#before level 83 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

hollyhomburg · 14 days ago

Text

Before I Leave You (Pt.83)

(Omegaverse au, Mafia au, Bts x Reader)

Summary: soulmate bonds come in many shapes- like matching tattoos, picking the same house color, and mating bites... but those are no big deal right?

Tags: Hurt/comfort, Angst, Fluff, Discussions of past trauma, the good type of crying, lots of bickering, an attempt at humor brief blood, mating bites, discussion of asexual episodes/coping mechanisms, slight d/s undertones, tae calls herself mommy exactly one time, scent kink, jungkook gets really into the way the m/c smells post work out but it's like a hot omega thing,

W/c: 16.9k

A/n: i know i say this all the time, but...i'm about to go through some very adverse life events like...geumjae coming back to life in bily level bad. so any love and encouragement you can throw my way over the next few weeks would be greatly appreciated. It's been a moment since i've updated bily! i've been working on another series too- hold your breath and count to seven, if you've ever wanted to see what hobi would be like as a pack alpha- i think you'll like it alot.

Previous part- Masterlist - First part

The moon is high in the sky crooked like Hobi's smile. The sound of crickets litters the tall grass, and the peepers across the way make for pleasant background noise. Moths buzz around the streetlight.

Summer is here and in full swing. Is it August or July? Does it matter at all when summer always feels like this, always tastes like lemonade and sunshine? The air heavy with anticipation and sweetness. Sand and seashells are piled on the porch railing in an orderly little line. Treasures that didn't quite make it inside. One of Namjoon's books propped on a nearby pillow, next to a wine glass and a discarded near empty container of sunscreen.

Noodle sits on the stone wall, tail wagging, pink collar catching the light from the living room, the kitchen, and upstairs. Every light in the house is on.

The pack has taken to hanging curtains on the porch to keep the pollen out and off of the furniture, they stand still in the lack of breeze. Hobi's big Boston ferns hang between the translucent fabric. And the whole space has this light and airy, almost fantasy-like atmosphere with Jungkook's fairy lights and Tae's pink outdoor furniture. Now put to bed, unfilled under the cover of darkness.

Noodle's eyes narrow at the fireflies hovering over Hobi's garden beds. Overflowing with winding tomatoes, heavy and sweet. its that stage of summer where the garden is giving you so much that honestly it's more of a daily hassle to go out and pick everything. but still you do- going out with him after he gets back from the flower shop in the afternoons, a wire basket on your hip or a long skirt pulled up in lew of a basket.

Noodles tail flicks as he watches.

You and Hoseok burst out onto the porch when the thunder of footsteps. Noodle scatters with a belabored yowl. The curtains ripple with your movement. Giggles stifled behind hands, your hand in his, him pulling you along, down the steps and over the stones, shoes untied because you’d pulled them on in a hurry.

“Hurry! Before they figure it out!”

Maybe it’s just your imagination, but you swear you almost hear something when you start the car. Maybe just Namjoon’s concerned tone from upstairs as you escape unnoticed. Hoseok backs out sloppily, almost hitting your mailbox while you click your seatbelt. Half falling over the center console in your giggles.

He reaches over to take your hand in his and lifts it to his mouth as he turns out of your street one-handed. Smile stretching against your skin.

Hoseok always looks particularly good at nighttime. The way that the shadows wrap around his face makes him look elegant and mysterious. You love his smile lines, his tousled hair, and the crack of his giggle in the air. Everything.

You love everything about him, you tell him. The back of your hand still pressed to his lips.

“I love you. Don’t make it weird.” He licks the back of your hand in reply “gah!” you squirm trying to pull your hand away but his grip on you only strengthens. face cracking into a smile as you squirm and try and get your hand back.

"This is mine now."

He’s just turning down the steep hill when he realizes, letting go of your hand to pat his right side, then the other. “Ah fuck- forgot my wallet.”

“I’ve got mine.” You say, holding up the fluffy bunny purse shoved in the middle pocket of his sweatshirt. The same one that Jimin and Tae gave you on your first date so long ago. Its ears flop in the wind, the windows down to let in the nighttime air.

“Need my ID for this.”

“Oh? Yeah, you might be right…”

You’ve cut your hair shorter for summer. Hoseok likes it, you and Tae are opposites now, you with short hair and her with long. Hoseok tugs on one of the locks as he turns. By the time he rolls to a smooth stop in front of the house you stiffen.

Yoongi is already waiting there tapping his foot. Noodle by his side and curling around his ankle, looking mad at himself for the affection or maybe at you for startling him. Tail flicking agitated.

He's in his matching pj's, a black and white gingham top and bottom, a translucent face mask over his face, a bowl of Oreo ice cream in one hand, and Hoseok’s wallet in the other.

You roll to a stop in front of him, both of you grinning uneasily. Yoongi doesn't make any expression, just blinks at both of you. Substantially unimpressed.

You grin at him, and he leans his elbows on the window.

“Jin says if you don’t text him photos when you’re done, he’s gonna throw a fit and will pout. And yes- that is a threat.” Yoongi hands you Hobi's wallet. He leans through the open window of Hobi's car, kissing your temple. “Have fun, make sure you watch them open the needles.”

Hoseok leans close too, front pressed to your back, able to because he hasn’t buckled himself into his seat yet. And gets the same forehead kiss treatment, too. His forehead comes away glossy from the serum from Yoongi’s facemask. You scrub at your forehead, and Yoongi playfully swipes his thumb over either of your cheeks, leaving a cool film in his wake.

"Gah! You are like- such a snail!"

"Have fun," he says, a smile crinkling the damp fabric of the facemask at your affronted expression. "Be safe!"

And with that, you and Hoseok are off again, hurtling (going the speed limit) past your town and beside the train tracks, on and on, the red car cutting through the empty streets. The base is pumping. You both sing along to your new favorites, your old favorites, and Yoongi’s favorites too. You stop at your all-night diner for food but it's not your final destination.

Hobi gets out to get the food for you, and you feed him bites as you hurtle into the city past the line where suburbia blurs and big steel buildings ebb and flow until they go brick.

A third separate bag in the center glove compartment, crinkling with crispy french fries. Uneaten and mostly untouched because it's not for either of you.

You drop a bit of cheese sauce onto the seat, and Hobi raises an eyebrow at you. But the car is already been showing signs of you two and has for months. This is your spot, it's your bathing suit in the back seat, and there's a whole bunch of shells and sea glass rattling around in the glove compartment. There's so much sand in the car that it's almost not worth trying to vacuum it out.

"Give me another bite." You feed him obediently, smiling at him.

He does go 5 over, but that’s because you have an appointment to keep. It’s not all instant. The spontaneity of this is sort of planned. You have text on your phone confirming that you’re cleared to come in at any time tonight until 3am, and it’s not even passed 8.

A few nights ago, you and Hobi were staying up late, in the bed downstairs that Tae recovered in, the room that you have started to really consider hers now instead of yours and Yoongi's because of how much it's changed. An errant packmate still sleeps down there sometimes, like when Namjoon has a really early surgery and doesn't want to worry about waking you up or someone else needs a bit of space or wants to go to bed late or wants to pairs up. The upstairs can get pretty crowded sometimes, and Jimin especially sometimes needs a breather with all his sensory issues.

The bedspread changed from blue to pink, the old green floral wallpaper is in the process of being changed out for something a little less dark to go with Tae's vanity. While you liked the old vintage ness of it when it was your and Yoongi’s room, Tae is really truly making it her own. The IKEA makeup organization system has overtaken one wall. Each of the drawers is labeled in Jin's neat handwriting (this year for Christmas, you might just get him a label maker.)

She even added a gauzy little bed canopy, the fabric hangs pink and close. It sort of feels like a permanent pillow fort with the way that it makes the light feel close and warm.

Jungkook has put up glow-in-the-dark stars here. Since the sealings upstairs are just too high for him to reach without a ladder. Everyone had been firmly against the idea. Now you hold your hand up to them, wiggling your fingers and blurring your eyes. They must be a special kind of glow-in-the-dark star because you can see them through the canopy.

Hobi is similarly sprawled next to you. one leg under the cover, the other not. Your conversation interrupted occasionally by the sound of moans and yelps and slaps from upstairs.

That’s a new thing too.

The pack had been looking over each other’s shoulders at shower time, lingering looks, and lingering hands. And while you’d spent the afternoon trading lazy kisses with Tae and Yoongi in the nesting pod downstairs the attention turning your brain to cotton. Floaty and soft. By the time the actual event rolled around you…

You hadn't been interested. Not in taking it any further than kisses and babying.

Maybe it had something to do with the omgaspace, the way that Jin had taken one look at you and sat you on the sink and proclaimed that you were ‘too little to wash up on your own.” whatever that means.

But the haze dissipated quickly after watching Tae press close to Yoongi- your mate shirtless, trapped between her and Namjoon, the three of them talking low and nuzzling. Namjoon checks her incisions every night, only this time- he gets a little handsy with it.

Daring to brush a thumb over her nipple. Humming thoughtfully and drinking in the way she arches into his touch. "How does that feel babygirl?"

"It feels tender alpha, do you think you think the sensitivity will ever go away?"

Yoongi's snorted at that, "I hope not." Tae is panting at Namjoon's touch, clearly affected. Skirt tenting with evidence of her arousal. namjoon has that slightly mean clinical air to him. You know they roleplay patients and doctors sometimes. Namjoon's not above it.

"Let's see baby, let me check again."

And you’d watched all of it, without a stirring in your gut. Hoping off the sink the second Jin deemed you’d spent long enough brushing your teeth. So had Hobi, barely looking over his shoulder at them.

You’d folded close and asked for a movie night downstairs, Yoongi had looked substantially kissed, cheeks and lips pink, eyes a little hazy when he’d popped up from where he was being nearly devoured. Realizing you're leaving. “You sure? I could come downstairs with you- I don’t need-” his face had cracked, Namjoon's mouth working at the column of his throat.

You’d simply blown a kiss over your shoulder, all but hopping on Hobi's back for a piggyback ride downstairs.

It’s a new thing. A new realization. You don’t always need to join in and be a part of whatever the pack has going on when it comes to sex. It’s something you’re still learning- to recognize when you don't want it and when you do. When you could have it but don't need it. You’d talked through with Jin and Namjoon. Desire can wax and wane, no one is more accustomed to that than they are.

well, maybe Jimin and Tae. Their sex life has ebbed and flowed multiple times over the last nearly 12 years since they first got together. Apparently they went a whole 6 months without fucking at one point. And while that seems a little extreme- it's a good thing that the pack is used to this. There are no hurt feelings or unmet expectations.

