Archive of Our Own

Christmas Day. A day to take a step back to look at the past year and spend a quiet and peaceful time with your loved ones. 

Yet, it was far from quiet in the Park-Jeon household. The bedroom was a mess. Clothes and toiletries were strewn across the bed, their cat Wanda was splayed all over those and small snippets of wrapping paper basically covered the floor. Jimin bent down with an exasperated sigh, picking one of the pieces off his blue fluffy sock to throw it away. Dropping it into the bin, Jimin watched as it twirled in the air, just to slip past the rim right back onto the floor. 

“Perfect,” Jimin muttered to himself, running a hand through his still slightly damp locks. 

He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing for a few seconds of peace and quiet before going back to the tasks at hand, but it proved to be rather difficult. His unexpected heat last weekend and a week of work with just shy of 60 hours in total because of some of his colleagues calling in sick had caused him to be horribly delayed in his Christmas preparations. Jimin was going through his to-do list in his mind, so he didn’t even notice when his boyfriend came up behind him; not until strong hands were suddenly pressing expertly into the tense muscles of his neck and shoulders.

Jimin smiled contently, immediately getting rid of the tension in his body and relaxing under Jeongguk’s skillful hands. 

“Hmm, feels good,” Jimin sighed happily, leaning back to rest his head against Jeongguk’s strong chest. 

“It’s Christmas, baby, you shouldn’t be so stressed.”

“It’s the good kind of stress though,” Jimin tried to argue, though he didn’t sound too convinced himself. 

“Do you feel a headache coming on?” Jeongguk asked matter of factly and Jimin turned around to nod shyly, pouting because he was caught. 

“How do you know me so well?”

“I am you, you are me, remember?”  Jeongguk answered swiftly with a wink, which immediately pulled a smile out of Jimin. A teasing boop on the nose and a small peck later he already felt less stressed than before. This was something Jimin appreciated so much about Jeongguk. The way he always seemed to know just what Jimin needed, which had of course grown over time. Jimin knew he could get into his head too much sometimes, but Jeongguk was there most of the time to pull him out, or at least offer some moral support. 

“We’re already running late, a few minutes more or less won’t matter. It was a tough week, but we can take our time now.” Jeongguk reassured Jimin softly, grabbing his hands and running his thumbs over his knuckles. Jimin looked down at them, silently contemplating. To this day he was mesmerized by the way Jeongguk’s hands seemed to swallow his whole and how eternally warm they always felt on his skin. 

“But if there are no more mini croissants left by the time we get there I’ll personally hold you accountable,” Jimin warned Jeongguk, deciding to give in and take his time. “And it’s not gonna be pretty.” 

The Alpha just chuckled at the threat. 

“Alright, fine. I’ll take that chance. I’ll shoot Hobi hyung a text and then I’ll finish packing, while you finish wrapping the presents. How does that sound?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jimin agreed, immediately turning around and getting to work with his newfound resolve. 

They were running a bit of a tight schedule, with the annual Christmas brunch with their friends, hosted by Hoseok this year, and the drive home to Busan in the evening.
They had barely managed to do some last-minute Christmas shopping these last few days and finding gifts for Jeongguk’s seemingly countless cousins hadn’t been an easy feat, so they’d been too tired to wrap the presents that night, which left them with all this mess. 

“Next year we’ll just get gift bags,” Jimin complained as he tried to wrap a llama shaped succulent pot without it looking like a heap of trash right from the get-go, without much success. 

It was just past twelve when they finally were ready to go. Jimin was carrying a whole laundry basket full of presents down the stairs while Jeongguk had both their duffle bags and a backpack for the weekend slung over his shoulders. 

„I will never get over how your bag is always so much heavier than mine,“ Jeongguk teased him while they were waiting for the elevator.

„I like to be prepared, you never know what’s going to happen.“ 

Jimin bumped his hips against Jeongguk from the side, who pretended to stumble from the impact. The arrival of the elevator put an end to their little antics, but their mischievous smiles stayed on their faces for the whole ride. 

They quickly loaded everything into their car and set out towards the other side of the city. They’ve been doing Christmas brunch for the past four years now, starting the tradition when Hoseok’s parents had flown out over the holidays and they didn’t want him to spend Christmas alone. It was so much fun that it easily became a recurring tradition, everyone looking forward to that special brunch. So it was no surprise that Jimin had a spring in his step as they climbed up the stairs to Hoseok’s apartment. 

“Hyung, open up,” Jimin shouted through the still closed door immediately after Jeongguk had rung the doorbell.  

“I’m coming,” was the muffled answer before the door opened and Hoseok greeted them with a huge heart-shaped grin. “Hi guys, glad you made it.”

“Sorry for being late,” Jimin said sheepishly. “I brought a bottle of my apple punch as an apology.”

“You bring that every year, but thanks,” Hoseok laughed and took the bottle from Jimin’s hands, making room for them to step into his cozy apartment. “We haven’t started yet, Joon and Jin hyung just arrived as well.” 

“Yah, Hoseok-ah you snitch!” Seokjin complained, sticking his head out from the living room door. “Get in here already, I’m starving.”

They left their stuff by the door and hung up their coats quickly and Jimin felt right at home already. The sound of their friends’ chatter mixed with Christmas music was filling the halls as their mixed scents wafted through the air. It wasn’t often that they all got together like this because getting seven people to come together wasn’t always easy, but when they did Jimin couldn’t have wiped the grin off his face if he tried. Even with the chaos of seven people talking over each other, it always felt calming to have them around, so when he walked into the living room he immediately went around to hug everyone, his boyfriend right behind him. He got out the baguette and the cheese they had signed up to bring and put them right next to all the delicious food that was already on the table just as the alarm of the oven started ringing in the other room.

It was a bit of a tight fit around the small table Hoseok had put in his living room, the room even smaller than usual due to the Christmas Tree lighting up the place prettily in the corner. Jimin squeezed in between Taehyung and Jungkook, trying to keep his feet to himself, so he wouldn’t accidentally kick Namjoon, who sat across from him. 

“Thank god,” Jeongguk suddenly whispered when Hoseok came back with a large plate and Jimin looked up, confused by his giddy tone until he spotted the heap of steaming mini croissants. 

“This should be everything,” Hoseok told them as he put the plate down in the only remaining spot right in front of Jimin. 

“This is the best day ever,” Jimin singsonged. “Merry Christmas everyone!”
An echo of  “Merry Christmas!” sounded from all of his friends in return and they wasted no time in filling their plates with the food in front of them. Jimin and Seokjin instantly started a competition on who was wearing the cuter Christmas sweater (Jin’s had a whale spurting snowflakes while Jimin’s had a cat wearing a Santa hat and Meowy Christmas written on it) and made the rest of the group have a vote. Seokjin won by one vote because according to Hoseok a whale was ‘just a little more original’ than a cat. 

Jimin pouted for a second before promising to come back bigger and better next year. He was already thinking about how to incorporate LED lights into a sweater while he munched on a tangerine. 

