Chapter Text
Jisung wasn’t a fool. Sometimes he did stupid things and acted dumb, but he was no fool. He knew he owed his missing Alpha an apology just as much as Minho insisted Chan did. He was only thinking of himself when he tried to force the two Alphas to talk. He didn’t even know what had started the fight that made Chan stop talking to Changbin entirely but he knew that the tense silence was starting to irritate him to the point where he couldn’t even work. And really, if he was being honest with himself, Jisung knew something was wrong long before Chan’s silent treatment had started. He’d seen how Changbin seemed upset about something but anytime he tried to ask the Alpha insisted he was fine.
He owed an apology to Chan too, for yelling at him when he came home asking about Changbin. Jisung had only wanted them to solve their conflict so they could work like they used to and was angry that Chan couldn’t even give him that. And when he realized that Changbin wasn’t coming home, that he hadn’t just ran and hid in the company building as Jisung had done so many times before, he was angry and upset that Chan had put Changbin in such a place to not feel comfortable with them.
Mostly, though, Jisung felt that the entire problem was his fault. He wasn’t the only one, though. Jeongin had expressed multiple times over the five days that Changbin was gone, that he felt it was his fault for the fight. If he could have just gotten over his own issues regarding sex, there would have been no need for Changbin to take him out of the nest, and then Chan wouldn’t have been mad at Changbin for breaking a rule – even though he also insisted that Changbin hadn’t broken a rule. Hyunjin thought it was his fault because he was too clingy during rut and often got upset when someone left. He was the main reason there was a rule about leaving without informing anyone. Seungmin thought he wasn’t a good enough Beta because he couldn’t even get his Alpha to listen to him. And Felix was upset because he felt he hadn’t been giving his favorite hyung enough attention.
Minho had told each of them that it wasn’t their fault. This was entirely on Chan for not doing what he should have as their Pack Alpha. But Minho himself took the blame for being unable to notice something was wrong. Jisung would never forget when Seungmin called him a hypocrite for trying to take blame when he wouldn’t let the rest do so. Minho looked properly chastised before he broke out in laughter and agreed. It was the first time Jisung had seen his Pack Omega smile and laugh since their Alpha left.
Jisung knew they all felt nervous as they followed Seonghwa and Yunho up the stairs to the Ateez dorm. Thousands of thoughts raced through Jisung’s mind the closer they got to the door. Was Changbin doing okay? Was he eating well? Sleeping? Did he feel comfortable with the other pack? Did he feel too comfortable with them? Would he even want to see them? Jisung shook the last thought from his head before it could cement itself in his brain. Changbin was their packmate. Of course he would want to see them.
Seonghwa opened the door and instantly the pack was hit with shouts and excitement. Seonghwa had a smile on his lips as he ushered them through the door. It was always chaos when more than two or three people had to stop in the hall to take their shoes off but Seonghwa was well practiced in keeping things running as smoothly as they could.
When Jisung walked into the living room for the first time he was hit with a sense of wonder. Changbin was in the middle of a nest that took up the entirety of the living room floor with Wooyoung, San, and Mingi cuddled up around him. Jongho was behind him on the couch while Yeosang was on the other couch behind Wooyoung. They were both within arm’s reach should they be needed or Changbin wanted them.
Momentarily, Jisung worried how Hyunjin would react to seeing the elder Alpha cuddled by his longtime friend. It had been a bone of contention for them when Changbin had told them that no matter what, he would always be close to Wooyoung in a way that was more than friendly. Hyunjin had hated it and tried to sabotage the Omega anytime he saw the two together. It took Chan’s reprimand, and Minho forcing them to talk it out for Hyunjin to express his fear of losing Changbin. And now that they may actually run the risk of losing the Alpha, Jisung worried how Hyunjin would feel about seeing him so comfortable with Wooyoung. Not just Wooyoung either. Mingi was also an Omega, and he looked far more content to be using the Alpha as a pillow than Jisung thought was healthy. For him, at least. But he needn’t worry. Hyunjin had merely gripped Jisung’s hand a little tighter for a brief moment before releasing his grip.