The pack goes through periods like this- where they’re fucking every day and then not at all for a few weeks or even a month. You'll always find your way back to each other. But now you relax back against the bed, the sheets freshly changed.

The nighttime calmness is cozy and enveloping. You're glad you made the choice to do this with Hobi. His body presses against your side, and when you move your hand, you touch him almost without thinking about it. Your other hand is under your cheek, legs pressed to your chest.

You’d much rather do it like this, you and Hoseok talk about your trauma, often going back and forth. Silent one moment until another thought occurs to you. Both of you curled to the side. Things are so quiet now.

There’s no fear when you wake up in the morning or when someone comes too close too quick. You don’t flinch nearly as much as you used to. The reminders, if there are any, are inadvertent. You never thought you’d ever not feel afraid to say no. It’s good that you can decide now when you want it if you want it, and how you have it with them.

You and Hobi talk about it, you always talk about it together like this. Your trauma and the way it affects you. You almost always feel better after you talk to him about it.

"They don't get that its a big deal, being able to say no and not being guilted into it, but I get it. I think you're really brave."

"There are worse things to be afraid of."

"Damn right there are."

A pint of ice cream sits empty between the two of you. The metal of his spoon makes a scraping sound against the inside of the carton. His computer forgotten buzzes with reruns of a show in the background more to fill the silence than entertain. Your bodies half curled around each other. Cuddling but only just barely.

“Do you think we’ll ever be whole again? Do you think either of us will ever heal completely? Do you think we'll ever think about things the same way as the others?” Hoseok shakes his head after a moment, pauses, and then shrugs. "Can I play with your hair?" You ask while you're waiting for him to respond.

"Sure, but no tugging." You don't tug, pulling the umber strands through your fingers again and again, it's getting a little long, but the texture is so good. He hums as you scratch over his temples.

after a good long while he replies. Eyes closed. “I’m not sure, maybe we will heal and maybe we won't. I think as long as I've got you i'll be okay." he opens his eyes, looking at you "I also think we're both already sort of healing."

You’d bitten your lip about to argue before you realize that yes, if this was still the same you from 10 months or even 4 months ago, you might have reacted differently tonight. Might have said yes just because saying no was too much trouble. Afraid of making waves and being less than pleasing.

"Also, at the risk of sounding like Tae-" you laugh and nuzzle, Hobi jerks, ticklish. "I'm gonna bite you if you keep doing that- I read something the other day."

"I love her so much," you say softly.

Hobi nods, eyes flicking from your eyes to your lips drinking in your lovestruck expression. Sweeter because he gets to see it this way. It’s not a secret how much you love Tae in fact you might rival Jimin where that’s concerned.

"I love her a lot too, she's kind of amazing, isn't she?"

Since her top surgery, there's barely been a day that she hasn't woken up glowing. Tearing through her dress collection with new vigor, dressing up with you just to go out and write at one of the coffee shops.

You've been giving a little tour of the ones in your part of town and trying to find your favorite. You're a little bit of a stickler when it comes to pastry and quality and have yet to find one you totally approve of (maybe because you won't ever be totally satisifed until you open your own).

When you close your eyes and picture her, you always think of her smiling, and that's such a change. You feel like Tae is finally happy- you've done your job. Before you'd worried that she'd never get here, never be this way.

Tae is satisfied with her body now. The dysphoria is quickly becoming a distant memory. Even if it comes back you know you'll help her through it the same way you did the first time.

"I read this thing," you scratch your fingers over Hobi's nape, and he shivers pleasantly. "That, like- you don't think the moon is broken just because it's a crescent right now- or something like that. Everything has its phase where it looks unwhole but isn't. I think we need to give it time." He hums, eyelashes fluttering as you continue to comb your fingers through his hair. “I also think that healing can look like whatever it wants for us, even if it’s just this. Just like tonight.”

“You mean saying no?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.” Hobi pauses and flips onto his stomach so that he's not looking at you upside down. “You know we haven’t fucked in like 3 weeks, right?”

“Yeah.” Your voice is atonal. Nothing about it indicates displeasure or relief. You hadn’t even noticed until the second week and had been watching him closely since then. But out of all of them, you and he are probably the most casual about it. You and him are best friends and soulmates first, lovers second.

“And that doesn’t bother me like at all. Like not one bit. Does it bother you?”

“No, in a weird way it sort of feels like-”

“Kind of good, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, like- yeah.” You bask in it. Hoseok nuzzles into your shoulder. Luxuriating in it. The feeling of choice and the realization that you don’t want it and you don’t need to have it. You know you would wake up tomorrow and say you never want to have sex again only to change your mind the next day and the pack- that Yoongi and Hobi would still believe you both mornings.

But instead of saying that, you ask, “Can we spoon? I’m feeling like really really cuddly in that omega way and you should let me cuddle you because I’m like really good at cuddling.”

"Really good, huh?" He teases, rubbing his chin over the top of your head, scenting you gently, no rush to his movements.

"Yeah, Tae gave me a 10/10 cuddle rating earlier and then Yoongi gave me a whole 11/10 and it started a whole argument between them."

“I’ll let you choose little spoon or big?”

“Big!”

He chuckles and turns around obediently. “Okay, but don’t touch my tummy.”

“Hobiii,” you drag out the last syllable, all bratty.

“I’m ticklish. And we just ate like a whole pint of ice cream.”

But you don’t, wrapping your arms around his waist and pressing your face between his shoulder blades. Your legs hooked under his, pressing into him everywhere. Hobi's eyelashes flutter, drowsy.

Now you stand behind him and similarly hold around his waist as he puts quarters into the meter. Back hugging him close, oblivious to his small smile or the looks you draw from the drunkards passing by. You didn’t even know that they made tattoo parlors that were open 24 hours, but the neon lights outside don't lie, a big cat snarling above, Neon teeth and all.

The 4-story brick buildings are all lit up. The sound of shouting and music from a bar and restaurant on either side of the street spills out. You’re not that far from a college, you think it might be the end of the semester and that's why there are so many people out and about. Someone is having a house party on a rooftop nearby; you can hear the sound of revelry from here. The streets are full of people and music, both young and old.

No one pays you any mind, the two of you in your pajamas. You wear Hobi's sweatshirt, and he wears Yoongi’s flannel. As you giggle and go inside so close that your leg brushes his as you walk. This shop is very highly recommended. Namjoon and Jin wouldn’t let you both go to the grungy one at the ocean, although it would have felt more symbolic for you both to go there.

They’d booked it out last month, but this artist is notorious for enjoying nighttime appointments and is lenient with bookings if you’re willing to meet after hours. Both you and Hobi had independently sent him your designs for each other without sharing. A secret.

The idea of getting matching tattoos has changed a little bit. Now you’ll both choose your own design for each other. You choose his and he'll choose yours, under the one condition that it was small and done with red ink- to make it more matching.

A young-looking alpha with purple hair that goes to her waist pops her bubble gum takes your name and hands over two separate bundles of paperwork.

The two of you sit side by side in plastic chairs. Your leg jumps up and down until Hobi sets his hand on it. Pen balanced between his thumb and ring finger.

“Are you sure you don’t want to know what I’m picking?”

“No! It’s got to be a surprise!”

You’re still shaking, still nervous, and Hobi brings your locked hands up to his mouth. Pressing his smile there. He doesn't second-guess you or check in again. Hobi knows you so well, he knows he doesn't have to.

The tattoo artist does a double-take when he sees both of you waiting there. "Wow you guys got here quick I only texted you like, an hour ago?" You smile and Hobi introduces himself then you, you gesture to the car behind you. The red paint job looks especially shiny tonight, reflecting the neon with narrow strips of pink and yellow. He whistles.

Hobi hands over his paperwork to you so that he can take him outside to look at it. Hobi gets in and revs the engine, never one to resist the temptation to show off. When they come back inside, the artist has your separate fast food bag in his hands.

He’s tattooed up to his ears, even some on his face, a few twining lines that look a little like smoke obscuring something by one temple, and a flower on his cheek is not obscured. He looks threatening and intimidating and would be-

If he didn’t smell like flowers.

It's one of the simpler and brighter floral scents that you've ever scented on another omega. Male omegas are this way, they can have conflicting views of appearance and masculinity. In the same way female alphas can get a little a-feminine and prone to asserting their dominance in other ways. Either with tattoos like this artist or like Jungkook with the muscles.

You chatter to him amiably about it- about Jungkook, who also wants to get tattoos. He wanted to come with you and Hobi and would have if he wasn’t completely buried in the nest upstairs.

And even then, this is kind of something that the two of you wanted to do alone.

“You’re sure about the placement on him?” He asks.

“Yeah! Totally! Our pack alpha just said no face tattoos,” you chirp, swinging your legs as he sterilizes the nearby table. Sets out two small plastic caps worth of red dye and two needles.

He smiles at you good-naturedly. “Yeah, they’re definitely not for everyone.” He winks at you, and the flower by his eye crinkles.

“Thank you for the hamburger. Not all my clients bring me food,” he says before he opens up the package of needles in front of you, the station all set up. He takes a bite before you start. His eyebrows furrow when he does it.

“Did you put french fries like? Under the burger. And-" he draws it back to look, "gummy worms?”

“Sorry, that’s just the way she likes it. You don't have to-”

The artist holds up his hand, chewing thoughtfully, “No- it’s growing on me.”

“We stopped anyway! Because you said we should eat before.”

“Yeah, you’re like really hyper. What did you even eat?”

“Don’t worry, I can stay still. Just like 2 red bulls I’m fine I just really really really don't like needles.”

He and Hoseok share a look over the top of your head. “I can hold her still too.”

“You’re sure about the red ink?”

“Yes! I know that it will fade!” That’s sort of the point, that one day your body will metabolize the pigments. When you and Hobi heard about it, you both liked the sound of it, the idea of a permanent sort of impermanence. Something that changes you, but the way that it changes you changes too.

Hobi bobs his head along to the music in his earphones- oblivious to you as you talk it through with the tattoo artist. You hold his opposite hand as the tattoo artist shaves Hobi's knuckles. He’ll go first, and you second. Both of you have decided to do it this way. Blind tattoos. Skin to skin. Ink to truth.

