Archive of Our Own

Things happened like this…

Yoongi was promised his subgender wouldn't be a problem when he got into BTS. He was told being an omega wouldn't change things, that his opinion would matter and as a hyung he could make decisions. They lied.

He was a young, talented producer and rapper. Many other groups would kill to have a bandmate like him. Yoongi knew he didn't exactly fit in the beauty standards for omegas, and that his personality could be qualified as complicated, but he could be a nurturing omega, a caring packmate.

He could fill his biological role too, if they wished. But the rest of the Bangtan Pack didn't.

Their start was promising.

Not much as a group –the road being tough and the public merciless with a rookie group from a small company– but as a pack. They cared about each other and were hungry for fame and affection. Yoongi and the leader had their differences, however, they slowly settled them as they matured.

When they started to gain success the omega thought their pack was ready to take the next step. It was a bit early to talk about mating but after years they should be past the courting stage, which was logically cut short by their idol lifestyle. It was time to date. Yoongi thought that they'd stop prioritizing their career and overworking themselves to the bone to give attention to their bond, to him.

He was an omega, the only one in the group. And although he wasn't fond of most stereotypes surrounding his subgender, it was true that he needed them.

Yoongi wasn't sure why things started to go wrong, when the members changed, what made them see him as an outsider. He remembered vividly how one day, he had found them all together, touching and kissing without him, their surprise and awkwardness, and the sense of betrayal that ripped through the omega's flesh and settled deep in the pit of his stomach.

He wanted to know if he had done something, and later, when scenes like those became frequent and it was clear Yoongi didn't belong, his question was what they didn't like about him. And even if he wasn't desired like that, he didn't understand why they had never defended him when he tried to speak his mind and he was shut out by the managers and producers. They were still bandmates, right?

Too afraid to ask, he put up with it, knowing he didn't deserve any of the cruel neglect.

He should be treated better.

Because he wasn't an idiot and it was hard to miss how the omegas of other idol groups were treated; with gentle care and respect, and love.

Yoongi didn't have that.

So he started to ask around. To look for other options and seek love somewhere else, because if he was so unimportant to BTS that they didn't bother telling him the important things, and the alphas and betas that were supposed to be his packmates, and maybe even his mates, one day, didn't even like him, didn't find him pretty, didn't love him as Yoongi loved them, then why should he stay?

He was tired of giving so much and getting so little in return.

Yoongi just wanted to be loved.

It was fucked –he thought– how the omegas of other packs were looked over and taken care of. As if they were precious and fragile, valuable.

Yoongi didn't particularly like being perceived as weak, but at debut, he got a taste of it and he couldn't deny there was a certain appeal in letting go. In shutting down his mind and letting his alphas handle everything because he trusted them to take charge and keep him safe.

His alphas. Ha.

Yoongi didn't have alphas. Or betas.

In the years they had been making music together, none of them had made a move that indicated they officially wanted him as their omega. None of the six people he lived with thought he was worthy enough to share their bed, to bear their mark, to kiss, while they loved each other freely.

Was there something wrong with him? Yoongi wondered every day.

Was it his strong scent? Or how he acted? His looks? How did he care about music more than anything in the world? To the eyes of others, he should clarify. Because in his heart he knew the rest of the Bangtan Pack was what he treasured the most.

Fuck, it hurt.

His chest was opened and his heart was dissected by their hands. They touched it carelessly and played with it, tossing it to the next member when they got bored.

It fucking hurt.

And it was what Yoongi had known for a long time. A couple of tears escaped sometimes, in the shower where they would pass for falling water or when he rammed alone in hotel rooms around the world, so his packmates wouldn't hear him.

Were they even packmates?

He didn't have a mark, but the contract Yoongi signed as a teenager said Bangtan were a pack and that they would live and work together as one did.

Namjoon was their leader, both in the pack and in the group activities, even if he was a beta. Seokjin was his hyung, the oldest alpha, and vocalist. Hoseok was an alpha as well and he was in charge of supervising their dance. The maknaes, Taehyung and Jimin, a pair of betas, were vocalists that auto-denominated themselves soulmates and didn't spend a second without the other. And Jungkook, he was the pup of the group and remained unpresented. He could do anything, he was perfect.

And lastly, Yoongi. He was supposed to be their omega, their mate, their baby. The one who satisfied their ruts and kept them calm and happy.

