Chapter Text
Goldmund- A Word I Give (feat. Ryuichi Sakamoto)
The lights flickering on by the gates warms something in Jeongguk he hadn’t realized had gone cold while in the city. He feels Jimin’s hand tighten its hold on his and squeezes back, unable to stop the rumbling contentment in his chest as they enter the hanok, though it is dark and cold from their long absence, it still smells like home, like tea and hearth smoke and cherry and chocolate and the herbs hanging from the rafters to dry.
The wolf who holds his heart was by his side while he was away, but it is still so good to be back here where his bones belong.
Jimin lights a fire in every hearth and every lantern and lamp flickers to life as they move through each room, staying close to each other even though neither of them have much to say.
They’re both tired, stretched thin from travel and being away from the valley and its comforting embrace.
“Bath,” Jimin murmurs once the house starts to warm again, “bath and dinner and then bed.”
Jeongguk has no arguments to that, trailing after his hyung and into the bathing room, disrobing and slipping into warm water without a hint of shame lingering in his body, no resistance at all when Jimin pulls him into the circle of his arms and holds him there.
“Do I finally get to court you now?” Jeongguk grumbles, and Jimin laughs.
“Rude of your brother to have a crisis when he did.”
“Incredibly rude,” Jeongguk agrees.
Jimin noses into Jeongguk’s scent gland and he melts beneath the touch immediately, eyelashes fluttering as black cherry invades his senses. He wraps both arms around Jimin and sinks into the sensation of being lost and found all at once.
Outside the rain begins to fall.
A heron stands among the reeds.
The spirits move within the woods.
And Jeongguk falls in love, in love, in love .
◦○☽〇☾○◦
Courting Park Jimin is easier than breathing, not because Jeongguk does not put effort into it, but because every part of him sings for the other wolf. Every day he finds small ways to spoil the healer, who never asks for much to begin with, but is endlessly grateful for every gesture, every gift, that Jeongguk can’t help the way his chest swells with pride for being the cause of such a beautiful smile on Jimin’s lips.
He brings him little things, sweet plums he gathered himself from the trees that line the path to the village. A set of combs inlaid with alabaster and pearl. A new journal to keep track of his recipes and treatments, seeds for the garden, wax for his seals. Jimin accepts them all so graciously, a secret little smile on his lips as he takes them, tilts his face up for a kiss, eyes shining shining shining with love and adoration.
And Jimin courts him back, brings him robes made of the softest silk and soap that doesn’t irritate Jeongguk’s sensitive nose and brightly colored dasik and hotteok fresh from the stalls and flower crowns and his own ink and brush for writing letters and it’s simple, sweet, nothing grand or big or ostentatious, but it’s them and it’s more than enough because of that.
They make love and Jimin teaches him a hundred ways to give and receive pleasure, worshiping Jeongguk with his tongue and mouth, leaving loving marks upon his naked body like lotus petals scattered across water. He teaches Jeongguk how to stretch him open and then he rides Jeongguk until he swears he sees stars and Jimin is among them, beautiful and breathless, back arched and head thrown back, long hair cascading around his hips. And Jeongguk, buried in him and breathless, guiding him to meet each thrust and lost in ecstasy like he has never known.
◦○☽〇☾○◦
“How long do we court for?” Jeongguk asks one night as they lay naked and tangled together in bed.
“Until we know we’re both ready,” Jimin replies with a shrug of one bare, perfect shoulder.
Jeongguk hums, lifts one of Jimin’s hands to press kisses to his palm, trails down to his wrist and scents him softly. He’s been feeling more settled lately, the restlessness of his waking wolf calming now into something mellow and steady, though he still finds it near-impossible to keep his hands off Jimin.
There are worse problems to have though.
“My rut will be coming up soon, in two moon’s time,” he admits quietly. “I don’t know what it will be like this time, but um…” he trails off, feeling uncertain with his words for the first time in a long time, “I’ve never spent it with anyone,” he admits finally.
Jimin stills beside him then pushes himself up on one elbow, “You haven’t had any help?” He asks, brow furrowed, “ Ever? ”
Jeongguk shakes his head, “I didn’t like the rut houses, and it was considered improper to have a helper come to one’s residence. I would just spend it in the guest house.” Now it’s his turn to shrug, “I never got violent or anything, just… needy and sad.”
