Chapter 12

—Stop it—!

—Wow, you are truly something else, Second Lieutenant So! You’re finally gracing us by opening that arrogant mouth of yours. Do you have any idea how much we had to sacrifice just to hear your voice?

The man speaking with sadistic glee had a vice grip on Gi-hyeon’s ankle. The sensation was exactly like having a massive, repulsive insect crawling over his skin. He desperately wanted to kick the bastard off, but escaping the iron grip proved impossible.

In reality, Gi-hyeon was the one currently thrashing on the dirt like a pathetic larva. Every desperate attempt to squirm away from his attackers was violently halted the moment they seized his ankle and ruthlessly dragged him back, the sharp gravel carving shallow, bloody trenches across his cheek.

Staring down at Gi-hyeon’s miserable state, the man burst into joyous laughter. He looked exactly like someone whose greatest lifelong wish had finally been granted.

—Exactly. Why is a commissioned military officer—who should be upholding the utmost dignity—running around acting like a filthy fucking dog?

A chorus of mocking giggles erupted at the insult.

The men surrounding Gi-hyeon all wore identical expressions of cruel amusement. To them, this brutal torture was nothing more than highly entertaining sport. Gi-hyeon was the only one whose face remained a frozen, stony mask, silently praying for the nightmare to end. He knew with absolute certainty that no one would magically stumble upon them and offer him salvation.

The man suddenly hacked and spat a thick glob of saliva directly onto Gi-hyeon’s military uniform. Following their leader’s cue like a pack of brainless, imitating beasts, the surrounding men eagerly hocked their own spit onto him. The vile humiliation splattered against his scalp—his hair currently buzzed as short as a terrified private’s simply because Jo Yeon-oh had casually mentioned a few days prior that he wanted to see him with a buzz cut.

Gi-hyeon let out a ragged, agonizing groan: Ah-heu-heu. The sound wasn’t born from the sheer, suffocating humiliation or the injustice of the situation, but purely because the bruised, battered areas of his torso screamed in agony with every single breath. A rib was definitely compromised. Clutching his right ribcage, he desperately gasped for air through gritted teeth. He could only pray a fractured bone hadn’t punctured a lung.

Despite enduring hours of being viciously stomped by heavy combat boots, Gi-hyeon hadn’t let a single whimper escape his lips, but the rapidly intensifying pain signaled severe internal damage. Yet, he knew this too would eventually pass. He just had to survive this immediate moment.

Gi-hyeon had survived infinitely worse humiliations in the past. While those previous incidents hadn’t resulted in shattered bones, they had violently fractured his soul. This physical beating was nothing in comparison. The saliva degrading his face could easily be wiped away, and the physical trauma inflicted upon his body would inevitably heal with time. Gi-hyeon desperately forced his mind to anchor onto that singular truth.

His attackers were violently infuriated by that exact, unbreakable stoicism. They desperately wanted to crush his spirit and force him to submit, but his stubborn resilience only fueled their sadistic obsession. While Gi-hyeon couldn’t possibly fathom the full depths of their insidious, twisted minds, he easily deduced the core issue. If he had simply crawled toward them on his knees, begging for mercy and offering blind apologies for sins he hadn’t even committed, the situation would never have escalated to this brutal extreme.

However.

—Fuck, is it some kind of grand achievement nowadays to be a commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Republic of Korea Army while actively spreading your legs for an Alpha bastard? Hey, have you ever seen a career soldier willingly offer up his own asshole before? Can we even legally classify this thing as a soldier?

Gi-hyeon had something he desperately needed to protect. If he surrendered and apologized now, every single emotion he had ever cherished as precious would be violently reduced to worthless garbage. Gi-hyeon was determined to guard his heart at all costs. Enduring physical destruction to achieve that was a completely acceptable trade.

Perhaps his stubborn refusal was a pathetic attempt to prove his own masculinity through sheer, agonizing self-sacrifice. Regardless of the reason, Gi-hyeon absolutely refused to drag his sacred love into this filthy, degrading nightmare.

