Chapter Text
The tall trees around Yoongi are unrecognizable to his eyes; this must mean he’s finally far away from his pack. Yoongi is hurt; he doesn’t know where he’s going, but it’s almost as if his body moves by itself, taking him somewhere. He trusts his wolf’s instinct, so he listens, and he runs. There’s a deep wound spreading around his ribs, and it doesn’t let Yoongi move fast, but Yoongi knows he’s going on the right path, and he feels like he’s going to be okay.
❦
The sun is setting, and the sky is a lovely shade of orange. Jimin is locking the doors of his veterinary clinic while holding his phone between his shoulder and ear, and he can hear Hoseok humming on the other side of the line as he talks. “My dad keeps telling me I should put cameras in the clinic before I hire a person to work here,” Jimin says. “He thinks I shouldn’t trust anyone.” The thought of someone from this small town robbing their only veterinary clinic is so absurd it makes Jimin laugh before he finally closes the door. He pulls at it to make sure the lock is secure.
“Maybe you should listen to him,” Hoseok counters. He’s busy typing the discharge of a surgery patient, and Jimin can hear the rustle of a large veterinary clinic through the phone. A chaos Jimin hasn’t experienced in two years.
Jimin walks towards the consulting room of his clinic to lock the back window before going upstairs to his apartment. “I don’t think so. He doesn’t like this town, and he’s trying to tell me that the person I’ll hire as an assistant will rob me.”
“Well, he never wanted you to go there.”
“I wanted to come here.” There’s a window in the consulting room that Jimin constantly struggles with, but this time he doesn’t get to close it; it seems like the window is stuck. It’s been weeks since it started giving Jimin problems, but today it’s the first time he has to leave the window half-open. He will have to call someone to fix it tomorrow. “I like this place a lot, but I admit it would be more fun if you were working here with me, hyung.”
“Not going to happen, Jimin. I like the city.” Jimin pouts at his best friend’s answer. “Have you interviewed anyone for the job yet?”
“No, I’m going to print some papers and pass them out around town.”
“Print some papers!” Hoseok’s voice tone is teasing. “I can’t believe you’ve moved to a prehistoric place.”
“Shut up.” Even after struggling, the window won’t close, but Jimin leaves it like it is; it’s not as if someone will try to enter the clinic anyways. Jimin looks at the woods through the window. The wind blows through the trees in a lulling sound. “It’s not terrible. I like it here.”
An ugly sound wakes Jimin up.
It was loud. It’s clear to Jimin that it didn't come from the street. It came from downstairs, from his clinic. Jimin sits up in his bed, startled; it sounded like a crash. He gets out of bed quickly and searches for a cardigan and his glasses.
He knows he should call the police, but Jimin tries to calm himself down before doing anything rash. He isn’t sure if there’s a burglar downstairs, and he needs to be sure before calling for help.
Jimin knows he's paranoid. His father’s concern about robbers and the broken window in the consulting room makes him nervous. It was only one sound that woke him up, so maybe it’s not a robber.
It’s quiet as Jimin goes down the stairs from his apartment to the clinic.
It makes Jimin wonder if the crash was just his imagination, but the closer he gets to the door leading to the clinic, he worries if the dogs staying overnight could have harmed themselves. He doubts someone is trying to rob him.
It’s been a year since he moved, and contrary to his father's worries, nothing dangerous has happened. Still, he’ll feel more comfortable after checking on the dogs.
Suddenly, there’s another crashing sound, and Jimin hurries forward.
The clinic is dark, so Jimin won’t turn on the light because if someone is breaking in, they might try to escape, and if it's one of the pups, they might get even more scared than they already are.
He should have set the security cameras as his father advised him.
Jimin uses the light of his phone to walk down the hall of the small clinic. It's quiet, but he can catch a little sound if he focuses, as if someone is trying to force a cabinet open. He walks closer to the door, where the sound is coming from as worry spreads through his body. It had to be the consulting room with the broken window. The broken window Jimin didn’t think was a problem.
He waits by the door, pressing his ear to it, and it sounds like someone is rummaging through the closets. Jimin worries. What if it's a drug addict trying to steal medicine? Jimin's friend from vet school told him that happened to her, and Jimin didn’t believe her, but here he is right now. He takes a deep breath and opens the door.
His theory seems to be accurate because Jimin finds a naked man trying to steal medicine.
Jimin had decided not to call the police, but now, he regrets it, fear spreading through his body. He stays frozen in the door, and the man soon notices his presence. The stranger looks up in a sharp motion and turns towards Jimin. Their eyes meet, and Jimin is sure he sees the man's eyes turn red for a second. Jimin gasps and takes a step back, clutching onto his phone.
