Work Text:
Namjoon is a saint.
Yoongi has seen how everyone acts when their sense of smell is finally complete, their smiles as they start to notice their friends' presence in a room without turning around, the first few weeks after finding each other where there's not even a millimeter of space between them, trying to ingrain their soulmate's scent in their mind, as if they weren't going to spend the rest of their lives with that second scent around almost as constantly as their own is, imperceptible by the time you're a few months old, like your brain doesn't register your nose in your front of your face anymore.
Yoongi thinks of his nose nonetheless, how someday it'll smell much more than peaches and dark chocolate. He hopes that day comes soon.
And Namjoon, walking into their dorm room every night with that smile on his face, doesn't ramble on about what Chaeyoung from philosophy smells like, or how much of lunch with Jungkook was actually spent scenting each other.
It's not that Yoongi finds it gross when people do that in public. He just looks away because... Well, he wishes he could do it too.
He's happy for his best friend, and Namjoon knows that. Just like he knows the times all three of them have hung out together so far make Yoongi yearn enough, without needing to hear about it from Namjoon's mouth.
The younger omega gets a little shy when Yoongi catches him sniffing in the middle of the night, says it's insensitive because Yoongi can't smell him back. But the older simply turns back around and lets Namjoon fall asleep with his nose in his hair.
Namjoon doesn't say what they're both thinking, I can't wait until we both have this, and for that he is a saint.
When Jungkook's roommate Taehyung invites him and Namjoon to see his soulmate Jimin dance, they ask Yoongi to tag along, like they have on other occasions.
Jimin has his own apartment with another alpha and a beta, where Taehyung spends most of his free time, so now that there's finally a chance to get everyone together, Yoongi feels like he has to say yes, even when he'd much rather be in a less crowded place, listening to his favorite music and sketching a new room.
"I'm so glad to finally meet you, Yoongi-ssi," Taehyung greets them with a big smile when they arrive, and the omega returns it, shy.
His gaze shifts to the alpha next to Taehyung, who's staring at him in a way that makes him feel a bit uncomfortable, and as the beta introduces them, he notices it too, and frowns.
"It's you!" Jungkook suddenly exclaims, and they all turn to look at him. Everyone except Namjoon, who's staring at Seokjin with the same amazed expression as his mate, and Yoongi finally understands.
Namjoon told him the day after meeting Jungkook that they had a third soulmate. People are so happy that first night that they can only dream of their soulmate's scent, already subconsciously memorized.
But if they're still not complete, any remaining soulmates are revealed to them as well, and Namjoon woke up excitedly speaking of a strong alpha chili that danced around his own cherry blossoms and Jungkook's fresh cotton and cookies.
This must be him, and he must've been mistaken Yoongi for his soulmate, his sweet scent the reason he can finally smell any.
But. Yoongi still can't. He steps away awkwardly as Seokjin embraces his soulmates, and Taehyung congratulates them before running backstage to tell the alpha's roommates.
"I'm going to find us seats," he murmurs after hugging Namjoon, leaving the three happy boys to get to know each other.
The show starts and Yoongi's still sitting on his own, strangers all around him and no way to tell who they are unless he looks at them.
He's happy for his friends, but he wonders how much longer he's going to lack so much in his life.
He claps as one group leaves the stage and another walks in, over and over, until he needs to grip the chair, gasping for the air that feels so rich and new.
When he can start to think clearly once again, he turns around, sees a group by the door that's settling down quietly. And one of them is his soulmate.
He's about to get up and go towards them but the music starts playing and brings him back to his other senses, people hyping the two dancers on stage.
They move so gracefully, despite the beta seeming to lose focus at times, and he sees Taehyung standing up and cheering when they're done.
He's so lucky to have such a talented mate. And the beta must be Hoseok, Jimin and Seokjin's roommate. Yoongi's a bit disappointed tonight won't be the get together Jungkook proposed, not when there's a more important meeting going on.
He stands up as well, determined to head to the back of the room and find his own happiness, but he's confused as more people do the same. The lights turn on to signal the event being over, and panic starts to rise inside him.
Even if his path is blocked, surely his soulmate would stick around to find him? And why did he think the others would actually come back in time to sit next to him? Counting on that made him sit too close to the stage, and now everyone's coming towards him, not letting him get away.
He manages to squeeze through the mass of people and come out near the wall, where it's less concentrated than in the center of the room.
"Oh wow, you smell so sweet."
Yoongi whips his head around to see Hoseok behind him, gaping like he can't believe he said that out loud.
The omega blushes, stutters out a reply that echoes the sentiment, and he's not lying at all. Hoseok's scent is permeating citrus with just the right amount of cinnamon, and Yoongi never wants to smell anything else.
