Date: December 28th
Time: 12:27am
Location: Still at Y/n's place
Mood: ⚠️CHOKING WARNING AHEAD PLEASE USE CAUTION IN THE CONSUMPTION OF FLUFF⚠️
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After lots of hugs, a dinner and a movie, and an absurd amount of butt jokes from Hyuna, Taehyung cheered up. As the hours peeled by, Y/n grew more comfortable with Jimin's friend and her stutter minimized until it was just an occasional happening. She listened with interest as Hyuna and the guys exchanged stories about their packs, occasionally jotting down a note or two.

Jimin told them about some of the music Y/n had him listen to, Hyuna complained more about how her father was always losing the tv remote, and Taehyung asked Y/n for more facts like how the sun was able to burn in space with no oxygen and how pigs were important to the ecosystem.

When the sun had long been set and the clock said it was past midnight, Tae and Hyuna left, slowly being followed by an unwilling Jimin. Before he could leave, Y/n grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He had been here all day, but she missed him. With all the company surrounding them, they hadn't gotten to have any alone time since his secret had been revealed and there was much more that she wanted to know, and so much more time she yearned to share with him.

"You can stay tonight...if you want." At his widened eyes, she blushed hard and quickly corrected herself. "I-I don't mean—that! I meant, th-that I miss you and-and....never mind."

"I'll stay!" Without warning he swooped in and kissed her. "I'll sleep on the couch."

"Ok." They shared a bashful grin and swung their clasped hands back and forth. "I think we have a spare toothbrush that hasn't been opened yet."

After his answering nod, she led him through the apartment to her bedroom and began rifling through her drawers until she found a hand-me-down set of sweats Seo-Joon had given her. They fit him and oversized outfits were her thing, so there was no doubt they would fit Jimin as well. Giggles filled the hallway as he gathered her up into a back hug and they stumbled their way to the washroom, neither willing to separate.

The moment came when they had to. She moved away to flip on the light in the bathroom and began a search for the unused toothbrush which was eventually found still in it's package.

Jimin took it from her hands when she offered it to him. "Thanks baby. I love you."

"You're welcome." She blushed and looked down. "I love you too."

"I loved you first." With a happy grin he kissed her nose. "Which one is yours?"

She blinked in confusion before following his arm to find that he was pointing at the toothbrush holder on the sink.

"This one." She plucked the red toothbrush from it's holder and located the paste, applying it to hers before also giving him a generous amount.

They set to work brushing, every few moments looking to one another only to smile. Today had been a good day. Maybe the best day of their relationship and there were tingles racing up and down her spine and fingers and toes that told her there was still more to come. Any time spent with him was good, but today had been top notch. The way his eyes sought out her own, and how his hands itched to hold hers, his smile and the sincerity of his words made her feel more loved than she ever had been.

And when they had finished washing up and had to separate to change into their pajamas, time seemed to have begun to drag by. She tore off her own day clothes and slipped on her night ones in record time before sprinting back out of her room, but it was like forever and a day had passed in the meantime. At least in their minds.

Having enough of that twenty second torture, Jimin tore open the washroom door and scooped her up while she was still mid-run.

"I love you." He reminded her as he peppered her entire face in kisses and she reciprocated with the same energy, not forgetting to peck the mole on his neck.

"Love you." They were strong words, but to her, in that moment, didn't feel strong enough. Jimin meant so much more to her than just 'love'.

It seemed enough for him though. They remained hugging as he lifted her off her feet, and they dangled off the floor as he walked them back to the living room, somehow while still kissing her and not tripping or running into anything. Though as far as they were concerned, if they did fall, it would be worth it.

When they eventually found the strength to stop, Jimin sat back on the couch and Y/n quickly cuddled into his side and put his arm around her waist, slightly surprising him. Moments where she took the initiative were rare but always welcome.

"I remember that thing you said the day we met." she spoke as she tilted her head back to look up at him, catching sight of the beaming eye smile lighting up his face.

