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By the time they hit the fifth run of the chorus, the mirrors were fogged up and everyone was breathing hard.
"Again from the top," Hoseok called, clapping his hands twice. "We keep losing the line here. Tae, Kook, watch your angles on the turn. Jimin, don't cut in too early."
Taehyung's jaw flexed. He nodded, but his eyes flicked to the far end of the studio where Namjoon was standing. Namjoon had his hands on his hips, sweat darkening the collar of his shirt, a crease dug between his brows.
It had been there all morning.
Since the meeting.
Since the manager had sat them down in that cramped conference room and said words like "comeback pressure" and "image fatigue" and "you can't afford mistakes now." Since every slide of numbers had felt like another weight on Namjoon's chest.
He could still feel it. A tightness under his ribs. An ache right behind his eyes.
"Hyung," Jungkook said quietly, nudging Taehyung with his elbow. "You good?"
"I'm fine."
Taehyung rolled his shoulders and stepped back into position. Hoseok reset the track. Yoongi counted them in under his breath, habit more than anything.
Five. Six. Seven. Eight.
The first section went smoothly. Muscle memory kicked in. Hips, arms, spin, drop. Namjoon watched, tracking lines and timing. His ankle twinged when he shifted his weight, but he ignored it. He'd been ignoring a lot of things lately.
At the chorus, Jungkook hit his mark. Jimin slid into his. Taehyung almost had it. His heel slipped a few centimeters and it threw off the whole arc of his body. Hoseok's head snapped up.
"Stop, stop," Hoseok said, waving his arms. The music died. "Tae, that turn."
"I know," Taehyung snapped before he could stop himself. "I know."
Hoseok's mouth closed. His eyes softened a little, but the frustration was there. They were all tired. They were all feeling it.
Namjoon rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "Let's take it from the transition, not the top. No point wasting energy on the intro if it's already clean."
Jin glanced at him from his place by the wall. Seokjin could read him, had been reading him all morning. He saw the tightness around Namjoon's mouth, the way his scent sat too sharp in the air, cedar and ink and the faint edge of ozone.
"Joon," Jin said. "Maybe you should sit down a second."
"We're behind," Namjoon said. He kept his eyes on the center of the floor. "We don't have time to sit."
Yoongi pushed off the wall and came closer, tapping his phone against his palm. "Five minutes isn't going to destroy the schedule."
"We already lost an hour to that meeting," Namjoon said. His voice came out flatter than he intended. "We need to make it up."
Taehyung's shoulders pulled up around his ears. "So it's my fault now?"
Namjoon blinked, turning to look at him fully. "What? No, that's not what I said."
"You keep looking at me," Taehyung said. His scent had already started to spike, warm musk tinged with sour frustration. "Every time we mess up, you look at me."
"I'm looking at all of you," Namjoon said. "You're one of the leads in this choreo, of course I'm going to check your line."
"It's not just checking," Taehyung shot back. "You keep correcting every little thing I do."
"Tae," Hoseok said softly. "Hey."
Namjoon could feel half the room holding its breath. Jimin's eyes were wide. Jungkook looked like he wanted to step between them and physically shove them apart, but he stayed rooted next to Taehyung, fingers flexing at his sides.
"We're all tense," Namjoon said. He tried to keep his voice steady, tried to keep his scent from creeping up any farther. Omegas weren't supposed to smell like this in front of their pack. Sharp. Overripe. "This comeback is important. That doesn't mean I'm targeting you."
"You are," Taehyung insisted. The words came fast now, like something had cracked and everything was spilling out. "You barely said anything when I messed up earlier, you just made that face and wrote something in your notes and I know that means it'll come back later in some list of things I did wrong. You do that all the time now. You don't talk, you just write and write and then suddenly it's three in the morning and you're telling me all the ways I made the day worse."
Namjoon flinched. "That's not fair."
"Maybe not," Taehyung said, breathing hard. "But it feels like that."
