By Zephyria 
Beads of sweat on In-ho’s forehead rolled down his pale cheeks.
“Where shall I take you?”
The driver asked in a flat voice, checking In-ho’s complexion through the rearview mirror. Having just entered the car, In-ho inhaled a sharp breath instead of answering. He had just come back from home.
When no answer came, the driver waited silently with his hands on the steering wheel. Seeing In-ho’s poor complexion, he wondered if he needed to go to a hospital. However, he did not voice his thoughts.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, In-ho called Haon again. The ringing tone continued for a long time, and now, the phone was completely powered off.
In-ho closed his eyes tight, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down violently.
He had believed Haon would be at home. In truth, it was a belief bordering on wishful thinking.
He hoped Haon had simply missed the calls while cleaning, but the house was empty. He had searched the entire place, even checking every inch of the dressing room, but Haon was nowhere to be found.
Without even a word that he was leaving. Where on earth could he have gone?
Pressing his eyes closed, In-ho pondered for a moment before speaking. He gave the driver the address of a pub located near the university district and ordered him to leave quickly. It was where Haon worked his weekend part-time job.
Aside from that place, no other location came to mind. Since Haon had no friends or acquaintances, In-ho couldn’t think of anywhere else he would go besides home and work.
For some reason, that fact made his heart ache.
“…Are you alright?”
The driver, checking the backseat through the mirror, spoke cautiously. In-ho was sweating as if he had been caught in the rain, and the driver couldn’t just stand by and watch. It looked as if he might collapse.
In-ho simply leaned back into the seat with his eyes closed. Understanding the silent warning not to speak to him, the driver focused on his task.
The sound of rain hitting the window filled the silence inside the car. As the pitter-patter of the rain grew louder, the furrow in In-ho’s brow deepened.
He grew more anxious, wondering if Haon was out there getting drenched in that rain. Just imagining the frail Haon standing in a downpour made his head throb.
Please, let that not be the case. Please, I beg you.
In-ho even prayed to a God he didn’t even believe in. It was the first time since childhood that he had wanted something so desperately.
Frowning, In-ho rubbed his forehead. His fingertips were trembling slightly. Perhaps because of the alcohol, his emotions were becoming more volatile.
“We are almost there.”
Despite the driver’s calm voice, In-ho’s insides were not calming down at all.
His anxiety doubled the moment he arrived at the shop where Haon worked. Because he couldn’t find Haon there either.
Three hours had passed since Haon’s phone had turned off.
The owner of the pub contacted Tae-hwi and Ho-yeong, who were not on duty, to help find Haon. Seeing In-ho, his face pale and eyes bloodshot, searching for Haon, the owner had no choice but to step in.
At first, because In-ho asked for Haon in a composed voice, the owner didn’t think it was a serious matter.
‘Did Haon-ssi not come in today?’
However, looking closer, In-ho was drenched in sweat, his lower lip trembling faintly. With that face, he repeated the same question with an overly calm voice and expression.
‘Haon-ssi really didn’t come?’
Realizing the situation late, the owner promised to contact In-ho immediately if Haon appeared. Furthermore, before In-ho could even ask, he reached out to Tae-hwi and Ho-yeong. When In-ho tried to take out his wallet to offer a reward before leaving the shop, the owner even snapped at him.
‘Do that kind of thing after you find the kid!’
The owner had no intention of refusing the money if offered, but the priority right now was finding Haon.
In truth, even to him, the excessively pretty Haon seemed at high risk of being swept up in something bad. Moreover, since he was an Omega, the owner fully understood why his lover would drop everything to come looking for him. If the owner had known about Haon’s unstable heat symptoms, he would have been far more worried than he was now.
Hello? Are you listening?
Ho-yeong’s voice echoed through In-ho’s phone. Having stepped out of the car, In-ho delayed his response for a moment while opening an umbrella. Ho-yeong was circling the area near In-ho’s house on a motorcycle.
