Chapter Text
New York’s autumn wind was colder than Korea’s and Jeongguk wondered how he would survive it any longer even after being there for over a month. October made the skies grey and gloomy. He let his ears droop to his shoulders when someone knocked into his shoulder while they passed him. In a city with more than 8 million people, you are bound to bump into someone. When he arrived to work, he bit his bottom lip at the rush that was already happening, he thought he’d be used to it by now.
“Good morning,” the boy squeaked out, but frowned at his accent that flowed with the words. The lady behind the counter smiled softly at him and passed over his uniform, a soft black tunic with a white collar, black tapered pants and a white apron. His cheeks became warm when she dismissed him with, “here you go little bunny, have a great day.”
He worked with humans and hybrids like him, the bottom of the chain, the fragile, the most in population; omegas. It was more likely for an uneducated alpha human to obtain a low paying job like his rather than an omega hybrid. Every shift at his job was a rush, he worked fast and hard, but only made so much. Housekeeping was the least gratifying position in a hotel especially in one as important as this.
“Listen up ladies,” the manager of the hotel looked towards Jeongguk and the other male workers that lingered, “and gents, we have several very important guests checking in today.”
Jeongguk got the gist of his words, someone important was coming, but he got lost the more that he spoke on. While Jeongguk could understand some English, he also didn’t understand a lot. He mostly kept to himself and spoke enough to get by. After the hotel manager was done, their housekeeping supervisor began her usual announcements on want needed to be done that day.
They got to work, he shyly smiled at his usual partner as they filled their cart and did a few checks before taking off to the 25th floor in the elevator. Jeongguk liked his partner and was relieved when they first got paired together after his training.
“Jisoo noona?” the bunny called out. She hummed and came around the corner, her bunny ears twitching in question. Her eyes widened at the box in his hands. A ring, no doubt for an engagement as they saw a couple come tripping out of the room before the two housekeepers reached their room.
They followed protocol and put it in a bag with a lost and found note, Jisoo at Jeongguk’s side as he filled out the report with her help. Afterwards, they whispered and giggled in Korean to each other all through their shift like usual. When they finished early, they went to the next floor to see if the other team needed help which they didn’t. They did the same to a few more floors before putting their cart away and heading back to the staff lockers and changing room. There were others dressing down that were able to finish early also, but before Jisoo and Jeongguk could do the same, their housekeeping supervisor asked them for their help.
“You are my two best and fastest available right now, can you come with me up to the Park Suite on the 30th floor?” they nodded and followed, Jisoo quickly getting behind Jeongguk to tie his apron back up for him as they followed their supervisor.
“The person that checked into the Park Suite is a defense lawyer, he is having a meeting with several people in the next hour and we were asked to set up their food and drinks and attend to them during and afterwards,” their supervisor spoke as they made their way up in the elevator. She continued, “it will be a room full of alphas.”
Jeongguk froze not quite understanding her words, just knowing that they were needed and there will be alphas. His ears stood tall with tension and both women noticed. Jisoo held his hand for a few seconds before letting go as they all got off the elevator. Their supervisor knocked and announced housekeeping to no avail, then she unlocked and entered the suite without hesitation. She was a beta and in no doubt, not as afraid as the two omegas. Jeongguk is immediately hit with the strong scent of an alpha, his chest tightening. It was almost too overwhelming. The scent covered Jeongguk like a warm fuzzy blanket.
Their supervisor instructed Jisoo to start presenting the food trays in the kitchen then lead Jeongguk to the bedroom to unpack the unknown alphas clothes as requested. He was told to hang shirts and pants in the closet and place socks and underwear in the drawers along with other clothing that didn’t need to be hung up. His toiletries should be taken into the bathroom and placed neatly. Anything else should be placed on top the dresser. He nodded after catching the main tasks of her requests and moved to the bag on the bed.
The bunny swallowed when the scent of the alpha only became stronger after unzipping the bag. All the boy could smell was wood and earth; he felt as if he was pressed to the soft ground of a forest. He worked with shaking fingers and swollen lips after gnawing them with his teeth. He tilted his head in content after he finished the closet filled with suits and some of the softest cardigans he’s ever felt in his life and then moved to the alphas more personal articles of clothes. Jeongguk flushed as he placed the alphas underwear neatly in the drawers along with his socks and a few random ties that weren’t with the other suits. He filled another drawer with plain white and black t-shirts and gym shorts. The bunny found shoes at the bottom of the bag and took them to the shelves in the closet. Looking in other pockets, he found toiletries. He went to the bathroom and placed everything neatly. The blush came back as he placed an open box of condoms behind bottles on the counter.
