Chapter Text
If autumn mornings are cold, January mornings are freezing. Timid snowflakes start falling over the already white backyard, so scattered and so small that they are barely visible through the glass door, partly fogged because of the difference in the temperature between the wintery outside and the warm inside.
Jimin’s face shows a little smile, while he’s standing next to the glass door, staring at the backyard at the other side. He’s been feeling a little guilty for coming to the kitchen, but at least Seokjin will start his shift in an already warmed room.
The thing is that he can’t help it, coming back here, to the little room in this big castle where he grew up. He tries to do so super early in the morning, of course, he wouldn’t want to bother Seokjin and the other workers. Besides, his days have been packed lately, receiving all kinds of training.
It’s weird, the way he needs to act when he’s in public. Sometimes he doesn’t even feel like himself. It doesn’t help that what he sees in the mirror every morning has changed too. Not drastically, but it’s the little changes, right? His blonde hair is always perfect now, styled and shiny. His clothes are different too, softer and expensive. He usually wears light make-up now, only a little on his cheeks and lips. Not that his skin needs more. It has also changed in these months. It’s now clearer, even shiny. The reason, though, it’s not exactly because of his new life.
Jimin’s hand slides up and down his belly, over the barely perceptible baby bump. His hand has been easily finding his way to his belly these past weeks, even though it’s been too soon to feel anything. It’s almost a habit now, since he realized that the marathon sex during his heat had obviously had a consequence. To be more precise, since the night Taehyung realized, actually.
“Your scent… is different,” the alpha said while they were cuddling in front of the fireplace. Taehyung had his nose pressed on Jimin’s exposed collarbone, slowly running up his neck.
Jimin tilted his head back, sighing. “How so?”
“Hmm… sweeter…”
Taehyung’s lips felt hot over his skin, even though their bodies were already warm being that close to the flames.
“My heat was just a few weeks ago…”
“No, not like when you’re in heat…”
His heart skipped a beat when Taehyung’s hand travelled to his bare tummy under the blanket that partially covered them. Jimin’s eyes opened wide at the realization while Taehyung started scattering kisses down his torso until pressing his nose on his low abdomen.
None of them said a thing, Jimin focused on Taehyung’s hands roaming over his body, on the fact that something was starting to grow inside of him, someone, their pup.
When their eyes met again, Taehyung’s were bright, flashing a ray of gold. Jimin felt the first tears running down his temple.
That night, the night of Taehyung’s birthday, Jimin was able to cook a special late dinner for him, sneaking into the kitchen when Seokjin was done. They had a lovely walk through the gardens, they visited their favourite spot next to the river and they ended up in their suite. It was all perfect. Cooking for Taehyung again, looking at him enjoying the meal Jimin had prepared for him, holding his hand through their walk to keep them warm. It was delicious. The caresses, the kisses, the feeling of their bare bodies pressed together, Taehyung inside of him, release after release on the floor in front of the fireplace.
Jimin never thought that’d be how they’d end that day, with the realization of Jimin’s pregnancy.
“I love you, you make me so happy, Min-ah…” Taehyung murmured against his lips.
Jimin smiles again when he remembers Taehyung’s smug smile afterwards, feeling proud of his alpha for having him pregnant on their first heat together.
Too lost in his thoughts, he doesn’t notice he’s not alone in the kitchen anymore until a pair of big alpha hands meet his hand on his tummy, although they are fast to look for the hem of his shirt and slide under it to touch it skin to skin.
He’d recognize those hands anywhere. Jimin has felt them all over his body on multiple occasions, but especially on his tummy for the last weeks.
“Why are you out of bed this early?” Taehyung murmurs on his neck, between kisses.
Jimin turns around to wrap his arms around his alpha’s neck. “I was waiting for you…” he answers against his lips before leaving a peck there. But Taehyung wants more, he always wants more.
“You had me in our bed, though…”
Taehyung’s tongue traces Jimin’s lower lip, asking him to part them for him, and Jimin obliges.
Jimin indeed had Taehyung next to him on their shared bed, but there’s something about this place that drags him here unconsciously, maybe out of habit. He’s doing okay with the leaving the kitchen part of this new life, for the most part of it.
