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jeongguk was an alpha. everyone knew that, expected it, there was no doubt that jeon jeongguk was going to present as an alpha.
jeongguk got to go out whenever he wanted, and he got to do whatever he wanted, no consequences and no complaints from anyone.
he was strong, buff, he liked doing all of the activities alphas did. his hands were rough with callouses, and he had somewhat broad shoulders, a strong jaw and striking features.
of course, he did have some softer features- his big doe eyes, his tiny waist, thick thighs. he did enjoy the activities omegas did as well, appreciated them.
he was just always told he was an alpha. he was always treated as an alpha, and hung around alphas and betas his entire life. he was an alpha.
when he presented as an omega, his entire fucking world changed, and he could hardly breathe.
he wasn’t even allowed to leave the house anymore, and he had to have an alpha escort him around when he was (which was a rare occurrence).
frankly, he was sick of it. he wanted to go, he wanted to be free again, he just wanted to be normal.
jeongguk had gotten quite the supply of jewelry from his parents when he presented- they were always spoiling him these days- and he did the only thing that he could think of.
he threw all of the very, very expensive jewelry in a bag, and another he filled with clothes.
“jeongguk-ah, are you going to help make dinner?” one of the omegas called for him softly.
“noona, ‘m not feeling very well today, i think ‘m just gonna sleep.”
“oh? i’ll check on you later, then.”
he waited until the rest of the omegas were eating dinner sometime in the evening, to sneak out through the window of his room.
he shifted and fucking ran, ran until his legs gave out.
he ended up on the outskirts of the city, bright lights a comforting sight after the year he spent stuck at home. he might as well have been rapunzel, nothing more than a princess trapped in a tower.
but jeongguk was not some damsel in distress. sure, he had softened in his year of being an omega- his instincts were so fucking annoying, making him shy away from people and cry and want to run when he felt threatened- but jeongguk had been raised like an alpha for twenty years. he had been to the city plenty of times. he could take care of himself.
so, he was wandering the streets.
he found a pawn shop after much searching, and he ended up slipping in, the little bell tinkling, and immediately all of the eyes in the shop (three sets) were on him. he almost whimpered, but instead squared his shoulders and marched right up to the register.
“hello.” the alpha cooed. “what’s an omega doing in my shop, hm?”
“i want to sell some stuff.” he said.
“oh? what have you got, precious?”
he picked up the bag and dropped it, hitting the wooden counter with a little thunk.
“why would you want to sell your jewelry?”
“i don’t have any use for it.” jeongguk said, acting aloof.
“one million won for all of this.”
what?” jeongguk was absolutely outraged. “i very much pity your business… it would be such a shame if anyone found out you think that omegas are stupid enough to believe that this much jewelry only costs one million won.”
the alpha swallowed, and jeongguk leaned forward. “and it doesn’t seem like you have many customers, either,” he drawled, glancing behind him at the mostly empty glass display cases, “so i suggest you don’t argue. these aren’t even worth a billion.”
“what do you want for them?”
“two billion.” he said, eyes like steel, daring him to argue.
“one.”
“two.”
“one point three.”
“one point eight.” jeongguk said, hands over the bag, clutching it.
“one point five.”
“one point seven.” jeongguk said defiantly.
“one point six.”
“i won’t take any less than one point seven, alpha.” jeongguk dared, and the alpha snarled, furiously upturning the register into a bag.
“there’s two.” he growled, snatching jeongguk’s bag, “get the hell out of my shop.”
“i hope you’re thankful for the profit my contribution will bring in.” jeongguk smirked, waving as he zipped the bag and walked out.
someone followed him out, though, an alpha, and they grabbed his wrist. he immediately felt smaller, unsafe, but he let out a growl as he whipped around the tell off the alpha- only of get shoved against the brick wall, hand around his throat, and he swallowed hard, eyes full of terror.
“you’ll never catch any alphas with that attitude.” the alpha said, and jeongguk felt frozen, but he licked his lips and snarked back.
“seems to be attracting you fine. i don’t want an alpha. leave me alone.”
“disrespectful fucking bitch.” the alpha growled, slotting his legs between jeongguk’s thighs, and he swallowed again, the hand tightening around his neck. he wanted to fucking scream and cry, to run and cower somewhere, and his hand still clutched the bag of money tightly, refusing to let go of his profit. “what do you even need money for, huh? alpha isn’t taking care of you?
“i prefer taking care of myself.” he said, finally finding the strength to push at the alpha, but he didn’t budge.
jeongguk couldn’t swallow his whimper that time, a long, drawn out thing, and the alpha laughed.
“hm, so the brat can be good, hm? know your fucking place, bitch.”
jeongguk opened his mouth, and apologies started pouring out, pleas, and the alpha was fucking eating it up.
“leave me alone, please, i- i didn’t-”
“excuse me??” an alpha stepped in, shoving the man away from him. “douchebag.” he scoffed at the other, and he tilted jeongguk’s chin up. “honey? are you alright?”
jeongguk flinched from him, still scared, and he sobbed weakly, ducking his head away from the alpha, and he dropped so that he was crouching. the alpha crouched as well, consoling jeongguk.
“you’re okay, honey, he’s gone now. he’s gone, you’re okay.”
“i- i-” jeongguk broke off into another whimper.
“how old are you, honey? where do you live?”
the alpha must’ve mistaken his head shake to mean he didn’t want to tell him, but jeongguk simply meant he didn’t have a place to live.
“okay, so.. you don’t want me to walk you home?”
“nuh- no.”
“okay.” he agreed easily, “you want me to leave you alone, now?”
jeongguk whispered a “please”, and the alpha was gone with a little “take care”.
jeongguk squeezed his eyes shut tightly, standing and heading off in the opposite direction. where would he stay? he could stay in the woods, he supposed, but if he did his pack would find him. maybe he could-
wait
he had just walked past a for-sale sign in a van window.
he turned himself back around, and walked back up, examining the van.
“do you like it??” a middle aged male had come out of his house, “i can’t drive any longer, i can’t see too well, and i figured someone else might need it more than i do.” he offered, and jeongguk smiled wearily.
“how much, ahjussi?” he asked softly.
“five hundred thousand.” the man said.
“ahjussi.. are you certain?”
the man nodded. “it’s not that great of a car, to be perfectly honest, and you seem like a sweet kid. and a tired one.”
jeongguk nodded weakly, stepping forward and unzipping the bag, pulling out ten fifty thousand bills and holding them out for him, smiling in relief when he was handed the keys.
