Chapter Text
All Jungkook sees is green. He’s carried by his two feet, yet for the moment he is more animal than human, instincts taking over. The bear he is following is making its way north. Traces of its scent remain on the shrubbery growing on the forest floor. Occasionally Jungkook passes a large paw print pressed into the moss or a pile of fresh waste the animal has left behind. The wind blowing from west is doing nothing to help Jungkook’s mission. Instead, it’s pushing the bear’s scent away and bringing to Jungkook’s nose the scents of other animals moving in the forest to his left.
Jungkook has no business following a bear alone. He didn’t plan on doing so, when he threw a bow and a quiver across his back, took his horse Gureum, and snuck out of the castle. He rode outside of the city and left Gureum strapped to a tree by the edge of the forest, fearing the terrain might be too difficult for the horse to safely move forward. He thought he might hunt for a rabbit or two. Maybe a small deer. He would have been fine with just a few grouses.
But as he walked into the forest, he came across the bear’s trail. And he knew this had to be the bear that has been terrorizing the close by villages for the last few weeks, getting way too brave. It has become a danger, and the royal hunters have been trying to trace the animal down with no results.
Jungkook is an able-bodied alpha and a fine hunter, but he isn’t sure if he is capable of taking down a full-grown bear on his own. Maybe, if he’s really smart about it. But he isn’t driven by reason right now. There’s adrenaline running through his system, an antsiness he hasn’t been able to shake ever since he found out about his father’s plan for his future. So it’s no surprise he’s being a little reckless.
It’s getting closer to the day when he’ll have to bury one of the few dreams he has allowed himself to hold onto in his life. He’s running out of time, and there’s nothing he can do about it. It’s time to be a man and let go of the dream of a boy.
When his father, the Alpha King, asked Jungkook, his heir and only biological son, to list the traits of his ideal mate, Jungkook had no idea how to respond.
What kind of an omega is he looking for? He really doesn’t know. But he knows one thing: he isn’t looking for an arranged marriage. He’s aware that his father only wants the best for him. The king doesn’t want to force his son into an unwanted, loveless marriage, nor does he want the prince’s future mate to be an unwilling victim in the union. Though that feels a lot like what is happening.
Jungkook is 22 and unmated, and his father is worried. Worried about heirs, worried about Jungkook’s happiness, worried about the royal family’s public image. And Jungkook can understand these worries, all of them. Getting mated and married is expected of the Crown Prince.
It’s not as though his father is old or frail enough to give up the crown any time soon, but that day will come eventually. And when it comes, the King will feel more reassured if Jungkook has a mate and an heir. Jungkook can see how that thought process makes sense.
However, that doesn’t mean he is happy with his father’s plan to round up a bunch of eligible omegas from their small kingdom and present them to Jungkook like cattle in a trade fair. It feels somewhat vulgar, no matter how much his father tried to assure him that they would only include omegas who fully consent to taking part and aren’t being coerced into it, and that Jungkook will have the full power to decide whether or not he is interested in courting any of them.
Even if the choice has seemingly been placed into his own hands, Jungkook feels pressured. He knows he has to do this. It’s his responsibility as the prince.
And really, he shouldn’t be surprised that things came to this. It’s not exactly the first time his father has taken measures to try and introduce Jungkook to a bunch of possible mates. He’s been doing it for years, but before now he has been slightly more subtle about it, inviting high-ranking families to visit the castle and making sure they bring their mating-aged omegas with them. None of them ever piqued Jungkook’s interest enough to consider courting them. They were easy enough to turn down.
Apparently his father has now decided that it’s time to guide Jungkook with a firmer hand. He has made it clear that he is willing to push his agenda until Jungkook finally makes a choice. Jungkook’s pretty sure the King fully plans on dragging every unmated omega of the kingdom into the castle, until Jungkook accepts one of them. So he knows mating is inevitable, no matter how much the forcefulness of the process has been veiled in feigned consent and good intentions. This is happening to him, whether he wants it or not. And it’ll be easier if he just accepts that.
It’s just that… he always thought mating would be a bit more romantic. He grew up reading countless stories of alphas and omegas who fell madly for each other and fought gracefully against any obstacle on their road to happiness together. Jungkook had thought he would get to fall in love, just like the princes and warriors and merchants and travelers in his books. He had thought he would one day meet someone whose scent would capture him instantly, someone whose every quirk would fit into the puzzle that made them perfect for Jungkook. Someone who would become his first thought in the morning as he wakes up, and last thought in the night before falling asleep.
Maybe love just isn’t in the cards for him.
And if that’s the case, what does it matter what kind of a partner he would prefer? If he has to settle, what does is matter who he settles for?
So he told his father to create the requirements for the omegas based on the King’s own judgement. Jungkook doesn’t have preferences. How could he? He has never been in love. He hasn’t even had a real crush on anyone.
Maybe if things had gone differently, if his father hadn’t remarried seven years ago, bringing his new wife’s son Taehyung into the family, Jungkook might have eventually ended up mating with his best friend Jimin. But as things are, Jimin and Taehyung turned out to be the perfect match after they figured out that their initial hostility towards each other was actually just unresolved sexual tension.
Jungkook thinks about it sometimes, what would have happened if Taehyung wasn’t in the picture. But he’s quite certain that if he and Jimin had ended up together, it would have been more out of the comfort brought by familiarity rather than romantic feelings. So even in that case he likely wouldn’t have gotten to fall in love.
He puts all of these thoughts away as he follows the bear.
There’s a thicket ahead. The bear has avoided it by sloping its way to the left, heading roughly in a northwestern direction. Jungkook follows its tracks and rounds the thicket, keeping an eye on the shrubbery disturbed by the bear’s trampling feet.
The forest around him grows thick, sturdy pine trees reaching for the sky and leaving the space below their needled branches in shadows, except for a few slivers of bright sunlight that pushes through the canopies and paints the leaves of the undergrowth bright green. Jungkook breathes in the cool fresh air, smelling the pitch from the pines and junipers.
He stops in his tracks when the western wind brings a new scent to his nose. It’s sweet and soft, human, and distinctly omega.
A tremor runs up the back of Jungkook’s neck and settles into the back of his skull as a pleasant vibration. He’s not sure what that means.
The scent wouldn’t normally strike Jungkook as odd, after all it’s perfectly possible that an omega has ventured into the forest to pick some berries or mushrooms. But he has been following the bear for a significant amount of time, and they’ve moved much deeper into the forest than he would expect any omega to go on their own. And he can only make out the scent of one human, so he assumes there’s no one else there.
It’s hard to tell how far away the omega is, since the scent is carried by the wind. The distance between them could be anything from a few hundred meters to a couple of kilometers. Jungkook doesn’t think it’s any more than that, because the scent is rather strong, the vibrancy in it easily distinguishable.
The omega smells good, that much is clear. Jungkook’s mouth waters, lips tingling, but he ignores it and continues following the bear. He can’t sense any anxiety or distress in the omega’s scent, just neutral calmness and assurity, so he has no reason to change course. The omega is fine. Jungkook is sure there is a rational explanation for them being so deep in the forest. And it’s none of his business.
But as Jungkook moves, the omega scent moves with him. It stays on his left, brought to him by the wind, over and over again. Jungkook has to concentrate on the bear’s tracks harder than before, the omega scent a constant distraction.
Jungkook can tell he’s getting closer to the bear, the scent it has left behind getting stronger, the marks of its movements very fresh. But at the same time, the omega scent is becoming stronger too, as the bear is circling more and more to the left and Jungkook keeps following it.
The scent is now prominent enough for Jungkook to almost taste it, tell apart its nuances. His heart is beating faster, pounding against his ribcage. He knows the omega can’t smell him against the wind. And he probably can’t smell the bear either, unless the bear has already circled its way around the omega.
Jungkook can now tell the person in the woods is a male, his scent earthier than a female’s. It’s flowery sweet on the top, but there’s a strong musky undertone.
