The Law of Inertia {YOONMIN}

Chapter Eight

"Min Yoongi!"

"What?" He throws down a stack of wood, slinging his ax absently into a discarded log. Dead bark falling off into the grass beneath the packs stack of logs. Winter preparation was always the hardest, and worst on his back. Even worse, when after a long dawn of hunting, and then an early morning of chopping trees, Namjoon's omega comes chasing after him. Dressed for town instead of for the kitchen. The loud giggles of rampant pups and tired parents can be heard from near the dining hall.

"Who do I smell like?" Hoseok said once he stopped in front of the man. "Oh so faintly, who do I smell like?"

"Not eggs and bacon." He chides, dusting off his hands and ruffling his hair. The burning sensation of his separation from Jimin was far worse today than it had been the day before. The memory of the anxiety driven boy laying on his belly. Blissfully combing his ears back. Gentle eyes and parted lips as Yoongi carried him to bed. A small whine once Yoongi had gotten too far away for his human nose to smell.

He was ashamed. Yoongi has caved on his own, two days in. Sleep lost, eyes hazy. Stomach roaring and alpha rioting within him as he felt his mate so close yet so far away. The feeling of betrayal to his father, after he left, was enough to keep him away from the boy for a few days longer. Save for the quick visits to the cliff beneath his window.

His alpha couldn't breathe without confirmation that the other male was okay.

"You know who I just saw?" Hoseok leaned in closely, cupping his hand against Yoongi's ear to whisper to him. "The prince," he said. "Crying in his chambers,- which I know you have been watching."

Hoseok merely smells like a mix of himself and his mate. No roses, no cherries. Not even the roast of a castle meal.

"What?" He stills. Turning on his heal. Stuffing down immediate worry. "An hour after dawn Hoseok? You smell nothing of him."

"I didn't go in," the younger laughed lightly, clearly not understanding Yoongi's internal panic. "I said that mostly so you would,- you know,- know I was talking about him before I said his name. But yeah, I hopped onto his balcony to see what he was doing. To try and understand why you had to go and guard him every night. But he was crying. A lot. And he just stared at me instead of getting help. I mean, there were even people banging on his door."

"I'm not guarding him." He turns around again. Insides screaming. Yet he could feel Jimin was asleep right now, if he focused hard enough. "He's asleep. Been asleep. No signs of him being awake since last night."

"He was definitely sobbing a few hours ago," Hoseok laughed, clapping a hand on Yoongi's back. "But really, I don't get it. He just seems like a kid. A kid you smelt a lot like a few nights ago. Wanna explain that one to me even though I already know?"

As the omega persists, Yoongi is trying to ignore the growing pain in his chest. Worry for the prince growing with the rising sun. He hated it. Every single tug at his heart strings. Fate was, in its own ways, simply cruel.

"Go smell your own alpha. I'm exhausted."

"Hey," the omega persisted, grabbing Yoongi's arm softly. "Yoongi, it's not healthy for you to be at such a distance. That not only puts you in danger, but him too. You can't,-" he took a deep breath. "You can't continue to try and push it down,- especially not while he's hurting."

"What am I to do?" He snaps "Go mate the future king? Send a hunter off for the pelts of my own kin? Dig in his dusty fucking closet for the remains of my father?"