Slowly but surely, groans came from every single person around the table, as they tried to eat more delicious brunch food even past the limits of their stomachs. 

“I don’t know why we don’t do this more often, this is great,” Hoseok mused, leaning back in his seat and rubbing his hands over his belly like he was pregnant.

“Oh trust me, you’ll know once you get back around to cleaning the place afterward,” Yoongi replied quickly since he knew the struggle from being last year’s host.

Jimin exchanged a look with Jeongguk since they were the only ones who hadn’t hosted the brunch yet. Maybe they should start a new tradition of everyone cleaning up together this year. Because even in those few years that they’d been doing these, they had established quite a few traditions already. And it seemed like a Best Christmas Sweater award had been added to that list this year already.
Another tradition they had was Secret Santa. Not completely secret, because they didn’t give the gifts anonymously, but secret from the point of pulling their names up until Christmas Day. It was their way of solving the problem of getting everyone a gift, which could get a little much in such a big group of friends.

Upon arrival, everyone had put their gift under the tree where they were now waiting for the group to put away the dishes and leftover food. Everyone was curious about what and who they would get, so they made quick work of everything, ignoring the crumbs on the table in favor of settling down on the couch. To save space, Jimin had settled in Jeongguk’s lap, leaning back against his chest comfortably.

“So as usual, we’ll draw the order of recipients,” Hoseok announced, standing in front of the group. He had a new mimosa in his one hand and a Santa hat with their names in the other. “Jimin would you do me the honor?”

Immediately Jimin leaned forward to reach into the hat, pulling out the first name. 

“Taehyung.”

Namjoon stood up and got one of the gift bags, grinning so much that his dimples were showing. 

“I’m pretty confident with this one, I’ll admit,” he praised himself, pushing the bag towards Taehyung. The Omega wasted no time in ripping out the flimsy paper covering the present, pulling out a black beret with intricate white stitching along the seam. 

“Hyung,” he just said in awe as he traced his fingers over the pattern. Of course he tried it on and it fit him perfectly. “It’s amazing, where did you find that?”

“When I went to Paris last month for work. It was just calling your name. It yelled at me ‘Take me home to Taehyung!” Namjoon joked, pulling out his best high pitched beret voice for it. 

The two exchanged a hug and Taehyung kept the hat on his head, refusing to take it off for the remainder of the day. 

“So a beret from literal France, good job picking the most impressive thing right off the bat to make all our other gifts look stupid in comparison,” Hoseok rolled his eyes teasingly, but already held out the hat out to Jimin again to pick the next name.

Seokjin was up next, and when he pulled out his new hook sharpener and fishing line, courtesy of Yoongi, he got wide eyes. 

“You must have given me the wrong one, Yoongi-ah,” Seokjin said dumbfoundedly, staring at the items in his hand with a disbelieving gaze. 

“No, it’s the right one. Why, what’s wrong with that?” Yoongi asked with furrowed brows, so Seokjin just wordlessly handed him another one of the wrapped packages. The Beta barked out a sharp laugh when he opened the small box and pulled out the exact same set which he had just gifted Seokjin. 

“Great minds think alike,” Yoongi chuckled and reached his hand out to thank Seokjin for the gift with a handshake. 

Next up was Jeongguk, who got a leather case for his AirPods engraved with JJK from Hoseok. Namjoon got two new books from Jeongguk, which his co-worker had recommended, and Jimin gifted Hoseok a new dance bag from his favorite streetwear store. Last but not least Taehyung whipped out a bracelet for Jimin, mostly made out of red string to symbolize their soulmate connection before he pulled a matching one out of his pocket for himself. 

Hoseok served up another round of drinks, this time mugs of mulled wine, for everyone except Jeongguk and Jimin who still had to drive all the way to Busan in the evening. After the mimosas at brunch that made things even funnier during charades. Namjoon almost knocked over the tree while trying to imitate an eagle, Yoongi went through a wide variety of made-up yoga poses, which no one recognized as such, and Taehyung was headbanging so hard, trying to mimic a rock band, that his glasses flew up and hit the ceiling before landing in between the tree branches. Even without alcohol Jimin was reduced to a shaking heap, tears brimming at his eyes from laughing so hard. He was still in Jeongguk’s lap, but now almost completely sprawled across it as he held onto one of Jeongguk’s legs. 

He loved his friends and spending time with them was always refreshing and recharging for him, so he didn’t even notice how quickly time went by. They had wanted to leave for Busan in the afternoon, but it was already past six pm when they finally left Hoseok’s apartment with a lot of hugs and well wishes from their now noticeably drunker friends.

Coming from the loud and busy atmosphere of their little Christmas party into the silence of their car with just the two of them was a weird change, but so calming at the same time, especially since Jeongguk offered to drive and Jimin didn’t have to concentrate too much for now.

He sunk into his seat with a happy sigh and cranked up the seat heating as soon as Jeongguk pulled out of the parking spot.

„I don’t know if I’m ready to host next year,“ Jeongguk chuckled. „It’s always a step up from our usual crazy, but it seems to get worse every year.“

“I know, right? Sometimes I think they’re getting younger with age.“

“I hope that applies to us too.“

“Well, you certainly look just as young as the day I met you,” Jimin commented with an amused giggle.

“I don’t know if that’s a compliment.”

Jimin laughed at the comment but thinking back to the day he met Jeongguk. With those shy doe eyes, kind smile, and soft features it definitely was. Even now that Jeongguk has lost the last of his baby fat and bulked up quite a bit with his regular workouts he never lost the kindness that was radiating off him and which was the main reason Jimin had felt attracted to him in the first place.

Jimin doesn’t even notice, but as their talking ceased and they just enjoyed the peaceful car ride at one point his eyes fluttered closed with the memories of a cold December night in the library 6 years ago still swirling through his mind. 

He woke up to a gentle shake against his shoulder. His eyes blinked open and he was a little disoriented at first, instantly berating himself for dozing off because surely Jeongguk must have felt tired too.

“Oh no, I’m sorry Ggukie. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Jimin apologized, sitting up straight and willing his eyes to stay open, and caught Jeongguk stealing a glance at him from the corner of his eye. The try to suppress a yawn was unsuccessful as he stretched his neck, cracking the bones.

“No, baby, don’t worry about that. I’m sorry for waking you up, but I want to know if you hear that too,” he said, sounding a little worried.

“Hear what?”

“That weird sound, almost like something’s grinding against something?”

Jimin furrowed his brows and listened closely. Jeongguk had already turned down the radio and indeed something sounded a little off. 

“It does sound like metal grinding against metal, you’re right,” Jimin agreed, slightly alarmed. 

“Okay so the good news is that I’m not going crazy, the bad news is something might be broken.”

“I don’t know what I would prefer in this situation.”

