Chapter Text
Pack structure can vary from pack to pack, but some things are generally true.
Packs are always democracies where everyone’s voice is heard. Werecreatures--or at least, Hoseok can only speak for werewolves--don’t actually put that much emphasis on age besides the typical Korean referential titles. The rest is far less strict, with a hard drive of hard work and experience and knowledge being what makes your voice stand out.
As a result, he grew up with a strong sense of hard work and commitment. When he wanted to dance, there were some quiet protests and some murmurs of encouragement, but it was ultimately up to him. If he was able to show he was dedicated enough, he was allowed to pursue it. He was what mattered, rather than innate talent or external factors like an elder’s opinion.
So he threw himself into it, heart full and body thrumming with energy and excitement. He let himself revel in the fluidity that the new moon gave him and force his body to obey and cooperate when the full moon came into the sky.
Being in Bangtan is odd but also familiar. Due to that nature of packs, he’s spent his whole life around passionate people pushing for goals and dreams. The difference is those dreams have never truly aligned with his. He’d been in a pack primarily of teachers and caregivers, and so the closest he got to his own dream was one of his noonas studying music therapy.
So it’s odd, because he’s been used to dancing and sweating and breathing heavily, but that had always been alone. There may have been other people with him when he practiced, but those were strangers or acquaintances. Never true friends, never people who bordered on family.
So it’s strange, but a good kind of strange. A kind of strange he wants to grab and protect and hold close until it’s not just a part of his life that is strange, but his strange life.
He also knows he holds a certain level of responsibility in the group. He may not be the mathyung or the leader, but he prides himself on being a dependable hyung, a dependable person.
(Plus, who doesn’t like taking care of their hyungs and dongsaengs?)
KSJ -
Hoseok is honored that Seokjin looks at him so often when Thursdays come around.
Not just in the sense of looking to him for a feeding, as they are on a rotating schedule that is flexible and changes but definitely does not allow for him to feed from the same person twice in a row if anyone can help it.
But as Namjoon slips a bit further due to getting busier and busier, resulting in him and Yoongi spending time outside the dorm on Thursdays, Seokjin starts to look to him before every session. Especially after Jungkook puts his foot down and stops letting them keep him out of the dorms when the dragon is not there.
(“You’re my hyung and I trust you.” Jungkook had stated, his voice firm and full of stubbornness plenty have but humans own. “I’m not going to be hidden away each time you feed just because RapMon-hyung isn’t there.”
“Jungkook-ah-” Seokjin had tried to protest, but he had stopped himself when he saw the look in those wide eyes. “Aish, you’re not going to budge on this, are you?”
“Not a chance, Jin-hyung.”)
Yoongi starts to replace Jungkook in joining Namjoon into working more on those days, claiming he has work of his own he needs to finish and that it is a perfect opportunity to take the time to switch tracks with Namjoon to get opinions from the other about what they are working on.
They all know it’s only partially true. They all have seen the little ways Yoongi has grown protective of Namjoon since he nearly hibernated. The extra heat packs, his hovering, the fact that Namjoon has not been allowed to stay behind at the studio himself since the incident occurred. It will probably fade in intensity come spring, but Hoseok doubts it will ever fully go away.
All of this leaves Seokjin and Hoseok to hold down the fort with the maknaes.
Not that Hoseok minds at all. He may be an orderly individual, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t revel in the chaotic energy their three youngest hold outside of working hours and sometimes during.
(Okay--a lot of the time also during.)
“Hobi-yah?”
Hoseok was in his wolf form, splayed out on top of Jimin and Jungkook who were both idly petting him as they watched television. He had been watching with them, but then it had gotten a bit chilly and all of the blankets were currently in the bedroom, stacked neatly on Namjoon’s bed besides the personal one V brought from home that none of them touch, which was on the fae’s bed.
He perks up when the bedroom door opens, V walking out and practically pouncing on top of three of them, causing there to be a jumble of limbs and soft laughter.
That was when Seokjin called his name, causing him to look at the vampire. He was standing in the doorway looking oddly serious under a plastered on smile.
He cast a quick glance back at the maknae-line, where the pile had turned into a free-for-all wrestling match, and knew they would be okay unsupervised for a while. The three of them currently were about as dangerous as Namjoon on one of his clumsier days, so the dorm would survive.
He shifts easily into bipedal form---the new moon just passed a few days ago, and that ease and fluidity is still sticking under his skin--before standing and following Seokjin.
“What’s up, hyung?” He asks, sitting down on his bunk and trying to keep his voice a forced casual but definitely failing. He can’t help it. He wears his heart on his sleeve, be it his excitement or his worry. Hiding emotions, being closed off...that wasn’t exactly a part of werewolf culture. Pack is open and honest and accepts you even when you aren’t feeling the best or they don’t agree with you.
“Nothing, I just…” Seokjin takes a breath. “Can I feed from you?”
Hoseok blinks. “Sure, hyung. If you need to. But…?”
