” Jimin wrapped an arm around Yoongi’s, tugging him back before he could interrupt. “That's how it works. Share your perspectives, then we can discuss things. Otherwise, you've seen how he acts when upset.” 

They knew the duo meant well, so they listened. Jungkook sniffled and tightened fingers around Taehyung's while Namjoon rubbed over the flat of his chest. 

“I- I just thought I was being helpful. Now… Now I think I'm in trouble and I feel like alphas are upset with me,” Jungkook sucked his lip into his mouth and gave a very firm nod. Sinking back into Namjoon. 

“Okay.” Placatingly, Seokjin approached. 

He placed hands on Taehyung's shoulders and knelt down behind him, looking only at Jungkook, “We understand that you feel attacked. Alphas are upset, but not because you were bad in any way. We are upset because we're worried about you keeping food inside of your nest. We want you to know that there will always be food inside of the cabinets for everyone. I know it will take time for you to truly understand, but that is the truth, baby omega.” 

Jungkook rubbed his hands over his knees, growing anxious. He clearly didn't believe that, but they didn't expect him to. Not right away. 

“Remember,” Namjoon began, pressing his chin into Jungkook's shoulder, “When you were showering three times a day and alphas got worried and asked you to stop when your skin was all dry and painful?” 

With a nod, the omega was raising his eyebrows interestedly and mumbling, “It hurt… alphas made me put a lot of lotion on.” 

The air was still for a moment, only because at the time Jungkook hadn't admitted it was painful, they'd assumed so because upon noticing the dry patches popping up on the omega, he'd begun to pick at them. Just hearing Jungkook admit to being in pain -- either now or in the past -- was painful in itself.

Continuing with a sigh, Namjoon said. “Yes. Baby. Like that. We just worry about you, and we know you know better than to keep rotting food in your nest.” 

“I…. I didn't know it was rotting… I forgot about it,” Jungkook mumbled, looked embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck. At least he wasn't in tears. That was what they cared about mostly. 

“It's okay, angel. It's okay.” Cooing, Yoongi was shifting to stand up, offering fingers to the omega, “How about we make a small Tupperware of snacks you can keep in there? Snacks that won't go bad. As long as you feel safe, that's all alphas care about, so if you really want to have food in there, we can figure it out.” 

Jungkook stared up at him for a moment, nose scrunching in thought. The omega nibbled on his bottom lip and then reached over to touch Yoongi’s bottoms, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he tilted his head prettily to the side, showing off the side of his neck. 

Immediately, everyone was laughing. 

“He's forgotten about food already,” Seokjin chuckled, “What is it, pretty? Alphas will do anything for you.” 

Beaming, Jungkook burst with breathy laughs and requested, “Can we walk to the park? I want to see the snow. Pretty please? I'll give a hundred kisses!” 

“Make it a hundred and one and you have a deal,” Jimin chided as he got up from the couch. 

“I'll give you a thousand! But a thousand and one might cost a lot!” 

“That's a deal, baby omega. Go get your gloves and coat.” 

They could definitely discuss that snack box later; whatever Jungkook wanted, he got.

Chapter Text

“Ten bucks.” 

“Shit.” 

Jimin wiped his nose with the back of his hand and pursed his lips. The alpha continued to sort through coins inside of the old, discarded plastic takeout cup. “Ten bucks and some change.” 

Taehyung cursed, again, and Jimin looked up at him from his spot sitting on a pile of cardboard and dirty, torn clothing. The other was leaning against the wall, there was a small scratch on his cheek and he was itching at where his hair had begun to touch his nape. It had grown out the past month. 

Taehyung used to get haircuts every few weeks, it appeared he was uncomfortable with the way his locks had begun to grow out, but that could have been from the greasiness of it, or from the dirt on him. 

It had only been a month, yet they were already low on cash. They were already hungry. They were already hurting. Taehyung hadn't smiled in quite a while and he used to smile all the time. A boxy, bright beam.

“Hey,” Suddenly, Taehyung was kneeling down. “Don't look at me like that. Like you're having bad ideas again. That's what got you that,” He reached over and soothed a finger over the bruised skin of Jimin's nose. “We're not stealing again, babe.” 

Jimin wet his lips, “I wasn't thinking about stealing.” 

Taehyung's face grew even more dull. The alpha stared into him like he was trying to find something to say, but he knew what Jimin was thinking. He'd suggested it multiple times. Favors for favors. Just once. Just for some money.