“Excuse me?” someone spoke and the bunny squeaked, his hand toppling over the bottles and box. He turned to the door and blinked with chocolate chip eyes at the man in the door frame. He spoke again, but Jeongguk could only catch, “bathroom.” None of the English was processing and he struggled to understand. He had large shoulders and height was in his favour. He was handsome, breathtakingly so with plump lips and even though he was slightly frowning, Jeongguk could see slight dimples on his cheeks. So handsome, so appealing and Jeongguk could only stare. His dragon eyes were coffee bean dark and held a pretty twinkle. Somehow, he trailed his eyes down his large chest to the man’s waist and his jaw dropped with the sight of his unbuckled belt and pants, revealing a bit of the same Calvin Klein boxers that he had just finished putting away. Then, he finally realized the scent in the air, it was the same as what was lingering on the clothes and throughout the whole suite.
The alpha pointed towards the bunny, but he was too busy staring down at his unbuckled pants. He was a broad and rather tall human alpha, a predator in comparison to the bunny across the marble bathroom. The alpha spoke again, but it was like the bunny was underwater. His lips moved, but he couldn’t hear. The pounding in his ribcage was too loud. Fear creeping up his spine like a vine of poison ivy. This alpha could hurt him without a doubt.
“Jeongguk-ah, our guest would like to use the bathroom,” someone suddenly spoke in Korean, and it finally processed in Jeongguk’s head. The predator turned and moved, revealing a small bunny behind him.
“Jisoo noona,” Jeongguk whined, but felt as if he couldn’t move. Jisoo stepped in and grabbed his wrist, pulling the bunny out of the bathroom. She bowed to the alpha and apologized, the English finally processing in his head a little also. Jungkook tried to bow also as it was Korean standard and was surprised when the predator softly did it back with the tilt of his head, his dark soft looking hair shifting with his movement on top his head.
Jisoo led Jeongguk to the kitchen where she gave him utensils to wrap in white cloth napkins. She whispered to him in Korean softly, calming him down. When she nosed at his scent gland in the crook of his neck, he quietly whimpered and clutched the pile of napkins. He appreciated her comfort.
As Jungkook wrapped the sets of utensils, he thought of the handsome alpha in the next room. He started to feel embarrassed at his reaction; maybe not everyone was out to get him. The alpha was one of the bigger alphas that he had come face to face within his life. He was almost done when suddenly things started to pick up pace.
“Jisoo, his guests are coming up,” their supervisor said and she rushed into the kitchen. They talked between each other and Jeongguk began to rush with his task as he sensed their urgency.
Soon, Jeongguk could hear the man’s voice again, this time coming from the dining room. His manager went out to speak and then she called on both the housekeepers to come out. Jisoo whispered for Jeongguk to bring the wrapped utensils in their basket and the pitcher of ice-cold water as her hand were already full of trays of food. They went out and placed everything on a table at the back of the dining room.
“Mr. Kim, my housekeepers, Jisoo and Jeongguk, will be helping you today,” his supervisor stated and gestured towards the omega bunnies. Jeongguk couldn’t make himself look up if he wanted to, a high flush on his cheeks.
“Thank you for your help, my name is Namjoon,” the man suddenly spoke in Korean, although a little broken, it made Jeongguk looked up with his wide chocolate chip eyes and surprised bunny ears, his heart suddenly fluttering. The man held eye contact before looking away to the door as someone knocked. He got up to answer it and everything began to pick up pace once again.
Several alphas walked in and Jeongguk started twisting his fingers in front of him in nervousness. It became loud in the suite as they greeted the man and talked about things he couldn’t quite understand. The alpha led them to the table, and they all sat down. They started talking once again about several different topics and Jeongguk tuned them all out, except for the handsome alpha. He might not have understood him, but he was nice to listen to. His voice like velvet caressing the flushed skin of his ears. Jeongguk and Jisoo placed the wrapped utensils on the table along with small plates. They also placed the food trays out for them to eat. They poured water in glasses and at one point the alpha went into the kitchen and came out with a bottle of alcohol. He passed it to Jeongguk, their fingers brushing which made the bunny shiver. He was so warm. Jisoo helped him open it and they served it to the alphas who asked for it.
