Archive of Our Own ^beta

Kim Dokja doesn’t know where he is. 

One moment, his hand was resting upon the wall of a cave the scenario had led them to, a vanquished enemy’s remains laid in the depths of it, and the next—

His hand wavers in front of him, flimsy in the air. White floats around it, little snowflakes sent in a flurry from the sky. Beneath his feet is a small circle of exposed dirt, where the scenario must’ve dropped him.

A hidden scenario, then?

He’s just about to turn his head to see if Yoo Joonghyuk has been pulled into the scenario, too, when a familiar chime rings into his ears.

Kim Dokja blinks for a moment at the description. The omega?

He’s heard, of course, the various meanings of the word omega. None, though, have a comparable meaning in TWSA. In Dokja’s mind, the word omega makes him a little red in the face, makes him think of those smutty romance novels he’d read under the safety of bedroom sheets. He never told anyone about those.

“—okja? Kim Dokja?”

The voice is faraway, and it’s not until Kim Dokja takes a step forward, out of the strange circle the scenario had left him in, that he hears it in its full intensity.

Yoo Joonghyuk. The tone of his voice sends a shiver down Kim Dokja’s spine, his body frozen for a moment in the snow. His hand still floats, touching some invisible wall, until Dokja releases it, and lets it rest at his side. He turns slowly, afraid of the anger in Yoo Joonghyuk’s voice. No doubt he’s upset that Kim Dokja’s dragged the two of them into a new scenario, another nuisance.

It’s not a perception that’s exactly wrong, either. Kim Dokja, despite all his knowledge of the world of TWSA, still manages to unwittingly drag his companion into a plethora of annoying situations. Really, Kim Dokja had been meaning to leave the cave, some high-level bear monster that Yoo Joonghyuk vanquished in minutes, with not much help from Kim Dokja. 

Really, the only reason Dokja had come at all was because it promised an S-Grade weapon in exchange, and, well, their schedule was free. He could have told Yoo Joonghyuk where the entrance to the scenario was, of course, but by the time S-Grade had left Dokja’s mouth, Joonghyuk had him by the coat collar demanding Dokja show him.

Naturally, the fight was bored, and Dokja was just—

Curious. TWSA had described strange symbols along the walls, only in vague terms, and Kim Dokja had wanted to know what they looked like. A normal enough reason for anyone to go snooping around a magic cave, of course.

By the time he’d reached a hand out to touch it, well. Kim Dokja had landed here.

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk’s voice is stone. “What did you do?”

Kim Dokja’s long-since given up on answering these sorts of questions, because all it earns him is a glare in return. Even when he knows the answer. Kim Dokja knows a lot.

“Nothing,” Kim Dokja answers too quickly. “I was just exploring.”

Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes narrow, scanning Dokja, like a predator evaluating its prey.

“This better be quick.”

Kim Dokja nods, enthusiastically.

“It will be,” he replies. “I promise.”

It is not quick.

They spend ten minutes fighting over which direction to walk in, until they decide on the path that is closer to Dokja’s starting position. Then, they walk aimlessly through snow-covered pine trees, until they come upon a clearing, where there is quite literally—

“Nothing,” Yoo Joonghyuk sighs. “What scenario have you gotten us into this time, Kim Dokja?”

Kim Dokja shrugs. He’s given up on trying to explain that this isn’t in TWSA, and so there’s no way for him to know what lies ahead. Except, of course, the word that rings in his mind. Omega.

He can only remember a little bit of those novels. Omegaverse, they were called. The omegas were basically humans with select animal traits. Primarily, heats. Periods of complete mental insanity, where the only way to satiate an omega was through…

What did the alphas do, again? They also were not quite human, were they?

Either way, reading those novels always left Kim Dokja feeling strangely flustered, tapping into some desire he’s managed to avoid in his near-thirty years of virginity.

Kim Dokja is scanning the depths of his mind, when Yoo Joonghyuk speaks again.

“You don’t know this scenario,” Yoo Joonghyuk observes.

Kim Dokja blanches. “You thought I did?”

A curt nod, in reply.

“You always do.”

Ahead of them, the clearing is vast and empty. It feels like the place where a scenario should take place, and yet there’s nothing there. No monster to fight, no puzzle to solve. Just—emptiness.

“Not this time,” Dokja mutters. “New scenario, and no constellations to guide us.”

For some reason, the star stream’s not privy to this scenario.

“Then,” Yoo Joonghyuk continues. “I assume you also are clueless as to the meaning of omega.”

Kim Dokja pauses. Yoo Joonghyuk hasn’t made any attempt to use lie detection.

“No,” Kim Dokja replies, words chosen carefully. “I’m just as clueless to the scenario as you are.”

「 Kim Do kja is an id iot … 」

[The character ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has used the ‘Lie Detection’ skill.]

[Your statement has been confirmed to be true.]

A shaky breath leaves Kim Dokja’s lungs, a cloud cast from his mouth into the brisk air. Despite the chill around them, he doesn’t feel cold. And Yoo Joonghyuk, he looks plenty warm. In fact, he’s dressed for the weather. A large fur cloak is wrapped around his shoulders, covering his Infinite Dimension Space Coat.

A furrow sets between Yoo Joonghyuk’s brows. “You’re not cold?”

Kim Dokja shivers. It’s not out of cold, though, more out of some other feeling, something coming from within.

“No.”

[The character ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has used the ‘Lie Detection’ skill.]

[Your statement has been confirmed to be true.]

God, this sunfish. Using lie detection on something as menial as that is a waste of the skill. 

Yoo Joonghyuk takes a step forward into the clearing. “I thought you were a prophet. You’ve known every scenario until now.”

Kim Dokja trembles. “I—this one never showed up—”

A glare from Yoo Joonghyuk tells him an explanation isn’t needed. Dokja stops talking, and then follows Yoo Joonghyuk silently into the snow-filled forest.

They keep walking.

They walk until the gentle flurries of before intensify. Snowflakes cling to Yoo Joonghyuk’s hair, and the coat of the bear he’d slain—the SS-Grade item from the cave. Around them, the forest is disappearing quickly, dissolving behind a thick fog of snow, soon to leave the two of them in nothing but white.

“Wait,” Dokja pauses. The sound of his voice dies on the roar of wind around them, and Yoo Joonghyuk takes a step back. It guards Kim Dokja from the wind, just enough to hear his words.

