Chapter Text
The office is bright. Too bright. The sunlight spilling through the large window walls. The office has central air conditioning running but somehow Jimin can feel his collar sticking to his neck. Not bothering about the bothersome sensation of him sweating, he types away.
He has to finish updating the documentation according to the latest changes in the workflow. Honestly, if he is asked if this documentation is needed, he would scream ‘no’. Nevertheless, he is here in his corporate job for the money, not to evaluate if this documentation is needed or not. Which is why, he is going to type away and complete the documentation and do a real good job in it too.
“Once you complete the documentation” Soojoon, his alpha manager, stands near his cubicle. “I want you to ask Lee Hyun on the steps on fix the network related issue that happened last week and prepare needed UAC documentation”
Lee Hyun, another alpha, who is his manager’s ever so favourite employee.
Jimin wouldn’t be so bitter about it, if only his manager gives him enough credit for what he does. He doesn’t have to ask Lee Hyun to know about those stupid steps, he knows it himself. In fact, he is the one who found the way to resolve the issue in the first place. Lee Hyun only chimed in at the very last minute, only to verify if their environments were stable after Jimin resolved the issue. If anything, Lee Hyun is the one who should ask Jimin the stps to fix the issue.
“I have two more urgent tasks to complete. I will have to -” Jimin finally looks up at his manager.
“Right, you are falling behind, seek Taemin’s help if you need any assistance in your tasks” His manager cuts his sentence.
“I do not need Taemin’s help. All I am saying is -” Jimin tries to be firmer this time.
“Jimin, this is urgent, the management wants this done by the end of tomorrow.” Soo Joon cuts his sentences again.
Jimin feels his anger bubbling up, but he just clenches his jaws and nods. With that his manager leaves his cubicle space. Relieve washes over Jimin because he hates that alpha’s scent. Too earthy for his liking. The scent of the alpha smells like raw mud.
Being the only omega in the team has been hard for Jimin. Alphas are so entitled, they think they are always right. They never take valid suggestions from Jimin into consideration.
Jimin is intelligent, smart, and a team player. He could resolve all of the issues that the rest of the team are handling right now, all by himself in two days but he has long stopped showcasing his fullest potential. No matter how many times he has proven himself to be able to handle high priority tasks promptly, his manager has never acknowledged it.
So Jimin will take up all these measly tasks while scoffing off at alphas struggling on tasks that he would have eaten for breakfast. He will watch the team struggle over something his suggestions would have definitely helped.
His manager cutting off his sentence twice must have worked him up a lot because he is sweating all over. His shirt is sticking to his back.
He takes a bathroom break.
His face is all pink and flushed, some strands of hair are sticking to his forehead. He feels warm.
“Why -” Jimin huffs “ - am I getting too worked up over this?” Jimin murmurs while splashing some cold water to his face over the sink.
His lower stomach churns in unease. He did not eat anything weird, why is he feeling so squeasy, he thinks to himself. Is it the doughnut from the new bakery?
“Oh?” He pulls out his phone to check his heat tracker app.
Oh.
Just about time for his next heat cycle. He goes back to his desk and quickly applies a week long leave. Leaves for heats and ruts get approved immediately. He closes his laptop and gets up to leave.
“Heyyyy” Taemin comes to his cubicle. “I heard you need some assistance from me,” he jests, while standing a little too close to Jimin’s liking.
“I actually don’t need your help for that task” Jimin shoves his laptop in his bag. “But I will be taking off for a week, you can finish up the task for me. Everything you need is in our team's channel” His tone is monotonous and cold.
“Hmm? One week off?” Taemin hums. “Are you going for a vacation?” He moves closer to Jimin.
“Move away.” Taemin’s scent, pines and earth, makes Jimin want to puke. “Stop bothering me”
Jimin shoves past him without even a goodbye, he hears Taemin chuckle. Jimin rolls his eyes as he exits his office.
“What’s there to laugh about?” Jimin murmurs to himself.
The way all the alphas are so entitled and think omegas are subservient to them. Omegas only exist to be bred and carry pups. Most omegas resign their jobs once they are mated, to submit to their alphas and carry pups.
Of course, the world is slowly changing, some parts of the world speak more openly about equal rights but submitting to an alpha is still a norm and expected from an omega.
Jimin hates this because he knows omegas are equally capable as alpha if not better. Omegas tend to resolve conflict with proper reasoning and communication. Alphas are just entitled. Once their ego is threatened and their poor alpha’s pride is wounded, they start using their strength to assert superiority.