"I'm so sorry. This is all new to me, my soulmate was watching me," Hoseok hurries to say, and it would make sense for him to try to look over everyone's heads, or leave Yoongi to find them, but their eyes stay locked and their feet planted, so he sympathizes.
"I'm looking for mine too. There was a group that came in before your performance and I'm trying to get to the back. You're a great dancer, by the way."
Hoseok's face lights up, and for a moment Yoongi forgets about his search, just feels at ease seeing the beta's smile.
"Thank you! Were you here to see someone else?"
Yoongi finds his curiosity endearing, and he tells him about Jimin, and Taehyung, and Jungkook, and Namjoon, and Hoseok nods, says at least his partner wasn't distracted by his new ability.
Laughter comes easy, and the conversation shifts from one topic to another. By the time Jimin and Taehyung approach them to say they're leaving, and Yoongi takes in the smell of cedarwood and strawberries and the smell of a forest after rain that trail behind them, the room is much less crowded, and they're surprised to see how much time has passed.
"I can't believe they gave up," Hoseok laments, and Yoongi's thinking the same thing, how will they find their soulmates now?
"We could help each other," he reasons after a few seconds, thinking it's the perfect reason to stay in touch with Hoseok and see him smile again.
And when he wakes up the next morning with citrus and cinnamon in his mind, he's more embarrassed than disappointed.
He was so busy talking to Hoseok that his nose remembered his scent and not his soulmate's, and he knows he can't possibly tell his new friend about it.
But Namjoon wants to know, and he's confused when Yoongi refuses to speak and gets ready faster than ever, rushing out of their room with a blush high on his cheeks.
Of course he heard about what happened, but he doesn't need to know Yoongi's dream failed to give him a lead.
He knows it's not something Namjoon can just stop asking, and throughout the day, the rest of the group seems to be curious not only about him but also about Hoseok, and they decide to have dinner together, all seven of them, to clear all doubts.
Yoongi doesn't want that, and he's sure Hoseok doesn't either, but he can't come up with an excuse to not go.
Until he gets a text from the number he saved last night. Let's pretend, it says. Tell them it's each other so they leave us alone while we look.
He feels bad for lying, but it's their only choice, and Hoseok's hand around his when they tell their friends over chicken makes it a bit better.
Days go by, weeks go by, and soon the time he spends with Hoseok is less about their soulmates and more about themselves.
"We'll find them eventually," the beta promises. "But we can have fun in the meantime."
And they do, it's not unheard of for people who haven't found their soulmates to have casual flings or one night stands. Heats and ruts are a bit more sacred, but on a calmer day, there's no harm in getting off with someone else, feelings are never involved anyway.
Which is why Yoongi starts to feel a little scared about what Hoseok means to him. He knew he was lonely, but this is just too much, and he almost wishes it didn't have to come to an end.
He knows there's someone out there that's looking for him, someone that will make him feel complete and so happy, happier than Hoseok makes him feel, but what Hoseok makes him feel... He doesn't want to let go of it.
One late afternoon, as Hoseok cards his fingers through his hair, Yoongi lets himself get lost in that familiar scent that brings him so much comfort.
It's much stronger when they're naked, and with his face so close to Hoseok's scent gland, his tongue poking out every now and then for kitten licks that make the beta shiver.
"Sorry," he murmurs as he leans forward and bites down on the flesh, unashamed about still wanting more. They've given each other their fair share of love bites, always awkwardly leaving their necks unmarked, but Yoongi's still blissful and exhausted, he's not thinking clearly, and his eyes must be affected as well, because when he pulls back, it almost looks like a mating bite.
"Did it take, Seok-ah?" he jokes, chuckling humorlessly to himself, but Hoseok is silent, looks into Yoongi's eyes when he lifts his head and brings the older's neck to his mouth.
"Let me do it too," he says, and Yoongi briefly notes his nervousness, but he's too tense himself, doesn't want Hoseok to confirm what they already know, that they can never mate, not while there's someone else assigned to them already.
It feels different. It's not a normal bite. Is his neck that sensitive?
But after the initial sting, there's something else, something that makes him cling to Hoseok as if the thought of leaving a millimeter of space between them was unbearable, and when he looks down and blinks through his tears, he sees Hoseok is crying too.
It's impossible. There's just no way they're that stupid, right? They can't be each other's soulmates. They can't have wasted so much time and uncertainty when they had each other right in front of their faces for so long.
But Yoongi doesn't only feel his joy, he feels someone else's, and it's intensified when Hoseok lifts his hand to touch the dented ring Yoongi's teeth left on his neck.
He smiles, and Yoongi crashes their lips together.
He gets to see that smile every day. He gets to stop lying to his friends, though it was never a lie. The universe brought his soulmate to him, and he's never going to let go.