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes narrow. “You’re shivering.”

Kim Dokja starts, “I’m not shiver—”

But he can hardly feel his toes, and it feels as if his body is warring with itself. Hot near his gut, a low heat, but limbs made of ice, goosebumps forming along his arms.

Before Kim Dokja can speak in protest, Yoo Joonghyuk’s pulling the bear coat from around his shoulders, and setting it upon his own. It wraps him instantly in warmth, and the ice disappears from his body, replaced only with that strange feeling in his abdomen.

[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ is shaking!]

“What are you doing?” Kim Dokja asks.

The expression on Yoo Joonghyuk’s face betrays nothing. “If you die, I won’t be able to complete the scenario.”

Right. The scenario.

Kim Dokja gives a nod, and then Yoo Joonghyuk turns, and keeps walking.

The heat in Kim Dokja’s abdomen spreads. It’s some sort of sickness that Dokja’s never heard before, and it’s painful enough so that every step is effort, the weight of his own body too heavy to pull through the thick snow, gathering at their feet.

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk says.

It’s taken him a moment to realize they’ve stopped.

“You’re too weak,” he spits. “Get on my back.”

Kim Dokja shudders. He’s so warm, and yet, so cold at the same time. The bear pelt helps, but it can only do so much to guard against the weather, against the snow that’s soaked into his hair, a cold that claws beneath the skin, into the bone. He has no idea how Yoo Joonghyuk hasn’t frozen to death.

「 Fool. Can’t he see how weak he is right now? 」

Weak? Kim Dokja feels perfectly normal. Well—maybe his senses are slightly sharper, as though they’ve been dialled up an extra notch. But other than that? Nothing.

「 He can barely walk. It must be part of the scenario. 」

After another look, Kim Dokja listens, wrapping his arms around Yoo Joonghyuk’s shoulders.

“You don’t have to—”

But Yoo Joonghyuk’s already pulled him up onto his back, and soon enough, Kim Dokja succumbs to a state of half-sleep, the feeling of Yoo Joonghyuk’s strong back, his warmth, and the slow sway of his body forcing him to rest, even with the wind biting into his flesh.

When Yoo Joonghyuk shakes him awake, Kim Dokja isn’t sure how much time has passed. His chin rests upon Yoo Joonghyuk’s shoulder, close enough that he can almost hear the other’s pulse. The snow still flurries around them, and he can no longer see the trees that had towered over their path. It nearly comes up to Yoo Joonghyuk’s knees, but it doesn’t seem to slow him in the slightest.

Yoo Joonghyuk cuts through the snow just as he cuts through his enemies. Efficient. Uncaring. Driven toward a singular goal.

“Wait here,” Yoo Joonghyuk shakes him. “I’ll be right back.”

That’s fine, Kim Dokja thinks. Yoo Joonghyuk can leave him here. He’s already such a burden, taking Yoo Joonghyuk’s SS-Grade item, and forcing Yoo Joonghyuk to carry him all this way. Not to mention his body, for whatever reason, is even more frail from the scenario’s limits.

[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ is shaking violently!]

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk demands, just before he turns away. “Don’t die.”

It’s only a few minutes that Yoo Joonghyuk is gone, but it feels like an eternity. The cold bites into Kim Dokja’s skin, further and further, and yet that heat only rises in him, expending energy he no longer has. He can’t tell if he’s burning up, or if it’s a side-effect of hypothermia. People say that as they freeze to death, don’t they? That it suddenly becomes very warm?

By the time Yoo Joonghyuk is back, his figure cutting an imposing outline in the snow, Kim Dokja’s accepted his death. He’s too weak to even use his skill, instead curled in on himself within the snow, the pelt doing little to keep him warm. He can still smell Yoo Joonghyuk’s scent on the item, albeit faded, but it manages to keep him conscious until he feels Yoo Joonghyuk’s arms back around him.

This time, Kim Dokja does not have the strength to hold on himself, and so Yoo Joonghyuk carries him like a bride, the fur wrapping around him like a blanket.

“There’s a cabin just a short distance ahead,” Yoo Joonghyuk mutters. “It’s part of the scenario.”

Kim Dokja buries his head deeper in the pelt. Yoo Joonghyuk’s scent has grown stronger, smelling faintly of a campfire, familiar and woody. He sinks into it and tries not to move, tries not to think about the fact that the protagonist is saving him, of all people. The Yoo Joonghyuk of the third regression—he isn’t particularly known for his kindness. Not like this.

“Scenario?” Kim Dokja murmurs.

Yes, he reminds himself. The scenario. Yoo Joonghyuk is only doing this because he thinks Kim Dokja is essential for the scenario’s success. There is no goodness in that ever-blackened heart. Not this round.

With each of Yoo Joonghyuk’s steps, Kim Dokja sways, body throbbing with pain, until they come to a stop, and Kim Dokja’s eyes flutter back open.

Darkness. Or, rather—

A doorway.

“There’s nothing dangerous inside,” Yoo Joonghyuk states. “But please, do not go looking for any symbols.”

He sets Kim Dokja down on something soft, and it takes him a moment to realize it’s a bed, springs giving in to the weight of his body. When Yoo Joonghyuk pulls his arms away, Kim Dokja shivers, and curls further into the bear pelt.

It’s not long before there’s strange sounds coming from the cabin, both from the wind, whirling around its wooden bones, and from Yoo Joonghyuk’s movements.

Wood, Kim Dokja thinks. He’s moving wood.

In the dim light of the cabin, he can barely watch Yoo Joonghyuk move around the enclosed space, moving back and forth in front of a stone wall, rearranging firewood into the fireplace. Kim Dokja’s almost too delirious to realize what’s going on, the cold already seeped into his bones, when Yoo Joonghyuk strikes the first spark.

Light flashes through the cabin for a moment, before Yoo Joonghyuk strikes the match again. A small light appears. There are no more noises, after that, and the small flame begins to grow against the back of Kim Dokja’s eyelids, until the room is flooded with light.

Yoo Joonghyuk’s face, cast in shadow, turns towards him. He doesn’t immediately go to Kim Dokja, though, even though part of him wants Yoo Joonghyuk by his side. Kim Dokja’s wanted it his whole life, probably, though admitting it is a bit silly.

It’s probably just the cold. The cold, and whatever sickness has made its way under Kim Dokja’s skin.

