Chapter Text
Yoongi was roused by a soft murmuring beside him. He rolled over to find his mate sitting up and cuddling their four-year-old son, Namseok, close to his chest. "Everything okay?"
Jimin nodded. "He just had a little scary dream." The omega said softly, pressing a kiss to the top of their pup's head.
"What if the monster comes to get me?" Namseok asked, staring up at Jimin with wide eyes.
"He won't, my little puppy." Jimin assured him, running a hand through his hair. "Your appa will fight him off if he tries." He looked over at Yoongi with a glint in his eyes.
"Eomma's right." Yoongi said, reaching over to tickle the pup's toes. "No monster is getting my little buddy as long as I'm around."
Their bedroom door creaked open once more, revealing their two-year-old daughter, Eunbi, toddling in. "Snuggles?" She asked, attempting to climb up onto her parents’ bed while still clutching onto her stuffed kitty that she lovingly named after her father, claiming that it looked just like him.
Yoongi reached down to help her up. "All the snuggles for our little princess."
Eunbi giggled as she squished herself between Jimin and Yoongi, holding Meow Meow tight to her chest. "Story?"
"What story do you want to hear?" Jimin asked, shifting Namseok off his lap so he could cuddle up with his sister.
"How did you and Appa fall in love?" Namseok asked with wide eyes. Recently, Namseok had been invited to be the flower boy at a family friend's mating ceremony and had been obsessed with the concept of love ever since.
"Are you sure you wanna hear that boring old story?" Jimin asked, earning a playful pinch on the thigh from Yoongi. "It's super long." Namseok and Eunbi both nodded eagerly. "Okay then. It all started many moons ago, way back when Leto first arranged our stars in the sky…"
Yoongi had to hold back a snort at that. It was no secret that wolves were huge on folklore, stories and legends that were passed between packs in the olden days and lived on as they became more modernized. The most popular was of the Goddess Leto who gave them life and set their paths for them in the stars from the moment they were conceived. Yoongi had been at a young age, far too young to be so skeptical, when he decided that couldn't be the case. After all, with the life he had been dealt, he couldn't believe that some generous being way up in the sky could have thought it was the best thing for him.
But watching Jimin tell their pups the story of how they met, he began to think maybe there was some truth to the myth…
~*~
Yoongi squeezed his mother's hand as tight as he could, looking around the unfamiliar building with wide eyes. His senses were being attacked with dozens of scents, far more than his young nose was used to and he couldn't help but release a couple of sneezes as he was led into a room with a bunch of pups his age and two very strange adults, one of which was an alpha.
"Here we are, Yoongi." His mother cooed. "Your new school."
"Hi, Yoongi." One of the strangers crouched down in front of him, making him hide behind his mother's leg. "I'm Mr. Yejun. I'm one of your teachers."
The five-year-old pup whimpered, hiding his face in his mother's jeans as he blocked out the world around him. He didn't want to know who these people were or how much fun they would supposedly have there. He just wanted his eomma to take him back home and put on The Avengers for him to watch for the umpteenth time. It was when the omega eased him out from behind her and said, "Be good, Yoongi," that he knew that wouldn't be happening anytime soon.
"Eomma!" He cried as his mother walked out the door without him. "No, Eomma! Eomma!" He continued to repeat her name, running towards the door only for the alpha teacher to hold him back. "No! No!" He began to thrash in his hold, the memory of another alpha's hands holding him down rushing to the forefront of his mind. "Don't touch me! Leave me alone!"
He knew the two teachers were trying to say something to him, but he couldn't register any of it as the only thing on his mind was to break free and get somewhere safe. However, the alpha's grip was too strong, and he found himself being transported to a small corner of the classroom away from everyone else. That only made him more scared, his tiny body struggling harder to get away from the man that he was sure was about to hurt him. He grabbed onto one of the toy shelves to keep the alpha from taking him wherever he was trying to and looked around the room for a possible safe area, but instead just found all of the other pups staring at him with wide eyes, some of them scared and some of them thinking there must be something wrong with him.
