“Heat cycles? So that means……”
Siyeon trailed off, visibly startled, and this time Chae Yuno stepped in naturally to pick up where Beom Yisu had left off.
“Hyung isn’t wrong, but your situation is a little different from a typical partner arrangement.”
“Different how?”
“Usually it’s just about timing meetings around rut or heat periods. But with us, the contract is premised on pregnancy from the start.”
Chae Yuno leaned back loosely against his chair and continued.
“Think of it as…… an adjustment period, basically.”
Listening to the two of them, Siyeon was beginning to get the general picture. So in plain terms — it was like a friends-with-benefits situation. A medically purposed one, at that.
He wasn’t entirely sure he’d understood it right, but the rough meaning seemed about right. If he pushed for more clarification, he’d just end up looking like the only one asking strange questions — so Siyeon gave a measured nod.
At that, Beom Yisu, who had been looking between the two of them, wrapped it up in summary.
“What we want is a healthy child without defects. For that, the probability is higher if implantation occurs after sufficient pheromone bonding has taken place with the surrogate.”
A healthy child without defects. The moment Beom Yisu said those words, something flickered subtly in Chae Yuno’s eyes. His unsettlement was likely tied to what they’d discussed that morning about the unheat condition. It wasn’t even Siyeon’s fault — and yet he had to swallow down the inexplicable dryness crawling up the back of his throat.
“I understand what you mean. You want us to adapt to each other before the pregnancy — that bonding, or whatever you’d call it.”
Not for any romantic reason, that much was obvious. As Beom Yisu had put it, this seemed to be about proceeding with physical contact for the sake of better genetic compatibility. If that was the correct interpretation, there was nothing to refute in what followed.
But did that mean he’d be cooped up in this house, living skin-to-skin with a married couple around the clock? He’d moved into the estate to bear a child, yes — but he had no intention of being kept like livestock, existing for that single purpose alone.
“Then I’d like to set proper time limits for it. Maybe…… thirty minutes a day?”
Siyeon ventured the suggestion cautiously, testing the waters. It must have been a completely non-starter, because Beom Yisu tapped the table twice in crisp, sharp knocks. The universal signal that he was displeased. Siyeon glanced over at Chae Yuno — who was pointedly avoiding his eyes. Even Chae Yuno, who had been bickering with his husband just moments ago, seemed to be on Beom Yisu’s side this time.
“If that were sufficient, I wouldn’t have brought Hong Siyeon into this house.”
“So I’m supposed to be attached to the two of you all day? There needs to be some kind of limit for me to go along with this.”
“I accepted the majority of conditions Hong Siyeon put forward. Including a sum ten times the original contract payment.”
“……But still!”
“Shouldn’t Hong Siyeon also deliver value commensurate with that? I believe I made it clear from the start that I don’t enter into losing contracts.”
On this particular matter, Beom Yisu showed no sign of budging even slightly. If Siyeon pushed any further, he might flip the previously agreed terms entirely. It was deeply unsatisfying — but given that he was the one in the weaker position here, he wasn’t in a place to dig his heels in stubbornly. In the end, when it came to the matter of physical contact, it was Siyeon who raised the white flag first.
“Alright. Fine, I’ll do it. But I’d appreciate being told in advance what’s going to happen and when.”
Take it or leave it. Beom Yisu’s mood didn’t look particularly good, and Siyeon had no choice but to tread carefully. Chae Yuno moved swiftly to wrap things up.
“Good. For now, we’ll proceed as pheromone partners. Please let us know in advance when your rut or heat period is coming.”
Like I’d have any idea when this body goes into heat. Chae Yuno’s words kept washing over him without actually landing anywhere in his head. If this couple decided they wanted to start things tonight — lips first — then Siyeon was in the position of having to silently go along with it.
Maybe it hadn’t felt real yet. He’d spent the day sprawled out sleeping without a care, and then shoveled down the heaping meal they’d given him — and now the reality of having to press up against men with all their parts in place for the foreseeable future was making the food genuinely threaten to come back up.
“Let’s stop here for tonight. I’ll send over the detailed clauses in writing.”
With that, mercifully, the uncomfortable gathering broke up. Tomorrow the worrying would start up again — but for now, maybe he’d gotten over one hurdle.
Can I actually get through this?
Even walking back to his room, he honestly had no confidence. If those two came barging in on him, he wasn’t sure he could stop himself from swinging at them.
***
God, my head is splitting.
The first day in the estate he’d fought so desperately not to set foot in had passed. The pile of worries was already making him feel physically unwell. He’d napped the day before, so he’d been wide awake since the early hours — Siyeon lay buried under the luxurious goose-down duvet that probably cost several million won per set, doing nothing but staring at the ceiling with his eyes open.