Jisung could see the exact moment Changbin realized they were there. He went from playfully teasing San alongside Mingi to smiling widely at the five of them. Seonghwa surprised Jisung – and probably all of them, if he was honest – by coming around the side of them and kneeling at the edge of the nest. He reached a hand out to Changbin who leaned into the touch.
“How’re you doing pup?” Changbin hummed as he nestled into the Alpha’s hand. Jisung knew that was a way for Changbin to express he was content without words – often used during his rut when he couldn’t get his brain to form words. He was surprised – pleasantly and also unhappily – that Seonghwa had figured it out as well as the Alpha smiled warmly. “Can your pack come into the nest or do you want to go somewhere else?”
Changbin nodded before releasing the arm that was wound around Mingi’s shoulders to reach for them. The nerves hit him hard again as Jisung was unable to will his body to step closer. He was afraid. But Jeongin didn’t have the same fear. He stepped closer, but stopped at the edge of the nest. He’d already been given permission but Jeongin knew it wasn’t just Changbin’s nest. In fact, most of the nesting materials used were from the Ateez pack. Jisung could see a few of his own hoodies, the blanket Felix scented, and some shirts and hoodies that the Betas sent, but mostly the nest smelled of other non-pack scents.
“Is it alright with Sannie-hyung, Youngie-hyung, and Mingi-hyung if I come in?” The three smiled before San reached out to invite the Beta in.
“Of course, Innie. And if you need a break, you can join Jjong and Sangie on the couch.” San was well aware of how touch adverse Jeongin could get, and was making sure he was aware that he had options. However, as soon as Jeongin entered the nest, he plopped himself alongside Changbin’s leg and wrapped his arms around the limb like his life depended on it. Jisung saw San smile before turning his attention to the rest of them. Felix and Seungmin were next, with Felix letting the Beta ask first before following suit. Felix looked far more content with being squished between Changbin and Wooyoung than Jisung had ever seen him. It almost made him jealous. None of them could pull a smile like that from the sweet Omega.
Finally getting the feeling back in his feet, Jisung stepped forward, still holding onto Hyunjin’s hand. Instead of giving either of them the chance to ask, Mingi shared a cheeky smile with San and the two worked together to pull Jisung and Hyunjin into the nest. In doing so, Jisung’s foot hit the wall of the nest, causing it to fall. He let out a distressed sound, upset that he had ruined such a nice nest. Immediately he was cuddled into San’s chest with the Alpha and Wooyoung both hushing him.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. It can be fixed, right hyung?” Jisung opened his eyes and through his tears he saw Seonghwa nodding as he and Yunho put the blankets back in place. “See, good as new. Don’t you think Binnie?”
Changbin had a soft smile on his lips as he nodded encouragingly at Jisung. He held his arms out and without Jisung even having to move a muscle, San had unloaded him directly into Changbin’s lap. There was an instant sense of security when Changbin’s arms wrapped around his shoulders and Jisung buried his head in the Alpha’s shoulder. He happily inhaled his sandalwood scent.
“Binnie’s having a nonverbal day but I’m sure you can see how excited he is to have you all here.” Wooyoung filled the silence that settled on them as Yunho and Seonghwa moved out of the living room. “He’s missed you all.”
“We’ve missed hyung too.” Jeongin had been quite vocal in how much he missed Changbin with Felix right behind him in that. Changbin smiled at him and kept one hand around Jisung while the other ruffled Jeongin’s hair gently. When he pulled away, Hyunjin took it in his own, despite Mingi having a firm grip on the Alpha. Jisung was struck once again with how all of this was his own fault. He looked up at Changbin’s smiling face and frowned.
