Alphas Twins ➸ TaekookV ✓

- Fifty-second -

Botan was right when she said they would starve them until they broke. With no windows, the dungeons were plunged into darkness, and as a result, Jungkook had no idea what time it was, or even how long they'd been here. It could have been days or hours. Messing with their heads to drive them mad was certainly part of the plan. And he was terrified that it would work.

The atmosphere was gloomy. Nobody dared speak, people huddled in all four corners of the place. It was filthy and damp, so after a few hours they began to hear coughing fits everywhere. The air was toxic and unbreathable, so it didn't take long for Jungkook to join them. He knew that his omega constitution made him naturally more fragile than the others, but he hoped that wouldn't stop him from holding on. He was afraid of being one of the first to crack.

However, and he had to say fortunately, he was not alone in this, unlike some of the others. Botan stood beside him like a soldier on guard. She hadn't moved a millimetre since he'd woken up here. He didn't know whether seeing her so alert should reassure him, because she would see the slightest danger approaching, or worry him, because it literally meant they were in danger.

He was starving. The hours were getting longer, his head was spinning, and he was really losing track of everything. Sometimes he'd stare at someone and the next thing he knew, that person had moved a few centimetres: he'd fallen asleep for a few minutes, without even realising it. Fear was tugging at his insides more and more, mixing with hunger to create an abominable cocktail.

Jungkook was convinced that at least a day had passed when the first meal (and certainly the only one for a long time) arrived. A simple bowl with some dubious broth in it, not even a stump of bread or a glass of water. Just enough to keep them alive, nothing more. But at this level, he wasn't going to balk. If he wanted to survive, he'd have to take whatever they gave him, however little it was.

It took him barely thirty seconds to finish his bowl, so meagre was the quantity of liquid. However, when he turned to Botan, he saw that she still hadn't moved, and that her bowl was untouched.

"Botan, you have to eat."

She shook her head slightly.

"I'm not hungry."

If he'd had the energy, Jungkook would have sighed. But talking was already asking a lot of him.

"We don't know when we'll get the chance to eat again. You mustn't waste this one."

"I'll be out of here before they bring us another one of their infamous meals."

Jungkook discreetly swept his gaze around the room, and what he had feared had indeed happened: everyone's eyes were riveted on Botan's dish. Not to mention that they were both among the few omegas locked up here: most of them were betas... and alphas. If some of them decided to pounce on them for this dish, there was nothing they could do about it. In critical moments of survival like these, it was survival of the strongest that prevailed.

He and Botan both had complicated but different pasts. Jungkook knew what it was like to have to fight for the right to survive. A bowl like this was gold in the situation they were in. And he had no intention of letting Botan sabotage herself. They would get out of here together.

"You're not getting out of here without energy. And believe me, the alphas around us are only waiting for one thing: to steal our food, even if it means letting us die. They think we're easy prey because we're omegas. So we'll be their victims sooner or later, if we give them the chance."

Botan narrowed her eyes and looked at each person in the dungeon. If Jungkook had learned one thing from this woman, it was that she was very proud. She couldn't stand being looked down on because she was an omega, and even less so when it came to an alpha.