Yoongi's tale
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Taehyung was unable to get the young omega out of his head. Day and night, he was thinking about him and how disappointed he sounded when he told Taehyung he belonged here.
Even though Taehyung wanted to belong here, he couldn't help but feel disappointed with himself too. As if belonging to the pack was really something bad.
Jungkook had way too much influence on him and Taehyung had no idea why. It was annoying. He knew he wanted to be here but at the same time, he also wanted to run away with Jungkook. Which was obviously not possible. Jungkook was already someone else's. Taehyung shouldn't think about the younger that way. But it was nearly impossible to get him out of his head when Taehyung could smell Jungkook almost everywhere in the packhouse.
The only place that didn't reek ofJungkook's pheromones was the alphas' gym. It quickly became a habit of Taehyung to come here when the omega's smell became too overwhelming for him.
"You're here again," Yoongi remarked when he saw Taehyung lazily jogging on the treadmill. Sweat flowed down on his toned muscles like waterfalls. He had been here for more than two hours and if he hadn't dreaded Jungkook's seductive scent he would have gone back to his room to rest a long time ago. He was tired, but he wanted to keep his mind clear. And he couldn't if Jungkook constantly repeated the same things over and over again in his head.
You belong here.
"You come a lot lately." Taehyung saw from the corner of his eye that Yoongi stood on the treadmill next to his and started to walk slowly. The older kept his gaze on the display but he was still talking to Taehyung. "You were here yesterday too. You should take it a bit easier, you'll hurt yourself otherwise."
Taehyung was a little surprised by Yoongi's concern but decided not to ruin the moment by commenting on it. He also reduced his speed to walking pace and glanced at the other alpha. "This is the only place where I don't feel like I'm losing my mind."
Yoongi pushed some random buttons on the display before turning his face towards Taehyung. "Losing your mind? Why?"
Yoongi was an alpha too so Taehyung thought he had the same troubles with Jungkook. He assumed that Yoongi was also suffering from the omega's scent but the other obviously had no idea what Taehyung was talking about.
"Jungkook," Taehyung said but it still didn't click anything in Yoongi's head. "His scent drives me crazy. I can smell him even in my own room. Don't you smell him too?"
There was still a week until Yoongi's wedding, which meant that he was still an unmated alpha just like Taehyung. He should have felt the same way. But Yoongi shook his head.
"I do smell him when he's nearby but I don't think his scent is so powerful to control me. Maybe you're just more sensitive because you're a trueblood."
Taehyung hummed at that. "Maybe. But I still don't know what to do against it. It makes me want to go to him."
Recently, Taehyung has roamed around the building aimlessly, trying to detect the owner of the scent. He went to the playroom several times, but Jungkook was never there. He always stayed in his room.
He didn't leave it for days, which made it really difficult for Taehyung to apologize. His instincts told him to beg Jungkook for forgiveness. And even though Taehyung still thought he did nothing wrong, he was ready to do that. It just felt like he had to. He was restless knowing the omega was angry at him.
So the other day, he gathered his courage and knocked on the door of Jungkook's room.
The only thing he didn't expect was that Jungkook wasn't the only one who lived there. After knocking, the door was opened by Hoseok. The alpha blinked at Taehyung in surprise, who stared back at him with a similar blow on his face. They were both shocked, though it made sense for Jungkook and Hoseok to move together after their engagement. But somehow Taehyung didn't think of that.
"Tae, hey!" Hoseok revealed his famous smile after he recovered from his shock. "What are you doing here?"
Taehyung stretched his neck as he tried to steal a glance into the room over Hoseok's shoulder. The alpha made sure to stand in the way of Taehyung's vision, but it wasn't like Taehyung actually needed visual confirmation. Jungkook's pheromones were so strong that Taehyung was sure he was inside. And where else would he have been? Jungkook practically never left his room.
"I came to talk to Jungkook," Taehyung said, unaware of the fact that this might be the worst thing he could say.
