"You shine like the stars
You light up my heart
At the end of today's hardships
Brightly shine on me" Been Through by EXO, 2017

Jimin woke up, his body heavy, sore, and sluggish. He was propped up on pillows and swaddled in lots of comfortable blankets. Namjoon must have cleaned him up and put him in comfy clothes... Breakfast was sitting on the side table alongside a mug of hot chocolate or him

Jimin began to drink, whip cream and chocolate getting all over his nose. Jimin picked up his phone and was greeted with a text from Namjoon,

Joonbug: Good morning, baby! I hope you like the breakfast I left for you! Sorry for leaving without a kiss, but I was needed at the studio! I'll hopefully be back in the evening and maybe we can cuddle and watch movies? – Yours Joonbug.

Jimin grinned, sipping on his hot cocoa. He was scrolling through his texts when he felt a horrible burning in his neck. He almost spilled his drink all over his lap from the pain.

"Argh!" Jimin's eyes dilated from the feeling.

Jimin kicked off the sheets and rushed to the bathroom. He used his phone to reflect the mirror so he could see.

Right there on the back of his neck, was a fresh, red, slightly irritated mating mark.

It all came rushing back to him, why his body was so sore, why he felt like he should be as close as he could to Namjoon at the moment.

Fuck, fuck, fuck he was in such deep shit!

He doesn't even have the morning after pills! It's not even the morning after anyway! They've had sex for five days in a row and there was no damn way Namjoon didn't knot in him!

Jimin sobbed, he was going to have to explain this to his label and he just might get dropped... He should have just stayed with Bighit... He wasn't on relatively friendly terms with the CEO and they barely talk unless they need to.

What was he going to do? He couldn't tell Namjoon because as kind as Namjoon was, Jimin wasn't going to believe that he was ready for children, no way no how. Namjoon and he were both young idols who had to keep face in the eye of the public. They were both desired by Omega, Betas, and Alphas of the same and different genders. If word got out that they had been hooking up behind the scenes and that Jimin was pregnant with Namjoon's pups, all hell would break loose, he was sure of it.

Jimin wasn't even sure he was pregnant, but he could feel it, that Namjoon had given him life over the past five days.

"How did this happen?" was the question ringing loud and proud through Jimin's min. He had been taking his pills, he hadn't had much contact with Namjoon, so what went wrong?

Jimin didn't want to move, and he was too sore to do so anyway.

Moonfairy: Nah, I'm going out soon. I won't be home!

Jimin limped back to his bed, staring at the warm breakfast Namjoon made. Jimin placed a hand on his stomach, which currently had abs adorning that space and traced a thumb over it.

"I'm so sorry..."

|-|-|

About a month later Jimin began getting morning sickness. Jimin dreaded going to sleep and he dreaded waking up. Eating became a nightmare because of how sensitive his body became to everything. His nose made certain smells seems absolutely awful and he could barely handle anything with a scent.

His stomach wasn't any better. The pup he had apparently didn't like whatever he put in his stomach. He always went straight to the bathroom to throw up right after a meal.

In short, Jimin was absolutely miserable.

Namjoon had been trying to contact him throughout the month, but Jimin never replied. He was always hiding from someone, but Jimin couldn't help himself. Jimin didn't want to place this type of burden on Namjoon.

He had to tell the company soon, for better or for worse.

Jimin picked himself up off the ground with a groan, trying not to fall back on the ground. He needed to schedule a meeting with the CEO...

Jimin trudged over to his laptop and started writing out a lengthy email to the CEO in which he got an almost instant reply. They exchanged replies for about 30 minutes when they worked out a date.

Jimin lifted up his shirt. There was barely a bump there, but he knew that soon he wouldn't be in his own body anymore. He was the host to pups now and he had to come to terms with that.

He was going to get dropped by his label and he wasn't going to be able to come back from this. He wasn't going to be able to make music underneath a label that would back him. He wasn't in a bad financial situation, but he knew the money that he ha would run out eventually and he didn't have any sort of backup plan for that.

Maybe he could go back to Busan... Or maybe he could do something else...

Fuck, he was screwed.

|-|-|

The meeting went worse than he anticipated.

The CEO had completely lost his temper, red in the face, hands threatening to wrap themselves around Jimin's neck.

Jimin was forced from the office and the contract was terminated on the spot. Jimin could do nothing but keep a straight face and try not to break down.

He didn't know what he was going to do at this point. His label had abandoned him right after a few months of promotions and a successful comeback and he couldn't tell Namjoon.

His mating mark ached the more he thought about it. The more he forced himself away from Namjoon, the more he was hurting himself.

He could only assume Namjoon was having it worse than he was, it was common knowledge that both an Omega and Alpha pair could go mad if separated for too long.

Jimin was a coward in every sense of the word, but he didn't want to be a burden...

So when he went home to his empty house, he cried. He felt pathetic for crying all the time, but the pregnancy made him a lot more hormonal than usual.