A few alphas had more than one glass and it soon got a little uncomfortable. Jeongguk stepped up to serve an alpha who was round and grey, and when he felt a caress on his thigh, he tensed and almost spilt the alcohol. He pulled away, but the man suddenly gripped his waist and tugged him close with a horrible laugh. The bunny squeaked and the bottle fell to the floor, glass breaking and ricocheting against the floor.
“What pretty bunnies, I’ll take this one to the bedroom,” the old alpha laughed and burped. Other men at the table laughed, others didn’t. Jeongguk looked towards Jisoo, her eyes were wide and her mouth agape. She was probably just as shocked as him. Jeongguk pushed at the man, blabbering in Korean for him to stop. His ears fell in front of him as the men laughed.
It was like Jeongukk was thrusted all the way back to his small childhood home in Busan. The brutal memories came flooding in like a tsunami and Jeongukk whimpered, his chest beginning to rattle. Panic was setting in like a flood.
Suddenly he was pulled away, another pair of hands around his waist. Oh no, he thought. He looked down and watched as someone ripped the old man’s hand from his body. The old alpha growled and Jeongguk pushed himself back into the person behind him in fear. The bunny was gasping and looked up, meeting dragon eyes. The alpha talked to the older and they seemed to argue. He guided Jeongguk to stand behind him without much effort as Jeongguk let himself be handled. Their arguing was hard for him to understand as he was too filled with fear to try understanding any of the English words coming from their mouths.
He assumed they were dismissed as the males slowly left the dining room and then the Park Suite, some angry, ashamed or just amused. The alpha shook a few hands while he didn’t pay attention once to others. The suite fell silent when the last man left, the door shutting behind him in the foyer from what they could all hear from the dining room.
“Don’t cry,” the man whispered in Korean and Jeongguk didn’t even realized he turned to face him. He also didn’t realize that he was crying, tears streaming down his cheeks and small gasps falling from his lips as he tried to stay calm. He shivered as the man reached out to rub his shoulder to relieve the tension there as the bunny shook with fear.
“Jeongguk-ah?” Jisoo called and he turned his head, finding her at his side. The alpha spoke to her, and she nodded, grabbing Jeongguk and pulled him to the kitchen where she got him a glass of water. She whispered softly to him as she always did, and he nodded at her words. The other bunny wiped his cheeks and smiled when he leaned into her touch. She spoke, “you’re so cute, I’ll put you in my pocket and take you home.”
Soon, the alpha walked into the kitchen with pieces of the glass bottle, throwing them in the nearby trashcan. Him and Jisoo exchanged words, but there was no fear from her so Jeongguk remained calm. Then, Jeongguk’s ears fell to his shoulders when their supervisor walked in with a frown on her face. The alpha spoke with her and she nodded, but at one point they both looked at Jeongguk which made him duck his head to the floor in shame.
“You’ll be okay, how about you help Jisoo clean up this mess and then you both can be dismissed,” his manager instructed and once he heard the word clean, he was up on wobbly knees and following Jisoo into the dining room.
The omega bunnies did what they did best; they cleaned.
☼☾
Jeongguk took the train home, shivering on the cold platform and then in the plastic seat of the cart. He whined at the six story walk up, but finally he made it home. His roommate wasn’t home which wasn’t odd. It was only 6pm, so Jungkook couldn’t let himself crash out just yet. He showered, ate ramen and then counted his tips from that day which went straight to the jar under his bed. The bunny pulled out his English language textbook to study but gave up after an hour or so. He smiled softly when he got a text from Jisoo.
soya !!:
are you okay koo? >~<
yes i am at home now :’)
soya !!:
ok, i love you so much baby <3
Jeongguk felt his heart tighten and wanted nothing more than to be with Jisoo. The other omega bunny gave him so much comfort and it was always so hard to say farewell to her after work. The bunny fell back on his bed, pillows falling off the side and his stuffed pink bunny falling on his face from where it was propped on top the nest of pillows and blankets. A whine slipped passed his lips as he pushed the stuffy away and stared at his ceiling. The fairy lights that hung around the room created a homemade sunshine and the ivy vines that were strung sporadically around the room added a mythical oasis.