However, he was ignored.

Learning that he was excluded from their bond made him sick, but realizing that he had to leave almost killed him.

Silently, Yoongi looked for comfort in a friendly small pack and idol group that was under his company and surprisingly, when the Bangtan Pack found out about it, they were furious.

~~~~

"You'd really like to visit our nest?" Daejung asked, thrilled.

Yoongi smiled at his excitement. He was the person who looked the happiest to see him lately.

"Yes. When Yoonbin hyung proposed it I thought it was inappropriate but then I went over it and… I don't see anything wrong with it? I am your dongsaeng and we are getting closer."

And I want to see how a real, loving pack operates.

Maybe it was masochist of Yoongi, to visit a place where he knew he'd compare the omega experience to his own knowing he would end up losing with his score being zero, and as a consequence, he'd hurt. But he had to see by himself how different things were for others after hearing it for months.

"We'll take care of you!" Daejung claimed. "I'll tell Beomsoo hyung to cook his specialty and we'll watch your favorite movie in the living room, all of us cuddled in a giant pile. We know that makes omegas feel safe."

"That sounds really lovely…" Yoongi commented, sighing dreamily.

When it was movie night for the pack, the omega usually sat alone on a single couch or just went to bed earlier, arguing he was tired or just wanted to work on music. The reality was that he couldn't stand watching them get that cozy, scenting each other without him, whispering playfully and looking like a picture-perfect pack.

Never asking him to join.

He said goodbye and went to the studio, and as always, planned to stay working until late. Everything to not come back to a place that didn't feel like home anymore.

The day of the visit came and Yoongi was almost jumping out of his skin. This felt like a big deal. They were letting someone outside of their bond and family see their nest and share it with him. It was a big sign of trust and Yoongi didn't wish to let them down so he bowed at the entrance repeatedly thanking them for the kind gesture.

They brushed it off, saying they were happy to have him.

Yoongi was moved. Feeling wanted was new to him.

Their place somehow seemed cozier than the dorms Bangtan lived in. Maybe because it was smaller, or perhaps because in this place the warmth and love every member was oozing was palpable, filling it with such a light and positive energy.

Yoongi had met all the members of the pack since they were coworkers, but he wasn't close to all of them. It was the perfect opportunity to. Their omega was nice and welcoming and didn't seem jealous that his packmates were bringing another omega home.

They ate dinner talking about everything and anything, Yoongi observing their interactions, specifically how the omega was treated. He was incredibly jealous and blown away by the way the alphas and betas were attentive to his every necessity, sitting him in their laps to feed and smooch him.

He was invited to sit with them, Yoongi was starving for that type of touch and yet he declined. It would be crossing a line.

His pack may not want him but he wasn't an unloyal omega.

All he could do was stare while hiding his discomfort, his stomach dropping and cramping painfully because he had never gotten that treatment. The most he was touched was when the cameras were rolling and they had to sell the flawless pack image to their fans and the general public.

The last sincere touch was what? One or two years ago?

Soon enough witnessing all of this was turning into torture and he was nearly in tears at the end of the night, a knot in his throat reminding him that he had to face reality and take the reins of his life.

He had to leave Bangtan.

Yoongi hated the idea of it. He loved the members so much, they weren't bad people, they smiled at him and talked about their days, asking him about it. They weren't cold and tended to him when he was sick, however, they were far from acting as his alphas and betas.

They didn't even notice he was gone for several hours, that he came smelling like another pack. To them, he was just a filler member.

Maybe in another pack he'd be more appreciated, not only for skills but for the love he had to offer.

Days later and while immersed in his entangled thoughts, Yoongi encountered Daejung in the hallways. He had been avoiding him and his pack, confused and bewildered by his painful feelings and drastic ideas, ones that if taken into action would change the curse of his life irreversibly.

"Yoongi!" The alpha called, waving and running to him and moving him to the common room. "Is everything okay? You haven't texted back and I wanted to check on you."

Yoongi stayed quiet, not knowing how to respond.

Daejung's friendly smile disappeared from his face. "Did we say or do something that offended you?"

