By Zephyria 
Kim Ju-hwan sent a car to his house. He wondered why he was making such a fuss. After driving for about 30 minutes, they arrived at a hotel located with a great view of the Han River. He wondered if he had come to the wrong place, but seeing the secretary guide him, it seemed he hadn’t, so Jeong-min set aside his suspicions and followed.
When they arrived at the suite located on the top floor of the hotel, the elevator doors opened.
‘Uh…’
There was no one there. However, he felt a strange atmosphere. A heat so hot it felt like it could burn his skin.
“Is this the right place?”
Jeong-min asked.
“Yes, it is.”
The secretary, answering curtly, closed the elevator doors and went back down. Left all alone, Jeong-min scratched his head, not knowing what the situation was. Kim Ju-hwan, who had called him, was nowhere to be seen. Jeong-min pressed the call button.
─ Yes, Sunbae.
“I’ve arrived, where are you?”
─ Please come inside.
“Inside?”
─ Yes, if you follow the hallway straight in, there will be one open door. Please enter there. I’ll be there soon.
He had no idea what this was about. Jeong-min hung up and walked down the hallway as Kim Ju-hwan had said. Since the entire floor consisted of suites, there were quite a few doors. And when he saw the open door at the end of his gaze, Jeong-min stopped moving.
‘No way…’
His heart pounded. No, it wasn’t his heart. It was ‘anxiety’ pounding. Why? Why could he feel Ji Su-han’s pheromones?
And they were full of desire… it was a side of Ji Su-han’s pheromones he had never felt before. But it wasn’t just his pheromones.
Jeong-min clenched his fists. It can’t be. It can’t be. Thinking that, he took one slow step at a time.
“Ah… Ah!”
The closer he got, the more he heard unfamiliar moans. He wanted to run away just like this. Then he could convince himself that it wasn’t true, that he had misthought, and make it as if it never happened. But… he had already entered the open door, and upon seeing the figures entangled on the bed, Jeong-min couldn’t help but stop breathing.
“It feels so good!”
“Ah…”
An Omega in heat was crying, repeatedly saying it felt good. The Alpha, who had been vigorously moving his hips and pouring out his desire, stopped moving for a moment and slowly turned his head toward the door. As if he couldn’t believe Jeong-min was there, his pupils trembled.
“Jeong-min…”
He felt suffocated by the Omega’s heat pheromones.
“Jeong-min… ah…”
He felt suffocated by the Alpha pheromones that had gone into heat along with the Omega’s.
“Jeong-min… No… No… This is…”
“Ah, don’t pull out. Keep going. It feels too good.”
As Su-han moved his body, the Omega hugged his waist. The Omega wrapped his body in sweet pheromones and guided the movement. He could feel Su-han fighting a constant battle between instinct and reason. He reached out his hand toward Jeong-min. But there was nothing Jeong-min could do.
So this was it. This was Kim Ju-hwan’s bet.
It was a cruel bet. A bet that should never have been made. It would have been better if he had just spread his legs for Kim Ju-hwan.
Just as tears were about to fall down his cheeks, a large hand from behind covered Jeong-min’s eyes and wrapped around his waist.
“Stop looking.”
It was a kind and warm voice, but to Jeong-min, it sounded like the voice of the Grim Reaper. No, it was the voice of a terrible monster that should not exist in this world.
“Sunbae. Don’t cry. Why are you crying? Because of a bastard like that. Your tears are a waste.”
Kim Ju-hwan whispered into Jeong-min’s ear and kissed him. Goosebumps broke out all over his body, and at the same time, he snapped awake. Jeong-min felt an unbearable rage. He brushed off Kim Ju-hwan’s hand, turned around, and swung his fist at him. With a ‘thud’ sound, Kim Ju-hwan staggered back a step.
“Haha, that actually hurts.”
He spoke while rubbing his cheek and jaw.
“You son of a bitch!”
Jeong-min grabbed Kim Ju-hwan by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Kim Ju-hwan’s eyes looked directly at Jeong-min. Neither avoided the other’s gaze; one looked on with rage, and the other with a state of void. What should he say? How should he say it? How on earth… should he explain this situation?
“Ah. Mr. Su-han… Ah…”
The room remained exactly as it was. Even though he had seen him, Ji Su-han was still mixing bodies with the Omega. Kim Ju-hwan smiled slyly.
