Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It takes some time to prepare for their trip.

They both realize that they have no idea where exactly they have to go. Except for that they have to go South. Jungkook doesn’t remember much because he was way too young. Jimin doesn’t remember much because he has forgotten more things about back then than he was aware of.

He remembers the smallest things, the weirdest things, but has forgotten many big or important ones.

He clearly remembers what the little watering-can looked like that his father gave him as a birthday gift when he was a kid. Still remembers how the spout curved in such a weird way and that a small part of the handle was chipped on the surface, which led it to cut into Jimin’s small hands uncomfortably whenever he made the can too full and heavy. He remembers the slightly musty smell of the shack behind their cabin and the way the ivy had pushed its way between two of the wooden boards, forcing them apart, until one of them cracked one spring. He remembers the melody with which the birds woke him up each summer morning, could sing it in his sleep even to this day. He remembers the flower beds in their garden and the vegetable patches, his mother used to care for, remembers exactly what was planted in which corner of the little area.

But he doesn’t remember what their cabin looked like. Can’t even recall the color of their door or their roof. He can’t recall the way he walked to school every day. He doesn’t even remember what their boat looked like, the one his father took him fishing with so often. He remembers it had a name, but he can’t even recall that. He remembers the names of his childhood friends, but has forgotten many faces.

And he doesn’t remember how him and Jungkook made it to the Kim pack.

He remembers running and running and running, remembers the mantra in his head to go faster, because the humans could be right behind them, remembers his desperate attempts to sniff the air to lead them somewhere. Somewhere safe.

He doesn’t remember the paths they walked, doesn’t remember the turns they took, doesn’t remember where they slept or ate or drank…

All this time, he often wondered how they ended up making it. How, in the end, it all worked out.

If anything, they were lucky.

If you could call someone like them, who lost all their family and friends in the most gruesome way, lucky.

That Jimin doesn’t remember either. He remembers the smell of blood and burning flesh, and the smell of fear. But everything else has disappeared from his memory.

The only thing very vividly in his mind is the moment he found Jungkook, literally stumbling across him while trying to escape from the rubble that was once their homes, without being seen by the humans.

They were the only survivors. The Kim pack, who immediately went back to where Jimin and Jungkook came from, when they learned about what happened, confirmed that nobody was left, the humans had made sure of that.

Jimin knows that for some time Jungkook kept hoping there would be others left and that they would find them one day, kept talking about it, until Jimin shut him down rather rudely. Because Jimin felt it, deep inside his heart, that there was nobody left. He felt it and his wolf felt it too.

It was only Jimin and Jungkook.

And Jimin started to forget.

“I would recommend this route,” Namjoon says, after spreading a map on Jimin’s kitchen table a few days before Jimin and Jungkook leave for their trip, trailing over the map with his finger. “Through this area, not that one. That one is full of humans. Also…” He looks at Jimin intently. “Mother asked me to tell you to be careful. And to keep your distance from your hometown. It might be dangerous.”

Jimin nods. “She had that talk with me already,” he says, squeezing Namjoon’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care.”

Both Jimin and Jungkook have agreed that seeing the sea is their main goal. And that, even though there is an undeniable urge inside both of them to visit their old village, it would be better not to do it.

“Nothing will be the way you remember,” their Head Alpha said. “The humans destroyed everything and built their own town. Don’t go there. Don’t… please don’t let them see you.” She held both of their hands in a strong grip. “Both of you are very dear to me. To all of us. I will allow you to go on your trip but please promise me to stay safe and… and to come back to us.”

“Of course,” Jungkook said and Jimin nodded his head as well, a slight sting of tears in his eyes at the display of emotion from their Head Alpha.

On the morning they set out, Taehyung hugs Jimin tightly and Jimin’s eyes are burning with tears once more. He doesn’t even know why he’s so overly emotional. Maybe because it’s the first time he’s leaving the pack for more than a day, maybe because he’s going to a place where painful memories are buried, or maybe because he’s going on a trip with Jungkook.

He’s nervous, borderline scared, but also excited.

Maybe he’s so emotional because there are so many things going on in his head right now, because he’s overwhelmed. He can’t quite believe he’s really going back to their hometown. Or at least to the general area. He can’t believe in about three- or four-days’ time, he will see the ocean again.

“I’m so proud of you,” his best friend says with a smile.

Jimin knows Taehyung wanted to come with them. He seemed worried by the thought of Jimin and Jungkook going all by themselves, maybe more so by the fact that he would be without Jimin for quite a few days. It’s the longest they’ve ever been apart and Jimin must admit, it’s a weird though not having Tae around. He’s been his best friend for so many summers and such an important presence in his life, that just the idea of not having him there makes him feel somewhat lost.

But this is a thing that Jungkook and him need to do on their own. And Tae understands that.

The other alpha hugs him tightly, before turning around and pulling Jungkook into a hug as well. “And of you too,” Taehyung says, patting his back. “Take care.”

Jungkook smiles when Taehyung pulls back and then turns a deep shade of red when Taehyung says: “Take care of him too.” 

Jimin pretends he hasn’t heard them, busies himself with hugging Seokjin, Yoongi and Hoseok goodbye, but he can’t keep the little smile from spreading on his lips.

Then they head out.

For the first two days the weather is nice. Perfect even. The birds are singing, the sky is a little bit cloudy, which means it’s not too hot, the sun peeking through just enough to warm Jimin’s fur pleasantly every now and then.

They’ve decided to cover most of the distance in wolf form, since it’s more efficient. They’re faster this way and not nearly as vulnerable out here on the fields and in the woods, and the bags they’re both carrying – filled with clothes and some food – don’t weight as heavy on their wolves as they would on their human forms.

This way, they also don’t have to talk.

Weirdly enough, Jimin thinks the constant silence between them is a good thing. He can sense that Jungkook is just as overwhelmed and nervous as him, just as deep inside his own head. They both need the quietness, the time to get ready, to brace themselves.

They don’t sleep a lot, both of them too tense to let themselves fully rest.

Which is why, by the time the third day rolls around, they’re already on their way even before the sun has risen and by the time it does, Jimin can already smell the ocean in the air.

It’s quite strange how he never really missed the scent of the sea, since he himself smells a little bit like it, but when the strong salty notes hit his nose, something ripples through him, settling deep inside his chest, in a beautiful but hurtful way, making him slow down and come to a halt.

Jungkook, who’s been running a little ahead of him, senses him stopping and comes to a halt too, turning around, his wolf’s sharp eyes taking Jimin in.

Jimin’s paws feel numb all of a sudden, where he’s standing firmly planted on the cool forest ground, and somehow he can’t seem to move his limbs anymore. All he can do is lift his head, sniffing the air, the scent of the ocean filling his lungs. He inhales deeply and again and again… it’s almost as if his body, without Jimin even knowing it, has been craving this scent the entire time he’s been away. It’s overwhelming. Scarily so. His heart is racing so hard, that he can feel right at the back of his throat.

Suddenly Jungkook’s wolf is next to him, nudging Jimin’s face carefully with his wet snout, asking if he’s alright.

Jimin tries to move his legs but the salty scent seems to lock his entire body in a tight embrace, making it unable for him to move. It takes him three tries to will his body to work.

He shakes himself out, from head to tail, before he shifts back into his human form.

He turns his back towards Jungkook, feeling a bit ashamed by his own nakedness.

“It might be safer to walk like this from now on,” he mumbles, opening his bag to pull his clothes out, feeling cold, even though the sun is shining down on him through the gaps in the treetops. “There might be humans around. They would be alarmed to see two giant wolves.”

It’s not necessarily a lie, he does think it’s safer to travel the rest of the way in a more discreet form, but the real reason why he’s turned back is that in his human form, even though his nose is still good, it’s not as sensitive. The smell of the ocean is much fainter this way and much easier to handle.

He’s aware that his voice is trembling and that his fingers are trembling too when he buttons his pants. He’s embarrassed by it. And worried, because how will it be seeing the ocean for the first time again, when only smelling it has him lose his composure like this.

He can hear Jungkook transforming back himself, then a softly spoken “Okay”, before the younger follows Jimin in putting on his clothes.

It’s actually not as bad as Jimin thought it would be.

After his body and his mind have overcome the initial shock of the strangely familiar ocean smell, the little rush of panic slowly subsides, leaving him a bit drowsy but ultimately okay. Out of the corner of his eyes, he can see Jungkook eyeing him carefully.

“I’m okay,” Jimin says after a while. “I got nervous for a moment there. But I’m fine now.”

Jungkook doesn’t say anything, but he takes Jimin’s hand in his.

First, Jimin thinks it’s to calm him down. But when the grip around his hand tightens until its borderline painful and Jimin looks up to see Jungkook staring straight ahead.

When he follows his line of sight, he knows that it’s probably rather Jungkook’s way of calming himself down.

Of course Jimin had a picture of the ocean in his mind but it doesn’t compare to this. 

The ocean is beautiful.

It’s majestic.

But it’s also intimidating.

Just looking at it is freeing, because it stretches on forever and ever, endlessly. But this infinity is also what makes it seem so massive, bigger than anything Jimin has ever seen, and it’s daunting.

At the first glance, from where they’re standing on top of the hill where the forest ends and a steep sand dune begins, it seems pale blue and still. But at second glance, the millions of tiny little flashing lights, where it’s reflecting the sun, show how it’s not still at all.

“Let’s try to get a bit closer?” He asks carefully, eyeing Jungkook.

The other just nods, his eyes and mouth wide open. Jimin wonders, what he sees, what this looks like in Jungkook’s eyes, wonders how much he remembers from before.

He doesn’t ask though. He just takes Jungkook by his hand and pulls him along, descending the steep sand dune carefully.

The closer they get, the more Jimin realizes that the ocean really isn’t still at all. Of course he remembers the waves and how violent the sea could be on stormy days but right now he’s absolutely captivated by the way the ocean seems to breathe. The surface is rising and falling with rhythmic ease, making glittering waves roll ashore, the noise they make when breaking on the sand getting louder and louder the closer they get.

And then there is a second noise mixing in.

The seagulls’ cries sound like they are welcoming them home, their loud squawks making Jimin wonder how old those birds can get and if some of them might be the same he met as a child when he was playing at a similar beach not that far from here.

They walk and walk and walk along the beach in complete silence, their naked feet slightly sinking into the warm sand with each step.

