By Zephyria Seo Jeong-won smiled weakly. He could feel the fever gradually subsiding in his body.
“Did I catch a cold? That old air conditioner doesn’t regulate the temperature well.”
“Maybe. It was fine in the summer, though…”
“It’s too old. It’s time to throw it away. Honestly, everything here needs to be thrown away. It’s old and broken.”
Kang Da-hyun, who had helped Seo Jeong-won up and led him to the bathroom, leaned against the doorframe and chattered endlessly. He even crossed his arms and relentlessly complained about Kwon Tae-hee.
“Honestly, if someone’s that handsome, they’re bound to be compensating for something.”
“……”
“There’s gotta be something wrong with their personality or something, I’m telling you! No one’s perfect, Jeong-won. You haven’t dated, so you don’t know. Whatever it is, huh? There’s always a problem, no matter what.”
He even started slandering, going beyond mere complaints.
“Hey, or maybe that guy has anger management issues? He looks so gentle at first glance. Like he’d never get angry. But maybe he’s a crazy bastard who can’t tell the difference between people and objects when he gets mad and just smashes everything. Isn’t that scary?”
Seo Jeong-won slowly brushed his teeth, quietly thinking about Kwon Tae-hee. He seemed to have witnessed Kwon Tae-hee getting angry a few times. But was that anger, or just displeasure? Either way, wasn’t it similar?
He didn’t seem like he’d smash things. But as Kang Da-hyun said, you never know with people, so he should be careful.
“……Scary.”
Kang Da-hyun nodded emphatically at the answer Seo Jeong-won gave while spitting out the white foam in his mouth.
“Seriously, what would you do without me? You’re so easily scammed, you know?”
“……Yeah, yeah.”
“I’ve told you so many times to be careful of people. Dating, especially your first relationship, you have to be really careful. Looks aren’t everything. You have to look at their personality before their face, huh? I can’t live in peace because I’m so worried about you.”
“It’s not like you can’t live.”
Seo Jeong-won, who had finished washing his face, made eye contact with Kang Da-hyun in the mirror. As he wiped the water droplets from his chin and stared intently, Kang Da-hyun’s brown skin, tanned from the summer sun, flushed slightly.
“W-Well, I, uh? I just mean, that’s what I mean. Why are you staring at people like that… making my heart race.”
“Did you do something wrong to me?”
“Would I?”
“Then why is it racing?”
Seo Jeong-won laughed as if he had heard a funny joke and took a towel from the cabinet, pressing it against his face. Red spots, like a Fever rash, bloomed prettily around his cheekbones on his pale skin.
“Your face is all messed up.”
“It’ll go down soon.”
Seo Jeong-won, who awkwardly rubbed his cheek, let out a light laugh and moved. After telling Kang Da-hyun to wait a moment, he went into the room and pulled up his T-shirt.
Kang Da-hyun’s gaze landed on his white back. He swore he didn’t mean to look. It was Seo Jeong-won’s fault for taking off his clothes without closing the door.
Red marks were scattered along the smooth curve of his body, starting from his shoulder blades.
“Crazy, no, fuck, what the hell,” the words swirled in his mouth as if in disbelief, unable to form a sentence.
He really left a flamboyant mark. Kang Da-hyun glanced at the clear signs of intercourse and slapped his cheeks, telling himself not to have any unnecessary fantasies.
* * *
Seo Jeong-won headed to the largest medical center in Seonam with Kang Da-hyun. He vaguely agreed with Kang Da-hyun, who was piling up worries like a mountain, before announcing that he would go alone in front of the building with the changed exterior color.
Since it was a fairly large hospital, they could also do a Pheromone test. He needed to confirm whether he had manifested, but he couldn’t be with Kang Da-hyun.
“Parking is quick, huh?”
“You’re busy too. Go quickly. I’m just getting medicine and leaving too.”
“Wait, wait! Pheromone spray! The smell is still really strong. Is that guy really crazy?”
Kang Da-hyun took out the portable Pheromone spray he had put in the driver’s side pocket and sprayed it on Seo Jeong-won indiscriminately. The liquid sprayed out with a “psh psh” sound and soaked into every corner.
“Phew… Thanks.”
“Hey, but don’t you even know where it hurts?”
“Why wouldn’t I know where my body hurts? Thanks. Go in.”
Seo Jeong-won opened the passenger door and quickly got out, waving his hand. The window slowly rolled down.
“What about when you leave?”
“There should be a bus.”
“Your face is red.”
“Really? I feel fine.”
Seo Jeong-won touched his cheek with the back of his hand and answered calmly. He told him to leave one more time. Just in time, the car behind them honked.
“Thanks for the ride.”
“Call me. Okay? And as soon as you go into the hospital, ask the information desk if they have Pheromone spray, and if they do, get it and spray more. Huh? Make sure you spray it.”
