The man tried to pry Hae-yul off of him, but it was no easy task given how desperately Hae-yul was clinging. To make matters worse, the pheromone scent flowing from Hae-yul’s body began to grow even denser. As the thick, sweet smell stimulated his senses to the point where it was difficult to keep a clear head, the man’s jaw naturally clenched.
One wrong move and he felt like he might lay hands on Hae-yul, whose reason had been consumed by the heat cycle.
“…Ha.”
The man let out a low, strained breath, forcibly pried Hae-yul’s hands from around his waist, and turned to face him.
“Ju Hae-yul, come to your senses.”
“…Hic. P-, please help me.”
“I understand that Ju Hae-yul is suffering, but I have no intention of helping in this way. I don’t do things I can’t take responsibility for. I refuse to be someone without integrity.”
Hae-yul stared at the man, who refused him so firmly, with eyes brimming with tears. Those cold, dark irises were directed at him. Even as he felt fear under that icy gaze, Hae-yul threw himself in like a moth to a flame. He clung desperately to the only person who could give him room to breathe.
His feverish hands cupped the man’s face on both sides. Without giving the man a chance to stop him, Hae-yul pressed his lips against his. The man’s pupils dilated wide. A tongue burning with fever moved clumsily through the man’s mouth.
The man let out a quiet, resigned breath and grabbed Hae-yul’s forearms, forcibly pulling him away. Their lips parted, and between them stretched a long, glistening thread. A quiet curse slipped out between the man’s lips.
Hae-yul’s damp, wet eyes turned toward the man.
“Ju Hae-yul.”
“…Yes.”
“Didn’t anyone ever teach you never to sleep with a stranger?”
Hae-yul’s eyelashes stirred slowly. He didn’t seem to register that the man already knew his name.
“…Does it become okay if we’re not strangers?”
At the completely unexpected question that came back at him, the man’s lips parted slightly in disbelief.
“I’m Ju Hae-yul.”
“…I know.”
“And you?”
The hazy voice, heavy as if draped in layers of sleepiness, asked quietly, and the man’s mouth moved of its own accord.
“…Kwon Gyo-eon.”
“Then… we’re not strangers anymore.”
Hae-yul said that and smiled brightly. The man looked at that smile and said something — but the words themselves were beyond recollection. Because Hae-yul had impatiently pressed his lips to the man’s again.
And then, and then……. Everything moved in a blur. At least, that’s how it was in his memory.
Having managed to piece together, even if only in fragments, what had happened in the early morning hours, Hae-yul’s face went pale. What Kwon Gyo-eon had said — that Hae-yul had jumped him — was the truth. And not only that. He had outright seduced Kwon Gyo-eon. Even accounting for the influence of the heat cycle, Hae-yul couldn’t believe that he had thrown himself at a man.
It felt as though the world itself was trying to deceive him. Hae-yul covered his own mouth with both hands and silently reeled in shock.
“…You absolute lunatic.”
A whispered groan broke free. The dull ache in his lower back, the soreness in his backside — it had all been because of what happened with Kwon Gyo-eon. Hae-yul’s pupils trembled as he realized this belatedly.
Thinking back on what had happened the previous night, he had no face to show Kwon Gyo-eon. Not only had the man rescued him from where he’d been collapsed in the street, he’d then been jumped on top of it all — and then been mistaken for a kidnapper. If Hae-yul had been in Kwon Gyo-eon’s position, he would have been burning with indignation.
“Ju Hae-yul, are you alright?”
Hae-yul shook his head at Kwon Gyo-eon’s question and unsteadily rose from his seat. He pretended not to notice Kwon Gyo-eon rising to follow him and asked quietly.
“Where’s the front door?”
“I’ll take you. It’s about a 20-minute drive to Korea University, so it’ll be inconvenient to get back on your own.”
“No. It’s fine. I can go by myself. There are buses and taxis.”
“Ju Hae-yul.”
“I’ve caused you a great deal of trouble. And I’m truly, truly sorry. Everything that happened yesterday was entirely my fault. I won’t ever ask you to take responsibility — so please, just pretend none of this ever happened.”
By some miracle, Hae-yul found the front door before Kwon Gyo-eon could point it out, and, afraid of being held back, he shoved his feet roughly into his shoes and hurried outside. Thud — the large wooden door closed behind him. Hae-yul left the front door at his back, stepped into the building’s elevator, and pressed the button.
The elevator doors slowly closed and he felt himself descending. The moment the elevator reached the first floor, Hae-yul moved quickly. Only after walking a good distance and finally clearing the luxury villa surrounded by its tall walls did he let out a relieved sigh.
He stopped and looked around. The area near the villa was lined with nothing but other luxury villas and detached houses. There was no way public transportation like taxis or buses ran through here. And even if taxis did come this way, given the state of his near-empty pockets, that was out of the question.
