Baby Steps (Jikook)

chapter one

Jimin was a pretty omega. If you asked the people at his school, they might even say he was a beautiful omega. With his blond locks that were naturally wavy and his stormy grey eyes, full lips, and porcelain skin, he was the star of every alpha's wet dreams. With his cheery and helpful attitude and tinkling laughter, he was the source of every omega's jealousy and insecurity. But that wasn't always the case. As a little kid, Jimin was thought to present as an alpha. The little boy was always roaring around like an angry beast, his face scrunched up into a mask of childlike intimidation, imitating his father, who would be laughing at his pup. Jimin was rebellious, fearless, and energetic, climbing trees and wrestling his father while he was only trying to read his newspaper. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that their little scamp would present as anything else but an alpha. But then puberty hit, and Jimin stopped growing, his shoulder's stayed narrow, and his physique turned curvier. His face stayed pretty, instead of turning ruggedly handsome, and on his fourteenth birthday, his scent manifested itself with fruity notes of strawberry with a hint of daisy, and Jimin's first heat hit, determining him as an omega.

At first, Jimin was devastated, like every child would be, being told to be one thing all his life, then turning out another. For days after his heat, which was traumatic on its own, he didn't leave his room, trying to repress his omega that was rearing its head for the first time. Nothing his omega mother would say or his alpha father tried to say could help him. But when Jimin's best friend Taehyung knocked on his door, a soft "Jiminie" leaving his lips, he opened the door for the first time.

Taehyung took in the sight of his normally confident best friend, dressed in the rattiest, biggest clothes that swallowed his frame, and the reddest eyes and swollen lips he had ever seen on him. He inhaled shakily, opening his arms for the smaller who immediately launched himself into his best friend's arms, loud sobs tearing from the exhausted boy. "Hey, hey. It's okay, Minnie. I got you," Taehyung cooed, slowly moving Jimin backward deeper into his room so that he could close the door behind them both. He maneuvered the smaller boy to his bed, sitting down with him in his lap, sighing as he rubbed his back. "Being an omega isn't so bad, Jimin. I actually quite like it," he started speaking, keeping his voice soothing and light. Taehyung had presented before Jimin, at age thirteen, as an omega. "Heats suck, I know, but the rest actually isn't half bad! Nothing much changes. You're still the same person you've been before. You just now have a distinct smell of your own and can pick up on the smell of other's better," he tried to explain. He released calming pheromones for the smaller one, trying to stop his crying finally. Jimin had wet his shirt through at the shoulder now.

"Everything stinks to me now," the blonde finally spoke up, lifting his head to look at his best friend with wide eyes. "I rather not smell anyone. They're overwhelming," he sniffled, rubbing at his runny nose, to which Taehyung made a face of disgust, getting him a tissue instead. "They do?" he asked carefully, not wanting to throw Jimin back into his wailing. "Y-yes, my dad's firewood smell burns my nose," he sniffled. "My eomma's scent is okay, a-and yours is too," he explained while stuttering, looking down at his hands. "You smell like lavender and lemon. It's soothing," he added in a whisper.

Taehyung smiled, rubbing his best friend's neck soothingly. "Your nose probably is just overwhelmed with all the new scents and smells it can differentiate now," he offered as a consolation. "I was overwhelmed at the beginning too! I kept sneezing, remember?" Jimin giggled at the memory, nodding his head. "It's better now, so you will get better too," he ended, smiling at his best friend. They were silent for a few seconds until Jimin's soft smile fell again, tears rolling down his red cheeks anew.

"But Tae, I don't want to be an omega. I don't want to be weak and only liked for being pretty," he sniffled again. Tae stayed silent for a few seconds, thinking over what he had just said. "Do you think I am weak, Minnie?" he asked softly, looking straight into Jimin's eyes. "I am an omega. Do you think I'm weak? Do you only like me because I am pretty?" Jimin immediately shook his head. "No. Tae, you are so strong," he denied quickly, remembering how his best friend lost both his mother and younger sibling to a car crash five years ago.

"Jiminie, you haven't lost your identity just because you presented as an omega. You're still the same headstrong and adventurous guy you were a week ago. "Your standing doesn't determine you as a person. The only thing that changed is your scent and that you have your heat every three months" Tae ended his little speech, feeling satisfied when he saw the awe and realization in his best friend's eyes. "You can still kick some alpha ass. Now everyone will be just a little bit more impressed when you do it." Jimin giggled, nodding his head. "Thank you, Taetae. You're the best friend I could have ever asked for," he whispered, hugging the taller to his chest.

Starting to love and accept oneself, of course, is not easy to do, but Jimin started his journey to self-acceptance gradually after that day. Over the following years, he became comfortable in his skin, wearing clothes he liked regardless of gender and sometimes doing his makeup to make himself feel pretty. He had flourished into a confident and beautiful omega without any of the regrets he had when he was fourteen.

When Jimin and Taehyung were sixteen, they met the new alpha transfer student Hoseok, and after some failed courting attempts on the alpha's side, Jimin and Hoseok decided to become friends since more just didn't seem to work out. With the addition of the alpha to their little duo, their friend group was now complete. Hoseok revealed himself to be a very territorial and protective alpha, doing anything in his power for both Jimin and Taehyung.

Senior year rolled on, and a crush, a party, and a certain football player are about to flip everything upside down.

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