The morning light filtered through the thick curtains. It glided gently over the rumpled sheets, over the scattered clothes, over two sleeping bodies, back to back. The silence was complete.
Aru opened his eyes first. His body was still warm from the night. His mind was chilled by the returning lucidity. Kio. Lying right there, naked, calm, vulnerable for once. Aru sat up slowly, drawing his knees up to him. He didn't regret what they'd done. But he knew what this represented. It wasn't just one night. It was a declaration of war on the rules of the world. He took his shirt and kissed it mechanically. His fingers trembled a little.
" Are you leaving already? "
Kio whispered behind him. Aru froze.
" I have to, Before anyone spoke. "
Kio half-sat up, resting his chin on his bra. He was still smiling, but something in his eyes had darkened.
" They'll talk no matter what. You know that, right? "
" Yes... but not now. Not right away. "
Kio was silent for a moment, then added,
"Are you scared?"
Aru turned to him. Slowly. His gaze was clear, sharp.
" No,I have a company, contracts, people watching me. If this gets out... I won't be the one attacked. This is everything I've built. "
And you think I'm untouchable? My father would kill me politically if this got out. My image, my brand, my partners... everything would be shattered.
So why are you doing this? Why did you kiss me, Kio?
Kio stood up, approached slowly, shirtless, his body marked with light scratches. He stopped in front of Aru, his gaze fixed on hers.
Because I don't want to live in a world where I have to hide to breathe anymore. Because when you're here, I don't need to play at being a perfect Alpha anymore.
Aru swallowed hard.
We can't go on like this.
So say it. Say it was a mistake.
A silence. Long. Persistent. Aru lowered his eyes. But he said nothing. Kio moved closer, placed his hand on her face, gently.
You see. You can't.
They stayed there, in this dangerous intimacy, until Aru's phone vibrated violently.
Breaking the silence with a sharp jolt. Aru stared at him for a moment, panting, before picking up.
"Yes?"
he replied, his voice low and tense. The voice on the other end was nervous, almost panicked.
"Aru… I'm sorry to call so early, but you should know: someone saw you last night. Your car was parked in front of Kio Ryuu's loft. A photo was posted last night on a private investor forum… And now it's making the rounds."
Aru's blood ran cold. He stood up abruptly, his back to Kio, as if trying to escape the truth.
"Who posted this? Is my name mentioned? Has anyone…
Not yet.But you know how it is… All it takes is one recovery, one comment in the wrong place, and things will go haywire. You have to do something."
Aru hung up without answering. He remains motionless for a few seconds, the phone still in his hand. Then, slowly, he turns back to Kio. Kio watched him silently. His smile had disappeared. His body tense, as if ready to take a blow.
"Is it out?" he murmured.
Aru nodded. "Not formally yet. But it's on its way."
A thick silence will fall.
"And now?" Kio asks.
Aru takes a deep breath. He seemed to be fighting himself, torn between the same instinct and reason.
"Now I'm doing what I should have done from the start."
Kio frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"I'm cutting ties. I'm distancing myself. I... I'm cutting you out of my life before everything falls apart."
The words were cold. Harsh. But his voice trembled. Just a little. Kio took a step forward. His eyes shone with a suppressed fire, more pain than anger.
"You're a man."
"I'm protecting what I've built," Aru said firmly.
"No. You're protecting your fear."
A silence. Then Kio added, more quietly,
"Do you really think you can erase that? Forget what we shared last night? That you're thinking about it here… now?"
Aru doesn't answer. He grabs his jacket, walks out the door, without another word. And Kio is left alone, in the silence that follows. Alone with Aru's scent still on his sheets. Alone with this unbearable truth: they had started something they could no longer enter.
[Aru's POV]
He walked quickly through the still-damp streets of Tokyo, the morning light cutting across the buildings like a blade. He left the loft without looking back, without a last word.
But in his head, Kio was still there. His voice, his skin, his breath… everything was still imprinted on him. Aru went home and locked the door. He threw his phone on the couch, sat down, and put his head in his hands. "You are a man." The words still resonated. Because they were true. He hadn't burned his bridges. He had run away. Running away from Kio meant running away from something much deeper: what he was becoming around her. An Alpha who would no longer follow the rules. A man capable of loving beyond biological laws. He should have felt relieved. Safe. But he was cold. So cold.
[Kio's POV]
The loft was silent. Too silent. The kind of silence that clings to your skin and eats away at you inside. Kio hadn't moved. He'd remained sitting on the unmade bed, shirtless, the sheets still warm. But the emptiness to his left was icy.
He'd known rejection. He'd known scorn, criticism, the judgments of his father, his associates, the press. He didn't usually care. He'd built his life on provocation. But this... it wasn't the same. Aru wasn't a scandal.
Aru was a wound. Kio stood up, put on a black shirt, walked over to the bay window, and looked down at the city below. He could have called her. Insulted her. Told her he was a coward. But he didn't want anger. He wanted Aru back. His choice. Not out of pressure. And he knew that wouldn't happen. Not now.
[Aru's POV]
Two days later
The scandal remained contained. Pour out the moment. The photo of his car had been deleted by a well-paid moderator. But a few rumors still circulated, in the background. Aru had reinforced the security of his data. Locked down his access. Avoided parties. He hadn't seen Kio again.
But he had dreamed of him. Every night. Hot, confusing dreams.
Memories that slipped between his thoughts like warm blades. He could have sent a message. Said something. Anything. But he remained frozen. Until he stumbled upon a video of Kio, posted by a cultural journalist. Kio was invited to a debate on "creative freedom in a society dominated by biological dynamics." And when the moderator jokingly asked him,
"You're an Alpha. Do you ever paint an omega or another alpha as a muse?"
Kio smiled. One of those sweet, sharp smiles. And calmly replied,
"I don't paint what society allows me to. I paint what burns me."
A silence. Then a look at the camera. A look that, Aru knew, was meant for him.