Parfait

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Pre-rut was miserable. Not just for Hoseok, either, though he obviously had it the worst; the other six alphas were on edge, and it seemed to be from sheer empathy. There had yet to be any sign of that musky scent that accompanied a true rut. Once that happened the alphas would be even more restless, but at least the end would be in sight.

Hana was doing everything she could to help, on every front. She had urged the maknae line to get out of the house for a while, even if it was just to the company building, although they only went after she scented them thoroughly. With her blessing Namjoon had left next on a bike ride, after announcing Hoseok's latest hot flash had passed and he had fallen asleep. Seokjin had ordered more groceries than Hana knew what to do with, but for starters the two of them had both hearty soup and plain porridge simmering on the stove to satisfy whatever type of appetite their patient could summon. And Yoongi had his laptop at the kitchen island- he never worked outside his room, but Hana would not dare point out the difference, in case it made him retreat again. He needed to be closer to his pack, and she preferred having him there as well.

Miyoung appeared least affected out of the entire household, to the point that Seokjin mentioned it while he was putting more ice packs in the freezer. But Hana quickly shut down the complaining. "Oppa, can't you tell she's agitated?" she pointed out quietly, making sure the conversation didn't travel to the living room where the subject was currently scrolling through her phone. "She just doesn't know what to do about it. Earlier she went to put up my new clothes and ended up reorganizing my whole side of the closet for me. Now she keeps flitting around the apartment looking for distractions."

"I hadn't noticed," Jin admitted. "What can we do?"

"That, I don't know," Hana sighed. "She and I argued yesterday before I came home, and we haven't talked much since. I think helping with my clothes is supposed to be a peace offering of some kind, but I'm still annoyed and I don't want to say something mean."

"Say what you want," Yoongi piped up, startling Hana since she had not even realized he could hear them. He had his headphones on, but there must not have been music playing at the moment. "Whatever you did yesterday worked enough that she's trying to make amends today. Do it again."

"That's not how omegas work," Hana reminded him. "I need to be careful."

"Yeah? And here I thought you didn't like bullshit." The alpha shrugged and went back to his screen.

She was saved from having to confront that thought by Hoseok emerging into the kitchen, hair tousled and eyes puffy from sleep. He gravitated to her like a magnet and buried his face in her neck, breathing deeply of her scent. Seokjin was watching closely, nostrils flared for the slightest sign of musk, but Hoseok peeled himself away quickly. "That was not a good nap," he grumbled, and he did in fact look worse than before his so-called rest. "Where did Joon go?"

"Just to get some fresh air," Hana answered, smoothing down his wild hair. She was definitely seeing a new side to Hobi in this state. He was grumpy, quiet, and clingy not just to her but the other alphas too; Jungkook had said that Hoseok before a rut was a lot like Hoseok while drinking, quite the opposite of what one would expect from his normally loud and colorful personality. "Do you think you could eat something?"

"Mm, sure, soup smells good," he said, and Seokjin hurried to dish up a bowl.

Once Hoseok was settled in with his meal, Hana intended to go take care of chores. Things like laundry were going to feel inconsequential when he was in rut and she planned to get ahead. Instead he grasped her skirt and tugged her towards him. "Don't go," he whined, looping an arm around her waist. "Hobi needs you."

She was going to tell him no, despite how much she actually wanted to curl up in his lap and cuddle, but she was interrupted. "Hana needs to come with me," Miyoung told him. Hoseok frowned at her and his lip twitched as if he was contemplating a growl, but Hana patted him on the shoulder and he relaxed a little and let go of her. His hands curled around his warm bowl of soup instead, and Yoongi drew him into a quiet conversation to further distract him as the omegas left.