Hoseok's smile turned into a frown in a matter of seconds. He arched his eyebrows at Taehyung. "Jungkook? Why?"
In retrospect, Taehyung couldn't prescribe his next move anything other than utterly stupid. Because he said the truth. "I offended him the other day and I want to apologize."
"You talked to Jungkook? When?" Hoseok's interest was maybe a little bit weird but Taehyung didn't pay much attention to that as he answered.
"Oh, just the other day. On Wednesday, I guess. Just after his lesson was over with the Luna."
As Taehyung was busy recalling the memory of their short-lived conversation, he didn't notice how Hoseok's face darkened at the information.
"He's not here," the alpha said curtly and the next thing Taehyung noticed was the door shut to his face. Hoseok was obviously lying, no one could fool Taehyung's nose but he didn't question it.
He just sighed that his plan was unsuccessful. He really wanted to get rid of that uneasy feeling that had plagued him since that day. But he couldn't do anything against Hoseok. He was his superior after all. Who was Taehyung to question the truth of his words?
He debated whether to knock again or not before he got distracted by a familiar voice.
"Tae!" Jimin happily waved at him from the end of the corridor, swaying a bunch of papers in his hand.
Jimin stood in front of his own door, which was only a few meters away from Jungkook's room. Taehyung looked at the papers curiously as he got closer to the beta.
"I'm glad I ran into you. I need help," he blinked up at Taehyung with pleading eyes. "I can't decide whether to use lavender or rose for wedding decoration."
Taehyung lightly chuckled at his friend's misery. "Isn't Yoongi the one who you should ask?"
"You think Yoongi cares about flowers?" Jimin rolled his eyes. As for Taehyung, he wasn't particularly interested in flowers either, but he took a look at the drafts nevertheless. If his fiancé was not helping him, at least the bestman should give him some advice.
He carefully examined the designs when a sudden noise startled both of them. They turned around and saw that the door of Jungkook's and Hoseok's room flew open, revealing a fuming Hoseok.
The alpha stomped out of the room, followed by a crying Jungkook. The omega tried to grab his shirt and pull him back but Hoseok escaped from his grasp every time.
"Please Hobi," Jungkook's faint voice resonated through the whole corridor. Beside Taehyung and Jimin, who were already standing there providing an unwelcomed audience for them, a few other doors opened too, random werewolves peeking outside to see what's going on.
"It's not what you think it is," Jungkook sobbed and Taehyung felt his heart breaking at the sight. Hoseok on the other hand didn't seem affected by Jungkook's tears at all.
He glared at the omega. "Oh, so it's not about you lying to my face? I asked you where you were that day and you said you went to see the pups. But you were with Taehyung!"
Jungkook certainly had nothing to say to this as he just kept on crying uncontrollably. Taehyung felt guilty. They were fighting because of him. He wanted to go there and say that what happened between him and Jungkook was nothing to worry about, but a grip on his arm stopped him. He looked back and saw Jimin slowly shaking his head as a warning.
"W-we didn't do anything," Jungkook choked out with difficulty and Hoseok only scoffed at that.
"And you expect me to believe that when you already lied to me about him? Save it, Jungkook." He ripped the younger's arms off of his body and turned around to walk away but Jungkook ran after him again.
"Wait, I'm sorry!" But it wasn't enough for Hoseok.
"And I don't care!" Hoseok yelled back before leaving Jungkook alone in the corridor. The blonde omega stared in the direction where his fiancé disappeared for quite some time before turning around and going back to his room again without sparing a single glance at the wolves around him.
Taehyung watched the boy leaving and his attention didn't miss that Jungkook's previous tears were nowhere to be seen anymore. He didn't sniff, and his eyes looked dry too. As if he hadn't even cried just a few minutes ago.