“thank you so much, ahjussi.” he bowed a few times, and then he grinned to himself as he hopped in the driver’s seat.
of course, he technically shouldn’t drive, being an omega. if he got pulled over, then it would be an alpha, and most alphas looked down on the fact that he was alone- omegas were supposed to be taken care of. alpha should drive. and so he would definitely get hassled about that, but it wasn’t illegal for omegas to drive, and he had a driver’s license, so… he hopped in and started it, noticing immediately that he would need gas soon.
he liked it, it smelled clean, and it appeared as if the seats in the back could be folded down. it actually wasn’t in that bad of a shape, except the wheel was pulling to the left a little. he could easily get used to that.
jeongguk blinked. where should be park the car?
maybe he shouldn’t stay in this city. it could be easy to find him.
but his pack almost never came into the city.
so he ultimately, hesitantly, decided to stay.
and that was where he still was, three months later. on a college campus, with more omegas than he had actually expected, but jeongguk loved it there- when he wasn’t being harassed by alphas.
they had taken a liking to him, even though he repeatedly expressed that he didn’t want shit to do with them, and by that point, the snark was a façade he used as a shield from them.
however, it did not work for stronger alphas, and there were plenty of those at the school. the snark only came when he was annoyed, but when he felt genuinely threatened, it crumbled away until he was just this tiny, scared little thing.
and he put on a brave face, still.
this particular time, he was pinned against the hallway wall in school, and the alpha had trapped his wrists in one hand, and his other was trailing over jeongguk’s ribs, and he had his eyes squeezed shut, whimpering loudly. he needed out, i need out ineedoutineedouthelphelphelpican’tbreathe-
he sobbed loudly, no longer able to hold back the tears or the fear he had been trying so desperately to hide, “stop, please-” he cried, squeaking when the alpha nuzzled into his neck, biting down just hard enough to hurt, “please, guh-go away,”
“hey!!” someone shouted, and the alpha didn’t even let go, he just turned towards them. “fuck off, man, he asked you to stop.” the alpha growled, ripping him away from jeongguk.
“i just keep finding guys all over you, huh, honey?” the alpha said, and jeongguk couldn’t recognise him, tears blurring his vision and fear pounding in his ears.
“huh?”
“outside of the pawn shop, hon. are you okay?”
“he’s having a panic attack.” another alpha said, and he hummed, bending over to look at jeongguk’s face.
“honey,” he cooed. “honey, can you try and breathe for me?”
jeongguk panted, trying so hard to just do as he said, but his neck burned where the alpha had touched him, and he was scratching at the skin rather harshly.
“hey, hey, don’t hurt yourself.”
jeongguk whimpered at him.
the other alpha gently pushed him out of the way, and then his face was in front of jeongguk’s. he was pretty.
“hi there, darling. don’t worry, i won’t touch, okay?” he said. “my name is seokjin. can you take a deep breath and say that?”
jeongguk did as the alpha asked, breathing still quick.
“good, can you take two deep breaths and tell me your name?”
he did, unsure of the point.
“okay, three deep breaths and your favorite song.”
pretty soon, that method worked, and he had significantly calmed down, seokjin smiling at him softly. “you did it, jeongguk-ssi!”
jeongguk let out a shaky sigh and let his head fall onto his chest.
“jeongguk-ssi, is there any more classes that you attend that you would like to go to?”
jeongguk shook his head. that class wasn’t important.
“would you like us to walk you home, then??” the one who wasn’t seokjin asked.
no, i live in a van in a parking lot.
“no, it’s okay.” jeongguk mumbled. “i can do it on my own.”
“and i’m sure you’re more than capable.” seokjin assured in a matter of fact tone. “we were just wondering if it made you feel safer to walk home with someone rather than alone.”
oh. he.. he was embarrassed, the first nice alphas he had met, and he really, really did want to feel secure on his way home.
“no, thank you.”
the first started scribbling on a sticky note, and he handed it to jeongguk with a little smile when he was done.
“call hyung if you need anything.” he mumbled, ruffling his hair and lacing his hand with seokjin’s as they walked off.
jeongguk looked down to read the note. ‘min yoongi, xxx-xxx-xxxx’. he smiled, pocketing the number.
yoongi.
pretty name.
he made his way ‘home’, shoulders inching up slowly to protect his neck.
he got to the van and curled up in the blankets and cried.
--
the way he lived was actually tolerable. he went to a soup kitchen when he had to, but a lot of storekeepers refused to let him pay for his groceries, so long as it wasn’t that much. he did all of his hygiene in the woods- it was easier to bathe and use the toilets in his wolf form, considering how many rivers were in the woods.
he was surviving.
but, his heat was about due, and that was not fucking good.
he would have to be alone, in the cold car for fucking days, and that would not be comfortable and he would have to wash all of his blankets a few times to get the smell out.
and of course, he hadn’t noticed his preheat scent, at all, so there were more alphas on him that day, and he growled at them, absolutely annoyed.
“uhm, i don’t know if you know, you’re in preheat.” an alpha had kindly told him- one who looked like a stereotypical alpha- buff arms, and his chest made jeongguk want to cry, it was so beautiful, and he had a fucking dimple. jeongguk was enthralled by the alpha. he was so gorgeous.
“oh, oh fuck.” jeongguk said, “uh, thanks, i need to get home, shit.” he hissed, running off as the alpha called after him.
jeongguk didn’t get encountered again, on his way to the store, and he got a bunch more blankets and a case of water, carrying them to the van and getting offers from alphas to carry the water case. he almost said yes, to one, because he was starting to feel lightheaded and weak, but he managed it and got them into the back of the car, quickly unbundling the blankets and slamming the back doors shut.
he scented the new blankets and added them to his nest, whimpering when he got done. fuck, this was gonna suck so bad.
sure enough, when he woke up, his briefs were full of slick, he felt like he was freezing to death, and the pain in his stomach was unlike ever before- his heats were never this bad before he left.
he whimpered, getting himself a water bottle, and he downed about half of it before collapsing back into his nest, burying his face and moaning softly, frustrated when the blankets were too soft for him to gain any relief by grinding against.
he started bawling after a while, so desperate and lonely, and he felt so fucking overwhelmed because he couldn’t relieve himself, and he was so, so cold.
after about five days, it was over, and he was absolutely exhausted. he slept for a few hours, and then drove the car to the laundromat, washing all of his blankets.
he parked the car and ran into the woods to take a bath in the river.
he made his way back to his parking spot, and then he made his way to his afternoon classes.
he was dead on his feat, and looked smaller than usual, and his clothes still faintly smelled of heat, drawing alphas in. when did he not?
the one alpha, though, would not leave him alone.
“please, just leave me alone. i’m so tired.” he said, eyes drooping and feet shuffling as he weakly tried to pull away.
he actually managed to weasel his way out, grabbing his phone from his pocket and running, legs burning with effort, and he got himself into one of the empty lecture halls, back against the door to hold it shut because of course the doors didn’t lock.
he dialled the only number he had saved in his phone, anxious and exhausted, and they picked up on the second ring with a little, “hello?”
“yoongi-ssi, uh, it’s jeongguk.. the- the omega?”
“yeah, jeongguk-ssi, i remember. what’s going on? do you need something?”
jeongguk heard pounding on the door. “uhm, there’s- there’s an alpha who won’t leave me alone and i just got out of heat so i’m really, really tired and i just want to get through the day and get home-”
“okay, okay, slow down. where are you?”
“i- i’m in an empty lecture hall, there’s- uh, i don’t know… it’s in the history wing.” he mumbled, letting out a scared little shriek when the pounding resumed.
“sh, it’s gonna be okay. hyung will help, okay?”
jeongguk just whimpered, and yoongi hung up. whenever the alpha actually tried to get in, he bolted, hiding somewhere in the back of the cold room, and after a long while of waiting, he heard a soft call.
