Zero G Lies

by Lateforclass

Summary:

Time is ticking, the Centauran Alliance and Ingtar Alliance are at war, all thanks to a Centauran flagships unauthorized entry into enemy space to rescue their officers from slave traders. Jungkook is out of his depth as he tries to ingratiate himself with Kim Taehyung and try to eke out all of the Centaurum's secrets. Among all the challenges he encounters, the most daunting challenge is the one that every spy was warned about, to not fall in love with the enemy.

Notes:

The next part will be coming soon everyone, stay tuned! ❤️️❤️️

Oooh, and this part is going to make up for the abject lack of smut in the first one, so I hope you guys look forward to this one. ;)

Chapter 1: Moodboard

 

ZERO G LIES

 

 

Chapter 2: A Lonely Little Boy

 

 

Jungkook couldn’t remember what he used to do when he was tinier than he was now. His memories from the beginning years of his life were hazy and hard to recollect. By Dunaran standards, he was four years of age now.

As he was a youngling on Dunara, his life followed a very predictable pattern that often times offered the only comfort in his otherwise lonely existence. What he could remember clearly was the divine dream, a dream for Dunara and all of the universe. The ultimate goal of every newborn youngling on Dunara was to work towards achieving the divine dream.

To that end, each Dunaran child had a purpose that was predetermined long before the genetic material for a child was prepared and inoculated into the birthing pods. The embryo then grew in the relative comfort of the birthing pods for twelve long months before they were ready to enter the world with all the primitive skills necessary to survive through the next few years.

The babies from the pods were so self-sufficient that all the support they needed was to be fed thrice a day and for their diapers to be changed. An army of robots took care of the babies who were raised in large nurseries, feeding them from prepacked formula bottles every day. If off-worlders could have ever wandered the nurseries of Dunara, they would have found the utter silence prevailing in the nursery to be unsettling. Babies on Dunara never cried and if they did, it was usually because they were ill and for a society that was founded on eugenics, it meant that the higher-ups ensured that a crying infant was silenced forever.

There was no place for the weak in a society like Dunara.

No other place in the galaxy was a better example of ‘survival of the fittest’.

In Dunara, you either prevailed and carried on without complaint or you didn’t wake to see another day.

As most children like Jungkook were created for the sole purpose of higher order thinking and intellectual pursuits, even as a baby Jungkook had learned that he would have to be the best to survive in the Hall of Knowledge.

Every day, all the children residing in the Hall of Knowledge woke up at four in the morning, a sonorous alarm woke them up to remind them of their duties and following the alarm they were given a half hour to get themselves ready for the day, they had to brush, toilet, bathe and clothe themselves in appropriate attire before exiting their cabin.

Once they were ready, the hall attender took attendance before they had to proceed single file to the dining hall where they were provided nutritious food as per their requirements. Usually, the food was tasteless and only served to meet the pupils’ dietary needs for proper growth. However, children on Dunara did not know anything better, to them food was food and supposed to be tasteless, it served a function after all, it didn’t ever occur to them that food could be an indulgence.

At the dining hall, they were given half-an-hour to eat their meals and then they proceeded to their classes for the day based on a roster.

Jungkook had a mathematics test today, so far, he was the star pupil of his cohort, always scoring outstanding grades in all his subjects. His teachers were very pleased with him when they performed monthly performance reviews and always told him to strive to be the best.

 

To a child that lived alone with no shoulder to cry on nor share his joy with, the brief flicker of recognition and praise was like a drop of water in dry desert. He earned for that recognition so much that he sat up until late at night to prepare extra hard for his tests in his cabin.

The student cabins were the only place where there were no cameras installed and the only place where Jungkook could do what he wanted without being rebuked for disobedience.

A number of pupils in his cohort filed into the room and Jungkook walked forward and took his place behind his work station as the android invigilator started to announce the rules of academic integrity and what was expected of each pupil for this test. The bell rang to indicate that the test portal was open and Jungkook’s focus for the next two hours was entirely on the screen in front of him as he worked out complex mathematical problems with an ease and acumen that would have put teenagers in other parts of the galaxy to shame.

He was done fifteen minutes before the allotted time for the test and he waited patiently while the android stood in the center of the room and scanned every child keenly. The bell rang and Jungkook looked around to realize that most of the pupils in the room looked panicked because that was not nearly enough time to complete such a complex mathematical test including theoretical geometry, trigonometry, matrices, integral and differential calculus, things other children in the galaxy learned in the very last years of higher secondary education.

“You may proceed to the dining hall for lunch, the results of today’s test will be announced in the evening. Have a good day students.”

The androids mechanical voice filled the room and Jungkook and the other pupils started to file out of the room in an orderly fashion back to the dining hall where they were greeted with yet another unappetizing meal.

Still, there were no reactions in the young boys’ chubby faces, no grimaces, no complaints about having to eat their greens, no spitting out food or throwing tantrums and demanding for something more appealing to their taste buds.

Jungkook fully expected to have a regular day of scarfing down his lunch and proceeding to his next class so he startled visibly when the teacher who did his performance reviews came forward and called his name, “Jungkook, please leave the table and follow me.”

As practiced as his life was, Jungkook couldn’t keep the small sigh from escaping as he looked at his lunch forlornly, the next opportunity to eat would not be for hours and he was going to feel hungry throughout the entire day but his teacher was calling for him and he could not disobey. Obedience meant survival; disobedience led to punishment.

So Jungkook followed quietly, his little legs struggling to keep up with the teacher’s long and fast strides, they passed the atrium before the teacher opened the door to a room and went in, courteously keeping the door open for Jungkook to enter because he wasn’t tall enough or strong enough to get into the room by himself.

The room they were in now was well lit, and a S shaped couch sat in the corner on which a man was sitting with one leg on top of another. The man was wearing a three-piece business suit and looked old and distinguished.

It was the first time Jungkook was seeing someone so old, he had never seen hair in that color of wispy white before, so despite his conditioning, he started to fear the unknown and as always when he was nervous, he was unable to control his automatic bodily response in time.

He put his thumb inside his mouth and sucked while peeking tentatively at the man from behind his teacher’s back.

So absorbed was he in his observation that he didn’t realize that his teacher had turned to him to introduce him and then stopped.

“Jungkook! What have told you about that habit? Stop it! Now!”

The loud and harsh words just startled Jungkook further and his heart started rattling in his chest, “Come now Miss Drew, he’s just a little boy, I’m sure he’ll grown out of the habit on his own soon enough.”

The man had walked closer as he spoke and was now standing right opposite to Miss Drew, Jungkook was still hiding behind his teachers back and he thought that the old man was in big trouble because nobody ever spoke back against the teacher and got away with it. Jungkook knew, some of his classmates had tried and gotten switched for their trouble.

Jungkook was feeling so nervous for the old man that he didn’t even realize that he was still sucking on his thumb for comfort, the old man crouched down and tilted his head to look at Jungkook closely.

“Can you give us a minute Miss Drew?”

Miss Drew looked between Jungkook and then the old man furtively, but ultimately nodded her head and left the room leaving Jungkook alone with the stranger.

The stranger smiled at Jungkook and said “You do know that’s a bad habit, don’t you Jungkook?”

Jungkook nodded and finally took his thumb out of his mouth, the urge to keep his thumb in his mouth was overwhelmingly strong and he struggled to not show how uncomfortable he was, all alone with this stranger.

Then the stranger did something so unexpected that Jungkook made a loud noise of surprise as the man picked him up and held him in his arms.

No one, not one person excluding the robot that changed his diapers and fed him had ever picked Jungkook up bodily like this, the shock showed, for a few minutes his heart beat accelerated, blood rushed through his veins as his mind processed something as strange as human contact with another person.

Alas, he was only a lonely four year old boy, and an omega on top of it, just because he was conditioned to want nothing as alien as a comforting embrace did not mean he did not crave it desperately subconsciously.

His churning mind quietened, his heart rate decreased, his body lost its rigid posture and he leaned closer into the strange man’s embrace and put his head on the man’s shoulder.

The man’s chest rumbled with laughter, “So gifted and yet so sweet too!” the man remarked before adding, “Well….what else could an omega child be but angelic hmm?”

The man’s hands carded through Jungkook’s soft downy hair and Jungkook closed his eyes in reflex enjoying the touches and soaking it up like a sponge.

Then because he wasn’t being reprimanded for cuddling up to the stranger, Jungkook brought his thumb up and put it in his mouth once again.

The man laughed again, he looked down at Jungkook and pinched the boy’s chubby cheeks, “You learn quick, don’t you?”

And then lifting a finger up in an admonishing way, the stranger said, “You can’t suck your thumb though, your teeth will be pushed out and you’ll start to look really ugly and ghastly. You don’t want that, do you?”

Jungkook blinked up at the stranger, he’d never been told that sucking his thumb would make him ugly, he reluctantly pulled his thumb out of his mouth once again, a small pout making it obvious that he did not like having to do it.

“Tell you what? If you don’t suck your thumb again, I’ll give you a treat every week. How about that?”

“Was a tweet?” eugenic enhancements were groundbreaking but still one could only do so much, Jungkook’s diction was still like that of a young child who was just getting used to speaking words properly.

“A treat, an ice pop or a lollie, you’ve never had one before?”

Jungkook looked up at the man, round doe eyes curious, he shook his head at the man, he didn’t know what an ice pop or lollie was.

The stranger frowned and then let out an exasperated moan, “Ahhh! Really? Is this place that rigid? No wonder that it’s a breeding ground for rebellion, isn’t it?”

Jungkook didn’t quite understand what the man meant but the stranger searched his pockets and produced a brightly colored stick holding a large circular disc above the stick that was equally brightly colored but appeared to be paper.

When Jungkook looked perplexed, the stranger carefully unwrapped the strange colorful thing and handed it to Jungkook, “Here’s your first treat, may it be the first of many more to come.”

Jungkook took the stick with the disc and looked at the man, confused and not sure of what he was supposed to do.

“Well, go on, eat it, nobody will punish you, that’s a promise.”

Jungkook was usually not so trustworthy of people, he was basically engineered to harbor suspicion regarding everyone. However, he was still too young to really come into the qualities he was supposed to have as a pupil trained for espionage, and the colorful candy was too hard to resist, so he brought the candy close to his mouth and gave it a tentative lick.

The flavor that burst into his mouth made his eyes pop in his tiny face, “Mmmmm” he exclaimed in stunned surprise as he looked up at the strange man with a toothy smile now.

“It’s good, isn’t it?”

Jungkook nodded and kept licking the candy, unable to believe that something could taste so heavenly.

Miss Drew never gave him anything so good even when he got the best ever grades on his tests.

Then he remembered that this strange man was probably going to go away and he would have to go back to his cabin.

Eat the same tasteless food every day, never feel the secure touch and comfort of being held so lovingly in someone’s embrace, never feel like all there was to his life was making sure he got the best marks on his tests.

Even as young as he was, his scent revealed his sadness more than his face ever did. Children were not given suppressants until they were twelve in Dunara because it hindered with their natural development.

“Why are you sad?” the stranger asked and Jungkook blinked before he shook his head to deny that he was sad, he kept licking the candy, deciding to savor it slowly because he was sure he was never going to get one again in his entire life.

“You’re sad because you have to go back to living in that little cabin with no one for company and no lollies ever, isn’t it Jungkookie?”

Jungkook’s head shot up at the pet name, nobody had called him anything but Jungkook before this, he liked it when the man called him Jungkookie.

“Well, you don’t have to be sad. I’m taking you away to my house where you can have lollies and juice pops and ice cream every weekend.”

The baby boy’s eyes were so round and huge in his face already that the way they widened with delight made him appear as comical as endearing to the man.

He picked up the boy in his arms with both hands until he was holding Jungkook aloft above him, “Oh you would like that very much, wouldn’t you Kookie?”

The man gave Jungkook an eskimo kiss and the thick hairs of his moustache tickled Jungkook’s face and made him giggle as he instinctively pulled away.

Soon, the man was holding Jungkook securely on his side, letting Jungkook eat the lollie in peace as he negotiated arrangements for his transfer with the teacher.

Jungkook was blissfully unaware that his whole life was about to change now and that he was one those rare lucky children of Dunara who were given a shred of warmth in an unendingly cold and isolated existence.

All he could care about was sucking on the candy in his mouth, too afraid that he’ll never get to taste something so good ever in his life again.

 

 

Chapter 3: Cracks in the glass

 

 

 

 

 

“You know today is your day off”

Taehyung could feel the suspicion layering Jimin’s voice but chose to hum in reply, not wanting to exaggerate Jimin’s already growing suspicions about him and Jungkook.

“You aren’t rostered to be on active duty today and yet you’re here” Jimin said again in an accusatory tone that set Taehyung’s teeth on edge.

The reason for Jimin’s tone was the XO of the ship down below and how Taehyung’s eyes were fixed on him like a photon torpedo, Jungkook was the one who was rostered to supervise the engineers while they fixed their unserviceable FTL drive after it had completely overloaded while being powered closed to an unstable lunar orbit.

It had just enough life inside it to prevent their certain death but it had thrown them into the middle of nowhere, far outside of charted space and extremely far away from the Centaurum.

“I’m the Captain of this ship, I shouldn’t have a vested interest in ensuring that the FTL drives are fixed properly?”

Taehyung looked at Jimin with an eyebrow raised, frankly, getting Jimin off his back was proving to be very difficult without revealing what exactly Jungkook was hiding from them all.

“I heard you gave Jungkook-shi the first officers cabin on Destiny” Jimin quipped, his irritation barely concealed.

“I did, I felt he’s earned it.”

“Earned it? He’s earned it? Did your IQ just drop sharply while you were away? We couldn’t trace his tracker! Every Centauran officer is meant to have one implanted in them and we couldn’t trace his while we were trying to rescue you from Ulara. Does that not arouse at least a shred of suspicion in you?”

“Our captors could have easily removed his tracker while they took him away, neither of us were conscious for a bit there.”

“You know that doesn’t make a lick of sense, why would they take his out and not take yours?”

“Maybe they were on their way to deal with mine before they were killed.”

Jimin couldn’t believe it, it was like he was talking to a brick wall ever since Taehyung came back. He had pointed to multiple reasons for why he thought Jungkook wasn’t entirely being honest with them all but nothing seemed to faze Taehyung.

The beta let out an exasperated sigh. Even now, as he was arguing his case, Taehyung’s eyes were on Jungkook. He didn’t even spare a glance to Jimin, didn’t even try to assuage him that his concerns were unfounded, in fact, the alpha was being dismissive of Jimin, something that was so alien to Jimin that he didn’t know how to deal with it.

Taehyung was his best friend in the entire world, he’d asked to serve on Destiny just so he could be with Taehyung and prior to this they were inseparable.

He didn’t know what changed for such a drastic change in behaviour.

“What happened in there for you to have taken such a liking to him?” Jimin wondered aloud and finally Taehyung had had enough.

He turned and snapped, “You’re behaving like a jilted lover now, is there something you want to tell me Jimin?”

Jimini’s eyes widened in outrage, he scoffed derisively and retorted, “Don’t think so highly of yourself, I’m only trying to get you to see some sense.”

Taehyung’s head was turned towards Jungkook, the FTL drive was partly powered by nuclear power and they had cordoned off an entire area of the ship with yellow tape to prevent exposure to the contained fall-out but still the minute Jungkook walked a little closer to the yellow tape, his jaw ticked and he shouted, “Jungkook-shi!”

His voice was so loud that all the engineers collectively stopped working, Jungkook turned around, reflecting the same shock that the other engineers on the deck felt, he asked “Yes Captain?”

“Ready room, now.”

Jungkook looked around hesitantly and then responded with, “Can this wait? I’m in the middle of supervising a very important phase.”

“I’ll appoint Namjoon-shi in your place.”

Even from this far up, Jimin could tell Jungkook was frustrated with the Captain’s unreasonable demands.

Well, at least Jungkook was behaving as usual.

The cadets on the deck smirked at each other as Jungkook walked away from the deck after signing off his logbook for the day.

Then Taehyung turned to Jimin and said, “I’ll order up a scan to determine whether Jungkook’s chip is there or if it was removed. Happy?”

It wasn’t much but it was a start, at this point Jimin would take what he could get. So, he nodded and said as much.

“I have no idea why you think he’s the one who sabotaged the FTL drive when he wasn’t even on the ship at the time Jimin.”

“I don’t think he had anything to do with the drive, but I find this whole ‘kidnapping’ to be suspicious as fuck.”

“Again, he was kidnapped right alongside me, what kind of mental gymnastics did you do to arrive at the conclusion that Jungkook was behind his own kidnapping.”

“Because it makes no sense! They left you there alive and threw Jungkook into a silo after five long days? They didn’t demand a ransom but you said they were waiting for someone to come ‘buy’ you both off. If someone really did want to buy you, why would they try to drown the XO and then leave you there? Random raiders don’t just have access to things like Vox-423 or a whole abandoned factory in Ulara.”

Jimin was frowning by the end of his explanation, “This was orchestrated by someone with a lot of power, deliberately.”

Taehyung had no doubt most of Jimin’s conclusions were true, it was just the fact that Jimin was laying all the blame on Jungkook that pissed him off, yes, Jungkook was acting suspicious but it was not for the reasons Jimin thought about, the XO was an omega and was trying to keep it hidden.

Taehyung was frustrated because he could not reassure Jimin without revealing exactly what secret the XO was hiding from them all. Still, it was time for him to coach Jungkook into being a little less conspicuous to alleviate the crew’s suspicions about him.

Jimin narrowed his eyes at Jungkook as the XO approached them but kept quiet as Taehyung led the XO out and into the main corridors of the ship.

***

Jungkook couldn’t keep his frustration with the Captain bottled up like he used to anymore, the minute they were out in the corridor, he demanded, “I was supervising an important job, why did you cut me off like that?”

Taehyung carefully maintained a neutral and pleasant expression on his face as they walked along the corridors, casually greeting some cadets who walked past them as he murmured, “Let’s talk about this privately.”

Jungkook frowned, as far as he could tell, this was not a sensitive matter.

Frankly, Taehyung was acting a bit too conspicuous for Jungkook’s peace of mind. In the past week ever since their rescue, the alpha was always breathing down Jungkook’s back, never allowing him to work in peace. Wherever he found himself in, the alpha was not far behind and it was driving Jungkook up the wall while also making certain members of Destiny’s crew highly suspicious of the Captain’s actions.

When Jungkook saw that they did not turn at the intersection that would lead them to the ready room, he asked, “Where are we going?”

“To my cabin”

“Your cabin?”

Jungkook’s voice came out flustered and shocked and Taehyung own eye’s widened in response as he turned and hissed, “To talk Jungkook-shi, you don’t have to sound so scandalized.”

“I—” Jungkook stammered, “I—didn’t, I’m not…not scandalized.”

“Yeah right” Taehyung smirked and couldn’t resist adding, “You absolutely did not think I was propositioning you for a rendezvous in my cabin.”

“I did not!”

“Of course, it would be preposterous, wouldn’t it?”

“Of course!” Jungkook agreed readily.

“To think that you would want me to proposition you like that after you admitted to liking it very much.”

“Shu….” Jungkook looked around nervously, they were the only ones in the corridor at the moment, “Shut up, people might hear!”

Taehyung chuckled, “What kind of imagination has your mind been engaged in for you to completely miss that we’re in the ranking officer’s cabin floor now?”

Oh! That they were, Jungkook realized as he looked closely at the double strip lights that illuminated the floor, cadets and ensigns were not permitted entry into the officer’s cabin floor unless permission was granted explicitly by the ranking officer they wished to meet with.

“Still, someone might be around! I don’t like your cavalier attitude about this at all Captain.”

“It’s not my attitude that you should worry about when your actions are doing enough to arouse suspicion in people.”

Finally, they reached the last part of the corridor where the Captain’s quarters were present, unlike others, Taehyung had to undergo a fingerprint scan and retinal scan to enter his cabin.

Jungkook noted this detail down, not even his own cabin had such stringent security measures. In most places in the galaxy, the XO and Captain had equal knowledge of the ships vital systems to make it necessary for both to follow strict security measures, the fact that this was different in the Centauran spaceship meant that the gap between the Captain’s knowledge of the ship’s systems and the XO’s must be substantial.

The omega noted this down as yet another thing to report, however, he wasn’t surprised seeing how guarded and secretive Centauran’s were in general.

When they entered the Captain’s cabin, Jungkook’s breath hitched in his throat, he had thought his cabins were luxurious but it was nothing compared to the largeness and grandeur of the Captain’s cabin. The whole cabin had an open plan layout, the living room alone was massive, easily taking up double the space of the main bridge deck on Destiny, three couches of soft neutral tones were arranged surrounding a low square coffee table, all the furniture had soft LED lighting and an entire wall was dedicated to a massive screen that displayed the ships’ conditions, right from the status of the FTL drive to the cabin pressure and levels of oxygen in the ship to the readiness of their anti-matter weapons systems which were usually only used as a last resort in battle.

From the comfort of his cabin, Taehyung could essentially oversee all of the ships vital systems. No wonder papa had organized such an underhanded scheme to gain the Captain’s trust, if it weren’t for what happened following their capture on Epsilon, Taehyung would have never let him set a foot into his cabin which had a level of sophistication that Jungkook could barely comprehend, he had no doubt that the Captain’s cabin also had some controls that made it so that Taehyung could operate the ship single-handedly all while sitting inside the comfort of his cabin. Jungkook doubted a large display screen like this one served a decorative purpose; the cabin was as functional as it was fancy.

What was most peculiar about the Captain’s cabin however was what occupied the other wall, an imitation of a fireplace that very much looked like actual fire was burning in it was present in the space between the couches leading upto the massive glass windows that put the ships observation deck to shame with how huge it was.

The massive living room led up to an equally large bedroom with a large king sized bed, two bedside tables and even living plants strategically placed in the corners of the room. What Jungkook was envious of however, was that the Captain’s bedrooms were not enclosed like his own cabin, it was surrounded on all sides by transparent glass meaning that the Captain could stare out at the galaxy and take in the breathtaking beauty of the universe at his leisure.

 

“Are you done admiring the view Jungkook-shi?”

The Captain’s voice broke his reverie and Jungkook sported a sheepish expression as he looked at Taehyung.

“I—uhmm….it’s very impressive.”

“Mhmm…..I suppose it is.”

“Can I sit?”

Taehyung’s brow furrowed but he nodded his head and Jungkook walked in and sat gingerly on the couch closest to the fireplace, it was beautiful, and he wanted to observe it more closely.

“Are you feeling tired?”

“What? No!”

“Okay, we should-

“Is that real fire?”

“Of course not”

“It looks so real.”

“I suppose”

Jungkook looked back at the Captain, “What were you saying?”

Taehyung sighed, this was going to be a long conversation, so he also walked forward and sat down in the sofa opposite to Jungkook.

Without beating around the bush, Taehyung said, “Destiny couldn’t get a ping on your tracker in Ulara, do you know why that might be?”

Jungkook carefully arranged his face into an expression of confusion, “I don’t know Captain, I was implanted just like everyone else.” He wasn’t, prior to Jungkook’s infiltration into Centaurum, they’d been able to fake everything to make it look like he’d lived in Centauri all his life but the one thing they couldn’t get their hands on was an actual chip officers aboard spaceships were fixed with.

“Where?”

“On Centauri Prime’s dispatch center for officers, like everyone else?”

“No, no….I meant where in your body?”

Thankfully, Jungkook knew exactly where to not fumble the question, he had no doubt Jimin had put the Captain up to this.

“On the back of my shoulder, where else?”

He expected Taehyung to ease up but when the Captain’s eyes narrowed, Jungkook wondered what was wrong, he knew this is where Centauran microchips were implanted, he’d learned it from a soldier in the Centauran army.

“That’s…..unusual”

It was? Did the soldier lie to him? Where did they place microchips in then exactly? If it wasn’t for years of training to be a spy Jungkook would be visibly sweating now.

“You must know it too, it’s not where microchips are placed any longer.”

They changed the location.

Of course! The soldier was old and had sold out the Centaurum in exchange for money, they changed the site of implantation.

So, where were chips implanted now?

“You know of course…..that it is unusual, don’t you?”

“Of course I do!”

Where else could they place the chips? The answer was in why they changed locations in the first place, Jungkook had to think fast, he had heard of a prototype microchip being developed in Centaurum with a direct link to an officers neural network, had they changed the chips location because they’d made a better micro-chip? If so, the prototype had to close enough to the nervous system to successfully link with the neural network. The brain was out of question because Centauran brains were as fragile as human brains in ancient Earth, for that reason the spinal chord was also out, which meant that it must be close enough but not too close.

“Officers are implanted at the back of their necks usually” Jungkook stated calmly, internally he was panicking but the Captain didn’t see a trace of it on his face.

The minute Taehyung leaned back against his couch and sat with his legs open, Jungkook understood that his hunch was right. The Captain was displaying the body language of someone who was trusting.

“Yes, the newer chips are implanted at the back of our necks, so, why weren’t you?”

Fortunately Jungkook was prepared for this question already, so, he rubbed his neck and made sure to prevaricate a little, “I—Uhmm….it’s a bit embarrassing actually.”

Taehyung was leaning forward now, clearly curious at seeing Jungkook flustered, “I…I have urticaria and my neck is very sensitive, I break out into hives if something irritates my neck, so I requested for the chip to be placed on my shoulder instead.”

“Ohh….okay…..makes sense”

“Mhmm”

“You’re going to have to get that scanned for verification.”

“I—I can’t”

“It’s required for the incident report Jungkook.”

Taehyung’s tone was a lot more solemn now and his eyes had that shrewd look about them that spelled trouble for Jungkook.

So, Jungkook decided to bite that bullet like his papa had told him to, “I can’t! It’s harmful for the…” Jungkook put his right hand on his belly and shot the Captain a pointed look.

Comprehension hit the alpha and he opened his mouth before closing it again and licked his lips, “Of course….”

And then out of nowhere, the alpha yelled, “So, you know the ill effects of radiation on forming babies and yet you walked so close to the fall-out site today?”

Jungkook was totally flummoxed by how agitated the alpha was all of a sudden, “I did not walk close to the fall-out site and do I need to remind you that it’s a contained fall-out? Emphasis on contained?”

Was this why Taehyung had very loudly and obviously interrupted his work today and pulled him here? To admonish him for walking around on a ship deck with a contained fall-out?

“I’d still rather you kept yourself away from the site, I’m taking you off the roster for supervision until the FTL drive is fixed.”

“But there are cadets taking readings with the scintillators every hour to verify radiation levels, you’re overreacting!”

“I’m overreacting?”

“Yes! You are! You’ve been breathing down my neck and hardly allowing me to get on with my work!”

“How is me being concerned about whether my future child will be born defective due to radiation poisoning overreacting?”

“It’s not just today on the engineering deck and you know it!”

When all Taehyung did was raise an eyebrow, Jungkook lost it, “You didn’t allow me to spacewalk to assist Cadet Soren with replacing the venting valves, you changed the roster and prevented me from overseeing the younger cadets’ phaser training at the rinks, you’ve also been relieving me from my duty hours two hours before schedule every single day, and on top of it all you’re always there overlooking every single thing I do! And you made such a scene today at the engineering deck when you know it’s perfectly safe!”

“All of these are activities that a pregnant omega shouldn’t be engaging in at all! Spacewalking in an area of uncharted space is dangerous and so is standing in the middle of young cadets who are shooting blindly everywhere.”

Jungkook was so tempted to tell Taehyung that there was a slim chance that he was pregnant, the alpha was already so overbearing and he didn’t know how long he could take it.

“You have a problem with me sitting in a recliner seat and supervising the bridge?”

Taehyung rolled his eyes at that, “The crew rotation is designed for six hours of sleep which is just enough but not optimal, an omega like you requires a full eight hours of sleep and more owing to your condition now.”

Jungkook threw his hands up in the air in frustration, “You’re acting suspicious! People are going to be on to me because of you!”

“I don’t have to do anything at all for people to be suspicious, everyone was already suspicious of you because of how secretive and guarded you’ve been acting.”

“That’s not true!”

“It is too! You’ve been behaving like anything but a normal XO with the crew.”

“What do you mean? I’ve been discharging my duties with utmost sincerity!” Jungkook was offended that the Captain thought so little of his work ethic.

“Yes, you’ve been extremely efficient but you’ve made very little effort to be personable and likeable to the crew. You don’t talk to any of them outside of work hours, you don’t engage in crew bonding activities, you aren’t friendly with a single person in the crew and people hardly see you in the common areas once your duty hours are over.”

“No one in this ship likes me, you know it, I can’t help it and I don’t care. They don’t have to like me for me to do my job.”

Taehyung shook his head in dismay, how was the omega so smart but so dense all at the same time?

“No one in the ship dislikes you, they just don’t know you.”

Jungkook didn’t know what to say to that, yes, he had actively distanced himself from everyone on Destiny fearing that the truth about him might be exposed but he never realized that him isolating himself itself sowed the seeds of suspicion in everyone’s mind.

“You’ve been so afraid of being found out that you’ve never realized all you had to do for people to think of you as a normal alpha XO is to act like a normal person.”

“Okay, I will try to be more…..friendly with the crew but don’t think I don’t know that you’re trying to detract me from the fact that your behaviour is making people suspicious too.”

“I don’t have to be breathing down your neck all the time if you had a shred of self-preservation instincts omega.”

It was the first time Taehyung had used his sub-gender to address him today and Jungkook was pissed off by how Taehyung was treating him like an invalid.

“I don’t like being handled with kid-gloves Taehyung.”

“Too bad, you’re going to be my omega and you’re in all likelihood carrying my child in your womb now. As you’re alpha, my protective instincts are natural.”

“You’re not my alpha yet” Jungkook gritted out while clenching his teeth, “For a distinguished Captain of a diamond class spaceship, you let your instincts run all amok…..I thought all Centauran soldiers were taught to be dignified and stately and not be ruled by their basic instincts.”

He knew he’d hit a nerve when Taehyung stood upright, the alpha’s eyes were cold and devoid of emotion as he took two large steps and covered the distance between them, before he knew it Taehyung was standing close, way too close for comfort.

Jungkook blinked and look up at the alpha, closer up Taehyung’s eyes were stormy, he swallowed nervously when the alpha crouched down and caged him with both his arms, making Jungkook lean back against the seat of the sofa to try and put some much needed distance between them.

“What…what are you doing?” Jungkook winced when his voice came out so squeaky.

He couldn’t help it, the alpha’s eyes made him nervous.

And then Taehyung began to speak and Jungkook shuddered visibly at the contained anger in his voice, “It’s only because I’m so stately and dignified that you’re able to run your mouth to me like this. If I were really letting my instincts run amok, I’d have brought you here the day we set foot on the ship and chained you to my bedpost until we reach the Centaurum. Once there, I’d have dragged you to the silver city and found an eyeless priest to bless our union before taking you to my manor house and reminding you that I’m very much your alpha now.”

“If I were really ruled by my basic instincts, you’d never get out of that manor house ever because I’d have made you my doll. My omega who’d come to me whenever I call and have nothing to do but scream my name in my bed and birth my pups.”

Jungkook’s revulsion to everything Taehyung had said could not be more plainly visible in his face, “And you wonder why I’m weary of alpha’s like you.”

Taehyung clicked his tongue, “Aren’t you missing the point omega?”

“No, you’ve made it perfectly clear what kind of a life I can expect to lead as your omega.”

“No, I told you what your life would be like if I were like the alphas of the past who were ruled by their instincts.”

“Somehow after that diatribe, I struggle to believe you’re anything different.”

Taehyung’s eyes shined with mischief as he tilted his head and gave the omega a lopsided grin, “I don’t know, you’re still running your mouth to me, no?”

Jungkook rolled his eyes, “And giving me that attitude too!” Taehyung added.

“Can you stop caging me now? I don’t like being cornered and held down like this!”

Taehyung obliged and went back to sitting opposite to Jungkook with the coffee table separating them, he couldn’t help but jest at Jungkook’s admission though, “Have a preference for being on top, do you? Fine with me, I’m a modern alpha and you can hold me down all you like.”

Jungkook didn’t quite understand it at first, he scrunched his brows in confusion before the alpha’s smirk sparked his understanding and when he did his eyes bugged out of their sockets as blood rushed to his cheeks in mortification.

“That’s not what I meant!” his panicky response made Taehyung laugh.

“It’s fine Jungkook, it’s nothing to be ashamed about.”

“I’m not ashamed! I’m just saying that’s not what I meant!”

Taehyung put his chin on his hand then and asked, “So you’re saying you don’t prefer to be on top? You want me to be the one to hold you down after all?”

“I didn’t say that either! Stop twisting my words!”

“Well….whatever is your preference, I can accommodate it, I happen to be very…..versatile.”

“Stop this! I mean it! You’re being….”

“But then again, you’re so inexperienced, you don’t even know what you like yet, fear not, we can try a bit of everything and then adapt once I’ve learned your preferences.”

Jungkook’s mouth dropped open, he couldn’t believe the alpha was being so open and flirtatious with him, talking about this like he was already thinking about doing it again.

The omega’s stomach flipped, if he was being truthful, he wasn’t able to escape his thoughts about being on the stone cold floor of a cell, trapped within the alpha’s arms and feeling like he was being electrocuted every time the alpha moved above him and inside him. Every time his head hit the pillow in his cabin, he spent hours twisting and turning in the sheets, unable to escape his thoughts.

If he wasn’t taking suppressants, his scent would have revealed everything to the alpha but as it were Taehyung was still perceptive.

Was this what papa meant by saying that all Jungkook had to do was allow the alpha to seduce him?

Should he go along with it then? Or would that look too suspicious? Surely, he couldn’t just succumb to Taehyung so easily, could he?

No, that wouldn’t work.

An alpha like Taehyung needed a challenge to truly fall for an omega.

“Bold of you to assume I’d let you hold me down anytime soon alpha. You haven’t earned it yet, you’re not even close.”

Like he’d predicted, an alpha like Taehyung couldn’t take this as anything but a challenge, he had the alpha’s undivided attention now.

For a moment Jungkook felt victorious and then Taehyung opened his mouth and ruined it.

“At least we know for certain now that you like to be held down, I’ll endeavor to win your favor sooner rather than later Jungkook-shi.”

“Argghhhh!” Jungkook threw his hands up in the air, the alpha was insufferable! “I’m done with this conversation, I’m leaving.”

He got up, turned and marched to the door only to have to wait at the threshold because he couldn’t open the door by himself.

Sighing exasperatedly, he asked “Can you let me out?”

“Certainly, I have something to give you first.”

“What?” Jungkook snapped but all it did was make Taehyung laugh and call him feisty.

The alpha’s hands were holding onto a pouch when he walked to the door where Jungkook waited impatiently.

Once he was close enough, Taehyung extended the pouch to Jungkook and the omega looked perplexed as he took it.

“Open it” the alpha said and because he was for all intents and purposes stuck in Taehyung’s cabin, Jungkook opened the pouch and upended the contents onto his palm.

In his palm sat a polished, shiny, pearlescent stone that was smooth to the touch and seemed to catch and reflect the light in the room.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a moonstone, it is a rare gemstone that used to grow in Earth’s crust a very long time ago.”

Jungkook had never had the opportunity to ever hold something from Earth in his hands before, so he was stunned and it was a momentous occasion for him to be touching something from the very ancient planet that he’d read countless books about.

And, like everything else that was genuinely from Earth, it was probably worth a great amount of credit, Jungkook couldn’t understand why the Captain was giving it to him.

“Why’re you giving it to me?” Jungkook asked unable to believe that anyone would part with something so beautiful just like that.

“It’s a courting gift and my first to you.”

Jungkook didn’t know what to say except, “It’s beautiful.”

“Mhmm…..only beautiful things for my beautiful omega.”

Jungkook looked up at that and couldn’t face the intensity in the alpha’s eyes, so he looked down at the stone again and whispered, “Thank you.”

No one had ever given a gift to him in his life except for papa. Jungkook’s chest was tight with emotion when he left the alpha’s cabin.

That night while he had calmed down enough, he looked at the polished innocuous stone sitting atop his nightstand and narrowed his eyes. He was sitting against the headboard with his legs folded with a tablet in his hands, on the tablet was a small coded message that would be sent using a completely secure and encrypted channel.

The message read, ‘A sacrifice of blood is required to open the keys to the Prince’s kingdom.’

It basically meant, ‘Biological data is required to access the Captain’s private cabin.’

Jungkook’s finger lingered on the tablet as his eyes found the pretty moonstone again, he had just learned that it was worth over four hundred thousand Centauran credit and the Captain had just handed it to him. He had never received a gift that was so valuable and costly in his life, not even from papa.

Then the way Taehyung had caged him in and taunted him replayed in his mind. The alpha might be singing a different tune but Jungkook was sure that he was no different than any other alpha on Centauri. His finger tapped the send button, a beat passed before he received a notification of his message being sent.

“You aren’t going to seduce me by buying me pretty little trinkets Kim Taehyung, I’m not that easy!”

Chapter 4: Cosmic Chemistry

Tips to seduce a high-class traditional alpha from the Centaurum,

1) Embody warmth, grace, and sincerity

 

Smile genuinely and often.

 

Be polite and courteous — old-fashioned values often appeal to traditional types.

 

Show appreciation for small gestures (like opening doors or paying for dinner).

 

2) Appeal to his sense of responsibility and loyalty

 

Ask for his help occasionally, even with small things (like advice or fixing something).

 

Show that you notice and value his efforts.

 

Let him lead sometimes, but with respect, not submission.

 

3) Show emotional depth, not just surface-level attraction

 

Have real conversations about values, family, and future goals.

 

Show you’re capable of emotional intimacy and consistency.

 

Be a good listener and ask sincere questions about his life.

 

4) Be omegan in a way that resonates with him

 

Lean into your emotional intelligence.

 

Dress with elegance and subtle sensuality rather than overt flashiness.