"He puts on an act," Jimin said, voicing out Taehyung's thoughts. "Hobi is just as possessive as any alpha could get over their omega. It is only worse that Jungkook is the only omega here, locked together with a bunch of unmated alphas. It's natural that Hobi feels frustrated because he can't claim Jungkook. So Jungkook always acts like this, whiny and vulnerable to make Hobi feel like the big guy, or I don't know."
"You speak like you have seen them doing this a lot." Taehyung glanced at Jungkook's now closed door.
"Because they do this a lot. On a daily basis," Jimin rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You'll see."
And Jimin wasn't exaggerating when he said that. A few days later, Taehyung noticed an empty chair next to his own being pulled out and the next second, Hoseok was already sitting at their table.
He was just enjoying his late dinner with Jimin and Yoongi like every other day when the alpha just sat down. Not only Taehyung but also Yoongi and Jimin were surprised by his presence because Hoseok, just like Jungkook, never ate in the dining hall.
The alpha groaned wearily as he stretched weakly in his chair. Taehyung's mouth was full of spaghetti but it was fine that way, he wouldn't have known what to say anyway. Since he saw Jungkook and Hoseok quarreling, he hadn't met the alpha. And it was intentional, he actually avoided him.
On the other side of the table, Jimin and Yoongi shared a knowing look before turning back their attention to their food.
They didn't even have to ask anything because Hoseok started talking on his own.
"Jungkook's being a brat," he let out a heavy sigh. He didn't let them ask any questions, not like Jimin or Yoongi wanted to. He straightened his back as he sat up properly and started to complain. "He said he doesn't want to spend his heat with me. Like what the hell?! Who else would he spend it with? I'm his mate!"
He huffed in annoyance. "Can you believe him?"
"And it's not like it's my choice," Hoseok continued, looking at Jimin and Yoongi. The couple didn't seem interested in Hoseok's problem at all but that didn't discourage him to ramble further. "The Head Alpha and the Luna want us to do it. I can't disobey them. Jungkook shouldn't disobey them either!"
Taehyung silently munched on his pasta until this point, not really wanting to get involved with their drama but hearing this, he couldn't stop himself asking.
"Can Jungkook disobey them?" Omegas were famously submissive. There was a rumor that an alpha just have to look at them and they would willingly spread their legs for them. And Head Alphas were even more dominant than normal alphas. Obeying shouldn't have been a decision for Jungkook, he should have been obedient by nature.
Hoseok looked at Taehyung as if he had just noticed that he was here too. Ever since Jungkook's innocent lie was revealed, the alpha has been noticeably brittle with Taehyung. The smiling sunshine who greeted him so excitedly on his first day was nowhere anymore. Instead, possessive jealous alpha was in his place.
Although Hoseok didn't say anything, Taehyung felt that he was annoyed. Maybe he still hadn't gotten over that his omega was in the same room as the trueblood, though Taehyung didn't understand what was so bad about it. They were just talking. And it wasn't even a nice conversation.
Whether Hoseok was really disturbed by Taehyung's presence or not, never turned out as the alpha didn't mention it. He only answered the question with an even more annoyed face. "You see, Jungkook's not a normal omega. For some reason, he could easily say no to me or to his dad. And he's saying no right now which is so fucking frustrating!"
"Maybe he's just not ready to have kids yet," Taehyung said, thinking back to Jungkook's and the Luna's conversation. The Luna was pressuring Jungkook to get pregnant and the omega didn't seem happy about it. "He's still young. You can understand."
But Hoseok didn't look like he understood. Rather he looked like he could choke Taehyung to death. Maybe he would have done it if the door of the dining hall hadn't opened and a crying Jungkook hadn't rushed in.
Jungkook's huge bambi eyes frantically searched for Hoseok. When the boy finally spotted the alpha, he ran to them instantly.
Taehyung knew Jungkook wasn't in such a hurry because of him, yet his heart missed a beat as he watched the boy's blond strands dancing in the air. Jungkook wore ripped jeans and a white oversized hoodie that made him look smaller than he actually was. He looked adorable as his eyes gleamed with tears and as his puffy cheeks were decorated with a light blush.
