HIWAGA | tk | ✓

9. cuddles n smiles

"so you guys are not bandits?" taehyung enquired as he climbed over yet another rock with a huff.

"not really" hoseok replied with a smile and gentle shake of his head, as he steered his horse to climb over.

"but you guys kidnapped me for money" taehyung stated matter of factly.

"when you put it out like that, it does sound bad" hoseok winced.

"think like this hm. we take money from those who have too much of it... and give it to people who have nothing" namjoon helpfully explained.

taehyung made an 'o' face in understanding.

as soon as the omega had accepted to join them and was done with his happy tears, all of them had started their way back to the village.

"are there many people in the village?" taehyung continued with his questions, gently petting jungkooks black horse.

"yup, around a 100" yoongi this time replied.

"will...will they like me?" the omega had asked, hoping to ease some of his own worries.

"no" jungkook didnt miss a beat.

"oh..." taehyung frowned, pouting as he fidgeted again.

"but, we will make it work" namjoon added soon, giving a warning look at jungkook.

taehyung gave a weak smile.

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"my legs are gonna fall off" taehyung whined, resting his tired body.

"we are not even half way there" jungkook rolled his eyes at the omega slumbed against a tree.

"what??!! i'm gonna die here" the omega dramatically sighed, stretching his tired legs.

"why are you so weak?" jungkook huffed, proceeding to tie his horse to a tree, the other alphas doing the same.

"happens when you're stuck in a room your whole life-" the omega let out as if its something so normal.

jungkooks hands froze where he was tieing the horse and he purposefully didn't comment anything after.

soon it was nightfall, all of them ate some bread the alphas had with them and mangoes they plucked from a nearby tree.

as the air started getting chilly, they made a campfire by collecting the twigs and dried leaves around. the omega huddled closer to it as much as he can, extending his arm forward and sighing at the warmth.

in the periphery he saw hoseok and yoongi cuddling together; taehyung was lowkey jealous of them.

"you two are mates, right?" taehyung blurted out of curiosity.

hoseok lifted his head to look up at the omega, before nodding with a smile and bending down to kiss yoongi's forehead.

"we have one more mate too" a sleepy yoongi added and taehyungs brows shot up his hairline.

hoseok probably seeing the baffled expression on the omega, lowered the collar of his robe down. in the light of the campfire, taehyung saw a pair of mating marks- one on either side of the alphas neck.

now, taehyung was surely jealous.

as the night progressed, all of them was ready to retire for a good sleep.

they had sleeping pads made of thick wool and it was much more comfortable than sleeping on bare ground. hoseok and yoongi squeezed into one and gave one to the omega, which he was very thankful of.

slightly shivering in the cold breeze, taehyung now gazed at the stars on the sky, visible through the canopy of trees.
he saw a star shining brightly among others,

and he smiled.

over the years he would talk to the star which is his mother up above, probably this was the first time he smiled.

"hey cherry" he heard the alpha call his name.

"you should come closer. its going to get really chilly at night" the alpha said turning to his side. truthfully, the four alphas were laying much closer; only taehyung alone on the other end.

the campfire is extinguished now to not attract animals or real bandits, and it was indeed cold. but sleeping near another alpha? pfft no

"i'm good here" the omega replied narrowing his eyes, before turning to the other side.

ofcourse, stubbornness will get you nowhere.

mere three hours into the night, the omega was grumbling to himself as he dragged his sleeping pad near jungkook.

taehyung swore he can't even feel his legs at how cold the night is.

eventhough jungkook felt the omega settling near him, he didn't comment on it, suppresing a smile.

jungkook was true; it is indeed warmer here. the alphas naturally have more body heat compared to omegas- it was comforting.

jungkook scooted a little closer to the omegas side without the other noticing and closed his eyes, lulled to sleep inhaling the cherry scent.

and just like that the night went by peacefully.

□□□

the first thing taehyung realized when he was surfacing from heavy sleep is that, everything just felt very nice.

there was a warm weight near him- almost like a furnace, and it enveloped him completely.

opening one bleary eye, he could see a dark shadow near him. he saw pink lips, that are slightly parted, causing warm breath to tickle against his hair.

everything smelt of sandalwood and comfort; the omega happily took a deep breath and snuggled closer.

then his mind cleared and everything from the night to sleeping assaulted his brain.

he flew away from the alphas chest as if he got burned; now sitting up and blinking at jungkook soundly asleep.

he heard a chuckle from somewhere and saw yoongi smiling at him with raised eyebrows.

"i-it was just...so cold... and..he was warm... yeah" taehyung stammered scratching his colorful mop of hair and stood up with pink cheeks, dragging and folding the sleeping pad away, not daring to meet anyones eyes.

a few minutes later jungkook was also up and was met with shit eating grins from his three hyungs.

"i thought you dont like cuddling?" hoseok waggled his eyebrows.

jungkook was not clueless and the cherry scent was indeed all over him.

"was there just cuddling or..." hoseok playfully shouldered jungkook.

"shut up" jungkook grumbled, cheeks puffy from sleep and looking everywhere except at hoseok.

"awww is our jungkookie shy?" hoseok cooed loud.

"fuck off hyung" jungkook lightly pushed back the alpha, before stomping his way away from his annoying hyungs; loud laughter following behind him.

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a/n: i'm working on starting another book!