Chapter Text
Jimin carefully looks around the cave he found, sniffing deeply to ensure that there are no other animals around who might be using this as home.
But no, although he smells that a weasel has had its nest here at some point, as is also apparent from the mess of leaves and grass in the furthest corner of the cave, the scent is clearly old, so it seems that the beast moved away a while ago.
Which is perfect, because Jimin quite likes this cave. And yes, he could easily chase away a weasel if it were still to inhabit this place, but he generally tries to be friendly to the predatory animals surrounding him.
Not that his friendliness has ever gotten him friends, but he does always still try: you never know if it might work someday, and he at least knows for sure that if he doesn't try he'll stay alone forever.
For now, Jimin is satisfied with his little exploration of the cave, and carefully lays down his cloth before getting to work at removing all the nest remnants. Once done, he places his cloth in the far end of the cave, and then walks out again, scent-marking the exit as he goes to mark the place as his.
He halts outside for a moment, taking in the view.
It really is a good spot.
The little cave is part of a huge rock that seems to have been dropped from the heavens in the middle of the forest, completely overgrown by moss and even some small trees. When walking past it, Jimin hadn't even noticed it at first: its entrance isn't more than a small opening at the foot of the rock, about twice as wide as he is and only just high enough for his ears not to touch the ceiling, and is partly hidden by some vines that hang over it.
Inside, the cave broadens significantly though, and runs a few metres deep. Easily big enough to house multiple wolves, Jimin directly thought when he entered, but well, that's the making friends thing again: he hasn't exactly been successful up to now, despite plenty of attempts.
The extra space won't be a problem though: even though it will lead to slightly colder temperatures than a smaller space, his thick coat will most likely keep him warm enough anyway, and it will give him enough storage space for provisions for the winter.
Outside, the forest surrounds Jimin immediately, but the slight downward slope of the area still provides him with a bit of a view, which feels safe. Not that animals are generally stupid enough to attack him, but you never know; he did encounter a couple of bears throughout his life and in such cases he'd rather see them coming.
Sitting at the entrance of his newly claimed cave, Jimin allows himself to simply enjoy the tranquillity of the place for a while, to hear the cheerful chattering of the birds above him, smell the gentle scent of wet leaves, observe the beautiful beams of light making their way through the foliage and create dancing patterns of gold on the ground with every gust of wind.
Then, he forces himself to get going though. The sun is still far from setting, so he still has a few hours to explore the surroundings which he'd like to take advantage of.
It's weird, being in an area that's unfamiliar to him. He had been in his previous nest – an old rabbit's burrow that he had converted into a wolf-appropriate hideout – for many summers, and it feels a bit unsettling to have left it behind for new grounds.
But well, he had woken up to smoke in the air and had barely been able to grab his cloth and make a run for it before his patch of forest went up in flames, so he hadn't had much choice.
Barely summer yet and already a forest fire, and a big one at that: it had just been plain bad luck.
There's no use dwelling on it now though: it's not like he had had any possessions other than his cloth, which he managed to save, so he isn't actually worse off now. Well, if he actually manages to find good game here, of course, and if the winter won't grow too cold. You never know with a new place, and that's why exploring it as thoroughly as possible is pivotal.
Jimin is soon set even more at ease by his exploration. He already knew that there was a stream close by, which of course is the most important thing for any habitat to have, but in the hour or so that he has spent exploring he has spotted two types of deer, multiple rabbit colonies, and picked up the scents of squirrels, more weasels, wild goats and a fox.
Not bad.
It's only when he's about to make his way back to his new nest that he notices something odd, automatically silencing his steps and shifting into full alertness.
There are scent markings.
Weird scent markings, making up a barrier from tree to tree in the forest.
Someone's territory for sure, but whose?
Jimin knows that wolves mark their territories – he's been observing them for all his life as his best candidates for making friends –, but these scents don't smell like wolves. At least, not normal wolves. The scents are kind of similar to wolf scents, but not quite, there's something about them… Something nice, something that makes Jimin's heart beat faster in excitement even if he doesn't exactly know why.
It's intriguing to say the least, and Jimin can't help himself: he desperately wants to know more.
What if the animals are friendly, and will want to hang out with him? All the wolves he ever encountered up till now reacted with violence or fear to him: what if these will be different?
