There was no way they were using me. There was no way they were deceiving me.

I had to shut that lying voice in my head that kept trying to break me. That kept whispering to me, telling me to ’remember’ the kind of monsters they were.

The things they did to me.

And how people don’t change just because I had a do-over.

But it was wrong.

They did change.

And I’ll believe it. They will never hurt me.

I let the towel slip a little, reaching out to grab Jin-Yeok’s hand before he pulled back. I felt the heat in my body surge again, a reminder of my heat still raging, and I shuddered.

"I’m scared," I confessed again, looking up at them, covering my face with Jin-Yeok’s hand.

"What are you scared of?" Jin-Yeok asked.

"I’m scared that I’ll wake up and this will be a dream. I’m scared that I will wake up to find my leg chained and no one... Will love me anymore?"

"Fuck that!" Seo-Jun suddenly hissed, and I flinched, turning to look at him. "This is reality, Jo-Pil. And I can’t think of a reason, not even a flimsy one, why we’d put you in a chain. The feelings we have are real, so don’t think about stuff like that anymore."

Jin-Yeok did not say anything, simply watching me as my lips twisted.

I dropped his hand from my face, letting them see me—all of me. The flushed skin, the trembling limbs, the vulnerability I had tried so hard to hide.

All of my insecurities.

"When this is over..." I began, my voice coming out in tremors as I knew I was about to utter the words I thought I would take to my grave. "I will tell you about my past. My real past."

They didn’t question me, but watched silently. They didn’t immediately conclude I was crazy or acting out, thanks to the heat. They looked like they would actually listen to me.

That they would actually believe me.

But will they believe it?

...that the love they do proudly preach of right now was absent in my past life as Jo-Pil, that I was chained, beaten, broken, and choked by their very hands?

I don’t think it’ll matter if they believe it or not. But I do wish that they would believe me. I wish for them to atone, even if it was a past they don’t remember.

But that’s for later.

Right now...

The heat made my body heavy and needy, but the need for their love was heavier.

"For now..." I whispered, my voice breaking. "...please hold me. Just hold me."

My words were a simple request from a lover to his partners.

And they didn’t hesitate.

Jin-Yeok lifted me from the cold floor, wrapping me in the towel and his own warmth.

His Pheromones filled me, and I found a little bit of semblance as I gripped his shirt. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

We moved deeper into the bedroom, away from the bathroom door.

He sat me down on the edge of the bed, and my breath hitched, my body trembling as I felt all their pheromones wrap around me.

It was as if after giving them the go-ahead, they stopped holding back, and their pheromones crashed against mine in waves.

They crowded around me, one rubbing my cold feet, one holding my hands, one brushing my hair, and one just leaning his forehead against mine.

They asked me everything—if I was hungry, if I was too hot, if I wanted the lights dimmed.

Ki-hoon reached out, his hand trembling slightly before his fingers brushed against my flushed cheek. His touch was like ice against my feverish skin, making me let out a soft, broken whimper.

"Does it hurt, Jo-Pil?" he whispered, his eyes searching mine with a desperate kind of gentleness. "Tell me if it’s too much. Tell me if you want us to stop."

I shook my head, my hair still damp. "No... it doesn’t hurt. It’s just... I need you."

The admission seemed to break a dam.

Slowly, tentatively, their hands began to find me. It wasn’t the frantic, demanding touch I had feared in my delirium. It was a slow, worshipful exploration.

Jin-Yeok sat behind me, pulling my head into his lap and massaging my scalp, his touch grounding me when the heat made my vision hazy.

Seo-Jun was at my side, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw, while Min-Cheol held my hand, pressing his face into my palm as if he were trying to memorize the scent of my skin.

"Is this okay?" Seo-Jun asked, his voice a rough growl that he was clearly trying to soften. "I don’t want to overwhelm you."

It was overwhelming. I always feared being overwhelmed, and I made it clear to them whenever I got the chance.

But this kind of overwhelming was different from the one I had feared.

To have all four of them focused entirely on my comfort, asking for permission for every graze of a finger, every press of a lip—it was just too much for my frantic heart to bear.

My heart was thumping, a sweet, rapid rhythm that matched the pulsing ache of my heat.

"You know I... I can’t take all of you at once," I breathed, my back arching slightly as Ki-hoon’s hand strayed down to my chest. "It’s too much... I’ll break."

"We know. You already made your first pick before, so we won’t try to go overboard." Seo-Jun said, breathing a bit roughly.

He must be slowly reaching his limit.

They seemed to reach a silent agreement, and the others shifted back just enough to give me air, though they didn’t leave the bed.

They stayed close, their pheromones acting like a warm yet wet blanket over my head, while Ki-hoon moved over me.

He looked down at me, his face flushed a light red, his eyes blown wide with a hunger he was clearly fighting to keep in check. He looked at my naked, trembling body, and I saw his throat bob as he swallowed hard.

"Jo-Pil... are you okay?" he asked softly.

I reached up, my fingers tangling in the front of his ruined white shirt, pulling him down.

"I’m not okay, Hyung. So please."

I pulled him down and crashed his lips on mine.