How To Be An Alpha

Step 15

"Chimmy." Taehyung cried. He stood trembling in the doorway, completely soaked but something told Jimin the drops of water on his face weren't only because of the rain.

"Dear, what happened to you?! How did you even get here?! Get in right now!" Jimin pulled on the younger male's arm, closing the door and walking him towards a chair.

Taehyung refused to sit down, instead, wrapping his arms around the smaller omega boy and burying his face in his neck as he quietly sobbed.

"Jesus Christ, Tae, you are freezing! What happened?" Jimin didn't hesitate to return the hug, tightly holding onto the younger as he rocked them, the sound of Taehyung's cries breaking his heart.

Taehyung sniffled, struggling to get his words past the knot in his throat. "M—Minnie, I—I…" He hiccup and held him even tighter.

Jimin shushed him, slowly swaying back and forth, feeling his eyes stinging. "It's okay, baby. You can tell me later. Cry all you want. I'm here for you." Jimin said with difficulty, his throat hurting as he felt how the younger one shook in his arms.

Taehyung let out a loud and heartbreaking cry before he stuffed his face in the crook of Jimin's neck once again. Jimin felt the tears leaving his own eyes at the sensation of the warm wetness on his neck and the shaking boy in front of him.

"Jimin… am I a… a bad per—person?" He asked once he had calmed down enough to speak.

Jimin froze, a stinging sensation covered his body as he had never even imagined Taehyung asking him such a question.

"No, absolutely not. You're the kindest person I know, Tae. You are the opposite of bad. Why would you even ask such a thing?"

A pause followed and Taehyung took a long, shaky breath. "Because I feel like I'm the worst person alive right now. I'm horrible." Taehyung cried louder, holding tightly onto Jimin.

"Listen to me, Kim Taehyung. Never say that about yourself again. You are not horrible. You are… splendid, marvelous, fantastic, incredible, excellent and every single word that means you're a great person. You care about everyone else except yourself and never has the idea of you not being a good person crossed my mind a single time since we were born. You are not a bad person."

Taehyung didn't say anything, letting himself calm down as he drowned in the warmth of the other and that's when he smelled it. A sweet fragrance. It was fresh apples, cinnamon and lilies. The scent was soft, but the cinnamon gave it an edge, which kept it interesting, alluring. It was comforting and he basked in it.

A memory of a chill autumn afternoon flashed through his mind and he could see the small bakery he and Jimin would frequent after school when they were in middle school. The place always smelled of fresh cinnamon rolls and apple pies. He remembered his older sister teaching both of them how to bake cookies and going to Jimin's house only to be welcomed by the subtle smell of lilies from the vase that was always sitting on top of the window sill with fresh lilies.

After a few moments, he nuzzled his head closer and hummed, sniffing a couple times. "Hyung, you smell nice."

Jimin chuckled and he could feel the vibrations through his chest. "Thanks, I guess."

"No, really. You smell like the bakery we used to go to back in middle school and the lilies your mom always had in your house."

Jimin stopped. Well, that was weird. He was aware of his scent. Yoongi made sure to remind him how good he smelled and the others around had mentioned it a couple times. However, he was also more than aware of Taehyung's condition and his difficulty picking up scents and people's pheromones. They had tried before, but besides the superficial smells of perfume and fabric softener, Taehyung was not able to tell what other people's pheromones smelled like.