ALL IN BLOOM || VMINKOOK ✅

12

JIMIN POV

Jimin suspected he was in love.

Puppy love.

Bam was the most adorable little dog.

And the adoration was mutual.

"Rufus would love you. I think you'd make him feel young again," he said as Bam licked excitedly at his fingers.

Prince Jungkook and Taehyung came back into the room.

"Are you two getting acquainted?" Jungkook asked.

"Well," Jimin said, holding up his licked-clean hands.

"We've covered smell and taste so far. I think we're making progress."

From the way Bam's tail was whipping up a storm, they'd be firm friends in no time.

The alphas decided it was best that only one of them accompanied him to his new room.

And since Jungkook had gifted him the puppy, it made sense for it to be him.

"I'll come and check on you later," Taehyung promised.

They were minding him, being protective. He found he liked it.

Even if it didn't mean what he might want it to mean.

Jimin tried to pay attention as they walked so he'd remember the way.

The palace was still like a maze to him sometimes.

"I want you to tell me, or Tae, or Kim if anyone says or does anything that makes you uncomfortable," Jungkook insisted.

"I will," he promised, struggling to hold a squirming Bam in his arms.

His new room was twice as big as his old one and on the first floor, with a view of a beautiful enclosed garden.

"You could fit a whole family in this room," he said, turning in a slow circle before setting Bam down. The puppy darted away, disappearing under the bed.

"I hope you'll be happy here," Jungkook said.

Jimin turned back toward him.

The expression on the alpha's face was so open and hopeful.

"I'll try my best," he promised and was rewarded with a beaming smile.

"We should be ready to move into the next phase of our plan soon," Jungkook continued.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Dates, I guess. You and me. You and Taehyung."

Jimin remembered what the alpha had promised him his first day there.

"What about the cliffs?"

The prince grinned. "I'll see when we can squeeze that in."

Jimin grinned back, but his happiness dimmed a little when it occurred to him that the alpha wasn't so much looking forward to the time spent with him as the time spent with Tae. He shook that off. The alphas were in love.

He wouldn't begrudge them that.

And they had promised him a lot.

With what they could give him, he and his family wouldn't need to scrounge, to live hand-to-mouth.

To always worry about where their next meal would come from or their next month's rent.

If it meant never loving and being loved, never having a real family of his own, never having babies of his own...

Well, that was a sacrifice he'd make for his brothers and sisters. He was the eldest, he had to be responsible.

Back when he was twelve, it had meant leaving to work on the island. Now it meant taking this opportunity a one-in-a-million chance.

* * *

His first date with Jungkook was at lunch the next day. They were in a small, private room near the north side of the palace.

"How is Bam settling in?" the prince asked.

The puppy was on the floor next to them, tucking into his own lunch.

"He woke me at dawn yapping and jumping on top of me."

"Do I take it that you slept then?"

Jimin's grin was both happiness and relief.

"Really well. I tried to put Bam in his bed, but he kept crying."

"Where did he sleep then?"

Jimin flushed. "Curled up at my feet."

"Spoiled already and you haven't even had him a day."

Their food arrived, and they both waited for the server to depart before speaking again.

"After we eat, I thought we might take a walk to one of the libraries," Jungkook said.

"Libraries? There's more than one?"

"There are three. One is a private library, for the family alone."

"That's upstairs. The other two are a mix of fiction, nonfiction, and academic texts."

"Tae was telling me you might like to borrow a few textbooks."

The tantalizing proposal awakened in him a hunger far greater than his appetite for food.

"Could I?"

"Of course. We'll sign them out under my name. I'll show you how. It's digital

"You can bring them back and get new ones as you want to."

Though he tried not to, Jimin found himself rushing through the rest of his meal then waiting impatiently for Jungkook to finish. The alpha was grinning with amusement.

"Going into book withdrawal?" he asked.

"I couldn't take any of them with me," the omega explained.

"They were too heavy, and my uncle was afraid of what people would say if they found them."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"They're just books," jungkook told him.

"If anyone asks, tell them you like to read. If you're really worried, just tell them you like looking at the pictures."

Jimin sighed unhappily at that, even though he was sure the prince was joking.

"They'd believe that, wouldn't they? An omega who couldn't read?"

"Yeah," Jungkook agreed.

"I think a lot of people would."

Half an hour later, Jimin thought he might be in heaven. It wasn't just the books, which were a marvel in themselves.

Jungkook had handed him a tablet and introduced him to the palace's digital library. Not just one book or ten or twenty.

There were thousands and every one at his fingertips.

"I can keep this?" he asked for the third time, his fingers stroking the frame of the tablet.

"It's yours. You can read books to your heart's content, and no one will be the wiser."

He'd chosen three paper books as well, which the prince was carrying for him.

Bam lagged behind a little so Jimin picked him up, juggling him and the tablet with care.

The alphas were making an effort to help him acclimatize, he could see that. He wished that it might be enough.

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