—Look at him, clamping his mouth shut again. Excuse me, Second Lieutenant. What kind of monumental backing do you have that allows you to act so incredibly arrogant? Why don’t you share some of that almighty privilege with your juniors, huh?

The Captain who had relentlessly orchestrated Gi-hyeon’s torment crouched down. Pressing a heavy index finger violently into the cheek of the man curled up defensively on the dirt, he retrieved a ballpoint pen from his uniform’s breast pocket and began to write. ‘Male Whore.’ Gi-hyeon would never, ever forget the exact day those degrading characters were permanently carved into his memory.

—Just take the fucking discharge, you son of a bitch. Stop rotting the military’s discipline. Do you honestly think the Lieutenant Colonel would have specifically requested my help if things hadn’t reached a breaking point, huh?-

–…

Gi-hyeon offered absolutely no response. Any words he uttered would only be violently mutated into further humiliation. He already knew exactly why they were doing this.

The accusation that he, a Beta male, was engaging in a filthy relationship with an Alpha was nothing more than a convenient excuse. As his promotion to First Lieutenant loomed ever closer, he had been relentlessly bombarded with orders to execute incredibly dirty, corrupt tasks. Gi-hyeon had simply refused.

This brutal beating was the direct consequence of that refusal. The Lieutenant Colonel absolutely refused to tolerate a subordinate who actively defied his orders. Labeling this ‘retaliation’ felt almost too emotionally charged; it was a coldly calculated purge. The commander simply wanted to permanently eradicate the insubordinate soldier who refused to play his corrupt games. Furthermore, he sadistically demanded that Gi-hyeon initiate his own voluntary discharge.

Gi-hyeon had stubbornly refused that demand as well. That singular defiance was the entire reason he was currently writhing in the dirt, absorbing the vile spit of his superiors.

The Captain let out a sharp, mocking laugh, tossing the ballpoint pen into the dirt before gesturing for his subordinates to seize Gi-hyeon’s ankle once more.

—Snapping a couple of ligaments should do the trick, right? Enjoy your comfortable discharge, Senior.

The Lieutenant Colonel had clearly promised the Captain a promotion in exchange for his violent services. Once Gi-hyeon—the senior officer blocking the path—was eradicated, the Captain was next in line. Gi-hyeon let out a heavy, defeated sigh. He had desperately fought to survive the grueling torment over the past few months, but the sheer physical and mental exhaustion finally broke him. I can’t do this anymore. He had reached his absolute limit. Military dignity? Officer’s honor? Those pathetic concepts weren’t what Gi-hyeon had ultimately compromised. Therefore, accepting defeat here was the only logical choice.

Witnessing Gi-hyeon suddenly go limp and compliant—a reaction entirely contradictory to the escalating violence—the Captain’s face violently contorted in rage. Brutally seizing Gi-hyeon’s jaw, he snarled.

—Senior. You know, you always——. ——.

“Gasp—!”

“So Gi-hyeon.”

Someone was roughly shaking his shoulder. His eyes burned agonizingly, as if they were literally on fire. The sheer intensity of the ambient mood lighting in the hotel room was excruciating. Despite Gi-hyeon violently scowling against the sudden flood of light, the intruder continued to firmly rub his shoulder.

Fully convinced the intrusion was merely a continuation of the nightmare, Gi-hyeon was preparing to violently shove the attacker away when an achingly familiar, deeply resonant voice broke through the haze.

“You were having another nightmare, so I woke you up. Just open your eyes for a second, ground yourself, and go back to sleep.”

The moment those words registered, all tension violently evaporated from Gi-hyeon’s body. Only then did he realize he had been flexing every single muscle in his body so intensely that he was violently trembling. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the harsh lighting, he found Jo Yeon-oh staring intensely down at him.

Gi-hyeon let out a low, exhausted sigh.

“…When…”

“When did I get here?”

Yeon-oh finished the question for him. When Gi-hyeon offered a weak nod, Yeon-oh released a heavy sigh of his own and began his meticulous recounting.

