NAME 5

Since it seemed he wouldn’t even start the car unless a proper address was entered, Seowon had no choice but to input the exact location.

“There we go. We’re heading out.”

The entire car ride felt like sitting on a bed of nails. The seatbelt tightening around his shoulders and waist felt exactly like a rope binding him tight. Even though he knew well it was a device for the passenger’s safety, Seowon pulled at the belt to loosen it.

“…”

In a space where even the car’s engine sound was perfectly blocked, let alone music, Seowon stared only out the passenger side window for the duration of the trip. This was because if he turned his head the other way, Baek Kanghyun would enter his field of vision. He still couldn’t believe the fact that he had met him after seven years and was riding in a car with him. Even the dreams he had occasionally had over the years were never this unrealistic.

‘Damn… pheromones.’

In the midst of it all, Seowon’s pheromones continued to leak out. No matter how tightly he choked his neck with his tie, the subtle sweet scent, like simmered sugar, pierced through the fabric and asserted its presence. What is wrong with me today? Feeling that he couldn’t handle it, he rolled down the window.

“I’m going to open the window a bit.”

“As you like.”

Pfft. He thought he heard the sound of a chuckle. To him right now, I must be nothing more than an Omega dripping pheromones everywhere, rather than the sex partner he met seven years ago. His own state of showing how conscious he was of the man was pathetic, but acting composed was an impossible task for the current Seowon.

By catching the night breeze, which was at least cooler than the daytime air, he tried to scatter the heat and the pheromones. However, Baek Kanghyun spoke with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“There’s no need to try that hard.”

“Pardon?”

“Because I don’t particularly mind it.”

When he heard Baek Kanghyun murmur that it wasn’t even his type, hot steam seemed to erupt from the top of Seowon’s head. He didn’t have the slightest desire to be this man’s “type,” but that didn’t mean he felt nothing after hearing such a thing.

Shame preceded anger. Since he didn’t want to admit with his own mouth that his body was a clumsy one that didn’t respond to medicine, he forced himself to swallow his surging emotions.

“…That’s a relief.”

After speaking with every ounce of his strength, his head spun. Then, was I your type back then when you reached out to me? Do you really not remember me at all? Or are you actually pretending not to know me because you’re embarrassed about what happened back then? All sorts of shabby questions bounced around in his head like squash balls.

Perhaps it was for the best that he didn’t remember him. If the situation had been reversed, Seowon might have carried out the things he had only done in his imagination long ago. Like grabbing him by the collar or slapping his face.

While continuing these various thoughts, a familiar alleyway came into view.

“Is it there?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Because he had to answer, he ended up looking at him. He couldn’t dare to answer while showing only the back of his head. For a moment, veins bulged on the back of the hand gripping the steering wheel. At a similar timing, pheromones mingled with his body odor swept slowly over Seowon’s face. His eyelashes trembled. The insides of his clenched hands were very damp.

“Thank you for today. You didn’t really need to go as far as to drop me off.”

“That sounds like you’re telling me I went through unnecessary trouble.”

“It’s not quite like that.”

“Fine.”

He felt something akin to guilt at the man’s attitude of not hiding his unpleasant mood. In front of Baek Kanghyun, he felt like a total “underdog,” or even more, like prey in front of a predator. Can I really continue to work in the same office as this man?

No, it wasn’t a matter of whether he could or not. He had to succeed. This was a company he had barely entered after breaking through record-breaking competition, all while carrying the biological penalty of being an Omega. Having this man affect his life once was enough.

“Drive safely, Team Leader. From tomorrow…”

When Seowon hesitated mid-sentence, Baek Kanghyun raised both eyebrows. He knew it meant “if you have something to say, say it.” It was a gesture he used to do often in the past.

“It will be fine.”

Actually, those weren’t words directed at Baek Kanghyun, but at himself. He firmly resolved that today was the only day he would stutter like a broken radio, and that from tomorrow, he would return to being the Jeong Seowon who was the ‘Employee of the Month’.

“Is that so? I see.”

He bowed politely toward the man who was smiling bitterly and got out of the car. As soon as Seowon stepped out, the car sped away with a growl.

When he finally disappeared completely from view, Seowon was seized by an indescribable feeling. Regret, anger, shame, self-loathing. All the miserable emotions he had forgotten and lived without for so long mixed together and clung stickily to his whole body. His footsteps toward home were heavy, as if he had sandbags attached to his legs.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

“Your fever has gone up significantly. Your pheromone levels are bad too; have you had any stressful events lately?”

