I cried quietly, the sound lost in the spray. I was alone, just like I asked even when that was the last thing I ever wanted.

Right now, it felt no different from drowning.

I got under the shower again. This time, I took off my clothes, my body trembling, but not from the cold of the water.

I felt feverish... Red and hazy.

The cold water was doing nothing but making my skin feel raw, a sharp contrast to the fire spreading over my body. It got to the point where the water felt warm.

I looked at the relentless erection of my dick. It was throbbing... it was aching.

I reached down, my fingers trembling as I tried to touch myself, desperate for any kind of release.

I stroked my dick, jerking off with a clumsy, frantic pace, but it felt hollow. It wasn’t like the way they did it.

There was no heat from another body, no heavy scent of an Alpha claiming me, no grounding weight. It just felt like I was only hurting myself.

"Please... please," I sobbed desperately, my head hanging low. And then I stopped. I couldn’t get off no matter how hard I tried.

I was stuck in a loop of building tension because when it looked like I was finally going to cum, I would lose the sensation. It was torture.

I just wanted to get off so I could at least feel better, but even that proved impossible, and the frustration made me want to scream.

But then, the bathroom door creaked. It moved an inch, then two, and then three, a space big enough to fit a person. I flinched, lifting my head as I thought they had come back. But no one entered.

Instead, a pink shape was shoved through the gap, sliding across the wet tile until it made its way fully into the bathroom. It was Mr. Pink.

I looked up through my wet hair, looking at the hand that had pushed this teddy in. It was Min-Cheol. He was standing by the door, but he wasn’t looking at me.

He was wearing a thick black nose mask, his eyes red-rimmed and averted, focused strictly on the floor. He didn’t say a word. He just let go of the bear, lingered for a heartbeat as if he wanted to reach out to me, and then backed away, pulling the door shut behind him.

I was once again left to the quiet pitter-patter of the bathroom, but I wasn’t the only one here. There was a little fluffy friend here too.

I walked away from the shower, my legs feeling like lead. I made sure not to fall as I made my way to the door.

I knelt down and then reached for the teddy bear. I wondered where it had gone, since it was no longer in my room.

I even suspected it had been executed.

But here it was.

I reached for it and then clutched it to my wet body. It smelled like Min-Cheol.

The bear felt soft. He’d brought me something to hold because he knew he couldn’t hold me himself.

My heart began to thud again as I felt the warmth. How could I be so harsh to them? How could I have screamed at them with such cruel words and they still end up going an extra mile for me.

Then, the door opened again. I lifted my head to see who it was this time. It was Ki-hoon and in his hand was the panda plushie—the one from the zoo. He slid it onto the floor until it bumped into my leg.

He looked at me hugging the pink teddy for a few seconds before withdrawing quickly. He didn’t even try to speak. He was giving me the ’privacy’ I’d screamed for, but he was leaving a piece of his heart behind so I wouldn’t be alone.

I felt the pang in my heart once again, guilt ripping at me as I clung onto the pink teddy, and now the teddy, tears welling in my eyes.

Then came Seo-Jun. I heard his heavy sigh through the door. He didn’t come in, but his hand reached through the barely opened door.

He didn’t drop a toy; instead, he reached for the pink teddy in my hand. I didn’t know what he was up to and let him, and, with surprisingly nimble fingers for a man who looked like he wanted to break the world, he tied a silk ribbon around its neck in a neat bow.

It was a mark. A gesture. ’I’m here, even if I’m not supposed to be. And here’s a token of my affection.’ He pulled his hand back, and I heard his footsteps retreat down the hall.

This ribbon... My memory was brought back to the time he tied my hands behind my back, but not with force, and his hands weren’t hard on my skin.

He held me delicately, whispering in my ears and asking me if it hurt. He made me feel what it was like to be held by a ’gentle sadist’ who was tired and wanted normalcy.

I sniffed.

Finally, the door moved one last time.

A pair of leather gloves—Jin-Yeok’s gloves—hit the wet floor with a dull thud. They landed right in front of me. The man who never showed his hands, the man who used those gloves to keep the world at a distance and hide his ’sins’, had thrown them away for me.

It was a silent admission: ’I am unarmed. I am yours. I have no secrets from you.’

I stared at the pile of things now surrounding me. A pink bear, a panda, a ribbon, and the gloves.

They weren’t coming in to take me. They weren’t ignoring my words. They were listening. They were thanking me for the ’boldness’ I’d shown, for the way I’d changed them, and for the life I’d given them back. They were telling me that I wasn’t a bird in a cage; I was the one who held the key to theirs.

My heart, which had been tight with paranoia and dread, suddenly felt like it was breaking completely. The ’drowning’ sensation of the heat did not fade, but it was being replaced by a warmth that the cold shower couldn’t touch.

I reached out, my fingers trembling as I pulled the damp panda and the ribboned bear closer. I grabbed the gloves, clutching them to my chest. They smelled faintly of him, that deep, grounding Alpha scent that didn’t feel like a threat anymore.

"I’m sorry," I whispered into the toys, my tears finally turning from bitter to relieved. "I’m so sorry."

I realized then that I couldn’t do this alone. I couldn’t let the trauma control me and destroy what we had already built. The beautiful thing we’ve had this whole time.

I held the door and pushed it open just a few inches.

"Hyung... Little min," I called out, my voice small and trembling. "Jin-Yeok... Seo-Jun please. Come back. Don’t... Don’t leave. I don’t want to be alone here." I sobbed. "I don’t want to be alone anymore. I’m scared."