“Get up, let's move, Tae,” Jimin sighed and tossed his cup of change into the backpack near him, yanking a blanket off of the pile and shoving it in, too. “I'm getting tired of all the chatter. We can find somewhere quieter.” 

Truthfully, they just liked to move around every once in a while. It didn't help that they'd been getting quite a few late night visitors as of late. 

Taehyung didn't speak, but he did wrap an arm around Jimin's shoulders as they began walking away from behind the park bathrooms where they'd been hauled up for a few nights. 

Parks were usually rather quiet and calm during the night, but during the day they got loud. It was growing rather annoying. 

“Ten bucks,” Jimin wet his lips and looked down at the cash, “That is enough for-”

“Shit. Look out!” 

Jimin cursed when something hard ran into them. Right into them. They nearly fell down purely due to momentum, but the weight pummeling into them wasn't that heavy. Jimin began to growl. That protectiveness and temper of his bubbling to the surface. 

The sound never left his throat. 

Taehyung's arm around his shoulder went lax. Completely slipping off. Jimin opened his mouth, but not a sound came out, although he wasn't sure if he'd even tried to speak. 

The world was spinning, yet staying still. Their muscles were tight, yet relaxed. Hearts racing, yet calm. It was growing dark out, yet suddenly felt like the sun was burning down on them. Blinding them.

The omega that had barreled into them was blinding. He wore a big black hoodie and had on matching sweatpants. They were all torn. His shoes appeared to have once been white, but were now brown and green. He had a thick head of messy chocolate hair and was breathing hard.

The most blinding thing, however, were those huge doe eyes. They were filled with fear and lined with purple and green bruises. His lips were nearly white. The poor omega -- their poor imprint—

As soon as the realization occurred, the realization that their world was flipped upside down in an instant, the omega’s knees went out and he nearly collapsed.

“Oh, god. Oh my god.” 

Both of the alphas jumped out at him, grabbed onto the omega and began to pull him gently off towards the grass. The poor thing was all skin and bones under their palms, even worse than themselves.

And he smelled of vanilla and milk and sweat and blood—

The growl that made it's way out of Jimin's chest wasn't restrained this time. They helped the omega to sit down and he immediately threw the backpack down to dig inside.

“Hold on, sweetheart,” Taehyung assured, pupils blown as he held the omega’s shoulders and watched big, bruised eyes struggle to stay open. “Alphas can help, little omega. Just breathe. Keep breathing, baby.” 

The sound that left the omega’s throat was a whimper, but it made panic settle in and had Jimin dumping out the entire backpack just for a water bottle with barely a sip left and a half eaten granola bar. 

Jimin's hands were shaking when he shoved the bottle towards the omega’s lips and shushed, “Drink, puppy. Drink. You're going to be fine.” 

They had no idea if this omega was aware of their imprint, or if he had no other choice but to trust them, but he curled a hand around Jimin's wrist and gulped down the water and somehow, that contact, brushed some of the panic away. 

And all of the panic slowly began to retreat when the omega stopped breathing so hard and his shoulders relaxed and he was finally opening his eyes without struggling to keep them open. 

“Very good. Keep breathing. Just keep breathing, sweet omega.” Taehyung shushed, shifting to wrap an arm around the omega’s waist and holding him up much easier once he slipped behind him. “Chim. He's hungry.” 

Jimin quickly dropped the bottle and removed the wrapper from the granola bar before handing it to the omega. He went back to staring as he cleaned up all of the items he'd dumped out of his bag.

“I'm Taehyung, this is Jimin.” 

Jimin didn't look at Taehyung as he spoke. He watched the omega use both hands to slowly eat the tiny snack, taking his time. His actions were groggy and slow. 

“You're lucky we ran into you and not some creeps,” Taehyung said, voice sounding a little nervous, “You know, with the imprint and all…” 

It was quiet as the omega finished the snack. His eyes flickered up at Jimin and immediately the omega winced and reached up to rub his bruised eyes rather hazardously. Which only made him whine more—

“Alright. Okay,” Jimin wet his lips and his actions were a tad jerky, uncontrolled, when he reached over to tug the omega’s hand away from his eye to smooth his thumb gently beneath the bruised area. “Let's not make things worse. Okay? It's already bad enough as is. God, it looks…” 

He pursed his lips and decided not to comment on how painful those bruises looked. 

The omega giggled. It was quiet and tired. 

It was the only sound they could focus on.

“I-I,” The omega corrected, “Ran into you.” 

