Chapter Text
It happens when he’s out shopping with Jeno, who he’d dragged along with him, the tall Alpha letting out a hiss with the roll of his eyes as they head out the door.
“You’re taking advantage of the damn feelings I used to have for you back then.”
Jaemin had laughed and Jeno's frown turned into a small smile, “But I’m glad you’re with Lee, he takes good care of you and you seem more happier now.”
The younger of the two scrunches his face up as he starts the car once they get situated, “I still don’t see why you call him Lee all the time, Mark's kind enough to address you as Jenmoong, which I still think is a stupid nickname, so it would be nice if you could call him Mark at least.”
He sees Jeno turn his head to look out the window out of the corner of his eye as he drives, “I have my reasons.”
Jaemin lets out a sound that kind of sounds like “Mmm” as he reaches out to turn the radio on.
When they arrived at the mall Jaemin quickly dragged the blond to a blanket store to pick up a specific blanket he got for Mark.
Jeno continues to let the Omega drag him, once again, around the mall as he grumbles, “I don’t get why you’re so eager to get Lee a scenting blanket, your heat isn’t coming up and I’m sure as hell that means his rut isn’t either.”
Jaemin lets go of Jeno's arm who goes beside him so they walk side by side.
“Scenting blankets aren’t just for heats and ruts-“
“Fuck, are you nesting then?” Jeno says out loud which causes him to get shoved in the side with an, “Oh my god,” being murmured after.
The Alpha snickers and Jaemin rolls his eyes, “I’m just getting it for Mark since he’s going to be heading off to Canada soon.” It's true scenting blankets were mostly used for heats, ruts, and nesting, but when it’s being used as a normal blanket, the scent of your mate feels comforting.
“But haven’t you given him like.. three blankets?” Jeno mumbles.
They reach the blanket store and when Jeno opens the door for Jaemin, the younger says, “Yeah, but this one is custom made.”
Letting the door close behind him, Jeno tilts his head and Jaemin heads to the cashier counter to pick up the blanket. The Alpha hears the cashier recall what Jaemin ordered, “A gray silk blanket with adjustable temperature settings, scented, with custom stitched in wording as well as a small matching pillow?”
Jaemin nods, happily, Jeno can tell just by looking at the small jump he makes while nodding eagerly. The cashier rings up the blanket a pillow with a kind smile and Jeno can understand why the Beta is smiling, Jaemin just has that effect on people.
After saying thank you, Jaemin heads to Jeno, who’s waiting at the door, with a smile. As they head out, Jeno takes the bag from Jaemin, who protests, but he just replies with a, “It’s fine, I can handle it.”
Jaemin mumbles something Jeno can’t hear, but lets him hold the bag.
They start walking around the mall and Jaemin says, “I also want to get Sungchanie a new speaker, I acci-“ He suddenly stops walking and falls on his knees while choking, hands reaching up to wrap around his neck
Jeno drops the bag and kneels while wrapping an arm around Jaemin shoulders, “Shit! Jaemin are you-“ he panics.
He sees tears falling from Jaemin's eyes and hears him starting to gasp for air.
“Fuck, fuck okay, hold on.” Jeno says and fumbles to get his phone out to call for help. When the call gets answered he starts noticing a crowd that is starting to from, some people are even beginning to take out their phones to record whatever the hell is happening and Jeno growls loud enough it causes the people on the phone to ask if everything’s alright and for Jaemin to let out a shaky sob and lean into Jeno's side.
Jeno places his phone between his ear and shoulder. While asking the ambulance to come as quickly as possible (and without snarling into the phone) Jeno takes the blanket out of the bag next to him and wraps it around Jaemin, to shield him from the damn cameras. The audience doesn’t get the message and Jeno grits his teeth together when the crowd gets even bigger.
He pulls the Omega closer to him and waits for the ambulance to take their precious time.
Jaemin wasn’t an idiot, he knew what was happening, why it was happening, how it was going to happen, but he could never figure out when it would happen.
