By Zephyria 
“Hmm, it’s good you didn’t let your guard down until the very end.”
Seo Baek-han tapped the dangling chain with his index finger. Although additional security devices were installed, they looked like they would crumble at his slightest gesture.
“Still, you should have asked who it was before opening the door. In a country where owning firearms is legal.”
Joo Tae-hyun slammed the door shut before Seo Baek-han could even finish speaking. With a bang, the various devices installed on the door shook noisily.
Wait a minute, the curtains in the living room… Ah, they’re drawn. For a moment, Joo Tae-hyun’s legs gave out, and he sank down, leaning his back against the door. He covered his mouth tightly with both hands, worried that his sounds might leak out.
He had braced himself for the possibility of seeing Seo Baek-han’s face, even from afar, tomorrow. He was trying to calm his fluttering heart, but he had never imagined he would encounter him so suddenly like this.
“Tae-hyun.”
His heart felt like it was beating somewhere other than his chest. As the pulse that had been racing from his head to his ears and cheeks began to subside slightly, Seo Baek-han spoke again. Judging by the fact that the voice was coming from much lower than before, he seemed to have realized that Tae-hyun was sitting by the door. Had he developed X-ray vision since the last time they met?
“Sorry, for startling you.”
“……”
“I just came by to explain beforehand, because I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable because of this incident.”
Ha… A headache, unlike any he had felt since coming to America, washed over him. Joo Tae-hyun clutched his throbbing head and slowly pushed himself up.
I should have been quieter. The thought came too late, but then a sense of defiance flared up like wildfire.
Why should I care what that person thinks? This is my home. Seo Baek-han is the one who came uninvited.
Joo Tae-hyun let out a long breath he had been holding without realizing it, relaxing his tense body. He picked up the phone he had dropped earlier and took out a tranquilizer from a drawer near the kitchen.
He had only taken it a few times right after returning to Washington, and hadn’t touched it since… The tremor in his hands wouldn’t subside. He spotted the bear-shaped melatonin gummies Cheon Seung-pil had pressed into his hand, telling him to chew them little by little when needed, and popped a few of those as well. He hated medicine, and generally wanted nothing to do with it, but…
Joo Tae-hyun scrunched his brow at the slightly tart, sugary taste of the gummy supplements and shuffled towards his bedroom.
Let’s just sleep today. Sleep without thinking about anything.
“……I’m fine.”
He spoke the words that came to mind aloud, just as he had moments before. His voice was terribly cracked, but Joo Tae-hyun repeated the same words with earnest longing.
I’m fine.
I’m completely fine.
And I.
“……don’t like Seo Baek-han anymore.”
The alarm blared loudly.
Joo Tae-hyun, who woke up feeling more dazed than usual, rubbed his eyes in surprise when he tried to check the time. An unbelievable number was displayed above the pile of message notifications.
“This is insane, really.”
He had set alarms for every minute, afraid of being late, but twenty minutes had already passed since his scheduled wake-up time.
Was it because he had swallowed tranquilizers and melatonin gummies he didn’t normally take? He had slept like the dead. Joo Tae-hyun blew a puff of air through his teeth and rubbed his dry face.
First, I’ll wash up, then get dressed… Ah, speaking of which, what shoes was I going to wear?
He always dressed neatly for presentations, but today he didn’t feel like it. What if it looked like he was deliberately trying to get Seo Baek-han’s attention?
“…Snap out of it, Joo Tae-hyun.”
Even as he showered, dried his hair, and put on the clothes he had prepared, Joo Tae-hyun, who was constantly checking himself, slapped his own cheeks hard.
The more I tell myself not to think about it, the more I think about it.
Though he was silent, Joo Tae-hyun moved busily, heading through the basement to the garage. After starting the car and taking a few breaths to calm himself, he called Liam as if nothing had happened.
─ “What, Tae-hyun! Why didn’t you answer my calls?”
“I was tired yesterday and went to bed early.”
─ “I went to Tae-hyun’s house yesterday! But….”
The garage door opened, and Joo Tae-hyun’s foot, about to lightly press the accelerator, moved back to the brake.
─ “Your ex-husband was just standing there in front of your house?”
Seo Baek-han… was leaning against the front door. He was wearing a suit, not a traditional Korean robe or coat, which he hadn’t seen in a while.
─ “He was there when I went at 7, and again after I ate… um, around 10? He was still there then!”
There was a considerable distance from the garage to the front door, so he couldn’t clearly make out Seo Baek-han’s expression, but seeing him turn his head towards him, it seemed Seo Baek-han had also sensed his presence. His slow reaction, unlike his usual self, felt strange. Had he really spent the night outside?
─ “I thought about reporting him as a stalker, but I held back in case it would put Tae-hyun in a difficult position… I did the right thing, right?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Liam whined like a child, saying, I was only thinking of Tae-hyun, and I sent so many messages…
“……Yeah, thanks for worrying about me. I’ll handle this myself.”
He vaguely ended the call, saying they’d see each other at school. In the side mirror, Seo Baek-han had stood up and was turning towards him.
What the hell is this? I should ask, no, that’s not it. Just leave it. If this kind of thing happens again today, even though I’m ignoring him, I’ll have to report him.
Or should I ask the security guards to chase him away right now?
