Love Me || Taekook

|19|

A couple months had past since the Jungkook passing out incident and Taehyung's heat schedule had begun to even out. The only times he was really sent into one unexpected was if he was overly stressed or too much of Jungkook's pheromones were floating in the air. It was quite the roller coaster to get to a stable point, his heat flaring up in the middle of school and social events multiple times, but life had significantly calmed down since.

Jimin had gotten over Hoseok as well, or so he says. He learned to accept the fact that his crush had someone else, but he still couldn't help feeling a small bit of resentment towards Yoongi every time the two were affectionate with each other around him.

Taehyung found that he preferred spending time at Jungkook's place rather than his own. He felt more comfortable there without his parents breathing down his neck. He enjoyed getting to know his mate's friends and had begun to consider them part of his own family.

"Hey Tae, mind if I sit with you?" Jin asked as he made his way into the living room, holding a hot cup of tea.

Taehyung looked up from the homework he was focusing on and smiled, nodding. "Of course. Please do!" He moved his math book and a couple of papers off of the couch so the older beta could sit. "What kind of tea is that? It smells wonderful."

Jin gladly sat down with a sigh of relief, glad to take the pressure off of his feet. "It does doesn't it? It's a white rose tea Namjoon bought for me the other day. I think I'm starting to become a bit obsessed with it to be honest." He took a small sip and glanced at the papers Taehyung had been focused on a moment ago. "Math homework? Are you almost done?"

Taehyung nodded his head. "Yeah, it's a pretty easy lesson. It doesn't take too long to do the problems and they're fairly simple. Why?"

"Hmm...I was wondering if we could talk for a bit," Jin's smile dropped a bit along with his tone, showing that something serious was on his mind.

Taehyung quickly put his things away. "Yeah, of course." He shifted his position so that his body was facing the older man. "What's on your mind? Can I help with anything?"

Jin smiled briefly and shook his head. "No need to worry. I'm actually the one worried. About you." He placed a hand on the young omega's knee. "Tae, is something going on? Your parents gave Jungkook permission to mark you months ago....why haven't you guys gone ahead with it yet? You were so eager before."

Taehyung shifted uncomfortably and looked down at his hands that had begun to fidget. "It's...I just...." He sighed, closing his eyes and wishing he hadn't agreed to talk.

"You can tell me Taehyung. I'm here to listen and help if I need to. Is something going on?" Jin pressed his lips together in a tight line while he waited for a response, hoping it was nothing serious.

"No. It's just that I need some time to...think I guess. I wanted to. I really did, but when it came down to actually letting him bite me like that..." Taehyung winced, remembering what had happened with Yoongi and how much pain he'd been in.

"You got scared?" Jin gave a sympathetic smile when the high school student nodded. "I understand. Most of the time you don't really have to think about it. Mates usually mark as soon as the first heat comes and they discover their bond. Much like Hoseok did with Yoongi, though it usually doesn't end up like that...." He sat for a second before it finally clicked. "Oh god...you were there for that. You and Kyungsoo were the ones that tried to stop the bleeding. Oh Taehyung...I'm so sorry. I promise it doesn't hurt like that. That only happened because Hoseok wasn't there to seal it."

Taehyung looked up at Jin and gave him a weak smile. "I know that's not how it's supposed to go. I just get worried and panic every time we try to go through with it...I feel terrible. I know it must be hard on Jungkook, but I can't help it."