By the fire, Yoo Joonghyuk continues to move, the outlines of his figure illuminated in flame. He’s arranging things on the floor for a minute or so until he comes back to Kim Dokja’s side.

“I’m going to put you next to the fire,” he states.

It’s said as a fact, as if Kim Dokja isn’t a grown man, with his own agency. “‘m fine,” he shivers.

Yoo Joonghyuk’s features are easier to see, now that the fire’s there for light. Still, he looks scary, the shadows cast long against his face. Something in Kim Dokja’s gut tightens.

“You’re still shivering.”

And so Kim Dokja allows himself to be carried the short distance to the fire, and wonders why it is that Yoo Joonghyuk is so set on keeping him warm, on keeping him safe, even though really Kim Dokja has been through much worse than a snowstorm. Yoo Joonghyuk has put him through much worse.

Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t say anything, even as he pulls Kim Dokja’s coat from his shoulders, even as he slips off Kim Dokja’s socks. Doesn’t say anything until he’s a bit warmer, watching Kim Dokja’s face over the many minutes it takes for him to feel warm once more.

Still, Kim Dokja can’t help it. He keeps himself curled in on himself, ignoring the warmth growing in his body. He’s not cold anymore, but he’s still shivering.

“What’s wrong with you,” Yoo Joonghyuk growls, and the tone makes Kim Dokja bristle. There’s a spark of pleasure in his gut at the sound.

It’s not just the cold.

“N—nothing,” Kim Dokja stammers.

Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes narrow.

Oh, fuck. Kim Dokja’s really given himself away, now.

“I’ve done everything the scenario’s required of me,” Yoo Joonghyuk comments. “By all accounts, I’ve tended to your needs. Are you hungry? Dehydrated? Tell me, Kim Dokja, what am I missing?”

“I told you,” Kim Dokja replies. “I’m fine. It’s not a big deal.”

Just then, another shiver wracks his body, impossible to hide from Yoo Joonghyuk. His eyebrows pull together, and then his hands are all over Kim Dokja. For a moment, it’s impossibly pleasurable to have the hands brushing against Kim Dokja’s bare skin. Then, Kim Dokja is shooing them away, brushing off Yoo Joonghyuk’s fingertips.

“Stop,” Kim Dokja insists. “I’ll warm up by the fire.”

He didn’t like the way his body reacted to Yoo Joonghyuk’s touch. It felt as if his desires were outside of his control.

“No.”

Yoo Joonghyuk, the bastard that he is, is too stubborn to reason with.

Giving up, Kim Dokja allows himself to be pliant under Yoo Joonghyuk’s grip, undressing him layer by layer. First, the SS-Grade fur, which Yoo Joonghyuk hangs above the fire. Next, his Infinite Dimension Space Coat, which to Kim Dokja’s surprise, Yoo Joonghyuk gingerly folds. Finally, Kim Dokja’s final layers, the black collared shirt, his cheap sales-rack belt, his dress pants.

Kim Dokja allows himself to be stripped, and repeats a mantra over and over in his mind. Scenario, scenario, scenario, scenario, sce—

“Why are you still cold?” Yoo Joonghyuk demands.

“Why are you taking care of me?” Kim Dokja counters, and then shivers once more.

It’s perplexing, really. Kim Dokja is dry now, only wearing his underwear, and his bones still rattle as if he’s stuck in the middle of a snow storm. The feeling itself is difficult to describe, beyond the capabilities of Kim Dokja’s vocabulary. Like burning up and freezing all at once.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Yoo Joonghyuk answers. “You’re the omega.”

Some sensation sinks in Kim Dokja’s chest. Denial.

“Not,” Kim Dokja pants. The feeling is unbearable, now. “Not cold. Just—hngggh.”

The sound is completely involuntary, conjured from the back of Kim Dokja’s throat. An expression works its way onto Yoo Joonghyuk’s face, and Kim Dokja isn’t sure if it’s disgust or confusion.

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk asks. His voice is surprisingly soft. “What is happening to you?”

Another terrible sound comes from Kim Dokja’s throat. The warmth has spread throughout his entire body, and he can’t help but think that it’s a sensation that must be similar to those heats that omegas experience in his trashy webnovels.

“I don’t know,” Kim Dokja lies.

[The character ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has used the ‘Lie Detection’ skill.]

[Your statement has been confirmed to be false.]

「 Kim Do kja is in den ial 」

“I’m not—”

Kim Dokja fights off another moan. There’s nothing else to call it.

The look Yoo Joonghyuk gives him is scathing in return. It’s the same look he had when he held Kim Dokja by the throat and determined him a prophet.

“Kim Dokja, tell the truth. Right now.”

It takes quite a few minutes to explain the situation. Well, to explain the fact that Kim Dokja’s over-familiarity with the omegaverse genre really has little to do with actually reading it.

“I’ve only read some descriptions, of, um, the stories,” Kim Dokja mutters, clutching at his bare skin. “But omegas—”

“—So, you,” Yoo Joongyuk interrupts.

“Omegas,” Kim Dokja insists, still a bit in denial of the changes happening to his body. “Go through these things called, uh, heats.”

That earns a raised eyebrow from Yoo Joonghyuk. “Like—animals?”

Kim Dokja blinks. Well, yes, but he’s not exactly going to compare himself to an animal right now. After all, he’s still managed to maintain some of his dignity.

(Not all, of course. Kim Dokja’s still almost completely naked, skin shimmering with sweat, now, and he’s laid out at the feet of a fully-clothed Yoo Joonghyuk.)

“It’s, um—”

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk continues, uncaring for any explanations. “Heats are for females.”

If possible, Kim Dokja’s face flushes even more. He can already feel it, soaking at his exposed underwear. The crude webnovels would call it slick.

“The rules are…flexible,” Kim Dokja explains.

“Heats are for mating,” Yoo Joonghyuk observes. He towers over Kim Dokja, and in the moment, he really does think: alpha.

“How do you know so much about animal mating cycles?” Kim Dokja spits.

Yoo Joonghyuk’s gaze is unwavering.

“How do you know so much about this genre?”

Kim Dokja expects a retort to fly out of his own mouth, to counter Yoo Joonghyuk’s smug one, but nothing emerges. Instead, he lets out another wanton sigh, and wonders if he’s finally losing his sensibilities.

“Y—yes,” Kim Dokja manages, body trembling all over. “It’s for mating.”