Yoongi's eyes flicked between them. Jin shifted his weight and straightened, his presence at Namjoon's back like a wall.
"Taehyung," Jin said. "Take a breath."
"I am breathing," Taehyung said. His voice pitched higher, the alpha edge rough along the edges. "I am trying and it's never enough lately. Nothing is enough, and you just keep pushing."
"Because I know what you can do," Namjoon said, the words ripping free before he could soften them. "That's my job. To push us. All of us. If I let things slide now, everything falls apart. Do you want that on me? Or on you?"
The silence that fell after that was heavy. Namjoon heard his own heartbeat in his ears. He hadn't meant to say it like that. He hadn't meant to sound like he was throwing it back at Taehyung.
Taehyung's eyes flashed, hurt and anger tangled together. His scent surged, the alpha in him shoving against the tight leash he usually kept on it around Namjoon.
"Maybe if you trusted us more," Taehyung said, "you wouldn't feel like everything is only on you."
Namjoon's jaw clenched. His fingers dug into the meat of his own palm. "Don't talk to me about trust when you can't even get through one run of the choreo without checking out."
"Hey," Jungkook muttered under his breath. "Hyung."
Taehyung's instincts, already wound tight, snapped.
"Don't move."
It wasn't loud. It wasn't even shouted. The words came out low and sharp, carrying like a ripple through still water. There was something under them, something that buzzed against the skin. It rolled across the studio, through their bond, and hit Namjoon square in the chest.
Namjoon froze.
His body obeyed before his rational mind caught up. Muscles locked. Breath stalled. His heel stayed planted exactly where it was. Fingers curled where they had been, halfway to gesturing.
Every instinct inside him slammed up hard against the command and then seized, confused. Alpha voice. Directed at him. At the pack omega. At the leader.
His lungs burned. His heart lurched and then thudded harder.
Taehyung's face went white.
"I didn't mean," Taehyung said, the words tumbling out fast, but they were too late. "Shit. Hyung. Joon hyung, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Namjoon heard him. Of course he heard him. But the command sat coiled around his nerves like barbed wire, and his instincts shrieked at him to obey. Obey the alpha. Don't move. Don't challenge. Pack stability depends on it.
At the same time, a deeper part of him, the one that had sat through a thousand managers and a thousand cameras and held this group through every storm, whispered something else.
You can't let this stand.
You cannot let anyone think it's alright to use that voice on you.
"Joon," Jin said. He stepped closer, hands open and visible, voice soft. "Breathe."
Namjoon dragged air into his lungs. It felt like pushing against sludge. The edges of his vision fuzzed.
"Hyung," Taehyung said. His scent had crashed from sharp aggression into panicked guilt so fast the air almost crackled with it. "Please, I didn't mean to. I just, I got mad, I wasn't thinking, please."
Namjoon wanted to look at him. He wanted to move, to show something on his face that wasn't just distant omega freeze. But his body was still locked.
Yoongi's voice cut across the room, quieter than Taehyung's but somehow heavier. "Everyone back up. Give him space."
No one argued. Jimin grabbed Jungkook's wrist and tugged him a step away. Hoseok guided them both farther, eyes never leaving Namjoon. Taehyung staggered back on his own, horror carved into every line of him.
Namjoon could feel the tremor starting in his knees.
"Jin," Taehyung choked out. "Hyung, give him an order. Tell him it's okay to move. Please. I'm begging you."
Jin looked like someone had gutted him. His hand lifted halfway, like he wanted to reach for Namjoon, then dropped again.
"It'll override it," Taehyung said, desperate. "You know it will. You're pack alpha. Just tell him. Tell him he can move."
Namjoon felt the words like a distant echo. Pack alpha. Override.
He could imagine it. Jin's voice cutting clean through the lingering command, the weight lifting in one smooth stroke. Relief washing through his omega instincts.
And under that, a cold knot.
Because if Jin did that, if he stepped in every time, then the precedent would still be there. An alpha could command him, and someone else would fix it. He would still be the omega who bowed his head and waited to be released.
