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The second spring comes to an end…

Two years already gone, and now, as stifling heat carries on an unforgiving breeze, Jimin feels that thrumming anticipation once again. 

The Gathering returns this summer. 

Every other year, packs from all over the region convene at the Midpointe, a valley bordered by dense forests, set before a glorious mountain range. The largest lake in the known lands resides there, and rare game populates the serene landscape, making it the perfect setting for a festival. 

Jimin has always loved The Gathering. But this time…it’s very different. 

The end of the second spring means the end of his grace period. He almost can’t believe it’s already been so long since he presented as an omega. Though, he supposes he should consider himself grateful for the kindness of any time at all, most packs have no such customs. Most allow suitors to descend on unmated omegas the moment they present. 

Jimin has been able to learn this new facet of himself, grow and develop before any alphas try to claim him. 

That should mean he’s ready now, right? Ready for this Gathering to finally offer himself up for courtship. 

He should be ready, but- 

“Jiminie, are we all set?” Taehyung’s voice cuts through. 

Jimin flashes a fleeting smile and says, “Yes, I think so.” He secures his bag over one shoulder, stepping back from the cliff side overlooking Midpointe Valley. 

This was their last stop to rest before the final leg of their three day journey, and the participating pack members are weary. 

“You think everyone gets this worked up about the Gathering just because it means this trek is over?” Taehyung muses, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. 

Jimin’s laughter rings like tinkling bells, “You may be onto something. We could tie the Ajussi up and take his cart?” 

Taehyung glances back at the older man responsible for driving the carriage transporting their pack’s flour and grain supply. He doesn’t seem to be sweating hardly at all. “I’m heavily considering it,” Taehyung grumbles. 

Fortunately, the downhill descent into the valley is far easier on their legs than hiking through the foothills had been. That, and the luscious trees of this surrounding forest also provide the pack with welcome shade, a reprieve from the blazing early afternoon sun. 

Jimin breathes deep as they reach the halfway mark to the clearing. He loves this forest. So much pine, a lush mossy floor, thick and musky air. The forests back home aren’t like this, and Jimin longs for it all the time. 

His nerves settle, if only slightly. 

By the time they break through and step into an impossibly vast plain, the sky is streaked with wisps of orange tinted clouds as the sun hangs lower. 

Towering tents and makeshift structures have already been erected here and there, vendors draw in early-comers with billowing smoke that brings the mouthwatering aroma of smoked meats with it, and cask after cask of wine is being rolled off of wagons so large that four horses pull them. Already, the atmosphere is alive with energy that crackles and vibrates around them. 

The southern pack, Jimin’s pack, sets up unsurprisingly in the southernmost quadrant of the clearing. All the packs tend to follow that habit when they raise their camps, clearcut territory is always a smart move with this many unmated wolves in one place. 

No matter how depleted each and every one of them are after the journey, shelter can’t wait. Jimin, helpful as ever, begins lugging some poles and stakes from the bed of one of their carts down to clatter onto the grassy lawn. Two alphas from his village perk up at the noise and rush over from where they tended to the horses to tend to Jimin instead. 

“Jimin, please let us handle this, you have a performance to worry about, hm?” One says warmly. 

Then the other adds, “How could we stand by and let you do the heavy lifting?” 

Jimin just gives a curt smile and brief nod as a way to excuse himself. Taehyung is soon at his heels snickering, “And so it begins. Get used to it Mini, you’re going to be beating them off with sticks before long.” 

“Please don’t remind me,” Jimin huffs, digging the toe of his shoe into a soft mound of dirt in subtle defiance. 

That’s why this Gathering is different. The three he attended before were full of nothing but food and music and laughter with his dear friends. Sure there were longing stares last time, but the grace period kept him safe from having to care. Now, they can speak to him. With intent. Jimin shudders, a creepy crawly sensation traveling down his spine. 

“Say the word and I’ll put you on my back and run,” someone says as they approach, and Jimin turns with a beaming grin. 

“Seokjini!” 

“I heard you southerners finally showed up,” he teases, opening his arms to embrace Taehyung and Jimin on either side. 

“We were afraid you wouldn’t be here, now that you’re a mated man and all,” Taehyung jabs, and Seokjin gasps as if he’s horribly offended. 

“And leave you two in this den of madness? What kind of elder do you think I am?” 

“The kind that ditches the only other beta in the village for an eastern girl,” Taehyung accuses, but they know it’s all in jest. When Seokjin found his mate last winter, they were overjoyed for him, truly. Still, seeing one of their closest friends leave the village for good pained the others immensely. 

“Yah, watch it,” Seokjin snorts, “Where are the others?” 

“Namjoon is coming from another one of his mushroom foraging expeditions, he’ll be here soon,” Jimin says, and Seokjin smiles so fondly, because what could be more Namjoon than that? 

“Hoseok and Yoongi should be unloading the instruments,” Taehyung says. 

“Are they still as disgusting to be around as they were when they first mated?” 

“Not quite, they do bicker a little now,” Jimin giggles. 

“And…” Seokjin starts cautiously, “Have you heard from Jeongguk?” 

Jimin’s face falls for a moment before he masks it with a slight smile, “Not yet, no.” 

“I’m sure he’ll be here. The whole village would probably track him down if he missed this,” Seokjin jokes to lighten the mood. Jimin’s honey and lemon scent grows a little sour, a twinge that his closest friends surely pick up on. 

“Should we go help with the instruments?” Taehyung distracts and Jimin easily shakes off his imaginary rain cloud to offer an enthusiastic nod. 

The sky is violet by the time the southern pack finishes setting up. Three dozen able bodied villagers managed to work nearly seamlessly, securing each and every tent, building the massive hexagonal stage for performances, and transporting all their sides of beef, pork shanks, and other cuts of meat to a cellar underground, where the cool earth keeps them fresh. They stashed their casks of Southberry Wine there too, a specialty of their pack that always has the highest trade value at every Gathering without fail. 

Jimin spends hours upon hours picking berries for it while they’re in season, especially during a Gathering year. Rumor has it that Southberry Wine stirs passion in unmated wolves, and true or not, there isn’t a hopeful here that won’t try to get their hands on some just for the odds of it bettering their chances. After a hundred years of Gatherings, it’s still one of the most popular gifts to present to an intended mate. 

Past true nightfall, every pack in the region has made it to the clearing. Many actually prefer to set their camps in the dark just to escape the draining heat of daylight. 

But Jimin is happy to finally rest. Namjoon arrived a few hours prior, happy to greet his friends, and they all shared a drink or two before the weariness in their bones weakly dragged them to their respective tents. 

After some arranging of his favorite pelts and knitted blankets from home, Jimin collapses like a starfish, sprawled out and unable to keep his eyes open for more than a few minutes. Even the hurricane of nerves in his stomach can’t prevent sleep from drawing him in, though the possibilities that await the first day of the Gathering still swirl in his mind. 

🍷

Day one doesn’t begin quite how Jimin imagined it. 

It’s barely dawn when a figure ducks into his tent, smacking his bare calf repeatedly. 

“Taehyung, what-“ Jimin groggily begins to chastise, but the beta doesn’t stop to let him finish. 

“He’s here, Jimin, he showed!” Taehyung harshly whispers, eyes wide and glinting the pale pink light of early morning. 

A sickening drop in his stomach has Jimin feeling a little dizzy. All he can think is ‘Why now? Why this?’ 

“Almost half the pack is getting up already to greet him.” 

Jimin just hums. Taehyung backs out of the tent and the omega crawls on all fours to the opening flap, poking his head out just enough to get a look. 

Sure enough, he’s walking toward the camp with a massive deer slung over one shoulder and a rucksack on the other. He’s changed, Jimin thinks, but there’s no mistaking him. 

Jeon Jeongguk. 

🍷

The chatter is never ending. 

Despite the immense work to be done for the opening festivities, all anyone can seem to talk about is Jeongguk. And, it would appear, Jimin as well. 

“Can you believe the difference? Eight months it’s been, is it? And he returns looking like that…” 

“…may be the finest alpha in the pack now, who’d have thought…’ 

“It would stand to reason that our best alpha and our best omega would come together…” 

“They used to be inseparable, weren’t they?” 

To be fair, Jeongguk has been the subject of gossip in their village for years now. 

Jimin was twenty years old when he presented, the most common age by far, though some late bloomers at twenty one or twenty two have been known to occur. 

But Jeongguk…that hadn’t happened in generations. 

A mere two weeks after Jimin’s fever lifted, Jeongguk’s began. He was only 18 years old. The village figured he must have come down with an illness, they worried and gave prayers to the goddess for his swift recovery, no one even remotely suspecting that he’d begun to present. 

Yet, it happened anyway. He emerged days later as an alpha, and no one knew what to think. 

Back then, Jimin teased him with comments like, “You had to copy me again huh? First my flower crowns, now this?” 

Jeongguk laughed it off at the time, but in the blink of an eye, things between them were different. He became distant. Taehyung worried that he wouldn’t want to hang around non-alphas anymore, but Jimin knew him better than that. Jeongguk isn’t that kind of person. 

Yet he started going on longer and longer hunts, then he’d venture off alone and not return for a few weeks or more. Jimin grew concerned and he planned to confront him, but then the day came when the omega realized Jeongguk wasn’t returning at all this time. He just…felt it. 

It’s been eight months and thirteen days, actually. That’s how long it’s been since Jeongguk has shown his face to his pack, but the omega lost him long before that. 

Now, Jimin doesn’t know him anymore. He doesn’t know this built, rugged alpha with a sharp jaw. Jimin knows the boy that stuck to him like tree sap, that stargazed with him and whispered dreams as if they were secrets. 

Jimin’s eyes narrow as he watches Jeongguk cross the main row of food stalls in a zig zag pattern, seemingly trying every single dish available with no apparent concern for lack of stomach space. ‘I guess some things never change.’ 

Willing himself to get back to his work, Jimin trains his gaze on the costume in his lap and the needle between his fingers. It’s just finishing touches now, but he has to finish before the Gathering truly kicks off, he’ll have no time for tedious things then, and his first performance is tonight. 

Hoseok joins him soon, intense and rattling off things to remember before tonight at impressive speed. He’s always like this before a performance, hyper focused and almost neurotic, whereas normally his heart shaped smile and cheerful countenance are a comfort to even strangers. 

Times like these are the only instances in which Jimin and Hoseok do more harm than good for each other. 

“Remember that kick, Jiminie, you’ve stumbled on it a couple of times-“

“I know, I know-oh goddess what if I mess this up, everyone is already watching me-“ 

“I’m sure suitors would still find it…cute?”

“Suitors -oh I’m gonna throw up-“ 

“Both of you stop,” Yoongi’s harsh voice interrupts, and the two clucking chickens stop in their tracks. 

“The first announcements are coming, take a breath and eat something.” 

Hoseok’s nostrils are flaring and one of his eyes might be twitching too, but he still nods, taking a skewer from Yoongi. 

Jimin wraps his taupe overshirt around his frame, tying it closed at the side and rustling his deep brown, silky hair as it falls in his eyes. He always liked how this material draped around his curves. Not that he’s trying to look better than normal, he always likes to look presentable at the Gathering. That’s all, just…for the Gathering. 

“Five Packs of the region, welcome!” A man booms through the hallowed horn of a ram. The alpha leader of the Northern Pack, to be more specific. “I trust you had a fruitful summer since last we met! We have worked tirelessly these last two years, and now it is time to celebrate!” 

The crowd is massive now, hardly a single gap in the clearing between it and the campsites and stalls. The alpha claps and grins before bringing the horn back to his lips. 

“We gather in this place to stay United! We gather to share wealth, to eat, drink, to compete! We gather to send our joy and gratitude to the Goddess! And for some here…we gather to mate!” 

The screams are rabid now, alphas whoop and howl, clasp hands and bump shoulders. Jimin tries to breathe. 

“As always, I remind you that respect must be given above all else! Respect to our traditions! Respect to omegas, betas, and alphas alike!” 

Jimin almost laughs. At least the guy’s trying. 

“Now, feast my friends!” 

Deafening applause continues for another minute or so before it gives way to music. Lively folk tunes every pack knows by heart, played on three stages around the clearing. Yoongi is surely on one of them with his guitar, probably tuning out anyone that isn’t Hoseok as he loses himself to the notes. 

Jimin munches on a small meat pie, groaning at the golden brown crust and juices within. An alpha offered to buy it for him, which he politely refused, but luckily, he’s been mostly left alone so far. 

It’s tomorrow he’ll have to worry about. 

The Gathering isn’t explicitly for courting purposes, but who is anyone to deny the obvious opportunity to do so? Courting customs specifically for the Gathering have been in place since nearly the beginning of the festival itself. 

The first day lets everyone settle in and rest from the journey, meet and mingle with other packs. It’s a day for surveillance, not a day to pursue. 

The second day is similar, until sunset. That’s when alphas present an omega or beta they wish to court with a native flower of their village. It evens the score that way, preventing stronger alphas from bringing large game, or wealthier villages from presenting fine metals or jewels. It allows people to see people, stripped of their privileges or shortcomings. Though, over time, alphas grew cunning and found ways to stand out and bend tradition. Jimin wonders if someone will give him a cake made in the image of a flower, he’d like a little cake. 

Following the flowers, eligible wolves can spend the next few days admiring the various competitive events, dances, and trades. Until finally, on the sixth day, the alphas partake in a grand hunt, where the first to return would be championed as an alpha that can provide, can defend and stand tall. 

That final night after the hunt either cements or destroys courtships. The last night of the Gathering is an explosion of drums and lost inhibitions in the dark. Fire pits rage in every camp, and the ground thunders like a stampede of wild boars as each and every attendant moves to the beat. Then, if they return any affections, the omegas and betas will reach their hand to the alpha of their choice for a dance, and in that gesture, choose them.

A pair will typically scent one another that night. Most may do more than that, but would deny as much in the presence of elders. 

Jimin remembers the last Gathering vividly, newly presented and navigating foreign urges, thoughts he’d never had before. He remembers a pair, a beta and omega as they pressed close together, hips writhing in time. When the beta began scenting the omega, with just a gentle nose to their throat at first, Jimin’s breath caught. The omega’s head tilted back, eyes fluttering shut in an expression that Jimin could only describe as bliss. Something stirred in his stomach then, something like want. He wondered what it felt like to be that omega, but couldn’t imagine actually feeling it himself. 

Now, he just…doesn’t know. Jimin can only hope his instincts will guide him. 

“Jimin!” Taehyung hollers, weaving through the throng with a wide smile. “Dance with me!”

Returning his grin, Jimin takes his friend’s hand and they begin to skip in a small circle. 

“I guess I shouldn’t dance with you too much, your hopefuls might get the wrong idea!” He laughs, and Jimin’s face goes red. 

“Don’t be afraid, enjoy the attention! I’ve already had some alphas ask me about you,” Taehyung giggles wickedly. 

“Maybe I’ll…like one?”

Taehyung halts them abruptly, his mouth agape. “So you’re actually open to it?”

Jimin shrugs, glancing bashfully at the ground, “I just-I don’t know, if I feel something, I won’t ignore it. That’s all.” 

“This is going to be the best Gathering yet,” Taehyung nearly squeals, yanking Jimin back through the crowd in search of their first pints of the day. 

🍷

“Really, have you been hunting non stop all this time? Where have you been staying?” Namjoon asks. 

“Sometimes I set up a tent, sometimes I string a hammock up in the trees,” Jeongguk answers, clearly distracted as his eyes frantically scan the mass of people at the center of the grounds. 