He bit his lip, suddenly remembering the alpha who was able to speak broken Korean. His voice was like soft thunder, if that was possible, and Jeongguk was already forgetting, whimpering without noticing. He furrowed his brows when he thought of the alpha’s dragon eyes and adorable dimples that he was able to catch sight of before his meeting went to shambles. Breathing deeply, Jeongguk wanted to remember his scent, but it was slipping from his grasp and no longer on the tip of his tongue. Jeongguk wanted-
The bunny squeaked, sitting up quickly and gasping. What did he want? No, he didn’t want anything.
“Woah!” His roommate howled and then laughed when the bunny squealed and hid himself under the piles of pillows and blankets. He continued in their mother tongue with, “it smells like an omega in heat in here.”
Jeongguk whined and clutched his stuffed pink bunny to his chest under the blankets and pillows. He wasn’t due for a chance at a heat for another five months. There is a saying that bunnies are almost always in heat, but their actual heats don’t really hit until March and September. Jeongguk has yet to get his first at the overdue age of 19. Usually, omegas are squirming with heat by 16; omega bunnies sometimes even by 15. He felt the bed dip and snuggled closer to the wall away from his roommate in annoyance, but mostly in order to make room. His roommate laughed and poked at him.
“Seokjin hyung,” Jeongguk started into a fluffy pillow. The mouse hummed and the bunny felt him lying beside him. Jeongguk sighed and whispered, “something happened today.”
It was hard to explain and Jeongguk felt the tears falling before the sobs were released. Seokjin listened closely and pulled the bunny to his chest. He babbled and tried to calm his uncontrollable sobs, but it was like someone had their hands around his throat. Seokjin shushed him quietly but to no avail. The mouse let the bunny cry, pushing his ears and hair from his puffy and flushed face with a slight smile. Jeongguk surrounded himself with people like him, but Seokjin smelled faintly like an alpha which made him whine and push him away.
“I know, I know, I smell like an alpha,” The mouse sighed and let himself be pushed away.
They met each other through the internet, and then met up in person in Korea when Jeongguk was only 17 years old. The mouse was distraught, as the bunny had told him that he was 20. Seokjin scolded him for hours, his eyes lingering on the bruises on the bunny’s arms and neck, before they went with their original plan for meeting up in the first place.
Seokjin came from a wealthy family, and he was moving to New York to find his path as a Broadway star, but he didn’t want to be alone. Jeongguk was a little bunny with not much particular interests that would give him enough to survive a life changing move anywhere in the world, he just wanted to get away. So, Seokjin waited another two years for the bunny before they saved enough to pack a few bags and take off on a one-way flight to New York City. Seokjin’s parents occasionally help when it comes to the horrendous expenses of New York and with the fact that even though Seokjin has a job with Broadway, his status as an omega does not grant him with enough money from his job.
Seokjin smelled like an alpha a little too much all the time considering he was an omega mouse. It was safe to say that he got around. Jeongguk was even surprised that he was even home at the moment as he would usually text about staying the night with someone he met. They were rarely the same person and Jeongguk would whine when Seokjin tried to tell him about the new alpha he spent the night with the next day.
“Go to sleep, Koo,” Seokjin whispered and kissed his forehead. Jeongguk didn’t realize that he was drifting off. However, he nodded, pulling his pink bunny close and humming. Seokjin then said, “you have work again tomorrow and if I hear about another alpha laying their hands on you, I’ll go there and cut their knot off.”
He dreamt of the alpha with dragon eyes.
There was a weight on his chest, it was heavy, and it made him arch into the warmth. Then there was the velvet voice in his ear, whispering his name and moaning for him. Jungkook whined and squirmed in his dream, feeling overwhelmed while also feeling like it wasn’t enough. The alpha above him pushed his thighs to his chest and set a slow grind into his heat slit. Jungkook was gasping and soon sobbing when his insides seemed to just clench. The alpha’s movements were suddenly becoming rough and Jeongukk could hear himself whining so pitifully. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. Everything felt too overwhelming, and tears were streaming down his face. The kiss from the alpha almost felt real with the rough pull of the man’s teeth and Jeongguk gasped awake.
He was alone in his nest, shivering and trying to slow his wildly beating heart, his thighs drenched. Even in a dream, the omega knew nothing but rough touch.
