Date: October 24th
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Work, the back room
Mood: Pouty
<><><>

This hadn't been as hard for Namjoon, had it? From Jimin's point of view, he found his mate and then it was all cats and rainbows from there.

With Jimin's mate, the woman barely spoke to him or paid him any mind and now there was some other guy she was willing to talk to. A human. Of course it was a human. The one thing he couldn't be. His faith in the mood goddess was seriously being tested here. Did she even know what she was doing?

BAM

Growling in agitation, Jimin rubbed the back of his head and looked to see what had fallen on him. Snatching it up, it was obvious at first sight that it was jar of pickled radishes. Not so obvious was how exactly it had fallen. The ache in his head told him that it didn't matter.

More annoyed than before, he glared down at the offending object again just noticing the expiration date. Of over four years ago.

"What?" he muttered. Reaching up, he began to inspect the dates on the other jars, all of varying dates and each one expired. Why did they have all this old food? Everything in the front was new, he was the one who stocked the shelves, so of that fact he was certain.

Yet in the storage room, the more he looked, the less edible products he found. Feeling more annoyed by the second, he found a trash bag and began shoveling every expired item into it. It somewhat calmed him to imagine every jar and can as a certain handsome man's head, a man who just so happened to be friendly with his mate.

When every item from that shelf had been discarded, he curiously pulled down a bottle of hand sanitizer and his eyes bugged out.

"What??" This hand sanitizer expired six years ago. But that wasn't what bothered him. It was the fact that hand sanitizer expires. His whole life felt like a LIE! Why had no one ever told him this? And if things like hand sanitizer expired, did that mean soap expired? Shampoo? What about water? Did water expire???

A noise from behind had him looking over his shoulder to find the source of his happiness and agony peaking around the door with wide, curious eyes.

"Yes?" He asked shortly before getting back to work. Oddly, he didn't want to see her. As of now he felt like a complete and utter failure, and she reminded him of the fact. In her eyes, he was a stalker, creepy, and couldn't even be talked to like a normal person.

"A-are you ok?" her small voice reached his ears.

He wasn't ok, but how would he explain that to her? Oh, by the way, I'm a supernatural creature that can turn into a furry predator and guess what! You're stuck with me forever because there's this moon goddess who thinks she knows what she's doing. Jimin doubted it would work.

"Yes." His reply came out more curt than he had meant for it to, just as he shoved another old product in the trash bag and the skin between his fingers got pinched. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her shoulders droop and eyes lower as she shuffled away.

Mother fucker! How dare you!

The admonishment from his wolf was unneeded. He already hated himself enough for the two of them. But what could he do? In his eyes, his approach to this whole thing was normal, if a bit on the 'werewolf' side. However his mate saw him as creepy. Creepy! How do you move past such a thing?

What we should do is create our own way of talking to her. Something gentle and quiet that will appeal to her, nothing aggressive-

Forget that, he was calling his hyung for advice! He pulled out his phone and tapped on his contact.

Namjoon doesn't know shit.

Jimin knew for certain that was wrong. Namjoon's brain was like...10 times bigger than the rest of theirs.

"Hyung!" he spouted in place of a hello. Strangely, he could hear Kitty in the background groaning in annoyance. "Namjoon-hyung I need advice."

"Sure, what is it? Kitty, where are you going? I was about to tell you something important-" more grumbling on the other end told Jimin she had left the room. "Alright, I'm back."

"My mate," he paused and looked to the door. Though he didn't see anyone, he lowered his voice anyway. "She's thinks I'm creepy."

Frowning when Namjoon burst into laughter, he sighed, waiting for him to stop while simultaneously ignoring his wolf's warning that Namjoon would only make it worse.

"Why did she say that?"

"Well, she didn't necessarily say that..."

"Then why are we having this conversation?"

Jimin pulled down a pack of Oreos, rolling his eyes but not altogether surprised to find them expired. Tossing them into the trash, he replied, "she thinks I'm a stalker. That implies I'm creepy."

"Kitty said I was creepy." he supplied. "Maybe it's a term of endearment?"

"You think so?" he perked up, but then deflated. "That doesn't seem accurate."

There had been plenty of times he wished that his mom was still on earth, but right then the loss was felt keenly. She would know what to do, would undoubtedly point him in the right direction. Asking his dad for advice on this was an option, but the last time the man had helped, he'd drawn out a detailed map of his mate's neighborhood and majority attributed to the...stalking.

"OH MY GOD I'M A STALKER!" he wailed, just now seeing it for what it was. He was the WORST MATE EVER.

