Chapter Text
When the big bell of the pack rings, it means the end of the work and school day. Jimin leaves the Fabric store, and Jungmin tells Jimin to show up at the same time, he nods politely and takes a bow before leaving. He takes a deep breath and smiles, he made it. He managed to get his pups into their, supposedly, ex-enemy pack. He manages to get welcomed into it. He managed to get the pups food, shelter, and school. He managed to get a job. The ‘Dumb Dame’ managed just fine.
He’ll get everything they need to. And right now, they need to go home from work and school. Jimin walks to the school, as many wolves do the same. That gives a feeling of normality, like he’s just like any other wolf like he’ll belong here. ‘Finally, a place I’ll fit in.’, he thought with a small smile, he’s not used actually to giving a big real smile, he’d always remembered the days his parents made fun of his smile when he was younger, only worse then that was when the elders of the pack told him of was to be his new mate, he was so excited he gave them the biggest smile, imagining all the romantic thing he and his new mate where going to do, only to be told, “Goodness, stop smiling so hard! No one want a wrinkling omega! Nor an expressive one! Get your act together PUP! You gotta start acting like the bride-to-be you are!”
Soft, Neutral, Submissive, Quite. That’s all they wanted him to be a sweet omega, yet all he did was be Dumb, Hysteric, Confictive, and Loud. He truly became the shell of the omega he used to be… He needs to get a garden, the residence hunt doesn’t have a place for one but maybe somewhere in the forest, he could manage to do…something.
He gets to the school many wolves are already reunited with their pups, listing all the new things they learned and did today. He goes to Jihu Class first, when the twins get where he might not be able to get Jimin’s full attention, which he’s quite used to. When getting to the classroom, Jihu is the only one there. Jimin didn’t even take that long to get to the school, how did all the pups leave already?
“Jihu-ah! I’m sorry, I’m late!” He says with a soft tone, talking in a public voice truly. Teacher-min looks at Jimin, and gets up from his chair, taking Jihu’s hand and leading him to his Appa. Jihu is quiet, uncommonly so, where he before held his head high with confidence he now looks at the floor as he walks, head down and walking slowly. Jimin gets down to Jihu’s level, trying to look at his baby’s face. Did another pup hit him? Was the staff mean? Does everyone hate him? Did he miss his Sire? So many options and not enough time to question as Jihu goes to hug Jimin, trying to hide in his embrace. Jimin look at Yoongi concerned.
“Jihu-ah had a… a hard day. He’s… hum was a bit lost in class. Not in terms of the classroom rules, he got that to a T. He seems to have trouble with the alphabet, and social studies. But he’s doing amazing in Math. He was the best Student in Math, even tho it was a new subject! So Jihu-ah, please keep up the good work. You might even be a mathematician one day!” Yoongi tries to say every word with care, years of teaching taught him to say encouraging things to the pups and to not alert the parents too much. “He-he did? Well hum…Goddess, Jihu-ah Appa is sorry. If I’ve read more to you and made you read more, maybe you wouldn’t have struggled.” Jihu shakes his head denying. “W-what are social studies?” Jimin asked Yoongi, when some pups had the opportunity to learn they mostly only learned to read and maybe math.
Yoongi turns his head a bit when asked this, confused. “Well, it’s where the pups learn science, history, geography. It’s truly just for them to understand a bit how the world works.” Jimin nods his head in understanding. The answer to all of those questions tended to be ‘because’ or ‘It’s the way the Moon decided’, so Jihu’s struggles made sense. “ I’m sorry to ask, but what pack did you guys come from? I know that typically newcomers don’t specify to anyone outside of the Pack Alfa, but I’m just confused. Are you guys from the very north?” Jimin heart races, and he gets nervous, while both Hoseok and the pack Alfa didn’t seen concerned about the pack they come from it seems like not a good idea to tell everyone willy-nilly about it.
“Where from a bigger pack on the north, most of us don’t study. Jihu got classes with his grandsire, we don’t have a system for any of this” Yoongi nods, understanding that Jimin wanted his privacy while also comprehending Jihu’s situation. “Well, Jihu seems to fit well with the other pups, for the most part, and I think to put him in first grade would be worse, beside his math is beyond his classmates, so what I think would be better is for Jihu to have tutoring lessons. Would you agree to that Jimin-ssi” Jimin feels like the rug has been pulled out of his feet again, he was too optimistic as always. He didn’t manage anything apparently, he thought. He stays quiet for a bit while petting his baby’s head until Yoongi calls for him we were also at the two levels to look Jimin in his eyes, while Jihu was too focused on looking for any bit of Jimin’s Scent… He missed Appa’s scents so much.
