All night. The words sent a little thrill through me, though I couldn't quite name why. I finally settled on a film I'd heard about years ago but never gotten around to watching — something about musicians, about creativity, about finding your voice. It seemed fitting, somehow.
"Good choice." Jin-ho said quietly as the opening credits began, and I felt a small flush of pleasure at his approval, warmth spreading through my chest.
Jae-won emerged from the kitchen with a tray of mugs, steam curling from each one. He distributed them with quiet efficiency — hot chocolate for me and Tae-min, tea for Jin-ho and Min-jun, coffee for Hwan and himself.
"You remembered." I said, surprised, wrapping my hands around the warm mug, the ceramic smooth against my palms. "That I like hot chocolate."
"I remember everything." Jae-won said simply, settling into the remaining space on the sectional, close enough that I could feel the heat of him even without touching, his presence solid and grounding as he lifted his own mug to his lips.
The movie started, but I found it hard to focus on the screen. I was too aware of them — Hwan pressed against my right side, his head gradually migrating from my shoulder to my lap as the film progressed. Tae-min on my left, his arm thrown casually over the back of the couch behind me, occasionally stealing sips of my hot chocolate when he thought I wasn't looking. Min-jun on the floor, his fingers absently tracing patterns on my ankle where the blanket had slipped. Jin-ho in his armchair, his book abandoned, watching the movie with the same intensity he brought to everything. Jae-won at the end of the couch, his handresting on my foot beneath the blanket, thumb rubbing slow circles through my sock.
Five points of contact. Five alphas surrounding me. It should have felt overwhelming. Suffocating, even. My mother's voice echoed in my memory — warnings about alphas who consumed, who demanded, who took until there was nothing left.
This didn't feel like that.
Warm,my omega murmured contentedly.Held. All of them. Perfect.
Halfway through the movie, the positions had shifted without my noticing. Hwan had fallen asleep in my lap, his breathing slow and even, golden hair spilling across my thighs. Tae-min had slumped against my shoulder, not quite asleep but close, his eyes half-lidded as he watched the screen. Min-jun had turned around at some point, his head now resting against my knee, and I found my fingers tangled in his hair without remembering how they got there. Jin-ho had moved from the armchair to the floor, leaning against the couch near my feet, his shoulder pressed against Jae-won's calf.
Jae-won had shifted closer, his arm now stretched along the back of the couch behind me, not quite touching but there. Present. Protective.
"Is this okay?" Jae-won asked quietly, his voice pitched low enough not to disturb the others, his dark eyes searching my face in the flickering light of the screen, his expression carefully neutral but his attention absolute.
"Yes." The word came out soft, certain, surprising me with its steadiness. "It's... nice."
"Nice." Jae-won repeated, something warm flickering in his expression, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly, a hint of amusement threading through his voice. "That's a start."
"It's more than nice." I admitted, the honesty surprising even me, the words slipping out before I could second-guess them, myvoice barely above a whisper. "It's... I didn't know it could feel like this."
"Like what?" Jae-won's hand finally made contact, settling on my shoulder with gentle weight, his thumb brushing against my collarbone, the touch sending warmth radiating down my spine.
"Safe." I said, and felt the word settle between us like something precious, fragile and important. "Being surrounded by alphas. I always thought it would feel like being trapped. Like drowning. But this..."
"This?" Jae-won prompted when I trailed off, his voice patient, his attention absolute, his dark eyes never leaving my face.
"This feels like floating." I finished, and watched his expression shift — surprise, then something deeper, something that looked almost like reverence, his breath catching slightly.
"We would never trap you." Jae-won said, his voice low and fierce despite its softness, his grip on my shoulder tightening slightly, his jaw tensing with the intensity of his conviction. "Never cage you. You're not a possession to be kept, Keira. You're..."
He stopped, struggling for words, his jaw working, his eyes searching mine like the answer might be written there.
"We're what?" I asked, genuinely curious, tilting my head to look at him properly, studying the sharp angles of his face in the dim light.
"You're the center." Jae-won finally said, his dark eyes intense on mine, his voice rough with emotion he rarely let show. "Not someone we circle like predators. Someone we gather around like... like warmth. Like home. Does that make sense?"
It did. More than I could express.
"My mother used to say alphas only knew how to take." I said quietly, the words feeling strange on my tongue — old fears spoken aloud for the first time, my voice wavering slightly. "That bonds were chains, not connections. That I should run from any alpha who wanted to claim me."
"Your mother was hurt." Jae-won's voice was gentle, not defensive, his thumb resuming its soothing circles on my shoulder. "Her experience was real. But it doesn't have to be yours."
"I'm starting to believe that." I admitted, and felt something shift in my chest — a wall crumbling, slowly, brick by brick. The movie continued, but I'd lost track of the plot entirely. It didn't matter. What mattered was this — the weight of Hwan in my lap, the warmth of Tae-min against my side, the softness of Min-jun's hair under my fingers, the solid presence of Jin-ho nearby, the steady comfort of Jae-won's hand on my shoulder.
Pack,my omega whispered.
By the time the credits rolled, I was fighting to keep my eyes open. The hot chocolate had warmed me from the inside out, and the combined heat of five alpha bodies had turned me boneless and drowsy.
"Bed." Jae-won said, the word somewhere between suggestion and command, his voice rumbling through the quiet room as he shifted to sit up straighter.