Jimin feels as if the sun above them is warming not only his skin, but is getting absorbed by it, the warmth reaching all the way inside his chest. His hand is getting sweaty in Jungkook’s hold, but he doesn’t want to pull away. He doesn’t want to say anything either. He just wants to listen to the ocean, to the seagulls, wants to smell the breeze and let the tiny trickles of saltwater sprinkle his legs, whenever a particularly big waves rolls in.

There have been cliffs starting to form next to them, extending more and more towards the sea, forcing them to walk closer and closer to the water until the waves roll over their feet.

And then up to their calves.

And then they can’t go any further.

Right in front of them, a huge cliff rises up into the sky.

There is a cove between the rocks, most likely carved out by the tides over the course of hundreds of summers. Right now, the water is so shallow and clear, that even from here Jimin can see the tiny little fish flicking through it.

“I remember something similar to this,” Jungkook says, his face a little flushed from the heat, his hair tousled by the wind. “It was bigger than this one, but just as pretty. We weren’t allowed inside as kids.”

Jimin hums, because he remembers something similar too, the wetness of the water splashing around his legs.

“I’m sure these things flood all the way up to the top during high tide. Too dangerous for children.”

When he turns around to Jungkook, the other’s eyes are round and wide, still taking the cove in, his expression a little awestruck. Jimin turns back and tries again to see it with Jungkook’s eyes. The sun hits the crystal water at an angle, making glittering reflections dance on the rough surface of the rock, which is of a greyish brown color in some areas, while others are pearly white. It’s indeed pretty.

It seems to extend into complete darkness, but when Jimin cranes his neck a little, he sees a light at the other side. Meaning, that their path wasn’t completely cut off. They could go a little further.

“Do you want to go inside?” Jimin asks with a smile.

Jungkook blinks at him. “You said it’s dangerous.”

“Just for a short moment, we can walk right through. The water barely reaches our calves right now, I think we’ll be fine.”

The smile that spreads on Jungkook’s face has something so youthful and innocent that it makes Jimin’s heart clench.

“Okay.”

Jimin should’ve known.

Maybe he did know it, deep inside. That weird feeling earlier, that sense of…nostalgia. A feeling that grows stronger and stronger when they wade through the water, slowly making it to the opening on the other side.

He should’ve known that the cove between the rocks of the cliff isn’t, as Jungkook thought, a cove similar to the one they knew from when they were children, the one they weren’t allowed inside.

It is the one from back then.

Jungkook thought the one back then was bigger. But truth is, back then, both of them were just smaller.

The exact moment he realizes that this path is leading them to their old village, he knows Jungkook realizes it too. It’s noticeable in the way his scent spikes into something unsure and tense, a whiff of fear being there too, and the tinge of adrenaline. 

Jimin’s pulse starts racing and when they step out of the cove and into the sunlight on the other side, an unpleasant taste of bitterness spreads in his mouth.

He doesn’t remember much from back then.

But what he sees know is definitely vastly different from what the village looked like from here when he was still a child.

In front of them the beach keeps extending, the cliff to their left losing its height, flattening more and more the further it extends along the beach, until it levels off and merges into a grass covered field a bit further in the distance, followed by a landscape of rolling hills, that Is covered in fields of flowers and grain and corn, and behind that…

Their log cabins from back then are all gone.

Instead, new houses stand on strong foundations, made of bricks and stone. There are so many of them, from the distance it looks like they are sharing walls with how closely they stand together, in perfect rows with perfect roof tops.

Even though there is no human in sight, smoke is coming from some of the chimneys.

An uneasy feeling settles in Jimin’s chest, his fingers and face suddenly cold. There is a drumming in his ears.

“We shouldn’t be here,” he whispers, eyes flickering to Jungkook.

The other’s jaw is set, something unsettlingly wild in his eyes, which are zoning in on the area ahead of them, a red glint shimmering in his irises.

“Jungkook,” Jimin grabs the other’s hand. “Come one, let’s go back.”

Jungkook’s fingers tighten around his hold but aside from that he doesn’t move, just keeps standing there, firmly rooted on the spot, his eyes not wavering even once, staring ahead.

“Jungkook,” Jimin pleads, his heart pounding uncomfortably. “Let’s go.”

Jungkook’s grip around his hand tightens even more, the sensation painful now.

“I wish I could kill them.”

The words are merely a whisper, but they’re loud in Jimin’s ears anyway.

They scare him.

Not because Jungkook is uttering them, but because Jimin had those thoughts before too. Summers ago. The wild longing for revenge, which sometimes devoured him to the point where he couldn’t think about anything else. But after some time passed, he realized that retaliation is not among the things he was taught by his mother as a pup. Quite the contrary. He also understood that everyone will get what they deserve one way or another. It doesn’t have to be by his hand.

“Don’t you?” Jungkook turns his head to look at him, the muscles in his jaw working. “Don’t you sometimes wish you could kill everyone who did that to us? To our families?”

Jimin swallows hard. “I—I try not to think about stuff like that.”

Jungkook looks at him long and hard and for quite a while he doesn’t say anything. Then he looks back towards the village.

“How can you be so indifferent?”

The question feels like a stab to Jimin’s heart. “I-I’m not indifferent!”

“Then don’t fucking act like this,” Jungkook snaps, before yanking his hand from Jimin’s hold, wading through the water until he reaches land, where he then keeps going, stomping through the sand with quick steps. Right towards the village.

“What are you doing?” Jimin follows him on unsteady legs. “Jungkook!”

“Don’t follow me.”

Jimin’s heart clenches at the cold words and a familiar type of anger starts simmering in his stomach.

“It’s dangerous!”

“I know!” Jungkook whips around, his expression hard. “That’s why I said don’t follow me!” Then he starts walking again.

“What are you going to do, huh?!” Jimin’s feet touch dry sand and he catches up to Jungkook with quick steps. “Kill them all with your bare hands or what? Jungkook!” He grabs the other by his wrist, but Jungkook yanks it out of his hold.

“Leave me alone, Jimin.”

Jimin huffs, his heart racing, his throat tight.

“Maybe if you would stop doing stupid shit like this, like a reckless pup!”

Jungkook halts with a jolt and when he turns to Jimin he smells so angry, that Jimin physically flinches back.

“Maybe if you would stop being so fucking patronizing all the time!”

Jimin feels sick when he realizes they’ve had an argument similar to this before, quite some time ago.

“Maybe if you would stop telling me what and what not to do,” Jungkook goes on, his voice trembling. “Maybe if you would just let me have a look at my parent’s fucking murderers for a moment!”

Jimin swallows hard, doesn’t have it in him to call after Jungkook again when the other turns around and continues his way towards the hills and the village, the wind tousling his hair.

Jimin rubs his face in exhaustion and sinks down into the sand with a sigh.

He doesn’t mean to be patronizing towards Jungkook. He really doesn’t. He’s just worried about him.

Things like that, calling him a reckless pup, he needs to stop that. He knows Jungkook takes offense at it and that it upsets him greatly.

Jimin runs his hand through his hair, which has been slightly knotted by the wind, watching Jungkook getting smaller and smaller in the distance, walking up the hill. He thinks he can see him stop for a moment when he’s at the top and secretly hopes he’s going to turn around and come back, but then Jungkook walks on, down on the other side of the hill, disappearing from Jimin’s sight.

Jimin desperately hopes he won’t go too far, that he won’t get too close to the village.

His gaze flickers towards the strange buildings in the distance. It might take a while for the village to really wake up but he doesn’t want to be this close when it does.

His eyes travel onwards, out to the sea, takes in the glittering water and the endlessness. He watches the seagulls, squawking while flying inverted arcs over the water, their wings flapping loudly. Jimin closes his eyes, the salty breeze grazing his skin while he buries his naked toes in the sand underneath him. He tries to calm down. Tries to tell himself that everything is going to be okay, that this trip was a good idea.

When he opens his eyes again a while later, he has to blink against the brightness of the sun.

And then his heart stops.

A boat has appeared on the horizon, glistening in the sun. It approaches steadily, the outline becoming clearer and clearer each time Jimin blinks.

Jimin jumps up, so quickly, that the world swims before his eyes for a moment, his feet staggering. A gust of wind whips his hair from his face when he turns around with a jolt. He doesn’t want to be seen, doesn’t want Jungkook to be seen.

There is a shout from the village. Someone calling out to the person on the boat and Jimin watches a figure emerging on one of the short piers in the distance.

He has to get Jungkook.

Jimin runs a few steps towards the hill which Jungkook disappeared behind earlier, his legs feeling weirdly heavy trying to get through the sand, and with each step something heavier and heavier settles on Jimin’s shoulders and suddenly, everything feels horribly wrong.

It’s as if there is no strength in his limbs anymore, his muscles losing all their power, to the point where he can’t go a single step further.

He stands still in the sand, stares at the village in the distance, at the hill in front of it, where he knows Jungkook is, where he needs to go. But he can’t. He can’t go there. He can’t go on that land where he grew up as a kid and which is now the home to their pack’s murderers.

Suddenly, he feels lightheaded and breathless, his chest tight and constricted, not enough air reaching his lungs. His hands are cold but sweaty and there is a tremble deep inside him, that has him feel like he’s losing control over his body.

He needs to go. He needs to get to Jungkook.

He takes an unsteady step, then another one.

This is fucking stupid, he scolds himself. You ran after Jungkook right into the arms of two rogue wolves and now you can’t get him because of some stupid buildings in the distance?

He forces himself to keep going, the tightness in his chest increasing with each step.

Go, he tells himself. Come on, go.

He manages to speed up, burying his fingernails into his sweaty palms.

It feels like forever until he finally reaches the hill, climbing it with heavy legs, the high grass tickling his calves.

He makes his way across it as quickly as possible, knowing he’s visible from all sides at the very top.

But what he sees on the other side, has him stop in his tracks, coming to a sudden halt when he’s only two steps down the hill.

In front of him, below, right at the foot of the hill, stretches the widest field of flowers he has ever seen. It extends all the way from the foot of the hill towards the very first building of the village, made of bricks and carrying big sails: A windmill.

The plants on the field grow high, their vines and leaves a deep green, their tubular blossoms cream-colored, some of them flushed yellow-orange. Even from here, Jimin can smell the nectarous scent, sweet and heady, telling him right away, what he’s standing in front of right now.

Honeysuckle.

He’s standing in front of Jungkook’s father’s honey suckle field.

His chest aches with sadness when he inhales deeply, letting the familiar scent surround him, calm him, his racing heartbeat slowly settling.

