Chapter Text
Jeongguk wakes up to the sharp trill of the alarm blaring next to his face. He slaps it shut, and it clatters against the floorboard. He groans internally, but at least the ringing has ceased. He blinks once, feeling a warmth in his belly, and absentmindedly reaches down to scratch at it.
Then, his heavy, swollen eyelids peel open, and things start to sharpen into focus.
First, he looks up and sees the white nothingness of his ceiling and briefly wonders if he has died and gone to heaven.
He blinks.
Then, things start falling into place.
His other senses awaken, and he feels the soft swell of his knot and balls buried in something exquisitely wet, with pillowy tissues wrapped around his length. He feels a hand over his chest and the warm puff of someone exhaling against his neck. He notices his squished-up tail, which he has been settling his entire weight on.
Then, he truly wakes up.
Taehyung. Taehyung. TAEHYUNG.
His internal thoughts scream at him, a range of emotions: panic, satisfaction, love—wait.
“Tae,” he says, putting a warm hand over Taehyung's bare back and slowly coaxing him awake. “Baby.”
Taehyung murmurs, turning in his sleep but nestling closer to Jeongguk. Then, Jeongguk sees it.
An oval-shaped mark on Taehyung's skin, right on the side of his neck.
Jeongguk touches it, feather-light, and Taehyung's eyes fly open.
The mark is warm to the touch, warmer than Taehyung's core, warmer than his body temperature. It burns so hot that it feels cool under Jeongguk's inquisitive fingertips.
“J’ngguk?” Taehyung slurs, groggily rubbing at his eyes. He slowly peels himself off Jeongguk’s knot, sitting up and slightly away from Jeongguk.
Jeongguk’s chest tightens.
“Good morning,” Taehyung continues, yawning, unaware. The mark seems to glow with the sunlight streaming through the ajar window. He smiles at Jeongguk, sweetly naive and so sweet, god, f*ckin’ sweet. “That was so good. Felt—oh my god, it felt like nothing I've ever felt before.”
Jeongguk’s throat bobs, and something ugly and haggard must be written all over his face because Taehyung's smile wavers before it drops and his brows furrow. “What is it?” he asks, sitting up straighter, and the sheets flow down from his body like a waterfall. His naked body glistens with the sheen of sweat, accentuated so prettily in the morning glow. “What? Hey, what is it?”
He swipes at Jeongguk’s arm before clasping it, and Jeongguk's panic must be as plain as day.
“I… I bit you.”
Taehyung frowns. “A sexy bite? So? We were kinda wild last night.”
“No,” Jeongguk replies, his throat drying. “No. Not a sexy bite. A mating bite.”
Taehyung's frown smooths into a disbelieving laugh before the laughter dies as he sees Jeongguk's serious expression.
“Wait, what do you mean? A mating bite? Jeongguk, you told me that it was a myth and it— you said crossbreeding— Jeongguk, what?”
Jeongguk’s panic springs him to his feet, and he feels wild, his hands coming up to his hair and pulling at it. “I— I don't know. That's how the picture books showed it when I was in the system. That's how the bite looks, and I've given hickeys before, but that's not a hickey. That's a mating bite.”
Taehyung seems to catch up to the panic because he sits on his knees. “What does that mean? What— Jeongguk, what does that mean? What do you mean we mated? How could this happen? Jeongguk, you're a wolf.”
“I know!”
“Jeongguk!”
“Tae, I don't f*cking know! Right now, I'm stressed over the f*cking fact that tomorrow's the audit, and I'm supposed to be at work in an hour, and so should you. f*ck, Tae. You need to cover that sh*t up. You have to be at Seojoon’s side in an hour.”
Taehyung stands up, and even in the height of his anger and vitriol, his body seems to be carved by God, momentarily distracting Jeongguk with the sight of it.
He takes angry steps towards Jeongguk, and there's familiar contempt all over his features again. Contempt that makes Jeongguk recoil as Taehyung stands tall in front of him.
“What, you want me to go back to being Seojoon’s cheap whor*?”
“Wha— I— Taehyung,” Jeongguk’s confusion morphs into one of guilt. Then, shame. Then, hatred for himself. “f*ck, you heard that?”
Taehyung nods, laughing derisively. “What did I f*cking expect from a corporate stooge like you, huh? What did I f*cking expect from a primate breed, huh? My f*cking bad that I couldn't stay away from you. My f*cking bad that I wanted to feel so connected to myself that I sought you out. Now, look at this f*cking mess.”
“Tae, I—”
“Save it, wolf.”
Then, Taehyung takes angry steps out of the bedroom, and when Jeongguk follows him out, with regret pooling in his stomach, he hears the front door slam shut.
The room smells like burnt cotton.
Jeongguk walks towards his diffuser and sees that the wire has fried up the insides.
He turns it off and tries his best not to cry.
“Hey man, good luck for tomorrow.”
Jeongguk gives Jaehyun a grunt instead of a verbal reply.
“Man of many words this morning, huh Mr. Chipper?”
Jeongguk tries his best not to glare at Jaehyun and tell him to f*ck off. Instead, he shrugs and murmurs something so lackluster he can't even remember what he said, even with a gun to his head.
“Alright, dude. Stay sharp.”
Yeah. Right. Sharp. Jeongguk snorts with undisguised irritation.
He has looked up at Seojoon’s office at least a thousand times since clocking in, but there hasn’t been a single sight of Taehyung. His head throbs, his arm feels heavy, and his movements are sluggish and slow. He can’t seem to muster the strength to care today.
A month ago, Jeongguk wouldn’t have risked anything if it meant affecting his job. Now, his priorities have shifted. Everything involves Taehyung—all his thoughts, his senses, his wishes, and his dreams.
Jeongguk almost laughs to himself. Dreams of grandeur involving him and Taehyung riding off into the sunset. What is he, stupid?
You're always meant to be alone, Jeongguk-ah. You're meant to survive. You're supposed to just live, live, live until retirement. Why did you let yourself get tangled with the cow hybrid? Just because he’s pretty? Just because he looked at you after years of everyone looking over you? What did you think would happen? What do you think will happen now? That he'd want to be mated with you? Have your pups? That's not even biologically possible, dipsh*t.
