The most genuine emotions. The person who had given him a gift with the most genuine emotions he had ever received was Nina. Who had, without any hidden motives or intentions, given him the black cat plushie she had won from the claw machine after trying for 76 times. She had smiled proudly and, with the smugness of an old man who had won the lottery after destroying all his life savings, she shoved the giant black cat into his arms.
"Do I have to carry this for you?"
"No, I'm giving it to you. You dummy."
"For me?… You don't want this?"
Nina narrowed her dark eyes at him and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"A handsome guy like you should have it. It's only natural."
She had said and then burst into uncontrolled laughter while Park Minhyuk stood frozen, staring at the soft plushie, completely dumbfounded. That was the first gift he had received from anyone in his life, and that gift had been left behind, which made him lose any motivation to live this new life of a web novel character, but that had changed when he saw Lorenz gift him a collar…
The black collar, torn into bits and pieces, was trashed; only a red line of it remained on Ellis's neck, reminiscent of the collar that had been there once. Ellis was mindlessly staring at his neck in the mirror as a large, flushed hand covered the red line of his neck; he also saw the blond hair dip down to his neck, and the next second, he felt sharp, needle-like teeth sinking into his nape. Ellis simply closed his eyes as tears fell down his cheeks in streaks.
Keeping a death grip on the backrest of the sofa, he let Alastair mark him while the member kept slamming into his behind without any restraint whatsoever. Alastair maintained his stature, holding him by the neck with his hand and teeth as he unleashed his desires fiercely.
"Ngh… I hate you… Hagh…"
Ellis hated everything. He felt devastated, and worse, he was close to coming just from being penetrated from behind with a dick, nonetheless! Something about this body wasn't right. Even the pain of his neck being pierced by teeth was stimulating him despite himself. The Alpha and omega thing… the alpha can mark an omega… are omegas also naturally attracted to alphas? No matter what they do?
The teeth buried into his nape were being slowly seeped out as Alastair wrapped an arm around his ribs, and his other hand touched Ellis's stiff member, standing and sensitive. Ellis gasped as Alastair's hand fondled with the length, occasionally pressing the tip with his thumb. Unable to handle the various stimulations, Ellis came into Alastair's hand; his entire body trembled and hunched. Alastair winced from the sudden tightness of his insides as he kissed the bitten nape and flopped down on the sofa next to him. The moment Alastair let go of Ellis, he dropped directly on the sofa, his knees finally buckling.
Ellis lay sprawled on the sofa, his legs trembling and his body utterly spent from the rough handling. His chest rose and fell with uneven breaths as he tilted his head, glaring daggers at the man beside him. His gaze was laced with exhaustion and simmering fury. Alastair, on the other hand, was slumped peacefully against the cushions—eyes closed, his expression infuriatingly serene, as though nothing had happened at all. The faint scent of wine still hung in the air, dense and nauseating. Ellis's jaw tightened. If there was anyone to blame, it was himself—for slipping up, for walking into this room and landing in a disaster.
With the loud snap of his collar breaking, Ellis was jolted back into reality, the haze of emotions crumbling all at once. The weight of his mistake sank deep into his chest—he had acted on impulse again, recklessly, and now he was paying for it. He let out a long, trembling sigh, gritting his teeth as he clutched the backrest of the sofa for support. His legs trembled violently, barely able to bear his weight.
For a few moments, he stood hunched over, body quivering with strain, before forcing himself to straighten his back. Each movement sent sharp groans of pain tearing through his muscles, but he swallowed them down, refusing to make a sound. Cold sweat clung to his spine, soaking through his last hanging shirt. Slowly, carefully, he lowered himself to gather the scattered fragments of his broken collar from the sofa cushions and the floor, his hands shaking as he clenched each piece tightly.
It was something he had always known—whenever his mask so much as cracked, even slightly, everything around him began to fall apart. It had happened again and again, each time serving as a cruel reminder, yet he still hadn't learned his lesson. Once the mask slipped, once the real him peeked through, chaos always followed. In this world too, he couldn't afford to let his emotions rule him. He couldn't show even a sliver of weakness to anyone. No matter how many lies he had to weave to survive, he only needed to keep walking the path of thorns he had carefully laid for himself—step by step, without faltering.
That was the only way for him to survive. The only way he could blend in with the rest.
Saving the parts of the ruined collar in his pockets, Ellis dressed himself uncomfortably. Due to his mask and makeup, he wasn't much different from before. Still sickly pale and face half covered. Looking in the mirror, he fastened every button of his shirt to the top; since the collar was gone, he couldn't go out with his neck exposed.
"Ah…"
Ellis almost screamed as the shirt collar closed in on his neck. He checked with his hand. The nape under the shirt collar was wet, and it hurt to even touch it. Walking over to the sofa, he grasped Alastair's hair, lifting his face; he saw the color on Alastair's lips dyed a bloody red.