“Alright.”
The people in the room nodded vigorously and swallowed hard. And then it happened. The iron door swung wide open with an unpleasant screech of metal, and the men stepped inside, flipping on the lights.
“Okay, okay! Ready to move?”
The sudden brightness flooded the room, and the people who had been trapped inside screwed their eyes shut, wincing against the glare.
“……W-where are we going?”
“What does it matter to you?”
“…….”
“Hey, give each of these to them.”
The men glared particularly at Haneul as they spoke, as though issuing a warning.
“W-what is that?”
“Hck, ptuh.”
One of them shifted his weight onto one leg with a lazy slouch and made a disgusting sound as he spat.
“S-stay away!”
“Open your mouth.”
As the man drew close with a pill in hand, Haneul thought he had to escape somehow. He yanked hard at the chain on his wrist as though trying to snap it off.
The men snickered, then roughly seized Haneul by the shoulders and forced his mouth open. They tossed the pill in and poured water after it.
“I can’t stand those little bastards blubbering at the auction house. Give me one who actively throws themselves at you any day.”
“What did you just make me swallow?”
Haneul frowned at the bitter taste sliding down his throat.
“That? A heat cycle inducer.”
“…….”
“The effects will kick in within thirty minutes.”
The men cackled with eager anticipation. Because Haneul was recessive, he had never suffered much from heat cycles up until now.
Thirty minutes……
I have to escape before then.
Haneul and the others being dragged along caught each other’s eyes. They were brought up from the underground of the filthy building via the stairs and led outside, where the same van that had brought Haneul here was waiting.
Haneul, at the front, watched carefully for his moment — and the instant the man let his guard down to open the car door, Haneul shoved him with everything he had. The man lost his balance and crashed into the others, taking them down with him.
“Run!”
While the men stumbled, their large frames working against them, Haneul and the others from the room took off running with everything they had.
“Got one!”
“Aaaah, please, help me!”
Tragically, not everyone from the room made it out — but Haneul swore to himself that he would find a police station no matter what and come back to save the rest.
“Grab them!”
The traffickers’ shouts crashed against the tall walls of the abandoned buildings and echoed back. Haneul ran faster through the sparse row of derelict structures, as though trying to shake off that skin-crawling sound.
“We split here.”
As he ran, an open lot came into view, and Haneul spoke urgently to the other person who had escaped alongside him. The two of them locked eyes and gave a grim nod. Then, at the far edge of the lot, they bolted in completely opposite directions. Haneul ran blindly toward the coastline, where the glow of neon signs flickered.
“Ah…….”
The men, clumsy in their bulk, couldn’t keep up with the quick-footed Haneul in the end. But that wasn’t the problem — what came next was.
No matter how far he ran, the busy streets of a populated area refused to appear. All that stretched before him was a long, quiet road lined on both sides with tall trees standing in a neat row.
“Hah, hah…….”
His legs grew heavier with every step, and his pace slowed noticeably. On top of that, a rising heat from deep in his core blurred his vision.
Haneul’s phone had been taken by the traffickers, leaving him with no way to figure out where he was. Then, far off in the distance, a bright light blinked like a star.
“I have to get there!”
Haneul wrung out every last drop of strength he had and started running toward that flickering light. It was the last hope he had left.
“P-please, help me!”
Haneul waved both arms with all his strength, calling for help as though clutching at a lifeline. At that, the distant light slowly began to move.
“Hey! Still here?”
In that same moment, a dark van crept up from behind Haneul. The men stuck their heads out the windows and shouted at him with mocking glee.
Haneul’s heart pounded like it was going to burst, and his legs trembled helplessly. Even so, he ran toward where that light had been blinking, squeezing out his very last reserves.
That light is the only thing that can save me.
The bright light from earlier drew closer to him slowly, steadily. At the same moment, the van pressed right up behind him. Haneul wrung out the last of his voice.
“Please — save me!”
“You little bastard, just wait till I get my hands on you. I’ll tear you apart!”
But as though Haneul’s desperate cry had worked like a charm, the light surged forward and was upon him in an instant.
“Get in. Quick.”
The bright light that had saved Haneul was the headlights of a black sedan. Without time to ask a single question, he threw himself into the car.
The car carrying Haneul sped off along the edge of the dark sea cradling a bright moon. The van carrying the large men gave chase with its headlights blazing threateningly.
“Hold on tight.”
The man pressed harder on the accelerator, picking up speed. At the same time, he called someone and spoke in an urgent voice.
“Send people to the east end of the new research complex construction site. Right now.”
The man stole a glance at Haneul, who was gripping the overhead handle and trembling.
Ah…… an omega.
Faint enough to be barely perceptible, but undeniably sweet — an omega’s pheromones. The man’s brow furrowed instinctively. But that wasn’t the issue right now. He had to get through this moment first.
“They’re coming.”
Cars appeared at the end of the straight road ahead, closing in at tremendous speed. They waited for the man’s car to pass — then cut off the road behind him.
The man assessed the situation and decided it was safe enough, then gradually eased off the speed and steered toward a populated area. Keeping a close eye on the situation outside, he turned onto a street bustling with people.
Now that Haneul had made it out of a life-or-death situation, it felt as though every drop of strength had drained from his body. He buried his face in his knees and stayed completely still for a long while.
“It’s okay now.”
“…….”
“They’re not following anymore.”
At the man’s assurance that they were safe, Haneul slowly lifted his head and looked out the window. Outside, the street was teeming with people.
A long, deep sigh broke free from Haneul’s lips. His heart, which had been hammering so violently, seemed to be gradually settling, and he felt his cold rationality slowly returning to him as well.
“Thank you so much.”
“…….”
“Oh — wait! I need to go to the police station, the police station.”
“By the way — why do you keep leaking pheromones?”
“Ah…… earlier, those men made me swallow some kind of strange medi—……”