“Haa.”
Relieved by the timely red light, Joo Tae-hyun let out a long sigh.
Even if it was Prince Lee’s order, he wouldn’t have lacked a reason to refuse. He couldn’t understand what on earth Seo Baek-han was thinking, coming all this way. Prince Lee wasn’t someone who couldn’t consider complex personal matters.
Perhaps it might not be as easy as he had prepared for…
Joo Tae-hyun bit his lip tightly and lifted his head from the steering wheel.
What else could he do now? Joo Tae-hyun was determined to obtain his degree this time, without fail, and safely. Whether it was a short two months or at most one semester, time would pass quickly.
The project hadn’t even started yet, so he couldn’t afford to be distressed.
Seo Baek-han blinked his heavy eyes and got out of the car. Ah… Come to think of it, Tae-hyun would be here first. The thought came to him late, and he stopped heading towards the research building to adjust his clothes while looking in the side mirror. He had rushed to wash up and change, but it was unavoidable that he didn’t look as sharp as usual.
He had suffered from severe insomnia as a side effect of unilateral imprinting, then took a long flight, and on top of that, he had spent the night in front of Joo Tae-hyun’s house. It was natural that his complexion wasn’t good.
What was absurd in this situation was that he felt a little better thanks to the faint trace of Joo Tae-hyun’s pheromone left at the entrance.
He hadn’t intended to act so foolishly. He hadn’t come all the way to America to do such a cheesy thing. But his body didn’t move as his mind willed.
Looking into those wide, dark eyes that had widened in surprise at seeing him, an indescribable emotion surged through him.
After a tremendous tremor swept through his entire body, only one sentence remained in Seo Baek-han’s heart.
I missed you.
I missed you, Tae-hyun.
His throat felt tight, and he forgot everything he had intended to explain about the current situation without being burdensome, and the greeting he had prepared for their reunion after so long. He ended up just spouting silly jokes.
On the other hand, the flustered Joo Tae-hyun had simply run away. It was a natural course of events, if anything.
He just wanted to see his face one more time. He lingered, hoping Joo Tae-hyun might open the door. He could have gotten angry and asked why he had come all the way to his home.
But Joo Tae-hyun didn’t come out until morning after that. Seeing his pheromones rapidly recede from the front door, he seemed to have retreated to his second-floor bedroom.
“I messed up spectacularly from the start.”
Thinking back, Seo Baek-han scoffed at himself for his uncharacteristic mistake, wondering why he had blurted out such words.
After parking the car and entering the research building, he could clearly sense Joo Tae-hyun’s pheromones, almost as if he could trace their path. Seo Baek-han’s steps, which had followed him as if entranced, gradually slowed.
At the end of the path, Joo Tae-hyun stood like a painting. As if he had known he was coming and had been waiting.
His heart pounded with a flicker of hope.
He had heard that his body had recovered significantly. Of course, the DH side hadn’t shared Joo Tae-hyun’s condition with him, so he had found out through people he hired privately.
He had been worried because someone named Liam reported pheromone leakage… But now, was he at least able to perceive his own pheromones, his presence?
“……Let’s talk.”
“Ah, yes. Uhm… Right, did you eat?”
Joo Tae-hyun turned away as if he wasn’t worth a response, but Seo Baek-han quickly followed, closing the distance.
“I’m sorry about yesterday. I thought you changed your number, but I didn’t have your new contact.”
It was an obvious lie. He had memorized the changed phone number from the first day he received the report.
“Let’s just talk about work quickly. After all, I know you came all this way under orders, and I don’t want to inconvenience others unnecessarily.”
Seo Baek-han’s lips curved into a smile, and he nodded. He didn’t know what his expression looked like right now. He had practiced a gentle expression all day yesterday while waiting for Joo Tae-hyun, but now that he was facing him, his facial muscles were stiff and barely moved.
“I don’t know how much you know, but… anyway, it seems your imprinting has been severed without any major issues. Judging by your condition, at least.”
Seo Baek-han’s smile, which he had tried hard to maintain, slowly stiffened.
His* imprinting… severed?
So, Joo Tae-hyun… not only wasn’t reacting to his pheromones, but was also rejecting their imprinting? To the point of severing the shifter’s curse etched into his bones, blood, and cells?
“No matter how I think about it, I don’t understand why you came all this way yourself. I thought maybe you needed pheromone communion. I’m glad that’s not the case, though.”
Joo Tae-hyun looked at Seo Baek-han as if seeking agreement, then cautiously opened his mouth with a sudden ominous premonition. Could it be…?
“Are you… are you still imprinting? On me?”
“……Huh? No.”
The denial shot out reflexively. Seo Baek-han erased his stiff expression and forced a smile as if nothing was wrong. He had wanted to recreate the feeling he sometimes had when Joo Tae-hyun would blush and steal glances at him, but he wasn’t sure if he succeeded.
Joo Tae-hyun already had everything in abundance; he was a person who shone on his own.
To change such a Joo Tae-hyun’s mind, he would have to show him the most brilliant and dazzling version of himself from his memories. Ignoring the stinging pain, as if he had swallowed shards of glass, all he could manage was a forced smile.
“Haha, were you worried? Sorry about that too.”
You were getting better without me.
You’ve really gotten better.