Jin knew that.
Namjoon saw it in the way Jin's throat worked, in the way he glanced at him, then away.
"It would help," Taehyung insisted. "He can't move."
Yoongi let out a slow breath. "Tae."
"Please, hyung."
Jin closed his eyes for a brief moment. When he opened them again, they were steady.
"I can't," Jin said quietly.
Taehyung stared at him. "What do you mean you can't?"
"I mean I won't," Jin said. "Namjoon wouldn't want me to. You know he wouldn't."
"He's stuck," Taehyung said, voice breaking. "I did that to him. I hurt him. I have to fix it."
"You will," Jin said. He stepped forward until he was right in front of Namjoon, close enough that their scents mixed, that Namjoon could feel the warmth of him. He didn't touch. Not yet. "But the first step isn't me overruling you. The first step is him breaking it."
Namjoon's fingers twitched.
It felt like dragging his hand up from underwater, like every muscle was wrapped in sandbags. His instincts screamed in protest. An alpha has given a direct command. Pack omega does not disobey. This is how packs break. This is how you lose your place.
His pulse pounded in his ears.
"Joon," Jin said softly. "Namjoon. Listen to me."
Namjoon focused on Jin's face. On the lines he knew so well. The faint freckle by his lip. The slight sheen of sweat on his temple. The concern in his eyes.
"You're our leader," Jin said. "You're my omega, but you're also our leader. No one gets to use that voice on you. Not even me. Not like that."
Something in Namjoon's chest loosened at the words. Only a fraction.
"You decide," Jin said. "Not the command. Not me. You."
Namjoon's knee unlocked half a centimeter. The movement sent a wave of static through him, sharp and sour. His vision tilted.
He swallowed. His tongue felt thick.
"I..." His voice came out rough, like it had scraped over gravel. "I have to move."
"Yes," Yoongi said quietly from somewhere to the side. "You do."
Namjoon shut his eyes. He pictured taking one step. Just one. Heel up, weight forward, sole down. His body screamed at him that this was wrong, that he was tearing something important, that he was risking everything.
He did it anyway.
His foot lifted. The moment it left the floor a buzzing rush flooded his limbs, like blood returning after being cut off. Pins and needles shot up his calves. His head went light.
He put his foot down again. The whole room felt like it swayed.
"Good," Jin said. The word trembled almost imperceptibly. Only someone who knew him as well as Namjoon did would hear it. "Good, Joonie."
Namjoon opened his eyes. The walls of the practice room looked too bright. The mirrors reflected a blur of shapes and worried faces. Taehyung was staring at him like he was watching someone bleed out.
The command had broken. He knew it. His muscles were technically free. But his instincts were still spinning, like someone had thrown his inner compass to the floor and stomped on it.
He felt floaty, like his body was three steps behind his mind. He knew he was standing, but it also felt like he was somewhere above himself, looking down.
"Hyung," Taehyung said again. "I'm so sorry. I swear I didn't mean to. I was mad and stupid and I would never actually try to pull rank on you, I just, it came out, and I can't, I can't believe I did that."
Namjoon looked at him, trying to bring the words into focus. Taehyung's scent was all over the place, spiking and crashing. Fear, guilt, the sharp tang of self disgust. It scraped against Namjoon's already overtaxed senses.
"I think practice is over for today," Hoseok said firmly. The decision in his voice was clear. Dance leader, not asking anyone's permission.
"Agreed," Yoongi said. "We're done."
"No, we still have work," Namjoon said automatically. The push to keep going came out of sheer habit, not conviction. "We can't just stop because of... because of this."
"Watch me," Yoongi said. "I'm the producer and I'm saying we're done."
"Pack first," Jin added. "Then comeback."
Jimin edged closer like he wanted to lay a hand on Namjoon's arm, then seemed to think better of it. "Hyung, you look like you're going to fall over."