This was it, he was just going to have to deal with what people were going to say for the next few months. All this stress wasn't good for him or the pup, but he couldn't help it.

"I'm so sorry... I really am..."

|-|-|

On Namjoon's end, things weren't any better. He couldn't see Jimin and see what was going on with him. He could feel immense stress, anger and sadness stemming from Jimin. He felt the instinctual need to go and comfort his mate, but Jimin wouldn't respond to any of his texts or calls.

In conclusion, he was being shut out and he had no idea why.

Namjoon felt restless like there was an itch under his skin he couldn't scratch. He couldn't sit still and he couldn't focus on his work.

Day in and day out it was Jimin, Jimin, Jimin.

Namjoon tried one more time to call Jimin, praying that the call would go through this time.

'Hello?'

Namjoon had never felt more relieved to hear his voice in his life. Except it sounded shaky, raspy, and tired.

"Jimin, it's me, Namjoon."

It went silent on the other line before a small, 'I know....' went through.

Namjoon's heart was breaking all over again. He should have fought the urge to mate Jimin that night... Maybe they wouldn't be in this situation right now if he had.

'Namjoon... I'm sorry...'

Namjoon shook his head, "Don't be, baby boy. Can I come over? I would like to see you, baby..."

There was a shaky breath on the other line and a small noise of agreement, 'M-Mhmm... Yeah, I'd like that a lot, Namjoon...'

Namjoon felt the itch go away just the slightest bit, but it wasn't over. They still had many hurdles to come across.

'It's the same place as always...'

And they both hung up.

Namjoon picked himself up from his seat and started getting ready to leave. He needed to check up on Jimin and leave the house as fast as he could.

While he was getting dressed, he called his friend, Kim Seokjin.

'Hello! You've reached Kim Seokjin!'

"Hey, Seokjin... What's the plot of that drama you're working on?"

'Hm? Oh, you mean Star Strings? It's about an Omega and Alpha being drawn together by fate no matter what their lives throw at them, like abuse and drugs and children-.'

Namjoon made a face as Seokjin went on and on, "Do you think... do you think that type of thing can happen?"

'Huh? Car accidents due to a random circumstance?'

"No, I mean Alpha and Omega pairs drawn together by fate."

Seokjin made a confused noise, his face scrunching up in distaste, 'I mean, our director sure thinks it's possible. Why? Has my wittle giant found someone that suits his fancy?'

"I think so... Well, we've already marked each other so-."

Seokjin gasped, 'So that's why! Who are they? Can we meet them soon?'

"Once we get this all settled out. He's been ignoring me for the past month and I'm not sure why.... Well, I'm kind of sure... I guess I don't know-."

'Well, I did my research before signing up to do this project. There are cases where couples are believed to be soulmates. They experience all the normal things that regular couples feel, butterflies in the tummy, rosy cheeks, the likes, but it's amplified by 10. There can be damaging consequences if you two stay away for too long.'

"What are some of the known symptoms?"

'Well, it's said that when two soulmates go into a heat or rut, they go at it like rabbits. The Omega is usually a lot needier than in the usual heat and the Alpha usually wants to do anything that Omega desires. It's so fascinating though-.'

"Thank you, hyung, you're the best!"

'Of course I am-.'

|-|-|

Jimin was all over the apartment, trying to fix it up before Namjoon came over. It had been unkempt and messy for the past 3 weeks and he needed to take care of it now.

Jimin got it as clean as he could before laying down with a groan. His abdomen was in pain due to the growing of the pup.

"Easy does it... Easy does it..."

Eventually, Jimin heard a knock at the door. Jimin walked over to the door and flung himself into Namjoon's arms. Namjoon held his arms around Jimin.

"Why have you been avoiding me, Jimin? Is it because of the mating mark?"

Jimin stilled before shaking his head. He was happy to be mated to Namjoon, but he was scared he was being a burden to Namjoon.

"It's not because of the mating mark... I love you, but it's something else."

Jimin led Namjoon inside, "Excuse the mess... I haven't really been taking care of myself lately and I assume it's only been worse for you, hasn't it?"

Namjoon shrugged, "I don't know... I've really only been able to think about you for the past month."

Jimin looked down in guilt, messing with his fingers as he sat Namjoon down on his bed.

Namjoon felt slightly out of place. Last time he was here he and Jimin had been all over the house like animals succumbing to instinct and instinct alone.

"Namjoon, there's something I've been keeping from you..." Jimin said slowly reaching out to Namjoon to hold his hand.

There was something different in the air, something had changed, but Namjoon couldn't place it.

"I-We..."

Jimin placed his hands around his small bump, "We-We're expecting, Namjoon..."

"The sun is behind the clouds that cover the light
Without change, you shine on me forever
The quiet air, the warm wind
They're all there, always in the same place" Been through by EXO, 2017