Date: December 27th
Time: 5:42pm
Location: Y/n's apartment, the living room
Mood: Curious, eager to learn

<><><>

After kicking Taehyung out to go 'get the thing', both parties intention had been to talk about what had just transpired. From there they had sat on the couch, Jimin staring at her lovingly while she unloaded dozens of questions for him to answer. It was a good while until she was somewhat satisfied, but still had so much more to ask.

"So," she started off slowly, trying to get a grip on all of the new information that had been laid out before her. "You're a werewolf and you were born that way. All of your friends are also werewolves. The full moon makes you lose control to your wolf side, but you can turn into a wolf anytime you want. He's you, but he's not you and you can talk to him in your head. It doesn't hurt too bad when you turn, and no one but the people closest to you gets to see your wolf form...I still don't understand that part..."

With a smile he reached over to tuck her hair behind his favorite ear. He wasn't sure anymore. But had Y/n always been this perfect or was it today?

"To humans, like you," he affectionately pinched her nose to emphasize his point, "that's the same as taking your clothes off. You only do that in front of someone you really trust. I've seen my dad's wolf, and my mom saw his and mine, but I've never seen Taehyung's parent's wolves and my mom only ever saw ours. It's very intimate and personal. Jin, Tae, Jungkook, Hoseok, Namjoon and Yoongi have seen one another's because we're so close we've sort of formed our own pack within our official pack. Now the only others we will trust with that honor would be our mates and possible future children."

"Wait. Taehyung said mate too. What is that?"

He grinned before his voice dropped into the husky flirty tone that always made her blush. "I told you before didn't I? You're my soul mate, jagiya. You don't believe me?"

"More like, I don't understand. A lot of people say that. But you say it like it means something."

Outwardly he maintained the relaxed state of the atmosphere. Inwardly, there was tensing from his wolf. Everything coming out today was undoubtedly on the fanciful side of things, but this part may be the strangest.

"Y/n, do you believe in god? Any god or higher power?"

The question gave her pause and it took her a moment to mull it over and reply. Finally she shrugged. "I don't know. My mom does. She thinks they're all real. I guess anything is possible now that you're telling me you're part animal."

A half relieved, half stressed chuckle came from him. "We believe in a moon goddess who gifted us our wolves. And when she created us, she took our soul and cut it in half and put it into two separate beings. One," he laid a hand on his chest before running the other over the back of her head and letting it rest there. "Two. Together we make a whole."

"But..." she paused to ponder over this new slice of information, wondering where to start first. "How do you know?"

"Since my wolf is the, I guess you could say: magical part of me, he's the one that's able to recognize it. We knew from the moment we saw you."

"Oh." In the next second she visibly deflated, a worried look flitting across her face. "Does that mean...that you...didn't pick me? That you didn't have a choice?"

"Of course not." He answered automatically because he wanted more than anything to get that look off her face, and because he felt strongly about his answer. "Everyone has a choice. Some of us don't chose to spend our life with our mates. Mostly that's omegas because it can take so long for them to find each other that they give up on the idea. And sometimes mates don't have romantic relationships at all."

"Explain omegas again?" Realizing she needed to be taking notes, she asked him to hold on and ran back to her room to get an empty notebook. When she sat back down and told him to go on, he stared in curiosity.

"What is that for?"

"I remember things better if I write it down." at his worried glance she quickly supplied, "if anyone sees them I'll say I'm writing a story."

He laughed, and rather than go back to explaining held her face between his hands and delivered a sloppy kiss to her forehead. "My baby is so cute~!"

"And tell me about alphas again." she said politely, her voice muffled because he'd taken to peppering her entire face in kisses. "And—Jimin, stop that—and about the ones in-between. Why don't you have—Jimin! Ranks anymore?"

"Namjoon's dad wrote a book specifically for human mates. That's where Tae went—to go get that for you. So in the mean time," a smirk took residency on his face as he pulled the notebook from her hands and flung it across the room. He used the moment of her horror as she watched her precious notebook being mishandled to pin her upper body to the arm of the couch with his own.

"My notes-" she tried and was cut off by a heated kiss that she quickly pulled away from. Concentrating on that felt impossible because the book had fallen face down in a way that mercilessly crumpled the pages. Y/n definitely had no OCD type tendencies or the like, but the sight made her want to scream.

No one touched her study materials.

Jimin let out a customary groan of complaint at her withdrawal. "I just told you that I'm your werewolf soulmate and that we were formed by a celestial being for each other and you still aren't swooning?"

It was true, and when faced with the fact she began to feel bad. Until she caught sight of the notebook again. Rather than lingering on that subject she tried to focus on the more important one at hand. Looking to her supposed soul mate and placing her hands on his shoulders to keep him at bay, she told him what had been sitting most heavily on her since his whole explanation started.

"I need to see Wolfy." Worried that was too forward, she softened her tone. "I believe everything you're telling me. But I need to see it for me to really comprehend it. I'll apologize if that's too...intrusive."

"It's not." The amorous mood dissipated, he moved back to his original position on the sofa. She watched in silence as he did whatever it was he was doing. Yesterday she would have said he was thinking to himself. Now she wondered if he was speaking to the wolf in his head—to Wolfy. That assumption proved correct when he straightened his spine and brought his attention back to her.

"He wants to meet you. Trust me, he's been dying to for months but now he's feeling shy. So I'll go back in the back to convince him to come out and I'll come back when he's ready."

Eagerly she nodded and watched as he stood to his feet and headed back to her bedroom. Barely a moment had passed by before he was back, marching toward where she sat with a purpose. In a second he had cupped her face in both hands and engaged her in a searing kiss that caused sparks to dance along her skin and her toes to curl.

