Archive of Our Own

After about five years of misery, Jeongin had come across Jisung quite accidentally - or rather; Jisung stumbled across him, which had been the start of years of bliss and plentifulness. Peaceful years in which Chan and Jisung had taken care of him and then, later on when the others joined, Changbin, Hyunjin and Seungmin as well. He's the youngest of the pack, has been since he arrived, and he considers it a much more preferable position than anything else he could have been.

After all; there's almost no responsibility on his shoulders, he has plenty of hyungs to choose from when something worries him and they basically all carry him on their hands so he still gets the best part of the meat, or the most comfortable corner of the nest, or anything his heart desires, really.

Everyone is happy, everyone is healthy and - ever since Jisung and Hyunjin settled their confusing animosity - everything is peaceful. So, according to the laws of life and nature as Jeongin has come to know them, it was inevitable that that would change again soon enough.

This time, change comes in the shape of Hyunjin sitting at their dining table with the rest of them, seemingly deep in thought before he raises his head and fixes his gaze on no one in particular.

"I think I want to leave," Hyunjin says, voice conversational, like he's talking about wanting to pick up a new hobby or trying out a new type of food.

There are only three presented wolves at the table, but each of their scents shift so suddenly and fully that even unpresented and in his human shape, Jeongin can smell them all. Chan's reaction is expected: shock, worry, regret, resignation. Changbin's is more muted resignation with a hint of understanding. Jisung, though, Jisung's scent flares with disbelief, a sharp anger and then the bitterness of something like disdain.

"What the fuck?" He asks, voice cold and sharp, and Hyunjin immediately puts down his chopsticks and turns to Jisung more fully, already moving in to placate the other wolf.

Jeongin glances at Seungmin, seeing the calm acceptance on his friend's face and realising that Hyunjin must have spoken to both Changbin and him before. Maybe even Chan, considering how fast he seems to have accepted it too. Briefly Jeongin wonders why Hyunjin would not have told him, but then he accepts it as just something he as the youngest is not approached for by anyone but Jisung himself, brothers as they are.

"Not forever," Hyunjin says as he tries to put his hand on Jisung’s, though Jisung pulls his away before he can. "Not permanently or anything, but just…" Hyunjin falters briefly, glances at Changbin again and then says: "For a little while. I think it'll be good for me. To gain some confidence and explore a little bit more of the world."

Jisung's gaze almost immediately snaps to Seungmin and he almost accusingly asks: "And you're going with him?"

It's only months spent taking the same classes and seeing Seungmin interact with many different people that lets Jeongin spot the brief hint of amusement mixed in with the annoyance that flickers over the wolf's expression.

"No," Seungmin responds calmly, though a little miffed. "I like it very much where I am and I want to finish my school before I do anything else."

Jisung hums a brisk nodded acceptance before turning to look at Chan expectantly. All their leader says, though, is a soft but heartfelt: "If that's what you want to do, Hyunjin, then we'll support you in whatever way we can."

Unsurprisingly, those words make Jisung huff in disbelief and then stand up so abruptly, his chair screeches over the floor. He barely keeps it from falling over, moving it back under the table with a loud thud. "I'm done eating," he says, stalking off towards the stairs immediately after, leaving no room for anything else to be said.

Jeongin looks at Hyunjin to see if he will follow, but it's Chan who gets up to go soothe Jisung's hurt, sending Hyunjin a reassuring smile before he walks away as well.

A brief moment of silence falls over the table, and then Seungmin hums. "That went well," he says dryly, picking up his glass and taking a sip of his drink.

"Well?" Hyunjin echoes incredulously, making Seungmin glance over at him.

"Well, he didn't burst into wolf shape and go for your throat so I'd call that well, yes," Seungmin affirms. Jeongin almost immediately huffs out a laugh, kicking a foot reprimandingly at Seungmin's legs without actually hitting him. Hyunjin eyes them for a moment before breathing out a small smile as well.

"Jisung's not that bad," their friend defends. "He was presenting then, I'm sure we'll all be really weird when that happens."

"Don't forget volatile," Changbin adds from where he's leaning back in his chair, lips twitching with amusement. "He'll come around, Jinnie, don't worry. You expected this much. It'll be okay."

Hyunjin nods his head and looks down at his plate before pushing himself up as well. "I'll clear the table," he says quietly, starting to gather their empty plates.