Namjoon hadn't realized his legs were shaking until Jimin said it out loud.
"I'm fine," Namjoon said. The words felt disconnected from any real feeling. "I just need a second."
"You're foggy," Jin said gently. "I can smell it."
Omega fog. He knew what Jin meant. That floaty, unmoored place omegas could slip into when instincts and reality crashed too hard together. It wasn't dangerous by itself, but if he stayed there, his decisions would start bending around obedience instead of choice. He'd retreat, fold inward, give up ground he could never take back.
They all knew it.
Namjoon licked his lips. His mouth tasted like cotton.
"What do you want to do?" Yoongi asked.
It was a simple question, but Namjoon could feel the weight under it. They were giving it to him. The choice. The control.
He swallowed. "I want to go home."
"Okay," Jin said immediately. "We go home."
Taehyung flinched. "Hyung, please, I can explain in the car, I didn't mean it like a real order, I just, I was mad, I swear I would never, not really, not to you, not to our omega."
Namjoon turned his head to look at him. The movement made the room ripple. For a second he thought he might throw up.
"Later," Namjoon said. "We talk later."
The words made Taehyung flinch again, but he nodded. Tears shone at the edges of his eyes that he blinked away furiously.
Jungkook hovered behind him, a steady line of support. "We'll meet you at the van," he said.
Hoseok took charge of logistics, herding the younger ones to grab their things. Jimin collected water bottles with shaking hands. Yoongi slung a bag over his shoulder and stayed close to Namjoon's side, silent and solid.
Jin finally touched him. A hand at the small of his back, warm and grounding.
Namjoon's body leaned into it like it had been waiting all day.
The ride back to the dorm was quiet. Jin got Namjoon into the front passenger seat and buckled him in himself. Yoongi sat behind them with Jimin and Hoseok. Taehyung ended up crammed in the back row with Jungkook and a tangle of bags, curled in on himself.
Namjoon stared out the window as the city slid by. His thoughts felt like they were moving through syrup. Every time he tried to latch onto something, it slipped away.
He could feel Taehyung's eyes on the back of his head like a physical weight.
At a red light, Jin reached over and let their hands rest together on the console. Not gripping, just touching. Namjoon's fingers curled slowly, hooking around Jin's.
Jin's scent crept over, steady and warm, threaded through with worry and alpha protectiveness. It helped. So did the soft hum of Yoongi talking nonsense with Hoseok in the back, his voice low and easy, as if he was stretching a net of normal across the space for Namjoon to rest on.
By the time they got home, Namjoon's body felt like it remembered how to move mostly on its own. He stepped out of the van, toes curling against the pavement. The air outside was cooler, and it chased some of the fuzz from his head.
"Straight to your room," Jin said. "No detours."
"Dictator," Namjoon muttered.
Jin huffed out a laugh that sounded half strangled. "You love it."
Namjoon's mouth twitched. The fact that he could still jokingly complain was a good sign. At least, that's what he told himself.
Inside, the familiar scent of their shared space wrapped around him. Six other notes woven with his own. Coffee and citrus and spice and something bright and sweet that was uniquely theirs. Home.
His nest was already half built from the night before. A tangle of blankets and hoodies on his bed, with the big weighted comforter piled at one end. He'd never been more grateful for his own habit of leaving it like that.
Jin steered him gently toward it. "In," he said. "I'll get you some water."
Namjoon sank into the nest. The moment the fabrics cradled him, some part of him sighed in relief. His scent seeped into the blankets, familiar and grounding.
Yoongi appeared at the door, shrugging out of his jacket. "Mind if I join?"
Namjoon shook his head. The motion felt clearer now. "Please."
Yoongi kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed without ceremony, settling at Namjoon's back and bracketing him with his body. Namjoon let himself lean into him, spine slotting along Yoongi's chest.
Jin came back with a bottle of water and that big old hoodie Namjoon loved. He set the bottle on the nightstand and tugged the hoodie over Namjoon's head with careful hands.
