NAME 43

“…”

The moment Seowon opened his eyes, he was certain this was a hospital. He saw a white ceiling, felt the uncomfortable sensation of a needle stuck in his arm, and smelled the faint scent of disinfectant in his nose. He could see the yellowish intravenous fluid in the glass bottle dripping slowly. It was one thing to faint because of a heat cycle, but to end up in this state because of a hangover was another.

‘Who… helped me?’

Since he had collapsed in front of the elevator, he deduced that someone from the company must have helped him. Baek Kanghyun was excluded for now; then was it Assistant Manager Seo Jiyeon? Perhaps it was someone from another team sharing the same floor.

Seowon blinked slowly. Thanks to the IV, his head felt much clearer and his stomach was less uncomfortable. Just as he was tossing and turning to try and sit up, the curtain surrounding the bed was suddenly flung wide open.

“Team, Team Leader…?”

Appearing abruptly, he was dressed in black, making him look much like a Grim Reaper. He glared at Seowon, scanning him from head to toe, before coming near the bed and lightly pushing Seowon back down.

“Why?”

“Where do you think you’re going? Stay lying down.”

“I’m fine. I can get up now.”

“How is a person this weak? It’s not like you’re made of paper. Fainting just because you had sex, fainting just because you drank a little. What exactly is wrong with you?”

“No, well…”

The moment he woke up, he was dazed by the sudden downpour of anger. It wasn’t that he was wrong, but it felt strange to be scolded by the very person who provided the cause.

“Technically, isn’t this all because of you, Team Leader?!”

“Why is your voice so loud if you’re sick? Just be quiet for a second and lie down!”

“You’ve been shouting this whole time too, Team Leader! Is this really something to be this angry about?”

Immediately after shouting with all his might, Seowon furrowed his brow. A tingling sensation rang through the inside of his head and the back of his neck felt tight. At the same time, he felt something opening up deep inside his body as heat began to crawl up. Reflexively, Seowon clutched his neck and buried his face in the blanket.

“…Please leave.”

“…”

“I said leave.”

The doctor’s words—that there would be no pheromone leaks for a while once the heat cycle was dealt with—were completely wrong. It had only been two days, and yet pheromones were already leaking. That it would be fine for a while once the blockage was cleared like a drain? Seowon grit his teeth inwardly, thinking he should change hospitals immediately.

“Do you need pheromones?”

Baek Kanghyun’s soft voice echoed from outside the blanket. Seowon trembled at the sweet whisper that was more tempting than the devil’s lure. Refreshing Alpha pheromones began to creep in through the gaps in the blanket.

“I don’t need them. Please leave.”

However.

[I will grant a wish for Team Leader Baek Kanghyun, who acted as my Black Knight.]

Upon hearing the voice that followed, Seowon’s eyes flew wide open. It was his own voice, recorded last night at Baek Kanghyun’s demand.

“You know what I’m going to say, don’t you?”

Seowon squeezed his eyes shut and shivered. He was still huddled under the blanket.

“Even if the method is somewhat childish and mean, a promise is a promise.”

Before the irreversible words could leave his mouth, Seowon kicked off the blanket and emerged. But right there, at a distance where their lips were almost touching, Baek Kanghyun stood his ground.

“Surely not because of that…”

“You like my pheromones, Assistant Manager Jeong.”

“No, I—!”

“It’s already… too late.”

Baek Kanghyun pressed his lips against his. At the same time, Alpha pheromones poured out in a deluge. Seowon’s eyes went round before his eyelids slowly fluttered shut. It was as he said. His body—no, the person known as Jeong Seowon himself—craved his pheromones. While his hand, which still held a shred of reason, was pushing against his chest, Seowon could not stop his tongue from entwining with his.

Until now, to Seowon, kissing was nothing more than a means to receive pheromones a little faster. Pressing lips together was fine, but he honestly disliked the act of rubbing and tangling tongues. Having another person’s tongue rub against the sensitive mucous membranes in his mouth felt like holding a mollusk in his mouth; it was uncomfortable and sometimes he hated it enough to make him shudder. That was why Seowon ended things as quickly as possible even when he kissed Jaehwan.

