Chapter Text
It should have been fine. Every other time, it had been fine.
The night had started like any other. Seokjin, Jimin, and Taehyung had all dressed up, cuddling together to do their makeup and pre drink ready for the club while the other four settled on their shared couch to watch a movie. Namjoon looked over, giving the trio a dimpled smile and a wave.
“You’ll be alright, yeah?”
“We’ll be fine, Joon-ah,” Seokjin tucked his wallet in his back pocket, encouraging Jimin and Taehyung towards the door. “We’ll be back by 3am at the latest, and we’ll all be careful.”
“You guys are going to the omega only club, right?” Jungkook blinked his big doe-like eyes up at him. “One day we should go to a mixed club, all together.”
“While you maknaes and Hobi are unmated, not a chance,” Namjoon nudged him, “or an omega will claim you while you’re wasted, and you’ll end up paying child support for a kid who isn’t yours.”
“Touche,” Jungkook snuggled back down against the cushions of the sofa. “See you guys later! Take care of the rest of my trio.”
“Yah, what am I? Chopped liver?” Seokjin huffed over dramatically before he nodded and gave them a smile. “We’ll see you later.” And, with that, he disappeared down into the cab, climbing in beside his fellow omegas.
They arrived at the club and, after showing their ID cards, they were let in. A modern day Dionysus, Jimin made a beeline for the bar, bringing back over shots for the trio which they knocked down. Taehyung dragged them to the dance floor, letting loose with their performances as they lost themselves in the sea of others, enveloped in the flashing lights, the sweet mixing scents, the buzz of alcohol, and the deep thumping beats of the bass from the speakers. With the fluidity that came from their dance practice and idol training, the three danced together, letting their worries and fears run through, melting away into the sea of the club around them.
“Bathroom,” Taehyung whispered against Seokjin’s neck before he slipped away from their trio. Seokjin gave a nod, raising a questioning eyebrow as he looked back at where Jimin had his arms on another’s shoulders. He nodded towards the bathroom door, silent questions in his eyes. “I’ll be fine!”
“Okay~” he teased, keeping an eye on where Jimin and the other omega danced, music punctuated by honey coloured giggles and sweet, affectionate scents that mixed easily like light perfumes.
Taehyung nodded, slipping out of the crowd and ducking into the bathroom. The thumping of the bass and the strobe lights were shut out, giving Taehyung a moment to breathe and calm himself down. Most of the alcohol from his system was gone, leaving him with the tail end of a tipsy buzz that he’d soon renew with more shots and some sweet flavoured thing that cost too much but let him get drunk again. He had a black card after all. He could afford a little treat for himself every now and then.
Washing his hands, he glanced up at the mirror with a small smile. He looked good. All three of them did, styled in their own ways, but his slightly messy dark hair with his eyeliner and long-lashes framing his dark eyes gave him a look somewhere between mysterious and seductive. His smooth, elegant neck led down to the top of a loose shirt which, although it didn’t cling to his shape like Jimin’s or reveal more skin like Seokjin’s, teased just enough to get someone excited. A second skin of denim clung to his legs, and his tongue darted out to moisten his lips, shining with cherry flavoured lip gloss.
“Well aren’t you beautiful?”
Taehyung’s head snapped up, and he made eye contact in the mirror with the man standing behind him. He turned and met his eyes dead on, smiling with a little guarded concern in the background. The other omega, slightly taller than Taehyung, made no effort to hide as he looked him up and down, drinking in his full appearance as a small smile spread across his face.
“Thanks?” Taehyung gave a half-confused boxy smile in return, trying to inch around him towards the doorway. “Uh, excuse me, I–”
“Isn’t it a little dangerous for an unmated omega to head out all alone like this?”
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, fingertips reaching for the door. Cold fingers closed around his wrist, tightening to the point where it was almost painful, and they were vice-like as he tried to pull his hand away.
“Let go!”
“Your scent is so delicate,” the other purred, eyes darkening as he leaned in closer to nose at Taehyung’s scent gland on his neck. “Beautiful. I love floral scents so much. Pretty calming lavender.”