The amount of fights alphas get into in general is almost hilarious. You don’t see an omega punching down another omega on the street over something silly. Alphas punching each other on the street is a common occurrence. It is almost diabolical that the world sees them as leaders and omegas as the followers.
Of course, Jimin has alpha friends who he is close with but he definitely sees vast disparity between his omega and alpha friends. His omega friends are far more empathetic and have higher emotional intelligence. Sure, he has seen some alphas in social media who are as empathetic, but so far he has never come across one.
He goes back home and takes a cold shower to make his body cooler from the upcoming heat. His stomach churns and he is feeling the intense unease that comes from his heats bubbling up.
He quickly comes out of the shower and lowers the central temperature settings to the lowest possible temperature. He makes himself the herby tea that helps him lift all the unease and symptoms of heat.
The air fills with the warm fragrance of ginger and lavender from the tea along with Jimin’s own scent of fresh gardenias which is growing more potent with each passing second.
He gulps the tea down with urgency so it eases his heat symptoms. Within minutes, he grows tired, his limbs are heavy and eyes barely open. He settles in his warm cozy bed and succumbs to sleep.
🌼🤍☁️
The sunlight shines through the window right on Jimin’s face. He wakes up groggy but feeling fully rested. He does not feel the annoying churn and unease that comes with heat, thanks to his tea.
He has a routine during his heat cycles. He does not spend his time nesting like other omegas. He does not spend his heat with an alpha who can help him ease the discomfort. He channels all his unease and feelings by going on activist rampage. Yes, he passionately goes off, armed with protest signs and march around for omega rights.
There will be no changes to his usual routine. He gets ready to stomp around the city. Since he will be out in the sun, he wears light and simple clothes. A white shirt that's slightly loose on him, the sleeves covering him up until the edge of his fingers, a few top buttons unbuttoned showing his unblemished skin. He wears a dainty silver chain with a long dangling pendant. He pairs the white shirt with a black slacks. To put his look together he wears a silver watch and square shaped clear glasses.
He looks simple yet classy, exactly what he was going for. His freshly dyed blond hair blends extremely well with his supple skin and the shirt he is wearing.
Thankfully for him, there is a protest today aimed to end gender based discrimination in the workplace. He has already signed up to participate as soon as he woke up this morning.
The good thing is he will be surrounded by omegas during the peak of his cycle, he does not have to inhale earthy and musky alpha scents which will trigger his nausea and unease.
Although, his own scent - fresh gardenias, is sweeter and more potent at this time, no one will be able to tell a difference unless he meets with an alpha who is biologically compatible with him. That possibility is less likely because, there’s rarely any alphas who participate in these protests or rallies. Even if they do, they won't be able to tell the difference. Apart from his close omega friends, even the alphas in his office who he spends everyday with have never caught his heat scent.
The protest has already started, the protest chants are constantly being yelled.
“What do we want?”
“Equal rights”
“What do we want?”
“Equal rights”
Jimin jogs through the crowd of protesting omega to the frontlines to find Hobi. He quickly spots his best friend and his former roommate leading the crowd.
“Am I too late?” Jimin heaves, a little out of breath from jogging under the sun.
“A little” Hobi hums. “.. but it’s alright! It’s never too late to join a protest” He chirps, his ever present enthusiasm shining through.
Hobi’s protest sign says ‘END OMEGA DISCRIMINATION’. Next to him, another omega is holding up a sign that says ‘If Alphas think equality is a threat, that says a lot’. Jimin holds up his own cardboard which says ‘I can’t believe we still have to fight for this’
The ongoing protest draws attention of onlookers and as usual, a few of them start recording. Just when the protest is about to come to an end, a tall muscular, clearly alpha approaches the frontlines.
The approaching alpha is at least double the size of Jimin. As soon as he approaches, he yells “Omegas are not built to lead, so you can't expect equality” and he smirks while getting too close to Jimin.
Hoseok tries to push the alpha away but he stays rooted. The alpha’s musky scent is filling up Jimin’s lungs. It is extremely nauseating making his stomach churn in unease. JImin holds his breath for a few seconds so he doesn’t have to inhale the putrid smell.
Of course there will be some alphas trying to bother them when omegas are protesting for their rights. Of course, some alphas have to make it about themselves.
Jimin gets closer to Hobi and inhales deeply. Hobi’s floral scent is filling his lungs, although the scent smells like distress, not as sweet as it usually is, it is still better than inhaling the alpha’s scent.
“Is that so? You think only alphas are meant to lead” Jimin counters calmly, while holding a strong eye contact with the alpha.
