Chapter Text
The summers in Busan might not get extremely hot, but they get very humid. Jimin is glad to spend his summers at home with the sea close by, but he also does not feel the same excitement at being able to go swimming as he used to. Jimin has lost touch with most of his childhood friends after leaving for university. There isn’t much to do during summer breaks. Jimin supposes that is the point of having a break, but after a week of being home it just got boring. His little brother isn’t much fun either. He spends most of his time with his robotics team. They get along well, but they never did have much in common.
That is why currently Jimin is lying on the couch, eating a popsicle, with a fan aimed at him. He is waiting for his mother to get home. His father is most likely tinkering on something in the basement. Jimin loves his father, but his father does not talk much, and he has a lot more in common with his little brother than with Jimin. His father tries to connect with Jimin as best he can though, which Jimin appreciates very much. They often watch nature documentaries at night when the early birds in the family have gone to sleep. Sure, they don’t talk a lot, but it’s still father-son bonding time that shows Jimin how much he cares. His mother on the other hand is like his best friend. She is strangely chaotic, but Jimin does have more in common with his mother than with his other family members.
He did not share her love for the STEM field though. His mother owned a pharmaceutical company. His father was a physicist. As a double major in forest ecology and cultural anthropology, he stuck out like a sore thumb. But he liked what he liked, and he liked studying group dynamics. There was something about social cohesion, in humans and animals alike, that made Jimin feel like there was something humanity was missing. Jimin just felt like people were supposed to live differently. Not in big cities where people cross paths with millions of strangers a year, but in small groups of people who knew and trusted each other.
When Jimin hears the front door unlock, he wakes up from his heat induced coma to welcome his mother home.
“Mom! Is that you?” He asks, but there is not really anyone else it could be.
“Yes, Jimin honey I got you that gluten free sashimi and chicken salad you like from that organic café down the road. The boys wanted fried chicken, but I know you only eat organic GMO free.” His mother said as she made her way to the kitchen to put down the food and grab some plates.
“Mom, I don’t care about GMO’s or gluten. I just need the meat to be ethical and sustainable.” Jimin responded. He tried to go vegan with his friend Taemin this year, but no matter how much he ate he kept losing weight. Taemin on the other hand felt healthier than ever before on his new diet of vegan junkfood.
“Alright honey, can you set the table? I’ll tell the others dinner is served.” His mother asks, and Jimin complies reluctantly by getting up slowly to get the glasses. His mother can’t cook. She never was very traditional. None of his family are. His parents have spent a long time studying and working overseas, and Jimin himself has also lived in Dublin in sixth and seventh grade. Perhaps that is why they are a lot more open than most other Korean families, at least in some ways.
“Hey dad.” Jimin greets as his father comes to join him at the table, staring at his salad in dismay.
“Son, what is that?” His father asks him.
“It’s a salad, dad.” Jimin responds.
“Jihyun, put your phone away, we are going to have a family dinner.” Jimin’s mother scolds as she enters the dining room with his little brother.
“Mom, we never have family dinners when Jimin is at university. Why start now?” Jihyun complains loudly. Jimin doesn’t understand why the youngest always gets away with so much disrespectful behavior when his allowance was cut if he as much as stepped food into the garden after curfew at Jihyun’s age. “Ew, hyung, what is that?” Jihyun says, staring at Jimin’s salad in the same disapproving manner Jimin’s father had. Jimin just sighs.
“It’s a salad.” Jimin responds, pouting at the way the other men in his family did not know how to appreciate real food.
“It’s rabbit food hyung.” Jihyun teases his hyung, grabbing a piece of fried chicken with his bare hands.
“It’s literally full of fish and chicken. It even has eggs. Do rabbits eat eggs? Do they?” Jimin says, affronted.
“Come on boys, no fighting. Jimin just wants to look as good as his mother when he is in his forties, isn’t that right love?” His mother says, trying to lighten the mood, before noticing that Jihyun is once again on his phone. “Yah! Jihyun, why are you on your phone again?”
