Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down | TK

18 | Asking for advice

"I want to court Taehyung." He said again. The more he heard these words coming out of his mouth, the more absurd he felt saying them.

Jimin's attention was quickly centred on him, his eyes still as sharp as razors, tearing a multitude of scratches into his pale skin. He didn't say anything, but he found the slight tension and hesitance in Jungkook's stance to be rather entertaining.

"Wasn't he mated?" He asked, perking up an unconvinced brow.

Jungkook's eyes rolled on their own accord, but he pretended he didn't hear Jimin's conclusive mutter.

"His mate is dead." His throat constricted around the sound and he swallowed it down.

"He was a true blood." The short alpha interrupted again, with every spoken word Jungkook felt like he was trying to hint on something unpleasantly true.

Frowning intensely at the man who was supposedly called his best friend, Jungkook quirked up an eyebrow and eyed him confusingly, not understanding what he was implying.

"And?" He trailed off, unsure, palms beginning to sweat very uncomfortably.

A loud groan slipped past Jimin's lips, and he propped himself down on the bed, the old mattress sinking under the pressure of his weight. "You can't step on his finger, Jungkook." He stated out a fact.

Glumly, Jungkook shook his head, a million brewing thoughts beginning to overflow from the open bowl of his mind. "I know..." It was so painfully truthful and raw that it almost hurt to say, the truth ripping at his gums and making them positively ache. "But I'll take my chances."

"Jungkook." Jimin started in this way only he did, scolding him solely with the pronunciation of his name.

When the younger alpha finally looked up, Jimin's eyes were caring and kind. He stayed quiet, an unspoken initiation for Jungkook to speak, and the alpha wondered why he had felt the need to hide it all.

"I don't know what to do, Jimin." It was a whisper, desperate and uncertain, and the emotions curled in Jungkook's chest like feral cats scratching to be let out. He weighed his next words carefully, rolling them around like a candy on his tongue, and before they got bitter, he let them free.

"I like him more than you can imagine."

Jimin snorted, and quickly turned it into a choked cough, nonetheless Jungkook felt the implication.

"You do?" He sighed, then seemed to droop a little, body going soft as he shifted his gaze to the lilac flowers placed on his desk.

Jungkook hummed. A lame response, he knew it. But his current state prevented him from speaking out loud his emotions. There was some source of heaviness in his chest, squeezing at his throat, causing his heart to clench painfully.

He didn't know how or why he came up with the sudden idea to court Taehyung. That day in the forest, when their faces were merely inches apart and he could feel the omega's hot breath fanning over his hungry lips and hear the erratic beating of his heart, something in him stirred.

Since then, he had been restless. His wolf wouldn't get aroused by the scent of another omega, his mind would drift away to dangerous territories, unfamiliar thoughts and desires would occupy his body and made him rethink his own living being.

And before he knew it, Jungkook wanted to make Taehyung his.

Courting was something like a tradition to werewolves. Alphas and betas would try to win the hearts of their chosen mates by offering them gifts, usually food, flowers, or jewelries.

Simply put – courting was the time before a relationship started when the couple got to know one another, exchange gifts, and generally keep a respectful distance with little-to-no intimacy.

"Dude, my chances to win Yoongi are higher than yours." Jimin finally broke the silence, rolling down on the bed, muscles sore and aching from training so much today.

Jungkook considered. His eyes laced over his surroundings, bounced to the window of the room and then to the forest, an abundance of wood and not much else in both directions. "You can never know before you try, right?" He told him, didn't notice how his own voice calmed in the purity of his observation.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Jimin said with a tired sigh and lowered his lids over his eyes to let them have a much-needed rest, feeling how his body was slowly starting to relax against the cold sheets.

"I'll take that as a yes." Jungkook countered, pausing in his step for the shortest moment. If Jimin found the emphasis on the ambiguous him to be atypically passionate, he spared him from a comment.

"Take your time analyzing your feelings, Jungkook. It's not always easy, you know?" Jimin glanced at him from the bed. Of course, as his sworn to death best friend, he cared about Jungkook and tended to show little specks of affection every once in a while. Seeing him hurt, though, would hurt more than anything his ingenious imagination could make up.

Truth was, Jungkook didn't need time. A single smile from Taehyung could keep him going for years—a single laugh had the strength to cure all the illnesses of the world, and yet Jungkook was subjected to such great power, all to himself. Passion—passion embodied him, all for Taehyung. Everything, always for this one omega.   

"I know." Was all Jungkook had for saying, the words spitting out of his mouth like a shallow whisper, so quiet and dept-ridden.