There’s a moment where Kim Dokja’s body braces itself for something. A blow, perhaps, a kick from one of Yoo Joonghyuk’s sturdy boots. His eyes fall shut, firelight flickering behind the backs of his eyelids, and accepts his fate of dying in a cabin at Yoo Joonghyuk’s feet. A coward’s death.

Fitting, he supposes, for the pathetic omega protagonists of those webnovels.

But the kick never comes. Instead, Kim Dokja’s body holds stiff for a moment, all curled in on itself, when he manages to pull one eye open.

Yoo Joonghyuk’s just taken off his Infinite Dimension Space Coat.

Now, he’s working on his collar, unclasping it, before he takes his shirt off completely in one swift movement. Then, his bel—

“Wait,” Kim Dokja pants. His mind is slightly corrupted by lust, but not completely. “What are you doing?”

Yoo Joonghyuk gives him a look of confusion.

“You said mate.”

Slick pools from Kim Dokja’s thighs, soaking into the blankets below. Mate. He’s hard. Mate. He’s—

Yoo Joonghyuk keeps going, pulling off his belt, and then reaching to undo the button of his pants.

“I—didn’t mean us,” Kim Dokja exclaims, curling his body further into a ball. It only makes him feel smaller in comparison to Yoo Joonghyuk’s size, standing over him like the protagonist he is.

“If we don’t,” Yoo Joonghyuk interrupts. “You’ll die.”

Kim Dokja’s throat hurts. “Since when have you cared about that?”

“Since you’re my companion,” Yoo Joonghyuk cuts, his voice so harsh it makes the hair on Kim Dokja’s body stand on end.

There’s a silence that falls through the cabin for a moment, Kim Dokja’s cowering body laying in complete stillness. Yoo Joonghyuk looks down on him, and doesn’t move either, as if he’s trying to determine the best course of action.

“I—I don’t want you to fuck me,” Kim Dokja manages. Even he can sense the lack of resolve behind the words.

Yoo Joonghyuk blinks back, the shadows on his face dancing in the firelight.

[The character ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has used the ‘Lie Detection’ skill.]

[Your statement has been confirmed to be false.]

“Omegas lose coherence when going into heat, don’t they?” Yoo Joonghyuk asks. His voice is almost too calm.

Kim Dokja swallows.

“No, they—”

[The character ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has used the ‘Lie Detection’ skill.]

[Your statement has been confirmed to be false.]

It wasn’t even a statement, Kim Dokja thinks, but his resolve is thinning.

[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ is shaking!]

Yoo Joonghyuk starts to move again, and something within Kim Dokja fights, and something within him sings. Yes, Kim Dokja was made for this. Yes, Kim Dokja needs this. Yes, alpha.

Something in him breaks at the realization, and the world around turns fuzzier, vision blurring, until Kim Dokja feels something brush against the skin of his arm. Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand, cooler than his own skin now.

[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ is shaking violently!]

“Mm,” Kim Dokja moans, involuntarily. “Alpha.”

「 Kim Dok ja thinks : Al pha 」

No, Kim Dokja thinks. Not alpha. Not—

Something hooks under the waistband of his underwear, and then snaps it back against his skin. It sends a jolt through Kim Dokja’s body. Makes him harden a little more, too.

“Useless,” a voice mutters, and then Kim Dokja’s underwear is gone, completely.

He blinks open, and catches only a glimpse of the tatters before he sees Yoo Joonhyuk come back into the frame of his vision, face still glowing from the fire he made for Kim Dokja. He looks angelic. He looks angry.

Kim Dokja’s too weak to read Yoo Joonghyuk’s mind, but he’s sure none of the thoughts inside are good.

“Fool,” Yoo Joonghyuk’s breath ghosts over the skin of Kim Dokja’s stomach, right below his navel. “You’ll burn up.”

The kiss that Yoo Joonghyuk presses to his stomach burns. It’s cold, and forces a shiver through Kim Dokja that must make Yoo Joonghyuk think of him as scared, or inexperienced (though, Kim Dokja supposes he must not hide it well), because a hand grips at his thigh, and pushes it down, equally chilled.

Yoo Joonghyuk never really warmed up, did he? He’d been so focused on Kim Dokja nearly freezing to death.

“Please, please just—”

It takes Kim Dokja a moment to realize the plea is from his own lips.

Another kiss. “Please, what?”

Kim Dokja attempts to push his thighs together, but to no avail. Yoo Joonghyuk’s weight is sturdy in keeping him locked in place.

“Please, make it stop,” Kim Dokja cries, and he isn’t sure if he’s talking about Yoo Joonghyuk’s advances, or the heat burning up his shell of a body.

“And,” another kiss, almost in worship. “How do I do that?”

Kim Dokja squirms, eyes blinking open. His eyelashes have clumped together, wetness filling his eyes, but he can still see Yoo Joonghyuk’s face clearly enough. A bare thigh separates Kim Dokja’s own, and from there, he can see Yoo Joonghyuk’s cock. Erect. Fucking—huge.

A moment before, Kim Dokja was going to beg for it. Beg for something impossible—for Yoo Joonghyuk to fuck him, knot him, mate him, as though the pair of them were primal wolves.

One look at Yoo Joonghyuk’s cock, though, and Kim Dokja’s plans fly out the window. For a brief moment, it’s as if cold water has been dumped over his body, waking him to the reality of his situation.

[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ has steadied.]

“That is not fitting inside me.”

[The character ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has used the ‘Lie Detection’ skill.]

[Your statement has been confirmed to be false.]

“Don’t be lewd, Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk says, and then he leans down and pushes Kim Dokja’s thighs apart, slick leaking onto the blankets.

For a moment, Kim Dokja feels exposed, his body on display for Yoo Joonghyuk, who truly doesn’t care whether he lives or dies. He squirms against Yoo Joonghyuk’s grip, under his gaze, dark eyes tearing into his flesh as if they’re teeth.

“Just—”

Kim Dokja sighs, conceding to the scenario. He knows how he must look, and he’s grateful, for once, that the constellations aren’t watching.