It doesn’t take too much time for Hobi to finish, and for it to be your turn. You’re shaking a little bit, but Hobi just grins at you and covers your eyes with the same eye mask before pulling you to sit in his lap and keep you from squirming. His hand was already covered with a black nitrile glove to hide your design until the big reveal.

The artist pauses before Hobi puts on your headphones for you.

For a moment you think he's about to say something about the scars, the matching ones that cross your palms in two lines but he doesn't.

“You’re going to feel a little sting, and then a little burn. I need you to try and be as still as possible.” You nod, and Hobi puts the headphones on your ears. Holding your fingers of your left hand in his.

Every finger but your pinky. That part the artist holds.

There’s a bit of pain; it’s sort of searing but it's not nearly as bad as you thought it would be. You can't see anything, but you fall into a sort of trance, letting Hobi maneuver you, manipulating your finger this way and that. You spend the most time with your hand palm up, The music pulsing in your ears. The ink smells…sort of nice. You’re not surprised that Hobi went for your fingers, too, although your pinky is particularly sensitive.

You almost gave him a little flower behind his ear, but didn't knowing that was secretly sort of the kind of tattoo you'd hoped he'd choose for you. There are barely 5 minutes of pain before it’s all done. The cool salve he puts on it soothes it. You’re smiling even before Hobi takes off your blindfold, a sterile glove covers your hand same as his.

"Good job! See! It wasn't that scary!"

Both of you giggle and grasp onto each other’s forearms, holding onto each other as the tattoo artist guides you both to stand in front of the mirror. You wonder what he and Hobi were talking about while you listened to the music. Whatever it was, it had Hobi smelling sweet. The tattoo artist can’t help but smile as you take off your gloves and he covers your hands with a sterile cloth.

“Alright alright,” Hobi says, holding you steady. “Three two one-” You both take off the coverings and immediately do a double take, looking from your hand to his.

“Oh, There’s no fucking way.”

“Oh my god.”

The tattoo artist shakes with laughter behind both of you. But when both of you put your hands up together-

They’re the same. You and Hobi chose roughly the same tattoo for each other. You knew you’d both gone for little hand tattoos- and had sort of realized when the pain of the needle went all around your finger that they might be similar. There are small differences, yours is on your pinky and Hoseok has his on his ring finger.

You turn your hand over, and you see that it doesn’t connect all the way around it. There’s a tiny spot in the center of the inside where the line fractures. It sort of looks like a diamond that you’d have on a deck of cards.

When Hobi turns his hand to the side and spreads his fingers there’s a little bow facing him. Hidden when he closes his fingers or looks at it from the underside. Only visible to him when he wants to show it. It looks like a red string of fate. His little red loop is right where a wedding band would sit.

There's a long pause and then Hoseok exhales. Soft and ragged, and wipes at his eyes.

“Oh Hobi.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” He clasps you to his chest, lips colliding with your forehead with a furious sort of tenderness.

“Do you like it?” He swoops you close, hissing when his finger brushes something. The skin there is tender and covered by a bit of plastic, second skin, but still sensitive. His kiss is passionate enough that he doesn’t need to answer. He turns his hand over and over again, smiling down at it. You reach up wiping away the tear on his cheek. But you know from his scent that it’s the good type of crying.

You look at yours right next to his. It’s not exactly a star and not exactly an x, but somewhere between the two. “Why did you choose it?”

“I’m not sure. I sort of had like two ideas. It kind of has a double meaning. Either one fits." Hobi looks down at it, touching the small star gently.

"Well, I hope you figured it out since it's sort of gonna be on my body forever."

"Oh my god, you are like- such a brat." You kiss him too, teeth catching his lip in a way that makes him huff. The artist has made himself scarce, but when you glance over Hobi's shoulder, you find he's peeking at you both over the edge of his almost-finished hamburger. He averts his gaze quickly, flushing at being caught watching. You're not surprised, Hobi sort of has that effect on people.

"At first, I thought of doing just a simple x like ‘x marks the spot' like buried treasure and you're my favorite spot- but." Hobi lifts your pinky up to his mouth. looking at it closely. “Then I thought of like- a star as in a wish, you know?”

He touches it gently, a layer of plastic between your hand and his. Tracing over your finger. “I think, back before you, I was always wishing there was someone in the pack who would like- understand me. I mean you know how they are, they're great, the kind of love you dream about but…”

“They can only do their best.”

“Exactly. Yoongi got close, but no one’s ever understood me like you do. I think if I was wishing for anything I was wishing for you.” You know how tangled it gets, a star, a wish, a flower. You look down at your tattoo- and oh, you like that it’s yours. A permanent mark for this person you love. For Hobi. He smiles, eyes looking from your tattoo to his, and then at your face.

“Was there a reason for mine?”

“I was thinking about it as like a string of fate you know.”

“I was thinking about yours in the same way.”

“You know, the fate you choose, the people you choose. I just liked it. I know you wanted to get these because you want to marry me, and that I’m going to marry Tae.” His scent sours just a little.

“But we’re soulmates, Hobi, we don’t need rings. But even then I wanted to give you one.” You look down at your twined hands. Eyes widen when you realize. "Wow, if we put our fingers together, it kind of looks like the string goes from my hand to yours."

"I did that," The tattoo artist says, grinning. Pulling back from his desk in his rolly chair. "Had to measure you both when you weren’t looking."

Hobi whistles low, impressed.

When you get home, Namjoon and Yoongi and Jin are all sitting on the porch trading a single mixed drink in a big 18oz mason jar back and forth between the three of them. You think it might be a Moscow mule until Yoongi hands it to you, giving you a sip.

You make a face at how much alcohol is in it. definitely rum, not vodka. "What's that weird floral taste?"

"Violet syrup, Hobi made it for us."

Hobi takes the jar from you for a sip of his own. "How'd it turn out?"

"Good!" he tries it, rolling it around in his mouth and humming thoughtfully.

"I like the lavender one better."

“How was it? Did it hurt as much as you thought it would?”

“No! not at all! He was really gentle!”

“Let us see,” “yeah show!”

Yoongi’s lips look a little pink, and you wonder what exactly they were doing with him in between the pack alpha and omega before they saw you pull up. Both you and Hobi hold out your hands for careful inspection.

“Hang on, I thought you were gonna do like? Blind tattoos?” “Yeah, what happened to picking something different for each other?”

“We tried!” “We’re just too in sync!”

“Ey, soulmates!” The five of you look up, half of Tae's body is sticking out of the upstairs window, hair billowing over her shoulders.

"Yes, my darling?" "Yeah, baby girl?" "Tae" you whine, noodle meows. Hobi still has you folded under his shoulder. Tilting his head to look up at her, winking.

"You gonna make me come up there?"

"Like you could catch me, alpha," she teases. Jimin says something from inside and Tae turns, already smiling at whatever he said.

“You guys gonna come to bed any time soon? Or are you gonna sleep outside tonight?” The pack acquiesces and heads inside for the night. Namjoon does your aftercare upstairs, and both you and Hobi sit on the counter very obediently. You wiggle your fingers in his direction holding it up to show. “What do you think, alpha?”

He squeezes Hobi's knee as he wraps his pointer fingers with second skin and Vaseline. You could have kept the wrap on that the artist gave you at the shop but namjoon wanted to make sure they where re-sterilized to his satisfaction.

“I think they’re very cute.” Namjoon means it, you can tell. “That you’re both very cute.”

You hum and hook your pinky finger into Hobi's, and tell him you agree.

~-~

You’re in the kitchen and the pack is fighting. Well, not fighting- but bickering. Jabs that are playful at first, and then get a little more serious.

“I swear to fucking god Namjoon- I am not living in a puke-colored house.”

“How do you know you won’t like it if you don’t try it? Green isn't all that bad.”

Jin scoffs, gesturing to all of him. “Do I really look like a green person? I know my face is ridiculously handsome and everything looks good on me but seriously, green? That’s like the worst color.”

Namjoon pouts, “but then it will go with Hobi's garden.”

“Greens not that bad.” Jimin tries to soothe, rubbing a hand over Jin’s shoulder. Jin is not so easily plied, jabbing a finger in his direction.

“Don’t you even talk; I am not living in a pink house- that’s no better.”

“But Jinnie.” Tae pouts across the table to Jin, and you can tell from Jin’s jerk and sudden surprise that Tae must be doing something with her feet under the table. Jin blushes, and you peek under the table, sharing one seat with Tae, almost spilling onto the floor, and sure enough. Jin has caught her feet in his lap, squeezing her ankle in a warning.

“Okay- pink would be slightly less bad than green but still-” Tae smiles, cute and small, and Jin glances away, ears red.

Her newfound confidence after her top surgery is nothing short of jaw-dropping. You’re happy you get to see it, you’d imagined Tae with boobs enough times that the reality didn’t really surprise you so much (not that you’re not totally into them) but the rest of the pack hadn’t properly anticipated how much of a menace Tae planned on being once healed.

She’s tortured them with low-cut dresses and cute little knit tank tops. Inches of delicate cleavage and skin-tight white shirts that barely hide the honey tone of her skin or the dark edge of a nipple. She's dressed like that today- and it's clearly doing something to more than one packmate.

You smirk like the cat that got the cream, nuzzling into her neckline. You're the one she chose to sit in her lap this morning, arms loosely wrapped around your waist, bringing your hair behind your back occasionally when it's not her turn to speak or debate to braid it in 3-strand braids, then 4-strand braids, then 5 and so on- stopping at 7 because Jimin can't hold the strands tight enough.

Yesterday you'd sort of talked through a bit about it- Tae's boobs- with the others. It helps that you're there to tell them about these things. These girls things that they'd never had to consider or think about.

"It's kind of crazy how like- perky they are, even without a bra." Jungkook looks a little dazed, watching her and Namjoon get into his car, both of them going to the farmers market for a little date. Tae is in just her cut-off shorts and white shirt. Wide-brimmed sunhat. The pack has been trying to take one-on-one dates more often.

Namjoon, in particular, has always been careful to take everyone on a date or so every few months just to make sure they feel properly loved by him. "It’s a pack alpha thing," Hobi had said when you asked. You don't feel bad even a little about being left behind, You're going to go to the aquarium with Namjoon and Jinnie next week.

