“Hyung?”
“Huh?”
“It seems like we’ve almost arrived.”
Joo Tae-hyun tilted his head towards the window, looking outside. Following that subtle movement, a delicate scent of wildflowers wafted through the air. Seo Baek-han involuntarily held his breath, feeling a dizzying sensation.
“Tae-hyun-ah.”
He unintentionally blurted out his name along with his breath, even though he didn’t particularly have anything to say.
“Yes?”
“…You know Choi Yeon-jun is coming today, right? I was thinking of talking to him for a bit since it’s been a while.”
He brought up another topic to avoid being consumed by thoughts of that damned Pheromone, but since he actually had something to discuss with Choi Yeon-jun, excusing himself for a while wasn’t just a pretense.
‘You’re asking me to do something like this? I feel uneasy digging into the past of someone I know so well.’
Seo Baek-han was quietly unearthing Joo Tae-hyun’s past through Choi Yeon-jun.
He didn’t know where the lies began and where the truth ended. But one thing was certain: Joo Tae-hyun wasn’t as accustomed to the Dirty Switch as he claimed. Having shared countless moments with Joo Tae-hyun in a short period, Seo Baek-han’s conviction grew stronger.
‘Did you call just to whine? To someone who’s already exhausted from living with a kid?’
‘Such a temper… It’s a bit difficult to explain over the phone. You’re coming to that, what was it, academic conference? Let’s meet then.’
And today was the day he was supposed to hear a rough summary of the progress from his one and only friend.
“Can you be alone? During that time.”
When he asked with a slightly teasing tone, Joo Tae-hyun turned to Seo Baek-han with a sulky look, as if trying to gauge whether he was genuinely worried or just teasing him.
“…Doctor Woo, Hyung didn’t let him come, did he?”
After a moment of silence, Joo Tae-hyun’s response was a mix of sulkiness and negotiation. Of course, his eyes were still dull and lifeless.
“Were you that upset about it?”
Seo Baek-han grinned, feeling an involuntary surge of satisfaction. You’re freely meeting your people, but you’re cutting off mine?
If a dog spends three years in a Confucian school, it will recite poetry. Joo Tae-hyun, who had been by his side as his legal spouse for four years, seemed to know exactly what kind of conversation he found interesting.
“At this point, it would be difficult for your Seoul-based primary care physician to come all the way to Pyongyang and stand in front of people without hearing some unpleasant things. You knew that too, didn’t you?”
Instead, he paused for a moment, choosing his words, and Joo Tae-hyun glanced at him. His expression was so cold that it was hard to imagine he was looking at someone he had loved for a long time.
“Let’s go to Seoul together this Friday.”
“…”
“Let’s go to Seoul, have a date, and meet Doctor Woo in person while we’re at it.”
Immediately after that, the car doors opened on both sides, announcing their arrival, so he didn’t see how Joo Tae-hyun’s expression changed for a moment. He seemed to be asking if it was true, but his voice was so small that it wasn’t certain.
But he must have liked it. It was the first time he had suggested visiting Seoul together without any special reason.
“Oh my, Director Seo and his wife. It’s been a while.”
“Hello.”
Since there were quite a few people who recognized them from the entrance, Joo Tae-hyun quickly reverted to his usual uninteresting face.
He maintained a nonchalant tone and a lukewarm expression no matter who spoke to him, but from Joo Tae-hyun, who was standing like a door a half-step behind him, the refreshing scent of wildflowers, which didn’t suit him at all, wafted again. As if revealing his excited inner thoughts, it clearly showed its traces only to Seo Baek-han.
“Excuse me, Director Seo Baek-han…?”
“Yes? Ah, yes. I just need to wear the name tag, right?”
“Yes, please sign here as well.”
Seo Baek-han put his balled fist to his mouth and coughed unnecessarily. This was also a first. He always did this when he came to these events, but he was spacing out thinking about other things. So much so that someone else had to carefully remind him.
He glanced sideways and saw that Joo Tae-hyun had already put on his name tag and was simply filling out the guestbook.
“It seems like there are more people than last year.”
“Yes. There will also be a general explanation of the conference that will be held from tomorrow, so quite a few students have attended as well. By the way, Director Seo.”
The reception staff who was helping with the admission process congratulated him on his marriage, albeit belatedly, in a small whisper.
“Haha, thank you.”
Seo Baek-han also bowed slightly and responded in a small voice.
He didn’t intend to be so friendly with a mere employee, but Joo Tae-hyun was glancing at him as if checking his condition, which was unexpected, so he inadvertently acted more lightly than usual.
Even though he tried not to get worked up, it seemed like it was indeed because of that damned Pheromone.
Both he and Joo Tae-hyun were acting like people with a few screws loose.
