Chapter Text
Hoseok’s preheat started in early December and slowed to a drag. He found himself in the pack nest more often than not, curled around blankets with a pillow under his head and a packmate at his side. He was cold, tired, nauseous, and entirely unwilling to go anywhere that required leaving the nest, but eventually Seokjin bundled him out the door for a doctor’s appointment.
“It’s coming soon,” he said. “Even I can see it. We need to make sure nothing’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Hoseok grumbled, as he wrapped his arms around himself, but he knew he didn’t make much of an argument in his triple-layered sweaters and day-old bedhead. He flattened his ears against his skull when Seokjin gave him a look. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Seokjin said. “Let’s just get this over with, huh? Get you back to your nest.”
Hoseok nodded.
The doctor’s office was still and quiet. Somewhere in the back offices a baby babbled, then fell silent. The old television set looped the main menu of a movie Hoseok didn’t recognize, something Christmassy. He didn’t know how to feel about knowing the holiday and all that it stood for when he’d not been taught so many more important things.
So many things were blurry in his head as Minho appeared and they walked to the back office. The date. The time. Whether the slant of the light meant it was morning or night. He cooperated with Minho, answered his questions, rested his head on Seokjin’s shoulder when Seokjin stood next to him and wrapped an arm around his waist. It was all blurry.
“Hoseok?” Minho called.
“Mm?”
“Are you tired?”
“Yeah,” Hoseok swallowed and tried to shake himself awake; how many times had Namjoon warned him to listen carefully at his appointments so he knew what was going on? “All the time.”
Minho’s brow furrowed. “Are you eating?”
Hoseok nodded. “Jinnie makes sure.”
Minho relaxed somewhat. “Okay. Your species doesn’t hibernate, so keep an eye on that— you might end up sleeping through your heat if you’re lucky.”
“That would be nice,” Hoseok mumbled, remembering the last disastrous, sleepless heat.
“We’re going to try going completely without medication for this heat,” Minho said. “But if at any point you feel sick to the point of danger or alarm, let one of your mates know. You can go on suppressants after this either way, but if your heat is causing you harm I can prescribe stronger ones to make sure it doesn’t come back off-schedule.”
Hoseok nodded. “Thank you.”
Minho smiled. “You’ve done amazing, Hoseok. I hope you know that.”
Hoseok thought, not for the first time, of the day so many months ago when he slipped under the hole in the wall and stepped into a whole new world. He let out a breath and ran his hand through his hair, wincing as his fingers caught on a knot. “I’m… trying.”
Seokjin pressed a kiss to his forehead that made butterflies stir to life in his stomach. “And we can see that,” he murmured. “We’re so proud of you.”
“All things considered, you’re in wonderful health for a hybrid who left the zoo under a year ago,” Minho said. “Let’s make that a continuing trend, yeah? You’re doing great.”
Hoseok managed a smile.
He clung to Seokjin’s hand as they walked back to the car, and while they waited for the engine to heat up Seokjin turned to look at him.
“You really have been doing amazing,” he said. “Comparisons or no comparisons, this isn’t where we expected to be when Yoongi told us about you.”
“I didn’t see any of it coming, either,” Hoseok said. “It feels like— I don’t know. I wouldn’t go back for anything.”
Seokjin smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. We’d be a mess without you.”
Hoseok raised his eyebrows at him and gestured to his bedhead. “ You’d be a mess?”
Seokjin laughed, high and squeaky, and switched the radio on. “You got me— but my point still stands. You’re a part of our pack now, Hobi. We don’t ever want that to change.”
The words warmed Hoseok down to the bone. He leaned back in the seat and wrapped his arms around himself, hummed along to the song on the radio. Seokjin waited a little longer before he put the car in reverse and began to back out, and Hoseok had the time to watch the focus in his eyes as he navigated his way out of the icy parking lot and onto the road home.