“Of course! Ofcourse!” the alpha laughs. His face looks pleased.
“You guys are so emotional” He points a finger inches from Jimin’s face. “ YOU. ARE. NOT. MEANT. TO. LEAD” He yells every word, his face twists in grimace.
“That’s enough! Back off !” Hobi raises his voice to the alpha.
Jimin has to look away from that face and he huffs in disbelief “ Yeah? And who is screaming at a protest that is not about them?” He counters, calm as ever, holding a winning smile on his face.
His remark makes the alpha chest heave and he throws a punch at Jimin’s direction. Jimin reflexively ducks and closes his eyes to avoid the punch. A loud ruckus erupts.
When he opens his eyes again, some of the omegas who were protesting, including Hobi, are pulling a struggling alpha further away from Jimin. Even onlookers step in to calm the situation.
🌼🤍☁️
Hobi, Jimin and a few others who participated in the protest ended up in their office. They call it ‘office’, but it is a rented garage where they hold their internal meetings on their next upcoming events, rehearse their speech for events and plan their next moves. Basically, this garage serves as their all purpose room.
Right now, they are packing essentials to give away to a hundred struggling single omega parents. Since Jimin has some time to spare, he decided to volunteer.
All of them worked in synchronisation to fill up all the essentials in the box. They are sitting in two long lines with boxes moving in between the lines. Each of them put in the essentials and move the box along. Jimin is at the end of the table, the last one to put essentials, a shampoo and a conditioner, into the box. Boxes are pooling around him, waiting to be taped closed.
The room is filled with the sound of chattering and laughter but Jimin is not paying any attention to the conversation that is going on. He treats the conversation as background noise.
“Let me tape these boxes up” A guy voices out and sits opposite Jimin.
Jimin’s nostrils immediately flared. The guy is an alpha, his scent is earthy. This alpha’s scent is not as bad as the alpha who tried to punch him but this still churns his lower stomach in unease. Inhaling incompatible alpha’s scent during heat puts him in extreme unease and distress. He is starting to feel a mild headache creeping up.
Jimin immediately pulls out his bottle of Vicks and applies the ointment on his philtrum to avoid inhaling more of the alpha’s scent.
“You look all pink” The alpha says. “ A- Are you okay?”
“Must be all the sun, I got today” Jimin replies,curtly without looking at the alpha, focusing on filling up the boxes with the hair conditioner and hair shampoo.
No one is paying attention to the interaction Jimin and the alpha are having, too busy in the topic they are discussing about.
“You know you look so sweet” The alpha talks again after a beat. The alpha is definitely trying to woo Jimin.
“Hmm” Jimin hums, he has no energy to entertain this alpha, he is here to only volunteer for a cause and this alpha is starting to bother him with his random small talk.
“You look so cute and - ..sweet, I think - I think I will get diabetes” The alpha stutters.
“Well actually, that’s not how you get diabetes” Jimin immediately derides.
Jimin hears a snort. He looks up to find an unfamiliar guy who is sitting two people away, looking at his and the alpha’s direction. He quickly looks away and busies himself in packing.
The alpha who tried to flirt with him didn’t utter a single word after his reply. Jimin is extremely thankful for that.
“I will treat everyone to lunch” Hobi announces to the room when they are done packing. “Follow me everyone”
A loud cheer erupts and the chattering continues.
“I am not coming, I will stay and finish up pasting the addresses sheet on the boxes” Jimin says loudly to Hobi.
He always loses most of his appetite during heat. Hoseok immediately understands and nods.
“You are not coming, Yoongi? ” Hobi asks one of the guys who is still sitting, not making a move.
It is the same guy who snorted earlier.
“I had a big breakfast, Hoba. You guys go ahead. I am fine” the guy replies.
Everyone is trickling out of their garage. Within a few minutes, the room that was noisy fell into complete silence. Jimin takes a loud audible breath. He is relieved because the alpha also left with Hobi and the rest of omegas for lunch, leaving only Jimin and the guy who snorted, Yoongi.
Jimin busies himself with applying the glue on the back of the address sheet and pasting them on the boxes. From the corner of his eyes, he notices the guy rising from the place he is sitting and approaching him.
“Let me help” The guy takes a seat opposite him, the same place the alpha was sitting earlier. His voice is deep and rich, definitely contrasting with how he looks.
Jimin doesn’t respond to him and continues applying the glue on the next address sheet. In silence, the guy also picks up the glue and does the same.
They work in silence. It takes Jimin a moment to notice the scent from the guy sitting opposite him. Sandalwood, rich and creamy.