“It was four hours ago when I spotted you in the lobby, desperately hoped I was hallucinating, and ordered Manager Yoo to confirm it was actually you. It was two and a half hours ago when I received the confirmation and nearly died from a fucking brain aneurysm trying to babysit those absolute garbage VIPs while fully knowing you were hiding up here. It was one hour ago when I was forced to call an endless parade of absolute retards just to track down your exact floor and room number. And it was twenty minutes ago when I broke down the door, fully prepared to murder you, only to find Dr. So peacefully dead to the world, completely oblivious to my misery. So, I got pissed off and took a shower.”

“…I’m exhausted. Stop complaining.”

Completely ignoring the Alpha’s meticulously detailed timeline of suffering, Gi-hyeon rolled over, yanking the duvet entirely over his head. All he had wanted was one single day of absolute isolation, yet the Alpha had relentlessly hunted him down to the bitter end—a terrifyingly Jo Yeon-oh move.

However, Yeon-oh simply crawled right into the bed, settling down right next to him. Judging by the silk pajamas the Alpha was currently wearing, he had undeniably terrorized Manager Yoo into personally delivering his sleepwear. The bastard absolutely refused to wear hotel robes worn by strangers.

“I checked, and they said you ate. I also checked the minibar, and you completely wiped out the beer. So, what exactly was the grand reason for this runaway attempt? Were you just desperately craving hotel room service?”

“Hey. I paid for this room with my own money. You are currently trespassing in a paying guest’s room. Once the weekend is over, I’m going to sue you.”

Having just violently snapped out of a deep sleep, Gi-hyeon’s voice was heavy, hoarse, and cracked at the edges. Watching Gi-hyeon grumble from beneath the covers, Yeon-oh simply shifted onto his side, wrapping a heavy arm entirely around the blanket-burrito to pull him into a secure embrace.

“Go ahead and sue me. I’ve been incredibly pissed off watching my lawyers bleed me dry while doing absolutely nothing all day anyway. Let’s put those bald bastards to work.”

Talking to him is worse than dying. Gi-hyeon simply clamped his mouth shut. Initiating a verbal sparring match with Jo Yeon-oh was a catastrophic mistake from the very beginning. Seeing Gi-hyeon instantly surrender, Yeon-oh let out a soft chuckle.

“You had a nightmare. Let’s just sleep for tonight. I promise I won’t get angry.”

“…”

I’m the one who should be fucking angry. The person who had their desperately needed, deeply anticipated vacation ruthlessly hijacked had every right to be furious, not the psychotic trespasser who had broken into a hotel room just because a few phone calls were ignored. Yet, possessed by sheer, unadulterated audacity, the guilty party was currently magnanimously pardoning Gi-hyeon’s ‘crimes’.

Completely oblivious to the violent string of curses running through Gi-hyeon’s mind, Yeon-oh held him close. Releasing a defeated sigh, Gi-hyeon closed his eyes and spoke with absolute resignation.

“Turn off the lights. And since I didn’t bring any change of clothes, I’m completely naked under here. If you so much as dare to slip under this blanket, I’ll assume you’re finally ready to test out that ‘Betas dating’ concept you find so incredibly repulsive.”

While Gi-hyeon possessed absolutely zero understanding of what ‘Betas dating’ actually entailed, he threw the threat out as a desperate deterrent. Having delivered his ultimatum, Gi-hyeon was immediately violently dragged back under by the crushing weight of his own exhaustion. Between his suppressed carnal urges, his general chronic fatigue, and the brutal psychological toll of the nightmare, his sleep deficit was critical.

From behind him, Jo Yeon-oh mumbled something unintelligible.

“Ah, so you ran away from home because that specific comment pissed you off, my darling.”

Go fuck yourself. Who the hell is your darling.

The Alpha’s amused, teasing tone was infuriating. However, Gi-hyeon possessed absolutely zero energy to retaliate.

He was already dead to the world.

***