Archive of Our Own ^beta

Jeongguk bites into his sandwich nervously. Everyone’s so loud and some kids are even yelling. His mums said that there wouldn’t be any difference between this school and his old one except for the fact that this elementary school has uniforms, but there’s so much more loud people here than there was in his old school even though the class is smaller. 

He’s nervous. He doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t know how to make friends. He tried during morning recess, but the girl laughed at him and said he’s a klutz after he tripped on his shoelace. He doesn’t know what that means, but he knows it’s a bad thing. After he asked a supervisor to tie his shoelace, he sat down under one of the trees in the field and pulled out grass and dug some dirt with his hands, trying to find some bugs that he could play with.

Jeongguk opens his lunchbox and opens the container for the sandwich. His thermos doesn’t work properly, and Mama knows he doesn’t like cold soup, so she made a sandwich for him this morning. Jeongguk takes out the juice box and pokes the straw through the hole before taking a sip, and then he takes a bite of the sandwich.

A boy sits beside him and smiles at Jeongguk. He hopes he won’t try to talk to him. He doesn’t like this boy. He’s one of the loudest kids, the one that always raises his hand to answer the teacher and the one that needs to be reminded to use his indoor voice a lot. This morning, the teacher told this boy that he needs to use his indoor voice twice! 

The boy sits right beside him on the round table and puts his lunchbox in front of himself. Jeongguk looks at him for a second and then takes another bite of his sandwich. The boy says, “Hi. I’m Taehyung.”

Jeongguk looks at him and says, “Hi. I’m Jeongguk.”

“Do you want to be friends?”

Taehyung already has a lot of friends though. Also, Jeongguk doesn’t really want to be friends with someone so loud, but he also doesn’t want to be mean like the girl at recess so he quickly swallows and says, “Sure.” They probably won’t be friends for long anyway. Taehyung’s going to have fun with his ten other friends and forget about Jeongguk in a couple days or maybe weeks.

“Awesome. Do you want to play with me at lunch? I can show my other friends to you.”

Hopefully he’ll meet someone from Taehyung’s friends that he can actually be friends with. “Okay.” 

“You’re new to this school, right? The teacher said so. Where did you go before? Why did you transfer here?”

Jeongguk takes another bite of his sandwich as Taehyung unpacks his lunchbox. He hopes Taehyung forgets about him soon.

Taehyung doesn’t forget about him soon. In fact, Jeongguk seems to have become his best friend since Taehyung sits beside him all the time and talks to him whenever he can, which is almost all the time, instead of sitting with his other friends. It’s not that bad, other than when Taehyung talks to him even though they’re supposed to be working or listening to the teacher. Taehyung even shared part of his lunch the one time Mama forgot to pack one for him. 

After about a month, Taehyung asks if he wants to have a playdate. 

“Oh. I don’t know, I have to ask my mums. Is it at your house?”

“Yeah, this Saturday. We’ll have so much fun! My papa got us a new computer and it’s so much fun. My sister doesn’t let me play because she has so much fun on her own. I’ve only played two times—no, three times—or no, I think it was four, or maybe it was five, but yeah, it’s so much fun. And my momma always gives my favourite fruit whenever anyone comes over. If you tell her your favourite fruit too then she’ll give you some. And I have a buncha puzzles and colouring books and I have so many toys. We’ll never be bored! We’ll have so much fun!”

Jeongguk is sold. He wants to go to Taehyung house so much that he asks Mum, who always picks him up after school, right away if he can go to Taehyung’s house. She smiles and tells him that if he gets one of Taehyung’s parents’ phone numbers so that they can talk about the details, then he can go.

He nods. “I’ll get it tomorrow. At school.”

“Good. Can you tell me how many days it is from today?”

“Uh, what day is today?”

“Today’s Tuesday.”

Jeongguk starts counting on his fingers, mumbling the days as he counts. “Four!” he says.

“That’s right,” Mum smiles. 

They walk home hand in hand, Jeongguk relaying to her what Taehyung said they’ll be doing.

When Jeongguk tells Taehyung about it the next day, Taehyung, during recess, brings him to the office and calls his momma from The Office Phone ( The Office Phone! Which is only used for serious things like calling their parents to pick them up because they’re sick or not feeling well!) and writes their phone number down on a piece of paper. Taehyung is really brave to use The Office Phone like that. 

Jeongguk doesn’t know why Taehyung didn’t write down the phone number when he asked the lady at the desk, but then Taehyung asks what their address is and writes it down, and also asks Jeongguk if he has any allergies, which he doesn’t, and then hangs up, gives the pen back to the lady at the desk, and gives the paper to Jeongguk with a smile.

They go back to class so that Jeongguk can put it in his agenda before going outside to play.

Taehyung has a house. An actual house with enough bedrooms for everyone to have their own and more than two bathrooms and even a basement that has all the toys Taehyung told him about. It’s amazing. His parents are really kind but also really scary so he tries to avoid talking to them. He’s glad Taehyung drags him away from them after the first couple minutes.

First, Taehyung brings him to the computer and shows him how to play; it’s very fun. They take turns—well, mostly—er, well, they were taking turns until Jeongguk just couldn’t bear the thought of not completing the level and tries an extra couple times even though it should’ve been Taehyung’s turn, but Taehyung doesn’t get mad at all! Taehyung says it’s because he’s so bad at it and watching Jeongguk play and beat the levels is better for him. And he’s not lying, Taehyung’s really bad at it.

Which is really kind of Taehyung because Jeongguk’s mums say he’s too young to use the computer in their house at all. It feels so weird and fun to play on a computer. It’s new and he likes it. Surprisingly, Taehyung doesn’t talk much because he’s focused on watching Jeongguk play, which is really nice. Taehyung is usually focused on himself and everything else at the same time, somehow, so getting some attention for once is lovely. He likes it. He really, really likes it.

They play on the computer for a little bit more before Taehyung asks if he wants to build a puzzle, and Jeongguk immediately agrees because he loves to build puzzles. They don’t go far, just move to a different area in the basement.

Taehyung pulls a drawer, picks up a stack of three boxes, puts them on the ground, and closes the drawer. Crouching, he spreads them out. “These are the puzzles we have. These two are fifty piece puzzles and this one is one hundred,” he points at the larger box. “They’re all from The Lion King because it’s my favourite movie.”

“Why are they all wrapped in plastic? Are they new?” Jeongguk asks, grabbing the smallest box with the picture of Rafiki holding up Simba over the kingdom. 

Taehyung smiles nervously. “Papa and I got them yesterday because we didn’t have any good ones. All my old ones are for babies and in really bad condition.” 

“Oh.” It’s really sweet of Taehyung to get new puzzles just for him. “Thank you.”

Taehyung smiles widely, the gap in his bottom row of teeth standing out funnily.

“Can we do this one first?” Jeongguk asks, holding the same box. 

Taehyung nods. “I can bring the scissors from upstairs.”

“It’s okay, I can do it on my own.” He picks at the little bunch of plastic on the corner, pulling at it until it makes a hole and then starts peeling it away. Taehyung watches in awe. 

“That’s so cool. I didn’t know you could do that.”

Jeongguk tilts his head. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“No. My grandma is super strict and tells us we have to do everything in a certain way. She never lets me use my hands for anything, and whenever I have a stain on my clothes she starts yelling at me.”

Jeongguk’s mouth parts in shock. His grandma is really kind and never minds when he stains his clothes—she just tells him to change, and sometimes she even just laughs. “Where is she now?” He hopes she’s not home, he doesn’t want to meet her. 

“She’s staying with my aunt’s family in Jeju for six months. I think she’ll come back in five months.”

“Oh.” He’s glad she’s not home for a while.

“Yeah. I miss eating her food though, her cooking was really good.”

“Oh, is that why you’re eating sandwiches at lunch now?”

“Yeah. When Grandma was here, she made sure I had lunch for school every single day, but Momma and Papa aren’t that good at cooking so they don’t cook every day.”

Jeongguk nods. 

“But it’s okay, the sandwiches are still good. I like the grilled chicken one the best. I don’t like the instant cup noodle because I can never cook it right. It’s always overcooked.”

Jeongguk nods. He can never cook them right either, so his mums always have to do it for him. 

“Can we start now?” Taehyung asks, pointing at the puzzle.

“Oh, yeah.” Jeongguk gently pulls off the lid as Taehyung puts the other two puzzles to the side. He pulls out the bag holding the puzzle pieces and rips it open with his fingers, spilling it all in front of them both, and puts the plastic bag with the wrapping. He flips the box to the front so that they can see the picture and they start spreading the pieces so that they can pick and choose what to start with.

Taehyung starts with Rafiki and Jeongguk with Simba, and after they join their pieces together, they start working on the crowd. It’s confusing though, so Jeongguk switches to start on the pride rock. But when that proves to be even more difficult, Jeongguk goes back to the crowd, and when they finish together, they go back to work on the pride rock. 

It’s nice to work on a puzzle with another person. He usually does them on his own because his younger sister is too dumb to understand that she’s not supposed to eat the pieces, and his mums don’t have the time to complete building an entire puzzle with him. They always leave halfway because of one thing or another.

When they’re done, Taehyung says he wants to keep it like this so that he can show his parents later today. Taehyung drags him to big bins against the wall and opens the lids of every one of them. They’re filled with different kinds of toys—one has a bunch of cars, one has building blocks and one has a bunch of action figures. There are a bunch of sets and mini buildings set up on the floor too, and Taehyung grabs two cars, Iron Man and a regular person, then tells him to pick anything he wants to play with.

Jeongguk grabs a motorcycle, helicopter and a dog. 

They sit down at a rug with a bunch of toy roads on it and a train station with a bunch of tracks beside it. Taehyung really has a lot of toys. 

They play cops and robbers a couple times and one time gets really crazy when Jeongguk claims the robber can fly because he has superpowers. Taehyung says it’s not fair because the cops always have to win and if the robber can fly then there’s no way anyone can get them. Jeongguk points out the helicopter and Taehyung goes “ Oh ” before saying okay and chasing the flying robber all around the basement with the helicopter. Taehyung wins, of course, because the robber got so tired that he fell asleep mid-flight with all the money they stole. 

Right in the middle of a different game where they’re pretending to be firefighters and trying to save the train station, Jeongguk has to go home. Mama’s waiting for him at the door, smiling when she sees him. Taehyung’s parents are there too, talking to Mama. 

“Can Jeongguk please stay longer?” Taehyung asks Mama. “We’re having so much fun.”

“Yeah,” Jeongguk nods. He never knew playdates could be so exciting. “Can I? Please?”

Mama laughs. 

“Taehyung has piano lessons,” Taehyung’s momma says. “But if you’d like, you two can have another playdate.”

“Yeah,” they both say, nodding their heads.

Jeongguk starts putting his shoes on when Mama tells him to and Taehyung hugs him goodbye. Jeongguk, although shocked, puts his arms around Taehyung too. He had fun. He wants to do this again sometime. Maybe being Taehyung’s friend isn’t bad at all.

Middle school sucks. His new science teacher sucks. He misses the old one and wishes she never got pregnant, or at least got pregnant at a later date so that he could’ve at least finished this semester with a good science teacher. 

The red C is bright and vibrant, so he crumbles the package and throws it in the recycling. He goes to the cafeteria where they usually meet and Taehyung waves at him with a smile. 

“Your new science teacher still suck?” he asks casually, somehow knowing.

“Yeah,” he sighs. “I got a C on a worksheet because I didn’t go into the topics deep enough, apparently. Mrs Oh would’ve given me an A, I know it.”

Taehyung hums, nodding, and then bites into the chicken of the cafeteria meal. He always understands. “Academics are really just adapting to give what the teacher wants. Most teachers are generally the same and accept a lot of work as good work, but some teachers just want something specific. Learn what Mr Shitface wants to receive from you and you’ll be getting As again. It doesn’t matter if you agree with her or want the same thing or not. If the teacher is happy, your mark is happy.”

He’s not wrong, but Jeongguk wishes he didn’t have a teacher like this in the first place. He really wants Mrs Oh to come back. He sighs, getting his lunchbox out of his backpack. “We’re still getting ice cream after school, right?”

“Hell yeah. I got twenty bucks, I want to go to Subway or something too.”

“Okay. I have twenty too.” Mum actually wanted to give him more, but it didn’t feel right to bring anymore than twenty bucks to school. Besides, with the new house they’re moving into soon, he thinks there should be a little restriction on spending money. Their house is close to Taehyung’s house and it’s just as big. They’re going to have a lot more fun once Jeongguk moves in because then they can see each other whenever they want.

“I heard your Mum’s company got rated first place in employee satisfaction last week in an article.” He nods, impressed. “Well done. That’s really impressive.”

“Thanks. Mama and Mum have been going on dates to celebrate it.”

“Oh, is that why you’ve been calling me more often?”

“Yeah. The babysitter only cares about Jihyo. It’s sort of understandable because she’s younger, but, come on, I’m technically a child too. At least call me down for snack time if you’re not going to check-in to make sure I haven’t started a fire or something while I’m reheating my own food on the stove.”

Taehyung snorts. “You’d be the first to run hysterically and burst into tears from the fire even if you’re on the other side of the kitchen. I’m pretty sure she’ll know if anything catches fire.”

“Rude.”

“Anyway, are you going to the end of year field trip to the waterpark? It’s our last year here and you haven’t gone to any of the ones in previous years.”

“You know how I get on long bus rides.” 

“Yeah, but as long as you go on an empty stomach or sleep on the way then you’ll be fine. Bring a barf bag and take some motion sickness medicine just in case.”

“We sit in groups of three. Who will be the third person to sit with us?”

“No? We sit in pairs. We’re in our last year, remember?”

“Oh, right.” He forgot about that privilege. They’ve only had one field trip that happened in the beginning of the year, and that was a short trip to tour a museum. 

“If you want, then we can sit in the front. We just have to go to the back of the lineup.”

Jeongguk isn’t particularly interested in the idea of going to a waterpark, but Taehyung has been begging him every year to. Taehyung is looking at him with an overdone pout which doesn’t do anything other than make him look desperate. Not cute at all. He looks childish and stupid and pitiful. 

He sighs and looks down at his food. “All right.”

“Yes!” Taehyung yells. Then he immediately quiets down when he realizes how loud he was, both of them hunching in because of all the turned heads. “I’m so happy,” Taehyung says, smiling big enough to show the top and bottom row of his bright green braces. They were a pale blue just two days ago, so it’s really attention grabbing. “This field trip is always so fun and there’s so much to do. You need to bring your own lunch and snacks though because the line-up for food is always so long. You still have the field trip form, right?”

Jeongguk purses his lips. “It’s already in the recycling bin.”

Taehyung snorts. “Let’s get it from the office near the end of lunch.”

“Okay.”