Jimin sighs and leans over to press a soft kiss to his lips, “I’m sorry you had to do that alone, but hyung will be there this time, and we will take care of each other, okay?”
Slow Meadow- Grey Cloud Lullaby
“Is yours coming up as well?”
The other alpha nods, “Might be that we end up mating then, if our wolves decide it’s time.”
Jeongguk can't help but smile, the idea of Jimin wearing his bite causing his alpha to stir, and reminding him of something else, “When do you think I’ll shift?” He asks, “I’ve been hoping…”
“Well, have you tried?” Jimin asks. “When we’re young it just happens because our bodies are growing and learning and we have less control over them. But you’re old enough to not have that happen, so perhaps you just need to attempt it.”
He laughs when Jeongguk is up and out of bed a moment later, “You know you can try to right here,” he calls after him.
Jeongguk looks over his shoulder as he walks away, “Hyung, I am not getting fur on our bed.”
Jimin’s delighted laughter follows him out of the room and down the hall.
He doesn’t manage it that night, but Jimin assures him it will be soon and he believes him.
His hyung has never lied, after all.
◦○☽〇☾○◦
It happens in the evening, when they have company.
Yoongi and Hoseok and Taehyung are here, Jin and his brother too, filling up the kitchen with the sound of their laughter and conversation. Joon is still a little uncertain around the others, but he’s trying his best and for that Jeongguk is thankful. Their scents mingle together with the rain and wind and green things and it is pack pack pack once more, hands touching and shoulders leaning and hearts full.
They are all a little drunk, and everything is golden and softly-shadowed and Jimin is wrapped around him, all silk and satin with love. “Your eyes are golden, beautiful boy,” he whispers in his ear as the hour creeps towards midnight, “will we run tonight?”
Jeongguk leans into him, leans into that feeling of pack and love and shadow and wind. There is a song in his blood and bones tonight, brightly burning like the fire hearth, like the answering gold in Jimin’s eyes. He noses into his hyung’s scent gland, needing that familiar comfort, hungry for the hands that run down his arms and gather him into a hug.
The others drift closer, Namjoon looking a little lost, Seokjin a little proud. The air is charged and electric as Jimin leads them out into the garden and when Jeongguk’s bare feet touch Serein soil he feels his body bend and bow like reeds and willows, like bamboo in storm winds, and he is tumbling, falling, shifting into something other and yet exactly the same, blinking gold eyes opening to a world he knows and yet doesn’t.
And Jimin.
And pack.
The others crowd around him, all soft touches and gentle praise and Jimin shines in his vision like some aureate god, beautiful and golden and Jeongguk’s entire world.
“Brother?” Namjoon whispers as he stares, eyes wide and hands shaking as Jeongguk steps forward, massive and ebon colored just like Jimin. He noses into Namjoon’s outstretched hand, tail wagging because someday his brother will shift too, someday they will run together like they were also meant to.
The others start to shift, all save for Seokjin and Namjoon, who hangs back with a bewildered expression, like he can’t believe what he is seeing, but Jeongguk is far more interested in his alpha, who is the last to shift, falling instead to his knees and wrapping both arms around Jeongguk’s neck. “My wolf, my love,” he whispers as he presses their foreheads together, “I’m so endlessly proud of you.”
Jeongguk whines, noses into his cheeks and throat, wants words so that he can tell Jimin to shift, to run, to join them in the forest and in singing to the moon.
And then he does, graceful and certain as he stands and steps back and falls in on himself, the turning easy, until Jeongguk and Jimin stand shoulder to shoulder, pitch black in the night, the other three wolves roving in a slow circle around them.
Pack and pack and pack .
The night is young and dark and the spirits call for him.
Jeongguk runs.
The others follow.
Out into the shadow and the forest. He can see so much better now, his new eyes make the starlight seem bright, the waxing moon a beacon above them. He can hear the others around him, behind him and in front but Jimin is always at his side like a second shadow, steady and sure-footed, eyes glowing like the moon as they race through the valley, deeper and deeper until they reach the shrine.