"What's that?" He was listening but her hair was distracting. Loads of it, so long and everywhere. Everywhere because it was too tempting not to start to playing with it. One strand battling another in a life or death struggle for the one thing every hair wants. Shampoo. There was already a whole storyline in his head.

"You said something about how I was human, just like your mom."

He let his fingers straighten up the hair he had disarranged as he answered with a question of his own. "What did you think I meant by it?"

"I didn't remember it until a couple days ago. And when I did, I made the assumption that she wasn't a werewolf."

"That's right. She was human. Like you."

"And that's...ok? You won't get in trouble or something? Wait. Can you turn me into a werewolf???"

"Yes, no, and no." A new smile played at his lips as he gazed down at her. "Tae brought over a book for you. Namjoon's dad wrote it specifically for human mates so they can understand everything better. But I'll answer all your questions."

She had to force herself to lay still and relax into his side. Books? Learning? All of her questions answered? Her brain said yes, please. But she would wait until Jimin was asleep and then run faster than Usain Bolt to find this book, soak up all of it's knowledge, reading until daybreak if necessary and filling her notebook with an amplitude of information.

Like a normal person.

"Where is this book?" She asked innocently.

"NO!" Jimin whined loudly and locked his arms around her to keep her trapped, completely misinterpreting her intentions. "You can read it later, not now!"

"I-"

"Noooo, baby, you can't! When you study you go into another universe, it's like you're not in your body anymore!

"Oka-"

"Red, pleeeasseee? I want to spend more time with you."

"Alri-"

"Not to be dramatic, but I'll die if you get off of this sofa."

Did the man really think he wasn't a drama king? It seemed as though she had been trying to agree with him for ten minutes. Jimin was like that Disney Princess that would get upset, sprint away to their bedroom, and face dive into their canopy bed so as to weep into their pillows. Except Jimin would probably add in a fantastic twirl on the way there.

After making a show of 'giving in' he grinned, pulling her into his side as close as he could, probably thinking he had won some huge victory.

"You have any more questions?"

Signing, she lay her head on his shoulder and mulled it over for a moment. "Who is the alpha of your pack?"

"Jung-ssi, Hoseok-hyung's dad."

"But Hoseok is an alpha too?"

"Yes. He's an alpha but he's not the head alpha of the pack until he finds his mate."

"Oh. So...what responsibilities does he have as alpha?"

"They protect the pack's security, handle the funds, train the young people on how to control their wolves, make sure that everyone is taken care of, and they're the keepers of peace."

"That sounds like a lot of work."

"It is. But hyung has been training to take over his whole life. He's especially good at the numbers and the financials. Last year he even brought in a lot more money for us."

"You all share money from the same place? Where does it come from?"

"From stocks. Most of it goes to maintaining the land and taking care of the elders. Everyone has their own job though and we all look out for one another."

"That sounds nice."

"Yeah." He kissed the top of her head. "One day...we can have our own home there...if you want."

Not bothering to hide her excitement, she lifted her head to look at him. "Really? With your pack? Is that ok?"

He was unable to contain the grin that broke out. "Of course. All mates do that. It's part of our culture. In fact," he paused for dramatic affect, pleased that she was holding onto his every word, "another part of our culture is to save for our children and their mates. My parents saved for us since before I was born. I've already started saving for my—our future children."

"O-ours?" A dark flush stained her cheeks. But that probably could have gone without saying.

She wasn't the only one flustered. "I mean, if-if you want them. Do you...want kids?"

They couldn't look at one another. "Yeah. Maybe just one?"

"Ok, but so you know, we have to name it after Jin-hyung, no matter if it's a girl or boy."

"Um. Why?"

"I lost a bet back in seventh grade and he hasn't let me forget it."

Laughter filled the room at the ridiculousness that was Kim Seokjin. Naturally the adult male assumed that Jimin should hold to an unwise promise made when he was 13. At the mention of Jimin's friend Y/n remembered that she had been told that Jin was an omega. That omegas were supposed to be more beautiful than the rest definitely held some merit where that man was concerned.

Rather than bring that up and risk another attack of the jibooty, she opted for a safer topic.

