Chapter Text
Worth Fighting For Part 4
Seungmin watches his mother sighing in comprehension. She remained silent after Seungmin told her his plan about joining the pack. She didn't quite reject the idea as if she was expecting this to happen soon.
"Do you like them?" She asks, jet-black eyes gazing at him with intimidation. Seungmin gulped, swallowing the lump in his throat. Does he like them…?
"I don't know if I like them romantically yet. But I am comfortable with them. And I'm not asking for mates, mom. That's so soon." Seungmin's statement earned a frown from his father. They were at the dining table having dinner when Seungmin first open up the topic about the pack.
"Dear, you told us that your members trigger your heat and you feel better when they're near you. I doubt that your wolf hasn't recognized them as your potential mates yet." Seungmin has a pointed look on his face but the flush didn't go subtle on his face. His sisters cackle at the sight and Seungmin glances at her, offended.
"Minnie, I just want the best for you. If you think this will help you and your wolf likes the pack then we're going to support you. Be mindful of your actions and always remember that your feelings matter so don't be afraid to speak up. I just want you to be transparent with us if you are upset because of them or anything that involves your strong emotions. I promise not to blame them on hand and not be judgmental in terms of the problem. I will not lie about not trusting them but I want to see if they could treat you right." Seungmin's mother has a fond face on her face after her speech. Seungmin lips quiver in gratefulness. His father also smiles at him warmly while his sister teases him that he was grown up and finally has a pack and mates. Seungmin just snorted in embarrassment.
"Are you going back to the dorm?" His mom asks when Seungmin was about to go to his room. He nodded his head but didn't tell her it was because misses their scents already. She has an amused expression but only kisses Seungmin on his cheek before saying 'go' in a soft voice.
The journey to the dorm is peaceful, Seungmin didn't tell his members that he's going back after three days of camping to his parent's house. He was beaming while humming a song when his family driver dropped him at the building. He walked to the elevator before the man strode back to the car and drove it away.
Seungmin breathes in before opening the door. It was late, so Seungmin didn't expect anyone's awake in the living area. He walks after taking off his shoes and wears the vacant home slippers.
"Kim Seungmin?" Minho's voice surrounds the enclosed space and Seungmin smiles seeing his bewildered hyung. He doesn't think of anything complicated, he just goes diving straight into Minho's arms to greet him.
"Good evening hyung," Seungmin mumbled between his breaths. He felt Minho's grip on his waist but didn't comment on it.
"Oh, your back." He said in a hoarse voice that made Seungmin frown, he was nuzzling Minho's chest so he could smell his distress. Seungmin pulls out and meets the alpha's gaze.
"What, hyung?" Seungmin lips parted in unknown words. He was retreating when Minho cage him to his embrace and the older nuzzle to the crook of his neck. He heard him swear multiple times before kissing his shoulders to his collarbones. Seungmin squirms vehemently, still confused at Minho's scents.
"I thought we'll overwhelm you and you'll need time to be with us." Minho's voice was rasped as if he was on the verge of crying. Seungmin patted his hyung's back. He couldn't do anything the way Minho gripped him as if Seungmin would disappear when he was not paying attention.
"I miss you." Minho looked so raw when he said it and Seungmin was on the edge of how much he liked the sound of it.
"Are you, hyung, now?" Seungmin teases, the side of his lips quaking up doing his best to hide his smile. Minho's sharp gaze at Seungmin teasing. His eyes landed on his lips and it took Seungmin a breath not to swallow hard. He felt the heat on his cheeks, brown eyes were enlarged staring back at Minho.
"Cuddle me?" Minho says, breaking out of the tension, licking his lips, and going back to hug Seungmin again.
"Hyung!" Seungmin whimpered in surprise when two strong arms lifted him from the sofa as they walked to his room. Minho murmured something like no one will disturb them in his room and Seungmin needs to sleep properly.
"Shhh, I just want to stay with you, is that okay if we sleep together?" Minho carefully sits him on his bed, and the older one remains kneeling on the floor waiting for Seungmin's permission. He nodded his head, not sure how to answer Minho's gentle eyes. Gosh, he looks ethereal like this.