“It’s going to be so much fun. I promise you, okay?” He’s still smiling, braces on display, but now it’s more gentle, eyes shining in excitement.

Jeongguk nods, smiling. “Okay.”

His stomach hurts and the smell of everything makes him nauseous, including food. Both of his mums are shocked and in a mild panic—Mum even took a day off from work, and somehow Mama predicted that he’d end up this bad in the morning and told him to stay home from school even though he felt fine then.

He’s asked what’s going on, but they were too shocked to answer. He’s too sick to demand an answer, and was too pleased with skipping out on school when he was feeling well to question them because it didn’t seem like there was an emergency, and if there was, they’d tell him. He’s not so sure about that now though. His illness and their premonition is raising some questions.

He hasn’t thrown up yet despite how queasy he’s feeling and the headache he’s got because of it, but he kind of wishes he would just to get it over with. His parents come and go with water, pills, snacks, scent nullifiers, and just to check in on him and to ask how he’s feeling, but the answer always stays the same: he doesn’t want any of it and he feels more or less like shit. His parents aren’t even scolding him for the swearing—they sympathize with him. It’s weird, their behaviour. He’s glad Jihyo’s not home to see him like this because she’d make fun of him for no other reason than she can.

They tell him sometime in the afternoon that Taehyung stopped by, but they turned him away and told him to not come by for the next couple days. He asks them why, and they give him weird looks. “You need these next couple of days to yourself. It’s important. Since Taehyung isn’t immediate family, he can’t be here.”

He guesses that makes sense. He doesn’t want to spread his sickness to Taehyung, but they could’ve at least let Taehyung into the room to say hi or something. He doesn’t feel as bad anymore.

It isn’t until nighttime-ish that he starts to realize what’s actually going on. 

First, he smells something spicy when his Mama comes close to check-up on him. She was probably cooking something. But then when his Mum comes close, he smells the sharp smoke of a bonfire. It’s the end of fall, nearly winter, and Mum went to light a bonfire in the backyard? That doesn’t make sense, especially because they don’t even have a bonfire pit in their backyard, so where would she light it?

When he feels some sort of dampness in his underwear, it clicks in his brain. The sensitivity of his nose, the unusual smells coming from his parents, the way they were able to predict his unwellness, letting his swearing slide and not letting Taehyung in . . . 

He’s presenting. 

He’s presenting as an omega.

Holy fuck.

Holy fuck, he’s presenting.

Holy fuck, slick is coming out of his ass and he has no idea why or how.

He calls for Mama a couple times, increasing his volume every time. When he hears footsteps, he relaxes again, lying down. She closes the door behind her.

“Yes? Is there anything you need?”

He purses his lips in embarrassment before deciding to just spit it out. “There’s slick coming out of my butt and I don’t know how to make it stop.” He licks his lips, lifting his head up, watching her eyes widen before going back to normal. “It’s very damp.”

“Well, um, you can’t. Make it stop, that is.” It looks like this is as awkward for her as this is for him. “For the first few heats, at least. After that, unless you imprint, there’ll just be fever-like symptoms like throwing up, heating up, probably cramps, and all that other stuff.”

Jeongguk throws his head back into the pillow, closing his eyes. Ugh. “Okay, thank you.”

“I’ll bring a snack up and tell Mum not to come in here for the next little while. Or would you like to see her?”

“Um, actually, can you come closer?”

She comes up to his bedside and he can now smell her, her spicy scent with a tinge of cardamom.

He asks, “What do I smell like?”

He can’t smell his own scent—no one can. Unless someone describes it to him, he won’t know what he smells like. He can tell where his scent is, like he can tell his own scent is all over his pillow and bed, but he can’t actually smell it.

“I don’t know, but something burnt.”

Something burnt? That doesn’t sound nice. “Is it nice?”

She smiles. “Yeah. I like it. It’s earthy and warm.”

Earthy and warm. He can work with that. “Okay.”

“Is that all?” she asks.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

She goes down and Jeongguk stares at the ceiling. Something burnt. Something earthy and warm. He can’t stop the slick. It’s wet and uncomfortable and weird. 

He smells like something burnt.

He smells like something earthy and warm.

He sure doesn’t feel warm or down to earth right now.

Being presented at the age of fourteen is a curse and a blessing. On one hand, his classmates now think he’s super cool and ask him how it’s like to, well, be him, to be presented. On the other hand, the nausea and overwhelming smells and sudden sleepiness that occur outside his home prevent him from going after school to buy any ice cream or snacks from the convenience store or to watch a movie or to just enjoy himself. It’s cool, but it sucks, especially since he has no idea of the biology behind his own body. They’ll only cover sub-genders in sex-ed next year in tenth grade.

Taehyung is warm. Not his scent—because that doesn’t exist yet except for the faint smell of milk that all unpresented pups carry, he’s found out—but his body. His body is warm and small and nice to hug. Every single time Jeongguk goes to his house, he asks to sleep while cuddling Taehyung. And Taehyung, being the sweet pup he is, agrees. 

So now he’s in Taehyung’s bed, under the covers, cuddling Taehyung from behind. He yawns and Taehyung chuckles. “Go to sleep,” Jeongguk chides even though he’s the one that wanted to sleep.

“Okay,” Taehyung says, not meaning it at all. Within the next ten seconds, he pulls out his phone from his pocket and scrolls through social media.

Jeongguk sighs, too tired to do anything about it. He falls asleep to the soundtrack of a game on Taehyung’s phone, warm and cozy with his friend pressed against him.

His parents are gone on a trip for two days and one night and Jihyo is staying with his grandparents. Jeongguk’s alone. He’s really, truly alone. Finally . He was going to explode from anticipation.

He turns around in his bed, picks up his phone from the bedside table and calls Taehyung.

“Hello,” Taehyung says immeidiately. “It’s your favourite person here. How can I help?”

“Hey. Y’know that business meeting that I thought my parents made up? Turns out it’s real. They left for the airport two hours ago. Jihyo’s gone until they come back too because they think I won’t take care of her properly. Which is mildly offensive, but they’re also right. If I can, I would spend an entire day glued to my phone.”

“You can’t even take care of a rock. They made the right decision—”

“Oi.”

“Am I wrong? You cut off all of the fur on the leg of our class pet in elementary school, and it wasn’t even a pet, it was a stuffie!”

“Okay, but that was in third grade. I don’t bring up anything you did in third grade, so don’t bring up my mistakes, Mr Pee-pee-pants.”

“Oh Luna,” Taehyung groans. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

“I can’t believe you remember that . I don’t even remember having a class pet when I think of third grade. Anyway, do you want to have a sleepover? We can stay up all night long without getting scolded the next morning and we can order. Mama made food, which we can have for dinner, but a late night snack requires something else.”

“I’m in. Grandma just came back from our uncle’s family yesterday though, so I’m not sure if they’ll forbid me like last time. I’m gonna ask though. Give me a couple minutes.”

“If they say no, remind them that I’ve only recently presented and being by myself for prolonged periods of time will make me uncontrollably sad.”

“You presented six months ago.”

“Exactly.”

Taehyung chuckles and says nothing more, but Jeongguk can hear footsteps on laminate. He puts the phone on speaker and rolls out of bed, going downstairs to sit on the couch. It’s empty. It’s sensational. It’s amazing .

He lies down on the couch and scents one of the pillows by chinning it. Jihyo’s pup smell is strong and he wants his own on it. His parents’ scents are on it too, but they’re faint enough to not be irritating.

When all the pillows smell like himself, he hugs one of them and turns on the TV, scrolling through the channels as Taehyung talks with his parents. 

“I can only come after dinner when I finish washing the dishes.”

Jeongguk hums and stills his finger on the remote. “That’s, like, five hours away.”

“I know. It’s because of Grandma.”

“Okay. Be quick.”

“I will.”

Taehyung arrives a little after half past eight. Jeongguk already ate and washed his own dish, watched the new episode of a drama he’s been watching recently, and even learned the choreo of the chorus of MAMAMOO’s new single.

“Had fun?” Jeongguk asks when he unlocks the door.

“Yes and no,” Taehyung says as he takes off his shoes. As he walks to the living room and puts his bag against the couch, he continues, “I didn’t have fun when the first thing she asked me was how my grades are, but I did have fun watching her grill my parents on proper work ethic after they shared a story from work.”

“Mm. Do you want to talk or get right into video games?”

“Well, what do you wanna talk about?”

“It’s not really talking, it’s actually moreso dancing.”

“I thought you hated dancing.”

“I only hate the stupid type of dancing, which is anything that doesn’t already have a choreography, like dancing at a party. But I still won’t dance in public, even if it’s choreography. Besides, if I really didn’t like dancing, I wouldn’t know any of my favourite idols’ dances.”

“Fair enough.” He sits on the couch, leans back, crosses his legs, and puts his arms on the top of the cushions. “Dance for me, then.”

Jeongguk rolls his eyes and throws himself on top of Taehyung, taking pleasure in the groan of pain. 

“I hate you,” Taehyung wheezes while trying to push him off.

Jeongguk gets up and turns to face him. “Get up, pup. I’m teaching you the choreo.”

“Oh, you wanted to teach me? You should’ve said that from the start.” He gets up and waits as Jeongguk pushes the coffee table away, and helps when Jeongguk moves the couch back a little bit. 

“Okay,” Taehyung says. “Teach me, Senpai.”

“What? Senpai?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

“Okay then, Teacher.”

“Stop.”

Taehyung sighs dramatically. “You’re boring.”

“Fuck off.”

“Man, you could at least let me have some fun while learning this.”

“This is fun.”

“I’m only doing it because you want to.”

“And I want you to stop with the names.”

Taehyung sighs again. “Sad. But okay. But I’m just letting you know, you started it by calling me a pup.”

“You haven’t presented yet, it’s what you are. Besides, you shouldn’t have done that stupid thing in the first place. Now shut up and learn the choreo.”

Taehyung didn’t come to school today. Jeongguk sat at lunch alone and went to the library for the rest of it. Taehyung hasn’t answered any of his texts either, which is weird. People have been getting sick these past two weeks though, so he’s probably in bed sick or something. 

Except Taehyung doesn’t come the next day either, so he spends all of lunch on his phone, watching a missed live from one of his favourite idols that’s been uploaded to YouTube by a fan. Taehyung still hasn’t texted him back.

On Thursday, Taehyung calls him in the middle of class. The teacher gives him the stink eye but says nothing when he steps out to take the call. 

“Hello?” he says.

“Gukk-ah. In class, right? The boring language class?”

“Yup. Are you okay? You haven’t been coming to school and my parents didn’t allow me to come over for some reason. Are you here? We don’t share any classes today so I don’t know.”

“I’m fine now, yeah. Sorry for not texting you back, by the way. My phone ran out of battery at the peak of feeling ill and without any notification alerts I completely forgot about it. I’m at home right now. My parents didn’t want to disturb me while I was sleeping”—that’s strange, his parents care about his schooling and are even kind of strict about it—“and I woke up, like, ten minutes ago. But Momma will drop me off right before lunchtime, so I’ll see you then. I have big news.”

Taehyung doesn’t usually have any illness for longer than one day, one and a half at most. “Okay. But you do realize lunch is in twenty minutes, right?”

Taehyung sighs. “Yeah, unfortunately. I’ll be there soon. Don’t die of boredom.”

He chuckles. “I’ll try.”

Taehyung hangs up, and Jeongguk slowly, unfortunately, goes back to his seat.

When the bell rings, Jeongguk is among the first to leave class, and finds Taehyung already sitting down, eating the cafeteria lunch happily. Taehyung notices him as he walks closer and smiles in greeting, and when he gets close enough, he does a double take. Taehyung only laughs. 

Taehyung has a scent. 

Taehyung has a scent and smells like autumn. Taehyung is an alpha.

“I can finally smell you,” Taehyung grins.

Jeongguk makes a disgusted face and sits down. “Don’t say it like that. Ew.”

“I’ve finally presented,” he smiles. “You can’t hold the ‘You haven’t presented’ card over my head any longer. Finally .”

“That’s terrible.”

“For you,” he laughs. 

“Okay, now tell me,” he leans in, “how was your first rut like? I told you all about my heat.”

Taehyung licks his lips and leans in. “At first, it was just like yours. Parents kept me home even though I felt fine, then I felt sick and my body hurt so bad that I couldn’t eat or drink or even speak more than a couple words, and then I started smelling things from my parents when the pain and everything started to ease, and then I popped my first knot out of nowhere. It was so weird and I locked the door immediately because there was no way I was going to tell my parents or let them know about it.”

“And how did your knot feel?”

“Very sensitive. I had to take off my pants and underwear because of it, and even though I was hard, I wasn’t aroused in the first place. It just came out of nowhere and I was like ‘ Oh shit. ’ I nearly peed when I took my underwear off because of the temperature change.”

“Oh yeah, I get that.”

“Luckily, nobody came up until, like, an hour after the first one went away. Grandma was cooking food and my parents were on some business meetings and calls because they both skipped work the entire time. I was really hungry though and ate literally twice as much as I normally would. I had two and a half servings. I ate nearly three bowls. Three! Grandma forbade me from eating any more because she said I’d get a stomach ache later and she was right. I was still hungry and was upset that she didn’t allow me to eat any more, but about twenty minutes later, I felt so full that I couldn’t move. I nearly threw up, actually. That’s how much I ate. I’m actually so amazed with myself for even being able to eat that much in the first place.”

“I get it, I get it. I had the same problem,” Jeongguk chuckles. He ate three and a half servings of soup, but actually threw up half an hour later. Jihyo, the little devil, only laughed at him after he came out of the washroom. He couldn’t look at the same soup for the next six months. “What about the second day? Was it the scent overload?”

“Yeah. I got a headache and it was really bad. Every scent that wasn’t my own aggravated me so bad that I forbid everyone from coming to my room, even to bring me meals or water. I wasn’t hungry because I was still full from the day before, but I was a bit thirsty. When my headache dulled, I scented my entire room to get rid of the smells of my family, which was really weird. I rubbed my neck and face on everything—even my dirty laundry! I was so embarrassed afterwards.”

Jeongguk laughs. “I know, right! And when my mums just laughed at me, it made my embarrassment even worse.”

“Yeah! My parents laughed at me too, and Grandma even offered me some scent nullifiers. I didn’t use it, but I did take the tube. I have it in my bag, actually.”

“That’s good. I didn’t end up needing it, but I was very close a lot of times. Actually, I didn’t go out much at all, but whenever I did I needed it. After the first month or so, you’ll be fine. You took the blocker, right? The pill that stops you from smelling things?”

“Yeah, I took it. Otherwise I’d be keeling over right now. I can’t smell this no matter how close to my nose it is,” he gestures to the food in front of him. “That’s also what my parents said—after the first month, I’ll get used to it. I want to smell you though, I’m really curious.”