"Is that what you pay for our meals with?" More than once she had attempted to pay for the lunches and suppers they shared. But each time she tried Jimin would act like she had insulted him. It got to the point where she had given up and had to accept that she was going to be spoiled, regardless of if she wanted to be or not. Which she did. However, she would have enjoyed to treat her boyfriend for once.

In return he smiled proudly and nodded. "I have enough to last us for years. So don't ever worry about trying to pay for yourself again."

"Oh...do girls save for their mates too?"

"Yes. Our whole life we look forward to meeting our mates. I guess you could say we're a little obsessed."

That statement wasn't surprising at all. Jimin was hyper vigilant of everything she did, always listened attentively when she spoke, was really insistent that she did things like buckling her seatbelt and putting on her coat, and could never seem to get enough of her attention. And not that she had spent a lot of time with them, but it was clear as day how Namjoon's mood changed whenever Kitty was around. Also Jimin had mentioned how his cousin (her old boss from the convenient store) was also a werewolf and her husband her mate. Those two had been especially close as well. Having known and seen them all was helpful in understanding how important this whole mate thing really was.

Which brought her mind to another topic. One that had persistently been bothering her since all was revealed.

"Jimin?"

A warm breath of air exited his nose as he snuggled closer. "Yes, mate?"

"About me being human...how come," she halted, searching for the right words, "how come I'm your mate? Isn't this a werewolf thing? Shouldn't it be between werewolves?"

"Remember how I told you about the moon goddess? She doesn't discriminate and she knows what she's doing." His thumb glided over the space of her eyebrow. It seemed impossible, but every time he studied her, he found something else pretty. Pretty ears, pretty eyebrows. She even had a pretty forehead.

"My mom was—is my hero. When I was a kid I thought she was the coolest person on the planet. She wasn't afraid to tell off the alpha males and made the best food. She had those magic mom kisses that always make your injuries go away and she wasn't afraid to chase away the 'monsters' in my closet. All of that but the only thing she couldn't do was turn into a wolf."

"Growing up dad would always say how human mates were better than wolf mates. The way he put it was: werewolves don't get a choice. That doesn't mean they don't love each other, because they do. It's love at first sight for us and that gets deeper over time. They don't get to choose their mates, yet it's easier for them. With a wolf and a human, the wolf has to work hard to deserve it. It goes against the grain of how soulmates are set up. What's special about humans, is that they choose us. You don't feel the bond like I do so I had to earn that. It's unique. I wanted and prayed for a human mate. You...are everything I ever hoped for and more."

"Wow." That was the best response as far as her flabbergasted brain was concerned. Everything that had come out of his mouth today had shocked her but this was another level. Idly she wondered if this was all a dream her brain had concocted. Because her werewolf boyfriend professing his love and promising to whisk her off to his land and take care of her was more fairy tail than real life.

Though if it were just a story and not something she was living through, it would be easier to process. So in the end she had to settle for an, "I love you." And go back to cuddling because there was nothing she could have come back with that would have been on the same level. He was happy with that though. Odd how what she thought to be the bare minimum he ate up like it was Christmas dinner.

With a content hum from Jimin, they relaxed. Once they laid back and she pulled the blanket slung over the couch over the pair, Y/n let her head rest over his heart and took comfort from the consistent beating.

It was a quiet few minutes before he murmured, "No more questions?"

"Uuum..." she took a moment to think. "What does it feel like to find your mate? How did you know I was the right one?"

"There's lots of ways. The first one is by smell. The second is that Wolfy told me. The third is seeing you, the fourth is intuition."

"Smell? How? What do I smell like?"

"Have you ever gone to the ocean for a day with your family? Like a mini vacation that you think back on and can't remember anything bad about that day?"

"Yes." She nodded instantly as the memory of the last time she'd seen the ocean came back to her. While everyone else wasn't self conscious about being seen their swimsuits, Y/n was the odd one out. She was far too bashful to wear anything more revealing than the ankle exposing Capri pants so that put her on babysitting duty. Not that she saw it as work or even a bad thing. Rosie was her favorite person after all.