His eyes drifted shut, but he remained aware of the motion of the car, the low hum of the motor and the soft lurch of the brakes. Seokjin sang along to a few songs, and Hoseok smiled as he listened, thought of all the times Seokjin would sing to himself around the house and the ditties he knew that Jimin had taught Hoseok when his back was turned. The house was cozy now, more of a home than before, and the skittish part of him that hadn’t wanted to leave had long since been silenced.
If they could just get through this heat without any trouble, everything would be perfect.
Hoseok opened his eyes when they pulled into the driveway and laughed as Seokjin raced around to open his door for him. Seokjin helped him out of the car, and they stood in the cold for a moment with their arms around each other before the door to the house slammed open and Jimin hollered, “Get inside, you idiots! We’re making hot chocolate!”
Seokjin and Hoseok laughed and wandered inside.
Yoongi looked up from his perch at the counter and set his phone down. “I’ll get a hairbrush,” he huffed with a soft smile.
Hoseok pouted. “It’s fine.”
“I know it’s fine,” Yoongi said, already halfway into the other room. “Go get some hot cocoa from kookie, you can drink it while I get those knots out.”
Hoseok huffed but accepted his fate and wandered into the kitchen while Seokjin hung up their coats. Jeongguk looked up from the pot of hot chocolate, eyes sparkling and so wide awake Hoseok was almost jealous.
“Want some?”
“I’ve been ordered to get some,” Hoseok huffed. “Kookie, they’re going to smother me.”
Jeongguk laughed and filled a mug, setting it down on the counter beside them. “Whipped cream?”
“What the hell, why not.”
Jeongguk hummed a song to himself as he put the whipped cream in, swirling it high and leaning in to sneak a kiss on the lips from Hoseok before the others joined them in the kitchen again. He wasn’t fast enough to avoid being caught, but Hoseok found he didn’t mind when Taehyung wrapped around him from behind, sleepy whines morphing to pleased grumbles as he buried his face in Hoseok’s neck.
“Hi,” Hoseok murmured as Jimin slid into the kitchen with Namjoon in tow. It was full, now, pleasantly crowded without being cramped like their old kitchen would have been. He took a breath and let their scents mingle together in his nose, blinking in surprise as Seokjin came in with the phone up to his ear and a huge smile on his face.
“Yes. Yes, thank you so much. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” he cut the call. “Good news!”
The kitchen fell silent.
“The court just ruled Hobi independent.”
Hoseok stared, eyes wide, as the kitchen erupted. Namjoon was the source of most of the noise, yelling and swearing and jumping around— Jimin’s roar of joy hit his ears next, followed by Jeongguk’s pleased laughter, and then they were all piling on top of him and—
“I don’t have to go back?”
“Never!” Jimin purred, pressing a kiss behind Hoseok’s ear that made him shiver. “Never ever again.”
Hoseok smiled and burst into tears.
**
Hoseok didn’t recognize his heat at first. Instead of waking up sweaty, he woke up to a chill that wouldn’t go away no matter how far he burrowed under Namjoon’s sleeping body. His shivering was probably what woke Namjoon up— Namjoon curled around him without a second thought, nosing along his scent gland in a sleepy attempt to calm him, and the heat bloomed from every point of contact.
“Shit,” Hoseok mumbled.
That woke Namjoon up. “Hobi?”
Hoseok took a breath and tried to steady himself— he didn’t want Namjoon to think he was panicking, not now, not when he just needed—
Namjoon pulled him closer and held him there. “Talk to me,” he murmured. “What’s wrong?”
Hoseok opened his mouth and let out a shaky whine. “Don’t let go.”
“Okay,” Namjoon adjusted them so Hoseok wouldn’t suffocate under him. “I can do that.” He rested his head next to Hoseok’s, and for a moment Hoseok thought he had fallen asleep before he murmured, “I’m right here, baby. I got you.”
Hoseok relaxed, soothed by the warmth and weight around him, and Namjoon kissed him gently under the ear before he relaxed with him and they fell asleep.
When Hoseok woke, he was sweaty and Namjoon’s weight had settled strangely across his body, but he was lucid. He blinked, eyes wide, then squeaked, “How.”