“Hyung, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone with Chan-hyung like that and-” Jisung was cut off as San hushed him again. Changbin leaned down and pressed a kiss to Jisung’s forehead. His attention was then pulled to the side, outside of the nest.
“Jisung, what you may or may not have done is not to be blamed for Chan’s actions.” Seonghwa was sitting outside of the nest, a tray of sandwiches and drinks in between him and Yunho. The Alpha was stern as he made eye contact with Jisung. “None of you are to blame for what happened. Chan knows what he did and he should know better than to ever ignore a packmate.”
Jisung nodded his understanding. Minho had said the same thing, but it felt different coming from a Pack Alpha. Seonghwa probably would have handled the issue differently. Seonghwa and Hongjoong would have likely sat down with the Alpha in question before it had time to settle into questions and feelings of uncertainty. The Alpha was right, though. Chan knew what he was doing because it had been so obviously targeted at Changbin. Jisung couldn’t count the times he had to repeat questions from Changbin just for Chan to answer. Chan had to have seen how much it was hurting Changbin – everyone else saw it. Jisung nodded again, more resolutely this time, and Seonghwa smiled at him.
“Good, now everyone needs to eat.” There were multiple groans as the Ateez members started sitting up from where they were laying. “Hush now, it’s lunchtime. If you all promise not to get crumbs in the nest or spill, I won’t make you get out.”
“Hyung hates when we spill.” Wooyoung explained as he helped Felix sit up. Jisung moved to get off of Changbin so the Alpha could get up, but Changbin’s arm tightened around him with a whine.
“It’s okay, baby. Jisung was just moving so you could sit up and eat. I’m sure he’s more than fine with staying in your lap, right Sungie?” Jisung blinked owlishly at Mingi for a moment, who was still holding his other Alpha and Hyunjin looked far more comfortable than expected, before he caught onto what Mingi was saying. He nodded again and looked back at the Alpha he was laying on.
“You need to eat, Alpha. Sit up and let me feed you?” It took San and Jongho both to help Changbin sit up, but when he was Jisung crawled back in his lap. Changbin immediately buried his nose in Jisung’s neck only to tense and whine again when he couldn’t get Jisung’s scent. Jisung tensed as well and looked over at Seonghwa.
“We, uh…we didn’t want to intrude with our scents so we wore blockers.” Hyunjin explained when Yunho shot them all a confused look. It wasn’t considered rude to not wear scent blockers when visiting another pack but in their circumstance they had all decided it was better to wear them than risk upsetting not only Changbin but the Ateez pack as well.
“Our scents have been…off recently.” Seungmin added as he toyed with the edge of the scent blocker from his place next to Yeosang’s legs behind Wooyoung.
“I think Changbin wants to smell you guys even if your scents aren’t happy. He can tell your emotions better through your scents.” Changbin let out another whine as if agreeing with Seonghwa’s words and Seungmin didn’t even hesitate to rip the patch off. His clean soap scent smelled too much like dead lilacs and immediately he looked like he wanted to put another one on. Yeosang grabbed his hand as he reached up to press against his scent gland. He shook his head at him when Seungmin looked up at him and the younger Beta merely nodded.
Then, another bitter scent joined his when Jeongin took his scent blocker off. Jeongin’s scent smelled a strong Jasmine – like a tea that had been seeped for too long. It wasn’t pleasant but not as unpleasant as Jisung knew his would be. Burnt coffee joined them when Mingi gently pulled Hyunjin’s blocker off. The Alpha looked embarrassed but didn’t move to cover his scent gland like Seungmin had done. There was a soft whine when Wooyoung carefully started taking Felix’s blocker off. His neck was still raw from how often he’d been wearing the patches and this one only made it worse. Wooyoung was careful, though, and took his time until the skin was free from the patch. Finally, the smell of rotting strawberries added to the mix of putrid scents. Without a word, Yunho got up and left the room. Moments later, he returned with a wet rag and an ointment.