“I know I’m not a typical alpha, but I’ve never seen anyone leave their pack for this long. We’ve been worried about you,” Namjoon presses sternly with a hand on Jeongguk’s shoulder. 

That seems to draw Jeongguk back to the conversation. His eyes meet Namjoon’s and his lips twitch into the faintest frown. “I apologize, I never meant to worry anyone.”

“You’re just so different. And huge, Jeongguk, what the hell?”

Jeongguk breaks into a brief chuckle, “Yeah…I guess trekking every day and dragging carcasses around will do that to you.” 

“I guess so. Are you back then? Some of us really…missed you. Jimin-”

“Yah! You brat!” Seokjin interrupts as he comes barreling towards them. But Namjoon doesn’t miss the way Jeongguk’s eyes widen when he speaks Jimin’s name. 

“You better have a good explanation for being away!” Seokjin rages, taking Jeongukk by the shoulders. He feels how hard the muscle is there and his brows raise. 

“Yah, you think you can get all big and strong and that’ll make me back down? I should shove my old shoe under your nose like I did when we were young, you-”

“I missed you,” Jeongguk cuts him off, hooking his arms around Seokjin and squeezing him into a suffocating hug. 

“Aish, of course I missed you too. You haven’t even met my mate yet.” 

“You actually mated? I can’t believe that,” Jeongguk scoffs, nose scrunching into a grin that’s as cute today as it was a decade ago. 

“Maybe I won’t let you meet her,” he threatens, playfully defiant, “You won’t even go home, let alone come visit me in the east.”  

“I will. I promise I will.” 

Seokjin just clicks his tongue, but returns Jeongguk’s embrace nonetheless. 

“Some grand entrance you had there too, are you trying to impress someone?” Namjoon interrogates with a teasing grin. 

Jeongguk clears his throat and laughs faintly, “No, no, just uh, didn’t want to show up empty handed.” 

Namjoon hums, he and Seokjin exchanging a knowing glance over the rims of their goblets. They know Jeongguk too well not to see through that paltry lie. He’s never cared for Gatherings as much as the rest of them, the crowds make him uneasy. He wouldn’t be here after all this time for no reason. 

Jeongguk’s stomach flips as he waits for them to pick apart his excuse. He thanks the Goddess when they change the subject altogether and spare him, talking instead about the events to come. 

“Namjoon, are you going another festival without participating?” Seokjin asks. 

“Unless they introduce something more intellectual, then yes,” he laughs. 

Seokjin shakes his head and rolls his eyes before turning to Jeongguk, “And you? Are you going to be a wallflower too, or will you show the packs what kind of alpha you’ve become?” 

“I have some ideas,” Jeongguk answers with a coy smile. 

🍷

Dipping his finger in a small pot of rouge, Jimin focuses on his breathing. He dabs the thick paste lightly onto his lips, then pats a bit onto his cheeks and eyelids for accentuation. His costume is thankfully done as well. 

How Hoseok got the gold thread, he doesn’t know, but he’s grateful all the same. The thread catches the light beautifully, makes the swirling embroidery on his black tunic pop. It fits perfectly to his body, not too tight that he can’t move, but certainly hugs his shape in all the right places. He can’t deny that he feels beautiful like this. 

When he steps onto the stage, his long, sheer sleeves billow in the evening breeze. He looks up at a cloudless sky, waxing gibbous moon casting a brilliant glow that seems to seep into his pores. It’s right. No matter who’s watching, no matter their intentions, Jimin feels right in his body. 

The first note of Yoongi’s wooden flute plays, lilting and soft, and Jimin’s arms raise above his head, perfectly poised all the way to his fingertips. He flows like a stream, his steps almost languid, the crowd already mesmerized. 

There’s still noise beyond those who’ve gathered to watch, some outliers waiting for food and drink, bartering over pelt trades, but Jimin doesn’t hear it. He hears leaves rustling from the forest, hears the music, hears the way his feet smoothly sweep across the wooden stage. 

Jeongguk stands in attendance, not too far from the front, but not close enough that Jimin sees him. His lips part, hands fall limp at his sides. 

‘He’s changed too…’ Jeongguk thinks. 

Hoseok joins Jimin then, in similar garb but looser, somehow less ethereal, at least in Jeongguk’s eyes. 

They circle each other, as if locked in the beginnings of combat, until they both twirl away in perfect synchronicity. Other dancers flood the stage, other instruments join Yoongi’s flute, the tempo accelerating until the entire scene is madness. Organized chaos. 

Next to Jeongguk, a cluster of alphas stink up the mountain air with pheromones. 

“I’ll finally have him this year, just you watch,” one says. 

“Not if I don’t get to him first,” another laughs, bumping their shoulders. 

“You’re both insane, you’d have to be a pack leader’s heir to court Jimin,” their friend laughs. 

“I just have to make my mark in the games, he wouldn’t resist the alpha who comes out on top,” the first shoots back. 

Jeongguk scoffs under his breath. The guy is built, sure, but Jeongguk can practically taste the unfounded overconfidence spewing from his glands. 

The music softens again, and Jeongguk watches Jimin spin on his toes before collapsing onto the stage. He reaches up for the sky again, porcelain face gleaming in the moonlight, and then…

He sings. 

High and light like birdsong. He sings in an old language, a dead language of the region. Each note is trembling with vibrato, long and drawn out in a way that’s whimsical yet almost unsettling. It sounds like he’s pleading. For what, Jeongguk doesn’t know, but the emotion infused in his voice is so raw that tears prick his eyes just from witnessing it. 

Jimin has come so far in such a short time, he thinks, as though petals that concealed him have bloomed to reveal the radiant omega within. 

But really, Jeongguk saw him that way all along. 

Jimin’s voice tapers off, almost to a whisper with the hint of a whine behind it, just as the music fades. Not a single person in this crowd remains unmoved. The applause is a roaring cacophony of shouts and whistles that only grow when Jimin takes his bow. 

He smiles so wide, eyes scrunching into crescents, small hands folded against his chest as he bows yet again. His joy is infectious, and inevitably Jeongguk finds himself smiling too. 

🍷

Early morning in the valley is serene on the second day. 

Unfortunately Jimin doesn’t enjoy it because he, Taehyung and Hoseok lost their wits at the bottom of their glasses after the performance the night prior. Jimin’s never been much for early rising anyway, especially not after drinking so heavily. 

He sits up and the sunlight isn’t filtered by his tent nearly enough, it assaults his puffy eyes and makes him hiss. A tanned leg is slung over his lap and Jimin shoves it away and groans, “Taehyung, you’re dead to me.” 

“You loved me a few hours ago,” the beta snickers, his head still buried beneath Jimin’s warmest bear pelt. 

“That was before you brought out the moonshine.” 

Taehyung’s body shakes as he continues to laugh at his friend’s pain, and Jimin rips the pelt away from his face. 

“Aish! You’re so mean, it’s too bright!” 

Jimin gives his upper arms a pinch and smirks triumphantly. A bit more adjusted now, he looks back at the sun’s position and sighs, “It must be midday already.” 

“I’m sure we’re not the only ones still dragging themselves out of bed.” 

Jimin hums, feeling as though he’s moving through quicksand as he yanks his shoes on. He crawls to the opening and peers out, the scent of campfire smoke reaching his nostrils. It makes his stomach audibly growl, eager eyes in search of the source. 

“I bet Hoseok is up, Yoongi’s probably cooking,” Taehyung says, fully roused and sitting up in nothing but a pair of linen undershorts. 

“He better have enough for us,” Jimin grumbles, practically rolling out onto the grass before stumbling to his feet. Taehyung, not one for modesty, slings a blanket around his shoulders and follows, not bothering to dress any more than that as they let their noses lead them like helpless baby birds. 

“Ah, and finally they show their shameful faces,” Hoseok teases, a hand hovering over his mouth as he chews. Yoongi lifts the lid of a cast iron pot, a plume of steam seeping over the edge from inside. When it clears, Jimin almost weeps at the sight of rice porridge. Subtly smiling, Yoongi hands the two wooden bowls and spoons before ladling out a heaping serving for each of them. 

They scarf down their food, moaning and groaning all the while. Only then does Jimin feel a bit more human, leaning against Hoseok’s back with a full belly. 

“You’re lucky there was any left after Jeongguk was through, he must have had three bowls,” Yoongi says, and Jimin perks up. 

“Jeongguk?”

“Mm, he was up a while ago before heading off to the training grounds.” 

“Ah, right...I still can’t believe the alphas function enough to train after drinking all night,” Taehyung says. 

“It’s not without difficulty,” Yoongi starts, “I fought through a blinding headache myself at the last Gathering.”

“Oh, we remember. You were too stubborn to sit out of the games even though Hoseok here was already as good as yours,” Taehyung teases.

“What kind of alpha would I be if I didn’t try to prove myself to him?” He says fondly, and Hoseok grins, pulling him closer to nuzzle into his neck. 

“Yah, quit it, I don’t want to lose my breakfast,” Taehyung snaps with a smack to Hoseok’s leg. 

“Alright, alright, we should focus on Jimin anyway,” Hoseok says, giggling as he nudges the omega, “plenty of them are going to be competing with you in mind, especially after tonight.” 

Jimin huffs and puts his hands over his eyes. It’s going to be a long day. 

🍷

Besides helping to carry baskets of potatoes to some of the food stalls, Jimin makes himself relatively scarce the next few hours. An alpha with a scar over one eye growled at another when they fought over who’d help him, and Jimin grew weary of that very quickly. He does keep an eye out though. He won’t admit it, even to himself, but every time he catches a glimpse of wavy black hair, Jimin follows it until he realizes it isn’t Jeongguk. 

Eight months and he hasn’t said a word to Jimin yet. Does he really mean nothing to him now? Is this really what their years of friendship amount to, and without explanation? 

Jimin is resentful, to say the least. He should be basking in attention, weighing his options, dancing without care, but instead all he can do is wonder why Jeongguk is here, if he’s interested in someone, why he hasn’t approached him. 

He’s a bit sullen when the sun sets, and for too many reasons to count. Taehyung tries to coax him back into the lively spirit of the festival, putting daisies in his dark hair and dressing him in white cotton, but Jimin is restless inside. His stomach flips madly, especially when it comes time for Taehyung to join the other betas, leaving him with the eligible omegas. 

Some give him snide glances, which is to be expected. Jimin can’t let himself care, he just has to get through what’s to come. He looks across the field at the alphas, and again fails to see Jeongguk.  He doesn’t know why, but there’s something strangely relieving about that.

Then the northern pack leader steps up onto the main stage, clearly an ale or two deep already as he heartily laughs and lifts his ram horn. 

“Alphas!” He booms, “It is time to make your intentions known!”

Cheers sound around him, but Jimin just gulps his nerves down. Shouldn’t he be exhilarated? Shouldn’t any omega yearn for this moment? 

The crowd settles into a hush, firelight casting a warm glow from torches set all around the grounds. The alpha with the scar is the first to barge ahead, stomping his way through the grass, and Jimin wants to run. ‘Not him again,’ he whines internally. 

“Jimin of the southern pack,” he starts, gruff and intense and towering over Jimin by at least two heads, “Please accept this token.” With a bow of his head, he holds out a cloth, unfolding it to reveal a red poppy that’s been pressed and preserved. 

Omegas never refuse the flowers. Even if they want to, it’s unheard of. And so Jimin takes the cloth and bows his head in return. When the alpha steps away, two more take his place, shooting each other warning glares as they vie for the next word. 

One gives Jimin a gardenia in a clay pot, still alive and cared for through the long journey to Midpointe. “I hope to become closer over the remainder of the Gathering,” He says. 

The next gives an azalea, and Jimin balks at the line seemingly forming before him once they move aside. He can see Taehyung in the mid distance with a hand over his mouth, trying to keep it together but losing the battle. 

Jimin’s cheeks grow sore from his polite smile fixed in place as he receives a dozen more flowers. Some even try to stand out by giving him a whole bouquet, but sadly no flower shaped cake. He looks, really looks, at each and every alpha and beta that approach him, giving his omega a chance to feel something.

After what must be at least an hour, Jimin’s arms are full and heart empty, pots and vases are littered around his feet, and omegas are getting less subtle in their disdain as they scoff at his flanks. Taehyung makes his way over, carrying some flowers of his own, and Jimin releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, so relieved to have a friend close again. 

“Wow Jiminie, you got more than I even expected, I bet a lot of them chose you last minute after your song last night.” 

“I’m beginning to wish I wore a mask,” Jimin says quietly, and Taehyung snorts. 

It’s not that he isn’t flattered, or that he doesn’t think he deserves to be coveted, his omega is glowing under the attention, but it’s all a bit overwhelming even so. He doesn’t know any of his potential suitors particularly well either, there are a few from his own pack that he believes to be kind, but…they don’t stir him. They don’t make him feel what that couple from the last Gathering must have felt. 

Is he broken? Is he incapable of being affected by pheromones like some defect or freak of nature?  

Jimin’s scent only sours more as this ceremony of sorts winds down, all flowers seemingly given as the northern pack leader prepares to speak again. 

But before he utters a word, he hesitates, eyes drawn to the far side of the huddled alphas that Jimin can’t see. The crowd parts around something, and whispers pick up among the omegas and betas. 

“Must be a straggler,” Taehyung mutters, “I hope they don’t think tardiness is going to impress anyone.” 

Jimin lightly laughs in response, but he’s only half listening. His heart is racing and he doesn’t know why, his blood is practically rushing in his ears. 

When the mysterious latecomer finally breaks through, Jimin understands why his body was wracked with anticipation. 

It’s Jeongguk. 

He walks with such purpose, and his eyes are so dark, focused. His hair is tied back into a bun, and that makes him look somehow older, almost severe. 

Jimin can’t stave off the emotions bubbling to the surface now. Jeongguk really is here to court someone. He came back after so long for this reason, and Jimin doesn’t know if he can stand here and watch his oldest friend declare his intentions to someone after breaking his heart by disappearing. It’s too much. 

Jimin takes a half step backward, but Taehyung puts a firm hand at his back to stop him. He seems to understand something that Jimin himself can’t comprehend. 

Jeongguk is heading straight towards them. 

Jimin looks to either side of him at the other omegas, he doesn’t recognize anyone really. Maybe Jeongguk met one of them on his travels, or-

“Jimin.” 

That voice. It’s deeper than he remembers, but it’s still him. Still Jeongguk. 

Swallowing hard, Jimin lets his eyes close and can’t bring himself to open them again, he just doesn’t understand. This isn’t happening, it can’t be. 

“Jimin, look at me.” 

It’s soft, yet commanding. Jimin manages the slightest shake of his head. Jeongguk lets out a rich chuckle that sends a shiver down the omega’s spine. 

“Please look at me.” 

Jimin releases a shaky breath through his nose, finally raising his eyes to meet the alpha. He sees Jeongguk there, a crooked hint of a smile and firelight flickering in his irises. A fox pelt brackets his shoulders, leather cuffs tied tight along his forearms, likely some of his finest attire that he’s adorning just for tonight.  

Just when the omega is reeling enough, Jeongguk does the unthinkable. He sinks to his knees, an act of submission that sends gasps and murmurs rippling throughout the spectators. He raises one palm to present something small that Jimin can’t seem to focus on when his vision is beginning to haze at the edges. 

“This token,” Jeongguk begins, his voice even lower now, “It’s…a token of my affection.”

