By Zephyria 
A turning point.
Perhaps that was the turning point.
“Ah…”
Looking at the blood dripping between his legs, Jeong-min felt as if he were losing his mind. Would it have been better if he had just lost his mind?
“No… way…”
As his consciousness blurred, his body collapsed powerlessly. What he saw in between was a man who remained unfazed, and another man who was desperately trying to catch him as he collapsed, pale with shock.
The entire situation felt like hell. In the midst of it, he felt pity and sorrow for the man rushing toward him, trying to hold him somehow.
Yes, if I hadn’t made that choice at that turning point… perhaps a different path would have opened for you and for me.
Right, Kim Ju-hwan?
✽✽✽
“Jeong-min!!”
Yu Shin-woo, who rushed in pale with shock, did not have an angry face. He was so full of worry that he looked as if he would cry if touched.
“Shin-woo Hyung.”
“What happened to you? Just what…”
Shin-woo shifted his gaze to the IV drip line connected to Jeong-min’s arm. Seeing not one, but three medicine bags connected, he slumped into a chair.
“Shin-woo Hyung, are you okay?”
“Are you the one who’s okay? What on earth is going on? This isn’t even a hospital. Why are you… here?”
“That is…”
Left alone in the room after Kim Ju-hwan left, Jeong-min thought deeply. Should he tell him honestly? Since he no longer wanted to lie to him, that was the right thing to do. But… then this Hyung might suffer more. Thinking that he might despair and blame himself for choosing such a path because of him, it became difficult to speak readily.
“Actually, I’m helping with a clinical trial here.”
“Clinical trial? For what?”
“To be precise…”
He hesitated to speak. The words caught in his throat wouldn’t come out as sound. Jeong-min clenched his fists. Then, Shin-woo took Jeong-min’s hand.
“The drug won’t go in. Don’t tense up like that.”
“Hyung…”
“And if it’s hard for you, you don’t have to tell me. I’m just worried about you.”
Shin-woo would never know how much courage those words gave Jeong-min.
“Jeong-min.”
He tried to hold it back. He tried, but… each of his gentle words… the way he called his name so tenderly was so wonderful that Jeong-min ended up shedding tears.
“What’s wrong? What is it?”
Shin-woo stood up and sat on the edge of the bed. He then gently stroked Jeong-min from his head to his back and hugged him. Was it because of the drug? He could feel Shin-woo’s warm pheromones.
“Hyung… I, I wanted to become your Omega… I wanted to save you… That’s why…”
Jeong-min painstakingly brought out the words he had kept inside. His voice trembled slightly and he had to stop for breath in between, but he struggled through word by word, and Shin-woo listened to it all with patience.
That he had been administered drugs to become an Omega, and that he was brought here this time because of the side effects… After hearing the whole story, Shin-woo hugged Jeong-min tightly without a word.
“Why did you do that?”
“I’m sorry…”
“Because of someone like me… why would you throw yourself away?”
“No. That’s not it. I didn’t throw myself away. I… I just did what I wanted to do.”
Jeong-min calmly told Shin-woo that if he had turned away from his own desires, that would have been no different from abandoning himself.
“I’m sorry. I feel like I’m the one who made you this way.”
“I told you it’s not. Hyung, absolutely not. I wanted to be an Omega! I’ve been saying that since I was a child. That I wanted to be your Omega.”
Jeong-min held onto the desperately self-reproaching Shin-woo and told him it wasn’t his fault. Shin-woo slowly let go of Jeong-min, and Jeong-min looked into his eyes. He could feel that Shin-woo was suffering greatly. The moment he saw those eyes, he regretted telling him everything. He hadn’t wanted Hyung to make that kind of expression. That’s why he had tried to hide it. He had succumbed to a moment of greed.
“Probably…”
Shin-woo spoke.
“You’re probably the only person in this world who loves me that much, Jeong-min.”
Contrary to his fear of what would follow, Shin-woo comforted Jeong-min tenderly.
“Hyung…”
“Even I gave up on myself… but you never gave up on me until the end.”
“You didn’t give up on yourself either, Hyung. That’s why you came all the way here to get treatment. I just wanted to be of help to a Hyung like that. Doctor Kim said that if I became an Omega, the matching rate would definitely be high… and then I could save you.”
“Jeong-min…”
“This is my own greed. So there’s no need for Hyung to blame yourself. Please… don’t do that.”