He felt something breaking in himself as Hoseok got up from the table and greeted the omega with a warm hug. Jungkook didn't stop crying even after burying his face deep into Hoseok's chest. For a while, they just stood there, locked in each other's arms, not dealing with the curious wolves around them.
Then Jungkook looked up, his voice was softer than Taehyung ever heard before. "I'm sorry, Hobi. Of course, there's no one else I want to spend this time with. Only with you."
From the corner of his eye, Taehyung saw Jimin fake gagging and Yoongi shooting him by drawing circles on his back. Taehyung also found the scene cringing, but Jungkook seemed to know very well what he was doing. Hoseok liked weak omegas and Jungkook was just acting like one. He was nothing like the raging boy in the playroom a couple of days ago.
He looked fragile, innocent, and vulnerable. Everything an omega should be and everything that Jungkook wasn't in reality.
He leaned down and planted a small kiss on the omega's forehead. "It's okay, Kookie. Let's go back to our room."
And that wasn't the only case. Taehyung soon learned that the relationship between Jungkook and Hoseok was the favorite topic of the pack. They were like a celebrity couple. The wolves were dying to hear some juicy gossip about them. So even if Taehyung didn't witness it in person, he always found out if something had happened between the two.
And it always followed the same scheme. Hoseok got jealous over something stupid, they got into a fight, and Jungkook ran after him crying his eyes out, begging Hoseok to forgive him. At those times, Jungkook always behaved completely differently than usual. Taehyung had to admit that Jimin was right. Jungkook was acting like a whiny omega on purpose. Just for Hoseok to forgive him faster.
"Or maybe it's because he's in heat and his pheromones are stronger now," Yoongi said, pulling Taehyung back from his tangled memories.
The trueblood was so lost in his thoughts that he had completely forgotten where he was. Yoongi's voice hit him unexpectedly and he almost tripped on his own leg in fright. Luckily, he managed to regain his balance in time and didn't fly off the treadmill.
"How do you know?" He looked at the older.
"Jimin is in charge to compile the daily schedules and Hoseok asked him to delete his name from every duty as he will spend his time with Jungkook."
"Oh..." Taehyung had already noticed the strange feeling the omega had left behind in his chest each time they met, but knowing what Hoseok and Jungkook might be doing now raised a new kind of pain in his heart. Taehyung had a nice guess of what it was but refused to acknowledge it.
He shouldn't feel this way. No, he mustn't feel this way.
"Then I hope it will go away soon," Taehyung said instead and Yoongi nodded.
"Or you just have to spend some time with him and you won't want to be in the same room with him ever again," Yoongi offered as a joke but Taehyung didn't get it. He already spent time with the younger but he didn't think that Jungkook was annoying or anything.
This wasn't the first time Yoongi or Jimin had made a sour remark about Jungkook. They constantly made kind of inner jokes that Taehyung never understood.
Something must have happened between them. Or they hated him because he was an omega. Many other wolves spoke about him in a disgusting way, Jimin and Yoongi would not have been the only ones.
"Why exactly do you hate him so much?" Taehyung asked as he reached out for his water bottle. He saw Yoongi doing the same.
"I don't hate him," the older corrected, removing the cap from the bottle and taking a huge sip. Taehyung silently watched as Yoongi's Adam's apple danced along with the swallows, waiting for him to explain it better. Because sure as hell that he didn't like Jungkook either. "He's going to be our Luna. I can't hate him."
Taehyung rolled his eyes at that. Of course, that was what he was expected to say, but the boy was curious about his real feelings. "Okay, but you don't like him either! Is it because he's an omega?"
Yoongi just made a face that looked like he has eaten something bad and was about to throw up. "No, personally, I don't have any problem with omegas. And Jungkook is nothing like those whiny bitches they showed us when we were young."
The Jeon pack took discrimination against omega very seriously. They raised their werewolves to hate them. They've even made an educational film about them, how incompetent and useless they are, and how they just hinder evolution. Omegas are a step back in development.
