SPW 45

After Sarang moved out, the dreams that had come intermittently also disappeared. In those dreams, which came intermittently whenever Florian, who did not enjoy naps or short sleeps, uncharacteristically dozed off, Florian had felt a certain emotion. It was not Florian’s emotion. If there was a separate entity sending the dream, if he were to make such a premise, it felt like the emotion felt by the person sending the dream.

It was not a warning for Florian, but a concern for Sarang.

Am I crazy?

Before reaching that conclusion, Florian had questioned his own mental state several times. But to understand this mysterious phenomenon, he had to set up an absurd hypothesis.

The pheromones of any alpha, far from giving him stability, only evoked a sickening sense of rejection. Florian sometimes felt his nerves on edge, sharp and blue to the very tips of his hair, from the alpha pheromones that clung to his body for as short as two days and as long as five.

Had there been a single day of peace since he started experiencing pheromone problems? For a moment, for even a single minute or second, had he ever spent a relaxed time like before?

With a clear mind, Florian went over the past events one by one and could not find a reason to distance himself from Sarang. Besides.

‘Mr. Kim Sarang is still taking inhibitors. I was told he has no intention of using the partner system.’

This was one of the pieces of news he received daily from Bailey after giving up on severing his ties with Sarang. It was neither a protest against Florian nor a childish tantrum. It was simply that Sarang could not nonchalantly do things his heart could not accept.

He was still a child. Just a big one. One who thought the first being it saw after breaking out of its egg was the whole world. To Sarang, Florian was such an existence. Florian, who had protected Sarang for the first time in a world where he had lost Colin, was such an existence to Sarang.

The color of a heart could change in an instant, at any time, without warning. Florian decided to accept Sarang’s heart instead of judging it. Instead of keeping his distance, he decided to keep him by his side. Instead of turning away from and rejecting the heart that loved him, he decided to let it flow. Until that heart ran dry.

Bailey was the same as usual.

His attitude was polite, and a hint of tension and sincere concern could be seen in his eyes as he observed Florian.

“So, when did you start plotting?”

“Plotting, boss? It was a decision I made on my own.”

“Bailey Edward Jones.”

Bailey, whose full name was called, flinched. Florian’s gaze remained on the mirror as he straightened his shirt collar and tied his necktie.

“I know you seem arbitrary, but in reality, you’re the type to be timid and worry yourself sick.”

“…You might as well just curse me, boss.”

“Why, I was giving you a compliment.”

Florian, dressed in a jacket and even a coat, finally turned to look at Bailey.

“From now on, I’d like you to follow my instructions precisely, Bailey. You’re more than enough as just a friend, but you’re too talented an asset to exclude your work abilities.”

It was a warning that if he disobeyed his words again, he would be fired from his secretarial position and kept only as a friend. Though whether he would even be kept as a friend was questionable. Bailey, who had properly understood Florian’s warning, answered meekly.

“Yes, boss.”

Florian, who was leaving the dressing room, added a word as he crossed the threshold.

“And you’re on a three-month pay cut.”

Bailey, who had been prepared for about a year of unpaid service, was satisfied with the more generous-than-expected punishment. Florian tended to react uncharacteristically sensitively to matters related to Sarang, so he thought this was fortunate, but he feigned disappointment on purpose.

“Can’t you reduce it to one month?”

“Was unpaid service a hobby of yours?”

“No, boss. A three-month pay cut is an honor.”

Miller, who was in charge of Florian’s security, followed behind him instead of Bailey, as Florian had said he would go alone.

On the way to the northern part of Canton City, falling leaves flew instead of rain. The autumn sky was low and overcast. Florian, who had reconfirmed his own abnormal state only after being freed from the fatigue and pain that had been suppressing him for two years, leaned his head against the seat.

When he looked to the side, he could see bits of fallen leaves sticking to the window before scattering. Florian tapped his clasped fingers. Tap, tap. It was a trivial habit of his that appeared when he was lost in thought or nervous.

Standing in front of the door, Florian pressed the doorbell again. The owner of Mansion Building 1 had kept the uninvited guest standing outside the door for five minutes now. Miller, unable to watch any longer, was about to open the door and step inside, but Florian stopped him and checked for any presence inside. It was quiet as if no one was there.

“Go and rest.”

“Is this something the boss should be putting up with?”

