Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Taehyung wasn’t a big fan of illegal street racing, the races many people in his university hype and participate in.

It’s unlawful, dangerous, and risks many innocent people’s lives. And the racers are all so brash, so reckless as if their actions weren’t the reason so many people have died. They weren’t considerate of the people in their space and were huge adrenaline junkies that probably smoked weed on the regular. Plus, it was even worse that only alphas participated, all confident and smirking in their shiny, hacked-up cars, their smelly pheromones everywhere. 

But it didn’t matter what he was or wasn’t a fan of because he was going to that weekend street race no matter what. Jimin begged, cried, and even blackmailed him enough that he really had no choice but to go. “Taehyungie c’mon! Yoongi literally invited me, y’know how crazy that is! I need moral support…” 

Yoongi was the beta that Jimin had been salivating over for around a month now. And God knows what he was doing, inviting Jimin to a 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 of all things for a first date. Taehyung personally would prefer to be wine and dined, or go to a bookstore and read together with a nice latte. Not watch cars race and people scream and take part in weird, illegal shit. 

Inevitably, Taehyung always ends up folding and going with what Jimin wants.

So now, here he was, at 1:00 AM sharp, (yes, 1 AM because if you wanted to do illegal shit, you had to lose precious sleep) Jimin and Taehyung leave the apartment and walk off to the most sketchy and secluded area in the neighbourhood. It wasn’t very chivalrous of Yoongi to not even assist the two omegas in this dark side of the neighbourhood. 

Not that it was needed since they could hear the screaming and yelling from a mile away, the air already buzzing in excitement and adrenaline. 

Jimin led Taehyung to an abandoned warehouse, streetlights being the only light provided, other than the beaming lights from the race cars around the lot. 

“This is so big,” Jimin whispers and Taehyung has to agree. This place was much bigger than what he had expected and heard from other university students. The crowd was probably in the hundreds and it was insane that the police didn’t catch them yet. It seemed like this race was for big money instead of just fast cash. 

He notices many people fitted in denim or tight t-shirts laughing with each other on the hoods of cars, holding either a beer or a cigarette. It makes him feel more aware of how different he looks compared to them. “Where’s your Yoongi? Did we come early?”

Jimin immediately stops talking, his face comically brightening up quickly. “Oh! He must be with the racers, come on!” Jimin takes his hand, leading him around the endless crowd until they get 

“Hyung!” He yells, waving enthusiastically at a pair of guys, an alpha and a beta, smoking cigarettes. Ew, they smoke. As Kurt Vonnegut once said, cigarettes are the classiest way to commit suicide. 

The beta turns his head at the call, a little smirk forming at his lips at the sight of Jimin running up to them. “Jimin! You’re here!” Yoongi exclaimed, dropping the cigarette and smashing it before smiling at the omega. Of course, he was still a red flag to Taehyung, but based on the blush on his cheeks, the alpha was very down bad for his best friend. “Of course hyung, wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Jimin grinned, his cheeks turning just as red. 

“I’ll be sure to impress you then.”

Impress? Would that mean… Yoongi was one of the racers? Taehyung didn’t know that betas participated in such dangerous activities as well. Although, that was pretty fucked up of him to assume and it also made much more sense as to why Yoongi would invite Jimin here. Also made Taehyung hate him just a bit more. 

“Hmm, you’re here early. The race doesn’t start till an hour, pretty,” The alpha beside Yoongi murmurs, finally speaking up after the whole exchange. He takes another drag out of his cancer stick, eyeing the two of them a little judgily. Jimin rolls his eyes at the alpha, sticking up his middle finger playfully. He probably also knew the guy pretty well if he wasn’t getting all pissed off at the teasing tone.

“Shut the fuck up, Kook. Quit calling him pretty,” Yoongi scowls, shoving the alpha’s shoulder hard, obviously annoyed. 

Taehyung already hated this ‘Kook’ guy. He had a beanie on his bold, and an annoying glint of confidence in his eyes. This is why Taehyung hated alphas like these, who believed they were on top of the world and demanded everyone to look at them. 

“But Jiminie IS very pretty! Although, I must say, your friend there is also quite the looker.” Taehyung jerks up at the unexpected attention brought to him, bringing his head up to meet the alpha’s eyes. The alpha scans his outfit, making the omega a little self-conscious about how out-of-place he looks currently in his brown sweater. 

“Don’t you dare, Jeon. Taehyung, this is Jeon Jungkook, Yoongi’s best friend apparently and also a very high-profile street racer.”

Jungkook ignores Jimin, walking up to Taehyung, his peppermint scent getting stronger. Taehyung expected him to laugh and walk away, or say something snarky about what he was wearing. But Jungkook tilts his head, a smirk playing on his lips and the last thing Taehyung expects him to say is, 

“How about a date, doll?” 

Jimin snorts before Taehyung gets the chance to say or do anything. “You’re not his type.” 

“Let’s let him decide that, Jiminie!”