Seungmin catches Jeongin's gaze and raises a single eyebrow. "Run?" He suggests, which Jeongin takes him up on gratefully, nodding his head and following his friend out to the back porch.

For some reason, Hyunjin and Jisung's following conversation happens right in front of Jeongin's nose. Most likely because Hyunjin comes to ask him something right when Jisung decides to confront the other wolf about his decision, and so said confrontation happens in Jeongin's room.

"Why?" Is all Jisung asks when he steps inside and closes the door behind himself. Briefly Jeongin wonders if he's simply gone by unnoticed, if maybe they've forgotten this is his room, but Hyunjin glances at him apologetically yet slightly pleadingly before turning back to Jisung.

"I said why. I want to discover myself. I want to gain more confidence. I want to explore things I couldn’t before. I want to know that I can be fine on my own."

Jisung frowns deeply, clearly discontent, his scent souring even when it hadn't been entirely clear before yet anyway. "You don't have to leave for that. You can do that here. You don't have to go. You can stay here." Rather than angry, however, his voice gets continuously more desperate, a hint of pleading to it. "Hyunnie, please," he actually ends and Jeongin blinks in surprise at his closest friend, who he's never heard plead with anyone like this.

Hyunjin doesn't appear to be unaffected either, his expression one of heartbreak and apology. "You know that's not true, Ji," he returns, equally pleading for Jisung to listen to him. "I'm… I'm so dependent on you guys and I want to- To be more capable on my own, so that I can give you all the same kind of support that you have given and continue to give me."

Something has crept into Hyunjin's voice and something similar flares in Jisung's scent as well. Something bittersweet and full of pain, full of yearning. Suddenly Jeongin realises something about their relationship that he hadn't noticed before: somewhere throughout the months they've been friends, throughout the past year of their much closer togetherness, their emotions evolved.

"But why now, Jin?" Jisung asks, clearly lost on the logic, or whatever else it is he's questioning. "Your birthday's next month. You're going to be presenting soon. Can't you wait until after? Until you're-"

Jisung cuts off and Jeongin watches his friend's hands flex, ball into fists and relax again. Hyunjin is looking at Jisung with equal focus, his expression resigned.

"Because if I do present, Ji, and we match, I'll never be able to leave at all," he says, a quiet admittance in the silence of Jeongin's room. He's holding his breath as he watches his friends, preparing to interfere should things get bad.

It seems as if Hyunjin's words take all the fight out of Jisung's body, though.

"But if you go now, someone else will know what you smell like before we do," he says, desperation in every word, but also such an immense sadness and resignation that Hyunjin visibly flinches at it. Before he can start forward to embrace Jisung, however, the omega's turned away and left the room. Hyunjin makes as if to follow, but Jeongin reaches out to take hold of his friend's wrist.

"Hyung," he says, and shakes his head when Hyunjin looks to him. "Leave him be for now. Talk to him again later. You'll only make it worse if you push him on this now."

"But he-" Hyunjin starts, motioning, and Jeongin smiles.

"Did you think he was going to like it? He's always been bad with change. Of course he's going to be sad and hurt.” He shrugs and then gently pulls Hyunjin in closer until the older wolf takes a seat on the edge of his bed. “We're all sad. We're all going to miss you. I don't think you should let that stop you, though. There's a lot to be learnt from going out into the world. I know you talked to hyung about this, so I know he will have arranged things for you. You should do it, yeah? Even if it makes Jisung angry. He’ll get over it. He’s just angry because he doesn’t want to let you go, but he’ll understand once he uses his brain instead of his emotions.”

Hyunjin’s expression remains troubled, but some of the darkness eases out of it. He reaches up to run a hand over Jeongin’s hair, which he allows solely because he thinks it’ll help cheer Hyunjin up. “You’re already so wise, Jeonginnie. Aren’t you supposed to be the youngest and dumbest of us all?”

He huffs out a laugh, nodding towards the door. “With Jisung around? There’ll always be someone dumber than me.”

Hyunjin laughs as well, though he swats Jeongin’s arm not long after. Not that Jeongin feels very reprimanded by it, or that Hyunjin looks very upset. At least not about Jeongin’s comment.

Two days later, he finds both of his friends in the garden, Hyunjin trying to enjoy some sunlight, Jisung poking and prodding at him until he's up and chasing him. Jeongin happily watches from the sidelines with Seungmin, tail wagging as he follows their play, until eventually Hyunjin works Jisung down onto the ground.