And he smiled, like he hadn't been about to pass out, like he hadn't been running for his life, like the pup didn't have two bruised eyes and looked like he'd be swept away in strong wind. 

“You're right.” Taehyung whispered, “You're pretty fast, aren't you?” 

In response, the omega was looking down at his hoodie pocket and digging inside. He pulled out a pouch style wallet, his eyes looked a little guilty as he raised it towards Jimin and said, “Gotta be fast.” 

Oh. Oh -- that made more sense. Maybe they weren't too different. They were all dirty, bruised, hungry, and tired. 

“My name is Jungkook,” The omega said. He looked more hesitant as he smacked his lips together, then whispered, “I'm hungry.” 

“You're hungry. Okay, baby. You're hungry,” Jimin repeated under his breath as he took the pouch, he opened it and quickly began to count. “We can fix that, Jungkook. Let alpha count this and we can get you some food.” 

Jungkook nodded a few times and began to chew at his nails. It was cute. The omega didn't even question them, he was a naive omega. Innocent. An omega that wouldn't last a week on the streets alone. 

Of course, the situation was different given they were imprinted and all felt it, but Jungkook didn't really seem like he wanted much more than some help and some food.

“Wow. Wow,” Jimin laughed under his breath and shifted to gather his bag, “Two hundred? Who did you take this from, puppy? We can eat well today.” 

Like it was so natural to do so, Jimin was adding their small amount into the pouch and shoving it into his pocket. He reached over for Jungkook's arm next, helping him up.

The omega's eyes were big, rounded, “I did good?” 

Jungkook sounded confused and surprised. 

“Oh, baby,” Jimin furrowed his eyebrows and brushed a hand over his cheek, “Very good. We're proud.” 

And Jungkook began to giggle and smile all the way to the McDonald's just a little bit away. He was still grinning madly when Jimin tucked him and Taehyung into a booth in the corner and rushed over to one of the machines.

Taehyung just stared at Jungkook. Watched the omega shift to kick his shoes off onto the floor and bring his legs up. 

He only spoke upon noticing the reddish stain on the back of his socks and worried as he scooted closer, “Are your feet bleeding?” 

“Hm?” Jungkook's smile was contagious and beautiful. But his eyes were so bruised it looked painful to smile so hard.

Taehyung reached over to smooth his thumb over the corner of his eyes, “Are you in pain?” 

“I've been running for…” Jungkook's eyes wandered around and he wasn't really answering Taehyung's question, “Three days. I'm a little sleepy.” 

As if he hadn't nearly passed out a bit ago.

And, as if they hadn't just met, Jungkook was releasing a loud puff and leaning against Taehyung's shoulder, “And hungry. Are you hungry, alpha?” 

Taehyung shifted to sit sideways, tugging Jungkook onto his lap. The omega turned to him with this gorgeous beam, then he sank into Taehyung's chest with some soft sounds and a yawn. 

“Me too,” He answered finally, rubbing Jungkook's side, “Just stay up for a bit longer, puppy. Eat, then sleep.” 

“Alphas are nice.” Jungkook mumbled, “How come you aren't going home?” 

“I could ask you the same.” 

Simply, Jungkook snuggled into Taehyung's neck and said, “My parents aren't too nice.” 

Taehyung's grip grew incredibly tight. He stiffened and laid his chin on Jungkook's head. And he didn't ask any more. Didn't need to. He glanced around and noticed Jimin waiting by the counter for their order and kissed Jungkook's temple before murmuring, “Alpha is going to help get our food, baby. Just sit here.” 

Then, Taehyung was urging Jungkook off his lap. Before he could walk off, the omega was snagging his sleeve and the alpha’s stomach dropped when Jungkook looked up at him like that, absolutely devastated, torn apart.

“You're coming back?” 

“I'm coming back,” Taehyung assured. For no clear reason his eyes began to feel watery. He swallowed and gently bumped Jungkook's chin with a finger, “I'll always come back.” 

Jungkook sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and Taehyung regretted so much as standing up, but then the omega was pointing to the backpack on the corner of the booth and asking, head tilted, “Does alpha have games?” 

They did. They had coloring books, comics, and a few phones that desperately needed to be charged. It was easier to find WiFi in public than people expected, but it was much harder to find outlets outdoors. 

Taehyung reached over and set up the omega with his phone anyway, relieved that right now things seemed to be going okay once he saw an outlet above the booth. Jungkook looked really happy, then, when he got to lay against the booth and play games. The omega didn't seem all that bothered with them, nor the world. A sort of innocence and naivety that Taehyung abruptly felt protective of. 

