Trapped In A Novel As The Breeding Mate For Four Powerful Alphas

"You should've stayed down."

Ki-hoon's sharp words caught all their attention, including mine and I frowned.

What was that supposed to mean?

"On the floor," he clarified, still watching me like I was a puzzle that had suddenly changed pieces. "You would've made it out clean. But you stood up. You walked toward the door. That was stupid."

Ah, he was talking about that incident. So... He was watching me, after all. He must've seen me first before any of them did and since he didn't hold any particular interest in me, he wished I would make it out unscathed and yet... I landed myself in this mess by opening the large door that happened to creak.

I opened my mouth wanting to say something, but nothing came out. So, I lowered my head again and continued eating, just to fill the silence.

"Look at that," Seo-Jun said, sounding delighted. "Is he shy or just broken?"

He knew something the rest didn't, so why wasn't he saying anything? Why was he keeping silent like he didn't know what Ki-hoon and I had done?

Was this fun for him? Probably. He was an asshole with a lot of strange delights, after all.

"Neither," Jin-Yeok answered, eyes narrowing slightly as he gazed at me. "He's conserving energy."

"Hm?" Min-Cheol tilted his head.

"I think he's the kind of guy who's used to disappearing. It takes less effort than defending yourself. So when you drag him into the spotlight like this..." Jin-Yeok grinned. "He freezes and just lets it happen. And then he survives it."

I clenched the spoon in my hand and silently gritted my teeth. I hated how accurate that was.

It was like I was a chess piece on a board and the next move... They knew very well what it would be because I had only two choices.

I was nothing but a pawn anyway, so those two choices, they've seen through it and find it amusing because there was nothing I would gain out of it.

So, instead of making a choice and taking the next step, I decided to stay still.

A pawn that doesn't move is less exposed to danger, you know. But it doesn't mean the danger won't come to me.

It was risky.

They kept talking, mostly to each other and sometimes to me, but I barely registered the words they were saying. My brain was on a three-second delay, too focused on pretending that I was alright, to process that this was completely abnormal.

The world felt unreal. My movement didn't belong to me, like I was a freaking robot being controlled by a remote. But worse than a robot, I felt like a ghost sitting in someone else's body.

And maybe I wanted to be a ghost, if it meant I could fade through the cafeteria wall and escape the weight of their gazes.

All of them.

Those jealous and envious students who were chopping off my head with their glares.

The hostility was over the roof, I tell ya.

It was only a matter of time before they actually dragged me out and beat me to a pulp.

This was madness.

Since the Alphas weren't paying attention to me anymore, I decided this was the perfect time to make a run for it.

Though there was no way they wouldn't notice I was leaving, I had to take at least one step.

I got up, as soon as I could feel the sensation of my legs again and said one word.

"Restroom."

I didn't wait for approval or rejection and quickly turned around to leave. They wouldn't stop me when they knew I was going to the restroom, right?

I managed to escape but I could feel their eyes glued on me the whole time. So, I didn't exactly escape. In fact, they let me go.

A running mouse is a fun mouse, they'd say.

Min-Cheol hummed happily, his chin resting on his palm.

"He eats quite a lot." He said, looking at the two trays that I had unconsciously devoured.

Ahem, did I tell you I have a habit of stress eating?

And then, Jin-Yeok added,

"He'll warm up to me eventually. I'm very good at making people… responsive."

Seo-Jun's red eyes were sharp despite his grin and he said,

"He didn't flinch when I touched him. That's rare. But this is fun, haha. I want to see how far I can go before he breaks."

Ki-hoon stood up and stared at them, before looking at the door I had escaped through, and murmured.

"This school is going to eat him alive."

The rest of the day passed like crazy. It was as if someone kept ringing a bell next to my ear and creating a disturbance in not just my thought process, but my body as a whole.

I couldn't tell what happened in any of my classes because of this disturbance from their stares, their glares, and their sneers.

My notebook was blank, just like my existence at the moment.

Then, I played back the scene at the cafeteria.

And I'm not talking about the conversations cause they were pretty much blurry to me.

It was those eyes.

The way they all looked at me with razor-sharp eyes that were ready to pierce through my facade.

They stared, like I was the most interesting thing they had ever come across. Like I was something to pursue and if they couldn't pursue me, they would rather see me broken.

Dangerous, I tell you.

I didn't want to be interesting.

After classes were over, I waited.

I stayed behind in the classroom until the hallway chatter grew distant as all the students made their way back to the dorms.

I wasn't going to give anyone another chance to trip me, dump soup on me, or drag me by the collar again. I'd had enough spotlights for one lifetime. If there was no one around on my way back to the dorms then I wouldn't get into any unnecessary scuffles.

By the time I left, the sun was already setting. It was quite a beautiful sight but it was too bad I couldn't enjoy this sight properly cause of my troubled mind.

I swiped my hair back a bit, looking at my nearly transparent reflection at the window, and then sighed, letting it fall back and cover me up.

Even this did not help. Was there any need to keep up the dull wallflower look?

As soon as I thought that, I slapped my cheeks lightly, trying to wake myself up.

I just couldn't afford to have thoughts like that.

It was thanks to my hidden appearance that I didn't have more unnecessary trouble, so this was for the best.