Jimin can’t breathe. The object appears to be a necklace-no, a locket, intricately carved from wood and stained to a golden brown. Jeongguk brings his other hand to pry it open and the omega instantly recognizes a small, brilliant red tiger lily bud set in the center, dried but suspended in some sort of resin. 

“I know you must be confused,” Jeongguk says then, and Jimin blurts out a harsh laugh. 

“Confused? You think I’m confused?” 

Jeongguk gazes up to see Jimin’s eyes brimming with tears, glaring with accusation and rage. Then, before Jeongguk can get out a single sound, the omega is shoving his flowers into Taehyung’s arms and turning on his heels. He storms through the vultures that surround him, his chest so tight he feels as though he could collapse on the spot. But he can’t stop until he’s gotten some distance from all this. 

Taehyung moves to follow when a hand on his shoulder gives him pause. He turns to see Seokjin with a knowing look in his eyes, shaking his head. 

Jeongguk stands, rushing through the omegas after Jimin, who’s already nearly made it to the treeline in his furious march. 

“Jimin!” He calls, but the omega only picks up his pace, breaking into a near sprint. Jeongguk chases him into the forest, weaving through the trees with his sights set on flashes of white fabric. The alpha has spent months in isolation, hunting and tracking across land similar to this. He knows how to gain an advantage. 

Jeongguk leaps over fallen logs effortlessly, and Jimin can hear him closing in. His chest is heaving, tears streaking his cheeks, heavy heart weighing him down. He stumbles over an exposed root on the forest floor, nearly losing his footing when a large hand closes around his wrist and disrupts his momentum. He falls backward into something firm and warm. 

“Let me go,” Jimin says weakly through heavy breaths, trying to pull his arm away with little success. 

“Not until you calm down, you’ll hurt yourself.” 

“What do you care?!” Jimin shouts, spinning around and out of Jeongguk’s hold. “I haven’t heard a single word from you in months and you do this?” 

“I know…” Jeongguk murmurs, eyes downcast, “If you just let me explain-”

“Yes please, Jeongguk, tell me why you’d abandon your pack, abandon me and then humiliate me in front of the whole region! I don’t even know you anymore, and you want to court me?! Why?” 

Jeongguk’s expression is twisted in anguish, shame. He sounds smaller, like the boy Jimin knew, when he says, “I had to change…I wanted to go to you the moment I arrived here, but…I thought this way you’d know the depth of my feelings.” 

“Wait, did you…were you planning this all along? When you left?”

Inching closer, Jeongguk takes Jimin’s hand in his own, “I needed to return as an alpha worthy of you-” 

“You think I cared about that? About your strength? I needed you. My best friend,” Jimin yanks his hand away yet again, “You left when I needed you most. I was afraid of how presenting would change us and you proved that it did.” 

“And I am so sorry…I missed you every day.” Jeongguk’s voice comes out as little more than a whisper. 

Jimin blinks up at the night sky and laughs wearily, at a loss for words. 

“I’ll never leave without word again, I swear to you. I’ve been waiting for this day for so long, waiting to tell you how I feel.” 

With an incredulous stare, Jimin says, “I still don’t understand. All this time, you’ve…wanted this…” 

Jeongguk takes both of Jimin’s hands now, tightly holding them to his chest over his heart, “I’ve wanted you. I really think it was fate that I presented so early, that my alpha couldn’t leave your omega alone that long.” 

“But you did! Why didn’t you tell me any of this back then?” Jimin asks, still leaking tears that sparkle in the moonlight. 

“Not long after you presented, I heard you say that you had no interest in mating. I thought…if I was going to prove to you that we were meant for each other, I’d have to stand before you as the best version of myself. I was still young, I couldn’t control my alpha, so I distanced myself…then I knew I couldn’t come back at all because…seeing you made my heart swell, made me want too much.”

Jimin can’t even recall saying that. Back then, he couldn’t have comprehended mating, he was learning a whole new side of himself, and the very idea of some older, hulking alpha sniffing after him was mortifying. That Jeongguk took a simple comment this far…he can’t wrap his head around it, he can’t even breathe. 

Jeongguk closes Jimin’s fingers around the locket, “Please just…take this.”

“I can’t, I-”

“Keep it until the sixth night,” Jeongguk insists, desperation in his wide eyes. He pulls Jimin flush against his chest, arms cradling his small frame like something precious. “Then, if you still don’t want this, give it back to me. But, Jimin, I swear that if you keep it I will devote my body and soul to you until my last breath.” 

He’s about to struggle, try to get away but…something fills Jimin’s nose as they embrace. Fresh pine, strong and crisp, and…sweet like the sap that trickles down its bark. It’s different from the usual scent of the forest. It’s deeper, it swirls through Jimin’s being like a dizzying cloud, it’s…Jeongguk. 

It’s his scent. It’s rich and earthy, better than any sachet Jimin has ever made to freshen up his cottage, every meadow after light rain. It’s so good, too good. It makes Jimin’s knees weaken, his body going slack in Jeongguk’s arms. 

The alpha senses it immediately, the sweetening of Jimin’s pheromones, the pure honey and tart lemon. Saliva pools under his tongue, and he can’t refrain from blatantly inhaling. 

Jimin’s omega is preening at Jeongguk’s declaration, feeling comforted and cared for even when his mind is grappling with the pain that still lingers. It’s so strange, so conflicting, but Jimin can’t bring himself to put any space between himself and the alpha, it feels as though it would pain them both if he did. 

The energy between them shifts irreversibly. Something wordlessly communicated, something understood in the fabrics of their beings if nowhere else. They move on instinct alone. 

Jeongguk’s hands scale up Jimin’s back, fingers splayed out in a possessive grip that holds him tight, nose burying in his hair. Jimin’s lips part, eyes falling shut as damp lashes tickle his cheeks. His core is burning with a foreign sensation, thoughtless mind swimming in the thick pheromones that hang in the air around them. 

The alpha cranes his neck, trails his lips along Jimin’s jawline, then lower still, closer and closer to his scent gland with no signs of stopping. When Jeongguk’s nose nuzzles against it, the rumbling growl that escapes him makes Jimin audibly whimper in his hold, so strained that he barely even recognizes his own voice. 

“Jeongguk…” 

“Omega…” he rasps in response, and Jimin’s stomach swoops. 

He can’t resist submitting. He bares his neck, letting his head roll back, and Jeongguk’s reaction is nearly feral. His grip on Jimin’s body becomes bruising as he presses him against the thick trunk of a nearby tree, caging him in and plunging a hand into Jimin’s hair, fingers clutching the strands like a lifeline. 

Jimin’s body moves of its own volition, he arches into Jeongguk, burying his face in the crook of his neck to chase that intoxicating scent. The potency makes him shudder, makes him burn from the inside out in a way he didn’t know was possible. Flashes of images start playing on a loop, things his omega screams for: teeth biting, limbs tangled, pleasure that feels so real in his mind’s eye that it’s overwhelming. 

How is Jeongguk doing this to him? Jeongguk, that tugged on Jimin’s shirt when he was too shy to ask the baker for another tart, who cried when he couldn’t join Jimin in the fields to pick berries…Jeongguk, who was his companion, his constant, until…

“Stop,” Jimin murmurs, flattening his palms against the alpha’s chest and weakly pushing. His strength is depleted and he barely recognizes his own hoarse voice, but that wrenching pain in his chest sobers him nonetheless. 

Jeongguk stills, his nose still pressed to Jimin’s skin. 

“Please, Jeongguk stop…” 

Slowly, the alpha takes a step back, and Jimin feels so cold that he shivers, little bumps raising all over his arms. But he needed to stop this…whatever it was. 

“I-I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” Jeongguk says, brow furrowed. Jimin wraps his arms tight around himself, leaning back against the tree. 

“We can’t do this.”

Jeongguk looks up then, “Jimin, don’t misunderstand…I apologize for letting my instincts get the best of me, but I still plan to court you.” Then, he slips a finger under Jimin’s chin to urge him to lift his head and says, “You can’t deny that you felt it too…I could smell it.” 

Jimin’s stomach tightens all over again, his face warming, “I don’t know what you mean.”

With a smirk, Jeongguk says, “Yes you do.” 

Batting him away, Jimin huffs, “I need to think, Jeongguk. You can’t just…it doesn’t change anything.” 

“Just keep the locket. Please.”

“I’ll give it back.” 

“If that’s what you choose, I’ll accept it. But not until the sixth night.” His tone is stern, resolved. It leaves no room for Jimin to argue. 

So, he pockets the trinket and relents. 

As he turns to head back to the clearing, knowing Taehyung is likely out of his mind by now, Jeongguk calls, “Will you come watch me tomorrow?”

Looking over his shoulder with a tired smile, Jimin says, “If you’re lucky.” 

🍷

Despite Taehyung and Seokjin’s constant pestering, Jimin manages to get back to his tent without divulging too many details, though he’s sure they both smelled Jeongguk all over him. To further his frustration, sleep doesn’t find him easily either, the ghost of Jeongguk’s touch burning hot on his skin. 

This must be what the omega back then felt, the one from the last Gathering. Pleasure and longing, an all consuming ache. He’s never craved like this and it scares him. That Jeongguk’s scent, his warmth did this, it’s a cruel joke. To learn firsthand what all the mated omegas describe, what Jimin secretly wished for, through the person that has hurt him most, it just isn’t fair. 

He’s been through two heats since his first fever, remembering only crippling abdominal pain and no such pleasure. Hoseok once told him that his heats are the most intense connection he and Yoongi share together, that the desire changes him, is all that drives him during those times. Jimin couldn’t imagine wanting to even be touched during a heat, but now…he wonders what might be different with the presence of an alpha to hold him, guide him through it. 

He finally drifts off to the memory of a night so long ago, when he and Jeongguk laid beneath a sea of stars and spoke aloud every place they wanted to visit, every sight they wanted to see, all together, side by side. Jimin conjures that night often, any time he feels restless. Tonight, though, it doesn’t soothe him quite the same. 

🍷

The third morning is louder than the last, busy and bustling. Alphas will have risen just after dawn to train for the games, and a few short hours later, everyone else prepares food and provisions for the day before streaming through the forest to the lake side. There, stands have been built for spectators to witness each event in which the alphas will fight to prove their worth. 

As the omega with the most suitors by far, Jimin has no choice but to attend. In the past, he’s found these games tiring, nothing but hairy, stinky alphas baring their teeth at one another like barbarians. This time would be no different, if it weren’t for Jeongguk. 

He’ll be competing, giving his all knowing that Jimin is there. That thought rouses Jimin’s omega, has it purring in interest and flattery. He’s never understood the appeal of alphas besting one another before. 

When he dresses in a lightweight olive green tunic and ducks out of his tent, Namjoon and Seokjin are waiting for him with baskets already packed full of bread, cheese, and fresh fruit. 

“Why do I feel like you’re both here to make sure I actually come?” He accuses with a playful grin. 

“What, of course not-“

“-Jeongguk asked us to,” Namjoon blurts, contradicting what would have been Seokjin’s skillful deception. 

“Yah!” He shouts, smacking Namjoon in the chest. 

“So you two are in on all of this, huh? Did you know he was planning to court me all along? Did everyone know but me?” Jimin asks, a little more fiery than early morning typically calls for. His fists are clenched, eyes ablaze, and Namjoon can’t stand it when Jimin is upset, he crumbles instantly every time. 

“No, I swear, we figured it out right before he approached you,” he says, gentle and calm. 

“You mean I figured it out,” Seokjin interjects, “Jeongguk didn’t want to admit it, but I know that brat too well. He’s been following you around like a puppy your whole lives, and shows up at the Gathering just after your grace period ends? Doesn’t take a genius to put it together,” he scoffs, awfully proud of himself. 

Jimin just hums, arms crossed. “Guess you’d better get to escorting me then,” he sighs, sauntering past them to step in line with the rest of their pack as they set off down the path. 

Midpointe Lake is a glittering, crystal blue haven. Legend tells that a single sip from it cures ailments of the heart and brings good fortune in mating. 

So, before each event, competing alphas dip their cupped hands into the water to drink from it. Jimin wonders if the hurt Jeongguk has caused him would dissipate if he drank from the lake too. He’s sure he wouldn’t be so lucky. 

Yet, he still watches as Jeongguk brings a handful to his lips, unease gurgling in his stomach at the idea that the alpha is doing so with him in mind. It’s a strange thought, that during all their years of boyhood together, Jeongguk was imagining them as so much more. 

Jimin doesn’t know that this is hardly the first time Jeongguk has sipped from these waters, that he’d been coming here in secret at every Gathering since he was ten. That he’d clap his hands together and pray aloud to the Goddess each time for one thing only…

‘Please please pleeeeaase let Jimin be my mate some day…’ 

This is the first time Jeongguk has drank from Midpointe Lake in the light of day, and he doesn’t plan on wasting it. 

The first game allows alphas to show their prowess in accuracy and precision. They bring a weapon of choice and line up along hay stuffed, hand painted targets, shooting for the bullseye one at a time. 

Those who come from more affluent villages show off with exquisitely carved bows, while others opt for spears or knives. One such alpha is Jeongguk, wielding two spears that he crafted himself, intricate designs etched into the poles. 

Simultaneously, another game wherein alphas lift enormous logs to throw as far a distance as they can manage is beginning, but Jimin isn’t paying attention, even if he does have suitors competing there. 

Jimin instead watches the first game from the second row of the stands, bracketed by Namjoon and Taehyung, as the first alpha looses an arrow at the target and misses the bullseye by several inches. Some spectators snicker, and Jimin finds it distasteful. He does his best to ignore it, scanning the line of alphas as they each take their turn, some fisting the air in victory, some dashing their weapons to the ground and stomping on them. 

When Jeongguk takes his turn, Jimin holds his breath, scooting forward on the bench just slightly, but enough for his friends to notice and quietly laugh to themselves. 

The alpha squares his shoulders, feet firmly planted, before drawing the first spear back and hurling it with impressive speed. It pierces the target clean through, the flint tip embedding in the dirt beyond. The crowd erupts in cheers and Jimin finds himself jumping to his feet, hands gripping the rail in front of him. 

Jeongguk doesn’t acknowledge the praise before he raises the second spear. Jimin can see his chest expand as he takes a deep breath, then stretches his neck from side to side, his eyes closing as he takes a brief moment to center himself. He’s always done that, Jimin thinks, any time he was nervous and needed to focus. 

Jeongguk lunges the second spear, and it strikes through the hay like a hot knife slicing a pad of butter, as if there’s no resistance at all. This one goes further than the first, plunging into the ground near the feet of another alpha, coincidentally, the one with the scar. 

He puffs his chest and shouts at Jeongguk, who is very poorly concealing his amusement as he giggles and gives a halfhearted wave in return. Jimin covers his mouth as a snort escapes it, and he can’t help but wonder if Jeongguk did that intentionally. 

By the end of the line, several alphas managed to hit the bullseyes of their target, but none managed as impressive or entertaining of a showing as Jeongguk. Jimin tries suppressing his omega’s glowing pride, shoving any admiration back down his own throat before a single iota of it can slip out. 

There’s a short break while some helpers drag the targets away, and Jimin makes light conversation with Taehyung, though his eyes flash to the grounds every few seconds as if to track Jeongguk’s movements. 

Soon enough, it’s time for the next event, one that’s highly anticipated and hard to miss. About four feet deep, a pit has been dug into the beach and filled with enough mud to submerge an alpha up to their knees. A thick horsehair rope is laid through the center, and two bells are placed at either end. Two alphas must pull the rope until one is able to reach their bell without their hand slipping, a white line painted around the rope just beyond their grip to ensure that the winner did so with integrity. 

