.. CHAPTER 3 ..

Jimin stood in the small shower cubicle, his hand rested on one wall as water dripped down his hairs and back. He was not sure how long he had been standing there… or how long he planned to stay there… because it had long been established that one could not drown himself in the shower no matter how hard he tries.

Abruptly, Jimin’s body went rigid as the sliding door of the shower cubicle opened and in slipped a figure Jimin had long acquainted with; thus he need not turn around to confirm whether it was him or not. Jimin was at that moment but he thought it didn’t matter after the last night… Jungkook had seen all there was to see or even more than that, in a manner of speaking.

Jimin’s muscles contracted painfully when Jungkook’s warm hands ran down the length of his pale back.

“How are you feeling?” Jungkook’s voice was far too gentle and far too near Jimin’s ear for the other to think rationally but the Omega had chosen to keep his mouth shut anyway. A length of silence stretched between them in which Jungkook’s hands didn’t stop in their ministration like they were trying to memorize every curve of Jimin’s back.

“Did…” Jimin cleared his parched throat to make his husky morning voice brighten up a bit. “Did you felt it?”

“Felt what?” Jungkook’s question made something smash inside the Omega.

“Didn’t you felt the pull of imprint last night?” Jimin asked after braving himself to just say what he wanted to say. He didn’t plan to keep everything bottled up this time around.

“No,” Jungkook’s monosyllable answer made Jimin’s knees to weaken as harsh reality crashed over the poor Omega. Jimin closed his eyes as he leaned his head on the tiled wall of the cubicle, a sob threatening to slipped pass his lips because he had been expecting a different answer, in all honesty. “I didn’t feel the pull of imprint, last night, because I had already felt it three years ago on the day I turned eighteen and found you playing around with a few young whelps of your town, at the edge of the forest.”

Jimin swirled around at neck-breaking speed and stupidly gaped at Jungkook.

“But… but…” Jimin couldn’t wrap his mind around what the younger had just uttered. “But then why…?”

“We, that is to say, the Alphas at Sundown Alpha Pack, had been blessed with a few selective abilities, being the descendant of purest Alphas,” Jungkook said, carefully choosing his words but his eyes kept boring directly in Jimin’s puzzled gaze. “One of those abilities is the control over our scent. I never let out my scent after I reached of age thus you couldn’t imprint on me but, of course, it didn’t stop me from imprinting on you.”

“Why… would you…?” Jimin asked in confusion as his electric blue eyes searched Jungkook’s hazel one. “Why didn’t you want me to imprint on you?”

“Because you hated me,” Jungkook’s reply was not what Jimin was expecting if his baffled expressions were taken into account. “You made sure to show you hated me… I mean, of course, it was all playful bullying before I reached of age but on the Festa after my coming of age, I wanted to let you smell my scent… I planned to take you away from the clearing… hoping you won’t be disgusted at the fact that I was your destined mate but you snapped at me for no reason the moment we met. It seemed your hate for me increased over the year and I didn’t know why you would hate me so much.”

“Of course I hated you!” Suddenly Jimin shouted, fixing the younger with a glower. “I waited for you to reach of age, hoping over hopes that somehow we would imprint on each other but when I met you in the clearing on the night I was anticipating the most, I tried and tried to imprint on you but couldn’t… then I realized that if I didn’t imprint on you then surely you would imprint on someone else… you would have a mate hanging on your arm soon and that won’t be me… I realized someone else would be the sole owner of your love and care. So, I couldn’t do anything but to hate you for not being mine, Jeon Jungkook!”

Belatedly Jimin realized what he had let out in his passion and hurt, but it was far too late to slap a hand over his mouth when Jungkook was looking at him with those wide admonishing eyes. Jumbled and embarrassed, Jimin pushed pass Jungkook and perhaps the younger was in shock himself, he didn’t stop Jimin from rushing out of the bathroom as fast as his slipping feet would carry him.

O-o-o-o-O

Jimin quickly threw on the garments and succeeded in slithering out of his room just when Jungkook came out of the bathroom. The Omega unheeded the soft call of his name and took two steps at a time to reach the Mansion’s atrium and had half a mind to rush out of the house and go hang out with a few friends of his when the loud call from the Prime Alpha, Kim Namjoon, made him come to a skidding halt.

“Yes Alpha?” Jimin queried civilly.