“Call me if you find him.”
In-ho spoke only after calming the nausea churning in his stomach.
Because he had taken suppressants during the day, followed by alcohol and sedatives, a wave of nausea kept surging. Though it wasn’t just because of the medication.
I’ll call you the moment I find him, so don’t worry too much!
Ho-yeong, not having heard In-ho’s strained voice properly, spoke loudly. The heavy rain drowned out the voice over the phone.
He probably hasn’t gone far! He might have gone back home already!
Ho-yeong added more reassuring words until the call ended. It seemed he was concerned after hearing roughly about In-ho’s state from the pub owner.
In-ho ended the call after a brief acknowledgment. There was still no word from Tae-hwi. Tae-hwi was guarding In-ho’s house. In case Haon returned home and they missed each other, In-ho had given him the address and the passcode.
The subscriber you are trying to reach is powered off—
Calling Haon again, In-ho cursed under his breath upon hearing the automated guidance. He had circled around the Han River Park and the entrance to the aquarium, places he had visited with Haon.
Haon was nowhere to be found. Not anywhere.
Checking the darkening sky, In-ho folded his umbrella and entered a building. The place he sought out was the old goshiwon building where Haon used to live.
He had already been there two hours ago, but he returned because no other place came to mind. He came back thinking that Haon, perhaps lost, might have gone back to his old home.
If Haon had come here, it meant he was not in his right mind.
Haon, who was often forgetful, suffered more severely from those symptoms once a heat began. Having experienced Haon’s heat twice already, the thought that he might see that sight again made In-ho’s throat tighten.
He never wanted him to experience a heat in an unfamiliar place ever again.
Last time, while holding the sleeping Haon in his arms, In-ho had made that vow to himself. To take responsibility for Haon’s heats for the rest of his life.
It wasn’t a vow made in a drunken stupor, nor was it a lighthearted thought.
Though the beginning might have been light, his feelings had deepened to the point where he was now consciously aware of them. If Hyo-jung saw the current In-ho, she would have made a fuss, thinking he had found a partner to grow old with. In-ho would no longer have denied it.
Bang, bang, bang!
Arriving in front of the old room where Haon used to live, he pounded on the door violently. It was the very door In-ho had once shaken as if he were about to break it.
“Haon-ssi, are you inside?”
Even though it was clearly someone else’s home now, he clung to the slight possibility. He pounded so hard that even if someone had been inside, they would have been too terrified to open the door.
“Excuse me…”
Eventually, the man from next door, unable to endure it, opened his door. Seeing that he only opened the door a tiny crack, it seemed he had an idea of who In-ho was.
“You’re looking for the person who lived here before, right?”
The man was oppressed by In-ho’s intimidating aura, just as before, and couldn’t even show his face. His aura had been unusual when they first met, but today he looked like a gangster who had come to beat someone down. The well-tailored black suit made him look even more so.
“Did you see him?”
The man’s shoulders flinched in surprise as In-ho stepped closer. At a glance, he looked fine, but up close, his eyes looked slightly crazed. He was seriously frightening.
“Uh, ahem. A few hours ago.”
The flustered man stuttered as he gave a condensed explanation of the chaotic situation.
When Haon had screamed and run away from a stranger, the man was the one who had come out to protest, telling them to be quiet.
“He was screaming for a while and then, like a crazy person—no, I mean… he was very agitated and ran outside. I don’t know where he went.”
The neighbor waved his hands, insisting he truly didn’t know before In-ho could press further. Seeing In-ho’s expression darken further as the situation was explained, the man regretted stepping forward. His mouth went dry, fearing that speaking up might bring unwanted trouble upon him.
“You remember that bastard’s face, right.”
In-ho, who had been listening silently, took his wallet out of the inner pocket of his jacket. The neighbor tilted his head in confusion, but upon seeing the white check pushed toward him, he nodded eagerly.