“jeongguk-ssi?? are you in here, doll?”
that was not yoongi, but it also wasn’t the alpha from before. he looked down at his phone to see a message from yoongi illuminating the screen.
yoongi-ssi: i sent one of my mates.
he’s gonna help, i’m about to go into
rut so i probably shouldn’t be around
you, i’m so sorry.
jeongguk peeked out from under the table, seeing a guy, short and cute, but his scent was unmistakably alpha. why did yoongi have two alpha mates?
“doll, yoongi-hyung sent me. are you okay?”
jeongguk felt frozen, but he let out a soft, breathy, “no,” after doing a quick once over- the alphas nails had dug into his wrist and left little bloody crescents, and there was a bruise already forming. he also felt like he was gonna pass out.
“can i come closer?” the alpha asked softly.
“who are you?”
“my name is jimin, i’m yoongi’s mate.”
“i know. y’can come closer, jimin-ssi.”
“you’re hurt, right? may i see?” he asked when he crouched down a few feet away, holding out his hand.
jeongguk slowly placed his arm in jimin’s. he was warm, and his hands were soft.
“feel like i’m gonna pass out.”
jimin had slipped his bookbag off, and he was rifling through it with one hand, rubbing soothing, light circles into the bruise on his wrist, and at jeongguk’s words he looked up, concerned.
“hey, no. you just got out of heat, did you have someone there to help you?”
jeongguk shook his head, resting it on the cool table leg.
“did you eat?”
he shook his head again. “was too nauseous.”
“did you eat after your heat?”
jeongguk shook it once more, eyelids slipping shut. jimin smelled nice, and jeongguk’s head hurt.
“okay, doll, can you eat some of these for me?” jimin asked, and jeongguk’s eyelids fluttered open to watch as jimin opened a big bag of honey butter chips, and handed them to him.
“thank you.” jeongguk said softly, eating a few while jimin stuck little band-aids over the fingernail marks. “you seem prepared for anything.” he mumbled, peeking into the pocket of jimin’s bookbag, which was full of bandaids, and a bottle of pills.
“yeah, one of my other mates is really clumsy and hurts himself a lot, so i keep them for him.” jimin smiled softly.
“how many mates do you have?”
“five.” jimin said. “i’m second youngest and therefore i get baby rights.”
jeongguk giggled, and then winced when it made his headache flare up.
“you want some ibuprofen? headache??”
jeongguk blushed sheepishly, nodding, and jimin shook out two of the little red pills, handing them to jeongguk.
“are all of your mates alphas?”
“mhm.” jimin said, eating one of the chips. “but we aren’t like, those really traditional asshole alphas.”
“i see. you must be the cool alphas.” jeongguk said sagely, making jimin laugh and throw a chip at him.
“yah! why do you sound sarcastic! i am a cool alpha!”
“yes, very cool. i love the paw patrol bandaids.”
“the dogs are cute!” he defended.
they were both laughing, jeongguk even happier because it felt like before he had presented, when he could just be friends with whoever he pleased.
“no, really, though. you do seem pretty cool.”
“aha!! you admitted it! this means you’re legally required to hang out with me at least once a week.”
jeongguk smiled weakly. he did want to hang out with him. jimin made him feel normal.
“i accept.” jeongguk said, eating another few chips.
“great, when are you free for lunch?”
“uh, i don’t have classes from eleven to one every day.”
“wait, here.” jimin said, pulling out his phone and holding it out for jeongguk, who (adorably) got flustered and couldn’t remember his phone number, pulling his own out and handing it to jimin instead.
“how do you only have yoongi-hyung in your phone?” he snorted, typing it in, and jeongguk shrunk.
“i don’t… i don’t really have many friends. none at all, kinda.” he murmured, scratching at his head.
“that won’t do.” jimin tsked, “you’ll have to meet the rest of our pack.”
“pack? nuh-no, no packs-” he practically pleaded. when he heard the word pack, all he could think of was being locked in the house and forced to bake and sew, not the freedom he had now. “i don’t-”
“hey, hey, relax, i was just talking about my alphas, doll. remember? i told you we were mated.”
jeongguk sniffled, wiping at the tears that had formed. he was feeling claustrophobic, and he scrambled to get out from under the table.
“i- i don’t…”
“you’re from a traditional pack, yeah? most people are, it’s okay.”
“traditional?”
“familial pack, you know? based on one family that formed a bigger pack by marriage. and their views are absolutely horrid, they think omegas have to be at home all the time and the alpha is the protector.” jimin rolled his eyes. “trust me, my alphas are nothing like that. presentation doesn’t matter in our pack.”
jeongguk only blinked at him. he hated that word, he hated it.
“doll, it’s alright. you don’t really have to meet them, i mean-”
“nuh- no, i- i want to meet them, but…”
“what?”
“i feel like the attention will be on me if we meet them all together and that’s too much attention from too many alphas, i- i don’t want…”
“you are literally so cute.” jimin cooed loudly. “don’t worry, i’ll rope taetae into my shenanigans and we’ll distract them a bit.”
“cute??” jeongguk felt a flush rise on his cheeks. it was an unusual compliment, considering he was built like an alpha, and cute wasn’t usually a word used to describe alphas.
“uh-huh. i just want to put you in my pocket and keep you there forever.” jimin said, and jeongguk was really red now, covering his ears and ducking his head.
“ah, thank you, jimin-ssi.” he mumbled softly, occupying himself by eating another chip. “i don’t think i’m cute.”
“what? that’s ridiculous, doll, you’re absolutely adorable.”
jeongguk giggled at the praise, a little tiny bunny smile present. it made jimin coo even more, and he ducked his head to hide his smile the second time.
“but, uh, will you meet my pack?” he asked, and jeongguk tensed up.
“i don’t like that word, jimin-ssi.”
“fine. will you meet my mates?”
“yeah.”
“sweet. meet us on the quads, closer to the doors by the art wing. you know where that is??” jeongguk nodded, “okay, there after your morning classes on friday. now, i believe you have somewhere to be..”
“huh?” jeongguk looked down at his phone, seeing it was five minutes until his class started. “ah, shit.” he muttered, now looking every bit of the exhausted that he felt.
“come on, i’ll walk you.” jimin said, packing the stuff he had taken out into his backpack, and picking up all of the bandaid wrappers. he helped jeongguk up, and threw away the trash once they got to the door.
it was quiet as jeongguk trudged along, and jimin walked next to him, worried at the fact that every single alpha he had passed ignored jimin in favor of taking jeongguk’s clothes off with their eyes, and jimin paused, pulling him off to the side.
jeongguk looked at him with those big, shiny eyes, confused.
“jimin-ssi??”
“do you want me to scent you?? there are so many alphas staring at you, it’s sickening. maybe it would help with them bothering you, for now?”