He’s about to speak again, when Yoo Joonghyuk decides he’s had enough, and teases the pad of his thumb against Kim Dokja’s entrance. It slips in easily, and he gasps at the intrusion, the sensation of something else inside of him. Yoo Joonghyuk seems fascinated, as if Kim Dokja’s some sort of experiment fallen under his control, and then soon enough there are two fingers inside him, plunging deep, little noises falling from his lips, and then—

“Ohmygod,” Kim Dokja sighs, the sound involuntary. “Oh—”

He slaps his own hand over his mouth, trying to disguise the sounds of pleasure that accompany every one of Yoo Joonghyuk’s movements. It works, the cabin falling silent aside from the crackle of the fire and the, well, lewd sounds. Instead, little whines fall from his mouth, until Yoo Joonghyuk seems to have had enough, and grabs Kim Dokja’s wrist, pinning it against the blankets.

Kim Dokja expects Yoo Joonghyuk to stop, then, to simply fuck him quickly, relentlessly, to get the scenario over with, but he doesn’t. He keeps going, teasing at some spot within Kim Dokja that has his moans filling up the space of the cabin, voice breathy, logic gone from his mind.

All at once, Kim Dokja’s body fills with nothingness, as if he’s adrift in space, floating in the empty, and then he comes back to himself. He can hear himself panting faintly, and when Kim Dokja looks up, some foreign expression is on Yoo Joonghyuk’s face, unreadable.

Suddenly, the fingers are gone from inside Kim Dokja’s hole, and something else brushes against his entrance. He looks down, and watches the length of Yoo Joonghyuk’s cock rub against his own, practically twice the size. 

“Gonna ruin you,” Yoo Joonghyuk whispers. “Smell so—fucking—”

If Yoo Joonghyuk fucks him, he’ll be torn in two.

Two hands pin Kim Dokja’s thighs apart, and even with all his strength stats in the scenarios, he still wouldn’t be able to push Yoo Joonghyuk’s weight off of him.

He’s too sensitive from his last orgasm to last, and comes again, feeling something warm coat his stomach. A little gaspy breath comes from his mouth, the pleasure dulled from a state of half-consciousness. Then, Yoo Joonghyuk dips his head down, and licks a stripe up Kim Dokja’s navel, teasing.

“So sweet,” he whispers, reaching close to Kim Dokja’s ear. It sends a shudder down Kim Dokja’s spine, body tingling with sensation. 

“Ah, I—”

“Stay still,” Yoo Joonghyuk demands, and Kim Dokja freezes. 

There’s nowhere for him to go. The tip of Yoo Joonghyuk’s cock is pushed ever so slightly against Kim Dokja’s entrance, and for once, the thought actually strikes him. It’s going to be inside him. It’s going to—

Yoo Joonghyuk moans low, and Kim Dokja almost screams at the sensation of being filled.

Damn. Protagonist. Cock.

Why does he have to be so fucking huge?

“Ah—gah—mmmhng,” Kim Dokja moans in a choked-out cry, hand covering his own mouth in the shame of his pleasure. He sounds unlike himself. Reverted to base instincts.

Yoo Joonghyuk sighs, and then slowly begins to push the rest of the way in, his hands firm around Kim Dokja’s thighs. It’s as if he’s being split open, except it feels so good. He shifts his hips, clenching around Yoo Joonghyuk, unsure if he’s trying to work him deeper, or push him off. Either way, part of Kim Dokja knows that this is inevitable. Knows that this is what the scenario demands of the two of them.

“So—wet,” Yoo Joonghyuk manages, his voice drowned a bit in the roar of the fire.

Kim Dokja lets out another moan, half-buried in his fingertips, before he’s lost within the sensation of Yoo Joonghyuk inside him. It’s just so perfect. It satisfies something deep within him, and before Kim Dokja can stop himself, he’s reaching for Yoo Joonghyuk, trying desperately to pull him in closer, pull him in deeper.

Realization flashes on Yoo Joonghyuk’s face. He moves his hand from Kim Dokja’s thigh, now thoroughly spread open by Yoo Joonghyuk’s hips, and grabs Kim Dokja’s hand, threading their fingers together. It’s far too affectionate for Kim Dokja’s liking, but he doesn’t push Yoo Joonghyuk away.

Instead, he lets himself be guided to his own stomach. Yoo Joonghyuk unthreads their fingers, and then pushes Kim Dokja’s palm flat against the skin below his navel. Wet slick remains there, but Kim Dokja ignores it in favor of what lies beneath his skin and a thin layer of muscle.

“Here,” Yoo Joonghyuk presses. “Is this deep enough, or do you need more?”

And Kim Dokja mewls, his body shivering all over, hand affixed to his own stomach. He can feel Yoo Joonghyuk so deep—deeper than what’s humanly possible. It must be that his body is being altered by the scenario, being made to take Yoo Joonghyuk.

“I—mm—ah,” Kim Dokja moans. He clenches around Yoo Joonghyuk, filled to his very depths.

“Relax,” Yoo Joonghyuk strokes his thumb along Kim Dokja’s hipbone. “I’m not all the way in, yet.”

The words don’t compute for a moment, and then just as Kim Dokja realizes, Yoo Joonghyuk thrusts the rest of the way in, and—

Kim Dokja passes out for a moment. He thinks. Because the next thing Kim Dokja feels is the sensation of Yoo Joonghyuk inside him, and fingertips tracing up his chest. Something wet, soft, presses to Kim Dokja’s neck, and he squirms.

“Got you,” Yoo Joonghyuk says, mouth right next to Kim Dokja’s ear.

The depth of his cock is a new sensation. The feeling of a cock at all, Kim Dokja supposes, is new, considering he’s never been fucked before, but it’s—

Well. It’s kinda nice. Something inside Kim Dokja preens at the feeling, heartbeat quickening when Yoo Joonghyuk traces his teeth over Kim Dokja’s collarbone, sucking the skin into a mark, pushing down on his stomach.

“Please,” Kim Dokja barely hears his own voice as it begs. “Alpha, please.”

A growl vibrates Yoo Joonghyuk’s chest. He pulls out and stills for a moment, leaving Kim Dokja completely empty besides the tip of his cock. Something inside Kim Dokja grows desperate, and he opens his mouth to complain.

Instead of words, though, a little ah is pulled from Kim Dokja’s lungs as Yoo Joonghyuk fills him once more, finally unrestrained.

A choked cry comes out of Kim Dokja’s throat, Yoo Joonghyuk setting a brutal pace. Verbal communication becomes useless as his body sings in pleasure, every one of Yoo Joonghyuk’s thrusts scintillating within him. He can hear a voice, somewhere far-off in the room, until he realizes it’s his own, begging for more, begging for Joonghyuk.