“I’ll follow you wherever you go, though…” Taehyung adds, with his nose already buried in his neck, closer to where the mating mark stands proudly. The words spread a warm feeling in Jimin’s chest, feeling so understood by his alpha. Taehyung kisses him then, and Jimin smiles in the kiss when he feels Taehyung’s hands sliding down his thighs. He tightens his hold around Taehyung’s neck to wrap his legs around his waist.
The glass of the door is freezing against his back, even through the couple of layers of clothes he’s wearing. Taehyung’s body pressed on his front, though, is warm and distracting enough.
Taehyung grinds on him against the door, and Jimin can’t help but move his hips accordingly, trying to increase the friction between them.
“Alpha…” he sighs, pleased sounds getting a growl from the alpha that Jimin feels in his chest. “Taehyung,” he adds, with his legs trembling around his alpha’s hips.
Taehyung doesn’t need to be fully hard for Jimin to feel him, but it’s never only about his hardening cock pressed against his body. It’s about the way Taehyung holds him, with a passion and excitement as if he were ready to devour him, even when his movements are soft and slow. The alpha’s hands’ grip is always firm, even now that he’s been more careful with the way he touches Jimin. His mouth is always ready to cover the omega in kisses, to leave a playful bite on his collarbones, to press against his mating bite and have Jimin shaking between his arms, feeling the spark of their bond running through his veins.
“I should take you back to our bed,” the alpha whispers and, for a moment, Jimin forgets that there was actually a reason for him to be in the kitchen this early morning.
Seokjin told him about the first strawberries growing in their garden, and Jimin asked him to pick them up before the first flakes of snow started to fall.
“I’m afraid we don’t have time for that,” Jimin whispers. It’s true, their days are especially hectic lately, with the preparations for their wedding.
Taehyung groans, slowly leaving Jimin on the floor again, although not pulling his hands apart from the omega’s body. “When I’m the king, I’m gonna spend as much as I want with you in bed,” he says, making Jimin chuckle. He knows he won’t. Taehyung is a responsible alpha, he’ll be a trustworthy king.
“We both know you wouldn’t neglect your responsibilities like that, alpha,” Jimin says as he kisses Taehyung’s jaw.
“What about my responsibilities with you?” he murmurs, looking at Jimin with rounded shiny eyes like a lost pup. Jimin smiles softly at him then, looking for his lips to leave a tender kiss on them before answering.
“I think you’ve already taken good care of them,” Jimin tells him, holding the alpha’s hand and bringing it back to his belly.
Taehyung sighs, almost enamoured, and Jimin feels proud to make his alpha so happy, to be carrying his heir, but also their pup, like a physical representation of their love and their bond.
“I can’t wait to see them,” Taehyung murmurs, resting his forehead on Jimin’s shoulder. The feeling of Jimin’s fingers playing with his hair makes him hum, pleased. But when Jimin thinks he’s got to redirect their hot makeout session to something soft and cute, the alpha surprises him again with their lips dragging over his neck again. “But don’t think a pup will be enough, omega,” he whispers in his ears.
The whine Jimin lets out sounds loud in the empty kitchen. He knows Taehyung will never force him to have more pups, but since his pregnancy, Taehyung has been obsessed about breeding Jimin again, even outside of their bed activities. The alpha has been talking about it frequently and nonchalantly, stating how good Jimin looks even though he just got his baby bump and how he’s obsessed about the idea of having Jimin literally full of his pups again and again.
Jimin understands Taehyung’s words and desires, he surprisingly feels the same. He’s not sure if it’s his altered hormones or if it’s just their primal instincts talking, but Jimin finds it hot every time, and he has needed to stop the alpha’s words on more than one occasion when he has started feeling the sweet scent of his slick surrounding him.
“I hope you’re not begetting an heir between the dark walls of this kitchen, Your Highnesses,” Seokjin interrupts them. “They deserve to be conceived among soft cotton sheets and not against a cold glass door.”
A soft smile appeared on the couple’s faces at the cook’s words. They haven’t shared the good news with anyone yet, although it’ll be done soon, a little after the wedding.
The alpha should be quicker in putting some space between him and his omega, but he only moves enough to make clear that their making out hasn’t reached that far.
“What are you doing here so early, hyung?” Jimin asks him.