The first pair to step into the pit contains an alpha that gifted Jimin a bundle of camellias last night. Before taking a hold of the rope, he turns to scan the stands before his eyes land on Jimin, and he folds into a bow. The omega gives a curt nod in response, and on the sidelines, Jeongguk’s mouth twitches into a frown. 

The alphas square off then, bracing themselves before the announcer gives the signal to begin. At first, neither of them falter as they pull hard on the rope, but after a short few minutes, the alpha that bowed to Jimin loses his footing. He’s dragged forward, eventually toppling over, face down in the mud as the other yanks his way to the edge of the pit and rings his bell. 

“That was quick,” Taehyung laughs, “Joon, I bet you’d be good at this one.”

Namjoon snickers and shakes his head, “Yeah, no thanks.” 

The next round with new alphas lasted a bit longer, but Jimin’s eyes started following a flurry of yellow butterflies during it instead, finding them considerably more interesting. 

Then, it’s Jeongguk’s turn. Trying not to make it too obvious, Jimin turns his attention back to the pit, his posture a little straighter as he scans Jeongguk’s shirtless form, his broad shoulders and slim waist, such a staggering difference from the last time Jimin saw him that bare. He’s also surprised to see that the alpha with the scar is wading through the mud across from Jeongguk, his glare menacing. The crowd is buzzing, as they always are when two alphas vying for the same omega face off in these games. That factor tends to make the competition far more intense, therefore more exciting to watch. 

Jeongguk seems fairly casual though, he reaches a hand out for the other alpha to shake, a content smirk across his lips. 

“That’s the first alpha from last night, isn’t it?” Taehyung asks quietly. 

“Dae Woo, the western pack leader’s son,” Namjoon says. 

Jimin feels sick. He had no idea that guy was a pack leader’s son, he’s been brushing him off since the Gathering began. Wolves are conditioned to strive for a pack leader’s child as a mate, and should always be grateful when they express interest. Jimin doesn’t feel grateful though, he doesn’t feel anything for Dae Woo, he’s exactly the sort of brute that turned Jimin off of mating altogether up til now. But, rejecting someone like that takes a different level of tact and delicacy. 

So when Dae Woo bows to Jimin, the omega returns the gesture. Jeongguk’s playful air dissipates in an instant. Always one to go against tradition, he turns to face the stands and, rather than bow, he places a hand over his heart and just…looks. His eyes pierce Jimin even from a distance, and he can feel his face flushing, his heartbeat picking up. 

Dae Woo, clearly incensed, spits into the mud at Jeongguk’s feet, who only laughs at the crudeness of it. “Is there a problem?” He asks. 

“Quit making eyes at my omega and focus on your opponent.”

“Your omega?” Jeongguk scoffs, “No, I don’t think so.”

Before Dae Woo can fire back, the announcer steps up to the edge of the pit, and the two alphas quickly take their stances. The ground is unsteady, and though Jeongguk’s feet are sinking, he tries to keep his center of gravity low to maintain as much stability as possible. 

“Begin!”

Unsurprisingly, Dae Woo uses all his strength from the beginning, trying to pull Jeongguk off balance with all his might. But Jeongguk just leans back and lets him struggle to do so, waiting for the moment that Dae Woo will inevitably need to readjust. 

When he does, Jeongguk steps backward and pulls hard, forcing Dae Woo forward. He still stands though, and the two grit their teeth as they dig into the sand, mud seeping and squelching between their toes. 

Jimin couldn’t hear their exchange, but he knows it must have been heated. From the beginning, their match has been different from the others, charged with more energy. He’s practically holding his breath as he watches the struggle. 

When Jeongguk’s foot slips, Jimin gasps, his hands clasped tightly against his chest. The alpha regains his balance quickly, and manages another step back. Dae Woo is showing signs of fatigue, sweat on his brow, and breathing heavy. Jeongguk wedges the rope in his armpit, still clutching it with a white knuckled grip, and sinks lower, the mud creeping up to his thighs now. He’s steadier this way, but Dae Woo isn’t letting up. 

Jeongguk heaves backward in a strong burst, a roar ripping from his throat. The sound makes Jimin’s core tighten, lips parted in awe as the alpha takes two more steps back. Dae Woo growls as he slides forward through the mud, his arms shaking from the exertion of resisting. 

But ultimately, his muscles give out, and the rope slides through his fingers. He manages to grab onto it again just before the painted line, barely managing not to disqualify himself, but the damage is already done. His stance has faltered entirely, and Jeongguk takes advantage of it, giving one harsh tug that brings Dae Woo down. The mud coats him up to his neck, and he still struggles, trying to plant his feet, but Jeongguk is pulling him along the bottom of the pit like a sack of flour. With a glance over his shoulder, Jeongguk can see that the bell is just within reach, and manages one final step backward before reaching to ring it. 

The sound has Jimin jumping to his feet and shouting, even if it is drowned out by those around him hollering as well. Dae Woo rages, flinging the rope aside and charging Jeongguk, who easily side steps his attack, tripping him in the process. He goes down face first, and Jeongguk laughs, wiping the speckles of mud from his face, before turning to the crowd. He spots Jimin instantly, and his face brightens into a grin when he sees the omega cheering for him. 

Even ragged and muddied, Jeongguk’s face is brilliant, even beautiful. Jimin can’t assuage the thought as it crosses his mind. 

The events halt for a couple of hours to give the alphas a chance to rest and recharge. Yoongi joins the others with practically an entire feast packed, laying out rice, grilled meat and fish, and soup made with seaweed from their village. Jeongguk, after cleaning up, plops down with them and immediately shovels food in like he hasn’t had a morsel in weeks, and the others chuckle fondly. 

Jimin stays quiet though, warring within himself about what he should or shouldn’t say to him. 

Sighing heavily, Jeongguk finally takes a small break from eating and shows his hands to the others, revealing the bright red blisters formed on his palms. 

“Aish, you really worked hard,” Yoongi says. 

“Dae Woo was strong, I couldn’t let up for a second.”

“Here,” Jimin blurts, holding out a small pot of ointment. He made it himself back home and often carries it around for the blisters on his feet from dancing. 

Jeongguk blinks at him for a moment before accepting it with a nod of his head, his heart secretly soaring. He plays it cool though, applying some on his hands and giving it back, internally squealing when their fingertips graze. 

When it’s time for Jeongguk’s final event, Jimin feels nervous. Water combat is notoriously difficult and dangerous, alphas have died competing in the past. 

Only two, but still Jimin can’t stop his anxious mind from wondering if Jeongguk is in danger. He’s still young, after all, some of these alphas have been doing this for three or more Gatherings. 

The objective is to retrieve a statue that’s been dropped in the lake, at about seven feet in depth within a sectioned off portion of the water. If they had to search the whole lake, it would be an impossible feat, but this way, someone will likely come across it within the first ten or fifteen minutes, and then comes the real test. The alphas fight to take the statue, and whoever reaches the shore with it in hand is the victor. 

Jeongguk is in the first group, one of ten. Jimin’s scent is a little sour, and Taehyung wordlessly laces their fingers, squeezing to offer some reassurance. 

The alphas line up along the shore a few feet apart from one another, facing the water as they wait for the signal. 

Jimin sees Dae Woo on the opposite end of the line, and his stomach churns. He’ll clearly be out for revenge, of that he’s sure. 

The announcer stands on a wooden pedestal that allows him to oversee the events. He raises his hand, and the crowd falls silent, then he swings his arm back down and shouts, “Begin!” 

Simultaneously, each alpha bolts into the water, splashing madly until the depth reaches waist high and they’re able to dive under the surface. It’s quiet for a few moments, and Jimin finds himself holding his breath. 

When the first two reemerge for air, Jimin knows right away that neither of them are Jeongguk. A few more come up next, until finally Dae Woo and Jeongguk spring up with gasping breaths. Not a moment later are they delving back in to continue the search. 

“This one is sort of boring to watch, huh?” Taehyung says, and Jimin elbows him in the ribs. 

After what feels like eons of the alphas popping out and diving back into the lake, something happens. 

Close to the line of poles used to mark the game’s boundary, bubbles and ripples reach the surface of the water. Dae Woo and another alpha spring up there, locked in a struggle for the stone statue that Dae Woo holds in his arms. The resistance from the water is clearly challenging, their limbs flail and neither can seem to keep their footing on the bottom. 

Then Dae Woo slips under again, more like he’s yanked under. The crowd perks up, chattering in speculation, but Jimin is quietly smirking to himself. Jeongguk has always been a brat. 

The other alpha seems perplexed, a little nervous even, as he looks around for any assailants. But nothing comes for him. 

Instead, a few feet away, Jeongguk springs up from the water with an arm hooked around Dae Woo’s neck from behind. The latter still holds the statue in one hand, while his other claws at any part of Jeongguk he can reach. 

“Bastard!” He roars, voice strained and panting as he twists and flops like an alligator in an attempt to break free, but to no avail. 

“Just hand it over and I’ll stop,” Jeongguk teases, his breathing equally as labored. His ink black hair is soaking wet and smoothed back, his bicep bulging against Dae Woo’s jaw, and his eyes wide, even a little crazed. 

“I’d rather die,” Dae Woo snaps, managing to kick back at Jeongguk’s legs, and he slips, pulling them both back under. Hands and feet kick out and thrash until they cease very suddenly, the water going perfectly still. 

Jimin stands abruptly, still clenching Taehyung’s hand, his unblinking eyes fixed on the spot where Jeongguk went in. With every second that ticks by, his chest feels tighter, and a cold sweat beads at his neck. 

“He’s…he’s not coming back up,” he mumbles. 

“He will,” Namjoon tries to comfort, but concern wrinkles his brow. 

After twenty more seconds, because Jimin is certainly counting, he looks to the announcer and shouts, “Do something!” 

There’s no response. The other alphas in the lake are frozen still, the water up to their shoulders as they look between each other and deliberate in their own minds. 

“Fine, if I have to go in there myself, I will,” Jimin barks, rushing to the end of his row. Before he can descend the first step down to the beach, though, a figure stands from the water. Jimin stops and stares, his heart pounding. 

Jeongguk lifts the statue high above his head, chest heaving, and the crowd erupts. Dae Woo floats up a moment later, blood trickling down his face and, from the looks of it, teetering on the edge of consciousness. 

The physical relief coursing through Jimin’s body is breathtaking, it nearly brings the omega to his knees. He stays rooted to the spot, though, not willing to miss another moment until he knows Jeongguk is truly safe. 

The alpha grabs Dae Woo by the arm and tugs him along towards the shore, but the remaining competitors aren’t ready to admit defeat yet. 

Two come at Jeongguk from either side, and he releases Dae Woo to grab one by the jaw to swing him into the other, and they both fall into the water, clinging to one another. 

He elbows another in the gut, grabs the next by his leg when he attempts a high kick and dunks him under, all while forging ahead to the shore with the statue and Dae Woo in tow. Every time another alpha tries to bring him down, he casts them aside. 

People around Jimin gawk at the scene, whispering to one another, “He’s unstoppable.” 

“Is he even real?” 

Jimin is beginning to wonder that himself, but he can see the toll it’s taking nonetheless. 

When Jeongguk finally reaches the shore, he drops to his knees, letting Dae Woo flop flat onto the sand, and still gripping the statue tightly. Everyone else may be cheering for him, but Jimin can only bolt down the steps to the beach. His feet dig into the damp, coarse sand but he doesn’t let that slow him down. 

He collapses before the alpha, hands cupping Jeongguk’s jaw in order to lift his head, nearly in tears as he shouts, “You idiot, you look half dead!” 

Jeongguk manages a weak chuckle, “Were you worried about me, sweetheart?” 

Jimin opens his mouth, but before he can fire back some halfhearted retort, the alpha slumps forward, finally giving in to his exhaustion. Jimin guides Jeongguk to lay across his lap, head cradled in the crook of his arm as the omega’s clothes are soaked through. He couldn’t care less about that, though. 

“Is anyone coming to help?! He needs the healer’s tent now!” 

Taehyung, Namjoon and Yoongi are fast approaching, two other men carrying a large tarp on their heels. Jimin shoves Jeongguk’s wet hair away from his eyes, stroking his cheek with his thumb for only a moment before the men pull him away and onto the tarp. They lift him up, Yoongi and Namjoon supporting his middle, and Jimin close behind as they rush back to the clearing. 

A few more men collect Dae Woo as well with the intent to have him examined, the alpha just now beginning to stir with little memory of how he got back to shore.

The healer, an elder alpha female from the east, assures Jimin countless times that Jeongguk will be just fine, that he pushed himself too far and simply needs to rest. The omega is insistent on purchasing medicinal teas from her nonetheless, just in case. She finds it amusing, which Jimin finds rather annoying, but she takes his coins anyway. 

Jeongguk is still asleep when night falls, faintly illuminated by candles clustered together in the healer’s tent. He’s draped with pelts, his hair now dried into tight waves that Jimin can’t seem to keep from falling in his face.

“Stubborn hair, stubborn man,” Jimin mutters to himself, a hint of a smile drawing up a corner of his mouth. 

Ducking outside, he checks the small pot over the stove, and sure enough, the water has begun to boil. He pours loose leaf tea inside, smelling lemongrass and elderberry before placing the lid on top to let it brew. Bringing the pot inside with him, Jimin places it on the ground near Jeongguk, along with a clay teacup. Finally, he places a bit of parchment there as well, folded in half. He looks the alpha over one last time, his pouty lips, the mole beneath them, his prominent nose and lightly tanned, perfectly imperfect skin. 

Maybe he hasn’t changed so much after all, Jimin thinks. 

A wicked headache plagues Jeongguk, rouses him from his sleep in the dead of night. He groans as he manages to sit up, his ribs and lower back screaming as he does. Lemon and honey fill his nose, and he gazes around the tent for Jimin, yet finds himself alone. He knows the omega was here, recently at that. 

He looks down and sees the small, iron kettle and cup left for him, along with what appears to be a note. When Jeongguk unfolds it, he breaks into a nose scrunching grin. 

‘Drink up brat, if you leave a single drop, I’ll know’ 

Jeongguk would sooner cross a hungry bear than Jimin on a mission, and so he fills the cup and lets the warm tea soothe his body and soul as it goes down his throat. 

🍷

The fourth day of the Gathering is known for trading goods above all else. Weary alphas take time to rest from their laborious games, while everyone else peddles their wares. 

The southern pack typically sells at least half of their casks of wine on the fourth day. Jimin likes to help, he’s always found that bottling the southberry wine makes the time go by quickly, and falling into the rhythm gives his mind the chance to daydream endlessly. 

Yet today, no matter how many times he replays his upcoming routine or fantasizes about which dish he’ll try for dinner tonight, Jeongguk worms his way into Jimin’s thoughts. He warred with himself about visiting this morning, but ultimately decided against it for the same reason he left before the alpha woke last night. 

He is not Jeongguk’s omega, nor his mate. 

Of course, he’d be a fool to deny the instinctive way he reacted the day before. He could try to excuse it with his long history of friendship with Jeongguk, say he’d have been that way if it were Taehyung or Seokjin too, and that wouldn’t be a lie. 

But it’s the other feelings. The ones that churn like hot coals in Jimin’s stomach. Those he can’t excuse. He just doesn’t know what to do with them. 

Jimin gets so distracted that he overflows one of the glass bottles, the blood red wine spilling out onto his hands. “Aish!” He huffs, corking the cask again, but just as he sets the bottle down, large hands overtake his own. Jimin looks up and right into kind, impossibly round eyes. 