“Ugh……”
He’d half-considered getting up and doing something, but the thought of wandering out of his room and running into one of the two was its own kind of burden. He was unemployed with nothing to do, but the two of them were a conglomerate heir and a famous celebrity — surely they had busy schedules. He figured he’d wait until both of them had left the estate before poking around the house, so he was allowing himself a bit of laziness.
But then, as though perfectly timed to derail his plan, the sound of footsteps pacing in the corridor drew closer. Thud-thud — the uninvited guest at his door knocked and turned the handle in the same motion.
“Sleep well, babe?”
He’d assumed it would be Chae Yuno. Beom Yisu didn’t seem like the type to make an entrance this loud.
Should’ve asked for a different room.
Surely he didn’t do this every single morning? That worry was just starting to form when Chae Yuno strode into the room as if it were his own and yanked Siyeon up from where he was melted into the bedding.
“Get up. We’re going on a date.”
At this hour of the morning? Siyeon’s brow, already low from the start, twitched faintly.
“Out of nowhere?”
“It’s not out of nowhere. I told you yesterday.”
Chae Yuno’s gaze slid over to the medicine bottle on the desk, its label half-peeled off.
“We’re going on a date. To the hospital.”
Oh — a date meant a medical check-up. In that case, there was no reason not to go. Siyeon dropped his wariness and obediently hauled himself out of bed.
“The same hospital as last time?”
“No, somewhere different this time. Get ready first.”
Prodded into action by Chae Yuno’s nagging, Siyeon had no choice but to get himself ready. After a quick shower and a half-hearted attempt at throwing on clothes, he stepped outside to find a row of cars lined up in the building behind the garden. Spotting him emerge, Chae Yuno came strolling over with a car key spinning on his finger.
“Babe. Which one do you want to take?”
Were all of these actually Chae Yuno’s? Siyeon scanned the lineup in silence. Gleaming colors and ostentatious curves — dream cars straight out of a magazine, the kind every man was supposed to fantasize about at least once. Everything from a yellow sports car to a modest sedan. How many is this even…… It was starting to make sense why Beom Yisu had been sniping at him about wasteful spending and flashy cars yesterday. His gaze finally landed on a black jeep at the end.
“That one.”
Chae Yuno’s eyes widened for a moment before he broke into a quiet laugh.
“So that’s your taste. You like them big?”
“……Bigger is better, isn’t it?”
He’d never owned a car, but if there was a small option and a large option, surely you’d naturally prefer the larger one. Siyeon nodded without thinking much of it, and Chae Yuno smiled in a way that held a bit too much meaning behind it.
“Do you like darker colors?”
“Doesn’t matter to me…… but if anything, white works too — it looks clean.”
“Mm. So you like them big and clean. Good thing — that’s exactly what you’re getting.”
What exactly is that supposed to mean? Why was he grinning like that? Chae Yuno, still wearing that cryptically amused expression, walked without hesitation to the jeep and pulled the door open.
“Is your manager not coming today?”
“Yeah, bringing your manager on a date is a bit much, isn’t it? Besides, I drive well.”
Siyeon looked around just to be safe. Being a celebrity, he hadn’t expected him to drive himself just for a hospital trip…… Then again, owning this many cars was probably a sign that driving himself was perfectly normal for him. Maybe he’d been too quick to assume.
“Get in, babe. The ride will be smooth.”
He’d been managing stairs in a half-cast well enough, but the jeep sat higher than that. Getting around in general wasn’t a major problem, but bending sharply or folding his leg still sent a dull throb of pain through it. He was struggling his way up with a bum leg when Chae Yuno reached out and grabbed him around the waist.
“Ow!”
Chae Yuno had apparently meant to steady him — but the suddenness of it startled a mortifying sound out of him. Siyeon turned to glare, and Chae Yuno looked back completely unruffled, eyes curving into a smile.
“Is your coat too thin? Or are you just sensitive?”
And then he started kneading the waist he was still holding!
“What are you doing?”
“Checking if it’s an erogenous zone.”
This guy’s at it again. He’d asked what Chae Yuno thought he was doing by not letting go — and gotten a completely left-field answer in return. They had technically started their contract cohabitation, but if he was going to act like a man in heat at every turn without any sense of timing, that was going to be a real problem.
“Going forward, I’d like you not to touch me without permission. I don’t need help getting around.”
Siyeon drew the line firmly. Chae Yuno thought about it for a moment — then curled his lips up with shameless ease.
“So…… touching with permission is fine?”