 

Cook him a meal or remember small details he shares — these personal touches matter.

 

5) Use subtle, respectful flirting

 

Use eye contact, gentle compliments, and light teasing.

 

Be open and warm, but leave a little mystery.

 

Let him make the first move, but give clear signs you're interested.

 

Jungkook looked at the long essay that Aria came up with and wanted to bash his head against the wall. The ship’s AI was behaving like he had forever to try and gain Taehyung’s trust, this was useless. He took a long deep breath and read the dot points individually once again marking the ones he could do with a tick and other ones with a cross.

✔ Smile genuinely and often.

This he could do as long as the Captain and him were interacting privately, if he did it in front of the crew, he would only arouse more suspicion.

The problem was that ever since he’d asked Taehyung to keep his distance, the alpha actually listened and gave him his space. Because he had also taken Jungkook off the duty roster for all duties he deemed too ‘dangerous’, Taehyung ended up taking all the duties previously assigned to Jungkook. This was taking up a considerable amount of time and their interactions these days were limited to the Captain asking him about his health every day in the mess hall during lunch hours and chit-chatting about the ship’s status and how the FTL drive repair was coming along, so basically professional conversation that didn’t allow Jungkook any room to try to develop a personal bond.

× Be polite and courteous — old-fashioned values often appeal to traditional types.

Fuck you Aria, I’ll be polite if he’s polite, moving on. Jungkook scribbled a huge obnoxious cross to fit the obnoxious statement out of spite.

×   Show appreciation for small gestures (like opening doors or paying for dinner).

We’re on a fucking spaceship, all the doors open on their own through motion sensor detectors and extravagant dinner menus are reserved for very special occasions.

×    Ask for his help occasionally, even with small things (like advice or fixing something).

Again, spaceship with separate dedicated crew to fix every problem both minor and major. What could he even ask the alpha’s help with?

Jungkook groaned throatily, this was going nowhere, two weeks in and he wasn’t even close to getting what he wanted.

✔ Show that you notice and value his efforts.

I said ‘thank you’ when he gave me the moonstone already. He hasn’t given me any other trinkets though, so if he does, I’ll say ‘thank you’ again. It totally escaped Jungkook that the Captain pulling him aside to talk to him for a few minutes every day was also effort and that Aria was telling him to notice it.

× Let him lead sometimes, but with respect, not submission.

No, I’m the man with the mission, I lead. If Jungkook allowed it to be up to Taehyung, the Ingtar Alliance would run out of patience and that did not bode well for Jungkook.

✔  Have real conversations about values, family, and future goals.

Hoodwink the alpha into thinking he is pregnant, this point at least made sense and Jungkook felt like he was well ahead of the curve with this one. Still, he made a small note to talk about the imaginary pregnancy some more, every opportunity he got in fact.

?? Show you’re capable of emotional intimacy and consistency.

What is that even? And how was he supposed to show it? Did Aria mean something like kissing? Or more? Sex?

When he thought about seducing the Captain into having sex with him, a shiver raced through his spine. He bit his lip and clenched his thighs, at least this part, he wouldn’t mind doing. Jungkook didn’t want to examine why he felt perfectly okay with the idea of having sex with Taehyung again. Considering how much they despised each other before being kidnapped, Jungkook should be having a lot more reservations to this than he did.

Anyways, he equated emotional intimacy with sex because what else could it possibly be?

✔✔✔ Be a good listener and ask sincere questions about his life.

Of course he was going to listen to everything with a keen ear and ask a thousand questions about Kim Taehyung’s life when he got close enough, this was basically his job and the reason he was here for.

?? Lean into your emotional intelligence.

Aria was being purposively convoluted. What’s the difference between emotional intimacy and intelligence anyway? Was Aria being dense and suggesting the same things twice? What a dumb little AI the Centauran’s had, if it were the AI on Dunara, Jungkook would have gotten a clear and concise explanation with all the nitty gritty details covered along with actionable points instead of the ambling and confusing pointers from Aria that did not offer any clarity whatsoever.

“You’re so dumb” Jungkook muttered angrily as his frustration with the AI grew, what he wouldn’t do to have access to Dunara’s own AI in the Hall of Knowledge. “Just like your dumb countrymen.”

×? Dress with elegance and subtle sensuality rather than overt flashiness.

All Jungkook owned on Destiny were his work uniform and his looser night clothes that he changed into to sleep. He didn’t own anything like a three piece suit or even a crop top or jacket that he could show some skin in, having never been trained for that kind of espionage, Jungkook didn’t really have negligee either even though he was an omega. He’d never seen the point of buying any of that back in Dunara because he’d long since decided that he did not want to pair up with an alpha.

Still, this point in particular made him pause.

The word ‘sensuality’ caught his attention and he marked the point with a question mark to further query Aria on later once he was though with the list.

×××   Cook him a meal or remember small details he shares — these personal touches matter.

He did not know how to cook and had no interest in learning how to.

✔ Use eye contact, gentle compliments, and light teasing.

Okay, he already loves to tease so I can lean into that a little.

?? Be open and warm, but leave a little mystery.

Jungkook threw his hands up in the air with all the contrary advices, be open but be mysterious too? This was too much.

Were Centauran’s really this complicated and difficult to please? Why couldn’t he get some clear direction?

✔ Let him make the first move, but give clear signs you're interested.

Being an omega, somehow, without Aria even telling him, Jungkook already knew that Taehyung must make the first move but how was he supposed to show his interest? The alpha seemed interested enough last week when he dragged Jungkook to his cabin to have a somewhat intimate conversation and present him with a courting gift but after that crickets.

What made Taehyung lose interest so soon?

And what could Jungkook do to grab his interest again?

He had to think of something quick, something that would be sure to make an impression on the alpha and make him invite Jungkook back to his cabin again.

He looked at his screen where he’d neatly marked the points he could actually action. He had just five actionable points and all of them were too vague and didn’t inspire confidence in Jungkook so he typed in new query to Aria.

‘I don’t have the time for all of this, can you give me some actionable points to expedite the process? Would sex help?’

He added the last part in and thought nothing of it.

He was only trying to be the best spy he could be and get the information for his side sooner rather than later.

1)Be clear but subtle with your interest

Flirt lightly but respectfully — eye contact, light touches, warm tone.

Compliment him on qualities he values (e.g., strength, work ethic, reliability).

2) Lean into classic attraction

Dress in a clean, slightly omegan way (he’s likely to notice grace over flash).

Be polite, gracious, and receptive to his gestures — let him “be the man.”

3) Create emotional safety quickly

Share something personal early — not trauma-dumping, just something real.

Ask about his values or family background — this fast-tracks intimacy.

4) Let him feel useful

Ask his opinion or help on something minor — it triggers protector instincts.

5) Don’t rush into sex unless emotional groundwork is there

For a traditional man, sex too soon may decrease long-term interest.

Use sexual tension instead — flirt, get close, tease a little . Let him chase.

Once a bond or commitment is more clear, then sex can absolutely deepen things. Otherwise, sex too early will backfire.

Jungkook pouted at the bold warning to not engage in sex early, all of the other points were basically repetition of the same shit Aria had previously spouted. Then looking at the second point under the last heading, Jungkook underlined it and grumbled, ‘I did give him space to chase, but he isn’t chasing!’

He thought back to what had grabbed Taehyung’s interest to invite him to his personal cabin last week. He had walked too close to the containment zone and the alpha had freaked out because he thought Jungkook was putting his imaginary baby at risk.

An idea sparked in his mind, all he would have to do is something similar again to grab Taehyung’s attention, except deliberately this time.

If Taehyung even had a hint of a suspicion that Jungkook was putting his ‘baby’ in danger, then he’ll come running again.

Jungkook clapped his hands together in glee, yes! Finally! An actionable fucking response and I didn’t even need you to come up with it Aria.

***

“I’m surprised you’re still here” Jimin said as soon as he came in for his shift on the bridge.

Taehyung looked up from the tablet he was using to read the crew’s updated reports on the repairs being done on the ship.

“What do you mean? My shift doesn’t end till two more hours.”

“Yeah but after what happened to Jungkook-shi today, I thought you’d be out there being a mother hen right about now.”

Taehyung’s eyes widened, he grabbed Jimin’s arm and pulled the beta officer close to him, “What happened?”

Even Jimin didn’t expect the intense reaction from the Captain, Taehyung’s grip on his hand was quite hard, “Can you stop choking the blood supply to my hand?”

“Jimin, what happened?”

Taehyung’s grip didn’t budge an inch so Jimin rolled his eyes and quipped, “He tried to show off that he’s a big bad alpha to Eunwoo today at the hand-to-hand combat ring and got his shit handed to him.”

“He did what?” Taehyung’s mouth dropped open in shock, no, Jungkook did not do something so fucking reckless while he was carrying. The omega couldn’t be that stupid, surely, Jimin was pulling a prank on him.

“Yeah, he’s in medbay now, hey….” Jimin was concerned with the panic in the alpha’s face, Taehyung looked like he’d seen a ghost and when he tried to reassure his friend with saying, “Hey….hey, he’s alright, he’s just a little bruised and—”

“I need to go” Taehyung didn’t even bother to hand over command officially to Jin on the bridge and instead left the bridge in a flurry of movement leaving Jimin looking at his back utterly perplexed, it was clear as day to see now that Taehyung had started caring about Jungkook.

Deeply. So deeply that he was rushing out of the bridge unprofessionally in front of all his ranking officers.

There was no denying it now.

Something had happened on Ulara to make the Captain develop a bond with Jungkook.

Jimin just had to suss out what it was and what type of bond he had with the other alpha officer exactly. Sometimes, the way Taehyung’s eyes softened in response to catching sight of Jungkook made no sense.

General Yoongi who was observing this all from the weapon’s system station calmly walked towards the communications officer and said, “Now there’s a strange sight to see, Captain Taehyung being so unprofessional is a first.”

Jimin snorted, so was Taehyung taking an absolutely able bodied officer off the roster for heavy handed labour in Destiny.

“Have you managed to find anything out?”

Jimin shot Yoongi a pointed look, “You think I’d tell you if I did? He’s my friend, I’m not going to sell him out to you.”

Yoongi shrugged, “You might regret it if you don’t, I’m the one responsible for the ships security and by extension the Captain’s.”

Jimin tilted his head back and groaned, “Then do your job General and stop depending on me to feed you information that you should be sussing out.”

The beta officer didn’t wait for a response, instead Jimin walked to his station, the gentle sway of his hips keeping Yoongi entranced despite the officer being such a brat.

***

Taehyung’s jaw was tense and it was obvious to Jungkook that it was taking a lot of effort for the alpha to act unconcerned as he surveyed Jungkook’s injuries while the medic went over the instructions for using the ointment and other painkiller medication for Jungkook’s bruises.

Looking at the anger swimming in the alpha’s eyes, Jungkook faltered and wondered whether this was a stupid move to attract Taehyung’s attention.

In all honesty, he’d never imagined that he’d get beat up so bad because he had overestimated his eugenically enhanced body’s endurance and capability. At first, he’d been able to match the Centauran alpha’s energy on the rink but as time went on, he got sloppy, his natural omega body no matter how enhanced was no match for an alpha highly trained in combat for years.

As a spy Jungkook knew some basic and advanced techniques of hand-to-hand combat, but he’d led a relatively soft life on Dunara, all thanks to being under papa’s care, so the minute he lost stamina, Eunwoo had handed it to him and brought him down to the floor in under five minutes while giving him a black eye, a busted lip and a kick to his solar plexus that left a big ugly bruise in his chest.

And because Eunwoo had no idea that he was an omega, he had put all his strength into the fight and Jungkook had been left with purpling ugly bruises all over his body and also a universe sized bruise to his ego. In his hubris, he had mistakenly thought that his enhanced body was no match to a measly alpha of Centauri.

The minute the medic released him, Jungkook got up and gingerly walked to the door, trying to keep his dignity by not limping like he wanted to.

Even holding his spine erect was painful, and the minute they got into the corridor, the Captain hissed, “My cabin, now!”

Jungkook glanced up furtively at Taehyung and then swallowed nervously and stammered out, “I’d….I’d rather go to mine Captain.”

When Taehyung tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at the omega, Jungkook knew there was no escaping the alpha’s wrath.

“Alright, lead the way Jungkook-shi” Taehyung gritted out as a muscle in his jaw twitched.

In Taehyung’s mind, Jungkook had blithely put his precious ‘baby’ at risk and no matter whose cabin they ended up in today, Jungkook was not escaping the ‘talking to’ that Taehyung was clearly going to give him.

Still, in his cabin, at least Jungkook had the liberty to walk out when he wanted to.

Jungkook deliberately dragged his feet but thinking that it was the omega’s injuries that prevented him from walking briskly, the Captain asked, “Did you hurt your feet too? Do you want to lean on me?”

Were it not for being on the ship, Taehyung would have swept the omega into his arms and barely allowed him to walk after being beaten up black and blue like this.

Jungkook just shook his head and then thought better of it and said, “I uhmm…..I’m feeling a bit sick, can we talk later?”

Taehyung snorted derisively, “Come on, you’re not going to get off that easy.”

Hearing this, Jungkook deflated and then dragged his feet to the rest of the way until he reached his cabin and swiped the access card.

The door automatically shut after the Captain entered behind him.

The minute the door hatch sealed, Taehyung’s stormy eyes pinioned Jungkook in place, “What the fuck were you doing?”

“I—” Jungkook opened his mouth to defend himself but Taehyung held up a hand to silence the omega as he threatened, “I am this close to acting entirely on my instincts right now and keep you locked in this cabin until we reach Centauri.”

Taehyung pinched his thumb and index finger together to show the omega how serious he was and Jungkook kept quiet for a beat before he snapped, “You were the one who told me to participate in crew bonding activities.”

“Now wait a minute! Don’t you put this on me! I never asked you to go put yourself in danger by foolishly rough housing with alphas.”

“Whatever….at least it got you looking at me again!”

Taehyung froze, for a moment he felt like he was in some parallel universe, was that spite in the omega’s voice? Was he really trying to do all this to get his attention? When all week Taehyung had been trying to get closer to the omega and hoping that Jungkook would ask to see him sometime so that they could get to know each other a bit better before reaching Centauri and facing the inevitable nature of their circumstances.

He couldn’t believe it.

“What do you mean omega? Please tell me you didn’t do this to get my attention when I’ve been freely giving it to you everyday since we came back!”

“No, you don’t, you making small talk with me about the fucking FTL drives doesn’t count!”

Oh yes! That was spite alright, Jungkook looked and sounded surly.

Taehyung crossed his arms in front of his chest and shook his head in disbelief.

The omega was annoyed with his lack of attention, so much that he’d gone and tried to rough house with the crew’s alphas to get Taehyung on his back again when just last week, he was singing a different tune and telling Taehyung to get off his back.

Taehyung took a deep breath in, knowing Jungkook’s condition, perhaps it was just mood swings or hormones messing up with his mind.

He had to be patient. The omega needed patience.

But fuck if he didn’t irritate Taehyung seven ways to Sunday.

He relaxed his posture and looked at Jungkook searchingly again, “Alright, what do you want from me then?”

Jungkook looked like Taehyung had accused him of something heinous, in a tone that was defensive and all too telling, the omega retorted “What do you mean what do I want from you? You were the one who wanted to mate me because I’m having your baby!”

The minute Taehyung was reminded of the ‘baby’, he got serious once again, “You got hit in your solar plexus.”

Taehyung had unfortunately arrived earlier than Jungkook could cover the bruises with a shirt, and now he was looking at Jungkook with burning eyes once again, “Do you know what that could have done? It could have seriously hurt you or the……” he couldn’t bring himself to say the word, saying it meant it was too real.

“I’m fine….I feel fine” Jungkook mumbled as the alpha’s eyes softened with concern for his well-being and their imaginary baby’s.

Taehyung sighed deeply, Jungkook was probably still in pain because of his stupid decision to go pick a fight with Eunwoo. He could berate the omega as much as he wanted once he was comfortably lying down in bed and put the ointment on to treat the bruises.

The alpha didn’t hesitate, the omega wanted his attention? Fine, Taehyung would stop being subtle from now on because subtlety seemed to fly over the omega’s head anyways.

So he closed the distance between them in two long strides and picked the omega up and off the floor into a bridal carry.

“Tae…Taehyung! What are you doing? I’m perfectly capable of walking.”

“Just making sure I’m giving you your fill of attention omega, like you wanted.”

“I don’t appreciate being treated like a baby Taehyung!”

“Then stop acting like one.”

Taehyung reached the bed and carefully dropped Jungkook on it, with his finger pointing at the omega he warned, “Stay right there!”

When Jungkook tried to push off the bed anyway, the alpha leaned down and growled at Jungkook, his anger at the blatant refusal to obey making him inadvertently use his alpha voice and making Jungkook recoil back.

“I meant it, don’t test me further today.”

So, forced by instinct to comply with the demands but unable to handle it, Jungkook took a pillow and threw it at Taehyung’s back as soon as the alpha gave his back to him.

Taehyung paused, Jungkook could see the alpha clenching his fists from the bed but all the alpha did was walk further into the living room and gather the ointment and pills that the medic had handed to Jungkook.

“Take off your shirt and lie back down.”

Twin doe eyes looked at Taehyung in stunned disbelief and the alpha huffed, “You’re thinking that I’m propositioning you again.”

“You’re thinking it so much by default that its making me think that you’re dying for me to proposition you for real.”

“I am not!” Jungkook denied it, a white lie passing through his lips unbidden shamelessly because he was, after all, a spy.

“Then why does your eye look like it’s going to pop out of its socket?”

The alpha was close now, too close for comfort, “Silly omega, do you think I don’t know your desires just because I’m not able to scent you now?”

When Jungkook looked like a rabbit caught in headlights, shook his head violently in denial and said “I don’t have any desires, I don’t!”

He was so busy vehemently denying it that he didn’t even realize that it was counterproductive to his desires to get closer to Taehyung and milk the Centaurum’s secrets from the alpha. Indeed, he was pretty much ‘shit’ at seduction, it was a good thing Taehyung found it all amusing, otherwise Jungkook would have been on a dead end mission all the way back to Centauri.

“Mhmm, then it shouldn’t be a problem if I rub this ointment onto your bruises right?”

“Of….of course” Jungkook tried to sound confident but the thought of having the alpha’s hands on him again, touching his skin while sitting so close to him made an involuntary shiver race through his spine as his skin erupted in goose pimples.

“Lift up your shirt”

Jungkook rolled up his shirt slowly and Taehyung smirked to himself when he saw the gooseflesh making the tiny hairs on the omega’s body stand up, Jungkook was fooling no one but himself. The omega didn’t even put up much of a fight and accepted Taehyung’s assistance readily when it wouldn’t have been much trouble for him to do it himself.

Taehyung warmed up the fresh scented ointment between his palms wincing at the dark purpling bruise on Jungkook’s chest, “Are you sure you’re feeling fine?”

He couldn’t help but think that a hit like this would be extremely dangerous in Jungkook’s condition despite Jungkook looking fine.

“I am, trust me, I uhmmm…..I protected myself as best as I could and surrendered as soon as he hit me there.”

A quick stab of remorse ran through Jungkook at the sight of deep concern in the alpha’s eyes. He licked his lips and looked away; this was a horrible lie to tell anyone.

When Taehyung’s hands finally touched his bruised skin, Jungkook groaned in pain and the alpha clicked his tongue, “You’re forbidden from going to any combat training and any crew bonding exercise involving combat from now on.”

Jungkook’s eyes flashed in annoyance, all remorse forgotten, “I can’t just do that, I’m the XO of this sh—ahhh—ahh”

Taehyung was pressing firmly on the bruised area now, rubbing the ointment into the omega’s skin so that it absorbed well into the skin, “And you’ll be nothing if I told everyone you’re my omega.”

Jungkook looked at Taehyung in horror, “You wouldn’t!”

“Don’t make me” Taehyung warned and Jungkook panicked, “I could lose my life if you do!”

“I didn’t say I was going to tell everyone you’re an omega, I said I will tell them you’re my omega.”

“What difference does it make?”

Taehyung couldn’t believe how clueless Jungkook was about the power of the five families in the Centaurum. Essentially, if he declared Jungkook to be his omega, there would be nothing the crew could do. The only people who could challenge him were his family members and adversaries on Centauri and it was a long way away. The crew members wouldn’t dare lay a single hand on Jungkook if they knew that the omega was under his protection and that Taehyung had claimed him for himself.

Historically, people with massive wealth were able to bend society’s rules according to their whims and Centauri was no different to any other world in any other time.

“Ahhh! Don’t press so hard! It hurts!”

“Should have known better than to go picking fights with alpha’s then, shouldn’t you?”

Jungkook scowled up at Taehyung and tried to bat the alpha’s hands away only for Taehyung to laugh and hold both his hands in one of his as he continued to rub the ointment in until the entire bruise was coated in a thick layer of ointment.

“Close your eyes”

“No, I’ll do it myself! You’re pushing hard on purpose!”

“I won’t, it’s your eye area, I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

Taehyung expected the omega to fight back, he was prepared to hand the ointment to Jungkook and go but when the omega closed his eyes, he coated his fingers with the ointment and gently applied it around and under Jungkook’s eye.

When Jungkook opened his eyes again, Taehyung was sitting just a tad too close for comfort, before he could say anything though, Taehyung spoke again, “Please don’t go around putting yourself in danger Jungkook, I feel guilty enough for not being able to protect you better back in that cell, please don’t make me feel worse.”

Jungkook didn’t expect such an honest and desperate confession. So, he kept quiet and wished the alpha would stop torturing himself over what happened on Ulara.

Finally, when it didn’t seem like Taehyung was going to move without an answer from Jungkook, the omega relented, “I won’t.”

Taehyung nodded, “Good, otherwise I really will tie you up to my bed post.”

Use sexual tension instead — flirt, get close, tease a little.

“This is the second time you’re telling me you want to tie me to your bed post, is this a particular kink of yours Captain?”

Taehyung was flustered, he didn’t exactly mean it in that way, “What? No!”

“I’m not trying to judge you, I just want to be adequately prepared for uh…..any surprises before you mate me.”

“There is nothing to judge and no surprises, go to sleep” Taehyung snapped back completely taken aback by Jungkook’s personality shift.

“Really? Well, that’s boring!”

“What?”

“Nothing, go away!”

“Oh no you don’t! You don’t get to tell me to go away after calling me boring!”

“Well, you said no surprises!”

Taehyung hesitated for a minute before he laughed dryly and looked at the omega again, “You aren’t experienced enough to handle surprises now.”

And that got Jungkook annoyed once again, experience, experience, experience, why was the alpha always calling him out for it? It wasn’t his fault that he never found any alpha in Dunara to be particularly attractive or desirable.

“Oh? Perhaps I should gather some experience from around the galaxy like you? Enough to handle surprises maybe?”

He could tell Jungkook was joking but still, Taehyung leaned forward and growled loudly at the omega, snapping his teeth in an imitation of how wolves bit down on the jugular of a prey animal.

When Jungkook looked a little shaken by the aggressive display, Taehyung tutted and taunted, “See, I told you, you aren’t ready for surprises.”

The omega scowled, not at all liking the fact that the alpha had the last word.

He was further incensed and absolutely mortified when two days later the alpha took him aside during lunch break and handed him an innocuous plain parcel which was anything but innocuous.

When Jungkook came back to his cabin at the end of the day and opened the package, he found that it was a piece of lingerie made of red lace and scandalous just to look at. He blushed furiously and packed it away into the deepest depths of his suitcase.

The next day at break, the alpha was waiting for him when he went to get a coffee from the break room, Jungkook jumped when he felt the alpha behind him.

“Did you like the surprise Jungkook?”

All the blood in his body rushed to his face and the alpha chuckled softly behind him, keeping a barely respectable distance away, so close that Jungkook could feel the rich deep baritone voice of the alpha like Taehyung was whispering straight into his ear.

“You’re resembling a tomato now, don’t worry, I will pace my surprises from now so I don’t send you into an early grave.”

The alpha left with just the hint of a breath on Jungkook’s sensitive ear lobe and Jungkook found himself feeling unfocused, frustrated the entire day and at night, he twisted and turned in bed, the mental picture of the lingerie, of himself wearing it and of Taehyung enjoying the sight of him wearing it plaguing his mind and keeping him awake long into the night.

He’d already asked Aria what the appropriate response would be to an alpha who gifted him lingerie but Aria was about as helpful and contrary as usual, telling him to actually wear it and surprise the alpha before getting intimate, when it was not even a week ago that Aria said ‘sex too early will backfire.’

---

 

Chapter 5: Friction in Far Away

Summary:

Hey everyone, thank you all so much for the kudos, comments and bookmarks, I'm really sorry I'm not able to address each of your comments every time, but I just want to let you all know that I really enjoy reading every comment <3 <3 So thank you so much! Hope you enjoy this one!

Ready room meetings.

They had become a routine for the ranking officers on the Destiny since being thrown out to the back-end of the galaxy while trying to escape a barrage of enemy ships.

With their FTL drives unserviceable, they were literally in the middle of nowhere, they were so far away from Centauri that even basic communications with the Centaurum was not possible.

One could only comprehend how far away they were from known space only if they were in Jimin’s position.

As communications officer, it was his job to listen to all the chatter from the outside world while they were travelling through space on Destiny.

All his life, his work was to interpret these messages in space, to hear the news and report back to the Captain, to greet friendly alien species that the Centaurum had alliances with, to discretely observe enemy communications and report back to Taehyung, or in emergency situations, he had the right to authorise an FTL jump without the Captain’s explicit permission if the situation was dire enough and necessitated immediate withdrawal to a more safe location in space.

For the first time in his career, all he heard on the comms was silence.

Total, absolute, soul crushing silence.

That scared him more than any enemy chatter that he’d been privy to in his job.

In all honesty, Jimin could not wait to get out of this part of space where nothing and no one seemed to exist.

It was unnerving them all to not be able to reach out and even establish basic communication with the Centaurum.

The Captain, Chief Engineer Namjoon, Tactical Officer Seokjin, General Yoongi, Chief Science Officer Hoseok and Jimin were all feeling the eeriness of staying so long in a space that they were unfamiliar with, where they could not even call for help and the smallest mishap might mean that they might perish forever with no one the wiser.

It was in their postures, the way they sat stiffly, shoulders tense, arms crossed at the front defensively, at the edge of their seats.

This was the middle of the third week since they’d been thrown out so far away into space and all of them were visibly uneasy about it, all except the XO.

Unlike the others, Jungkook was the only one who remained unaffected. Or at least, he looked unaffected.

And Jimin being as observant as he was these days found it very very odd. Usually, it was always the XO who was advising the Captain to be cautious and do the most sensible thing for the crew and for Destiny.

However, now, the only person who wasn’t taking this hard and showing visible signs of discomfort was the XO.

In sharp contrast to the others in the ready room, Jungkook came in with a cup of steaming hot coffee and sat down with his back comfortably resting against the backrest, unlike the others who were growing more and more tense with every passing day, Jungkook seemed perfectly at ease with being stuck in the middle of nowhere in outer space where numerous things can kill or decapacitate them in the blink of an eye.

To add insult to injury, Jungkook was taking dainty little sips of his coffee calmly like he was sitting in a library on the Centaurum and enjoying a good book by a window on a sunny day.

Jimin couldn’t take it anymore, “Yah! Jungkook-shi, you seem a little too content with our situation at the moment, can I know why that is?”

Jungkook who wasn’t expecting to be addressed at all blinked and looked at Jimin passively, frankly, the Comms officer was really getting on his nerves, always setting Taehyung on his back and trying to arouse suspicion in the alpha.

“I don’t know how you inferred that I’m content with our current situation Jimin-shi but I assure you, I’m as eager to get the FTL drives repaired and be on our way to the Centaurum as anyone aboard the crew.”

“How I inferred it? By just looking at you! Sitting there, nice and cushy, sipping a cup of coffee like this is just a regular day on the ship and not like we’re in a dire situation, stuck in the middle of nowhere, for weeks without any idea of how close or far away from the Centaurum we are!”

Jimin was shouting by the end of it and Taehyung struggled to not shout back at Jimin and tell the beta officer to back the fuck off.

It was only Jungkook’s sharp quick stare that made him control himself and his alpha.

What Jimin and the others didn’t know was that Jungkook knew exactly where they were in space, Dunara’s spacefaring missions spanned farther than the Centaurum could ever comprehend. He also knew that they were roughly fifty to sixty jump points away from Centaurum, a lot certainly but not impossibly far away either. He also knew that this sector of space did not have any unusual and unpredictable activities that made it dangerous, no alien life forms inhabited the closest planets surrounding them and so it was basically just inert and lifeless.

However, he hadn’t realized that not acting panicky and unsettled was going to be another cause for suspicion.

So, he fell back on practiced routines, “When have you ever known me to react instinctively and irrationally to a challenging situation Jimin-shi?”

Jimin’s jaw ticked, it wasn’t lost on him that the XO was basically calling him impulsive and irrational.

“I don’t like being stuck here any more than you but I see no point in throwing tantrums about it.”

Taehyung bit his lip to contain his urge to smile, who knew? The omega certainly had an edge to him and was perfectly capable of defending himself while making Jimin look like a spoilt child.

The alpha couldn’t help the flush of pride he felt at Jungkook holding his own with all the ranking officers on the ship, even if it warred with his instinct to shut the omega away and keep him safe while he did all the protecting and defending that he’d ever need.

Jimin however, was not amused at all with the way the XO was making him look, and Taehyung knew it would escalate if he didn’t intervene.

So, he clapped his hands loudly and said “Can we discuss what we’re here to discuss now? If you’re done with critiquing a ranking officer for having a cup of coffee in the ready room of course?”

Taehyung’s tone was sharp with the irritation he felt at Jimin, the beta officer only rolled his eyes at the Captain, it was like Taehyung had had a one-eighty degree personality shift.

Before the kidnapping, Taehyung would be smirking and letting the other officers on Destiny make snide comments or worse, adding fuel to the fire by participating in the covert and overt standoffishness and malice that the crew engaged in.

He didn’t know it because Jungkook kept a neutral expression on his face but the alpha actively taking a stand for his sake made him and his omega feel things they shouldn’t.

Jungkook was experiencing what an alpha’s protection and presence felt like for the first time in his life and everything Taehyung did for him made him feel cherished in a way he was unaccustomed to feeling.

On Dunara, he was praised when he did well in tests, he also received the occasional gifts when he’d exceeded expectations and did really well on his missions. But he had never simply received appreciation or affection simply for existing, it was always earned with hard and sometimes back breaking and dangerous work.

This whole phenomenon of receiving praise, protection, warmth and affection simply for existing was alien and addictive to Jungkook. Every time Taehyung did something because of his protective instincts rearing their head, Jungkook felt a flush of pleasure despite being left with relatively nothing to do aboard Destiny for the past few weeks.

So, Jungkook continued to sip on his coffee languorously while looking at Jimin, what could he say? He was feeling a tiny bit spiteful at the beta for constantly trying to whisper his very valid suspicions into the Captain’s ears.

“How’s your navigational chart coming up Jin?”

Seokjin looked as frustrated as he felt, “I’m not having much luck Captain, for all I know, we could be fifteen or fifteen thousand jump points away from Centauri.”

“The Medusan’s on board couldn’t guestimate either?”

“No, their space missions for the past twenty years have always been joint efforts with the Centaurum so they don’t have any data that we don’t already have.”

Jungkook felt a bit bad for the tactical officer, it was obvious that he was heavily out of his depth, he could help but with the current climate he doubted that his ability to pinpoint their location in space relative to the Centaurum would be dismissed as a stroke of luck or mathematical genius.

“Would be nice to have a Boen on board” Jimin said while snorting humourlessly, “I’ve heard the bastards have the entire universe mapped out.”

Jungkook resisted the urge to poke his tongue into his cheek in annoyance, it wasn’t the Boen’s efforts that led to mapping the farthest most out backs of space, it was solely a Dunaran effort. No wonder that the Boen’s were being credited for it though, their neighbours always were shameless in taking credit where credit was not due.

“I’m sure we have some already on board Jimin-shi” General Yoongi piped up and everyone sat up straight as they circled back to the saboteur aboard Destiny.

 “Of course, we still haven’t found who disabled the shield generator and cut off the FTL cables, scanning all personnel for chips hasn’t been helpful, everyone aboard Destiny was cleared by the medic yesterday. Also, Aria analysed the video recordings from the internal cameras aboard Destiny and could not find any anomalies which means either that the system was hacked into or that the saboteur found a way to do this without arousing suspicion.”

Jungkook knew that there were other agents on Destiny and other Centauran spaceships but the Ingtar alliance’s policy was to never have spies working together or being aware of each other. That way, if one of them was compromised, they did not know the identity of the other spies aboard a space vessel or even in Centauri Prime.

Still, the fact that the FTL cables were cut specifically to prevent or delay their rescue might have set off some suspicion on the other spy’s mind if they were really intelligent. Jungkook just hoped the other spies on Destiny were not from Dunara, Ularan’s, Boen’s and other worlds that made up the Ingtar alliance were not the sharpest tool in the box.

In his spare time where he was not plotting to get closer to Taehyung, Jungkook was digging into the personal data files of all the one thousand five hundred and fifty two crew members aboard Destiny. So far, he had not found anyone that he suspected of being Dunaran.

“What about Aria’s analysis of the personal data files?” Jimin asked mirroring Jungkook’s thoughts though for very different reasons.

Jungkook wanted to find who the other spy or spies on Destiny were to watch his own back while Jimin and the crew probably just wanted to find them to prevent them from engaging in further more compromising situations.

“We have more than a thousand five hundred crew members on Destiny Jimin, Aria is doing her best but she has her limits. We will have the final results of her analysis in another two days.”

“Good!” Jimin said decisively as his eyes narrowed at Jungkook, not even bothered to be inconspicuous as he knew Aria would most likely highlight how Jungkook was a person to be considered as highly suspicious. He was hoping that the results would finally make Taehyung see Jungkook for who he was.

A sneak, hiding something while acting innocent.

“Namjoon-shi, can I have an update on when the FTL drives would be good to go again?” Taehyung directed his attention to the chief engineer now, they were all ready to beat a hasty retreat anywhere away from where they were currently stuck at. And that would be possible only with FTL capabilities.

“They should be functional within the end of this week Captain.”

“Finally! Some good news!” Jimin said expressing all of their relief, now, at least they knew they would have FTL capabilities if something calamitous were to happen and they needed to run fast and hard.

“Alright, I think we’ve covered everything for now, let’s meet again in two days when Aria’s analysis of the data files is complete.”

Taehyung dismissed everyone in the room and Jungkook carefully kept his face neutral, he was not looking forward to Aria’s analysis being completed. He was already thinking about how he was going to dodge the questions that would arise.

At least, if he had gained footing with Taehyung, he could convince the alpha that the reason behind everything was because he was an omega or at the very least try to dissuade Taehyung from actually acting on the analysis by saying it was upsetting him to see the alpha doubting him.

But Jungkook had not managed to gain any further ground with Taehyung and so when the alpha was the only one left in the room after everyone left, Jungkook bit the bullet and asked, “Can you come to my cabin after your shift ends today?”

Taehyung’s eyes widened in surprise, frankly, after carelessly gifting Jungkook lingerie, he had berated himself for being so forward so soon when he still knew next to nothing about Jungkook. The fact that Jungkook had gotten flustered and awkward after had only reinforced that he had to go slow with the omega and not scare Jungkook away by pushing too hard too fast.

“Of course, is it anything urgent or important?”

Jungkook pouted at the alpha, “Why? You won’t come to me if it’s not something urgent or important?”

He didn’t know where all this was coming from, but his reactions were natural and instinctive. He didn’t know it yet but sometimes, his omega was doing all the talking for him.

“Of course not, I just asked to make sure it isn’t something that you wanted right away.”

“Well….” Jungkook was remembering Aria’s advice about seduction, ‘Ask for his help occasionally, even with small things’, “I can’t seem to get caramel pecan pie ice cream because the chef changed the menu to vanilla and chocolate chip cookies this week. Anything you can do about that?”

Taehyung grinned and Jungkook couldn’t believe that the dumb AI’s suggestions were actually working, the alpha looked pleased as punch, however, Taehyung wouldn’t be Taehyung if he didn’t tease the omega at least a little, so he hedged, “Possibly….”

“Possibly?”

“Mhmm”

“What do you mean possibly? Can you do it or not?”

“I can but the question is if I should”

“Why won’t you do it if you can do it?”

“Do you really like caramel pecan pie so much?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t ask otherwise.”

“And vanilla and chocolate chip cookies are no good?”

“No! They’re no good, at all!”

“So, you think forcing the entire crew to have the same flavour of ice cream for another week for your sake is perfectly fine?”

Was this a trick question? Was Taehyung trying to be serious? Or was he teasing?

Whatever! Jungkook did not want to go a whole week or who knows how long without his favourite ice cream. Crew be damned.

“Yes!” he answered without hesitation and Taehyung barked out a laugh as he shook his head and looked at Jungkook with a fondness that was unmistakable.

“You know, some would call that tyranny omega” Taehyung pointed out and Jungkook hurriedly looked around in panic before turning to the alpha and hissing “You can’t call me that here!”

“This room is soundproof.”

“Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if General Yoongi or Jimin-shi had this room bugged! Jimin-shi in particular seems to have it in for me!”

“He isn’t, he just….a bit protective”

“Of you maybe….but he seems to want to pin everything on me despite me being kidnapped right alongside you when whoever on board cut off the FTL cables and disabled the shield generator. It’s common sense! I wasn’t here, how could I have done it?”

“Of course you didn’t, nobody here thinks otherwise.”

“Are you serious? Have you been seeing the way Jimin-shi is treating me ever since we returned?”

“Jimin and the others are just a bit on edge because of being thrown out so far from Centauri, believe me, things will be better once we have the FTL drives functioning again and everyone can rest easy.”