“I only came to light the fireplace, I wasn’t expecting to find you here.”
“It’s okay, we-” Jimin answers, but Seokjin shakes his head.
“I’ll be back in an hour,” Seokjin offers. “Just… keep in mind this is where the meals are cooked,” he adds with a smirk, making Taehyung chuckle and Jimin blush.
When they’re alone again, Taehyung’s eyes land on the small jar on the wooden table, filled with a red paste that he already knows tastes delicious. He turns around to look at Jimin with a knowing smile.
He opens the jar and dips the finger inside while he walks back to Jimin, licking his fingertip and devouring the red sweet. Jimin follows every movement, because this is the best part of making strawberry jam for Taehyung, the way his lips wrap around his finger to have the first taste.
They don’t exchange words. Taehyung simply dips his finger again, but now he brings it to Jimin’s mouth instead. The omega welcomes it gladly, licking it clean before receiving the alpha’s lips again.
🍓
“You know I can walk, right?” Jimin asks him, giggling. Taehyung holds him firmly with an arm on his back and another under his legs while Jimin’s are wrapped around his neck.
“If it were up to me, you wouldn’t need to,” Taehyung tells him as he walks the path among the trees that lead to the river.
Jimin chuckles. “What would people think of their future king if they saw you right now?”
“They’d think I’m a good alpha, taking care of my husband and my pup,” Taehyung says sheepishly.
The first months of the pregnancy were lenient with Jimin. He didn’t feel nausea or swollen and the baby bump was barely perceptible under his baggy clothes. Taehyung pampered his belly with kisses every night anyway, talking to their pup even before they could even feel them.
Jimin spent the winter months still attending his duties as a new royal omega. As soon as his baby bump started being more pronounced, though, Taehyung was very persistent that he needed to rest, although Jimin was still feeling right when the spring started.
He walked through the gardens, holding his cute belly, followed by his maids most of the time. Taehyung kept him company too, walking next to him when he had days with less packed schedules.
Things changed at the end of the spring, when the higher temperatures of the summer weather started kicking. Jimin started feeling swollen all over, not just because his belly grew a lot, but also because his legs felt heavier and his ankles got wider.
His days felt longer, not only because of the extended hours of sunlight, but because mobility started being a struggle, that’s when their shared secret spot at the river felt like a little piece of paradise to Jimin, exactly when he needed it the most.
When Taehyung finally sets him down, Jimin sighs at the feeling of the damp earth beneath his feet. Taehyung carefully undresses them and then, firmly holding Jimin's hand, they both wade into the river that has shared so many moments with them.
The contrast between the warm temperature and the cool water is a relief Jimin gladly welcomes, since now, in the final months of his pregnancy, he’s finding everything increasingly difficult. However, in this small haven of paradise, hidden among the trees and bathed in moonlight, the weight (both literal and metaphorical) of his pregnancy seems to melt away.
By now, the couple have visited their riverside hideaway enough for Taehyung to know exactly what to do, what Jimin needs. Simply submerging his body in the water is enough to relieve Jimin of the weight of his belly. However, being able to do so while Taehyung embraces him from behind, so that he can lean completely against his alpha's firm chest as Taehyung's arms encircle the lower part of his stomach, makes it even better.
As their bodies float in the calm waters of the river, Taehyung can't help but leave gentle caresses, even underwater, wherever his hands can reach. Jimin sighs, relaxed, with a half-smile playing on his lips, because he knows all too well how this can end, how it usually ends.
Taehyung treats him with exquisite gentleness, something he's been doing even before Jimin got pregnant. However, that hasn't stopped them from continuing their marital activities, not even when Jimin's belly began to grow and grow.
His alpha always finds a way to make him feel loved and desired. His caresses begin innocently, as if his hands intended to cover Jimin's naked body completely. As he does so, he buries his nose in the omega's neck, seeking to absorb his scent, now sweeter and milkier. His lips often join the task begun by his hands. They leave kisses, first short and tender, on his neck, on the mark, then on his shoulders.
It's after long minutes that Jimin begins to feel the impatience, not only in the body that holds him from behind, but also in his own, with a slight tingling rising from his toes to his torso.
“Alpha…” Jimin sighs. “I don’t think I can fuck here anymore.” Jimin laments, much to his dismay.