The scent is still calm, so Jungkook knows it’s not too late. Without thinking about it any longer, he detaches himself from the task of following the bear. He takes a sharp left and finds his feet taking to a light jog, jumping agilely over fallen tree trunks and moss-covered hummocks.
He needs to find the omega and warn him. Needs to, needs to, needs to. It’s in the beating of his heart, or maybe it’s just written in his alpha instincts. No one knows what might happen if the bear comes across an unsuspecting omega, but Jungkook fears it wouldn’t be anything too pretty. It’s his duty to protect the omega.
He keeps an eye on the forest around him, knowing that the bear will be somewhere on his right side as he runs. Following the omega’s scent is easy enough, because all he has to do is follow the direction of the wind. He’s getting closer. He strays too far left for a moment and almost loses the scent, but when he changes course, the scent is there again. He slows down to not lose it again.
He realizes the scent isn’t just carried to him by the wind anymore. It’s stuck in the air, in the surrounding forest. The omega walked right here. Jungkook starts carefully following the scent stuck to the forest floor. The omega hasn’t left any marks, at least not ones Jungkook could spot out. All he has to go by is the scent.
The omega is very close now. Jungkook slows down even more. He doesn’t want to scare him. Getting ambushed by a wildly running alpha in the woods might be just as horrifying for a lone omega as coming face to face with a massive bear.
Jungkook realizes he is moving towards the creek running close by. He is fairly familiar with the terrain, so he knows there’s a creek even before the trees part and the sunlight gets brighter. He hears the flowing of water as he gets closer to it.
His heart sinks. The omega hasn’t changed direction. He is definitely headed towards the creek, has probably already passed over it. Jungkook hopes he can pick up on the scent again on the other side.
When he gets to the tree line and stands on the brink of the creek, he sees it is wider than he expected. There’s probably more water than usual, because the spring sun has been melting some of the snow on the mountains and the meltwater is now streaming down.
Jungkook takes a few steps in both directions along the brink. It becomes apparent to him that the omega’s scent trail ends here, so he has crossed the creek.
The water is clear and shallow, the bare rock underneath it clearly visible. Jungkook could easily walk across the stream, but he doesn’t want to get his feet wet. So he jumps over rocks instead. It only takes him a couple of leaps, and he is standing on the opposite side. He sniffs around.
The omega’s scent isn’t there.
At first he’s not sure what to make of it. He walks along the creek’s side, but he can’t find the scent anymore.
Then it dawns on him, that the omega must have either smelled him or heard him, or just sensed that he wasn’t alone. A dreadful feeling fills his body, clings to his bones. He understands.
It makes sense that the omega would use the creek to shake off the alpha following him. But how is Jungkook now going to warn him about the bear? And where is the bear? Jungkook isn’t entirely sure anymore.
But since he can’t smell the bear any more than the omega, he knows neither of them is in the west, where the wind is blowing from. So he starts making his way back east along the streamside. He walks behind the tree line where he can still see the creek glimmering from between the branches but he himself isn’t a sitting target for anyone who might be moving on the other side of the stream. He’s not afraid of the omega, and he doesn’t think there’s anyone else around, but there’s also no telling what kind of drastic measures an omega will take if they feel threatened and think their only chance of escaping is to put up a fight.
Just as the thought has crossed his mind he is suddenly slammed against a pine trunk by force. He’s so taken aback that the sudden movement makes him lose his hold on the bow he was clutching in his left hand.
He considered himself alert, but it still comes as a complete surprise. He hadn’t sensed anyone’s presence before there was a short figure dashing at him from the left and a blade against his neck, forcing his head back against the tree.
“Hands where I can see them or I’ll cut your dick off!” a sharp voice barks at his face.
He smells it then, before he even has the chance to take in the face of the person pressing against his front with a knee digging into his crotch, the pain soaring, but the blade on his jugular vein keeping him from doubling over. It’s the omega. The one he had been following, his scent now clearer than ever, wildflowers on top and forest floor moss and pine needles underneath.
Jungkook’s hands spring up. His back is throbbing where it hit against the tree trunk and he’s pretty sure the knife is pressed tight enough on his throat that it’s drawing blood.
He feels disoriented, but his instincts are telling him to just do as the omega says. He doesn’t want his dick cut off, after all. It’s already taken a painful hit, and that’s quite enough for the day.
He takes a moment to assess the situation and clear his head. A pair of pretty, dark brown eyes is staring at him angrily, sparkling in the sunlight. Strong dark brows and soft features, pink little mouth. The omega’s black hair is parted in the middle, some of it matted against his sweaty temples, the rest pushed around lightly in the wind, strands just long enough to get in his eyes. He is a bit shorter than Jungkook, but not significantly so.
Jungkook can’t see the omega’s left hand, but he can definitely feel something pushed against his abdomen, maybe another blade.
“One wrong move and you’re dead,” the omega warns in a surprisingly gruff voice, calmed down a bit now that he probably feels like he’s got the situation under control, Jungkook pliant under his little knives.
Jungkook could probably wrestle the knives out of his hands before he has a chance to slit his throat. But he’s not going to take that risk. He’s not here to fight the omega.
The omega is still panting, adrenaline running high. There’s visible distrust in his gaze as he keeps his eyes firmly on Jungkook’s face.
“Why are you following me?” he snaps.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Jungkook assures in a quiet voice.
He wants to come off as calm and unthreatening as possible to resolve the situation in a peaceful manner. The omega is high-strung and agitated enough as it is, understandably so.
To his surprise the boy snorts in response, one corner of his mouth drawing up into a poorly restrained smirk.
“No shit. How would you hurt me, if I stab you through the knot before you can even move?”
Jungkook feels a throb between his legs at the words, and he’s not entirely sure whether his member is simply shrinking in terror or twistedly turned on by the omega’s arrogance. Maybe the knee to his crotch didn’t render him infertile, if his dick is still working. Good to know.
His mouth hangs open, but he doesn’t know how to respond. An omega has never spoken to him in such a manner. Nor have betas or other alphas, for that matter. It’s not that he only has people in his life who easily bend to his will, but even when people disagree with him, there’s a certain degree of respect they keep in voicing their opinions. This omega has no such inhibitions.
It hits him then, that the guy has no idea who he is. Which makes sense. After all, he is wearing commoner clothes specifically for that purpose: to not stand out as he moves outside of the castle walls alone.
“I suppose you’re right. You’re the one with a blade to my neck. But please don’t stab me. I promise I mean no harm,” Jungkook says.
“That doesn’t answer my question, alpha,” the omega snarls, smirk now gone, eyes narrowing. “Why were you following me?”
The knife presses down on his neck harder, Jungkook’s head forced stiffly back against the tree. He swallows carefully, trying not to move at all.
“I was following a bear, not you,” he rushes to explain. “But then I smelled you, and the bear was coming this way. I don’t know anymore where it is now. I just wanted to warn you. That’s all.”
The omega considers this for a moment, confusion flickering in his eyes, before he responds: “You expect me to take that bullshit? You were following a bear? Alone? Why on earth would you do that.”
“It’s been causing harm in the nearby villages. The King’s hunters have been trying to track it down for a while. So I just followed it, when I happened to come across its tracks. It wasn’t my initial intention to go after a bear when I came to hunt.”
The omega seems to be on the fence, still distrusting, but at least he’s mulling Jungkook’s words over. His eyes still sparkle prettily even while they’re narrowed with suspicion.
Jungkook’s having a hard time breathing. He feels his cheeks flushing. What a silly thing to feel like this in his current predicament. What a silly thing to get fixated on pretty eyes while a knife is digging dangerously close to his crotch and another one is millimeters away from ending his life by piercing a vital artery.
“Why would you know about the King’s hunters’ doings?” the omega asks at last.
Jungkook’s heart pulses on his neck. He hasn’t lied yet, but now he finds himself compelled to. He knows he’s not the world’s greatest actor, but maybe he won’t get caught on a little white lie.
“I’m one of the hunters,” he says. “I’m from the castle. I’m a man of honor and I won’t hurt you, you have my word.”