A hand shakes him out of his thoughts.
Jeongguk blinks and finds himself back in the middle of the fluorescent gray corporate hell.
“Jeonggukie, Seojoon has been asking for you.”
He nods at Jieun, gathers his notepad and laptop, and walks towards the office.
Seojoon raises a finger at him in a clear signal to wait a moment as Jeongguk knocks and lets himself in.
Seojoon is on his personal phone, eyebrows scrunched together and mouth thinned into a line. “No, you're going to come here right f*cking now,” he says with barely concealed anger. His tone bristles as someone on the other line says something that displeases him further. “I don't f*cking care, hybrid. You know your place in this world, and it's to serve me at my feet.”
Jeongguk’s blood runs cold as he realizes who is on the other line.
“I expect to see you here in the next 30 minutes with all your clothes off and your puss* to keep me warm. Don't you f*ckin’ forget that you're only alive because you belong to me.”
“Shut the f*ck up.”
It propels out of Jeongguk before he can even possibly stop himself. It's an unconscious verbal vomit. The reflexive urge to protect Taehyung's honor must be the mating’s doing, but he can't stop the boiling-hot rage coursing through his fingertips as they curl into a tight fist that he slams onto the table.
Seojoon looks at him, eyebrow raised in disbelief. He clicks the phone shut, but he doesn't look surprised any longer. His mouth thins dangerously, and there is a vein popping over his forehead. Displeasure is written all over his handsome features.
“And what did you just say to me, Jeon?”
Jeongguk doesn't gulp or feel nervous. There's still anger lacing around his brain, deeming coherency useless.
“That you should shut the f*ck up and back off Taehyung. He's not your property.”
Seojoon’s glare turns icy before he throws his head back and laughs. The playfulness in his cackle only makes Jeongguk angrier.
“As a matter of fact, he is my property.”
Jeongguk steels himself, seeing the calculative gaze on Seojoon’s face as if he is assessing just how much collateral damage Jeongguk would give in to.
And Jeongguk isn't thinking, he's just letting the dislike fuel out of him, but he thinks now. He can't bear his teeth and snap Seojoon’s head off.
The real priority of his existence is survival, and he needs to navigate through this mess he got himself into carefully.
He sighs. He hates that he needs to grovel now. Succumb to the wishes of a mortal instead of telling Seojoon and the world how degrading it is to refer to people, hybrid or not, as property.
“Sir, I apologize for my outburst,” Jeongguk starts, saying it through gritted teeth. He can feel the swell of his incisors, too sharp and uncomfortable in the cocoon of his mouth, and he wonders if he hadn't let sanity take reins, what would he have done…
“As you know, I'm a hybrid,” Jeongguk continues, chest heaving with hate for the words he's saying. “This affects me. We have hormonal cycles of rut n’ heat. Just went through my rut a few days ago, and there's still some aggression inside me.”
He doesn't tell Seojoon that he thinks Seojoon should kill himself or that Jeongguk would like nothing more than to gouge his boss’ eyes out. He doesn't say that. Instead, he bows his head down and keeps an appearance of demurity. Like he isn't an alpha-wolf hybrid.
(Even if his brain conjures a violent fantasy of his fangs ripping Seojoon’s head off, blood oozing everywhere.)
“I apologize if I'm touchy about—er, hybrid rights.”
When Jeongguk looks up, Seojoon's eyes gleam with malice, but he leans back and looks at Jeongguk properly. His eyes rove across the thick cap Jeongguk wears proactively on his head and then down to the pants tailored around his tail.
"Show me," Seojoon says, almost mischievously. "Your tail, Jeon. Then, all's forgiven."
"My tail?" Jeongguk repeats, incredulously. "But, sir—"
"Do it."
The humiliation burns him. Jeongguk's fingers fist into the material of his dress shirt as he pulls it off his slacks.
"Sir, your walls are glass—"
"Then, you'd better hurry on with it before curious eyes look up, hm?"
Disgust for himself pools in his veins as Jeongguk succumbs to the cruel humiliation. He unbuckles his belt and pulls his pants down, then turns around.
"Bend forward," Seojoon says, and there's a smile in his voice that Jeongguk abhors. "Let me get a good look at it."
Jeongguk leans forward, bending into a 90° bow as he braces himself on the same glass wall that he's seen Taehyung arching himself on. He can see all the heads working diligently, unaware of the mortification that Jeongguk is being subjected to.
The burn of shame is red-hot and Jeongguk's fangs bare out as Seojoon oohs behind him. The hate, anger, and self-deprecation bloom in the pit of his stomach, the acrid taste of bitterness on his tongue.
“What a pretty color you are, Jeongguk,” Seojoon says, laughing meanly. “And has nobody breached this tight little hybrid asshole?”
Then, there is a hand brushing against his rim and he jumps in his skin, teeth-gritting, tail swishing angrily in protest.
“No,” he replies, though he forces his entire being to remain calm. Seojoon’s hand leaves him, and Jeongguk turns around to pull his underpants and pants back up.
“No?” Seojoon says, close enough to Jeongguk that the latter could smell his expensive cologne. So close that Jeongguk could even taste it on his tongue. His nails feel sharper when he curls his fingers into a fist. Sharp enough to cut. “It's a shame, bub. You have a pretty pink hole, must be nice to have something breach that, hm?”
“I prefer doing the breaching,” Jeongguk replies, though his voice sounds foreign to his ears. Has he always sounded so gruff? “If that's all, sir. Is it possible to discuss the audit now?”
Seojoon grins once before his mouth thins into something akin to thinly veiled contempt, disgust, and anger. “Remember your place, Jeon Jeongguk. And keep your trashy hybrid self out of my property hybrid and my matters. Got that? Or I'll have you killed by the government so quickly that you won't even be able to say the word help.”
Jeongguk’s jaw sets. “Yes, sir,” he grits out. “I'll remember that.”