There was a feeling it would happen today, when he woke up to a cold empty bed. His throat had been scratchy and his fingers itched to grab the accessory he’d kept locked in a box under the bed.
Jaemin wasn’t an idiot, but he was a fool . Letting himself get too happy with the life he currently had. Letting himself get excited whenever he’d smell coconut and vanilla. Letting himself fall for someone that could never feel the same way.
When it happened it felt like he fell in a frozen lake. Everything was cold except for the burning sensation on the side of his neck, which felt as if it was being skinned or peeled off. The mating bond mocked him, laughing at how stupid Jaemin had been. Jaemin didn’t care about the mockery, but he noticed how the bond started fading away. The warmth in his chest, now feeling as if his heart was carrying a ton of boxes. His vision dimming… no, that was probably just Jaemin himself, sobbing because he’s finally facing reality.
It feels like hell. His neck stings again and Jaemin's reminded of what he heard during his class of mating bonds.
A student from the back raises their hand, and the teacher calls on them.
“What if your other half were to, you know, accidentally bond with someone else?”
The teacher raises an eyebrow before answering, “The bond between you and them would simply disappear.”
“Yeah, but how would you know ? Like if they did it behind your back?”
The teacher sighs before answering, “An Alpha would start to get aggressive to those around them. Too aggressive to the point that they wouldn’t feel the mating bond disappear. An Omega would feel pain, as if the bond is being ripped right out of their neck. It’s worse than the shock of your collars.” Some Omegas shift in their seats before the teacher continues, “For Betas they either get a little bit aggressive, feel a little bit of pain, or both.” The class starts murmuring to each other, but the teacher puts their hand up, “Accidental or even purposefully breaking a bond is very uncommon, your collars are meant to prevent that from happening.
Jaemin would laugh, laugh about how he had managed to be apart of something uncommon, but all that managed to come out were tears and sobs. He realizes this when he hears Jeno growl beside him while he’s on the phone, and Jaemin leans onto him, hand still gripping the side of his neck, as if he’s scared to remove it, only for his neck to feel so bare.
Jaemin wasn’t an idiot. He expected it to happen one day, but not so soon . He couldn’t understand why he fell for someone who he knew couldn’t love him back the same. Maybe Jaemin thought he could make him change, make him love him. Maybe… maybe he is a goddamn idiot.
Jaemin had passed out on Jeno's shoulder, the Alpha starting to draw away the crowd with the sour scent he was letting out. The Omega’s hand fell from his own neck and Jeno placed Jaemin's head on his lap to examine it.
“Shit.” Jeno whispered, index and middle finger placed on the spot where two bite marks were supposed to be. “Are you kidding me?” He asked to no one in particular, a hand reaching up to run through his own hair.
The ambulance arrived and put Jaemin on a stretcher, Jeno asked if he could go with Jaemin and he let out a relieved breath when he was given permission. Sitting in the back next to Jaemin, Jeno wanted to so badly reach for his hand.
One of the workers asked if Jeno knew where Jaemin's collar was and the Alpha shook his head, leaned back and hesitantly asked, “Is the bond..?”
The worker let out a sigh and pat Jeno's shoulder, “It’s gone… you’re not.. you’re not his-“ the worker asked warrily.
“No.” Jeno said quickly with a shake of his head and changed the subject, “Is he gonna be okay?”
The man tried to read Jeno's eyes, “His bond got broken, and him being an Omega means that he felt it happen. As long as he doesn’t see whoever he was mated with, he should be okay. Although he will have to wear his collar again.”
Jeno sucks in a breath between his teeth, and looks over at Jaemin. “Fuck… fuck .” Jaemin hated the collar with a passion, hated the feeling of being restrained. It’s not like he wanted to be bit by other Alphas, he knew it was for protection, but most of his friends were Alphas. It was hard for him not to hang around them.
Jeno could only sigh and he finally lifted his hand to take Jaemin's, thumb unconsciously rubbing the top of his hand.