“Oh so that gives him the right to use me as a punching bag to take out his frustration with our situation?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“You’re Goddamn right, it doesn’t! I’m tired of putting up with it!”

“I know, you handled it very well today.”

“It’s annoying.”

“I know”

“And I’m dealing with it every day since we came back.”

Taehyung hummed in sympathy, Jimin was being unnecessarily catty to Jungkook on every occasion.

“I can’t even drink a coffee in peace. So, the least you can do is get me my caramel pecan pie ice cream.”

“Oh?”

“Yes! It’s the least you can do for me for putting up with your shitty friend.”

“Well….Jimin is nothing in comparison to my mother back on Centauri.”

Jungkook looked up in alarm, “What?”

Taehyung licked his lips and sighed expansively, he wanted to talk about all of this to Jungkook sometime in the privacy of their cabin but this was as good a time as any to get the omega prepared for what they would encounter on Centauri. With the FTL drives back in service, it was only a matter of time before they reached Centauri Prime.

“My mother has been planning my wedding and interviewing potential mates for me ever since I turned eighteen.”

“Ohhh…kay” Jungkook didn’t quite get what the Captain was getting at.

“She is not going to be happy that I got a runaway omega pregnant out of wedlock and want to mate him.”

Jungkook wasn’t planning to really get mated with the alpha anyway, so it was a non-thing for him but he couldn’t act like it now, could he?

So, he schooled his face into a sad frown, “Ohhh…..because I’m not from a high standing?”

“That and because you’re a runaway who managed to fool the Space Command and worked on a military spaceship for six months and counting.”

No wonder, Centauran’s and their fucking prejudices. Call him a lunatic but he’d take being born on Dunara a thousand times over being born in the Centaurum as an omega. It was a good thing he wasn’t planning to stay in the Centaurum for longer than strictly necessary and that everything he was doing was to return back to Dunara for good.

“Don’t…..I’ll protect you from her and anyone else that stands in my way, okay?” Taehyung reassured as he caught one of Jungkook’s hands in his own and swiped his thumb over the omega’s knuckles.

Jungkook immediately slapped the alpha’s hands away and crossed his arms in front of his chest, “You really are becoming too sloppy! Anyone could walk in on us here!”

Taehyung bit his cheek because he had no rejoinder for that, Jungkook was right and he was slipping. As the days passed by, it was getting harder and harder for him to control his instincts around Jungkook.

“So, about that ice-cream…..” Jungkook started again and Taehyung couldn’t believe the omega was concerned about that when he’d just revealed what a riot they’d have to face in the Centaurum to get mated to each other.

Perhaps Jungkook trusted that Taehyung would take care of all of it, Taehyung kept the thought to himself but whether he realized it or not, Jungkook was acting more and more like an omega with him every day.

“I can’t have the menu changed just for you, that’s unfair to the rest of the crew.”

“Then can’t the chef prepare a small batch just for me?”

“If I request something like that just for you, everyone would start to question why I’m showing you special consideration.”

“Because I got kidnapped?”

“That will not fly, everyone still thinks you’re an alpha remember?”

Jungkook hummed and then said “Just say it’s for you then!”

“No can do” Taehyung was smiling like he was enjoying this too much and Jungkook scowled in return.

“Why not?”

“Because the chef knows me and he knows I hate caramel pecan pie.”

“Arghhh, just tell him you’ve found a new liking for it! I need it alpha….can you really not get it for me?”

Alpha.

Jungkook had addressed him as alpha for the first time, not Captain, not Taehyung-shi, not Taehyung but alpha.

And he supposed he was, wasn’t he? Jungkook was going to be his omega and he was going to be Jungkook’s alpha.

As Jungkook’s alpha, it should be no trouble at all for him to ask the chef to change the flavour of the ice-cream, indefinitely if he had to, because who was he to deny his omega?

“It’s done” Taehyung said confidently and Jungkook recoiled, unable to believe that the alpha had agreed just like that when he was against it just a moment ago.

“Really?”

“Yes, I’ll make sure you’re always provided with your favourite ice cream.” It’s the least I can do while being stuck on a military spaceship.

“Well….thank you…I guess” Jungkook mumbled, trying to figure out what had made the Captain agree to it so readily.

“If that’s all you had to say, can I –”

“You said yes because I called you alpha!” it took a minute for the realization to hit but when he pointed an accusatory finger at the alpha, Taehyung froze and didn’t deny it.

Then he thought better of giving the omega that kind of ammunition and rolled his eyes at Jungkook, “What do you think I am? A Neanderthal from the BC on ancient Earth?”

When Jungkook started to look a little unsure and a lot less smug about his discovery, Taehyung went on, “I am your alpha, you addressing me by my sub-gender isn’t some strange affirmation that has my inner beast feeling primally satisfied.”

“I didn’t say anything about you having an inner beast.”

Oh, but I do omega. And that beast will do anything if you will only call me alpha.

“The reason I said yes is because I have work to do and you weren’t going to let me out of this room unless I hurried up and agreed to your unreasonable demands.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you then” Jungkook bit out and Taehyung took the opening and beat a hasty retreat.

That day, after his shift was done, Jungkook powered up his tablet and called upon Aria’s knowledge of the Centaurum once again as he typed in, ‘What kind of reaction does it cause in an alpha of Centauri when their omega addresses them as alpha?’

Instinctual Dominance/Protection Trigger : The title "Alpha" often affirms the Alpha’s role as a leader, protector, or provider. Hearing it from an omega—especially their bonded or submissive partner—can trigger possessive, protective and provider instincts.

I knew it! You’re a Centauran, no wonder you are ruled by your instincts. Hooked on the feeling of being right about his observation, Jungkook typed in furiously again.

‘Would an omega calling their alpha 'alpha' get the alpha to do anything they wanted?’

Yes—an omega calling their partner "Alpha" can have a powerful influence.

When an omega says "Alpha"—especially in a soft, needy, submissive, or affectionate tone—it can:

• Soften the Alpha's defences
• Trigger protective or responsive instincts
• Act like a verbal submission cue, often leading the Alpha to comply, especially if they’re emotionally or physically connected
• In heat/rut: The term can be overwhelmingly compelling, making the Alpha hyper-responsive, even if it's not entirely logical.
• A loving or bonded Alpha is highly responsive to being addressed as “Alpha” by their Omega. That responsiveness doesn’t equal blind obedience—but it can tip the scales toward the Omega getting what they want.

Jungkook smirked as Aria spit out the truth that the Captain denied earlier in the day.

“Well….would you look at that!”

Then, having found a new ammunition against the Captain’s defences, Jungkook rubbed his hands together in glee.

“You’re so useless Aria, couldn’t you have included this in your seduction tips? Here I am having to figure out all the useful stuff on my own! Whoever designed you is an absolute moron!”

Chapter 6: Suspect Zero

 

 

Jimin was the last to walk into the ready room for their meeting. The beta officer looked around and realized that everyone was assembled except for Jungkook.

He did a double take as he looked at Taehyung and raised an eyebrow, the Captain in return steepled his hands and sighed expansively, Jimin narrowed his eyes and took a seat opposite to General Yoongi who incidentally was the only one who was as suspicious of the XO as Jimin.

“Am I right in assuming Aria’s analysis is complete?” Jimin asked before Taehyung could officially start the meeting, it wasn’t standard protocol in the Centaurum for the crew to speak so informally to each other but Taehyung and all the officers on Destiny were young, the ranking officers therefore always interacted in a way that spoke of being comfortable with each other beyond just strictly professional relationships.

The Captain nodded his head, “Mhmm”

“I see Jungkook-shi is missing from this conference” Jimin controlled his urge to smile because he could tell Taehyung would not appreciate it. In the space of just five days, the Captain had come to care deeply for the XO.

Why? He had no idea. But he knew that saying ‘I told you so!’ would irritate Taehyung to no end.

“He isn’t here, yes”

“Is that intentional Captain?” Yoongi asked in that blunt way that was characteristic of him and Jimin’s eyes met the General’s.

“Yes”

Hoseok, Seokjin and Namjoon looked surprised by the revelation, and it was Hoseok who asked, “Well, what did Aria have to say?”

“Why don’t we just take a look at the results?” Taehyung suggested before asking Aria to project the results onto the screen.

Aria had analysed a total of one thousand five hundred and fifty two personal data files and on a spreadsheet, two hundred and fifty names were highlighted with a bar graph representing the percentage of suspicion of a particular crew member being a spy.

When everyone looked at the graph, they all realized why Taehyung had excluded Jungkook from the meeting today deliberately.

All except one name on the graph had a degree of suspicion anywhere between twelve to twenty-five percent, but Jungkook’s name which was at the very top of the graph had the bar extending all the way to the X-axis reaching a hundred percent, the bar represented by a glaring red colour in sharp contrast to the slightly orange and substantially less lengthier bars beneath.

Despite his thoughts, Jimin did not actually take pleasure in this revelation, he was expecting Aria to highlight Jeon Jungkook as one of the suspicious members on board but he never expected for the bar to reach complete saturation.

Aria was essentially telling them that there was no doubt that Jungkook was a spy.

Seokjin looked at Jimin and Yoongi and remarked, “Your hunch seems to have been right.”

“It’s not just a hunch!” Jimin said defensively, “Our conclusions were based on factual evidence.”

“Be that as it may, there is a reason for Aria highlighting Jungkook-shi’s name in this analysis” Taehyung revealed and all the officer’s focus was on him again.

“Aria didn’t have any personal data files to analyse for Jungkook because all his files are classified.”

“How can the ships AI be restricted from such information? Aria has access to all our data files!” Jimin returned, it made no sense that the files of someone as important as the XO of the ship would be inaccessible to the AI.

“We have known that his files were classified from the moment he joined the crew, he still had the dispatch order signed by Admiral Wang. Aria was able to verify the authenticity of the dispatch order and it is genuine.” Even while he was being presented with glaring evidence, Taehyung was still trying to shield Jungkook as much as he could under the circumstances.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t jump to conclusions then” Hoseok said being the voice of reason, “Aria just took a lack of access to his files as highly suspicious and ranked him first.”

“Because it is suspicious!” General Yoongi argued, “Can’t you see that this is extremely strange?”

“As the Captain said, the XO’s files have always been classified, perhaps there’s a good reason for it.”

Yoongi scoffed at Hoseok, “Like what? It’s one thing for personal data files to be classified for the crew, it makes no sense for Aria to have no access when the AI could be programmed to keep such information under lock and key for classified personnel.”

“It’s also very strange for a highly ranking officers files to be classified in the first place” Jimin added, “It’s the reason none of us were ever able to trust him from the start.”

Taehyung decided that he’d let the discussions go on for long enough, “We’re going around in circles here, the reason I called for this meeting is for each of you to give your inputs on why you do or don’t find Jungkook suspicious and what could be the possible reasons for his files being classified.”

“My reason is the tracker, all Centauran officers are implanted with micro-chips, it makes absolutely no sense that his couldn’t be detected on Ulara” Jimin said it with conviction, like he was sure that this alone made Jungkook guilty.

“Adding to Jimin-shi’s observation, I also think Jungkook-shi doesn’t understand the culture, etiquette and mannerisms of Centauran’s, he has revealed his lack of knowledge on many aspects of Centauran way of life a number of times in the past, this is unusual for someone who was born and raised in the Centaurum.”

Once Jimin and Yoongi had said their piece, Taehyung turned to the other ranking officers, “Anything else any of you would like to add?”

“I personally don’t have any reasons to be suspicious of Jungkook-shi Captain, he’s a bit uptight but other than that, he has always been efficient and straightforward to work with” Jin stated, aside from Aria’s glaring revelations, he really didn’t believe that Jungkook was a spy or saboteur.

“I have nothing to add Captain, I do think his files being classified is strange” Namjoon was right smack in the middle with how he viewed Jungkook, he was neither overtly suspicious like Jimin or Yoongi but he wouldn’t completely absolve Jungkook of suspicion when there was clearly evidence to indicate that there was reason to be concerned.

“I have to say that Jungkook-shi has been nothing but pleasant to work with Captain, as you know, he supervises younger cadets and helps out with some projects in the science lab even when that isn’t part of his job on Destiny. And he is quite personable and likeable when everyone isn’t acting standoffish to him.”

Hoseok clearly liked Jungkook unlike the other ranking officers of the ship and it showed.

“Alright I have all of your thoughts on Jungkook-shi, let’s focus on what could possibly be the reason for his files being classified now” Taehyung felt a prickle of guilt even as he said it but he had to start somewhere, “I believe one of the reasons for a personnel’s file being classified could be because they were provided with intergalactic immunity for any number of reasons including but not limited to helping the government with gathering intel on the enemy.”

Yoongi chimed in next with his input, “He could also have been involved or be a part of a military trial or program, I am aware of several experimental programs that are being trialled to boost the military manpower of the Centaurum, he could be from one of those experimental programs.”

“Or he could just be someone really important, some descendant of some historic or royal lineage who would be at risk if his identity was made public knowledge” Hoseok added and Taehyung made a mental note to dig into Jungkook’s family history further, if he really did belong to some ancient royal lineage and had ran away due to familial pressure to mate an alpha, it would be so much easier to convince his mother and his family to accept Jungkook as his mate.

Jimin however scoffed at the idea, “Have you seen how awkward his mannerisms are? He couldn’t possibly belong to the elite circle of the Centauri.”

“I think we’re forgetting some of the nastier reasons here Captain, he could have a criminal background that he’s trying to hide” Jimin added, catching Taehyung’s eye across the room, the Comms officer finally said what he had been wanting to say for all this time, “Or he could be a spy involved in espionage for the Ingtar Alliance, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve caught one of their spies on board.”

“You’re forgetting that he had a dispatch order personally signed by Admiral Wang Jimin, none of the spies we’ve caught ever had such a legitimate work order and Aria was able to identify the authenticity of the work order immediately in those cases.”

“Are you really suggesting that the Ingtar Alliance’s influence extends so far in Centauri? If we’re accusing Jungkook of being a spy when he was directly dispatched to Destiny by the Admiral himself, we’re also accusing the Admiral by extension.”

Everyone in the room knew Admiral Wang personally, he belonged to the one of the noble families of Centauri and had a long and loyal record of serving the Centaurum faithfully.

“Of course not” Jimin relented, he couldn’t believe Admiral Wang could be anything but a trusted member of the Centaurum, all the ranking officers on Destiny had graduated from the Space Academy under the then Commander Wang’s leadership.

“I think my theory is more likely Captain” Yoongi interjected, “If the Admiral himself wanted his files to be classified, then he’s probably part of some experimental program.”

“Or he could simply have been employed as a counter-intelligence officer to spy on us and report back to Centauri” said Namjoon and when everyone looked sceptical, “No, no, think about it! These are tense times and the Centauran governance has always been suspicious of everyone and everything, it makes perfect sense, at least to me.”

“Great, now he’s a spy for the Centauri!” Jin said incredulously and then added, “Next you’re going to say he’s not really human and an android designed to do counter-intelligence on all of us.”

Jin had said it humorously but Jimin, Yoongi and Hoseok’s expressions revealed that they were really giving credence to Jin’s throwaway remark.

“Actually…..one of the experimental programs is based on AI so it’s not impossible” Yoongi revealed and then added, “Coupled with his strange mannerisms, it is a possibility.”

“That is not a possibility General Yoongi” Taehyung said it confidently, at least able to dismiss this theory a hundred percent, no AI was capable of feeling, looking and acting like Jungkook did during his heat, the omega was an omega, through and through and each day Taehyung was becoming addicted to seeing Jungkook come out of his shell and behave like a typical omega with him, there was no way Jungkook was an android.

Both Jimin and Yoongi narrowed their eyes at Taehyung for being so confident in denying this theory. How was the Captain so sure? Did he know something that they didn’t?

“What are you not telling us?” Jimin asked unable to bear the secrecy any longer.

“What do you mean?” Taehyung returned casually, not at all perturbed by Jimin’s blunt and confrontational question.

“You’re hiding something from us Taehyung, ever since you both came back from Ulara you haven’t been the same.”

“I know” Taehyung answered, he would lose all credibility with his crew if he denied it, he had changed, dramatically in a matter of a few days.

“Exactly! I think it’s time for you to share with the class.”

Everyone looked at Jimin and then at Taehyung, they hadn’t expected the Captain to take accountability and admit to his change in behaviour, now that he had, everyone waited with bated breath to understand why Taehyung had changed so much.

And Taehyung was doing mental gymnastics to figure out how much he could say without compromising Jungkook’s secret.

In the end he settled for a simple explanation for his sudden empathy and concern towards Jungkook, “Jungkook-shi went through something terrible when we were captured on Ulara, I can’t tell exactly what because it’s not my place to tell.”

Now the ranking officers all had horrified expressions on their faces, knowing the history of the captors, they automatically assumed the worst.

“I’m just trying to be a sympathetic and supportive Captain and human being.”

“But Taehyung, if he really went through something horribly traumatic, he needs therapy!” Hoseok insisted, they could all guess at what might have happened to Jungkook for the Captain to be acting so out of character.

“He doesn’t want to go to therapy Hoseok, I can’t insist or force him to.”

Perhaps this would finally get Jimin off Jungkook’s back and alleviate the crew’s suspicions with his own behaviour.

If push came to shove, he could openly declare that Jungkook was his omega but he didn’t want it to come to that and only wished to use that as a last resort.

“Does he at least talk to you about it? It can’t be healthy to keep it all bottled up Captain!” Hoseok said once again, deeply concerned for the XO’s welfare.

“I try to help him as much as I can Hoseok-ah, it’s all I can do for now.”

Taehyung kept some things to himself, frankly, he was himself surprised by Jungkook’s resilience after essentially being subjected to sexual assault, coercion and an induced heat that led to an unwanted and unplanned pregnancy with far reaching consequences for his life.

If he was completely honest with himself, Jungkook was taking it all a little too well.

“Well, perhaps he’d be open to it when we reach Centauri, the FTL drives are ready to go now. Hopefully, we can reach the Centaurum soon” Namjoon reported the completion of the repairs and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

At least they had the ability to run now.

“You should also personally meet with Admiral Wang and confirm Jungkook-shi’s dispatch details with him Taehyung-ah” Yoongi insisted and Taehyung nodded.

“I was always going to do that anyways.”

“Any luck on the navigational charts Jin?”

Jin sighed in frustration and shook his head, “No Captain, we could do an experimental jump or several and try and see if we can hear any chatter.”

“We’d still need to know some co-ordinates and orientation, we don’t want to jump right into the middle of a sun accidentally.”

“I say we send out exploratory shuttles to map the celestial bodies in this sector further out and then make small jumps after the coast has been cleared” Jimin suggested and Taehyung found the idea to be sound.

It was just going to take a very long time to reach the Centaurum in this manner. He hoped they would be able to establish communications within the first few jump points.

Otherwise, who knew how long they were going to be stuck here?

“Alright, we’ll adjourn again to discuss the other highlighted files in two weeks’ time, I’m assigning thirty files to each of you and myself. The next time we meet we’ll select candidates to conduct official inquiries.”

“Are you going to assign any to Jungkook-shi?” asked Jimin wondering whether Taehyung was going to ignore Aria’s glaring warning.

“No, not for the moment.”

“Good” Jimin wholeheartedly approved, at least Taehyung took Aria’s evidence seriously and considered to proceed with caution.

***

Taehyung was relaxing in his cabin after a long day of going over the planned routes for the exploratory shuttles, overseeing the maintenance work in engineering and inspecting the FTL drives for space worthiness.

So, he didn’t expect the buzzer to go off and announce a visitor.

He closed his eyes and breathed out heavily. He was not looking forward to hosting anyone after such a long day at work.

Still, he was the Captain and it could be something urgent needing his attention. He pressed the remote control for the door.

His exhaustion vanished at the sight of Jungkook standing in the doorway before he entered like he belonged in the Captain’s cabin.

Without even a by your leave, he walked further into the cabin and plopped down on the couch opposite to Taehyung who was lying down with his legs extended on the opposite couch.

Once he pressed the remote control to close the door to his cabin, he turned to look at Jungkook expectantly.

“You held a meeting without me!” Jungkook accused as soon as the door was closed.

Taehyung hummed and sat up, “Yeah, it was too early and your shift got over just a couple of hours back, I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“You could have just postponed the meeting until I was awake!”

“It wasn’t anything important Jungkook” Taehyung lied because what else was he supposed to say? That he wanted to discuss Aria’s glaring and incriminating results without Jungkook present?

“So, you’re saying! Did Jimin-shi put you up to this?”

“He did not”

“I don’t understand how you can exclude me when I’m still the XO of this ship!”

There were many ways Taehyung could respond to it, before he knew of Jungkook’s sub-gender, he’d have loudly barked that as Captain he had every authority to invite or not invite crew members to meetings.

But now, he was acutely aware of Jungkook’s sub-gender, everything from the way the soft black oversized sweatshirt drowned the entire omega’s frame, to the delicate hands and wrists,  the big black star spangled eyes and soft downy hair that framed his delicate omegan features were all constantly reminding him that Jungkook was an omega.

So, he did what every alpha worth his salt would do and knelt down on the carpet close to Jungkook’s legs and gathered Jungkook’s hands in his own, “I’m sorry baby, I just didn’t want to interrupt your sleep.”

Jungkook was disarmed by the sudden display of affection and flushed prettily all the way up to his ears, the Captain was always using terms of endearment to address him in private these days and it still shocked Jungkook every time he did it.

“We—well, don’t….just don’t do it again” Jungkook stammered and Taehyung smiled and nodded.

“Do you want to move to the bed?” Taehyung asked carefully keeping his tone casual.

Jungkook as he predicted sputtered visibly, “What? What bed? I’m not—are you….did you really just suggest…”

Taehyung closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh of exasperation, “Omega….I am not propositioning you.”

Jungkook ripped his hands away from the alpha’s loose grip and pointed an accusatory finger at the alpha, “You asked me to come to your bed! How is that not propositioning me? I’m not a total fool Taehyung!”

“To lie down more comfortably, I’m tired and the couch is not exactly comfortable.”

“You were lying down on the couch before I came in!”

“Okay, I’m going to bed, you can come and sit by in my office chair or hang out here or go back to your cabin.”

“You can’t be serious!” Jungkook gawked as the alpha turned around and headed to his bed, the open plan cabin didn’t have a separate partition for the bedroom but the layout itself provided some privacy as the Captain walked further into the cabin and then turned on the lights.

The minute Taehyung switched on the dim purple coloured cabin lights, the transparent glass walls came into view, showcasing the universe outside, an endless black canvass with the occasional sparkling star in the distance.

In the end, Jungkook couldn’t resist the view, so he crept behind Taehyung and came to rest with his feet on the furry carpet beneath the bed, the bed was a decent sized king bed with four pillows arranged close to the headboard, the far wall also contained an elongated table with an office chair as Taehyung had revealed.

Except that the office chair was stiff and uncomfortable with not even a cushioned seat or backrest. Unlike Jungkook, the alpha had no reservations about climbing into his bed and propping a couple of pillows against the headboard before he extended his long legs and just observed what Jungkook was going to do.

The omega huffed and said “I’m only doing this because your office chair looks like a recipe for a disc prolapse.”

“Of course” Taehyung patted the space beside him on the bed and Jungkook scowled before he rounded the bed and sat himself down gingerly on the opposite side, swinging his legs up and propping a pillow up against the headboard, he sat with his legs folded and put the remaining pillow as a barrier between himself and Taehyung.

The alpha snorted and asked, “Yah….you really think a measly pillow is going to stop me if I wanted to have my ways with you here?”

When Jungkook looked alarmed, Taehyung tilted his head and said “Believe it or not omega, us alphas are not desperate cock driven primates who would combust and lose control in the mere presence of an omega.”

Jungkook bit his lip and said nothing. Frankly, being this close to Taehyung was a little unnerving to him.

“So, what did you discuss in today’s meeting?” Jungkook hedged all the while knowing that Aria had probably correctly highlighted Jungkook as a person to be considered as highly suspicious. He didn’t believe Taehyung’s blatant lies when he said it wasn’t anything important, he wasn’t that stupid. He was here now to do some damage control.

“Just the FTL drives and Jin’s progress with the navigational charts”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, the FTL drives are fixed and ready to go but Jin isn’t having any luck with navigating us out of here.”

“So, we’re technically still stuck here?”

“Yes.”

“What else did you discuss?”

“You don’t want to know how we’re going to get out of our navigational conundrum?”

“Well….of course, what are you going to do?”

“We’re going to be sending out exploratory shuttles to map this sector of space and then make small micro-jumps to the co-ordinates sent by the shuttles. Hopefully, we will establish communications soon and can be on our way to the Centaurum.”

“That’s a solid idea.”

“Yes.”

 “Was that all?”

“Pretty much yeah”

Jungkook really hated to have to do this but he had to ask, at least to observe Taehyung’s reactions, “What about Aria’s analysis of the personal data files?”

“What about it?”

Jungkook shot Taehyung a pointed look, “We were supposed to discuss the results in today’s meeting.”

“Ahh….yes, I suppose so but her analysis isn’t complete yet.”

“Oh? But you said—”

“It’s taking more time than I anticipated.”

Jungkook didn’t push after that, too much and he’d end up inviting more suspicion from Taehyung.

So, he abruptly changed the subject, “Can I call you alpha?”

“Huh?” Taehyung was stunned at the sudden turn of the conversation, unbeknownst to Jungkook, the alpha was also keenly observing the omega’s reactions now to try and figure out why Jungkook’s personal files were shrouded in such mystery, but the minute Jungkook asked something so left field, his focus shifted, “What brought this on?” he asked instead of answering Jungkook’s question.

Jungkook looked unsure and nervous, Taehyung closely attuned to the omega’s reactions waited patiently for the omega to speak his mind.

“I—I just realized that we….you—well, we didn’t exactly get along before all this so….it must be…..pretty annoying for you to suddenly be put in this position because of me and what happened on Ulara.”

“What happened on Ulara was not your fault in any way or form Jungkook” Taehyung said firmly as he turned his body to face Jungkook.

Jungkook looked away from the alpha, Taehyung didn’t know just how much Jungkook was implicated in this. If he did, the alpha would probably be disgusted and he could not look at the conviction in the alpha’s eyes that it was not his fault without feeling utterly guilty.

“Still…..you can’t be thrilled at the idea of having to mate me now, especially against your mother’s and families wishes.”

“Honestly, my mother’s choice would just be a different kind of trap.”

“So, you do feel trapped with me!” Jungkook recoiled and he didn’t know why but the revelation pinched, a heavy feeling settling into his chest as Taehyung didn’t jump to deny it.

“I think I better go now” Jungkook threw his legs off the bed and attempted to leave but before he could Taehyung grabbed his hand and pulled him back onto the bed once again.

“Taehyung, I don’t want to talk about this now.”

“No, you got the wrong impression.”

“Really?” Jungkook asked with an eyebrow raised in disbelief.

“Yes” Taehyung turned until he was sitting on his haunches with one of Jungkook’s hands still in his grip.

Staring into the omega’s eyes, Taehyung admitted the truth, “I’ve always known I wasn’t going to have much of a choice in this, so, I’ve learned to accept it.”

Jungkook sighed, “That’s sad and doesn’t make this situation any less unfair.”

“No, if anything it’s unfair to you. After working so hard to be where you are, you’re going to have to forget all of this and live the very life you ran away to escape.”

“It’s okay, I couldn’t have kept running forever.”

Not in the Centaurum, Jungkook would have been found out eventually.

“Let’s put it this way, at least we both know already that we have some sexual compatibility” Taehyung’s lopsided grin was teasing and Jungkook huffed before he withdrew his hand and slapped the alpha’s chest, hard.

“Shut up!”

“What? It’s true!” Taehyung returned and Jungkook groaned before turning around and trying to escape once again only to be thwarted by Taehyung pulling him back once again.

Only this time, the alpha underestimated his own strength and pulled too hard resulting in Jungkook losing his balance and falling right on top of the alpha, the pillow barrier that was supposed to keep them separate crushed under his thigh as Taehyung closed his arms around the omega and said “So, to answer your question, yes, you can call me alpha, in fact, when we’re alone I’d like it if you called me as nothing but alpha.”

Jungkook looked up from his position atop Taehyung’s firm chest, this was the first time he was so close to Taehyung since being entwined with the alpha on Ulara in an induced heat and his cheeks were ruddy red as he squirmed on top of the alpha, “You’d like that wouldn’t you?” Jungkook mocked, “I’m no Neanderthal of the BC who looses his marbles every time an omega calls me ‘alpha’” the omega paused to observe the absolute delight swimming in Taehyung’s eyes, “You were bullshitting me, weren’t you? Alpha?”

Taehyung’s wolfish grin said everything he needed to know and Jungkook rolled his eyes, “You do realize that this is desperate primate cock driven behaviour, don’t you?”

The alpha narrowed his eyes at Jungkook, poking his tongue into his cheek, Taehyung’s eyes glinted mischievously before he gripped Jungkook’s waist and said “From where I’m at, it looks like you’re enjoying my alpha instincts a bit too much omega because here you are, totally content to breach your little pillow fort and climb me like a tree at the first opportunity.”

Jungkook was starkly reminded of the position he was in on top of the alpha and he jumped off of Taehyung while cursing at the alpha and saying, “It was you who pulled me down!”

This time, Jungkook didn’t get off the bed, rather, he laid down on the other side and carefully re-arranged his pillow fort back into its original position.

“What are you doing?” Taehyung asked as he looked at Jungkook making himself comfortable on the bed.

“Going to sleep” the omega replied easily and Taehyung balked.

“You can’t do that here!”

“Why not?”

“Why do you want to sleep here when you have a perfectly good cabin all to yourself?”

“I like your cabin better, I like looking out at the universe as I sleep.”

“Yah! People would get suspicious if you slept here, get out! Now!”

“No”

“What?” Taehyung couldn’t believe the audacity of the omega.

“Who is going to know besides us? Also, I’m sure you can come up with a convincing bluff if someone comes snooping around, can’t you alpha?”

He supposed he could but it was the principle of the thing, Jungkook had way too much power over him already and Taehyung was scared to give more ground.

So, he opened his mouth to argue once again but Jungkook shut him up real quick when he said, “Also, it’s good for the baby, helps them bond better with both the alpha and omega parent.”

And how could Taehyung say no after that? Perhaps it was the omega’s instincts that were compelling him to stay close to his alpha when he was vulnerable and carrying.

Taehyung could not just throw Jungkook out of his cabin now in good conscience, so he resigned himself to sharing his bed for tonight. Perhaps this was a one-time thing brought upon by hormonal derangement?

What Taehyung didn’t know was that Jungkook had decided to amp up his efforts to get closer to him after a strongly worded message from the alliance informing him of their displeasure at receiving no useful information in half-a-months’ time. So, he was here to stay for the foreseeable future and weasel his way into letting the alpha drop his guard around him.

As time passed and both alpha and omega rolled around on the bed in their sleep, the pillow fort was once again crushed underneath Jungkook’s weight as the omega came to lie on the alpha’s chest, face smushed against the alpha’s pectorals with one leg thrown casually over the alpha’s thighs. He didn’t realize it yet but Jungkook was risking the mission himself by getting so close to Taehyung.

But right then, the alpha and omega slept, the universe a backdrop to their peaceful slumber, unaware of all the turmoil that would come in the future.

 

 

Chapter 7: Neither Son, Nor Lover

 

The girl was persuasive

The girl I could not trust

The girl was bad

The girl was dangerous

Jungkook frowned as understanding dawned on him, the lyrics to the song strangely making him feel vulnerable as he luxuriated on the bed in the alpha’s cabin while Taehyung had his back to him, busy with typing something on his tablet while the music played loudly inside the cabin.

She’s so dangerous

The girl is so dangerous

Take away my money

Throw away my time

You can call me honey

But you’re no damn good for me

Dangerous

The girl is so dangerous

The omega sat up in bed, this song was seriously unnerving him even though he loved the rhythm of the music and the voice of the singer so much.

He’d come to learn that Taehyung was an avid consumer of music, the alpha always had something or the other playing in his cabin and Jungkook who was being introduced to a lot of music he’d never listened to in his life was appreciating the flavour of different styles of music.

“Alpha, can you play another song?” he asked finally when the chorus came back on again and the singer crooned the word ‘dangerous’ again and again.

Taehyung turned to look at Jungkook, “Why? You don’t like the song?”

“No….it’s just….” Jungkook sighed and decided to let it be. The alpha probably didn’t mean anything by it, right?

So why was he feeling so on edge?

“It’s fine, I like the song”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah yeah, go back to work”

Thankfully, the song finished playing right at that moment and Jungkook leaned back and relaxed on the bed.

The singer’s voice was really something, so unique and powerful, the alpha had been playing the same singer’s song this evening. Jungkook could tell because the voice was distinctive.

The next song that started playing had a heavy bass and a distinctive melody that was once again rapidly becoming Jungkook’s favourite.

That is until the lyrics started to become comprehensible and left Jungkook tensing on the bed once again.

People always told me ‘Be careful what you do’

‘Don’t go around breaking young girls’ hearts’

And mother always told me ‘Be careful who you love’

Be careful what you do

Cause the lie becomes the truth, hey-eh

Billie Jean is not my lover

She’s just a girl who claims that I am the one,

But the kid is not my son

She says I am the one

But the kid is not my son

For forty days and for forty nights, law was on her side

But who can stand when she’s in demand? Her schemes and plans

Who will dance on the floor in the round

“Alpha!” He shot up once again, his voice filled with indignation and Taehyung turned once again, now with alarm in his eyes at Jungkook’s screechy tone of voice.

“What? What is it?” he asked abandoning his tablet and turning around fully on his swivel chair.

“What is this song?” Jungkook demanded, “Why’s the singer so suspicious of everyone and everything?”

“Just in the last song he was talking about a dangerous love affair that was no good for him and now he’s claiming someone is lying about being his lover and having his child!”

Taehyung looked at Jungkook for a moment and then burst out laughing.

Jungkook rolled his eyes and Taehyung’s own danced with amusement at seeing the omega all riled up because of some song lyrics.

“Do you really want to stop listening to the song?” Taehyung offered but Jungkook shook his head.

“I like the music and the singer’s voice.”

“You have good taste in music then because I’m playing Michael Jackson today.”

“Who’s that?” Jungkook asked carelessly and knew he’d fucked up when the alpha’s eyebrows rose in disbelief.

“Did you seriously live under a rock or did they not have Earth history in your kindergarten?”

“I told you I was a runaway!”

“Yeah but not knowing Michael Jackson is like not knowing Hitler or Mohammed or Caesar.”

Among the people Taehyung had mentioned, Jungkook only knew Hitler because it had been included in his subjects on Dunara. He also had an inkling about Caesar, in the fringes of his mind he knew that he must have been a great warrior for him to have been included in his subjects about the history of Earth.

“I do know who Hitler and the others are!” Jungkook quipped and then added, “Just because I didn’t have time for frivolous things like art and music like you did doesn’t mean I didn’t learn Earth history.”

“Frivolous? Did you just call Michael Jackson’s music as frivolous? You little….” Taehyung narrowed his eyes and Jungkook tilted his head wondering why the alpha looked so offended.

“Well, whoever he was he seems to have been constantly paranoid about his lovers. I don’t like it.”

Taehyung sighed and then explained, “He had to be, he was the most famous celebrity in the history of the Earth ever and he was surrounded by a lot of bad people.”

“You mean someone really lied about being his lover and having his baby?”

“No…..” Taehyung dragged the word out and then added, “I’m not quite sure actually, he wrote the song about groupies I think. The song is more metaphorical……about the kind of people who are lacking in integrity and will lie about anything.”

“Like Billie Jean?”

“Yeah, exactly like her.”

Jungkook swallowed, “You have strange taste in music” he settled for saying instead.

“Not at all, I relate to Michael Jackson and his music quite a bit.”

“Why?”

Taehyung snorted dryly, “Because I’m the primary heir of one of the five families, lots of people want to use me as a means to an end.”

Jungkook shuffled on the bed until he was lying down facing the alpha with his chin propped up on his elbows, “How so?”

This was the first time Taehyung was speaking something about the five families and Jungkook schooled his expression to appear mildly interested.

“Well, I’m wealthy beyond belief for one.”

“Aren’t most high-society Centaurans wealthy like you?”

“They are but not like the five families.”

“Do you have enemies within the five families?”

The alpha grunted, “There’s not one person within the five families who are not an enemy of the other.”

“Oh?”

“Mhmm” Taehyung turned around in his swivel chair and had his back to Jungkook once again, so he failed to notice the disappointment in Jungkook’s face.

“Why’s that? Weren’t the five families created to bring stability and peace to the Centaurum?”

“They were but it doesn’t mean one of us is not constantly looking forward to overthrowing the others.”

“Even you?”

Taehyung scoffed like he couldn’t believe Jungkook would ask that, “I’m the first heir, I have to be.”

“Why?”

When Jungkook sounded so utterly clueless, Taehyung turned around with a solemn expression that gave Jungkook pause.

“Because the minute I show signs of weakness, they would send someone to assassinate me if my own family doesn’t do it first.”

Jungkook gasped audibly. He never realized that the five big families of the Centaurum were essentially enemies at each other’s throats.

The Centaurum constantly boasted about the unity between the five families and how they’d ushered in a new age of prosperity and peace in the Centaurum.

The duplicitous bastards, Jungkook thought viciously. 

And then what Taehyung had said at last registered and he looked at the alpha, “What do you mean if someone in your own family doesn’t assassinate you first?”

Taehyung tilted his head, looking all too calm for what he’d just revealed he said, “Just what I said, the Kim family has eighteen heirs in total. If I’m found lacking…..there are plenty who can take my place.”

“Eighteen heirs?” Jungkook balked, when he’d heard that Centauran’s used omegas as nothing more than broodmares, he didn’t actually think it meant that they literally used them as broodmares.

