By Zephyria The place they arrived at was a traditional Korean restaurant. In the middle of the city center, densely packed with high-rise buildings, the tiled roof, seemingly untouched by time, caught the eye. Ryu Jeong couldn’t take his eyes off the sight even before getting out of the car. The sight of the serene, three-story Hanok building surrounded by buildings of indeterminate height like a lush forest was strangely impressive.
Following Lee Do-hyeon inside, an employee in a modernized Hanbok greeted them politely and led them to the third floor. Ryu Jeong, trying not to get lost, kept looking around as he walked. The blend of modern materials with the traditional structure was unfamiliar yet fascinating. While walking along the maze-like corridors, he didn’t even feel the presence of other people, making him feel as if he had entered another world.
Reaching the end of the corridor and entering a room with partitioned spaces, Ryu Jeong looked noticeably nervous. Instead of Ryu Jeong, Lee Do-hyeon skillfully placed the order, and soon, colorful dishes began to be set on the empty table.
Ryu Jeong, who had been distrustful of Lee Do-hyeon throughout the car ride, couldn’t speak for a while in front of the neatly prepared food. Looking at the feast fit for a king, the thought of going back inside disappeared. Lee Do-hyeon, as if he knew it would happen, picked out only the dishes that Ryu Jeong liked and pushed them forward.
While eating the delicious food and chatting, Ryu Jeong’s stiff shoulders gradually relaxed. At first, Ryu Jeong, awkward and busy rolling his eyes around, was now chattering and using his chopsticks, making Lee Do-hyeon unable to take his eyes off him, feeling inexplicably pleased.
Above all, he liked the fact that Ryu Jeong didn’t bring up the Alpha he had accidentally encountered at the cafe.
“A health checkup?”
Unaware that Lee Do-hyeon already knew everything, Ryu Jeong, who had been talking about his short daily life at home, carefully brought up a thought that suddenly came to mind. Lee Do-hyeon, seemingly surprised by Ryu Jeong’s words, stopped drinking his coffee and looked at Ryu Jeong.
“Yes… someone I know told me to get one.”
He didn’t bother to reveal that the ‘someone he knew’ was a loan shark. He didn’t like that the loan shark, who had cursed him to pay off his biological father’s debt even if he died, had recommended it, but there was no harm in getting a checkup. Rather, he thought that if it was good, it was good, and there was nothing to lose, so he had been hesitating.
Lee Do-hyeon pondered Ryu Jeong’s words for a moment, as if chewing them over. Then, he pushed the tangerine slices that came as dessert towards Ryu Jeong and said calmly.
“There’s no harm in getting one. Above all, Ryu Jeong is also an Omega.”
Ryu Jeong, who had already finished his share of the dessert, paused and looked up. He was worried if Lee Do-hyeon had eaten properly, as he had been pushing all the food towards him throughout the meal. Lee Do-hyeon, smiling as if he could see what he was thinking, added that he didn’t like sweets very much. Only then did Ryu Jeong feel relieved and readjust his fork.
“It doesn’t matter if you go to a general internal medicine clinic, but it’s meaningless if there’s no endocrinologist. If you don’t want to go through the trouble of going twice, it’s better to go to a hospital with a Trait Management Center from the start.”
“Ah… are there more tests to get separately?”
“Well, the pheromone glands are also part of the body. We check the condition of the glands and test the stability to see if the pheromones are irregularly fluctuating.”
It was an unfamiliar story to Ryu Jeong, who had never had a health checkup before. Recalling the university hospital where he had received suppressants in the past, he repeated the words in his mind so as not to forget.
Should he go to that hospital? He doesn’t usually go to the neighborhood clinic, but the thought of getting his first checkup at a university hospital made him feel heavy. He was struggling internally because he didn’t know if he could just go or if he had to make a reservation, but Lee Do-hyeon, taking a sip of coffee, asked casually.
“Shall we get it together?”