Strictly speaking, the person who should have come to beg for forgiveness as soon as he woke up and be turned away at the door was that wet-behind-the-ears punk.

“Weren’t you in on it too?”

“No. I was against it, boss.”

If he had been actively against it, Sarang would not have been able to set foot in Florian’s bedroom.

“Right. I get it, so can I now meet the alpha who was played by the schemes of sly adults alone?”

Miller, who had no intention of provoking Florian further, raised both hands and backed away.

Florian, who had been furrowing his brow at the situation where the one he actually wanted to see was nowhere in sight and only the troublemakers were getting on his nerves, was about to grab the doorknob but stopped. A clattering sound came from inside the door. It was the sound of someone hastily running down the stairs. That someone was, of course.

“…Rian?”

It was Sarang who had flung open the front door. Sarang, who must have rushed down without even properly adjusting his pajamas, had his hair all tousled as well. They say kids grow up fast. Florian, looking up at Sarang who seemed to have grown a good 10 cm taller than him, deliberately glanced inside.

“Did you have a guest who arrived earlier?”

“…”

“Sarang?”

Sarang, who had been standing blankly and looking down at Florian for a while, snapped back to his senses at the sound of his name being called again.

“How… did you get here.”

Sarang, who realized as he was speaking, saw his flushed face calm down and his eyes settle. Sarang, who let go of the doorknob and took a step back with a flinch, dropped his gaze to the floor. It was a clear reaction of someone who had realized they had been caught.

“Did you think you wouldn’t get caught after leaving so much of your pheromones on my body, Sarang.”

“…I was wrong, Rian.”

Florian’s blue eyes looked down at Sarang’s trembling fingertips and slowly surveyed the large alpha who stood as if he had committed a crime. Sarang, whose height and build had clearly grown, was much bigger than he appeared in the broadcast videos.

“Sarang, I didn’t come here to receive an apology.”

Sarang, who had been curling his fingertips into a fist, raised his head to look at Florian.

“Sarang.”

“…Yes, Rian.”

“How long are you going to keep me standing here.”

“Ah.”

Startled, Sarang quickly let Florian into the house. Sarang, who took the coat and jacket and hung them on the coat rack by the entrance, followed Florian into the drawing room with a nervous face. Florian, who willingly accepted Sarang’s kindness and entered the drawing room, stopped and turned to look at him.

“Shall we sit?”

Sarang, who had both guessed and not guessed at all why Florian had come all this way, nodded meekly before opening his mouth.

“Would you like some hot tea?”

“If I had wanted to drink tea, I would have invited you to a tea house, Sarang.”

Sarang flinched at the rejection that felt somewhat chilly and soon sat down opposite Florian. As he sat, he seemed to be checking Florian’s condition without even realizing he was doing it.

“I got a good rest thanks to you, Sarang.”

“…”

“I was told I slept like a log for four days even after the heat ended.”

Florian, who leaned his upper body against the sofa, placed his clasped hands on his thigh.

“Did you not expect to be caught so easily?”

“No.”

Sarang, whose lips bore teeth marks from being bitten, moved them and faced Florian with trembling eyes.

“I knew I’d get caught by Rian right away. Still… I hoped to be caught as late as possible.”

With just that naive answer, Florian could have easily come up with words to hurt Sarang. Like, ‘Why, was it fun playing with someone who’s lost their mind?’ But Florian had not come to Sarang to hurt him.

“Why, Sarang.”

“…”

“Why did you hope to be caught as late as possible.”

Anxiety flickered in Sarang’s eyes. Will Rian believe me? But Sarang did not evade the anxiety and fear. He looked at Florian steadily and answered.

“Because I wanted Florian’s pheromones to stabilize even a little bit more.”

It was the expected answer.

“I was told that if you consistently spend your heat with one alpha, there’s a high probability that your pheromones will stabilize.”

“Are you okay, Sarang?”

Sarang, who had not expected to be asked such a question by Florian, could not react in time. He did not even know exactly what was being asked, so he could not answer easily.

“Will you be okay spending your heat continuously, consistently, with someone who doesn’t Sarang you?”

Sarang’s face was one where it was impossible to tell if he was laughing or crying. After that fleeting expression, a faint smile spread across his twenty-year-old face, which still had a trace of youthfulness.

“Of course, Rian.”