SPW 33

He could guess that this wasn’t the first time he’d faced such questions and suspicions. A recessive omega and a dominant alpha, not related by a single drop of blood. The characteristic of being a trait-bearer sometimes took precedence over any common sense.

“Yes, Sarang. Thank you for answering.”

“Rian… thank you for asking, too.”

They must have just whispered behind my back. They wouldn’t have had the courage to ask outright, instead inflating groundless rumors while wearing colored glasses. Florian, feeling genuinely sorry, cupped Sarang’s damp cheek with his warm hand and placed a kiss of affection on the opposite cheek.

“…”

For a moment, Sarang’s breath caught. It wasn’t his first bisou, yet Florian looked down at Sarang’s brightly flushing cheeks as if they were cute and slowly pulled back. A fresh scent seemed to rush into Sarang’s pounding heart. It felt just like Florian’s pheromones, and Sarang didn’t know what to do.

☀️

Player Kim Sarang is in great condition today. He’s been flying around energetically right from the start!

The first goal in less than five minutes of the first half, and now at the 25-minute mark, he’s added an assist. At this rate, today’s Man of the Match is a sure thing!

His stats were decent in the first half of the season, but he went absolutely wild in the second half, and now he’s showing a tremendous performance in the final match of the league! Player Kim Sarang! The local commentary is going crazy!

Aaaaaaah—! Goal! It’s a goal from player Kim Sarang! That’s his second goal already! His penetration was a work of art! There was no angle at all, but he powerfully pushed it into the near post! His goal-scoring sense is at its peak! Wow—! His xG (Expected Goals. The probability of a goal being scored from that position) value is 0.19! That means there’s less than a 20% chance of it going in! He is truly amazing, player Kim Sarang!

Hahaha, it’s the same celebration this time. As expected, the broadcast camera is showing him! He’s always so tall and handsome no matter when you see him! They say he’s attended almost every recent match in person, right? I heard the home fans call Florian the victory fairy. He didn’t miss the final match of the league either! Alpha Sarang is amazing!

☀️

Before the second half begins, we’ll show you the highlights from the first half!

Haha, the first half highlights are Kim Sarang’s highlights! He’s truly incredible! The final match of the league! Player Kim Sarang has achieved double-digit goals for the league! 14 assists and 10 goals! For his debut season in the first team, isn’t this truly a grand record?

The local commentator is saying, ‘We might be witnessing the beginning of history!’ Haha, those aren’t my words! The local commentary said it, the local commentary!

During the first half of last season, player Kim Sarang had some personal difficulties, so the fans were very worried. It’s truly admirable how well he has overcome them!

League King, King-rangdoongie, we have very high expectations for our player Kim Sarang’s future! In local time, May, that is, the 30th of this month is the day player Kim Sarang becomes an adult, right? Since the league ends today, the 20th, the timing is also very good! They say players’ performance improves by leaps and bounds after imprinting with a partner, and isn’t player Kim Sarang’s imprinting partner none other than Florian? He’s said to be the greatest omega in existence today!

Hahaha, it makes sense why the fans would put up banners forbidding the early marriage of soccer players.

☀️

The second half! No player substitutions for either team. The score is currently 2-0! The Rhinos have secured their spot in the Champions League by finishing second in the league, so today’s match result has no effect! Our player Kim Sarang is one of the main contributors who pulled the Rhinos, who were on the verge of relegation this season, all the way up to second place! His momentum today is also very good! Haha! At this point, I’m getting curious if the Rhinos will succeed in a clean sheet (zero goals conceded). Goalkeeper Biedler is overflowing with motivation!

A misplaced pass! Yellow Gulls on the attack! Player Nowell intercepts, one-touch! Ah—the direction wasn’t good! Player Gler thankfully manages to save it. A long switch to the other side! No, player Kim Sarang has run all the way over there to receive it! Oh oh, four players are surrounding him! Player Kim Sarang is trying to get the ball out. Huh! A nutmeg! Heh heh, he’s attempting a nutmeg in that situation! It seems he’s planning to show everything he can today! One-touch, one-touch, cross! Ah—it’s blocked by a great save from the Yellow Gulls’ goalkeeper! The Rhinos are catching their breath for a moment. Is player Kim Sarang passing the ball around?

Woooooah! A long-range shot! Is it from outside the halfway line, or inside?

Outside the halfway line! My goodness, a goal with a long-range curler! It’s a hat-trick! A truly wonderful goal! Ahahaha, today is really a day where anything he does works out!

Hahaha, all the players are running to embrace him. Player Kim Sarang is going to get crushed at this rate. It’s a festival for the home fans! His youth contract ends this year, right? The Rhinos will have to move quickly if they don’t want to lose player Kim Sarang.