Observing wolf packs from a safe distance has always been somewhat amusing, with Jimin finding at least some form of comfort and happiness in seeing the other wolves play with each other, nuzzling and grooming each other, but to actually experience that himself… That would pretty much be the best thing he can imagine.
And so it's with great caution but a growing sense of excitement that Jimin carefully steps through the boundary.
If the animals are aggressive he can always turn right back around and make a run for it: he knows from experience that he's faster than all the other wolves he has encountered. Of course these wolves – or whatever they are, Jimin can admit that it's mostly wishful thinking on his part that they'll be wolves too – could also be different in that respect, but well, only one way to find out.
Jimin is practically holding his breath as he ventures deeper and deeper into the territory, at the same time becoming quite impressed at how this group of whatever they are managed to secure such a large territory without Jimin even having seen any of them yet.
How big is this territory even?
It's maybe fifteen minutes into his adventure that Jimin hears a suspicious sound, and he immediately stills, ears turning towards the sound and his whole body growing tense.
Could it be…?
There's a moment of pregnant silence, but then Jimin hears a rustling sound again, and then… Then suddenly a huge wolf treads into view, their gazes meeting when the wolf stills, its body clearly also growing tense as soon as he spots Jimin.
Holy shit, that wolf is not like any other wolves Jimin has seen before. For one, the animal is way bigger, maybe even bigger than Jimin is (Jimin never understood why, but all wolves he has seen were always so small compared to him). But there's also something unnameable to him – it's definitely a him, Jimin just knows –, something that makes adrenaline spark through Jimin's veins, but not from fear.
His bodily reaction is confusing, and Jimin makes sure to stay absolutely still as the wolf looks at him, not wanting to make any move that will anger him. This is his chance, his chance at finally finding connection, finding friendship, finding belonging: he really, really can't fuck this up.
And he seems to be doing something right, because the wolf doesn't look angry as he oh-so-carefully steps closer. Still, just in case, Jimin lowers to the ground a bit, whining softly and gently wagging his tail to show he has no ill intentions (he's just winging it at this point, trying desperately to remember what kind of signals he saw other wolves use to convey their friendliness).
And that really seems to do the trick, because the wolf's movements seem less tense as he crosses the last distance to Jimin, his form seeming even bigger from up close.
There's a moment of fear when the wolf actually reaches him, a panicked thought of oh fuck what if he attacks me anyway running through Jimin's mind, but he trusts his senses: the wolf doesn't seem aggressive, so he won't be.
Right?
Still, Jimin can't help but whine in fear as the wolf leans closer, flattening himself to the ground completely when he feels the wolf's nose sniff his neck.
Holy shit, he's actually being touched right now.
No one has ever touched him before, not voluntarily in a non-aggressive way at least. He has craved it so badly and now it's actually happening, and Jimin can't quite get over his shock, his excitement, his fear.
That is, until there's suddenly the sensation of a lick against his neck, the wolf's scent somehow changing into something sweeter, friendlier. Not that the wolf's scent was in any way unpleasant before, but this… This is nice, feels safe somehow.
And so Jimin dares to carefully look up, wagging his tail a bit again as he meets the gaze of the wolf.
Oh my god, is he making a friend? Is this it?
The wolf sure looks friendly, seeming to gaze at him with curiosity, maybe even fondness, and Jimin is already starting to envision the future with his new friend, hunting or sunbathing together, maybe even cuddling, when something horrible happens.
One moment the wolf is still there, and the next there's a weird cracking sound, and the wolf changes.
It's terrifying: in front of his very eyes the wolf's features morph, the fur disappears, and in its wake there's a…
Jimin doesn't know how to describe it, never having seen anything like it before. It's furless except for on top of its head, is weirdly formed with long limbs, and it absolutely freaks the shit out of Jimin.
No creature just transforms into another creature like that, especially not into an unknown, scary-looking creature like that, and Jimin finds himself scrambling backwards in panic, ears low and tail tucked in as he keeps his wide-eyed gaze on the creature.
What the fuck?
He startles even more when the creature starts making sounds, raising both its front paws in front of itself. It doesn't look like it's attacking him but Jimin can't be sure anymore, doesn't care to find out anymore, and he does the only thing that seems smart: run.
