Chapter 5

Jimin reappeared moments later, totally unaware of what had just transpired.  Yoongi drove the Omega home in silence and escorted him to his door as per usual.  The pair were greeted by Namjoon who asked Yoongi to join them for dinner so they could discuss some of the recent threats which had arrived at company headquarters.

Yoongi stood off to the side in the kitchen as Jimin gathered the ingredients for the evening meal.  As the dancer rooted around in the refrigerator he glanced over his shoulder at his bodyguard.

"Okay.  What's up with you?  You're even less conversational than normal... and that's saying something."

Yoongi sighed as he shifted his feet.

"Sorry.  A lot on my mind."

"Like what?"

"I ...uh...pissed off Hoseok-ah before we left the studio today."

Jimin chuckled.  "That's not exactly a newsflash, hyung. I would've thought you were used to that by now."

"Yeah, except this time I didn't mean to."

Jimin began laying out an assortment of vegetables on the counter.  He selected a knife from its place by the stove then positioned a large carrot on the cutting board.

"What did you do this time?"

Yoongi awkwardly cleared his throat.  "I, uh... asked about his mate."

Namjoon tried to shoot the other Alpha a warning look but it was too late.

Jimin snarled as he violently whacked off the stem off the carrot then brandished the knife around as he spoke, causing Yoongi to take a step backward for his own protection.

“Aish!  Don’t get me started on that no-good, two-timing son of a *****!  Hyung did everything except breath for that bastard and what does that fucker do to repay him?  He jumps ship for the first clingy, needy Omega that batted their eyelashes at him.”

Jimin sneered as he adopted high pitched voice.   “Oh!  Alpha!  You’re so strong!”

The dancer resumed his normal tone as he began viciously chopping the carrot into bite sized chunks.  “Give me a ******* break!”

Thankfully for Yoongi, the Omega's cel phone rang before he could continue his tirade.  Jimin's shoulders slumped when he saw the name of the caller pop up on his screen.

"Not again..." he whined.

"Who is it, babe?"  asked his mate.

"Great Aunt Joosil," moaned Jimin.

"Ahhh...Want to wager on what technological emergency it is this time?"

"If I'm lucky it'll just be another password reset..."

He took a deep breath before answering the call with a forced brightness.

"Hello, Gomoh Joosil!  How are you?  Uh-huh...uh-huh...You've somehow changed the language settings on your tablet to Hungarian and you don't know how to change it back because you can't actually read Hungarian?  I can see how that could be a problem.  Give me a minute.  Let me grab my tablet and I'll try and walk you through it, okay?"

Jimin laid down the knife and as he made his way back to the bedroom he mimed to his mate that the Alpha was not to touch anything in his absence.

Yoongi smirked in amusement.

"Still not allowed to help in the kitchen after the last incident, huh?"

The Namjoon smiled good naturedly in response to his friend's teasing

"Nope.  And I'm certainly not going to disobey a direct order when he's in this mood."

"Sorry about that," apologized Yoongi.  "I didn't mean to upset him."

"No worries.  It's just an especially touchy subject for him because I used to work with Dantae."

The bodyguard's ears pricked up at Namjoon's tone and deliberate lack of any kind of honorifics in reference to the person in question.

"Who?"

"Hobi-hyung's ex."

Yoongi leaned forward and rested his forearms on the counter.

"Really?"

"Yeah.  We interned for the same company right after college.  We remained friendly until..."

Namjoon checked to make sure Jimin was still in the other room.

"Listen, I'm not excusing Dantae's behavior.  What he did to hyung was indefensible.  Period. You don't make that kind of commitment to another person if you aren't sure that you can live up to it.  But for some of us...it wasn't  completely unforeseen, either."

"How so?"

Namjoon considered his words carefully before answering.

"Regardless of his designation,  Dantae has always been the type of person that...needed to be needed, if you know what I mean?  The problem is that he never recognized that fact - or at least never admitted it to himself.  And - well - you've met Hoseok-hyung."

"Not a 'damsel in distress' by any means," agreed Yoongi.

"Exactly.  At first Dantae found that aspect of hyung's personality exciting and appealing but it became an issue later on."

"If you knew all that why didn't you do something about it?"

Yoongi's words came out more brusque than he'd intended it them to sound but if Namjoon was offended he didn't show it.

"We did try to warn him. All of us - even Jungkook-ah - expressed our concerns about the match but Hobi-hyung can be a bit..."

"Stubborn?  Pig-headed?  Obstinate?"  supplied Yoongi.

"I was going to say 'strong willed', but I think you get the idea."

Namjoon shook his head before continuing his story.

 "However Dantae can be pretty charming when he wants to be. He swept Hoseok-hyung off his feet in a whirlwind courtship.  Things seemed good for a while but a little over a year after they'd mated,  Dantae hired Yooshuk-ah - the omega - as his personal assistant...."

"Shit.  Don't tell me it was the old Boss screwing his secretary scenario..."