The sudden sound of giggles and laughter in the distance makes him jump.

From behind the windmill, some human children emerge. There are five of them, rounding the corner on quick feet, jumping about on the stretch of grass surrounding the building, a ball rolling back and forth between them.

Some of them are so young that they have trouble keeping up with the pace, trouble shooting the ball with their small feet and short legs, but even from here Jimin can see the big smiles stretching on their faces, the happy flush on their cheeks.

A sudden movement in the corner of his eye makes Jimin turn his head.

Not far from him, only a couple of steps down the hill to his left, Jungkook is sitting in the high grass, his eyes fixated on his hands in his lap. His shoulders are slumped forward and he looks small like this, so… lost.

When Jimin steps closer, moving slowly, not to attract the children’s attention, he sees that Jungkook is holding something in his hands.

A honeysuckle blossom is rolled gently between long fingers. It looks like it must’ve fallen off some time ago, the edges of the petals already a little wrinkly and dry. Jungkook probably made it all the way down to the field and picked it up before he headed back up the hill.

When Jimin steps even closer, he notices that Jungkook's fingers are shaking slightly and now he can also smell the heavy sadness on him, a scent that fills Jimin’s lungs and chest with something so dark that he wants to reach out and pull Jungkook into a hug. But he remembers their argument and holds himself back.

Until the moment Jungkook looks up at him.

The heavy sadness is visible in his eyes as well. They are a little red-rimmed and glassy and his lips wobble a bit when he throws Jimin a sad smile, holding up the delicate blossom for him to see, as if to say look what I found.

Jimin can only imagine what’s going on inside of him right now, being back here, so close to their past, so close to what happened, surrounded by his father's plants, surrounded by the scent of honeysuckle that reminds him so much of his family. So much that, back then, he pushed Jimin away because of it.

“Jungkookie,” Jimin whispers, taking another step forward.

That’s when Jungkook’s face crumbles. He lets his hand sink and drops his head, his shoulders starting to shake.

“Oh, Jungkookie…” Jimin’s heart breaks into a thousand pieces. He falls to his knees behind the other, brings his arms around the shaking shoulders to pull him back against his chest, squeezes him tightly, rocking him from side to side.

“It’s okay,” he whispers, even though he knows it’s not okay. But what else could he say? What could he say to convey how deeply sorry he feels for Jungkook right now, knowing that no words in the world could make what Jungkook is going through better?

So he just keeps holding him tightly, pressing his cheek against the top of his head, releasing a gentle amount of calming pheromones, until Jungkook’s shoulders stop shaking and the little sniffles die down.

After a while, Jimin pulls back and slowly sits down next to the other in the grass, gives Jungkook a moment to wipe his tears away and take a couple of deep breathes.

“Look at them playing,” Jungkook suddenly mumbles. “They play like our pups at home, don't they?"

Jimin's gaze wanders towards the playing children.

"They do."

Jungkook swallows audibly. "They– They have no idea—No idea that their people are monsters.”

Jimin nods. They are so young. So innocent. Completely unaware of what their parents did to the settlement that existed here before. Before all those brick houses were built, and this windmill.

He doesn’t know what to say, so he keeps his mouth shut.

“If I would kill their parents, like their parents killed mine,” Jungkook goes on, his voice trembling. “Would that make me a monster too? Their monster?”

Jimin reaches out until his fingers find the other's nape, trailing up into his black hair and massaging his scalp gently.

“Maybe,” he whispers carefully.

It’s silent for a long moment as they watch the children running about and playing on the stretch of grass below, laughing and cheering.

“I’m sorry,” Jungkook speaks up quietly after a while. “About earlier. I said horrible things…”

“Me too,” Jimin immediately says, stroking Jungkook’s shoulder blades. “I shouldn’t have said that. You’re not a reckless pup. You can take care of yourself and you have every right to come here and see this.” He lets his eyes wander over the village, the field of flowers.

“I guess I am like a reckless pup sometimes,” Jungkook mumbles, his eyes leaving the children and dropping down to his lap, where he’s still stroking the wilting honeysuckle blossom carefully. Then he brings it up to his nose, inhales deeply. When he lets his hand with the blossom sink into his lap again, there is a small sheepish smile dancing on his lips. He turns his head to look at Jimin.

“I missed this smell so much, but honestly—When you’re happy— You smell even better than this.”

A small chuckle ripples through Jimin, his heart jumping in a flattered way, and when Jungkook leans in to rest his head against his shoulder he happily lets him.

They sit like this for a while. Listening to the rustle of the wind over the fields, the laughter of the children in the distance. Jimin closes his eyes and breathes in the honeysuckle scent and the ocean breeze.

While it made him panic for a moment when they arrived, now the salty sea air has a different feeling spreading inside him. It’s not necessarily nostalgia, but it’s something that is anchoring his emotions, that keeps him right here in the present, full of the awareness that this was once his home but that now it is not anymore.

It makes him sad. But it also makes him feel weirdly content. Because now he sees that the concept of home is not defined by a set place and where it’s located. It’s defined by the heart. And Jimin’s heart lies somewhere else now. It lies with a different place and different people.

His eyes open and they flicker towards Jungkook, who’s still leaning against his shoulder, and he realizes that Jungkook is one of those people, who make Jimin’s own personal home exactly that.

Jungkook must’ve had similar thoughts.

“Can we go home?” He suddenly whispers.

Originally, they wanted to spend more than just half a day at the ocean, they were talking about staying two or three, but suddenly, Jimin misses their pack and his everyday life there, misses the familiar scents, the familiar sounds, the familiar environment. He can tell Jungkook misses them too.

Jimin smiles, doesn’t miss a beat when he answers:

“Yes. Let’s go home.”

They make it out of the area and to the other side of the cavern without being seen and the first stretch of their journey home goes by surprisingly quickly and without any issues.

It’s night already when they turn back into their human forms. The sky is clear of any clouds, the crescent moon illuminating the area where they decided to stay for the night: A small clearing, surrounded by big fruit trees. It’s a bit early for them to be bearing fruits, but it’s the time for many of them to bloom, the blossoms draping the area in soft shades of pink, white and yellow, the colors even visible in the moonlight. 

It's because of said moonlight that, when they put on their linen shirts and pants, they have their backs turned towards each other for discretion. Jimin secretly wishes he could stay naked, since he does feel a little hot from running all day and if it would be any other alpha from their pack, he would just do so, but at the thought of being naked around Jungkook a weird shyness is bubbling up inside his stomach.

It eases down, when he’s finally fully covered.

When he turns back around, Jungkook is already fully clothed as well and he has his head lifted, looking into the crown of a particularly tall tree in front of them: A Mirabelle plum tree, big and old, but clearly healthy, covered in blossoms that shimmer pearly white in the pale moonlight.

“I remember this tree,” Jungkook says and even though his eyes seem to be focused on the tree in front of them, they seem to look at something far away at the same time. “We slept under it. Right here. I think it was our third or fourth night. That’s how slow we were.” He pauses for a moment and Jimin feels the need to say something, but realizes soon that there is nothing he can contribute, since he doesn’t really remember anything himself. When Jungkook goes on, his voice is only a whisper. “I remember that it was the first time you slept since we left.” He tilts his head, seemingly lost in thoughts. “You were so exhausted, you slept for quite a long time and I remember that… even though I didn’t really know you back then, I was watching you for hours, worrying that you might not wake up again. Like… them.”

He turns to look at Jimin and there is a little smile on his face but it’s so sad, that Jimin reaches for his hand, squeezing it.

“I’m so sorry,” he says, partly because he feels bad for young Jungkook having to go through all that, but mainly because he feels bad that Jungkook has to remember that horrible time all alone, since Jimin himself doesn’t remember much of it. He does remember the tiredness though, how his eyes were burning from the constant crying and how sore his body was from running in his wolf form for much longer than he was used to back then, all the while carrying Jungkook’s weight on his back too.

Jungkook looks down at their joined hands, before lifting his gaze up into the sky. Jimin follows him, takes in the clear night, the twinkling stars, the crescent moon.

“It was a clear night, just like this,” Jungkook says. His tone is soft but his grip on Jimin’s hand is hard. “It was so beautiful. And I was so mad because of it. So angry. How could the night sky be so breathtaking, the stars so pretty, during such a cruel time? It felt so unfair that… while something so—so horrible happened down here, the stars kept on existing, as if nothing changed.”

When Jimin looks at him, he swears he can see the stars and the moon reflecting in Jungkook’s eyes, making them shine prettily. But even though they’re shining, there is a deep sadness inside them.

“Do you want to go a little further?” Jimin asks carefully. “We don’t have to stay here tonight, if it’s too much for you.”

Jungkook tears his eyes away from the sky to look at Jimin and shakes his head. His smile is pretty and gentle, and his next words are too.

“I like it here.”

He takes a step closer.

“It feels good to be back, while feeling… like this.”

Jimin tilts his head curiously. “Like what?”

Jungkook shrugs and hums, as if searching for the right words.

“Back then, I was scared and sad and lost. And now— now I’m not.” He strokes Jimin’s knuckles with his thumb. “I’m kind of happy where I am right now.”

The shyness in his smile makes Jimin’s heart skip a beat and warm fondness spreads inside his chest. The sudden urge to hug the younger, makes him step forward and open his arms.

Jungkook falls into them right away.

And Jimin hugs him tightly, trying to convey with his strong hold around Jungkook what he fails to convey with words: That he’s here. That he’s here with him and that he won’t leave. His body, his mind, his soul, everything that he is, is here with Jungkook. And he will stay.

“Will you stay here?” Jungkook whispers, as if he’s read Jimin’s mind. When Jimin pulls back to look at him, Jungkook’s expression turns endearingly embarrassed. “I mean…,” he clears his throat. “Tonight… Will you lay down with me, like back then, when we were younger? And…,” he blinks at Jimin with big eyes, his voice growing more and more quiet. “And hold me?”

A fond smile stretches on Jimin’s lips and he raises his hand to push Jungkook’s bangs to the side.

“You want me to hold you, while you sleep?”

Jungkook nods, his cheeks dusted pink, and Jimin feels his smile grow bigger.

“Okay.”

It’s a couple of hours later, after a small dinner of sharing a roasted rabbit and two handfuls of mushrooms, that they turn in for the night.