His arms reach for purchase along Yoo Joonghyuk’s back, grabbing hold of muscle and sinew, but nothing provides relief from the intense pleasure, the warmth building in his body, coming to a head.

Kim Dokja comes in a small cry, his third orgasm of the night, and ignores the little flutter in his chest that comes when Yoo Joonghyuk whispers something in his ear, quiet.

「 Kim Do kja is hap py. 」

Part of Kim Dokja wants to fight the feeling, wants to push Yoo Joonghyuk off and deny that this scenario has revealed his feelings for his protagonist. But the other part of Kim Dokja, the part that wins, offers his body to Yoo Joonghyuk in its entirety.

A scenario to complete. An omega to service. A hole to fuck.

“Gonna—ack—ag’n,” Kim Dokja whimpers, peering up at Yoo Joonghyuk from behind watered, hazy eyes as he comes again, body writhing against the larger weight of Yoo Joonghyuk.

Despite Kim Dokja coming three times already, though, body addled with some sort of aphrodisiac, making him more sensitive, Yoo Joonghyuk shows no sign of stopping. Even when Kim Dokja begs him otherwise.

“Plea—please, no more,” he whines, voice cut through with every thrust. It comes out all broken, though he knows Yoo Joonghyuk heard him properly.

[The character ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has used the ‘Lie Detection’ skill.]

[Your statement has been confirmed to be false.]

“‘m not,” Kim Dokja continues. “‘m not lying.”

Something wet falls down his cheek, and Yoo Joonghyuk takes a thumb, and brushes it away. His face is hot, and Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand is enough to cover nearly half of it.

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk manages. He looks focused, concentrated. 

“Hmm?”

“Shut. Up.”

And Kim Dokja does just that, allowing his body to succumb to Yoo Joonghyuk’s command, as though he’s already determined how the scenario’s going to end, already decided he wants Kim Dokja underneath him.

It’s a foreign sensation to Kim Dokja. He’s used to a protagonist who hardly reveals emotions, whose desire is dictated by the next scenario in the star system. Though he supposes this is another scenario for Yoo Joonghyuk to clear. And that means fucking Kim Dokja.

Just—does it have to be for so long?

“Yoo…Joonghyuk,” Kim Dokja manages. “I—I think it’s enou—”

“Didn’t I tell you already?”

Yoo Joonhyuk’s tone makes it very clear there isn’t meant to be any more discussion of the topic.

“It’s enough when I say it’s enough,” he spits, though Kim Dokja has come five times, already. It’s too much. It’s—

The thrust of Yoo Joonghyuk’s hips seems to change, slightly. Within Kim Dokja, something feels different.

Yoo Joonghyuk seems to take notice of this, eyebrows wrinkling together in confusion, before he continues, pushing Kim Dokja’s hips wider.

Then, he pushes a thumb to Kim Dokja’s perineum, stroking the sensitive skin, before making his way lower. Yoo Joonghyuk stills, pulling out.

Kim Dokja almost starts whining, because he still wants Yoo Joonghyuk inside him, before the thumb pushes to his entrance, dipping inside. It hooks into his rim, thick, but not nearly as thick as Yoo Joonghyuk’s cock. He twitches around nothingness, before he feels Yoo Joonghyuk’s tip teasing him once more.

“Wait, wai—”

The sound torn from Kim Dokja’s lungs is something between a scream and a shout, something he’s never heard fall from his own lips, but it feels like the only noise that can possibly encapsulate the sensation. He’s stretched so wide, and Yoo Joonghyuk is so deep, and—

“Relax, Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk says, stroking again at his hipbone, and this time his voice is truly soft, coaxing him into a space of comfort.

He pulls the thumb out, and Kim Dokja feels his body relax, slightly, allowing Yoo Joonghyuk’s thrusts to spark pleasure through him, tension melting away, honey into tea. Yoo Joonghyuk seems to be growing more and more agitated, though, and Kim Dokja does his best not to provoke him, not to add to the anger grit across Yoo Joonghyuk’s teeth.

Something begins to pull at Kim Dokja’s rim, every thrust growing more erratic.

“Gonna,” he starts. “Gonna—”

And then Kim Dokja feels Yoo Joonghyuk spill deep inside him, something tugging at his rim for a moment before it’s slipped fully inside, the sensation murky amongst the haze of the room, scent and sweat and smoke surrounding Kim Dokja’s senses. He comes alongside Yoo Joonghyuk in an orgasm that wrecks his entire body, legs shaking with pleasure, eyes wrung shut as static fills his mind and extends out to every limb, to the tips of his ears, to his toes.

Blackness.

When Kim Dokja comes-to, he’s so full. He—

Kim Dokja wriggles his hips against Yoo Joonghyuk’s, confused as to why he hasn’t pulled out yet. It’s—the scenario should be fulfilled, right?

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk growls, head embedded into his shoulder. His body weight is collapsed on top of him, heavy and unyielding. “Stop moving. It’s been thirty minutes.”

“Mm,” Kim Dokja hums. “The scenario’ll be over, y’know, once that knot goes down.”

「 Kim Do kja is for get ting hi s stu d ies 」

Studies?

When Kim Dokja looks up, the weight pushing off his torso, there’s an upset look on Yoo Joonghyuk’s face, his eyebrows all pulled together.

“We’re not done yet,” he states, and something in Kim Dokja’s chest drops. He doesn’t know if it’s from the thought of the scenario ending, or of it continuing.

“Not—done?”

Kim Dokja’s question turns up at the end, as Yoo Joonghyuk glares at him, and then dips down once more, the pair still connected, to press his nose into Kim Dokja’s throat.

In return, it means Kim Dokja’s senses are suddenly filled with the scent of Yoo Joonghyuk. And no longer is it the scent that permeates the wasteland of the scenarios. Now, it’s different, the scent of the sea and matchsticks, and Kim Dokja can’t help but bury himself into Yoo Joonghyuk’s neck, seeking it out as some sort of salvation.

“Smell—so good,” Yoo Joonghyuk mutters, sounding half out of his mind. Kim Dokja clenches around him, feeling somewhat content, though he can tell the burning has only temporarily subsided.

“Joonghyuk-ah,” Kim Dokja starts. “Why haven’t we cleared the scenario?”

