Im Jaebum was the son of the alpha wolf of his pack. He was educated to be a strong leader like his father. At the age of 10, Jaebum could speak various languages, was stronger than any kid of his age and had the politeness of any grown man.

His parents were so proud of him. Anytime his father had a meeting with another pack’s leader, he brought Jaebum with him, not only to show his well-educated son, but also because Jaebum could always learn something new from it.

When he was fourteen, some boys of his pack tried to drag him into a fight. But Jaebum refused to fight and thanks to his dialog capacity the boys left him alone. What Jaebum didn’t know was that people started to talk behind his back calling him a coward because even with his strength he refused to beat some kids.

At first, it didn’t bother him or his parents. Jaebum’s father always tried diplomacy upon violence. The pack wasn’t pacific, there were troubles; but it happened on every pack. Jaebum’s father taught him to avoid conflicts when he could, and to only use violence if he needed to.

When he was sixteen Jaebum’s life took a degree of 180º. He finished high school early because he received more classes before. To celebrate his graduation, some boys cornered him at the school’s door and they hit Jaebum. He refused to fight and tried to talk, but the other guys ignored him, so Jaebum only let the guys hurt him.

When he got home he was a mess. All his body ached and he was both thirsty and hungry. His parents weren’t home, so Jaebum painfully made himself some meal. After that, he lied on the sofa and he fell asleep.

He woke up feeling his body shaking and a voice calling his name. It was his mother shaking him while crying. Jaebum quickly stood up and hugged his mom who was sobbing hard.

“Mom, what happened?” he asked.

His mother sobbed a little more before answering his son.

“Your father is dead”.

Jaebum’s physical pain was nothing compared to the pain he felt on his heart. His father, the man who taught him everything and was proud and always by his side, was dead. Jaebum didn’t want to believe it, but the trembling mess on his arms that was his mom told him otherwise.

But the worst part of all was that the person who killed his dad was no other than one of the kids Jaebum refused to fight when he was fourteen. He knew the boy, Kim Jeonghan, a problematic kid from a beta family.

Jaebum’s blood was boiling inside of him. He wanted to kill the kid for what he had done. He released his mom and was about to leave when she caught him by the arm.

“Don’t, Jaebum. Your father wouldn’t want this for you”.

“He’s dead, mom!”

His mother stared at him with pleading eyes, and finally Jaebum let it go and returned with his mother, hugging her and crying too.

Only they and his loyal man were at his funeral. Jaebum’s father lost support from few beta families due to his policy of diplomacy. Only the ones who truly believed on a united pack with no violence stayed with them.

Jaebum knew what they wanted: a new leader, someone who would restore the no violence policy. And they wanted Jaebum. He was the vivid image of his father, and he had the strength to fight Jeonghan and win.

But Jaebum wasn’t like that. He didn’t want to be a leader. He only wanted to live in peace. He wasted a year cursing Jeonghan about his father’s death until he understood that the real culprit was the tradition of killing the leader to take the power. Power was what killed his father, and he wasn’t taking that risk.

Jeonghan mocked him and tried to provoke him, without succeeding. Jaebum knew his game and didn’t want to join in. He kept waiting for Jaebum to exit from his house to go anywhere just to say disgusting things to him.

“You’re a coward like your father”.

“He died because he was weak, just like you”.

“You refuse to fight and you call yourself a man?”

“You’re just a loser”.

He had heard things like that a lot, but he continued with his life anyways. He and his mother had a life before, like they weren’t anyone special. His mom worked as a medic and he started working as his assistant. They didn’t depend on his father money, so now they hadn’t any problem on living on their own.

Jaebum knew his mom was being bullied like him, but she didn’t say anything; neither did Jaebum. They just went with life like nothing happened.

But as his mother was mated with his father, she started to get weaker with each day and was dying slowly. At first Jaebum didn’t notice until his mom couldn’t do normal things like clean the table or cook. His mother had to tell him what was happening to her; that she was dying because she was linked to his father and he died by unnatural causes. That was the painful way Jaebum knew about mating.

His mother died a few weeks after his father. He was accompanied by his loyal man, but Jaebum knew they still prayed that Jaebum would take revenge and take the leadership back. Jaebum didn’t have the strength to do anything anymore; his heart was broken and his body was tired. But that didn’t stop the others from bugging him about taking action, to do something more than just mourn on his disgrace and self-pity.