Seungmin smiles and changes to sleeping wear to the bathroom in the extension of his room. Minho waited for him, not yet occupying space on his bed. He smiles and hums when Seungmin finally settles on his bed. They lay down beside each other. Seungmin's heart was beating peaceably, the stability and Minho's scents calmed him, and made a bold move to nuzzle into the older's chest.
"I miss you too hyung." He whispered, he heard a gasp and Minho's tight hands down to his waist clasping him closer to his chest. Minho's scents fill his nostrils and his omega purr in contentment. He fell asleep after.
Seungmin woke up because of the faint breathing on his cheek. He feels the tight embrace on him and the alpha's scent all over his bed. It felt safe.
"Good morning!" Minho flashes his charming smile and Seungmin is coherent enough to blink back the greeting.
"It's still early, I want to cook you breakfast but I don't want to leave yet. So..." Seungmin rises from his sleep and sighs at Minho's glistening eyes on him. The sun was in the middle of rising yet they both knew that they were early risers. Seungmin mumbled the words I'm hungry while it was buried in Minho's chuckles.
Minho smells mint when Seungmin finishes his morning routine. So the older one was already refreshed when Seungmin was still sleeping and came back to him. He shook his head at that.
"Let's go." Minho is entwined in their hands in opening the door. The alpha was so clingy that Seungmin snorted, recalling Minho's alpha mode when he was still not presented. The older one is not that distant like everyone else was saying. He sometimes talks to Seungmin about his day, asking him for a coffee and they share watching shows or monitoring the performance together. They talk when the members aren't present and Minho will cook him food. Looking out for him when he was sleeping in the waiting room before the performances. He sometimes looks it over thinking that it was an act of service because he was a member of the group but when he thinks about it now, Minho has his way of taking care of him. The realization fills his heart, making him release a content sweet scent. Minho's grip on him only tightens until they reach the kitchen.
"Minnie? Minho hyung?!" Jisung's obnoxious voice rings throughout the whole dorm. Seungmin was in the high stool chair watching the alpha cooking, completely zoning out when Jisung suddenly comes and envelop him in a tight hug.
"My omega," he mumbled softly. Seungmin's eyes rounded at the name and almost purred. Minho snorted at Jisung's, probably hearing the younger's rambling at Seungmin.
"Good morning Jisungie," Seungmin smiles, and like what he did when he met Minho last night, he also nuzzles his nose to Jisung's neck and smells his scents. Unlike Minho, Jisung has a happy and content scent on him.
"Gosh, your back." He mumbles again, and Seungmin nodded his head dumbly.
They still have schedules so it's only a brief greeting. Seungmin received tons of hugs and Chan asks him to talk after their hectic schedules. He looked serious and Seungmin understood immediately that it was about the pack and him. He's nervous about it but he already made his decision. He will ask to join the pack but not be their mates.
There are lots of considerations he needs to adjust. He is still not accustomed to affection and having mates also means he will be affectionate with them. Seungmin is not pressuring himself about mating because he knows he's still inexperienced in that area. He was also a bit psychologically traumatized because of his cousin. His hits also didn't make him carnal with wanting to spend it with alphas like he used to read and taught. Seungmin doesn't have heat for desire, he just likes to be cuddled and taken care of but not sexually.
His sweet scents gather a lot of attention and most of the staff got a surprised expression on their faces confirming that Seungmin is an omega. He just smiles anxiously and his members are also more protective of him, not leaving him alone with himself.
Seungmin didn't realize the duration of their schedules because of his members. He feels calm and collected even though there are a lot of people turning their heads after smelling his scents. The alphas looked vigilant, glaring at anyone who was staring longer at Seungmin than at ordinary glances. Hyunjin was chuckling at Seungmin's confused face whenever the alphas growled for no apparent reason startling him.
"What's wrong, hyung?" Seungmin inquires after seeing Chan frowning hard while Minho, Felix, and Jeongin also scowl from time to time. But only receives a firm 'nothing to worry about' and distracts him again from another topic. Changbin also helps in talking with Seungmin until he forgot about it.
They reach home and aside from the basic anxiety, Seungmin remains confused and his members smell exhausted and a bit angry. He went to the kitchen and prepared tea that his mother gave him so they could relax.
"Are you all okay? You've been irritated the whole day." Seungmin managed to say after putting the tray of drinks on the coffee table. He walks to the single couch on purpose and looks at his members gathering at the large sofa looking tired.
