SPRING; April

Friday -- Afternoon

Since Jiyoo wasn’t around to cook the ramyun, Jungkook had taken charge after he’d managed to calm down. Namjoon apologized to him about what he did to Jiyoo. Jungkook wouldn’t have any of it though, telling him to apologize to Jiyoo first as he angrily split the noodles apart.

What Jungkook really wanted to do was to go upstairs and get Jiyoo back from Suga. He would’ve broken down the door to his own room if he needed to, but Seokjin told him to stay put.

“He won’t do anything.” Seokjin says, watching as Jungkook refused to listen. He ended up grabbing the latter by his arm to hold him back. “Trust in them or you’ll only be a bother.”

“But what if-”

“Jungkook.” Seokjin says sternly. “She’s not a little kid anymore.”

Jungkook’s lips seal together and he looks down at the ground. He was still upset about Suga practically whisking her away from his arms, but he couldn’t deny that Jiyoo was no longer a baby anymore.

He went back to the pot of boiling water and began to finish the job of making noodles, a visible grimace on his face despite how the wonderful smell of ramyun filled the air. Seokjin watched him cook and felt bad. It wasn’t his fault that Jungkook was so down in the dumps. Nobody could just ignore the guilty look on Jungkook’s face and Seokjin was the first to crack.

“I’ll help.” Seokjin sighs. He rummages through the fridge and pulls out a few more ingredients for the ramyun.

When Jungkook looks at what’s in his hands, he found Seokjin holding a tray of eggs in one hand and a pack of cheese in the other.

“How did you know we cooked our ramyun with eggs and cheese?” Jungkook gasps, his eyes wide as Seokjin’s triumphant smile creeped him out even more. “Do you guys stalk us or something?”

“We had some extra information taken on you two.” Seokjin says seriously. He makes sure that there’s not an ounce of emotion on his face and internally laughs at the scared look on Jungkook’s face. “I’m just kidding. I just so happened to have noticed that you two have a bad habit of eating too much cheese in your sandwiches.”

Jungkook’s mouth is slightly agape. He says nothing as he turns back to focus on cooking the ramyun. “There’s nothing wrong with having a lot of cheese. It’s dairy…” He mutters, still being heard by Seokjin despite how he’d kept his voice quiet.

“Too much of it is bad for your stomach.” Seokjin chuckles, ruffling the boy’s hair before going to wash his hands.

With two people working together, lunch was finished quickly. Jiyoo and Suga had come down a bit after the bowls had been taken to the table. Jungkook was the first to realize they’d arrived, but the last to realize that Jiyoo’s pheromones were no longer pouring out like earlier. He’d only realized it after Taehyung had gone over and physically sniffed the air around Jiyoo.

Jungkook pushed him away, holding Jiyoo in his arms. There was a faint musky smell that belonged to Suga that still lingered on Jiyoo. It made Jungkook’s stomach twist.

“Let’s eat.” Namjoon says awkwardly, clapping his hands together. Suga rolled his eyes while Jungkook made sure that Jiyoo sat close to him and away from anyone that would try to jump her in the case that her pheromones came out again.

“Why are there bean sprouts… In the noodles?” Jiyoo questions, plucking up a sprout and holding it up for everyone to see.

“Seokjin hyung helped me cook.” Jungkook mumbled.

The two looked at one another and suppressed a disappointed sigh. Jungkook had the right idea to offer to cook, but his plans were foiled. Seokjin took advantage of Jungkook’s distracted state after Suga had taken Jiyoo and dumped the whole container of bean sprouts into the ramyun. It was only after Jungkook had stirred the eggs around in the soup did he realize what damage had been done.

“Just eat it.” Suga grumbles, not happy about the situation either.

Not having a choice, Jiyoo and Jungkook do their best to mask the taste of vegetable with the mounds of cheese that were mixed into their bowls. Jungkook took the liberty of adding extra cheese for their noodles, which Jiyoo thanked him for. The taste wasn’t too bad. It just tasted like crunchy noodles here and there. The cheese taste not only overpowered the taste of the vegetables, but it made the soup more mild as well.

