In time, everything went pitch black for Jungkook. He couldn't grasp a thing and could only remember small moments where he kissed his partner, but nothing more than that. Throughout the heat and rut, Jungkook and Jimin did so much more than a gentle intercourse. Their bodies were tempted by the atmosphere and their scents drove them deeper into the point where none of their innocence remained.

       A few days after their heat and rut died down, Jungkook woke up and rubbed his eyes. His head was overcome with a headache just pounding in his head like thunder. He was naked just underneath the blanket and the wide bed felt bigger since he was all alone. No Jimin in sight.

      He let out an exhale as he sat up and ran his hand down his lower back, feeling the dents of the scratch marks that peeled his skin. Jimin was overcome by the satisfying pleasure, he couldn't dare to keep his hands to himself during his heat. Dawn felt as if it was the first sunrise after an eternal darkness swept his life under; keeping him blinded for so long.

       The whole experience with Jimin didn't stay in his mind. Not even the moments where he tried so hard to stay focused on his partner. The hot, heavy, and tempting moment was now flushed away from Jungkook's mind forever.

      Just then, Yoongi stepped into the room and slid the door shut behind him. His eyes scattered across the room and also noticed that the packaged food that was set aside, was already finished. The head guard's eyes then widened as it fell onto the young king sitting over the wide bed.

     "Jungkook? You're a mess!" Yoongi pointed out and let out a laugh. "Your hair is all a mess and you look as if you haven't slept in days!"

       "You make it sound as if I wasn't on my rut a few days ago!" Jungkook replied, rubbing the sides of his head and letting out an exhale. "Where... where's Jimin?"

        "He left a while ago to the omega river. I went out to purchase omega undergarments and a hanbok for him, but surprisingly, he was too fast. I was going to chase him, but I don't like to run."

         "He's... gone? I would have expected him to stay by my side until morning, did I hurt him? Did he look hurt?"

         "Ah, there you go again. Not even more than a minute awake, you're already overthinking. Calm down, your majesty... he didn't look hurt, he just had a limp as he rushed out of the palace," Yoongi mentioned and had his arms folded as he looked over the bed. "I'll send in your servants to clean up around here, you need to wash up and-"

        "I want to go see Jimin, it is morning, isn't it?"
        "It is, but you can take a morning off, you've been with him for four days! Give him some time!"

         "Yoongi, I can't do that. I feel like after we shared such a moment, I'm drawn to him... I can't leave him alone, I'm tempted to see him, hold him, stand by him and support him," Jungkook confessed and ran his hand along his messy hair. "I love him..."

      "Love him? You don't even remember your first time with him! When I had my first rut with my omega, I wasn't this clingy..."

       "We're different, Yoongi. You're not desperate like me," mentioned the king as he then looked to the side where Jimin's gifted brooch sat above his painting supply box. "I can't stop thinking about him... he's my swan, he's my love. But, the bond is so strong that I long to be with him, what's wrong with me today? I feel so lost without him! I'm losing my mind, before I was okay if we were far, but I feel like I shouldn't be far from him anymore."

       Yoongi knew how much Jimin meant to the king, but he did think that the need for the king to be by his swan's side seemed a bit more bigger than before. The head guard couldn't help but to fold his arms and think on it more, he longed to dissect the things he didn't understand so he could have a better view on things. In this situation, he noticed Jungkook seemed too demanding to know where his swan had run off to, and didn't long to seem far for even more than a second. Could the four days of being together, really cause the alpha to be drawn so close to the omega? Something had to happen in between those days to carry such a heavy attraction like this.

      After the king washed up on his own, he was  dressed in his commoner disguise and carried the undergarments and the new hanbok Yoongi purchased for Jimin at the market. The young man wrapped the hanbok into a red silk blanket, close to the one Jimin would bring to the omega river. Once the king was set, he escaped the palace, convincing Yoongi into making the royal staff believe that the king was still in his room; recovering after a long time in his rut and needed privacy. But of course, selection would have to take place until the king is ready to see a group of omegas for marriage.

      At the same time, Hoseok was at the tavern with Taehyung that early morning. The alpha had bags under his gleaming eyes and his face carried a tired expression as he slouched on a cushion and rested his arms over a low wooden table. He sat with the young omega in a small wooden place where alcohol was always sold.

       "I'm flattered that you want to see me today, have I finally grown on you?~" Taehyung asked with a wink and a smile to his charming face.

        "No, ah- that's not why I called you here today," Hoseok answered and let out a yawn. "I haven't slept at all after Mr. Park told me that my fiancé was missing. So, after hunting for a while to wear off the burning stress of mine, I wanted to ask you, have you seen Jimin anywhere? Please... tell me anything!"

     "I honestly don't know where Jimin has been, he's never been to my place and I'm not so sure about Namjoon. Namjoon has been losing his mind looking for that boy, the Minister won't even let Namjoon breathe without pressuring him into looking for his son! It's scary," Taehyung assured and poured Hoseok a drink from the jug into a bowl. "Don't lose your head over this, Jimin always comes back, he must have ventured off somewhere."