He makes it back to his cave in a fraction of the time it took him to venture into the creature's territory, images of the scary transformation still flashing in front of his eyes.
And it's only when he's safely in his nest, curled up into a small ball on his cloth, that he realises: the sounds that the creature had made weren't random. In fact, now that most of the shock has worn off and he Jimin can think a bit more clearly, he's pretty sure that the creature spoke a word that Jimin actually knows:
"Wait".
The evening after Jimin's encounter with the scary wolf-creature passes with Jimin feeling more stressed and agitated than he has been in a long time.
It's just so bizarre, and he starts wondering if he hadn't actually hallucinated all of it, if it had somehow been a dream.
But he has never had a hallucination or dream in the middle of the day before – except the one time that he was really sick, but he hadn't gone outside then –, and it all seemed so real… Which leaves the other option: the wolf-creature is somehow an actual, existing being, one that Jimin in all his life by some reason just hasn't encountered before.
Or maybe all the wolves he has seen in his life actually had this secret other form too, and he just never saw it? What if he has this other form too, and he just doesn't know it?
That's a disturbing thought for sure, one that is bound to give him nightmares, and Jimin quickly shakes himself out of that train of thought.
Still, the longer Jimin thinks about it, the more he believes that the wolf-creature's sounds may be the weirdest part of it all. He of course knows all the sounds of the animals around him, has spent years trying to make sense of the sounds of wolves specifically, and these sounds were nothing like all the sounds he knows.
Except for the fact that he apparently does know them, because he somehow understood what the wolf-creature had been saying.
Or is he just imagining things?
Jimin has never really thought about the words that he uses in his mind to make sense of things, to talk to himself, and it's a crazy idea that those words could somehow be the same words that the wolf-creature was able to translate into sounds. How would that even be possible?
It's all terribly confusing, and most of the evening passes with Jimin doubting whether he should leave this area anyway and start a nest somewhere else. It's a tempting thing to do, to just leave all the confusion behind, but at the same time he can't deny that the wolf-creature had been friendly.
He had been the first creature ever to approach Jimin with kindness, and if Jimin leaves he might never experience something like that again. While if he stays…
Would he dare to visit the wolf-creature again? Could they still become friends, even despite the mysterious things going on with the creature? It's not like the wolf-creature's furless form had been revolting or horrifying: it had mostly just been the unexpectedness of it all that had made it scary.
Now that Jimin thinks about it instead of letting his fear rule, the creature's weird form definitely wouldn't be a reason to avoid him; maybe it would even be fascinating to learn about this other form, to try to understand why and how the creature can shift between the two. Or maybe the creature can shift into even more forms?
Jimin can't deny it: he's fascinated, and he's pretty sure he'd regret it if he didn't take the chance to find out more about the creature.
By the time he goes to sleep, Jimin has made up his mind, already feeling calmer about the situation: it might not directly be tomorrow, but he'll definitely venture into the creature's territory again.
Still, that night Jimin is plagued by nightmares, waking up multiple times gasping for air with disturbing images in his head. Images of the furless creature, but also of other furless creatures. Of cold, swirling dark water pulling him under, of drowning over and over again.
Jimin hadn't been plagued by nightmares about water for years anymore and he doesn't know why they're back now, just knows that by the time the first streaks of purple and pink paint the sky he's relieved to leave the night behind him, feeling more exhausted than when he went to sleep.
It's with an ominous feeling still lingering in his bones that he goes through his morning hunt, the positive attitude he had had the night before gone.
What if the nightmares are a bad sign, telling him to stay away from the creature anyway?
Jimin is so in his head that he barely manages to catch his breakfast, and he's panting from exertion by the time he finally manages to get a rabbit between his teeth, killing it quickly before eating it on the spot.
Then there's just a short trip to the stream left, after which Jimin is free to collapse in his nest, intending to sleep the rest of the day away, hopefully without nightmares this time.
He's very done with thinking about furless creatures and dangerous currents, and just wants his mind to shut off for a while.
Once he's awake again he'll ponder about whether to stay or to leave, hopefully with a clearer mind.
While the sleeping part of the plan goes well, as soon as Jimin wakes up he knows that something's wrong. One positive part about always having been by himself is that he developed very good intuition on when there's danger, and as soon as he returns to consciousness he knows that something bad out there woke him up.