Shin-woo, who had been stroking Jeong-min’s cheek as he cried again, hugged him once more. He gently patted him, accepting the tears Jeong-min shed.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Shin-woo Hyung…”
For a long time, they clung to each other, calling each other’s names in trembling voices.
As the situation stabilized and the IV fluid finally ran out, he was cleared for discharge.
“I’ll take you home.”
“Huh? Aren’t you tired, Hyung?”
“Tired? Because of you, my heart raced so many times today… I’m actually wide awake now. And… I think there’s more we need to talk about. Don’t you think?”
Shin-woo gripped Jeong-min’s hand tightly. His heart pounded. He had thought that Hyung might despise him, but instead, it felt as if he had taken a step closer.
Jeong-min carefully climbed down from the bed. Perhaps thanks to the drug, the strength had returned to his legs, and he was relieved not to be shaking like a newborn fawn. He didn’t want to give any more worries to a person who was already so concerned.
The discharge process was simple; he gave a brief report to the researchers and left the institute. Shin-woo’s car was in the underground parking lot.
“I was so nervous coming here… I’m just glad I didn’t get into an accident.”
Shin-woo spoke with a smile, but Jeong-min’s heart sank.
“Hyung, are you okay? Should I drive?”
“What are you talking about? You’re the patient.”
Shin-woo smiled as he fastened the seatbelt for Jeong-min. Thump-thump… Truly, it felt as if his heart would burst. He had thought that the excitement of childhood and the excitement of adulthood would surely be different… but no. They were the same. Then and now, this feeling and this racing heart felt warm to a childish degree.
“Are you… going to keep doing it?”
As the car started moving, Shin-woo asked cautiously.
“Yes.”
“Until when?”
“Until I become an Omega.”
“Jeong-min… that drug is still in clinical trials. There’s no way it’s good for your body. Look at today. If the way you became like this… was because of that drug, it means this could happen at any time….”
The hand Shin-woo held on the steering wheel was trembling.
“Hyung….”
“If I told you not to… would you stop?”
“No. This is something I can’t compromise on. Never.”
“……I see. You were always the type to do what you said you’d do.”
“Exactly. Since Hyung knows my personality, I wonder why God doesn’t. If He had just made me an Omega from the start, I wouldn’t have rebelled against what He did.”
Jeong-min smiled. Then, he carefully placed his hand over Shin-woo’s trembling hand.
“Don’t worry, Hyung. I’m going to do it. I won’t fail. I will definitely become an Omega.”
There was not a shred of hesitation or fear in Jeong-min’s eyes. There was only the will to achieve it.
“Then, you must tell me everything… without leaving anything out. That’s the only way I can help you. Though I don’t know if I’ll be of any help.”
“Just those words make me feel like I’ve gained a whole army. Thank you, Hyung.”
“And if it gets too hard, stop. Got it?”
“Yeah.”
He couldn’t make that promise… but since it seemed Shin-woo wanted this answer right now, he had no choice but to agree.
The conversation he shared with Shin-woo after that was nothing special. They just talked about daily life, what he had done during the two days they hadn’t met, and how the world was turning, and before he knew it, they arrived home.
“I’ll be in touch. Make sure to answer the phone. Or at least text me.”
Shin-woo spoke with deep worry to Jeong-min as he stepped out of the car. Jeong-min replied several times that he would, then closed the car door. Once Shin-woo’s car drove away, he lowered his waving hand and sank straight to the ground.
He felt no strength in his legs. No… his arms were the same. He had no sensation in his entire body. He had been fine until just a moment ago….
“Hm? Shin Jeong-min?”
Just as he was wondering what to do, lacking even the strength to enter the house, Young-min stepped out of a car that had just arrived.
“Hey, are you drunk?”
Ha, seeing as he felt relieved that he had a blood relative to lean on, his physical state must indeed be abnormal.
“Yeah, help me up a bit.”
“Geez~ you’re really letting yourself go just because you’re resting? Oh, I actually have something to tell you~”
“Young-min. I’ll listen, so let’s just get inside first.”
“Alright, alright~”
Young-min grumbled as he supported Jeong-min and led him into the house. It was an ordeal because Young-min, who was about to get remarried, rambled on about things that happened with his future Alpha husband, but thanks to that, he managed to get inside.
From then on, he lay sick for two full days. He didn’t have a fever, but with a slight body ache and a lack of strength, he couldn’t even leave his room and did nothing but sleep in bed.