NAME 35

Although it was late, faint light was filtering in through the window, so the inside of the room was not entirely dark. I blinked while staring at the night view outside. Reason urged me that now was not the time to be lying down like this in Baek Kanghyun’s house. However, in the midst of that, sleep poured in steadily, and the speed of my eyelids opening and closing gradually slowed.

The blanket was soft, the bed was fluffy, and it smelled good. It was the scent of Baek Kanghyun’s pheromones.

“Dam, n it… .”

I felt pathetic for finding the scent of that bastard pleasant.

<The life of a manifestation person is different from the life of an ordinary person. Pheromones make it that way. You will need some time to adjust. Since you manifested after living as a beta for a long time, it may be a bit confusing at first. If it becomes too difficult, it is also good to seek counseling.>

The words a doctor had said at the hospital I visited immediately after manifesting suddenly came to mind. So this was what it meant to be different from a normal life. A life like that of a beast, where the body is drawn even if the heart is not. If I hadn’t been an omega, Baek Kanghyun surely wouldn’t have tormented me like this.

‘I became an omega because of that bastard, anyway.’

What will happen with Baek Kanghyun from now on? No, is there even a “what happens”? Baek Kanghyun and I are nothing… . Can’t we just act like it never happened and live while pretending not to know each other?

However, I had an ominous feeling that my life would not flow in the direction I wanted from now on. An alpha as stubborn and selfish as him would surely try to wield Seowon according to his own will somehow. I really should have just taken annual leave instead of special leave. It was hard to erase the thought that the one who ultimately provided the pretext for this incident was myself.

‘Sigh… I don’t know.’

It was more comfortable to just think that everything was my responsibility. Rather than blaming Baek Kanghyun for showing up at my house uninvited.

‘Will I really be able to get along well in the future.’

There was nothing Seowon could do right now except hope that his daily life would not collapse any further. If it really became unbearable, if I really felt like I couldn’t do it, I would have to quit the company. Even if I ended up sitting on a pile of debt… .

‘Bastard.’

Seowon muttered softly and fell into a sleep.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

I snapped my eyes open while sleeping. My mind was completely blank as if I had returned to life after dying, and my head was hazy. I felt like I had dreamed of something, but the only things remaining in my memory were shabby emotions.

“Huu… .”

The IV needle that had been stuck in my arm had been removed at some point. Seeing that the bleeding had been well-stopped with tape, it seemed someone had come by while Seowon was sleeping. It was likely either Baek Kanghyun or the doctor. Seowon hoped the one who came by was the doctor. Though there was no way a doctor would have come at this hour of the morning… .

Whether it was just before dawn, the outside of the window was pitch black as if it had been painted with ink. Seowon fumbled for the light on the nightstand, turned it on, and sat up. Other than his body feeling a bit heavy, there was no place that particularly hurt. It was as if what happened during the last heat cycle was all a dream.

If this place were his own house and not Baek Kanghyun’s, Seowon might have truly believed the events of that time were a dream.

As he tried to stand up while wrapped in the blanket, he saw clothes placed neatly at his feet. Seeing underwear, a shirt, and even pants made him feel glad, yet he also hesitated. Baek Kanghyun must have put them there. The favor from a man whose hobby was provoking him felt burdensome.

‘It can’t be helped.’

Even if he rejected everything else, there was no way to compromise on the clothes, so he decided to just wear them.

After putting on the clothes that smelled of being brand new one by one, he felt a bit more at ease. He realized anew how important an object clothing was to a human being.

“Ugh… .”

When he stepped onto the floor, pain flared near his lower back. Seowon barely swallowed a scream and stood by leaning against the wall. He hadn’t realized it while lying down, but the area between his buttocks was quite stinging as well. It was only natural, since Baek Kanghyun’s “that thing,” which was obscenely large, had entered and exited countless times.

Seowon walked stealthily like a baby turtle that had just emerged from its egg and opened the bedroom door.

“Ah… .”

The person he saw as soon as he left the room was Baek Kanghyun. Seowon almost let out a small scream but managed to swallow it. Sitting on the living room sofa, he was sprawled out languidly with his eyes closed.

Is he sleeping, by any chance? Why is he doing that there instead of going to his room?

Seowon glanced at him while looking around the inside of the house every now and then.