That was the last thing the omega wanted him to think.

"No, hyung! The movie night was incredible and the dinner was delicious. I loved spending the evening with your pack just chilling and talking. It's something I hadn't had in a long time," he confessed in a whisper.

"Oh. But your pack surely bonds with you sometimes…" The realization hit Daejung. "They don't even do this for you?" He said, sounding pretty mad.

"I've never told them I like it," Yoongi lied, feeling the stupid urge to defend the people who had hurt him.

"Well, you've been together for years. They should know!"

Yoongi shrank in himself. Daejung hugged him briefly and the omega stilled. It had been a while since he was last touched.

"Oh, Yoon. I didn't mean to raise my voice," the alpha murmured, rubbing his back. "It upsets me that you haven't been taken care of."

No. Yoongi didn't want his pity. He felt sorry for himself enough already and it was a little embarrassing that other people knew about his problems, that he was so unloveable his own pack rejected him.

"I'm f-fine," he sniffed, cursing himself for stuttering.

"I knew the situation was bad with them but I didn't realize how terrible and poorly they were treating you! Me and my pack will give you the love you deserve. Give you what they haven't," Daejung murmured.

What? Yoongi couldn't believe what he was hearing. Something similar to hope carved a spot in his chest and flicked in his gaze.

"Do you mean… you want me?"

It was a funny thought. Him, being wanted. What a distant concept.

Daejung nodded.

"We do. You don't have a mating mark and we know things will be complicated with the company, the fans, and the press but we're willing to try… We like you a lot. Maybe after you've visited our nest more often and have bonded with our omega we can figure out how to break off your contract…"

Yoongi was dazed. He hadn't dared to dream of a future with new packmates, nor had he acted in a way that would incite them to want him. It just happened.

Was this the best for him?

"Daejung hyung, I– I'm speechless. I was willing to find out about other pack dynamics to fix the issues with my members. Now I'm not sure our relationship is salvageable."

Or being worth trying.

"There's no need to feel pressured and make hasty decisions. We can wait for you…" the alpha said, his thumb brushing Yoongi's cheek, making him blush slightly.

He leaned into the touch, closing his eyes. It was good, but it couldn't compare to the emotions that shook his body when he was given the minimum amount of attention from his pack.

Maybe Yoongi was destined to suffer and never experience reciprocal love.

"What do you think you're doing?" Namjoon asked, appearing out of nowhere, startling them. His scent showed how mad he was. "Is that where you were last night? In his house?"

Yoongi gaped at the harsh tone. So he wasn't as invisible to his members as he thought.

"Don't speak to him like that," Daejung warned. Namjoon hissed, openly disrespecting his elder.

"Stay out of this, sunbae."

Daejung postured and Namjoon did the same, growling and baring his teeth as if he were a savage. Yoongi had never seen him like this, the beta was a pacific man and actually disapproved of alphas' typical lack of control. The omega separated them, putting his arms in Namjoon's sturdy chest.

"Beta, what's wrong with you? I'm talking to my friend."

Namjoon was breathing heavily. "About joining a new pack?"

"Were you spying on us?" Yoongi questioned, incredulous.

"You were talking in the company's common room, anyone would've heard you! Hyung, pick up your things. We're going home."

Daejung grabbed his arm, looking worried.

"Yoongi, are you okay with him ordering you around like that?"

"Don't touch him!" Namjoon said. His usually soft and quiet beta scent was screaming in anguish and the omega couldn't comprehend it.

He ignored him and turned to Daejung. "Don't worry, it's okay. It was time we had this conversation anyway."

"Please call me and tell me how it goes. Remember you have us," the alpha replied, giving Namjoon a last dirty look and leaving.

"What was that? What conversation? Are you hiding something from us? Something else besides seeing this pack behind our backs?" Namjoon shot question after question.

Yoongi was flabbergasted by his aggressive and disrespectful attitude. "Why are you speaking to me like that? I'm your hyung!"

The beta locked eyes with him and the intensity in his gaze appalled Yoongi.

"Can't you see the wrong in the way you're acting?"

Yoongi gulped but his mouth was dry, his heartbeat picking up, lungs ready to scream in frustration though his tongue was tied.

The ride home was tense. There was a phantom clouding their personal skies, as if announcing that rain was coming. Yoongi tried to mentally and emotionally prepare for the tough talk ahead, yet he was aware that it would finish in a river of tears. At least on his part. He doubted the alphas and betas would be that affected.