        Taehyung spoke with no worry in his voice. He speculated Jimin was spending his time with the commoner throughout those four days he was missing. There was even a moment where Taehyung believed Jimin was with the commoner during his rut. So, Taehyung sat in front of the exhausted alpha, not uttering a word about his speculations and only longed to comfort Hoseok.

        "After this marriage ban is lifted, I am to marry Park Jimin. I need to be with him throughout this time, but he's been missing for four days! I get so scared, what if he's been around an alpha at the wrong time?! I want to know if he's okay, I want to see him, I know he may not feel the same way towards me and he may think of me as an annoying rash that keeps coming back, but what if he truly feels something for me? There could be a chance, right? Tell me I'm right!" Hoseok said and looked Taehyung in the eyes. "I want to marry him and finally feel happy, there has to be a part of him that wants that too, there just has to..."

        All Taehyung felt was pity for the alpha. Hoseok longed to marry a perfect omega and feel euphoria. Ever since he's been engaged to Jimin, he believed this was what he truly needed to feel glee in his life and fulfillment, but he received the exact opposite. He chased after an omega who didn't acknowledge him and as soon as Jimin seemed distant, Hoseok feared losing his happiness. The alpha was too dependable on Jimin when it came to making him happy.

     "Don't you think you are mistaken?" Taehyung asked and tilted his head at the alpha's gaze. "Aren't you giving Jimin too much of your happiness and expecting that in return? All you want is to feel accepted, do you really love him?" Taehyung wondered and leaned in closer to look at the tired alpha. "Hoseok, have you ever taken a look at yourself? Is this what love is, or is this just the pursuit of happiness?"

       Hoseok looked into the omega's caring gaze for a moment and then looked away. "It's love, it's obvious that it is. Once it's love, I'll have my happiness. I have to love Jimin to get that..."

      "Are you sure?" Taehyung asked into a whisper and reached out for the alpha's hand to hold gently in his own grasps. Taehyung understood that Jimin would never love Hoseok and tried to steer the alpha away from getting hurt. The omega cared for everyone and had a big heart, but when he knew something that no one else knew, he would try to protect the other from getting hurt.

      "Taehyung... stop. This isn't right, I'm engaged!" Hoseok spoke softly and pulled his hand away but then, Taehyung quickly wrapped both of his hands around the alpha's to hold him longer.

      "Listen to me, you know Jimin doesn't want you, you can see it too! I don't want to see you get hurt, I know you pick those bow and arrows up when you're stressed, if you're engaged to someone who feels the same way, you wouldn't have to carry those things on your back every day," Taehyung assured and rubbed the tip of his finger along Hoseok's knuckles. "I'm only being honest... I'm your friend, Hoseok, I worry about you."

      Hoseok looked away with a plain and unbothered gaze. He refused every word the omega uttered and had a stone cold glare fixed over to the marketplace where he noticed a lot of people walking around to buy.

       "You deserve to be happy too, Jung Hoseok. It's what you need..."

       "Why do you care so much? You're just Jimin's friend, if Jimin was truly playing me, you would let him!"

         "No, you're wrong. I'm not the type of person who would sit by and let that happen. I am telling you this because I'm a caring person, I offer my comfort to you, and it's up to you to take it," Taehyung continued. Looking at the alpha and feeling a rush of sympathy for the man.

      The alpha ignored Taehyung's helpful words,  Hoseok longed to believe that Jimin still felt something for the man he was engaged to, but there was nothing there. As Taehyung sat before him, Hoseok just knew he had to keep his head up and have faith in a chance of happiness to grace him soon. That's all the alpha ever wanted, a moment in his life where he could feel pure euphoria. Yet, he only sought to find it through his relationship with Jimin. Hoseok felt hopeless without Jimin, he knew if he would be engaged to a beautiful omega like him, his issues would deteriorate. But, things were different, Jimin was different, and as so as the pursuit of happiness for this cheery alpha.

     As Hoseok fought off every word Taehyung warned him about Jimin not loving him truly, Hoseok caught onto a familiar alpha scent and pointed his head towards Jungkook, who was racing down the path of the market to see Jimin at the river. The alpha's eyes flared and his teeth bared at the sight of the alpha he would always see with Jimin.

      "You..." Hoseok hissed in his head and pulled his hands away from the omega in front of him to keep his eyes locked onto the so-called 'commoner'. "What are you up to?"

      "Hoseok?" Taehyung asked and watched the alpha get up, pay for the jug he shared with Taehyung and walked away, without uttering a single word.

       There, Taehyung sighed and carried his own head against his hand. "Jimin was right, alphas really are a different breed of idiots. I care too much for people who don't need my help at all," Taehyung muttered and folded his arms as he watched Hoseok walk off into the crowd.