Chapter 102. Burning Need

Chapter 102: Chapter 102. Burning Need

Chapter 102. Burning Need

Rosa knelt on the cold floor of the hallway, her fingers hovering an inch above Don’s bare, shuddering skin. She stared at his chest and shoulders, her brain completely refusing to process what her eyes were seeing.

"Don?" she whispered, her voice cracking with hesitation. "Don, answer me!"

He didn’t answer. He just let out another deep, guttural groan that vibrated straight through the fllor beneath them.

Her eyes darted back and forth between his agonizing expression and the two glowing marks on his upper body. She was torn between sheer panic for his life and utter bewilderment at the supernatural display unfolding right in front of her. On his left shoulder, the golden phoenix tattoo she wasn’t just a simple design—it was pulsing with a bright, ethereal light, almost like liquid fire moving beneath his skin. But on his right shoulder, a stark, fiery red mark shaped like a fierce wolf was glowing just as intensely, burning like hot embers.

I swear that wasn’t there before. Was it? How could I have missed something like that? she thought frantically, her pulse racing in her throat.

"Don, please," she said, pressing her palms against her knees as she leaned closer despite the fear hammering in her chest. "What is happening to you? Are you hurt? Did that... did that beast do this to you?"

She looked down at his muscular chest, trying so hard not to notice how entirely, undeniably naked he was. But her eyes betrayed her, and a searing blush spread across her face. The sheer absurdity of the moment threatened to overwhelm her. One minute ago, she was locked in her room, praying to God because she thought a terrifying monster was going to break down her door and tear her apart. Now, the monster was gone, the building was dead silent, and Don was lying at her feet in his skin, glowing like a supernatural spectacle.

"Is this a joke?" she muttered under her breath, her fingers trembling as she gently brushed the outer edge of the golden phoenix rune. "Don, wake up! Say something to me!"

He grovelled again, his chest heaving as his muscles tightened so hard his veins stood out. He looked like he was trapped in pure torture, as if something inside him was violently tearing him apart from the inside out.

"Hold on," Rosa panicked, her eyes darting wildly down the dark hallway. "I’ll... I’ll get some water! Or a blanket! Just stay right there, okay? Don’t move!"

Before she could even push herself up off the floor, Don’s entire body jerked violently.

The bright glowing runes on his shoulders snapped shut like a extinguished flame, fading back into dark, silent ink against his skin in less than a second. His agonizing groans cut off instantly.

Don gasped, snapping his eyes wide open. He sat straight up so fast that Rosa shrieked and threw herself backward, landing hard on her hands.

He didn’t look hurt. He didn’t look weak. In fact, he looked completely fine—like he hadn’t just been squirming on the floor in unbearable agony half a second ago.

"What the..." Rosa stammered, staring at him in total shock. "You... you were just..."

Don blinked rapidly, shaking his head as if clearing away smoke. He didn’t even look at her. He didn’t ask if she was alright. He completely neglected her presence as he looked down at his own body.

His eyes went wide.

"What..." Don muttered, his deep baritone suddenly squeaking. He looked down at his bare chest, then down at his completely exposed lap, and finally registered that he didn’t have a single stitch of clothing on.

"Oh, holy shit," Don gasped.

Panicking instantly, he threw both hands down to cover his groin, his face flushing a dark, furious red. He scrambled backward against the wall like a crab, looking frantically around the empty hallway for anything—a towel, a sheet, a curtain—to cover himself up. There was absolutely nothing in sight.

"Turn around!" he barked, his voice sharp and wildly defensive.

"What?!" Rosa squeaked, still frozen on her knees.

"I said turn around! Cover your damn eyes, Rosa!" Don shouted, squeezing his legs together while awkwardly shuffling his hands over his lap.

"Don, I was literally trying to save your life!" Rosa yelled back, though her own face was burning so hot she felt like her skin might melt off.

"Cover your eyes right now!" he barked louder, glaring at her with lethal intensity despite his absurd position.

"Fine! Fine! Jesus!" Rosa snapped, quickly spinning her body around and slapping both palms flat over her face. "I’m not looking! I’m not looking!"

She sat there with her back turned to him, her heart beating a frantic rhythm against her ribs. What was going on with him all of a sudden? He wasn’t ashamed to show her his nakedness days ago when he had got to touch her. Behind her, she could hear the awkward, embarrassed sounds of Don trying to stand up while desperately keeping himself covered with nothing but his bare hands.

"Are you covered?" she demanded, shouting toward the wall.

"No, I’m not covered! I don’t have clothes on, in case you didn’t notice!" Don snapped back, his voice tight and completely flustered.

"Well, it’s not my fault you decided to strip butt-naked in the middle of the hallway!" Rosa shot back, her voice echoing down the corridor.

"I didn’t decide to do anything!" Don growled. She heard his bare feet slap awkwardly against the floor as he tried to shuffle backward toward his room.

"Don, stop moving for one second and talk to me!" Rosa yelled, turning her head slightly while keeping her hands glued over her eyes, peeking through a tiny crack between her fingers. "What just happened out here? What was that noise?"

"Nothing happened," Don said flatly.

His tone had shifted instantly—from panicked and embarrassed to ice-cold and completely shut down.