“Your word means very little, since I don’t know you,” the omega responds in a clipped tone, but he seems to be slowly lowering his guard. “How do I know you’re not lying? You’re not even wearing a uniform.”
Jungkook wracks his brain for an answer. He can only think of one thing he can use right now to prove his tie to the castle. He’s reluctant to do it, but he has no other way to convince the omega.
“I’m not on duty. That’s why I’m not in a uniform. But I have a gold ring on my right ring finger. It has the King’s seal on it. Only trusted members of the court have jewelry like this.”
None of what he’s saying is a lie. What he isn’t saying, however, is that the ring is actually a family heirloom, something left to him by his late Queen mother, and no other member of the court owns anything like it. It isn’t excessively ornate, but it holds an unmeasurable sentimental value to Jungkook. While he had left the rest of his jewelry in the castle, he never takes off this ring.
“Turn your hand around – slowly! Show me,” the omega commands.
Jungkook does as he’s told, turning his palm slowly, so the omega can inspect the seal on the ring. The omega’s eyes dart between the ring and Jungkook’s face, still on high alert.
“Okay,” he says finally, but doesn’t lower his weapons. “I’m going to step back. Don’t move until I’m five feet away. If you try anything, I will stab you. And I’m taking this.”
He moves his left hand to slip Jungkook’s hunting knife off his belt.
Then he steps back. He keeps the blade on Jungkook’s neck until he’s stepped far away enough that Jungkook is out of his reach even when his arm is extended in front of him. He backs away more quickly then, only stops when he is standing between two sturdy pines he could easily duck behind, if Jungkook tried to make the wrong move. He sheathes his own two knives but keeps Jungkook’s knife in his hand. And he doesn’t take his eyes off Jungkook at all.
Jungkook considers it safe to drop his arms now. He still does it slowly, avoiding sudden movements that might tickle the omega’s urge to stab him like he promised.
For a moment they just stare at each other. Jungkook takes in the omega’s appearance, tries not to let his eyes roam all over. He doesn’t want to come off as sleazy.
But the omega’s scent is stuck to his clothes from the short time they spent pressed against each other, and it’s making Jungkook’s mind wander, even if there was nothing even slightly romantic about the situation.
And the omega is beautiful, even with his clothes rumpled and boots muddy from trekking through the forest. He looks about the same age as Jungkook, but sometimes with omegas it’s hard to tell. His build is rather typical, skinny and quite short, but he seems strong. He must be strong, he slammed a full-grown alpha against a tree, after all. It’s definitely not something most omegas could do even given the advantage created by the element of surprise.
And his dark eyes still sparkle in the sunlight despite the distance between them.
Jungkook tears his gaze away to lean down and pick up his discarded bow. When he looks back up, the omega has pulled his own bow and quiver from behind a tree. He throws them across his shoulder and quirks a brow at Jungkook’s questioning gaze.
“What? You’re surprised that I’m a hunter, too? What else did you think I was doing this far in the woods?”
Jungkook hadn’t really had time to think much after he’d been attacked. And before that… well, the most likely explanation had been that the omega was either lost or just strayed far from the village in search of some very specific plant. Some omegas worked as healers, and they needed all kinds of plants to mix medicines.
Now he feels silly for thinking this way. Not that he’s ever encountered an omega who really hunts. Some omegas in the court would consider hunting a fun little leisure activity, shooting grouses near the castle grounds, but none of them would ever actually venture into the woods. And though Jungkook has lived a more sheltered life than most, he is quite sure that an omega hunter is an anomaly outside of the castle too.
But maybe he shouldn’t have so readily assumed that this omega would simply be in the forest to do typical omega things. He feels embarrassed for having no ability to think outside of the box.
“I’ll admit I had no idea there were omegas who hunt,” Jungkook confesses, gazing at the ground bashfully.
Shyness has always been a trait that comes to Jungkook way too easily for someone who is supposed to carry himself with the pride and confidence of a person who knows he will one day rule a kingdom.
“Well now you know,” the omega huffs. He pauses, then goes on: “Do you think the bear is still around? We could probably sniff it out, unless it got scared of the commotion and bugged off.”
Jungkook’s head springs up, surprised eyes landing on the omega once again.
“Didn’t think you’d want to go after a bear.”
The omega smirks, his smile revealing his upper gums. It’s cute.
“I’m a good shot,” he boasts. “Don’t you believe me? I’ll show you. See that tree over there?”
He points at a pine on the opposite side of the stream, a considerable distance away, but not out of an arrow’s shot.
“I’m going to hit that stump where a branch has snapped off, you see it?”
Jungkook nods. Granted, it isn’t the most difficult target, as it isn’t going to move out of the way, but it’s a very specific spot to hit. Anyone able to hit that on the first try would be considered at least a decent shot in Jungkook’s books.
The omega attaches Jungkook’s hunting knife to his belt so that he can pull an arrow from his quiver and place it on the bow. He aims with his head tilted in concentration, eyes sharp and narrow.
The arrow whooshes through the air and hits its target dead on. The omega’s lips quirk up, but he quells the self-satisfied smile down.
“Now, do you still want to go after the bear? I bet we could take it down, the two of us. We’ll split the profits.”
Jungkook just stares. He isn’t sure whether it’s wise or not to take an omega as a hunting partner, even if said omega seems to be able to work a bow. He still has his worries, the main one of them being his own anxiety for the omega’s safety. He can’t exactly tell himself to not feel like he needs to protect this person. It’s an instinct he can’t ignore. And if they go after a bear, he might not be able to both take down the animal and protect the omega. Maybe the omega can hold his own, but Jungkook has no certainty of that.
“I can see your brain working way too hard,” the omega says, amusement in his voice though he isn’t smiling. “You may be a big bad alpha, but attempting to take down a bear alone is simply stupid. So let me help. And don’t you dare worry for me. I’m not some helpless pup.”
Jungkook feels himself flushing red. Why does the omega read his mind so easily? He shouldn’t be able to do so, considering how little they know about each other.
“What’s your name?” the omega asks then.
He’s stepping closer now, clearly having finally sensed that Jungkook poses no threat to him.
“I’m… Kim Seokjin,” Jungkook lies easily.
Using the name of one of the royal guards he is closest to feels easier than trying to come up with something more original and less believable. He could be a Kim Seokjin, why not.
“Min Yoongi,” the omega introduces himself.
He steps even closer and extends his right arm for Jungkook to grab. Jungkook responds to the greeting by taking hold of Yoongi’s forearm and letting Yoongi curl his fingers around his own forearm.
Jungkook’s hand looks bigger than its size against the skinny arm, fingers wrapping around it way too easily. The heat pulsing on his face flushes down his chest, shivers running up his back as he breathes in the omega’s heady scent again, tastes a hint of all its shades on his tongue.
His eyes meet Yoongi’s. Yoongi keeps his expression blank, as if he were consciously hiding his thoughts away from Jungkook’s imploring gaze. The disorienting effect of their contact probably isn’t mutual. It’s probably just Jungkook being a dumb alpha and getting fixated on every little thing about an omega who happens to smell good. It’s really not that uncommon. Sure, Jungkook doesn’t usually sense much difference in the scents of the omegas around him, but he’s probably still just a bit thrown off from getting attacked, senses on high alert.
The thought of Yoongi’s attack makes Jungkook brush the back of his hand against his neck after he lets go of Yoongi’s arm. As he pulls it away, he sees some red smeared on his knuckles. So the blade did cut through his skin. But he doesn’t think he’s bleeding too badly. It’s merely a scrape.
Yoongi notices, his face pulling into an apologetic grimace.
“Sorry about that,” he says. “Didn’t mean to draw blood. It’s just a minor cut, you’ll heal quickly.”
“Are you sure you didn’t mean it?” Jungkook mumbles, gently wiping the blood from his neck with his sleeve though it’s probably not doing much to clean him up.
Yoongi brushes past him, not so apologetic anymore as he snickers gleefully to himself and makes his way to the creek. He jumps over some rocks to get to the other side.
