By Zephyria 
For the first time, a flicker of bewilderment crossed Chrissy’s face. It was a perfectly natural reaction for any ordinary person. Nathaniel watched with interest to see what the man would do next. Would he ask what he meant, or would he pretend not to notice?
Chrissy chose the latter. He soon wiped the expression from his face and cast his eyes downward. His gaze landed on his own legs, stretched out beneath a shirt that didn’t fit his frame, with the sleeves rolled up high, and he slowly stroked his ankle. Nathaniel’s eyes followed the movement of his hand and stopped right there. The long, elegant ankle was swollen thick. Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed, and the scent of pheromones that had been faintly scattering around suddenly intensified enough for Nathaniel himself to notice. Chrissy must have noticed it too, yet he opened his mouth without any particular reaction.
“……so?”
Belatedly, Nathaniel realized that he hadn’t understood even half of what the man had said.
“Excuse me, what did you say?”
Without bothering to deny it or honestly admit it, he asked while vaguely glossing over the lapse. Chrissy repeated himself without much change in expression.
“I asked if I could wash up alone. I can’t stand it any longer.”
The last part was added with a slight furrow of his brow. Seeing that Nathaniel didn’t react immediately, Chrissy twisted the corner of his mouth and added in a heavily sarcastic tone.
“Didn’t you say you’d wash me? So I thought I had to wait until you finished work.”
After a short silence, Nathaniel suddenly relaxed his expression and spoke.
“That’s right, I did say that.”
Speaking in a tone that sounded strangely laced with amusement, he suddenly turned around and requested,
“Wait a moment. I’ll draw a bath.”
Then Nathaniel disappeared into the connected bathroom, and surprisingly, the faint sound of running water could be heard a moment later. Chrissy sat quietly in place until Nathaniel returned, having taken off his suit jacket and remaining only in his shirt. Just as Chrissy braced himself to be slung over a shoulder like a rag again, Nathaniel suddenly reached out his arms.
“Get on.”
At the unexpected words, Chrissy blinked a few times. However, Nathaniel didn’t bother waiting; he pulled him into an embrace and lifted him straight up. Caught off guard, Chrissy found himself perched in Nathaniel’s arms like a child and hurriedly grabbed onto his shoulder. The man looked up at him and asked,
“This is better, isn’t it?”
Flustered, Chrissy couldn’t answer immediately. As if he already knew without needing to hear it, Nathaniel began to walk, and Chrissy had no choice but to wrap his arms around his neck. Holding a cane in one hand and carrying Chrissy with the other arm, Nathaniel walked with his usual composure. His arms didn’t shake at all, nor was there any unstable trembling. Chrissy felt inwardly perplexed by the way he moved so readily, carrying a grown man as if he were a three or four-year-old child.
But the perplexity was only beginning. After lowering Chrissy into the bathtub, he began to create foam by applying detergent to a sponge.
“It’s better to keep your ankle raised so it doesn’t swell further.”
Saying so, Nathaniel took hold of Chrissy’s injured ankle and gently rested it on the edge of the tub. Chrissy unconsciously grimaced, but he didn’t push him away. More important than that was why this man was acting like this toward him right now.
“Why are you acting so sweet? After you fed me dog food.”
At the words he finally snapped out of frustration, Nathaniel let out a short laugh.
“I said I’d wash you, so I have to keep my promise.”
It wasn’t a lie, but the method was incomprehensible. He had thought he’d be lucky if the man didn’t just pour cold water over him with a showerhead like a prisoner, so what on earth was this? Reading the confusion on Chrissy’s face, Nathaniel added,
“You’re the first person I’ve ever gone this far for.”
This time, he couldn’t just let it slide.
“Should I be honored?”
To the heavily sarcastic Chrissy, Nathaniel simply laughed again. The sponge, now full of foam, touched Chrissy’s neck. The act of slowly rubbing his body was incredibly peaceful, but Chrissy wasn’t fooled. The reason he sat quietly with his ankle exposed above the water as the man instructed was because he had other intentions.
“……ugh.”
Even though his body shifted only slightly, a sharp pain spread through his ankle. As he swallowed a groan and curled his toes, Nathaniel’s gaze naturally shifted toward that spot. Chrissy didn’t miss that moment—the way the man’s crotch visibly bulged.
‘Come over here, hurry.’
He muttered to himself.
This time, I’ll definitely bite your throat out.
2 |
A few hours earlier.
“Damn it.”
Chrissy let out a harsh curse. After being left alone, he had searched every corner of the house like a madman and finally found the key to the study, but the file he was targeting wasn’t there. Seeing that the spot where Anthony’s file should have been was empty, he buried his face in his hands.
Haaaaah.
A deep sigh accompanied a wave of self-loathing. He had even played along with that bastard’s perversions for this, and in the end, it was all for nothing. Now what should he do?
He had searched the entire house while looking for the key, but he hadn’t seen anything special. There were only a few choices he could make now. To leave this place as he was and wash his hands of this matter. That would undoubtedly be the best choice for his own sake. He should run far away from that unpredictable, lunatic lawyer and never encounter him again for the rest of his life. In exchange, he would have to carry the guilt regarding Detective Simmons until the day he died.
Soon, Chrissy shook his head. If he were going to give up like this, he wouldn’t have come this far. Then, what else was there?
In any case, Nathaniel held all the keys. The only solution Chrissy knew. If that was the case, he had no choice but to use that man somehow…
Just as he let out a groan from deep in his throat out of desperation, a loud ringing suddenly echoed. Startled by the unexpected sound, Chrissy froze and his eyes darted around frantically. Was there a fire? A fire alarm? What on earth…?
He realized the source of the sound a moment later because of the sound of printing. Having turned his head sharply, Chrissy belatedly let out a sigh of relief. It was a fax. Feeling hollow, he hesitated for a moment before walking toward it. The machine next to the desk continued to spit out paper. Seeing the same phrase written at the top of each page, Chrissy tilted his head.
…A research institute?
After waiting for all the pages to print, he picked up the stack of documents. The name of the institute was one he had heard before. A place established for the purpose of researching traits. In particular, it was a place where every expert on Dominant Alphas worked, with one located in the West and one in the East, though the primary operations were conducted in the West. This was the extent of the information Chrissy knew, but it was more than enough to guess that this was about Nathaniel. Sure enough, seeing “N. Miller” written on the first page, Chrissy confirmed his suspicion was correct.
Why use a fax instead of email?
It was strange, but it was a stroke of luck for Chrissy. He was in a situation where he needed any information possible regarding Nathaniel.
The first and second pages were filled with graphs and numbers. At the array of incomprehensible figures, Chrissy simply skipped over them and looked for the section with explanations. And soon, he found the content he wanted.
‘It has been confirmed that your current pheromone levels are at a significantly dangerous level…’
The moment he saw the ominous first line, Chrissy paused. Then, hurriedly following the letters with his eyes, he was soon able to understand the situation.
‘Nathaniel Miller has not released his pheromones for several months now.’
He read it repeatedly, but the content of the report remained the same. Therefore, Nathaniel’s pheromones were reaching their limit, and an unfortunate situation might occur soon.
Rut, memory loss.
Chrissy stood there, staring intently at those words. A shallow excitement slowly spread through his entire body. The hand holding the documents trembled slightly.
I found it—Nathaniel Miller’s weakness.