When I Saw You, I Fell in Love (and you smiled because you knew) | ym

Four

Jimin didn't come by for about a week after that, and that for some reason had Yoongi on edge. He convinced himself it was purely because it wasn't normal for the omega to not come check on his garden at least once during the day and not because he missed the omega's cinnamon scent. He expressed his concern to the others, but the others just told him that Jimin would do that from time to time and whenever they would inquire about it or voice their concern to him, Jimin would shut down, so it wasn't worth it. However, that just increased Yoongi's concern, leading to him gathering a basket of vegetables from the garden and making the trek through the trees to Jimin's home.

The farmhouse was a little smaller than Seokjin and Namjoon's, but the Parks had far more land that their pups obviously had fun running across, if the sight of their three oldest playing a game of tag was anything to go by. Yoongi glanced around to see if Jihoon was anywhere to be seen before hurrying up the porch steps and knocking on the door. He heard shuffling followed by the fussing of a pup before the door opened just enough to see half of Jimin's face and Hyunwoo propped on his hip. "Oh, hi, Yoongi." Jimin greeted, and Yoongi couldn't help but notice that the omega kept his grip on the doorknob as if he was intentionally hiding the right side of his face. "What brings you here?"

The alpha held up the basket he was carrying. "You haven't been by your garden in a while, and I thought you might be running low on vegetables."

"Thank you." Jimin said sincerely, although panic seemed to flash in the eye Yoongi could see. "Just give me one second." He closed the door and returned a few seconds later, still hiding the right side of his face but this time without Hyunwoo in his arms. He held out his now free arm to take the basket from Yoongi. "If you wouldn't mind telling the others that we're having a dinner for Jiyoung's birthday next week and we'd love for all of you to come celebrate with us."

"I'll be sure to tell them." Yoongi nodded, and Jimin gave him a small smile before bidding him goodbye, closing the door before the alpha could say any more.

But Yoongi didn't forget about the omega's strange behavior, lying in bed awake at night as he thought about it and all the different reasons for it all the way until the day of Jiyoung's birthday. Everyone was happy and laughing as they ate together, but Yoongi couldn't stop studying Jimin, especially the right side of his face. If he looked hard enough, he could see some light yellowing around the corner of his eye.

After they finished eating, the pups insisted on going to the pond at the edge of the Parks' territory, so they all made their way in that direction except for Jimin, who had insisted on Taehyung and Seokjin going too despite their offers to help clean up, and Yoongi, who had chosen to stay behind. The others may have given up on questioning Jimin, but Yoongi was stubborn.

"He hit you, didn't he?"

Jimin tensed and nearly dropped the dishes he was about to lower in the tub of water to clean. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You didn't leave your house for weeks, and the one time I saw you, you were hiding your face." Yoongi pointed out, and Jimin opted to stay silent. "Why would you stay with someone like that?"

"It's not like I have any other options." Jimin stated, aggressively scrubbing a plate. "But I'm sure an alpha would never understand."

"No, I don't understand why someone would stay with their mate even when they beat them." Yoongi agreed.

"I told you, I don't have any other options." Jimin repeated. "I didn't when I was 19, and I definitely don't now."

Yoongi crossed his arms over his chest. "You could have other options."

Jimin scoffed. "Like what? If I were to leave Jihoon, where would I go? Who would take in a previously mated omega with five pups?"

"Namjoon and Seokjin would let you stay with them." Yoongi insisted. "Or even Taehyung and Jungkook. Hell, you could-" Yoongi cut himself off as he was about to offer himself as an option, and in no way would that be appropriate. "You have options."

The omega was silent for a moment before shaking his head. "I really don't." He resumed scrubbing the dishes, a silent indication that he was done discussing it. Despite every fiber of his being telling him to prove Jimin wrong, to make him see how unsafe it was for him to stay with Jihoon, Yoongi simply sighed and stayed quiet. At least for that moment.

***

The next time Yoongi brought it up was a couple of weeks later when Jimin had come by asking Hoseok to accompany him to town, as he needed to purchase some new fabrics to make clothes for Hyunwoo as he was starting to outgrow his current ones. Before Hoseok could even respond, Yoongi had quickly offered. The omega was hesitant at first but ultimately agreed, and the two were soon sitting side by side in the cart as they made their way towards the town.

Yoongi kept glancing over at Jimin as he cooed to his pup before finally speaking. "What do you mean by you don't have any other options?"

Jimin tensed next to him again before shooting him an annoyed look. "You wouldn't understand."

"But I want to try." Yoongi answered sincerely, looking over to meet Jimin's gaze.

After a moment, the omega's shoulders drooped, and he sighed. "Omegas can't own land for themselves." He started off. "The only time land can be in an omega's name is if their mate abandons them or if their mate dies. With the former, the omega can become the acting title owner for six months to get expenses and such in order, and the latter, the omega is given a year. My father always wanted our land to stay in our family, but I was the only pup they had who survived. The plan was that when he inevitably passed, it would go to my mother for a year, and then she could use that year reaching out to extended family to see who wanted it while also continuing to let us live there. But then my father fell sick when I was 18, and my mother decided she couldn't handle it and ran off with our farmhand. My father didn't want me to be essentially kicked out to the street when he passed, so our only option was to mate me off and have my mate take over the lands."

"Your mating to Jihoon was arranged."

"Essentially." Jimin nodded. "I'd known Jihoon since I was a pup, always found him to be deplorable, but I agreed to mate him to keep my father's lands. I'd hoped that if I could show him that I'm not the ideal submissive omega, then he would eventually leave me and I could use those six months to find someone I truly love...but then I got pregnant only a couple of months after we'd mated, and I knew I was stuck with him. No alpha wants to raise another alpha's pups, even if said alpha doesn't have a bond with them."

"I've noticed Jihoon doesn't seem particularly fond of them." Yoongi murmured.

Jimin shook his head. "He ignores them until their old enough to work, and now he treats Jiwon, Woojin, and Woosung like farmhands as if they're not still just pups."

Yoongi bit his lip slightly before saying, "They deserve better. You all deserve better."

The omega hummed quietly and Yoongi could feel his gaze on him. "Do you really think I have another option?" Jimin's voice was barely more than a whisper when he asked that.

It wasn't until Yoongi noticed Jimin's scent getting a tiny bit stronger, a tiny bit sweeter, that the alpha realized what he was actually asking, and even still, he didn't truly want to believe it. That or he tried to convince himself it wasn't true, as what kind of alpha would he be if he preyed on a mated omega, even if the omega had made it very clear that his mating was nothing more than a business transaction. But when he looked back over at Jimin, a somewhat expectant and hopeful glint in his eyes, Yoongi knew he was done for. "I think you do." Jimin smiled softly at him, that same smile that he had first given Yoongi the first time he'd seen him, before turning back to the pup on his lap.