Chapter Text
“Did he calm down?” Seokjin asked, keeping his voice low while he nervously looked at the boy now sleeping under Yoongi’s watchful eye.
“More like passed out after exhausting himself by crying,” Hoseok commented gloomily from his spot near the window. His face was darker than the others were used to, but at least his scent was no longer filled with that fury it had held earlier. If anything, his scent was now just as worried and confused as the rest of them.
As soon as they had both calmed down, Jimin and Taehyung had told them that they had heard some noise from the nestroom, and caught Jungkook inside. Taehyung had tried to stop him, but it was as if the other had been unable to even hear him. He kept crying and kicking the nest, and then Jimin had rushed in to stop him, but as soon as he saw what he was doing to the omegas’ nest, he could not hold back his alpha anymore.
The rest of the tale was very confused, but the only detail that both Jimin and Taehyung were absolutely sure upon, was that Jungkook had looked absolutely devastated while he kicked the nest and stomped over it, like he was not in control of his own actions, like he was fueled by a type of anger he had never felt before.
And yet, Taehyung had pointed out quietly, he had noticed how Jungkook seemed to fight against his own movements, as if he was trying to stop himself all the time, and the damage done to the nest had been indeed large, but not completely destructive.
When Hoseok and Yoongi came out of Jungkook’s room, Taehyung offered to stay with him, but the rest of the pack agreed that maybe it would not be a good idea. Whatever was going on, Jungkook’s reactions around the young omega were still too imprevisible to leave the two of them alone. Jimin had not tried to volunteer, and everyone could see how still shaken by his loss of control he was, clearly fearing that it might happen again with Jungkook and him alone in a room.
None of them knew what the hell had happened in that room, the only thing that was clear to all of them, however, was that neither of the three had thought for even a second to hurt the others. Not until they had been in control of their own bodies and minds, anyway.
Namjoon’s hands trembled slightly around the warm cup he was holding, and looking to the side, he noticed that Hoseok’s were as well. He let go of his cup to put his right hand over the omega’s, smiling warmly at him.
In front of him, both Taehyung and Jimin were cuddled up to Yoongi, who had by then given up on trying to bring his own cup to his lips in favor of holding them and comforting them.
Seokjin tried to speak up for what looked like the eight time, but just like the other times, he gave up with a sigh and instead lowered his eyes on his cup again, his knuckles going white with how tightly he was holding it. Namjoon wished he was sitting close enough to reach out and comfort him as well.
He was feeling like shit, absolutely clueless on how to help Jungkook and his own pack, and he could only imagine how it must feel for Seokjin: keeping the pack calm and preventing huge fights from breaking out was his primal instinct, he was supposed to know how to handle tension, stress, even encounters with the pack members’ inner wolves… but this? They did not even know what they were dealing with , how could the beta help when he did not even know what the problem was?!
“Have you… Has any of you ever heard of anything like this happening before?”
Yoongi’s voice was strained, but it was calm enough to work like a balm on Namjoon’s nerves. He shook his head, but he still tried to force himself to remember if he had ever maybe read about it, or saw it on the news, or anything, really.
Taehyung shook his head as well, cuddling closer to Yoongi who just let him without even pretending to complain as he normally would.
Jimin seemed deep in thought, as was Seokjin, but the beta only frowned after a while and shrugged, shaking his head as if to push away some kind of negative thought.
“It’s not really the same, but…” Hoseok spoke up slowly, as if pushing out the words was hurting him, and Namjoon squeezed his hand encouragingly. “It reminded me of something. It’s not really the same, and probably it means n-nothing…” the dancer had to stop talking and take another deep breath, clearly fighting back the aftershocks of what he had seen in the nestroom. “But I heard of omegas ruining their mates’ nests sometimes.”
Taehyung made a small, quiet gasp, and Hoseok’s eyes immediately shot at him, full of sympathy and understanding:
“I know, baby. What I’m going to say might not be pleasant to hear, but I need you to know this will never be the case with me and you, okay?”
Taehyung’s eyes were wide as he hugged Yoongi’s arm tighter and he nodded at Hoseok.
The older omega nodded back and then looked around the table, his eyes finally settling on Yoongi, who had been the one to ask the question first.