“Jimin-ssi, you have an amazing pup, who helps his classmates in math and recess, understood the rules of the classroom quite fast, and had his first ever day in school. Don’t let him be discouraged for his struggles but also give him help to learn. I’ll be open to tutoring him, with you present. As is required by the south packs no pup should be alone while tutoring happens. Let me help you help Jihu, please?”
Jimin nods and asks if they can start tomorrow after school, to which Yoongi nods agreeing. He says his goodbyes, while still holding Jihu in his arms. He goes to the twins’ classroom where a lot of pups still are. Thankfully, He knocks on the door, and Teacher Kang opens it. They talk a bit before the pups go to Jimin. “So How did they behave?”, luckily for Jimin it was easier to talk to Teacher Kang than to Teacher Min for one simple reason, She was an omega. “Well, we had a real fun day. Hani was very excited to draw you a picture, she’s mostly a bundle of joy and starts to eat quite fast tho. Very protective of Hajoon, I actually thought she was the older Twin, and she played nice with all the pups.” Jimin smiles hearing about his princess, Jihu while Teacher Kang is talking decides he is calm enough to get to the floor, holding Jimin’s hand.
“Yeah my Hani always be the social butterfly, I knew it would be easier for her. So my question is how did it go for Hajoon?” He was nervous, his middle pup was very shy, very quiet, very soft, and very much the perfect omega in the Yi pack. But they weren’t in the Yi pack they were in the Kim pack. The teacher signs a bit and gives a small smile “Hajoon… is very shy. He loved story time and wanted me to read more books. Which is great, it means them in 3 years when gets to the first grade he’ll have the time of his life, but he doesn’t like any type of sports, no football, no bean bags, no racket games, no dance. He likes to draw and paint but hates to get a bit dirty. He takes a long time to start eating but eats well. He loves his Appa a lot and missed you a lot, Hani had to convince him to stop crying. It’s his first time in school, and away from you. Pups tended to be close to his parents, ones with bigger families then to be more used to being with others. It’s normal for him to be anxious. Will get used to this, all the pups do” Her analyses on Hajoon make Jimin a bit more aware of the social cues of the Pack. Omega Pups are expected to act like…any other pup. He feels horrible. He nods to the teacher saying that they just need more time. They get used to these new packs.
The pups finally put their backpacks on changed from their Smocks and ran to his Appa and Hyung. They were so excited to tell all the things they did today, Jimin waved the Teacher goodbye and so did the pups, She said they’ll see them tomorrow. Hajoon doesn’t like that.
They get to the residence and hunt for so much-needed rest it still wasn’t dark nor was it evening. So Jimin still had a great amount of time with his pups before dinner, Jihu went directly to bed not sleeping but just quietly lays. Hajoon noticed but decided that that was an Appa-will-deal-with-it situation, so he started playing with Hani.“Jihu, aegi-”
“I’m not a baby Appa, STOP!” He interrupted him, cringing. Jihu was always a sweet pup, but this behavior was not one he tended to have, we had his tantrum as any pup did, but he hadn’t talked this rudely to anyone before. “Jihu, okay I’ll stop. But you need to take a deep breath for me, okay?” Jihu nodded, Jimin counted with his fingers as he took a deep breath with Jihu. “Good now, I understand you had a tough day. It didn’t go as you planned, but You will not speak to me in that tone! Understood?!” With wide eyes, Jihu nods. Jimin never talked to any of his pups with this strong tone, that was their Sire’s job, but an exhausted Jimin who didn’t have any other parent figure for the pups needed to be strong about boundaries. “ Appa is getting you the tutoring you need, and you’ll try your best like you always do. If you want to cry because you’re upset that’s okay, but you don’t yell at me.”
Jihu looks down ashamed, Today he got two scolding from his Appa, at breakfast and now. That never happened before, he never felt so out of place. “Appa, can we go back home please?” Jimin is confused there literally in their room, and he tells exactly this to Jihu. “No Appa… I want home, I want to be Yi Jihu, I want my room, I want Daddy and grandsire, I want to fish. There’s none of that here.” Jimin looks shocked at the statement. A month ago when Jimin decided it was best to leave, he had asked the pups their opinion, and all of them were excited to go to the south, mostly because Jimin told them it was warmer and they had more pups to play with. Wichc to pups who supposedly have far too few pups, they would little the idea of more playmates.
“Jihu-ah, look I’m…I’m sorry we can’t go back!” Jihu said crying again “Why? You said the South was better, it’s not!” He started to hyperventilate, and Jimin put his hand on his chest and guided him to breathe deeply. “Look, I know it’s very different! Appa is working, you’re in school, we’re in a new house, I’m not the one cooking, yet I just need to buy the stuff to make you guys favorites. I know it’s all very soon, but Daddy’s not here, not anymore. And it would be harder for me to take care of you like you deserve, Honey. We just gotta…take one day out of time, tomorrow will be better” They hug each other, Jihu looking again for his Appa scent and still can’t find anything like he can’t do for the last 2 years.