Taehyung rolled his eyes, “Not my own siblings, my extended cousins, uncles, nephews, nieces.”

The omega breathed out a sigh of relief but the alpha being as astute as he was teased, “We should have six heirs of our own so our children’ positions are a lot more secure.”

Jungkook’s outrage made Taehyung giggle as the omega squawked, “Six children? Six? What the fuck do you think I am? An incubator? Fuck you!”

Taehyung licked his lips and grinned at the omega, it was always fun to rile Jungkook up, he couldn’t believe that this animated omega was the same person as his stoic XO who pretended to be an alpha and fooled everyone for six months.

“Okay, I can come down to three, but you must meet me half-way” Taehyung said it without a hint of humour in his voice and Jungkook’s eyes caught and held the alpha’s before he looked away.

Three?

Taehyung wanted three children?

Jungkook could hardly imagine having one. At least on Dunara, his embryo would be taken out and implanted into birthing pods for growth and delivery.

In the Centaurum, omegas actually gave birth.

Jungkook could not imagine the traumatic process of actually carrying a child to term and then breaking his body open to birth them into the world.

He didn’t know how Centauran omegas did it. It was one of the blessings of being born in Dunara as an omega.

If he had children at all, he’d have the embryo implanted into the birthing pods in Dunara. The pods were integral to the child developing eugenic enhancements and Jungkook would not deprive his offspring of having the advantages that eugenics conferred.

Taehyung was looking at him expectantly and just to be purposefully difficult, Jungkook said, “I think I’m a one and done kind of omega.”

The alpha poked his tongue into his cheek and Jungkook had come to realize that Taehyung only did this when he was annoyed.

“I was an only child, I don’t want my children to grow without a sibling Jungkook.”

“Easy for you to say when you’re not the one who has to carry and then birth them into the world” Jungkook replied tartly. He hated how alpha’s always thought they were entitled to an omega’s body and what choices they made with it.

“If that’s your greatest concern, we could look for a surrogate for the second and third.”

“Let me first have this one okay?” Jungkook said, he was getting uncomfortable with all the ‘baby talk’.

“About that, are you feeling any symptoms at all?” Taehyung asked, eyes softening in concern as he looked at Jungkook expectantly.

“Symptoms?” Jungkook dug around in his head for plausible symptoms of pregnancy, it was an alien concept in Dunara so he didn’t learn much about it.

“Uhmm…I just feel a little bloated than usual” Jungkook rabbited it off not knowing what else to add and not wanting to say the wrong symptoms, he made a mental note to look it up later.

Taehyung hummed, “Perhaps it’s too early yet, you’re lucky you don’t have morning sickness, my mother always used to say how dreadful it was when she was pregnant with me to guilt trip me into behaving well as a child.”

Morning sickness?

Pregnancy made omegas sick in the morning? How very dreadful!

Jungkook couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for every Centauran omega.

How vile was it for their alphas to expect them to go through a natural pregnancy when there were numerous scientific advances that made the process obsolete and ancient?

Just one more way for alphas to control omegas, dictating their reproductive rights for them, Jungkook thought angrily.

After a lull in their conversation, the alpha turned back around and music started playing once more, the same singer, Michael Jackson’s voice filled the cabin once again.

It was yet another song about love.

Or rather, about the singer demanding that his lover submit to him and just love him.

Don't try to understand me

Just simply do the things I say

Love is a feeling

Give it when I want it

'Cause I'm on fire

Quench my desire

Give it when I want it

Talk to me, woman

Give in to me, give in to me

Great! This time the singer was demanding his lover to give it whenever he wanted it. It being sex.

Any other time, Jungkook would have been incensed but as the chorus started playing again and the singer used his falsetto voice to croon, ‘Quench my desire’ his stomach felt tight with knots, the song was doing things to him, making him burn as mental images of the alpha and him twisted together, closer than ever, in a hard floor cell assaulted his mind. Jungkook buried his face in the pillow and tried to get a hold of himself but his mind had other ideas and started concocting fantasies of the alpha.

The alpha demanding him to give it when he wanted it.

The alpha pushing him down and taking what he wanted whenever he wanted it.

Making him give in to their desires instead of carefully skirting around their attraction like they did.

Dropping all pretences and being honest for once.

And Jungkook didn’t know why he enjoyed the idea of it so much when he should be repulsed at being made to submit like that.

By a Centauran alpha no less. One who would gladly make him a broodmare and bedslave.

Why?

Why was his omega earning to present so much?

Why was he so eager to drink poisoned water from a well?

He didn’t realize that he’d made a sound until the music stopped all of a sudden.

When he snapped his head to look at Taehyung, the alpha was looking at him like he couldn’t believe his eyes, Jungkook opened and closed his mouth, it took him a whole minute to realize that he was on his hands and knees on the bed, back arched obscenely with his ass sticking out even through the loose black jogger bottoms that he wore.

Jungkook flushed with mortification.

Fuck!

This was the most embarrassing thing that had happened to him in all his life.

He was presenting himself for the alpha like a harlot and he didn’t even realize it.

Jungkook scrambled to right himself on the bed and just got up and off the bed altogether. He couldn’t believe what he’d done.

He couldn’t believe that he was willingly and with full conscience presenting to the alpha like he wanted nothing more than for Taehyung to rip his clothes off and just take him like an omega.

“I…I…” he stuttered as he backed away from the bed and Taehyung who was looking at him like a prey to be captured just a moment ago now looked equally awkward as he attempted to soothe the omega who was visibly freaking out.

“Shhh Jungkook….it’s okay, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about” Taehyung said it and it only made Jungkook feel more embarrassed as he squeaked and shouted, “It’s not nothing….I…I don’t know what happened….”

Because Jungkook looked like he was going to cry soon with how flustered he was, Taehyung bluffed to get the omega to calm down, “It’s probably the pregnancy Jungkook…..”

When Jungkook finally looked at him like he was desperately looking for an anchor to ground himself, Taehyung swallowed and went on, “That’s right…..omegas usually have a high sex drive during pregnancy, it was probably just the hormones….okay….”

Taehyung slowly circled the bed and then reached for Jungkook when he was close to the omega, arms loosely enclosing the omega’s waist as he whispered, “It’s alright, it’s just me.”

Jungkook was still visibly upset and even when Taehyung tried to press him close, the omega resisted, “I—I think I should go back to my cabin.”

Taehyung bit his cheek and stopped himself from pulling the omega towards him and caging him in his arms.

He could still hear the high-pitched keening sound ringing in his ears. The same high-pitched whine Jungkook let out while he was delirious with heat and constantly burning for an alpha to quench the fire. The way Jungkook was presenting like it was killing him to keep all of his desires bottled up.

Still, the omega looked so spooked and ashamed now that Taehyung had no choice but to move a step back and give Jungkook some space.

“If that’s what you want Jungkook.”

Jungkook nodded and Taehyung walked back further, turned and went into the living room to grab the remote control and open the door for Jungkook.

“I’m sorry”

Taehyung would have missed it if it weren’t for how quiet it was in his cabin, he couldn’t stand the way Jungkook was looking so small and vulnerable.

“What for?” Taehyung demanded dropping the remote and walking back in in a flurry towards the omega.

When Jungkook looked up, doe-eyes glassy and red rimmed, Taehyung sighed in exasperation, “Why do you feel sorry baby?”

“I don’t know….” Jungkook mumbled, still unable to reconcile what he’d just done, “I just….didn’t mean to…..”

“I know” Taehyung said it and finally just pulled the omega into his arms, this time Jungkook went with no protest, his head coming down on the alpha’s broad shoulders as he sniffled quietly and let Taehyung run his hands through his hair.

Now that Jungkook was finally relaxing into his arms, Taehyung spoke again, quietly so as to not spook the omega again, “There’s nothing to be ashamed of……I’m your alpha.”

When Jungkook hummed and slumped further into his arms, Taehyung asked, “Do you want to stay here tonight?”

Jungkook burrowed further into the alpha’s chest and nodded his head, now that he was feeling so safe and secure in the alpha’s arms, he didn’t want to go back to his cold cabin and be alone for the rest of the night.

Taehyung bit his lip to contain the urge to smile when Jungkook diligently stacked two pillows for the pillow fort tonight, knowing how they ended up tangled together when they woke up, Taehyung knew it was useless, but if it gave Jungkook comfort to keep doing this, then he would allow it, for now.

 

 

 

Chapter 8: The Bubble Bursts

 

The black consoles surrounding the bridge provided a dim light that illuminated the bridge just enough for the personnel on the bridge to move around, the over head cabin lights and ceiling lights were switched off to minimize the chance of discovery as much as possible.

The officers on the bridge collectively held their breath as they waited for their explorer shuttle to arrive.

It was the twentieth such excursion that the shuttle had undertaken in the last three days.

Jungkook and Taehyung were on the bridge, the Captain standing watch close to the edge of the bridge observation window that provided their only view into outer space from the bridge.

Jungkook was seated on the Captain’s chair and carefully kept his face neutral while he waited and observed the proceedings with the other officers.

Internally, he was absolutely unimpressed with how the Centaurans were clueless about navigating themselves away from this sector in the correct direction.

The shuttle had taken twenty trips so far, each of them fruitless.

His employers were getting impatient with every day he spent on the outer fringes of known space, unable to extract any meaningful information when the crew and the Captain were focused on navigating themselves out of the back end of nowhere.

Jungkook made a resolve to personally man the shuttle for the next trip and just point them in the right direction.

He was getting tired of witnessing the buffoonery that was happening with every shuttle trip.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the Nimbus Mk III shuttle that Destiny was outfitted with appeared on their screen and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Unlike their regular shuttle that could carry a whole contingent of soldiers on away missions, the Nimbus shuttle was smaller and sleeker.

She was also extremely fast and required very adept and skilful handling, currently, there were only three people onboard Destiny who could successfully pilot her, Jimin, Eunwoo and Taehyung himself.

So, for the past three days, Jimin, Taehyung and Eunwoo had been taking turns piloting the Nimbus to try to reach a jump point that could help them communicate with the Centaurum.

So far, they’d had no luck.

Once Jimin was safely headed back to dock with Destiny, Taehyung turned away from the window and approached the central platform upon which his control chair was situated.

Jungkook who was occupying the chair for the moment didn’t automatically vacate the chair as he would have in the past.

Instead, when the Captain was close, he asked “You want to break for coffee?”

Jungkook didn’t feel like it at the moment but still, he might as well use it as an opportunity to allow Jungkook to go on the next flight so he got up and off the control chair.

“Seokjin-shi, you have the bridge” Taehyung announced before both the Captain and XO swept out of the bridge leaving the other officers perplexed.

When they reached the ready room and Taehyung got himself a cup of coffee from the espresso machine, Jungkook sat down on one of the chairs surrounding the rectangular conference table. The alpha sat down opposite to him, the frustration was evident in his voice when the alpha said, “Another day, another bust.”

Jungkook looked sympathetic and then decided it was good a time as any to ask what he wanted to ask, “You should let me go on the next flight.”

Prior to their kidnapping, Jungkook would have insisted and not asked for permission like he was doing now.

But prior to Ulara, the Captain wouldn’t have looked so outraged at the suggestion either.

Now Taehyung’s eyebrow was raised sceptically at Jungkook’s suggestion and the alpha had no qualms about saying, “Absolutely not!” like he completely believed it within the bounds of his abilities to dictate what Jungkook should and should not do.

Jungkook deflated and tried to persuade the alpha, “But Taehyung….I could be of help! Please!” he added the last word hoping that it would get the alpha to budge.

But Taehyung shook his head vehemently, with even more resolve than before, Taehyung said “You are not going on that shuttle omega. I will entertain no further discussions on this.”

Jungkook narrowed his eyes at Taehyung, not at all liking the tone of voice Taehyung was using with him, “It’s not within your professional rights to deny me entry to the shuttle Taehyung-shi. I’m the XO of this ship still and I don’t have to ask permission to go with you. I have the right to override your decisions.”

“It’s absolutely within my professional and personal rights to not allow you aboard the shuttle” Taehyung’s eyes were stormy and dangerous as he said it, like he was just waiting for Jungkook to make a fuss again so that he could turn him down harshly.

Jungkook however, hadn’t learned nothing about the alpha in the three weeks they had spent together. He turned to placating once again.

“Taehyung, come on, it’s a shuttle trip and I’ll be with you the entire time, can you please just let me come, please?”

As he suspected, he’d disarmed Taehyung’s defences and the alpha’s eyes softened as he looked away from Jungkook, “No.”

“Taehyung-ah!” Jungkook whined and then slapped the surface of the table to show his annoyance with the alpha, “I can’t remain cooped up on this damn ship all the time, it’s driving me crazy!”

In response, Taehyung slapped the table harder, hot coffee sloshing and dripping down on the table as the alpha barked, “You’re asking to go on the Nimbus in your condition, I will not allow it!”

“It’s just another shuttle, she can’t be that fast” Jungkook hedged even though he knew that the Nimbus was thirty times faster than their regular shuttle with no inertial dampeners meaning that the G-forces inside would be a highly variable and felt down to the pilot’s bones.

Taehyung scoffed derisively, “You couldn’t even handle our regular shuttle touchdowns, you’ll get sick the minute I power up the Nimbus.”

Jungkook knew this fully well, he did not enjoy shuttle trips because of his inability to handle G-forces but he had to get this behemoth of a ship out of this place.

He didn’t know how long his employer’s patience would last. He was quickly coming up on a whole month without any solid information.

“I’ll take the motion sickness pills.”

“No Jungkook”

“But—”

“I said no!”

“Why do you even want to come huh? What are you hoping to gain except for a queasy stomach and a paper bag of vomit?”

“You don’t have to throw my G-force sensitivity like that in my face! I can’t help it that I’m….” Jungkook stopped and glared at the alpha.

The alpha sighed and rubbed his temples, he did not expect Jungkook to be so unreasonable, the omega must know that the Nimbus required a heavy duty pilot with extreme tolerance to G-force shifts. Even Jimin struggled with it and took two motion sickness pills to stop himself from feeling the strong effects of the G-force variations.

“Baby why? Why’d you want to go on the shuttle so bad hmm?”

There was a number of ways for Jungkook to get the alpha to agree but he was sure that this was the one thing that Taehyung could not deny.

“I heard that the Nimbus Mk III is the fastest shuttle in the Centaurum”

“It is”

“So, I’m curious, I just want to go on one flight just to see what it’s like.”

“Yah!” Taehyung shouted, totally frustrated with the omega, “All you’re seeking is an adrenaline rush?”

“Oh come on! You would too in my position, I didn’t come all the way here to not get to experience the fastest shuttle on Centauri!”

“The Nimbus has never even been tested for omega safety.”

“I’m not just every regular omega though!” Jungkook argued as he saw that Taehyung’s resolve was slowly but surely crumbling.

Just a little more whittling and he was sure the alpha would agree, so he threw the final nail in the coffin, “Alpha, I wouldn’t trust anyone else to take me on the shuttle except you, can you please take me with you?”

“Please alpha……” Jungkook dragged out the last word, so lost in trying to get what he wanted that he forgot that they were both in the break room.

“What the fuck is going on here?” demanded Jimin as soon as he entered the ready room, looking at the both of them like they’d grown horns.

Jungkook froze and so did Taehyung for a minute before he composed himself quickly and asked “What?” casually to Jimin like the beta officer hadn’t just heard Jungkook calling Taehyung alpha.

Taehyung and Jungkook wondered whether that’s all Jimin heard but the beta officer looked incredulous, “Why…..you can’t possibly ask me to believe that you what you both had now is a normal interaction.”

Taehyung rolled his eyes at Jimin, in as dismissive a tone as possible, the alpha said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about Jimin-ah, has all that G-force scrambled your brains?”

Through all of it Jungkook kept quiet, he couldn’t believe how easily he was slipping and putting himself in danger of being discovered.

He had gone a whole six months with no one even suspecting that he was an omega, how had he gotten so comfortable with the Captain that he failed to notice his surroundings and act accordingly?

Jimin was hurt at the obvious apathy in Taehyung’s voice but noticing this quickly, Taehyung sighed, he felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place between Jimin and Jungkook.

“You should be resting and recovering from that flight, what are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to you”

“About?”

“About the shuttle, I don’t think I can do these trips anymore, it’s taking a toll on me even with the motion sickness pills.”

“Okay, I and Eunwoo will handle it from now onwards.”

The beta officer breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you!”

Then whether because of his exhaustion or because he didn’t think it was worth pursuing further, Jimin turned and left the ready room leaving both Jungkook and Taehyung looking at each other sheepishly.

“Sorry” Jungkook murmured silently and Taehyung said, “Don’t…..everyone will know soon enough what you are to me.”

The omega swallowed, that did not at all inspire any confidence in him really.

“I want you to cut-short your shift and take a mandated period of rest for 24 hours, no food for five hours before the flight, you will take the motion sickness pills an hour prior, a strong double dose and you will do everything I tell you to do on the actual flight tomorrow” the alpha parroted off his demands, his tone firm and severe but the whole time Jungkook just smiled at the alpha like a cat that got the canary.

“Sir, yes sir!” Jungkook threw Taehyung a mocking salute and the alpha huffed, “I’m not holding your head when you inevitably puke inside the shuttle, also, you will personally clean up your mess if you get the seats dirty.”

“I won’t puke! I’m not that delicate!”

***

The next day, on the cramped shuttle where Jungkook felt every twitch, every roll and every minute change in attitude, he learned that he was indeed that delicate.

Taehyung tried to keep the shuttle as level as he possibly could but at the incredible speed they were flying at, it was impossible to control the tendency for the shuttle to roll on it’s roll axis, it was only due to years of training at the academy that he kept the pitch and yaw plane motion steady as he piloted the shuttle.

Jungkook was clutching the paper bag close to his mouth like his life depended on it, he had already vomited into the bag twice and he was just about managing to hold on as he persuaded Taehyung to go all the way to their pre-planned co-ordinates.

Jungkook personally input the co-ordinates to make it to a zone where they would be able to pick up the communication chatter from other spaceships.

He didn’t want them to be turning around just because of how queasy and ill he was feeling.

Because their entire flight was being monitored back on Destiny, Taehyung couldn’t even reassure the omega or try to comfort him.

All he could ask was whether Jungkook wanted to turn around and when the omega vehemently and loudly answered that he was fine, Taehyung had no choice but to continue the journey to the pre-determined co-ordinates.

“Hang on, we’re almost there” Taehyung said it when he heard Jungkook retching into the paper bag for the third time.

All he wanted to do was turn around back to Destiny but if he did there would be a lot of questions, he berated himself for allowing the omega to travel with him.

Jungkook was not enjoying this.

And it was all his fault.

He should have been firm in his decision.

As they reached the co-ordinates, Taehyung returned the thrusters to their idle position and the shuttle powered down as the engines rolled back and started to produce less thrust.

Taehyung turned to look at the omega and in the faint blue lights of the shuttle, he could see the fine sheen of sweat on the omega’s forehead and how pale his skin looked.

“I’m okay” Jungkook mumbled in a poor attempt to reassure the alpha who scoffed and set up his tachyon beam scanner to pick up chatter from spaceships far away from their position.

For five minutes, they floated in silence and Jungkook righted himself on the seat and squinted at the co-ordinates on the screen.

Did Taehyung bring them to the right co-ordinates?

Finally, after another ten minutes of waiting, they heard the faint traces of communication through the radio.

"Zhur'kai ven'droth kal ekresh Centauri'nak vel-torak! Drekk'na val'kesh vora'tul krask since zhen'dar vokari."

The language being spoken was Drekkari and while Jungkook understood the meaning, Taehyung couldn’t comprehend much except for Centauri.

"Centauri’nak val Boen’kai dresh’ta vok’hal nazh, kren’tal vek druun'kesh!"

Once again Taehyung couldn’t understand anything except for the mention of Centauri and Boen.

When he turned to Jungkook for an explanation, the omega replied, “They’re saying they just evaded some Centauran patrol ships.”

Taehyung frowned, “Why would they be patrolling so far out?”

There was no easy way for Jungkook to say this, so he just said it, “They mentioned a war.”

“A war?” Taehyung’s eyes widened in alarm, he understood that breaching the Ingtar alliances territory would be considered a violation of the treaty but he never imagined that it had actually led to an all out war.

Jungkook who had knowledge of the fighting for weeks observed as the alpha’s face turned pale with comprehension as he struggled to process being potentially responsible for instigating a war.

The ship must have gone out of their range because they could not hear any further chatter. Looking at Taehyung though, Jungkook understood that the damage had been done.

The alpha was aware of the war now, and soon his crew would be too.

There was no turning back now, they were going to the Centaurum in the midst of an active war that they themselves had instigated.

As the implications began to dawn on the alpha, Taehyung whispered, “This is bad…..if we’re the reason…..what have we done?”

Jungkook reached out and put his hands on the alpha’s fist which was clenched tightly, holding onto the thrust levers as he came to grips about the situation they were flying into.

War was always a distant possibility but never an abject reality in his life.

“We should turn back; the crew needs to know.”

Taehyung’s reverie broke, he looked at Jungkook who was doing a little better, courtesy of the shuttle staying relatively stable for the past few minutes.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Better”

“We don’t have impulse power on this thing, so it’s going to be a difficult ride back home.”

Jungkook braced himself for feeling the enormous G-forces and rolling motions of the shuttle once again, “It’s okay, I still have my paper bag handy.”

Keeping his voice as low as possible, Taehyung murmured, “I’m sorry.”

Jungkook looked towards the ceiling in exasperation, he was not looking forward to the alpha powering up the shuttle once again.

And then even quieter, “Never again Jungkook” despite the fact that Taehyung had only whispered it, the resolution in his voice was unmistakable.

Jungkook had to bite his cheek to prevent himself from snarking on a whole crew of Centauran officers’ inability to navigate themselves in space.

Here he was, suffering as a result of Taehyung’s people’s incompetence.

As the alpha pushed the thrust levers back into the maximum thrust position again and the engines roared back into life with the G-forces slamming Jungkook down into his seat, Jungkook already started to feel faint and cursed Taehyung’s crew inside his head all the way back to the Destiny.

***

“You should be resting” Yoongi said quietly as he stood behind the Comms officers console.

Jimin shot the alpha an ugly look before saying, “And you should be manning the weapons systems.”

“Ming-Yu is handling it” Yoongi said dismissively.

To that, Jimin looked up and gave the alpha a patronizing stare, “Destiny’s weapon systems requires two officers to be stationed at the consoles.”

“When the ship is on level red or orange, we’re at green status now.”

“Its unofficially red until that shuttle returns Yoongi-shi!”

“Indeed, unofficially being the key word.”

“Argh, what do you want?”

“You look troubled.”

“Because you’re troubling me!”

“You looked troubled before I came here.”

Jimin scoffed, “Are you stalking me now?”

“Don’t flatter yourself Jimin-shi, I’m not Eunwoo, I’m merely asking whether you’ve come to know anything else about Jungkook-shi and Taehyung.”

“No” Jimin said it too quickly and Yoongi knew it to be a lie.

“You do know something”

“I don’t and even if I did, Taehyung is my friend. I’m not obliged to tell you anything.”

“Taehyung is your friend, not Jungkook-shi.”

Jimin looked at Yoongi, the only one who supported his thoughts on Jungkook and how strange everything related to him was.

He supposed it was wise to keep the General on his side.

As days passed, Taehyung was hardly listening to him and Jimin could see Jungkook’s influence on the Captain growing and growing.

“I—I did observe something very odd yesterday in the break room.”

“I’m listening”

“Jungkook called Taehyung ‘alpha’”

Yoongi frowned, eyebrows pinching together in suspicion, “That is…..unusual” he allowed, it was strange, on Centauri, alpha’s never addressed other alpha’s by their sub-gender, it was frowned upon to do so. But seeing as how Jungkook was clueless regarding most Centauran customs, it didn’t seem all that strange. Perhaps this was one more thing that Jungkook had failed to learn about the Centaurum?

When he voiced this to Jimin, the beta shook his head in dismay, “No, you don’t understand…..he was literally….” Jimin stopped, sighed heavily and then licked his lips.

Yoongi waited expectantly and finally Jimin dropped his voice to a whisper and said “He was literally whining and imploringly calling Taehyung alpha……almost like….” Jimin stopped once again at the absurdity of what he was about to suggest.

“Like what?”

“Like a lover” Jimin said it so quietly that Yoongi wouldn’t have caught it if he wasn’t standing so close.

It was the alpha’s turn to look troubled now, it was absurd that Taehyung would be in that kind of a relationship with one of the officers under him. As far as they knew, Taehyung did not like alpha’s like that, and while same sub-gender relationships were not illegal in the Centaurum, it was still severely frowned upon, especially in high-society.

Still, if Jungkook was Taehyung’s lover, the alpha’s sudden protectiveness over the XO made perfect sense.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions without more intel.”

“Believe me, I don’t want it to be true anymore than you.”

“Thank you for telling me Jimin-shi.”

Jimin didn’t acknowledge the alpha except for a muted grunt. They had a few minutes to ruminate on their thoughts before the Nimbus appeared on their screens and the bubble they had all been living in for the past three weeks burst and all hell broke loose.

The Centaurum was at war with the Ingtar Alliance.

And them and their ship was potentially the reason for the conflict.

 

 

Chapter 9: Confessions in the Void

“You’ve been avoiding me” Jungkook accused, his eyes narrowed into slits that pinned the alpha with an condemning glare.

Taehyung looked up at the omega briefly before huffing and saying, “There’s a war on Jungkook, we don’t have time to sit around and canoodle while God knows what is happening to the Centaurum.”

“That’s not an excuse to avoid me!” Jungkook reiterated getting angrier at the alpha’s matter-of-fact response, he didn’t even understand why he was so upset, probably because the alpha was thwarting his plans to get closer to him and extract some state secrets.

The senior officers meeting at the ready room had ended five minutes ago and Jungkook had waited hoping to catch Taehyung unaware and guilt trip the alpha into allowing him back in his personal cabin again, the alpha had cited being busy and asked Jungkook to give him space for the past week as they slowly navigated their way towards the Centaurum, all thanks to Jungkook pointing a massive finger in the direction of Taehyung’s home world.

When Taehyung didn’t even bother to respond to Jungkook, he asked “What’s happening alpha? What are you not telling me? Did Jimin-shi poison your mind against me again?”

Taehyung hesitated for only a moment but that was all the confirmation Jungkook needed, he snorted humorlessly, “What is it this time? Did the way I take protein heavy meals at the mess hall incite Jimin-shi to think I’m up to no good?”

In response, the alpha took a heavy breath and said “No, but my crew officers have brought up some very valid reasons for your actions being suspicious and in the current climate, I’m inclined to agree with them.”

Jungkook faked a gasp, making his eyes go all round and wide, “You believe them now? Over me? Your omega?”

Jungkook hoped bringing up the fact that the alpha considered him as his mate would make Taehyung second guess and falter but when Taehyung’s eyes remained steely and he responded with a cool, “You’re not my omega yet” Jungkook backtracked wondering what had happened for the alpha to behave like this.

“Well….let’s have it then, what are these so called reasons that have made you doubt me and renege on your promise to mate me and take care of our baby?”

“I didn’t say I was going back on my word Jungkook.”

“Oh? Didn’t you? It sure sounded like that to me!”

“Well, I didn’t mean it that way!” Taehyung shouted and then faltered when Jungkook visibly flinched away from him.

“I—Taehyung….if you’re not sure about this, I need to know, I need to….I can’t….I don’t want to have this baby if you’re not ready to mate me.”

When Taehyung looked alarmed at Jungkook’s revelation, the omega emboldened by the alpha’s reaction stated, “I’ll get rid of it if you won’t mate me.”

The alpha was gobsmacked for a minute, the next minute Taehyung had rounded the table and stood next to Jungkook, with his hand on the omega’s neck, the alpha squeezed, gently enough to not hurt but firmly enough to get his point across, “Do not ever talk about our child like that again.”

Taehyung’s thumb was pressing down lightly on Jungkook’s scent gland hidden underneath the collar of his work uniform, still, it was the most intimate touch he had felt from the alpha since their time in Ulara and made him freeze on instinct, something in the cadence of the alpha’s voice sounded dangerous and Jungkook knew not to push, “Don’t even think about it.”

Jungkook looked up at the alpha, eyes catching Taehyung’s hard stare and holding his stance, “Then don’t give me reason to.”

When the alpha opened his mouth to answer, Jungkook spoke over Taehyung, “Don’t avoid me, don’t let your crew poison you against me, I have nothing and no one to depend on in the Centaurum except you Taehyung, I need you to be on my side because the whole world is going to be against me the minute I’m found out for what I am. If you have reasons to doubt me then tell me, speak to me, don’t shut me out, don’t show me you’ll throw me away at the slightest hint of a suspicion.”

Jungkook held Taehyung’s eye, not budging in his resolve to impress the gravity of his situation on the alpha, the last thing he needed was the alpha to become as paranoid as Jimin and then shut him out intentionally, he needed Taehyung to be on his side for his mission to succeed.

Finally, Taehyung nodded and said “I’ll speak to you honestly Jungkook, all I ask is that you do the same.”

“Okay” Jungkook agreed readily, anything to get back into Taehyung’s good graces again.

The alpha sat back down in his chair opposite to Jungkook and brought up the first thing that had been bothering him ever since they found the jump point in the direction of the Centaurum.

“How did you know those co-ordinates would lead us close to Centauri?”

“I didn’t, I just picked one of the co-ordinates from Jin-shi’s navigational computer arbitrarily” Jungkook’s voice was perfectly stable and sedate as he lied, he wasn’t trained for his whole life to be a spy for nothing, he could lie like an auctioneer trying to sell a worthless trinket for billions of credit.

“So, you’re saying it’s a pure stroke of luck that we ended up on the right path? After twenty-one fruitless excursions that turned up nothing?”

“Yes, I didn’t pick it intentionally” and then just to get Taehyung to loosen up a little bit, Jungkook added cheekily, “Perhaps I’m your lucky charm alpha.”

“I thought we agreed to not call each other by our sub-gender while we’re in public.”

“When and how did we agree to that when you’ve been avoiding me for a week?”

“Your tracker, it’s unusual for a senior ranking officer to not have a neural link chip, and Destiny is still not able to track your chip. Did you get implanted at all? Do you even have one? I can’t use a scanner on you because of your condition but if you did have a chip implanted, the ship’s sensors should be able to pick it up.”

“I do have a chip on my shoulder! You’re welcome to confirm it if you think the risk is worth it.”

“Of course I wouldn’t risk it! I’m asking you, I’m asking the truth.”

“And I’m telling the truth, I’ve been telling nothing but the truth! I have a chip on my shoulder, I got implanted the same as anyone else and I have no idea why your ship’ sensors aren’t picking it up!”

“Alright, I believe you” Taehyung’s stare was heavy with implication, almost as if he were beseeching Jungkook to tell him the truth and not make a fool out of him for choosing to trust in the omega.

“Why are your files classified? Why doesn’t Aria have access to your files?”

This was the difficult part, this was the part where Jungkook asked for Taehyung’s trust, “I can’t tell you. It is classified information; I’ll be in huge trouble if I tell anyone.”

“So, you are hiding yet another secret from me, your alpha” Taehyung threw it back the same way Jungkook had done earlier today.

“I’m asking for you to extend your trust in me alpha, for a little while until I can tell you everything.”

“Trust?” Taehyung licked his lips and looked at Jungkook dubiously, “Don’t you think you’re asking for too much when your whole identity was a lie?”

“Perhaps but I’m asking nonetheless” Jungkook settled for saying because there really was no way to bluff about this. He had to maintain the front that some details about him were classified for a very good reason.

“I’m going to verify the authenticity of your employment with Admiral Wang once we reach the Centaurum” Taehyung revealed, the alpha’s eyes were closely trained on Jungkook to see if the omega exhibited any signs of nervousness but all Jungkook did was nod complacently and say, “I understand.”

This was the thing that threw Taehyung off guard, Jungkook did not behave like a typical spy or saboteur would.

He was too calm.

Answering like this was no more than a mundane job interview.

If he was lying, he was doing a very good job of it.

But none of the visual cues signaled that the omega was lying.

This was what made Taehyung relax his posture as he prepared to ask the last question, were the circumstances surrounding Jungkook’s dispatch to Destiny suspicious? Immensely. But the alpha did not think that Jungkook was a spy, especially not from the enemy’s side, as clueless as the omega was, Boen’s  who were the primary military force of the Ingtar Alliance did not behave like Jungkook.

Because Dunaran’s were so secretive about their planet and society, it didn’t even occur to Taehyung to suspect that Jungkook might be an omega spy from Dunara. All Centauran’s knew about Dunara were bits and pieces about strange eugenically enhanced super creatures and a fundamental disrespect for natural propagation of the species.

“The last question” Taehyung steepled his hands in front of him and looked at Jungkook piercingly as he asked it, “Why have you been asking Aria for directions to seduce me?”

For the first time since their unofficial interrogation began, Jungkook sputtered and became flustered visibly, he opened and closed his mouth, unable to believe that the Captain had just accessed his private searches so shamelessly.

Taehyung really must have been suspicious of him!

“You tracked my private searches?” Jungkook returned in outrage instead of answering the Captain’s question.

Taehyung shrugged, an air of nonchalance about him that set Jungkook’s teeth on edge.

“YOU! You’ve been…..what…you’ve been spying on me?”

“I didn’t spy on you, Aria simply determined your searches as suspicious and highlighted them to me. You were being careless, I had to ask Aria to delete all your searches permanently so no one in the crew would be able to go digging and find odd searches about the XO wanting to seduce the Captain.”

“It was a private search!”

“On an integrated and openly available AI platform for everyone on this ship” Taehyung informed succinctly and bit his lip to prevent his urge to smile as he observed Jungkook’s face getting red, all the way to the tips of his ears.

He gave Jungkook a few minutes to calm down before asking again, “So, you want to tell me why you wanted to seduce me? Post-haste too at that?”

Oh no! Taehyung had even found out that Jungkook had asked for Aria for instructions to specifically expedite the process.

“I—I—” Jungkook stammered and he wasn’t even faking his embarrassment right now.

Taehyung found it all a little too amusing and hid his smile behind his hand as he taunted, “You—You—what? Did you want to have sex again?”

“No!” Jungkook screeched immediately making it all the more suspicious, the alpha couldn’t help it anymore, he laughed out loud as the omega’s embarrassment peaked.  

“No? Because I could swear there was a specific query about whether sex would help speed up the seduction.”

Jungkook’s mortification reached a crescendo as his face resembled a tomato ripe for the picking.

“Stop!” he whined as he brought his hands up in front of his face to hide from the alpha. What a stupid AI platform! How incompetent to allow anyone and everyone to access private searches?

Private searches were private for a reason.

“Are you going to answer my question at all?” Taehyung hedged though he’d already determined that this at least was not something done with malicious intent.

Still, he was curious to know the reason why?

Jungkook kept quiet, face hidden behind his hands and depriving the alpha of seeing the becoming red flush of his skin.

Taehyung waited patiently and then when nothing came out of it, he was almost about to let Jungkook go when the omega mumbled an answer that he had to strain to hear.

“I was afraid”

“Afraid?” evidently, it was not the response Taehyung expected, the alpha was hoping that it would make Jungkook admit to wanting intimacy openly so he could do something about it.

“Yeah”

“Of what baby?”

Great, at least Taehyung was back to calling him terms of endearment already, Jungkook thought tartly.

“Of….of everything, being found out, of the baby….of having to—I don’t know, go it alone if I….if you…”

“If I what?”

Jungkook finally put his hands down and looked at the alpha, red face and ears and all, “If you found someone else.”

“I was scared of what would become of me and the baby if you suddenly decided you don’t want to mate me or be responsible for the baby.”

Taehyung was quiet but his eyes were looking at Jungkook with a softness that made the omega open up more, “You hated me before all this, also, I’ve heard the crew members always teasing you about how your mother was going to find you the most suitable omega to mate with and I was scared that you’d leave me and the baby if I didn’t get you to like me at least a little.”

“Jungkook-ah….”

“Don’t….don’t say anything, I’m embarrassed enough as it is.”

“You don’t have to be, you don’t have to be afraid, I’m not going to desert you.”

“Says the guy who avoided me for a week!”

Taehyung winced at the accusation now, Jungkook wasn’t even bothering to hide the hurt he felt, and the alpha felt a pang go through his chest, “I’m sorry, I will never do that again, I promise.”

“Even if Jimin-shi murmurs more lies in your ears?”

“Especially if he does that, in fact, I’m going to tell him to never even bother again, okay? We’ve hashed it all out today and I trust you.”

“Do you? Do you really?”

“I do.”

“Can I come to your cabin after my shift ends today then?”

“Uhh….no”

Jungkook sat up straighter in his chair and demanded, “Why?”

“I just…..need space for a few more days.”

“You’re still suspicious of me!” Jungkook pointed his index finger at the alpha to accuse Taehyung.

“I’m not! I trust you, I do, this has nothing to do with why I can’t let you into my cabin for a few days.”

“Then what? You’re bluffing! You’re going to continue to avoid me when I need you just because you still doubt me!”

“Jungkook-ah! That’s not the reason why!”

“Then what? Why are you avoiding me? Why can’t I come stay with you? After telling you everything I can, you still don’t trust me, do you? You’re always going to—”

“I’m going into rut you silly omega” Taehyung admitted finally and Jungkook stopped speaking and looked at the alpha in shock.

“But…..aren’t you on suppressants?” Jungkook asked cautiously, as far as he knew alpha suppressants were much more effective than omega suppressants.

“I am”

“Then why are you….”

“Why do you think?” Taehyung asked pointedly while looking at Jungkook but when the omega still looked adorably clueless the alpha smirked and said, “Because of you.”

“Because of me? What do I have to do with it? I didn’t tamper with your suppressants.”

“No, you just tampered with my alpha.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Taehyung heaved an exasperated breath; how did he explain this to the omega?

