By Zephyria 
“Young man, your fever is too high…? Did you come from a hospital? What happened? Should I call an ambulance now?”
The security guard placed a hand on Jeong-min’s forehead and asked with a shocked face at the scorching heat. Jeong-min grabbed the hand of the man who suggested calling an ambulance and stopped him.
“No, no. I can’t. I have to meet Kim Ju-hwan. I have to meet that guy….”
Honestly, he wondered if there would even be a way even if he met him.
It made no sense. Does it make sense to come all the way here just because the word ‘correction’ came to mind? But that was how desperate Jeong-min was. Even if the security guard in front of him knew the answer instead of Kim Ju-hwan, he would have clung to him like this.
“Goodness, your face is as white as a sheet of paper!”
“Ugh, p-please call him. Kim Ju-hwan. Kim Ju-hwan!”
“I called him. I called him, so calm down. He’ll be here in a moment. What on earth is going on-.”
“Ugh.”
The security guard embraced Jeong-min as he began to collapse. It was then. Jeong-min’s body, which was leaning against the guard, was suddenly yanked backward.
Jeong-min was already half-unconscious, so he was simply pulled along by that grip, but the security guard was different.
Startled, he looked up to see a young man wearing a student council president badge glaring at him with terrifying eyes, making the guard swallow hard.
The boy was the age of his son, but his presence was overwhelming. Feeling a chill run down his spine, the guard stood up awkwardly.
“Uh… Student Kim Ju-hwan?”
“Yes, he is someone I know, so I will take care of him.”
“R-right, do that. Also, he has a high fever, so please make sure to go to a hospital….”
He wanted to say “take him there,” but Ju-hwan’s gaze was so piercing that the guard couldn’t finish his sentence and shuffled away.
As soon as the security guard left, Kim Ju-hwan glared at Jeong-min, who was in his arms, and gripped Jeong-min’s shoulder tightly.
Jeong-min was breathing heavily, his entire body drenched in sweat. His cheeks, flushed red from the fever, were stirring. Moreover, the heat emanating from this body was an awakening fever… a heat that could make anyone see him differently.
“Shin Jeong-min sunbae. Wake up.”
Kim Ju-hwan tapped Jeong-min’s cheek gently. However, Jeong-min couldn’t regain consciousness and leaned further into Kim Ju-hwan. At that action, Kim Ju-hwan clicked his tongue. He felt his stomach churning.
“Are you out of your mind? Coming here in this state?!”
He didn’t want to, but his voice carried anger, blaming Jeong-min word by word. Ju-hwan was angry.
That unpleasant voice… Kim Ju-hwan’s voice… Kim Ju-hwan?!
As soon as Jeong-min recognized Ju-hwan’s voice, he hugged him.
“I, I… I….”
It seemed he had something he wanted to say, but Jeong-min’s mind was clouded by the fever.
“I… I….”
Seeing that he recognized him, Kim Ju-hwan softened slightly. He brushed back Jeong-min’s hair, held him closer in his arms, and made a phone call.
“Please come to the school main gate now.”
After making the call, he put the phone in his pocket and looked at Jeong-min once more. His clothes were clinging to him, soaked in sweat. Just by looking at his collarbone, one could tell how poor his condition was.
“Why did you come all the way here? Why did you look for me, Sunbae?”
When he heard there was someone looking for him, Kim Ju-hwan knew instinctively. He knew it was Shin Jeong-min. That was why he had stopped everything and run over frantically.
Why was this small flower bud, just about to bloom, so anxious to find him? Shouldn’t the place he needed to go be in Yu Shin-woo’s arms, not here? Thinking that made him unable to stop running. A strange sense of satisfaction and exhilaration pounded in his heart.
“I… I… have something to tell you….”
Jeong-min continued to mumble. Ju-hwan then stroked Jeong-min’s back to soothe his anxiety.
“Shh… it’s okay. Get some rest. Let’s talk when we get home, Sunbae.”
Soon, the driver Ju-hwan had called arrived at the main gate.
After putting Jeong-min in the car, Ju-hwan sat beside him. He gave the driver a short instruction to go home and pulled Jeong-min’s unstable body close to himself.
Jeong-min’s body felt like it was gradually slipping away. Seeing that there was no response even after calling his name several times, it seemed he had lost consciousness. The way sweat poured down his face and the lack of color in his lips showed just how much he was struggling.