“It’s good.” Jiyoo sighs blissfully, the soup warming up her stomach as she sipped it slowly.

“The bean sprouts give good flavor, huh?” Seokjin says cheekily. Jiyoo doesn’t necessarily agree to the statement, but she doesn’t deny it either. She just quietly sips on the broth.

Lunch was over quickly, leaving Seokjin and Namjoon to do the dishes, surprisingly. He hadn’t uttered a word towards Jiyoo during the whole meal. Instead, he’d given her a small pat on the head before joining Seokjin, successfully cutting off her pathway into the kitchen.

“Did I do something?” Jiyoo asks unknowingly, to which Jungkook just shrugged. He knew why Namjoon was being so nice to her, but decides to keep quiet.

They head into the living room and to their dismay, discover their backpacks still in a big pile near the couch. It was one thing that they’d all left when they’d run out yesterday.

“So… Who has homework?” Jimin asked, earning a chorus of groans from everyone.

Jiyoo automatically heads upstairs to grab her bag, returning just as the others begin to fill the seats in the living room. She takes a seat on the floor and opens up her bag, pulling out a textbook and her binder with all of the homework she had to do.

Seeing that Jiyoo was willing to work made Jungkook feel obligated to do work too. He pulls out the rather large table that rests behind the TV stand, setting it up in front of Jiyoo so that she can do work on a table instead of craning her neck towards the ground.

“Thanks Jungkook,” She grins.

Jungkook ruffles her hair and pushes their foreheads together for a moment before pulling away. He ignores the jealous stares from some of the others as he pulls out his own work for the day.

Jiyoo pulls out a clean sheet of lined paper before beginning to write her name and the date on it. She pauses on the date though, looking to her right where Jungkook sat. “What’s today’s date?”

“September first.” Jungkook says, his eyes not leaving Jiyoo’s paper as she began to write what he said. A playful smile appeared on his face when she stopped and realized that he was lying.

“Stop joking around!” Jiyoo groans. She gives Jungkook a shove before erasing the date and pulling out her phone to check the date, which is what she should’ve done in the first place. “It’s not even close to your birthday.”

“Jungkook’s birthday is September first?” Jimin asks curiously, earning a nod from both Jiyoo and Jungkook. “When’s your birthday Jiyoo?

Taehyung has a wide grin on his face. He looks at Jimin who was oblivious to Taehyung’s hidden thoughts.  Before she could answer, Jungkook did for her.

“Her birthday is on December fifth.” Jungkook let out a smug laugh, as if to show off the obvious fact that he was closer to Jiyoo than he was.

“Well… I’m born in December too!” Taehyung yells, pulling Jiyoo towards him as he presses his cheek into the top of her head.

Jiyoo squirms in his hold, trying to concentrate on her work as Taehyung’s biceps smash her head and cheeks.

“Taehyung leave them alone!” Seokjin yells from the kitchen.

He comes out while drying his hands on his pants, giving Taehyung a disapproving look. “You could learn a little from them too, you know.”

“Like what?” Taehyung says baffled, “I don’t want to be a brat like Jungkook.”

“At least Jungkook does his homework.” Namjoon adds, not missing the way that Taehyung shrunk under his words.

Taehyung glares at Jungkook, his stares intensifying even more when he sees Jungkook pretending to do his work. There’s a small smug smile on his lips and Taehyung opens his mouth to say something when he’s pushed off by Jiyoo.

“I’m trying to do homework Taehyung.” Jiyoo grumbles, her eyes not meeting his sad gaze as she focuses on the task at hand. “And you know that we have homework for English, right?”

“Y-Yeah, I knew that…”

Hoseok scoffs, eyes not leaving his phone as he listens to the situation at hand. He was always a bit mean towards Taehyung when it came to school things, not like Taehyung noticed. Taehyung was more oblivious to things than Jiyoo sometimes.

He and the older members were on their phones while Jimin joined the table to do homework. It was apparent that the third years didn’t have too much work to worry about, especially since they’d already graduated from high school unlike the rest.