Jihyun started putting his phone away, but before he could, Jimin saw that he was texting. This is good. “Jihyun, who is Aera? And why are you sending her a wink?” Jimin teases his brother, who looks up at Jimin immediately.
“None of your business, hyung.” He says as he glares at Jimin, who just smirks at his brother.
“Oh, isn’t Aera that girl with the cute bangs from the robotics team? Is that why you’ve been glued to your phone lately?” Jimin’s mother asks, smirking in the same way Jimin had.
“Oh my god hyung why did you expose me like this? Give me your phone, I want to spill your secrets as well.” Jihyun says, trying to get Jimin’s phone from the pocket of his jeans.
“Jihyun stop!” Jimin laughs, slapping his brother’s hand away. “As if I would have a girlfriend. I’m not interested in girls at all.” Jimin adds, rolling his eyes at his younger sibling. His brother just frowns at him for a while. It is quiet for a while at the table. Jimin looks at his parents, who are clearly trying not to react to what Jimin was saying. Jimin realizes he never really discussed his sexuality with his parents. Sure, they were more open than almost any other Korean family, but you never know what people do when their own child is not, well, straight. Jimin also has to admit he always expected his parents to know he was not straight. He never did talk about girls. Not that he talked about boys. He also never dated. He took spa trips with his mother and dyed his hair pink at thirteen. He just assumed his parents knew he was, a little, well, different. But suddenly, as he took notice of the silence in the room and the way his parents were clearly not trying to mingle in the conversation, he felt extremely nervous.
After at least a minute, his brother breaks the awkward silence. “Is this your way of coming out, hyung?” He asked, keeping his tone casual. “I mean, I already knew you were gay, eating a gluten free salad was enough to tip me off to be honest.” His brother says, hitting his brother playfully. Jimin was glad that at least Jihyun seemed supportive, but his parents still have not said a word.
“I’m not gay. I don’t know, I’m not that interested in anyone. Who knows, I’m not completely opposed to either gender, but I’m not all that interested either, at the moment. People just, I don’t know, smell weird.” Jimin decides on saying. And it’s true, to some extent. Jimin has never met anyone that he wanted to date. He has always had celebrity crushes, almost exclusively on men, he even thought he was in love with DBSK’s Yunho when he was a young teenager, but when he met the man at a meet and greet, he did not feel anything. Sure, he looked hot, but there was just something missing. It is different from his dormmate and best friend Taemin, who says he falls in love with people from either gender but has no sexual desire. Jimin does want to have sex, just not with the people he meets. He wants someone who is just, different. Perhaps he really is asexual, like Taemin. Perhaps not. Asexuality comes in so many different forms.
To his relief, his mother finally speaks up. “That’s fine honey. You can date, or not date, whoever you want to date. Just make sure you study well.” She says, smiling at Jimin kindly. Jimin’s father nods in affirmation. Jimin feels the tension in his body go away. He had expected his parents to respond like this, but it was still nerve wrecking. He did not even mean to open up like that in the first place, he was not prepared.
“Wait, hyung, so if Hyun Bin and Suzy both came up to you and wanted to date you, you would reject them both? You feel nothing towards either of them at all?” Jihyun asks Jimin, looking confused at the idea. Jimin considers this for a while.
“Well, I have to admit Hyun Bin looks really good, at least on television. So, I don’t know, maybe, if I met him and we hit it off?” Jimin muses, and he does like the idea of dating a man like Hyun Bin. But he just knows that if he does meet him, it just won’t be there. It will not feel the way he expected it to feel. It would just be disappointing.
“So, you do like guys then? But not girls?” Jihyun asks seriously, as if he is trying to solve the world’s most difficult math problem. And Jimin knows it would be confusing, as he has never met anyone else who experiences attraction the same way he does.
“In theory, I suppose I’m pretty gay. Some girls are okay, if they are like, really cool. I just never found someone attractive who I actually met.” Jimin tries to explain. Jihyun seems even more confused at that.
