Haon had failed to keep his promise to Inho.
“Ah, ngh….”
Each time their skin collided, wet sounds echoed throughout the room. Haon, without even knowing whose arms he was in, spread his legs. Forgetting the vow he had made never to forget Inho.
“Ugh, ah, it hurts…!”
Haon groaned and whimpered, eventually bursting into tears. His legs, spread wide apart, ached, and the relentless throbbing of his inner walls tormented him. The overwhelming pleasure was so intense it bordered on pain.
Even as Haon sobbed that he was hurting, the Alpha didn’t stop. Rather, he moved his hips more violently, draining every last shred of strength from Haon’s body.
“S-Save me…”
Panting heavily, Haon finally began to beg for his life. His body was in such agony that it felt as if he might really die. The suffocating heat packed inside his belly threatened to burst him apart, or else, the Alpha’s massive cock would tear him in two. In this moment, either scenario felt entirely plausible.
Haon, his hands trembling uncontrollably, pushed against the Alpha’s firm abdomen, trying to shove him away with weak, pressing motions.
“Ugh!”
Instead, the Alpha only thrust deeper, plundering Haon’s inner walls as he seized Haon’s hand. Though the grip wasn’t crushingly strong, Haon was unable to shake him off.
“I’m saving you.”
It was because of those incomprehensible words the Alpha muttered.
The Alpha devoured Haon’s lips, who was sobbing and pleading to be spared. His tongue persistently invaded Haon’s mouth, teasing and caressing every corner, while his hand tenderly combed through Haon’s sweat-soaked hair. His touch was filled with a heart-wrenching tenderness.
Of course, Haon was in no state to notice the emotions behind that touch or the expressions the Alpha made. The world around him was dark, and his body, wracked by desperate hunger and feverish excitement, left no room to comprehend another’s heart.
“Haon-ssi.”
It only struck Haon as bizarre. No matter how much he begged, the Alpha wouldn’t release him, yet he called Haon’s name with such gentle affection. Haon couldn’t make sense of it. He couldn’t even understand what the Alpha was saying.
“Just… say you do.”
The Alpha whispered something Haon couldn’t grasp, licking Haon’s tear-streaked cheek. He lapped up the endlessly falling tears with his tongue and nuzzled Haon’s nose affectionately.
“Hm? Haon-ah.”
The man held Haon’s frail body tightly, slowly resuming his thrusts. When Haon twisted his hips in a feeble attempt to escape, the Alpha’s voice grew even more sorrowful, as if pleading.
But, as before, Haon failed to notice.
***
By the time Haon regained consciousness, all the disheveled furniture had been tidied up, and the damp bedding had been replaced with fresh linens. Every trace of their tryst had been meticulously erased.
“Cough, cough….”
Haon tried to sit up but ended up coughing as he inhaled. The sharp sting in his throat worsened when the air touched it.
Not just his throat—every part of his body throbbed and burned. It was a pain Haon was all too familiar with.
Suppressing a sigh, Haon reached back under the covers to touch himself. As he had expected, the hole that had been relentlessly used throughout the heat cycle was swollen to the point that the folds were stretched taut. It didn’t even surprise him.
Relying on the faint brightness seeping through the slightly parted curtains, he glanced around the room. He didn’t have the strength to turn his head, so he simply rolled his eyes to search for Inho.
The first thing that had reassured Haon when he opened his eyes was the fact that he was in Inho’s bedroom. It wasn’t a strange bed, and the relief he felt had been overwhelming, enough to momentarily dull the deep, sinking pain in his gut.
Although he couldn’t remember much, he had a strange certainty that he had spent this heat with Inho. It was just a feeling.
Suddenly feeling a chill, Haon pulled the blanket up and touched his own face. His cheeks and forehead were burning hot. It seemed he had caught a cold.
“Cough.”
Letting out a small cough, he checked the IV line stuck into the back of his hand. Only then did he notice the tall IV stand by the head of the bed. A clear liquid was flowing from the bag into his body.
Why is something like that even in a house?
Haon, puzzled, scanned the room again. It was definitely Inho’s bedroom. There was an IV stand that you’d expect to see in a hospital, and although the room’s owner was nowhere to be seen, it was unmistakably Inho’s.
“In… Ho-ssi….”
Feeling anxious, Haon called out to Inho, turning onto his side to face the door. Although the door was open, there was no response—perhaps because his voice was too small.
Careful not to tug the IV line, Haon pulled his arm out of the blanket and looked at his palm. A moist bandage was attached to the back of his hand. The opposite hand, the one without the IV, was even wrapped in a white bandage.
He couldn’t remember injuring his hands at all, which left him frowning in confusion as he inspected his body. But it wasn’t just his hands. His feet were also wrapped in white bandages. Though it wasn’t a cast, the sight alone was enough to be alarming.
Haon’s last memory was being inside a taxi. He remembered handing the driver his card and paying for the fare.
What on earth had happened after he got out of the taxi?
Well, considering he hadn’t lost his memory after arriving home, there had been more than enough chances to get hurt.