Something that's coming closer.
Shit.
He's on his feet within a second, growling deeply as he makes his way to the entrance of his cave. Only a very large or desperate animal would be foolish enough to attack him despite his warning sounds and scent-marks, and both are very rare. Especially at this time of the year: with summer around the corner there's food in abundance, so why risk your life attacking a dangerous predator?
It only takes a moment for Jimin to realise that he hadn't thought of one thing though: the wolf-creatures.
Their scents hit him before he even reaches the end of his cave, and apparently they aren't shy about their approach because he can hear them nearing the entrance, nearly close enough to see from inside.
Two of them, one that Jimin by his scent identifies as the wolf-creature from yesterday, and one unknown one with a slightly milder scent. A scent that Jimin would find soothing if not for the fact that they're attacking him in his own home.
Oh god, Jimin made one adventurous trip into a clearly-marked territory, and now he's going to be killed for it. That's so unfair, he didn't even do anything…
Fear rushes through him, and he has no idea what to do other than to keep growling: they're at his only exit, which means that there's no way he can get past them unharmed. Here inside he at least has the upper hand if they do decide to attack since they won't know what kind of space it is, and will have to let their eyes adjust to the darkness.
It's with that knowledge that he creeps forwards, but just at that moment the creatures apparently also move forwards: he can see them now, standing right in the entrance.
Their shapes aren't completely visible to him yet, part of them obscured by the vines that hang across the exit, but he can clearly see the dark grey coat of the wolf-creature he met before, and the somewhat lighter one of his companion.
And then something completely unexpected happens: both of them drop down to their bellies.
It's such an unexpected move that Jimin's growl cuts off abruptly.
What the hell?
He's still trying to process what's happening when something even weirder happens: the unfamiliar wolf wags its tail and whines. Whines in a distinctly friendly way, in a way that seems to say it's okay, I mean no harm.
That's…
That's so unexpected that Jimin doesn't know what to do with himself.
The wolf-creatures come in peace?
Or is it a trap?
He's still lost to confusion when the wolf-creatures move again, carefully inching closer on their bellies until they're actually in the cave, gazing at Jimin with curious, friendly eyes.
The lighter one keeps wagging its tail, whining a bit as if he's impatient to cross the last distance between them, to play with Jimin, and that's just absurd. Why would they seek him out only to be friendly to him? What do they want?
He's so distracted by the happy-looking wolf-creature that he only swings his head towards the other one when he hears the now familiar cracking sound, and then the furless form of the creature is looking back at him again, the other wolf-creature staying as it was.
The transformation is still freaky enough that Jimin backs up a bit, his tucked-in tail hitting the back of the cave, and he watches the creatures in frightened confusion, having no clue as to what they'll do next.
"Hello".
The sudden sound makes Jimin jump in fright, a whine involuntarily leaving him as he stares at the furless creature with wide eyes.
He spoke.
Not just any sound, but a sound that Jimin understands. He really hadn't hallucinated it last time: he knows without a doubt that the sound that the furless creature just made was a greeting. A greeting that Jimin himself says in his mind when greeting the sun in the morning, the birds, the little bugs he sometimes takes pleasure in observing.
That's crazy.
He doesn't get much time to process it though, because then the creature is speaking up again, his front paws held out in Jimin's direction in a soothing gesture.
"It's okay, you're safe".
Jimin can only stare at him in shock. He knows those words, he knows what they mean.
How? What kind of magic is this?
It almost feels comforting that the next string of words coming from the creature's mouth completely passes over Jimin's head, and he tilts his head a bit in question as he keeps staring at the creature. Apparently not all the creature says is compatible with Jimin's mind language.
Which is also what the creature seems to realise, because his next words are said far more slowly.
"Do you understand me?"
That again sounds familiar, and Jimin takes a moment to decipher it before he nods his head in assent. It's weird: the words are very similar to the ones he uses in his own head, but there are weird differences, differences in the way the vowels are said and the intonation. As if the languages are merely related, not exactly the same.
In any case, Jimin gets a wide smile from the furless creature for his reaction, the creature saying another string of words that Jimin doesn't understand but that sounds victorious.
The next words are clearly addressed to him again though: "Are you here alone?"