Jungkook looked from you to Tae- a pink tone to his cheeks. Watching as Namjoon leans over to give her a kiss before he backs out, hand resting attractively on the back of her seat.

"Yeah, how come Tae doesn't always have to wear bra's and you do?"

"Skin." Yoongi had nodded sagely. Refusing to elaborate any further, even though the others glanced back and forth between you and him, waiting for more of an explanation.

You'd rub your nails over the nape of his neck, and he glances back at you offering you a sip of his coffee that you take. Yoongi doesn't let you take the cup, instead tilting the mug against your lips until you swallow. Eyelashes fluttering, his eyes flickering from your eyes to your lips.

You wipe your mouth when he takes the cup away. Clarifying. "My skin sits a different way than Tae's does. Without a bra mine get sweaty."

"That's a little." Hoseok had trailed off. Cringing already.

"Gross? Yeah, it's like so annoying." But Jungkook hadn't said anything else. Hadn't done anything but look away in pink-cheeked shame.

Jungkook might have nuzzled under your breasts the following day. Post walk. You'd tried to get out before it got hot, and yet you're still sticky and sweaty by the time you get home.

It had ended like this; His body and your body, not in the upstairs bathroom but in the back room on the ground floor, drenched in sunlight on his yoga mats under the guise of 'stretching it out' that turned into something else. His hands linger on your waist, sliding to the crook of your knees where it goes glossy. Hot and balmy.

His body is already worked up because Jungkook isn't satisfied with just your walks, he needs a run or something more energetic to satisfy his body. He's not satiated until he's got you pared down to nothing but your underthings and then some. Nuzzling into the dewy space under your chest.

You smell- God, you smell so good that Jungkook goes dizzy with it, heaving a wrecked breath. Thankful that you can't tell he's already hard through his baggy shorts, although he's aware he smells like slick. He'd put your workout clothes in the nest upstairs if he didn't think Jin would have a conniption with it.

You push at his head weakly- and he can tell you don't mean it. You're like him- you just like to squirm sometimes. He nips, and you try to close your legs, stopped by the plane of his chest, unable to close them further.

"Jungkook, I smell."

"You don't- it's like you only deeper it's- fuck."

"You're really into this, huh?" His aborted whine had been swallowed by his face, pressed low. Burning in embarrassment, body tense from your teasing. But in that way you know he likes it and is just waiting for permission to enjoy it.

"Just stay like this for me, please?"

You'd just shrugged, hand behind your head, "Sure." (and if Jungkook had cum in his pants from it a few minutes later, grinding against your hip- that was your own little secret).

You'd been the first girl the pack had ever lived with- and now that they can note the subtle differences between you and Tae and they've got questions.

Tae is not above using her new found confidence and body to her advantage; all is fair in love and war and home renovation.

Including picking house colors.

You’ve been bickering about it for most of the morning. Unable to make a decision among the 8 of you because you each have your own separate ideas, Unable to agree. Tae is the only one with two votes for her preferred color. Although you never expected Jimin to vote any other way.

You’ve been watching your mate flick through as many swatches as there are colors spread out on the dining room table. Grabbing the fuchsia, the powder pink, the light lavender purple. Putting them all together.

“If we make the eves this color and then the scalloped spots under the roof like- super bright. I don’t think I’d hate it.”

His hands smooth up and down your calf, delicate fingers digging into the muscle there. Your legs stretched across the table to rest there, although you have to slouch to reach. Yoongi's fingers move slowly, squeezing periodically.

He's taken to doing that more to you since you've started to walk regularly with Jungkook, even though he can rarely be roused early enough to go with you and Kookie. By the time you get home he's usually awake.

He likes taking your legs into his lap after, either hours later or at night. Big fingers pinching the tender muscles, asking if your knees are okay or if your hips ache. Noting your no’s and yeses and keeping track of them. Careful to only say "Don't let kookie push you farther than you can go okay? I don't want you like- passing out on the side of the road in this heat." When Jungkook's not around to overhear and misinterpret. Measuring and being careful with you in the way that only Yoongi is.

There are other moments when he asks, "Still sore?" A hidden meaning behind his eyes, hands on your upper thighs, fingers digging into your minor muscles by your hips, slow in the way he squeezes. But you don't question his intentions. Arching your back and sighing.

"I am not drinking a shot of pickle juice, Yoongi."

His pretense falls away, and he pouts. Mouth falling into an upside-down u. "But it has magnesium."

“My vote's still for the cedar siding.” You and Hobi let out a groan and slap the table. You’re not on the same side of this debate. As much as you’d like to support Jin in his board and batten dreams, or Hobi in his art deco fantasies. You have your own ideas.

Ideas of baby blue, the kind that the ocean gets when the sun hits it just right, the color of the hydrangeas that look like watercolors by your mailbox, the sky in the morning just before it starts to yellow. Pastel baby blue with a hint of purple. The way that clouds look when the light hits them just right.

The color of your big blue duvet that you've had since you first lived in this house, is comfortable and homey. The house is already home and has been for a long time. That's your pick, the light baby blue.

“I don’t get why we’re arguing at all. Why doesn’t each of us just pick a color and a part of the molding.”

“No. If we do all that it’s not going to look cohesive. That’s why we should just go with white and black- that way it never goes out of style.” It's the same argument that Jin's been trying to make for the last 3 hours.

“Yeah, it will never go out of style because that style is known as boring.” Jungkook huffs.

“Hey! You brat.”

Namjoon sips at his now cold coffee, and Jimin snatches it from him to put it in the microwave along with yours. The pack has been dragging its feet over this decision for weeks. But you've put it off for long enough and You won’t leave the table without a house color. yoongi has maybe a dozen or so odd tasks left around the house that still need handling before yoongi can truly call the renovations finished. But this is the last major decision that needs to be made about how it will look.

Jungkook almost sprawls across Yoongi's lap. “But purple hyung! Purple could be so pretty!”

Eventually around 1 o’clock, watermelon cut up and half eaten for lunch, a beach day crumbling away from you. Yoongi takes a piece of paper and a receipt. He tears it up and gives each of the packmates a pencil.

“This is the only way; we each get one vote and we pick them out one by one until there's only one choice left.”

“I should really get two votes because I’m the youngest.”

“If she gets two, then that means I get two too, I’m pack alpha,” you giggle and try to take a second piece of paper.

“No. You both should get a half a vote for even asking.”

“But Yoongiiii” you drag out the syllable, making it all bratty, he pinches your knee and you stop your squirming.

“No buts pup.” You fold your piece of paper and put it in the empty fruit basket, but Jungkook snatches it, popping the piece of paper into his mouth with a giggle.

You've been sitting here for too long, it's melting everyone's brains a little bit.

"Oh my god Jungkook-" "What the fuck Koo." "Spit it out! Now!" "Jungkook- that's like so gross."

Namjoon holds the back of his head in one hand fingers gripping his long black hair, shaggy from letting it grow out and Jin picks the piece of paper off his tongue. "Bleh!"

(There's a spanking in his future for that- but sometime later. Sometime after this has been decided).

Tae peaks over your shoulder, and jimin tries to steal Namjoon’s to scribble his out and write pink. You all fold yours up before you put them in Hoseok’s (now empty and mostly dry) coffee mug. he guards it, and jungkook watches him move, grinning.

You go one by one, you go first. “The house will not be…baby blue.” You wilt. "That’s so unfair how did I get mine first! Let me have a redo-“

“No, no redo’s.” Hobi goes next, “sorry Joonie,” he says, but Green gets discarded too. Tae picks white and black, Jimin gets Hobi's choice, and by the time it gets to Jungkook, there are only two slips of paper left in the bowl. One of them is pink, the other…

Jungkook closes his eyes before he chooses. Fingers slipping around the paper. He unfolds it with his eyes closed. "Jungkook," "Kookie just-" but he opens his eyes. You watch him with bated breath, clambering to your feet because you just can't wait any longer. His bunny teeth dig into his lower lip, and he shoots straight up, bouncing out of the chair. Grinning satisfied.

“Yes! I knew it! I knew it!”

The rest of the pack groans, and Jungkook doesn't even have to say it. His gloating is enough.

Yoongi clears the table. Leaving the purple samples out. Not a deep royal purple but a light lavender. It’s so light it might as well be white in direct sunlight. But even you have to admit, when you put it in shadow, it’s a very pleasing shade. Not bright enough to be anything but pastel, but colorful enough not to look grey.

“A purple house, we’re going to be the pack in the purple house.” Jin says, sounding wilted. You duck to peck his cheek. Clearing the cups and plates from the table.

“That kind of has a nice ring to it. Don’t you think?”

But in all reality, it doesn’t really go that way. There are spots of you all everywhere. Jungkook and Yoongi make it possible to incorporate all of your choices. The main siding ends up a light lavender, but the window sills stay white. You paint the ceiling under the porch a bright robin’s egg blue that satisfies you. Up above by the eves, Jungkook acquiesces and consents to a dusty mauve.

Yoongi gets up on a ladder to paint it very very carefully, Namjoon watching anxiously from the bottom, holding the ladder like it's the most important job in the world.

“Thank you for at least wearing a helmet.”

“Let’s go to the back of the house next.” Namjoon stiffens but doesn’t say anything.

You help Jungkook on the side of the house, by the library room where the hydrangeas grow tall and pretty, already dotted with pink and blue and purple blooms. You spend more time looking at them and squishing them than you do painting.

Jungkook just smiles at you when you're not looking and keeps painting.

Hobi got a magnolia tree at work the other day, apparently it had been lingering in the yard for ages. It's not all that tall yet- maybe 7 feet high. It's trunk has a bit of a crook in it, he put it opposite the rose bush, and although it will be hard to see from the front of the house unless you're sitting at the dining room table, at least you'll be able to see it while you're doing dishes.

Maybe one day it will provide shade to this part of the yard, but not yet you think as you wipe your brow. Jungkook's face is also dotted with sweat.

"I've never asked you why you like purple so much."

Now that you think about it, Jungkook has purple everything. He had purple hair for a moment right when the pack moved in. His workout bag is purple, his running shoes- purple, and his protein shake bottle- also purple. Everything purple purple purple.

Jungkook hums thoughtfully as he swipes his brush back and forth. You tucked one stem of the hydrangea behind his ear too and it looks so pretty on him. Purple is very much Jungkook's color.