Some days, Jeongin thinks Jisung lets Hyunjin win, because he's seen how fierce the omega can get, but some days he thinks maybe Jisung can only be that fierce when it's necessary.

Today, Hyunjin flops down on top of Jisung once he's down, and Jisung lets his tongue loll out and plays dead, which Seungmin considers the best moment to dart forward to join the pile. Jeongin can't really deny coming out on top, of course, so he joins his friends in piling on top of Jisung, happily ignoring the grunts and huffs his best friend lets out from the bottom of the pile.

When Changbin walks over a minute or so later, his ears shift forward upon seeing the group of them gathered there and he moves as if to join. One growl from Jisung is enough to shift him away from the idea again, but he does lean down to lick the omega’s muzzle once, before he starts on grooming the rest of them more thoroughly.

Jeongin's the first to escape the alpha's tongue, quickly followed by Hyunjin, while Seungmin stays there and takes it without issue, all the while still splayed out on top of Jisung, who starts wailing like he's being slaughtered, all to the amusement of his unbothered audience. He does get another lick from Changbin out of it, though, and from his wagging tail that's exactly what he was aiming for.

When Changbin is done with his grooming, Jeongin immediately darts forward to bite the tip of Seungmin's tail, darting away quickly and returning moments later to get a mouthful of Jisung's fur as well. He's being chased for his bratty behaviour not long after, but one bark for aid has Hyunjin joining the fray and quickly dividing loyalties four different ways, really getting their playful fighting started.

It goes on until eventually Hyunjin flops down exhausted, panting and clearly giving up, soon followed by Seungmin and then Jisung as well. Jeongin declares himself the winner with a little yip as he flops down against Hyunjin's side, and then Changbin and Chan both stroll over to join them, each taking a side to lean against heavily.

Not two weeks later, Hyunjin leaves. Born away from them on the backseat of Momo's car to be dropped off with a friend of a friend in a nearby city.

They spend a good hour all together before he goes, huddling together and grooming each other all around. Jisung takes up the spot closest to Hyunjin’s side, but he’s simultaneously the first one to leave when Momo’s car pulls onto the driveway.

Jeongin says goodbye to Hyunjin at the passenger side of the car, letting his friend pull him into a tight hug and even briefly hiding his face in the crook of Hyunjin’s neck.

“Take care, hyung,” he says, voice tight with his own emotions. He doesn’t like change much either, but he prides himself on being better with it than Jisung is - though that is a very low bar to reach, admittedly. “Call us often, send some postcards from wherever you go, and don’t forget to come back.”

Hyunjin laughs through his tears, pressing a wet kiss to Jeongin’s temple that Jeongin decides to bear just because it’s their last moment together for what might be a very long time.

“How could I not come back? You guys are my home.”

Jeongin thinks he could say something like ‘then why leave at all?’ but instead he just smiles and nods. “Home will be waiting for you. All of us. Don’t worry.”

Hyunjin’s smile is brittle, but he nods. When Jeongin steps back, Changbin wraps Hyunjin up into a tight hug next, and then Chan is there as well, running his hand through Hyunjin’s dark hair and smiling at him with his usual warm reassurance.

Hyunjin quickly ducks into the car once he’s released, and pulls the door closed behind him, hiding his face in his hands. Jeongin watches the car drive away, and stands a little forlorn on the driveway until Seungmin nudges his hip with his own.

“Sleep in my room tonight?” His friend suggests, and Jeongin gratefully follows him back inside, more than ready to distract himself from Hyunjin’s departure with Seungmin’s quite extensive collection of books.

In the following weeks, Jisung becomes nearly catatonic.

Jeongin has seen many different sides of Jisung throughout the years they have known each other, of course. It comes with being the one who is closest to the omega, and has been ever since they met. They may have both made Chan their designated person to go to for all their problem solving and soft voiced advice, but every time something happens, they still go to each other first to talk about it.

It started all those years ago when a much younger Jisung had shown up at the mouth of Jeongin's dirty alley. He'd had a mouthful of meat freshly stolen from a butcher and had offered the starving pup an entire sausage, to be eaten slowly over the course of the next day in order to keep his shrunken stomach from getting overwhelmed by it.

Then had followed the weeks of hanging out together, Jisung teaching him all the tips and tricks to get the nicest pieces of meat and the softest places to sleep by charming their way into people's hearts, their youthful dispositions helping tremendously with it.

