Ihyeok forcefully bit and sucked on Hyeseong’s lips as if he were being chased by something. Without giving him a chance to breathe, he roughly pushed his tongue inside.

 

“Mmph, ah, Ahjussi, wait a moment…”

 

Hyeseong pushed against his chest, but it was futile. The more he struggled, the tighter Ihyeok held him in his embrace.

 

“Hah, Hyeseong. Release your pheromones a little, okay?”

 

The hand touching Ihyeok’s body trembled. It wasn’t out of fear of Ihyeok, who seemed to have completely lost control. The reason was excitement.

 

While the suffocating kiss was painful, Hyeseong felt his body rapidly heating up with each of Ihyeok’s movements.

 

Even as he pushed his tongue in mercilessly and released suffocating pheromones, the hands embracing him remained gentle and affectionate.

 

Hyeseong once again wrapped his arms around Ihyeok’s neck. He lifted Hyeseong up and sat him on his thighs. The hands that had been caressing his back were now exploring inside Hyeseong’s clothes.

 

“Ngh…”

 

As the cold sensation touched his bare skin, Hyeseong’s body jerked greatly. After satisfyingly touching his side and slender stomach, he slowly started moving upwards.

 

Long fingers brushed against one side of his chest. Startled, Hyeseong grabbed Ihyeok’s shoulders and pulled his body back sharply.

 

“Ah, Ahjussi…”

 

A breath laced with excitement burst from Ihyeok’s mouth. His eyes, slightly panting, were very visible even in the darkness. Because those black pupils were burning as if they had been set on fire.

 

“…Do you dislike it?”

 

A lowered voice. Hyeseong wasn’t unaware of the intention behind the question. He wiped Hyeseong’s mouth and persistently met his gaze.

 

The rich citrus pheromones felt even stronger than before.

 

“If you dislike it, I’ll stop here.”

 

Ihyeok had said earlier. That if he was confused, he would confirm it for him directly. Hyeseong had accepted that. But from the start, it was just a pretext.

 

Was there really a need to attach the word ‘confirm’? When just touching like this felt so good.

 

When he felt so trembling and excited that he wanted to be pickled in his pheromones, was there anything left to think about beyond this?

 

If he said to stop here, Ihyeok would probably follow those words. Because he was someone who offered a gentle embrace even while persistently kissing him.

 

Sometimes, one action can evoke something stronger than a thousand words. Looking at this person who was waiting for him faithfully while displaying a gaze as if he wanted to devour the prey before him, he no longer felt any doubt or confusion.

 

“I don’t like pain.”

 

“Ah… yes, of course.”

 

Ihyeok lowered his gaze.

 

“So… please don’t hurt me.”

 

Hyeseong hugged Ihyeok’s neck and fell into his embrace. What he felt from the soap-scented pheromones was a sweet trembling.

 

* * *

 

Hyeseong’s eyes opened automatically to the familiar intense pain. The difference from last time was that his eyes were swollen and wouldn’t open well. As he barely lifted his heavy eyelids, sunlight shattered into his view.

 

A familiar situation. He felt a deja vu similar to the last time during his heat. But there was something clearly different from then.

 

“Are you awake?”

 

Hyeseong’s head slowly turned. Ihyeok was looking down at him with his chin propped up. The muscles of his bare upper body looked truly surreal.

 

“Isn’t your gaze a bit too blatant from the morning?”

 

“Ah… that wasn’t my intention.”

 

Hyeseong quickly pulled the blanket over his head in embarrassment. Messy hair and slightly unfocused eyes. The man lying next to him showed traces of intense lovemaking that anyone could see. And the one who had shared that lovemaking was himself.

 

Come to think of it, his last memories of yesterday were hazy. He had almost lost consciousness later from the pleasure Ihyeok was giving him. He seemed to have really lost consciousness during it.

 

Yet he felt no discomfort in his body at all. The bed sheets were also fluffy. It was clear that Ihyeok had taken care of the aftermath on behalf of himself who had just fallen asleep.

 

Hyeseong lowered the blanket slightly so only his eyes were visible. Ihyeok was still looking at him, grinning as if something was so amusing.

 

“…Good morning.”

 

The sound of Hyeseong’s eyes rolling was loud. Ihyeok blankly stared at that shyness before pulling down the blanket and lowering his head.

 

He gently captured his lips. Although startled by the sudden kiss, Hyeseong soon accepted him smoothly.

 

“What should I do if you’re so cute from the morning? Hm?”

