Collision

Chapter 13

Yoongi adjusted the plates over his lap, gathering some of his noodles and stuffing it into his mouth. While chewing, he got some of Jeongguk's and held it out.

Lips grasped the chopsticks, pulling the noodles off. The awkward sounds of chewing filled the silence. Teeth clacking, jaw opening too wide. Yoongi snorted.

"You're trying too hard again, darling." Shaking his head, he grasped some of his noodles, chewed them slowly, and then swallowed. "Round motions. There is nothing for you to tear."

"It's hard," Jeongguk whined, and Yoongi was sure there was a pout to his face. He almost wished he could reach out and feel it, trace it with his hands to know what the boy really looked like. "But the food is good. What is it?"

"Japchae. Usually a Korean side dish, but I like it too much," Yoongi admitted, spinning more noodles on his chopsticks. He held it out. "I am glad you like it."

Jeongguk took the noodles, the chewing quieter than before, but loud enough that Yoongi continued to try and keep his face blank from amusement that he was sure was twitching at his lips.

"It has so much flavor," Jeongguk said, swallowing the food roughly. His fingers tightened over the sweats of Yoongi's pants. "It explodes over my tongue. Meat that we catch doesn't do this."

"That's because there is spices in here," Yoongi explained. "Plants, like rosemary and thyme. Oils, for the noodles. Then the vegetables."

"We just have berries, during springs and summers. Bark, sometimes, during winters. Then, of course, meats that we catch. Depending on the hunters," Jeongguk replied quietly.

"Hunters?" Yoongi prodded gently, leaving the subtle question hanging to allow for him to ignore it, or explain at will.

Jeongguk nodded, the movement shifting his frame closer. "There is a group in the pack that is trained to be away from the pack to hunt for game. Usually Alpha's, some Beta's. The Head Alpha, though, always goes. Omega's aren't allowed to hunt."

Alpha? Beta? Omega? The only terms he knew for that was military, but he had a deep-rooted theory that this had nothing to do with that. The term "Alpha" was familiar- a term tossed around in science class back in high school when talking about animals.

"Alpha? Beta? Omega?" he found himself repeating, brows furrowing in confusion.

Jeongguk chewed loudly, slurping at some of the noodles and Yoongi absently chewed on his own.

"Yeah. You know, like, what sub-gender they are. What they are used for," Jeongguk said simply, and Yoongi briefly wondered if Jeongguk had no clue that humans didn't have such a thing. "Don't humans have that? A way to discern who does what, who they mate with?"

Yoongi shook his head firmly. "We have nothing like that, Jeongguk."

Jeongguk was quiet a long time. "Oh. You don't have a sub-gender?" Yoongi shook his head again, stuffing more noodles in his mouth. The wolf fell silent again. "Okay."

"Are you... are you okay?"

Something about the wolf seemed off, despite the hands resting on his knees, Yoongi felt as if a trench had opened up between them. A chasm that Yoongi wasn't sure he was supposed to cross.

"I just- I thought that... I don't know what I thought," Jeongguk finally exhaled in a long whoosh. His fingers tightened. "Food, please." Yoongi obeyed, and the wolf chewed it carefully. "Alpha's in wolf packs are the leaders. They are the hunters, the ones who decide and fight. Beta's are generally the second in command. Not Alpha's, but not Omega's either. They are the peacekeepers, tend to be gatherers, sometimes hunters, and can fight when needed."