00:00Wait for the contraction.
00:03Three, two, one, push.
00:14It was 3.17 a.m. again.
00:17My mate bond bracelet suddenly let out a piercing alarm.
00:20Severe imbalance detected in the three-way mate bond.
00:23I hadn't slept for days.
00:24The doctor said my mate-linked hormones were destabilizing
00:28and I needed a response from my mates to steady them.
00:31Before I could even catch my breath, the bureau called.
00:34Ms. Dell, your mate bond index is dropping too fast.
00:37Has either of your mates been rejecting your bonding attempts?
00:40For the past year, I had given them the same meals,
00:42the same care, and the same patience.
00:45Rice was the older brother.
00:47He always accepted whatever I gave him in silence.
00:50At least he would thank me.
00:51But Rex, the younger one, he always shoved me away,
00:54shouting that a tiny human like me should stay far away from him.
00:58The bureau caseworker went quiet for a moment.
01:00A three-way mate bond cannot survive on duty alone.
01:03It needs a response from both of them.
01:04If this imbalance continues, anyone would hurt from this.
01:08For an entire year, I tried my best.
01:10I thought if I loved them wholeheartedly,
01:12they'd return my love someday.
01:14Yet when love never gets the slightest response,
01:16it wears a person down bit by bit.
01:19So that night, I stopped trying to love both of them.
01:22I poured one cup of milk back into the pot,
01:25then carried the other one, to Reese.
01:28Reese noticed first.
01:29He didn't say anything.
01:30He took the cup and thanked me like always.
01:33Rex was on the couch playing his game.
01:35I said goodnight and headed to my room.
01:36That's when he looked up.
01:38Hey, we out of milk or you two broke for two cups?
01:42Rex was nothing like his brother.
01:44Reese was quiet, distant.
01:46Rex was all sharp edges.
01:48He put down the controller.
01:49His eyes weren't friendly.
01:50What, you blind?
01:52I'm sitting right here.
01:53He never talked to me like I was a person.
01:56The urge to explain myself died fast.
01:58My smile dropped.
02:00No milk.
02:02No milk?
02:03Then what's this?
02:04You trying to mess with me?
02:06Mess with me?
02:07I thought about a few nights before.
02:09Reese and Rex got called out for an emergency.
02:11They didn't come back until almost one in the morning.
02:14I waited.
02:14Fell asleep on the couch without meaning to.
02:17The door woke me.
02:18I got up, heated their food, brought it out.
02:20Two cups of milk, like always.
02:22Rex, you look worn out.
02:24Your shoulders are bleeding.
02:25Let me barnage you right away.
02:27He shoved me before I got a word out.
02:29I hit the floor hard.
02:31The cup shattered with me.
02:33Rex blinked.
02:34Just once.
02:35Then the impatience came back.
02:37Damn, are you blind?
02:39Can't you see I'm texting?
02:40Stop throwing yourself at me.
02:42You deserve it.
02:43You used to cling and play dumb before.
02:46But I'm worn out today.
02:47I come home dead tired and you're still here pestering me like a lap dog.
02:51Can't you tell how annoying and cheap you are?
02:53You're nothing but a lowly human.
02:54That's what my waiting looked like to him.
02:57Pathetic.
02:58I was stung by the disgust in Rex's voice.
03:01The shame hit fast.
03:02I didn't look up.
03:04I rushed back to my room with my face burning.
03:06A thud from the living room.
03:08Reese had punched Rex.
03:09A few minutes later, Reese came in with the first aid kit.
03:13He knelt in front of me.
03:14That's when I saw it.
03:16The broken cup had caught my calf.
03:18Blood had run all the way to my ankle.
