"As the omega, you obey me."
"Who said that I should?"
"You're gonna regret saying that."
"Make me."
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Wonwoo had no idea how he ended up in this cold, grey cell. All he remembered was the snide remarks, glowing red eyes, and a whistling beside his ear before something clapped him in the back of the neck, throwing him into a world of darkness, unconsciousness.
Now awaken by the tapping of clean footsteps mixed with the sharp rattle of chains and cell bars, who's noises formed a sort of sadistic yet familiar melody, he had the opportunity to scan his new enclosure.
Enclosures. That's what they'd always be to him. Not even a temporary home. That'd be raising the bar too high and he didn't appreciate that. He'd never call any place home ever again. But at least this new owner had standards.
It was almost luxurious, a million times better compared to the old place: comprising a bed, wardrobe, bathroom and table. All seemingly brand new, which made him wonder if this guy was such a neat freak that he had to make sure even his subordinates use new stuff each time. Especially in... Events that shouldn't be mentioned outright.
His assessment of his surroundings had yet to complete due to his disoriented state, when the one freed beyond these walls stopped right outside, gazing upon him through the metal bars.
"I see you're awake."
"I'm not in the mood to play games, Mingyu."
"That's alpha to you, omega, and you'd do well to keep it that way. There are consequences."
The smirk etched on the alpha's face instantly rubbed Wonwoo the wrong way.
"Consequences my ass..." he muttered bitterly under his breath.
"What was that?"
Feigning ignorance, the alpha cupped his hands around one ear. "What was that? Didn't catch you the first time."
And that was the last straw. Feeling his blood boil, Wonwoo did what his heart told him to do and lost his temper... And all logic.
"I said, what kind of consequences could you even push onto me?"
He pushed himself off the floor, marching over and firmly slammed his hands onto the bars separating the two, gripping them with enough force for the bars to bend slightly while his eyes grew dark with rage.
"Wanna take my virginity? Too bad I lost it long ago. You knew what you were getting into by buying off omegas didn't you. Fuck me to death? You wouldn't be the first to threaten me with that, and you won't be the last either. I'm already nothing, and I have nothing to lose. Whatever your consequences are, they're meaningless to me."
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Shortly after his outburst, Mingyu had left, quoting "he had stuff to do" to explain his sudden departure. But Wonwoo knew better, he was probably off to punish some other omega. He couldn't be the only lowlife in this mansion. And there was no way in hell that the high lord would pick the new, uncooperative omega as his plaything for the day.
As far as he could sense, there weren't any other living things down here apart from himself and the rats that scurried just beyond reach. Even those nasty blighters seemed to have a brighter future than be. At least they weren't living at the mercy of another soul.
Staring up at the bare ceiling, a wave of emotion rushed through him. He'd be stuck here for all eternity.
But at least he wouldn't be alone, it appeared, as the pleading voice of someone echoed down the empty corridor. The cry was accompanied by the clattering of chains against the ground and the sound of someone being dragged across the floor. Sighs and groans of effort from the person dragging as he appeared to be having a hard time.
"Minghaoooooo, please give me another chanceeeee... I promise I won't try to run away again."
"You won't try to run away again. You WILL run away again. How am I supposed to trust your words when you do the same thing after promising not to? Don't think I don't know your little tricks."
"Pleaseeee? We're from the same hometown."
"We aren't from the same hometown. Don't even attempt making us appear close."
When the duo came within sight, Wonwoo noticed the hilarity of the whole situation. The guard was dragging his prisoner by a single leg, which was the source of the dragging, and beside the one being pulled was a heavy metal ball attached to him by a chain. But the fact that the guard was the one who looked unhappy rather than the prisoner was something Wonwoo had never seen in any of his other previous enclosures.
They stopped right outside the enclosure opposite Wonwoo's, Minghao unlocking the door and throwing his captive into it, before shutting the gate and locking it once again.
"Minghaoooooo, Xu Minghaooooo!!"
No answer came, and Jun lay on the floor sighing once in defeat.
"He won't come back for you."
All at once he sat up again, staring around in confusion for the source of the voice. "You're not Minghao."
"Bloody hell, obviously I'm not. Your dude sounds like a chipmunk."
"Don't speak ill of my friend."
"Are you sure he even sees you as a friend?"
"I'm pretty sure."
"If he truly was your friend, he would have let you out of here already. What friend wants to watch their friend suffer? You're too gullible."
While Jun hesitated in responding, Wonwoo gave up on conversation and turned to his side, facing away from the corridor and the annoying omega sitting in another enclosure opposite his, and fell into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, said annoying omega stayed awake the entire night, staring out the barred window at the night sky where not a single star shined, wondering if his new neighbour might just be right. Was it really only a wish on his part that he saw Minghao as a friend?
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
It was in the early hours of the morning that Wonwoo awoke, and immediately sensed something was amiss. Glancing around, he didn't notice anything out of place, until he peered into the corridor.
The cell door opposite his own was left slightly ajar. And within, the only living soul, or rather used to be living soul, in that room was a lone yellow rose lying on the table.
Wonwoo immediately knew what happened.
"MINGHAOOOO!!!"
A sudden thud from the stairwell at the end of the corridor alerted Wonwoo to the fact that the guard was coming. "Ow."
"WHAT THE HELL WHY WOULD YOU WAKE ME AT 4AM?!"
