Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hoseok’s lungs burn with each ragged gasp. The dense forest is a blur of shadowy green as he runs, panic-weak and staggering. 

He stumbles, foot catching on an expertly-hidden wire.

A deafening crack echoes through the trees. His scream is cut short by the sudden impact of his body hitting the ground. Metal slams down from above him. 

A cage. He blinks his eyes open to darkness, frantically looking around. Only small slivers of light reach weakly through where the metal slats of the cage are haphazardly welded together. 

His body trembles in the claustrophobic space, disoriented from the hot, burning pain of his knee twisted unnaturally underneath him. He shies away from the sides of the cage as they press coldly through his thin windbreaker. The tangy smell of blood, dirt, and rank fear clings to the back of his throat. His mind slips, and the desperation of his beta takes over, fingers scrambling uselessly against the bottom of the cage. 

His heart pounds, frantic, caught. 

Earlier that day, there had been a spark of hope inside him. 

It was his second week since escaping the pack compound. He had fled West into the wilderness, following the small rivers snaking up towards the mountain ridges in the distance. The threat of being found and dragged back by his hair kept him moving quickly and efficiently, every step pushing him further from the danger of the compound he had been born into. 

Despite the difficulty of inching his way up the muddy banks and rocky terrain, the first days were exhilarating. He had felt free – careless and light in a way he had never felt before. And then the meager rations of water and food he had stolen ran out. 

Hunting was…hard. Hoseok couldn’t even really call his attempts that, since he hadn’t caught anything. His beta was just as useless in the wilderness as it was on the compound, his desperate, clumsy attempts proof of how few useful instincts he has. 

The further he went, the fewer the opportunities for scavenging and shelter. The past few nights he had barely slept, back aching on the hard ground as listlessness and hunger stalked him in his dreams. Loneliness had found him by then too, his beta keening from the pain of the weak pack ties that were quickly disintegrating due to distance. 

Even then, he hadn’t been naive. He knew he wouldn't survive much longer.

He thought he had gotten lucky when earlier in the day he had spotted structures through the trees. As he got closer he had realized it was a large aluminum building in the distance, surrounded by smaller outer buildings. Some kind of old processing plant? Factory maybe?

Carefully, he had navigated around the outer lot, scouting the area through the wire fence. In his search for food he had ventured into one of the smaller shacks, a site office or lunchroom. Rummaging around through the cabinets, he found only stale wrappers, and pages with sun-bleached, faded ink on the ground. With a sigh, he had folded the pages carefully and put them into his small backpack to use as a fire starter. 

As he had stepped into the looming main building, a shiver ran down his spine. Sudden, razor-sharp awareness that he wasn’t alone. He dropped down, cursing his carelessness. Stupid, he berated himself, to forget that if he made it all the way out here, others could as well. 

He had held as still as he could, eyes scanning to find what had alerted his beta so suddenly. A tense moment passed before he heard it, faint movement on the other side of the building. 

Holding his breath, he peeked out from where he was cowering. It had been dim, even with the faint light coming from the doors he had left open, but he could see a steel bin being used as a firepit, cardboard laid down as a bed, and a person getting up from it. 

His body had reacted instantly, scrambling backwards. An alpha. A rogue, packless alpha. And this building was clearly his den. 

Panic overwhelmed any rationality, and in the next breath Hoseok was running, dashing out of the building and through the gates, back into the dense cover of the forest. He didn’t dare slow down. He was a Beta. He knew what an alpha was capable of in a fit of territorial rage. He could survive cold and hunger, but an alpha would rip him apart. 

Every muscle had burned as he pushed himself to run faster, flying blindly through the dense trees. He couldn’t stop now. He couldn’t let this be the end. 

And then in his fleeing panic he had triggered whatever this trap was, and now he was trapped and injured enough that any hope for his continued survival burns to ash in his chest.

Shivering, exhausted, his arms slowly give out until he slumps miserably against the cold metal wall of the cage. 

As the sun sets, it gets darker inside the cage. Hoseok, with his bad beta nightsight, can’t even see his trembling hand when he holds it up in front of his face. The pain from his twisted knee pounds with each heartbeat, and the lack of a pack bond aches deep in his core. Time starts to blur, each moment passing in sluggish agony as he draws himself into a miserable ball on the floor, hot tears streaming down his face and onto the forest floor beneath him. 

He doesn’t register it at first– the voices he hears. Laughter. 

Hoseok just trembles, curling himself into a tighter ball as the cage starts to lift, his eyes  squeezing shut and mind slipping into senseless fear as hands grab him, pulling him upright. He sees three faces peering down at him before the pressure on his knee worsens, his lungs burning from the breaths he can’t take, the pain becoming unbearable. He sinks into darkness. 

Hoseok wakes. 

His beta is a trembling line of terror, awake before he was, but he holds still, trying to let the sharp panic wake his mind. He breathes shallowly through the pain – the air smells different, almost stale if not for the scent of clean linen.

Voices murmur above him. “Look at his little nose!” someone squeals quietly. “I wonder if he likes our scents?” 

Hoseok's eyesight is blurry, but he flutters his eyes open and sees a hint of a gray concrete ceiling above him. His head throbs as he senses the distinct presence of alphas. They must have dragged him from the trap to wherever he is now, imprisoned in their compound.

He tries to hold himself as still as his sore body can, even as he can feel his beta panic, yelling at him to fleefleeflee before these alphas can attack him.

“Shhh he’s waking up.” 

There’s a voice above him. Deep, steady. Hoseok shivers. A pack alpha. The voice is asking him a question. Is he being interrogated? He tries to focus, tries to draw enough of himself together to make it out of this alive, but the words tumble around in his brain uselessly. 

“...your alpha?” he can only make sense of the last words the deep voice asks. 

“Alpha?” he mumbles back, confused. Do they think he’s an alpha? No no, he’s not. He’s not an alpha. “M’ not an alpha,” he tries to say, his voice scratchy and weak. He hears a different voice laugh, something light and airy, so amused it tickles. 

The deep alpha voice speaks again in a questioning tone, and Hoseok tries to listen, but time slips out from between his fingers and he drifts, consciousness reduced to just his rabbit heart’s frantic beating, until suddenly he’s blinking. There’s a clarity that eluded him before. 

This time, he can’t see anything, just darkness – and he panics, thinking he is trapped again, that he is back in the cage. But no, he remembers now. The room with the voices, that’s where he is, except that it’s darker now, quieter. 

And he’s laying on something soft, but it doesn’t feel like a bed. He realizes with a start that the pressure around his waist is a pair of arms, that he’s being held down. He squirms, trying to get free, even as burning pain shoots up his leg from his knee. He has to get out of here, his beta reminds him, he has to run, has to escape. 

“Is the omega awake?” a voice right behind his ear asks. Hoseok jumps. 

There’s movement underneath him and the pressure around his waist lets up. Hoseok sits up quickly, and in the darkness can barely make out a face right in front of him. He yelps, and tries to throw himself backwards, but the arms return, holding him firmly in place. 

“Turn on a light,” someone says, “Omegas can't see in the dark like we can.” There’s a soft click, and suddenly the room is illuminated with a soft, warm light. 

He’s face to face with a beautiful man. An alpha. The man has thick lips, handsome eyebrows, and dark eyes that are sleepily blinking back at him. “Hi there, sweetheart,” he says softly. 

