CHAPTER 5 : FIRST HEAT

...“My body burns for someone who doesn’t even want to touch me.”...

...°°°...

It came faster than he expected.

Hyungwon curled on the floor of his room, his body trembling uncontrollably as waves of heat crashed through him without pause. Sweat gathered along his temples, sliding down the side of his face and soaking into the thin fabric of his shirt until it clung uncomfortably to his skin. His pale complexion stood in sharp contrast to the faint flush spreading across his cheeks and down his neck, a quiet but undeniable sign of the heat igniting deep within him.

His breathing was uneven, breaking into short, fragile gasps as if every inhale was a struggle he could barely survive. It felt as though his entire body had turned against him, every nerve ending alive and screaming, demanding something he could not give, something he did not have.

Someone.

The heat.

The curse of an Omega.

He bit down on the edge of his blanket to keep himself from making a sound, his body shaking as a broken whimper threatened to escape. He couldn’t let Changkyun or Jooheon hear him like this. Not like this weak, unraveling, stripped of whatever dignity he had left. They had already done so much for him, already worried more than they should, and Hyungwon could not bear the thought of becoming another burden they had to carry.

But the pain refused to be contained.

It burned.

God, it burned.

His spine felt like it was set on fire from within, his blood running too hot beneath his skin, his senses sharpened to the point where even the cold night air brushing against him felt overwhelming. His fingers trembled as if reaching for something that wasn’t there, his body instinctively searching, craving, calling out to a presence it could not find.

Every part of him whispered the same name.

His Alpha.

The one who should have been there.

The one who should have been his.

Hoseok.

But even as his body betrayed him, his mind remained cruelly clear. Hoseok would not come. Hoseok was somewhere else, somewhere warm, somewhere safe, perhaps wrapped in someone else’s presence Minhyuk’s calm and untouched by the storm consuming him now.

Hyungwon squeezed his eyes shut, his body curling tighter as another wave of heat tore through him. He tried to shift, desperate for even the smallest relief, hoping his wolf might give him the strength his human form lacked.

But even that failed him.

His wolf did not soothe him.

It howled.

A raw, broken sound, like a wounded creature left behind, rejected, unclaimed.

“Stop…” he whispered weakly, his voice cracking under the strain. “Please… just stop…”

But it didn’t.

It wouldn’t.

His body arched involuntarily, pulled by something he couldn’t see, something that refused to let him rest. Tears slipped down his face, mixing with the sweat on his skin, his entire body trembling as if it might shatter under the weight of it all.

Time blurred.

Minutes passed, or maybe hours he couldn’t tell.

Until suddenly

The front door of the cabin burst open.

The sound echoed through the stillness, sharp and violent, but it wasn’t the noise that reached him first.

It was the scent.

Dark.

Overwhelming.

Familiar.

It filled the air instantly, cutting through everything else, wrapping around him like something alive.

Hoseok.

“Hyungwon!!!” Changkyun’s voice broke out, panicked and breathless as he rushed forward.

“Upstairs quick! He won’t last much longer!”

Hoseok didn’t respond.

He was already moving.

His footsteps thundered against the wooden floor as he took the stairs two at a time, each step heavy with something he couldn’t suppress any longer.

Downstairs, Jooheon stood frozen in place.

The air was saturated with Hyungwon’s scent now, thick and overwhelming, pressing against his senses, igniting instincts he had spent years learning to control. His breathing grew heavier, uneven, his chest rising and falling as his hands clenched tightly at his sides, his knuckles turning white.

His eyes darkened, his pupils narrowing as the Alpha within him stirred violently.

It was too much.

Too tempting.

Too dangerous.

He dragged a hand over his face and took a step back, then another, forcing distance between himself and the scent that threatened to consume him.

“Changkyun…” his voice came out rough, strained. “I can’t… stay here.”

Changkyun glanced at him briefly, understanding immediately. Even someone like Jooheon strong, controlled was not immune to this. Not when it was Hyungwon.

“Go outside,” he said quickly. “I’ll stay here.”

Jooheon didn’t argue.

He turned and stepped out into the cold night, the sharp air hitting him instantly, but it did little to calm the storm inside him. He leaned against a tall pine tree, forcing himself to breathe, to steady the instincts clawing at him from within.

But even out there, the scent followed.

Seeping through the cabin walls.

Reaching him.

Calling to him.

Then

A sound.

Soft.

Broken.

A faint, fragile moan drifting from inside the cabin.

Jooheon shut his eyes tightly, his chest tightening as something twisted painfully inside him. For a long time now, Hyungwon had been the center of his world in ways he never allowed himself to admit.

Too beautiful.

Too gentle.

Too far beyond anything this world deserved.

And yes

Anyone would fall.

Even him.

But he had always known his place.

Hyungwon was not meant for him.

So he stayed silent.

He buried it.

Let the feeling rot quietly inside him, choosing instead to protect, to stand guard, to remain the shield Hyungwon needed.

“Then protect him, Hoseok,” he whispered into the night, his voice low and strained. “Because if not you… I don’t know if I can keep holding back.”

Upstairs, Hoseok pushed the door open.

And everything stopped.

Hyungwon lay on the floor, his body trembling violently, his pale skin flushed with heat. His lips were cracked, a faint trace of dried blood marking where he must have bitten himself. His eyes were glassy, barely open, as if all the strength he had left was spent just trying to breathe.

The scent hit Hoseok all at once.

Wild.

Unstable.

Filled with pain.

It struck him harder than anything he had ever faced.

He stood frozen at the doorway, his breath catching as his pulse surged violently beneath his skin. His Alpha instincts roared to life, louder than ever before, demanding, urging, pulling him forward with a force he could barely resist.

The bond.

It tightened around him, undeniable now.

Hyungwon lifted his head slightly, his movements weak, unsteady, as his gaze found Hoseok’s.

“Don’t…” his voice broke, barely there.

“Please… don’t.”

Hoseok stepped forward without realizing it, drawn in as if by something beyond his control.

“You’re hurt… I have to...”

“I know,” Hyungwon whispered, a faint, bitter smile touching his lips despite the tears in his eyes. “But you don’t want me.”

Hoseok’s hands clenched tightly at his sides. “That’s not...”

“You love someone else.”

The words landed heavily between them.

Unavoidable.

Final.

Hyungwon’s breathing faltered, his body trembling more violently now. “I don’t want you to touch me… just because you feel like you have to,” he continued softly. “I don’t want your touch to come from obligation.”

Silence followed.

Heavy.

Suffocating.

Tears slipped down his face as he tried to push himself up, his weak arms failing him almost immediately as his body gave out beneath him.

And that was when Hoseok moved.

He caught him.

For the first time

He held him.

Hyungwon’s burning body collapsed against his chest, fragile, weightless, his breath shallow as his head rested weakly against Hoseok.

“If helping me… hurts you…” Hyungwon whispered faintly, his voice barely audible.

“…then let me go…”

The words faded before they could fully form.

And then

He went still.

Unconscious.

Hoseok froze, his arms tightening instinctively around him as his entire body trembled. His breath came unsteady, his chest tight with something he couldn’t name, something that felt dangerously close to breaking.

For the first time in his life

The True Blood Alpha understood what it meant…

to not be chosen.

Tbc ✨

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