Namjoon nodded as Yoongi rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Aish! What a ******* cliché."

"Yeah," Namjoon sighed.  "The sad part is that Yooshuk-ah honestly doesn't seem like a bad person.  From what I can tell he's just a really timid, fragile guy who was in  an extremely vulnerable state when he met Dantae."

"How so?"

"Word around the office was he'd just come out of an abusive relationship, his mother had recently passed away, he didn't have a lot of friends, hadn't worked outside the home in years.  The kind of  person who was looking for..."

"Someone who needed to be needed," scoffed Yoongi.

"Exactly."

Namjoon leaned against the refrigerator and stared at the drink in his hand.

"Again.  I'm not justifying either of them.  When the whole thing happened I let Dantae know in no uncertain terms that I found his actions - particularly his abandonment of Hobi-hyung - utterly reprehensible.  I cut all personal ties with him but it's a touchy subject for Jimin-ah because due to certain professional obligations I have to at least pretend to  be cordial to the guy whenever I see him out in public."

Yoongi nodded his understanding.  Seeing the look on his friend's face he tried to lighten the mood by asking, "Is that why your assistant looks like she could be your grandmother?"

"I dare you to say that to Lee Sanghee's face," laughed Namjoon.  "She's not only a damn good office manager she's also a trained marksman who just missed qualifying for the Olympic Biathlon team in 1972. If she weren't leaving on a month long trip to visit her grandchildren I might have asked her to be Jimin-ah's bodyguard."

Yoongi's expression fell ever so slightly at that comment causing Namjoon to rush and reassure his old friend.

"I'm kidding!  That was a joke, hyung!  But getting back to your original point - yes, I do take my mate's feelings into consideration when I select employees that I'll be spending time alone with.  I think that's the right thing to do.  Jimin-ah and I love and trust each other completely but why should I give him unnecessary reasons to think otherwise?"

Just then Jimin came back into the room, balancing his phone between his shoulder and his ear as he typed on his tablet.

"No...no, Gomoh.  The settings icon.  The...the one that looks like...No...Yes...Yes, he's here.  Hold on...."

The Omega rolled his eyes as he shoved both the phone and the tablet towards his mate.

"Here.  Maybe if an Alpha tells her what to do then she'll believe it."

They both chuckled as Namjoon kissed his mate on the forehead before taking both items and heading off towards his home office.

"Hello, Great Aunt Joosil!  How may I help you this evening?"

Jimin shook his head as he turned back to Yoongi.

"Sorry about that."

"That's alright," smiled the bodyguard.  "I have an elderly uncle back in Daegu that insists on using one of those 'pay as you go' cel phones but he has to call me every time he needs to add minutes to it so I totally understand."

The Alpha rubbed his neck then added, "And I'm sorry if I upset you earlier.  It honestly wasn't my intention."

Jimin shrugged as he picked up the knife.   "It's okay.  You didn't know.  Now you do."

The bodyguard fidgeted with his cufflinks as he kept a close eye on both Jimin and the cutlery.

"I'm very sorry to hear that Hoseok-ah went through something like that. I-I've heard awful things about the repercussions for those...left behind.  That some even just...give up."

"I'm sure that happens to many of the abandoned but that's not Hobi-hyung,"  Jimin stated firmly as he began aggressively chopping the vegetables again. "Jung Hoseok is a lot of things but a quitter isn’t one of them.  He’ll push through any form of pain simply because the alternative is...well, it would be unthinkable to him."

Yoongi had always found it a deeply unfair fluke of biology that it was the mates who were left behind - almost always Betas or Omegas - who were forced to bear the brunt of the consequences following an abandonment.

He wanted to learn more but knew he was already on precarious ground so he made it a point to scoot a safe distance away from the cutting board before asking his follow-up question.

"Jimin-ah? I don't mean to pry but...what was it like right after his mate left?  I mean, you hear the stories but it  happens so rarely that I never knew what to believe regarding the after effects..."

Jimin stopped what he was doing and stared at the marble countertop for a long moment before answering.

"It...it was awful, hyung.  I’ve never seen anyone suffer like that before.  The physical pain was excruciating but the emotional pain was even worse.  It was like someone had torn out half of his soul without bothering to sew up the wound."

A visible shiver ran down the Omega's back and his voice grew thick with emotion.

"He couldn't get out of bed for nearly two weeks.  Took almost a month before he could leave his apartment. It was another month after that before he had the strength to go back to work at the studio full time."

It was almost impossible for Yoongi to imagine the stubborn, determined Beta who delighted in taunting him in that kind of condition and he felt an unexpected wave of gratitude that he hadn't witnessed it first-hand.

"It’s hard to picture Hoseok-ah like that.  He always seems so…strong and confident."

Jimin turned his attention back to the dinner preparations.

"Yeah. Well…No one can be happy all the time, hyung."

