Chapter Text
Jimin stares at his laptop screen with resignation. Another rejection letter. Most of the time he doesn’t even get a response to his applications, but whenever he does it’s always the same thing.
‘We appreciate your interest and want to thank you for the time and energy you put into your application. After careful review, we must regretfully inform you that we will not be requesting further interviews with you. You are welcome to apply again in-’
He has to fight the urge to scream. Jungkook isn’t home to hear him, but they do have neighbors and the last thing they need right now is a damn noise complaint.
He can handle this. All he has to do is keep applying and someone will have to hire him eventually. Right?
Except that almost nobody wants to hire unmated omegas, which is made even more infuriating by the fact that Jimin is mated, just not to a fucking alpha. He and Jungkook have been mated since the night they left home together – over two years ago now.
Both of them come from families heavily entrenched in the less than legal happenings in Busan, the sort of families it can be incredibly dangerous to betray. The Jeon family has a massive presence in the city, controlling an overwhelming majority of the drug trade and a slew of other illegal imports – prestigious and respected by anyone with any sense.
Jimin’s own family is not nearly the powerhouse that the Jeon family is, but they have a long history of collaboration, which is a nice way of saying that the Park family does a whole lot of dirty work for the Jeon family.
Jimin and Jungkook have been dating for years – just months after Jimin’s presentation as an omega back in high school – and they expected to be mates as soon as Jungkook finally presented as an alpha. Except, that never happened.
At the late age of twenty, Jungkook finally presented… as an omega.
While it didn’t really change anything for Jimin and Jungkook, the Jeon family had to take the obvious steps for a family of their prominence, and promptly started taking bids for Jungkook’s future mate. No omega child of theirs was going to be mated to another omega. Even in this day and age, the practice was taboo. The best they could hope for was that whatever alpha Jungkook ended up mated to would want Jimin too.
But they weren’t willing to risk losing one another, so they started scheming.
They were smart, stashing away money so that they could get an apartment right away, slowly moving their belongings there, applying to school, and finding work. The whole process took a little over a month, and when the time finally came they faced their families together, hand in hand.
They were prepared for the worst.
Jimin’s own family disowned him on the spot and he was told never to set foot in their home again, or they would make sure he regretted it. (A nicer way of saying he would likely be killed on sight.) The whole affair involved a lot of screaming and several broken dishes, but Jungkook stood by his side through all of it, ready to fight if need be.
Jungkook’s family took it slightly better, though it may have helped that the bar had been set particularly low. His brother Junghyun barely said a word at the news, merely frowning and turning to their family matriarch for guidance.
Despite her reputation, Jungkook’s mother has always been much warmer with her sons than people would have expected. She set high standards for them, but she wasn’t unreasonable – and Jimin was lucky that some of that warmth had always been offered to him as well. (Probably because he and Jungkook have been attached at the hip since they were children.)
Jungkook’s mother wasn’t happy – not by a long shot, but she could have killed them (or at least Jimin) and she didn’t. There were a lot of tense words exchanged between her and Jungkook, but in the end she let the two of them go.
Her final words to them that night still echo in Jimin’s mind:
‘Jungkook is giving up his life for you, Park Jimin. You had better make sure it’s worth it.’
Jimin has tried his very best to do just that. It was easy in the beginning, when everything just fell into place. All of their planning paid off when they first arrived in Seoul, and they were both working and in college, scraping by but managing. They had got into the same art school, with the intention of pursuing their dreams. Jungkook always said that in another life, he would have been a tattoo artist, so he’s taking both business and art classes in pursuit of that.
Jimin’s own dream was to dance, something his parents humored by allowing him to take lessons so long as he treated it as a hobby and nothing more. Jimin was prepared to leave it behind in search of something more practical, but Jungkook was the one to insist that if he was allowed to chase his dream, then Jimin should do the same.
It was all so good at the start. They were both tired and stressed out sometimes, but they were pursuing their dreams together, and even though it was hard, it was working.
Jungkook landed his literal dream job about nine months ago – an internship at Special-f(x), a tattoo shop owned and operated exclusively by omegas. Amber (the owner and boss), remembered Jungkook from a trip years before when he had gotten a tattoo done there. Even knowing who he is and what sort of family he comes from, she was still okay with hiring him.
There were only two conditions: He had to stay in school, and he had to keep out of trouble.
Everything seemed perfect. Then Jimin lost his job.
He’d been working at a local cafe as a server, and while the pay wasn’t great, the owner was at least willing to employ an “unmated” omega. Jimin had to douse himself in scent blocker every day to make absolutely certain he didn’t cause even a tiny bit of trouble, but it had been a small price to pay for work that allowed him and his mate to scrape by. He didn’t even mind the work itself, really. It was relatively easy, and he managed to develop friendly relationships with some of their regular customers.
Getting fired was horrible enough on its own, but to add insult to injury, Jimin never even really found out why.
His boss called him into the office one morning, made a few vague statements about complaints filed against him, and told him to pack his things. He tried to fight it, of course – to beg for another chance – but it was no use.
Jimin turned down a couple of alphas while he worked there. It wasn’t often he was propositioned – not with how much scent blocker he wore, but there were still some jerks who got pushy. His best guess was that one of them got mad enough to make some bullshit complaints in retaliation for being rejected.
Jungkook was furious and threatened to march right down to the cafe and give the owner a piece of his mind, but Jimin had managed to talk him down. It wouldn’t get him his job back, and they didn’t need to make enemies.
They were forced to make some tough decisions.
On one income, they wouldn’t both be able to afford tuition. Jungkook needed to stay in school to keep his apprenticeship, so Jimin had to drop out. It was fine in theory. Not being in school meant more potential jobs would fit his schedule, and someone out there must be willing to hire him. Even if he couldn’t find work, once Jungkook finished his apprenticeship they would be able to afford Jimin going to school. He would give up dancing and get a degree in a field that would actually hire an “unmated” omega.