Jimin already finds himself tiring from trying to understand the creature, the first few words of the sentence eluding him and only the 'alone' registering. Luckily 'alone' is a word that Jimin is very familiar with, so he wastes no time nodding his head again, getting a pained whimper from the unfamiliar wolf-creature in response, as if the creature is hurting for him.
In fact, the wolf-creature seems to be so sad for him that he decides to take matters in his own paws, still wagging gently as he carefully shuffles closer to Jimin. He only halts when there's an admonishing "Taehyung" from the furless creature, causing him to look back at his companion.
Jimin watches on as the two seem to communicate something just by looking at each other, and then the furless creature speaks up again, once again speaking slowly.
"That –", he points one front paw at the other wolf-creature, "- is Taehyung. I –", now the front paw is placed on his own chest, "am Yoongi. Can Taehyung touch you?"
These words are once again easy to understand, and Jimin thinks about it for a moment, gaze travelling from who is apparently Taehyung to Yoongi and back. What does touching mean? Will it be something like when Yoongi in his wolf form touched him?
Because that would be nice. Very nice.
He doesn't know or understand these creatures though, so they may very well mean a different, less pleasant form of touching.
Still, Jimin feels that the creatures definitely seem friendly enough to back off if Jimin were not to like what Taehyung is planning, so after some moments of deliberation he focusses his gaze on Taehyung, giving him a small nod.
He startles a bit when Taehyung actually yips from excitement in response, less careful than he was before when he treads up to Jimin. He does halt when he reaches him though, watching Jimin carefully as he inches his nose forwards until it bumps Jimin's.
Oh.
Jimin had unconsciously tensed up at Taehyung's approach but the nose bump is so innocent that some of the tension leaves him, his tail starting to wag slightly without his conscious control.
Touched twice in two days, who would have seen that coming?
Taehyung isn't done though, clearly seeing Jimin's lessening fear as a good sign and moving even closer, rubbing his cheek against Jimin's and leaning some of his weight against him in what seems like a playful, gentle head-butt.
The whole thing is overwhelming, albeit in a really good way, and Jimin isn't sure what to do, how to reciprocate. All he knows is that he very much likes this, his mind still not really believing that this is actually happening, that he's actually having nice contact with another being right now.
Jimin's inexperience with any of this is starting to make him feel shy though, and he whines softly as he hides his muzzle in Taehyung's neck, scared to fuck things up but desperate for Taehyung to keep touching him.
To his relief, Taehyung doesn't seem to be frightened off but just nuzzles up closer himself, keeping up the gentle head-butting and throwing in some soft nibbles and licks to the scruff of Jimin's neck.
Taehyung's scent completely surrounds Jimin now, and it's so nice, so gentle and soothing and lovely; Jimin could spend days just enjoying Taehyung's scent and the way it mixes with his own.
But then Jimin is startled again by Yoongi speaking up, a gentle but commanding 'Hey'.
Both Taehyung and Jimin look over at the sound, and Jimin finds Yoongi sitting a bit closer than before, reaching one of his front paws out towards Jimin.
"Come over?"
It's said as a friendly plea, not as a command, but still Jimin takes a moment to stare at Yoongi, gauging his intentions. Nuzzling close to another wolf – or at least, wolf form, because Jimin is quite convinced Taehyung also has a furless form, since Yoongi and he came together and smell similar – is nice, feels safe, but getting close to a furless creature? Jimin isn't sure.
Luckily, Yoongi doesn't rush him, just keeps sitting in a weird squatted way with his front paw stretched out, and in the end curiosity wins. He does so cautiously, but Jimin inches over, ending with his nose hovering just in front of the outstretched paw.
There, he halts, not knowing what Yoongi's intentions are, and for a moment nothing happens.
Then, Yoongi's paw unfurls though, revealing five long appendages, to which, to Jimin's surprise, his mind directly supplies: fingers. The paw is not a paw but a hand, and those are his fingers.
It's almost scary, how the words just bubble up to the surface in Jimin's mind, especially because he has no memory of ever having seen fingers before. How can he be so sure that that's the correct term for them?
Jimin doesn't get the time to ponder it though, because then the fingers are moving, very slowly and carefully reaching out to the top of Jimin's head. Jimin has half a mind to duck away, is even about to actually do it, but then the fingers land, and oh, he's being petted.