“You’ll get your chance too. Also, I stopped using the blockers two weeks after I presented.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes. “I know. I was the one rubbing your back while you heaved over the toilet. You’ve always been a tryhard in everything you do.”

“Har, har.”

Taehyung sticks his tongue at him like a child. He knows it’s childish too, which is why he giggles. “It’s really weird to actually be presented though. I can smell you. Well, I will, without the blockers.”

“I know,” Jeongguk says. “It’s weird to smell you too. You smell like those autumn-special candles.”

“Oh Luna.” He hangs his head. “That’s exactly what my family said.”

Jeongguk laughs, throwing his head back and smacking the table.

He wakes up with a jolt, knees drawing in and hands raised half-way to his face. His heart is beating rapidly and he can’t get the image out of his mind—of Mum and Mama dying in an attack on their village and an unknown man taking him on a trek through the forest to find safety. He especially can’t get the images of Mum and Mama dying out of his head. It was so gory and explicit and he shudders even now at the recollection of their mauled bodies. 

Jeongguk rolls over to get his phone from the nightstand, blinks at the bright screen, unplugs it from the charger, and calls Taehyung. He presses the phone to his ear, listens to it ringing and ringing, and he doubts Taehyung’s going to pick up. But then the call connects and Taehyung’s sleepy voice comes through.

“‘ngguk? Wha’s up?”

He licks his lips. “I had a bad dream. I just wanted to hear your voice because the images wouldn’t leave my mind.” And it’s working. Talking to Taehyung is distracting him, hearing Taehyung’s voice is calming him. He’s probably going to forget this dream in a day or two, but for now, he needs to distract himself.

“I’m coming over,” he says, clear and awake.

“Huh?” Jeongguk takes a second to comprehend if he heard that correctly. “What do you—” The call disconnects. Jeongguk looks at the phone for a second, the ‘end of call’ screen on before he winces at the brightness again and puts his phone down.

He lies down on his back, staring at the ceiling, waiting for Taehyung. He doesn’t know how long he waits for, doesn’t hear the front door opening, but he does eventually hear footsteps by his door and sits up when Taehyung comes in. 

Taehyung actually came. Taehyung, his best friend, who’s not even wearing a sweater to keep him warm in the coldness of the night.

“Why aren’t you wearing a sweater?”

Taehyung comes into the bed and lies down, wrapping his arms around Jeongguk’s hip. “I was running.” Sure enough, when Jeongguk puts his hand on top of Taehyung’s, he doesn’t feel that cold.

Jeongguk lies down again and Taehyung wraps his arms around his torso instead, arms included, and puts his nose against Jeongguk’s hair. 

“What was your dream about?” he asks softly.

He licks his lips. “We lived in a traditional pack, but you and Jihyo weren’t there. The pack was attacked and my mums were killed right in front of me. Real bloody and gory.”

“Ah,” he nods. “Do you feel better now? Or do you want to talk more?”

“Actually, I feel better now. Besides, I don’t really want to talk about it in the first place. Thanks for coming.”

“It’s no problem,” he smiles.

Taehyung’s scent is softening, which means he’s relaxing. Scents only spike when emotions are either sudden or high, and the less intense it becomes makes Jeongguk even more relaxed and sleepy. Jeongguk falls asleep like this, safe in his best friend’s arms. 

The night club is loud and moderately busy, but according to Taehyung, it’s not even in full swing. It’ll get even busier in about an hour, which Jeongguk is already dreading. It’s hot and humid and reeks of alcohol and cigarette smoke already, so Jeongguk grabs Taehyung’s arm and leans into him from behind, nosing at his shoulder, breathing him in. Spice and warmth.

This is nothing like Jeongguk expected it to be. He’s only gone to the bar twice with his parents, and those were totally different experiences. It was more mellow and much quieter than this. The only thing he doesn’t like about bars is their food menu. Even though it’s one of the main reasons he goes out in the first place, in the rare case he does. The food is unhealthy and he doesn’t know how people eat some of the items on the menu with alcohol, but since he doesn’t drink much in the first place, he can eat nearly every item. It’s unhealthy, which—on top of his already moderately unhealthy diet—isn’t good, but it tastes great. 

Taeyhung’s the same too—well, mostly. He visits this night club once a month even though he doesn’t usually buy the food because of how overpriced it is, their wealth be damned. He says it’s  fun because the alcohol gets rid of his inhibitions and he’s able to dance freely without any embarrassment, which sounds cool, but Jeongguk knows that even if he doesn’t feel embarrassed in the moment, he’s going to get embarrassed the next morning, so it’s another reason why he never comes. 

Except for now. Taehyung told his parents, and his parents made Jeongguk promise that he’d go to the night club with Taehyung at least once by the end of the month and to send a video as proof because they wanted him to ‘gain the experience.’ He does admit that he’d been a little curious, which is why he gave in so easily, but now he’s starting to regret ever coming here. It’s too loud and the scents are too much.

Taehyung wraps an arm around Jeongguk and puts a hand on Jeongguk’s arm, pushing him forward, and Jeongguk tilts his head onto Taehyung’s shoulder. Taehyung noses into his hair for a couple seconds, then draws away as they approach the bar. 

“I’ll get a beer,” Taehyung says, handing over his card, paying on the tab.

“I’ll get sex on the beach. I’ll pay one-time.” 

The bartender nods and starts making the drinks, and Taehyung hugs Jeongguk from behind, wrapping both of his arms around his waist. 

“Are you okay?” Jeongguk asks, putting a hand on Taehyung’s arm. “You’re not usually this clingy.”

He shakes his head. “I’m okay. I just don’t like the way this one guy is looking at you. He’s definitely a playboy.”

Jeongguk hums. 

“Now that I think about it, I should pay one-time too because I don’t want to drink that much. But I’m gonna need more than just one beer to dance.”

“I doubt all the alcohol in the world would be able to make me dance.”

“I disagree. Drunk you is shameless.”

“How would you know? You’ve never seen me drunk before.”

“Your parents told me the recap after our first time,” he snickers. “They told me that you gave them a detailed lesson on how the intestines and peepee-poopoo places work, and then you started to take your shirt off because you were too hot, and that even then you were still ordering more alcohol!”

Jeongguk groans in embarrassment. This is the main reason why he doesn’t drink often. Once he hits a certain point, his self-control goes out the window, shame doesn’t exist, and he doesn’t think about other people at all . And to make it worse, he doesn’t know what his limit should be in order to prevent him from hitting that point in the first place. For now, it’s on the very safe side: no more than one drink.

“And I’ll get to see for myself how accurate that is now.”

“Oh Luna.”

Taehyung giggles.

The bartender is finished with their drinks, so Jeongguk pays for his drink, and Taehyung does decide to pay one-time after all. He orders another beer and pays for them both after Jeongguk does, then hands Jeongguk his drink and puts an arm around his waist again. He leans into Taehyung, sipping on his drink. 

Taehyung drinks his own glass like it’s a sports drink—either chugging it or taking small sips in succession. A different bartender gives them the beer and then Taehyung leads them to one of the booths around the edge of the room. They sit beside each other but Taehyung still puts an arm around his shoulder.

“Is he still looking?” Jeongguk asks in disbelief.

“No. But others might be.”

Jeongguk snorts. “Okay. Thank you very much, Mr Knight in Shining Armour.”

“No problem, Princess.”

Jeongguk rolls his eyes and sips at his drink again. It does good for battling against the heat of the room. 

When Taehyung finishes his second beer, he leans his head on Jeongguk’s shoulder, rubs his cheek against it, and then just rests there, arm still over Jeongguk’s shoulder. 

“You better not fall asleep,” Jeongguk says.

“I won’t. I’m waiting for you to finish.”

Jeongguk finishes the last of it and puts the glass down with a clank. 

“How are you feeling?” Taehyung asks.

“Good. Why?”

Taehyung lifts his head from Jeongguk’s shoulder and smiles evilly. “Let’s dance.”

Jeongguk shakes his head. “I can’t dance.”

“You can, stop being a wuss.”

Jeongguk shakes his head. Dancing is embarrassing as hell. 

But Taehyung stands up, gets out of the booth and tugs on Jeongguk’s arm to get him out of there. Jeongguk puts his feet on the ground and leans backwards into the booth, but Taehyung wraps his arms around his waist instead and pulls him out and then turns them both around, putting himself in the way of one side of the booth. He knows Taehyung will pull him out even if he sits on the other side, so Jeongguk sighs and walks towards the dancefloor. 

He walks right into the middle of it, mildly disgusted by the light smell of sweat in the air. Taehyung stops in front of him and sways his hips side to side, arms bent and following the hip motion. After a moment, when it becomes clear that Jeongguk isn’t going to do anything but stare at Taehyung like a three-headed monster, Taehyung stops and puts his hands on his hips. 

“Dance,” he yells, barely audible over the music.

Jeongguk raises his eyebrows.

Taehyung takes one of his arms and lifts it up, but Jeongguk doesn’t even bother trying to hold it up when he lets go, letting it hit his side with a slap, although muffled by the music. Taehyung takes the same arm and lifts it up again. Jeongguk lets it fall again. Taehyung takes his arm again, but holds it up for a couple seconds, and when it falls again, Taehyung crosses his arms and playfully makes an angry face, pursing his lips and furrowing his eyebrows. Jeongguk crosses his arms and makes the same face back.

Then Taehyung grabs both of his hands and sways them side-to-side and starts swaying his hips side to side before he nods his head expectantly. Jeongguk frowns and doesn’t move.

Taehyung starts swinging their hands more forcefully now, and then holds them up to twirl himself under it, giggling. Then he tries to twirl Jeongguk, but when Jeongguk still doesn’t move—it’s embarrassing and he already said he doesn’t dance—Taehyung rolls his eyes, lets go of their hands and makes him turn around by literally turning Jeongguk from the shoulders.

Taehyung raises his arms up and down with pumped fists, smiling expectantly. Jeongguk doesn’t move.

Taehyung sighs and pouts dramatically, so Jeongguk indulges him slightly by swaying his hips, which makes the big baby brighten up and start wiggling his hips and swaying their hands even harder, but Jeongguk stops. Taehyung doesn’t care though. 

Jeongguk groans, but Taehyung has closed his eyes. “I’ll murder you,” he says even though he knows Taehyung can’t hear him. 

Taehyung keeps dancing like an idiot.

“I can’t believe you forgot to bring your umbrella,” Jeongguk says, looking at the ground and stepping over geese poop. “I reminded you twice yesterday that it’s going to rain.”

“Well, yeah, you did,” comes Taehyung’s chastised voice over the phone, “but I didn’t bring my umbrella when I moved into the dorms and didn’t have time to buy one.”

“Instead of making out with Chaewon you could’ve gone to the convenience store to buy one.”

“Believe it or not, convenience stores don’t actually have everything that could make your life convenient!”

Jeongguk rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I’m coming. I’m almost there.” He’s not. There’s at least five more minutes of walking at this pace before he reaches the math department.

“Hurry up, I don’t have all day.”

“Your seminar is in two hours.”

“Details.”

“You’re just going to have sex with Chaewon again.”

“She’s in her heat and it’s what she wants! What else am I supposed to do?”

“You guys haven’t imprinted though.”

“No, but it helps with the cramps. She can’t stand for long either, so I make her food and stuff as well.”

“You make her food?” his eyes grow wide and his voice goes high from shock. “Like, cook actual food? Or ramen and sandwiches?”

“Yes, because I’m not as talentless as you. I cook her actual food that’s more than just ramen and sandwiches—”

“Scrambled eggs and the like don’t count.”

“No, I don’t cook her actual food. I tried yesterday to cook something that’s not just plain rice with sides or stuff that a seven year old could make, but I burned it.”

Jeongguk snorts. “We should take cooking lessons during the summer.”

“Ew, no. Let me enjoy my break.”

He’s almost there now and the geese poop has let up. He walks a little faster because even though he has a sweater and jacket vest on, his arms and ankles are cold and he wants to get this trip over with as soon as possible. “Why don’t you just run through the rain? It’s not like you’re carrying anything important.”

“ I am important. Besides, you have a motorcycle to drive me to Chaewon’s dorm.”

“It’s all the way at the parking lot, you dimwit. If you wanted me to drive you then you should’ve told me and I would’ve brought it closer. You’re waiting at the main entrance, right?”

“That’s okay, we can run. And indoors, yeah. I can’t see you.”

“I’m at the side.”

After a couple seconds, Taehyung says, “I see you now,” and hangs up. The door opens and Taehyung comes out, jogging to Jeongguk. Taehyung is so lucky Jeongguk has the bigger type of umbrella that can fit two people, otherwise he would’ve made Taehyung run through the rain.

Taehyung puts his arm through Jeongguk’s, the one holding the umbrella, and says, “Run!”

Jeongguk nearly trips and swears, but humours Taehyung a little bit by jogging. Taehyung slows his pace down when he sees that Jeongguk isn’t going full out and huffs. But since Jeongguk isn’t a sports person, he starts getting out of breath within thirty seconds. Still, he continues to run, and when Taehyung starts huffing not long after, they stop jogging and walk at a regular pace, trying to catch their breaths. They still have a little while to go.

Taehyung walks faster, and Jeongguk matches pace with him. 

“Why are you in such a big rush? You told me she’s asleep.”

He shakes his head. “She woke up. Texted me and asked where I am.”

“Honestly, when are you two going to start dating?”

“I don’t want anything serious.”

“I get that, but you can date without being serious.”

“Still. Dating brings a certain amount of seriousness. I don’t want that.”

“But you guys are exclusive anyways.”

“That’s to be expected. I don’t want my fuckbuddy to be having sex with who knows how many people and possibly giving me an STD because who the hell checks for one after every single time they have sex? I don’t know about you, but I personally don’t want an STD.”

“Condoms exist, but okay.”

Taehyung looks at him and raises his eyebrows. “Not every sex scene has to involve some sort of dick. Are you upset?”

Jeongguk furrows his brows. “No. Why?”

He shrugs. “Your reply was short.”

“No, I’m not upset. Besides, what can I say to that other than okay?”

He shrugs. 

“So, will I have to buy you an umbrella or can I expect you to buy your own now?”

“Your expectations are too high.” 

Jeongguk snorts. “Of course they are, you lazy pig.”

They reach the parking lot soon and it doesn’t take long before they get their helmets and Jeongguk his jacket and gloves on. The umbrella is closed and given to Taehyung to hold. It’s going to be colder than usual for Taehyung without a jacket on in the rain, but that’s also his fault for not bringing it. He should learn to check the weather at least once a week if he won’t check every day.

He drops Taehyung off at Chaewon’s building and then goes to a nearby store. Jeongguk grabs some things he needs and then goes to the umbrella stand, which is easy to spot. There are many different types of umbrellas and patterns, but two draw his attention the most. A bright yellow one, which has spongebob’s face when he opens it up, and a hot pink hello kitty one. Luckily, both are the big kinds, big enough to fit two people. 