The younger ones continue to do homework. Jungkook was the first to be finished with his work. He peers over to see Jiyoo beginning to get frustrated by her own work. Jungkook knew that her statistics class tended to stress her out if she worried about it too much. It was time for a good break anyways.

“Hey Jiyoo?” He asks, earning nothing more than an irritated grunt from her. “Why don’t you want to be mates with me?”

The question stops Jiyoo dead in her tracks. She can’t focus on her homework when the only thing swimming through her mind was that day that Jiyoo and Jungkook stopped talking. “I… I don’t know. It just seemed like it would be weird.”

“Why?” Jungkook presses, not liking how Jiyoo wasn’t giving him a straight answer.

“Well…” Jiyoo puts her pencil down and leans against Jungkook, avoiding eye contact by pressing her ear against his shoulder. “I’m just an Omega.”

“I kind of know that.” Jungkook chuckles, though his voice is bitter. “You said that earlier.”

“Yeah, but you’re an Alpha Jungkook.”

Jiyoo looks down at her hands and glances over to Jungkook’s own. He doesn’t hesitate to hold her hand, something that always comforted the two in times like these.

“You’re an Alpha and… Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to have an Alpha as your mate? Like those girls in the health room…”

Jungkook’s mind is fuzzy and everyone can tell that he has no idea what Jiyoo is talking about. The first person that comes to mind was Jiyoo, but she couldn’t have been referring to herself. The next person was the teacher, but she didn’t count either since she was much too old for them.

At last he vaguely remembers the group of girls that were trying to talk to him that day. It’s still a little hazy to him since he wasn’t really paying attention to them.

“Are you jealous?”

Jungkook said it without thinking and he feels Jiyoo stiffen up next to him. She doesn’t say anything and Jungkook feels a sudden urge to look at her face. He leans down and grabs Jiyoo by her shoulders, forcing her body to face him.

Her cheeks were red and she refused to look him in the eye.

“Maybe, I am jealous.” Jiyoo mutters, her eyebrow furrowing as she recalls how those girls were all over Jungkook. “You’re my best friend that’s why…”

Jiyoo’s possessiveness might have come off as a little strong, but Jungkook didn’t think that. Instead, her words just filled his ego and made him grin uncontrollably. He pulls her into a hug and presses a kiss to her forehead without thinking.

“Ew, gross.” Jiyoo whines, pushing Jungkook off her as she wipes her forehead furiously. “You got your spit on me!”

“You both are gross.” Hoseok makes a gagging noise as he watched the two talk about sappy things.

“Come on hyung, you know you love us.” Jungkook says with a laugh, jumping on Hoseok’s lap as the latter just grunted at the weight that was put upon him. “Come here Jiyoo!”

Jiyoo was happy to be able to take a break from her homework and she jumps into Jungkook’s arms, which further presses Hoseok into the couch. He lets out a girly scream the more Jungkook and Jiyoo begin to laugh- and tickle him.

“S-Stop!” Hoseok screams, his back arching against the couch as he tried to escape.

Eventually Jiyoo had stopped, purely because she’d noticed how uncomfortable it was with her and Jungkook on his lap and getting too close to a certain place. She pats his hair down that was beginning to get disheveled before sitting back down on the floor. It was the little gesture that made Hoseok’s cheeks turn a bit rosy.

Jungkook slides off the couch behind Jiyoo, wrapping his legs around her waist as he hugged her from behind. “I’m glad I lied about being an Omega.”

“I’m not.” Jiyoo mumbles, still remembering the shock she went through the day she found out. “Lying is bad.”

“But if I didn’t do it, then we might not have been friends.” Jungkook hums.

Jiyoo lets out a tired sigh. His words spoke truth, but it still made her upset that he felt the need to lie to her about it. Jungkook was just a kid at the time, so she tried to ignore the slight burn in her gut.

“And if you hadn’t been friends with Jungkook, you would’ve have met us either.” Namjoon says.

He takes a seat on the floor near them. Placing his phone face down on their study table, he leans back against the couch and looks outside. “Jungkook, you do realize that your father brought us here because he wanted us to be a pack together, right?”