When Jungkook places his furs on the ground right below the plum tree a while later, Jimin puts his own right beside them. Suddenly, his cheeks feel hot and he avoids Jungkook’s eyes when he crawls under the pelt that he’s been carrying with him for the trip, since the nights still tend to be quite chilly.

When Jungkook lies down next to him, he does so kind of awkwardly, lying on his back, staring into the sky, his hands folded on his stomach. Jimin watches him for a moment, waiting for him to make a move, but the smell of uncertainty surrounding them tells him that Jungkook is way too nervous.

He swallows down his own nerves and clicks his tongue, before lifting his pelt.

“Don’t make this awkward. Come.”

Jungkook’s head snaps towards him, eyeing the lifted pelt, and for a moment he looks like he wants to say something, but then he just nods, and shuffles closer, until he’s covered by Jimin’s pelt too. They look at each other for a moment, faces mere inches apart, and Jimin can see a flicker of determination in Jungkook’s eyes, before the younger scoots even closer.

Jimin’s mind is reeling how he should go about this and he carefully places his hand on Jungkook’s shoulder. The other doesn’t move, just keeps staring at him with big eyes, which flutter close, when Jimin slides his hand down the curve of his shoulder blade and to his back, until his arm is fully encircling him.

When suddenly Jungkook’s arms are surrounding him as well, Jimin can’t help a little gasp from slipping past his lips. He didn’t expect this.

“Is this okay?” Jungkook asks softly, his scent nervous, as if he’s scared, he made a wrong move.

Jimin nods. “Of course.”

Right after the words left his mouth, Jungkook pulls him even closer and suddenly the younger’s nose is nuzzling into his neck and the embrace around him tightens, and Jimin feels very much like Jungkook is holding him now and not the other way around. But he doesn’t say anything, just hugs the younger back.

For a while, they just lie there, arms around each other and Jimin is very much aware of the heat of Jungkook’s body against his own and his own heart beating fast inside his throat and it takes a while, before his body finally relaxes. The moment he does, it feels like it’s melting into Jungkook’s. He feels soft, every muscle losing its tension. He can feel Jungkook doing the same, as if he just waited for Jimin to finally relax.

Jimin listens to Jungkook’s steady breathing, the puffs of breath warm against his skin, until his eyelids grow heavy and he falls asleep.

When Jimin wakes up the next day – surprisingly well-rested – it’s pretty early, the sun barely peeking over the horizon, illuminating the sky in a soft rosy hue and he’s surprised to find Jungkook already up.

From the looks of it, the younger has been up for quite a while already: The piles of berries and nuts, which he's currently carefully laying out on big plane tree leaves, indicating that he must’ve spent some time in the forest already.

“Have you slept at all?” Jimin asks, his voice raspy from sleep, when he gets up from his furs.

Jungkook looks at him from where he’s kneeling on the ground with a tired smile.

“Only a little.”

Jimin purses his lips. “Why?”

Jungkook just shrugs his shoulders and suddenly he isn’t meeting Jimin’s eyes anymore.

“I’m just— I don’t know—There is a lot on my mind. Just— with coming back from the sea and all.”

Jimin can clearly see the redness in Jungkook’s cheeks, knows from the way he’s stumbling over his words that he isn’t telling the whole truth. But Jimin doesn’t want to dig, so he just makes an agreeing sound, while he squats down next to Jungkook.

“I get that,” he says, picking up one of the nuts, and pushing it between his lips, chewing on it carefully. “Thank you for getting us breakfast.”

“You’re welcome, I didn’t know if you— if it’s alright with you?” When Jungkook looks at him it’s with big eyes and it takes Jimin a couple of moments to understand what the other means.

‘Are you trying to— to take care of me? To provide for me? Are you fucking courting me?’

“Oh,” he breathes and looks at the berries and fruits, his heart clenching with the heavy guilt that washes over him. Guilt for making Jungkook feel like this. And uncertainty because they still haven’t really talked a whole lot about the courting thing.

“Of course it’s alright,” he says and lifts his hand, to squeeze the younger’s lower arm in what he hopes is a reassuring manner. “Very much so. I’m…,” he falters and feels his face heat up. There is so much he wants to say but it doesn’t feel like this is the best place and time, he also doesn’t want to say something rash, so he settles for: “I appreciate it. A lot.” He inhales deeply. “The— umm—breakfast and the—you know—,” he clears his throat. “The courting.” He finally says. 

Jungkook stares at him with wide eyes, halting in his movements.

“Are—Are you sure?”

Jimin feels like his eyes are just as big.

“Yes,” he whispers.

“Okay, that’s,” Jungkook clears his throat too, his cheeks even pinker now. “That’s good to know.”

After they’ve had their small breakfast – both feeling like something too heavy in their stomachs would slow them down – they turn into their wolf-forms and set off again.

The weather is clear and sunny and even though they’re still about two days away from home, after a while of running, the air starts smelling more familiar, just like the flora around them turns more and more familiar too.

Slowly Jimin feels himself relax, a tension slipping off his shoulders that he didn’t realize he was carrying with him. Observing Jungkook from the corners of his eyes, he realizes the younger relaxing more and more too.

This time, when they find their place for the night, they don’t even talk about it. The furs are placed on the ground side by side without a word and their arms find their ways around each other just as silently after they’ve slipped beneath Jimin’s pelt.

They fall asleep, wrapped around each other, holding the other, tightly, breathing the other in, Jungkook’s nose pressing into Jimin’s neck and Jimin’s buried in Jungkook’s hair.

Jimin inhales the other’s scent deeply, almost feeling creepy while doing so. But it relaxes him, makes him feel safe. And slowly it lulls him to sleep.

This time when he wakes up, Jimin doesn’t find himself well-rested.

Instead, he’s disoriented and uncomfortable.

The first thing he realizes, when blinking his eyes open, is that the stars and the moon are still shining bright in the night sky above him.

The next thing he realizes is that he’s not covered with his pelt anymore, but still, he feels hot. Unbearably so. His clothes are sticking wetly to his skin and there is a low thrumming in his head and a rush in his ears.

When he breathes out, a low moan slips past his lips, that he tries and fails to swallow down.

There is an insane pull in his lower stomach and a hot tension between his legs. He faintly realizes he’s moving his hips, humping up into the air, feels his pants straining over his hard cock, feels that they’re wet and that he wants them off, but he also wants more of the wet friction, that he needs more of whatever this is…

A stinging pain on his neck has him gasp, another wave of heat rippling through him, his thighs clenching.

His drowsy mind is trying to make sense of what’s happening and when he tries to turn his head, a face in his neck and a heavy arm on his chest keep him from moving.

That’s when he starts to understand.

“J-Jungkook...,” he gasps.

There is another nip on his neck, followed by a wet tongue, a huff of hot breath… Jimin’s abdomen clenches and he bites his lips, his hips rutting up again.

He realizes Jungkook isn’t awake, can clearly smell the scent of calmness on him that’s commonly found when wolves are sleeping. It mixes strangely with the many layers of heavy arousal in the air. So heavy, Jimin is sure, this has been going on for a while, that Jungkook in his sleep must’ve started nipping on his neck quite some time ago. That’s probably also the reason why Jimin is this aroused from just having his scent gland licked.

His cock twitches in his pants when he feels movement against his thigh, something hard and hot rubbing and pressing against it. Out of the corner of his eyes, in the dark, he can see the outline of Jungkook’s hips rolling against him, can feel that Jungkook is wet with precum too.

Jimin swallows hard, suddenly he feels raw, another scrape of teeth against his scent gland making his abdomen clench so hard that all air is knocked out of his lungs.

“Fuck,” he whispers when he realizes he’s about to come. “Jungkook…w-wake up…”

Just one touch of fingers to his cock, maybe the press of a hand, and Jimin knows he would burst immediately. He craves it, wants to squeeze his cock so badly, needs it, but he couldn’t live with taking advantage of Jungkook like this.

“Jungkook—" He feels breathless and when the other bites his skin again, his back arches, the heat in his lower stomach centering. “Oh— no, no, no—I’m—Jungkook—”

“Hm?” Jungkook rumbles next to him.

Jimin whimpers in relief and with all his strength, rams his elbow right into Jungkook’s chest, making the other groan.

“Wake up—” Jimin’s back arches again, his toes curling at another graze of teeth. “Please— oh—”

He isn’t sure what he’s begging for, if it’s for Jungkook to wake up and stop, or for something entirely different, but when Jungkook is suddenly on top of him, pinning him down by his wrists, staring at him with red eyes, glowing dangerously in the dark, it’s exactly what Jimin needs.

He moans, thrusting his hips into Jungkook’s, his eyes almost rolling back at the friction of their erections rubbing against one another, thinks he’s going crazy from how good it feels.

Jungkook growls, the sound rumbling deep inside his chest, and suddenly his face is mere inches apart from Jimin’s, his breath hot against his lips and Jimin just has to lift his head up a little bit-

The exact moment when clarity washes over Jungkook is visible in the way his eyes turn back to their natural color and even more so in the horrified expression that washes over his face, while all color drains from it.

“Oh,” he scrambles back, removing himself from Jimin in a hurry, landing on his butt. “Shit, I’m sorry—” He shuffles back to bring distance between them. “I’m so so sorry.” His eyes are wide and confused and scared and when Jimin sits up to reach for him, he flinches back.

Jimin shuffles closer on his knees, his hands finding Jungkook’s shirt, then his shoulders, wants the contact, needs it, wants Jungkook back on him.

“Jungkook,” he breathes and when he starts climbing on Jungkook’s lap, the other’s hands fly to his waist to pull him closer, as if he too is not able to keep his hands off Jimin, albeit the confusion in his expression, in his scent. They gasp in union, when their bulges press together.

“I’m sorry,” Jungkook repeats, his voice cracking when Jimin moves a little on top of him and Jimin just shakes his head, pressing their foreheads together, trying to still his hips, albeit the amazing feeling.

“It’s alright.”

“No, it’s not, I-I don’t- I shouldn’t have-“

“I said it’s alright.”

“But it’s not—"

“You were asleep. It’s okay.”

“But-“

“Jungkook,” Jimin brings his hands to Jungkook’s cheeks, keeps their foreheads pressed together, releasing as many calming pheromones as possible, which isn’t easy considering how riled up he’s still feeling.

They sit like this for a while and time seems to slow down, as well as their labored breaths.

Jimin feels the hard grip of Jungkook’s fingers on his waist slowly relaxing and he leans closer, his lips grazing Jungkook’s softly.