Was it not the right time yet?
If Jeong-min had been closer to awakening, he wouldn’t have struggled this much even after taking that drug. For a normal person, awakening fever would last about a week; the fact that it had exceeded ten days was a sign that something was seriously wrong.
However, the people around him were not fools, and his attending physicians were no ordinary doctors. Surely they had taken good care of him. The fact that he was here meant the situation wasn’t that critical. Ju-hwan smiled and kissed Jeong-min’s sweat-soaked forehead.
Strangely, he felt good knowing that Jeong-min had come here. He felt satisfied. Jeong-min had always bared his teeth and bristled whenever he saw him, but not now. He had come to find him. The mere fact that he was lying quietly in his arms brought him joy.
The scent of flowers blooming from Jeong-min’s body. That is, until he realized that scent belonged to an Alpha.
✽✽✽
“Ugh…”
Jeong-min learned through this experience that even if the body is too hot… one cannot simply close their eyes. When he closed them, his eyeballs felt hot, as if they were about to be plucked out. Moreover, feeling something pressing down on his body, he lifted his head to find that it was none other than a blanket.
But the blanket was unfamiliar… the ceiling was unfamiliar… the bed… Jeong-min barely managed to roll his eyes, and as he tried to bolt upright in surprise, some force pushed him back down.
Shifting his gaze to the pressure on his shoulder, he saw Ju-hwan looking down at him with an expressionless face.
“Kim… Ju-hwan?”
Why was this man here?
“Why are you…?”
“You shouldn’t get up suddenly.”
Hearing a clinking sound, he looked to the side and saw an IV drip inserted. Jeong-min’s mind was a blur. Why was Kim Ju-hwan here? Where was this place?
“Don’t you remember? Sunbae, you came all the way to the school to find me.”
Ju-hwan provided the answer for the confused Jeong-min.
“And then you collapsed. I thought about taking you to the hospital, but it seemed you had left the hospital without notice, so I just brought you to my house.”
Ju-hwan sat in the chair beside the bed with a relaxed gesture. He neatly closed the book he had been reading on the side table, inserting a bookmark. The action was slow and leisurely, yet somehow felt heavy.
“I assume there was a reason you looked for me and came all this way…”
Jeong-min pressed his lips tight. No matter how disoriented he had been, he knew why he had gone to find him. But when it came time to actually speak, the words wouldn’t come.
“My family doctor examined you…”
Placing the book back on the table, he turned around and spoke leisurely.
“Sunbae… you’re an Alpha?”
Why did he come here? Why did he want to meet Ju-hwan? In the midst of the fever-induced haze, Ju-hwan’s single sentence snapped him awake. His eyes widened as he looked at Ju-hwan, who looked down at him with a pathetic expression.
“No…”
“…Even if you try to deny it, the doctor diagnosed you as such. Besides, an unpleasant smell has been lingering in this room for a while… I wondered what this smell was. Now that I think about it, it seems to be Sunbae’s pheromones. Since I’m an Alpha too, I suppose I’m feeling a sense of repulsion.”
Was it now strong enough for others to notice?
“I don’t know. I can’t smell anything. I said I don’t know!”
“Sunbae.”
“No. There’s no way. No—!”
Jeong-min could no longer scream. Ju-hwan had blocked Jeong-min’s mouth with his large, thick hand.
“Is this your house? Be quiet.”
Tears streamed from the corners of Jeong-min’s eyes. Seeing those tears soak the pillow, Ju-hwan released his hand. The strength left Jeong-min’s body. There was no vitality in his eyes. It seemed as though he had lost all will to live.
“Seeing your reaction, it seems the hospital also told you that you’re an Alpha. So, why did you come to find me?”
“I don’t… want to be an Alpha…”
“Well, it looks like you’re already on the verge of manifesting as an Alpha.”
Ju-hwan spoke with heavy sarcasm, but Jeong-min didn’t listen. He raised his hand and looked at the ring he had put on while declaring his devotion to Shin-woo. That ring also caught Ju-hwan’s eye. A sparkling… brand new ring.
It was a ring he had never seen on Jeong-min before. He wanted to ask what it was. Where did he get it? What was it that made him touch it so preciously?