The truth is, this river has witnessed their most passionate encounters countless times. At this point, however, Jimin definitely needs the comfort of a mattress beneath them.
The alpha smirks against his shoulder. Jimin feels his lips widen against his skin as he places another kiss there.
“That’s what you’re thinking about?” Taehyung asks him in a cheeky tone, making Jimin chuckle, as if it weren’t obvious that the alpha is definitely thinking about it and his movements are leading to exactly that.
“That’s what you’re looking for…”
“And you want it?” Taehyung asks as his thumb slides over Jimin’s sensitive nipple, as if it weren’t obvious.
To be honest, Jimin's hormones have had him desperately horny, and Taehyung has gladly taken his time pleasing him, as if, somehow, the changes in Jimin had affected his alpha as well. Perhaps they have, because Taehyung has been much more passionate than usual. Maybe it's the change in his scent, or the change in his physique—not just his growing belly, but also the sparkle in his eyes, the softness of his skin. Or maybe it's simply because this is how they are.
“Of course I want it,” Jimin smiles, turning his head, his lips looking for Taehyung’s.
The alpha keeps playing with his nipples as they kiss. He keeps touching his omega like his favourite instrument, exactly the way he knows he’ll get the most previous sounds from him, until Jimin can’t keep with the kiss.
“Taehyung, please…” His fingers tightly wrap in the alpha’s thick hair, getting a growl from him. His big hand easily covers the whole length of Jimin’s hard cock, making him sigh again. “Alpha…”
It’s easy for Taehyung to get the first orgasm out of Jimin after all the groping, just a few strokes has the omega trembling in his arms and moaning loud among the trees. But one is never enough for Jimin, not at least when he’s pregnant.
Taehyung does a good job pulling Jimin out of the water and covering them both with their clothes again. Then, he carries his omega to their bedroom without his feet even touching the ground.
With the same gentleness he used to undress and dress Jimin by the river, Taehyung undresses his omega again, this time by their bed.
The cotton sheets under Jimin’s back feel comforting, especially as his alpha arranges pillows around him, so the improvised nest helps holding his body in the right position. Again, here, Taehyung knows exactly what Jimin needs.
“We're not done yet, right?” Jimin asks, running his fingers through the alpha's hair. Taehyung carefully hovers over him, shifting his weight so as not to hurt him and their pup.
“Are you sure?” Taehyung asks, and Jimin smiles, feeling the warm length of his alpha against his thigh. He nods, drawing his alpha closer so they can kiss.
Taehyung’s lips, though, don’t stop at his omega’s mouth. They continue their way down, slowly and sloppily, toward a place they’ve been obsessing about lately.
The milk coming in shouldn’t happen for at least a few weeks, the midwife has told them. However, the special attention the alpha has been paying to Jimin’s body hasn’t been in vain. From the way the light, milky undertone of Jimin’s scent has intensified lately, Taehyung knows he’s close to achieving what he so desperately wants.
“Tae…” Jimin sighs as the alpha’s tongue begins to play with the soft nub. The grip of Jimin’s fingers in the dark hair tightens. Jimin knows what his alpha is looking for, and although it seems absurd, his body reacts again and again with a tingling sensation that makes his legs tense and feel weak at the same time.
Taehyung’s free hand is divided between massaging his chest and gently sliding down the side of his body, leaving caresses on his stomach, his thigh, until he grasps him behind the knee to try to bring them even closer.
“Tae-ah…”
The feeling of Taehyung’s hard cock against him is distracting, a reminder of what Jimin really wants. But his alpha keeps focused on his nipples, and Jimin loves that too.
The sensation is wet and pleasurable, although the light rubbing of the teeth, a result of the alpha's desperation, hurts a little; the mixture is delicious to the point Jimin is not sure about what he wants, because he wants everything.
Jimin’s hand on Taehyung's head keeps pressing it against his chest, and the alpha only grunts with pleasure, encircling the nipple with his lips and squeezing lightly, with a rhythmic motion, because he does know what he wants. His hips move in time with his jaw, seeking friction against his erection, and Jimin feels impatient; he needs him inside.