It seems they absolutely adore player Kim Sarang! The players are kissing him and going wild! Look at him smiling; I adore him so much, so how much more must the players on the field and the fans feel? Player Kim Sarang with a beaming smile for his celebration! Huh? Florian isn’t in his seat? I guess something urgent came up? Player Kim Sarang looks around for a bit before refocusing on the match. Three minutes left in the game! How much stoppage time will there be?

☀️

“Hey, Sarang!”

Sarang, who was responding to a post-match club interview, smiled shyly as he caught the ball tossed by the manager.

“What a player!”

The manager, giving him a thumbs-up and patting him on the back, zipped past. His teammates also playfully tapped him here and there—thump, thump, thump—as they walked by.

“Looks like everyone should have played for another hour today.”

The club interviewers, who burst into laughter at Sarang’s light joke, first congratulated him on his hat-trick.

“The player gets to keep the ball from a hat-trick. Are you going to keep it safe at home?”

“No, I’m going to give it as a gift.”

The screen filled with the sight of Sarang smiling brightly with a radiant face.

Sarang, who was late to shower due to a doping test, entered the media line in a simple outfit. After giving brief interviews to various media outlets from different countries, he was about to exit the corridor when he saw a familiar face. It was the only Korean reporter who came all the way to this distant foreign country to cover the games on-site.

“Player Kim Sarang, would an interview be possible?”

Kim Sarang, smiling warmly, stood in front of the reporter with a pleased expression.

Sarang, who had entered the mansion, felt a strange sensation and wandered around inside. It was usually quiet, but today it was especially so. Feeling that it was not just quiet but desolate, Sarang, who had been looking up at the high third floor, soon stepped inside. When Sarang arrived, Lisa would usually come out to greet him first, but today she was nowhere to be seen either.

Above all, the air in the spacious mansion felt unfamiliar. Florian’s pheromones, which he usually couldn’t smell at all, tickled the tip of his nose. What’s going on? Allen, who helped Sarang with his commute, hadn’t said anything either.

He rummaged through his bag and found his phone was off. Sarang, who barely used the internet, often let his battery die as a result. He naturally stayed away from the internet because seeing compliments made him too happy and excited, and seeing criticism hurt him. The only thing he did was communicate with his team or national team colleagues through a free messaging app. He contacted his few acquaintances by phone, and since Florian found out, the calls from Mark had also stopped.

Sarang, smiling at the thought of the messenger group chats that would once again be filled with messages, went up the stairs. He came to a dead stop on the S-shaped landing and tilted his head back to look up at the second floor. Florian’s pheromones were getting stronger and stronger. It was clearly different from when he had just entered the mansion. This was definitely a rut… Sarang, who was about to rush up in surprise, hesitated.

Florian’s rut was a territory Sarang could not interfere with. Besides, there was no way he would go through his rut in the mansion he shared with him. Was that why he had left his seat near the end of the match? He felt grateful and sorry to Florian for coming to see the final game of the league even though he must have had signs of his rut.

At the same time, he tried to push away the thought of Florian’s rut partner that naturally came to mind. He didn’t feel good when he thought of him, and he hated it because he felt like he was wronging someone whose face he didn’t even know.

With the staircase as the center, Rian used the first room on the left, and Sarang used the third. The pheromones, which grew stronger with every step up the stairs, wafted over him as if he were right next to him when he passed Rian’s room. Sarang, who flinched at the pheromones that tickled and warmed not just his heart but his entire chest, hurried past Rian’s room.

He ran into his own room, dropped his bag as if tossing it, and flopped onto the bed. Thump-thump. His heart pounded as if it would explode. The sensation in his stomach and below his navel, like ants crawling, was hard to bear.

Suddenly, he remembered Florian’s warm body temperature, soft skin, and fragrant pheromones when he had held him as he was running a fever. The partner spending the rut with Florian would surely feel and touch all of that. Sarang’s eyes turned red as he rubbed his face against the sheets as if groaning from a sudden rush of heat.

My rut is still a month away.

His body was hot, and his head was even hotter. Sarang, thinking this wouldn’t do, ran into the bathroom and took a cold shower. It seemed to help a bit. On game days, he usually relieved his fatigue with a cold bath and about three hours of massage. Colin had earnestly advised him, grabbing Sarang who would try to run out with a ball at every chance, saying that rest was also very important.

Even back then, he thought he had made a fairly systematic schedule, but since Florian became his guardian, he began to combine training and rest with the help of experts. Still, he sometimes missed the times when he and Colin would joke around and give each other massages.

Sarang, who had changed into comfortable clothes, belatedly put his phone on to charge and sat on the sofa. It was almost time for his trainer to arrive. Sarang, who was about to turn on the TV to review the game in the meantime, looked at the bag he had thrown carelessly. The large backpack lay by itself on the floor next to the sofa.