“Who are you? What are you doing?” Jimin shrieks. He’s afraid the stranger is intoxicated or that he could turn violent. The man stares at Jimin, but he doesn’t answer. He looks between Jimin and the medicine, and then he turns, ignoring Jimin, and keeps rummaging in the cabinet. He doesn’t seem to be under the effect of any drug even if he is naked, nor does he look desperate to find pills. He looks in pain, but Jimin is still scared. “Stop what you’re doing! I’ll call the police!” Jimin tries to sound more intimidating.
At that, the man finally pays attention to Jimin. This time Jimin holds his gaze. The stranger looks to be around Jimin’s age. His black hair is damp and messy, and Jimin notices a small leaf stuck in the strands. His pale skin is full of dirt as if he had been running through the woods. But Jimin's eyes end up falling to the horrible wound on his abdomen. It stretches to his ribs, and it's deep. It's four long scratches, and Jimin can only think of claws.
“Don’t call anyone,” the man speaks. His voice is rough and deep, and Jimin shivers, taking another step back. The stranger lifts his hands in surrender and turns towards Jimin. He walks closer. Jimin's eyes widen before he looks away. The man is naked and facing him.
“No, you stay right there!" He points in the man's direction. "Don't come closer! I’ll call the police!” Jimin screeches.
“Don’t call the police,” the man speaks calmly but with a rough edge. “I’m not from around here. I don’t have-“ he takes a second before settling for- “papers.” Jimin needs something to protect himself with- the stranger is unarmed, but he looks buff enough to put on a fight, and he could seriously harm Jimin.
“As if that is going to convince me!”
“You don’t get it. The police won’t know what to do with me!” Jimin takes another step back as the man moves closer. “I’m not from here. I’m-” Jimin struggles to look at his phone, and the man takes another step forward. “I’m a shifter!” Exasperation fills the man’s voice. Jimin puts his hands down at the confession. He looks at the stranger, and everything starts to click slowly. “I don’t know how you call us around here… I’m a werewolf,” the man tries. He's careful with his words, probably to convince Jimin and not scare him, but Jimin doesn’t need much convincing, unlike most people. Jimin knows what a shifter is.
“A werewolf?” Jimin doesn’t recognize his own voice.
He sounds scared, but he’s a lot calmer than a moment ago. He speaks gently enough for the stranger to relax. He must notice Jimin believes him - it’s hard not to with all the dirt and the claw marks on his body. “Yes, a werewolf,” he murmurs and takes one step closer.
This time Jimin doesn't take a step back; he only blinks.
Jimin’s grandfather had told him about shifters when Jimin was a little kid, but after Jimin grew up and moved out of this town, he remembered those stories just as fairy tales. However, every single one of his grandfather's stories about the werewolves living behind their house return to Jimin now.
“Really?” Jimin asks.
The stranger nods. He seems at ease now that Jimin isn’t acting hostile towards him.
“I could show you, so you believe me. And I promise not to hurt you if you promise not to hurt me either.” Jimin gulps at the deep voice. For some reason, he is sure the man isn't lying.
Jimin is still a little wary. After all, this is a man who broke into his veterinary clinic, but curiosity wins him over. “Okay… show me.”
“Just a heads up: it’s not nice to look at.”
Jimin swallows. “I can handle it.”
He thinks he sees the corner of the man's mouth quirk up.
Jimin’s phone is facing down, so the flashlight points at the floor, creating a faint glow around the room. Except for that, everything is dark; he never turned on the light of the consulting room.
It happens quickly; Jimin blinks, and the man starts to shift in front of him, falling to his knees ungracefully.
It sounds horrible, as if all his bones are breaking, and it must be painful. Jimin’s eyes widen as he sees the bones in the man’s back shift. Jimin doesn't think he can describe what happens in front of him because no words could explain it. Suddenly, in front of him, there’s not a man anymore but a giant wolf.
Jimin is frozen. He can't move, trying to understand what he's seeing. The wolf's fur is black, the same shade as the man's hair.
It's an animal.
There’s no way to deny it.
Jimin stares at the wolf, and after a long second, he decides to come closer to him, feeling more comfortable around an animal than the stranger from before. He crouches in front of the wolf and touches his head.
Jimin finds a broken branch in the dirty fur, and he wonders if the wolf is nasty because the man was dirty in human form. Jimin pets him slowly and, after a moment, notices he’s profoundly hurt—more hurt than when he was in human form. The wolf is yapping; he’s in pain.
