CHAPTER 47: WITHOUT EQUILIBRIUM

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The room had vanished.

It was just her and me.

Elira’s breath caught in my mouth, her hands tangling in my hair, my palms trailing heat up her sides, pressing over fabric that barely separated us. The dare was just supposed to be a few minutes—just a tease.

But we lost the script somewhere between her straddling my lap and me forgetting how to breathe.

We forgot everything.

Until—

PING!

The system’s chime sliced through the haze like a slap.

[System Alert]

Warning: Intimate bonding session has exceeded allocated time.

Synchronization threshold destabilizing.

Recalibration necessary to prevent affection overload.

My eyes snapped open.

Elira gasped—her cheeks flushed, lips parted, chest heaving against mine. Her hands released my shirt like she’d just realized she was holding fire.

"...Shit," I muttered.

We hadn’t just crossed a line. We’d danced over it.

She shot off my lap like she’d been electrocuted. Her cloak fluttered, her heels clicked once—and she was gone. Down the hall. Her bedroom door slammed a second later.

Dead silence followed.

No one said a word.

Even the bottle stopped spinning.

I turned slowly.

Leo and Tobi—gone.

At some point while I was lip-locked with Elira, they must’ve slipped out. Maybe they saw too much. Maybe they knew they didn’t belong anymore. Or maybe they didn’t want to watch a man spiral under the weight of his own harem anymore.

Couldn’t blame them.

But the real surprise?

Reina. Still seated. Still silent. Still watching me.

I didn’t meet her gaze.

I couldn’t.

The system was too damn sensitive—if I even acknowledged her the wrong way, it might bind her to me.

And I was already drowning.

Beside her, Kaito was whispering something to Sora. She rolled her eyes, tossed him a look, then—I swear to the gods—she handed him her number.

I blinked.

Really, Sora? After that dare?

Then Reina stood. Her voice was quiet but final.

"I’m leaving."

Kaito hesitated, then followed her. She didn’t wait for him.

The door clicked shut behind them.

---

The Room After

Now it was just us. The original crew. My girls.

And the air?

Toxic.

Ayame hugged a pillow to her chest, watching the now-empty space where Elira had straddled me. Her jaw was tight, eyes unreadable.

Rin was cleaning an already-clean cup with a cloth that was starting to fray.

Akane hadn’t said a word since Elira bolted. Her arms were crossed. Her jaw flexed every few seconds, like she was chewing on a thousand words and choosing silence instead.

Sora?

Sora wasn’t playing Free Fire anymore. She was staring at her phone. At Kaito’s contact, maybe. Or deleting it already. Hard to tell with her.

Mei was the only one who spoke.

"Well," she said slowly, rising from the couch, "that escalated."

No one responded.

She glanced at me. "You alright?"

I nodded stiffly.

"You sure?"

I wasn’t. But I nodded again.

Because what else could I say? No, I just nearly bonded too deeply with Elira and might’ve broken the emotional balance of the entire harem in front of guests? Not exactly comforting.

The bottle on the floor spun slightly—on its own, like it was trying to pretend the game was still alive.

But it wasn’t.

The night had ended. And it wasn’t the kind of end you toasted to.

---

[System Notification]

[System Warning]

Harem Equilibrium: Disrupted.

Emotional Tension: High.

Romantic Balance Threshold: Critical.

Advice: Immediate emotional management required to restore harmony.

Of course.

Of course it said that now.

---

Ayame rose quietly and left the room. Akane followed a second later.

Rin lingered for a moment, her eyes locked on mine—not angry, not sad. Just... watching.

Then she, too, turned and disappeared down the hall.

That left Mei and Sora.

Mei gave me a look that said, I warned you. She patted my shoulder once, then headed off.

Sora was last.

She paused at the door, her tone unreadable.

"You kissed her like she was already yours."

I swallowed.

She tilted her head slightly, softening.

"Just remember who was already yours first," she added, then left.

And just like that, I was alone.

With nothing but silence.

And the bottle.

Still.

Waiting.

Mocking.

---

I sat there for what felt like hours.

Maybe it was just minutes. Maybe less.

But time... didn’t matter.

My fingers were still curled where Elira had held me. My lips still tasted like hers. My body was still burning from the inside out—and not in a good way. The game had shattered. Leo and Tobi were gone. Reina walked out. Kaito might’ve stolen Sora’s attention. And Elira?

I’d almost lost her in the worst way possible—by getting too greedy.

Too lost.

The system hadn’t chimed again, but its last message rang louder than ever in my skull:

Harem Equilibrium: Disrupted.