A hundred shadows wait for them there, ghosts or spirits or something else, the magic of the valley given form, the memories of every wolf who ran these ancient paths made tangible. He stops, stumbling a little over his legs and huffing when Taehyung huffs a wolf’s laugh at his expense. Jimin noses into his side, leans his weight into him, the others drawing close, tails wagging, ears forward, pack and pack and pack .
Jeongguk wants to sing with it, needs to sing with it, with the moonlight and the night song and the running, with the love in his bones and blood, with the freedom he feels and the joy of having a life worth living.
He throws his head back and howls, the first note wavering, uncertain, echoing softly over the trees and fading into the night.
And Jimin answers first, because of course he does.
His song is long and low, drawn out and powerful, building like sunrise and slow floods, filling the air until the night practically vibrates with it.
Taehyung echoes him, joined swiftly by Hoseok and then Yoongi.
The spirits raise their voices too.
In the distance he thinks he hears a quiet response.
Pack and pack and pack .
Home and home and home.
Love and love and love.
He shifts back as grey light is creeping over the horizon, stumbling and exhausted and happy, Jimin’s hand in his, into the hanok and into their bed to steal kisses between yawning. “I love you,” he says, even though it’s not enough, even though it never will be. "I love you and I'm so glad I found you before the end."
◦○☽〇☾○◦
Preparing for his rut is different now that he is in Serein.
Back in the city it was something to be ashamed about, something that wasn’t spoken of in polite society but kept to bawdy jokes in back rooms and taverns. But Jeongguk has never seen the humor in it, perhaps because he was never consumed with it like others claimed to be in the past. He’s nervous now, uncertain if his newly woken wolf and instincts will make this one harder than the ones he’s had previously, but of course Jimin is there to reassure him every step of the way.
“I think you’ll find it’s different when your wolf is content,” he says quietly after dinner one evening. Jeongguk is sprawled on top of him, half-awake as Jimin cards his fingers through his hair, “at least that’s what I’ve been told.”
Jeongguk hums, noses into his chest, “What are yours like, hyung? Are they bad?”
“Ah, Gguk-ah, you don’t have to worry about hyung,” Jimin says. “Mine were often lonely and sad but they won’t be anymore, hm?” He ruffles Jeongguk’s dark hair gently, “We’ll take good care of each other, just like we always do.”
It starts a few days later.
Jeongguk wakes to a fever-warm body pressed to his, but the heat isn’t smothering, it’s addictive, makes him want to crowd closer, to meld every inch of his body to the one tangled with his. Jimin is already awake beside him, eyes ringed in gold and hair falling in loose waves all around him, looking beautiful and predatory as he watches Jeongguk wake.
“Hyung?” Jeongguk whispers. He feels needy, restless like he did when his wolf first woke, vulnerable in a way that makes him excited. He has so little experience, and his thoughts are all hazy with want and hunger. “Hyung, I—”
“What do you need, Gguk-ah?” Jimin asks, pushing closer, everywhere and everything all at once, “What can hyung give you?”
“Need you—” He gasps, cuts himself off when he feels a hand run up the length of his cock.
“I’ve got you, don’t worry,” Jimin assures him, “I’ll take good care of you, hm? Just like you’ll take care of me.”
He nods.
Then Jimin is on him.
He’s pushed onto his back and long legs straddle his hips, Jimin’s night robes pushed up to reveal his flawless thighs. Jeongguk realizes he’s hard a moment later as the other alpha’s weight settles on top of him, and that their scents are thick and heady in the air, intoxicating in their sweetness, making Jeongguk want to drag in huge lungfuls of it until he’s drunk on it. He feels so much already, but mostly there is an overwhelming need to be close, to have as much of Jimin as he can get.
“Can hyung fuck you, love?” He asks, voice dark and hungry as he rolls his hips, and Jeongguk whines in response, hips bucking up as he nods, yes and please and now Jimin is growling, rolling off of him and their clothes disappear and then he is naked, fingers grazing his hole, panting and flushed as his rut truly takes over.
It’s so different from before, the loneliness replaced by a dizzy euphoria as Jimin circles his rim with a feather light touch, eyes gold and focused as he coaxes Jeongguk into pieces with his fingers. But it’s not enough, where before his wolf had been confused, uncertain about what it wanted, now it knows it wants Jimin, and only Jimin. That the alpha is the missing piece of a puzzle Jeongguk has been trying to put together his entire life.