“You’ll find someone eventually, honey.” His mother adds, trying to be supportive, but Jimin is not convinced. If he doesn’t, maybe that’s alright, it’s not like there is anything wrong with going through life without a romantic partner.
-
Not for the first time since arriving home for the summer break, Jimin wonders why it has to be so damn hot this year. He can’t sleep at all, and the air-conditioning only cools down the first two floors of the house. It is useless in the attic. Jimin decides to just go downstairs and try to sleep on the couch for the night. He can’t spend one more day deprived of sleep. The bags under his eyes will take on a life of their own at some point. As Jimin walks down the stairs to the first floor, trying to be as quiet as possible as to not wake up his family, he notices that the lights in the living room are still on.
When he is on the top of the stairs to the first floor, he hears his parent’s voices coming from downstairs. They are not speaking that loudly, but Jimin can’t say they are being quiet either. He can make out exactly what they are saying if he focusses. Their tone is strangely serious. They do not sound like they are fighting, but they do sound like this could be some type of argument. Why would his parents be arguing in the middle of the night? Jimin’s curiosity gets the best of him as he decides it wouldn’t hurt to listen in.
“We should never have let it get this far. We should have taken him back when his surgeries had succeeded.” Jimin heard his father say. What does he mean by that? Who are they talking about?
“Taken him back to who? Eunhee died, and he had already left her for a girl from another pack.” His mother responded, sounding offended at his father’s words. What do they mean, pack? Jimin can’t stop listening to this, he does not understand what this is at all, but this sounds like a major secret.
“She had a pack as well, Boram. We should have let them take care of him. I know we hoped he was a beta, but we have to finally face the fact that he probably is not. We put all our eggs into one basket, and now our son thinks he can never fall in love.” Jimin heard his father argue back. And something clicks in Jimin’s mind. Are they talking about him? They have to be. What the hell are they talking about? What is a beta?
“We didn’t put our eggs in one basket. That’s why I developed the pills, Jiho. He can just keep taking the pills, and stay with us, here. We now know they work. He is nineteen and he never presented. He never has to know.” Jimin is rooted to his spot on the top of the stairs. His pills? They must mean his medication for his heart condition. He had been taking them since he was about twelve, as he had needed heart surgery as a baby. This was only starting to make less sense the more he listened in.
“We can’t do that to him. We can’t. He doesn’t belong here. We were selfish to keep him here in the first place. Those pills don’t keep him healthy; they only keep him from being himself.” His father all but shouts at this point. What do they mean, Jimin does not belong here? What are they talking about?
“What would he do out there? On his own? Without a pack? Let’s be honest, we know he is not an alpha. That leaves us with one conclusion. Do you know how dangerous it would be for him to go there as a male omega without a pack?” His mother shouts back. Jimin understood only half of the words she was saying, but he knew a few things now. His pills were probably not for a heart condition. His parents had kept some important information from him about who he is, whatever that information may be. And the last thing he knows, is that Jimin intends to find out.
“I will take him! I will show him the basement and explain everything to him. He can stop taking those pills and we will support him through the transition. We can do it. And if he wants to go there, I will go with him. I will protect him.” His father responds, not as angry, but full of desperation. Jimin still does not understand, but he clings to every word that is being said, trying to take in as much information as he can.
“You can’t Jiho. Some of the alphas there are not good people, they will kill you over him. They will think you are a lone beta travelling with an unmated omega, ready for the taking. You never went there. I did. I only survived because a lone female beta is no threat to them. You would never survive out there.” His mother pleads with his father. Jimin is not stupid. He might not understand half of the words that are being said, but he understands that this is serious. This is dangerous. Jimin hears his father sigh in defeat.
“We should sleep, Boram.” His father concludes, and Jimin knows he has to get away from the stairs. He has to act like he did not hear a single word. Going up the stairs would make too much noise, so Jimin decides to rush into the bathroom. If his parents thought he was just taking his time on the toilet, they would not suspect he had overheard their conversation. He quickly makes his way into the bathroom and locks the door frantically.
