Chapter forty

Warm. It was really, really warm.

When Taehyung opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was how there was light peeking through the thin, beige curtains covering the window opposite to the bed.

The next thing his sleepy mind registered was Jungkook's warm breath hitting the back of his neck, a gesture which sent shivers down his body at each exhale, his heavy arms tight around Taehyung's torso, locking him close; the way their bodies seemed to fit together just right, like puzzle pieces that found each other in the most unorthodox of ways.

The omega felt the steady rise of the alpha's chest: the calm beat of his heart. It was from that alone that he didn't need to lift his head to know that the other was awake. But he did anyway, because it was Jungkook – and he would take any chance to look at the alpha.

Jungkook's eyes trailed down to him when he did, and fondness swam through them. It would never fail to make Taehyung's heart swell when he watched those eyes sparkle in the lowest lights of a room, especially when the gaze was trained on him.

"Morning," Jungkook murmured affectionately, kissing at the omega's temple. Taehyung squirmed in his hold, overwhelmed with love. "You look so cute when you wake up."

Taehyung wished to scoff at the comment. He hardly felt cute; his eyes were still heavy as an incessant reminder that he could use some more sleep and his cheeks were puffy, but the words still worked to rush warmth through him. He laid his head back down, sighing lightly. "I look awful," he said, blinking the bleariness away.

"That's the worst lie I've ever heard." Jungkook vehemently argued, nuzzling his nose against Taehyung's before leaning forward to capture his lips in a light kiss, sighing into the familiar action.

"It's true!" There was a slow exhale Taehyung gave, like he was savoring it, tracing every detail of those lips that lingered on him.

Jungkook couldn't possibly help but roll his eyes at the omega then, pinching at his arm just lightly to leave a sting as his punishment. The notion only made the supposed older boy laugh, though the alpha didn't complain. He wouldn't care in what context Taehyung was laughing, because his laugher made the fucking darkness glow. "Liar." Jungkook's lips curled into a smirk, his mouth lopsided as he chuckled.

"God, never mind, you look worse than me," The omega swatted at him playfully, his hand absentmindedly stroking through the alpha's raven hair. "Your hair is like a bird nest!"

Jungkook ducked his head just in time, breathing out a laugh when he felt Taehyung's slender fingers swoop over his head, attempting to rustle the locks into something less tasteful. Not that the omega tried hard to do so, if anything Jungkook could tell it was meant to be a teasing gesture. Still, he dodged every touch, his black hair curled by his nape and remaining unstylish.

"I think you're a bit unfair to your mate, pup," the alpha replied softly, words so breathy that Taehyung felt his own hair rustle under Jungkook's heavy gasps, and the omega expected this to be the beginning of a delicious string of dirty talk.

"My mate..." Taehyung purred at the sentence. Just now the realization of the words hit him up, and he found himself lost in thoughts. Jungkook was his alpha, his mate. His to love, kiss, cherish and touch. Jungkook was, in every way possible, his. And the omega was not the less. The freshly mate mark on his neck denoted him as Jungkook's omega.

"Yours," The alpha's tone was velvety soft, and so was the way he caressed Taehyung's sides with his thumb. A means to ease him down from whatever cloud of thoughts he allowed himself to float away in again.

"You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves." The omega laughed at his own attempted comedy, and the notion only made Jungkook join in with a childish snort. Even if the joke wasn't funny.

When the first tumult of joy was over, the alpha treated to speak up, "Perhaps I'm a bit sadistic when it comes to pissing you off."

"Very sadistic." Taehyung's cheeks puffed out in order to hold back a snort.

This time, Jungkook pinched at his skin twice and the omega erupted into more giggles. Their relationship was one that might make people vomit from the extremely cliché aspects of it. Though the alpha personally thought there was something different about what they had, something no other lovers in the entire universe - past, present, and future - had. They were different; their love was the strongest that love could get. Jungkook didn't know why, he just felt it. Intuition, perhaps?

Some said love happened in an instant; a blissful sort of appreciation for someone that hit you, threw you off balance until you were falling, falling, so deep. It was unquestioning, patient, yet determined. There was no part of it that you didn't want because it was kind, giving, honest. You met that one person and it just bloomed there, in the palms of your hands as you held each other, in the crevices of your heart when you kissed.

You knew it when you felt it because it was impossible to miss.

That was love.

When Jungkook fell in love with Taehyung, it was like he was the bud of a cherry blossom tree in late winter, waiting for the sun to come out. Then the sun did: he showed up so suddenly and Jungkook tasted that sunlight and bloomed. All for Taehyung. Seasons changed and seasons flew. But every single year cherry blossoms bloomed in spring and that was exactly how they worked. That was exactly how two people could have an eternity together and yet still tasted the delicious life of a mortal. Birth, Life, Death. But some things were infinite like their love.

They spent a few more minutes just sighing at each other; mostly with Taehyung just lying there while Jungkook kissed at his achy limbs, sucked a few marks into his golden skin. He listened to Taehyung's sighs intently like they were lyrics to a song he needed to learn. Jungkook had already learned them, a long, long time ago. At some point he lost count of time, instead counting in kisses.