“oh.” jeongguk looked surprised at the offer, eyes wide. “oh, you-”
“doll, you don’t have to say yes. i just wondered if you wanted me to.”
jeongguk nodded after a minute. jimin smelled so good, and it would be nice to not have alphas on top of him every three seconds.
and jimin smiled, using one finger to tap on his chin, and jeongguk automatically bared his neck, face flushing from how eager he was acting.
jimin had just rubbed his cheek against his neck, and jeongguk gasped, leaning into the touch and making jimin chuckle softly. he couldn’t help it, he was touch starved, and his omega was wriggling in excitement because an alpha was scenting him.
jimin rubbed his scent gland over jeongguk’s, and finished quickly enough so that jeongguk wouldn’t miss his class. jimin handed him a jacket that reeked of the alpha, and the omega resisted the urge to bury his face in it.
“go on, doll.”
“thank you, jimin-ssi.”
when he got to his seat, he took off his backpack and slung it onto the floor, and pulled on the jacket quickly.
he was encountered in the hallway, by an alpha who looked vaguely familiar. “you smell like one of my mates.” he said.
“ah- uhm, jimin-ssi scented me and gave me his jacket because i still smelled like heat a little.” he said, voice small and insecure.
“ah, okay. he’s a sweet kid.”
“uhm, yeah, he’s really nice.”
the alpha smiled, showing off that gorgeous dimple.
“well, i gotta go. nice meeting you.”
jeongguk just blinked. how could he say nice meeting you if they hadn’t even introduced themselves??
oh, well. he’d meet him on friday, anyways. that was just a week away.
he got home and added jimin’s jacket to his nest.
--
friday came by faster than he expected, and he felt anxiety bubbling up in throat at the thought of walking out there and all of jimin’s mates being there already. he didn’t want anyone to stare at him.
but luckily, it was only jimin and yoongi and another at the table, and their eyes widened when they saw each other. jimin and yoongi weren’t looking at them, and jeongguk shook his head and pleaded with his eyes.
taehyung’s face morphed into something more blank, and then jimin looked up.
“jeongguk-ssi!!” jimin called loudly, smile bright on his face.
“hi, jimin-ssi. yoongi-ssi.” he bowed slightly, and then to the alpha.
“this is taehyung.” jimin said, grabbing his hand, and jeongguk nodded.
“nice to meet you, taehyung-ssi.”
he slid into the chair next to yoongi, and the alpha asked if he could hug him. jeongguk allowed it.
“he’s feeling clingy since he just got out of rut. he’s gonna deny it once he’s actually back in his head, though.”
yoongi pouted, and jimin giggled. taehyung looked like he was analyzing jeongguk, and jeongguk just liked the way yoongi’s little nose nudged into his hairline while he hugged him.
then the rest of the alphas were at the table. “oh, i hadn’t realized we had a guest joining us.” one said, voice a little hard, and jeongguk’s eyes flew up to him, concerned. he didn’t like that tone, not one bit. he almost whimpered.
the other two he recognised. he desperately looked at jimin for introductions, and jimin introduced them as namjoon and seokjin and hoseok. “this is jeongguk-ssi.”
jeongguk felt his anxiety bubble back up. jimin promised they wouldn’t stare at him, but hoseok and taehyung were drilling holes into his face with their eyes. he was praying taehyung kept his mouth shut.
he eventually calmed down, when the conversation fell into a topic that he was fine with listening to.
“but the assignment miss lee assigned is literally so fucking hard, i just wanna disentigrate every time i go to actually ask anyone.”
“what assignment?” jeongguk asked softly.
“she wants us to model like, specific topics, and i got paint.” he said, “i just don’t know who to ask to splatter paint all over me and i want a really good photographer.”
jeongguk opened his mouth to say something, but someone else started talking, and he shrunk back.
“jeongguk-ah was going to say something.” yoongi said.
“no, no, uhm, it’s not that important..”
everyone was looking at him again, so he started speaking fastly, voice small and insecure, dwindling, “i mean you said you needed a photographer and i take photos and i- well, i just thought maybe i could help but-”
“you’re in a photo class??”
jeongguk nodded, feeling uncomfortable with the attention.
“wah, really?? could you really do that? do you have any pictures you took?”
“uh, yeah-” jeongguk pulled out his laptop, plugging in his usb and clicking through the files, and then turning the laptop towards taehyung, “you can, uhm, scroll left.”
taehyung’s jaw dropped. “holy shit, you’re so good.”
jeongguk flushed, face bright pink, and he buried it in yoongi’s shoulder, hearing a few coos.
“aw, poor baby.. so shy.”
jeongguk whined. “don’t make fun, you’re all looking at me.”
“oh, i’m sorry, doll.” jimin said, and jeongguk didn’t move from yoongi’s shirt to see jimin glare at the boys.
“jeongguk-ssi, these are really good.” he heard taehyung say softly, and he peeked out to see him sliding his laptop back. “would you really want to do it for me?”
jeongguk nodded a little. “i wanna help.”
“you’re so sweet.” yoongi said in his ear, and jeongguk felt so fucking content right now, wrapped up in yoongi’s arms. it had been so long since he had actually been around people. he was extremely touch starved.
the conversation moved on and continued until he could feel himself falling asleep, and he heard a soft coo, startling him.
“i think i’m gonna cry.” jimin said. “you’re so fucking cute.”
jeongguk did end up falling on yoongi’s shoulder, and the alpha woke him up so gently, just softly saying his name and rubbing his back until his nose scrunched, and he blinked awake slowly, sitting up quickly with a flush when he realized he had fallen asleep.
“it’s almost one, darling.” taehyung said. “come on, i’ll walk you. we can talk about the photoshoot thing i have to do.”
jeongguk sleepily agreed, stumbling along after taehyung after he said goodbye.
taehyung laced his fingers with jeongguk’s, walking slowly down the hallway.
“why are you keeping secrets from my pack, pup??” he asked with no malice, just curiosity.
jeongguk blinked at him.
taehyung volunteered at the soup kitchen jeongguk went to, and that meant he knew that jeongguk was homeless.
“it’s embarrassing.” jeongguk mumbled, shoving his hand into his pocket.
“it’s not, if you told them i’m sure they would just want to help-”
“i don’t want help.” jeongguk said immediately. “what i’m doing now works for me. i’ll ask if i need help.”
“you’ll accept help from a soup kitchen but not a supportive pack?” taehyung said. “look, i’m certain living on the streets is not fun or comfortable. and you just went through a heat, too, jeongguk, that’s not safe. you could’ve gotten-”
“but i didn’t.” jeongguk cut him off. “i didn’t and i can take care of myself.”
“how many times has my hyung had to help you while you were being harassed?”
“like three times. three out of what, dozens?” jeongguk said. “i can take care of myself, taehyung-ssi.”
“i didn’t say you couldn’t, i just don’t think it’s very safe-”
“i won’t talk about this anymore.” jeongguk said. “it’s fucking embarrassing and i don’t want you to tell them. i won’t trust you if you do.”
“i’m just worried about you!”
“so why didn’t you give a shit when i was just another fucking homeless kid at the soup kitchen? huh?” jeongguk asked, voice hard and accusing.
