Date: November 22nd
Time: 12:39pm
Location: Y/n's apartment, bedroom
Mood: *yeets a hammer*
D I S T R A C T I O N
<><><>

"Unnie, gesh what!"

In the toddler's haste and excitement to get to her favorite person, she completely missed the way her head banged into Y/n's lip when she dived into her lap. Not wanting to scare her baby sister, she swallowed the pain (and the little bit of blood as her teeth scraped the inside of her mouth) and was careful not to let on that she was in pain. Rosie would cry her eyes out otherwise.

Though, Y/n did wonder how hard this child's head was that she hadn't even registered that impact. From her end it was a 6.5 on the Richter scale.

Rosie set a pamphlet on top of her homework and opened it up, proudly displaying the schedule for an upcoming recital.

"Ya wanna see me dansh?"

Giving the toddler a snuggle, she looked over the pamphlet and spoke like this was the most impressive thing she'd ever seen.

"Rosie, that's amazing! Of course I want to see you dance. Should I bring you a present when I come to watch?"

"Yes! Fwowers! Pwease?"

Fortunately she missed the way her older sister blanched at the suggestion. "Alright," she agreed weakly. She currently couldn't stomach the idea of walking into a florist and picking out a bouquet, but what Rosie wanted, Rosie got. Besides, maybe this would be good for her. She'd already taken the first step towards recovery, perhaps this was meant to be the second. It had been fifteen years. That was a long time.

"Yay!" The little girl squealed and swung around (nearly bumping her head all over again) and wrapped her small arms around her neck. "You my twue wove's dawing."

Y/n wasn't sure where the moniker 'true loves darling' came from and would very much like to see what went on inside of the three-year-old's head. No doubt the world was much more exciting in her eyes. She was still convinced that Seo-Joon was a dragon.

After a load of snuggles and three choruses of baby shark, she was once again alone to do her work.

An hour later, the word document open on the laptop screen remained blank despite having already picked her topic, the text cursor blinking at a steady pace.

Scouring the internet for possible topics to write the essay on, she'd run across one and couldn't move past it. Which was very confusing for a myriad of reasons. Most of which made no sense.

'The Coevolution Between Humans and Wolves'

The moment her eyes met the words they stuck there. Her right ear began to tingle. Akin to the feeling you might feel when there's a word you're trying to remember and it's almost there but it's not, this sentence struck a chord. There was something here she was supposed to see and understand. For so long she studied what was in front of her and for nothing. That knowledge dangled just out of reach and it was beyond frustrating.

Several minutes later she confirmed that 'wolves' was the trigger word here. For that she couldn't imagine why. She loved animals but hadn't ever really given wolves a second thought.

All of a sudden, she wanted to know everything about them. Their behaviors, likes and dislikes, social interactions, where they lived, what they eat, their natural enemies, where they stand on the food chain, how they hunt, where they sleep, how they were domesticated—that! That was it. That had to be it.

Obviously the only single, no other things considered reason for this random obsession was because she wanted to learn.

That's it.

With that conviction set in mind she got to work, shutting the rest of the world out as she went into her own personal study zone that no one could penetrate. Not the text alerts from her phone, her mother's vacuuming or the frequent visits from Rosie, who babbled to her imaginary friend.

Except, as far as writing a research paper went, it stopped mid-preliminary research because of certain words and phrases catching her attention.

Wolves usually live in packs of up to two dozen individuals.

Pack. Didn't Jimin say that word just the day before?

"My family moved to this pack when I was really little."

It had struck her as odd at the time because that was not a common word. She had literally never heard anyone say 'I moved to this pack'. No one says that.

And before she knew it, the same notepad and pen was pulled out as she added new details of this list of...whatever she was compiling.

Growls like a cat (this could be due to allergies)
Can move faster than Busta Rhymes can bust a rhyme
Twists a metal shelf with his bare hands?
Has a mate
'Pack'

As she thought more on it, she tried to remember what word it was that Jimin had almost said.

"Fourth is Hoseok-hyung. He's the alph-I mean,"

The alph? A sentence with a similar word structure in it had been in something she had just seen.

Alpha. Had he intended to say, 'Hoseok-hyung is the alpha'?

Packs...alpha...a mate.

Sweat turned her palms slick. The pen clattered to the notebook below and brought the only sound to accompany the impossible turning wheels in her mind.

If Jimin was really fast. Impossibly strong. Growled like an animal. Had a pack and a mate then the only logical...if that's what you could call it...explanation to all this was that...

Jimin was a werewolf.

With a tired groan, her head connected unceremoniously with her desk. That was enough Twilight shit for one day.

Was Jimin a werewolf?