Then he draws back, looking at the other, who’s eyes flutter open slowly. Jimin runs his fingers through that soft black hair, before bringing his hand back to Jungkook’s cheek.

“I want you,” he admits with a whisper.

Jungkook’s Adam’s apple bops when he swallows hard.

“I want you too,” he rasps.

Jimin looks at Jungkook. Really looks at him. Into his eyes that are still big and nervous but also glazed over with pleasure. At his pretty pretty lips, which are slightly parted, and the tongue that darts out to wet them. Suddenly, Jimin is very much aware of the nervous flutter inside his chest, but he swallows the nerves down and dips his head to press his lips to Jungkook’s.

Their kiss is a little clumsy at first but then something sparks and they find their rhythm and suddenly everything feels hot. Jimin pulls Jungkook closer, licking and biting him greedily, moving his tongue against his. Their arms are encircling each other, their kiss turning deeper and more intense, their heated bodies starting to move against each other.

Jimin feels Jungkook’s rapid heartbeat against his chest, tastes his familiar scent on his lips, feels the softness of his hair and his skin. 

They undress each other slowly and gently, covering each other’s skin with wet kisses, caressing each other’s backs and arms. Jimin sucks on Jungkook’s lower lip, runs his fingers through Jungkook’s hair, sliding them to his pecks, thumbing on his nipples, making Jungkook sigh in pleasure. A sound that has Jimin’s whole body tingle.

When they are finally completely naked, Jungkook pushes him down into the furs, starts kissing and nipping on his neck first, before moving down to his collarbone, bites softly into his nipple. Then his lips wander even lower, over Jimin’s stomach and Jimin spreads his legs, giving Jungkook room to slide between them, and his heart is racing, his fingers buried in the furs on either side of him.

The first time Jungkook’s fingers touch him, Jimin flinches. And when Jungkook puts his lips on him, he moans, his grip in the furs tightening.  

Jungkook’s mouth feels wonderful, the way he runs his tongue up and down Jimin’s length, before wrapping his lips around it, has Jimin’s thighs shake in the matter of a few heartbeats.

Jimin lifts his head to look down, watches Jungkook’s lips working him, watches him stroke his cock and massage his balls while sucking him at the same time… Jungkook looks phenomenal like this and Jimin wishes he could watch him forever but when Jungkook starts swirling his tongue around Jimin’s tip, the motion sending electric shocks of heat through Jimin’s body, he falls back into the furs, closing his eyes tightly, cock throbbing in the wet heat of Jungkook’s mouth.

When Jungkook pushes a finger inside Jimin, covered with spit and precum, at the very same moment when he fully sinks down on Jimin’s cock with his mouth, Jimin moans loudly, his thighs falling open even further.

Jungkook preps Jimin thoroughly, pushes in a second finger after a while, and then a third.

Jimin’s mind is hazy, he rolls his hips against the fingers inside him, pushes his cock into Jungkook’s mouth, making the other choke when he’s too violent with it.

He finds a rhythm, keeps moving and moving until everything stumbles to a halt, when Jungkook touches that spot inside him.

Jimin’s back arches, he clenches around Jungkook’s fingers, his eyes fly open and he can’t do anything but stare up into the night sky, the stars blurring in front of his eyes.

It’s as if that touch to his prostate has flipped a switch inside him.

His hands fly to the back of Jungkook’s head, his feet planting into the furs, and he gasps in hot pleasure when suddenly everything turns sharp and everything turns tight, making his insides burn hotter and hotter.

“Oh—" He whines, rolling his hips, fucking up into Jungkook’s mouth, his sweaty fingers straining where he’s gripping his hair. “Jungkook— I’m—right there—right- right there—” He’s gasping for air, every muscle inside his body clenching.

When Jungkook hums around his cock, the vibration sends shocks of pleasure through Jimin’s body, his back arching even more, his thighs shaking.

He sobs and then with a final “Oh” the tension snaps, the heat finally erupts and he comes hotly inside Jungkook’s mouth, sobbing and shaking with the enormity of his orgasm.

He’s still shaking, his heart racing, when Jungkook comes up to kiss him softly. Jimin melts into his arms, kisses him back, tastes himself on his lips.

I love you, he thinks.

When Jungkook pushes inside him quite a while later, filling him up slowly, he does so with his forehead resting against Jimin’s and somehow the intimacy of the moment makes Jimin’s heart tremble, just like his body trembles from the pleasure of the stretch, from the heat, the burn, the feeling of completion. When Jungkook starts moving, it’s nice and slow. When he sneaks his hand between their bodies and starts pumping Jimin’s swollen cock, it’s thorough and sweet.

There is something glimmering in his eyes, when he takes Jimin in, that has Jimin burning all over and soon, nothing but broken moans and strangled curses, whimpers and gasps, leave their lips, heating the air between them.

When Jungkook’s cock pulses, filling Jimin with the heat of his cum, their lips and tongues meet again and right at the touch of their mouths, a boiling rush explodes inside Jimin and he comes once more, just as hotly all over himself, the image of the starry night above them burning into his mind, settling deep inside his memory.

Fuck, I love you.

“Jimin, I want to… I want to talk about me courting you,” Jungkook whispers a while later. The sweat on their skin has already dried in the cool night air, but their limbs are still entangled. Jimin looks up at him from where he’s resting his head on Jungkook’s bicep.

“I want to be there for you,” Jungkook says and brings his hand up to stroke Jimin’s cheek. “I want to keep you safe. What happened to us…”  His eyes flutter close for a short moment, before he opens them again. “The pain we went through, I don’t want that to happen ever again. Not to me but especially not to you. I want you to be happy.”

Jimin feels Jungkook’s thumbs stroking over his cheekbone, gets lost in the other’s eyes and in his words.

“And— I don’t want to lose you. When— when those rogues attacked, I—the only thing I could think of was that I couldn’t stand losing a pack, a family again but— but the moment I realized, the moment I understood that this time I could also lose you…” He inhales deeply, a shuddering intake of breath, before he goes on. “You’ve always been there. You’ve always been a presence in my life, from the moment you reached out to me, the moment you came to save me from where I was buried under the rubble of my home, with your crying face and your bleeding knees and scraped up hands…” He leans in now, putting his forehead against Jimin’s, his voice a little choked up when he goes on.

“Even when we weren’t friendly with each other, I think I’ve never even once thought about a world without you, about a world where you wouldn’t exist.” The way his voice trembles has something tremble in Jimin’s heart too. Suddenly his throat feels a little tight too, his sight blurring.

“I’ll keep you safe,” Jungkook whispers, still pressing their foreheads together, his warm breath fanning over Jimin’s lips while he’s still stroking Jimin’s cheek. “I promise I’ll keep you safe and I’ll comfort you and I’ll take care of you ... I… Can I…” He falters and takes another deep breath, before he pulls back to look at Jimin. The moonlight makes something in his eyes sparkle. “Even if you don’t end up choosing me, Jimin, can I please stay by your side?”

Jimin swallows thickly. He wants to say something but there is a hard knot inside his throat and he’s sure that his voice is going to break if he speaks up now. So he brings his hand to Jungkook’s face, trailing his thumb over his cheek just as Jungkook is doing it to him, then he leans in to peck Jungkook’s lips softly. Then again. And again.

“Promise me—You need to promise me that you’ll never leave me like that again,” he whispers against Jungkook’s mouth after a while, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “Don’t push me away like you did all that time ago. Don’t walk away from me and right into danger like you did when the rogues attacked, or like you did back there at the beach. I want to keep you safe too.” He puts his hand on Jungkook’s chest, feels his heart beating rapidly under his palm. “To feel you breathing like this…” He looks at Jungkook. “It’s the greatest honor of my life.”

Jungkook blinks at him wetly, before he audibly swallows.

“I promise,” he whispers.

Jimin lets himself be pulled closer, melts into Jungkook’s embrace, nuzzles into his neck, feels a small happy smile spread on his lips and he just lets it sit there, letting it warm his face.

When they arrive at their village the next day, it feels weird to say their awkward goodbye and go separate ways to their respective cabins.

To Jimin, it’s like their trip brought them so much closer together, and for one very long sleepless night, when he lies in his bed pondering over all kinds of things, he mostly thinks about the fact that he wishes Jungkook was lying next to him and about what it means.

He realizes that he’s convinced that him and Jungkook belong together. He realizes he wants them to belong together. He wants Jungkook to be part of his life, of his future, of everything. He wants Jungkook to be with him forever. And he wants to stay by Jungkook’s side, wants to hold him whenever he gets that sad look again, wants to hear him laugh that laugh again. The one before they were kissing in the rain. He wants to make him laugh like that more often. He wants Jungkook to be happy.

In a way, he has felt all this before when it came to Jungkook, but never as strongly.

Suddenly, the thought of Jungkook courting him and what it means makes Jimin’s heart flutter, makes him giddy inside. And he makes a decision that he should’ve made a long time ago.

The next morning – even though all he wants to do is to knock on Jungkook’s door and ask him to spend the day with him – he pays Taehyung a visit first. 

They talk for a long time and Jimin tells him about his plan.

At Taehyung’s happy smile, he knows the decision he’s made is the right one.

Later that day, he pays Namjoon a visit in his office, is glad to find him free and with enough time on his hands to sit down and talk.

Because, what Jungkook doesn’t know: When he placed the honeysuckle blossom on the ground before they got ready to leave, Jimin collected it quickly without him noticing, sneaking it into his bag, hoping desperately that it wouldn’t be crushed too much and still be usable.

He looks at Namjoon. “I want to plant this,” he says quietly and he can tell that there is a bit of a flush spreading on his face. “But I don’t know much about plants, so…”

“Honeysuckle,” Namjoon says with a smile, taking the blossom, which is surprisingly intact even after the long journey in Jimin’s bag. He looks at Jimin knowingly. “The plant Jungkook’s father used to grow.”

Jimin’s cheeks heat up even more.

“So you know about it,” he mumbles, rubbing his flushed neck. “I want to—” He clears his throat. “I want to grow it quickly, because I want to give it to him as a gift.” He looks at Namjoon who’s still wearing that annoyingly knowing smile. “As soon as possible,” he adds.

Namjoon doesn’t say anything. He just keeps smiling and Jimin gets restless inside.

He groans in annoyance. “Don’t make me say it.”