The wound is worse in wolf form. Once Jimin sees the stranger as an animal, something changes inside of him. He forgets he’s a shifter; he ignores the man who broke into the clinic to steal. Jimin was a lot more cautious around him in human form; now, he just wants to help him. Jimin takes a good look at the cuts on the wolf's side, and he panics when he sees blood still pouring out. At least, in his human form, the man could stop the bleeding. Jimin stands up in a hurry to prepare the table closest to him. He feels the wolf's attention on him. He urges the wolf to come closer with a soft sound, forgetting the wolf next to him is, in fact, a shifter, not an animal, and that he can understand words.
Jimin soon realizes he has trouble walking, so Jimin carries him to the table. It’s a huge animal, but Jimin trained for years to do this. Jimin starts cleaning the wounds, but he notices the cuts are too deep, and he will have to stitch them. The wolf keeps losing blood.
“I can fix this, but I imagine you won't be able to shift back to human if I do. I have to stitch these, and if you shift, the suture will open- If I patch you up, you have to rest and take care of the stitches. Shifting seems like an activity I would advise you not to do," Jimin explains quickly— every previous worry forgot in favor of saving the animal. The wolf looks at him before pressing his snout to Jimin’s chest.
As a knee-jerk reaction, Jimin brings a hand behind the wolf's ear, and he scratches. He sees the wolf wagging his tail once, so at least he's lively. The giant animal keeps nudging at Jimin's chest with his snout. He makes a sound close to a yelp, so Jimin believes he wants to speak. Jimin takes a step back, but when he does, the wolf grunts. The animal is gesturing towards the floor, and Jimin hurries to help him down from the table. He stays close and watches as the shifter returns to his human form. The exact process as before, bones cracking and skin stretching.
When he's a man again, he looks like he’s in pain, and Jimin wraps an arm around his middle to help him stand up. “What happened to you?” Jimin asks, bewildered while pressing his other hand against the wound. It’s much smaller when he’s a human, and that relaxes Jimin, but it’s still deep, ugly, and bleeding.
“Pack fight.” Jimin blinks at the curt answer. That’s not an explanation at all. “I can’t return to the woods right now,” the man says. "I’d rather stay as human to recover if you stitch it." He gulps. "Please."
“Come on, sit on the table. I’m going to clean that for you.”
The man looks at Jimin warily, but he listens to him and moves to sit at the table. Jimin can treat the wound with no problem. “What’s your name?” Jimin asks while he cleans his hands in the sink.
“Yoongi,” the man says.
They are quiet while Jimin searches for a new washcloth and dampens it under the water from the sink. Jimin only speaks when he presses the washcloth to the man’s wound.
“I’m Park Jimin.” The man winces slightly at the touch, but Jimin only notices it because they're looking into each other's eyes. His body remains stiff. It’s just his eyes flinching. Not in pain, but discomfort. "I'm going to numb this area with anesthesia before suturing, okay?" Yoongi clenches his jaw and frowns; he doesn't seem to like the idea. Jimin is about to argue, but then the shifter nods. "You'll feel a pinch," Jimin speaks with his veterinarian’s voice while preparing the anesthesia shot. Yoongi makes a grunting sound from the back of his throat. Jimin looks at him over his shoulder; Yoongi seems upset, but he doesn't explain why. He avoids looking at Jimin.
“This is my veterinary clinic,” Jimin starts explaining when he gets close. He wants them to keep talking so the man doesn’t focus on the pain. Jimin wants to help because he's wounded, but he's also interested in knowing more about the shifter. He's interested in the animal side.
“It’s a clinic.” Yoongi points out. Jimin looks at him. It seems the shifter knows what a clinic is, but not what a veterinary is.
“A clinic for animals,” Jimin supplies.
Yoongi squints his eyes when Jimin applies the shot. "I see." He doesn't seem to be a man of many words.
“And how old are you?” Jimin keeps asking as he gets everything ready to suture the cuts.
“Thirty."
Jimin nods while fixing his glasses. “I’m twenty-seven.” Yoongi stares at him with a strange look. "What?"
"You look younger." Jimin guesses he'll take it as a compliment.
“Are you going to tell me about your pack fight and how you got wounded? And also why you broke into my small animal clinic at this hour?” Jimin murmurs while he starts stitching him. Yoongi is clenching his jaw; he remains quiet. "Tell me about it," Jimin rephrases. Yoongi nods.