He gets the hello kitty umbrella and snickers as he gets in line. 

Taehyung has been behaving off lately. He’s been mopey and frowning, and he even spaces out sometimes. He doesn’t talk as much either, and even though Jeongguk already thought Taehyung was tactile, now it’s like he’s become a baby koala and Jeongguk’s the mother. 

Jeongguk’s determined to get to the bottom of this. The other couple times Jeongguk’s asked about it, Taehyung hadn’t been receptive, but they’d also been in public spaces like the library, so maybe Taehyung will open up about it at home, in either of their dorms.

It might be about Chaewon because they haven’t been hanging out recently at all, but she might just be busy since it’s nearing exam season.

Jeongguk rolls over on his bed and grabs his phone from the bedside table. He calls Taehyung and he picks up almost immediately. “Taehyung,” Jeongguk says. “Do you want to come over for dinner? Afterwards, we can watch the movie you’ve been talking about lately. Your morning class is cancelled anyway.” By lately, Jeongguk means before he became mopey, which was about two weeks ago.

“Sure. I’ll be there in twenty.”

“Yeah.”

Jeongguk puts the phone back on the table and rolls out of bed, stands up, and puts a hoodie and socks on. He’s wearing one of his shorter shorts, but that’s fine. His legs adapt to colder weather quicker than his upper body does. Jeongguk puts his phone in his pocket and lies on the couch, scrolling on UberEats. 

Ooh, burritos sound nice. He should text Taehyung. 

Me: Do you want burritos? I’m on ubereats rn

Tete: I’m actually on the way to get takeout from subway

Tete: But we can order food delivered to us too

Me: Come here

Me: Or will the walk be doing you some good

Me: Because you’ve been acting sad lately and don’t even try to deny it

Tete: I want to walk

Me: Okay then

Me: Have fun :D 

Me: <3

Tete: Thx <3

Taehyung ends up coming in thirty minutes. 

“I ran into one of my professors. Turns out I have an overdue research project from the beginning of the semester even though I was sure I handed it in.” He sighs and shakes his head, putting the sandwiches on the small table beside the couch. “I’m just thankful I did it digitally. I know I did it, but maybe I didn’t actually submit it.”

“Eugh.”

“I know. It’ll be quick though, so there’s that.” 

Taehyung goes back to the foyer to hang his sweater and wash his hands, and then he comes to sit beside Jeongguk, putting his arm around his shoulder, cold hand sticking itself into Jeongguk’s hoodie from the top. Jeongguk shrieks and jumps and Taehyung takes his hand out, giggling all the while. 

Jeongguk lies down and puts his legs in Taehyung’s lap, acting nonchalant when Taehyung’s cold hand starts massaging his calves, trying not to shiver. Soon though, his hands warm up and it becomes relaxing. If it weren’t for the smell of food filling up his nostrils, he would’ve laid like this for longer. He sits up and takes his legs out of Taehyung’s lap, taking the sandwiches out of the bag. Taehyung roots through the bag afterwards and pulls out some cookies too, and then he goes to the minifridge under Jeognguk’s desk to get soda.

The sandwich is no longer warm, but it’s good. Meatball is the best. Taehyung isn’t able to finish the second half of the footlong, so Jeongguk puts his cookie down and eats it instead. 

Chicken teriyaki is really good too.

“So,” Jeongguk says, grabbing his cookie again. “Is there a reason why you’re feeling down lately?”

Taehyung sighs and lies down, putting his head in Jeongguk’s lap, feet hanging over the armrest. “Chaewon ended our arrangement.”

“Oh.”

“She didn’t tell me why, but I didn’t ask either. I know I kept saying I didn’t like her like that, that I don’t want to date her, but honestly, I thought we were heading that direction, and I was becoming okay with it. I was getting excited. But then she ended it. I feel okay mostly. Just slightly dejected whenever I have time for myself because I have nothing to do and a lot to think about. I didn’t know I was so obvious that I needed an intervention.”

“Do you want to talk to her? Tell her about your feelings? If you thought you were headed into the dating area, then chances are that you’re not wrong. She probably felt it too and got scared because you kept saying you’re not interested in it.”

Taehyung shakes his head. “The only reason we made the arrangement in the first place was because she wanted a rebound after a bad breakup with her ex. She’s definitely not ready to date yet. Besides, it’s just a crush. I’ll get over her pretty soon, I think.”

“Mkay.”

“Don’t be like that.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

He sighs and loops his arms around to hold Jeongguk’s lower thigh. “Can we watch the movie?”

Jeongguk hums. “The remote is on the TV stand though, so I have to get up.”

Taehyung sighs dramatically and untangles himself, then pushes himself up. He doesn’t sit upright though, so Jeongguk knows he’s going to lie back down in the same position again. He gets the water bottle beside his bed too before sitting down. Sure enough, Taehyung lies down in the same position. 

They watch the movie in silence, his hand in Taehyung’s hair, and Taehyung lightly scenting his thigh. 

“Hey . . . Aha.” 

What a pitiful greeting. Jeongguk lifts an eyebrow, unimpressed, leaning back in his chair and tilting his head back. “What did you forget this time?” he says into the phone.

“So, I forgot to charge my laptop last night—”

“No.”

“Please.”

“No.”

“I need to do a presentation in my seminar in about half an hour. It’ll take an hour and half tops. I don’t know when I’m going to present.”

Jeongguk sighs. “I need to write a twenty page essay that’s due in two days and I only have twelve pages done so far.”

“Eugh, that’s rough.”

Jeongguk hums in agreement. “I’ll give it on the condition that I come with you so that I can continue working on it.”

“Deal. I have to set everything up first though.”

“I know. Text me the room number.”

“Also, um, can you pick me up?”

Jeongguk sighs. “Where are you?”

“You’re the best. I’m at the coffee shop two blocks away from campus.”

“I hate you.”

“You’re literally the most awesome and amazing person to ever exist.”

“Uhuh.”

“‘Kay, bye bye. See you.”

“See you.”

“What do you want?” Taehyung asks, hand playing with Jeongguk’s hair. 

“I don’t know.”

Taehyung sighs. Jeongguk sighs too. It must be frustrating for Taehyung because Jeongguk’s not like this at all. 

Heartbreak can really change a person.

“There’s nothing you want at all?”

“I want to cuddle.”

That’s not really possible because they’re already cuddling, sitting on the couch with Jeongguk sideways in Taehyung’s lap, legs bent so that his feet are curled under Taehyung’s knee, but Taehyung indulges him anyway by tightening his arms around Jeongguk and even kissing the shell of his ear.

She did that too though, so it only makes him upset again. He tears up, but he blinks, trying to hold them in. Taehyung notices and pushes his head to rest on his shoulder, though with the way they’re positioned, his face is really close to Taehyung’s neck. 

It’s not like they haven’t scented before, but with friends, it’s usually more a thing that’s strictly done during times of distress, like when Taehyung’s grandma was severely ill for two consecutive days and Taehyung was sick with worry.

But he’s sort of in distress too, isn’t he? This counts, right?

“Can we scent?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Taehyung says immediately.

Jeongguk rolls his head back and closes his eyes. Taehyung puts his nose on his neck and gently moves it up and down, smelling him, mostly, and Jeongguk shudders. Rarely does something that’s not his own hand touch his scent glands, so the stimulation feels glorious. 

Taehyung puts his cheek against Jeongguk’s scent glands now and rubs, and Jeongguk feels a bit lightheaded, but relaxed. Taehyung’s cheek is at a weird angle, and it must feel weirder for Taehyung himself, but Taehyung doesn’t say anything. It’s nice. It’s so, so nice. They didn’t scent this long, this thoroughly last time. It was quick and light, just enough to calm Taehyung down because Taehyung wasn’t comfortable doing it for any longer.

Taehyung pulls away and tilts his own head back, and Jeongguk puts his nose against Taehyung’s scent gland, moving it up and down gently. His head is turned at a weird angle, but Taehyung’s autumn scent is warm and comforting. Taehyung shudders, exhaling heavily. Jeongguk puts his cheek against Taehyung’s scent gland and rubs, and Taehyung loosens his hold on Jeongguk, his own scent dulling a little and Jeongguk’s taking over. 

He stops there, but rests his head on Taehyung’s shoulder again, staying close to his scent gland.

“Thank you,” Jeongguk says.

Taehyung doesn’t lift his head from where it’s still rolled back, but he tightens his arms around Jeongguk again and says, “No problem.”

“Were you comfortable? Did you like it?”

“I did. I actually wish we did it for a little while longer. Do you feel better now? She really isn’t worth feeling sad over. Were you comfortable?”

“I feel better now, and I was comfortable. I think I needed that. And they were kind, they were good; it was just the wrong time for them. Do you want to do it again? I want to.”

Taehyung lifts his head now and looks Jeongguk in the eyes. “I want to too.”

Jeongguk smiles and then lifts himself off of Taehyung’s lap. “I’m going to put socks on first. My feet are cold.”

Taehyung huffs a laugh. “Okay.”

Jeongguk gets the bright, fuzzy green ones and slips them on, and then straddles Taehyung, arms going around his neck, his feet flat on the couch seat instead of flexed like they would usually be in this position. “Is this okay?” It’s not considered a platonic position, but it’s more comfortable than their previous one.

Taehyung wraps his hands around Jeongguk’s waist. “Yeah.” And then he puts his cheek into Jeongguk’s neck again, and Jeongguk sighs pleasantly as he rolls his head back, body lax in Taehyung’s hold.

“Hey,” Taehyung says. 

Jeongguk hums, not really paying attention. He’s not even fully there. The ceiling looks like it’s spinning. Someone screams, and then there’s laughter following it. The song coming from the living room changes even though it just started, from something slow to something faster and upbeat.

“Hey,” Taehyung says again, louder.

“Uh?”

“Who’s your celebrity crush?”

He thinks for a moment. Who is his celebrity crush? He loves Hongjoong, but he doesn’t have a crush on him. Same with the rest of the ATEEZ members. Oh, Hwasa is hot. She’s really hot. “Hwasa,” he says confidently. Embarrassingly, he’s fantasized about them being together. She’d be the perfect mate, the perfect alpha.

“Cool. I think I’m in love with Nayeon.”

She would be the perfect mate. Though, he’s surprised Taehyung’s interested in a beta. “I thought you were only into omegas.”

“I thought so too, but here I am.”

“Cool. Figuring out your sexuality is always interesting.”

“Does it really matter? I mean, in this day and age, no one really cares. If you’re attracted to someone, then you’re attracted to them.”

Jeongguk shrugs. “Eh.” The ceiling is spinning slowly now.

Taehyung sneezes, and then groans. His hand lands on Jeongguk’s ribs.

“If you were able to choose, what would you name yourself?”

“Uhhhhhhh.” Taehyung snaps his fingers a couple times. “I don’t know. Maybe Richy because I want to be rich.”

“We are rich though. And that’s not even a name.”

“But I want to be even more rich. And if I name myself that, then it could be a name.”

“Okay. I’d name myself Hongjoong so that Hongjoong and I could have the same name.”

“You’re obsessed,” Taehyung says, though he doesn’t say it in a bad way like some people do.

“Yeah.”

“Good for you. I’ve never been this obsessed over anyone.”

“It’s not just Hongjoong, it’s everyone in ATEEZ. But Hongjoong is my bias, and he has been from day one. I love them all so much, my eight little idiots.”

“You’re crazy. They don’t even know you exist.”

“Some of the members touched me at one of their fansigns after I handed each of them a little container of food. They vaguely know I exist.”

“They might not have eaten it. Are you even allowed to gift food at fansigns?”

“It was. This was when they recently debuted, so it might’ve changed now. I haven’t been able to go to any more of their fansigns even though I’ve really wanted to. But that’s okay, their concerts are amazing.” The ceiling is stopping. “Why is it stopping? The spinning is cool.”

“What? What’s spinning?”

“The ceiling. It stopped.”

Jeongguk tries to sit up, but gives up when Taehyung rolls over and throws an arm over his torso, laughing. “You’re drunker than I am!”

He huffs. “No, I’m not.”

Taehyung just laughs.

“Fuck off.”

“Okay, okay. Would you rather fight a horse-sized duck, or one ten duck-sized horses?”

“A horse sized duck.”

“That was quick.”

“If I can domesticate it, I can hug it whenever I want.”

“You’re supposed to fight it, not domesticate it.”

“I’ll domesticate it after I fight it.”

“If it doesn’t swallow you whole,” Taehyung points out.

“What do you mean? A horse-sized duck won’t be able to swallow me. At most, it’ll be big enough to swallow my arm.”

“Horses are big. Don’t underestimate them.”

Jeongguk shakes his head. “You’re over estimating them.”

“Don’t come crying to me when it swallows you whole.”

“If I even find a horse-sized duck, I wouldn’t be able to anyway. I’d be in its stomach.”

“Okay, but you could always use your phone.”

“I’d be so cramped in there. How would I be able to use my phone?”

“You’d find a way,” Taehyung says resolutely.

“Mkay.”

“Okay. Since you’re picky about smells, what smell do you dislike the most?”

“Usually candle smells in general. Some of them are good, but I don’t like most of them. If we’re talking about a specific scent, then, hmm, I don’t know. I like clean smells, mostly. So I guess anything that doesn’t smell clean. Like gasoline.”

“That’s not even a scent.”

“It is. I saw it once when I was searching for oils for my diffuser. There was gasoline.”

“That’s weird as fuck,” he says.

“I know. Now, my turn. Would you rather get a bad haircut or a bad dye job?”

“Dye job. I can re-dye my hair on my own or go to a different barber.”

“Isn’t it bad for your scalp if you do that?”

“I don’t know. It’s not like I’ve ever dyed my hair before.”

“Mm.”

Taehyung sighs into Jeongguk’s hair and starts nuzzling into it. 

“If you turn invisible for a day, what would you do?” Jeongguk asks.

“Roam the streets butt naked, that’s what. I’d go to the beach and swim nude. Lie in the sun nude. Try and then fail to sketch myself nude without having to worry about whether someone will come in or not because I don’t have a big mirror in my own dorm and neither do you.”

“Mm. Don’t you hate realistic art though?”

“No, I only dislike it because I’m not good at it. But I want to get better at it.”

“Enroll in art class.”

“Have you seen my painting abilities? No, I’m limited to sketches and doodles.”

“So? Still better than I am,” Jeongguk says.

“Okay, but I’m an adult. I should have some sort of skill in these areas at the very least.”

“Hobbies are hobbies. You can advance them whenever you want. It’s not your job to improve your skill from day one. Besides, starting from zero isn’t anything to be ashamed of in the first place. In fact, it should be celebrated because you’re finding or trying to find something you love, something you’ll create. So many people are afraid of messing up, so they don’t even try. But that’s the point. You’re supposed to suck, and you’re supposed to fail. If you don’t, how are you going to know what you did wrong and what you’re good at? How are you supposed to know if you’re improving?”

