Chapter 508: "I need to wash,"
I tried to scramble toward the edge of the bed, desperate to put distance between us, but my legs wouldn’t listen. The second my feet hit the floor, my knees buckled like they were made of water. I fell forward with a heavy thud, landing hard on my knees, the silk sheet slipping away and exposing just as much as I had the night before.
The cool air hit my skin, and I felt the heat of a fresh blush crawling up my neck. I knew what I looked like—covered in the messy evidence of their grip.
Seo-Jun let out a long, low whistle from the bed, the sound vibrating in the quiet room.
"Now that’s a sight for sore eyes," he drawled. I could feel his gaze crawling over me, staring at my reddened skin and the dark bite marks that seemed to cover every inch of me.
I trembled, my hands shaking against the plush carpet as I tried to pull myself up. The humiliation was a physical weight, heavier than the ache in my joints. I felt like a broken doll that they had finished playing with, but refused to put back in the box.
Before I could collapse again, I felt hands on my arms. They weren’t rough like Seo-Jun’s or heavy like Ki-hoon’s. Min-Cheol had slid off the bed and was now hovering over me, his grip firm but careful as he helped me back to my feet.
"Careful, bunny," he murmured, his voice sounding oddly soft compared to the others. "I told them you’d be struggling this morning. Your body isn’t used to... well, any of this."
He didn’t let go once I was standing. He kept his arm around my waist, bracing me against his side so I wouldn’t tip over again.
I wanted to push him away, to tell him I didn’t need his help, but I was too busy trying to keep my breathing steady and my head from spinning.
I looked at the bathroom door, then back at the bed. They were all watching me—one with hunger, some with calculation, and one with that terrifying, quiet intensity.
"I need to wash," I croaked, not looking any of them in the eye. "Please."
"It’s okay, Bunny. I’ll help you," Min-Cheol said. Before I could even attempt a protest, he scooped me up into his arms. I felt small, far too light against his chest as he carried me toward the bathroom. He set me down on the edge of the tub with a gentleness that felt mocking, given how I’d ended up in this state in the first place.
I sat there, staring at the floor, the humiliation burning hotter than the fever of my heat. I couldn’t fight it. My body was a lead weight, and my pride had been left somewhere back at the party on the rooftop.
The bath helped clear the fog in my head, but it couldn’t wash away the marks. When I finally finished and stepped out, damp and shivering, I saw a fresh uniform laid out for me. It wasn’t my old, slightly worn one; it was crisp, expensive, and perfectly pressed.
The room had shifted while I was gone. Seo-Jun had crashed back onto the bed, dead to the world for a nap. Ki-hoon was nowhere to be seen, likely already getting ready for his own classes in another part of the suite. At the far end of the room, near the massive windows, Jin-Yeok was pacing, his phone pressed to his ear as he spoke in low, sharp tones.
"It seems your uniform is ready, Bunny," Min-Cheol said, leaning against the doorframe with a satisfied tilt of his head. He watched me look at the clothes, his eyes tracing the way I tried to pull my shoulders in. "Now you can go to class."
I looked at the uniform, then back at him. It felt like a trap. They were letting me go, but only because they knew exactly where I’d be. They had branded me, dressed me, and now they were sending me out into the halls to see who would notice the change.
"Thank you," I whispered, the words tasting like ash.
I dressed quickly, my fingers fumbling with the buttons. Every movement reminded me of the ache in my hips and the weight of the hands that had held me down.
As I headed for the door, I didn’t look at Seo-Jun or Jin-Yeok. I just wanted to disappear back into the crowd, even if I knew the wallflower I used to be was gone for good.
Now, I was the eye of the storm.
I practically fell out of that suit, my legs shaking so badly I had to lean against the cold corridor wall just to keep from collapsing again. The hallway felt too bright, too wide, and way too quiet. Every step sent a jolt of soreness through my hips that made me want to hiss in pain.
The uniform Min-Cheol had given me was high-grade—stiff and crisp in a way mine never was—and as I walked, I realized the scent of the four of them was practically woven into the fabric. It was like wearing a neon sign that shouted exactly where I’d spent the night.
As I neared the main wing, the quiet died.
The first group of girls I passed stopped dead in their tracks. I kept my head down, hair shielding my face as much as possible, but I could feel their eyes burning into the back of my neck.
"Is that him?" one whispered, not even bothering to lower her voice.
"It has to be. Look at the way he’s walking. And that’s a premium blazer... only the Alphas’ inner circle gets those."
"Did they really carry him out like a prize? I heard Lady Ahn was screaming."
I clutched my bag tighter, my face heating up. I wanted to run, but my body wouldn’t let me move faster than a slow, limping shuffle.
By the time I reached my first classroom, the air felt thick. I stepped inside, and the usual morning chatter vanished instantly. Every head turned. Some looked at me with pure disgust—the "welfare" student who had somehow climbed into the Alphas’ bed—and others looked at me with a terrifying kind of curiosity.
I found my seat in the back, trying to shrink into the wood, but it was impossible.
"Jo-Pil," a voice called out.
I froze. It was one of the guys who usually ignored me, leaning over with a smirk that made my skin crawl.
"Rough night? You look like you’ve been through a war." He leaned in closer, sniffing the air loudly. "God, you smell like the entire Alpha floor. Which one was it? Or was the rumor true—did you take all four?"
I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, staring at my desk until the wood grain blurred. I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.
But as the teacher walked in and the room settled into a tense, gossipy silence, I realized the worst part wasn’t the rumors. It was the fact that even here, miles away from the suite, I could feel the pressure from the Alphas and the heat rising to my cheek whenever my mind flashed back to how they had ’claimed’ me.