“I fought with my pack alpha.” Jimin hums as he works on the cuts. "Shifters can regenerate, unlike humans, unless the pack alpha harms you. I needed to tend the wound somehow, but alpha told me not to return to the pack. I followed the scent and ended up here. In your clinic." The woods surround the small town, but Jimin wonders from which part of the woods Yoongi comes from and how far away his home is. "I sniffed safety," the shifter explains. "Because it's a clinic and because there are dogs close-by." Jimin chuckles. So that's what attracted the shifter here. "I didn't want to disturb you, but I needed to find something to stop the bleeding."
"You were loud," Jimin scolds. "And you could have told me that from the start instead of ignoring me when I found you."
"You didn't seem dangerous; that’s why I ignored you."
Jimin frowns. He guesses that makes sense; a wolf can sense fear, and Jimin was scared until he threatened to call the police, and that is why Yoongi finally paid attention to him. "You're a hunter?" Jimin wonders.
"All pack hunts," Yoongi grunts when Jimin starts stitching the next wound.
"Why did you fight with your alpha?" Jimin asks, genuinely interested in everything this stranger is telling him.
The question seems to anger the shifter. Yoongi looks away from Jimin and presses his tongue to his cheek. "Alpha heard I was going to challenge him. It wasn’t true, only a rumor between pups, but alpha thought it was an offense."
"Isn't that how a pack decides their alphas? Through challenges? And whoever wins becomes the alpha?" Jimin asks. He knows only some basics about wolf packs, and he wonders if shifters packs are like that too.
"Only the beta or delta can challenge the alpha. Not a common wolf."
Judging by the titles, Jimin figures those are the second and third in command. It makes sense only a dominant wolf can challenge the alpha.
"Your alpha told you not to return?" Jimin doesn't stop with the questions.
"He might accept me after a few days if I take a punishment."
"And what are you going to do until then?" Yoongi’s pack sounds less like a community and more like an actual wolf pack. It sounds closer to how animals behave than humans. Jimin doesn't want to imagine what a wolf pack punishment is.
"Recover from the stitches." He looks at Jimin. "And then return."
"Where are you going to make your recovery?"
"There are shifters with no pack nearby. I can smell them." Yoongi's voice is rough. "Shifters with no pack live among humans." Jimin gulps, remembering his grandfather's stories. "Shifters help other shifters," the werewolf decides.
Jimin sighs while closing the third cut on Yoongi's ribs. "You're going to walk naked around town in search of these shifters?"
Yoongi turns to see him. "I'll find clothes somewhere."
"You were trying to steal from my dog medicine stash; please don't try to steal clothes." Jimin doesn’t know what compels him to decide, “I’ll give you clothes. You have to return here in ten days, and I'll remove the stitches, and you can go to your pack.” Yoongi stares at him. “But before you wear my clothes, you have to clean up all that dirt.”
Yoongi is quiet.
When Jimin finishes all the stitches, he cleans them again before covering them with gauze. He takes off his cardigan and wraps the shifter in it. Yoongi is tense when Jimin covers him in his clothes, and Jimin thinks he looks kind of funny in the fluffy, beige piece of clothing, but he doesn’t say anything.
When Yoongi stands up while wearing Jimin’s oversized cardigan, Jimin notices they are the same height. They would have similar frames if not for his shoulders. Yoongi is broader, making him look bigger than him. Jimin continues to avoid glancing down.
"Thank you," Yoongi murmurs while trailing a hand over the bandages.
“I live upstairs," Jimin says. "You can clean up there, and I'll give you something to wear. Don’t do anything funny while we're there, okay? I’ll kick you if you do.” The shifter raises an eyebrow, but he nods.
As they start going up the stairs, Jimin realizes he is taking a stranger into his apartment. He should be more scared or more alert, but there’s something Jimin can’t explain about Yoongi. He feels like he can trust him. Somehow, Jimin feels safe around him. Yoongi doesn’t look around the house; he only follows Jimin silently, so Jimin hopes he has no intention of stealing. “The gauze needs to be dry. I’m going to bring you a wet cloth, and you can clean yourself with that, okay?” Jimin starts as they walk inside the bathroom.
Jimin is telling Yoongi he'll teach him how to change gauze before searching for those shifters that might help him when he yawns. It's already past one in the morning. Jimin's been up all night and working during the day. Yoongi is staring, a cardigan wrapped tightly around him. “There’s no way the shifters you’re looking for are awake at this hour. You could stay over and then leave tomorrow morning.” Yoongi continues staring at Jimin for a long moment until he offers Jimin a curt nod. "I'll bring you pajamas. You can sleep on the couch.”
“Thank you,” Yoongi whispers.