“Jeongguk,” Jimin greets, somewhat taken aback, especially by the close proximity. The alpha pats his hands dry with a cloth, smiling softly. 

“Careful, now,” he says, “You’ll have the whole village after you if you waste any of this stuff.” 

Jimin swallows hard, almost hypnotized. Jeongguk is practically glowing, his hair entirely down and flowing gently in the breeze, wearing a lightweight beige tunic and matching trousers. And there’s that ache again, that breathless awe. 

Jeongguk’s eyes trail down, stopping cold at Jimin’s clavicle. “You’re…wearing it.” 

“O-Oh, right, I…” Jimin stutters, covering the locket with his palm where it lies against his chest. When he was dressing this morning, he just…reached for it. 

“So all I have to do is almost die, then?” Jeongguk snickers, and Jimin swats his bicep. 

“No, I just figured I’d give you as fair a shot as the rest.”

“Hm,” Jeongguk hums, infuriatingly smug. 

“I, uh, did have a question about it though,” Jimin starts, “How did you do that to the flower? Preserve it like that.” 

Jeongguk takes Jimin’s hand away from where it conceals the locket and holds it up, opening it to reveal the bud trapped inside. 

“It’s tree sap. Took two years to harden, and then I sanded it to make it smooth and fit in here.” 

”And the wood is…pine.” 

Jeongguk nods, still grinning. “But that isn’t the best part.” 

Jimin tilts his head, brow raised. 

“Eight years ago, we came here, do you remember?” 

“Yes…” 

“And by the second day, I was feeling homesick. You’d brought the flower from our village…” 

Jimin’s breath hitches. Of course he remembers, “I brought it because it’s your birth flower.” 

“You put it behind my ear, and told me to twist it between my fingers whenever I felt sad, to remind me that we’d be going back home soon.” 

“Don’t tell me it’s…” Jimin trails off, looking down at the locket. 

“I kept it pressed between the pages of my journal all this time.” Jeongguk says, barely above a whisper. 

Shaking his head, Jimin takes a step backward, “You’re crazy. I…I feel like I have to look back on all those years in a different light now…like I have to learn who you are all over again.”

“I’m still me, I haven’t changed. And you’re still you.” 

“Maybe…” Jimin simply responds, handing Jeongguk an empty bottle. 

They fill them side by side, wordlessly at first. But then, once the silence becomes a little too heavy, something lovely occurs. 

After a case or two is full, they start to talk, then they laugh, and then they begin to reminisce about times long gone and memories cherished, as though a door that had been rusted shut was cracked open again, a sliver of light streaming through. 

“So…why haven’t you wanted a mate? Most people don’t take the full two years before seeking one out,” Jeongguk asks after a while, hoping Jimin has let his guard down enough to be honest. 

The omega pauses. That very question has been on his mind incessantly over the last few days, but he hadn’t been able to work out the answer until this moment, talking with Jeongguk like the old days. 

“I think…” he starts, the truth of it finally sinking in as he looks at the alpha’s face, “I never had to wonder what companionship felt like. You gave that to me so…I didn’t feel like anything was missing.” 

Jeongguk flashes a crooked smile and says, “I see. Do you um, feel the same now? You don’t want anything…more?”

More…with Jeongguk. Jimin’s cheeks heat at the thought of it. He clears his throat and promptly changes the subject, “I don’t believe it’s the sixth night yet, Jeongguk. Hand me that crate, we need to hurry and finish these before I have to go rehearse.” 

Jeongguk chuckles, figuring he’ll let the omega get out of answering him, at least this time. 

As they finish up, Jimin finds himself falling back into a dangerous routine. One where Jeongguk’s presence is his warmest sense of normalcy. He nearly forgets himself so much as to suggest they hike to crescent falls when they arrive back home like they used to, but he bites his tongue in time. Jimin just can’t deny, no matter how deeply it angers him, that things feel safest, most comfortable, when it's the two of them together.

That thought tastes like poison on Jimin’s tongue, and he feels vitriol bubbling up in his throat, threatening to emerge. Jeongguk doesn’t deserve to be forgiven so easily, for Jimin to give in and admit any feelings he may have, to gain that satisfaction after leaving him alone. 

He’s been cozying up to him all day now, Jeongguk likely thinks he’s off the hook entirely. Jimin can’t have that.

“I uh, I actually should be going,” he says abruptly, “Hoseok will need help by now.”

“Oh…right, right. I can finish the last case,” Jeongguk says, faintly downtrodden, but Jimin doesn’t acknowledge it. He just slips out of the tent and walks briskly to the mainstage. 

🍷

Jeongguk lurks on the outskirts of Jimin’s rehearsal. Not too far, but certainly close enough to see other alphas, presumably back up dancers, loitering around the omega like love sick puppies. That paired with Jimin’s cold exit earlier manages to soil his mood entirely, and even the array of fried meats on sticks that Seokjin and Namjoon prod him with don’t help. 

“Quit pouting, what’s wrong with you,” Seokjin mutters. 

“Nothing, I’m just not in the mood for crowds.”  

“You’re never in the mood for crowds, it has to be something else.”

“Just drop it,” he snaps, and Seokjin snickers. 

When the sun sets, the performance begins, and Jeongguk drags the others along with him to get as close to the stage as possible, subtlety be damned. He wants Jimin to look out and see him there, cheering him on. 

The atmosphere is different from the first night. Rather than lively strumming, the music begins slowly, with low and almost sensual notes drawn out across the strings of a fiddle. Black clad dancers stream onstage, one of which he recognizes as Hoseok. They huddle in the center and form a tight circle, arms waving overhead fluidly until they suddenly disperse, and left in the center of the stage is Jimin, draped in long, blood red robes. 

Jeongguk’s breath hitches. He’s beautiful, sparkling as flecks of gold dusted across his cheeks catch the firelight. 

Jimin fully stands, arms spreading to reveal two large fans with silk trailing from them. At the base, the fabric is dyed the same red as Jimin’s costume, but it fades out to a soft cream at the ends. He flutters them, and the silk billows in time with the beat. 

The tempo increases, and Jimin begins to twirl, his arms spinning like windmills as he does, the silk trailing around his lithe body. He leaps impossibly high, flipping in mid air, and the crowd goes wild. 

Then two dancers approach, and Jimin tip toes around them like a minx circling prey. He collapses into their arms and they lift him up, back arched, limbs perfectly poised. When they lower him, he’s sandwiched between the two men, each taking turns spinning him around in rapid succession like they’re grappling for his attention. They press against him, writhing in obscenity, and Jeongguk’s scent sours so much that his friends are wrinkling their noses. 

“Yah, it’s just a dance,” Taehyung says, but Jeongguk can’t hear a thing. He’s locked into the performance, glaring as he scours Jimin’s body for every place the dancers touch him. A hand on his waist, another on his thigh. It’s far too salacious for Jeongguk’s taste. 

Jimin finally breaks away from them into another solo sequence, but the damage is already done. 

The omega doesn’t even make it down the steps from the mainstage after the show ends before he spots Jeongguk storming towards him, scowling with nostrils flaring and a furrowed brow. 

“Jeongguk-”

“What the hell was that?” He sneers. 

“Excuse me?” 

“You smell like them,” Jeongguk says through gritted teeth, disgust twisting his face. 

“Will you calm down,” Jimin harshly whispers, hoping not to draw too much attention. However, that goes out the window when Jeongguk grabs a hold of the omega and slings him over his shoulder. 

“Yah! Put me down! Jeongguk!” He hollers, smacking the alpha on his back repeatedly, “You brute, put me down! Help!”

Hoseok just poorly masks his amusement and calls out, “Maybe you two can talk?” 

“What!? Hoseok help me right now!”

“Don’t ruin the costume, yeah?” He says, waving as they disappear around a corner. The last thing he sees is Jimin resolving to hitting Jeongguk on the back with angry little fists, and can’t help but snicker. 

Jeongguk deems the backside of a storage shed on the outskirts of camp private enough, so he stops there, letting Jimin slide down his body until his bare feet touch the grass. 

“What is wrong with you?!” Jimin shouts, pushing away from him. 

“Did you do that to make me jealous?” Jeongguk accuses. 

He rolls his eyes and drawls, “Are you serious, it’s art Jeongguk, it has nothing to do with you.” 

“That looked beyond art to me, that- that was…intimate.”

Jimin scoffs, “It’s not like I’m mated, I can be intimate with whoever I want.” 

“Is that so?” Jeongguk challenges, eyes dark as he closes in, crowding Jimin against the wooden slats at his back. It’s then that he gets the full impact of the alpha’s intense scent, pure, sharp pine infused with frustration and…something else that Jimin refuses to name. Something primal. 

“You want one of them, then?” Jeongguk presses. 

“I didn’t say that,” Jimin denies, already a little breathless in the presence of the alpha’s pheromones. 

“Then who do you want?”

“I- no one,” he murmurs as Jeongguk inches closer, his mind growing foggy the more the distance between them is breached. 

“No one?” Jeongguk echoes, low and rich as he cranes his neck, the tip of his nose brushing Jimin’s jaw and making him shudder. The omega’s scent pours out, thick and sweet honey that makes Jeongguk smirk as he breathes it in. 

All Jimin can do is shake his head. Dissatisfied with that answer, Jeongguk takes both of Jimin’s wrists in one swift movement and pins them over his head, hard against the wooden slats. He looks Jimin dead in the eyes, just a hair’s breadth from his face and says, “I don’t believe you.” 

“Jeongguk…” 

“Just admit it.”

Jimin turns his head to the side and mutters, “No.” 

“That’s your pride talking,” Jeongguk starts, bringing his nose back to trail down Jimin’s neck, “Your scent says otherwise.”

Jimin wants to cry, be it from the conflicting emotions roiling inside him, or the burning strain in his core, he doesn’t know. He can’t give in like this, he’s not some frail omega in heat. 

“My scent may betray me, but my heart hasn’t,” he says, voice threatening to break. 

That gives Jeongguk pause. 

Jimin meets his eyes now, his anger overriding the fogginess of the alpha’s pheromones, “What have you done to deserve me? Declare yourself in front of everyone, make a locket? You can’t undo the nights I wandered the forest wondering why you left me, wondering if you were even alive. You have no idea what that feels like, and now you expect me to give myself to you, trust you. One day of filling wine bottles doesn’t erase anything.”  

Jeongguk blinks, and suddenly it feels as though his chest is caving in. He hadn’t thought of that. That Jimin was scared for him above all else, not just hurt for himself. All this time he’d justified his absence as being for Jimin, somehow excusing it that way in his own heart. 

“Jimin I…I’m so sorry. I’ll say it a thousand times.” 

“Say it until your last breath for all I care,” he practically spits, eyes piercing and full of pain. Pain that brings Jeongguk to his knees. 

He lets Jimin’s wrists slip from his hold, sinking down until he hits the grass, arms wrapping, clinging, around Jimin’s waist. 

“Jimin, I made you a promise and I will keep it. I’ll never leave like that again. I was selfish…please Jimin.” 

Before he can stop them, tears are flooding the omega’s cheeks, dropping from his chin to the top of Jeongguk’s head. 

“You were,” Jimin sniffles, covering his face with the back of his hand, “You were selfish, and I-“ He cuts himself off, trembling in Jeongguk’s hold as the dam within him finally breaks wide open. Truths he can’t lie to himself about any longer come spilling out, things he wouldn’t even admit in the privacy of his own mind. “I can’t forgive you because…I w-would have said yes back then…” 

Jeongguk looks up, his own eyes now glistening. “You what?” 

“I wouldn’t have mated anyone but you…that’s why I wanted the grace period in the first place, I just couldn’t stomach the thought of anyone replacing you in my life. Then you presented and-and I thought we could stay together forever…but you left.” 

Jeongguk pulls Jimin’s hand from where it shields his face, bringing it to his lips as he places kiss after kiss along the omega’s knuckles. “Jimin…I know I’ve wasted so much time, but…please find your way back to me now. I’m yours, I’ve always been yours.” 

Jimin feels like a canyon is splitting him from crown to naval. He wants to sink into Jeongguk and meld with him until there’s no telling who’s who, but conversely, he just…can’t. He’s afraid, he’s angry. 

He’s in love. He always has been; his foolish childhood heart that’s never grown, forever a sapling bathing in Jeongguk’s golden sunlight, then wilting in the shade. 

“I don’t know how to forgive you. I want to…” Jimin murmurs. 

“I know I’ll have to earn your trust back. I know I was an idiot. But I know neither of us belong with anyone else either,” Jeongguk says, his body so warm, searing even through the gauzy fabric of Jimin’s costume as he presses his cheek to the omega’s stomach.

“I know that too.” 

And he does. Jimin tried picturing someone else, tried feeling any amount of heat when those dancers touched him, but nothing compares to Jeongguk. Nothing ever has. 

Even as boys, when they saw mates kissing and grew curious, Taehyung pecked Jimin and it didn’t feel much like anything. He couldn’t even bring himself to try it with Jeongguk though, the butterflies in his stomach were so intense that he ran squealing. Even then, something within him knew what they had was different. 

Maybe they can try to start again. 

Jimin’s hands find Jeongguk’s face, cradling it like something delicate and precious as he gazes down at those wide, doe eyes. ”You know, I thought I was broken until you scented me.” 

Jeongguk snorts, “Broken?” 

Jimin giggles, and the sound is a happy melody to Jeongguk’s ears. “I’d never felt…things…before.” 

“Things, huh? What kind of things?” 

Jimin’s cheeks flush to a lovely mauve, “You know…” 

“Hm, I don’t think I do, you’ll have to spell it out for me,” Jeongguk says with a smirk, bratty as ever. 

Jimin plants his foot against Jeongguk’s chest where he still kneels and pushes him, sending the alpha toppling onto his bottom. Jimin chuckles triumphantly, that is until Jeongguk grabs his wrist and pulls the omega down clumsily into his lap, legs snug on either side of his hips. 

The omega goes stock still then, frozen in panic at the proximity. Their chests are flush, noses nearly touching, and Jimin’s sitting right on…he can’t even think of it too much without his scent exploding. 

“Are you feeling things now?” Jeongguk nearly purrs, his voice a soft rumble that Jimin feels throughout every inch of his body. 

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Jimin challenges, playing it cool, even though he’s sure Jeongguk can feel his heart flapping like the wings of a small, frantic bird. 

“I would,” Jeongguk says, making a show of sniffing the air and giving a pleased hum. “I want you to feel more.” 

There’s that word again. 

More. 

Jimin’s omega certainly wants that. Hell, all of him does. Be it curiosity or just pure unabashed, burning desire, he wants, needs. 

“Then make me…give me more,” Jimin all but whispers, his breath a puff of hot air against Jeongguk’s parted lips. 

The growl that comes from deep within the alpha’s chest makes Jimin shudder and tingle all over, a thick cloud of electrifying pine surrounding him as Jeongguk loses all sense of propriety. 

Long fingers curve around his waist, holding him so tight, and instinct takes over. Jimin’s head falls lax to the side, his robes slipping off that same shoulder as he bares his neck, pale skin illuminated. 

Jeongguk’s lips are on him not a moment later. They’re not gentle, not hesitant, they latch on like they’ve been waiting to do so for centuries. His tongue drags hot and wet across Jimin’s scent gland, and the omega can’t restrain the moan that leaves him. It makes that ache so much worse, like a string knotted too many times, needing to unravel. 

