The Scent of Miracles [ Jikook ]

Chapter 8

"Better now?"

It was.
Jimin's mind had sharpened in a matter of seconds, the awareness of his surroundings returned.
Looking left and right, for the first time since he entered this place, he was able to absorb the true beauty of it. The glistening stones, the fog, the heat of the water warming his body, just enough to make him sweat without burning his skin.
He's never experienced anything like it before.

Everywhere around them, people found each other in pairs. Taehyung was paddling towards Yoongi who gave him a grumpy look and turned away just to be slapped with a wet towel until he gave up and allowed the Omega to wash his hair.
All in all, everyone seemed rather peaceful and content. A fact that, truthfully, Jimin hadn't expected after seeing Jungkook react so strongly when his punishment was announced.

Just like before, it seemed as if the young Alpha had peeked right into the depths of his mind because he threw Jimin a warning glance, jaw tensing a little before he explained, "Don't let them fool you. What they do seems innocent enough at the moment but this might as well be a matchmaking session."

Yes, that made sense.
Even now, Jimin could already see all those hidden touches and flushed cheeks. Some of the more confident Alphas playfully grabbed the Omega they had snatched to scent their wrists, even their necks if they were brave enough.
Most of them seemed fine with this. Although… even if they weren't, Jimin wasn't sure if the Omegas would be able to protest.

"If you were a wolf, I honestly wouldn't be too worried but with that special fur color, I already know they would get a little too excited and too eager to claim you if they got a chance."

He must've noticed how Jimin tensed, how uncomfortable he felt when looking at the people around him, because his tone instantly softened, just like his scent.
"Hey, don't worry, I won't let them touch you. Just make sure to stay close to me, okay? Enjoy the bath, relax."
Embarrassed by his own words, Jungkook quickly turned around. Under Jimin's very attentive gaze, he started to wash the dirt from his skin but froze when, after a while, Jimin snatched the wet cloth out of his hands.

"What are you doing?" He asked, expression puzzled but the fox only pushed him to turn back around.

This is what I'm supposed to do, isn't it? He wrote on one of Jungkook's shoulder blades. I'm supposed to help you relax after you've been out hunting all evening.

He wasn't wrong, of course, but hearing it directly from Jimin's mouth still stunned the Alpha enough to stay completely still while the fox started to scrub his back.
As Jimin worked his way up and down the Alpha's spine, he realized very quickly why exactly this whole bathing and cleaning procedure was such a huge event.
From top to bottom, Jungkook was covered in all kinds of open wounds and bruises beneath the dried blood. Even without any medical knowledge, it wasn't hard to realize that injuries like those could easily get infected if they weren't taken care of properly.
Just looking at them made Jimin wince as if they shared the pain while his fingers moved delicately over ripped skin, trying to clean it as best as he could.

You must be a pretty bad hunter. He wrote later.
A talented one wouldn't let himself get injured like that.

Every other Alpha might've felt offended by those innocently teasing but nonetheless brazen words. Jungkook, however, just laughed, eyes sparkling brightly, accepting the challenge.
"Yeah? For you to say that, I assume you must be better than me. We should hunt together sometime. Let's see who takes down a bear first."

Not fair. Foxes don't hunt bears. We only catch bunnies or boars at the most.

"Oh? So, you're scared?"

Instead of giving him a reply, Jimin scrunched his nose while splashing water at him. Jungkook instantly retaliated by doing the same until both of them were completely drenched and the Alpha watched how Jimin covered his face with his hands, ears flattened with pearls of water hanging on them, glittering like jewellery under the flickering lights of the torches nearby.
Even though it was incredibly quiet, Jungkook noticed the small whimper leaving Jimin's throat, he noticed the way he continued to shake despite being far away from all Alphas that could be a threat.