"Think about it. How warm it was. What the waves felt like when they hit your feet. The sand. The smell of sunblock when you apply it. What it felt like when you stepped back into an air conditioned room at the end of the day. That feeling you get when you're falling asleep but can still hear the ocean..."

There was a feeling of nostalgia at the detailed and eloquent way he described it, allowing her mind to travel back to the day. Rosie was a year old then and wearing a yellow, polka dotted tankini paired with a sunhat and a pair of floaties. The water was on the cool side so all the baby did was stomp her feet and squeal as she ran from the waves. They spent the whole day together, making sand castles and collecting little shells, eating snow cones and hiding from the sun under the large umbrella they had stuck in the sand. It was one of her nicer memories and it was strange that Jimin had somehow described it while having no knowledge of it.

"You know the way the ocean smells? And the sand during the day time? Think of that, and then remember that good feeling you have when you remember that day. That's what you smell like." In addition to that there was hint of wildflowers, but he kept that to himself. Y/n didn't like flowers.

"That sounds complicated. Don't I just smell like salt then?"

"No, you smell like the ocean and warm sand and good memories."

"...So I smell like salt and dirt?"

He sighed defeatedly. "You're not very romantic, have I ever told you that?"

"Yes." He rolled his eyes but couldn't help but to grin at the way she giggled. His fingers curled in her hair again as she asked her next question. "What did Wolfy say when you found me?"

"A lot." Was it alright for him to tell her how intensely enthralled they were? Or would that be too much? "At first I was nervous about approaching you but he said that it didn't matter because you were our everything. Then we saw you and all my dreams came true. Even the ones I didn't know I had."

The expression on her face was perplexed, which then shifted to a deep thoughtfulness. If he looked close enough, he might have been able to see the memory in her mind's eye, now being seen from a new light as she processed the information.

"What was your first thought about me?" He directed a question at her this time.

At the way she stiffened and didn't look at him, he already knew the answer. She thought he was crazy, he might have even have scared her. Hell, looking back on the way he had acted before scared him. If he could reverse time and do it over so that he didn't come off as a stalker, he would. That Y/n had moved past that and given him a chance proved what an angel she was. He had been crazy. Yet there was no way his soft-hearted little mate would ever say that. Which made teasing her so much easier.

"What is it?" He feigned excitement. "Were you blown away by my handsomeness? Was it too much for you to take? That's why you couldn't talk, isn't it? Was I the most handsome man you'd ever seen and you just couldn't take it?"

"U-umm..." he waited, waiting to see if she would make something up or try to let him down easy. In answer she used the secret third option, which was to distract him with a kiss to his cheek. He was already beaming by the time she pulled away and said in a quiet voice, "one."

"Can I have the second now? Please?"

With a nod she shifted to kiss him on the other cheek. "Two." When he opted for a hopeful look she kept going. One for his lips, chin and then the bridge of his nose. "Three. Four. Five. And one for free." She leaned farther up to carefully plant the last kiss over his curved eye smile.

A squeak escaped her when he wrapped her in a bear hug and squeezed tightly. She responded to his hug with one of her own, the tip of her nose tickling the skin of his collarbone.

"Hey baby?"

"Hm?"

"It is ok if I ask you a question?"

"Mhmm."

"You might not want to answer it...if it makes you uncomfortable I won't be upset. You remember our secret signal? Show me that if you don't want to talk about it."

It was with an uncertain hesitancy that she nodded. But as her eyes flickered up to his own all he could find there was trust. Trust for him. That they had come this far in such a short amount of time was incredible, but there was still more between them that was left unsaid and places in their lives the other had yet to discover. And Jimin was knowingly selfish. He didn't want anything to be a secret. Everything there was to know about her he wanted it. All those insecurities or hidden fears he wanted to erase. He wanted her and all that came with it.

"Why do you hate flowers?"

It was a long time before she said anything, but that didn't surprise him. Whatever the reason, he knew it had to have been bad because Y/n didn't dislike anything with no basis for that feeling. He trusted her judgement just as she trusted him.

"I don't hate flowers...I hate bouquets or-or flowers that have been cut. It's mean to the plant."