"Nothing?!" Rosa gasped, infuriated by his answer. "Don, the entire building was shaking! My windows literally smashed inward into a million pieces! I thought a giant lion was outside my door trying to eat me alive!"

"It was just a mild earthquake," Don replied, his voice completely devoid of emotion. "The pipes in the building rattled. The glass broke. It happens."

"A mild earthquake?!" Rosa lowered one hand just enough to glare at his back, though she quickly snapped it back over her eyes when he shifted. "Don! I heard groaning! Heavy, terrifying groaning! And then I came out here and found you suffering on the floor!"

"I tripped," he said coldly.

"You tripped?!" Rosa yelled, her jaw dropping behind her palms. "You tripped and lost all your clothes?! And what about your arms, Don?!"

Don froze for a fraction of a second. "What about my arms?"

"They were glowing! Bright, blinding light!" Rosa shouted, her frustration boiling over. "Your phoenix tattoo was glowing gold, and you had a giant red wolf on your other shoulder that looked like liquid fire! I saw it! I touched it!"

"You’re imagining things, Rosa," Don said, his voice dropping into a harsh, distant register. "You were panicked, you were terrified, and your mind is playing tricks on you."

"I am NOT imagining things!" Rosa screamed back, her patience snapping entirely. "Don’t you dare stand there and lie to me right now! I know what I saw! You were glowing! You were groaning in pain like something was tearing you apart! Were you the thing outside my door?!"

"I said, it’s nothing," Don repeated, harsher this time.

The warmth was completely gone from his voice. He sounded like a total stranger, distant and unreachable, walling himself off behind a thick barrier.

"Mind your own business, Rosa," he added coldly. "Go back to your room and clean up the glass."

"Mind my own business?" Rosa repeated, stunned by his sudden, icy attitude. "Don, I came out here because I thought you were dying! I was terrified for you!"

"Well, don’t be," Don snapped. "I don’t need your concern. And I don’t need you prying into things that don’t concern you."

Rosa felt a sharp sting in her chest at his harsh words, but it was quickly overtaken by a wave of pure, hot fury.

"You complete asshole!" she yelled. "I just prayed for my life thinking a monster was going to devour me, and you’re standing there naked, telling me to mind my own business?!"

Through the cracks between her fingers, she saw Don shuffling rapidly down the dark hallway toward his bedroom door. He was moving with an absurd, duck-walk stride as he tried to keep his front covered with both hands while attempting to maintain a serious, authoritative posture.

"Don! Don’t you dare walk away from me!" she shouted, dropping her hands from her face entirely now that his back was turned.

"This conversation is over," Don said without looking back.

He reached his door, fumbled with the handle using one hand while frantically keeping the other pressed over his waist, shoved the door open, and slipped inside.

SLAM!

The heavy wooden door crashed shut with enough force to rattle the cracked walls again. A second later, the sharp sound of the deadbolt clicking into place echoed loudly down the empty hallway.

"Don!" Rosa ran down the hall and slammed her fist against the wood. "Don, open this door right now! You owe me an explanation!"

Silence.

"Don! I know you can hear me!" she yelled, banging her knuckles against the door frame. "You can’t just glow like a glowstick, smash my windows, stand naked in the hall, and then pretend like nothing happened!"

Inside his room, there was complete, utter silence. Not a single footstep sounded. Not a single word came back.

"Unbelievable," Rosa hissed, taking a step back and glaring at the lock.

She stood in the hallway for a long time, her chest heaving as adrenaline surged through her veins. Her knuckles throbbed from punching the heavy door, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the storm raging inside her head.

He had dismissed her like she was some crazy, irrational girl making up stories. He had looked right toward her with that ice-cold, unreadable expression and lied straight to her face.

A mild earthquake? Tripped? Imagining things?

"Does he honestly think I’m that stupid?" she whispered to herself, her fists clenching tightly at her sides.

She looked back down the dimly lit corridor toward her own room. Her door was still hanging half-open. The sheer terror that had gripped her just ten minutes ago—the trembling, the tears, the desperate prayers—had completely evaporated, burnt away by pure, unadulterated agitation.

She couldn’t understand him. None of this made any sense. Tim was supernatural—she had already accepted that madness. But Don? Don was supposed to be normal. Don was supposed to be the grounded one. Yet she had just felt the weird heat radiating off his skin. She had seen those glowing runes with her own eyes. She had felt the golden light vibrating beneath her fingertips.

He was hiding something massive. Something secret, something dangerous, and something that involved whatever had just shaken this entire building.

Tim’s words flashed in her mind. This couldn’t be ignored anymore. Don was truly hiding something massive.

"You think you can just shut me out, Don?" Rosa muttered, glaring fiercely at his locked door. Her jaw set in a hard, uncompromising line. "You think you can just act cold and pretend none of this ever happened?"

She scoffed, running a trembling hand through her messy hair and shaking her head.

"Not a chance," she whispered, her voice laced with fierce, dangerous resolve. "I don’t care how cold you act. I don’t care how many doors you lock. I’m going to figure out what you are."

Turning on her heel, she marched back down the hall toward her room, ready to sweep up the broken glass, her fear completely gone—replaced by a burning need for the truth.