TRIPLE 26

“W-what… what do you mean?”

He asked back immediately, but Beom Yisu only squeezed his hand tighter. He moved his thumb as if testing Siyeon’s reaction. Even though it was a trivial touch—just slowly stroking the inside of his knuckles—it felt as if all his senses were being pulled in that direction.

It hadn’t even been a few minutes since he had made up his mind that holding hands was no big deal. Siyeon wondered if he had been making a fuss over nothing and studied Beom Yisu’s expression. He had clearly expected him to be looking elsewhere, but for some reason, their eyes met directly.

“The pheromone exchange remains.”

He had no way of knowing exactly how it was supposed to proceed. It seemed it wouldn’t end with just smelling, like before.

“Pheromone exchange?”

As Siyeon mumbled the words, failing to recall information from the original work, Beom Yisu looked down at Siyeon’s wrist instead of answering.

The faint light reflecting off the thin pheromone band was subtly tinged with orange. Perhaps it was because Chae Yoonoh was the only one who would put such a thing on him. Even though Beom Yisu had clearly checked the band on his wrist, he didn’t bother to ask about it.

Was he acting indifferent on purpose except for the necessary parts, or was he truly uninterested? Trying to gauge his inner thoughts from beneath the surface only made Siyeon feel more nervous.

“Is this your first time doing something like this?”

“…Well.”

Naturally, it was his first time. Yet, Siyeon answered ambiguously on purpose. He wasn’t sure if he should pretend to be experienced and act nonchalant, or play the part of a naive omega who knew nothing at all.

Fortunately, Beom Yisu didn’t ask any deeper. His dark, pitch-black eyes that had been looking at him just deepened slightly.

“I don’t care what your past is. But from now on, you will have to get used to my pheromones.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the pheromones radiating from him grew one layer thicker. As a cool sensation brushed against the back of his neck, where the pheromone glands were most developed, a shiver ran down his spine.

‘Damn it, this feels shitty.’

Did he mean to teach him directly rather than explaining it? It felt like an invisible sense, like a snake coiling around him, seeping into his skin and crawling through every corner of his blood vessels.

He understood now that just holding hands and smelling the scent wasn’t the end of it. Seeing as he started to worry more about the pheromones clinging to various parts of his body than the hand being held, it felt more explicit than direct physical contact.

“Wait, I understand what you mean, but… why don’t we take it a bit slower?”

Siyeon flinched, pulling his shoulder back reflexively. It was bearable so far, but he wanted to break the flow where control had completely shifted over to him.

“There is no reason to slow down beyond this.”

“But….”

“You said this much was nothing. Let’s have Mr. Hong Siyeon adjust to me.”

Had he been holding onto the bravado Siyeon showed earlier? Beom Yisu hung onto his words, which was unlike him.

Unable to contain his temper, Siyeon snapped back.

“Because you paid ten times the amount?”

“It shouldn’t have been an insufficient amount.”

Beom Yisu parried back, indifferent. It seemed his suggestion to proceed with the stages more leisurely had been rejected immediately. His pheromones, which came rushing in, pushed against Siyeon more and more intensely.

It was a very one-sided act, devoid of any consideration. It felt like being dragged into the water while someone else held him by the collar. Because he was being forced in without a moment to catch his breath, he didn’t even have time to feel a sense of rejection.

“…Ha.”

A short breath escaped him. His fingertips tingled from the pheromones digging into his skin.

“So. You’re telling me to earn my keep now, right?”

As Siyeon mumbled sarcastically, Beom Yisu finally opened his mouth.

“I simply chose an efficient method.”

Unfortunately, Siyeon did not realize that what was being done to him now was not a simple pheromone exchange, but a one-sided pheromone shower. He was just struggling to adapt to the raw pheromones he was receiving for the first time.

Since he was pouring out large amounts of dominant alpha pheromones in a short time, it was natural for Siyeon to struggle to receive them. However, Beom Yisu himself didn’t know how to control it, as this was his first time engaging in a pheromone exchange or anything equivalent.

“Damn it… if you’re going to be so obsessed with efficiency…. haaa…. you should have just installed a medical robot.”

After gasping for air like someone who had been underwater for a long time, Siyeon, who had muttered to himself as if for Beom Yisu to hear, twisted his held hand. It was a signal to let go, but Beom Yisu did not release it. Perhaps it was because his hands were naturally large, or because an alpha’s grip strength was extraordinary—even though he wasn’t holding him forcibly, it was difficult to break free.

