The warmth of the bed felt unfamiliar to Shawn Geller.
He couldn't quite place what was making his body feel so relaxed, so deeply satisfied that he had no urge to even open his eyes and see what lay behind that feeling.
But while his body wanted to sink deeper into it, his mind refused to rest until it understood why.
And the moment it did, he sat up abruptly.
The weight resting on his chest slipped off to the side, and a low groan came from the person beside him.
It was a young man- blond hair falling over nearly half his face, his upper body bare down to his stomach.
His frame balanced somewhere between feminine and masculine, his skin smooth but marked with faint hickeys, unmistakable evidence of what had taken place.
Shawn pushed himself out of bed. Only when he was standing did he realize he was completely naked.
"Get up and leave," he said, his voice still rough from sleep but carrying enough weight to make it clear he meant it.
The person only groaned, then lazily turned to face Shawn, his movements slow and unbothered.
When he spoke, his voice carried that same careless ease. "For the last time, stop pretending you don't like that I keep showing up. You let me stay over last night, you never do that. Don't you think that counts as progress?" he said. "I won't keep offering this, so let's just make it simple. Friends with benefits. I know you don't want anything emotional, no commitment, so I won't ask for any of that."
"I'm going to the bathroom," Shawn said, as if he hadn't even heard what the person had just said, already heading toward the small bathroom in the room. "And when I get back, you better be gone, and never show up here again."
The young man's brows arched in amazement, a faint smirk playing on his lips, "How are you able to say that with a straight face? Seriously, you should at least feel ashamed of your own words. You tell me never to show up every time, but the moment I show up you're all over me. Wil..."
"Leave." Shawn cut the boy off with a single word, without turning back.
His voice slipped out as a growl against his will, and with that, he knew for certain that his eyes were glowing now. He couldn't let the boy see, no one should- because if they did, it would surely be the end of him.
"Okay, fine… I'll leave," the young man said, getting up and gathering his scattered clothes as Shawn stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.
He hated himself in that moment, especially knowing that stubborn stranger had been right- he had told him never to show up again, but every time he did, he couldn't stop himself from pressing close, losing himself, and forgetting every promise he'd made when he returned to the city.
He had broken the rules again and again, and now he was angrier at himself than ever.
The plan had been simple. After six years in hiding, he had returned wearing a hyper-realistic mask that gave him a completely new face.
He had intended to live quietly among humans, avoid attachments that might expose him, and reclaim the normal life that had been stolen from him, though deep down he knew it would never be the same.
If he were ever exposed, he would die just like everyone else in his group had.
Every second of his life after surviving, Shawn had wished he could take down the people who had ruined them.
But who was he kidding?
Powerful people like that... how could he possibly fight them?
All he could do was live in secret and take whatever small pieces life gave him. He was lucky just to be breathing, and for now, that had to be enough.
The memory of the day he was stripped of his humanity was still fresh in his mind, as though it had happened seconds ago.
All he had ever wanted was to be a great soldier. But when war broke out with a neighboring country, the so-called "great couple"...the governor and mayor of Haven City decided they wanted to create heroic soldiers for it.
They started a secrete medical research project aimed at making soldiers stronger, faster and better.
They told the troops it was just antibiotics and steroids to protect them during the war. No one was given a choice, the injections were mandatory.
After Shawn and the others received the serum, they immediately noticed heightened senses and faster reflexes.
At first, everything seemed perfect. They won the war, and countries around the world both honored and feared their nation. But it didn't take long for things to go terribly wrong.
The side effects became uncontrollable, and it turned out the researchers hadn't accounted for everything.
All the injected soldiers began to transform into uncontrollable creatures. Animalistic features appeared: fangs, claws, golden glowing eyes.
Their strength became impossible to contain.
The government secretly ordered them all to be eliminated. They lured the soldiers into a single house under the pretense of discussing an antidote, promising a way to return them to normal, but it was a lie.
Once everyone was inside, the building was set on fire, consuming them all.
Shawn managed to escape. And apart from one female doctor who had been hiding with him, he didn't know if anyone else had been lucky enough to survive.
The public was told of a tragic fire that claimed the country's "great soldiers." The story circulated for a while before fading, but no one ever learned the truth about the injections.
"Fuck!" Shawn cursed, his voice harsh, as memories of the past clawed at him, threatening to make him lose control.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself into control, and after a long struggle to regain composure, he swallowed hard and forced himself into a black shirt and trousers.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror, hating the flawless but fake face he now wore.
He checked himself over, wondering if he even looked like a teacher. He had used his powers to manipulate his way into a job as a high school teacher, despite never having gone to college.
And today was Monday, he was already late. First impressions mattered.
Using his heightened reflexes, he moved through the abandoned streets at impossible speed, reaching the school gate in no time.
Once inside, the principal assigned him a guide teacher to show him around, and eventually, he was led to his first class.
The moment he stepped into the classroom, a ripple of gasps and quiet whispers spread among the students, mostly from the girls.
It wasn't surprising, he had been in high school once, and everyone knew how seniors like these thrived on drama.
At eighteen, they already carried themselves like adults... testing boundaries, flirting with danger, and imagining they could charm their way around teachers like him.
The air seemed charged with that delicate, thrilling spark of forbidden attraction.
"That's not a very good first impression for our new teacher," the guide teacher said, silencing the room.
Just as she was about to introduce Shawn, the door swung open without a knock, and the young man Shawn had been with less than an hour ago in bed, walked in.
Shawn froze, his heart stuttering to a stop. His eyes locked onto the young man, whose reaction mirrored his own.
"Mr. Jean Green," the guide teacher said, "lucky timing, you've arrived just as I was about to introduce your new History teacher. Come in and take your seat." Her tone carried more respect for Jean than he likely gave her himself.
"Mrs. Smith, how many times have I told you? Just call me Jean," he said casually, but Shawn could hear the rapid beat of his heart, matching his own.
~Twenty-three years old. Bank employee. Hadn't he said all that? And now… he was a high school student?
Shawn's mind raced.
Had he just slept with a high sch...?
Mrs. Smith leaned in and whispered, "Not many people know him for his safety, he's the governor and mayor's son. Whatever he does, just… don't mind him. For your own good."
"Oh God…" The words slipped from Shawn's lips in a low murmur, heavy with shock and disbelief.
Apart from being a high school student, he was also the son of the very people who had ripped his humanity from him and stolen his normal life?!
Why did it have to be him?
Was this a trap?
Had they found him and used their own son to get to him? Because this... this couldn't just be a coincidence.
Emotions crashed over him in a torrent, threatening to drown every rational thought.