They finally calm down, and Jimin asks Jihu if there isn’t any good thing about school, Jihu tells him about how math is fun, and how the pups are nice.
Routines are important for pups, everyone knows this. Everyone but the pups. This leads Jimin to fun situations as he did in the bathhouse, where he had to fight a three-year-old who didn’t want to bath, eventually, Hani did ‘agree’ to being washed, a seven-year-old who didn’t want to get dressed, and another three year old that was clinging to him like life depended on it. So when he finally makes his way to the pack den to eat his drain.
While Jimin is used to caring for his pups, mostly alone, he never had to do that and work. So there are two new types of tiredness for him. But he sucks it up and puts on a show, a small smile and nods. Neither Seokjin nor DaHyeon are the cooks serving them tonight, a nice Beta older lady is. Jimin tried to hold three trays of food, Jihu was old enough to take his. Thankfully before any disaster, Namjoon shows up asking if Jimin would like help, typically he wouldn’t want other wolves’ help but carrying this amount of trays was playing with his luck.
They end up sitting with both Hoseok and Seokjin. Jimin lets Jihu and Hani sit next to Seokjin, and he sits next to Namjoon and Hanjoon, mostly because Hajoon doesn’t want to be away from Jimin. Namjoon had figured that Jimin would prefer to sit next to a beta rather than an Alfa, so he switched quickly with Hobi. Dinner goes about any other meal they shared in the last day or so. Seokjin tries to make conversation with the pups about the day, which Hani talks about excitedly, while she is shy with adults, she seems fond of Seokjin.
Hoseok tries to ask them if they are updating well to the south, the weather, and other stuff. Jimin claims it’s quite warmer in the south so while it’s warmer than usual it displays summer weather to them here, while it’s the end of autumn. Hoseok tries to say it would be better for them to check them up to see if there’s something concerning. Wich Jimin is still confused, he checks Jihu on the first night ‘Why is Hoseok so persistent about this? The pups are fine!’ He explains this to him and the healer has to accept that Jimin isn’t going to the healer hunt so soon. What concerns him, no one can smell Jimin and that’s concerning, a wolf will only stop producing pheromones and their scent when they suffer enormous neglect, so while the pups seem about right in terms of smell Jimin’s was a big concern.
Hoseok will have to manage to convince him to go get a check. But they changed the subject so they didn’t seem too persistent about it. Hanjoon looked concerned about the topic, and questioned if they were sick, or worse were Jimin sick, Jimin calmed the pup and asserted that he was just fine he was strong and nothing was going to put him down without a big fight. Hoseok was concerned about this, whenever a wolf would speak this way it meant they didn’t accept the fact that they were sick.
While Hanjoon calmed down, he climbed on Jimin and denied getting out of his lap. So Jimin just ate with his pup on his lap as he tried to also feed him and Hani because she got jealous over ‘Hajoon’s special treatment’. So Jimin was quite annoyed at Hoseok but couldn’t show it. Being mad at an Alfa never ended well for Jimin.
“Jimin-ssi, Tae told me you got a job at the fabric store! You can sew?” Seokjin asks with excitement, Jimin smiles shyly. “Oh yeah, I can sew a little. I can do different techniques and know well enough how fabric and furs work to know what type of work the piece will need. But nothing really big, Jugmin-subaemin can do so many different pieces, I still got a lot to learn…” Jihu looks confused at Jimin, it’s becoming a habit it seems. “Appa, you did all our closet since I can remember! And all the Tapestry at home was made for you… Also, the cross stitch birth presents for most of the pups of the family…Hum you did more things I can remember them all…but they’re really good. You should teach it!” Jihu recounts some of Jimin’s works
Jimin blushes and shakes his head, saying Jihu is exaggerating and he cannot teach. Hajoon listens to these gasps, and turns to Jimin: “Appa, you said you would teach me! What do you mean?! Halmeoni tau-tau…teach you, you said you would too!” Hajoon is quite upset at this. He was quite excited to learn about sewing, as his Appa made it seem fun, and he wanted to be cool like him.
“And I will! When you're older!” Seokjin looks at Jimin excited to learn more as is Namjoon “Is it a family tradition? Newcomers have fascinating family traditions.” Namjoon asks looking at Jimin who looks a bit around, as if the right answer would show up “Not exactly… it just…an omega thing. All omegas learn from their dame’s how to sew… it’s practical pups need clothes, they grow fast.” Jimin never understood most stuff he learned, sewing was nice but the rest not so much. He does not enjoy cooking, nor does he like to clean, nor pamper alfas, except Jihu he’ll always be his baby.