Hungrily, the alpha licks and bites up Jimin’s neck to his jaw line. Jimin tilts his head down, and their hooded, lust filled gazes meet. There lies an unspoken agreement; they both know what’s about to happen, and they both need it. 

Jeongguk’s hand cups Jimin’s cheek, drawing him in until their lips meet. 

It’s soft at first, testing the waters. 

But Jimin has run out of patience. He presses, deepens, fingers tangling in Jeongguk’s tousled waves. 

The alpha groans into his mouth, clutching him even tighter, and Jimin finally understands what everyone’s been raving about. That blazing connectivity, delicious and blissful and somehow infuriating all at once because Jimin doesn’t know how he’ll ever get enough now. 

Greedy, he licks at the seam of Jeongguk’s lips until they part for him. Their tongues swirl, then the alpha pulls back just enough to draw Jimin’s bottom lip between his teeth. As a reflex, the omega arches into Jeongguk’s body and they’re both electrified, a sharp current passing through them like lightning. 

“Mmh, Jimin,” Jeongguk manages between kisses, “Sweetheart, if we keep going I won’t be able to stop.” 

Goddess, that edge of danger ignites something in Jimin. He doesn’t want to stop, he wants to push the alpha further. Whimpering in protest, Jimin grinds down on his lap, and what he feels there makes him gasp. Jeongguk is hard. 

Jimin feels something wet trickle down his thighs in direct response, something that’s only ever happened during a heat. He thought it was nothing more than a messy nuisance, but the look in Jeongguk’s eyes tells a very different story. 

The alpha looks wild, his chest is rising and falling so rapidly, his muscles tense, hair mussed beyond repair. 

“Fuck,” he groans, breathing deep through his nose. Jimin swears his eyes roll back as they flutter shut. 

“That’s- you…like that?” Jimin practically squeaks. 

“Oh baby,” Jeongguk purrs as he nuzzles their noses together, “You have no idea how badly I want to taste it.” 

Jimin can only whimper, growing wetter by the second. He’s on the verge of begging for something, anything else, when Jeongguk exhales a deep breath and gently pushes the omega away. 

“Not until I mate you. Properly.” 

So dazed he nearly feels drunk, Jimin nods slowly, like he’s moving through molasses. 

“Tomorrow,” Jeongguk says, resolute like a promise. 

That sobers Jimin like a cold bucket of water in the dead of winter. 

Tomorrow is the sixth day. The day their fate is placed entirely in Jimin’s hands. 

Jeongguk kisses him once more, chaste and sweet, and bids him goodnight. 

Jimin stumbles into his tent afterward like he’s been freshly dropped into the universe, collapsing onto his pelts and staring blankly up at the canvas material. 

His stomach is flipping madly, his heart pounding, mind racing. Bringing the tip of his index finger up, he traces his bottom lip lightly, warming at the memory of Jeongguk’s kiss. 

It’s funny how different he feels now. Changed. Awakened, even. Jimin doesn’t know that he can live without that touch now, that scent. 

But tomorrow, he’ll have to let rest all of his hurt. He can’t bring it into this union, can’t let it fester any more. 

The question is: can he really let it go? Even in the presence of this all encompassing desire, this heart wrenching, life altering love that’s always lied deep within Jimin, can he forgive, can he trust? 

🍷

On the sixth and final day, the alphas leave near dawn for a hunt. Their kills are brought to the roasting pits for a feast, and the size of the animal will win the hunter further admiration and glory to flaunt before their intended mates. 

Jimin wakes in time to see them off, as is customary for anyone with even one suitor. He scans the alphas as they ready horses and weapons, but sees no sign of Jeongguk. 

It’s then he feels a hand on his shoulder, smells pine and sweet sap. A smile spreads across Jimin’s lips as he turns, the air fleeing from his lungs as if he’s seeing Jeongguk again for the first time. 

“Good morning,” the alpha says, low and soft. He looks like he’s just bathed, his clothes casual, and Jimin quirks his brow. 

“Aren’t you preparing to leave?”

With a laugh, Jeongguk shakes his head, “I’ve done enough hunting. I thought the most noble thing I could do for my omega would be to stay with him.” 

The effect of those words is immediate. Tears prick Jimin’s eyes, and he crushes Jeongguk in an embrace, nose pressed to his jugular and hands clasped around his waist. Shocked, Jeongguk freezes, but soon softens, curling around Jimin as his eyes close. 

“That means so much to me…but you should still go.” 

“Hm?” Jeongguk grunts, pulling back and holding Jimin by the shoulders. 

The hunt isn’t really for the mates that wait, it’s for the alphas. They need to feel like they’ve provided for the one they love, to fulfil a primal need. Jimin wouldn’t deny Jeongguk that. The sole fact that he was willing to give it up is all he needs. 

“Go, and come back as my alpha.” 

The grin on Jeongguk’s face is brighter than the sunrise itself. He presses his forehead to Jimin’s, breathing deep before murmuring, “I will. My omega…” 

Jimin trails his hands down Jeongguk’s cheeks, their eyes meeting for another precious moment. 

“Now show them all what you’re made of.”

Taehyung can barely conceal his smile when, shortly after, he stands with Jimin, gaze trained on the tree line. 

“I can practically hear your thoughts,” Jimin mutters. 

“You have to give me some grace, Mini, we’ve all been waiting for this to finally happen.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” the omega laughs with a roll of his eyes. 

Jimin busies himself with menial tasks, all while trying to stave off the hollow ache in his chest and wrenching of his stomach. He makes flower crowns with the blooms gifted to him on the second night, so that he and his friends can all adorn them at the dance tonight. Thoughts zip in and out of his mind, things like, ‘I hope he’s alright out there,’ and worse, ‘What if I never see him again?’ 

He feels sick as the sun creeps lower and lower in the sky, and he can only lug so many loads of firewood to the roasting pits before he goes mad. 

During a short break while Jimin and a few of the others share a handful of dates, there’s a shout from the far side of the clearing. 

“The first alpha is back!” They say. 

Jimin jumps to his feet, bolting towards the sound. He weaves through tents and carts, leaps over a stray chicken or two, and finally rounds a corner to see…

A stranger. 

A random alpha hoisting a massive buck while his pack gathers round and praises him. 

It doesn’t matter that Jeongguk isn’t the first to come back, as long as he does, Jimin tells himself. 

He stays rooted to the spot while more alphas make their triumphant return, his frown deepening and brow wrinkling each time it isn’t Jeongguk stepping through those trees. 

It’s nearly three, nine hours have gone by, and only a few alphas are missing now. 

“Something’s not right,” Jimin says, clutching his shawl where it wraps tightly around his shoulders. 

“You know Jeongguk, he’s probably bringing back three kills or something like that,” Seokjin says, but it does nothing to alleviate Jimin’s worries. 

“I’m sure he’s okay,” Taehyung adds. 

“No, something’s wrong,” Jimin mumbles. He can’t keep standing here like this, he can’t bear it a second longer. 

Turning on his heels, he marches up to one of the pits, where a column of thick black smoke plumes up from a mid-sized boar, already skinned. There, the northern pack leader clinks his pint with a friend, unaware of the fuming omega that approaches. 

“Excuse me!” Jimin shouts over the din of their celebration, “Excuse me!” 

He finally turns, an eyebrow raised and amused smile across his lips. “Yes?” 

“Is no one concerned about the alphas who haven’t returned yet? It’s been too long, we need a search party or-“ 

“What’s your name, little one?” He interrupts. 

Scowling, Jimin grits, “Park Jimin of the southern pack.” 

“Jimin, these things take time. Don’t fret, have some wine.” 

The omega is sure there must be steam coming out of his ears. ‘Have some wine?’ The patronizing never ends, it seems. How could an omega know anything about hunting, right? 

He’s about to say just that when someone announces that another alpha has appeared. Running back to his vantage point, Jimin spots him. 

Familiar, but not Jeongguk. 

“Dae Woo,” he breathes out, feeling a little faint now. Jimin has a horrible feeling bubbling up inside. 

Dirt and sweat smeared across his skin, Dae Woo makes his way from the forest alongside his horse, trudging slowly due to the elk carcass in the cart hitched to its saddle. 

Jimin cautiously meets him halfway, eyes wide as he asks, “Did you see him? Jeongguk?” 

Dae Woo scoffs, and Jimin doesn’t like that one bit. 

“Where is he,” he asks, firmer this time, with an edge of accusation. 

“Your fool stayed behind when the biggest boar this side of the mountain attacked a western pup who shouldn’t have been out there in the first place.” 

“And you left them both? After Jeongguk refused to let you drown in the lake?” Jimin shouts, fists clenched and eyes defiant as he steps even closer, chest puffed. 

“I was bested, he should have left me. He should’ve left this time too,” Dae Woo says, gruff as he tries to bypass Jimin, but the omega won’t allow it. 

Pounding his fists to the alpha’s chest, he spits, “You selfish bastard!” 

“Step…away,” Dae Woo growls, a slight snarl turning his lip. 

“Compassion is the most honorable trait an alpha can have. You’re nothing but a coward,” Jimin fires back, giving him one last shove before turning away and running for the stables. 

Taehyung catches up with him, calling, “Jimin! Mini what are you going to do?!” 

Sliding a saddle from the fencepost into his arms, the weight of it staggering, Jimin grunts, “I’m going to find him.” 

“Are you crazy, if he’s fighting a boar-“ 

“I don’t care!” He cries, eyes red rimmed and bottom lip trembling. “I can’t just sit here and feel so helpless! I’ll carry him all the way home if I have to!” 

“I’m coming with you,” Namjoon says as he steps through the gate. “I can guide you, I’m an excellent tracker.” 

“Then let’s go,” Jimin agrees, throwing the saddle over the back of a white horse from the southern village and securing it with quick, nimble fingers. 

Namjoon does the same with another stallion, and before any of the others can protest further, they’re thundering through the clearing and past the treeline. 

🍷

Sunlight scarcely reaches the forest floor here. It’s darker, even in midday, eerie and almost otherworldly. With every snap of a branch in the distance, Jimin jumps, but shakes it off. He has to focus. 

“They would’ve continued north,” Namjoon says, dismounting his horse and kneeling down to search for tracks. He sees two deep lines gouging the soil: Dae Woo’s cart. 

Jimin kicks his heel at his horse’s side and takes off, eyes peeled for the wheels’ path. 

They ride for what feels like an hour, time that Jimin spends in near agony. 

Eventually, they descend a steep hill that deadends at an impossibly large boulder. Jimin yanks the reins to the left to avoid ramming right into the stone and just narrowly misses it. He rounds the side of the rock, and there through the trees beyond it, he spots a flash of movement. 

Pulling back on the reins to send his horse skidding to a stop, Jimin peers into the distance, his heart leaping out of his chest. 

Namjoon comes to a stop behind him and huffs, “Is that…?” 

Jimin doesn’t respond. He slides down off of his saddle and steps forward, narrowing his eyes. 

“Jimin don’t! It may not be him!” 

Sure enough, a deafening squeal rips through the forest. Jimin gasps as a gigantic boar, tusks sharp where they curl up towards its snout, hide thick and covered in coarse hair, charges towards him through the pines. 

Jimin spins around and bolts for his horse as the boar gains on him. He’s sure he’s done for when a sick squelching sounds behind him, and a heavy thud echoes so loudly that it disturbs the crows that rested on high branches. 

Shaking and terrified to look, Jimin slowly turns. 

The boar lies a mere four feet from where he stands, collapsed and drawing its last breath. A spear protrudes from its chest, one with markings that Jimin knows very well. 

Frantic, he looks in every direction, calling out, “Jeongguk! Where are you?!” 

A soft grunt draws Jimin’s eyes to his right, and there, bloodied, battered, with clothes torn, stands Jeongguk. 

Another man leans into him, barely conscious with red soaked bandages hastily wrapped around one thigh. 

“Oh, goddess,” Jimin gasps, scrambling to his feet and running to the alpha, hands bracing his shoulders. Jeongguk’s weary expression softens at the omega’s touch, his strength waning fast. 

He mutters, “You shouldn’t have-“

“Don’t. Don’t you dare,” Jimin cuts him off, “What kind of mate would I be if I didn’t come find you?” 

A tear slips down Jeongguk’s cheek, his voice broken, “I-I’m sorry I kept you waiting.” 

Jimin shushes him, smoothing the dirt and blood crusted hair from his cheek. “Let’s get you both back.” 

Namjoon swoops in, lifting the injured alpha into his arms, while Jimin slings Jeongguk’s over his shoulders. “Come on, lean on me love,” he says softly. 

Jeongguk keeps his hands clasped around Jimin’s waist with the last bit of energy he has left as they gallop back to the clearing at full speed. The omega is so warm, his honey scent soothing, and Jeongguk melts into it, lets it ground him in order to hold onto his consciousness, if only faintly. 

“Stay with me,” Jimin says, whipping the reins. “Stay with me, Jeongguk.” 

🍷

Smoke. 

That’s the first thing Jeongguk smells before he dares to open his eyes. 

Surely from the many roasting pits outside the tent he finds himself in. A glance upward tells him it’s the healer’s tent again, and the lit candles tell him it must be dark out, or at least near to. 

Letting his head fall to the side, glittering, wide eyes come into focus and he smiles softly. “Jimin.” 

“Jeongguk,” the omega whispers. 

“How’s the other alpha?” He asks, his voice strained and so rough he nearly doesn’t recognize it himself. 

“He’ll make it. Thanks to you,” Jimin says, squeezing his hand. 

“Good…that’s good.” 

“How are you feeling?” 

Jeongguk thinks about that for a moment. He’s decent, at least. His muscles are certainly sore, and he feels a wound near his ribs stinging. 

“Okay, I think,” he answers, managing a crooked smile. But Jimin’s misty eyes shine with worry. 

“I couldn’t leave him like that,” Jeongguk says quietly. 

“I know…You’re too kind. I wouldn’t ask you to be anything else,” Jimin murmurs, fingers carding through the alpha’s hair with reverence and bare affection. 

If he let himself, Jeongguk knows he could weep. There was a moment in the forest, when the boar was closing in and he put his body between it and the injured alpha, that he pictured Jimin alone, waiting. He thought of a world in which he never saw him again, and the pain in his heart was a thousand times greater than that of his injuries. 

But Jimin is here and Jeongguk is alive, safe, the soft skin of his omega against his own, and everything feels right for the first time in two long years. 

Reaching up, Jeongguk curls his hand around the back of Jimin’s neck and pulls him close until the omega’s face is flush against his bare chest. Jimin lets out a small squeak, but goes nonetheless, quickly relaxing into Jeongguk’s hold. 

After a moment, the alpha begins petting Jimin’s sleek, dark hair, over and over, grinning so widely as he feels his heart swell. 

“My love for you is deeper than the southern ocean,” he says then. 

“Hmm, is that so,” Jimin giggles, batting his lashes. Jeongguk flicks the tip of his nose as he laughs. 

“Mine is brighter than the northern star,” Jimin murmurs, nuzzling closer. Jeongguk wipes the tears that do manage to fall, and when Jimin sees them, he crawls up to kiss them from his cheeks. 

🍷

“You look beautiful,” Taehyung says, tucking a strand of deep brown hair behind Jimin’s ear. A flower crown of tiger lilies sits atop his head, weaved with baby’s breath and fresh greenery. 

He holds Jeongguk’s locket in his hand, feels the weight of it and rubs his thumb across the smooth oval top. Is there a world in which he’d give it back now? 

Jimin laughs faintly to himself. No, certainly not. 