Namjoon shrugs. “Okay,” he says, the smile turning into a grin, then he gets up from his chair and walks to a cupboard in the corner, pulling out a small pot, about the size of Jimin’s hand. “I can help you plant it and give you a little mixture of something to make it grow faster. If everything works out the first sprout should be visible in about seven days. I must warn you though,” he sits back down, placing the pot on the table between them, taking the blossom into his hand and inspecting it carefully “It might not grow as well here as it does in the South, it might stay small, especially in a pot. There might only be one or two blossoms every spring.”

“That’s okay,” Jimin says quietly. “I just want him to have something… something from our past, you know?”

Just like Namjoon said, it takes about seven days for the first sprout to show up from the soil. About another seven days later it has doubled in size and is wearing its first tiny leaf. And even though it’s not yet at the size Jimin would’ve liked it to be, he can’t wait any longer.

Him and Jungkook met up a couple of times the past few weeks, spent their evenings together here and there, worked on projects around their village together during the days.

Their conversations flow easily, it’s only that – now that Jimin has made his decision – he’s weirdly nervous whenever Jungkook is around, can’t stop thinking about the tiny plant hidden between the other plants on his window sill. He’s nervous at the thought of giving it to Jungkook, nervous that he might not like it, scared that he might reject it.

Reject him.

His fingers are jittering when he walks up to Jungkook’s cabin a couple of days later, and he tightens his hold around the smooth surface of the pot he’s carrying.

They planned on meeting up for dinner and he’s a bit early, the sun has just begun setting, but Jimin couldn’t stand waiting around at home any longer, the nervousness making him incredibly restless.

He knocks at Jungkook’s door, his heart beating out of his chest, and it takes a moment for the other to open.

“You’ve early,” he says, wearing an apron, drying his hands on a kitchen towel. “Dinner isn’t read- oh-“

His gaze falls on the pot in Jimin’s hand. He eyes it curiously and for a heartbeat he looks a bit confused but then recognition flickers across his face and a small smile forms on his lips. When he looks up at Jimin, his eyes are sparkling, his nostrils flaring a little and Jimin knows he can smell the nervousness on him, knows that Jungkook might know what this is about.

“Come in.”

After the door has fallen shut behind Jimin, for a moment, they just stand there in Jungkook’s entryway, the air kind of loaded, the other is looking at him somewhat expectantly, still that small smile on his face but he’s smelling a little bit nervous now too.

Jimin clears his throat. “I… umm… I planted this for you.” He holds out the pot which Jungkook takes with gentle hands, after putting the kitchen towel over his shoulder. “The seeds are from the one you collected at the windmill.”

“Thank you,” Jungkook says softly and there is a bit of a blush spreading on his cheeks, when he turns the pot in his hands to inspect the tiny plant from all sides. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”

Jimin chews on his lower lip, thinks his heart might stop any second with how fast it’s beating.

“Just so you don’t misunderstand—” Jimin’s cheeks are burning as he says the words. “This is a courting gift.”

Jungkook looks up at him and a ridiculously wide smile forms on his face, his nose scrunching, the nervous smell making room for something happy and excited.

“You’re courting me?”

“Yes,” Jimin swallows because his throat is weirdly dry now. “I’m officially courting you. And I’m asking you to accept it. Me. To accept me.”

Jungkook takes a step forward, then another one, the fingers of his free hand ghosting softly over Jimin’s arm, the touch warm and gentle.

“Only if I’m allowed to court you back.”

Jimin smiles, relief flooding through him and he almost feels like crying.

“You are.”

“And only if I’m allowed to kiss you. Now.”

Jimin's smile grows bigger. “You are.”

They’re both still smiling, when their lips meet softly.

“Are you aware that Jungkook’s rut is around the corner?”

Jimin flinches at Yoongi’s voice next to him, hasn’t heard the omega approaching and sitting down next to him, too lost in watching Jungkook dancing and jumping around the moonlit meadow with some of the pups. It’s late and their parents wanted to send them to bed already, but the pups and Jungkook persuaded them to let them stay a little longer, with pleas and puppy eyes.

Jungkook seems happier than Jimin has ever seen him and it has a warm fondness bubbling up in his chest.

“What?” He turns to Yoongi and blinks.

Yoongi’s smile is a mix of amused, endeared and maybe slightly worried.

“It’s faint, but he’s showing signs of pre-rut,” he says, before taking a sip of his drink. “You have to learn to notice those kinds of things now, Jimin.”

Jimin feels his cheeks heat up and he carefully looks around for any potential eavesdroppers. It’s not necessarily a secret that Jungkook and him are an item now, but they haven’t made it official yet. So far, only their closest friends know.

“What signs are you talking about?” He asks quietly, his eyes wandering back to Jungkook, who’s still playing with the kids in the middle of the meadow, kicking around a ball made of boar leather, filled with straw. “He’s acting completely normal.” 

Yoongi snorts. “Are you serious? I talked to you guys this morning for only a moment and I could tell right away.”

Jimin blinks and thinks back to when they crossed paths with Yoongi and Hoseok at the market this morning, tries to recall Jungkook’s behavior, but can’t come up with anything out of the ordinary.

He shakes his head and shoots Yoongi a questioning look.

“Well, his scent for starters,” Yoongi says matter-of-factly. “How could you not have noticed?”

„Well, you’re—you know—your nose is made for it,” Jimin defends himself. “And you have more experience with alpha ruts. You and Hoseok have been mated for like a hundred summers.”

Yoongi barks out a laugh. “It certainly feels like I’ve known him that long.”

Then it’s silent.

“Are you going to spend it with him?” Yoongi asks after a while, his tone rather careful.

Jimin’s face feels incredibly hot now, his heart beating faster.

Of course he wants to help Jungkook through his rut, the prospect of it actually excites him. But it also makes him a little nervous. Not because he doesn’t trust Jungkook. Quite the contrary. He trusts Jungkook and he trusts Jungkook’s wolf. But he doesn’t know if he can trust his own wolf.

Other than Jungkook’s wolf, who has never done anything to Jimin that would justify him being worried, Jimin’s wolf has displayed aggressive behavior towards Jungkook multiple times for no reason. It has always been Jimin’s wolf that snapped, that hurt Jungkook. At least in the beginning. By biting Jungkook’s fingers or shoving him away when he couldn’t take the intimacy of another alpha anymore.

Granted, this hasn’t happened in quite a while, but who knows how Jimin’s wolf would react to another alpha in rut. So, if anything, it’s Jungkook who should be worried.

Maybe that’s why Jungkook hasn’t talked to him yet. He must know he’s in pre-rut, right? Maybe he doesn’t want to spend his rut with Jimin, maybe he’d rather spend it alone, because Jimin’s alpha might not be able to control itself and it wouldn’t be safe to spend it with him.

Jimin swallows hard and his fingers suddenly feel very cold at the thought of being rejected by the younger.

He must’ve been silent for quite a while because Yoongi speaks up again.

“I can practically hear your mind reeling, Jimin.” When Jimin looks at him, there is an amused look on his face. “Do you want to know how exactly I could tell this morning, that he’s in pre-rut?”

Jimin shrugs. Then nods.

“First of all, it was particularly obvious in the way he smelled around you.”

Jimin blinks and Yoongi chuckles.

“His scent turned very seductive whenever you interacted with him, it was honestly a little distracting. Also the way in which he was keeping an eye on me, when I was talking to you.” He snorts as he seems to recall the moment. “Especially the way he put his hands on you and pulled you closer, when I had the audacity to pluck that petal out of your hair.” He chuckles again. “I did it on purpose to be honest, because I wanted to see his reaction.”

Jimin gawks at him. “That’s so mean!” He exclaims but deep inside his chest, his heart flutters excitedly.

Yoongi’s smile almost turns apologetic, but not quite.

“Maybe a little bit. Couldn’t help myself though. The way he’s behaving like a clueless pup, as if he had his first rut approaching or something… It’s adorable.” His eyes flicker away from Jimin and to the side, where someone’s moving towards them. “Ah, and here he comes.” He leans forward and whispers: “I wonder if he’s bothered by me sitting next to you.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Jungkook scootches between them rather rudely, literally forcing them to move apart, before sitting down right there. Yoongi barks out a laugh, while Jimin’s cheeks heat up at the obviousness.

Now, he can also smell it. It’s really faint, just a trace, but it’s definitely there, tingling his nose: The underlying spicy scent of pre-rut.

“What’s so funny?” Jungkook asks, looking at the snickering omega.

Yoongi just grins. “Jungkookie, you are aware that I’m happily mated and very much in love with my alpha, right?”

Jungkook blinks, confusion written all over his face. “Of course. Why?”

Yoongi snickers. “You guys are too cute. And too clueless.” He looks at Jimin, while nodding towards Jungkook. “Talk to him.”

Then he gets up and leaves without any other word, leaving behind a satisfied and rather amused scent.

“What is he talking about?” Jungkook blinks, turning to look at Jimin.

Jimin shakes his head and grabs his hand. “Not here. Come, let’s go to my place.”

When he stands and tries to pull Jungkook up with him, the other stays firmly seated, his eyes still big.

“Am I in trouble?”

“No,” Jimin laughs. “Don’t worry. But let’s talk at home, yeah?”

After arriving at Jimin’s cabin, they find themselves lying down on Jimin’s bed right away. For some reason, Jimin feels like he wants to hold Jungkook while talking about this.

“Yoongi says you’re in pre-rut,” he mumbles, cutting to the chase right away. “I can smell it too now.”

Jungkook stiffens in his hold, but only for a second, before he relaxes again.

“Yeah, I know,” he sighs.

“You didn’t want to tell me?”

At Jimin’s words, Jungkook pulls back to look at him.

“Of course I wanted to tell you, it’s just…,” he falters and it seems like he’s searching for the best way to say what he wants to convey. Jimin feels a kind of nervousness in his chest that he hasn’t felt in a long time. A mixture of worry and hope.

“I think secretly I was hoping you’d bring it up,” Jungkook avoids Jimin’s eyes, looking at something behind him, his cheeks dusted pink. “Which was selfish of me, I’m sorry. I should’ve talked to you right away. It started yesterday, actually. My alpha…,” his eyes lock with Jimin’s again. “It’s going crazy around you. I can hardly control myself.”

Jimin swallows thickly, the nerves making his throat tighten. “Crazy? In a… good way or not?”

A small smile spread on Jungkook’s lips. “In a very good way.”

“O-Okay…” Jimin’s face grows hot. “That’s nice.”