It smelled like Jin. Warm and clean and a little like laundry soap, but under that, pure alpha. Pack alpha. Safe.
Namjoon's shoulders relaxed a notch.
"Drink," Jin said.
Namjoon obediently took a sip. The cool water helped clear the last of the cotton from his mouth.
Yoongi rested his chin lightly on Namjoon's shoulder. "How's the fog?"
"Still there," Namjoon admitted. "But quieter."
"Good," Yoongi murmured. His hand rubbed slow circles between Namjoon's shoulder blades, like he was soothing a frightened animal. "You're here. You're safe. No one is giving you orders."
Namjoon's throat tightened. "Except you, telling me to drink."
"That's not an alpha command," Jin said. He sounded offended. "That's basic hydration."
Namjoon snorted, a tiny huff that made both of them smile.
They lay like that for a while. Jin stretched out in front of Namjoon, close enough that their knees touched, one hand tangled loosely with Namjoon's under the blanket. Yoongi provided steady warmth along his back. Their scents wrapped around him, hemming in the frayed edges of his instincts.
The buzz in his head slowly faded from frantic to background noise.
"What are you thinking?" Jin asked eventually.
Namjoon stared at the folds in the blanket. "That I messed up," he said. "That he messed up. That we all did."
"That's a lot of messing up for one afternoon," Yoongi said dryly.
Namjoon huffed again. "I'm serious."
"I know," Yoongi said. "I am too. We did all mess up. You don't have to carry all of it."
"That's my job," Namjoon said quietly. The words came out before he could catch them.
"Your job is to lead," Jin said. "Not to collect every mistake like infinity stones."
Namjoon glanced at him. "Nerd."
"You're the one who explained Marvel lore to me for three hours," Jin pointed out. "But we're not talking about that. We're talking about how our young alpha pulled rank on our omega leader like a dumbass."
Namjoon winced. The memory of Taehyung's voice slid over his skin again, ghosting across his nerves. Don't move.
"He didn't think," Namjoon said. "He reacted."
"Which is not an excuse," Yoongi added. "But it is an explanation."
Namjoon pulled the blanket up a little higher, like he could hide his face in it. "If I'd been calmer, maybe he wouldn't have snapped."
"Stop," Jin said sharply. "No. We're not doing that. You don't get to blame yourself for someone else misusing their instincts."
Namjoon swallowed. His omega balked at the rebuke from pack alpha on some level, but his rational mind knew Jin was right.
"I got sharp," Namjoon said. "I said things I shouldn't have."
"Yeah, you did," Yoongi said. "And you'll apologize for your part. He'll apologize for his. And then we'll all move on, because that's how packs work."
Namjoon closed his eyes. Yoongi's scent was calm now, that steady cedar and smoke. Jin's was finally smoothing out, less acidic with worry.
"Are you angry?" Namjoon asked. "At him."
"Yes," Jin said immediately. "Of course I am. He ordered my omega not to move. He terrified you. He put the pack at risk. I'm furious."
Namjoon's stomach twisted.
"But," Jin continued, softer, "I'm not going to snap at him right now, because he's already tearing himself apart. Me yelling won't teach him anything he isn't already learning from watching you."
Namjoon frowned. "From watching me… disobey him?"
"From watching you choose," Yoongi said. "You broke an alpha command, Joon. Omegas don't do that lightly. You decided your authority mattered more than his mistake. He'll remember that a lot longer than he'd remember me shouting at him today."
Namjoon thought of Taehyung's face in the studio. The horror. The helpless guilt.
"I don't want him scared of me," Namjoon whispered.
"You don't want him thinking he can boss you around either," Yoongi countered. "There's a middle ground."
Jin squeezed his hand. "You love him. He loves you. This hurt, but it doesn't break that. You know that, right?"
Namjoon's chest ached. "Yeah," he said. "I know."
"Good," Jin said. He shifted closer, pressing a kiss to Namjoon's forehead. "Because he's been standing in the hallway for ten minutes trying to work up the courage to knock."