Jimin nods quickly. He gives Yoongi the cloth and then goes to his room in search of pajamas. He sees his reflection in the mirror inside the closet door; he's wearing red shorts and an oversized white shirt with a faded university logo. His blonde hair is still sticking in different directions because he never got to tame it down after leaving his bed; he looks sleepy, with swollen eyes. Jimin fixes his glasses one more time before opening the first drawer. Of course, Yoongi thought he wasn't dangerous.
He knocks on the door and lets Yoongi cover himself before walking inside the bathroom. "Here," he leaves the folded pajamas next to the sink. "I have to be up in five hours, so I'll just leave some clothes for you at the coffee table, and you can find me at the clinic tomorrow."
Yoongi touches the pajamas while he nods at everything Jimin says. "Thank you."
"It's fine," Jimin murmurs. "See you tomorrow."
Surprisingly, Jimin falls asleep quickly. Jimin thought he would be more alert after the madness he just went through, and because there’s a stranger outside his room, but he instantly drifted off to sleep.
❦
Yoongi wakes up disoriented. He sits on the couch, catching his breath, and he frantically looks around the unknown place; it’s not his pack, and he doesn’t feel safe if he’s not with his pack. But the warm scent surrounding him relaxes him before he tries to escape. It takes him a second to register that the room is Park Jimin’s shelter. The animal healer who looked after him yesterday and petted him in his wolf form as if he was a dog instead of jumping in fear.
At first, he was visibly scared, but in the end, neither Yoongi nor Jimin feared the other. All shifters know they need to be careful of humans, and they’re advised not to come close to human communities, but Yoongi felt compelled to trust in this ‘Park Jimin’ since something about him smells safe. Maybe because he’s an animal healer or because he has delicate features and a soothing voice that calms Yoongi. It’s hard to explain.
Yoongi’s gaze settles on the decorations of the room before standing up. Jimin’s small house is fascinating, filled with objects Yoongi has never seen before, and some items he recognizes because they have them in the pack too. Yoongi got lucky when his path crossed Park Jimin’s. He’s glad about his broken window because if not, maybe Yoongi would still be bleeding out in the woods.
Yoongi is glad, and he’s curious too because if Jimin hadn’t believed him, Yoongi would have had to attack him. But Jimin knows about werewolves more than a human should know, and it makes Yoongi curious; it could mean there are shifters close as Yoongi believed. He needs to find a shifter that can shelter him until he recovers because he needs to return to his pack. But for now, he lets himself rest in the comfort of Park Jimin’s home.
❦
Jimin walks out of his room early, and he’s surprised to find Yoongi already awake. “Good morning,” Yoongi says when he sees Jimin. He’s sitting on the couch, and Jimin thinks he looks like an alert dog. If he were a wolf right now, his ears would be standing straight.
“Good morning.” It's around six in the morning, and Jimin will go for a run and then open the veterinary. He expected Yoongi to be asleep after their chaotic night yesterday, but the werewolf is staring at him as Jimin walks to the kitchen. He's already wearing Jimin's clothes.
Just as expected, they fit Yoongi just right. The white shirt is a little too tight, and the black sweatpants a little too loose, though, but he looks good. "You're going to search for the shifters?" Jimin asks, looking over his shoulder as he pours a glass of water. Yoongi nods. Jimin feels the werewolf's eyes on him, but he's not sure what Yoongi wants. "Uh- do you want breakfast?" he wonders while gesturing at the counter.
"I don't have shoes," the shifter answers instead. "You said not to go in the street naked."
"Oh." Jimin blinks and then giggles at Yoongi’s words. He didn’t consider Yoongi didn’t have shoes; yesterday, he had too much on his mind to properly check the clothes he gave him. Jimin looks up to catch Yoongi staring at him with wide eyes like he’s surprised at something, but Jimin pays it no mind. "I forgot,” Jimin mumbles. “I'll lend you something." Jimin returns to his room, grabs a pair of black sandals, and then tells Yoongi to try them out. Jimin's feet are too small compared to Yoongi’s, and just as Jimin expected, Yoongi’s ankles are out of the slipper's sole when he puts them on, but it's better than nothing. Yoongi is frowning, but he doesn’t complain.
“You look nice!” Jimin tries after Yoongi stands up. Yoongi grunts while avoiding Jimin's gaze, still frowning at the shoes. He doesn't like them at all, but Jimin finds his attitude a little endearing even then. “Well... good luck today with your shifters! Just umh- come back to return my clothes." Yoongi nods. "And also return so I can check those stitches. Maybe in six days? I will take them out in ten or fourteen days, though. You can find me in the clinic downstairs." The werewolf looks up to see Jimin, and Jimin has to glance away from his intense gaze. "Before you go, I can give you pills to subdue the pain."