Jeongin saw many sides to Jisung during those weeks. Jisung was inventive, quick witted, sometimes shy, easy to anger but just as quick to regret it, determined, stubborn and overall caring. Always making sure that Jeongin had everything he needed to live more prosperously.

But every person who saw them (and consequently mistook them for stray pups) wanted to take them in, have a vet look them over and give them a warm home. So after a close brush with possible discovery, Jisung had urged him to follow along to somewhere yet unknown.

Before they made it there, however, they came across another wolf and Jeongin saw yet another side to Jisung. Snarling, growling, hackles raised and teeth bared he'd darted between the large, clearly adult wolf and Jeongin when the stranger had almost immediately gone in for the attack. Jeongin had cowered away from the confrontation, whining and pacing in distress as he watched Jisung square off with the stranger, clearly about to lose the fight if it were to start.

And then the stranger had lunged forward, Jisung had darted aside, ducked under the sharp teeth and set his own in the stranger's throat. Jeongin had been capable of nothing more than watching in wide-eyed fear the way Jisung dug in and refused to let go, growling and snarling, a feral look in his eyes.

The stranger had been too big, too strong, too used to fighting, of course. He'd growled back in anger and immediately set his teeth in whatever part of Jisung he could reach, pulling a loud, pained yelp from the younger. Jeongin had whined even louder at that point, circling the fighting pair and trying to think of the best way to help his friend, but afraid that if he attacked, the older wolf would quickly dispose of Jisung to deal with him instead.

Help had come in a blurry, brownish shape that had darted forward and thrown itself against the stranger. The wolf released Jisung from its grip to deal with the new threat and Jeongin immediately darted to his friend's side, whining softly as he attempted to lick his wounds clean. Jisung's tail had wagged wildly, even with a mauled leg and blood staining the alley stones beneath them. They'd had almost no eye for the other two wolves, until the latest addition to the scene made its way over to them.

"Are you serious?" The wolf had said mere seconds after shifting to his human shape, already crouching down next to Jisung and running his fingers over his friend's fur. Considering there was no trace of the other wolf left and the man looked nearly unharmed, Jeongin was rather inclined to trust him to be capable. It definitely also helped that Jisung didn't seem anxious at all about his presence.

"Noona's going to be so mad at you, Ji," the man had said again, before looking up at Jeongin and smiling the warmest, gentlest smile he'd ever seen. "Hey pup. I'm Chan. You know the tea shop near Kicker's? Could you run over there and fetch the owner, she can help him."

At his clear hesitance, Chan had smiled and run a hand over Jisung's head, scratching behind his ear. "He'll be fine, promise. I'll look after him until you're back."

Jeongin had taken his word for it then, and every time since, his ironclad belief in Chan's capacity unwavering and Chan's knowledge of Jisung's every mood so intimate that he has always known the right thing to do and say.

Except this time. Days pass, Chan talks to Jisung a few times over, but Jisung remains a ghost of his former self. He still goes to work, still walks around and does whatever needs doing, but he is quiet and withdrawn, much to the rest of the pack’s worry. Hyunjin calls every day, but Seungmin lets Jeongin know that Hyunjin mentioned Jisung doesn’t pick up their pack member’s calls.

The mood in the house is solemn most days, kept that way by Jisung’s ever present, slightly worrying scent of what Jeongin thinks smells mostly like grief.

"Jisung hyung," Jeongin says, pushing into his friend's office and closing the door behind himself. It's the best place he could think of to talk, no listening ears since none of the other people working with his friend are wolves and the office is soundproofed enough. For meeting purposes, most likely, though probably not meetings like this. "Hyung, let's talk about it."

Jisung blinks up at him in confusion, takes in his outfit and then the clock, before frowning briefly. "About what?" He asks and checks his computer screen once more. "I didn't forget to pick you up, did I? I wasn't supposed to meet you today."

"Hyung," Jeongin says, and moves to pull the chair with him until he's on Jisung's side of the desk, taking a seat and immediately reaching for Jisung's hands, simply to keep him from running when he says: "Let's talk about Hyunjin hyung."

Almost immediately, Jisung blanches, hands moving to pull away, gaze darting back to his screen as if frantically searching for an out.

