Chapter 3

Namjoon managed to keep his mate at home for all of one evening but the next morning, after the police had taken his full statement and had him work with their sketch artist,  Jimin insisted on returning to work.

His spouse argued against the idea, only relenting after Jimin allowed him to scent the Omega thoroughly, leaving an aroma so strong it forced Yoongi to double mask on the ride to the studio where Hoseok wrinkled his nose and exclaimed, "Jumpin' Jay-Z on a pogo stick, Jiminie!  You reek more than the teenage boys in my contemporary class!"

Yoongi made Jimin wait in Hobi's office until he'd inspected the premises again.  Once he was satisfied that the building was secure he waited while Jimin changed clothes then he stood quietly off to the side of whatever room the Omega was in until it was time to escort him home.

This same pattern repeated itself for the next few days, with Yoongi and Hobi managing to keep a (mostly) respectful distance with only the occasional barbed exchange of acerbic nicknames.

"Jimin-ah?  Does the Half Pint Hit Man really need to search the bags of the three year olds in our baby steps ballet class?"

"Jimin-ah?  Please remind Bargain Basement Baryshnikov over there that my job is to be thorough, not polite."

It was in moments such as those when Jimin would briefly wonder if he might not have been better off allowing himself to be abducted.

As for Jungkook, he amused himself by doing things like placing a geriatric seat cushion on the chair Yoongi used when they had lunch or sneaking large print word searches and tubes of denture cream inside the bodyguard's bag.  In retaliation, Yoongi surreptitiously placed puppy pads and teething toys in the employee changing room beside Jungkook's locker.

So while none of the parties involved were holding hands and singing songs around a campfire,  they did abide by a clear, unspoken agreement as to what their main priority was - keeping Jimin safe.

Near the end of his first full week accompanying the dancer to the studio, Yoongi was escorting the Omega inside when they were met with the sight of  a visibly irate Jungkook standing behind the check in counter, trying to placate someone on the phone who obviously wasn't letting him get a word in edgewise.

The young Alpha looked at Jimin then quickly scribbled a name on a post it note, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue as he held it up for his friend to see.

Seeing the confused expression on Yoongi's face, Jimin sighed as he turned to provide the bodyguard with an explanation.

"Seo MoonJo is the neighborhood bully - slash - busybody," he said as he slipped his jacket off and threw it over his shoulder.

"There's an elderly homeless man that Hobi-hyung sometimes lets sleep in our doorway at nights when most other businesses won't.  Hyung even buys him food and lets him crash inside the studio during the winter when the temps drop too low."

"That's very decent of him.  I take it this MoonJo character doesn't approve?"

"That's putting it lightly," Jimin snorted.  "He hates that hyung does this. Thinks it affects his 'property values.'"

The Omega pretended to gag as he made air quotes around his last statement.

"As if his shabby old second hand shop down the street is some sort of five star establishment.  He calls at least once a week to complain.  We're all getting pretty sick of it.  I wouldn't be surprised if one day hyung..."

As if on cue, the door to Hoseok's studio burst open and the Beta stormed out and snatched the phone away from his youngest employee.

"Hello?  MoonJo?  This is Hoseok.  Listen,  I can tell that you really want me to be as upset about this as you are, but I hate to tell you that I've just double-checked my store room and it seems that my entire inventory of fucks has been utterly depleted."

He switched the phone to his other ear and continued on.

"Sadly I do not foresee my stock being replenished anytime in the near future but if the situation changes and I find myself actually giving a damn about your opinion on this - or any other topic for that matter - then I promise you'll be the very first person I call, okay?  Now leave my employees alone before I come down there and pop you in the mouth.  Got it?  Good.  Bye!"

He then unceremoniously ended the call and tossed the phone back to Jungkook.

"If the asshole calls back, hang up," he ordered before marching back into his office, slamming the door behind him.

The remaining trio stood in stunned silence until Jimin and Jungkook simultaneously whooped with laughter while sharing an enthusiastic high five.

Jimin did a spontaneous happy dance then turned and smiled at Yoongi.

"Well?  What do you think about that?"

The bodyguard glanced back at Hosoek's door before giving the Omega a grudgingly impressed nod.

"That....that was pretty good," he admitted.

"That's nothing," grinned Jungkook.  "You should've been here the day Hobi-hyung took down those teenage Alpha street thugs all by himself because they were harassing a young ballet student on his way home."

Yoongi's eyebrows raised slightly. "Did he really?"

Jungkook's chest puffed up with pride.  "Really.  And all he with him was a broomstick and a trash can lid.  Dropped all three of them in less than two minutes.  I saw the security camera footage.   Hyung didn't even break a sweat."

"Oh! Remember the time that non-custodial parent who was accused of abusing their kids tried to force one of them to leave the studio with him?"  Jimin's eyes grew wide at the memory.   "Hobi-hyung protected the little girl until the police got here.  Got a black eye for his troubles but at least the child was safe."

JK eagerly nodded his agreement.

"And don't forget that sadistic ex that was stalking one of our contemporary dance students.  Guy tried to assault her in the parking lot.  Hyung went after the bastard with a tire iron.  Took out the fucker's kneecap."

"Yeah.  That was wicked!" Jimin's eyes sparkled as Jungkook went to answer the phone once again.

After making sure the person on the other end of the line wasn't the dreaded MoonJo calling back, Jimin started towards the changing area with Yoongi by his side.

As the Alpha cleared the room, Jimin dropped his duffle bag on the bench then paused as he glanced at the expression on Yoongi's face.

"What's that look for?" the dancer asked.

"What look?"

"That look.  The look that says you've got something on your mind."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," replied Yoongi as he fixed his eyes on the lockers in front of him.

"Come on," insisted Jimin.  "Admit it.  You're totally impressed with Hobi-hyung right now."

 Yoongi continued staring at the lockers.

"You know," said Jimin, trying to make his voice sound nonchalant. "You aren't as good as you think you are about masking your inner thoughts."

Yoongi quirked an eyebrow at his charge.  There was a long pause as Jimin stared at him until the Alpha gave an indignant huff.

"Fine.  I will admit to respecting the way Knock Off Nureyev holds his ground when he thinks he's right about something.  Not that I always agree with his assessment of that fact but...he doesn't back down, which - under the correct circumstances - might be considered an admirable quality."

"And...?" prompted Jimin.

"And what?  I said what I said.  Period.  Full stop.  End of sentence."

"No...there's something more than that floating around inside the labyrinthine mind of Min Yoongi."  Jimin waggled his eyebrows mischievously as he teased the Alpha.

"Labyrinthine?  Aish!  You've been married to Kim Namjoon too long."

"There's no such thing as too long when you're with someone you love," stated Jimin.  "And now you're deflecting, so go ahead.  Spill."

"I assure you that there is nothing more to spill,"  Yoongi sighed in irritation.

Min Yoongi was not about to admit that after hearing the stories of Hoseok he'd experienced a split second moment of doubt in which he'd wondered if Namjoon might have hired the wrong person to be Jimin's protector.

"Fine.  Have it your way," pouted Jimin as he placed his street clothes in his bag and locked it inside his locker.  "At least I still get to say 'I told you so.'"

"Told me what?"

Jimin smiled wide.  "That Hobi-hyung would eventually start to grow on you."

"Yeah, well..." Yoongi scoffed as he followed the Omega back into the studio.  "So does fungus.  Doesn't mean you ought to be happy about it."

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