☼☾
Jisoo and Jeongukk were assigned the Park Suite as soon as they got into work. The Park Suite was several floors higher than their normal floor. Rather than cleaning a significant number of smaller rooms, they will be cleaning less and just more larger rooms. Their manager made sure to emphasize the fact that the Park Suite was priority, including the man and his needs.
“He’s a friend of the owner,” Jisoo whispered while the bunnies made their way to the Park Suite. They had just finished tidying up a few rooms that still had guests, so the day was moving quickly. Jisoo seemed to have read Jeongguk’s mind as he thought about why this alpha was receiving so much attention from the workers of the hotel. He didn’t really have anything to comment on the fact, simply nodding and watching as Jisoo knocked softly on the alpha’s door. A few seconds later, the door swings open and Jeongguk feels like he’s been doused with a wave of ice water.
Standing in the doorway is a sweet smelling and alluring omega, little fluffy ears on top of his head, twitching in wonder. He has a contagious smile on his face, Jeongguk noticing a little beauty mark above his lip. This omega is utterly beautiful with heart shaped lips, pink cheeks, rosy nose, delicate wrists and honey skin. He introduces himself with the sweetest voice and ushers the bunnies in, Jeongguk gaping at the fluffy tail that is poking out from behind him.
A squirrel. Jeongguk can’t say he’s ever met one.
“I’m Hoseok, but you can call me Hobi,” The omega delightedly speaks. He is in clothes that are two sizes too big for him and Jeongguk wonders if they belong to the alpha of the Park Suite. The bunny shudders at the thought and lets Jisoo do all the introducing for them.
“Namjoon is on a call in the bedroom, but feel free to do your magic. Don’t worry about me,” Hobi encourages and walks into the dining room where there are papers laid out covering most of the table. When Jeongukk tilts his head while slowly trying to understand the English words, Jisoo whispers a translation of what the squirrel had said. Jisoo points to the bedroom, and hands over a fresh new set of sheets that Jeongguk didn’t even realize that she grabbed from their cart. He pouts and Jisoo ignores him, already reaching for something else on the cart and waiting for him to take the linen. Jeongguk knew it was one of the days she didn’t want to deal with his babiness. The male bunny scoffs and takes the sheets, heading towards the bedroom.
The door is slightly ajar, so Jeongguk pokes his head around it for a few seconds, tensing when he sees the alpha, Namjoon, standing by the bedroom window on the phone. He speaks lowly into the device but it’s not like Jeongguk can understand him all that well as he speaks in English. When the omega pushes at the door to open it more to get inside, it squeals, and the omega cowers. The noise pulls the alpha to look towards the bunny and he slightly smiles which makes the boy softly gasp.
There is a slight weakness in his legs as he reaches the bed, placing the clean sheets on the bedside table and pulling at the alpha scented ones on the mattress. The more Jeongguk pulled, the more he got a whiff of the alpha’s scent, deep forest of woods and earth.
“Do you need help?” Namjoon asked in broken Korean, slipping his phone into his back pants pocket. He was already reaching for a pillow when Jeongguk squeaked out a decline. The alpha paused his movements and stared at the bunny, smiling more comfortably at the flush on the boy’s face. At that point, Jeongguk wasn’t even removing the scent covered sheets anymore, just holding them to his chest as he stared down the alpha. Namjoon quirked his eyebrow before continuing with, “—are you sure?”
When Jeongukk didn’t answer, frozen and just taking in the beauty of this man across the bed from him, Namjoon began taking off a pillowcase off the pillow with a slight smile. So, they worked together.
Usually, Jeongguk would be sweating from roughly pulling sheets from the bed, running around the room to picking up garbage and other things, then placing new sheets on the bed within at least 10 minutes. However, him and Jisoo didn’t have to rush on this floor anymore. Jeongguk also didn’t care that it took over 10 minutes to fix the bed because at that moment, he was kneeling next to the alpha showing him how to fold a hospital corner.
“Like this and this and this,” Jeongguk said quietly between them. He was on his knees, feet tucked under his bottom and if his tail was poking out, it would be twitching unknowingly as he tried to stay calm with the alpha’s eyes on him so intently; his ball of fluff of a tail was always tucked safely under his tunic away from prying eyes and hands as it was highly sensitive. When Jeongguk looked towards the alpha to see if he understands how to fold the corner, he parted his lips for the smallest gasp when he realized the alpha was already staring at him. The boy wondered if he was staring at him the whole time.