“You mean the guy who attacked him? Yes, I remember. He lives right downstairs.”
For just talking a bit, he had earned a month’s worth of part-time pay. With a beaming face, the man told In-ho he would show him which room it was and tried to leave the house immediately.
“No, not now.”
In-ho said he would come back later. After telling him to let him know then, he quickly descended the stairs.
He intentionally walked while holding onto the handrail. The surface of the cold railing that Haon had reportedly clung to was rough and rusted.
“…….”
He was told that Haon had struggled desperately, gripping this, to avoid being dragged away. That he had screamed for the person not to touch his body. With that thin and frail body.
“Where shall I take you.”
The driver, having stepped out of the car, quickly opened an umbrella and ran toward In-ho. He moved swiftly so that In-ho, who had left his umbrella behind, wouldn’t get any wetter.
However, In-ho’s appearance had already been ruined long ago.
His neatly styled hair was disheveled, soaked with sweat and rain, and his shoes and pant cuffs were dirty from the rainwater.
Above all, In-ho’s rigid expression and vacant pupils looked dangerous. The driver had already contacted In-ho’s secretary. Preparing for any possibility was part of his role.
The driver, who was about to open the back door, was bewildered to see In-ho suddenly step out from under the umbrella. He called out to In-ho loudly, but his voice was blocked by the heavy sound of the rain.
Even if he had been heard, he wouldn’t have been able to stop In-ho.
In-ho walked toward an old, lit-up convenience store. He didn’t even blink as he took the stinging raindrops directly.
He felt as if the moment he closed his eyes, even for a second, the Haon in his sight would vanish.
Why hadn’t he thought to check that store? It was right there in front of him.
“Damn, what are you, Jean Valjean? You don’t have 1,800 won?”
The store owner’s loud voice reached In-ho through the sound of the rain. The bustling noise inside the shop, echoing through the thin glass door, could also be heard.
The owner was swinging a red plastic flyswatter at Haon. He used the tool meant for catching bugs to hit Haon, holding down his body as he lay sprawled on the floor.
No one tried to help Haon. They simply watched with surprised eyes or out of curiosity. Some even openly mocked him.
Seeing that scene, In-ho’s body momentarily swayed. The driver waiting behind him had to run forward to catch him.
In-ho shook off the driver’s hand and continued to stare through the glass door. His legs, having lost their strength, wouldn’t move as he wished, making his walking speed extremely slow. Even though he was clearly moving his legs, he didn’t seem to get any closer to the door, as if he were walking in place.
Was it because of the sedative he took before leaving the car?
Contrary to the turmoil in his gut, his body felt sluggish and his mind froze cold. It felt as if plaster had been poured into his brain and hardened.
Just then, the store owner tried to hit Haon again. Simultaneously, In-ho crossed the threshold of the shop.
The noisy atmosphere turned silent in an instant.
Haon, with white cream smeared around his mouth, was frantically stuffing bread into his mouth. It seemed as if his eyes met In-ho’s as he entered the shop. At least, that’s how it looked to In-ho. He believed Haon’s gaze had definitely reached him.
However, Haon was not looking at In-ho. He was simply forcing down the bread he had crammed into his narrow mouth. In-ho approached him slowly, looking at him.
“Haon-ssi.”
His low voice filled the shop.
“Haon.”
Even upon hearing his name, Haon showed no significant reaction. His empty eyes, unable to recognize In-ho, were directed toward the air and the bread.
“You’re not supposed to eat that.”
In-ho spoke, pushing air into his aching lungs. He had to bite the tip of his tongue as he felt his body, soaked in sweat and rain, might collapse to the floor.
“Why are you eating something dirty.”
He carefully opened Haon’s mouth and pulled out the bread wrapper that had been chewed into a paste.
“When there’s something good right in front of you.”
He did his best to put on the softest expression he could manage, whispering playfully. So that Haon wouldn’t get scared and run away.
He had to appear composed so that Haon could lean on him.