ETP Ch 40

The doctor, rather, was taken aback by Bokseung’s obliviousness.

Most individuals with traits could experience fluctuations in their cycles due to environmental factors, as they are influenced by pheromones and hormones. It was puzzling why Bokseung was so adamant about not being in heat, despite likely knowing this.

The doctor glanced once more at the alpha standing behind Bokseung before attempting to persuade him.

“As Kim Bokseung is well aware, individuals with traits can be affected by pheromones depending on stress, their surroundings, or even who is next to them.”

“Oh…?”

He hadn’t known.

He hadn’t known at all.

Seongyeon’s ears grew hotter with each gentle word from the doctor. He’d thought that if the hospital said he was fine, he was fine, and that all he had to do was get checkups on the scheduled dates.

Lowering his flushed face in embarrassment, Seongyeon asked,

“Th-Then, is it possible that I’m experiencing these symptoms because of a heat cycle, not a hangover?”

Sensing that Bokseung’s stubbornness was finally wavering, the doctor continued to explain calmly.

“Yes. Kim Bokseung has been quite regular with his cycle and has responded well to suppressants, so he seems surprised by this sudden change. We’ll know for sure after a simple test, so don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

Seongyeon nodded like an obedient child.

Watching from the side, Yoohyun inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. If Bokseung had continued to refuse the examination, his heat cycle could have started anytime, anywhere.

Fortunately, the doctor’s words seemed to have worked, as Bokseung cautiously extended his arm. With a slight sting, blood flowed into the syringe.

Seongyeon shuddered again in embarrassment and shame as he watched the dark red blood. It was clear that today was a day he couldn’t escape humiliation.

True to the doctor’s word about it being a simple test, the results came back in less than 20 minutes.

Returning to the examination room, Seongyeon received the expected diagnosis: his heat cycle was about to begin.

“How would Kim Bokseung like to spend this heat cycle?”

“Yes?”

“Do you have a partner…?”

“No!”

Seongyeon jumped up.

A partner?! Who has a partner?!

The doctor’s eyes widened at Seongyeon’s reaction, and he looked at Yoohyun.

Yoohyun barely managed to suppress a look of disappointment. Then, he mirrored Bokseung’s reaction, expressing a firm denial.

As the two joined forces in their denial, a look of bewilderment spread across the doctor’s face.

“Oh, my! I’m sorry. I seem to have misunderstood.”

“Yes! Doctor, you misunderstood! It’s a huge misunderstanding!”

Do they dislike being associated with each other that much?

Yoohyun wished he could flick the back of Bokseung’s annoying head.

“I see.”

The doctor glanced at Yoohyun once more. Unlike his earlier denial, he now looked rather disappointed. He didn’t want to pry, but he felt he understood their relationship and felt a bit sorry for them.

In the end, the doctor pretended not to notice anything between them and asked,

“Then, I’ll prescribe heat cycle suppressants. You might feel a bit more unwell than usual, but you should be able to go about your daily life. Since injections are the most effective, you should get an IV today, and take the medication three times a day.”

The doctor provided a detailed explanation and prescribed the IV.

Like an obedient kindergartener, Seongyeon nodded and listened attentively to the doctor. Yoohyun’s expression softened as he watched him with his flushed, feverish face; he looked so cute.

“Have you been experiencing any stress or changes in your environment lately?”

The doctor asked while filling out the medical chart, trying to find the cause of Bokseung’s cycle change.

Seongyeon shook his head at the doctor’s question. He had been constantly stressed, but those were things no one would believe even if he told them.

Just as the consultation was about to end,

“He drank heavily alone yesterday and cried this morning.”

“Yes?”

“He cried his eyes out.”

Bokseung’s embarrassing behavior was revealed in detail through Yoohyun’s words.

Upon hearing this, the doctor asked Bokseung for a detailed explanation.

Seongyeon grumbled inwardly at Yoohyun, who had been silent until now and then suddenly blurted out only annoying things.

“W-Well, I failed my exam… M-My friend suddenly moved far away… and my body is tired from my part-time job…”

“Oh dear!”