“i did, i just- i didn’t know you were getting harassed, i didn’t even know you were an omega! there are too many scents- look, i just don’t know why-”
jeongguk crossed his arms over his chest. “i said we aren’t talking about this. if you want to be friends with me then i suggest you don’t tell your alphas about it because if you do i will cut myself off from all of you. do you understand me, taehyung-ssi??”
taehyung swallowed his concern and nodded quickly.
“good. wanna give me your number so we can talk about the photoshoot?” jeongguk asked, immediately cutting the tension, and taehyung nodded and took jeongguk’s phone, putting his number in.
“thank you, really, i don’t know what i’d do without you. this project is due in like two weeks and i couldn’t find anyone to help-”
“it’s no problem, taehyung-ssi.” jeongguk smiled.
jeongguk hoped that he wouldn’t tell anyone.
--
jeongguk had started hanging out with them more often, and at that point it was almost every day.
namjoon was sweet, and jeongguk liked him a lot. a gentle, clumsy giant.
seokjin and jimin liked playing around with him, and taehyung did too, but it was sometimes tense with him, like when jeongguk refused walks or rides home.
yoongi was quiet, but jeongguk loved how soft and sweet he could be. he always remembered stupid little things about the omega.
in its entirety, the pack was definitely a little overbearing, but he found he didn’t quite mind because they always asked if it was okay before doing something, even with each other. it was so respectful and a lot of the things they did were so thoughtful.
jeongguk made his way home on legs made of lead- it turned out jimin liked dancing and had spent the entire afternoon wearing him out.
hoseok liked dancing too, according to jimin, but jeongguk was scared of him. he was a stronger alpha, which meant the omega couldn’t even attempt to snark at him, he just stared wide-eyed. so he stayed away from him, mostly.
--
jeongguk and taehyung planned the photoshoot for a day on the weekend, and it was in the back of an art room after their classes.
“where did you get your camera equipment??”
“i actually got it before i presented.” he said, “my pack wasn’t really big on like, technology. really traditional.” he said. “so i bargained for it when i was like fifteen.”
taehyung smiled. he was sitting on a counter, and jeongguk standing in front of him, a tray full of little plastic cups full of paint on the counter next to the alpha.
“okay, now this is the fun part.” jeongguk said, grabbing a paintbrush and dipping it into a light green paint, flicking it into tiny freckles on his face after he made sure taehyung closed his eyes.
he continued flicking lightly and splattering paint on him, sometimes picking up his camera to take pictures of him. he dumped the last of the yellow paint into the front of his hair, and taehyung squawked indignantly, pouting.
“don’t pout.” jeongguk pouted. “it’s for art.”
“for art.” taehyung scoffed, but smiled when jeongguk bopped him on the nose with light blue paint.
he smeared pink paint over his cheek, and then took a step back, throwing more of the paint onto his body instead of on his face, and then he washed his hands, picking up the camera.
taehyung wouldn’t stop complaining about the paint he was still finding in his hair a week later.
--
jeongguk had another heat, and he did get a few texts from the alphas, he told them he didn’t need help, even though he was bawling.
--
“wanna go get coffee?” hoseok had asked jeongguk one afternoon, and jeongguk couldn’t say no, couldn’t say anything, he just blinked at the alpha and looked around for jimin before nodding his head a little and following after like a lost puppy.
“jeongguk-ah, do i make you uncomfortable?”
“hoseok-ssi?”
“i know i do, i’m just not quite sure why.” hoseok hummed, “may i hold your hand?”
jeongguk looked down and nodded, letting his fingers lace with hoseok’s.
“with certain alphas, your scent is really strong and it makes it hard for me to actually fight back,” he whispered. “i just have to deal with whatever they want.”
“that’s why you need help sometimes?”
jeongguk nodded weakly. “don’t… i don’t need help. when they’re normal alphas. but sometimes the scent can be too overwhelming for me to do anything.”
hoseok nodded in understanding. “so, did you agree to coffee because you wanted to or because you felt you had no choice?”
jeongguk shrugged. “both?” he said, voice small. “i wanna get to know you because.. well, i really like the rest of your mates and they like you, yanno? but i mean, a little bit of the other, as well.”
“you do know that i would never make you do something you don’t want, right?” hoseok said, making direct eye contact with him, and he shrugged again and nodded.
“i know.” he said softly. “will you… will you give me one of your shirts, maybe? suh- so i can get used to your scent?”
hoseok decided not to tease, because in his opinion, this was a victory.
“yeah, of course.”
the next day, he handed jeongguk a shirt.
jeongguk shot him a big bunny smile and had his nose buried in the fabric as he laid on the quad with his head in yoongi’s lap, looking so soft and adorable.
and then he was pliant, soft, and confused, and that’s when hoseok realized the effect his scent had on the other. he couldn’t imagine how he would act if he had scented him.
jeongguk had taehyung walk him home, since he was the only one who knew jeongguk didn’t really have a home. the alpha frowned at his van, and jeongguk pouted.
“it’s a nice van.” he mumbled, clinging to hoseok’s shirt. “i like my van.”
“okay, baby.” taehyung said softly.
“i think they won’t like me if they know i live in a van.” he said, sounding like he was going to cry. “i just want them to like me, hyungie.”
“oh, ggukkie.. they’ll still like you, honey.” taehyung said, “see? i still like you.”
“but you’re you.” jeongguk stressed, opening the back car door with a little sob. “i just want them to like me.”
“they’ll still like you, i promise.” taehyung said, taking off his hoodie and wrapping it around jeongguk. “i promise, okay?”
jeongguk sniffled and buried his nose into taehyung’s hoodie. “okay.”
“i’ll see you tomorrow.”
the next day, jeongguk told jimin he was cold and giggled in glee when he got back to the car to add his hoodie to his nest.
he did the same with the rest of the alphas over the week, not sure why, and then on monday morning his heat hit, and he groaned in frustration.
he hadn’t even had time to prepare, only five water bottles in his car and a half dead phone, and his nest piled high, and he burrowed in and buried his face in one of their hoodies, and turned his phone completely off so that it wouldn’t die.
his omega was so upset because why weren’t his alphas there? why why why? do they hate him??
he could hardly think rationally, so when he heard a knock on the back doors of the van and smelled his alpha, he scrambled to fling the door open, burying his face in taehyung’s neck and bawling.
“hey, gguk, shhh, shh. alpha’s here, don’t worry.”
alpha, alpha. he inhaled deeply, whining and clutching at him like he was a lifeline.
“ggukkie, can i take you to our apartment? it’s much more comfortable there, i bet.”
jeongguk wanted that.
he just whimpered and clung to him, nodding and shivering against him.
taehyung picked up one of jeongguk’s blankets, wrapping it around him, and he started carrying him their apartment, the younger’s legs wrapped around his waist.
“the others don’t know where you live, but they kept bugging me to tell them and i sort of snapped and said it was none of their business and that i would check on you.”
jeongguk just hummed, shivering again. “alpha, cold.”
“i know, baby, i know.” he pulled the blanket tighter around the poor boy. he slipped his phone out of his pocket and dialled jimin’s number, knowing that he was probably still with the other alphas.
“tae?”
“gguk’s in heat.” taehyung said. “i’m bringing him home with me, he said it was fine and i don’t really feel comfortable with him staying here.”