Hae-yul freshly realized just how absurd his parting words must have sounded to Kwon Gyo-eon, gave a self-deprecating laugh, then clenched his fist hard. It’s not like I’ll ever see him again anyway — why am I worrying about it? I’ll just chalk it up to giving someone a good laugh and move on.
Hae-yul shrugged his shoulders lightly, patted his stiff lower back, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked it, opened the messenger, and typed out a message.
10:48
Boss, I’m so sorry. My cycle hit unexpectedly, so it looks like I won’t be able to come in today or tomorrow… I’ll manage my cycle better from now on..
Hae-yul worked the Friday and weekend night shifts at a convenience store near the goshiwon where he lived. His working hours were from 11 PM to 7 AM. He closed the messenger and with a dark expression read the word ‘Saturday’ displayed on his lock screen.
His life was already stretched thin as it was, and now he’d inevitably missed all of this week’s shifts. Hae-yul tallied up in his head how much would be left after paying rent and utilities, then shook his head.
If it really came down to it, he could add a loading and unloading part-time job in the early weekday mornings. But if it came to that, he’d be doing the study cafe part-time job from Tuesday through Friday, the convenience store night shift on Fridays and weekends, and the early morning loading job on weekdays — all in a single week……
It was a brutal schedule, but if he caught brief naps in between, he could get through it. More importantly, there were still about 3 weeks left until the semester started, so if he pushed hard, he could make decent money. After the semester began he’d barely be able to manage just the convenience store night shift, so he had to earn as much as he could during the break to get through the semester comfortably.
He actually had the opportunity to do tutoring — a relatively high-paying part-time job that came with the prestige of his university name — but for Hae-yul, whose cycle occasionally went haywire, that was nothing but a pipe dream.
Still, just a little more and he’d be close to his savings goal, so he was only overextending himself just a tiny bit.
Hae-yul slipped his phone back into his pocket and started walking, but his breathing gradually grew more labored. The main road was farther away than he’d expected. Maybe he should have just swallowed his pride and accepted when Kwon Gyo-eon readily offered to drive him.
Hae-yul trudged along and briefly regretted his decision.
“…Idiot. You were about to fall for that just for a bit of physical comfort?”
What good would hitching a ride do besides make things uncomfortable? Even if it was a little harder on his body, walking alone was far better for his peace of mind. As for what happened last night — it was probably best to just chalk it up to a painful life lesson. If he didn’t think of it that way, he didn’t think he’d be able to go on with his life.
“But why does that name feel so familiar.”
The more he turned the name Kwon Gyo-eon over in his mind, the stronger an inexplicable sense of déjà vu became. Hae-yul furrowed his brow at the name that even felt strangely familiar. Had he met Kwon Gyo-eon somewhere before? But there’s no way he’d forget someone with a presence as cold as solid ice……
Lost in thought with a troubled expression, Hae-yul’s steps gradually slowed.
“Kwon Gyo-eon, Kwon Gyo-eon, Kwon Gyo-eon……. Kwon… Kwon Gyo-eon?”
Hae-yul was muttering the man’s name under his breath when his legs suddenly came to a dead stop.
“Kwon Gyo-eon is… Kwon Je-yeon’s dad, isn’t he?”
A fact he’d completely forgotten surged to the surface in an instant. He’d been so preoccupied with the fact that he’d spent the night with a man that he’d entirely blanked on the name. The color drained from Hae-yul’s face as he recalled exactly who Kwon Gyo-eon was.
“…Ha, ha ha. Oh, f-, fuck……. I’m really, truly screwed, aren’t I?”
He had finally come face to face with one of the original novel’s characters — the very one he had been trying so hard to avoid. Hae-yul turned around with a face drained of all color. The luxury villa he had been staying in until just moments ago looked startlingly vivid. The villa, which had seemed somewhat imposing but otherwise normal, now looked like a den of darkness draped in black storm clouds.
Hae-yul was staring up at the building with frightened eyes when the muscles in his face twitched suddenly.
“Wait a moment……”
In the original novel, ‘Ju Hae-yul’ had become pregnant with Kwon Gyo-eon’s child — which meant Kwon Gyo-eon was definitely an Alpha. He’d even confirmed it himself. Which meant he had just slept with an Alpha. He couldn’t remember whether Kwon Gyo-eon was a dominant or recessive Alpha, but regardless——
“…No. Absolutely not. Absolutely not!!”
If the other party was none other than Kwon Gyo-eon, then one night’s mistake was more than enough to bring his whole world crashing down. Hae-yul frantically pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the internet. Now that a situation like this had actually arrived, he couldn’t even recall the basic knowledge he’d learned in school.