That wasn't all and he knew it. If she needed more time that was alright with him. However long it took, he would wait. So he got comfortable, slowly stroking the back of her head and taking in her scent. The sounds of the house seemed louder in the quiet. The hum of the refrigerator. The sound of the furnace kicking on. That odd creak here and there. Finally, after what felt like a very long time she spoke lowly against the skin of his neck.

"My...dad...if I can call him that...was a florist. He loved flowers. And now every time I see them, I see him."

His heart thundered and his mind raced for the right thing to say. What was the appropriate protocol for something like this? Jungkook had been left by both of his parents, but that was a different situation and a different person so he couldn't rely on that experience to help him out. No matter how you look at it, no two persons pain and struggle is the same. Should he assure her of how much she was loved? Or express anger towards the trash that had dealt her this blow?

Say nothing. Sometimes it's better to just listen.

As usual, Wolfy was right. Y/n had her own history and inner turmoil and there was nothing he could do to erase it. That drove him crazy. But he listened to his inner wolf and said nothing, instead he tried to put his emotion into physical touches. Wiggling around until they were level and face to face, she half on top him, he tenderly kissed her forehead and then met her gaze. She stared back, blinking in an unsure way until she picked up on his relaxed state and followed suit.

"They all have a meaning, did you know?" The question slipped out of her on a sad note. "Flowers have their own language. Daises mean new beginnings. Roses symbolize love. Gladiolus is strength. He taught them all to me...I wish he hadn't."

Again he kissed her forehead. Gingerly brushing a stray hair behind her ear, Wolfy whispered to let his fingers linger there so he did, tracing the shell and over the lobe.

"Do you remember when you were a kid when you got in trouble and your parents told you to go to room and think about what you've done?" At his nod, she went on. "Sometimes I feel like...I feel like that's what I'm supposed to be doing. Thinking about what I did wrong to deserve him leaving. But-" just then her voice cracked and she had to stop for a moment before she could continue. "But I don't know what it is that I'm supposed to be thinking about."

Shit was too nice of an adjective for him. Anger boiled in his chest and he couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer.

"You were a child. You did nothing wrong. Is it Rosie's fault when she scrapes her knee? Should Baek Hyeon be blamed for missing you? Does Ga-in need to be punished for always losing her pants?" The last comment produced a tiny smile. "The answer is no because they're babies. They're innocent. Besides that, children should never be blamed for the actions of adults."

"That's different though..."

"How? Because it's not you?"

"No, because it's a different situation." The stubbornness of her words bothered him but he kept up a cool facade. "Jimin, I know deep down that it wasn't my fault. But I can't get it out of my head that it was, either. It's been there for too long. I don't know what to do with it."

"Baby," he rubbed the tips of their noses together, more to calm himself down but hopefully it would help her too. "That's too heavy for you to carry on your own."

For a second her chin trembled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that, even though I disagree that it was your fault and I hate everything about this, you don't have to carry it on your own. You aren't alone anymore. Everything that hurts you, I'm going to annihilate. I'm going to lay waste to all the things that scare you and try to bring you harm. I can't change what has happened, but from now on, I'm going to make sure that all your memories and experiences are good ones that you can look back on and feel loved. And most of all, I am never going to leave you."

What he had hoped for was a smile. What he got was a long, stunned pause before she burst into tears and began to ugly cry with no control. Unnecessary to say, he panicked. Terror ripped through his very soul and the words he had thought would be a good idea now bled into his mind as something worse for her than spiders.

It's alright. She needs this. Let her cry.

But how could he when he had done this to her? Jimin would rather rip his own arm off and eat it than pull a single hair from her head. Seeing her like this made him want to cry as well.

Me too. Be quiet and hold her.

He wanted to say something but Wolfy had never been wrong before. So he listened and held her tight. Hard sobs wracked her body and soon the shirt she had lent him to wear was soaked in tears, not that he minded in the least. Even if it took years to drill it into her head, he was going to do everything in his power to make sure she knew just how much of an irreplaceable treasure she truly was.

—
Edited 8/3/22