“Really — I’m so glad we ran into each other again.”
How else could coincidences keep stacking up like this? Was his life some kind of romantic comedy? No. This was fate.
His fated person, who had no idea just how remarkable the person standing in front of him was, smiled a little awkwardly and said:
“I was honestly so startled when I came to at the club.”
The rough-looking people there had given him quite a fright.
Opening his eyes to find men who looked like gangster uncles — his heart had nearly dropped out of his chest. He’d broken into a cold sweat trying to slip away quickly, terrified of getting caught up in something criminal or becoming a victim. Just thinking about it still made his heart race.
Once he’d made it home safely, he’d found himself worrying about the man who had helped him — though he hadn’t expected to see him again.
“And I was worried about you.”
The last memory he had before losing consciousness was the face of a man looking down at him with an expression more pained than his own, and the image of multiple people forcibly pulling that man away from him.
And yet here they were, running into each other again at a fried chicken place.
What a relief to see him looking healthy.
But it seemed like the man didn’t remember him at all. Unless he was a professional actor, there was no way someone could put on such a convincingly blank expression of never having met a person before. On top of that, he’d coolly asked for Songhwa’s number without missing a beat.
He was a genuinely strange and puzzling person.
Then again, that’s exactly the kind of person who would come with him to the hospital like this.
“The situation was what it was, after all. I’d been wondering if you might be in some kind of trouble somewhere — so seeing that you’re fine is a huge relief.”
“W-well, clubs are like that. You know. They might look rough but the people there aren’t bad, aren’t bad people, probably? They work security at the club, so of course their faces are intense and they’ve got big builds and a few tattoos here and there. And the clothes — well, flashy outfits can be intimidating, but given the nature of the industry? It’s kind of unavoidable? It’s like a uniform of sorts?”
Yong Cheonha avoided eye contact awkwardly and rattled off words at speed, like someone with a guilty conscience. Whether Chae Songhwa was simply oblivious or just kind, he didn’t catch on to anything odd.
“Hmm. When you put it that way, I suppose that’s true.”
He’d probably just scared himself needlessly because he wasn’t used to clubs. And his body had been in a state he’d never experienced before, which had only added to the fear.
Maybe they were kind people who were moving a collapsed guest to get help. Maybe I overreacted just from looking at people’s appearances……
“Still, I really was so grateful for the help. It’s not an excuse, but my body was in a really bad state that night. I’d never felt so out of control before — I was frightened and I desperately needed help.”
Perhaps someone else might have helped him instead, but in the worst-case scenario, it could have led to something criminal.
What if he’d ended up with his organs harvested and buried somewhere — or cremated!
“I’m really glad that the person I met that night was you.”
“W-w-what are you going around saying things like that for. It wasn’t even a big deal.”
Like I did something so great. He rubbed his forearm vigorously as if shaking off the embarrassment, and yet his cheeks were lifted so high they could touch the sky — so he was clearly in a good mood.
As they traded various bits of conversation, they arrived at the hospital, and an appointment was quickly arranged.
“You’re back.”
True to his word about his face just naturally looking that way, the doctor’s expression was just as grave as before.
“Yes. I’ve come to get the imprint removed.”
The doctor stared at Yong Cheonha and began to say, “And your partner——” before his expression shifted into one that said: I told you to bring the omega you imprinted with, not another alpha.
Once it was confirmed that Yong Cheonha was in fact an omega, the doctor dismissed him — telling him the guardian could wait outside for a moment. With just the two of them left, he asked, with an expression even more serious than before, whether any physical force had been involved or whether it had been carried out against Songhwa’s will.
He looked entirely ready to call the police at a moment’s notice.
“It was nothing like that.”
Why does he keep saying such discourteous things? It was a good thing Yong Cheonha had gone to the waiting room — the thought of the other person hearing something like that said in front of them was genuinely horrifying.
Chae Songhwa explained how the imprinting had happened.
He’d been drinking at the club when his body suddenly began to feel wrong, so he’d hidden in the bathroom. Whether it was something like a rut coming on, he couldn’t say — but his pheromone control had broken down and his mind was in chaos, and Yong Cheonha had been the one to help him through it.
The problem was that Yong Cheonha happened to be someone who couldn’t easily sense his own pheromones and therefore walked around with them released at all times — and at that very moment, he had gotten a nosebleed, which had led to a one-sided imprinting occurring.
It was an imprinting built entirely out of one coincidence layering on top of another.
The doctor looked at Chae Songhwa with an expression that said how is it even possible for so many coincidences to stack up like that, then told him to go bring the guardian back in.
With the two of them seated before him, the doctor pressed his fingers to his temples for a long moment before regarding both of his special-trait patients again.
Twenty years old. Twenty-three years old.
One of them looked like the physical embodiment of a night out, and the other looked like an innocent prince who had never encountered such a concept in his life.
It appeared the prince had one-sidedly imprinted on the streetwise one — and having a nephew around the same age, the doctor found himself unsettled enough that a remark slipped out before he could stop it.
“……If you can’t even keep yourself upright, places like clubs are not somewhere you should be going. If you wreck yourself there, you’re the one who suffers the consequences.”
“I agree with that completely.”
Yong Cheonha enthusiastically agreed with the doctor’s words, privately worried that Chae Songhwa might have a similar experience at some other club without him around.