Seojoon’s smile turns pleasant as he goes back to his chair and leans back on it. His fingertips touch each other, looking pleased. “Good. Now, let's discuss the audit…”
Jeongguk's hand barely touches the coffee pot when someone yanks his wrist forward, causing him to stumble through his imbalance.
Before he can register with sight, his nose flares with the familiar milky scent.
“I need to talk to you,” Taehyung whispers loudly, his voice tinged with panic.
Jeongguk looks around, but there doesn't seem to be anyone else around, so he nods.
“Not here,” Taehyung continues, running a hand through his hair. “Just pretend to drink coffee and come outside for a smoke on the balcony in like, five minutes.”
Jeongguk nods again, his chest contracting with relief at seeing Taehyung's—thoroughly unbruised—face. He holds his coffee mug as Taehyung inhales once and then sashays away with the same arrogant demeanor that Jeongguk now knew was nothing but a theatrical act.
Five minutes later, he's stepping through the flap in the window and sees Taehyung gripping the railing rung, looking at the tall buildings surrounding him.
“Wolf,” Taehyung says, turning around. He's wearing next to nothing, as usual. A thin overshirt that Jeongguk realizes is one of Seojoon’s work shirts and a thin strip of cloth covering just the triangle above his puss*. Jeongguk wonders if Taehyung is freezing, but even seeing him like this hurts Jeongguk.
“Tae,” Jeongguk says, trying to step closer, but Taehyung holds up a hand, so Jeongguk halts near the flap.
“Don't come closer,” Taehyung says, and there's still panic lacing his voice, lacing his scent as well. Jeongguk wonders if this, too, is the mating’s doing. He can sense Taehyung's shift in mood through his scent, understanding Taehyung's scent so intimately. “Seojoon suspects I'm—well, getting f*cked by someone else. He hasn't seen the bite yet, but if he f*cks me doggy—”
Jeongguk growls a little in protest, unable to help himself.
Taehyung's eyes snap at him, and he frustratedly moves his hands down in defeat. “See, this is what I'm talking about! Jeongguk, Seojoon is in a much more powerful position than both of us. He could have us killed. He's a Park. They have pull with the government. You need to f*ckin’ control your alpha.”
Taehyung turns towards him, and Jeongguk can see the swell of his bare chest, trying to look away.
“We need to go back to pretending we don't care about each other. Like three years ago, wolf.”
Jeongguk leans back, wondering if that is even possible considering how much Taehyung now occupies his senses and thoughts. It feels like an invasive species, like a parasite infiltrating his insides and rendering him useless.
He wants to say: I'm sorry, but I can't, Tae. I can't get away from you. I want you now. I want to be with you. Out in the open. I want to cook food for you. I want to make love to you. I want to love you.
But he doesn't say that because that's not what Taehyung expects from him, because that's not how it works. Jeongguk can't have him. Taehyung isn't his.
“Yeah,” he says, with a heavy heart. “Alright.”
“And I checked out, um, mating rules, wolf. I think if we stay sufficiently away from each other, don't f*ck or anything, it won't trigger our instincts.”
“Instincts? Like me being possessive over you?”
Taehyung's eyes on Jeongguk are forlorn, a sad defeat. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “Exactly.”
“And you want me to stay away from you? No contact?”
Taehyung pulls his lower lip between his teeth, looking positively torn apart. “Yes,” he whispers, voice lower than it's ever been. “I think it's for the best.”
Jeongguk nods, hands slipping into his pockets. Every part of his brain is screaming in agony at the thought of separating himself from Taehyung just when he finally acquired a taste of him. After three years of standing on the sidelines and becoming the star quarterback, he's back to being benched. Barely benched even, he's the f*cking security guard now. Irrelevant to the narrative.
“Jeongguk,” Taehyung says, and he looks up. Taehyung's—no, Seojoon’s—shirt flaps in the wind, jeering at Jeongguk. “Thank you for everything.”
“Don't thank me, Tae.” And he means it.
“I'll miss you.”
Jeongguk clears his throat, trying not to burst into tears in front of Taehyung. The latter needs to see Jeongguk’s strength and will now, not him succumbing to weakness. “I'll see you around.”
Then, he turns around and walks away.
There's a tap on Jeongguk's shoulder.
He pulls his earbud out and automatically hears the familiar sound of Taehyung moaning in the distant background. It distracts him so much that it takes a couple of seconds to realize Jaehyun is saying something to him.
He just nods at whatever Jaehyun’s saying, uncaring. All he can hyper-focus on is Taehyung screaming, "Harder, harder, Seojoonie, harder!" and he desperately wishes to drown that noise out.
It's been three weeks since he'd talked to Taehyung. He hadn't gotten the promotion, but he hadn't been surprised by that. He hardly cared. Everything felt empty. Every second felt like hours. Conversations felt listless. Avoiding Taehyung's eyes and screams is the only thing occupying Jeongguk’s senses. He'd even gone last weekend to f*ck an omega wolf, but it had been the most unsatisfactory two hours of his life. He compared every minute of every day to the few hours he'd spent with Taehyung. He couldn't even jack off without the memory of having Taehyung's tit* in his mouth, the familiar sensation of drinking his milk.
“Mm yeah,” Jeongguk mutters in reply to something Jaehyun was mumbling at him, trying to place his earbud back in, trying his best to not listen to Taehyung's voice ricocheting off the walls.
“You're hardly listening to me, man.”
“Sorry, in a mood.”
“Yeah, this ‘mood’ thing has been going on for weeks now. Daniel’s birthday’s coming up, and we're thinking about going to get some drinks, get that f*cker a cake, and blow out the candles. You in?”
“Nah,” Jeongguk responds as he tries to pop the bud into his ear, but Jaehyun grabs it out of his hand and holds it away. Jeongguk almost snaps at him.
“Stop it, dude. What's gotten into you? You're barely eating lunch. You barely even look up. You don't laugh at my awesome jokes. What the hell's the matter?”
