A Love Too Sharp To Hold

Lin Carter never expected his life to spiral into a lie he couldn’t wake up from. At 25, he’s used to chaos—shuffled into a new family after his mother’s remarriage, scraping by in a semi-basement apartment, and bearing the scars of being treated as an outsider. He thought he was just an ordinary Beta, too unremarkable to be noticed, too clever to be caught in anything serious. Then came Cyrus Knox. Cyrus is everything Lin isn’t—popular, refined, and admired at Korea University’s prestigious business school. With his perfect manners and disarming charm, he’s the golden Alpha everyone dreams of. But when Lin accidentally stumbles upon a scene he was never meant to see—Cyrus standing among a pile of bloodied bodies, weapon in hand and a smile that spoke of something far beyond sanity—his reality begins to crack. Panicked, Lin runs. He doesn’t make it far. The next morning, Lin wakes up burning with fever and haunted by fragments of the night. To protect himself, he clings to the only shield he can find—a lie. He pretends not to remember anything. Not the bodies. Not Cyrus. Not the fear clawing at his throat. But Cyrus is already two steps ahead. “You don’t remember?” Cyrus says, his voice tender, eyes shining with fabricated concern. “That’s so unfortunate. We were lovers. Engaged. Living together. We’ve been planning our wedding since last year.” Lin is stunned, unable to breathe. His words are twisted, his identity rewritten, and his past replaced with a fabricated love story. And no one—not friends, classmates, or professors—seems to suspect anything is wrong. What’s worse is that Lin’s body is changing. He’s no longer a Beta, but a recessive Omega, one of the rarest and most vulnerable subtypes. And Cyrus, whose control over Lin deepens each day, treats the transformation like a gift. His affection is constant, suffocating. His harassment is tender, but unhinged. He invades Lin’s space, cooks him meals, strokes his hair—and threatens him with silence behind that gentle smile. To survive, Lin does the unthinkable: he plays along. He smiles. He nods. He pretends to be fooled by Cyrus’s sweet lies. But inside, he’s watching, planning, desperate for a way out. Yet every touch from Cyrus feels like a brand, every whispered word sticks to his skin, and Lin finds himself losing the line between fear and desire. What happens when the monster becomes the only one who holds you? Days stretch into weeks, and Lin begins to forget what’s real. The fake memories feel too detailed. Cyrus’s eyes—too sincere. And when Lin starts to suspect something more is happening within his body—something irreversible—it feels like his final chance to escape is closing in. If he’s pregnant, it’s over. In a world where roles define your worth, and love can be weaponized, Lin Carter must find a way to escape not just the man who trapped him—but the version of himself who no longer wants to run. But the deeper you fall, the sharper love cuts.