No. Of that, she was certain. Although admittedly, the idea didn't feel wrong to her. As stupid as that was. She was certain because: science. Out of everything, Y/n relied on science. Understanding it meant answers to how every living thing functioned.

Science plus werewolves? It didn't make sense. For starters, humans and dogs only shared 85% DNA. Then to add on to that, actually turning into a wolf. Hands and feet changing to paws, skin morphing into fur, growing an extra appendage for a tail, the elongation of the face into a snout. It was beyond insane. No natural process could ever do that.

Although, even with that knowledge, there were many things about Park Jimin that made no sense.

The buzzing of an incoming text snapped her out of that insane frame of mind and into another. At seeing who was attempting to contact her, she instantly turned red, squeaked and covered her face with her hands as if the man himself was actually here.

It was bad. Ever since last night and to now she couldn't even think of last night without extreme timidity and embarrassment taking over. Jimin—and his touch—as much as she didn't believe in such a thing, was magical. Because when it happened, she was still shy...but it had happened. It was possible. She actually kissed him multiple times and kept up a conversation.

But looking back on it, her thoughts were drenched in anxiety and disbelief at what she had been able to do. How was what she kept asking herself. It confused her and concurrently pleased her for the random bout of bravery that had taken over.  Jimin certainly hadn't complained. The man had looked like a kid on Christmas morning up until they had parted.

My baby.

With a whine she pressed the palms of her hands deeper into her cheeks. Of all things to call her. Red always made her heart skip a beat, marshmallow gave her the urge to squirm but my baby was going to kill her. It was a new level of attacking that she hadn't seen coming.

The phone buzzed for a second time. Not wanting him to think he was being ignored, she dropped her hands and peeked at the screen without touching it.

At seeing Your Jimin💛, color returned to her face anew.

This was bad.

<><><>

A tap, tap, tap, echoed throughout the kitchen. Not knowing he was being watched, Jimin's foot moved steadily to create the sound against the floor while his eyes never turned from his phone. Cheeks puffed out and then flattened before his lips turned down into a pout. Hoseok and Jin smiled at the sight, while Namjoon did as well, though his was one more of pity. Clearly Jimin was waiting for any contact from his mate and Namjoon knew all too well how addictive they were. Watching Jimin was giving him war flashbacks.

"Jimin-ah," Jin called over the large pile of radishes on the counter, "if you keep staring so hard your eyes will fall out."

"Sorry," he replied, not realizing how fortunate he was that Jin was giving him some leeway.

Today was the annual, 'Jin forces everyone to aid in the making of kimchi that he will serve you helpless kids for the rest of the year' day. Everyone hated it, but no one argued. They were helpless. Jin did serve 95% of their meals throughout the year. And if they didn't help, they weren't allowed to eat his cooking. To put it shortly, that was a death sentence.

A mountain of garlic was surrounding Jimin and Taehyung, as peeling the massive amounts of the vegetable was their assigned job. Jin was on radish duty, previously accompanied by Namjoon in this task who had been moved to washing the cabbages after he'd nearly cut three of his fingers off. Jungkook was cutting the scallions and Hoseok had taken over Namjoon's previous station at the radishes.

When his friend left him abandoned with the garlic, Taehyung peered over to his phone to see what was the matter.

"You programmed your mate as 'coworker'?" he questioned, dumbfounded. Most days Jimin wouldn't stop talking about how perfect his soulmate was and constantly bragged that he'd found the best one. If Taehyung were honest, he found it to be quite annoying.

"No." Never adjusting his gaze from the phone he replied, "she did."

High and squeaking, the eldest hyung laughed heartily at Jimin's expense. "When are you bringing her for dinner? Surely we can meet her now."

As he'd finally managed to scent her, technically, Jimin could at last introduce Y/n to the important people in his life. However, he doubted she was ready for that. When they were all together, things tended to get...chaotic.

"Later." Was his short reply.

"But hyung it's not fair." Now it was Jungkook who pouted, and he unleashed his doe eyes on his unsuspecting hyungs. They all quickly diverted their gaze, else they would be sucked into whatever request they were sure was coming. "Yoongi-hyung doesn't have to help, but you will still send him some kimchi."

"You're right," Jin agreed, surprising him. "It's not fair but Yoongi is having a hard time right now and needs our support."

"He is?"

All attention (even Jimin's) turned on him, this information being new to them.

Jin shrugged. "That's what Hoseok said. And you know he doesn't lie."

This time everyone looked to Hoseok for answers. Smiling sheepishly, he moved to wipe his brow with a forearm. "Yes, but you didn't hear it from me."

"Hear what?" Jungkook's round-eyed look zeroed in on the alpha, the intensity of his p u r e n e s s burning holes in his face.