"No," Yoongi replies quickly. He's clenching his jaw. "It was enough with the shot yesterday," he murmurs. Jimin remembers his reaction when he got the anesthesia shot last night, and it takes a second for it to click.
"You don't want to subdue the pain?" Jimin asks.
"Shifters should bear the pain after a fight," Yoongi grumbles.
Jimin lifts an eyebrow, amused. He tries to control his scoff because those are Yoongi's beliefs. Those shifter packs sound interesting, with all their rules and traditions. "Well, if it hurts, I'll give you painkillers when you return." The werewolf glares at Jimin, but then he nods. Jimin smiles at him before grabbing an apple from the kitchen counter and leaving it in Yoongi's palm. "Eat that. I'm going to go for a run. Come on; I’ll walk you downstairs". Yoongi stares at the apple, and he follows after Jimin.
❦
A dog is staring at Yoongi’s face.
Yoongi glares back, and the animal starts barking. Before the human next to the dog looks up, Yoongi continues walking. This town is unfamiliar, but the scent of a shifter is prominent, so Yoongi can only follow it in the hopes of finding some shifters that can shelter him. He catches the smell again, but somehow he ends up following a dog one more time. It has happened all morning, and Yoongi is growing upset.
He follows the scent of the dogs for the rest of the day and returns to Jimin’s clinic because Jimin must treat all dogs there. Yoongi is a canine, too, so he guesses he has nowhere better to go.
❦
Since Jimin lives in such a small town, Jimin's days at the veterinary clinic aren't exactly busy, but he likes them a lot. A client had left her two dogs with Jimin during the weekend because she was out on a trip, but she's returning today to pick them up, so Jimin is bathing them.
He keeps thinking of everything that happened yesterday, and he tells the dogs about Yoongi even if they can't understand him. "He's strange." One of the dog's barks. There are bubbles from the shampoo in the smaller dog's snout. "But I'm weirder for deciding to help him." The dog who is waiting for his turn curls itself around Jimin's feet. Jimin hikes up his rolled sleeves before grabbing the showerhead. "I guess I empathize with him because he's half a wolf," he tries to understand his actions. The dog he's bathing wags its tail. Jimin sighs.
Later that day, Jimin walks outside of the veterinary to help the client carry her dogs inside her car. He is surprised when he sees the shifter waiting outside the clinic. Yoongi is standing with his hands in his pockets across the street. Jimin wonders if he has been outside for long. Jimin finishes helping the woman, and then he says goodbye to the lady and the dogs. He waits for her to drive off to then jog towards Yoongi. “Hi!” Jimin stops close to him.
Yoongi doesn’t look at Jimin. He only nods. “Hey.” He's a quiet guy.
"So... how did it go with the shifters?"
“Umh-" He keeps avoiding Jimin's gaze. "I can't trace any,” Yoongi explains after an excruciatingly long second. “I thought I was tracking their scent, but I keep getting confused with dogs." He's sulking, and Jimin tries to suppress his smile. The dog comment was cute.
They are quiet for a moment. Even if it was cute, the lousy resolution gets Yoongi in trouble. “Do you have somewhere to stay?” Jimin asks.
Yoongi shakes his head. The silence stretches between them. Before Jimin can even suggest anything, Yoongi faces him. Dark eyes set on him. "I can hunt and collect fruits and herbs, I can also work with wood, and I can build furniture for your house in trade for shelter until I recover from my wounds." He speaks fast, and Jimin takes a step back, startled by his proposition.
"Uh-” Jimin is registering everything Yoongi just offered, but nothing comes to his mind, so he settles for a question. “Have you eaten something aside from the apple I gave you?" Yoongi shakes his head. Jimin turns towards the clinic. "Why don’t we-? Let's go- let's go grab something to eat first, and we can talk about your offer." Yoongi nods vigorously. Jimin can't believe himself; he’s considering Yoongi’s offer. "I'll order pizza. Do you like pizza?"
"What's a pizza?" Yoongi asks while following him. It’ll be a long night today as well.
Jimin thinks there's no harm in closing the veterinary earlier than usual, considering he had no appointments today. Plus, if there's an emergency, his clients know they will find him home. Now, he's sitting on the floor of his small living room, eating pizza with a werewolf.
"Is it good?" There’s only one restaurant that prepares pizza in this town, and Jimin thinks it’s the best. Just as he expected, Jimin watches Yoongi nod; he wonders what kind of stuff they eat back with his pack. "Well, Yoongi..." He guesses he doesn't need to call him hyung because he doesn't use honorifics, but Jimin still feels awkward. "You want to stay here until you get better?"