“Get off me!” He tried to shake him off, squirming in discomfort as the other wrapped a hand around his waist. “Let go!”
“Tae?” his head snapped up towards the door as Seokjin’s sobering concern came from the other side. “Tae, are you alright in there?”
“Hyung help me–”
The words died in his throat as the painful bolt of electricity shot from the side of his neck. The stranger pulled away, half smirking, as the door was thrown open by a very pissed off looking Seokjin and Jimin. The two froze in the doorway from shock, scaring the other man into shock too and giving Taehyung enough time to get out of his grip. Soulmate connection activating, Jimin wrapped him up into a hug and cradled him close, letting him cry into his shoulder as the overwhelming emotions and the pain in his neck spilt out. It all got to be too much as his older friends helped him out of the bathroom and over towards the bar.
“My friend is hurt,” Seokjin explained to the bartender, one arm resting on Taehyung’s back as Jimin kept him wrapped up in his arms, as if nothing bad could ever touch him again. “The guy in the bathrooms, red shirt, dark eyes, heavy set. Short hair. Medium build– him over there!” He pointed him out, earning a nod from a security guard who got a secure grip on the other.
“What did he do?” The bartender looked between the three omegas standing in front of him, before he glanced over at the one being held by security. “We can’t just throw him out because you don’t like him.”
Very carefully, Taehyung wiggled around in Jimin’s arms and tilted his head so that the bartender could see the new bite on his neck, red and angry. Wiping his eyes and swallowing down the sniffles, he pulled out of Jimin’s arms to face him properly.
“He’s an alpha posing as an omega to get entry to the club,” he whispered, voice barely audible over the music. The bartender nodded, face soft with empathy for Taehyung, but hardened by anger over the situation presented before him.
“Do you have a pack? Should you call them, maybe?”
“I’ll call them, and call a lift home for us,” Jimin volunteered, slipping out of the club to get a better signal while Seokjin took his place and wrapped an arm around Taehyung for support.
“What do I do, hyung?” Taehyung whispered as they were escorted out towards the door of the club; the faux omega was being shoved into a police car outside, and the three huddled together for protection as they waited for Namjoon and Yoongi to come and pick them up.
“Did you mark him back?” Seokjin whispered into his hair, pressing soft kisses to the top of his head to try and comfort him. The younger shook his head, shivering a little as the cool air of the night kissed his skin in a delicate contrast to the overwhelming heat of the club. “In that case, they can medically erase the mark. You might still have a scar, but with hormone therapy, you’ll be right as rain afterwards.”
“You make it sound so easy, hyung,” Taehyung nuzzled Seokjin’s shirt, silently hoping that the older’s vanilla scent would rub off on him, masking the vile scent of the faux omega that clung to his skin.
“It won’t be easy, but you’ll have us,” Jimin took Taehyung’s hand, pulling him into the backseat of Yoongi’s car. He and Seokjin sandwiched Taehyung between them; the older shook his head subtly when he caught his mates’ eyes in the mirror and he got a nod in response. “Hey hyungs.”
“Hey,” Namjoon’s voice was light but strained, as if the weight of holding the pain and concern out of it was physically hurting him. “Um, Hobi and Jungkook wanted to stay up until you guys got home. And then when my phone rang…”
“We understand,” Seokjin cut him off with a strained smile. “We’ll explain everything when we get home. Thank you for coming to get us.”
“Our pleasure,” they all but chorused, giving a dimpled and a gummy smile. The rest of the drive was in a tense silence, broken only by the quiet of the radio and Taehyung’s soft sniffling. Jimin and Seokjin each kept a hand on Taehyung’s, playing with his fingers or stroking the back of it to provide him with some comfort.
Both after what felt like an eternity, and much too soon, they pulled into the parking lot for their apartment complex, with Yoongi holding out his ID card for the security guard before they were allowed in. He reversed into a space, tucked away near the lift up into the complex, before he killed the engine and locked eyes with Seokjin through the mirror.
“Ready to go up?”