“I fed a bit from V-yah.” Seokjin says, “But, I don’t know if it’s because fae and vampire are different or something else but sometimes his blood just isn’t...as much. And that’s okay, usually, but…”
“The new choreo?” Hoseok guesses.
Seokjin nods.
It’s understandable. Their choreography has steadily been getting harder and harder, and Hoseok knows that it's wearing down on all of them. Seokjin especially, because he tends to take the time to take more time for himself, opting out of free time instead to practice. Hoseok admires him for that; not many have the ability to let go of their pride and admit to themselves they need time to slow down and learn at their own pace, especially in the idol world.
However, while it is an admirable trait, it still has been clearly weighing on the vampire. Namjoon had actually quietly talked about it to himself and Yoongi the other day, playing with the idea of suggesting two smaller feedings per week instead of one big one in order to help him. Hoseok and Yoongi had both agreed to it if things continued too severely, but they all agreed to wait.
It is a good sign that Seokjin is reaching out now, instead of letting things devolve as they did with the Frozen Blood Incident.
Hoseok sits down easily. “It is no worry, hyung. Go for it.”
Seokjin smiles. “Thanks, Hobi-yah.”
PJM -
Hoseok is close to all of his bandmates.
However, there is a special connection between himself and their resident shapeshifter. It is ironic, Hoseok knows, as their species are not known exactly for getting along. However, there is just something about Park Jimin that makes it so easy to put those tensions behind and befriend him freely. At least for Hoseok, who never liked putting too much stock in species-wide stereotypes but had heard too much of the conflicts between them to be cautious.
Werewolves live in packs, in large groups where specific family lines due to blood are washed away and instead everyone is family in their own ways. Shapeshifters typically live rather similarly, the only difference is that their communities do still acknowledge and recognize the individual families that reside within. Still, both are raised in rather communal and highly social ways.
And sure, Seokjin could also relate there. Covens are not so much different from packs at a fundamental level. Still, there is an element to it that shifting provides that is just...lost with vampires.
He’s been away from his pack for some time now and even though he still feels the pangs of loneliness, they have mostly eased up over the years. Yoongi and Namjoon had become part of his new, pseudo-pack, and the others in his mind had quickly joined in their ranks.
But it’s different for Jimin, he knows. He knows because he can see it, and he remembers that while their group structure of Bangtan may help Jimin with homesickness like it does Hoseok, Jimin still strongly misses his bloodline--an aspect of shifter culture that their group cannot meet.
So he treats the boy a bit gentler, perhaps. Maybe he makes an effort to be in his wolf form more, to be an open playmate if Jimin ever wishes to go into a canine form or a pillow if Jimin is in a feline form. Stays behind while Jimin dances long hours, forces the boy to go home with temptations of good food and shared beds and people who are like brothers to them now.
And he certainly does not let anyone preach the shifter-prejudice that is unfortunately a part of society.
Both werecreatures--most commonly werewolves, for their wolf form and its likeness to a dog--and shapeshifters are discriminated against in different ways for different reasons. Hoseok has heard himself referred to as a “mutt” more times than he can count, both behind his back and to his face. It used to bother him but doesn’t anymore, because he’s seen those people try and fail because they are too blinded by hatred to truly give their dream their all.
Shapeshifters are different, because they can be different. They can be so many different animals and such a variety of creatures and with that power comes an innate fear. A fear of individuals not being able to tell animal from shapeshifter, as with werecreatures there is a clear difference but shapeshifters blend in unless you have the heightened senses to tell. A fear of shapeshifters who cannot be poisoned, who are remarkably hard to catch and kill and so when one chooses to commit a crime they typically are not caught easily or cleanly.
A fear because people cannot get it through their minds that every species that walks the planet is dangerous in their own ways, and that if everyone always focuses on that then they will all live in a world of fear and hate.
He catches one of their photographers--a male dryad, temporarily brought on for their new concept shoot--bad-mouthing shifters quietly to one of the (female dryad) stylists. The stylist looks increasingly uncomfortable, clearly not sharing his views but not wishing to disagree lest she causes a scene. It’s clear the photographer only chose her because of their shared species, and Hoseok is about to already go over if only to save her when the photographer crosses the line.
“And don’t even get me started on the shapeshifter. Doesn’t Bang Si-hyuk know what he’s doing? He’s asking to get these talented boys attacked in their sleep by that feral cat.”
And Hoseok--he’s energetic. He never stops walking or talking or dancing or just existing in some sort of motion. He’s also emotional, and the mix of the two leads him to wear his heart not on his sleeve but on a practical neon billboard that perpetually hangs over his head.
But now, his face is blank, and he is very, very calm. The billboard is off, and his heart is tucked away.
His mother always taught him it was okay to be angry, but not the violent sort of angry. She taught him the quiet kind of angry. She taught him that yes, it is better to love, but it’s also okay to protect yourself and not take too many blows.