"Hi, hyungs. Uh, what's with your faces?" Jimin questioned, sensing right away that they had fought.

"Please, Jimin-ah, gather the pack," Namjoon answered. "It's an emergency."

In less than five minutes the seven of them were sitting in the living room, the air charged with turmoil and misplaced rage. Yoongi wanted to bite his nails, but he opted for digging his fingers into his thighs.

"What happened?" Seokjin said, furrowing his brows. "Was there a problem at the company?"

Their Lead Beta seemed still too angry to talk so Yoongi put a brave mask on and said:

"Namjoon is making a big deal out of me visiting some friends. Our sunbaes."

"Visiting? You mean going to their nest at night? Alone?" Namjoon snapped. Yoongi's packmates stared at him, the alphas' scents turning sour.

"He did what?" Hoseok asked, sitting straighter. "I thought he had gone to the cinema."

"They invited me to come over so I went," Yoongi defended.

"That's not appropriate," Taehyung commented, clenching his jaw. The omega looked at him.

"Why?"

"Guys, let's calm down," Seokjin tried but Namjoon wasn't having it.

"Don't you see how he wanted to seduce and trap you with his lies?"

Yoongi's cheeks adopted a rosy color from the sheer irritation. "What are you talking about? We are friends!"

"Friends wouldn't want you to join their pack and leave us!" The beta responded, cutting the air with a leash. "Talking to you about how trash we were to you? That they would treat you better and you'd be happier with them?"

"What?" Seokjin roared.

"Are you kidding?!" Jimin stood up. "They were trying to manipulate hyung?"

"It isn't manipulation if it's true," Yoongi murmured quietly knowing he was heard despite the chaos, his nose detecting the sharp panic.

"Do you want to leave?" Jungkook talked for the first time. The omega perceived his sadness and winced. The maknae was his weak spot, whom he couldn't fault for the deterioration of the pack since he hadn't even presented and thus wasn't in tune with his instincts.

"You guys are overreacting," Yoongi settled for saying, cowering. "They did offer me to join but…"

The truth refused to come out. To leave them, the people whom he considered family and who accompanied him every step of the way to pursue his dreams, was a dangerous risk. Maybe he was the one overreacting, and making a big deal out of nothing.

No. He had gone through this months ago. He needed more.

"How else do you think I should react? I'm your leader and I want an explanation."

Yoongi was getting fed up with their judging stares and unfair words. How dare they feign concern and jealousy? They were trying hard to make him believe they gave a shit about him.

"Why do you act like you care now? You don't get to act possessive of me after everything you've done," he finally dared to say.

Hoseok scowled.

"What are you talking about? Why wouldn't we care? You are ours."

"Am I?"

Seokjin rubbed his temple. "Yoongi… You are our omega, the only one."

"But I don't feel like it! You don't treat me as such. This has been in my chest for a long time, and it's very hard for me to voice it out. This is not working, the pack, the fucking group," Yoongi confessed, his voice wobbly. "I can't keep acting like I feel part of Bangtan when your indifference has harmed my omega so badly that I can't look in the mirror without thinking you all would be better off without me!"

All the members seemed shocked by his outburst. Their silence was disconcerting and it confirmed his worst fears.

Yoongi's face crumbled and he heard Jungkook sniff.

"I am not marked. We've been a pack for years and yet I do not bear your mark. I haven't received a kiss and my hands haven't been held in so long. I have no doubt if I wasn't in the picture you would've marked each other already, but because I'm here and you don't want me, fans and the press would ask and you can't say you dislike the omega assigned to you."

"What you're saying is pure bullshit," Jimin spat. "Is this how you're justifying betraying us like that?"

"You don't care about us and now are thinking of joining another pack?!" Taehyung backed up his fellow beta.

"Jimin! Taehyung!" Namjoon admonished.

"You're the ones who haven't cared about me. You hate me!" Yoongi yelled, big fat tears flooding his cheeks. His hands were trembling. "You want me out and I'm doing you a favor by doing it before you tell me."

"Omega, please don't cry," Seokjin begged, emitting powerful alpha pheromones. "That's not true at all. We don't hate you. That's ridiculous!"

"What the fuck are you talking about, hyung?" Hoseok said more directly. The omega wasn't used to seeing him this upset and even less at him. "You don't want to be marked! You wear scent blockers even at home meaning you don't want us to smell your scent!"