"I've always loved it, I don't know why the color means a lot to me, but it does. It makes me happy when I look at it." He dunks the brush in the paint can and wipes it off on the side and shrugs, "Maybe in another universe it means a lot to me too, and that's why I like it so much. It's like telecommunication between me and all the other Jungkook’s that exist."

"Like a multi-dimensional game of telephone?"

"Yeah exactly."

"Maybe." You agree. Standing next to him loading up your brush again and getting back to it. "If it matters a lot to you then it matters a lot to me too."

Jungkook grins, doesn't say anything, and keeps painting.

By the end of the day, all of you are covered with purple, on your cheeks, in your hair (an accident, Joonie didn't realize he was about to drip when he reached over you), it sticks between your fingers and more than one packmate has the imprints of hands on their ass.

Hobi takes a look at the house from the street and says that really, the foundation needs to be painted a light green to blend in with the garden and give it a nice backdrop. Yoongi uses some leftover cedar shingles to put around the base of the wrap-around porch too. By the end of it, it sort of looks like all your personalities vomited up all over it. But you wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Oh my god- Noodle stop squirming- Hurry I can’t hold him for much longer.”

“Here, give him to me.” You tuck your white-pink dress under your legs as you sit on the steps, the same steps that you’ve gone over countless times over the last year, rushing up them to head inside after the hospital, kissing Namjoon from the top step and him on the bottom, running out to the car with Hobi. All of it.

And now you sit.

Yoongi bends over his phone camera, propped up on the rock wall. Your hip is smooshed between Jungkook’s and Tae's, both of them sitting on the steps with you and the rest above, Yoongi rushes back and crouches, barely making it.

All of you smile, Noodle yowls, and the flash goes off.

"Hang on! I think I blinked!" Everyone groans.

Yoongi frames that photo, the 8 of you and Noodle a grey. Your faces are all small, smushed together on the porch. The house stretches above you. Purple with pink roses vining up one side and the lump of the magnolia tree on the other side.

He hums to himself softly. He puts the picture on the mantle in the living room. Looking at it for a long moment, and moves on.

~-~

The house is different in summer. The air feels lighter, the windows open, and even the garden seems to lean in and watch. The snippets of kisses, the lingering touches, the hidden knowing looks, and quiet tugs at the hem of sleep shirts. Love over coffee.

Jin lies in the nest upstairs and listens.

Noodle. The sound of his light paws on the steps as he comes up. The faint hiss of his fur rubbing polished wood. Big tom cat belly almost brushing the steps. His bell collar jingles sadly- a new addition.

A few weeks ago, he'd caught a songbird and made you cry. Big cheeks full of yellow feathers, looking all too proud of himself. The pack hadn't had the heart for your tears and the idea of Namjoon putting his love of bird feeders away had quickly led to the unanimous conclusion that Noodle needed a collar. Tae picked one out for him, bright pink and monogrammed with a curly gold 'N'.

Wherever he's off to on a little adventure- he's quickly chased out by your thundering feet, Jungkook following you and Hobi behind him. Jin is dimly aware, his pack omega senses tingling. He's pretty sure he could pick out the packmates by the sound of their footsteps alone. He doesn't need to open his eyes to tell who's moving where or when.

"Hey! No shoes on in the house guys!" Yoongi's only half angry, Jin can tell by how he sighs.

"Sorry hyung!" "Sorry Yoongi" "But these are like brand new- I only went on the deck with them to model them for Namjoon."

"As cute as your new pink running shoes are pup, they are not house shoes. Do you not like the slippers Tae got you?"

You pups don't sound sorry in the slightest. Jin's omega roils at that dominance challenged by the disorder. But-

He's so comfy. Body relaxing into the nest, pillow clutched to his chest. Wriggling against the softness of the sheets with a happy sleepy chirp. Maybe disciplining the pack can wait for later...after breakfast. Or after Namjoon comes back into the nest and cuddles him again. The pack alpha was the last to leave Jin's nest this morning. Jin doesn't feel lonely even if he is alone in the nest right now.

He was pressed up against Seokjin's spine a few short minutes ago, his low hums joined by the occasional rustle of pages and a soft "Jinnie's still sleeping."

When Jin stretches his toes out, he can still feel the alpha's warm spot.

"All of you out out out- keep my floors from your violent delights."

Tae giggles, "Did you say violent delights just because I made you read Twilight-" her voice is bright timpani’s Melodic. Jin nuzzles into the nest, body happy at the sound. He listens in on their conversation. Spilling through the open doorway at the top of the steps.

"I can't believe they made Edward an omega- he's got like such beta energy too."

"You just want him to be a beta so that he's like you. You just wanna be able to read minds."

"Okay but even you have to admit it would be like an 's' tier super power, Jimin?"

The alpha groggy voice joins the fray. "Sorry, shapeshifting is still cooler than reading minds."

The top of Jin's head smells like Namjoon’s aftershave as he turns in the nest, breathing deeply and calmly. Dimly aware of the pack's conversation downstairs and the sound of Yoongi starting up the record player; a new gift from you and Hobi to him. You three have taken to going from record store to record store collecting new songs for late-night drives and going on little dates. It's a way for the three of you to bond together and build new familiar ground. The music flutters up the stairs, a little grainy, a little muffled.

You and Hobi and Jungkook are giggling in the front yard too “Koo!!! you can’t run that fast I can’t keep up.” The sound of three sets of slapping feet as you run down the street. Hobi joins you for once. One pace of steps is slightly faster than the others. You have to work twice as hard as they do just to keep up.

Jin finally wakes. His mind is sluggish but his body doesn’t ache when he throws his legs over the side of the nest, his heart continuing to beat slowly despite the fact that he's awake. You might expect an empty nest to all but ensure nesting anxiety (and it might in any other pack omega) but Jin is not unnerved, not in the slightest. Not with Namjoon in the other room.

Namjoon Namjoon Namjoon. Jin's instincts are supremely aware of every step the alpha takes, from the sink to the shelves that hold the pack's creams and bath oils. He's humming along softly to the music downstairs, a deep rumble.

Nothing in Jin’s body feels tense or afraid. Nothing in him at all is worrying about who might be eating enough or if Jiminie might be verging close to a meltdown. Not Jungkook's seizures or Hobi's melancholy. Jin is completely and wholly at ease.

He follows the scent of Namjoon to the bathroom where the pack alpha is brushing his teeth and reading. because he's efficent that way. A small paperback book held in one hand, green sparkly toothbrush in the other.

He hums, not turning when Jin comes in, but it's an acknowledging noise in the back of his throat. Jin stands there looking at him, shirtless in the bathroom. The ripple of his shoulders, the kiss of freckles where the sun has stored part of its energy in Namjoon. Like sunlight made man.

Jin spends a long time looking at his freckles. He could spend a lifetime tracing them.

Jin swallows, although his mouth isn't dry.

“Namjoon.”

“Hmm?”

“I want you to bite me.”

Namjoon chokes and shoots him a look. “Like a hickey?” he says, confused. He sets the book cover up on the countertop. Jin can't help but be a little self-conscious, his confidence gone now that he's realized what he just said.

His fingertips comb down what he's sure must be a cowlick on his hair. He should at least have checked to make sure he didn't have morning breath. But the sudden conviction gripped him, and it was hard to ignore. The tug around his gut that pulled in Namjoon's direction.

Jin's heartbeat speeds up a little bit. He's sure Namjoon and him impressive hearing can tell. Namjoon just stands there, staring.

"You don't mean like a hickey do you."

“No, like a mating bite.”

Namjoon blinks, once, twice, and a third time. Immediately dropping his fingers to his pulse. Checking his heartbeat. Jin also sees him pinch himself. By the time Namjoon is done Jin has his arms crossed and is tapping his foot.

“Right now? As in today?” He’s a little dazed. Jin puts his hands on his hips. Patience wearing thin.

“Well, it is a Saturday. We have tomorrow off and then the next day too for me- we could heal and then get back to it, no big deal. I don't think we'll have a better time this summer than today.”

He says it like it's the most natural conclusion. It's a Saturday so it's a day for mating bites, for bonding one soul to another. No big deal.

Namjoon moves across the bathroom so quick his body is a blur. Jin almost collides with the doorway, the alpha ducks, colliding their lips with such force that it sort of shocks a laugh out of Jin. When Namjoon pulls back, he keeps their foreheads together. Nuzzling forward all but covering Jin's body with his with the strength at which he's sort of hugging, sort of pressing him into the door. Like this- Jin can feel all of his hard lines and soft edges. His belly swoops.

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure, I’ve never been more sure.” Jin’s not sure why today of all days he woke up wanting this, especially since he's been pushing it off, telling Namjoon 'not yet' whenever they've broached the topic in the last year.

Granted things have been a little hectic with you coming into play, all the secrets, and Jimin almost dying. today feels like a safe enough day for it. Jin can count on it really- that the next week or so won't be scary, that he won't be needed. They've got time for this.

But now that he’s awake it’s all Jin can think about. Can't believe he has to wait another moment to have Namjoon’s bite on his skin.

Namjoon thunders down the steps, nearly tripping over Noodle this time with a cat toy in his mouth. Bright and sparkly.

Jimin is sitting on the kitchen table looking half a wreck, looking like honestly, Tae shouldn't have woken him up so early (but this is generally how Jimin looks all the time if he doesn't have a coffee or a cigarette, so Namjoon’s not so startled.) It is nearing noon and he's still not saying much.

Jimin has become a little more prone to bouts of quiet since he's been learning and leaning into sating his sensory needs. Sometimes he and Tae communicate in touches instead of words. A touch to the shoulder for a check-in, a nuzzle into the nape for an I'm happy. It's a simple exchange.

Jimin is watching Tae like the world revolves around her. Which is no different than how he looks at her any other morning or time of day. The music is much much louder down here. Tae spins to it as Yoongi and Jimin watch, her big pink dress out around her like an upturned petunia.

“Today's the day!” he announces, grinning ear to ear. Namjoon almost slips down the steps, catching himself on the tall carved railing. One sock hanging looser than the others, board shorts- he can't believe he's wearing board shorts for this; he should at least be wearing something a little bit more professional for mating the love of his life.

He bounds over to tae, spinning with her for a turn or two before he bobs away nearly colliding with Yoongi. "Jimin- can you call the pups back to the house for me? Tae- that is a lovely dress and you look perfect in it. Yoongi- can you cut my hair for me? Today's the day!"

The beta rubs his eye, still nursing a cup of coffee. "What do you mean?"