He can’t focus, can’t calm down, hands twisting in the sheets because as good as those fingers feel it isn’t enough. He needs more, needs to be full, needs to fill, his instincts overwhelmed by a desire to claim and be claimed.
“Shh, careful now darling,” Jimin’s voice coaxes him out of the frenzy for just a moment, but he’s lost against a second later, everything too intense and too much as he feels himself begin to slip into some headspace where it’s all feelings and sensations and Jimin Jimin Jimin .
“Hyung!” He gasps, writhing, “Please!” And he doesn’t even know what he’s begging for but Jimin seems to understand, his fingers slip out of him and he is nudging Jeongguk onto his stomach, and he’s pushing himself in as he leans down and presses firm kisses into the nape of his neck, something about the spot making Jeongguk’s bones turn to liquid as he stops his struggling and his mind is filled with a soft, pleasant buzz.
“There you go,” Jimin whispers, “I know it’s a lot, love. I know.”
Jeongguk floats as Jimin eases himself in, still kissing his neck and whispering little words of praise. Lost somewhere safe and warm as his alpha takes him. His wolf is pliant inside of him now that it has what it wants, the wordless need it had been feeling replaced with contentment and a feeling of rightness.
He lets himself go until they are both coming, strangled cries falling from their lips as Jimin rolls his hips and Jeongguk cums untouched, spilling into their sheets with a groan because even now he can still feel need and hot arousal coiling in his gut.
This is what he wanted, this is what he’s been craving his entire life, searching for without knowing he was searching, yearning for something he couldn’t name.
But now he knows that name is Park Jimin.
Everything becomes dream-like after that, a shifting kaleidoscope of pleasure as he stretches Jimin out and takes him next, watches him ride Jeongguk’s cock like he was made for it, the valley singing around them as thunder crashes overhead and lightning illuminates the grey afternoon sky.
“Gods, hyung, feel so good,” he groans as he pushes up into tight, wet heat, “so beautiful hyung, so good.”
“Told you I’d take care of you,” Jimin whispers back, one hand flat against Jeongguk’s chest as he rides him. He leans down, nips at his jaw, “Is alpha going to knot hyung, hm? Gonna fill him up?”
Jeongguk shudders out a broken moan, just the thought of knotting Jimin, of being locked in with him and filling him up with his cum is enough to get Jeongguk near-feral. He grabs Jimin’s hips, using his strength to guide him even though the other alpha doesn’t need the help. “Can I?” He gasps, “Can I, please?”
“‘Course you can,” Jimin moans, “whatever you want, pup, it’s yours.”
He thinks he might black out a little then, because when he comes to Jimin is on his side and Jeongguk is pushing back into him, arms locked around his chest, face buried in his neck as he laps and bites at the other alpha’s scent gland. His knot is forming, demanding to be locked into place, and it feels so good already, so right, but it’s not until it slips past Jimin’s rim and locks them together that the very last piece of him falls into place.
This is everything he ever needed, all save for one final thing.
They mate on the third day. He is on his back with his legs hooked around Jimin’s waist, and Jimin’s knot is pressing into his rim, almost catching as golden eyes peer down at him. They haven’t spoken since the first day, but they’ve reached a state where they no longer need words, all communication done with scent and touch and the unspoken things that linger in their gazes. It’s how he knows it’s time, when their eyes meet and it feels like the molten gold of Jimin’s gaze is bleeding into him, filling him up just like his cock, marking him on the inside as something precious and perfect and his.
His canines ache as they grow longer, an involuntary reaction because his wolf knows that it’s time, that the wait is over, that Jimin will be his and he will be Jimin’s and they will never be apart again.
Hot breath hits his throat.
He bares it willingly.
He knows now there is a difference between submitting and giving.
Jimin’s knot slips past his rim as he presses a hot, open-mouth kiss to his throat.
He feels sharp teeth press against his skin and he welcomes them, bares his own, growling with pleasure when Jimin turns just enough to give him access to his own throat.
And then he comes, locking them together as he unloads into Jeongguk and there are teeth sinking into skin and pleasure like he has never known exploding inside of him, bright and heady and all-consuming. He bites back, his wolf howling something wild and free, and he can feel the connection forging between them—a brightly burning thing of gold and destiny, reflected in the fierce glow of their eyes and in the blood smeared across their lips as they pull back to lock gazes.
