The Rules of Courting | nj

Eleven

Namjoon jolted awake after having finally fallen asleep on the couch, looking around frantically until he spotted Hoseok in the kitchen. "Morning, sleepyhead~" The beta greeted him, plating the food he had just cooked and carrying the breakfast over to the alpha.

"Where's Yoongi?" Namjoon questioned as Hoseok joined him on the couch. "He's usually the one to cook."

"Uh, he had to go into the bookstore early." Hoseok replied quickly without looking at Namjoon, the alpha raising his eyebrow at the beta's slight hesitation. "Eat up, Seokjin would hate it if we let you starve."

Namjoon accepted the plate gratefully and began eating quickly, nearly shoving the meal in his mouth when he realized just how hungry he was. "Is the bookstore busy today or something? Maybe I can go and help after-"

"NO!" Namjoon stared at Hoseok in surprise from his outburst. "I mean, I was hoping you could teach me more about all the plants we use here in the pack after you finished your job for the day. I've always been extremely interested, but no one's really been willing to explain it to me for reasons I'm sure you know."

Namjoon nodded solemnly. "Okay, after we finish eating and get dressed, I'll let you tag along with me."

"Great!" Hoseok smiled widely, silently thanking all of the gods that the plan was working so far on his end. He hoped it was working for the others as well.

~*~

The two couples bowed respectfully to the council after being called in to meet before them. "What is the reason for this, Park Jimin?" The lone omega on the council questioned him, as he had been the one to put them on the schedule, having taken advantage of his job.

Jimin bowed again after being acknowledged before responding. "Yesterday, Namjoon and Seokjin requested the pack alpha's blessing for them to enter a betrothment," members of the council began murmuring at the noise, "but he denied them. Seeing as Seokjin is currently indisposed, and Namjoon is not yet fully informed of pack rituals, we thought we would come forward and challenge the pack alpha's decision on their behalf."

The female omega scrutinized the group. "This is highly unorthodox, but I shall accept it given you provide a sound reason for challenging his decision."

Jimin looked back at his friends for support before turning around and taking a deep breath. "We have reason to believe that the only reason he denied them is because he's still harboring a grudge towards Jung Soomin, who we all know is the grandmother of Namjoon."

"And why do you say that?" The oldest alpha on the council rebutted.

Yoongi cleared his throat and stepped forward. "When Namjoon first arrived here and asked to be accepted into the pack, the pack alpha originally refused after gaining the knowledge that he was related to Jung Soomin. And since, he has always regarded Namjoon hostilely as if he can't stand the sight of him."

"That still doesn't show that he doesn't have other reasons for denying." The alpha commented.

"Other reasons like breaking pack rules or not being a good fit as the next pack alpha?" Yoongi questioned, earning a nod in response. "I was assigned Namjoon's mentor upon his acceptance into this pack, and I can honestly say that he has not intentionally broken any major rules of this pack. In fact, he's been overly cautious in order to not do so." Jimin had to hide a smile at the fib Yoongi added on to his argument.

Jungkook stepped forward then. "And as for not being fit for pack alpha...Namjoon definitely has a long way to go, we're not denying that, but he has put so much more effort into a possible future than any other alpha I've seen. He spends all his free time studying our history and rituals, constantly asking Jimin to let him borrow books from the library and records room. He even came to me and asked me for lessons on how to shift because he feels he won't be good enough if he doesn't have that skill."

From the expressions on the council's faces, the friends could tell that the elders were beginning to be swayed. In a last attempt at winning them completely over, Taehyung stepped forward and opted to pull on their heartstrings. "You all know exactly how Seokjin is. How against relationships he was and how he didn't have a single care for his future role as pack omega...but the way he is with Namjoon, I've never seen him take anything as seriously as he takes their relationship, and he has started to show excitement for his responsibilities."

Silence spread across the room until finally the female omega stood up. "We have listened to everything you have said, and we agree the pack alpha may have been misguided in his decision." The four friends smiled but contained their excitement as they were still in the presence of the elders. "We will overturn his decision, and in a week's time, we will make the official announcement of Namjoon and Seokjin's betrothal.

The four wolves bowed once again, thanking all of the elders for their time before leaving the room. "I'm going to go tell Seokjin the news!" Jimin squealed, kissing his intended mate before running off towards Seokjin's home.

However, as soon as he stepped inside, he was stopped by the pack alpha himself. "Seokjin's not seeing any visitors."

Jimin pushed down any biting remarks he truly wanted to give and responded with, "I'm sorry, sir, but it's extremely urgent."

"It will have to wait." The pack alpha pushed past the omega to exit the building, but not without motioning for some of his guards to prevent anyone from trying to see Seokjin.

Jimin cursed the older male under his breath as he tried to figure out a way to get the good news to his best friend. Eventually, his gaze landed on the kitchen where some of the pack alpha's servants were preparing food for Seokjin. Making sure the guards' eyes weren't on him, he ducked into the study and quickly searched for a pen and paper, hiding his squeals of excitement when he located some, and wrote down his message for Seokjin. Exiting the room, he waited until the cook stepped away from the food tray to tend to something, then quickly popped into the room just long enough to hide the note amongst the dishes.