Oh god, that feels so nice.
Nuzzling with Taehyung was one thing, but having Yoongi's hand card through his fur, lightly scratching his skull in a gentle massage feels heavenly.
Jimin must have made a noise of pleasure because he hears Yoongi huff out an amused breath, but he can't even bother to check Yoongi's expression: his eyes are closed in bliss.
The sensation only becomes better when a second hand joins the party, and Jimin can't help it, he slumps forward until his forehead hits Yoongi's chest, his whole weight leaning into him.
How can something feel this good? How can fingers be so magical?
He had found Yoongi's furless form scary but he's taking back his words now: as long as the furless form comes with massages like this he's all for it. In fact, he'd happily sit here till the end of his days with Yoongi's hands caressing him: there's nothing he knows that can compete with this feeling.
The fact that Yoongi's scent is also amazing only makes things better: it seems to be subdued in his furless form but it's still so warm and spicy and homey that Jimin is starting to feel lightheaded, and he's pretty sure he might be drooling.
He can't be bothered to care about that though, can only focus on wiggling even closer against Yoongi's body, rubbing himself against Yoongi's chest, rumbling with a deep purr as he transcends to the heavens.
The shake of Yoongi's chest and the sound of laughter bring him out of his trance somewhat, and maybe that's why he's lucid enough to understand the words when Yoongi asks: "You're really enjoying that, hm? How long ago since someone touched you?"
Jimin dazedly blinks open his eyes at that, directly noticing that Taehyung has also shifted into his furless form and is aiding with the petting – ah, that's why it felt like he was being massaged all over, because he was – and trying to focus enough to answer.
The thing is that he can't really answer though, not like Yoongi would be able to with his flashy sounds, and he therefore thinks for a second before just settling on a whine and a head shake, hoping that that will convey his meaning.
Sadly, it doesn't, Yoongi just asking a confused "No?", but then Taehyung gasps.
"Wait, hyung, does he mean never? That he's never been touched?"
He sounds appalled at the mere idea, even more so when Jimin whines again and nods.
And then, without Jimin getting the time to react, Taehyung somehow manages to scoop him right out of Yoongi's hold and folds himself around him, hugging him tightly to his chest as he starts rambling, rocking Jimin to and fro in his hold as he speaks.
"No no no that's too sad, you're so cute! How can anyone abandon someone as cute as you? Look at you, you're so pretty, pretty blond fur like a little ball of sunshine, how can anyone be so cruel? Hyung, hyung, we need to adopt him, we can't let him stay alone like this! We can't!"
There's very little Jimin understands from the waterfall of words, only picking out the words cute, pretty blond fur, sunshine and alone, but it's enough to have him preening.
Taehyung thinks he's cute? And pretty?
His whole life, Jimin has disliked his blond coat because it's so different from the wolves he has encountered, and one of his major theories has always been that the wolves might not like him for it, but now Taehyung is saying that it actually makes him pretty?
The thought alone is enough to make him wag like crazy, wiggling further into Taehyung's hold. These wolf-creatures actually like him, and accept him; that's the most amazing thing ever.
He therefore completely misses the way Yoongi smiles down at him fondly and tells Taehyung that he agrees but that they should ask the ball of sunshine, but then slower so that he can actually understand Taehyung.
Jimin does notice it when Taehyung cups his muzzle though, lifting up Jimin's head so that their gazes meet and smiling down at him. For a moment Jimin is distracted by actually looking at Taehyung for the first time and realising that his face is quite different from Yoongi's – with longer, more wavy hair, a wider jaw and differently shaped eyes –, but then he tunes in to what Taehyung is saying.
"- home with us?"
Jimin blinks as he tries to decipher the meaning of Taehyung's words. Home? Was Taehyung speaking about this home or someone else's home? He feels a bit silly for not having paid attention but he can hardly magically retrieve the lost words now, so he just cocks his head to the side to signal that he has no idea what Taehyung is talking about.
That seems to unleash something in Taehyung, because he moves Jimin around a bit so that he has space to move his hands, and then he's going all out with intonations and hand gestures and exaggerated enunciation.
There's a sweeping gesture around the cave combined with a piercing gaze and a loudly and slowly-spoken question whether this is Jimin's home, to which Jimin nods - huffing out an amused breath at Taehyung's theatrics: Jimin isn't an idiot – and then Taehyung carries on to explaining something that makes Jimin's eyes go wide.