It only lasted a few seconds, three seconds that set her world on fire and nearly put her into cardiac arrest. And just as she thought that would kill her, he chose his words to be the final weapon to kill her with.

"When I said I loved you, I meant it. The day I met you, I fell in love with my soul mate. The day you said you like me, I fell in love with Y/n. You like to say that I'm attacking you, but you've made me fall twice. Take responsibility, mate."

He didn't give her time to reply. Choosing instead to give her one final smirk before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

The breath she had been holding escaped in one dramatic whoosh, leaving her slightly more light headed than before. One hand weakly fanned at her face as the other tried in vain to calm her racing heart. It was official. That was the most vicious attack yet.

And did she like it? Yes. Readily she would admit to that. Not only that, but everything that had come out today. On one level, all of those questions that had built up and lingered were finally answered. Everything made sense. The puzzle was coming together. And then on another level, there was a heavier meaning and understanding to everything.

Yesterday there was only science. Only the things she thought she knew because they made sense, because she could wrap her mind around it.

Yesterday there was those warm sparks and happy attacks and her tiny (she couldn't even think that word anymore) boyfriend that made her feel like living was actually worth it. But yesterday that was explained away by dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, vasopressin, and oxytocin. All of the chemicals the brain produced to give you the feeling of love.

Yesterday she wasn't good enough, not for the sperm donor who dared called himself father.

And that was the heavy part. Because, even though she didn't fully buy into the whole religious aspect of this yet, she came to the startling realization that if she hadn't been abandoned, she never would have met Jimin. The reason they'd moved away from Busan was because that was where all their memories were at. Not a single one of them wanted to remain there. Not after that. Therefore, they'd picked up house and moved. Here. Where, years later, here comes a man calling her his soul mate. It all happened as if it were meant to.

That meant...she did belong. Did have purpose. Wasn't someone to be picked up discarded whenever they grew tired of her. As Jimin so bluntly put it, he needed her.

Her.

That was today. Today she wasn't worthless. Today, love wasn't those chemicals your brain produces when you see someone attractive. Today love made no sense, it had no rhyme or reason, no ending or beginning. It simply was, and she couldn't explain it or understand where it came from and why she deserved it.

Whether it be god or human made, there was something here that she would never try to harm and from this moment forth, would work on and protect with everything she had. This connection with Jimin was permanent, and she would be damned if anyone, including herself, tried to sabotage the biggest gift she had ever been given.

The front bell rang. It wasn't enough to fully interrupt her thoughts, but she did rush to answer it with a clear enough mind.

Taehyung's mouth formed into a box-like shape when he smiled at her, hands holding a leather-bound book for her to take.

"Welcome to the family." He beamed as she accepted the book and held it close to her chest.

Family. Why was the urge to cry so pressing?

"Th-Thank y-you."

After stepping inside and closing the door behind him, Taehyung anxiously scratched at the back of his head. "I know this might sound rude, but...have you switched a perfume or shampoo since the last time we met?"

"No." She managed to peak up at him once before looking back to her shoes again. As far as she had come when interacting with Jimin and Hyuna, doing so with new people still wasn't easy. And in the back of her mind she couldn't help but to remember how upset Jimin had become the last time she had been more comfortable with Taehyung.

"Ah." He nodded and a pink tongue came out to dart across his lips. "Then, have you been around different people?"

"Yes. My fa-family."

At this his eyes grew eager and he unconsciously moved a half step forward. "Do you have any friends? Classmates? Coworkers? Anyone you spend a lot of time with?"

"Um...I—Uh—I have a friend."

Audibly his breath caught and once more she managed to meet his gaze, the curiosity of his insistent questions being too much to interfere much with the regular dose of social anxiety.

"Who?" One word but he said it such a desperate and intense way that it gave her pause. He seemed to notice her hesitation and moved back, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. "I'm sorry. It's a wolf thing. But—if you can help me," his eyes sparkled with a deathly serious conviction, "I'll pay for your cell service."

Free cell service>her best friend. The winner was obvious to her.

"Her-her name is K-kim Hyuna."

A sudden sound from the back drew her back inside, excitedly scanning the area for a certain canine. Her disappointment was interrupted by Taehyung's insistent voice.

"You should invite her over. I'd love to meet your friend."

Now would be the worst time for that with the possible arrival of Wolfy. And secretly, she sort of wished Jimin's friend would leave and give them privacy. But she would never say that...even as he casually strolled by and helped himself to her kitchen.

The door to her bedroom was ajar. There was the strongest urge to go there but she held herself back, mostly for fear of finding Jimin naked again. She'd already been through enough today, there was no way she could survive that.

The creak of a floorboard had her tensing and leaning forward involuntarily, eyes searching for what they were so impatient to find. For some reason, since she had seen his picture, she felt the strongest connection to this wolf. She wondered—

"Y/n!"

She half turned to find Tae with a pack of Rosie's animal crackers.

"Can I have these?"

"Sure," she barely got be word out before he had opened the bag and started shoving them into his mouth. A trip to the grocery store was added to her to do list. Taehyung might eat her entire house today.

All at once her thoughts froze in place as the sound of paws thundering down the hall filled the apartment. Maybe a fully grown wolf running towards her should have set her instincts into a fight or flight mode, but all she could detect was an overbearing excitement and a blanket of safety.

In a second she had turned and without fully realizing it, started running to meet him halfway, a happy, "Wolfy!" Escaping from her mouth.

They collided in the living room, Y/n dropping to her knees to encircle his neck in a hug and Wolfy with an overjoyed yip loving every second of it.

—
Edited 8/3/22