That day it took an hour and a half and bringing in two more teachers to get Yoongi calmed down enough to sit with the other pups and somewhat participate in the day's activities. Other days didn't take nearly as much, but his meltdowns were frequent, happening multiple times a week. A few months into his new school, his teachers began preparing the class for something they called 'kindergarten'. Yoongi wasn't fully sure what that meant, but the teachers said he wouldn't have to go to that school every day anymore, and he was more than ready for that to happen.
But then he overheard his eomma on the phone one day while he was playing with his toy dinosaurs. "I'm just not sure if he's ready." She murmured to whoever was on the other line. "His teachers say that he's still throwing a lot of tantrums and doesn't really interact with the other pups. They said that he could benefit from one more year of preschool, help him work on his social skills more."
That night when he was being tucked into bed, he was told that he wouldn’t be going to kindergarten yet. "But Mr. Yejun said I was."
"I know, puppy." His mother gently stroked his cheek. "But I talked to Mr. Yejun, and we both think it would be good for you to stay at your school a little bit longer. Maybe you'll even make some friends."
"No." Yoongi shook his head and pouted. "I don't want friends."
His mother just sighed in response, leaning into give him his goodnight kiss. "I love you, puppy." She whispered before standing up to leave the room, making sure to turn the lights off as she went.
~*~
Yoongi gripped his backpack nervously as he climbed out of the van, refusing the beta driver's help. His eomma had told him the day before that he would start riding a big van to school with other pups because she couldn’t drive him anymore with her new job. The idea of being surrounded by so many people he didn't know and being taken to school by strangers worried him, but then he saw a little alpha boy named Namjoon from his class on the van too, and that made him feel a little bit better.
His anxiety started to go up as a tall, male omega he had only seen a couple of times on the playground walking up to him and Namjoon. "Hi, Yoongi! Hi, Namjoon!" He greeted cheerfully. "Do you remember me?" Neither pup responded. "I'm Mr. Seokjin! I'm a teacher in Room 1, which is your new class this year!"
He held his hands out for the two pups to take, and Namjoon quickly accepted it. Yoongi on the other hand took a step back, shaking his head. "No!"
"That's okay, Yoongi." Seokjin said, still smiling. "You can walk like a big boy if you want. Just make sure to stay close to me where I can see you." Yoongi stared at him warily before taking a few steps so he was beside the teacher, walking next to him as he led them to their new classroom.
He soon found himself with his breakfast plate in front of him at his new table, which had Namjoon, another alpha boy, and a chubby cheeked boy omega right across from him. At the table by the books center, he could hear two other pups arguing, one of which he recognized from his old class, but couldn’t remember the name of. "Hoseok, you can use your words with Mingyu instead of your hands."
"I don't like it, Mingyu!" Hoseok, the pup Yoongi recognized glared at the other pup.
"You're not my friend anymore!" Mingyu shot back, making tears well up in Hoseok's eyes.
"We're all friends in room 1." Ms. Hyesun, the other teacher, stated in response.
"Nuh-uh!" Yoongi exclaimed, making almost everyone in the room turn to him. "I don’t have any friends in Room 1!" He looked across the table where Namjoon was quietly staring at him. "Except maybe Joon."
Namjoon smiled at him, laughing a bit as the chubby cheeked boy sat up straighter in his chair. "I'm your friend!"
Yoongi shook his head. "No, you're not."
The boy pouted, looking down at his muffin sadly. "It's okay Jimin!" Another omega boy from the table by the cars center turned in his chair to face who Yoongi now knew was Jimin. "I'm your best friend!"
"And I'm your best friend!" Jimin exclaimed, smiling once again before taking a sip of his milk.
Yoongi slumped in his chair, staring down at his plate once more while picking at his lip, wondering when it would finally be time to go back home.