If he’s going to let himself go, it needs to be within my line of sight. The idea of it happening somewhere else? Unbearable.
“Especially in times as dangerous and rough as these.”
“It’s not like I went because I wanted to——”
“Hm? Then why did you go? I thought you came to make full use of that face of yours.”
“What does that even——”
The doctor cut them off, telling them to take their conversation outside the consultation room.
“Imprint removal is typically done with pheromone medication — but to be honest, it’s a procedure that exists closer to an omega’s benefit than an alpha’s, so the side effects for alphas are quite severe. That’s why I’m not really inclined to recommend it. It’s also not covered by insurance, so the cost is considerable — and I don’t think the results will be satisfying relative to the cost, or relative to the side effects. This will be the case no matter which hospital you visit.”
He’d gone to all the trouble of bringing a guardian like he’d been told to, and now they were hearing it had poor results, significant side effects, and a high price tag.
So what am I supposed to do? At this point, Chae Songhwa felt genuinely wronged.
Life was already hard enough to make him want to give up, and things just kept piling on.
“Then what am I supposed to do? What should I do?”
“Even with a one-sided imprinting, if you have a relationship with the other party, receiving pheromone showers regularly and gradually reducing the frequency over time is the approach with no side effects and no cost.”
No cost, no side effects. But that was from Chae Songhwa’s perspective — it certainly wasn’t from Yong Cheonha’s.
He was already so grateful and apologetic that Yong Cheonha had even come this far with him. Asking him to meet regularly for pheromone showers on top of that? There was a limit to how shameless a person could be — it was like being rescued from drowning and then demanding the rescuer hand over their bag.
I do have my pride!
This is a done deal.
Once again, their thoughts couldn’t have been further apart.
“Regardless of the side effects, I’d like the removal——”
“Well, there’s no helping it. How about we just go do a pheromone shower?”
The heavens are on my side.
Yong Cheonha said it as easily as suggesting to a friend they go to a PC café since they had time to kill.
“No, this isn’t something we know how long it’ll take. Won’t it be a nuisance? It’s not a problem that gets solved in one or two sessions.”
“I’m on vacation, I’ve got plenty of time.”
“My work schedule is unstable, so it’ll be hard to match timing — and I can’t keep imposing on you. I appreciate the thought, but……”
“I’ll work around you. I’ve got time, I’m on vacation.”
The great thing about being a university student isn’t the start of a new semester. It’s the end of one.
And besides — if it meant getting Chae Songhwa, would a leave of absence even be an issue for Yong Cheonha? He was willing to drop out entirely.
His parents would be in tears and his grandfather would cause an uproar, but Yong Cheonha had only enrolled in university as a means to find a good, problem-free alpha to begin with — the prestigious university title itself had never interested him.
“The other party is also willing, so let’s proceed with the pheromone shower approach. Medication or surgery isn’t always the answer.”
“Exactly. If someone just insists you go straight for something not even covered by insurance, that’s a quack move. You, sir, are a real doctor. A great physician. A once-in-a-lifetime master doctor who truly thinks of his patients.”
The doctor — who had probably worn a serious expression his entire life — momentarily softened.
“Indeed. There’s nothing I need to prescribe separately, so you can just pay the consultation fee and be on your way.”
Yong Cheonha led Chae Songhwa out of the consultation room and gave the doctor a little wink on the way out.
When things are meant to fall into place, they really do fall into place like this.
Yong Cheonha, out of habit, held his card out toward the reception desk — and Chae Songhwa nearly leapt out of his skin trying to stop him.
Cheonha had already taken time out to come with him today, and now he was trying to pay for Songhwa’s medical bill on top of that? And on top of that, this person was younger than him!
How shameless do you want to make me look!
Chae Songhwa quickly paid with his own card and suggested they talk, leading them to a nearby café.
Songhwa paid at the café too — it was a perfectly ordinary, minor thing, but for Yong Cheonha, whose expectations of alphas had long since hit rock bottom, this somehow moved him and only made him like Chae Songhwa more.
Wow. He’s spending money on me.
Spending money on someone he liked was something Cheonha did without a second thought and actually enjoyed — but none of the older people he’d ever met had ever treated him like the younger one, so the feeling was something fresh and new.
Even his uncles, who were significantly older than him, treated him as the one in charge.
“First of all, I really am grateful that you made such a difficult decision. But I’d like you to reconsider once more. Like the doctor said, it takes at least three months of regular pheromone exchanges, and anything could happen in that time, and the time commitment——”
“I was already having trouble adjusting to school, so it’s nice to have an excuse to take a leave of absence.”
“What? No, please don’t take a leave of absence over something like this!”
He’s more immature than I expected. What am I going to do with this person.
“A decision that important — you should talk it over with the people around you, consult with your family, think it through carefully and decide. The economy’s rough enough as it is right now……”
He himself had never even set foot on a university campus, but working part-time meant you heard all kinds of things.
“If you’re truly exhausted and need to rest, then yes, taking a leave of absence makes sense — but not because of me.”
“……Come on. Obviously I was joking. You think I’d actually take a leave of absence over this? I’ve got plans of my own, you know.”
Of course, those plans had just been born — still fresh and piping hot.
