At the exact moment Hyowoo went into heat, Gyeonwoo was at his studio apartment.
Thanks to his hand recovering to some extent, he had left his family home two days ago and was enjoying some alone time after a long while.
While lying in bed sipping beer and watching TV, his cell phone rang.
‘It can’t be Hyowoo, right?’
His twin sense activated, thinking his brother might have noticed he was drinking, so he quickly checked the caller ID.
Fortunately, it wasn’t his nagging hyung.
Seeing the three letters “Lee Seohee” on the screen, Gyeonwoo answered the phone playfully.
“Oh my~ Seohee hyung-nim, how are you? For such an esteemed person to call this humble one~”
He had heard there was a date planned for today. Knowing Hyowoo would be nearby, he deliberately greeted him in a louder voice for him to hear. But for some reason, the other end of the line was far too quiet.
“Hello? Lee Seohee-ssi?”
No matter how many times he called out, there was still only silence. Gyeonwoo sat up abruptly.
“Lee Seohee-ssi, can you hear me? Is something wrong?”
—…Gyeon…woo… ssi…….
His voice that finally returned after a long while was somehow precarious. He couldn’t speak properly, and his breathing was rough.
An ominous feeling enveloped his entire body.
“What’s wrong? Did you get into an accident or……”
—…Right now… hyung is… in very bad… condition…… Can you… come here……?
With just those words, Gyeonwoo immediately sensed what had happened.
“Wh… where’s my hyung? Is he next to you right now?”
For Hyowoo with his Peculiar Constitution to experience heat wasn’t simply a matter of distress.
Not only would he lose consciousness from high fever, but if not treated in time, his internal tissues could be damaged and his life could be in danger.
Moreover, the pheromone concentration during heat was six times that of a regular omega. For an alpha, that wasn’t a temptation—it was a “drug” that caused hallucinations.
‘Is he able to make this call because he’s a Dominant Alpha with pheromone resistance?’
Or, what if the worst-case scenario had already occurred?
“I’m asking if Hyowoo is next to you right now!”
Just as he was about to shout for him to get away from his hyung immediately, the call abruptly disconnected.
He called again, but only the ringtone sounded—there was no answer.
Anxiety, unease, and fear all came rushing at once.
Gyeonwoo paced back and forth in the narrow room, clutching his cell phone in his sweaty palms.
He knew the two were meeting today, but he didn’t know where. No matter how exceptional their brotherly bond was, there was no reason for a grown adult man—especially a hyung—to report every detail of his date schedule and location to his younger brother.
“Damn it!”
He couldn’t just blindly search all of Seoul without knowing where they were. But he also couldn’t just sit still with his hands tied, waiting for another call from him.
‘Should I contact L Group’s secretarial office? Or should I just file a kidnapping report at the police station?’
Just as he was pressing his cell phone screen thinking he should contact someone somewhere, a message notification rang.
Lee Seohee-ssi
ㅊㅓㅇ담OO타우ㅓ2001ㅎㅗ 현고ㅏㄴ 비버ㄴ******
It was a message from Lee Seohee.
Although it was full of typos, he could immediately understand what it meant.
‘Since he asked me to come before hanging up, he sent the address. Telling me to come here.’
Cheongdam OO Tower. An ultra-luxurious apartment built by the Han River, frequently featured on TV as a place where most residents were celebrities.
‘A date, and they’re at home? Just the two of them alone?’
He was furious at how anyone could think to meet a Dominant Alpha at home unless they were crazy, but now wasn’t the time to question that. The more time he wasted, the more dangerous it became for Hyowoo.
His heart grew urgent. Without even turning off the TV, Gyeonwoo rushed out of his studio apartment.
There was no time to leisurely take the elevator. He called his father while practically flying down the stairs.
His father, who had stayed late at work, was fortunately still at the hospital. Since there was no time for detailed explanations, he asked him to quickly come to the address he’d send via message.
“Please bring suppressant injections. One for omegas and one for alphas!”
His father, who had been wondering what was going on, didn’t ask any more questions after hearing that and immediately hung up, saying he understood.
He ran at full speed to the main street and caught a taxi.
“It’s an emergency. Please go as fast as possible!”
Even inside the taxi, Gyeonwoo tapped his feet anxiously. His tightly clasped hands trembled.
‘Hyowoo… hyung… please, just be safe. Please…….’
* * *
About 40 minutes after receiving Lee Seohee’s call, Gyeonwoo arrived in front of OO Tower. Five minutes later, he got into his father’s car that arrived right after and headed to the front gate.
“Which unit are you visiting?”
“2001.”
As if they had received advance notice, the security guard simply checked Gyeonwoo’s ID and directed them to the visitor parking area.
In the lobby, as soon as they gave their names, they were immediately let in. However, since they didn’t have a resident card key, the concierge accompanied them to the elevator.
Every second counted. He needed to get to Hyowoo quickly.
‘What’s so special that there are this many procedures?!’