 

“What are you saying…”

 

Ihyeok was the strange one. Suddenly kissing from the morning, saying incomprehensible things like he’s cute. Just making people embarrassed. He couldn’t meet his eyes at all when he said such things without changing his expression.

 

As Hyeseong tried to turn his body the other way out of embarrassment, at that moment…

 

“Ah!”

 

Hyeseong let out a short cry. A pain he had never experienced before assaulted his waist. It was on a completely different level from before. After the two times of lovemaking with Ihyeok, his waist and other parts had hurt a bit, but it was to a tolerable degree.

 

But now it hurt so badly that it felt like his waist would break, no, as if it had already separated.

 

“Hyeseong? What’s wrong? Does it hurt a lot?”

 

Hyeseong slowly turned his head. Come to think of it, Ihyeok’s face was different from usual. He looked very refreshed, even glowing. How could he have such a happy face after turning someone’s body into a complete mess.

 

“It’s unfair.”

 

We enjoyed it together, but one side feels like death while the other looks like he could fly at any moment. Hyeseong sighed deeply before collapsing back onto the bed.

 

He could hear Ihyeok fussing beside him, saying something about the hospital and an ambulance. Then a warm touch wrapped around his waist. He felt the firm chest that he had pressed against countless times last night against his back.

 

“Hyeseong. I’m sorry…”

 

Ihyeok apologized while burying his face in his shoulder. Seeing him looking dejected as he buried his face in his small shoulder, Hyeseong’s heart melted helplessly again.

 

He gradually realized. That he wasn’t alone in this bed.

 

At first he had been busy trying to hide it, and the second time he only thought about running away out of fear, but not now. There was Ihyeok who would meet his eyes when he woke up, who would hold him tight like this and share his warmth.

 

Hyeseong’s eyes slowly closed again. Sleep came over him once more.

 

* * *

 

“Oh. I don’t think I can go to work today. If there are any urgent documents that need approval, send them by email, and postpone any scheduled meetings.”

 

While talking on the phone with Secretary Yoo, Ihyeok kept staring at the closed bathroom door.

 

– Yes, CEO. Then get some rest.

 

As the call with Secretary Yoo ended, the water sound from the bathroom also stopped abruptly. Shortly after, Hyeseong came out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel as he entered the living room.

 

“How’s your waist? I said I’d wash you.”

 

“I’m not a three-year-old child. I can wash myself.”

 

Hyeseong, who had clung to him crying yesterday, had indeed returned to his resolute personality. Still, the red marks he had left on the skin under the loose t-shirt looked quite nice. In the past, he didn’t understand why people left marks on each other’s bodies, but now he thoroughly understood that psychology and was painfully experiencing it.

 

“But is it really okay for you not to go to work?”

 

“Yeah. That’s what I’m saying. I don’t have any important schedules today.”

 

Ihyeok took Hyeseong’s hand and sat him on the floor. Then, while drying his wet hair with a towel, he lied without blinking an eye. Of course, there were no external schedules, but there were two meetings scheduled to be held inside the company.

 

Ihyeok had just told Secretary Yoo during their call that he couldn’t go to the company today because he wasn’t feeling well. If Hyeseong knew this, he might get angry and tell him to go to work immediately.

 

“You must be hungry. I’ll make you something to eat.”

 

But how could he go to work? After what happened yesterday. When their hearts had finally connected and joined. He didn’t intend to think as the representative of an organization, but Ihyeok wanted to stick by Hyeseong’s side even if something happened to Taeseong right now. At least for today.

 

“I’ll do it.”

 

“It’s fine. You’re in pain.”

 

“That’s not something the person who caused it should say. I’m really okay.”

 

Hyeseong naturally took out seaweed soup from the refrigerator and heated it up. Meanwhile, Ihyeok prepared a simple rolled omelette. His cooking skills weren’t great, but he could make something this simple.

 

Fortunately, there was rice made from yesterday, so breakfast preparation didn’t take too long. After taking out side dishes from the refrigerator and putting rice in bowls, the two sat facing each other.

 

“Hyeseong, after we finish eating, let’s go somewhere.”

 

“What? Where?”

 

“You’ll know when we get there. Just eat for now.”

 

Ihyeok was busy putting side dishes like the rolled omelette and braised soy sauce beef on Hyeseong’s rice bowl. Hyeseong complained when he saw that Ihyeok’s rice wasn’t decreasing at all, but he just said he understood.

 

“You’re too thin. You need to gain some weight.”