Hoseok looks around wildly, realizing he’s in some sort of large bed. When he looks down he sees that he is sitting in this alphas' lap. And the alpha just called him sweetheart. Hoseok keeps blinking blurrily, trying to focus, trying to figure out what’s going on.

His gaze darts around the room, trying to find the omega that the voice mentioned. If there’s an omega here, he has a higher likelihood of surviving whatever this is. Alphas stabilize when they have an omega to take care of, they become rational, human. And far more likely to be reasonable and let Hoseok go from whatever captivity he’s in right now. 

But..they’re all… alphas ? Hoseok thinks, bewildered. His beta instincts have never been particularly good at identifying subgenders, but it's obvious what they are. There’s five– no, six of them, sprawled in various positions around him, curled up with each other or sitting with a pillow in their lap. They’re all turned towards him, but the small one with long, black hair is sitting slightly apart from the rest, staring at him.

He recognizes three of the faces now. The ones who had found him in the cage. They’re wearing different clothes now that look clean, comfortable. They’re… smiling? At him?

His heart races faster, confusion and anxiety churning in his gut. The alpha holding him gently loosens his grip but still maintains a protective hold. Hoseok swallows hard, his throat dry.

“Where’s your omega?” Hoseok croaks. The small alpha beside him giggles. 

“Right where he’s meant to be,” the handsome alpha– the one holding him– says dreamily, nuzzling into Hoseok's shoulder. Hoseok tenses, feeling like he’s going insane from how little he understands what's happening. His confusion must show on his face. 

“We’re an alpha pack, sweetheart.” 

“That means we can take extra good care of you!” the small alpha says enthusiastically. 

Take good care of him? This isn’t good. They already have plans for what to do with Hoseok. 

“Mmm, the best care. We’re so happy we found you, little one,” the alpha nuzzling his neck murmurs. Hoseok's beta lacks the protective fervour omegas and alphas have about their neck, but still, this is so wrongwrongwrong. 

The warmth of the alpha’s breath against his neck sends shivers down his spine, not of pleasure, but of pure, unadulterated fear. Hoseok’s mind races, disoriented and terrified. He doesn’t understand what’s happening, doesn’t understand why an alpha is holding him like this, or what they plan on doing to him. 

“Please,” he whispers, his voice barely audible. “I don’t... I don’t understand.”

“Jin, he’s shaking.” the deep voice says, and Hoseok realizes the pack alpha is the alpha right beside him. 

“Shh, shh now, he’s just feeling a little overwhelmed.” The alpha holding him, Jin, answers. 

Suddenly, something soft and warm is being wrapped around Hoseok, obscuring his field of vision as he’s pressed into the alphas shoulder with a calm hum. 

“There, that should help to settle him. Omegas don’t handle change very well. Poor baby has been through so much today.” 

Been through so much? Oh. Oh . Hoseok realizes. They... think he’s an omega? Hoseok’s the omega they were talking about? The alpha holding him firmly in his arms starts to gently rub Hoseok's back in soothing circles, as though in confirmation. 

This explains the position he’s in, why he’s being swaddled instead of interrogated. 

The alpha’s touch is gentle, almost reverent, as he continues to rub Hoseok’s back. The motion lulls him into a fragile state of calm that halts his racing thoughts. The warmth of the alpha seeps up into his sore body, and something inside him gives into the softness of the blanket, the way it cocoons him and mutes everything. 

He knows he’s still in danger. Trapped still, in a room that's likely underground, and outnumbered by strange alphas. But… they think he’s an omega. Which means for now, they probably aren’t going to lock him up, or see him as a challenge and kill him.

In the pack he escaped from, the alphas treated the omegas like they were fragile. They didn’t even have to work to earn their rations like Hoseok did as a Beta. If this pack is anything like the one he knew his whole life, he might just survive long enough to have a chance at escaping. 

But only if he can give them what they want, he reminds himself. Only if he can deceive them into thinking he’s an omega long enough to slip away with enough rations to survive a few more weeks. 

He should be paying attention to the voices whispering on the other side of the blanket, listening for any information that could help him. But his beta is strangely calm now, telling Hoseok that he isn’t in danger, that the alphas will come to their senses soon. But for now he can rest.  

And just like that, each blink is heavier than the one before. The ache behind his eyes eases as his eyelids start to flutter shut. The last thing he sees is the dark blue of the blanket, its pattern of little stars. He sleeps, lulled by the steady beating heart of the alpha underneath him.

Chapter Text

It’s a sort of warm contentedness that rouses Hoseok into waking. 

His thoughts are gooey and slow, and he has no idea how much time has passed. He almost physically startles when he realizes he’s still lying on the firm chest of one of the alphas. His anxious beta instincts whisper to him, urging him to keep still, submissive and lax. 

The alphas are once again talking quietly, but not to Hoseok. 

“I didn’t know omega’s could be so little!” One of them says too loudly to be a whisper, and Hoseok almost winces, even as the excited exclamation gets shushed. 

“All omegas are small Jungkookie, but ours is underfed. Omegas need lots of protein and fats in their diet. This little one clearly hasn't been fed properly in months.”

“We’ll go hunting early this week then! We’ll catch him a deer!”

There’s an exasperated sigh. “For now Jungkookah, please go heat up the food. Jimin, go with him. We should get something warm into him as soon as he wakes up.”

There’s a whine. “Can I play with the omega after then?”

Play with him? Hoseok doesn’t like the direction their conversation is heading. He should probably pretend to wake up to put an end to it. 

He lets out a soft, sleepy murmur, his eyes fluttering open just enough to take in the room around him. The alpha they called Seokijn is holding him, his face puffy with sleep and his dark hair slightly more out of place than before. He smiles down warmly at Hoseok before he speaks. 

“Morning, little one,” he says, voice soft as he brushes a few strands of hair from Hoseok’s face. Hoseok holds still, making sure to accept the gesture, hoping the alpha doesn’t sense the slight tension of his muscles while he makes sure he doesn’t flinch back.

Hoseok blinks up at the handsome man. “Morning,” he whispers, his voice a little raspy. He stretches slightly, letting out a small noise that he hopes they find endearing. 

When he yawns, he covers his mouth with his hand and then rubs his eyes, trying to look as sleepy and harmless as possible as he subtly looks around the room. He doesn’t see his backpack, jacket or shoes anywhere. He notes the only exit, a door to his left that leads to what looks like a hallway, and another door to his right, slightly ajar, revealing a glimpse of a bathroom. The pack alpha is the only other one in the room besides Seokjin, but if Hoseok were to make a run for it now, there’s no way he could get past him. 

“Did you sleep well?” Seokjin asks, gently rubbing circles on Hoseok’s back as he sits them both up in one fluid motion. The alphas hands keep Hoseok pressed close to his chest, as though Hoseok were a frail thing incapable of sitting up by himself.

“Yes, thank you,” he says passively. He doesn’t tell the alpha that his head is pounding, that he still feels exhaustion deep in his bones. The alphas back at his old compound punished ungratefulness. He doubts these ones are any different.

Seokjin’s smile widens, clearly pleased with his response. “Good!”

Hoseok offers a small, shy smile in return. He feels a flicker of satisfaction, but he knows he must look ridiculous. He’s never been cute, never been praised by his old alphas. He wants to shrivel up. He must be putting on a pathetic attempt at pretending to be an omega, but at least it seems to be working for now.  . 

He jolts, startled when the pack alpha reaches for him. He gets lifted from Seokjin’s arms, his head spins with the sudden motion of being so manhandled, and he winces as his knee throbs with pain. The alpha adjusts him, firmly holding his thigh so that his knee has no pressure on it. 

“Shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you.” The alphas voice sends low vibrations through Hoseok, and he can’t help but shiver slightly in his hold, cold now without the blanket that had fallen from his shoulders. Hoseok doesn’t understand how the alpha is so warm. As a beta, Hoseok’s bodily heat retention is almost as bad as an omegas. 

He gets carried out of the room, Seokjin getting up and following closely behind. Hoseok lifts his head just enough to take in his new surroundings. They’re in the kitchen now. It seems… cozy, warm. Significantly more clean and dry than the large industrial type kitchens back at his old compound. 

There’s a large wooden table off to the side of the space, surrounded by enough chairs to sit at least ten people. The other alphas are there too, quickly and fluidly navigating around each other and the space. They’re all talking to each other, engaging in overlapping conversations that Hoseok struggles to follow as they set the table. 

Seokjin takes a seat at one end of the table, and to Hoseok’s surprise he gets placed back in the alphas warm lap. He wonders why he wasn’t placed in one of the empty chairs. Despite what he had overheard earlier, maybe it wasn’t his time to eat yet. 

In his old compound, from where he had sat at the beta tables in the dining hall, he had sometimes seen omegas, sitting like little dolls in their alphas laps. His beta had always been jealous. He understands why now. It’s comfy sitting in an alphas lap. Hoseok weakly rests his head to the side, already overwhelmed by the contradictory waves of fear and contentment rushing through him. 

The young alpha with the big eyes places a bowl of soup in front of them. The soup is fragrant, and Hoseok can’t help but stare longingly at it, eyes tracking the slow movement of the rising steam while he wonders if he’ll be allowed to have some once Seokjin is done.

A pang of hunger strikes through his stomach so sharply it’s painful. Maybe if he stays still in Seokjin's lap while he eats, he’ll get rewarded for being good and get to have some of his leftovers. 

Hoseok hopes so. It looks so yummy. The broth is a rich golden brown, flecked with bits of herb and tiny droplets of oil. He sees chunks of what he thinks are carrots, leeks and cubes of potato. And meat. These alphas must have way better crops than the ones at the compound. Hopefully their irrigation system is similar though, Hoseok doesn’t want to annoy them with his stupid questions when they assign him daily tasks. 

Hoseok pointedly ignores the alpha reaching for the spoon. He doesn’t want to get in trouble so soon for begging. He doesn’t notice when Seokjin lifts a spoonful of the soup to Hoseok's face. He startles when the alpha bumps the spoon gently against his lower lip. 

He stares down at it dumbly. 

“Sorry, just soup for right now, little one. We don’t want to upset your tummy with something too rich.”

Hoseok continues to stare. Seokjin looks down at the spoon too. “Oh!” he says, and lightly blows on it. “There we go, less hot now. Say ah little one!” Ah!”

Hoseok's eyes widen in confusion but he opens his mouth obediently. His eyes close on their own accord as soon as he tastes it. It is yummy. So yummy. 

His mouth is open and waiting for each of the following spoonfuls the alpha lifts to his mouth. Hoseok gets so distracted by the soup that he’s slow to notice that the other alphas at the table are barely talking, seemingly intently focused on watching one of their own hand-feeding Hoseok.

He spends the rest of the meal mentally trying to come up with a story he can tell the alphas. They’ve been nice so far, but they’ll have questions. He tries to piece together something plausible, but his mind is too frazzled, too tired and caught off guard by how the alphas continue to treat him, to come up with anything he thinks will work.

Too soon, the bowl is empty and the short, dark haired alpha is clearing away the table. When Hoseok tries to weakly stand from Seokjin’s lap, he’s lifted before his feet touch the ground. 

Seokjin tsks, lightly patting his bum as he carries Hoseok into the adjoining room, “No walking on your knee until it’s healed.” 

This new room is large and cozy, with higher ceilings than the kitchen and a large, comfy-looking couch, which Seokjin takes a seat on while keeping Hoseok in his arms. Hoseok glances around nervously as the other alphas settle around him. 

The pack alpha crouches down in front of him, giving a warm, dimpled smile. “I’m Namjoon,” he says gently, introducing himself for the first time. He reaches out to hold Seokjin’s knee as he continues, “And this is Seokjin, Taehyung, Jimin, and Jungkook. Yoongi is the one cleaning up in the kitchen. This is our pack.”

Hoseok repeats their names frantically in his head. He’s never met so many new people at once, and he doesn’t want to imagine their reactions if he screws up and gets a name wrong.

Taehyung, Jimin and Jungkook are the ones sitting closest, flanking Hoseok protectively. He’s guessing they’re the youngest, with the least pack authority. They seem to accept direction willingly from Namjoon and Seokjin. Yoongi is the one he hasn’t heard a word from yet. The one who had been staring strangely at him when he first woke up. 

“What’s your name?” Namjoon asks. 

“Hoseok.” he replies automatically. Fuck. Is Hoseok even an omegan-sounding name? 

He expects some expression of scepticism, but they just coo. The last alpha, Yoongi, joins them silently, taking a seat in a round chair further back. Hoseok ducks his head down, avoiding his gaze. 

Namjoon continues to lead the conversation. “Where did you come from, Hoseok? How did you end up out here?”

Hoseok hesitates, his mind scrambling for an answer that will satisfy them without giving away too much. “I... I don’t know,” he stammers, eyes wide with feigned confusion. “I just ran.” 

The alphas exchange concerned glances, but don’t challenge his vague explanation. The last thing he needs is for them to start questioning which compound he came from. Hopefully he can convince them he’s as dumb as everyone always told him he is. 

“Do you have an alpha, sweetheart? Someone who might be looking for you?”

Seokjin cuts in smoothly before Hoseok can answer. “Don’t ask him something like that. He’s clearly been abused and neglected if he ran away.”

Namjoon’s body language had been relaxed and open throughout the conversation so far. Now, something tightens in his expression, and Hoseok feels frozen, heading pounding with sudden anxiety at how he should respond.

“We have to ask these questions.” And it’s Yoongi interjecting, his gaze steady and locked onto Hoseok. His voice is rough and deep, and Hoseok’s beta startles out the sated state it’s been in since Seokjin had fed him.

“No, we don't. We don’t have to do anything except keep him healthy and happy. We’ve already decided he’s staying.” Seokjin's voice is agitated, his grip tightening so that he’s harshly holding Hoseok’s upper arm. Hoseok holds in his sound of discomfort. He knows better than to draw attention to himself when an alpha is upset.  

“And if he does have an alpha? And that alpha comes knocking on our door? What then, hyung?” Yoongi responds, tone flat despite the challenge inherent in his words. 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Seokjin hisses, “As though I’d ever let them come near my baby again.”

“As though you’d let them? You’re letting your instincts get the best of you again.” Yoongi states it like a fact. They must have a deep history together, and this seems like a sore spot that they’ve fought over before. Fuck. 

Hoseok's own instincts are going crazy, unsure how to respond to the power dynamics at play here. His nose is too weak to smell what kind of upset Seokjin is, and he can’t see his face without moving and drawing attention to himself. 

Yoongi seems to draw himself up, opening his mouth to say more when Namjoon interjects, holding up his hand for silence. 

“We don’t need to know the details right at this moment. Jin’s right, what’s important right now is that he’s safe with us.” Hoseok can tell he must be releasing some sort of alpha pheromones, though he can barely sense them. The air feels heavier with his authority. But this doesn’t make sense. Any pack alpha would consider conflict with another compound a devastating price to pay, regardless of if it was for an omega or not. 

