This Mask of Mine

69

Yoongi was glad that no one had a shift the day after a festival. Jimin needed rest and ensured safety, although Seokjin, Namjoon, and Jungkook did come to check on him.

Jimin was wrapped up in blankets with a mug of hot chocolate, wedged between Yoongi's arm and his side as the others sat on the floor or arm chair.

They didn't pressure him to speak, Seokjin knowing very little but enough to know it was very personal and painful. But Jimin told them. What he'd spoken to Chaein about so far; the humiliation, the supremacy, the too close quarters. Then he spoke about what he hadn't really gotten to; the baby, the storm, Jungwoon's response, how he would have been mated to him if he wasn't chosen, the mating seasons, heat, and ruts. Everything. He had to stop a few times and swallow down his tears, sometimes looking at Jungkook to finish the rest.

His siblings took his quarters as construction for a new section for all the Park-Jeon omegas and other refugees began, Jimin finding that while that cold in his sheets was somewhat mended with his sister and brother on either side of him, it still wasn't quite the soft, welcoming warmth of Yoongi's bed. None of them were told what happened to their father or Jungwoon once Namjoon and Namkwon took them to the forest to finish their fight.

But the pack heir was pretty beat up and Jimin could only imagine what the pack alpha would look like being past his prime and fighting two fairly younger alphas.

For days after the solstice, Yoongi would show up at lessons with something from his kitchen or a sweet from the bakery. Sometimes, he'd sit down with the pups and talk about the farms even if Jimin was in the middle of a lesson, giving the omega a little break. He could have used that time to grade things from the older pups to lessen the load for other teachers, but he listened almost as attentively to Yoongi as the pups did even if he knew what happened on the farms.

The alpha's voice was low and rumbly yet smooth and so warm when he spoke that it was mesmerizing even if Jimin heard it every day. His face and actions towards the pups were soft and comforting and Jimin couldn't help the thought that he would have been a much better parent than Jungwoon. Or even himself.

Jimin looked away at the thought.