“Didn’t you ever wonder why no omegas are allowed on spaceships?”

“Because Centauri is prejudiced and adheres to ancient and misogynistic values regarding omegas, duh!”

“Cute, while you believe that, there are very real consequences when alpha’s and omega’s are close to each other, they can trigger each other’s natural cycles in the presence of the other.”

“But we’re both on suppressants, we don’t scent each other, both of us don’t have any scent to us at all!”

“Be that as it may, my alpha still recognizes you as an omega…..as our omega…..it would be better if I could sense your scent because then I will know you’re pregnant and that should stop my rut but because I can’t smell the change in your scent, all my alpha knows is an omega is close by.”

A beat passed and Jungkook asked, “So, you’re actually going to go through your rut? Here?”

“Of course not, I’ll still be on suppressants and mostly under control.”

“Then what’s the problem with me coming to your cabin?”

Taehyung looked at Jungkook disbelievingly, “Yah! Are you that cruel? You want to dangle yourself in front of me and tempt me when I’m in rut?”

“I don’t—”

“Or is this your roundabout way of trying to ask me for what you asked Aria?”

“No! Can you stop with that!”

“Good, because trust me, if you come into my cabin willingly in the next few days, I will give you what you’ve asked for and render you unable to walk for a week omega.”

Jungkook sputtered comically, stunned at the alpha’s blunt and rather vulgar threat. When he accused the alpha of making such threats just to keep him away Taehyung snorted humorlessly and looked at Jungkook with an intensity that made the omega shiver in his seat.

“It’s not a threat, it’s a promise, I’ve warned you, if you don’t heed it and come traipsing into my cabin anyway, no suppressant is going to be able to stop me from getting you all hot and bothered and outing your omega status to the entire crew, so do yourself a favor and stay away!”

Still, how could Jungkook stay away when Aria informed him that alpha’s were most vulnerable during the period of ruts and bonded deeply with an omega who spent their ruts with them?

Now that Taehyung was tracking his searches, was there any point in hiding anything?

He did not have the luxury of time on his side, he needed to bond with the alpha, deeply enough for Taehyung to drop all his guard and let him in.

Therefore, it made sense to be there for the alpha while he was in rut.

Jungkook just hoped that the alpha didn’t make good on his promise and leave him handicapped for a week.

 

---

 

Chapter 10: Instincts Stir

Summary:

Smut. You must have all guessed that though, right?

We're still a little ways away from Centauri ;)

Thank you so much for all the comments, kudos and bookmarks and silent hits by silent readers, hope you are all enjoying the story! See you in the next one soon :)

 

“Delta station, delta station, this is Destiny, Centauran fleet vessel, identification number 34698 dash D-890, do you read? Over.”

Jimin’s voice rang across the bridge as all personnel stood frozen in their tasks, eyes on the communication officer and his attempts to communicate with the outermost outpost of the Centaurum in known space.

Unfazed by the radio silence, Jimin tried again, “Delta station, delta station, this is Destiny, diamond class vessel of the Centauran fleet, identification number 34698 dash D-890, do you read me? Over.”

“Perhaps we need to cross a few more jump points?” Taehyung directed the question to Seokjin who responded with, “Negative Captain, we are well within range of Delta station now.”

“Yes but there’s a war on Jin, they might have shut down the station temporarily.”

“Or we might need a code?” Jimin suggested after yet another fruitless attempt to contact the Centaurum.

“Maybe, or maybe they all thought that we have perished and this is an enemy ship trying to masquerade as one of the Centauran fleet.”

Taehyung had a headache coming on, he was in rut but because of how crucial it was for them to reach the Centaurum without getting detected by enemy ships of the Boen fleet, the workload for him and the crew had multiplied to an extent that he could not take an official break from work.

Also, no one in the ship knew that he was in rut except for Jungkook.

An alpha just did not go into rut when on suppressants and it wouldn’t take much for Jimin or Yoongi to put two and two together if Taehyung took an official rut leave after Jimin had witnessed Jungkook openly addressing him as alpha.

When the sixth attempt to hail the station didn’t work, Taehyung got off his chair and walked to the communications array, picking up the echophone from Jimin he spoke clearly into it hoping that the weight of his family name would prompt the people manning the station to respond.

“Delta station, delta station, this is Captain Kim Taehyung of the Centauran fleet vessel Destiny, identification number 34698 dash D-890, we are stranded in outer space and we are trying to establish contact with the Centaurum to request for assistance in reaching Centauri. We cannot reach Centauri without your help, we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere with Boen ships patrolling the region. We are in dire need of your help. Please respond if you read me, over.”

When the radio silence persisted, Taehyung groaned and repeated the message once again to no avail.

“I think they’ve probably shut down operations Captain, we could cross a few more jump points and try contacting the Vanta station” Jin advised and Taehyung nodded, there seemed to be no use in attempting to contact the delta station.

“Chart the jump sequence to Vanta station, keep communicating with delta station, standard procedures for SOS call, every half hour until we jump to the next jump point.”

“Aye Captain” Jimin responded and Taehyung turned back around rubbing his temples and wishing to be anywhere but here.

His headache wasn’t letting up and as if to add insult to injury, in walked Jungkook in his pristine and perfectly pressed uniform.

Taehyung’s breath hitched; his fists clenched at his sides.

The omega wasn’t due to be at work for another two hours.

The alpha struggled to contain the urge to growl as a young alpha cadet on the bridge greeted Jungkook and the omega offered a smile in return.

Jungkook had been taking his advice on bonding with the crew and some of the younger cadets had started to loosen up around the XO.

Normally, this would not bother Taehyung at all, in fact, he was happy that Jungkook was slowly being accepted by his crew.

But today, everything was a jumbled up mess in his mind and so he quickly closed the distance between them until he was standing as close to Jungkook as he possibly could without going insane, “What are you doing here?” Taehyung hissed, low enough for only the omega to hear him.

“What are you doing here?” Jungkook returned, “You shouldn’t be here, I’m here to relieve you early.”

“I can’t” Taehyung whispered and then looking around at the bridge, he realized that they were attracting too much attention here and speaking in hushed voices only made people more suspicious.

So, he took a step back and spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Jungkook-shi, have you lost your sense of time passing in space? Or did you misplace your duty roster? You’re not scheduled to be on the bridge for two more hours.”

Jungkook scowled at the patronizing tone the Captain took with him, he realized it was all for show and that Taehyung was trying to pretend that their dynamic hadn’t entirely changed from the past but it didn’t mean he liked it.

“You’re dismissed.” Taehyung added with finality and turned around to walk back to his chair leaving Jungkook feeling flustered and angry as everyone in the bridge looked at him, the younger cadets and Jin with sympathy in their eyes, while Jimin looked rather pleased with the way Taehyung had curtly dismissed him.

Silently, Jungkook vowed to make a big fuss about this to Taehyung later in the alpha’s cabin and walked out.

***

“Taehyung! Do you realize what you’ve done? What this has done for our family on Centauri?”

“Mother, it’s not like I planned to be kidnapped and held hostage behind enemy lines.”

After going almost a month without any contact with his family, Taehyung was finally speaking to his mother from his personal communication device inside his cabin.

Standard echophones had their limitations over vast distances in space but being a member of the five families came with additional perks like long range covert communication devices to keep in touch with his family and with happenings in the Centaurum.

He pouted at his mother whose face was projected up on the massive screen in his living room, “I thought you’d be happier to see me alive and well.”

The Kim matriarch sighed and admitted, “I am happy and relieved but that doesn’t negate the consequences of your actions, your crew’s actions, why did no one in your crew seek permission from the Centauran space command before entering enemy space? Why did you not employ stealth to go undetected?”

“My crew tried their very best to prevent this mother, you can’t fault them for wanting to save your son.”

“They should have done due diligence, there were always other ways to extract you from Ulara.”

“What’s done is done, there’s no point in talking about it. How bad is it? Really?”

“Well….” The woman’s face was unlined even in maturity except for the vertical furrow between her eyebrows that showed her displeasure, “What do you think? The others are always at our necks just waiting for us to slip up and they’d finally gotten their wish when it was revealed that Destiny was the ship caught behind enemy lines. They’re still running news articles about how the youngest and most distinguished Captain of Centauri is the face behind this disastrous war.”

Taehyung did not need to hear this, it looked like he would be entering a literal war zone not just between the Centaurum and Ingtar alliance but also a feudal war between the five highest noble families of Centauri Prime.

“Don’t worry mother, once I’m in Centauri, I will clear everything up, public appearances, press conferences, whatever it takes to clear my name and reinstate the family’s reputation.”

In response, Taehyung’s mother huffed and looked at him like he was being naïve, “Don’t be ridiculous, you are not in a position to set foot in Centauri now.”

“But—”

“No Taehyung, it’s dangerous. The best thing for you would be to remain where you are until I find some way to clear our name and regain our reputation.”

“We can’t just hang out in the fringes of space forever mother, I have a crew, everyone is anxious to get to Centauri before a Boen fleet catches us unawares!”

“It won’t take long Taehyung, I’ve already set things in motion with the High Council, something big is happening soon, something that will change the course of the war in our favor, and if I’ve played this right, everyone will hail you as a hero when you return to Centauri.”

“But you must wait”

“How long?” Taehyung asked, he could not in right conscience put his entire crew in danger for a long time.

“Two more weeks.”

“Can you tell me what this great plan is?”

“No”

Taehyung wasn’t happy about being kept in the dark when his mother clearly seemed to know more but all he said was, “Alright, I trust your judgment.”

“As you should! I’m your mother.”

“Indeed” Taehyung smiled, if there was one thing he was sure of, it was the fact that he could always count on his mother to have his back.

“One more thing, I’ve been speaking with the Oldenburg’s regarding a marriage alliance, you must know that they are an ancient and powerful house going right back to the times they used to be a royal dynasty in ancient Earth. Their third son is an omega, a very distinguished one, he plays seven musical instruments and graduated with the highest honors from Birarhall House for Young Omega’s.”

When Taehyung opened his mouth tentatively, his mother beat him to it, “He is also stunningly, astonishingly beautiful.”

Taehyung bit his lip and kept quiet, somehow, he didn’t think now was the time to tell his mother about Jungkook.

“When you are back I expect you to formally court him and propose within a years’ time.”

Taehyung snorted without any humor, “I’m not even being given a choice of whether I want to propose to him?”

“Taehyung-ah!” the reprimand in the alpha’s mother’s voice was unmistakable, “I’ve let you run around for as long as I could, it’s time now for you to settle down and take responsibility for carrying the family legacy into the future. Sigrid Oldenburg is a fine omega, you know I wouldn’t make a wrong match for you. I’ve looked high and low and none can come close to his beauty and grace. You will see, I’m sure you will find him to be an excellent match.”

Before Taehyung could answer, the buzzer sounded loudly in his cabin.

Taehyung was almost ninety-nine percent sure that it was Jungkook on the other side.

He knew the omega couldn’t have been happy with the way he’d dismissed him earlier in the day.

The buzzer rang once, twice and thrice in quick succession and Taehyung winced when he saw his mother’s appalled expression, “Who in your crew is this mannerless? You ought to fire them right away!”

“It’s Jimin mother” Taehyung lied knowing his mother had a soft corner for the beta officer.

“Jimin? When did he become so unrefined? I’ve always told you that you allow him too much privileges Taehyung, just because he’s your friend doesn’t mean that insubordination is acceptable.”

The buzzer kept on ringing intermittently, Jungkook pressing and releasing the buzzer over and over again making Taehyung’s head feel like it was going to explode.

“It’s probably something urgent mother, I better go, I will talk to you again soon.”

His mother must have been equally annoyed at the constant ringing because she accepted the excuse right away and ended the call.

Looking at the door to his cabin, Taehyung rubbed his temples and sighed.

This omega, he’s gotten too bratty. Taehyung thought as his eyes bored holes into the cabin door keeping the omega safe from the storm within.

You’re playing with fire omega.

Taehyung just hoped Jungkook was ready to be burned beyond recognition. He was not in a patient mood today.

Still, he had to remember that Jungkook was pregnant.

Patience. Patience. Patience.

Taehyung chanted in his mind as he walked to the door and pressed the button to open the cabin door, he was going to stop the omega right at the doorstep and send him on his way.

He would.

He had to be strong.

The cabin door slid open revealing a red faced Jungkook who looked as angry as Taehyung felt.

Before Jungkook could even open his mouth and talk, Taehyung asked “What did I tell you?”

The omega snapped his eyes up to look at Taehyung, not at all used to the dangerous glint in the alpha’s eyes, Jungkook started to feel nervous as he stood at the threshold to Taehyung’s cabin.

Still pride was quite often a damning thing.

“I need to—”

“Omega, what did I tell you?” Taehyung asked once again, enunciating each word slowly, hoping that Jungkook was seriously evaluating his life decisions now.

“How dare you take that tone with me? Move out of my way! I need to talk to you about what you did today!”

“You want to talk?”

“Yes!”

“Now?”

“Yes!”

“And this can’t wait?”

“No, it can’t!”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you…..brat” Taehyung spat the last word out and before Jungkook could even blink, the alpha closed his arm around Jungkook’s and tugged, pulling him inside and locking the cabin door firmly behind him.

The minute the doors were secure, Taehyung pushed Jungkook until the omega’s back rested on the cabin door, hands holding Jungkook captive as he stared down at the omega and said, “You shouldn’t have come here.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes at the alpha, having no understanding of his precarious situation whatsoever, he quipped, “You’re fine enough to work so stop being so dramatic!”

In response, Taehyung tightened his grip on Jungkook’s arm and with one hand behind his back, the alpha pulled Jungkook closer until they were standing chest-to-chest, their clothes being the only barrier separating them from touching skin-to-skin.

“You know its considered insubordination when you press the captain’s cabin door bell repeatedly like this is a run of the mill sub-urban house with a white picket fence and not a military spaceship with strict protocol for personnel?”

Jungkook swallowed nervously, now that Taehyung had him totally trapped, he was re-evaluating coming here in a flurry and provoking the alpha.

“I’m not just any personnel though” Jungkook returned and Taehyung’s eyes glinted in mischief, like he’d caught Jungkook in a trap of his own making.

“Oh? What are you then?”

“I—I—you know already!”

“Humor me Jungkookie” the alpha let out a soft growl and started to nose the sides of Jungkook’s throat, seeking a scent where there was none.

“I—Tae—Taehyung….” Jungkook gasped out loud as he felt the alpha’s teeth nipping at the tender skin of his neck, the alpha’s hands travelled down his body and rested on his ass cheeks.

“What? What are you to me to warrant special consideration?”

“I’m….I’m your omega.”

Taehyung looked at Jungkook, the omega’s eyes danced away from him furtively and Taehyung licked his lips, eyes zoning in on the omega’s lips, turning Jungkook’s head to meet him head on, Taehyung whispered, “That’s right, you’re my omega and you’ve behaved like a brat.”

Jungkook frowned and opened his mouth to protest but Taehyung silenced him with a finger on his lips, “It’s time I show you what I do to bratty little omegas like you who should know better than to enter an alpha’s territory while he’s in rut.”

Jungkook felt himself being airborne the next minute and before he knew it, the alpha was carrying him across the room and throwing him on the bed.

The omega hadn’t even finished bouncing on the bed with the force with which the alpha had thrown him down and already the alpha’s weight was on top of him, Taehyung’s hands were pulling his sweatshirt up all the way to his neck and the alpha’s hands greedily groped every inch of skin that was exposed, drinking Jungkook in with eyes totally dark with brimming desire.

Jungkook was overwhelmed.

The alpha tutted depreciatingly down at Jungkook before catching both the omega’s nipples in his fingers and pinching them together between his thumb and forefinger making Jungkook cry out in shock, his nipples sensitive to the touch.

Taehyung smirked triumphantly, and the loud cry only seemed to egg him on more as he pinched the sensitive buds once again and twisted making Jungkook open his mouth in a silent scream as the alpha continued to torture his nipples, twisting and pulling on them over and over again.

At the same time, Taehyung’s mouth left a trail of kisses across Jungkook’s skin, the alpha starting all the way down where Jungkook’s pants kept his dignity somewhat intact, after weeks and weeks of dancing around each other and their attraction, Taehyung was letting it all out.

When he reached the omega’s navel, he dipped his tongue into Jungkook’s delectable belly button and was awarded with another loud moan making him mouth the patch of skin surrounding the omega’s belly button and suck, leaving a purple red bruise in his wake as he moved further up, kissing every inch of exposed skin until he reached Jungkook’s chest where his hands were constantly playing with the omega’s nipples.

He released the omega’s left nipple from his bruising grip, the flesh all red and bruised even before the alpha closed his mouth around the precious bud and licked before sucking the delicate skin into his mouth and deepening the bruise that his hands had created.

“Ahhh……alpha….” Jungkook moaned aloud, completely floored and overwhelmed with how fast everything was going. He had thought he had come prepared but the reality was far more dawning and he felt flooded with desire like he’d never been before, his center burning and aching at the alpha’s touch.

“That’s right, I’m your alpha” Taehyung said it out loud and it was only when he did that he realized how attached to the idea he was.

Somehow, he knew already that no matter how beautiful the omega his mother chose for him turned out to be, his alpha would never accept another as his mate.

Coming back to his senses a little, Taehyung took one last longing look at Jungkook’s exposed torso, all rippled with lean muscle and beautifully golden, taking a deep breath in, the alpha begrudgingly tugged down the omega’s sweatshirt.

Jungkook who was as keyed up as Taehyung felt didn’t understand why the alpha was suddenly pulling away, he locked his legs behind Taehyung’s and whined, “No…no….I want….I want to”

Taehyung sighed expansively, how could he ever say no when Jungkook sounded like that?

He butted his head with Jungkook’s and nuzzled the omega’s cheek, “I can’t baby…..I’m in rut, can’t control myself…...I’ll knot….you’re pregnant, I can’t.”

“So what? Alpha….you’re my alpha….you won’t hurt me, just….Taehyung….please”

“I can’t baby…..I’m serious….I can sense your scent…..” Taehyung could smell the sweet burst of summer flowers, syrupy thick with arousal but the scent was lacking something that would reign his alpha in.

He couldn’t tell if it was because of the suppressants but Jungkook’s scent was devoid of the sweet milky scent of pregnancy.

“Alpha….alpha look at me” Jungkook implored and Taehyung’s eyes refocused back on the omega’s, now reflecting dark desire back at him.

“You won’t hurt me, I know it, I trust you, I need you……please Taehyung—alpha…..I want you, I want you” Jungkook admitted openly and it wasn’t even a lie designed to seduce.

He really did want Taehyung.

Like he’d never wanted any other alpha in his life.

He didn’t know what to make of it now.

But the thought of being left, bereaved by his alpha when he was clearly in rut and needed him just as much as he needed Taehyung was unbearable.

Taehyung couldn’t keep his head on straight for long, the omega’s scent was permeating everywhere and muddling his rut addled brain.

“You can’t handle it…..” Taehyung turned away from Jungkook, “I get rough Jungkook, you’re not….not yet!”

“I can handle it! I can! I can….alpha…..don’t leave me” Jungkook threaded his legs around Taehyung’s tightly and pulled the alpha bodily back into him.

Taehyung swallowed and tried to breath through his mouth but every lung full only made him lose his sanity a little more until all that remained was his alpha, irises becoming red rimmed as he pinioned the omega with a crazy stare.

Taehyung might have been confused but his alpha wasn’t. Their omega wasn’t theirs, not really and they had to ensure that he would always be theirs.

Jungkook felt the moment Taehyung’s resolve broke because in a minute, the alpha ripped himself away from Jungkook’s grip and turned the omega over until he was lying on his front.

He felt Taehyung grabbing the waistband of his pants and pulling with all his might, the pants were stuck around his lower legs and the alpha too impatient to take them off entirely, the back of Jungkook’s thighs were shiny with slick, the scent hitting Taehyung full force with no barriers in between them.

Jungkook finally understood what Taehyung meant by saying no amount of suppressant could stop the omega from getting wet and wanton in his presence.

The alpha’s hands parted his cheeks to look at his burning slick oozing hole, a derisive chuckle followed as Taehyung surveyed the mess Jungkook had made of himself.

For all intents and purposes, his omega was dying to be knotted.

And who was Taehyung to deny him?

“Look at your pussy baby……it’s so wet for me”

Jungkook groaned and buried his face into the mattress, a mixture of shame and thrill assaulting his mind as the alpha gripped his hips firmly, “Present for me”

It was like his mind was on auto-pilot, despite never having done this before and having been taught to detest what this meant and how it reinforced traditional sub-gender roles, Jungkook’s hips rose up of their own accord as he got onto his hands and knees, the sweatpants still stuck behind his knee and limiting his movement.

A loud guttural growl echoed in the room and Jungkook shivered as he felt Taehyung’s cockhead rubbing up and down his slick folds, the anticipation making him burn as the alpha teased him to death, dragging his cock up and down his folds, getting it all shiny and messy with the slick Jungkook was pouring.

The alpha’s cockhead rubbed on his clit every time he stroked down and Jungkook keened at the way it set his nerves on fire.

At last, at the end of the day, Taehyung was still an alpha in rut, his resolve only lasted so long before he was pushing into Jungkook, slowly enough to give the omega time to adjust to his considerable girth.

Jungkook felt every inch of the alpha’s cock as it stretched his walls open and made him yield until the alpha was snugly tight inside his pussy, the copious slick making the glide so easy.

The omega’s face dropped down as he moaned uncontrollably, luxuriating in the feeling of submission and how right it felt to be entwined so close together with his alpha.

He didn’t feel even a hint of the repulsion or degradation he thought he would.

Instead, it felt natural to submit, it felt pleasurable and right and addictive.

And it was all because it was Taehyung.

Because it was not just any alpha, it was his alpha.

Jungkook couldn’t hope to control the sounds that came out of his mouth if his life depended on it, the alpha started to move, slowly, languorously, in a torturous pace that made him feel every powerful thrust, punching the breath out of Jungkook on every slide out and in.

Even in rut, even when the alpha had promised him to expect him to be rough, Taehyung was treating him as he would a gentle lover.

And Jungkook was absolutely gone for it.

So much so that it was the omega who was begging for more, “Alpha….please…..more….more….”

Taehyung obliged, going faster and deeper, changing his angle until he found one that made Jungkook cry out loud and beg him to do it there again.

“Ah….ah…..there…alpha….oh…ahhh…..alpha”

The sounds of their skin slapping together echoed in the room, the slick slide making Jungkook feel like heaven as the alpha grabbed his hips and thrust into him at a pace that left him with his mouth open and leaking drool into the sheets with how inescapable it all felt.

“Like it, do you omega?”

Jungkook didn’t respond, too lost in the feeling of being fucked to within an inch of his life to care.

The alpha growled, clearly not liking it, Taehyung grabbed a fistful of the omega’s hair and tilted Jungkook’s head up, “I asked, do you like it?”

“Yeah….yes…..”

“How much do you like it?”

Jungkook was once again delirious with pleasure and couldn’t answer until the alpha gave another sharp tug.

“Do you like it enough to sit prettily in Centauri and be my omega?”

“Mmmmm”

“Because that’s what you’re going to be, I’m going to knot you so good, there’s no way it won’t take this time.”

Jungkook’s mouth opened and closed in glee, his omega feeling triumphant at having goaded the alpha into breeding them well.

All rational thought disappeared, Jungkook didn’t even think that it would be a bad idea to let the alpha impregnate him truly, how messy it would all be.

The alpha’s cock swelled and Jungkook bit his lip at the burn of the added stretch, whining at the sudden flare of pain as the alpha’s cock became bigger and bigger forcing his channel to stretch to its limit.

“Ahhh—alpha—Nnggg”

Finally, Taehyung pushed his sizeable knot inside and stilled, locking them together for the first time that night.

As the first load of hot cum filled him, Jungkook slumped down into the bed, taking Taehyung with him as the reality of what was happening sunk in, he was being knotted for the first time by an alpha in rut.

Unlike his expectations, his omega was overjoyed and filled with contentment at being reduced to an alphas cum dump.

The thought of pups didn’t terrify him, he felt a bone deep sense of satisfaction like he’d never felt before, when the alpha’s hands came to pet his hair and the alpha sang praises in his ear saying how good he’d been, all Jungkook could feel was a sense of belonging and an overwhelming flush of pleasure that left his toes curling on the sheets, his pussy milking the alpha’s knot for all it was worth, intent on milking the alpha dry.

Jungkook didn’t realize how intense an alpha’s rut was until the alpha’s knot went down and he was hard again within minutes.

The second time, Taehyung let Jungkook on top and brought the omega down on his cock, moving Jungkook’s hips anyway he pleased before Jungkook slumped on top of the alpha in exhaustion and Taehyung planted his feet on the mattress and fucked up into the omega without missing a beat.

The alpha’s rut was at its most intense for the third and fourth time when Taehyung made him present and just took what he wanted from Jungkook with no thought given to the omega’s comfort, owning Jungkook in a way that made the omega sink into subspace so hard that he needed heavy aftercare and cuddling for hours before they could do it again.

By the time Taehyung held Jungkook up in his arms and bounced the omega up and down on his cock, with the universe as a backdrop and the glass cabin walls making it thrillingly dangerous because anyone could see them if they looked from outside or even from the lower decks, Jungkook could hardly remember how many times they’d done it by now, his pussy was loose with the amount of times he had been knotted, as the alphas rut progressed, it almost felt like he was getting more aggressive and not less like he’d been led to believe. It was almost as though Taehyung’s alpha had an agenda that it had not yet fulfilled.

And Jungkook wasn’t going anywhere until the alpha’s goal was accomplished, so he held on for dear life, arms wrapping around the alpha’s neck and legs around the alpha’s waist as Taehyung bounced him up and down, hanging him like an accessory on his cock, making Jungkook slump against his shoulder and mouth at his scent gland for comfort as his pussy was wrecked once again.

Taehyung’s rut broke late the next day making both Jungkook and Taehyung miss their duty hours for the day, the alpha calling in sick in the few moments of lucidity before the raging desire in his blood made him retrace his steps back to Jungkook.

And Jungkook was in no position to even sit up and speak to anyone, he reeked of slick and sweat and cum.

Leaving Jungkook to rest on the bed, Taehyung took a long shower, making sure to use scent masking soaps twice before spraying on scent blocker liberally. He swallowed his suppressant as a last step and then exited the bathroom.

The minute he did, he realized that it won’t do at all.

Jungkook’s scent was still heavy in the air and if he walked out of his room, everyone would know.

The omega was fast asleep, and Taehyung did not want to disturb him when he’d given Jungkook such a hard time yesterday, his chest was heavy with guilt and concern for the omega’s health.

He didn’t understand what had gotten into his alpha. The minute Jungkook’s scent came through, he should have backed off and been gentle, it was a natural protective instinct ingrained in alphas to protect omegas during heat and pregnancy. Instead, his alpha had been demented, taking Jungkook over and over again without any regard to the omega’s condition.

Taehyung crept closer to the bed and observed the steady rise and fall of Jungkook’s chest as he slept, they hadn’t eaten anything except for some unhealthy snacks for two meal times now, standing there watching Jungkook sleep like he’d been run over by a bulldozer, he felt so guilty and ashamed of how he’d treated Jungkook.

He hadn’t even properly courted the omega and they were falling into bed and spending his rut together already.

His mother would balk at the lack of propriety and how unbefitting he was behaving as a Kim family heir.

Crouching down on the floor close to the bed, Taehyung carded his hands through the omega’s soft black hair, making Jungkook lean into his hands subconsciously as he slept.

“I’m so sorry baby, I keep on getting all this wrong, I’ll make it up to you all my life.”

As much as he wanted to let Jungkook sleep, he was also conscious of the fact that Jungkook hadn’t eaten properly in hours.

So, reluctantly, he woke the omega up by shaking him gently.

Jungkook sat up on the bed, hair mussed every which way, a bit of dried up drool on his mouth and his body sporting bruises everywhere the alpha had grabbed at.

The minute he caught sight of Taehyung, Jungkook let out a loud cry before throwing himself into the alpha’s arms.

Taehyung soothed the omega as best as he could, rubbing Jungkook’s back and shoulders and gently scratching his scalp, anything to make the omega feel better.

Jungkook kept nuzzling into his neck, searching for a scent that wasn’t there, “Shhh Jungkook, I’ve taken suppressants, you’re not going to be able to sense my scent baby.”

When he realized what it meant, he let out a forlorn cry and Taehyung hugged him tighter still, “It’s okay, I’m here, I’m so so sorry baby, I—I’m so sorry, my alpha…..” Taehyung didn’t even know what to say really.

“S okay, I enjoyed it.”

Taehyung groaned, “Don’t”

“I did….was a bit intense at times but…..ultimately enjoyable.”

Taehyung didn’t feel like he deserved such grace from Jungkook, so he kept quiet and squeezed the omega, it was cute how Jungkook fit right into his arms, the perfect omega.

“Wanna sleep” Jungkook mumbled, to be honest, he did feel like he’d need two weeks to recover from the alpha’s rut.

“Of course, just as soon as we get some food into you, then you can sleep for however long you want to.”

“No, sleep first” Jungkook insisted and turned away from Taehyung to throw himself down on the alpha’s bed again.

“Jungkook-ah, c’mon it’s been hours since you last ate, it can’t be good for the pup. You take a bath while I ventilate this room a little and dispose off of the sheets, we’ll get something to eat from the kitchen and then you can go right back to sleep.”

Jungkook had his face smushed against the pillow and opened one eye to look at the alpha incredulously, “Bath? Do I look like I’m in the condition to take a bath?”

“Fine, I’ll give you a bath but you need to get up.”

Jungkook protested all the way to the bathroom, but the alpha effortlessly picked him up from the bed and dunked him into the bathtub before going out to ventilate the room off of their combined scents.

The omega luxuriated in the hot bath water which was kept at a constant temperature for a while before Taehyung walked back in and started to strip.

“Wha—what are you doing?”

“I’ve gotten your scent all over me again, I need to wash up again.”

Jungkook scowled, his omega not liking it one bit that the alpha was getting rid of their scent.

The minute Taehyung’s bare chest was on display, the mood in the room changed, Jungkook’s eyes darkened in obvious desire and Taehyung who was just out of rut took a heavy breath in, “Don’t look at me like that” he told the omega, trying to rein in his desires.

“Like what?” Jungkook played innocent and the alpha looked disbelieving.

“You know what!”

Jungkook crossed his arms on the edge of the bathtub and propped his chin on top, tilting his head, he asked, “You want me again.”

“I don’t!”

“You do!”

“I—I’m just out of rut, it’s just….it’s nothing, never mind….let’s just”

“It’s okay, I want to also”

“What?”

“I want to….again…now”

“Jungkook!” Taehyung balked at the omega, how did Jungkook even have any strength left in his body after being knotted within an inch of his life, any other omega and they would not have even been able to sit up and talk back at the alpha so soon.

In the end, Taehyung yielded to the omega’s doe eyes and pouty lips, making sure to make love slowly with Jungkook’s back pressed against the tiled wall, one leg held in the alpha’s grip, exposing his pussy for the taking as droplets of water from the shower rained down on both their heads.

Unlike what he was like in rut, the alpha was kissing every inch of skin he could reach, as though apologizing for how rough he’d been with Jungkook last night and Jungkook found that whether he was rough or gentle, he could get addicted to the feeling of Taehyung on him and in him and all around him and die a happy omega.

It took them until evening and another missed shift before they finally got out of Taehyung’s cabin, no trace of scent on either of them because of the double duty heavy dose of suppressants they had ingested on top of all the scent blockers.

 

Chapter 11: A Little Truth

Summary:

Jungkook and Taehyung make a surprising decision in this chapter.

Also, thank you for the comments, kudos and bookmarks dear readers, it means a lot to me to read all your comments, I'm glad so many of you are enjoying the story so much and sorry I don't always respond to comments individually!

Also, for some of you who have asked, Jungkook can get pregnant, it's a lot more difficult however and he has a certain degree of control over it. I'll go into this more in the future as the story progresses.

And this part of this story is not going to finish on a high note, so no, this part does not have a happy ending which is why I have tagged all the appropriate tags indicating it. It's up to you whether to read further or not.

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“Listen, I’m only saying, it would get him off your back” Taehyung consoled a desolate Jungkook who was sitting on his lap facing him with a frown marring his features, the omega bit his lip and considered the alphas suggestion as Taehyung’s hands rubbed soothingly across the omega’s back.

Jimin had just gone off at Jungkook as soon as he cornered them in the break room, loudly demanding to know what was going on and why they were both being so secretive while missing important shifts at a time where they were stumbling towards Centauri with the entire might of the Boen fleet to contend with.

The comms officer had basically threatened to report them both back to Centauran Space Command for severe breach of conduct and actions in line with endangering the crew voluntarily.

Taehyung had tried to defuse the situation but when Jimin went to grab at Jungkook aggressively, he’d put himself in front of the omega and lashed out at Jimin, snapping his teeth at his friend and warning him to stay away.

Jimin had all but accused Taehyung of engaging in illicit relations with a member of the crew and another alpha before storming out.

The problem was that everyone in the crew had noticed the tensions brewing between Jimin, Yoongi and the Captain and Jungkook.

Now that they’d both missed their shifts while they were literally in mortal peril, the other senior officers of Destiny had every right to call for a vote to officially remove the Captain and XO from their position.

The solution for it seemed to be simple.

Just let Jimin in on the fact that Jungkook was an omega.

Still, it was all up to Jungkook.

Taehyung was only putting it forward as a suggestion, whatever Jungkook chose, he would back the omega in his decisions.

Jungkook considered the alphas suggestion, frankly, he really needed to get Jimin off his back. And who knows, perhaps if Jimin knew that this was the secret they’d been hiding all along, perhaps he would give up on his other suspicions about Jungkook being a spy or worse.

It could just be the red herring he needed to trot out to throw Yoongi and Jimin’s suspicions off.

So, after giving it thought, Jungkook looked at the alpha and said “Okay.”

Taehyung’s brows rose in shock, he didn’t expect Jungkook to agree, that too without much complaint.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sick of dealing with him.”

“Thanks baby! Honestly, if he came at you like that again, I’d really do a number on him and I don’t want that.”

Jungkook huffed and admonished, “That was totally unnecessary, you need to control your alpha.”

Taehyung’s hands came up to curl around the omega’s neck, “Easier said than done when I haven’t claimed you officially yet.”

Jungkook squirmed on the alpha’s lap, the alphas fingers danced on his scent gland leaving him feeling the insane urge to tilt his neck and present.

Jungkook closed his eyes, took a deep breath that was thankfully scentless and quashed the feeling like a bug. He had let himself get away during the alphas rut but now he had to focus.

He needed to obtain some valuable information before reaching Centauri.

“Who were you calling on the QEC the other day?” Jungkook asked straightforwardly, not beating around the bush. It was a testament to how far they’d come that Taehyung wasn’t immediately suspicious and throw him off his lap.

He’d seen the Captains personal communication device, there was no point in hiding it.

Taehyung looked disturbed and then shrewd, “How do you know about the QEC tech?”

Jungkook rolled his eyes at the alpha, “A Quantum Entanglement Communicator isn’t a state of the art innovation Taehyung.”

“No, but it’s not public knowledge either.”

“Or so you nobles think when the only difference is whether we normal folk can afford it or not.”

Now Taehyung looked slightly guilty, “It’s not that expensive.”

“Sure, that’s why Space Command didn’t see it fit to outfit Destiny with one.”

Taehyung sighed, there was no use denying it, the QEC was here only because Taehyung was among the very few people in Centauri who could afford it.

“So, who were you calling before I came in?” Jungkook prodded again wondering whether Taehyung was communicating secretly with the Centauran military bases while the crew remained in the dark.

“Came in? Barged in more like! My mother was absolutely incensed and wanted me to fire you right away.”

“You were speaking to your mother?”

“Naturally, the Centauran Space Command doesn’t have the credit to outfit this vessel with the QEC.”

“Do others in the crew know you have a QEC onboard?”

“No”

“Not even Jimin-shi?”

“Not even Jimin” Taehyung admitted and then booped Jungkook on the nose, “And I’ll thank you to keep it a secret between us.”

Taehyung trusted him more than Jimin it seemed, perhaps spending the alphas rut with him was worth something after all, it seemed to be giving gains already.

“What did your mother have to say?” Jungkook asked out of idle curiosity, he had been thinking that Taehyung was secretly communicating with the military on the QEC, as a spy for the opposite side, Jungkook was not much interested in Taehyung’s personal family drama. He doubted that there was anything useful to be gleaned.

“That we have to stay out here for a bit” Taehyung said truthfully, somewhere in between the few weeks they were closer together on the ship and spending his rut with him, Taehyung had come to trust Jungkook a lot. He didn’t find the omega’s curiosity to be annoying, neither did it arouse suspicion when Jungkook easily recognized the QEC which was still not widely used on Centauri.

Jungkook titled his head to the side, unknowingly exposing more of his throat and making the alpha lick his lips in reflex, gums aching from having to withhold his urge to bite down and finish the mating.

“Why?”

Taehyung looked away from the smooth column of Jungkook’s unmarked neck and swallowed, “Why do you think? I’ve become persona-non-grata in the Centaurum overnight because my ship being caught behind enemy lines is the reason this war began.”

“Seriously?” Jungkook asked sounding absolutely confused, “You were kidnapped!”

“Doesn’t matter, factual evidence hardly matters when there are people paying good money to tarnish my name in the media.”

“So….we’re just going to stay out here? Right smack in the middle of Boen fleets?”

“Just for a little bit, my mother is working on a way to salvage the family name and turn public opinion in my favor.”

“With what? The crew is relying on us….on you to lead them back to Centauri.”

“I know Jungkook, it’s not like we are running blind into Boen fleets”

“It’s only a matter of time until we do! Is it really worth delaying our return to the Capital?”