"Hyung," Jeongin says, decisive. "Talk to me. I know you haven't slept a proper night in weeks. You're distracted and moody, and I'll pretend not to know you've been crying if that'll help you feel better but I know, okay? I know you. What I don't know is why you're this distraught when you know he's coming back. He's just travelling. Prolonged, perhaps, but you can text him, or call him, or even visit wherever he is occasionally so I don't know why you're so…"

He pauses, frowns, glances at the computer screen as well and then back at Jisung's face. "Distraught," he decides to settle on. "Hyung, I've known you for five years now, I've seen you grow into the person you are today. You've told me everything that ever bothered you. Why not this time? What's going on?"

Jisung squirms in his seat a moment longer, but at least he holds Jeongin's gaze and, after seemingly noticing his genuine worry, seems to deflate. He looks down at their hands and sighs deeply, then moves to take a better hold of Jeongin's hands, showing that he's accepting their conversation fully now.

"I- It's been… It's been something I had to figure out myself as well," he admits, staring doggedly down at their hands, but at least he's talking so Jeongin lets his friend use them as a distraction and anchor both. "You're right. Everything you said is true. I didn't know why I was so upset, why it felt a bit like my world was ending, but I think-"

Jisung shakes his head, closes his eyes, swallows with great difficulty. "I think we match," he says then. "I think I've known from the very first day of my presenting, or at least once I found out that his scent was the one that comforted me most. I think we match and that we would've found out once he presented, but he left before he did. Only it feels like we already matched anyway, because it feels like- I think-"

Jeongin watches Jisung struggle to speak his mind, struggle to put his thoughts into words, into something that will be understood by him. For a moment he thinks his friend is going to give up with a frustrated groan, but then Jisung surprises him by sighing deeply and lifting his gaze to meet his eyes.

"I'm in love with him," he says then, completely seriously. "I'm in love with him and we never really talked about it but it felt like we both knew anyway but he still left, so-" Jisung shakes his head, looks away again. "So he broke my heart. It's stupid but I feel heartbroken and abandoned and rejected and- And I don't know how to deal with that, because like you said he's not gone forever, he's coming back, and we may not have talked about it but he texts me every day and he sends me pictures and I know he talks to me more than any of you, but he still left and I'm still hurt and it feels like he doesn't even care when most days it's all I can think about morning till evening with no sign of stopping while he's just out there living his best life and-"

"Breathe, hyung," Jeongin interrupts with a squeeze of their hands when the word vomit shows no signs of stopping. Jisung stops talking and breathes in deeply before sighing it out slowly.

"So I'm hurt," he says then, clearly summarising now. "And I kind of want him to apologise but I also realise he didn't really do anything wrong." He shrugs, looks away, and Jeongin's grip on his friend's hands loosens, one hand moving to rest on Jisung's knee. "And I miss him," his friend then finishes, voice small and endlessly sad, and when he meets Jeongin's gaze again, he seems on the verge of crying.

"Hyung," Jeongin says, quiet and gentle, and moves his other hand to Jisung's thighs as well, squeezing them reassuringly. "First of all; you're allowed to feel however you feel and you should give yourself time and space to feel that way. Secondly I think you should plan a call with Hyunjin hyung and tell him this. I'm sure if he knows how you feel he'll be the first to want to apologise to you anyway. Third, I'm going to give you a hug and you're going to tell no one about it because I will deny it in all languages I know."

The last part draws a laugh from his friend as intended, no matter how watery it may be, and when he opens his arms, Jisung moves into them easily, hugging him back and hiding his face away against his shoulder. He runs a hand up and down his friend's back for a while, letting Jisung soak up the comfort for as long as he needs, no matter how uncomfortable a position it is.

In the end, Jisung pulls away first, running his sleeve under his eyes and sniffing once before clearing his throat. "I'm fine, though," he says quietly. "I'm okay. I know I've been eating and sleeping too little but it's getting better. I'm working on it."

He smiles softly and Jeongin immediately returns his smile, nodding his head. "Good. If you were to lose your chubby cheeks I would have nothing to make fun of you for anymo- Well, actually…"

His words draw another laugh from his friend, and he even gets a smack to the arm moments later. "Shut up," Jisung says with a frown, but he's grinning moments later and glances at his screen again briefly.

"Wanna grab lunch together?" He asks after, which is an offer Jeongin will obviously never refuse.