“We are having a family breakfast,” Namjoon informed chirpily just when Jungkook came down the stairs. “I was coming to get you and Jungkook to join us; good thing you both are already up and about. Now come on, everyone is waiting for you two.”

Namjoon being the Prime Alpha had several duties to fulfill which mainly consisted of protecting the members of his clan along with solving several small issues of the fellows. Thus the reason why it was not a daily occurrence of family mealtimes in Echlipdise Mansion but still the prime Alpha tried his level best to make some time for his family whenever he could.

Jimin knew this incidence was fairly significant to each member of his family thus he followed quietly, trying to elude all eyes that drifted toward him and Jungkook and took his seat on one side of his Alpha Parent while the other side was occupied by Prime Alpha's mates, Taehyung and his mate. Dutifully Jungkook sat beside Jimin. They started eating in suffocating silence.

“There is something different about you,” Namjoon comment after a while of observing Jimin closely, making the younger mab to stare at his Alpha Parent in slight confusion. “There is a tint of something new in your scent.”

Suddenly realization was drawn on Jimin but he would be damn to let out all the fine details in front of his Omega Parent because knowing Seokjin, he would be over the moon at the news of Jimin finally imprinting, not even caring to see how Jimin felt about it.

“Ahh…” Jimin gave a pretended exclamation. “It might be because I lost my ity since I was last night.”

“?” Taehyung choked on the scrambled eggs he had been shoving in his mouth.

Jimin noticed how Jungkook’s knuckles went moderately rigid and pale around the silverware he held in his fist, giving the former man a sick pleasure. Served him right!

“Isn’t that’s what it’s called when one is taken against his will?” Jimin inquired innocently, making his blue eyes grow wide and puppy-like. The surrounding air went all still and tension-filled and Jimin tried his best to stop the smile threatening to break on his lips because the shock expression on Seokjin's face, appall on Hoseok's face and pure anger on Yoongi’s was exactly what the younger Omega was aiming for. Jungkook would be in unfathomable trouble now.

“I didn’t realize…” Jungkook started with caution, turning a bit in his seat to face Jimin while carefully avoiding anyone else’s reproachful gaze. “All those breathy moans of my name were supposed to be your S.O.S call. I thought ‘Yes Jungkook’ or ‘Faster Jungkook’ meant I was doing precisely what you wanted me to do… my bad, I should have stopped in the middle to ask how exactly you felt about it. Rest assure next time I would be more careful about-”

“Now, now,” Yoongi interrupted with a kinda-sorta amused frown decorating his pale face. “Please spare us the details of your behind the door adventures… trust me none of us wants to know any of that.”

But by the look on Seokjin and Taehyung’s face, Jimin knew they had a different point of view than Alpha Yoongi. Seokjin’s wide hungry eyes and Taehyung mischievous boxy smile made an extremely embarrassed Jimin fidget in his seat.

“Jimin, that was not a very nice joke,” Namjoon repented his elder son in a gentle voice but the grimace on his face looked grave. “Jungkook is our guest and savior; we should be thankful for his help rather than-”

The sound of a silver spoon hitting a metal plate echoed around the large dining area with Jimin’s chair screeching loudly when the Omega pushed it backward. Throwing a single glare at Jungkook, Jimin was seen rushing out of the room leaving stun silence in his wake.

Namjoon shared a surprised look with his first mate because even if Jimin was spoiled rotten- since he was the eldest child and omega so naturally, his Parents bend to his every cute whim- but the young boy was never rude to his Alpha Parent. Jimin had always regarded Namjoon with a lot of respect. Something that Jimin himself was quite aware of, the reason why he ran toward a nearby Forest and changed into his wolf form in order to get as far away as possible so he could growl and whine loudly for acting out like that. He had let out his frustration of Jungkook at his Alpha Parent… and that was unforgivable according to the little Omega.

Jimin was far too ashamed to return home until well after midnight. He went straight in search for his Alpha Parent, who was thankfully in Seokjin’s room that night. Jimin stood watching his Parents sleep side by side, wondering how lucky they were to have fallen in love and mate at such a young age. Neither of them had played any dirty tricks on their mates.

Exhausted, mentally and physically, Jimin slowly crawled in between his parents. Both of them stirred at the unexpected movement nevertheless a single sniff assured them who had barged in between the couple. Jimin cuddled in Namjoon’s strong embrace and mutter a small ‘I am sorry’ with his voice thick and heavy.

“It’s okay,” Namjoo