The moment they boarded the elevator, Gyeonwoo’s anxiety, which had reached its peak, exploded. His father calmed his son down as he scratched his head furiously and fumed.
“More importantly, what on earth is going on? Why is Hyowoo in a place like this?”
Only then did Gyeonwoo look at his father’s face.
It was a face that was anxious about whether something had happened to his second son, but was trying hard to suppress his emotions so his youngest wouldn’t be shaken.
It was only natural. Among the family, the person who knew best about the danger of Hyowoo’s heat cycle was his father, who was a doctor.
“A few days ago, your mother said it seemed like Hyowoo was seeing someone… Could he be with that person?”
“……”
“Did you know who your hyung was seeing?”
“……”
“Knowing how serious your hyung’s condition is, you let him meet an alpha in a place like this?”
At his father’s stern rebuke, Gyeonwoo kept his mouth firmly shut.
He really didn’t know they were meeting at home today.
But it was true that he had helped his hyung meet alone with someone who would make his parents faint if they knew. He had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths.
As the elevator reached the 10th floor, pheromone scent gradually began to be felt. A sweet yet subtle vanilla scent—it was definitely Hyowoo’s pheromones.
13th floor, 14th floor, 15th floor.
With each ascending floor, the scent grew stronger.
It was strong enough to attract nearby alphas swarming like bees and then some.
‘If it’s this strong with five floors still left, by now where Hyowoo is……’
The fortunate thing was that this apartment couldn’t access specific floors without resident permission.
They could prevent the worst-case scenario of alphas swarming in, drawn by the pheromone scent.
Finally, the elevator doors opened at the top floor, the 20th floor.
The front door was visible right in front.
When he entered the number Lee Seohee had sent into the door lock and opened the door, an incomparably more intense scent than inside the elevator poured out.
Gyeonwoo couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
He knew about Hyowoo’s pheromones, but this was the first time he had faced them directly.
Even pouring out a hundred bottles of perfume at once wouldn’t be this suffocating.
‘Is this really six times that of a regular omega? No, it seems like almost sixteen times……’
Before the scent could leak out further, he hurriedly locked the front door firmly.
At this concentration, even a Dominant Alpha wouldn’t be able to endure.
‘It might already… be too late……’
Forcibly suppressing his surging anxiety, Gyeonwoo and his father carefully entered the house.
They said it was a luxury penthouse—the structure was rather unfamiliar. They looked around the lower floor of the duplex, which only had a living room and kitchen, searching for Hyowoo.
“Hyowoo, where are you?!”
“Hyung! Answer me!”
No matter how much they shouted, there was no answer, not even the sound of breathing.
‘If he’s not here… maybe upstairs?’
The two quickly headed upstairs via the stairs.
Of the five room doors, only one was open.
The closer they approached that room, the much thicker the pheromone scent became. When they stood in front of the door, it was unbearable.
Gyeonwoo covered his mouth and nose with his hand, barely breathing as he peered into the room.
Beyond the threshold, a large man sitting on the bed breathing roughly could be seen. In his arms was an unconscious Hyowoo.
“Hyowoo……!”
About to run toward his hyung, Gyeonwoo froze in place.
Because two eyes filled with murderous intent—to a degree that was hard to believe belonged to a person—were flashing toward him.
It was instinct.
An alpha holding an omega, showing extreme threat to another alpha who had invaded his territory. At that overwhelming pressure, not only Gyeonwoo but even his father froze.
On top of that, a strange sound was flowing from within the room.
Crunch, crunch…….
The sound of unknown identity burrowed under their skin, making their spines crawl eerily.
“L-Lee Seohee-ssi… I’m… I’m Gyeon… Gyeonwoo. I… I came with my father to pick up my hyung……”
Forcibly separating his unmoving lips, he asked permission from the Dominant Alpha.
Whether Gyeonwoo’s voice had reached him, the murderous intent in the air slightly softened. Enduring the urge to collapse right there, he slowly entered the room.
When he had barely almost reached the bed, Gyeonwoo discovered a blood-soaked “lump” that had fallen on the floor.
It was a piece of human flesh that had separated from a body.
For a moment, his heart nearly stopped, thinking he had bitten off Hyowoo’s nape. However, Gyeonwoo soon realized it wasn’t his hyung’s flesh.
Hyowoo, whom he was preciously embracing with his right arm, wasn’t injured anywhere on his body, and his clothes were perfectly intact.
‘…N-no way……’
Crunch, crunch… Gnash……!
The fresh blood dripping from his left arm was staining Hyowoo’s face, clothes, and even the blanket red.
‘That piece of flesh on the floor……’
On his left arm, the bone was exposed white where the skin had torn away.
‘Is… is this why he couldn’t answer the phone……?’
Lee Seohee was biting and tearing his own flesh to not let go of the one thread of reason remaining.
Shocked by that gruesome sight, Gyeonwoo and his father couldn’t move from that spot for a while.