When he makes it back to the house that afternoon, the alphas are out and he's greeted by Seungmin lounging lazily on the couch. He's given a wolfish grin when he walks in, and then Seungmin rolls onto his back, offering up his belly to him. Knowing the repercussions that would follow if he were to ignore such blatant demands for attention, he makes sure to walk over.

He also makes sure to groan loudly, roll his eyes and make a face of disgust when he tentatively pats his friend's exposed stomach once or twice. When he moves as if to turn away again, there's a warning growl from his friend, so he turns back around fully and promptly puts both hands on the soft fur, ruffling it so hard Seungmin's entire body shakes.

"Is that enough, hyung?" He asks, rubbing some more and basically shaking his friend around a bit under the pretence of petting him. Seungmin doesn't seem to care at all, though, tongue lolling out of his mouth happily and his tail wagging in contentment. "Is this alright? Are you satisfied? Does my petting reach your impossible standards?"

Seeing Seungmin making the wolf equivalent of rolling eyes is exactly what he was aiming for, but then his friend shifts, rolling back onto his side and lifting his head up to lick Jeongin’s cheek. Slobber is a better word, really, and Jeongin promptly groans in disgust as he wipes the excess saliva off his skin with his sleeve, promptly drying it on Seungmin’s fur.

“You’re disgusting,” he says quite decidedly, already walking away towards the kitchen as he speaks. “I can’t believe the hyungs let you into this pack with how ill-mannered you are. I think it’s high time they buy you a leash and teach you some basic manners.”

After those last words, he’s already scrambling to jump onto the kitchen counter and he’s none too soon with it either, barely avoiding Seungmin’s teeth snapping at his ankles. His friend jumps up against the side of the counter then, front paws pressing into the granite but Jeongin quickly darts over to the middle of the countertop and stays safely out of reach of Seungmin’s jaws - for now.

“Go away before I call pest control,” he teases, waving his phone around threateningly. After a single, annoyingly sharp bark, Seungmin’s paws drop from the counter again and he jogs around to the other side. Rather than make another attempt at getting to Jeongin like this, he shifts back into his human shape, however, and then easily closes a way too large hand around Jeongin’s ankle.

“You’re being awfully rude to your hyung right now,” Seungmin says, expression blank yet so full of mischief that Jeongin is already fearing for his safety - perhaps even his life. "Better come down before I pull you off this counter by your ankles."

And Jeongin's a brat, sure he is, but he doesn't want to bash his brains on the countertop, so he slowly inches over to the edge and sits down. Seungmin releases his ankle just to take hold of his sides, casually tugging him off the counter and closer towards himself. When he lands nearly on his feet, Jeongin smiles the cutest smile he can muster over at his friend.

"Run?" He proposes, and immediately shifts out of his clothes, sparing a thought for the ruined shirt he leaves behind in tatters on the kitchen floor.

"Hey!" Seungmin protests, but he chases after him soon enough. Jeongin's paws barely land on the grass in their backyard or Seungmin's already hot on his heels, teeth closing around a mouthful of fur, though not close enough to really grab hold of him. Jeongin immediately redoubles his efforts, tearing across the open space and into the trees to get away from his friend, bursting with delight at the unexpected chase.

They run to their hearts' content, leaping over treetrunks and ducking under tall ferns. Jeongin lets his friend chase him for as far and as long as he wants, only flopping over when his tongue is nearly hanging down to his paws and his flanks are heaving with his desperate intakes of air. Seungmin collapses next to him, looking mightily pleased by their run but also like he could pass out any second.

After a while of comfortable silence, he can feel his friend shift back to his human shape. Seungmin doesn't care about being naked in the forest, this much Jeongin has learned already. Neither does Hyunjin, neither do any of the others, really. He doesn't understand how they can just not care when there's immediately a million sticks and leaves poking all their private parts once they shift, but he long ago figured that they'll each have their own icks and likes.

When Seungmin speaks, though, he immediately opens his eyes to look at his friend, curious.

"Have you ever thought about what you'll present as?" Seungmin asks, looking pensive and solemn. Jeongin tries for a few seconds not to care, but then he shifts to his human shape as well anyway, moving the least amount possible so no twigs and leaves will poke his vulnerable human skin.

"Not really. Doesn't much matter either, does it? It's just an evolutionary leftover we don't need to care about anymore. Like humans and their tailbones. Hurts a bit if you hit it hard, but otherwise pretty useless."

