Joshua can always tell when Jeonghan is upset.
It’s his super power, he thinks, because even if the omega is remarkably good at putting up walls and refusing to let anyone see his vulnerabilities, Joshua always knows. It doesn’t matter if it’s middle school and Jeonghan just had his heart broken for the first time, or if it’s college and he’s stressing himself over grad school applications — Joshua has always been there for the elder before he could even ask, and that’s how he knows that there’s something bothering Jeonghan tonight.
He gives it time at first, because sometimes Jeonghan will share by himself after a warm meal and a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case tonight. Instead, the omega is extra clingy, wearing Joshua's old college hoodie and wrapping himself around Joshua on the couch, both things he’s usually a lot less bold about initiating, and more importantly, he’s awfully quiet . Jeonghan talks a lot, one of the many reasons he and Joshua go so well together, and so to see him so deep into his thoughts is never a good sign.
“Hey, what’s going on in there?” Joshua asks, poking Jeonghan's temple with his finger. “Talk to me.”
“Nothing,” Jeonghan mumbles, snuggling his face further into Joshua's chest and causing the younger to have a momentary desire to cry; how is he expected not to feel possessive of the omega when he’s being cute like this? “Just tired, with work and everything else.”
Joshua hums, trying to make his scent as comforting as possible; it works, with Jeonghan melting himself further against him. “Why do I have the feeling, then, that this is more about the everything else ?”
Jeonghan doesn’t say anything, and Joshua doesn’t push. They’re both too distracted to pay any attention to what’s going on on the TV, but Joshua still watches absentmindedly as Lizzy and Darcy talk, knowing staring in anticipation for an answer from Jeonghan would just put unnecessary pressure on him.
“Do you ever worry that there’s something wrong with us?” Jeonghan finally asks quietly, and he’s not looking at Joshua. “Like, that we’ll never be able to get pregnant because we can’t.”
Joshua sighs internally, already expecting something of the sorts, but doesn’t make any sort of judgmental expression on the outside — he doesn’t want Jeonghan to feel like his feelings and concerns aren’t valid. “Not really, no. We’re both young and we haven’t even been trying that long, so I don’t think we need to worry about that now.”
“It’s just—” Jeonghan huffs a little, pulling away from Joshua so he can sit himself straighter. “Every other omega I talk to, at my job and stuff, got pregnant so much faster once they started trying. We’ve been doing it so often at this point, and it’s been months but still, nothing .”
“Well, I’m not an omega,” Joshua starts carefully. “But I don’t think your coworkers' experience is universal, Hannie. As an alpha, there’s all this stupid stuff about how getting an omega pregnant quickly is like a huge expression of your masculinity, so I get it. It’s frustrating, but I don’t think it helps to put even more pressure on ourselves.”
Jeonghan's expression changes immediately, looking up at Joshua in surprised guilt. “Oh, I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean it to make it sound like I’m complaining you can’t get me pregnant or—”
Joshua chuckles, interrupting Jeonghan and reaching to squeeze his hand. “Don’t worry about it, I know it wasn’t what you meant and you didn’t hurt my pride or anything. I’m just saying, it’s not healthy to make comparisons that way, you know that right?”
Jeonghan relaxes, nodding. He pushes his hair out of his face, a common habit he has when he’s nervous or thoughtful. “I know, but I can’t stop myself sometimes. I just really, really want this pup, Shua.”
Joshua smiles, so helplessly fond. "I know, me too. They’ll come though, when the time is right.”
Jeonghan rolls his eyes, a little petulant. “The time seems pretty right for me right now, what else are they waiting for?”
Joshua laughs brightly at that, pulling Jeonghan in again so that his arms are crushing the older, ignoring the sounds of protests. “You know what we need?”
“I have a feeling whatever you’re about to say is not something we actually need, but go on.” Jeonghan groans.
“I think we need to distract ourselves from all this baby business for a bit.” Joshua says. “Most of the time when we hang out at this point it either involves us, you know , or the subject comes up eventually. When has it been the last time we did something fun that was for ourselves?”
Jeonghan snorts. “Are you suggesting what we did yesterday wasn’t any fun? Because from what I remember—”
Joshua bites meanly at Jeonghan's shoulders before the elder can finish the sentence, satisfied by his whine of pain. “I meant like going out and drinking, or something like that.”
“Aren’t we too old to go to clubs?” Jeonghan points out. “I feel like we’d stand out so much.”
“We’re not that old, and besides, who cares.” Joshua argues. “I think it’d be fun to get everyone together and just have one night where we can let loose and not worry about everything else.”
Jeonghan hums, and when he adjusts in Joshua's arms so that he’s leaning his head on the younger's shoulders, he looks more convinced. “I do miss going up against Mingyu shot by shot.”
“Well, I don’t miss having to take care of both of you when you inevitably got drunk, but I think I can make an exception.” Joshua sighs, dramatic.
“Mingyu has Wonwoo now, but I’m all yours.” Jeonghan smirks cheekily, and if there’s a spike to Joshua's scent, neither of them comments. “But we should do it next week, or the week after. Taeyong and Ten need time to find a babysitter for Jisung.”
“God, we really are old.” Joshua bemoans. “I think Wonwoo and Mingyu are the only ones who’d even be able to tell what clubs are still fun at this point.”
“I don’t know, I think I like being old.” Jeonghan says, cuddling closer. He looks up at Joshua, and somehow, the alpha can just tell there’s a with you left unsaid.
He grins back, and nods. “Me too. I’ll text everyone about it later.”
YOU ARE READING
𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 || 𝐉𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧
Fanfiction"What if we did it, though?" Jeonghan questions, not without hesitance. Joshua can tell from the way his finger runs meticulous circles on the edges of his bottle. "Made a pup together, I mean." He's gathered since the start of this conversation thi...