“Wow.”

Jeongguk chuckles. “Too much?”

“No. I just never realized you were this passionate about, well, this.”

“I didn’t either. I guess, I don’t know,” he shrugs, “I just don’t like seeing you beating yourself up about something like this.”

“Thank you.”

“For what? I’m just saying how it is, how I feel.”

“Still, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Should we go now?” Jeongguk asks.

“Yeah. We’re gonna walk, right?”

“Mm. I thought I’d refrain from going over the limit. I mean, I planned to, but somehow I kept ending up with new cups in my hand whenever I finished, and I didn’t want to just leave it on a counter or something and have someone throw it out in the morning, y’know?”

Taehyung snorts. “Pushover.”

“Fuck off.”

He sighs. “I can’t believe we’re officially out of this hellhole next week. And two months later, we’ll have corporate jobs like full-fledged adults. No more school.”

“No,” Jeongguk whines. “Don’t remind me.”

“Why not?” Taehyung snorts.

“I don’t want to talk about post-uni.”

Taehyung giggles, his head shaking up and down gently, moving a little bit of Jeongguk’s hair too because his nose hasn’t separated from Jeongguk’s head. “Well we’re gonna have to because we graduate next week.”

“Then let’s not talk about it until next week.”

Taehyung snorts. “Okay.”

“Let’s go now.”

“Mm. We should. But I feel so nice like this.”

Jeongguk whines. “Me too. It’s why I’m waiting for you to get up first.”

Taehyung laughs now, his body shaking Jeongguk’s. “Me too. I was waiting for you to get up first too.”

They giggle, and Taehyung moves his arm to wrap entirely around Jeongguk’s front, and Jeongguk moves his head so that Taehyung’s lips are pressed against his temple.

Taehyung’s been acting weird lately. More specifically, he’s been acting weird since he got the promotion from a specialist to a director. And Taehyung hasn’t talked to Jeongguk about it, which is totally fine, but if things continue to go like this—moping for no reason, being blunt and sparse, and burritofying himself whenever he comes over like a sad sack of vegetables—then Jeongguk will have to make an intervention because Taehyung is an expert at putting his personal problems aside until there is absolutely no way for him to avoid it any longer.

In other words, he’s not good with confrontation regarding his feelings.

But thank Luna, Taehyung brings it up himself. 

Taehyung invited him over, and after they had dinner, Taehyung sat Jeongguk down at the couch to talk. Which he’s never done before. Jeongguk usually has to nudge him one way or another.

“So,” Taehyung begins, rubbing his hands together nervously. They’re facing each other on the same couch with both of Taehyung’s knees drawn up and only one of Jeongguk’s, with the other on the ground. “I’ve been behaving . . . off for the past week. And you’ve noticed. And I finally want to tell you so that you don’t hear this from anyone else.” Taehyung takes a deep breath and looks him in the eyes. “I’m probably getting engaged by the end of this week, and married within the next six months.”

Jeongguk’s heart plummets. 

Engaged? Married? To who? He’s not seeing anyone right now!

If Taehyung gets married, then they won’t be able to spend as much time together to do the things they normally do because Taehyung’s already busy because of his part-time BA in visual arts on top of his job. Add a mate? And possibly children? Then they won’t be able to see each other at all.

And Jeongguk will be all alone because he isn’t interested in romance unless it comes by him itself, and the only time he can make friends is when he’s adopted like a raccoon from a dumpster, which has only happened twice—once with Taehyung, and once with his partner in uni before they started dating.

Who is Taehyung getting married to? And why doesn’t Jeongguk even know of their existence? He has absolutely no idea who Taehyung could be getting married to!

Sure, they don’t really talk about stuff like crushes and who’s attractive or whatnot, but whenever either of them like someone enough to pursue them and ask them to date, or ends up being on the receiving end of the offer, they always make sure to consult with each other beforehand. Even with the arrangement Taehyung had with Chaewon back in uni, Taehyung let him know the arrangement between them existed. 

Who the hell is Taehyung about to get married to?

Jeongguk’s scent must have spiked because Taehyung is dropping his knees and scooching closer, taking Jeongguk’s hands in his own. 

“I swear, I didn’t hide anything or anyone from you. I don’t even know who I’m marrying yet. It’s an arranged marriage.”

Jeongguk raises both of his eyebrows in shock. He never thought Aunt and Uncle would ever even think of that for Taehyung. “Did you have a choice?”

“Oh, yeah, yes. They definitely asked me. They laid out all the reasons why they think it would be beneficial, and then asked if I agreed to the arrangement, and then told me I could back out any time. Well, specifically, I have three months after I know who they are so we could, y’know, get used to the idea of an ‘us,’ and if we can’t then the wedding gets cancelled. I honestly don’t know who it is, and my parents also said that their parents haven’t talked to them either yet, and the wedding will only go on if we both agree to it, hence the uncertainty of it happening in the first place.”

Jeongguk really, really hopes the other person doesn’t agree. Taehyung can’t get married, he just can’t. Jeongguk can’t be left on his own. He likes being alone, yes, but he likes being alone by choice —knowing that if he wants to, he can hang out with his friend. But being alone because he doesn’t have anyone or because his friend is just too busy to hang out? That’s lonely.

He has his parents, he knows, and he has his sister, but it’s not really the same thing. He does see them all at least once a week, but it really isn’t the same. They weren’t the ones to hold him through the first time he got piss drunk and threw up, and they weren’t the ones who sketched him nude only two days before the due date for their project.

Taehyung crawls forward, wraps his arms around Jeongguk and leans on him, making Jeongguk lie down on his back with Taehyung on top of him and his head right beside his own, Taehyung’s nose touching his ear. Jeongguk sighs and relaxes, breathing Taehyung in. Taehyung’s concerned too, a bit. His scent has spiked as well. Probably with nerves. Probably as a reaction to Jeongguk’s spiked scent.

“Talk to me. What are you thinking? What about this is making you upset? I’m okay with it. Nervous, but okay.”

Jeongguk clutches onto Taehyung’s shirt. “If you don’t hang out with me at least once a week, then I’m not gonna be friends with you anymore.”

Taehyung huffs in amusement. “That’s what I was planning to say to you. Just because I’m getting married doesn’t mean I don’t want you to come around anymore.”

“Okay. Then I’m gonna barge in whenever I want.”

“Like you don’t do that already.”

“Even if you’re in the middle of having shower sex, I’m going to drag you out of there by the hair and force you to do whatever I want.”

“Sounds good.” He can hear the smile in Taehyung’s voice. 

He smiles too. “You won’t know peace. I’ll be around twenty-four seven.”

“You’re already insufferable. You’re too cute for your own good. Finger guns and a little dance when you eat good food? It heals me.”

Jeongguk groans. He does it once and it’s suddenly his entire personality. “That was one time.”

“One time that I caught you.”

He’s only done it twice this year and Taehyung has caught him the first time. Last year he did it three more times. Not the finger-gun thing but the little dance when he eats good food thing. It’s just so rare and stands out so much that he’s able to keep track of it. “That was the first and last time I’ve ever done it.”

“Mhm.”

Jeongguk rolls his eyes.

“Also, don’t forget about me or my love for you. I’m going to be at your doorstep every other day.”

“Cheating on your mate? How scandalous of you.”

“How is it cheating or scandalous if I visit you, but not when you visit me?”

“You’re going to be the mated one. Why would you be visiting an unmated omega’s house alone? What would the tabloids say if they saw you?”

“The tabloids barely look at me and my personal life. Plus, you’re literally a friend since childhood.”

Jeongguk smiles. “Mkay. We’ll see, Mr Art Student.”

Taehyung sighs and shakes his head.

Things with Taehyung have mostly gone back to normal—except for the constant feeling that he’s about to lose Taehyung—and now it’s his parents that are acting weird. 

Last week, they subtly asked him if he’s seeing anyone, but he replied in the negative, like he always does. Mama seemed relieved for some reason and Mum even kissed him on the cheek when he left. They always hug him whenever he leaves the weekly dinners, even his sister Jihyo, but other than Mama, no one ever kisses him. 

This week, they’re arranging a business meeting that’s not related to work between the three of them—Mum, Mama and himself. Which is weird, because the only business meetings they ever have are work related and only on the weekday—which is what business meetings are supposed not be —and this one’s on the weekend, the day after their family dinner. 

The only thing that’s not weird about this whole thing is the fact that it’s at home, so it must be about something personal. Do they want him to move back in? Does one of them have an illness that they’ve already disclosed to Jihyo for her not to be included? 

He sighs and lies down on the opposite side of the couch. 

When Jeongguk walks inside, he finds his parents seated in the living room, cuddling on the couch while doing their own things, and it warms him to still see them doing stuff like this. His parents notice him right away and sit up as Jeongguk sits on the single seater perpendicular to them. 

Even though Mum’s the business woman, Mama’s the one to get them all started.

“I know that, in the past, we’ve stated that we don’t want to meddle in your love life.”

Oh. Oh Luna. He never expected this. 

“Sweetheart,” Mum says, putting a hand on her wrist. “You’re scaring him. Look at him.”

Mama smiles apologetically. “Sorry. But, basically, if you agree—you have a choice, this isn’t going to be a forced thing—then you’ll be marrying Taehyung by the end of the year.”

Wait. 

He’s marrying Taehyung?

He’s the person Taehyung is supposed to marry?

“I know we’ve talked about this before,” Mum says, “and you said you’re okay with a blind date being arranged by us with a yearly quota, but we’re aware this is different. It’s an arranged marriage . You’re going to spend the rest of your lives together as mates. But we think this will work well for both of you, and it will put us at ease too. 

“You’ve expressed interest in romance, but you’ve done nothing to pursue it even though you’re already in your early thirties. You’re getting older now, and it’s harder to come by people around your own age that are still single, let alone coming across the one that’s right for you. It might be weird since he’s your friend, but we hope you both can learn to love each other that way.”

“I need time to think about this.”

Both of them nod. “Of course,” Mama says. “Let us know as soon as you make your decision.”

Wow.

Jeongguk nods and walks to the foyer. His parents see him out like they always do and hug him, and Jeongguk slumps into his car.

He calls Taehyung.

“I need to talk to you,” Jeongguk says immediately.

“Sure,” Taehyung says. “Did I do something?”

“No, it’s not about you. I just need to confirm and consult about something my parents said.”

“Oh, is it work related?”

“No, it’s about our personal lives. About the arranged marriage.”

“Oh? Do they know who I’m marrying? My parents refuse to tell me a word until the other party confirms and I’m kinda getting impatient. But how do they know?”

“Yeah, they know. And they know because it’s me.”

“. . . What?”

“I just found out two seconds ago. So, we need to talk about what married us will look like, if you’re open to us happening.”

Taehyung’s quiet on the other side of the line, but there is some shuffling. “Yeah, I’m open to us happening,” he says softly.

“Okay. Are you home? Or do you want to come over to mine? I’m fine with either.”

“Let’s go to yours. I need a model for my art project again, and I need the natural light.”

“All right. See you.”

“See you.”

Taehyung lets himself in and sets down a backpack—probably with his sketchbook and pencils and stuff—on the couch and washes his hands before sitting across Jeongguk on the other couch.

“I called my parents on the way,” Taehyung says, “and they confirmed that you were the one I was meant to marry. Not that I thought you lied, but because you were the last person I thought I’d marry—or have them choose you for me to marry.”

“You’re open to the idea of us getting married though, right? I am.”

“I am too. It’s just, since you’re my best friend, I don’t know what to expect. Should we continue to act and feel the same except for the marriage title, or should we learn to love each other romantically?”

“I want to learn to love each other romantically. If we can’t, then we’ll call it off, because in and as a spouse, I want romance.”

Taehyung nods. “Do you also want more skinship, or do you want to keep it the same? I’m usually more tactile with my partners than I am with you.”

“I don’t know if I’ll initiate or not, but I’m okay with you being more tactile. I like being on the receiving end of a lot of things.”

Taehyung nods again. “I like giving a lot, but I want you to either give or initiate some things too. Because if you don’t initiate it after I’ve tried something new a couple times, even if you’ve accepted it, then I’m not likely to do it again. It’s like a reassurance that you really do like it and aren’t just tolerating it. Because in high school—specifically, after you presented—my scent, even though I was still unpresented, was irritating to you after being in close proximity for a little while and you only told me to leave when you started to get a headache.”

“I understand. I haven’t done that since, though, if that helps put you at ease. I became, mm, less of a pushover after I presented.”

“It does put me at ease, yeah. Even though you started nitpicking and correcting my behaviour, like, right after you presented, verbal confirmation that you do or don’t like something helps. I know you’re the type to show things with actions instead of words, but sometimes I prefer receiving verbal confirmation.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” It doesn’t sound like Jeongguk’s been giving enough verbal confirmation, so he’ll need to do more of that.

“Um, are you okay with PDA? Your relationship in college didn’t really show me what you liked or didn’t like in a relationship because you looked tolerant of half of the things they did.”

“Um, I’m okay with hand holding and cheek kissing. I think I’d be okay with you holding my waist, but I’m not sure. We’ll see.”

“So, not big things.”

“Yeah.” Jeongguk licks his lips. “Do you want to have sex before the wedding or wait until the day of? I’m okay with either.”

Taehyung shrugs. “I’m okay with either as well. I just—I don’t know, if it leads up to it, then yeah, I’m okay with having sex. But I definitely want to kiss and make out, just for the intimacy of it.”

“Okay. Um, speaking about intimacy, is it okay if I sleep almost nude? And can you do the same? Sometimes I do that, though mostly in the summer, and it would feel intimate if you did it too. I don’t want it to be sexual. I mean, it’d depend, but me sleeping without much clothing on isn’t and shouldn’t be an invitation to do sexual things.”

Taehyung nods. “I sleep with underwear only in the summer.” 

Jeongguk knows because he’s walked in on Taehyung sleeping many times. Thankfully, when Taehyung lets himself in and finds Jeongguk sleeping, then he’ll go to a different room and do something quietly instead, regardless of whatever he’s wearing.

“Uh, are you going to propose?” Jeongguk asks. “Or are we automatically engaged? Or do I propose?”

“Oh, I actually don’t know.” Taehyung scratches the back of his head. “Is it okay if we go on a couple dates first? I just, I want to get used to us , y’know?”

He knows. He would’ve objected if Taehyung said that he wants them to automatically be engaged. “Yeah, I get that. So, we’ll go ring shopping soon, right?”

“Yeah, some time after I tell my parents. Is there a specific timeframe you want to get married in?”

“I actually want an autumn wedding, so maybe October, or even November. It’s almost five months away.”

Taehyung nods. “I’m okay with that. Yeah,” he says, nodding again, looking like he’s imagining it. “I like the idea.”