(Aish, he loves his mom. Well, she wasn’t for certain his blood-mother, but she was the packmother he was closest with, and while he loved all of his mothers, she holds a special place in his heart.)
“Excuse me, noona.” Hoseok says, his voice calm, icy calm where usually a sunshine smile is. He puts a hand on the photographer’s shoulder, just a bit too close to his neck and a bit too tight to be friendly or comfortable in the slightest. “I need to speak to photographer-ssi for a moment.”
And they do talk.
And the photographer does not say another word besides what is absolutely necessary for the rest of the shoot.
And Hoseok goes back to the dorm with a smile on his face and one arm draped over Jimin’s shoulders, content.
JJK -
Jungkook is the only one besides Jimin in a shifted form that Hoseok can truly wrestle with when shifted.
Seokjin and Namjoon are strong enough to handle it, but Hoseok knows his claws may scratch the vampire’s skin or the dragon’s scale. It wouldn’t cause any real harm, but vampires take a while to heal from wounds, no matter how superficial. Same with Namjoon, as his scales would halt him from even properly feeling whatever scratches Hoseok may inadvertently inflict, but they would still be too visible. If they had time? Completely possible. But they don’t, and they can’t risk looking roughed up in front of the cameras.
Yoongi is unwilling, and Hoseok respects that. The fellow rapper is okay with him curling up near (or sometimes even on ) him, but doesn’t want to do any roughhousing. V is willing to playfully nudge and let him nip at him, but not a full on wrestle. He’s okay with that, though. He has a bit of an innate protectiveness of the fae. He’s protective of all of them, of course, but there’s something about V’s naiveté that makes Hoseok keep an eye on him a bit longer.
Jungkook, however, is perfect. The human may scratch up a bit, but heals quickly. He’s also strong enough to grab and toss and just purely wrestle with Hoseok in his wolf form. Hoseok doesn’t play as hard with him as he would with a shifted Jimin, but he’s able to go enough to get out all the pent up energy.
It also helps the youngest, he knows. He can tell.
He knows Jungkook cares for all of them, but he’s just a kid. A human kid attending a school and being an idol and being away from home and if Hoseok is feeling homesick, he can only imagine how the youngest feels.
But he’s able to help, in small ways. He makes sure the human wears proper clothes and compliments him for being far more tidy than the others and when he comes home from a long day of school, he shifts.
There’s something, for Jungkook, about being confronted with a large wolf-form Hoseok wagging and jumping on him the moment he gets back from school that seems to lighten his load. Hoseok doesn’t quite understand it, but he thinks it's something deep and innate. Something that traces a long way back, when werewolves and humans hunted alongside each other and relied on each other for protection and safety.
So Hoseok is there when he can be. When there’s time between whatever they need to do and Jungkook arriving. When Jungkook hasn’t gotten ready yet or doesn’t need to be ready yet and Hoseok has some time so he shifts and just bounds towards their resident human. Always, without fail, it has the youngest’s lips curl upward and him dropping his backpack and start petting and hugging or playfully wrestling with the werewolf.
It doesn’t matter if there are cameras on them or not. Jungkook doesn’t care, and Hoseok’s not letting anything stop him from cheering the boy up. And, besides, those compilation videos online of every single time Hoseok does it are cute. He knows he’ll look back on them fondly when their youngest is all grown and mature.
(Who is he kidding? That day will never come. Jungkook could be thirty and Hoseok will still refer to him as a boy and a child and a baby. That’s just how it goes when you’re the youngest.)
It is also absolutely wonderful to tease the youngest in his wolf form. His favorite is to suddenly snatch up a random item of Jungkook’s and not give it back without a fight. The first time he tried it, it was a disaster, but since then he’s mastered that particular art.
(In Hoseok’s defense, he’s pretty sure backpacks should not be that heavy. Isn’t that like child abuse or something? He should talk to Namjoon about it. What if Jungkook hurts his back?)
“Hyung!” Jungkook whines, and Hoseok growls playfully as he dodges out of the way of the maknae’s hand. He has a water bottle in his mouth, and really if Jungkook was that thirsty they still have several unopened ones that he could take instead of indulging Hoseok.
But the maknae had a math test today and Hoseok gets the feeling that it didn’t go particularly well, so he’s offering a distraction. By now, Seokjin or Namjoon or someone would have likely gently reminded them to get back on task or at least stop being so noisy, but he knows they're all on the same page with their hyung-instincts. Jungkook needs this, and they can all put up with a bit of extra noise and chaos if it means their youngest is happy.
Besides, Jungkook has at least another half hour before he needs to get his hair and makeup done. That’s plenty of time to play keep-away.
“You got this, Jungkookie!” Jimin yells somewhere off to the side, confined to a chair by a stylist carefully fixing up his hair.
“Dodge him, Hobi-yah!” Seokjin calls in reply, seated beside the shapeshifter.
“Come back here!” Jungkook calls.
Hoseok listens to Seokjin, and the game continues.