In the distant background, he can hear Taehyung scream, but it's not the regular kind—it sounds like he's in pain. Jeongguk can't help it; he can't. He turns and sees the way Seojoon is pinching at his nipple so hard that Taehyung is leaking milk. Jaehyun follows his line of vision and grunts in disgust.
“Yeah man, they've been at it. You're lucky you got these buds. The hybrid’s been getting it hard lately. Saw his face purpled up last week.”
Last week? Jeongguk had taken three sick days and missed most of the week. When had Taehyung been hurt?
Jeongguk scans his face now, but Taehyung's face is turned away from Jeongguk’s view, and Jeongguk’s heart pinches in his chest.
How bad is the situation for him right now? Was Seojoon punishing Taehyung for Jeongguk's impertinence?
“Uh-huh,” he says blandly because Jaehyun’s staring daggers at him, and Jeongguk hasn't spoken a word in several minutes. He can't even begin to spell out his worries for Taehyung—the endless magnitude that they are—to Jaehyun of all people, because Jeongguk and Taehyung aren't even a thing. They don't exist in the same span and realm of each other for everyone else around them. They're each other's dirty secret. His f*ckin’ mate.
And the hurt of it claws at Jeongguk's throat every night when he's trying to sleep. He still hasn't worked out a routine of normalcy yet when the hurt of their unfair circ*mstances isn't gnawing at his fragile little heart.
“Honestly man,” Jaehyun says, sounding prickled. “You're not even here.”
And yeah, Jeongguk isn't. He's still replaying the night with Taehyung. He's still feeling the soft warmth of Taehyung's skin against his from that night. To hold someone close, to have something meaningful in his life after years of unknowingly pining for it.
“Yeah, sorry, I just—I'm not in the mood lately, ‘Hyun. Just give me some time.”
“Fine, dude. But I hope you're doing okay.”
Not really. “Yeah, I am. Don't worry.”
Jaehyun’s eyes search his face, but he doesn't seem to find the words to say anything, so he gets up to leave for lunch. Jeongguk stays at his desk, not quite having the stomach for solid food. f*ck, it's been hard on him. His mate getting plowed by someone else, but not just that. Everything's been harder. The unfairness of his birth and his identity weighs on him like an anchor every morning he gets up. Sometimes, he'd like to take a sharp knife and chop off his tail. He hates seeing the way Taehyung gets treated by everyone. He hates that there's nothing he can do about it.
He hates that he's just as helpless. He hates that he sits on the sidelines, and God, more than anything in this wretched, f*cksh*t world, he hates that he can't have Taehyung.
That he cannot provide warmth, comfort, and safety for someone he's mated to.
It feels like hours when Jeongguk gets up to get himself a mug of coffee and some quiet in the break room. He feels claustrophobic everywhere in this muted monotony.
In all his disparity, he fails to recognize that Taehyung is standing at the coffee machine all by himself.
It takes them both a second to realize they're alone, but they both stiffen at the same time.
“Don't speak,” Taehyung murmurs, like he can read Jeongguk's mind. “I think Seojoon’s watching the security footage.”
Jeongguk quietly comes up behind Taehyung but doesn't touch him, just close enough that he can feel the other's warmth grazing his skin.
Taehyung inhales quietly.
“I'm doing fine,” Taehyung continues, whispering. “Don't worry.”
“I worry all the time,” Jeongguk replies, taking just half a step so that his lips bury into Taehyung’s nape. They both shudder at the contact, gooseflesh rising on both their skin. “I can't help it.”
“Jeongguk,” Taehyung says, perhaps as a warning, but it peters into something like quiet defeat. Jeongguk’s name shattering into soft syllables. “How are you?”
“Miserable,” Jeongguk replies honestly, nosing into Taehyung’s skin. He inhales and keeps inhaling. Cream, cream, cream. Vanilla cream. f*ck, Taehyung's always been a dream. Taehyung shivers against his nose, and Jeongguk’s hand snakes over his hip to grab at his waist, palm placed flat on Taehyung's belly, his free arm left at his side.
“I just want to kiss you again, Tae.”
“You can't,” Taehyung says, hurt all over himself.
“Believe me, I know.”
“Wolfie…”
There's a sound of laughter from somewhere nearby. Taehyung pushes away from him, dropping his mug against the counter with a clatter.
Jeongguk lets him run away, but it takes too much effort.
He just stands at the coffee machine and doesn't even press the button. Just stands and stares at the mug Taehyung didn't drink from.
Taehyung had probably been waiting for him to come into the break room.
Jeongguk almost cries.
Taehyung’s days have been sh*t, thank you very much for asking @nobody!
He has this burning sensation when he wakes up in the morning, and when he feels up his c*nt, it just seems to get more painful. His nipples are swollen, and he needs to milk himself—something he hadn't done since he first got his period—to alleviate the pain.
On top of it all, Seojoon has been extra hard on him, bruising Taehyung's skin every time he gets his hands on him. The pretense that Taehyung deserved to be hurt had fallen apart after he'd gotten f*cked by Jeongguk.
It's still not as painful as the illegal surgery Seojoon had paid for to clip his little cow ears short so they looked more human. Taehyung is still visibly hybrid, so the decision hadn't made sense to him. But he hadn't been given an anesthetic, and he could feel the scalding tip of the rod poking against his flesh.
Now, Taehyung still wakes up in his little cot, shivering, and the loneliness chews at him.
Everyone's gone back to not talking to him. Seojoon doesn't even address him if it's not in a sexual context, and the mate mark has faded to a slight little bump over the side of his neck—easily indistinguishable.
Sometimes, Taehyung takes extra long at the grocery store checkout because he's desperate for the cashier to ask him a question. Just another one. A different one from "Is that all?" and "Sir, are you done?"
Right now, in his room, he runs through different sequences of how he'd have a conversation with Jeongguk if they had completely normal circ*mstances. If they were both just born human.
“You have a favorite color, Wolfie?”
Taehyung shakes his head. If they were born human, what would Jeongguk's nickname be? Bunny? Jeonggukie? Baby?
“I don't know, Tae. Probably black. You have one?”