There’s a tense beat of silence, Seokjin’s grip on his arm barely loosening. 

“W-what happens now?” Hoseok blurts out, tone as nervous as he actually feels.

“Whatever is best for the pack,” Namjoon answers, seemingly collecting himself, forcing a calmness back into his voice. “And that means taking care of you. We haven’t had an omega since forming the pack. We’re very excited to have found you. A pack omega is exactly what we’ve all been needing.” 

Namjoon pauses for a moment, “Everything will fall into place,” he concludes with finality. 

Pack omega? He doesn’t even know what that means. Hoseok's head feels like it's spinning as he tries to remember what it had been like for omegas back in his old compound. All he can recall is that once an omega was of age, they were paired off with an alpha, were briefly courted and then had their work shifts halved. Sometimes there had been mating ceremonies that Hoseok was never allowed to attend. 

“Do I… have to do anything?” Hoseok asks, cheeks flaming. He knows this is a dangerous question to ask. But he can’t pass up the opportunity to find out what exactly these alphas expect from him. 

The alphas share a confused look before they notice his blushing cheeks. Seokjin looks surprised, then tsks. “Is that what your old alpha’s were like? We can control ourselves until you’re healed, darling.”

“Our little omega is eager!” Jimin says to Taehyung, giggling happily. 

Oh no. 

“What about courting?” he asks, desperately. 

“Courting is to prove an alpha’s worth darling. I think we already have by rescuing you,” Seokjin chuckles. “But of course we can get our little one some nice presents, if that’s what you want.”

“No! No, I don’t need presents, I mean-” but the younger alphas are already excitedly whispering to themselves. 

Hoseok continues, frantically trying to establish some ground rules while they’re still being nice. “Can we wait? Until we have bond bites? Please? It’s just a lot. My uh, my omega takes a long time to trust.”

He sees Yoongi glance sharply at Namjoon, and they exchange a look Hoseok can’t quite decipher. Yoongi’s drawn eyebrows, the serious downturn of his mouth. It’s starting to really concern Hoseok. 

Oh no, oh no. Are omega’s usually more trusting? He wracks his mind for some omegan thing he can do or say. He tries to make himself smaller, hesitantly shrinking into the protection of Seokjin's lap. 

“We’ll take it as slow as you need,” Namjoon says, caressing his uninjured knee.  

“Okay,” Hoseok responds passively, his voice weak without trying. He doesn’t know what Namjoon might define as slow. 

“Poor little baby.” Jimin comments, shimmying closer, then lightly petting the brace on Hoseok’s knee. “He must have hurt it while he was out by himself.”

Hoseok knows better, but stays quiet. It was the trap that had caused his injury. And it’s likely this pack were the ones who had set it. What he isn’t sure about is if these alphas are just delusional, thinking they’ve miraculously rescued an omega, or if something else is going on. 

“Yes. And he needs lots of rest.” Seokjin says firmly. “He’s overexerted, with clear signs of an omegan stress disorder. Omegan bodies aren’t made to withstand long term emotional or physical strain. You’re very tired, aren’t you baby?”

Hoseok just nods, far too overwhelmed to craft a response. He is very tired. He can’t help but squint from the headache that’s been building throughout this conversation, and his nerves are frayed beyond what he can conceal anymore.

“See?” Seokjin says, glaring meaningfully at Yoongi, who’s once again slumped down in his chair, silently observing the conversation, “What he needs is rest. Not an interrogation. Let’s get you to the nest little one.”

Hoseok can’t force himself to respond. But he likes that idea. Maybe they’ll let him just curl up and sleep again. Then he’ll have more time to think about his strategy and gain back some strength. 

Beside him, Jimin and Taehyung start arguing as they tussle over who gets to carry him. Hoseok tenses at their raised voices, but when Taehyung wins, Jimin just pouts and laughs.  

Taehyung grabs Hoseok clumsily but Seokjin rearranges Taehyung's hands so that Hoseok’s injured knee is properly supported. 

“Are the motion sensors armed? The main gate locked down?” Hoseok hears Namjoon quietly ask Jungkook, who nods. “Okay, let’s settle him in.” They have motion sensors? 

The rest of the alphas get up and follow Taehyung as Hoseok gets carried down the hall. He holds onto Taehyung's shoulders tightly, momentarily more scared of getting dropped than of annoying the alpha. 

Hoseok is confused when they pass the room he woke up in. As they go deeper into the bunker, the lights grow dimmer and the hallways narrow. Hoseok wonders how deep this bunker goes, but he gives up trying to make a full map in his head. He remembers the way to the kitchen, that’s what’s important. He’ll sneak away to steal rations as soon as he can stand on his knee. 

“We’ll have to switch to the halogen bulbs we have in storage room 3,” Seokjin says to Namjoon. “Now that we have an omega, we can’t subject his sensitive eyes to harsh lighting.”

Namjoon hums in agreement. “We’ll have to trade for more soon then. Jungkook will swap them tomorrow, but only in the living areas we’ll keep Hoseok in.”

They enter a room that feels entirely different from what Hoseok has seen of the bunker so far. There’s a large bed, recessed in the middle of the room, definitely large enough for the whole pack of alphas to stretch out, and instead of the metal he’d seen in the hallways, the walls are padded. 

Is this the pack nest? It must be. 

There are warm white string lights strung around the room, casting a soft glow that helps ease his headache. Low shelves line one side of the room, filled with what Hoseok is guessing are personal items. Blankets and pillows are haphazardly strewn about the massive mattress. 

Taehyung deposits him carefully onto the bed, which sinks under their weight. “There you go,” he says softly, a boxy smile lighting up his face. 

Through the doorway Hoseok sees Yoongi looking like he’s about to slip away, and Namjoon reaching for his arm, holding him there. A silent look is exchanged before Yoongi relents, and a moment later they both enter the room, and the mattress dips slightly as Namjoon sits down beside Hoseok, placing a large hand on the nape of his neck. It sends tingles down his spine, feeling the alphas warm skin against his vulnerable neck. 

“Isn’t this nice?” Namjoon asks, sounding proud. “Your omega will feel safe here. You can nest all you like.”

The other alphas, directed by Seokjin, start to pile blankets and pillows around him on the mattress. They’re arranging some of them in their own little areas, like they know each other's preferences and how they like to sleep. He wonders how long they’ve been a pack for.

“Go on, little one,” Seokjin says from behind him, “Use whatever nesting materials you feel drawn to. You’re not used to our scent yet so these are all freshly washed.”

Nesting? They’re expecting him to build a nest? Okay. Okay, he can do this. You’ve spent your whole life doing what you were told, Hoseok sternly reminds himself, now, instead of turning over soil or manually working the water pump, you just have to arrange some pillows. 

Except, he’s never seen an omegas nest before. Nesting was something only mated omegas did in the sanctuary of the private upper rooms. Rooms that Hoseok, as a beta, was never, under any circumstances, allowed near. 

But still, this shouldn't be hard. Just move the pillows around and make a nest like a good omega. Convince these alphas that he has omegan instincts. Convince them that he’s good and capable, and can do a task as simple as this. That they aren’t wasting their time helping him, that they won’t regret being as kind as they have been. 