Jungkook chuckles and leans in. “If you’re okay with it, I would love to have you with me.” He presses a kiss to Jimin’s lips. “Can’t think about anything else,” he whispers, making Jimin’s face burn even hotter. “But I would understand if it’s too much to ask. This is still very new for both of us and—" He pauses. “And you’re—you know—you’re not…” He falters again.

“…not an omega,” Jimin finishes the sentence for him.

“Not an omega.” Jungkook looks at him with a soft smile. “It would be hard on your body. I might hurt you. And I don’t want-“

“I can take it. You’re not going to hurt me.”

“Maybe not deliberately, but when I’m in full rut…,” he sighs. “I want to make it a good experience for you too. But I don’t know if I can do that in that mindset. What if I-“

“I want to do it,” Jimin interrupts him again and he hopes his voice conveys the determination he feels. “I want to help you, I really do. I don’t worry about you hurting me at all, Jungkook. I’m more worried that I’ll be the one to fuck it up. What if I ruin it? What if my wolf ruins it?”

Jungkook shakes his head. “I trust you. And I trust your wolf.”

“But still. What if I hurt you?” 

“You wouldn’t.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“I just know it.”

“But how can you ‘just know’,” Jimin whines.

“How can you know that my wolf wouldn’t hurt you?”

Jimin blinks. “Well, I just…,” he falters. “…know it.”

Jungkook chuckles. “See.”

Jimin huffs and buries his face in Jungkook’s neck. “I trust your wolf but I don’t trust mine.”

He feels Jungkook’s fingers run through his hair in a calming manner.

“But I trust your wolf.”

Jimin sighs and lifts his head again. “There’s definitely a risk, Jungkook. On both sides.”

Jungkook nods. “I know.”

“Is it a risk we’re willing to take? Really think about it. Would you take the risk of me hurting you?”

“I would,” Jungkook says, the determination clear in his tone. “And would you take the risk of me hurting you?”

Jimin nods. “I would,” he whispers.

Then it’s silent for a while, they just stare at each other, their breaths hot on each other’s lips, their chests rising and falling again one another. Jungkook’s fingers are still carding through Jimin’s hair and it takes a while, for him to speak up again. 

“Of course, it would also mean making it official,” Jungkook says quietly, almost shyly. “Everyone will know about us spending my rut together, there’s no hiding anymore.”

Jimin brings his hand up, to put it on Jungkook’s cheek.

“I don’t want to hide.”

The big smile that forms on Jungkook’s face is clearly one of relief.

“I don’t want to hide either.”

Their lips find one another and they kiss for a while, soft and gentle and sweet, before Jimin pulls back.

“So, Jungkook, would you let me help you through your rut?”

Jungkook chuckles. “I would like that very much, Jimin, if you’re really okay with it.”

“I would love to.”

Jungkook’s rut approaches rapidly, a lot faster than they expected. They just about have time to inform the most important people of the fact that they are going to spend it together.

One of them being their Head Alpha.

It’s not a rule in their pack to let the Head Alpha know about these kinds of things, some of the pack do, others don’t. Usually when people do, it’s because it’s a big deal for one reason or another.

So when Jungkook asks him, if they should let Namjoon’s mother know – the tip of his ears deep red for some reason – Jimin is a little confused at first.

“Because we’re both alphas?” He asks. They aren’t the first alphas to spend a rut together but it doesn’t happen often.

“W-Well,” Jungkook stutters. “Rather because—you know—”

His cheeks are endearingly red now too and he stumbles over his next words.

“I m-mean because it won’t be the last time, r-right? And—umm—shouldn’t we let her know that we are—you know—B-but of course if you think it’s too soon, I would totally understand.”

That’s when Jimin understands and he kind of wants to kick himself and hug Jungkook, squeeze him with his arms, tightly, because he’s so cute.

Jungkook wants to make it official official. He wants to let their Head Alpha know that they’re an item now and that they’re serious about it, that they want to spend their future together.

He scoots closer to Jungkook where they’re sitting at his kitchen table, preparing some food for the days of rut that are about to come, and puts his arm around his shoulder, running his fingers through the hair at the back of Jungkook’s head.

“Okay, let’s tell her about us,” he says with a smile.

Jungkook smiles back, before he leans in and buries his nose in Jimin’s neck. That’s how it’s been for two days now. Jungkook clinging to him, refusing to be apart for too long, sniffing Jimin every chance he gets. Jimin loves the attention and he thinks his wolf loves it too.

Jungkook’s rut is a bit of a blur, even for Jimin.

The beginning he kind of remembers.

He remembers them going to bed early that day, Jungkook warning him that he might wake him up during the night, because he thinks his body is almost there.

And sure enough, in the middle of the night Jimin wakes from Jungkook whispering his name, staring down at him with a flushed face and glazed over eyes.

“Suck me off,” is all he says.

For a short moment Jimin’s mind stumbles to a halt at the sudden order, at the way Jungkook is quite rudely demanding Jimin to do something for him. But ultimately, he’s too nervous for his ego to be bruised by it, and he also knows how ruts tend to be, so he doesn’t say anything, just pushes Jungkook into the sheets wordlessly. He can tell from the way the other lets himself still being pushed around, that his rut hasn’t fully hit yet.

He remembers Jungkook getting comfortable, half-sitting, half-lying down, with his upper back and head resting against the pillow. His cock is already rock hard, the skin flushed in the typical way it is during an alpha’s rut, demanding attention.

Jimin remembers that, when he brings his lips close, the scent of pure rut that hits him is already a lot stronger than he expected, making his head swim.

And then Jimin tries to make a show out of it, turned on by the way Jungkook watches him with hooded eyes.

He takes Jungkook into his mouth, bops his head in a slow rhythm. The other brings his hand to Jimin’s hair, moaning softly, his hips moving in a desperate attempt to increase the tempo. Jimin knows he wants him to go faster but he also knows Jungkook only pretends he doesn’t like the teasing, that he secretly fucking loves it. His face is flushed, the rosy hue telling Jimin that he’s beyond turned on from just this, his mind slowly being taken over by his rut. 

He releases him with a wet popping sound and curls his fingers around his thick and wet length, begins to move his fist up and down a couple of times, before taking his hand away, sucking the tip of his cock between his lips, massaging it with his tongue. He watches Jungkook eyes flutter close, his head falling back against the pillow, his Adam’s apple moving when he swallows. 

“Fuck— just like that,” Jungkook groans, when Jimin swirls his tongue around. 

The tremble in his thighs tells Jimin he’s close to coming. 

He pulls back. 

Jungkook’s eyes fly open. “You fucker.”

A chuckle escapes Jimin’s throat. “Sorry,” he says in feigned innocence, before bringing his fist back and pumping Jungkook’s length again. 

“Get your mouth back,” Jungkook says, trying to push his head down. 

“Hm?” Jimin grins, his wolf reveling in the way he’s driving the other alpha crazy, the way Jungkook’s chest heaves, the way his eyelashes flutter at each of Jimin’s strokes.

Jungkook growls. “Get your fucking mouth back on my cock.” 

Jimin makes a show out of contemplating the request. “Maybe if you say please.” 

Jungkook’s eyes darken, his hand fisting in Jimin's hair, the pull sending a hot throb between Jimin’s legs.

“Oh, Jimin, could you please suck my cock,” he taunts, his voice raspy, his eyes sharp and suddenly, there is a flash of red in them. Suddenly, the air around them smells dark and heavy with alpha pheromones, with dominance and with something primal.

A low growl rumbles through the room, coming deep from Jungkook’s chest, vibrating around Jimin. It’s loud, threatening and dangerous, making the hairs on Jimin’s arms and neck stand up.

That’s when he knows that this is not a game anymore.

Jungkook is in full rut now.

And suddenly, his instincts take over.

Adrenaline surges through him. He’s moving even before his brain has caught on and it takes him a second to register that he’s running, fleeing like a scared little animal, like prey. He’s darting towards the door, the sound of his naked feet hitting the wooden floor loud in the room.

Before he can even reach for the door handle, there’s a hand in his nape, gripping hard, slamming him face forward into the nearest wall.

Jungkook is breathing hard behind him and Jimin knows it’s not just from chasing him, it’s from the pheromones Jimin’s emitting. Pheromones that speak of arousal and maybe underlying fear as well.

Jungkook grabs him by the shoulders to turn him around.

“Really, Jimin?” he laughs darkly, his eyes blood red while he’s towering over him, mirroring Jimin’s. “A chase?” He leans closer, their noses almost touching. “Want to do it the old way? Want me to hunt you down in the woods and breed you under the moon?”

Yes, Jimin’s mind screams, Jungkook’s scent is invading his senses, his pheromones making him lose his mind.

And he can feel that he’s close, that his alpha is almost there. Almost back at the point of wanting to let go, at the point of submitting. And it scares him. And it turns him on. His heart is racing, sweat forming on his skin.

“Submit to me, little alpha,” Jungkook whispers. “Don’t be scared. I’ll take care of you.”

When Jungkook forces him down to his knees, towering over him, big and intimidating, staring down at him with half-lidded eyes, glowing red, Jimin swallows thickly. He feels hot all over, feels the need for more. More of this. Jungkook’s fingers find their way into his hair again, guiding him towards cock once more, and this time, Jimin’s lips open obediently.

His memory of what happens afterwards is full of gaps and blanks.

He kind of remembers they make it back to the bed and he remembers Jungkook above him, pushing inside for the first time, remembers the way the younger is clearly holding back to avoid hurting him, his lower lip sucked between his teeth, his eyebrows furrowed. He remembers the way Jungkook pushes inside one inch at a time, slowly, so slowly, letting Jimin’s body accommodate to his girth, until he’s buried to the hilt.

Jungkook moans loudly, when he’s bottomed out. It’s almost a sound of relief.

“So good,” he rasps. “Soo tight. Fuck— my knot will rip you apart.”

Jimin breath hitches, his legs around Jungkook trembling, the thought of Jungkook’s knot enough to break his mind. 

“You want that?” Jungkook leans closer, his mouth hot against Jimin’s ear when he whispers: “Want your alpha to rip you apart?”

He withdraws halfway, before driving himself inside again, the feeling pulling a strangled moan from Jimin’s throat.

“Listen to you. Can’t believe—earlier you thought you could make me beg—"

Jungkook pulls his hips back again, then he plunges in deep. And then again. And again. Jimin’s whole body quivers each time Jungkook hits his sweet spot. He can tell from Jungkook’s voice and his scent that his wolf has completely taken over. It makes Jimin feel out of his mind and already, there’s a tight heat pooling in his lower stomach.