“oh, shit.” jimin mumbled, and taehyung could hear him telling the others. “uhm, yeah, jin-hyung says that’s okay. does he need anything?”
taehyung hummed, hugging jeongguk closer to his chest. “do you need anything, honey?”
jeongguk just pushed his face into the crook of taehyung’s neck. “just want alphas. so cold.”
“he said he just wants us. probably get some blankets ready too.”
“got it.” jimin said. “see you soon.”
“yeah, see you.”
he hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket, and held jeongguk tightly, pressing kisses to his shoulder when he would whine.
they made it to the apartment in less than twenty minutes, and taehyung carried him straight into a pack of worried alphas, but jeongguk didn’t seem overwhelmed, just a little tired and a lot happy to see them. he immediately plowed into yoongi’s arms and then proceeded to collapse, legs like jelly.
he was almost crying in relief, so happy that his alphas were there, and then he got hit by another wave of heat, doubling over and clutching his stomach.
he pressed his face into yoongi’s thigh and let out a shaky groan, and the alpha petted his hair gently, and then moved to pick him up, helping him back to their guest room, where hoseok had thrown a bunch of their blankets into an obviously thought out nest.
“who?”
“hoseokie and jiminie made it.” yoongi said gently, and jeongguk nodded, gently sitting in the nest, and the rest of the alphas were standing in the doorway.
“alpha, i’m gonna mess it up.” he said, eyes wide with tears. “i don’t wanna mess it up.”
“it’s okay, darling, we made it for you to mess up.” hoseok said softly, coming closer and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “just relax, baby.”
“wan’- wan’ you, alpha, please.” he said, patting the nest, and hoseok hesitantly laid down, jeongguk immediately slumping on top of him, nose pressed to hoseok’s neck, sniffing as he wrapped his arms around him and promptly fell asleep.
“oh my god, i love him.” jimin said in a hushed voice, and then squeaked when jeongguk let out a cute sigh, running down the hallway, “no, no, no, no…”
“what is your deal?” seokjin asked. he had been in the kitchen getting jeongguk something to eat.
“i, uh, i just realized i’m in love with jeongguk.”
“yep.” seokjin nodded. “anything new?”
“he fell asleep.”
seokjin sighed and stirred the ramyeon. “too bad, i’m gonna wake him up when this is done. who knows if he’s even eaten.”
“probably not, he doesn’t have anyone to take care of him during heats.” jimin said softly. “i worry about him.”
“i do too.”
jimin sighed, wrapping his arms around seokjin and pressing his cheek against his neck. “i still don’t understand why tae said gguk didn’t want us to know where he lived. why’s he keeping shit from us?”
“he probably has a good reason, jimin-ah.” seokjin said. “it really isn’t our business until he joins our pack. even then, he’s still his own person.”
“he feels like he’s already in the pack. he called hobi-hyung alpha, it was so cute.”
seokjin cooed softly.
“jinnie-hyung?”
“mh?”
“even if we do get ggukkie, will i still be your baby?” he asked, insecurity seeping into his voice.
“minnie.” seokjin said, turning around and plopping a kiss on his nose. “you’ll always be my baby.”
jimin giggled, burying his face in seokjin’s neck and inhaling. “thank you, hyung.”
“always. now get out of my way, the noodles are gonna be overcooked.”
jimin laughed loudly, moving away and grabbing a glass of water for jeongguk, and seokjin drained the noodles and put them in a bowl for jeongguk with chopsticks.
they carried the stuff back to find that all of the others had scattered around the room, jeongguk still sleeping on his chest.
“no, please don’t wake him up.” hoseok begged softly, eyes desperate.
seokjin just rolled his eyes.
“jeongguk-ah, wake up, darling.” seokjin said gently, rubbing his shoulder.
jeongguk’s eyes fluttered open with a whine. “‘m tired.”
“oh, darling, i know. hyungie made you some ramyeon, why don’t you let me feed you and then you can go back to sleep, okay?”
jeongguk just blinked sleepily and sat up, opening his mouth, and seokjin cooed and sat down, putting a bite in his mouth and watching him chew.
the process went on until jeongguk’s chewing slowed and he swallowed, eyes slipping closed, and his head tilted downward.
“poor thing.” jimin pouted and jeongguk startled, opening his mouth for another bite and making seokjin laugh.
“why don’t you just sleep, darling? let jiminie give you a drink first and go to sleep.”
jeongguk nodded and jimin moved forward, helping him drink some of the water, and then he flopped down onto hoseok.
“where’s.. yoongi-hyung?”
“i’m right here, honey.”
“cuddle?”
yoongi grinned, moving from his spot on the beanbag, which was quickly taken by taehyung, and jimin moved to sit with him.
“here, tae.” seokjin handed him the rest of the ramyeon, and then guiding jeongguk’s head to rest against hoseok’s chest.
“go to sleep, little one.” hoseok whispered, and jeongguk didn’t need to be told twice.
—
two days later, they had an embarrassed omega hiding in their bathroom.
“god, that’s so humiliating!!” he cried loudly, and jimin giggled.
“doll, it’s fine. you didn’t even ask for anything but cuddles.”
“it’s not fine! i fucking humped your leg!!”
“it was cute!!”
“you’re disgusting! i’m disgusting!”
“come out, please. i didn’t mind.” jimin said, and jeongguk cracked the door open, and jimin noticed he actually looked kind of upset. “oh, ggukkie, no, it’s not- look, doll, you couldn’t help it. and i really didn’t mind, i promise.” jimin said softly, fingers splaying over the door to push it open a little wider.
jeongguk fell into his arms with a weak sigh, “i’m still sorry.”
“you don’t have to be, hon. just calm down, okay?”
—
jeongguk stayed there for a few days, and then went back to his van.
he hated it now that he had been in the apartment- he wanted to be with his alphas, not in some beat up old van alone.
jeongguk made it to school frustrated, and literally decked an alpha who put his hands on him, and that was how he found himself with a worried jimin and namjoon, fussing over his busted knuckle, ignoring the alpha who spit blood on the floor and stormed off.
“jeonggukkie, we leave you alone for two seconds and you go and get yourself hurt??” jimin worried, wiping at the blood on his knuckle.
“it’s just from his tooth, hyung. i’m fine.”
“you’re bleeding!”
“he’s bleeding more than me, you know? his lip’s bleeding pretty bad-“
“yeah, okay, he was harassing you. and now you’re hurt. so let hyung take care of you and don’t worry about it, got it?”
jeongguk just suppressed a smile and nodded.
jimin dabbed the blood off, slapping a bandaid over the small cut and kissing it, and then handing jeongguk a cold water bottle to hold on it.
it was a little ridiculous, but it made jimin happy.
he grinned at jimin’s paw patrol bandaid, “which one is this?”
“that’s skye!! how do you not know that?”
“jimin, i don’t watch paw patrol.”
“disowned.”
jeongguk laughed loudly, and jimin fell onto his shoulder with laughter too. namjoon just stared at them. “wow, you guys are so whipped.”
“so are you! you learned all the paw patrol characters for me!” jimin shouted with glee.
namjoon shook his head, face turning red. “i didn’t.”