Taehyung’s hands trekked down and grabbed Jungkook’s waist, his chest expanding with a heavy breath, the alpha crossed his hands behind the omegas back and pulled Jungkook closer to him, leaving just a hairsbreadth of space in between, it was Jungkook who looked away from the piercing eyes of the alpha this time.

“Do you think I’d risk my crew like this if your life and by extension the baby’s didn’t depend on my standing in Centauri?”

“I can’t return until I’ve proven beyond doubt that I’m an invaluable asset to the Centaurum.”

“My life and your life depends on it.”

Jungkook blinked and once again he didn’t realize how he was unconsciously provoking the alpha by tilting his head and exposing his throat.

“So, what’s this plan your mother has for reinstating your status in Centauri?”

“I don’t know, yet.”

“Will you tell me when you do?”

“Of course, we’re a team now, you and I”

“Mhmm….good, it means you can tell Jimin-shi while I just sit here and nod along.”

“Wait a minute, that’s not what I agreed for”

“You’re my alpha, aren’t you? It’s your job to deal with all parties trying to push me around and make my life difficult!”

“Oh ho ho? Is that right? You want me to be the big bad alpha and scare everyone away from you?”

“Just Jimin-shi really and Yoongi also, that alpha is always giving me the stinky eye these days!”

“What happened to being a strong independent omega who don’t need no help from me?”

“I can be strong and independent and still have you fight all my battles for me. Especially when it’s your friends who are causing me so much grief!”

“You could have tried to befriend the crew earlier, if you’d managed to become friends with Jimin, he wouldn’t be so hard on you now.”

“As if he would have overlooked the fact that you despised me openly and become my friend, if this is anyone’s fault it’s yours” Jungkook said poking the alpha’s chest with his index finger and moving away from the alpha.

“You made it no secret that you hated me and everyone in this crew worships you so I naturally became the unwanted interloper.”

Taehyung cooed in sympathy and pulled Jungkook back into his arms, “I’m sorry baby”, the alpha’s hands carded through Jungkook’s hair, softly letting the shiny strands slip past his fingers as he comforted the omega, “It can’t have been easy to be so alienated from everyone for half a years’ time, I’m sorry, I should have been more professional.”

Jungkook felt a lump form in his throat, frankly, the isolation did kill him at times but he braved on always because he wasn’t here to make friends. Right now though, sitting on the alpha’s lap while Taehyung bestowed him every affection that he had never received in his life, it was hard not to lean into the alpha’s hands, seeking more of that wonderful feeling of being held and treasured like he was something fragile and delicate and needed to be handled with utmost care.

This time, the alpha couldn’t prevent the loud growl from erupting from his chest. His hands which had been gentle so far stilled and grabbed a fistful of Jungkook’s hair tightly, easily keeping Jungkook in place, with his neck titled up temptingly.

When Jungkook made a confused sound, Taehyung relaxed his grip just that little bit before barking out, “Stop presenting your neck to me like that!”

“I wasn’t presenting anything!” Jungkook argued but Taehyung leaned forward and nipped at the delicate skin of Jungkook’s neck, right above the scent glands where a mating mark would go.

“You may not be conscious of it, but you’ve presented your neck to me three times tonight. I maybe patient but I’m still an alpha, so just……fuck, stop tempting me.”

Jungkook wiggled on the alpha’s lap, suddenly the room was thick with tension.

The easy exchange of a minute ago could have happened in a different lifetime for all they knew.

“Are—are you….” Jungkook stopped and took a deep breath, why was he so clumsy at this?

Taehyung’s grip on his hair was gone so Jungkook looked at the alpha head on and asked, “Am I tempting you alpha?”

Taehyung’s jaw dropped in disbelief at the omega being so forward, where did the shy sensitive bean who couldn’t stand the fact that he’d unwittingly presented for an alpha go?

“No….it’s just”

Jungkook pouted, that was so not the response he was aiming for, “So, I’m not?”

“Of course you are, I can hardly bear it every time my eyes catch sight of you, I can’t wait to get to Centauri and officially mate you so we can do whatever we want to do.”

There was a ten-centimeter gap between the alpha’s crotch and Jungkook’s, for propriety’s sake, the omega had been sitting just that little bit away from the alpha but now Jungkook wiggled closer and closer until Taehyung gripped his waist once again and looked at the omega with eyes burning with hunger.

“We can do whatever we want now too” Jungkook said his tone light and mischievous in a way that made Taehyung laugh out loud.

“At least give me the opportunity to court you properly before trying to climb me like a tree” Taehyung’s eyes were pointedly looking at the place between their bodies where Jungkook was sitting right on top of his crotch.

Jungkook huffed, “You can do your courting and we can still do what we want to.”

Taehyung poked his tongue into his cheek, his eyes danced with amusement as he hugged the omega close, “And what do you want to do?” he teased like he didn’t have a clue why the omega was sitting right on top of his cock which was starting to take notice and rise to meet the omega’s demands.

Jungkook narrowed his eyes at Taehyung, why was the alpha being so purposefully difficult? Aria had said that all alpha’s were generally chomping at the bit for sex, so why was Taehyung acting so contrary to his preconceived expectations?

“You know what!”

Taehyung couldn’t help it, he laughed again, it was easy to see that Jungkook did not like being denied anything.

“You’re so spoilt” Taehyung said while still holding the omega in place to stop him from moving his hips, Jungkook was about to protest but the alpha suddenly narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the omega in a way that was wholly unwelcome to Jungkook, “It doesn’t at all go with your history of being a run away.”

Jungkook opened and closed his mouth not knowing what to say and not wanting to incriminate himself any further.

Then the alpha asked directly, “Did you belong to a noble family before you ran from home?”

Jungkook swallowed and then snorted in derision, “Do I look like I belonged to one of the noble houses? Really?”

Taehyung pulled back a little, the mood in the room had changed once again, the alpha’s niggling questions making Jungkook second guess every response, “Your mannerisms aren’t like an omega belonging to a noble house but your instincts and behaviour are typical of noble omegas.”

“I do not behave like one of your uppity noble house omegas!” Jungkook snapped, narrowing his eyes and spoiling for a fight.

Like hell he behaved like a Centauran noble omega, those creatures basically worshipped alpha’s like they were walking Gods and were glad to be nothing more than broodmares and bedslaves to alphas. Jungkook was far far away from being anything like a typical Centauran omega.

“See you being defensive is just making me think I’ve hit the nail on the head” Taehyung revealed and then added, “You should tell me truthfully if you belonged to a noble house Jungkook, it would make convincing my mother a lot easier.”

Once again, Taehyung was talking about a mateship that would never be, and yet Jungkook had to play the part of a worried, insecure omega, something he certainly wasn’t. Back on Dunara, Jungkook was not as disgustingly rich as Taehyung but he was influential and earned enough to live comfortably for the rest of his life. He was fully confident that he’d be able to take care of himself and even his biological children if he so wished.

“I’m not a noble Taehyung, sorry I’ve made your job a lot harder” Jungkook bit out disliking Taehyung’s mother already.

Taehyung clicked his tongue and reeled Jungkook back in again, “It makes no difference to me whether you are or aren’t baby, you must know that.”

“Seems like you care enough” Jungkook replied, not that easily convinced.

“I don’t, honestly, there’s no other omega that my alpha has been so besotted with in my entire life.”

“That’s just the post-rut hormones talking” Jungkook reiterated as he avoided the alpha’s arms and got off Taehyung’s lap altogether.

Jungkook knew he was making a scene over nothing but he wanted to stop Taehyung from ever digging into his past in the near future. Perhaps if he acted upset enough, it would ward off Taehyung from asking the kind of questions that would expose him for who he was and what he was trying to do.

“Call Jimin-shi in, I want to get this over with now” Jungkook sat on the opposite couch closer to the illusionary fireplace and admired the realistic dancing flames, he was sure it probably cost a lot of credit, still for a person of Taehyung’s status and wealth, all of this must be like throwing pocket-change to a beggar.

In all honesty, Jungkook was extremely glad that he wasn’t actually going to mate Taehyung and live the life of a noble omega on Centauri. He could not imagine a gilded trap more miserable and constraining than that.

Taehyung poked his tongue into his cheek, he hadn’t anticipated that his line of questioning would get Jungkook so upset.

Perhaps the omega was feeling anxious about mating into what was practically Centauran royalty and did not appreciate the alpha’s attempts to glean his background when he did not himself belong to the noble houses. Jungkook probably felt some degree of insecurity about marrying someone like Taehyung and the alpha’s questions about his status probably did not help.

Taehyung made a mental note to be more careful in the future, it truly did not matter to him that Jungkook didn’t come from a noble house.

Taehyung made the call to Jimin and asked the beta officer to come to his cabin.

Once he was done, he got up and plopped himself down close to the omega, he took Jungkook’s hands in his own and said “It doesn’t matter to me Jungkook, it truly doesn’t.”

Jungkook turned his head to look at Taehyung skeptically and the alpha smiled before bringing Jungkook’s hands up and kissing his knuckles reverentially, “I’d mate you even if you were born to a beggar on Grimspire, I’d mate you even if you were an enhanced AI meant to mimic human omegas, heck, I’d mate you even if you were kidnapped into Centauri from the Boen collective.”

Taehyung was smiling as he said it but the last one hit too close to home and Jungkook swallowed nervously and smiled back at the alpha, “Okay, stop being so corny!”

“And stop hogging my couch, I don’t want Jimin-shi to come and claw my eyes out and accuse me of seducing you with my omegan wiles or whatever” Jungkook added as he pushed Taehyung’s shoulder and asked him to get off the sofa he was sitting on.

Taehyung laughed loudly in response, giving Jungkook a mock fight and allowing the omega to push on his shoulder with all his might while not budging an inch. “You did seduce me with your omegan wiles though” Taehyung teased as Jungkook’s cheeks started to redden, “Or should I say with ample help from Aria?” the alpha mocked and Jungkook drew his fist back and punched the alpha in his arm. Even that felt like nothing more than a tap to Taehyung, frankly, how did he ever think Jungkook was an alpha before?

Eventually he got off the sofa because he didn’t want to incense Jimin further either, the beta was already volatile with Jungkook, he did not want to add to it.

The buzzer came on, Taehyung pressed the remote control for the door and in walked Jimin in a pair of pastel pink fleece sweatshirt and sweatpants with fluffy slippers on his feet.

Jungkook blinked, for a beta officer, Jimin dressed more like an omega than Jungkook ever did. Perhaps the beta officer enjoyed the attention from all the alphas in the ship, perhaps Centauran’s were encouraged to present themselves as close to an omega as possible if they had the unfortunate fate of being born as a beta.

Jungkook didn’t know but the pastel pink co-ordinate outfit and the fluffy texture really softened the comms officer’s features and made him look small and harmless while Jungkook knew him to be anything but.

“What did you call me here for?” Jimin asked, his whole demeanor showcasing his annoyance as he caught sight of Jungkook in Taehyung’s cabin.

Appearances were deceiving indeed and Jungkook braced himself for Jimin to attack his character once again and everything about him.

“I and Jungkook wanted to tell you what we’ve been secretive about this whole time.”

Jimin huffed, his eyes roaming between Jungkook and Taehyung, the beta crossed his arms and said, “I already know, you’re fucking him, you’re fraternizing with a crew member who is your subordinate on this ship and another fucking alpha!”

“That’s where you are wrong Jimin” Taehyung said taking a deep breath in and preparing himself to reveal the truth to Jimin.

“Oh really? Did you ask me to come here to do damage control and try to pretend that there’s nothing between you both? When it’s so clear to everyone that there is! I’m not a fool, and if you asked me here to make me look like one then fuck off Taehyung!”

“No, you are right, we are in a relationship, Jungkook and I” Taehyung admitted the truth and Jimin gasped despite accurately guessing what was going on between the Captain and the XO.

The beta looked completely stunned for a minute before he lost it, “Are you insane Taehyung? What the fuck possessed you to do this? You’re his superior on a military vessel! This could end you, your career and your family’s reputation on Centauri! Add to it all, he’s an alpha! When did you start liking alphas?”

The fact that Taehyung was standing at the front, almost completely blocking Jungkook from Jimin’s view only pissed off the comms officer more.

“And what have you got to say for it Jungkook-shi? Why’re you cowering behind Taehyung like this?”

“Jimin, let me speak, okay? Don’t—”

“Yah! Why the fuck are you behaving like this over another alpha? He can fucking talk!”

“He’s not! He’s not an alpha!” Taehyung shouted at last and poor Jimin looked completely and utterly taken aback by the revelation.

Taehyung looked at Jimin intently, shaking his head, he said “Jungkook is not an alpha, he’s an omega” and then when it didn’t sound right in his head, Taehyung quickly corrected, “He’s my omega.”

The cabin was plunged in silence, Jimin too shocked by the alpha’s admission and unable to say anything at all for minutes.

“What?” Jimin whispered at long last while Taehyung and Jungkook held their breath anxiously.

“It’s a long story, come sit down” Taehyung tilted his head towards the sofa and Jimin was so astounded that he followed blindly without throwing another tantrum and sat down opposite to Jungkook while the alpha took a seat next to the omega, keeping a respectful distance from Jungkook for now.

He slowly recounted what had actually happened on Ulara, about the capture, the attempted assault, the induced heat and how they were coerced into doing something neither of them wanted to do.

He laid out everything on the table and Jimin relaxed back into the sofa incrementally, the whole story feeling like a fever dream.

Once Taehyung was done explaining everything, Jimin was quiet, absorbing everything in and still shaken by the truth.

He’d never even imagined that Jungkook was an omega.

It had never occurred to him, though looking back at Taehyung’s reaction and how his treatment of Jungkook had shifted drastically, the sings were there, an overprotective alpha instinctually responding to his vulnerable mate.

“This still doesn’t explain how he was able to get recruited by the Space Command” Jimin said finally, “Or why his tracker isn’t being picked up by our systems.”

“He fooled us all for six months, didn’t he?”

Well, that was true.

No one, not even Yoongi or himself had ever suspected that Jungkook could be an omega.

That was the thing about male omegas, they looked and sounded no different to an alpha or beta, it was their mannerisms and accoutrements that marked them so clearly on Centauri.

Seeing as how Jungkook was a run-away and most likely on suppressants, there really was no other way to tell unless they dug deeper.

Still, Jimin doubted that the officers at Space Command would be so easily fooled, most likely, someone recruited Jungkook while knowing he was an omega.

It was the ‘why?’ that begged answers. Classified. What a spurious and comfortable little word to hide behind!

“And about the tracker, our captors could have easily removed it when they separated us, we were both knocked out for a time there, Jungkook doesn’t remember anything except for the fact that he was implanted with a chip, the same as anyone else.”

With modern tissue engineering techniques, it wouldn’t even be possible to determine whether the chip had been taken out from the wound site.

And if what Taehyung was saying was true, X-rays were a no-go for the omega for the next eight months.

The realization finally dawned on Jimin a little too late, Taehyung wasn’t just in a relationship with this omega, he was going to have a child with Jungkook.

It was all a bit too much to take for Jimin.

“So, that’s it, this is what I was hiding from you because you know what will happen to him and our pup if this gets out.”

“I won’t tell anyone”

“I know you won’t but I just want you to understand the gravity of the situation Jimin, no one on this crew can know until we get back to Centauri and I can ensure his protection.”

Throughout all this time, Jungkook had kept quiet and allowed Taehyung to talk just like he had said before.

Jimin snorted dryly, “He certainly looks and acts like an omega now.”

Before Jungkook could react to that, Taehyung was already responding, “So what? He is an omega.”

To show solidarity with Jungkook, the alpha took Jungkook’s hand in his once again, “He’s going to be my mate and the omega parent of my pups.”

Jimin did not like the besotted look on Taehyung’s face as he looked at Jungkook who shied away from meeting the alpha’s eyes, acting demure and coy, in a manner so typical of omegas that it was hard for Jimin to think of how he had successfully fooled everyone in the crew into believing that he was an alpha.

He did not want to be party to Taehyung’s adoring ways with the omega, so he got up and said “Thank you for trusting me with this Taehyung. I’ll be leaving now.”

“I’ll walk you to your cabin” Taehyung got up, turned back around and said, “I’ll be right back” to Jungkook and then walked out of the cabin with Jimin leaving Jungkook sitting there with his eyebrows scrunched together, a displeased moue on his mouth as he stared at the door silently. He wished to be a nano robot on the wall and observe what Taehyung was going to discuss with Jimin in confidence, something the alpha clearly didn’t feel comfortable saying in his presence. Clearly, even spending ruts with alphas didn’t seem to be enough to win over their complete trust. Jungkook scowled and picked up a cushion before throwing it at the door in frustration.

The minute they were out of the cabin, Taehyung said “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, I should have.”

Jimin sighed and started walking along the corridor to his cabin, “I understand why you didn’t.”

“Thank you.”

As they walked side by side, Jimin could not keep his thoughts to himself anymore, “You don’t really believe that he fooled everyone in the Command Centre, do you?”

“Of course not Jimin, a full physical exam is part of the recruitment process, whatever he could fake, he couldn’t fake having a cock when he doesn’t.”

“So, what do you think really happened?”

“I think admiral Wang knew and recruited him anyway.”

“I think so too, I think it’s all tied together to why his files are classified.”

“Yes, I’ll rest easy once I can see admiral Wang and confirm everything with him.”

They reached Jimin’s cabin and the beta turned towards the alpha and grabbed Taehyung’s elbow, “Just….be careful with him Taehyung, he might have been recruited by someone we both trust, but you are still a Kim, the first heir to one of the five families, there’s no place where you don’t have enemies and no one higher up you can truly trust…..even the admiral.”

Taehyung took a deep breath, it was the unfortunate truth of being someone highly important in society, there were backstabbers everywhere.

“I’ll be careful.”

Jimin released his grip and gave Taehyung a relieved smile, “Good, don’t be beguiled by what’s between his legs so much that you don’t see him for what he is.”

“Jimin-ah!”

“Yah! Wae? That om—” Jimin bit his lip and chewed on his cheek, “he sent you into rut. While you are on suppressants…..your attraction to him must be pretty strong, so don’t let it get away from you.”

“I won’t.”

Jimin looked at Taehyung like he hardly believed it, he wasn’t Taehyung’s closest friend for nothing, one just had to see how Taehyung looked at the omega to know that the alpha was completely gone for Jungkook.

Jimin only hoped that Taehyung wouldn’t get hurt in the end. They bid each other goodnight and Jimin silently swore to keep an eye on the omega.

Taehyung might be lured by the omega’s charms but Jungkook had no such power over Jimin.

Chapter 12: Secrets Upon Secrets

Summary:

So, some of you have asked this and I don't have a twitter handle. I work full-time and I don't think I have the time at the moment to commit to running a twitter page.

But hey, feel free to create a page of your own for the fic if you want to discuss characters or anything else with other readers. Thank you for the interest in this fic, the comments, the kudos, the bookmarks and hits by silent readers, hope you are all enjoying the journey so far.

Also, I've got a pretty solid plot line for this fic all the way up to the ending of part 3, so I'm aiming to finish all three parts within the end of this year. You're going to be surprised but there's also going to be some very similar tropes like my other fics ;)

Enjoy the chapter and see you in the next one soon!

 

Jungkook lips were going numb from biting on them so hard, he didn’t want to let the embarrassing noises escape his lips every time the alpha slammed his hips down, the slick slide of his cock inside his body unbearably pleasurable to the point of making him want to open his mouth and scream out in ecstasy.

Before, when scriptures and all forms of media he consumed to prepare for entering a Centauran space vessel exalted having sex as the pinnacle of human experiences, Jungkook always believed that it was a needless and fanciful exaggeration, written by alphas for alphas. Now, lying on his back in the Captain’s bed with his legs captive in the alpha’s arms, open and bent at the knee while Taehyung thrust into him with abandon, Jungkook couldn’t help but think that the books and videos he’d seen couldn’t possibly fully encompass how mind blowing the whole experience of sex was, especially with an alpha as attractive and skilled like the Captain.

Jungkook couldn’t stop the little whimpers that bloomed in his throat, even as he kept his mouth shut, the occasional cut off moan escaped and Taehyung who had been seeing this for the whole time now snorted and smirked down at the omega, “These walls are soundproof you know” he informed casually while picking up the pace, making Jungkook throw his head back and shake his head from left to right.

Taehyung drank in the flushed appearance of the omega, the smooth column of throat too tempting, he leaned down and kissed the omega’s neck, teeth scraping over the soft skin, he didn’t like the fact that Jungkook was trying to suppress expressing his pleasure freely. He was greedy, his alpha was greedy, he wanted to hear every little hitch of breath, every little moan and whimper, every little breathless ‘Alpha’ that came tumbling out of the omega’s mouth.

Smirking to himself, his hands trekked down the omegas body until his thumb found the omega’s clit precisely, Jungkook’s mouth opened as he pressed down and seeing it egged him on more, he started to rub at the omega’s clit, in slow circles at first and was rewarded with Jungkook shaking and clutching the bedding in his fists.

Then because he was mean like that, he rubbed harder and faster, in time with his lightning fast thrusts into the omega’s slick soaked pussy, Jungkook couldn’t keep the embarrassing sounds in if his life depended on it, he was completely overwhelmed by the alpha, thrusting in and out of his pussy, expertly hitting that spot inside him that drove him crazy while also rubbing the place he was most sensitive with such precise strokes that made him climb high so quickly.

“Alpha….ohh….alpha…ahh…ahh….”

“That’s more like it!” Taehyung growled it into the air before pinching the omega’s clit between his thumb and index finger, hard.

Jungkook’s orgasm took him by surprise, his pussy clenched and released around the alpha’s cock, a whole body shudder overtaking him as he laid there and allowed the alpha to fuck into him past the point of oversensitivity.

The alpha was totally lost in the feeling of chasing his own release now, he pushed Jungkook’s legs up until he was bent in half and fucked into him hard and fast, losing his mind to the feeling of the omega all around him, his knot expanded and Taehyung watched as he pushed it into the omega, Jungkook letting out a loud squeal as the knot locked into place inside him and stretched his channel to the limit.

Taehyung rolled them once until Jungkook was on top, his knot snug inside the omega as his cock pulsed and released, over and over again while the omega laid on top of him with his cheeks squished against his chest and felt a shiver run through his spine every time the alpha’s cock dumped another load of hot cum into him.

Taehyung let his hands wander and cupped the omega’s ass cheeks in his hand and squeezed before his finger dipped down the crack and lightly circled the omega’s furled rim.

Jungkook yelped and startled, he looked up at Taehyung in alarm and asked breathlessly, “What are you doing?”

Taehyung’s hands withdrew immediately and rested on his ass cheeks once again, “Sorry baby, I should have asked first.”

Jungkook slumped back down against the alpha’s chest once again but couldn’t stop analyzing the alpha’s actions and how for a moment before he panicked, he’d felt a pleasant curl in his stomach when he felt the alpha’s finger poke at his sensitive rim.

“Why’d you do it?”

Taehyung sighed and squeezed the omega tighter into his arms, “I shouldn’t have, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.”

“I—” Jungkook didn’t know what to say, did the alpha want to explore more? Did he want Taehyung to? He didn’t know, when he closed his eyes and envisioned it, he felt like he wanted to know.

“Do it again” he said slowly, and Taehyung froze for a moment.

“No….we don’t have to, I just—”

“I want to”

“No you don’t, Jungkook—”

Jungkook cut the alpha off by looking up at Taehyung and saying, “I want to try”

Taehyung raised an eyebrow at the omega, “We don’t have to”

“I know that! But I want to! Are you going to do it or do I have to try it myself?”

Taehyung gave up trying to convince the omega, he supposed he had gotten into this himself, so he retraced the path his hands had taken just a few minutes back and tentatively rubbed the omega’s rim with his thumb, not breaching and just rubbing his finger in circles.

Jungkook hummed into the alpha’s chest, “I like it”

Taehyung hissed and bit his tongue to prevent himself from swearing colorfully, “Uh-huh” he said instead as he tried to not think about the implications of Jungkook liking it.

“Mo—More”

“Jungkook!” Taehyung took his hands off entirely, the name coming out as a reprimand now.

“What?” the omega pouted up at the alpha, “You were the one who started it and now you’re not giving me more.”

“I said sorry!”

“I don’t care, I’m….I’m curious” Jungkook admitted it finally, looking at the alpha head on.

“I can see, I’ve created a monster” Taehyung said while narrowing his eyes at Jungkook, hoping the omega’s shyness would come to the surface and make him retreat into himself again but when Jungkook kept looking at him stubbornly, Taehyung gave up.

“Alright, lie back down, I’ll give you a finger, one, no more”

“But—”

“No buts, we’re already fucking before I’ve finished courting you and mating you, I’m not doing more until I make an honest omega out of you.”

Jungkook wanted to argue but decided to keep quiet and reached up to the alpha’s neck instead, kissing him close to his sensitive scent gland slowly, he murmured, “Don’t pretend you don’t want it as much as I do.”

Taehyung’s grip on the omega’s waist tightened in response before his hands trekked down and gathered the slick dripping freely from the place they were joined at, the omega’s pussy unable to stop dribbling slick even when he was sated and knotted tight to the alpha.

With his fingers were sufficiently lubricated, Taehyung remarked, “Why don’t you be useful and spread your cheeks for me?”

When Jungkook eyes rounded and he began to look embarrassed, Taehyung hoped that he would shy away again but once again the omega surprised him, licking his lips, Jungkook reached back with his hands and parted his cheeks, keeping them apart for the alpha who stopped trying to convince the omega out of it.

His mother was going to have a heart attack if she knew what Taehyung was doing to the omega he wanted to mate and marry before the marriage.

Jungkook closed his eyes when he felt the alpha’s fingers at his sensitive rim once again, he slumped onto the alpha’s chest as Taehyung carefully pushed his index finger in up to the first knuckle, when it didn’t elicit any reaction out of the omega, Taehyung probed deeper until his whole index finger was inside the omega.

The alpha kept his finger inside, allowing Jungkook to get used to the strange sensation of something being inside his ass. The omega’s natural urge was to clench down on Taehyung’s finger, he relaxed incrementally.

When Taehyung felt that the omega had adjusted enough to relax around his finger, he withdrew and pushed back in, slowly at first, letting Jungkook get used to the feeling before the hitch in Jungkook’s breath let him know that the omega was enjoying it, so he went faster, his finger disappearing in and out of the omega’s ass, Jungkook keening as he kept his cheeks spread apart and open as the alpha fucked him in a place where he hadn’t ever dared to explore on his own, Taehyung couldn’t quite believe that the omega was so turned on by just a single finger thrusting in and out of his ass. It was affecting him as well now, the omega’s pussy had suddenly gotten sloppy with slick, so much that even Taehyung’s knot wasn’t enough to keep him still as Jungkook moved his hips back in an attempt to fuck himself on the alpha’s finger.

Taehyung broke his own promise, he could no longer stop himself from watching, he wanted to see the omega come apart by just having his finger up his ass.

Before Jungkook could even realize what had happened, Taehyung flipped them over once again so Jungkook was lying on his back again on the bed, the alpha got off of the omega entirely and said “Turn around and present for me.”

Taehyung’s tone left no room for argument and Jungkook was too keyed up to be offended with the alpha’s orders, so he turned around and presented on his hands and knees.

The alpha didn’t waste time to gather the copious slick pouring from the omega’s pussy, and this time when he pushed into the omega’s ass, his middle finger followed his index, making the omega feel the stretch of the burn, Taehyung’s knot deflated but his cock was hard once again as he watched his fingers disappear into Jungkook’s hole, tight with resistance at first, then sliding in and out easier as Jungkook got used to the intrusion and pushed his ass out while hanging his head low and enjoying being penetrated for the first time in his ass.

Taehyung held the omega’s hips in one hand and pushed in and out of the omega’s rim faster and faster, Jungkook’s loud keening letting him know that he was once again close to the edge, the squelching of his wet fingers was loud in the room and when Jungkook shuddered and came once again without Taehyung ever having touched his pussy, the alpha growled and said “Next time, I’m fucking you here, I bet you’ll come faster than when I fuck your pussy.”

Jungkook didn’t say anything, each day, he was pushing frontiers in exploring his sexuality with the alpha and what would have seemed absurd or distasteful to him once only felt exciting and arousing now.

If Taehyung wanted to fuck him there, he found he had no objections to it. He trusted Taehyung, he trusted the alpha would make it good for him no matter what.

The alpha was hard again and just as he came down from his high, Taehyung pushed into his pussy once again.

Jungkook grabbed onto the headboard for dear life as the alpha slammed his hips into him at an inhumane pace, so much so that the bed started creaking on the floor, even bolted in as it was inside a spaceship.

Would it be so bad? Jungkook’s omega thought traitorously, would it be so bad to be tied down to this alpha for eternity if it meant he’d get to experience this all his life? Would getting to experience heaven on Centauri be enough? Enough to accept surrender? Enough to forsake a life of cold logic and unlimited freedom in his home world?

Jungkook didn’t know, but every time he let the alpha touch him and wreck him like this, it became harder and harder to keep things logical and clean inside his mind.

He had to constantly remind himself that the alpha was the enemy, that he could not tolerate life on Centauri, that he had a higher purpose than being an alpha’s bed slave and broodmare.

He should stop, Jungkook told himself that he would but every time he ended back up in the alpha’s bed, tangled together under the sheets, cock warming the alpha every night and losing his focus on the mission.

As he came for the third time that night, Jungkook wondered how he was ever going to keep his emotions and logic separated, he was failing miserably, the thought of having to betray Taehyung was becoming unbearable every day.

All he could hope for now was to find something useful and get out while he still could, he was knee deep in the water now and he doubted he could escape if he let himself get neck deep. He would drown.

“You’re amazing baby” Taehyung murmured into the omega’s ear, licking at his earlobe and pulling it into his mouth, “You’re so good for me, my beautiful, sexy, gorgeous omega.”

The words brought an undeniable flush of pleasure, the praise going straight to the omega’s head and making him feel a bone deep sense of contentment as he laid there on the bed with Taehyung’s comforting weight on top of him.

He had to get out soon. He had to, he had to. Before he couldn’t, before he wouldn’t be able to.

Taehyung who was totally oblivious to the turmoil in the omega’s mind kept kissing the omega and nuzzling into the omega’s throat, his canines itching with the urge to just bite down and claim.

If they could hear each other’s thoughts now, they’d realize just how paradoxical they were, one wanting to get away as quick as possible and the other wanting to sink deeper until they weren’t two separate entities anymore.

Jungkook stayed up long after the alpha started snoring behind him, lying on his sides, still caged in the alpha’s arms with Taehyung’s cock still inside him, he was entwined together with the alpha like he’d never been with anyone else before in his life. The uneasiness in his chest kept him awake all through the night, the omega didn’t want to put a name to the feeling for if he acknowledged what he felt, then the mission was truly over.

***

“You want to go to Tessellera?” Jimin’s asked astounded with the Captain’s sudden plan that had come out of the blue.

Everyone on the bridge was equally surprised including Jungkook who was sitting in the console for the tactical officer Jin who had fallen mysteriously ill all of a sudden and required a stand in for the time he recovered in medbay.

Taehyung had never spoken to him about his plans to go to the industrial city.

Not even when they’d woken up together today and practically got ready for the day together in the Captain’s cabin.

Jungkook was instantly angry.

Why was it that Taehyung never fully trusted him?

“Yes, I have something I need to collect from them.”

Jimin’s eyebrows rose all the way up, he looked at Taehyung like he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing.

“You need to collect? As in personally?”

“Yes, it’s very important that I collect it in time, so plot a course for Tessellera” Taehyung directed the comment to Jungkook who was unofficially the tactical officer and therefore in-charge of navigation too.

“I believe we need to have a meeting with all the ranking officers before deciding on this course Captain” Jungkook said primly and narrowed his eyes when he could feel the irritation from Taehyung, what did the alpha think? That he would let this go uncontested when he hadn’t even bothered to tell him why there was a sudden need to go to the industrial planet to collect some mysterious object? Could this have something to do with Taehyung’s mother’s secret plan to reinstate their image on Centauri. If so, what object was significant enough to turn public opinion in Kim Taehyung’s favor? Jungkook was sure it had something to do with the war. A massive weapon’s shipment perhaps? Unsavory recruits for the Centauran militia? A mass scale biological weapon to catch their enemy unawares? Jungkook didn’t know and he hated not knowing because Taehyung didn’t see it fit to inform him.

“I concur” Jimin added from his console.

“I too Captain” Yoongi chimed in.

“Uhh….I do believe it would be a good idea to deliberate Captain” Namjoon added and with that most of the senior ranking officers on the bridge agreed unanimously towards a deliberation.

Taehyung was a reasonable Captain, he always considered the ranking officers’ opinions and actively sought their stance before deciding on anything major.

Everyone on the bridge including Jungkook believed that there would be a deliberation and through it, Jungkook hoped to gain more insight into what precisely was the reason for their sudden detour to Tessellera.

So, it was a shock to everyone on the bridge when Taehyung sat up straight in his chair and said, “I invoke the Sigmareign privilege, there will be no deliberation, we proceed ahead to Tessellera. First officer Jungkook, plot the course.”

The bridge was thick with tension, everyone including the junior cadets looked at Taehyung in stunned silence.

The Sigmareign privilege. Leader from None. It gave complete autocratic authority to any member belonging to the five families of Centauri.

The Captain had never ever invoked this archaic and completely tyrannical privilege, Taehyung had never once in his Captaincy made the crew members feel the weight of his power and prestige in the Centaurum.

Jungkook who was not of the Centaurum didn’t really feel offended because of Taehyung using his special privileges, he was more so angry at the fact that the alpha didn’t trust him despite being as close as humanly possible to him every time they were off duty. Also, how had Taehyung even found the time to call his mother using the QEC when Jungkook was always present in the captain’s cabin? If he was really communicating with the QEC deliberately at a time when Jungkook wasn’t present, had Jungkook made any headway at all in earning the Captain’s trust?

To the other members of the crew who were from the Centaurum, this was a below the belt blow from the Captain.

Jimin felt hurt, Yoongi was angry and Namjoon couldn’t quite recover from the shock.

As always, Jimin turned his eyes to Jungkook and cast him a stony look, did the omega have anything to do with this?

But looking at Jungkook, Jimin realized that the omega looked equally annoyed and pissed off.

Ah! So he didn’t tell you either, Jimin discerned correctly and wondered at whether there were problems between the couple already.

Then he looked at Taehyung who was looking at Jungkook with a worried expression on his face and scoffed silently.

He looks like he’s just waiting to go somewhere private and grovel for forgiveness.

“How pathetic!” Jimin muttered and jumped when he heard Yoongi ask, “What’s pathetic?” from right behind him.

The beta officer turned to look at Yoongi in irritation, “Can you please stop hovering behind me like that?”

“Maybe….if you let me know what you’re in on.”

“I’m not in on anything, I’m as surprised by this as you are.”

Taehyung knew that his crew was disappointed with him, but he had no choice, he had explicit instructions to keep the mission a secret.

“Seems even the captain’s favorite crew member didn’t know.”

“Seems like it” Jimin rolled his eyes as he said it, honestly, if Taehyung didn’t tell even Jungkook when he probably spent his entire off time buried between the omega’s legs, Jimin doubted anyone in the crew could get the truth out of him.

It amazed him that they were being so open about how they felt about each other, it only took an astute person to observe and understand what was going on. The crew members probably didn’t suspect that Jungkook was an omega but they certainly suspected that the two alpha’s had developed a sudden close relationship despite hating each other before being kidnapped.

“Did you find out the truth?”

“What truth?” Jimin asked pretending like he didn’t understand what Yoongi was asking.

“About whether they’re screwing each other?”

“No” Jimin lied through his teeth, he had his disagreements with Taehyung but he wouldn’t betray his friend and possibly put Taehyung’s pup in danger.

“So, they just happened to take off two days out of the blue and remained out of contact with the entire crew in the middle of navigating our way back home through an enemy fleet?”

“Taehyung did inform the crew that they were both indisposed because of being sick.”

“A sickness that was serious enough to warrant a sick day but not serious enough to require a trip to the medbay?”

Jimin sighed, because the two morons had no idea how to cover their tracks, he was being grilled for their ineptitude.

He kept quiet, he had nothing to say really, what could he do if the two idiots were so into their own world that they couldn’t even pretend that they were not seeing each other.

“They’re not fooling anyone but themselves Jimin-shi, the junior cadets have a bet going as to who is the alpha taking it in the relationship, one of these days, they’re going to get caught red handed and Taehyung’s life is never going to be the same again.”

And Jimin couldn’t just let it go like that, so he said, “They’re not, something traumatic happened to both of them in Ulara, they just bonded over that.”

Yoongi scoffed dubiously, “You don’t even sound like you believe it yourself!”

“As the General on Destiny, you have a duty to suppress baseless rumors and discord among the younger cadets. So, why don’t you stop interrogating me and do your actual job Yoongi-shi?”

Yoongi exhaled heavily and looked at the Captain and Jungkook pointedly, “I am trying to, they’re not helping.”

The they meaning how transparent Taehyung looked, how he was sitting with his body angled towards the omega in an entreating manner, clearly concerned about the omega who was visibly looking angry, scowling at the console like it had done some great personal wrong to him.

“They’re just friends now, tell the younger cadets to shut their traps or I’ll shut it for them” Jimin warned and got back to establishing communications with Tessellera and arrange for a docking station for Destiny’s arrival. Yoongi finally left him blessedly alone while he made a mental note to talk to both Jungkook and Taehyung and ask them to tone down their lovey-dovey behaviour that was as obvious as a solar flare in space.

“Course plotted in Captain” Jungkook called out first with a bite to the end, the Captain falling out of his mouth in obvious spite.

“Docking station will be ready at 0400 hours tomorrow evening for our ship.”

“FTL drives optimal for five time spaced jump points, impulse power optimal for final trajectory to Tessellera.”

“All weapons systems functional, recommend status red one for the entire journey including hyperspace travel.”