Namjoon bounces, nearly knocking a lamp onto the floor. "Today’s the day! Today’s the day!"

Yoongi's eyebrows furrow. Flickering from Namjoon to Jin, softly padding down the stairs. “Oh, you’re finally gonna let the pup peg Namjoon?”

Namjoon chokes makes an aborted sound in his chest, and calms down a little (which was probably Yoongi's intention). Jin smiles and it's nearly blinding. Has he always been so beautiful? Or is everything just like a watercolor painting right now, every shadow and every bright light pastel. Namjoon can hardly stop looking at him long enough to control his limbs.

“He’s gonna bite me today.” Yoongi trips over basically nothing, A big lop of coffee hits the floor with a big splat. He glances at it and then at Seokjin.

"Can you say that again? I don't think I heard you right the first time."

"Namjoon's going to give me his mating bite today," Jin says, carefully and slowly. Taking Yoongi's coffee cup from him and having a sip. Jimin is already up from the table, phone in hand. Tae is still twirling. The music is still playing so loud that they're all sort of shouting.

Yoongi looks like he might be about to start crying, the whole room smells like coffee and chocolate. "About damn time" His voice is a little wobbly. "here I was thinking you were gonna make it my christmas present."

"Oh my god shut up you cannot tease me about this."

"You've basically edged Namjoon with this for the majority of the last decade. I think I'm allowed a little teasing." Yoongi glances at Tae who is still spinning. "Tae, did you hear what they said?"

"Yes! Catch me! too dizzy!" She falls into Namjoon and Jin's arms, giggling, body and dress draped. They grin and kiss her forehead, her ear, glittering with several pretty earrings.

"Can I do your makeup? Oh! We should all get dressed up!" Tae never needs an excuse to wear her pretty dresses, but this is a very very good one.

Jimin puts the phone down, resting it on his shoulder. "Tae- you're already dressed up."

"Yeah, but that's just because it's a Saturday so it's a fancy day."

Jin gestures to her then at Namjoon, "See? That's what I was trying to say."

"I don't want to leave the house for this." Namjoon says, suddenly serious. "It has to be here." His instincts hum under his skin. This he knows. He repeats it again.

Tae smiles and nuzzles into Jin's bare throat. Namjoon can't stop staring at it. "There's nothing I'd rather get dressed up for than this."

Tae drags Jin upstairs, and Jimin follows shortly after, Namjoon almost growls, but his alpha's- they're Namjoon's alpha. They can look after the pack omega well enough. Pretty soon he'll be Namjoon’s for good anyway. In a way that nothing can erase, soul pressed to soul.

Jin cups Yoongi's cheek on his way back up the stairs, fingers fluttering over his jaw. The beta watches him go with a sensitive smile, small and delicate. Leaving just him and Namjoon here on the ground floor.

"Yoongi." He turns, hair fluffing.

"Yeah?"

"Could you…" he trails off. Suddenly shy.

"Oh yeah, shit- Your hair. Come on- we can do it in the kitchen so it's easier to clean."

"Wanna look nice for him." Yoongi hums, finishing his coffee,

"Yeah. Sure. If you're not gonna look nice for this might as well not look nice for anything."

The dining room chair scrapes against the hardwood floor, and Yoongi retrieves the buzzer from the hallway bathroom and drags Namjoon over to the space between the kitchen island and the sink. There's a bit of flour on the floor from last night when you and Jin baked while the pack watched movies in the living room. Letting them duke it out via rock paper scissors for who got to lick the spoon.

The half-finished cake in the fridge will have to due for tonight (no it won't stupid Yoongi- you're going to bake something special for them. A berry cake, with creme patissiere and delicately gelled strawberries from Hobi's garden. And just like everything else it will be perfect).

Yoongi is reminded of Jin- dying his hair blonde here in this same space, back when they first reunited and after Yoongi had a panic attack. But Yoongi closes his eyes and doesn't think of that, tying a kitchen towel around Namjoon's neck.

The pack cut their own hair in summertime, taking it low for the heat. There's just no reason to go to a salon when Namjoon likes his buzzed close and when his hair grows so fast. Yoongi's can be mostly managed this way- Hobi's too. Jungkook's the only one that always likes to go to the salon. He likes his undercut done a certain way.

Usually Tae does this for them. but this time Yoongi tilts Namjoon's head this way and that. Strong fingers digging into his nape.

When Yoongi is maybe halfway done, Namjoon asks. “Do you think we’re ready for it?”

He glances back at Yoongi. But Yoongi just pushes at his head and makes him face forward.

"Don't move like that- I don't wanna nick your ear."

Namjoon has spent hours and hours looking at Yoongi’s mating mark, the imprint of your teeth on his hip. Stroking over it lazily. He likes the way it looks like two matching moons. A mirror image of each other, a little different, the crooked lilt to your teeth. How it’s healed over nicely, gently.

Namjoon only hopes his instincts allow him to be gentle. A long time ago- before Yoongi left- maybe a few weeks before. He took Jin to get a scan done of his neck. Namjoon still has the paperwork somewhere upstairs probably or maybe in the basement. The consultation included a good ultrasound of the vasculature in either of their necks. Gave each of them a perfect view of just where a mating bite would take best.

The buzzer hums. And Namjoon feels tiny bits of hair prink the skin of his neck. Yoongi continues working. He huffs, all put upon.

“I think you’ve been ready to bite my husband since the second you met him, Namjoon.”

“Do you have to call him that?” Namjoon knows he’s going to enjoy hassling Yoongi over this for the rest of his life.

“You can’t mate him and marry him Namjoon- we agreed that-”

“-We’d share. I know I know.” Namjoon's head is bowed so that Yoongi can carve out around his nape. “For the record- I like sharing with you, I just wanted to tease you.”

Yoongi puffs up even more if that seems possible. Yoongi reaches with the buzzer at the same moment and Namjoon turns to press a kiss to his wrist. Namjoon flinches, hand automatically coming up to touch to grip his cheek-

"Shit- Namjoon."

Blood flows slick between Namjoon's fingers.

~-~

It takes most of the day to get the house and everyone ready for the mating. Namjoon’s little nick causes quite the commotion. Jin tilts his face this way and that, 6 faces fighting for purchase around them. Bickering, Jungkook's eyes are a little wet. Yours too.

"Do you think it will scar?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Tae your skincare routine might be legendary at this point but it looks deep-"

"We'll have scars in the same place like this Koo" Namjoon says, interrupting Jungkook, smiling up at Jin and him dopily (because Namjoon is still sort of high on the joy of finally getting to mark Jin). It's a silly attempt at comforting him. A little piece of bloody cotton is in Hobi’s hand as everyone leans in.

"He just turned; I didn't mean." "Babe stop apologizing."

You hold the mirror from Tae's library room in your hands so that he can see and when Namjoon removes the gauze, it only bleeds a little down his cheek.

"It doesn't need stitches," "are you sure?" "I’m sure." Jin sighs and presses a kiss to the top of Namjoon’s head.

You peek over the top of the mirror. "I like it! Makes you look really rugged.” The pack leans in and Namjoon backs up a little bit, the back of his head brushing Jin's stomach.

"Oh my god, you're right." "He looks like an action movie hero or something."

There are things to organize before Namjoon and Jin bite each other. Mating ceremonies are not like weddings, they're not usually public or with other people there outside of the mating pair's immediate pack. The pack doesn't do anything half-assed, there at least needs to be some sort of decoration. The couches in the living room get moved back to make way for the mating nest. Jungkook spends a few hours at midday putting up some more of his favorite white twinkly lights.

When you got back from your run and found the pack upended by Jin's request, you'd debated it. "You do not need to get me flowers." Jin had said, but Hobi hadn't listened. Standing in the doorway with his keys already in hand.

"White or pink?"

You and Tae are just as hyper as Namjoon. All but buzzing around him talking about makeup and maybe curling his hair. Omegas are supposed to look soft and innocent for their mating.

"What do you want to eat? For your pre-mating meal?" Classic Yoongi- to think of eating before anything else. To make sure that the pack is properly fed. Jin rubs a finger across his brow. Tae plucked his eyebrows earlier in between the moment when Namjoon got nicked and you got home. She'd gotten a head start on prepping and the skin is sensitive.

He had no idea that a spontaneous mating bite would involve so much prep work. But she's still talking about face masks and seaming skin and maybe doing his nails. Jin is-

Jin is restless, instinct-churning like his inner omega already knows what's going to happen tonight. Already knows what's destined and can't relax until it happens. Pacing back and forth the confines of his mind. Tension and anticipation are an intoxicating mix. He's simultaneously exhausted and has too much energy.

"I do not care not at all-" Jin breaks off.

You hum, stepping up to the sink. "Can't mate with a messy kitchen" You say almost softly to yourself. Your hair spills softly over one shoulder. Lips chapped from kisses. You'd showered off the sweat from your run and you look flushed and sleepy. Just in your robe because Tae is tearing through your dress collection to find something matching for both of you to wear and you'd rather just wait before she starts primping and polishing you.

Yoongi glances from you to Jin, then back again.

Jin looks down at your body, licking his lips just a little. "Actually, can you make some soup?"

By the time Hobi gets home, his car is overflowing with flowers. It’s hot for July, and the inside of the car smells like all of it, all white. Daisies and roses, lilies and peonies and lisianthus and bright spills of red amaranth just because. (Although those are a little bit of a splurge, a little bit out of season). Later Jin will tell Hobi that he didn't need to get him a whole car full.

You help Hobi unload his car, trying to leave the house in just your robe before hobi snaps at you and makes you put on real clothes. you're a little pupish maybe, a little bit in omegaspace. maybe that just because everyone is taking control for once- it's not just namjoon and jin with the reigns.

10 compound buckets full of water already set up on the porch for you and Jimin and Hobi to process the flowers, Jimin had taken up the job of getting every vase and jar and glass in the house and putting them on the porch to be washed by the garden hose. There aren't just flowers here too- Hobi got candles too. Big tall tapers, white and off-white.

This is traditional, a mating by candlelight.

You dart close to Yoongi when he passes you with a box of 90 roses in his hands. Pressing a quick kiss that gets drowned in a laugh to his mouth. “I can’t believe it tonight. I can’t believe they’re going to-” You press your forehead against Yoongi’s, nuzzling carefully.

