The walls of NOX's office seemed narrower that day. The morning light was harsh, almost cruel. Aru flipped through reports without really reading them.
Kio hadn't shown up. No messages, no calls. I tried to stay calm.
But at noon, a rumor broke: an anonymous omega had claimed to have been seen, pressed up against Kio, in a private bar.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered
but fear had already settled in his gut. When Kio finally arrived, late that evening, Aru was waiting for him.
"We need to talk." Kio raised an eyebrow, tired.
"I know what you're going to say…"
"Then say it before I explode." Kio sighed, leaned against the wall.
"Nothing happened. But he touched me. He was in heat. And I hesitated, Aru. Just for a second." Aru's heart cracked.
"Did you almost give in?"
"Yes. And I hate myself for it."
There was no crisis. Just silence. A video. A brutal estrangement. The following days were glacial. As when they first separated, they passed each other without seeing each other.
Aru bore her pain in silence. Kio, on the other hand, was sinking into guilt. The journalists, sensing the change in the atmosphere, were becoming agitated. Yumi tried to intervene, again.
"You're going to lose everything for a moment of doubt? You're stronger than that."
But this time, even she felt the cracks ran deeper. Kio tried to write a letter. Aru, on the other hand, took refuge in work, to the point of exhaustion. One night, Kio waited for her outside her door. He had been drinking, a little too much.
"I'm sorry, Aru. I didn't do anything. But I betrayed your gaze." Aru looked at him for a long time.
"It's not what you didn't do that destroys me, Kio. It's what you almost did."
And he closed the door, slowly. The next day, Aru disappeared. Without warning. Not at the office, not at the villa. Not even a message for Yumi. Kio panicked.
He looked for him, called their contacts, searched the places where Aru usually retreats. Nothing.
Two days later, he found him in an isolated cabin near the mountains. Aru opened the door without surprise. His eyes were red, his features drawn.
"I needed silence," he said simply.
"And I need you. Even if you hate me." Aru closed his eyes.
"I don't hate you. But I'm afraid. Of you. Of myself. Of what we're becoming." Kio moved closer, gently resting his forehead against Aru's.
"So we'll stop becoming. And start being again."
And in that cabin, they collapsed against each other. Not to forget, but to rebuild. Slowly. Together. The cabin was silent, outside of time. The days passed like a Lenten dream.
Aru and Kio slept in the same bed, but at a distance. They woke up together, but still avoided spontaneous gestures.
One evening, Kio was preparing the meal. He placed the plate in front of Aru, hesitant.
"Do you remember the first time I cooked for you? You said it was intangible." I smiled sadly.
"Because it was true."
A silence, then a laugh, sincere. A small moment, fragile, but true. They ate. They talked.
They listened to each other, again. And sometimes, their fingers brushed against the table, hesitant. It was the beginning of a return.
It was night, and a storm beat against the windows of the chalet. In bed, Aru turned over, her eyes slowly opening.
"Kio, are you asleep?"
"No. A silence."
"Do you know what hurt me the most?"
It's not that you almost gave in… It's that I wondered if I would have been strong enough in your place. Kio turns too, their faces inches apart.
"You've always made me invincible."
"I'm not. Especially not when it comes to you."
A breath. One hand searching for the other under the sheets. And there, in the darkness, they connect again. Not in a hurry. But in a burning need to mend the cracks, skin against skin, breath against breath.
They made love without words, without violence. Just to say: I'm still here. The next morning, Aru was already outside, walking in the snow, hands in his pockets. Kio watched him through the window, a cup in his hand.
When Aru comes home, he takes him directly into his arms. No more distance. No more holding back.
"We're going home tomorrow," Kio says.
"I know."
"And then... we face everything together. No more running away. No more doubt."
"Except whether you're going to cook weird things again," Aru murmured teasingly.
They laughed together, for the first time in weeks. And as they left the cabin, they were no longer the two broken men they had been when they entered it.
They were two alphas standing together, united, bonded stronger than ever. The return to the city was brutal. As soon as they got out of their car, a pack of journalists were waiting for them. Cameras, flashes, microphones outstretched…
Their reconciliation hadn't yet been announced, but the rumor was already spreading. Aru grabbed Kio's hand. This time, he didn't let go.
They walked through the crowd together. Silent, but united. When they arrived at NOX headquarters, Yumi was waiting for them, looking relieved.
"You look like two men who've just returned from a war." Aru replied calmly,
"Because that's exactly what it was. In the meeting room, a special board meeting awaits them. Some members wanted to remove them from leadership. Too many personal matters. Too many scandals."
But Kio stood up, straight, dignified.
"What we've been through makes us more capable of leading, not less. We know what it's like to fall. And especially what it's like to get back up."
Aru emphasized her words with a confident look.
The room remained silent. No vote was taken. Their presence was imperative once again. They settled into a new apartment. Not in Kio's villa, too big, too full of memories.
But in a more modest apartment that Aru had bought in secret, months ago.
"I was waiting for the right moment to show it to you," he said.
Kio feels good there. Far from the cameras, the servants, the cold walls. There was the smell of wood, a full library, plants that someone had actually watered.
"It's more like me than anything we had before," Kio murmured, running his fingers over a frame.
That evening, they lay down in the narrow bed. Kio rested his head on Aru's chest.
"I missed you, even when you were next to me." Aru ran his fingers through his hair.
"We never let go of each other. Even if we get lost along the way, we'll find each other again. Always."