“Noted everyone, thank you for your co-operation” Taehyung answered before opening the commlink and speaking to the entire crew.

“All hands, all hands, this is the Captain speaking, we will be making our way to Tessellera at 0100 hours, there will be five jump sequences, we will be travelling the remaining distance on impulse power to prevent interference from Tessellara’s orbital sphere. Ships status will be red one throughout the entire journey, weapon’s systems to be manned at all times.”

Taehyung paused for a few seconds before he announced the next bit, the one the crew were going to be overjoyed to hear, “While on Tessellara, I’m granting the crew shore leave for two days, this will be taken in two crew rotations, please indicate whether you want to take your shore leave in the first or second rotation to Cadet Aki and we will try our best to accommodate your preferences. Captain Out.”

Shore leave?

Now?

Jimin, Jungkook, Yoongi and Namjoon looked at the Captain like he’d grown two heads.

Did Taehyung even realize that they were at war?

Was shore leave even allowed at a time like this?

Or did what Taehyung want from Tessellara take as long as four days to retrieve and he didn’t want the crew to be sitting inside the ship with brewing discontent?

No one knew and Jungkook couldn’t wait to get to the bottom of it while he had the alpha all to himself after their duty hours.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

I did tag shameless smut for this part.

Also, what could Taehyung possibly be hiding? Any guesses?

Chapter 13: Breaking Hour

Summary:

We get our first intro to Centauri and Taehyung's family in this chapter, I've included some visuals for you guys. It represents the Ecliptarion, Taehyung's mother and Sigrid.

See you soon in the next chapter :)

 

The silver city. The bustling capital of Centauri Prime, the seat of Centauran nobility, the city where politicians and nobles fought cunning battles silently, ever wanting more influence and power, ever wanting to crush competitors under their heels to advance forward in a society as ruthless as ancient Earth during the last few sputtering years of existence.

In the heart of the radiant cityscape stood Ecliptarion. The ancestral hold of the mighty Kim family, one of the five upper noble houses of the Centaurum. Forged with opaline alloys and sheathed in threads of gold obtained from ancient Earth, the palace stood like a bastion of brilliance and legacy that towered over everything else in the city. Its countless spires rose up into the stratosphere, each a monument of victory, reflecting the skies in brilliant gold tinged hues. Orbiting hover cars and bikes adjusted their course to avoid a collision with one of the soaring spires and city shadows bowed to its presence long before the suns did.

Beneath its golden arches and mirrored causeways, decisions were made that rippled across all of the Centaurum and the alliance. No gate was left unguarded, no hallway did not have ears, and no silence was without purpose. In the Centaurum, to live inside the halls of Ecliptarion was to be etched into the annals of eternity, to stand against it was to vanish.

Inside the hallowed halls of ancient legacy, a lone omega matriarch stood in the sunroom on a raised dais beneath the radiant coils of a gold ceremonial halo, her presence imposing and regal. The gown she wore was a ceremonial piece that belonged to the Kim family for generations, a construct of fine ivory polymer silk and micro threaded gold that flowed with the architectural precision of a cathedral forged in motion. It was engineering and elegance in perfect symphony, sculpted symmetrical bodice panels going hand-in-hand with gilded embellishments that cascaded in celestial motifs of sunbursts from head to toe. Her headpiece, a kinetic ceremonial crown forged from radial light bands hovered behind her in orbiting suspension, golden arcs pulsing with quiet authority. The crown was not for commoners, it was a loud and proud declaration of heritage. The ensemble with the radial crown floating behind her did not just designate her as a noble but also sovereign, at least inside the Ecliptarion.

Prostrated on the ground before her was Sigrid Oldenburg, the omega that had been selected by the matriarch to mate with her only alpha son and heir, Kim Taehyung.

“Rise omega Oldenburg” the matriarch intoned, her eyes pleased at the open display of obedience and submission to her authority.

The omega rose and stood up but kept his eyes lowered towards the ground, “I am pleased and grateful for your invitation to visit Ecliptarion your eminence.”

The matriarch’s scent burst in pleasure; Sigrid was already displaying all the qualities expected of an omega of the Kim family.

Obedient, submissive, respectful, and beautiful.

The omega’s shoulders were straight, his posture erect, his silken gown threaded with fine golden threads paying homage to the Kim family’s legacy without being excessive or brazen.

The Kim matriarch surveyed the omega with critical eyes, at least as far as she could see, she had made a proper choice for Taehyung. She had initially wanted another omega from one of the five families for Taehyung but after the recent fiasco her son was involved in, she worried that another member of the other families might plot to take over their house if given the power and prestige of being mated to Taehyung.

So, she had chosen Sigrid.

A noble family from the fringes of the silver city who were powerful and dignified in their own right but wouldn’t be a threat to Taehyung or to her family.

Sigrid was acceptable but not formidable enough to cause worry.  

From the omega’s countenance, she did not spy any defiance to her authority in the Kim household.

In all likelihood, the Oldenburg’s were grateful for such an esteemed alliance with the Kim family, as such Kim Choon-hee expected that the patriarch of the Oldenburg family would have instructed his omega son to make the most of an advantageous match and do everything in his power to assimilate into the Kim household and earn himself a permanent place in Ecliptarion.

Still, appearances could be deceiving, which is why Choon-hee had invited Sigrid to come stay in her palace for the next couple of weeks.

With her plans to redeem the family name and Taehyung well underway, she had no doubt that her son would return triumphant and prove his mettle to Centauri once and for all.

She decided it was a good time to get to know Sigrid more personally, if Sigrid failed to pass her scrutiny, she would send him back to his family empty handed.

Showing nothing of her thoughts in her countenance, Choon-hee tilted her head and said “Welcome to Ecliptarion omega Oldenburg, I trust your journey was comfortable.”

“It was your eminence, thank you for inquiring” Sigrid bowed at the waist once again, his tone soft and reverent.

Choon-hee snapped her fingers and a palace serving maid appeared in the hall looking like she had been anticipating her mistress’ call for a long time.

“This is Isha, a handmaiden of the palace, she will show you to your rooms in the palace and help you with anything you might need during your stay here.”

“Thank you, your eminence, you are too kind.”

Choon-hee snapped her fingers once again and the maid took the cue and started to politely direct the young omega out of the sunroom and away from the matriarch’s sight.

Once she was sure that Sigrid was out of sight, Choon-hee relaxed her posture and stepped away from the ceremonial light crown that hovered behind her.

Now, in the silence and comfort of solitude, she could second guess her decisions as much as she wanted.

Did she make the right choice for Taehyung?

From what she could see, the omega seemed to be everything that a high-born Centauran omega ought to be.

Sigrid was also singularly beautiful, skin as pale as the moon, eyes a glimmering green, lips plump and rosy and golden hair that fell around his face in luscious locks and framed his delicate face beautifully. In this at least, she knew Taehyung could not be disappointed, Sigrid was one of the rare omegas who were stunningly beautiful. But knowing Taehyung as she did, she wondered whether Taehyung might find the omega to be too dull. Outwardly beautiful but absolutely unable to stimulate the alpha’s mind and keep him interested in the long run.

She knew Taehyung was not a very traditional Centauran alpha, despite her efforts to direct him to be more Centauran, Taehyung believed in progressive ideologies that were dangerous and no good to him. Perhaps an omega like Sigrid was exactly what Taehyung needed to see the light and re-learn his ways, perhaps Sigrid was also the solution she had been looking for.

If Sigrid wanted to play the traditional role of an omega, then Taehyung would have no reason to go against it.

Nodding to herself, Choon-hee frowned down at the constricting and tiresome ceremonial garment she wore, clicking her tongue in annoyance, she did not anticipate the amount of time it would take to get herself out of the ceremonial garb.

‘At least I don’t have to wear it for long, this would be Sigrid’s burden very soon’, Choon-hee could not wait for this part of her trials to be over. While she would still be the unofficial head of the Kim family when Taehyung married but she would gladly hand over all necessary public appearances and ceremonial duties to Sigrid. Taehyung could not come soon enough and relieve her of the burden she had taken on for more than a decade now.

Choon-hee snapped her fingers again, this time with more apparent aggression and five maids came scurrying into the sunroom, their eyes nervously glancing at one another and then at the clearly irate matriarch.

“Get me out of this, now!”

The maids flinched before hurrying to do what the matriarch asked, two moving to remove the leg panels, while two more handled the hands and one meticulously removed the body panel that kept the entire ensemble together.

It was only once she was free of the uncomfortable garb that Choon-hee relaxed and turned around to the maids, “Keep a close eye on Sigrid, I want you to report to me every day, what he eats, what he wears, his mannerisms, his likes and dislikes, how long he sleeps for, everything! If I find out that you’ve missed to inform me of anything, you will be chucked out of this palace in disgrace, understood?”

“Yes your eminence” the maids intoned all at once, frightened beyond measure at the authority radiating from the matriarch even when she was not wearing an imposing ceremonial dress.

“Good, now get to it” Choon-hee waved her hands and the maids disappeared from the sunroom leaving her in her own company once again.

***

“My agent has delivered so much already, these things take time, you cannot ask a master to work his magic without giving him time.”

“He has had plenty of time already Cassien” the representative for the Boen’s stated in a no nonsense tone, disagreeing outright with the Dunaran speaking in favor of their agent.

“It’s been two months, my agent has given us a great many details we did not know about like the feuds between the five families, the Captain having a QEC to communicate with Centauri, the Kim’s being out of favor in Centauri and this secret plan to reinstate their reputation in Centauri.”

“He cannot find what this secret plan is though, can he?” the Boen questioned again, his eyes narrowed astutely, pinning Cassien with a shrewd look.

“And he didn’t know the ship was making a sudden detour to Tessellera” the Ularan representative said backing the Boen but with a smug smile on his face that said everything he did not need to say to Cassien.

“We still know—”

“It doesn’t matter that we know now Cassien, it’s too late! That sly Centauran captain somehow managed to find a private docking station and his ship is totally untraceable now!”

“That’s because of Tessellera’s unique orbital systems, it has nothing to do with my agent’s capacity to spy on the enemy.”

“If he had managed to win the Captain’s absolute trust, he should have known beforehand that the ship was making a sudden detour to Tessellera, he didn’t, which means he hasn’t yet earned the Captain’s trust.”

Cassien kept quiet, the Boen and Ularan didn’t know that Cassien was Jungkook’s personal guardian and that this agent was unlike any other in Dunara. He was not a nameless faceless omega that was sent out to the enemy’s lair without a care as to whether he’d return or not.

Cassien had a certain fondness for Jungkook, and he wanted to make sure that the omega returned to Dunara unharmed.

“Perhaps it’s time to organize a swift kill and plant another spy in his place, I bet one of my dancers could get the Captain to sing all his secrets in his sleep.”

It was the Ularan Bor Kal who said it, it wasn’t a secret that the three main worlds forming the Ingtar alliance had tepid relations with each other.

Cassien snorted derisively, “You think one of your hookers could get someone like Kim Taehyung to reveal state secrets to them?”

“Why not? Isn’t the omega bitch you’ve sent doing the same thing? Spreading his legs to milk the Centaurum’s secrets from the Captain?”

“Except my agent has been trained to be a professional spy on a spaceship for decades, not kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery like one of your dancers.”

Bor Kal huffed, “You Dunaran’s, always actin high and mighty when you ain’t nothin different, so we kidnap the bitches, so what? You produce em bitches in a factory, we take em off the road and put em to work. Tis all the same!”

The Ularan’s thick accent was coming through as he got agitated and Cassien kept silent as the Boen representative steepled his hands and silently observed the other two.

So far, the war efforts had cost more Boen lives than Ularan or Dunaran, out of the three main worlds that made up the Ingtar alliance, Boen was the one with the military power to wield a spacefaring war. Boen clearly outnumbered both Ulara and Dunara in the amount of military space ships, weapons systems and military personnel in their army.

So, the man belonging to Boen did not find it amusing how the Ularan and Dunaran kept arguing about the merits of each of their homeworld’s spies when none of them were coming through enough to aid in the war with Centaurum.

And he said as much, “While you both sit here and argue over your dancers and your spiders, its Boen men and women who are losing their lives on the front lines.”

When Cassien opened his mouth to respond, the Boen put a hand up to silence him, “Nothing from you or Dunara, not even your so called enhanced organic ships to aid in the war effort.”

Cassien defended his planet’s position, “You know our stance on open war, not until every reserve has been exhausted, you knew the dictums when you signed us into the alliance.”

The Boen representative sighed and rubbed his temples, all this arguing was only giving him a headache, what he needed to do was to impress how dire the situation was and give the Dunaran an ultimatum.

“One-month Cassien, one more month, that is all. If your agent doesn’t manage to extract anything useful from the Captain in a months’ time, we are using the Neurodirective Insert.”

Cassien’s breath hitched, he did not like this, it was too dangerous, and risked exposure.

“You know that is far riskier than allowing my agent to continue his mission uninterrupted.”

“We don’t have the time, we have to act, now.”

“You’re risking exposure!”

“Well we of the Boen collective think that the risk is worth it considering that it’s our fleets who are out there on the frontlines fighting for the alliance.”

“Or is Dunara prepared to pledge soldiers and ships to the war efforts?”

Cassien kept quiet knowing that he could not promise aid to the Boen collective, at least not the kind of aid that the Boen’s were expecting.

“I thought so” the Boen representative said in contempt and added, “Expect to hear from us within the months end.”

 ***

“A little birdie told me that the Captain has entrusted you with his most favorite crew member while on shore leave on Tessellera.”

Jimin groaned under his breath, the grating voice of the alpha making him bristle as he turned and asked, “Don’t you have a job to do Yoongi-shi?”

They were in the mess hall and Jimin hoped the general would not make a scene here and let it go but when Yoongi slid into the seat next to him, Jimin turned away and dug his fork aggressively into his bowl of pasta.

“How did you go from hating Jungkook-shi to becoming his babysitter?”

“I’m not babysitting anyone, Jungkook-shi is a capable officer of the Centaurum, we’ve just been assigned together for shore leave like many others in the crew.”

“What are you all hiding from me Jimin-shi? First this sudden trip to Tessellera without the Captain offering any reason for the detour, now this shore leave in the middle of an ongoing war, what is the Captain playing at? You can’t tell me you don’t know.”

“I am as clueless as you are General, just because I’m the Captain’s friend doesn’t mean I have secret knowledge of his intentions.”

“Jungkook-shi then” Yoongi asked and Jimin looked away before parroting, “What about Jungkook-shi?”

“He must know the Captain’s intentions.”

“Then why don’t you interrogate him?”

Yoongi snorted, “As if, those two can hardly be seen out of their duty hours.”

“Then interrogate the Captain and Jungkook-shi together and stop bothering me about it.”

“You know something, I know you do”

When Jimin kept quiet, Yoongi continued, “The Captain wouldn’t trust you with Jungkook-shi if you didn’t know something.”

“Yah! I was Taehyungie’s friend before Jungkook ever showed up in his life, if anything, it’s Taehyung making sure I’m taken care of well by sending his XO with me.”

Jimin was trying everything in his power to get Yoongi off his back without revealing Jungkook’s secret.

After all, why would an alpha officer need protection from a beta like Jimin?

Just then, the mess hall went silent as Jungkook walked in with his face visibly red, the XO looked obviously agitated, a beat passed before the Captain followed in closely on his heels looking equally pissed off. Instead of taking a table together as had become a routine for them, Jungkook went to a separate table in the far corner of the mess hall and started to scarf down his dinner while looking at no one in particular.

Taehyung didn’t react except to poke his tongue into his cheek and then walk to where Jimin and Yoongi were seated before plopping down opposite to the General and Jimin.

Yoongi looked between the Captain and the XO, “Trouble in paradise Captain?”

Thankfully Taehyung didn’t react to the taunt and Jimin breathed a sigh of relief.

“Was he upset that you didn’t reveal your plan to him?”

“Yes” Taehyung admitted, it was easy for Jimin to see that the lovers had had a big spat about it.

“Understandable I would say, considering your close relations for the past two months” Yoongi said pointedly and once again Taehyung didn’t take the bait.

Instead, he scoffed and said “He’s a pain in the ass like he always is. I don’t need to inform everything to the crew, I’m the Captain.”

Both Jimin and Yoongi directed an unimpressed glare at Taehyung who clicked his tongue in annoyance and said, “Would it kill you to savor some moments of peace without question before we enter the war officially?”

“Are we? Entering the war?”

“Of course, what you think I’m taking an off-duty joy ride here?”

“I don’t know Captain, what are we doing here?”

“I can’t say….for now.”

Yoongi scrunched his eyebrows, he did not like what the Captain was saying, at all. “If it’s a dangerous mission, you have to let me come with you.”

“I can’t.”

“Taehyung—”

“I can’t Yoongi, I’ll be careful.”

“So, it is a mission, for you specifically?” Jimin asked and when Taehyung nodded he sucked in a sharp breath and said, “Are you keeping things to yourself because information would leak to the opposite side because of spies?”

“Yes”

Jimin hummed and Yoongi also gave up trying to question the Captain.

Instead, all Yoongi said was, “It must be something really important for you to refuse to tell Jungkook-shi.”

“Why would I? He’s the XO of this ship, nothing more.”

Yoongi curled his lip in obvious disdain, “I’m not a fool Captain. And neither is your crew….” Yoongi left the sentence hanging before he got up and left the table.

The minute he was out of earshot, Jimin hissed, “You two are being so fucking obvious about this, you came in here all in a flurry like two lovebirds who’d butted heads and Jungkook is over there looking like a scorned lover and you’re here scowling at everyone and denying what is plainly visible to everyone on this ship.”

“Jungkook and I have had plenty of disagreements before, this is nothing new for the crew.”

“Loud disagreements in front of the entire crew Taehyung, not illicit fights out of everyone’s eyes cloistered in your fucking private cabin.”

Taehyung sighed and threw his hands up in surrender, “I don’t care, I’ll announce the truth if it comes down to it, we’ll be in Centauri soon enough and I don’t have to keep him a secret.”

“Let’s hope this is our last unscheduled detour before reaching Centauri.”

“It will be, please keep an eye on him during your shore leave with him Jimin, he tends to run around thinking he’s a real alpha and it just….” Taehyung clenched his fist in frustration and looked at Jimin pleadingly.

“Yah! I’ll take care of him, stop looking at me like a pathetic puppy!”

“Thank you! I owe you one!”

“You bet you owe me more than one damn it!”

“Of course Jimin, whatever you want, just name it.”

Jimin rolled his eyes at the way the alpha was prevaricating to save his neck, “Have you given him a courting gift yet?”

“One”

“Just one?”

“Yes, well….I did give another one but in hindsight it wasn’t quite appropriate so I won’t call it a courting gift.”

“What did you give?” Jimin frowned before he caught the mischievous twinkle in Taehyung’s eyes and put his hand out in mock disgust, “Wait, I don’t even want to know you horndog.”

“Tessellera is known for glass hounds, perhaps you can bring him one as a courting gift…..” Jimin looked at Jungkook and then back at Taehyung, “It might smooth things over for you too.”

“That’s a good one Jimin, thank you! I’ll keep that in mind.”

Once Taehyung was done with dinner, he walked back to Jungkook and spoke something quietly to the omega, Jungkook shook his head and remained stubbornly seated and the alpha looked defeated before turning on his heel and walking out of the mess hall.

“Pathetic!” Jimin muttered once again at Taehyung’s retreating back.

 

 

Notes:

So, what are your thoughts on Jungkook and Choon-hee's dynamics in the future? ;)

Chapter 14: Unveiled and Unwelcome

Summary:

Let's play a guessing game after you read this chapter, shall we?

 

 

Jungkook couldn’t believe that the alpha would assign him with Jimin for shore leave. The beta officer who had been at his throat from the moment he was rescued from Ulara.

He wandered in to the room they were supposed to share on Tessellera and immediately frowned when he realized how cramped the entire place was.

Jungkook narrowed his eyes at the bunk bed in the room and the low red lighting in the cabin giving it all an eerie feeling that he did not like one bit.

Jimin seemed to almost pick up on the omega’s displeasure, the comms officer snorted and asked, “You’ve been living in the Captain’s cabin for little more than a month, does this place already feel too plebian for you?”

Jungkook could feel the disapproval in the beta officers eyes and just to be mean, he returned with “What can I say Jimin-shi? Alpha has really gotten me used to the spoilt lifestyle.”

Jimin bristled, “Is that why you went for an alpha as powerful in Centauri like Taehyung? So you could live the soft life in Ecliptarion?”

 Jungkook thanked his papa’s foresight in sending him a packet of information on everything regarding Kim Taehyung and his life on Centauri before he started on his mission to seduce the alpha. It was thanks to it that he knew what Ecliptarion was.

“I was kidnapped and coerced into having sex with an alpha while on an induced heat, I did not ask for this.”

Jimin had the grace to look sheepish and retreated into the room further, “I’ll take the upper bunk, you take the lower one.”

“You’re not even going to pretend to give me a choice?”

“It’s for your own good, I don’t want you to climb up the ladder in your condition.”

“I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”

“Your alpha would have my head if you tripped and fell on your back while trying to climb the ladder to the upper bunk, so it is the lower bunk for you.”

Jungkook didn’t know why he was being so catty, but something inside him wanted to needle the beta officer for all the grief he had given the omega for the past few months, “It still doesn’t give you the right to just take the upper bunk without even asking me! It could help with my morning sickness to have an airier spot on the top bunk.”

“You aren’t experiencing morning sickness though, are you?” Jimin questioned shrewdly and Jungkook tilted his head without missing a beat and answered, “I could be.”

“You aren’t, you’ve been scarfing down breakfast, lunch and dinner without any trouble all this time.”

Jungkook was not at all surprised that the beta was observing him so closely, still, it didn’t mean that it wasn’t a complete nuisance to Jungkook.

“And if you’ve gotten used to being spoilt by Taehyung, I hope you realize that you’re going to have to get used to a lot of choices being taken away from you in the future.”

“What does that mean?”

Jimin huffed and a laugh escaped his mouth as he looked at the omega incredulously, “Have you bothered to learn nothing of what being a Kim family omega entails back on Centauri?”

Jungkook hadn’t, precisely because he wasn’t going to be a Kim family omega, “Enlighten me Jimin-shi.”

Jimin squinted his eyes and surveyed the omega, assessing him for what kind of a fit he’d be for the Kim family. Jimin could tell just from looking at Jungkook’s relaxed posture that Taehyung’s mother was going to be absolutely incensed when the alpha informed her of his intention to court and marry an omega who was not of a noble background in Centauri.

Still, all he settled for saying was, “It’s not my place to tell, you should ask Taehyung though.”

“He doesn’t tell me anything!” Jungkook complained though he hardly ever asked about Taehyung’s mother or the intricacies of getting mated on Centauri, what he was complaining about was the fact that the alpha still didn’t trust him with the secret details of his mission on Tessellera or his mother’s plans to reinstate his reputation on Centauri.

For the first time since they stepped into the room, the beta officer looked genuinely amused, and his laughter this time didn’t have a hint of malice as he said, “I could imagine why!”

“Why?” Jungkook insisted hotly wanting to know why the alpha was so guarded.

“Because I’d imagine he’s afraid you’d run away again if you knew” Jimin said honestly as he climbed the ladder and got on his bunk bed.

Jungkook was intrigued now, “Is his mother really that bad?”

Jimin leaned on his elbows to look down at the omega from the edge of the bunk bed, “Oh you have no idea Jungkook-shi.”

Jungkook shrugged and crawled into the lower bunk bed while sending out a silent prayer to the universe for never having to deal with Centauran nobility or society after his mission was over.

He could only imagine what kind of a person Taehyung’s mother was for the beta officer to be warning him about it already.

***

Tessellera was a bustling city, a hub of industrial production in the Kilaran sector which supplied machinery and parts to many places in the galaxy.

Towering bio-metallic spires, wrapped in iridescent circuitry and glowing data streams, rose into the sky like crystalized trees from an alien forest. The architecture was a fusion of organic design and hyper-advanced technology—a city grown as much as built. Vertical cities layer upon one another, connected by transparent transit tubes, magnetic lifts, and aerial vehicles zipping between platforms.

At ground level, millions of citizens from countless species walked through the mega concourses. Holographic signs in alien scripts dancing in mid-air and neon-lit market domes thrumming with life, their interiors glowing orange, purple, and electric teal. Suspended gardens and oxygen forests hang from the upper tiers, maintained by swarms of AI pollinators.

In the distance, a colossal spire pulsed like a heart, surrounded by an array of defence drones, suggesting its importance—the planet’s government.

Jungkook had no idea what to do with the time they’d been given to loiter in the busy planet, Tessellera was a mecca for crew members who loved technological trinkets, but anything here was rudimentary in comparison to the kind of tech he had access to on Dunara. So, while Jimin pulled him into one store after another, giddy with excitement at finding new and alien tech that he found to be interesting and bought with nary a thought to the amount of credit it cost, Jungkook tagged along, feeling annoyed and irritated at having to carry two heavy bags of goods that the beta officer bought as he dragged his feet to yet another store.

“Jimin-shi, are you done yet?”

“Yah! This is just the tenth store we’ve browsed.”

“Yes, it is the tenth store” Jungkook emphasized the word ‘tenth’ hoping the beta understood how excessive it all felt to Jungkook who was never much into shopping.

Jimin already had two more bags of goods that he had bought on both his hands in addition to the two heavy bags Jungkook was carrying for him through the neon glowing streets of Tessellera.

“Look, if you’re feeling tired, just sit down here with the bags, I’ll be back soon” Jimin said pointing to a stool inside the store between the display cases and the door and Jungkook sat though not because he was feeling tired. He was just tired of seeing Jimin buy useless and pointless things from morning to evening.

They had only stopped briefly for lunch before the beta was dragging him to yet another store and Jungkook was sick of it all.

The store was large with two floors dedicated to different types of gadgets from large home entertainment devices displayed on the first floor to discreet and more advanced tech including gaming consoles, cameras, motion sensors and all other kinds of paraphernalia on the second floor.

Jungkook saw Jimin’s back disappearing up the stairs to the second floor, he wondered whether the beta was vexing him purposefully.

Once again, he resolved to give Taehyung a piece of his mind when he saw the alpha next. How dare he put him together with Jimin?

Jungkook had just sat down for a few minutes and resolved to waiting at his spot for the better part of an hour when he heard a shop attendant ask, “Are you looking for anything in particular mister?”

The omega looked up at the shop attendant who looked humanoid unlike the shop owners of the many stores they had visited priorly, he fixed a polite smile on his face and replied, “No thank you, I’m just waiting for my friend.”

He expected the shop attendant to leave, instead the attendant gave him a pointed look and asked again, “Are you sure Jungkook-shi?”

Jungkook’s eyes widened for a flash of a second before he schooled his expression into one of disinterest, “How do you know my name?”

“Irrelevant. You have someone waiting for you behind in the staff room.”

Jungkook looked around and hesitated when he couldn’t see Jimin anywhere, “I’m with company and—”

“We’ll take care of it.”

Jungkook realized right then that it was probably his papa who had orchestrated the intervention, having faith in the spy’s ability to keep Jimin distracted for a while, Jungkook quickly walked to the back of the store, past the display cabinets and into the staff room, arms loaded with the heavy bags still.

As he suspected, Cassien was waiting for him when he walked in.

Jungkook dropped the heavy bags onto the floor, eye shining with relief he walked forward and hugged papa, staying in the man’s protective arms for a minute and just absorbing the sensation of being held so tenderly.

Cassien squeezed the omega gently in his arms, the unexpected show of affection taking him by surprise, Jungkook was always a lot more emotive and free with his affections but he knew enough to not come rushing at him like this when he was on a mission and a suspicious crew member was nearby.

“I’m glad to see you too Jungkook but we don’t have much time.”

Jungkook stayed in the man’s embrace for just a couple of seconds more before nodding and stepping back from Cassien wondering what had brought him all the way to Tessellera.

“The Boens are getting impatient” Cassien started and when Jungkook opened his mouth to defend himself, he spoke over the omega, “I know you’ve been doing very well but we need more, a lot more.”

“I’ve been trying my best papa, I can jump the gun too fast, he’s already suspicious of me, if I push too hard too fast, I’ll loose my hold on him completely.”

Cassien sighed, he had expected as much, so he gave Jungkook the ultimatum they had been given by the Boens, “They’ve give you one more month, if you can’t find anything concrete by then, we’ll be forced to use the NDI.”

Jungkook gasped and took a step back, “No!” the omega whispered in stunned silence, he couldn’t believe it had come down to this so quickly, all he needed was time, he was sure he could extract everything from Taehyung if only they gave him time and he said as much to papa.

“Our allies have made their intentions clear, it’s up to you now to deliver before they force our hand to use more drastic measures.”

“No!”

“Jungkook—” Cassien tried to reason with the omega but Jungkook wasn’t having it.

“They can’t be thinking of using the NDI on him! I…Papa…that’s extreme!”

“It isn’t when its Boens that are losing lives on the frontlines Jungkook! The Admiral—”

“Don’t bring the Admiral into this, that’s not at all the same and you know it!”

“Jungkook—”

“No papa, we didn’t have an in with the Admiral at all, Taehyung has been eating out of my hands ever since your intervention on Ulara, we don’t need extreme measures for the Captain.”

Cassien narrowed his eyes at the omega, “Why do I get the feeling that you’ve become attached to this subject Jungkook?”

“I’m not attached” Jungkook denied vehemently but Cassien could tell that it was a lie.

“If you don’t keep your focus, we’ll be forced to extract you and plant a new spy.”

“I am focused papa, I am! I’m not attached, do you really think I’d want to be attached to an alpha like Kim Taehyung?”

“Then prove it with your actions, you have one month more, get this alpha to talk, otherwise, the Boens have strict orders to move forward with the NDI.”

When Jungkook opened his mouth to protest again, Cassien shook his head, “I don’t make the rules Jungkook, I’ll be leaving now.”

***

Jungkook came back and sat down on his spot, the new deadline and the consequences if he should fail weighing heavily on his mind.

Jimin was as chirpy and hyped as ever as he came down with yet another armload of stuff and Jungkook had just about had it with the beta.

“I’m not carrying any of those for you” he informed succinctly and when Jimin tried to act offended, he resorted to threats, “I’ll inform alpha that you made me carry around heavy baggage’s for hours without having any consideration for my condition.”

The beta deflated at that and said “Let’s go dump all of this in the cabin before coming out again.”

“Again?”

“Of course! It’s shore leave Jungkook-shi, I don’t plan to spend a minute of it sitting around in that cramped cabin.”

And so it was that Jungkook was dragged all the way back to their cabin, once there Jungkook waited as Jimin changed into a sleazier outfit with tight fitting black jeans and a see through black mesh shirt, the beta had also purchased some make-up from one of the many stores they had frequented earlier in the day, so Jungkook sat and looked on as Jimin took out an armload of implements including brushes of varying sizes and a big odd shaped sponge that he put under the tap, allowing water to flow down and get it wet before squeezing the water out of the sponge and sitting back down in front of the mirror to start applying his make-up.

Jungkook observed with morbid curiosity at all the various coloured little bottles decorating the small vanity and asked, “Do you really need all of this to apply make-up?”

Jimin’s vanity table looked like a laboratory station for a very complicated lab experiment, and the way he took out one brush after another and stared into the mirror as he carefully swiped the pigments over various parts of his face looked akin to a scientist measuring reagents and catalysts carefully so as to avoid a messy explosion in a contained lab environment.

Having never applied make-up before, Jungkook found it all a little too complicated and unnecessary. When he voiced this to Jimin, the beta officer laughed and quipped, “Wait till Tae officially mates you and takes you to Centauri, you’d be doing nothing but this for the rest of your life.”

“Why would I do it? I have no interest in covering myself in a mountain of make-up!”

“You’d have no choice, a Kim omega will be expected to look polished and put-together at all times.”

All the more reason for Jungkook to finish his mission and return to Dunara post-haste, with everything that he knew, being Taehyung’s omega felt like a gilded trap.

“Not to worry though” Jimin reassured after realizing how uncomfortable Jungkook looked, “You’d have an army of attendants to dress you and do your hair and make-up.”

Jungkook shuddered internally and walked away from the vanity table allowing the beta to finish perfecting his make-up.

It took Jimin one and a half hours to finish applying his make-up and Jungkook could not help but think what a waste of time it was.

That was until he was dragged outside again.

“Seryndra’s Sights Through The Seeing Sphere” a neon-blue signboard in the middle of a narrow street glowed and pulsed with varying shades of blue and the minute Jimin caught sight of it, he let out a happy noise again and said “It’s a divination fairy!”

The shop in question had an entrance adored with twisting metallic vines and bioluminescent orbs that wrapped around the arched doorway like enchanted roots.

Jimin hurriedly pulled on Jungkook’s hand, voice rich with excitement shouting, “I’ve always wanted someone to read my future! This is gonna be so cool!”

A ringing bell announced the visitors to the shop owner and Jungkook felt himself being surrounded by the same eerie blue orbs that he’d observed outside the shop, the light from the orbs so bright that it made him squint as Jimin pulled him all the way to the front of the store, not pausing for a minute to consider whether it was safe to do so.

‘And you trusted this overgrown shopaholic on a sugar rush to protect me in this shady city?’ Jungkook cursed Taehyung once again as he was forcibly dragged to the front of the store where the ‘divination fairy’ waited to read their future.

The divination fairy’s skin was a smooth and radiant shade of cobalt frost, shimmering faintly beneath the shifting light of neon moons and bioluminescent spores that floated like memory fragments around her sanctum. Every curve of her form seemed chiselled by some divine artisan, and yet fluid—like water caught in a moment of stillness.

Her elongated ears, adorned with delicate sound-threaded orbs, allowed her to hear the vibrations of future timelines, while the bio-mechanical crown fused to her scalp pulsed softly—its lights syncing with the unseen rhythm of cosmic tides. Strings of silvered glyph-beads and pulsar fragments draped from her wrists and neck, relics of extinct constellations she alone remembered. Seated in eternal lotus at the heart of her shop, she cradled her sacred orb: a Seeing Sphere grown from living crystal, harvested from the dreaming roots of the Akari Nebula. The orb hovered weightlessly above her palms, casting glimmers of visions not yet born and whispers not meant to be heard.

In his excitement, Jimin demanded, “How much to read both our futures Miss Seryndra?”

The fairy looked up at Jimin and then at Jungkook, her big blue eyes looking too large on her delicate face.

Jungkook protested immediately, “Hey, just do it for yourself Jimin-shi! Don’t drag me into this!”

Jimin clicked his tongue, “Yah! I promised your alpha I’ll keep you entertained.”

Jungkook snorted humourlessly and crossed his arms in front of his chest, “Really?”

“Yes and it’s no harm done, it’s just a little bit of fun, loosen up and enjoy what little time you’ve got here before you’re locked up in Centauri.”

“I’m not getting locked up anywhere!”

Jungkook was just about to tell Jimin to go ahead and indulge himself without asking him to participate when the fairy spoke up from her perch on her lotus.

“Bold assumption…..for someone who has spent their entire life in a prison.”

Jungkook’s head turned sharply, his eyes wide with shock at the fairy’s declaration, he bristled, finding her remark a tad too uncanny as he snapped at Jimin, “I have no interest in this Jimin-shi, please just let me be.”

“Oh no you don’t! I don’t care if you are, I’m interested now” Jimin turned to the fairy and asked, “What do you mean he’s lived his whole life in a prison?”

The fairy tilted her head and looked sedately at Jimin, the beta raised an eyebrow but when the fairy kept silent he gave up and asked, “How much credit for a reading?”

“Fifty thousand” the fairy said in a soft trilling voice and Jimin’s jaw dropped open in shock.

“That is….” He mumbled under his breath that it was way too expensive and Jungkook saw an opening and tried to reason with the beta.

“See, it’s outrageous, let’s just go”

“No! I want a reading, I’ve wanted one forever.”

“Fine, do it, I’ll wait outside”

Jungkook turned to leave but Jimin grabbed him by the lapels of his collar and pulled him back quickly.

“Uh-uh, you’re not going anywhere, Tae would kill me if I lost you here.”

“I’m not a child Jimin-shi, I’m not going to get lost.”

“You’re supposed to be in my line of sight at all times, so you are staying here and since you are staying here anyway, we might as well get a reading done for you too.”

“But—”

“Sush!”

“Please go ahead and give me a reading first Miss Seryndra”

The fairy took a deep breath, the blue spores surrounding her moving in a flux around her as the crystal sphere she held started to shimmer blue, slowly intensifying it colour as the vortex of luminescent spores around her began to spin like a storm surrounding her delicate frame.

Then Seryndra began to speak in echoes of multiple voices, sonorous and booming around the little shop, making Jungkook take an involuntary step backward even as Jimin stood rooted to his spot.

The future is not a garden to be walked,

But a mirror that fractures upon your gaze.

Every question is a tether.

Every answer, a weight.

To see beyond the veil is to invite its hunger.

Some destinies awaken because they are watched.

Others die because they are named.

The warning resounded in the room making even Jimin take a step back, knowing the future was not what it was cut out to be.

Minutes passed in tense silence before Seryndra’s echoing voice resonated in the room once again, this time with the reading of Jimin’s future.

I see the tide… churning dark and fast.

A still sea no longer.

The currents you trusted will betray you.

The moon has turned her gaze, and the ocean answers in violence.

You will be cast—suddenly, without warning—

From the vessel of your comfort into the vast unknown,

Where direction dissolves and the stars scatter from memory.

There, in the froth and ruin, you will not swim.

You will flail. You will sink.

But one stone breaks the water’s chaos.

A figure—solid, waiting. Not immune to the storm,

But unmoved by it.

You must cling.

Not to what you were,

But to him.

This rock will not call to you.

You must choose.

If you turn away,

The sea will not forgive.

It will swallow you in full, and

None shall remember the shape of your breath.