The three of them look at him awaiting his response. Taehyung willed his face blank and weakly grunted out a “Not interested.”

The alpha didn’t falter at all, his smile just growing larger. “We’ll see about that after the race, hmm?”

Yoongi rolls his eyes and looks at Taehyung, addressing him for the first time. “I’m sorry about that. He can be a bit pushy. Is this your first time around too?”

Taehyung bites his lips and nods a little sheepishly. “Alright, c’mon Taehyung. I’ll show you and Jimin around, yeah?”

Hmm, he seemed nice enough. Taehyung provides a smile and is about to go with them before Jungkook lightly taps at his shoulder. “You should prolly leave them love birds alone. I’ll show you round’ instead, yeah?”

The pair of ‘lovebirds’ blush at that and Jimin is about to protest before Taehyung shakes his head. “It’s okay Minnie, I don’t wanna third-wheel you guys. I guess I could go with him…”

The alpha didn’t hold back from wrapping his arms around the omega, grinning at him. “See 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦, he’s not as immune to my charms as you think!”

“Oh shut the fuck up. Tae, I’ll come to you in half an hour, okay?”

Taehyung can do nothing but nod as he gets dragged away by Jungkook who has an all-too-wide grin on his face. “So Taehyung! Tell me about yourself.”

Taehyung mumbles a response out, inaudible to even himself. He couldn’t help but be a little shy, he couldn’t deal well with anyone other than his little group of friends. Which is probably why he hated big crowded events like this. 

“You gotta speak up a little, doll,” Jungkook drawls out, his Busan accent much more obvious now that he was closer to the omega. 

“Umm, I’m a Literature major, 21,”

“That’s nice. I’m 21 too but I don’t go to Uni anymore. I make money off of shitty races like this,” Taehyung furrows his brows at that, this couldn’t have been a good primary source of income? Jungkook appears to have noticed the change of expression and laughs a little. “It’d be sad if I wasn’t damn good in the car. And this is a big race, around 25k just to get in.”

“You have to pay just to race?”

“Well, yes?” Jungkook squints at him, his eyes a little curious. “You really dunno shit about racing, huh? Well, you gotta pay to play and people make bets about if you’d win, you can make a bet with the event runner. It’s kinda like betting but it’s less bout’ luck and more about skill.”

Taehyung grimaced, his mood souring even more at the words. Street racing was disgusting. “So gambling? That’s horrible.” 

Jungkook shrugs. “You do what you gotta do, y’know? I’ve been racing with my hyung since I was 18 and broke as fuck. I dropped out since I couldn’t afford the fees so…”

A silence falls over them, Taehyung not knowing what to say. 

Jungkook isn’t bothered by that though. “Cars are cool though. Wanna know a bit about the technical side of street racing?” The omega shrugs, he had nothing to do or say to this man anyway. 

As they walk around the crowd, many omegas come up to Jungkook to wish him luck or just blatantly flirt with him. The alpha just thanks them and walks away, pulling Taehyung with him now with an extremely passionate look on his face. 

Jungkook points out different cars, explaining their modifications and the strategies racers use to gain an edge. Taehyung would be lying if he said it wasn’t a little interesting. “That BMW over there has unnaturally wide wheels for a reason y’know? It’s to get a better grip on the road.”

 “What about that Toyota over there?”

“Ah, they have air splitters in the front, which basically reduce the drag from air and make em’ go faster. It’s wicked.”

Taehyung nods. He has some knowledge of car racing from reading Indy Split by John Oreovicz but it wasn’t much interesting. “The earliest recorded word of wicked used as a synonym for good was actually in Fitzgerald’s book, ‘This Side of Paradise’. He invented many other slang words used commonly now from that book.” He says before being able to stop himself. 

he blushes, covering his mouth when he realizes what he had just blurted out.
Normally, people tend to be weirded out and confused when he spits out weird facts and book quotes. But Jungkook doesn’t look surprised at all, just grinning extra wide. “That’s the most  you’ve said to me so far.”

“Well, it’s not getting more than that.” Taehyung rolls his eyes, pursing his lips. 

“Tell me more?”

“Hmm?”

“Tell me more book facts.”

Oh well, if Jungkook asked for it, he wouldn’t hold back. “What’s the last book you’ve read?” 

“Harry Potter.”

Taehyung glares at him, even more repulsed by him and his lack of literary knowledge. That book was pretty good but wasn’t the kind that Taehyung preferred… He preferred classic literature, or atleast something that had a stronger and deeper message. “What? The last time I’ve read was like grade 6!”

He couldn’t believe this man was asking him out on a date when they had zero things alike. “Fine. Uh, the drawing of Dumbledore in book 6 was inspired by Michelangelo’s Moses and Leonardo Da Vinci’s self portrait.”

Jungkook has his eyes wide open in interest, making him look much cuter than an alpha normally did. Taehyung almost felt endeared until Jungkook opens his shitty mouth and says, “I only read the first book and I don’t know who Michelangelo is.”