As Jimin sits down on the edge of the bathtub his thoughts are all over the place. He has no idea what to think. Nothing makes sense. His parents used too many words he did not understand. He was used to that, as his father was a physicist and his mother owned a pharmaceutical company, but this was different. This time, they understood each other perfectly. This time, they were talking about Jimin. One thing from the conversations stands out as something he could work with: His father had mentioned that he wanted to show him the basement.
-
The past four days have been stressful for Jimin. After overhearing the conversation between his parents, he has been trying to find more information on what they said. He has written down some of the words they had said during their conversations and has tried to find information on google. But nothing came up. It was as if they were speaking about things that did not exist. Alpha, omega, those were just Greek letters.
Jimin could not go to the basement because he had been spending time with his parents every day. And at night, the door to the basement was locked. Jimin has made some progress today, though. He has successfully stolen his father’s keys out of his back pocket. He can’t even say he feels bad about it. He can’t do anything but think about entering that basement.
He has also done something completely reckless, even by his standards. He stopped taking his medication. So far, nothing seemed to be any different. He had not suffered any heart attacks. His apple watch showed that his heartbeat was fine, and he had no arrythmia, although his mother always said skipping one pill meant certain death.
The only things he notices are that he is, to his own embarrassment, finally feeling the way a teenager does when going through puberty. He feels a little moody, and he spent a lot more time thinking about, well, let’s just say ‘procreation’, than he usually does. It’s as if his sexdrive went from plant to rabbit within just a few days. He does not know how to feel about that. He also is craving weird foods. Just yesterday, he wanted to eat porkbelly strips. Raw. He wanted to eat them so much he did not even want to grill them. They were not even organic, so he didn’t, but it still threw him off. The last thing that seems different is his sense of smell. Everything smelled better, or worse, depending on what it was he was smelling. People smelled the same, but food smelled stronger. Salad actually seemed unappetizing now. His favorite perfume also smelled awful suddenly. Jimin is convinced these are all coincidences though. Maybe he has some strange type of flu virus.
Jimin is currently waiting for his parents to go to bed. Tonight, is the night he is going to do it. He is going to go to the basement. He is nervous as hell, sure, but he is as stupid as he is brave, and he is not backing down. He knows this is his chance to find out more about his family. So, thirty minutes after he hears the door to his parent’s bathroom shut, he is once again going downstairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. At the bottom of the lower staircase, Jimin almost trips because he is so nervous about what he might find in the basement.
When he enters the bottom floor of the house, he all but sprints towards the door of the basement. He fumbles with the keys, praying to every god he can think of that the sound of him opening the door will not wake anyone up. When he does open the lock, he hesitates for a second. What if he finds something he did not want to find? But what is worse than being ignorant? If there is something about himself that he needs to know, doesn’t he owe it to himself to try to find out?
Jimin turns on the light of the basement, slowly threading town the stairs, because he knows he can’t just continue his life after overhearing that conversation between his parents. He has closed the door behind him and taken the keys down with him.
When he steps foot into the basement, at first, he does not notice anything out of the ordinary. He sees a desk full of paperwork, some strange electronics, and a large bookcase. But the basement is weirdly small and cramped. His father spends most of his working hours in there. Surely, he would not be cooped up down there, when they have a rather spacious home? Jimin does not know exactly what leads him to it, but he decides to move the large bookcase away from the wall.
That is when he sees it. Behind the bookcase, there is no wall. There, behind that bookcase, a strange blue light is revealed. Jimin is almost blinded by it. When he does remove the bookcase, he cannot believe his eyes. There, in their dusty old basement, is a bright blue light surrounded by pieces of various types of stones, metals and tools. The light is about the size of a person. About the size of Jimin. What if he touches it? What if he just, tries to walk through it? It could be dangerous. But somehow, Jimin feels it calling out to him. It wants him to touch it. It wants to absorb him completely. And Jimin feels compelled to do it. Before he can stop himself, he feels his feet move on their own accord. Before he realizes what is happening, Jimin steps into the bright blue light, without looking back.