“Okay. Um, also, my heat is coming up soon, in just under two months. Can you take care of me during it?” Taehyung has visited Jeongguk when he was in heat many times before, but he’s never stayed for long. Usually just to drop off a meal or snacks, and Jeongguk never let him go without a hug, but Taehyung’s never actually stayed for longer than an hour, and definitely not for the entire duration of Jeongguk’s heat before.

Taehyung instantly nods. “Yeah, I will. I know you’ve shared details about your heats, and I’ve shared details about my ruts, but what should I expect?”

“I don’t want to have sex. I just, I need cuddles. Like, you think pre- and post-heat me is clingy, but in heat Jeongguk is very clingy. I need you by my side at all times, even if it doesn’t seem like it or if it doesn’t look like you’re actually helping or doing anything.” Taehyung already knows he doesn’t wear pants because the waistline makes the pain worse and that Jeongguk is pretty much unable to leave the bed to make his own food. “Just, I need you to tend to my needs. I don’t eat or drink properly during them so I need you to help with that.”

“Okay. My rut will follow the month after. If things change—like, if we imprint—then we’ll talk again, but I don’t want sex either. You know how I don’t generally like touch when I’m in rut, but I still want you to be physically close. Like, if I’m on the bed, then I want you to be on the other side of it without touching me. If I’m on the couch, then I want you to be on the other end of it. Does it make sense?”

“Yeah, you just want my presence.”

“That’s right. Because when I’m in rut, I feel like my skin is stretched against my body or something, and someone else’s skin isn’t pleasant on my already-too-tight skin.”

“Okay, that’s okay. It’ll be weird, I think, to not touch you even though we’re so close, but I’ll do my best and try not to forget.”

“Thank you.”

“Can we scent more? I really like it.”

Taehyung’s gaze softens. “I really like it too. But it’s too intimate to do it often. Do you get what I mean?”

“I do, yeah. I just, I meant, instead of doing it once every ten years, let’s do it, like twice a year? Or, actually, I’d like to do it once a month. At least. It doesn’t have to be anything heavy, but I just really like that feeling.”

“Once a month sounds agreeable. I just don’t want to do it often because I don’t want it to lose its meaning. I want every time we do it to feel the same way. Like it’s just us, like we’re splitting our hearts open for each other to see.”

Jeongguk nods. “I understand. I just expect a lot of intimacy and trust with my partner. And with you, I have the trust, but I don’t have the intimacy.”

Taehyung nods. “How intimate were you with Yeri?”

Yeri? Who’s that—oh, his partner in college. Despite Jeongguk considering it a serious relationship, Yeri didn’t hold the same value, which is why they broke up after dating for almost six months. They both wanted different things, but assumed that the other wanted exactly what they wanted. “The most we did was have sex. I didn’t sleep naked with them because I’m pretty sure they would’ve thought I wanted to have sex, but mostly because I wasn’t ready. I definitely didn’t scent her, and I didn’t spend my heat with them because it was just too much for them.”

“Oh, that’s an asshole move.”

“I know. I didn’t think that then, though.”

“You told me they were apparently too busy to take care of you during your heat.”

“Oh, did I? I don’t remember. I guess I didn’t want to make them look bad then.”

“Mm, you definitely told me that they were too busy. I told you she was an asshole for prioritizing things above their boyfriend’s heat, but you said that they couldn’t help you even if they wanted to.”

“Oh, wow. Did I really like her that much?”

“You slept with me the first week after you broke up.”

“Oh. Oh .” He remembers that now. They held movie marathons and pity parties with just the two of them, and because he felt lonely when he slept alone, he asked Taehyung to sleep with him. Whenever Taehyung had to leave early, he always made sure to wake Jeongguk up and let him know. Jeongguk only broke the arrangement off because he felt like he had to do stuff to move on or else he’d stay heartbroken like that forever.

“Do you want to cuddle now? In a lying down position?”

Jeongguk smiles. “Only if I can nap.”

Taehyung chuckles. “Alright.”

“Lemme bring the blanket.” There’s a thin blanket on the head of the couch he’s sitting on, but it’s too small. It’s meant to be thrown over his lap or his feet whenever he feels like it—not for two adults lying down. He gets the comforter from his own bed and lies directly on top of Taehyung, who’s already lying down. Once he drapes the comforter over them both, he turns around in Taehyung’s arms so that he’s lying belly-down and sighs, resting his head on Taehyung’s chest and closing his eyes.

Taehyung’s hands travel left and right on the dip of his back, coaxing him to sleep. Within a couple minutes, Jeongguk is yawning and his eyes are droopy, moments away from falling asleep.

“Wait,” Taehyung says urgently, startling Jeongguk out of his sleepy state, raising his head to look at Taehyung. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” He squeezes Jeongguk’s waist before returning his hand to the dip of his back. This time, though, he only rubs his thumb across the skin. “I just realized something.”

“What?”

Taehyung sheepishly smiles. “We forgot to do my art assignment. But it’s okay. We’ll do it after your nap.”

Jeongguk purses his lips. “When is it due?”

“Next week. Sketching is going to take the most time. I don’t plan to add many other media types to it.”

“‘Kay. Wake me up in thirty. Let’s eat a late lunch and then get to work.”

“Okay. I ate a bunch of snacks on the way here though, so I’m not sure if I’ll eat a proper lunch. I’ll set a timer so I don’t forget.”

He yawns. “That’s okay, as long as you get some proper food in you. I have leftovers from yesterday and the day before.”

Taehyung pats his back, and Jeongguk lays his head on Taehyung’s chest again.

Their first official date is on a Wednesday at an American diner they’ve never been to but have had on their ‘to go to’ list. It’s not fancy, but it’s not casual, and Jeongguk totally panicked when he picked the place. And he’s panicking right now as he takes his motorcycle helmet off. 

Should he have taken his car? His motorcycle doesn’t have a trunk that he can put his gear in, so he has to bring everything in with him. Is his hair ruined? He parted it to the side and waited for the hairspray to dry, but it’s probably messed up right now. He touches it gently, but he can’t feel anything for sure with the gloves on, so he puts the helmet on the motorcycle seat and takes his phone out to look at himself from above. Other than one stray lock, everything else is in place. He pats it down, but it stays up a little.

“How bad did your hair get messed up for you to frown like that?”

Jeongguk whips around and finds Taehyung smiling at him widely, car keys and phone in one hand. He’s wearing a button up shirt and black slacks, just like Jeongguk is. Thank Luna, he thought he dressed too formally. He stops frowning, but he purses his lips, pointing to the stray lock. “It won’t stay down.”

“That’s okay. It makes you look endearing.”

He puckers his lips, but doesn’t say anything more as he removes his gloves, transfers his phone from his jacket pocket to pants pocket, and removes the jacket. Taehyung takes the jacket out of courtesy after Jeongguk stuffs the gloves in the sleeves. He holds his helmet in his hands as they walk inside. 

They find a table and sit at one of the booths. The helmet and jacket go on the inside of the seat, and the waiter gives them menus, asking if they’d like water, and they both reply yes.

“So,” Taehyung says, leaning back in the chair and crossing his hands over his stomach, “what made you choose this place for our first date?”

Jeongguk raises an eyebrow. “What is this, a job interview?”

Taehyung smiles and relaxes, his shoulders going down, and crosses his arms over his chest instead. “I was planning to bring you here on our next date, but I can’t anymore.” He sighs heavily, dramatically. “Now I have to think of a new place.”

“Your bed.”

Taehyung snorts and leans forward from the force of his laugh, covering his mouth with his hand. Jeongguk giggles too, covering his face in embarrassment. It was funny, and he didn’t mean it, which Taehyung understood by the force of his laughter, but it’s still embarrassing. He didn’t think he had it in him to make such a joke in the first place. Their friends always say that he’s all business and no fun or adventure.

When Taehyung recollects himself and looks at Jeongguk, Jeongguk becomes unable to hide his smile, so he covers his mouth with the back of his hand and looks at the menu, pretending he’s rubbing at an itchy spot.

The waiter arrives with their glasses and leaves, and then they both look at the menu.

“The onion soup doesn’t sound good,” Taehyung says.

“Onion soup? Mum tried it once and said it was okay,” he shrugs. “Not bad, but nothing particularly worthy about it.” He flips to the desserts even though he hasn’t decided what meal wants yet. 

“Well, I’m thinking of skipping the appetizers entirely and going straight to the main course.”

“It’s just burgers and sandwiches.”

He hums. A moment later, with surprise, Taehyung says, “It really is just burgers and sandwiches. Oh Luna, is this what Americans eat every day? It can’t be, right?”

“Obviously not, dummy. This is a restaurant, they’re not gonna provide every food imaginable in American cuisine.”

“Well, I know that, but an entire menu of just burgers and sandwiches?”

“Hey, I’m surprised too, but you don’t see me shittalking about it inside the restaurant the menu is for in public.”

“Sorry, sorry, I’m just—I’m nervous, so, well, you know.”

Jeongguk looks up from the menu and Taehyung does look nervous. His posture is proper, but his shoulders are hunched in a little bit and his eyebrows are raised. “I’m nervous too.” He puts his hand on the table, palm-up, a clear question. Taehyung puts his hand on it and interlocks them. “I—” He purses his lips and tries again. “I’ve only gone on a handful of dates in my life, and I’ve never really planned any of them, so I was really nervous that you wouldn’t like this place. I know it wouldn’t have been my fault because we’ve both never been here, and even though we’ve been wanting to come here, there are just times when we both don’t like the food. But I really wanted the first date to be something special, y’know? Which is why I didn’t pick one of our favourite places. 

“I just—I want us to start off on a good foot, to start off feeling like the start of a romance, instead of revisiting the places we’ve gone to a lot and feeling like we usually do—platonic joy, no nerves, feeling mostly like it’s just another hang-out between us. I want to try new things with you; I want to do new things with you. And that makes me nervous. We’ve done a lot of stuff together, so it might be hard, but I want to continue doing new things with you and learning more about you so I can, I don’t know, feel like we’re starting to get to know each other.

“I know it’s a bit weird because we’ve known each other since we were in elementary school, and not all romances are the same, so we don’t have to be in the ‘learn more about each other stage,’ but I want that feeling so that I can differentiate between my platonic and romantic feelings for you. Does that make sense? I love you, and you love me, but only platonically. If we continue to do what we normally do, then we’ll continue to feel only platonic things for each other. Do you get it?”

Taehyung nods. “I get it, yeah,” he says. “It makes sense. I was thinking similar stuff too. I didn’t know if I could learn to love you romantically if we continued to act like we were just friends still and did and saw the things we usually did. But, like you also said, we’ve known each other since we were children. We can’t do new things every single time because it would be tiring and it just isn’t realistic to learn something new about each other every day or every single time we see each other. I don’t want to disregard what we already have, but I also acknowledge that we can’t do new things every single time. Even if we get married, we’re still going to be, at the core, us. Taehyung and Jeongguk, best friends since childhood turned husbands. It’s not realistic to—”

“I don’t think you got my point,” Jeongguk interrupts. “I’m not saying I want to learn new things about each other every time or do new things every time, but I want to get out of our comfort zone with each other. We don’t usually hold hands? Let’s try it out, see how it feels. We don’t usually stay over for the night or sleep in the same bed? Why not try it out now? We don’t usually buy things for each other unless it’s food? Instead of just taking a picture and telling each other that we thought you’d like it, call or text them to see if they do want it and then buy it for them as a gift. 

“I’m not saying we should forget our history and act like we’re strangers, constantly trying to ask things and share things in order to get to know each other. It could be in the little things like skinship, or it could be larger, more obvious things like—what have we not tried before? I don’t—ah, bungee jumping. Do you get what I mean now? Even romantic relationships are just like being best friends with romance stuff as a bonus.”

The waiter comes by again and asks if they’re ready to order, but they both say no and ask for more time.

Taehyung turns to face him when the waiter leaves and says, “Yeah, I get it now. That makes sense.” He squeezes Jeongguk’s hand, still interlocked on the table, and smiles softly. “Um, then, do you want to spend the night with me? For our next official date?”

“To sleep, right? Because I’m not ready for anything more yet, and I won’t be for a while.”

“Yeah, to sleep. Preferably in my bed, together, and cuddling, and maybe even kissing. I won’t be wanting sex for a while either.”

Jeongguk nods, smiling gently. “That sounds good then. Will we watch a movie beforehand?”

He shrugs. “I think so, yeah. I don’t really know. We could just do whatever because it’ll have to be on a weekend anyway.”

Jeongguk nods. “Okay.” He looks down at the menu and then back up. “I think we should get ready to order now,” he giggles.

Taehyung smiles sheepishly. “Until the waiter arrived, I forgot we were in public for a second.”

“Me too.”

Their hands stay intertwined while they decide and wait for their meals. 

Their next official date happens on a Saturday, the day before Taehyung’s weekly lunch with his parents.

Jeongguk lets himself in and calls out: “I’m here!”

“Kitchen!” Taehyung calls.

Jeongguk heads over, and when he catches the smell of tteokbokki, he quickens his pace. “Tteokbokki? You’re a God.”

Taehyung laughs heartily. “Thank you. I think it’s done, actually, so we can eat in a couple minutes. I need to prepare everything.”

“Okay.” Jeongguk rolls up his sleeves and washes his hands, then gets the dishes from the cabinet. 

Immediately, however, Taehyung protests and takes the dishes out of his hands. “I said ‘I,’ not ‘we.’ You rest up.”

“Well, okay then. I’m definitely not going to protest against that.”

Taehyung scowls. 

“C’mon, don’t you regret it already.”

“Just go sit down,” Taehyung says and pushes him lightly.

Jeongguk sits down at the table and makes himself comfortable as Taehyung sets the table. “You made this all, right? No instant stuff?” 

Taehyung gasps and puts a hand over his heart. “All myself. I’m offended you’d even think that. This is a date. ”

Jeongguk shrugs. “Hey, there’s the possibility.”

Taehyung brings one last thing to the table and sits down across from Jeongguk. “Well, consider the possibility null when it comes to me.”

Jeongguk raises his eyebrows. “You’re offering to cook every single meal for me? How delightful.”

“Stop putting words in my mouth.”

“What, are you not willing to cook for me? Then how are you proving yourself capable of being my mate?”

Taehyung doesn’t even try to tease back as he starts piling food on Jeongguk’s plate. It’s funny and Jeongguk tries to hold back his smile, but he thinks a little bit of it still shines through.

“Giving up so soon? Are you admitting that you’re not capable of being my mate? Not capable of taking care of me properly? Not willing to be a good mate to me?”

Taehyung levels Jeongguk with a flat stare and Jeongguk can’t hold back his giggles anymore. It’s funny, seeing Taehyung like this, unable to come up with an answer, or maybe just unwilling to, so he remains quiet instead. 

