Accepted | Jikook

27

"Every day I wasn't in pain, I took it for granted. I can't remember the last time my neck didn't hurt, and it fucking sucks."

Jimin and Jungkook were sitting beside each other on the couch of their shared home, snuggled up under a blanket in an attempt to battle the rapidly declining temperatures of fall. Their shoulders, hips, and thighs were pressed tightly together, Jimin's head resting on Jungkook's shoulder and the alpha's head resting against the crown of his omega's.

Jungkook hummed in response. "Trust me, I understand."

It had been three days since Lukas's execution, three days since their meeting with the elder, three days since they were able to come home. For those entire three days, the duo had done practically nothing. Talking was minimal, verbal communication replaced with physical comfort. They had hardly left each other's side.

Jimin shifted against the couch, trying not to stretch his neck too much in the process so as to avoid the pain that would inevitably come with the movement. His wound was still healing, but the elder said that because Lukas was dead thus severing their bond, his neck would heal without a scar or remnant of a bite. Once his body had recovered, there would be no physical evidence of the trauma.

But the emotional evidence would always be there, no matter how hard Jimin or Jungkook tried to ignore it.

Without a bond, Jimin felt empty. It was almost like he was back at square one, right where he had been a month ago prior to Jungkook's birthday. He was longing for a mate, longing for someone to give his love to and receive love in return. He wanted a connection with someone that went deeper than physical touch. He had heard stories of how wonderful a bond with your soulmate could be, and he wanted it.

The problem was that he had it, and he couldn't keep it. Just as he had taken his pain-free days for granted, he had taken that month with Jungkook for granted, too. Instead of accepting that Jungkook was his mate and allowing himself to be happy that he could bond with someone he was already so close to, he rejected it and fought with the younger over things that now seemed like sticks in the mud. Irrelevant.

The worst part was that now, all they could do was wait. Wait for Jimin to heal, wait for Jimin's heat, and wait to see how everything played out. There were two weeks left until the heat began, and every day without that bond was starting to feel like pure torture.

-==-

Jimin woke up the next morning to a loud crash.

He jolted upright from the couch, belatedly realizing he had fallen asleep against Jungkook the night before, and looked around to find the alpha in the kitchen with a skillet upside-down on the ground and a half-fried pancake smeared across the tile.

"Fucking shit," the alpha growled, bending down to clean up the mess. He glanced up a moment later, making eye contact with the elder and grimacing. "I'm sorry for waking you up, hyung."

"It's fine." Jimin reached up towards the ceiling with a yawn, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and subconsciously touching the side of his neck to feel that it was still scarred. Of course it is, he thought bitterly, the elder said it would take at least six weeks, I can't expect recovery in 24 hours. "What were you doing in the kitchen?"

The tips of the alpha's ears turned bright red as he looked around the kitchen, standing with the skillet in one hand and a wad of messy paper towels in the other. He looked sheepish, standing there in yesterday's clothes and a wrinkled apron tied to accentuate his waist.

"These past few days have been really difficult and I thought I would make breakfast as a nice reprieve from all the bullshit that's been going on recently, but I bumped the handle of the pan as I walked by and it fell and made a huge mess and... yeah." He ended his rambling with a frown, his eyes wide as he stared at Jimin, like he expected the elder to be mad at him.