Namjoon's eyes opened. "What?"
Yoongi's lips twitched against his shoulder. "You think we can't hear him out there? Kid's pacing a hole in the floor."
As if on cue, there was a soft, hesitant knock.
"See?" Jin murmured.
Namjoon hesitated. His instincts fluttered, still a little thin and uncertain. He wasn't all the way out of the fog, but he wasn't drowning anymore.
"Come in," he called.
The door opened slowly. Taehyung hovered in the doorway, hands twisting in the hem of his shirt. His eyes were red around the edges, but dry.
"Can I…?" he asked. His voice was hoarse. "Can I come closer?"
Namjoon nodded. "Yeah. Come here."
Taehyung stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind him. He stopped a couple of feet from the bed, shoulders hunched, eyes on the blankets instead of Namjoon's face.
"I am so sorry," Taehyung said. The words came out in a rush. "I don't even know where to start. I don't even have an excuse. I was mad and I felt cornered and I just, it came out and I heard myself and I knew it was wrong but it was already too late and you froze and I…"
His voice broke. He forced it back. "I hurt you. I scared you. I used my instincts against you, and that's the worst thing an alpha can do to an omega, especially their own."
Namjoon's hand clenched in the blanket. He remembered the freeze, the panic, the instinctive terror of disobedience.
"You did," he said. He didn't soften it. Taehyung flinched, but he kept his eyes down.
"I'll accept whatever you decide," Taehyung said. "If you don't want me near you for a while, if you don't want me in practice, if you want me to… I don't know, sleep at the studio or something, or… I know you can't kick me out of the group, that's not how contracts work, but if you wanted to ask management to move me to a subunit or, or…"
"Taehyung," Yoongi cut in. "Stop before you offer to launch yourself into space."
Taehyung's laugh came out as a wet hiccup. "Sorry."
Namjoon looked at him. Really looked. Under the guilt and fear, he could see it. The same kid who had once climbed into his lap with a sketchbook and asked if this was any good. The same alpha who never hesitated to throw himself between Namjoon and a crowd if he thought the omega looked overwhelmed. The same Taehyung who had stepped into cameras and tension and pressure at nineteen and trusted Namjoon to guide him.
"I am angry," Namjoon said slowly. "I was scared. My instincts are still a mess. You pulled rank on me, and that can't happen again. Not ever. Not like that."
Taehyung nodded quickly. "It won't. I swear. I will never, ever use that voice on you again."
"Not just me," Namjoon said. "On any of us. Your instincts are strong. That's not a bad thing. But that voice is a weapon, Tae. You don't point it at your pack."
Taehyung's throat bobbed. "Okay. I understand."
"Do you?" Yoongi asked. "Because understanding isn't just saying you won't do it again. It's figuring out why you did it in the first place so you can catch it before it happens."
Taehyung swallowed. "I felt cornered," he admitted. "Like everything I did was wrong. Like no matter how hard I tried, it wasn't enough. And when Namjoon said the thing about everything falling apart, it felt like he was sitting all that weight on me and it… hurt. And I lashed out."
Namjoon's stomach sank. "I shouldn't have said it like that."
Taehyung shook his head sharply. "No. I mean, yeah, it hurt, but you didn't tell my instincts to flip out. That was me. I let my alpha take the wheel."
"Maybe instead of letting it drive, you let it talk to us next time," Jin said. "Something like, 'Hyung, I'm feeling like you're putting everything on me and it's too much.' Words."
Taehyung made a face. "Feelings words."
"Yes," Jin said. "We love those. We use them in this household."
Despite everything, Namjoon huffed a small laugh. The knot in his chest loosened a bit more.
"Can I ask you something?" Taehyung said, voice barely above a whisper. "Why didn't you let Jin cancel it? He could have. One word and you would've been free."