“Haah, hng…”

But kissing Baek Kanghyun was different. Even though his tongue, which had forced its way past his lips, explored his mouth without restraint, far from hating it, his mind grew increasingly hazy. It felt as if his entire body was floating in mid-air.

Attacking as if he were going to devour Seowon, he growled while rubbing against the inner membranes of his cheeks and sucking hard on his tongue. Whenever he touched the skin under the tongue that was as smooth as plastic wrap, his eyelids trembled and the strength drained from his waist. Not only that, but a pathetic, thin sound leaked from his nose and heat accumulated steadily in his lower body.

“St—stop.”

He felt his nipples stand on end. A tingling sensation shot out from the protrusions chafed by his shirt, making even his eyes sting. Hnggg, he let out a miserable groan before his senses suddenly snapped back.

What on earth am I doing with Baek Kanghyun? This isn’t the time to be doing this with this man…

It was as if a switch in his head was being turned on and off repeatedly; his mind came and went. Whenever the Alpha’s seductive pheromones wafted in, his reason lost self-control and his instincts rose up to lick at his pheromone gland. How is it, feels good, doesn’t it? It’s the Alpha pheromone you wanted so badly, so just drink it up without another word. That was how it tempted him.

“Damn it.”

In the brief moment their lips parted, the man breathed heavily. Swearing under his breath as their foreheads touched, he once again roughly pressed his lips against Seowon’s and shoved his tongue inside. Brushing aside the hesitating tongue in the very center of the oral cavity, he thrust his tongue near the uvula. His lungs shriveled at the rough kiss that swallowed even his breath. Seowon grabbed his shoulders and pushed hard, but ended up only having his wrists caught. Clear saliva that ran down the point of contact moistened both their chins.

“Why are you so…!”

The monologue from the excited Baek Kanghyun was trapped inside the mouth. Because the words were all broken, it was impossible to understand what he was saying. Hng, when Seowon let out a nasal sound, the tongue that had been moving aggressively scraped sharply against the roof of his mouth. At the subtle itch, the space between his buttocks constricted involuntarily.

“Hng…”

Dividing the space between his legs, a thigh as hard as a rock burrowed in. As their bulging trouser fronts rubbed together, a red light flashed on in his mind. The Alpha, pinning down the struggling Seowon, continued his headlong movements.

“Huuph, huummm…”

Sensation was gradually fading from his wrists, which were held in a vice-like grip. The tingling that started at his fingertips traveled down his fingers and scattered like paint across his palms. His hands, turned pale as the blood flow was cut off, curled into circles. With his arms pinned and his legs spread, Seowon desperately tightened his lower abdomen, fearing they might end up doing the deed again.

“Stop, ah-ng, ah!”

Baek Kanghyun pulled his lips away. Flushed red, he exhaled. A web-like thread of saliva stretched long between their parted lips. Slurp, sucking in the saliva roughly, he gathered both of Seowon’s hands to one side and lifted them up. He then pinned the hands above Seowon’s head and bent his upper body like a predator eyeing its prey. Then, he buried his nose in the nape of the neck where a sweet scent was rising and sniffed like a dog.

“Hnggg…”

Damp breath traveled up and down the skin. Soon, the moist flesh moved along the line where the sternocleidomastoid muscle rose, stopping near the collarbone. Firm teeth bit into the skin. His other hand fumbled over the shirt and moved down to fiddle with the belt buckle. The moment his lower half felt exposed, Seowon tried to shake off his touch by bucking his hips.

“No! Not today…”

Chuup, his lips stuck tenaciously to the neck. Terrified by his heat felt through the clothes, Seowon trembled like an aspen tree. His mouth tasted sweet, as if he were trapped inside a giant air bubble filled with pheromones.

After persistently rubbing their lower bodies together diagonally, he devoured Seowon’s lips once more. Then, inhaling fiercely as if he would rip the lips away, he slowly pulled his face back. Seowon’s swollen lips stretched out long before finding their place. His mouth tasted of Baek Kanghyun. Sweet, bitter, and fresh—it was the taste of the most wicked Alpha in the world.