So he did.

He left the pack and ran away the furthest he could.

And then he found Namjoon and he brought him to his pack.

At first he was hesitant. He just ran away from the pack he was born in, and joined another without knowing anything about it; but Namjoon assured him that they were pacific. And he was loyal to his words.

With the years he got used to everyone. He never had a fight although he continued getting stronger. He had friends in there like Namjoon, Jimin, Seokjin, Taehyung… who helped him to heal his heart. In Namjoon’s pack everyone was nice to him; everyone helped each other and took care of everyone. It was very different from his previous one, where everyone just looked for his benefit without thinking about the others. He felt like he belonged to that pack instead of the one he was born in.

He was twenty years old when he was given a mate. Everyone had one: Hoseok had Jimin, Namjoon had Yoongi, Seokjin had Jungkook… he didn’t feel ready to have another life under his responsibility, but Namjoon told him it would be good for him. So Jaebum finally accepted having a mate.

He was taller than Jaebum and had brown hair. He was a year younger than him and was called Kim Yugyeom. His parents were killed by humans and he just joined the pack. He was moving to Jaebum’s apartment and that pleased him; he was living alone in there when there were another two dorms more.

The day Yugyeom moved in, Jaebum left the house early to buy supplies for his new roommate. When he returned home, Yugyeom was sitting on the couch talking with Namjoon. Yugyeom joined the pack two days ago and was staying at the nursery because he had some injuries from his fight against the humans who murdered his family. He quickly recovered and was ready to start a new life with Jaebum.

Jaebum admired Yugyeom’s attitude. It had just happened, and even when anyone could tell Yugyeom was hurt, he tried to be calm and talkative to other people. He left the bags on the countertop and walked to Namjoon and Yugyeom. He saluted them and they returned it.

“Yugyeom, this is your new mate Im Jaebum. He will take good care of you”.

“Nice to meet you” Yugyeom said.

“Same” Jaebum said while shaking Yugyeom’s hand.

Namjoon left them and Jaebum started to put everything on his place. Yugyeom quickly offered himself to help, and Jaebum let him. They talked about themselves while doing it. They continued talking at lunch time and even at the afternoon.

Yugyeom listened to Jaebum’s stories amazed. Jaebum told him about his previous pack and how he ended in there and Yugyeom told Jaebum about him. They felt like they had a lot of things in common.

They got along pretty well. Yugyeom obeyed Jaebum on everything. He truly admired the older and how he remained calm when the problems came. How the older wasn’t only strong physically but also mentally. On the other side, Jaebum valued that Yugyeom avoided any type of discussion with Jaebum or any other member. They were similar; none of them wanted troubles but they were open towards the others.

Yugyeom was an easy person to befriend. The younger had a lot of funny commentaries and seemed to know what to say at any moment. Few years later, Jaebum was fully trusting his partner, and Yugyeom did the same with Jaebum.

Jaebum had his first fight when he was 22. At first he didn’t want to, but the other guy messed up with Yugyeom and made Jaebum truly angry. Yugyeom was more than a buddy to him; he was his brother. They understood each other without needing any words and had good coordination. Jaebum fought with the guy and won easily. He surprised himself enjoying the victory, thinking that maybe some violence wasn’t that bad; it tasted better if it was for justice.

Jaebum didn’t believe on justice. Even when his family was good people, they all died except Jaebum who became no one to his pack. But that night, he felt like he needed to make the other pay for what he did to Yugyeom.

There was a thick line between justice and revenge, and Jaebum was actually ready to cross it the night he had a collision with Jeonghan and some of his boys. They recognized each other instantly. Jaebum and Yugyeom were exiting the fighting club while Jeonghan was entering. They stared at each other. Jaebum’s gaze was that intense that even Yugyeom felt like burning and they weren’t looking at each other.

“Im Jaebum” Jeonghan said, “I really missed you”.

“Go to hell, Jeonghan”.

Jeonghan faked a sad face.

“That’s not the way to salute your friend that hasn’t seen you for years”.

“You’re not my friend. And you don’t deserve anything”.

Jeonghan laughed hard, and some of his boys seconded him.

“And you, Jaebum? Do you deserve something? You just ran away from your pack like the rat you are. You’re not only a loser,” he paused, staring now at Yugyeom who had identified the other and was sending daggers to him with his gaze, “you’re also a ”.