“What?” Jungkook says confusedly, “You said you didn’t know why you guys started coming around!”

“No,” Namjoon sighs, “I did mention that your father wanted you to join us. I just didn’t know why else he’d ask all of us.”

“You were too upset to listen last time.” Jimin huffs, visibly upset after remembering what happened that day.

Jungkook slumps down against Jiyoo, his chest pressing against her back as he sighed. There were no words to describe how he was feeling, but if the others had to guess, they figured he was just thinking along the lines of something about how he’d protect Jiyoo. Jungkook was stubborn after all.

“Does that mean Uncle didn’t want us to be mates?” Jiyoo says warily, looking at Jungkook for an answer he didn’t have.

Her words echoed through Jungkook’s mind, making him unable to concentrate on anything until his father returned home that day.

--

“I’m home.” Jungkook’s father sighs, taking off his shoes as he entered the house.

He walked down the hall, tossing his keys onto one of the cabinets as he stepped into the living room. Everyone was still hanging out where they were after lunch. The only difference now was that they were all finished with their homework- even Taehyung. He had a happy grin on his face when Jungkook’s father noticed his binder placed neatly on the table, his completed homework organized in the right spots.

“Nothing happened while I was gone?” Jungkook’s father asked curiously, slightly suspicious of their good behavior. It wasn’t as though he always thought they were up to no good, but seeing what had happened over the course of a few days was a bit worrisome.

“Nope.” Jiyoo said, popping the ‘p’ as she spoke. “We just did homework and played games.”

Jungkook’s father walks over to where Jiyoo sat and ruffled her hair, “Good job kiddo. I knew you could do it.”

He takes a seat on the rocking chair, not missing the way that everyone’s eyes were still on him. “Am I missing something… Or?”

“Why did you bring them here?”

There was no malice in Jungkook’s voice like the day that Bangtan first started coming around. He was just purely curious and a bit wary if anything. Jungkook’s father is proud that his son is starting to act more rationally and is happy to answer his question.

“You need a pack.” He says honestly.

“So… It’s not because you wanted Jiyoo as his mate?” Taehyung asks almost too eagerly. It earns a small shove from Jimin who warns him to tone down his never ending jealousy for Jiyoo and Jungkook.

“That was a part of it.” Jungkook’s father admits.

He looks at Jiyoo and Jungkook, a small smile appearing on his face despite how he just said that Jungkook getting a mate was a bit problematic. “Jungkook has no interest in girls, but he’s at the age when he should be looking for a suitable mate.”

Almost everyone in the room was questioning why Jungkook’s father hadn’t put him with Jiyoo if that was the case. He merely waves off the stares, his fingers crossing together as he places them in front of his chin to speak.

“If you all haven’t known, I raised Jiyoo as well as Jungkook. It was a difficult decision to make since I was worried that their inseparable bond could be possibly affected.”

Jungkook’s father throws a side glance at his son before facing the center again, “But it appears that their bond wasn’t as strong as I’d predicted.”

Jungkook shrinks in his place. He knew that his father was referring to the fact that he and Jiyoo had another fight. And although this was true, Jungkook’s father’s words weren’t completely making sense.

“Do you want them to be mates or not then?” Namjoon asks to confirm. Even he was confused. And he was the smart one.

“Yes and no.”

Jungkook’s father leans back in his chair. The wrinkle lines on his face seemed more prominent in that moment, making him look much older than usual. “Jungkook is my son and it would be easier for him to just be mated with Jiyoo, but at the same time, since I feel as though she’s like a daughter to me, I wouldn’t want those kinds of things to happen to her.”

Jiyoo and Jungkook look at Jungkook’s father, who was avoiding their obvious stares. They look at each other and look at the others for help, only to be avoided again.

“What things?” Jiyoo says aloud, feeling a bit neglected when nobody answered her question.

“Guess we have to google it.” Jungkook says, pulling out his phone. He didn’t miss the way that Hoseok jumped in his seat. Knowing that Hoseok would be the easiest to crack, Jungkook presses the search bar and hums. “I wonder if there’s pictures so we can understand it better.”