“Hyung, I think we need to take a picture together.”
“Um, just a moment. I’m almost done writing.”
After that, he had to take a few commemorative photos in front of the panel and respond to a brief interview with a Pyongyang regional broadcasting station. In reality, it was nothing more than an event to extract donations, but on the surface, it was posing as an academic conference, so there weren’t many reporters swarming around, and it ended at this level.
“Joo, Joo Tae-hyun!”
It was then.
“You dirty drug addict!”
The crude and vulgar curse made people’s brows furrow slightly, and then their gazes quickly converged on one spot.
“I regret my tax money going into the drugs that a bastard like you takes, you son of a bitch!”
The voice of the short man, who had a name tag with his department and name written largely on it, which meant he was a student attending the conference, was uneven in pitch as if he was anxious. In addition, his stuttering speech, trembling fingertips, and flushed face.
He looks like he’s drunk…
The bodyguards also seemed to have the same thought as Seo Baek-han, as they sighed and quickly approached the man.
“Student! If you do this here, eugh!”
“Die, you disgusting Alpha bastards!”
“Aghhh!”
The man, who couldn’t even stand properly, suddenly started spraying an unidentified liquid everywhere.
“Ugh!”
“Call, call the police! Quickly!”
People were frantically running away, and the entrance to the venue quickly turned into chaos.
“Close, cover your mouth.”
Seo Baek-han covered Joo Tae-hyun’s mouth with his sleeve and quickly assessed the attacker’s movements. He didn’t know what kind of liquid was sprayed, so he planned to respond in the standard way first.
“Ugh! Let, let go of me! Let go!”
Fortunately, the terrorist was immediately subdued by the bodyguards who rushed in. He was too foolish to even be called a terrorist… But he couldn’t let his guard down.
“I don’t think there’s a shortage of police personnel right now, but please quickly secure the CCTV footage.”
“Yes? Ah, yes!”
Seo Baek-han grabbed someone who seemed to be a fairly high-ranking officer among the police who had rushed into the venue and politely asked.
“Usually, students have been coming in and out of this place to prepare for the conference since two weeks ago, so you can pull the records from then. Ah, I’m also a graduate of this school, and I’ve attended academic conferences before, so I’m telling you this in case it’s helpful.”
“Yes. Thank you, Director Seo. By the way, I don’t think you should stay here…”
“I’ll look into the situation a little more, just in case. I’m not a doctor, but I can do some first aid.”
That’s nonsense. I’m the director of Royal Hospital, and the son of Assemblyman Seo Hong-gyu. It’s right to leave after seeing that everyone else is safe.
“Tae-hyun-ah.”
Still, he wanted to send Joo Tae-hyun out first, but he shook his head as if he was okay too. The hem of the dopo that was slightly bitten by his lips was slightly wet.
“You get out of here. That man directly mentioned your name.”
“…”
“Don’t be stubborn.”
He heard a bodyguard who had been doused in the liquid mutter, ‘This is just water?’, but it was too early to be relieved.
There were imperial figures and high-ranking officials scheduled to attend, so it wasn’t like there was a lack of security personnel, but how could such a clumsy bastard prepare such a sudden terror? And then just end it by spraying water? If so, it would be a great relief, but it might not be.
“I don’t want to.”
“Joo Tae-hyun.”
“I don’t want to move because I feel bad hearing those words from someone who doesn’t seem like they’d pay a single won in taxes.”
If he had said, ‘I want to be by Hyung’s side, how can you only save me?’, he would have sent him out without listening any further.
But instead of the indifferent mask he wore every time in public, he didn’t hide his arrogance as if he genuinely looked down on the other person, and said something ridiculous that didn’t suit him. Seo Baek-han rarely lost his words and looked at Joo Tae-hyun before smiling slightly.
“Well, that’s true-.”
“Die, you son of a bitch!”
Before he could even finish his sentence, a loud voice, like a pig being slaughtered, erupted from right behind him.
Who is it this time, what is it. There was no time to ask such questions. Before he could make any rational judgment, Seo Baek-han’s body moved first.
“…Hyung!”
Ah, pretending to spray water a little while ago was a smokescreen. This was the real plan.
Seo Baek-han pushed Joo Tae-hyun in the opposite direction of the sound and tried to block the guy by raising one arm. However, because the distance was so close, he failed to defend properly.
“Aigoo, no, long live patriotic conservatives! Let’s unite to eradicate Shifters! Unite!”
Thwack. With an unpleasant sound, a small knife was stabbed into Seo Baek-han’s abdomen.
“They, they stick together! Get married! You dirty Alpha bastards!”
The attacker, who had stabbed him, trembled and lost strength in his legs, slumping down on the spot and muttering words that no one could understand.
“Baek, Baek-han Hyung!”