"Yes, but some people deserve to be, though…"

For a terrifying second Yoongi feared that he'd spoken those words out loud but one glance at Jimin reassured the Alpha that the sentiment remained firmly locked inside his head.

He let out a shaky breath that he hoped also went unnoticed as he wondered where in the hell that thought came from in the first place.

xxx

The next morning when Yoongi arrived at the studio he made his way over to Hoseok and silently handed him a cup from the cafe around the corner.

Hobi eyed it suspiciously before slowly taking it from Yoongi's hand.

"What's this?"

"A peace offering," stated the bodyguard as he leaned against the wall beside Hoseok and stared out into the room as Jimin began his warm ups.

The Beta gave the cup a cautious sniff and was pleasantly surprised to find it was his favorite - a vanilla chai latte with cinnamon, allspice and a shot of maple syrup.  He wondered if Jimin had given Yoongi the order or if the Alpha had noticed it himself.  He decided not to ask, opting for a different question instead.

"A peace offering for what, exactly?"

"For yesterday.  I asked you a personal question then reacted in an inappropriate manner when you answered it.  That was both unprofessional and unacceptable of me. I apologize."

Hoseok sighed as he took a sip of the tea.

"Your reaction was your reaction.  It was I who responded inappropriately by lashing out at you.  My therapist keeps telling me that I should make an effort 'not to bleed on the people who didn't cut me' but...it appears that I've missed a few sessions."

Yoongi huffed and replied in a low voice, "Yeah, well...mine tries to tell that 'pain is inevitable but surrender is optional'."

He shifted the cup of strong black coffee to his other hand before taking a drink.  "At least, I think she said that. I might have seen it on one of those crappy, pseudo-inspirational coffee mugs instead.  It's been a while since I made an appointment so I may be confusing the two."

Hoseok dipped his head to try and hide the smile that was spreading across his face.  Out of deference Yoongi politely pretended not to notice and continued speaking as if nothing had happened.

"Listen.  I know you probably have a thousand and one reasons to not believe what I'm about to say but there are a lot of us - other Alphas, I mean - like Namjoon and myself who take the words 'to death us do part' very seriously so please don't assume that we're all like...him.  We're not."

A quick glance at Yoongi's face suggested to the dancer that there might be a deeper meaning behind those words.

Remembering Jimin's vague comments about the Alpha's past, Hoseok tentatively asked, "I...I take it you suffered a loss?"

"Yes," answered Yoongi.

The Beta waited patiently but once it was clear that no additional answer was to be forthcoming, he decided to gently try again.

"Of a...permanent nature?"

"Yes. "

Sensing the reticence in the bodyguard's tone and demeanor, Hoseok opted not to push that particular subject any further.  Instead he shifted back to the topic of therapy.

"So...when did you decide to talk to someone about it?"

"A friend told me 'you can't start to heal if you don't even acknowledge that you're hurt'.  I couldn't really argue with that so..." Yoongi shrugged then added, "He also wouldn't shut up until I made the appointment, so for the sake of what was left of my sanity I went."

Hoseok gave a knowing nod.   "Jimin-ah said something very similar to me. He used more colorful language but the sentiment was the same.  He wouldn't take 'no' for an answer either.  Neither would Kookie.  And you've seen first-hand how....'persistent' those two can be. "

It was now Yoongi's turn to try and hide a smile while Hoseok pretended not to notice.

"Can you tell a difference?" the Beta asked.  "After talking to someone, I mean."

An indecipherable expression darted across Yoongi's face but it disappeared before Hoseok could put a name to it.  The bodyguard took another long sip of his drink before speaking again.

"I suppose," he answered eventually.

"Does it still hurt?"

This time the Alpha spoke without hesitation.

"Yes."

"Do you think it will ever stop?"

"I doubt it."

"I think you're right."

Yoongi quirked an eyebrow and Hoseok rushed to add, "And if you tell anyone I agreed with you about something then I will proclaim you a liar."

"I wouldn't dream of it.  Besides, no one who has ever met you would believe me anyway."

There was another pause as they watched students begin filing into the room.

"Has anyone ever told you that you should be over it by now?" Hoseok asked.

"Once," Yoongi grunted.  "It didn't go well."

"What happened?"

The Alpha finished his coffee and tossed the cup into a nearby trash can.

"I shot them."

Hoseok thought about that for a moment then asked calmly, "Was it fatal?"

"No," sighed Yoongi.

Hoseok shook his head sadly before walking off to start his first class of the day.

"Damn.  That's too bad. Maybe next time your aim will be better."

Throughout the remainder of the day  the Alpha and the Beta both quietly considered the implications of that morning's conversation.

Neither thought they could call each other 'friends' yet...no, they both would've agreed that would be pushing the word's definition a shade too far at this point but each came to the conclusion that they'd reached a new found understanding of the other's position and that was more than either would have thought possible when they'd first met.

They both decided that was probably good enough for now.

Only time would tell if anything more than that was even a possibility.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***