“Changes every week!”
Jeongguk smiles at him in the sweetly boyish way that he does.
“What's it this week?”
“Splash of zesty yellow, baby.”
Jeongguk pulls Taehyung closer and kisses the top of his head, warm fingers rubbing soft circles around his forearm, tracing nonsense. Taehyung thinks he's writing out I love you.
“Hybrid!”
It feels like being rudely awakened, snatched away from his wistful dreamland to the cold reality of Seojoon’s cruelty.
Taehyung knows what Seojoon’s shouting about, so he faithfully marches up to his desk and sits at his feet, lightly massaging the soles before pulling Seojoon’s foot up and sucking softly on the big toe.
"There's a good cow."
Taehyung has trained himself enough over the years to react, so he preens now, nodding gleefully up at Seojoon as if he was dying for the man’s sh*tty praise.
He imagines taking a knife, heating the metal edge on a flame, and pressing the razor against Seojoon’s skin, carving out Human Trash so that it melts into his bones. So much so that Seojoon could never stop smelling the scent of burning flesh. He can imagine himself laughing over the sound of Seojoon’s screams.
But reality f*ckin’ sucks.
Literally. Taehyung tries not to chuckle humorlessly at this as he moves on to suck Seojoon’s other toe.
His tit* hurt, his c*nt hurts, and he doesn't want to think about Jeongguk because his heart hurts the most.
Taehyung wakes up the next morning and turns his brain off.
It's a Sunday, and Seojoon is scheduled to go to Japan. Usually, Taehyung goes with him, but it seemed like Seojoon had eyes on another sought-after hybrid lately and was too busy trying to win the auction. Taehyung pitied the ‘brid, he did, but he would be lying if he said that he didn't want companionship. Even if they're both pawns in the rich man’s game.
Taehyung helps Seojoon bathe—washing the man’s back with his tit* and whispering praises into the shell of his ear.
His brain is off. This is just muscle memory.
An hour later, Seojoon gives him a messy kiss on his mouth, squeezing his chest in a way that isn't pleasurable, and then he's out the door.
Taehyung grabs his coat once the door slams behind Seojoon, keeps his brain off, and heads out the door himself.
He doesn't know where he's going, but it's muscle memory and it leads him through streets, up familiar steps, and finally to a familiar door.
“Taehyung,” Jeongguk says, almost sighing the syllables out. He barely opens the door before Taehyung is in his arms. Taehyung's body sags with so much relief that his knee buckles with it. Exhaustion melts away as Jeongguk’s arms wrap around his waist and his face presses into the crevice of Taehyung's neck.
“Wolfie,” Taehyung exhales, finally moving his own hands up and wrapping them tightly around Jeongguk’s form. Fingernails dig with desperation into Jeongguk’s shoulder blades as he inhales the familiar scent that is unequivocally Jeongguk. “God, I missed you.”
“Me too, baby,” Jeongguk murmurs into Taehyung's skin.
“We shouldn't—”
“I know, I know, but we can't help it. Can we?”
Taehyung's eyes squeeze shut, breathing Jeongguk in and trying to still his erratic heartbeat. “No,” he says, sighing. “No, we can't.”
Jeongguk’s hands press into the fleshy dips of Taehyung's hips—nails indenting the skin—with quiet desperation.
“Can I kiss you?” Jeongguk whispers, then adds, “Please?”
Taehyung nods against Jeongguk's hair, almost imperceptibly.
Jeongguk pulls back, looks right into Taehyung's eyes, and his right hand comes up to cup his jaw with tenderness so uncharacteristic for a wolf. With all the unbridled sexual tension they have, he leans in and kisses Taehyung softly on the lips. It deepens instantly. Their mouths open up, tongues explorative as they swirl around each other.
And then, it turns wild. Taehyung moans right into Jeongguk's mouth as the kiss gets rowdy, his teeth nipping against Jeongguk's bottom lip, nibbling at the skin, and swiping his tongue against the slick surface of it. Taehyung's fingers dig into Jeongguk's shirt with the fraught need to be closer.
“I missed you so much, I missed you,” Taehyung says, and the salty taste of tears mixes in with the slick spit of their saliva. “I hated being away from you. I hate belonging to Seojoon. I hate that we can't be together all the time.”
Jeongguk's tears are big and floppy. His sweet Wolfie. So different and gentle from anyone else Taehyung has ever encountered.
He gets choked up as he tries to say something but can't seem to say it.
Taehyung gets it.
Oh f*ck, he totally gets it.
“You don't have to speak it, baby,” Taehyung says, rubbing his fingers over Jeongguk's wet cheek. “I know, I know. My sweet Wolfie. I know.”
Jeongguk shakes his head, but the tears don't stop, and Taehyung has always hated seeing people cry.
He cries along with Jeongguk. Their cracked little hearts weeping with misery.
“I didn't realize how lonely I was till I met you, Tae.”
Taehyung kisses the side of his temple. “Me too,” he murmurs in reply. “Just… had no friends really. Was so sick of this sh*t. Was so sick of it all. Would've killed myself if I hadn't seen you three years ago.”
He pulls Jeongguk's face up so the latter's shiny eyes are trained on Taehyung's equally shiny eyes.
“You saved me, Wolfie.”
Jeongguk's eyes brim with fresh tears.
“No, you saved me, and I didn't even know I needed to be saved, Taehyung.”
Taehyung pulls him closer, holding Jeongguk's face against his chest so the erratic thrum of his heart could quieten against the soft lull of Jeongguk's breathing. His heart slows down. He calms down.
It isn't just muscle memory. Taehyung finally feels present in a moment. Like he stopped floating from above, observing his body through the mundane, and he is finally here. In his own body. Feeling gentle hands touch him. Feeling gentler words wrap around him.
They just breathe together. Chests rising and falling in unison. There are sounds of birds chirping in the background and a soft, romantic song beating in Taehyung's heart.
Jeongguk beats him to the punch:
“I love you, Tae.”
And it's been obvious to Taehyung from the start, but he affirms it out loud, no longer afraid of the weight of the words:
“I love you too, Wolfie. So much.”