His robes are a rich, deep burgundy with golden sleeves draping nearly to the ground, passed down through his family for generations. They’re meant to be worn on the night an omega chooses their mate, and now Jimin dons them. Finally. 

Taehyung’s deep green robes suit his complexion, and Jimin grins so fondly at him. 

“Thank you for being you,” he says, and Taehyung snickers, “Oh quit it, love is making you too sentimental.” 

“Yah, I’m just being sincere! I really mean it,” Jimin snaps with a smack to Taehyung’s arm. 

“I know, I know. I love you, Mini.”

“I love you too,” Jimin says as he pulls the beta into a crushing hug. 

“Just because Jeongguk is back…don’t disappear on me, okay?” He mutters against Jimin’s shoulder. 

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Taehyung pulls back and plants a kiss on his cheek. “Are you ready?”

Swallowing hard, Jimin inhales shakily and nods, his hands holding Taehyung’s arms so tightly that his knuckles turn white. “I’m ready.” 

The drumbeat is so intense that Jimin feels it reverberating throughout his body. Dancing is in full swing, circles of people with linked arms prance in layers like the rings of an old tree. 

A mouthwatering smoke hangs in the air, barrels and barrels of ale are poured from spouts, every soul well fed and lively with a mirthful spirit that seems ever present on the sixth day of the Gathering. 

Jimin loves this night. He always has, and this will be the best yet. Butterflies don’t flutter in his stomach from nerves anymore, instead, they swirl in anticipation. 

He doesn’t want to play coy. He wants to find Jeongguk this second and do what they should have done two years ago. 

The music reaches its peak, a chaotic clashing of strings, beats, and tambourines, before the northern pack leader raises his arms and it subsides in a near instant. The crowd cheers as he prepares to speak, his grin wide as ever. 

“And so we’ve arrived on the last night!” He begins, “This may be goodbye…but I hope you have strengthened bonds these past few days. I hope you have shared with your neighbors, found worthy competitors, and spread love. Now, as the sun sets on this grand celebration, I ask you to make room for one last sacred tradition.” 

An awkward, fairly circular gap forms in the center of the crowd. 

“Those who have chosen a suitor. Step forward!” 

Jimin nibbles at his bottom lip. This is it. He knows there will be some crestfallen faces soon enough, but he can’t worry about them. It’s always been Jeongguk, after all. No one else stood a chance. 

Brazen, and rather impatient, Jimin pushes his way through until he pops out into the opening at the center. He stands alone, everyone clearly waiting their turn to see how this mess shakes out. 

Jimin has been the talk of the Gathering, it’s only fair for them to be curious, he supposes. 

Spinning around, his eyes scan the front line, finding plenty of alphas with hesitant smiles, but not his. Jimin’s face falls a little as he peers between heads, trying to catch a glimpse of that dark hair or those round eyes. 

That’s when he feels a tap on the shoulder. He turns, and everything else fades away. As far as Jimin is concerned, the crowd may as well have poofed out of existence. 

All he sees is the face of the one he loves, as boyishly handsome as he’s ever been. 

“Looking for me?” Jeongguk asks with a smirk. 

Jimin beams, feeling a tad more emotional than he thought he would as tears brim in his eyes. He nods, takes a step back, and holds out his right hand, palm facing up to the night sky. 

“Dance with me…alpha.” 

“Finally,” Jeongguk breathes out, taking Jimin’s hand firmly in his own as the music begins to swell. 

🍷

With heads spinning, Jeongguk and Jimin stumble through the maze of tents in the southern quadrant of the clearing, cheeks sore from constant grins that don’t seem to want to leave their faces. Their fingers are laced and sweat beads at their brows from their exertions, which are far from over. 

At least that’s what Jimin hopes. He hardly even recognizes his own voice in his mind, this desperate creature that yearns to be touched. The heat between them the night before unleashed something within Jimin that can’t be suppressed. Now that Jeongguk is truly his, he finds himself rather impatient for more. 

The omega comes to a stop in front of his tent, preparing to duck inside, but Jeongguk tugs him back. 

“No, love, we’re going to my tent,” he says with a mischievous smile. 

“What, are you calling mine too shabby?” Jimin sasses, and Jeongguk snickers. 

“Not at all,” then he leans in close and murmurs, “Mine is just further away…I think you’ll appreciate the privacy.” 

A full body shiver runs through the omega. He nods slowly, a little dazed all of a sudden as Jeongguk begins to lead him towards the forest. The smokey aroma of the Gathering gives way to that mossy, fresh pine, and Jimin breathes it in until he’s lightheaded. He barely smelled Jeongguk all night with that roasting meat in the way. It could be the forest too, but Jimin is sure that pine will be synonymous with his mate for the rest of his days, and he doesn’t mind that one bit. 

Jeongguk’s tent is only about two hundred feet or so from the clearing, and yet it feels a world away. There’s a lit lantern hanging from a pole stuck in the ground, like a warm beacon drawing them in, and the alpha strung a hammock between two neighboring trees near his campfire site, where a fallen log acts as a bench. That, and the abundance of lush greenery makes it seem so isolated, cozy. 

Jimin thinks it was certainly a good idea to come here instead. 

“Wait inside, I just want to get the fire going,” Jeongguk says warmly, and Jimin is grateful for it. For all his excitement, he could use a moment to himself to collect his nerves. 

He moves the flap to the side and is surprised to see how spacious the tent is inside. There’s a large round cushion with pelts and blankets, and before it is enough space to walk a few steps and even stand up straight. He sees a pile of charcoal pencils and sketchbooks on a small stool and laughs fondly, happy that Jeongguk seems to have kept his artistic side alive and well. 

The closer he looks though, he sees a stray page stuck halfway out of one of the books, revealing something that looks quite familiar. Crouching, Jimin flips it open and is met with the image of himself. A bit younger, his hair a bit shorter, looking wistfully in the distance with a hand shielding his eyes from the sun. Jimin scowls, Jeongguk didn’t have to draw his fingers that stubby and short. 

Looking past that egregious act, though, Jimin thinks it’s all very lovely. Jeongguk really captured his likeness, all from memory. He looks soft and beautiful, the paper giving off a nearly ethereal sort of glow. It’s how Jeongguk sees him. 

Cheeks flushed, Jimin grins to himself and shuts the sketchbook, crawling onto the makeshift bed after kicking off his slippers. 

The moment he disturbs the bedding, he smells it. Musky, raw, intense. Jeongguk’s scent is so potent here, so infused with…arousal. Jimin’s lips part, propriety abandoned as he nestles further and audibly groans as the scent coats his skin. 

“What do we have here,” a deep, rich voice says and Jimin freezes, completely taken out of the moment and decently embarrassed. 

“I-I was just-“ 

“You were just…scenting my bed,” Jeongguk rasps, kneeling down and crawling over Jimin like a predator entrapping its prey. 

“It just smelled so…” Jimin poorly excuses, trailing off when he can’t summon the right words. 

“Do you know why it smells like this?” Jeongguk asks, the tip of his nose trailing the outer shell of Jimin’s ear. Jimin gasps a small, “No…” 

“It’s because last night, after you kissed me like that…I couldn’t stop picturing all the things I wanted to do to you. I laid right here and touched myself, wishing it was you wrapped around me instead.” 

Jimin squeezes his thighs together as he feels himself harden, mind already cloudy from inhaling those pheromones, hearing those wicked words spill from Jeongguk’s lips. His breath is shaky, and Jeongguk is drinking in every reaction. 

“Did you?” The alpha asks then, and Jimin gazes up with glazed eyes, looking so innocent and puzzled. “Did you touch yourself after?” 

“I didn’t…” Jimin answers, so quietly that Jeongguk would guess he’s almost ashamed. 

“Have you ever?”  

The way Jimin averts his eyes and chews at the inside of his cheek gives Jeongguk his answer. The reality of that sits heavy in the alpha’s core, somehow working him up even more at the thought of being with Jimin when he feels this pleasure for the first time. 

“Do you want to know what it feels like? Do you want me to show you?” 

“Yes…please,” Jimin says weakly. He can’t believe that a few short days ago he thought he was defective, incapable of feeling this way, and now…it’s his whole existence. This longing. He knows that right now, he’d let Jeongguk lead him through hell itself if release awaited him on the other side. The omega feels like he’s standing at the precipice of something so new, a little dangerous, and in his mind's eye, he leaps into it headfirst. 

“Show me, alpha…” 

A low rumble sounds deep in Jeongguk’s chest, he inhales slow and heavy as his nose scales down Jimin’s neck, that lemon scent so tart, so sweet that it invigorates him. He collects himself though, just barely. 

Gently, he tugs at the tie holding the omega’s robes together at the side until it unravels, letting the thick fabric fall to either side of Jimin’s body. He’s wearing thin, gauzy underclothes that let his peachy pale skin show through, and Jeongguk hums in approval. 

“First,” he starts, taking a hold of one of Jimin’s hands, “You explore.” He flattens the omega’s palm against his own stomach, holding him tight at the wrist, and trails it down. 

When Jimin’s fingers curl over his cock, he gasps. Jeongguk cups his hand over Jimin’s, applying pressure that has the omega’s back arching already. 

Jeongguk studies every twitch in Jimin’s expression as he begins to move their hands up and down, slowly massaging. 

“And once you feel it, that tight, hot sensation in your stomach, you give yourself more,” Jeongguk says, bringing Jimin’s hand underneath the drawstring waistband of his pants. 

“Ah!” Jimin yelps when Jeongguk wraps their fingers around the base of his cock, hard and so warm without a barrier in the way. 

“That’s it…” Jeongguk huffs out, short of breath from restraining his own urges to ravish the omega here and now, “Then you go as fast as you want, whatever feels right.” 

Jimin takes it upon himself to tighten his grip, stroking up a couple of times before wincing and pathetically panting, “Too dry…” 

Jeongguk chuckles, and Jimin shivers, feeling the vibration of it like a wave of tingles across his skin. 

“That’s why you’re lucky, omega…” he says, taking his hand from where it covered Jimin’s and dipping lower. Jimin feels the alpha’s fingertips drag through something wet along his inner thighs, and he jumps. 

“This is your slick.” Jeongguk brings his glistening fingers to his lips, his tongue laving over them reverently. The alpha groans at the honey sweet taste, and Jimin is mesmerized and mortified all at once, eyes wide as he watches Jeongguk lap the substance up like his favorite dessert. 

“It’s um…to make it easier when you…” Jimin mumbles, hesitant. 

Jeongguk nods, “Mhm…when I’m inside. But why not use it for yourself too?” He gathers more on his fingers and brings his hand to wrap snugly around Jimin’s cock, giving one smooth, slick stroke that has the omega’s lips falling wide open, a light moan escaping him. 

“That-that’s much better,” Jimin manages through his gasping, clutching Jeongguk’s wrist as the alpha pumps him steadily. Distantly, Jimin wonders how in all hell he’s never done this before, how he’s been deprived of this. He wonders something else too, something that distracts from his building pleasure like a sudden slap to his cheek. 

“Wait-” Jimin says, pushing at Jeongguk’s hand. The alpha looks confused, a little wounded almost. The omega swallows hard when he asks, “How do you know so much about this…have you…” his voice quivers, “have you been with-”

“No,” Jeongguk cuts him off, cradling Jimin’s cheek with his palm, “I could never be with anyone but you. I just…interrogated the others for a lot of details. Alphas are more forthcoming about these things, you know,” he chuckles. 

“Oh…Hoseok never went into that much detail. I knew it would feel good, but…”

“Baby, just you wait…we haven’t felt anything yet,” Jeongguk says with a crooked smirk, craning his neck until his lips hover over Jimin’s, just barely grazing. 

“I want everything…everything with you,” the omega whispers before he surges upward, kissing Jeongguk hard, his hands roaming up the alpha’s back until they plunge into his silky, black waves, clutching the strands and pulling him as close as possible. He loves the weight of Jeongguk on his body, the warmth of him, the way he slots a thigh between Jimin’s and grinds his hips just enough to have the omega lightly groaning into his mouth. 

Jimin’s nerves are sparking like flint to kindling, every touch breathing new life into him, opening doors and windows in his mind that he didn’t know were nailed shut. It’s addictive, to let go and just feel instead of think. 

“Please,” he whimpers, pulling away from their tongue swirling, lip biting embrace for a moment, “I need more…alpha, please.”  

“You keep calling me that and I might give you more than you can handle,” Jeongguk rasps, breathing in the omega’s thick pheromones with a pleased grin. 

“I’ll take it all.”

Jeongguk’s alpha roars within him at those words.

He rucks Jimin’s undershirt up to his armpits, latching his lips and teeth to one of those tempting, dusty pink nipples that await him. The locket sits perfectly in the valley of Jimin’s sternum, and he rests a hand over it, alive with the possessive joy of seeing his omega wearing it. 

Jimin cries out, gripping Jeongguk’s hair tighter now until the alpha’s scalp stings as he nips and flicks at the bud. He moves to the other for just a moment, far too impatient now to resist moving lower and tasting the salty smooth skin of Jimin’s naval. Some day soon, he knows he’ll spend hours kissing every inch of his omega, but for now, there are needs to be met, and greater pleasures to provide. 

“Try to hold it, Jimin,” Jeongguk orders, gruff and breathy as he looks up from Jimin’s waistband, fingers hooked inside in preparation to pull it down. The omega doesn’t know what he means by that, hold what exactly? 

The second the alpha’s lips wrap around the head of his swollen cock and he feels that wet heat envelop him, he understands. Something in his belly threatens to burst and he moans, loud and broken, as he tries with all his might to stave off the feeling. 

It must be his climax, he’s heard of this too, but the feeling, the pressure, it’s indescribable and more intense than he knew was possible. 

“I-I can’t, I-“ 

“You can,” Jeonggguk says, giving him a momentary reprieve. Then he drags his tongue up the underside, and Jimin writhes, reaching up to clutch the pelt on either side of his head. It’s too much, yet not enough, unbearable but somehow he never wants it to stop. 

“I want to be inside you when it happens,” the alpha says then before swirling around the head of Jimin’s cock. The omega’s entire body jolts at the thought, the anticipation of connecting with Jeongguk like that, satisfying his mate. 

Just when Jimin thinks the pressure can’t possibly build more, he feels gentle fingers swipe against his entrance. “Yes,” he blurts out, “Oh yes, please please.” 

Jeongguk gives a devious little laugh, looking up at Jimin through his lashes. The dark intensity of his gaze has the omega squirming underneath him, growing more desperate by the second. 

The alpha circles Jimin’s hole with his middle finger and it puckers, dribbles out more slick as if it’s begging Jeongguk all on its own. He presses, and the digit slides in up to his second knuckle, tight and snug. Jimin whimpers, tilting his hips up as if he’s trying to wiggle Jeongguk’s finger further inside. 

“Be patient now,” Jeongguk warns, curling his other arm around Jimin’s thigh and holding it in a vice grip, too tightly for the omega to struggle much against him. “I can’t go too quickly, I don’t want to hurt you.” 

Jimin whines in protest, there’s nothing he can do but give himself over completely to Jeongguk’s mercy. 

The alpha kisses his inner thighs, nuzzling and caressing as he eases another finger inside and begins cautiously working them in and out at a slow and steady pace. 

Then he remembers another tip from Yoongi and Seokjin, they had briefed him on what he should and shouldn’t do earlier in the day while he recuperated in the healer’s tent, and Jeongguk almost took notes for fear of forgetting a single thing. He seems to be doing well so far, though. 

Just like they suggested, Jeongguk curls his fingers when they’re fully nestled inside, and the reaction from his omega tells him it was good advice. 