“No!” Hoseok yelps, “Stop it Jungkook!”

“In order for Jiyoo to be bitten, she needs to be bit by her partner!”

Jungkook locks his phone and slides it back into his pocket. He didn’t get Hoseok to crack like he’d predicted, but having Jimin shout the answer was just as rewarding.

“I need to be bit?” Jiyoo questions, a small grimace on her face. “That sounds kinda gross.”

“Our ancestors were animals at first, so it’s not surprising.” Hoseok sighs, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. “I just wish there was an easier way.”

Some of the older men in the room lean back in their seats. The wariness is visible on their tired faces as Jiyoo and Jungkook continue to obliviously talk to one another. Since the questions ceased, it gave everyone the breathing room they needed.

“I’m going upstairs to take a shower.” Jungkook’s father sighs, “No fighting while I’m gone.”

He heads upstairs and the remaining people downstairs began to unwind. Hoseok was getting pointers from Jimin who was teaching him how to play the game they were playing earlier. Suga was back to sleeping on the reclining chair while Namjoon and Seokjin were talking about something.

“Do you think that biting someone can make them mates?” Jiyoo asks curiously, looking down at her own hands before glancing up at Jungkook and Taehyung who remained.

Jungkook shrugged and Taehyung said nothing. There was something off about Taehyung though. It was as if he was entranced by Jiyoo’s hands as she looked them over. Jungkook didn’t know why he was so out of it until the question was sprung.

“Do you want to try it?” Taehyung asks abruptly, looking at Jiyoo with wide eyes.

Jungkook immediately shook his head and made a move to grab Jiyoo away from Taehyung. Too bad he was a fraction of a second too late, only being able to grab one arm as Taehyung held the other.

With wide eyes, Jiyoo tries pulling herself away from Taehyung. She finds herself slowly losing the strength in her arms the more she looks into Taehyung’s eyes. He was so serious in contrast to how he usually acted. His strong stare didn’t completely phase her though. “W-Wait, but Uncle said-”

“We’re just testing it.” Taehyung says, eyes not leaving her own.

The staring was starting to get a little creepy now, but the only person that noticed was Jungkook. Jiyoo and Taehyung were just staring at one another, neither one making any sounds or moving in the slightest.

Something about the situation makes Jiyoo feel the urge to smile. When she does, Taehyung thinks that’s her signal of saying it’s okay.

He grabs her hand gingerly and puts the tip of her pointer finger in his mouth, gently biting down on her finger. It didn’t hurt, but as soon as he’d done it, Jiyoo yanked her hand back. She let out a quiet gasp as Taehyung stared at her anxiously.

“What the hell hyung?” Jungkook half screams. He pushes Taehyung back, earning the attention of the rest of the Alphas in the room.

“She said I could!” Taehyung says quickly, looking at Jiyoo who doesn’t say a word to defend him or argue with him.

“What happened?” Namjoon’s question came out as an order, his eyes burning holes into the Taehyung as he refused to talk.

In contrast, Jungkook was happy to answer Namjoon’s question. “Taehyung just bit Jiyoo!”

The air turned stale as everyone crowded around Jiyoo. Jimin was the quickest, dropping his game in an instant to analyze the damage. “Are you alright? Do you feel any different?”

All eyes were on Jiyoo as she took a look at herself. There was a small indentation on her right pointer finger where Taehyung had nipped her. Other than that, nothing else seemed different. She shakes her head and Jimin sighs in relief before turning to glare at Taehyung.

“Are you crazy? You almost mated with her!”

Taehyung’s mouth is slightly ajar, “I don’t feel any different either though! What gives?”

“Maybe you didn’t bite her hard enough?” Hoseok says as he shrugs his shoulders. There’s a hidden meaning in his words and some of the others hear it, shooting Hoseok mean glares.

“The process must not have gone through, thank god.” Seokjin sighs, slumping back into his seat as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

“It didn’t work anyways.” Taehyung sulked, eyes downcast. He knew what he was getting himself into, but Taehyung couldn’t help but feel like he’d failed despite it just being an experiment. “I don’t know why you’re all getting mad at me.”