-
Jimin wakes up, shaking. The first thing he notices is that he is freezing cold. The second thing he notices is that it should be the middle of summer. The third thing he notices is that he is not in his bed. Slowly, Jimin’s memory wakes up as well. Where is he? He was at home, for summer break. He had waited for his parents to go to bed. He had gone to the basement. Then he remembered. The basement. The strange blue light.
He sits up and opens his eyes instantly, panic rushing through him. What happened to him? The first thing he sees is grass. He has woken up in a field. How did he end up in a field? The second thing he sees is the sunrise. It is morning. Why is it morning? He then notices that it is cold. The weather is reminiscent of the sunrise on an early spring morning. It is not spring. It is august. Why is he so cold?
He is wearing nothing but white socks with daisies on them, white boxers and an oversized pale blue t-shirt that hangs off his shoulder. He supposes Jihyun had a point at dinner a few nights ago, he does seem to make fashion choices that could be perceived as, well, stereotypically gay. This has to be a dream though. The light must have been a dream as well. Or it is an acid trip. Perhaps it is not summer break, and he just took acid with Taemin. That would make sense.
That would make perfect sense, because the fields he is surrounded by are too vast. The lake that he sees in the distance is devoid of any sign of human life. The trees that surround the fields aren’t trees he knows. And he knows trees. He has half a degree in forest ecology. The way these trees grow is different. The growth pattern is nothing like the way trees in Korea are supposed to grow. The branches twirl around each other in a way that only creeper plants are supposed to do. Something is very wrong. Or Jimin is dreaming. Or Jimin is very high. But if he stays there, lying on the grass, he will surely freeze to death.
Jimin stands up and looks around him. He does not even have the wits about him to be scared, he is just so confused he feels like he has no time to be scared. What Jimin looks up at the sky, the first jolt of fear rushes through him. Above him, about thirty feet up in the air, Jimin sees a bright blue light shining down on him. The light.
In a strange way, it made sense. If he fell on the grass after going through the light, he would be knocked out cold for a few hours for sure. But that also made absolutely no sense at all. Why would his father have a sci-fi portal to paradise in his basement? But in the back of his mind, Jimin heard his father’s words echoing. ‘I will show him the basement and explain everything to him.’ That’s what his father had said. ‘He does not belong here.’ His father had said. And then he remembers his mother’s words. ‘You would never survive out there.’ This is all too much.
But there is nothing Jimin can do. He can’t panic right now. He can’t stay there. He is all alone. Who knows what is living in those woods? Perhaps he will wake up in a few hours, in his overheated attic. For now, he knows he has to stay as sane as possible. He has to keep moving. If there are predators out here, Jimin knows they can spot him too easily in the open fields. With that thought in mind, Jimin makes his way to the forest in the distance. Perhaps he can study the strange trees. Maybe they would give him some clue as to where he is.
‘The air is so crisp.’ Jimin notices. ‘The grass smells so good.’ He thinks. It is quite a long walk to the forest, but Jimin never stops. He knows walking is the best way to stay warm. If he stops, it will only get worse. When Jimin reaches the edge of the forest, he is relieved to know he is not that easy for predators to find. The trees are also even more alien than he had imagined. They might be a rare type of willow? Something European, perhaps? But he needs to devise a plan to get out of this situation, not study the trees. Jimin notices that a little further down the edge of the forest a little stream flows out into the lake. And where there is water, there are people. Jimin decides his best course of action is to follow the stream.
-
Jimin feels as if he has been walking for days, but in truth it can’t have been more than about six hours since he woke up. He is getting colder and weaker by the minute though. He has followed the stream for about four hours now, and there is still no sign of anyone. There aren’t even any forest paths. Jimin wants to cry, he wants to sit down and give up, but he can’t. He can’t die here. He can’t stop to think. He will go insane. He will go insane and freeze and die. He has to continue.