Taehyung gently lifts his breast and feeds Jeongguk his nipple. He doesn't feel embarrassed asking Jeongguk to drink from him— he knows Jeongguk gets it, likes it even. But, f*ck, Taehyung's puss* hasn't stopped shaking with desperation for wanting something far more tender and real than Seojoon ever gives him.
Jeongguk suckles at his nipple eagerly, tonguing around the bud, electrifying Taehyung. He moans quietly as he drinks, and Taehyung squeezes his other breast as Jeongguk desperately sucks.
“f*ck, I missed this. You taste goddamn delicious, and I can never get over it.”
Jeongguk's teeth graze the bud, and Taehyung jolts, pleasure running all along his spine.
Jeongguk's hand meanders down to touch between Taehyung's legs, his finger dipping into the dampness in the middle of his underwear. He circles his finger along the clothed cl*t, riling Taehyung up as he continues licking up the milk. It's a mess over his lips; Taehyung's leaking pretty hard, leaking everywhere even.
“Please. Let me,” Taehyung says, pushing Jeongguk back and shuffling to get on his knees in front of Jeongguk. He looks up as he pulls Jeongguk’s sweats down, struggling to remove them off his ankles. He kisses Jeongguk’s knee before leaning in to bury his nose against the thick girth of Jeongguk’s clothed knot. He inhales deeply, and the clean smell of laundry and alpha musk is heaven to Taehyung’s nostrils. “You smell incredible, wolf.”
Jeongguk inhales sharply at the rasp of Taehyung’s praise, chest rising and falling rapidly as Taehyung hooks his fingers over the waistband of his underwear before pulling it down until the knot springs up and slaps across Taehyung’s cheek.
Taehyung giggles, and Jeongguk nervously giggles too, and it’s a soft moment. So rare. So welcome.
Taehyung licks his hand before wrapping it around the bulbous tip of Jeongguk’s knot. Jeongguk groans, his hand reaching out to touch Taehyung’s soft and forgotten hair, an instinctive gesture.
“Tae,” he says, almost reverent as Taehyung begins stroking the knot with both hands and then sits up straight on his haunches so that his chest presses against Jeongguk’s thick balls. He squeezes his chest so that it forms a snug little cave for the bottom of Jeongguk’s knot and cum-filled balls. He reaches down and licks at the tip, swirling his tongue around the head and experiencing a heady rush from the musk and pheromones in the air. Jeongguk smells so typically like an alpha male, that it’s almost overwhelming.
“S’good,” Taehyung garbles, his mouth too full trying to swallow around Jeongguk’s thick girth. “Y’re so b-g.”
“Jesus.”
Taehyung’s tongue licks up the twitching shaft of Jeongguk’s fat knot, his chest rubbing against Jeongguk’s balls and overstimulating the wolf. He can see the way Jeongguk’s chest rises and falls in rapid succession, and it excites him knowing that his Wolfie is just as affected, if not more, than he is.
“f*ck, Tae. Your f*cking tit*. I need my mouth back on them.”
“Patience, wolf. It’s my turn now.”
He suckles at the purpled knothead, tonguing at the tip and flicking his tongue against the slit from which precum trickles out. Then, he leans down and presses his nose against Jeongguk’s balls before enveloping them in his mouth and sucking as hard as he can. Jeongguk groans, his fingers twisting painfully in Taehyung’s hair, pulling at the strands, sending a sharp jolt right to Taehyung’s sopping wet puss*. Taehyung’s horns poke at Jeongguk’s fingers but he doesn’t react to it, just getting right back to his alpha stature with:
“Get up here. Now. I can smell and hear that c*nt of yours.”
Taehyung rises, but before he can press himself back towards Jeongguk, the latter pulls him in harshly, squeezing his tit*. He pinches at Taehyung’s nipple, the sharp sensation making Taehyung cry out, but Jeongguk doesn’t stop there. His tongue reaches out to tease and suck at the pebbled little bud until Taehyung starts leaking milk.
Milk sprays out in showers, and Jeongguk buries his face between Taehyung’s tit*, licking up fat stripes at the middle of his chest.
“I could never f*ckin’ get tired of your tit*. Never.”
The familiar feeling of drunkenness takes over them, the kind that leaves them having an out-of-body experience, like they’re floating in space somewhere far, far away from Earth. Like they are present but not wholly so. Jeongguk’s mouth drinks from Taehyung’s nipple like he is a God feasting on ambrosial elixir. Like something divine and sacred. Something too otherworldly to name.
“Jeongg—” Taehyung tries to say, but the word gets cut through a long-drawn moan, too loud and sweet. “Jeong—” He tries again and fails.
Jeongguk commends his effort. He couldn’t speak even if he tried, and he’s not trying. He’s just feeling. There are pinpricks of euphoria lighting him up like a Christmas tree.
“Oh!” Taehyung exclaims, like a cry, spasming in between Jeongguk’s arms, shaking like a leaf, his legs trembling around Jeongguk’s waist. Jeongguk can smell his org*sm from 10 miles away. The scent is creamy and delectable. Jeongguk’s mouth waters as he sees the slick coating between Tae’s spread thighs. Satin-soft supple skin with slick on top. Jeongguk’s favorite meal, if he’s being honest.
He reaches between Taehyung’s legs— the space where he’s most trembly— and sticks his two fingers against the crevice of his c*nt and scoops up a nice string of slick for him to lick. “f*ck,” he grunts, his teeth sharpening as he tastes the ripe taste of his mate. “f*ck, baby. You taste heavenly.”
He takes up another dip of the gushy wetness and presses it messily against Taehyung’s slicked-up lips before leaning in and claiming them.
The kiss is rowdy from the get-go. It felt like a tuning fork getting struck by lightning. The feeling of tasting Taehyung so wholly, so his. Jeongguk feels like a million particles of stars burst inside the concave cavity of his heart right now. The way gooseflesh rises on both their arms, the way Taehyung presses into him with shuddering breaths.