"Hey, Jungkook," Taehyung suddenly spoke, averting his gaze to the alpha. "Can I see your eyes?"

The gentle kisses and loving touches had to come to a halt, and the omega knew Jungkook remained silent not because he wanted to be mean, but because he wasn't the one who enjoyed the burdening past on his shoulders.

"Are you sure?" Jungkook peered at him, slow and hard, like he was observing a fox in the midst of a forest, a little awed, a little scared, and a little intrigued.

Taehyung hummed at the question, bringing his hands up to cup the alpha's face in them and caress patterns onto the white skin. "I'm your mate. I shouldn't be afraid of the color of your eyes." He said, quietly, yet sufficiently steady.

Tentatively, Jungkook nodded his head and slid the lids over his eyes, the hand that was supporting him up unconsciously gripped the silky sheets. When he opened them again, his irises were no longer brown, but red. Piercing, deep, dangerous crimson.

Taehyung thought red was a pretty color. It meant passion, desire, lust, and power. Back in the past he admired the color of Soojin's eyes. Then it became formidable to him after encountering with Chinhae. But now it was different. The pigment didn't hold power, nor was it scary, but simply pretty.

"Beautiful," The omega found himself saying, a small crease forming between his eyebrows as he stared into Jungkook's soulful, fully red irises with wonder, not intimidated by the bloody hue of his orbs.

"Aren't you afraid?" Jungkook whispered, sounding somewhat embarrassed and hesitant.

"No, none of that," Taehyung shook his head dismissively, tucking some of the alpha's black strands behind his ear to move them out of his face so he could have a better view of those rubicund gems. "This is you and every detail about you is just...perfect. It might be a little selfish of me to ask you to stay like this, but I can't help it. I would stare at you for the rest of eternity if I could."

Jungkook was... speechless, to say the least. Taehyung's words, the way he was not even a little bit ashamed of his praises, his admission. The alpha sincerely couldn't decide whether the way his stomach churched could be described as a good or bad feeling. All he knew was that it was directly connected to Taehyung.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jungkook cocked his brow, and he found it fitting to give into his desire and to just ask Taehyung about what he wanted to know, rather than letting it fester.

The omega hummed in confirmation, his smile was delicate, though undeniably venereal, indicative of something indecent. "Go ahead."

"How did I kill Chinhae?" Jungkook asked and Taehyung's smile quickly vanished at the serious tone.

They hadn't properly spoken about the events that unfurled at the crucial battle against the Blood Stream pack. Mainly because the omega wasn't in his right state of mind to recall the previous incidents.

"Don't you know already?" The omega widened his eyes, hands still placed on each side of Jungkook's face.

The alpha looked at him in a way that suggested he didn't know, like the concept of the question was completely foreign to him "I'm not sure." He told him, almost a whisper, and yet it was loud, reverberating in Taehyung's ears, like he was yelling something, a hidden message interwoven within the delicacy.

"Oh," The omega exclaimed, making Jungkook look immensely confused now, like he had been missing something this whole time. "Do you remember how I always used to tell you that your emotions can overpower a true blood's order?" He questioned, to which Jungkook responded with a nod. "Well, that happened to you when Chinhae marked me. You were so enraged and vivid that even your wolf couldn't stay in your way. Because you wished to protect me more than anything else."

Jungkook couldn't stop his mind from going into overdrive as if it might explode at any minute. He reminisced the time Taehyung had told him about the pain a broken heart could inflict. His heart indeed got broken when he saw the omega fall unconscious in Chinhae's arms. The love he had for Taehyung was his most dangerous weapon, and thanks to the bond they shared together he managed to free himself from the saddling order and kill the true blood alpha.

"But now you're forced to deal with the consequences," the omega said, and it came out as a solemn reply. Meanwhile Jungkook tried to push his thoughts back into some semblance of order. "We can't stay here, Jungkook. People will start searching for you. They will always want to posses the power of a true blood alpha."

Taehyung had been aware of the consequences this whole time. From the very first start he knew that once Jungkook killed Chinhae, he would have to leave his pack and friends behind. To crown the whole, his life would be in constant danger. Being a true blood was both a blessing and a curse. That was the reason why he and Soojin had to live as rogues, hidden away from the outside world.

Though the decision had been hard to make, Taehyung unconditionally followed his mate through the long path, devoted to the idea of keeping his rank a secret.

"We still have some time to figure everything out." Jungkook eventually broke the silence, removing the omega's hands from his plush cheeks to intertwine their fingers together. "I don't care if I have to leave my pack. I will keep going as long as you're with me, my love."

Taehyung felt like tearing up at the touching words. After all the suffering he had been put through, the omega finally reached his safe place where he could settle down and claim it would be the home, he would spend the rest of his existence in.

He had found it now. Through blood, sweat and tears. This was his future: lying beside Jungkook under an ocean of stars, just soaking him in until Taehyung was almost perilously full. Him; he was the omega's future. He was Taehyung's life. Yes, Taehyung had finally fucking found it.

He had found happiness.  

♡One more chap, guys. The journey is coming to an end~♡