‘How long do I have to be like this?’

He couldn’t distinguish if the heat rising in him was due to the body heat seeping between their fingers or the increasingly thick pheromones. He felt like he was standing alone on a snowy mountain filled with cold wind, but as he endured it, strangely, breathing became much easier.

It was ironic to feel comfortable in such a distressing situation. Was this the benefit of a high matching rate?

The heat that had been scratching at the back of his throat until a moment ago subsided just a little. His racing heartbeat also gradually synchronized its speed. It felt as if all the sensation that had been in a jumbled mess were finding their places one by one.

It was when Siyeon, now stabilized, was staring blankly at their entangled hands.

“…Huh?”

The orange light spreading beneath the thin band was fading. The light that had been flickering unstably calmed down, and before long, it returned to an almost white light.

‘What the. Why is this….’

It really stabilized, didn’t it? Even if they were a good match, he didn’t expect it to be this effective. Hadn’t the hospital said it would take time to recover? Just by holding hands and letting the pheromones flow in, his physical condition was visibly stabilizing.

The problem was that once he realized that fact, he felt terrible, mainly because he felt more relieved than he thought he would.

Why did he have to react so easily to that guy’s pheromones? He tried to hold onto his wariness because he didn’t want to get used to it, but the nerves that had been tightened until just a moment ago were loosening like a lie.

Conversely, Beom Yisu’s condition seemed entirely different, as his fingertips stiffened slightly. For the first time, Siyeon felt that he was shaken. He was a person who was always orderly and composed, but for this moment, he seemed somewhat unstable.

“Huu….”

He felt Beom Yisu’s deep, exhaling gaze descend. Past the hand he held, down to the wrist with the band, and then pausing for a brief moment near Siyeon’s defenselessly exposed neck.

It wasn’t a feeling of observation like before. It was a gaze that was more explicit than simple curiosity. His eyes looked cloudy, as if confirming something he had tasted for the first time in his life.

“…CEO?”

Feeling a slight sense of crisis at the unusual atmosphere, Siyeon called out to Beom Yisu urgently. He was in the middle of savoring the sweet pheromones of the omega caught in his hand. He had clearly felt something different when his hand first touched Siyeon’s.

An omega who felt no rejection. He could have just labeled it as that, but after directly sharing pheromones, his thoughts shifted toward wanting to inhale deeper.

Whoosh.

As if representing his mood, the pheromones grew thicker once more.

The cool winter scent permeated the gaps in Siyeon’s breathing. It was much deeper and more direct than before. As if his entire body was being encroached upon by Beom Yisu’s pheromones.

“Ugh… what on earth are you….”

At his unexpected behavior, Siyeon pulled his hand away and put some distance between them. Was it fortunate that he didn’t grab him again? Beom Yisu was still looking down at Siyeon. His gaze was strangely sunken, just like someone who had been consumed by something.

“Hey… are you sure you’re okay?”

At Siyeon’s voice, he blinked briefly.

“Yes.”

After the short answer, he stopped moving. Suddenly, the rushing pheromones cut off abruptly.

This is a temporary impulse. And in a very bad direction at that.

Beom Yisu unconsciously loosened the strength in his fingertips and muttered to himself. Only after steadying his breath for a moment was he able to open his mouth again.

“That is enough for today.”

“…Yes?”

“Because it is enough. It means you may go about your business, Mr. Hong Siyeon.”

His voice had dropped low enough to sound cold.

Siyeon was speechless for a moment. He was the one who had pushed him suddenly, and he was the one who had stopped suddenly. He found it annoying how he could shake someone up until they were dazed and then walk away pretending to be perfectly fine.

Siyeon rubbed the back of his hand for no reason.

“…Do I have to do this every time?”

“Is there a problem?”

Beom Yisu wore an expression as if asking why he would ask such an obvious question.

Yeah. I suppose.

‘I shouldn’t have asked such a useless thing.’

Siyeon parted his lips, then shut them again before rising from his seat. He felt that if he sat there any longer, something bad would happen.

Besides, he had to open his packages before the day was out. It was already time for the glow-in-the-dark stars he had ordered while possessed by late-night sentimentality and the bedding tent to have arrived.

“No. Then, I’ll head up first.”