He’s clearly an alpha.
“What’s with all these performative alpha these days?” Jimin whispers to himself. It is barely audible, the alpha will not be able to catch it.
“Hmm, what did you say?” the alpha asks. Jimin can feel a pair of eyes on him.
“Nothing” Jimin pastes another address sheet to one of the boxes.
“I am Yoongi”
Jimin rolls his eyes, he does not look up to see the alpha. “I heard”
“What?” Yoongi sounds confused.
“I heard when Hobi was talking to you” Jimin exhales.
“And you are?” Yoongi asks, sounding too interested to keep the conversation going.
Having to respond and talk to people during his heat is aggravating Jimin. He takes a deep breath, like he’s extremely exhausted.
“Jimin. Now, stop talking to me”
The alpha listens, he continues to work in silence.
The fragrance of the ointment Jimin applied earlier has dissipated. When he inhales, the air only carries the scent of his own gardenias and the alpha’s sandalwood.
Unknowingly, Jimin is breathing in deeply. His hands are getting clammy and slightly jittery. He closes his eyes to calm himself down. His heat is acting up this time, he thinks to himself.
“Are - are you okay?” Yoongi hesitates. “You are sweating”
Jimin can feel his bangs sticking to his forehead. The collar of his shirt is sticking to his neck.
“I’m fine” His voice coming all croaky, his mouth feels dry. He adjusts his collar and tugs his shirt a few times, in an attempt to fan himself with it.
He looks up to see Yoongi for the first time since he sat closer. Yoongi is already staring at his neck and his focused gaze quickly shoots up to his face.
Yoongi’s forehead wrinkled in a slight frown. His nostril flared before he notes “Jimin, you are in heat?”
A compatible alpha.
Jimin swallows, looking away. Yoongi quickly gets up and jogs away from his seat. Now to think about it, he was not repulsed with the alpha’s scent. He did not feel any kind of unease or the need to puke.
Jimin’s own scent, gardenias grows potent, erasing every trace of sandalwood in the air. His stomach churns in unease, a sharp pain jolts through his gut. Jimin gasps in shock and pain. He has never experienced heat symptoms as strong as this one. His tea and the regular supplements he takes keeps the symptoms minimal.
Another sharp pain jolts through him, he stands up from his seat and whimpers in pain. He leans on the wall and heaves, clutching his lower stomach. The pain grows.
Yoongi comes back running with a bottle of water and several blister packs of pills that are specifically taken during heat.
“Here, her-” Yoongi hands the bottle of water. “ .. I did not know which one to get” he says, out of breath, handing the pills.
Before Jimin can take the bottle, the pain grows further making its way down his thighs. Tears spring from the corner of his eyes and his knees buckle. Yoongi quickly catches him before he slips to the ground.
Jimin’s entire body is flush against Yoongi. He cannot feel his legs anymore with the amount of pain he is feeling. He whimpers while more tears fall down his cheeks.
Yoongi’s arm curls around Jimin’s waist, readjusting him to a more comfortable position while another hand runs down his back in calming strokes to soothe him.
Jimin instinctively finds the nook of the alpha’s neck, inhaling and filling up his lungs with the sandalwood scent. He can feel the pain slowly easing away with every breath he takes.
“Shh, shh, it’s okay” Yoongi hushes while he continues to gently stroke Jimin’s back as Jimin whimpers in pain.
The vibration of his voice calming Jimin down even further. Jimin nuzzles his nose against Yoongi’s scent glands, he could feel the alpha going rigid before he relaxes. Jimin is not thinking, he feels no control over his actions. His omega feels no restrain, he presses his plump lips against Yoongi’s skin to be even closer to the alpha. The sandalwood scent feels like a saviour to his painful cramps. Yoongi continued stroking Jimin’s back.
Jimin is not sure how long they stayed like that. When he finally pulls away, he is met with the alpha’s worried look. He is no longer in pain but he feels frenzied, he feels an enormous urge to cling to the alpha.
Jimin avoids eye contact with the alpha, feeling too embarrassed. Yoongi insists on taking the pain medication to which Jimin quietly goes along with, simply to avoid any further conversation.
The urge to bury his face to the alpha’s neck, near his scent glands only seems to grow. So before Jimin loses a slight ounce of sanity he has left, he books himself an Uber back home.
He finally looks at the alpha’s face just before the Uber moves. Yoongi looks concerned, his eyes filled with worries, his mouth opens like he wants to say something but he doesn’t.
Their inexplicable eye contact remained till the scenery changed.