His heart warms up at the scene. They always do this and Seungmin is used to seeing them cuddling together like a pack. He grins at them because now that Seungmin is presented, he still feels the same feeling of fondness whenever he watches them being affectionate with each other. It's been a long time since Seungmin witnessed them cuddling and kissing each other.
Hyunjin bursts into giggles while the other members' flushed faces show up confusing Seungmin even more.
"I think Minnie is oblivious to what's been happening." Changbin snorts, shaking his head.
"Because of me?" Seungmin's eyes pop out in turmoil even more. He looks at them with a question at the tip of his tongue but just sighs exasperatedly.
"Your scent," Felix's deep voice mumbles, cheeks are red but Seungmin blinked and muttered a soft 'Oh' before understanding him.
"My scent is still rather irregular from other omegas. The doctor said because I'm still adopting my sub-gender and my hormones are still not fully developed yet. My scents are strong compared to others but they will fade after exposing myself to other subgenres. It will be okay. Did I trouble you?" Seungmin is seriously worried while Chan only nodded in understanding. He looks like he already knew it but still needs confirmation from Seungmin.
"Don't worry about what happened today. We Alphas just get protective because you're freshly presented. And you smell rather strong and gather some attention from the staff. We made them back off so no one will bother you." Chan finishes while Seungmin beams and thanks them. Jisung coos at the omega but Felix's tight grip on him prevents him from touching Seungmin. Jisung whines but Chan also gives him a stern look to behave.
"Anyway, how are you feeling Seungmin-ah? Do we... Do we overwhelm you?" Changbin's question earned a lot of attention and a guilty look from Jisung and Hyunjin. Minho also looks taken aback while Felix, Chan, and Jeongin only stare at him watching his reaction inherently.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry for leaving again. I just... I just need to think it over and that includes my family. Kissing Hyunjin and Jisung didn't bother me if that's what you guys are nervous about. I feel fine with it and... I actually wanted to ask all of you, if you have me in your pack... I know that it was so sudden but I feel safe with you guys. I miss you too and-"
"Minnie!" Hyunjin was the first one to hug him while Seungmin already expected the older one to hug him. He accepts Hyunjin's hug and smiles at him with fondness.
"I could sense the but." Jisung cracked and no one was laughing, he awkwardly stared at them and stopped his gaze at Seungmin.
"Yeah." He murmurs lowly, Hyunjin stiffens and sits on the carpeted floor, staring at him in awe.
"You can say anything, Seungmin-ah," Changbin encourages and smiles at the younger.
"If you have me only as a pack but not as a mate... I know that I was assuming here and I apologize for that. I just really want to do this right and I don't want to hurt you guys unintentionally." Seungmin mumbles while his members look at him with hidden sadness in their gazes.
"Seungmin. First, we want you to be our pack even though you still have not presented yet. But we know that you didn't like to be part of it, it didn't hurt us. Instead, it made us wonder why you were so adamant in accepting us even if it was also common for having not presented one in a pack. Then we learned your reasons. I am so glad that we didn't pressure you, and that Hyunjin controlled himself to tackle you in our arms whenever we were having a cuddle. It was embarrassing but we always talk about you joining us, imagining us as eight. Nevertheless, your presentation as omega worries us more. We apologize about that too. We weren't with you when it happened and things have been filling up until now." Chan sighs, there is a glint of hope in his eyes, and Seungmin cannot help but be mesmerized by the pack alpha visual.
"So we respect your decision. As a pack leader, I welcome you to my pack and promise to treat you right." Seungmin pressed his lips together, he felt relief and calmness that he only experienced whenever he was with the members. He feels overwhelmed by the emotions and the scent of belonging.
"Thank you hyung, this is so new to me and I've been... I feel like I was finally breathing. All this time I was scared about the pack and my being an omega doubled my anxiety. I really appreciate you guys." Seungmin's hoarse voice made Changbin come to him and hold his knuckles only for him to kiss them.
"Can we have a group hug then?" Felix mumbled, eyes shimmering to every one of them.
"I love you guys." He whispered.
"We too Minnie,"
Seungmin for the first time could breathe in peace. He opened his arms and forgot who was the member who was holding him. He just felt purring with the adoration of these people.
He finally has it.
Without fear holding him back.
He finally got this right.
Fin.