“Jeongguk-ah?” Jisoo suddenly called from the other room causing the bunny to flinch. The alpha was still staring at his pale skin and flushed cheeks, unaffected by the sudden break in moment. Jeongguk hastily stood from the floor and tucked a curl behind his ear that had seemed to slip from his clips. Annoyingly, more curls just fall from the clips as he moves. The bunny is quick to reach the door to poke his head out, smiling softly at Jisoo to let her know that he was almost done. She raised a brow while tapping her delicate watch on her wrist to which the boy nodded again. They didn’t have to rush anymore, but that didn’t mean they could take forever either.
When Jeongguk turns back to look at the half-finished bed, he tries to hold back a smile when he sees Namjoon messily trying to fold a hospital corner on the other side of the mattress. Just as he is about to go over to help the alpha, his fingers twitching in need to reach out for the man, the other omega in the suite calls out for the alpha.
“Namjoon!” Hoseok’s sweet voice calls from somewhere within the suite, probably the dining room. Jeongguk swallows when Namjoon stands and turns towards the bunny. After staring at the omega for a few seconds, he says something in English while pointing in the bunny’s direction which Jeongukk doesn’t quite catch, in fact he doesn’t catch it at all. The boy thinks the alpha is pointing at the door behind him, so he glances back at it quickly but there isn’t anyone there. When he sets his eyes on the beautiful man once again, the alpha furrows his brows with a slight frown on his lips which makes the bunny suddenly tense. Is the alpha mad at his inability to understand? When the alpha takes quick strides towards the boy, Jeongguk just kind of freezes. Even when he wanted to take a step back or speak up, he can’t. He recognizes the frightened feeling all too well.
The alpha reaches up rather quickly and Jeongukk breaks like a dam. He squeaks and flinches, fully expecting Namjoon to grab a fistful of his hair, rip him from a standing position and throw him across the room for simply not be being able to understand. But, Namjoon just freezes when the sharp squeak rips through the room and they both don’t move. Jeongguk’s eyes are round and big, staring at the alpha’s hand in the air. It takes the alpha a second to process, it seems, before he slowly reaches his objective which is a fallen curl at Jeongguk’s temple that had slipped from his clips once again.
The omega can feel his chin start to wobble as the alpha pushes the curl behind his ear. His chest tightens and his skin is beginning to inch up his skin. Jeongukk’s turns his head to the side to take in a gasp which is the only thing from keeping him from crying. The alpha says his name softly, ducking his head to look the bunny in the eye. Jeongukk can’t bear to explain or even breathe at this point. He uses his shaking hands to softly push at Namjoon’s firm chest and goes to the bathroom. With his back against the door and shaking legs making him crumble to the floor, he bites his lip to keep himself from sobbing.
Jeongukk hates himself for the way he reacted.
A few minutes later, Jisoo is softly knocking on the door and taking the bunny into her arms. As they leave the suite after Jeongguk has calmed down, the bunny catches a glimpse of the alpha sitting on the couch with the pretty omega at his side. They were talking lowly in English which made Jeongukk wonder if they were talking about him. The omega even glances up towards the bunnies as they leave, but Jeongukk looks away quickly before he can meet his eyes.
Jeongukk thinks the omega looks so pretty next to the alpha, they look so good together.
☼☾
Thankfully, it was Jeongukk’s weekend after that day. He sleeps in until noon the next day, making himself some lunch and then pulling out his English book again. He soon loses interest as he was never much of a studier. When he ends up on the couch in complete silence, he looks around his and Seokjin’s apartment and notices the mess it’s in. He decides to clean.
Jeongukk spends the rest of the day dusting, sweeping, mopping and sorting through things that he and Seokjin seemed to just collect throughout their small amount of time living there. It has been almost two months at this point and Jeongukk had only brought one large suitcase whereas Seokjin brought so much more when they came from Korea. The bunny wrote down things on a piece of paper of what they needed such as a shoe rack, a small garbage can for the bathroom and maybe an area rug because he was getting cold while sitting on the floor while trying to dust the glass T.V stand that Seokjin found at a thrift store. Oh, and a vacuum because Jeongukk wanted to vacuum the hell out of their couch.