The tide is already rising.

Do not delay.

The fairy stopped talking as the luminescent spores stopped spinning in the air, the crystal sphere she held started to get dimmer and dimmer until there was nothing left inside except a transparent orb. Jimin’s reading was as ominous as it was confusing, a muddled mess that the beta could not begin to comprehend.

All he caught was that he would be betrayed and that there was a huge change coming in his life, and apparently he had to cling onto someone to survive the change.

Jimin was a little disappointed with such an abstract and puzzling reading. Still, Centauran manners prevented him from showing his disappointment as he pointed to Jungkook and asked, “Now his reading please.”

“Jimin-shi—” Jungkook tried to protest again to no avail, Jimin reassured the fairy that he will pay her a hundred thousand credit and the luminescent spores started to spin once again.

Ah… the song of the caged star. I know it well.

Born beneath a sky you were never allowed to touch.

Not raised, but shaped—

Carved like a blade,

Polished like a jewel,

But never asked what you wished to shine for.

The chains were gilded, yes,

But time made them invisible.

You began to call them purpose.

You whispered their laws like lullabies to yourself,

And forgot the sound of your own will.

But now… now comes the softest rebellion:

A hand.

Not of command—but of care.

And you, creature of obedience,

Quake not from fear—but from being seen.

Yet I see this too—

The hand you longed for, you will bite.

Not out of cruelty…

But because what’s within you does not die

It screams at freedom. It mistrusts touch.

And in the breaking of that bond,

You will stumble into another cage,

Crafted not of iron, but of grief.

There, in that second prison,

I see your heart burning like a fallen star—

Raging, weeping, fighting to return

To what you once destroyed.

But you will not return the same.

No, you will wear the skin of the very beast you feared.

And the only question the Seeing Sphere dares to show is this:

Will love—your love—be strong enough

To open the door to a life

You were never allowed to dream of?

Or will the echo of your chains

Forever call you back?

It was a struggle for Jungkook to not show his emotions, every one of the fairy’s words shook him to his core.

She had called him a caged star, alluding that his entire life was a prison sentence and that he would soon end up in another prison of his own making, that he’d bite the hand that feeds him and drown in grief at the thought of what he had willingly destroyed.

It hit a little too close to home.

And for a few minutes all Jungkook could so was stand and absorb her words, clearly predicting his path in some ways while also not in other ways.

Life back on Dunara was not a prison.

She was wrong. Jungkook was finally going to gain freedom.

Jimin looked between the fairy and Jungkook who looked for the lack of a better term, shaken to his core.

The beta officer wondered whether he should have just let Jungkook be, the omega looked totally spooked by the reading.

“Ahh shit, I hope he doesn’t tell Taehyung I dragged him here and got him upset” Jimin muttered under his breath as he paid the fairy and directed Jungkook out of the peculiar shop.

Once they were outside, Jimin stopped a bit further down the street and said, “Well that was a complete waste of time! I thought I was getting a reading, not a cryptic bedtime story from a stoned poet.”

Jimin laughed and Jungkook smiled back at the beta, regaining his composure bit by bit, the future wasn’t written in stone and he was not a caged star.

Dunara wasn’t a prison. He wasn’t raised in a prison and would not be going back to a prison. The fairy was wrong, exaggerating and blowing things out of proportion.

And Jungkook was not attached to Taehyung, he wasn’t. He just liked the physical part of the relationship because he was so unused to being with an alpha, once he was back in Dunara he could find any number of alphas to satisfy him in bed and he would forget all about Taehyung. He was sure of it, the fairy was a hoax.

And yes, a total waste of time.

 

Notes:

Who here can guess what's gonna happen accurately from the divination fairy's reading for Jungkook? I've given away major spoilers y'all! :D ;)

Chapter 15: An Inkling of Instinct

Summary:

You all went pretty good with the guesses last chapter :) I'm not going to give more spoilers though because where's the fun in that?

And the plot thickens in this chapter.....

Also, I have been having so much fun generating images for this fic with AI and other pinterest inspirations, I hope you all are enjoying the imagery too, I felt it would be a much more immersive experience with images, so I hope you all are enjoying it as much as I like creating it! <3

 

“You want to tell me what this is for?” Yoongi’s face looked pinched as he voiced the question to the Captain, who cast a cursory glance at the General before sighing loud enough for only Yoongi to hear.

“It’s an integral part of an operation General, right now, I know about as much as you do and that is the truth.”

“Is there a reason you’re asking the crew to work on this when Jungkook-shi isn’t here?”

“Yes” Taehyung replied testily, not wanting to go further into his reasons for keeping the omega planet side while crewmen were hauling the massive cylindrical container with a big white hazard symbol marking on the front.

The cylinder was so enormous that it was posing some trouble for the crewmen to haul it into Destiny through the open hatch of the hangar bay.

The crewman who supervised it all from the ground looked like an ant as he stood close to the cylinder and the container went well past the sixth level of the hangar bay where Taehyung and Yoongi were standing to oversee what was happening below.

“So, you still don’t trust him.”

“I’m being cautious, I thought you’d appreciate it.”

“I do Captain.”

Taehyung stared ahead into the distance contemplatively. He had told the truth to Yoongi. As of now, he still didn’t know the purpose of the container.

But looking at the enormity of the thing, Taehyung could hazard a guess that it was not going to be holding anything pretty in the future.

“There’s not enough antimatter in the universe to fill a container this big,” Yoongi remarked as both of them stared at the container ominously.

Taehyung knew this, which was why the container was giving him a very bad feeling; he was not happy about having to carry it on Destiny, especially not without knowing what the purpose of the monstrosity was.

“Perhaps it’s some new prototype weapon?” Yoongi wondered aloud, in his long service in the military he had never quite seen anything of this scale and magnitude, it rang alarm bells inside his mind. So far, he had been wondering why the Captain wanted Destiny to remain on the fringes of the war and take an unexpected detour to Tessellera, however, he was now experiencing an ominous feeling of being caught in the center of the conflict, the Captain wasn’t planning on avoiding the melee, he was throwing them all right into the fray.

“Perhaps….” Taehyung murmured wondering what his mother and the Centaurum had cooked up, the last time he had spoken to his mother, she had told him that the Centaurum was experiencing heavy losses at the frontlines of the war and that the government was preparing an attack so great that it would all but force their enemies to retreat.

Taehyung had no doubt that this container was going to play a part in the attack, he just didn’t know how.

“I’m also assuming it’s not a coincidence that you’re sending all the two hundred and fifty personnel Aria identified as suspicious with the transfer contingent?”

“It’s not, I am sending them away to keep this as classified as it can be.”

“And you don’t think Jungkook-shi should be the first person of that transfer contingent?”

When Taehyung kept quiet and didn’t respond, Yoongi bristled, “Taehyung-ah, I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you or what you have going on with another alpha, but Aria highlighted his name first! You cannot be dumb enough to keep him on this ship when he should be the first person you should be kicking out if we really are going to be a part of such a sensitive mission!”

“I can’t kick him out Yoongi.”

“Why? Because you’re fucking him?”

Taehyung’s voice was icy when he addressed the General, “Careful there General, you’re accusing me of fraternizing with a crewmember.”

“Damn right I am! I’m no fool Taehyung, whatever is your deal with him is not my business, but when you’re acting in a manner that could endanger this crew, then it is my duty to stop you from making stupid decisions.”

“He won’t know anything about this, I’m sending away all the members who are working on installing the container in the hangar bay and cordoning off this hangar bay till we reach Centauri. It will be code locked so that only you or I can access it.”

“And you don’t think Jungkook-shi won’t have questions about why more than half of the crew is being sent away?”

“I’ll tell him it’s a standard deployment; these things happen all the time, especially in a war.”

“You don’t think the XO would know that the ship is still weighing as much as it did with the full crew and get suspicious?”

“I’ve calibrated the instruments to make sure that the ship's weight appears lower than it is. He can’t find out, and neither can anyone else.”

“I think you’re underestimating his intelligence.”

Taehyung smirked at Yoongi, “Is that a compliment Yoongi-shi?”

“I’ve never doubted his acumen Captain, that is precisely why I am weary of him.”

“I’ve to tell Jungkook you think so highly of him, he’s under the impression that you hate him for no reason.”

“I do dislike him and with good reason.”

“Gosh Yoongi, you’re not even capable of lying and putting on a front, are you?”

“It was not so very long ago when you were the same.”

“I’ve since realized I acted unfairly and alienated him from the crew.”

“Was this realization bolstered by your sudden camaraderie with him?”

“Yah…” Taehyung sighed, “You really do think I would put my life and career on the line like that, don’t you?”

Yoongi paused, the alpha looked conflicted for a moment before he met the Captain’s eyes once again and said, “Before, I knew you would never, you’re a Kim after all but now…..I’m not so sure Captain.”

“I’m still a Kim General, and family comes before everything to me.”

The General said nothing; they stared at the monstrosity that was finally bolted down to the hangar bay floor after forty crewmen had worked for more than eight hours to haul it inside and secure it to the ship. The silence could have been companionable if it wasn’t so foreboding; a dooming feeling encompassed the crewmen and both the senior officers standing watch like sentinels above them.

There was going to be a reckoning soon and they didn’t know if they’d survive it.

***

Taehyung was waiting for the buzzer to go off, and when it did, he winced and rubbed his temples before turning back to his sofa and looking at the bundle that he hoped would get him out of this pickle.

He pressed the remote control for the cabin door and it slid open to reveal Jungkook.

Jungkook who was fuming and clearly upset.

He walked straight into the cabin and Taehyung shut the door behind him, trying to avert disaster, Taehyung asked “How was your trip to Tessellera? Did you do anything interesting?”

“Shut up! You know why I’m here!” Jungkook yelled, not caring about being heard as the Captain had informed him that his cabin was soundproof when they were doing some very compromising things on his bed.

“Mmmm? Honestly, I was just going to—”

“You want to tell me why six hundred and seventy members of this crew have been sent away without my knowledge when I’m the XO of this ship?”

“Oh….” Taehyung acted as though it was genuinely surprising to him that Jungkook would get so angry and offended about this, “It’s a standard deployment baby, happens a lot because we’re at war. It’s nothing you should concern yourself with.”

Jungkook felt even more angry at the dismissiveness in Taehyung’s voice and demeanor; the alpha really had no respect for him whatsoever.

“Don’t treat me like I’m dumb Taehyung, I know you’re hiding something from me!”

“I’m not, and are we really going to have this argument? Again?”

“We wouldn’t have to if you’d trust me enough to tell me why you’re making all these decisions.”

“Trust? Really? We’re going to talk about this again? You really want to do this?”

“Yes! You don’t trust me, which means you don’t respect me. I’m still the XO of this ship, how can you take decisions like this without consulting me? Without even asking me for my opinion? You blindsided me and I had to find out from the younger cadets!”

Taehyung crossed his arms in front of his chest, he wasn’t having this from Jungkook, especially when the omega was being such a hypocrite.

“But baby, you don’t trust me either. You want to tell me why your files are classified?”

“I can’t tell you because they are!”

“It’s the same thing for me, I can’t tell you because it’s classified. What I don’t understand is why you’re pushing this and making it an issue when you should know what ‘classified’ means.”

“I—” Jungkook couldn’t fault the alpha’s logic. This was the same thing Taehyung said to him when they fought before the alpha left for Tessellera.

“What? Cat got your tongue? Are you realizing that you’re being such a hypocrite? Or do you think being my omega should automatically give you special privileges to know what the Centauran government has entrusted to me?”

Taehyung didn’t want to be so harsh with Jungkook after not having seen him for two days and leaving after an argument but Jungkook was making it difficult for him to be reasonable.

Jungkook was being a hypocrite and he knew it but saying it wouldn’t get him anything, so he resorted to an altogether different form of manipulation.

With his eyes downturned and shoulders slumping in dejection, he said “No, it hurts me that you don’t really trust me after all this time.”

Taehyung couldn’t look at the omega looking so crestfallen and still maintain his rigid stance, he walked forward and pulled Jungkook into his arms, “Don’t….I’ll tell you everything soon, once we reach Centauri.”

When Jungkook kept refusing to meet Taehyung’s eyes and kept looking down the alpha tipped the omega’s chin up, the omega’s eyes were glassy with unshed tears and Taehyung felt a prick of guilt settle right into his chest as he sighed heavily and told Jungkook, “I have a gift for you.”

He expected the omega’s eyes to light up in excitement and for Jungkook to forget all about their fight but when Jungkook looked at him blankly, Taehyung fumbled and backtracked, confidence disappearing as he loudly declared “You’re going to love it!”

Jungkook rolled his eyes and snapped “It better not be a make-up kit, Jimin-shi already got me ten of those and told me I need to practice before we reach Centauri.”

Taehyung turned Jungkook around and pushed him towards the sofa where the bundle sat undisturbed, “It’s not make-up.”

When Jungkook finally reached closer to the sofa, he could clearly see something swaddled in a big soft white furry blanket.

He gasped when he went closer and the thing that was swaddled inside the blankets became visible.

“What is this?” he asked in shock as he leaned forward and surveyed the creature more closely, it had the most mesmerizingly large eyes Jungkook had ever seen in his life.

Barely larger than a teacup, the creature shimmered with ethereal light — its fur a lattice of soft, crystalline filaments that caught even the faintest glimmer like freshly fallen snow under moonlight. Twin prismatic ears crowned its head, shaped from translucent ice that pulsed gently with hues of lavender and silver when touched by warmth. Its enormous, soulful eyes seemed to hold constellations within them as it looked up at Jungkook warmly, in sharp contrast to the ice crystalline nature of its appearance.

“It’s a glass hound….well technically a glass puppy now but its from Tessellera and it’s for you.”

Jungkook looked at the thing like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

He had never seen anything like it before, it looked so adorable and cuddly that it threw off his focus on the mission for a whole minute. Then he realized what Taehyung had said and asked, “What do you mean it’s for me? What am I supposed to do with it?”

“What do you mean what you’re supposed to do with it? It’s a gift, it’s your pet….that is if you want to keep it of course.”

Then Taehyung realized that Jungkook might not really want to keep it, the omega didn’t look thrilled at his revelation, “No problems if you don’t want to, though, it’s going to be hard to get this critter back to his homeworld now. I can find someone in the crew who is willing to adopt it maybe….”

Pets were a foreign concept to Jungkook.

There were no pets in Dunara so the idea seemed alien and daunting to Jungkook who looked at the little glass puppy contemplatively.

He was scared to even touch the thing, what if he accidentally dropped it and it broke and died in a million pieces of glass shards?

When he said as much to Taehyung the alpha laughed and said, “Yah, it is just a regular old puppy, have you never had pets before?”

Jungkook had never even seen a pet before in his life so he blinked and answered, “No, I haven’t.”

The omega still didn’t look enthusiastic about the puppy, so Taehyung offered to put it up for adoption again, “If you think it’s going to be too much, there’s no pressure, I can put it up for adoption.”

Jungkook looked at the thing again, the puppy blinked and opened its tiny mouth and yawned.

“No!” the omega sat down close to the bundle of blankets the puppy was swaddled in and looked at it reverentially as it opened its mouth and let out a small yip, “I want it” he decided at last, how hard could it be to look after a puppy?

Besides, the thing was too cute to give up.

If he gave it up and saw it in somebody else’s hands, he wouldn’t be happy with it. Jungkook didn’t want to really examine why when it was just a strange critter from an alien planet.

“Are you sure? He’s going to need a lot of care, especially when he’s a puppy.”

“How long is he going to be a puppy?”

“Well, he is five months of age now, so probably another eight months till he reaches maturity.”

“Oh! That’s a long time!” Jungkook exclaimed as he tilted his head this way and that to look at the puppy.

Taehyung laughed out loud, “Not at all, you do know human babies take a lot longer to reach adulthood, don’t you?”

Well, he supposed Taehyung was right.

“Eighteen years to be precise, that’s eighteen years of us having them in our nest at Ecliptarion.”

Jungkook turned back to look at the alpha in stunned silence, on Dunara, children reached maturity a lot earlier, way earlier, and there was no concept of keeping them in a nest. Jungkook had only been a real baby for two years, from the third year onwards humanoid babies on Dunara were considered to be completely independent and capable of taking care of themselves.

Taehyung couldn’t help it, he bowled over laughing at the shock on Jungkook’s face, “Yah! Why do you look so afraid?”

When Jungkook failed to find the situation amusing and kept quiet instead, Taehyung quieted down, eyes still swimming with mirth he reassured, “I’ll be right there through it all, so there’s no need for you to look so worried.”

“You told me I’d have to let them nest with me for eighteen years! Eighteen!”

“I didn’t mean it literally, did you bury your omega so deep and never plan to acknowledge it in your life that you missed learning anything at all about raising babies?”

“I didn’t think I was going to be raising any.” Jungkook returned sharply, and Taehyung squinted at the omega before his expression smoothed out into a more neutral one.

“Babies will have to nest with you only for the first six months; after that they can be safely transported to a crib, though sometimes they might want to stay with you longer.”

Jungkook breathed a sigh of relief and then returned, “I hope not, I will strongly discourage it.”

“You’re saying that now, but it will be you who is crying when they want some independence and won’t tolerate being your little nestling any longer.”

Jungkook strongly doubted that he’d ever feel that level of maternal instinct in his life. Even if he used his own genetic material for a developmental pod on Dunara, he doubted he’d become attached to his biological pup; it just wasn’t the way in Dunara.

Suddenly, the puppy yipped and started to fuss inside the blankets, letting out pitiful whimpers that made Jungkook feel anxious by just looking at the thing shivering inside the blankets.

“What’s wrong? Why’s it looking like it’s going to cry? Is it cold? Is it sick? Is it…breaking?”

Taehyung rolled his eyes, he couldn’t believe how silly Jungkook was acting over a pet, “For the last time, it’s not going to break just because it looks like glass. It’s a young pup, it probably just feels hungry.”

Jungkook glared at Taehyung and shouted at the alpha for being so irresponsible, “Well, what are you standing there for? It’s hungry, do something about it!”

The pup started to fuss some more, it’s eyes leaking real tears now and Jungkook’s voice got more shrill as he demanded, “Did you forget to prepare food for the pup when you know it feels hungry so often?”

“Yah! I just brought it here!” Taehyung said defensively as he slid his feet into his slippers.

“How can you be so useless?”

“Just keep it calm for a bit, I’ll be back soon with a bottle for him.”

“Wait wait wait, what do you mean keep it calm? How am I supposed to keep it calm?” Jungkook was panicking and Taehyung was already thinking it was a bad idea to bring a glass hound for the omega.

“Just pick him up and hold him in your arms omega! Do some rocking motions, distract him.” On second thought, perhaps it was a good idea; the omega could practice on the puppy, perhaps then he’d be less overwhelmed when their baby would arrive soon.

“Taehyung! I don’t know how to hold it, what if I crush it?”

“You won’t!” Taehyung walked back to the sofa and picked up the entire bundle before carefully dropping the bundle on Jungkook’s lap.

“If you’re so scared to drop him, just hold him with the blankets until I return.”

“What—Taehyung! No!” Jungkook’s pleas fell on deaf ears as Taehyung marched out of the room and left Jungkook alone with a crying pup.

Jungkook sat frozen on couch as the weight settled in his lap, the cries louder and more heartbreaking to hear now.

He didn’t have the faintest idea of what to do.

What did Taehyung say again?

Suddenly, the puppy twisted hard enough for the bundle to move from Jungkook’s lap and the omega threw his hand out hastily and stopped the blanket and the little puppy from falling onto the floor of the cabin.

Feeling like he had no choice but to pick the thing up, Jungkook carefully arranged the blanket around the puppy before slowly lifting it with his hands, thankfully what Taehyung said turned out to be true and the pup began to calm down and stopped whimpering.

The weight of the relief was immense and Jungkook finally allowed himself to cuddle closer to the puppy who watched avidly as the omega rubbed his cheeks onto the blanket and booped the puppy’s nose affectionately.

“Are you still hungry?” Jungkook asked knowing that the puppy wouldn’t understand anything he said anyway.

It was a puppy.

So why was he speaking to it as if it were a human?

“I’m sorry Taehyung didn’t have something ready for you, what a thoughtless, useless alpha, right?” he asked as he gently rocked the pup which had started whimpering again.

The rocking motions seemed to help too and the pup quietened again.

“I suppose you’re mine to care for from now and I promise you, I will have that alpha have everything for you here from now on.”

It never even occurred to Jungkook that, technically, it was his pet, and he should be the one running to the kitchen to grab a bottle for the pup.

When Taehyung returned, he got another earful from Jungkook before the omega yanked the warm bottle from his hands and fed the puppy confidently from his hand, the uncertainty with which he handled the pup disappearing as he continued to berate Taehyung for letting the puppy go hungry for so long.

Both alpha and omega ended up spending the entire night playing with the puppy until it got so tired that it quietly slunk into the blankets and fell asleep. Jungkook hadn’t wanted to leave it on the couch to sleep, so the puppy now slept on top of Jungkook, swaddled in the blankets and carefully held by the omega’s hands as both omega and puppy slept looking serene and peaceful to Taehyung who stood and observed the heart-warming sight.

“And here I thought you didn’t have any mothering instinct whatsoever,” Taehyung whispered into the silence of the cabin, unable to take his eyes away from Jungkook and the pup neatly swaddled in the blankets and enjoying the warmth of the omega’s body as he slept.

 

---

Notes:

What are we naming this puppy?

Chapter 16: Ghost Mass

Summary:

Hello everyone, sorry about the long wait on this one, I've been swamped with work recently and didn't have much time to dedicate to write the next chapter.

Jungkook figures something out in this chapter.....and the puppy's name is.....read to find out ;)

 

“I shouldn’t be allowing…mpff…” Jungkook found himself unable to speak because Taehyung closed his mouth over his, effectively cutting off any protests, the omega closed his eyes as he felt Taehyung enter him, paying no mind to his muffled protests as he buried himself to the hilt.

The alpha started to move, and it was only after he started to languorously thrust into Jungkook just the way he knew the omega liked it that Jungkook could talk again.

Taehyung smirked down at the omega, knowing that Jungkook probably lost his train of thought. The omega always did whenever he was on his back for the alpha.

It pleased Taehyung immensely to see how affected Jungkook was every time they did this, how the omega who once argued with him at every turn became completely speechless as Taehyung played his body like a beloved flute.

“What were you saying baby?” the alpha asked, needling the omega at the most inopportune time, when all Jungkook wanted to do was throw his head back and moan out loud, the pleasure coiling in his belly making him a little dumb and pliant, unable to help himself as he let go and surrendered to the alpha and his heavy body covering him and swallowing his entire frame, Jungkook felt tiny and fragile when he was under Taehyung like this. As much as he fooled himself into thinking he was no different from an alpha, he couldn’t deny their obvious differences when it was so blatantly visible, like this, Taehyung could crush him if he wanted to. But the alpha was always gentle, the strength coiled inside his body was always restrained when it came to Jungkook, Taehyung didn’t so much as lean down to put all his weight on Jungkook, knowing that he was too heavy, and his touch was always measured and devastatingly purposeful and gentle, the omega always felt awash with a sense of deep security inside the alpha’s arms and it was only because he felt that way that he was able to submit completely. The knowledge that his submission would be honored by the alpha.

Still, Jungkook hadn’t yet forgotten about the fact that Taehyung overrode his authority completely and sent away more than half of Destiny’s crew without even consulting him.

So, he tried to speak up though all he could feel at the moment was Taehyung’s cock and how good it felt to have it inside his pussy.

“I—We shouldn’t—ahhh—be doing this” he said at last as he panted with exertion, the alpha picked up the pace and Jungkook fisted the sheets in his hands and bit his lip to stop himself from moaning out loud. Puppy was with them and asleep, he really didn’t think it was right for them to be doing this with the puppy asleep on the couch.

“Ohh? Do you want me to stop?” Taehyung taunted as he stopped moving and just rolled his hips, a loud keen, a silent, “Tae—please—” and the alpha grinned down triumphantly at Jungkook.

“You said we shouldn’t be doing this,” Taehyung teased as he took Jungkook’s legs in his hands and pushed them up, exposing Jungkook’s sex even further.

“Puppy—sleeping,” Jungkook said like it was obvious. Taehyung turned around to look at the couch, and the little critter was still fast asleep, undisturbed by their shenanigans.

“You still haven’t come up with a name for him?”

“I was busy! Thanks to someone offloading an entire crew without my knowledge!”

“Hmmm…..how about Bambi?”

“What? What does that mean?”

Taehyung’s reaction was automatic, making Jungkook wince internally at yet another cultural faux pas.

“You don’t know Bambi?”

“No?” Jungkook’s voice was small and unsure; he was certain that this was yet another Centauran culture gap that he had displayed without thought. Frankly, it was a wonder that Taehyung hadn’t caught on to what was going on with how much ignorance Jungkook displayed on common cultural phenomena related to Centauri.

“God, didn’t you ever have a holoboard, slumber parties, or birthday bashes as a child?”

Jungkook did, in fact, know what a holoboard was because most of Dunara’s classes were taught with one and an AI instructor, but he didn’t have one at his home while growing up, neither did he have slumber parties or birthday bashes.

“No, my parents didn’t really believe in all of that stuff” Jungkook revealed and started to feel self-conscious when Taehyung’s eyes softened in sympathy.

Taehyung could see how lost Jungkook looked and in a bid to cheer up the omega, the alpha said, “Well, I’ll introduce you to all my favorite Earth-era films back on Centauri, we have a whole holo-theatre deck in Ecliptarion, and we’ll have our very own slumber parties there.”

Jungkook smiled at the alpha, it always disarmed him when Taehyung planned their future out loud.

It was getting harder for Jungkook to not imagine a fantasy land where he could actually live the life Taehyung envisioned for them.

“Okay” he agreed easily as he closed his legs around Taehyung’s back, ankles digging into the alpha’s tailbone to push Taehyung to finish what he’d started.

“Bambi is going to wake up soon”

Jungkook turned to look in the direction of the couch but Taehyung was obstructing his line of sight.

“I didn’t agree for Bambi! You didn’t even tell me what it is!”

“Bambi is a deer, that’s an Earth animal that inhabits the forests of Alpha Centauri even today.”

“Why would we name our puppy after another Earth animal?”

“Because Bambi has big soulful eyes just like the puppy.”

Jungkook pouted, the puppy did have big and captivating eyes, but he’d never seen this ‘Bambi’ before to know if it was apt, when he said as much to the alpha, Taehyung rolled his eyes and said “We’ll watch it after our….after this today.”

“Mmmm….he’s going to wake up soon.”

“I guess,” Taehyung said and Jungkook was about to suggest they better stop but before he could, the alpha pulled away from his embrace and demanded, “Turn around and present for me.”

Jungkook narrowed his eyes at the alpha, “And why would I do that?”

“We don’t have much time before the critter decides to wake up.”

“So?”

“So, you come faster when I take you from the back.”

“That’s not true!” Jungkook parroted back, looking offended by the alpha’s suggestion.

Taehyung raised an eyebrow at the omega and waited, “It’s not true! I don’t have—I just—” thinking back, however, Jungkook had to stop; he did, in fact, like it more when he was presenting because the position always made the alpha hit his sweet spot right on.

He turned around to lie on his stomach on the bed, “I’m doing this only for Bambi!”

“Uh-huh” Taehyung laughed, grabbing the omega’s hips, he pulled Jungkook up until he was on all fours on the bed, “I believe you baby” he threw it out sarcastically before he parted the omega’s ass cheeks to look at his pussy, dripping slick and clenching around nothing.

He fisted his cock as the sight made him hornier than ever, he was fucking Jungkook almost every day since they started getting closer, all the while knowing how deeply unprofessional it was to get involved with a crew member like this.

His plan had always been to wait until they reached Centauri and made it official, but the omega was too tempting to resist.

Sometimes, as Jungkook slept blissfully unaware of the alpha’s thoughts, Taehyung was terrified of the power Jungkook had over him.

He was risking his family, his career, and his position in Centauri by fraternizing with a ranking officer on Destiny.

It should be enough for common sense to kick in and for him to put some distance between them.

But every time the omega came knocking on his cabin door, Taehyung invited him in.

And every time Jungkook looked at him with those big doe eyes begging with obvious desire, Taehyung followed as if in a trance.

He was completely under the omega’s thrall and today was no different, he hissed in pleasure as he buried himself inside the omega’s wet pussy, the scorching warmth feeling like blessed heaven as he snapped his hips and set up a punishing pace meant to make Jungkook come as quickly as humanly possible.

“Ahhh—fuck alpha—ahh—right there—ahhh—”

Jungkook couldn’t muffle his moans if his life depended on it, so Taehyung closed his hand over the omega’s mouth and licked the shell of Jungkook’s ear as he taunted, “The puppy is still here you know…”

“Mmmpff”

It didn’t matter that he’d closed Jungkook’s mouth because the sounds of their skin slapping together was loud in the cabin.

Jungkook closed his eyes and slumped his head forward as the alpha’s cock pistoned into him over and over again, hitting his sweet spot with cruel precision, making pleasure build and coil inside his belly until he came apart completely, shudders overtaking his body as his channel spasmed and milked the alpha’s cock dry, the alpha’s fangs coming out and biting down on his shoulder as he growled and came inside him, knot swelling and locking the omega in place with no room to escape.

Taehyung reveled in the feeling of his knot being cushioned inside the omega's wet heat for a long moment before maneuvering the omega to lie on his side so that he could comfortably rest for the time they were locked together.

Observing the rather deep bite he had inflicted, Taehyung apologized softly to Jungkook before closing his mouth to lick over the wound. It was getting harder and harder to control his urge to bite down and claim the omega for good.

So far, he was resisting but he didn’t know how long he possibly could.

The alpha and omega were cuddled together in repose, bodies and minds completely satiated. Jungkook’s eyes were vacantly observing the galaxy outside, his limbs loose in a way he only experienced after sleeping together with the alpha.

Suddenly, the ship lurched forcefully, turning sideways so hard that Jungkook had to hold on firmly to the bed to stop himself from rolling down onto the floor. The alpha’s office chair rolled on its wheels to bang against the bedframe and then rolled back to bang against the side wall. Jungkook felt the G-force hit him square in the chest, the feeling triggering his motion sickness as he clutched his stomach and tried to stop the ringing feeling in his head.

A loud whimper cut through the room and Jungkook’s head snapped to look at the puppy that had fallen off of the couch and onto the floor in a rude awakening.

The ship shuddered once again, almost like a minor landquake had gone through it before stilling just as abruptly as it had started shaking.

Jungkook jumped off the bed and immediately ran towards the puppy who was visibly scared and begging to be picked up and cuddled inside the omega’s arms.

In just a few days, Jungkook had learned exactly how to calm the pup down so he rocked the pup back and forth in his arms while whispering soothingly and petting his head.

The pup calmed down once he was able to sense and feel the familiar feeling of being cuddled in the omega’s arms, Jungkook looked up at Taehyung who was suspiciously silent throughout the whole ordeal and wasn’t checking what was happening to his ship.

“What just happened?”

“We probably just made a hard turn” Taehyung said it as though gravitational fluctuations were a  routine occurrence on a diamond class warship of the Centaurum.

Jungkook frowned, “What? You know that can’t be right, the gravitational compensators are there to prevent fluctuations inside the ship irrespective of the ship's position and orientation in space.”

“I know, they must still be calibrating for the sudden loss of mass.”

As far as Jungkook knew, such systems were completely automated on Dunara’s spaceships, and having read the Centauran ships' specs thoroughly, he knew that grav comp systems were automated on Destiny too.

Taehyung was obviously lying once again.

Jungkook hummed and let it go for now, pushing further would only make Taehyung realize that he was onto him.

Instead, Jungkook pivoted to another topic, “Can we watch Bambi now?”

“Sure, I’ll get it from the holoboard archives. You should probably get him a bottle before he starts crying for it.”

Jungkook looked at the poor pup that still looked obviously shaken by the whole experience, usually, Bambi started crying for a bottle as soon as he was awake again, that he didn’t now just let Jungkook know how spooked the pup was.

“It’s okay, let’s go get some food, hmmm? How about that?” he spoke to the pup with a high voice in typical baby-talk that adults tended to use with young children, and Taehyung smiled at both of them from where he was setting up his screen to work as a holoboard.

Jungkook’s mind was stirring as they watched Bambi with Bambi cuddled in Jungkook’s arms. Jungkook agreed with the name after seeing Bambi on the holoboard’s screen; the cartoon character’s eyes were just as wide and innocent as the puppy’s.

Why were the gravitational compensators failing? They were designed to simulate the gravitational forces on land in Centauri, making it comfortable for long-term military deployments, such as the Destiny. They were as essential to long-haul space missions as the air-filtering systems that maintained an adequate level of oxygen inside the ship; they should not be failing, and Taehyung should not be reacting in such a lackadaisical manner about them failing.

***

Down in the systems annex, the air was colder. That wasn’t unusual — thermal flow was less regulated near engineering spines. But today, it felt deliberate. Jungkook shivered in his thin overalls; crew personnel usually wore a padded insulation jacket to enter this corridor of the ship. Usually, Jungkook would be wearing his red coloured Centauran military jacket over his overalls, but today he couldn’t let anyone in the crew know what he was up to in the systems annex.

So, he crept forward, keeping his steps light to not alert any unsuspecting crew member who could be working the graveyard shift. It was highly unlikely that he would meet anyone here now; he made sure to pick a time of the day when the ship was operating on a standard skeletal crew. Still, one could never be too careful. Especially when Taehyung, Jimin, and Yoongi still suspected him of being up to no good.

It was dark down at the systems control room, the only light coming from the consoles themselves and making it feel eerie and desolate. Tucked away in the lower bowels of the ship, far from the sleek lines of the bridge or the hum of habitation decks, the Systems Annex was a forgotten artery — essential, yet unseen.

Inside, the air was heavy with the sterile tang of coolant, and every wall was lined with interlaced cables, insulated pipes, and towering racks of control modules that pulsed with cold, algorithmic life. A vertical diagnostic console blinked with cryptic schematics, its readout scrolling across a curved display in hues of electric blue and amber. Beside it, a manual override terminal sat idle, dusted with age but ready — a relic from a time when hands still did what AI now performed blindly.

Conduits snaked across the floor, like fossilized serpents, guiding intruders toward a narrow corridor that trailed deeper into the annex’s underbelly. The hum of subsystems reverberated faintly through the steel grates beneath one's boots — the constant, ceaseless breath of a machine too large to slumber.

This place wasn't built for people.

It was designed to be endured, not inhabited — a space where technicians worked in shifts and silence, where secrets could be hidden in plain sight, buried beneath layers of hardware no one questioned unless the ship was dying.

Despite himself, Jungkook felt a shiver run through his spine.

“Stop being stupid, it’s just a systems annex, it’s just another part of the ship,” Jungkook berated himself for feeling scared; he didn’t understand why, but lately his emotions were all over the place. He found himself experiencing the strangest emotions at odd hours of the day, and for a person like him, who was conditioned to feel neutral about everything, it was jarring to experience the strength of his own emotions.

He looked at the vertical panel containing the auxiliary consoles; the main consoles were located in the ship's hub and heavily monitored by Aria and by the ship's engineers. The auxiliary consoles in the systems annex, however, were an afterthought; they were legacy systems that the Centaurum hadn’t bothered to integrate into the main systems because manual systems control was totally archaic in modern spacefaring. Therefore, the auxiliary consoles were excluded from the main surveillance grid, and there was no real oversight for who was accessing data from the consoles in the systems annex.

In short, there was no way Taehyung or other personnel on the ship would know that he had accessed system data once he deleted his logs after running a system diagnostics today.

Jungkook looked around in the dark once again to make sure no one was tailing him and once he was confident that he was entirely alone, he keyed into the auxiliary consoles and asked to run a ship system diagnostics.

Unlike the main consoles, which responded within a fraction of a second, it took a couple of minutes for the diagnostics to be completed, and when they did, there was nothing there that immediately flagged red to Jungkook.

That is, until he took a closer look at the Gravitational Compensator logs, the last entry for which was flagged in yellow.

Manual calibration override – Authorized: Cpt. Kim Taehyung

Jungkook blinked and chewed his lip as his mind churned.

Why would Taehyung calibrate the grav-comp after dropping nearly a third of the crew at Tessellera? The ship should be lighter. The compensator should have self-adjusted. He opened the linked resource tree.

Expected crew manifest: 1552

Adjusted load mass: 1552 personnel equivalent

Reported total ship mass: 154,063 tonnes

Previous total ship mass: 154,033 tonnes

An increase of 30 tonnes.

That couldn’t be right. Six hundred and seventy people had disembarked at Tessellera.

Jungkook exhaled slowly.

Why were the logs showing an increase in ship mass?

He scrolled lower, beneath grav-comp entries lay the fuel efficiency matrix — auto-generated for every major cruise vector. If Destiny were lighter, as it should be after dropping off 670 crew members, it should’ve required less reactor draw during departure.

But the line graph was flat. Reactor consumption hadn’t dropped. If anything, it had crept upward by half a percent.

He stared at it.

If Destiny’s power consumption was holding steady… then something was maintaining the same drag mass.

A vent clicked open suddenly behind him, a cold blast of air hitting his back and making him shiver again.

His hands were ice cold, and his breath was misting in the air around him.

He backed out of the console slowly and cleared the logs from his access history.

As he stepped back into the corridor, the artificial gravity surged once more, subtle as a heartbeat. Not enough to knock a glass off a shelf. But enough for him to know:

Something else was onboard.

And it was heavy.

And Taehyung had used his authority to override the automatic grav-comp calibrator, forcing the system to accept a static mass profile.

Now that Jungkook knew something was onboard the Destiny and weighing more than six-seventy crew members and their belongings, the burning question was, what was it?

What was so heavy that it caused more fuel burn than six hundred and seventy personnel?

And why was Taehyung keeping it a secret?

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of In the Space of Time