No shit.

Then I heard footsteps.

I didn’t turn around. I half-expected to be stabbed, honestly.

But when I looked up, it wasn’t rage I saw.

It was... them.

Akane. Mei. Ayame. Rin.

The four of them walked back in—not with fury, not with judgment—but with something even heavier:

Understanding.

They didn’t say anything at first. They just started quietly cleaning.

Akane gathered empty bottles and dare cards into a bag.

Rin wiped down the low table.

Mei fluffed the cushions I’d ruined.

Ayame picked up a blanket from the floor, then turned to me. "You want dinner?"

I blinked.

"...What?"

"Dinner," she repeated, like she hadn’t just watched me get kissed into another dimension. "You want food, or are you gonna keep sulking like a kicked puppy?"

"I wasn’t sulking."

"Uh-huh." She tossed the blanket over the couch arm, then crossed hers. "Don’t be so tense. It was my fault, remember? I dared her. That’s on me."

"You didn’t know it would go that far."

She shrugged. "We all knew something like that could happen. This is what happens when you have six girls in love with the same idiot."

I frowned. "...Idiot?"

"An adorable idiot."

Then she smiled.

And that smile—that warmth—did more to untie the guilt in my chest than any apology could’ve.

Dinner came quickly after that. A simple spread—nothing fancy, but we were all there. All six of us. Plates clinked. Cups passed. Conversation was soft, but present. No one yelled. No one accused.

We were... healing.

Then I saw it.

The look they passed around. Whispered words between bites. Eyebrows raised. Smirks half-hidden.

Mei caught it last.

She set her cup down and walked straight toward me. Her hips swayed just slightly. Purposeful. Confident.

"Hey."

I looked up.

"You remember what tonight is?" she asked.

My brain lagged. "...Uh..."

She leaned down.

"So you don’t remember it’s my night to spend with you?"

Oh.

Oh.

Her eyes narrowed—not in anger, but in teasing accusation. "You’ve been kissing around, Ren. I didn’t like it."

She didn’t wait for a response.

She pounced.

I fell back into the couch with a soft grunt as Mei landed on me, her hands on my shoulders, her lips already crashing into mine.

It wasn’t gentle.

It wasn’t shy.

It was like she’d been waiting—weeks, maybe longer—for her chance. Her turn. Her moment to show me exactly how she felt.

And gods, she felt everything.

Her mouth moved like she wanted to taste every second she’d missed. Her hands pressed against my chest, then slid beneath my shirt. She breathed against my lips, hot and full of intent.

"I’m tired of watching," she whispered.

I swallowed.

Her thighs locked around my waist, pinning me. Her hands tangled in my hair. She kissed me again—slower now, deeper.

"Are you not going to hold me like you held the others?" she murmured, voice low against my skin.

I exhaled.

Then I wrapped my arms around her—firmly. The way she deserved.

And she melted into me.

Across the room, the other girls kept doing what they were doing.

They didn’t stop her.

Because of course... it was her turn.

---

I didn’t know how long Mei stayed on my lap—minutes, maybe more. Long enough for her breathing to calm, for the fire in her kiss to simmer into something softer. Her forehead rested against mine, her fingers tangled in my hair, her heart beating against my chest.

She looked at me, still straddling me. "I’m not jealous."

I raised a brow.

"I just... wanted my turn."

"I know."

And I did.

Slowly, Mei slid off me, but not before planting one more kiss to the corner of my mouth—a silent promise of what was still to come.

The others finished clearing. Akane flicked off the kitchen light. Rin stacked the last set of plates in the sink. Ayame tugged the throw blanket over one arm and gave me a little two-finger salute as she passed.

"Don’t keep her waiting too long, lover boy."

I gave a faint smile. "I wasn’t planning to."

They all filtered out—one by one—off to their own rooms, some with teasing glances, others with quiet nods.

Then it was just us.

Mei turned to me at the base of the stairs, brushing her dark hair behind one ear. Her voice was quiet now, almost shy.

"Are you coming... or do I have to drag you to your own room?"

I stood.

Took her hand.

"No dragging," I said. "I’m all yours tonight."

Her fingers tightened around mine, and together, we ascended the stairs.

Her soft footsteps beside mine echoed down the hall.

We reached the door to my room.

I opened it.

She stepped in first—slow, graceful, deliberate. Her silhouette bathed in moonlight through the tall windows, her gaze soft but full of anticipation.

Then she turned back to face me as I shut the door behind us.

And just like that, the rest of the house faded away.

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