Namjoon nodded understanding that while it wasn’t a choice it was still quite interesting “Ah, well a very cool thing to learn, either way not many know how to sew here, and the ones who do are far too old so teaching would be amazing, Jimin-ssi” Jimin laughs it off, as a teacher isn’t a very omega thing in his mind, at least no for his own.
The dinner continued and they continued to eat and talk a bit, Jimin’s getting the hang of talking quite a lot, not that He had trouble with that as he was seen as a chatty Cathy. After a while, an agitated Alfa showed up “Namjoonie! Brothers-in-law! My favorite trio, I need a favor!” She was quite tall and had brown hair, similar to Namjoon’s shade, behind her was an omega, probably the alfa’s mate. “I figured, you never talk to me unless you need something” Namjoon teased, while Jimin was pretending to mind his own business and continue to eat and feed his children.
“That’s not true, but we need to go to a meeting can you guys take Chae for tonight?” She asks looking at Hoseok, oddly enough. “Of course, leave my princess with me. Chaewon-ah uncle Hoba is going to bake you a nice cake” Chaewon, who was first close to her dame, now bolts to Hoseok. While the Sire was trying to talk Hoseok into not baking for her, since she had enough sweets for the week, Hoseok claimed he would do you with more fruit instead of sugar.
The omega notices Jimin and decides to talk to him “Hello, I’m Im Chaerin, this guys’ sister-in-law. And you are ?” Jimin looks at her and straights Hajoons in his lap. “I’m Park Jimin, your Chaewoon’s eomma? Jihu-ah was playing with her the other day” He points at Jihu who waves at her and eats faster to go play with Chaewon. “Ah, so you’re Jihu’s Appa! I heard very good things about him, sounded like a lovely pup. Are these your others?” Jimin nods.
While Jimin didn’t get to socialize with many in the last few years, pups were a safe and comforting topic apart from his mate's family. He would talk about it with his sisters, brother-in-law, and her dame-in-law. It was a very straightforward topic. ‘Jihu went hunting with Daddy today’ ‘Hani went three rocking with Daddy today’ ‘Hajoon is starting in the kitchen with me today’ Nothing live changing, never to overshadow other’s pup but enough for others to know his pups were doing well enough and not to worry.
“Yeah, there my youngest Hajoon” putting his hand on Hajoon’s head and then posting with his face to the other side of the table “And that’s Hanuel. My twins. Is Chaewon-ah your only one?” He made a point not to sound offensive, as he hated when people would ask about him only having three pups, and besides it seems like most wolves of the Kim pack only had a couple of pups per family. Oddly enough. Chaerin while did notice the way Jimin asked, noticed a bit of confusion in his tone, but sweetly answered “ Well, Chaewonie was a…tough birth, per se. We decided it would be best not to have more. Besides she seems quite content with the family arrangement so I don’t worry much”
Such an odd pack, Jimin tough. A tough birth never stopped anyone in his late pack, Godness it was seen as an honor to die delivering, especially if it was for an Alfa pup. Many said that it was a gift to leave this earth while giving it a new leader. Then again not many Omegas would feel that way. But Jimin just nodded, saying what mattered was that both of them were healthy-looking, which Chaerin was so happy to hear, the conversation was later.
“Appa, can I go play with Chaewonnie? I already eat, please?!” Jihu gave his best puppy eyes as if Jimin was ever going to deny, again, any of his pups the time to play. He looked at Chaerin and Nayoung as if to ask if it was okay, as they nodded Jimin smiled at Jihu, a silent yes. So, obviously, he ran to Chaewon and started to play around the table. Hajoon eventually decided he didn’t want to eat anymore, which concerned Jimin, and Hanuel finished hers, so decided to ask the older pups to play tag with them which they happily did.
While the pups played, and Chaerin and Nayoung had time before the meeting, the adults decided to keep talking about different topics, the pups, what they’re going to do tomorrow, and many more. Eventually, Jimin remembered to ask “Oh what’s the meeting about, if you don’t mind me asking?” Chaerin laughed claiming it was nothing big just council stuff, Jimin’s response to that was just a confused look at her. “Jimin-ssi, Nayoung is the future Pack Alfa. And the rest of us will have a place in the pack’s council. Where you…not aware of that?” Jimin looked at her with wide eyes, a pack omega that was talkative with others only had one pup, and went to a meeting. ‘ What is this place’, Jimin eventually shakes his head, overwhelmed.
“YAh, Seokjin-oppa! Namjoon-ah! Hoseok-ah! You’re so mean! Couldn’t even tell your friend about your status!”