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Yoongi had learned over the years to view his emotions on a spectrum of sound.
Anger was loud and visceral, full of fiery words and curses. Fear was a background drone that mimicked an emergency siren for how it ebbed and flowed. Depression was the warbling of discordant songs trying to mash themselves together. Anxiety was a metronome that ticked on in the background. Happiness was light and airy with a buoyancy to it.
Love, though, had always been different. It didn’t come with shrieked curses, or major chords. It didn’t come with a roaring drone, or a cacophony of sound. Love, Yoongi had learned, was quiet.
It was the shared murmurs late at night when everyone should be sleeping. It was chaste kisses on fingers and cheeks. It was writing a cheesy note for them to find at a random later date. It was pressing a water bottle into their hands after they had thoroughly exerted themselves. It was moving a hand behind them so that they wouldn’t fall from the force of their laughter. It was giving them the book they had been aching to buy for weeks. It was posing for silly pictures when they gave you the softest ‘please’. It was letting them win at games so that they’d smile bright. It was going out on dates for things that they enjoyed as hobbies.
Not everyone spoke the language of love at the same volume, either. Some were loud and blaring while others were like him, soft and gentle - hidden to those who didn’t know what to look for. Yoongi was content to offer his affection through acts of service and words of affirmation.
In the early days of their relationship, there had been the fear that the others wouldn’t understand his way of loving them. Which it had come up a few times over the years but it had never become an issue.
No one had ever asked that he change the way he loved them. They just accepted his methods as they were.
Despite the assurance though, there were still times that he worried it wasn’t enough.
Which usually led to his mates getting dramatic and convincing him otherwise.
But then, they had always had their own special way of placating his fears.
That morning he awakened to Hoseok shaking his shoulder and coaxing him into sitting up in bed, sliding a perfect temperature cup of coffee into his hands.
”I dunno if you wanna shower but you’ve got time to do that. I also made you some of my special toast but I left it downstairs so you’d eat with everyone,” Hoseok told him.
It made him smile for the sheer fact that it felt like he was being made to watch a recording of himself. “Okay Hoba, thank you. I’ll be down shortly.”
His love nodded his assent, kisses his forehead and left the room.
Yoongi couldn’t stop the grin on his face as he sipped at his coffee.
Breakfast went much the same. The others kept adding to his plate without even glancing at him, just continuing their conversations as normal.
It made his chest feel warm. Even if he ended up slipping some food back to Jimin; who huffed but accepted.
His inner omega preened at all of the subtle attention. Usually his mates were much louder with their affections and it had been something he'd struggled to deal with in those early years. They were a lot when they were feeling affectionate, and it had taken some getting used to.
Once he had gotten to the point that he had realized that, for most of his mates, love manifested in a very prominent form, things had gotten easier for him. Or when compared to his own quieter way of showing them love, they had a louder volume at which they operated. Especially in the case Hoseok, Jimin, and Taehyung. Those three seemed to be physically made of the love they bore in their oversized hearts, and they shared it readily with all of them.
Omegas were seen as the most tactile of lovers, yet Yoongi would beg to disagree. Some omegas were extremely tactile and adored heavy doting, and embraced their nature as mushy lovers. While others, like himself, opted for a more subtle route to everything. It didn't make them less of an omega for the fact, rather they were a different kind from the perceived standard.
It had taken him quite some time to come to terms with his secondary identity. He had been stuck on the idea that his life would have been much better served as a beta for the longest times. It had only been through the combined tenacity of his mates that Yoongi had learned to appreciate a life of their combined sweetness.
Yoongi would even go so far as to attribute most of his change in attitude to Namjoon. He had never met anyone that questioned and analyzed themself as much as Namjoon did. He could still remember times when he had caught the omega deep in thought and the smell of books had been blooming throughout the room. His own delicate scent had done its best to cradle Namjoon's in a silent form of support. Which had usually led to some in depth conversations about their secondary gender and how much society's definition of 'a good omega' had been subconsciously affecting them.
Yet it had been those very moments of shared self analysis that had enlightened him to the fact that he had been trying to put himself into a box.
It had taken a lot of work for him to make peace with who he was as Yoongi vs who he was as an omega. All of the hard work had ended up being worth it though, for the level of peace he had managed to achieve with all of those years of hard work.
He had thought it was just an odd morning that they had all agreed to partake in. Maybe they had wanted to mimic his love language for a bit for fun. Or maybe they were trying to make a point. Yoongi couldn't tell. His darlings could be unpredictable like that.
The day continued with his loves cropping up out of nowhere to leave soft words of encouragement as he worked on his next mixtape, or dropping off refreshments and snacks. Seokjin had even dropped in for a rather aggressive scenting at one point. He had only left when their thickened scents had permeated the entirety of his studio, to make some kind of fruit and chocolate mix, and left Yoongi with flushed cheeks.
It was very strange behavior but he appreciated it nonetheless. Yoongi just loved them so, so much. They made his heart feel three times as big as it was.
Lunch time came crawling round and Jungkook appeared with a furrow in his brow. "It's time for food, we're going to get lamb skewers."
Yoongi had been bemused by the announcement but dutifully saved his work and extracted himself from his desk. His hand had been scooped up and then they had been on their way to their favorite skewer place.
Jungkook had been silent for most of the walk there, but then had shyly opened up his phone to share some cute photos of Bam that he had taken.
Photos of their treasured puppers was something that he and the two youngest shared. If he ever needed a moment to sit and gush over a darling photo he had snatched of Holly, he knew that Taehyung or Jungkook would be the one to gush with him, and then send some of Bam or Yeontan as a trade off.
There were little things like that that he was able to share with each of his mates and Yoongi loved those quiet shared interests more than he had words for.
He returned to the studio after a soothing meal with Jungkook, worked through the afternoon and early evening, and then returned home by dinnertime because he had a feeling his presence would be expected.
Jimin was pushing his softest pair of pajamas into his hands as soon as he got through the doorway, with a soft murmur of: "Glad you're home early."
He huffed in amusement but followed through, allowing himself to be taken care of. All six of them had become a lot more attentive to him as he worked through his days in his studio. They all knew what the production binge was like for him, and always accommodated their time to help take care of him when they could manage it. Schedules didn't always allow them to, but the fact that they were so adamant to do so was endearing.
A younger version of himself might have been firm in the belief that he could take care of himself. Yoongi had learned over the years that even though he was capable, it didn't mean he was always of the right mind to put that belief into practice. That was usually when his mates took up the slack and ensured that he was well looked after. It had been a tumultuous lesson to learn, yet he didn't mind it when he looked back on the journey taken.
Yoongi could say with perfect honesty that his life and health was more balanced than it had ever been before. He felt secure and so, so loved.
And it seemed that his mates were determined to show him that his way of loving them was valid and seen by each of them. It made his tummy flutter with internalized glee.
By the time dinner had finished up, the youngest three had given up on trying to mimic him and had resorted to excessive cuddles and scenting to make up for what they had missed throughout the day.
Yoongi welcomed their embraces with a purr rumbling in his chest. His scent bloomed under their attentions and attracted the other three to their cuddle pile.
"Thank you all," he rumbled, "I know what you were doing and I appreciate it."
Namjoon's dimples made an appearance with the blinding smile he wore. "Good. We see you, we love you."
"Your methods of loving us are valid," Hoseok said with a kiss to his nose.
"Now make room younglings, hyungs are coming in hot," Seokjin declared, flopping down on top of Jungkook.
They all made a dramatic show of grumbling and resituating each other but it just made Yoongi giggle to himself.
There were many volumes to the concept of love, but Yoongi was content with being a soft lull to the ones that meant the most to him.