No, no. They were getting everything wrong.

"I was embarrassed by m-my potent smell, I thought it bothered you since you always c-covered your nose. And how do you know that I don't want to be marked if you've never asked me?!" Yoongi sobbed.

"I don't understand," Jungkook spoke up, lower lip shaking. "Hyungs, I don't understand."

Taehyung went to hold him and Yoongi's soul broke because he felt more alone than ever. Nobody was there for him.

"Yoongi hyung, can we touch you?" Namjoon asked upon seeing him hugging himself.

The omega shook his head. He desperately craved it but it wouldn't be right. If he was rocked in their arms he would forgive them and he wasn't sure that was the right thing to do.

"Please, it's killing us," Hoseok muttered, his knees touching the floor. "My alpha is howling at me for allowing this to happen. For making you unhappy. Let us comfort you."

"I don't want contact with you if it comes from sympathy and not love," Yoongi replied.

The quiet that followed sent a shiver down his spine. Was this the end for them?

"How the fuck did we fall apart?" Taehyung wondered, his eyes rimmed red. "Our omega doesn't know that we would die for him."

Jimin was openly crying. "If that's what he feels then we are doing something wrong. We messed up so badly. Hyung, we are in love with you."

No one objected to the beta's false statement. Yoongi looked up, so frail and vulnerable. "No," he croaked, a new wave of tears arriving. "Don't lie, don't do it for my or the group's sake. You don't like me."

"We do," Namjoon affirmed, coming closer to him slowly. "Omega, I don't know how we are on such different pages but if one thing is certain in this realm is that we love you so much. This group, this pack would be nothing without you. You write beautiful music, and without your gentle care and advice, your soothing scent and food, we would be lost."

"You are everything to us," Seokjin said.

"Every single thing you do for us, for the pack, your pack, is appreciated," Hoseok added, walking towards him too, standing next to him. "We are fucking sorry we didn't let you know it."

"Are you serious?" Yoongi tentatively asked, still not daring to hope. "You all love me? Romantically?"

His packmates confirmed it with enthusiastic yes and he still was having a hard time believing it. Their actions didn't match their words.

"Then why haven't you treated me as your omega in forever? That hurt me deeply. I wanted to be pampered, held, I wanted to be scented and told I'm pretty…" Yoongi dried his tears. "That's what alphas and betas are supposed to do, to take care of their omega, but instead you've only made me feel f-faulty."

"Don't say that!" Jungkook shouted, genuinely offended. "You are so gorgeous and flawless and wonderful we don't deserve you. The press and everyone else thinks you were forced to be with us and we started to doubt. Hyung, we're so sorry."

Yoongi wasn't able to look him in the eye.

"Your apologies are not enough."

They didn't erase the damage, the devastation that he experienced in silence while smiling at the camera, or the broken trust at seeing them bond without him. Nevertheless, if they were being honest, could they pick the pieces and build a loving relationship from the ground?

"So you've made up your mind? You're leaving us? Please don't!" Jimin implored, sitting next to him but still giving him space to breathe. It saddened Yoongi to see him hurt.

"What do you feel for us? If you don't love us anymore it will be painful to accept but you could feel it again, right? Could we gain your love?" Namjoon asked so passionately that Yoongi had to rethink every single thing he thought he knew.

They all seemed to be holding their breath for his answer.

"I don't know," the omega responded.

His heart had almost perished from not being nurtured, was he capable of accepting them and exposing himself to the possible hurt and surviving if they failed?

Jungkook sat on the other side of the couch.

"I tried many times, hyung, to get close to you," he started, voice low. "I tried asking for your help with music and in the kitchen, I even faked interest in how to build stuff to spend time with you."

Yoongi remembered it. His earnest smile and the stars in his eyes when he asked and how the omega brushed him off most of the time.

"Jungkookie, I never saw it that way."

"I tried too. When I told you I wanted to camp, when I mentioned how fun going to the movies incognito would be," Taehyung declared, chuckling sadly. "But you never said yes."

Him too? How come Yoongi was so blind?

"When I told you to teach me how to drive," Namjoon added, embarrassed.

Oh, god. Yoongi was an idiot. The Lead Beta had never liked it, preferring to ride his bike or take the driver where he needed to go. His request back then had felt very trivial, that's why it was denied.