The pillow placed under his waist makes the position a little easier, although with the way his belly has grown in recent weeks, Jimin knows there's no way Taehyung can penetrate him like this.
Gathering all the willpower he can, he pulls Taehyung's head away from his chest so he can look into his eyes. His alpha looks desperate; the brown in his eyes is barely perceptible, they’ve never shown so much desire as they do lately.
“You know it’ll still take a while for it to come, right?” Jimin murmurs, Taehyung nods, swallowing hard and looking for his lips.
“I know it’s gonna be soon, though,” Taehyung murmurs after the kiss, now focusing on Jimin’s neck.
With a smile on his face, Jimin tilts his head to give him more space. “That’s not what the midwife said.”
A groan. Taehyung’s teeth slide over his mating mark, making him sigh again. “I know you well, I know your body better, your scent…”
Jimin smiles bigger, feeling his cheeks getting redder at the proud words of his alpha while he sniffs his neck deeply, trying to get a deeper whiff of his scent.
“You’re obsessed,” Jimin says the obvious.
“It drives me crazy,” Taehyung murmurs, dragging his lips until they find one of his omega’s nipples again, already hard and wet, eagerly waiting to be played by Taehyung's lips and tongue.
“Tae,” Jimin whines. “Let me sit on your lap.”
“I want you to be comfortable.”
“I want to ride you, I need you inside, please,” Jimin begs as he sits up, resting his hand on Taehyung’s chest to make him sit back too. Easily, their lips find each other again despite the weird position.
“I can make you feel good anyway,” Taehyung reminds him.
“I know, but that way we both can get what we want more easily,” Jimin smiles, biting his lower lip.
“What do you want?” Taehyung asks him with a raised eyebrow, waiting for Jimin to say it.
“Your cock,” Jimin reminds him.
“Hmm…”
They kiss again, getting distracted for a moment.
Taehyung helps him sit on his lap once he’s sitting against the headrest. Jimin cups his cheek then, thumb playing with Taehyung’s lower lip, until he starts to suck it. But he knows that’s not what his alpha really wants.
“Come here,” Jimin purrs, bringing Taehyung’s head closer to his chest. “Drink,” he adds, despite knowing it’s not possible yet. Taehyung doesn’t seem to mind, though, and he eagerly wraps his lips around his nipple. He starts playing with his tongue again, making Jimin sigh.
His hips start moving back and forth, trying to fit the hard length of the alpha between his ass cheeks. He’s so wet the sweeter scent of his slick surrounds them, and it’s Taehyung who moves them so he can get his cock even wetter with it, without removing his lips from Jimin’s chest.
“Inside,” Jimin reminds him, since the idea of actually drinking from Jimin’s nipple is starting to cloud his alpha’s mind. Taehyung obliges after a few seconds, as he starts sucking around the hard nub.
But all at once is too much for Jimin, so Taehyung stops sucking and his lips only leave sloppy kisses on his chest as he lets his omega take him slowly, in a deliriously good pace as he keeps clenching around him.
Jimin not only feels and smells delicious, he also sounds like that. His little whines and shy moans makes it more difficult for Taehyung to wait, but Jimin knows he won’t move again until he says so.
He still needs a few minutes to get used to the size of his alpha inside of him once he’s taken all of him. They messily kiss, and Jimin smirks when he gets a growl from Taehyung every time he can’t help but clench around him.
Without saying anything else, Jimin cups Taehyung’s head and brings it closer to his chest again. As his alpha starts sucking his nipple again, his hips start rocking, slowly, trying to feel every drag of Taehyung’s cock inside of him.
Jimin knows he won’t last long like this and his thighs will hurt soon. Taehyung’s tongue keeps lapping his sensitive nub, making him hiss every time he lets his teeth feel how hard it actually is. Jimin’s fingers curl in the dark hair, pressing his alpha’s head to his chest again, not caring if he can even breathe. It’s not like Taehyung seems to mind it either, given the way he growls and how his hips move shyly under Jimin.
“Tae…”
The pace of their hips fastens, and Jimin thinks he’s getting closer and closer to his second orgasm of the night, again without his alpha. But then Taehyung’s grip on his waist tightens, making him stop, and Jimin feels it too. He feels the first drops of milk pouring from his nipple, and Taehyung’s cock twitching inside him just a few seconds later, as soon as his taste buds feel the milky and sweet peachy taste.