“Are you seriously—”

“Okay, first of all, you know me. Shut up about the ‘not a good mate’ thing.” He starts filling his own plate, and then stops to look at Jeongguk again, and then gestures to the table. “Second, I’m trying. This is me trying. Third, why would I ever even try to be a good mate for you? You’re dreadful.” Then he resumes filling his plate again.

Jeongguk decides to ignore how the first and last point contradicts and puts a hand over his heart as he gasps. “Excuse you, I’m lovely, I’ll have you know.” 

“Mhm. Says who, your mother?”

“Yes, actually.” He grabs the utensils and prepares his bite. “And both of them are very wonderful as well.” And now he takes the bite.

“I can only imagine.”

Jeongguk nearly chokes and Taehyung laughs, that little shit.

“We’ll see how you like me insulting your parents.”

“It was only in jest, sweetheart. Besides, my parents are delightful.”

Jeongguk perks up. “Sweetheart? Already coming out with the pet names.” Because he’s a little shit, he grins and says, “Falling for me so soon? Couldn’t you have at least resisted a bit longer?”

Taehyung sighs and shakes his head. “I don’t know why I’m gonna marry you.”

“I’m wonderful.”

Dryly, “I can see.”

Jeongguk giggles again and goes back to eating.

After a moment, Taehyung says, “Honestly, though, it’s nice to see you in a teasing mood. It’s been so long that I thought that part of you died. I’m not gonna miss it though.”

“Too sharp to handle?” he smirks.

Taehyung rolls his eyes and goes back to eating.

“I’m as sharp as a blade,” he winks. Taehyung pretends to puke, but Jeongguk ignores it and says, “You love me.”

“Somehow.”

“I love you too.”

“You better.”

Jeongguk yawns and Taehyung notices immediately. 

“Do you want to go to bed?” Taehyung asks.

He doesn’t want to. It’s so comfortable and warm, under the blanket with Taehyung spooning him, and he doesn’t want to move an inch. But he knows that if he refuses, he’ll fall asleep here, and then the whole bridge they’re supposed to cross tonight will be put off for later. But he doesn’t want to move. He pouts.

“If you don’t want to sleep in my bed, then we don’t have to. Just tell me.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just so comfy that I don’t want to move.”

“Ah. Honestly, me too.”

Jeongguk hums and closes his eyes. A blast jolts him awake moments later and he feels the rumbles of Taehyung’s chest when he laughs, the softness of his touch when he soothes his hand over Jeongguk’s waist. 

“Ready to go to bed?” he asks. 

Jeongguk hums and sits up.

Taehyung pats him on the back and sits up too, curling himself over Jeongguk, chin hooked over Jeongguk’s shoulder. Then he pushes the blanket off them and stands up, and Jeongguk follows. 

When they enter Taehyung’s room, Jeongguk freezes. Taehyung turns around and looks at him in confusion. “I forgot to bring my own stuff.” He packed his clothing and nightly appliances in a backpack and put it on the floor of his bedroom, but when he finished changing his clothes in preparation to come over, he told himself he’d pick it up when he leaves and went to sit in the living room for a little while to think and make sure he had everything he needed. But when he left, even though he was thinking about the backpack and its contents, he forgot to take the damn thing with him.

Taehyung laughs. “I thought you didn’t pack them on purpose because you wanted to wear my stuff.”

“Well.” Jeongguk knows what Taehyung’s pajamas are like—soft and light. Cozy. He kind of does want to wear them. “I wouldn’t mind. I just thought it would be too early.”

“It’s alright. Our pace is ours to follow, there’s no such thing as too early or too late as long as we’re both okay with it. Any specific request?”

“You know that really thin cotton set? The one you’ve had since uni?”

“The set with a hole just above the hem of the shirt?”

“Yeah.”

Taehyung raises his eyebrows and then shrugs. “Okay.”

“Hey, they look comfy.”

“They are. They’re just old, is all,” he says as he searches through his drawer.

He knows. And because of that, they’re embedded with Taehyung’s scent, which is another reason why he wants them.

Taehyugn hands them to him and then points to the ensuite bathroom and Jeongguk goes. He changes quickly and then comes out to find Taehyung adjusting his shirt, clearly just having put it on. He changed his pants too already. He’s wearing a silk pajama set; it looks soft. Jeongguk asks for a toothbrush and they brush their teeth together.

Taehyung puts a dab of moisturizer on his hand and then offers it to him, and Jeongguk uses it too. Thankfully, moisturizer is the only thing he puts on every night anyway, so there aren’t any products he’s missing for his nightly routine or anything like that. 

Then there’s the sharing the bed thing.

Taehyung awkwardly gestures Jeongguk to get in by just throwing an arm out, and Jeongguk lies like a sea star in the middle of it, taking up as much space as he can, looking at Taehyung to see his reaction.

Taehyung makes a merp face by pursing his lips and making his cheeks bulge out and nods in acceptance, then lies right on top of Jeongguk, also like a sea star, lining up his limbs with Jeongguk’s and even putting his face on top of Jeongguk’s, but he’s careful not to kiss. Instead, Taehyung’s nose is on his and their foreheads are pressed together as well. It’s awkward and puts pressure on his nose, and Taehyung’s nose keeps slipping to one side or the other, which is annoying to continually adjust, so Taehyung just puts his head on the bed, lips against Jeongguk’s ear, and breathes out deeply.

“That’s annoying.”

“So are you.”

“I hate you.”

“If you really did then you wouldn’t be marrying me.”

Jeongguk sighs. Taehyung’s an annoying shit, but he’s also a loveable shit.

“Told ya.”

Jeongguk moves his arm downwards to get it away from Taehyung’s and then slaps his shoulder blade.

The first time they kiss, it’s on Jeongguk’s couch in the middle of a shittalk session. 

Taehyung arrived tired and irritated from dealing with a certain client and Jeongguk saw it fit to make it a ranting session, which then led to shittalking coworkers and other clients. Taehyung was in the middle of insulting one of his employees, waving his arms around while slouching on the couch, the top couple buttons undone and sleeves rolled up when Jeongguk suddenly got the urge to get closer with him. Specifically with his face.

And he did. He leaned in, and when Taehyung noticed, he stopped talking and just looked at Jeongguk. He moved closer again, and then Taehyung closed the gap. 

It’s soft, quick, and then they separate and smile. 

Jeongguk sits closer as Taehyung puts one of his hands on Jeongguk’s cheek and the other on his midthigh. In response, Jeongguk puts both of his hands on Taehyung’s shoulders. They lean in again, and this time, their lips move against each other gently, and when he thinks they have the hang of it, he separates again. Then he kisses Taehyung’s chin out of affection and kisses him properly. Taehyung kneads his thigh a little and then moves his hand to his waist and pulls him even closer, closer, closer, until Jeongguk separates them to sit in Taehyung’s lap, straddling him, liking the way Taehyung’s hands naturally settle on his waist and thigh.

“I’m not—I’m not ready yet,” Jeongguk says, just in case Taehyung misunderstands this position. It’s not to seduce, but to be in a comfortable position. Sitting sideways in Taehyung’s lap wouldn’t be comfortable in this context. “To have sex.”

“Me neither.”

Taehyung leans in this time and Jeongguk feels it for the first time—giddiness and mild butterflies heavy like a stone in his stomach. When Taehyung leans back to pepper kisses all over his face and the shell of his ear, he giggles.

“I should rant more often if this is what happens.”

Jeongguk chuckles, hooks his chin over Taehyung’s shoulder and wriggles his body, cuddling into him. Taehyung’s hands move and he wraps both of his arms around Jeongguk. Taehyung’s scent has dulled and he’s no longer letting off pheromones, which makes Jeongguk happy. He did this. He made Taehyung happy, made Taehyung content. 

Not that he hasn’t cheered Taehyung up before, but this method is very new and didn’t even require much effort, and it felt great for both of them.

“So, if I start complaining about the amount of work I have, will you—”

Jeongguk laughs and leans his head to the side, knocking the crown of his head against Taehyung’s ear. He leans back and says, “You don’t need to feel down in order for me to kiss you. Just ask.”

“Then can I kiss you?”

Jeongguk nods and Taehyung leans in again.

“I love Pringles,” Taehyung says, stuffing a couple in his mouth at once.

Jeongguk shrugs, putting his backpack on the ground in front of his feet, leaning it against the empty seat in front of him. “I love chips.” Specifically Lays, but Pringles are awesome too.

“Do you think your sister will get mad at us for starting without her?”

“Annoyed, definitely, but she’ll get over it. Besides, it’s not like we can stop the movie from starting without her. It’s out of our control.”

Taehyung hums in agreement. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

Taehyung’s been verbally showing affection lately and it has Jeongguk internally zing with buoyancy, though it’s probably apparent in his scent with the way Taehyung smiles gently while looking at him. “You just want me for my snacks.”

“Snuck-in snacks are way better than overpriced snacks.” He reaches for some more, and Jeongguk takes a couple too. “Like, the snacks they have here are good, but expensive. Plus, they don’t have much variety. And we already bought drinks from them, that’s enough.”

Jihyo sits down beside Jeongguk, makes a face at them and reaches in for some chips. “Please, don’t be all lovey-dovey now that I’m here. My washroom break was supposed to give you two time to get it all out of your systems.” Jeongguk rolls his eyes as she takes a bite of her chips and reaches for some more. At this rate, they’ll finish the chips before the movie has even started. 

He slaps their hands away and closes the bag. “Leave some for the movie.”

“Your backpack is loaded with snacks,” Taehyung says. “I watched you pack.”

“Yeah, but none of us have eaten dinner yet. We’ll finish all of it and want a proper meal on top of it, so we can do the munching when the movie starts. Not the ads,” he clarifies, “but the movie.”

Jihyo slumps in her seat and sighs. Not even a moment later do the lights turn off and then the screen lights. 

They watch the ads in silence and as soon as the opening scene begins, Taehyung and Jihyo both nudge him, asking for the snacks. When he opens the same bag again, he makes sure he’s the first one to eat because he’s not about to let these animals assert their dominance over his snacks.

Which is a weird way of thinking, but it’s true. The person who brought the snack must be the first one to eat, otherwise it shows how much of a pushover they are in this world of monsters that vie for food at every opportunity possible.

Like hungry dogs, their jaws don’t stop chomping and they eat nonstop. By the time they’re reaching the climax of the movie, all the snacks are finished and his backpack is filled with empty snack bags and containers. At least the movie is good though. He hands everyone a wet wipe and then puts them all in one of the smaller sandwich bags when he gets them back. 

A couple minutes later, Taehyung taps his knee and offers his hand. Jeongguk looks at him in confusion, back and forth between his hand and Taehyung, and then widens his eyes when understands. He lifts the cup holder between them so that it’s no longer a barrier between them and puts his hand in Taehyung’s.

When the movie ends, the first thing Taehyung asks after they stretch is: “You guys up for dinner?”

“Actually, I’m having a girls night dinner with my friends, so I have to go home,” Jihyo says.

“Okay,” Jeongguk replies. He turns to Taehyung. “Do you want to come over? We can order takeout.”

“Sounds good.”

They stand up and slowly make their way out, and at the front of the movie theatre, after Jihyo leaves in her own car, they make their way to Taehyung’s car. 

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk says after he’s buckled in. “You remember that my heat starts soon, right?”

“Yeah, I remember. I already called those days off from work.”

Jeongguk sighs in relief. “Thanks.”

After Taehyung gets on the road, he puts his hand on Jeongguk’s left knee and says, “You shouldn’t thank me. I want to look after you.”

Jeongguk smiles and puts his hand on top of Taehyung’s, but the bare finger is suddenly bothering him. “Will we go ring shopping after my heat?”

Taehyung smiles sheepishly. “Actually, I’ve already been looking for rings and I’ve found a couple matching sets that I think you’d like as well. If you don’t like them or think they’re nothing special, then we can go shopping together, and if you already have a few in mind, then I’m totally open to them.”

“I actually haven’t started looking yet. I want to see your picks.”

“Okay,” Taehyung smiles.

Jeongguk hooks up his phone to the bluetooth speaker and taps his foot to the beat.

“I knew it was going to be an ATEEZ song.”

“Hey!” Jeongguk quickly goes to the queue and says, “The next song is from BLACKSWAN.”

“Mhm.”

“No, really!”

“Alright. But there’s nothing wrong with your obsession, just saying.”

“Just shut up.”

“Taehyung?” he says into the phone, bringing the comforter up to his chin. “Are you coming over?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I’m on the way right now.”

Shit. “Uh, is it okay if you go back and get some things for me?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. What do you want?”

Jeongguk moves his blanket higher to cover his nose, mildly embarrassed. He’s not actually embarrassed, but he kind of is. It’s like he’s talking with his Mama about the slick again when he presented, so it is kind of embarrassing, but it’s also not at the same time. It’s weird. “Can you get your blanket? The one on your bed? And don’t put a scent nullifier on it.”

“Okay. I’ll be honest, that pleases me a little. I thought of bringing it, but because you hadn’t said anything about it, I thought it would be better to leave it behind.”

Jeongguk smiles. 

“Do you want anything else? I already made a pit stop at the convenience store to buy your favourite snacks.”

“If you got the snacks then don’t think so. Er, maybe you can get some juice? There’s only one jug left and it won’t last. Also, you remember that I can’t eat spicy stuff on my heat, right?”

“Yeah, I remember. It’s not like I’ve been buying you food for the past decade or anything like that.”

He giggles and brings the blanket back under his chin. “Come quick.”

“I will.”

Jeongguk hums and waits for Taehyung to press the end button. When he does, Jeongguk puts the phone back on the bedside table, then lifts his head off the pillow in panic and calls Taehyung again. “Taehyung?”

“Yeah?”

“I also forgot to ask you to buy painkillers. I’m almost out.”

“Okay. I’m also just noticing how empty the streets are and it’s glorious.”

Jeongguk smiles and lies his head back on the pillow. “Bye.”

“Bye.” Taehyung hangs up first again and Jeongguk puts his phone on the bedside table, then changes his mind and grabs it again. He’ll read some Webtoons to pass the time.

A short while later, he hears Taehyung let himself in and set some things down before there are footsteps making the way to Jeongguk’s room. 

“Hey,” Taehyung says, holding the big blanket in his arms. 

“Come on, let’s cuddle.” The cramps have flared down since this morning, but they’re still in their milder stages. Later, he’ll only have Taehyung’s presence to help him along. 

Taehyung hands him the blanket, but Jeongguk doesn’t take it. “Drape it over the bed,” he says instead.

Taehyung does and then tucks Jeongguk in, even his feet. “I can come under the blankets, right?”

“Yeah,” he says.