So Hoseok moves the pillows around, trying to mimic what he imagines a nice omega nest would look like. To his dismay, there's nothing inside him guiding him, nothing instructing him on how to make it cozy and safe. His beta feels at a loss. Nothing feels right. The soft nesting materials slip, his trembling hand refusing to cooperate. 

He isn’t good and capable. His frustration builds, each attempt more futile than the last. They’re going to start noticing soon that Hoseok doesn’t know what he’s doing, that he can’t do what they want him to. They’re going to start yelling. They’re going to be so mad. 

He feels tears well up in his eyes and his heartbeat jackrabbit in his chest. He’s so tired, and they’re going to find out now that he’s not an omega, and he won’t be able to sleep in this comfy bed just because he doesn’t know how to arrange some dumb blankets. 

“He’s worried he won’t build a pretty enough nest for alphas,” he barely hears Seokjin say, until he’s right up behind him, speaking gently in his ear.

“Baby, alphas are going to love whatever you make.” Seokjin's voice is so gentle it tickles. Hoseok can’t help but sniffle, even as he tries to lean away. 

“Oh baby,” Seokjin coos, grabbing for a blanket. The one with the little white stars. He carefully drapes it over Hoseok’s shaking shoulders, then reaches around him and starts arranging the pillows in a soft semi circle. 

He pats the bed and it takes Hoseok a second to understand. He shimmies himself over, still sniffling, but lays down in the spot Seokjin indicated and watches through blurry, tear filled eyes as Jungkook silently handles Seokjin more blankets.

He can’t smell what they’re feeling, but none of them look upset? He doesn’t understand why they aren’t upset with him. Why aren’t they all as suspicious as Yoongi, who has been sitting in silence, watching Hoseok fail? He hadn’t been able to do what an omega should be able to do. 

Hoseok’s confusion is muddled in his mind, but he can’t help but accept that somehow everything is okay for now. The alpha’s are still nice. And the pillows are so soft beneath him, and the room is nice and warm. In between sniffles his blinks get slower, even as his eyes continue to follow Seokjin's methodical nest-building movements.

Hoseok drifts off to sleep just moments before Seokjin places the final pillow. 

Chapter Text

Hoseok wakes. Sprawled around him are the warm sleeping bodies of the alphas. 

He blinks up at the ceiling. It’s strange being underground, away from the stars and sun and moon. Disorienting in ways that make it hard to plan. It must have been more than a day since he’d been brought here, but still, Hoseok can’t get his thoughts in order. 

Especially now. He’s distracted by the sounds of the alphas breathing, the light snores coming from somewhere by his feet. He realizes there’s a warm hand wrapped around his ankle. 

And Hoseok can’t help but let his thoughts stray to how warm and dry it is. Cozy in a way the other compound never was. The halls had been large and drafty, and the roof had leaked in his sleeping quarters when it rained. 

Or well. It still does. Laying in this nest, Hoseok feels so distant from that compound. Disconnected from the pain of his life there. But he can’t forget that even though he escaped, the compound still exists. And he can’t slip up now. Can’t risk ever ending up back there again.

When the alphas wake, it’s all sleepy stretches and nuzzling into each other. They seem so happy that Hoseok is there. He gets scooped up and carried to the kitchen again, where they smile at him and sit him on Seokjin’s lap and feed him more delicious vegetable broth. 

Hoseok tries to keep his body relaxed, his expression open, as though all of this was fine and normal. As though his heart wasn’t racing, trying to carefully choreograph every movement to be sweet and soft and omegan. He’s not sure he’s succeeding.

The alphas are disorienting. They keep paying too much attention to Hoseok. 

Their intensity, the unblinking eyes tracking his every movement, delighted coos at everything he says and does. The life he escaped had been one of anonymity. His beta subgender meant he had to stay out of the way of the alphas in order to survive their hierarchy. 

These alphas clearly haven’t been around an omega in a long time. Hoseok figures they must be in some sort of hormone-induced delusion. He tries to hold onto this fact. Whatever they are experiencing, it will wear off. They’ll realize Hoseok isn’t omega, and he has to make sure he’s out of here before then. He just has to be observant. Smart, for once in his life. 

Except he makes a mistake, not even an hour after waking. 

They hadn’t let him clean up after himself when the meal was finished. He had reached forward from Seokjin's lap, and had tried to stack up some of the plates in front of him with the intention of taking them to the sink. Hoseok imagined he would be praised for the action. It seemed like both a responsible and omegan thing to do, but Seokjin had removed the plates from his hands and handed them to Jungkook, without a second glance. 

The alphas seemed content to let Hoseok sleep in their den and eat their food, but what if it was only because they thought him incapable of doing any other tasks? Hoseok knew from experience that his injured knee was no excuse not to be productive. 

He watches, and waits until the alpha Yoongi slinks out of the room. He had opposed Hoseok before, and was clearly not as deluded as the rest of the alphas. Hoseok didn’t want to know how he’d react to this. 

"I... I can help with the crops today," Hoseok speaks up hesitantly, "I know what to do."

Namjoon, from where he’s still seated at the head of the table, looks at where Hoseok is nestled in Seokjin's lap. "You want to help with the crops?" His tone is surprised. 

Hoseok nods firmly. "Yes. Please, let me help."

Seokjin makes a strange noise, and Jimin and Taehyung sort of freeze, looking at him warily from where they had been doing dishes at the sink. 

Seokjin doesn’t seem to notice their reaction, or else is trying to seem like he doesn’t. “That’s not something you need to worry about, little one.” 

"I’m not worried," Hoseok insists, a hint of desperation in his voice. "I can do it.”

Seokjin makes a dismissive sound. 

"I can do it!” Hoseok repeats, his voice rising, he twists around to look at Seokjin, “I know how to—"

"Hoseok," Seokjin interjects, his voice firm, "Healing your knee is important. You need to rest so you can fully recover."

It becomes obvious then. Seokjin’s tone making Hoseok suddenly realize what he had done. He had raised his voice, had talked back to an alpha. 

Hoseok’s eyes dart between Seokjin and Namjoon. Fear grips him, his beta quivering. "I’m sorry," he whispers, trying to shuffle out of Seokjin’s hold, though he knows struggling will only make things worse now. "I didn’t mean to—"

“Omega,” Seokjin’s eyes meet his, widening as he takes in Hoseok’s panic. His expression softens and his hand reaches towards Hoseok's face. Hoseok instinctually winces, but Seokjin’s hand is tender as it cups his face.

"Little love, it’s okay. I’m sorry we haven’t been able to prove it yet, but your alphas are perfectly capable of taking care of you. You don’t need to worry about these things, okay?"

“Okay,” Hoseok says dumbly, mind blank, unable to process past Seokjin's palm is still pressed harmlessly against his face. 

“Oh! I know something you can help me with though,” Seokjin says brightly, removing his hand and standing, scooping Hoseok up into his arms. 

Hoseok forces himself to breathe, willing the minute trembling in his hands to fade. Everything is okay. It’s okay. Seokjin isn’t mad. 

Still, he avoids looking at the other alphas as Seokjin carries him out of the room. 

Seokjin brings Hoseok into the bathroom he’d been allowed to use since they brought him down here. He didn’t know bathrooms could be so nice. This one was large but had no stalls, and the walls were covered in warm, earthen coloured tiles. It smelt clean. 

Seokjin deposits him carefully onto the countertop beside a row of glass bottles and a neat stack of fluffy white towels. 

“Let's take care of your poor knee first, then we’ll get you all freshened up, okay?”

Hoseok quickly nods. 

