By Zephyria Seo Jeong-won pulled the blanket over his head and answered the hand shaking his shoulder to wake him. He mumbled in a sleepy voice, even saying he would definitely go.
“Should I go with you?”
“No, I can just… go alone. I have a fever…”
Seo Jeong-won rubbed his face against the hand caressing his cheek, as if trying to burrow into it. He felt a little more awake.
When he slowly opened his eyes, a beautiful man who didn’t quite fit in his space filled his vision.
“Are you going now…?”
“It gets crowded if I leave any later.”
“Ah… Have a good trip.”
“How do you feel?”
Even though he had checked his lukewarm body temperature, Kwon Tae-hee’s hands wandered all over Seo Jeong-won’s face and neck.
“I think I’m better… I’ll go to the hospital later and call you.”
“Okay. Call me.”
“…Drive safely.”
Kwon Tae-hee, who had stopped him from getting out of bed, laid Seo Jeong-won back down. He pulled the blanket up to his neck and lightly tapped his cheek.
“I’m so pathetic I can’t even get a proper send-off.”
“…”
“Get some more sleep.”
Kwon Tae-hee got up from his spot. He gladly accepted Seo Jeong-won’s gaze and crossed the small house.
He wanted to leisurely hold Seo Jeong-won and waste time, but Kwon Tae-hee had been incredibly busy lately.
Yeonwol-dong, located along the Han River with excellent conditions, had been selected as a redevelopment zone, and construction companies were jumping into the reconstruction project.
Taehwa Construction, where Kwon Tae-hee was an Executive Director, had also submitted a letter of intent to secure the construction rights.
In addition, Daesuk District 3 had already built temporary structures to open a promotional center for the bidding war.
Taehwa Construction had even invited a famous architectural designer to showcase a residential-commercial complex with a design unseen in Korea. Strategy meetings for winning the bid were constantly being held every day.
In the midst of all this, he had already wasted several days due to an unexpected Rut. Judging from the piled-up calls and messages from Chief Jung since dawn, it seemed like there was a problem.
With regret, Kwon Tae-hee left Seo Jeong-won’s house. As soon as he got into the driver’s seat, he answered the phone call from Chief Jung.
“Yes, General manager.”
—Executive Director.
“Speak.”
—We’ve sent the materials you requested regarding the bidding war to your email.
“I’ll check it. I left just now, so it’ll take about 40 minutes.”
Kwon Tae-hee smoothly turned the steering wheel and drove out of the narrow alleyway.
—And there’s something else to report. Guwon Corporation said they would complete the Yeonwol-dong redevelopment construction at 9 million won per pyeong and in 50 months, which is about 7 months faster than us.
Kwon Tae-hee’s brow furrowed slightly. He checked the quiet road and took a long breath.
“Is that possible?”
—It’s not impossible. We’ve also sent a press release to respond to this in the email. Please review it and we’ll pass it on to the PR team.
“It’s not enough to just review it, we need to talk about it while looking at the data. Tell all the relevant departments to come in. Let’s hear why we’re more expensive and slower than Guwon.”
He changed lanes and increased his speed. He thought of Seo Jeong-won before entering the highway, but it didn’t last long.
* * *
Seo Jeong-won woke up alone in the silent house. He was sure he had been with Kwon Tae-hee until dawn, but he couldn’t remember when he had become alone.
He thought he had heard that his fever had gone down, but his whole body felt like it was burning. The forehead he touched with his palm felt lukewarm. Was it just a feeling that he had a fever?
Was it just his imagination that his breath felt hot? The upper body he had barely raised slumped back down. How much longer had he been lying face down on the bed? The phone on his desk vibrated. The sound of knocking on the door followed in succession.
Seo Jeong-won gave up on the phone that he couldn’t reach and slowly headed towards the front door. It wasn’t a long distance, but he had to stop several times because he was so exhausted.
Knock, knock, knock! The ringing sound caused a tingling pain throughout his body, making him want to open the door quickly.
“Who… Haa. Who is it?”
“Are you home?”
“…Kang Da-hyun?”
When he opened the door with his struggling hand, Kang Da-hyun, who was wearing a hat pulled low, barged in with a black plastic bag in his hand.
“Hey, why is your face so red? Did you come out after doing something weird?”
Kang Da-hyun, who had asked irritably, checked his forehead soaked with cold sweat and immediately reached out his hand. His cool palm touched his wet forehead and pressed down. Kang Da-hyun’s expression became serious as he held the back of his head and checked his temperature for a long time.