Jungkook follows the omega’s movements.
Yoongi walks up to the tree his arrow is sticking out of. He stops by the root of it and measures it up with his gaze. The arrow is just a bit too high for him to reach.
Jungkook is about to call out and offer his help, when Yoongi grabs a hold of a lower branch and climbs swiftly up the trunk until he is at a level where he can comfortably lodge his feet against the trunk and use his free hand to pull the arrow out. Then he jumps down. He inspects the arrow carefully and apparently deems it intact enough to reuse, since he sticks it back into his quiver.
Jungkook steps down onto the brink of the creek. His feet move almost of their own accord, bringing him closer to the omega, who is jumping back across the stream.
Suddenly Yoongi stops. He is standing on a small rock, just one jump away from the creek’s edge. He sways on his spot for a second. Jungkook reaches out a hand to keep him from falling into the water, but Yoongi swats it away and manages to regain his balance on his own. His head is turned up the creek, his gaze bouncing around the tree lines on both sides of it.
Then Jungkook smells it too, the bear’s scent in the wind. That must mean that the animal has circled around them and is now somewhere upstream. Based on the scent it can’t be too far away, even though it isn’t visible from where they are standing. It could be looking for something to eat, even though the fish in the creek are small and few. Maybe it simply came to drink some water.
“Well, Seokjin, did you make up your mind yet?” Yoongi asks. “I don’t think we’ll get a better chance than this. We can sneak up on it by advancing under the wind.”
Jungkook glances at Yoongi. There’s excitement in the omega’s eyes. He has probably never hunted for anything this big.
“Okay,” Jungkook gives in finally. He keeps his voice low to not alert the bear, if it’s close enough to hear them. “But I have a few conditions. First, I’m going to need my knife back. And second, you can have the bear, if it’s your kill. Meat and fur, all of it, I don’t need it. We just need to put this one down, so it doesn’t cause more problems. You say you’re a good shot? Then go for the head. Clean shot through the eye. That’s what we’re going to need.”
Yoongi looks taken aback, his mouth open in surprise.
“I can have it?” he asks.
It’s not that it wouldn’t be a nice merit to Jungkook’s name if he brought back a bear to the castle, but he isn’t really looking for that kind of glory. Besides, nobody is supposed to know that he sneaked out in the first place, except for the few trusted people who helped him do it. Bringing back a bear from a secret hunting trip would probably add a few grey hairs to his father’s already greying head.
“If you shoot it, you can have it,” Jungkook confirms. “My plan is that once we’ve located it, we approach it from different sides. You stay further away, because there is very little chance that you’ll come out of it alive if you end up in close combat with it.”
Yoongi scowls, affronted, but he doesn’t argue, just clenches his jaw. He must know Jungkook is right. And he is listening attentively as Jungkook lays out his plan. Jungkook feels a warm flush spread across his body again, now for a different reason than before. The alpha in him is pleased, the omega’s full attention on him like a stroke of soothing balm on a wound he didn’t even realize needed care.
“You should, uh, find a secure spot where you can shoot from,” Jungkook fumbles with his words. “Then go for the eye sockets. And if the arrows aren’t enough to kill it, I should have my knife, so I can cut its neck.”
Yoongi seems to consider the plan, his lips pursed.
Jungkook feels suddenly nervous. His eyes dart everywhere except on Yoongi, who is staring at him so intently that Jungkook fears he might burn a hole through his forehead. Maybe that is his mind-reading technique. Maybe he’ll see that Jungkook didn’t really have enough time to come up with a solid plan. And that if he hadn’t run into Yoongi, he probably would have just let the bear go eventually, not alpha enough to take it down on his own.
There’s a tap against his hip that makes his gaze spring up from where he was pretending to be very interested in the bubbling of the stream against the curve of its brink.
Yoongi is holding Jungkook’s hunting knife in his hand. He had tapped his hip with the flat of its blade to gain his attention, but now that he has it, he turns the knife around so that Jungkook can grab the handle.
“Let’s do it,” Yoongi says as Jungkook takes the knife.
---
Clear shot through the eye, like huntsman Seokjin said.
It’s not something Yoongi couldn’t have figured out on his own, had he not been told what to do. But granted, the largest animal he has ever killed was a young elk, and even that one was quite the challenge. It took him three arrows to subdue it, the animal shrieking horribly the whole time after being wounded by the first arrow.
He would have never gone after a bear alone, and even partnered up with a King’s hunter it feels a bit surreal.
He has a clear shot, the large black bear oblivious to his presence, as it stands in the creek and splashes around. Yoongi moved quietly closer through the forest, staying under the wind, until he came to the perfect spot. Seokjin is hiding on the other side of the stream, waiting for Yoongi to shoot his arrow, but ready to jump in as soon as he is needed.
So Yoongi shoots.
Clean through the eye. Yet the bear isn’t dead. Instead, it lets out a gut-wrenching roar and starts thrashing around, visibly in pain, sloshing water everywhere.
Yoongi draws another arrow, pulls the string tight. He doesn’t know where to aim. The bear is moving too much. His heart beats loudly in his ears, adrenaline running as high as it did when he gathered all of his strength and threw himself at Seokjin, when he didn’t yet know that the alpha wasn’t trying to hurt him.
He lets the arrow go. It hits the bear’s neck. The animal only thrashes around more violently, as if the arrows are merely an annoyance rather than something lethal.
Then Seokjin is there, a flash of dark clothes and shiny black hair, jumping on the bear’s back like he has no fear. Everything moves fast, and Yoongi feels frozen on the spot. It’s only by instinct that he draws a third arrow and places it on his bow. But he can’t shoot now, or he might hit Seokjin, who is quite literally wrestling with the bear, rolling around and hacking at it with his knife, trying to hit critical spots. The creek’s water starts turning red.
Yoongi isn’t scared, but he is worried. The bear won’t come out of this alive, but if things go badly, Seokjin might not stay among the living either. Yoongi keeps his arrow aimed, his own pulse the only thing he hears.
Do I shoot, do I not?
He doesn’t. Life finally runs out of the bear. It falls limp into the shallow water, Seokjin’s large hunting knife sticking out of its neck and blood continuing to flow out, coloring the water around the animal.
Seokjin is panting hard. He dislodges himself from around the bear, where he had been holding onto it like his life depended on it – which, it did – and rolls into the water with a splash. He pushes himself up soon enough, breath still heaving, as he turns around and looks up at Yoongi, who is quickly making his way down to the brink of the water.
Seokjin has big, curious deer eyes, so unusual for an alpha. They look kind, and a little unnerved, but Yoongi can’t really see him as the bashfully blushing alpha he was before, when he is now soaking wet with blood and water and sweat, shirt clinging to a defined chest and a hard abdomen, water dribbling onto his cheeks from wet strands of stark black hair. His mouth hangs agape as he is catching his breath, lips red from either the exertion, or the blood smeared across his face.
Yoongi swallows down the saliva gathered in his mouth. The air smells of iron. And like a fireplace, warm and crackling, with a quiet hint of fresh morning dew. It’s hard to define, but Yoongi knows it’s just the alpha scent of the huntsman.
“Does this still count as my kill?” Yoongi asks.
The alpha flashes a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling for a moment. His smile looks a little pained, though, and Yoongi suddenly finds himself worried that the alpha might be hurt. Did the bear get its claws on him during the tussle?
“It’s your arrow sticking out of its eye, isn’t it?” Seokjin says and nods towards the bear’s head.
“Are you hurt?” Yoongi can’t keep himself from asking.
Seokjin blinks at him, then looks down.
“No, it just… maybe graced my arm a bit,” he mutters and palps the upper part of his left bicep with his other hand.
He hides a grimace. His palm comes away bloody, but it’s impossible to tell if it’s his own blood or the bear’s.
“Come here. Let me see,” Yoongi demands.
Seokjin looks like he’s about to argue, but Yoongi raises his eyebrows at the alpha demandingly, and the words die on Seokjin’s tongue. He hangs his head and rounds the bear’s large body to approach Yoongi.