Taehyung face palms and just decides to stop trying to communicate. He could never even be friends with this man. “Find me disinteresting enough to quit trying to flirt with me now?”

Jungkook shakes his head. “Nope, not at all. In fact, I’m going to try harder to get that date. You look pretty when you’re passionate and you talk all smart, it makes me horny.”

Taehyung scoffs at that, looking away so Jungkook couldn’t see the burning red blush on his cheeks.

Chapter Text

Taehyung had every intention of forgetting about the street race.

He came home reeking of cigarette smoke, motor oil, and peppermint. none of which were his own scent. The first thing he did was toss his sweater into the laundry with a disgusted scoff. The second thing he did was stand under a scalding shower for thirty minutes, hoping it would wash away the memory of that infuriating alpha’s smug face.

It didn’t.

Because unfortunately, every time he closed his eyes, he saw that stupid beanie, that stupid smirk, and heard “You look pretty when you’re passionate” playing on loop like an awful top 40 radio hit.

“Gross,” Taehyung muttered to no one, towel-drying his hair aggressively.

He thought avoiding Jimin for the next two days might help. That turned out to be a stupid idea, since Jimin lived in the same apartment and had the audacity to be annoyingly chipper after his “life-changing night.” Apparently, Yoongi had pulled off some wild drift move and won the race, and “Oh my god, Tae, he winked at me after and I think he wanted to kiss me, but then some guy offered him a free spoiler installation so he got distracted.”

Taehyung didn’t have the energy to explain how that wasn’t romantic at all.

What did catch his attention was Jimin’s offhand comment while scrolling through Instagram.

“Oh, hey. Jungkook asked for your @.”

Taehyung, curled up in a cocoon of blankets on the couch with a copy of Franny and Zooey, froze. “What?”

“Yeah. He wanted to follow you,” Jimin said casually, not looking up. “I said no. You’re welcome.”

Taehyung narrowed his eyes. “Why would he even want my username?”

“Probably because he thinks you're hot.”

“I told him I wasn’t interested.”

Jimin looked up this time, raising an eyebrow. “You think alphas like him back off just because you said no once? Babe, that man builds engines for fun and races for cash. He has the attention span of a hyperactive golden retriever and the commitment issues of a failed boyband member. You’re a challenge.”

Taehyung groaned and sank deeper into his blanket burrito.

He didn’t want to be a challenge. He wanted to be left alone. But of course, the universe had other plans. Because the very next morning, he found a DM request sitting in his inbox.

[jeonjk97]
ur sweater was cute. u left early. did i scare u off? lol

Attached was a blurry picture of Taehyung from the back, walking through the crowd, his brown sweater standing out against the sea of black leather jackets.

He stared at it in disbelief for a full minute. Then he slammed his phone face down and walked away like it had personally offended him.

It took him three hours to reply. And only because Jimin stole his phone and said, “If you don’t answer, he’ll definitely show up on campus and flirt with you in public just to be annoying.”

So, with great reluctance and maximum attitude, Taehyung typed back:

[thv]
Stop taking creepshots. Also, I told you I wasn’t interested. Do you not know what that means or?

The reply came within seconds.

[jeonjk97]
lmao u replied tho
i’m not asking for ur number yet, just want to get to know u. is that a crime??

Taehyung stared at the screen, unsure if he wanted to throw his phone again or smile. He settled for typing something equally petty.

[thv]
It should be.

He expected that to be the end of it.

It wasn’t.

Jungkook replied again that night.

And the night after.

And the one after that.

Always short messages. Sometimes facts about cars, sometimes compliments laced in teasing, sometimes just dumb memes that somehow still made Taehyung laugh through his nose.

He kept telling himself he wasn’t interested. That alphas like Jeon Jungkook were the exact kind of chaos he avoided like the plague.

But the longer they talked, the more Taehyung realized that chaos might not be as loud and shallow as he’d always assumed. Sometimes it came with a smirk, fast fingers, and a peppermint scent that stuck to your skin no matter how many showers you took.

And sometimes it sent you goodnight texts even after you ignored them five times in a row.

Taehyung was still not interested.

Maybe.

...He’d decide after he read one more message.

[jeonjk97]
U still up? I bet you’re reading. Bet you’ve got one of those tiny lil’ booklights clipped to the page. Cute.

Taehyung stared at the message with a conflicted frown, thumb hovering.

He did have a booklight clipped to the page. And he was still reading.

Coincidence. It meant nothing.

[thv]
Your obsession with making me sound like a granny is weird. Go to sleep, Jeon.

[jeonjk97]
only if you say goodnight

Taehyung rolled his eyes so hard they nearly fell out.

[thv]
Goodnight, Jeon. Don’t crash your illegal tin can into a wall.

There was no reply for several minutes. He told himself he didn’t care. He even got through two more pages of Franny and Zooey before his phone buzzed again.

[jeonjk97]
damn. that was sexy. sweet dreams, doll.

He didn’t respond to that one.

Mostly because he couldn’t feel his face anymore.