Yoonmin Oneshots

2nd and last

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  Yoongi is eight when some of the men find a small boy abandoned in the forest.

  He’s sitting in the middle of camp next to the cooking fire, helping his girl cousins weave baskets because he’s bored and doesn’t have anything else to do, when two of his uncles and some of his older cousins arrive back in camp, walking in an odd circular formation around something.

  “Send for Hongwon!” One of his uncles yells, and Yoongi perks up at the sound of his father’s name. One of Yoongi’s aunts rushes off to the alpha’s hut to find him.

  A moment later, Yoongi’s father, followed closely by his mother, Sunsoo, her belly heavy with child, comes sweeping into the camp clearing. Yoongi’s father is an imposing, stately man with a stern, cool air about him. He shrugs his pelt of bear fur higher up his shoulders and stops before the returning hunters, his black hair gleaming in the sun.

  “What is it? What’s happened?” Hongwon asks immediately.

  The hunters part to reveal a young blonde boy, tiny and chubby, covered in dried mud and clad in ripped, dirty clothing. He’s staring around at them with wide, fear filled eyes, and his bottom lip is quivering.

  “We found him wandering lost and alone by the river,” Ilhoon, one of Yoongi’s uncles says, motioning to the boy.

  Yoongi’s mother gasps and drops to her knees in front of the boy. She reaches out and cups a filthy, chubby cheek gently in her hand, and the little child immediately nuzzles into her touch with a small whimper. “Oh, you poor baby,” Sunsoo coos, drawing him into a motherly hug.

  “He was completely alone?” Yoongi’s father asks, looking down at his wife hugging the child with a frown.

  Ilhoon nods and gestures behind him at the forest. “He smells of fire and smoke. Do you remember the smoke we saw rising over the trees four days ago? I think he might have been there.”

  Sunsoo smoothes the boy’s matted, dirty blonde hair away from his face. “What happened to you, little one?” She asks gently.

  Yoongi creeps closer and sees that tear tracks mar the mud on his chubby cheeks. He does indeed smell like smoke and fire, tinged with the sour scent of fear and grief, but under that, there’s a milky, baby softness that immediately makes Yoongi feel safe and sleepy.

  The boy’s brown eyes fill with tears and his lip begins trembling again as he looks at Sunsoo. “M’ family was a-attacked,” he whispers hoarsely.

  The rest of the pack, who had gathered around to peer at the stranger curiously, all shift and look around at each other in shock. Hongwon stiffens and exchanges a weary look with the other hunters. Then he looks down and nods at Sunsoo. “Take him to our hut and get him cleaned up and fed.”

  Sunsoo stands, one hand on her swollen belly and the other reaching down to take the boy’s little hand in her own. “Come with me, sweetling.”

  The boy toddles after her, his little legs struggling to keep up with her longer strides. “Hyeri,” Sunsoo calls to one of Yoongi’s younger sisters by the fire. “Bring a bowl of stew and some bread.”

  Yoongi follows after his mother and slips inside the alpha’s hut right before the wooden door swings closed behind them. Inside, it’s warm and cozy, with thick, plush furs piled on the floor for his parents and siblings. There’s a table and a few chairs next to the small fire crackling in the roughly built fireplace. There’s a chest of clothing and a few of his father’s weapons hung on the wall.