“…Together?”
Any hospital would be unfamiliar. He might feel more comfortable with Lee Do-hyeon. But he couldn’t ask a busy person to take the time. Hesitating without readily nodding, Lee Do-hyeon took out his phone and checked something as if it were nothing.
“It’s not because of the health checkup, but I happen to have something to do at the center.”
What Lee Do-hyeon checked was the schedule sent by Chief Yoon. The schedule, meticulously planned in seconds and minutes, was as packed as ever, but as the rut cycle was approaching, he had left it relatively empty for a week before and after. Of course, he couldn’t cancel all the schedules, so key schedules such as executive meetings and conferences were maintained, but the rest could be adjusted.
At this rate, the rut was expected to come around the weekend, but as a Dominant Alpha, he wouldn’t immediately lose his mind, so there was no need to rush. Thinking that it wouldn’t be bad to visit and get a checkup with Ryu Jeong, Lee Do-hyeon wrote a short message to Chief Yoon and sent it.
“I’ll tell Chief Yoon to make a reservation for Ryu Jeong’s checkup as well.”
He received a reply saying he understood at the same time as he sent it. Perhaps because he already knew about his cohabitation with Ryu Jeong, there were no special comments even with the sudden instruction.
Lee Do-hyeon, who had put away his phone, looked at Ryu Jeong, who was silent for some reason. His lips, glistening with the syrup in the tangerine slices, were blankly open. Lee Do-hyeon suppressed the instinctive urge to suck on those lips that seemed to drip with honey and continued speaking with a calm face.
“I had to get a suppressant, so I changed the schedule in advance.”
“Why a suppressant…”
Ryu Jeong, who had quietly put down his fork, looked puzzled. Just like during his heat cycle, hearing the word ‘rut’ made him feel a distant sensation for some reason. The thought of that moment when his reason gradually faded and only instinct remained made his mouth dry like a desert. Lee Do-hyeon answered as if it were nothing.
“It’s because of the rut cycle soon. I’m a Dominant Alpha, so it’s not like I can suppress it well with drugs, but it’s better than not getting it.”
Since it was about suppressing instincts with drugs, drowsiness and lethargy were common side effects of the suppressant. Above all, the effect was less effective for Dominant Alphas compared to general traits, so the side effects were also severe. He didn’t like spending the whole day with a half-awake mind, so he didn’t even like going to the center on his own, but there was no choice. It was a much better way than mating with an Omega for simple desire fulfillment.
Since Ryu Jeong had mentioned a health checkup, he thought it would be good to get a checkup and get a prescription for a suppressant as well. Lee Do-hyeon, who took another sip of the coffee that had cooled down just right, looked at Ryu Jeong, who was sitting silently. The person who had been chattering like a baby bird just a moment ago had drooped his shoulders and was looking at him, as if he had something to say.
“Why? Do you have something to say?”
Lee Do-hyeon, who had also become slightly serious, put down his coffee cup and asked. Ryu Jeong had a thought that he was too embarrassed to say on the tip of his tongue and carefully opened his mouth.
“That suppressant…”
Ryu Jeong couldn’t finish his words and hesitated, moving his lips. He knew how helpful suppressants were because he had been given them directly when he was suffering from heat. But Ryu Jeong felt somehow disappointed by the attitude that seemed to not even consider other methods besides suppressants from the start.
Although he was an extreme heat, no different from a Beta, he was also an Omega. Not only that, but he was also a lover. The fact that he was not being considered as a partner to spend the rut with, was it because he was an extreme heat? As his thoughts reached this point, Ryu Jeong felt a pain as if his chest had been scratched by something sharp.
“Like… like how you helped me before… can’t we do that?”
Lee Do-hyeon’s gaze, which habitually met his eyes, felt strangely burdensome today. Ryu Jeong lowered his head to avoid that gaze.
“…Um.”