“Did he not see Sunbae? That’s probably why he’s still out of it like that, right?”
“Please knot me… Knotting… I want to have your child. Ah!!”
With the Omega’s scream, the Alpha thrust his hips one last time, and soon the knotting began. He didn’t want to hear it.
He didn’t want to hear any more.
“My, my…”
Kim Ju-hwan clicked his tongue. His voice was slightly excited.
“Are you having fun?”
Jeong-min laughed hollowly and slowly loosened his grip on Kim Ju-hwan’s collar. As he staggered slightly, Ju-hwan caught him from behind.
“Let go… I’m leaving…”
“Jeong-min… Jeong-min…”
He could feel the Alpha inside calling his name and crying. Because he was knotting, he couldn’t move and could only flail and search for Jeong-min; there was nothing he could do.
Hyung… what should I do? Should I hold the hand of the Hyung who is knotting? Should I comfort the Hyung who is mixing bodies with that Omega, saying I feel sorry for him?
“Tsk.”
Kim Ju-hwan closed the door. In that gap, Jeong-min escaped Kim Ju-hwan’s grip and walked unsteadily on his own. When his knees gave out and he was about to collapse, Kim Ju-hwan rushed to catch him again, but the response was a punch. Having been hit by Jeong-min once more, Kim Ju-hwan laughed as if it were absurd and watched Jeong-min walk away.
“Be grateful that I made you realize the reality. It was something that was going to happen eventually anyway.”
After walking a few steps, Jeong-min stopped at Ju-hwan’s words and looked up.
“I don’t think Hyung… cheated. I don’t think he was two-timing, and I don’t think he played me. He’s not that kind of person. So let me ask. What on earth happened? What was the bet? What did you want?”
“It was nothing much. Not even enough to be called a bet, nor something I did.”
“I’m asking you what it was!”
Jeong-min shouted. Even so, he didn’t show his face to Ju-hwan.
“I was having a drink with Mr. Ji Su-han. That Omega joined us later. He took a liking to Mr. Ji Su-han. Or should I say he had his eye on him from the start? He asked me to let him be alone with Mr. Ji Su-han. As Sunbae said, Mr. Ji Su-han is not that kind of person… so at first, I rejected the Omega. But, you see, Sunbae. Alphas want Omegas, and Omegas want Alphas. That is the way of the world. I simply let them be alone for a while. That’s all I did. I did nothing else.”
“So you’re saying… you didn’t even do anything, and Hyung just ended up like that while alone with an Omega?”
“Well, the Omega did say they were in heat. Ah, since he knotted today, pregnancy—!”
Jeong-min threw another punch at Ju-hwan’s cheek. Ju-hwan, staggering for a moment, spat and looked at Jeong-min. He thought he would be crying, but Jeong-min didn’t cry. He simply gripped his chest tightly with one hand and breathed heavily.
“You son of a bitch—!”
Something was churning.
“Just as you said, Omegas want Alphas, and Alphas want Omegas. Fine! You won that bet. You must be happy. So, since I lost, what do I have to do for you? No, is it all pointless now?”
“Shin Jeong-min.”
“Don’t call my name. Do you think I asked for your help because I trusted you! Because I had expectations! I only grabbed it because you gave me a rotten rope, thinking I should hold onto whatever I could. But I shouldn’t have grabbed it. As expected, rotten is just rotten. I…”
Jeong-min squeezed out his voice in agony.
“In the end, I dug my own grave, so I’ll take responsibility for this. But Kim Ju-hwan, I’ll never see you again.”
“…….”
“Get lost.”
Jeong-min said that if he didn’t get lost, he would be the one to leave, and walked forward. His heart hurts. He can’t—breathe. That’s because something in his heart had just shattered.
And the anxiety he had kept hidden sprouted.
Yes. He didn’t know what Kim Ju-hwan was aiming for, but he succeeded. The reason he had hesitated to leave with Su-han, which had been hidden deep inside, pierced through his heart.
The anxiety that because he wasn’t an Omega, Su-han might one day choose an Omega. Just as Shin-woo had…
“Sob, ugh…”
Jeong-min entered any emergency exit he could find, slumped to the floor, covered his mouth, and cried. The hourglass filled with anxiety finally broke, and the debris scattered.