They just had to somehow make it work until then.
~~
In only a little less than six months, things have gotten desperate. Jimin dropping out of school has saved them some money, and he’s managed to find a few temporary jobs to pad their income, but it’s been over a month since he’s had any work, no matter how many applications he puts in. Jungkook is lucky enough to have his paid apprenticeship, but it doesn’t pay nearly enough for the two of them to live on.
Jimin was prepared to sign them up for food assistance two months ago, having done research online about the application process, but there was a nagging worry that always stopped him.
Is Jungkook’s mother keeping tabs on them?
It’s hard to think that she wouldn’t at least be watching her son a little. Even if Jungkook did abandon the family, it doesn’t mean that she could just stop caring about him, right? Plus, the Jeon family has a lot of enemies back in Busan. It’s unlikely that she would leave him completely unprotected, regardless of what she might have said when they left.
If she catches wind that Jimin isn’t providing for her son – that he can’t afford to even feed the two of them – will she finally show up and force Jungkook to come home?
It isn't worth the risk.
Instead, they make their money stretch however they can with coupons and careful shopping. When Jungkook isn’t around, Jimin rarely bothers making food for himself. He needs to take care of Jungkook more than he needs to eat, so he saves most of the food for when they’re together. Luckily, Amber and Jungkook’s other coworkers seem to love doting on their maknae. He’s always coming home with baked goods and containers of leftovers that he shares with Jimin.
Jungkook is well fed and taken care of, and that is what’s most important.
School is out for another few weeks, which means that Jungkook is home more right now. He works extra shifts when he’s not in school, but it still means more time that the two of them spend together – and more food they both need to eat.
“Hyung, our cupboards are literally empty,” Jungkook says from the kitchen, shaking Jimin from his thoughts and forcing him back into the real world.
Jimin climbs off the couch where they were playing games together before Jungkook got up to look for lunch. He walks up behind Jungkook, wrapping his arms around his mate and staring into the empty cupboard with him.
“I think there’s some rice and maybe a few eggs left?” Jimin says, trying to not sound too worried.
Jungkook waddles towards the fridge with Jimin still wrapped around him. He opens the door to the fridge and the sight is pretty grim. There are a few condiments, several water bottles, and a lone carton of eggs inside. When Jungkook opens the carton, there are only three eggs left inside. He opens another cupboard and there Jimin can see the nearly empty bulk bag of rice staring back at him.
“There’s enough here to make some lunch,” Jungkook says, lifting the bag out of the cupboard. “Eat with me, hyung?”
“I’ll have a little. Not very hungry.” It’s a lie, but Jimin has gotten used to the dishonesty by now.
“You know, we can probably apply for food assistance. It wouldn’t bother me,” Jungkook says.
“Would bother me.”
“Too much pride to take government help, hyung?” Jungkook’s tone is thankfully light, near joking despite the bleak reality of their near empty kitchen.
Jungkook has always been able to remain positive and lighthearted. He never seems to get discouraged about their situation, how Jimin can’t find a job, how they can’t afford to go out, having to work to just scrape by – any of it. He’s always just smiling and looking forward to the future.
Jimin loves him so fucking much.
“Something like that. I can check the account after lunch and see what we can do.”
“Okay.”
Jungkook begins preparing food, rinsing the rice and getting it into the rice cooker. With the timer set, he leads Jimin back to the couch and picks up his laptop off the coffee table.
“Gonna see if I got paid for that commission piece I finished last week.”
Jimin hums and leans his head against Jungkook’s shoulder, eyes feeling a little heavy. He’s always so tired lately, and Jungkook is warm and safe.
He’s asleep within minutes.
Jungkook gently jostles him awake some time later. “Hyung?”
“Hmm? Sorry,” Jimin says, rubbing his eyes. “Did you ask me something?”
“Were you serious about that joke you made last week?”
Jimin’s still half asleep brain draws a blank. “Uhhh... What joke did I make?”
“When I asked if you’d thought about picking pockets for some extra cash? You said you’d consider it if a good opportunity came up.”
Jimin remembers now. He’d laughed when he said it, but he hadn’t really been joking. Things are getting desperate enough – as evidenced by their bare cupboards – that he’s beginning to think the risk is worth it.
Jimin was a good thief. He probably still is, but it’s been a while since he’s practiced picking pockets. When they left their families behind, it seemed like a stupid risk to take if they didn’t need to. Thievery is all well and good when there’s very little chance of repercussion, but it’s a lot less appealing when there’s jail time on the line. At this point though...
“Why do you ask?”
Jungkook turns the laptop so Jimin can see the screen better. It looks like an email, something about a private art gallery event.
“A private showing?”
“One of my professors knows the artist and apparently got the okay for some of his students to attend the opening. Otherwise it’s a closed event, and you know what that means.”
Jimin does know what that means. “Lots of people with too much money.”
“Mhmm. We don’t have to, but if you were serious about an opportunity, this is a good one.”
“You’re allowed to bring a plus one?” Jimin asks.
Jungkook points to the bottom of the email. “Yeah, it says so right here.”
Jimin chews at his lower lip. It’s a risk. It’s a fairly big risk, but he has years of experience stealing things a lot more difficult than wallets, plus people at these sort of events are usually more concerned with the social happenings than with protecting their belongings.
He can have Jungkook help him practice with a few dry runs at home, just to make sure he’s still up to the challenge. Get the muscle memory working again and hopefully manage to pull off something that at least lets them eat for the next week.
They really need the money. He can do this.
“When is it?” Jimin asks.
“Tomorrow night.”
“Okay. Yeah, let’s do it.”