Jeongguk snorted, but turned back to their problem at hand quickly, asking what they were gonna do about it. Jimin weighed their options for a second. They could drive off to a parking lot and look for the problem, but without tools and their very limited knowledge of cars, the likelihood of them making a difference was probably in the negatives. 

“Everything else seems normal right?”

Jeongguk quickly checked the instrument cluster in front of him and nodded. 

“So I say we’ll just keep on driving. Your dad is quite the mechanic, maybe he can take a look at it. It’s not like we can do much else on the evening of Christmas Day anyway.”

Jeongguk sighed, not liking the idea too much, but he too had to admit that there indeed wasn’t much they could do. 

“Yeah, I guess so. It’s going to be fine, right?”

Of course it wasn’t fine. Jeongguk had slowed down quite a bit to put less strain on the car, but that didn’t stop it from growing louder and louder until it turned into incessant clanking. rattling and squeaking, coming together in a maddening symphony. The gear shift had started to shake almost violently as Jeongguk pulled out at the next parking lot. He pulled in and turned off the engine, effectively cutting off the deafening noise. They just sat in silence for a bit, contemplating their situation, before Jimin spoke up. 

“Alright, keep calm.”

“I am calm -”

“Yeah well, but I’m not.” the Omega interrupted his boyfriend. They were stuck pretty much smack dab in the middle between Seoul and Busan at a tiny parking lot that had nothing except a probably disgusting public toilet. It was freezing outside and it was Christmas Day, which meant that no one would be ecstatic about towing them. 

“Maybe if we just start it again, it’ll be gone?” Jeongguk suggested but didn’t sound convinced either. He turned the key in the ignition, but with the start of the motor, the rattling immediately came back full force.

Groaning in unison they fell back into their seats in defeat. 

“Guess we have to call the tow service,” Jeongguk sighed. “This sounds like gearbox damage and I certainly don’t know how to deal with that.”

Jimin listened to Jeongguk calling the service in silence, fighting off the oncoming feeling of crisis in his head. 

“Alright, yes, thank you. And there’s really no way you could -? No?” 

Jimin copied Jeongguk’s frown, knowing exactly what that tone meant. 

“Okay, I guess that’s fair. We’ll be waiting, not that we have a choice, but yeah, you know. Yes, thank you.”

He ended the call and dropped the phone in his lap, hitting his head back against the headrest. 

“How long will they take?” Jimin asked almost timidly, knowing that he probably wouldn’t like the answer.

“At least two hours, apparently we’re stuck at the most inconvenient place and obviously time.”

“Great, just our luck,” Jimin snorted and brought a hand up to run his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair, hoping to give the both of them some comfort in this unfortunate situation. “And we can’t even leave the motor running for heating with this horrible rattling noise. And we’ll have to call our parents to let them know, too. And who knows maybe we won’t even find a place to sleep and have to spend the night in our towed car in some industrial area of some shady town.”

“Baby, stop, you’re panicking.” Jeongguk rolled his head to the side to look at Jimin. He looked tired and worried too but somehow he managed to put on a small smile for his boyfriend, who was currently halfway on his way to a mental breakdown. “We’ll be fine, I promise. I’ll keep you warm and we took our winter clothes too. It might not be the most comfortable of Christmases we’ve had, but we’ll make do. Trust me?”

Jimin wasn’t sure whether there was much about this situation that Jeongguk could influence, but he just couldn’t bring himself to voice his thoughts. How could he say no, when his boyfriend looked at him with those large, shiny eyes and asked him to trust him. Even when his scent was probably still betraying him there was no way, so Jimin nodded and whispered. 

“I trust you.”

Just saying these words calmed him down already. Almost like a placebo effect his shoulders relaxed and he unclenched his jaw, but there was still some unease thrumming under his skin. His hand traced down the side of Jeongguk’s face, trailing the way from his hair all the way down to his hand. He clasped it in his and didn’t let go, even as they were calling their parents to tell them they wouldn’t be home that night and that they’d let them know when they knew more. They’d even offered to pick them up, but they were still a good two hours from Busan and had to wait for the tow truck, so they declined, not wanting to inconvenience anyone so late at night.

It had been maybe twenty minutes since they’d pulled over and the cold from outside was already creeping through the doors and windows. It had snowed last night and the area was still covered in the white powder, looking way more peaceful than Jimin felt. 

Now that they’d put away their phones the only light that came in was from the two kind of flickering streetlamps outside and their reflection from the snow- 

“This is how horror movies start, you know?” Jimin commented and pulled his knees up to his chest, pulling his hand away from Jeongguk’s to wrap his arms around his knees. 

“Then I’ll set two rules right now. We won’t split up and we won’t engage with mysteriously appearing children. From what I’ve gathered during my intensive research these past five years we should be fine then.”

Jimin barked out a laugh at the dorky comment before he looked over at his boyfriend

“But I have to go to the toilet.”

“Forget everything I just said, you’re on your own. I’m not going there, it looks disgusting,” Jeongguk said with his face scrunched up in distaste. And Jimin could very much relate to that. 

“Call the police or the ghostbusters if I’m not back in five minutes, your choice.”

“As if the police were serious competition,” Jeongguk snorted right back, putting a smile on Jimin’s face as he hurried over to the tiny building with the toilets. He opened the worn down door with his sweater paw and immediately a cloud of an overwhelming stench greeted him. It smelled disgusting and Jimin gagged, trying to turn on the lights. They didn’t work. Just great. This was really getting better and better.

He pulled out his phone with a sigh, but it was a bit of a hassle trying to maneuver the place with his phone flashlight without touching anything and holding his breath as long as he could. He stood in the stall with the phone between his teeth so he had his hands free, praying to any deity out there that it wouldn’t drop into the toilet and he’d have to fish it out. That would just be the cherry on top.

In an attempt to distract himself his mind wandered, but he only found himself thinking how never had such a crappy Christmas Day before. That thought made him so sad all of a sudden, that even with the phone still in his mouth he teared up and a sob bubbled up his throat. 

This whole situation was so ridiculous he should probably be laughing about it, but instead he was crying, inhaling more of that horrible toilet stench with every sniffle, making it even worse. As soon as he was finished he stumbled out of the building, gasping in lungfuls of the fresh and crisp night air, fresh tears burning on his cold skin as he hurried back to the car, where Jeongguk rummaged through something on the back seat. 

“Did we pack the - “ Jeongguk started his question when he heard footsteps approaching, but cut himself short when he heard the sniffles. Immediately he turned around, ignoring the way he bumped his head against the car roof to pull Jimin into a hug, who started sobbing even worse in his arms. 

“Baby, what happened?” the Alpha asked instead, worry laced in his voice. 

“Nothing happened ,” Jimin pouted pressing himself closer to Jeongguk’s body. “But we shouldn’t be stuck here. Not on Christmas Day, not ever. That toilet was so disgusting, I almost threw up.”

“But you didn’t,” Jeongguk said, trying to sound encouraging, but failing miserably. Instead, they just stood there wrapped in each other’s arms until Jimin’s sobs subsided and he started shivering. 