 

“I’m at an average weight though?”

 

“No. You’re thin. When I held you yesterday, you were nothing but bones…”

 

Pffft, Hyeseong ended up spitting out the water he was drinking at Ihyeok’s words.

 

“S-saying such things at the dining table…!”

 

“What’s wrong with it? It’s the truth.”

 

He was so flustered that words wouldn’t come out properly. His face, which he had barely calmed, turned bright red like a radish again.

 

Ihyeok seemed to sincerely think that Hyeseong had lost a lot of weight, as he watched him eat without taking his eyes off him for a moment. Even if he wanted to leave some rice, he couldn’t because of Ihyeok’s gaze. When Hyeseong finally managed to empty his rice bowl, Ihyeok cleared the table familiarly.

 

While he was doing the dishes, Hyeseong got ready to go out. Ihyeok hadn’t told him where they were going, but as he said, he would know when they got there, so he didn’t bother asking.

 

His naive thought that they might just be going somewhere near the house was shattered only after Ihyeok’s car entered the highway.

 

“Are we going to Seoul?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Only then did he ask again where exactly they were going, but Ihyeok just patted his head and told him to sleep a little.

 

After driving for about an hour and pondering all sorts of questions, the place they arrived at was somewhere Hyeseong really hadn’t expected.

 

“Why here…”

 

At the same time, it was also a very familiar place to Hyeseong. The huge hospital building visible through the window. It was Yehyun University Hospital where Hyeseong went for regular check-ups.

 

“Ahjussi, I don’t have anything wrong with me.”

 

“I know. But I need to hear exactly what your body condition is.”

 

It wasn’t easy to break Ihyeok’s stubbornness. He tried to persuade him for about 5 minutes in the parking lot, saying he was really fine, but it didn’t work. In the end, Hyeseong, who ended up getting a sudden hospital check-up, was still dumbfounded.

 

After checking in, following the nurse’s instructions, he sat on a chair in the waiting room when Ihyeok held his hand beside him.

 

“You really don’t need to do this…”

 

“It’s because of me, right? That you manifested as an omega.”

 

“That was the trigger, but not the absolute reason.”

 

It felt very unfamiliar to be sitting here with someone. Until recently, when he stopped by this hospital, he felt gloomy seeing couples sitting across from him. For Hyeseong, who was used to coming for check-ups alone and thought that was natural, this situation couldn’t help but feel strange.

 

“But it can’t be like that anymore.”

 

“Huh? Why…”

 

He was about to ask why when the nurse called his name with good timing. Since it wasn’t his regular check-up day and this was just scheduled for a simple consultation, he went straight to the examination room without going through separate examination procedures.

 

“Hello, Hyeseong.”

 

“Hello.”

 

The doctor greeted Hyeseong familiarly. As he did so, his gaze naturally fell on Ihyeok who had come in together beside him. It wasn’t strange that curiosity showed in the doctor’s eyes, since Hyeseong had always been alone since he started coming to this hospital.

 

“I was surprised that you suddenly made a consultation appointment. Is there something bothering you?”

 

“Ah, it’s not that. It’s just…”

 

Coming here was also at Ihyeok’s insistence. As he was carefully choosing his words, wondering how to explain this, Ihyeok spoke up beside him.

 

“Doctor, actually I’m the one who wanted to come for today’s consultation. I wanted to hear in detail about Hyeseong’s physical condition.”

 

“Hmm… This might be a bit rude to ask, but what is your relationship with the patient? As a doctor, I can’t disclose patient information or consultation details to just anyone.”

 

“Ah, Doctor, that’s…”

 

He was about to roughly explain that Ihyeok was the person who provided the cause for his omega manifestation, when Ihyeok reached out his hand again from beside him.

 

“I’m his lover. As his partner, I think I need to know the details about his nature.”

 

Though Ihyeok’s hand holding his was cold, Hyeseong’s heart raced madly at the voice conveyed. He looked at Ihyeok with wide eyes. He felt unfamiliar yet strangely elated, as if flying in the sky, seeing him demand an explanation from the doctor with a determined face.

 

He felt like he might even cry at that single word, ‘lover’.

 

Hearing those words, the doctor now looked at Hyeseong. He didn’t specifically ask anything, but he was seeking the consent of the person involved with an unspoken gaze.

 

“Please.”

 

Hyeseong opened his mouth carefully. He barely composed himself to keep his voice from trembling and tightly held Ihyeok’s hand.