"Did anyone else use the same tactic?"

The rest of the members shared their stories too and Yoongi was progressively getting more annoyed at himself for missing the effort they put into closing the bridge between them. They must have gotten tired of his detached, boring attitude.

"We stopped asking, Yoongi-yah," Seokjin confirmed. "And it's completely on us but we thought you'd get sick of us if we insisted!'" He added, astonishing him. That was the opposite of his conclusion. "We didn't want to bother you. We already spent working hours together and we wondered if that was too much for you…"

"You were on your phone during shootings, we tried to include you in our banter but you always ignored us," Hoseok revealed.

Had he given the impression that he didn't want them? The puzzle was gradually being completed. Yoongi was bleeding. This was almost worse than his love not being requited because he had contributed to it.

"I was actively avoiding you," Yoongi explained, tearing up. "I felt so out of place seeing you joking around and having fun. I was so deep in my head that I didn't notice you and I think you were excluding me. And that's what caused me to spend so much time at the studio."

Jimin laughed bitterly. "Which made us think that you loved music more than you loved belonging to us."

"You never had time, even at the start you rejected time with your alphas and betas," Seokjin murmured.

"I was trying so hard to make a name for myself. Do you know how difficult it is for an omega to be taken seriously in this industry?" Yoongi inquired. "Do you think people would respect me if I climbed to your laps and started fucking purring?"

"No one would ask that of you!" Jimin gasped. Hoseok agreed.

"Our own fans don't even think you like us."

"I wouldn't have pulled away if I didn't think you hated me," Yoongi whispered, shutting them up. "I'm sorry too."

It was a vicious circle. The misunderstandings could be cleared if they were patient and talked. The pad of Jungkook's thumb caressed his hand and Yoongi's heart came alive under that simple yet touching move. They intertwined their fingers.

"I need to know why you wore suppressants and never wanted to share a heat with us when we were of age. Did we gross you out?" He asked, head low.

Yoongi frantically denied it.

"No! At first, my heats were an inconvenience just like your ruts so I took suppressants. Then, when we were older and given sick leave for them I thought you wouldn't want to touch me!" He confessed, hoping this part was untrue as well. It was so important. "I didn't want biology or contracts to make you want me. I wanted it to be real."

"Us? Not wanting to touch you? That couldn't be farther from the truth," Namjoon supplied. "Hyung, our love is real. No contract or obligation could make us as crazy as your natural charm does. You don't understand how obsessed we are with you."

Hoseok flushed. "Me and Jin hyung, as alphas, want to rip out your clothes any time of the day. You are so cute and sexy without even realizing it and your smell…"

Seokjin nodded, equally as red.

"Your scent is like a drug for us, Yoongi-yah."

Yoongi blushed down his neck, a rush of blood making him feel lightheaded and giddy. Was this what being desired felt like? He could see himself growing addicted to it.

To their sweet words and praises and kisses and touches.

"That day I caught you making out and snuggling…" he trailed off, pouting.

"We were convinced you didn't want anything to do with it," Taehyung was quick to clarify. "That physical touch wasn't something you were interested in, that compliments bothered you by the way you used to roll their eyes at them, that I love yous weren't your style."

Oh.

"I think that saddened us too," Jungkook murmured. "We wanted you to fill the role of an omega but we knew we'd only get your friendly guidance."

How could they get it so wrong? Yoongi wanted nothing more in this world than to be thoroughly theirs.

"I was a kid who was told by their parents that I had to be extra tough to not seem weak," the omega said. "A shell both separated and protected me but sometimes you guys could break into it. With the years I softened…"

"We want to be with you, omega," Hoseok told him softly. "Please, give us a second chance and we promise we won't disappoint you again."

Yoongi took a deep breath and smiled. He could smell their regret, and somehow, that was a remedy for his open wounds. They wouldn't scar, he was sure of it. And if they did, his future mates would kiss it better.

"If we do this I want my ideas to be heard and to participate more in our music. I want alpha shitheads to stop telling me how to behave."

"They do that? I never noticed," Jungkook murmured, ashamed. Namjoon looked at Yoongi, analyzing him as if he were a mystery.

"I thought you didn't need us, wouldn't want our help because you were an independent omega."