“I’m going to make you fucking beg. Gonna make you beg for more and more and more, until you’re dripping with my cum. Gonna cover you with it. Inside and out. Everywhere, do you hear me?”

Jimin nods, another moan spilling from his lips, his hands clinging to Jungkook’s biceps.

“Gonna make you beg me to mark you,” Jungkook groans. “Maybe I’ll parade you around outside too. Everyone will see that you’re mine.”

He leans down and takes Jimin’s nipple between his teeth and bites so hard that it sends a spasm and a flash of heat through Jimin’s body. 

“Come on, Jimin,” Jungkook whispers dangerously low, a grin on his face when he looks at him through red eyes beneath long lashes, his tongue swirling around his nipple once more. “Say ‘please, alpha’.”

“P-Pl—ah!” Jimin’s body jerks when Jungkook bites his nipple again and only now he realizes his cock is leaking profusely, even without being touched, twitching, pre-cum oozing out of it bead after bead.

“P-Please touch me,” Jimin whines.

“Try again,” Jungkook rasps, biting his way up to Jimin’s neck, then his chin, before nipping on his lower lip. He rolls his hips, moving sensually inside Jimin. 

Jimin’s mind is soaring. He wants more and more. And Jungkook gives him more, speeds up his hips, thrusting in and out of him in a steady determined rhythm.

“Please—please, touch me, alpha,” Jimin moans.

When Jungkook’s fingers wrap around his cock, he isn’t prepared for the intense feeling. He cries out in pleasure and arches his back, exposing his throat and bringing his arms up to hold on to the bars of the bed frame, while Jungkook keeps fucking into him.

“Fuck—” Jungkook groans. “You’re so fucking hot— wish I could knock you up—"

“Oh-“ Jimin chokes on air. And suddenly he’s coming. A hot orgasm washes over him that he didn’t know was this close, making him tremble violently. He comes all over his own stomach and it’s a lot, seems to go on forever.

When it’s finally over and he slowly comes down from his high, his vision clearing, his heart hammering hard and fast, only slowly calming down, Jungkook chuckles deeply, running his fingers through Jimin’s cum, spreading it all over his front, swirling his wet finger around his raw bitten nipple, making Jimin whimper quietly.

“Cute,” Jungkook chuckles, before leaning down to kiss him.

The next thing Jimin remembers is Jungkook trembling above him.

It’s quite a while later, they have both come several times already, but this time something seems different and Jimin knows what is happening, even before Jungkook presses his heated face into the crook of his neck.

“Jimin, Jimin—” His voice is strained, almost as if he’s hurting. “Jimin—”

Jimin knows he will pop a knot this time, knows the desperate feeling of your body having worked itself up to this level of pleasure, the desperate need to lock yourself into someone, to fill someone, to mark, to let it out, to go, go, go…

“Knot me, alpha,” Jimin rasps, his throat hurting already.

Jungkook sobs, pushing himself up, planting his hands on either side of Jimin’s head, the sound of his hips slapping against Jimin’s ass loud in the room.

And then Jimin feels his knot catching at his rim. He buries his sweaty fingers into the flesh of his own thighs to hold himself open. His legs trembling at the feeling of Jungkook’s knot growing bigger and bigger, hurting in the best way each time it slips in and out of him. At a particularly good thrust a sob tears from Jimin’s throat and he takes hold of his cock, lying hard and heavy against his naked stomach. It’s covered with cum – with his own and with Jungkook’s – making each stroke wet and slippery and kind of loud.

With each of Jungkook’s thrusts the tension inside Jimin grows stronger and hotter and just when he thinks he can’t take any more pleasure, Jungkook’s knot pushes past his rim for a final time. It’s big, so big, stretching him in the best way.

Jungkook throws his head back, exposing his beautiful neck, teeth clenched and then he locks inside Jimin with a strangled sound. A heartbeat later, his lips fall open, a loud moan tearing from his throat and then he’s coming in thick hot spurts, his arms trembling, his cock throbbing.

The feeling and Jungkook’s beautifully intense expression have Jimin’s hand speed up, his cock twitching in his hold and then he’s coming too, all over himself, coating his stomach again, filling his navel, some of it even getting on his chin.

While the aftershocks of his orgasm are still coursing through Jimin’s body, Jungkook is still coming. It seems to go on forever. At some point, he collapses on top of Jimin, right into the mess on Jimin’s stomach, burying his face in Jimin’s neck.

He whimpers against Jimin’s skin, his hips moving in the tiniest little rolls, just as much as his knot allows, before Jimin feels him tensing above, his cock throbbing and filling Jimin again.

Jungkook sobs and moans, still shaking, still coming and Jimin brings his hands up, lets his fingers wander over the sweaty and heated skin of the other’s shoulders and nape, up into his damp hair, massaging his scalp.

“It’s okay,” he whispers, even though he knows Jungkook might not even be able to hear him right now. The younger’s knot keeps pulsing and pulsing, filling Jimin with more and more cum. And Jimin loves it.

When it’s finally over, Jungkook lies heavily on top of him, still slightly shaking. It’s silent, the only noise being their rapid breathing. They’re both coated in a thin sheen of sweat and Jimin feels drowsy and sleepy, his rim fluttering around Jungkook’s cock, Jungkook’s knot locking them together, keeping his cum inside. It smells of home and Jimin feels safe and exhausted but happy.

He doesn’t know how long it takes for Jungkook to lift his head and look down at him with a flushed face and slightly wet eyes.

“You feel so good.” His voice is trembling and when he leans forward to capture Jimin’s lips with his own, those are trembling too.

Three days and five knots later, they are finally able to take a bath.

Jungkook’s skin is still feverish when Jimin rinses him down, his nose still buried in a spot below Jimin’s ear, refusing to let go of him for too long.

When they’re out of the bath and toweled dry, Jimin manages to remove the dirtied furs from Jungkook’s bed but doesn’t have the time to cover it with fresh ones. Jungkook is already on him again, rutting against him.

“Let me at least put a towel down,” Jimin chuckles, turning around in Jungkook’s embrace to look at him, pushing wet strands of freshly washed hair from his eyes.

The other whines. “I’m sorry, I can’t stop. Shit…”

“You can fuck me again, it’s alright.”

Jungkook shakes his head. “I know you’re sore. Just let me use your mouth, okay?” He scrambles to take Jimin’s hand. “Or use your hand… o-or just let me smell you while I jerk myself off, I don’t care… just… I need-“

Fondness spreads inside Jimin’s chest.

“Come, let me take care of you,” he purrs, planting a kiss on Jungkook's temple.

It’s another two days later, when they’re finally fully clothed again, sitting at Jungkook’s kitchen table and having their first full meal in almost a week.

Afterwards they step outside to get some fresh air, leaving all the windows and doors open as well, to air out Jungkook’s cabin.

It’s nighttime and the stars are shining bright above them, while they’re sitting next to each other on Jungkook’s porch, Jungkook’s arm is around Jimin’s shoulder and Jimin’s hand is on Jungkook’s thigh. Around them, crickets and cicadas are chirping in concert.

“Thank you for taking care of me, honey,” Jungkook whispers.

Jimin whips his head around, his cheeks heating up immediately.

“What?”

“What ‘what’?”

“What did you just call me?”

Jungkook smiles at him in the dim moonlight. “Honey.”

Jimin splutters a little but the happiness turns his scent warm and sweet and then even warmer and sweeter and he’s sure he’s never smelled that intensely of honey before.

“You like it,” Jungkook smiles and leans in to bring his face against Jimin’s neck, planting soft and gentle kisses right on his scent gland, right where Jimin’s honey scent is the strongest. “Honey.”

Jungkook lifts his head again to look at him and his eyes hold something raw and real.

“I love you.”

Jimin’s heart stops for a moment, before it starts jumping and fluttering and somersaulting.

“I love you, too,” he whispers.

When Jungkook kisses him, the kiss tastes of honey. Of Jimin.

Jimin thinks he tastes good on Jungkook’s lips.

Perfect even.

Epilogue

Jimin knows he cries a lot for an alpha.

He also cries the first time he fucks Jungkook.

It’s Jimin’s first rut they spend together and his mind is hazy. All he can feel is Jungkook’s hot breath against his ear, Jungkook’s hands roughly grabbing his ass, the heat around him and the pressure of his knot slowly forming.

He’s surrounded by Jungkook’s scent and he cries because it’s too much, because he’s feeling so so so good, because Jungkook is whispering praises into his ear, telling Jimin how proud he is of him, how perfect he is, calling him baby, honey, alpha… When Jimin comes, he buries his face in Jungkook’s neck and cries because Jungkook is taking his knot so well and because his heart is trembling with so many emotions.

That’s when he realizes that he’s truly in love with Jungkook. 

Jimin doesn’t cry, but feels a ridiculously wide smile forming on his lips and heat rising in his cheeks, when Jungkook asks him to move in with him, while they are out picking berries. The younger asks it with blue lips, his mouth stained from eating half the berries instead of putting them in the basket like he’s supposed to. Jimin agrees right away.

Jimin cries (of laughter) a few days later, when Jungkook flails his arms around before falling on his butt with a surprised yelp, as he tries joining some of the pups, who are having fun on the frozen lake.

The first time Jimin makes Jungkook cry is when he asks him to become his mate, about six summers later.
They take their time to gather information on mating between two alphas, how the process might be different and what to expect from such a bond, but after another summer has passed, they finally feel ready to do it.

And even though Jimin can’t remember much of their intense mating, which lasted a whole day and a whole night, when he wakes up in Jungkook’s arms – surrounded by their combined scent, the mating mark on his neck throbbing, his gums still tingling from the feeling of biting into soft flesh himself, his mind still a little hazy but full of Jungkook, his love, his alpha, his home – and he lifts his head to look up into his mate’s face, who is looking back at him with an adorable smile, his eyes glassy and the tip of his nose a little red, Jimin knows he made Jungkook cry again.

Jimin is happy. So happy that his happiness overflows in tears as well.

When he was younger, Jimin never would’ve thought he’d be able to cry of happiness again, never would’ve thought he’d be capable of being so overwhelmingly happy again, after losing their pack, that his smile would be closer to tears than laughter.

But here he is.

Here they are.

In this moment, their tears are liquid happiness and love.