Chapter Text
Bright lights and loud cheers filled the dining hall. The entire pack had come together in celebration (and in the case of some alphas, mourning) for the couple kneeling by the pack alpha’s seat. “Under the light of the first wolf moon of the season, I am happy to announce the betrothal of Min Yoongi and Park Jimin. May they be blessed with a long, happy life and many offspring.”
Cheers erupted through the hall and Seokjin had to hold back an eyeroll as he slowly clapped along. Sure, he was happy for his friends, especially since he’d had to deal with Jimin pining over the alpha since the moment he’d presented, but he definitely didn’t enjoy the theatrics that came along with a new engagement. The omega next to him did not have the same thoughts as him, if the way he was jumping in excitement was anything to go by. “That’s my best friend!” Taehyung screamed, barely heard through all the pack members moving forward to give the couple their own words of encouragement and blessings. He sat back down with a dreamy sigh, leaning over to rest his head on Seokjin’s shoulder. “Don’t you just love mating season?”
Seokjin snorted at the question. “Not particularly~” He looked at the younger omega, only to notice that his gaze was fixed across the room at some of the younger, mostly freshly presented alphas. “So is Jungkook going to actually initiate a courtship this season or what, because I’ve been waiting almost a year for it to happen and I’m kind of getting tired of his ‘shyness’.”
Taehyung reached over and slapped the older omega on the arm. “Stop it! You know he doesn’t like me like that.” A sadness filled Taehyung’s eyes.
Seokjin just stared at him for a few seconds before smacking him on top of the head. “I swear, if you two don’t stop being such idiots, I’m going to punch both of you in the throat, then lock you in the mating den together and not let you out until it’s done.”
Taehyung crossed his arms and looked away from the older omega while pouting, knowing there was no use arguing with him. He perked up as his eyes fell on the couple across the room, sighing softly again as he watched his best friend nuzzle against his intended mate’s jaw and nipping it lightly, then squealing lightly when the alpha returned the action. “Aww, they’re scenting each other! Jimin’s been so excited to do that, it’s all he’s been talking about for the past month.”
“Yay~” Seokjin said with no enthusiasm, which brought on Taehyung’s yearly rant to the older omega about his distaste for one of the most important parts of their pack’s culture.
Seokjin had mastered the art of tuning him out and was happily daydreaming about a world where mating season wasn’t a thing when he was brought back to reality by the familiar smell of rose. He quickly wondered how he was able to smell Jimin coming up to them considering the strong presence of sandalwood mixed in with his normal scent. “Hey, guys~” Jimin greeted happily, his cheeks flushed a slight pink as he gathered up his traditional robes enough to be able to sit at the table with his friends.
“You reek of Yoongi,” was Seokjin’s greeting, ignoring Taehyung’s elbow in his side.
“Good, that’s how it should be,” the omega commented, his smile much brighter now that it had been confirmed that he smelled like his intended mate. “I cannot wait for our mating ceremony!”
Taehyung and Jimin squealed together, and Seokjin didn’t bother to hold back his eyeroll. “When is it?”
Jimin pouted at Taehyung’s question. “Well, my heat just ended less than a week ago, and Yoongi’s rut two weeks ago, so it won’t be for another three or four months at the least.”
“You should’ve asked for my grandfather’s blessing a month ago like you’d originally planned.” Seokjin pointed out, feeling sorry for his friend, but also not.
“Yoongi wanted to wait until the mating season started to make it more special!” Jimin defended, his blush deepening as he said the alpha’s name.
“Betrothal is betrothal regardless of what time of year it is, I don’t care what our bodies are saying.” The younger two omegas didn’t bother listening to Seokjin’s rant, too focused on something off to the side. “Oh, what-“ Seokjin stopped talking as he saw Hyoshin, one of the pack’s strongest alphas, and someone who had been showing more and more interest in him, approaching their table. He so badly wanted to groan and roll his eyes but held back as he knew that the majority of the pack’s eyes were on them due to what was about to happen.
Instead, he stood up as the alpha approached, eyes tracking him as he knelt on the ground before the omega. “Kim Seokjin,” the alpha bowed his head, “over the past few months I have grown very fond of your presence and I would like to express my deep admiration for you. As a sign of my affection, I present to you this ruby necklace crafted by my great grandfather for my great grandmother at the beginning of their courtship.” At that, Hyoshin opened the box in his hands and held it up in presentation to the alpha.