"I am one. But that doesn't mean that I'm not oppressed by the sexist system nor that I would get mad if my packmates stood up for me."

"We are truly sorry," Hoseok expressed, apologetic. "With Wings we've been taking off and management has been shutting all of us down to achieve more success. We'll talk to them."

"Success is important but not more than staying authentic to myself, to ourselves. It's not worth losing our identity over it." The rest of the members agreed with him. "And also I want everyone to understand that not because I'm an omega I'm less smart."

"We don't think that!" Jimin said, insulted. "We practically grew up together and we admire you so much."

"We respect you immensely," Jungkook claimed. "You are the most talented musician I've ever met."

"You are irreplaceable, Yoongi hyung," Taehyung added, with a fondness in his eyes that the omega had never noticed before.

Seokjin, Hoseok, and Namjoon respectively followed with an:

"We love you."

"We are so in love with you it has destroyed us to not have you."

"You are a brilliant omega, the most lovely dumpling."

By that point, Yoongi was crying again.

They all knelt at his feet and bowed lowly until the omega told them to stand up, that it was too much, that to please touch him. Even before their skins came in contact Yoongi felt their warmth. The alphas put their heads in his lap, the maknaes holding his hands and Namjoon cupping his cheek.

There was no space where he wasn't being touched and it was so overwhelming.

"This was a giant misunderstanding. I'm blunt and often express myself but this time I was afraid," Yoongi uttered, regretful. His heart was so full of love that bravery came without a second thought. "I love you. I love you all so much."

His packmates collectively froze, tightening his hold on him.

"Alphas, betas, you're squeezing me."

Seokjin sat on the couch and grasped his waist, pulling him into his lap, nose rubbing the scent gland in his neck, scenting him. Yoongi stilled and then relaxed in his arms, melting like butter. Hoseok approached them, kissing his head and scented his wrists, Jimin and Taehyung kissed his cheeks, murmuring about how pretty he looked blushing.

Namjoon dried his tears and pecked his lips softly, Jungkook doing the same, though much more embarrassed.

They all cuddled like they were always meant to.

And Yoongi, this time, felt so safe and happy.

He was Bangtan, he made this pack, because without him nothing would be the same.

"We'll make up to you, my love. I will worship you."

"You'll never feel alone again."

"You are the most precious thing."

Those words of affirmation soothed every worry about the future he could have. Realizing his heats wouldn't be lonely, that he'd finally please them during their ruts and be united in the most intimate way, that they'd go on dates and sleep together every night, a sort of calmness that was unknown to him washed over him, making him sleepy.

Or as if he were floating in a soft cloud.

"What about Daejung's pack?" Namjoon suddenly asked.

Seokjin and Hoseok growled, and the act, instead of irritating Yoongi, pleased him. His packmates would never let him go.

The omega explained why he got close to them and that despite being offered a spot in their pack he didn't think he could take it.

"So you don't want them," Jungkook murmured with a big smile.

"They're my friends. The only type of love I have for them… is platonic," Yoongi purred as his belly was rubbed. The maknaes almost fainted. "Thinking I had to leave the pack to stay sane and feel more than anguish was hell."

"Fuck, omega... Never again," the Lead Beta promised, face determined. "Our nest will be heaven to you."

"We'll start from scratch, as if we barely knew each other," Seokjin proposed. "We'll take you on dates, court you, cherish you, we will make love, and mate you."

Yoongi hid his face in his hands.

"Sorry if we are moving too fast but I really want to sink my teeth into our omega's neck," Taehyung murmured, very close to his sensitive neck.

Head traveled through the omega's body, his scent gland tingling. He was going to combust.

"And if you want… we will start a family," Jungkook said shyly.

Seokjin tsked. "We are a family."

"Hyung, I meant we... could think of pups."

"Pups?" Yoongi echoed, his senses alert. "You are a pup yourself!"

"It's okay if you don't want to! We know it's a big deal for omegas and that not all of them want them," Hoseok rambled, smelling nervous.

Jimin nodded.

"That's okay with us, hyung. We'd never ask that of you…"

Yoongi smirked.

"I want pups," he said, surprising them. "In many, many, many years… After you've made me your omega, we've conquered the world with our music and we have time to rest and raise them."

As he was drifting off, he felt someone kissing his forehead and murmuring 'thank you'.

Spring was coming back.