Lying on fresh, cool, and crispy linen was a heaven compared to the sticky, sweltering mess of the last two days.

The air in the room was finally clear, filled now with the sharp, sweet scent of tart berries and sliced fruits.

I didn’t even want to open my eyes. I just lay there, brazenly soaking in the way they were fussing over me. I felt like a king, and after what they’d put me through, I wasn’t about to turn down the service.

"Hyung... Ahh."

Min-Cheol’s voice was a soft coax. I kept my eyes shut and parted my lips. A cold, ripe strawberry was pressed against my lips, and the juice exploded on my tongue.

I chewed slowly, humming in appreciation.

At the foot of the bed, I felt steady, firm pressure. Someone was kneading the arches of my feet with warm oil. The ache in my calves, which had been wound tight as a spring, finally started to settle.

"Don’t even think about opening your eyes yet," Seo-Jun drawled from the bottom of the bed. He sounded lazy, but his hands were focused. "You’ve worked hard for two days straight. You’re not lifting a finger today."

Two days. I felt a small jolt at that—I’d really been out of it that long?

They really hadn’t let up.

Well, after being bent over for two days, I definitely deserved this.

I kept listening, hearing the muted clicks of phones and the low, sharp murmurs of Ki-hoon and Jin-Yeok over by the window. They were cleaning up the mess from the gala.

"I don’t care about ’public interest,’" Ki-hoon hissed into his phone. "If that footage isn’t scrubbed by noon, I’m pulling the logistics contract. Find out which reporter mentioned Jo-Pil’s name. I want them gone."

He sounded so serious... so hot.

"The so-called victim’s statement is being handled," Jin-Yeok added, his voice a terrifying, calm baritone. "It’ll be framed as an unprovoked assault on a guest. Min-Cheol’s reaction will be seen as a protective instinct for a partner. Nothing more, nothing less. Any other narrative is a liability."

Though it looked like they were working it out, I felt a prickle of worry. Min-Cheol had gone violent because of me, and now they were rewriting the whole incident from what we had woken up to.

While we were all busy with my heat, their PR team was taking care of things, but it was not enough. They each needed to release a statement in person, and probably a press conference, if we wanted to end this matter in one fell swoop.

It felt heavy, knowing my heat had caused all that chaos, but they sounded like they had it under control.

I tried to shift, pushing my elbows back to sit up, but Min-Cheol’s hand was immediately on my shoulder, gently pressing me back into the mountain of pillows.

"Stay down, Hyung," he whispered, his blue eyes wide and concerned. "Your hips are still aching, aren’t they? You shouldn’t move yet."

I looked at him, then down at Seo-Jun, still working on my feet. I gave them a small, tired smile.

"It’s fine, Min-Cheol," I said, my voice sounding as soft as I could make it. "I’m okay."

I leaned back, letting him pop another strawberry into my mouth. I wasn’t going anywhere, but it looked like he worried I would disappear with a sudden ’poof’.

"I’m really okay," I repeated, though the moment I tried to adjust my legs, a sharp, dull ache shot through my lower back, making me wince.

Seo-Jun didn’t even look up from my feet, his thumbs digging into a particularly tight knot in my arch.

"Liars don’t get extra strawberries, Jo-Pil. You’re shaking like a newborn colt. Just stay put before you end up face-planting on the rug."

I huffed, but the softness of the pillows felt too good to put up much of a fight. Let’s just give up.

I looked over at the window where Jin-Yeok had finally tucked his phone into his pocket. He walked over and then looked down at me, his eyes scanning the visible marks on my collarbone before landing on my face.

"The gala footage is being replaced by a formal statement from the board," Jin-Yeok said, his voice dropping to that grounding baritone. "Hang-Dae is being handled legally for the provocation. As for Min-Cheol..." He glanced at the Little Min, who was currently carefully hulling another strawberry for me. "Public opinion loves a protective Alpha. We’re leaning into that."

"But he was so... angry," I whispered, the image of Min-Cheol’s face at the gala flashing in my mind. "I don’t want him to have a reputation for being unstable because of me."

Min-Cheol paused, the strawberry hovering near my lips. He looked at me, his blue eyes surprisingly steady.

"I’d do it again, Hyung. I don’t care what they write about me as long as they know they can’t touch you. If being ’unstable’ means keeping you safe, then I’ll be the most unstable Alpha in the city."

"Don’t give him ideas," Ki-hoon muttered, finally hanging up his own phone and joining the circle around the bed.

He looked exhausted, the shadows under his eyes matching mine, but there was a sharp, satisfied edge to his posture.

"The scandal is dying down. By tomorrow, the news will be back to the cooperation and the abolition papers. Your name is being kept out of the headlines entirely."

He sat on the edge of the bed. He reached out, his bare hand—the one that had held me so firmly and aggressively during the heat—now gently brushing a stray hair from my forehead.

"We promised you privacy, Jo-Pil," Ki-hoon said. "That starts with making sure the world forgets you were even in that room when things went south."

I looked at the four of them. Seo-Jun was still focused on my feet, Min-Cheol was waiting for me to take the fruit, and Jin-Yeok and Ki-hoon were standing guard like they were ready to take on the world’s press corps with their bare hands.

The worry was still there, a small, nagging weight in my chest, but it was being smothered by the sheer, overwhelming reality of their care.

"Thank you," I said, my voice barely a murmur.

"Don’t thank us yet," Seo-Jun said, finally letting go of my feet and standing up. He stretched, his shirt tightening over his chest, and I swear the button threatened to pop off. "Wait until you see the house. I’ve already sent a team to clear out the ’excess’ security. Just a front gate and a perimeter. No eyes inside, babe. Just yours."

I felt my heart skip. It was really happening.

"Can I... see it today?" I asked, looking between them.

Jin-Yeok let out a small, huffed breath that might have been a laugh.

"If you can walk to the car without collapsing, perhaps. But for now," he gestured to Min-Cheol and the bowl of fruit, "finish your breakfast. You have two days of energy to make up for."

I smiled and opened my mouth for the next strawberry, leaning back into the pillows.

For the first time since I’d woken up in this world, I wasn’t wondering when the next blow would fall. I was just wondering what color the curtains in my new house would be.

What would the yard look like?

I want a tree. A beautiful yard with a tree for nice relaxation.

"Eat up, Hyung," Min-Cheol urged, pushing another berry against my lips. "You haven’t had anything but water and... well, us, for way too long."