“It’s a kind of behavior that can happen for example between an omega in the pack and newly-presented ones, or if a new one is added to the pack, because the omega starts fearing that the new one will replace them, or maybe it can happen because the rest of the pack is too focused on the newcomer and the older one feels neglected… They act up and lash out and even destroy their own nest or the other omega’s to beg their mates to notice that something is wrong. Or because they are so mad at the new omega that they– they want them to feel unwelcome. They want them to know they will never be safe in that household…”
Before he was even done speaking, tears were streaming down Hoseok’s face, and he could no longer continue.
There was no need to, though. He had explained enough.
Seokjin was nodding with his eyes closed by Hoseok’s other side.
“That is what I was thinking of too. The Forgotten Omega Syndrome.”
Namjoon’s stomach clenched uncomfortably at the name itself, and he pulled Hoseok closer to himself, letting the other hide his face against him, pretty much as Yoongi was doing with Taehyung, who had broken into silent sobs once again. Jimin was leaning across the older alpha to comfort his soulmate, but his eyes were damp too.
Forgotten Omega , the mere sound of it was enough of an abomination for their inner wolves to squirm uncomfortably and seek to comfort and find comfort in their packmates.
“But… Jungkookie is not an omega,” he finally managed to say, a little unsurely, voicing the doubts the others had too. “How can we apply this- Syndrome, to what happened today?”
“M-Maybe he feels neglected be-because of me.”
Taehyung’s voice had become impossibly small, but he was doing his best to keep it steady. He looked at each of them with a worried, pained expression.
“W-We were focused on my heat and then the adjusting a-and you were all worried and busy with me and he… maybe he feels…”
“Maybe he feels left out.”
Hoseok sat up with a small startled scream when Jungkook’s voice came from the threshold, and Taehyung immediately turned his face to stare at his only dongsaeng, worry written all over his features.
Jimin and Seokjin both stood up quickly and made their way to the maknae, while Yoongi locked eyes with him.
“Do you?” he asked, calmly and so, so softly. “Feel left out?”
Jungkook’s lower lip wobbled dangerously, but the younger boy took a few deep breaths through his nose and managed to stop it. Instead, he nodded slowly at Yoongi’s question.
“Baby, I’m so sorry,” Seokjin started, taking one step closer to Jungkook with his arms slowly opening in an invitation for a hug, in a request to offer comfort and receive it in doing so at the same time.
Jungkook seemed hesitant at first, glancing at each of them with his large, innocent eyes.
“Kookie?” Taehyung asked him, worried.
“I… I did– What I did is…” the maknae bit his lower lip and valiantly tried to stop himself from crying like he had before, but this time he failed to do so. Big, warm tears rolled down his still round and soft cheeks, and while everyone in the pack wanted to reach out and wipe them, they knew their touch would not be welcomed yet. Jungkook clearly still had something to say. He looked at Hoseok, and then Taehyung, and then back and forth between the two of them. “Yo-Your nest,” he said in a choked whine. “I am so, so sorry for what I did to your nest. I don’t know– I did not know what I was doing until I heard Jimin-hyung growl. I did not… I don’t– if you hate me, if you want me out of the pack, out of the group, I understand.”
Everyone gasped in surprise, but Jungkook’s eyes were fixed on Hoseok as he said that.
He was the Pack Omega, after all. His word was law. If he said he wanted Jungkook out of the pack, then it was almost certain he would be thrown out.
And while Taehyung had clearly been the one the gesture had been aimed at, Hoseok had been offended too. It was within his rights to make that request.
In all honesty, he had also been almost mad enough to make it, a few hours earlier, just before he noticed the terror in Jungkook’s eyes.
Now, he shook his head at the maknae, and he sat back in his seat.
“Jungkook-ah,” he sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. “I want you nowhere else but here with us.”
The maknae’s eyes filled with surprise and relief, and he whipped his head towards Taehyung for confirmation, hope now slowly beaming in his eyes, but still fearful.
Taehyung sputtered a little when he found the question directly addressed to him.