“don’t you lie to me, kim namjoon.”
—
jeongguk giggled and pressed his face into taehyung’s neck, wrapping his arms around him. “taetae-hyungie.” he sang. “i got you something.”
“oh?”
“yeah, uhm..” jeongguk reached into his backpack and pulled out a big manilla envelope. “here.”
taehyung opened it, a bright grin on his face.
“wahh!!! my pictures!”
“yeah, i went and got them printed, do you like it??”
it was the pictures from the paint photoshoot, considering taehyung had only had a digital file of the photos.
“i love it, pup.” taehyung grinned, crushing him in a hug, and jeongguk plopped a kiss onto his cheek. “thank you.”
“i also got, uhm, a photo frame? if you wanted to hang one up?”
“you’re literally so fucking thoughtful.” taehyung said, smiling as he flipped through the photos.
“this one is my favorite.” jeongguk said when they came across a photo of taehyung with his left leg tucked in front of him as if he were sitting criss-cross, his right pulled up to his chest. he was laughing, pink paint smeared on his cheek and yellow in his hair.
taehyung smiled, and then kept flipping. “this is mine.” he was holding a photo that jeongguk had taken of both of them, with their heads together laying on the floor.
jeongguk smiled back and rested his head on taehyung’s shoulder so that they could look at all of them.
the next time he was over, the picture of both of them was hung on the wall.
--
everything was going too well.
jeongguk had been walking to the coffee shop, where he spent most of his time when he wasn’t with the alphas, and he caught sight of one of the alphas from his old pack.
he felt his blood run cold, and he immediately started walking the other direction, calling the first person in his contacts- jimin.
“jeonggukkie-”
“i just saw an alpha from my old pack.” jeongguk interrupted, voice wobbly. “hyung, i think he saw me.”
“jeongguk? fuck, what do i do?”
“i’m walking towards campus from the coffee shop on sixth street, can you look for me? please, i don’t wanna go back, hyung, please-”
“shh, i’m coming, i’m coming. hold on, doll, i’ll be there in a minute.”
jeongguk was walking fast, whimpering between breaths and trying to be inconspicuous, but he got startled by his name being called and broke into a sprint, and he barreled straight into jimin’s arms when he saw him, little sobs coming from his lips as he clung to the alpha.
“are you okay? did he say anything?? is he following you?”
“i- i don’t think he’s coming, buh- but he saw me.” jeongguk was searching the crowded street and made dead eye contact with the alpha, and he knew his scent turned sour based off of jimin’s low growl. “oh god.” jeongguk murmured, clutching at jimin’s shirt. “please, don’t let him- don’t let him take me, i don’t wanna go back, i wanna- i wanna stay with you-”
“i know, doll. you’re not going anywhere, jeongguk-ah.” jimin said softly, pulling jeongguk close and baring his teeth at the alpha, and jeongguk hightailed it, pulling jimin along to where hoseok and taehyung were sitting.
“jimin said you needed help? you got it?” taehyung asked.
“yeah.” jeongguk whispered, shivering and climbing into hoseok’s lap, pressing his nose to hoseok’s neck.
“what happened?” hoseok asked, wrapping his arms around his omega.
“uhm,” jeongguk sniffled, “an alpha from my old pack saw me and i got scared.”
hoseok’s scent turned sour, but he got it under control quickly when jeongguk whined. “sorry, little one.”
“did he say anything?” taehyung asked.
jeongguk shook his head, “no, just my name. i just- we made eye contact and i could tell he recognised me, so i turned around and called hyung. he said my name and i started running.”
“we won’t let them take you back, you know that?”
“uh-huh.”
jeongguk calmed down, and taehyung offered to walk him home.
--
he didn’t see the other pack for a long time, and he forgot about it, not a problem anymore.
except it was still a problem, because a month later, jeongguk was running down the street, two alphas in wolf form hot on his trail, and he cried out loudly as one of them pounced on him, claws effortlessly tearing through his shirt and skin, and he screamed, shoving at them and sprinting.
at some point, he lost them, and doubled back to his van, getting only about three steps from the van before his legs gave out, and he sobbed, clawing at the door handle and getting in and then clutching at his side and taking a shuddering breath. he pulled his phone from his pocket and winced at the shattered screen, pressing taehyung’s contact with bloody fingers.
the phone automatically went to voicemail, and he cried out desperately, clicking it again.
it didn’t go through.
he didn’t want the alphas to know that he lived in his van, but he supposed it was better than bleeding out in the back of said van.
“jeongguk-ah? i’m in class, honey, what’s up?”
“i- i need help.” he whimpered. “i tried to call tae, please, it hurts-
“jeongguk?” yoongi’s voice was louder, more panicked. “where are you??”
“blue van. park, on the same street as the café.” he whispered, “ow, fuck.”
“what happened?” hoseok said in his ear.
“the alphas- from my old pack.” he said, burying his face into his nest to hide a sob. “they- they found me and they- hyung, it hurts-“
“little one, you’re going to be okay, yeah??” hoseok said. “you’re in a blue van on the same street as the café? the one we always go to?”
jeongguk confirmed with a whine.
they were there quickly, save for taehyung and seokjin, and he could hear them outside, so he opened the door door, hearing a gasp from namjoon, who caught him.
“jeongguk-ah, fuck.” he mumbled, picking him up and settling him back into the nest, and jeongguk barely noticed namjoon and the others looking around the back of the van, catching the toothbrush and toothpaste, the nest, the laundry detergent.
“jeongguk-ah, this is your van?” a nod. “do you- do you live here?”
jeongguk just whimpered, “didn’t want you to know.”
“why, gguk, we-”
“look, okay, he’s fucking bleeding out. we can talk about this later.” hoseok said, “jeongguk-ah, where are your keys?”
jeongguk fumbled around in his pocket, handing him the bloody keys with a shaking hand.
the alphas clambered into the van, and namjoon was still clinging to jeongguk, and the younger cried into his shoulder.
“alpha, hurts.” he wheezed.
“i know, gguk, fuck, i know.” namjoon sounded like he was going to cry, pressing a shirt over jeongguk’s wounds to slow the bleeding.
“don’ cry, hyung.” he murmured, “‘m’okay.” he said, wincing when he went to hold his arms up. “‘m fine, be okay..”
he practically collapsed into namjoon’s arms, and jimin brushed the hair out of his face. “our big strong omega.” he cooed, kissing him on the nose, “stay with us, okay?”
“‘m fine, minnie-hyung.” jeongguk repeated.
“you just wanna be independent, hm? ggukkie-yah, it’s okay to need help sometimes, you know?”
that prompted unexpected tears, and jeongguk was bawling, burying his face into namjoon’s lap.
“gguk?” namjoon sounded worried. “gguk, i know it hurts, just hold on, baby-”
“nuh-no, i mean-” he sniffled, “i- i-” he just kept crying, his blubbering indecipherable, and then he gasped, hand flying to his back, “ow-”
namjoon had been pressing too hard, and he loosened his grip, pressing a kiss to jeongguk’s hair.
“how far are we?”