A pause.

“I don’t know,” Yoo Joonghyuk replies. “What do your books say?”

Kim Dokja looks back at the scenario’s requirements. They’re annoyingly vague, and he wonders what constellation dreamt this one up, a scenario meant to confront his worst fears and greatest desires.

His mind fixates on the scenario title. True Mates.

Memories of shitty webnovels flood back to him. Omegas. Slick. Heats. Alphas. Knots. Ruts. And at the end of it—

“Oh.”

The sound is so soft, Kim Dokja barely realizes it comes from his own throat, lost in the haze of the heat.

“What?” Yoo Joonghyuk demands, pulling upward. It tugs slightly on his knot, and Kim Dokja lets out a hiss. In return, Yoo Joongyuk stills Kim Dokja with a hand at his waist, grip tight.

“Maybe—maybe there’s another way out of the scenario?” Kim Dokja squirms, not wanting to admit his realization.

Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes narrow. “What are you talking about? Do you—Kim Dokja, do you regret—”

“No,” Kim Dokja interrupts. There’s no need to even think about it. He doesn’t regret Yoo Joonghyuk fucking him. The only thing he regrets is how it’ll affect their companionship afterwards, when Yoo Joonghyuk is the one to inevitably grow sick of Kim Dokja’s antics.

Surprisingly, Joonghyuk doesn’t use lie detection, and instead takes Kim Dokja’s hand into his own, squeezing slightly. It’s far too domestic, and paired with their position, it’s too much for Kim Dokja.

“I only—I don’t think you should be forced into what comes next.”

A narrow look. “Explain.”

Kim Dokja flushes. “The—ah—scenario’s title. True Mates. I don’t know who this was made for, but surely it isn’t meant to fit two…us two.”

Yoo Joonghyuk holds his gaze steady, beckoning Kim Dokja to continue until he understands.

“In the stories, it’s mating, so—”

“What, am I supposed to get you pregnant?” Yoo Joonghyuk asks, glancing down to Kim Dokja’s stomach.

Kim Dokja clenches around him, throat drying as he thinks about it. Yoo Joonghyuk’s spend becoming something permanent, linking them forever. He doesn’t think about how much he likes it.

“No,” Kim Dokja manages, voice squeakier than he’d like. “Typically, ah, you have to create a mating bond.”

Confusion is written over Yoo Joonghyuk’s face.

“And it’s a bit more permanent than just sex. It’s—I don’t know if it will go away with the scenario, since it’s an injury, and usually it scars, but—”

“Okay,” Yoo Joonghyuk sighs. “I don’t care.”

“No, but, you will. It’s permanent, Joonghyuk-ah, and I don’t know if there will be any lingering effects after the scenario. We can find another way—”

“Kim Dokja,” he interrupts. “Do you care?”

The words on Kim Dokja’s lips falter. He—does he care? If he were to walk out of this scenario with Yoo Joonghyuk as his mate, like he’s read in all those stories, would he care?

“No,” he lies.

Kim Dokja would care. He’d stare at that mark every day, were it permanent, and regret tying himself to the protagonist. To what he wants, and cannot have.

[The character ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has used the ‘Lie Detection’ skill.]

[Your statement has been confirmed to be false.]

An expression flashes on Yoo Joonghyuk’s face, and Kim Dokja doesn’t know what to make of it. He knows Yoo Joonghyuk better than himself, perhaps, and yet he can’t decipher the single look, unlike any he’s seen before.

“You’d regret it? Being tied to me?”

His gaze forces honesty out of Kim Dokja.

“I—”

Regret is the wrong word, but he can’t figure out how to explain that to Yoo Joonghyuk. Not in this state.

“Why would you let me—”

“You don’t deserve it, Joonghyuk-ah,” Kim Dokja manages.

Yoo Joonghyuk blinks at him, as though he hadn’t been expecting the sentiment.

“You’re a fool,” he replies, voice a whisper. “To consider my feelings.”

A laugh rips from Kim Dokja’s throat. He can’t help but to consider Yoo Joonghyuk’s feelings. It’s ingrained in his nature at this point. Yoo Joonghyuk is far more important to Kim Dokja’s life than anything else. And the thought of this happening, it’s—

“Aren’t you doing the same?” Kim Dokja teases. “Testing all my truths?”

Yoo Joonghyuk stares down at him in contemplative silence before he speaks again, tone suddenly decisive.

“You’re right, Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk continues. “I don’t care about your feelings on the matter. Tell me—”

Yoo Joonghyuk eases closer, nosing into Kim Dokja’s neck. The scent of Yoo Joonghyuk, of alpha, floods his senses once more.

“How will I make you my mate?”

Kim Dokja keeps his lips firmly shut. Regardless of what Yoo Joonghyuk decides, he’s not going to subject the protagonist to being bonded to him, even if there’s a chance it won’t last after the scenario’s over. From what Kim Dokja knows about scenarios, though…

“Tell me,” Yoo Joonghyuk demands.

His hand traces lightly over Kim Dokja’s torso, until it reaches Kim Dokja’s neck. Then, he squeezes tightly at the sides, keeping the pressure off of Kim Dokja’s trachea. It’s strangely reminiscent of their first meeting, except this time Kim Dokja can’t forget their proximity, can’t forget the fact that Yoo Joonghyuk is buried deep inside him.

After a moment, Yoo Joonghyuk releases his hold, though it’s still long enough for little stars to spark across Kim Dokja’s vision, disorienting. It’s only by touch that he can feel the trail of Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand, lovingly stroking his neck before tracing down his chest, past his navel, to where Kim Dokja’s cock is pressed between their taut stomachs.

“Please,” Kim Dokja whines.

Yoo Joonghyuk looks satisfied, and Kim Dokja realizes his plan is simply to torture Kim Dokja, until he coughs up the answer.

“Tell me,” Yoo Joonghyuk repeats. “And I’ll let you come.”

Kim Dokja gasps, body already close to orgasm, everything still sensitive from the heat.

“N—no,” he manages, and Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand stills.

In response, Kim Dokja tries to buck his hips up, but it’s difficult with Yoo Joonghyuk’s knot still inside him, and he immediately places a hand on Kim Dokja’s lower stomach to stop the movement.

“Please,” Kim Dokja begs. “I—”

“Tell me, Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk demands, pressing down on his stomach, hand stilled completely.

