Chapter Text
Having neurodivergent pack members is all fun and games until your pack alpha starts letting someone collect bugs. Jisung stops dead in his tracks upon seeing a small glass terrarium sitting on the shelf just above the TV, and it takes all of his self control not to activate his fight or flight. He doesn't even know what it is, and yet he finds himself too terrified to investigate.
"Mm. So you've seen it now, too?"
Jisung nearly jumps out of his skin at the sound of Minho's voice, and practically runs to his side as he walks into the living room. "No. I don't even know what it is. I was too scared to look." He links Minho's elbow with his as if asking for protection, the alpha's earthy cedar scent giving off just the slightest hint of annoyance. "Why would Channie-hyung let him do this?" He doesn't need to specify which "him" he's talking about because there's only one person in this entire house that would even think about bringing a bug inside.
"You already know the answer to that," Minho sighs, his words sounding about as bitter as he smells. "Whatever the baby alpha wants, the baby alpha gets. I can count on one hand the amount of times he's ever said no to Seungmin."
While it is unbecoming of a pack alpha to have favorites, they'd be lying if they said Chan didn't have a special bond with Seungmin. He was the last alpha to present, after all, and Chan always doted on him a little extra, despite him always saying otherwise. It never bothered anyone, seeing as everyone adored their chaotic and somehow still soft-spoken alpha, but Jisung draws the line at letting him keep bugs inside the house. In the living room, no less. "What is it? Do I wanna know?"
"Probably not," Minho replies with a shrug. He unlinks his arm with Jisung's and takes him by the hand instead, practically needing to drag him across the room and over to the terrarium. "Her name is Clover. She's a praying mantis."
"A pr—a praying mantis? Oh fuck no." Jisung stops walking and grunts when Minho keeps dragging him forward. "I don't want to see it. They're freaky and they have weird arms and their eyes are—agh!" He buries his face in Minho's shoulder when a tiny green bug no larger than a Q-tip suddenly appears from behind a twig. It's just as ugly as Jisung expected it to be, and he doesn't even want to look at it. "Do we have to keep it in the living room? No offense, Clover, but you're so scary looking and you're giving me the creepy-crawlies."
"You're gonna hurt her feelings," a voice says from behind them. Jisung, still clinging to Minho's side, looks over his shoulder and crinkles his eyebrows together at the sight of Hyunjin and Seungmin, the latter getting a dirty look before he manages to speak again. "Praying mantises are good luck, you know."
"Well, let her be good luck in your bedroom," Jisung practically whines. "Why does she have to live out here?"
"Because when was the last time you saw Seungmin even enter his room?" Hyunjin asks, putting an arm around the younger alpha. "She would get neglected in there. At least out here, she won't get bored with all the foot traffic and shit that happens in the living room."
"Mm," Minho grunts, his mouth forming into a hard line. "I guess that makes sense. You don't ever go into your room, do you?"
Seungmin shakes his head. His bedroom might as well be an oversized closet at this point since clothing storage is all he uses it for. When it comes to sleeping, he has a permanent spot in Chan's california king bed. Everyone does, really, but Seungmin is the only one who sleeps there every single night without fail. "I wanted a tarantula, but Channie-hyung said no."
"I—" Jisung almost chokes on his saliva when he hears that. A tarantula? In their house? Hell to the no. "Please, Minnie, I'm begging you. Don't do this to me."
Hyunjin waves Jisung away, the omega not liking the nonchalant way his alphas are dealing with this entire situation. "Come on, Sungie. It's just a praying mantis. It's not like he brought home a grasshopper or a black widow or someth—"
"I also wanted a black widow," Seungmin butts in, cutting Hyunjin off. "But hyung said no to that, too."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jisung practically shouts, his face full of misery. "A black widow? Who the hell even thinks about keeping those as pets? Who let you have bugs as a special interest, anyway? I just wanna talk."
"You don't get to talk," another voice chimes in from the hallway as Chan strides into the living room with Felix and Changbin in tow. "Last I checked, your special interest is some anime about a dog hybrid from twenty-some years ago. I've never even seen Inuyasha and yet I can tell you the entire plot word for word, probably. But you don't see me talking shit about you, do you?"