Their eyes meet then, and Taehyung continues licking the hard nipple while holding his gaze, making him moan as he feels Jimin clench around him. The sight is dirty and sinful, and Jimin can't help but hold him firmly and bring their lips together, hoping to taste a little of his own milk.
“So fucking good…” Taehyung whispers. Jimin brings a finger to his leaking nipple and then places his fingertip on Taehyung’s lips. His alpha licks it clean, gladly and eagerly, only to focus on his other nipple after that.
“You got what you wanted, hm?” Jimin says, although he’s been lowkey wishing for his milk to come earlier so his alpha could finally get it.
Taehyung nods, face still pressed against his chest, and Jimin leaves caresses on his head as he keeps sucking. He hisses, nipples red and sensitive, as his hips sway again. Slowly at first, although they are fast to retake their previous pace.
Jimin usually needs a little more to come, at least a couple of strokes on his cock. Now, though, the desperation on Taehyung’s eyes is so intense as he keeps sucking his nipple, and he’s so proud to be feeding his alpha like this, that he only needs Taehyung thrusting up into him again to feel closer to the edge.
“Don’t stop,” he whines. “Tae, please…”
His alpha does a spectacularly good job sucking and thrusting, until he has him shaking between his arms again, spurting between them and painting their lower bellies in white. He’s not even come down from his second orgasm that he feels Taehyung filling him, with his lips still around his nipple.
Just a few seconds later, the alpha rearranges them, letting Jimin rest on the mattress again, with a bunch of pillows around him again. Jimin sighs, pleased, knowing Taehyung will take care of cleaning him, like he always does.
Jimin is not surprised to feel his alpha’s tongue on his skin again. A tired smile appears on his lips while he tries to fight his sleepiness. He wants to fall asleep with Taehyung cuddling him from behind. Taehyung licks him clean in a very meticulous way, and it’s the proximity of his tongue with Jimin’s red nipples what makes him open his eyes and stop his husband with a hand on his forehead.
“No,” he purrs, making Taehyung growl. “You’ve had enough, they hurt,” Jimin adds with a cute pout.
“Sorry,” Taehyung murmurs before covering Jimin’s chest with slow kisses, carefully avoiding the sensitive area.
Jimin sighs, fingers playing with Taehyung’s thick locks. Taehyung cleans them both with a wet cloth after that.
There’s a lot going on in Jimin’s head lately. The day of childbirth is getting closer and closer, just a few weeks apart, and he’s equally excited and scared. Taehyung always listens to him with attention and he’s actually a good support, getting to relax him and take away a little of his worriness. Mostly, Taehyung gets that by just lying next to him, wrapping his arm around his belly from behind. It’s in moments like that when the wish of finally seeing their pup, raising him together and having a happy family with his alpha wins over any other doubtful thought.
“My tits will be leaking all day now and it’s your fault,” Jimin jokes, although he’s not excited about staining his clothes.
Taehyung sighs behind him and leaves a kiss on his shoulder. “I’ll gladly lick you clean every time,” he answers, making Jimin giggle.
“Silly alpha, you’re the crown prince, you’re busy…”
“Not for you, never for you,” Taehyung says, too firmly for the silly conversation they’re sharing.
Jimin sighs, bringing his arm back to try to play with Taehyung’s hair again. “So what’s your plan? Leaving your meetings to attend to your pregnant omega?” Jimin says that with a big smile on his lips. He knows that’s something Taehyung would do in a heartbeat.
“If you come to my meetings I can also do that there,” Taehyung says while he keeps leaving kisses on Jimin’s shoulder. The silliness of his words makes Jimin giggle again and, although Taehyung can’t really see it, his cheeks get a little rosy too.
“Kinky,” is all Jimin answers. Taehyung hums behind him, nuzzling his nape.
“I’ll keep taking care of you, always, even when the pup is here with us.” Taehyung’s hand is already caressing his belly.
“We have maids for that,” Jimin says, although his husband’s words keep making him feel all warm inside.
“We’ve already established that I know you better,” Taehyung says with a smirk.
Jimin smiles, turning his torso around a little as he looks for Taehyung’s lips. His alpha easily covers the rest of the distance between them so he can comfortably kiss him.