Jimin nudged Taehyung gently in the leg, giving him a little smile and tugging him out of the car with him. He wrapped him up in his arms, smothering him in his caramel scent to try and cut out the other faux omega, alpha’s, scent that still clung to him. None of them wanted to comment on it, but it was heavy in the air as if it was weighing it down. The lift ride up to their apartment was held in a painful silence.
“Hey,” Hobi called from the kitchen, voice light as he finished humming and putting away the dishes. “How was everything?”
The smile on his face and in his voice died when he stepped out of the kitchen and saw the sorry sight before him. Taehyung was tucked between Jimin and Seokjin, trying to make himself smaller. The bite mark on his neck was obvious, and Hoseok’s eyes were drawn to it. Sympathy flooded his eyes, and he let out a small pained whimper.
“Living room,” Namjoon guided his pack forwards. “Is Jungkook in there already?”
Hobi nodded, face tight with anxiousness. “When you guys left, I pulled him off the computer and overwatch, and told him to sit in here.”
“Hyungs?” Jungkook’s head snapped up from his phone, nose wrinkling. “What… What happened? What’s that scent?”
Jimin, Seokjin, and Taehyung all froze. The three omegas tensed up, turning the scents sour with anxiety to burning with fear and regret. Taehyung’s lavender scent, usually so soft and comforting like a warm stuffie pressed against a deep muscle ache to soothe it, was muted, covered and blocked out by a new and unknown scent of smoked pine wood.
“It’s my fault,” Seokjin said finally, breaking the heavy silence and the damn that came with it.
“No! It’s my fault,” words spilt out before Jimin could attempt to stop them. Always more emotional, his deep dark eyes welled up with tears that stained his cheeks. “If I’d been quicker…”
“It’s my fault,” Taehyung said, his face the opposite of Jimin’s. While one was overwhelmed with emotions, to the point where he couldn’t keep them inside and they had to be released through tears and sobs, the other was frighteningly stoic. It was like he’d dissociated and couldn’t associate himself with the scent of another alpha which clung to his skin, stinging the bite on his neck. “It’s all my fault. I should have–”
“This isn’t your fault,” Seokjin cut him off, voice firm. “Tae, it’s not. We won’t let you think that it is. He was in the wrong. He shouldn’t have snuck into the club–”
“A faux omega was in the club?” Yoongi’s eyebrows all but disappeared into his hairline and Namjoon’s mahogany scent burned, filling the room before he got hold of his emotions and reigned it in. “Tae… What happened?”
“Oh hyung.”
Taehyung glanced up and met Jungkook’s eyes. The young omega’s soft doe like eyes were brimming with concern, but something deeper simmered underneath, almost like hurt. He opened his arms, giving Taehyung a tight smile. The youngest omega dived into his arms, tucking his head under Jungkook’s chin as he let himself get surrounded by overwhelming cedarwood scent. The youngest and the least in control of his pheromones, Jungkook fought to keep his scent comforting. Namjoon observed the two youngest pack members soothing each other, and he turned to his two mates and the other two members of the pack with a grim face.
“What can be done?”
Seokjin’s shoulders sagged. He lowered his voice, eyes softened by pain and regret. “Well, they’ve not fully mated or bonded. It’s just a mating mark, and luckily for us he’s just finished his last heat. So we’ve got some time. He should start on hormone therapy as soon as possible.”
“And the mark?”
“With time it’ll fade to a scar. When he fully mates, his new mark will cover it up.” He rubbed a hand over his face, accepting Yoongi’s one armed hug. “This is shit. Why did it have to happen? And why to Tae?”
“Because you have a bond mark already,” Yoongi rubbed his shoulders, earning a nod from Namjoon and Hoseok. “It’s shit that it happened to anyone. That it could happen to anyone.”
“For now, the best thing we can do is be there for Taehyung. This is going to be a difficult few months for him, and he’ll need all of us by his side.”
The five oldest looked over, watching as Jungkook played with Taehyung’s hair to soothe him and bring a weak smile onto his face.
“Tae will be okay, right?” Jimin asked in a very small voice.
Namjoon wished he could say yes, but he wasn’t entirely sure himself.