“I—”

He starts to stroke again, and Kim Dokja feels himself draw so close to the edge, dangled off a bridge once more, hovering in the air, ready to drop into free-fall. Just as his orgasm is about to hit, though, Yoo Joonghyuk pulls the hand away, denying him pleasure.

A choked sob rips from Kim Dokja’s lungs. Any other time, and he’d be able to resist Yoo Joonghyuk, resist something as menial as sexual touch. Kim Dokja lived without it for thirty years, after all.

Now, though, in the midst of heat, he needs it. It’s as if all the other desires, all the other fundamentals in his body have subsided in favor of forcing pleasure upon him.

“Just—”

“Fine,” Kim Dokja spits, his voice wavering. “I’ll tell you, please, please—”

[The character ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has used the ‘Lie Detection’ skill.]

[Your statement has been confirmed to be true.]

Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand is suddenly made of iron as it clasps around Kim Dokja’s cock, stroking him quick, playing with the tip, the sensation overwhelming for his already-wrecked body. He comes dry, body held down by Yoo Joonghyuk’s weight.

For a moment, the two of them stare at each other, panting. Then, Yoo Joongyuk shoots him a stare that Kim Dokja knows he can’t avoid.

“Tell me.”

It’s a long and arduous explanation, and though Yoo Joonghyuk never interrupts, Kim Dokja still finds himself growing embarrassed. His face is flushed, both from the orgasm, and from the heat. It’s still lingering there, under Kim Dokja’s skin, unavoidable, and he’s aware of it the entire time he speaks.

Kim Dokja is also painfully aware of the fact that everything he is regurgitating is from a smutty webnovel, and tries not to think about the judgemental look he receives in exchange.

“...So, basically, you bite me?”

Yoo Joonghyuk strokes a thumb along Kim Dokja’s neck. For some reason, the area feels particularly sensitive, and he leans into the touch.

“Here?” Yoo Joonghyuk asks, his gaze discerning.

Kim Dokja only manages to nod. “But—”

“Not yet, I know. Best from the back.”

Yoo Joonghyuk’s knot is starting to go down, and it leaves Kim Dokja feeling slightly empty. It leaves him wanting to be filled again.

He can’t determine if it’s the heat, or a deeper desire.

Once Yoo Joonghyuk manages to pull out completely, Kim Dokja ignores the feeling of fluids dripping out of him in favor of Yoo Joonghyuk’s touch, which quietly guides him onto his hands and knees. The room is warm now, but Kim Dokja still misses the feeling of the furs around him.

He doesn’t mind it so much, though, once Yoo Joonghyuk enters him again.

This time, Kim Dokja’s sufficiently stretched, taking Yoo Joonghyuk with ease. Still, a moan still vibrates from his throat, the feeling quelling something within Kim Dokja.

Soon enough, Yoo Joonghyuk begins the same brutal pace he’d used the last time, little ah-ah-ah’s echoing from Kim Dokja’s throat with every thrust, until he’s close again, body made to come apart on cock.

He comes with a low whine, and tries not to think about how comforting it is to have Yoo Joonghyuk’s chest splayed across his back, how it feels to have him drag his fingers across Kim Dokja’s skin. The intimacy of it. The desire.

“So good,” Kim Dokja sighs, and Yoo Joonghyuk keeps going, silent and relentless, until Kim Dokja feels his hips stutter, and then something wider, pushing against his entrance.

This time, Kim Dokja doesn’t need to be prepared to take Yoo Joonghyuk’s knot, but he still begs Yoo Joonghyuk to be gentle as he spills inside.

Once Yoo Joonghyuk is fully inside, he reaches forward, and buries his hand into Kim Dokja’s hair, pulling his head back.

He taps a spot on Kim Dokja’s skin, where his neck is stretched long.

“Here?” he whispers, voice somewhat unsteady. It surprises Kim Dokja—how nervous he sounds.

Kim Dokja nods.

For a moment, Yoo Joonghyuk teases, his nose brushing against the juncture of Kim Dokja’s neck. He wants to scream.

“Get on with it,” Kim Dokja whispers. “Joonghyuk-ah.”

And then Yoo Joonghyuk bites down, and all of Kim Dokja’s senses are flooded at once, body shivering, connected with Yoo Joonghyuk in a strange mind-meld, agony and joy and all of their joined emotions harmonizing at once.

Blackness, once more.

When Kim Dokja wakes up, Yoo Joonghyuk is gone, nowhere to be found in the small space of the cabin. It gives him a chance to scan the interiors, scan himself, determine the damage of the night before. He’d been consumed by heat, done some irreparable things. But, surely, Kim Dokja will be able to reverse them. Perhaps he can reject the mating bite, find another way to ensure he hasn’t ruined the tenuous companionship he has with his protagonist.

The morning light drifts in through glass-paned windows, and Kim Dokja can see the glow of freshly-fallen snow upon the sills. Scattered across the cabin are the bare essentials for survival, and then the fireplace that Yoo Joonghyuk had placed him in front of. Wrapped under Kim Dokja are the blankets Yoo Joonghyuk found in the cabin.

The SS-Grade cloak is wrapped around his shoulders, and when Kim Dokja tilts his head, he feels an ache on the side Yoo Joonghyuk bit him.

Sure enough, when he reaches a hand to the nape of his neck, there’s a bite mark, left there from the night before. It’s sensitive, but Kim Dokja still draws his fingers across it, unable to resist the urge to trace the imprint of Yoo Joonghyuk’s teeth.

He looks to the side, and finds his clothes folded neatly. After a moment of contemplation, Kim Dokja puts them on, the pelt falling from the front of his shoulders.

It takes him a moment to realize the marks on his skin—bruises, bites—were all left by Yoo Joonghyuk the night before. Kim Dokja pulls his clothes on quickly, after that.

And waits.

And waits.

Just when Kim Dokja’s finally convinced that Yoo Joonghyuk’s left the scenario, abandoned him in the winter cabin, he hears the trudge of footsteps outside, the crunch of snow.

“Joonghyuk-ah?”

The door swings open. Something overwhelming fills Kim Dokja’s chest at the sight of his mate’s return. He’s unsure of the origin—himself, or the figure standing over him, still wearing the same cold expression.

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk instructs. “We’ll leave now.”

A hand clamps down on Kim Dokja’s shoulder, and the mating bond burns.