This Mask of Mine

102

The first floor of the Park-Jeon cabin was completed by the time Yoongi answered. Construction went faster now that all the workers were back.

"First off, I have a few questions," the alpha said, not wanting to purr at how comfortable Jimin seemed in his home.

"Shoot."

"Why did you paint me at the hunt?"

Jimin hummed and took a sip of his cocoa Yoongi made.

"Seokjin and Taehyung said family members, mates, or those attracted to the hunter were allowed to paint." Yoongi held his breath. "And other from my actual siblings, you feel like the closest thing to a family I want."

A partial truth.

Yoongi nodded, there was a little bit of hope. "Okay. Why did you run away?"

"I told you I wanted to be with you in my most vulnerable, I don't think anyone would be able to stay there."

An acknowledging nod from the alpha. "You waited for me?"

"Wanted to make sure you were safe. I was told you had some gruesome hunts in the past."

A flat hum. "Did you stay in my cabin?"

"Some days," a complete lie. He was there every day. "I fed your chickens too."

"Thank you," Yoongi smiled.

"How do they manage the mating season? You're not able to feed them."

"I have some beta friends who come and feed them while I'm out of commission."

The omega hummed again.

"Did you think about... this during the season?"

Jimin gave him a flat look and gestured widely around the cabin.

"You do realize everything is soaked in your scent and you had prerut on your bed, right? Of course I did. Are you going to tell me what happened to my underwear or is that something better left untouched?"

The alpha turned red all over and the omega nodded.

"So it looks like I wasn't the only one thinking about the other."

Yoongi choked on his tea.
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The alpha had stopped hovering now that they had spoken, but did space out often and thought about Jimin. It was like that feeling where one walked into a room and forgot what they were doing, Yoongi wasn't immune to it.

He tensed when he saw Banyoo stray close to Jimin, coming to the omega to ward off the alpha under the ruse of helping Jimin. Even if Yoongi hadn't responded, how he acted around Jimin gave his nonverbal answer. More protective in the good way, softer in the best way, more physical in the innocent way—touching Jimin's hands, his arms, his back, wiping something off his face, brushing his hair out of his eyes while he was working. He needed a cut; it was getting long.

And even if he dreaded sleeping with Jimin again, he found it wasn't as bad as he thought. If anything, he only had to resist the urge to press a kiss to the sleeping omega's forehead. Jimin had only had one other nightmare with Yoongi since his first, and he hadn't said anything for a long while after it, clinging wide-eyed and shaky onto the alpha. Yoongi's urge to kiss him better only worsened.

He knew he would break soon, the urge kept piling up and up and soon he started dreaming about if he kissed him, if he had come out at the hunt, if they had mated in the month after it.

The clouds broke and the warming sun welcomed the fresh spring.