“Hello?!” Jimin shouts in his desperation. If he makes noise, even if no one is there, it might scare of animals. “Hello?! Is anyone there?! Can anybody hear me?!” Jimin shouts nowhere in particular. He keeps this up for almost an hour, shouting and walking until he has no energy left and he has almost completely lost his voice.
That’s when Jimin hears it. He hears something rustling behind the trees to his left. The brush is heavy, so Jimin can’t immediately see anything. He feels the adrenaline pumping through his veins. What if it’s a predator? Jimin starts breathing heavily, making himself as small as possible, hoping not to be spotted. He curls into a ball, holding his knees as he sits on the ground, and just starts counting. He starts counting and he hears something come closer and closer. He counts to twenty and oh god- something is so close to him- he can feel it.
“H-Hello? Are you alright?” And Jimin can’t believe it. A timid voice speaks to him, kindly. Someone is there. Someone has found him. Jimin slowly looks up from his position on the floor, and he has never been happier to see another human. There, staring down at him, stands a man about his age. His face is kind. His clothes are strange. He is wearing fur boots, a fur coat with a white cotton top, and brown cotton pants. His hair is a bright auburn color. Jimin notices him holding a hunting bow. This strange man must be hunting for deer in this strange forest. Jimin tries to regain his composure, but he is still sitting on the floor.
“I-I-I’m lost.” Jimin stutters. He faintly registers that he must be crying, as salty tears enter his mouth when he speaks.
“It’s alright. I won’t hurt you.” The kind man speaks, crouching down to his level. “What pack do you belong to, omega?” The man asks, his voice gentle. Jimin notices that he smells nice. It’s a very faint smell, but it is homely and comforting. But Jimin does not know what the man is saying. Pack. Omega. Those are words he heard before, when his parents were arguing. But he does not understand. It only makes him sob louder. He is so tired. His feet hurt so much. He just wants to feel warm.
“I’m- I’m not” Jimin tries, to speak in between sobs. “from here. My- My family is not here. I am alone.” Jimin says, hoping he is at least coherent. He is in a strange place, but he can’t let them know just how strange this place is. If they know he came here through a magical portal, it might be more dangerous. The man still smiles at him. It makes Jimin feel a little better.
“My name is Hoseok. I am from one of the Min packs. The one lead by Kim Namjoon. We can help you. The alphas in our pack are good men.” Hoseok explains, and Jimin feels that the other is trying to put him at ease, although Jimin does not understand what he is saying.
“My-my name is Jimin.” Jimin stutters, wiping his nose with his hands, as his crying subsides. This man wants to help him. He might make it another day.
“Jimin, did you leave your pack? Did you run? Did you run from an alpha?” The man asks in a concerned tone of voice. Jimin does not know exactly how to respond as he does not know what an alpha is, so he thinks for a bit what might be a vague but acceptable response in many situations.
“I don’t have family here. No one is looking for me. I am alone. I need help.” Jimin responds, hoping that is a good answer. Hoseok seems to respond kindly enough.
“Alright. I’ll take you to our village. You can’t stay out here alone.” Hoseok says. Jimin is so relieved to hear about a village. Civilization. Jimin wants to warm up by a fireplace. He hopes the village is not too far away.
“I am so cold.” Jimin says, finding that he can barely move his fingers, let alone stand up. The man quickly takes of his fur coat and places it over Jimin's shoulders.
“Here, put this on and get on my back. I can’t shift right now, this is neutral territory. But I will carry you, it’s not that far.” Hoseok offers him, crouching down with his back facing Jimin, who realizes he is offering him a piggyback ride. Jimin would refuse to be carried in any other circumstance, but he can’t walk anymore, so he complies and gets on. Hoseok gets up surprisingly easily with him on his back, and Jimin slumps over with his head resting on the other man’s shoulder. Despite the uncomfortable position, exhaustion takes over Jimin, and he feels himself lose consciousness once again.