“What if you two became mates? Were you even thinking about the consequences?” Jimin asked, almost yelling. “How could you be so stupid Taehyung?”

To answer his questions, Taehyung continued to look down at the floor. A small grimace was visible on his face. “I’d make a great mate...” He mumbles under his breath, hands curling into fists as he feels wronged by Jimin’s harsh words.

Jimin might not have heard him, but Jungkook did. He makes sure that Jiyoo is a safe distance away from Taehyung before facing him. “Think before you act. She would’ve had to have been bonded to everyone because of your recklessness.”

Taehyung lost it after that.

“That’s what we’ve been trying to tell YOU this whole time!” Taehyung exploded, eyes wide as he yelled at Jungkook. “We all know you want to be Jiyoo’s mate, but you’re the one who’s too stupid to realize it!”

“I do not!” Jungkook retaliates, his eyes darting from Taehyung to Jiyoo, who was sitting awkwardly on the side.

“Then what would do you if I bonded with her?” Taehyung’s voice was commanding, as if he were challenging Jungkook.

“You can’t.” Jungkook growled. He pushes forward until he was close enough to push Taehyung back.

It was just his luck that at that very moment, his father had come downstairs. He headed over to where Jungkook and Taehyung were before placing a palm on their foreheads, throwing them back until they were forcefully pushed apart.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I don’t have the patience to deal with it today.” Jungkook’s father says blandly, not looking either of them in the eye before heading into the living room to watch TV.

“But Taehyung bit her!” Jungkook argues, not liking how his father just wanted to throw the problem under the rug.

Jungkook’s father takes a moment to look Jiyoo and Taehyung over. He eyes Taehyung a bit longer than he looked Jiyoo over, mostly glaring at the later for doing something stupid. “I already told you guys that I’m still unsure if I want Jungkook and Jiyoo as mates.”

Jungkook’s jaw drops, feeling as if his father had thrown the blame back at him. “I didn’t even bite her! It was Tae-”

“And if I don’t even trust my own son, what makes you think I’d trust you, Taehyung?”

Taehyung takes a step back as the sheer force of Jungkook’s father’s pheromones intimidate him. It felt as though he was being strangled and yet there was nothing around his neck or anywhere near it. Jungkook’s father raises an eyebrow, waiting for Taehyung’s response. The latter shakes his head and bows his head, stuttering out an apology that sounded more like a jumbled mess.

“Drop it today guys.” Jungkook’s father warns, his eyes locked on the TV as he searched for a show to watch.

Jungkook opened his mouth to argue, but felt a small tug on his arm. He looks down and sees Jiyoo shaking her head, silently telling him to leave it alone. There was a small wave of relief that washed through Jungkook in that moment. He was upset, but at the same time glad? Glad that Jiyoo wasn’t being awkward with him after all of that. It was always after they discussed “mating” did something bad happen.

Giving Taehyung a small glare, he turns around and takes Jiyoo off to the side of the room to play games. Namjoon made sure that Taehyung stayed away from the two for the rest of the day, scolding him for bringing up such a sensitive topic knowing that it would make Jungkook upset and make Jiyoo uncomfortable.

For the rest of the day until they’d left, Taehyung sat and sulked on the chair in the corner of the room. He watched Jiyoo and Jungkook converse, feeling his chest tighten whenever they’d do any sort of skinship. It wasn’t his fault that Jungkook was being immature. Plus, he meant it when he said that he’d make a good mate.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t imagined being Jiyoo’s mate before anyways.

A/N: Fun fact: This chapter was weird because where I live, the paper with the red and blue lines is called ‘folder paper’, but I’m pretty sure people in the mainland call it ‘lined paper’ (I live in the US, but I also live in Hawaii lmao). Strange man. Google gives the right thing for lined paper so I just changed it to match zzzz

Also! I will still be calling their little group Bangtan because calling them Beyond the Scene or Beyond is weird lmao. Thankss for understandinggg

I hope you all liked this chapter! It’ll get a bit more interesting later ahahaaa (I'll update every Wednesday and Saturday now if you didn't know)