‘It’s spacious.’

It was a house so large it couldn’t even be compared to his own, which consisted only of one room and a combined living room and kitchen. The room Seowon had just slept in looked to be about the same size as Seowon’s entire house.

However, although he had come out, he didn’t know where he should go, so he stood blankly in the middle of the house. Should I just go back in? No, should I just go home like this? I have no shoes and no money, but if I take a taxi, it will work out somehow. I can just say I’ll get the money from the house. But if I go out and catch a taxi at this hour… .

‘The night surcharge will be added.’

His head shook at the realistic and pathetic worry. No, the money isn’t the problem right now. Isn’t it better to escape from this house while Baek Kanghyun is sleeping after all?

While wavering over his return home, he suddenly stared out the window. The sky visible through the living room window was being stained a deep blue. It seemed dawn was about to break soon.

“You’re awake.”

However, a voice that came suddenly woke Seowon from his thoughts. Baek Kanghyun’s eyes, opened halfway, were staring at Seowon. Letting out a long yawn, he stretched. Loud sounds of bones clicking into place rang out—crack, crack.

“Did the Team Leader sleep here?”

It was just something he said because he had nothing else to say. However, an unexpected answer came back.

“You slept in my room, so there was no other choice, was there?”

“… Yes?”

While Seowon was aghast at the fact that the room he had slept well in was Baek Kanghyun’s bedroom, Baek Kanghyun went on to say more things that would make Seowon faint.

“You were sleeping very well. Leaking pheromones and everything. Is the heat definitely over?”

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

“The heat seems to have ended well for now. Your condition has improved a lot compared to yesterday, too. As expected of someone young, the recovery is fast. Still, it is better not to overdo it for the time being. Take your medicine regularly. Also, pay attention to your meals. It is better to put on some weight.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Ah. And you mentioned that the suppressants available on the market don’t work well, is that correct?”

Seowon nodded his head slightly as if embarrassed. The doctor, who had personally come to Baek Kanghyun’s house, stared at Seowon with a somber expression before slowly opening his mouth.

“That does happen occasionally among those who manifest after the age of 20, but usually it gets better over time, yet you are quite unique. To think your condition is still like this even though it has been seven years since you manifested… .”

“The hospital I go to said the same thing.”

“In cases like this… receiving a lot of pheromones of the opposite type helps. The fact that medicine doesn’t work is proof that your pheromone gland is not normal.”

“Are you saying I should receive a lot of alpha pheromones?”

“That’s right. For now, that is the only way. It would have been even better if you had made an effort right after manifesting, but… I recommend you try it even now. Once the medicine starts working well, it will be much more comfortable than it is now.”

“Yes, I will try.”

The doctor Baek Kanghyun had called was quite knowledgeable. He understood Seowon’s symptoms well and correctly guessed parts Seowon hadn’t even mentioned, making him seem like no ordinary doctor. Judging by his age and skill, he seemed like someone who might be a professor at a university hospital, but Seowon was too flustered to ask about his status. He only speculated that he was a person of considerable authority after seeing even the arrogant Baek Kanghyun act politely toward him.

“Doctor, thank you for your hard work on a weekend like this.”

“Thinking of the grace I received from Mr. Baek’s father, this much is nothing. And although it’s a bit of a sorry story for that patient, I welcome unique cases like this myself. It serves as a study. Anyway, Mr. Baek, make sure to help that person a lot.”

“… Thank you for the advice.”

While Baek Kanghyun was seeing the doctor out, Seowon sat quietly on the sofa and calmly dwelled on the conversation he had with the doctor.

When he heard the story about lacerations forming inside his body due to the violent intercourse, his spine felt a chill, and at the story that direct alpha pheromone contact—that is, sex—could help improve his constitution, hope began to sprout.

To think that living a celibate life unintentionally after manifesting had become a poison to his body… . If he started having continuous relationships with an alpha even now, wouldn’t he be able to escape his current state? If the current situation where he frequently ran a fever and leaked pheromones could improve, there would be no need to ask a difficult favor from Jaehwan or be dragged around by Baek Kanghyun because of pheromones.

‘I might be able to live normally.’

Like a beta who is not swayed by pheromones, the hope arose that he too might be able to live like that.