"Your prisoner has escaped."
It took a second for the guard to analyse the situation.
"Oh fuck, Junhui again. Thanks for alerting me newbie."
Minghao sent an alert to the rest of the guards, who immediately sent out a search patrol for the runaway. Within minutes, they dragged an extremely beaten up, disheveled Junhui back to his cell.
"Minghaoooo, I thought we were besties-"
"That was just YOUR hallucination and what YOU wish. It's never gonna happen."
The guard left in a huff, and Junhui turned to glare at Wonwoo.
"I heard it was you who informed them about me. Why can't you mind your own fucking business?!"
"You think I can just sit by and watch you leave? You're breaking the rules, I have every right to report you. Also, you'd know better than to argue since deep down you know I'm right. That's final."
Wonwoo turned to the side and attempted to fall asleep once again, but was plagued by pesky thoughts so annoying he could not force his mind to shut down.
Just because Junhui was able to escape and he couldn't...
Was he being selfish by reporting the other omega's escape?
(y'all can comment to vote on this line whether he was being selfish or not. It doesn't affect the story, I just wanted to do this for fun :D)
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Meanwhile, the omega in the cell opposite was being plagued similarly by pesky thoughts, and not just those, but also an unfulfilled wish.
"Junhui hyung, I miss my brother..."
"I'm really sorry. At least you have someone you miss, I don't have anyone."
"No, it's worse if you have someone to miss. You spend every day worrying whether they're doing alright, whether they even remember you, whether you'll even get to see them again..."
"I don't know what to say, but I hope you'll be reunited again soon."
"Hyung, can you make a promise with me? It doesn't have to be a blood oath, but it'll give me a great relief if you accept."
"Sure, what is it?"
"If I don't make it out of here alive, help me look for my brother. Tell him I sent you, and that he need not look for me. He isn't the best at taking care of himself, and I worry for him."
"Don't speak such bullshit. Of course you'll get out of here alive."
The other sent him a smile, but Junhui hadn't known, that grin held no actual happiness. Behind it was sheer desperation and a fighting spirit for immediate change.
That was the last night Junhui saw his neighbouring cellmate alive. He had awoken in the middle of the night to the cell door wide open, alarms blaring outside, and the growling as an entire pack of wolf guards took on one prisoner.
He could not stand to watch, crawling under the bed and using the pillow to cover his ears, yet it was futile. The cries of pain still made it through the walls of protection he put up for himself.
It was a long night, and by the time the fighting died down, day had broke. Under the rays of sunlight, everything looked worse. He had taken one glance outside and knew he would never unsee that moment for the rest of his life.
The cleaners dragging away the young alpha's mauled and broken body...
Despite having never agreed to the promise, Junhui took it upon himself to fulfil the other's final wish. One way or another, he would find some way to.
But after another botched attempt, that goal seemed too far out of reach.
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The next days passed with no incidents: the two cell neighbours weren't talking, and Junhui hadn't made any more escape attempts, to the delight of Minghao. There was no excitement, many condescending words and too much sexual desire.
Many a time would Mingyu appear, eager to use Wonwoo as a plaything, but the latter never looked eager to be toyed with. Even as a spicy one he wouldn't do. He was too filled with hatred that lust took no place in the omega's heart.
Even Junhui seemed to lack the playful enthusiasm he used to have, forcing Mingyu to turn to the other three omegas, Shua, Kyeom and Vern.
It wasn't that they were bad, per se, but they had a couple... Issues that had to be worked around. Kyeom was a little, um, loud, which made it a torture for pretty much everyone in the place. And well, Shua and Vern had been shipped in from overseas, so while they weren't bad, their grasp of the language could do with improvement.
It wasn't exactly thrilling to have them scream things he couldn't understand-
(I'm exposing my knowledge of this stuff too much I need holy water and jisoos christ)
All in all, the neighbours were not of a particularly amicable sort, till that one night when all of that changed.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
One of Junhui's hobbies was to observe the stars. Seeing the limited number of activities the enclosed rooms could hold, it was already one of the better ones.
Each night, he'd watch for a new twinkle in the moody clouds, and knowing that his old deceased buddy was still watching over him, ensuring his success in locating his brother.
"Why do you keep looking out the window? It's not like there's anything interesting."
Wonwoo broke the silence that the two had sustained over almost a month.
"It might seem uninteresting to you, but it's interesting to me. I have reasons in picking such a hobby."
"And what would that hobby be?"
"I'm looking at the stars."
"What's so interesting about that?"
"..."
Wonwoo slowly glanced down at the floor, instantly feeling bad. It wasn't as though the other had done anything wrong, he was condemning someone for their interest even though he didn't know the other all that well.
"It's because he enjoyed observing the stars."
Slowly, Wonwoo lifted his gaze again.
"Who?"
"The one who once lived in your cell."
He knew he'd regret asking, but he couldn't hold his tongue.
"What happened to him?"
"He's dead."
"I'm sorry."
"But he's the reason why I enjoy looking at the stars now. Every night I'd see him glance fondly out the window, as if he knew they held the key to his freedom. Now that he's gone, I do that for him. Maybe I'll find the key to his freedom for him."
"I had a relative who liked to do that too, but he went missing years ago."
"I'm sorry for your loss..."
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Author's note: I probably will have to continue this in a part 2 sowwy T_T