-
When Jimin wakes up, it is to the sound of people talking in the distance. He feels arms around his legs, holding him up. He feels himself nuzzling in someone’s hair
“Where am I again?” Jimin asks sleepily, not quite awake yet. He hears a breathy laugh, and starts to remember being saved by a happy man with auburn hair.
“Were here, can you stand?” The man, Hoseok, asks Jimin, letting him down from his back gently. Jimin swings a bit as he tries to stand still on his muddy daisy socks. He is still so tired. He looks around and sees he is not in what he would consider a typical Korean ‘village’. There are children playing in the distance, and an old lady is skinning a rabbit close by, in front of a large clay hut. She is looking at him curiously. Jimin sees many clay huts, some wooden shacks and a few stone buildings, spread out in a valley surrounded by mountains. There are people in the distance, working, living their everyday lives. It reminds Jimin of some of the tribes he had learned about in his ‘history of anthropology’ course, but he could not tie what he was seeing to any culture he knew of.
Jimin sees a man approaching him and Hoseok from further into the village. As he comes into view, Jimin realizes the silver haired man is quite tall. The closer he gets, the more Jimin feels alarm bells ringing in his head. He quickly goes to stand behind Hoseok. He cannot explain why, but this man feels different from anyone he has ever met before.
“Hoseok, you’re back early. Have you brought back any catch?” The tall man calls out to Hoseok.
Is he threatening? Or is he intimidating? Is he safe? Jimin does not know. The man gets even closer and Jimin can smell him. Smell him- a man that is still a few meters away. It is so strange. He smells like bergamot and woodbine. How Jimin knows that, he is also not sure. Jimin peeks out from behind Hoseok and sees the other man’s eyes widen. The man smells scary for a second, and looks angry as he approaches them faster, but then the man sniffs the air and stops in his tracks. Suddenly, the man does not look angry anymore. And he just, smells safe.
“No. But I found this little thing right here.” Hoseok says, stepping aside so Jimin is in full view. Jimin looks up at the tall man who is now standing in front of him. He is so nervous, but he does not know why. “Jimin here was calling for help, by the stream, says he has no pack anymore.” Hoseok explains.
“Thank god you found him before anyone else did. He smells like he’s still transitioning.” The man says and Jimin steps a little closer to Hoseok. “Don’t be scared. We don’t hurt omegas here.” The man comes closer to Jimin, and holds out his hand, not like a handshake, but as if Jimin is supposed to give him something. Jimin does not know what to do, and the other man retracts his hand again, frowning a little. “My name is Kim Namjoon, I’m the head alpha of this pack. I don’t know what experiences you have had with alphas, but I really won’t hurt you, omega.” The man, Namjoon, assures him.
“I-I’m Park Jimin.” Jimin says tentatively, not quite looking the other man in the eyes. Namjoon still smiles at being addressed by the omega.
“Welcome to the village, Park Jimin. You are still in transition, right? How old are you?” Namjoon asks him.
“I’m nineteen, Kim Namjoon-sshi head alpha of the pack sir.” Jimin responds quickly, using the full title the man addressed himself as, as he knows the safest bet in any culture is always to be too polite. The other men seem slightly surprised at his words.
“That’s quite a late presentation, you must not have anticipated it anymore. Also, just head alpha will do for now.” Namjoon says, smiling kindly. Jimin sees his dimples and decides this man is not as scary as he had initially thought. He smells kind of safe, now that he has been around Jimin for a little longer. Jimin is still disturbed by the things he is suddenly smelling, but everything is so strange and confusing that he does not give it that much thought.
“Jimin, you must be hungry, and tired?” Hoseok asks, and Jimin shyly nods his head. He is usually not that shy, but this whole situation is so bizarre, and he is feeling all these new things, he just does not know how to behave.
“Let’s take him to Jin. He’ll probably feel safer if another omega takes care of him.” Namjoon suggests. Jimin still does not understand what that means, but he does not dare to ask, so he just goes along, following the two men into the village.