Namjoon snorted. “Don’t worry about it, babe.”
Hoseok groaned. “Kill me now.”
Namjoon chuckled and nuzzled him under the chin. “You’re much more lively than last time.”
“I don’t want to move from this spot until we both die,” Hoseok grumbled. “My hair is a bird’s nest again, isn’t it.”
“Mhm.”
“Fuuuu-”
“Language,” Seokjin huffed. “What’s going on?”
“Heat started,” Hoseok whined. “Where’s Yoongi?”
“Over here,” Yoongi said from over Hoseok’s head. “What’s up, Hobi?”
“Cuddles,” Hoseok demanded.
“Namjoon’s right, you are more lucid than last time,” Seokjin said. “It might have come on milder because it’s early.”
“Don’t jinx it!”
Seokjin laughed and bent to kiss Hoseok’s nose. “Okay, baby. I won’t.”
Hoseok stared at him with wide eyes and blurted, “You have no idea what that does to me.”
“I take it back,” Yoongi laughed. “You’re out of it.”
“You’re my pack,” Hoseok breathed, tears brimming in his eyes as the thought hit. “You’re my pack. Mine .”
“Alright, cutie, no crying,” Seokjin laughed. “Of course we’re yours. We’ll always be yours.”
“How’s that supposed to help me stop crying?” Hoseok demanded, breath hitching. “You’re pretty, come here.”
Seokjin looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. Hoseok shifted, intending to repeat his demand, and his body chose that moment to remind him exactly why he’d hated heat so much the first time.
“Oh fuck,” he wheezed, body locking. Namjoon murmured an apology, but when he tried to move off Hoseok yanked him back down by the hips— a mistake, because that made the problem worse , and Hoseok decided at that moment that there was no way heat was beneficial for actual bonding, because it was very distracting to have his dick remind him it existed every time he tried to cuddle his boyfriends.
Yoongi scooted around to his other side, and Namjoon moved so they could sandwich him, which, to Hoseok’s frustration, made the issue worse .
“This isn’t fair,” he sulked, and Namjoon laughed, running a hand through his hair and doing his best to untangle some of the bird’s nest. “I didn’t ask for this, I— oooookay, maybe don’t— don’t.”
Yoongi chuckled and stopped rubbing Hoseok’s side. “Your tail okay?”
“More than okay,” Hoseok squeaked, “the tail is not the problem.”
They all laughed.
“Guys?” Jeongguk called, sleep still fogging his voice. “What’s goin’ on?”
“I’m pretty sure Hobi is high on his own pheromones,” Yoongi huffed, drawing another giggle from Hoseok and Namjoon.
“Oh, it started?” Jeongguk scooted into sight. “Wow, he seems—”
“Really lucid, yeah,” Seokjin said. “Look, I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth. He is, however, out of it.”
Jeongguk nodded. “Hi Hobi.”
“Hi beautiful,” Hoseok murmured.
Jeongguk turned bright pink and collapsed into the nest, giggling so hard he stopped breathing for a moment. Hoseok answered his giggles by sticking out his tongue just in time for Jimin to sit up and catch sight of him, which led to two of his boyfriends laughing their asses off in the nest instead of cuddling him, which was just unforgivable.
“Come here,” Hoseok sulked, holding his arms out, and when Taehyung beat them both to the start of the cuddle pile the laughter swelled high and didn’t die down for a long time.
Hoseok would be lucid in the next two hours, with video evidence of his whining and demands for cuddles to blush at, and Yoongi would brush his hair while he sat in the nest surrounded by his boyfriends, his mates, his forever pack. The heat would last three days and dissipate, and he would be left wrapped in blankets, a popsicle hanging out of his mouth as he tried to beat a game on Taehyung’s gaming console from Taehyung’s lap while Taehyung dozed behind him. Not a week and a half later the new year would come, and Hoseok would find himself standing at midnight under the fireworks, Jimin’s lipstick smudged on his cheek and cold air in his lungs, wholeheartedly believing that everything was going to be okay.