“Yeah, it feels special right?” You get to be here; you get to be here for Namjoon and Jin. You've never felt luckier. “You don’t feel a little weird? That we won’t be the only ones who are mated anymore?”

Yoongi walks backward to his car, keys clutched weakly in his hands. “You mean will it bother me if they’re even more ridiculous than they already are?”

Both Namjoon and Jin are going to go for the throat, it’s sort of a classic placement, both of them on the opposite side of their throat, Namjoon’s closer to his heart because that’s supposed to be a bit harder on the body and he wanted to take the brunt of it (Namjoon will match you in placement that way).

You’d woken up this morning and touched him there, tracing down the line of his neck. Perhaps already suspecting it. Your omegas can be in sync that way a little bit. Maybe you'd sensed something from Jin the day before, or last evening.

“You know you woke me up.” He says, eyes still closed.

“Yeah- just thinking.”

All of you have your mating marks in different ways, you and Namjoon will have your mating bites in the same place. The same side of the throat. Hobi and you have your matching tattoos. You and Tae match bodies, and dresses and she's talking about dying her hair to match yours too.

Your hands and Jimin’s scar on his shoulder, barely covered by the narrow thread of his black tank top and he sweeps the floor before Jungkook moves the mattress from the other room here. The freckles on Jungkook’s nose and the ones on Namjoon’s back. Everything matches, the 8 of you are a part of a set. You match each other.

You and Jungkook spend most of the afternoon making the nest for Namjoon and Jin. Jin said he wanted the room to look like it did back during Namjoon’s rut months ago, and you'll do your best to fulfill that request. You get your big blue blanket from upstairs and Jungkook gets his favorite worn flat pillows. Jin doesn’t have a hand in it, this is your job.

Mating goes a little differently for pack alphas and pack omegas- the people under them make the nest for them whereas for anyone else a nest is something one makes for the other.

You spend the whole day gathering everything white, Namjoon’s button-downs, Tae's pretty dresses, gauze, and lace. The throw in your nesting nook, a fluffy hat of Hobi's. You tuck and roll the pillows and the silks of Tae's favorite dresses. When you’re done the nest at the center of the living room looks like something of a flower itself.

The pack buzzes with movement. Yoongi and Jimin run to the store- an emergency re-stock of the kitchen because who knows the next time Jin and Namjoon’s instinct will quiet enough to let anyone leave the house.

Yoongi remembers those first few days when everything felt so volatile with both of you, that you spent them in that grungy little motel and Yoongi could hardly handle it whenever room service dropped the food off at the front door. While the rest of the pack thinks they’ll be fine- you and Yoongi are not so sure. Those memories are close to the surface and bubbling up.

Is this how your mating would have gone? This is how they're supposed to go, aren't they? You're supposed to have people around you who love you and are going to help you through it. You're supposed to be taken care of through it and it's not supposed to be scary.

But today isn't about you and Yoongi, today is about Namjoon and Jin.

Namjoon’s medical bag is nearby, the gauze set out, a sterile needle, and some stitching just in case he bites too deep. That was the first thing that Namjoon even did.

(The truth is that's not how it's going to happen, immediately post making, after very publicly claiming Jin with both his knot and teeth, Jin is going to drag each pack mate to the nest upstairs before any bandaids or gauze. Blood is sort of going to get everywhere. He is going to fly into a little bit of a fury with the scenting and the grooming.

Namjoon will stay guarding the end of the bed, beady-eyed and prepared to wrestle anyone who even tries to leave placing the 8 of you by the nape around Jinnie- good pack alpha, good pack alpha to bring the pack omega his nestmates, his pups, and the pretty-pretty alphas that Namjoon has selected for them. Jin will be full of grabby hands and pouts. "Pups- my pups, good alpha giving me my pups" he'll croon, lost to omegaspace with a lap full of Jungkook- who will give Namjoon a run for his money in his fight to escape. "Joonie- I swear I just need to pee."

You don't anticipate the mating bites triggering an episode of alpha space and Omegaspace in Namjoon and Jin, but you better be prepared.)

You're just thinking about if the nest needs some of your stuffed animals from your nesting nook when Yoongi comes down the stairs. Jin called him up there around 40 minutes ago, just to talk- or maybe ask questions. You're not surprised, Jin's sort of been eyeing your mate since he first made the announcement.

"Pup." He says, you hum in response fluffing the edge of the mating nest, setting it just perfectly.

"One sec I just want to- there!" You stand, satisfied with the placement of a blanket now that a pillow isn't in the way. You turn to Yoongi and almost drop your pillow at the sight of his red eyes.

"Yoongi? You've been crying why-" You stumble to the edge of the steps and he takes your face in his hands easily. It's so you to touch first to comfort, to cuddle into his chest, it's so instinctual and it instantly makes Yoongi feel better.

"It's not bad, I'm not upset just- Jinnie and I were just talking."

Yoongi takes in a fragile breath and you blink up at him owlishly. Waiting. You're alone here, the rest of the pack outside preparing the flowers. Jungkook is in the other room looking for more pillows.

"I’m okay I’m okay." Yoongi's thumbs skim down your cheeks. He looks conflicted, eyes churning with a sort of inner turmoil. You wrap your arms around his waist. He looks like he's debating saying something like he can't not say it.

Down your mating mark, you feel a sad little tug.

"You know if I could have, I’d have given you all of this and more."

"Yoongi- you have given me all of this. Don't you see it?" You press your cheek into his palm.

He lets out a shaky breath, "As long as you know."

Yoongi holds you to him for a long moment, squeezing you tight. You were worried that this day was going to bring up some bad memories for both of you and while you feel fine, you know Yoongi will be. You hold him back extra tight, just in case. When Yoongi pulls back he looks more settled and his next breath is less shaky.

"Jinnie wants to talk to you upstairs."

~-~

The dressing room is quiet until Jin speaks. There is a piping-hot bowl of soup with steam rising from it on Tae's vanity.

"I wanted to ask you what it feels like. Being mated. I've never asked you before."

The pack omega is good at cutting to the point and good at not mincing words. You don't have alot of time now. The sun is just starting to set and you know that soon the ceremony will have to begin. You can take a few extra minutes to comfort him- you don't think the pack will mind waiting on your account.

"You asked Yoongi earlier?"

"Yes. I didn't mean to make him cry. I'm going to try not to make you cry too." Jin's legs are crossed, and you know he won't let you leave until you give him an honest answer. "I want to know what you'll say." He says, a barely leashed command in his voice.

"You mean you want to know what it's like from the omega's side?" he blinks and you, waiting, expectant. You sigh, pausing to lean low and wrap your hands around his shoulders, hugging him close. It's a strange position that you've rarely found yourself in; the position to explain something to Jin is rare. He's usually so sure of himself and confident. He doesn't look all that sure of himself like this, gel eye patches on, clips in his hair.

"Mine felt really scary, I'm not sure I'm the one to answer your question Jinnie." He pulls back, turning around. You've stood between his legs a million times, this time feels no different.

"You're not worried that us being mated will change the way that pack operates?" You shake your head before he's even finished his sentence.

"Not at all, mating marks- they're personal" You touch yours and Jin's gaze naturally falls on it too. "I think that they give you what you need, what your relationship needs. You and Namjoon- you're already good at relying on each other, making each other stronger for us. A mark won't change that."

Jin hums, looking at your throat and not at your face.

"The first bite burned. But Geumjae-" Jin stiffens at the sound of his name, you barrel past it. "-His scent was like that and he sort of hated me- so I think that's why it felt that way. And also because like I obviously didn't want it. My soul didn't want to go that way and then Yoongi-"

You smile and Jin leans in. You've never felt more like his equal. Standing here like this. "Yoongi was very gentle. His soul felt very gentle. Being loved by him is very gentle. Getting bitten by Namjoon will feel the same way that he makes you feel only more if that makes sense, like- more concentrated.

"Your mating is going to go very differently than mine, I didn’t even want to nest for like weeks after. You'll probably want to nest right away, you know alot of omega's do."

"I know" Jin nods, and thinks about it for a second, looking away from you.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Yes."

"You want to know my one piece of advice for you?"

"Always."

"When your instincts talk to you, listen to them. Especially immediately after." You lean up against the vanity. "Yoongi and I- did you know we weren't immediately romantic?"

"No I didn't know that," Jin confesses it like he doesn't want to.

"I wasn't exactly in the right state of mind for anything like that at the time but I think- maybe if we didn't fight it- it would have been easier."

Jin thinks about it a little bit more. Rests his cheek against your stomach, and closes his eyes. You run your fingers through Jin's hair, taking his clips out one by one, and then the eye patches.

"Wanna nap for a few minutes before we keep getting ready? I'm kind of tired." It's a lie- you don't feel tired at all but Jin looks like he needs a nest right now. Looks like he's aching for it.

He sags into you. "please."

~-~

The yellow light of sunset cuts through the top floor of the house like honey. You sit in the dressing room in front of Tae's mirror, groggy from your nap with Jin on the settee in the corner. You'd woken to Jungkook and Tae cooing over a photo, your cheek smushed against both of you under a knit throw that Namjoon might have placed there when he came up looking for you and Jin.

Jin is still resting there. It will be a few more minutes before the pack wakes him up.

Now you stare at yourself and Tae, Jungkook hums as he moves around the dressing room too. The music is back downstairs, as is the distant sound of Hobi singing along as he sets up the flowers with Yoongi while Namjoon paces. It seems like the pack alpha has hardly been able to stop moving since this morning.

Tae detangles the hair at the nape of your neck gently with her fingers. The tug is so soothing you're already having a hard time waking up. Tae hums leans forward to press her lips to the back of your head. Her reassurance is wordless. You’ve found lipstick in your hair more times than you care to admit. There’s a little pink halo on the back of your head near constantly from how much Tae likes to kiss you there.

“Can you make me pretty for it? I want to look pretty for the mating.” She smiles at you in the mirror, and you know you hardly even had to ask. She kisses the nape of your neck and You blush a little. Feeling her chest brush either side of your shoulders as she does it.

You turn and nuzzle there. "Oh my little puppy, let mommy make you pretty."

Although her incisions no longer give her any pain or discomfort (Jimin is very good at making sure she applies her scar cream, if a little dazed while he does it). She likes to lounge, likes to fake whine that they’re aching, and would you come touch them, massage them for me?

