Chapter Text
"Despite your success as an author, much of your work has been criticized for being outlandish and disrespectful to omegas. How do you feel about this?"
"As an omega myself I feel that any criticism should be taken and reflected upon. That being said, most of my readers are omegas, and I get plenty of fanmail saying how reading my works makes them feel liberated sexually."
"Could you elaborate on that? Many prominent omegas have spoken out saying you write omegas as sex hungry, and too promiscuous."
"Omegas in our media and movies are portrayed as these wooden characters who have no sexual desires of their own outside of heats. It's insulting. I don't write omegas as sex hungry or promiscuous, I write them as being in tune with their sexuality and equal to an alpha."
"What do you say to your critics who believe omegas shouldn't have relationships as characterized in your books?"
"You mean the omega characters who like to have sex outside of their heats? That is a stupid criticism and shows just how behind some people are. Omegas should be free to explore their sexuality, in and out of heats. There's a reason why so many omegas read my books, it's wish fulfillment. It's letting them experience sexual gratification. I got tired of seeing the same trope of an omega who was sad and alone because they didn't have an alpha to mate them so they could experience sex."
"I'm sure you know that you've also been criticized for your characterizations of alphas. Some say you write them as unrealistic alpha behavior and no real depth to their character. That they're simply there to act as a means for pleasure for the omega"
"Well, like I said, it's wish fulfillment."
As a romance novelist, Jimin had endured a lot of harsh criticisms for his work. At first he'd been angry, and humiliated. But as the years had gone on, and more and more people responded t o his books positively, he learned to ignore them. Of course he would defend his works tooth and nail in an interview, but mostly he just didn't care anymore about what people had to say.
There was a reason his books flew off the shelves upon release. There was a reason a dozen publishing companies contacted him every month wanting to steal him away. There was also a reason why a dozen copycat authors had sprung up out of nowhere after the success of his first book, The Omega Within.
Omegas were tired of their sexuality being reduced to biological necessities to have children, that they were unable to feel pleasure outside of heats. It was especially damning for male omegas, who unlike female omegas who had heats every month, only had the potential for heats twice a year. Jimin wasn't trying to change society with his books, he was trying to get people to notice the realities that were already there. Omegas were strong, independent, and did not need an alpha for anything.
Well, mostly anything.
"Wow, that sarcasm at the end though," Taehyung snickered when he finished reading the magazine article. "I'm surprised they let that stay in."
"Controversy sells magazines," Jimin shrugged, popping another grape into his mouth. "Everyone will want a copy of the magazine where that damn omega author just wants alphas to be a big dumb brute like in his heat satisfiers."
"You hate that term," Taehyung made a face, closing the magazine. Leaning into the couch cushions, he rubbed at his back. "Seokie! Can you bring me my heating pad?"
"Of course I hate the term, they call my books this derogatory term, heat satisfier despite the fact that a heat can only be triggered by long proximity to an alpha," Jimin rolled his eyes. He watched Hoseok, Taehyung's alpha mate come scrambling into the room with the heating pad.
"Thanks Seokie," Taehyung smiled as Hoseok plugged in the heating pad and helped Taehyung get comfortable on his end of the couch. Taehyung hummed happily, his hands resting on his swollen belly. Jimin looked away, eating more grapes when Hoseok leaned down to give Taehyung a kiss.
"I'm allowed to use the term ironically," Jimin said petulantly.
"Okay, when you do use it ironically let me know," Taehyung said, getting himself more comfortable. "Can you please stop glaring at Hoseok?"
"I'm not!" Jimin huffed in defense. "He's just… hovering. All the time."
"That's because he's a good alpha," Taehyung said. "He's anticipating I'll be needing him."
"Because you're making him run around and do things, things you can do yourself," Jimin said. "It's not like this is your first kid."
"And he was even worse with the first one," Taehyung snorted. "At least now he has a two year old to keep an eye on instead of peeking at me from the other room. I don't make him do anything. He wants to be helpful. I let him. What's wrong with you today?"
Jimin sighed, slouching down in his seat. "I'm jealous."
"Jealous? Of Hoseok?" Taehyung's eyes narrowed slightly and Jimin knew Taehyung would whip his ass, pregnant or not.
"No, I mean, not because of him, but… the baby," Jimin said. "I want a baby."
"You want a baby?" Taehyung sounded so stunned it had Jimin slouching a bit more. "You, the I never want to have anything to do with another romantic relationship again in my life omega wants to have a baby?"
"And I stand by that!" Jimin said with a pout. "I don't want another relationship. I just want a baby."
"Where is this coming from?" Taehyung asked. "Is your internal clock ticking?"
"No, I've always wanted a baby, a family," Jimin said. "It just comes with having to have a mate usually and I didn't want that. But! I realized, I don't need a mate to have a baby."
"Oh, okay, so… are you going to adopt? Or use a female surrogate?" Taehyung sounded confused, and Jimin didn't blame him. This was a very un-Jimin like thing to do.