Taehyung’s mate-mark glows, Jeongguk thinks, but it could also be the haze of this moment spurring delusions and lights playing mischievous tricks on his receptive consciousness.
“I love you, Wolfie,” Taehyung says again and god, Jeongguk’s soul shatters and rises again, like a Phoenix through ashes, at the sound of open vulnerability.
“I love you, angel. I love you.”
They have sex just like that, with Taehyung sitting on his knot on Jeongguk’s couch, almost messily. Like they were horned-up teenagers with no time to shift spaces. Jeongguk’s arm is on Taehyung’s hip, guiding his movements as Taehyung bounces up his shaft. He keeps saying “S’good, s-o-o good.” or was Jeongguk saying it? Honestly, it didn’t matter. They kept chanting things to each other: f*ck baby, you’re perfect. You’re so good. You’re so big. You’re doing so well. You feel so good. You’re everything. I love you. I love you. I love you.
Jeongguk’s teeth press against the side of Taehyung’s neck, right over the initial mark, as his incisors pierce through the fragile skin, and they both reach climax together.
Through the obscure smog of their lovemaking, Jeongguk remembers to kiss Taehyung. He showers Taehyung with kisses, their embrace lasting what feels like an hour, or perhaps longer. Time becomes blurred as Jeongguk’s knot gradually softens inside Taehyung’s plush, warm c*nt. Jeongguk’s hand squeezes Taehyung’s ass before delivering light smacks, his curiosity piqued by the jiggle of it. He does it once, twice, and thrice, unable to stop his fascination with the sensation of Taehyung’s fat ass. Meanwhile, Taehyung nips at Jeongguk’s neck, biting along his jawline and licking over the shell of his ear.
Jeongguk stands up and pushes Taehyung against the door, f*cking him against the wall. He hoists Taehyung up by his buttery-soft thighs and the sounds of Jeongguk’s balls slapping against Taehyung’s c*nt are too p*rnographic to describe. Taehyung keeps kissing him through this, the grounding root of the tree.
After their second round, Taehyung positions Jeongguk’s head in his lap and makes Jeongguk drink from his tit* again. Jeongguk relishes this, wishing he could stay in this moment forever, with Taehyung’s tit* pressed against him.
“God, mommy,” Jeongguk groans distractedly, and Taehyung’s thighs tremble at that. Jeonnguk pounces on that immediately. “Oh? You like that, Mommy? You like letting me feed from mommy’s big tit*?”
Taehyung strokes Jeongguk’s hair lovingly as Jeongguk continues drinking. Calling him Taehyung’s good little boy. My big helper. Such a sweet Wolfie. It makes Jeongguk preen so much, it’s insane. sh*t, maybe he had a mommy kink for real. Chat, this isn’t a haha-joke anymore.
Then, he perches Taehyung on the kitchen counter, ignoring his inner voice chastising him “This is unsanitary!” and eats Taehyung out until Taehyung’s convulsing and arching out, tit* straining upwards and perked little nipples sticking out for Jeongguk to pinch and grope.
In the third round, Jeongguk f*cks Taehyung against the railing of his balcony, groping at his chest and admiring the sensual curve of Taehyung’s spine. Taehyung's ass jiggles against the force of Jeongguk’s thrusts as his knot drills into him. His tail swishing up, waving at the force of Jeongguk’s thrusts. It does something to Jeongguk—the feeling of pleasuring his mate so intensely, and the intimacy of their encounter in the open. It's a moment where he can claim Taehyung as his own, and where Taehyung can claim him in return.
He carries Taehyung to the bathroom and they shower. He washes Taehyung’s hair, soapy hands reaching to squeeze at Taehyung’s chest, fingertips slowly rubbing circles over the soft little bud of his nipples.
“Sweetheart,” Taehyung says as he kisses up Jeongguk’s face, then his chest. He presses feathery-light, soapy kisses against Jeongguk as the shower steams up the space and everything is dewy and fresh. Jeongguk’s tail wraps up around Taehyung’s leg. “Can I touch your ears?”
Jeongguk’s a little embarrassed of his fuzzy ears but the way Taehyung licks at it makes his heart soar. His tail squeezes itself around Taehyung’s leg as Taehyung kisses his ear and rubs the soft fur on the sides.
“You’re so cute, my baby wolf. You’re so perfect, y’know that?”
Jeongguk ducks his head, shy. “Naw.”
“You’re perfect. I love you so much, my gentle little wolf.”
Jeongguk doesn’t even know how he cries again but Taehyung strokes over the wet strands of his hair, holding him close as he hiccups up through his tears before pressing his I-love-yous right into Taehyung’s balmy warm skin.
Taehyung lounges on Jeongguk’s bed, wearing a nice big shirt and cuddling up to him for the next hour. Jeongguk holds his hand and they eat ice cream in bed. It’s nice. Too nice. Taehyung likes the sensation of his torso being covered up and Jeongguk’s warm by his side. His furry tail wrapping around Taehyung’s leg as his arms cocoon Taehyung’s body. It’s so nice that Taehyung hates remembering that he probably had to leave in an hour. The sun was setting. Seojoon usually calls him at night on weekends when he’s away.
Taehyung’s trying not to think about it. He just wants to be here, in Jeongguk’s warm embrace.
“I’ll figure it out, Tae,” Jeongguk suddenly says, hands clasping Taehyung’s, fingers running comforting circles around the knot of Taehyung’s fist. “Don’t worry. Just have faith in me. I’ll figure it out.”
“I trust you.”
And for once, in all of Taehyung’s miserable little life, he means it.
It’s two weeks later, and Jeongguk hasn’t completely figured it out, but he thinks he knows a way.
He sells his house, submits his two-week notice to HR, and informs them that he’ll inform Seojoon of his resignation personally. He sells his furniture and starts packing a bag.
Throughout the day, he looks at Taehyung meaningfully until the hybrid meets his gaze through the fogged-up tinted glass of Seojoon’s office. Jeongguk gives him a nod, noticing Taehyung’s crazed, wide-open eyes.