Yugyeom wanted to punch the other for saying such hard things to his brother, but Jaebum stopped him.

“Don’t join him. That’s what he wants” Jaebum whispered to him.

Jeonghan clapped his hands and both guys looked at him, angrily.

“Hey boy,” he said, pointing at Yugyeom, “don’t get too attached to him. He can’t protect the people he loves. He’s just a coward”.

Jaebum’s blood was boiling. He wanted to punch the other but he didn’t want to join his game. He took all the self-control he could and dragged Yugyeom out of there.

“You know I’m right!” Jeonghan shouted and started to laugh.

During the trip back to home, Yugyeom didn’t say anything. He was clearly mad and pissed off, and Jaebum feared that it was his fault.

“Yugyeom, are you mad at me?” he finally asked.

Yugyeom didn’t answer, but he shook his head. Silence filled again the car until finally the younger spoke.

“I’m mad at that guy. Who the hell he thinks he is, treating you like that?” Jaebum was going to answer him, but Yugyeom continued talking. “I know about him, Jaebum, and I know it was for the best not to fight him. But you can’t stop me from being angry about it. He said really bad things about you, Jaebum. And we both know they aren’t true”.

They remained silent for a while until they got home.

“Yugyeom, I’m not the type of man you think I am” he said while closing the car.

They both walked to their home. When they were finally in, Yugyeom filled two glasses of water and offered one to Jaebum. They sat on the couch while drinking it.

“I know the type of man you are, Jaebum” Yugyeom said. “You’re a caring one. You don’t want troubles with anyone. You have a huge heart and because of that you don’t have self-esteem and you think you deserve all the bad things that happen to you. But you don’t. You’re strong and kind and you put everyone’s needs before you; what it’s good but also bad, but the point is, you’re the best person I have ever met”.

Jaebum was speechless. Even when Yugyeom was the younger, he sometimes talked like a wise old man.

“How could you know?” he asked the younger.

Yugyeom finished his glass before answering.

“You are the type of man I want to be. You’ve always been”.

He didn’t met Jeonghan any time after that, to Jaebum’s relief. But his words were impressed in his heart. Maybe he was a coward. He lost everything he loved, so he was definitely a loser too. And a ? Well, he never cared about that.

Yugyeom started working at securing the pack’s territory for foreigner invasions while Jaebum sometimes helped Bonnie at the nursery and started to study mechanics on his own. They still spent an amount of time together and the bond between them was stronger than ever.

Jaebum would never forget the day he offered his services to help the newbies to move in. It seemed like the previous night there was an interesting fight and a girl beat Yoongi. The girl was proposed to join the pack, and Jaebum agreed, because he really didn’t mind having more members.

But no one warned him about her roommate, that living sunshine called Choi Youngjae.

When they arrived to her house, Jungkook jumped out the car in excitement. The younger seemed so interested and happy about the girl, but Jaebum didn’t say anything. They reached the door and Jungkook rang the bell.

They waited for a minute, Jungkook swinging on his feet in anticipation and Jaebum just scratching his neck. Then the door opened, and Jaebum’s heart stopped beating.

In front of him appeared the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. The boy was smiling at them even when he didn’t know who they were or what they wanted. He had brown hair with a headband that only made him look even cuter if possible.

“Hi!” the living sunshine said, and in Jaebum’s ears it sounded like a perfect melody.

“Hi! My name is Jungkook and we came to help you move!” the younger said. Jaebum was still dazzled by the guy so he let Jungkook talk.

“Oh, thank you for coming! My name is Choi Youngjae!” the boy let them in and offered a sit on the counter.

Jungkook pushed Jaebum in, waking him from his daydream about Youngjae. He cursed himself when he realized that Youngjae was smiling and staring at him, waiting for an introduction.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Im Jaebum”.

“Nice to meet you, Jaebum!” Youngjae took his hand and shook it. He was so cheerful and happy that made Jaebum instinctively smile.

“M-My pleasure” he murmured.

“Do you want something to drink?”

Jaebum took the place next to Jungkook on the couch and sat in there.

“Maybe some cola?” Jungkook asked, and Youngjae nodded.

“Do you want one too, Jaebum?”

Every time Youngjae said his name, Jaebum felt his heart melt on pure happiness. He didn’t know wha