“A-Are you seriously– Jungkook-ah did you perhaps hit your head?! Of course I only want you here with us!! My goodness, Jungkookie. I was so scared, you looked so–”
“I’m sorry for scaring you, Taehyungie-hyung. I would have never hurt you, I swear. I don’t know what happened to me, but I would never lift a fing–”
“I was not scared of you, Jungkook!” Taehyung snapped, standing up so quickly he must have made himself dizzy. He did not show it, but Yoongi steadied him with one hand anyway. “I was scared for you. I don’t care about the nest. We will build it again and ten times better anyway. But I care about you and you… you have been acting weird ever since I presented! With Jimin, with the hyungs, with me. You have been avoiding me , Jungkook-ah. Me ! I am your best friend, and we don’t fight, we get in trouble together, we can never be parted! And you just… you shut me out, Kookie. Why did you shut me out?!”
As if a dam had finally broken, Jungkook let himself cry openly now, letting himself fall sideways in Seokjin’s embrace, but soon enough his entire pack was wrapped around him, all trying to offer whatever comfort they could.
He was lost, he was afraid and confused. He had done something terrible and considered by many unforgivable, but here were his hyungs, his pack… These wonderful people who had found themselves handling a scrawny teenager with big dreams and hopes but a terrible temper, and slowly eroded all his edges with their love and affection. They corrected him when he was wrong, they got mad at him if needed, but they were also capable of forgiving, something Jungkook did not often know how to do, especially when it came to himself.
He knew he still had a long way to go, but he knew for certain that he loved these people. He loved them so much it hurt, so much he barely knew what to do with himself and how to tell them.
Words hardly seemed enough.
And after Taehyung’s presentation, he had felt terrified , because now they were all presented. They were all adults.
They were an actual pack . One where each had a role and a place.
But Jungkook still had none. He was just human, with no instincts to guide him, no secret inner voice showing him the way… He had had Taehyung by his side before, but now he was alone.
Alone in that bedroom that had once been filled with laughter and whispers and anything they had shared.
That’s why he had felt resentment grow towards the nestroom, more and more, the thought becoming almost an obsession for him.
He wanted Taehyung back.
He wanted someone to understand him, to be like him again.
Or… he wanted to become like them, he wanted his presentation to happen soon, he wanted to join them, to have what they had.
Mates could feel each other’s feelings. They could sense each other’s scents and see if something was wrong.
It felt like the hyungs had an entirely different secret language among them, and Jungkook was left out of it.
And now it was all finally spilling out, with those hyungs wrapped around him, some crying like him, some dry-eyed but ready to offer comforting words and soft touches.
He had no idea where that anger had come from, it had been so sudden and hot , his whole body had felt like burning up, adrenaline running across his veins and fogging his mind.
He wanted to fight and break and take back what was his .
The more he described those feelings, the more Yoongi, Namjoon and Jimin exchanged knowing glances among themselves, but this time Jungkook did not notice. He had Seokjin’s wrist pressed to his nose, and even though he could not really sense anything coming from him besides the natural perfume of his beta hyung’s skin, he still appreciated the fact that he was being treated exactly like one of them.
He would eventually have his own instincts and his own subgender, he knew it now. He just had to endure, and remind himself how loved and cherished he was.
The next day, Yoongi found Jungkook standing awkwardly by the semi-closed door of the nestroom, and could not help but be endeared by the way the boy was nervously fidgeting with the sleeves of his hoodie pulled over his fingers, bouncing a little on the tip of his feet.
“Do you want to see what they’re doing?” he asked, keeping his voice low as not to startle the poor thing, that immediately turned to stare at him with his big, innocent eyes that were still too guilty for the Pack Alpha’s liking.
Yoongi could not help but feel like he had failed his youngest pack member. He should have been watching more carefully to make sure everything was alright with him, he should have imagined how hard it must have been for him to be now the only one who could not relate to anything wolf-related. He had spent what little was left of the previous night awake, thinking of all the times they had displayed pack-like behaviors in front of Jungkook. All the times they had scented each other, spent heats or ruts together, leaving him to wait until it was over, or even just used Alpha Voices or Omega Voices among themselves.
None of them had meant any harm, of course, it was all just naivety, maybe. They were so used to think of themselves as pack that they forgot they were not yet an official one. Jungkook had still not revealed his subgender, and they had not yet exchanged their mating bites because all seven of them had agreed to wait until the last one of them presented, and then a few years after that.