Jisung goes red in the face at that. He does talk about Inuyasha quite a bit, and nobody ever stops him or makes him feel bad about it. "I guess so. But I still don't think it's the same thing as letting Seungmin keep bugs."
"Maybe it's not," Chan admits after throwing himself onto the couch. "But you still don't have the right to talk either way." Hyunjin and Felix take up a spot on either side of Chan, and Changbin makes himself comfortable on the floor in between his legs. "I need to talk to you guys about something serious."
Minho and Seungmin are on the ground beside Changbin in an instant, and Jisung gives Clover one last disgusted look before plopping himself down in Minho's lap. "What is it, hyung?" Minho asks, voice serious. "What happened?"
"I just got a call from the JYP Fostering Agency."
Everyone's ears perk up at that. Pack fosters don't come often. They're actually very few and far in between because of how difficult it is to cut ties and break a pack bond, but they do happen occasionally. Felix came to them as a foster placement, and after a long almost year of uncertainty and a lot of trial and error, they were eventually able to officially adopt him into their pack.
"What...what did they say?" Felix asks quietly. His life before the pack was not a happy one, and he feels a wave of anxiety wash through him at the thought of somebody else possibly being in a similar situation. "Are we gonna get a new foster?"
"That's what I need to talk to you guys about." Chan wraps an arm around Felix and pulls him in close, sensing his unease. "I told them that I would get back to them within the hour."
"Details?" Changbin asks from his spot at Chan's feet. "Did they give you any?"
Chan nods. "Beta male who just turned eighteen less than a week ago. Been under the care of three alcoholic alphas, all of whom are both physically and mentally abusive. He broke the pack bond three days ago and has been in state custody since it happened. It's an unusual situation considering he's already eighteen, but because of the severity of his circumstances, they reached out and asked if we'd be willing to take him on."
Felix feels his chest tighten at Chan's words, and Seungmin gets up from his spot on the floor in favor of sitting beside Felix instead. He leans in close to the omega, taking his hand and intertwining their fingers together while rubbing his thigh with his free hand. "You're okay, Lix. I promise."
"What do you guys say?" Chan continues. "Any objections? If so, why?" Nobody says anything, and Chan nods at the silent confirmation. "Should I call them back?"
"Call them," Hyunjin agrees. "We can give him Seungmin's room. He doesn't use it anyways."
"Yeah, he can have my room." Seungmin kisses Felix's forehead and snuggles in closer to him before finishing his thought. "If you'll let me move my clothes and stuff into your room, that is. Would that be okay, hyung?"
"Of course that's okay, Seungmin." Chan gives the younger alpha a small half smile. "We practically share a room at this point anyways. You guys are seriously okay with this, though? Because I can say no if anybody has an issue with this. I think we were just their first choice because we've successfully foster-adopted in the past."
"No issues," Hyunjin says softly. "From any of us. We want to be able to do this...right guys?" His words are met with murmurs of agreement from everyone, and with that Chan stands up. "Call them, hyung. Let them know that we'll be more than happy to take him with open arms."
"Jeongin," Chan corrects. "His name is Jeongin." He pulls his cellphone from his back pocket and gives his pack one last meaningful look before making his way out of the living room and towards the stairs. "I'll let you guys know what they say. Just give me a few minutes, okay?"
"A beta, huh?" Changbin asks once Chan disappears from view. "That's a new one. For us, at least."
"I hope being here with us helps him," Felix says, allowing Seungmin to place an arm around him in Chan's absence. "You guys have no idea what it's like to have to do something like that. Breaking your pack bond like that...it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I didn't think I could do it, but...by not doing it, I probably would have died. Or killed myself. Whichever came first."
Hyunjin moves in closer to Felix now that Chan is gone, and wraps an arm around him as well. He smells like a dense woody forest after a fresh bout of rain, and Seungmin like calming amber and driftwood. Being snuggled in between his two alphas does more than it's fair share to calm his nerves, and Hyunjin allows himself a soft sigh of contentment before speaking. "You're the best decision we've ever collectively made, Lix. Deciding to foster and adopt you into our pack...I genuinely can't imagine our life without you. You were meant to be here, and I'm sure that Jeongin is, too."
"It's a done deal, you guys." Chan's voice rings down from the top of the stairs, and he appears back into the living room only a few seconds later. "He's getting placed with us in the morning. Come on, we have a lot of work to do."