The silence inside the hideout felt too clean, too safe. Noah's fingers twitched as he stood just inside the doorway, unsure if he was allowed to breathe normally here.
It was a repurposed storage space—bare floors, flickering lights, a makeshift couch made of crates and cushions. Nothing luxurious, but the lack of chains or collars made it feel like a palace.
Eun-Ha dropped into a seat near the wall, stretching out like a cat.
> "You gonna stand there all night?" he asked, eyes closed, arms folded behind his head.
> "I'm… just not used to this," Noah replied quietly. "No Alphas. No control chips. No scent-blockers. It's strange."
Eun-Ha cracked one eye open.
> "That's the idea."
Noah finally stepped inside, taking in the little signs of someone who lived here—a half-eaten instant noodle cup, a cracked mirror, a jacket thrown over a chair. It wasn't a trap. Probably.
> "You live here alone?"
> "Sometimes," Eun-Ha replied. "Sometimes I let others crash if they're smart enough to run. Not many are."
> "I didn't run because I'm smart," Noah said. "I ran because I was tired of being someone's… toy."
Eun-Ha's jaw flexed. He sat up slowly, eyes sharpening.
> "Alpha?" he asked.
Noah nodded. Just once. That was all he could manage.
They didn't speak for a moment.
Then Eun-Ha stood and walked over. For a second, Noah tensed—afraid he'd crossed a line.
But Eun-Ha only reached past him to grab a bottle of water from a crate.
> "You think I've never been owned?" he said flatly. "I've had a collar around my throat too."
Noah looked up at him—really looked. At the faint marks just under his jaw. Scars, maybe. The kind left behind by leather and metal.
They were both Omegas.
But they weren't the same kind.
Noah had spent his life trying to disappear.
Eun-Ha? He looked like he'd set himself on fire just to make the world watch.
> "You're not scared," Noah whispered.
> "I'm angry," Eun-Ha corrected. "There's a difference."
Noah sat down, exhausted.
> "So what now? You kick me out tomorrow?"
> "That depends," Eun-Ha said. "Can you follow rules?"
Noah looked at him with a bitter smile.
> "I thought you didn't like rules."
Eun-Ha laughed, and for the first time, it wasn't cruel or distant.
> "Touché."
---
That night, Noah curled up on a blanket in the corner of the room. He couldn't sleep. Not really.
Not with another Omega sleeping so close.
Not when that Omega made his heart beat too loudly.