Letting out a deep sigh, Haon inwardly scolded himself for feeling relieved just because he had woken up at Inho’s house. It was entirely possible he had spent his heat with someone else and was later moved here.
Or maybe he had wandered the rain-soaked streets like a madman until Inho found him.
Either way, it was horrifying. Leaning his head against the pillow, Haon’s face grew heavy with worry. The thought that he might have caused trouble for Inho again only weighed down his heart further.
“Is it a heat cycle?”
Just then, a strange voice flashed across Haon’s mind. A voice he didn’t recognize. A voice not stored anywhere in his memories.
As Haon’s upper body wobbled when he tried to sit up, coughing, his body moved on instinct at the memory of that unfamiliar voice tinged with a faint hint of laughter.
“In, Inho-ssi….”
In the end, Haon set out to find Inho. He felt he wouldn’t be able to calm down until he saw him—even if Inho ended up getting angry at him. He just wanted him to be somewhere within sight.
Dragging the IV stand along, Haon painstakingly made his way down the stairs one step at a time. He moved slowly to avoid falling, which made the descent take twice as long. Every so often, he called out for Inho while checking the lower floor, but there was no response.
Had he gone out somewhere?
Haon’s shoulders slumped as he looked around the empty living room. His face fell even further as he stole glances down the long hallway by the entrance. Thinking that Inho wasn’t home made him want to go out and find him—even though he didn’t know where he had gone.
By habit, Haon fumbled through his pants pockets and then parted his lips in realization. He had been about to text Inho. But then he remembered—he had lost his phone. No, not just lost—more accurately, it had been taken from him.
“…”
Haon pressed down on the corners of his drooping mouth and gripped the IV stand’s handle even tighter. He still remembered the scuffle he had with that man at the supermarket.
“That bastard….”
Haon, furrowing his brows with unusual intensity, muttered a curse he didn’t often use. The thought of that man snatching away his phone made his blood boil all over again. And it wasn’t just any phone—it was the one Inho had given him as a gift. That fact made Haon even angrier.
Still mumbling to himself alone in the living room, Haon suddenly froze as he glanced toward the kitchen.
On the kitchen table, a cutting board, a knife, an onion, and a potato were laid out. It was strange, considering how tidy the kitchen usually was when no one was cooking.
Had he gone out in the middle of cooking?
Tilting his head in confusion, Haon carefully moved toward the kitchen. The sound of the IV stand’s wheels rolling across the floor echoed in the quiet space between the living room and the kitchen, occasionally punctuated by Haon’s faint coughs.
“Uh….”
Haon stopped in front of the kitchen table and sucked in a breath.
“In, Inho-ssi?”
With wide eyes, he spotted Inho. Inho was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the kitchen shelves.
Haon, stunned speechless, immediately dropped to the floor beside him. Inho had his knees drawn up with his arms and face resting atop them. Even after hearing Haon’s approach, he didn’t move an inch. He looked for all the world like someone who had passed out.
“Inho… ssi….”
Haon forced down the pain in his throat and raised his voice as much as he could. Grabbing onto Inho’s sagging shoulders, he shook him urgently.
“A-Are you okay?!”
The moment Haon touched his shoulder, Inho flinched and slowly lifted his head. Thankfully, he didn’t seem unconscious. It was just the dazed face of someone waking up from sleep.
“Why are you sleeping here…?”
Flustered, Haon plopped down on the floor with a soft thud. He felt a wave of relief when Inho gripped his hand firmly in return.
Inho was smiling—at least with his lips.
“I just dozed off for a bit.”
Inho, pulling the corners of his mouth into a wide smile, tugged Haon closer. Instead of letting him sit on the cold floor, he settled Haon onto his own thighs.
“I thought you’d probably wake up today. I was about to make some rice porridge.”
His voice was slow and drawn out, as if he still hadn’t fully woken up. It seemed he really had been asleep.
“How’s your body feeling?”
Inho buried his face against Haon’s shoulder and inhaled deeply. Haon, worried that he might smell of sweat, answered vaguely.
“It… doesn’t hurt that much….”
He deliberately swallowed, trying not to cough as he spoke. Inho’s hand brushed against Haon’s hot nape and forehead, as if checking for a fever, and Haon felt his anxiety start to ease.
“You came downstairs because I wasn’t there?”
Inho continued speaking, his face still pressed against Haon’s shoulder. Haon wanted desperately to see his face but held himself back. He was just relieved that Inho was treating him the same as always.
“Yeah….”
Haon responded in a faint voice, and a soft breath brushed his shoulder—it was hard to tell if it was a laugh or a sigh. But Haon chose to believe it was a laugh.
“What if you had fallen?”
“I… I came down carefully….”
Haon mumbled, making excuses, and then subtly leaned more of his weight into Inho. Today, Inho’s embrace felt especially warm and secure.
The two of them remained there on the floor for a while, quietly sharing their body heat. Haon’s feverish body was gently warming Inho’s cooled skin.
Burying himself deeper into Inho’s arms, Haon secretly let out a breath of relief. So focused on Inho right in front of him, he failed to notice the potato that had fallen by Inho’s feet.
Even if he had seen it, he probably wouldn’t have thought much of it.
