Written in the Stars | ym

Chapter 2

Yoongi stared down at his bag of chips and can of grape juice but didn't dare open them. Around him, his classmates were in various states of waking up after nap, from Hoseok rubbing his eyes and yawning to Jimin turned around in his chair, yelling across the room to his two best friends in a loud conversation. "Jimin," Mr. Seokjin stated with his 'teacher voice', as the pups had started to call it whenever he got stern. "I know Taehyung and Jungkook are your best friends, but it's not time to talk to them right now."

"Sorry!" Jimin called out before spinning back around in his chair, giving Yoongi a smile before taking a sip of his juice.

The 6-year-old pup continued to stare at his unopened snack. He was still full from lunch, but he didn't want to throw away his snack as he wasn't sure if he would be getting dinner that night. The day before, he got home from school to find baggies of white powder on the coffee table. He knew from experience that whenever his eomma had her 'candy', it was more likely that he would go to bed with a rumbly tummy, and more likely that mean alphas would be in and out of the house.

In all honesty, he wanted to take his snack home with him to eat later, but he knew that probably wouldn't happen. In his old class, Mr. Yejun would pack up a bag of food for one of the other pups every Friday to take home over the weekend. When Yoongi had asked to put his snack in his backpack to take home, he was told no, and that he shouldn't want something just because another pup got it.

"Alright, friends," Ms. Chungja, the other teacher in the room, called to get everyone's attention. "It's time to clean up for handwriting. Throw away your snacks if you haven't already." Yoongi started picking at his lip, staring at his uneaten snack without moving. "Yoongi," Ms. Chungja said after a couple of moments, but the pup refused to look up at her. "It's time to clean up. You can throw your snack away."

"No." Yoongi said quietly.

"Yes." Ms. Chungja replied, her voice growing sterner. "Snack is all done, it is time to throw away."

Yoongi shook his head, still refusing to look at her. "You can't tell me what to do." He was aware of how everyone was now watching him, but he still didn't move.

"We do not talk to teachers that way, Yoongi." Ms. Chungja stated. "I'm going to count to three, and you can throw away, or I will help."

Yoongi didn't budge, even as she started to count down. Once she reached three and took a step towards his seat, he snapped, screaming, "NO!" and hugging his chips and juice to his chest.

He heard Mr. Seokjin murmuring something to Ms. Chungja, the male omega saying, "His old teachers said he would shut down like this, just give me a second." Seokjin gently crouched down next to Yoongi. "What's wrong?" He asked the pup, who turned in his chair so that Seokjin couldn't see his face. "Yoongi, I can see that you're upset about something, but I can't help you unless you use your words and tell me what's wrong." Yoongi still refused to talk, and after a few more moments of failed attempts at getting him to, he heard his teacher quietly say, "I'm gonna have to push him. You got the other pups?" Yoongi's heart began to race, thinking about what the male omega could possibly mean. "Yoongi," Seokjin stated, leaning forward in an attempt to see Yoongi's face, but the pup turned further away from him. "I want you to know that no matter what's about to happen, I still love you."

Yoongi had just barely processed that when Seokjin suddenly grabbed him from his chair, causing Yoongi to drop his snack. "Don't touch me!" Yoongi screeched as Seokjin adjusted his grip to keep the flailing pup from throwing himself out of his arms. "Leave me alone!" He continued to scream, scratching lightly at the teacher's arms in a desperate attempt to get him to let go as he was carried to the bathroom.

Once inside, Seokjin closed the door, leaving it open just a crack, and set Yoongi down. The 6-year-old immediately started trying to push past him to leave, screaming unintelligibly as the omega held him back. "Yoongi, when our friends are upset like this, they come in here to take a moment until they are ready to talk. So, we're in here for you to have a moment until you're ready to talk. You can do whatever you want and be as mad as you want until you are ready." Seokjin said calmly, making himself comfortable on the floor as Yoongi switched tactics from pushing at him to throwing everything off of the shelves in the bathroom. When there were no more tubs of extra blankets, clothes, or cot sheets, Yoongi huddled against the far wall, hugging himself as he let out a series of growls, still refusing to look Seokjin in the face as his body shook in both anger and fear.

After a while, Yoongi eventually calmed down, his body stilling and his growls subsiding. "You look calm now, Yoongi." Seokjin said quietly, slowly moving closer to the pup, watching for signs that Yoongi wasn't okay with that. "Are you ready to talk now?" Yoongi let out a quiet whimper but didn't move otherwise. "Are you upset that you didn't get to eat your snack? Because you had plenty of time to do so."

"No." Yoongi said quietly, curling further in on himself.

"Then what is it?" Seokjin asked. After waiting for Yoongi to respond and getting nothing, Seokjin spoke again. "Remember, Yoongi, I cannot help you unless you use your words and tell me what's wrong."

Yoongi stayed quiet for only a few seconds more before mumbling. "I want to take it home." Seokjin prompted him to speak louder, so he did. "I want to take my snack home."

There were a few seconds of silence before the teacher responded. "Of course, you can take it home, Yoongi." Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows, not having expected that response. "All you had to do was ask, and we would have let you put it in your backpack. You're always able to take your snack home if you want." Another few seconds of silence spread between them. "Are you ready to go back out to class, or do you want to stay in here by yourself a bit longer?"

The 6-year-old pup started to pick at his lip again. "Stay in here."

"Okay." Seokjin said but didn't move to leave just yet. "Can I have a hug before I go? You can say no." After a few seconds, Yoongi slowly sat up and leaned into Seokjin, allowing the omega to hug him. "I love you, Yoongi. Do you know that?" Yoongi didn't respond, but Seokjin opted not to push him further, instead standing up and leaving the bathroom.

As the omega pushed open the door to step out, Yoongi caught a glimpse of Jimin peeking inside in worry. "Is Yoongi okay?"

Seokjin nodded. "He's just a little upset and taking a moment. We all need that sometimes, don't we?" Jimin nodded, looking past the teacher to offer Yoongi a small smile before skipping back to his seat.

After a few minutes alone, Yoongi felt ready to rejoin his class. He slowly pushed himself up and crept out of the bathroom, trying to be sneaky so as not to catch anyone's attention. He rushed to his seat to pick up his snack from where he had dropped it before running over to his backpack hook. After placing his snack in his backpack, he turned around to find Jimin standing right there, holding out his own snack that he must have kept hidden, otherwise he would have gotten in trouble for not throwing away. "I don't like these chips." The omega pup stated, pushing the bag into Yoongi's hands. "You can have this one too."

"Thanks, Chimmy," Yoongi said quietly, as he struggled to pronounce the pup's name.

"You're welcome!" Jimin smiled at him before running back to his chair to keep playing with his playdough.

From that day forward, Jimin continued to give Yoongi any part of his snack that he didn't like, soon inspiring the other pups to also offer their unwanted food to him. There wasn't a day that went by that Yoongi didn't have extra food to take home, preventing him from going to bed with a rumbly tummy even when his mom forgot to get him dinner.

One day, a few weeks into the new normal, the school got a brand-new snack that no one seemed to like...except for Jimin. As always, the entire class took their snack over to Yoongi, who proceeded to push half of them over to Jimin. "I already have a lot." Yoongi said quietly when Jimin looked at him in confusion. "You should take some home too."

Jimin smiled brightly, giggling as he gathered his new treats to go put in his backpack. "That was really sweet of you, Yoongi." Seokjin praised, and if he noticed the way the pup ducked his head to hide his pink cheeks, he didn't say anything.