“I’ve gotten our jackets from the trunk,” Jeongguk suddenly remembered, handing Jimin his big down jacket. 

Jimin thanked him and now wrapped up in the thick jacket, his hands completely disappearing in the huge sleeves he felt considerably better once again. All in all, he was on a rollercoaster of emotions and he felt bad that’s Jeongguk had to deal with that on top of the mess that they were stuck in. He went on his tiptoes to give his boyfriend a quick peck on the lips. 

“I’m sorry. This is just as rough for you and I’m over here complaining. There’s nothing we can do.” Jimin apologized, looking up into Jeongguk’s barely lit face. 

“Oh but that’s where you’re wrong,” Jeongguk suddenly perked up. “We have at least one and a half hours until the tow truck gets here, so tell me what you would have expected from this Christmas Day and we’ll try to come as close as possible.”

Jeongguk seemed incredibly excited by his idea. if the way he bounced in his spot was anything to go by, and Jimin’s heart exploded with fondness. If Jimin were to describe Jeongguk with one word, it would certainly be unwavering . A true Alpha, a pillar of support as solid as a rock whenever Jimin needed it, but still so incredibly soft and gentle and all-around loveable that sometimes Jimin couldn’t believe his luck.

Jimin wasn’t the superstitious type, rather realistic and less whimsical than he might lead you to believe at first sight. And yet, he would swear on his life that meeting Jeongguk had been a stroke of fate, destiny, a blessed instance of wonderful serendipity. They’d instantly clicked, not quite love at first sight, but definitely interest. The spark between them had been so bright that one winter night, you could’ve almost mistaken it for one of the Christmas lights. 

Ironically that was what scared Jimin the most at the beginning of their relationship.
He had feared that they would tire of each other eventually, that they’d lose that excitement of something new developing, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. Although they’d had their lows and breaks and hurtful memories, they only ever came out stronger. Every mistake they made and every distance they’d put between them had only brought them closer afterward, after they once again had to realize that being apart was definitely worse than whatever had brought on the time out in the first place. 

At the end of the day, meeting the right people was still the easiest step in any relationship. The time you spend afterward, growing together, making space for a new person in your life, and learning about all the tiny quirks, habits, and needs they and even you yourself might have, was the real challenge and adventure. 

And now, seeing just how well Jeongguk had come to know him and how he’d learned to love him just right, he couldn’t even imagine any way that they could still get better at that. But at the same time, he knew their road was far from over and it made him all the more excited for what was to come. He could always count on Jeongguk to take care of him and he tried his best to install that same faith in Jeongguk about him. 

Even in a dirty parking lot in the middle of nowhere with their Christmas plans ruined and the cold seeping through their clothes Jeongguk tried to be optimistic for Jimin, so he would be damned if he let those efforts go to waste. He felt so overwhelmed that he almost started crying again, this time out of sheer gratitude, but he didn’t want to put even more onto Jeongguk’s shoulders, so he focused on his question instead. 

“For starters, I wouldn’t have expected to smell like I’ve fallen into a puddle of disgusting sewage,” Jimin said sarcastically, spreading his arms to present his body as if the smell was visible on him.

Jeongguk leaned in close, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed Jimin shamelessly.

“It’s not that bad, but we can fix that either way. What else did you want?”

“I wanted to just be together, have a nice dinner with your family, sit in front of your beautiful fireplace, have some cookies, play with your cute cousins, sing some Christmas songs, and then snuggle up close to you.”

“We can work with that,” Jeongguk decided, sounding confident as he went back to rummaging through the back seat. Jimin flinched when he heard something rip, something that sounded suspiciously like wrapping paper. 

“Be careful, those were a lot of work,” Jimin whined behind him, but Jeongguk emerged with an apologetic smile and a ball of crumpled up wrapping paper in his hand. 

“Sorry, it’s for the greater good.”

Jimin was about to hit him for ruining his work like that, but he refrained from it, rather curious about what he was doing. In the dim lighting, all Jimin could see was that he was carrying something around towards the back of the car, before he opened the trunk, fiddling about in the large space and folding the seats to make more room. 

“What on earth are you doing?” Jimin asked, raising his eyebrow in confusion, even if Jeongguk couldn’t see. 

“I’m setting up Christmas camp, see? It’s not much, obviously, but it’ll get us through the next few hours.”

Even in the dark Jimin could see his proud smile as he was pulled by the wrist towards Jeongguk, who presented their car trunk with a wave of his arms almost like some new invention. Jimin used his phone flashlight and his eyes widened in surprise. 

Their trunk was laid out with a few of Jeongguk’s oversized shirts, in the back there were two of their sweaters stuffed with the rest of their clothing, making a pair of makeshift pillows and a blanket they had originally intended on gifting Jimin’s sister in law was laying on the side next to Jimin’s trusty thermos and a bowl of cookies. 

“It might be a little bit of a tight fit, but I’m sure we’ll manage to squeeze in,” Jeongguk commented sheepishly, trying to fill his boyfriend’s stunned silence. 

An overwhelming feeling of awe and gratitude came over Jimin as he stared in front of him. 

“You’re the sweetest,” Jimin squealed and leaned in for a passionate kiss, hoping to get across everything he was feeling right then. His lips dragged across Jeongguk’s and he pulled him in by the neck, while he felt Jeongguk’s hands coming to rest on his hips. His skin was tingling with happiness and he could feel the desperation he’d felt just minutes ago evaporating from his mind, replaced by giddiness. Even biting his lip he couldn’t hold his next comment in, a sly smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“See, that’s why I always pack so much stuff. You never -“

“- know what happens,” Jeongguk finished his sentence for him and even though he couldn’t see it, Jimin was sure he was rolling his eyes. “I promise I won’t make fun of your overpacking anymore.”

“I would hope so,” Jimin giggled in response, not really minding the comments but loving the teasing.

He quickly ducked into the car pulling Jeongguk in with him. The whole car was rocking beneath them as they shuffled to accommodate each other in the tiny space and spread the blanket across their bodies. Jimin entangled their legs, lying down on his side so they could face each other. 

“So let me check your list. You wanted to spend time with my family tonight and I’m part of my family, so that counts. We’ve got a cookie dinner, so we’ve got a check at dinner and cookies.” Jeongguk listed off Jimin’s original expectations as he pulled out his phone and started typing something quickly. Soft music started playing, a Christmas music compilation of some kind, and Jeongguk turned the screen to face Jimin and show him the accompanying Youtube video of a burning fireplace. “Fireplace and Christmas songs: Check.”

It seemed a little silly, but that was just what Jimin loved so much. About this situation and about Jeongguk in general. There was never a dull day with him.

“Snuggling and kisses? Check.” Jimin added in a giggle and pushed forward to close the gap between them in a sweet kiss. 

“You didn’t mention kisses,” Jeongguk said playfully offended. “You’re insatiable.”

“It’s part of my charm,” Jimin countered. “Now shut up and kiss me.” 