“Yes, a bit… Is it very bad?”

He had exhausted his precious annual leave. To be precise, it was a half-day leave. Since he used it after 3 PM rather than right after lunch, it was a real waste. He had planned to endure if possible, but the fever kept rising and the pheromones kept leaking, so he had no choice.

Permission for annual leave had to be obtained directly from the Team Leader, but fortunately, Baek Kanghyun accepted it without saying much. Seowon’s appearance, with a face flushed red and pheromones leaking everywhere, probably didn’t look normal. As soon as the okay sign was given, Seowon left the office in a hurry.

By the time he reached the hospital after drenching himself in pheromone deodorizer and taking more than the prescribed dose of suppressants, Seowon was on the verge of collapsing. Managing to steady his body, which swayed like a marionette with several cut strings, he sat before the doctor. Seeing Seowon’s condition, the doctor had a very pitying look on his face.

“It’s become quite serious. The fever is still there. Let’s get you an IV drip before you go. Your nutritional status isn’t good either. Even if you don’t have an appetite, you must make sure to eat well. Even as you get older, pheromone glands develop bit by bit, so you know you need to be exposed to Alpha pheromones periodically.”

“I know, but that’s not easy…”

“And looking at the levels now, it seems a heat cycle will arrive before long. If you handle that well, your physical condition will be okay for a while.”

“He-heat cycle?”

“Yes. Don’t use medicine and try to let it pass as naturally as possible. Naturally—do you understand what I mean?”

Seowon nodded with a grim face. Naturally—in other words, it meant to spend it with an Alpha. Since the only medicine that worked well for Seowon was Alpha pheromones.

While receiving the IV, only sighs came out. A heat cycle—who on earth would he spend it with? The only person who came to mind immediately was his pheromone partner and fellow new recruit, Lee Jaehwan.

‘Annoying.’

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep for now. At least the fever had to drop quickly. His body, which was acting flimsy just because he was stressed, was utterly pathetic. Is it a matter of physical strength? Or mental strength?

What was certain was the fact that Baek Kanghyun was at the starting point of all these problems. Seowon chewed over what had happened with Baek Kanghyun during lunch today.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

“Assistant Manager Jung, let’s talk in the meeting room for a moment.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

Seowon had been in the office throughout the lunch hour. He had chosen this because he was too exhausted from processing work busily in the morning to have the energy to go out and eat.

Since Baek Kanghyun arrived, Sales Team 3 had been frantically busy. As they began to handle tasks one by one that couldn’t be properly pursued before because there was no head, Seowon and the junior staff were all squeezed to their very marrow.

Everyone was buried in work, making the atmosphere of Sales Team 3 feel like walking on thin ice, but Seowon actually welcomed this busyness. Being so busy that there wasn’t even time to drink coffee meant there was no time to be conscious of Baek Kanghyun.

However, while he was slumped in his chair after roughly filling his stomach with food he had bought on the way to work, Baek Kanghyun suddenly entered the office. And as soon as he saw Seowon, he said abruptly: Let’s see each other in the meeting room right now.

“Understood.”

But despite Baek Kanghyun’s command, Seowon did not budge, standing still and staring at the firmly closed meeting room door. He knew he had to go since his superior called him, but the soles of his feet felt stuck to the floor and wouldn’t lift. However, the tightly shut meeting room door seemed to urge Seowon: What are you doing not coming in?

He took a deep breath and slid his arms into his jacket. While buttoning the jacket, he reflected his image in the black monitor screen. With a face like he had half-chewed a cockroach, he forced a smile, telling himself it would be no big deal.

When he opened the door to the small meeting room and went in, Baek Kanghyun was already seated. Seowon cautiously took a seat opposite him. During meetings, it was good because he could at least sit far away, but now he was in a one-on-one situation with him, so there was no alternative.

“…”

“…”

Sitting upright, he was looking at Seowon. Seowon met his eyes and then slowly lowered his gaze.

“It’s the nineteenth time.”

That was when Baek Kanghyun spoke up. His gaze, spoken in a dry tone, still remained on Seowon’s face.

“Team Leader, what do you mean by that?”

Seowon asked back calmly.

“I mean the number of times Assistant Manager Jung avoided my eyes today.”

“…Pardon?”

Seowon lifted his head reflexively. The man’s cold gaze, which held not a hint of hesitation, poured down on him entirely. His pupils went down automatically, and his eyelids lost their strength. He knew in his head he shouldn’t do this, but his body wouldn’t listen.

“And now it’s the twentieth.”