Seokjin takes Hoseok's dangling left leg in his hands and pushes the loose pant leg up. Hoseok inwardly winces at the light smattering of hair on his legs, but Seokjin doesn’t pay it any attention. He’s focused on unwrapping the brace around Hoseok's knee, hands moving with clinical assuredness. 

It hurts. Hoseok can see why now. The skin is swollen and mottled into a visibly inflamed and tender bruise. 

Seokjin’s hands still for a moment. When he continues his touch is even more careful as he examines the damage. He applies something to the bruised skin, and the cold tingling sensation makes Hoseok shiver slightly, unclenching his jaw at the immediate relief. 

Seokjin discards the previous brace and rewraps Hoseok's knee in a different material. “Waterproof,” He tells Hoseok.

Good, Hoseok thinks. He must be getting assigned to something to do with the water filtration system. Maybe cleaning out the water boiler? 

Hoseok remembers the last time he had been assigned to that, one of the few betas on the compound small enough to be lowered down into the opening. Doyun, a particularly cruel alpha, was his overseer, and had left Hoseok trapped in the humid tank for hours, seemingly forgetting him. Hoseok had yelled and screamed, before succumbing to the thoughts of Doyun turning the system back, of hot water and steam boiling Hoseok alive. Hoseok had been blamed for the incident, and his panic attack had cost him the week's rations. 

But this was different. There’s no way these alphas would forget him. No way they’d leave an omega like that. 

“We have extra hot water every other week when Namjoon reroutes it to check the valves. I thought, before Jungkook uses it all up doing the laundry, why not treat our omega to a nice hot bath?”

A bath? They want him to wash something? Oh. Well that was much easier than the tanks. 

“I’ve cleaned lots of things,” Hoseok says helpfully.

Seokjin smiles, amused, “Well, all you need to worry about is washing yourself, sweet one. But alpha will help with that too, don’t worry.”

A deep rush of embarrassment floods Hoseok. The alpha is trying to get him to clean himself. Of course. He must be filthy. 

Seokjin sees the look on his face, mistaking it for reluctance. “The water will be nice and warm, don’t worry.”

“Warm?” he asks cautiously. The shower room at his old compound had always been freezing cold, straight from the level one purifiers, and still faintly metallic smelling. He never showered often there. Hoseok hated feeling dirty, but he hated shivering all night in his cot too. 

“Alpha will make sure it’s the right temperature for you,” Seokjin says sweetly as he lays a plush rug onto the floor in front of the bathtub. He opens a small compartment under the sink and pulls out a few glass bottles with colourful labels, lining them up on the edge of the bathtub. 

Hoseok eyes the large metal tub suspiciously. How can they have enough energy to heat so much extra water? The alpha is probably tricking him, but what can he do but go along with it? He’d rather have a cold bath, make himself more presentable, than none at all. 

Seokjin starts the bath, then suddenly is in front of him, bending down to remove Hoseok's socks. Hoseok bites his lip, trying to suppress a spike of rising alarm. 

As far as he knew, the alphas hadn’t seen him naked yet. He had checked. He was still wearing the underlayer of clothes they pulled him from the trap in, just bundled up with more layers on top. His objections die in his throat as Seokjin pulls off the second sweater. He reaches to start pulling up Hoseoks undershirt, and Hoseok quickly grabs his hands in a panic.

"I-I can do it myself," he stammers, heat rising in his cheeks.

Seokjin pauses, but seems charmed, “Such a modest little omega, okay sweet thing, I’ll be just outside.” 

As soon as Seokjin closes the door, Hoseok hurries to take off the rest of his clothes, taking a moment to leave them folded neatly on the counter. 

He catches sight of himself in the large mirror above the sink. His jutting collarbones and flat chest. He looks away sharply. 

Hoseok shuffles forward on his good leg, wincing as he balances his weight on the edge of the bathtub. He leans down and cautiously sniffs the steaming water. It smells clean underneath the lilac scent, and it’s visibly clear too. 

Hoseok is reaching to dip his finger in when over the sound of the pouring water, he hears the voice of one of the alphas talking to Seokjin. Right. Seokjin is on the other side of that door and I’m standing here naked. Hoseok hesitates for a moment, before taking a deep breath and stepping in. 

An involuntary gasp leaves his lips. The water is hot. 

He carefully lowers himself into the tub. The warmth seeps straight through him, making his skin tingle and loosening the ache of tension in his limbs. He tilts his head back, resting it against the edge of the tub, and closes his eyes for a moment. The sensation is almost overwhelming, it’s so good. 

There’s a single knock, and before Hoseok can respond Seokjin is opening the door and walking in. Hoseok quickly sinks lower down, hiding his thin body under the thick blanket of bubbles that had formed. 

Seokjin crouches down beside the tub, rolling up his sleeves. “Do you like the lavender, Hoseok? Jungkookie told me to tell you he got this soap out of storage just for you. It says on the bottle it’s gentle on omega skin, but if it’s too harsh compared to what you usually use, let me know, okay?”

He nods, feeling slightly dazed. He hadn’t even known there was such a thing as scented soap before this. He watches from lowered eyes as Seokjin unfolds a cloth and dips it into the hot water. 

The first touch of the cloth against his skin startles him. He does his best to hold himself very very still, making sure the bubbles keep him covered. 

He sits quietly and lets Seokjin wash him. Hoseok stares down at the water, willing it not to become tinged brown from his filth. He had been sitting in Seokjin's lap, in their bed, on their couch. Seokjin must realize how dirty he is now, he must be disgusted. 

Hoseok sneaks a peak at Seokjin's face. 

The alpha doesn’t seem mad, and he’s not scrubbing hard at Hoseok's skin. He seems like he’s enjoying himself, humming as he gently wipes at Hoseok’s face. 

Seokjin's hands near Hoseok’s chest, and he tenses. Male omegas don’t usually have much in the way of breasts, but surely they’re not as flat and boney as Hoseok is. Hoseok squirms as the cloth brushes against his nipples. 

Is he going to…? But no. Seokjin's hands go to Hoseok's hair, his long fingers rubbing methodical, steady circles into Hoseok’s scalp. 

“The water is starting to cool, let's get you dried off, and then we can go nap together, okay?” 

Though the water doesn’t seem cool to Hoseok, he nods. 

Seokjin stands and gets a large towel, more like a blanket. He spreads it open, standing expectantly with his arms wide. Hoseok blinks up at him with wide eyes. Seokjin can’t expect him to just…

“I’ll close my eyes baby.” Seokjin says sweetly. 

The alpha dramatically squeezes them shut. Hoseok stands as quickly as his knee will let him, clumsily stepping out of the bathtub and toward the towel. His hands are reaching to grab for the towel when his injured knee twinges painfully, making his foot slip on the damp tile. 

It happens so quickly Hoseok’s beta can’t react, he’s pitching forward but Seokjin catches him, the alphas arms securely holding Hoseok upright.

He gets swaddled. The towel is fluffy, so soft on his bath-warmed skin. Seokjin begins to pat him down. He’s being thorough, hands roaming over Hoseok's slim frame. Hoseok knows his cheeks are rosy from the heat of the bath, but he can feel them getting warmer. He can’t help but be wildly aware of his own naked skin beneath the towel. Can Seokjin feel how thin his body is, his lack of curves? 

The room is hot, steam hanging damp in the air, mingling with the sweet smell of the lilac soap. Seokjin abruptly leans down, burying his nose in Hoseok's damp hair. 