When the bunny was about to start his own bedroom, eyeing his nest and wondering just how much he wanted to wash, his phone started to ring. It was probably Seokjin or Jisoo, so without hesitation, he swiped to answer the call while still staring down his nest.
It was in fact not Seokjin or Jisoo.
“Jeongukk-ah?” The bunny froze at the voice coming from his phone, not saying anything back. He knew the voice on the other line immediately. The woman continues in his native language with, “—it’s your mother.”
So, Jeongukk just kind of lets her talk. It’s always nice to hear Korean, especially now, in their Busan dialect. She talks about their house and how it’s hard to clean without his help. It makes Jeongukk look around the apartment again, thinking about how easy it was to clean because he was simply so used to it. She brings up how he left a few things behind like his school uniform, pillow and toothbrush. Jeongukk didn’t need the uniform anymore, the pillow smelled too much of this old home, and he picked up a new toothbrush (among other things) as soon as they landed. She says that people have asked about him and his sudden decision to leave.
“Your alpha tells them that he sent you to another alpha in Seoul for courting,” she says and then Jeongukk can hear the flicker of a lighter. Ever since he was a small bunny, he could remember her smoking. Jeongukk hums at the lie, the phone is tucked between his cheek and shoulder as he fiddles with the hem of his oversized shirt, now sitting in his nest in a weak attempt to comfort himself. His alpha, his father, would in no doubt want the accomplishment of sending him away, when in reality it was the bunny that managed to escape. His mother continues rather smugly in a slight laugh with, “— soon he’ll be saying that you’re mated off with an oven of buns on the way.”
At this point, Jeongukk has tears streaming down his face. He misses his mother because that’s all he’s ever known. Her way of words is so condescending when it wasn’t only him that got flung around their Busan home, it was also her. She was a human omega that came from a mother that was a bunny hybrid; no wonder Jeongguk was cursed with bunny ears. Deep down, his mother could hate him for having the same outcome as her mother. His mother was a smoker because it was the only thing she has control of. It was the only thing that their alpha listened to. She would be shaking at the sink, a busted lip and tears running down her cheeks, but she would still have the courage to ask, “can you bring me a pack of cigarettes when you come back home?”
He’s trying to cry silently to no avail.
“My goodness Jeongguk that’s all you know how to do is cry, —” his mother criticizes. He doesn’t have the strength to defend himself; he never really has. The bunny is sniffling and rubs the tears from his own face. Maybe, he missed the idea of his mother. She keeps at it, “— no wonder you’ve always annoyed alpha, you’re such a baby.”
There’s a knock at the door that makes him try to compose himself. He says farewell to his mother without letting her reply, hanging up and leaving his phone on his bed. He continues to wipe drops of tears from his cheeks as he reaches the door, flinging it open. There isn’t anyone there, but at his feet is a rectangular box. A quick glance down both ends of the hall confirms that the mail person was there, a few random boxes at different doors. So, Jeongukk picked up the box and brought it to the counter in the kitchen.
The box was white, with a pink ribbon wrapped around each side and eventually tied into a bow on top. The bunny thought that it might be for Seokjin, from one of his overly prying alphas, but no. On the side of the box has their address but instead of Seokjin’s name, it’s Jeongguk’s; the box is for him. With a slight frown, he opens it. Inside lays a bouquet of pink tulips surrounded by pink and white paper and ribbons in the same colours. The bunny can do nothing but stare with his jaw hanging. Spotting a small white paper, he’s hesitant to grab it to read. Eventually, he does.
Jeongguk, I’m sorry for crossing boundaries. Please, forgive me.
He’s surprised by the Hangul, the Korean words making sense in his head so easily. The writing of Hangul is almost too perfect, like the writer wasn’t used to writing it comfortably. Jeongguk tilted his head at the pen marks before he flipped the card over. He softly gasped at the perfect print on the back that was probably pressed over hundreds of times for clients across New York.
K & M Law
Criminal Defense Attorney
Kim Namjoon
There is a warmth that spreads up his body from his core. It’s like a wave as it goes to the top of his head, down to the flats of his feet and then to the tips of his fingers. The flush on his cheeks is so fiery as he steps away from the flowers and card to grab his list of items that their apartment is in need of. Biting his lip to keep himself from giggling, Jeongukk scribbles on the list from earlier.
In Hangul he writes, flower vase.