Yoongi quells down a shiver as he examines the alpha’s arm. His scent is quite pleasant, even while covered with the heavy stench of blood, Yoongi won’t deny it. But it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if Seokjin has an attractive eye-smile and a dreamy scent. It doesn’t matter if he has bulging biceps, strong enough to wrestle a bear down. None of that matters, Yoongi reminds himself.
Yoongi isn’t looking for an alpha, because he has already decided on one.
He banishes the dreadful thought from his head and concentrates on figuring out how badly Seokjin is hurt. It’s not because he cares about Seokjin. It’s just basic humanity. That’s what he tells himself.
The bear’s claws have ripped through the shoulder of Seokjin’s shirt, and apparently through his skin too.
“You’re bleeding,” Yoongi comments.
“It’s not bad enough to need stitches, right?” Seokjin asks and tries to get a look at the wounds, but the angle is too difficult.
“I don’t really know,” Yoongi hesitates.
The wounds look long enough that they might not close easily without stitches, but they aren’t bleeding profusely, probably because Seokjin’s alpha stamina is helping them congeal quicker.
“Well, I don’t have any equipment for stitching, so let’s just tie it up,” Seokjin decides.
He goes to rip his soaking wet shirt off, but Yoongi stops him with a near-panicked yelp. He grabs Seokjin’s arm before the alpha can pull the shirt over his head.
He swears to himself it’s not because he doesn’t want to see the alpha shirtless. It definitely has nothing to do with the fact that Yoongi doesn’t know what he would do, if he had to go on living his life with that image burned on the insides of his eyelids.
For all he knows, Seokjin might not even look good shirtless, he tells himself. He might have ugly scarring or… or something. But somehow Yoongi knows this isn’t the case. Even if Seokjin had scars, they would probably be battle scars from his previous wrestling matches with wild animals. And they would only make him hotter.
So no, Yoongi doesn’t need to see that.
What he says out loud is: “It’s better to tie the wounds with something dry. Here, I’ll do it with my scarf.”
They end up walking a few meters upstream to use the flowing, non-bloody water to wash Seokjin’s wounds. It’s easy after the alpha notices that his sleeve is already ripped and rips it off rest of the way. That way they can get to the wounds without him having to take off his shirt. Maybe he interpreted Yoongi’s reaction as the omega being uncomfortable with being around a half-naked alpha, so he doesn’t try to strip again.
It’s considerate, but it doesn’t matter any more than his hard abs and bulging biceps do. And his cute blush and downturned gaze, when Yoongi carefully ties his scarf around the wounds – those don’t matter either. Neither does the way he seems to be holding his breath when Yoongi touches his arm, or the way his scent gets warmer the longer they sit on the rock by the creek. And the swarm of little butterflies in Yoongi’s stomach, when he announces he is done, and the alpha’s deer eyes meet his, narrowing into a shy smile? Means absolutely nothing.
This is a one-time thing, a coincidental, temporary team-up of two hunters. Nothing more and nothing less. For all Yoongi knows, he might be mated by the end of the week, but it won’t be with Seokjin. And the fact that the thought even crosses his mind is worrisome on its own.
Yoongi should get a grip. Even if he didn’t have other plans for mating, he still wouldn’t stand a chance with Seokjin. Sure, Yoongi does sometimes get the attention of alphas who don’t know what he is like, but that’s the point exactly: those alphas don’t know what they’re getting into. And if Yoongi wants to mate, he needs to keep it that way. Seokjin has already seen his true colors, and a body-slamming, foul-mouthed, aggressive creature who smells like mud and threatens to stab your knot isn’t exactly the wet dream of most alphas. Yoongi would have to pretend in order to hold anyone’s interest for long enough to mate. It’s just a crude fact.
And therefore, it doesn’t matter what he thinks about Seokjin, or what Seokjin thinks about him. They’re hunting partners for the day, and that’s it.
The bear’s body is heavy. Seokjin manages to pull it out of the river, but it would be too difficult for them to pull it all the way through the forest into Yoongi’s village without any help. So they spend a little while building a device they can use to pull the bear along easier. They hack off a couple of small trees and a bunch of young saplings and tie them together to form a sort of cart without wheels on which they can place the bear to divide its weight in a way that makes it easier to pull.
As they make their way through the forest, Yoongi tries to help as much as he can. But pulling the bear on their makeshift cart is much more laborious than he expected. While he is perfectly capable of trekking for hours, even in a difficult terrain, his omega stamina isn’t a match for the alpha. And Yoongi isn’t about to pretend otherwise. So every now and then he lets Seokjin work on his own, while he just walks beside him and observes the forest around them, listening out for the movements of animals, even though he has no plans to kill anything more today. The bear is more than enough game for one day.
Yoongi’s lips twitch into a smile when he thinks about the reaction he is going to receive from Hoseok when he drags home a bear.
“What’s funny?” Seokjin huffs from where he is pulling the bear along on his own.
“Uhm, nothing,” Yoongi says, caught off guard. “Just- I have a brother. He’s going to be quite surprised.”
Hoseok isn’t exactly Yoongi’s brother, but he might as well be. Hoseok was an orphan until Yoongi’s parents took him in. And when Yoongi’s father was lost in a battle ten years ago, fighting for the kingdom they live in, Hoseok lost him just as much as Yoongi did. In some ways Hoseok was at this point more of a brother to him than his blood-related big brother, who got married young and moved away to a distant shore town with his mate. He rarely visits these days.
“What do you mean? He hasn’t seen you bring home a bear before?” Seokjin jokes.
“It’s not that,” Yoongi plays along. “He just hasn’t seen me bring home an alpha.”
He probably shouldn’t have said that, he realizes, as his cheeks get hot. It’s only a joke, but the underlying implications suddenly feel too heavy.
He turns his back to Seokjin and skips ahead to hide his flushed face.
Yoongi never dreamed of finding an alpha. Wistfully, he finds himself thinking that maybe he would have, had he met an alpha like Seokjin sooner than this. Maybe it’s just their physiques speaking. It’s not uncommon for alphas and omegas to find a particular person of the opposite gender, who happens to draw them in without them even understanding why. Or maybe it’s the fact that Seokjin is shy, yet brave. Maybe it’s because he is so calm even when he looks a bit lost, like he can’t find the right words to not scare Yoongi away, yet he still tries to.
Whatever it is that makes Yoongi feel like in another life this could have developed into something, it doesn’t matter. Yoongi has never dreamt of finding an alpha, and he never will.
Love is simply not in the cards for him.
---
Luckily for Jungkook, Yoongi’s house is located near the edge of the village. Whenever Jungkook gets out of the castle on unofficial business, he tries to stay away from the populated areas as best as he can. There could always be someone who recognizes his face, even if he is wearing commoner clothes.
Once they get to where the forest makes way for grassy fields, they take Gureum with them and cross a couple of fields until they reach the short sand road leading into the village.
Yoongi rides on Gureum’s back, gleefully making the horse trot in circles around Jungkook, who sweats under the bear’s weight. But it’s easier to pull the bear along now that they’re out of the forest, and they make it into the village quickly. They only encounter a couple of curious onlookers before Yoongi points out his house and hops off the horse to help Jungkook pull the bear for the rest of the way there.
On Yoongi’s yard they’re met with a brown-haired omega and half a dozen hen bustling around the omega’s feet. The omega drops a bucket he was carrying once he notices them. His mouth makes a little o-shape and his eyebrows rise comically, until he seemingly gathers himself.
He crosses his arms and gives Yoongi a majorly confused – almost a little annoyed – look.
“I’m not going to ask about the bear, but Yoongi, am I seeing this right? You’re dragging home an alpha?”
Jungkook had thought Yoongi was only joking, when he said that his brother would be surprised of him bringing an alpha with him, but apparently that is not the case.
“Oh, shut up, Hoseok. He was wandering around the woods like a lost pup, so I figured I’d help him catch this bear,” Yoongi says.