Jeongguk gladly obeyed and they pulled each other even closer, as much as the thick winter jackets bulking up between them would allow. Jimin opened his mouth as soon as Jeongguk’s lips crashed against his, letting his hot tongue lick into his mouth. Immediately Jimin melted into his touch, bunching his fist into the fabric of Jeongguk’s collar, pulling the fabric aside to expose his neck. Trailing wet hot kisses down the side of his boyfriend’s throat, letting his teeth scrape over the skin just the way he knew Jeongguk loved, all the way down to his scent gland. 

It was almost an unconscious habit by now that he seemed to gravitate to Jeongguk’s scent whenever he needed comfort. He loved how rich and deep and homey Jeongguk’s scent smelled, even though the last one might just be him. It never felt to soothe him as well as his Omega and so it was no surprise that he found himself propped up on his elbows, his face glued to the crook of his Alpha’s neck as if it was his sole source of oxygen.

He was so lost in the sensation that he barely noticed the way Jeongguk had moved himself, pushing Jimin’s jacket aside. The only warning he got was a low possessive growl rippling through Jeongguk’s chest and his breath fanning across Jimin’s neck, before the aroma of wine and dark berries intensified tenfold. Jeongguk was scenting him back now, and his Omega was thrilled. Warmth spread through his body from the inside and he started purring absentmindedly, the soft rumble in his chest filling the small space.
Lately, he felt his Omega stirring up more often and more persistently than before and it got increasingly hard to ignore his most primal urges. Especially now with his lips hovering over the unmarked skin of Jeongguk’s neck it became increasingly hard to not just sink his teeth down and make his Alpha his. 

Add in the familiar pull in his belly as Jeongguk started sucking a bruise against his unblemished skin and he was certain he would lose his mind at some point. This certainly was neither the place nor the time for such thoughts though, so, as much as it pained him to do so, he pushed off of Jeongguk, bringing some distance between them. 

The little light from their virtual fireplace was enough to show the confusion on Jeongguk’s face when he shot up at the sudden change. Jimin’s eyes, on the contrary, were still hazy and hooded and Jeongguk must have noticed as well because a knowing smile spread across his face.

“Not smelling like sewage: Check,” Jeongguk mumbled to break the tension a little, knowing just how quickly things could get steamy between them. “Want to get on to the cookie dinner?”

In a mess of straying limbs and ducking heads, they rearranged themselves so they were sitting on the ledge of the trunk, Jimin’s legs dangling off. He wrapped the blanket around their shoulders while Jeongguk balanced the bowl of cookies between them and poured them a cup of punch from the thermos. It had never been hot to begin with, Jimin had just picked that bottle because he knew that it was leak-proof, but they still enjoyed the sweet taste on their tongues together with their cookies.

“Are you still cold?” Jeongguk asked then, looking over to Jimin to see whether he was covered well with the blanket. 

“Not with you next to me,” Jimin reassured him, resting his head on his shoulder. 

A calm silence fell over them as they looked out into the night. There weren’t many clouds in the sky, so they had a clear view of the crescent moon and the many stars surrounding them. 

“It’s been a while since we’ve been stargazing,” Jimin whispered gently to which Jeongguk just hummed, seemingly deep in thought himself.

They went on a lot of evening walks when they first got together, courtesy of their college induced night activity. Whenever it was a clear night they tried to spot constellations in the vast expanse of the sky above them, mostly making up their own for a lack of actual astronomical knowledge. They stopped when their working hours put an end to most late nights out, but now was the perfect opportunity for them to start their old habit again. With their hands intertwined and bodies squeezing close they searched the lights for pictures. 

“Those right there look like an alpaca,” Jeongguk claimed, pointing at the exact stars he was referring to. 

“A deformed alpaca maybe.”

“But an alpaca nonetheless.”

Jimin laughed so hard at the comment he let himself fall into Jeongguk’s lap, almost knocking the bowl of cookies to the ground in the process. Jimin didn’t know for how long they sat there like this, just watching the stars in silence. And yet between all the ruined Christmas plans, the cold punch, and a very improvised dinner menu, he couldn’t help but think that this felt kind of perfect. 

Every year they’d sung the song at some point leading up to the holidays, for for the first time it truly felt like a silent night too. 

His head was still in Jeongguk’s lap and he reveled in the soft shudder that ran down his spine every time Jeongguk ran his hands through his hair gently.  His nails glided along Jimin’s scalp softly just the way he liked it. Jimin sometimes wondered if he did it intentionally, or if knowing just what the other liked had become subconscious at this point. Either way, Jimin could feel his eyelids growing heavier, so he started humming along to the Christmas songs still playing from Jeongguk’s cell phone. 

Soon his boyfriend’s voice joined him, and Jimin smiled contently as he adjusted his position so he could curl up against Jeongguk even more. He’d always loved his voice. Sometimes he could bring Jeongguk to sing him a few songs when they were cuddling in bed and he always fell asleep so easily with that. So it was no surprise that he was getting sleepy now as well, the only thing keeping him awake being sheer power of will and a bright, orange, flickering light that appeared in the corner of his eyes after a few more minutes. 

Startled, Jimin sat back up, yawning loudly as he watched the large tow car driving up behind them.

“Thank god,” Jeongguk whispered, visibly relieved that help was finally in sight. He scrambled to put everything back together in the car while Jimin went to greet the driver. They both watched in awe as, within minutes, their car was secured and ready to be towed to the next city. A city where they hadn’t been before and didn’t know their way around. Worry bubbled back up inside of Jimin while they were hunched over his cellphone, trying to find a place to stay the night, especially since according to the driver they didn’t have any rental cars available at the moment, so they didn’t even know how or if they could go anywhere the next day. 

Jeongguk suggested asking one of their friends to pick them up, but they still needed to stay overnight, because they were definitely not able to drive anymore. Thankfully the driver seemed to notice their struggles and quickly rang up a cousin of his that ran a motel, who said she still had a room available. 

So after setting down their car and handling all the formalities he even dropped them off at the place and Jimin had to pull out his biggest pout for the driver to accept their offer of all their remaining cookies as a small gift of gratitude. And thanks to the call beforehand, everything at the motel was already ready for their arrival. They just had to pay and get the key, before they were already off to their room.

“That went better than expected,” Jeongguk said as they stepped inside, taking in their surroundings and Jimin nodded in agreement. It was a pretty old house and the room looked a little worn down, with the wallpaper peeling off at some edges and the furniture a weird ocher color that probably hadn’t been in for at least 20 years, but Jimin still felt relieved being here. It meant that their odyssey had come to an end, for the night at least. Also in general it looked and smelled clean and they even had a tiny bathroom with a toilet and a sink.

Jimin dropped his bag next to the bed and yawned loudly. After hours of being outside in the cold, the warmth of the motel room made him instantly sleepy and on top of the exhaustion of a stressful day, he had a hard time even keeping his eyes open. Looking at his boyfriend through small eyes he noticed that Jeongguk didn’t seem much better off. 

