Even at my answers that had no eloquence whatsoever, Park Seongwoo didn’t mind at all.
“It’s not burns but similar.”
“What is it, what is it.”
“Acne scars.”
Since it wasn’t particularly a secret, I answered obediently.
“Huh? Acne?”
To be precise, after secondary sexual characteristics ended, I no longer got acne, but I still often felt my skin itching like it did back then. Some scars from that time remained, and when it was severe, discharge would flow out to the point of causing disgust, so it was natural that marks remained.
My nickname from elementary school to middle school was consistently “pockmarked.” More than anything, I couldn’t stand anyone seeing my bare face.
“Is it really bad?”
“Aren’t you going to eat lunch?”
“No, I’m dying trying to eat with the ahjussis. They eat boiling hot soup rice in like 3 minutes. You eat with me. Okay?”
Since having two people in their 20s at a construction and building site was very rare, I remembered the director being happy, saying the atmosphere at this workplace was bright. He seemed to take good care of us that much, but it seemed it was too much to comfortably hang out with people who were like father figures.
“Then come with me.”
“Awesome. Is that okay? I thought you absolutely never took off your mask?”
“I won’t take it off. If the hyungnims are uncomfortable, eat next to me.”
“What’s that. Hey, just take it off cool. What does it matter between guys.”
“I can’t.”
“Is the condition that serious? I’m really strong-stomached. Show me just me.”
Instead of answering, I took off my outerwear covered in dust.
***
When Saturday morning at 10 o’clock, the time Kwon Yujin mentioned, came, someone knocked on the entrance door.
I, who had been up since 6 AM wearing my mask and hat and waiting, immediately went outside. Then I saw an unfamiliar man standing there wearing a suit.
“Are you Mr. Hyun Taeyoung?”
“Yes.”
“Since a checkup schedule has been set, I’ll take you directly to the hospital.”
“What about Kwon Yujin? Which hospital are we going to?”
I thought Kwon Yujin would come in person, but it seemed not. I couldn’t hide my disappointed expression and asked various things, but the man didn’t answer.
Since it seemed like he was reluctant to exchange words with me, I didn’t ask any more questions either. I’ll find out when we arrive, I thought.
When I rode in the car the man drove and arrived at a large hospital, a nurse followed me as if she had been waiting. I underwent blood tests, hormone and pheromone tests, and various other tests I’d never heard of before.
It was the first time I’d come to such a large hospital, so I was out of it. Just acting as the nurse instructed, I fumbled several times. Following the businesslike medical staff’s instructions to receive many tests, even I, who didn’t have big emotional fluctuations, gradually began to feel anxious.
I still held a little hope that it wouldn’t be imprinting, but what if Kwon Yujin really did imprint on me? Then what would happen?
“Mr. Hyun Taeyoung. Please enter the examination room.”
Where on earth is Kwon Yujin? Is he not coming? I was sitting thinking such thoughts when the nurse called my name.
Following her guidance and opening the examination room door, a doctor wearing a white gown greeted me. She explained my examination results in detail, then moved on to the issue of pheromones and imprinting.
“Looking at the pheromone compatibility test results of the two people, it’s correct that patient Kwon Yujin has imprinted on Mr. Hyun Taeyoung.”
The doctor first told me what I was most curious about. Sadly, Kwon Yujin really had imprinted on me. Hearing it through the doctor’s mouth was more shocking than expected.
“Imprinting is not necessarily a phenomenon that occurs bilaterally. There are cases where it forms from only one side. Most are temporary, but depending on the individual’s constitution and the intensity of the imprinting, cases of long-term persistence are also reported.”
“……”
“Representative symptoms include daily functioning deterioration when separated from the imprinted partner, or reactions where pheromones of others who are not the imprinting target are perceived as unpleasant or nauseating.”
As I listened to the doctor’s long explanation, my mood sank. Because it seemed like a more serious problem than I thought.
“Is there a definite treatment method?”
“There are medications that alleviate symptoms. However, they’re not a fundamental solution. Depending on the case, there are examples where imprinting is naturally resolved by repeated exposure to another person’s pheromones with matching compatibility. But in cases where imprinting is unstably formed like the current state, that process isn’t easy.”
The doctor continued speaking while looking down at the documents.