“Sounds logical,” Hoseok answers, sarcasm clear in his voice.
He turns his gaze to Jungkook, and suddenly Jungkook feels very scrutinized. It almost feels like Hoseok is observing him to figure out whether or not he is good enough for Yoongi. Which is obviously a silly thought, but it makes Jungkook feel flustered all the same. He is still panting from the effort of pulling the bear, but he’s trying not to show his exhaustion, puffing his chest and standing up straight.
Hoseok’s face changes when his eyes fall to Jungkook’s neck. He turns to Yoongi again.
“Please tell me you didn’t try to cut his throat,” Hoseok says in a dry tone.
Yoongi just shrugs and stares back at Hoseok, holding his ground.
“I didn’t hurt him almost at all, don’t worry about it,” he scoffs. “Just go fetch the butcher, I’m not skilled enough to gut an animal of this size.”
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Hoseok asks Yoongi then, eyeing Jungkook with suspicion.
“Of course not!” Yoongi answers. “The cut on his neck would be a whole lot deeper, if he even tried.”
Something warm flushes through Jungkook’s body. He isn’t sure why, but he likes it that Yoongi is confident in holding his own. It’s strangely attractive. Or maybe Jungkook is just going haywire on Yoongi’s scent, since he has been breathing it in for such a long time by now, and it still doesn’t smell any duller to him than it did in the beginning.
But he is glad to know that if Yoongi had encountered an alpha who actually had bad intentions, that alpha may not have lived to tell the story.
“You keep telling yourself that,” Hoseok dismisses Yoongi’s words, but then he leans into his brother and goes on: “I don’t think your alpha has said a word yet. Does he have a name?”
Jungkook lets out weird little squeak at the words your alpha. He knows his face must be red like a tomato.
Yoongi doesn’t seem to like the implication.
“Not my alpha!” he complains in a tiny growl. “You’re impossible. You know what, I’m just going to find the butcher myself, and while I’m at it, I’ll get Namjoon too. He’ll know what to do with the furs.”
Yoongi is already about to stalk off, when he stops in his tracks and gives Jungkook an unreadable stare that makes Jungkook feel like he should hold his breath.
Yoongi looks at the ground, as he murmurs to his brother: “Would you feed him? He’s letting us have the bear, says he doesn’t want it. He’s one of the King’s hunters, Kim Seokjin. Make soup, or something, Hoseok, it’s the least we can do.”
“I really don’t need anything, I should-,” Jungkook starts.
But Yoongi raises his eyebrows at him and the argument dies on his lips. Then Yoongi turns away and starts making his way towards the center of the village.
Jungkook knows he should just hop on his horse and leave. Rumors move fast in small villages like this, and he is sure that in no time there will be a small crowd of people gathering to ogle at their great catch. By that time Jungkook had better be gone.
But he doesn’t want to leave without saying goodbye to Yoongi. So when Hoseok starts ushering him inside the house past the flock of hen picking on the ground, he goes without too much resistance. He figures Yoongi will probably be back pretty soon.
The house is cozy and inviting, the ceiling low, walls made of sturdy logs. The ground floor seems to be just one big room, but there is a staircase towards the back of the room leading up into the second floor. It’s all fairly simple, but made into a home with colorful quilts draped over chairs and wooden ornaments hung up on the walls.
Hoseok sits Jungkook down on a bench by the table and busies himself in a small kitchen nook.
Jungkook would kind of feel bad about accepting food from people so much less fortunate than him, but he feels better knowing that they can fill their bellies with bear meat for a long time.
Hoseok quickly whips up a carrot soup, chopping and stirring and chatting amicably all the while, even though Jungkook’s answers mostly consist of non-committal grunts and nods and quiet hums. Hoseok leaves the soup to bubble over the stove, while he insists on cleaning Jungkook’s wounds properly. Jungkook tries to tell him that there is really no need for it, but Hoseok won’t take no for an answer.
Hoseok’s scent reminds Jungkook of freshly baked bread with undertones of lavender. It’s warm and cozy, and kind of soothing. Hoseok feels like someone that anyone would find easy to be around.
Yet Jungkook finds himself wishing it was Yoongi’s hands wiping over the cut on his neck with a liquid that stings as it makes contact with the wound.
The cut isn’t bleeding anymore. It was so small in the first place that it probably already congealed before they even started going after the bear. But it will still take a while before it disappears completely.
Then Hoseok removes the scarf from around Jungkook’s arm. He makes a face when he sees the claw marks on his skin.
“This will need stitches,” he says. “But don’t worry, I’ve done that quite a few times before. I’ll let you choose, of course, if you’d rather ride to the castle and get it taken care of there. But I’d say it’s better if we close the wounds now.”
“You can do it, if you want to,” Jungkook quietly agrees right away.
Hoseok gives him a small smile and reaches for supplies he needs for stitching.
“I can see why Yoongi likes you,” he mutters to himself.
Jungkook is taken aback. How could Yoongi possibly like him? They don’t know each other well enough for that. And how could Hoseok see something like that from so little interaction? Hoseok is probably just seeing something that isn’t there.
Jungkook decides not to comment. Challenging Hoseok’s words in the omega’s own house might be offending, even if he is way off.
By the time Jungkook’s wounds are stitched up, the door opens and Yoongi slips inside. He is carrying in the bows they previously left on the yard. His eyes meet Jungkook’s as he places them down to lean against the wall. He seems more timid now, movements careful and slow, as he makes his way across the room to where Hoseok is snipping the ends of the thread he used for the stitches.
Maybe it’s just weird for Yoongi to have an unfamiliar alpha enter his own living space. Maybe that’s why he looks so unguarded now, softer somehow.
“Yoongi, would you mind bandaging this shoulder up with something?” Hoseok says. “I put stitches on the wounds, and they aren’t bleeding badly anymore, but I think they should still be covered with something to protect them from infections. I need to tend to the soup now.”
He gets up and goes to the stove, lifts the lid of the pot and starts stirring the soup.
Yoongi eyes the stitches on Jungkook’s arm. Then he turns his gaze to the scarf that was previously tied around Jungkook’s arm and is now discarded on the floor, completely ruined by Jungkook’s blood.
“I’m sorry I ruined your scarf,” Jungkook says.
“Oh. It’s fine, it isn’t ruined. I can just wash it and it’ll be good as new,” Yoongi says, flashing a close-lipped smile. “Just wait a second.”
He grabs the scarf and makes his way upstairs. Jungkook tries to listen for his steps, but he moves quietly. All that can be heard in the room is the bubbling of the carrot soup and Hoseok’s absentminded humming.
Then Yoongi comes back, and he’s carrying a folded-up piece of fabric in his hands. He sits down on the bench in front of Jungkook and unfolds the light brown fabric. It’s another scarf, and Jungkook can tell by the scent that it’s Yoongi’s, even though it is clearly unworn and clean. It still smells of Yoongi, so the omega must have worn it at some point. And his scent is going to be on it anyway, since he is holding it in his hands now.
The thought feels bittersweet. Jungkook can keep Yoongi’s scent when he leaves, but he can’t keep Yoongi.
He has half a mind to ask Yoongi to come to the castle the day after tomorrow, to attend the event where the King plans on presenting a bunch of omegas to Jungkook. But he knows there are many reasons why that is not possible. For one, he knows the omegas were selected beforehand, and the delegation that searched for Jungkook’s future mate has already finished touring the towns and villages. The choices have already been made.
And even if Yoongi had applied, it’s unlikely he would have passed the delegation’s scrutiny. No matter how sweet he smells to Jungkook, how cute his soft-featured face is, how perfect his delicate build, how sparkly his dark eyes… it must be admitted he isn’t a typical omega. Typical omegas don’t hunt or swear or ambush unsuspecting alphas. And even though that doesn’t matter to Jungkook – if anything, it makes Yoongi more intriguing to him – the delegation wouldn’t agree. They are most likely looking for someone sweet and gentle, well-mannered and meek.