Seongyeon somehow managed to squeeze out some generic reasons.

It was true that he failed his exam and that his part-time job was tiring him out. But it wasn’t stressful enough to affect his cycle. Anything else he could say was unspeakable.

Despite this, the doctor looked at him with pity, as if looking at an incredibly fragile sunfish.

Embarrassed again, Seongyeon lowered his head.

“Can the cycle change even with these things?”

Yoohyun also had a look of disbelief. If his cycle could change with this level of stress, every person with traits in the world would probably have to live with suppressant IVs constantly attached.

Seongyeon gave Yoohyun a disgruntled look, signaling him to shut up.

Naturally, such an expression wouldn’t work against Yoohyun’s shamelessness.

“Well, stress is entirely subjective. The same stimulus can be perceived completely differently depending on the individual. There’s no right answer to this.”

The doctor smoothed things over with an awkward laugh. With that, the consultation ended.

Yoohyun let Bokseung leave first and asked the doctor,

“So, he’ll be alright for a while?”

The doctor shook his head at Yoohyun’s question.

“He’ll be able to get through this cycle, but we don’t know when the next one will be. Whether it’s in a while or a few months. Since Kim Bokseung has been quite regular, it’s harder to predict these sudden occurrences.”

There was no way to know what would happen or when. Yoohyun frowned, dissatisfied with the doctor’s answer.

“Still, he’s been quite stable considering it hasn’t been long since his trait manifested. We can only hope this is just a one-time event. But…”

Sensing that the doctor had something more to say, Yoohyun stopped and turned around.

“How did you know it was a pre-heat symptom? As Kim Bokseung said, it wasn’t much different from hangover symptoms, and frankly, I didn’t notice any pheromones at all. The test results only showed a very slight indication.”

Yoohyun briefly exhaled at the doctor’s question.

“I’m very sensitive to other people’s pheromones.”

“Oh, is that so? You don’t seem to be affected by them, though.”

He was remarkably calm for an alpha who was next to an omega nearing their heat cycle. Moreover, if he was bringing the omega in for treatment himself, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was almost completely unaffected.

This contrasted sharply with the typical characteristic of individuals with traits, where higher sensitivity to pheromones resulted in greater influence.

“I’m taking suppressants from Hevent Pharmaceuticals in Germany.”

The doctor looked surprised at Yoohyun’s answer.

The medication was almost sacred among individuals with traits, due to its reputation for both its high price and its effectiveness, which was said to be on a different level compared to other suppressants. It was difficult to obtain, and even if obtained, it didn’t work for everyone, so the number of individuals who used it was very small.

A dominant alpha taking Hevent’s medication…

His background must be quite impressive. The doctor decided not to pry any further.

“I see. I understand.”

“Then.”

Yoohyun turned and left the examination room. Bokseung was already gone, presumably to the injection room.

While waiting for Bokseung in the waiting area, Yoohyun’s mind was filled with thoughts of Bokseung’s pheromones.

He, too, was puzzled by his own reaction to Bokseung.

He’d initially thought his reaction at the festival was simply due to Bokseung not taking suppressants, leaving him no choice but to become aroused.

However, upon further reflection, Yoohyun had never reacted to that level of pheromones before, not even once.

This meant that Bokseung’s pheromones contained something that could arouse him even in small amounts, and today’s incident had occurred before he could figure out what that something was.

Even today, the pre-heat symptoms were faint enough for the doctor to question them. And the one who noticed them wasn’t Bokseung, but Hwang Yoohyun himself.

Earlier, he’d naturally assumed that the pheromones were strong enough to trigger an immediate heat cycle. But judging by the test results and the reactions of the people around Bokseung, the pheromones the boy emitted must have been minuscule, undetectable to anyone else.

The more he thought about it, the more strange things he found.

Yoohyun’s long fingers tapped restlessly on the armrest of the sofa, reflecting his bewilderment.

Perhaps it was an issue with the suppressants he was consistently taking.

As he waited for Bokseung, Yoohyun decided he should also get tested and headed to the reception desk.