Now, the way Jungkook had taken to clinging to each one of them, following around to be helpful and to mimic their manners, made much more sense to Yoongi. Younger pups often did that even outside of packs, but with their parents and siblings: they started to behave like the chosen person to comfort themselves, to feel like they were not different. Sometimes, they tried to influence their own presentation like that, acting like the subgender they hoped to become, in a sort of ultimate “fake it until you make it”.
Yoongi himself had been imitating his older brother for all the last years of his childhood and pre-teenage years, feeling anxious that his brother would stop caring for his unpresented, annoying baby-brother now that he had “important Alpha stuff” to think about.
The Pack Alpha had not thought about those years until that night, and now he wanted to punch himself for not seeing the signs sooner.
Jungkook had stuck to the alphas at first, imitating their caring manners, rushing here and there to provide for anything the pack would need. Then, he had switched to the omegas’ side, spending most of the time cuddling with them and letting the others pamper him.
He had even helped Seokjin out whenever he mediated between the omegas and alphas, but he did not seem to have much of a penchant for it. Despite beta being the most obvious option with people still unpresented as they approached their twenties, Seokjin was adamant that Jungkook would definitely never be one, his instincts were “too wild” to be one, according to him.
Maybe Yoongi was a little biased, but observing their youngest pup, he definitely could see a beautiful, strong and gentle alpha in him. Possibly one who could easily claim the role of Pack Alpha from his hands, if he wanted.
But for now, he had to remind himself, Jungkook was still only little more than a teenager. Unpresented and lost, far from home and the comfort his family would have been able to provide, stuck with a pack of people not that much older than himself that were supposed to teach him things and show him the way, all while figuring it out themselves.
Mistakes were bound to happen, and Yoongi was just grateful this accident had been stopped in time for them to still make things right. They would have never forgiven themselves for failing their maknae so badly that he did something worse than just partially ruining a nest.
Jungkook was already practically taller than him, but now that they stood side by side and the maknae was folding himself a little to fit in Yoongi’s embrace and feel protected by the Pack Alpha’s presence, all Yoongi could see was the shy, quiet thirteen-year-old boy that had entered their life for the first time and immediately dug a Jungkook-shaped space in their hearts.
“I don’t want to bother them,” Jungkook mumbled quietly, “but I wanted to see if they were alright…”
Another Alpha instinct , Yoongi preened a little, before stomping down on that thought because that was definitely not the time.
“Mmh, would you like hyung to check for you?” he asked, just as quietly, holding back a laughter because he could practically sense Hoseok rolling his eyes at them from inside the nestroom.
“Um– maybe?”
With a smile, Yoongi quickly pressed his lips to Jungkook’s forehead before gently pulling away from him and tapping his knuckles against the door in a playful knock. He barely waited for Taehyung’s and Hoseok’s voices to invite him in before he nudged the door open and poked his head inside, grinning at the busy omegas.
The nestroom was already neat and clean, possibly even more than it had been before, and the nest in the middle had been rearranged to look even more comfortable and inviting, and honestly Yoongi’s alpha was very much eager to earn an invite into it as soon as possible.
“Hi there,” the Pack Alpha called out, biting back a smile when both Taehyung and Hoseok stopped what they were doing to look at him, the former with a curious smile, the other with a resigned look of fondness.
“Hi Alpha! We’re almost done with the nest, do you lik—” Taehyung’s sentence ended up muffled into Hoseok’s hand as the older alpha brought it over the younger boy’s lips.
“What did I say about not needing alphas’ validation on our nest, Taehyung-ah?” he laughed, knowing fully well that they would indeed end up asking all their alphas what they thought about their nest anyway. Some instincts were just that strong, even for omegas like them.
Freeing his face and playfully nibbling on the Pack Omega’s fingers, Taehyung grinned again:
“I was not asking his alpha, I was asking Yoongi-hyung. He has great taste anyway.”
The little shit.
Yoongi blushed at the unexpected compliment, and he knew Taehyung had done it on purpose.
“Of course I do,” he said, clearing his throat, “just look at the pack I chose.”
“ Choosing is a big word, more like you stumbled into us.”
“Technically, I was here before you, honey .”
Yoongi could hear a quiet chuckle from behind his back, and Hoseok winked at him, both pleased that their playful bantering had finally managed to get Jungkook to loosen up.