If he understands correctly, Taehyung is asking him to join them to their home. In their territory, with more wolf-creatures, which Taehyung calls werewolves.
That’s… Wow.
That's a lot.
Before Jimin can even consider it, he first moves his gaze to Yoongi, trying to gauge if he also agrees, and if Jimin even understood Taehyung correctly.
He directly gets a comforting smile back, Yoongi adding: "You're very welcome to come. It would be fun: you could have friends, and we could pet you as much as you like. But only if you want to, it's okay if you say no".
Jimin doesn't get all of what Yoongi said, but he does get enough to understand that Taehyung and Yoongi really mean it, and that he could have friends, and well…
That sounds like a really tempting offer.
It's also scary though: he has only just met these two werewolves, can he really just leave all that he knows behind and follow them to some unknown place? A place with more werewolves?
Jimin has no idea if all werewolves are this friendly, and how it would even feel to be part of a larger pack. Although he has always dreamt of finding a friend, it's quite daunting to think that there might be a lot of werewolves there.
What if they don't like him?
Still, there's also risk with staying behind. What if Taehyung and Yoongi never come back, and he ends up all alone again?
He's had a taste of what it could be like to have friends now, and it's horribly depressing to never have that again. If he's honest, it's even horribly depressing to go even a single night all by himself again.
Which he guesses answers the question, and it's with a wildly beating heart and adrenaline coursing through his veins that he looks at Taehyung and Yoongi in turn, and then nods his head.
The victorious yell he directly gets from Taehyung startles him a bit but also strengthens his resolve: they like him, how stupid would he then be not to stay with them?
When Taehyung hugs him to his chest in celebration Jimin again misses most of what he's babbling about, only perking up when Taehyung gasps and cups his muzzle again.
"Oh! We don't even know your name! Do you have a name?"
That's actually an excellent question.
Jimin had easily understood Yoongi when he gave both his and Taehyung's names, the idea of names feeling natural, but what is his own name? He has the feeling he should have one, but it's like each time he tries to grasp for it in his mind it eludes him.
Huh. Strange.
At Jimin's confused look, Taehyung puts a finger to his lip and hums thoughtfully.
"Well, I guess if you do have a name you can't actually tell us at the moment, so maybe we can give you a nickname for now?"
Having no idea what a nickname is, Jimin is once more forced to tilt his head to the side and Taehyung quickly tries to explain it in easy terms. Then, Jimin can easily agree on having a nickname for now, and there's silence for a few moments before Taehyung's face lights up.
"What about 'Sunshine'? Because of your pretty coat?"
Again, Jimin's tail is wagging before he's even consciously aware of it, pride and happiness flowing through him at the praise, and so, even if it feels a bit odd to be named after the great sun itself, Jimin and Taehyung agree: he's now Sunshine.
With that settled Yoongi and Taehyung are clearly eager to get going, Taehyung already standing up – holy shit, the furless form is so tall – as he asks: "Do you have any belongings you want to take with you?"
As he asks it, Taehyung's gaze travels the cave, and then Jimin's stomach suddenly drops as Taehyung's gaze falls on his cloth, a surprised 'oh' leaving Taehyung's lips as he makes to walk to it.
Jimin doesn't even think: he jumps up, lands in between Taehyung and his cloth and growls.
The cloth is his; they can't take it, they can't touch it.
He only realises what he's done when he's already done it, and shame and anxiety quickly replace his short burst of aggression. Oh no, what if he made them angry, what if –
His thoughts are interrupted when Taehyung takes a step back, dropping to his knees and lifting both hands in surrender.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just grabbed for it".
Then softer, sadder: "I'm sorry".
That's enough to get the last tension to leave Jimin's body, and he whines in apology as he lowers himself to the ground, laying his muzzle in between his front paws and glancing up at Taehyung in shame.
He hadn't meant to be aggressive; his cloth is just special, it's his only possession since as long as he can remember…
A comforting pat on his head confirms that Taehyung isn't angry though.
Still, Taehyung's voice is careful when he says: "What is that, Sunshine?"