"It's—he," Hoseok scrambled for words, his mouth opened and closed several times before he was able to gather his thoughts together. "Waaa, Jungkook your wolf is getting strong." he chuckled nervously. "I almost fell for that."

Cute teeth popped out as he smiled at the praise. A gift similar to Hoseok's, whose wolf could make you reveal anything, Jungkook's could convince you of something, could paint a false narrative in your mind and make you believe in things that were false. If he wanted to get information from someone, he had the potential to plant the thought in someone's head that they needed to share whatever it was.

The moment was over as they realized Hoseok was going to keep the knowledge to himself. Disappointed, they all went back to their respective tasks.

Feeling safe, Hoseok sighed, the next sentence coming out without any forethought.

"It's such a shame, though. He sat in that convenience store everyday to see her, just for things to turn out this way. Ah!" he froze, his gaze moving from the radish he was cutting to multiple pairs of eyes staring at him. "But that was secret. I shouldn't have told you that."

Every person in the room apart from one ceased all movement. The sole pack member trusted with Yoongi's secret was Hoseok, but the others could tell by the look on his face that he just let something very important slip. He eyed Jimin worriedly, awaiting the explosion that was sure to come.

"YAH!" Kicking his legs out childishly, Jimin flopped around in his chair. "She won't answer!" The hand holding onto his phone shook wildly, as if the vigorous movement would spur Y/n into replying. "Why isn't she answering?!?"

Bonus scene

<>Midnight Conversations<>

"I miss you."

Laying in bed, Y/n smiled into her pillow as she pictured the way he must have looked while admitting that.

"How come?" She dared to ask, secretly fishing for compliments.

"Isn't it obvious? You're diamond, you glow up."

"I...glow up?"

"Mmhm. Anyway, I miss you and it's your fault. Do something about it."

"Like what?"

"Kiss me through the phone."

"H-how do I do that?"

"Kiss the phone so I can hear you."

"I! I can't do that!" she hissed and was glad for the darkness surrounding her. This way no one could see her blush. Therefore, it did not exist.

"Pleeeeease? Please please please?!?"

"I..." She grunted in embarrassment before delivering a fast peck to the receiver.

Jimin gasped. "You actually did it! That was so cute!"

"Hush." Muttering into her pillow, she already regretted giving in so quickly.

For a stretch of time it was mostly quiet, save for the soft humming of Jimin's. Whatever song he was thinking of eluded her knowledge of music. She didn't mind it. His humming sounded nice.

"Hey." he said, the tone so sweet and loving it made her close her eyes and roll around on the bed for a bit.

"Hi."

"What are you doing?"

She giggled quietly. "Talking to you."

There was a huff from the other end. "Say it a different way. Tell me who you're talking to."

Trying and failing to comprehend what he wanted, she ventured a guess. "I'm talking to...Jimin?"

"Close. But who am I to you?"

"You're..." she put him on mute long enough to punch her pillow several times and then unmuted, feigning normalcy. "My b-boy—uh-"

"You've got it," he encouraged giddily.

"B-b-boy-boy-fr-friend."

"Ugh, you're so cute it hurts." Was he crying? "Girlfriend, I have a question."

She fought not to fling the phone across the room. Not because it was unpleasant to hear, but because she had to attack something to control this feeling.

"Y-yes?"

"What are you wearing?"

"My pjs..."

"What do they look like?"

She glanced down at the unimpressive outfit. An old T-shirt of Seo-Joon's and pink fleece pants. Relaying the boring information back to Jimin made him sigh again about how cute she supposedly was. Then he started his next attack.

"Hey red," he giggled and to her, it sounded quite evil. "Guess what."

"What?" She asked, though she was positive she would be adding that on to her list of regrets soon after.

"That place, on my neck, where you bit me-"

She momentarily muted him again so that he couldn't hear her aggressively kicking from underneath the blanket.

"You left a hickey."

A harsh gasp escaped her. "J-Jimin! Don-don't show anyone! Not anyone!"

"Uuuuum. When you say 'anyone'. What do you mean by that?"

The sudden serious tone had her suspicious.

"I mean don't show anyone."

"Ah. Ok...well. There's something I should tell you."

"What?" Dread pooled in her stomach like hot wax.

"I sort of showed everyone and I mean everyone."

"Ev-everyone?"

"Yeah. I even showed my dad."

"That's...weird."

"My dad is weird. But...I'm sorry, baby. I didn't think. You haven't met them yet and I wanted to show you off in some way...sorry."

"It's fi-" Fine, she was beginning to say before she realized that it wasn't fine that he was apologizing. She should just been fine with it. He was the normal one here. "Sorry." She mumbled without thinking.

"I told you to stop saying that!"

"Oh." Realizing it too late, it was only appropriate she apologize for that too. "Sorry."

"Yah!"

—
Edited 8/1/22