He doesn’t reveal the plan to Taehyung, only instructs him to pack some belongings and be ready.
“What are you doing, Jeongguk?” Taehyung asks, wide-eyed and terrified, his arms hugging his sides. He insists they need a real plan, while Jeongguk’s plan seems risky and half-baked at best. “We could be killed, no matter where we are.”
“Trust me,” Jeongguk says, hoping Taehyung’s faith in him remains as unwavering as it was two weeks ago.
“I do,” Taehyung responds, Jeongguk’s chest tightens.
His mind is nothing but a big clock ticking viciously. With no home now, he’s living in one of those dilapidated shelters for hybrids and facing all kinds of bullsh*t.
But f*ck, this plan needs to work.
It’s all about timing.
So, Jeongguk waits. The less Taehyung knows, the better. Jeongguk relies on dumb luck and the kindness of strangers, but it’s the only shot they have.
A week and a half later, Seojoon is scheduled for another visit to Japan.
Anticipation courses through Jeongguk’s body. He hands Taehyung an envelope with a ticket and whispers that they'll have to take separate trains.
“It’s a place up north. We’ll catch a flight from there. I know a lady who hosts a protective program for displaced hybrids, hybrids on the run. You know.”
Taehyung doesn’t know.
It doesn’t matter. They had thirty seconds to have this conversation. The time is up. Seojoon has come back from the break room and Jeongguk dutifully disappears from view. He has little to no intention of Seojoon finding out about the end of his work tenure.
Subsection IX: Upon resignation, the employee agrees to provide a notice period of [X] weeks/months, during which they will continue to fulfill their job responsibilities and facilitate the transition of their duties to a successor as directed by the employer. Failure to provide the required notice may result in forfeiture of certain benefits or compensation.
It’s the day of his departure. Jeongguk tries to think but has absolutely no thoughts, just fire in his belly for the future.
He still doesn’t have Taehyung’s number. f*ck, bad planning. But, Taehyung didn’t need that number anymore. He didn’t need anything that tied him to his old life anymore.
He clutches his ticket and boards the train.
It’s all on Taehyung now.
He has everything to lose if Taehyung doesn’t come.
Taehyung attempts to switch off his brain, hoping his legs will move, but it doesn’t work. Honestly, it’s fine. He needs his brain for this, but he thinks. Inside the envelope is a ticket and a short letter explaining what Jeongguk wants to do. It makes sense. It’s somewhere in the middle of the world, a small hicktown in the middle of nowhere. Taehyung could be a farmer and sell his milk, wouldn’t that be a delight? Or he could grow strawberries. He could even change his name. He could have a child with Jeongguk. f*ck, was that biologically possible? Could they adopt?
It’s possible. Anything is possible. The risks are enormous. Taehyung would very much like to avoid being killed. But still, he tries to weigh the pros and he thinks: Jeongguk is there. My Jeongguk. My Wolfie. He’s already there and he’s waiting for me.
So, Taehyung doesn’t do the wrong thing, for once. He gathers up his bag, picks up Pippi Longstocking, grips the ticket in his palm, and leaves Seojoon’s crappy house through the backyard. He bribes Sunghoon to disable the security camera for 30 seconds, saying it’s because he wants to try a trick. He throws the bag over the back wall and climbs up. Sunghoon arrives just as he's on the wall.
“Look! I did it!” Taehyung says, grinning, pleased with his brain for coming up with that. He gets back down. The bag is on the other side. He’s wearing something skimpy and too revealing so Sunghoon doesn’t think too much of it, like it was too out-of-the-blue. Then, Taehyung just walks out the main door like it was a regular ol’ day.
It’s a sh*t plan, to be honest. Taehyung knows he can be tracked easily, but his bag has a couple of Jeongguk’s big clothes, and he changes into them swiftly behind a grocery store. He puts on a mask, and a cap, and slings his bag over his shoulder. His train takes him somewhere else, and then he has another connecting bus to reach where Jeongguk already is.
But still, this is something. A step. Taehyung’s on autopilot, but still. He’s running away. Exhilaration pools in his gut, but he calms himself down.
With his palm clutching his ticket, he boards his compartment.
His heart thunders. His breaths come out in gasps. He’s just pleased to be wearing pants and a shirt, to be honest. Nobody talks to him or bothers him. He just keeps looking at the cover of Pippi Longstocking and throws a kiss at her. This is for you, Pippi. I’m on my great big adventure now.
He boards the bus, and the reality of what he’s doing finally settles into the crevice of his heart. His stomach hurts from it, despite the adrenaline and the rush of running away. But, he thinks about all the cruel sh*t Seojoon had subjected him to. How Seojoon objectified and dehumanized him. How he branded Taehyung’s flesh. Clipped off his ears. How he beat him and treated him with so much disrespect that Taehyung had no regard for himself, and barely could remember what real conversations felt like.
Taehyung’s damaged, but so was Jeongguk. But together?
Taehyung’s heart trills. He’s going to see Jeongguk now, and they’re going to hold hands. Maybe Jeongguk will teach him how to read properly, so Taehyung can try his hand at this Charles Dickens stuff. sh*t, maybe he could read something even more complex. The world seemed bright with possibilities.
Taehyung can see the sun rising over the horizon from his window.
His ticket crumples with the force of his excitement.
Standing at the bus stop is a familiar wolf, raising his hand.
Taehyung pushes down his window with a deafening protesting screech, laughing loudly with giddiness. “Jeongguk!”
Jeongguk jumps and waves his arms maniacally. “Taehyung!”
The bus grinds to a halt. The moment stills as Taehyung gathers up his solitary bag and waits for the double doors to open with a swish. Jeongguk stands on the other side, and Taehyung cannot stop smiling even if someone has a gun to his head.
The bus doors open, and Taehyung takes one step into newfound freedom and another step right into Jeongguk’s awaiting arms, both of them shaking and laughing gleefully.
“One step for hybrid-kind, Jeongguk?” Taehyung giggles.
Jeongguk laughs at that, reaching to kiss Taehyung on his cheek. “One giant leap, baby.”
