Scarred(A Jikook x OC Werewolf AU)

Chapter 15

"In that case, I agree. That's not fair, especially if the extra work stresses him out," she says, a pout making itself present on her lips.

"Eh, he'll do what's best for him I suppose. If not, he'll always have us to keep him grounded," Jimin says, his happier tone lifting the mood.

"Of course. I'll be there in any way I can," MiMi says, standing on the other side of him once they got onto the sidewalk.

It seems that she'd done it without thinking, but it the small act of protection still made Jimin's heart flutter in his chest.

"The library isn't too far from here. It's that big building down there," he says, pointing down the street.

"That's much bigger than I expected for a library," she says, in awe of its size.

"This is the central library. It's where all seven packs' histories are kept. They chose our quadrant because of the size of the building and the fact that Mrs. Kim is a historian," he informs.

"She's a historian too? Wow, is everyone here incredibly smart?" She asks and he scoffs.

"Psh, no. They were just smart enough to put all the smart people in charge," he says, making her laugh.

He pushes the door open for her to go through and she looks around in awe when she steps inside. It was just as grand inside, shiny cherry wood and wrought iron fixtures everywhere. There were plenty of windows letting natural light into the space and from what she could see, there were 3 floors. The space smelled of books, a unique scent that could only be described as that.

She knew who Namjoon's mom was before Jimin even pointed her out—her height and the fact that Namjoon looked just like her giving her away. Mimi watched as she sniffed the air a little before turning around with a smile on her face.

"Jimin-ah, hello. Oh—this must be your other mate," she smiles, turning around to face both of them.

"Hi Mrs. Kim. This is Mi-Cha, our new mate," he says, introducing them.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you," MiMi smiles before bowing in greeting.

"Likewise! What brings you two here? The kids are out of school right now so the "Read with Me" program wont be back until January," she says.

"Oh, no we're not here for that today. Although, I'd love to sign up again in January. Mimi actually wants to ask you a few questions if you don't mind. I'll watch the front desk if you need me to," he says, making her smile.

"Sure, of course. You can come with me to my office for privacy," she says and Mimi nods, following her.

"Thank you for taking time out of your day. I hope I'm not intruding," she says and the woman assures her she's not.

"Not at all. The library isn't very busy this time of year," she assures, sitting behind a large mahogany desk and motioning for Mi-Cha to sit in one of the seats in front of it.

"If we had a library like this on my lands, I would've  lived there," MiMi says, making her giggle.

"So it's safe to assume you like books? Are you looking for a job because we could really use the help. My husband and I run this place alone save for a few volunteers like Jimin-ah who come in and read to the kids and help us organize sometimes," she says.

Mimi smiles as the thought. Jimin is such a kind hearted person that she could practically picture him putting a smile on those childrens' faces as he interacted with them. It's hard to interact with him and not smile.

"That's not why I came today, but I'd love to work here," she says sincerely excited as the idea.

A job would make her feel more independent and maybe she could help with the bills, which she highly doubts JK would let her do now that she thinks about it. At the very least, she could buy them gifts as well as things she wants for herself without having to ask either of them for money. Now that the opportunity is here, she realizes that it's something she wants more than she realized.

"Oh? It seems I've jumped the gun. Let me not get ahead of myself then. What do you need dear?" She asks, her kind tone reminding Mimi of Namjoon.

"No, no. It's perfectly fine. Um, Jeongguk and I were talking this morning and I asked him if there were any female alphas in the pack. He told me about you and the other one, and I immediately wanted to talk to you about it—maybe for guidance? Yeah, guidance. I—I am clueless when it comes to this wolf stuff. I grew up with a pack, not in one and female wolves were treated like objects there. I guess I'm struggling with falling into my role. I want to be a good alpha to my mates and to this pack, but I have not the slightest idea how to do that," she sighs after making the vulnerable confession.

"Oh honey, you know more than you've given yourself credit for. The fact that you want to be a good alpha for your mates and this pack speaks volumes. It lets me know that you're selfless, which is one of the most important qualities in an alpha in my opinion. The fact that you grew up in that horrible place and you can see their wrongdoings is a good sign as well. That tells me that you're honest and empathetic—two more amazing qualities. The way you interact with Jimin...you almost sort of shield him, which shows that your protective instincts are there. What exactly did you need help with again? You seem to be doing fine to me," Mrs. Kim says, clasping her hands together on her desk and smiling warmly at her.

Mimi sits stumped, processing everything she'd just said. Save from shielding Jimin, which she didn't even know she was doing, everything else was just the bare minimum qualities of being a good person.

"Is that all it takes? Being a good person?" She asks.

"I know it's hard to wrap your head around, but yes. Those qualities make you a good alpha. What else would you need?" Mrs. Kim asks.

"I don't know, maybe training of some sort? I've always gotten the impression that alphas are protectors and should be physically strong and leader like you know? Seeing as I've only encountered men, I was wondering if the same was expected of female alphas," she says.

"MiCha-sii, I think this is another stereotype you've encountered with your old pack. They seem rather...outdated. Things work a bit differently here. There are protectors—alpha, beta, and omega alike here that are our first line of defense if anyone were to attack. Most of them are on the police force and are trained to do so. Our society understands that not every alpha—or wolf in general, will act the same and therefore may not be comfortable fitting those very traditional roles and ideals. Your role is whatever you want to make it regardless of gender. You could be anything from a homemaker to a librarian and nobody will care," Mrs. Kim shrugs and Mimi sits there mind blown.

She just couldn't wrap her head around this level of freedom when structure was all she knew. So she was just supposed to exist? Well that made her feel even more lost. If she didn't have a role to fulfill, what was her purpose?

"You look like you're at odds. Don't get me wrong. MiCha-ssi. Some wolves are more comfortable filling those traditional roles. Your Jeongguk is a good example. He has all the qualities of a "traditional" alpha and fits the role quite well don't you think? Maybe you're more like him and that's perfectly okay. Don't overthink the gender roles. A good example would be my husband and I. He's a beta, but his personality is more "alpha like."Most times, I'm perfectly fine with letting him take the lead. He's more than capable. However, if there's a threat, my instincts tend to take over and he's fine with that too. We do what's comfortable for us," Mrs. Kim states, putting things into perspective for her.

She did feel the need to fulfill that role. She supposes it may stem from being being deemed weak and helpless damned near all her life, but it was there nonetheless; and she felt it stronger than she ever had today while she was alone with Jimin. The need to protect was always in the forefront of her mind, but she wanted to be sure that she was actually capable of doing so if a problem were to arise. Now that things are clearer for her, she realizes that it's JK...and maybe her therapist that she should talk to next.

"Thank you so much for putting things into perspective for me Mrs. Kim," she says sincerely and the alpha across from her gives her a knowing look.

"Anytime honey. Now about that job..." she says and they both laugh.

"I'm definitely still interested," Mimi grins.

Things may not be entirely in place for her, but they were getting there little by little and that was good enough for her.