“Yeah, yeah, go.”
Kang Da-hyun, who was pouring out his worries as if he couldn’t rest easy, sighed deeply. Seo Jeong-won thought it would be better to turn around first than to wait for him to leave.
“Drive carefully,” he said before turning his back. He heard Kang Da-hyun, who was holding the steering wheel, muttering to himself, expressing his disappointment that he was being cold, but he ignored it.
He slowly passed through the revolving door. As Kang Da-hyun said, he stopped by the information desk to spray more Pheromone spray, then registered for an internal medicine consultation at the reception window.
Since it was his first visit, he had to fill out a questionnaire. He thought it was rather fortunate. He didn’t have to explain why he came here in words first.
He sat in front of the examination room and answered each question sincerely. After filling out and submitting the questionnaire, he had his temperature taken and waited.
There were many people waiting. After waiting for a long time, his name was called. Seo Jeong-won felt his body getting hotter and hotter as he moved his feet. The phone in his pocket vibrated, but he didn’t check it.
“Hello, Seo Jeong-won.”
“Hello.”
“What brings you here today?”
“I have a… high fever. Even if I take fever reducers, it only goes down for a while and then goes back up. Could it be that I’ve manifested?”
The doctor chuckled softly at the question, which he deliberately lowered his voice to ask, as if someone was listening.
“If something happened that could trigger manifestation, then that’s probably it. You checked on the questionnaire that you’ve been in a continuous relationship with an Alpha recently.”
Seo Jeong-won covered his eyes with his cold, sweaty palms. His whole face was hot. He roughly wiped his cheeks and swallowed hard, lowering his voice.
“With these symptoms… I can’t know for sure, right?”
“Well, that’s true. Manifestation doesn’t happen easily.”
“So, it might not be?”
The end of his voice rose. Seo Jeong-won unknowingly harbored the hope that it might not be.
“I can’t say for sure until I do some tests… but I see here that you have family members who are Omegas.”
“If I have family members…”
“Manifestation is mostly due to genetic factors. So, the possibility of you manifesting increases. Do you know your partner’s Pheromone?”
“Partner?”
Seo Jeong-won’s voice cracked as he spoke the unfamiliar word. He was startled and jumped slightly.
The doctor tilted his head as if he was suspicious of his reaction. Was the person he was continuously meeting and having relations with not his partner?
“Yes, don’t we usually define a relationship where people meet continuously and maintain a relationship as dating? As a lover or partner.”
Seo Jeong-won nodded, avoiding the doctor’s eyes, which were shining with curiosity.
Kwon Tae-hee wasn’t someone he could call a partner, but he didn’t think he should tell the truth about that in this situation.
While he was anxious that his lie would be discovered, he tried to remember what his Pheromone was.
Had he ever heard it directly? Even when Kang Da-hyun assumed that Kwon Tae-hee’s Pheromone was dominant, he hadn’t thought to ask.
“…I didn’t ask what his Pheromone was.”
“Hmm, I see. Then… have you ever received a Pheromone shower or spent a Rut together? Please also tell me if you’ve taken any manifestation aids.”
Seo Jeong-won answered without delay to the mechanical questions he asked while writing something on the chart.
“I receive Pheromone showers regularly. I also spent a Rut with him this time. As for aids… I didn’t know there was such a thing.”
“Perhaps Seo Jeong-won didn’t want to manifest, but you were forced to comply with the other person’s demands?”
Unlike his gentle tone, his eyes were sharp.
“Receiving an Alpha’s Rut or Knotting as a Beta is practically torture. This question is just a standard question. You don’t have to take it offensively, as I’m not asking because I suspect anything.”
“No, it’s not like that. Manifestation was something we both… both wanted.”
“That’s a relief then.”
The doctor nodded without dropping his suspicious expression. Seo Jeong-won suddenly opened his mouth when he said they should proceed with the examination.
“But about Pheromones. I… I’m not sure, but I think I smelled Pheromones. So, just in case, I asked a friend, who is also an Alpha… to release his Pheromones? I thought I would be able to smell them. But, at that time, I couldn’t smell the Pheromones. Was I mistaken? Does this kind of thing happen…”
The end of his words trailed off more and more as he went on. He desperately wished that it was just a delusion caused by the fever.
The doctor, who was sitting across the desk, opened his mouth when Seo Jeong-won didn’t continue.
“I can’t say for sure until I see the test results, but that can happen if the Pheromone is weak. Let me explain assuming that Seo Jeong-won has manifested.”
“……”
“It can be seen as a forced manifestation rather than a normal manifestation, which is a very incomplete state. When asked if Alphas or Omegas always have Pheromones, can freely release them, and can smell even the faintest scent, in your case… it’s not a state where I can answer yes.”