“This’ll help get the rest of the residue off and this will help with the irritation.” He explained as he leaned over to hand both items to Wooyoung. Felix was still as the elder Omega gently cleaned the rest of the residue off and applied the ointment. Finally, it was Jisung’s turn to take his scent blocker off, but he wasn’t sure he really wanted to. It was hard enough smelling the distress in his packmates. San didn’t give him the option. The Alpha saddled himself up against Jisung’s back and gently pushed Changbin’s head away. It brought another whine from the Alpha but Changbin was distracted by Jongho leaning down and letting him scent him. Jisung almost smiled at the sight but before he could let it distract him too much, San pulled his patch off. Jisung’s scent was nothing like the sweet scent of ripe strawberries or the homely scent of honey like Felix and Minho’s scents were. His was like the earthy scent after a thunderstorm, only now it was nothing more than the smell of mud. Jisung had almost been able to pretend that he was okay when he couldn’t smell his own scent.
Immediately Changbin’s nose was pressed back into Jisung’s neck and despite his muddled scent, Changbin inhaled it. Jisung grimaced but didn’t stop him. Not when he finally felt the hum of contentment rumble in Changbin’s chest. Eventually, though, that rumble turned to one of hunger and Jisung took a sandwich off the plate offered to him by Seonghwa and goaded Changbin into eating. It reminded him greatly of how he acted when he was in rut, and honestly he wouldn’t be surprised if the stress had sent him into a rut-like state. It had happened before, when Woojin left them. Changbin had been extra clingy then too, and often doted on the younger members.
Jisung and Minho often had to convince him to eat. This was no different. And it was with the careful help of San that Changbin finally ate the entire sandwich. And then the next, when it seemed Seonghwa wasn’t satisfied with what the Alpha had eaten. What Jisung hadn’t expected was for San to turn his attention to Jisung when Changbin was finished. Jeongin had moved onto the couch next to Jongho and the baby Alpha was feeding the youngest Beta. Happily, despite the distance between them. And with Changbin content with his face buried in Jisung’s neck, San decided it was time for Jisung to eat, too.
He didn’t realize how hungry he was until San fed him the first bite. He’d been too nervous that morning to try and eat no matter how much Felix, Minho, and Hyunjin had tried to convince him to. In fact, Jisung wouldn’t have put it past Minho to ask Seonghwa to make sure he ate something. Or maybe that was just Seonghwa’s caring nature that he noticed how nervous they all were. Looking around in between bites, he saw that each of his members were paired with someone from the Ateez pack. Wooyoung was feeding Felix and petting his hair – a comforting gesture that Chan and Changbin often did when Felix wasn’t feeling good. No doubt Changbin had told Wooyoung about it for him to know exactly where to focus his attention. Mingi was still holding Hyunjin – a sight since they were both around the same height and build but both looked perfectly content – and making him drink from one of the cups. Jongho and Jeongin were content on the couch with the Alpha doting on the only person younger than him in the room. Jisung was struck with the thought of how cute the maknaes were together. Yeosang had slid down from his position on the couch to sit behind Felix but he was gently rubbing against Seungmin’s scent gland while holding a sandwich up to his mouth.
Jisung was more than happy to let his pack be taken care of, and he knew that even if he argued, Seonghwa wouldn’t let him. Not now that the entire pack could smell them and how upset they already were. So Jisung let him feel safe in between San and Changbin as the older Alpha fed him.
The day passed far quicker than Jisung had hoped, but it always seemed to go fast whenever he got to spend time with his pack. After they finished eating and the two eldest Alphas cleaned up the dishes, they settled down to watch a movie. Somewhere during that movie – or the next, Jisung remembered Yunho putting a second movie on after the first had ended – each of his packmates had fallen asleep. Jisung hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He wanted to be able to remember the time he got to spend with his Alpha, but the next thing he knew San was gently shaking him awake. Looking around, the rest of his pack looked just as awake as he felt. Which was not at all.