“You’re right,” Jimin says, getting a smirk from the alpha.
🍓
“Kookoo samcheon, Kookoo samcheon!”
Jum’s bare feet dart down the third-floor hallway, several meters ahead of the nanny running after him. Despite his young age, Jum knows perfectly well who is at the end of the hall, and that only makes him quicken his little steps as he continues to shout the guard’s name.
A tender smile spreads across Jungkook's face even before he sees the little boy. His inner wolf stirs with excitement at the prospect of holding the pup in his arms.
“Kookoo samcheon!” the child shouts again just before the guard scoops him up.
“Jum-ah, have you run away again?” he chides him, his voice filled with gentleness. The boy lets out an adorable giggle that puffs out his cheeks and makes his eyes crinkle into half-moons.
“Jum!” the nanny calls again when she finally reaches the east wing corridor.
The sight of the alpha guard carrying the child is not new to her. Even so, Jungkook is on duty, so the woman offers to hold the child again.
However, Jungkook stops her. “I’ll take care of him, Mrs. Lee,” he offers with a smile as he extends his hand for the woman to give him the tiny shoes.
When the pup and the alpha are finally alone again, Jungkook sits him down on one of the benches in the hallway and kneels before him. Jum is still too young to understand, but this is how everyone will act toward him: with a bow and, in a good few years, with one knee on the ground. But the pup isn’t entirely aware of who he is, or who he will be, and for now the child simply gazes at the guard with pure adoration.
Jungkook shakes the dust off the little feet with his hand before covering them with the shoes.
“You know you can’t run around this side of the castle without them on,” Jungkook says, making the boy pout.
“But, samcheon, it’s more funny like this,” the pup complains.
The guard, touched, ends up smiling. “I know,” he replies, winking conspiratorially. “But you can’t hurt yourself.”
The boy rolls his eyes, though he lets Jungkook cover his feet.
“So I’m a good boy now, right?” the boy asks, once his feet are covered. By now, Jungkook knows that this question is just the prelude to something more.
Affectionately, he shakes the pup’s black hair. “Of course.”
“So you’ll give me that?” Jum asks, pointing at the long sword hanging from the guard’s waist.
Jungkook smiles; it’s not the first time his sword has caught the boy’s attention. “You’re still too young for that,” he tells him for the hundredth time, with an endearing look on his face.
Jum pouts again, an expression Jungkook knows all too well. After a deep sigh, he reaches out to hold the pup in his arms again.
“Appa told me I should start being a big boy,” the pup murmurs. Jungkook smiles fondly as he walks with Jum toward the large window overlooking the front garden. He finds it hard to imagine a time when the boy in his arms won’t be a pup to him. However, he perfectly understands the context of the conversation the boy must have shared with his parents.
“That’s right,” he replies.
On the other side of the window, a few meters below, an alpha and omega couple stroll affectionately among rows of bushes that no longer bear any blossoms. Autumn has taken hold of the garden, transforming it into a cool place, though filled with warm colors, and the leaves fall slowly from the trees, as if shyly wishing to get as close as possible to the couple.
“But not close enough to wield a sword,” the guard adds. “Not yet.”
“When I grow up like you, will I be able to?” the pup asks, looking at him with his hazel eyes. Jungkook looks at him and smiles.
“When you grow up like me, you’ll have a much better sword than mine.”
The boy is surprised, his expression unabashedly revealing it. “Really?”
The alpha nods. “Your sword will be the best in the kingdom.”
The pup’s small mouth opens then. “Better than appa’s?”
Jungkook nods with a smile, and they both turn their gaze back to the couple on the other side of the window.
Jum's eyes focus on the long sword hanging from the alpha's waist, as if it were the most precious thing his young eyes have seen. The alpha, however, doesn't seem to attach such consideration to it. His hands, instead of holding it, needily seek something far more important. The omega's bulging belly walking beside him seems to act like a magnet for them. The alpha walks alongside the omega and embraces him from behind, even though it makes them sway from side to side with big smiles on their faces. But it doesn’t matter because, like that, the alpha can hold what is now two-thirds of his whole world, while the third stares at them, comfortably resting in Jungkook's arms.