Still in his coat, he closed the distance between them in two big strides and wrapped his arms tightly around Jeongguk’s middle, and stood up on his tiptoes. 

“Thank you,” he whispered, his breath fanning over Jeongguk’s lips. “Thank you for making this not only bearable but a good memory instead. Only you can turn a broken down car into an unusual Christmas adventure.”

He closed the little gap between them, not giving Jeongguk a chance to answer, instead reveling in the way the lips on his stretched into a smile. Jimin knew that he would only play it down again, never acknowledging how truly amazing he was at taking care of Jimin in such subtle ways. 

“I love you so much,” he whispered when they parted.

“I love you more,” Jeongguk teased back, knowing exactly which answer he would get.

“I love you most.”

Jimin looked up into his Alpha’s eyes with a coy smile and found himself getting lost in his dark orbs. Almost like a projection of the starry night sky earlier, his eyes were shining brightly, glistening in the warm light of the ceiling lamp. Their gazes met and it made all the words in the world needless to them. They knew exactly what they wanted to express just by the warm look in their eyes and the soft caress of their hands. So when Jeongguk spoke next it was simple.

“Let’s get to bed.”

Jimin couldn’t have agreed more and yet he was reluctant to let go of Jeongguk, so at least the way to their bags he kept their hands intertwined. They made quick work of changing into their pajamas and brushing their teeth, Jimin taking a little longer to do his skincare routine. He barely managed to slap some of his moisturizer on Jeongguk’s face, scolding him for skipping his steps after being in the cold for so long, but he said that he was too tired.
Of course he respected that and could relate very much, and yet when he came out a few minutes later to find Jeongguk snuggled under the covers, his dark hair splayed out on the white pillowcase and the blanket pulled up all the way to his nose, he couldn’t help but think that they weren’t quite finished with this eventful day. 

“It’s still Christmas Day, right?” Jimin suddenly blurted out, making Jeongguk blink at him in confusion. 

“Yeah, it’s still half an hour until midnight, why?”

“I want to give you your present.”

Jeongguk had shoved the blanket down a bit and had pushed up on his elbows, frowning at Jimin. 

“Can’t we do that tomorrow? We should get some sleep.”

Jimin knew he was right, but couldn’t stop the pout from forming on his lips. 

“Pretty please? You don’t have to give me mine if you don’t want to, but I want to give you yours. I’m sure you’ll love it!”

None of the two wavered and Jeongguk kept looking at Jimin sternly until he finally gave in. 

“Alright fine,” Jeongguk sighed, resigning to his fate and Jimin jumped towards his bag with a squeal, pulling out a red envelope. He jumped on the bed, maybe a bit too enthusiastically, hearing how the old springs of the mattress were squeaking beneath him as he did. He crawled and sat on top of Jeongguk’s legs, handing him the envelope giggling giddily. 

“Merry Christmas, baby! It’s not really the thing, but I hope you’ll like it either way.”

His eyes were fixed on his boyfriend’s expression as he slowly pulled the piece of paper out. With it came a polaroid picture that fell into Jeongguk’s lap, his face lighting up as he turned it around. 

“That’s from when we were at Disney in Tokyo five years ago,” he said in awe, immediately recognizing the selfie they had taken in front of the castle. Stunned he went on to read what was written on the paper and his mouth dropped open, making Jimin bite his lip to keep in his grin. He could already see that his boyfriend was loving the gift and he was proud that he found something that seemingly made him speechless.

“I thought we might want to fresh up our memories a little bit after such a long time,” Jimin said sheepishly, enjoying the reaction to the fullest. 

“Plane tickets to Japan, are you insane?” Jeongguk asked, but it sounded way more touched and none at all accusing as the words would have suggested. It was just Jeongguk’s way of showing his love. If it wasn’t clear by his tone of voice, his joy was emphasized by the spike in his scent, the aroma of the berries becoming sweeter and more prominent. 

“Well, they’re not technically plane tickets yet, since I haven’t set a date yet, but they will be once we agreed on it.”

“Oh shut up with the details and let me kiss you.” Jeongguk chuckled, referencing Jimin’s line from earlier. He pulled him down by the arms so he collapsed on top of him, kissing him so fiercely it left Jimin dizzy by the end of it. 

“I’m glad you like it,” Jimin said honestly, planting one more peck on Jeongguk’s cheek before rolling off to the free side. That reaction was exactly the reason why he didn’t want to wait until the next day to give his gift to Jeongguk and it was so worth it. 

When he looked back over to Jeongguk, the Alpha was biting his lip, which was something he always did when he was thinking hard about something. He huffed and threw his head back and Jimin was just about to ask what was wrong, when Jeongguk suddenly sat up, startling Jimin a little.

“Fuck it,” Jeongguk said, turning to face Jimin and looking him straight in the eye. “I’ll give you my present now too.”

There was a shift in Jeongguk’s scent and Jimin’s Omega immediately perked up at that. It was almost as if he was feeling nervous. But what could he be nervous about? It seemed to be getting worse while Jeongguk searched his bag for the present, before turning back around to Jimin, his hands clasped and hidden behind his back. 

“So you should know,” Jeongguk then started, looking down at the ground. “Originally I wanted to do this for our anniversary, but then you got your heat and I couldn’t. And then I had this plan of taking you onto a walk along the beach in Busan tonight, but then our car broke down, and now I can’t. And I can keep making great plans, but maybe something will get in the way again and I really feel like I can’t wait any longer, so forgive me that I’m doing this in some weird old motel.”

Jimin’s heart leaped from his chest. His Omega was getting restless at the sheer thought of what Jeongguk could be implying. He felt almost paralyzed, only his eyes following his Alpha as he walked around the bed and came to a halt right in front of Jimin. He looked up at him with big eyes and didn’t even notice that Jeongguk had pulled the present out from behind his back and a small velvet box was resting in his hand. He didn’t notice until Jeongguk bent down on one knee in front of him, opened the box, and presented a delicate and simple silver sing to Jimin, whose heart started beating wildly in his chest. With a loud gasp, he brought his hands up to his face and in front of his mouth parted in shock. The good kind, mind you.

“Park Jimin,” Jeongguk spoke again, his voice suddenly sounding a little choked up and hazy. “Will you become mine and let me become yours? Will you become my mate?”

After six years of dating, he should have expected it, and maybe he did. But it didn’t lessen the impact of that seemingly simple question. Jimin looked back and forth between Jeongguk’s face and the ring in his hands and he was afraid that if he held his breath any longer he might have passed out. Tears sprung to his eyes as if on cue, his mind still trying to process what was happening. His Omega was all over the place, yearning and screaming from joy, already figuratively clawing to be let out. 

Probably a little too late he realized that he still hadn’t given Jeongguk an answer. 