“just a few more minutes.” yoongi replied.
“hear that, gguk? we’ll be at the hospital in a few minutes.” namjoon said gently.
“hospital??” jeongguk blinked tiredly.
“yeah, doll.” jimin said softly, “where’d you think we were going?”
“dunno.” he mumbled, eyes slipping shut, and namjoon started panicking.
“jeongguk, don’t sleep.” he said quickly.
“huh?” jeongguk pried his heavy eyelids open. “why?”
“please, baby, just stay awake.”
jeongguk’s eyes slipped closed again, and namjoon let out a nervous whine. jeongguk’s nose scrunched at the strong scent of distress, so he pried his eyelids open again.
“i only was at a hospital once.” he whispered, “broke my wrist bad. the bone was sticking through. pack couldn’t fix it, so the doctor did.”
“yeah?” namjoon sniffled.
“mh, it hurt. they yelled at me for being dumb.” he snorted.
“how did you break it?”
“fell out of a tree. you could see the bone. can you see the bone now?” he asked, voice shallow and small.
jimin peeled the soaked shirt away, and winced. “yeah, doll. it’s bad.”
“‘m sorry, ‘lpha. didn’t have anyone else to call.”
“shh, no, don’t apologize.” jimin whispered, kissing him on the head.
“we’re here. can we carry him without touching the wounds?”
“uh, piggy back?”
namjoon crouched, and jeongguk slumped onto his shoulders, arms uselessly dangling as he was slipping out of consciousness.
“jeongguk-ah, you gotta hold on.” yoongi said, and jeongguk couldn’t register the words, not really, but his fingers were clutching the fabric of namjoon’s shirt.
he fell.
namjoon’s grip tightened when he felt jeongguk go limp, scrambling and ending up on the ground, and he heard jimin shriek, and he looked up to see that jeongguk’s face was pale, and jimin was sobbing.
“he hit his head, he hit his head-“ he breathed, clutching jeongguk, and then namjoon saw the blood.
“shit, come on-“ he cursed, standing up and running inside the emergency room entrance.
half an hour later, namjoon was crying in the waiting room, feeling like the shittiest alpha ever. jimin wasn’t any better. yoongi was sniffling softly, nose and eyes red, and hoseok’s face was violently blank. namjoon stood up with a weird, strangled noise, pulling out his phone and dialling seokjin as he left the room.
“hello?”
“how’s taehyung??”
“he’s okay, he’s been eating in between waves. drinking a lot, he’s insatiable.” seokjin sighed, “you sound like you’re crying. is something going on?”
“i don’t wanna talk about it, hyung.” namjoon mumbled tiredly.
“joon..”
“hyung, please.”
“does it have anything to do with our pack?” seokjin asked, and he got silence in response. “namjoon, if my pack is involved and you’re crying over it, i think i have a right to know.”
“hyung, it’s only gonna make tae feel worse, i-”
“what do you mean?” taehyung’s voice was rough and scratchy. “what the fuck happened?”
“it’s jeonggukkie.” namjoon broke, a sob bubbling up. “ggukkie... god, i’m such a shitty alpha, fuck-”
“is anyone else there?” seokjin asked, “yoongi-yah?”
“uhm,” namjoon breathed, turning back around and heading into the waiting room. “i.. i called jin-hyung.. can someone explain what’s going on?”
yoongi nodded, taking the phone and sniffling. “hyung.” he said, voice a low murmur.
“yoongi-yah, baby, what’s going on?”
“jeonggukkie.. from what we gathered, some of the wolves from his old pack attacked him. he was hiding in a van, said that he tried to call tae? uhm, we’re- we’re at the hospital.”
“oh, fuck.” taehyung whimpered, “oh, fuck, he needed help and i didn’t-”
“shh. baby, you’re in rut. you can’t blame yourself.” seokjin soothed, and yoongi sniffled again. “yoongi, why is namjoon saying he’s a bad alpha?”
“he, uh, he was carrying gguk on his back into the hospital, and gguk passed out and fell. hit his head. he’s not a bad alpha, none of us thought about it either.” yoongi said, eyes hard on namjoon to make sure he understood.
“fuck, what hospital?” taehyung hissed.
“tae, you’re in rut-”
“i don’t care!!” taehyung shouted, and yoongi heard seokjin go dead silent.
“fine.” he relented, “yoongi, what hospital?”
“uh, national university.”
“how’s everyone else?”
“jimin-ah is crying, namjoonie’s crying. hob-ah... isn’t good.” yoongi said softly, glancing at hoseok, who was staring at jimin, eyes unseeing. “he’s not here.. mentally, i mean.”
“fuck.”
“we’ll be there in twenty. what’s going on with jeongguk?”
“we don’t know.”
“got it. yoongi-yah, don’t try to be the hyung, you’re scared too.”
yoongi hummed and hung up.
jimin whimpered, “is taetae coming?”
“yeah, min, taetae’s coming.” yoongi promised.
--
they got to the hospital, seokjin holding taehyung tightly by the arm, the younger alpha snappy and not in the best mood, considering he was in rut and his omega was in danger. he was feeling protective and the stares didn’t help any.
they got to their pack, and taehyung wrapped himself around jimin, growling lightly, and jimin went limp in his arms, sniffling and nudging his little nose against his neck.
“hoseok-ah, come back to us, baby.” seokjin was saying softly, but nothing was working, the alpha just humming and murmuring a low response.
“‘m right here.”
“no, hob-ah, you’re not.”
hoseok didn’t respond.
--
about a month later, jeongguk had been in their apartment for about two weeks, and he was healing well. they had put off conversations they needed to have in favor of helping jeongguk heal properly, but it was about time they discussed.
so, while they were cuddling in the pack bed, in jeongguk’s giant nest, the youngest actually spoke up first. “i didn’t tell you about being homeless because i was embarrassed.” he started, voice small, “i... i want to seem strong, if that makes sense. before i presented, everyone thought i was gonna be an alpha, and i got freedom, and then as soon as i presented i wasn’t allowed to leave the fucking house. i just… i ran away from my pack, and i wanted to do it all by myself. i wanted to be.. i wanted to be strong again, and i just- i refused help. i want to be strong.”
“oh, ggukkie.. you are strong, baby.” jimin whispered, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck.
jeongguk laughed, sort of sadly, and shook his head, “i’m not, not really. but that’s okay. i don’t need to be strong always.”
“i’m glad you know that.” yoongi said softly. “it’s good. there’s no need to be strong constantly, but you are strong. maybe not in the way you want, though.”
“yeah, i- i know. i... i really thought you guys wouldn’t like me if you found out.”
all at once, his alphas were disagreeing with the statement, and jeongguk giggled, feeling a little better.
he nudged against them, staring at the ceiling, smile morphing into a pout.
“little one, what’s wrong?”
“you haven’t asked me to join the pack yet.” he mumbled into namjoon’s shirt.
“what?”
“pack. please, i want.. i want to be a part of your pack.” he said, voice a pleading whine, “for real.”
“are you crazy?? gguk, of course you’re part of the pack.”
and jeongguk beamed, radiant, and for just a second, they wondered if he had been a star in his past life.