“Sorry sweetheart, I know you probably need the sleep but it’s time to go home.” San ran his fingers through Jisung’s hair as an apology. He was right though, Jisung knew at least he, Jeongin, and Felix needed sleep. All three had had trouble sleeping since Changbin left. He wouldn’t be surprised if Seungmin, Hyunjin, and Minho were facing the same difficulties. Changbin was awake though, more awake than the rest of them. Jisung pulled himself from the warm cuddle pile with a groan. He wasn’t ready to leave Changbin again.
“I’m sorry but Joongie said they’re finished with their talk. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you guys again soon.” Seonghwa comforted, pulling both Jisung and Hyunjin who were closest to him into a hug. Wooyoung and San had Seungmin and Felix smothered in a hug together while Jongho had let Jeongin hug him. The Alpha didn’t look as uncomfortable as Jisung had expected. Instead, he had a small smile on his lips as he comforted the distressed Beta.
“I know you guys don’t want to leave, but hyung needs you.” Apparently, their impromptu nap brought Changbin out of whatever had caused him to go nonverbal. Jisung smiled into Seonghwa’s shoulder at hearing his packmate’s voice again.
The next twenty or so minutes were spent with each of his packmates hugging their Alpha and saying their goodbyes. Jisung had held back, letting the rest of his packmates have their time with the Alpha. Instead, he turned to Seonghwa and Yunho, who were watching and waiting for them to be done so that they could take them back.
“Thank you for letting us come see him. And for letting Hongjoong-hyung stay with Minho-hyung.” Seonghwa smiled and reached over to ruffle Jisung’s hair again. The Omega didn’t even want to see how his hair looked after a nap and the Alphas messing with it. He probably looked like a mess.
“We’re happy to have you here. And we love having Binnie here, so don’t worry about him. Okay? Worry about yourselves and your pack.” Jisung wanted to laugh at the statement – and almost did. Changbin was his pack, so how could he worry about his pack and not worry about Changbin. Seonghwa seemed to realize what he said as he let out a small laugh and shook his head. “I mean the rest of your pack. You all have a lot of healing to do. Starting with getting more sleep. Maybe try sleeping in a nest or with someone else. And take something with Binnie’s scent. That’ll probably help you, too.”
Jisung nodded, taking the suggestions seriously. He knew Seonghwa just wanted them all to be healthy for when Changbin did return home, but Jisung wasn’t sure if they would be able to until their Alpha was home. But maybe having something to remind them of their Alpha would help. “Thank you, again.”
“Go say goodbye. And like hyung said, we’ll be seeing you again.” Yunho shooed him back to the edge of the nest where Changbin was still hugging Felix. Jisung waited patiently until Changbin nudged Felix to the side and opened his arms for Jisung. Their hug lasted at least a few minutes but seemed still too short for Jisung.
Leaving the dorm had been hard. It wasn’t until they were in the van to take them home that Jisung realized why Seonghwa had suggested sleeping with Changbin’s scent. Their scents were still bitter and distressed but not as strong as they had been earlier. In fact, Felix’s rotten strawberries smelled sweeter and riper. Seungmin’s lilac and Jeongin’s jasmine smelled more like the flowers they were supposed to be. Even Hyunjin’s coffee scent wasn’t burnt like it had been. And Jisung could tell the rain was back.
Minho didn’t look nearly as bad as he had when the pack left earlier in the day. He looked tired, just like the rest of them, but there was a sense of calm around him that hadn’t been there for the last week. Jisung smiled at his Pack Omega. Pleasantries were exchanged between Seonghwa and Minho as Hongjoong traded places with Jisung and his packmates.
“Thank you, again Hongjoong. Please, let us know when Changbin is ready to see Chan.” Minho bowed again before the three Ateez members left. That night, despite the nap they’d had earlier in the day, all of them slept well. The tension that had hung over the dorm seemed to have dissipated enough to not be suffocating.