“Of course, yes, oh my God,” he blabbered out almost incoherently, not quite sure how he should express just how much he wanted to. He flung himself forward, right into Jeongguk’s arms, who dropped the ring on instinct, trying to hold onto Jimin’s body instead. And Jimin didn’t even let him search for it, peppering kisses all over his face, only pausing to wipe his tears every now and then. 

Jimin whined deep in his throat, pulling at Jeongguk’s arms to pull him up into the bed with him. His primal side was coming through more, the promise of a mating bond making his Omega go crazy inside his chest. The Alpha barely managed to feel for the box on the ground, before giving in and climbing onto the bed.

They held it in for just as long as it took to slip the ring on Jimin’s shaking hand, before they were back all over each other. Their hands were roaming and their mouths were tracing, kissing and nibbling every piece of exposed skin they could find. Jimin felt like he was in a frenzy, the only thing that mattered right now was being close to his Alpha. His lips always found their way back to Jeongguk’s scent gland like a magnet and he loved the pleased sounds Jeongguk was making as he sucked a bruise right next to the sensitive patch of skin, licking over it with his tongue to scent him. Jeongguk’s instincts seemed to want the same, so it didn’t take long for the whole room to smell like a beautiful mix of wine, berries, apples and cinnamon. Even two hours away from their apartment in a strange town in a weird motel their scents and the arms wrapped tightly around him made it feel like home . Because in the end, his home would always be where Jeongguk was. 

Slowly the frenzy ebbed off, making way for more gentle touches and lazy kisses, because even after all the excitement, the exhaustion was still heavy in their bones. They fell asleep shortly after, their hands intertwined as usual, but this time, just before falling asleep, Jeongguk ran his thumb over the ring, both their hearts full with the promise of a mating bond.

*

The next day rolled around and Jimin was woken up by a ray of sunshine that had inconveniently fallen right across his eyes. He tried to turn back around and sleep for a bit more, but now that he had rested the bed was a little too hard to be inviting. Careful not to make too much noise, although that was pretty difficult with the creaking wood underneath him, he grabbed his phone and made his way to the tiny bathroom to freshen up and call Taehyung, so that he could pick them up as soon as possible. Their family had offered too, but since their car wouldn’t be repaired until some time next week and they didn’t even know whether it was reparable at all, they didn’t want to burden someone with an eight-hour drive to get them home and back. 

The phone kept ringing and when Jimin looked at the clock he realized that his best friend was probably still asleep. He was about to hang up when the line clicked after all. 

“What do you want?” Taehyung’s gruff voice rang through the speaker.

“Good morning to you too, sunshine,” Jimin teased him. Taehyung wasn’t usually grumpy in the mornings, but he probably had a long night and was a tiny little hungover too- 

“This better be important. You better be engaged or some shit or I’m ending the call right now.”

This wasn’t how Jimin had expected to drop the bomb on his best friend, but now that the opportunity presented itself he couldn’t help but toy with him a little bit. 

“Actually, now that you mention it, yes I am, but that’s not why I’m calling,” Jimin said, trying not to let his grin sound in his voice. Suddenly there was rustling, a pained grunt from Taehyung, who apparently hit his head back against the headboard as he scrambled up and a different voice speaking somewhere in the background.

“Is that Jimin? Tell him to call again later.”

Jimin’s jaw dropped. He knew that voice all too well, but why was it there in the morning when Taehyung was still in bed? And it sounded so close too. There was only one possible explanation and Jimin started bouncing in place.

“What do you mean? You’re actually engaged? I mean it was about time, but damn, congratulations,” Taehyung expertly ignored the interruption. “How did he propose?”

“I’ll tell you if you tell me what Yoongi hyung is doing in your bed,” Jimin deadpanned and was greeted with a stunned silence. He could perfectly imagine the shocked and maybe a little panicked looks the two were probably exchanging right now and it took all of his willpower to not just scream his excitement over the phone. 

“Was nice talking to you, see you later,” Taehyung suddenly rattled, trying to end his call, so he didn’t have to explain himself, which reminded Jimin of why he was calling in the first place. 

“No! TaeTae, wait! I need you!” 

That seemed to do the trick, because the line was silent again, Taehyung awaiting Jimin’s explanation. 

“I can tell you all about the proposal on a two hour drive back home after you’ve picked us up in the middle of nowhere, how does that sound?” Jimin offered, his voice syrupy and sweet, and started explaining their dilemma. Taehyung obviously agreed to pick them up and Jimin sent him their location, keeping his questions about Yoongi hyung to himself. For now. He’d have plenty of time to grill him later as well. 

He finished getting ready for the day and while he brushed his teeth his eyes were fixed on the simple ring on his finger. He found that he couldn’t really look away anymore, too happy about what it stood for. Frankly, it had been clear for both of them that they would mate eventually. And yet having that token of promise to see and to feel and to hold onto made his human side simply ecstatic and his Omega finally felt settled and secure, knowing that they’d finally get that bond they’d been craving for so long. 

His eyes were still on his ring when he exited the bathroom, where Jeongguk was already up, scrolling through his phone, only looking up when he heard Jimin coming. 

“Good morning, baby. What was that fuss all about?”

As expected the walls of the motel were pretty thin, so he probably heard most of the phone call and being the nosy soul he was sometimes he immediately cut to the chase. 

“I asked Taehyung whether he could pick us up, which he will and you wouldn’t guess who was with him this morning,” Jimin singsonged, excited to break the news to Jeongguk. They had been talking about a possible romance between those two for a while after all. 

“Yoongi hyung?” Jeongguk guessed and Jimin plopped back down onto the bed, humming his confirmation. “Was about time.”

“I know, but we have to be nice to him at least until we’re back in Seoul,” Jimin laughed.

Jeongguk sighed dramatically, rolling over so he was lying half on top of Jimin. 

“When did he say he’s going to pick us up?”

“He was still in bed, but he said he’d get going as soon as possible, so I think that gives us about three hours, considering he has an added distraction today.”

“And what do we do with those three hours?” Jeongguk asked, feigning innocence. Jimin knew exactly what he was playing at and his hands were already busy roaming Jeongguk’s body and slipping under the waistband of his sweats.

“I think I might have an idea.”

*

When Taehyung arrived almost exactly three hours later, he rolled his eyes almost into the back of his head when Jimin asked him if they could stop somewhere for breakfast, knowing fully well why they hadn’t gotten around to it already. Thankfully he was easily placated by the stories of their previous night and since everyone had a lot to tell their ride went by quickly.  Finally back in Seoul, Taehyung set the couple off in front of their building, making them promise to invite him to a fancy dinner for picking them up. Jimin happily agreed, thanking his best friend with a long hug, before they got out of the car. 