The gems in the jewelry sparkled in the torchlight of the dining hall, and the omega couldn’t deny their beauty. “This is very beautiful,” the alpha lifted up his head, believing that the omega was accepting his gift, only for his smile to disappear as the omega shut the lid of the box. “But I’m afraid I cannot accept this.”
The celebration moved on as if nothing had happened and Seokjin sat back down next to Taehyung. “Seriously?” Jimin asked the older omega, who responded with an innocent ‘what’. “That’s the 15th alpha you’ve turned down.”
Seokjin shrugged. “I’m not going to lead them on if I’m not interested.”
“How can you not be interested in any of them?” Taehyung asked, gaping at him. “You literally have the most desirable alphas falling over themselves just to get the chance to court you, and you’re seriously telling me that you haven’t had even the slightest bit of interest.”
Seokjin shook his head. “Most of them are only going after me to earn the title of pack heir, the rest of them only want me as their arm candy, which is shown from how none of them have bothered to offer me something I’ll actually like.” Taehyung opened his mouth to argue, but Seokjin shut him down with, “You know I hate all the flashy stuff. I want someone who appreciates the simple things like me.”
Jimin snorted. “So, what, are you going to just deny every unmated alpha in the pack until you find someone like that.”
“If necessary~”
Taehyung couldn’t believe what was coming out of his friend’s mouth. “You know that if you don’t have a potential mate by the end of the season, your grandfather is going to arrange one for you.”
The memory of the discussion with his grandfather at the beginning of the month was all too clear in his mind. “He will arrange a courtship, but he can’t force me to mate anyone.” Seokjin stated. “The council won’t allow him to do that, they revoked the law that stated an alpha could force an omega to submit as their mate after they linked the forcible mating to the population decrease 30 years ago.”
“So, what you’re saying is, your plan is to actually remain without a mate for your entire life.”
Seokjin quickly smacked Taehyung on the arm. “No! What I’m saying is it doesn’t matter who my grandfather attempts to throw at me because the alpha for me is out there somewhere and I will find him one day.”
~*~
Namjoon politely bowed to the customer with a smile as he greeted him. “How may I help you today?”
“I was hoping for a bouquet of roses, maybe some other flowers mixed in.” Namjoon nodded, pulling out the notepad used for planning out what the bouquets will look like. “I’m confessing to my crush today.”
Namjoon paused before looking up at the customer with the same smile. “I hope things go very well for you. If you don’t mind my suggestions, roses are very good for confessions, however you might want to consider the base of your bouquet to be tulips.” He gestured to the flowers on display near the counter.
“Oh? Why is that?”
“They symbolize perfect love. The deepest of love that is pure and never fades.” Namjoon stepped over to the display and gently fingered the bright red flower at the center of the display. “The red ones represent everlasting love, making them the perfect flower for a declaration of love.”
The customer stared blankly between the flowers and Namjoon. “Okay, yeah, sounds great, a tulip bouquet then.”
After settling the design of the bouquet with the customer and scheduling a time and day for pick up, Namjoon stepped into the back room where his grandmother was busy tending to a set of daisies. “Ah, it feels so good in here!” Namjoon exclaimed, pulling his hoodie off and embracing the cool air on his heated skin. “It’s getting really hot up front.”
“Really?” His grandmother looked at him with concern. “It shouldn’t, in fact I turned the air down to keep the flowers up front cooler.”
“That’s weird, because I am really sweating right now.” He turned his back to his grandmother and lifted up his shirt. “Feel how wet my back is right now.”
His grandmother laughed and playfully swatted at him. “Stop that, no one wants to feel your sweaty back!” After Namjoon turned back around to face her, she reached up to feel his forehead, pulling her hand away quickly as his skin was nearly as hot as an oven. “I hope you’re not getting sick, why don’t you go upstairs and rest. I can handle the shop until closing.”
“Are you sure?” Namjoon asked, not wanting to leave his grandmother all alone.
“Yes, go, now. Straight to bed! I’ll check on you in a minute.”
Namjoon nodded, refraining from hugging or kissing his grandmother in the case that he was sick, as he didn’t want to transfer any viruses to her, and headed upstairs to their apartment. As soon as he was in his room, he stripped down to just his underwear, even that being nearly unbearable and flopped onto his bed. He decided a nap would do him good and closed his eyes, hoping to wake up to his grandmother bringing him her special hot soup that she always made him whenever he was ill.