Jimin’s back arches off of the bed and he moans, “Oh fuck…” 

“Mm, a foul mouth sounds good on you,” Jeongguk teases, triumphant and achingly hard in his trousers as he pumps his fingers faster now. It takes immense will to keep himself even keeled, to give this sole attention to Jimin when his alpha rages within, demands that he finally take his omega, claim him and fill him, finally discover the heaven that waits inside his walls. 

Soon, he tells himself. Soon, he’ll unleash his urges and do just that. 

He adds a third finger, feels Jimin stretch to accommodate it, and just when the alpha is worried he might be in pain, he groans, long and sinful, and brings his knees to his chest to spread himself wide open. Jeongguk growls at the perfect picture before him, Jimin’s small hands gripping the plush flesh of his own thighs to keep them steady, his slick glistened skin. 

Jeongguk fucks his fingers in with earnest now, keeping them curled. He sinks his teeth into Jimin’s skin at the juncture where his ass meets his thigh, and the omega wails, “J-Jeongguk! I can’t, please!” 

He must be too close, warning him that he won’t be able to hold it much longer. Jeongguk slows his movements, spreads his fingers to see if Jimin’s hole is slack enough to take him. He’ll surely still need time to adjust, but he may be ready. 

“Alright, baby…” Jeongguk coos, withdrawing his fingers and crawling up Jimin’s body. The omega’s lashes are wet with tears, his cheeks rosy, and the alpha is sure he’s never looked more beautiful than he does right now. 

Jimin hooks his legs around Jeongguk’s waist and pulls him in for another kiss. The omega feeds him sweet, desperate little sounds that chip away at his resolve like a pickaxe. 

“Need you…” Jimin murmurs against his lips. 

Jeongguk is powerless to resist any longer, especially when the omega is tugging at his baggy cotton undershirt, pulling it from where it tucked into his trousers as a means to feel his bare skin. His fingers splay out against Jeongguk’s back, dragging up to his shoulderblades, nails digging in just enough to drive the alpha wild. 

Yanking the material over his head, he discards it to the far side of the tent, and Jimin’s eyelids grow heavier, something dangerous flickering there as he takes in the sight of his alpha’s chest, bringing his fingertips to trail over every ridge and follow every line of visible muscle. It’s reverent, hungry. 

Without warning, he surges forward to latch onto Jeongguk’s scent gland with those plump lips, sucking hard as his eyes roll back from the concentration of pheromones there, the sharp pine burning through him. Jeongguk’s hips buck as a reflex, a stuttering groan leaves him, and Jimin is overjoyed. He wants to please, wants to pull Jeongguk into his body and keep him there forever. 

When Jimin releases, the gland is swollen and red, and his heart swells with pride. Jeongguk pops the button off of his trousers as he tears them open, not even bothering to push them down at this point. He takes his cock in hand, but Jimin puts his palm to the alpha’s chest, silently halting him. Jeongguk raises an eyebrow, but the omega doesn’t elaborate, he only snakes his hand down until his fingers wrap around the alpha’s length, feeling it from base to tip as his eyes widen in wonder. 

“I wanted to feel it first,” he mumbles, tongue swiping over his bottom lip. 

Jeongguk hums, smirking as he grinds into Jimin’s hand and asks, “Are you nervous?” 

Jimin can only shake his head, glancing up with siren eyes that are full of nothing but pure desire. He guides Jeongguk’s cock until he feels the tip nudge his entrance. 

“Don’t look away,” the omega murmurs, and Jeongguk wouldn’t dare. He cants his hips forward, applying pressure until Jimin’s hole begins to stretch around him. Jimin’s eyebrows cinch together, his lips parting in a gasp, but their eyes don’t leave each other for a moment, drinking in every sign of pleasure written in each other’s expressions. 

“Tell me if it hurts,” Jeongguk says, low and gentle. 

“It doesn’t…I want more,” Jimin answers. 

The alpha gives him just that. He presses further inside, slick coating his cock so thoroughly, Jimin’s hole sucking him in with such willingness that Jeongguk can’t help but groan at the sensation. 

It does burn a little, but it’s the sort of pain that makes Jimin feel alive, makes the swelling tension in his core pull that much tighter. He brings his hands to the small of Jeongguk’s back and pushes down, whispering, “All of it. I can take it.” 

With a snap of his hips, Jeongguk buries his cock to hilt, and Jimin cries out. He’s never felt so full, so whole.

“Fuck,” the alpha grits, Jimin’s searing heat squeezing him so tight that it wipes all thought away, blinds him with pleasure. He can’t hold back anymore, pure need drives him to grind against Jimin in a deep circle.

The omega sees stars. Jeongguk’s cock presses against something within him that takes his breath away, makes his body ache. He clings to the alpha and arches into him, wordlessly begging for him to do it again. 

“You liked that, huh?” Jeongguk rasps, sweat on his brow and fire in his eyes. Jimin nods frantically, and the alpha pulls out to the head before slamming back inside, the sound of skin smacking against skin filling the tent. 

“Ah!” The omega whines, his head rolling back, the long sloping line of his neck too tempting for Jeongguk to resist. He licks a stripe from collar bone to jawline before trailing back down to Jimin’s scent gland, and he knows he’ll never tire of that tart honey taste. It’s too good, too Jimin. 

He loses himself as he suckles, hips taking on a mind of their own as they set a quickening pace, plunging his cock into Jimin’s tight heat over and over. It feels better than he ever could’ve imagined in his countless daydreams. 

Rumbling growls and grunts escape him, his hands clutching the omega’s wrists in a bruising grip, coherent thoughts slipping away with each passing moment. His alpha is in full control now. 

Without warning, Jeongguk sits back on his heels and hooks his hands in the crooks of Jimin’s knees to fold the omega practically in half, which luckily his dancer’s flexibility can fully allow. The shift in angle makes the alpha feel deeper, and Jimin didn’t think that was even possible. 

His pace is brutal now, relentless, and Jimin hurdles toward his long awaited climax. Drool dribbles down his chin from his wide open mouth, he’s completely dazed, being taken so roughly, and he loves it. 

“Alpha…alpha…” He whines like a mantra, weak and lilting. 

“That’s it…come for me, omega,” Jeongguk says, his voice so gruff, almost feral. Jimin has never heard him like that, like he’s drowning in this passion as much as Jimin himself is. 

His alpha told him to come, and Jimin obeys gladly, as if he had any other choice. 

It hits him with staggering impact, every muscle in his body seizing as his fingernails carve crescents into Jeongguk’s biceps. His breaths are stuttering, a broken sob ripping from his throat, his cock weeping where it’s pressed between Jeongguk’s abdomen and his own. Slick oozes out from around the alpha and pools onto the pelt beneath him, and the thick scent of it permeates the tent. 

It’s unlike anything he’s ever known, warmer than any embrace, more intense than a breathless fit of laughter, sweeter than wine. It suspends time and submerges him in an addictive, all consuming bliss. 

“Jeongguk,” He gasps as tears stream down his flushed cheeks. 

“I’m here, baby,” the alpha murmurs, slowly rolling his hips now to let his omega come down from the high. He nuzzles into Jimin’s neck, placing soft kisses all over, and praises him endlessly. 

He’s so close himself, driven by the need to claim his omega in every way possible, but Jeongguk is equally as nervous for what’s to come. 

Regaining a steadier rhythm, he fucks into Jimin with harsher thrusts, the omega’s body jerks a little from the force of them. But he doesn’t seem to be complaining. He looks delirious, his hands seeking purchase on Jeongguk’s skin anywhere they can, eyes closed and a faint smile turning up his plump lips. 

He feels raw, exposed, and incredibly sensitive after his climax, but Jimin finds that it’s yet another facet of pleasure to be explored, a new sensation that he intends to experience to the fullest. He urges Jeongguk on, weak and dazed, but intent. 

“Keep going alpha…faster,” he mewls, the title like a jolt of lighting to Jeongguk’s gut every time it’s uttered. 

Pressing his forehead to Jimin’s shoulder, he plunges his cock inside with such rapid repetition that the muscles in his thighs and back ache, and he feels it happening…bulging and swelling at the base of his shaft as he nears that dizzying peak. 

“Jimin, fuck I’m-“ He pants, gritting his teeth. Any other words he may have said die in his throat as a deep groan overtakes them, his knot expanding now as he comes with another bruising thrust. 

“Oh-oh my- Jeongguk-“ Jimin stutters, his eyes flying open, wide and strained. 

Jeongguk groans, his breathing heavy, his arms coiling around Jimin’s body as he violently shudders. He’s locked in place now, and Jimin feels something so warm spilling out from deep inside. It’s unbelievable, the stretch, the burn from Jeongguk’s knot. He’s full, so full of his alpha that his omega is practically glowing, preening. 

“Breathe, baby,” Jeongguk says, lifting some of his weight off of Jimin and scanning his face for the immense pain he’s sure the omega is feeling. 

But what he sees instead is…wonder. Awe. 

Jimin is grinning from ear to ear, planting his palms on either side of Jeongguk’s face and murmuring, “We’re so connected…” 

Jeongguk flashes his crooked smile, “You’re damn right. I’m never letting you go now.” 

“If you tried I’d hunt you down,” Jimin giggles, brushing his sweat-dampened hair from his forehead. 

Jeongguk leans in for a tender kiss that neither of them can stop smiling through. 

Eventually, the alpha rolls onto his back and lets Jimin settle across his chest, legs lax on either side of his hips. His arms are jelly from holding himself up all that time, so the change in position is a welcome relief. 

“Does it usually take this long to go down?” Jimin asks, absentmindedly tracing circles across Jeongguk’s pectorals with his fingertips. 

“I have no idea,” he snorts, “I’m sure you’re tired of it, huh? Does it hurt?” 

Jimin’s smile softens, a pensive look to his eyes when he answers, “No…I like it. Any discomfort is worth it to feel this close to you. It’s also kind of…” he trails off, searching for the right words. “It’s sort of addictive to know that I’ve made you feel good enough to knot me, that the proof of it is keeping me bound to you like this…like if anyone saw this- not that I’d want them to, of course…but if they did, they’d know I’m yours.” 

He feels Jeongguk’s cock twitch inside of him and quirks an eyebrow. “Oh? What was that, hm?” He teases. 

Jeongguk’s cheeks warm a little and he clears his throat, “Well, when you talk like that…” he mutters bashfully. 

“Like what?” Jimin presses, an innocent pout plumping his lips even more. He then sits up to fully straddle the alpha, fingers splaying out across Jeongguk’s chest and back arching. The alpha sucks in a sharp breath. He’s a little minx, he knows exactly what he’s doing, Jeongguk thinks. 

Ever so gently, Jimin rocks back and forth, the slightest swerve of his hips, but it’s well enough to make Jeongguk’s cock slide against his walls. The stimulation has him hardening all over again, even though his knot had almost entirely receded. 

Besides, the sight of Jimin like this is pure sin. That alone would be enough to have him raring to go again in mere seconds. He’s oozing with confidence, teeth toying at his bottom lip, hooded eyes that flutter when pleasure strikes his core, makes him burn hotter and grow more brazen with each moment. 

Jeongguk knows he feels beautiful, sees it in the fluidity of his movements, hears it in the lilting moans he breathes into the space between them. His motion is more intentional now, he lifts up to sink back down on Jeongguk’s cock in at a languid pace, unhurried and sensual. It lets the alpha take in every facet of Jimin, every freckle, every flex of muscle. 

He smooths his hands up the tops of the omega’s thighs and back down as a subtle sign of encouragement, trying to refrain from bucking up even if his instincts urge him to flip Jimin back over and take him hard. Instead, he just marvels at his mate, follows a bead of sweat as it trickles down Jimin’s clavicle. 

“So pretty,” he murmurs, “How does it feel?”

Jimin laughs lightly, “Better than I could’ve imagined…you’re so big.”

Jeongguk hums, hands scaling up to the omega’s dainty waist and holding him tightly there. The pressure is building again, the heat coiling in his gut as Jimin rolls his hips faster and faster. Slick coats his pelvis and thighs, so wet and messy as their bodies glide against one another. 

It truly is addictive. How are they ever going to get anything done when they could be chasing this feeling instead? 

Jimin’s legs ache, but he doesn’t let himself slow. It’s too good to stop now, Jeongguk is too deep, carving out a piece of him that he’ll know will feel hollow when the alpha is no longer inside. He wants to savor this. 

But when Jeongguk loses the battle and thrusts up into him, the force punches the air from Jimin’s lungs, and suddenly patience doesn’t seem like much of a virtue anymore. 

“Fuck, do that again,” he whines, head thrown back in ecstasy. 

Jeongguk chuckles, deep and rich, and plants his feet firmly on the pelt before bucking sharply up again, then again and again until Jimin is mewling, begging.

“Please, please, Jeongguk,” he babbles. 

“Please, what, baby,” the alpha teases. 

“Need to come again…please.” Jimin sounds so desperate, breathy and sweet. How could his alpha ever deny him in such a state? 

Slowing his thrusts, Jeongguk rasps, “Keep riding me, sweetheart…just trust me.” 

Jimin nods, his eyes glassy and unfocused as he leans back a bit and begins to roll his hips again, grinding down hard and fast. Jeongguk wraps his fingers around the omega’s cock, the presence of slick and precum making the slide so easy as he strokes him with quick flicks of his wrist. 

Jimin’s voice cracks as he wails in response, his hips stuttering but not ceasing. It doesn’t take long before he’s spilling into Jeongguk’s hand, his body spasming and convulsing, this climax even more intense than the first. 

His hole clenches around Jeongguk’s cock so tight that the alpha comes as well, arching up to bury himself as deeply as possible as he goes rigid, his fingertips digging hard into the flesh of Jimin’s thighs. 

“Fuck that’s it,” he says through gritted teeth, Jimin still grinding in slow circles above him. 

He doesn’t knot him this time, too spent and exhausted for his body to manage it. 

They’re positively wiped out when they both come back down the earth. Jimin collapses onto Jeongguk’s chest, not a dry surface on either one of them. It could be disgusting, but all the omega can do is breathe in the combined scent of their pheromones swirling thickly around them. 

“Fuck…” Jeongguk huffs, “We could have been doing that for years.” 

Jimin giggles and looks up at the alpha when he says, “Well….we have forever to look forward to now.” 

🍷

And forever is what they promise. 

Back home in the southern village, they stand at an altar in the sacred temple, adorned in black and white. Their locked eyes never break, their smiles never falter. 

The pack leader stands before them with a ceremonial blade, and they hold out their left hands, pressed against one another to allow the leader to slice the dagger swiftly across both palms at once. 

Jimin winces a little, but no pain could truly distract from his joy now. 

A chalice is held between them, and the omega lets a few drops of his blood trickle down into it, merging with the deep red southberry wine inside. Jeongguk follows suit, then takes the chalice and lifts it to Jimin’s lips.

He sips from the cup, the wine sweet and warm as it goes down his throat. Then he takes it from Jeongguk and does the same, tipping the chalice against his alpha’s lips. 

They press their palms together, and the pack leader binds them with a red rope braided with glittering golden thread. 

Notes from singing bowls vibrate throughout the temple, voices harmonizing in the words of their ancient language, and Jimin and Jeongguk blink tears from their eyes as they gaze so tenderly, so lovingly at one another. 

They’re mated in the eyes of their pack now, and in a few short hours, after they share food and drink with their friends and families, they’ll entwine their bodies and souls. They’ll claim each other with an irreversible bite, truly marking the beginning of their forever.