By Zephyria 
“What an infuriating bastard.”
There was no time to think. Haon’s body moved first.
The moment Haon pushed Cha Jeong-won out from under the sculpture, he simultaneously felt a strong arm wrap tightly around his waist.
The world spun. The floor and ceiling flipped, and the smooth marble floor rushed toward his face.
Cha Jeong-won had pulled Haon into an embrace, and the two tumbled onto the floor together.
First the stairs, and now this time, again!
Crash!
As the sculpture crashed down, the lobby instantly turned into chaos. It was so heavy that the marble floor cracked. Dust billowed up from the fissures.
The staff at the information desk screamed and came running. Along with a child’s crying, the people gathered nearby all stepped back at once.
“……”
Feeling that nothing more was happening, Haon cautiously opened his eyes.
Cha Jeong-won was sprawled on the floor, shielding him.
He had pushed him away to save him, but instead, he was being held protectively in his arms.
The broad back, the strength coiled in the arm, the rough breath grazing his ear.
On the stairs, he had fainted immediately and didn’t know what happened, but this second time, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to forget it even if he tried.
‘……What the hell.’
Haon’s heart was pounding like crazy.
With every breath he took, he could smell a sweet yet heavy scent from him. It was sweet enough to feel like his mouth was melting, yet it also felt like something was pressing heavily on his chest.
A dangerous scent so intense it made his whole body tighten. An Alpha’s pheromones.
It was the first time he had encountered pheromones this potent. And that wasn’t all. It felt as if his instincts were whispering that he was safe in these arms.
“……You crazy bastard.”
Cha Jeong-won’s distinctive low voice resonated near his ear. It was a curse, but it didn’t feel unpleasant.
Because Cha Jeong-won’s face was so close, Haon could see the furrow between his brows and the tense line of his jaw. An unreadable emotion, whether anger or shock, lingered in his eyes.
“Jumping in like that out of nowhere, have you really lost your mind?”
Cha Jeong-won pushed himself up.
For a moment, Haon felt regretful that Cha Jeong-won’s pheromones were moving away.
‘What am I thinking right now!’
Belatedly coming to his senses, Haon quickly scrambled up after him.
Cha Jeong-won didn’t leave Haon behind like he had a moment ago. Haon watched him standing still. It was as if he had waited for Haon to get up.
Perhaps because of what had just happened, his gaze seemed even fiercer.
“A-Are you okay?”
His throat felt stuffy, maybe from the dust. Haon coughed repeatedly.
Right next to his feet, a piece of the iron sculpture was lodged diagonally in the cracked marble. Bent metal fragments and shattered glass pieces were scattered all over the spot where they had been.
If they had been just a little closer, they would have been lying right in the middle of it. An involuntary shiver ran down his spine.
Then, his thoughts turned to Cha Jeong-won’s wrist.
“Senior, your wrist! What about your wrist?”
Didn’t he use that wrist to push himself up just now?
When Haon looked at the bandaged wrist, Cha Jeong-won’s jaw tightened ever so slightly.
He pretended nonchalance and shook out his hand, but Haon could see his face stiffen slightly, as if a brief pain had shot through beneath the bandage.
The moment Haon reached out to grab his wrist to check it, Cha Jeong-won swatted his hand away.
“None of your business. I’m not going to die, so you watch out for yourself.”
Cha Jeong-won answered coldly and turned away.
Haon followed a beat later.
“I saw it just now. You’re hurt but pretending you’re not.”
Without even looking back, Cha Jeong-won threw out a remark.
“If you saw, then shut up.”
“But it was good I bandaged it, right?”
Cha Jeong-won’s steps halted for just a brief moment. That was his answer.
Haon watched his retreating back. Having tumbled twice today, he hugged his aching body and sent a farewell he knew Cha Jeong-won wouldn’t hear.
“Thanks for the trouble together, and let’s never see each other again.”
He hoped today’s incident would end as just a minor mishap.
Cha Jeong-won moved farther and farther away.
Then, at some point, he started getting closer and closer again.
Why is he coming back? Haon didn’t even have time to push him away as he stopped and turned back.