Mated.
Loved.
Home.
◦○☽〇☾○◦
Eric Kenny- Meadow Song in G for Birds and Piano
Two years later…
It’s a quiet spring morning and Jeongguk is in the garden, watching clouds roll in over the mountains as a new storm arrives. He can hear Jimin singing in the hanok, the sound of his sweet voice carrying through the open windows as he prepares some new remedy.
It was a spring day much like this that he arrived on, though to this day he doesn't recall the journey, nor his arrival. Sometimes he wishes he did, wishes he had that first impression of Jimin tucked away to look back on when they are older. What would it have been like, if they had met normally, if he had stood on one side of a room and Jimin on the other, if they had locked eyes and fell in love without illness or pain.
But then he recalls the soft, gentle care he woke to, and thinks that things happened exactly as they were meant to.
“Gguk-ah?” Jimin calls from the hanok, and Jeongguk is unable to resist the pull, their mating bond as strong as ever.
“Yes, hyung?” He asks, only to find Jimin elbow deep in steeped rose petals, the faded pink of them littering his bare arms as he holds them up.
He ends up staying with him, helping him work as the morning rolls by. He’s taken to the healer’s craft with ease, and Jimin swears that outside of the most complicated of procedures, Jeongguk is just as capable as he is now. He doesn’t let the praise go to his head though, convinced that he will never stop learning from Jimin or from the Valley.
It’s midday when Taehyung arrives, eyes bright as he pokes his head in the back door and calls for a set of robes to cover his nakedness with. He’s been dropping by every couple of days since the winter ended, claiming that, “Something is coming” but refusing to expand upon the words when pressed. He’ll stay for a couple of hours before some mysterious signal informs him that today is in fact, not the correct day, and then he’ll disappear into the forest again, only to reappear a few days later.
“Today is the day,” he says once he’s dressed, “I can feel it.”
“Feel what?” Jimin asks rhetorically, well aware that he won’t get more than a cryptic smile in return.
They are sitting in the living room chatting when a knock on the door interrupts their conversation. Immediately Taehyung’s eyes light up, and Jeongguk can’t help but wonder what secrets the forest spirits have told him as the omega rises to his feet and trails after Jimin and him as they answer the door.
“Hi,” Seokjin greets them, Namjoon at his side. “I need a check-up.”
The innkeeper imperiously demands that everyone except Jimin leave the sick room, and though Jeongguk can tell it pains Namjoon to do so, his brother gives in like he does to all his mates requests.
“I had to practically beg him to visit today,” he admits quietly in the kitchen as Jeongguk prepares the trio some tea. “He’s been so moody lately, and tired… Then this morning he threw up and he was furious about it. Worked himself up to tears and when I asked him what was wrong he just said he loved me over and over.”
Jeongguk shares a glance with Taehyung, who smiles knowingly. Jeongguk has been in the healer’s hanok long enough now to recognize certain symptoms and what they mean, and he suspects he knows exactly what is happening with Seokjin right now.
“We have so much to do at the inn and he’s been so busy, I’m surprised I managed to get him to take a break,” Namjoon sighs and takes a sip of his tea, “hopefully it’s nothing serious.”
“Hm,” Jeongguk hums, “I’m sure it will be fine.”
“Absolutely,” Taehyung agrees with a knowing smile.
His brother has settled into his role as mate well, having courted Seokjin according to the omega’s desires while maintaining his business remotely. Jeongguk thinks happiness looks good on Namjoon, his dimples showing more often than not, his deep voice filled with laughter.
Neither of them miss their old life.
He still gets letters from the housekeeper on occasion, who insists on keeping him updated on the house and its neighbors like it’s something Jeongguk cares about, but he indulges her anyway, writing back dutifully to keep her updated on how he and his brother are. She was kind to him when few others were, so he figures he can’t begrudge her this little thread of communication.
There’s another knock on the door and Jeongguk sets his tea aside with a frown.
“Busy day,” Taehyung says with a knowing grin as he rises.
“What did you do?” Jeongguk asks, but instead of waiting for a reply he opens the front door and finds Yoongi and Hoseok on the other side.