Either way, the alpha watched Jungkook even as he started approaching Jimin, glancing over his shoulder. The McDonald's was basically empty, but he didn't want to look away.

“Hey.” Taehyung's shoulder bumped Jimin's.

“I ordered a bunch.” 

“So… an imprint.” Taehyung paused to watch how fast the other was turning to check on Jungkook. He released a breath, “Never thought we'd end up with that.” They'd never really thought of it, honestly.

Jimin wet his lips and slipped his eyes back onto the board of order numbers overhead, “I can't look at him.”

Taehyung stiffened, throat feeling tight. 

“Those bruises are horrible,” Jimin continued, “Who the hell would do that? He's just a pup, I mean…” he sighed and motioned vaguely in that direction, “Look at him. He didn't know us at all, but he's all sunshine and rainbows if we so much as give him food and toys. Jungkook handed us money without even thinking. It's dangerous.” 

“We're imprinted. The situation is different.” 

Jimin pursed his lips and didn't reply, because Taehyung was correct and Jungkook would respond differently to them. It didn't change how reckless such behavior was, though.

Based on the way Jimin was fiddling in an anxious fashion and worrying over the omega, Taehyung decided not to say much more to ruin his mood. Instead, he wrapped an arm around Jimin's waist and leaned into his shoulder to murmur, “He's pretty cute, isn't he?” 

Jimin scrunched up his nose and withheld a smile. Taehyung squeezed his waist and continued, “Come on, he's pretty, admit it, Chim. When he said alpha, I could've lost my mind. He's a gorgeous omega, even I can see that.” 

And Taehyung saying such a thing did mean a lot considering he'd never once expressed interest in omegas. For Taehyung, it had always been Jimin. For Jimin, the same couldn't really be said considering he'd dated many subgenders before Taehyung. 

“You like him,” Jimin chuckled. His smile seemed to meet his eyes when their order number began to flash on the screen, he leaned into Taehyung as he watched the employees place it on the counter, adding, “You just want to baby him.” 

“Well, you never let me baby you, so.” 

“Should we baby him, then?” Jimin looked incredibly happy as he moved to grab one of the two trays. Taehyung hadn't seen him smile like that in a long time.

They moved to bring the two trays, stacked with food, towards the table. Jungkook was smiling down at the charging phone. He was giggling to himself and had his feet pulled close and his toes wiggled as he rocked back and forth. The pup couldn't stay still.

“Alphas!” Jungkook chirped, looking up at them, “I found movies online! You gotta watch Iron Man, have you seen it? It's my favorite… and ‘cause you're my alphas, you gotta watch it a million billion times.” 

My alphas. 

That sounded nice. Or maybe it was just the way Jungkook said it. With sparkly eyes and a dimple and two big teeth pressing into his bottom lip. 

My alphas, so accepting and gentle and trusting. Like there wasn't a single thing bad in his life right now. As though he didn't have two black eyes, have a rumbling stomach, or dirty clothes. 

“We have, bunny.” Jimin's voice shook a little, he pressed his lips together as he swallowed. The alpha placed the tray down on the table and sucked in a breath. His eyes abruptly felt wet, he glanced at Taehyung, but the other was looking down as he moved the water cups off his tray. 

Softly, Jimin repeated, “We have,” but any addition he wanted to say fell short when Jungkook looked at the food with this excited little shriek and said, “Alphas got me burgers? I love burgers.” 

Jungkook was a missing puzzle piece. He was needed.

In the same way fresh air was needed. Or sunlight. Or food. Looking at Jungkook ball his hands up under his chin and grow visibly excited over something as simple as a burger felt like finding water in the desert. 

Jimin knew he was crying when he threw himself into the booth and gathered Jungkook's head in a palm to tug to omega close, but he kept the tears silent as he kissed Jungkook’s head. 

And Jungkook leaned into him, so easily. He curled a hand around his knee and leaned into the kisses with a quiet, “You want to watch it with me, hyung? Eating and watching?” 

Jimin heard a sniffle, but didn't draw too much attention to Taehyung. He knew Taehyung didn't like it when he was crying. The other was distracting himself by removing all of the food from the packages. 

“Anything you want, pretty.” Jimin replied, rubbing his nose into Jungkook's jaw. “As long as you promise to eat a lot, then we can do anything you want.” 

“I'll eat lots,” Jungkook was really cute when he puffed out his cheeks, “Only if alpha eats lots, too!” 

“Deal.”