“Greet Yoongi hyung for us,” Jeongguk teased Taehyung right before he shut the door and watched as the Omega drove away, sticking his tongue out at them until he was out of sight. And so they carried their stuff inside, all the presents for their families untouched and still wrapped except for that one blanket and the cookies. He should be home in Busan right now, but still Jimin couldn’t help but feel somewhat happy about being home in Seoul right now. His need to be close to Jeongguk was even more heightened since the proposal and a selfish part of him was looking forward to having him all to himself now. Well he had to share with their cats, but he could bear with that. While Jeongguk showered Jimin fed and pet Cosmo and Wanda, because Taehyung obviously hadn’t gotten around to it yet this morning, smiling at them happily purring and bonking their heads against his head impatiently. 

When it was his turn to shower he allowed himself a few minutes of just standing under the almost scorchingly hot stream of water, trying to sort his thoughts and relaxing his muscles after a night in an uncomfortable bed. A lot had happened since yesterday and it was still hard for Jimin to wrap his head around how so much had changed and yet everything was still the same. He was still deep in thought when he came out into the living room, wearing sweats and one of Jeongguk’s hoodies that he liked to snatch for himself. And just like any other weekend Jeongguk had stirred up the fireplace, gotten some snacks from the pantry and put on a movie for them to watch. 

And even though it was The Avengers and that was one of his favorite movies he couldn’t concentrate. Their couch was still pulled out and arranged as a small nest for them to snuggle up in and Jeongguk was lying behind Jimin, his leg thrown over Jimin’s hips casually. It felt anything but casual for Jimin. For some reason he was hyper aware of his Alpha’s presence behind him. His body heat seeping through his clothes into his skin, the hand on his waist, gently stroking up and down, and his scent engulfing him sweetly - it was all Jimin could focus on. Jeongguk even had the audacity to let his nose run along Jimin’s neck every once in a while, nuzzling him just a bit off his scent gland and it was driving him insane. He looked calm on the outside, but he was fighting a war with his Omega on the inside. The sense of content and security he had first felt had slowly but surely turned into an overwhelming fixation with the Alpha and he felt his Omega’s cravings more and more as the minutes passed, especially with Jeongguk’s breath fanning over his scent gland every so often. 

Apparently, he was so out of it that he didn’t even laugh when Iron Man smashed into Thor while he was talking to Loki, which was one of  his favorite scenes and never failed to crack him up. Of course, Jeongguk had noticed too and nudged him gently from behind. 

“Something wrong, baby?” he asked softly, squeezing his waist reassuringly. 

Nothing was wrong. Not in that sense at least. If anything things were too right and Jimin couldn’t hold his anticipation off any longer. His Omega was definitely taking after him, with the way it was so incredibly persistent if it wanted something. He couldn’t stop the words that were suddenly bubbling out of him. 

“What are we waiting for?”

Jeongguk made a confused sound behind him and Jimin turned in his hold to look at him. Jimin must have looked and smelled pretty desperate, because he could smell a faint hint of calming pheromones in the air, Jeongguk’s immediate response whenever his Omega seemed to be stressed about something. 

“What do you mean?” Jeongguk asked him to clarify. 

His brows were furrowed as he was trying to figure out what Jimin meant. 

“The mating, what are we waiting for?”

The question took Jeongguk off guard, who seemed to freeze in his spot, looking at Jimin with alarmed eyes. Suddenly Jimin felt very nervous about his bold question as his heart started hammering in his chest. He didn’t want to put the Alpha on the spot like that or create some unnecessary pressure, but he still hadn’t said anything and if anything he looked kind of mortified. A rare uncomfortable silence stretched between them and Jimin could feel heat crawling up his neck and to his cheeks, a little embarrassed that he couldn’t control his wolf better. He was acting on pure instinct here. It wasn’t like making a wish for Christmas or just simply wanting something in life. There was a raw and almost feral need growing in Jimin to feel Jeongguk’s bite against his neck, so he didn’t want to back down before receiving a proper answer, so he quickly went to elaborate. 

“Look, baby, I know how it usually goes. Usually you get engaged to be mated and then tell everyone and plan a party and everything and you get to enjoy that special time of being kind of in the middle. And if you want that, of course I’ll respect that and we’ll wait for however long you want. But if I have learned anything from yesterday, it’s that all of that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter where we are, who’s with us, if it’s a deserted parking lot, a dirty motel, a high class hotel or our little cozy home. As long as I can be with you the circumstances couldn’t matter less, it will be equally perfect either way. You’ve seen how quickly plans get ruined, so why make them in the first place? I don’t know about you and your Alpha, but this Omega right here can’t wait to fully be yours and make you mine.”

Jimin’s nose was twitching, tears threatening to spill after his almost desperate monologue, but he managed to keep them at bay. Instead he looked at Jeongguk’s stunned expression, who clearly hadn’t expected such an outburst. 

“You’re right.”

Jeongguk sounded disbelieving of his own words as he muttered them, the nervous edge in his scent still present. Jimin refrained from releasing his own calming pheromones, not wanting to in any way influence his boyfriend’s decision. His heart filled with joy at the words, but he didn’t say anything, because he still didn’t seem sure, although he could see Jeongguk’s gaze getting firmer, looking less lost. 

“You’re right,” he repeated again, this time with more confidence in his words. “I feel the same way. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this almost overwhelming urge in my chest or what it meant, but now that you’ve explained your side I’m certain. I love you, I always have and being your boyfriend is amazing, too, but now with the promise made it’s like the bond is so close I can taste it. And every minute without it seems like wasted time.”

Jimin nodded eagerly throughout all of Jeongguk’s words, locking eyes with him. 

“So does that mean -?” Jimin started hesitantly, but was cut off by soft lips on his, in a chaste kiss.

“It means, if you’ll have me, I’ll become your mate right here and now and you’ll become mine.”

“I’d love that.”

His mind was already running wild, the reality of their situation slowly sinking in. After six years of dating, of waiting for the perfect moment, they really decided that this one was as good as any. And it couldn’t have felt more liberating. There was no pressure, no awkwardness, no made up plans you wanted to stick to, it was just the two of them manifesting their love in yet another way, arguably the most meaningful of all. And yet it felt easy and so natural.
Jimin reached for the remote and turned the TV off and they sat up, shifting into a comfortable position with Jimin facing Jeongguk while sitting in his lap. Their eyes met, and they smiled, knowing that they made the right decision doing it their own way. Jimin scooted a little closer, his Omega already doing backflips inside of him. Their scents intensified impossibly, so thick in the air that Jimin felt like he was getting high with every inhale. As if on instinct his head lolled to the side and he watched with hooded eyes as Jeongguk licked his lips and let out a low growl, his sparkling doe eyes fixed on the smooth expanse of Jimin’s throat before him. 

“I love you, Jimin,” he whispered softly, but with so much emotion his voice threatened to break.

“I love you more,” Jimin smiled back, nodding reassuringly and craning his neck to expose it even more. 

“I love you most,” Jeongguk concluded confidently. First he let his fingers gently brush over Jimin’s scent gland, then his nose and finally his lips, pressing a loving kiss to the sensitive spot until finally Jimin felt the initial sting of teeth breaking his skin as Jeongguk sank his teeth into Jimin’s flesh to bond them for life.