Completely aware of how much she’s both sort of torturing you and Minnie and anyone who might fall into her trap. She's always hugging an arm to her chest, stepping close and brushing against you, teasing you. letting you feel her.

Quite honestly, it's torture.

It's not all sexual, you're not the only one who finds comfort or sensory pleasure in them. Jimin did come home the other day overstimulated and asked for both of you to bury him. He'd squished his face between both of your chests for a good few hours. Low tank tops pulled lower so that your skin could press in at him on all sides. Almost nothing sexual about it. More about comfort than anything else.

“Are you sure you’re not like suffocating?”

“Please don’t move, I’m just starting to feel normal” he'd whined.

Downstairs, you hear Namjoon shut the front door and lock it.

She curls your hair and pats your cheeks with blush, and when she’s done with you. You do the same to her and then Jungkook- doing the eyeliner just so, patting out her concealer gently nearly cheek to cheek.

The pack's pups just want to look pretty for Namjoon and Jin, both you and Tae in lingerie, translucent and gauzy. Your bodies and your souls are bare for this. Jungkook too, clad in just pants. Nothing else.

When Jin wakes you pounce on him, you and Tae and Jungkook strip him of his clothes and put him in something comfy but clean that's less like pajamas. In a billowy button-down with an open throat for easy access and tight dark slacks. White so that it will show the blood. You fiddle with the collar as you dress him. Imagining it red. Not the violent kind of bleeding, but the necessary sort that takes you from one place and brings you to another.

Everyone is hushed and quiet, hardly daring to speak to each other when a kiss or a brush of the cheek will do the same thing. Tae begins to do Jin's makeup but he shakes his head. catching her hand in his before she begins.

She cups his cheek, ducking low to kiss his lips, just a little bit of her lipstick transfers. "You're pretty enough for him without it anyways."

"So are you," he says, sounding a little childish and a little petulant. Tae boops his nose. She is the only alpha in a room full of omega's and it's clear she's feeling it. "Yes but the pup and I just like to have fun."

When you descend the steps onto the ground floor of the house. Not a single light is on. But the room is full of a homey honey glow, candles placed here and there among the flowers that lie in big heaps, baby's breath, roses delicately parted. Yoongi, Hobi, and Jimin blanket Namjoon, there is no alcohol- not tonight.

No one asks if it's now- if it's then- or if anyone wants to say something. Everyone knows it's time, they can feel it in their bones. The sun has just barely set. Outside the sky is just barely that shade of pearly blue and darkening quick.

Yoongi stops both of them just before they get to the center of the room, both of them pause in front of the pack beta. He drags them down to throat level, scenting across the top of their heads. Namjoon first, Jin second.

Namjoon and Jin circle the nest for a moment, the rest of the pack pressed to the walls nearly, giving them space. They only circle each other a few times before Jin finally steps foot in the nest and Namjoon takes it with permission. He doesn't look down, doesn't appreciate your and Jungkook's handiwork at all because his eyes are locked with Namjoon's, unable to tear his gaze away.

None of you say anything because they’re clearly feeling their instincts. There are no vows, and there is no need. In every way in which Namjoon is promised to Jin, Jin is already promised to Namjoon.

The pack alphas eyes are bright and hopeful, but gentle and soothing too. Namjoon is simultaneously boyish and ancient. If Hoseok’s face looks best in streetlight then Namjoon looks best lit by candlelight. Swaying looking at Jin without saying a thing. Eyes on him, the rest of the world melting away.

"Alright."

The pack falls on Namjoon and Jin with a flurry, that scrabbling puppy clamor that you all have. Hobi, Tae, and Jimin sort of tear the shirt off of Namjoon, buttons pop and seams rip with shoves and growls until he's standing there bare chested and laughing. You and Jungkook and Yoongi are a little bit gentler with jinnie, undoing the buttons on Jin's shirt one by one. Kissing over his throat and down his chest until Jin makes a noise and you step away, taking his shirt with you.

It’s hard not to get turned on by you three, and if Namjoon wasn’t so obviously showing signs of his arousal, his cock hard and impressive looking in his pants, Jin would be a lot shyer about the tight feeling in his black slacks, leaving little to the imagination.

Only once both of them are bare-chested do the pack dart out of the nest, you almost trip and Jimin scoops you up pressing you back against the wall with a breathless excited giggle near Yoongi- almost next to him. You press your palm flat against his as Namjoon leans close, says something soft and quiet that only Jin can hear, and tilts his throat.

Jin bites first. This concession is simple and basically a given. He kisses once, then twice before he finds the spot, the perfect spot for his cute little bite. Jin makes his small but professional- every single tooth visible. A small snarl sounds out in the room instincts taking over just seconds before Jin drives his teeth home. Namjoon’s hands only go ridged around his shoulders for a second, lips parting. Blood slipping down his chest in ribbons of red.

Namjoon bleeds a lot, heart thundering healthy. Jin’s lips go bloody, eyelashes fluttering. Nearly moaning against the column of Namjoon’s throat, and all you can think looking at him is, ‘That’s how it should have been with us, that’s how it should have been with me.'

Yoongi seems to be thinking the same thing- holding you firmly around your waist, a strangled noise in his throat. You look up at him only briefly, and he kisses your mating mark, lightning-quick. Quick enough that no one notices your attention briefly straying.

Every candle in the room sways and Jin takes his teeth from Namjoon's throat. Namjoon's whole body trembles and he almost falls to his knees. his head rests on Jin's shoulder, breathing heavy, wildly. But Jin tilts his head up and makes him look towards the sky. The alpha gives Jin unrestricted access to his body, mutely.

With bloody lips and dark dilated eyes, Jin looks at Namjoon almost victorious.

Almost, because Namjoon hasn't bitten him back yet.

Jin cleans the blood on Namjoon’s chest simply. It’s a little gross, but also hot as he laps down the column of his throat. The first droplet of blood reaches Namjoon's slacks and Jin does not stop licking at the blood until he's all the way clean.

He can hardly taste it, can hardly feel anything over the chorus of mine mine mine- my mate mine always. Mine forever. Jin's neck is starting to ache and twitch, instincts begging him to turn, just turn your head to the side and let Alpha bite you back, just do it, please.

When Namjoon opens his eyes again his pupils are completely dilated. Almost wild. Namjoon can feel something missing slide home. A piece in his chest and a shiver down his spine. It’s a peculiar feeling.

Namjoon never ordinarily thinks about the shape of his soul- at least not like it’s some tangible thing. But it must be he realizes- it has to be because it feels like Jin is holding it in his hands. Like he’s holding it to his chest or tucking it into that space under his chin that always feels like the safest spot in the universe. The space that Jin puts the packmates heads when they're feeling poorly.

Namjoon closes his eyes for a second and he sees it, he sees Jin in a tux at your and takes wedding, sees him with a hand balanced over a swollen stomach. Namjoon sees a small head- a pups head- tucked into that spot under his chin. He sees a boy and a girl holding hands, the girl older, the boy younger, so chubby he has roles between his wrist and elbows. He see's colorful band aids on bruised knees and bedtime stories and tea time in the garden with muddy water for tea. He hears the balmy rolling giggle of a child and sees it- Jin nuzzling into their face.

He watches it all in a supercut, he sees a magnolia tree out front blooming and closing. Sees the pup high in its branches, and sees himself holding their shoulder as they ride a tricycle down the steep hill. Holding them safe and walking them in from the car at night.

Sees it, settling back with Jin side by side holding his hand, grey in his hair and new lines on his face. All of it is frame by frame and picture by picture. A lifetime. Namjoon sees his whole lifetime just before he bites.

Namjoon traces his lips up the column of Jin’s throat, nuzzles into that spot, and bites down.

~-~

Notes:

i feel like the little parts with hobi and her talking are a little meandering to the point but- tbh i just really wanted to write them being this way- they're like half best friends half soulmates half lovers and i love them so much <3 i hope if i do get to fall in love again- that it's like theirs.

just so that everyone is aware! i know that face tattoos often have a gang affiliation- i think this male omega- the one that tattoos the m/c and hobi did at one point have a mafia affiliation and yoongi was likely a little aware but he's like very middle aged so- i think it was a reclamation body thing.

i also really like the idea of red ink tattoo's i do think that the m/c and hobi do get the touched up periodically together as well- and this probably won't be hobi's only tattoo tbh- i get the image of him being like 35/40 and getting some roses on his ribcage for tae or somthing like that- probably with jungkook. also i feel the need to say that some of the old school red-inks did cause cancer too- just make sure you do your research and don't do anything

im a really big fan of this one artist on twitter/instagram called annalauraart- and i also think maybe one day the m/c gets a tattoo of one of her little creatures- maybe with jk or something- but they'd probably be goofy and get it on their butt or something.

the violet syrup bit is for clover <3 i like to put little bits of her in his story because she's the number one bily enjoyer and!!! i love her alot!!! and she deserves to be in this!

i love the part where yoongi is massaging the m/c's legs and its totally like- implied that he's being sexual but she knows that he's just wanting her to look after herself and she calls him on it, in min mind i think he probably winds her up a little and then like- makes her take her vitamins in exchange for kisses.

idk if i ever wrote it into bily but! in my mind yoongi gave her the blue duvet during their first week at the house, shortly after they moved in and closed on it. like probably within the first 24 hours- he went out for something small on his own and came back with that and pillows and sheets for their bed even though he already had some and it was his first official gift he gave her as her mate for her nest and that's why she's so attached to it. i also think it was the first item of color that she received after Geumjae- since he kept her in primarily white black and grey colors.

honestly i got a little teary eyed reading how happy namjoon got about mating jinnie- he really is just the cutest <3 i also think it's worth mentioning theres that one section where namjoon asks yoongi and jimin to do something and not tae and thats because in bily namjoons opinion the girls are not to be asked to do anything- they're doing enough just by being pretty in the packs vicinity.

it's so very autistic of jimin to point out that tae is already dressed up for the day like- he's so cute i just wanna squish his cheekies.

i was very very inspired by namjoon and rpwp and the come back to me music video for the moment where yoongi is cutting his hair,

i ended up removing a bit of pre-amble to jin and the m/c's conversation in the dressing room because i felt like this chapter had more than enough banter in it. reading it back i feel like it's good that it gets to the point.

wow i honestly can't shut up about tae for one paragraph can i.

in case you've missed it- namjoon and Jin's daughter ends up being named magnolia <3 that's why the tree is in there and why it's mentioned a bunch.