“You……”
“I’m Yoon Haon.”
He had already said his name earlier; this guy really has no manners.
He bit back his words at that thought, but Cha Jeong-won’s expression was unusual.
He remembered him calling him a ‘crazy bastard’ earlier. Considering how it had stuck in his ears even though he hadn’t shouted, it seemed unnecessary to provoke his mood now for no reason.
“……But you can call me ‘you.’ Since I’m your junior.”
Cha Jeong-won’s brow slowly furrowed.
“You……”
Yeah, call me ‘you’ all you want. But in return, don’t ever remember my name either.
“Yoon Haon.”
If you weren’t going to remember it, why call it out right away? It really confirms we’re not a good match.
“Are you an Omega?”
Could the reason he came back be to ask about my secondary gender?
Haon hesitated for a moment, then threw the question back.
“You’re an Alpha, Senior.”
Now, he waited, unsure what Cha Jeong-won would say……
“So, is it you? The Omega talisman that came to pounce on me this year.”
He came back with words that made him want to go insane and jump.
“Mother really has no sincerity this year.”
Haon couldn’t understand a word of Cha Jeong-won’s muttering.
“I thought she’d prepare more solidly this year. Did she really think some kid just doing graduation prep together would be effective?”
Haon, who had been utterly bewildered and unable to grasp the meaning, twitched his eyebrow.
Now he was starting to get a sense of what he was talking about.
An unfortunate human born into a wealthy, silver-spoon artistic family. The estimation was already clear here.
His family had tried everything for Cha Jeong-won. One of those things was the Omega talisman.
A protective talisman to ward off his misfortune.
Naturally, Cha Jeong-won hated such coercion from his family and had experienced various incidents because of it.
But why is he pinning that on me?
“Wait a minute.”
Haon turned away from Cha Jeong-won. Looking at his face made him feel like he would burst with frustration.
After taking three deep breaths, he turned back to face Cha Jeong-won. Then, he forced the corners of his mouth upward.
“I’m sorry, but you were the one who pounced on me first.”
It’s because of you that I’m here.
Seizing the moment, he pointed a finger pointedly at the sculpture that had just fallen.
“And here, it was you who almost got hurt, not me. I was trying to save you. Since we’re on the topic, I don’t know why secondary gender is coming up now. Honestly, isn’t physique more important here than secondary gender?”
Haon swept his disapproving gaze over Cha Jeong-won’s broad shoulders.
“I’m the one who almost died getting crushed under a senior with unfairly good physique. You know this is equivalent to a pretty serious traffic accident, right?”
Once he started arguing, he couldn’t control his mouth. And since Cha Jeong-won said nothing, his voice gradually gained more force.
“You do realize we almost had a major disaster, right?”
Even when he pressed him to answer instead of just staring like a mute, Cha Jeong-won remained silent.
What is this, setting the stage for me to keep talking? Whatever it was, Haon had no intention of holding back.
“It’s a bit much for me to say this, but it’s only because I’m lucky that nothing happened. If it were someone else, something might have broken.”
What would you have done then?
Haon felt a bit proud. But Cha Jeong-won seemed completely uncomprehending.
“Lucky?”
At his muttering, Haon quickly retorted.
“Of course. You should be saying it’s fortunate I didn’t get hurt getting crushed under a senior as big as a house……”
His speaking voice trailed off. He had remembered who Cha Jeong-won was.
Was there anyone as unlucky as that guy?
Bragging about being lucky in front of such a person, he had no right to feel bad even if his mood soured.
Haon quickly pressed his lips tightly shut.
An awkward and uncomfortable silence hung in the hospital lobby.
Perhaps because of the fallen sculpture, the surroundings were noisy. That made the silence between them seem even more contrasting.
“Right. If you’re lucky, we probably won’t meet again.”
A sense of self-deprecation lingered in Cha Jeong-won’s voice. It carried the tone of someone who wouldn’t get entangled with an unfortunate person like himself anymore.
Haon’s heart grew heavy.
“Lucky junior. It’d be better for you not to approach me.”
Cha Jeong-won stated bluntly and walked back the way he had come.