Namjoon considered. "Because if he did that, then I'm still just an omega who has to be rescued from an alpha's mistake. I'm still under that command, not above it. I need to know I can break it, if I have to. For my sake. For the pack's."
Taehyung's eyes finally lifted to meet his. They were wet, but steadier. "You could've gotten hurt."
"I did get hurt," Namjoon said honestly. "That doesn't mean it was wrong. And Jin would have stepped in if it got worse. I trust him. I trust you, too. Even now. I'm just… going to be more careful with how we let our instincts play together."
Taehyung's breath hitched. "You still trust me?"
"Yes," Namjoon said. He felt the truth of it settle in his bones. "I do. You made a mistake. A big one. But I know you. I know your heart. I know how much you love this pack. You using that voice came from fear and hurt, not malice. I'm not excusing it. I'm saying I believe you will do whatever it takes to never repeat it."
"I will," Taehyung said. The vow vibrated in the air, pack-deep. "I swear it."
Namjoon held out a hand. Taehyung stared at it for half a second, then crossed the room in three strides and dropped to his knees beside the bed, taking Namjoon's hand in both of his. He bowed his head over it, not quite touching his forehead to Namjoon's skin, but close.
"I'm sorry," he said again, voice shaking. "I'm so, so sorry, hyung."
Namjoon's instincts finally shifted all the way. Omega nurture rose, fierce and protective. He freed his hand and instead slid his fingers into Taehyung's hair, carding through it gently.
"I know," he said. "I forgive you."
Taehyung let out a choked sound that might have been a sob. He turned his face into Namjoon's palm, breathing in his scent like he needed proof that it was real.
Behind Namjoon, Yoongi exhaled quietly, some tension he had been carrying easing. Jin's shoulders dropped from their perch by his ears.
"Come up here, you big puppy," Jin said, patting the bed. "If we're doing emotional apologies, we're doing them in the nest."
Taehyung gave a watery laugh and scrambled up, kicking his shoes off as he went. He crawled into the blankets with all the gracelessness of a baby giraffe, wedging himself between Namjoon and Jin. Jungkook appeared a moment later, hovering in the doorway like he'd been waiting for a signal, Jimin and Hoseok behind him.
"Is it safe?" Jimin whispered.
Namjoon rolled his eyes lightly. "I'm not a bomb, Jiminie. Get in here."
Jimin beamed and launched himself onto the bed, curling up against Namjoon's legs. Jungkook climbed in carefully, pressing himself along Taehyung's back, arms wrapping around his waist in a quiet show of solidarity. Hoseok squeezed in wherever there was space, ending up half draped over Yoongi's shins, his head resting on Namjoon's knee.
Their scents exploded into the small room, a riot of warmth and home. It could have been overwhelming, but instead it felt like everything in Namjoon had finally been put back where it belonged. The fog receded, chased away by the weight and presence of his pack.
"Pack cuddle mandated by leader," Yoongi announced. "That's an order."
"You're not the leader," Namjoon muttered.
"Fine," Yoongi said. He tipped his head so his lips brushed Namjoon's ear. "Pack cuddle requested by your alpha."
Namjoon's lips quirked. "Better."
Jin bumped their foreheads together gently. "Pack cuddle demanded by your mate."
Namjoon's heart twisted sweetly. "Yeah," he said. "That one I'll obey."
Taehyung tightened his arms around him, careful not to squeeze too hard. "No more alpha voice," he murmured. "Ever."
"Good," Namjoon said. He let his eyes drift closed, breathing them all in. "Then we're good."
Outside, the city kept rushing on, comeback schedules and expectations and a hundred pressures waiting for them. Inside the nest, in that moment, none of it mattered as much as this.
Seven bodies tangled together. Seven scents intertwined. A pack that had faltered for a second and then found its footing again.
Namjoon felt the last of the fog clear, leaving him tired but steady. His pack alpha at his front, his other alpha at his back, his younger alphas and betas wrapped around them.
Leader and omega. Both at once. Both his.
He let himself rest.