“First, a process is needed to stabilize the condition through continuous contact with the imprinted partner for a certain period. Right now, athlete Kwon Yujin’s pheromone response levels are in a considerably unstable state. In such cases, rather than forcibly exposing them to other stimuli, treatment that induces stabilization should come first.”
So, it meant that because he imprinted on me, he was continuously experiencing side effects in everyday environments where he mixed with other pheromones.
Things like dizziness, nausea, overall deterioration of condition.
The solution was unexpectedly simple. First, maintain a certain level of contact with me to stabilize his physical condition. And then in the next stage, gradually make him adapt to other pheromones as well.
In other words, it meant I had to play the role of a kind of buffer device.
After quietly listening to the doctor’s explanation for a while, I opened my mouth after much deliberation.
“Doctor. By any chance, do you know anything about the relationship between Kwon Yujin and me?”
“Ah.”
A slightly uncomfortable silence. That alone made me certain that the doctor knew what kind of relationship Kwon Yujin and Hyun Taeyoung had.
“Yes. Mr. Hyun Taeyoung’s biological father…”
“That’s right. My father was the kidnapper who abducted Kwon Yujin.”
I answered, cutting off the doctor’s words.
“But the problem is, it’s not just my father who’s a perpetrator, but me too. To Kwon Yujin.”
“…At that time, Mr. Hyun Taeyoung was a minor, so it’s difficult to view you as the same kind of perpetrator.”
“Kwon Yujin was held captive in our house for 216 days, so 7 months. After that… we barely met. Um, it’s ambiguous to even call it meeting.”
“……”
“Anyway, the point is we weren’t close enough to see each other frequently enough for imprinting to occur.”
“Imprinting doesn’t occur proportionally to the number of meetings.”
“Still…”
Honestly, it was hard to see this as a normal situation. Although we did spend a little over half a year together when we were young, Kwon Yujin was ten years old at that time. Just a third grader in elementary school.
“Maybe this is.”
I stopped speaking for a moment because the word wouldn’t come to mind.
“Stocall syndrome, something like that.”
“Stockholm syndrome.”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I was trying to say.”
The doctor shook her head.
“Imprinting is a physiological phenomenon that is actually confirmed. It’s an area distinct from simple psychological reactions. Athlete Kwon Yujin’s imprinting response test to Mr. Hyun Taeyoung was confirmed positive.”
“If we treat it… is it certain that the imprinting can be undone?”
“Looking at recent clinical reports, cases of imprinting resolution are increasing quite a bit. The success rate has risen to about half, roughly 50%. But treatment is a later issue. Right now, he’s in a situation where he’s extremely sensitive to being exposed to others’ pheromones, so first, we need to increase the frequency of exposure to Mr. Hyun Taeyoung’s pheromones.”
Anyway, it seemed Kwon Yujin found other alphas’ or omegas’ pheromones unpleasant. Although he hadn’t explained it to me directly, that’s what the doctor’s words indicated.
After hearing the long explanation and coming out of the examination room, the suited man who first brought me to the hospital was waiting. I, who had secretly hoped Kwon Yujin might be there, was disappointed again.
“My greeting is late. I’m Kim Jaewon, Chief Secretary of Yugang Group’s Secretariat.”
The person who introduced himself as Kim Jaewon held out a business card to me. I received it and quietly looked down at it while rolling it in my hand.
Yugang Group. The company Kwon Yujin’s family runs. When I knew nothing, I thought Father had kidnapped the son of a fellow gangster, but the fact I learned after Father was caught by the police and the trial proceeded was that Kwon Yujin was the youngest son of a renowned company.
If he was from that Yugang Group, he would also know who I was. During the police investigation, it was proven that I had no charges, and since I was under 14 years old at the time, criminal punishment was impossible, so I avoided being treated as the same kind of prisoner as Father. However, meeting someone from Kwon Yujin’s side who had hostility toward me, I couldn’t help but shrink back a little.
“Since we’ve confirmed the imprinting test result is positive, I’d like to explain the subsequent procedures on behalf of athlete Kwon Yujin. Could you come with me for a moment?”
“When will Kwon Yujin come?”
“He’ll arrive soon.”
The man guided me to a quiet room. Although there were unfamiliar medical devices around, there was a desk and chairs, so there was no difficulty having a conversation.
“As you heard from the doctor, the athlete’s current condition is not good.”