"I will continue to look for shelter not to disturb you more than I already have. But I'm in pain, so for the moment, I would like to stay here. I can-" Before he starts listing his manual abilities again, Jimin nods with a gentle smile. Yoongi falls quiet.
"Can I ask you something?" Jimin asks, and Yoongi nods. "Why do you want to return if your alpha hurt you like that?" Yoongi looks away; he was probably expecting a different question from Jimin.
Jimin also doesn't know why he asked; he guesses he's just curious. "Because it's pack." Once again, an answer leaves Jimin confused. "They are my family. If I don't return, I'll become a lone wolf, and I can't see myself doing that. Being only by myself." Yoongi seems pained just at the thought. "I like being alone sometimes, but I know I can always return to the pack. Even if I have to take a punishment, I want to return."
Jimin guesses he understands. He might have moved alone across the country, but he knows that his father would be waiting for him if he wants to return. "Can’t you join another pack?"
Yoongi frowns. "I can. But I'm loyal to my pack." That makes sense; wolves are loyal creatures. "Humans... you can live alone," he gestures at Jimin with a slice of pizza. "But shifters aren't like that. We move with our pack."
"Wait, how do you know I live alone?"
"It only smells like you in here." Jimin gulps. It makes sense for a shifter to have more perceptive senses.
Jimin picks on his food, thinking of Yoongi's words. "Well, I guess I'm different from you. I moved here to be myself; I guess I wanted to be like a lone wolf." Yoongi stares at him. "But lucky for you, because I don't have a roommate, I can give you shelter until you recover."
He knows his friends from vet school, and his father would go crazy if they heard Jimin is going to live for two weeks with a stranger who barged in his clinic naked and bleeding. But Jimin knows he's lonely, and he wouldn't mind the company only for some days.
Since Yoongi is sleeping at Jimin's, Jimin orders him to rest on the couch. Yoongi argues he wants to pay Jimin back for his hospitality and for being 'his healer,' but Jimin tells him he can pay back when he recovers. So Yoongi stays in the apartment while Jimin works.
The first day starts chaotically. Yoongi was waiting outside his door when Jimin walked out; their chests almost crashed. "Yoongi? What is it?"
"I'm sorry. I made the couch dirty," Yoongi murmurs. Yoongi looks like a sad puppy. If he had a tail, it would be between his legs.
"What?" Jimin is still sleepy, so he doesn't understand.
"I bled." And from a moment to another, Jimin's eyes widen in worry, and he looks down to find the white shirt he gave Yoongi to use as pajamas drenched in blood. Right on the wounds on his ribs. "Oh, God! We have to change that!" Jimin grabs Yoongi's wrist.
Yoongi must have pressed on it while he was sleeping. "Your couch is dirty," Yoongi tries as Jimin drags him to the bathroom.
"Take off your shirt," Jimin orders him while he searches for bandages in the cabinet. He turns when he has everything ready, but Jimin gulps when he sees Yoongi.
Jimin had already seen Yoongi naked two days ago. Fully naked. But considering the fear and adrenaline he was feeling, he didn't appreciate the view. He has eyes; he knows Yoongi is attractive, and he looks more than good shirtless. Jimin tries to focus on the wound.
"Don't worry about the couch." Jimin is checking the wound; the stitches seem fine. He places the clean bandages on the incision and adds pressure. "This wound is horrible," Jimin says before Yoongi can start arguing.
"Because it's from alpha." Jimin thinks that alpha guy is a douche.
This time, he wraps the bandages around Yoongi's torso instead of just a gauze piece over the wound. That should add more pressure and stop the bleeding. Jimin tries to ignore how close they are while working on it, but it's difficult because he feels Yoongi's eyes set on him.
"You have to be careful, okay?" Jimin reminds him. Yoongi nods. He looks like he wants to say something but opts for staying quiet. Jimin can guess what it is. "Come on; I’ll show you where I keep the cleaning products for the couch." Yoongi perks up and follows Jimin to the kitchen.
Jimin usually goes for a run every morning, but he doesn't get to do it today because he spends a little too much time teaching Yoongi the difference between all the cleaning products under the sink. Yoongi is more at ease once the spot of blood has disappeared, so it's okay.
Afraid of Yoongi’s wound bleeding again, Jimin tells him to stay in the apartment. He gives Yoongi some books and shows him how to use the TV. The werewolf looked confused, but he nodded along as Jimin explained.
