Clap - 23

“Ha⋯⋯.”

Jaemin let out a sigh that sounded like a laugh. Had he really been sitting in this ice water for an hour? Crazy. Ignorant in a strange place. His affection for the subject of the experiment was enough to applaud.

Jaemin shakily stood up from the bathtub, clutching his body with trembling hands. When he opened his eyes, the bathtub that had felt cool moments ago became uncomfortable. Ichan’s kindness was annoying. He wanted to get out of there immediately.

However, regardless of what he wanted, the two people who disapproved of everything Jaemin wanted held him back by each arm. How unpleasant that was. Jaemin felt like screaming in frustration.

“Your body is still warm. You need to stay longer.”

“⋯⋯I don’t want to.”

“Even if Jaemin doesn’t want to, we have no choice.”

Ichan hugged Jaemin’s waist and pulled him back into the tub. He felt Ichan’s firm chest against his back.

“I’ll give you a sedative, so sleep more.”

Ihyun took out a syringe with only one finger. Jaemin didn’t ask what the medicine was. Even if it was poison, Jaemin had no right to refuse.

The needle piercing through his skin felt strangely clear. The medication started flowing through his veins. His eyelids became heavy in an instant. Jaemin weakly collapsed into Ichan’s arms.

It felt strange to be embraced and fall asleep in someone’s arms for the first time.

***

For several days, as Ihyun had said, Jaemin’s body temperature fluctuated. Sometimes it soared as if boiling, and other times it dropped to the point where his bones felt cold. At those times, he shivered under hot packs, near the heater, and wrapped in thick blankets.

His body was definitely changing. Whether the destination was Omega or death, there was undoubtedly a significant change.

With his body temperature changing haphazardly, Ihyun and Ichan never left Jaemin’s side. They cared for him like a dying calf.

It was the same when he slept. They frequently woke up to check his temperature, recorded something in an unknown language, and administered medication. Initially, it was very annoying and cumbersome, but eventually, Jaemin got used to it. He even slept soundly when the hormone injections followed.

Jaemin slept day and night, constantly craving sleep like a newborn. Escaping into sleep to avoid the terrible situation and pain was no different from a herbivore fleeing in front of a sleeping predator.

And suddenly, when he came to his senses, he faced a quiet room.

“⋯⋯.”

Jaemin rolled his eyes. A dim light was on in the dark room. Not knowing if it was day or night without windows, he could tell it was deep dawn. Ichan was sleeping leaning against the bed frame. A little further away, Ihyun was lying on the sofa. He also seemed to be asleep with his eyes closed.

It wasn’t a peaceful sleep. Seeing the scattered pens, syringes, pills, medical books, and so on, it seemed like they had fallen asleep due to exhaustion.

Jaemin stared at them blankly for a while. These hardships just to get an Omega. It was absurd, annoying, frustrating, resentful. All the negative emotions flooded in.

Jaemin spent a long time staring into space, wasting time meaninglessly. Then, he wriggled his toes hidden under the blanket. Surprisingly, his feet felt light. No, they had felt light for the past few days. He hadn’t noticed the pain, as if his blood was boiling.

Slowly and carefully, Jaemin folded his legs and felt around under the blanket. Lo and behold, he couldn’t feel the heavy shackles that had always gnawed at his ankles.

Jaemin took a deep breath. Two kidnappers who had let their guard down. Unshackled ankles. Dark dawn. This was a sign and an opportunity sent by the heavens.

Jaemin slowly pushed aside the blanket. It was a noisy posture, clenching his buttocks with his four legs. He crawled to the edge of the bed, trying to get as far away as possible from Ichan without him noticing.

The rustling of the blanket sounded as loud as thunder. Even though he had only moved a meter, sweat poured down his spine.

Jaemin even managed to throw his feet under the bed. He glanced at Ichan, who was still asleep. He crawled down to the bed, swallowing dry saliva. Then he lay flat on the floor. Nausea rose from the hormones churning in his stomach, but he couldn’t even breathe. He felt like a herbivore fleeing in front of a sleeping predator.