Hoseok holds still, unsure what’s happening. He hears a low rumble start and he startles. 

“Hmmm. Sorry little one,” Seokjin’s voice is deeper. He’s holding Hoseok tighter now too, pressed securely up against his own body, “Alpha needs to scent you, okay? Just a little,” 

Hoseok feels a flash of a sick feeling. He doesn’t really understand what scenting is, but he can recall seeing omegas after being scented by their territorial and jealous alphas, all dopey and soft, vulnerable and dazed. 

When Seokjin moves to his neck, Hoseok holds himself deathly still, muscles taut and aching. He feels the alphas warm breath, and then the pressure of his nose against his skin. 

A sharp shiver overcomes him, and then it’s like time has slowed. A melting sensation, traveling through them both. One long exhale and suddenly his lungs aren’t working, but it's somehow okay. He feels lax, like something deep inside him has melted, his clenched hands falling open. 

Seokjin's hold on him loosens, but Hoseok bodily sways into him, eyes fluttering shut. 

Seokjin coos, seemingly brought back to himself by Hoseok's reaction “It’s been awhile for both of us, hasn’t it sweetheart?” 

“Alpha should’ve scented you sooner,” he’s hugging Hoseok now, half speaking to himself, “You might have gotten too overwhelmed though, sweet love,” Seokjin gives him a little extra squeeze. 

Hoseok nods along dazedly, unable to form full thoughts. His beta, a puddle of satisfied warmgoodnicealpha in his chest.

Chapter Text

After the bath, the only thing Seokjin allows him to do is rest.

Seokjin carries him to the living room and starts building a makeshift nest. Should help, Hoseok blearily thinks, but then recalls how pathetic his first attempt was. His hands falter, shame making his muscles weak. He can’t make himself move, just sits passively as Seokjin carefully arranges a barrier of pillows on the couch for Hoseok to settle into.

Hoseok just lays there, leg propped up on pillows while Seokjin fusses over him, his damp hair curling slightly at his nape. He’s warm and dazed, mind so fuzzy that he doesn’t even startle under the gentle press of Seokjin's plush lips against his forehead.

He feels sleepy. Exhausted. Hoseok blinks, and it takes too long. Seokjin isn’t there anymore, Hoseok can’t hear or see him anywhere. He realizes his heart is pounding, his hands forced into tight fists. He forces a deep breath into his lungs, then another.

Everything feels foggy and slow. All he can do is helplessly close his eyes. Maybe when he opens them, Seokjin will be back. 

Hoseok wakes to cold fingers pressing into his neck. He startles, disoriented and unsure how much time has passed. 

Seokjin is casually leaning over Hoseok's supine body, slowly feeling along his neck. Hoseok can’t help but let out a little noise at the feeling of skin contact in such a vulnerable place. 

“Are your scent glands sore, sweetheart?” Seokjin asks.

Without thinking it through, he drowsily nods yes. His scent glands have always been sore, especially around alphas. The doctor at the compound had never checked them during his yearly checkups, since all that was relevant was if he was able to continue his work shifts. Hoseok had been too scared to bring it up anyways.

Seokjin makes a noise, like he thought as much, and disappears into the kitchen. When he returns moments later, it’s to gently place warm compresses on both sides of Hoseok’s neck.

Hoseok’s mouth falls open a little, a breathy gasp falling from his lips. It feels so good. His scent glands tingle as the warmth seeps deep underneath his skin, that constant ache starting to melt away immediately. 

Seokjin looks incredibly pleased with his reaction. “This will help release your pheromones, probably feels nice too, right?” 

“Yes, thank you.” Hoseok says earnestly, looking up at Seokjin with wide eyes as the alpha adjusts his head to keep the compresses pressed firmly against his neck. 

On the compound, the omegas would walk around with heating packs pressed to their necks during the winter. It was never an option to have any himself. He understood why. He was a beta. He had scent glands, but they were useless, unable to produce any sort of nice pheromones the alphas might enjoy. 

He would have been more jealous if he had known just how good the heat compresses felt. 

Seokjin leaves him to doze on the couch, and comes back just as the heat is fading. He carefully removes the compresses before leaning down over Hoseok and pressing his nose up into the crook of his neck.

Hoseok tries to flinch backwards, but there’s nowhere he can go, no way he can escape the insistent press of Seokjin’s nose against his scent gland. The moment drags on, Hoseok unable to draw a breath, until Seokjin makes a determined “Mmm!” and retreats. 

“Alpha can smell it?” Hoseok asks, unable to steady the tremble in his voice, unsure how to interpret Seokjin's response. 

“Of course, sweetie.” 

“Really?” he exclaims, much too loudly, “Uhm, my scent is usually hard to smell,” Hoseok quickly tries to correct himself, “I-It’s never been very strong.” he tells Seokjin, keeping his face as open and innocent as he can manage. 

Seokjin just pets at his hair with a smile, “You have a very delicate scent sweetheart. Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll get a little stronger as you get healthier.” 

Hoseok just nods obediently. He doesn’t want to speak back to Seokjin again, or make it seem like he was disagreeing. And Seokjin had smelt you thoroughly, the traitorous thing in his chest whispers, so maybe you do have a scent?

As soon as Seokjin leaves him to rest again, he harshly rubs his fingers over his left scent gland, pinching and kneading the skin until it’s sore. He lifts his fingertips to his nose and sniffs. 

Oh. Hoseok frowns. All he smells is fresh linen and the lilac from the soap of the bath. Of course. It was stupid to hope for something like that. As though he would ever have a scent. 

The foolish disappointment sits heavy under his ribs. He settles back into the pillows, wrapping his arms around himself tightly. His scent glands are still tingling as he falls into an unsettled doze.

Time passes syrupy slow after that. 

Without being able to see the sun, the stars, Hoseok’s existence becomes a series of simple moments. When he is hungry, the alphas feed him. When he is tired, he lays his head down and sleeps.

The younger alphas stop by throughout the day, lounging on the carpeted floor beside Hoseok and talking animatedly amongst themselves. Jungkook tends to stay quiet, watching Hoseok with big eyes, while Taehyung and Jimin seem to enjoy entertaining him with silly skits while he’s curled up in his little makeshift nest. 

Hoseok makes sure to giggle and pay attention. It’s not hard though. They’re both so silly, and his eyes are drawn to the two of them anyways.

He had never had the opportunity to really look at an alpha before. Jimin with his full lips and  mischievous eyes, Taehyung with his golden skin and dark lashes. Hoseok never realized an alpha could be so beautiful.

They’re all like that, if Hoseok is being completely honest with himself. Captivating, in a way that makes the attention they give Hoseok even more baffling. 

Like Seokjin, who’s by far the most handsome person Hoseok has ever seen, and yet who seems the most convinced by Hoseok's deception. Since the scenting he’s been even more attentive, though Hoseok doesn’t understand how the alpha could have gotten anything from it. Hoseok had felt so weird afterwards, floaty and untethered. The hot steam from the bath must have affected both of them. 

“-and he left his clothes perfectly folded!” Hoseok hears Seokjin tell Namjoon later in the day, while he’s laying on the couch, pretending to nap.

And something in Hoseok’s chest unfurls then. In the same aching way it had whenever he had received rare praise at the compound.

This was nicer though. Sweeter, that someone, an alpha no less, could be so pleased with him. Not because he had worked all night in the freezing rain, or because he had volunteered for an extra work shift – but for something as small and innate to Hoseok as folding his clothes. 