“Tae-yah said we should stop by,” the omega says, “said there was something important happening today.”
Jeongguk laughs before looking over his shoulder at the shrine keeper, who grins back happily. “Yes, but we’re going to be waiting a little longer to find out what it is.”
He makes two more cups of tea and the kitchen becomes a little more full as the other mated pair settle at the table. It’s cozy now, despite Namjoon’s nervous shuffling and barely concealed glances towards the door, but the other four do their best to distract him, Yoongi’s grin knowing once he’s been updated on the details of Seokjin’s visit.
“No wonder you told us to stop by,” he says to Taehyung, “I get it now.”
“Get what?” Namjoon whines, “Why does it feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on?”
“City alphas aren’t very educated are they?” Hoseok teases, “Though our Jeonggukkie seems to know what’s up.”
“You can’t live with Jimin and not learn something,” he replies with a nod, “I’m not a healer but I’m fairly certain I know what’s going on.”
Namjoon groans, “Then why won’t you tell me?”
“Because Seokjin deserves to be the one to do it.” Jeongguk replies unsympathetically, though secretly he is very, very thrilled.
He’s going to be an uncle.
Jimin has told him on multiple occasions that they can adopt if that is something he’s interested in, but right now the only thing Jeongguk wants is Jimin. A child might be nice someday, but for now he is far too invested in his mate and their relationship to want that to change. But a niece or nephew to spoil and adore? That sounds like something Jeongguk would love.
The four of them are startled out of their conversation when the sick room door flies open and Seokjin emerges in a billow of silk robes and sweet omega pheromones. He doesn’t hesitate or spare a glance at anyone except Namjoon, who rises to his feet so quickly his chair almost falls over behind him.
“Are you okay?” The alpha asks, already moving around the table and towards his mate, “Do you need anything? Is there something I can do? What did Ji—”
He’s cut off by Jin throwing himself forward and wrapping both arms around his neck, “We’re pregnant !” He yells directly into Namjoon’s ear, “We’re having a pup !”
“Wha?” Namjoon asks, eyes wide as he hugs his mate and lets the tall omega spin them around in a slow circle. “Pregnant?”
“Yes,” Jimin says as he emerges from the sick room, “about six or seven weeks along, I’d say.” He beams up at Namjoon, “Congratulations, you two will be fathers.”
“What?” Namjoon asks again, blinking rapidly.
Seokjin smacks him on the back, “Why are you acting so surprised? Or are you forgetting what happened six weeks ago?”
Namjoon blushes a bright shade of crimson and Jeongguk is glad to be spared the details of whatever got them to this moment.
He rises slowly, ambles over to where his brother and mate stand, and pulls them both into a hug, “I’m so happy for you both,” he says quietly, “seriously.” He looks at Seokjin, “Thank you for falling in love with my brother, thanks for getting him here.”
“Aish, you say that like it wasn’t you he came here for. I’m just the best bonus imaginable.” Seokjin’s gentle smile belies his joke as he hugs Jeongguk back, “You’re going to make a wonderful uncle,” he adds with a glance towards Jimin, “you all will.”
“Can your pup have three godparents?” Hoseok asks.
“Maybe we should consider trying finally,” Yoongi counters, “so that their little one has a same age friend to grow up with.”
Hoseok shuts up immediately, eyes going wide before a slow grin takes over his features.
“Whatever you want,” he agrees with a smirk.
“I’m going to be the godparent then,” Taehyung says as he circles the table and joins them, “who else will teach them about the forest and the shrines and the spirits?”
Jeongguk feels a strong arm snake around his waist as Jimin pulls him against his side. His cherry scent is sweet and mellow, content like Jeongguk is content as their friends buzz about them happily.
He can’t resist the urge to lean down and nuzzle into his hyung’s neck, nosing briefly over the mating bite there and sighing into his warmth. “Alright, pup?” Jimin asks softly.
Jeongguk looks around at the hanok, the kitchen, the room full of people he has come to love and adore and think of as family, and at the center of it all is Jimin, soft and sweet and perfect Jimin, who brought him back from the brink of death and taught him what it was to truly live.
“Yes,” Jeongguk whispers, “I’m alright.”
Fin.