Jimin spends the whole day thinking about the man waiting for him upstairs.
To Jimin’s surprise, when he returns upstairs around lunchtime, Yoongi is still shirtless. He's only wearing the grey sweatpants Jimin gave him and the bandages around his middle. "You need to wear clothes to cover the bandages," Jimin says. And for Jimin's inner peace too.
"I don't want to," Yoongi mumbles from the kitchen, reading one of the books Jimin gave him. Jimin glares at him, but the werewolf doesn't notice, too distracted by the book. It's a crappy romance novel, but Jimin remains quiet; he’s the one who bought it after all.
Jimin starts making a salad. He needs to go for groceries soon if Yoongi is living here for two weeks. "Put a shirt on and come with me to the clinic. Today a dog is coming for a bath; you can help. Then we can go for groceries! And even buy a shirt your size," Jimin rambles. "You're going to stretch all my shirts by the end of two weeks." Jimin doesn't mention his absurdly broad shoulders. He's Jimin's height; he shouldn't be so buff.
Yoongi puts the book down. He doesn't answer; he only stands up and retrieves the clean shirt Jimin left on the coffee table and puts it on.
And that was easier than Jimin expected. Yoongi is obedient when it comes to ordering. "Come here; you should tell me about the food you eat in your pack."
"Raw meat when we're in wolf form. We cook the meat in a bonfire when we're in human form," he says. That seems to be the only explanation Jimin will get, and he doesn’t ask for more.
After lunch, Jimin takes Yoongi to the veterinary clinic. He was looking for someone to work with him, and maybe Yoongi can do the job for as long as he stays. Jimin leaves for a moment to change back into his scrubs and tells Yoongi to wait for him by the counter. In case the client arrives earlier with their dog.
Jimin tells Yoongi only to greet the client and politely ask them to wait for Jimin. Jimin is testing the waters with the werewolf; he knows close to nothing about how his pack works, only that he's in wolf form a lot. But Yoongi knows what a clinic is, and he can read too, so Jimin wants to see how he behaves. Jimin wasn't expecting Yoongi to glare at the puppy.
The client is a little confused about Jimin's new assistant, but Jimin acts like it's just a joke. He's charming, so the man just nods and says he'll be back in some hours to pick up his puppy. Jimin smiles sweetly until the man leaves the clinic. Then he turns to the shifter.
He's about to scold him, but he stops himself because Yoongi is not only glaring at the puppy; he's also growling at him. "Stop that!" Jimin shrieks. He carries the puppy against his chest. "Why are you being mean with the pup?"
"Dogs are messing with my scent tracking."
Yoongi had told Jimin he couldn't find the other shifters in town because he kept confusing their scents with dogs. "But that's not this little one's fault," Jimin speaks softly. The dog was shaking when Yoongi was glaring at him, but now he's more relaxed in Jimin's arms. The puppy tries to lick Jimin's face and Jimin giggles at the sudden affection. "Such a good boy wouldn't be messing with Yoongi, right?" he speaks softly. "Right?" The dog barks and Jimin feels content with the answer.
He looks up to find Yoongi's glare directed at him.
"What?"
"Let's go bathe the pup." Yoongi stands up abruptly. He's avoiding looking at Jimin.
Jimin won't say anything; Yoongi acts weird. He will have to get used to it. "Are baby shifters this small when they’re little?" Jimin wonders while cradling the pup. Yoongi groans in his affirmative.
Bathing a puppy with Yoongi is a lot messier than doing it alone. He keeps trying to help, but he doesn't know how to use a showerhead, so Jimin ends up a lot wetter than usual. The dog and Yoongi keep barking at each other, and there's foam from the shampoo covering his glasses. Yoongi leans closer and takes Jimin's glasses off; he does it carefully with both his hands. Jimin can't help the pout growing on his lips.
"I usually handle this alone," he feels like he has to justify his outburst. He rarely needs help with the animals in his small veterinary. "But you're making the pup anxious! It's like I'm handling two puppies," Jimin complains. Yoongi silently cleans Jimin's glasses with the back of his shirt and puts them on him as gently as he took them out. It's a little awkward, but Jimin doesn't try to fix them.
"Next time, I'll do better," Yoongi assures him. "And I'm only barking at him because he's starting it."
Jimin feels soft at the silly comment. "He must sense you're a big bad wolf," he teases. Yoongi falls silent after that, and Jimin worries he must have made the shifter uncomfortable, but when their eyes meet, he offers Jimin a gummy smile. Jimin smiles back. Sure, Yoongi is a big bad wolf.