Namjoon seems pleased with Hoseok too. When it’s mealtime, Hoseok tries to keep his eyes averted away from the alpha, respectfully eating whatever Seokjin brings to his lips. But Namjoon seems to delight in catching his gaze, sending him a gentle smile before Hoseok can look away.

It makes Hoseok nervous. The pack alpha is a presence of authority that Hoseok doesn’t fully understand yet. Omega’s must have rules here too, but Namjoon had never given Hoseok any instruction on how he was expected to behave. He has just been kind, if a bit detached, letting Seokjin commandeer Hoseok’s daily schedule. 

And then there’s Yoongi. 

The alpha keeps his distance, but Hoseok can’t quite shake the mental image of Yoongi as a guard dog. Loyally shadowing Seokjin, falling in line easily with the pack alpha, watching over the younger alphas with a critical eye. 

Whenever his focus lands on Hoseok though, it’s a sharp thing. Appraising in a way that sends shivers of not-so-buried fear down his back. An alpha has never looked at Hoseok like that before. Like he doesn’t know what to make of Hoseok.

Hoseok catches it often, the flashes of confusion when Yoongi watches Hoseok from the corner of his eyes. And that’s what it settles into, after a few days. Confusion, more so than scrutiny. 

Hoseok feels the same way about him. 

Avoiding Yoongi is relatively easy. The compound is much larger than what the alphas have allowed him to see, and Yoongi disappears somewhere above ground for most of the day. 

Hoseok wants to go above ground too. He misses the sun, the sky, the clouds. Hoseok tries to ask Seokjin, but Jungkook won’t let him. He latches on to Hoseok like an oversized pup,  nuzzling into his neck to distract Hoseok whenever he brings it up. Hoseok suspects it could be on Seokjin’s orders, or maybe Jungkook is just trying to protect him. 

Seokjin keeps Hoseok confined to only soft cushiony spots: the nest, the living room couch, an alphas lap, all places he deems safe for an omega to rest. Hoseok doesn’t mind much, since he’s still enjoying the relief of not having to use his injured knee. In the past, Hoseok had worked through jaw-clenching injuries worse than this. The alphas in charge had always asserted that swollen fingers or fractured ankles were not a suitable excuse to slack off. 

Still, Hoseok feels a pang of anxiety that he hasn’t at least mapped the entrances and exits, that he only has a vague idea of where things are. He knows he should at least think of a way to get away from Seokjin for a little bit, to scope out more information about how he can gather resources and escape. 

Every time he thinks to though, he freezes. Like an invisible tether, Hoseok feels hyper aware of Seokjin's absence – nervous when the alpha goes to the kitchen briefly, or steps away to talk to Namjoon.

It scares Hoseok, this inability to pull away. The danger of it makes him nauseous, how easily he’s fallen into this false contentment. He knows it’s foolish to feel so safe, so helplessly secure in an alpha’s presence. 

It’s just that Seokjin makes it hard not to. He handles Hoseok as though he’s some precious thing. His warm presence is there for every waking moment of Hoseok’s day, smoothing his hair back, wiping his face, bringing him something tasty to snack on.

At night too, they all sprawl out in the nest room, Hoseok nestled amongst the large alpha bodies with barely enough room to stretch out himself. And each night, he has to ignore his beta urging him to press up against their warm backs, to nuzzle into their sides.

Which is another thing Hoseok can’t wrap his mind around. That his beta lets him sleep so openly around these alphas. There had been nights in the compound that Hoseok had been so wired from an encounter with an alpha, that he laid in his cot for hours, unable to sleep from the trembling.

Hoseok tries not to think about it. 

The alphas didn’t seem to mind the messy state of the bed, but it had been bothering Hoseok for the past few nights. The tidy nest Seokjin originally built for them had slowly unraveled, blankets getting pulled away to be used, feet accidentally kicking aside pillows from the edges. 

Hoseok decides to do something about it. It’s near the end of the day, and the pack is lazing around in the living room together after the last meal of the day.

Hoseok yawns softly. “Nest?” he asks, to no one in particular, and Seokjin is swooping down to carry him away almost before he’s done asking. 

When Seokjin places him down on the bed, Hoseok steadies himself with a deep breath. 

Hoseok timidly reaches for a pillow. He holds it in his hands for a moment, before placing it back, this time slightly to the left. He spares a glance at Seokjin, who is now sitting very still, eyes surprised as he smiles encouragingly back at Hoseok. 

And so Hoseok continues, until he’s formed a circular barrier around himself in the middle of the bed. He sort of zones out at some point, focusing so deeply on arranging the pillows by softness, carefully squeezing each one before placing it. He makes the thickest blankets fill in all the seams, arranging the walls to be sturdy. He shuffles around with the fluffy white blanket in his lap. It's the biggest and softest blanket, so he folds it to the side so it can be draped over the alphas when they're sleeping. 

Appraising his work, Hoseok sits back, scanning a critical eye over the nest. 

When he hears a gasp from the doorway, Hoseok startles from single-minded focus. He turns and sees it’s Jungkook, peeking around the doorway with big eyes. Hoseok shifts nervously as Namjoon enters the room, Yoongi following just a few steps behind the pack alpha. 

“Isn’t that just adorable,'' Taehyung coos, “He made a separate little section within his nest to curl up in.” 

“We have the sweetest, tidiest, little omega.” Seokjin affirms. 

Something about that rings a little bell of pride within Hoseok’s chest. Yes. He is very tidy. Always has been. It feels nice to be acknowledged for it. 

The nest catches his attention again. Something is missing. Ah . He reaches down to retrieve the star blanket that had fallen from his shoulders when he had started building. He carefully folds it and places it where he’ll lay his head. There. Now it’s perfect.

He looks up and sees there's a room of beaming alphas watching him, Yoongi amongst them, looking so proud and delighted, so pleased with Hoseok that he can’t help but smile shyly back at them.

“Can I come into the nest omega-hyung?” Jungkook asks, and Hoseok quickly nods.

Jungkook grins, bounding in. “Never been in an omega’s nest before,” he mumbles, smooshing his face into the pillows,  “Smells good,” he sighs happily. 

He’s sweet for saying that. Hoseok shuffles closer, petting Jungkook's hair. Though, he must be mistaking the smell of the fresh sheets for some omegan scent. 

It makes Hoseok feel bad, a sudden ache in his heart. That he isn’t a real omega, that Jungkook isn’t actually experiencing a real omegan nest. He fluffs a pillow self consciously. 

Seokjin must see him fussing, because suddenly he’s being pressed gently into laying down. The alpha tucks the star blanket around Hoseok, then lies down beside him. Jungkook cautiously wiggles closer until he’s cuddled up on the other side. 

Someone dims the lights, and the rest of the alphas settle in to sleep around them, still murmuring praises about the nest. 

Hoseok closes his eyes and tries to sleep, but his thoughts start to wander. His mind strays to the nights he spent staring up at the stars when he had first escaped the compound. How in a moment of weakness he had opened his pack and recklessly ate days worth of rations, something like pure glee alive in his chest.

Even then, he had felt it. The realization that he wouldn’t make it for long on his own. Too used to the meager comforts of the compound, of having someone to tell him what to do in order to survive. 

He can feel that same thing now, laying in the arms of these alphas he’s deceiving. The insatiable wildness in his chest that must be his beta. The greedy thing inside him that wants and wants and wants because it knows he won’t have it for long.