“You have a really high fever. Are you sick? Hey, ugh… Shit. Isn’t this fever because of Pheromones?”
“I feel strange.”
“Yeah, you look strange. You look really suspicious right now.”
“Pheromones, do that thing where you smell Pheromones. I can’t really smell the scent coming from me right now.”
Kang Da-hyun held out the apple juice he had squeezed, but Seo Jeong-won shook his head without taking it.
Kang Da-hyun frowned as he looked at his bright red cheeks and then at his messy neck. That bastard… Was he trying to devour him?
“Haa… Why Pheromones all of a sudden. Why that? Can’t you smell it anyway?”
“That’s why… That’s why I’m telling you to do it.”
Seo Jeong-won stared at Kang Da-hyun, who kept asking back even though he was too tired to speak, and he nodded with a determined expression. But he muttered about why he was being told to do it and added that he should definitely tell him.
“Are you going to do it? Really going to do it? Are you going to do it?”
“Do it, really do it. I’m really… I can’t even stand right now.”
Kang Da-hyun, who was holding onto the staggering Seo Jeong-won, released his Pheromones. A considerable amount poured out. When he asked if he could feel it, Seo Jeong-won shook his head slightly.
He couldn’t smell anything. He seemed to be able to feel it clearly from Kwon Tae-hee, but he couldn’t smell Kang Da-hyun’s Pheromones.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know either…”
“I don’t know what’s going on either. No, if you go outside in this state, you’ll be arrested for public indecency. That person is crazy, releasing this much Pheromones on a Beta… My face is really turning red. Isn’t he crazy?”
Kang Da-hyun, who had helped Seo Jeong-won sit back on the bed, frowned as he checked the Pheromones that were emanating more strongly from the room.
He mixed in curses, saying it was too much, and opened the windows wide to ventilate the room. He also got angry, saying what was he doing to an innocent kid.
“Hey, with this much effort, you’ll develop into an Omega. Do you want to become an Omega?”
“…What are you talking about.”
“It’s strange that you haven’t developed yet. If you’re a dominant type and don’t want it, shouldn’t he be more careful? Huh? You’re completely falling for some strange person. You’re really…”
Seo Jeong-won, who let the flying scolding go in one ear, hid his confused feelings and avoided his gaze. He thought he should go to the hospital first, but he didn’t have the energy to go.
Kang Da-hyun busily moved around, opening all the windows in the house to ventilate and pouring the squeezed juice into a cup.
“Have you eaten?”
“Bring me some antipyretics. They’re in the sink cabinet… If you open it, they’re there.”
“You have to eat something. How can you take medicine on an empty stomach?”
“The medicine that comes out these days is okay.”
Kang Da-hyun reluctantly brought the antipyretics to Seo Jeong-won, who was urging him, and grumbled unhappily. He glared at him, saying, “Are you a pharmacist or a doctor?”
Seo Jeong-won stared at the pills that had fallen into his palm and pondered whether it would be possible for him to move on his own if his fever went down. Wouldn’t it be okay if it was just easier to move?
“What about The Garden? Why don’t you just rest today?”
“I have to go. If I close because I’m sick, I’ll really go bankrupt.”
Seo Jeong-won answered weakly as he threw the medicine into his mouth, and Kang Da-hyun handed him water. He still sighed as he looked at the pale and red Seo Jeong-won.
“If you had any insurance money or anything left, you wouldn’t be having such a hard time.”
“…”
“Did you meet that person because of Hyung’s hospital bills, or something? Sponsorship? You said that back then.”
Did he? Seo Jeong-won didn’t really remember. He didn’t even remember what he had made up back then. He just nodded at Kang Da-hyun’s words without answering.
“I’m grateful for the help, and it’s not strange for goodwill to turn into affection…”
Kang Da-hyun laid out the thoughts that he had been worrying about so much for the past few days. He occasionally checked Seo Jeong-won’s expression.
“Yeah… That’s true. Then, what about that person who was engaged to Gyu-won Hyung? Are you completely ignoring him now? Not even answering his calls? Shouldn’t that person be responsible to some extent? How can he ruin someone else’s life to this extent… And just pass it all on to his younger brother?”
“My head hurts. If you have time, take me to the hospital… Take me to the hospital. I think I have a fever, so I’m going to take some medicine. If you’re busy, I’ll go alone.”
Seo Jeong-won deliberately trailed off. Kang Da-hyun raised his voice and got angry again, saying, “Why are you saying such hurtful things?”