And of course there’s also the fact that Yoongi doesn’t know who Jungkook is. He’d have to reveal his true identity to explain why he wants Yoongi to attend such a cringe-worthy event. And if he did that, he would also end up confessing that he- what? Likes Yoongi?
Maybe he does like Yoongi. Either that, or he’s just projecting his dreams of finding someone he likes on his own rather than accepting his fate in an arranged union. Maybe he just feels this way because he sees Yoongi as his last chance to fall for someone without being pushed.
But it’s too soon for any type of confessions, and it’s too scary to say something like that out loud, if he’s not even completely certain of what he is feeling. It wouldn’t be fair of him.
So he stays quiet as Yoongi ties the scarf around the upper part of his arm. He stays quiet and lets his gaze wander over Yoongi’s face, taking all of his features in carefully to commit them into his memory. He breathes in through his nose and lets his senses be engulfed in the flower scent, the foresty undertone prominent.
Yoongi can probably sense that he is being stared at, but he keeps his eyes on the scarf. And Jungkook is sort of past being scared of getting caught in the act, because he knows this might be one of his last moments with Yoongi. They might never meet again, when he leaves.
Hoseok brings the pot to the table and fills a plate of soup for Jungkook. Yoongi takes the medical supplies from the table and puts them into a cabinet, but when he comes back to the table, he sits back down next to Jungkook.
The alpha in Jungkook purrs happily. He tries to ignore it despite how it makes his cheeks heat up.
“Did you ask Namjoon or the butcher if they’re hungry?” Hoseok asks Yoongi.
Yoongi shakes his head.
“But I told them we’ll pay them both in bear meat,” he says, as he scoops soup onto his own plate. “You can of course go and bring them some food, if you want to.”
As Yoongi speaks he is smirking, like he already anticipates the disgusted face Hoseok pulls at his words.
“I would, but I’m not interested in seeing the bear’s insides,” Hoseok says, shuddering visibly.
While they eat, Hoseok asks Jungkook and Yoongi to tell him how exactly they managed to overpower the bear. Yoongi tells him the story in just a few short sentences, sparing the details. He doesn’t seem to be in the mood for conversation, and Hoseok clearly notices this, filling the silence with mindless chatter about the events of his own day instead of prying for more information.
Jungkook thanks Hoseok for the soup. It tasted really good for something so simple. Jungkook hadn’t even realized how hungry he had become while dragging the bear out of the forest.
Yoongi leans his elbows on the table and traces tiny patterns into its worn out surface with his finger, as Hoseok takes their plates and carries them into the kitchen nook, making himself busy there, or at least pretending to, so he can give Yoongi and Jungkook space to say their goodbyes.
Because that’s what this is. It’s time for Jungkook to say goodbye.
“I suppose you have to get back to the castle? We wouldn’t want them to think you’ve been kidnapped,” Yoongi says, still staring at the table.
“Or had my knot stabbed,” Jungkook answers and then promptly blushes as he realizes he has needlessly brought up his knot in a conversation with an omega.
But it has the desired effect, when Yoongi lets out a quiet chuckle. The omega regains his seriousness quickly, but the air around them doesn’t feel so heavy anymore. Jungkook might be just kidding himself, but he thinks there is a tiny sliver of melancholy in Yoongi’s scent now, like maybe he doesn’t want Jungkook to go just as much as Jungkook doesn’t want to leave.
It’s probably just his imagination. He’s projecting things again.
“But I really do have to go,” he says. “Will you walk me to my horse?”
Jungkook is half expecting to be denied, slammed back with some sarcastic reply, like “can’t you walk on your own”, but that’s not what happens. Yoongi just nods and pushes himself up.
Jungkook says goodbye to Hoseok and throws his quiver and bow across the shoulder that isn’t hurt. Then he follows Yoongi out.
It’s starting to get dark, the sun has probably fallen under the horizon already, though its light hasn’t disappeared completely.
The bear is gone, and there are sounds coming from the shed next to Yoongi and Hoseok’s house. The butcher must be at work.
Jungkook and Yoongi walk across the yard to where Gureum is tied to a post by the reigns. The horse is happily tugging on tufts of grass with his teeth. Yoongi reaches out a hand to pet the animal’s neck.
“I’ll miss your horse,” he says in a low voice.
He pulls his jacket tighter around himself when a cool wind sweeps through the yard. Jungkook has the strongest urge to pull the omega into his arms to help him warm up. But of course he can’t do something like that.
“Maybe he’ll come and visit you one day,” Jungkook says, despite how the knowledge that that will most likely not happen weighs heavy in his gut.
Yoongi looks at him like he knows it too, that this is their goodbye. There’s a fire flickering in a lantern by the neighboring house, and it’s reflected in Yoongi’s eyes, making them sparkle even in the dusky evening.
“Thank you for the bear,” Yoongi says.
“No need to thank me,” Jungkook answers immediately.
Yoongi shakes his head and says: “But I am thanking you. Just take it. It’s very helpful to my family. You can probably see that we don’t live in a castle.”
Jungkook fleetingly wonders if Yoongi’s family extends beyond him just having a brother, but he doesn’t dare ask. It’s really not his place to pry deeper into Yoongi’s personal life.
“Okay,” he says. “Then you’re welcome.”
He holds out his arm for Yoongi to grab, just the same way as they first greeted each other in the forest, once Yoongi put away his knives. Yoongi answers to the greeting, taking hold of his forearm. He nods and stares into Jungkook’s eyes as if he’s expecting Jungkook to say something more. It almost feels as though he knows how much Jungkook doesn’t want to leave and never look back.
But Jungkook stays quiet, just taking in Yoongi’s scent one last time and enjoying the feeling of his fingers around his arm, their bare wrists pressed together.
Then he lets go and turns to his horse, forcing himself to tear his gaze away from Yoongi’s pretty eyes. He unties Gureum and pulls himself onto the horse’s back.
He gives Yoongi one last glance, tries to memorize everything about the moment: the gentle light from the lantern falling onto the omega’s face, the faint smell of flowers in the wind, much fainter than the scent of Yoongi, who is standing right next to the horse and staring up at him.
“Goodbye, Yoongi,” he says quietly.
Yoongi nods, doesn’t say it back.
And then Jungkook has to leave. His heart hammers wildly in his chest as he rides out of the village, telling him he’s an idiot for not listening to it, longing to go back even before he has really left.
He doesn’t look back.
---
There goes the chance you missed, Yoongi’s mind whispers to him, when Seokjin and his beautiful white stallion disappear from sight behind the neighboring houses. He sighs, his breath fogging up in the cool evening air.
What a mean little mind he has. It’s mean letting himself think even for a moment that he might have a chance to live his life the way he wants to, that he could make decisions based on how he feels instead of what is necessary to both him and the people he loves.
It’s not his fault that his father died in war before it was his time to go, and it’s not his fault that his brother decided to get married and move away, and doesn’t support Yoongi and their mother, whether it’s because he can’t or just because he won’t. And it isn’t Yoongi’s fault that the alpha Hoseok was in love with died in a horrifying accident before they ever had the chance to get mated, and Hoseok hasn’t been up for love ever since. It’s not his fault that his mother has a bad leg and a sickness the healers they’ve had visit can’t cure, rendering her unable to work.
And it’s not his fault that he was born an omega, and the world he lives in seems insistent on making sure that omegas have as few prospects as possible, unless they decide to fall in line with what the world expects from them and make themselves dependent on alphas.
None of it is Yoongi’s fault, yet the heavy consequences seem to all fall on him.
And Yoongi would have handled it. If only Hoseok hadn’t come up with his own stupid little plan for how he could help the family. If the idea to sacrifice himself never sprouted up in Hoseok’s mind, Yoongi wouldn’t need to play along and offer up himself for the same sacrifice.
He would have already aborted mission if Hoseok wasn’t so stupidly stubborn and hellbent on pulling his weight. Hoseok of course already does a lot for the family. He cooks and cleans and takes care of the hen, while Yoongi hunts and trades furs and points knives at alphas who try getting too close to either one of them. But Hoseok has been feeling inadequate since he isn’t able to do much in terms of making money.