Namjoon's answering laugh did little to ease his tensions. Really, he wondered, if this hyung had ever given him any sound advice. He stood, blankly staring up at the ceiling and wondering if this could ever be salvaged when Y/n entered his peripheral.

In both hands she held a plastic coffee cup filled with a warm liquid which she shyly held out to him. Confused and somewhat irritated with the still laughing Namjoon, he accepted.

"Alright, listen. I know how to fix this." Namjoon sobered up as Jimin took a sip from the cup to find it filled with not coffee, but hot chocolate. He turned to thank Y/n but she had already left. "You need to hug her."

Choking slightly, he coughed. "What?"

"Yeah, Kitty says she feels the mate bond when we hug. Jin-hyung's dad said the same thing. So what you need to do is grab her-" Jimin choked again, "-and hug her."

"Uh, hyung," he started doubtfully, "isn't that like...sexual harassment?"

"Says who?"

"Everybody."

"Really?"

"Would you have done that to Kitty when you first met?"

A long stretch of silence finally ended with, "No. She would have killed me."

Jimin's mate might not have killed him, but the thought of her rejection and distaste directed at him made his insides clench. "This isn't helping at all," he sighed.

"I've got it!" Namjoon's tone was determined and Jimin perked up again. "Show her your wolf."

Another exhausted sigh escaped him. "Hyung, really?"

"Seduce her."

"Huh?"

"You've got the Ji-booty, you can do it."

Jimin frowned at the thought. His ass had only been used for destruction up till now, I.e. in the form of sitting on all who insulted him. It was unknown how anyone, especially his bashful, quiet mate would take to this form of 'seduction'.

"Hyung, you're starting to sound more like Kitty everyday and it's scaring me." Taking another gulp of his hot chocolate he had to ask. "How in hell did you manage to get a girlfriend?"

"I stalked her and hugged her and showed her my wolf."

Now he was wondering what was wrong with Kitty that any of this appealed to her.

"Yeaaah, I'm gonna go."

"Alright, don't forget my advice."

"Actually, I'm going to actively do the opposite. That was terrible advice."

"Is you say so."

"Goodbye, hyung."

"Goodbye Jimin," he said normally before whispering, "seduuuuce heeer."

Was he drunk again? Sighing in defeat, Jimin cut the line and dropped the phone back into his pocket. The warm cup in his hand brought his thoughts back to Y/n. It took a moment for it to sink in. She brought him a cup of hot chocolate. Why? And how did she somehow know that hot chocolate was his go to when upset?

Because she's our soulmate you dumbass. You know, as in, LITERALLY OUR OTHER HALF.

She brought him hot chocolate when she thought he was upset...so that must mean he was getting somewhere with her. Or not. Or maybe? His dad wasn't going to be of any help, he couldn't ask his mom for advice and the one hyung who already had a mate was too drunk to give a viable answer. Turning to his wolf was the most logical solution, but it saddened him to some extent that he wasn't able to communicate with his mate on his own merit. If that was the case, how they would ever make a relationship work was lost on him.

Mates were instinctively supposed to read the other and ascertain one another's needs. To balance each other out. Lend support and give as much love as they could. He never thought it was creepy that he told his soul mate she was beautiful. She was beautiful. He didn't think it was creepy to work where she worked. Y/n was too bashful to simply ask out for a date, friendly or not. Working alongside her was the only real time he got with her. Following her home and sleeping over every now and then wasn't wrong because in the case of something happening to her, he wanted to be able to know where to look. Protectiveness was a given and he couldn't ignore that even if he tried.

Twisting up a metal shelf, slicing his arm open, the overkill of the spider and last but not least, the entire hospital trip was creepy. That much he could agree on without a second thought. His flaws were aplenty and he was very well aware of the fact. What he hated was the idea that, that was all Y/n saw in him. The label 'creepy' tended to outweigh any good dead. It was enough to dampen his spirits entirely, and for that same old, mean voice in his head to whisper that he was never good enough.

Not good enough for his remaining parent for years after his mom died, and certainly not good enough for a mate.

'No.' He thought, taking a deep breath as he remembered the words of a wise woman taught to him in how to deal with those kinds of thoughts. "Fuck off." He muttered as coldly as he could. "Leave me alone. I don't have time for this shit."

No telling why that worked. He supposed because it gave him some feeling of control. Feeling better already, he turned to the doorway.

Only to find Y/n standing under the archway, eyes filled with tears and bottom lip trembling.

It was at this moment that Jimin knew.

He.

Fucked.

Up.

THAT'S IT. I'm taking control. Now.

—
Edited 7/11/22