Taehyung lifts the blankets and makes the bed dip as he crawls behind Jeongguk, gently putting an arm over his waist. Jeongguk sighs and puts a hand over Taehyung’s for the skinship, interlocking their fingers. It doesn’t feel as good as it would if Jeongguk got rid of his clothing. Currently, he’s fully clothed. Taehyung moves closer, pushing the entirety of their bodies together.

“Is there anything you want to do?” Taehyung asks. 

“Not really. But we can talk right now, since I won’t be able to when the cramps get bad.”

“Okay. I picked up the rings yesterday. I’m going to propose some time after your heat.”

Jeongguk smiles. “Okay. Make it special.”

“I thought you said it’s okay if I didn’t do it at a special place?”

“The place doesn’t matter. Just make it special. Don’t be like, ‘Oh yeah, here are the rings. So, I guess we’re engaged now, huh.’ Make it memorable.”

“Well, technically, if I do it in a way that you don’t like, then it’ll be memorable too. You’ll always remember how I nonchalantly just pulled out the rings and handed one to you—”

“Don’t even think about it. I’ll call off the wedding.”

Taehyung laughs and squeezes his hand. “We’ll see.”

Jeongguk huffs in annoyance.

“Are you not worried about us not imprinting yet?”

Jeongguk shrugs. “I’ve asked my parents about it and they said that even if we don’t imprint, after we mate, we’ll automatically imprint. Besides, doesn’t it only naturally happen, like, after a year or two? We don’t have that time, and that’s okay. We’ll basically imprint and mate on the same day.”

He can feel Taehyung nodding, his nose moving the hair on the back of Jeongguk’s head. “That’s a good point. I’ve always thought I’d fall in love with my mate on my own and get mated after a couple years, and imprinting was one of the steps we take together. I also thought that we would imprint early since we’re, y’know, friends already, but I guess romance works differently.”

“Yeah, it is a bit weird, isn’t it, how our bodies just decide when to imprint for us. But I guess it won’t really matter. Also, can you wrap your leg around mine? But don’t jostle me.” He’s worried that if he moves, then the cramps will go from ignorable to tolerable.

Taehyung puts his leg over Jeongguk’s thigh gently and then puts his foot somewhere below Jeongguk’s knee. “Do you get nervous about the wedding?”

“No, actually. Partly because it’s so far away, partly because I don’t think about it.”

“Oh thank Luna. My coworker said that she started getting nervous and started having doubts about her wedding before they even started planning it and I thought that you might too. I don’t, for the same reasons as you.”

“I don’t have doubts about you,” he says certainly. “In fact, I’m looking forward to it. Scoring my best friend? I have a shit ton of blackmail material to use whenever I want and I don’t have to worry about spending the rest of my life with you at this stage the same way I would worry with someone I’ve only ever had a romantic relationship with. I know you, I’ve seen you change alongside me my whole life. We’re going to be that couple who holds hands whenever we take a stroll even at the age of eighty.”

“I’m really glad we bring each other comfort.”

“Me too,” Jeongguk smiles.

“Your scent is really nice.”

“Are you saying it’s not usually nice?”

Taehyung chuckles. “No, I’m just saying it smells nicer than usual. It’s as if your pheromones have spiked but also not. I don’t know, it’s weird. You’re letting out more than you naturally do, but I know it’s nothing to be worried about so I don’t feel, like, alert or anything like that like I would usually be.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about but okay.”

“You’ll see when I hit my rut.”

“Okay.”

“Sleep.”

“Hmm,” Jeongguk pretends to think.

“Sleep.”

“Mkay. Goodnight.”

“Good afternoon,” he corrects.

“Good night .”

“Your leave is much awaited.”

“Suck my dick.”

“Not yet. Let me at least make out with you properly a couple times.”

Jeongguk gasps. Trying to sound hurt, he says, “Last time doesn’t count to you?” 

“No, we got interrupted by your Mum’s secretary.”

“I told you we shouldn’t make out at my workplace.”

“That outfit was very—yes.”

Jeongguk lifts his eyebrows, a shit eating grin plastering itself on his face.“‘Yes’?” Jeongguk teases. “My outfit was very ‘yes’?” He laughs.

“Yes.” Taehyung moves their hands lower to just below Jeongguk’s belly button. 

They don’t talk for a little bit and Joengugk’s eyes start to feel heavy. He dozes off, safe, warm and comfortable in Taehyung’s arms.

When Jeongguk wakes up, his body is on fire. “Taehyung,” he calls out, but there’s no answer. “Taehyung.”

He sits up and then stands, but even though the cold air makes him feel stiff, he takes his sweatpants off and lowers the waistband of his underwear to where his pubic hair starts and then crawls back into bed again, shifting and turning his body to try and find a comfortable position.

“Taehyung,” he calls again. 

The scent on Taehyung’s blanket is prominent, but it’s not enough. He needs Taehyung. No matter how much he tosses and turns, he can’t find a comfortable position, and he whimpers all the while. He even tries lying on his stomach, but it only works for a few seconds no matter how he shifts, so he tries moving down the bed and going into child’s pose, crossing his arms and putting his forehead on it. It only relieves the pain a little bit, so he spreads his legs and forms a ‘v.’ It helps a little more.

“Taehyung!” he yells. 

There’s no answer. Where is he? Where did he go? Why did he leave?

His heart becomes heavy as a stone all of a sudden and his eyes tear up. Why did he leave? Jeongguk grabs the pillow on the left, the one with Taehyung’s scent on it, and puts it under himself so that his belly is against something warm and so that Taehyung’s scent is closer to his nose. 

“Taehyung,” he says, and then says it louder even though he’s spilling tears, and louder when he starts sniffling, and then finally yells.

Taehyung comes running in and rushes to his side. “Yeah? Are you okay?”

“Where were you?” He sniffles again and then turns his head to look at Taehyung. He looks worried and his scent has spiked, which makes Jeongguk uneasy even though he knows that Taehyung’s only worried because he’s crying. 

He touches Jeongguk’s elbow with the pads of his fingers, and Jeongguk wants to rip it off out of spite even though it feels good on his skin. “I’m sorry. I was cooking with earbuds in.”

He blinks and a new tear falls. “I yelled several times.”

Taehyung’s face falls and his brows furrow. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t hear you, and I didn’t expect you to take up so soon.”

“How long has it been?”

“Almost forty minutes. I left after the first fifteen.”

“Are you done? Can you stay?”

“I just have to chop a couple more things and then I can come. I’ll be quick.” He presses a kiss to the corner of Jeongguk’s mouth and quickly goes away. 

Jeongguk whimpers when the cramps reintroduce their presence. Now that Taehyung isn’t here, he has nothing but the pain to focus on. This position isn’t doing anything anymore so he tries to find a new position to lay down in, whimpering all the while.

He moves to the centre of the bed and after a couple more positions, he finds one on his side with his top leg bent upwards. His feet are cold against his legs so he needs to get socks for them. He’s hungry, his throat feels dry, and the tears aren’t stopping even though his face feels too hot. He’s never cried during his heat before so it’s a little perplexing.

“Taehyung,” he calls. 

Taehyung comes quickly and stops in front of him, kneeling by the bed. “What is it?”

“I want water. And I want my socks. I need a specific kind. They’re knee length and entirely black. And the water has to be on the warmer side, not just lukewarm. The warmer the better. So, boil it like you’re about to make me tea.”

“Okay.”

“And I’m hungry.”

He kisses his forehead and says, “I’ll get them all for you.”

Taehyung’s quick to get him water that’s recently boiled inside a thermos and Jeongguk slowly sips at it, unfortunately raising himself from the comfortable position. Taehyung looks around in his drawer for the socks and gets the correct pair on the second try, but instead of just handing them over, Taehyung lifts the blankets and puts them on himself.

“Are you done cooking?” he asks as Taehyung tucks his feet back in.

“No. Just one more thing to do and then I’m done. Do you want leftovers or plain vegetables for now?”

“Vegetables. Lettuce. The leftovers are too greasy.”

“Alright, I’ll bring it for you.”

Jeongguk hums and takes another small sip of the hot water. “Also, do you know where my heat pack is?”

“No. Just that it’s somewhere in the bathroom.”

“It’s in the cabinet above the toilet. Bring the big, orange rectangle one.”

“Okay.”

Taehyung leaves again and Jeongguk is left with nothing but the pain to focus on once again. Thankfully, Taehyung doesn’t take long. “The soup just has to simmer for the next little bit,” he says as he places a plate of separated lettuce leaves in front of him and puts the heat pack beside it, “so I’m done.”

“Lie down. Hold me.” He puts the thermos on the ground and lies down before he activates the heat pack and puts it against his stomach under his shirt, holding it there with one hand. It’s his favourite one because it covers his entire stomach all the way up to his ribcage. As Taehyung gets in behind him, Jeongguk starts eating the lettuce. The heat pack is alive now and Jeongguk presses it harder against his stomach even though it burns. The heat helps. Taehyung puts an arm around his waist again, but it’s not enough. “Skin on skin,” Jeongguk asks. “Touch me underneath my clothing.”

“Like this?” he asks as he snakes a hand underneath his shirt, keeping it at the backside of his waist, avoiding the heat pad. This position isn’t comfortable at all, but he doesn’t want to move yet. 

“More.”

Taehyung presses himself against Jeongguk’s backside and his arm moves down to hold Jeongguk’s thigh. Taehyung’s clothes against his legs are soft and comfortable, but he wants more skin. He sighs. He’ll ask Taehyung to take his pants off later when the cramps get worse. Hm, maybe he’ll have Taehyung hand feed the soup while he sits in Taehyung’s lap. That’s when he’ll ask Taehyung to take his pants off.

“Can you scent me?” Jeongguk asks just as he’s about to put another lettuce leaf in his mouth. 

Taehyung noses at his neck lightly, then starts kissing there. Jeongguk gasps, arching his neck up, stopping his chewing. Scenting always turns him into putty. The pain in his abdomen dulls, but he’s not sure if it’s from the scenting or the heat pack—probably scenting, but definitely a bit of both.

“Good?”

“More.” It’s not enough. He’s barely even scented Jeongguk. 

Jeongguk rolls flat onto his back and quickly finishes chewing and swallowing before he tilts his head back. Taehyung scents him longer this time, but still pulls back too quickly.

“More,” he says again.

This time, Taehyung makes sure it’s thorough. Jeongguk’s sated by the time Taehyung pulls back, lying there as Taehyung pulls Jeongguk’s shirt up and wraps an arm around his midriff, plastering himself against Jeongguk, tucking Jeongguk’s head under his chin. Taehyung also brings the blanket up higher and brings a lettuce leaf to his lips; even though Jeongguk is still dazed from the scenting, he opens his mouth and slowly chews.

“I love you,” Taehyung says.

Warmth floods through him and he sighs, body feeling relaxed and warm. The cramps aren’t as painful with the heat pack and the touch Taehyung is providing. If Taehyung tells Jeongguk that he loves him every single time he enters his heat, then they might not be so bad.

“I love you too.”

“And I meant it in both ways. Platonically and partially romantically. If I were to show you on a pie chart, then anywhere from a fifth to a fourth of it would be romantic feelings.”

Jeongguk chuckles. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

Taehyung is using him as a model again, but this time it’s not for an assignment. Jeongguk is lying on the couch in his pajamas, pretending to sleep. There’s a thin blanket draped over him and he’s dozing in and out even though there’s a toothbrush and toothpaste in his mouth that he needs to keep in.

“Just a little longer,” Taehyung says. “Then we can actually go to bed. You haven’t finished brushing your teeth yet.”

Jeongguk hums to let him know that he heard him. 

It’s maybe ten or fifteen minutes later that Taehyung puts his sketchbook down with a small clink when the metal spine hits the tiled flooring. A hand rests on his shoulder. “Are you sleepy?” he asks. “Because I have something that I want to tell you.”

Jeongguk opens his eyes for the first time in a while and takes his toothbrush out of his mouth to say, “Yeah, but we can talk.”

Taehyung nods and says, “Finish brushing your teeth first.”

Jeongguk nods and starts brushing. The foam that was already in his mouth only came to be because he brushed it shittily, only needing it because Taehyung needed some toothpaste at the corners of his mouth. 

Taehyung shows him the sketch and it looks great as always. There’s no background elements, it’s just Jeongguk sleeping on the couch midway through brushing his teeth. He makes a thumbs up and as he brushes with one hand, the other one combs Taehyung’s hair a couple times before putting some strands of hair behind his ears. 

When he stops, it’s because he finished brushing his teeth. Taehyung puts his stuff away and Jeongguk goes to the ensuite washroom to rinse his mouth. 

When he comes out, Taehyung’s starting to change into his own clothes, so Jeongguk goes to the living room and plays a game on his phone until Taehyung comes to sit beside him. 

“What do you want to talk about?” Jeongguk asks, putting his phone on the coffee table in front of him. 

Taehyung gets up and pushes the coffee table back, and then gets on one knee in front of Jeongguk, pulling something out of his pocket. Jeongguk immediately smiles and Taehyung opens the ring box confidently, the two rings standing in the box sturdily. 

“I love you,” Taehyung starts. “I’ve loved you since I was a little brat and wanted everyone’s attention on me, and I’ve loved you when your scent gave me a headache as a newly-presented alpha, and I’ve loved you when we got piss drunk while shittalking our teachers when we got a bad grade on our group project, and I love you now, only a couple months away from our planned marriage and mating, and I will continue to love you, wholeheartedly and genuinely. I’m glad that you’re the one I’m planning to spend the rest of my life with.

“I’ve changed just as much as you’ve changed, and we’ll both continue to change as we age. And I don’t care how you’ll change, just as I’m sure you don’t care how I will. It doesn’t matter if you’ll be different, because we’ll become different than we were together. I believe that you’ll still be the person that I choose to love.” Taehyung licks his lips and nudges the ring box forward a little bit. “Jeon Jeongguk, will you marry and mate me?”

Jeongguk smiles widely, teeth showing and eyes crinkling. “Yes, I would love to.”

Taehyung smiles widely too, that special boxy smile of his that makes Jeongguk’s heart melt every single time he sees it. Taehyung takes the front ring out and puts the box down beside his feet, takes Jeongguk’s hand and slides it on. He rubs just below the knuckle a couple times, and then kisses his hand in the same place.

Taehyung looks up at Jeongguk and gives a boxy smile again. “I’m excited.”

Jeongguk’s smile widens even more. He leans down to kiss the top of Taehyung’s head, and then Taehyung looks up and they kiss softly. “I’m really excited too. I’m actually glad it’s you that I’m marrying”

“Me too. Now that we’re here, I can’t imagine doing any of this with someone else.”

“Good.” Jeongguk leans down and gets the other ring out of the box, then grabs Taehyung’s hand to slide the ring on. He does the same thing as Taehyung—looks at it for a couple seconds, and then presses a kiss to the place just underneath it.

“I love you,” Jeongguk says.

“I love you too.”