"No, I want to have the baby," Jimin said.
Taehyung had a right to look at him in concern, he would too if the positions were reversed. Jimin had never voiced the desire to have children before. Not even when Taehyung had his first son, or even now that Taehyung was pregnant with the second. In fact, Jimin had never said anything to anyone about it.
"Jimin, I don't mean to sound negative or anything," Taehyung said, using that gentle voice of his when he wanted to be soothing. "But you know how hard it is for male omegas like us to get pregnant. You know what Hoseok and I went through to get pregnant the first time. All the shots and the hormones and waiting for my heat. It took almost three years."
"I know, I know," Jimin said. "But then you went and got knocked up like it was nothing."
"This is our little lucky miracle baby," Taehyung said, patting his stomach. "But that doesn't happen often. We know it doesn't. How are you going to have a baby without even an alpha? We're not made for in vitro to work."
"I found this clinic, that does genetic testing for compatibility," Jimin said, reaching for his bag. He pulled out the pamphlet he'd gotten from the clinic and handed it to Taehyung. "They said single omegas can now hire alpha's to help them get pregnant."
"That doesn't strike you as just a little bit… weird?" Taehyung frowned, reading over the pamphlet. "Wait, it says here you have to pay the alpha for their "services"? You have to pay them to fuck you?"
"Well, no, kind of," Jimin scrubbed a hand through his hair. "You're paying for an alpha to live with you. And, to be a donor. They're signing away all rights to a baby."
"Jimin this is… wow," Taehyung looked like Jimin's concerned parent and since Jimin hadn't even told his own mother about his plan he knew how this looked. "Wouldn't it just be easier to, I don't know, find a mate?"
"I do not need a mate," Jimin scowled. "I don't need some boorish alpha to tell me what I can and can't do."
"One bad alpha does not mean-"
"Three bad alphas."
"- all alphas are bad," Taehyung said. "Hoseok isn't an asshole alpha like those three were right? Is Namjoon? Do you think he's a bad alpha that tells Jungkook what he can and can't do?"
"No," Jimin muttered, looking away. "But Hoseok and Namjoon are mated to my two best friends. The rest are assholes."
"And what kind of alpha do you think agrees to going to a clinic to become a donor?" Taehyung asked. "What kind of alpha would you be letting into your home? They could be dangerous, they could be even bigger assholes just looking to get laid and a free place to stay. You know there are alphas out there who fetishize male omega's heats?"
"Look, they do very thorough screening of these people," Jimin said. "And I would meet any of them before I agreed to it. I want a baby Tae. It could take years, like it did for you. I don't want to waste time."
"I'm not going to talk you out of this am I?" Taehyung sighed, handing the pamphlet back. "Just, let me meet any of them before you let them move in? Please?"
"If you insist," Jimin sighed, but gave Taehyung a smile. He knew Taehyung was just concerned, and that concern would probably lead to a proper dressing down by Taehyung and Hoseok to whoever the future alpha Jimin decides on is.
"No, mom, I don't have a mate yet," Jimin sighed, phone tucked between his ear and his shoulder as he tried to get his apartment door open. "Yes, I know you're confused about the text I sent but I'll explain it tomorrow at dinner okay? Okay, see you then."
He dropped his phone on the couch as he came in, unloading his bags and briefcase. A two week tour book signing around the bookstores had been tiring, but fun. He got to meet a lot of omegas who told him they had changed his life. There were also some protests, some people who snuck in who tried to demean him for his writing. But those were few, and security took care of them easily enough.
But he was glad to be home, in no small part to the large manila envelope that had been waiting for him in the mail. It was from the clinic. He'd gone through their battery of tests almost a month ago and it had taken a while to do their tests. Inside that envelope was the future alpha donor for his baby. The future alpha who he would get to know, fuck, and then eventually say goodbye to. It was a little exciting all things considered.
Jimin didn't open the envelope until after he'd eaten a quick dinner, changed into some comfortable pajamas and poured himself a glass of wine. Inside the envelope were two folders. One had his genome mapping and the potential defects or complications he was a carrier for. Those markers were then matched against the alphas in the database to find the best genetic match possible. It was an imperfect science because of the limited number of donors and there were things still not mapped out completely on the human genome. But it was better than nothing.
The second folder was the potential matches. Ranked from worst match to the best just in terms of compatibility. Sipping his wine, Jimin slowly flipped through the profiles. Complete with academic history, genetic profile, and background. Jimin was supposed to pick four to meet in person at the clinic. It was well and good to pick an alpha out of a catalog but if their personalities didn't mesh well then living together for a couple of months would be hell.
Jimin wondered if the alphas got the same kind of dossier for the omega matches.
So Jimin picked his four and sent an email to the clinic with his choices. Then polished off the rest of his wine and wondered if Taehyung was right and this was a bad idea.