It takes Jimin a moment to make up his mind, but then he walks over to the cloth, carefully lifting it up between his teeth and moving back to where Taehyung and Yoongi sit, throwing them both a stern look before laying it on the floor between them.
To his surprise, where he had expected curiosity he gets shock, Taehyung letting out a dramatic gasp while Yoongi sounds distressed as he says: "That –"
He breaks off, only to start again: "Sunshine, is that yours?"
Jimin is starting to feel a bit queasy with how serious both Taehyung and Yoongi look and smell, but he nods, directly getting himself another question from Yoongi: "Do you know what it is?"
If he's honest, Jimin doesn't actually know. He has pondered it many times, but the reason behind the cloth's odd form always stayed mysterious, and he has no idea how it might have been made. It feels weird though to not even know what his own only possession is, so shame courses through Jimin as he hesitantly shakes his head.
He's surprised when that causes Yoongi to carefully reach out a hand and pet Jimin across his head and neck, a gesture clearly meant to soothe and effective at it.
"It's a jacket".
Having no idea what that term means, Jimin is about to tilt his head once more when Yoongi continues: "Can I pick it up? I'll be careful, I promise".
While Jimin doesn't exactly like the idea of someone else's scent on his cloth he can't deny that his curiosity has been piqued, and after a moment of deliberation he nods, moving close so that he can watch Yoongi's every move and interfere if necessary.
And so he watches on as Yoongi carefully holds his cloth up with one hand, looking it over before gazing at Jimin with sad eyes.
"A jacket, Sunshine, is something that werewolves in human form –"
Yoongi must estimate the extent of Jimin's vocabulary well because he pauses, pointing at Jimin first while saying "wolf form", then pointing at himself while saying "human form" and then at Taehyung where he repeats his last words, only continuing when Jimin nods in understanding.
"What humans wear when they are cold. We get cold faster in human form because we don't have fur. This –", he sends a pointed look at Jimin's cloth, "is a jacket for a child, a small human".
Pointing at the two elongated parts on both sides of the main part of the cloth, he adds: "This is where we put our arms, look… "
And indeed, he very carefully puts his hand partly in one of the elongated parts, and that does seem logical.
It's at that moment that realisation properly begins to dawn upon Jimin, and his eyes grow wide as Yoongi concludes: "Sunshine, if this is yours, you were once in human form. Long, long ago. Can you remember that?"
The words are the nails in the coffin, and suddenly Jimin feels like he can't breathe. He was in human form. Wearing his cloth, his jacket, apparently. But – but why can't he remember? What happened?
As if triggered by his panic, suddenly images from his nightmares resurface, the dark, cold water that always drags him down into the depths, and Jimin whines as he breaks out in sweat.
No, no, no, he doesn't want to think about that, it's too scary, he can't –
The next thing Jimin knows he's in Yoongi's arms, his front paws on Yoongi's shoulders as Yoongi hugs him tightly against his body, murmuring things in his ear in a rumbling, soothing tone.
Fuck, what happened?
He feels all clammy and tired, and it takes him a good minute to remember what brought him to this state, shuddering as he remembers his cloth. His jacket.
The memories are almost enough to send him into a panic again, Yoongi's hug and soothing scent the only things that keep him together.
He has always known that there was something weird about him being all alone, not even remembering his mother, but the realisation that he has been carrying around a jacket which he at some point must have worn still comes as a shock.
Will he ever find out where he came from, who made that jacket for him? How he got separated from his family when he was so young?
In any case, one thing that is even clearer now is that he really shouldn't stay here alone anymore. Apparently he's a werewolf, with a mysterious human form he can maybe shift into; he should be with other werewolves.
Werewolves that might guide him to understanding more about who he is, who might heal the pain of having lived such a lonely and tragic life up until now.
He's ready.
Nuzzling up closer to Yoongi for a second and softly licking his neck in thanks, Jimin wiggles out of his embrace and picks up his cloth, tentatively taking some steps towards the exit of the cave.
Looking back, he feels moved by how Taehyung is wiping away tears, and wags softly as Taehyung makes his way over to him, squatting next to him to give him a tight hug before also shifting into wolf form.
Yoongi is the last one to shift, and then they're off.
Jimin has no idea what he's walking towards, no idea what his life might look like from now on, but he knows one thing for sure: it has got to be better than where he came from.