“Speaking of packs, would you two mind it if a certain adorable pup checked on you as well?” Yoongi asked, opening the door a little more until it was showing Jungkook as well.
Taehyung called out for him in delight, and everyone could see the moment Jungkook’s nervousness completely dissipated from his body, all tension leaving his muscles and his adorable, endearing, bunny smile coming back on his face.
“How long had you been standing there?” Hoseok asked him, tilting the head to the side, and smiling when Jungkook seemed a little surprised at being caught. “You are always welcome here.”
His tone was light, but everyone could feel how powerful those words were. Jungkook had to swallow back a new lump of tears, and he asked himself how had he been so lucky to find those people. People who cared about him and loved him enough to forgive him even when he was unable to do so, and showing him the way to that forgiveness. People who loved him enough to tell him you are always welcome here even after he had disrespected their sacred space, even when he had hurt their innest, most instinctive and vulnerable part.
Taehyung nodded at Hoseok’s words, confirming the invitation, and then he took one step closer.
“Actually, there is still one thing missing and we need your help for that,” he said in all seriousness, and Jungkook’s eyes went wide, his body language immediately telling how alert and ready to jump in action he was.
Yoongi did not hold back his smug smile this time.
“What is it? I’ll go get it for you right now!”
Taehyung laughed:
“I have no doubt you will, bunny. But you do not need to go anywhere, actually. We… could you give us your sweater?”
Jungkook forgot how to breathe for a second.
His sweater?
But… unpresented people like him had no reason to give their clothes to omegas for their nests, because they had no scent, no hormones that could offer any kind of comfort. The only scent he could leave on his clothes was that of his perfume or body-wash, and there was no way it would last anywhere close to how long it was supposed to.
But Taehyung seemed adamant about it, and he was even using his infamous pleading face. Jungkook had never ripped his clothes off that fast.
The moment his sweater was handed over to Taehyung, the omega squealed in delight and immediately rushed to neatly fold it and place it exactly where he had been planning to.
Jungkook looked a little dumbfounded, for it was the first time he witnessed his own clothes being cherished and placed inside a nest. He decided he loved the feeling, and no matter what he eventually presented as, he would always make sure to hand over any piece of clothing Taehyung or Hoseok required, even if that meant having to go outside only wearing his underwear (or, most likely, Namjoon’s clothes).
Hoseok had approached the two of them and was smiling too, inviting Jungkook in for a hug, which the maknae did not hesitate to take.
Once he was safely wrapped in his arms, Hoseok pressed his lips to his temple, brushing his hair with one hand.
“I didn’t apologize properly for last night, sweetheart. I’m very sorry for screaming at you like that and for making you feel bad. I should have immediately seen you were asking for help, instead of–”
“it’s alright, hyungie. You had the right to be mad. Thank you for forgiving me, though.”
“Thank you for forgiving me as well,” the omega replied in a whisper, hugging his donsaeng a little tighter.
Once the two pulled apart, Taehyung stood up and turned to admire his finished work, looking at Hoseok for confirmation.
“I think it’s perfect now?”
“I think so too.”
Jungkook almost swayed on his feet, feeling a foreign feeling of pride swelling inside his chest. It was a type of pride he had never felt before, not even after receiving their first praise
after debuting or winning their first prizes… it was something deeper, like the satisfaction of knowing that those smiles on Taehyung’s and Hoseok’s smiles were thanks to him , or at least, that he had contributed to them.
Woah , he thought quietly inside his mind.
By his side, he did not notice Yoongi smirk at Hoseok, mouthing the words wait and see to him, to which the omega replied with a scoff and stepping on his foot lightly.
“So, I’m starving! Can we go ask Jin-hyung for food?” Taehyung asked, breaking the silence with a cheerful clap of his hands.
They all laughed and followed him out of the room, while Yoongi complained that he could make him food too??
Just before exiting the room, though, Taehyung asked: “Kookie, did you change your cologne or something? That sweater smelled a little different than your usual clothes.”
“Huh? No, I did not really change anything… Wait, did it smell bad?! I can get another one, I have one just washed–!”
As Taehyung rushed to reassure him that no, it did not smell bad, just different and Jungkook sighed in relief, not paying much thought to that, the hyungs behind them exchanged a knowing look.
It was coming soon.