And maybe Yoongi is just fooling himself when he tries to convince himself that they could have figured out another way; that neither one of them has to succumb to a loveless union with the pompous brat living in the royal castle. Life hasn’t exactly been easy for them for the last few years, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier. A union with the prince would surely grant them financial security for the rest of their lives, so it might be the wisest decision, no matter how much Yoongi despises the royals.
But if someone has to charm the royal brat off his feet, it won’t be Hoseok. Hoseok deserves to find someone he loves. Yoongi on the other hand never really even considered the possibility of finding someone he’d actually want to mate. So it hurts no one if he mates out of necessity rather than love.
Well, at least no one except himself. And he can take it. He can take it if he knows that by doing so, he is saving Hoseok from the same miserable fate.
So Seokjin may have been nice and handsome, and maybe his smoky warm scent messed with Yoongi’s head for a moment, but the alpha stepped into his way a little too late. So there’s no point in feeling like he’s losing something as the hunter disappears into the night. There’s no way to let go of what he never had in the first place.
Cementing this thought in his head, Yoongi enters back into the house.
“Not a word,” he warns Hoseok before the other omega even has the chance to open his mouth.
He can see the barely hidden amusement in Hoseok’s eyes. Hoseok probably thinks the situation is sort of hilarious, and Yoongi doesn’t feel like dealing with his teasing right now.
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Hoseok claims even though it’s clearly a lie.
“Sure.”
Hoseok sighs and turns to the dishes he is washing in the sink.
“Namjoon and the butcher will probably continue working for a while, right?” he says. “But I’ll keep the soup on low heat. Could you go and tell them there’s food? Cause I’m not about to enter the shed.”
“I’ll do it after I say hi to Mum.”
“You didn’t do that when you went upstairs earlier?” Hoseok asks confusedly.
“She was sleeping,” Yoongi says.
It’s probably not true. When Yoongi went upstairs to fetch another scarf for Seokjin’s wounded arm, he passed his mother’s bed. She was laid down and her eyes were closed, but Yoongi could sense that she wasn’t really asleep. She does that sometimes when she’s not up for a conversation. Yoongi hopes she’s up for it now.
He climbs up the stairs and steps into the room upstairs. It doesn’t have a door, and the whole space is just one room, same as the downstairs. Yoongi leans his back on the chimney pipe, the bricks warm from the fire Hoseok has set in the fireplace downstairs.
Mum’s eyes are closed again, but she opens them as Yoongi stares at her. She’s in the same position as earlier, half-sitting, leaning back on a pile of pillows.
“Good evening, my lovely. How was your hunt today?” she asks, her voice a little raspy.
She’s probably slept for most of the day. And even if she hasn’t, Hoseok has most likely been too busy to keep her company, so she’s had no one to talk to.
Her illness makes it so that she has good days and bad days, and on bad days she doesn’t leave her bed at all. Sometimes she just stays lying down because her old knee injury is acting up. But those are usually the rainy days, so Yoongi doubts that is the case today.
“It was good. I shot a bear.”
“A bear? That is very impressive. I’m proud of you,” she says, sounding pleased, but not the least bit surprised, as if this is information she thought she would one day receive without a doubt.
“Thank you, Mum. I didn’t plan for it, though.”
Mum gives him a close-lipped smile.
“That doesn’t make it any less impressive,” she says.
Yoongi looks down. It’s nice to know that his mother is proud of him. But sometimes he feels like she would always think highly of him, even when he hasn’t earned it. She has always believed in him more than he believes in himself.
“I think I smelled something smoky on you,” Mum says then, amusement laced in her gentle voice.
Yoongi lets out a tiny groan and hopes his cheeks aren’t coloring red.
He feels conflicted. On one hand he just wants to forget Seokjin and go on living as though their paths never crossed, but on the other hand… he knew Mum would ask about the alpha, and he still came up to talk to her. He could have curled down on a pile of blankets and cushions by the fire and fallen asleep, just like he does on most nights, and he’d have never had to face his mother’s questions. Yet here he is.
“He smells nice,” Mum goes on, smiling.
“I know,” Yoongi says, his voice a bit whinier than it has any right to be.
He kneels down by his mother’s bed and leans against her covers, laying his cheek over his arms. She reaches out a hand to run her fingers through his hair.
“Was he nice to you?” she asks.
“Yes. He helped me kill the bear and then dragged it all the way here. He didn’t even want anything from it.”
“Hm, that’s noble of him,” Mum says.
“He’s probably well off, he said he’s one of the King’s hunters. And he had a golden ring to prove it,” Yoongi explains, mumbling his words into his own arms.
Mum scratches his scalp gently and it feels the same as it did when he was a kid.
“Why’d you let him leave, if you like him so much?”
Yoongi’s head springs up.
“Mum! I didn’t say I like him. Besides, even if I did, it would be one-sided. No alpha wants the kind of omega I showed myself to be. And for all I know he might have a mate and pups waiting for him in the castle.”
Mum tuts at him and reaches out to pet his hair again. She pushes the too long strands from his eyes and tucks them behind his ear. There’s a quiet smile on her lips.
“Any alpha would be lucky to have you, just the way you are.”
Yoongi’s chest feels tight. He knows it’s not true, but the words still move him. It’s nice to have someone who sees who he is, completely, and loves him no less for it. But that doesn’t deter him from his plan in the slightest.
“I’m still going to go to the castle. And not for the hunter,” he says.
Mum sighs deep and pulls her hand away from Yoongi’s hair. She clasps her fingers and places her hands on her lap.
“I suppose that’s a pain you’ve decided to bring on yourself,” she says.
She probably knows it would be useless to try changing his mind.
“Rather me than Hoseok,” Yoongi whispers, determined.
“Rather neither one of you,” Mum butts in.
“He won’t let up,” Yoongi says. “So I can’t, either. And it’s not the worst plan, if you think about the kind of healers we could afford if we had the royal wealth on our side. Maybe we can find someone who can help you.”
“Whatever you do, Yoongi, just know that you’re not doing it for me. I wash my hands of this. I didn’t ask you to sacrifice your hopes and dreams to help me.”
“I know. But I’m going to the castle anyway,” Yoongi says.
He lays his head back down over his arms.
“Will you be fine, Mum, when we leave?”
His mother sniffs indignantly.
“I’m not handicapped, you know. I’ll be fine until one of you returns – or both, if I’m lucky.”
“Hyejin has promised to check on you daily and bring you food. She’ll probably bring her pup with her, too. Might cheer you up.”
“She’s a sweet girl, but she’ll come to find that her visits are in vain. And I don’t need pups running around in my feet, unless they’re yours or Hoseok’s,” she says, eyes wide and hopeful.
“Mum!” Yoongi exclaims again, cheeks definitely feeling hot now. “Stop saying things like that.”
“Well, if you’re planning on mating and marrying a royal, you should expect them to want heirs.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Yoongi mutters, flustered.
He clambers up and bends down to kiss his mother on the forehead. He deems it a perfect time to end the conversation.
“Goodnight, Mum,” he says.
“Goodnight, my lovely,” Mum answers.
As Yoongi turns to make his way down the stairs she calls out after him: “The royals aren’t the only ones expecting heirs, my son!”
Yoongi doesn’t bother to respond. He just groans and hops down the stairs faster. Downstairs he is met with Hoseok who is doubled over in quiet laughter, leaning on the table to not topple over completely.
Yoongi grabs two bowls, fills them with carrot soup, and walks out of the door with them. The cold night air feels good on his still too warm cheeks.
But it reminds him of the moment when Seokjin mounted his horse and said goodbye. The way he couldn’t be sure if the shiver running through his body in that moment was caused by the cold wind or the staring of the alpha’s big deer eyes.
For a moment he stops in his tracks and stares at the spot where they shook hands before Seokjin left.
Then he shakes his head and starts moving towards the shed again.
He has made up his mind. There’s no point in thinking of what-ifs.