Although it was a vague question, Lee Do-hyeon quickly understood the meaning and seriously stroked his chin. Ryu Jeong was now asking if they could spend the rut together like they did during his heat.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend time together. No matter how good the effect of the drug was, he knew that releasing pheromones with a partner was the healthiest way. But the reason he couldn’t easily say yes was because he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t break Ryu Jeong.
The heat cycle of Alphas and Omegas was a time when even people with strong self-control were likely to become helpless in the face of instinct. In particular, the degree and duration of the symptoms varied depending on the trait, and in the case of Lee Do-hyeon, a Dominant Alpha, the rut cycle lasted well over a week. Even if there was a partner, they would be sane unless the timing overlapped, and from that perspective, having sex for more than a week would be nothing short of a living hell.
“It’s not that we can’t, but it’s better not to.”
“…Why?”
“Because I’m a Dominant Alpha.”
Why being a Dominant Alpha… Ryu Jeong, unable to understand the answer, hesitantly raised his head, which had been deeply lowered. Lee Do-hyeon, who had stubbornly remained silent even though clarification was needed, opened his mouth only after Ryu Jeong met his gaze again.
“If I get a suppressant, it’ll be over in a day or two, but if I release it through sex, I don’t know when it’ll end. It could be a week, or even ten days if it’s long. Of course, my mind will gradually come back, but for three or four days, I might not be the me that Ryu Jeong knows.”
As the calm explanation continued, Ryu Jeong’s face flushed. It was because he realized every time he had sex with Lee Do-hyeon that it could be more painful if he only felt pleasure.
Lee Do-hyeon, who was not in rut, was quite persistent. While Ryu Jeong came four or five times, Lee Do-hyeon barely ejaculated once while squeezing Ryu Jeong’s empty scrotum, so it was all said and done. He was already fainting from exhaustion on weekends that were only two days long, so Ryu Jeong himself was starting to get scared if he could handle a rut that lasted more than a week.
But there was something else important. Lee Do-hyeon let out a long sigh, as if sighing, and continued with a somehow complicated voice.
“The pheromone concentration or amount exceeds the average, so Ryu Jeong’s pheromone system may be damaged.”
“What… what does that mean?”
“It means Ryu Jeong’s heat may be brought forward.”
“Ah…….”
“Then you might really get pregnant.”
Saying the word ‘pregnant’, Lee Do-hyeon gestured with his eyes towards Ryu Jeong’s stomach, which was hidden by the table. It might have been a meaningless action, but he felt like he was naked for some reason. Ryu Jeong, who had been sitting comfortably, squeezed his legs tightly together and, as if that wasn’t enough, grabbed his ankles and tightened his stomach.
“During rut, the Alpha’s genitals swell abnormally. It’s called knotting, and it’s a state where the only purpose is reproduction… do you know about it?”
Ryu Jeong, listening to Lee Do-hyeon with a bewitched face, shook his head.
“Inside Ryu Jeong’s hole, there’s a place that I can only reach if I put all of mine in. It’s called the womb.”
“…….”
“If I knot, the inside of Ryu Jeong will be filled with my semen. All the way to the womb. Then, no matter how extreme heat Ryu Jeong is, you can’t avoid pregnancy.”
Lee Do-hyeon, who had been speaking, paused for a moment. Perhaps because the rut cycle was approaching, his lower abdomen was throbbing. It could be dismissed as a physiological reaction, but as he faced Ryu Jeong, who was listening to his words innocently with a blank face, the desire to distort that blank expression in a different way raised its head.
I’m going to cause trouble at this rate. Barely regaining his senses, Lee Do-hyeon pretended to drink the remaining coffee and bit his lip hard. As the stinging pain spread in his mouth, his reason seemed to return.
It was then. Knock, knock, a knock echoed in the quiet room. Lee Do-hyeon, who had become sharp in an instant, as well as Ryu Jeong, who had not yet fully recovered his senses, turned their heads at the same time.