A/N: 10.08.21

Hey, Homies~! Here's a new update. I hope you enjoy this chapter <3

Q/A: Do you guys have a type? Tbh Wattpad has put the bar so high that I think my ideal type can only be found in books :')

P.s: Please don't forget to leave a vote in this chapter and in the last one <3 It would mean a lot~!!!

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Three days had passed. Three days without a dog tag. Three days without sleep. Three days since I'd found out that Adam was still alive. And three days since he'd been giving nasty glares. He didn't even try to hide his disdain. Whenever he turned towards me, his eyes would narrow to slits with a big royal: fuck you.

"Time is ticking," Vadim said. My roommate had been reminding me every day that I still didn't have a dog tag, but I couldn't find myself to steal or beat anyone up for one. "You should get one before Friday. It's nearly impossible to find one on the weekends."

"Why?"

"Everyone is busy."

"Doing homework?" I asked.

Vadim burst into laughter.

"American humor is funny. Tell you what, tovarisch? You get a dog tag, at least somewhere in the 300's, and we can still talk to each other."

Vadim had helped me a lot, and I could tell that he enjoyed my company. I liked him too, but he made it clear that he wasn't planning on risking his life for a roommate he met a few days ago.

"I don't know if I can steal someone for their dog tag," I mumbled.

"A soft heart will get you killed. You need an iron heart."

I pursed my lips. 

"It's either them or you. Get your priorities straight," he said, clapping me on the shoulder before slipping into bed. He turned his back towards me and within seconds, he was in the land of Russian dreamland. I lay down, staring at the ceiling. Vadim's words echoed in my mind.

'You have four days left until your invincibility shield is down. After that, I can't be seen with you. Not unless you have a dog tag.'

Not only would I be rankless, but I would also be friendless. Vadim was right, I needed to get my priorities straight. I've beaten up a good number of drunk hobos, bored delinquents, and people who had nothing better to do but to pick on a stray kid. It led to a fair number of broken bones and bruises, but if I was confident about one thing, it was that I never went down without a fight.

But facing a school of students with psychopathic tendencies was a whole new challenge. My mind reeled to the snarky smirks Styx had been giving me.

I could tell he was plotting all types of ways to mess up my life as soon as my invincibility shield was down. He was someone I needed to steer clear of, but that didn't seem like an easy task. 

What was even worse was that I knew most of the students here were like me and Adam. Defects of society. They all had their own stories. It both comforted me and saddened me to know that I wasn't alone. This school was for outcasts. Outcasts who weren't accepted by the normal system and who created their own because at least here, they were accepted, they were normal, they could say something, do something, and it would matter.

But behind those haughty glares and clenched fists, didn't they all put on an iron mask? Weren't they all faking an iron heart? Pretending like they were heartless monsters. How many of them really enjoyed the ranking system? How many of them were broken by it? How many of them wanted to get out of it? I couldn't be the only one who hated the idea of 'survival of the fittest.' But like me, what choice did they have? Eat, or get eaten, that was the golden rule.

I twisted and turned under the sheets, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep.

Maybe I should clear my mind and take a shower. Ruby told me that the best hours to shower were when everyone was asleep or before they were awake. The thought of someone creeping at me as I scrubbed my back made me shiver. It was past midnight, and we weren't allowed outside our rooms after ten p.m., but it wasn't hard to sneak past the guards. The one across from me had his arms crossed over his chest and snored softly. I tiptoed past him and headed to the boy's bathroom. 

Fortunately, no one was in the showers. I removed my pants and was about to remove my shirt until I heard footsteps coming from the second row of lockers behind mine. I tiptoed to the end of the aisle and tilted my head to see who was here with me, and my eyes shot open in surprise.

Adam had just finished showering. Beads of water dripped down the ends of his hair and raced down the curves of his muscles, sinking into the white towel wrapped around his waist. His body was sculpted like a young Greek god, hard and solid, yet lean and graceful. My eyes swept over his tall cheekbones, the sharp curve of his jaw, and the beauty of his profile. He was beautiful, the same way all wild, dangerous predators were. 

I sucked in a tight breath when I recognized old scars on his body. I didn't need to search for them and knew their places by heart, like the one on his left shoulder or the one above his hip. But I frowned when I noticed faded marks on his back. Where did he get those? It looked like someone had flogged him severely, leaving nasty traces for him to carry.

How did he get those? Who did that to him? How dare they touch my Adam. I'm going to—

You're going to what? taunted a voice in my mind. What are you going to do, Axis? He's the one who left you.  He left the orphanage.

The voice vanished when the towel around Adam's waist dropped to the floor. A gasp escaped my lips and I quickly looked away, but not before catching a glimpse of his perfect ass. How the hell did he get so fit? He pulled up his briefs and pants, and I felt strangely disappointed. He shifted his head and I quickly pressed my back against the lockers, feeling my heart race inside my chest. No, it had been racing for a while now.

His footsteps got closer and I thought I had been caught staring at him like a creepy stalker until I noticed that his shirt was hanging on the hook glued to the wall in front of me.

He was heading this way.

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A/N: Short but angsty. Who's excited for the next chapter? 👀👀

Please don't forget to leave a vote if you enjoyed this chappy <3 And please don't unvote because I used the word chappy.