Seungmin's expression stays solemn, but the hints of a smile colour it a little brighter. Still, he doesn't entirely relax and so Jeongin nods at him, indicating he'll listen.

“I just- I’ve seen my old alpha, and he was shit. Chan and Changbin hyung are fine, but they’re… You know, sometimes they just assume they’re allowed certain things just because they’re alphas, right? To have a certain say in things even when they don’t pertain to them at all. Changbin hyung fought for Hyunjin and me just because he felt he was allowed to. I don’t want to be like that - make those assumptions. But if I see what Jisung’s going through now that Hyunjin left, I don’t want to be like that either.”

Jeongin huffs, waving a hand dismissively as he says: “Sung’s not being like this because he’s an omega, though. He’s like this because he’s an idiot.”

His words, at least, make Seungmin laugh, one of those full body laughs that indicate he's caught by surprise by how funny he thinks Jeongin's words are. Knowing this, Jeongin grins proudly, reaching out to poke Seungmin's hip bone.

"Hyungs aren't that bad, though, right? It's not like they meddle in things randomly. Changbin hyung fought for you guys because you asked him to, right? Chan hyung only meddled in my life after Sung brought me to him. I think caring for others is just in their nature, their personality. And maybe it has something to do with their mark, but…"

He shrugs, keenly aware of the way Seungmin is fully focused on him, waiting for whatever he might say next. "I'd say it's more you get your mark based off your personality than that you get your personality based on the mark you get. Otherwise we'd get the mark first, right? Predestined and all that, like astrology or something." He makes a face and shrugs again. "I really don't think you should be worried about it. You are who you are no matter what mark appears on your body and we all know who that is. A really annoying pain in the a-"

He shifts into his wolf form to rush off the second Seungmin's expression darkens with offence, his happy laughter turning into delighted yips even as he's already tearing through the forest again, Seungmin hot on his heels all over again.

By the time they make it back to the house, Jeongin's lungs feel like they're on fire, but Seungmin's ears are pointed forward and there is nothing left of the pensiveness that had made him look gloomy and burdened before. When Jeongin collapses in the comfortable grass just in front of their porch, it takes just two seconds before Seungmin collapses half on top of him, immediately shifting his head to chew on Jeongin's ear tiredly.

Not ten minutes later, Changbin walks out of the house, eyes lighting up at the sight of them. "Puppy pile!" He exclaims, clearly delighted, and promptly joins on top of them - without even shifting from his human shape. One of his hands starts scratching behind Jeongin's ear right away, though, so all Jeongin does is close his eyes with a pleased rumble. Somewhere to the left of him, Seungmin does much the same, proving that he's all fine again now too.

"Sorry about how I've been… acting," Jisung says at dinner that evening, letting his chopsticks rest on the edge of the bowl as he looks at the other three. "I'm- It's been- I've had some trouble adjusting to a pack member leaving. I promise it's getting better. I'm sorry for bringing the mood down so much."

Chan gives him a serious look, clearly gearing up to do the appropriate, supportive leader thing. Changbin also pauses eating briefly to give Jisung his full support. Jeongin just continues shoving food into his mouth, not going to make himself part of this conversation a second time if he can help it. Besides, the afternoon run has him feeling starved.

Before either of the hyungs can launch into a reassuring speech, though, Seungmin leans forward to swipe one of the pieces of meat from Jisung's bowl, earning him a betrayed sound from their friend.

"Your face brings the mood down, Jisung," he says evenly without even looking up from where he continues eating. Jeongin nearly chokes on the bite of food he just scarfed down when he snorts and Jisung immediately bristles in his chair.

"Hey! Take that back! I'm a delight!" Jisung protests, pointing his chopsticks at Seungmin, who immediately starts a chopstick battle across the width of the table with him. Chan tries to get them to stop but he's grinning too wide to be convincing, and Changbin's literally just laughing fondly at their exchange.

Jeongin, meanwhile, shoves the last of his food into his mouth, chews just long enough until he can swallow it down and then pushes himself up from his chair.

“I’m going to game for a bit,” he tells the table as a whole, grabbing his can of Coke from next to his plate and saluting the two alphas before he makes his way to the hallway. He did his part for this round of drama, the rest really is up to everyone else, he thinks. Because Jeongin’s got a friend waiting for him to kick some ass online, and he’s not going to let that time be taken from him by more of his pack’s issues. That's a job for their resident omega, he thinks.