Parfait

Chapter Twenty-Four

Taehyung so badly wanted to take Hana to a five star restaurant. Hell, he would settle for Panda Express if he had to. He just wanted to take her out, spoil her, satisfy some of those alpha instincts that a house omega arrangement obviously ignored.

But he had to admit, it was really difficult to complain about his current circumstances.

Hana had her back to him, watching for her sister's arrival, and Taehyung was quietly enjoying the view. Her hair, pulled up in a rare ponytail thanks to the heat of the day, shone in the sunlight. She wore a pretty sun dress in a floral print, the colorful botanicals scattered across an ivory background– he thought that beautiful color particularly suited her. Narrow straps showed off the planes of her delicate shoulders on this side, and he knew that on the other all of her marks were visible. When the inky waterfall of her hair shifted to reveal the delicate column of her spine his tongue darted over his lips. They had arrived early on purpose, maybe he had time for just a little–

"There she is!" Hana hopped to her feet and waved to catch Haneul's attention. Taehyung also rose, both because it would rude to greet someone he'd never met while reclining on a picnic blanket, and because he needed to distract himself from impure thoughts. It was his first time meeting one of his omega's family members, he needed to be good.

It had taken some thinking to pick a location for this meeting, and it was Seokjin who had asked if they could use the park near the dorm. (Namjoon had asked where the idea came from and their eldest hyung had laughed it off. Suspicious, but Hana had been so pleased by the idea that no one pursued it further.) Taehyung still was not sure if it was normally for rent, but like most things, if you had enough money it could be done. So here they were, lunchbox packed, enjoying the weather on a picturesque late summer day with only a few cute, fluffy clouds in the almost cartoonishly blue sky.

"Haneul-unnie, my alpha Kim Taehyung," Hana said after greeting her sister enthusiastically. Of course Haneul knew who he was, but if it made Hana happy to stick to a little formality, the alphas would indulge her. "Taehyung-oppa, my older sister Seo Haneul."

"I've been very eager to meet you," he said with a broad grin. He did not plan to hold back a single ounce of his charm. "Hana tells me we're the same age, so do you mind if we speak casually to one another?" He held out his hand to offer a friendly scent exchange, too.

"Yes, that's fine," Haneul agreed as she grasped his wrist with surprising strength. Female alphas were much rarer than males, outnumbered by as much as nine to one depending on the sources you believed, but historically they tended to be valued and admired. Taehyung had encountered very few of them personally and he immediately understood one of the reasons they could achieve such successes. He could easily have underestimated her in a physical challenge and he would bet that she and many predecessors knew how to take advantage of that. The revelation only increased his desire to please her.

But both alphas seemed in agreement that the most important person to please was Hana. When she urged them to sit and enjoy the lunch she had prepared they cooperated quickly. "I've improved my cooking skills since you left home, unnie," the younger sister said with a shy bit of pride.

"Really?" For just a moment Taehyung wanted to be offended at the skepticism in Haneul's tone, until she added, "But you were already so good!"

"Lots of practice," Hana replied as she opened the lunchbox she had prepared. Of course it looked delicious; Taehyung had come to expect it, but it was somehow rewarding to see Haneul's reaction, and even more so when she took the first bite.

"How long has Hana been cooking?" Taehyung soon asked, his curiosity not abating even as they ate. He recalled the night Jungkook had made dinner for them, and how he had been curious then, but it was a bad time to ask, a bad way for the topic to come up at all. Today it seemed like a safer thing. Plus, Haneul was more likely to be honest with him. Hana had caught on to the fact that her alphas were sometimes surprised by her upbringing and she avoided the subject quite often.