That's why it was so surprising that there was one here. Of course, Jungkook had royal blood that couldn't just be wasted, and with Junghyun's miss, he remained the only chance to keep the Jeon bloodline alive. Everyone was aware of this, everyone knew why Jungkook was allowed to stay here.
As for Taehyung, he didn't have a problem with omegas either. Especially not with Jungkook, who was different in every way possible. He was interesting. He was captivating. He was addicting.
"Then what?" he pushed the topic further, not having the slightest idea why anyone would hate Jungkook. It seemed impossible to Taehyung.
Yoongi stopped his treadmill and turned to fully face Taehyung. He pressed his lips together as he was deep in thoughts.
"Jungkook made sure to push everyone away," Yoongi finally revealed in a sad tone. "When Jungkook turned 12 and turned out to be an omega, everyone was shocked. His parents, his brother, the whole pack. It didn't make sense. It still doesn't, actually. But the one who was indisposed the most was Jungkook. We didn't see him for days after the announcement, he locked himself in his room and didn't let anyone in."
Taehyung could imagine the situation perfectly. Jungkook didn't really leave his room now either. Only if he really had to.
Yoongi's whole body language held something sorrowful as he recalled those dark memories. He unconsciously lowered his gaze to the bottle in his hand. His fingers played restlessly on the plastic.
"It was fine," he sighed and a safe smile crept its way to his face. "We wanted to give him time. But we were there for him. We wanted to help him to feel better. But he didn't let us."
Yoongi shook his head sadly. "There were a lot of things going around at that time. The hacking and Junghyun's betrayal distracted almost everyone. Probably Jungkook was upset because his brother became a traitor."
He put down the bottle and looked into Taehyung's eyes again. A dry chuckle left his lips, followed by a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "By the time we realized, Jungkook was already on the market. The alphas lined up to be his husband, but not because they liked him. Everyone wanted to gain power. And through Jungkook, they could easily reach it."
Yoongi's voice was full of disagreement. If if the thought of random guys taking advantage of Jungkook's position would have disgusted him. In spite of that fact that he declared that he didn't like the boy.
"He suddenly became rigid and haughty," Yoongi continued with a sigh. "He claimed that Hobi and I just wanted the Head Alpha position from him, and he didn't talk to the others anymore. I know he went through a difficult time but his behavior was unnecessary. I thought we were friends. I thought he knew we just wanted to help. But his actions showed that he never thought of us as friends. Slowly but surely, he pushed us away."
Although Yoongi's tale explained a valid reason why not to be friends with Jungkook anymore, Taehyung could also fully understand Jungkook's perspective. It must have been hard for him too. His whole life turned upside down in a matter of days.
But there was still something that wasn't right in the story and that drew a thick line between Taehyung's eyebrows. "But what about Hobi?"
Yoongi got off the treadmill but never left the trueblood's side. "Hoseok was more determined than the rest of us. He said that Jungkook is just broken but he can be fixed. So he swallowed the incredible amount of insults Jungkook threw at our heads at the time and tried persistently. It worked because even though Hoseok never applied to be his fiancé, Jungkook still wanted him. I don't know if they are really in love but they surely love and care for each other."
Taehyung didn't understand what was the difference between love and being in love. Maybe he was just too young. Or maybe the reason was that he has never loved anyone before. But he didn't ask anything as Yoongi still wasn't done talking.
"Ever since Jungkook chose Hoseok, Hobi has become more distant too. It's like Jungkook digests him and just wants him for himself. Hobi no longer hangs out with us and only comes to us if he had a fight with Jungkook. I don't think this is was true friendship is."
Before the younger could have said anything, Yoongi added with a dark hint in his voice. "Jungkook is toxic. You better stay away from him."
Although his instincts told him otherwise, Taehyung fully agreed with the alpha. It's best to stay away from Jungkook. However, it wasn't that simple.